Biblical countries, in the news.

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Security Council OKs statement on killings
The U.N. Security Council approved a presidential statement Thursday on Israel’s killing of four peacekeepers in Lebanon.

The council also expressed “deep concern” for Lebanese causalities, displaced persons and damage to infrastructure, as well as for Israeli civilian causalities and suffering.

The statement — the first the council has passed since fighting broke out between Israel and Hezbollah on July 12 — will become part of the council’s official record.

Security Council OKs statement on killings

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  Iran President Says Israel Has Pushed Self-Destruct Button

TEHRAN (AP)--Israel has ordained its own destruction by invading Lebanon, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday, according to the state news agency.

Addressing the clerical staff of the Friday prayer sermons in Tehran, Ahmadinejad said Israel and its supporters "should know that they cannot end the business that they have begun."

"The occupying regime of Palestine has actually pushed the button of its own destruction by launching a new round of invasion and barbaric onslaught on Lebanon," the official Islamic Republic News Agency quoted the president as saying.

Iran is one of the two major patrons of Hezbollah, the Lebanese guerrilla group that began the current fighting when its fighters crossed into Israel on July 12 and kidnapped two Israeli soldiers. The other patron is Syria, an Iranian ally.

Ahmadinejad is a hardline opponent of Israel and the Jewish people. Last October he provoked an international outcry when he said that Israel should be " wiped off the map." He has repeatedly cast doubt on the Nazi Holocaust.

His government also funds Hamas, the governing party in the Palestinian territories. Militants linked to Hamas crossed into Israel on June 25 and seized an Israeli soldier, provoking an Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip.

Hezbollah has said that one of the reasons for its cross-border raid 17 days later was to take the pressure off the Palestinians in Gaza.

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Israel OKs call-up of 30,000 reservists

By RAVI NESSMAN, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 1 minute ago

JERUSALEM - Israel's government decided Thursday not to expand its battle with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon for now, but authorized the army to call up 30,000 reserve soldiers in case the fighting intensifies. Lebanese officials estimated a civilian death toll as high as 600.

With Hezbollah allies Iran and Syria reportedly meeting in Damascus to discuss the crisis, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she was "willing and ready" to return to the region to work for a sustainable peace agreement.

But President Bush suggested he would support the offensive for as long as it takes to cripple Hezbollah. He also sharply condemned Iran for its support of the Shiite Muslim militant group.

The callup signaled that Israel was settling in for a much longer battle than had initially been expected, one that could grow far bloodier if Israel decides its air attacks and small-scale invasion into Lebanon are not working and sends in thousands of more ground forces.

With no end in sight after 16 days of intense fighting, al-Qaida's No. 2 man vowed to attack "everywhere" until Islam prevails.

In recent days, senior Israeli generals urged the government to authorize a broader ground campaign in southern Lebanon, which they said would help the thousands of troops already engaged in bloody battles there.

Israel's security Cabinet authorized the army to call up three additional reserve divisions to refresh the troops in Lebanon if they are needed, but rejected the generals' advice to expand the offensive.

However, Justice Minister Haim Ramon said the failure of world leaders to call for an immediate cease-fire at a summit in Rome gave Israel a green light to carry on with its campaign to crush Hezbollah — an assertion hotly rejected by European officials.

Wednesday's conference ended in disagreement, with most European leaders calling for an immediate cease-fire and the United States wanting to give Israel more time to neutralize Hezbollah.

"We received yesterday at the Rome conference permission from the world .... to continue the operation, this war, until Hezbollah won't be located in Lebanon and until it is disarmed," Ramon told Israel's Army Radio.

European leaders said Ramon was mistaken.

"I would say just the opposite — yesterday in Rome it was clear that everyone present wanted to see an end to the fighting as swiftly as possible," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said.

Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon on Thursday struck roads and houses, many believed to be the deserted homes of Hezbollah activists, in the apple-growing region of Iqlim al-Tuffah. The strikes caused casualties, but fighting kept ambulances and civil defense crews from the areas, security officials and witnesses said.

Other strikes hit a Lebanese army base in the north, while artillery and warplanes pounded the area near the border, according to witnesses. However, the fierce ground battles that raged Wednesday for the border towns of Bint Jbail and nearby Maroun al-Ras appeared to have abated, with U.N. observers reporting only "sporadic fighting" there.

Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz said the strategic damage to Hezbollah was "enormous" and said the group would "not return to what it was."

Israel launched its offensive in Lebanon on July 12, after Hezbollah guerrillas overran the border, killed three Israeli soldiers on patrol and captured two others.

Since then, up to 600 civilians in Lebanon have been killed in a punishing campaign of airstrikes, artillery shelling and clashes, including 150-200 still buried in the rubble of destroyed buildings, Lebanese Health Minister Jawad Khalifeh said Thursday.

The toll was a jump from previous Health Ministry reports of about 400 killed, based on bodies received at Lebanese hospitals.

The Health Ministry tally does not include 20 soldiers the Lebanese army has confirmed dead or 35 guerrillas whose deaths Hezbollah has acknowledged.

Thirty-three Israeli soldiers have died in the fighting and 19 civilians were killed in Hezbollah's unyielding rocket attacks on northern Israel, the army said.

The guerrillas shot 110 rockets into Israel on Thursday, wounding 20 people and bringing the total of rockets launched to 1,564.

The army broadcast a warning on its Arabic-language radio station Thursday telling Lebanese in the south that their villages would be "totally destroyed" if rockets were fired from them.

Army Chief of Staff Dan Halutz said there have been hundreds of Hezbollah casualties and that "we have caused serious damage to their rocket-launching capabilities."

But Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, a staunch supporter of Hezbollah, said Israel would never be able to crush the group militarily, and should stop fighting and start talking.

"Whatever it (Israel) does it's not going to reach its goal," he told The Associated Press. "They're not going to be able to take out the weaponry of Hezbollah. So all they're doing is massive destruction."

Meanwhile, al-Qaida issued its first response to the violence, threatening to retaliate with new attacks.

The videotape by Osama bin Laden deputy Ayman al-Zawahri was an effort by the terror network to rally Islamic militants by exploiting Israel's two-pronged offensive — against Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas-linked militants in Gaza.

"We cannot just watch these shells as they burn our brothers in Gaza and Lebanon and stand by idly, humiliated," al-Zawahri said, adding that "all the world is a battlefield open in front of us."

"The war with Israel does not depend on cease-fires. ... It is a jihad (holy war) for the sake of God and will last until (our) religion prevails ... from Spain to Iraq," he said. "We will attack everywhere."

In Damascus, Syrian and Iranian officials gathered to hold meetings on the crisis, according to Iranian and Kuwaiti news reports. Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah was also to take part in the meeting along with Syrian President Bashar Assad, according to Kuwait's Al-Siyassah newspaper, known for its opposition to the Syrian regime.

The newspaper said the meeting was designed to discuss ways to maintain supplies to Hezbollah with "Iranian arms flowing through Syrian territories."

Hezbollah spokesman Hussein Rahhal would not comment on whether Nasrallah, whose movements are kept secret, was in Damascus. However, Rahhal was dismissive of the Kuwaiti newspaper report.

With cease-fire efforts stalemated, Rice — who was in Malaysia after a trip to Beirut, Jerusalem and the Rome conference — said she was prepared to make a second tour of the Middle East. No timetable was announced.

"I am more than happy to go back," Rice said, if her efforts can "move toward a sustainable cease-fire that would end the violence."

In his interview with Army Radio, Ramon, the justice minister, said the Israeli air force must bomb villages before ground forces enter, suggesting that this would help prevent Israeli casualties. Ramon spoke a day after nine soldiers were killed in house-to-house fighting. Hezbollah acknowledged Thursday that it lost five fighters in the same clashes, though Israel said at least 30 were killed.

Asked whether entire villages should be flattened, he said: "These places are not villages. They are military bases in which Hezbollah people are hiding and from which they are operating."

Thousands of civilians are believed trapped in southern Lebanon, according to humanitarian officials.

International Red Cross spokesman Hisham Hassan said their teams that have visited border villages under heavy bombardment have found families hiding in schools, mosques and churches, or huddled together in homes they hope will withstand the barrage.

"But even the residents we speak to can't say how many are there, because everyone's hiding, they don't know who's dead or alive," he said.

Israel OKs call-up of 30,000 reservists

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Ahmadinejad: Israel, US won't have their way in Middle East

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday that Israel and the United States will not have their way in the Middle East through the Israeli offensive in Lebanon, the Iranian news agency reports.

"The Zionist regime and its supporters continue their crimes by preventing the UN Security Council from approving a resolution calling for a ceasefire," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying.

Ahmadinejad: Israel, US won't have their way in Middle East

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Europe may be drawn into Mideast conflict

By PAUL HAVEN, Associated Press Writer Thu Jul 27, 1:40 PM ET

MADRID, Spain - Europe, with its long and often unhappy history in the Middle East, may be drawn into a big role in the proposed multinational force for south Lebanon.

But with troops already stretched from Afghanistan to Congo, Europeans are hardly clamoring for another Mideast entanglement. Along with the promise of a stronger European military profile, any involvement in the fight between Israel and Hezbollah militants holds the danger of a blow to the continent's credibility.

Italy, Germany, Ireland, France and Turkey have said they are considering joining a U.N.-run multinational force. Britain and the Netherlands appear unenthusiastic.

Foreign ministers from across the continent will discuss their options next week at a hastily arranged gathering in Brussels, Belgium.

Most European nations remain dependent on NATO for logistical support and an overarching defense strategy, but the bloc has tried to establish its own distinct defense capabilities over the past decade. Plans are under way to set up more than a dozen multinational EU "battlegroups" by 2007, each with 1,500 troops. Also in the pipeline is a 60,000-strong rapid reaction force that would take on bigger peacekeeping operations.

Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said that a peacekeeping mission in Lebanon would fit with Europe's push for greater military muscle.

"Europe is already building, gradually but more and more solidly, a policy of common European defense," he said in an interview with Spanish national radio. "Therefore, (participation in an international force) would be a very important signal that European armed forces can take on this challenge."

A European force in Lebanon could be acceptable to both Arab nations — which would see U.S. forces as too pro-Israel — and the Jewish state — which is likely to insist on some form of Western participation.

"If successful, it would make the EU a much stronger regional player," said Julie Smith, an analyst at the London-based Chatham House think tank. "It would certainly raise the profile of the EU."

But with opportunity comes enormous risk.

Should a cease-fire fail to hold, peacekeeping troops could find themselves caught between the warring sides.

"It is an extremely difficult situation and to rush into it blindfolded without proper preparation or planning is not only counterproductive but very dangerous," Terje Roed-Larsen, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's top envoy on Syria-Lebanon issues, told The Associated Press. "It can easily increase the dangers of the current situation and it might — if it's not planned well — also present huge dangers for the security of the peacekeepers who eventually will be deployed."

There are dangers from other players as well.

Osama bin Laden's top lieutenant, Ayman al-Zawahri, said in an audiotape released Thursday that governments seen as complicit in Israel's attacks on Lebanon are potential targets.

Several European countries already seem cool to the idea of sending troops to Lebanon, even under a strong U.N. mandate.

The former colonial powers of Europe have a troubled history in the region.

From the disastrous 1956 Franco-British-Israeli invasion of Egypt over the Suez Canal to France's heavy death toll keeping peace in Lebanon in the 1980s, the last century is littered with examples of carnage and humiliation that will make Europeans think twice about sending troops to the Mideast.

Prime Minister Tony Blair's office says that Britain is unlikely to contribute troops because of its colonial history in the region, and its extensive military commitments elsewhere. Dutch Foreign Ministry spokesman Dirk-Jan Vermeij said his country also had no plans to participate.

For Germany, the legacy of World War II presents troubling complications: What if German men in uniform find themselves confronting Israelis?

And even if European politicians decide to take part in a peacekeeping force, they might find it hard to find any available soldiers.

Thousands of European troops are operating in Afghanistan under NATO auspices, battling resurgent Taliban forces in the south and east of that country. At least 12 Europeans have been killed in recent months.

European troops working under NATO auspices are involved in officer training in Iraq, logistical aid in Sudan's violence-wracked Darfur region and counterterrorism operations in the Mediterranean. Some 2,000 European forces have deployed to Congo under a larger United Nations mission, and there are thousands more in the Balkans under NATO control.

"It will probably be hard to find European troops actually available" said Richard Whitman, a European foreign policy expert at Chatham House.

Europe may be drawn into Mideast conflict

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Hizbollah rocket hits Israeli toothpaste factory
27 Jul 2006 21:25:22 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Yehuda Peretz

KIRYAT SHMONA, Israel, July 27 (Reuters) - A Hizbollah rocket struck a toothpaste factory in northern Israel on Thursday, and about two dozen people were wounded when rockets struck elsewhere, officials and medics said.

Israeli media said about 15 rockets landed in the border town of Kiryat Shmona and one of them hit the factory, setting a building ablaze but causing no casualties.

A police spokesman said the rocket had hit a warehouse, but added that no chemical plant had been hit.

The army said Hizbollah guerrillas in Lebanon fired about 70 rockets into northern Israel on Thursday. Medics said about two dozen people were wounded, mostly lightly.

As well as Kiryat Shmona, rockets landed in Haifa, Safed, Rosh Pina, Nahariya and the border town of Shlomi.

Hizbollah has fired more than 1,400 rockets into northern Israel since the conflict erupted following a cross-border raid into Israel by the Shi'ite militia on July 12, in which two soldiers were abducted.

Israel's offensive against Hizbollah has killed at least 433 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians. Lebanon said on Thursday as many as 600 may have been killed. A total of 51 Israelis have died, including 18 civilians.

Hizbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has vowed to take the war deeper into Israel, suggesting there could be strikes south of the city of Haifa. Such use of longer-range missiles would likely trigger massive Israeli retaliation.

Hizbollah rocket hits Israeli toothpaste factory   

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Nasrallah, the Palestinian Messiah
By Avi Issacharoff

Some 200 people demonstrated in downtown Ramallah on Tuesday to protest U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit to the city and express support for Lebanon and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. The demonstrators sang the praises of the Lebanese people and lauded the ties between Beirut and Ramallah. Then, at a certain stage, the familiar chanting began. One of the demonstrators, sitting on the shoulders of his colleagues, shouted out: "Ya Nasrallah, ya habib, udrub udrub Tel Aviv(hey, Nasrallah, hey, beloved, strike, strike Tel Aviv)," and the others joined in the chanting.

It seems to happen almost every decade. A new Arab leader arises who promises to defeat Israel in war and save the Palestinians from their sufferings, and as usual, many of the Palestinians become followers of the false messiah. In the 1960s, hundreds of thousands of people in the Arab world believed that Gamal Abdel Nasser would be the leader to rout Israel. Nasser also insisted on representing the Palestinians in their struggle, on the grounds that they are part of the Arab world, and it was his defeat that opened the way for Yasser Arafat, who promised throughout the 1970s and 1980s that Palestine would be established with the aid of a gun. In the late 1980s and 1990s, Saddam Hussein was the leader who captured the hearts of many Palestinians with his promises to strike at Israel, defeat it and assist them in setting up a Palestinian state.

The current savior in the eyes of many Palestinians is Hassan Nasrallah. More than 10 marches in favor of Nasrallah and his organization have been held in the territories since the start of hostilities in the north. Activists from a variety of organizations carry his picture aloft in protests and many individuals see him as the only leader who can take on Israel and win. "Hassan Nasrallah, master of resistance," is written on a portrait of Nasrallah that hangs in the A-Shini supermarket in Ramallah's Nablus Road.

The Hezbollah secretary general has, in the eyes of many Palestinians, become the supreme commander of the Arab forces against Israel. The general feeling from reports in the Arab media is that Nasrallah is routing the Israel Defense Forces on the battlefield. Every report about a wounded Israeli or an Israeli force that was hit in Lebanon becomes the lead item in the Arab and Palestinian media. Reporters also focus on those Israelis who have come against the war, while the majority that supports the fighting in the north remains unheard.

This distorted presentation, together with Hezbollah's propaganda, does not only affect Palestinians who belong to the Islamic organizations. Tuesday's demonstration was led by mainstream members of Fatah. Ziyyad Abu Ayin, one of the leaders of the Tanzim militia in Ramallah and a close friend of Marwan Barghouti, spoke at the demonstration about the brotherhood between the Lebanese and the Palestinian people and how the Palestinians are supporting Hezbollah in its fight against Israel.

It is doubtful whether Abu Ayin himself considers Nasrallah the representative of the Palestinians, but he has a feel for the "street," the masses who support Hezbollah. "I am against the policies of the American administration," he shouted into the microphone in English - not only for the benefit of the many foreign journalists covering the demonstration, but also for the numerous young foreigners who are currently in the West Bank and who participate in such demonstrations as a kind of back-packers trip, the kind Israeli youngsters often take after their army service. One of those foreign youths took the microphone and said proudly: "My name is Michael. I've come here to show support for the Palestinians and Lebanese." Aliana, a young woman from Italy, told Haaretz that her new friends have given her an Arabic name, Kalam. "In my opinion," she said, "Hezbollah acted legitimately against military targets, but now it is time to return to negotiating."

While the demonstration was taking place, Rice was meeting with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. She heard about his efforts to secure the release of the abducted Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, and about his efforts to arrange a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip by which all the factions would abide. Those gathered in his bureau were aware that Rice's visit was not designed to achieve political aims such as freeing Shalit, but rather mainly to put across the message that Washington has not completely deserted Abbas. Nevertheless, his aides also clearly understood that at this point, the United States is not particularly interested in the Palestinian arena, and that from the point of view of the White House, the road to solving the Palestinian problem passes through Lebanon. It is almost superfluous to say that the visit ended without results, even though Abbas stressed that most Palestinian organizations plan to break with Hezbollah and will not cooperate with the Lebanese group on the issue of prisoner exchanges.

The demonstrators outside, however, had different ideas. They continued their chanting on behalf of Hezbollah and tempers started heating up. The Palestinian policemen clashed with some of the demonstrators who attempted to march on the Muqata (Abbas' headquarters). Fistfights broke out and continued for several minutes. Throughout, one of the women demonstrators held Nasrallah's picture aloft. Then, apparently out of frustration, the demonstrators began their regular ritual: burning of portraits of U.S. President George Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who can now take solace in the fact that they are no longer alone. The pictures of French President Jacques Chirac and his Russian counterpart, President Vladimir Putin, got similar treatment.

Nasrallah, the Palestinian Messiah

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Nasrallah in Damascus
11:33 Jul 27, '06 / 2 Av 5766

(IsraelNN.com) Hizbullah terrorist chief Hassan Nasrallah traveled to Syria late Wednesday night in a bulletproof vehicle, according to a Kuwait newspaper.

Nasrallah is expected to meet for talks with Syrian officials on Thursday to discuss developments in Hizbullah’s war against Israel.

A number of the Katyusha rockets fired by the terrorists at northern Israeli cities have contained parts made in Syria.

Nasrallah in Damascus

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Al-Qaida's No. 2 leader threatens attacks

By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press Writer 27 minutes ago

CAIRO, Egypt - Al-Qaida's No. 2 leader called Thursday for Muslims to unite in a holy war against
Israel and to join the fighting in Lebanon and Gaza until Islam reigns from "Spain to Iraq."

Ayman al-Zawahri's taped message, the first from al-Qaida since Israel began offensives against Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, was a sweeping recruiting effort that even called on non-Muslims to join the Islamic cause.

Addressing the world's "downtrodden," al-Zawahri said non-Muslims should join Islamic militants in the battle against "tyrannical Western civilization and its leader, America."

"Stand with Muslims in confronting this unprecedented oppression and tyranny. Stand with us as we stand with you against this injustice that was forbidden by God in his book (the Quran)," al-Zawahri said.

Kamal Habib, a former member of Egypt's Islamic Jihad militant group who was jailed from 1981-1991 along with al-Zawahri, said the appeal to non-Muslims was unprecedented and reflected a change in tactics.

"This is a transformation in the vision of al-Qaida and its struggle with the United States. It is now trying to unite Sunni Muslims, Shiite Muslims and calling for non-Muslims to join the fight," he said.

But the Egyptian-born militant saved most of his vitriol for Israel.

"The war with Israel does not depend on cease-fires ... . It is a jihad (holy war) for the sake of God and will last until (our) religion prevails ... from Spain to Iraq," said al-Zawahri. "We will attack everywhere."

The White House dismissed the tape as propaganda aimed at inciting violence.

"It is hardly new for Mr. al-Zawahri, from his place in hiding, to issue threats," White House spokesman Tony Snow said. "One of the weapons is to use the media, and use the Internet and use mass communications as a way of fomenting hatred and encouraging violence, and this certainly fits into that pattern."

"Al-Qaida's military's capabilities have been significantly degraded and everybody knows that, and so now Ayman al-Zawahri is issuing tapes," Snow added.

Al-Zawahri said al-Qaida planned to attack opponents wherever vulnerable.

"All the world is a battlefield open in front of us," he said in portions of the tape broadcast by Al-Jazeera television. "Like they attack us everywhere, we will attack them everywhere."

Speaking from what appeared to be a television studio, Osama bin Laden's deputy reissued threats against the United States, specifically for its backing of Israel.

"The shells and missiles that are ripping apart Muslims' bodies in Gaza and Lebanon are not purely Israeli, but are supplied by all the countries of the crusader coalition," he said. "We cannot just watch these shells as they burn our brothers in Gaza and Lebanon and stand by idly, humiliated."

Bob Ayers, a security analyst at London's Chatham House think tank, said the message was a reminder of al-Qaida's role as a reference point for radical Muslims. "The real message that they're sending to all of us is that they're still there, they're still effective," he said.

Al-Zawahri spoke while seated in front of photographs of Mohamed Atta, the ringleader of the Sept. 11 attacks, and Mohammed Atef, also known as Abu Hafs al-Masri, a former bin Laden lieutenant who was killed by a U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan in 2001. Their photos flanked a picture of the World Trade Center in flames.

Some observers speculated al-Zawahri's use of that backdrop was a coded message to al-Qaida followers.

But Evan Kohlman, founder of the U.S.-based al-Qaida tracking organization globalterroralert.com, said the photos were chosen because of the dead militants' hatred of Israel and support for the Palestinian cause.

He also discounted speculation that al-Zawahri's call for Islamic unity meant he was holding out a hand to radical Shiites, the backbone of Hezbollah.

"Any idea that this is pro-Hezbollah is wrong," Kohlman said. "This is anti-Israel. That's what this is about. With this tape, al-Zawahri seems to be suggesting that the jihad to liberate Palestine is a natural outgrowth of the jihad in Iraq," he said.

Hezbollah spokesman Hussein Rahhal refused to comment on the al-Zawahri tape.

While backing the fight against Israel, al-Zawahri said every Muslim has a duty "to rise up and seek martyrdom and attack and inflict harm on crusaders" in the battle against U.S.-led forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He accused Arab countries of turning a blind eye to the Israeli offensive against Hezbollah and the Palestinians.

"My fellow Muslims, it is obvious that Arab and Islamic governments are not only impotent but also complicit ... and you are alone on the battlefield. Rely on God and fight your enemies ... make yourselves martyrs," he said.

Al-Jazeera did not transmit the entire tape, using selected quotes interspersed with commentary from an anchor. The satellite network said the full tape was about eight minutes long and it aired about half of it. Al-Jazeera would not comment on how it received the tape.

The message was al-Zawahri's tenth this year. Bin Laden, al-Qaida's founder, has issued five messages this year.

Al-Zawahri last appeared in a video posted on an Islamic Web site on the anniversary of the London transit bombings.

Al-Qaida's No. 2 leader threatens attacks

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Syrian reporter: In Syria there is atmosphere of eve of war

In conversation in Damascus, senior Syrian journalist tells about sentiments in Syria ('as if there will be war any moment'); talks about military preparations in his country ('identifying your reinforcements in Golan Heights'); and estimates that Israeli pounding in Lebanon to intensify grassroots support of Nasrallah and his organization. Also in Syria, he says, Nasrallah more popular than ever
Ali Waked

As the conflict with Hizbullah in Lebanon escalates by the day, the question of Syria's involvement in the conflict becomes increasingly more relevant.

"The atmosphere in Syria is in every way an atmosphere of war, or at least of the eve of war. Syrian television for the first time since the '80's has started broadcasting Syrian military marches and nationalistic songs. There is not difference between Syrian television broadcasts and Al-Manar broadcasts of the Hizbullah. The broadcasts are in preparation for war, as if Syria is involved in this war, or is going to be involved at any moment. The local newspapers and the television are conducting themselves as if they are preparing the Syrian public for war."

These comments were made by a senior Syrian journalist in a telephone interview from Damascus. It isn't easy these days of war that they don't have there, to convince a Syrian to accept an interview with the Israeli media, even when we're not there. One must remember that each side has his messages to transmit. And yet, the picture sketched by this senior journalist reveals the great concern in Damascus about the operations of Israel – and definitively paints a picture of preparedness for war. A conversation with an interviewee beyond the Golan.

In Israel there is talk that Syria and her army have considerably raised their alert since the start of fighting in Lebanon. Is this indeed the reality there?

"This, in my opinion, is the reality where you are. The Syrian army has identified intensive activity of the Israeli army on the Golan Heights. At first they identified lights on some of the bases at night in Syria. We have noticed a rehabilitation and revival of the Israeli military bases on the Golan on which no one has set foot for more than ten years. We see Israeli soldiers rehabilitating these bases and equipping them."

Paranthetically, it should be mentioned in this article that from the beginning of IDF operations in Lebanon, the level of preparedness on the Golan Heights has been raised noticeably along the border between Syria and Israel. The IDF estimated that the Hizbullah has an interest of bringing Syria into the confrontation, and that the organization would not be loathe to launching Katyushas at the Golan Heights. However, Israel has openly declared that Damascus is out of the game at this point and that there is no intention to confront Syria. With this, the IDF heightened its intelligence alertness along the border, including a larger-than-usual military presence meant to respond to any development in the region.

Beyond the pre-war atmosphere that you described, is there deployment for war or concrete steps of the government and army towards the possibility that Syria will become part of the war?

"I can't say if the army is taking practical steps to prepare for such an option, but what is certain is that Syria has consolidated once and for all the stance that the current situation, especially the occupation of the Golan, needs to stop. If there will be a solution to the current war in Lebanon, we must be part of this solution. And that means negotiation and returning the Golan to the Syrians. And if there won't be a solution, the stance is that we must prepare to liberate the Golan through different means – there aren't many other ways."

How does the Syrian government respond to the accusations of sources in the IDF and in Israel that Syria isn't only aiding the Iranians to transfer weapons to the Hizbullah, but is contributing herself to the arming of Hizbullah with Syrian rockets?

"All the senior and official representatives who have been asked to respond to these accusations have stridently denied them. The official stance, and this is the truth, is that the trucks passing through that the Israeli army is bombing, are trucks for humanitarian aid, carrying food, equipment, and donations that the Syrian people raised or aid from other countries that arrives through Syria. For instance, one of the convoys that was bombed was a convoy of ambulances from the Emirates in the Gulf that was designated for the Lebanese people."

The Syrian journalist also claims that the nature of the explosions testify to the fact that the trucks were not carrying rockets, ammunition, or explosives. "True, there was one time that the explosion was different than the regular ones. This happened when Israeli planes bombed trucks carrying car oil. Then the explosion was different. Syrian television was the first to photograph this explosion. Would they have photographed if Syria had something to hide?

Is Syria ready for a script in which it assists the US to stop the Hizbullah in exchange for a return of Syrian influence in Lebanon and cancellation of anti-Syrian sanctions?

"Whoever has followed the mood in the government and in the Syrian street after the completion of the withdrawal from Lebanon, understands that the emphasis today from the perspective of the government and the Syrian people is on the Golan and the need to return it to Syria – and less on Lebanon."

So, how do you explain that many in Israel and in the world see Syria as a key to solving the current conflict?

"That is because of the special relationship between Syria and the Hizbullah. These are excellent relations, but Syria today doesn't enjoy the same influence over them that they did in the past."

As an example of the great fondness of Syrians for the Hizbullah, the Syrian journalist brings the following story: "In Syria, it is customary in homes, businesses, and shops to hang pictures of the president's family. A picture of the late president Hafez Assad in the center, to the left a picture of the current president, Dr. Bashar, and to the right a picture of the slain son Bassal, the president's brother, whom the Syrian people loved very much.

"But today, especially since the outbreak of fighting, the phenomenon gaining momentum is to swap the picture of the beloved Bassal with a picture of Hassan Nasrallah. This is to express how much we in Syria love and appreciate what Nasrallah has done for the Arab nation. Not for a specific community, not for his country, but for the entire Arab nation."

In Israel there is talk that the current war is a war of the home front and of the patience of the simple people for a continuation of the war situation. We hope that the rest of the war, especially the crushing air strikes and the destruction they wreak, will bring about an uprising of the Lebanese public against Hizbullah that will compel them to stop firing.

"Whoever says that doesn't know Lebanon and her population and hasn't been following the political developments in the period before the war. The Hizbullah's Shiite community is the largest community in Lebanon. Many Sunnis also support Hizbullah. Also, Hizbullah enjoys broad support in the most important section of the Christian population, that which is represented by the general, Michel Aoun, who won the majority of the Christian votes in parliamentary elections."

"We see, for example, Walid Junblatt, who severely criticized the events of the first few days, is the one who today provides cover and aid for thousands of refugees in his area of Mount Lebanon. He does this not only out of humanitarian motives, but also to improve his image a little in Lebanon.

"Even Hariri's representatives and their supporters adopting a similar approach and are dealing with humanitarian aid in order to weaken the criticism they gave at first. At the current time, the social fabric in Lebanon is rallying more and more around support for Hizbullah, giving them the necessary strength to continue this fight."

Syrian reporter: In Syria there is atmosphere of eve of war

[Shammu]

Police bar Muslim mass weddings on Temple Mount
Etgar Lefkovits, THE JERUSALEM POST    Jul. 27, 2006

Citing intelligence alerts about possible violence, Jerusalem police on Thursday barred 70 Muslim couples from getting married on the Temple Mount, police said.

The unusual weekday measure prevented all Muslim men under the age of 40 - including the grooms - from entering the Jerusalem holy site after police received information about disturbances due to the war in the North at the compound after prayers.

Police said that the Temple Mount was a place of worship, and not a stage on which to mount political protests.

Three of the couples were detained for questioning.
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thats one way to stop the martyrs, keep them from reproducing.

[Shammu]

 CNN Exposes Hizbullah's Staging Tactics
22:25 Jul 27, '06 / 2 Av 5766

A CNN reporter has exposed tactics used by Hizbullah terrorists to stage media events in order to give the impression of a large number of civilian casualties caused by Israeli bombing attacks on terrorist position, according to a report issued by the Honest Reporting organization.

Rich Noyes said he was assigned to photograph buildings damaged in the bombings. "After letting us take pictures of a few damaged buildings, they take us to another location, where there are ambulances waiting. This is a heavily orchestrated Hezbollah media event. When we got here, all the ambulances were lined up," and the drivers turned on their sirens and sped away for photographers. "These ambulances aren't responding to any new bombings. The sirens are strictly for effect," Noyes said.

CNN Exposes Hizbullah's Staging Tactics
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I still don't trust CNN, to many times they have been baised.

[Shammu]

German soldier pointing his weapon at Jewish soldier?

Multinational force in southern Lebanon is still theoretical, but in Germany questions rise about appropriateness of sending in German forces
Ynet

The possibility that German soldiers will be stationed on Israel's northern border as part of a multinational force creates a complicated dilemma for Germany, well-covered by the media and discussed among the public.  The BBC reported that, in recent days, German newspapers were busy reporting the as of yet theoretical issue, with many arguments for and against.

"History is part of the past, but the history of the Holocaust is part of the German present," read German newspaper 'Frankfurter Rundschau'. We cannot allow a German soldier, even in theory, "to be put in a situation where he may point his weapon at an Israeli," the article continued.

A survey from last weekend's edition of Der Speigel weekly magazine revealed that 53 percent of those surveyed opposed German participation in such a force.

"In that area, Germans should be diplomats and mediators, but not soldiers," Green Party member Jerzy Montag told the newspaper.

The Sueddeutsche Zeitung, one of Germany's largest newspapers, wrote that the fact politicians have the audacity even to debate such a topic is "amazing". Austrian paper Der Standard wrote that it was "impossible that grandchildren of Holocaust perpetrators potentially find themselves in a situation where they shoot at grandchildren of Holocaust survivors."

The German constitution after the Holocaust originally forbade the deployment of German soldiers outside of national borders. Twelve years ago, the constitution was changed to allow German troops to take part in peace-keeping missions around the world. Since then, they have participated in missions in the Balkans, Ethiopia, Sudan, the Congo and Afghanistan. However, stationing armed German soldiers on the northern border of Israel evokes echoes of the past and complicates the issue.

German foreign minister: History compels us

When discussions began regarding an interim multinational force to deploy in southern Lebanon, until an appropriate deployment of Lebanese armed forces is possible, German Minister of Defense Franz Josef Jung was decisive in his desire to integrate German soldiers into the international effort.

Monday of this week, he said that "Germany cannot refuse such a peace-keeping mission" if the country is asked to participate in it, and if the requisite conditions are fulfilled. The conditions for integration of German troops into a multinational force expounded by Jung were quite high: a ceasefire, return of the kidnapped soldiers, and agreement from both sides to allow a German presence. He later refused to repeat his statements and half-heartedly reported that the issue was no longer on the table.

In contrast, German foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, is reasonably certain that Germany's history compels its involvement in this situation. "I believe that it is appropriate, considering the joint history of Israel and Germany," he told the ZDF television station.

The Social Democratic Party, of which Steinmeier is a member, as well as the party of Chancellor Angela Merkel, the Christian Democratic Union, are both divided on the issue. Three German opposition parties – the Green Party, the Free Democratic Party and the Left Party – oppose the deployment of German forces to the area.

Opposing voices

Almer Bruk, head of the Christian Democrats in the European parliament, opposes German participation. He believes that it is not acceptable to place German soldiers in a situation where they may be forced to point their weapons at Israelis.

Op-ed editor for Der Spiegel, Malta Lemming, claims that such a scenario would violate the primary lesson that Germans learned in the previous century – "Never again". While he says that Germany should be allowed to take part in the multinational force, he states that they should be deployed as observers on the Lebanon-Syria border. Lemming posits that perhaps in ten or fifteen years German soldiers will be able to execute such a mission.

Jorg Himmelreich, a transatlantic fellow at the German Marshall Fund, conjectures that the controversial scenario is unrealistic and that it is likelier that German soldiers would come into conflict with Hizbullah operatives, not Israeli soldiers.

Despite this possibility, Stephen Kramer, Secretary General of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, believes that at no point in time will German soldiers be able to approach Israeli borders.

"Neither great-grandchildren or great-great-grandchildren…I cannot imagine it. Anywhere else in the world, yes, but not where there is a possibility of armed conflict between a German soldier and an Israeli soldier."

German soldier pointing his weapon at Jewish soldier?
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Believe it or not, I can understand Germany's stand of not wanting to go............

[Shammu]

Peretz: 'We have entered into an unavoidable war'
JPost.com Staff, THE JERUSALEM POST    Jul. 27, 2006

Defense Minister Amir Peretz declared on Thursday evening that, "As a man of peace, let me assure you that we have entered into an unavoidable war, and we must win it."

Speaking to reporters from the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv, Peretz spoke to the soldiers fighting on the front lines, telling them that "this [war] is a war over our home. We are all behind you. We know you will bring us victory."

Peretz: 'We have entered into an unavoidable war'

[Shammu]

Britain lets more US arms flights land in Scotland
By Philip Webster, Political Editor

THE Government will allow more American aircraft carrying arms to Israel to stop over in Britain despite private concerns that the Pentagon was “playing fast and loose”.

The US has asked the Government to let two aircraft with missiles and bombs on board stop at Prestwick in the next fortnight. However, Labour MPs are furious with the US for breaking the rules governing the use of British airports as staging posts when demands on Israel for a ceasefire in Lebanon are growing stronger.

The Times has been told that two aircraft that landed at Prestwick last weekend carrying “bunker-busting” bombs had been designated as civilian flights and that the US failed to notify authorities in advance of their hazardous cargoes, as the rules demand.

The GBU28 bombs contain 630lbs (285kg) of high explosives and were developed by the US for use in the first Gulf War. The first foreign sale of the GBU28 was the acquisition of 100 units by Israel, authorised in April last year.

The munitions are part of a multimillion-dollar arms sale approved by the US that Israel is able to draw at will. Last week Israel asked the US to deliver satellite and laser-guided bombs. This was described as unusual by some military officers, and as an indication that Israel still had a long list of targets to strike in Lebanon.

Margaret Beckett, the Foreign Secretary, has complained to the White House about the issue and No 10 said yesterday that she had every right to be angry.

But, in an attempt to play down the row before today’s Washington summit on Lebanon between Tony Blair and President Bush, Britain is making plain that the dispute is about procedures and not the principle of allowing the aircraft to stop over.

“That will be allowed to continue. It is a right we have always granted,” a senior government official said. Both the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Downing Street suggested that two more requests by America to send planes carrying missiles as well as components over the next fortnight will go through.

It is thought Mr Blair will not raise the issue because the White House is seemingly aware of British feelings. However, he is unlikely to be able to avoid it at his later press conference.

Mr Blair, under renewed and persistent attack at home for backing the US’s refusal to call for an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon, is expected to ask all sides — including the US — to show more urgency in creating the conditions for a ceasefire.

The Prime Minister will today tell Mr Bush that work should begin on the international force that will act as a buffer between Israel and Lebanon. He believes that once this is done the time will be right to press Israel and Hezbollah into a ceasefire.

The tone of his words may be the first sign of tension between the two leaders over Lebanon, but diplomatic circles are increasingly worried that the Israeli onslaught will fail and that the ceasefire must come soon.

British sources have told The Times that the US flouted the rules by failing to notify the Civil Aviation Authority of the aircrafts’ contents in advance. Civilian flights carrying hazardous substances have to be notified to the authority.

Military flights carrying such substances have to inform the Ministry of Defence and, under some circumstances, the Foreign Office. The two flights last weekend were designated by the Pentagon as civilian cargo flights, and thus notifiable to the CAA and not the Ministry of Defence. However, the Government learnt about the cargo in this week, possibly through intelligence sources.

The sources who spoke to The Times assumed that the aircraft had been designated as civilian because they were available at the time and the bombs needed to be transported to Israel as soon as possible. Ironically, had the authorities been told — either the CAA or the Ministry — approval would have been given.

In their efforts to dampen the row, government departments insisted yesterday that the US would still be allowed to land such sensitive cargoes at British airports but that the Pentagon had been told in no uncertain terms that the rules must be followed.

A senior official said: “They have been playing fast and loose. We will haul them up. The procedures are there for a reason. There is an obligation on them to comply and they did not.”

An investigation by the CAA into the apparent breaches may conclude today.

The revelations prompted fresh disquiet among Labour MPs. David Hamilton, vice-chairman of the Scottish group of Labour MPs, said that if the reports of missiles passing through Prestwick were confirmed, it would be an outrage.

He called on Mr Blair to make clear to the White House that it should not use Britain as “a bargaining chip”. Michael Moore, the Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman, has written to Mrs Beckett calling for an investigation.

Sources at Prestwick told The Times yesterday that the number of freighter aircraft such as 747s and civil Hercules C130s landing there had become “absolutely unreal”.

One aviation official said: “We get two or three a day. The US Government uses civil chartered aircraft a lot now and these aircraft can carry anything . . . military supplies or anything.”

Sources at the airport have indicated that the Prestwick stopovers for the bomb cargo flights to Israel happened last weekend but did not know precisely when. Neither did they know what type of aircraft carried the 5,000lb laser- guided bombs.

One report has suggested that Airbus A310s were used but local plane spotters’ lists for last weekend show no record of such an aircraft at Prestwick.

The controversy comes after revelations that Prestwick played frequent host to CIA flights transferring al-Qaeda suspects to secret prisons.

“Whoever is organising this, it’s way above the heads of people here,” an airport official said.

Britain lets more US arms flights land in Scotland