LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
July 11/07

Bible Reading of the day-Daily Star
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 9,32-38. As they were going out, a demoniac who could not speak was brought to him, and when the demon was driven out the mute person spoke. The crowds were amazed and said, "Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel." But the Pharisees said, "He drives out demons by the prince of demons."Jesus went around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness. At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest."

Opinions
Adding Hezbollah to EU's Terrorist List".By Michael Jacobson & Matthew Levitt-July 11/07
It's time for the Jewish community to pressure Israel to accept peace-By The Daily Star-July 11/07
History and Hezbollah: A Podcast Interview With Augustus Richard ...ePluribus Media-July 11/07
Commentary: Israel and Hezbollah, Round 2?United Press International - USA-July 11/07

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for July 11/07
Brammertz Asked Damascus for Information on Car Used in Gemayel's Murder-Naharnet
Hizbullah Criticizes Sarkozy Over Accusation of Terrorism-Naharnet
France to Families of Kidnapped Soldiers: We will Press Hizbullah to 'Renounce Terrorism'-Naharnet
Berri Slams Emie's Stance towards Saniora-Naharnet
Soldiers: Sarkozy will pass on "message" to Hezbollah delegates in ...European Jewish Press
Israel keeps a watchful eye as domestic feud roils Lebanon-Ha'aretz
Aoun's Bloc to Contest By-Elections-Naharnet
Geagea defends Siniora against charges of 'Islamizing' state-Daily Star
Fighting rages on in North Lebanon-Ya Libnan
Analysis: Rumors of Syria-Israel war-United Press International - USA
Amr Mussa discusses 'all sensitive points' on Lebanon with Syria-Earthtimes.org
Syria advises its citizens to leave Lebanon by July 15-Monsters and Critics.com
Baath official warns of war-Ynetnews
Shalom: Likud run like Syria's Baath Party-Ynetnews
FACTBOX-Costs of war and recovery in Lebanon and Israel-Reuters
Olmert: Lebanon war was unavoidable-Ynetnews - Israel
Italian PM Prodi demands Hamas free abducted IDF Cpl. Shalit-Ha'aretz
Israel's Olmert invites Syria's-France24
Arab League chief discusses Lebanese crisis with Syria's Assad-International Herald Tribune
Sarkozy says France aims to convince Hizbullah to 'renounce terrorist acts, become political party'-Daily Star
Moussa cites 'signs of progress' in mediation effort-Daily Star
Israeli, Lebanese armies condemn attack on UNIFIL-Daily Star
Sayyed says his detainment 'will not last'-Daily Star
Change and Reform bloc calls for legal review of by-elections-Daily Star
Spain suspects three Islamist groups may have waged attack on UNIFIL troops-Daily Star
Lebanese youth take part in US exchange program-Daily Star
Nahr al-Bared fighting continues unabated-Daily Star
South Lebanese dispute allocation of reconstruction funds-Daily Star
Syria hands over car linked to Gemayel killing-Daily Star
Lack of sewage treatment facilities in Chouf threatens pollution, health issues-Daily Star

Shifting France's tone, Sarkozy accuses Hezbollah of terrorist acts
PARIS - French President Nicolas Sarkozy accused Lebanese militant group Hezbollah on Monday of carrying out terrorist acts, another sign of a shift in France's Mideast policy since his election in May. He spoke during a meeting with the families of three captive Israeli soldiers, including two kidnapped by Hezbollah — and days before France hosts a conference for Lebanon's feuding factions. Sarkozy said France's goal was for the group to "renounce terrorist acts and become a political party almost like any other," said David Martinon, Sarkozy's spokesman. Sarkozy's predecessor, Jacques Chirac, did not refer to Hezbollah as a terrorist group, arguing that it was better to prod the group into becoming a purely political organization. While the United States and some other nations label the Shiite group as a terrorist organization, the European Union does not.
Sarkozy has signaled that he is more open to Israel and its analysis of the Middle East than Chirac. Upon Sarkozy's election, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert expressed confidence that Israeli-French relations would improve. Family members of the Israeli soldiers — Gilad Shalit, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev — met with Sarkozy and members of France's Jewish community at the presidential Elysee Palace. France is involved because Shalit has dual French-Israeli citizenship.
The families urged Sarkozy to use France's contacts in the Arab world to press for their release. Sarkozy told them that he had already raised the matter with Arab leaders, including the kings of Jordan and Saudi Arabia, Martinon said. France is organizing a conference this weekend of representatives of 14 Lebanese factions in Paris to try to end the country's deepening political crisis. Hezbollah is expected to be represented, and French officials will raise the matter of the captive soldiers with the group, said Martinon. "Hezbollah's trip to Paris will be the opportunity to pass the message on to its representatives," Martinon said, adding that Sarkozy himself will not meet them. Noam Shalit, Gilad Shalit's father, said he sensed that Sarkozy was devoting more energy to the case than Chirac did.
"He promised us that he's doing all the efforts he can in this matter," Noam Shalit said in English after the meeting. "He considers my son as a French citizen as well as an Israeli soldier."
In June 2006, Palestinian gunmen with links to the Islamic Hamas movement tunneled from Gaza into Israel, killed two Israeli soldiers and captured Shalit. Three weeks later, Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas crossed Israel's northern border and captured Regev and Goldwasser, helping trigger a 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. Hamas recently released a recorded message from Shalit, the first sign of life since he was seized. Last week, a Hamas-linked group freed British journalist Alan Johnston, kidnapped by gunmen from a Gaza City street and held for 16 weeks.
Hezbollah has not released any details on the conditions of Goldwasser and Regev or provided any sign they are still alive.
Hezbollah has often been a thorny issue for French statesmen. Chirac invited criticism when he attended a 2002 Francophone summit in Lebanon that also included Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah. During a 2000 visit to the West Bank, former Prime Minister Lionel Jospin described attacks by Hezbollah guerrillas against Israeli soldiers in south Lebanon as "terrorist" activity. His comments sparked a riot at the university where he was speaking, and anger throughout the Arab world. -AP

ArDO and WCCR call for the Lebanese detainees in Syria to be released immediately
ArDO and WCCR calls on the Lebanese authorities to act fast for the release of all the Lebanese detainees in Syrian prisons, such as the peaceful musical father Albert Sherfen and the political leader Botros Khawand.
Aboun Sherfen was taken from his monastery on October the 13th 1990 by the Arab Syrian Army and taken to Syria a few days later. Mr. Khawand was taken from his home in 1992.
We call on the Seniora government to lift this issue and the rest of the Lebanese detainees in Syrian jails to the United Nations.
We also call on President Lahoud to use his good relation with the Syrian authority to end this bad situation those Lebanese are living every day and night.
We call also on President Bachar Assad and his government to look into their hearts and think wise and have mercy on those innocent people. Their mothers and fathers are suffering.
WCCR and ArDO call on the official Red Cross and the Red Crescent and the Red David Star and the Amnesty International and the Human Rights Watch to visit the Syrian prisons and check on the health of those Lebanese prisoners that their only crime was that they loved their country all too much and wanted to defend the people from all kind of injustice.
May we come to the light in this very painful issue.
Lebanon will never solve its problems before the problem of those poor people is solved.
The real conciliation in Lebanon is not completed until those mothers and fathers say so.
The Cedars revolution will continue until we achieve a fair result for all our people.
By: ArDO and WCCR human rights offices


Adding Hizballah to the European Union's Terrorist List
By Michael Jacobson and Matthew Levitt
June 21, 2007
On June 20, 2007, Michael Jacobson, a senior fellow at The Washington Institute and former senior advisor at the Treasury Department, testified before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe during a hearing titled "Adding Hezbollah to the EU Terrorist List." Matthew Levitt, director of the Institute's Stein Program on Terrorism, Intelligence, and Policy, provided written testimony to the committee. The following is a summary of their remarks.
Download the full text of Mr. Jacobson's prepared remarks in PDF format (129 KB)
Download the full text of Dr. Levitt's prepared remarks in PDF format (226 KB).
The primary obstacle to placing Hizballah on the European Union's list of designated terrorists -- first adopted in December 2001 in the wake of the September 11 attacks -- is that consensus among all twenty-seven EU member states is required to add a name not already on the initial list of al-Qaeda and Taliban affiliates. Achieving consensus is, not surprisingly, an increasingly difficult endeavor as the EU continues to expand.
France has publicly led the charge against a Hizballah designation. Given its historical role in and ongoing ties to Lebanon, France is highly sensitive to the political situation there and is reluctant to take any action that it believes could upset the tenuous domestic political balance. Also likely fueling European opposition is the presence of European military forces in the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) stationed in Shiite-dominated southern Lebanon.
Despite these factors, a number of European countries favor designating Hizballah, including the Netherlands, Britain, and Germany. Unfortunately, it is difficult to assess exactly where each European member state stands on the issue. The process of adding and removing names from the terrorist list is done in secret by a committee that generally meets twice a year, with no public record of its proceedings. Given this lack of transparency, it is unclear what it will take for the Europeans to achieve consensus on the Hizballah issue. For example, are countries such as Spain and Belgium merely following France's lead in opposing a ban, or do they strongly hold this position of their own accord? If France were to shift its longstanding opposition, would these countries continue defending their current stance?
In any case, a European ban would have both a symbolic and practical impact on Hizballah. EU member states wield far greater capabilities against terrorism financing than they did prior to the September 11 attacks. In addition to establishing the EU-wide terrorist lists, European countries have also criminalized terrorism financing, developed systems to freeze assets, and created or designated specific government agencies to lead the effort against such financing. Of course, for a ban to have maximal impact, EU member states would also have to step up relevant law enforcement and intelligence efforts to get a better handle on Hizballah's European activities. If the group were officially recognized as a terrorist entity, member states might be more likely to increase the resources and attention they devote to investigating it.
The Europeans are unlikely to move in that direction, however, unless they regard Hizballah as a direct threat. Accordingly, the EU must come to recognize that although Hizballah has not carried out attacks in Europe for a number of years, this could change rapidly. Hizballah's infrastructure in Europe and ties to Iran give it the ability to mount an attack quickly should the perceived need arise.
As Europeans have learned firsthand, accommodation is rarely an effective strategy with terrorist organizations. France, Britain, and Germany are notable examples of countries that have learned from their mistakes in this regard. Important distinctions between Hizballah and al-Qaeda-style jihadists notwithstanding, EU members should at least consider their prior experiences in deciding whether to blacklist Hizballah. When one weighs the likely benefits of designation against the potential dangers of inaction, it should be clear that banning Hizballah is a necessary and productive step forward.
Matthew Levitt
Pressing our European allies to add Hizballah to the EU terrorist list is more important today than ever before. Nearly a year after it dragged both Lebanon and Israel into a devastating war, Hizballah has reportedly restocked its weapons caches and missile arsenals, rebuilt much of its destroyed infrastructure, and capitalized on its ability to hold the Israel Defense Forces at bay in order to position itself as a face of "resistance" and pride in the Arab and Muslim worlds. Hizballah's proactive and unabated support for radical Palestinian factions engaged in acts of terrorism and political violence is central to these groups' success. Renewed rocket attacks into northern Israel this week and the recent Hamas coup in Gaza (which tactically replicated Hizballah actions in southern Lebanon) are just the most recent signs of how successful this strategy has become.
In addition, Hizballah is Syria's primary proxy in Lebanon since the withdrawal of Syrian troops in April 2005. As such, it is playing a particularly disruptive role in opposing the international tribunal tasked with investigating the assassination of former prime minister Rafiq Hariri, as well as the various attacks on other political and intellectual leaders of the anti-Syrian coalition. Hizballah operatives are further suspected of training Iraqi insurgents and sending their own combatants into Iraq.
Hizballah is particularly active in Europe, where it is engaged in financial and logistical support operations as well as political activities meant to legitimize itself in the eyes of the West. Although the organization has not conducted terrorist attacks in Europe for many years, it is still active in the region, primarily using Europe as a fundraising and recruiting ground. A recently released German intelligence assessment estimated that 900 Lebanese Hizballah members (an increase of 100 from previous reports) live in Germany alone. Hizballah has also used Europe as a launching pad for sending operatives into Israel to conduct surveillance and attacks.
An EU designation of Hizballah would facilitate law enforcement and judicial cooperation against the group's criminal activities in Europe. The EU instructs its member states to "fully exploit the powers conferred on them by acts of the European Union" when they are investigating or prosecuting entities on the terrorist list. Although engaging in criminal activity normally increases terrorists' vulnerability by exposing them to the scrutiny of law enforcement authorities, Hizballah's reliance on sympathizers and members of local expatriate communities minimizes that potential exposure. For example, German investigations have revealed that Lebanese expatriates who support Hizballah often provide funding to the group via profits from quasi-legitimate businesses such as used car dealerships. An EU ban on Hizballah would criminalize such funding, allowing law enforcement to fully investigate such ostensibly legal support networks.
Targeting Hizballah could also help further international efforts against Iran. As the director of U.S. national intelligence recently testified before Congress, Iran views its terrorist capabilities as a "key element of its national strategy." Hizballah receives funding, equipment, and training from Iran and is at the center of this strategy. Some of its funding has been transferred through Europe. For example, since 2001, Iran's Bank Saderat has transferred $50 million in government funds directly to a Hizballah-controlled entity via the bank's London branch.
Perhaps the most compelling reason of all to designate Hizballah is that the organization itself fears a European ban. According to Hizballah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah, such an action would "destroy" the group: as he put it, "The sources of our funding would dry up, and the sources of moral, political, and material support would be destroyed." Hizballah is eager to be seen as a legitimate political party. It seeks international recognition and fears political isolation and designation as an illicit actor. The EU should do what it can to confirm those fears.
This rapporteur's summary was prepared by Jake Lipton.
http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/html/pdf/Testimony/Testimony-20070620-Jacobson.pdf

Brammertz Asked Damascus for Information on Car Used in Gemayel's Murder
Naharnet: Chief U.N. investigator Serge Brammertz has asked Syrian authorities for information on the identity of the occupants of the stolen car used in the Nov. 2006 assassination of Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel, well-informed sources told Naharnet Tuesday.
They said Brammertz traveled to Syria last week to ask security and judicial officials for detailed information on how the Honda CRV entered Syrian territories.
Last week, reliable sources informed of the investigation told Naharnet that the vehicle used in the Gemayel assassination was stolen from the mountain resort of Brummana in October 2006 and taken to an area in the northern sector of the eastern Bekaa valley where car bandits operate.
Shortly after that, a member of Ahmed Jibril's Syrian-backed PFLP-GC approached the gang and bartered the car for a quantity of weapons, the sources added.
The car was used in the assassination of Gemayel in suburban Jdaideh, almost a month after it was stolen from Brummana, the sources added.
The vehicle was later driven to Syria, which turned it back to Lebanon in Dec. 2006 in line with a warrant issued by the Interpol, they explained.
The well-informed sources told Naharnet on Tuesday that U.N. investigators in the Gemayel probe were focusing on two assumptions.
The first hypothesis is that the Honda CRV entered Syrian territories through "legitimate" border checkpoints, meaning that Damascus authorities likely had information on the vehicle's occupants. The second theory is that the stolen car entered Syria through "illegitimate" crossings.
The second theory is that the stolen car entered Syria through "illegitimate" passages, which implies that the subject of border crossings -- overseen by Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian sides -- has to be brought up. This also suggests that illegal smuggling along the border is being carried out in areas familiar only to its local residents, since traveling by strangers in confined neighborhoods could expose individuals.
The U.N. commission is investigating the vehicle's course to pin down the culprits in Gemayel's assassination. It is also studying the possibility that the white Mitsubishi van used in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's Feb. 2005 murder had crossed into Lebanon from Syria. Mohammed Zuheir Saddiq, a key witness in the Hariri killing, had told investigators that he saw the van being prepared for the bombing in one of Syria's Palestinian refugee camps. The sources told Naharnet that Brammertz has asked U.N. chief Ban Ki-Moon to agree to postpone the submission of his report on Hariri's killing and related crimes from mid-June to mid-July after investigators had laid their hands on important information. Beirut, 10 Jul 07, 10:53

Hizbullah Criticizes Sarkozy Over Accusation of Terrorism Directed at Group
Naharnet: Hizbullah criticized French President Nicolas Sarkozy over his accusation that the group is committed to terrorist acts, a sign of a shift in France's Middle East policy. Sarkozy declared that France will press Hizbullah during all-party Lebanon dialogue in Paris later this week to renounce the use of terrorism and become a mainstream Lebanese political party, his spokesman David Martinon said. Sarkozy on Monday told family members of three kidnapped Israeli soldiers that his "goal was that Hizbullah renounces the use of terrorism and becomes once again a political party like the others and part of parliamentary democracy."
Hizbullah is sending former cabinet member Mohammed Fneish to take part in the talks in Paris from July 14 to 16 to try to break Lebanon's political deadlock.
Fneish was quick to retort, asking why Hizbullah was invited to the Paris meeting if it was considered a "terrorist" organization.
Fneish, in remarks published by the daily An Nahar Tuesday, said Hizbullah has "not yet taken a position" on Sarkozy's comments.
A Hizbullah official, however, told The Daily Star that the party's representatives would still go to the meeting for "the sake of Lebanon."
Sarkozy on Monday told family members of three kidnapped Israeli soldiers that his "goal was that Hizbullah renounces the use of terrorism and becomes once again a political party like the others and part of parliamentary democracy." "Hizbullah's presence in Paris will mark the occasion to deliver this message to its representatives," Martinon said. He said Sarkozy will not however meet with the Hizbullah delegation. Sarkozy's stance was in flat contradiction of the French policy under his predecessor Jacques Chirac, who would not refer to Hizbullah as a terrorist group. Chirac argued that Hizbullah should not keep a "military wing," and that it was better that the group turn into a purely political party. Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner has invited representatives of Lebanese political parties and civil society for talks to try to ease the worst crisis in Lebanon since the 1990 end of a 15-year civil war. Beirut, 10 Jul 07, 07:03

Aoun's Bloc to Contest By-Elections
Naharnet: Gen. Michel Aoun's Change and Reform Parliamentary Bloc said Monday it would submit an impugn motion in the call for by-elections set for Aug. 5 by Premier Fouad Saniora's majority government. The bloc, in a statement released after its meeting at Aoun's residence in suburban Rabiyeh, said the move was not meant to impede the by-elections or launch political confrontations, but rather to make sure that outcome of the vote would be "legal and constitutional."
The move, the statement added, was also motivated by a "keen interest in safeguarding national partnership."
Any call for elections, Aoun's bloc said, should "not overcome authorities of the presidency," in reference to President Emile Lahoud, who has refused to sign a bill calling for by-elections in the Metin and Beirut constituencies to replace slain parliamentarians Pierre Gemayel and Walid Eido.
Gemayel was gunned down by unidentified assailants on Nov. 21 and Eido was killed by a booby-trapped car explosion last month. Both parliamentarians were members of the anti-Syria March 14 majority alliance. The alliance blamed both crimes on Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime. Damascus has denied the charges.
Aoun's bloc is allied with the Hizbullah-led opposition which is backed by Syria and Iran. The statement said Aoun's Parliamentary bloc "highly values" sacrifices made by the Lebanese Army which is fighting Fatah al-Islam terrorists in north Lebanon since May 20.
It criticized the Saniora government, which is backed by the Arab League and international community, for failing to launch an Arab and international campaign to provide the army with the required "material support." Beirut, 09 Jul 07, 19:25

Berri Slams Emie's Stance towards Saniora
House Speaker Nabih Berri slammed the French ambassador, saying his supportive stance towards Prime Minister Fouad Saniora's government were not in favor of the upcoming Paris-hosted dialogue aimed at ending Lebanon's months-long political stalemate. Berri was responding to comments made Sunday by French ambassador Bernard Emie in which he voiced full support for Saniora's cabinet, labeling it "the only democratic, legitimate and constitutional government."Emie also praised as "brave" the pro-government March 14 coalition. Berri criticized as "biased" Emie's position, saying his stance was against the Lebanon dialogue. His remarks were reported by Melhem Karam, President of the Journalists Union, after a meeting with the speaker on Monday. "As far as I know, the French people have elected Mr. Nicolas Sarkozy president of the republic," Berri said. "What I didn't know was that they have elected an ambassador as overseas president." Beirut, 10 Jul 07, 09:40

Fears of a New War with Hizbullah Brewing in Israel
The Lebanese army post just a stone's throw from her home on Israel's northern border reminds Shula Asayag not only of last year's painful war but also of the new conflict she fears is brewing. Asayag's bed-and-breakfast business in the small rural frontline community of Zarit has failed to pick up a year after the devastating war between Israel and the Shiite militia Hizbullah, deepening her ominous premonition.
"It has been relatively quiet, but recently there is tension in the air. We are at our wits' end because we sense new war is going to break out," said the 57-year-old immigrant from Morocco. Israel is still coping with the after-effects of a war that weakened the government, failed to achieve its main aims and which critics say dealt a heavy blow to its deterrent image as a regional power, heightening the chances of renewed conflict. Officially, Israel cites improvements along the highly volatile frontier since Hizbullah sparked the war by capturing two Israeli servicemen in a brazen cross-border raid last July 12, just a few hundred meters (yards) from Zarit.
Heavily armed Israeli troops on the edge of the community now face Lebanese soldiers and U.N. peacekeepers across a wadi that used to sprawl with Hizbullah militants and yellow flags. U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the war last August 14, imposed tough limitations on Israel's foe, including banning Hizbullah militants from southern Lebanon and its weapons supplies from Iran and Syria.
"All of the Hizbullah positions along the border are today taken up by the Lebanese army. U.N. forces are much more present in the area and are deployed in an entirely different way. So are we," said General Yossi Bachar who heads Israel's regional army command. Across northern Israel, towns, businesses and homes targeted by more than 4,000 Hezbollah rockets have been almost entirely rebuilt and economic growth is gaining pace, despite a drop in the key tourism industry.
But local residents and officials sense little real change beneath the surface, charging that while Hizbullah may be less visible, it remains ever-present and continues to enjoy deep-rooted support across the border. "We hear the incitement against us, shrieking from the loudspeakers in village mosques across the border," said Asayag's neighbor, Shula Cohen. "Hizbullah has returned to the border fence recently. We can see their men carrying flags and observing us. Every little noise makes us jump. I am afraid at nights and I think the war will return."
In the 34 days of what the Jewish state calls the Second Lebanon war, 116 Israeli soldiers and 44 civilians were killed. More than 1,200 Lebanese died, most of them civilians. U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon has deplored the failure to reach a permanent ceasefire, release the captured soldiers or end Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace. He called persistent reports of breaches of the arms embargo along the Lebanon-Syria border "a major impediment" to a long-term solution.
Israeli Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz, a former army chief and defense minister, warned recently that the Shiite militia has returned to its full pre-war power, and that its arsenal of rockets has been fully restocked. Tension with Syria, which Israel accuses of supporting Hizbullah -and with Palestinian militants- has also increased since the war. Officials on both sides warn that any conflict this summer would engulf the entire region.
A rocket fired from Lebanon at the northern town of Kiryat Shmona last month underscored the volatility of the situation, although Israel blamed the strike on a radical Palestinian group and Hizbullah quickly denied involvement.
The perception in Israel that the war was a failure, exposing inadequacies in the army and government, has refused to subside and forced resignations. It could yet see Prime Minister Ehud Olmert lose his job. Two of the three leaders seen as bearing primary responsibility for the shortcomings -- army chief Dan Halutz and Defense Minister Amir Peretz -- stepped down earlier this year after a tidal wave of public anger. Olmert, who was accused of "severe failures" in an interim government report into the conflict, has so far clung on but will probably face new calls for his resignation when the Winograd commission releases its full report in August.
The war, together with a string of sex scandals and graft probes implicating both himself and his lieutenants, have rocked his government and saddled Olmert with the worst approval ratings for a prime minister in Israel's history.
"A year later, we still haven't forgotten the failures of the war and the three responsible, one of whom still remains in power," said former reserve general Uzi Dayan, who led the protest movement following the conflict. Yet towering above the anger, fear and frustration is nationwide concern over the fate of the two captured reservists, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, about whom there has been no news or sign of life. Micky Goldwasser, visiting for the first time the spot where her son was captured, has not given up hope that one day the pair will come home safe. "Our hope for their return has not changed," she said, gazing across the border fence into Lebanon.(AFP) Beirut, 09 Jul 07, 18:39

It's time for the Jewish community to pressure Israel to accept peace
By The Daily Star
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Editorial
Jewish people around the world have long embraced a mythical view of Israel as a benevolent, modern-day David fighting off the menacing Goliath of the Arab nations. Israel, as the myth goes, is like a weak and tiny island statelet surrounded by an ocean of hostile states and peoples that have rejected peace and instead have actively sought out the destruction of the Jewish state. This perception has led many to conclude that peace is not an objective worth pursuing, nor is it a goal that is within Israel's reach.
It is understandable, given the unique history of persecution that the Jewish people have endured, that they would have fears that others are seeking out their annihilation. But those of us who have been on the receiving end of Israel's massive arsenal of war and aggressive use of force have long been baffled by such distorted descriptions of the Jewish state. Even as the myth of a vulnerable Jewish state has been perpetuated, it is Israel that has been expelling successive generations of refugees and illegally occupying and annexing Arab lands. And any honest assessment would have to conclude that while recent years have seen the emergence of more effective resistance forces that have proven capable of defending their own lands, there is currently no Arab force that could conceivably eliminate Israel. The Jewish state remains the region's only nuclear state, backed by billions of dollars of US military aid each year. The threats to its existence are mostly imagined.
It is time for Jewish people around the world to adopt a more realistic view of the state of Israel, and it is doubly urgent to do so now because there is an historic opportunity at hand. The Arab League is sending envoys this week to Israel on a mission to promote the Arab peace initiative, a vision of a two-state solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict that has been endorsed by all of the league's members. In other words, the Arabs are offering the Israelis a chance to achieve peace. If this gesture does not shatter the myths about Israel's neighbors, nothing will.
The price of rejecting the Arab peace overture will no doubt be high. Already, the region is simmering with tensions stirred by decades of oppressive occupation and evidence of the inhumane conditions in which Palestinians are forced to live in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and squalid refugee camps around the region. While the Israelis have a right to defend themselves, there is no conceivable justification for allowing such gross injustices to persist indefinitely. The goal of peace is within reach, and Jewish people around the world have a duty to encourage Israel to grab it.

Commentary: Israel and Hezbollah, Round 2?
Published: July 9, 2007
By ARNAUD DE BORCHGRAVE
UPI Editor at Large
WASHINGTON, July 9 (UPI) -- Whether Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he wants to wipe Israel off the map is still contested, even by anti-mullah Iranian Americans. But that he wants to wipe out the Jewish state, there can be no doubt. As he completes his visits to every Iranian town, the collection of his pronunciamentos is edifying reading.
Culled from a wide variety of sources, ranging from the London Daily Telegraph, to the Suddeutsche Zeitung Online, to France's Le Monde and Liberation, Ahmadinejad spells out the target and the strategy:
-- This regime (Israel) will one day disappear.
-- The Zionist regime is a rotten tree that will be blown away by one storm.
-- The countdown for the destruction of Israel has begun.
-- Zionists are the personification of Satan.
-- In the case of any unwise move by the fake regime of Israel, Iran's response will be so destructive and quick that the regime will regret its move forever.
-- The West invented the myth of the massacre of the Jews (in World War II) and placed it above Allah, religions and prophets.
Ahmadinejad's strategic recipe:
-- We don't shy away from declaring that Islam is ready to rule the world.
-- The wave of the Islamist revolution will soon reach the entire world.
-- Our revolution's main mission is to pave the way for the reappearance pf the 12th Imam, the Mahdi (a 5-year-old boy who vanished 1,100 years ago and who will lead the world into an era of peace and prosperity, but not before the planet is convulsed by death and destruction).
-- Soon Islam will become the dominating force in the world, occupying first place in the number of followers among all other religions.
-- Is there a craft more beautiful, more sublime, more divine, than the craft of giving yourself to martyrdom and becoming holy? Do not doubt Allah will prevail, and Islam will conquer mountaintops of the entire world.
-- Iran can recruit hundreds of suicide bombers a day. Suicide is an invincible weapon. Suicide bombers in this land showed us the way, and they enlighten our future.
-- The will to commit suicide is one of the best ways of life.
-- By the grace of Allah we will be a nuclear power and Iran does not give a damn about (IAEA) demands (to freeze enrichment of nuclear fuel).
-- Iran does not give a damn about resolutions.
-- The Islamic Republic of Iran has the capacity to quickly become a world superpower.
-- Iran's enemies know your courage, faith and commitment to Islam and ... Iran has created a powerful army that can powerfully defend the political borders and the integrity of the Iranian nation and cut off the hand of any aggressor and place the sign of disgrace on their forehead.
-- In parallel to the official political war there is a hidden war going on and the Islamic states should benefit from their economic potential to cut off the hands of the enemies.
Addressing a conference devoted to "The World Without Zionism," Ahmadinejad said, "To those who doubt, to those who ask is it possible, or those who do not believe, I say accomplishment of a world without America and Israel is both possible and feasible."
Hyperbole, gigantism, overkill, huckstering, hocus-pocus, all of the above. But intelligence mounts daily of Iranian efforts to undermine U.S. efforts to stabilize Iraq and Afghanistan and U.N. efforts to stem the violence in Lebanon (six U.N. peacekeepers were killed by a roadside IED).
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's report said, "It is widely believed in Lebanon, including by the government, that the strengthening of Palestinian outposts could not have taken place without the tacit knowledge and support of the Syrian government."
Ban also noted Israel's claim that "the transfer of sophisticated weapons by Syria and Iran across the Lebanese-Syrian border, including long-range rockets (with a range of 250 miles) ... (and) anti-tank and anti-aircraft systems, occurs on a weekly basis."
Israel also says Hezbollah "armed elements are constructing new facilities in the Bekaa valley, including command and control centers, rocket launching capabilities and conducting military training exercises."
There is little doubt Israel and Hezbollah are suiting up for a resumption of last summer's 34-day war in which the Israel Defense Force came off second best due to poor political and military leadership. Hezbollah is also shorthand for Syria and Iran. Tehran supplies the equipment and the funding. Syria acts as the transmission belt and is generously compensated.
Damascus has evidently concluded that an Israeli offensive across the Golan Heights is in the offing. For the first time in 40 years, Syria dismantled military checkpoints on the road to Kuneitra on its side of the Golan. Foreign journalists were barred from covering Israeli maneuvers on the Heights. Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said the IDF was conducting military maneuvers -- and nothing more.
One of the more plausible scenarios has Israel preparing for a drive into Syria across the Golan Heights, and then fighting a "decisive" battle with the Syrian army on the road to Damascus, followed by a left "hook" into Lebanon to execute an outflanking attack on Hezbollah.
That could also be a strategically propitious moment for U.S. action against Iran. It remains to be seen whether the key players in President George W. Bush's National Security Council would agree an opportunity is at hand to dust off an Air Force and Navy contingency plan to take out Iran's 23 nuclear facilities.

France to Families of Kidnapped Soldiers: We will Press Hizbullah to 'Renounce Terrorism'
France will press Hizbullah during talks in Paris to renounce the use of terrorism and become a mainstream Lebanese political party, President Nicolas Sarkozy's spokesman said Monday. Hizbullah is sending former Energy Minister Mohammed Fneish to take part in all-party talks from July 14 to 16 to try to break Lebanon's political deadlock. Sarkozy told family members of three kidnapped Israeli soldiers that his "goal was that Hizbullah renounces the use of terrorism and becomes once again a political party like the others and part of parliamentary democracy," said spokesman David Martinon.
Family members of Gilad Shalit, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev urged Sarkozy to use France's contacts in the Arab world to press for their release.
France is involved because Shalit has dual French-Israeli citizenship.
Noam Shalit, Gilad Shalit's father, said he senses that Sarkozy, who took office in May, is devoting more energy to the case than former President Jacques Chirac did.
"He promised us that he's doing all the efforts he can in this matter," Noam Shalit said in English after the meeting. "He considers my son as a French citizen as well as an Israeli soldier." Shalit was kidnapped by Palestinian gunmen in June 2006. On July 12, 2006, Hizbullah fighters crossed Israel's northern border and captured Regev and Goldwasser, which triggered the 34-day Israeli offensive on Lebanon. "Only by talking can we do good things -- we ask them to talk," said Goldwasser's wife, Karnit Goldwasser. Hizbullah has not released any details on the conditions of Goldwasser and Regev or provided any sign they are still alive.
The soldiers' families want France to raise the issue at the conference among representatives of 14 feuding Lebanese factions to try to ease the worst crisis in Lebanon since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war. "Hizbullah's presence in Paris will mark the occasion to deliver this message to its representatives," Martinon said. Sarkozy will not however meet with the Hizbullah delegation. Lebanon has been deadlocked since November when six pro-Syrian ministers quit the government of Premier Fouad Saniora.
Both the anti- and pro-Syrian camps in Lebanon have publicly welcomed the French initiative. France has taken a leading role in trying to restore stability to Lebanon, with Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner traveling to Beirut in May for his first foreign trip abroad. But Saniora last month said he did not expect much progress.
"We support all of the initiatives that France has taken to bring together the Lebanese people, have a dialogue and bridge differences," said Saniora.
But he added that "expectations are not extremely high for this meeting," noting that the participants would not be from senior levels.(AFP-AP-Naharnet) (AFP photo shows Noam Shalit) Beirut, 09 Jul 07, 13:41