SPECIAL OPPORTUNITY AT YIISA
 
Post-Doctorate Research Fellowship, Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Antisemitism (YIISA), Yale University
Applicants are invited for a Research Fellowship tenable for one year, renewable for one further academic year, commencing in September 2008. Applications are welcome from candidates from various academic disciplines, with a strong background in the study of antisemitism and related fields. YIISA is dedicated to the scholarly research of the origins and manifestations associated with antisemitism globally, as well as other forms of prejudice, as it relates to policy.
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REPORTS
 
Where Are the Anti-Fascists?
(The New Republic) The danger of Germany's strange silence on Ahmadinejad
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Iran: Nuclear Intentions and Capabilities
(National Intelligence Council) This National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) assesses the status of Iran’s nuclear program, and the program’s outlook over the next 10 years. This time frame is more appropriate for estimating capabilities than intentions and foreign reactions, which are more difficult to estimate over a decade.
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Decoding the U.S. National Intelligence Estimate on Iran's Nuclear Weapons Program
(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) The U.S. government's latest National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) has concluded that Iran froze its active efforts to manufacture nuclear weapons in 2003, and will not have such a capability until at least 2012. In contrast, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has said that while it is "apparently true that in 2003, Iran stopped pursuing its military nuclear program for a certain period of time," nonetheless, he adds that "in our estimation, since then it is apparently continuing with its program to produce a nuclear weapon." A number of factors can explain these differences in assessments.
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How Much Does Weaponization Matter? Judging Iran's Nuclear Program
(The Washington Institute for Near East Policy) The just-released National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) is about weaponization, not the enrichment and fuel cycle issues that have been the focus of multiple UN Security Council and International Atomic Energy Agency board resolutions regarding Iran's nuclear program. The NIE only suggests that Tehran has changed its sequence -- something that does not slow the country's progress toward a nuclear weapon by a single day. Therefore, it is not clear how this report affects the current thrust of U.S. policy: to stem Iran's nuclear fuel cycle capabilities.
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Human Rights of Christians in Palestinian Society
(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Palestinian Christians are a religious minority whose unique interests and problems have received scant attention. They are a group that has faced almost uninterrupted persecution in the years since the Oslo peace process began, suffering from the difficulties of being a religious minority living in a Palestinian Authority whose inner workings, both from a legal and societal perspective, are often governed by strict adherence to Muslim religious law.
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ARTICLES OF INTEREST
 
MIDDLE EAST
 
An Assessment Jars a Foreign Policy Debate Concerning Iran
(NY Times) An administration that had cited Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons as the rationale for an aggressive foreign policy — as an attempt to head off World War III, as President Bush himself put it only weeks ago — now has in its hands a classified document that undercuts much of the foundation for that approach. The impact of the National Intelligence Estimate’s conclusion — that Iran had halted a military program in 2003, though it continues to enrich uranium, ostensibly for peaceful uses — will be felt in endless ways at home and abroad.
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An Insult to Intelligence
(The New Republic) The Israeli defense community responds to the NIE.
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Details in Military Notes Led to Shift on Iran, U.S. Says
(NY Times) American intelligence agencies reversed their view about the status of Iran’s nuclear weapons program after they obtained notes last summer from the deliberations of Iranian military officials involved in the weapons development program, senior intelligence and government officials said on Wednesday.
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U.S. Finds Iran Halted Its Nuclear Arms Effort in 2003
(NY Times) A new assessment by American intelligence agencies released Monday concludes that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 and that the program remains frozen, contradicting a judgment two years ago that Tehran was working relentlessly toward building a nuclear bomb.
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Bush Says Iran Still a Danger Despite Report on Weapons
(NY Times) President Bush warned today that Iran remained a threat despite an intelligence assessment that it had halted a covert program to develop nuclear weapons four years ago, as the administration struggled to salvage a diplomatic process now in disarray.
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Relax? Don't. Iran can still build its bomb
(The Times) Iran says that a newly published US intelligence report proves that its intentions for its nuclear programme are benign. So does Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the United Nations watchdog, who has greeted the report as if it confirms what he has always maintained – that a resolution of the row with Iran is within reach. However, the report offers no reassurance; on the contrary, it supports fears that Iran could soon have nuclear weapons. It argues that Iran has been deterred from pursuing them mainly by the fear of US military action, a fear that has now faded.
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UN Nuclear Chief: US Nuclear Assessment Offers Opportunity for Iran
(VOA News) The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency says a new U.S. intelligence report offers Iran a "window of opportunity" to prove that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
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Report on Iran fuels Arab fears
(Los Angeles Times) The dwindling possibility of a U.S. attack on Iran is changing the dynamics of Middle East politics and raising Arab concern that Tehran may now feel emboldened to strengthen its military, increase its support for Islamic radicals and exert more influence in the region's troubled countries.
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Europeans See Murkier Case for Sanctions
(NY Times) The Bush administration’s new intelligence assessment that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 is likely to complicate efforts to impose new sanctions on Iran at the United Nations Security Council, European officials said Monday.
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Not the best intelligence
(Haaretz) It is difficult to recall a precedent in which a National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), whose unclassified findings total only 2 to 3 percent of the full classified document, led to a political earthquake like the one created by the release of the NIE about Iran's nuclear ambitions this week.
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Analysis: Why does US and Israeli intel differ?
(Jerusalem Post) All it took was eight pages, and the entire international front against Iran has undergone a revolution. The U.S. intelligence report released Monday with the claim that Iran froze its nuclear military track four years ago has Israel concerned that the U.S. is weakening its strong stance against Iran that had President George W. Bush warning that World War III would break out if the ayatollahs got their hands on a bomb. What the report makes even clearer are the major differences between the various intelligence agencies in Israel and the U.S.
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Contending with Iran's nuclear intentions and capabilities
(San Francisco Chronicle) The new National Intelligence Estimate opens with the startling judgment that Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program in the fall of 2003, which is sure to dominate the discourse to follow. It shouldn’t. The estimate’s more significant conclusion is that the most likely tool to successfully alter Iran’s nuclear calculus is targeted political and economic pressure, not military action.
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Iran faces further sanctions as nuclear talks stall
(Guardian) Iran faced further sanctions after the European Union’s foreign policy chief expressed disappointment with the lack of progress made in the latest round of talks on Tehran's nuclear programme.
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Iranian Pushes Nuclear Talks Back to Square 1
(NY Times) In a sign that Iran has hardened its position on its nuclear program, its new nuclear negotiator said in talks in London on Friday that all proposals made in past negotiations were irrelevant and that further discussion of a curb on Iran’s uranium enrichment was unnecessary, senior officials briefed on the meeting said.
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Peres warns: One morning we’ll wake to a nuclear Iran
(Ynet) According to President Shimon Peres, historically, intelligence reports sometimes turn out to be inaccurate, but on the Iranian issue the international community must eschew compromise and focus on a few clear warning signs.
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The thousand volt farce
How Iran is laughing. Ahmadinejad declares that yesterday’s US National Intelligence Estimate is announcing a victory for the Iranian nation in the nuclear issue against all international powers.
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Iran builds a new road to aid Lebanese allies
(Telegraph) Under the cover of an aid project, Iran is consolidating Shia control over southern Lebanon by building a large mountain road that critics believe is a supply route for Hizbollah. While Iran claims the road is nothing but a reconstruction project after the 2006 war with Israel, some observers believe it is a key component of the militant group's rearmament programme.
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Qassam strikes house in Sderot during rally
(Ynet) A Qassam rocket fired by Palestinian terror groups from Gaza landed on the roof of a residential home in Sderot on Wednesday evening. No injuries were reported but damage was caused to an apartment. Four people were treated by emergency services for shock, including a 50-year-old who complained of chest pains.
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Defense officials concerned as Hamas upgrades Qassam arsenal
(Haaretz) Hamas has recently upgraded its Qassam rocket capability in the Gaza Strip, raising grave concern in the Israeli defense establishment. Senior defense officials say that Hamas is now able to store the rockets for a relatively long period, which would allow the organization to launch a large number of Qassams at one time.
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Another day, another bombardment
(Financial Times) The small Israeli town of Sderot is enveloping itself in a blanket of concrete. The grey material is everywhere. Schools and nurseries crouch below hulking canopies, dozens of bomb-shelters dot the urban landscape and even the bulletproof windows of one school have been provided with thick overhanging slabs.
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Fatah ‘ready to unite with Hamas’
(Ynet) A top minister in Abbas’ government says Fatah would join ranks with the Islamist group if it agrees to share power in the Gaza Strip or if Israel launches a major attack there. 'We must stand together to fight the occupation,' he says.
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A ‘rising force’
(Haaretz) Last week's demonstrations across the West Bank in protest of the Annapolis conference showcased the entry into the public eye of a new force in Palestinian politics - the pan-Islamic Hizb ut-Tahrir (Party of Liberation.).
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Expert: ‘Christian groups in PA to disappear’
(Jerusalem Post) The ever-dwindling Christian communities living in Palestinian-run territories in the West Bank and Gaza are likely to dissipate completely within the next 15 years as a result of increasing Muslim persecution and maltreatment, an Israeli scholar said Monday.
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Holy Land’s Only Christian TV Station to Shut Down
(The Christian Post) The only Christian TV station in the Holy Land will stop its broadcasts at the end of October due to security and financial problems. The Nativity, “Al Mahed” in Arabic, has been broadcasting since 1996, offering a Christian voice in the Middle East. But the station in Bethlehem will close due to reported death threats, trouble with the Palestinian authorities and overwhelming financial debts, according to Arab Vision.
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PLC passes law to make any concessions on J’lem illegal
(Jerusalem Post) The Hamas-dominated Palestinian Legislative Council is pushing through a bill that would make it illegal to make any concessions on Jerusalem. The bill, which passed its first reading on Thursday, also defines such concessions as a crime of high treason. Presented by Hamas legislator Ahmed Abu Halbiyeh on behalf of two parliamentary committees - the judicial committee and the committee for Jerusalem affairs - the bill is expected to pass in second and third readings in the coming days.
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Segregation at Petach Tikvah religious school
(Haaretz.com TV) A religious school in Petah Tikva may be more suited to the American South of the 1950s than to 21st-century Israel. It was recently discovered that four Ethiopian girls enrolled in Lamerchav Elementary School are learning in complete isolation from their peers.
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EUROPE
 
Antwerp synagogue vandalized
(JTA) Machsike haDass, one of Antwerp’s two main synagogues, was vandalized on Wednesday night. Vandals smashed many of the synagogue’s windows, on the side of the building that sits alongside train tracks. According to the Belgian anti-Semitism watchdog Web site www.antisemitisme.be, this was the fifth anti-Semitic incident in Antwerp in the last month and the third case of anti-Semitic vandalizing.
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Life Is Intolerable for Jews In Europe, Assemblyman Says
(NY Sun) Following a recent fact-finding trip to Europe, a Democrat who represents Boro Park in the New York State Assembly, Dov Hikind, said yesterday he is convinced that anti-Semitism has made life intolerable for Jews in England, France, Germany, and Belgium.
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Greek historian on trial over 'anti-Jewish book'
(Associated Press) A far-right Greek historian went on trial Tuesday for allegedly inciting racial hatred with a book that denies the Holocaust took place and allegedly contains offensive references to Jews. Jewish community leaders testified at an Athens court that the book by Costas Plevris, “The Jews: The whole truth,” has led to a spike in attacks on Jewish monuments in the country.
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Massive Holocaust Archive Opens to the Public
(Spiegel Online) Holocaust researchers are delighted that the massive International Tracing Service archive in Germany has finally opened its doors to the public. Families of Holocaust victims now have an unprecedented chance to learn about their relatives’ fates.
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Polish documentary recounts killing of Poles who helped Jews during Holocaust
(The Canadian Press) A new documentary film that recounts the heroic efforts and violent deaths of Poles who helped Jews during the Holocaust premiered Wednesday, amid efforts by Poland to alter a lingering reputation for anti-Semitism. “A Life for a Life,” a 33-minute film funded by Poland's Culture Ministry, uses testimony from survivors, grandchildren and neighbours of men and women who were killed by the Nazis for aiding Polish Jews during Germany's Second World War occupation of Poland.
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U.K. Muslim group ends boycott of Holocaust Memorial Day
(Haaretz) The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), the largest Muslim umbrella organization in the U.K., decided over the weekend to halt its boycott of the country’s official Holocaust Memorial Day. The council’s working committee decided to put an end to the six-year boycott, which started with the inauguration of the memorial day in 2001.
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David Abrahams: I feared Jewish conspiracy accusations
(The Times) The property developer at the centre of Labour’s “donorgate” crisis said last night that he had given money secretly to avoid accusations of being part of a Jewish conspiracy. David Abrahams also warned the Government he will come out fighting if
ministers start “hammering” him over the row.
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Magnate in U.K. scandal: I feared charges of a 'Jewish conspiracy'
(Haaretz) The British real estate magnate accused of funneling political donations to the British Labour Party said on Thursday that he had given the money secretly to avoid accusations of being part of a Jewish conspiracy, London's Times Online reported on Friday.
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The meaning of Podge
(The Economist) What the funding scandal really tells us about Britain, its Jews and immigrants in general
From the YIISA Newsletter editor: “This somewhat odd editorial in the Economist seems to be attempting to dispel notions and levels of antisemitism in contemporary Britain.  However, a close read of this piece presents blatant forms of stereotypes and an ignorance of the reality of antisemitism and other forms of prejudice, which are prevalent in contemporary British society.”
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MISCELLANEOUS
           
ADL: Raid on Venezuelan Jewish center ‘inexplicable’
(Ynet) The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) called a police raid at a Jewish community center in Caracas, Venezuela “inexplicable and unjustifiable” and joined the Venezuelan Jewish community’s call for a formal investigation.
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Attacks against Jews hit high in Australia
(JTA) Attacks against Australian Jews have reached a record high in 2007. The Executive Council of Australian Jewry’s annual report on anti-Semitism published this week logged 638 anti-Semitic incidents this year, including assault, intimidation, vandalism and harassment.
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In Algiers, Sarkozy denounces racism, Islamophobia et anti-Semitism
(European Jewish Press) French president Nicolas Sarkozy called to fight any form of racism, Islamophobia and anti-Semitism "with determination and without any failing." Speaking on Monday to French and Algerian business people in Algiers on the first day of his state visit to Algeria, Sarkozy declared: “In France as in Algeria, we must fight with determination and without failing any form of racism, any form of Islamophobia and any form of anti-Semitism.”
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Sarkozy, in Algeria, calls French colonialism 'profoundly unjust'
(International Herald Tribune) The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, said Monday that France's colonial system was "profoundly unjust," in a step toward ending decades of rancor between France and Algeria, once the crown jewel among French colonies.
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The question of a freed slave
(The Spectator) Simon Deng, a former jihad slave and now a human rights activist, has written a remarkable protest to Bishop Desmond Tutu over the bishop’s rabid prejudice against Israel which he accuses of ‘apartheid’.
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WEEKLY QUOTES (Source:  Canadian Institute for Jewish Research, Montreal)  

“Iran was dangerous. Iran is dangerous and Iran will be dangerous if they have the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon…. Iran had a hidden, covert nuclear weapons program. What's to say they couldn't start another covert nuclear weapons program? The best diplomacy, effective diplomacy is one in which all options are on the table.... I view this report as a warning signal [because] they could restart it. And the thing that would make a restarted program effective and dangerous is the ability to enrich uranium...”­ -U.S. President George W. Bush, who is scheduled to visit Israel next month to discuss Iran’s nuclear program, responding to the new National Intelligence Estimates report, a combined analysis of 16 U.S. intelligence agencies. The NIE  indicates that Iran suspended its nuclear program in 2003 but continues to enrich uranium­, a requirement in the production of an atomic weapon, ­and develop long-range ballistic missiles. (CanWest, Dec. 5; National Post, Dec. 4)
 
“We judge with high confidence that in fall 2003, Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program; we also assess with moderate to high confidence that Tehran at a minimum is keeping open the option to develop nuclear weapons.” -­Excerpt from the National Intelligence Estimates repor,t Iran: Nuclear Intentions and Capabilities, warning that though Iran may have ended its secret nuclear weapons development program, the Islamic regime could resume its nuclear effort. “[Iran] has the scientific, technical and industrial capabilities to eventually produce nuclear weapons if it decides to do so,” states the report. (National Post, Dec. 4)

“I am familiar with the American intelligence assessment…. Nevertheless, I say again that Iran is today a central threat on the world and the State of Israel.”
-­Defense Minister Ehud Barak, on the release of the U.S. intelligence report, insisting that Israel and the world still need to take steps to confront the Iranian threat. “There is a lot that can be done with regard to the Iranian nuclear program but it is important to mention that words do not stop missiles,” the Israeli defense minister said. “Action is needed in the form of sanctions, in the diplomatic sphere and in other spheres as well.” (Jerusalem Post, Dec. 4)

“No one really knows how long it will be before they actually have a bomb…. The report will not make any difference. We already knew the conclusions of the American experts, but they don't change aNY Timeshing. What is a year or two? It's nothing.” -­Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman, discussing the timeframe of Iran possibly acquiring nuclear capabilities in the wake of the U.S. intelligence report which claims Teheran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003. Israel’s intelligence assessment is that Iran could achieve military nuclear capability by 2010. Lieberman added that even without nuclear weapons Iran constitutes a threat to the Israel and the West through its proxy groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, and others in Iraq and Afghanistan. (Jerusalem Post, Ha’aretz, Dec. 4)

“They have high confidence it was suspended in 2003 and only medium confidence that it remains halted. This is a confession that they don't fully know what they are talking about.” -­John Bolton, former American ambassador to the United Nations, arguing that the new estimate “will undercut those policies of the administration. People will argue there is no evidence of an ongoing military program.”Bolton cautioned against putting too much stock in the estimate. “There is nothing in here about the status of the military program when it was suspended,” he said. (New York Sun, Dec. 4)
 
“This certainly undermines any diplomatic effort we have to corner the Iranians…. The public release of these findings, which are themselves a very unnerving development, will clearly have a grave policy impact and make it extremely difficult for us to convince our allies that there is an urgency and gravity to the nature of the Iranian threat.”­ -David Wurmser, an Iran specialist who left Vice President Dick Cheney's office in September, indicating that the NIE report would make it nearly impossible to get a third U.N. Security Council resolution against Iran. (New York Sun, Dec. 4) 

“We will make an effort to hold speedy negotiations in the hope we may conclude by the end of 2008, but certainly there is no commitment for a firm timetable for their completion.”­ -Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, following the United States-sponsored peace conference in Annapolis last week. The conference was the first formal peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in nearly seven years. The first round of talks between PA and Israeli negotiators is tentatively set for December 12. (National Post, Dec. 3; CNN, Nov. 27)
                       
“[I]n spite of its glaring handicaps, Annapolis must be deemed a triumph -- ­not of peacemaking, paradoxically, but of girding the region for conflict. Though no doubt sincere in their desire to neutralize the Arab-Israeli irritant in Middle Eastern affairs, participants in the conference were above all motivated by their fear of a radical and relentlessly aggressive Iran. This fear has deepened with the success of the Iranian proxies Hezbollah and Hamas in Lebanon and Gaza, as well as the expansion of Iranian influence westward into the Iraqi vacuum.  The inability of the international community either to entice or deter the Iranians from producing nuclear weapons adds urgency to the need to unite those countries threatened by those bombs. That, and not American fiat, brought 49 states and organizations to Annapolis; that, and not the yearning for an Israeli-Arab accord, impelled a Saudi prince to sit alongside an Israeli prime minister…. For the first time a coalition of Western and modern Arab leaders has coalesced and declared its commitment to resist “extremism” in the Middle East­a well-known euphemism for Iran.”­ -Michael B. Oren, a senior fellow at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem and a visiting senior lecturer in Middle East history at Yale, analyzing the motives for Arab participation in the Annapolis conference. (New York Times, Dec. 2)
 
 
SHORT TAKES 

POST-ANNAPOLIS STATEMENT WITHDRAWN ­(New York) In a rare move, the U.S. circulated a proposal to the UN Security Council endorsing agreements reached at last week’s Annapolis summit between Israelis and Palestinians, without first passing the document to Jerusalem for examination. The document was withdrawn by the U.S. the following day. Israeli polls published in the wake of the Annapolis summit indicate that an overwhelming majority of Israelis believe the talks were a failure. Yediot Aharonot’s Dahaf poll found that 50 percent of respondents said it failed, while 29 percent of respondents in the Ma’agar Mohot poll on Israel Radio said it failed. The Gal Hadash poll on Channel 10 found that 20 percent of Israelis thought Annapolis was a success – the highest rate of success of all the polls. (New York Sun, Nov.30; Agence France-Presse, Dec. 1; Jerusalem Post, Nov. 29)

HAMAS TERRORISTS IN GAZA ­(Khan Younis) Last week, the IAF carried killed two terrorists in an air strike on a Hamas position near Khan Younis after 11 mortar shells and Qassam rockets fell on Israeli communities in Kerem Shalom and Kibbutz Erez. Weekend strikes in the area killed four terrorists who were planting a bomb near the border fence and preparing to fire mortar shells at the IDF and surrounding communities, prompting officials to divulge that plans for a major operation in Gaza are ready. The Israeli Supreme Court ruled Friday that the government could continue scaling back diesel and gasoline shipments to the Gaza Strip, but could not yet cut electricity. (Ha’aretz, Nov. 28, 30; New York Times, Dec. 1) 

ISRAEL FREES 429 PRISONERS IN GESTURE OF GOODWILL ­(Ramallah) Israel released 429 Palestinian prisoners to strengthen Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas following the Annapolis Peace talks. While most of the prisoners are Fatah members, others are members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Abbas wanted 2,000 prisoners to be released. About 770 prisoners have been released since July. (Jerusalem Post, Ha’aretz, Dec.3; New York Times, Dec. 4) 

PALESTINIAN ASSASSIN SENTENCED ­(Jerusalem) The Jerusalem District Court sentenced Hamdi Qur’an to two life terms for the 2001 conviction of the murder of former Israeli MK Rehavam Ze’evi, and an additional 100 years for other terrorist activities. Along with other members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, court documents show that he planted explosive devices and carried out shooting attacks, wounding 27 Israeli civilians, after the outbreak of the second Intifada in 2000. (Ha’aretz, Nov. 3)
 
PROGRESS TOWARD LEBANON PRESIDENT ­(Beirut) Lebanon’s political system has been in jeopardy since the 2005 murder of former PM Rafik Hariri. There have been 36 assassinations of major political figures in Lebanon’s 64 years of independence. The violently divisive parliament has failed to nominate a replacement for President Émile Lahoud, whose term ended over a week ago, leaving the country without a leader. General Michel Suleiman, the only candidate to be agreed upon by both the anti-Syrian and pro-Syrian factions in Lebanon, is constitutionally barred from acceding to the presidency, since he is currently commanding the military. (Jerusalem Post, Nov. 28; New York Times, Nov. 29, Dec. 2) 

PAKISTAN PREPARES FOR ELECTIONS ­(Lahore) Pakistan will elect a new parliament next month and President Pervez Musharraf needs the participation of at least two parties for credibility. This week Musharraf agreed to the conditions of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto; he resigned as head of the nation’s military and announced that the state of emergency should be lifted by December 16. Bhutto has since launched her election campaign and Nawaz Sharif, leader of the next-largest party, is expected to end the boycott threatening to undermine the election. Musharraf was sworn in as president for another five-year term as a civilian. (Globe and Mail, Nov. 28, Dec. 1)

AL QAEDA IN AFGHANISTAN ­(Kabul) A U.S. Defense Department official warned that al Qaeda is showing early signs of increased activity in Afghanistan, possibly aiming to re-establish its former operations base. The announcement comes after Al-Jazeera transmitted an audio recording of Osama bin Laden calling on Europeans to stop helping the U.S. in Afghanistan. He claims sole responsibility for the 9/11 attacks as “retaliation against the American-Israeli alliance’s aggression against our people in Palestine and Lebanon” and that Afghanistan’s “people and government knew nothing about it.” (Jerusalem Post, Nov. 29; New York Sun, Nov. 30; New York Times, Dec. 4) 

CANADA, IRAN REJECT AMBASSADORS ­(Teheran) Iran expelled Gordon Venner, Canada’s ambassador to Teheran, following the Iranian Supreme Court’s order to open a new investigation into the 2003 death of Canadian photo-journalist Zahra Kazemi. Canada had recalled ambassador Philip MacKinnon in protest in 2003. Iran currently does not have an ambassador in Canada, since Canada rejected both of Iran’s proposed delegates who had ties to the 1979 U.S. Embassy hostage-taking. (New York Times, Nov. 27; National Post, Associated Press, Dec. 4) 

IRAQI REFUGEES RETURN SLOWLY ­(Baghdad) The Iraqi Red Crescent estimates that 25,000 refugees have returned from Syria since mid-September, a fraction of the 1.5 million who fled to avoid sectarian violence and ethnic cleansing over the past few years. This is far fewer than the 60,000 estimated by the government. The agency credits the recent drop in violence, as well as visa and financial restrictions. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki declared 2008 would be devoted to clearing the corruption established by the Saddam Hussein regime. (New York Times, Dec. 4) BLACK-MARKET NUCLEAR MATERIALS­ (Bratislava) Two Hungarian men and one Ukrainian were arrested in Slovakia and Hungary trying to sell $1 million worth of contraband uranium, believed to have originated in the Soviet Union. The evidence of a black market for nuclear materials capable of producing radioactive “dirty bombs” is alarming. In 2006, The International Atomic Energy Agency registered 252 cases, up 385 percent since 2002. (Globe and Mail, Nov. 30) 

SUDAN CONVICTS AND PARDONS BRITISH TEACHER ­(Khartoum) Gillian Gibbons, a British schoolteacher in Sudan, was sentenced to 15 days in jail following a conviction for insulting Islam because her class of seven-year-olds named a teddy bear Muhammad. Hundreds of protesters were demanding her execution. Under Sudanese law she could have received a six-month sentence accompanied by 40 lashes. In response to the demonstrations, Gibbons was moved to an undisclosed location before British intervention convinced President Omar al-Bashir to pardon Gibbons Monday night, who flew back to England that same night. (Globe and Mail, Dec. 1; New York Times, Dec. 1, 4)
 
VENEZUELA STANDS UP TO CHAVEZ­ (Caracas) The people of Venezuela voted in a referendum to defeat proposals by President Hugo Chavez that would have given him control over foreign currency reserves and increased his power to expropriate private property. The democratic voice raised 50.7 percent against the president, his first defeat in nine years of increasingly authoritarian rule. Meanwhile, in the early morning hours, two dozen armed police raided a Jewish community centre in Caracas in search of weapons, but did not find any. (Reuters, Dec. 3; National Post, Dec. 4; New York Times, Dec. 5)