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Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Some headlines and summaries from JTA
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Letter calls for more Syria sanctions
A Democrat and a Republican lawmaker are circulating a letter among their congressional colleagues that would call on President Bush to fully sanction Syria.
Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) and Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) want Bush to implement all the sanctions in the Syria Accountability Act, which they initiated and which Congress passed in 2003. Bush implemented partial sanctions two years ago.
There has been “no let-up in Syria’s support for terrorism, aid for Iraqi insurgents, and its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction — all while strengthening its alliance with fellow rogue state, Iran, and continuing its destructive interference in Lebanese politics,” says the letter, drafted this week.
Bush currently bans all but food and medicine exports to Syria and keeps Syrian aircraft from landing in the United States.
Further bans would include an end to all U.S. business dealings in Syria and a further reduction in diplomatic ties.
Hundreds of French Jews arrive in Israel
Some 650 immigrants from France landed Tuesday in Israel.
Some of the immigrants will be moving to northern Israel, which has been the scene of daily barrages from Hezbollah rockets in Lebanon.
The Jewish Agency for Israel and the Ami association are behind the trip by the immigrants, some of an estimated 3,500 expected to make aliyah from France this year.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert greeted the new immigrants, saying: "Our enemy has been sending missiles and sometimes they do hit and they do do damage. But the missiles they fire at us don´t match the secret weapon we have — the nation of Israel, those who come like you, the deep commitment among the Jewish people, the deep love from the Jewish people from every place of the world. We are a strong nation and we have the stamina needed even for long struggles."
Israeli actions compared to Nazis’
A British lawmaker compared Israeli actions in Lebanon to the Nazi razing of the Warsaw Ghetto.
Peter Tapsell, a legislator from the Conservative Party, made his comments Tuesday.
Tapsell also accused British Prime Minister Tony Blair of “colluding” with President Bush in giving Israel the OK to wage “unlimited war” in Lebanon.
Oman says it won’t boycott Israel
Oman and the United States signed a free trade agreement that includes guarantees that the Persian Gulf state won’t boycott Israel.
Oman’s finance minister made the commitment in a letter to the U.S. trade representative.
Both houses of Congress ratified the agreement last week and President Bush is expected to sign it this week.
The United States recently has made such agreements conditional on ending the boycott against Israel; similar language was included this year in the U.S.-Bahrain free trade agreement.
Republican Jews urge Bolton confirmation
The Republican Jewish Coalition urged the U.S. Senate to confirm John Bolton as U.N. ambassador.
“Ambassador Bolton has expressed President Bush’s unwavering support of Israel in a time of crisis,” the coalition said in a statement Monday.
“He has vetoed Security Council resolutions which condemned Israel and excused the terrorists Israel is fighting against.”
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is reconsidering Bolton this Thursday. Democrats and some Republican allies successfully blocked Bolton’s appointment last year, citing reports of an abrasive personality and a go-it-alone philosophy.
Bush bypassed their objections with a recess appointment, which expires in the fall.
The coalition said Bolton has demonstrated the required diplomatic skills.
“Thanks to his efforts, the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council have agreed to sanction Iran if it continues uranium enrichment, a vital step in developing nuclear weapons. Iran’s insistence on moving forward with uranium enrichment has softened in response.”
http://www.jta.org/
posted by Somebody @ 11:57 PM Permanent Link
 
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