THE SAUDIS: The Middle East Mafia

by Lewis Lipkin

It has been said that Saudi Arabia is the only family-owned business in the United Nations. The gifted dons of the Saud family shaped the modern state by melding the desert Bedouin's ruthlessness and guile with the religious force of Wahhabism, a harsh version of Islam. Lewis Lipkin chronicles the historical and cultural roots of the Sauds.

THE PRINCE

by Elsa Walsh

This is the story of how the Saudi Ambassador, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, became a Washington operator, chumming it up with the rich and famous, promoting the interests of Arafat and the Palestinians, and acting as go-between between Prince Abdullah, who runs the kingdom, and other heads of state. He is a son of Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, second in line to the Crown, and a grandson of Abdul Aziz, who created present-day Saudi Arabia. He is a long-time family friend of George Bush senior. The question is, after 9/11, how warmly does President Bush feel towards him?

LAND OF SINBAD THE SAILOR

by Boris Zubry

Boris Zubry has worked as a mechanical engineer in several countries. He recorded his experiences living and working in Saudi Arabia in this essay, which forms a chapter in his book, Miles Of Experience.

MIDDLE ISRAEL: WHAT BURIED ARABIA?

by Amotz Asa-El

Amotz Asa-El argues that "the root of the Saudi malaise isn't in its politics, but in its sociology: a high illiteracy rate, an anti-meritocratic social order, and the impossibility of its foreign workers — who hold 70% of the jobs — to become citizens. The result is social stagnation.

THE SAUDI ARABIAN EMBASSY ON ISLAM AND MUSLIMS

by Steven Stalinsky

The Saudi Embassy has a website explaining Islam and Muslims to Americans. Steven Stalinsky reports on how several topics are presented: Jihad and Martyrdom, Teaching Islam's Superiority over Christianity and Judaism, Rights in Islam of Dhimmis (non-Muslims under Muslim rule), the Punishment of Non-Believers, the Superiority of Polygamy in Islam to Western Monogamy, and the Rights of Women.

A TROUBLING INFLUENCE

by Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.

Ever since 9/11, it has become harder for Saudi Arabia to suppress information about its subversion of academic departments and U.S. State Department diplomats, its indoctrination of Arab schoolchildren and Muslims in the military in anti-Western Wahhabism, its funding of Middle Eastern terrorists and its outpouring of anti-Semitic hate literature. Articles on the extent of Saudi's anti-Western activities continue to surface. Frank Gaffney's essay is unique in tracing the damage done by a single individual — Grover Norquist — who, in David Horowitz's words, has been working in the higher levels of Washington's political circles "... on behalf of the Islamist Fifth Column."

DENIAL ON THE NILE

by Rand H. Fishbein

This is a reprint of an article Dr. Fishbein wrote soon after 9/11 on the dangers of Egypt acquiring ever more sophisticated weaponry from the United States and North Korea, especially when Egypt in its rhetoric and in its actions was showing increased hostility to the United States and Israel. It could not, the author wrote, "be discounted as an adversary in any future regional conflict." In view of the developments in the past two years (see Dan Eldar's article below), the article was most prescient.

EGYPT AND ISRAEL: A Reversible Peace

by Dan Eldar

The peace treaty of 1977 between Israel and Egypt was, in Dan Eldar's words, "between a society of Western political culture and norms and an Arab-Muslim society with different attitudes regarding the character of peace, the parameters of truth, and the meaning of justice." Since then, while claiming to be a peace broker, Egypt has been "making sure that peace never spreads," encouraging the intifada, while blaming it all on Israel and spewing out Nazi-quality anti-Semitic hate literature. As Egypt becomes poorer, less stable and more radicalized by Islamists, both Israel and America need to reassess how durable this peace is.

ISLAM: A RELIGION OF PEACE?

by Larry Elder

This is an interview Larry Elder conducted with Robert Spencer, about his new book, "Onward Muslim Soldiers: How Jihad Still Threatens America and the West." It is possible that President Bush may actually believe that Islam is a "religion of peace," But Spencer asserts that what we call "'Islamic extremism' stems from a straightforward reading of the Koran and interpretative Islamic texts."

ONLY U.S. STRENGTH CAN DEFEAT ISLAM

by David Gutmann

Dr. David Gutmann, a clinical psychologist, asserts that "Terrorist organizations must be smashed, and their sponsoring nations made to pay the price. If we withdraw in feebleness, triumphant Islamic terrorism will increase catastrophically."
Arguing from historical experience and the national character of the Muslims, he show why this is so.

THE GREAT WALL OF ISRAEL

by Yashiko Sagamori

Israel is building a security fence. Among Israel's friends, the focus is on whether it is or isn't effective in protecting Israelis from local terrorists. Israel's enemies, fearing it just might be effective, complain it inconveniences the local Arabs. The author asks whether something as drastic as the wall is for Israel might save Europe from "succumbing to Islam" — or is it too late?

THE TWO BIG MISTAKES THAT KEEP THE CONFLICT GOING

by Professor Barry Rubin

All the diplomatic peace plans proposed by Israel to solve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict have in common the notions that (1) if Israel makes sufficient concessions, she will gain peace; and (2) making concessions will win her brownie points in the world community. Professor Rubin discusses why this strategy is doomed to failure

THE SANCTITY OF THE UNSACRED

by Guy Bechor

Speaking of the Arab attitude towards formal agreements, the author writes, "... the Western concept of the "sanctity of contractual agreements does not exist in this part of the world, and... an agreement is always relative and not total, and it changes according to considerations of security, religion, history, and military power." In bringing this article to our attention, Aryeh Zelasko put it this way, "As long as the parties involved maintain their respective power levels, the agreement is in force. However, as soon as the balance of power changes, goodbye agreement."

PART OF THE PROBLEM? THIS IS THE PROBLEM

Separate essays by Mike Hendrix and Stephen Green

After the Arafat-Barak fiasco, it seemed that Dennis Ross, the US point man involved, swore he was no longer a peace junky and renounced Arafat's machinations. But it looks like he's fallen off the wagon – the Geneva Accord were announced and he smells action all over again. Mike Hendrix of the Cold Fury website and Stephen Green of VodkaPundit try to sober him up with cold facts why the peace process can't work.

ON MIDEAST'S MENU

by Lou Marano

Lou Marano focuses on the Arab strategy to destroy Israel as embedded in the 10-point program adopted by the Palestinian National Council in 1974. And never repudiated. This means that giving the Palestinian Arabs a state will inevitably be followed by their renewed demands for more concessions backed up by renewed acts of terror. He discusses the Elon plan, which makes Jordan  the only legitimate representative of the Palestinians."

TRANSFER MEANS PEACE

by Boris Shusteff

Mr Shusteff emphasizes that in the near future, even if it is stigmatized as ethnic cleansing, we will have population transfer. The question is: will it be the Jews who are transferred out of Biblical Israel, including a part of Jerusalem, or will it be the Arabs who are moved back to Arab countries. He points out that Jordan is already a Palestinian state, some twenty times larger than Samaria, Judea and Gaza, and the majority of its citizens consider themselves Palestinians.

A JEWISH ROAD

by Ruth King

Ruth King makes the case for Israeli annexation of Samaria, Judea and Gaza. "It is time," she says, "for Israel to face reality. No concessions will make the United Nations ... accept them nor will it placate the Arabs and their Muslim sympathizer Peace will come only through determination and strength and unity and the total destruction and disarming of the Palestinian Authority."

THE BROWNSHIRTS OF OUR TIME

by Phyllis Chesler

Phyllis Chesler, long identified with the Woman's Movement, recounts her pain when she was confronted by members of the movement with ingrained Jew-hate. These Brownshirts see "Palestine" as a "symbol for every downtrodden group of color 'resisting' the racist-imperialist American and Zionist Empires." They can't be reached by facts on the actual treatment of women in Arab society or by an appeal to their own anti-racist principles. Anti-Semitism is becoming politically correct among those who define political correctness.

EXPULSION, NOT TRANSFER

by Gil Ronen

Tamar Rush of Herzliya has observed, "Passing out hundreds of copies of the wiretap transcripts of our Prime Minister's private conversations is perceived as 'harmless fun' — but writing a half-satirical letter to a website could get you some serious time in the klinker." Gil Ronin wrote just that sort of letter to Arutz-7, and MK Gal-On has been demanding his arrest on charges of 'incitement' ever since."

This is Ronen's letter, translated into English. Read it, and decide if Gil Ronin deserves to be jailed for his views — especially when more and more Israelis are debating how, not whether, to transfer the seditious and violence-prone Arabs out of Israel.

INCREASINGLY SELECTIVE DEMOCRACY

by Steven Plaut

Gil Ronen's article in Arutz-7 (see above) was deemed a violation of the law against incitement and an investigation was launched against the managers of the Arutz-7 website. Steve Plaut uses actual examples to highlight how Israeli Leftists are twisting the Law to punish pro-Israel free speech, while allowing any and all pro-Arab speeches, including some that really are seditious and an incitement to riot.

THE JEWISH RIGHT TO THE LAND OF ISRAEL

by Alex Rose

Alex Rose writes of the time of the Balfour Declaration, when the resolve of the English to create a Jewish state was strongly asserted by influential members of the British Cabinet. He examines the Arab case against the creation of the Jewish State, showing that their arguments were and are invalid. Jews have claims to their land biblically, by their unbroken ties to the land historically, and by their reclamation of the land.

AN ANSWER TO THE NEW ANTI-ZIONISTS: The Rights Of The Jewish People To A Sovereign State In Their Historic Homeland

by Dore Gold and Jeff Helmreich

"Jewish nationhood preceded the emergence of most modern nation-states by thousands of years" — well before the first Arab came into the region — and, as the authors point out, in modern times, "[t]he links of the Jewish people to their historic land were well-known and accepted..." Yet, of all the 190 States that are members of the U.N. — many of whom lack "national identity" or are monolithic in religion or culture or have governments that govern inadequately or repressively, only Israel's legitimacy is questioned.

IF THE ARABS DON'T SERVE IN THE ARMY, THEY SHOULDN'T VOTE

by Yoram Shifftan

The major practical reason for giving away Biblical Israel is demographic: if Israel is to remain a Jewish state, it needs to retain a Jewish voting majority. Dr. Shifftan proposes another solution. Those communities that don't serve in the army will not be allowed to vote in national elections. This would apply to Israeli Arabs and the Arabs in the terrorities, because Arabs do not serve in the army.

COMMEMORATING KRISTALLNACHT AT THE SEATTLE TIMES

by Stefan Sharkansky

On the day we remember Kristallnacht, the Seattle Times reprinted an Avraham Burg piece, which included this gem: " They [suicide terrorists] spill their own blood in our restaurants in order to ruin our appetites because they have children and parents at home who are hungry and humiliated." Burg was a proponent of the original Oslo Agreement and is now involved in the Geneva Accord. Stefan Sharkansky rebuts two recent Times pieces on Israel: one by Burg, the other by a Times columnist on the Geneva Accord.

IDENTIFYING ISLAMISTS ON CAMPUS

by Emanuel A. Winston

The author points out one silver lining to the storm of anti-Jewish activities by Islamists on campus: the FBI and CIA can more easily track these radical Muslim students. He also examines the responses of college administrators to anti-Jewish activities on campus and lists organizations that monitor anti-Semitic activities.

PLO HASBARA: A VERY PROFESSIONAL PIECE OF WORK

by Miki Daners

This is an extremely informative article about the slick techniques of PLO propaganda and their paid publicists who manipulate the foreign media. She discusses some of their networking, training and funding resources as well as their excellent Washington lobbyist, Edward Abington, who earns his keep whitewashing Arafat. While the PLO lies about Israel by attributing to them untrue misdeeds, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Service lies about the PLO by playing down their false propaganda and ignoring their atrocities.

MOSHE AMONG THE MORTARS

by Moshe Saperstein

In this letter, Moshe talks of uneventful happenings: being shelled by Arab mortars, traveling to Jerusalem to do errands and rescuing an injured bird.

FRIENDS AND STUDENTS

by Marion D.S. Dreyfus

It's winter and the pressing problem in Wuchan is keeping warm. Marion lectures, does a radio show and fends off the Administration. This takes up much too much time, leavng little time to travel and see the countryside.

READERS' BLOG-EDS

  This is where our readers get a chance to write opinions and editorials. Why Blog-Ed and not Op-Ed? Because we have retained the typical blog style of a stream of text organized chronologically. These are (for the most part) serious, thoughtful and from the heart. They should be shared with other readers. Blog-Eds is updated every few days.
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