Geneva gyrations, for or against Israel?
THE JERUSALEM POST 6/4/99: "Six weeks before an unprecedented Geneva Convention
conference against Israel, the Europeans are backed into a corner of their own creation.
They are fretting how, after twisting the Palestinians' arm to accept July 15 as the date
for the conference, to postpone the event, diplomatic sources at the UN said this week.
Some European Union members met last week with the UN's Arab Group to promote the
postponement of the conference, saying it could interfere with the anticipated revival of
the peace process, said a Western European diplomatic source at the UN.
"The timing would be counterproductive," said the diplomat. "Logically,
there is no reason to have [it], but we all know logic never had anything to do with
it," he added, noting there was no European consensus about a deferral. Israel and
the US oppose the conference.
The international community has also been unable to agree on the procedures or the
substantive intent of the conference, the sources said. This conference, which is
scheduled to be held in Geneva only weeks shy of the 50th anniversary of the protocols,
would be the first time such an event was held. At an emergency session in February, the
General Assembly adopted a resolution recommending that the contracting parties to the
Fourth Geneva Convention hold a conference on July 15 "on measures to enforce the
convention in the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem."
The Palestinians had insisted on a conference in April, but the EU countered that it
would support the resolution only if the date was set after the Israeli elections.
"We should not forget that it was the European Union that sold them on the
postponement until after the election," said the European envoy.
"Is a change of the Israeli prime minister as such enough to defer it? We have to
see how fast the new prime minister gets off the mark," the diplomat said.
"Depending on the start of the new government in Jerusalem, this may be moot."
He hinted that Prime Minister-elect Ehud Barak should send a delegation to Switzerland.
"It is clear that Israeli sentiment and policy [on the Geneva Convention] would not
change, but maybe Israel should attend as a confidence-building measure," the
diplomat said..."
Syria rejects US request to cease Hizbullah activity
ISRAEL LINE 6/4/99: "One day following the completion of the South Lebanon Army
withdrawal from the Jezzine enclave in southern Lebanon, Syrian president Hafez el-Assad
rejected an American request to cease Hizbullah activity in the region, YEDIOT AHARONOT
reported.
The American initiative was designed to allow Prime Minister-elect Ehud Barak to carry
out his plan to remove Israeli troops from Lebanon within one year. Lebanese President
Amil Lahud said during a Lebanese radio broadcast that Hizbullah activity against Israel
Defense Forces and SLA forces "should not be interrupted."
HA'ARETZ reported that Barak intends to include a section in the new Government's
guidelines regarding resumption of talks with Syria based on United Nations Resolution
242, which calls for territorial compromise in the Golan Heights."
Barak threatens PA against resumption of terrorism
ISRAEL LINE 6/4/99: " Prime Minister-elect Ehud Barak warned Palestinian Authority
Chairman Yasser Arafat, with whom he intends to meet upon officially taking office,
against a resumption of terrorism, HA'ARETZ reported. Against the backdrop of the
"Day of Rage," Barak said that if attacks resumed, there would be no peace
process with the Palestinians. Barak believes that he has conveyed sufficient signals to
the PA of his serious intention to resume talks, to achieve an accord on implementing the
Oslo agreement. He therefore does not believe in making public statements about the
settlements."
Saudi succession
AP via NANDO TIMES 6/6/99: "Saudi Arabia must make smoother transitions to the
next generation of monarchy or face a power struggle after the era of old royals passes, a
Saudi prince said in a rare interview Sunday. Prince Talal bin Abdul Aziz, who is a
brother of King Fahd, also called for modernizing the kingdom, including giving women more
rights to work and allowing them to drive.
Such moves have been strongly opposed by the religious establishment, which wields
enormous influence in Saudi Arabia. "We have 2.5 million girls in schools and
universities .... Why do we educate them if we do not want them to work?" Talal told
The Associated Press during a visit to Cairo. He also criticized huge spending on arms by
his kingdom. "Buying weapons at billions (of dollars) should be stopped. We should
invest the money in development projects instead," he said.
Under Saudi Arabia's constitution, each of the 44 sons of King Abdul Aziz al Saud, the
founder of modern Saudi Arabia, had a claim to the throne before its passing to the next
generation. Only 25 sons of the king, who had many wives, are still living...But enough of
Fahd's brothers are in line to confront Saudi Arabia with the prospect of being led by a
series of aging, ailing kings for years to come. And once the throne does pass to a
generation of hundreds of grandsons, the cycle would begin again. Some of the grandsons
are already in the 60s...The king, who is in his late 70s, has been hospitalized several
times this year. His designated successor is Crown Prince Abdullah, 76..."
UN Resolutions resolved?
London's AL SHARQ AL AWSAT 5/29/99: "Sakhr Habash, alias Abu-Nizar, member of the
Fatah Central Committee, has stated that following Ehud Baraq's assumption of power as
prime minister in Israel, the Palestinians should adopt a new strategy to face the new
phase of the peace process by abandoning the Oslo accord's restrictions and relying on the
resolutions of international legitimacy.
In a statement to Al-Sharq al-Awsat, Abu-Nizar said that Resolutions 242 and 338 are
not suitable to resolve the final-status issues. The refugee issue, for example, he said,
can only be resolved through Resolution 194, the Jerusalem issue can only be resolved
through Resolution 252, likewise statehood can only be declared through Resolution 181,
and the settlements issue can only be resolved through Resolution 446.
Abu-Nizar, official in charge of Fatah's Ideological Mobilization Department, said that
the United Nations, and not the United States, should be the basic term of reference for
the peace process, although the Palestinians are aware that "in the Kosovo age, the
United States dominates the United Nations."
Abu-Nizar urged the Palestinians to put their entire house in order, achieve national
unity over the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the entire Palestinian
territory occupied in 1967 with Jerusalem as its capital, activate the Arab role, and hold
a comprehensive or expanded Arab summit or at least a summit for the leaders of the cordon
states [countries bordering Israel] in order to draw up a new plan for a just,
comprehensive, and lasting peace.
Sakhr Habash urged the PLO Central Council, due to hold a meeting in the near future,
to "undertake a historic risk and declare a Palestinian state, which is a right that
has been recognized by the United Nations and is not a declaration of war on Israel as
some people believe."
Habash also said that the Palestinian people have no choice but to declare a
Palestinian state or extend the accords for another year and resume negotiations in
response to a US demand and in light of the Berlin Declaration. He said he personally
prefers the first option, which is aimed at achieving the strategic goal of establishing a
Palestinian state, which is a Palestinian affair that should not be subject to any
negotiations with Israel or to any veto by any side.
Habash denied that the Palestinians are facing a crisis as a result of the recent
resolutions of the PLO Central Council, which responded to the requests made by the United
States, Europe, and other sides to put off the declaration of a Palestinian state on 4
May, adding that those who asked Palestinian President Yasir 'Arafat to do so should keep
their promise by recognizing the Palestinian state soon after its declaration, a state
which has been recognized by 123 states.
Certain states, such as France, he said, are also ready to recognize the state as soon
as it is declared, stressing the need for more international pressure on Israel to approve
independence and carry out the redeployment [of the Israeli forces] to increase the area
of the Palestinian territory. Asked if the current area of the Palestinian territories
will allow the establishment of a Palestinian state, Habash said that the current area is
sufficient because it includes 90 percent of the Palestinian people in the West Bank and
Gaza Strip.
He added that the Central Council should approve the formation of a Palestinian
government so that negotiations will be between two states. Also this will mean that the
occupied Palestinian territories will no longer be disputed territories. The Council
should not bow to US pressures. He said that President Clinton, who has promised to speed
up efforts toward a final solution within a year, has become powerless because of the
approaching US presidential elections..."
Iran-Syria-Iraq relations, an analysis of the difference
Paris' AL WATAN AL ARABI 5/28/99: "Will Saddam Husayn be convinced? This is a
question being posed in the aftermath of the most recent Iranian-Syrian summit in
Damascus, where a decision was made in principle to undertake a joint Iranian-Syrian
effort to approach Baghdad, the aim being to establish some initial communication in the
face of the requirements of the coming phase.
This information may seem to conflict with what appears in the report issued from Paris
and Nicosia; however, we publish it in the interest of objectivity. According to
information received by Al-Watan al-'Arabi, unpublicized contacts are being made these
days with the Iraqi authorities in order to confirm visits to be made to Baghdad by
Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi and Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara'.
The purpose of the intended visits is to consult with the Iraqi president concerning
the possibility of cooperating to minimize the US rabble-rousing in the region and to
resist the new role being played by Turkey, which is posing a threat to Arab and Iranian
security both in the Middle East and in Asia Minor. This effort is based on the
understanding that an Iraqi-Iranian-Syrian rapprochement will lay the foundations for a
front that extends from the Russian frontier to south Lebanon, and that will make it
possible to relate to hostile forces from a position of equality.
These aspirations mean that Syrian-Iranian relations, which rest primarily on clear
strategic options on the regional level, are currently in the best possible condition, so
much so that some observers speak of an Iranian-Arab honeymoon soon to take place.
The primary underpinning of such a development is the Syrian-Iranian and Saudi-Iranian
rapprochement, which will be translated in the very near future into full normalization of
relations between Teheran and the Gulf capitals. It is hoped that this normalization will
help to facilitate the Iranian openness to the outside world, beginning with the European
capitals and the United States.
Are there disagreements between Damascus and Teheran? The Iranian foreign minister, who
accompanied Iranian President Muhammad Khatami to the Syrian capital, Damascus, states:
Lebanon enjoyed a powerful presence at the heart of the talks, which brought together
Presidents Khatami and al-Asad, not only due to its distinctive ties with Syria, or
because it has friendly relations with Iran, but rather, because it is the primary theater
in which Baraq will be conducting his maneuvers in the coming phases, whether the
settlement negotiations continue or not.
This statement appears to suggest that Syria and Iran hold the same position and that
both deal with Israel as a hostile state, whether it happens to have donned its Likud face
or its Labor face, so to speak.
Regardless of whether Baraq had come to power or not, however, much has been said
during the most recent phase about a disparity between the Syrian and Iranian points of
view when it comes to evaluating the role of Hizbollah in south Lebanon during the coming
phase. There is also reported to be a difference between them in their evaluation of the
roles of al-Jihad and Hamas internally and the future of the Islamic resistance overall,
as well as the future of the Palestinian opposition.
This difference in perspective may be seen in the following points:
(1) Hizbollah informed Teheran that the arms shipments, which had been sent in its name
to Damascus, had arrived incomplete, and that the list of supplies that it had ordered,
and that had been sent by the Islamic Republic, were still waiting to be released. What
this means is that Damascus, which finances and supports resistance work, is intent on
adjusting such work to suit the needs of whatever phase it happens to be passing through.
Similarly, it refuses to give Iran a free hand in south Lebanon as happened with the
Palestinian forces prior to the invasion of Beirut, due to its conviction that Lebanese
security and Syrian security are one and the same, and that the prudent course is not to
give Israel the chance to launch a major military operation before the US position on the
negotiations has become apparent.
(2) The communication between Hizbollah and some of the Islamic factions operating
inside Palestine is another point of disagreement between Damascus and Teheran. Syrian
officials are determined to exercise their rights in full when it comes to setting limits
on this communication, both its volume and its extent, whether it takes place in the
Palestinian arena or in that of the Islamic resistance. This stance is based on such
officials' precise security, political, and strategic calculations, and the opposition
factions whose movements are overseen by Syria are well aware of this.
(3) In Teheran's view, the potential Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon, which
becomes more likely with Baraq's election victory, does not solve the problem. This is due
to the religious background that underlies the Arab-Israeli conflict. According to the
Iranians, it is necessary to continue fighting even if the Israeli withdrawal actually
takes place, because the struggle for Jerusalem is a critical one, and the evacuation of
the Arab lands is merely one phase of an open-ended confrontation. This attitude is not
shared by the Syrians, who are preparing to resume the negotiations from the point that
they had previously reached, and under the protection of clear commitments that are of as
much concern to Lebanon as they are to Syria.
(4) Iranian designs on the Islamic republics inside Asia Minor concern Syria only on
the borders which touch upon Syria's own security. Moreover, because Syria has such
borders with Turkey, the Turkish-Iranian competition over these republics reflects
negatively upon Syrian-Turkish ties. In addition, the Turkish separation between Damascus
and Teheran continues to be an unresolved, highly complex issue since the recent Syrian
attempt to conclude a long-term security and political truce with Ankara..."
Fly Morocco, Royal Air Maroc
GLOBES 5/27/99: "Globes has learned that immediately upon publication of the
Israeli election results Moroccan national carrier Royal Air Maroc resumed its moves to
open a direct route between Morocco and Israel. The company delayed opening its official
headquarters in Israel in the wake of the previous elections, but opened an office in
Jerusalem following the Hebron agreement. Royal Air Maroc is owned by the Moroccan royal
family, and King Hassan is directly involved in running the carrier. Air Maroc officials
believe that the potential exists for a single weekly direct flight between Morocco and
Israel, to be reviewed in the future."
Israel gives Jordon go-ahead in dam project
GLOBES 5/26/99: "Israel has recently given Jordan the go-ahead to accelerate the
construction of the al-'Adasiyah Dam in the Hamat Gader area, and to operate the passage
of laborers and security on a 24-hour-a-day basis. The move came following Jordanian fears
that the construction of the dam may not be completed by the planned target date of
September 1999.
Amman sources expressed fears that, should the construction of the dam not be completed
on time, rain may damage the work that has already been completed. The Israeli sources who
reported this development pointed out that the completion of the dam is strategically
important for Jordan, which suffers from a grave water crisis.
The joint water committee headed by Water Commissioner Me'ir Ben-Ya'ir, has reached
agreement on the water quotas Israel will transfer to Jordan next summer. Sources close to
the talks said that "the problem has been solved for this summer, but beyond that
period everything's open."
Foreign reports?
MA'ARIV 5/28/99: "The Israeli Government has been making preparations to evacuate
all the residents of Dimona to a tent city for fear of a disaster in the nuclear reactor
as a result of the Y2K Bug, according to London's Foreign Report. Sources in the prime
minister's bureau said in reaction that "the report on this issue is just as correct
as the report the Foreign Report published several weeks ago whereby Netanyahu ordered the
Mosad to carry out spectacular assassinations on the eve of the Knesset elections."
Women in Syria
REUTERS 6/2/99: "Aisha, 14, calmly recounted how her father used to rape her six
years ago whenever they were alone together at home. "I used to think this was the
way fathers expressed their love to their daughters until my uncle did the same to
me," said the Syrian teen. "I told my mother, who challenged my father, but he
just shouted at her and said that he owned me and had the right to do whatever he wanted
to me."
Physicians, lawyers and activists say domestic violence, sexual or physical, and
discrimination against women is common among Syria's 16.7 million people, particularly in
rural areas. Ignorance, machismo and tribal customs that favor men fuel the violence and
combine to make the lot of many Syrian women a miserable one.
Though there are no official figures on domestic violence or rape, activists say the
victims number in the thousands. Mustafa Habash, head of the emergency department at
Al-Muwasat hospital in Damascus, said he sees three or four victims of violence each
month. But few go to a hospital since it draws in the police.
Aisha grew up watching her father beat her mother. "I know that she kept silent
because she was afraid of getting divorced or thrown out onto the streets. Once he even
divorced her and remarried her," she whispered, her head bowed...
Discrimination against women is also a serious problem in Syria, activists say. Many
girls are denied education and proper health care by parents who favor their brothers.
"Our society is very violent. It is male-dominated, aggressive and suppressive,"
cardiologist Ahmad at-Taqi said.
"The number of girls who suffer heart problems is equal to the number of boys, but
92 percent of surgery is performed on boys simply because traditions say that a girl child
can be replaced," he added. The pro-government General Union of Women recently
published a 1995 survey that showed 35 percent of Syria's population were illiterate and
most of those were female...
While activists and General Union of Women officials slam some Syrian legislation as
unfair to women, they say things have improved during the 30-year term of President Hafez
al-Assad. "Though we are satisfied with the woman's situation we have passed many
proposals to parliament to change unfair laws," General Union of Women member Raghida
al-Ahmad told Reuters. "We have 26 women in the 250-member parliament and two
ministers in the 36-member Cabinet..."
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