Issues of the Hour

The Globe Weekly News ISSUES OF THE HOUR International Edition

Hamas MP Asserts Government Formational Declared Before End of the Month

GAZA- The spokesman for Hamas movement's parliamentary bloc Salah Bardaweel asserted that the next government formation will be declared before the end of the current month, while another member of parliament added the shape and time of declaring the government will be determined next week. Bardaweel added on Sunday that "we sent messages to all the blocs and parliamentary lists we met with, and attached Hamas' political platform and common grounds agenda," pointing out that these blocs and lists will have two days to discuss these messages before the comprehensive meeting of all the factions on Monday, which will formulate the final stances towards participating in the coming government or not. The Hamas MP noted that both Abu Ali Mustafa List, representing the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and Independent Palestine List headed by Mustafa Barghouti, are the closest to joining the government, adding that there are some agreement with Al Badil List, which represents the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), the Palestinian People's Party (PPP) and Fida Party, to join as well. With regards to the participation of Fateh movement in the government, Bardaweel hinted some differences between his movement and Fateh, which he referred to the differences in the political platform of both movements. On his part, Hamas MP Yehya Mousa asserted that the meeting with the Palestinian factions on Monday will decide the exact time and shape of the declaration of the government's formation. "The movement [Hamas] has presented the government's program, and we await the remarks of the factions, then the formation of the government will be decided whether it is a national coalition government or a Hamas-led one with some factions and independents," Mousa said.

Mousa further commented on the news reports about the complications in the commission letter given by President Mahmoud Abbas to the Prime Minister-designate Ismail Haniyya, by saying that the complication is related to the new Palestinian political system, which is a two-headed system of the presidency with its political system and the government in its different political platform. "I believe the movement has offered what is related to it, especially in the political aspect, which doesn't defer from the statements of the politburo chief Khaled Mashaal." Mousa maintained that the next government will deal with the political agreements signed by the Palestinian National Authority or the Palestinian Liberation Organization with Israel, to the extent that serves the interests of the Palestinian people.

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The idea of a Sarko-Sego battle has gripped France public imagination

Photo: Nicolas Sarkozy.

Student protests in France on Tuesday dwindled to a shadow of their former selves. The heat had been taken out of the debate by the government's humiliating climb-down on Monday, when it withdrew the controversial youth jobs law, known as the CPE. The law that sparked weeks of demonstrations is now dead and buried, with the main French trade unions preparing for the Easter break in celebratory mood. The real issue here now is not so much the replacement job measures to be voted through the French parliament before it breaks up for Easter but the burning question: which potential presidential candidate has profited the most from French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin's discomfiture? The bets here are evenly spread. On the right there is his cabinet colleague, the sharp, ambitious Interior Minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, who is also leader of the governing centre-right UMP party. And on the left, MP Segolene Royal, the Socialist in stilettos, a regional leader who is hotly tipped as France's first real potential Madame la Presidente, overtaking her piqued male colleagues from nowhere. The idea of a Sarko-Sego battle has gripped the nation's imagination, with Madame Royal now the cover-woman of the moment, her elegant features smiling from the front pages of four of the country's leading news magazines this week. Her features have for once displaced those of Mr Sarkozy from the news magazines' glossy covers, though no doubt he is planning a rapid return next week.

Most French political analysts now rule out any miracle comeback for Dominique de Villepin as a presidential hopeful, after he was forced to eat humble pie on French television on Monday night. In a television interview, he told the French people that he regretted any misunderstandings over the controversial jobs law that had sparked weeks of protests. But his regrets came too late. Even those who supported labour market reform in France shook their heads in despair at what they saw as his hubris in failing to consult France's unions or others as he tried to prove himself the strongman of the right. It was a gamble provoked by his rivalry with 51-year-old Nicolas Sarkozy to win favour on the right - but a gamble that went disastrously wrong when the prime minister's attempts to show himself stronger than his predecessors were also fatally undermined by President Jacques Chirac himself. It was he who dealt the final blow to the CPE and to his own chosen successor's hopes of following him through the golden gates of the Elysee Palace.

Photo: Jacques Chirac must leave office next year.

Socialist options: As Mr Chirac's long reign over France draws to a shaky close, leaving the country almost untouched by any of the deep reforms he promised more than a decade ago, the nation is gearing itself up for a bitter battle of succession. Segolene Royal, 52, would be the people's choice on the left - but her own Socialist Party colleagues may decide they would prefer to field a candidate such as Lionel Jospin, despite his earlier failures, or even Madame Royal's own partner and father of her four children, Socialist Party leader Francois Hollande. The country is intrigued by the possibility of a President Sarkozy or Madame la Presidente Royal, and the two will make interesting sparring partners over the coming months - their style, background and beliefs in stark contrast to one another. She is an apparent conciliator, a listener, a woman who until now has revealed few firmly held political beliefs; he an often divisive man of action, whose views and beliefs are well-known already. The only obvious quality both share is a steely ambition. All this is a political race whose result matters deeply. Whether France chooses right or left next year - with possibly a strong showing for the far right once again - the winning candidate will be forced to confront the deep social and economic divides from which France is suffering in the dying days of Mr Chirac's 12-year presidency, as the nation waits for its own new dawn. -By Caroline Watt.

60% of women consider breast ops

WHAT PEOPLE WOULD HAVE DONE

PROCEDURE WOMEN AVERAGE COST

1. Breast surgery 58% $9,750

2. Liposuction 33% $9,450

3. Tummy tuck 25% $9,200

PROCEDURE MEN AVERAGE COST

1. Nose job 30% $9,450

2. Liposuction 25% $9,450

3. Mini facelift 11% $9,600

Source: Abbey

Almost six out of 10 women have had, or would have, surgery on their breasts, a survey has suggested.

Men were most likely to opt for a nose job, with a third saying they had already had the operation or were considering doing so. The findings emerged from a survey of 2,000 people for the financial group Abbey. It found people were prepared to borrow an average of $7,000 to pay for cosmetic surgery. In the survey, 58% women said they had already had, or would consider having a breast augmentation or reduction, or an operation to raise or reshape breasts. Overall, women were three times more likely to opt to go under the knife than men, although men said they would borrow more. Liposuction was the second most popular operation for both sexes. The survey showed people living in Wales and the Midlands would borrow most to fund cosmetic surgery - while the Scots would borrow the least. Many people admitted that they were happy to live on credit. A quarter said they would happily borrow up to $30,000.

"Jordan is living proof that having big knockers can get you a good career" Dr. Ruth Holliday, Centre for Gender Studies, Leeds University

Teenage patients

Angus Porter, customer director for Abbey, said: "We are borrowing more than ever before but we have more control over our finances than past generations. "We live in a 'have it all' society and people are more comfortable about borrowing to achieve what they want, rather than only doing so when they feel there is no other option." Dr. Ruth Holliday, of Leeds University Centre for Gender Studies, said feminists had traditionally opposed cosmetic surgery because they felt women felt under pressure to conform to a certain look. But she said it cosmetic surgery could be a positive choice: "Jordan is living proof that having big knockers can get you a good career." She added: "Plastic surgery has fewer risks associated with it and breast surgery has become quite a routine operation." It is estimated around 65,000 to 75,000 cosmetic surgery procedures are carried out each year in the UK. Figures from the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) show breast augmentation and breast raising or reshaping were the most popular operations in 2003, accounting for over 20% of all procedures. Adam Searle, president elect of BAAPS, said: "We recognize that there has been an increase in demand and interest for cosmetic surgery, not simply in terms of increased numbers, but the increased range of people seeking cosmetic surgery; men and women, younger and older patients. "It is now acceptable to pursue cosmetic surgery in a way it wasn't 10 years ago. its becoming an accepted part of modern life, but we must not lose sight of the careful decision making process that should be part of that cosmetic surgery environment. "People need to remember that any surgical procedure carries a risk, and so those decisions should not be seen as frivolous."

AVERAGE COST OF OPS: Face/neck lift - $13,750 . Breast reduction - $11,000 . Nose surgery - $7,500 . Eyelid surgery - $7,000. Brow lift - $3,500 . Ear surgery - $3,500. From the Desk of Rachel Rosenstein, Rebecca Adams.

JORDAN LABELS U.S. AS SOURCE OF IRAQI TROUBLE

The Islamic Action Frront (IAF)and the Professional Associations Council (PAC) are the two most powerful groups in Jordan. Both oppose the peace treaty with Israel, vilify Israel, strive to to minimize normalization with Israel and strongly defended Saddam Husein. Hamas' election victory and the gains of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood in its election impact the prospective stance and long-term character of Hashemite rule. These were key elements stimulating General Yair Navy's remarks which were leaked and were so firmly denounced in Israel and elsewhere. His message was important regarding Israeli policy. Whether it should have become public is another matter whose evaluation needs to take account of Israel's unilateral withdrawal policies. Iraq's situation is more urgent. Principal Jordanian authorities vigorously declare that the U.S. occupation. is the source of all of Iraq's problems. In the first of the following two articles The Islamic Action Front and the Professional Associations Council charge the U.S. with "conspiring to divide Iraq". In the second article, an editorial from the official Jordan Times, the "US-led occupation" is charged with offsetting Iraq's favorable factors. For Jordan, there are no limits on what may be said against the U.S. while Jordan is to be protected from criticism. JORDAN TIMES 27 Feb.'06:"IAF, PAC call for an end to sectarian violence in Iraq" By Mohammed Ben Hussein. QUOTES FROM TEXT: "The two groups called on Iraqis to unify their efforts against the American occupation and accused the United States of 'conspiring to divide Iraq'."... " 'We call on Muslim leaders in Iraq and the rest of the Arab and Muslim worlds to be aware of the American and Zionist, agendas in Iraq, ". AMMAN - The Islamic Action Front (IAF) and the Professional Associations Council (PAC) on Saturday appealed for Iraqis to practise self-restraint in the wake of sectarian violence between Shiites and Sunnis that has left hundreds killed and wounded. The two groups called on Iraqis to unify their efforts against the American occupation and accused the United States of "conspiring to divide Iraq." They described a recent spate of attacks against Shiite and Sunni mosques and imams as "reckless and criminal. While condemning recent attacks on Shiite holy places, the IAF, the most influential political party in the Kingdom, pleaded for Shiite religious leaders "to stand firm against" attacks on Sunni mosques to prevent the country from sliding into civil war. Bloodshed and attacks on mosques must end and efforts must focus on condemning the attacks on both sides," said the movement in a statement to The Jordan Times. The latest crisis erupted on Wednesday, when unidentified attackers bombed the golden-domed Askariya shrine in Samarra, a site sacred to Shiites. In the four days since, militias affiliated with Shiite political parties have carried out revenge attacks on Sunni mosques and worshippers. Sunni Arabs have responded by forming local defence forces and have conducted their own attacks. A number of clerics from both branches of Islam have been killed. Since Wednesday, the tit-for-tat attacks have left over 200 dead and many mosques damaged, despite a daytime curfew on Baghdad that entered its third day on Sunday .In a separate statement, PAC said it was deeply worried by recent developments in Iraq and called on the Arab League to work to "preserve the Iraqi peoples' unity."..."We call on Muslim leaders in Iraq and rest of the Arab and Muslim worlds to be aware of the American and Zionist, agendas in Iraq," said the statement. Shiite religious leader Muqtada Sadr, at a rally on Saturday, called for Muslim unity against the US occupation and summoned his followers to hold joint prayers next Friday at Sunni mosques, especially those damaged by sectarian attacks. JORDAN TIMES 27 Feb.'06:"Editorial:The damage done". QUOTES FROM TEXT: "One single most important element was capable of annulling the influence of all these and many other factors that could keep Iraq away from the brink of civil war: The US-led occupation."..."As the universally recognized occupying power, the US has to accept responsibility for all this." FULL TEXT: A few countries have more reasons than Jordan to look with utmost apprehension at the looming threat of civil war in Iraq. As His Majesty King Abdullah spelled out yet again during a meeting with Moqtada Sadr last week, Iraq's unity is in as much the interest of Jordan as it is in the interest of Iraq itself. Beyond geographic proximity, the deep historic ties between the two countries and peoples, and the economic interdependence make it a "duty" - in the King's own words - for Jordan to protect Iraq's future. An inclusive political process which paves the way for the participation of all factions in a really representative government provides the only guarantee for Iraq's unity, and therefore security and stability. But the tragic bloodshed, which is the result of the sectarian violence of the past few days, makes these goals appear more and more distant, if attainable at all. What Jordan has been warning against all along - the message that the King has been untiringly conveying to all capitals across the world over the months, actually years, prior to the war, the danger of which this and other countries have been talking about since the beginning of the occupation - is materialising with all its horrific potential: Civil war. Should Iraq eventually be ripped apart by sectarian conflict, the impact on the whole region will be disastrous. So much for the experts who, three years ago, swore that a Sunni-Shiite conflict was highly unlikely because of factors such as nationalism, high rates of intermarriage and the moderating influence of prominent Shiite clerics. One single most important element was capable of annulling the influence of all these and many other factors that could keep Iraq away from the brink of civil war: The US-led occupation. The rage of the insurgency was fed by the many unkept promises of reconstruction, the failure to put sound development projects in place, to restore public confidence in the system and the economy, and to grant average Iraqis at least the minimum necessary to pick up the pieces of their shuttered lives with some dignity. Gross abuses and human rights violations did the rest: Death squads, systematic torture and summary justice fuelled the growth of criminality, bred terrorism and spread desperation. As the universally recognised occupying power, the US has to accept responsibility for all this. Little matters that today American troops sit in Iraq at the request of a new government: The damage has already been done.

Israeli cabinet ends Sharon rule

Photo: Ariel Sharon has been in a coma since January.

Israel's cabinet has signalled a formal end to Ariel Sharon's premiership three months after he suffered a stroke. Ministers voted unanimously to declare him "permanently incapacitated", which promotes Ehud Olmert from the position of acting PM to the full premiership. Mr Olmert is currently forming a coalition government after the centrist Kadima party won elections last month. Mr Sharon, 78, founded Kadima weeks before suffering a severe stroke on 4 January, which left him in a coma. There has been little public reaction to the news of Mr Sharon's political passing. Israelis are now waiting to see how Mr Olmert puts into practice the policies initiated by Mr Sharon. Mr Olmert, 60, was given six weeks to form a new government after Kadima came first in Israeli elections on 28 March. However, Tuesday events mark the end of the career of one of the most influential figures in Israeli history, our correspondent says. "This is a very difficult and sad day for all of us," said cabinet minister Yisrael Maimon. "We offer our prayers and best wishes to the prime minister, his family and his friends for his recovery," Mr Maimon added.

Split party: The decision to declare Mr Sharon unable to hold office will come into effect 100 days after he was declared "temporarily incapacitated" by Israel's attorney general. He has never regained consciousness and has been lying in hospital in Jerusalem where he has had numerous operations. Under Israeli law, a sick prime minister can only have a temporary replacement for that length of time, before a permanent successor must be named. The cabinet vote was taken early as the week-long Passover holiday begins on Wednesday. Mr Olmert will formally become full prime minister on 14 April. It seems that political considerations may have delayed the Israeli cabinet from acknowledging the inevitable. Even in a coma, Mr Sharon was a key figure in the election campaign of Kadima. His picture was at every rally and old recordings of his voice were even used in some of the party's election advertisements. Mr Sharon's condition remains "critical but stable" according to a spokeswoman at the Hadassah Hospital. She said there were no plans for further surgery, and no plans to move him. Mr Sharon has been prime minister since March 2001. Once a darling of right-wing nationalist Israelis, he adopted a policy of unilateral disengagement from the Palestinians, under which he uprooted settlers and the troops who protected them from Israeli-occupied land. The unexpected step was popular among most Israelis, but it split Mr Sharon's ruling Likud party and forced him to leave and form the new Kadima party.

Jurors shown graphic 9/11 images

Photo: Survivors described scenes of panic and horror within the Pentagon.

A US jury has been shown graphic images of people burned to death in the 11 September 2001 attack on the Pentagon. The jurors will decide whether al-Qaeda plotter Zacarias Moussaoui should be executed or jailed for life. After the pictures were shown, the self-confessed plotter shouted: "Burn all Pentagon next time." Later this week, jurors will hear a cockpit recording from the jet that crashed in Pennsylvania as passengers tried to overpower the hijackers. Prosecutors hope such emotional evidence will persuade the jury to opt for the death penalty. However US district judge Leonie Brinkema has warned prosecutors not to overdo it, reminding them that appeal judges could overturn a death sentence if they believed it was overly prejudicial. She has ruled that a recording - from the flight deck of Flight 93, which crashed in a field in Pennsylvania - cannot be released publicly, following objections by relatives of those on board. As a series of pictures of charred dead bodies was displayed on a screen in the Washington courtroom on Tuesday, there were gasps from those watching. Defence lawyers objected to the evidence but were overruled. Some pictures showed body parts; one a burned corpse on a plastic sheet; another a torso coated in white ash. They also heard a recording made by air traffic control in which a voice from the cockpit of a hijacked jet can be heard screaming: "Mayday, Mayday, get out of here."

Family breakdown: Pentagon workers related the scenes of horror and panic inside the building after it was blown up by a hijacked jet. "It seemed to me that it was just a curtain of fire," said US Army Lieutenant-Colonel John Thurman. Lieutenant Nancy McKeown, 42, said: "Every time I took a breath, my insides felt like they were on fire." The jury also heard from the widow of a man whose telephone call from one of the flaming Twin Towers was heard on Monday - including his final words, "Oh God, no!" Wendy Cosgrove said her husband Kevin's death had affected their children deeply, with one since becoming angry and self-destructive and another turning to self-mutilation. Moussaoui, a French citizen of Moroccan descent, is the only person charged in the US in connection with the attacks. He has been seen smiling during some of the evidence. At the end of proceedings on Monday, he shouted: "God curse you all, God bless Osama" - a reference to al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden. The jury deciding his fate has already declared him eligible for the death penalty. Although he was in jail in Minnesota at the time of the attacks, jurors ruled that lies told by Moussaoui to federal agents kept them from identifying and stopping some of the hijackers. Defence lawyers say the jury should spare Moussaoui's life because of his limited role in the attacks, evidence of mental illness, and because his execution would only fulfill his dream of martyrdom.

Profile: Zacarias Moussaoui

A French citizen of Moroccan descent, the 37-year-old has spent almost five years in custody and is the only person charged in the US over the attacks. This has placed him under enormous pressure and his erratic behaviour in court during this time has raised questions about his mental state. Moussaoui's outbursts and invective-filled letters to officials led to the trial judge revoking his right to represent himself in 2003. 'Turned into a fanatic': He has declared himself to be a member of al-Qaeda. One al-Qaeda suspect accused him of being part of a planned second wave of attacks. Another said he was to have taken part in the 9/11 hijackings. But when he pleaded guilty to six charges of conspiracy, he said that he had been part of a different plot to fly a Boeing 747 into the White House. What is certain is that he was detained three weeks before 9/11 on immigration charges after a flying school in Minnesota reported that he had been acting suspiciously. He had been on a jumbo jet simulator but had only shown interest in learning how to take off and land, not how to fly, according to FBI Director Robert Mueller. He was born in 1968 in south-west France and came to Britain in the early 1990s to enrol as a student at London's South Bank University, from which he graduated in 1997. He lived in south London on and off for nine years. His brother, Abd-Samad Moussaoui, was quoted as saying that Zacarias became involved in Islamic extremism while living in London. He attended the Finsbury Park mosque, at a time when it was linked to extremist activities. Convicted British shoe bomber Richard Reid also attended the mosque. French Intelligence was reportedly interested in him and warned the Americans, but Moussaoui was always one jump ahead and nobody "joined up the dots" about him, even after he was detained.

'Innocent son': According to the indictment against him, Moussaoui went for training at an al-Qaeda camp in Afghanistan in 1998. He was in Pakistan at the end of 2000 before going to London and then onto the United States in February 2001. There, he enrolled in one flying school in Oklahoma and then paid $6,000 cash to join the school in Minnesota. Moussaoui's mother, who lives in France, always said that he was innocent of any involvement in the 11 September attacks. She said British extremists turned him from a "happy boy" into a fanatic.

ARAB DISCRIMINATION AGAINST ARABS
By Dr. Joseph Lerner

The Jordan Times 15 March '06 "Employment of Jordanians in UAE labour market" which follows below, contains a clear contradiction. The UAE representative states his willingness to remove all obstacles that prevent Jordanians from working in his country." and later says "the UAE gives priority to Jordanians ..." . If they already get priorities, why is it necessary to remove obstacles? While most of these jobs go to Orieentals, perhaps the UAE representative means that subject to the prevailing substantial obstacles Jordan among the Arab countries is given preference in obtaining UAE jobs. Besides the barriers to temporary employment, there are even stronger barriers against obtaining permanent residency and citizenship. Were such restrictions imposed by Western countries there would be profound complaints of Islamaphobia and discrimination. And all of this within the Arab nation.

JORDAN TIMES 15 Mar.'06: Employment of Jordanians in the UAE labour market discussed". AMMAN (Petra) - Jordan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Tuesday started talks designed at achieving optimal cooperation in the labour field.Co-chaired by Labour Minister Bassem Salem and his UAE counterpart Ali Kaabi, the talks focus on how best to exchange expertise and benefit from qualified Jordanian workers in the UAE labour market. Salem said the UAE delegation's visit is a continuation of previous meetings between himself and Kaabi in Abu Dhabi and on the sidelines of recent international and Arab labour conferences, in which the two officials discussed issues related to unemployment and vocational training.The minister added that the Jordanian workforce is interested in the UAE labour market, adding that the Kingdom is seeking to encourage the UAE private sector to recruit Jordanians, especially those trained at the country's vocational training centres. In particular, Jordan can supply the UAE with qualified personnel in the oil, construction, hospitality and tourism sectors, he said. For his part, Kaabi said: "The plans and programmes we are jointly drawing up are based on the nature of the labour issues we are discussing, which are directly related to people and development." He stressed his country's willingness to remove all obstacles that prevent Jordanians from joining the workforce in the UAE in all the vocations required there. He said his country is also willing to expand the scope of cooperation between the two sides to cover vocational training, micro- and medium-size projects and administrative training.Labour Ministry Secretary General Majed Habashneh said the ministry is planning to survey the UAE market to define its needs and then tailor training programmes to meet them. The two sides are expected to sign an agreement today covering the issues discussed Tuesday.Later on Tuesday, the UAE minister met with Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit, who underlined the importance of Jordan-UAE cooperation in the labour field, and the creation of job opportunities for Jordanian youth.Kaabi praised the competence of the Kingdom's workforce, stressing that the UAE gives priority to Jordanians "due to their excellent reputation and high qualifications."

Prominent Arab-American Professor Cheers Hamas, Slams Bush

In the interview which follows Rashid Khalidi, Director of Columbia University's Middle East Institute and Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies, welcomes Hamas' election victory as deserved and as presenting an opportunity to calm the Palestinian-Israeli conflict by a long-term truce. He asserts that Hamas brought terrorism to the conflict and insists that this should not interfere with its potential to serve the long-term truce. Khalidi attacks Bush for taking a "messianic" stand against terrorism. Although Hamas won the election on internal issues such as corruption, Khalidi insists "resistance" (terrorism) will persist so long as there is occupation. So, terrorism's support is not confined to a few, but characterizes the Palestinian population. As for Abbas, he is a figure head. Although not stated, it follows that Israeli-Palestinian negotiation would be a sham. Khalidi believes that given a suitable electoral victory Olmert "... may go beyond the limits of Sharon's thinking". It should be recalled that Palestinian moderates opposed suicide bombing as being counter-productive, damaging the Palestinian international reputation and so interfering with achieving national objectives. Khalidi, in effect, completely disagrees. His interview signifies a public
relations victory for Hamas , considering his prestigious academic position. Those who hope that Arab intellectuals in the West would induce reasonableness to the Palestinian scene are being proved wrong, either by silence from the Arab intellectual community or by positions such as that enunciated by Khalidi. Well before the election it was widely held that Hamas did not qualify to run in a democratic election. The United States and Israel made a profound error in permitting Hamas to run and assuring the world the consequence, if Hamas won, would be dealt with after the election.

THE DAILY STAR (Lebanon) 7 Mar.'06:"Khalidi: World community is not willing to do what is necessary to advance Middle East peace process". HEADING: "Arab-american academic says resistance will continue, in some form, as long as there is occupation" [IMRA: Except where not clearly indicated in Khalidi's answer, the interviewer's questions were omitted.] Editor's note: Below is an interview with Rashid Khalidi, director of Columbia University's Middle East Institute and Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies, was conducted by cfr.org, the online branch of the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations, and is published by permission....I was not surprised that Hamas did extremely well. I have been watching the declining ... Fatah for a very long time, ... this has been expected by anybody who's been watching ... downhill for Fatah, and uphill for Hamas. I did not ... expect the level of ineptitude shown by the Fatah campaign,... Nor did I realize the degree to which the electoral system would affect the outcome, so that in the half of the seats that were distributed according to proportional representation, Fatah and Hamas were almost even, 44 percent against 42 percent. But in the seats that were distributed on a constituency basis, the most votes winning a district, Hamas cleaned Fatah out...People voted for Hamas for several reasons. One is the corruption of Fatah. The second is the ineptitude of Fatah on negotiations with Israel, and the fact that 15 years of negotiations and of peace processes and of establishment of the [Palestinian] Authority, and then the intifada, have left the Palestinians much worse off than they were before. ... not just in terms of corruption. It was also the fact that Fatah failed to improve people's conditions. They failed in their negotiations with Israel...getting a terrible deal. So a lot of people who do not subscribe to Hamas' charter or many of Hamas' ideas want a much tougher negotiating...What is going to happen? ... starving the Palestinians will have the same result that it's had in the past, which is to create more problems...The second thing ... a lot has to do with how people deal with the Palestinian political system. There are people making sweeping statements: "The president has no importance, what's important is the prime minister; If you have this kind of a legislature, then you have this kind of a state," which have no basis in reality... This is a system in evolution. The role, authority, and prerogatives of the president, of the prime minister, and so forth, of the legislative branch, the executive branch, are not defined.

American aid is so minimal it really doesn't matter. The only question is whether the United States is going to prevent other donors from giving money to the Palestinian Authority. American aid does not go generally to the Authority anyway. It goes multilaterally through the World Bank, through AID [the U.S. Agency for International Development], or through the United Nations. ...multilateral institutions over which the United States has influence, like the World Bank and the European Union, Japan, and even donors in the Arab world, may well be influenced by American pressure ... without that external funding the very precarious structure of the Palestinian Authority and ... the Palestinian economy will really collapse. Q: ... The Europeans have put Hamas on the terrorist list just as the United States has. Now, how terrorist is Hamas? A: Well, I'm not particularly comfortable with any of these categories. ... American law, and ... r European law, which bans dealing with people because of a certain kind of action, is ... self-defeating. I think there are ways of weaning people away from undesirable actions, including terrorism, which are probably more intelligent than the ways in which we're going about it...you have to deal with a group that has won an election, whether they have done things that are terrorist or not.... Suicide bombing, in the last decade and a half, was pioneered by Hamas. I don't know how much more terrorist you can get, if you're talking about violence directed against civilians. That and aerial bombardment are the worst you can get. But talking ... about what Palestinians do since they don't have fighter planes, or helicopters, or drones, there's no question that Hamas has not just been engaged in this, Hamas has in many ways been the motor of a specific kind of terrorism directed at Israeli civilians. It's been very narrowly directed against Israelis ... but it has been not just a contributor to this. Hamas initiated this in the Palestinian arena in the mid-90s.... the only reason there's been a ceasefire for the past year, with all of the breakdowns that have occurred ... has been because Hamas has held its fire. They've been much more committed to this than ... Islamic Jihad or... military wing of Fatah. If you think of it as a behavior that is unacceptable and heinous but which can be stopped, then I think what people should be doing is not just looking at whether Hamas carried out terrorism in the past, ... but whether it's amenable to stopping it permanently ... look at other examples. ... Ireland and ... at Israel. We have to look at two of the most distinguished prime ministers in modern Israeli history, who were bloodthirsty terrorists according to their opponents. ... Begin and Yitzak Shamir ... both regarded as terrorist groups by the British mandate powers]...I wonder about this semi-religious use of the term "terrorism." ... once a terrorist, always a terrorist, and the only way to deal with them is to extirpate them. There is that messianic strain in the Bush administration.

There are some Israelis in positions of power, who seem to have that attitude, and then there are other people in Israel who have a much more nuanced understanding of this... If your benchmark is a lasting cessation of violence, that might be possible to achieve with Hamas. Are you going to get them to renounce violence under any circumstances? No. They have an interpretation of this that is actually closer to the view of most Palestinians and most people in the Arab world than to the American or Israeli interpretation, which is that the overwhelming majority of the violence that goes on daily is the violence of the occupation, ...until that stops there's going to be resistance. Now, I don't think Americans are going to accept that, but it's really up to Israelis, ...go back to war to the death with Hamas and the Palestinians, or whether establishing a long-lasting truce, which would be much more stable than anything we've seen to date, is a worthwhile objective. Now, the Israelis want to be able to maintain their occupation and have the Palestinians abjure any form of violence. ... it means you can do anything you want as the most powerful party, and that what you do is not bad and that anything they do is unacceptable...If you get another Fatah that agrees to do something, which Palestinian popular sentiment doesn't fully accept as long as the occupation continues, it won't last. If you tame Hamas, there will be something else that will come up and which will represent the fact that occupation will breed resistance, it's a hard call for the Israelis. They thought that they had gotten from the PLO ... a renunciation of violence without the quid pro quo that Palestinian popular sentiment demands, renunciation of the occupation...that's your first stumbling block, before you get to recognition, before you get to the issue of a two-state solution. And that's... the most important thing for Israelis, if they can get a real truce...something we don't even have right now. Whatever this is, it's unsatisfactory in many respects. You have a dozen Palestinians dying a week, some ... bystanders, but there's a war going on inside the occupied territories between the Israeli security service ... and the Palestinian population and various militant groups. Mainly now it's Islamic Jihad and Fatah ... being targeted. Q: Do you have any sense that if the Kadima party dominates in the election, ... ] Ehud Olmert would be amenable to some kind of understanding with Hamas? A: My very hesitant response would be a lot will depend on who the second and third parties are in a Kadima coalition, ... . And that in turn will depend a lot on what may happen between now and the end of March [when Israel holds its elections]. There seem to be people in the Israeli security services who are pushing the Palestinians as hard as they can to get a reaction. If they do get that reaction ... I'm not sure we can predict what the effect of that on the Israeli voter will be...hose people I know who are experts in Israeli politics have pointed out that coalitions put together in the way that [Ariel] Sharon put this together before his stroke have not had a great history after their first election. So a lot will depend on that. I think his instincts are similar to Sharon's instincts, which is to not negotiate with the Palestinians...which is to impose a unilateral solution, and in my view, therefore, to prolong the conflict. But Olmert has shown his ability to think outside the box. He may go beyond the limits of Sharon's thinking. If there's not a reformed Fatah, I would say Abbas is going to have serious problems. ...if he continues to be treated as he has been treated by almost everybody in the world community, there's no way that he can have any impact. And I'm not just criticizing the Bush administration.. I'm criticizing a number of other actors, including the Israelis, but also including the Europeans and others. If you want this thing to succeed, you have to treat it as if it is worthwhile supporting. And that means saying to the Israelis, "You have to negotiate." That means saying to the Israelis, "You cannot do things unilaterally." ...this is extremely unlikely to happen. So my expectation is that he's going to continue to decline ... .Q: Should Fatah change its mind and join a government? A: .... If I were Fatah, I would be focusing on reorganizing ...Fatah is not going to exist for much longer as a major force if it doesn't do that, whether it joins the government or not. ... it is urgent to have the entire old guard drummed out of Fatah. I assume they will keep Abbas as a figurehead, but if Fatah has not fully renewed, it's worthless, it's good for nothing, it will have no impact on Palestinian politics in the near future, nor will it deserve to.

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HEALTH

MAYOR BLOOMBERG AND COMMISSIONER FRIEDEN LAUNCH OUTREACH CAMPAIGN FOR MOTHERS WHO DEVELOP DIABETES DURING PREGNANCY

4,000 Mothers at Risk of Health Complications Will Receive Information and Resource Packets; Nurse-Family Partnership Will Assist in Providing Face-to-Face Education

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) Commissioner Dr. Thomas R. Frieden today announced an initiative to educate and provide resources for women who developed diabetes during their pregnancy, a condition known as gestational diabetes. The City will send information packets each year to more than 4,000 affected mothers describing health risks and providing tools for them and their babies. The Mayor was joined at the announcement at the Health Department's District Public Health office in Bedford Stuyvesant by Dr. Monica Sweeney, Vice President of Medical Affairs at Bedford-Stuyvesant Family Health Center and several community partners including the American Diabetes Association, SCO Northern Queens Health Coalition, CAMBA, Bright Star, St. John's Bread and Life, the Northern Manhattan Prenatal Network and the Caribbean Women's Health Association. At the State of the City Address, the Mayor announced that the City is embarking on a major campaign to fight diabetes. "The twin epidemics of diabetes and obesity are getting worse quickly - in both New York City and the nation," said Mayor Bloomberg. "This campaign is one important way to fight these diseases. By partnering with community-based organizations and the medical community, we can reduce the serious health effects of diabetes and improve the lives of thousands of new mothers and their babies. Obesity is leading to an increase in gestational diabetes, but health complications can be prevented in both mothers and babies," said Dr. Frieden. "People at risk for diabetes, including women with gestational diabetes, can cut in half their risk of full-blown diabetes by a modest increase in physical activity and modest weight loss. Breast feeding is also strongly encouraged, as this reduces the risk of obesity in both the infant and the mother."

The resource packet contains a letter in English, Spanish, Chinese, and Urdu describing the health risks of gestational diabetes and making recommendations on how moms and babies can stay healthy. It also includes several Health Bulletins on factors contributing to obesity and diabetes, such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol, as well as tips for a healthy diet, physical activity, and helping children reach a healthy weight. A letter for mothers to bring to their doctors is also included. For Harlem, South Bronx, and North and Central Brooklyn (District Public Health offices areas), the packet also contains neighborhood-specific guides to fitness programs. Information for the mailing was obtained from birth certificates records, which include check boxes for gestational or previously diagnosed chronic diabetes. More than 30,000 health care providers, including doctors, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and midwives, will receive a letter reminding them to discuss risks for gestational diabetes, screen for diabetes before and after delivery, and recommend lifestyle changes. Community agencies serving women and families will also receive packets for their clients. DOHMH will also use currently operating programs to educate new mothers about preventive steps they can take if they have had gestational diabetes:

Women who are obese, older, or have family members with diabetes are at highest risk.

* Through the City's Nurse-Family Partnership and Newborn Home Visiting Program, health workers will work directly with mothers who have had gestational diabetes. The Nurse-Family Partnership is an intensive program for first=time moms, in which nurses meet with families every one to two weeks from when pregnancy is first recognized until the child is two years old. The Newborn Home Visiting Program offers a home visit by a community health worker to every new mother in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Bushwick, East Harlem, and Central Harlem.

* The City's District Public Health Offices in Harlem, the South Bronx, and North and Central Brooklyn will distribute packets in these high-risk neighborhoods. Packets include neighborhood-specific guides to fitness programs so that New Yorkers at risk for diabetes know where to go to get physical activity.

* By partnering with community-based health providers, such as Bedford Family Health Center and other community organizations, DOHMH will make information and health care services available to diverse communities throughout the five boroughs. The Department is also sending letters to mothers in Urdu, Chinese and Spanish to help reach these at-risk populations. Gestational diabetes occurs when blood sugar levels become elevated during pregnancy among women who did not have diabetes before pregnancy. Along with the increase in diabetes in general, gestational diabetes has also increased dramatically, by 50% between 1990 and 2004, and now affects approximately 1 in 23 pregnant women in New York City - about 400 women per month. Women who are obese, older, or have family members with diabetes are at highest risk. Two out of three women will develop gestational diabetes again in future pregnancies, and half of women will develop diabetes outside of pregnancy within ten years if they do not increase physical activity and reduce weight. Gestational diabetes can cause serious problems for babies, such as premature birth or heavy birth weight, and increases a child's risk of obesity later in life. "Getting follow-up care is critical for new moms who have had gestational diabetes," said Dr. Monica Sweeney, Vice President of Medical Affairs at Bedford-Stuyvesant Family Health Center. "This includes a post-partum test for diabetes and working closely with your doctor to manage weight and take precautions for future pregnancies. We are here to help women manage these health risks for themselves and their new babies." Citywide, prevalence of gestational diabetes is highest in Brooklyn and Queens. While diabetes rates are highest among Black and Hispanic populations, South Asian women are at greatest risk of developing gestational diabetes. Gestational diabetes screening is even more important for this group. As obesity increases and greater numbers of older women become pregnant, gestational diabetes increases in all ethnic groups.

To stay healthy, new mothers and potential mothers are encouraged to:

* Get more physical activity: At least 30 minutes a day, at least four days a week of moderate to vigorous physical activity (such as a brisk walk) can help prevent diabetes. Walk as much as you can. Even if you don't lose weight, if you get regular physical activity, you will be much healthier.

* Make healthy food choices: Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables. Avoid sugary foods and drinks, including non-diet soda. Eat smaller portions.

* Breast-feed your child. Breast-feeding will help you return to your pre-pregnancy weight, and breast-fed infants have lower rates of childhood obesity. Breast feeding also reduces the risk of a mother developing diabetes later on in life.

* Lose weight: If you are overweight, losing even a few pounds can help you prevent diabetes.

* Set healthy examples for your child: Offer healthy food choices and opportunities to be physically active. Discourage eating in front of the television, and limit time spent in watching television, palying video, and computer games and other activities that keep your child from moving.

* Have a regular doctor for you and your new baby. Tell your doctor about your diabetes during pregnancy. Plan a visit to your doctor right before you think about having another baby. If you don't have a doctor, call 311 for help getting one.

Contact: Stu Loeser/Jordan Barowitz, (212) 788-2958, Sandra Mullin (DOHMH) (212) 788-5290. The New York City Department of Health & Mental Hygiene is now offering information important for the health of all New Yorkers. To sign up for these new and valuable updates, log-on to our website at http://www.nyc.gov/health/email and select the NYC DOHMH updates you'd like to receive.






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