| New threats by Abbas Posted: 03 Jan 2012 07:30 PM PST From Al Arabiya: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned to take more unilateral steps if Israel does not agree to halt settlement building in the occupied West Bank and recognize the borders of a future Palestinian state.
Speaking ahead of talks in Jordan between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators, Abbas said Palestinians were ready to take "difficult" measures, but did not specify what they were.
Abbas said that if Israel agreed to halt settlement building and recognise "the vision and borders of the two-state solution", Palestinians would agree immediately to negotiations.
"If they don't ... there are measures that we could take. But we will not declare them now because they have not been finalized. But we will take measures that could be difficult," Abbas told a group of judges in Ramallah.
He said the two sides had until Jan. 26 to make progress. The date marks the three-month deadline, agreed on Oct. 26, for them to make proposals on issues of territory and security, with the aim of reaching a peace deal by the end of this year. Ha'aretz has a list of what Abbas probably means:
* Asking the UN Security Council in February to pass a resolution that would condemn settlement construction and impose international sanctions on Israel. If a resolution were brought to a vote, all Security Council members other than the United States would be expected to vote in favor.
* Urging the International Criminal Court in The Hague to try Israel for war crimes related to Operation Cast Lead. If that fails, Palestinian officials are likely to encourage Palestinian citizens to file lawsuits against Israel in Western courts.
* Pushing for the implementation the articles of the Fourth Geneva Convention that ban the construction of communities and transfer of populations in occupied territory. The Palestinians have been trying for some time now to persuade the Swiss government to convene the signatories on the document for a special debate on the subject of applying the Geneva Convention in the West Bank.
* Asking the UN General Assembly or the UN Human Rights Council to send an international fact-finding committee to look into the settlement issue.
* Renewing efforts in the UN Security Council to secure full-membership status for Palestine, or asking the UN General Assembly for status as a nonmember state. A similar move was suspended last October after UNESCO, the United Nations' cultural agency, accepted Palestine as a member, in response to which Israel froze Palestinian tax revenues.
* Organizing mass rallies against Israel in the West Bank, as part of a non-violent popular uprising. In reconciliation talks between Hamas and Fatah, the head of the Hamas political bureau, Khaled Meshal, said the two movements would focus their activities on a popular uprising in an effort to draw international attention to the Israeli occupation. Playing defense is not the way to win. Israel needs to do its own pro-active moves to put the PLO on the defensive - for example, lawfare for compensation for the terrorism committed during the intifada, or a call for a public investigation in Mahmoud Abbas' role in funding the Munich Olympic massacre. Palestinian Arabs and their supporters use similar gimmicks all the time - so they would be far more offended when the same types of gimmicks are used against them. 
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| "Israel is the source of all problems in the region" Posted: 03 Jan 2012 04:00 PM PST From the ever-entertaining IRNA Iranian news agency: Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said here on Tuesday that the illegitimate Zionist regime was founded based on sedition and division, describing it as the origin of all the problems facing the region.
In a meting [sic] with the head of Turkey-Palestine parliamentary friendship group, Murat Yildirim, he condemned declaration of Qods [Jerusalem] as the capital of the regime as well as continuation of settlement buildings and called on the Islamic Cooperation Organization to fulfill its responsibility in this respect. I always knew that Assad, Nasrallah, Mubarak, Saddam Hussein, the Saudi kings, the Salafists, the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, Erdogan, Al Qaeda, Qaddafi, Khamenei and Ahmadinejad were Zionist! But wait - there's more! Ahmadinejad said Israel is a tool in the hands of the enemies of humanity to create discord in the region and humiliate regional countries. He sounds humiliated. 
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| To Reuters, they aren't just "Jewish settlers" anymore Posted: 03 Jan 2012 12:24 PM PST First there were "settlers." But that wasn't inciting enough. So we then had "Jewish settlers." But with overuse, it didn't bring in the hate that journalists wanted to bring across. So then came "Right-wing Jewish settlers." But even that didn't capture the seething disgust that objective journalists wanted to convey towards them. So now we have, from Daylife/Reuters:  | | Extreme right wing Jewish settlers, one of them injured from a rock hurled by pro-Palestinian activists during a weekly protest, stand in front of their house in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem December 30, 2011. Some 100 activists protested against the Jewish settlement in the predominantly Arab neighborhood and threw rocks towards a house occupied by the settlers leading them to confront the protesters, to minor clashes. | So people who live in a house in Jerusalem are "extreme right-wing Jewish settlers." But the people who throw rocks at them, literally spilling their blood, are simply "pro-Palestinian activists." Not "violent protesters." Not "left-wing terrorists." Not "anti-Zionist provocateurs." Not "pro-Palestinian stone-throwers." Not "rioters." Nope, they are peaceful supporters of Palestinian Arabs, mere "activists" - who throw stones at people they don't like. And who can blame them:? After years of reading Reuters describing these Jews in such terms, who wouldn't want to throw stones at them? To Reuters, it's the people who are being hit by rocks who are "extreme." 
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| Tel Aviv one of "world's most creative cities" Posted: 03 Jan 2012 11:05 AM PST From the Globe and Mail: For the better part of a decade, the Martin Prosperity Institute at U of T's Rotman School of Management has been studying the complex web of factors that encourage and sustain innovation in regions around the world. First published in 2004, the institute's Global Creativity Index measures a nation's innovation potential, focusing on what it calls the Three Ts: technology, talent and tolerance. We used this index, but also dove deeper, to choose cities that are best positioned to nurture their creative edge into the future. "The GCI is really trying to help regions understand where they are," explains Kevin Stolarick, research director of the Martin Prosperity Institute. "Even when times are good, you have to worry about what comes next."
The entire population of Israel may only number seven million—smaller than New York City—but this Middle Eastern state spends more of its GDP on research and development than any other nation. And it shows. In April, 2011, Israeli software start-ups PicApp and PicScout sold for a combined $30 million (all currency in U.S. dollars) to Indian and American buyers, respectively. A month later, cellular company Provigent was snapped up by U.S. chip maker Broadcom for $313 million, while Google paid $70 million for app developer Snaptu. In September, eBay bought e-commerce site The Gifts Project for a reported $20 million. All are start-ups. All have offices in or near Tel Aviv. In the first three quarters of 2011 alone, 422 Israeli start-ups raised $1.57 billion in venture capital, and an estimated 250 multinationals maintain R&D operations there. What makes Silicon Wadi—as the coastal region between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem is known—so special? Some say that a service requirement in the country's famously high-tech military has given many young Israelis a technological sophistication that bolsters creativity and inventiveness. What we do know is that while Tel Aviv is small, it's one giant innovation engine.
"In Israel, personal relationships aren't all that relevant to business. Israelis will do business with you within five seconds of meeting you. In fact, there's virtually no small talk at meetings. Nothing. Zero. They're very direct." —Dr. Neal Naimer, CEO of Woojer, a Tel Aviv-based start-up. (h/t Yerushalimey) 
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| Moroccan king appoints Islamist cabinet Posted: 03 Jan 2012 09:45 AM PST From Al Arabiya:  | | Benkirane | Morocco's King Mohammed on Tuesday appointed members of a new power-sharing cabinet, the official MAP news agency reported, more than a month after the Nov. 25 elections in which the moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party won the biggest share of seats in the parliament.
"The king named the members of the new government at the royal palace in Rabat," an official said.
On Nov. 29, King Mohammed appointed PJD leader Abdelilah Benkirane as prime minister-designate after the moderate Islamist party won a Nov. 25 parliamentary election.
The Islamist Justice and Development Party took 11 of 31 cabinet posts, including foreign affairs, justice, and transportation and communication.
While a new constitution gives the new Prime Minister Benkirane unprecedented powers, the king still holds final veto over any of his decisions. In a Q&A on their website, the PJD indicated that it would not be as friendly towards Israel as Morocco had been, with unofficial and economic ties. 
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| Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood might get a majority of seats Posted: 03 Jan 2012 08:26 AM PST The third and final round of Egypt's parliamentary elections have started today. There have been some reports of illegal campaign activities at some polling places; one judge closed two polling stations because of violations by the Muslim Brotherhood FJP party. After the first two rounds of voting, according to Wikipedia, the Muslim Brotherhood has taken over 48% of the parliamentary seats even though it won only 36.6% of the votes. This seems to be because of the runoff system, where the top two candidates - usually FJP and the Salafist Nour parties - go head to head. Some areas where the voting is being held today are considered Islamist strongholds, like the North Sinai. It is possible that the Muslim Brotherhood will end up with an absolute majority of seats in Parliament, meaning that they will not have to rely on a coalition to rule and considerably weakening the role of any partners they choose to ally with. According to The New York Times, the exact formula for allotting seats has not yet been determined by the military rulers of Egypt so things are a bit up in the air. They also quote MB leadership saying that they doubt that they will gain over 50% of the seats. The Muslim Brotherhood has stated that they have not made any deals with any potential coalition partners. The Salafists said that they will refuse to serve in a coalition with the liberal parties in parliament. Interestingly, in the second round of voting, the liberal Egyptian Bloc's share of the vote plummeted from 13.4% to 7%. The second liberal party, Al Wafd, went up a little from 7.1% to 9.6%, but altogether things are looking even worse for the liberals than they did in the initial round. 
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| Iran escalates rhetoric; its currency hits new lows Posted: 03 Jan 2012 07:15 AM PST Last Wednesday, the Pentagon said that any Iranian moves to close the Strait of Hormuz would "not be tolerated." Iran just finished war games exercises intended to show how they could close the strait at will. The latest escalation of words and deeds:  | | USS John C. Stennis | A senior Iranian Army commander has warned the U.S. Navy not to move an aircraft carrier which left the Persian Gulf during Iran's recent military drills back into the body of water which forms much of Iran's southern border.
According to the Reuters news agency, army chief Ataollah Salehi suggested to the IRNA network on Tuesday that Iran would take unspecified action if the carrier returned to Gulf waters.
The USS John C. Stennis and another U.S. Naval vessel headed out of the Gulf and through the Strait of Hormuz last Tuesday after a visit to Dubai.
"Iran will not repeat its warning ... the enemy's carrier has been moved to the Sea of Oman because of our drill. I recommend and emphasize to the American carrier not to return to the Persian Gulf," Salehi reportedly told IRNA.
"I advise, recommend and warn them (the Americans) over the return of this carrier to the Persian Gulf because we are not in the habit of warning more than once," Salehi told the semi-official Fars news agency, according to Reuters. Meanwhile, the Iranian currency is not doing so well. From Emirates 24/7: Iran's currency, the rial, slipped to a record low on Sunday, the day after the United States imposed extra sanctions targeting the Islamic republic's central bank and financial sector.
The state news agency IRNA and an Iranian website tracking the currency said the rial's street value at money changers' slid to around 16,000 to the dollar.
That represented a huge difference with the official central bank rate of 11,179 rials to the dollar.
On Saturday, US President Barack Obama signed the new sanctions into law.
The measures aim to further squeeze Iran's crucial oil revenues, most of which are processed by the central bank, by making foreign firms choose between doing business with the Islamic republic or the United States.
They were being imposed as part of a Western push to force Iran to halt its nuclear programme, which the United States and its allies believe is being used to develop atomic weapons despite Tehran's denials.
Iran, the second-biggest producer in OPEC after Saudi Arabia, depends on oil sales for 80 percent of its foreign revenues.
The European Union is mulling an embargo on buying Iranian oil, on which a decision could be announced at an EU foreign ministers' meeting at the end of the month.
Iranian leaders and military officials have warned that extra Western sanctions could push them to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz at the entrance to the Gulf.
(h/t Yoel) 
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| Hamas blames Fatah for "unity" problems Posted: 03 Jan 2012 05:59 AM PST Over the past week I reported about the many arrests by Hamas of Fatah leaders in Gaza. Today, Hamas made the same accusations of Fatah, putting out a report that said that 72 people were arrested by the Fatah-dominated PA in December, including ex-detainees, imams and preachers, and university students, many of them Hamas members. He also accused the PA of torturing their prisoners. In addition, Hamas said that contrary to reports, the PA has not sent enough blank passports to Gaza to allow citizens to leave the sector. Those two issues - political prisoners and passports - were top two priorities since the original "unity" meeting between Hamas and Fatah in May. Apparently, little has changed. Meanwhile, Fatah official Nabil Sha'ath has visited Gaza. According to Ma'an, he will meet with "all political factions" in Gaza, which sounds like it includes terror organizations like Islamic Jihad who have been considered as PLO members. 
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| Hamas leader admits Gaza isn't occupied Posted: 03 Jan 2012 02:57 AM PST From YNet: Senior Hamas member Mahmoud al-Zahar dismissed a statement made by Hamas Politburo Chief Khaled Mashaal, who claimed recently that the group will hold mass rallies against Israel within the Gaza Strip.
"Popular resistance is inappropriate for the Gaza Strip," al-Zahar said. "Against whom exactly would be rally? Such resistance would be fitting if Gaza was occupied." However, he claimed that all forms of resistance – including the armed kind – are appropriate for the West Bank, as it is "still under occupation." (Elior Levy) So in this one brief news story we confirm three things that "Middle East experts" insist are not true: - Hamas has not given up on armed resistance
- Hamas leaders in Gaza and Damascus are still at loggerheads
- Gaza is not occupied by Israel
(h/t CHA. Interview done by Ma'an.) 
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