Mr. Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi, my facebook friend, is a young, highly talented researcher whose ancestors were one of the old, famous Jewish families in Baghdad and Mosul, Iraq.
As for the second news from Malaysia, this is a classic example of conspiracy theories in the Muslim World. (Lily)
1. American Spectator (http://spectator.org)
A Hamas Divided, 19 November 2012
by Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi
Analyzing the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Whenever the Israel-Palestine conflict is in the news, too much ink is wasted over moralizing rather than analyzing. Instead of trying to explain what is going on, provide proper context, and predict reasonably what might follow, commentators bicker over who has the moral high ground.
These endless polemics do nothing to help.
A proper analysis should begin by noting that since the start of this year, there has been a significant increase in rocket attacks on southern Israel from Gaza.
Operation Cast Lead, Israel’s attack on Gaza militants during the winter of 2008-2009, proved to be damaging for Israel's image abroad. There was substantial loss of Palestinian civilian life and the initial Goldstone report accused Israel of deliberately targeting civilians. But the military operation achieved its goal of at least substantially reducing rocket attacks from Gaza.
Not only did Hamas refrain from carrying out such attacks, but the ruling group in Gaza also kept in check more hard-line groups like Islamic Jihad.
The key to understanding the increase in rocket attacks this year is the internal rivalry within Hamas. As Hussein Ibish points out, a distinction ought to be made between the domestic leadership of Hamas in Gaza and the officials in exile (what Ibish terms the "Politburo") who are responsible for Hamas' relations with foreign governments.
The problem for the Politburo is the fallout from Syria and (to a lesser extent) Iran, such that Khaled Meshaal -- the official leader of Hamas -- has had to relocate from Syria to Qatar.
In turn, it should be noted -- as I did in an article last year entitled "Sunni Realignments"; that both Turkey and Qatar have been cementing ties with the domestic leadership in Gaza. This trend has become all the more apparent this year.
For example, just last month Qatar promised some $400 million to aid reconstruction efforts in Gaza and the emir paid a visit to the territory itself. Turkish premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with the prime minister of Hamas -- Ismail Haniyeh, who is based in Gaza -- at the start of this year, with proposals to provide unspecified aid for humanitarian projects in Gaza.
As Ibish notes, compounding this shift in alliances and internal rivalry in Hamas was Meshaal's announcement in September that he would step down as Hamas leader. This means that the contest for the leadership is between Haniyeh in Gaza, and the second most senior official in exile, Musa Abu Marzook in Cairo.
The loss of much of the Politburo's ties with traditional "resistance bloc" allies Syria and Iran, and the support pledged for the Gaza leadership by Turkey and Qatar, mean that it is in the faction's interest to assert itself as the true face of resistance against Israel.
By recommencing its own rocket attacks and being much more lenient with the hard-line groups in Gaza, the domestic leadership has the chance to take power decisively away from the officials-in-exile, especially regarding relations with foreign governments.
A further incentive to assert an image of active hostility lies in the fact that Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank has been losing its credibility. This year, Arab donors have not followed up with aid pledges, and as a result the PA is struggling to pay public employee salaries.
Perhaps the biggest credibility boost for Hamas (as opposed to the PA) in adopting a stance of renewed active resistance is the PA's security forces close work with the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) to prevent militant attacks emanating from the West Bank. This, of course, is the very same IDF that has now caused Palestinian civilian casualties in Gaza with its bombing campaign against Hamas targets.
The Israeli response to the escalation of rocket launches isn’t a sign of opportunistic electioneering by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It simply reflects a desire for Israel to reassert a deterrence policy toward Gaza, amid complaints for months that not enough was being done to deal with the attacks.
The likely short-term outcome of this conflict is a repeat of the aftermath of Operation Cast Lead. Some kind of truce will be negotiated -- perhaps mediated by Egypt, whose stance towards Hamas is much more sympathetic under Mohammed Morsi, as illustrated by the 24/7 opening of the Rafah border crossing. Further, there will be at least a temporary lull in rocket attacks from Gaza, as Hamas will probably restrain itself again and revive efforts to keep more radical militants in check.
Yet Hamas' position in Gaza will not be weakened, and Arab governments across the region could start providing aid to Hamas. They could also abandon the PA, which, after its current statehood bid at the UN that is unlikely to translate to anything practical, may simply be left on struggling lifeline support from Israel and the West.
The traditional "resistance bloc" may have collapsed and Hamas' officials-in-exile may have lost much of their influence, but the group in Gaza looks stronger than ever, and in turn, the Palestinian movement looks to be ever more divided.
・Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi is a Shillman-Ginsburg Fellow at the Middle East Forum, and a student at Brasenose College, Oxford University. His website is http://www.aymennjawad.org.
2. Malaysiakini (http://www.malaysiakini.com)
Dr M considering commission of inquiry on 9/11, 20 November 2012
by Hafiz Yatim
One of the resolutions passed at an international conference to uncover the truth of the 9/11 attacks is to set up an international commission of inquiry to probe the possibility of cover-ups in the destruction of New York's Twin Towers.
The panel of speakers at the one-day event yesterday suggested the formation of such a commission to try "uncover the truth" behind the attacks where the Pentagon was also hit, and which have been blamed on the late Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Conference organiser Perdana Global Peace Foundation's president Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the international panel members would explore the proposal further.
"This is one of the ideas. After this, the panel will meet and decide whether to form the commission as suggested," Mahathir said yesterday evening.
Opening the conference in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, the former premier said the Arabs were not capable of orchestrating the 9/11 event, and suggested that this could have been carried out by agents trained by the United States' Central Intelligence Agency or Israeli's secret service Mossad.
Mahathir said the commission, if formed, could perhaps carry out its own investigations into whether or not allegations that the 9/11 attacks were carried out by others and not by Muslim terrorists as popularly alleged were true.
The commission could also verify the accuracy of accounts on 9/11 events as prepared by the American authorities.
"We have asked the whole panel where do we go after this and they have suggested the setting up of a commission to look into it, and to address some friendly media to cover it.
"It is also up to the panel to decide when to form the international commission," Mahathir said.
Up against powerful forces
The panel members who gave talks yesterday included former US Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, journalist James Corbett, Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth founder Dr Richard Gage, economics professor Michel Chossudovsky, author Graeme MacQueen and comparative law professor Niloufer Bhagwat.
Asked how he would see the commission faring if it was formed, Mahathir said it would be up against the powerful might of the United States. But even powerful forces can go down from onslaught of cracks created by water, he argued.
"For example, in this (presidential elections) Mitt Romney was supposed to win against (Barack) Obama but it seems the votes of the (minorities) Hispanics, the Muslims and others have overturned the perception that support for Israel means you win the election.
Asked whether he expected repercussions if the commission was formed and carried out hearings, Mahathir said as in politics, one could expect opponents in everything one does, even if these are the right things.
"This is normal in politics," he said.
（End）
