Hi. Yesterday, Amy Goodman was not able to reach Robert Fisk in Beirut, presumably because of the Israeli bombing, but hoped to do so for today's show. If that happens, expect more on the important thesis of his essay here. The possibilities are ominous. The briefs that follow project a small part of the Middle East picture.
Ed http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13975.htm Beirut waits as Syrian masters send Hezbollah allies into battle By Robert Fisk 07/13/06 "The Independent" --- - It's about Syria. That was the frightening message delivered by Damascus yesterday when it allowed its Hizbollah allies to cross the UN Blue Line in southern Lebanon, kill three Israeli soldiers, capture two others and demand the release of Lebanese prisoners in Israeli jails. Within hours, a country that had begun to believe in peace - without a single Syrian soldier left on its soil - found itself once more at war. Israel held the powerless Lebanese government responsible - as if the sectarian and divided cabinet in Beirut can control Hizbollah. That is Syria's message. Fouad Siniora, Lebanon's affable Prime Minister, may have thought he was running the country but it is President Bashar Assad in Damascus who can still bring life or death to a land that lost 150,000 lives in 15 years of civil conflict. And there is one certain bet that Syria will rely on; that despite all Israel's threats of inflicting "pain" on Lebanon, this war will run out of control until - as has so often happened in the past - Israel itself calls for a ceasefire and releases prisoners. Then the international big-hitters will arrive and make their way to the real Lebanese capital - Damascus, not Beirut - and appeal for help. That is probably the plan. But will it work? Israel has threatened Lebanon's newly installed infrastructure and Hizbollah has threatened Israel with further conflict. And therein lies the problem; to get at Hizbollah, Israel must send its soldiers into Lebanon - and then it will lose more soldiers. Indeed when a single Merkava tank crossed the border into Lebanon yesterday morning, it struck a Hizbollah mine, which killed three more Israelis. Certainly Hizbollah's attack broke the United Nations rules in southern Lebanon - a "violent breach" of the Blue Line, it was called by Geir Pedersen, the senior UN official in the country - and was bound to unleash the air force, tanks and gunboats of Israel on to this frail, dangerous country. Many Lebanese in Beirut were outraged when gangs of Hizbollah supporters drove through the streets of the capital with party flags to "celebrate" the attack on the border. Christian members of the Lebanese government were voicing increasing frustration at the Shia Muslim militia's actions - which only proved how powerless the Beirut administration is. By nightfall, Israel's air raids had begun to spread across the country - the first civilians to die were killed when an aircraft bombed a small road bridge at Qasmiyeh - but would they go even further and include a target in Syria? This would be the gravest escalation so far and would have US as well as UN diplomats appealing for that familiar, tired quality - "restraint". And prisoner swaps is probably all that will come of this. In January 2004, for example, Israel freed 436 Arab prisoners and released the bodies of 59 Lebanese for burial, in return for an Israeli spy and the bodies of three Israeli soldiers. As long ago as 1985, three Israeli soldiers captured in 1982 were traded for 1,150 Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners. So Hizbollah knows - and the Israelis know - how this cruel game is played. How many have to die before the swaps begin is a more important question. What is also clear is that for the first time Israel is facing two Islamist enemies - in southern Lebanon and in Gaza - rather than nationalist guerrillas. The Palestinian Hamas movement's spokesmen in Lebanon denied that there was any co-ordination with Hizbollah. This may be literally true but Hizbollah timed its attack when Arab feelings are embittered by the international sanctions placed on the democratically elected Hamas government and then the war in Gaza. Hizbollah will ride anger over Gaza in the hope of escaping condemnation for its capture and killing of Israelis yesterday. There is one more little, sinister question. In past violence of this kind, Syria's power was controlled by the Hafez Assad, one of the shrewdest Arabs in modern history. But there are those - including Lebanese politicians - who believe that Bashar, the son, lacks his late father's wisdom and understanding of power. This is a country, remember, whose own Minister of Interior allegedly committed suicide last year and whose soldiers had to leave Lebanon amid suspicion that Syria had set up the murder of Rafik Hariri, Lebanon's former prime minister, last year. All this may now seem academic. But Damascus remains, as always, the key. *** Almanar - Jul 10, 2006 http://www.almanar.com.lb/story.aspx?Language=en&DSNO=652753 100,000 Turkish protest in Istanbul against Israeli aggressions on Palestinians Anger was great as the Turkish demonstrators, of various ages and backgrounds, carried Turkish and Palestinian flags, and protested under the slogan "Curse Israel and support Palestine". Personalities from different Islamic countries also joined the protest. They gathered in Caglayan Square on the European side of the city answering a call from the Islamist Happiness Party, Saadet, Human Rights Organizations, and other public organizations. The protest was described as one of the biggest protests in Turkey for years. A protester said "Israel is a state that kills children, women, and the old, and what is happening in Palestine is a shame to the world that didn't move to cease the massacres the Palestinians are suffering from." Another Protester: "This is the least we could do with people who gave away the most precious in order to defend sacred and holy places and their absolute right in defending their country." Several dozen riot police were deployed to monitor the protesters, who carried banners reading "Do not be a simple spectator to a massacre" and "We are all Palestinians". They expressed, through the slogans and speeches, their total and unlimited support to the Palestinians and their just resistance. Palestinian Prime Minister, Ismail Haniya, through a telephone call, greeted the Turkish people for their support. The Turkish government has repeatedly called on Israel to end the attacks and on Saturday Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said he was quote "horrified" by the number of Palestinians killed in the raids. *** Xinhua News - Jul 11, 2006 Turkey gives one mln dollars to Palestinians Turkey agreed on Monday to donate one million U.S. dollars to the Palestinians. Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said at the signing ceremony that the money would be used to create and fund a Palestinian state and to develop new leaders. He also urged the international community and concerned countries to seek a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, adding that "the current situation jeopardized the efforts to realize a two-state solution." Palestinian Ambassador to Turkey Nabil Maarouf said that Turkey extended the aid to the Palestinian people at a time when they needed much. Palestinian Economic and Social Cooperation Coordinator Vehbi Dincerler said that this donation was the second tranche from a total of three million dollars which the Turkish government has decided to donate to the Palestinians. Turkey has tried to defuse a mounting Palestinian-Israeli tension and sent a special envoy to persuade Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to facilitate the release of an abducted Israeli soldier early this month. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called U.S. President George W. Bush, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and leaders of the Palestinians and Israel over a diplomatic solution to the crisis. More than 50 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched a military operation in the Gaza Strip on June 28 in a bid to free the captive soldier and halt Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel. *** Zaman.com - Jul 11, 2006 Killing Palestinians Before the Eyes of the World Dreadful By Yavuz Gulluk, Tehran Foreign ministers from neighboring countries with Iraq who convened to evaluate its developments after the establishment of its new government called on Israel to halt its operations in Gaza. Before leaving for Tehran to attend the 9th foreign ministers of Iraqs neighboring countries meeting, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul acknowledged that Israeli operations have reached an alarming level. The killing of so many Palestinians before the eyes of the whole world is really dreadful, he told. Making the inauguration speech of the meeting, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed that children of the Zionist regime kill innocent people, destroy houses in the Middle East and Western countries support this. Recent developments in the region were handled, according to the final declaration draft of the meeting. FM Gul said that he and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan drew everybodys attention before the events reached their current level in Palestine and they both have extensive contacts to halt Israeli operations. The events occurring in the region have brought about new problems in the world geography, Gul explained. President Ahmadinejed said that the Zionist regime was opposed to the elected Palestinian government and exploited the resources in the Islamic world, such as politics, economics and security. The Iranian President said that resources should be used against the Zionist regime, claiming that this regime would not allow the establishment of a legal Palestinian state in the Palestinian territories. There is no logical reason for this regime to survive, explained Ahmadinejad. I warn those who lend support to the Zionist regime. This concentrated anger will explode one day. Diplomatic sources remarked that there would be a paragraph concerning the Israeli operations in the final declaration of the meeting to be released at the end of the conference. Emphasizing that both the region and the Islamic world recently encountered various problems, The problems that Iran faces interest all of us, admitted Ahmadinejad. Speaking after President Ahmadinejad, Foreign Minister Gul underlined that Irans future was crucial for everyone in the region. He noted that much progress had been made since the start of last years meeting of the foreign ministers of Iraqs neighboring countries. Gul said there was now an elected government in Iraq, We came here to show that we are beside the Iraqi public, he remarked. Representatives from Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan and Kuwait attended the meeting along with Arab League Secretary-General Amr Musa, the Organization of Islamic Conference Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu and the UN Special Envoy Esref Gazi. The Turkish Foreign Ministry emphasized that it was deeply concerned about the escalating violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as it called on the parties to bring an end to the violence immediately and unconditionally. A written statement from the ministry stressed that Turkey has made active diplomatic attempts since the beginning of the crisis and made contacts with both parties, with the UN and with other third-party countries and it has been trying to help end violence and establish tranquility in Iraq. 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