San
Diego Jewish World
Newsmakers... Click on their names to go to their stories
On 13th Anniversary of AMIA bombings,
Israel JERUSALEM—Thirteen years ago today, 18 July, at 9 A.M., a huge explosion rocked the city of Buenos Aires - the second murderous attack against Israeli and Jewish targets in Argentina. The attack was launched against the AMIA Jewish community center (Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina). The target of the previous attack, two years earlier, was the Israeli embassy. In the attack 13 years ago, the Jewish community center was completely destroyed. A total of 85 people lost their lives, and hundreds more were injured.
“On the day that marks the 13th anniversary of the murderous, despicable attack on the Jewish community of Buenos Aires, we painfully recall the 85 fatalities and hundreds of casualties, victims of international terror. These victims join the dozens of fatalities and casualties, victims of the terrorist attack on the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires two years previously. My heart, and the heart of the Israeli people, goes out to the Jewish community and to the people of Argentina. “The people and government of Israel share in your grief and in the feeling that justice has not yet been done. The miscreants who perpetrated this heinous crime against humanity still remain at large, able to plan additional attacks around the world. We must not capitulate in this war of terror, and the entire free world must be enlisted in the struggle against this hate-filled, destructive, fundamentalist terror. I fully support the Argentinian government in its efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice. Only an all-out war against these murderers, who never hesitate to strike, intentionally, at helpless civilians, will ensure a free and peaceful existence in this world. “We must take this opportunity to denounce before the entire world the state which stands behind international terror - Iran. We must not forget that the Nisman Report expressly states that Iran was the motivator of the attack on the AMIA Jewish community center. Iran arms, finances and trains terrorists around the world, and is determined to obtain nuclear weapons. By bringing the perpetrators to justice, we will be sending a clear, deterring message to the terror-mongers. “To the Jewish community of Argentina, we send our felicitations for the spiritual fortitude they have displayed and for their ability to rebuild and maintain the vibrant Jewish community life there. You have fulfilled the Jewish tradition of sanctity of life and love of others. “The display of solidarity today, by all the people of Argentina, is proof that many share our values. If we learn to unite and join forces, we will overcome evil and create a better world for ourselves and for our children. Preservation of historical memory is an essential element in building this world.”
The preceding story was provided by Israel's
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. |
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BEER SHEVA, Israel (Press Release)—The Israel Defense Forces announced Tuesday that during a joint IDF and ISA operation in the Gaza Strip on June 6, a wanted Islamic Jihad operative, Jihad Tzalach Saliman Abu Dahar, was arrested. He later confessed to his involvement in a number of terror attacks. Among the attacks perpetrated, was one executed in May of 2004, in which a mother and her four daughters were killed while traveling on the Kissufim road. During his investigation, which was conducted by the ISA and Israeli Police, Abu Dahar admitted to assisting in the preparations for the attack. This included arranging surveillance, and filming IDF activities in the area. On the day of the attack, the terrorists disguised themselves as vegetable merchants, riding a donkey and carriage. The carriage was obtained and stored by Abu Dahar prior to the attack. On the same day, Abu Dahar notified the terrorists when the area was clear of IDF soldiers in order to ensure they were not stopped. Due to the close proximity of his house to the Kissufim road, he was able to conduct surveillance and assist numerous attacks in the region. In 2005, he assisted two suicide bombers by transporting them to an attack in the Kissufim region, supplying them with two AK-47 assault rifles and an RPG missile. Ultimately the attack did not take place. However, Abu Dahar supplied additional weapons to the same operatives a week later, when they returned to the area and attacked an Israeli civilian truck. An IDF force on location returned fire and killed the two attackers. In the beginning of 2004, Abu Dahar was involved in the detonation of an explosive device against an IDF vehicle. In addition, Jihad Abu Dahar admitted to a number of attempts to carry out attacks in the region of the Kissufim road.
An indictment was issued Tuesday against Abu Dahar by the Southern District
Advocate in the Be'er Sheva District Court.
TEHERAN, Iran (Press Release)—Iran has launched a computer game with a strong political message that mixes the standoff over its nuclear program, the mystery of missing diplomats in Lebanon and its hatred of Israel. Players of the game ‘Special Operation 85: Hostage Rescue’ play the part of a special agent battling to release captured Iranian diplomats and nuclear scientists from the clutches of his US and Israeli foes. The game has been produced by the Union of Islamic Students, which was behind the infamous ‘World Without Zionism’ conference in 2005 where President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for Israel to be "wiped from the map". "In this game we are not promoting terrorism and violence. By freeing Iranian hostages we are promoting selflessness, devotion and defense of our country," the group's secretary general Mohammad Taghi Fakhrian was quoted as saying by the ‘Reuters’ news agency. The eight-level game starts in Iraq, where a young married couple who are Iranian nuclear scientists have been captured by US forces while making a pilgrimage to the Shiite holy shrine in Karbala. Special operations officer Bahman Nasseri’s mission it is to save the couple named Saeed and Maryam, who have now been spirited away to a prison in Israel. The fictional officer Nasseri slips into Israel and locates their prison. In a twist, he finds locked away not only the young scientists but also four other Iranians who in real life have been missing since disappearing in northern Lebanon at the height of the civil war in 1982. Tehran believes they were handed over to Israel by Lebanese Christian forces and are still alive. A successful player completes the eight levels by killing US and Israeli soldiers, stealing their computers which hold secret information, and finally liberating the scientists and the diplomats.
Meanwhile, the head of UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has hailed
Iran's “positive' approach” towards negotiations to reach a resolution to its
nuclear power ambitions. IAEA director general Mohamed ElBaradei said he was
optimistic that continued dialogue would lead to the resolution of outstanding
issues related to Iran's controversial nuclear program. “Iran needs to continue
to cooperate with the agency to clarify the scope and nature of its program,”
ElBaradei said at a press conference in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. He
added: “We are seeing at least a positive move on the part of Iran, but I hope
that we will continue this because if we are able to clarify those outstanding
issues in Iran, that clearly will make an attitude change in the attitude of the
international community.”
Editor's Note: Israel's President Shimon Peres has
been putting up on his website each day since taking office an account of his
day. The San Diego Jewish World plans to carry his entries on a regular basis so
we can all share his special perspective on Israel and world Jewry.
YUVALIM, Israel
(Wednesday, July 18)—The bereaved father, Moshe Reich, to President
Peres: "I pray that this will be the only condolence visit you pay during your
term as President"
The President, Mr.
Shimon Peres, today held his first political meeting with the Foreign Minister
of Iceland, Mrs. Ingibjorg Gisladottir.
The preceding stories were provided by the office
of President Shimon Peres of Israel
The offensive message, left by someone using the alias ‘Iron Naz,’ reads: "Zionism is a racist ideology where Jews are given supremacy over all other races and faiths. This is found in the Talmud. There is a law called Baba Mezia which allows Jews to lie as long as it is to non-Jews. Many pro Jewish supporters will cringe at this being exposed because they know it exists, yet they keep quiet about it…”. A number of Jewish community members, including a community organization, appealed to the BBC to remove the posting. They all received a standard response: "We have decided that it does not contravene the House Rules and are going to leave it on the site." A BBC Radio spokesman told the ‘Jerusalem Post’: "The ‘Radio Five Live’ message board is a forum of debate and people can express their views, some of which others will strongly disagree with…Posts that are removed include ones that are considered likely to disrupt, provoke attack or offend others or are considered racist, homophobic, sexually explicit or otherwise objectionable."
"The BBC obviously no longer recognizes
anti-Semitism even when it slaps it in the face," said Mark Gardiner, head of
communications at the Community Security Trust (CST), an organization that
ensures the safety and security of the Jewish community and monitors
anti-Semitic incidents in the UK. "The BBC is a public body, funded by the
British tax payer. It has legal obligations and we will pursue them."
SEBASTOPOL, Ukraine (Press Release)—In this Black Sea port, the 65th
anniversary of the Nazi massacre of Jews during World War II has been
commemorated.
In a letter to Argentina’s President Néstor Kirchner, which Terpins handed to Taiana, World Jewish Congress president Ronald S. Lauder praised the Argentinean government’s efforts to bring the perpetrators of the attacks to justice. ‘I am aware of the efforts that your government has made to resolve the cases’, Lauder wrote. He also thanked Kirchner for lending support to the Jewish community of Venezuela, which has been affected negatively by president Hugo Chávez’s close ties with Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Kirchner and his wife, the senator Cristina Fernández, planned to attend today’s commemorations at the AMIA building.
The preceding story was provided by the World Jewish Congress LOS ANGELES (Press Release)—On the 13th anniversary of the terrorist attack against the AMIA-Jewish Community Center, the Simon Wiesenthal Center condemned the release of “The AMIA Case – From the Beginning to the present”, published on the Spanish and English pages of Iran’s official news agency, IRNA's website. The "document" presents the Iranian "version" about those allegedly responsible for the terrorist attack which took place in Buenos Aires on July 18, 1994, and killed 85 people. “Both the language and the content of this report show a conspiratorial approach which seems taken from the infamous Protocols of the Elders of Zion, the fabricated antisemitic libel of an alleged Jewish plan for world domination, and has become the Bible for contemporary Jew-hatred,” said Shimon Samuels, Director for International Relations of the Wiesenthal Center.
The Center
highlighted the following points in the disinformation release by Iran: - “It should be noted that the Argentine government has limited resources to resist the Zionist lobbies” “This propaganda effort manipulates some real data combined with obvious falsehoods. The indictment by Argentina's Special Prosecutor Alberto Nisman clearly shows the responsibility of former Iranian government officials and Hizbollah leadership in the AMIA bombing,” said Sergio Widder, Latin American Representative of the Center.
"Indeed,
the findings of the Argentine Prosecutor have led to warrants by INTERPOL. On
this anniversary of the attack against the AMIA, we call to redouble
international efforts so that those responsible for this attack are brought to
justice. Iran and Hezbollah must be accountable for their terrorist activities.
It is a debt to the victims and their families, to Argentine society and the
international community,” Widder concluded.
A concise history of Australia's Jewish community By Garry Fabian MELBOURNE, Australia—The history of Australian Jewish society commenced with the colonization of the penal colony of New South Wales, when among the 750 convicts arriving on the First Fleet on January 26 1788, there were as at least eight or possibly as many as 14 Jewish convicts.
Jews were listed on nearly every convict ship
until transportation ceased around 1850. The story of one of the early Jewish female convicts, Esther Abrahams, is a dramatic one. Convicted of theft of 24 yards of black silk lace, 16 year old Esther was sentenced to life time transportation. Before being shipped out to “the Colonies” she gave birth a baby girl. On the voyage out, George Johnston took her under his protection, fist as his mistress and later as his wife some 25 years later. They had seven children. When Johnston became acting governor of the Colony for a period, Esther became the First Lady of the Colony. Around the second decade of the 1800’ free Jewish settlers started to arrive, joining the convicts and emancipists to form a fledgling Jewish community in the antipodes. By 1817, there were enough Jews to for an ad hoc burial society, and regular prayers conducted. The beginning of organised Jewish communal life emerged in the 1830’s when a synagogue was established in Sydney, and later when the Port Phillip District (later to become the state of Victoria) was settled, organised Jewish communities were formed, with the first Synagogue being consecrated in Melbourne in 1841, followed by synagogues in Hobart and Launceston (Tasmania) in 1844. Many of the country centers also attracted Jewish settlers, and synagogues were opened in regional centers. While the first 100 years Jewish immigration both free and convict, mainly from England, between 1880 and 1930 a wave of Eastern European Jews, escaping the pogroms arrived in Australia, forming a Yiddish-based community, as separate from the Anglo-Jewish “establishment” that had formed. This caused some misgiving as the Anglo-Jewish community wanted to “blend in” into the general very British orientated mainstream. These new arrivals with “outlandish habits and mode of dress” and a lack of English were viewed with disfavor. Communal organisations and synagogues expanded, but there was a great divide between the two segments. The “new chums” established a flourishing Yiddish culture with theatres, and community organisations, while the Anglo-Jewish “establishment” headed towards assimilation and intermarriage. The 1930’s saw another wave of Jewish arrivals from Germany, Austria and other parts of western and central Europe, fleeing the onset of the Holocaust. Once again “these foreigners wearing strange garb and not speaking English” were viewed with suspicion and distain by the Jewish establishment. The next wave came after 1945, when Holocaust survivors came to Australia, when the Australian Government lowered its restrictive immigration policies that had been in place since the 1930s. It is interesting to note, that especially Melbourne has the largest concentration of Holocaust survivors outside Israel. The 1940’s and the formation of the State of Israel, also caused some division in the community. The Anglo-Jews, very much in tune with British policy on Palestine, were antagonistic towards the idea of a Jewish state, while those who had settled from Eastern Europe and Holocaust survivors were very Zionisticlially inclined, which led to many, often acrimonious debates. However a few years down the track after 1948, the community embraced and supported Israel, which is still a very strong bond.
The 1990’s saw two other waves arrive. The first
from the former Soviet Union, which while they were generally embraced by the
community also created some frictions, due to cultural differences. But these
are slowly being set aside, as the next generation evolves. The most recent Census (2006) shows that there some 110,000 Jews living in Australia, of which 41,000 live in Victoria, 36.000 in New South Wales, and the rest spread throughout the other Australian states. Jews in Australian society have contributed in excess of their proportion to the general community, with two Governors General; one of the prominent military leaders in World War One ( Sir John Monash); in civic life, in the Judiciary, as members of State and Federal Parliaments, in commerce and industry; medicine; university, sports and other areas.
The range of institutions—religious, sporting,
cultural, and those supporting Israel, Anti-Defamation, Holocaust Remembrance
and Jewish Museums— is wide and varied, catering across the broadest spectrum
from the ultra orthodox to reform and across the political spectrum.
NEW YORK (Press Release)—The American Jewish Committee today praised U.S. labor leaders from all sectors of the labor movement for their forceful rejection of certain British trade unions' support of a boycott of Israel. "The U.S. labor leaders got it right," said Kenneth Stern, director of AJC's department on Anti-Semitism and Extremism. "Trade unionists and others who care about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict must bring unionists from both sides together in the sprit of cooperation and mutual support, rather than to stigmatize and isolate one side." The statement, which was coordinated with the commendable help of the Jewish Labor Committee, condemned the singling out of Israel among nations; criticized the specific academic and journalistic boycotts of Israel; and called for increased support of a two-state solution and those working towards it. "This is an important milestone in the fight against attempts to demonize Israel and Israelis," said Stern. "Our hope is that other unions around the world will follow the example of their American counterparts and realize that it is morally wrong to focus solely on Israeli actions in this conflict and to realize that such bigoted behavior is entirely inconsistent with the norms and purposes of the trade union movement."
The
preceding release was provided by the American Jewish Committee
.
*Justin Cartwright's latest novel, The Song Before Its Sung, is based on the relationship between British philosopher Isaiah Berlin and Adam von Trott zu Solz, an aristocrat who pretended to be a Nazi to further his plot against Hitler for which he was later executed. The names in the novel are changed. The review by Tim Rutten is in today's Los Angeles Times.*Ralph Bernstein, a tough sports writer who covered every major Philadelphia team for the Associated Press for nearly a half century, has died at 85. An obituary by the Associated Press is in today's San Diego Union-Tribune. *New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg expressed frustration that the New York State Legislature adjourned without addressing a bill to authorize the city to charge drivers in New York City $8 per day per vehicle as a way to ease traffic congestion. The wire services story is in today's Los Angeles Times. *U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer (Democrat, California) said she was pleased that San Diego and the San Francisco Bay area received increases in Homeland Security Department anti-terror grants, but disappointed that the grants to Los Angeles were trimmed. The story by Richard Winton and Andrew Blankstein is in today's Los Angeles Times. *U.S. Rep. Eric Cantor (Republican, Virginia) and Anti-Defamation League National Director Abraham Foxman are among critics calling upon U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison (Democrat, Minnesota) to retract his statement comparing the 9/11 attacks to the Reichstag fire. Ellison, the first Muslim to be elected to Congress, suggested that as Hitler used the Reichstag fire as a pretext to suppress civil liberties in Germany, so too has the United States used 9/11 to curb freedoms in this country. A story by Jack Sherman on the controversy was in Tuesday's edition of the Star Tribune of Minneapolis. *U.S. Rep. Jane Harman (Democrat, California) says the terrorist threat to the United States from al Qaeda has intensified as a result of American military involvement in Iraq. She was responding to the issuance of the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE). The story by Greg Miller and Josh Meyer is in today's Los Angeles Times. *The San Diego Community College Board has asked District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis to investigate the circumstances under which a pair of developers purchased a property they knew the Community College was interested in, then sold it at a hefty profit to the district. However, City Attorney Michael Aguirre thinks the district should go beyond that and hire its own forensic accountant. The story by Tanya Mannes is in today's San Diego Union-Tribune. * Israel's Knesset has decided to raise from 16 to 18 the minimum age for dropping out of school. The story by Or Kashti and Shahar Ilan is in today's Ha'aretz. *This fall's regional conference on the Israel-Palestinian issue proposed by President Bush was welcomed by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas following a meeting with Javier Solana, foreign policy chief for the European Union. The story by Khaled Abu Toameh is in today's Jerusalem Post. *Democrats stayed up around the clock trying to prevent a Republican filibuster against the bill by U.S. Sen. Carl Levin (Democrat, Michigan), chairman of the Senate Armed Forces Committee, to force a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. But in the end, the vote was 52-47 in favor of cutting off debate, short of the 60 votes required under Senate rules. The story by Naom N. Levey is in today's Los Angeles Times. In joining with Republicans in speaking against the withdrawal, Sen. Joseph Lieberman (Independent, Connecticut) made note of the cots set up for senators, and complained that some senators "are already asleep when it comes to Iraq." Richard Simon's sidebar story is in the Los Angeles Times. *Scott Plotkin, executive director of the California School Boards Association, is raising the alarm that Republican legislators want to cut $400 million from school allocations toward an overall goal of cutting the state budget by $2 billion. The story by Evan Halper is in today's Los Angeles Times. *Mark Regev, spokesman for Israel's foreign ministry, has confirmed reports that Israel an Syria have been passing messages to each other through a variety of intermediaries, although so far with no positive result. The Associated Press story is on Y-Net News. *U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman (Democrat, California), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, says documents indicate that the White House used appearances by Anti-Drug Czar John P. Walters to boost the campaigns of Republicans in tough districts. Walters responded that he gave speeches in Democratic districts as well. The story by James Gerstenzang is in today's Los Angeles Times. Today's news tipster: Bruce Kesler (Return to top)
News
Sleuths:
Mideast miscellany
Date: July 18, 2007 Question: On the Middle East, did President Bush brief him on the summit he is convening [in October?] Spokesperson: They did discuss that, as well as the implications…
Question:
Who is to attend this meeting, and what is the objective? Question: My question is about the key actors –- will they include the key players in the Middle East Process?
Spokesperson:
I cannot answer for the US Administration. They are the one organizing that
conference. Spokesperson: He is going to be at the meeting tomorrow afternoon, yes. Question: Who is accompanying him from the Secretariat and are there any correspondents going with him? Spokesperson: No, this is going to be a very short trip, and there are going to be no journalists travelling with the Secretary-General. Question: And no other UN officials? Spokesperson: I will check for you who is going to be with him. I am sure his Middle East advisors will be with him. You spoke to Michael Williams today. [The Spokesperson later said that Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Michael Williams and Chef de Cabinet Vijay Nambiar would be traveling with the Secretary-General.]
Question: Sean, do you have something on President Ahmadi-Nejad's visit to Damascus tomorrow? McCormack: Oh, I wasn't aware that he was going there, but I guess you find your friends wherever you can. Look, these are two states that are clearly operating outside the norms of acceptable international behavior on a whole variety of fronts, whether that's their support for terrorism or the way they treat their own citizens. So does it surprise me that they have persisted in these linkages between Iran and Syria; no, it doesn't surprise me. What it does do is accentuate what we have talked about this divide in the Middle East, in which on one side you have states that are committed to the use of terrorism and violent extremism and their proxies -- various terrorist groups; Hamas, Hezbollah as well as others -- and all the rest of the Middle East, which is searching for a way to bring greater -- more peace, in some cases, some peace, stability, greater prosperity and increased freedoms for the people of the region. So there are two different views of the world; two different visions for the future of the Middle East and I can tell you which side we're on. And it's really going to be up to the people of the region to decide which pathway they want to go down. (Jump to continuation)
Susan Davis
pleased that San Diego will receive WASHINGTON (Press Release) – Congresswoman Susan Davis (Democrat, California) praised the announced increase in homeland security funding for San Diego under the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) grants program. Just 18 months after it was announced that San Diego may no longer qualify for the UASI program, the city was granted $16.1 million – a significant increase from the $7.9 million received last year. “This is the result of the San Diego congressional delegation, the Mayor and local officials working together,” said Davis. “We may have our differences from time to time but when it comes to the safety of San Diego, we have one common goal. San Diego needs this funding and it deserves this funding. There is no doubt that with our port, international border, and landmarks, we are worthy of significant homeland security assistance.” In January 2006, the Department of Homeland Security announced that 11 cities, including San Diego, would be removed from the list of cities eligible for the UASI program. Davis teamed with her congressional colleagues and local officials to question Homeland Security officials about whether the UASI formula had accurately accounted for all of San Diego’s risk factors within the calculation for UASI funding. After a year of meetings, phone calls, and letters to pressure DHS officials to reverse its decision, San Diego’s eligibility was restored in January 2007.
UASI provides resources for the unique equipment, training, and planning needs
of select high threat urban areas.
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Miracle douses Lightning twice in IBL action By Nathaniel Edelstein
TEL AVIV, July 18-
The Modi'in Miracle and the Tel Aviv Lightning met for a doubleheader on
Wednesday in a match up of two teams tied for second place. In the first game,
the Miracle got the best of the Lighting, winning 5-3; in the second game, the
margin was even greater, 9-3. News
Sleuths... Yeah, Sylvie. Question: You spoke a little bit this morning about the decision of the French President Sarkozy to send an envoy to Lebanon. McCormack: Right. Question: Do you have any -- McCormack: I don't really have any further comment beyond what I offered at the gaggle. You can talk to the French Government about their plans. But there's no doubt in our collective judgment that the French Government is committed to being forceful advocates for Lebanon's independence, Lebanon's sovereignty, Lebanon's continuing struggle along the pathway of greater economic and political reforms as well as committed to finding out who was responsible and bringing to justice those responsible for the murder of former Prime Minister Hariri. So there's doubt in our mind about that. There have been past attempts, various attempts over the -- even the past year, year and a half --where various states have sent envoys to the Syrians to encourage them to change their behavior. And thus far it really has -- have not yielded any tangible results. Usually the Syrian Government will use it as a way to try to declare some PR victory, saying, "See, the rest of the world is talking to us. Everything's fine. Everything's normal. We're not outcasts." I think the French Government is certainly aware of that, although I don't know what the instructions of their envoy may or may not be. I'm sure that it will be a very tough message, saying that Syria needs to change its behavior. Question: Well, the Foreign Minister Kouchner said this morning that it was a first step toward conciliation with Syria. Do you think time is right for conciliation with Syria? McCormack: Well, you know, again, I think the ball is frankly in the Syrian's court as to whether or not they are going to reconcile themselves to what are acceptable standards of behavior as judged by the international system, so we'll see. It requires some action on the part of the Syrians. We all encourage in our own way the Syrian Government to choose a different, you know, a different pathway not only how it -- both at home and abroad how it treats its own citizens and how it acts abroad and whom it supports abroad. We haven't seen any change in behavior despite numerous attempts to try to get them to change their behavior, including Secretary Rice meeting with the Syrian Foreign Minister in the context of the Sharm el-Sheikh conference. And now that was limited to a very narrow topic, and that is having Syria -- asking Syria, telling Syria that they need to change their behavior with respect to allowing foreign fighters transiting their territory on the way to Iraq where these people kill large numbers of innocent civilians. Thus far, we haven't really seen any change in Syrian behavior in that regard. So we as well as others have made these attempts thus far, to no effect.
Date: July 18, 2007 Q: Tony, tomorrow there will be a news conference of the Israeli Project on Capitol Hill. They've got 75,000 petitions they're distributing to world leaders, asking for more rapid sanctions against -- and international pressure against Iran. Is the administration now backing and taking action at this point? MR. SNOW: Connie, I'm not -- I'm afraid I was not briefed on the Israel Project's activities before I came up here today. Q Have any of these sanctions or steps that have been taken by the United States or the U.N. had any results? MR. SNOW: Let me put it this way: The United States engages in activities that are designed to send a clear signal that the status quo is unacceptable. You saw that with some financial sanctions with North Korea. And what actions we take with regard to the Iranians, are designed to make it clear that they are posed with a choice: The choice is to go ahead and align itself with the international community, stop trying to pursue anything that may be construed as progress towards nuclear weapons, and have a way forward that has been offered; or, on the other hand, face strictures from the international community. The President talked yesterday with Ban Ki-moon, once again, about the importance of U.N. action when it comes to the Iranians, because the Iranians have not met up with their obligations. >> Q How does the President see the job description of Tony Blair as the envoy for the Quartet -- MR. SNOW: I'm sorry, what? Q How does the President see the job description of Tony Blair as the envoy for the Quartet to the Middle East? MR. SNOW: Well, obviously, what he's going to try to do is to be a facilitator in efforts to try to deal with the many challenges. In the short run, it amounts to trying to assist in institution-building in the Palestinian -- with the Palestinian government -- that is the foremost challenge right now -- and to try to create conditions and institutions that are going to provide security and stability so that that government will be in a position to negotiate in good faith with Israel, and also be able to deliver on Quartet requirements, ultimately. But first things first is, we're in an institution-building phase, and Tony Blair obviously is somebody who's very persuasive and able to try to marshal a lot of support on the international scene. Q Do you have any reaction to Mahmoud Abbas -- he just said a few minutes ago he doesn't want to talk about money, he doesn't want to talk about our procedural steps towards a state, he wants to talk about the final status now, which he actually rolled out from his conference.
MR. SNOW: That's
the first I've heard. I can't react to something that I haven't had a chance to
see or put in context.
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