Defecting Syrian Diplomat Tells All
July 17, 2012 16:35 by Pesach Benson
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Today’s Top Stories:
1. Today’s Zaman: Turkey’s credibility with NATO is taking a hit as the army backtracks on what caused the downing of a Phantom jet a few weeks ago:
“If it turns out that the Turks, who were among the first members of the North Atlantic Alliance, were less than honest with their NATO partners, it is going to put a major strain on the relations,” wrote Steven A. Cook, a Hasib J. Sabbagh senior fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, although he said this cannot be the case because Turkey “would never risk its status within the alliance.”
But even in the event that there was no deliberate attempt to hide facts from NATO allies, the way the government has handled the process still raises questions of trustworthiness.
2. Gaza Christians Protest Forced Conversions
Amb. Nawaf Fares
3. Nawaf Fares — the Syrian ambassador to Iraq who defected — is telling reporters quite a bit about the Assad regime. He told the BBC that Assad may have already used chemical weapons. And he confirmed to the Daily Telegraph that Assad allowed Al-Qaida to enter Iraq in order to disrupt US forces.
As a governor at the time, I was given verbal commandments that any civil servant that wanted to go would have his trip facilitated, and that his absence would not be noted. I believe the Syrian regime has blood on its hands, it should bare responsibility for many of the deaths in Iraq.”
He himself, he added, knew personally of several Syrian government “liaison officers” who still dealt with al-Qaeda. “Al-Qaeda would not carry out activities without knowledge of the regime,” he said. “The Syrian government would like to use al-Qaeda as a bargaining chip with the West – to say: ‘it is either them or us’.”
In response, Asharq al-Awsat notes that “dissident Ambassador Nawaf al-Fares’ comments not only pose a problem for al-Assad, but also for the current Baghdad government blinded by sectarianism and Iranian influence.”
Israel and the Palestinians
• Israel HaYom: Hamas test fired an improved rocket modeled after dismantled Libyan missiles smuggled into Gaza. Where did they test this rocket? In Sinai.
• Israeli security asked a group of Palestinian journalists to drop their pants before covering Hillary Clinton’s meeting with Salam Fayyad. YNet says the four reporters — all from Al-Quds, refused. Unless there’s a specific threat, strip searching reporters is plain wrong.
• CTV gave airtime to “Three Little Birds,” a band singing a song slurring Israel as an apartheid state. Program host Jeff Hooper even plugged the group’s album. When HonestReporting Canada complained, the network dug in its heels. You can watch the performance.
• Salam Fayyad rattles his tin cup on CNN, telling Christiane Amanpour:
“We have been facing serious financial difficulties for more than two years now and the crisis has become very acute to the point of us being unable to meet such basic obligations as wages.”
• Maan News: The Arab League is forming a committee to investigate Yasser Arafat’s death. (Memo to the Arab League: Yasser Arafat is still dead.)
simon
5:45 pm
Jul 17, 2012
Interesting that comments and ratings on YouTube for the 3 Little Tirds is disabled.
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Barry
8:10 pm
Jul 17, 2012
comments and ratings? what are those needed for? i KNOW that these singers are so well informed of the situation in Israel and the middle east as to be considered experts on the subject. what else must be said? i wonder what tunes they would come up with should Israel start implementing similar laws to those now on the books in almost all Arab countries. no one seems to be singing about that, or of the plight of Coptic Christians, or other non Muslim minorities, the plight of those selling land to Jews, or even being Jews. no songs for Iranians imprisoned in their own land. simply put “Hatred against the State of Israel and Israel bashing is nothing else but hatred against the Jewish people”
Well-loved. Agree or Disagree:
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Barry
8:43 pm
Jul 17, 2012
i find it amazing and mind boggling that “human rights activists” appear unconcerned with human rights anywhere in the middle east (or the world) other than within the sole democracy in that entire region. and while no democracy is perfect, the “infractions to human rights” there, pale in contrast to those occurring in the rest of the region daily. even genocides in the rest of the world go unprotested. the sufferings of countless others throughout the world matters little. only “perceived” violations of Palestinians rights matter. hypocrisy of these people knows no bounds. these are not innocent and well meaning protests FOR the Palestinians. these are malicious demonizations AGAINST Jews.
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simon
8:53 pm
Jul 17, 2012
Barry – all good points – of course the world will scream murderer at the death of a palestinian donkey – and remain silent over the death of untold thousands in Syria – it is a halacha – a ruling from the Torah – that Eysav will always hate Yakov – but it does not say in the Torah that we need to continually appease them – relinquish land – expell Jews from parts of Israel -
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Barry
8:59 pm
Jul 17, 2012
i fully agree with you! we leave that part to the politicians!
not to the people who continually spill their blood defending Israel on those lands.
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Barry
8:56 pm
Jul 17, 2012
and here’s just one other example of what has been said. “The Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority government has named a summer program for the bloodthirsty terrorist who killed 37 civilians in 1978, Dalal Mughrabi”. where are the protests over that? can you imagine the outcry if Israel were to announce “Camp Baruch Goldstein”? lousy bunch of anti Semitic shameless, self serving, holier than thou, hypocritical, troglodytes. the only human rights violations in the world happen in Israel.
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Defecting Syrian Diplomat Tells All | The Conservative Papers
12:45 pm
Jul 23, 2012
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JT
10:03 pm
Jul 23, 2012
“The opera ain’t over ’till the fat lady sings” now has a corollary: “The investigation ain’t over ’till Israel’s at fault.”
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