Palestine 'may abandon two-state solution'

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:17:46 GMT

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat warns that continued expansion of Israeli settlements could force the Palestinian Authority (PA) to abandon the two-state solution.

"Successive Israeli governments have destroyed any chance of reaching a two-state solution," said Erekat on Wednesday, noting that PA must start searching for 'other options'.

"A Palestinian state without Jerusalem (Al-Quds) as its capital would be meaningless. The Palestinian people haven't excluded other options, including the option of a one-state solution," he told reporters in Ramallah.

He said it was time for acting PA chief Mahmoud Abbas to 'tell his people the truth, that with the continuation of settlement activities, the two-state solution is no longer an option'.

Israel has long refused to halt its construction activity on Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank, while the Palestinians insist on a freeze on the expansion of Israeli settlements as a precondition to any peace negotiations with the Israeli side.

On Saturday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suggested that talks should be resumed without a settlement freeze, and that 'everything, from borders to Jerusalem to refugees, has to be resolved between the parties' once negotiations have resumed.

This is while the Palestinians insist should the talks resume, they should continue where they broke down under former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert.
"We are talking about resuming final status negotiations," >>>

Attacks on Al-Aqsa mosque will cause new wave of agression in Muslim world: OIC secretary general (Interview)

29.10.2009 09:14

Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 28 / Trend News U.Sadikhova /

The Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Countries, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, spoke in an exclusive interview with Trend News in the run up to his Azerbaijan visit.

Trend News: How do you assess the role and participation of Azerbaijan in the Organization of the Islamic Conference? What are the future plans of the OIC to expand cooperation with Azerbaijan?

Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu: Azerbaijan joined the OIC in 1992 and since then it has been planning to be an active member of the Organization, for which I commend Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is now playing an effective role in the OIC and has hosted numerous OIC's important meetings and gatherings. In 2006, Azerbaijan hosted the 33rd session of the Council of Foreign Ministers and during its chairmanship it did a great job specially in fostering understanding among nations and cultures. Azerbaijan, as an OIC Member, can also play as a bridge between Europe and Asia to promote cooperation.

Q: The OIC condemned Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan, and adopted several resolutions on the conflict. Considering the role of the OIC in the international arena, what are your views on the solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict? What steps can the Islamic countries take to reach a peaceful settlement?

A: As its firm and principled position,>>>

Disarming the 'Iranian Octopus'

Oct 29, 2009 14:18 | Updated Oct 30, 2009 23:08

By SETH J. FRANTZMAN

The Rise of Nuclear Iran

By Dore Gold

Regnery

390 pages; $27.95

Israel's continuing confrontation with Iran serves as an endless source of material for books. Dore Gold's The Rise of Nuclear Iran thus joins an already loud chorus. However its author's credentials as a former ambassador to the UN and its well-argued position set this book apart from the rest.

American-born Gold's background is primarily academic. In the 1990s he served as an adviser to the Israeli delegation at the Madrid peace conference which laid the groundwork for the Oslo Accords. He authored several studies on American policy in the Middle East and subsequently became a close adviser to Binyamin Netanyahu, under whose auspices he served as ambassador to the UN. Since leaving that post in 1999, he has devoted himself to writing several polemical but persuasive books on the UN and Saudi Arabia. His latest focus is the Iranian threat to Israel and the West.

and much more here>>>

26 years after attack, radical Islam still strong

by Col. Timothy J. Geraghty - Oct. 31, 2009 12:00 AM
The Arizona RepublicSpecial for the Republic

This month marks the 26th anniversary of the beginning of an asymmetrical war waged by radical Islamists against the United States and its allies. It was on Oct. 23, 1983, during the Lebanese civil war, that coordinated suicide truck bombings in Beirut killed 241 American peacekeepers under my command, as well as 58 French peacekeepers.

These atrocities led to the withdrawal of the Multinational Force from Lebanon and to major changes in U.S. national policy. Since then, radical Islamism has evolved into the major national security threat to Western civilization.

Perhaps the most significant development that grew >>>

Pro-Al-Qaeda London Daily on Anniversary of 9/11: "Al-Qaeda's Continued Existence Proves – War on Terror Has Failed"

October 1, 2009

On the occasion of the eighth anniversary of 9/11, 'Abd Al-Bari 'Atwan, editor of the pro-Al-Qaeda London daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi, wrote an editorial titled "The Al-Qaeda Organization in Its 20^th Year," in which he discussed the state of Al-Qaeda eight years after the launching of the war on terror. He wrote that "America's stupidity and its failing wars" have turned Al-Qaeda, originally a regional organization, into a global power that is now stronger than it ever was before.

He added that this organization now has branches around the world that are possibly more powerful and dangerous than the parent organization itself. 'Abd Al-Bari 'Atwan also alluded to the fact that Al-Qaeda has not staged any large-scale operations in the West in recent years. This, he said, is simply due to the fact that Al-Qaeda now has access to hundreds of thousands of Western and American troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.

It should be noted that this article was also republished on jihadi websites.

Following are excerpts from the article:

"The War on Terror Has Failed"; Today Al-Qaeda Has New Branches, Perhaps Stronger and More Dangerous than the Parent Organization

"Opinions are divided on the state of Al-Qaeda and on the degree of danger it poses [today], eight years after the New York raid [of 9/11], which sparked the 'war on terror,' from the invasion of Afghanistan to the occupation of Iraq... But what is certain is that those who speak of the organization's weakness are [merely expressing] the wishes of their heart, and are attempting to continue the obfuscation and deception that they have so successfully marketed on their TV programs and in their newspaper articles. The fact is that this organization is still alive and well, and is now celebrating its 20th anniversary − which proves that the war on terror has failed...

"Eight years ago, Al-Qaeda had only one address: the caves of Tora Bora in Afghanistan. Today it has several new branches, which are perhaps stronger and more dangerous than the [parent organization itself], such as Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and [Al-Qaeda] in the Islamic Maghreb, as well as the organization's branches in Iraq and on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. [There is also] the branch in Somalia, which has been reestablished and is now stronger than it was before. Al-Qaeda has become like the many-headed dragon of mythology: whenever one head is chopped off, several [new] heads appear in its place.

"Some thought that the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan>>>

Turkish NGOs to protest Israel's provocative actions at Masjid-i Aqsa

World Bulletin / News Desk

Turkish NGOs will on Monday gather in Taksim to protest Israel's provocative actions at Masjid-i Aqsa.

Israeli police shut a compound housing Islam's holiest sites in Jerusalem on Sunday and fired tear gas as dozens of Palestinians in protest.

Palestinian medical officials said nine people were treated for minor injuries including tear gas inhalation. Israeli helicopters were also spotted flying overhead.

Extremist Jews stormed the mosque compound last week.

After the reports that thousands of Jews forced to enter the al-Aqsa Mosque again, a group gathered in front of the Consulate General of Israel in Levent to protest the raid.

On Sunday, a group of people condemned possible raid>>>

Iran faces new pressure over bombing plot

Published: Oct. 5, 2009 at 5:22 PM

BUENOS AIRES, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- U.S. and Israeli efforts to put Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah in the dock for international terrorism gathered momentum when authorities here indicted former Argentine President Carlos Menem in connection with a deadly Buenos Aires bombing 15 years ago.

The flamboyant Menem, the son of Syrian immigrants, was charged Thursday by Judge Ariel Lijo with obstructing a state investigation into the attack on the Argentina Israel Mutual Association on July 18, 1994, in which 85 people were killed and 300 wounded.

Indicted with him were George Parker, formed head of Argentina's anti-terrorism unit; federal judge Juan Jose Galeano, who oversaw the initial investigation but was removed in 2004 because of irregularities; former intelligence services chief Hugo Anzorregui; and Menem's brother, Munir.

On Friday another federal judge, Rodolfo Canicoba Corral, requested Lebanon and Colombia to help arrest Samuel Salman al-Reda, a Colombian of Lebanese descent, in connection with the bombing.

In May, Corral issued an international arrest warrant for Reda, who had lived in Buenos Aires until the day of the bombing, then disappeared. He is believed to be living in Lebanon with his Argentine wife.

According to state prosecutor Alberto Nisman,>>>