Just Foreign Policy News
June 21, 2010
Democracy Now: Oliver Stone on "South of the Border"
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/6/21/academy_award_winning_filmmaker_oliver_stone
Is "South of the Border" coming to your town?
Oliver Stone’s documentary about progressive change in Latin America opens in New York June 25.
http://southoftheborderdoc.com/in-theatres/
Uri Avnery: A Flash of Lightning
The Chief of the Mossad told the Knesset last week: "For the US, we have ceased to be an asset and become a burden." The present generation of idealistic youngsters from all over the world, who would once have volunteered for the kibbutzim, can now be found on the decks of the ships sailing for downtrodden, choked and starved Gaza.
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1276942826/
Obey’s Afghanistan: At Long Last, It’s Guns vs. Butter
At long last, Rep. David Obey has called the question: which is more important to America – saving teachers’ jobs, or pointless killing in Afghanistan? This could be the beginning of the end of the Washington consensus that wars and other military spending exist on their own fiscal planet. There is a freight train coming called "deficit reduction," and if cuts in military spending aren’t on board the train, the cargo will be cuts in Social Security and Medicare benefits.
http://www.truth-out.org/obeys-afghanistan-at-long-last-its-guns-vs-butter60555
Virtual Brown Bag with Stephen Kinzer
Our June 11th Virtual Brown Bag with Stephen Kinzer is on the web. Kinzer spoke about his new book, RESET: Iran, Turkey, and America’s Future and spoke about recent events involving Turkey and Iran.
http://justforeignpolicy.org/kinzertalk
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http://bit.ly/9mT4Fz
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Summary:
U.S./Top News
1) Israel took another small step Sunday toward easing its land blockade of Gaza, announcing it plans to permit all goods into the seaside territory except those on a list of items specifically banned, the Los Angeles Times reports. But aid experts said questions remain about how the new policy will treat so-called dual-use items, such as cement and construction materials. Israel is hoping that by easing the land blockade it will discourage activist groups from dispatching more aid supply ships to attempt to break Israel’s naval blockade, the LAT says.
2) Ten civilians, including at least five women and children, were killed in NATO airstrikes in Khost Province, the provincial police chief said Saturday, the New York Times reports. NATO said it had carried out precision airstrikes.
3) Amnesty International praised Ecuador’s decision to become the first country to ratify the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The Optional Protocol will provide access to justice for everyone whose economic, social and cultural rights are violated and who is denied an effective remedy in their own countries, Amnesty says.
4) Turkey’s support of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla and advocacy against the Gaza blockade has marginalized Iran’s bid to lead on advocacy for the Palestinians, argue Elliot Hen-Tov and Bernard Haykel in the New York Times. A poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found that 43 percent of Palestinians ranked Turkey as their No. 1 foreign supporter, as opposed to just 6 percent for Iran.
5) Afghanistan and Pakistan are talking about how to make peace with insurgents fighting U.S. troops in Afghanistan, the Washington Post reports. The discussions reflect the beginnings of a thaw in relations between Kabul and Islamabad, which are increasingly focused on shaping the aftermath of the withdrawal of U.S. troops.
6) Defense Secretary Gates contradicted Vice President Biden’s pledge that in July 2011 "a whole lot" of U.S. forces will be leaving Afghanistan, the Politico reports. "That absolutely has not been decided," Gates said. Biden is quoted in Jonathan Alter’s book "The Promise" as saying "in July of 2011 you’re going to see a whole lot of people moving out, bet on it."
7) Within the U.S. military’s rank and file, there are growing doubts about winning in Afghanistan, the Washington Times reports. An intelligence source recalled a briefing where a three-star officer expressed little optimism about a good ending of the conflict. Anthony Cordesman, a member of a special assessment team a year ago that advised Gen. McChrystal, wrote last week that the U.S. might leave without victory. "The U.S. may be forced into leaving Afghanistan, regardless of its intentions to stay, or face conditions that make any stable form of victory impossible," he wrote on his website at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "Containment from the outside may be the only choice."
Israel/Palestine
8) Israel warned the UN that Israel is entitled to use "all necessary force" to stop a Lebanese women’s aid boat from reaching Gaza, AFP reports. On Thursday the women gathered near a shrine to the Virgin Mary in south Lebanon to pray she bless their vessel, christened "Mariam" in her honour. "The participants are committed to making progress and our only weapons are faith in the Virgin Mary and in humanity," spokeswoman Rima Farah told AFP.
9) Four Palestinian politicians affiliated with Hamas rejected an Israeli order that they leave East Jerusalem for the West Bank, the Washington Post reports. Israel revoked the Jerusalem residency status of the three members of the defunct Palestinian parliament and a former cabinet minister after they refused to resign from their positions and were deemed "disloyal" to the state. The move stripped them of their ability to live in the city legally. "We as sons of the city of Jerusalem and never left it before. We were born here before it was occupied and we emphasize that we will remain here and never leave it," said one of the parliamentarians.
10) Jerusalem’s city hall advanced development plans for a hotly contested area of East Jerusalem, the New York Times reports. The plans include the demolition of more than 20 Palestinian homes to create a controversial archeological park. Fakhri Abu Diab, a leader of a Palestinian residents’ committee whose home is slated for demolition, said,
"They want to make a garden not by my house, but instead of my house." Abu Diab said his house was more than 20 years old, that he paid local taxes, and that his efforts to legalize the house had failed.
Japan
11) The chair of the Okinawa assembly handed US Ambassador John Roos a letter calling for scrapping a plan to transfer the Marine Corps’ Futenma Air Station within Okinawa, Kyodo News reports. Zenshin Takamine said in the letter addressed to Obama that 90 percent of residents in Okinawa are opposed to the plan.
Iran
12) Iran has barred two IAEA inspectors from entering Iran, accusing them of leaking false information to the media, Reuters reports. The IAEA rejected Iran’s reasons for the ban and said it fully supported the inspectors. Iran made clear it would still allow the IAEA to monitor its nuclear facilities, saying other experts could carry out the work. Iran has the right to refuse certain inspectors under its agreement with the agency.
Afghanistan
13) The UN says Afghanistan became a far more dangerous place in the first four months of 2010, the Los Angeles Times reports. The U.N. report notes a near-doubling in the number of attacks involving roadside bombs.
Colombia
14) Juan Manuel Santos was elected President of Colombia, the Washington Post reports. Santos had 69 percent of the vote to 28 percent for Antanas Mockus. Santos’s term as defense minister was marred by revelations that army units throughout the country had killed hundreds of peasants and presented them as dead guerrillas to increase body count figures. Rep. Jim McGovern said he thinks Santos did not do enough as minister to expose details of the killings or to ensure that those responsible were punished.
Contents:
U.S./Top News
1) Israel takes small step toward easing Gaza blockade
All goods except those on a list of specifically banned items will be allowed. What’s unclear is how the new policy will treat cement and construction materials, which Israel says can be used for military purposes.
Edmund Sanders, Los Angeles Times, June 20, 2010
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-israel-blockade-20100621,0,3758650.story
Jerusalem – Israel took another small step Sunday toward easing its land blockade of the Gaza Strip, announcing it plans to permit all goods into the seaside territory except those on a list of items specifically banned. But the government has yet to specify what items will be banned or when the changes will take effect.
Under heavy international pressure, Israel said last week that it planned to ease restrictions on most food items, household wares and other "civilian goods." Weapons will continue to be banned and the naval blockade around Gaza will stay in place.
The policy change is intended to permit more goods into Gaza. Currently only items on a narrow pre-approved list are permitted in.
But aid experts said questions remain about how the new policy will treat so-called dual-use items, such as cement and construction materials, which Israel says can be used for military purposes. Israel has pledged to permit more construction materials into Gaza as long as they are under international supervision, but it remains unclear how much will be allowed in.
The exact list of banned items will be published "as quickly as possible," the government said in a statement.
[…] Israel is also hoping that by easing the land blockade it will discourage activist groups from dispatching more aid supply ships to attempt to break Israel’s naval blockade.
[…] Israel also promised Sunday to eventually expand the capacity of border crossings to permit more traffic and to "streamline" its restrictions on the movement of people in and out of Gaza, including those needing medical treatment and international aid workers.
On Saturday, Israel barred Germany’s Development Aid Minister Dirk Niebel from visiting Gaza to inspect a German-funded water-purification plant. German officials called the decision a "grave mistake," according to the Israeli news site Ynet.
[…]
2) Afghan Civilians Said to Be Killed in an Airstrike
Rod Nordland, New York Times, June 19, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/20/world/asia/20airstrike.html
Kabul – Ten civilians, including at least five women and children, were killed in NATO airstrikes in Khost Province, the provincial police chief said Saturday. Five other civilians were killed, as were two Afghan National Army soldiers and two police officials, in other violence around the country on Saturday.
NATO’s International Security Assistance Force said in a statement that it had carried out precision airstrikes against a large number of armed insurgents from the Haqqani network, Taliban allies operating in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
"We are aware of conflicting reports of civilian casualties from local officials and are therefore reviewing the operational details of the engagement," the force said in a statement. "Our mission is to protect the population and we will accept full responsibility if civilians were unintentionally harmed in the intense fight against the insurgents."
[…]
3) Ecuador first to ratify new UN mechanism to enforce economic, social and cultural rights
Amnesty International, 16 June 2010
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/ecuador-first-ratify-new-un-mechanism-enforce-economic-social-and-cultural-rights-2
Amnesty International has urged other countries to follow Ecuador’s example and ratify a new UN mechanism that will provide access to justice for everyone whose economic, social and cultural rights are violated and who is denied an effective remedy in their own countries.
Ecuador is the first country in the world to ratify the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural rights which allows individuals and groups within the country to seek justice from the United Nations should these rights – which include the rights to adequate housing, food, water, health, work, social security and education – be violated by their government.
"Access to justice is an essential right for victims of all human rights violations," said Widney Brown, Amnesty International’s Senior Director of International Law and Policy. "We encourage all countries to follow Ecuador’s positive example and ratify within the shortest possible time."
The Optional Protocol will enable people denied their human rights to have their complaints heard in front of an independent, international panel of experts. The decisions made by this new mechanism are likely to influence decisions of national and regional courts around the world.
[…]
4) Turkey’s Gain Is Iran’s Loss
Elliot Hen-Tov and Bernard Haykel, New York Times, June 18, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/19/opinion/19haykel.html
[Elliot Hen-Tov is a doctoral candidate and Bernard Haykel a professor of Near Eastern studies at Princeton.]
Since Israel’s deadly raid on the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara last month, it’s been assumed that Iran would be the major beneficiary of the wave of global anti-Israeli sentiment. But things seem to be playing out much differently: Iran paradoxically stands to lose much influence as Turkey assumes a surprising new role as the modern, democratic and internationally respected nation willing to take on Israel and oppose America.
While many Americans may feel betrayed by the behavior of their longtime allies in Ankara, Washington actually stands to gain indirectly if a newly muscular Turkey can adopt a leadership role in the Sunni Arab world, which has been eagerly looking for a better advocate of its causes than Shiite, authoritarian Iran or the inept and flaccid Arab regimes of the Persian Gulf.
Turkey’s Islamist government has distilled every last bit of political benefit from the flotilla crisis, domestically and internationally. And if the Gaza blockade is abandoned or loosened, it will be easily portrayed as a victory for Turkish engagement on behalf of the Palestinians. Thus the fiery rhetoric of Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, appeals not only to his domestic constituency, but also to the broader Islamic world. It is also an attempt to redress what many in the Arab and Muslim worlds see as a historic imbalance in Turkey’s foreign policy in favor of Israel. Without having to match his words with action, Mr. Erdogan has amassed credentials to be the leading supporter of the Palestinian cause.
While most in the West seem to have overlooked this dynamic, Tehran has not. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad used a regional summit meeting in Istanbul this month to deliver an inflammatory anti-Israel speech, yet it went virtually unnoticed among the chorus of international condemnations of Israel’s act. On June 12 Iran dispatched its own aid flotilla bound for Gaza, and offered to provide an escort by its Revolutionary Guards for other ships breaking the blockade.
Yet Hamas publicly rejected Iran’s escort proposal, and a new poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found that 43 percent of Palestinians ranked Turkey as their No. 1 foreign supporter, as opposed to just 6 percent for Iran.
Turkey has a strong hand here. Many leading Arab intellectuals have fretted over being caught between Iran’s revolutionary Shiism and Saudi Arabia’s austere and politically ineffectual Wahhabism. They now hope that a more liberal and enlightened Turkish Sunni Islam – reminiscent of past Ottoman glory – can lead the Arab world out of its mire.
You can get a sense of just how attractive Turkey’s leadership is among the Arab masses by reading the flood of recent negative articles about Ankara in the government-owned newspapers of the Arab states. This coverage impugns Mr. Erdogan’s motives, claiming he is latching on to the Palestinian issue because he is weak domestically, and dismisses Turkey’s ability to bring leadership to this quintessential "Arab cause." They reek of panic over a new rival.
Turkey also gained from its failed effort, alongside Brazil, to hammer out a new deal on Iran’s nuclear program. The Muslim world appreciated Turkey’s standing up to the United States, and in the end Iran ended up with nothing but more United Nations sanctions.
In taking hold of the Palestinian card, Prime Minister Erdogan has potentially positioned Turkey as the central interlocutor between the Islamic/Arab world and Israel and the West, and been rewarded with tumultuous demonstrations lauding him in Ankara and Istanbul. Meanwhile, the streets of Tehran have been notably silent, with Mr. Ahmadinejad’s regime worried about public unrest during the one-year anniversary of last summer’s fraudulent elections.
Prime Minister Erdogan has many qualities that will help him gain the confidence of the Arab masses. He is not only a devout Sunni, but also the democratically elected leader of a dynamic and modern Muslim country with membership in the G-20 and NATO. His nation is already a major tourist and investment destination for Arabs, and the Middle East has long been flooded with Turkish products, from agriculture to TV programming.
With Turkey capturing the hearts, minds and wallets of Arabs, Iran will increasingly find it harder to carry out its agenda of destabilizing the region and the globe. For Americans, it may be hard to see the blessings in a rift with a longtime ally. But even if Turkey’s interests no longer fully align with ours, there is much to be gained from a Westernized, prosperous and democratic nation becoming the standard-bearer of the Islamic world.
5) Pakistan, Afghanistan begin talks about dealing with insurgents
Karin Brulliard and Karen DeYoung, Washington Post, Saturday, June 19, 2010; A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/18/AR2010061805638_pf.html
Islamabad, Pakistan – Afghanistan and Pakistan are talking about how to make peace with insurgents fighting U.S. troops in Afghanistan, including one faction considered the coalition forces’ most lethal foe, according to Pakistani and U.S. officials.
The discussions reflect the beginnings of a thaw in relations between Kabul and Islamabad, which are increasingly focused on shaping the aftermath of what they fear could be a more abrupt withdrawal of U.S. troops than is now anticipated. But one element of the effort – outreach by Pakistan to the militia headed by the young commander Sirajuddin Haqqani – faces opposition from U.S. officials, who consider the al-Qaeda-linked group too brutal to be tolerated.
At Pakistan’s suggestion, Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, the chief of Pakistan’s powerful intelligence agency, made an unprecedented trip last month to Kabul to discuss with Afghan President Hamid Karzai a wide range of possible cooperation, including mediating with Pakistan-based insurgents.
Several weeks ago, Pasha and Pakistan’s army chief of staff, Gen. Ashfaq Kiyani, returned to continue the discussion. There is no agreement between the two nations, but a Pakistani security official said the outreach to insurgents is "not a problem."
The previously undisclosed visits came as the United States, gradually warming to the idea of reconciliation with insurgents, encourages improved relations between the two governments, which have long viewed each other with suspicion. But Obama administration officials have cautioned Afghanistan and Pakistan that they will not support talks with Haqqani’s militia.
[…]
6) Gates Downplays Biden Pledge, Afghan Violence
Carol E. Lee, Politico, June 20, 2010
http://www.politico.com/blogs/politicolive/0610/Gates_downplays_Biden_pledge_Afghan_violence.html
Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Sunday contradicted Vice President Joe Biden’s pledge that in July 2011 "a whole lot" of U.S. forces will be leaving Afghanistan.
"That absolutely has not been decided," Gates said on "Fox News Sunday," adding, "I also haven’t heard Vice President Biden say that, so I’m not accepting at face value that he said those words."
Gates called July 2011 "a starting point" for withdrawal that will be based on conditions on the ground. Just how many troops begin to pull out at that time will be determined by several parties, including Gen. Stanley McChrystal and the Afghan government.
Biden is quoted in "The Promise," Jonathan Alter’s book on President Obama’s first year in office, as saying "in July of 2011 you’re going to see a whole lot of people moving out, bet on it." The White House has not contradicted the report. "That’s in a book. I don’t recall the vice president ever say that," Gates said.
[…]
7) Troops ‘weary’ of Afghanistan fighting
Doubts, frustration said rising in ranks
Rowan Scarborough, Washington Times, Sunday, June 20, 2010
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jun/20/afghanistan-fighting-brings-on-weariness/
Within the U.S. military’s rank and file, there are growing doubts about winning in Afghanistan, a mood that contradicts upbeat war reports delivered to Congress last week by the top commander and officials.
A senior military intelligence official who has served in Afghanistan and participates in daily briefings on the war told The Washington Times there is a "weariness" among officers as the war nears the nine-year mark in October.
"We are a battle-hardened force, but eight years now in Afghanistan has worn us down," said the officer, who asked not to be named because he holds a sensitive intelligence job. "Folks I work with and talk to every day just shake their heir heads in weariness."
[…] The intelligence source said commanders still have not found the key to shifting the loyalties of Pashtun tribal leaders away from the rigidly Islamic Taliban and toward the democratic government of President Hamid Karzai. "We’re fighting a cultural battle we have yet to come to grips with," the official said. "We don’t get the Pashtun mindset. We can’t figure out how to work through the system of corruption."
The source recalled a briefing where a three-star officer expressed little optimism about a good ending of the conflict. His remark stunned those in attendance.
The pessimism comes amid a recent increase in U.S. casualties as summer fighting between Taliban and allied forces increases. A United Nations quarterly report made public on Saturday stated that security declined in the first four months of the year as the number of roadside bombings and other attacks rose sharply.
Since the war began in October 2001, a total of 1,036 troops have been killed.
Anthony Cordesman, a member of a special assessment team a year ago that advised the top officer in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, wrote last week that the U.S. might leave without victory.
"The U.S. may be forced into leaving Afghanistan, regardless of its intentions to stay, or face conditions that make any stable form of victory impossible," he wrote on his website at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "Containment from the outside may be the only choice."
[…]
Israel/Palestine
8) Israel warns UN over Lebanon to Gaza aid bid
Steve Weizman, AFP, June 19, 2010
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5imG40x0JugfKVRhdgq1_qyBV9r3w
Jerusalem – As women activists in Lebanon prepare a blockade-busting voyage to Israel its UN envoy has warned the world body that the Jewish state is entitled to use "all necessary force" to stop them.
In a letter to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon quoted by Israeli radio stations and Internet news sites on Saturday, Ambassador Gabriella Shalev said Israel suspected that organisers might be linked to Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
"Israel reserves its right under international law to use all necessary means to prevent these ships from violating the existing naval blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip," the website of newspaper Haaretz quoted her as writing.
[…] A group of dozens of Lebanese women activists is planning to set sail for Gaza on a ship loaded with medical supplies in a new bid to break Israel’s four-year blockade of the Palestinian territory.
The women have not yet announced a departure date but on Thursday they gathered near a shrine to the Virgin Mary in south Lebanon to pray she bless their vessel, christened "Mariam" in her honour. "The participants are committed to making progress and our only weapons are faith in the Virgin Mary and in humanity," spokeswoman Rima Farah told AFP.
Dozens of Christian and Muslim women gathered in prayer in a cave near Our Lady of Mantara in the town of Maghdushe, where Mary was said to have waited for Jesus while he was preaching nearby some 2,000 years ago.
The women deny Hezbollah involvement in their planned trip and the militant group itself said on Friday that it was not backing the voyage of the Mariam, because it did not want to give Israel a pretext to attack the activists.
[…]
9) Palestinian politicians reject Israeli deportation order
Samuel Sockol, Washington Post, Monday, June 21, 2010; 1:42 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/21/AR2010062102794.html
Jerusalem – Four Palestinian politicians affiliated with the Islamist Hamas party on Monday rejected an Israeli order that they relocate to the West Bank.
Israel revoked the Jerusalem residency status of the three members of the defunct Palestinian parliament and a former cabinet minister after they refused to resign from their positions and were deemed "disloyal" to the state. The move stripped them of their ability to live in the city legally.
The deadline for one of the politicians to leave has already passed; the other three face a July 3 deadline. They will likely be deported, although they could be arrested and tried for their refusal to relocate.
Protest of the deportation order brought together rivals from Hamas and the Fatah party as well as Israeli Arab members of Knesset, who are facing similar accusations of disloyalty.
The deportation order highlights the dispute between Israel and the Palestinians over the future status of East Jerusalem, which Israel occupied in the 1967 Middle East war and later annexed in a step not recognized by the international community. The Palestinians seek East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.
The three parliamentarians won seats in a national election in 2006. The fourth was appointed to be minister of Jerusalem affairs in a short-lived coalition government of Hamas and Fatah. The government collapsed after Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007.
"We as sons of the city of Jerusalem never left it before. We were born here before it was occupied and we emphasize that we will remain here and never leave it," said one of the parliamentarians, Mohamad Totah, reading from a joint statement at a press conference on Monday.
Saeb Erekat, an adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, described the Israeli move as a "form of collective punishment."
Israel allowed members affiliated with Hamas to compete in the Palestinian election even though it considers the Islamist group a terrorist organization.
Following Hamas’s 2006 victory, the Israeli Interior Ministry moved to revoke the politicians’ Jerusalem residency status after they refused to resign. Israel argued before a court that the four were members of an organization that calls for the destruction of the state of Israel while "holding a permit to live in that state."
"By doing as such," Israel said, the four "blatantly violated the obligation of loyalty to the state of Israel."
[…]
10) East Jerusalem Building Plan Advances
Isabel Kershner, New York Times, June 21, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/22/world/middleeast/22mideast.html
Jerusalem – Jerusalem’s city hall advanced rezoning and development plans on Monday for a hotly contested area of East Jerusalem, another example of an awkwardly timed, seemingly bureaucratic Israeli maneuver that could upset fragile peace efforts.
The preliminary approval for the plans – including the demolition of more than 20 Palestinian homes to create a controversial archeological park, along with a new residential and commercial tourist center – came a day after Israel won unusual praise from Washington for easing the blockade of Hamas-run Gaza, and amid other signs of progress. A mayoral spokesman said the planning decisions were independent of other considerations.
Similarly, in March, as Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. was on a visit here meant to underscore American support for Israel, the Interior Ministry announced 1,600 new housing units for Jews in East Jerusalem. The Obama administration was infuriated. Mr. Netanyahu said he had been surprised by the move; the interior minister, Eli Yishai, leader of the right-wing Shas Party, insisted that the timing of the announcement was accidental.
The new development plans are being pressed by Jerusalem’s mayor, Nir Barkat, a conservative-leaning entrepreneur. They focus on Silwan, a volatile neighborhood highly valued by both Israel and the Palestinians for its history and location just outside the Old City wall. Predominantly Palestinian, it includes an ancient site believed by many to contain the ruins of the City of David and is close to Al Aksa Mosque, which is revered by Muslims.
Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East war then annexed it, but that territorial claim has not been recognized internationally.
Palestinians say the development plans are designed to strengthen Israel’s hold over Jerusalem, which they claim as capital for a future state.
[…] Fakhri Abu Diab, a leader of the Bustan residents’ committee whose home is slated for demolition, said the municipality had "become the enemy of the people."
"They want to make a garden not by my house, but instead of my house," he said, adding that his family was "living in fear." Mr. Abu Diab said his house was more than 20 years old, that he paid local taxes, and that his efforts to legalize the house had failed.
[…]
Japan
11) Okinawa assembly head asks Obama in letter to scrap Futenma plan
Kyodo News, June 21, 2010
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20100621p2g00m0in030000c.html
Naha, Japan – The chairman of the Okinawa prefectural assembly on Monday handed U.S. Ambassador to Japan John Roos a letter calling for scrapping a plan to transfer the Marine Corps’ Futenma Air Station within the southern prefecture.
Zenshin Takamine said in the letter addressed to U.S. President Barack Obama that 90 percent of residents in the prefecture are opposed to the plan to move the airfield in the city of Ginowan to the Henoko district of Nago, as agreed on last month between the Japanese and U.S. governments.
Takamine also urged Washington to shut down the Futenma base in a residential area and return its land to Japan. Roos, who met Takamine in the prefectural capital of Naha, promised to give the letter to Obama, according to officials with knowledge of the meeting.
[…]
Iran
12) Iran bars two U.N. inspectors in nuclear dispute
Hossein Jaseb and Sylvia Westall, Reuters, June 21, 2010
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65K0ZO20100621
Tehran/Vienna – Iran has barred two U.N. nuclear inspectors from entering the Islamic Republic, increasing tension less than two weeks after Tehran was hit by new U.N. sanctions over its disputed atomic program.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) rejected Iran’s reasons for the ban and said it fully supported the inspectors, which Tehran has accused of reporting wrongly that some nuclear equipment was missing. "The IAEA has full confidence in the professionalism and impartiality of the inspectors concerned," spokesman Greg Webb said in an unusually blunt statement which described the IAEA’s report issued last month as "fully accurate."
Iran, which has declared the two inspectors persona non grata, made clear it would still allow the Vienna-based U.N. watchdog to monitor its nuclear facilities, saying other experts could carry out the work.
"Inspections are continuing without any interruption," Iran’s IAEA envoy Ali Asghar Soltanieh told reporters in Vienna. "(But) we have to show more vigilance about the performance of the inspectors to protect the confidentiality," he said, criticizing alleged leaks by inspectors to Western media.
Ties between Iran and the IAEA have become more strained since Yukiya Amano took over as head of the agency in December. The Japanese diplomat has taken a tougher approach on Iran than his predecessor Mohamed ElBaradei, with the IAEA saying in a February report that Iran could be trying to develop a nuclear-armed missile now, and not just in the past. Iran accused Amano of issuing a misleading report.
Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, said Tehran had asked the IAEA to replace the two inspectors, the ISNA news agency reported. The IAEA has not confirmed whether this will be the case.
Iran has the right to refuse certain inspectors under its agreement with the agency, which has around 200 people trained to conduct inspections in the Islamic state. Iran denied entry to a senior U.N. inspector in 2006.
[…]
Afghanistan
13) Afghanistan violence is soaring, U.N. says
Afghanistan is increasingly dangerous for troops and civilians alike, a report says, citing an ‘alarming’ 94% increase in bomb attacks in the first four months of 2010, compared with last year.
Laura King, Los Angeles Times, June 20, 2010
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-afghanistan-report-20100620,0,4978503.story
Kabul – Afghanistan has become a far more dangerous place for Western troops and Afghan civilians alike, with an increase in suicide attacks, roadside bombings and political assassinations in the first four months of 2010, the United Nations said in a report released Saturday.
[…] The U.N. report, submitted by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the Security Council and released by the world body’s mission in Afghanistan, notes a near-doubling in the number of attacks involving roadside bombs.
It describes an "alarming" 94% increase in bomb attacks from the same January-April period a year earlier. Roadside bombs planted by the Taliban and other insurgents are generally aimed at foreign troops, but because they are planted on routes used by everyone, they kill and maim many civilians as well.
The report also cites an average of three suicide bombings a week across Afghanistan, a growing number of them attacks involving more than one assailant, sometimes in combination with use of rockets, mortars and gunfire.
Targeted killings of Afghan officials had increased by 45%, the report says, with most taking place in the south, where the insurgency is strongest. The killings tend to target locally influential figures, such as tribal elders and other dignitaries who might be able to rally villagers and townspeople to resist the Taliban.
[…]
Colombia
14) Colombia’s Santos is elected president
Juan Forero, Washington Post, Monday, June 21, 2010; A11
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/20/AR2010062003414.html
Bogota, Colombia – Juan Manuel Santos, who as defense minister in Colombian President Álvaro Uribe’s government oversaw the biggest blows against an entrenched guerrilla force, was elected president Sunday in a landslide.
Santos, 58, will become caretaker of an American military aid package that has delivered $600 million annually over the past decade to help Colombia counter rebel forces and drug traffickers. Under Uribe, who took office in 2002 and will end his second term on Aug. 7, Colombia went from a country buffeted by conflict to one marked by solid economic growth and a reduction in violence.
[…] With nearly all the votes counted, Santos had 69 percent of the vote to 28 percent for Antanas Mockus, an eccentric former mayor of Bogota. More than 9 million Colombians voted for Santos, giving him a victory even more resounding than the two presidential elections Uribe won.
Just a month ago, Mockus’s quirky campaign and his pledge to attack corruption and cronyism had awakened excitement, with polls predicting he would squeak to victory. But in the first round of polling, on May 30, voters gave Mockus 21 percent of the ballots while Santos received 47 percent.
[…] Santos’s term as defense minister, though, was marred by revelations that army units throughout the country had killed hundreds of peasants and presented them as dead guerrillas to increase body count figures. Santos said he worked vigorously to shed light on the killings and dismissed dozens of officers and soldiers linked to the deaths.
But the scandal raised concerns among human rights groups, the United Nations and some Democrats in Congress, who questioned the near-unconditional stream of aid that Washington provides to Colombia. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), who has been critical of rights violations under Uribe’s government, said he thinks Santos did not do enough as minister to expose details of the killings or to ensure that those responsible were punished. "I think this whole issue is not going to go away," said McGovern, who is asking for more energetic prosecutions of officers and troops accused in the deaths.
Philip Alston, a U.N. investigator who wrote an in-depth report about the killings, said that Santos was, overall, a "fairly consistent, positive force" in dealing with the scandal. But Alston said prosecutions have lagged badly, a situation that could be corrected in Santos’s administration. "He could certainly be speaking out now and saying this would be a priority of a new government," Alston said.
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Robert Naiman
Just Foreign Policy
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