THE MASTER PLAN TO DEFEAT THE HIZBALLAH Posted by Steven Plaut, January 31, 2004.

Sharon's prisoner capitulation is already having its impact. The Hamas is openly threatening now to start snatching Israeli civilians in order to extort Israel, now that the Hizbollah showed how effective a tactic it is. The HizbAllah (that is its correct spelling) promises to kidnap some new Israeli hostages soon. And Israel threatens that if it does, Israel will retaliate Really Really Hard. Yep, it is the return on the RRH doctrine. All of which proves that Israel is planning to defeat the HizbAllah by causing its leaders to laugh themselves to death. No sooner does Haaretz, the newspaper of the thinking Israelis, run Uri Avnery's screed about how Ariel Sharon is the cause of the kidnapping of the three murdered POWS because he did not agree voluntarily to release all the imprisoned Palestinian terrorists on his own initiative before the kidnappings, when the editor of Haaretz publishes an editorial today in which he repeats the same charge. By refusing to pursue peace by releasing all the jailed Palestinian murderers and terrorists wholesale, it is Ariel Sharon's fault that the Hizbollah kidnapped and extorted. You know how everyone whines when Israel blows up the house of a suicide bomber, claiming it is inhumane, unlike the blowing up of civilian buses which is a legitimate form of protest against occupation? Well, just guess who ELSE is blowing up terrorist homes without a squawk from the media or the Eurotrash. Pakistan. They get the locals to do the dynamiting and bulldozing. This is from the New York Times (http://www.nytmes.com/2004/01/31/international). SLAMABAD, Pakistan, Jan. 30 At the start of the month, Pakistan massed several thousand troops in and around the town of Wana, near the country's mountainous border with Afghanistan. Using a harsh century-old British method, officials handed local tribal elders a list and issued an ultimatum. If 72 men wanted for sheltering Al Qaeda were not produced, they said, the Pakistani Army would punish the tribe as a group, demolishing houses, withdrawing funds and even detaining tribe members. Several days later, several thousand tribal elders held a jirga, or council, and agreed to raise a force of their own to find the wanted men. In the last two weeks, the tribes have handed over 42 of them. Tribal members, meanwhile, have bulldozed and dynamited the homes of eight men who refused to surrender. Pakistani officials said they would wait to see how many of the wanted men were handed over, particularly foreigners. Depending on the results, they will shower the area with money, or soldiers. Steven Plaut is an American-trained economist, a professor of business administration at Haifa University and author of "The Scout." He frequently comments - both seriously and satirically - on Israeli politics and the left wing academic community. His website address is http://www.stevenplaut.blogspot.com.

IS ADMINISTRATIVE DETENTION FOR ISRAELIS JUST? Posted by David Ben Ariel, January 31, 2004.

This was written by Jo-ana D'Balcazar and appeared yesterday in "Pakistan Today" and is archived at (http://www.paktoday.com/joana30a.htm). Jo-ana D'Balcazar, M.A., is a political analyst in International Relations and a specialist in the European Union and the Middle East Crisis. Send comments to: politics2see@hotmail.com Undoubtedly, the Federman case is one of the cases that awakes controversy among those who defend Israel, those who believe that terrorists want peace with Israel, those who just let terrorism claim more blood without imprisoning terrorist leaders who openly take credit for genocide bombings, and those who support the liberation of Arab-Palestinian terrorist prisoners. The point is not whether people agree or disagree with Noam Federman's politics, but that as an Israeli, his civil rights should have been respected. While 400 Arab-Palestinian terrorists possibly are about to be liberated, Federman is still seen by many as the mastermind behind the alleged Jewish terrorist underground. Is it fair to consider him a terrorist or a citizen defending his right to live peacefully in Israel? Who is attacking whom and who is being defended from whom? Noam Federman is detained under administrative detention. Let us stop here. What does it mean being in "administrative detention"? Supposedly, it means to hold a person prisoner when there is credible intelligence that such a person is about to commit a terrorist attack. The argument here is that Federman was arrested for allegedly masterminding terrorist attacks against Arab-Palestinians hiding behind the new Jewish terrorist underground. Then, wait a minute. If this is the current Israeli law to be used in "emergency situation," why has it not been applied to the self-confessed terrorist leaders of Hamas, Hizbullah, Islamic Jihad, and Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigade, among others? The emergency situation is clear in these cases when they even announce future terrorist attacks. Ironically, they not only announce them, and not only fulfill their attacks, but also proudly take credit for killing and maiming innocent Jews. And then, they are treated and celebrated by Arafat and almost every Arab-Palestinians not as murderers, but as martyrs. Have not terrorists publicly confessed being responsible for many of the terrorist attacks including genocide bombings? Besides, Israeli intelligence has a lot of evidence about terrorist leaders. Something here is just not making sense. Federman, allegedly, was imprisoned for fear that he might plan attacks against Arab-Palestinians within Israel. Why is it then that the Arab-Palestinians terrorists in Judea, Samaria and Gaza are not also detained, but instead they are even encouraged and supported by Arafat and the neighboring states, such as Iran, Libya, and Syria that are sponsoring terrorism? It is not a crime to allow the growing terrorist campaign whose goal is to destroy Israel, a democratic country since its modern foundation in 1948? Sarcastically, terrorist leaders with clear evidence of terrorist participation, including Yasser Arafat, former terrorist leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, and now Chairman of the Palestinian Authority, are still walking around free planning more and more terrorists attacks. Let us not forget that Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigade, responsible for many terrorist attacks, is nothing else but a military arm of the Palestinian Authority. One can argue that Arafat, in a sense, is under special prison treatment because he cannot leave his headquarters in Ramallah. Well, he might be under special prison treatment but he still operates and officially commands the Palestinian Authority. This is where the controversy starts. For instance, the head of the Islamic Movement, Sheikh Ra'ad Salah, received only a restraining order after he was accused of raising funds for the terrorist group of Hamas. Does it mean that Federman is more dangerous than Arafat and Ra'ad Salah and other Arab-Palestinian terrorist leaders? Therefore, some argue that the use of "administrative detention" is being used as a tool against those who oppose the destruction of Yesha towns, which are located in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza. Federman resides precisely in Hebron, part of Yesha towns. Will this mean that residents in those areas, who oppose leaving their towns and decide to defend themselves against terrorist attacks, will also be imprisoned for "fear" that they will attack Arab-Palestinians terrorists? Now, there is enough intelligence information about the whereabouts of known terrorist leaders in Judea and Samaria. Why not then go after them and apply this "emergency situation" instead of letting them plan, announce, and commit their publicized terrorist attacks? Would it not be more logical to apply the "administrative detention" law to imprison real terrorist leaders and not people or Israeli citizens who want to defend Israel precisely from those genocidal attacks? This reminds us of the case of the American Christian-Zionist David Ben-Ariel, who was imprisoned allegedly for trying to destroy the Dome of the Rock for the reconstruction of the Jewish Temple. Ben-Ariel repetitively declared that he was there only to protest, not to destroy the Mosque. Attorney Naftali Wurtzberger, who defended Federman, also represented David Ben-Ariel during his trial in Israeli High Court and Jerusalem's Municipal Court. Ben-Ariel is now free and back in the United States. The Israeli government decided that Ben-Ariel cannot visit Israel and that he might be eligible to return in 2005. Why not deport the leaders of terrorist groups who are living, apparently with more rights, in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza? The Federman situation has caused many Israelis to reexamine their conscience. Again, the controversy arises. Federman, an Israeli, who has not committed a genocide attack, was imprisoned under an "emergency situation," while the Israeli government has agreed to free about 400 Arab-Palestinians terrorists. The condition is that they must be without "blood on their hands" and with less than 3 years remaining from their prison sentences. It is naive to believe that these 400 terrorists will obey "a promissory note for not continuing with terrorism." Plus, instead of being deported, they will be sent to Judea, Samaria and Gaza. Does this means a victory for the terrorists and a slap for Federman and Ben-Ariel? Simply said, something is not clicking. Ironically, it appears that terrorism is dictating the terms for peace negotiations. Is it that negotiation for liberation of verified Arab-Palestinians terrorists is more negotiable than that of Federman? Even though genocide bombings did not stop, but increased. This is why the fence has been adopted as a "security measure." There are two questions. First, is it fair to consider Federman as a terrorist and not as a citizen defending Israel? Remember, it not a matter whether people agree or disagree with Federman's politics, but about Israeli civil rights. Second, can this "emergency situation law" be applied immediately to all known terrorist leaders in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza? What do you think?

A QUESTION ABOUT HIZBALLAH AN MEXICO Posted by Tamar Bush, January 30, 2004.

This was written by Terence Jeffrey and appeared on the Townhall website (http:/www.townhall.com) January 28, 2004. Politicians serious about preventing another Sept. 11 should listen to the leader of Hizballah, and then read an indictment unsealed this month in Detroit. "Let the entire world hear me," said Sheik Hassan Nasrallah on Sept. 27, 2002. "Our hostility to the Great Satan is absolute." There's good reason to take this sheik seriously. In 1983, his Iranian-backed Lebanese terrorist group attacked the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, killing 241 Americans. According to the opinion of U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth in the case of Peterson v. the Islamic Republic of Iran, Nasrallah attended the meeting in Baalbek, Lebanon, where the 1983 attack was planned. Until Sept. 11, it remained the deadliest terrorist strike ever against the United States. The sheik's Sept. 27, 2002, rally in Beirut celebrated the Palestinian intifadah. It was broadcast live on Lebanese TV and monitored by the BBC. "Regardless of how the world has changed after 11 September," Nasrallah said that day, "Death to America will remain our reverberating and powerful slogan: Death to America!" Six months later, according to the BBC, Nasrallah warned Americans that if the U.S. invaded Iraq, "The region's people will receive you with rifles, blood, arms, martyrdom and martyrdom operations." Now, turn to May 3, 2003. That's when FBI agents searched the Dearborn, Mich., residence of Mahmoud Kourani, a 32-year-old illegal alien from Lebanon. In a statement submitted last week in federal court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth Chadwell revealed words the FBI found on audiotapes there: "You alone are the sun of my lands, Nasrallah! Nasrallah!/. . . your voice is nothing less than my jihad." "We offer to you Hizballah, a pledge of loyalty," said a tape. ". . .. Rise for Jihad! . . . I offer you, Hizballah, my blood in my hand." Kourani pleaded guilty to harboring an illegal alien. A judge sentenced him to six months. On Jan. 15, a second indictment was unsealed, charging Kourani with conspiracy to provide material support to Hizballah. "Kourani was a member, fighter, recruiter and fundraiser for Hizballah," said the indictment. "Operating at first from Lebanon and later in the United States, Kourani was a dedicated member of Hizballah who received specialized training in radical Shiite fundamentalism, weaponry, spy craft, and counterintelligence in Lebanon and Iran." "Kourani," Chadwell added in his statement, "is charged with conspiring with individuals at the highest levels of the terrorist organization, including one of his brothers who is the Hizballah chief of military security for southern Lebanon." Kourani got to America, the prosecutors allege, with the help of a Mexican official. "On approximately Feb. 4, 2001, Kourani surreptitiously entered the United States by sneaking across the U.S./Mexico border in the trunk of a car," wrote Chadwell. "He reached Mexico by paying $3,000 used to bribe an official in the Mexican Consulate in Beirut, Lebanon, to give him a Mexican visa." Do prosecutors believe that official was Imelda Ortiz Abdala, the one-time Mexican consul in Beirut who was arrested by Mexico in November, according to the Associated Press, "on charges of helping a smuggling ring move Arab migrants into the United States from Mexico"? "They are not sure if that is the person that received the money," said Sandy Palazzolo, a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Jeffrey G. Collins of Detroit. "They have information that she worked there during this time frame, but they don't know if that is in fact the person that he did bribe." In a sentencing memorandum in Kourani's alien-harboring case, Chadwell told the court Kourani's "offense of conviction was part of a continuing scheme to bring illegal aliens to the United States from Lebanon through Mexico." Kourani has pleaded not guilty to providing material support to Hizballah. I asked his attorney, Nabih Ayad, about the claim in the indictment that Kourani was a member, fighter, recruiter and fundraiser for Hizballah. "He denies all that," said Ayad. Kourani also contests the government's assertion that he bought a Mexican visa for $3,000 in Beirut. "My client told me specifically," said Ayad, "that he got it legitimately through the Mexican consulate." Why did Kourani come to America? "I think why millions of Americans, the immigrants, come to the United States," said Ayad. "Basically, to make some money. . . . According to his statements to the FBI agents, he was here to make some money to go back with $10,000 for his wife and children." Whatever the eventual outcome in this case, simple prudence demands that a question be asked of our political leaders: If they don't secure our borders against illegal immigration, how can they secure our country against Hizballah? And Hizballah, as Sheik Nasrallah says, seeks "Death to America!"

SELF-PROCLAIMED "EXPERT" DISTORTS HISTORY AND TAKES US ALL FOR FOOLS Posted by IsrAlert, January 30, 2004.

This was written by Rachel Neuwirth, a free-lance writer from Los Angeles and appeared on the website (http://) "Let's not mince words: American policy today toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is insane," asserts Mr. Thomas Friedman in his article "War of Ideas: Part 4" (New York Times, Jan. 18, 2004. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/18/opinion/18FRIE.html?th). Well, Mr. Thomas Friedman, I shall not mince words either. American policy is not "insane," but your flawed observations and analyses are. From your first assertion that the Palestinians are "gripped by a collective madness" causing them to "commit suicide" to your cure-all suggestion that an Israel reduced to a nine-mile wide strip will be a more defensible Israel, you have shown yourself to be neither a friend of Israel nor an expert on this matter. Once again you have ignored the basic fact that the Israeli-"Palestinian" conflict is nothing more than the same old Arab-Israeli conflict using a new platoon, the so-called "Palestinians." Even "new historian" Benny Morris came to the conclusion that the long history of [Arab] rejectionism has perpetuated this conflict. http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=20030421&s=morris042103 What is "insane" is your claim that Israel is in the way of the Arab/Muslim world modernizing and liberalizing. What hinders that process is not Israel or America, but rather the corrupt, despotic systems of government in most Arab/Muslim states including Egypt, Syria and Saudi Arabia. Arab leaders refuse to modernize because they realize it will involve democratization which would spell an end to their regimes. If anything, Israel is the ONLY example of modernization, liberalization, and democratization in the entire Middle East. Yet you blame her for the shortcomings of her enemies. What is "insane" is that you criticize the Bush team for a "just do nothing policy" in the "Palestinian"-Israeli conflict. The Bush team knows there is little it can do until the corrupt, terrorist-supporting regime led by Yasser Arafat ends. The American administration knows that until that time, sadly, there is no hope for peace any time soon. What is insane is insisting that Israelis must evacuate their communities in Judea-Samaria (your "West Bank") in order to be MORE secure when, in fact, the opposite is true. The brave Israelis living in these territories are the first line of defense in keeping OUT those "collectively mad" Arab terrorists "committed to suicide [Jihad]." What is "insane" AND ignorant is that you overlook the fact that an Arab-"Palestinian" state already exists and has existed since 1922. It is called Jordan. Even the Arab world recognizes Jordan's historic ties with the Arab "Palestinians." Prior to 1967, no Arab state ever called for another independent Arab-Palestinian state even when Arabs were in full control of today's so-called "occupied territories." Nor did they ever recognize a distinct "Palestinian" nationality. As Zahir Muhsein, former head of the PLO's military division, stated in 1977: "The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality, today, there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians, and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak, today, about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct Palestinian people to oppose Zionism. (Amsterdam-based newspaper "Dagblad de Verdieping Trouw", March 31, 1977). If Arab terrorism emanating from Judea-Samaria ever ends, the Arab-dominated areas could possibly confederate with that existing Arab-"Palestinian" State of Jordan. Or those Arab-"Palestinians" could simply wade across the knee-deep Jordan River and become official Jordanian citizens. But it has become painfully apparent (except to you) that they will NEVER renounce their right to murder Jews or wipe Israel off the map. And THIS is why they should NEVER be allowed to create a state along Israel's underbelly from which to continue their war on the Jewish state. What is "insane" is that you are so wedded to your distorted, yet simplistic, view of the conflict that when questioned about it, you overreacted. According to journalist Steven I. Weiss, when Manhattan attorney Harvey Schwartz suggested that you were "willing to sacrifice Israel on the altar of Iraq," you yelled "F**k you" and slugged him. (http://www.jewsweek.com, December 13, 2003). Perhaps, Mr. Friedman, you should reflect on the conclusions of Japanese researcher Nobuaki Notohara who lived among the Arabs for some 40 years and of Kuwaiti columnist Muhammad al-Rumayhi who reviewed Notohara's recent book: "[The author] says: 'I think that oppression is an incurable disease in Arab society, and therefore any author or researcher who speaks of the Arab society without being aware of this simple and obvious fact is not a serious researcher.' Mr. Al-Rumayhi concludes that in order to enter the modern age, the Arab value system requires revision. (http://www.memri.org/bin/opener_latest.cgi?ID=SD64804) Mr. Notohara has never claimed to be a Jew, a Zionist, or an expert on the Arab-Israeli conflict; but he certainly has a lot to teach you about sanity AND reality! Or perhaps, Mr. Friedman, you could learn from Walid Shoebat (43), who grew up fully indoctrinated in the hate-filled Arab culture and became a zealous, Jew-hating Muslim in the West Bank, progressing from a boy who threw stones to a young man who was a full-fledged Molotov Cocktail tosser... and perhaps even more. Eventually, he learned the difference between right and wrong. Now he says: "The world does not see the truth about what's happening in the West Bank," Shoebat told the Star in an interview yesterday afternoon. "My purpose is to tell the West that they aren't getting the real picture, that what they're seeing is propaganda. I know the truth because I was there, I was part of it. And the truth is, we wanted to kill Jews long before the occupation. I wanted to kill Jews." (http://www.thestar.com/ January 21, 2004). In conclusion. There are two insanities at work here. First is the insanity of your reasoning and depiction of Israel as the main source of every ill known to the Middle East. But equally sad is the insanity of those who fill your lecture halls time and time again to listen to your distortions. The Arab World's war of ideas, Mr. Friedman, can never be blamed on Israel and/or America. If anything, these countries offer hope to the mass of Arab peoples living under despotic regimes. Let's place blame where blame is due and not mislead American readers. Thomas Friedman: you stand accused of waging your very own intifada against the Children of Israel, and for that there is no excuse. You are nothing more than a full-blown apologist for Arab terrorism. You have spent ample time in the Middle East but it has taught you nothing.

EU POLICY ON ISRAEL: ASSAULT, DEFENT, ASSAULT Posted by Richard H. Shulman, January 31, 2004.

NGO Monitor reports that the EU invested financial and political capital in the "peace process," without effect. The EU is so hostile towards Israel as to help demonize it. Europe attempts to impose its ways on the Mideast, implicitly and mistakenly assuming similarity in history and conditions. European journalists and academics as well as diplomats have adopted the Arab version of events. They ignore the cause of the conflict - Arab rejection of Israeli sovereignty - and focus on pos-1967 issues such as "settlements." They ignore the terrorism and wars preceding the 1967 war. Europe also has invested billions of dollars in Arab states, hoping to promote its interests and stability, stemming the tide of immigration. That, too, has failed. It had to -- Europe ignores regional threats and matters of security. Europeans concentrate on ideals, but their efforts have not promoted human rights and democracy nor ended P.A. corruption. Europe welcomed Syria's President warmly, while Syria increased its antisemitic remarks. The EU also has spent large sums in Israel, not with transparency but intervening in Israeli politics and society, attempting to influence public opinion there. (Subversive.) EU foreign policy is primarily "lofty declarations, unquestioned assumptions, flawed analyses, and unrealistic policies." "From an Israeli perspective, the tone of such declarations has often been perceived as patronizing, paternalistic, and poorly informed." De-emphasizing security, the EU stresses preventing violence via diplomacy. It does not realize that this policy leaves the aggressive Arabs freer to use violence. This philosophy has clashed with US policy in Iraq and on proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. EU policy relies on "constructive dialogue" and trade with Iran, while Iran acquires missiles and fissile material. Israeli military responses to terrorism are called counter-productive. European thinkers ignore the effect of these attacks on Israel and their threat to Israeli security and survival. Mistakenly thinking the Arabs the victims and Israeli force excessive, EU policy is biased in favor of the Arabs. The EU funds NGO campaigns to demonize Israel. The EU's moral equivalence between P.A. terrorism and Israeli defense against it is not ethical. Without evidence, the EU declares Israeli defenses not only excessive but that they do not bring security. The evidence suggests otherwise. Some European states vote for resolutions justifying suicide bombing against Israel as "resisting Israeli occupation." The moral posturing may be just a cover for Europe's major policy consideration, which is oil and other economic interests. Siding almost exclusively with the P.A., and taking its cue largely from the anti-Israel Israeli Left, Europe, which subsidizes the P.A., urges US pressure on Israel, alone. Europe talks about the subsidy being transparent, but it is not, and Arafat steals it. What he doesn't keep under his own name, he uses to incite his people against the Jews and to wage war on Israel (IMRA, 1/10 from Gerald M. Steinberg). So much for EU anti-militarism. THE EU DEFENDS FROM NGO MONITOR The EU rebutted NGO Monitor. It denied the accusation of undue closeness to Arafat, on the grounds that its requires beneficiaries to function independently of officials and to work with NGOs. NGO Monitor erred, said the EU, in describing a major aid recipient as "a political tool that presents a distorted picture of the Israeli press." These NGO recipients were selected in a transparent process and are neither political nor discriminatory. They have positive purposes, such as enhancing Arab human rights and media access. Offering the Arabs a "decent life can undermine the spread of violence and hatred." (Jihad is a religious phenomenon, not an economic one.) The "People to People" program's objective is not to support a political camp but to encourage dialogue. Besides, the EU does not endorse all their views. UNRWA already has refuted claims that it fosters hatred against Israel. The main supporters of UNRWA, the US and the EC surely would not "support a UN Agency if it was (were) responsible for inciting hatred and violence through its support for Palestinian education." The EU's main goal is "a peaceful resolution to the conflict in line with the Roadmap, based on two states living in peace and harmony within recognized international borders. It is inconceivable that we would conduct activities which could be used to promote hatred and violence or put innocent lives in dangers." (IMRA, 1/10 from NGO Monitor.) NGO MONITOR REFUTATION Some of the EU defense was that a different agency of it was responsible for some program or a different amount was spent. NGO Monitor accepted that rebuttal and modified its website. It also backed away from claims it could not prove. Its main thesis it upheld. NGO Monitor was warning of the widespread manipulation by alleged "human rights" groups to attack Israel politically and ideologically. It provided evidence of this by some beneficiaries of EU funding. For example, NGO Monitor erred in describing a major aid recipient as "a political tool that presents a distorted picture of Israeli press." For example, the EU-funded Ilam mission statement is about standards to empower Arab residents of Israel, but it uses biased language to claim stiff censorship in Israel, without mentioning that the Israeli press criticizes the government and the Arab press is free to operate within Israel. (The "Jerusalem Times" is an Arab daily that takes the P.A. line.) Why shouldn't the public know that the EU funds groups that are political tools in the de-legitimization of Israel, rather than an unbiased tool of democracy? The Ford Foundation, Oxfam Belgium, and US government have acknowledged similar abuses and halted some of their subsidies accordingly. The EE reply reiterated EU guidelines and funding criteria. NGO Monitor agrees that the beneficiaries' mission statements are in accord with EU funding criteria. Monitor's point is that the beneficiaries' activities are not! The EU reply failed to address the accountability of the beneficiaries. How does it try to prevent NGOs form involvement in P.A. corruption? Doesn't say. Instead of dismissing criticism and relying on circumstantial evidence, the EU should investigate independent reports, such as those showing that UNRWA ignores the use of its camps as bomb factories and for terrorist organizations and its schools for incitement to violence against Israel (Op. Cit.). I don't believe the main EU defense, that it just seeks reform. Its aid primarily is seditious. Its efforts for democracy ignore Israel's real undemocratic aspects. They solely would empower Israeli Arabs, engaged in a struggle for control of the country, and help P.A. Arabs engaged in a war for that control. Hey ignore P.A. antisemitism because the EU is antisemitic. The EU ignores problems of Israeli security, because, as its Road Map makes clear, it seeks Israel's insecurity. If the EU doesn't cynically realize this, then its left had doesn't know what its right hand is doing. As for its denial that the NGOs work with Arafat, let us bear in mind that the P.A. is a dictatorship, and Arafat is the dictator. He has cracked down on independent-minded NGOs. Since their work now is anti-Israel, he tolerates them. Mr. Shulman is a veteran defender of Israel on several web-based forums. He provides cool information and right-on-target overviews. He distributes his essays by email. To subscribe, write him at ricshulman@aol.com.

A HEART-RENDERING LETTER Posted by Heshy Riesel, January 30, 2004.

This was posted on the www.e-thepeople.org website. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak my mind. I lost my job this past year. When Clinton was president I was secure and prosperous, but in the last year, we had to close our operations. We simply could not compete with foreign labor. This foreign labor worked for low pay under very bad conditions. They worked very long shifts, and many even died on the job. This competition could hardly be called "fair." I was forced out of the place where I had worked for 34 years. Not a single government program was there to help me. How can Bush call himself "compassionate?" Far worse, I lost two of my sons in Bush's evil war in Iraq. They gave their lives for their country, and for what? So that Bush's oil buddies can get rich. My pain of losing my sons is indescribable. While it is trivial next to the loss of my sons, I regret to say that I also lost my home. I simply have nothing left. How can Bush call himself a Christian when he neglects people like me? I am a senior citizen with various medical problems. I'm not in a position where I can begin a new career. I was reduced to the point where I had to live in a hole in a ground, all because of President Bush. And when the authorities found me there, did they have any compassion for my misfortune and ailments? No, I was arrested. Mr. Bush, I dare you to look me in the face and tell me you are a compassionate man! I dare you to look me in the face and tell me you are a Christian. If I had any money left, I would donate it to the Democrat Party. If Al Gore had been elected in 2000 I would still have a job, a home, and most importantly, my dear sons! Regards, Saddam Hussein

THE EXPLOSION OF ANTI-SEMITISM: WHY? Posted by Professor Paul Eidelberg, January 30, 2004.

Hatred of Jews and of Judaism is as old as the hills: one may even call it the equivalent of a law of nature. The hatred is subterranean. It surfaces and explodes under various external forces. Of course there are philo-Semites, but anti-Semitism is the norm. I will not go into the theological reasons for this anti-Semitism. Instead, I limit myself to the explosion of anti-Semitism that coincides with the Arafat War against the Jewish state, a war that erupted after Ariel Sharon went up to the Temple Mount in September 2000 and preached peaceful coexistence between Jews and Arabs. To be sure, Arafat had planned the war long before Sharon's stroll on the Temple Mount. Nevertheless, even though Arafat used Sharon's visit to the Mount as a pretext for initiating the war, that visit was a precipitating cause. But I was talking about the explosion of anti-Semitism. It is my contention that the explosion of anti-Semitism that has swept the democratic world during the past three years would not have occurred were it not for the failure of Israeli prime ministers to eliminate the Palestinian Authority (PA) and its terrorist network. No one is more culpable in this regard than Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, whose landmark victory over Ehud Barak in the February 2001 election was a mandate to destroy the PA and thereby abrogate Oslo. By his readiness to create a Palestinian state on Jewish land, and by calling this land "occupied territory" while perpetuating the myth of the "Palestinian people" - actually a welter of Arab gangs - Sharon actually confirms the accusation that Jews have stolen their land. Coming from him it is hundred times more convincing than from any Arab. This most crucial fact aside, Arafat's and his minions could have been eliminated in one swift and sweeping attack using overwhelming force, which could have been done before and certainly after 9/11. Instead, Mr. Sharon pursued a policy of self-restraint against the terrorists. This had predictable consequences. First, it revealed that such was Sharon's commitment to a Palestinian state that he would refrain from eliminating the PA as "negotiating partner." His appointment of Shimon Peres as Foreign Minister was all Arafat needed to sleep peacefully. Second, failure to destroy the PA enabled Arafat's minions to accumulate more and more weapons, as well as deadlier weapons. This could not but prolong the war. Third, this prolongation of the war enabled Arabs and Muslim throughout the democratic world to inflame anti-Semitism; and this could the more readily be accomplished by TV clips of Israeli retaliation against terrorist attacks. Operation Defensive Shield should never have been necessary. Jenin should never have been the focus of CNN and BBC. Targeted killings should never have been a cause for denunciation. There should have been no Arab bomb factories, no incitement of Arabs via the Palestinian media, no brainwashing of Arab children to emulate suicide bombers. And there should have been no "security fence" to arouse Jew-haters. All this could have been avoided were it not for the gross incompetence of Israeli prime ministers, above all, Ariel Sharon. This incompetence - to put it mildly - has been a primary cause of the explosion of anti-Semitism. When Israel defeated its Arab enemies in the Six-Day War, the Jewish state was admired throughout the world. What they admired was not the justice of Israel cause so much as Israel's display of power. The world respects strength, not weakness. The world certainly has no respect for Jewish prime ministers willing to sacrifice their people's heartland for "peace." It certainly has no respect for Jewish prime ministers who negotiate with and reward terrorists. It must certainly despise Jewish prime ministers who release and arm Arab terrorists to provide for their country's security. It must surely despise a Jewish prime minister that exchanges 435 terrorists for a single Israeli and the corpses of three Israeli soldiers. Is it any wonder that Jew-hatred has exploded around the world? Organizations which are now activated to combat anti-Semitism are shadow boxing. As long as the Israeli Defense Forces target various terrorists, as long as Arab women and children blow themselves up to kill Jews, anti-Semitism will persist. Because Arabs are willing to die for their cause, they will win the support of thoughtless men and women, of whom there is no shortage. As long as Israeli prime ministers behave like cravens and cretins, Jews everywhere will become targets of the anti-Semites. As long as the Jews of Israel do not rise up and put an end to this humiliating and degrading state of affairs, Jews everywhere will suffer the taunts and torment Professor Paul Eidelberg is Head of the Yamin Israel Party in Israel. Prof Paul Eidelberg is President of the Foundation For Constitutional Democracy, 244 Madison Avenue, Suite 427, New York, NY 10016, Tel: 212-372-3752, and Email: Constitution@usa.net A version of this article is archived on the Freeman Center for Strategic Studies, Maccbean Online (http://www.freeman.org/m_online/mar98/eidelb2.htm).

WHO'S AFRAID OF THE BIG BAD SHARON? Posted by Tamar Rush, January 30, 2004.

This was written by Mike Levine Yesterday Prime Minister Sharon stood in front of three caskets containing the bodies of soldiers kidnapped from the Israeli side of the border with Lebanon who were killed by Hezbollah, and whose bodies were held for ransom for three years. This is what Sharon said: "I WARN TERRORISTS NOT TO KIDNAP ANY MORE OF OUR SOLDIERS." You could almost hear Sheik Nasrullah laughing! Arafat, no doubt, was in stitches. In fact they were laughing heartily all over the Arab and Islamic world. They know all too well what Sharon's warning is worth. It's worth a mouthful of warm spit! If Sharon had the balls he was born with he would have immediately, the day these soldiers were kidnapped and murdered, sent in the airforce with 1,000 pound bombs and obliterated all the known Hezbollah camps and infrastructure. He would then have issued a warning to Syria, the sponsor of Hezbollah, that Damascus was next if they do not immediately pull out of Lebanon and disband what's left of Hezbollah. On the very same day that we were delivering, by comfy air conditioned buses, 435 Arab terrorists to freedom, and a plane load of murderers to Lebanon, we received in return three pitiful coffins and one Israeli businessperson who evidently went to Lebanon to conduct some dealings with the enemy. Maybe weapons. Maybe drugs. We don't know yet, and may never know. On that sickening day a Palestinian Policeman employed by Arafat detonated a huge bomb filled with the usual assortment of nails, iron scraps, and other deadly shrapnel in a bus in Jerusalem. A bus filled with people heading to work or for treatment in one of two major hospitals. The top of the bus flew 70 feet in the air. Ten innocent humans died instantly. Many of the dozens injured will die in the coming days. Sixty wounded. The location where this homicidal maniac blew himself up? Near the Prime Minister's residence! A block away from the cafe that was bombed recently with 23 dead, and around the corner from the country's main Synagogue. This attack was planned for several weeks to coincide with the day we released hundreds of murderers of our people, and the place was chosen in order to send a taunting message to Sharon that they are all laughing at him for the spineless, weak-kneed way in which he continues to respond. History has shown only too often and well that our enemies respect only force, and that whenever we make concessions, whenever we appease them or negotiate with them, we pay the price in dead babies, women, and old people, as well as kidnapped soldiers. While we here in Israel were mourning our three dead soldiers, in Beirut Nasrullah and the entire Lebanese government were celebrating. It was a joyous event shown on television in every country on earth. The returning terrorists were accorded a hero's welcome, with flowers and kisses. In his triumphant speech Nasrullah promised to kidnap more of our soldiers in order to trade them for hundreds more! We get three coffins. They get hundreds of live, healthy, well-fed terrorists ready and willing to go back to the business of slaughtering Jews. A terrific deal, eh Mr.Sharon?

NEGOTIATION WON'T BRING PEACE Posted by Richard H. Shulman, January 30, 2004.

Arabs are developing military skills. Jordan is developing an upgraded version of the turret of the Challenger-1 main battle tank (IMRA, 1/13). Israelis think it incumbent upon themselves to negotiate peace before they lose their "military edge." I think it incumbent upon them to win the war before they lose their ability to defend themselves. The problems with negotiations are: (1) Arab treaties don't make peace; and (2) The world insists that Israeli negotiators make concessions that weaken Israel against a war. The Foreign Ministry set up a new website of information about Israel in Arabic. It will include op-ed articles from the Arab world "so that we can hear the views of our neighbors." The theory behind the website is that factual information "is the desired alternative to conflict and confrontation." Israel wants to send a message of peace (IMRA, 1/12). The theory reflects Israeli ignorance about the conflict. The conflict is caused by an Arab ideology of confrontation. Israeli ignorance of that cause prevents Israel from taking appropriate counter-measures. The website would offer the Arabs information they won't believe and op-eds they and Israelis can get from Arab TV and that contain falsehoods, threats of war, and false promises of peace if only Israel would make concessions that facilitate Arab war. The website has as much chance of fostering peace as would one with those similarly fanatical and totalitarian enemies of the Jewish people, Nazi Germany and the USSR. Indoctrinated fanatics don't end conflicts because of information from the enemy they deem liars. The Arabs are in a jihad, which is a religious imperative impervious to being advised that the enemy they demonize is decent.

PALESTINIANS SEE KIDNAPPING IDF SOLDIERS AS HOSTAGES AS PRECEDENT Posted by Itamar Marcus, January 30, 2004.

Yesterday Israel released over 400 Palestinian terrorists and those who had aided terrorists from its prisons in exchange for the bodies of three Israeli soldiers and a civilian who had been kidnapped by the Hizbullah terror organization. Those opponents of the deal in Israel fear that exchanging terrorist prisoners for kidnapped Israelis will encourage more kidnapping. Confirming Israel's fears, the Palestinian media has cited numerous PA sources expressing the sentiment that Hizballah has created the precedent, and the "resistance" is more effective than negotiations. Even Arafat's Fatah "emphasized the necessity to follow in the footsteps of the act of Hizbullah, so that all prisoners and detainees will be released." The following are a collection of statements from the PA media: The Minister for prisoners and detainees affairs, Hisham Abdul-Raziq, expressed his joy at the completion of prisoners exchanging between Hizbullah and the Government of Israel. This deal includes the releasing of four hundred Palestinian prisoners... The spokesman of the committee of the relatives of the prisoners in Israeli jails, Halid Al-Hatib... said: "The Government of Israel, by reaching this agreement, sends the Palestinians a message, which indicates that the releasing of your prisoners will not happen through negotiations." Palestinian National Council member, Basam Abu Sharif, thanked Hizbullah for its efforts to release four hundred Palestinian prisoners. He described this act of Hizbullah as a Pan-Arab one deserving respect... The Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements described the deal as "an achievement", which confirms that the resistance is "a realistic and practical option" for the freeing the land and people. One of Hamas leaders, Ismail Haniyah, told the French News Agency that the deal is a Palestinian, Lebanese and Arab achievement and he added: "This deal confirms that the resistance is a realistic and a practical option, which is capable of achievements to liberate the land and people.  [Al-Hayat Al-Jadidah, Jan. 26, 2004] The wife of the prisoner, Nafiz Haraz, a resident of Gaza who served 19 years in jail of life imprisonment... said: "every single prisoner who is released is an achievement for us and a victory for the resistance... We thank Sheik Nasrallah for this important achievement of releasing prisoners. He is the hawk of the Arabs..." The [Palestinian] citizens believe that Hizbullah's action opend a new door of hope for the families of the prisoners, after it was closed during the [discussions of] political solutions between the [Palestinian] National Authority and Israel, which did not lead to any practical results..." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadidah, Jan.27, 2004] "... the military branch of the Fatah movement, organized a civil and military parade yesterday in Rafah to express appreciation and gratitude for the efforts made by Hizbullah in releasing Arab and Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails in the prisoners exchange deal with Isreal. In a manifesto of the Abu Al-Rish Regiments, the military branch of Fatah emphasized the necessity to follow in the footsteps of the act of Hizbullah, so that all prisoners and detainees will be released." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadidah, Jan. 29, 2004] Itamar Marcus is director of Palestinian Media Watch (PMW). To subscribe to PMW's reports, send an empty e-mail to reports-subscribe@pmw.org.il

FOR SHAME, SHARON! Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, January 30, 2004.

What a shame that Sharon only seems to be able to be clever when it comes to his own skin. If instead of investing public funds and resources into bolstering his popularity he were to use them to fight the terror, all of us including Sharon would be in better shape. Once people can calm down a bit and actually think about what has happened, a goodly number of them will be totally disgusted by Sharon and his antics. These are news item from today's Arutz-7 (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=57038). Sharon must resign. In an impressive military-state ceremony, the State of Israel last night welcomed home the bodies of Staff-Sergeant Benny Avraham, Staff-Sergeant Adi Avitan and Staff-Sergeant Omar Suaed... President Katzav, Prime Minister Sharon, Defense Minister Mofaz and Chief of Staff Yaalon addressed the ceremony, with Chief Rabbi Brig.-Gen. Weiss read a quotation from the Bible in honor of the soldiers and their families. During the ceremony, the fathers of the Jewish soldiers, Adi Avitan and Benny Avraham, recited the Kaddish prayer said in honor of the dead; and an imam recited Al-Fatcha, a Muslim prayer in honor of the dead, alongside the father of Omar Suaed. Prime Minister Sharon, who called the decision to go ahead with the exchange with the Hizbullah that led to the return of the bodies "a Jewish decision", addressed the ceremony saying, "The reality of our lives sometimes forces us into a terrible mix of sadness with sadness. It appears that is the price a society that values life must pay." "We are here with a heavy heart before these three caskets draped in the national flag. We considered with great seriousness all of the data, and we placed on the scale one decisive factor: Jewish sensitivity. We have paid a great debt today," Sharon continued, "a debt of honor due our soldiers, and due their tortured families." Regarding the issue of the confrontation with the Hizbullah, the prime minister said, "The State of Israel will not allow the terrorist organizations to turn kidnapping into a system." He issued a warning to Lebanese terrorist elements that Israel has harsh tools at its disposal to combat kidnapping that it has not yet employed - but would, should it become necessary... ...Several Knesset members refused to attend. Shas party head Eli Yeshai called the ceremony a wasteful "festival"... Were the abundant speeches and musical accompaniments truly necessary? It is interesting to see how many of those present will come to comfort the families when television cameras are not around." Another person opposed to the ceremony, who was instrumental in bringing a case to court objecting to the release of the terrorists, was Meir Indor, of the Almagor terror victims association. "Now it can be revealed," Indor wrote after the ceremony, "Everyone fooled everyone else!" He explained that the ceremony, which does not appear in any state protocols, was produced under orders of the prime minister "to milk the public for support, after the criticism he was exposed to as a result of the deal." Indor also blamed the media for collaboration, as well as the ceremony organizers for "dancing on the coffins." On the other hand, offended by what was not included in the ceremony, was the spokespersons for the Action Committee for Jonathan Pollard. In none of the speeches delivered at the ceremony, even those which referred by name to missing or imprisoned Israelis abroad, was there any mention of Jonathan Pollard, imprisoned in the United States for his activities on behalf of Israel, the activists noted with disappointment. At approximately the same time that the Israeli airplane carrying Elchanan Tenenbaum and the bodies of the three IDF soldiers landed in Israel, Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah was presiding over a celebration in Beirut marking the return of the dozens of Lebanese terrorists released by Israel in the exchange. During his address to the large crowd last night, Nasrallah stated that his organization would kidnap more Israelis in order to obtain the release of other terrorists imprisoned in Israel. Noting the numbers of prisoners released by Israel in the exchange, Nasrallah taunted that just for information on Ron Arad, Israel will release all of its security prisoners. The Hizbullah's original demand was for the release of approximately 4,000 terrorists and their accomplices. During the negotiations leading up to the just-completed exchange, Israel appeared willing to release Samir Kuntar, responsible for the deaths of four Israelis, in exchange for details on missing navigator Ron Arad. Released terrorist leader Sheikh Abdel Karim Obeid, originally captured by Israel as a bargaining chip for Ron Arad, commented in an interview with Al-Jazeera television that while he was pleased to be released, the Arab world must not forget "the others still in jail." Similarly, one of the terrorists released yesterday into Palestinian Authority jurisdiction in Gaza told Israeli media, in Hebrew, "I have a message for Sheikh Nasrallah. We had only a few months left, it was not much. But we have brothers who are in jail for life; they are suffering." The Arab terrorists released into PA custody were greeted by cheering throngs in Gaza and Judea and Samaria. Aryeh Zelasko lives in Beitar Illit, south of Jerusalem. He is Director of Sales and Marketing of Israel Visit (www.israelvisit.co.il) which provides information and an internet buying facility for American visitors to Israel.

FRIDAY IN THE HOLY CITY Posted by Judy Balint, January 30, 2004.

This was written by Stuart Pilichowski, Mevasseret Zion. It started out simply enough. A cold, beautiful Jerusalem morning. I got to the Kotel, the Western Wall, in the Old City of Jerusalem at 8:00AM for Yakir's bar-mitzvah celebration. Yakir was born during (into?) the SCUD War. I'll never forget the first baby pictures. It was hard to see him clearly: he was in a plastic tent. That was his gas mask. Great way to enter the world. A slap on the tush and then preventive measures against chemical and poison gas. He did a great job leading the services and reading from the Torah. It's pretty normal to become bar-mitzvah at the Kotel so I didn't really think twice about the enormity of where we were and what it meant in the realm of things. We too quickly become accustomed to what should always remain most meaningful. The exotic and mysterious lose their allure. Sometimes even for our loved ones. Maybe it's just me. Then we heard the news. A bus bombing in Jerusalem. Reports were first coming in. We later learned of the terrorist rising at 4:00 in the morning and going to his prayer services before setting out on his way to destroy lives. To destroy families. A reminder: The bomb is not "just" a block of C4 explosive or something. It's laden with nails and ball bearings to maximize the damage. It's horrible enough to sit at your worktable and manufacture a bomb that you know will savagely slaughter innocent lives. But to top it off with bits and pieces to take full advantage of the damage you can cause is just unfathomable to me. I wonder what the Allah he thought he was praying to was thinking about this worshipper's "religious" intentions. My daughter-in-law and two granddaughters were in a taxi on the way to the Kotel when they heard not only the radio reports coming in, but also the sirens blaring from every direction. Avigayil, 4 1/2, began crying. She understood. She was sensitive. She was frightened. Temimah, 3 years old, said let's pray. Even at such a young age they seem to know. Israeli intuition? We toured the Old City after breakfast. What struck me during a stop at a museum showing the banishment of Jews from the Old City in 1948 by the Arabs (not Palestinians - that's a new term) was that not only aren't things changing, but I was actually bothered by a burning question I've always had: What have we Jews done so sinfully or wickedly that we to this day warrant such bitter hatred? Yakir. He was kidded about being a "flower child" because he delivers flowers on Fridays in honor of the Sabbath. While his friends were celebrating their buddy's bar-mitzvah last night, Yakir's Uncle David turned to me and said, "Just another few years and all these kids are going to be wearing uniforms. They're going to be protecting us." Unspoken was the fact that perhaps (certainly?) a few years later some wouldn't even be around. While we were dancing and singing songs of joy and celebration into the night, burials, eulogies, and cries of anguish were already happening in Jerusalem. The dead do not remain in the Holy City overnight. They must be buried. Why? I'm not sure. Perhaps because death is a sure sign of absolute conclusion. Nothing more can be accomplished by the deceased. Only the memories and past deeds remain. Jerusalem, the City of Peace, requires action, movement up the ladder towards always aiming for greater achievement. Never remain passive. Always stay optimistic and struggle to climb the mountain. To come full circle, when I was getting flowers for the bar-mitzvah celebration and for the Sabbath this Friday morning, the store seemed unusually quiet for a Friday morning. After all, it's the busiest time of the week. The fellow in the store said his brother-in-law was killed in the blast and buried last night. Everyone is touched somehow. Shabbat Shalom "Jerusalem Diaries: In Tense Times" by Judy Lash Balint (Gefen) is available for purchase from www.israelbooks.com

URI AVNERY DEFENDS HIZBOLLAH Posted by Steven Plaut, January 30, 2004.

We have often commented on the antics of Uri Avnery. Avenry heads a splinter anti-Israel extremist group called "Gush Shalom" www.gush-shalom.org, no doubt funded by the usual overseas ill-wishers. Avnery is considered the father of Israeli anti-Zionism and wrote a book "Israel without Zionists" back in the late 1960s. He is so extremist that when his own mother died, she cut him out of her will and declared in her will that she regards him as a traitor. He has been compared by many to Lord Haw Haw. Mikey Lerner of Tikkun regularly runs Avnery's ravings and endorses them. I guess Lerner runs the rebuttals of Avnery on the same web page on which he posts a photocopy of his Rabbinic ordination certificate and the transcript of his studies from Rabbinic seminary.... Avnery runs ads in the Israeli press for his movement, paid for by Guess Who. They inevitable involve attacks on Israel and defense of Palestinian hatred of Jews. But today's ad in Haaretz by Avnery goes a bit beyond his usual fare. Avnery writes a short screed under the title "Only with Violence/Force" in which he defends the Hizbollah having kidnapped the three Israeli soldiers and holding their bodies as extortionate bargaining chips to force Israel to release the hundreds of imprisoned terrorists. You see, explains Avnery, it is all Israel's fault. Had Israel voluntarily released all the terrorists long ago, the Hizbollah would have had no reason ro grab Israeli hostages in the first place to extort the release of the terrorists. SO because Israel was obstinate and "only understands the use of force" (his words), it is all the Sharon government's fault. Avnery does not consider the possibility that executing the 450 terrorists would also have removed any incentive for the Hizbollah to grab bargaining chips. Someone just asked me why Israel has not tossed Avnery into "administrative detention", which is usually used to hold terrorists and occasionally Kahanists. I do not have a good answer. Steven Plaut is an American-trained economist, a professor of business administration at Haifa University and author of "The Scout." He frequently comments - both seriously and satirically - on Israeli politics and the left wing academic community. His website address is http://www.stevenplaut.blogspot.com.

TEHRAN TERRORFEST Posted by Bryna Berch, January 30, 2004.

This article was written by Amir Taheri and appeared as a Opinion column on the New York Post website (http://www.nypost.com). January 26, 2004 -- THE other day at the World Economic Forum's inaugural session at Davos, Switzerland, Iran's President Muhammad Khatami repeatedly nodded his head in approval as forum founder Klaus Schwab called for the eradication of international terrorism. In his own speech, Khatami called for a "dialogue of civilizations" as an alternative to war and terror. Meanwhile, militants from some 40 countries spread across the globe were trekking to Tehran for a 10-day "revolutionary jamboree" in which "a new strategy to confront the American Great Satan" will be hammered out. The event starts Feb. 1, to mark the 25th anniversary of the return to Iran from exile of the late Ayatollah Ruhallah Khomeini, the founder of the "Islamic Revolution." It is not clear how many militants will attend, but Iran's official media promise a massive turnout to underline the Islamic Republic's position as the "throbbing heart of world resistance to American arrogance." The guest list reads like a who's who of global terror. In fact, most of the groups attending the event, labeled "Ten Days of Dawn," are branded by the United States and some European Union members as terrorist outfits. These include 17 branches of the Hezbollah, a worldwide militant Shi'ite movement created by Tehran in 1983. For more than two decades, Tehran has been a magnet for militant groups from many different national and ideological backgrounds. The Islamic Republic's hospitality cuts across even religious divides. Militant Sunni organizations, including two linked to al Qaeda - Ansar al-Islam (Companions of Islam) and Hizb Islami (The Islamic Party) - will enjoy Iranian hospitality. So will Latin American guerrilla outfits, clandestine Irish organizations, Basque and Corsican separatists and a variety of leftist groups, from Spartacists to Trotskyites and Guevarists. Tehran is the only capital where all the Palestinian militant movements have offices; some have training and financial facilities there, too. Iranian officials claim that the presence of these organizations is limited to "cultural and information activities." The militant offices are known as "daftar ertebat" - "contact bureaus" - while the training offered by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards is presented as "courses in self-defense." But the war in Iraq and the capture of Saddam Hussein have shaken the traditional Khomeinist assumption that the United States will never risk a direct confrontation with the Iranian regime. The old view is expressed in a celebrated dictum of Khomeini that is painted on the walls of the conference center where the militants will meet: "America Cannot Do A Damn Thing!" Now, however, many in Tehran believe that unless the Khomeinist regime modifies aspects of its behavior, notably in its relations with terrorist groups, it might find itself in military conflict with the United States. "Anyone who ignores the presence of the American war machine all around us suffers from deadly illusions," says Imadeddin Baqi, a member of the outgoing Islamic Majlis (parliament). Until at least last December, one idea was to either cancel the terrorist jamboree or curtail it to a single prayer session at Khomeini's mausoleum in Tehran. That idea was vetoed by the "Supreme Guide," Ali Khamenei, who believes that any show of weakness by the regime could encourage its numerous opponents inside and outside the country. Thus Khamenei plans to use the global jamboree to show that Iran is still a revolutionary force to be reckoned with, and that he alone, and not the ineffective Khatami, calls the shots in Tehran. Khamenei also hopes that the next elections, to be held 10 days after the terror jamboree ends, will produce a new majority that shares his strategy. His game plan is to unify the regime by cutting the so-called "reformists" down to size and adopting a wait-and-see tactic until after the American presidential election. The militants headed to Tehran will likely be told they must lie as low as possible for the next few months without abandoning their radical goals. The Tehran gathering is also expected to deepen the recent informal alliances made between Islamist militant groups and a variety of communist, anarchist and environmentalist militant groups against the "American common enemy." The Khomeinist leadership has taken note of the success of the Islamist-Leftist alliances in organizing rallies against the liberation of Iraq last year. Khomeini himself presided over an alliance of Islamists, communists and other Marxist-Leninist groups that brought down the Shah's regime in 1979. "Today, mankind has a common enemy," says Ayatollah Ahmad Janati, who heads the powerful Council of Guardians in Tehran. "And that enemy is the American Great Satan. Anyone who fights the Great Satan for whatever reason is on our side, and anyone who does not is on the opposite side." Nevertheless, it is clear that the Khomeinist regime is prepared to change aspects of its behavior and even concede some tactical retreats to weather what many in Tehran call "the Bush storm." But the regime's strategy - aimed at driving America out of the Middle East, destroying Israel and replacing all Arab regimes with "truly Islamic" ones - remains unchanged. It is no accident that two words are popular in Tehran these days. One is detente, often used by Khatami and the so-called "reformists." The other, used by the more hard-line Khomeinists, is hudhabiah, which is the name of a truce signed by the Prophet Muhammad with a Jewish tribe in Medina at a time Muslims found themselves in a weak position. At the end of the truce period, the Prophet's army, having rebuilt its strength, attacked the Jews and massacred all its adult male members, seizing women and children as war booty. It is against this background that the question of what to do with Iran must be debated. The Khomeinist leadership, isolated abroad and threatened at home, appears ready to offer almost all the behavioral changes required by Washington and the Eureopean Union. But it cannot change its nature. And there is no guarantee that this particular beast will not bite again, and hard, as soon as it feels that it is no longer threatened. A scorpion does not sting because it is naughty; that is dictated by its nature. The current mood of retrenchment in Tehran may lead to a brief detente, as Khatami wants. But that would mean nothing but a tactical move; the strategy of terror remains unchanged.

BECAUSE, IF YOU DON'T CRY, WHO WILL? Posted by Linda Olmert, January 29, 2004.

The article written below is from December 2001 on the Jewish World Review website (http://www.jewishworldreview.com). I am sending it now not only because the words are so poignant, or because the writer hailed from my hometown of Toronto and made aliya 8 years ago. I am sending this article because the words were prophetic: Yechezkel (Chezi) Goldberg, of blessed memory, was slaughtered this morning along with nine others on a bus, by a terrorist in the center of Jerusalem. Please see that this article makes it's way through the web at least with the alacrity of the jokes that we send: as a tribute, and as a cry. The scene: 7:30 a.m. Israel time, Sunday December 2, 2001 - Eight hours after the triple terror attack at Jerusalem's popular Ben Yehuda Pedestrian Mall. He walked into shul, synagogue. I nodded my acknowledgement, as I always do. He made some strange gesture, which I didn't comprehend. I continued praying. A few minutes later, he walked over to me and said: "Didn't you hear?" "Hear about what?" I replied. He grew impatient, almost frustrated. "Didn't you HEAR?" I understood that he was talking about last night's terror attack on Ben Yehuda Mall, a trendy night spot frequented not only by Israelis, but also Western tourists. I assumed that he obviously was intimating that someone we knew was hurt or killed. I replied: "About who?" He looked at me as if I had landed from another planet. "About who? About everyone who was attacked last night." I nodded. "Yes, of course I heard." "Then why aren't YOU crying?" His words shot through me like a spear piercing my heart. Our sages teach that "Words that come from the heart, enter the heart." He was right, of course. Why wasn't I crying? I could not answer. I had nothing to say. He pointed around the shul. "Why aren't all of my friends crying?" I could not answer. I had nothing to say. "Shouldn't we all be crying?" I could not answer. I had nothing to say. What has happened to all of us, myself included? We have turned to stone. Some would call it "numbness." Some would call it "collective national shock." Some would say that we all have suffered never-ending trauma and it has affected our senses. Frankly, the excuses are worthless. All the reasons in the world don't justify our distance from the real pain that is burning in our midst. When an attack happens, in the heat of the moment, we frantically check to see if someone we know has been hurt or killed. And then, if we find out that "our friends and family are safe," we sigh a deep sigh of relief, grunt and grumble about the latest tragic event and then, we continue with our robotic motions and go on with our lives. We have not lost our minds, my friends. We have lost our hearts. And that is why we keep on losing our lives. When I left shul, my friend said to me with tears dripping from his bloodshot Eyes: "I heard once that the Torah teaches that for every tear that drops from our eyes, another drop of blood is saved." We are living in a time of absolute madness. It is obvious what is going on around us and yet, we detach ourselves and keep running on automatic in our daily lives. Last night, when it was only ten people who were known killed and just 200 injured, even MSNBC.com referred to the triple terror attack as a "slaughter." (More tragedy, it turns out, awaited us a few hours later.) And yet, we are not crying. I know a woman who lost sensitivity in her fingers. When she approaches fire, she doesn't feel the pain. That puts her in a very dangerous position because she might be unaware she is burning herself. If we are being hurt and we don't feel it, then we are in a very risky position. A devastating three pronged suicide attack on Jerusalem's most popular thoroughfare should evoke a cry of pain and suffering from all of us, should it not? Unless of course, we have lost our senses. And if we have lost our senses, then what hope is there? When our enemies pound us and we don't react because we no longer feel the pain, we are truly in a dangerous and precarious position in the battle and struggle to survive. Perhaps, my friends, we are being foolish to really believe that the nations of the world should be upset about the continuous murder and slaughter of Jews - if we ourselves are not crying about it. Am I my brother's keeper? The most effective way for us to stop the carnage in our midst is to wake up and to react to it from our hearts. How can we DEMAND that the Creator stop the tragedy when most of us react like robots when tragedy strikes? If WE don't cry about what is happening around us, who will? If YOU don't cry about what is happening around us, who will? If I don't cry about what is happening to us, who will? Maybe our salvation from this horrific mess will come only after WE tune into our emotions and cry and scream about it. As King Solomon said, "There is a time for everything under the sun." Now is the time for crying. May He protect each and every one of us from our enemies so that we will not have to cry in the future. From JWR: "Chezi Goldberg is a Jerusalem based counselor for Adolescents and Families At Risk. This is his first contribution to these pages. Send your comments by clicking here."

VIDEO OF TODAY'S TERROR ATTACK Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, January 29, 2004.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has posted a video of the results of todays butchery in Jerusalem. This is not for the weak of mind or stomach. You will see body parts and human internal organs strewn about. The next time someone tells you how inhuman it is to rid Israel of these wretched Arab monsters, show them this film. One of those you will see torn apart was a neighbor another was the relative of my daughters close friend. There are not a lot of degrees of separation between Jews, especially in Israel. Now I have to go to a funeral. The video is at http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/go.asp?swiU04um0

PA COP, MEMBER OF ARAFAT'S FATAH, MURDERS 10 IN BUS SUICIDE BOMBING Posted by IsrAlert, January 29, 2004.

[IMRA:  So much for the "concepts". Ali Yusuf Jaara carried out a murderous suicide bombing today. Concept #1 Suicide bombers are the product of poverty - give them employment and you stop the attacks Reality #1 Ali Yusuf Jaara, a 24-year-old Palestinian policeman from Bethlehem was gainfully employed. He supported his extended family with his salary. Concept #2 Recruit the terrorists in PA security to prevent them from carrying out attacks Reality #2 Ali Yusuf Jaara, a 24-year-old member of Yasser Arafat's Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades was employed by the PA as a policeman.] The following news item was in Ha'aretz today: Ten people were killed and at least 50 wounded in a suicide bombing on a bus in central Jerusalem, shortly before 9 A.M. Thursday. The blast took place on Egged bus No. 19, on the corners of Arlozorov and Gaza streets, very close to the official residence of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who was not in the building at the time. The site of the explosion is also close to the Moment Cafe, where 13 people were killed in a March 2002 suicide bombing. Magen David Adom said that 10 people were in serious condition, 15 had moderate wounds and the rest sustained light injuries. All of the wounded were taken to hospitals in the Jerusalem area. The Fatah-related Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack. Palestinian sources named the bomber as Ali Yusuf Jaara, a 24-year-old Palestinian policeman from Bethlehem. Palestinian security officials said later Thursday that the bomber was a member of the Palestinian police, from the West Bank city of Bethlehem. The bomber was in the back of the bus when the explosives were detonated, said Jerusalem Police Commander Mickey Levy. "It was a very serious attack on a bus packed with passengers," Levy said. "According to what we know at the moment... we're talking about a suicide bomber." The blast tore apart the bus, turning it into a twisted wreck. Shattered glass lay on the ground. One side of the bus had been blown out and the back half of the roof was blown off. Channel Ten quoted the driver of the bus, who was wounded in the attack, as saying that he did not see anyone suspicious get on the bus. "It was like a pastoral scene - the sun was shining and it was serene outside - but the bus was a nightmare. Bodies were sitting in their chairs, burnt, motionless," said witness Drora Resnick. "There were burnt children sitting together. People started rushing off the bus, but they were still there, not moving." A resident of the area, who only gave his first name, Ofer, said he heard the blast and ran to the scene. "I saw sights that we are now becoming used to seeing: a bus with its back part cut off, people jumping from the bus," he told Channel 10. Stephane Ben Shushan, who owns a chocolate store in the upscale neighborhood, was walking to work and was outside his shop, about 10 meters away, when the explosion went off. "It's indescribable," he said. "It's a real nightmare, you can smell the blood." He said there was heavy traffic and the bus was driving slow at the time. The explosion came just two days after senior Egyptian officials made another attempt to win a pledge from Palestinian militants to halt attacks on Israelis. The attack was a further setback to international efforts to bring about a resumption of peace talks. The U.S.-led road map peace plan has been stalled almost since its inception in June of last year. The Palestinian Authority condemned the bombing, and senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat called for a renewal of "a meaningful peace process." Otherwise, he said, "violence will breed violence, bullets will breed bullets." The last suicide bombing in the capital ahead of Thursday's attack took place on September 9, 2003, when seven people were killed and dozens wounded in suicide bombing at the popular Cafe Hillel on Emek Refaim Street. Emergency numbers Hadassah University Hospital, Mt. Scopus - 12 55 121 Hadassah University Hospital, Ein Karem - 12 55 122 Bikur Holim - 12 55 123 Shaare Zedek Medical Center - 12 55 125

EVENTS IN ISRAEL TODAY: January 29, 2004 Posted by David Frankfurter, January 29, 2004.

1) At around 9.00am local time, a homicide bomber attacked a crowded Jerusalem bus. Detonating himself at the back of the vehicle, he left at least 10 dead and around 50 wounded. 2) In its reports today, the Associated Press chooses to call the victims of today's bus bomb "10 bystanders" ignoring the fact that Israeli Jewish civilians were (by the terrorists' own admission) the deliberate targets of the bomb. Likewise, in Strasbourg, the Council of Europe condemned the bombing as an "indiscriminate act of violence," as if this act of terror was not carefully planned. Many of the dead and injured were Israelis making their way to one of Jerusalem's main hospitals, which was the final stop on the route of the bus that the terrorists chose to bomb. 3) The Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, the "armed wing" of Yasser Arafat's Fatah organization claimed responsibility for the attack. The Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades is under the sole control and funding of Arafat's Fatah (using in part European Union grants which have been constantly been defended by senior European leaders such External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten, who was formerly a senior figure in the British Conservative Party). The Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades named the bomber as Ali Yusuf Jaara, a 24-year-old Palestinian policeman, working for Yasser Arafat's police force in Bethlehem (his salary also paid from the same EU grants). 4) The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams, paid a "courtesy call" on the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in nearby Ramallah, an hour after the bombing, before visiting the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. On Tuesday Dr Williams described Israel's security fence as a " terrible symbol," ignoring the fact that it is being built to keep such bombers out.

END THE OCCUPATION, NOW! Posted by Harv Weiner, January 29, 2004.

This was written by Dwight Owen Shweitzer, and appeared today on the Israel Insider website (http://www.israelinsider.com). "April 1948, Tel Aviv. Israel's new Prime Minister, David Ben Gurion, announced an end to the occupation of a small portion of the State of Israel today, an occupation that has continued unabated since the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in the year 74 when they expelled the Jewish population and renamed the land - Palestine. "Certain non-Jewish residents of the small portion of land recently returned to us have been invited to stay but apparently object to the return of sovereignty to the rightful owners. This, even though the Jewish leadership has agreed to forgo the claims of the Jewish People to the return of 80 percent of the State of Israel being given to the Arabs in the made-up state of Transjordan in exchange for peace. "Unfortunately, even a concession of such magnitude made to peacefully achieve a quick and peaceful reinstatement of Jewish control over that tiny fraction of their land being offered, which is largely desert, is apparently inadequate to insure its peaceful return." Did anyone ever see that story? The answer is no, because no one wrote it, not then and unfortunately, not now. Diaspora Jews had long since accepted the fiction that land stolen is land lost, when international law existing since Roman times held that "first in time is first in right," a legal premise that has continued unchanged in almost every law book throughout the world and to this day. Interestingly enough, our Arab brothers and sisters understood this concept only too well and so conveniently created the fiction that the Jewish people of today aren't related by blood and genetics to those Jews expelled by the Romans so many centuries ago. These "modern" Jews sprung out of the ether sometime after the "real" Jews conveniently disappeared. Why these "neo Jews" (my phrase) decided to take up Hebrew, the five books of Moses, the same Torah scrolls with the same rituals and historical connections of the "real" Jews is somehow left to the fertile imaginations of the creators of this rather ridiculous fiction. Of course one might pause to wonder why anyone with half a wit would choose to be Jewish at a time when Jews were not safe anywhere and particularly unsafe everywhere. A time when Jews were blamed for every possible misfortune of their fellow men, women and children. So what do our founding fathers do when the remnant of their ancient homeland is, like a bone to a hungry dog, tossed to them and then made to fight for the right to keep even that? They act as if the State of Israel really was created in 1948 and that what they were given was a gift out of the goodness of a world heart that really felt bad that the Holocaust happened on their watch. This one small act in a long and unhappy history of bad calls was the precursor of all that has befallen my ancient homeland since the day when someone should have said, "Thanks, but remember what we are giving up to get this little sliver of home." If they had, say after the 1948 war, just said "We have the right to it all but we are willing to settle for this, just leave us alone to live with you in peace." If they said it in 1956 or even waited until the 7th of June 1967 and reminded the world again after the Yom Kippur War in 1973 that it had always been Israel, that might have been enough. For what we must also "never forget" is that we live in a world that defines justice as anything but the rights of the Jewish People to get back what was stolen from them. It doesn't seem to matter whether the theft was by the Romans or the Swiss bankers or the French insurance companies, or the Germans or the Austrians or the Spaniards or the Russians and oh so many others for so long in ways too numerous to mention. The legacy of that slight historical omission is that our Land, that holds centuries of our blood in its arid sand, is somehow not ours, and not to be reclaimed like the stolen goods of centuries since; this is the legacy of Jewish hubris and it is a legacy we will be shackled with as a millstone around our collective necks until we face the world and say Judea and Samaria are Israel and have been since before the creation of every state on the face of the earth save Egypt. On that day, our cause shall be just, and those who accuse us of occupying our own land, those who have our blood on their hands and our gift to the world in their hearts will be made mute. The ebb and flow of history inexorably favors those whose cry for "justice" is also a cry for truth, for it is truth that is the greatest gift to be sought, fought for and achieved. The truth, so simple and explicit, is that we cannot be occupiers of our own land. Harv Weiner runs IsrAlert, a Jewish advocacy network. To subscribe to IsrAlert, send an email to isralert@aol.com

GUNMEN OPEN FIRE DURING CHURCH SERVICE IN PAKISTAN Posted by Freedom Now World News, January 29, 2004.

PATOKI, Pakistan: At least three armed men entered St. Paul's Church firing several rounds during a Sunday prayer service in Patoki, Pakistan, on Sunday, Jan. 25. No injuries were reported. According to eye-witnesses, three of the attackers, Azad Hussein, Mohammad Ali and Amanat Ali, yelled: "We will teach you a lesson and even demolish your church," while firing several rounds from semi-automatic weapons during the service. "These men have a butcher shop in front of our church,  Rev. Saleem Gill, the church pastor said. "They throw [animal] remains in our compound, which is nauseating to worshippers." According to Gill, prior to the attack, the three men would often disrupt services by playing loud music and taunting congregants, especially women, with continued harassment and vulgarity. When church officials asked these men to stop their disturbance, the men threatened to demolish their building and entered the church premises the next day to open fire, Gill said. The All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA) sent a team of investigators to the location and filed a complaint with the local Sadder Police Station on Jan. 27. "We are making all efforts to get justice and to highlight this case for appropriate action," Shahbaz Bhatti, chairman of the APMA said. "The Christian community is fearful that the perpetrators will return to attack again if authorities will not deal seriously with this case." Bhatti claims that police are often reluctant to protect non-Muslim minorities and have sought to "hush up" this incident. He says he is concerned that the callousness of the police regarding this attack may encourage increased violence against Christians and other non-Muslim minorities in Pakistan. St. Paul's Church serves 80 Christian families living in town of Patoki, district of Kasor, where approximately 700 Muslim families reside. On Jan. 15, extremists set off two explosions at Holy Trinity Church in Karachi, causing numerous injuries and extensive damage. Since 2001, there have been a series of attacks by Islamic militants on Western and Christian targets in Pakistan.

ENLARGING SHARON'S GRAVEYARD:BUS BOMB IN JERUSALEM NEAR PM'S HOME, 10 K;50 W Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, January 29, 2004.

Today at 8:50 A.M. a Homicide Bomber from the Dahaishah Refugee Camp in Bethlehem blew himself up in Jerusalem on the #19 bus killing instantly 10, wounding 50, 12 critically. The passengers were mostly Israeli Jews and Arabs, patients and support staff, doctors and nurses who were going to Hadassah Hospital on Mt. Scopus in Ein Kerem, plus other commuters. This happened 3 hours BEFORE Sharon released 436 Terrorists in trade for 3 bodies and one kidnaped Israeli. Sharon went ahead with the exchange despite this horrific bombing outside his home. Some of the released Terrorists went to Ram'Allah to meet with Yassir Arafat. In the Dahaishah Camp, reports indicate that the Arab Muslim Palestinians were celebrating in the streets. The Homicide Bomber was Ali Yosef Jara, a former "Palestinian" Policeman, one of the Terrorists from al Aksa Martyr's Brigade (connected to Arafat's Fatah movement). He was also related to one of the Muslims Arab Terrorists who took the Church of the Nativity hostage and who was subsequently exiled to Ireland. Elements of Fatah are known to operate with funds, explosives and support from Hizb'Allah. Sharon joins Rabin, Peres, Netanyahu and Barak by enlarging his own cemetery as Israelis are murdered by released terrorists. The slogan outlawed by Israel's Ultra-Left Supreme Court: "No Arabs = No Terror!" is still true. I would add: "No weak politicians = fewer dead Israelis!" to that slogan. Israel is running out of graveyard space for Israelis killed due to weak Prime Ministers tied to a short leash of foreign interests. No doubt, Israel will shortly hear from President Bush expressing condolences, with commentary from Secretary of State Colin Powell representing the U.S. State Department, saying that: "We won't let Terror stop the 'peace process'." Clearly, it is time to cut the puppet strings that make Sharon dance. He has become a liability and a Clear and Present Danger as a leader who is controlled by foreign powers. It is also time for a house cleaning of major proportions if Israel is to survive the onslaught of Terror, Death and Maiming that is upon her. The # 19 bus was driving on Rehov Gaza (Gaza Street) one block from the Prime Minister Sharon's residence, near the Cafe Moment, rebuilt after 21 young people died in another homicide bombing. This is at the intersection of Gaza and Arlozorov Streets around the corner from the Prime Minister's home, the President's residence, the American Consulate, Terra Sancta Convent, the Great Synagogue and the Jewish Agency building. The top of the bus was blown off, with bus and body parts blown up into apartments nearby. Emanuel Winston is a commentator and Mid East analyst. His articles appear often on Think-Israel, Gamla (http://gamla.org.il/english) and the Freeman Center for Strategic Studies (http://www.freeman.org/online.htm)

KILL JEWS - IT WORKS! Posted by David Wilder, January 29, 2004.

Why do Arabs continue to kill Jews? It's clear that the suicide bomber who exploded in a Jerusalem bus this morning, murdering 10 Jews (as of this writing) and wounding about 50, was acting out the goodness of his heart. While the palestinian policeman' from Bethlehem, who belonged to Gedudei El-Aktza of Arafat's Fatah, was blowing the #19 bus to smithereens next to Ariel Sharon's official residence, Israel was in the process of implementing the 'prisoner exchange' with Hezbollah. Israel released, not only 400 live terrorists, but also 60 bodies of dead Hezbollah warrior terrorists. Today's terrorist attack was an attempt to even the equation. After all, we were only getting three bodies back. So the terrorist exploded in an effort to even the score. Ten killed, fifty wounded, equals 60. Plus three soldiers' bodies - Israel comes out on top. That's one reason to kill Jews. But of course, there are more. Two days the Yesha Council held a unique press conference, during which they revealed the contents of 'secret discussions' between Yesha leaders and the highest levels of the Prime Minister's office. These leaders met, one at a time, with Dov Weisglass, Sharon's Chief of Staff. He offered them a seemingly, tantalizing deal. The Sharon government would 'disengage' from seven Yesha communities sometime in the near future. Those communities named were: Kfar Darom, Netzarim and Morag, in Gush Katif, Kadim and Ganim in northern Shomron, and Sa-Naur and Homesh in central Shomron. In return, Sharon promised to refrain from any other 'disengagements' until a final agreement with the PA terrorists. In addition, he promised to try and 'save' the rest of Gush Katif in Gaza. At the press conference, the Yesha Council vehemently rejected this 'deal,' calling it a disgrace. But that's not really what is important. What is important is that the 'deal' was offered in the first place. Our Arab enemies could view this planned eviction of Jews from at least two different perspectives. On the one hand, they must have been disappointed at the small number of communities Sharon was offering to destroy. But, on the other hand, the very fact that Ariel Sharon, the great warmonger, the brain behind Sabra and Shatila, would even consider deleting any Jewish settlements in Israel must have been seen as a great victory. Their analysis must have been short and sweet. The reason behind Sharon's proffered 'disengagement' was simple. The above-named communities and their surrounding vicinities are all prime targets of Arab terror attacks. Numerous security forces are needed to provide them with even semi-adequate protection. Sharon himself said, not too long ago, to a group of Bedouins that he hopes the time will soon come when Israeli troops will no longer have to serve in Gaza. Why? Because it's too violent there. The terrorists may not all be university graduates, but simple arithmetic isn't beyond their capabilities. They know that one plus one equals two. Kill Jews plus Kill More Jews equals capitulation-withdrawal-'disengagement.' One need not be a genius to figure it out. Actually, today's prisoner exchange is a case in point. In truth, were I in a decision-making position, I really don't know what I'd do. It is similar to a King Solomon trial (when having to decide which woman the baby belonged to, Solomon commanded that it be cut in half). But the absurdity of the deal screams out to the heavens. Elhanan Tennenbaum, an Israeli colonel in the reserves, whose kidnapping is cloaked in mystery and question marks was freed. In addition Israel received the bodies of three soldiers who were killed by Hezbollah on the Lebanese border for the purpose of kidnapping them. Hezbollah terror leader Nasrallah is already on record proclaiming that he will kidnap more Israeli soldiers in order to use them to liberate other captured terrorists. In return Israel was forced to release four hundred! live terrorists - four hundred, most of whom will undoubtedly return to their favorite pastime - and we all know what that is. (See: Jibril, Achmad: Victory Over Israel - How I Added One Thousand Soldiers to my Private Terror Force.) It seems that the nucleus of the deal was not Tennenbaum or the dead soldiers. Rather, it is the missing aviator Ron Arad. Israel has been promised, at the very least, information concerning Arad, and particularly, whether he is still alive. For that information we will release another Arab murderer. The price to obtain Arad, living or dead, will be astronomical. In other words, Israel, pushed into a corner, is continuing to acquiesce. Our enemies take the offensive, we take the defensive, they are victorious and we lose. One of rules of Israeli negotiations centers on the principle which states that terrorists 'with blood on their hands' i.e., who have murdered Israelis, will not be released from jail. Despite this code of conduct, several Arabs with 'blood on their hands' were today set free. And ten others, with blood on their hands and faces, legs and arms, all over their bodies, were also liberated - not from Israel, but from this world, for eternity. Hamas spokesman Abdel Aziz Rantissi said after today's bombing, "It's not important who carried out this operation. The only thing which is very important is that we are resisting occupiers who came ... to occupy our land and to kill our people." Rantissi isn't talking about Gaza - he's talking about Jerusalem and Hebron, Tel Aviv and Haifa, Eilat and Kiryat Shemona. It's only logical. After all, Sharon is folding - in the midst of a war he's offering to 'disengage' from Israeli communities, he's offering a palestinian state, he's releasing hundreds of terrorists from Israeli jails, in return for... Killing Jews! So, in reality why not KILL JEWS - IT WORKS! David Wilder is spokesman for the Jewish Community of Hebron. Their website address is http://www.hebron.org.il

TERRORISTS RELEASED WHILE JEWS GO TO JAIL Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, January 29, 2004.

It seems fitting and in the proper spirit of the Sharon Judenrat that on the same day that hundreds of blood thirsty, Arab murders are released into the world and Jews are butchered on the streets of Jerusalem that two decent, suffering Jews are locked up. The first news item is from today's Arutz-7 (http://www.israelnationalnews.com). The second item is from the Hebron Community website. Pas And Shvu Sentenced To Jail Time (IsraelNN.com) Hebronite Yitzhak Pas and Matityahu Shvu of Havat Maon were each given a 15-month sentence for illegal possession of IDF weapons for criminal purposes. The sentence was handed down by the court as part of a plea bargain worked out by counsel for the defense in which other charges against Pas were dropped. Yitzhak Pas is the father of Shalhevet Pas, the 10 month old infant brutally murdered by a Palestinian terrorist who fired at her through the window of her bedroom as she slept in her crib. From www.Hebron.org.il The prosecutor demanded that the two men be sentenced to a minimum of six years in jail, claiming that they were planning to commit a terror attack against Arabs in revenge for the murder of Itzik and Oriya Pass' infant daughter, Shalhevet. However, the judge rejected this argument, saying that there was no basis for this assumption. Two days ago, when offering pleas for punishment, the prosecutor spoke of the two men as 'terrorists' and 'extremists,' noting 'where they live.' He was severely reprimanded by the judge, and told to 'stick to the issue at hand.'

I AM ASHAMED TO BE AN ISRAELI Posted by Steven Plaut, January 29, 2004.

I have spent most of the past 12 years being ashamed to be an Israeli. Israeli governments made me ashamed, and they did so by abasing, disgracing and humiliating me as a Jew and as an Israeli. I have been ashamed for 12 years at being an Israeli because this was the period in which the governments of Israel abandoned the struggle for Jewish national survival. They stopped trying to defend me and all other Jews. They lectured me that it was my fault that the Arab fascists were attacking Jews, and that it was within my power to stop the carnage if only I would agree to demean myself sufficiently, to grovel before the terrorists of the Middle East, and to appease the anti-Semites. I could achieve peace if I would agree to place my neck in an Arab noose, but if I refuse to do so then I would be the impediment to peace and my obstinacy would be to blame for all further carnage. For 12 years, my government pursued a policy of defending me and my family by abandoning all attempts to defend us. My government decided to pursue peace by pretending that war did not exist. After two millennia of anti-Semitism, my government decided that anti-Semitism does not REALLY exist, and that when people randomly murder Jewish children it is because they have some legitimate grievances, because they have suffered, and because Jews have shown them insufficient sensitivity. My government implemented policies based on the presumption that the making of concessions to blood-thirsty terrorists would be rewarded with moderation and goodwill, that importing armed Nazis into the suburbs of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem would cause them to seek peace. My government followed policies based on the notion that the Jews were evil, insensitive, and selfish. My government decided that if Jews would only "share" their land and resources with those who rule the entire territory from the Atlantic Ocean to Central Asia, that is, with those who refuse to agree to any "sharing" that allows a Jewish state to exist anywhere in the Middle East, then there would be peace. My government decided that rewarding terrorists for violence would end violence, an dthen told me that there was simply no alternative to coddling terrorists and nazis. My government pursued peace by pretending that war did not exist. My government sought peace through arming and bankrolling terrorists. My government decided that anti-Semitism can only be overcome by redressing the "underlying grievances" that it reflects. My government fought terrorism by not fighting it, and by trying to appease it. My government insisted that I must coddle anti-Semites and terrorists, and must pander to their agenda and desires for there is no other choice. My government over the past 12 years preached to me that it was my own pride and my parochial patriotism that was the obstacle to peace. It told me I must seek peace through self-abasement and self-humiliation. My government told me that if I would show willingness to compromise, then so would the Arabs. My government has been wrong about everything, but refuses to admit it has been wrong about anything. My government decided that Palestinians are a "nation" and that chunks of my Jewish lands were in fact "Palestinian lands". My government decided that Arabs may freely live any place they wish anywhere in the land of Israel, but I may not live freely where I might choose if it happens to be across the "Green Line". My government instituted discrimination against me and against other Jews in the name of "affirmative action", quotas and preferences for Arabs and directed against me. My government fought for my survival through cowardice and endless "restraint", turning my other cheek against my will, pursuing endless "goodwill gestures", which only enflamed the violence. It did so despite the fact that I and my fellow Israeli citizens voted repeatedly to revoke the "Oslo approach" and voted in favor of pursuing war against our enemies, not appeasement. My government abandoned all of northern Israel to the mercies of the Hizbollah rockets, now aimed at me in the thousands. My government abandoned the Jewish towns near the Gaza Strip to rocket barrages from the PLO. I have spent the past 12 years cringing in shame. My government made me feel that way. But I have NEVER felt as ashamed at being an Israeli as I did this week, when my government decided to reward the Hizbollah for murdering three of my fellow citizens in cold blood. My government also abandoned Ron Arad, releasing his kidnapper, rewarding the terrorists who kidnapped him, who "sold" him to Iran and possibly murdered him. My government decided to release nearly 450 murderers with blood on their hands in order to "buy" the release of the carcasses of three of my fellow citizens who were murdered by the Hizbollah after they had been kidnapped by it. My government had abandoned southern Lebanon to the Hizbollah and assured me there would be complete tranquility thereafter. After the farcical Israeli "withdrawal" ordered by my government, the Hizbollah has fired almost daily into Israel, has sent in terrorists who murdered Israeli civilians, and snatched the three soldiers (two Jews and one Bedouin Arab) whose bodies were released this week, after murdering them in cold blood. Last week the Hizbollah murdered one more army officer working a bulldozer; in response my government punished some empty Hizbollah buildings. The prisoner "deal" was possible only because my government refuses to execute the murdering savages, the terrorists. My government thinks capital punishment is inhumane, and its absence has made possible the murders of 1300 of my fellow countrymen. That is like twenty two September 11ths, when measured proportional to population. The Hizbollah also held as prisoner a man who had entered Lebanon for criminal purposes, possibly a drug deal to pay off his gambling debts. I opposed releasing any terrorists to get him released. I might have considered agreeing to release a handful as payment to the Hizbollah to keep him imprisoned there, if he is indeed a drug smuggler. My government decided to respond to the murders of the three POWs by rewarding their murderers, not by converting three Hizbollah towns into large parking lots, not by bathing the Hizbollah leaders in napalm. My government signaled to all my fellow citizens that it was unwilling to avenge our deaths. My government let every Israeli soldier know that his life would be worthless if captured by the enemy because my government would always seek "deals" with those who murder POWs. My government made it known that by grabbing some Israelis as hostages, anyone could obtain any concession they want from my country. My government also let every soldier know that, if captured in war, he would be abandoned to his fate by my government. My government agreed to this "deal" with the Hizbollah, a deal that spit on the family of missing Israeli airman Ron Arad. The man who kidnapped and "sold" Arad has been released by my government as payment for the release of the common criminal. My government is trying to cover its shame by boasting that it "held out tough" and refused to release the baby-murdering terrorist Samir Kuntar, the man who murdered the members of the Haran family in Nahariya. My same government boasts that it would have released this arch-murderer had the Hizbollah so much as told Israel where Ron Arad (or his grave) is. So much for "standing tough". My government is a disgrace. My government practices cowardice and pretends it is courage. My government displays indifference to the Israelis who will now be murdered by those released terrorists and murderers. My government had the gall to pretend it was acting out of compassion and morality when it signed this capitulation, when it placed that smirk on the face of the Hizbollah chief terrorist, boasting of his victory. To drive home the point that the "deal" proves to the world that the Jews are on the run, the terrorists blew up a bus in Jerusalem, the same Jerusalem they pretend is holy to them, as part of celebrating the stampede of Jewish flight. After all, the Hizbollah was being rewarded for terror, so why should not the Palestinians follow their lead in obtaining Israeli surrender? The bus atrocity in Jerusalem was carried out by the "Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades," a PLO terror group under the direct command and control of Yassir Arafat. My government pretended it was suddenly acting out of Jewish ethical values. My government would not know a Jewish ethical value if it popped up in its face. My government pretends there is a "Part B" to this capitulation, in which information about Ron Arad will be released. I do not belive them. I think my government is lying to window-dress this act of cowardice. As I watch the victory smile on the mug of the Hizbollah Chief Terrorist, my own government makes me cringe. My government makes me ashamed of being an Israeli. Steven Plaut is an American-trained economist, a professor of business administration at Haifa University and author of "The Scout." He frequently comments - both seriously and satirically - on Israeli politics and the left wing academic community. His website address is http://www.stevenplaut.blogspot.com.

ISRAEL'S REVOLVING DOOR Posted by Arlene Peck, January 29, 2004.

Have they lost their minds? Israel has let out another four? Five? hundred more terrorists. For what? The remains of three dead soldiers and one live businessman with dubious ties and who shouldn't have been there in the first place? And, who apparently is under suspicion of engaging in drug deals at the time he was taken captive. Truly, I think the powers that be who are running the country are not dealing with a full deck. Even the fact that they pick such historic good friends of the Jews as Germany to broker the exchange I find astounding. Why not the French? Or maybe the Saudis? Ah, but the logic set by the cabinet is that these busloads of freed terrorist are to be prisoners with less than two years still to serve without "blood on their hands." Wow, what exactly does that mean? Are these savage terrorists who "don't have blood on their hands" (yet) acceptable because they failed in their attempt to collect the fee for bombing innocent civilians? Would that make them nice guys who should be let out? Then if only the nice terrorists are going to be released, then why is Israel willing to open the jailhouse doors to let a terrorist murderer like Lebanese prisoner, Samir Kuntar out to kill again. Why? Because they've been promised that they will receive concrete proof as to the fate of that poor man, Ron Arad who was kidnapped by these savages almost twenty years ago. Great! They'll smile and tell Israel "He's dead" and then the murderers go free. One of these prisoners is even suing Israel for $1.4 million dollars, folks, claiming he was raped by his Israeli interrogators. With the mentality of Israel as of late, I wouldn't be surprised it they'd pay it. Hey, in this moronic bargain the enemy doesn't even have to supply Israel a body. All they have to do is tell what happened to him and Voilia!, another terrorist goes free! Does anybody out there see anything wrong with the revolving door that the misguided leaders, and I use the word loosely, have set up for whenever their prisons get too full? Have any of you actually read the conditions of this "exchange." According to the Israeli government statement on prisoner exchange, "Israel has apparently accepted the principle that the sovereign state of Lebanon has borne no responsibility for the open holding of hostages by an armed camp." Of course they don?t. There is no more Lebanon. It's all Syria now. Good Lo-d! What kind of message does this give to the terrorists? You want land? Money? The prisons opened? Well, apparently in Israel, all you have to do is kidnap someone and you won't even have to go meet your 72 virgins. Just grab somebody out of a restaurant, or disco or hey, kidnap a few Jewish kids out of school and they'll give you anything you want to get them back. They don't even have to be living when you trade them when you give Israel your 'wish list.' How the enemy must be laughing in they're mosques. What contempt Israel has earned. I remember Rabbi Meir Kahane telling me years ago, "The people in Israel want to be loved. I don't want the love of the Arabs. I want them to fear us, and respect us." Now I know what he meant. He knew the meaning of the words, "Never Again." I feel like an idiot. I'm one of those silly American journalists who go on Front Page Jerusalem (a Christian radio show which is heard in a hundred stations across America) or, I speak to a group of Hillel kids and tell them, "You want to support Israel? Then get on a plane and travel there. The people of Israel need you. Don't be afraid." Yeah right. You bet your bippies that I'll think twice the next time because crazy and irrational actions like this release don't make me want to encourage the mindless to travel there. What does this do to morale? How does the IDF feel now? Knowing, that their hard-earned capture of these savage barbarians was for nothing. Do you think that the United States would be crazy enough to open the gates at Guantamno and let those dangerous men loose? I have an idea! Maybe the damn fools who think it prudent to let even more terrorists roam the streets of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem give a little more thought. As long as they are setting them free why not give them a one way ticket for them and their families to any Arab country of their choice. But, I'll make a bet with you. Just as always, they wouldn't find any of their Arab brothers willing to take these trouble-makers in. The Palestinian Arab want to push Israel into the sea? They should be pushed back into their Arab lands. Anyone of the twenty-two that they already have will do. Shimon Peres, who gave the PLO an army and guns, was quoted in the LA Times, "There's no room for joy here. We paid a high price because we are more sensitive to human life than Hezbollah is." Lovely. Maybe it's time to stop being so politically correct and sensitive to the human life of the terrorists and show some cohones. Israel is in a war and has the power to do something. It's time to do it. Arlene Peck is an internationally syndicated columnist and television talk show hostess. She can be reached at: bestredhead@earthlink.net and www.arlenepeck.com

DAVID BEN GURION WAS RIGHT THEN AS HE IS NOW! Posted by Women In Green, January 29, 2004.

David Ben Gurion, the Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland in 1937. "No Jew has the right to yield the rights of the Jewish People in Israel. No Jew has the authority to do so. No Jewish body has the authority to do so. Not even the entire Jewish People alive today has the right to yield any part of Israel. It is the right of the Jewish People over the generations, a right that under no conditions can be cancelled. Even if Jews during a specific period proclaim they are relinquishing this right, they have neither the power nor the authority to deny it to future generations. No concession of this type is binding or obligates the Jewish People. Our right to the country - the entire country - exists as an eternal right, and we shall not yield this historic right until its full and complete redemption is realized."

TIME TO DUMP SHARON Posted by Kevin Bjornson, January 29, 2004.

It's time to dump Sharon. He's under a legal cloud over alleged misuse of power for personal financial gain. That makes him more vulnerable to attack, and less able to fight; much like Clinton was during his scandals. Netanyahu would be a much better leader. I advise the new leader to not exchange imprisoned terrorists for kidnapped civilians - whatever is rewarded will be encouraged. If military personnel were kidnapped, that would be a different matter, but the exchange should be equivalent, not lopsided. The effect of this would be to channel the aggression of terrorists unto the IDF, whose profession is to deal with matters of that sort. The release of kidnapped Israeli citizens should be a necessary condition of any exchange of terrorists for IDF personnel, but no additional credit given. BTW, I like the idea of the WB barrier. Since fixed check points are a sucker move (due to vulnerability to surprise attack), why not eliminate them, and seal that border entirely? That way, West Bankers would have to travel through Jordan; the long trip would be more difficult to make and easier to trace through intelligence.

WASHPOST'S SKEWED REPORT ON ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CLASH IN GAZA Posted by Leo Rennert, January 29, 2004.

This is a letter I wrote to the Washington Post about a Molly Moore column. Molly Moore's Jan. 29 report of exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and Palestinian terrorists in Gaza has two important flaws which have the effect of humanizing terrorist groups and downplaying Israel's need to protect itself against them. First, with the lead paragraph, she casts the story in the form of human tragedy -- a father who pleads with his son not to leave the house when the fighting erupts, but the son bolts out the door and gets killed. It is not until the last sentence in the SEVENTH paragraph that we're told that the son was listed by Islamic Jihad as among four of its fighters killed during the fight. In other words, the son was a terrorist rushing to join other terrorists. Would the Post cast a story about a U.S. military clash in Iraq with insurgents as a bereaved father's loss of a son? Second, it is not until the last sentence in the TENTH paragraph that we're told the supposed reason for the Israeli raid into Gaza in the first place. It cites a statement from an Israeli military spokesman that Palestinians had been conducting attacks against convoys traveling to and from a nearby Jewish settlement. Again, that's NOT THE FULL STORY from the Israeli side. Israel said there had been recently a marked escalation in the planting of roadside bombs and the lobbing of rockets into the settlement. In other words, it wasn't just attacks against convoys but a widespread increase in terrorist attempts to kill more and more Jews. Why can't Molly Moore report accurately Israel's position when she so solicitously goes out of her way to describe the Palestinian side?

IT'S ASPIRATION, NOT DESPERATION: The Death Worship of Suicide Bombers Posted by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook, January 29, 2004.

"I always wanted to be the first woman who sacrifices her life for Allah. My joy will be complete when my body parts fly in all directions." These are the words of female suicide terrorist Reem Reyashi, videotaped just before she killed four Israelis and herself two weeks ago in Gaza. What is surprising about this horrific statement is that she put a positive value on her dismemberment and death, distinct from her goal to kill others. She was driven by her aspiration to achieve what the Palestinians call "shahada," death for Allah. She had two distinct goals: To kill and to be killed. These independent objectives, both positive in her mind, were goals greater than her obligations and emotional ties to her two children. This aspiration to die, which contradicts the basic human instinct for survival, is at the core of the suicide terrorism fervor. Only when this death worship component is recognized as a basic tenet of Palestinian belief will it be possible to understand the challenges Israel and the world face from suicide terror. Palestinian society actively promotes the religious belief that their deity craves their deaths. Note the words of a popular music video directed at children, broadcast hundreds of times on PA TV, which depicts the earth thirsting for the blood of children: "How sweet is the fragrance of the shahids, how sweet is the scent of the earth, its thirst quenched by the gush of blood, flowing from the youthful body." This conviction that the deity thirsts for or craves human death as tribute and sacrifice has its roots in ancient beliefs. The Bible cites ancient cultures of the Land of Israel: "Their sons and their daughters they sacrifice to their Gods" [Deut: 12]. Even the Israelites were drawn to it: "And they built altars to give their sons and daughters to Molech which God did not command nor consider this abomination [Jeremiah: 32]." As recently as 500 years ago, South American tribes used to leave children to die on mountain tops as presents to their gods. The common denominator driving human sacrifice cults was the belief that the deity craved the death of innocents. This is precisely the belief that the leaders of Palestinian society are inculcating in their people. Moreover, Palestinians have been taught on PA TV by their religious leaders that they are born for the very purpose of dying for Allah: "The believer was created to know his Lord and to uphold Islam to be a shahid, or intend to be a shahid. If the Muslim does not aspire shahada, he will die as in the Jahiliya [pre-Islam faith]. If we truthfully request it of Allah, He will grant us its rewards even if we die in bed." This message is of paramount significance. The Muslim is born in order to die the right death, according to Palestinian Islam. Death need not be the termination of life to be prevented, but can be transformed into the ultimate achievement, on the condition it is for the deity. Those who do achieve this death are promised rewards by religious leaders on PA TV: "All his sins are forgiven from the first gush of blood; he is exempted from the torments of the grave (Judgment)... he marries 7