Alan Dershowitz: Apology won’t improve relations with Turkey – Globes.

(One good man can make such a difference.  Even in our world of billions…  – JW)

“Israeli media are overly critical; when you read an op-ed column in an Israeli paper, you think that Israel will be Iran within months.”

Adv. Alan Dershowitz, who is known as the state of Israel’s attorney, and who defends Israel’s positions in the US, attacked the Israeli press today, claiming that senior commentators are overly critical of the government. Dershowitz also spoke about the wave of legislation that allegedly limits the media’s freedom of speech.

“When you read an op-ed column in an Israeli publication, you immediately think that Israel will be like Iran within six months, and that women will sit in the back of the bus like in Alabama, and that the government is fascist. The Israeli media exaggerate. You must understand that there is no such thing as an internal Israeli matter; everything that happens in Israel ends up on the cover of the “New York Times” and around the world. If Israel has a problem at the Mugrabim bridge in Jerusalem, it turns into an international issue.”

Dershowitz called for calm to be restored and for the criticism to be toned down. “Israel is not going to become fascist. I oppose all forms of censorship and limiting freedom of speech, but” Dershowitz said, “I suggest that people take responsibility for the exaggerations they are reporting in the media.”

Dershowitz criticized the phenomenon of excluding women, and certain rabbinical rulings that he claims deviate from the path of Judaism, and exist “only in the minds of a few demented rabbis,” and suggested: “Let’s fight them using their own framework of ideas.”

Dershowitz also criticized the bill that calls for the volume of muezzin speakers in mosques be lowered, and said that the fact that Israel is a Jewish state, “raises the bar for sensitivity on every issue, for better or worse.” On hatred of Israel, Dershowitz said that it ran deep, and that it was connected with anti-Semitism.

Dershowitz claims that it is easy for him to defend Israel throughout the world, and explained why: “Every time that I speak about Israel and I turn to the audience and say: I want you to name one country in the world that faces the kind of threats that Israel faces, and has such an impressive record of upholding human rights, and the rule of law. Not one person has ever been able to think of such a country.”

Dershowitz criticized the Palestinians, saying that they were not ready to hold political negotiations without preconditions, and complimented Netanyahu: “He wants to be tough on security issues, and to bring about a stable peace with security. I was at the UN in September when Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu-Mazen) gave a speech that Arafat would have been proud of. Both sides need to be ready for painful compromises. Netanyahu is ready.”

In his comments about the Iranian issue, Dershowitz said that President Barack Obama was committed to preventing Iran from achieving nuclear weapons, and said that he hoped that Israel would not take unilateral military action. However, if Israel has to do so for security reasons, “As an international lawyer, I will defend Israel.”

Dershowitz also said that Israel did not need to apologize to Turkey. “I do not believe that an Israeli apology to Turkey will improve relations between the two countries. Turkey has altered its approach, and is turning to the Muslim world after being rejected by Europe. It is using the apology as an excuse, and I do not think that Israel needs to apologize to Turkey.

“Turkey never apologized for the Armenian genocide. That takes nerve! Turkey is asking someone to apologize? They have never apologized for murders that they committed!”

When asked about the possibility that Turkey would sue IDF soldiers who participated in the takeover of the Marmara, Dershowitz answered: “Let’s see Turkey do that. I am ready to form a team of experts that would defend IDF officers against any country seeking to sue them overseas.”

Did Iran blast target steel needed for nuke program? – Israel News, Ynetnews.

Iranians need maraging steel to produce new uranium enrichment centrifuges and exhaust systems for missile engines. Was explosion at steel factory connected to nuclear program?

Ron Ben-Yishai

Mysterious explosion kills 7, in… JPost – Iranian Threat – News.

(Not ALL the news is bad! – JW)

    A mysterious explosion took place in a steel factory in Iran overnight Sunday, killing seven people, the latest in a series of blasts that have rocked the Islamic Republic over the last month.

The deaths occurred in an explosion and subsequent fire at a steel factory in the central Iranian province of Yadz, Iran’s IRIB news agency quoted Yazd Governor Azizollah Seifi as saying on Monday. He said that some of the those killed in the blast were foreign nationals.
Meridor: Not every Iran blast is reconnaissance

The cause of the explosion was not immediately clear but reports over the years have indicated the existence of covert nuclear facilities in the city of Yazd and it’s surrounding areas.

While there was no evidence available to support this possibility, Iran has used seemingly innocent civilian factories before to hide its illicit nuclear activity.

Some reports have claimed that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps had built underground nuclear facilities in the Yazd region. The Iranians are known to have a mine there used to extract raw uranium and that a nearby facility is where the uranium is turned into yellowcake a key component in the nuclear fuel cycle.

It is also possible that the steel facility was strictly a steel facility without a military or nuclear application. It is possible though that the factory manufactured steel parts for missiles or even centrifuges, used to enrich uranium. In either case, sabotaging such a facility could contribute to efforts aimed at delaying Iran’s nuclear and missile programs.

The blast on Sunday night came after, last month, a mysterious explosion took place in the city of Isfahan, which is home to a nuclear facility involved in processing uranium fed to the Natanz fuel enrichment facility.

The London Times reported that the explosion had damaged the nuclear facility but the Institute for Science and International Security in the United States published satellite images which showed extensive work underway at the facility but not damage from an explosion.

Two weeks earlier, on November 12, an explosion hit an Iranian military base near the town of Bid Kaneh, killing 17 members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and Maj.-Gen. Hassan Moghaddam, chief architect of the Islamic Republic’s ballistic missile program.

Israel’s Mossad was accused of orchestrating the blast which took place as the officers were reportedly assembling an advanced long-range ballistic missile. The explosion is believed to have significantly delayed the development of that missile.

‘Barak’s assessment on Iran was … JPost – Iranian Threat – News.

‘Iran to reverse-engineer, mass … JPost – Iranian Threat – News.

(Now THIS is funny…. JW)

    Iran will reverse-engineer the US drone it captured on December 4, Iran’s Press TV quoted a senior Iranian official as saying Sunday.

Parviz Sorouri, member of the Majlis Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy, said that his country will “mass produce” the drones in the near future. He also said that the Iranian version would be “of higher quality” than the original  RQ-170 Sentinel, according to the Press TV report.

RELATED:
Iran: Price of crude would double if oil exports blocked

Souriri added that decryption of the drone was in its final stages and that soon Iran would be in posession of confidential US information.

The advanced US drone was reportedly flying a mission over western Afghanistan when it entered Iranian airspace and was intercepted.

“After it entered the eastern parts of the country, this aircraft fell into the trap of our armed forces and was downed in Iran with minimum damage,” said Revolutionary Guards Commander Ali Hajizadehhe upon the drone’s capture December 4.

“With God’s help, we were able to bring down one of America’s most advanced planes… with minimal damage,” he told the semi-official FARS news agency.

Sourouri also claimed that Iran had developed advanced capabilities in countering electronic warfare, stating that that these contributed to the identification and distruption of the US electronic system.

Last Thursday Iran’s state television published pictures and a video of a drone the Iranian military claimed it had shot down with an American flag hanging from it.

The RQ-170 Sentinel, built by Lockheed Martin, was first employed by the US Air Force in December 2009. It has a full-motion video sensor that was used this year by US intelligence to monitor al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan ahead of the raid that killed him.

Fierce Clashes Spread in Syria – ABC News.

Fierce clashes between Syrian troops and army defectors spread to new areas Monday after a major battle in the south raised new fears the 9-month-old conflict was spiraling toward civil war, activists said.

The uprising against President Bashar Assad has grown increasingly violent in recent months as defecting soldiers fight back against the army and once-peaceful protesters take up arms to protect themselves against the military assault.

The U.N. says more than 4,000 people have been killed since March. The revolt has raised concerns of a regional conflagration, given Syria’s strategic role in the Middle East with alliances in Iran and with the Shiite militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says new clashes between soldiers and defectors were reported Monday in the northwestern region of Idlib, and that fighting continued for a second day in the southern province of Daraa.

AP

A man flashes the victory sign during a… View Full Caption

A man flashes the victory sign during a protest demanding the release of Syrian refugee Ahmed al-Shureiqi in front of the Syrian Embassy in Amman, Jordan, Sunday, Dec. 11, 2011. The Syrian Embassy says a dozen of its nationals living in Jordan have beat up consulate employees, wounding at least two diplomats and several others, including a Syrian security guard. An Embassy statement says its guards have arrested one of the attackers, identified as Syrian refugee Ahmed al-Shureiqi. (AP Photo/Mohammad Hannon) Close

Also Monday, Syria’s state media reported that voting started in scheduled municipal elections, but witnesses say turnout was low. The opposition does not consider the vote a legitimate concession by the regime because it coincides with the deadly crackdown on anti-government protesters.

Since the uprising began, Assad has made several gestures of reform. But after nine months, the opposition is demanding nothing less than the downfall of the regime.

It is almost impossible to verify events in Syria, because the regime has banned most foreign journalists and prevented local reporters from moving freely. Accounts from activists and witnesses, along with amateur videos posted online, provide key channels of information.

On Sunday, army defectors set several military vehicles ablaze in a prolonged battle in Daraa province. Sunday also marked the start of calls for a general strike in Syria to push the government to stop its bloody crackdown. The strike was open-ended, until the regime pulls the army out of cities and releases detainees.

Because of the restrictions placed on reporters, it was difficult to gauge how many people were abiding by the strike. But activists said few people were out in Daraa on Monday.

Assad has refused to buckle under Arab and international pressure to step down and has shown no sign of easing his crackdown. Economic sanctions, however, could chip away at the regime in the long-run and erode his vital support base in the business community.

Assad has spent years trying to open up Syria’s economy, which helped boost a new and vibrant merchant class even as the regime’s political trappings remained unchanged. If the economy continues to collapse, Assad could find himself with few allies inside the country.

Gingrich Gets It Right – THERESE ZRIHEN-DVIR, Regard d’un Ecrivain sur le Monde.

Posted by David Horowitz Bio ↓ on Dec 10th, 2011

(I have no use for Newt Gingrich.  I consider him a corrupt, self-important and possibly evil man.  I was shocked when I first heard he said this.  We all know it to be true, but it’s not PC.  Shame on me, for being shocked.  Kudos to Newt for having the balls to set a new tone in the Middle East debate. – JW)

Hassan Nasrallah’s loneliness – Israel Opinion, Ynetnews.

Op-ed: Without Iran and Syria’s support, funding Hezbollah will shrink back to its true size

Guy Bechor

For a split-second Hezbollah Chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah dared show himself this week, for his first public speech in years – and immediately went back into hiding. Nasrallah’s timing was not a coincidence. He too knows that the Shiite’s golden era in the Middle East is nearing its end, and he had to do something – in a show of courage, so to speak.

After the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, and especially after the fall of the Sunni regime in Iraq in 2003, it seemed like the Shiites were taking over. In Iran, in southern Iraq, in Syria and Lebanon, and even among the Palestinians, via Hamas and the Islamic Jihad. But historically, this was an artificial phenomenon, following near-millennia of clear Sunni hegemony, and especially considering that the Shiites make up only 15% of Islam, while the Sunnis make up the remaining 85%.

The growing sanctions imposed on Iran have turned it into an isolated, weakened country and the Arab revolt of the last year has all but ended the Alawi hegemony – which Syria and the Arab world consider to be a direct continuance of Shia Islam. True, the Shiites rule Iraq, but they are well aware of the limited power there, after years of internal conflict. Some of the Shiites even actively oppose any Iranian domination.

So what is satellite-Nasrallah to do when his mother ship, Iran, is financially and socially coming apart at the seams, and when the connective link – Assad’s Syria – is disappearing? The “Shiite Crescent” that the Shiites so boasted about is falling apart. Without Iran and Syria, Hezbollah will shrink back to its true size – no more generous funding, no more weapons and no more political backing.

Worse: Nasrallah insists on voicing public support for Assad and his bloody regime, for which the Sunni world condemns him. Nasrallah, the “star” who only five years ago fought Israel, is now perceived as part of the old Arab world.

Even Hamas understands that and was quick to flee Assad’s patrondom. But Hamas is a Sunni organization, as opposed to Shiite Hezbollah, that has now has no one to turn to other than Iran or Syria. Hezbollah’s chief is now hoping that Egypt will stand up to Israel, but he undoubtedly knows what the Sunni clerics in Cairo think of him and his organization. There is no love lost there, to put it mildly.

Decreasing options

Hezbollah is transferring its vast arsenal from Syria to Lebanon and the Lebanese know it. The Lebanese debate over the disarmament of Hezbollah has renewed and Hezbollah is concerned. Yes – they can attack Israel, but in doing so they will bring about Lebanon’s destruction.

Iran is trying to push its way into Lebanon and it may be finding partial success – such as in with its cooperation with the Lebanese military – but that stems from Syria’s dwindling presence in the Lebanese arena. The sects there need an external element to save them from themselves.

And finally, the Lebanese prime minister, billionaire Najib Mikati, did not yield to Nasrallah’s pressure and approved the transfer of funds necessary for the International Crimes Court (ICC) in The Hague to try several senior Hezbollah officials for the murder of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.

This was another blow to Nasrallah, which reflects his weakness within Lebanese politics – even his old ally Mikati has turned his back on him. Will Nasrallah go for broke in Lebanon? That’s highly unlikely.

For two decades Hezbollah built itself on its struggle against IDF forces in Lebanon. Today, when the Arab world is internally conflicted, and the artificially overblown proportions of the Israeli-Arab conflict have been revealed, Hezbollah has nothing else to hang on to. Nasrallah’s latest speech was indicative of weakness and concern – not of confidence.

The IDF is ready to face the challenged posed by the northern border but Israel too understands the decrease in the options available to Hassan Nasrallah, whose world has become colder than ever.

Dershowitz: Israel Has Legal Right to Attack Iran – Global Agenda – News – Israel National News.

Prof. Alan Dershowitz

Israel news photo: EJP

Israel has every legal and moral right to stage a pre-emptive strike on Iran, renowned legal expert Prof. Alan Dershowitz said in Tel Aviv on Monday. He also wants to hear U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speak out more strongly against Iran.

Speaking at the annual business conference sponsored by Globes, Dershowitz stated that regardless of whether or not it would be wise for Israel to attack, “Israel has the right morally and legally to strike Iran just as it did on [the nuclear facility] in Iraq in 1981. Having the right to attack does not mean that it should do so, but I would defend Israel’s right.”

Despite the “deep and positive” security relationship between the United States and Israel, he fears that there may be a “disconnect” over Iran’s race to produce a nuclear weapon and reach the capability to stage a nuclear attack on Israel.

“Israel doesn’t have the military capacity that America has to destroy Iran’s underground nuclear facilities,” Dershowitz explained, adding that that “United States can wait a longer time and has more of a willingness to tolerate a nuclear Iran.”

He praised Obama for stating he will not tolerate an Iran with nuclear weapons, but added, “I would like to hear that from the Secretary of State [Hillary Clinton].”

Turning to Turkey, Dershowitz lividly criticized Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan for demanding an apology from Israel over the flotilla clash between terror activists and the IDF on the high seas in May 2010. “Turkey has never apologized for the genocide in Armenia. Talk about chutzpah? Talking about Turkey demanding an apology from anybody?”

Dershowitz also advised Israel to be more aggressive against countries’ threats to arrest visiting IDF officers and political leaders for alleged war crimes.

Israeli officials should not “duck back into their planes,” admonished Dershowitz. “That is not the way great nations behave,” he continued. He advised officers and politicians to “hold their heads high” and challenge countries’ authority to put them on trial.

Dershowitz vowed if they are arrested, he would ”put together the greatest legal team ever assembled.”

He added that Israel’s record  is better than that of Turkey and  NATO and others when it comes to the ratio of civilians to terrorists who are killed in warfare. Deshowitz declared that “the double standard against Israel.” whereby countries are far more guilty of the same charges made against Israel, represents “the depths of international law and the hijacking by the left.”

‘No substitute for US leadership on Syria’ – JPost – Middle East.

    WASHINGTON – Syria is too important a country for its crisis to be handled by any actor other than the United States, experts on Mideast geopolitics and national security said late last week at an annual policy conference in Washington.

The US and the European Union have imposed economic sanctions on Damascus and last month the Arab League suspended Syria’s membership. But Western leaders have been loath to consider military intervention in Syria.

Tony Badran – a fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, the Washington think tank that organized the event – said neither the Arab League nor Turkey wield the necessary military or diplomatic clout to end a nearly nine-month government crackdown said to have killed at least 4,000 people.

“Syria is a pillar of the Iranian axis. Only the US can do this – it can’t be outsourced,” Badran said. “The US acting like a human-rights NGO just won’t cut it.”

Turkey, which shares a 900-km. border with Syria, has raised the possibility of creating a buffer zone along their the frontier, but has also shrunk from the prospect of large-scale military action.

Andrew Tabler, a Syria expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said military operations in the country would present difficulties not encountered in this year’s NATO intervention in Libya.

“Unlike Libya, Syria has a massive air defense system. The US could handle it, but not the Turks,” he said.

Current and former US officials from both sides of the aisle called for Washington to show greater leadership against Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Rep. Eliot Engel (D-New York) said America must honor its responsibility as the champion of freedom-seeking peoples worldwide.

“People care what the US says and look to it as a beacon of democracy. Shame on us if we shirk that duty,” said Engel, who in 2003 sponsored the Syria Accountability Act aimed at ending the regime’s support for terrorism in Lebanon, Gaza and Iraq.

Diplomatic cables published last year by WikiLeaks showed a number of Arab leaders pushing for military action against Iran’s nuclear program and a tough policy against the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip. Engel said action against the Syrian regime would likely be similarly well-received in private, even if condemned in public.

“Just as other countries vilify Israel but secretly approve of what it does, so too with the US,” he said.

John Hannah, an Foundation for Defense of Democracies fellow and national security adviser to former vice president Dick Cheney, said the Syrian crisis must be viewed first and foremost as an opportunity to weaken Iran.

“This opportunity to take down this anti- Israeli, anti-US dictator [Assad] who is Iran’s sole Arab ally and has extended its tentacles into Lebanon and Gaza is absolutely imperative,” Hannah said. “It needs to be seen not just as a humanitarian crisis, but an opportunity to weaken the Iranian regime.”

James Woolsey – chairman of the foundation and a former CIA director – lashed out at the Obama White House’s foreign policy toward the leaders of Syria and Iran.

“From the start the administration gave the impression it would be easy on enemies and tough on allies. All it needs to do now is pretend Assad and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are allies,” he said.