Monthly Archives: June 2017
Israel Can Establish Diplomatic Relations with Arab World by Learning from Putin
The geopolitical landscape surrounding Israel is shifting in such a way that if navigated correctly could lead to full diplomatic relations between Jerusalem and Sunni Arab governments around the Middle East.
Of growing significance is the common ground that is being created between Jerusalem and the Gulf Arab states as a result of the proxy war that is being waged by Iran against Saudi Arabia.
In response to Tehran’s growing influence across the Middle East Israel has been making a concerted, if quiet, effort over the last few months to improve its relations with the Gulf monarchies. Iran’s nuclear deal with the United States and other foreign powers has only spurred Israeli efforts to develop back-channel relations with Arab states.
However, typical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s risk-averse administration, the issue of normalizing relations with the Arab world is being handled with extreme caution and tortured temporizing.
Unfortunately for Premier Netanyahu and his acolytes, the delicate art of equivocation and half measures is lost upon a region currently in the throes of civil wars, political upheavals and Iranian imperialism.
For Israel to best capitalize on the historic changes taking place in the region, the Israeli government should avoid the muddled and restrained approach taken by US President Barack Obama and take a page from the clear and concerted policies of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
It’s easy to dismiss Putin as an anti-Western autocrat, whose efforts to expand Russia’s sphere of influence have been blunt and reckless. Still, if the barometer for diplomatic success is defined as a country’s ability to project and protect its role in regional politics, Russia under the leadership of Vladimir Putin has been nothing if not effective.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP)
Simultaneously, Barack Obama’s shifting of US support from regional Sunni powers Egypt and Saudi Arabia to Shiite Iran is a diplomatic sea change of a different sort.
In stark contrast to Putin’s realpolitik perspective that seeks to maximize Russian power, Obama’s embrace of Iran is guided by a ferocious desire to shrink America’s global diplomatic footprint. Swapping American exceptionalism for multiculturalism, Obama takes a jaundiced view of American power, which should be tempered by supranational organizations and international agreements.
With regards to Israel, the government in Jerusalem needs to embark on a paradigm shift vis-a-vis its dealings with Sunni Arab powers. The Netanyahu administration, similar to its predecessors, is enamored with the concept of stability, even at the expense of a potentially historic breakthrough in relations with the Arab world.
On balance, the military realignments in the region are likely benefit Israel, but only if its leaders act boldly. First, intelligence and commercial cooperation with Sunni Arab states should be based on the establishment of full diplomatic relations between Jerusalem and respective Arab nations. Second, the foreign embassies of these nations must be located in Jerusalem, not Tel Aviv.
Granted, there is nothing tactful or elegant about this diplomatic approach. But Israeli diplomacy in a time of regional chaos should strive beyond the tired, ineffective and largely meaningless desire to just be ‘recognized’.
After all, that most basic of desires, to survive, will surely compel Sunni governments to comply with Israel’s conditions if it means gaining access to Israeli intelligence, military hardware and cybersecurity technology.
The power wielded by today’s Sunni Arab leaders may someday depend upon making peace with the existence of a Jewish State in the heart of the Middle East.
Impamvu yogukuraho umwakagara irabonetse!
Nyuma yuko perezida wa repubulika Paul Kagame yiyemereye we,ubwe ko,agiye kwica abaturage ashinzwe kurindira umutekano,ibi akaba yarabivuze kuwa 05th Kamena 2014,mu ijambo yavugiye Inyabihu mu ntara yamajyepfo.
Aha abanyarwanda bakaba batari bakwiriye gutegereza yuko kagame asohoza imigambi ye,nkuko yabyivugiye,ahubwo bakaba bakwiye kumutanga bakamukura ku ntebe dore ko namahanga atazabigaya kuko yamaze kwiyemerera we,ubwe ko azabica ibyo yongeye kubyemerera umunyamakuru wa Jeune Afrique ubwo bagiranaga ikiganiro kirambuye.
Maze Paul Kagame yivugira ko bitakiri ibanga aho yagaragaje ko mu gihugu ayoboye kitagendera kumategeko ndetse kitubahiriza uburenganzira bwa kiremwa muntu,abanyarwanda bakaba basaba ingabo z’Urwanda gukora ibishoboka byose ngo barebe ko umwakagara bamwikiza hakiri kare.
Ubundi abantu batinya gukora igikorwa nk’icyo kubera ko cyiba kitajyanye namategeko,ariko iyo bibaye murwego rwogutabara abaturage ntamategeko abihana!ibyari kuzaba urubanza nyirubwite yamaze kurwicira kuburyo n’amahanga nayo kugez’ubu afite iyo nyandiko mvugo yivugiye we ubwe.
Ariko niba umukuru w’ingabo Gen.Nyamvumba Patrick azareberera ubwicanyi bukomeje gukorwa nashebuja,kandi afite uburyo ndetse n’ubushobozi bwogukiza abanyarwanda hakiri kare nta shiti ko azabibazwa.Nyamara yarabonye akanya keza ako kagame yita THE RIGHT TIME,bityo yakagombye guhita atabara abanyarwanda akabakiza ishyano hakiri kare kandi twese abanyarwanda twamushyigikira ndetse yaba akoze igikorwa cya kigabo.
Ariko tekereza niba abanyarwanda bakomeje gushirira ku icumu bamarwa nuwakagombye kubarinda aaba yarabitangaje kumugaragaro ntagushidikanya yuko ingabo z’Urwanda zizahura n’ubutabera nyuma y’ubwicanyi zashyigikiye ndetse ntizigaragaze ubushake bwogutabara abanyarwanda kandi bari babifitiye ubushobozi.
Burya Imana ikorana nabanyabwenge mu gihe Imana yamukoresheje nkuko yabivuze ko mbere yuko imukuraho izabanza kumwambura ubwenge kugirango imukoze isoni mu marembo y’amahanga,aha rero niho ubwenge buri icyo bita “OPOTURNITIST “ gukorera mumahirwe mu gihe gikwiriye Chance Comes Once.
Akaba rero arintgikozwe abanyarwanda mwemere umwakagara abace amajosi kuko mwamugize ikigirwamana munanirwa kwirwanaho mugihe akimuhana kaza imvura ihise,mukazasigara muvuga amateka gusa nyamara mwakagombye gukora amateka meza aho kugirango muzavuge amateka mabi.
Impamvu yogukuraho umwakagara irabonetse!
Nyuma yuko perezida wa repubulika Paul Kagame yiyemereye we,ubwe ko,agiye kwica abaturage ashinzwe kurindira umutekano,ibi akaba yarabivuze kuwa 05th Kamena 2014,mu ijambo yavugiye Inyabihu mu ntara yamajyepfo.
Aha abanyarwanda bakaba batari bakwiriye gutegereza yuko kagame asohoza imigambi ye,nkuko yabyivugiye,ahubwo bakaba bakwiye kumutanga bakamukura ku ntebe dore ko namahanga atazabigaya kuko yamaze kwiyemerera we,ubwe ko azabica ibyo yongeye kubyemerera umunyamakuru wa Jeune Afrique ubwo bagiranaga ikiganiro kirambuye.
Maze Paul Kagame yivugira ko bitakiri ibanga aho yagaragaje ko mu gihugu ayoboye kitagendera kumategeko ndetse kitubahiriza uburenganzira bwa kiremwa muntu,abanyarwanda bakaba basaba ingabo z’Urwanda gukora ibishoboka byose ngo barebe ko umwakagara bamwikiza hakiri kare.
Ubundi abantu batinya gukora igikorwa nk’icyo kubera ko cyiba kitajyanye namategeko,ariko iyo bibaye murwego rwogutabara abaturage ntamategeko abihana!ibyari kuzaba urubanza nyirubwite yamaze kurwicira kuburyo n’amahanga nayo kugez’ubu afite iyo nyandiko mvugo yivugiye we ubwe.
Ariko niba umukuru w’ingabo Gen.Nyamvumba Patrick azareberera ubwicanyi bukomeje gukorwa nashebuja,kandi afite uburyo ndetse n’ubushobozi bwogukiza abanyarwanda hakiri kare nta shiti ko azabibazwa.Nyamara yarabonye akanya keza ako kagame yita THE RIGHT TIME,bityo yakagombye guhita atabara abanyarwanda akabakiza ishyano hakiri kare kandi twese abanyarwanda twamushyigikira ndetse yaba akoze igikorwa cya kigabo.
Ariko tekereza niba abanyarwanda bakomeje gushirira ku icumu bamarwa nuwakagombye kubarinda aaba yarabitangaje kumugaragaro ntagushidikanya yuko ingabo z’Urwanda zizahura n’ubutabera nyuma y’ubwicanyi zashyigikiye ndetse ntizigaragaze ubushake bwogutabara abanyarwanda kandi bari babifitiye ubushobozi.
Burya Imana ikorana nabanyabwenge mu gihe Imana yamukoresheje nkuko yabivuze ko mbere yuko imukuraho izabanza kumwambura ubwenge kugirango imukoze isoni mu marembo y’amahanga,aha rero niho ubwenge buri icyo bita “OPOTURNITIST “ gukorera mumahirwe mu gihe gikwiriye Chance Comes Once.
Akaba rero arintgikozwe abanyarwanda mwemere umwakagara abace amajosi kuko mwamugize ikigirwamana munanirwa kwirwanaho mugihe akimuhana kaza imvura ihise,mukazasigara muvuga amateka gusa nyamara mwakagombye gukora amateka meza aho kugirango muzavuge amateka mabi.
US ‘close to training Syrian rebels’ Officials say President Barack Obama may soon sign off on project to assist rebels in bid to end Syrian civil war.
US President Barack Obama may soon sign off on a project to train and equip Syrian rebels not affiliated with al-Qaeda, administration officials said.
Officials speaking on condition of anonymity on Tuesday, said the project would mean sending a number of US troops to Jordan that would help instruct carefully vetted members of the Free Syrian Army on tactics, including counterterrorism operations.
The White House did not confirm or deny the plan, but said it was “constantly considering available options to combat the terrorist threat emanating from Syria and to facilitate an end to the crisis”.
The State Department would also not comment.
Spokeswoman Jen Psaki, however, told reporters that an array of options to support Assad’s foes remains under consideration. She also highlighted the terrorism threat, according to the Associated Press news agency.
“We have been clear that we see Syria as a counterterrorism challenge, and therefore certainly we factor that in, in options we consider,” she said.
“The current policy approach continues to be strengthening the moderate opposition, which offers an alternative to the brutal Assad regime and the more extremist elements within the opposition.”
The unnamed officials said Obama had yet to give his final approval for the initiative, and that there was still internal discussion about its merits and potential risks.
In a foreign policy speech on Wednesday to the US Military Academy, Obama is expected to frame Syria as a counterterrorism challenge and indicate that he will expand assistance to the opposition, according to the officials cited by the AP.
However, he is not likely to announce the specific programme, the officials said.
The State Department, Pentagon, intelligence community, along with many in Congress who back the move, have concluded that Assad will not budge without a change in the military situation on the ground, according to the officials.
At the same time, there are growing fears about the threat posed by al-Qaeda-linked and inspired fighters waging war in Syria, the officials said.
The Senate Armed Services Committee last week passed a defence bill that authorises the defence department to provide training and equipment to vetted elements of the Syrian opposition.
The United States already has covert support operations in place for the Syrian opposition, and it is not yet clear how the new programme would work.
Washington has also spent $287m so far in non-lethal aid on Syria’s civil war, now in its fourth year.
Rebel commanders have been asking the US for lethal assistance as they have seen gains wiped out one after another. However, the US has been reluctant to move to that kind of aid for fear weapons could end up in the hands of what it calls extremist rebels who might then turn on neighbouring Israel or against US interests.
Russia sympathisers vent anger at Ukraine Odessa deaths
Russia sympathisers vent anger at
Ukraine Odessa deaths
3 May 2014 Last updated at 18:37
Pro-Russia supporters in the
Ukrainian city of Odessa have
voiced their anger a day after 42
people were killed.
Friday’s clashes culminated in a
major fire at a trade union building
where most of the deaths occurred.
Hundreds of people gathered there
on Saturday.
The protest comes as Ukraine says it
has seized a security building from
rebels in the east of the country.
Seven international monitors held by
pro-Russian activists in eastern
Ukraine were released earlier.
US Secretary of State John Kerry and
his Russian counterpart, Sergei
Lavrov, have again spoken by phone
about the crisis.
Mr Lavrov urged Mr Kerry to put
pressure on Kiev to stop its military
operation, which he said risked
“plunging the country into a
fratricidal conflict”.
Mr Kerry said Moscow should stop
backing the pro-Russian separatists.
Both men also discussed the
possibility of greater involvement by
the Organization for Security and Co-
operation in Europe (OSCE) in trying
to find a solution to the crisis.
Grief and anger were evident outside
the burned out trade union building
in Odessa
Ukrainian troops man checkpoints
round the rebel-held town of
Sloviansk
The Ukrainian government claimed
some success in its military
operation in Kramatorsk
The violence in Odessa was the most
serious in Ukraine since February
when more than 80 people were
killed during protests in Kiev against
the ousted President Viktor
Yanukovych.
Groups sympathetic to Russia, some
armed, are reported to have attacked
a larger protest against separatism.
Skirmishes between the two groups
then broke out in several parts of
the south-western city.
Pro-Russia protesters are later said
to have sought refuge in the trade
union building after their
encampment was burned down.
Petrol bombs were thrown leading to
the deaths of at least 36 people
inside, according to official figures.
The blackened trade union building,
its windows broken, was ringed by
police on Saturday as the crowd
assembled. Some laid flowers; others
chanted pro-Russian slogans.
There were isolated scuffles between
rival groups and Ukrainian flags were
burned or bundled away.
Military operation
Early on Saturday, the Kiev
government resumed military action
against Russian separatists in the
east of the country, with fighting
reported in some areas.
In Kramatorsk, south of rebel-held
Sloviansk, Ukrainian forces
recaptured the headquarters of the
SBU security service from pro-
Russian separatists, according to the
interior ministry.
Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said
the “active phase” of the military
operation was continuing, with
Ukrainian forces also taking a
television tower in Kramatorsk.
The defence ministry also reported
“serious fighting” on Friday night in
Andreevka, some 6km (4 miles) west
of rebel-held Sloviansk, with two
Ukrainian soldiers killed.
Ten separatists were killed in
Andreevka, a spokeswoman for the
pro-Russian force in Sloviansk said.
‘Without conditions’
The seven international military
observers freed early on Saturday
were captured a week ago and held
in Sloviansk.
Separatist leader Vyacheslav
Ponomaryov (left) said the observers
left after celebrating his birthday
German Col Axel Schneider praised
his observer team’s attitude
There was a heavy police presence in
Odessa as hundreds gathered
outside the burned out trade union
building
A pro-Russian activist and a pro-
Ukraine supporter scuffle for a
Ukrainian flag in Odessa on Saturday
Five Ukrainian officers captured with
the observers, who are linked to the
OSCE, were also released.
Pro-Russian separatists in Sloviansk
say they released the observers
“without conditions”.
“As I promised them, we celebrated
my birthday yesterday and they left.
As I said, they were my guests,” the
self-proclaimed mayor of Sloviansk,
Vyacheslav Ponomaryov, said.
Russia had sent an envoy to
negotiate the releases. Vladimir
Lukin said he hoped the “voluntary
act” by the separatists would be
reciprocated by Kiev, adding: “I
would very much like military actions
to end.”
One of the observers, German Col
Axel Schneider, said the team had
been treated “as good as possible”
in what was a “miserable situation”.
Western leaders had condemned the
abductions.
The observers – four Germans, a
Dane, a Pole and a Czech – are not
part of the main OSCE monitoring
mission, which was agreed after long
negotiations by Russia, Ukraine and
the US.
