WJC ANALYSIS – Seeing double: Palestinians at the NAM summit in Iran
The Palestinian Authority in Ramallah barely escaped major embarrassment last week after Iran invited both PLO leader Mahmoud Abbas and his challenger in Gaza, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, to attend the inauguration of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Tehran. Ramallah was deeply shocked to learn that Haniyya was not invited as a mere guest or observer but as a formal representative of Palestine and its Prime Minister. To make matters worse, Iran’s official news agency ‘Mehr’ published Hamas’ letter accepting to attend the summit for all to see.
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The threat of war is good for US arms sales 
On August 26th The New York Times had this to say:
- Weapons sales by the United States tripled in 2011 to a record high, driven by major arms sales to Persian Gulf allies concerned about Iran’s regional ambitions, according to a new study for Congress. Overseas weapons sales by the United States totaled $66.3 billion last year, or more than three-quarters of the global arms market, valued at $85.3 billion in 2011. Russia was a distant second, with $4.8 billion in deals.
Sixty-six billion dollars. That is a lot of moolah for a cash-strapped country. (Compare that to $48 billion – the budget of the Department of Homeland Security in 2012). Now, let’s say you were working in the Pentagon, or at Northrop Grumman, or you were a Senator or Congressman for an arms manufacturing state – would you go to sleep at night praying for world peace? No, you would not. Instead, you would thank God for the success of your business, and especially for the guys you owe it all to, Ayatollah Khomeini and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. They are responsible for all that business – 66 billion Dollars.
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Relying on the international community is futile
Over 120 countries – equating to two thirds of total United Nations membership – convened in Teheran to partake in the 16th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) hosted by the Iranian Islamic Republic.
The Iranians boasted that 3 Kings, 27 presidents, 8 Prime Ministers and 50 Foreign Ministers attended. Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsy was present, breaching Egypt’s long standing estrangement from Iran which he now describes as “a strategic ally”, even though he condemned Assad’s regime in Syria. India, the world’s most populous democracy, participated with a delegation of 250 headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, stating shamelessly that its objective was to increase trade and commerce with Iran.
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The Iranians boasted that 3 Kings, 27 presidents, 8 Prime Ministers and 50 Foreign Ministers attended. Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsy was present, breaching Egypt’s long standing estrangement from Iran which he now describes as “a strategic ally”, even though he condemned Assad’s regime in Syria. India, the world’s most populous democracy, participated with a delegation of 250 headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, stating shamelessly that its objective was to increase trade and commerce with Iran.
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Slashed US military input shortens Israel’s notice of Iranian missile launch
DEBKAfile Exclusive Analysis September 2, 2012,
US and Israeli defense chiefs far apart.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak are silent in the face of the avalanche of bad news coming in from official Washington.
The Patriot anti-missile systems scheduled for what was to have been the biggest joint US-Israel anti-missile drill in October will remain packed in tarpaulin because they come without crews; even one – much less two – Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense warships may not be dispatched to Israeli waters; and the number of US servicemen sent over for the annual exercise is to be cut by more than two-thirds to 1,500.
This downgrade of US participation in an annual war exercise with Israel is more than striking. It adds up to the dismemberment by the Obama administration of the entire intricate strategy US and Israel have built over years for the deterrence – and interception if need be – of any Iranian/Hizballah/Syrian missile assault on Israel.
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Isolating Israel
The Jerusalem Post’s Herb Keinon notes:
- When Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy blasted Syria’s government at the Non-Aligned Movement Conference in Tehran on Thursday, his comments prompted Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem to storm out.
But when Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei slammed Israel, labeling it a state of “bloodthirsty Zionist wolves” that controls the world media, nobody moved.
The silence of the world in the face of these charges is chilling.
Correct, and the full phrase from Khamenei is “bloodthirsty Zionist wolves who digest the Palestinian people in the haraam-eating stomach of the Zionist regime”—haraam being, of course, impure food according to Islam.
Correct, and the full phrase from Khamenei is “bloodthirsty Zionist wolves who digest the Palestinian people in the haraam-eating stomach of the Zionist regime”—haraam being, of course, impure food according to Islam.
“Granted,” Keinon notes further, nobody in Israel is expecting much of Bangladesh, Cuba or South Africa. But how about those countries with whom Israel has strong ties, such as India, Colombia and Thailand? Why did they sit still, and what does that say?
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A Seriously Wrongheaded Letter from J Street
Sometimes written material that enters the public domain is so wrongheaded that it cries out for refutation. Such is the case with a recent letter put out by J Street.
For the uninitiated: J Street is a non-profit U.S. organization, a political PAC, and a registered lobby. Even while billing itself as “the political home for pro-Israel, pro-peace Americans,” it anticipates that many will scoff at this self-identification. And so it also explains on its website and elsewhere that “J Street is redefining what it means to be pro-Israel in America.”
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‘US upping threat against Iran to forestall Israeli strike’
‘NY Times’ reports US implementing plan to increase military threat against Iran that includes more maneuvers in Gulf, covert activities against nuclear infrastructure and more aggressive public statements from Obama.
The administration of US President Barack Obama is moving ahead with plans to increase its military threat against Iran in an effort to convince Israel not to unilaterally strike the Islamic Republic and to force Tehran to take negotiations on its nuclear program more seriously, The New York Times reported on Monday.
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Ted Belman
Jerusalem, Israel
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