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Sunday, August 20, 2006
Some headlines and summaries from JTA
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Israeli calls Hezbollah war a victory
The Israeli army’s chief of staff declared Israel’s war with Lebanon a victory.
But Cabinet members suggested the results were murky at best.
Lt. Gen Dan Halutz told the Cabinet on Sunday that Israel had won the war on “points” even if there had been no “knockout.”
Halutz pointed to Israel’s damage to the Hezbollah infrastructure as evidence of victory.
Cabinet ministers, however, pointed out that Hezbollah´s prestige within the Arab world had soared and that Iran and Syria remained committed supporters of the group.
Also, Israel failed to win the release of two soldiers kidnapped by Hezbollah, the ministers said.
Diaspora money heads North
World Jewry is expected to contribute about $344 million to rehabilitating Israel’s northern towns and cities.
The money, according to an Israeli government plan announced Sunday, would contribute to the overall cost of repairing damage and providing assistance to northern residents, estimated at about $1 billion.
Money would go to financial aid for residents and businesses, repairs, psychological counseling, rebuilding schools and other projects run by a newly formed Israeli government committee.
An emergency campaign in the United States has already raised $220 million for assistance to the North.
Poll: Majority wants neutrality
A majority of Americans say the U.S. should remain neutral in the conflict between Israel and Lebanon, according to a new poll.
The Zogby International telephone survey, conducted Aug. 11-15, shows that 52 percent think the United States should remain neutral and 34 percent believe it should support Israel in its fight against Hezbollah forces.
Almost no Americans said the United States should stand with Lebanon against Israel.
Thirty-two percent said Israel used excessive force, 24 percent said Israel did not use enough force and 25 percent said the force was about right.
Sixteen percent said they were unsure
Washington Post rebukes writer for Katyusha allegation
The editor of The Washington Post rebuked a top staffer for suggesting Israel allowed Hezbollah to keep Katyusha rockets to earn sympathy.
Thomas Ricks, whose book on the Iraq war, “Fiasco,” is a best seller, had said on CNN on Aug. 6 that “U.S. military analysts” had told him “that Israel purposely has left pockets of Hezbollah rockets in Lebanon, because as long as they’re being rocketed, they can continue to have a sort of moral equivalency in their operations in Lebanon.”
In response to inquiries from the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, Leonard Downie, the Post’s executive editor, said: “I have made clear to Tom Ricks that he should not have made those statements.”
Ricks had already retreated from the remarks, telling JTA that all he was doing was repeating what analysts had told him.
He learned later from other sources that the allegation was “bogus.”
Sweden blasted for donors conference
The Simon Wiesenthal Center criticized Sweden for planning an international aid conference that would focus on Lebanon.
The center called the conference discriminatory because it did not address Israeli victims of the recent war.
The center sent a letter to Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson asking him to change the focus of the Aug. 31 conference, which is to coordinate humanitarian assistance in Lebanon.
The conference is organized in collaboration with the Lebanese government and the United Nations.
http://www.jta.org/
posted by Somebody @ 10:23 PM Permanent Link
 
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