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World Media Watch
by Gloria R. Lalumia
BUZZFLASH NOTE: Once again, these are the views and perspectives of the individual papers, not of BuzzFlash or Gloria. They offer BuzzFlash readers a way of reading what other nations are saying about the crisis, whether we like it or not. We repeat: This is not an endorsement of their viewpoints.
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1//The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia--US AID CASH FOR SCHOOLS THAT TEACH TERRORISM (In a major injection of new aid, the United States is donating $US100million ($165 million) over five years to Pakistan's troubled education system, including its religious schools or madrassas, even though they stand accused of being breeding grounds for Islamic extremism... A recent report by the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based think tank, said the madrassas posed the same danger in turning out extremists as they did in the 1990s...)
2//The Daily Star, Lebanon--HIZBULLAH: 'WHATEVER HAPPENS, WE ARE READY' (Israel has been swift to add its accusations and threats to those of US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other Pentagon hawks. Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told Israel's Maariv daily Monday that the new situation in the Middle East could lead to the potential removal of the threat posed by Hizbullah and Syria. He added that Israel is due to deliver a list of demands to Syria via the US...Mofaz' comments reflect the conditions Ariel Sharon is presenting to Washington in exchange for his agreeing to accept the long-awaited "Road Plan," Bush's step-by-step guideline for a Palestinian state, which has earned the hostility and suspicion of the Israeli prime minister.)
3//Haaretz, Israel--PM SAYS WON'T MISS ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY WITH PALESTINIANS (In formulating a roadmap to peace in the Middle East, the United States has agreed to take into account Israel's security concerns and a need to end terror, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's envoy said after talks with high-level U.S. officials...The administration has not responded officially to the Israeli reservations, which were formulated in 15 separate categories. However, it was already made clear Monday that the Americans do not fully accept these reservations with regard to at least one of the central points - the order of events.)
4//The Jerusalem Post, Israel--SHARON CRITICIZED FOR PUBLIC STATEMENTS ON US-SYRIA TENSION (Israel should keep a low profile in the current US-Syrian tension, just as it kept a low profile throughout the Iraqi war, a ranking Israeli diplomatic officials said Tuesday, criticizing Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for enumerating what he thinks the US should now demand of Syria. The Americans know who the Syrians are and what needs to be done, the official said, arguing that making public comments about the situation only feeds into Arab propaganda that Israel is pushing the US into action against Syria.)
5//Khaleej Times, United Arab Emirates--UN HUMAN RIGHTS FORUM CONDEMNS ISRAEL FOR 'MASS KILLING' (Thirty-three of the UN Human Rights Commission's 53 members voted to approve the resolution presented by Pakistan, while five countries rejected the text and 15 abstained. Germany was the only European Union member of the UN forum to vote against the text, while other European states opted to abstain, according to an official UN count.)
6//Sydney Morning Herald, Australia--NETANYAHU'S NEPHEW REFUSES TO JOIN ARMY (The young man is a pacifist, who asked to be exempted from his military duty and fall under the army's conscientious objector category. But the army very rarely grants such dispensation, especially when it considers an Israeli citizen does not want to serve on political grounds.)
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1//The
Sydney Morning Herald April 16 2003
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/04/15/1050172599390.html
US AID CASH FOR SCHOOLS THAT TEACH TERRORISM
In a major injection of new aid, the United States is donating $US100million ($165 million) over five years to Pakistan's troubled education system, including its religious schools or madrassas, even though they stand accused of being breeding grounds for Islamic extremism.
A program administered by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) is aimed at training teachers and reforming curriculums. Aid will be available to any school that demonstrates a capacity to raise literacy in a country where less than half of the adult population can read and write.
The crisis in Pakistan's education system has been blamed for a host of social and economic ills, including unemployment, accelerating population growth and terrorism. The average Pakistani boy completes only five years of schooling, the average girl just 2 years.
The government of President Pervez Musharraf is under fire for not clamping down hard enough on the madrassas, a handful of which supplied leaders for the Taliban government in Afghanistan.
A recent report by the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based think tank, said the madrassas posed the same danger in turning out extremists as they did in the 1990s, when some graduates went on to fight jihads, or holy wars, in Afghanistan and the disputed territory of Kashmir.
(MORE)
2//The Daily Star Beirut, Tuesday April 15, 2003. Updated 08:30 AM
+3GMT
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/15_04_03/art4.asp
HIZBULLAH: 'WHATEVER HAPPENS, WE ARE READY'
Resistance remains defiant as analysts say group could be next on
Washington's list
Nicholas Blanford
Special to The Daily Star
(SNIP)
Hizbullah's military build-up in south Lebanon and its prominence on Washington's numerous lists of "terrorist" organizations since Sept. 11, 2001 have kept alive anticipation of a US-endorsed Israeli assault against the party. That prospect has dimmed, partly out of a recognition that the military option is unlikely to work against Hizbullah. Instead, it has become clear in recent days that Washington intends to use an indirect channel to neutralize Hizbullah's military capabilities by applying political pressure on Damascus, backed up by the presence of some 200,000 US troops in neighboring Iraq.
Israel has been swift to add its accusations and threats to those of US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other Pentagon hawks. Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told Israel's Maariv daily Monday that the new situation in the Middle East could lead to the potential removal of the threat posed by Hizbullah and Syria. He added that Israel is due to deliver a list of demands to Syria via the US.
"We have a long series of issues that we are considering demanding from the Syrians, and it is true that this will be done by the Americans," Mofaz said. "Starting from the removal of the Hizbullah threat in southern Lebanon, distancing the long range rockets and moving Hizbullah from the south to the point of dismantling it, stopping Iranian assistance to Hizbullah through ports in Syria, and ceasing the refuge that is granted to the terror headquarters of Hamas and Islamic Jihad based in Damascus, from where they send instructions and money to the Palestinian terror organizations."
Mofaz' comments reflect the conditions Ariel Sharon is presenting to Washington in exchange for his agreeing to accept the long-awaited "Road Plan," Bush's step-by-step guideline for a Palestinian state, which has earned the hostility and suspicion of the Israeli prime minister.
Despite the build-up of pressure, Hizbullah remains outwardly relaxed and confident that its status is secure. "We don't deny that the US has put a lot of pressure on Syria and Lebanon but we are not worried because we have an ideology," said Mohammed Raad, the head of Hizbullah's Loyalty to the Resistance parliamentary bloc. "We haven't been doing anything wrong."
(SNIP)
"
If American attacks Syria, only then will we say what we shall
do," Hassan Ezzeddine, head of Hizbullah's media department,
told The Daily Star, echoing the party's usual ambiguity over its
use of force. Hamzeh said that in such an event, Hizbullah would
take its lead from Ayatollah Ali Khameini, Iran's supreme leader.
"Hizbullah and Iran are tied by the concept of the wilayet al-faqih (the guardianship of the governance of the jurisprudence)," he said. "So long as the Hizbullah majority subscribe to Khameini as the wilayet al-faqih then Hizbullah will follow (his rulings). This is part of the ideology of Hizbullah itself: the conception of obedience. Khameini is the one who decides on general issues while the details are left to the party."
In the meantime, "Hizbullah is watching carefully and is prepared for the worst," the Hizbullah source said.
3//Haaretz Tues., April 15, 2003 Nisan 13, 5763 Israel Time: 23:20
(GMT+3) http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/284212.html
PM SAYS WON'T MISS ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY WITH PALESTINIANS
By Nathan Guttman, Haaretz Correspondent, Haaretz Service and Agencies
Addressing the Likud party at a ceremonial toast before the Passover holiday, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said that he would not miss another opportunity to make peace with the Palestinians.
"We will decide which way we go, but I have no intention of missing this opportunity. If we see that the Palestinian partner learned the lesson and is takes serious action against terror, it will be possible to move forward faster than you think," he said. Sharon added that Israel would not compromise the security of its citizens.
In formulating a roadmap to peace in the Middle East, the United States has agreed to take into account Israel's security concerns and a need to end terror, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's envoy said after talks with high-level U.S. officials.
"I am confident the U.S. will give serious consideration to our views as the process moves forward," Dov Weisglass, Sharon's chief of staff, said in a statement late Monday.
(SNIP)
The statement was issued after Weisglass and other Israeli officials met with Secretary of State Colin Powell, Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, head of Mideast affairs at the National Security Council Elliott Abrams, and other senior administration officials. At the meeting, Weisglass presented Israel's comments on the roadmap.
(SNIP)
The administration has not responded officially to the Israeli reservations, which were formulated in 15 separate categories. However, it was already made clear Monday that the Americans do not fully accept these reservations with regard to at least one of the central points - the order of events.
(MORE)
4//The Jerusalem Post 14 Nissan 5763, Wed., Apr. 16, 2003
Article
Link
SHARON CRITICIZED FOR PUBLIC STATEMENTS ON US-SYRIA TENSION
Herb Keinon
Israel should keep a low profile in the current US-Syrian tension, just as it kept a low profile throughout the Iraqi war, a ranking Israeli diplomatic officials said Tuesday, criticizing Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for enumerating what he thinks the US should now demand of Syria.
The Americans know who the Syrians are and what needs to be done, the official said, arguing that making public comments about the situation only feeds into Arab propaganda that Israel is pushing the US into action against Syria.
Sharon, in a Yediot Ahronot interview, excerpts of which were published yesterday, said that the Americans should demand the Syrians do the following:
- Dismantle the Palestinian terror organizations operating from Damascus - Hamas and Islamic Jihad
- Expel the Iranian Revolutionary Guards operating from the Beka Valley in Lebanon
- Stop its cooperation with Iran, including attempts to smuggle arms to the Palestinian Authority and to incite Israeli Arabs.
- Deploy the Lebanese army in southern Lebanon and expel Hizbullah.
- Dismantle the missile batteries Hizbullah has deployed on Israel's borders.
(MORE)
5//Khaleej Times 15 April 2003
http://www.khaleejtimes.co.ae/
UN HUMAN RIGHTS FORUM CONDEMNS ISRAEL FOR 'MASS KILLING'
GENEVA
- (AFP) The UN's top human rights body on Tuesday condemned Israel
for "acts of
mass killing" and "'liquidation' or "extrajudicial
executions'" against Palestinians.
Thirty-three of the UN Human Rights Commission's 53 members voted
to approve the
resolution presented by Pakistan, while five countries rejected the
text and 15 abstained.
Germany was the only European Union member of the UN forum to vote against the text, while other European states opted to abstain, according to an official UN count.
(MORE)
6//Sydney Morning Herald April 16 2003
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/04/15/1050172601030.html
NETANYAHU'S NEPHEW REFUSES TO JOIN ARMY
Israel's Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by the nephew of hawkish Israeli Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He had asked to be judged in a civil rather than military court for refusing to serve in the army.
The court deemed that Yoni Ben Artzi, who has been sitting in jail for the past eight months for his refusal to serve, must appear in front of a military court, Israeli official sources said on Tuesday.
The young man is a pacifist, who asked to be exempted from his military duty and fall under the army's conscientious objector category.
But the army very rarely grants such dispensation, especially when it considers an Israeli citizen does not want to serve on political grounds.
Israelis are called to arms when they turn 18. Men serve for three years and women for 21 months, while ultra-Orthodox Jews are exempted on religious grounds.
(MORE)
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© 2003, Gloria R. Lalumia, insight@zianet.com
Radio for the Left at http://www.zianet.com/insightanalytical/radio.htm
