BIWEEKLY UPDATE FROM THE DAVID PROJECT

Palestinians fired on Israeli forces along the Gaza border. There were no Israeli casualties. The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) located and disarmed 20 Katyusha rockets that were ready for launch toward Israel.

The situation in Iran continues to develop.

Reliable information remains difficult to obtain due to press and communications restrictions. Demonstrations appear to be continuing but at a diminished level. Protestors continue to be attacked by regime force and there are reports of additional deaths.

Conflicts between clerical leaders appear to be continuing behind the scenes.

Regime sources continue to accuse the U.S., Britain and Israel of provoking demonstration and killing demonstrators. Responding to U.S. President Barack Obama’s condemnation, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinedjad stated “Do you want to speak with this tone?. If that is your stance, then what is left to talk about?. I hope you avoid interfering in Iran’s affairs and express your regret in a way that the Iranian nation is informed of it.”

Group of Eight (G-8) foreign ministers questioned the outcome of Iran’s presidential election and criticized the regime for attacks on protesters. The ministers reaffirmed their commitment to “engagement as a means to an end.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov took exception and said the G-8 should focus on containing Iran’s nuclear ambitions and leave questions regarding the Iranian election to be resolved “legally and through the democratic process.”

Most analysts question whether the Obama administration can or will continue its outreach to the Iranian regime. Invitations to Iranian diplomats to attend July 4th celebrations at American embassies world-wide have been revoked. No Iranian diplomat had agreed to attend.

American and Western diplomatic moves in the Middle East continue.

The United States will now return an ambassador to Syria. Diplomatic relations between the two countries had been downgraded with the recall of the U.S. ambassador in 2005 after the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Some observers suggest that the upgrade is part of a strategy to split the Syrian alliance with Iran.

Sources now confirm that prior to the 12 June Iranian election the Obama administration sent ‘Supreme Leader’ Ayatollah Ali Khamenei a letter, calling for an improvement in relations. Khamenei confirmed receipt of the letter in his 19 June sermon.

G-8 foreign ministers called on Israel and the Palestinian Authority “to fulfill their obligations under the road map, including a freeze in settlement activity (as well as their ‘natural growth’) and an unequivocal end to violence and terrorism.”

After meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Paris, French President Nicolas Sarkozy called for “a total freeze of settlement activity” but added that a “future Palestinian state cannot in any way constitute a threat to the security of Israel.”

Unconfirmed reports continue to indicate that Gilad Shalit will be transferred to Egypt and exchanged for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel as part of a complex deal brokered by Egypt and the U.S.

Reports indicate that Israel has significantly reduced the number of roadblocks in the West Bank and has agreed to limit military operations.

Palestinian politics continue to develop.

Hamas leader Khaled Mashal stated “The Palestinian people reject the Israeli position on a demilitarized state, on the refugees, on Jerusalem, and on the Jewish state. A demilitarized state is a pathetic state, not a serious national entity. The Palestinians will not accept Jerusalem as a unified city under Jewish control.” He added that accepting Israel as a Jewish state would “mean canceling the right of return and expelling the Palestinians living inside Israel from their cities and villages.”

Fatah has released a list of 210 of its members allegedly arrested by Hamas in Gaza.
Palestinian sources report that Palestinian Authority forces in the West Bank have arrested key Islamic Jihad members.

Palestinian Authority forces have shut down the al-Subeh newspaper in the West Bank and arrested the editor.

Arms sales to the Middle East continue to be an issue.

Reports indicate that an agreement has been reached for Israel to purchase up to 25 U.S. F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) aircraft. Outstanding issues appear to have been overcome, including integration of Israeli electronic warfare and communication systems into the aircraft, and ability to independently maintain the aircraft and particularly its computer systems in the event of problems and during wartime. Israel is a low level member of the multinational JSF program. A contract is expected to be signed in 2010 with the first planes delivered in 2014. Estimated flyaway prices for different F-35 models now ranges from $40-60 million per plane.

The British government has stated that it will not place an embargo on arms sales to Israel. The statement came in response to a petition and a demand from the British branch of Amnesty International for a total British embargo on arms exports to Israel. In 2007, British authorities approved 224 export licenses for materials with a total value of £10.5 million.

The David Project Trains Educators In Jewish Identity

Ten enthusiastic middle school educators participated in a one-day seminar to learn about The David Project’s Israel in Jewish Identity curriculum. David Project Educational Initiatives Manager Rabbi Jonina Pritzker and Educator Zeev Orenstein conducted the program, which included familiarizing the teachers with the content of the curriculum and discussing issues and questions about the role of Israel in lives of Jewish people. Fifty-three educators from 35 schools and five community programs across the United States have participated in a Jewish Identity Teacher Training Institute and teach the curriculum.

The David Project’s “The Forgotten Refugees” In Australia

High school students at Masada College in Sydney, Australia screened The David Project’s award-winning film “The Forgotten Refugees.” The students will use the The David Project’s supplementary curriculum in classrooms to look deeper into the mass exodus of Jews from Arab countries. Auryt Jacobson, Head of Jewish Life and Hebrew at Masada College said, “The kids were riveted. Amazingly enough, although the majority of our kids’ are Ashkenazi with a few Sephardi – they had not been aware of a third category of Jews, [Mizrachi].”

The Center For Jewish-Muslim Relations Screens The David Project’s “The Forgotten Refugees”
The YouTube version of “The Forgotten Refugees” was recently screened at The Center for Jewish-Muslim Relations (CMJR) of The Woolf Institute of Abrahamic Faiths. The audience included students of Certificate of Continuing Education Studies in Islam, Judaism and Muslim-Jewish Relations (a program of CMRJ and the University of Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education). Academic Director CMJR Gregor Schwarb said that the screening was a part of “a session on neo-lachrymose approaches to the history of Jews and Jewish communities in North Africa and the Middle East.” CMJR and the Department of Middle East Studies of the University of Cambridge also held an international conference “Jews of Arab Culture, 1948-2009.”