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Thursday, October 23, 2014
Excerpts: Dublin government "symbolic move". Jordan,Iran discuss facing extremism. Arab investigative journalists get help October 23, 2014

Excerpts: Dublin government "symbolic move". Jordan,Iran discuss facing
extremism. Arab investigative journalists get help October 23, 2014

+++SOURCE: AlArabiya News 23 Oct.’14:”I rish senate calls for recognitian
of Palestinian State:”Agence France Presse
SUBJECT:Dublin government ‘symbolic move’
QUOTE:”Ireland’s upper house of parliament Wednesday[22 Oct.] passed a
motion calling on the Dublin government to recognise the state of Palestine
in a symbolic move that is unlikely to change policy.



FULL TEXT:Ireland’s upper house of parliament Wednesday[22 Oct.] passed a
motion calling on the Dublin government to recognise the state of Palestine
in a symbolic move that is unlikely to change policy.

The vote is the latest boost for Palestinian authorities campaigning for
international recognition, coming after a similar vote by the British House
of Commons and Sweden’s decision to recognise a Palestinian state.

The motion called on the “government to formally recognise the state of
Palestine and do everything it can to help secure a viable two-state
solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict so that citizens of both states
can live in peace and security.”

It had cross-party support and passed without a vote.

Tabling the motion, opposition senator Averil Power said Ireland should
“make it clear that statehood is a right of the Palestinian people and not a
bargaining chip for the Israelis to play in further sham negotiations.

“In doing so, we will help increase pressure on Israel to pursue a genuine
peace process that has a real prospect of delivering peace and justice for
both Israelis and Palestinians alike.”

The Irish government is not bound to follow the motion, as it was initiated
by an opposition lawmaker in the upper house, which has little real power.

Power told AFP that Irish Foreign Minister Charlie Flanagan would visit the
senate in November to discuss the issue.

“It was great that we didn’t have to have a vote as we had cross-party
support, which sends out a strong message,” she said.

Ahead of the vote, the Israeli ambassador to Ireland Boaz Modai said he had
contacted all senators to urge them to vote against the measure.

“Stunt gestures such as recognising ‘Palestine’ unilaterally are
counter-productive because they only give excuses to those on the
Palestinian side who hope to achieve their goals without talking directly to
Israel,” the embassy said in a statement.

But the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign called the move an important
expression of support for Palestinian statehood that would “increase
diplomatic pressure on Israel to end the occupation”.

The debate follows the collapse of peace talks between Israel and the
Palestinian Authority and this year’s conflict in Gaza in which more than
2,000 Palestinians and dozens of Israelis were killed.

According to an AFP count, at least 112 countries around the world have
recognised a Palestinian state. A Palestinian count puts the number at 134.


+++SOURCE: Jordan Times 23 Oct.’14:”Jordan,Iran discuss efforts to face
extremism”, by Petra
SUBJECT : Jordan,Iran discuss facing extremism

FULL TEXT:AMMAN — Awqaf Minister Hayel Dawood and Iranian Ambassador to
Jordan Mojtaba Ferdousi Pour on Wednesday[22 Oct.] discussed ways to develop
bilateral relations.

They called on Arab and Muslim countries to join efforts in facing
extremism.

Dawood stressed that Jordan has always called for moderation.

For his part, Pour praised the strength of Jordanian-Iranian ties and
commended Jordan’s stance on the Israeli attacks on Al Aqsa Mosque


+++SOURCE: Jordan Times 23 Oct.’14:”Seymour Hersh to address Arab
investigative journalists in Amman”
SUBJECT:Arab investigative journalists get help
EXCERPTS:AMMAN — The seventh annual forum for Arab investigative journalists
will open in Amman on December 5, featuring over 30 panels and training
courses on various topics.

More than 250 Arab journalists, editors and media academics are scheduled to
attend the three-day conference held under the theme, “Arab Media: The
Battle for Independence”, according to a statement released by the
organisers, the Amman-based Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism
(ARIJ).

“Unfortunately, independent media in our region is minimal and lacks
financial and professional resources,” the statement quoted ARIJ Chairman
Daoud Kuttab as saying.

American journalist Seymour Hersh, who has investigated atrocities like the
massacre of unarmed villagers in the Vietnamese city of My Lai in 1968,
torture and abuse at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq in 2004 and an alternative
history to the ongoing “war on terror”, is one of three keynote speakers,
the statement said.

“What ARIJ is doing is very important in the Middle East. This is one of the
many reasons why I make it a point to speak at events like [this] and to
talk about investigative journalism and how to do it after years of
deconstructing what politicians and newspapers say about current events,”
said Hersh, a Pulitzer Prize winner.



ARIJ has trained over 1,200 journalists and nearly 100 media professors in
Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq, Palestine, Yemen, Bahrain and Tunisia
since 2005. It has also supported the creation of several investigative
units at established media houses in Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Tunisia.

ARIJ is funded by the Copenhagen-based International Media Support, the
Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, the Norwegian Foreign
Ministry and Open Society Foundation.




==========
Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA

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