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Olmert: We Have a Partner for Talks
by Roni Sofer
 "Under the current circumstances, we have a partner and we are not willing to postpone the negotiations with the Palestinians to a time when this partner may not be able to fulfill the task," Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said last Sunday in a speech before the Saban Forum in Jerusalem. "We shall not negotiate Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state, or the Palestinians people's right to their own state," Olmert stressed, referring to the talks ahead of the upcoming U.S.-sponsored peace conference. "Annapolis will not be an arena for negotiations, but it will certainly be a starting point for the real effort to realize the two-state vision," he added. (Ynet News)
Dozens of Fatah Militants Pardoned
by Ali Waked
Dozens of Palestinians who were removed from Israel's list of wanted Fatah militants as part of an amnesty deal with the PA were notified that the restrictions on their movement have been lifted. Israel has informed the PA that the militants would now be able to move about freely and conduct normal lives, after the amnesty deal's three-month trial period came to an end, a Palestinian security source said Wednesday. Israel has told the PA that dozens more Fatah gunmen would be pardoned if they lived up to the same conditions. (Ynet News)
Report: Hizbullah Conducted Mass Military Drill in Southern Lebanon
by Ali Waked
 Hizbullah conducted its largest military exercise ever, south of the Litani River in southern Lebanon several days ago, the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reported last week. The exercise was three days long and spanned thousands of fighters. Hizbullah Secretary-General Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah was said to have commanded the drill personally. (Ynet News)
Arab Delegates Meet in Syria for Talks on Reviving Boycott of Israel
  Delegates to a Syrian-based anti-Israel office began talks in Damascus last week on ways to revive momentum for the Arab boycott of Israel. Eight Arab countries stayed away from the four-day meeting, including Egypt and Jordan which have signed peace treaties with Israel. Those attending the gathering, held twice a year at the headquarters of the Central Boycott Office in Damascus, included delegates from 14 Arab states and the West Bank and Gaza. Topping the agenda was the boycott of companies that do business with Israel and ways to abort attempts by some Israeli companies to penetrate Arab markets. (AP/Ha'aretz)
Israel Foreign Ministry: IAEA Thwarting Efforts Against Iran
by Roni Sofer
 Foreign Ministry Director-General Aharon Abramovich last week accused the International Atomic Energy Agency of thwarting international efforts against Iran's nuclear program. "Instead of contributing to the international efforts against Iran, the IAEA is acting as an obstructive element, whose opinions serve as an excuse for countries to refrain from joining the efforts against Tehran," Abramovich said during a discussion of the Iranian issue at the Saban Forum. Foreign Ministry officials explained that IAEA chief Dr. Mohammed El-Baradei, who should be controlling the distribution of nuclear arms in the world, is allowing Iran to go ahead with processes which Israel believes will lead to the development of nuclear weapons. (Ynet News)
See also UN Ambassador: Human Rights Council Activity Abhorrent by Yitzhak Benhorin (Ynet News)
See also Iranian Cartoon Ridicules West on Nuclear Case (YouTube)
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Group Spotlights Jews Who Left Arab Lands
by Warren Hoge
 With assertions of the rights of Palestinians to reclaim land in Israel expected to arise at an planned Middle East peace conference in Annapolis, a Jewish advocacy group has scheduled a meeting in New York last week to call attention to people it terms "forgotten refugees." The group, Justice for Jews from Arab Countries, says more than 850,000 Jews left their homes in Arab lands after the declaration of the State of Israel in 1948. The UN says that 711,000 Palestinians left Israel-controlled territory in 1948 and 1949. "We have found evidence that there was collusion among the Arab nations to persecute and exploit their Jewish populations," said Stanley A. Urman, executive director of the group. A draft law composed by the Arab League in 1947 called for measures to be taken against Jews living in Arab countries, ranging from imprisonment, confiscation of assets and forced induction into Arab armies to beatings, officially incited acts of violence and pogroms. "This was not just a forced exodus, it was a forgotten exodus," said Irwin Cotler, a former Canadian minister of justice. He said the main goal of the campaign was to raise public awareness rather than to seek compensation. (New York Times)
UC Students Face Hurdles If They Want to 'Study Abroad' in Israel
by Brad A. Greenberg
 Since the UC suspended its study abroad program in Israel on April 11, 2002, Said and countless other students - literally uncounted because the UC has no such database - have officially dropped out of the UC campus they attended, possibly forfeiting financial aid, and enrolled directly in an Israeli university or through a third-party provider for a semester or more of study. But the uncertain endeavors of UC students wanting to study in Israel m ay soon ease. A groundswell is building, with the student governments at UC campuses in Berkeley, Davis, San Diego and, most recently, Los Angeles passing resolutions urging the university to reinstate the program. The UC Office of the President and Board of Regents have taken notice, and in August Provost Wyatt R. "Rory" Hume sent a letter to campus chancellors instructing them to simplify the process for interested students. That would include providing counselors who could advise students on whether the courses they planned to take would count for credit; allowing them to maintain their university e-mail account; and facilitating return to the university without the need to re-apply. (Jewish Journal)
Palestinian Rocket Salvo Causes Sderot Blackout
 Palestinians in Gaza fired three Kassam rockets at Sderot last week, Israel Radio reported. One rocket hit a house and another hit an electrical line, causing a complete blackout in the town, knocking out the siren system and emergency hotline, as well. (Jerusalem Post)
See also Israel May Seek Palestinian Compensation for Rocket Damage - Roni Sofer (Ynet News)
See also Over 3,000 Sderot Residents Have Fled as PA Attacks Continue by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz (Israel National News)
Israel Police Foil Plot to Kill Jerusalem Mayor
 Israeli police said last week they had arrested three Palestinian militants who allegedly planned to kill the mayor of Jerusalem in a suicide attack two weeks ago. The three, from east Jerusalem, also intended to shoot Jews in the old city of Jerusalem, police said. The suspects are members of the Islamic Jihad, a militant group responsible for hundreds of attacks against Israelis, police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said. "They planned to kill Jerusalem's mayor in a suicide bombing and open fire on Jews in the Old City," Rosenfeld said. (AP)
Iran "Could Have Atom Bomb in a Year"
by David Byers
 President Ahmadinejad of Iran claimed last week that his country had developed 3,000 centrifuges for enriching uranium - a sufficient number, according to scientists, to allow it to build an atomic bomb within a year. Ahmadinejad vowed to continue ignoring UN Security Council resolutions to stop Iran's nuclear program, claiming that "the Iranian nation could not care less" about two rounds of sanctions that had been imposed. Western experts say that, in ideal conditions, Iran's 3,000 centrifuges could enrich enough uranium within a year to make a nuclear warhead. (Times-UK)
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