GPL M/ EAST UPDATES FROM MARCH 5…NO. 156

IRAN CRISIS ARRIVING FASTER THAN WE THINK : - Editorial (Wall Street Journal)
Iran now possesses 5,600 centrifuges in which it can enrich uranium - a 34-fold increase from 2006 - and plans to add 45,000 more over five years. That will give Tehran an ability to make atomic bombs on an industrial scale. Furthermore, most proliferation experts agree that Iran’s heavy water reactor in Arak, scheduled for completion in 2011, can have no purpose other than to produce weapons-grade plutonium.

WATCH WHAT YOU SAY ABOUT ISLAM ? : - Christopher Hitchens (Slate)
The so-called mainstream Muslims, grouped in the Organization of the Islamic Conference, are demanding at the UN that Islam be officially shielded from any criticism. Paragraph 10 of a resolution says, in effect, watch what you say, because our declared intention is to criminalize opinions that differ with the one true faith.

HAIFA AGAIN A PORT OF CALL FOR US NAVY : - Maya Spitzer (Jerusalem Post)
After years of being off limits, Haifa is once again a port of call for the U.S. Navy. The USS Vella Gulf guided missile cruiser docked in Haifa port on Sunday March 1, to provide rest and relaxation for its 400 crew members.

SAUDI MINISTER SAYS ARABS SHOULD STAND UP TO IRAN - Salah Nasrawi
Saudi Arabia’s top diplomat urged Arabs on Tuesday March3 to stand up to Iran’s ambitions in the region, including its nuclear program. At a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo, Prince Saud al-Faisal stressed “a unified and a joint vision” in dealing with the “Iranian challenge in regard to Arabian Gulf security and the nuclear issue.” The predominantly Sunni Arab Middle East has been wary of the growing influence of Shiite Iran.

ISRAEL’S AIR FORCE BOMBS GAZA SMUGGLING TUNNELS AGAIN : - Anshel Pfeffer
Israel Air Force jets bombed smuggling tunnels in Gaza near the border with Egypt on Tuesday and Wednesday, March 3 and 4, in retaliation for Kassam rocket and mortar fire from Gaza into Israel. The Israel Defense Forces spokesperson’s office said that secondary explosions could be seen from one of the tunnels, indicating the presence of ammunition inside it. (Ha’aretz)

DOUBTS ABOUT A TWO-STATE SOLUTION : - Giora Eiland
Not only is the “two-state solution” far from being the single solution, it’s a bad solution, and will likely never be achieved. The idea of “two states” is based on the assumption that the primary Palestinian national ambition is statehood. There is no basis to this. They would prefer the solution of “no state at all” - that is, the State of Israel will cease to exist and the area between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River will be divided among Jordan, Syria and Egypt.

NETANYAHU RESOLUTE TO BRING BARAK INTO CABINET :
Likud chairman Benjamin Netanyahu is so determined to have Labor chairman Ehud Barak as his defense minister that he is willing to give him the portfolio even if Barak is unable to bring his entire Labor faction into the coalition, sources close to Netanyahu said Monday.

ISRAELI RESEARCHERS DEVELOP AN ADDITIVE TO ‘DENATURE’ FISSILE MATERIAL :
Israeli engineers have developed a technique to “denature” plutonium, making the fissile material unsuitable for nuclear weapons. The innovation could make a way for nuclear fuel producers - the US, Russia, Germany, France and Japan - to include the additive when supplying fuel to other countries, rendering the fissile material benign and useful only for peaceful energy supply.

KHAMENEI SLAMS OBAMA FOR SUPPOR T OF ISRAEL :
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, accused US President Barack Obama on Wednesday March4, of pursuing the same “wrong path” as the Bush administration in supporting Israel, referring to the Jewish state as “a cancerous tumor.” Khamenei lashed out at America and Britain for “creating and supporting the Zionist criminals

CLINTON : USA TO PUSH A PA STATE : by Maayana Miskin
Visiting United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced Tuesday March 3, that the United States would be “vigorously engaged” in the creation of a Palestinian Authority state. “There is no time to waste,” she added. Clinton met with Prime Minister-designate Binyamin Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Tuesday.

IDF POT SHOTS HIT LEBANESE WALL : by Hana Levi Julian
The United Nations accused Israel of violating agreements Tuesday morning March 3, after the IDF “accidentally” fired into Lebanon. According to a report by the Lebanese Army, an IDF patrol fired five bullets at a spot near the village of El Adeissse across the border, hitting a wall that bore an anti-Israel slogan. The wall is located about 20 meters inside the Lebanese border. The slogan was painted on a mural of a blue Star of David - a Jewish symbol and the sign of Israel’s flag - with a clenched fist coming out of it. Above the star were the words, “Divine Victory,” intended as a reference to the Hizbullah terrorist term for the 2006 Second Lebanon War with Israel.

AID TO PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY USED FOR TERRORISTS : - Jonathan D. Halevi (Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs-Hebrew)
A considerable portion of the aid raised for the Palestinian Authority at the Sharm el-Sheikh conference will go to support terrorists held in Israeli jails and their families. PA support for Palestinian security prisoners totals NIS 165 million per year. Support is due to increase by NIS 800 a month per prisoner beginning in March 2009. PA financial aid to convicted terrorists continues even after their release. This aid serves as a form of social security for current and former prisoners and sends a message that their terrorist activities are officially sanctioned by the Palestinian Authority.

USA SAYS HAMAS MUST RECOGNISE ISRAEL : - Jill Dougherty
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday March 3, ruled out working with any Palestinian unity government that includes Hamas if Hamas does not agree to recognize Israel. Clinton said Hamas must comply with the principles set out by the Quartet and adopted by the Arab League: Renounce violence, recognize Israel and agree to abide by prior PLO commitments.

CLINTON TO IRAN : “STOP INTERFERING IN PALESTINIAN AFFAIRS” :
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday March 4, accused Iran’s supreme leader of interfering in Palestinian affairs

UK TO ‘ENGAGE’ WITH HIZBULLAH : - James Blitz
Bill Rammell, Foreign Office minister for the Middle East, announced on Wednesday March 4, that Britain would engage in direct contacts with the political wing of Hizbullah in Lebanon in light of “the national unity government in which Hizbullah is participating.” He made clear, however, that the UK would not be having contacts with Hizbullah’s military wing.

PALESTINIAN TRACTOR DRIVER ATTACKS POLICE CAR IN JERUSALEM :
A Palestinian tractor driver used his shovel to attack a police car in Jerusalem on Thursday March 5, wounding two policemen before he was shot. The driver also attacked a bus.

ISRAEL TO LET MORE AID INTO GAZA IN GESTURE TO CLINTON: - Nir Hasson, Barak Ravid, and Avi Issacharoff
Israel will increase the range of goods permitted into Gaza as a gesture to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who concluded her visit to the region Wednesday March 4.

ISRAEL AIRCRAFT TARGET GAZA TERROR CELL : - Ali Waked
An Israeli air strike on a terror cell that fired an anti-tank missile at soldiers patrolling the security fence near the Kissufim crossing killed three gunmen, Palestinian sources in Gaza reported Thursday March 5. Palestinians in Gaza fired five rockets at Israel on Thursday. On Wednesday evening, an Israeli airstrike killed senior Islamic Jihad operative Khaled Khareb Khaled Sha’alan, who was involved in firing rockets towards Israel including the recent attacks against Ashkelon. (Ynet News)

IRAN BOASTS ITS MISSILES CAN HIT ISRAELI NUCLEAR SITES :
Iranian missiles can reach Israeli nuclear sites, Mohammad Ali Jafari, the commander-in-chief of the Islamic regime’s elite Revolutionary Guards, boasted on Wednesday March 4. “All the nuclear facilities in different parts of the land under the occupation of the Zionist regime are in the reach of Iran’s missile defenses,” Jafari told Iranian state media. Both Israel and the US refuse to rule out the possibility of a preemptive strike on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.

ISRAEL ‘ QUITE SERIOUS’ ABOUT SOLO STRIKES ON IRAN:
According to a report recently issued by a prominent Washington think tank, Israel is seriously considering launching a go-it-alone pre-emptive strike against Iran’s renegade nuclear facilities in order to prevent the Islamic Republic from attaining atomic weapons. The report also notes that Russia will probably soon deliver its highly advanced S-300 air defense system to Iran, making air strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites more difficult.

ITALY PULLS OUT OF UN RACISM CONFERENCE : - Ariel David (AP)
Italy said Thursday March 5 it is pulling out of a UN conference on racism seen by many Western governments as marred by Muslim attempts to attack Israel and shield Islam from criticism.

IRAN LOOMS OVER CLINTON’S MIDDLE EAST TRIP : - Mark Landler
After 3 days of meetings in Egypt, Israel and the West Bank, Sec. of State Clinton said she was struck by the depth of fear about Iran and the extent to which officials say it meddles in their affairs. “There is a great deal of concern about Iran from this whole region,” she said Wednesday. “It is clear Iran intends to interfere with the internal affairs of all of these people and try to continue their efforts to fund terrorism, whether it is Hizbullah or Hamas or other proxies.” (New York Times)

WHY HILLARY CLINTON AND GEORGE MITCHELL WILL NOT SUCCEED IN MIDDLE EAST PEACE-MAKING : - Shmuel Rosner
What have we heard from Clinton? More money to the Palestinians in the hope that this time it will be actually given and used wisely. More subtle pressure to “ease” conditions for Palestinians, without regard to the fact that closing the Gaza border is one of very few tools with which Israel can try to pressure Palestinian radicals into ceasing their fire. More talk about “Quartet demands” to Hamas - demands that it did not meet in the past and has shown no desire to meet in the future. More “vigorous” diplomacy cannot change the current situation. Prime Minister Olmert and PA leader Abbas have explored the contours of a possible peace deal more extensively than all preceding leaders, but they still couldn’t reach an agreed solution - one that both sides would be willing to risk their political future by putting on the table.

SEX, DRUGS, IRAN AND ISLAM : - Spengler Asia Times, Hong Kong
Iran is dying. The collapse of Iran’s birth rate during the past 20 years is the fastest recorded in any country, ever. An analysis of the 2006 Iran census shows a fertility level of 1.9 for the whole country and 1.5 for the Tehran area. In 1980, the fertility rate in rural areas was 8.4 while that of urban areas was 5.6. It seems that a spiritual decay has overcome Iran, despite the best efforts of a totalitarian theocracy. Popular morale has deteriorated much faster than in the “decadent” West against which the Khomeini revolution was directed. In addition, with oil at barely one-fifth of its 2008 peak price, they will run out of money some time in late 2009 or early 2010. Prostitution has become a career of choice among educated Iranian women. 36% of Iran’s youth want to emigrate.

JERUSALEM MAYOR REJECTS CLINTON’S CRITICISM ON HOME DEMOLITIONS:
Jerusalem’s new mayor Nir Barkat said on Thursday March 5, that US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was ill-informed when she criticized the demolition of Arab houses in the eastern half of the city during her visit this week, insisting the practice was about law and order, not politics.

WALL STREET JOURNAL : GET SERIOUS ON IRAN NOW : by Gil Ronen
In its leading editorial piece Wednesday March 4, the influential Wall Street Journal called on U.S. President Barack Obama to “get serious” about Iran now or face a potentially broader Middle Eastern war started by an Israeli pre-emptive strike. The Concise Encyclopedia Britannica calls the Wall Street Journal “the most influential American business-oriented paper and one of the most respected dailies in the world.”

DIASPORA JEWS LEARN HOW TO PROTECT COMMUNITY INSTITUTIONS: - Eli Bardenstein (Maariv-Hebrew)
Representatives of Jewish communities throughout the world are coming to Israel for courses in security to learn how to protect synagogues and schools, in the wake of a rise in anti-Semitism and hatred of Jews in many places.

BRITISH MOSLEM LEADER URGES ATTACKS ON FOREIGN NAVIES SEEKING TO HALT GAZA ARMS SMUGGLING : - Jamie Doward (Observer-UK)
Dr. Daud Abdullah, deputy director-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, is facing calls for his resignation after it emerged that he signed a public declaration in support of Hamas and military action. He is accused of advocating attacks on the Royal Navy if it tries to stop arms for Hamas being smuggled into Gaza. Abdullah also led the MCB’s boycott of Holocaust Memorial Day.

ISRAEL CLOSES EMBASSY IN MAURITANIA : - Isabel Kershner
Israel closed its embassy in Mauritania on Friday March 6, at Mauritania’s request, an Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman said. The military junta that took over Mauritania last summer is said to have been growing closer to Iran and Libya, countries hostile to Israel, after being refused assistance by the West. (New York Times)

MOROCCO SEVERS RELATIONS WITH IRAN : - Alfred de Montesquiou
Morocco cut off diplomatic relations with Iran on Friday March 6, accusing Tehran of trying to spread Shia Islam in this Sunni Arab kingdom. Morocco’s Foreign Ministry accused Iran’s Embassy in Rabat of trying to “alter the religious fundamentals of the kingdom” and threaten Morocco’s religious unity. The Moroccan press has repeatedly accused the Iranian Embassy of proselytism in recent years. (AP)

U.S. WARNS IT WON’T RECOGNISE PA UNITY GOVERNMENT WITH PM FAYYARD : - Akiva Eldar & Avi Issacharoff
The U.S. will only recognize a future Palestinian unity government if Salem Fayyad is reappointed prime minister, according to a message relayed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to European and Arab leaders at last week’s donor meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh. Fayyad announced his resignation over the weekend, but Palestinian sources believe that the American threat, which is likely to be backed by the EU and Egypt, will lead to Hamas changing its opposition to Fayyad, enabling him to rescind his resignation.

ISLAM SHOULD PROVE IT’S A RELIGION OF PEACE : - Tawfik Hamid (Wall Street Journal)
Many Muslims seem to believe that it is acceptable to teach hatred and violence in the name of their religion - while at the same time expecting the world to respect Islam as a religion of peace, love and harmony. Scholars in the most prestigious Islamic institutes and universities continue to teach things like Jews are “pigs and monkeys,” that women and men must be stoned to death for adultery, or that Muslims must fight the world to spread their religion.

GAS DRILLING BEGINS OFF HADERA : by Hana Levi Julian
The company which discovered abundant gas reserves off the coast of Haifa in January has begun drilling in a new site, west of Hadera. The new offshore well, named Dalit-1, is located approximately 60 kilometers west of Hadera. The company moved its rig on the ship “Atwood Hunter” to the new drill site on Friday March 6, after having completed drilling at the Tamar-1 well 90 kilometers west of Haifa. The Tamar-1 find was eventually discovered to be more than 60 percent larger than originally estimated, according to Noble Energy officials — reportedly more than enough to fuel the State of Israel for at least 15 years. There is a 40 percent chance the company will find commercial quantities of up to 20 billion cubic meters of natural gas at the site, referred to as the Michal prospect, according to the Globes business news agency.