Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations

Prepared for the
Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations
by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
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DAILY ALERT Tuesday,
May 13, 2008


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In-Depth Issues:


From Lebanon to Hizbullahstan - Bret Stephens (Wall Street Journal)
Christians have been fleeing Lebanon for decades. Though a census hasn't been taken in 75 years, Nizar Hamze of the American University of Beirut estimates that there are between eight and nine births per Shiite household, compared to five for Sunnis and two for Christians and Druze.
These numbers must ultimately count against an outmoded constitutional order geared to favor Christians first, Sunnis second, and Shiites third.
But even if Lebanon cannot escape its Shiite destiny, it is not ordained that it must also become a Hizbullah state, taking its orders from Tehran.



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Former Arab Warlord Ready for Coexistence with Israel - Martin Chulov (The Australian)
As a leading figure in Islamic Jihad in the West Bank, Mohammed Ghawanmeh, 52, of Jalazone spent most of his working life in and out of Israeli prisons.
"But since I was released from prison (in 2000), I have looked away from the past. There is no other option but to form peace with Israel and get on with building a state."
"We are not going back [to homes in Israel] and we know it," he says.
"If they offered anything like what Barak, Arafat and Clinton talked about in 2000, we should absolutely, positively take it, no questions asked," he says.



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Why Israel Is the World's Happiest Country - Spengler (Asia Times-Hong Kong)
Envy surrounds no country on Earth like the State of Israel, and with good reason: by objective measures, Israel is the happiest nation on Earth.
It is one of the wealthiest, freest and best-educated; and it enjoys a higher life expectancy than Germany or the Netherlands.
But most remarkable is that Israelis appear to love life and hate death more than any other nation.
As a simple index of life-preference, I plotted the fertility rate versus the suicide rate of 35 industrial countries - that is, the proportion of people who choose to create new life against the proportion who choose to destroy their own. Israel stands alone at the top.
"As much as you love life, we love death," Muslim clerics teach; the same formula is found in a Palestinian textbook for second graders.
Apart from the fact that the Arabs are among the least free, least educated, and (apart from the oil states) poorest peoples in the world, they also are the unhappiest, even in their wealthiest kingdoms. Oil-rich Saudi Arabia ranks 171st on an international quality of life index, below Rwanda.
The contrast of Israeli happiness and Arab despondency is what makes peace an elusive goal in the region.




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Hizbullah Capture of Lebanese Mountain Village Seen as Threat to Israel - Hugh Macleod
Hizbullah Monday took control of the Druze village of Niha in the Chouf mountains, 25 miles southeast of Beirut, after fierce fighting. Analysts said the village provides Hizbullah with a crucial supply route between its stronghold in the eastern Bekaa Valley and the coastal highway that leads to Hizbullah's bases in Beirut's southern suburbs. "Hizbullah will very soon spread all over," said Ahmad Moussali, a professor at the American University of Beirut. (Guardian-UK)
Bush Calls Iran "Single Biggest Threat" to Mideast Peace
President Bush on Monday called Iran the "single biggest threat" to peace in the Middle East because of its nuclear program and its support of groups like the Lebanese Hizbullah militia. (AFP)
As Bush Term Wanes, Mideast Peace Appears as Elusive as Ever - Sheryl