Israel and Syria - Several news items that look towards Isaiah 17

[Shammu]

Efforts to Convene Damascus Summit of Warring PA Terror Groups
 
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz

(IsraelNN.com) Terrorist factions based in Damascus are working to convene a summit of all Palestinian Authority terrorist groups early next year. The meeting, in Syria, would also include the participation of several Arab states.

The intention of the multi-party meeting is to promote unity among the various PA factions. The most critical split has developed between Hamas and Fatah, following the armed takeover of Gaza by Hamas in July of this year and the PA's Fatah leadership using political manipulation to freeze out Hamas officials since January 2006. Fatah, led by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, currently maintains power in Judea and Samaria, while Hamas controls Gaza.

The initiative for the meeting came from two terrorist factions active in the PA but with headquarters in Syria, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP). Maher A-Taher, a spokesman for the PFLP said that their recent efforts are focused on ending the Hamas-Fatah clash, because it has been damaging to the Arab cause. A-Taher claimed that negotiations between Hamas and Fatah are already underway, but that Abbas needs to show greater receptivity.

In November, DFLP head Nayef Hawatmeh announced that he and the PFLP had developed a plan to mediate the conflict between Hamas and Fatah. Including ten points, the plan calls on Hamas to give up exclusive control in Gaza, for each party to end media incitement against its rival, for an end to political arrests, and for new presidential and parliamentary elections.

In the context of efforts to promote unity among PA terrorist groups, senior Palestinian Authority negotiator, Fatah's Ahmed Qurei, met with terrorist mastermind Hawatmeh during a recent visit to Syria.

A spokesman for Hamas, Sami Abu Zuhri, said earlier this month that the DFLP and the PFLP "were not qualified to act as mediators between Hamas and Fatah." He called the two organizations "biased" in favor of Fatah because of their inaction over “Fatah's crimes against Hamas in the West Bank.”

Efforts to Convene Damascus Summit of Warring PA Terror Groups

[Shammu]

Jordan, Syria sign trade agreements to boost ties
Associated Press , THE JERUSALEM POST    Dec. 30, 2007

Jordan and Syria signed several trade and water agreements here Sunday in an attempt to strengthen cooperation and boost trade ties.

Jordanian Prime Minister Nader al-Dahabi and his Syrian counterpart, Naji al-Otari signed a total of 12 accords and also agreed to enforce an end to customs restrictions between the two countries.

Jordan is one of the world's most water impoverished countries and has experienced low rainfall recently, sparking concern of a looming water crisis.

Syria also promised to provide Jordan with 50,000 tons of wheat - part of the agreements that capped off two days of meetings between the two countries.

"The volume of trade exchange is now around $50 million (€34 million)," al-Otari told reporters after the signing ceremony in the Jordanian capital of Amman.

"I hope through our continuous meetings that this figure could reach $1 billion (€680 million) because there are vast horizons to enhance this cooperation," he said.

The thaw after years of frosty relations between Jordan and Syria began with a landmark summit last month by Jordan's King Abdullah II to Damascus where he discussed Syrian participation in a US-sponsored Mideast peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland with President Bashar Assad.

The previously unannounced visit by Abdullah was his first to the Syrian capital in nearly four years and is seen as having paved the way for Sunday's boosting of bilateral ties.

Jordan, Syria sign trade agreements to boost ties

[Shammu]

Israel wants Syria out of radical axis
Herb Keinon , THE JERUSALEM POST    Dec. 30, 2007

Formulating a strategy for separating Syria from the "radical axis" is one of the Foreign Ministry's highest priorities for 2008, according to a list complied by Foreign Ministry director-general Aharon Abramovitch and circulated to the ministry's staff last week.

The top goal, according to this list, was "promoting diplomatic processes in the Middle East with the goal of achieving comprehensive peace in the region and protecting Israel's security."

Under this heading were listed a number of secondary objectives, including "formulating a policy for separating Syria from the radical axis."

Another objective listed in this category was increasing international support for isolating extremists in the Gaza Strip and the region, and increasing cooperation with the moderate Palestinian leadership.

The second objective listed in the document was providing a "diplomatic response to strategic threats," with the first objective being "intensive diplomatic efforts to thwart Iranian efforts to achieve nuclear capabilities."

This category also included as one of its aims "leading the international campaign to prevent the participation of terrorist elements in democratic processes."

The Foreign Ministry's other aims, in descending order, were listed as: upgrading Israel's standing in the international arena; widening Israel's economic and trade ties abroad; improving Israel's image in the world and struggling against the deligitimization of Israel; strengthening cooperation with the Diaspora and fighting anti-Semitism; integration in international efforts to deal with global challenges; and providing quality service and support to Israeli citizens both in Israel and abroad both during normal times and at times of crisis.

Israel wants Syria out of radical axis

[Shammu]

At the slightest instigation, still being Christian, let Israel take them out of the axis please, sooner than later, there fate is already known. There is so much evil coming out of Syria, look to Isaiah 17 to read the end of this evil!!

[Shammu]

Assad ready for peace with Israel
Associated Press , THE JERUSALEM POST    Dec. 30, 2007

President Bashar Assad is ready for peace with Israel, an influential US senator said Sunday after talks with the Syrian leader.

Senator Arlen Specter said the political atmosphere in both Syria and Israel was different now and that the time was "positive" for resuming peace talks between the two countries, halted since 2000.

"We had a very productive meeting with Assad," Specter, a Republican from Pennsylvania, told The Associated Press after talks with the Syrian leader in Damascus.

He added that he got the impression after the meeting with Assad that the time was very "positive for productive talks between Israel and Syria."

"There is a sense that he [Assad] is ready and the Syrian public opinion is ready [for peace]," Specter said. The meeting with Assad that was also attended by Rep. Patrick Kennedy, a Rhode Island Democrat.

Specter said the United States has the potential to "bridge the gap" between Israel and Syria. He added that the atmosphere is "very different in Damascus today and is very different in Jerusalem today" in part because of last month's US-sponsored Mideast peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland, which Syria attended.

In 2000, formal US-sponsored Israel-Syria talks neared agreement but broke down over final border and peace arrangements. Syria demands the full return of the Golan Heights, the territory seized by Israel in the Six-Day War.

The two Congressmen arrived here Saturday on a two-day visit for talks on the stalled Middle East peace process and strained US-Syrian relations.

Specter, who held talks Saturday with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem, declined to confirm reports that he would convey a message to Assad from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on resuming peace talks between the two countries.

Relations between Syria and the US appeared to warm briefly following Syria's attendance at the Annapolis conference, which was widely seen as an attempt to gain favor with Washington.

But both sides have since lashed out at one another, each accusing the other of meddling in Lebanon, where the Western-backed government is locked in a political standoff with the pro-Syrian opposition. The US also disapproves of Damascus' support for anti-Israel militant groups and its alliance with Iran.

Last week, US President George W. Bush rejected dialogue with the Syrian leader, saying his "patience ran out on President Assad a long time ago."

A Syrian government newspaper on Sunday urged the United States to work seriously for peace in the region.

"What is the problem of the US Administration with Syria so long as US delegations, Republicans and Democrats, have not stopped visiting Damascus and confirming the importance of its role in solving the region's problems?" Baath, the ruling party newspaper, said in an editorial.

"Where is the courage and daring that Bush urged all parties to display to achieve peace in the Middle East?" it added.

Assad ready for peace with Israel

[Shammu]

'Syria rebuilding site bombed by IAF'
JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST    Jan. 12, 2008

Syria has resumed construction at the site bombed by IAF jets in September 2007, a New York Times report said on Saturday morning.

In a satellite image released by private Colorado company, DigitalGlobe, the original main building appears to be in the process of reconstruction with the only difference being the shape of the roof. The photograph was taken on Wednesday, said the report.

The unspecified "military target" had been struck deep inside Syrian territory, while foreign reports claimed the site was a military installation containing nuclear material and technology supplied to Syria by North Korea. Syria has denied this claim, saying that Israel hit an empty warehouse.

According to a European diplomat cited by the Times, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recently became aware of the new construction. "Obviously, they're keeping an eye on the site," he said.

President of the Institute for Science and International Security David Albright told the Times that "we can assume it's not a reactor" due to international uproar that spread after the air strike.

Further if international inspectors reach the site only after a certain period of time, it will be more difficult for them to find nuclear evidence, he continued. "The new building," he said, "covers whatever remained of the destroyed one."

'Syria rebuilding site bombed by IAF'

[Shammu]

Bush Privately Lauds Israeli Attack on Syria
Posted 01/14/08 16:02
By BARBARA OPALL-ROME

And VAGO MURADIAN


TEL AVIV and WASHINGTON — In one of the most extensive, face-to-face security discussions since an Israel Air Force attack on a Syrian nuclear reactor last autumn, U.S. President George W. Bush privately commended his Israeli host on what was described as an important preventive action, according to an Israeli official briefed on the high-level exchange.

Bush’s private endorsement of the Sept. 6 attack — offered in the context of Jan. 9 discussions in Jerusalem on the Iranian threat and Israel’s cardinal opposition to nuclear weapon development programs in the region — was disputed by Olmert spokesman Mark Regev. “I don’t know that to be true,” Regev said.

Nevertheless, the Israeli official briefed on the Bush-Olmert talks said he understood the U.S. president’s comments as endorsement of the pre-emptive necessity of the Syrian strike. If true, such a reference to the Syrian operation during talks devoted to denial options vis a vis Iran appears to support contentions that the Syrian reactor was very close to becoming operational prior to its destruction.

In a late December interview, a participant in Israeli security cabinet discussions in the months leading up to the Sept. 6 attack said information gathered on the Syrian facility was unequivocal. “There was no doubt about the time-critical need to act as we did,” he said.

Israeli intelligence agencies concluded that Iran had no connection to the Syrian nuclear program and probably was not even aware of the clandestine site in eastern Syria along the Euphrates River, the official said.

According to U.S. officials and analysts, the challenge in attacking nuclear facilities is to attack them before they are fueled to minimize the chance of radioactive contamination that could be released in the strike. Achieving that level of precision, they said, requires pinpoint intelligence through external persistent aerial surveillance and human intelligence inside the facilities themselves.

Despite intense efforts by Tel Aviv to determine linkage between the Iranian and Syrian nuclear drives, “multiple examinations by various means” determined just the opposite, the official said. He added that Israeli political officials had hoped to use incriminating evidence of Iranian proliferation to ratchet up international pressure to halt Tehran’s enrichment program.

“It was certainly disappointing to discover no connection between the two programs,” the official said. “Apparently, this was an independent, high-priority Syrian-funded national project sustained and supported through bilateral ties with the North Korean regime.”

That Israeli determination coincided with a U.S. National Intelligence Estimate in which American intelligence agencies concluded that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 while continuing to seek a civilian nuclear capability.
Bush, at a Jan. 9 joint news conference with Olmert, sought to clarify misperceptions stemming from the NIE.

“Iran is a threat towards peace. There was a recent intelligence report that came out that I think sent the signal to some that said perhaps the United States does not view an Iran with a nuclear weapon as serious problem,” Bush said. “Now I want to remind people … that Iran was a threat. Iran is a threat, and Iran will be a threat, if the international community does not come together and prevent that nation from the development of the know-how to build a nuclear weapon.

“A country which once had a secret program can easily restart a secret program; a country which can enrich for civilian purposes can easily transfer that knowledge to a military program; a country which has made statements that it has made about the security of our friend Israel is a country that needs to be taken seriously, and the international community must understand with clarity the threat that Iran provides to world peace. And we will continue to work with European countries, Russia and China, as well as nations in this neighborhood, to make it abundantly clear the threat that Iran poses for world peace.”

But with the Israeli government intent on using the occasion of the first American presidential visit here in more than a decade to showcase the Iranian threat, that findings absolving Iranian involvement in the Syrian program were presented to Bush or his considerable entourage.

According to the Israeli official present at most of the Olmert-Bush events, the two sides were adhering to a coordinated policy of discretion regarding the disabled Syrian nuclear program, in large part as a means of maintaining regional and international focus on the Iranian nuclear threat.

The official refused all additional comment on the Syrian nuclear program and its connection — or lack thereof — to Iran.

“That problem appears to be solved for the time being,” the official said of the Syrian nuclear threat. “Now more than ever, we need to keep focused on the problem of Iran.”

Indeed, neither leader mentioned the Syrian nuclear threat during a Jan. 9 joint news conference or in multiple public addresses offered during the first day of Bush’s three-day visit here.

In contrast, both leaders repeatedly aired their respective concerns and grievances regarding Iran, including the prospective threat that a nuclear-capable Islamic Republic would pose to Israel and others throughout the region.
“It seems [Syrian President] Bashar al-Assad distrusted A.Q. Khan and his agents in Dubai,” the official added. “He suspected they may be agents of the West preparing for him a trap.”

In a Dec. 19 interview with the Austrian newspaper Die Press, Assad was quoted as saying Syria rejected overtures thought to have come from Khan back in 2001. “Someone brought us a letter from a certain Khan. We did not know if the letter was genuine or a forgery by Israel to lure us into a trap. In any case ... we never met Khan,” Assad was quoted as saying.

In the Austrian report, Assad acknowledged that the site bombed by the Israel Air Force was “a military facility under construction,” but insisted, “That does not mean this was a nuclear facility.”

John Bolton, a former U.S. State Department official and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, was one of the first to publicly shed light on the target of Israel’s Sept. 6 air operation, all details of which remain heavily classified by Israel’s military censor.

In a Dec. 25 interview with political analyst Kenneth Timmerman, Bolton restated contentions that the site was a North Korean-supplied nuclear reactor and went further by suggesting the Syrian project provided a convenient vehicle through which Pyongyang could renege on international inspection and verification agreements.

“I think this facility [in Syria] that the Israelis bombed on Sept. 6 is an indication of yet another alternative [for cheating on international commitments]. … How better to hide your North Korean program than to build it in Syria where nobody is looking!” Bolton was quoted as saying in an interview published by Newsmax.com.

Prior to conclusions from the Israeli investigations clearing Iran of proliferation links with Syria, Tehran was widely presumed to have provided funding, or at the very least indirect support, for the reactor project.

A strategic update by analyst Emily Landau, published in November by Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Security Studies, reflected prevailing conventional wisdom: “Considering the nature of relations between the two countries, it is hard to believe that Iran had no involvement in the decision [to pursue an elevated regional standing through nuclear capabilities].”

She wrote that Iran was the likely source of funding for the project and that “It’s possible that Iran and North Korea hoped to use Syria as a ‘shelter’ for their respective technologies and nuclear components at a time when they would be subject to more intrusive international inspections.”

Bush Privately Lauds Israeli Attack on Syria

[Shammu]

'Syria, Iran trying to overthrow Abbas'
Khaled Abu Toameh , THE JERUSALEM POST    Jan. 15, 2008

Syria and Iran have stepped up their efforts to overthrow Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his ruling Fatah party, PA officials in Ramallah told The Jerusalem Post Monday.

The officials accused the Syrians and Iranians of "encouraging" Hamas and other radical Palestinian groups to establish a new organization that would replace the PLO.

They also accused the two countries of continuing to provide Hamas and its allies in the Gaza Strip with millions of dollars and weapons.

The officials pointed out that in the context of their efforts to overthrow Abbas's regime in the West Bank, Damascus and Teheran have encouraged Hamas and 10 other radical groups to meet in the Syrian capital on January 23 to discuss forming a new PLO and increasing their terror attacks on Israel.

"Syria and Iran are working toward undermining the PLO and President Abbas," a senior Palestinian official in Ramallah told the Post. "They want to help Hamas extend its control to the West Bank. They are pouring millions of dollars into Hamas and its friends."

Another official told the Post that Abbas has appealed to some Arab countries to use their good offices with Syrian President Bashar Assad to ban the conference.

The decision to hold the conference was apparently taken in response to US President George W. Bush's visit to the region last week.

The conference, according to Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders, will discuss ways of "developing and reactivating" the PLO. The two Islamist groups have never been part of the PLO, which is dominated by Fatah.

Both Hamas and Islamic Jihad have in recent years openly challenged the PLO's claim to be the "sole and legitimate" representative of all Palestinians. Hamas is hoping to name its leader, Khaled Mashaal, as chairman of the new PLO.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad have invited several Palestinian groups to attend the conference, including Fatah. However, Fatah officials have turned down the invitation, accusing Damascus and Teheran of using their Palestinian allies to topple Abbas.

The two groups have also invited representatives of other groups such as the Popular Resistance Committees, the Popular Front - General Command headed by Ahmed Jibril and Fatah's armed wing, the Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, two groups that are members of the PLO, announced that they would boycott the conference.

The two groups said the decision to stay away from the conference was taken to avoid the possibility of being part of a scheme aimed at creating an alternative PLO.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad officials said the conference was also being held "to stress the importance of maintaining the option of armed struggle [against Israel] and the right of return for all Palestinian refugees."

Islamic Jihad leader Khaled Al-Batsh said the conference's goal was to "thwart American and Zionist schemes" in the aftermath of Bush's visit. "This conference is not aimed at overthrowing anyone," he said. "It's only aimed at foiling the schemes of the Americans and Zionists."

A similar conference was due to be held in Damascus to coincide with last November's peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland. But the Syrians, under pressure from the US and some Arab countries, called off the meeting.

The planned conference comes amid reports that the PA is considering dissolving the Hamas-dominated Palestinian Legislative Council and calling new elections in the PA territories.

At a meeting of PLO and Fatah leaders in Ramallah Sunday night, Abbas said he did not rule out the possibility of holding new parliamentary elections. He also strongly condemned Hamas, dubbing Khaled Mashaal a "liar."

In response, Hamas legislator Yahya Musa condemned Abbas as an "evil liar," adding that the PA president no longer cared about the interests of his people. He also denied Abbas's claim that Hamas had tried to assassinate him.

'Syria, Iran trying to overthrow Abbas'

[Shammu]

Lebanon presidential frontrunner phones Assad: Syria
30/01/2008

Lebanon's presidential frontrunner, Michel Sleiman, has contacted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose country remains a key player in Beirut's crisis-hit politics, a minister said Wednesday.

General Sleiman, who is army chief, "recently telephoned President Assad," Information Minister Mohsen Bilal told a press conference.

"He has also called the defence minister (Hassan Turkmani) and the chief of staff (Ali Habib). We welcome these calls," said the minister, whose country withdrew troops from Lebanon in 2005 after an almost three-decade deployment.

Bilal said Sleiman's ties with the Syrian leadership were "very longstanding" and "brotherly".

In Beirut's political crisis, Sleiman has emerged as the consensus candidate for the post of president left vacant since the pro-Syrian incumbent Emile Lahoud stepped down in November at the end of his term.

The Arab League has proposed a three-point plan calling for electing Sleiman as president, forming a national unity government in which no one party has veto power and adopting a new electoral law.

The Western-backed parliamentary majority in Beirut has accepted the bid but the opposition, led by the pro-Syrian Hezbollah, demands it be granted a third of the seats in a new government so the opposition can have veto power.

Bilal said Damascus welcomed the statement issued on Sunday after a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo that called for Sleiman to be elected by MPs at their next scheduled parliamentary session on February 11.

"Syria wants Lebanon to make progress towards an overall settlement," said the minister.

The minister also condemned the riots on Sunday in the Shiite southern suburbs of Beirut in which seven people were killed and dozens wounded as protests degenerated into clashes with the army.

"What happened in Beirut was painful and sad," said Bilal, blasting the "snipers and assassins ... of young people who were demonstrating against power cuts".

In a verbal attack on Washington, Syria's information minister charged that the US administration was spreading "chaos" around the Middle East, from Lebanon to Gaza and Iraq.

Washington was "blocking ... France's initiative and Syrian action aimed at reaching an understanding in Lebanon" on breaking the deadlock in parliament on electing a president, the minister charged.

The US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, which Damascus opposed, had sparked "destruction and disorder in Iraq whose consequences are being felt throughout the region", said Bilal.

The United States, in turn, accuses Syria of meddling in the affairs of its neighbours by stirring insecurity in Lebanon and allowing insurgents to cross its borders into Iraq.

In Kuwait, meanwhile, visiting Arab League chief Amr Mussa on Wednesday warned Lebanon's feuding factions that any further delay in electing a new president will damage the country's stability.

"It is essential that a new president is elected as soon as possible. Any delay in electing a president is a blow to Lebanon's stability," Mussa told a news conference after talks with Kuwaiti leaders.

Lebanon presidential frontrunner phones Assad: Syria

[Shammu]

Iran helps Syria develop missile that can target Israeli installations
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent
February 09, 2008 Adar1 3, 5768

Syria has successfully developed a new surface-to-surface missile that would enable it to target Israeli installations such as airports, ports and factories with greater accuracy, according to briefings recently presented to senior ministers.

According to the information, Syria developed the new missile with Iranian support, which is a further indication of the tight strategic bonds between the two countries. Much of these strategic ties revolve around military and intelligence cooperation.

Israeli defense officials said they thought Damascus and Tehran shared technical know-how that has allowed Syria to upgrade the Iranian-made Zelzal surface-to-surface missile. The missile has an operational range of approximately 250 kilometers and is capable of carrying an especially large warhead. It is believed that the missile is more accurate than other similar surface-to-surface weapons in the Syrian arsenal.

This comes at a time when Israeli defense sources have expressed growing concern at the rearmament program of the Syrian armed forces, which is mostly being supplied by arms transfers from Russia.

Among other weapons, Syria has recently acquired the Pantsyr air defense missile system, a self-propelled system that is capable of firing between eight and 12 missiles and can pose a substantial threat to Israeli air force aircraft.

Damascus has also procured modern anti-tank missiles with alleged capabilities of neutralizing the most advanced main battle tank of the IDF, the Merkava Mark IV.

However, Mossad chief Meir Dagen told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that at this stage the Syrian defense acquisitions appear to be defensive and that there are no indications that Damascus has any plans to initiate a military action against Israel.

Meanwhile, a political source noted Thursday that there is a discernible effort on the part of Syria to improve its missile arsenal - both in terms of range and accuracy.

"The problem is that their missiles are being transformed from less-effective weapons into precision weapons that will enable their use against military bases, airports and military depots, which is a very worrying development," the source said.

There is growing concern in Israel that the missile arsenal of Syria will be transformed from being a "blind" strategic weapon, into a precision-strike weapon.

Syria has a significant missile arsenal. During the Second Lebanon War Hezbollah fired many volleys of 220mm rockets of Syrian make against Israel, causing significant casualties in Israel.

According to Israeli estimates, Syria has tens of thousands of rockets of this type, as well as smaller-caliber and shorter-range missiles. In addition, they have Scud-C and Scud-D ballistic missiles with ranges of 500-800 kilometers, which can effectively strike every part of Israeli territory.

Iran helps Syria develop missile that can target Israeli installations

[Shammu]

Damascus is the capital of culture and resistance: Assad


DAMASCUS, Syria - Syrian President Bashar Assad marked UNESCO's choice of Damascus as the 2008 Capital of Arab Culture by describing the city as a centre of culture as well as resistance.

In a celebration attended by Turkish President Abdullah Gul, Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa al-Thani and Arab League Chief Amr Moussa, Assad hailed the ancient city's historical role as a cultural centre while asserting its steadfastness against all enemies.

"Damascus is the capital of resistance culture by symbolizing Arab culture - the culture of freedom and defending freedom," Assad said.

UNESCO's Cultural Capitals Program, which in the Arab world began in 1998, aims to promote the cultural aspects of development and increased international cooperation, according to the organization.

The Syrian president also said the tradition of Damascus was to strive for peace, but "with dignity and pride."

Moussa, for his part, said in his speech that Damascus will lead "a dialogue among civilizations at time Arab and Islamic culture faces unprecedented challenges."

The year-long festival has provided impetus to freshen up Damascus, one of oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, and the city has turned into a big workshop as its medieval buildings are renovated and streets repaired.

Activities to mark the occasion will include conferences, symposiums, concerts, plays, dance performances, and movies to be held across the country.

Festivities began last week with a public carnival in Damascus' old city's central square featuring acrobats and a light show, as well as a fireworks from the mountain overlooking the city.

Damascus is the capital of culture and resistance: Assad

[nChrist]

I find it ironic that Damascus and others pay no attention at all to the Holy Bible, not even as a matter of curiosity. If they did, they could read about their own end. I don't find it ironic at all that this news labels Damascus as the Arab center of culture and resistance. The resistance they are talking about is really aggression against TINY Israel. This fits in perfectly with Bible Prophecy. The Holy Bible states that Damascus will simply cease to be - ERASED! - for all intents and purposes.

There are many things about Israel that are hard to believe, but many of those hard to believe events have already taken place. 1967 is a perfect example. What's amazing to me is that nations representing billions of people and a huge portion of the world's land mass feel a need to wipe out TINY, TINY Israel with a population of 6 million. The problem is they simply exist. Further, GOD has promised that Israel will continue to exist and be RESTORED after the SECOND COMING OF CHRIST. So, Israel will do much more than just survive. Those who will most definitely attack Israel could go and visit the place of death for great hosts of millions. Those great hosts will be their own, and they don't have a chance because they will be fighting CHRIST HIMSELF and Heavenly Hosts. CHRIST will furnish undeniable PROOF that HE IS GOD, and HE will bring all under HIS subjection. The combined might of all mankind's armies are as NOTHING compared to CHRIST ALONE! The denial, disrespect, and disobedience of GOD will be OVER!

 

[Shammu]

Iran Says Israel Fears Hizbullah Missiles on Dimona

(IsraelNN.com) The Tehran Times quoted Press TV that General Yossi Beiditz told European Union (EU) envoys that Hizbullah has long-range missiles that can reach the Dimona nuclear center. "Former intelligence reports released by the Zionist regime had reckoned the maximum range of missiles in [Hizbullah's] arsenal at 250 kilometers," the newspaper reported.
 
It added that IDF planning department head Ido Nehushtan said last week that Hizbullah is armed with weapons with which several world armies are not equipped.

Iran Says Israel Fears Hizbullah Missiles on Dimona
~~~~~~~~~~~

Hezbollah missiles could target Dimona: Israel
March 10, 2008

TEHRAN (Press TV) -- Israel has announced that Hezbollah is equipped with long-range missiles which are capable of reaching Dimona nuclear reactor from Beirut.

According to Press TV Beirut Bureau, Brigadier General Yossi Beiditz, head of the Israeli army research department told European Union ambassadors in a briefing that Hezbollah is equipped with the long-range missiles which have a maximum range of 300 kilometers and are capable of targeting the Dimona nuclear reactor in southern occupied territories.

Former intelligence reports released by the Zionist regime had reckoned the maximum range of missiles in Hezbollah's arsenal at 250 kilometers.

Last week, Ido Nehushtan, head of Israeli army planning department, said that Hezbollah is armed with weapons that several world armies are not equipped with.

The southern town of Dimona is home to a reactor that is the centerpiece of Israel's illegal nuclear weapons program.

The Zionist regime is reportedly the only nuclear-armed country in the Middle East which has refused to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Hezbollah missiles could target Dimona: Israel

[Shammu]

Egypt: Syria may be thwarting cease-fire'
Mar 9, 2008 9:35

Efforts by Egypt to put together a package deal that would include a cease-fire in Gaza and a new border arrangement between Gaza and Egypt was put on hold following Thursday's terrorist attack at the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

Government officials in Jerusalem said Saturday night it was now unlikely that Egyptian Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman would come here in the next few days for discussions on the matter. This would be the second time in a week that Suleiman has postponed a visit to Israel to discuss the situation in the South. Suleiman held talks in Egypt before Thursday's attack with Hamas and Islamic Jihad representatives, although no headway was reported on a cease-fire, with Hamas and Islamic Jihad demanding that Israel stop pursuing its members in the West Bank, something Israel has said it would not agree to do.

According to the officials, Egypt is waiting to see whether Hamas was responsible for the attack, because if it turns out that it was, it will be a sign that they are determined to continue their attacks, something that would render talks of a case-fire useless.

Meanwhile, the London-based newspaper Al-Hayat reported Saturday that Syria may be attempting to deflect international scrutiny of its actions in Lebanon by thwarting Egyptian attempts to moderate a cease-fire.

According to the report, a senior Egyptian official told the paper that "Syria may be interested in focusing international attention on the situation in Gaza and the West Bank, instead of the situation in Lebanon."

"The current escalation on the Palestinian front is in the interest of the Syrians," the official added. "Indeed the continuation of this situation may embarrass leaders in the Arab world, and force them to go back on their decision to send low-level officials to the Arab summit, which is set to take place in Damascus."

The official then went on to insinuate that Syria may have had a hand in the attack.

"Senior Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders who are able to decide on a cease-fire were in Syria [at the time], and we won't forget that when we hear who was behind the terror attack," he said.

At the same time, government officials in Jerusalem said it was likely that diplomatic negotiations with the Palestinians, which Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas suspended last Sunday, would begin again this week.

Israel has made clear that despite Thursday's attack, it wants to continue with the talks. Abbas said Saturday that "despite all the circumstances we're living through and all the attacks we're experiencing, we insist on peace. There is no other path."

He also reiterated his support for Egypt's cease-fire efforts.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said peace talks were expected to resume on Thursday with the arrival of US Lt.-Gen. William Fraser for a joint meeting with Israelis and Palestinians. Fraser is supposed to monitor the sides' compliance with the road map.

Israeli officials Saturday night, however, would not confirm that meeting.

The cabinet will discuss the attack at its weekly cabinet meeting Sunday.

Since the attack, both Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni have spoken to numerous world leaders, including a conversation Olmert had with US President George W. Bush Thursday evening, shortly after the shooting took place.

Bush, according to a statement issued by the White House, told Olmert the US "stands firmly with Israel in the face of this terrible attack," and that "this barbaric and vicious attack on innocent civilians deserves the condemnation of every nation."

Since the attack, the Foreign Ministry has been engaged in a public diplomacy offensive, with various officials, led by spokesman Aryeh Mekel, appearing in the media with the underlying message that the attack in Jerusalem was the same as the rocket attacks in the western Negev, in that the aim is to indiscriminately kill Jews to set back the peace process.

In addition, the ministry was also in contact over the weekend with the US, French and Ethiopian embassies because three of the eight murdered students held dual citizenship: Segev Peniel Avihail had French citizenship; Avraham David Moses had US citizenship; and Doron Meherete had Ethiopian citizenship.

In addition, ministry officials said that one of those still in the hospital holds Canadian and British citizenship, and another holds US citizenship.

Egypt: Syria may be thwarting cease-fire'

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Israel jets strike northern Gaza

Israeli aircraft have attacked the northern Gaza Strip after Palestinian militants fired rockets into Israel.

The violence follows several days of relative calm in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The Israeli air force said it was targeting a rocket-firing team. There is no word on casualties.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has condemned Israel's attacks on Palestinian civilians, calling them inappropriate and disproportionate.

Speaking to a summit of Muslim leaders in Senegal, he called for an immediate ceasefire by both sides.

The Palestinian rocket attacks came several hours after Israeli undercover forces in the West Bank town of Bethlehem shot dead four Palestinian militants.

Those killed included a prominent local leader of the Islamic Jihad militant group.

An Israeli army spokesman said the air strikes were a response to the firing of 12 rockets from Gaza into southern Israel.

Two of those rockets, he added, exploded in the town of Sderot, causing damage to a building but no injuries.

"The Israeli air force raid targeted a rocket launcher that was ready to fire in the Beit Hanoun area in the northern Gaza Strip," he told reporters.

Islamic Jihad said it had fired 15 rockets and 10 mortars.

In Bethlehem, witnesses said a team of Israeli commandos disguised as Palestinians and driving a car with Palestinian number plates had sprayed a car with bullets.

Those killed included Muhammad Shahada, 48, a senior leader of Islamic Jihad, and Ahmed al-Balbul, also 48, a leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. Two other members of the Islamic Jihad group also died.

Israeli officials confirmed the raid, saying they had intended to make arrests but opened fire when they saw that three of the militants were armed with assault rifles.

Palestinian officials from Islamic Jihad and Hamas denounced the operation.

"Islamic Jihad and the other resistance groups have the right to respond in any place to this crime of assassination and all options are open," said Dawud Shihab, an Islamic Jihad leader in Gaza.

"What the enemy has done undermines any talk of a ceasefire."

There had been a lull in the violence in Gaza over the last few days, with the Israeli military reducing operations on Monday, following a sharp drop in rocket fire from Palestinian militants.

Egypt has been working to broker an agreement between the two sides.

On Wednesday, the Palestinian militant group Hamas set out its conditions for a truce, calling for an end to Israeli military operations in Gaza and the re-opening of its borders, in return for halting rocket attacks.

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