* Syria adamant about Golan Heights The Syrian President has said Damascus will remain adamant about its political stance as long as Israel continues to be an occupier.

* Peres and Abbas: We are closer than ever to peace Israeli President Shimon Peres appeared side by side to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday at the Ambrosetti Forum, an annual gathering of global political and business leaders in an Italian lakeside resort.

* EU Foreign Ministers Discuss International Monitors for Georgia European Union foreign ministers begin a two day meeting Friday in the southern French city of Avignon that is expected to discuss sending international observers to monitor a cease-fire in Georgia.

* South Korea wants North to keep nuclear plant shut South Korea’s chief nuclear envoy on Friday pressed North Korea to halt plans to rebuild a mothballed nuclear plant that makes arms-grade plutonium and instead return to the bargaining table to discuss disarmament.

* Pakistan set for presidential poll Pakistani legislators are preparing to vote for a new president to replace Pervez Musharraf.

* Lebanese ruling majority accuses Syria of interfering in Lebanon Lebanese ruling majority accused Syrian President Bashar Assad of interfering in Lebanese internal affairs and not recognizing Lebanon’s sovereignty.

* U.S. warship in Russian-patrolled Georgian port The flagship of the U.S. Navy’s Sixth Fleet dropped anchor off Georgia’s Black Sea port of Poti on Friday, where Russian troops have been patrolling since last month’s war with Georgia.

* Nasrallah: We won’t disarm even if Shaba returned Hizbullah’s goal is freeing the Shaba farms and the northern Ghajar village, but even once these lands are liberated, the organization will not disarm, as its weapons will be used to defend Lebanon from Israel, the guerrilla group’s leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, stated in a televised speech on Thursday.

* Efforts to Rebuild Biblical Tomb Desecrated Samaria Regional Council head Gershon Mesika is spearheading a political and financial effort to rebuild the tomb of the biblical figure Joseph, located in Shechem, 30 miles north of Jerusalem. The tomb was desecrated and pillaged by Arabs in October 2000, and remains in an area under control of the Palestinian Authority (PA).

* Yushchenko remains steadfast with NATO Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko says a collapse of Kiev’s pro-Western coalition won’t prevent Ukraine from seeking to join NATO and the European Union.

* Erdogan: Fifth round of indirect peace talks in two weeks A fifth round of indirect talks between Israel and Syria will take place in two weeks and will last two days.

* Syria warns of global ‘disaster’ if Iran attacked Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Wednesday any attack on Iran would be a disaster and pledged to help find a peaceful solution.

* 2nd Temple-Era Wall Found on Mt. Zion A 2,100-year-old section of the wall surrounding Jerusalem, dating from Hasmonean times, has been unearthed on Mount Zion.

* Cheney: Georgia will be in our alliance U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney said Thursday the United States firmly backs NATO membership for Georgia.

* PA minister: No agreement on any issue Not a single word has been set on paper and there is no real agreement on the smaller points, let alone the core issues.

* Baghdad’s Extremists Losing Weapons Stores Leaders of the new “elite” force Moqtada Sadr plans to establish to confront U.S. forces in Iraq.

* Barak: East J’lem could be Palestinian capital Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Wednesday that east Jerusalem could be the capital of a future Palestinian state.

* Baltic states need NATO help, US says NATO should show Russia it would defend the Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – in the event of attack.

* Analysis: Increasingly, Hamas is gaining acceptance in the Arab world A series of recent developments point to Hamas’s increasingly solid position in the Palestinian and broader Arab political constellations.

* Israel of the Caucasus? NATO guarantees that an attack against one member country is an attack against all are no longer what they used to be.

* Olmert Grasps at Straws as Kadima Primary Heats Up Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is trying desperately to salvage what remains of his tattered reputation.

* US says troops could quit Baghdad soon General David Petraeus, the top US commander in Iraq, said declining violence in Baghdad raised the possibility that American combat troops could leave the capital by next summer.

* Eldad angers Tibi with plans to screen controversial film on Islam MK Arieh Eldad (National Union-NRP) announced Tuesday that a “first of its kind” coalition of European legislators will examine ways to stop the global spread of Islam.

* Iran: We Produce\Export Weapons to 50 Countries Iranian officials have boasted of their homegrown arms industry in recent days.

* French head to begin Syria visit French President Nicolas Sarkozy is due to visit Syria as part of efforts to improve ties between the two countries.

* Georgians eager to rebuild army Just weeks after Georgia’s military collapsed in panic in the face of the Russian Army.

* Foreign Ministry warns Europe against Syria Foreign Ministry Deputy Director-General Yigal Palmor warned Wednesday that “the Europeans should be very careful when they consider restoring their ties with Syria.”

* MEPs urge Russia to abide by international law The European Parliament condemned Russia’s actions against Georgia on Wednesday (3 September), reminding Moscow it needs to abide by international law.

* ‘Israel-Syria talks to focus on borders’ A fifth round of indirect peace talks between Israel and Syria are scheduled to begin on September 7 in Istanbul.

* EU Legislator: Money for PA Obstacle to Peace Increased European Union (EU) aid to Hamas workers for the Palestinian Authority (PA) is illegal and is an obstacle to peace.

By: Hillel Fendel – Arutz Sheva

The widely-disseminated Arab Moslem position that the Temple Mount is not Jewish has been debunked – by the Supreme Moslem Council (Waqf) of Jerusalem, in a Temple Mount guide published in 1925.

Wakf guidebook, 1925, cover
The Temple Institute

Guidebook Puts the Lie to Current Arab Campaign
In 1997, the chief Moslem cleric of the Palestinian Authority, Mufti Ikrama Sabri, stated, “The claim of the Jews to the right over [Jerusalem] is false, and we recognize nothing but an entirely Islamic Jerusalem under Islamic supervision…”

Thus began a campaign to convince the world that the millennia-old natural association between Jerusalem and Jews was untrue. As Islamic Movement chief Raed Salah stated in 2006, “We remind, 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.”

However, it is now known that this “absolute” Moslem claim is actually not as absolute as claimed. In fact, back in 1925, the Supreme Moslem Council – also known as the Waqf, which has overseen Temple Mount activities on behalf of the Moslem religion for hundreds of years – boasted proudly that the site was none other than that of Solomon’s Temple.

The Jerusalem-based Temple Institute (https://www.templeinstitute.org) reports that it has acquired a copy of the official 1925 Supreme Moslem Council Guide Book to Al-Haram Al-Sharif (the Moslem name for the Temple Mount). On page 4, the Waqf states, “Its identity with the site of Solomon’s Temple is beyond dispute. This, too, is the spot, according to universal belief, on which ‘David built there an altar unto the L-rd…’, citing the source in 2 Samuel XXIV,25.

Wakf guidebook, 1925, excerpt close-up
The Temple Institute

In addition, on page 16, the pamphlet makes reference to the underground area in the south-east corner of the Mount, which is refers to as Solomon’s Stables. “Little is known for certain of the history of the chamber itself,” the guide reads. “It dates probably as far back as the construction of Solomon’s Temple. According to Josephus, it was in existence and was used as a place of refuge by the Jews at the time of the conquest of Jerusalem by Titus in the year 70 A.D.”

The Temple Mount in Jerusalem was in fact the site of the two Jewish Holy Temples which stood for nearly 1,000 years (see below).

Wakf guidebook, 1925, excerpt
The Temple Institute

Proof of Moslem Anti-Jewish Revisionism
The Temple Institute’s Rabbi Chaim Richman writes that the pamphlet provides proof that the Waqf’s current position is a departure from traditional Muslim belief. “In recent years,” he writes, “the Moslem Waqf has come to deny the historic existence of the Holy Temple, claiming that the Temple Mount belongs solely to the Moslem nation, and that there exists no connection between the Jewish nation and the Temple Mount. It is clear from this pamphlet that the revised Waqf position strays from traditional Moslem acknowledgment of the Mount’s Jewish antecedents.”

“The current denial of historical reality is merely one tool in the war being waged by Moslems against the G-d of Israel and the entire ‘infidel’ world,” Richman declares.

Examples of the new Palestinian/Arab position on Jerusalem:
PA Mufti Sabri was quoted in the Palestinian daily Al-Ayyam on November 22, 1997 as saying, “The ‘Al-Buraq’ Wall [the Western Wall] is a part of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The Jews have no relation to it.”

The same newspaper, on July 18, 1997, reported that Hamad Yusef, head of The Institution for the Rejuvenation of the Palestinian Heritage, referred to the “false historical claim of the Jews in the holy city, a claim which they were unable to prove in all of the excavations conducted by foreign groups for the past hundred years.” The paper also stated that Hamad “accused the Israelis of unprecedented historical forgeries, emphasizing the Palestinian, the Arab and the Islamic nature of the holy city for the past 6,000 years. Israel fails in her attempt to find a historical connection to Jerusalem.” (courtesy of Jewish Virtual Library)

Jewish History on the Mount
The Temple Mount in Jerusalem was the site of the two Jewish Holy Temples, the first of which was built by King Solomon in the year 832 BCE, close to 1,500 years before Islam was founded. It stood for over 400 years, and after the 70-year Babylonian Exile, a Second Temple was built on the same site. Thus, for nearly 1,000 years, Holy Temples stood on the site, until the Romans conquered the entire land and destroyed the Second Temple. Though the area came under the control of the Romans, Byzantines, Moslems, Christians, Turks, British and others over the intervening centuries, Jerusalem and the Temple Mount were always the focus of Jewish religious and national yearnings, and continued to be the Jews’ “capital” even while in exile. In the Six Day War of 1967, the modern State of Israel liberated the Temple Mount area and all of Jerusalem, placing it under Jewish control once again after a hiatus of 1,900 years.

Israel, however, never actualized its sovereignty over the holy Temple Mount site, but rather granted the Waqf nearly total control. Jews, in fact, have not been allowed to pray there ever since then-Chief IDF Rabbi Shlomo Goren led a prayer service there on the first Tisha B’Av after the liberation. Jews’ visiting hours are also restricted.

By: Brenda Gazzar – The Jerusalem post

By and large, Arabs in the Middle East “absolutely reject” an Israeli or American strike on Iran or its nuclear facilities and believe the Islamic Republic is being “targeted” for reasons other than its nuclear program, an Egyptian expert on Iran has told The Jerusalem Post.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Photo: AP

Unlike the US-led Iraq War of 2003, an attack on Iran would likely fail to garner any Arab support and any country that chooses to participate in such a strike would be branded a traitor, said Mohammed Said Idris, head of the Gulf Studies department at the Cairo-based Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies and editor of Iran Digest.

“It is considered the right of Iran to pursue a peaceful nuclear program and it is a legitimate right and there is nothing that confirms with convincing evidence, and especially for the experts of the International Atomic Energy Agency, that the Iranian nuclear program is a military program,” Idris said earlier this month.

Contrary to Israeli and Western claims, Iran denies it is seeking a bomb and insists it has the right to develop nuclear expertise to produce energy. Iran has all but ignored punitive sanctions levied by the United Nations, the United States and Europe and rapidly increased the pace of its nuclear development. Both Israel and the US have not ruled out military action in dealing with Iran.

Many in the Arab world believe that Iran’s rejection of the State of Israel, its support for “resistance forces” in Lebanon and in the territories and America’s support for Israel are the main reasons there has been contemplation of an attack, Idris said.

But most Arabs are divided in how they see the issue.

One camp believes Iran has the right to pursue a peaceful nuclear program as guaranteed by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), for which the Islamic Republic is a signatory, and that the United States and other large powers have an obligation to support her in that right. Iran, they argue, would be less eager to possess a military nuclear program if she was supported in her right to develop a peaceful one, he said.

While this camp rejects any Iranian effort to seek a nuclear weapons program, it also seeks to create a nuclear-free Middle East, where Israel, too would ultimately give up the weapons it is believed to have.

The other camp believes Iran must pursue nuclear weapons in order to balance out Israel’s weapons. They argue that nothing with deter Israel from its “aggressive nature” other than a true balance of nuclear power, he said.

“Israel understands that she is not legitimate and that her existence on the land she was established on is illegitimate, and she will store her nuclear weapons and will use American support to impose this existence and to protect it,” Idris said, citing a common theory in the Arab world.

While Idris could not say which opinion carries the most weight in the Arab world, he said that day after day, “as long as the American and Israeli threats are increasing against Iran and as long as Israeli aggression increases against the Palestinian people,” the latter camp will continue to gain popularity on the Arab street.

But most in the Arab world, he said, do not consider it likely that either Israel or America would attack since “Arabs know that Iran owns the ways and the means to respond in painful ways” and since American officials have indicated they are unable to wage yet a third war following the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Idris said most believe that Israel, too, is aware that she cannot contend with Iran on her own.

In recent months, tensions have escalated with military exercises reportedly conducted in both Israel and Iran and strong words exchanged between political leaders.

Iranian Deputy chief of staff General Masoud Jazayeri said Saturday that if Israel or the United States should attack Iran, it would lead to another “world war.”

“It is evident that if such a challenge occurs, the fake and artificial regimes will be eliminated before anything,” the Iranian state news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.

Meanwhile, Ma’ariv reported Friday that preparations for Israeli military action to halt Iran’s nuclear program are under way in the event that diplomatic efforts fail.

* Supreme Moslem Council: Temple Mount is Jewish The widely-disseminated Arab Moslem position that the Temple Mount is not Jewish has been debunked.

* Iranian air force announces extensive drill Iran’s chief of staff, General Atallah Salhi, announced Tuesday that the Iranian air force would be holding a comprehensive military drill during the month of Ramadan.

* Hamas Calls on Egypt to Send Army to Jerusalem Hamas has called on Egypt to send its army into Jerusalem “to liberate [the] Al-Aqsa Mosque.

* EU-Russia talks suspended until Moscow withdraws troops EU leaders on Monday (1 September) agreed to postpone talks on a new EU-Russia partnership until Russian troops withdraw from Georgia.

* Israel on Global High Alert for Kidnapping of Citizens Israel’s Counter Terrorism Bureau, a section of the Prime Minister’s Office, has issued an urgent warning to Israelis abroad to be vigilant against possible kidnappings.

* Russia plays down EU threats over Georgia Russian officials Tuesday criticized the European Union for threatening to postpone talks on a new political and economic partnership deal over the war in Georgia.

* Hamas leader Meshal ‘leaves Syria for Sudan’ Kuwaiti newspaper Al Rai reported Tuesday that Hamas political leader Khaled Meshal has left Damascus to live in Sudan at Syria’s request.

* As Ramadan starts, Israel seeks to ease travel With the start of Ramadan’s month of daytime fasts, the Civil Administration moved into high gear on Monday.

* Polish and US officials rebuke ‘mistaken’ Georgia and ‘illegal’ Russia Russia breached international law when attacking Georgia, therefore it must face consequences.

* Ramadan, 1429 From Granada in Spain and Aubervilliers in France, to Cairo and Jakarta, more than a billion Muslims are this month marking the “handing down” of the Koran.

* Russian threats loom over historic EU summit EU leaders are holding an emergency summit on EU-Russia relations on Monday (1 September) – the first such meeting since the 9/11 attacks in the US.

* US hands over key Iraq province The US military has handed Anbar province, once the centre of Iraq’s Sunni insurgency, to Iraqi control at a ceremony in the provincial capital.

* ME Arabs ‘reject’ idea of Iran strike By and large, Arabs in the Middle East “absolutely reject” an Israeli or American strike on Iran or its nuclear facilities and believe the Islamic Republic is being “targeted” for reasons other than its nuclear program, an Egyptian expert on Iran has told The Jerusalem Post.

* Kremlin announces that South Ossetia will join ‘one united Russian state’ The Kremlin moved swiftly to tighten its grip on Georgia’s breakaway regions yesterday as South Ossetia announced that it would soon become part of Russia, which will open military bases in the province under an agreement to be signed on Tuesday.

* Gaza kids ‘training to kill Jews’ Salah al-Din Brigades training dozens of Palestinian children to ‘fight the Jews and kill Jewish children’.

* ‘US to strike Iran in coming weeks’ The Dutch intelligence service, the AIVD, has called off an operation aimed at infiltrating and sabotaging Iran’s weapons industry due to an assessment that a US attack on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program is imminent, according to a report in the country’s De Telegraaf newspaper on Friday.Strategiewreat.

* ‘Hizbullah has a right to rearm itself’ Lebanese parliament speaker Nabi Berri expressed his support for the continued armament of Hizbullah, the London-based Arab daily A-Sharq Alawsat newspaper reported Monday.

* ‘J’lem worried over Biden’s Iran stance’ Security officials expressed concern Monday over statements reportedly made by US Democratic vice presidential candidate Joseph Biden regarding Iran’s nuclear program.

* China’s CNPC seals $3bn Iraq deal China’s state-owned oil firm CNPC has agreed a $3bn (£1.63bn) oil services contract with the government of Iraq.

* Saudi Arabians Back Obama Saudi Arabians, including expatriates, are backing Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama.

* Iranian general: Attack on Iran would cause another World War Should Israel or the United States attack Iran, it would be the start of another World War.

* Israel Has Decided: Iran Will Not Have Nukes Israel’s leadership resolved, in top-level strategic discussions three months ago, to do whatever it takes to prevent Iran from having nuclear bombs.

* Georgia severs diplomatic ties with Russia Georgia has severed diplomatic ties with Moscow to protest the presence of Russian troops on its territory.

* Sarkozy to Make Landmark Syria Visit French President Nicolas Sarkozy has confirmed he will make a landmark visit to Syria on Sept. 3-4.

* Hezbollah’s new missiles have range ‘Israel can’t fathom’ Hezbollah is armed with advanced Iranian-supplied missiles capable of reaching targets deep inside Israel.

* McCain chooses Palin as VP candidate Republican presidential candidate John McCain stunned the US political establishment Friday and bolstered his image as a maverick by choosing the little-known female governor of Alaska.

* Palestinians remain persecuted minority in post-Saddam Iraq Omar Ahmed rarely emerges from his rundown Baghdad housing project.

* New pressure over faith schools Ministers are being urged to stop faith schools in England selecting pupils and staff on the basis of their religion.

* Bush’s Mideast peace timeline looking unattainable President Bush’s goal of forging an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal within five months is looking increasingly unattainable.

* Egypt opens Gaza border for two days Egypt opened its sealed border crossing with the Gaza Strip on Saturday.

* ‘Israel reaches strategic decision not to let Iran go nuclear’ Israel will not agree to allow Iran to achieve nuclear weapons and if the grains start running out in the proverbial egg timer, Jerusalem will not hesitate to take whatever means necessary to prevent Iran from achieving its nuclear goals.

* Iraq’s Sadr extends militia truce Iraq’s influential Shia cleric, Moqtada Sadr, has indefinitely extended a ceasefire being observed by members of his Mehdi Army militia.

* Iran supplied Hizbullah with advanced missiles Iran has supplied Hizbullah with advanced missiles which can accurately hit extensive targets inside Israel.

* Sarkozy: EU’s Man of the Hour Sarkozy, who was elected two years after French voters gave a resounding referendum “No” to the EU’s draft new constitution, has now emerged as the most Europe-minded of the EU leaders.

* Germany and Russia threaten EU-Ukraine relations Germany’s close relations with Russia are the main obstacle to signing a major EU-Ukraine treaty at the upcoming EU-Ukraine summit in France.

* Israel: Assad not serious about peace Syria’s rush to take advantage of the conflict in Georgia and the Russia-US rift to cozy up to Moscow seems to indicate that it is not interested in serious negotiations with Israel.

* Russia hits back at G7 criticism Criticism by the G7 group of nations of Russia’s actions in Georgia is biased and groundless.

* Mideast Powers, Proxies and Paymasters Bluster and Rearm The war of words between Israel and Iran, and their proxies and paymasters, is becoming more belligerent as the Middle East’s two arch-enemies display their military prowess.

* EU sanctions would be ‘grave mistake,’ Russia says As the European Union considers imposing sanctions against Russia over its recognition of independence for Georgia’s rebel regions, Moscow has said that any punitive measures would be a “grave mistake.”

* Obama launches historic campaign Barack Obama has accepted the Democratic Party’s historic nomination to run for president of the US in front of a crowd of some 75,000 people.

By: Ze’ev Ben-Yechiel – Arutz Sheva

Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority have approved exploratory oil drilling in a nature reserve, despite opposition from its own science committee and environmentalists.

Ginko and Delek Energy Systems were given a green light to drill for oil in the reserve by a general assembly of the Parks Authority. The approval articulated several restrictions on the drilling, aimed at minimizing environmental damage.

The spokesman for the companies, Avraham Poraz – a former Minister of the Interior – convinced the Parks Authority to approve the drilling in a Judean Desert nature reserve, maintaining that “it’s just another place in the desert.” The decision was announced on Tuesday.

The approval stipulated that any oil discovered at the site be pumped diagonally from pumping stations located outside the reserve, in order to minimize ecological damage.

The Parks Authority admitted that its decision was not based on ecological concerns only; rather, the concerns of a general assembly that consists of representatives of different ministries and government offices, including some with ties to oil companies and other private interests.

Ecologists and environmental workers within the Parks Authority decried Tuesday’s decision, citing the extreme ecological sensitivity of the area. They explained that oil drilling requires clearing ground, installing large fuel pumps and employee housing, and creates noise, light and pollution that could irrevocably damage the environment.

The specialists, in a statement objecting to the decision, said, “The drilling and extraction of oil could harm whole populations of rare species. We believe that the foreseen production does not justify the permit to severely and permanently harm plants and wildlife, as well as the landscape and tourists in an official nature reserve.”

The oil companies defended the decision of the Parks Authority by playing down the impact on the environment. “I know the area well and it’s just another place in the desert,” Poraz said.

The companies believe that the site has a potential to produce up to 6.5 million barrels of oil, worth $700 million dollars and which Poraz claimed is strategically important in ending Israel’s dependency on enemy Arab states for its energy needs. “Israel is not rich enough to allow itself to forgo such potential,” he said.

Israel’s leading environmental group, the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI), condemned what they believe to be pandering to entrepreneurs.

“The SPNI is distressed by the fact that members of the Parks Authority assembly who voted in favor of the plan caved in to pressure exerted by the entrepreneurs, did not heed its own science committee’s recommendation against the plan, and approved an appeal that will cause needless harm to a nature reserve,” said a statement from the group.

Nir Pappay, director of SPNI’s Environmental Protection Division, was also disturbed by “the fact that this will set a precedent for other cases” where the recommendation of environmental experts will be ignored in favor of private interests. Pappay said that the “amount of oil is minimal”, and that moreover, should there is no reason why the exploratory drilling can’t be conducted in a way that minimizes damage to the lands in the nature reserve.

Just as the Parks Authority decision stipulated that oil retrieved for commercial purposes be extracted diagonally, so should any holes drilled for exploration, said Pappay.