Dr. Max Singer, a senior research associate at the Begin-Sadat (BESA) Center for Strategic Studies, writes this week that the only chance for peace in the Middle East is if the West disabuses the Arabs of two fallacies.

A founder and senior fellow of the Hudson Institute, Singer writes that within the Palestinian Authority, a debate rages between those who favor retaining the goal of eliminating Israel, and those who favor giving up that goal to gain peace and prosperity. In addition, many within the PA draw hope from the growing anti-Israel international movement that Israel can eventually be destroyed – either from within, or because it will be forced to make more concessions than it can safely live with.

If peace is to have a chance, Singer writes, Western leaders need to convince the PA side that both notions are wrong.            

Jewish Links to Land – Important Part of Peace
An important component of the latter notion is the continued denial by the PA leadership of the Jewish People’s ancient connection to the Land of Israel and Jerusalem. This denial precludes the possibility that Arabs will agree to the notion of an honorable peace with Israel.

For instance, Moslem leaders in the PA repeatedly claim that the Temple Mount – the holiest site in Judaism, where Abraham nearly sacrificed his son Isaac, where the two Holy Temples stood, and where the third is to be rebuilt – has no Jewish history or background. In the words of the chief Moslem cleric of the Palestinian Authority, Mufti Ikrama Sabri, “The claim of the Jews to the right over [Jerusalem] is false, and we recognize nothing but an entirely Islamic Jerusalem under Islamic supervision…”  

Similarly, Islamic Movement chief Raed Salah has said, “We reiterate for the 1,000th time that the entire Al-Aqsa mosque [on the Temple Mount], including all of its area and alleys above the ground and under it, is exclusive and absolute Moslem property, and no one else has any rights to even one grain of earth in it.”

Jordan, too, has not waived its demands for sovereignty and responsibility over the Temple Mount. Jordanian government minister Abdel Salam Abbadi said last week that Jordan’s 1988 decision to disconnect from Judea and Samaria did not mean that it detached itself from Jerusalem and the holy sites.

Groups Work for Jewish Temple Mount
To counter this approach – and thereby to help achieve the goal of which Singer wrote – various Jewish groups in Israel seek to cement the Jewish bonds to the Temple Mount. They visit the Mount whenever possible, attempt to secure rights for Jews to visit and pray there, arrange marches outside the Temple Mount gates, and raise Temple Mount awareness with events, classes, pamphlets, exhibits and more.

Among them are The Temple Institute, the Organization for the Renewal of the Temple, the Sanhedrin, the Organization for Human Rights on the Temple Mount, and others.

Petition to Netanyahu
The Organization for the Renewal of the Temple has initiated a petition/letter to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, urging him to add the Temple Mount to his new list of sites preserved as National Heritage sites. The letter states that though “the Temple Mount is the holiest site in the world for the Jewish people, yet the Muslim authorities, aided by Israel Police, systematically deny the right of religious expression on the Mount to all non-Moslems. On numerous occasions the High Court of Justice has upheld the Jewish people’s right to pray at the site, yet the police continue to prevent this. Furthermore, Jewish visitors are harassed and degraded… Please, end this travesty and allow Jewish freedom of expression at the Temple Mount. I urge you include the Temple Mount in your “Heritage Plan” of sites significant to the Jewish people.”

The Temple Institute, engaged in education, research, and development towards the Holy Temple in accordance with Biblical law, recently held its 29th annual Temple Institute Passover Symposium, under the banner of “Integrating Modern Technology into the Holy Temple.” Issues discussed included questions such as, “Will massive digital screens allow worshipers to observe the work of the High Priest from a great distance? Will computers be used to keep track of the sacrifices, public and private? Will special impurity-proof buses be used to transport Passover pilgrims and their Paschal offerings?”

* Israel remembers 6 million Jews Two-minute siren wails across country as Israelis honor memory of Shoah victims. Memorial ceremonies held at Yad Vashem, Knesset; PM Netanyahu, President Peres read out names of relatives who died in Holocaust

* PM slams world silence on Iran Netanyahu warns Iran’s genocidal intentions reminiscent of holocaust.

* Think Tank Speculates War Could Break Out with Syria The increasingly open threats made by Syrian leaders and members of the Hezbollah terrorist group in Lebanon have led analysts to warn that war may be on the horizon.

* US Expert Predicts ‘Oil and Gas Rush’ to Israel A US energy industry expert estimates that international companies may soon join exploration efforts for oil and gas in Israel.

* Gates: Nuclear Iran not inevitable In Moscow, Russia assures MKs it won’t send S-300s to Iran for now.

* US President Barack Obama warns of nuclear terrorism President Barack Obama has said the biggest threat to US security is the possibility of a terrorist organization obtaining a nuclear weapon.

* Hungary’s right-wing opposition claims election win Hungary’s conservative opposition party, Fidesz, has secured a convincing victory in parliamentary elections, ousting the Socialists.

* EU sees upswing in antisemitic attacks The number of antisemitic incidents mushroomed in many western EU countries in 2009 due to an organized anti-Gaza war campaign.

* Clinton downplays Netanyahu no-show at summit Secretary of State Hillary Clinton denied the United States had been blindsided by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to pull out of President Obama’s nuclear security summit.

* Turkey to Challenge Israel, Support Hamas Turkey is planning a gesture that will challenge Israel and provide support to Gaza’s Hamas leaders next month.

A new species of giant lizard has been discovered in the Philippines.

The 2m-long reptile is a monitor lizard, the group to which the world’s longest and largest lizards belong.

The monitor, described as spectacular by the scientists who found it, lives in forests covering the Sierra Madre mountains in the north of the country.

The striking reptile has bright yellow, blue and green skin, and survives on a diet of just fruit, yet until now it has escaped the eyes of biologists.

“It is an incredible animal,” says Dr Rafe Brown, one of the scientists who describe the new lizard in the journal Biology Letters.

In the journal, the researchers describe how rare it is to find such a large terrestrial animal new to science.

The discovery of the lizard, they say, is of a similar importance to two other large species of so-called “mega-fauna” discovered in recent years: the kipunji (Rungwecebus kipunji), a new genus of monkey found in Africa, and the saola, a Vietnamese forest bovid (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis).

The giant lizard is actually well known to resident Agta and Ilongot tribespeople living in the forests of northern Luzon Island.

The tribespeople regularly hunt the lizard for its meat, a vital source of protein.

Yet scientists were unaware of its existence.

That was until Dr Brown and an international team of colleagues from the US, Philippines and The Netherlands surveyed a series of lizard specimens preserved in museums both within the US and Philippines.

Within these specimens they identified the new species on the basis of its body size, scales, colouration and DNA.

With a main body length approaching 1m, with an additional 1m-long tail, the lizard has dark skin covered by golden yellow spots and flecks.

Its legs are mainly yellow, and its tail striped black and yellow.

In some pictures, the animal also looks to have green or blue scales.

The new species, which is called Varanus bitatawa, is thought to survive on a diet of fruit, making it one of just three species of fruit-eating monitor lizards in the world.

Monitor lizards include the world’s most massive lizard, the Komodo dragon (V. komodoensis), which can reach up to 3m-long and weigh up to 90kg.

While not as massive, other species of monitor, such as the Crocodile monitor or Salvadori’s monitor (Varanus salvadorii) of New Guinea, can also reach similar lengths.

Secretive creature

Why the new massive lizard has remained undiscovered by scientists until now is a mystery, especially as many biologists work in the northern Philippines.

The researchers say it may be because the lizard is naturally reclusive, being a highly secretive animal that never leaves the forest or crosses open country.

It could also be because few scientific expeditions have characterized the reptiles living in the Sierra Madre forests.

The new species of monitor lives at least 150km away from its nearest relative, another lizard called V. olivaceus, which also lives in trees and eats fruit.

Israeli and international scientists are working to develop a revolutionary technology that could restore sight to millions. Within a few years, one or more versions of a “bionic eye” for people with degenerative conditions affecting the retina are expected to be available commercially.

Damage to the retina, the membrane that lines the inside of the eyeball and is connected via the optic nerve to the brain, is among the leading causes of vision loss in the developed world.

The innovative technology relies on the brain’s acquired ability to process visual data. As such, it will only provide a limited field of vision.

Nano Retina, based in Herzliya Pituah and founded by entrepreneur Yossi Gross, is developing an implant that will replace damaged photo-receptors in the eyes and provide gray-scale vision to a resolution of 1300 pixels for the first generation of chips and 5000 pixels for the second generation. The company hopes to begin marketing its implant within five years.

The German biomedical firm Retina Implant AG, meanwhile, recently reported the successful conclusion of a clinical trial involving 11 subjects who lost their sight due to retinitis pigmentosa. A tiny chip implanted underneath the retina enables light entering through the pupil to be converted into neural signals that are received by the brain. The chip is powered by a tiny external battery that is affixed behind the ear.

Nano Retina engineers say their chip will enable users to identify facial features and to watch television.

While both chips use a similar biological infrastructure, Nano Retina’s battery will be charged wirelessly, by a mini-laser attached to a pair of eyeglasses.

Meanwhile, Bionic Vision Australia announced recently that its bionic eye, which includes a miniature camera attached to glasses, will be on the market within three years.