SYRIA THREATENS TO SEND IN THE LAWYERS

'We'll sue US for giving arms to Israel' (JPost)
Syrians will sue the United States for providing Israel with weaponry that was used to kill Syrian citizens during the Second Lebanon War, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Mouallem threatened Thursday, a day after the US administration announced a new set of sanctions on the Assad regime.

"We will punish the United States," Mouallem said during a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki. "There are Syrians who were sacrificed during the Israeli was against Lebanon, and they will file a law suit against America, Which provided Israel with the weapons."

GOOD LUCK WITH THAT. BY THE WAY, WHAT WERE SYRIAN "CITIZENS" DOING IN SOUTHERN LEBANON IN BUNKERS WITH HEZBOLLAH?  WAIT, DON'T ANSWER THAT.  INSTEAD, CHEW ON THIS:

U.S. Expands Sanctions on Syria
The White House on Wednesday issued an order expanding sanctions against Syria imposed in 2004, saying the nation's leaders have engaged in a pattern of violating human rights in their own country and harmed the peace and stability of other nations in the region, including Iraq. The 2004 sanctions banned U.S. exports to Syria, except for food and medicine, allowed the U.S. Treasury Department to seize the property of Syrians involved in terrorism, and banned flights between the U.S. and Syria. (CNN)

AMERICANS FOR PEACE NOW OPPOSES NEW SANCTIONS ON IRAN

APN opposes Iran sanctions bills (JTA)
Americans for Peace Now opposes new legislation toughening Iran sanctions. "APN supports the imposition of targeted U.S. economic sanctions against Iran, but believes strongly that such sanctions should be part of a comprehensive strategy that includes both carrots and sticks," said a letter sent Friday to all Congress members. "Experience in the region demonstrates that sanctions alone are not likely to do the job; what is necessary for an effective policy is to combine sanctions with diplomacy."

Recently proposed legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate "would target not only Iran but all those members of the international community who do not share the U.S. sanctions-only approach," said the letter. "Not only would such a policy likely fail to sway Iran, but it would likely complicate and seriously strain relations with those very nations whose cooperation the U.S. needs in order to craft a comprehensive policy toward Iran policy that can deliver success (e.g., the Europeans, Russia, Japan)."

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee strongly backs both packages, and urged its activists this week to lobby their lawmakers to push through the sanctions. The international community is isolating Iran until it allows greater nuclear transparency.

MAYBE PEACE NOW WOULD LIKE TO OFFER AHMADINEJAD CZECHOSLOVAKIA?

A WOLF IN WOLF'S CLOTHING

THE FATAH-HAMAS POWER SHARING AGREEMENT ISN'T EVEN A WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING. IT'S A WOLF IN WOLF'S CLOTHING. BUT WILL THE THE U.S. AND ISRAEL BE STRONG AND STALWART ENOUGH TO RESIST PRESSURE FROM EUROPE, RUSSIA AND THE SAUDIS TO HOLD THE LINE AND INSIST OF FULL, TRUE COMPLIANCE WITH ALL CONDITIONS BEFORE THE AID BAN IS LIFTED?

Palestinian Deal Troubles U.S. - Anne Gearan
A power-sharing deal between the secular, U.S.-backed Palestinian leader and his Islamic militant rivals complicates an emerging U.S. effort to invigorate dormant peace prospects with Israel. The deal announced Thursday between warring Palestinian factions does not expressly commit the new government to conditions the U.S. has called essential first steps toward any political accommodation between Israel and the Palestinians. Officials were troubled at the prospect of a unified Palestinian government that will not renounce violence or recognize Israel. (AP/Washington Post)

See also State Department: New PA Government Must Meet International Demands - Hassan M. Fattah
Israel and international powers have said that they would lift their boycott of the Palestinian government only if it agreed to three conditions: recognize Israel, renounce violence against Israel, and abide by previous agreements between Israel and the Palestinians. The Mecca accord addresses only the last of those and does so rather imprecisely. In Washington, a State Department spokesman, Tom Casey, said, "The international community has made it clear that in order to be able to have a broader relationship with the Palestinian Authority government, that those principles are going to have to be met." (New York Times) [ED. DOES ANYONE THINK IT'S IRONIC THAT THE NYT'S REPORTER'S NAME IS "FATTAH"?]

Israel: New Palestinian Government Must Accept All International Conditions
Speaking Thursday after agreement was announced in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, between Fatah and Hamas for a unity government, Israeli government spokeswoman Miri Eisin said: "Israel expects a new Palestinian government to respect and accept all three of the international community principles." (AP/International Herald Tribune)

See also Israel: Quartet Will Not Accept New PA Government - Rebecca Anna Stoil
Iranian influence over Hamas will preclude the Quartet from approving a Palestinian national unity government, Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter predicted on Thursday. Dichter said that the talks in Mecca were "one of the main issues" he discussed this week in Washington. "We have found common ground between America and Israel that the creation of a unity government without accepting the three conditions of the Quartet is meaningless." (Jerusalem Post)

Abbas' Top Concern Is Avoiding Civil War, Not Compliance - Herb Keinon
PA Chairman Abbas wanted a national unity government agreement in Mecca to stave off a Palestinian civil war, even if it meant antagonizing Israel, the U.S. and the EU, according to Western diplomatic assessments. The widespread feeling in Jerusalem is that the U.S., along with Britain and Germany, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU, would remain adamant about the need for the three Quartet principles to be upheld, while Russia would push to recognize the unity government even if it did not fully meet the requirements.

According to Western diplomatic assessments, the Palestinians themselves have no illusions the unity agreement would satisfy the Quartet principles. However, there was a feeling among the Palestinians that this was the most that could be gotten from Hamas at the present time. Nobody expected that Hamas would change its fundamental positions. (Jerusalem Post)