Sunday, September 16, 2007

Current Events Summary

There has been a mixture of good and bad foreign policy news coming from the Middle East for the last two weeks. Some uplifting news has come from Israel, where they have decided that they will allow refugees from Darfur to come into the country, something which they had been trying to curb. "Israel, with its history, must offer assistance," said Israeli Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit. "It can't stand by and shut its eyes ", due to the past of Israel, founded after World War II when the Jewish people faced persecution from the Nazis. The country had been trying to make the number of Africans entering Israel illegally through Egypt in recent months, but many citizens felt that this was wrong given the history of the country. The Interior Minister has been "working with the United Nations to set a quota of refugees to become naturalised Israelis".
However, it can't all be nice news: During a huge rally in Beirut marking the end of the war between Lebanon and Israel, the leader of Hezbollah (Sheik Hassan Nasrallah) made a speech warning Israel from attacking Lebanon again.
"If you, the Zionists, are considering attacking Lebanon, I am reserving a surprise for you that will change the fate of the war and the region," he said, and "In the same way we were victorious in August 2006, I warn them that here in Lebanon there is a resistance, an army and a people... that reject humiliation and fear only God". The UN Security Council was able to stop the war, but it has been an "uneasy peace".
On Saturday the 6th it was reported that some Israeli jets entered the Syrian airspace from the Mediterranean, "possibly penetrating deep into the country". Unidentified drop tanks were found later near the Syrian border on Turkish land, which could mean that that was the escape route of the jets. Furious Syrian authorities reported that the weaponry of the jets was fired into a deserted area, and were successfully driven off. Most of what happened is a mystery, but it seems that the jets dumped their weapons in order to manoeuvre better during their escape. Israeli sources are staying quiet, and the Syrian government has complained to the UN. Strangely, though, the reactions from both sides have been "muted", and though Syria is angry, the country doesn't seem to have interpreted the attacks as a prelude to larger attacks.
Finally, and thankfully, there is some cooperation between the U.S. and the Middle East (although it's not technically a state or country, it is a very large group of people). Sunni insurgents are now joining the U.S. in resisting al Qaeda in Iraq. Relations have apparently progressed well, and although it was thought a year ago that it would be impossible to form a good relationship with the Sunni insurgents, the violence from the al Qaeda extremists became too much and the Sunni leaders went to U.S. troops for help.
"In the three months since this has started, we have gathered more insurgents up, more terrorists, than we did in the preceding nine months. And that's because they have pointed out to us these people within their own ranks," said a Colonel in Iraq.

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