JN-1154

Jerusalem News (14 June, 2015, 27 Sivan, 5775)

Contents:
1. Mainstream Sunni Arabs Blame USA for New Middle East Quandary
2. Iran Has a Very Serious Shortage of Water
3.   Don Davis:  It's going to get a lot worse for Israel
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1. Mainstream Sunni Arabs Blame USA for New Middle East Quandary
MEMRI: June 8, 2015 Special Dispatch No.6067 Saudi, Qatari Press: U.S. To Blame For ISIS Capturing Al-Ramadi
http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/8600.htm
 
Extracts:

In May 2015, despite airstrikes by the U.S.-led international coalition, the Islamic State (ISIS) won another strategic victory when it captured the city of Al-Ramadi, the capital of Al-Anbar governorate, which is home to a Sunni majority. Articles in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which are both members of the anti-ISIS coalition, expressed fear and concern regarding the fall of Al-Ramadi and ISIS's advance towards the Saudi and Jordanian borders. The articles placed the blame for this failure primarily on the U.S., saying that its policy in recent years and the strategy it formulated to deal with Iraq were responsible for ISIS's emergence and its spread in this country.
They traced the roots of the chaotic situation in Iraq to the "American occupation" of the country in 2003, and claimed that the U.S. had dismantled the Iraqi army without establishing a new national army to replace it. They also said that the U.S. had transferred the management of the country to Iraqi Shi'ite forces and to their sponsor, Iran, while marginalizing the Sunni population, thus sparking sectarian tensions and creating fertile ground for the rise of ISIS in that population.
 
This American policy, the writers noted, causes Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states to fear not just for the fate of Iraq and its Sunni population, but also for their own future and their ability to rely on the U.S. to defend them from the threat of ISIS and from Iran. This, especially in light of the American efforts to sign a nuclear agreement with Iran in the near future.
The article accused the U.S. that, in its eagerness to reach an agreement with Iran, it enables this country to do as it pleases in the Middle East and recognizes its role there.
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IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
 
Website: www.imra.org.il
 
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2. Iran Has a Very Serious Shortage of Water

Code: 81645072 (4712070) | Date: 14/06/2015 |  Time: 00:58| Iran rainfall down 20% http://217.25.54.55/en/News/81645072/
 
Tehran, June 14, IRNA  Precipitation has fallen 20% in Iran in the current water year which started last October from a year ago.
 
Iran registered 183 millimeters of rainfall in the current water year, versus 229 millimeters in the previous year.
 
Vice President Mohammad Shariatmadari said recently Iran has earmarked $10 billion to harness cross-border water resources as part of efforts to tackle the water crisis the country is grappling with.
 
Deputy Minister of Interior Esmaeil Najjar has said that more than 500 Iranian cities are struggling with drinking water shortage.
 
Water has gone from being a renewable resource to a growing human security issue in Iran. The country's most important lakes and rivers are drying up at a frightening rate as climate change, poor infrastructure, shortsighted policies and a skyrocketing population send the country into crisis. Former Agriculture Minister Isa Kalantari said the water crisis was 'more dangerous than Israel, America or political fighting,' even suggesting that the Iranian plateau will become uninhabitable in the near future. The UN has labeled it Iran's 'most important human security challenge in the coming decades.' The government officially describes the water shortage as 'critical.'
 
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IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
 
Since 1992 providing news and analysis on the Middle East with a focus on Arab-Israeli relations
 
Website: www.imra.org.il
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3.   Don Davis:  It's going to get a lot worse for Israel
http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/its-going-to-get-a-lot-worse-for-israel/

Extract:

Therefore regrettably the realities for Israel are, a vastly synchronized anti-Israel campaign machine, enormous anti-Israel funding, devastating perpetual waves of negative PR, the popular fad of universities, institutions and organizations condemning Israel, and the political correctness and acceptance of publicly condemning Israel (while deliberately ignoring other vile nations and pseudo-states).

Furthermore, that a Jewish homeland is not tolerable, that Zionism interprets to racism, the illusion that democratic Israel is deceitful, and the expectation that Israel is not allowed retaliating with military force.