This change has not gone unnoticed by Israel’s Arab neighbors.  But the Tehran Times took another look at the issue of Israeli settlements Tuesday, criticizing the role of individual Americans and organizations funding  this activity.

The Times reports:

This support is currently undermining the United States efforts to restart the peace negotiations. In addition to its diplomatic efforts to stop the settlements, the Obama administration must also stop the flow of American financial support for the settlement activities.

The American individuals and organizations that support the settlement activities must ask themselves: is what they are doing good for their fellow Americans? The Obama administration has correctly recognized that continuation of the Arab-Israeli conflict is harmful to the U.S. interests in the Middle East and indirectly contributes to terrorism.

Those Americans who support the settlement activities under current circumstances are indirectly contributing to the promotion of terrorism against the United States and should think about the consequences of their behavior for the safety and security of their country.

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Israel extradited a suspected Klansman to the United States on firearms charges today. After his arrest in Tel Aviv last week, Micky Mayon denied any affiliation with the KKK.

According to Reuters, Mayon fled the United States under suspicion of burning the car of a judge who had ordered he stand trial on the firearms charges.

Mayon was being sought by U.S. marshals on two arrest warrants. Charges included illegal possession of a firearm, reckless endangerment and flight to avoid apprehension.

Mayon was not winning any charm points at the Tel Aviv airport.

Addressing the reporters covering his extradition at the Tel Aviv airport he said he had enjoyed his stay in Israel — especially “the Israeli girls” — and wanted to “come back.”

The Israeli Interior Ministry said Mayon arrived in Israel as a tourist in January 2008 on a one-month visa and stayed on illegally, according to Reuters.

Q+A: Waiting for Mitchell: What divides U.S., Israel is a straight-to-the-point look at what the U.S, Israel and the Palestinian Authority are respectively hoping to see in a path to peace.

The Obama administration seems to be pointing to 1967 (The Six Day War) as the root of the conflict, while the Israeli government and soon-to-be Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continually hark back to the events of 1948 (The Arab-Israeli War) as the base of the problem.

Because of these views, Obama has placed Israel’s continuing occupation of the West Bank at the heart of his campaign for a lasting peace in the region, insisting that Israel immediately stop all settlement activity.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu contends that settlements are a peripheral issue, being used to divert attention from the real problems of the Middle East.  In his view, the problems stem from the events of 1948, when the Jewish state was founded by the United Nations, only to be immediately plunged into war with surrounding Arab nations.

“Even before Israel controlled the West Bank and Gaza, the animosity toward Israel nonetheless existed,” said Dore Gold, ex-Israeli ambassador to the United Nations and now an adviser to Netanyahu in an interview with the Toronto Star. “There were no settlements before 1967.”

Therefore from the perspective of Netanyahu, the fundamental problem is the failure of most Arab countries to accept Israel’s existence (the exceptions being Egypt and Jordan).

This understanding partly explains Netanyahu’s demand that Palestinian leaders acknowledge Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state before they can sit down to find a lasting peace.

For those interested in learning more about the history behind the Arab-Israeli conflict, I recommend Palestine and the Arab Israeli Conflict by Charles Smith. I found this book to be a fair, objective look at the history of the conflict and the attempts toward achieving peace.

Information about McKinney and the other 20 activists on board, including American John Judge, a congressional staffer, has been fed to Reuters through the Palos Hills-based American Muslims for Palestine.  At this time McKinney is the only detainee to be released.

For the full article: Israel releases former US congresswoman

When asked whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was right in indicating that Israel would take matters into its own hands if Iran did not show willingness to finally negotiate over its controversial nuclear program by the end of the year, Biden replied, “We cannot dictate to another sovereign nation what they can and cannot do when they make a determination, if they make a determination, that they’re existentially threatened.”

On the surface Biden’s remarks suggest a toughening US stance against Iran’s nuclear ambitions, but White House officials denied that, the Los Angeles Times is reporting.  According to the Times, White House officials are saying “his televised remarks Sunday simply reflected the US view that Israel had a right to defend itself and make its own decisions on national security.

And in Jerusalem, the Israeli government had no comment on Biden’s remarks.

However, in Tehran, the chatter was not recieved in silence.  Al Jazeera reports Alaeddin Broujerdi, the head of Iran’s parliamentary committee on national security and foreign policy, said Tehran was ready to take “real and decisive” action if Israel attacked its nuclear facilities.