Iranian Atomic Urgency
• An absolutely fascinating correction in The Guardian . Who knew about this twist to the Osirak precedent?
A commentary described Israel’s 1981 attack on the Osirak nuclear site in Iraq as the world’s first air strike on a nuclear facility. It was the first successful strike. The previous year, the Iranian air force had tried to destroy Osirak (Bomb Iran and it will surely decide to pursue nuclear arms, 26 March, page 20).
Arab Spring Winter
• Worth reading: Michael Ignatieff gets into Bashar Assad’s parallel universe.
• If this Times of London report (paywall) is credible, a lot of Syrian higher-ups are trying to negotiate safe passage out of the country and Bashar Assad’s orbit, “thus undermining the authority of his regime.”
Those involved include army chiefs, commanders in the Republican Guard and senior officials in the presidential palace. Several have been supplying vital information to the opposition for months.
But efforts to bring the men out have become bogged down as they wait for the right moment to flee. Many have sought to negotiate terms, particularly for their families.
• Other Syria headlines:
Rest O’ the Roundup
• Common sense prevails at a Baltimore radio station:
Journalist fired for calling Israeli occupation brutal
• The US Supreme Court sent the case of Zivotofsky vs. Clinton back to the lower court. That’s good news for the legal effort to get Menachem Zivotofsky’s US passport to list his place of birth as “Jerusalem, Israel.” AP writes:
The justices, on an 8-1 judgment, overturned a lower court ruling that said the judiciary could not get involved in a political fight mixing Middle Eastern politics with a dispute between Congress and the president.
“The courts are fully capable of determining whether this statute may be given effect, or instead must be struck down in light of authority conferred on the executive by the Constitution,” said Chief Justice John Roberts, who wrote the majority opinion.
More legal-beagle links at the SCOTUS blog.
• Israel’s preparing for a visit by Barack Obama Prince Charles Vladimir Putin in June.
• Mohammed Merah sent Al Jazeera a memory stick with footage of his murder spree. Al Jazeera said it’s not going to broadcast the video, according to AP.
Tarrouche said the images appear to have been taken from the point of view of the killer, perhaps from a camera hung around his neck. He said they were a bit shaky but of a high technical quality.
The video had clearly been manipulated after the fact, according to Tarrouche, with religious songs and recitations of Quranic verses laid over the footage.
“You can hear gunshots at the moment of the killings. You can hear the voice of this person who has committed these assassinations. You can hear also the cries of the victims, and the voices were distorted,” Tarrouche said.
• Israel HaYom: Stunned silence at J Street’s conference as deputy ambassador Baruch Binah scolded the organization to stand by Israel.
• Worth reading: What the Daily Show Could Teach Journalism Students
What blew my mind: Some comedy writers are better read than many college journalists.
(Image of Osirak via Israel Air Force, Supreme Court via Flickr/yeowatzup)
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