Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations
by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
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What appeared to be a climactic showdown between rebel and government forces in Libya a day earlier devolved into confusion and uncertainty Tuesday about whether ruler Moammar Gaddafi's regime would fall anytime soon. Sporadic fighting continued in Tripoli as two purported rebel accomplishments came unhinged. On Monday, rebel leaders had said claimed they had captured three of Gaddafi's sons, including Saif al-Islam -- who is wanted on war crimes charges by the International Criminal Court. But Tuesday, Saif al-Islam showed up at the Rixos Hotel, one of the remaining strongholds of pro-Gaddafi forces. (CNN)
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday accused Syrian President Bashar Assad of failing to live up to his pledge to halt all security operations against protesters, saying the Syrian leader "has not kept his word." Assad assured Ban in a telephone conversation Wednesday that all police and military operations had stopped.
But there has been no visible slowing of the crackdown. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said Monday that the steadily mounting death toll in Syria had topped 2,200 civilians, including 39 demonstrators killed since Assad made his pledge to the UN chief. (Washington Post)
A budding middle class in the impoverished Gaza Strip is flaunting its wealth, sipping coffee at gleaming new cafes, shopping for shoes at the new tiny shopping malls, and fueling perhaps the most acrimonious grass roots resentment yet toward the ruling Hamas movement. The level of consumption may be modest by Western standards, but it's in startling contrast to the grinding poverty of most Gazans, who rely on U.N. food handouts to get by.
"There is a nouveau riche that has followed the rise of the government," said Alaa Araj, a former Gaza economic minister and businessman considered close to Hamas. "We must sound the alarm," he said. "(Resentment) is growing in Gaza." (AP/Washington Post)
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