Renowned lecturer on Tanach, David Solomon, delves into the traumatic live of Job, one of the most stunning and perplexing characters in Tanach. What was his life’s message? Did Job ever exist? (www.inonehour.net)

Aaron Klein,WorldNetDaily's Jerusalem bureau chief and author of "The Late Great State of Israel,” reports that no Jewish home will be built in the strategic area of Judea, Samaria or East Jerusalem without approval of the Obama administration and the Palestinians. Also, investigative journalist Lee Kaplan reports that while Israel demonstrated some common sense when the IDF navy boarded the latest ISM boat sailing from Cyprus to Gaza, he demands an answer as to why Huwaida Arraf, founder of the ISM and perhaps the most renowned pro-terror activist, is untouchable by the Israeli justice system. (www.StopTheISM.com)

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And the children of Israel journeyed, and pitched in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho. And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. And Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were many; and Moab was overcome with dread because of the children of Israel. And Moab said unto the elders of Midian: 'Now will this multitude lick up all that is round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field.'--And Balak the son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time.-- And he sent messengers unto Balaam the son of Beor, to Pethor, which is by the River, to the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying: 'Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt; behold, they cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against me...

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Dovid and Go'el call Ron On the Air... even though Ron doesn't want anyone to know he's making aliyah. Not yet at least.

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Ben Bresky interviews the visiting group from Park Synagogue in Cleveland, Ohio led by Gadi Galili and discusses what the average Jewish American feels about visiting Israel during the economic downturn.

Then, volcanoes and blood - Idolatry is alive and well in Italy.

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Why does Yishai have such disdain for Angela Merkel?Why does he foam at the mouth when speaking of her?Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Poupko marries off a son and glows as he speaks words of Torah. Then Yishai and Malkah read your emails including Nixon detractors, Noahides, and almost-immigrants to Israel.

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Dr. David Sidransky is the Director of the Head and Neck Cancer Research Division at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Professor of Oncology there. He's one of the most highly cited researchers and was named to Time's list of top-5 world scientists. He joins Yishai and Malkah in the Beit El studios to talk about the future of cancer treatment. But first, why do some rabbis tell their congregants and followers not to make Aliyah?

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Aaron Minsky is not the typical author one would expect to find for a groundbreaking book such as“Beyond Faith.” He is the world-renowned rock cello innovator “Von Cello” raised in the Reform movement where he discovered that there was a much stronger rationale behind traditional Judaism than he had ever imagined. (http://www.beyondfaithbyaaronminsky.com;http://www.voncello.com.) His unique musical path earned him inclusion in Who’s Who in America, and the International Who’s Who. How then is he qualified to write a book on religion?Along with music, Minsky’s passion has always been the study of religion, especially Judaism. He approaches both subjects with the same intellectual curiosity, humor, and zeal.

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In this volatile broadcast Singer rants over prominent Washingtonthinktank which insists non-Jews govern Jerusalem instead of Israel.

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Fascinating broadcast as co-hosts Jeremy Gimpel and Tovia Singer field intriguing spiritual questions from a worldwide audience.

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The Dolphin-class attack submarine is reported to be the first Israeli naval vessel to transit the Suez Canal in four years on its way from Haifa to Eilat last month. According toDEBKAfile's military sources, the move indicates a strengthening of the informal Israel-Egyptian-Saudi pact forged in recent months against Iran and first revealed by our sources.

According to foreign military sources, the Israeli Dolphins are armed with torpedo tubes capable of launching nuclear-capable cruise missiles.

The information offered by senior investigator Alan Bouillard on July 2, one month after Air France Rio-Paris flight 447 plunged into the Atlantic killing all 228 people aboard indicates either that the inquiry is stumped or that information is being withheld.

American aviation experts ask many questions, including: How could the investigators be sure without examining the bodies that the Airbus broke up only when it slapped down on the water? All the remains are held by the Brazilian authorities who refuse to give France their autopsy findings.

The US military spokesperson provided no details about the missing US soldier, the first abduction in America's eight-year Afghan war, except to say that he went missing Tuesday, June 30.DEBKAfile's military sources report that big US air bases are located between Herat in the east and the Iranian border.

News of the capture broke after 4,000 US marines and 650 Afghan troops launched Operation Strike of the Sword against the Taliban heartland in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan.

Parties, processions, a parade in the fortified Green Zone seat of government and embassies, and prime minister Nuri al-Malikii's proclamation of June 30 National Sovereignty Day celebrated the US military's handover of towns and cities to Iraqi security personnel on the way to a full withdrawal by the end of 2011.

YetDEBKAfile's military sources stress that unresolved tensions among Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds still simmer and may erupt after the withdrawal of 130,000 US troops to 39 remote rural bases - nowhere near on hand for emergencies.

Iran and Israel are each thinking about using the fallout of the domestic unrest in Tehran for attacking the other: Iran to flex muscle, Israel to strike a looming nuclear menace.

In its next issue out Friday,DEBKA-Net-Weeklyweighs the chances of a clash, discloses how the Obama administration plans to hold the two back from a major conflagration.

To subscribe toDEBKA-Net-WeeklyclickHERE.

The Israeli government's decision Sunday, June 28, to extend Meir Dagan's service as director of Israel's external intelligence service, the Mossad, until the end of 2010 raised some dust in political circles - especially after his deputy resigned in a huff over the long wait for his turn at the helm.

AsDEBKA-Net-Weekly396revealed on May 15 this year, prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu mad this the decision last May for the sake of an orderly transition.

To subscribe toDEBKA-Net-WeeklyclickHERE.

Iran's opposition leaders relied heavily on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and other social sites to orchestrate their street rallies and expose regime repression. They did not appreciate at first that Iranian intelligence Internet experts were manipulating their electronic communications to shoot them down.

The United States has been alerted to seek new cyber defense systems to fight massive Internet invasions like the one Iran mounted to suppress its protest movement.

Read more about Iran's cyber war methods inDEBKAfileExclusive Report below.

Two fundamental conceptions underpinning the Obama administration's Middle East policies have been swept away by the upheaval in Iran: the principle of nuclear negotiations with Iran and the premise that progress on the Palestinian peace front is the key to a US breakthrough with Iran.

Sunday, June 28, Washington observers familiar with White House thinking cited insiders as speculating that Binyamin Netanyahu's government is too weak to survive defying the US over the settlements. If it did, Netanyahu would fall and Ehud Barak take over.

Column One: Israel's democratic challenge
Caroline Glick , THE JERUSALEM POST Jul. 3, 2009
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1246443708031&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull

It works out that retired Supreme Court president Aharon Barak - the man who
shaped Israel's judiciary in his own image - doesn't care much for Jews.

In a speech last Thursday sponsored by the post-Zionist New Israel Fund,
Barak said, "If you ask a Jew whether he supports equality with the Arabs,
he will say: 'Certainly.' And if you ask if he supports kicking all the
Arabs out of here, he will say: 'Certainly.' He sees no contradiction
between the two."

After denouncing Jews as stupid racists, Barak went on to explain that in
his years on the bench, as his anti-Jewish views developed, he gradually
abandoned his legal duty to ground his judgments in Israeli law. Instead, he
engaged in a free-wheeling dispensation of justice in accordance with his
radical political views.

As he put it, "I remember the problems that were brought before me in my 20
years as a judge, when my line of thought was always administrative: How
much power do the administrative bodies in the territories have? With time,
as my knowledge of international law increased, my outlook began to change.
Instead of talking about what is allowed and what is forbidden for Israeli
forces, I thought about the rights of the people there: what rights they
deserve."

So by his own admission, during his years on the court, Barak determined
what "rights" the Palestinians "deserve," unfettered by annoying
inconveniences like the pretense of law or the normal legal boundaries that
inform the decisions of a state governed by the rule of law. It was due to
his open contempt for Israeli democracy that under his judicial leadership
the country was effectively transformed from a parliamentary democracy
governed by law into a judicial tyranny governed by the preferences and
prejudices of a fraternity of lawyers that Barak empowered to adjudicate
permissible behavior on the basis of their shared radical political
preferences.

Barak's bigoted castigation of Jews in his speech raised a storm of public
protest. Unfortunately, the far greater danger exposed by his elucidation of
his extra-legal judicial philosophy was largely overlooked. This is
troubling because on a national level, it is much more important for Israel
to roll back Barak's anti-democratic judicial revolution than to condemn his
personal bigotry.

OUR ELECTED officials took an important first step in this direction last
month by electing MK Uri Ariel to serve on the Judicial Selections Committee
responsible for appointing judges. Ariel's election by his Knesset
colleagues marked the first time in a generation that the radical judicial
activists loyal to Barak comprise the minority of committee members. That
is, Ariel's election opened the door to the appointment of non-radical
judges who believe that court judgments should be based on laws, not on
political and social agendas.

Now, in the aftermath of Barak's speech, the Netanyahu government and the
Knesset should present Ariel's election as a first step in an overall policy
of reforming the judiciary and the State Prosecution. Specifically, the
Knesset should pass legislation reinstating checks and balances on the
Supreme Court that Barak removed through judicial fiat as court president.
These checks and balances must bar the court from cancelling legally
promulgated laws, and block it from using its role as the High Court of
Justice to dictate government policy.

Beyond that, the government and the Knesset should pass legislation ending
the current untenable situation in which the government and the Knesset are
denied legal counsel because they have become the servants rather than the
masters of their legal advisers. Over the past decade, coerced by the court
and its servile media, the government and the Knesset have been barred from
appointing the attorney-general and the Knesset's legal adviser. Instead
these officials are appointed by civil service commissions controlled by
retired Supreme Court justices and are consequently informally subordinate
to the Supreme Court, rather than to the elected officials they are supposed
to be serving. This must end.

Throughout Barak's tenure as Supreme Court president, he enjoyed
unconditional support from the media. Israel's court reporters and their
bosses renounced their primary journalistic duty to act as democracy's
watchdog in favor of behaving as Barak's guard dog against all who would
question the democratic, normative and legal bases of his actions on the
court.

For over a decade on a near daily basis, Barak's media servants castigated
critics of his rulings as "anti-democratic," or "racists," or "anti-human
rights," or "politically motivated." Rather than facilitate public debate,
these compliant media leaders prevented discussion of Barak's actions and in
so doing, assisted him in weakening the foundations of Israeli democracy
still further.

Now, in the aftermath of his anti-Semitic broadside, some of these media
figures are upset with Barak. But even as they condemn him for his
anti-Semitism, these same lap dogs continue to guard his judicial record
from scrutiny.

Case in point is former Haaretz and Globes editor Mati Golan. In an opinion
column published in Globes titled, "Aharon Barak's blood libel," Golan
condemned Barak for his views of Jews. But Golan's issues with Barak's
statements do more to expose the problem with Golan's type of journalism
than the problem with Barak's professional record.

Golan warned that by leaving the proverbial closet and exposing himself as a
Jew-hater, Barak did the unthinkable. He caused "people to begin to wonder:
Is this the man, the genius, the prodigy whose judgments are a candle
lighting the paths of all courts? Should this candle continue to guide legal
judgments or should it be snuffed out?"

Golan concluded that in the future, Barak should keep his big mouth shut.

Golan's excoriation of Barak was highly manipulative. He used his criticism
of one aspect of Barak's talk to squelch discussion of a more troubling
aspect of Barak's talk. This media two-step is the stock-in-trade of
Israel's media elite, which like Barak's court system, is a closed circle of
self-promoted brethren marked by ideological uniformity and anti-democratic
radicalism.

Although Golan is no longer among the leaders of this media fraternity -
which since the 1980s has developed in parallel to Barak's legal
fraternity - his record is notable for his occasional willingness to expose
its prejudices, much as Barak exposed the rationale for his anti-legal
judicial legacy last Thursday.

What Golan's record shows among other things is that the source of his anger
at Barak's anti-Semitism stemmed from Barak's lack of discrimination between
"good Jews," and "bad Jews." Golan made his own - more selective -
anti-Semitism clear in an article he published in The Jerusalem Post in
March 2005. There he explained that from his perspective, religious Jews
cannot reasonably expect the protections afforded to other citizens of a
democracy, because they are religious Jews.

As he put it, "Religion and democracy simply do not go together. Democracy
requires an open mind, freedom of choice, the ability to criticize. Religion
on the other hand is based on virtually blind obedience to its priests. What
some in the religious settler population want is to eat their democratic
cake and, as believers, have their anti-democratic one, too."

Here, not only did Golan expose his ignorance of basic Judaism - a religion
founded on deliberation, debate and rebellion against arbitrary power - he
demonstrated his illiberal support for authoritarian governance against his
political foes. Like Barak, Golan is comfortable with a regime that
prejudicially discards the legal rights of one group in favor of the
imagined extra-legal rights of another group.

GOLAN'S SELECTIVE anger at Barak points to a second area of Israeli public
life in dire need of expansive reform: The media. Today, Israel's Byzantine
media regulatory system places massive, non-economic bars on entry of new
actors into the electronic media market. These obstacles prevent reliable
dissemination of news and information to the public and make it all but
impossible for competition to arise in the war of ideas.

For instance, to receive a radio license, new stations must agree to
broadcast the hourly news updates produced by either by the ideologically
uniform Israel Radio or by the ideologically uniform Army Radio. That is, by
law, radio operators are effectively barred from producing their own news
and compelled to maintain the media fraternity's monopoly on news reportage
and information dissemination.

For the past 20 years, the media fraternity's rigid ideological uniformity
has been enabled by over-regulation and maintained through incestuous
self-promotion and replication of news gathering models and news line-ups
across the newspaper, radio and television spectrum. Like the legal
fraternity it protects and supports, the media fraternity has used its power
to successfully bar elected officials from setting the national agenda in
line with the wishes of the public as expressed at the ballot box.

For instance, from the onset of the Oslo process with the PLO until Yitzhak
Rabin was assassinated, the Rabin-Peres government never enjoyed a majority
of public support for its controversial appeasement policy. But the media
blocked all public debate by silencing Oslo's critics as enemies of peace
and warmongers. The situation only deteriorated after Rabin's murder.

The same was the case with the controversial - and disastrous - withdrawals
from Lebanon and Gaza. The media has similarly blocked debate of government
economic liberalization policies, and educational reform policies.

The story is always the same. Any policy that weakens the position of
unelected officials in favor of elected officials is wrong and must be
blocked. By smothering debate and manipulating the flow of information, the
media have for decades eroded Israeli democracy and diminished the
importance of the public's franchise by weakening the ability of our elected
leaders to serve our wishes as we express them when we vote.

During his first tenure as prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu attempted to
deregulate the electronic media in order to facilitate competition in the
war of ideas. His efforts were stymied at the time by his own political
weakness and by an ad hoc coalition of the religious Right and the secular
Left which banded together to prevent the free market from endangering their
existing media organs. Once Netanyahu's attempt was scuttled, the Left
wasted no time in using Barak's court to remove the religious Right from the
airwaves altogether.

Today, Netanyahu is stronger, and due to the Internet, the media is notably
weaker. The time has come to reinstate his proposed reforms from a decade
ago. Television and radio waves should be deregulated. The only bar to entry
should be the ability to pay for a broadcast license. The only determinant
of success should be a station's ability to survive financially.

Israel today faces massive threats to its security, its economic viability
and its national character. To successfully lead Israel though its current
predicament, our politicians need the powers and protections of a properly
functioning democracy governed by the rule of law - and not by radicalized
lawyers and journalists. It is time for Netanyahu, his government and the
Knesset to seize the moment and reinvigorate Israeli democracy.

caroline@carolineglick.com

PA: Arrested Hamas activists planned to assassinate Abbas
By Avi Issacharoff Haaretz Last update - 03:21 03/07/2009
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1097504.html

Hamas activists arrested by the Palestinian Authority have admitted to
tracking the movements of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and to
gathering intelligence on his security, PA sources told Haaretz.

Their motive clearly was to assassinate Abbas, the sources said.

"Hamas' intention was to scuttle the reconciliation talks [between Hamas and
Fatah] in Cairo and to create chaos in the West Bank, in contrast to the
sense of security that has characterized the territory for the past two
years," Fatah spokesman Fahmi Zarir told Haaretz.

Palestinian Authority Secretary Taib Abd-Arahim had said Monday amid the
Cairo talks that Palestinian security forces had arrested 10 Hamas members
planning to attack PA institutions. The detainees admitted they were
planning to assassinate several senior Palestinian Authority officials on
July 1, in order to halt the conciliation talks, he said.

Now, new details have now emerged about the plot: The Hamas activists were
caught with weapons, maps and photos of senior Palestinian officers. The
photos and maps indicated the cell was conducting surveillance on Abbas
himself.

Sources say Palestinian security forces have detailed confessions in which
the suspects acknowledged planning to assassinate several PA officials and
stated they were observing Abbas' movements. PA sources say their motive was
clear: to assassinate Abbas. The cell had three to five members, between the
ages of 25 and 30.

A spokesman for Hamas' military wing has denied the allegations. However, if
they are true, this is evidence not only of Hamas' intention to scuttle
reconciliation with Fatah, but also to stage a coup of sorts against the
Palestinian Authority. Reports suggest Hamas' military wing has an extremist
agenda, but Hamas' political leadership in the west bank is thought not to
have been aware of the plot.

Palestinian woman wounded by IDF fire
JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST Jul. 3, 2009
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1246443709870&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull

A Palestinian woman carrying a suspicious object was moderately wounded by
IDF fire on Friday morning near the Bekaot checkpoint in the Jordan Valley,
north of Jericho.

The soldiers shot at the woman's lower body after shooting in the air and
after she did not heed their calls to stop advancing towards them, the
military said.

After the woman was shot, the soldiers discovered she was carrying a toy
gun. She was evacuated to Haemek Hospital in Afula in moderate condition.

An officer of the Civil Administration who interrogated the wounded woman
asked her why she acted in the way she did. She showed him bruise marks on
her hands and said she wanted to kill herself after having been abused in
her house. The woman is an 18-year-old, married with a child.

The IDF said troops at the checkpoint acted according to protocol.

Three years ago, a gunman shot and killed an IDF soldier at the same
checkpoint. IDF soldier St.-Sgt. Ro'i Farjun was killed at there in August
2006, after a Palestinian opened fire at him. Troops returned fire, killing
the gunman.

Israeli intelligence enter Al-Aqsa disguised as tourists
Date: 03 / 07 / 2009 Time: 09:55
www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=38986

Jerusalem - Ma'an - A group of Israeli intelligence forces disguised as
tourists entered the Haram Ash-Sharif in Jerusalem Friday, the Al-Aqsa
organization for Waqf and Heritage claimed.

The Haram, or sacred compound, holds the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa
Mosque, and was entered by what the Waqf foundation claimed were disguised
intelligence officers taking photos of several sites in the compound.

The organization said it documented the invasion of the holy site on a video
camera. When the disguised intelligence unit realized they were being
filmed, the organization said, their police detained Waqf journalist Mahmoud
Abu Atta for four hours.

Atta was investigated and his camera memory card confiscated before he was
released, the foundation said.

Excerpts:Jordan's new Crown Prince.Saudi sacks mosque sermonizers for
'extremist thought', etc.Update on Iran.Jordan Times excludes Jews from item
on interfaith conference.Jordan's new Crown Prince. Saudi sacks mosque
sermonizers for 'extremist thought', etc.Lebanon needs guarantees from Syria
(dismantle Palestinian bases, demarc border). Assets frozen of 'foreign
terrorist outfit'.Syria's demands on Lebanon 3 July 2009

+++Mosque sackings for 'extremist thought' and 'negligence'
By Naeem Tameem Al-Kaheem
FULL TEXTJEDDAH - The Chairman of the Imams and Khateebs Assessment
Committee at the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Azzam Al-Shuway'er, has said
that a number of imams and khateebs (persons who give Friday sermons) have
been dismissed from their positions citing as reasons "extremist thought,
illness and negligence of mosques".
Al-Shuway'er described the dismissal of khateebs as "not easy", requiring
numerous approvals and procedures.
"Field committees first file a request to Shariah committees at the ministry
where it is then passed on to a higher committee," Al-Shuway'er said. "A
sacking has to be approved at all of these three stages."

+++THE DAILY STAR Lebanon) 3 July '09:"Iran's leaders fear their own people
most"By Shaazka Beyerle
SUBJECT: Update on Iran
QUOTE: "Iran's rulers may generate conspiracy theories about 'a velvet
revolution staged by foreigners', but in reality it is their own legacy and
people they fear"

FULL TEXT:On Monday(29 June) something surprising happened in Iran. It
wasn't the Guardian Council's certifying the results of the June 12
presidential election - the questionable victory of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over
Mir Hossein Mousavi. It wasn't that thousands of people took to the streets
even though electricity, landline and mobile phone connections were cut. Nor
was it that security forces were out en masse. It was that citizens
confounded the authorities with dispersed actions. According to Roozonline,
rather than concentrating in one place, groups formed across Tehran -
"something that government agents did not expect, and so [they] did not know
how to respond ..."
Civil resistance is more than huge demonstrations. People power is expressed
through the sustained, strategic use of noncooperation, civil disobedience,
mass actions, strikes, boycotts, social networking, and over 200 nonviolent
tactics designed to win popular support, shake-up the status quo, and weaken
the oppressor's sources of control.
The Mahatma Gandhi once pointed out, "Even the most powerful cannot rule
without the cooperation of the ruled." Iran's clerics depend on people to
carry out their orders - to run the country and to suppress. Nonviolent
movements succeed not necessarily when there are masses on the streets, but
when a large enough number of citizens withdraws its cooperation from the
system, disobeys and disrupts, thereby dissolving the power of the
oppressors and undermining their rule.
. . .Reports indicate that Iranians are indeed engaging in low-risk mass
actions, such as turning on car headlights and, apparently, writing slogans
on money and standing in front of security forces holding the Koran. The
nightly rooftop calls of "Allahu Akbar" are increasing by the day, and
people are wearing black both as a symbol of defiance and as a sign of
mourning for dead protesters. Last week, Mousavi urged citizens to walk
about the bazaars but refrain from buying. A report in The Los Angeles Times
says that "commerce has slowed to a trickle" in the grand bazaar, which
normally would be at its busiest as Ramadan approaches.
Second, as in past cases, a campaign to win over parts of the security
forces may be pivotal. According to Iranian analyst Afshin Molavi, "the
Basiji volunteer militia ... [is] not monolithic." The Revolutionary Guard's
Tehran chief was detained, and 16 Guard members were apparently arrested
after disobeying orders to shoot protesters. If these reports are correct,
they are signs of the regime's growing weakness.
Finally, nonviolent discipline must be maintained. Only nonviolent methods
can enlist the active participation of citizens, spur defections, and
encourage disobedience among those carrying out the oppressors' orders.
Moreover, nonviolent discipline denies oppressors the excuse to crack down,
so when they do, as is happening in Iran, they lose credibility among their
own supporters.
There are growing rifts in the ruling establishment. Pro-reform clerics have
expressed anger and Grand Ayatollahs Yousof Sanei and Hossein-Ali Montazeri
have called Ahmadinejad's government illegitimate. Faezeh Rafsanjani, the
daughter of the former president, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, openly backs
Mousavi. Her father, who chairs the Assembly of Experts, is attempting to
consolidate support to remove Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the supreme leader,
and replace his position with a small committee of senior ayatollahs. Iran's
Parliament speaker, Ali Larijani, has announced that he wants to set up a
parliamentary committee to examine the recent post-election violence in an
"evenhanded way." Ayatollah Abdul-Karim Mousavi Ardebili stated that
"people's protests should not be silenced through the use of force." On top
of this, around a hundred parliamentarians snubbed Ahmadinejad's victory
dinner. If these rifts widen, the system could begin breaking apart.
The Nobel laureate, Thomas Schelling, wrote 30 years ago that nonviolent
actions can deny oppressors what they need, including money, food, supplies
and manpower. From this perspective, can the Iranian regime indefinitely cut
electricity, phone links and internet without hurting its own interests?
Even attempts to demobilize the popular movement have costs. Moreover,
coercion isn't cheap. It requires huge sums to feed, transport and arm
security forces, as well as to maintain the loyalty of the inner circles and
top commanders in the state. During the "people power" revolution in the
Philippines, the public withdrew its money from banks associated with the
Marcos dictatorship and stopped paying utility bills. Will Iranians invent
their own low-risk disruptions?
Iranians can draw upon their own rich history of nonviolence, spanning over
a century, for inspiration, including the 1979 Islamic Revolution that ended
the brutal rule of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Iran's rulers may generate
conspiracy theories about a "velvet revolution staged by foreigners," but in
reality, it's their own legacy and people they fear.
*Shaazka Beyerle is a senior adviser with the International Center on
Nonviolent Conflict,

+++JORDAN TIMES 3 July '09:"Kingdom's interfaith efforts highlighted in
Kazakhstan"By Hani Hazaimeh
FULL TEXT: AMMAN - Jordan's history of interfaith dialogue took centre stage
as dozens
of religious leaders gathered on Thursday in Kazakhstan.
Deputising for His Majesty King Abdullah at the Third Congress of the
Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, which opened in the Kazakhstani
capital Astana on Wednesday(1jULY), Director of the Royal Al al Bayt
Foundation for
Islamic Thought Saeed Hijjawi underlined the Amman Message, the Common Word
Initiative and the recent visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the Kingdom as some
of the many steps Jordan has taken to improve interfaith relations.
In his address, titled, "The Virtue of Tolerance and the Recognition of
Differences", he underlined the Kingdom's role in support of dialogue among
civilisations.
"Jordan has been keen to highlight the true image of Islam out of its
spiritual and historical responsibility," Hijjawi said, stressing that King
Abdullah's efforts in this regard have contributed to the increasing global
respect of Islam.
The Amman Message, which was launched in November 2004 and translated into
several key languages, seeks to reveal a message of tolerance and humanity
and rejects extremism as a deviation from Islamic beliefs.
It stresses the true values of Islam and advocates a proper understanding of
the faith, which honours all human beings and provides common ground among
different faiths and peoples.
Meanwhile, the Common Word Initiative seeks to provide common ground for
several organisations and individuals working in the area of interfaith
dialogue around the world.
The initiative was launched on October 13, 2007 as an open letter signed by
138 leading Muslim scholars and intellectuals (including such figures as the
grand muftis of Egypt, Syria and Jordan) to the leaders of Christian
churches and denominations all over the world.[IMRA: No Jewish clerics?]
The Astana conference, which was initiated by Kazakh President Nursultan
Nazarbayev, saw the participation of representatives from different world
religions, including Christianity, Islam and Zoroastrianism, Kazakhstan's
Ambassador to Jordan Bulat Sarsenbayev told The Jordan Times in an interview
earlier this week.
The ambassador said the conference aims to highlight the role of religious
leaders in "building a world based on tolerance, mutual respect and
cooperation".
"Kazakhstan is a good example of coexistence where people of various ethnic
groups live in one country peacefully and in harmony," Sarsenbayev said,
noting that the country is home to more than 120 ethnic groups.
"It is a national idea in our country to accept the other and be tolerant,"
he added.

+++JORDAN TIMES 3 July '09:"(15 year-old)Prince Hussein named Crown Prince"
AMMAN (JT) - A Royal Decree was issued Thursday(2 July) naming HRH Prince
Hussein, the eldest son of His Majesty King Abdullah, as Crown Prince
effective July 2, 2009.
The decree read: "We, King Abdullah II of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,
acting under Paragraph A of Article 28 of the Constitution, issue our Royal
Decree naming our eldest son, His Royal Highness Prince Hussein Ben Abdullah
II, as Crown Prince. He shall be vested with all rights and privileges
pertaining to this decree." The Crown Prince was born on June 28, 1994.

+++Mosque sackings for 'extremist thought' and 'negligence'
By Naeem Tameem Al-Kaheem
FULL TEXTJEDDAH - The Chairman of the Imams and Khateebs Assessment
Committee at the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Azzam Al-Shuway'er, has said
that a number of imams and khateebs (persons who give Friday sermons) have
been dismissed from their positions citing as reasons "extremist thought,
illness and negligence of mosques".
Al-Shuway'er described the dismissal of khateebs as "not easy", requiring
numerous approvals and procedures.
"Field committees first file a request to Shariah committees at the ministry
where it is then passed on to a higher committee," Al-Shuway'er said. "A
sacking has to be approved at all of these three stages."

+++NAHARNET (Lebanon) 3 July '09:"Gemayel: We Won't Forget the Past, We Need
Guarantees from Syria"

QUOTE: "Damascus should give guarantees and show its good intentions"

FULL TEXT:Phalange party leader Amin Gemayel said Friday(3 July) that Syria
has to prove its good intentions towards Lebanon by dismantling armed
Palestinian bases and demarcating the border.
"We want good relations (with Syria) and we support technical visits between
the two countries. But we need to know where are we heading and what are the
guarantees," Gemayel told LBC TV network.

He said Damascus should give guarantees and show its good intentions by not
resorting to the obstruction of Lebanese government work, dismantling armed
Palestinian bases, demarcating the border, unveiling the fate of missing
Lebanese and recognizing the Lebanese identity of Shebaa farms area.

"The difference between us and Syria is that it wants a relationship based
on turning the page on the past," the Phalange leader told LBC.

"Our stance is clear: We didn't make all these sacrifices to neglect the
country again," Gemayel said. "We need to know who killed the martyrs."

On the Syrian-Saudi summit that is expected to take place in Damascus on
Monday(6 July), Gemayel said: "It's better for the summit to be held in
Riyadh if Lebanon wants to participate in it."

+++NAHARNET (Lebanon) 3 July '09:"U.S. Sanctions on Kata'ib Hizbullah, Iran
Adviser",Agence France Presse
SUBJECT: Assets frozen of 'foreign terrorist outfit'

The United States imposed financial sanctions Thursday(2 July) on an adviser
to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iraq-based Shiite group
Kata'ib Hizbullah, branded a foreign terrorist outfit.
The U.S. Treasury Department said it froze the assets of Abu Mahdi
al-Muhandis, an adviser to the commander of Iran's Qods Force, an arm of the
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and Shiite "extremist" group
Kata'ib Hizbullah for being a security threat in Iraq.

Al-Muhandis was identified also with 19 aliases.

The IRGC was accused of providing material support to various militant
groups -- Lebanon-based Hizbullah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine -- General Command.

Further, the IRGC-Qods Force provided "lethal support to Kata'ib Hizbullah
and other Iraqi Shiite militia groups who target and kill" U.S. or Coalition
troops and Iraqi security forces, a Treasury statement said.

The IRGC-Qods Force was named a "specially designated global terrorist"
group by the Treasury Department in 2007.

The State Department also on Thursday designated Kata'ib Hizbullah a
"foreign terrorist organization" for allegedly "committing or posing a
significant risk of committing acts of terrorism."

"Al-Muhandis and Kata'ib Hizbullah have committed, directed, supported, or
posed a significant risk of committing acts of violence against Coalition
and Iraqi Security Forces," the statement said.

Between March 2007 and June 2008, Baghdad-based Kata'ib Hizbullah members
participated in multiple rocket-propelled grenade and improvised
rocket-assisted mortar attacks against U.S. forces, it said.

It alleged that Kata'ib Hizbullah was funded by the IRGC-Qods Force and
received weapons training and support from Lebanon-based Hizbullah.

In one instance, the statement said, Hizbullah provided training to Kata'ib
Hizbullah members in Iran.

The Treasury sanctions came under an executive order targeting insurgent and
militia groups and their supporters.

"These designations play a critical role in our efforts to protect coalition
troops, Iraqi security forces, and civilians from those who use violence
against innocents to intimidate and to undermine a free and prosperous
Iraq," said Stuart Levey, under secretary for terrorism and financial
intelligence.(AFP)

+++NAHARNET (Lebanon) 3 July '09:"Syria Sets Conditions, Wants 'Price' to
Facilitate Deal on Lebanon Government "
QUOTE:"Syrian conditions are 'impossible to implement' "
Syria, not only has set conditions, but reportedly wants a price beforehand
to facilitate formation of a new Lebanese government.. . . Syria has
proposed that the various Lebanese parliamentary blocs visit Damascus to
strike a deal on the formation of a national unity government.

It said Syria is seeking to reach an agreement in Damascus similar to that
of Doha in May 2008 which ended a long-running political crisis that nearly
drove the country to a new civil war.

The daily An Nahar,...said the Syrian conditions are "impossible to
implement."

Among these conditions, An Nahar said, was a visit to Damascus by Prime
Minister-designate Saad Hariri as part of a tripartite summit between
Lebanon, Syria and Saudi Arabia prior to government formation.

It said the basket of conditions appeared to be closer to pushing the March
14 coalition into relinquishing the victory after achieving a majority in
Parliament.

While the opposition declined to comment on media leakage about Saudi-Syrian
contacts, sources concerned with the issue told al-Hayat that Damascus was
in a rush toward normalization of ties.
============================
Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA

[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA: from the print Hebrew edition:

Grade from 1-10 for Netanyahu Government: 5.6

How does the Netanyahu Government perform as compared to the Olmert
Government before it?
Better 43% Worse 30% Don't know/refuse reply 27%

Is the Netanyahu Government leading Israel in the right direction?
Yes 37% No 40% Don't know/refuse reply 23%

Percent satisfied with performance of:
[results from 14 May poll in [brackets] for all but Netanyahu - Netanyahu
previous poll 15 June]
PM Netanyahu 49%[44%]
FM Lieberman 40%[31%]
DM Barak 61%[60%]
Finance Minister Steinitz 29%[18%]
Education Minister Saar 43%[45%]
Interior Minister Yishai 43%

Who is most appropriate to serve as prime minister?
Netanyahu 52% Livni 34% Don't know/refuse reply 14%

Should Israel continue to build in the settlements - even at the cost of a
clash with the US?
Yes 46% No 44% Don't know/refuse reply 10%
[IMRA: this question did not explicitly mention "natural growth" - polls
that mention it have had a stronger support for continuing construction]

Current Knesset seats in [brackets].
32 [27] Likud
29 [28] Kadima
14 [15] Yisrael Beteinu
11 [11] Shas
10 [13] Labor
05 [05] Yahadut Hatorah
09 [11] Arab parties
04 [03] Meretz
03 [04] Nat'l Union
03 [03] Jewish Home]

Netanyahu has Israelis' approval after first 100 days

By Yossi Verter Haaewr\ Last update - 07:23 03/07/2009
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1097511.html

Benjamin Netanyahu's second cabinet will complete its 100th day in power
next week, ending what is known as its 'period of grace.'

In a private discussions with his associates, the prime minister said that
not only was he being denied a grace period, but that he had to deal with a
'media onslaught' that began hours into his term.

This onslaught relented only after his address at Bar-Ilan University last
month, when he said he accepted the prospect of a future Palestinian state,
he said.
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In the same private discussion, the premier recounted what he considers his
cabinet's achievements over the past 100 days.

These include maintaining the peace in the western Negev through a tough
security policy, by means of public and covert action against Hamas.

Netanyahu also said he considered plugging leaks from security-related
discussions as an achievement, as well as promoting economic reforms and
structural changes.

A public-opinion survey commissioned by Haaretz to gauge Netanyahu's
popularity as he approaches 100 days shows favorable results, despite the
criticism since April for his gauche handling of the national budget and the
diplomatic crisis with the U.S.

His two key appointments, Avigdor Lieberman as foreign minister and Yuval
Steinitz as finance minister, also drew fire.

The survey by Dialog, conducted Thursday under the auspices of Prof. Camil
Fuchs of Tel Aviv University, found Netanyahu's approval ratings were 18
percent higher than Tzipi Livni's - a much larger margin than when they were
competing for prime minister. Asked who was better suited to be prime
minister, 52 percent said Netanyahu, while only 34 said Livni.

The respondents gave Netanyahu's cabinet a barely passing grade of 5.6
points out of 10. Forty percent said the cabinet was not leading Israel in
the right direction, while 37 percent said it was.

Netanyahu's approval ratings may have jumped 5 points since the last Dialog
survey, on June 15. In the most recent survey, 49 percent of the 500
respondents said they were satisfied with Netanyahu's performance. The
survey results have a margin of error of 4.5 percent.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman jumped 9 points since a May 14 survey,
with a 40-percent satisfaction rate. Defense Minister Ehud Barak improved by
only one point.

Forty-six percent of respondents said Israel should continue construction in
the West Bank even if this causes a confrontation with the U.S., and 44
percent said the opposite.