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NAILING THE JEW IDIOTS...
Posted by Gerald A. Honigman, January 31, 2007. |
| This is called :Essay Linking Liberal Jews and Anti-Semitism Sparks a Furor" and it was written by Patricia Cohen. It appeared today in the New York Times. |
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The American Jewish Committee, an ardent defender of Israel, is known for speaking out against anti-Semitism, but this conservative advocacy group has recently stirred up a bitter and emotional debate with a new target: liberal Jews. An essay the committee features on its Web site, ajc.org, titled "...Progressive' Jewish Thought and the New Anti-Semitism," says a number of Jews, through their speaking and writing, are feeding a rise in virulent anti-Semitism by questioning whether Israel should even exist. In an introduction to the essay, David A. Harris, the executive director of the committee, writes, "Perhaps the most surprising -- and distressing -- feature of this new trend is the very public participation of some Jews in the verbal onslaught against Zionism and the Jewish State." Those who oppose Israel's basic right to exist, he continues, "whether Jew or gentile, must be confronted." The essay comes at a time of high anxiety among many Jews, who are seeing not only a surge in attacks from familiar antagonists, but also gloves-off condemnations of Israel from onetime allies and respected figures, like former President Jimmy Carter, who titled his new book on the Mideast "Palestine Peace Not Apartheid." By spotlighting the touchy issue of whether Jews are contributing to anti-Semitism, both admirers and detractors of the essay agree that it aggravates an already heated dispute over where legitimate criticism of Israel and its defenders ends and anti-Semitic statements begin. The essay, written by Alvin H. Rosenfeld, an English professor and the director of the Institute for Jewish Culture and the Arts at Indiana University in Bloomington, castigates a number of people by name, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner, the historian Tony Judt, the poet Adrienne Rich and the Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen, in addition to a number of academics. Mr. Judt, whose views on Israel and the American Jewish lobby have frequently drawn fire, is chastised for what Mr. Rosenfeld calls "a series of increasingly bitter articles" that have "called Israel everything from arrogant, aggressive, anachronistic, and infantile to dysfunctional, immoral, and a primary cause of present-day anti-Semitism." A historian at New York University, Mr. Judt said in a telephone interview that he believed the real purpose of outspoken denunciations of him and others was to stifle harsh criticism of Israel. "The link between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism is newly created," he said, adding that he fears "the two will have become so conflated in the minds of the world" that references to anti-Semitism and the Holocaust will come to be seen as "just a political defense of Israeli policy." The essay also takes to task "Wrestling With Zion: Progressive Jewish-American Responses to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict" (Grove Press), a 2003 collection of essays edited by Mr. Kushner and Alisa Solomon. Mr. Kushner said that he and Ms. Solomon took great care to include a wide range of voices in their collection, including those of Ms. Rich, the playwright Arthur Miller and various rabbis. "Most Jews like me find this a very painful subject," Mr. Kushner said, and are aware of the rise in vicious anti-Semitism around the world but feel "it's morally incumbent upon us to articulate questions and reservations." Over the telephone, the dinner table and the Internet, people who follow Jewish issues have been buzzing over Mr. Rosenfeld's article. Alan Wolfe, a political scientist and the director of the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life at Boston College, said, "I'm almost in a state of shock" at the verbal assaults directed at liberal Jews. On H-Antisemitism (h-net.org), an Internet forum for scholarly discussions of the subject, Michael Posluns, a political scientist at the University of Toronto, wrote, "Sad and misbegotten missives of the sort below make me wonder if it is not the purpose of mainstream Jewish organizations to foster anti-Jewishness by calling down all who take from their Jewish experience and Jewish thought a different ethos and different ways of being as feeding anti-Semitism." Others have praised Mr. Rosenfeld's indictment and joined the fray. Shulamit Reinharz, a sociologist who is also the wife of Jehuda Reinharz, the president of Brandeis University, wrote in a column for The Jewish Advocate in Boston: "Most would say that they are simply anti-Zionists, not anti-Semites. But I disagree, because in a world where there is only one Jewish state, to oppose it vehemently is to endanger Jews." Although many of the responses to the essay have referred to its subject as "Jewish anti-Semitism," Mr. Rosenfeld said in a telephone interview that he was very careful not to use that phrase. But whatever it is called, he said, "I wanted to show that in an age when anti-Semitism is resurgent, Jews thinking the way they're thinking is feeding into a very nasty cause." In his essay he says that "one of the most distressing features of the new anti-Semitism" is "the participation of Jews alongside it." Like others, Mr. Cohen of The Washington Post complained that the essay cherry-picked quotations. "He mischaracterized what I wrote," he said. "I've been critical of Israel at times, but I've always been a defender of Israel." He did add, however, that a wide range of writers were named, some of whom have written inflammatory words about Israel. "He has me in a very strange neighborhood," Mr. Cohen said. The dispute goes beyond the familiar family squabbling among Jews that is characterized by the old joke about two Jews having three opinions on a single subject. Bitter debates over anti-Israel statements and anti-Semitism have entangled government officials, academics, opinion-makers and others over the past year, particularly since fervent supporters and tough critics of Israel can be found on the right and the left. Mr. Wolfe, who has written about a recent rise in what he calls "Jewish illiberalism," traces the heated language to increasing opposition to the Iraq war and President Bush's policy in the Middle East, which he said had spurred liberal Jews to become more outspoken about Israel. "Events in the world have sharpened a sense of what's at stake," he said. "Israel is more isolated than ever," causing American Jewish defenders of Israel to become more aggressive. On this point Mr. Rosenfeld and Mr. Wolfe are in agreement. "It's going up a notch or four or five," Mr. Rosenfeld said in an interview. "One of the things that is clear," he said of anti-Semitic and anti-Israel attacks, "is that what used to be on the margin and not very serious is becoming more and more mainstream." Mr. Rosenfeld, who has written and edited more than half a dozen books as well as other publications for the committee, emphasized that policy disagreements were natural and expected. Opposing Israel's settlement of the West Bank or treatment of Palestinians "is, in itself, not anti-Semitic," he writes; it is questioning Israel's right to exist that crosses the line. But Mr. Judt said, "I don't know anyone in a respectable range of opinion who thinks Israel shouldn't exist." (Mr. Judt advocates a binational state that is not exclusively Jewish, something that many Jews see as equivalent to dissolving Israel). He contends that harsh complaints about Israel's treatment of Palestinians are the real target. Last year Mr. Judt came to the defense of two prominent political scientists, Stephen M. Walt at Harvard and John J. Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago, after they were besieged for publishing a paper that baldly stated (among other things) that anyone critical of Israel or the American Jewish lobby "stands a good chance of being labeled an anti-Semite." David Singer, the committee's director of research, said the attention Mr. Rosenfeld's essay had drawn was not unexpected. "We certainly thought that it would raise eyebrows in some quarters," he said. "I think it's an act of courage" on the part of the American Jewish Committee and the author, he added. "It obviously deals with matters of great sensitivity." Gerald A. Honigman, a Florida educator, has created and conducted counter-Arab propaganda programs for college youth, has lectured on numerous campuses and other platforms, and has publicly debated Arab spokesmen. His articles and op-eds have been published in both the print media and on websites. Contact him at honigman6@msn.com or go to his website: http://geraldahonigman.com/blog.php |
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THE DEMONIC CONVERGENCE: RADICAL ISLAMIC GROUPS WORK TOGETHER
Posted by Michael Travis, January 31, 2007. |
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This was posted by Baron Bodissey January 25, 2007 on the Infidel Bloggers Alliance
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I've written previously about the organization called Al-ikhwan al-Muslimeen, also known as the Muslim Brotherhood. Established in 1928 in Egypt by Hassan al-Banna, its goal is to return Islam to its roots in the Koran and the Hadith, purify Muslim practices, and re-establish Islamic governance under the Caliphate. The Muslim Brotherhood was (and is) a Sunni organization, but that doesn't stop it from working with other branches of Islam that share a common goal of defeating the infidel and overthrowing secular governments. And now, according to The Politics of CP, there seems to be a link between the Ikhwan and the Sufi terrorist Sheikh Syed Mubarik Ali Shah Gilani, founder of the Muslims of America and Jamaat ul-Fuqra. CP, as the premier online investigator of Jamaat ul-Fuqra, has discovered the apparent connections: Ikhwanul Muslimun is, in fact, listed in the IRS online database There are a lot of links to his original sources in CP's post; you'll want to go there to find them, and also to read the rest of his summary. While you're at it you can browse his archives, which contain the most extensive information about Jamaat ul-Fuqra available on the web. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Muslim Brotherhood is the ideological engine of modern Sunni Islam. It has codified the visceral anti-Western and anti-modern sentiments of the Muslim Middle East, giving its practitioners a well-developed intellectual base and a sophisticated methodology. A connection between the Ikhwan and MOA comes as no great surprise. There is ample evidence that Hizbullah -- which is Shiite -- is coordinating its efforts with various Sunni groups, including Al Qaeda. Why not extend the cooperative sphere to include Sufi terrorists? All of them share the common goal of exterminating the kuffar and establishing a worldwide Islamic government. The Demonic Convergence which has formed in the last few decades is seizing the opportunity posed by Western decadence, weakness, and self-loathing. Sayyid Qutb, the great populizer of the Muslim Brotherhood, wrote in his 1963 book Milestones (Ma'alim fi al-Tariq): The leadership of mankind by Western man is now on the decline, not because Western culture has become poor materially or because its economic and military power has become weak. The period of the Western system has come to an end primarily because it is deprived of those life-giving values, which enabled it to be the leader of mankind. More than forty years ago the premise was made clear: The period of the Western system has come to an end primarily because it is deprived of those life-giving values, which enabled it to be the leader of mankind. To complete the Demonic Convergence, all that is necessary is the passive -- or even active -- assistance of the Left within Western countries. The doctrinaire Socialists, Marxists, Anarchists, and Deconstructionists are only too happy to comply, ready to assist with their own suicide. Fjordman has pointed out the natural synergy that has arisen between the Left and the Islamists: [T]he fascination with Islamic movements... is partly based on hatred of the West and a belief that the world must be "liberated" from Western civilization, which is the cause of global injustice. City on FireCan there be a more poignant manifestation of this trend than Denmark's "City on Fire" project, which visualizes with great longing the incineration of Western Civilization? The useful idiots of our own culture are supplying the fuel while radical Islam provides the oxygen for the great conflagration. The match may already have been put to the tinder. According to Daniel Pipes: Significant elements in several Western countries - especially the United States, Great Britain, and Israel - believe their own governments to be repositories of evil, and see terrorism as just punishment for past sins. The various "purifiers" of Islam are well aware of our weaknesses; they show an uncanny ability to get into our culture and borrow what is useful in order to destroy it. Actual weaponry -- the IED, surface-to-air missiles, nuclear weapons, etc. -- are part of the plan, but so are political and cultural strategies. The Islamists appropriate our organizational methods, utilize a party system, and borrow freely from Marxist, Green, and Multiculturalist rhetoric to use against us. Hizb ut-Tahrir is notably effective in all these activities. I have quoted previously from their website: The work of Hizb ut-Tahrir is to carry the Islamic da'wah in order to change the situation of the corrupt society so that it is transformed into an Islamic society. It aims to do this by firstly changing the society's existing thoughts to Islamic thoughts so that such thoughts become the public opinion among the people, who are then driven to implement and act upon them. Secondly the Party works to change the emotions in the society until they become Islamic emotions that accept only that which pleases Allah (swt) and rebel against and detest anything which angers Allah (swt). Finally, the Party works to change the relationships in the society until they become Islamic relationships which proceed in accordance with the laws and solutions of Islam. That particular Hizb ut-Tahrir website is no longer available -- authorities keep taking down the site, and the group keeps moving it. The current site for the UK Chapter of Hizb ut-Tahrir is fairly innocuous as Islamist websites go, which is probably why it's still extant. Britain is one of the few countries where Hizb ut-Tahrir is still legal. But don't be fooled by the mild taqiyyah versions of the group's ideology. When you drill down to their non-PR sites, that's where you can find the real red meat. Their latest incarnation seems to be here, where it is clearly stated that Hizb ut-Tahrir is "a political party whose ideology is Islam". According to their "About Hizb-ut-Tahrir" page: "...Hizb-ut-Tahrir must be a political party that undertakes It's not a spiritual bloc; it's a political bloc. Its ideology is Islam. Its intention is to wage jihad until the goal of a worldwide Islamic government is reached. When the Islamists' goal is achieved, there will be plenty of time to sort out the Sunni-Shiite-Sufi issues. Lots of time to line up the "false Muslims" against the wall and give them the justice of the bullet. Bloodshed in the name of the Prophet can continue indefinitely, even after all the infidels are gone, until Islam is really, really, 100% pure. In the meantime, the Demonic Convergence is upon us. Radical Islamic groups are working together, sharing information and manpower, planning and executing strategies against the kuffar. The talking heads and PR firms lie and obfuscate, but if you look beneath the surface you can find their goals clearly stated, the agenda laid out for all to see. And the useful idiots are lining up, falling over each other in their eagerness to abase themselves before the Legions of the Prophet. Islam, as it is presently practiced by the majority of devout Muslims, is a political ideology. It is about power, about taking it from the infidel and entrusting it to the vanguard of the true believers. Marx, Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler are the role models. The Party's purpose is to realize the revolution, enforce discipline, and instruct the people. It requires absolute dedication, absolute ruthlessness, and allows no compromises except for temporary and expedient ones. Say good-bye to the Worldwide Socialist Revolution. Say hello to the Worldwide Caliphate. Contact Michael Travis at michaelmgr@gmail.com |
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DON'T THEY REALLY WANT A ONE-STATE SOLUTION?
Posted by Dr. Steve Carol, January 31, 2007. |
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Again and again one hears and reads ("A Rabbinic Response to President Carter,"Jewish News, Jan. 12, 2007) the often repeated mantra that the (emphasis added) solution to the ongoing 135+ year Arab-Muslim war against the Jewish people in the Land of Israel is a "two-state solution." U.S. policy for a generation has stressed an Israeli and Palestinian Arab state "living side-by-side in peace and security." Would that be the case. Yes, it is a goal of the current Israeli government, the same government that unilaterally retreated from Gaza and for its trouble has received constant rocket bombardment and terrorist threat from that territory. Simply put a "two-state" solution can only occur if both (emphasis added) parties genuinely want that. This conveniently forgets the historic fact that since 1921 there has been two states formed out of the original British Mandate of Palestine which was to be the Jewish National homeland. The larger of these, 35,468 sq. miles (out of 46.339 sq. miles) - some 77% of the original British Mandate, is now called "Jordan" -- a state artificially created by Winston Churchill in late March 1921. Churchill would boast "I created Trans-Jordan [now Jordan] with the stroke of a pen on a Sunday afternoon in Cairo." At first, Emir (later King) Abdullah I, wanted to call his kingdom "Palestine" but the British discouraged him of that idea stating that the name "Palestine" smacked of imperialism. Some 80% of Jordan's population is Palestinian Arab. The remaining 23% of the original mandate became the re-established State of Israel and after open Arab aggression, three regions came under Arab occupation: Gaza, under Egyptian military control, and Judea and Samaria, what the Arabs would soon name "West Bank," unilaterally annexed by Trans-Jordan. Thus, more precisely, the present day calls for a "two state" solution actually mean a "three state" solution. The Palestinian Arabs will have TWO states, Jordan and the yet to be declared "Arab state of Palestine." But is that the final real intention of the Arab-Muslim side in the conflict? Since its formation in May 1964, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in its covenant has called for a "one-state solution" -- a "Falastin" from "min al nahr ila al-bahr" (from the [Jordan] river to the [Mediterranean] sea). Such a state would encompass present day Israel, Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip. It would mean no more Israel. There is strong evidence to support the contention that such a Palestinian Arab state would also encompass Jordan. The events of September 1970 -- "Black September" -- and the subsequent Jordanian civil war came close to a PLO victory over the Hashemite monarchy of King Hussein. The Hamas Charter echoes this desire for a one-state solution, as do the official pronouncements from Hezbollah, Al Fatah, Islamic Jihad, and the Al-Aqsa Brigades. They all aspire to eliminate Israel, but they choose different tactics to get the desired result. Furthermore all Palestinian Arab groups demand as a sine qua non, "haq al-auda" (the right of return). In this manner the Jewish state would be demographically overrun by anyone claiming to be a "Palestinian Arab," ensuring the destruction of the Jewish state. It is long overdue that talk of a "two state" solution be exposed for what it really is. Two states, one Jewish, the other Arab already exist within the boundaries of the original British Mandate. To promote a "three state" solution for two peoples, especially when the Arabs already have 21 sovereign states in existence, is folly. Now, there is serious talk of allowing the Israeli Arabs, many of whom consider themselves "Palestinian" Arabs, to have their own autonomy or perhaps join a new Palestinian state. Thus there would be a "three-and-a-half state" solution, with the half being the rump of an ever-shrinking Jewish state. The Arabs have long demanded a return to the June 4, 1967 lines, with calls by some already publicly demanding a return to the 1947 U.N. Partition plan borders. Given a three and a half state solution, Israel would be reduced to the 1937 Peel Commission partition recommendation -- a nation 120 miles long and between 38 and 9 miles wide. In their eagerness to promote and force a "two state" solution to the conflict, the United States, the European Union, the Israeli left, and many other nations are not going to achieve peace. Rather they guarantee more war as the Arabs -- the Palestinian Authority and its PLO components, Hamas, Hezbollah, and their Arab-Muslim supporters continue their drive -- militarily, politically, economically, and diplomatically -- to achieve their true goal -- a "final solution" -- a one state solution with Israel eradicated from the map! Dr. Steve Carol is Prof. of History (retired), Official Historian "Middle East Radio Forum" (www.middleeastradioforum.org). He lives in Scottsdale, Arizona. Contact him at drhistory@cox.net This article was submitted January 16, 2007 |
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THE PEACEFUL MAJORITY
Posted by Naomi Ragen, January 31, 2007. |
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All I can say about the article below is wow. I don't know how old it is, or if it's been published anywhere, but the author's e-mail address is listed under his name if you wish to contact him and find out. To me, it is a timeless piece of wisdom. Mr. Haynes, you are a wise man in a world of fools. |
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I used to know a man whose family was German aristocracy prior to World War Two. They owned a number of large industries and estates. I asked him how many German people were true Nazis, and the answer he gave has stuck with me and guided my attitude toward fanaticism ever since. "Very few people were true Nazis "he said," but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care. I was one of those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools. So, the majority just sat back and let it all happen. Then, before we knew it, they owned us, and we had lost control, and the end of the world had come. My family lost everything I ended up in a concentration camp and the Allies destroyed my factories." We are told again and again by "experts" and "talking heads" that Islam is the religion of peace, and that the vast majority of Muslims just want to live in peace. Although this unqualified assertion may be true, it is entirely irrelevant. It is meaningless fluff, meant to make us feel better, and meant to somehow diminish the specter of fanatics rampaging across the globe in the name of Islam. The fact is that the fanatics rule Islam at this moment in history. It is the fanatics who march. It is the fanatics who wage any one of 50 shooting wars worldwide. It is the fanatics who systematically slaughter Christian or tribal groups throughout Africa and are gradually taking over the entire continent in an Islamic wave. It is the fanatics who bomb, behead, murder, or honor kill. It is the fanatics who take over mosque after mosque. It is the fanatics who zealously spread the stoning and hanging of rape victims and homosexuals. The hard quantifiable fact is that the "peaceful majority" is the "silent majority" and it is cowed and extraneous. Communist Russia comprised Russians who just wanted to live in peace, yet the Russian Communists were responsible for the murder of about 20 million people. The peaceful majority were irrelevant. China's huge population was peaceful as well, but Chinese Communists managed to kill a staggering 70 million people. The average Japanese individual prior to World War 2 was not a warmongering sadist. Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way across South East Asia in an orgy of killing that included the systematic murder of 12 million Chinese civilians; most killed by sword, shovel, and bayonet. And, who can forget Rwanda, which collapsed into butchery. Could it not be said that the majority of Rwandans were "peace loving"? History lessons are often incredibly simple and blunt, yet for all our powers of reason we often miss the most basic and uncomplicated of points: Peace-loving Muslims have been made irrelevant by their silence. Peace-loving Muslims will become our enemy if they don't speak up, because like my friend from Germany, they will awake one day and find that the fanatics own them, and the end of their world will have begun. Peace-loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Rwandans, Serbs Afghans, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians, and many others have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until it was too late. As for us who watch it all unfold; we must pay attention to the only group that counts; the fanatics who threaten our way of life. Lastly, I wish to add: I sincerely think that anyone who rejects this as just another political rant, or doubts the seriousness of this issue or just deletes it without paying heed to it, or sending it on, is part of the problem. Lets quit laughing at and forwarding the jokes and cartoons which denigrate and ridicule our leaders in this war against terror. They are trying to protect the interests and well being of the world and it's citizens. Best we support them. William Haynes
Naomi Ragen is an American-born novelist and journalist who lives in Jerusalem. She can be contacted at www.naomiragen.com, where you can subscribe to her newsletter. |
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A NEW PARADIGM
Posted by Moshe Dann, January 31, 2007. |
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Without a practical and specific alternative agenda all of our analyses and insights are irrelevant. The "New Paradigm for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict" is a suggestion. based on the work of Prof Martin Sherman (TAU). It is presented in the hope that people will use and disseminate it, and/or critique it and perhaps suggest even better proposals. This proposal strikes at the heart of the problem -- the so-called "Palestinian refugees" and the "two-state solution" that is intended to destroy Israel. This article appeared in Arutz-7 and is archived at
Thanks,
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Attempts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by political solutions involving the establishment of a second Palestinian entity in Judea, Samaria and Gaza (Yesha) have not only failed, they have encouraged terrorism and violence, especially within Palestinian society. An alternative to the "two-state solution," therefore, is essential to achieve peace. Palestinians are unwilling and incapable of achieving and maintaining statehood. Palestinian Unwillingness The Palestinians have rejected every viable proposal that would have afforded them a state -- from the 1947 partition plan to the 2000 proposals by Prime Minister Ehud Barak. Palestinian Incapability The Palestinian national movement has enjoyed conditions far more favorable than almost any other national independence movement since World War II: widespread international endorsement of their cause; unmitigated and generous support from the United Nations, the European Union and world superpowers; highly sympathetic coverage by all major media organizations; and over a decade of Israeli administrations who have acknowledged (and at times even identified with) the national aspirations of the Palestinians. In spite of this, the Palestinian national movement has been unable to go beyond terrorism and Jew-hatred. No other national independence movement has brought such failure, privation and penury to its people and disappointment to its supporters. Paradigm Shift The reason for these failures is that Palestinian nationalism is driven less by lack of Palestinian self-determination and more by the very the existence of Jewish self-determination; less by the aspiration to establish a Palestinian state and more by the aspiration to destroy a Jewish state. Rejecting the right of Jewish self determination and attempting to destroy Israel is unacceptable by any international standards and, thus, must be considered illegitimate. In order to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, therefore, the establishment of a Palestinian State must be removed from the international agenda. The humanitarian predicament of Palestinians residing in Israeli-administered areas must be resolved in humanitarian, not political, terms. The Humanitarian Paradigm must replace the Political Paradigm. This can only be done if the current Palestinian narrative, which fuels the Political Paradigm is delegitimized. The delegitimization of the Palestinian narrative is a vital prerequisite to any comprehensive resolution of the Palestinian issue. Proposal A comprehensive humanitarian solution to the Palestinian issue entails three major elements: 1. The dissolution of UNRWA. This is an essential prerequisite for any comprehensive, durable solution of the Palestinian issue. UNRWA exists solely to assist Palestinian "refugees," while all other refugees in the world are dealt with by the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). Only UNRWA offers "refugee" status to all Palestinians and their descendants. A survey conducted among the Palestinians in Nov. 2004 indicates that only about 15% of the Palestinian population resident in Israeli-administered areas would reject such an offer. By contrast, over 70% would accept some form of material compensation as an inducement to emigrate permanently from the areas currently under Israeli administration. The economic cost of such a policy of humanitarian relocation and resettlement would be far less expensive than any other proposal. It would also eliminate dependence on terrorist groups. The proposed initiative is a "win-win" initiative that will: * alleviate, and even eliminate, the humanitarian plight of individual Palestinians; Moshe Dann is a writer and journalist living in Jerusalem. He can be reached at moshedan@netvision.net.il |
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DEMAND THEIR IMMEDIATE SAFE RETURN!
Posted by Nurit Greenger, January 31, 2007. |
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This is on Doris Wise Montrose's website (http://www.cjhsa.org) |
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now missing for over five months after being abducted by Hamas and Hezbollah, were the primary cause for Israel to take action in Lebanon, and the release of these soldiers still remains a tenet of the UN negotiated ceasefire. This fact seems to have been forgotten by the media and those who continue to work against the best interests of Israel and subvert the policy of the United States and the Middle East. The debate has now degenerated into a prisoner exchange program, which was not part of the wording in UN Resolution 1701, no matter how one might try and read between the lines. The agony of the families of these kidnapped Israeli soldiers is extreme. They have not heard a word regarding the fate of their loved ones, who are being held captive for political ransom. It is crucial that you join us on a full-scale advocacy effort to help bring about an end to the inhumanity of captivity and to call for the release of all Israeli MIAs and POWs. SOLDIER BACKGROUNDS Ehud (Udi) Goldwasser (Age 31) Udi was born in Nahariya, and is the son of Miki and Shlomo and older brother of Yair (26) and Gadi (23). After dating for nine years, he and his wife Karnit were married last year. Udi completed his undergraduate studies at the Technion (Israel Institute of Technology) and is currently a graduate student in environmental engineering. Udi is a kind, loving and caring person, always ready to offer a helping hand in any situation. He is a man of principles and values, is knowledgeable about many subjects and is an avid photographer. On Wednesday, July 12, 2006, Udi was abducted and taken to Lebanon after Hezbollah attacked his military patrol. Eldad Regev (Age 26) Eldad was born and raised in Kiryat Motzkin. He is the son of Tova (of blessed memory) and Zvi, and brother of Benny, Ofer and Eyal. After completing three years of military service in the elite Givati infantry brigade, he became a law student at Bar Ilan University with the hopes of becoming a law professor. Eldad is loved by and immensely popular among all who know him. He readily offers aid to anyone in need. Eldad was called up for military reserve duty after completing his exams at Bar Ilan University. Three days before his abduction, he visited his family and participated in the annual memorial for his mother. The following day, he returned to complete the remainder of his reserve duty. On Wednesday, July 12, 2006, Eldad was abducted and taken to Lebanon after Hezbollah attacked his military patrol. Gilad Shalit (Age 20) Gilad was born in Nahariya but was raised in Mitzpe Hilla in the Western Galilee. He is the son of Aviva and Noam and brother of Yoel (23) and Hadas (16). He follows sports teams and tournaments all over the world, from tennis to basketball and cycling. Gilad is a well-mannered, quiet and soft-spoken young man, with a smile that lights up his face. Gilad began his military service a little over a year ago in July 2005. He followed his older brother Yoel into the armed forces and despite being able to avoid combat due to medical reasons, he preferred to serve in a combat unit. Prior to his abduction, he had been on duty guarding the settlements around Gaza. Since the attack at Kerem Shalom on Sunday, June 25, 2006, Gilad has been held in the Gaza Strip by Hamas. Soldier Backgrounds provided courtesy of Jewish Community Federation
of Cleveland
Contact Nurit Greenger at 4nuritg@ca.rr.com or visit her website:
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TO END THE PALESTINIAN SHOW, STOP PAYING FOR TICKETS
Posted by Obadiah Shoher, January 31, 2007. |
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This was written by a veteran politician who writes under the pen name of Obadiah Shoher. He can be read on the Samson Blinded blogsite. |
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TO End The Palestinian Show, Stop Paying For Tickets
Hamas-Fatah polarization is artificial. Their struggle is about the donors' money: which group would embezzle it and whether the funds will pay salaries of Fatah or Hamas militias. In the Palestinian Gold Rush, Hamas relies on popular opinion and rogue Muslim regimes, while the locally discredited Fatah clings to Israel and the West for paternal protection. Hamas tenders to Muslim dreams with anti-Israeli slogans, while Fatah caters to Western dreams with pro-Israeli declarations. When addressing fellow Muslims, Fatah is stringently anti-Israeli just like Hamas. Prostituting Abbas is ready to put his tongue and pen on Israeli TV and the peace treaty, respectively, to remain in charge of the billions of dollars of aid. He stands tall and ready to fight Hamas to death for the aid money. The best generic prescription in any war is attritting your enemy. That includes economic attrition and fully applies to the Arab enemy. "To stop the civil bloodshed in Palestine," Israel must end her payments to the PLO, and do her utmost to stop and intercept the foreign payments. With rockets, RPGs, mortars, grenades, and machine guns, Palestinian warriors killed only about three dozens of each other. A formidable enemy, indeed. http://samsonblinded.org/blog/index.php?s=populism+entrenched Populism is entrenched in the Israeli Finance Ministry. 700 shekels ($164) proposed subsidy to families with three children and two working parents is ludicrous. Such families are the apogee of morality: the parents, hard-working and poor (with meager $1,000 income) still brought up three Jewish children (ugly, the subsidy also benefits Muslim families). They deserve much more from the state. The Finance Ministry is wrong to push women to work. Jewish mothers are more important to Israeli society than semi-skilled workers. Jewish tradition takes precedence over political correctness, socialism, and feminism. Foreign Minister Tzippi Livni sounded hopeful in Davos: Palestinian state in Judea "is achievable." A horrible idea of surrendering the core Jewish land is the goal of Israeli Foreign Minister. Livni said that she "voted to uproot Israelis [in Gaza] in order to give peace a chance." Not for a certain peace, not for the peace she was sure of, not based on the rational analysis: just to give a chance, to gamble with the lives of 10,000 Jews in Gaza. Shimon Peres, for his part, amused the serious crowd at the Davos Forum with a comic plan of Jewish economic cooperation with Palestinians, uneducated and lacking the work ethics. Or was he serious? On background of the mad Israelis, Abbas was refreshingly sensible at Davos. He demanded return of six million descendants of the 1948 Arab refugees to Israel -- not to the Palestinian entity, and required Israeli citizenship for Arabs of Judea and Samaria while incorporating their lands in his state. How could the Knesset discuss the impeachment when the president is yet to go to trial? He is presumed innocent until proven guilty. Knesset members want to usurp the judicial prerogative and prejudice the court decision. Lawlessness is so typical of Israel. It wasn't enough for the Israeli leftists to have Arabs on their
election roll, to bring Arabs into the Knesset. Kadima-Labor alliance
launched an Arab MK into the government to become a minister.
Crucially, a minister. He has no assignment yet, not qualified to do
anything, and needed for nothing. That's just a show of brotherly -- or
brothel-ly -- fraternity between leftist Jews and Arabs. If you're
honest, make Arab a Defense Minister. A Chief of Staff. A Mossad
director. Pack and go back to Russian ghettos.
Contact Michael Travis at michaelmgr@gmail.com
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LATEST PHOTOS FROM THE JOLLY ASHOURA FESTIVAL
Posted by Michael Travis, January 31, 2007. | |
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This is from the Atlas Shrugs website
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Religion of Peace thru Barbarism It's that time again. Ashoura "Festival." Remember last year? Goto
Ashoura2007. The blood stains are seen on the back of an Afghan Shiite Muslim flagellating himself with knives during the Muharram procession in Kabul, Afghanistan. 
Pakistani Shiite Muslim beats himself with chains to mourn the
This was posted by Baron Bodissey on the Infidel Bloggers Alliancedeath of his spiritual leader Imam Hussein, grandson of Prophet Mohammad in Lahore. 
Afghan Shiite Muslim flagellate themselves with knives during the muharram procession in Kabul, Afghanistan.
UPDATE: Maternity wards or bomb factorys? Don't forget the babies
-- Contact Michael Travis at michaelmgr@gmail.com
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AP Jan. 29: Iraqi children beat themselves with chains during
Muharram, an important period of mourning for Muslims.
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IS FM TZIPI LIVNI STILL A MOSSAD OPERATIVE?
Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, January 31, 2007. |
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The London Sunday Times of January 28th speaks about the probability of Israel's PM Ehud Olmert, being ousted -- with Tzipi Livni replacing him. However, the Times points out that there are some problems beginning to surface about Livni. While the Times speak of her as a former Mossad agent, most people know that (like the Mafia) once you are an Intelligence operative, you are always on call by that institution. (1) Having an active Intelligence operative as Prime Minister reporting or taking orders from their original Intelligence Organization may make little difference to the average citizen. For example, Vladimir Putin was a high KGB officer and presumably remains connected to whatever the KGB has morphed into now that he is President of Russia. That might not be probable in America, where citizens expect their elected officials to be advised by Intelligence Agencies but, NOT to be agents themselves. Israelis are beginning to take a harder look at their Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni as she moves to the front and speaks like a confirmed Leftist and a supporter of the failed Oslo Accords. She was a confidante of then PM Ariel (Arik) Sharon, who seemed to be nurturing her political advancement. Presumably, Sharon knew about her Intelligence background but he would have not necessarily known if she was still active and reporting. If Livni was and remained an active Mossad agent, being groomed for a higher position in government, who else would she have been reporting to? Certainly to the Mossad Director and likely to Shimon Peres, given the tilt of Israeli Intelligence toward the political Left. It must be remembered that the Mossad and the Shin Bet (Secret Services) were once the most admired and non-political organizations. That all changed -- mostly around the time when Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres politicized those institutions by appointing directors who would task field operatives to work against Rabin's political opposition on the Right. It is hard to forget the use of Avishai Raviv, code named "Champagne", employed by Rabin through Shabak to instigate operations against the political Right. Planting a mole in the Likud party at the time would have had considerable benefits to the Israel's Labor Left. For example, Oslo would never have happened had either the Mossad or Shabak lifted the cover on the Rabin, Peres, Beilin secret negotiations with Yassir Arafat in Norway. They were just too good as Intelligence Institutions NOT to know what these top Israeli officials were doing in Oslo. Presumably, they are now well-informed about the attempt at secret deals being made in Davos, Switzerland where Livni, Peres and Abbas shared their plans for two states west of the Jordan River. In any case, the trade-craft of Intelligence Agents would not allow them to admit being an agent, if asked. The question arises: Was Tzipi Livni, supposedly a former Mossad agent deliberately put on the government ladder of advancement as a mole, serving both the Mossad and the Oslo cabal? Sometimes discovering a mole is like locating what is called a "Black Hole" in the sky. You cannot actually see the "Black Hole" but know it is there by watching the nearby objects being moved around by the sheer gravitational power of the "Black Hole". Oslo, for example, was something like a "Black Hole" until it was pushed in view and became a fait accompli. However, that "Black Hole" continued to exert its power on national policy. We have observed Livni make common cause with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice of the U.S. State Department. Somehow Livni has become an exceedingly satisfying Foreign Minister, serving the interests of Rice, which follows the "Black Hole" scenario demonstrating the control of other objects. We see Livni at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, well out of the closet, so to speak, as she joins Peres, Javier Solana, Sec. Gen. of the E.U. and Mahmoud Abbas (aka Abu Mazen) making the creation of another State of Palestine her top priority, as she says. There are several stages: Pre-Oslo in the early 1980s, Oslo in its failed state in the 1990s, the resurrection of Oslo August 2005 -- starting with the uprooting of Jews from Gush Katif in Gaza and now the push-through Judea and Samaria = All One State. We have watched the political Left step-by-step misuse their power of office to politicize the Israeli Military, her Courts and her Intelligence Agencies to keep the Oslo Doctrine moving forward. Israel was not supposed to adopt the ways of nations who controlled their populations by having a politicized Military, Police, Courts and Secret Services who plant moles in the opposition. Israel was supposed to be a nation of laws, votes by her citizens on vital issues and NOT controlled by her elected officials under the cover of being a democratic dictatorship. If Livni was merely a Mossad agent being nurtured for a high insider position then clearly, she is not worthy of the job nor to be trusted. A Prime Minister is supposed to be objective and to represent all the people. I know that's naive but, some dreams must be kept! I have previously speculated that Ehud Olmert would be forced to resign with someone else like Livni or Peres to be the backup, running the country with the doctrine of "territorial divestment". It looks like this is well advanced. At that time I was unaware of Livni's background as a Mossad agent. It makes more sense now in terms of advancing control of the nation with a mix of the Left and Intelligence at the top. Can the Knesset pull itself together and deeply probe Livni's background and her assigned mission to reach the political top? How did this woman work her way inside Sharon's inner circle, unless Sharon wanted her there? Presumable Tzipi Livni never left the Mossad and was tasked to work inside the government at the highest level possible. It is well-known that minimally, since the days of Rabin and Peres, every effort was made to put figures who were loyal to the Leftist Labor/Meretz Party in charge of the Intelligence Agencies or P.C. (Politically Correct). The same was true of Labor's effort to control the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) by nurturing P.C.s soldiers like Rabin, Ehud Barak and Dan Halutz, etc. If Livni remained a Mossad or Shabak operative, it would explain her considerable efforts to manipulate the plan first initiated by Rabin and Peres with Oslo and now carried forward by Olmert, Livni and Peres to relinquish Judea and Samaria to the Arab Muslim Palestinians, according to the Bush-Baker-Rice "Road Map" plan. Why would Livni, as an Israeli Intelligence agent, want to subvert the safety and sovereignty of the Jewish State of Israel? It's a puzzling question but, could be answered with an intense investigation by an independent committee of known honest, non-political jurists - if they exist! Back-tracking a little further, one would likely find the Saudi royal family and the Washington/Texas oil families in cahoots to move Israel out of the way. Clearly, the more control the Arabists in Washington had within the Israeli government, the easier to manipulate Israeli policy. Recruiting agents in other nations can be accomplished by money, blackmail (threatening to expose misdeeds) or simply appealing to their known ideology which conveniently matches the goals of their foreign recruiter. The disinformation line is: "The Muslim Islamists would cease their march toward their Global Caliphate under 'Sharia' (strict Islamic) law, if Israel were removed as an irritant to the Jihadis (holy warriors for Islam)". Of course that is illogical but, we underlings aren't supposed to notice. It's their way of eliminating us infidels (non-Muslims): "first the Saturday people and then the Sunday people." Islam is off any leash these planners may have held. Even if they could succeed in subverting Israel to the benefit of the Saudis and the Arab Muslim, nothing will stop their war with the Free West. But, because they lack the necessary courage to face down Global Islamic Terror, they continue with the Israeli plan, trying to look pro-active and positive. The propaganda story pushed by the Arab Muslims and carried forward by "friendlies" in Washington, the E.U. and the U.N. is that IF the Arab Muslim Palestinians were given a state, Iran and Syrian Islamists would cease attacking the Free West. Clearly, this is all very speculative but, as is said:"Where there's smoke, there's fire". However, it would pay to look into Tzipi Livni's background as it relates to her current mission and the Israelis who have adopted the pacification of the Palestinians as the solution to reach the Arab Muslim world. Livni's linkage to Shimon Peres, C. Rice and Javier Solana, Sec. Gen. Of the EU -- in their plan to divest Israel of Judea and Samaria is worth exploring. But, if Livni remains an agent, then the "Operation Divestment" has been in motion for a long time -- at least since the early 1980s when Rabin and Peres colluded with Yassir Arafat to de-Judaize Judea and Samaria. Given Sharon's early move to abandon Gush Katif/Gaza and Northern Samaria, and Olmert's pledge to do the same with Judea and Samaria, this is then well-advanced and Livni would have many roles to play -- particularly now as that of a stand-in for Olmert if he is indicted for any of the various scandals of which he is being accused. In any case, someone would have to rush the next stage of Jewish Land Divestment through the Knesset, making a "provisional" second state of Palestine which is intended to replace the 250,000 Jewish men, women and children living in Judea and Samaria. The Arab Muslim world also demands that the Jews surrender what the Arabs call east Jerusalem so the Palestinians can claim a capitol of a nation that never existed. (Note! Arab Muslim propaganda describes East Jerusalem as all the areas in Jerusalem once illegally controlled by Jordan for 19 years, including Ramat Eshkol, French Hill, Gilo, the Temple Mount and Har Zeitim, the Mount of Olives ancient Jewish cemetery and more.) IF, G-d forbid, Israel ever agrees to this heartless surrender, it will necessitate uprooting another 250,000 Jewish men, women and children from their homes in Jerusalem. If you thought it was difficult and bad for the country to evict 10,000 Jewish men, women and children from Gush Katif/Gaza plus the 4 Jewish communities in Northern Samaria, you cannot begin to imagine the self-destruction of tearing 500,000 Jews out of their homes in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem to give that land to hostile Arab Muslims. Rice is aiming to get Fatah and Hamas to stop killing each other and vent their rage on Israel -- called the "occupier" -- with the weapons supplied to Fatah. Despite the obvious danger and the example of how the Palestinian Authority used donor money in the past, Israel, under pressure from C. Rice just gave $100 Million dollars to Abu Mazen to strengthen Fatah. In addition, the U.S. gave Abu Mazen $86 million American tax-payers' dollars. Rice has to avoid giving offense to Syria by attacking them for supplying Hebz'Allah with weapons to take down the Lebanese government. Rice must force Israel to give up the Golan Heights to Syria on the off chance they will cease funneling terrorists into Iraq to kill American soldiers. I believe was Albert Einstein who commented to the effect that man has the tendency to try the same failed experiment over and over, expecting new results. The Israeli Left repeatedly tried to appease the Muslim Arabs with a Jewish Land for Peace formula which not only failed repeatedly but tended to increase the Arab Muslims' expectations and rage for more when their hopes were not fulfilled. Failure never dampened their enthusiasm to repeat the same failed experiment -- namely changing the bedrock religious beliefs of Muslims for Islam, not Democracy. Land for Peace has proven to be a futile effort which is destined for failure and, tragically, Israel's self-destruction. I wonder. Does Secretary of State C. Rice knows which side she is on anymore? Being a cat on a hot tin roof is hard work. Footnotes 1. "General's Evidence Could Oust Olmert" by Uzi Mahnaimi, Tel Aviv, London Sunday Times, January 28, 2007 2. "Professor Aumann: Post-Zionism Greater Threat Than Nukes" Arutz-7 Jan. 28,2007 [Excerpts Prof. Aumann's speech delivered at the Herzliya Conference.]: "...our panicked longing for peace is working against us. It brings us farther away from peace, and endangers our very existence. ...Churchill said, 'If you want peace, prepare for war.' "Roadmaps, capitulation, gestures, disengagements, convergences, deportations, and so forth do not bring peace. On the contrary, they bring war, just as we saw last summer. These things send a clear signal to our 'cousins' [the Arabs -ed.] that we are tired, that we no longer have spiritual strength... This only whets their appetites. It only encourages them ...not to give up on anything...Capitulations bring about war; determination and readiness bring about peace." Emanuel Winston is a commentator and Middle East analyst. His articles appear often on Think-Israel and Gamla. He is a member of the Board of Directors and a research associate of the Freeman Center For Strategic Studies (http://www.freeman.org/online.htm). Contact him at gwinston@interaccess.net |
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BERNARD LEWIS: MUSLIMS 'ABOUT TO TAKE OVER EUROPE'
Posted by David Machlis and Tovah Lazaroff, January 31, 2007. |
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Islam could soon be the dominant force in a Europe which, in the name of political correctness, has abdicated the battle for cultural and religious control, Prof. Bernard Lewis, the world-renowned Middle Eastern and Islamic scholar, said on Sunday. The Muslims "seem to be about to take over Europe," Lewis said at a special briefing with the editorial staff of The Jerusalem Post. Asked what this meant for the continent's Jews, he responded, "The outlook for the Jewish communities of Europe is dim." Soon, he warned, the only pertinent question regarding Europe's future would be, "Will it be an Islamized Europe or Europeanized Islam?" The growing sway of Islam in Europe was of particular concern given the rising support within the Islamic world for extremist and terrorist movements, said Lewis. Lewis, whose numerous books include the recent What Went Wrong?: The Clash Between Islam and Modernity in the Middle East, and The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror, would set no timetable for this drastic shift in Europe, instead focusing on the process, which he said would be assisted by "immigration and democracy." Instead of fighting the threat, he elaborated, Europeans had given up. "Europeans are losing their own loyalties and their own self-confidence," he said. "They have no respect for their own culture." Europeans had "surrendered" on every issue with regard to Islam in a mood of "self-abasement," "political correctness" and "multi-culturalism," said Lewis, who was born in London to middle-class Jewish parents but has long lived in the United States. The threat of extremist Islam goes far beyond Europe, Lewis stressed, turning to the potential impact of Iran going nuclear under its current regime. The Cold War philosophy of Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD), which prevented the former Soviet Union and the United States from using the nuclear weapons they had targeted at each other, would not apply to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Iran, said Lewis. "For him, Mutual Assured Destruction is not a deterrent, it is an inducement," said Lewis of Ahmadinejad. "We know already that they [Iran's ruling ayatollahs] do not give a damn about killing their own people in great numbers. We have seen it again and again. If they kill large numbers of their own people, they are doing them a favor. They are giving them a quick, free pass to heaven. I find all that very alarming," said Lewis. Lewis acknowledged that Ahmadinejad had made the notion of Iran having the right to acquire a nuclear capability an issue of national pride, and that this should be borne in mind in trying to thwart Teheran's nuclear drive. "One should try to make it clear at all stages that the objection is not Iran having [a nuclear weapon] but to the regime that governs Iran having it," said Lewis. This idea already had support among those Iranians who, on the one hand, believed that their country has a right to possess such a capability but, on the other, feared it being acquired by a government that they do not support. Israel and the West should work to strengthen moderate forces within the Iranian population, he urged, via an aggressive propaganda campaign including the use of television and radio programs. "All the evidence is that the regime is extremely unpopular with their own people," he said. "I am told that the Israeli daily [radio] program in Persian is widely listened to all over Iran with rapt attention." Israel and the West should also be looking to reach out to moderate forces within the Arab world, which are equally alarmed by the spread of extremism in their midst, said Lewis. "The Arab governments understand that Israel is not their biggest problem," said Lewis. Contact Avodah at avodah15@aol.com |
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THREE NEW VICTIMS OF OLSO STUPIDITY
Posted by Steven Plaut, January 31, 2007. |
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Emi Elmaliah and Michael Ben Sa'adon decided to open a small
neighborhood bakery when they were released from the Israeli army.
Young, married, with children, they had a modest dream, to make a
living selling bread in a quiet residential neighborhood in Eilat.
They and their only employee, Israel Zamalloa, a Jew from Peru, were
murdered when a Palestinian peace partner of Ehud Olmert blew up their
bakery. Naturally, the mother of the murderer was ecstatic that her
son had died murdering Jewish civilians (see
A completely unexpected attack, the media are telling us. Who could have possibly known that such a killer could simply walk into Israel across its border with Egypt? How could anyone possibly have known it was so easier to walk across the border? How indeed. Well, for one, 300 Sudanese knew, as did anyone in Israel who had read a newspaper or watched TV over the past few months. Sudanese refugees from Darfur who entered Egypt simply walked to the border with Israel and then walked across, entering Israel with not so much as a challenge by a border patrolman to show their papers. No doubt the Sudanese chose the wide-open Egyptian-Israel border because infiltrating Libya from Egypt can be a real problem you see, what with the guarded border THERE and all. The Israeli media have been filled with stories about those Sudanese, with public debates as to what to do with them. But after those news stories of the Sudanese simply walking into Israel across the undefended border with Egypt, it seems that the only people left in the entire country who were NOT aware that the border with Egypt was unsecured were Israel's Prime Minister, Defense Minister, and army chief of staff. Who else knew of the unsecured porous border? Well, every drug smuggler in the country and every prostitute who entered Israel in the past few decades. The latter "working girls" are mostly Eastern Europeans who fly to Egypt and then stroll across the border to practice their "profession". The bomber of Eilat had exited the Gaza Strip into Sinai via one of those countless tunnels that Olmert is too cowardly to demolish because one would have to knock down a few houses of "Palestinians" to get at them. The murderer was driven down the Sinai to a nice place for a winter stroll into Israel. SO after the atrocity in Eilat (the murderer, by the way, was actually trying to get to Haifa to blow himself up), all the politicians are whining about how expensive it would have been to secure the border with Egypt. You know, barbed wire and "nanny cameras" really cost... 2. Polls here are showing that more Israelis believe President Moshe Katsav about the charges of "rape" and hanky-panky being filed against him by the Prosecutor's Office than the number who believe the Prosecutor's charges. This, despite a year's long media campaign leaking stories about what President Katsav is supposed to have done. Now Katsav is innocent until proven guilty and here is not the place to state my own subjective take on what he may have done. But the fact that more Israelis disbelieve the leftist Prosecutor's Offices than believe them might just have something to do with the naked leftist bias manifesting itself every day in the behavior of the Attorney General, including the prosecution for manslaughter of farmer Shay Dromi for defending his property from Arab thieves [Editor's note: they poisoned his dog and attempted to steal his sheep] and the long track record of indicting and jailing anti-Oslo protesters under a variety of charges, including teenage girls. 3. When the Texas Jihadniks tried to pull a Neve Gordon: Of course Texas has freedom of speech whereas Israel has a neofascist Left. "Attempt to Silence Analysis of NGOs such as PCWF Rejected by Texas Judge,"
On January 17, 2007, a Texas Federal Court judge dismissed as "wholly frivolous" and "baseless" Palestine Children's Welfare Fund (PCWF) Riad ElSolh Hamad's defamation suit against NGO Monitor, Frontpage Jerusalem, the Center for Study of Popular Culture and others. Hamad charged the organizations had defamed him and violated his constitutional and civil rights linking him and his charity in newspaper and Internet articles to Islamic fundamentalist terror. In addition to dismissing Hamad's claims as "groundless", United States District Court Judge, Sam Sparks, leveled Rule 11 sanctions against Hamad and ordered him to pay defendants' attorney's fees and costs totaling almost $60,000 as well as a $1000 fine to each defendant for Hamad's repeated violation of court orders. NGO Monitor Executive Director Professor Gerald Steinberg noted: "This was a clear attempt to use the courts and intimidation to prevent independent analysis and exposure of the incitement by anti-Israel NGOs. This strategy has now been rejected." In his ruling, the judge called Hamad's complaint "an unintelligible morass of vitriolic accusations" that had "no basis in law." NGO Monitor analysis shows Gaza-based PCWF openly exploits children's issues for radical politicized agendas that promote the conflict. These activities are entirely inconsistent with its claims to be a humanitarian organization. Among PCWF's activities, documented in NGO Monitor's report, is a children's drawing contest. The judges rewarded, almost without exception, entries that featured fierce and violent hatred of Israel. The winning picture features a fire, in the shape of a map of Israel and the Palestinian Authority, consuming the Star of David with the word "Israel" written inside the flag. Another entry depicted a Palestinian flag dropping flames on an Israeli flag and burning Israelis standing next to it. Such activities serve only to advance a culture of violence and hatred. The use of the courts in the attempt to prevent debate and the exposure of the highly politicized activity taking place under the guise of promoting human rights is widespread. The judge in this case rejected the effort to silence NGO Monitor's analyses of such activities. 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. Contact him at splaut@econ.haifa.ac.il |
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MEMO TO A USEFUL IDIOT
Posted by Steven Plaut, January 31, 2007. |
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This was written by Gil Troy and it appeared in the Canadian Jewish
News |
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Dear Shulamit Aloni, In early January, you supported former U.S. president Jimmy Carter's inaccurate, inflammatory accusation that Israel is guilty of practising "apartheid." You must be pleased with yourself. Your article has been widely posted around the Internet. Googling "Shulamit Aloni" and "apartheid" generates 70,000 hits. I am, however, appalled. Not only did you fail to make the case, but I challenge you to see how your article is being used. I do not believe that all critics of Israel are anti-Semites. Nor do all critics call for Israel's destruction. But I wonder how many anti-Semites -- how many people devoted to destroying Israel -- will post your article and lovingly quote your words before you take responsibility for fanning the flames of hatred against your people and the country you served as education minister. You repeated the term apartheid nine times in your nearly 1,100-word article, yet only one paragraph discusses the term. Citing international law, you define apartheid "as an international crime that, among other things, includes using different legal instruments to rule over different racial groups, thus depriving people of their human rights." Having shown that Israeli soldiers disrupt Palestinian travel you ask: "Isn't freedom of travel one of these rights?" That's the wrong question. The relevant question is whether the Israeli-Palestinian clash is a racial conflict and whether the State of Israel has imposed a systematic, racist South-African-type regime. You contradict your title when you say that "we, too, used very violent terror against foreign rule because we wanted our own state." If Palestinians are fighting "foreign rulers" then how is the apartheid label relevant? Apartheid, with its network of laws separating black citizens from whites, institutionalized white supremacy. Neither you nor Carter have justified that charge. Unfortunately, this is more than a legalistic debate. By supporting Carter's term, you are advancing a growing worldwide campaign to delegitimize Zionism and expel Israel from among the community of nations, which is the correct punishment for an "apartheid" state. Your article -- and your career -- demonstrate many other eloquent ways to condemn Israeli policies without using an incorrect, destructive analogy. If you doubt how the apartheid accusation is being used against Israel, I invite you to surf the web and meet your new allies. When I appeared on the left-leaning American radio and television network Democracy Now to condemn Carter's use of the term, I received a wave of abusive anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic e-mails. Most critics blamed Israel exclusively for the entire Mideast mess, putting Israel's actions and "the Jews" at the centre of all the world's troubles. I was told that the Jewish state should be in southern Germany, not on Palestinian land, that we Jews thought we were better than everyone, and that as a "Jewish New Yorker" I spoke "Yinglish" not English. Most critics triumphantly referenced your article or other similar articles from Israelis "proving" that Israel practises apartheid -- as if it's impossible for an Israeli to be wrong, too. You are, of course, free to believe what you wish and write what you wish. That's your right. You live in a free county. But had you lived under South Africa's apartheid regime, you would have had to write such attacks from outside the country or from inside a jail cell. My question then, is, what is your responsibility? When your words, consistently, are used by others to smear Israel, to delegitimize the state, to rationalize terrorism, and to peddle anti-Semitism, at what point do those actions implicate you? The time has come for you to stand up and say, "Yes, my anger about the situation in the territories remains but, no, don't delegimitize my state, don't libel my people, and don't use my heartfelt words to advance your despicable agenda." You and many of your comrades on the Israeli left seem to have forgotten that in the Internet age, your words resonate, making you foot soldiers in the "electronic intifadah" that seeks Israel's destruction. I challenge you and your buddies to take responsibility for the anti-Semitic effects of some of your rhetoric. You cannot deny your impact. The old saw falsely attributed to Lenin still holds -- you don't have to recognize that you're a "useful idiot" to be one. 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. Contact him at splaut@econ.haifa.ac.il |
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ISLAM AND THE MOLESTATION OF LITTLE GIRLS
Posted by Michael Travis, January 31, 2007. |
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Our friend Jaco has posted another uncomfortable weather report on
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More Islamic vileness towards little girls. Note that this comes from
University of Rhode Island Professor, Donna Hughes, an expert on the
international trafficing of children as sex slaves (thanks to Religion
of Pieces):
"An 11-year-old girl was married off to a 27-year-old man. The father, who had seven daughters, received $300 for his consent. The morning after the marriage ceremonies, the girl was taken to hospital suffering from severe lacerations to her genitals." And more (from Catholic Resources on the Internet -- "female genital mutilation is normally performed by traditional practitioners with crude instruments, such as knives, razors, blades and broken glass, usually without anesthetics." 1 Contact Michael Travis at michaelmgr@gmail.com |
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ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SOURCES URGENTLY NEEDED
Posted by Irving Zwick, January 31, 2007. |
| This is by Jim Kloeppel (kloeppel@uiuc.edu), Physical Sciences Editor, University of Illinois, and is entitled "Alternative energy sources needed to mitigate global warming, scientists say." This prescient article was originally published October 31, 2002, in http://www.news.uiuc.edu/scitips/02/1031globalwarming.html (news@uiuc.edu). What have we done since then?) |
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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Regulations alone will not stabilize atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and curb global warming, an international team of climate and technology experts says. What's needed is the further development of alternative energy technologies that permit worldwide economic development while simultaneously stabilizing carbon dioxide levels and controlling climate change. In an article published in the Nov. 1 issue of the journal Science, scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and their collaborators evaluate known advanced energy technologies for their capability to supply carbon-emission-free energy and their potential for large-scale commercialization. There are no simple solutions, they say. During the last century, the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide has increased from about 275 parts per million to about 370 parts per million. Unchecked, it will surpass 550 parts per million by the end of this century, the article states. Climate models and paleoclimate data indicate that 550 parts per million of carbon dioxide, if sustained, could eventually produce global warming comparable in magnitude to the global cooling of the last Ice Age. Primary power consumption today is about 12 terawatts, of which 85 percent is fossil-fueled. "As world population increases and we strive for a higher standard of living -- particularly in the developing nations -- more energy will be consumed, with an attendant rise in carbon dioxide emissions," said Michael Schlesinger, a professor of atmospheric sciences at Illinois and a co-author of the paper. "We must limit the levels of emissions at some point, and that means we will have to replace fossil fuels with alternative sources that eliminate or significantly reduce the amount of carbon emissions." The most effective way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions while continuing to support economic growth and equity is to develop revolutionary technologies for energy production, distribution, storage and conversion, the article states. Although some alternative energy sources exist -- wind power, solar and nuclear fission, for example -- they are more expensive than fossil fuels and therefore less likely to be implemented on a grand scale. "An effective energy policy would not focus on just one of the many possible alternatives," Schlesinger said. "There is no clear winner at this time that could fully replace fossil fuels." Another possible approach is sequestration -- where carbon dioxide emitted from fossil fuels would be collected and stored in trees, oceans and other potential reservoirs. "While carbon capture and sequestration could eliminate the carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels, the technology is still in its infancy, and much work remains to make it viable," said Atul Jain, a professor of atmospheric sciences at Illinois and a co-author of the paper. The message presented in the article is clear, Jain said. "To reduce carbon dioxide emissions and stabilize the climate, we must switch to alternative energy sources. We need to invest in new technologies and make them cost effective." The article concludes: "Combating global warming by radical restructuring of the global energy system could be the technology challenge of the century. ... Although regulation can play a role, the fossil fuel greenhouse effect is an energy problem that cannot be simply regulated away." Researchers collaborating on the project are from Columbia University, Exxon Mobil Research and Engineering Co., Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, McGill University in Canada, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, the Naval Research Laboratory, New York University, University of Arizona, University of California at Irvine and University of Houston. Martin Hoffert of New York University was the lead author of the article. The U.S. Department of Energy funded the project. Contact Israel Zwick at israel.zwick@earthlink.net |
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FBI ENABLERS OF THE RELIGION OF PEACE THROUGH BARBARISM
Posted by Michael Travis, January 31, 2007. |
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No one should be surprised by the Fed's lack of interest in protecting Jews. This was posted by Pamela Geller Oshry today on Atlas Shrugs |
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Kill All Kikes" This comes from Debby Schlussel's website
[...] death threats from four diverse members of the "Religion of Peace," threatening to murder me and my family members, after raping and torturing me. And I take them very seriously. Justice for Debbie's would be murderers? Good. But and there is a huge but. This is a particularly disturbing story not merely because of the disgusting, vile death threats. We have come to expect that from the savages of religion of peace. No, what is frightening, truly, is the reluctance and downright hostility the FBI exhibited in not pursuing these crimes by Islamists. Useful idiots over at the FBI Go over to Debbie Schlussel's blog at
Contact Michael Travis at michaelmgr@gmail.com |
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CORRECTING CARTER'S FALSEHOODS
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, January 31, 2007. |
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"CORRECT CARTER'S FALSEHOODS:" That begins CAMERA's full-page ad addressing the publishers of Jimmy Carter's "foundation of lies" book against Israel. Some of the book's points I took up in earlier discussions, but his actual statements are so flagrant, reflecting thoroughness only in dissembling, as to be worth displaying. On p.57: "The 1949 armistice demarcation lines became the borders of the new nation of Israel and were accepted by Israel and the US and recognized officially by the United Nations." P.215 suggests as an option for Israel, "withdrawal to the 1967 border specified in UN Resolution 242 and as promised in the Camp David Accords and the Oslo Agreement." Such misstatements about borders occur throughout. The Resolution and Accords do not require a return to the pre-1967 lines but negotiation. Those were just armistice lines, hence no reason to consider them official. Israel does have official borders with Egypt, Lebanon, and Jordan (not with Syria and P.A.). (Where did Carter come up with the claim of "recognized officially?" He makes assertions without attribution that can be checked. His statements do not reflect those documents. One wonders whether he read them and whether his book admits he and his causes received hundreds of millions of dollars from the Arabs.) P.51 states, "...important provisions of our agreement (of 1978) have not been honored since I left office. The Israelis have never granted any appreciable autonomy to the Palestinians (Arabs)... Actually, the Arabs violated all their agreements, willfully and imperialistically, but Carter tries to make Israel seem responsible for non-fulfillment. Oslo gave the Arabs "control of political, civic, security, medical, educational and media institutions." Israel withdrew from large areas, to let the Arabs run their internal affairs. Arafat used the opportunity to make war. To stop his attacks on Israeli civilians, IDF troops had to move in, at times. Carter ignores Arab aggression and condemns Israeli self-defense. Carter claims on p.62 that Arafat told him that the PLO never advocated destroying Israel, and that the Zionists pretended that the PLO wanted to "Drive the Jews into the sea." (The slogan was declared by Arab capitals in the 1947 war and scripted into the PLO Covenant. The PLO called for jihad and waged it. Carter is lying, again.) He also falsely accuses Israel, on p.190, of building the security fence "...entirely within Palestinian territory, intruding deeply into the W. Bank..." As the UNO confirmed, 45% of the fence actually follows the green line. The rest of the fence is in disputed territory, to be negotiated. Some of the fence is in Israeli territory. The fence has reduced suicide attacks, saving lives noticeably. Carter does not have the grace to give the fence credit for that (NY Sun, 12/29, p.8). Look at the maps. The adjective "deeply" is exaggerated. It shames our country to have an ex-President so ignorant of a key issue in which he was involved, and to disseminate falsehoods about it, or to be a paid agent of the Arab enemies of our country, or both. He seems to have collected between the covers of one book a host of false Arab propaganda assertions. He makes Bush appear brilliant. Richard Shulman is a veteran defender of Israel on several web-based forums. His comments and analyses appear often on Think-Israel. He provides cool information and right-on-target overviews. He distributes his essays by email. To subscribe, write him at richardshulman5@verizon.com. |
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THE ARITHMETIC OF JIHAD
Posted by Michael Freund, January 31, 2007. |
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The media is always telling us that only a "tiny minority" of Muslims support violence and holy war against the West. But just how true is that assertion? In my column below from today's Jerusalem Post Comments may be sent to: letters@jpost.com or to me directly at msfreund@netvision.net.il |
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It's time we open our eyes and confront reality. Ever since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the media has sought to reassure us that only a tiny minority of Muslims actually support the use of violence against Israel and the West. It's just a small fringe, a marginal few at best, they tell us, so don't worry about it all too much. One percent or three percent -- who cares? Just sit back, enjoy your morning eggs and coffee and have a nice day. But a look at the numbers tells a very different story. The extent of support for global jihad is frightening in its proportions, and the numbers are anything but insignificant. Consider, for example, the following statistics regarding support for suicide bombings and other types of terror attacks. In a poll conducted five months ago, and broadcast on Britain's Channel 4 TV, nearly 25% of British Muslims said the July 7, 2005, terror bombings in London, which killed 52 innocent commuters, were justified. Another 30% said they would prefer to live under strict Islamic Sharia law rather than England's democratic system. Now, one in four justifying terror may not be a majority, but it certainly isn't a "small fringe" either. In other countries, the figures are no less unsettling. A survey published in December found that 44% of Nigerian Muslims believe suicide bombing attacks are "often" or "sometimes" acceptable. Only 28% said they were never justified. According to the annual Pew Global Attitudes Survey, released in
July 2006, "roughly one-in-seven Muslims in France, Spain and Great
Britain feel that suicide bombings against civilian targets can at
least sometimes be justified to defend Islam." The report also found
that less than half of Jordan's Muslims believe terror attacks are
never justified. In Egypt, only 45% of Muslims say terror is never
justified.
STILL THINK only a "tiny minority" are in favor of violence? In Israel, the percentages are even more alarming. After Cpl. Gilad Shalit was abducted by Hamas terrorists last summer, a poll conducted by the Jerusalem Media and Communications Center revealed that 77.2% of Palestinians supported the kidnapping, while 66.8% said they would back additional such attacks. More than six out of 10 Palestinians also said they were in favor of firing Kassam rockets at Israeli towns and cities. And lest you think that war fever lay behind the results, consider this: four additional polls published in September, nearly a month after the Lebanese conflict had ended, all found large majorities of Palestinians backing terror attacks against the Jewish state. Indeed, in various countries around the world, support for Muslim fundamentalist terror groups appears to be widespread. On the fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, a survey conducted by Al-Jazeera asked respondents, "Do you support Osama Bin-Laden?" A whopping 49.9% answered: yes. And the July 2006 global Pew survey found that among Muslims, a quarter of Jordanians, a third of Indonesians, 38% of Pakistanis and 61% of Nigerians all expressed confidence in the mass murderer who founded al-Qaida. In Lebanon six months ago, the Beirut Center for Research and Information found that over 80% of the Lebanese population said they supported Hizbullah. And do I need also to mention that a majority of Palestinians backed Hamas in parliamentary elections last year? Sure, there are also places where support for violent jihad is not as high. As Reuters reported on October 15, just 10 percent of Indonesian Muslims said they backed jihad and supported bomb attacks on the island of Bali aimed at foreign tourists. But Indonesia is home to more than 200 million Muslims, so while 10 percent may sound like a small number percentage-wise, it is actually quite large in absolute terms. It means there are some 20 million Muslims in Indonesia alone who are willing to say out loud that they support the use of violence and terror against innocent human beings. Since when is that a "marginal few"? The question of whether a "tiny" or "sizable" minority backs the global jihad is far more than just one of semantics. It goes to the very nature of the struggle that Israel and the West now find ourselves in. The figures above, taken from a variety of nations, continents and contexts, all point in one very ominous direction. They demonstrate beyond a shadow of a doubt that the global jihadist movement enjoys a wide and broad base of support that extends far beyond just a minuscule number of supporters.
POLITICIANS and journalists might wish to believe, as we all do, that the backers of violent jihad are few and far between, and that they do not represent large numbers of people with like-minded extremist views. But that is simply not the case. The arithmetic of jihad is quite straight-forward, and it is time we stopped looking the other way and pretending otherwise. The threat posed by Islamic fundamentalism to Israel and the West can, and must, be met. With determination and a sense of purpose, victory is not out of reach. But the longer we continue to underestimate the extent of the problem, the more difficult it will be to defeat it. So let's put aside all that wishful thinking, and roll up our collective sleeves and get to work. Like it or not, the war on terror still faces a long road ahead. Michael Freund served as an adviser to former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. |
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DENNIS ROSS: RELEASE POLLARD FROM PRISON
Posted by Justice For Jonathan Pollard, January 30, 2007. |
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This was written by Rick Kardonne and it appeared today in the Jewish
Tribune.
Originally Published in Canada December 28, 2006
http://www.jewishtribune.ca/tribune/PDF/jt061228.pdf |
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Jonathan Pollard should be released from prison, said FOX News foreign affairs analyst and former US Ambassador Dennis Ross, who for more than 12 years played the leading role in shaping US involvement in the Middle East peace process, under the administrations of George Bush and Bill Clinton. Ross made this statement at a media news conference that preceded the closing celebration of the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto Israel Emergency Campaign 2007, which raised $81 million, $20 million of which was earmarked for the reconstruction of northern Israel on which Hezbollah rockets rained down death and destruction during the July- August 2006 war. He was the keynote speaker of this event, which took place last week in the George Weston Hall at the Toronto Centre of the Arts. Pollard was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1989 without parole for supplying US military secrets to Israel without US permission, when he worked for Navy Intelligence. Ross told the Jewish Tribune that while what Pollard did was wrong according to US law, that his sentence was excessive. Pollard still sits in a maximum security prison. Ross said that he told both Bushes, father and son, as well as Clinton that Pollard should be released. Ross told the Jewish Tribune that the present Bush administration shows no interest in releasing Jonathan Pollard. "The National Security Council and the CIA strongly opposed Pollard's release," Ross said. "They maintain that Pollard knew facts that would jeopardize national security. But Pollard has been in jail for so long that whatever facts he might know would have little if any effect on national security today." In his keynote address, Ross, who had just returned from Israel and Ramallah earlier that same day, evoked the most positive audience response when he initially discussed Iran and the Baker-Hamilton Iraq Study Group. But Ross provoked some skeptical reaction when he dealt with the so-called "moderation" of PA president Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah faction, which is currently involved in a civil war against Hamas. "Iran is a challenge everywhere. When Iran president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad not only denies the Holocaust, vows to wipe Israel off the map, and says that Israel will disappear soon, this is a major existential threat to Israel. If Iran goes nuclear, then the whole Mideast will go nuclear. We don't want Iran to go nuclear." Ross skilfully debunked the notion that meaningful sanctions against Iran are being considered by the UN or even the US. "On Aug. 31, Iran was supposed to face a UN sanctions motion for failing to suspend its nuclear enrichment program. One of the proposed sanctions was that there would be no trade with Iran, but Russia would be exempt from this sanction. Another sanction was that Iranian students would not be allowed to study nuclear physics overseas." In other words, the proposed sanctions have to them an element of farce. To demonstrate that the possibility of a nuclear Iran is not only a threat to Israel in the region, Ross stated that "on Dec. 14, Saudi Arabia announced that it will create a nuclear energy program to be a counterpoint against Iran." Once this happens, Ross feels that Egypt and other Arab states will follow suit. Ross also mentioned that Saudi Arabia "knows that Hamas and Hezbollah are arms of Iran. Saudi Arabia is afraid of Iran. And Saudi Arabia is so afraid of Iran-backed insurgents that it is building a security fence along its entire border with Iraq. Ross said that while the Baker-Hamilton Iraq study group might have some sound recommendations regarding Iraq, such as that Iraqis should shoulder the brunt of the current internal fighting; its attempt to link Iraq to the Israel-Palestinian Arab conflict makes no sense. "Iraq's problems are internal. The solution to the Iraq civil war lies within Iraq." He had harsh words for Baker's insistence that Israel must make major concessions for the Iraq war to be settled, and especially condemned Baker's advice that Iran and Syria be brought in to moderate the Iraq war; a recommendation that President George W. Bush has rejected. Ross drew his most evident audience approval when he declared that "unilateralism (on the part of Israel when it withdrew from south Lebanon in 2000 and Gaza in 2005) doesn't work. However, his belief that Israel should "support moderate Palestinians," meaning Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction, against Hamas, did not get the same ringing endorsement. See Also: Excerpts from "The Missing Peace" by Dennis Ross
The Wye Double-Cross Page
Terror in The US and the Jonathan Pollard Case by Larry Dub Esq.
Contact Justice4JP at Justice4JP@gmail.com or go to the website
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CHECKPOINTS DOWN,INFILTRATORS UP
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, January 30, 2007. |
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ISRAEL APPROVES EGYPTIAN ARMS FOR ABBAS FORCES The reward for Abbas allowing arms smuggling, which profited Hamas as well as his own forces, is that Israel approved a shipment of arms to Abbas to counteract Hamas. Likud believes most of those arms would turn on Israel. "It's like a policeman saying, 'No one can have a gun, because you might shoot me -- but because one group has obtained guns, I'll let the rest of you have some as well," (IMRA, 12/26) to even up your rivalry. Likud PM Netanyahu found that the arms Israel allowed Arafat to maintain order were used against Israel. Olmert is making the same mistake again. No excuse for him. OLMERT'S "PINPOINT" POLICY NOT FEASIBLE Trying to maintain his one-sided ceasefire, PM Olmert reluctantly decided to allow a bit of counter-attacking. He said the IDF may attack Gaza crews about to launch rockets or after they have done so. The brass told him that there is very little chance of that succeeding. Therefore, the policy is almost useless. The military situation warrants authorization to open fire on crews moving into position. Often they do so away from population centers, in areas nearer Israel, and are more easily spotted (Arutz-7, 12/28). With an intelligence system, Israeli security agencies know where many terrorists are, in between missions. It should be allowed, as formerly, to intercept them. CHECKPOINTS DOWN, INFILTRATORS UP PM Olmert has approved a plan to take down some checkpoints. He has raised the number of Arabs who may enter Israel. He accompanied those concessions with a declaration, "The proposed plan is likely to contribute to an improved atmosphere, to the strengthening of moderate forces and the distancing of the civilian population from the circle of terrorism." He asserted that Israel would fight against terrorism as determinedly as ever. "Terrorists have taken advantage of previous gestures in the past to travel freely and perpetrate attacks." The news brief gave a couple of examples of removing checkpoints, the resulting terrorism, and having to reinstate those checkpoints. Checkpoints serve an anti-terrorist purpose, after all (Op. Cit.). What can justify removing checkpoints, when experience repeatedly requires their reinstatement. How irresponsible to offer openings for more terrorist attacks! There are no moderate Arab forces. The Arabs support terrorism because it is of their religion. Olmert's decisions contradict his declaration. The declaration is meant to mollify his people's concern. Polls ought to check whether such declarations do. CEASEFIRE IN SIDEROT Most of the 57 rockets launched at Israel were aimed at the civilian town of Siderot. Residents describe the official ceasefire as, "We cease, they fire." (Bedein, Media@actcom.co.il. Richard Shulman is a veteran defender of Israel on several web-based forums. His comments and analyses appear often on Think-Israel. He provides cool information and right-on-target overviews. He distributes his essays by email. To subscribe, write him at richardshulman5@verizon.com. |
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MOVING ON IN SDEROT
Posted by Judy Lash Balint, January 30, 2007. |
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Sima Abukasis looked on quietly as Chief Rabbi Yonah Metzger and Knesset members joined dozens of her Sderot neighbors and friends yesterday at a modest commemoration of the second anniversary of the death of her daughter, Ella, 17, who died of wounds suffered from a Kassam rocket attack on Sderot in 2005. Sima, a slight woman with olive skin and short auburn hair, managed a wan smile as she greeted her daughter's friends and family members who came to take part in the ceremony in the center of Sderot. The pain of the loss of her middle child is firmly etched on the face of this bereaved mother. Ella died shielding her younger brother, Tamir, as the siren sounded on a Shabbat afternoon on a cool January afternoon two years ago. That day, the Abukasis family was at Ella's grandmother's home celebrating the birthday of one of the granddaughters. From there Ella went with her younger brother Tamir to their Bnei Akiva youth movement activity. They were on their way home when the siren sounded, giving them 20 seconds warning of an incoming Kassam rocket. With no time to take cover, Ella lay on top of Tamir, who escaped with relatively minor wounds when the rocket fell and exploded alongside them. Ella was fatally wounded and died a week later without ever regaining conciousness. Ella's older brother, Ran, did most of the organizing of yesterday's memorial ceremony. Held just a few days before Tu B'Shvat, the memorial was also a dedication of a new Bnei Akiva building named for Ella. Outside the bright new facility that includes several meeting rooms, a kitchen and main hall, six saplings were planted in honor of Tu B'Shvat and to signify new beginnings. The fresh earth was dug by a few of Ella's male friends who are students at Sderot's Hesder Yeshiva. The young men, who combine Torah learning with army service, include representatives of every ethnic group in Israeli society--Ethiopians, Russian speakers, Sephardim and Ashkenazim. Their cameraderie and cooperation is evident as they greet each other with warm hugs and slaps on the back before they get down to the digging. Many teachers from the the yeshiva and Ella's AMIT high school show up too, and the respect and warmth they elicit from the students would be the envy of teachers anywhere. Maybe it's the simple solidarity born from the terrifying experiences they've shared over the past six years since Sderot has been under Arab bombardment: several schools in Sderot have taken direct hits from Kassam rockets and now they're commemorating the death of one of their friends. Chief Rabbi Metzger affixes a large mezuza on the external door of the new building, noting that at the request of the family it's a mezuza that was blessed by Rabbi Kedourie, the centenarian kabbalist who passed away a few years ago. Inside the main hall, a huge banner with a picture of a smiling, relaxed Ella adorns the wall. At the head table, a single memorial candle burns in front of the seated dignitaries. In addition to Rabbi Metzger there's Rabbi Benny Lau; Knesset members Hanan Porat, Tzvi Hendel, Uri Ariel; former Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai--a family friend; the principal of the AMIT High School; Ella's father, Yonatan and the head of Bnei Akiva for the southern region. Each of them speaks lovingly of Ella, her brief life and her heroic death. For a change, it's a quiet day in Sderot with no Kassam attacks. But for Yonatan and Sima Aubkasis and their remaining children, Ran, Tamir and Keren as well as the families of the other seven Kassam fatalities in Sderot, there'll never be a quiet day. Judy Lash Balint is an award-winner investigative journalist and author of "Jerusalem Diaries: In Tense Times" (Gefen). It is available for purchase from www.israelbooks.com |