Excerpts: Abbas opts for rhetoric. Palestinians attack new Jewish homes in
Silwan neigborhood. Iraq PM in Tehran for 'crisis talks on IS'. Jordan's
King speaks firmly October 21, 2014

+++SOURCE: Al Arabiya News 21 Oct.’14:”Lacking a plan, Abbas opts for
rhetoric”, by Associated Press
The Associated Press, Ramallah
Tuesday, 21 October 2014

The Palestinian president has been speaking in increasingly belligerent
tones in recent weeks, accusing Israel of committing “genocide” in Gaza and
calling on Palestinians to defend a contested Jerusalem holy site “by any
means.”

The heightened rhetoric is a departure for the normally staid Mahmoud
Abbas - and an apparent sign of desperation as he tries to halt a slide in
his own popularity following this summer’s war between Israel and the
Islamic militant Hamas in Gaza.

Abbas has staked his decade-long presidency on the pursuit of an independent
Palestinian state through negotiations with Israel. But he seems out of
ideas after another failed round of talks that collapsed in April, a war
that boosted the popularity of the rival Hamas, and a bumpy attempt to win
new recognition at the United Nations.

Fiery rhetoric is an easy way to appeal to his public at a time when many
Palestinians believe Israel is not serious about negotiating a partition
deal that would end half a century of Israeli military occupation.

Yet Abbas has also carefully avoided any steps that would irreversibly harm
his relationship with Israel.

The disconnect between words and action was on jarring display over the
weekend when Abbas’ security forces beat West Bank protesters marching in
support of a Muslim-run holy site that is widely perceived by Palestinians
to be under threat of a Jewish takeover.

Careful avoidance

Just hours later, Abbas urged activists from his Fatah movement to defend
the shrine “by any means” against “cattle herds of (Jewish) settlers” who he
said “have no right to enter and desecrate it.”

The Al Aqsa Mosque is Islam’s third holiest shrine and also Judaism’s
holiest site as the home of the biblical Jewish Temple.

Last month, Abbas accused Israel in a speech at the U.N. of committing
“genocide” during the Gaza war in which some 2,100 Palestinians were killed,
many of them civilians, along with 72 people on the Israeli side.

Scarred by memories of the Holocaust, Israel, along with the U.S., condemned
his choice of words.

Palestinian analyst Diana Buttu said Abbas’ lack of a political vision is
behind his new populist tone and attempts to tap into a consensus issue such
as Al Aqsa.

“He has nothing to hang his hat on any longer,” she said. “He is making more
forceful statements because he knows that public opinion toward him and his
party is at an all-time low.”

No serious challenger to the 79-year-old Abbas has emerged during his decade
as president. But an October poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and
Survey Research, a respected research center, indicates he and his Fatah
Party are in serious trouble.

Dropping approval

His approval rating has dropped by 11 points, to 39 percent, since the Gaza
war, according to the poll, which had an error margin of plus or minus 3
percentage points.

If presidential elections were held today, Abbas would come in last in a
three-way race against Ismail Haniyeh, a Hamas leader in Gaza, and Fatah’s
Marwan Barghouti, an uprising leader who is in prison in Israel.

Hamas’ popularity soared during the Gaza war, after it fired thousands of
rockets and mortar shells at Israel, though support has since dropped
somewhat.

Hamas, which seized Gaza from Abbas in 2007, was also forced to hand over
the reins, at least nominally, to an Abbas-led unity government that is
coordinating international reconstruction aid. Still, the heavily armed
militant group remains the main force on the ground.

The unity government has so far taken only small steps toward asserting
control in Gaza, largely because Abbas remains suspicious of Hamas.

His hesitation in Gaza is part of what some see as an unwillingness to shift
gears, despite the collapse of his long-running strategy of trying to win
Palestinian statehood through U.S.-led negotiations with Israel.

That approach seemed discredited for good after a nine-month round of talks
ended in acrimony this spring, with prospects for a resumption remote.

Since then, Abbas has signaled that he would opt for a more confrontational
approach toward Israel and the U.S. by seeking broader international
recognition for Palestinian statehood.

The U.N. set the stage for such moves in 2012 by accepting “Palestine” in
the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem - lands Israel captured in 1967 - as
a non-member observer state.

As a next step, Abbas is to seek a U.N. Security Council resolution setting
a November 2016 deadline for an Israeli withdrawal from occupied lands.

If the council fails to take action, the state of Palestine could seek
membership in more international bodies, including the International
Criminal Court, where it could seek war crimes charges against Israel,
officials have said.

However, some argue that Abbas remains reluctant to clash with the U.S. and
Israel.

“I can’t see a strong political will to change the strategy,” said analyst
George Giacaman. He said he believes Abbas is trying only to use the threat
of U.N. action to improve his leverage with Israel.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki denied a lack of political vision.
“We have a clear strategy that has resulted in a lot of successes,” Malki
said, adding that Israel “loses strength every day and becomes more isolated
in the world.”

But even the Security Council bid, at best a tactical move, seems to be
hitting a dead end.

The Palestinians need nine of 15 votes for their resolution to score a
symbolic diplomatic victory and embarrass the U.S. by forcing it to cast a
veto. For now, the Palestinians are two votes short.

Buttu said the international community hasn’t offered Abbas broad support
for any alternatives to negotiations with Israel, making it riskier for him
to try to adopt a new approach.

At the same time, he has created an increasingly authoritarian climate at
home, stifling debate about strategy and political succession, she said.

“Not only that he (Abbas) is not tolerating dissent,” she said. “We are now
stuck with a system without clarity of what is happening next.”



+++SOURCE: Naharnet (Lebanon) 21 Oct.’14:”Palestinians Attack New E.
Jerusalem Settler Homes”, Agence France Presse

SUBJECT:Palestinians attack new Jewish homes in Silwan neighborhood

QUOTE: gang of Palestinians firing flares and throwing petrol bombs”

FULL TEXT:Palestinians hurled Molotov cocktails at an apartment building in
a flashpoint east Jerusalem neighborhood just hours after it was taken over
by Jewish settlers, police said Tuesday.[21 Oct.]

No one was injured in the incident in the Silwan neighborhood late on
Monday[20 Oct.], which saw a gang of Palestinians firing flares and throwing
petrol bombs at the building, a police statement said.

No serious damage was caused and no arrests were made.

The building was one of two structures housing 10 apartments that were taken
over by Jewish settlers before dawn on Monday[20 Oct.], sparking fierce
local opposition. Such takeovers have also been strongly condemned by the
international community.

Silwan is a densely populated Palestinian neighborhood that flanks the
southern walls of Jerusalem's Old City and has been the scene of frequent
clashes involving a small group of hardcore settlers, the Israeli police and
young, stone-throwing locals.

Clashes erupted three weeks ago when settlers moved into more than 25
apartments in the area that they had purchased.

Ateret Cohanim, an Israeli organization aiming to increase the Jewish
presence in east Jerusalem, said the acquisitions would double the number of
Jews living in that part of Silwan, known in Hebrew as Kfar Shiloach.

The group claims that particular area was inhabited by Jews from Yemen in
the late 19th century.

Israel seized Arab east Jerusalem during the 1967 Six Day War and later
annexed it, in a move never recognized by the international community. Some
200,000 Israelis live there alongside some 300,000 Palestinians.

Israel regards the entire city as its "undivided capital" and does not see
construction or the purchase of houses in the eastern sector as settlement
activity.

While the Israeli government is behind major construction efforts in the
area, it says it has no say over private real-estate deals in east
Jerusalem.

Earlier this week, President Reuven Rivlin spoke out against such deals
conducted between Arab sellers and extreme right-wing groups.

"Jerusalem cannot be a city in which building is done in secret or where
moving into apartments is done in the dead of night," he said on Sunday[19
Oct.].


+++SOURCE: Naharnet (Lebanon) 21 Oct.’14:”Iraqi PM in Tehran for Crisis
Talks on IS”, Agence France Presse

SUBJECT:Iraq PM in Tehran for ‘crisis talks on IS”

QUOTE:” Iraqi PM: ruled out any foreign ground intervention’

FULL TEXT:Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi arrived in Tehran late
Monday[20 )ct.] on his first visit to Iran since taking office after the
crisis triggered by the advance of Islamic State militants.

Iraqi state television said Abadi, whose country remains beset by IS,
arrived shortly before midnight for talks with Iranian officials including
President Hassan Rouhani about the ongoing battle, which has drawn in U.S.
and other international air strikes.

IS fighters hold towns just a few miles (kilometers) from the Iranian
border, and the Islamic republic has been reported by senior Kurdish
officials to have deployed troops inside Iraq.

Abadi's visit is all the more important given his surprise elevation to the
premiership after the removal in August of Nuri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime
minister whom Iran had resolutely backed since 2006 until this summer's
cataclysmic events.

Maliki's armed forces failed in the face of a lightning surge by IS fighters
into Iraq from Syria, eventually resulting in him stepping down from the top
job after Iran publicly endorsed Abadi's candidature as premier.

No schedule has been released but Abadi's trip is expected to last one day
only. Iran has supported the Baghdad government throughout the crisis and
was the first country to send arms to Kurds fighting IS militants in
northern Iraq.

Major General Qassem Suleimani, the chief of Iran's elite Quds Force, has
been spotted in Iraq, where it is believed he played a key role in
coordinating military operations.

As Shiite neighbors, Iran and Iraq have been close since the removal of
Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein in the US-led invasion of 2003.

Speaking earlier in the city of Najaf after a rare meeting with the most
revered figure among Iraqi Shiites, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Abadi
ruled out any foreign ground intervention to assist government forces in
retaking territory lost to jihadists and urged Sunnis to give up such hopes.

"No ground forces from any superpower, international coalition or regional
power will fight here," Abadi told reporters, reiterating previous remarks
on the issue.

"This is my decision, it is the decision of the Iraqi government."

Some officials and Sunni tribal leaders in areas most affected by the unrest
have argued the world should step up its involvement from air strikes to a
ground intervention against IS.

Iraqi state television said it was the first time in four years that Sistani
had met a high-ranking Iraqi government official.

Abadi's talks in Iran on Iraq's war against IS come with the situation in
the balance. Since June, the militants have seized control of swathes of
Iraq and brought it to the brink of collapse.

SourceAgence France Presse



+++SOURCE: The Jordan Times 21 Oct.’14:”There is no grey area in anti-terror
fight – King”

SUBJECT:Jordan’s King speaks firmly

QUOTE:”King: ‘there is no grey area in the fight against terrorism’ “

FULL TEXTAMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah on Monday said that “there is no
grey area” in the fight against terrorism.“All should realise that we must
take a side in the confrontation between the moderate and extremist
approaches. There is no grey area.”

“All world countries are in a state of war between moderation or extremism,”
the King told lawmakers at a meeting with president and members of the Lower
House’s Democratic Gathering Bloc.

“There is a civil war within Islam now, but as Arabs and Muslims, we,
unfortunately, have not realised how serious the situation is,” the King
said. He noted that there is Islamic extremism and, on the other hand,
“there is Zionist extremism… stakeholders should acknowledge there is
extremism in all camps”.

The King stressed that the war against terrorism “would not take one or two
years. If the military battle takes a brief time, the security and
ideological war might extend to 10 or 15 years”.

Jordan, as a Hashemite state, does not only protect Muslims, but also
Christians “in the country and the region. What is happening to them
[Christians] in Syria and Iraq is a catastrophe”, the Monarch told the
lawmakers. Jordanian Muslims and Christians will work together to “keep
these threats away from our borders. We have to think together how to deal
with the various challenges. We are living in a new and changing world”.

His Majesty reiterated that the security and stability of Jordan are above
any other consideration, highlighting citizens’ high level of awareness as
key in keeping the country safe.At the meeting, the King noted that
Jordanians’ belonging to their collective identity is vital in efforts to
safeguard higher national interests, according to a Royal Court statement.

King Abdullah called for enhancing national consensus and focusing on
priorities in order to foster national cohesion, which, he said, stands
strongly in the face of all challenges.

He reiterated his “huge” confidence in the armed forces and security
apparatuses, as they are always up to the task in protecting the country and
its achievement.

The King noted that Jordan’s participation in the war against terrorism as
part of an international coalition is aimed at protecting the national
interests and security amid all the chaos the region is undergoing.

He underlined that the Kingdom will always stand against terrorism and
extremism regardless of their sources and advocates.The Monarch pointed out
that confronting such threats requires the efforts of all to combat all
forms of terrorism at the intellectual and educational levels, and through
increasing public awareness, a goal His Majesty said that Lower House has a
major role in achieving.

On the other hand, King Abdullah noted that the economic difficulties,
particularly the energy bill, remain the foremost challenges facing the
country, and can be addressed through partnership between the state
agencies, private sector and civil society organisations. He indicated that
poverty and unemployment top economic priorities, underlining a need for a
national partnership between all sectors to alleviate these problems through
implementing development and investment projects across Jordan to create job
opportunities.

The Monarch highlighted difficulties facing the national economy due to
hosting a large number of Syrian refugees, which imposes a burden on the
infrastructure and other services, especially in the central and northern
regions.

As for the reform process, His Majesty underscored that the reform plan is
moving steadily and gradually and “nothing will slow down its progress” for
it is of “utmost priority”.To this effect, he stressed the significance of
responsible partnership between the executive and legislative powers to
contribute to the comprehensive development process.

Discussions at the meeting also covered the latest regional events, where
His Majesty highlighted Jordan’s stance supporting efforts to deal with
challenges facing the region in order to achieve security and stability for
its people.

For their part, members of the bloc commended King Abdullah’s efforts to
reach out to all segments of society, praising the Kingdom’s stands
vis-à-vis regional and international issues, which they described as
“moderate, prudent and balanced”They also hailed Jordan’s efforts to fight
terrorism and extremism, while promoting the concepts of coexistence and
tolerance.

Regarding parliamentary work, the MPs cited a number of local issues that
should be addressed with urgency, especially with regard to the rule of law
and the state’s authority.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour said the government will follow up on the
issues they raised, noting, regarding the economic file, that the government
plans to diversify energy resources in the upcoming stage.
==============
Sue Lerner -Associate, IMRA