UNIFEM (United Nations Development Fund for Women) organized a panel of Israeli and Palestinian women rights activists through the membership of the International Women’s Commission. The International Women’s Commission is a global organization that fights for a just and sustainable peace between Israel and Palestine. The panel of women activists and experts will meet with the Security Council today to promote United Nations Resolution 1325, on women’s peace and security. Women have long held a strong role in conflict resolution and the panel of women from several prominent activist organizations based in the region will ask the Security Council to 1) put on the agenda of the monthly briefings the progress of women’s issues, 2) organize a thematic mission and visit women’s programs to see what women are doing in the region, 3) establish a monitoring mechanism for stability with the guidance of UNIFEM and UN organizations underscoring the experiences of women in both the Israeli and Palestinian territories.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says that President Abbas is the elected leader of all Palestinians and that Hamas’s views peace compromises as tactics to prepare for war. (0:51)

 

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Emphatic US support for the State of Israel was reiterated by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Policy Conference. Secretary Rice declared that the United States’ special relationship with Israel stems from a mutual appreciation of ideals like a free press, democracy, and tolerance, saying that conspiracy arguments concerning the US, Israel, and AIPAC are entirely inaccurate. Rice firmly said that Israel has no better friend than the United States.

Though she admitted it to be an ambitious goal, Rice said the she hopes agreements reached at the peace summit held in Annapolis, Md. will lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state by the end of the year. For this to occur, Rice said that Hamas must relinquish its fundamentalist actions while the US and Israel support the growing number of Palestinians that, according to Rice, are acting in the true interests of the Palestinian people. Rice added that a sovereign, peaceful Palestine is in the policy interests of both the United States and Israel.

Rice spoke at length about the need to engage in productive diplomacy , a gathering with means and incentives, with Iran. Rice restated the Bush administration’s stance that no effective diplomacy can take place until Iran disbands its nuclear research program. Rice said a state that denies the Holocaust and sponsors fundamentalist organizations cannot have access to a nuclear arsenal. Rice said she would be willing to meet with Iranian officials, including her Iranian counterpart, if this occured and questioned Tehran’s resistance to act.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) preceeded Secretary Rice’s statements. Sen. McConnell said that Iran must cut its ties with “murderous non-state actors” if it wants to be respected within the international community. Eli Amir spoke via satellite from Jerusalem about his experience as a Jewish refugee from Baghdad and urged AIPAC to consider in greater detail the experience of Jewish refugees from Arab countries. Amir said that after Israel’s independence, nearly the same number of Palestinians left Israel for Arab countries as the number of Jews who came to Israel from Arab countries, adding that both sides of refugee crises must be considered

At an American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) says that the state of Israel is a “singular achievement” as a great democracy of the Middle East, and that critics of the U.S.-Israeli alliance perhaps “do not fully understand the love of liberty and the pursuit of justice.” He said they should know, however, that “those ties will not be broken,” because the two nations were brought together by “shared ideals and shared adversity.” He said that the U.S. and Israel “are the most natural of allies and trusted partners in the quest for peace,” and like Israel itself, “that alliance is forever.” (0:54)

 

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At an American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) says that America’s progress in Iraq is a “direct result” of the new military strategies that Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) “vehemently opposed” and that he predicted would fail. McCain says that Obama’s plan to withdraw one or two brigades per month until they are all removed, “regardless of the conditions in Iraq, regardless of the consequences for our national security, regardless of the Israel security, and in disregard of the best advice from our commanders on the ground” will “surely result in catastrophe.” McCain says that if U.S. troops are forced to retreat, the Middle East will be subject to “all-out civil war, genocide, and a failed state.” (0:55)

 

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At an American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) says that the U.S. “must apply the full force of law to prevent business dealings with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.” He says he was “pleased” to back an amendment that called for the designation of the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization “responsible for killing American troops in Iraq.” He says that while over three-quarters of the Senate supported this “obvious step,” Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) did not because he thought it would send the “wrong message” to the world and to the region. McCain says that he is “mistaken,” and that holding Iran’s influence in Iraq in check and holding a terrorist organization accountable “sends exactly the right message” to Iran, the region, and the world. (1:03)

 

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At an American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) says that the threats to Israel are “large and growing,” and that America’s commitment to Israel must grow as well. He says he “strongly” supports the increase in military aid to Israel scheduled to begin in October, and is committed to making sure that Israel maintains its “qualitative military edge.” He said that Israel’s enemies are “too numerous, its margin of error too small, and our shared interests and values too great for us to follow any other policy.” (0:35)

 

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At an American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) says that when the U.S. and Israel join in saying “never again” to violence, it is not just a request or plea to the enemies of Israel, but a promise that the U.S. and Israel will honor against any enemy. (0:20)

 

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Haim Ramon, Deputy Prime Minister of Israel, speaks about the goal of radical Islam saying that it is in the best interest of radical Islam to perpetuate the conflict between Israel and Palestine. (0:40)

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Deputy Prime Minister of Israel Haim Ramon spoke at the 20th annual Soref Symposium. He spoke on the challenges facing Israel currently and some of its recent conflicts. He said that in the past the major challenge facing Israel has been the Israel Palestine conflict. Ramon however, said that currently the most important conflict is between moderate ideals and radical Islam in the Middle East.

He spoke on Syria and said that in order to understand Syria one must judge their actions and not their words. He said at times Syria has been supportive of peace with Israel but they still continue to support radical Islam. Ramon went on to say that the Doha Agreement was a victory for Syria because it strengthened Hezbollah in Lebanon.
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