DOCSLIB.ORG

Israel Update

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

Israel and the Middle East News Update Monday, September 5 Headlines: PM Drops Plan to Fire Party Rival over Train Debacle Terrorist Killed in Jerusalem Attempted Vehicular Attack Germany Admits PA is Likely Paying Terrorists’ Families Australian FM: Palestinians Share Blame for Impasse Bhutan Minister: Relations with Israel are Possible Israel Targets Syrian Army after Errant Fire Hits Golan Pro-Israel Dems Backing Iran Deal Feel the Heat in 2016 Races Satellite Company says SpaceX owes it $50m or Free Flight Commentary: Washington Post: “There’s Still Time for Obama to Carve Out a Middle East Legacy” - By Jackson, Diehl Deputy Editorial Page Editor at the Washington Post Al Monitor: “Can Israel reboot its relations with US?” By Uri Savir, contributor at Al Monitor S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace 633 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 5th Floor, Washington, DC 20004 www.centerpeace.org ● Yoni Komorov, Editor ● David Abreu, Associate Editor News Excerpts September 5, 2016 Ha’aretz PM Drops Plan to Fire Party Rival over Train Debacle Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not dismiss Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz over the Shabbat railway work because he wants to make sure the budget passes, a senior Likud official involved in the consultations on the issue said. By Sunday afternoon the crisis between Netanyahu and Katz had ended. While the two are not talking to each other, Katz met with the prime minister’s chief of staff Yoav Horowitz for a few minutes; it was described as a businesslike meeting that dealt with how to continue working from here on in. Katz won’t speak to the media and has instructed associates not to say anything else about the issue. See also: Despite the Media Blitz, the Public Refused to Believe Netanyahu (Ha’aretz) Ynet News Terrorist Killed in Jerusalem Attempted Vehicular Attack A Palestinian vehicle leaving the Shuafat refugee camp in east Jerusalem attempted to run over Police and Border Police forces Sunday night in an attempted terrorist attack. There were no injuries to Israeli forces. Police said the vehicle approached them at high speed, trying to hit them. Forces began the accepted procedure to stop a suspicious vehicle, but the driver refused to slow down. As a result, forces opened fire, killing the terrorist and wounding the passenger, who was evacuated in moderate condition. See also: Palestinian killed in apparent ramming attempt in East Jerusalem (TOI) Times of Israel Germany Admits PA is Likely Paying Terrorists’ Families The German government has for the first time admitted that the Palestinian Authority likely grants financial support to terrorists and their families, and vowed to further investigate the matter. Following repeated queries by an opposition lawmaker, the Foreign Ministry in Berlin last week also acknowledged that funds for so-called “martyrs” and Palestinian prisoners sitting in Israeli jails for security-related offenses come not only from the PLO but partially from the PA’s own budget. Germany supports the PA annually with about €160 million ($179 million), but insists that the money only goes to specific development projects and not to so-called “salaries” for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons or to the relatives of killed terrorists. Jerusalem Post Australian FM: Palestinians Share Blame for Impasse Unilateral actions towards statehood and violence by Palestinians – not only Israeli settlement construction – are hurdles to the peace process, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday. “We call for the peace negotiations to recommence, and likewise we publicly and privately say that any unilateral action that is seen as damaging or impeding the peace process should be called what it is,” Bishop said in an interview, shortly after meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “And that includes the unilateral actions on the part of the Palestinians to achieve statehood,” she said. 2 Jerusalem Post Bhutan Minister: Relations with Israel are Possible Israeli expertise in crop cultivation and agricultural technology may soon make its way into the emerald green terraces of South Asia’s “Forbidden Kingdom,” following the first-ever visit by a Bhutanese minister to Israel last week. Despite the two countries not having formal diplomatic relations, Bhutan’s Agriculture and Forests Minister Lyonpo Yeshey Dorji, from the People’s Democratic Party, spent three days in Israel to witness the graduation of Bhutanese students from the AgroStudies apprenticeship program. For the past four years, students have come for 11-month periods to partake in hands-on, advanced agricultural training, an opportunity that, according to Dorji, has led officials to understand the potential of and the “mutual interest” in further cooperation between the nations. “This is more informal, but the doors are always open,” Dorji told The Jerusalem Post on Friday. “There are possibilities that diplomatic relations could be established.” AP Israel Targets Syrian Army after Errant Fire Hits Golan The Israeli military says it has fired at Syrian army cannons in the Syrian Golan Heights in response to mortar fire from Syria that hit the Israeli-held Golan Heights. The army says that the mortars appeared to be errant fire from Syria's civil war, and were not deliberately targeting Israeli-held territory. No injuries were reported Sunday. The military says it holds the Syrian government accountable for the "blatant breach of Israeli sovereignty." Israel has taken pains to stay on the sidelines of neighboring Syria's war, but has carried out similar reprisals on Syrian positions when errant fire has previously landed in Israeli-controlled territory. See also: Syrian shell explodes in Golan Heights, IDF attacks in response” (Ynet News) Times of Israel Pro-Israel Dems Backing Iran Deal Feel the Heat in 2016 Races It has become an unmistakable pattern throughout the country: In the first election cycle since Democratic President Barack Obama forged the Iran nuclear deal — much to the dismay of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a large chunk of the pro-Israel community — Democratic members of Congress who have historically supported the Jewish state, but backed the landmark pact, are being attacked as anti-Israel. Some of these targets have long been reliably in Israel’s corner on Capitol Hill, like Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, New York Rep. Jerry Nadler and Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen. All of them supported the president’s signature diplomatic initiative — and all have been castigated throughout their 2016 campaigns as untrustworthy when it comes to safeguarding Israel from existential threats. Reuters Satellite Company says SpaceX owes it $50m or Free Flight Israel's Space Communication Ltd said on Sunday it could seek $50 million or a free flight from Elon Musk's SpaceX after a Spacecom communications satellite was destroyed last week by an explosion at SpaceX's Florida launch site. Officials of the Israeli company said in a conference call with reporters Sunday that Spacecom also could collect $205 million from Israel Aircraft Industries, which built the Amos-6 satellite. SpaceX did not immediately reply to a request Sunday morning for comment about Spacecom's claim. 3 Washington Post– September 4, 2016 There’s Still Time for Obama to Carve Out a Middle East Legacy By Jackson Diehl Barack Obama took office in 2009 with two big personal priorities in foreign policy: the limitation of nuclear weapons and the cause of Palestinian statehood. This summer the president has been weighing a flurry of possible last-minute actions to cement his legacy on nukes, including a U.N. resolution that would ban testing. That raises an obvious question: Will Obama also launch an 11th-hour Mideast gambit? The possibility has been debated in and outside the White House ever since Secretary of State John F. Kerry’s quixotic effort to broker an Israeli-Palestinian deal collapsed in 2014. All along, the assumption has been that Obama might wait to act until after the presidential election, so as to avoid creating problems for Hillary Clinton. There’s plenty of precedent: Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush all bid for a Middle East legacy during their final months. Not surprisingly, the prospect of an Obama initiative — which could take the form of a speech, or at its most ambitious, a U.N. resolution — is producing “high anxiety in the Netanyahu world,” as one former administration official puts it. That would be Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu, the Israeli leader who has haunted and taunted Obama since he took office — and absorbed in return more White House animus and abuse than any other U.S. ally. In the end, Obama’s final decisions on the Middle East may be driven by another drama: the Barack and Bibi endgame. For now, the old rivals are cooperating on a deal that could burnish both their legacies. Israeli and U.S. sources say negotiations are essentially complete on a new 10-year bilateral defense pact that would boost annual U.S. military aid to Israel from $3 billion to close to $4 billion. Israel would get more money for missile defense, while agreeing to gradually redirect to American firms the quarter of U.S. funding it now diverts to domestic contractors. For both leaders, the deal has a positive political twist. Obama would be able to point to it as proof that he was not, in the end, an anti-Israel president, in spite of his battles with Netanyahu over West Bank settlements and the Iranian nuclear deal. Netanyahu, who has good reason to worry about eroding support for Israel among U.S. liberals, would be able to describe the bounteous guaranteed funding as a Democratic initiative. That’s not the only reason Netanyahu has to gloat: For now, he looks like the winner on points in his eight-year bout with this president.
Recommended publications
  • Fact-Checking the Heralded “End of the Latin American Left”

    Fact-Checking the Heralded “End of the Latin American Left”

    Fact-checking the Heralded “End of the Latin American Left” By Peter Bolton, Research Fellow at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs Recent political developments across the region have prompted celebratory proclamations in the mainstream Western press that Latin America’s decades-long dominance by left-leaning governments is reaching its terminal stages. The landslide victory of the Venezuelan opposition in last December’s legislative elections, the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff in Brazil, and the triumph of center-right candidate Mauricio Macri in Argentina’s presidential election do indeed seem to point to a region-wide decline in the fortunes of the parties of the Pink Tide. But as is so often the case in the mainstream media, commentators have been too quick to make current events fit neatly into overarching seismic shifts. The cursory and often incomplete news reports on which they are based simply do not provide sufficient support for such catchall explanations. While scholars have naturally initiated a more nuanced and detailed debate to consider whether the region is indeed witnessing the end of a progressive cycle, press analyses have struck a premature and in many cases triumphalist tone by declaring the collapse of the Latin American left both imminent and beyond serious doubt. In reality, it is the exact opposite that is beyond serious doubt: it is far too early to write off the future of the left in Latin America. Moreover, more research is needed to understand the dynamics of these movements and how things might play out in the coming months and years. But what is most disconcerting about these knee-jerk press responses is that the people making them seem to not even have a strong grasp of the basic facts surrounding the political developments on which they base their claims, let alone of the nuance needed to develop a sophisticated analysis.
  • Leopoldo López Mendoza Citizen of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

    Leopoldo López Mendoza Citizen of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

    White Paper On the Case of Leopoldo López Mendoza Citizen of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela v. Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Authored By: Jared Genser1 Perseus Strategies José Antonio Maes February 27, 2018 (updated) Original Published July 21, 2014 1 Jared Genser serves as international counsel to Leopoldo López. Jose Antonio Maes previously served as López’s domestic counsel. For further information in English, contact +1 202 466 3069 or [email protected]. For information in Spanish, contact Juan Carlos Gutierrez, López’s domestic counsel, +58 412 33 217 44 or [email protected]. Perseus Strategies would like to thank Elise Baranouski, Sara Birkenthal, Michael Cullen, Chris Fletcher, Reid Kurtz, Juan Pablo Miramontes, Asma Noray, Maddie Orcutt, Samuel Ritholtz, Nicole Santiago, and Juancarlos Vargas for their support. 1 Table of Contents Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................ 4 I. Biographical Information on Leopoldo López Mendoza ............................................................ 7 II. Background Context and Current Situation in Venezuela ........................................................ 12 A. Rise of Chavismo... ............................................................................................................... 12 B. Protests in 2014 ..................................................................................................................... 15
  • The Image of the Country in Journalists' Tweets

    The Image of the Country in Journalists' Tweets

    38 Social Communication Volume 2 (2016), pp. 38-58 DOI: 10.1515/sc-2016-0011 THE IMAGE OF THE COUNTRY IN JOURNALISTs’ TWEETS – Case STUDY Oksana Banias1, Iwona Leonowicz-Bukała2, Anna Martens3 Abstract This article attempts to assess the role of Twitter in international communication on the ba- sis of intentionally selected part of reality. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the potential impact of messages, posted in the microblogging service by the internationally recognized journalist, on creating the image of Poland in the world. Case study was carried out on the example of Anne Applebaum’s Twitter account. Keywords: Twitter, image, journalism, communication Introduction This article attempts to assess the role of Twitter, as the medium, in international communication, although in a very limited extent. The purpose of the text is in fact the analysis of the potential impact of messages posted on Twitter by the recognized jour- nalist, and comments of the recipients of these messages, in creating the image of Po- land in the world. Case study was carried out on the example of Twitter account of Anne Applebaum, associated with Poland, American journalist and writer. At the beginning of the analysis, it was assumed, that basing on the individual case study, it is possible to state probable further hypotheses about the potential of creating an image of Poland on Twitter by well-known journalists. According to O. Gorbaniuk and D. Radman (2011, pp.75-94), the image of the country is the total sum of person’s beliefs on a given country. Positive image plays an important role as a tool of influence in international relations, therefore, every coun- try attempts to shape it, and thus strengthen its competitiveness on the international arena.
  • Do Something, Mr. Mcconnell

    Do Something, Mr. Mcconnell

    A24 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST . WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2019 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ABCDE [email protected] AN INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER The broken electoral college Regarding George F. Will’s Aug. 29 op-ed, “The electoral college is here to stay”: EDITORIALS Democrats are less concerned that four of the five popular-vote losers who became president were Republicans than they are with making every vote count equally. Do something, Mr. McConnell Because of the winner-takes-all nature of picking electoral delegates in most states, the electoral college creates a paradox where both the minority in When the Senate returns from its Labor Day recess, it must act on guns. a state and the majority across the nation can have either no or insufficient representation, respectively. ODOLFO JULIO ARCO, 57; Kameron Karltess Brown, 30; Raul Garcia, safety? Would any volume of bloodshed convince the Kentucky Republican that If abolishing the electoral college or signing on to the 35; Mary Granados, 29; Joseph Griffith, 40; Leilah Hernandez, 15; Edwin Congress faces a moral imperative to act? Thirty-eight people were slain in three National Popular Vote compact does not appeal to Peregrino, 25. such shootings in August — in Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, as well as West Texas — some, there is a third way to move closer to vote Add those seven individuals, randomly slaughtered Saturday by a and still Senate Republicans and President Trump refuse to act. equality: apportion delegates in all states according Rshooter in the West Texas cities of Midland and Odessa, to the toll of those lost to The list below, far from comprehensive, is tragic, in part, because it is so far to voting percentages for each candidate.
  • Trump's Foreign Policies Are Better Than They Seem

    Trump's Foreign Policies Are Better Than They Seem

    Council Special Report No. 84 April 2019 Trump’s Foreign Policies Are Better Than They Seem Robert D. Blackwill The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an independent, nonpartisan membership organization, think tank, and publisher dedicated to being a resource for its members, government officials, business executives, journalists, educators and students, civic and religious leaders, and other interested citizens in order to help them better understand the world and the foreign policy choices facing the United States and other countries. Founded in 1921, CFR carries out its mission by maintaining a diverse membership, with special programs to promote interest and develop expertise in the next generation of foreign policy leaders; convening meetings at its headquarters in New York and in Washington, DC, and other cities where senior government officials, members of Congress, global leaders, and prominent thinkers come together with Council members to discuss and debate major international issues; supporting a Studies Program that fosters independent research, enabling CFR scholars to produce articles, reports, and books and hold roundtables that analyze foreign policy issues and make concrete policy recommendations; publishing Foreign Affairs, the preeminent journal on international affairs and U.S. foreign policy; sponsoring Independent Task Forces that produce reports with both findings and policy prescriptions on the most important foreign policy topics; and providing up-to-date information and analysis about world events and American foreign policy on its website, CFR.org. The Council on Foreign Relations takes no institutional positions on policy issues and has no affiliation with the U.S. government. All views expressed in its publications and on its website are the sole responsibility of the author or authors.
  • Developments in Unconventional Gas: Challenges and Opportunities for Russia

    Developments in Unconventional Gas: Challenges and Opportunities for Russia

    Developments in Unconventional Gas: Challenges and Opportunities for Russia Sujoyini Mandal Marika Semerdzhian November 2013 M-RCBG Associate Working Paper Series | No. 23 The views expressed in the M-RCBG Fellows and Graduate Student Research Paper Series are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business & Government or of Harvard University. The papers in this series have not undergone formal review and approval; they are presented to elicit feedback and to encourage debate on important public policy challenges. Copyright belongs to the author(s). Papers may be downloaded for personal use only. Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business & Government Weil Hall | Harvard Kennedy School | www.hks.harvard.edu/mrcbg Developments in Unconventional Gas: Challenges and Opportunities for Russia Sujoyini Mandal and Marika Semerdzhian Harvard Kennedy School, Master in Public Policy, 2013 Client: Daniel Freifeld, Permian International Advisor: Professor Meghan O’Sullivan PAC Seminar Leader: Dean John Haigh This PAE reflects the views of the authors and should not be viewed as representing the views of the PAE's external client, nor those of Harvard University or any of its faculty. TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary………………………………………………………………………… 3 Overview…………………………………………………………………………………….. 3 PAE Structure………………………………………………………………………………... 3 Objectives and Methodology………………………………………………………………… 4 Sources……………………………………………………………………………………….. 4 Chapter 1: Global Gas Market and Russia’s Position……………………………………
  • Israel's Return to Security-Based Diplomacy

    Israel's Return to Security-Based Diplomacy

    ISRAEL’S RETURN TO SECURITY-BASED DIPLOMACY Senior Foreign Policy Analyst, Jerusalem Dan Diker Center for Public Affairs; Adjunct Fellow, Hudson Institute Diplomacy-Based Security vs. Israel’s previous policy of making concessions first and trying to enforce its vital security Security-Based Diplomacy rights and requirements second has raised international expectations that For most of the past 17 years of Israeli peace Israel will continue to offer an intransigent diplomacy, since the 1993 Oslo Declaration Palestinian leadership greater concessions as of Principles signed with Yasser Arafat’s “sweeteners” to coax them into negotiations. Palestine Liberation Organization, Israel’s vital The Palestinians, in contrast, have been security requirements have been relegated sensitizing the international community to to a position of secondary importance in the what the PA leadership calls “Palestinian service of reaching a final peace agreement. rights” underpinning their statehood quest.2 Israel’s traditional “security-based diplomacy” The public silence of Israeli governments on approach to foreign relations that had anchored Israel’s own rights-based case for a viable, the Jewish state’s defense doctrine since the secure Jewish state with defensible borders Six-Day War in 1967 had been reversed. Instead, has encouraged confusion among allies and a doctrine of “diplomacy-based security” had exacerbated the antagonism of adversaries. come to dominate Israeli diplomatic thinking, as peace agreements were thought to be the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s foreign guarantor of Israel’s safety. policy speech at Bar-Ilan University on June 14, 2009 – the first one of his administration In service to this new doctrine, Israeli efforts – represented a fundamental restoration of to end the Arab-Israeli conflict, including Israel’s security- and rights-based approach the Annapolis process in 2008, the Gaza to the conflict.
  • U.S. Role in the World: Background and Issues for Congress

    U.S. Role in the World: Background and Issues for Congress

    U.S. Role in the World: Background and Issues for Congress Updated January 19, 2021 Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov R44891 SUMMARY R44891 U.S. Role in the World: Background and Issues January 19, 2021 for Congress Ronald O'Rourke The U.S. role in the world refers to the overall character, purpose, or direction of U.S. Specialist in Naval Affairs participation in international affairs and the country’s overall relationship to the rest of the world. The U.S. role in the world can be viewed as establishing the overall context or framework for U.S. policymakers for developing, implementing, and measuring the success of U.S. policies and actions on specific international issues, and for foreign countries or other observers for interpreting and understanding U.S. actions on the world stage. While descriptions of the traditional U.S. role in the world since the end of World War II vary in their specifics, it can be described in general terms as consisting of four key elements: global leadership; defense and promotion of the liberal international order; defense and promotion of freedom, democracy, and human rights; and prevention of the emergence of regional hegemons in Eurasia. The issue for Congress is whether the U.S. role in the world has changed, and if so, what implications this might have for the United States and the world. A change in the U.S. role could have significant and even profound effects on U.S. security, freedom, and prosperity. It could significantly affect U.S. policy in areas such as relations with allies and other countries, defense plans and programs, trade and international finance, foreign assistance, and human rights.
  • Beyond a ‘New Beginning’ Obama Administration Middle East Policy

    Beyond a ‘New Beginning’ Obama Administration Middle East Policy

    Proceedings of the 2009 Weinberg Founders Conference Beyond a ‘New Beginning’ Obama Administration Middle East Policy October 16–18, 2009 Proceedings of the 2009 Weinberg Founders Conference Beyond a ‘New Beginning’ Obama Administration Middle East Policy October 16–18, 2009 The Washington Institute for Near East Policy 1828 L Street NW, Suite 1050, Washington, DC 20036 (202) 452-0650 All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. © 2009 by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy Published in 2009 in the United States of America by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 1828 L Street NW, Suite 1050, Washington, DC 20036. Design by Daniel Kohan, Sensical Design and Communication Photography by Rick Reinhard Editor’s Note These conference proceedings are presented as edited summaries of speeches and panel discussions, and should not be cited as actual transcripts of speaker remarks. Visit www.washingtoninstitute.org for audio and video of the presentations. n n n The opinions expressed herein are those of the speakers and not necessarily those of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, its Board of Trustees, or its Board of Advisors. Table of Contents Preface ix Robert Satloff Executive director, The Washington Institute Speaker Biographies xi Obama and the Middle East: An Early Assessment 3 Jackson Diehl Deputy editorial page editor, Washington Post Mortimer Zuckerman Editor in chief, U.S.
  • Jan '20 Blockfile.Pdf

    Jan '20 Blockfile.Pdf

    A2 AFF A2: Sanctions hurt civilians (Topshelf OV) A2 Oil Price Spikes A2 Debt Restructuring IMF Debt Restructuring/SAP’s A2 Oil Production A2: Fuel Shortages A2: Low Oil Causes Diversification (A2 NEG) A2 Brain Drain A2 Scapegoating A2: Guaido won’t become president A2: A2: Social Programs A2: Maduro Militarization Responsible for the Problem 1. Militarization is not responsible for the problem A2: China 1. Reuters 19 explains China distancing itself from Venezuela. In August, China National Petroleum Corp, one of the largest foreign investors in Venezuela’s oil sector, stopped lifting crude from Venezuelan ports due to worries about sanctions, and China’s imports of Venezuelan crude fell to zero last month, as it imports more oil from Malaysia. A2: Regional Instability Venezuela crisis doesn’t trigger regional instability A2: 40,000 Dead The foundational statistic for the 40,000 dead is false The methodology for the 40,000 dead claim is flawed A2: Sanctions Reduced Oil Production Many other causes of economic decline A2 Neg A2 Colombia War A2 Targeted Sanctions A2 Economic Reforms Topshelf A2 Privatizing Oil A2 Dollarization A2 Price controls A2 Diversification A2 CITGO A2 Hezbollah A2 Sanctions Cut Financing A2 Opposition Regime Ousts Hezbollah A2 Regime Change Topshelf A2: Elections = Guaido A2 Opposition Protests A2 Anything w/ Funding A2 Turning Military A2: Can’t pay military A2 Invasion (Impact) Sanctions Lead to Intervention Rhetoric A2: War Hawks A2: Florida A2: Colombian War A2: Trump wants oil A2 Negotiations (Impact) A2 Strain
  • Leopoldo López Background Briefer

    Leopoldo López Background Briefer

    Leopoldo López Background Briefer Table of Contents 1. Fact Sheet: Leopoldo López 2. “The Poster Boy” – Peter Wilson, Foreign Policy 3. “Venezuela’s Failing State” – Leopoldo López, The New York Times 4. “Venezuela’s Crackdown on Opposition” – Editorial Board, The New York Times 5. White Paper on the Case Of Leopoldo López Mendoza v. Government Of The Bolivarian Republic Of Venezuela – Jared Genser, Jose Antonio Maes 6. How You Can Help “WE ARE LIVING IN A DARK HELD PRISONER TO SILENCE DISSENT On February 18, Leopoldo Lopez, the most prominent leader of the TIME WHEN CRIMINALS Venezuelan opposition movement, was arrested on charges of murder, terrorism and conspiracy. ARE REWARDED AND THEY According to Human Rights Watch, the government provided no evidence linking WANT TO IMPRISON THE Lopez to any crime, “just insults and conspiracy theories.” Amnesty International called the arrest “A politically motivated VENEZUELANS WHO attempt to silence dissent.” WANT PEACEFUL, The New York Times reported that Lopez “has routinely called for peaceful protests,” and that the government has “provided no evidence for the charges but DEMOCRATIC CHANGE.” havedemonized Lopez in speeches...on government-controlled television and radio.” – Leopoldo Lopez, February 19, 2014 Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a televised address that evening: "I said, 'Send him to jail,' and that's what happened and that's what will happen with all of the fascists.” Lopez is currently being held in Ramo Verde, a military prison outside of Caracas. He faces a hearing held at the military prison, away from public view. His lawyers have noted that holding such a hearing outside of a court of law is in violation of the constitution.
  • The Saban Forum a U.S.–Israel Dialogue

    The Saban Forum a U.S.–Israel Dialogue

    The Saban Forum A U.S.–Israel Dialogue War and Peace in the Middle East November 3-5, 2007 Jerusalem 1775 Massachusetts Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20036 USA Phone: 202-797-6462, Fax: 202-797-2481 www.brookings.edu/sabancenter A Letter from Haim Saban Welcome to Jerusalem and the fourth annual Saban Forum. We are honored to welcome back many participants and privileged to have new guests join us. We are also grateful to those who traveled long distances to be here with us. This year’s Saban Forum, “War and Peace in the Middle East,” comes on the eve of the planned international peace meeting in Annapolis, Maryland, which may lead to the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian final status negotiations. That would be a silver lining in some of the dark clouds that threaten the Middle East’s horizon, from sectarian strife in Iraq, to Iran’s nuclear ambitions, and Islamic extremist challenges to the existing order. Our overall purpose in this year’s dialogue is to assess the prospects for both war and peace in the Middle East and consider what the United States and Israel can do about both challenges. We aim to foster a candid exchange of views among people with diverse experience and deep knowledge. As in past years, we are avoiding set-piece speeches in favor of short opening presentations and even shorter interventions. This year, we have also reduced the number of sessions, allowing for more time within each session for the dialogue. Because we want to hear from all of you, please be succinct and to the point.