- Krig, mer enn fred, har preget også Midtøstens moderne historie; både i kjerneområdet for selve Midtøsten-konflikten, dvs. Israel og nabolandene, og i Golfen. Fem kriger er utkjempet innenfor rammen av Midtøsten-konflikten; i 1948, 1956, 1967, 1973 og 1978–2000.
- I tillegg til disse krigene, som har omfattet mer enn én stat, kan det hevdes at den væpnede konflikten mellom Israel og de palestinske selvstyremyndighetene i første halvdel av 2000-tallet også er en arabisk-israelsk krig. Israelerne regner dessuten kampen mot briter – og arabere – forut for etableringen av sin stat i 1948 som en selvstendighetskrig.
- For de arabiske statene var etableringen av Israel et politisk nederlag; for palestinerne en katastrofe: al-Nakba, da flere hundre tusen ble drevet på flukt – langt de fleste uten å kunne vende tilbake. For både de arabiske stater og den palestinske frigjøringsbevegelsen har krigene også brakt nederlag: Bare en av de fem krigene har Israel tapt – mot den libanesiske motstandsbevegelsen, i Libanon.
- Den første arabisk-israelske krig, 1948–49
Den andre arabisk-israelske krig, 1956
Den tredje arabisk-israelske krig, 1967
Den fjerde arabisk-israelske krig, 1973
Den femte arabisk-israelske krig, 1978–2000 - Den første arabisk-israelske krig, 1948–49 - Norges rolle
- Norges rolle knyttet til krigen i 1948 var liten – ut over at det var en nordmann som bekledde posisjonen som FNs generalsekretær og at Norge stemte for opprettelsen av Israel. Som generalsekretær var Lie klart pro-sionistisk, hvilket bl.a. er dokumentert av Odd-Karsten Tveit i hans bok ”Alt for Israel”. Bl.a. sendte Trygve Lie en norsk oberst, Alfred Roscher Lund, til Palestina som sin personlige representant – og obersten pleide svært nær kontakt med sionistene, som han ifølge Tveit også ga råd om hvordan de militært skulle slå araberne. Tanken om å anmode Norge om å sende soldater fra Tysklandsbrigadene til Jerusalem som en internasjonal styrke, ble aldri noe av. I kulissene bidro Norge likevel militært til den nye staten – takket være nære forbindelser mellom den sionistiske bevegelsen og norsk arbeiderbevegelse. Jødisk ungdom fikk derfor, i det skjulte, trening av militær karakter i Norge. Sionistene vervet leiesoldater i Skandinavia, og noen norske jøder dro til Israel for å kjempe for landets overlevelse. Også i nyere tid har norsk ungdom vervet seg til IDF.
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Norge deltok ikke i UNTSO fra starten; først fra 1956 har norske offiserer deltatt i denne operasjonen – og Norge har hatt to av observatørkorpsets sjefer: Generalløytnant Odd Bull (1963–70) og generalløytnant Martin Vadset (1987–90). Sivile nordmenn tjenestegjorde for FN og UNTSO før dette, og den første nordmann som falt i FN-tjeneste i Midtøsten, var sjåfør Ole Helge Bakke, som ute på oppdrag i 1948 ble drept av en snikskytter.
- Fem kriger, FN og Norge
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Israelsk politi har på nytt arrestert Mordechai Vanunu under mistanke om at han har møttes med utlendinger, noe som er et direkte brudd med hans tillatelse, noe som, selvfølgelig, er et direkte brudd med menneskerettighetskonvensjonen. Men dette er regelen snarere enn unntaket – når man har med Israel å gjøre.
I følge Vanunu: “Jeg både vil og behøver frihet og kun frihet. 24 år er nok. Dette er ikke min regjering. Jeg vil se verden, å være utenfor rekkevidden til Mossad og Shin Bet.” Vanunu har ved en tidligere anledning i år levert et brev til Nobels fredspriskomite hvor det står at han tar avstand fra å være på listen over kandidater for prisen ettersom president Shimon Peres, som han hevder å stå bak den israelske atompolitikken, har mottatt prisen.
La Mordechai Vanunu få komme til Norge NÅ!
ARMENIA. Normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations should happen without preconditions, and we are holding negotiations with the Turkish party just with this conception, Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandyan said when responding to ‘Interfax’ question about the frequent statements of the official representatives of Turkey saying normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations is connected with other issues, in particular, Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement and international recognition of the Armenian Genocide. In this sense the Obama told the press today Barack Obama said in Ankara his stance on the Armenian issue remains unchanged, he will recognize the Genocide.
AZERBAIJAN. On the other hand, the EU while is sending mix messages in relation with the Armenian Genocide, it is very clear on the fact that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict can not go unresolved as it can pose a threat for the region and the European Union, the EU special representative on the South Caucasus Peter Semneby declared for Trend News agency. Moreover, the EU can contribute to the security of its neighbors and partners, he said. EU’s vision for the South Caucasus is to open borders which are precondition for security in the region and development of economic.
BULGARIA. The Bulgarian bidder for the NATO Secretary General position, Solomon Passy, believes his nomination for the top job still might end up being successful.
Passy, who is Bulgaria’s former Foreign Minister and current Chair of the Parliamentary Foreign Policy Committee, also said it was possible that the Strasbourg Summit would not select a new NATO head as this person was supposed to take over on August 1, which still left plenty of time.”As a whole, I would say that we are enjoying really strong support from the Mediterranean member states of NATO”, Passy said pointing out that the two newest members of the Alliance, Albania and Croatia would also be able to take part in the selection process. Passy’s bid for the NATO top job is up against Denmark’s Prime Minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen. Turkey, however, is adamantly opposed to his selection over his refusal to apologize for the 2006 Mohammad cartoons affair, and the permission that a pro-PKK Kurdish TV station ROJ has to air from Danish soil.
RUSSIA. Obama turning to the US relation with russia said there was “a great potential to improve” relations with Russia, but also added that Moscow should not go back to “old ways of doing business.” “And I think we have to send a very clear message to Russia, that we want to work with them, but we can’t go back to old ways of doing business(…)I think it is important for NATO allies to engage Russia, and to recognise that they have legitimate interests, in some case we have common interests, but we also have some core disagreements.”Moreover, according to NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop declared that NATO wants and should cooperate with Russia.
Speaker of the Ukrainian parliament Vladimir Litvin reckons that the Russian Black Sea Fleet should be a guarantor of Ukraine’s security. He expressed this opinion in an interview with the Russian Ekho Moskvy radio station(Itar-Tass).
Se HER
These days student demonstration in Chisinau are on almost everyone’s lips. Moreover, the question of the day is : How could the Communists win the elections being so unpopular between students? Students seeking an answer to this question have gathered in front of the parliament to ” peacefully ” demonstrate. What they do not realize is that they are fighting a lost battle. Their voice is only of a small percent of total Moldova population. Students are always the progressive elements of a society, and thus bring about change for the good and development. Even so, the Moldovan student community is split between Russian speakers and Romanian speakers. It very obvious why Romanian speaker students aren’t so pleased with the result of the elections. The Communist party is a traditional supporter of the interest of the Russian speaking community, more precisely maintaining good relations and ties with Moscow. On the hand, the right wing students that gathered the last days in Chisinau are infused with the attraction of the West. It is the benefits of the EU membership that they seek: free travel, open markets, etc. I strongly belief that if the Communist party, with of authoritarian actions, would follow a clear Western path it will gain the support of the Romanian Speaking population.
Western NGO’s and institutions, on their part, have acknowledged that the elections in Moldova were conducted in satisfactory manner, and the deficiencies encountered in the process didn’t have a significant influence on the outcome.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, urged the sides to refrain from violence, adding the elections had met international standards, which was echoed by the secretary general of the Council of Europe.
“Some people may not be happy with the outcome, but accepting defeat is a part of the democratic process. As to any specific allegations of electoral irregularities, these should be dealt with in the court not in the street,” Terry Davis said.
The Communist Party’s electoral performance rests on distinct local circumstances, often underappreciated by outsiders. The Jamestown foundation have identified ten of such factors:
1) The Communist brand remains attractive to a critical mass of Moldovan voters. These compare (as do many Russian voters) the 1990s unfavorably both with the Soviet period and with the post-2001 period (when the Moldovan Communists returned to power).
2) The president and government used the incumbency advantage to the hilt, appearing in TV newscasts to open gas lines, agricultural machinery stations, and construction projects in the presence of appreciative voters during the electoral campaign. They also resorted to populist measures, from lowering the bread price to donating to charities during the campaign.
3) The incumbent government, predominantly of technical experts, is unquestionably Moldova’s most competent and convincing to voters since independence, contrasting with previous governments that were formed on a political basis. Prime Minister Zinaida Grecianai, one year in that post, enjoys a high popularity rating. The current government includes only two communist ministers, out of nineteen. Half of the ministers, however, ran for parliament on the Communist Party’s list, adding to the party’s “administrative resources” in this campaign.
4) The Communist Party is the only major party with a multi-ethnic electorate. Most opposition parties (including all three that have now entered the parliament) rely entirely on ethnic Moldovan voters (a minority of whom define themselves as Romanians) and have not seriously attempted to reach out to “Russian-speaking” voters. Many “Russian-speakers,” who defected from the Europe-oriented Communist Party in recent years, crossed over to small pro-Moscow groups or declined to vote, rather than joining Moldovan opposition parties. The Communist Party was able to offset that loss by increasing its share of the ethnic Moldovan vote.
5)Exit polls, conducted by Western-funded NGOs, showed that the Communist Party made significant inroads into young age cohorts for the first time in these elections. As the poll coordinator, sociologist Arcadie Barbarosie (head of the Soros Foundation’s local affiliate) observes, the Communist Party can no longer be stereotyped as a “pensioners’” or Soviet-nostalgics’ party (Moldpres, Imedia, April 6).
6) Still communist, nevertheless, in its disciplined style of operating, the party has developed an effective style of door-to-door campaigning in towns and villages. Although it fully (if informally) controls public television, and less fully public radio, the party gave up some of its public airtime during the final phase of the campaign, reflecting its confidence in door-to-door activity.
7) The Communist Party ran a sophisticated campaign under the direction of presidential adviser Marc Tcaciuc, long reputed as the “grey eminence,” and who has now earned the sobriquet of the party’s “grey matter” in this campaign (NewsIn, April 6). Apart from the public TV and radio company, the party controls two other television channels and one other country-wide radio channel.
0) While committed to European integration–a matter of national consensus above party lines–the Communist Party also advertised itself as Russia’s favored political partner in Moldova during this campaign. Voronin’s photo opportunity with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow on March 18 (see EDM, March 20, 25) helped to prevent Moldova’s pro-Russia parties from gaining enough votes to enter the parliament. Voronin’s move also undoubtedly played well with mainstream Moldovan voters, among whom Medvedev and Russian President Vladimir Putin hold the top two places in the popularity ratings. Voronin a distant third overall, but is a distant first among domestic political figures.
9) The opposition-dominated Chisinau Municipal Council, a scene of chaos and nepotism, has played into the Communist Party’s hands. The party constantly compared that scene with the situation in the pre-2001 parliament, which had helped discredit the multi-party system in Moldova. Certain Liberal-Democrat and Our Moldova leaders are also associated in the public memory with that parliament, making it possible for the Communists to campaign once again against “the 1990s” in these elections.
10) Half a dozen parties with theoretical chances to pass the 6 percent threshold campaigned ineffectively, competing against each other as well as against the Communists. Anti-communist slogans proved once again ineffective and largely irrelevant in Moldova. Inasmuch as the Communist Party today is a far cry from its pre-1991 predecessor, mere anti-communism is yesteryear’s battle in Moldova. No fewer than four opposition parties advertised themselves as Liberal, in a country completely devoid of a bourgeoisie. Both programatically and organizationally, the opposition failed to present a credible alternative to the incumbent majority party.
Madeline Albright, she of the blithe gaffe that the deaths of half a million Iraqi children through the hideous sanctions over Iraq were “worth it”, is presently a top advisor to Obama on national security. She resigned in 2005 after the Grasso scandal. Considering her past opposition toward recognising the Armenian genocide which occurred during the final days of Ottoman rule in World War 1, the importance of Turkey as one of the trusty US land-bound aircraft carrier vassal countries in the Middle East and the concurring predilections of newly appointed Chief Advisor to Obama, Rahm Emmanuel, along with Obama’s grovelling to AIPAC, it would be surprising indeed if the US shifted its current blinkered, slanted position to the Holocaust suffered by the Armenian people.
