Excerpts: OIC defines"Israeli agression".Clinton reports Netanyahu
"unprecedented" concessions.Iran's opposition continues November 01, 2009

+++SAUDI GAZETTE 1 Nov.'09:"OIC calls emergency meeting on Israel "By Fouzia
Khan"
SUBJECT: OOrganization of Islamic Conference (OIC) defines " Israeli
agression"

JEDDAH - In the wake of Israeli aggression{IMRA: Police response to Muslim
rock-throwers on Temple Mount.] against Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Organization of
Islamic Conference (OIC) has summoned an emergency meeting of the Executive
Committee at the ministerial level, Sunday(1Nov) at its headquarters in
Jeddah.
The OIC will examine all possible measures required to address the current
situation and will adopt a unified Islamic position to put an end to the
Israeli aggression against the third holiest site of Islam .[IMRA: Not
"aggression" but police response to rock-throwers}
The meeting will focus on measures to [IMRA: Eliminate rock throwing ?]
prevent Judaization of Occupied Jerusalem. Participants will also discuss
the ongoing excavation activities underneath the Al-Aqsa Mosque and other
violations perpetrated at the behest of the occupation forces.
The Secretary General of the OIC, Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, will examine
the issue of supporting education and health sectors in Al-Quds, as the city
needs at least $30 million per annum in order to preserve its Arab-Islamic
identity, while Israel doles out huge funds to strip it of its cultural
heritage.[IMRA: What strippage?]
Sources in the OIC said that the education sector in the Occupied Al-Quds
was in a shambles mainly due to a lack of resources.
This situation might compel Palestinian students to turn to schools run by
the Israeli authorities.[IMRA:Always availaable to them.] - SG

+++SOURCE:WASHINGTON POST 1 Nov.'09:"Israel putting forth 'unprecedented'
concessions, Clinton says
But Palestinians reject Netanyahu's offer on settlements",By Karen DeYoung
and Howard Schneider

EXCERPTS:JERUSALEM -- Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said
Saturday(31 Oct) that Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had offered
"unprecedented" concessions on West Bank settlement construction in an
effort to restart peace talks, a departure from the administration's earlier
criticism of Israel and a possible signal of impatience with the refusal of
Palestinian leaders to join negotiations.
, , ,At a news conference here Saturday(31 Oct) night with Netanyahu,
Clinton did not comment on the Palestinian account of the talks she had
earlier in the day with Abbas. She said the differences between the two
sides on all issues should be negotiated face to face. . . .

"I think the place to resolve differences of opinion is around the
negotiating table," Netanyahu said. "We are prepared to start peace talks
immediately," he said, calling for both sides to "get on with it and get
with it."
Although she reiterated the administration's position that "all settlement
activity" must cease, Clinton seemed unwilling to press the point as
forcefully as she had in the past and joined Netanyahu in portraying the
Palestinians as the spoilers.
She called for a resumption of talks "without preconditions" and suggested
that the Palestinian demand for a halt to West Bank construction was an
unreasonable obstacle.
That marked a change in tone from a trip here in March, when she sharply
criticized Israeli settlement policies. After her initial public demands
that Israel stop building in the West Bank, Clinton on Saturday(31 Oct)
praised steps taken by Netanyahu as "unprecedented."
Netanyahu, while demanding that some building in the West Bank continue, has
said he would not approve any new settlements and would show "restraint" in
expanding existing ones. . . .

+++SOURCE:WASHINGTON POST:1 Nov.'09:"Iran's opposition leaders vow continued
defiance;Statements challenging regime come just days before state rally"By
Ali Akbar Dareini, Associated Press

EXCERPTS:TEHRAN -- Iran's opposition leaders vowed Saturday(31 Oct. to
continue challenging the ruling system despite a harsh crackdown by security
forces that killed dozens of protesters in post-election turmoil.
The statements Saturday(31 Oct) from opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi
and former president Mohammad Khatami were seen as attempts to reinvigorate
the anti-government Green Path of Hope movement just days before an annual
state-sponsored rally against the United States.
Mousavi suggested his supporters may take to the streets Wednesday(4 Nov) to
mark the 30th anniversary of the seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran by
militant students. Hard-liners have called on security forces to take tough
action against any opposition rally that day.
. . ."We believe there are deviations that need to be reformed," . . . .
"We will remain critics of the current power."
The post-election crackdown and a mass trial of reform advocates, which has
produced three death sentences, quelled the weeks of protests that followed
the vote.

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Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA