Upsetting the apple cart?

[bemildred]

By NOAM AMIR Last week, Golan Heights residents were reminded of an incident that occurred two decades ago, when a Syrian citizen who was looking for some excitement shot at Israeli farmers working their fields near the border.

Then-Syrian president Hafez Assad ordered the gunman arrested and, following a lightning-speed trial, he was promptly executed. When his son, Bashar Assad, came to power, residents of northern Israel hoped he would follow in his father’s footsteps and keep the peace in the area. But when the bloody Syrian civil war broke out, Israeli residents of the Golan Heights called for the younger Assad’s downfall.

Since it’s become known that the rebels who’ve taken over the Kuneitra crossing identify with and are backed by al-Qaida, Golan residents have changed their tune. Now they realize that for Israel, an Assad-backed regime would be better than having violent rebel forces controlling the border.

“Criminal gangs” is what Golan residents call the rebels, hoping the shooting across the border from Syria won’t continue to endanger their lives, livelihood and life’s work for much longer.

http://www.jpost.com/Metro/Upsetting-the-apple-cart-375052

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1. Hamas says ready to talk to Israel directly

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) -- A senior Hamas leader says the group is willing to talk directly to Israel, reversing a previous ban.

In an interview with Al Quds TV to be broadcast later Thursday, Hamas No. 2 Musa Abu Marzouk says "Hamas is willing to talk directly to the Israelis" over issues including Gaza border crossings and prisoner releases.

"Just as you negotiate with weapons you can also negotiate by talk," he said in a tape of the interview obtained by The Associated Press. "Up till now our policy was no negotiation with (Israel), but others should be aware that this issue is not taboo."

His comments come two weeks after the end of a bloody war in the Gaza Strip, which Hamas has run since 2007. Over the weekend the group came in for criticism from Western-backed Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, putting further pressure on it after the heavy losses it sustained during the fighting.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_ISRAEL_PALESTINIANS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-09-11-08-56-20

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2. Human Rights Watch: Israeli attacks on Gaza UN schools are war crime

Human Rights Watch accused Israel of committing war crimes by attacking three UN-run schools in the Gaza Strip in fighting in July and August, killing Palestinian civilians who had sheltered there.

The New York-based group issued a report on Thursday that it described as the first in-depth documentation of the incidents, which took place during a 50-day conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants that ended in a ceasefire on Aug. 26.

"Three Israeli attacks that damaged Gaza schools housing displaced people caused numerous civilian casualties in violation of the laws of war," it said in the report, based on interviews with witnesses and field research in the Hamas Islamist-dominated enclave.

The group also said it was skeptical about the credibility of five criminal investigations announced by Israel's military on Wednesday into its Gaza war operations.

http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Human-Rights-Watch-Israeli-attacks-on-Gaza-UN-schools-are-war-crime-375047

[bemildred]

3. . nt

[Jefferson23]

4. The irony is rich. n/t

[bemildred]

6. Perhaps we can get the IDF involved in the Syrian war too?

If Obama's bombing campaign does not pan out well, that might happen. Or even if it does. Meanwhile:

Netanyahu: Israel fully supports Obama's call for united action against Islamic State

http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/WATCH-LIVE-Netanyahu-addresses-anti-terror-conference-on-September-11-anniversary-375064

[Jefferson23]

8. I have no idea but the consequences of their decisons so far are non confidence builders for me. n/t

[BillZBubb]

5. The Israeli hard line always makes matters worse.

But the Israelis just don't learn.

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7. IDF braces for violent Hizbollah war

In the aftermath of the summer's Gaza conflict, Israel's defence chiefs are warning of a much more difficult confrontation facing the country from north.

A series of senior officers and experts have warned that a war with Hizbollah in Lebanon would be much more destructive than the Hamas conflict.

"Hizbollah have lost hundreds of fighters, including commanders, in Syria," said one senior officer. "But they have also gained significant experience there and they haven't drawn down the forces in south Lebanon that are facing us.

"The fighting in Syria has not weakened Hizbollah's rocket arrays that are aimed at Israel, but it did undermine its internal legitimacy to open another front, and degraded its military assets," says Uri Sadot, a Research Fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies.

http://www.thejc.com/news/israel-news/122478/idf-braces-violent-hizbollah-war

[Jefferson23]

9. Syria warns against foreign intervention after Obama speech

Reuters

DAMASCUS: Any foreign intervention in Syria would be an act of aggression unless it is approved by Damascus, a Syrian government minister said on Thursday, after the United States said it was prepared to strike against Islamic State militants in the country.

Syria has repeatedly warned that any action on its soil needs its approval and has said it is willing to work with any country to tackle Islamic State fighters who have captured large areas of Syria and neighbouring Iraq.

"Any action of any type without the approval of Syrian government is an aggression against Syria," Ali Haidar, minister of national reconciliation affairs, told reporters in Damascus.

"There must be cooperation with Syria and coordination with Syria and there must be a Syrian approval of any action whether it is military or not."

Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2014/Sep-11/270356-syria-warns-against-foreign-intervention-after-obama-speech.ashx#ixzz3D1Pwlr5r

[bemildred]

10. Gee, this could get out of control. nt

[Jefferson23]

11. Right? And have we not talked about how there seems to be an ever present presumption that

one can control chaos? Worrisome.

[bemildred]

12. Very.

Were it Bush the Lesser, I would not hesitate to call disaster in the making. Obama is a cautious man, so he may do better, but the fundamental inconsistencies in the relations among the players will almost certainly bite him in the ass. Things will not be kept separate, they will bleed over on each other.

[Jefferson23]

13. That is a very real possibility. n/t