Thursday, August 2, 2007

The Middle East in Focus

This week, for all the headlines cited below, please join us in proclaiming THIS DECREE:

"Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely, who conducts his affairs with justice." (Psalm 112:5)

1. Massive US-Saudi arms deal worries Israel - ICEJ News

Rice: Deal will not destabilize Middle East
Israeli diplomatic officials have expressed reservations regarding a massive United States- Saudi Arabia arms deal currently in the works. The deal, which is reported to be worth $20 billion, will include advanced satellite-guided bombs, new naval vessels, an advanced version of air-to-air missiles already used by the US, and highly sophisticated Patriot ground-to-air missiles.

2. Arab League welcomes 'positive elements' of Bush plan for Mideast - Ha'aretz

Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said Monday that members of the body welcomed the "positive elements" of a new Middle East initiative by U.S. President George W. Bush, especially those related to "founding an independent Palestine state, his call for ending the Israeli settlements and ending the Israeli occupation."

3. Israeli home front unprepared for war - World Net Daily

One year after the Lebanese Hezbollah militia fired more than 3,000 rockets into northern Israeli population centers, the Jewish state's home front - especially Jerusalem and Tel Aviv - are largely unprepared for the event of war, say officials.

4. US to allow Israeli participation in Visa Waiver Program - ICEJ News

United States President George W. Bush is expected to soon sign legislation which will allow Israelis to participate in America's Visa Waiver Program, and to enter the US without procuring tourist visas.

5. 10,000 academics sign petition against U.K. boycott bid - ICEJ News

Some 10,000 academics have signed a petition protesting the British University and College Union's decision to boycott Israeli academic institutions. The petition urged scholars to stand in solidarity with "our Israeli academic and professional colleagues," and its signatories stated that for the purpose of any academic boycott targeting Israel, they would regard themselves as Israelis and decline to participate "in any activity from which Israeli academics are excluded." The protest campaign was organized by Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz and Steven Weinberg, a Nobel Prize laureate in physics from the University of Texas. "Today more than 10,000 of the world's leading scholars speak together with one voice to demand academic freedom for all scholars and to declare that we are all Israeli academics for purposes of any academic boycott," Weinberg said.