Actualités au Moyen Orient

Citation :

Gaza: une flottille internationale d'aide partira fin juin

Une flottille internationale doit acheminer "vers la fin juin" de l'aide humanitaire à Gaza, malgré l'échec d'une première tentative en 2010 après un raid israélien, qui avait coûté la vie à neuf turcs, a affirmé mercredi une ONG turque, co-organisatrice du projet.

"Nous partirons vers Gaza vers la fin de juin, après les élections" législatives en Turquie, prévues le 12 juin, a souligné à l'AFP Salih Bilici, porte-parole de l'organisation caritative islamiste IHH.

Initialement, le convoi devait partir fin mai, date anniversaire de la première expédition, attaquée par un commando israélien en 2010, dans les eaux internationales, alors qu'il se dirigeait vers Gaza, sous blocus israélien et contrôlé par le mouvement islamiste palestinien Hamas.

L'IHH veut éviter que la mission ne soit compromise par des polémiques liées à la période électorale en Turquie.
Il a aussi indiqué que les autres organisateurs du projet achèveraient leurs préparatifs d'ici fin juin et partiraient ensemble, sans annoncer leur lieu de départ.

Une commission de coordination de l'opération internationale, "Freedom Flottilla II" s'est réunie le week-end dernier à Athènes. Les organisateurs se sont bornés à dire que le convoi appareillerait "d'un pays en Méditerranée".
Le 31 mai 2010, le ferry turc Mavi Marmara --l'un des bateaux qui transportaient une aide humanitaire-- a été pris d'assaut par l'armée israélienne, entraînant la mort de neuf Turcs.

L'assaut a soulevé des condamnations dans le monde et provoqué une grave crise dans les relations turco-israéliennes.
Le Mavi Marmara participera à la flottille cette année aussi, a ajouté M. Bilici.

De source diplomatique, on précise que l'ambassadeur d'Israël à Ankara Gabby Levy s'est entretenu avec un haut responsable du ministère turc des Affaires étrangères et a demandé que la Turquie intervienne pour prévenir une répétition du scénario précédent.

"Nous avons pris note, nous examinerons", s'est contenté de dire un diplomate turc sous couvert d'anonymat.
Le Premier ministre israélien, Benjamin Netanyahu, a demandé à l'Union européenne d'empêcher l'envoi de cette flottille.

http://www.leparisien.fr/flash-actualite-monde/gaza-une-flottille-internationale-d-aide-partira-fin-juin-13-04-2011-1406333.php

Citation :

Veto a State, Lose an Ally
By TURKI AL-FAISAL
Published: September 11, 2011
Jidda, Saudi Arabia


The United States must support the Palestinian bid for statehood at the United Nations this month or risk losing the little credibility it has in the Arab world. If it does not, American influence will decline further, Israeli security will be undermined and Iran will be empowered, increasing the chances of another war in the region.

Moreover, Saudi Arabia would no longer be able to cooperate with America in the same way it historically has. With most of the Arab world in upheaval, the “special relationship” between Saudi Arabia and the United States would increasingly be seen as toxic by the vast majority of Arabs and Muslims, who demand justice for the Palestinian people.

Saudi leaders would be forced by domestic and regional pressures to adopt a far more independent and assertive foreign policy. Like our recent military support for Bahrain’s monarchy, which America opposed, Saudi Arabia would pursue other policies at odds with those of the United States, including opposing the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in Iraq and refusing to open an embassy there despite American pressure to do so. The Saudi government might part ways with Washington in Afghanistan and Yemen as well.

The Palestinian people deserve statehood and all that it entails: official recognition, endorsement by international organizations, the ability to deal with Israel on more equal footing and the opportunity to live in peace and security.

Israel should see the Palestinian bid for statehood not as a threat, but as a chance to return to the negotiating table and prevent further conflict. Recent polls show that up to 70 percent of Palestinians say they believe there will be a new intifada if the deadlock is not broken shortly; this should encourage Israel to seek peace with the moderate Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

The Obama administration has had ample opportunities to lead Israelis and Palestinians into bilateral peace talks, but American policy makers have unfortunately been more preoccupied with a deteriorating domestic economy and a paralyzed political scene than with finding a workable solution to this epic injustice. Because Washington has offered no viable new proposals, the least it can do is step aside and not hinder Saudi, European and moderate Arab efforts to advance Palestinian rights at the United Nations.

Even Israeli officials have recently admitted privately to their European counterparts that only Saudi Arabia will be able to give the Palestinians the required religious, political and financial legitimacy they need to complete a deal with Israel. Saudi Arabia had earmarked over $2.5 billion in aid to the Palestinian Authority since June 2009, making it by far the largest single supporter of the Palestinian cause. But this money will not do much good until Palestinians are granted their fundamental rights.

The 2002 Arab Peace Plan must be the starting point for negotiations; a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders is the only realistic foundation on which to restart talks, seeing as how the Oslo Peace Process has proved fruitless.

The Palestinian statehood initiative is a chance to replace Oslo with a new paradigm based on state-to-state negotiations — a win-win proposition that makes the conflict more manageable and lays the groundwork for a lasting solution.

The only losers in this scenario would be Syria and Iran, pariah states that have worked tirelessly — through their support of Hamas and Hezbollah — to undermine the peace process. Saudi Arabia recently played a leading role in isolating Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s brutal government by demanding an end to the killing of protesters and recalling the Saudi ambassador from Damascus. The impending fall of Mr. Assad’s barbarous regime provides a rare strategic opportunity to weaken Iran. Without this vital ally, Tehran will find it more difficult to foment discord in the Arab world.

Today, there is a chance for the United States and Saudi Arabia to contain Iran and prevent it from destabilizing the region. But this opportunity will be squandered if the Obama administration’s actions at the United Nations force a deepening split between our two countries.

Although Saudi Arabia is willing and able to chart a new and divergent course if America fails to act justly with regard to Palestine, the Middle East would be far better served by continuing cooperation and good will between these longstanding allies.

American support for Palestinian statehood is therefore crucial, and a veto will have profound negative consequences. In addition to causing substantial damage to American-Saudi relations and provoking uproar among Muslims worldwide, the United States would further undermine its relations with the Muslim world, empower Iran and threaten regional stability. Let us hope that the United States chooses the path of justice and peace.

Prince Turki al-Faisal, a former director of Saudi Arabia’s intelligence services and a former Saudi ambassador to the United States, is chairman of the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies.

Citation :

La Turquie refuse l'aide des Etats-Unis dans sa crise avec Israël

ISTANBUL (AFP) - La Turquie refuse l'aide des Etats-Unis dans sa crise avec Israël, a déclaré samedi le ministre turc des Affaires étrangères, Ahmet Davutoglu.

"Nous n'avons pas besoin de médiation (...) en aucune manière", a déclaré M. Davutoglu au cours d'une conférence de presse télévisée dans la province centrale turque de Konya, alors qu'on l'interrogeait sur une possible médiation des Etats-Unis dans cette crise diplomatique qui dure depuis plus d'un an.

"Nous ne sommes pas dans une situation qui nécessite une médiation. Les demandes de la Turquie sont claires" en ce qui concerne les conditions pour une amélioration des relations avec Israël, a-t-il déclaré.

"Personne ne doit mettre notre sérieux à l'épreuve", a-t-il ajouté, rappelant que les relations entre son pays et l'Etat hébreu pourraient être évoquées lors d'une rencontre prévue la semaine prochaine entre le président américain Barack Obama et le Premier ministre turc Recep Tayyip Erdogan, en marge de l'Assemblée générale des Nations unies à New York.

"Ceux qui connaissent le mieux la position de la Turquie sur cette question sont certainement les responsables américains", a-t-il ajouté.

La Turquie a renvoyé début septembre l'ambassadeur d'Israël et suspendu les accords militaires avec son ancien allié, les responsables israéliens refusant de s'excuser pour un raid contre un bateau turc se dirigeant vers Gaza, le 31 mai 2010 dans les eaux internationales, au cours duquel neuf Turcs avaient été tués.

Les relations ont tourné encore plus à l'aigre lorsque M. Erdogan a menacé de faire escorter militairement les navires turcs qui auraient l'intention d'atteindre la bande de Gaza, territoire palestinien dirigé par le mouvement islamiste radical Hamas et qui est sous blocus israélien.

La situation en Libye, en Syrie, pays voisin de la Turquie, ainsi que la crise entre la Turquie et Israël devraient être abordées lors de l'entretien Obama-Erdogan, a déclaré vendredi le conseiller adjoint de M. Obama pour la sécurité nationale, Ben Rhodes.

"Nous avons encouragé la Turquie et Israël, deux amis des Etats-Unis, à dépasser leurs différends", a-t-il dit.

2011 AFP

A Palestinian man rides a donkey past an Israeli military jeep as villagers try to extinguish fires in a olive grove and fields which according to the local Palestinian villagers was started by settlers from a near by Jewish settlement close to the West Bank village of Burin on September 5, 2011, as tensions between Palestinian living in towns and villages in the Israeli occupied West Bank and Jewish settlers living in settlement dotted around the West Bank remain high.





An Israeli soldier stands near a torched car in the West Bank village of Qabalan near Nablus September 8, 2011. Israeli settlers sprayed grafitti on the mosque and torched Palestinian cars in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, angered by Israel's demolition of structures at an unauthorised outpost, Palestinian officials said.





A Palestinian farmer holds olives collected from broken olive tree branches in the village of Qusra. in the northern West Bank, Saturday, Sept. 10, 2011. According to Palestinian residents, some 50 olive trees were uprooted by Jewish settlers from a nearby settlement Saturday.




Jewish settlers runs after sheep in the unauthorized outpost of Havat Gilad, south of the West Bank city of Nablus September 13, 2011. A diplomatic showdown looms at the United Nations this month when Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to seek an upgrade of the Palestinians' U.N. status. The Palestinians hope to establish a state in the Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied West Bank , where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to freeze Jewish settlement-building despite the Obama administration's urging.




Jewish settlers participate in a drill, held by the settler's security response teams, simulating violence that could erupt ahead of the upcoming Palestinian bid for statehood at the United Nations September 14, 2011, in the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba.




A Palestinian fire fighter tries to extinguish a farmland fire near an evacuated Jewish settlement of Homesh by the West Bank village of Sellat Al-Dahr, south of Jenin city, Saturday, Sept. 17, 2011. According to local residents the fire was started by Jewish settlers.





An Israeli soldier removes a Palestinian flag after is was placed on the window of an army vehicle by a Palestinian activist during the launch of a pro-Palestinian volunteer-based campaign which will intervene and respond to cases of violence towards Palestinians by Jewish settlers in the West Bank, in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, near Ramallah September 19, 2011.




A Palestinian activist from a pro-Palestinian volunteer-based campaign films Israeli soldiers as they stand guard during the launch of the campaign which will intervene and respond to cases of violence towards Palestinians by Jewish settlers in the West Bank, in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, near Ramallah September 19, 2011.




Palestinian women wave national flags during a protest calling for a Palestinian state with full UN membership at the Qalandia Israeli checkpoint in the West Bank, near Ramallah, on September 17, 2011. The Palestinians are preparing to submit a formal request to become the 194th member of the United Nations when the General Assembly begins its meetings on September 20, despite US and Israeli opposition. A mural portrait of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is seen in the background.





Pro-Israel demonstrators blow the 'shofar', a ram's horn, during a demonstration against the possible division of Jerusalem, in Brussels, Monday, Sept. 19, 2011. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is en route to the United Nations in New York, U.S.A. to seek statehood and U.N. membership for "Palestine", which has provoked many demonstrations for and against the proposition.




Palestinian women walk past the former city hall in the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem decorated with a huge banner in support of the Palestinian UN bid for statehood at the United Nations on September 19, 2011. The Palestinians are preparing to submit a formal request to become the 194th member of the United Nations when the General Assembly begins its meetings on September 20, despite US and Israeli opposition.

Baybars a écrit:

J'y crois pas.. Vous (Maroc, Jordanie et Arabie Saoudite) avez d'autre problème. Les saoudiens et les jordaniens ne voudront jamais mettre à mal l'influence de la Turquie, on a relativement de très bonne relation avec ces deux pays.