WB_1_08_070303.doc From: Madison-Rafah Sister-City Proj Subject: Weekly Briefing No. 8: Saturday, March 3, 2007 In This Briefing: Middle East: Shift in US Strategy in Middle East? Seymour Hersch's latest article in the New Yorker Israel, US & Gulf States and possible Iran attack: Two articles Un Calls US data on Iran "Unreliable" Palestine: Two New Reports (tally of death and destruction by the numbers, UN official issues "apartheid" report) Overall Middle East including Iran: THE REDIRECTION: Is the Administration’s new policy benefitting our enemies in the war on terrorism? by SEYMOUR M. HERSH (The New Yorker, 2007-03-05) In the past few months, as the situation in Iraq has deteriorated, the Bush Administration, in both its public diplomacy and its covert operations, has significantly shifted its Middle East strategy. The “redirection,” as some inside the White House have called the new strategy, has brought the United States closer to an open confrontation with Iran and, in parts of the region, propelled it into a widening sectarian conflict between Shiite and Sunni Muslims. Full article at: http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/070305fa_fact_hersh?page=1 Israel seeks all clear for Iran air strike 24 Feb 2007 Israel is negotiating with the United States for permission to fly over Iraq as part of a plan to attack Iran's nuclear facilities, The Daily Telegraph can reveal. A senior Israeli defence official said negotiations were now underway between the two countries for the US-led occupation in Iraq to provide an "air corridor" in the event of the Israeli government deciding on unilateral military action against Iran. Full article at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/02/24/wiran124.xml (Note: Israel denied this report the following day.) Report: 3 Gulf states agree to IAF overflights en route to Iran By Yoav Stern and Yossi Melman, Haaretz Correspondents (2-25-07) Three Arab states in the Persian Gulf would be willing to allow the Israel Air force to enter their airspace in order to reach Iran in case of an attack on its nuclear facilities, the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Siyasa reported on Sunday. According to the report, a diplomat from one of the gulf states visiting Washington on Saturday said the three states, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, have told the United States that they would not object to Israel using their airspace, despite their fear of an Iranian response. For complete article go to: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/830309.html U.N. calls U.S. data on Iran's nuclear aims unreliable Tips about supposed secret weapons sites and documents with missile designs haven't panned out, diplomats say. By Bob Drogin and Kim Murphy, LA Times Staff Writers (February 25, 2007) VIENNA — Although international concern is growing about Iran's nuclear program and its regional ambitions, diplomats here say most U.S. intelligence shared with the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency has proved inaccurate and none has led to significant discoveries inside Iran. The officials said the CIA and other Western spy services had provided sensitive information to the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency at least since 2002, when Iran's long-secret nuclear program was exposed. But none of the tips about supposed secret weapons sites provided clear evidence that the Islamic Republic was developing illicit weapons. Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-fg-usiran25feb25,1,932834,full.story?coll=la-headlines-frontpage&ctrack=1&cset=true Palestine: Report: over 5,000 Palestinians killed by the Israeli army since 2000 (02-21-02) Bethlehem - Ma'an News Service - Since the outbreak of the second Palestinian Intifada in September 2000, until late January 2007, the Israeli army has killed 5,050 Palestinian men, women and children, wounded 49,760 others and detained 10,4000 others, a report by the Palestinian Authority-run 'Palestinian State Information Service' has revealed. Full article including other damages by the numbers at: http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=19746 UN envoy hits Israel 'apartheid' 2007/02/23 By Alan Johnston BBC News, Gaza A UN human rights envoy has compared Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories to elements of apartheid.The UN's Special Rapporteur, John Dugard, describes the regime as being designed to dominate and systematically oppress the occupied population. Mr Dugard is a South African professor of international law assigned to monitor Israeli human rights abuses.He has extensively studied apartheid in South Africa and has compared it to what he saw under Israeli rule. Special rapporteurs are independent experts appointed by the UN secretary general to present reports on human rights to the organisation. Full article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/6390755.stm Here is the actual conclusion of Dugard's report: XII. CONCLUSION: ISRAEL, PALESTINE AND THE FUTURE OF HUMAN RIGHTS 63. The Occupied Palestinian Territory is of special importance to the future of human rights in the world. Human rights in Palestine have been on the agenda of the United Nations for 60 years; and more particularly for the past 40 years since the occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in 1967. For years the occupation of Palestine and apartheid in South Africa vied for attention from the international community. In 1994, apartheid came to an end and Palestine became the only developing country in the world under the subjugation of a Western-affiliated regime. Herein lies its significance to the future of human rights. There are other regimes, particularly in the developing world, that suppress human rights, but there is no other case of a Western-affiliated regime that denies self-determination and human rights to a developing people and that has done so for so long. This explains why the OPT (Occupied Palestinain Territories) has become a test for the West, a test by which its commitment to human rights is to be judged. If the West fails this test, it can hardly expect the developing world to address human rights violations seriously in its own countries, and the West appears to be failing this test. The EU pays conscience money to the Palestinian people through the Temporary International Mechanism but nevertheless joins the United States and other Western countries, such as Australia and Canada, in failing to put pressure on Israel to accept Palestinian self-determination and to discontinue its violations of human rights. The Quartet, comprising the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and the Russian Federation, is a party to this failure. If the West, which has hitherto led the promotion of human rights throughout the world, cannot demonstrate a real commitment to the human rights of the Palestinian people, the international human rights movement, which can claim to be the greatest achievement of the international community of the past 60 years, will be endangered and placed in jeopardy.