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ISRAELI ELECTIONS DIVIDED MESSAGE ON WITHDRAWAL
Posted by Zionist Organization of America, March 31, 2006. |
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Left-right Split 54-50
New York - In the March 28 Israeli elections, the electorate sent a divided message on future unilateral withdrawals and the forced expulsion of Jews from Judea & Samaria, while economic and domestic issues were probably more dominant than in any election in 30 years. There was virtually an even split between the left of center pro-withdrawal parties and the right of center anti-withdrawal parties with the left gaining 54 seats while the right gained 50 out of the 120 Knesset seats. The left of center party Kadima's support dropped precipitously in the last few weeks winning only 29 seats (23% of vote) after being well above 40 seats only a month ago. It's important to note that in the last two weeks Kadima's Ehud Olmert made a major public issue of promoting a substantial unilateral withdrawal from Judea & Samaria and giving it to Hamas in addition to a forced expulsion of Jews from there. In the last week of the election campaign, Olmert also repeatedly declared that he would not permit any party into his government who would not accept these conditions. The more Olmert emphasized these points, the more his support fell. Olmert might manage, by including all the left-wing parties (Kadima (29), Labor (20), Meretz (5) and the new Pensioners party (7) to form a bare majority of 61 seats. Further withdrawals today could further divide an already fractured electorate. If Olmert intends to proceed with further unilateral land giveaways to the terrorist Hamas/PA regime, and the forced removal of tens of thousands of Jews from their homes in Judea & Samaria, a referendum should be strongly considered. Another message one can derive from these election results is that economic and domestic issues played the largest role in determining the outcome in the last 30 years, possibly greater than the issue of concessions to the Palestinian regime. The fact that the Pensioners party gained seven seats instead of the expected one, may well have been due to Netanyahu's economic policies which reduced government monies to the lower middle class Israelis. These Netanyahu economic policies also likely dropped Likud to their surprising 12 seat result. The Labor party also ran their campaign almost entirely on economic and other domestic and labor policies, not on land concessions to Hamas. And a leader of Kadima, Meir Shitreet, stated after the election that the issue of disengagement and unilateral withdrawals is not on the agenda. He said that Kadima will concentrate on economic and domestic issues. Other points that should be noted is that the hard left party of Meretz dropped to only 5 seats while the hard right parties of Lieberman and National Union rose to 20 seats. Another surprising fact is that this was the lowest voter turnout in Israeli history indicating the voters frustration and despair over the apparent belief that whether there are major unilateral land giveaways and expulsions or not, peace will not be achieved with the Hamas/PA regime devoted to Israel's destruction. ZOA President Morton A. Klein said, "With such a close finish between right and left, there was clearly no message by Israelis to unilaterally withdraw from more land, let alone a mandate for such a move. Former Prime Minister Sharon himself repeatedly said before his stroke that there would be no more concessions of any sort unless and until the Palestinians fulfill all of their obligations to Oslo and the Road Map, and Sharon made this statement before the Islamic terrorist group Hamas came to power. In fact, Uri Dan, a well-known Israeli journalist and decades-long friend of Sharon, recently wrote a column saying that Olmert's withdrawal and expulsion plan from Judea and Samaria would never have been proposed by Ariel Sharon. "In addition, we must understand that the Sharon/Olmert Kadima party benefited from sympathy for Sharon's tragic medical condition, from antipathy toward Netanyahu's economic policies, and from loyalties by Likud voters to the fourteen Likud members who switched to Kadima. Virtually none of this sympathy had much to do with the withdrawal plan. "If the Israelis really wanted withdrawal to proceed, Olmert's support would have strengthened in the last few weeks, not dramatically weakened. "Finally, to see a split between the right and leftwing parties in light of the fact that virtually the entire major Israeli media supported Olmert and major land concessions shows additional weakness of the left and the withdrawal policy. "The ZOA strongly urges that if Ehud Olmert decides on more unilateral land giveaways to the terrorist Hamas/PA regime, and the forced removal of tens of thousands of Jews from their homes in Judea & Samaria, a referendum should be strongly considered." The Zionist Organization of America (www.zoa.org), founded in 1897, is the oldest pro-Israel organization in the United States. The ZOA works to strengthen U.S.-Israel relations, educates the American public and Congress about the dangers that Israel faces, and combats anti-Israel bias in the media and on college campuses. Its past presidents have included Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis and Rabbi Dr. Abba Hillel Silver. |
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THE AIPAC CASE: "UNCHARTED WATERS"
Posted by Barbara Sommer, March 31, 2006. |
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This is called "Secrecy News" and is from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy, Volume 2006, Issue No. 40. Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the Federation of American Scientists. The prosecution of two former officials of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) for allegedly receiving and communicating classified information without authorization poses novel legal issues, the presiding judge in the case said last week. "We are a bit in new, uncharted waters, and that's why I'm going to consider this matter extremely carefully," said Judge T.S. Ellis III at a March 24 hearing on defense motions to dismiss the case. This is the first case in which the government has sought to criminalize the unauthorized receipt of classified information by non-governmental persons who do not hold security clearances. Anything other than a dismissal of the charges would mark a dramatic shift in national security law and a significant reduction in First Amendment protections. At the hearing last week, defense attorneys reiterated their arguments that the underlying statutes are overbroad, unconstitutionally vague, and do not apply to speech but only to the unauthorized transfer of tangible materials such as classified documents. Unlike documents that bear classification markings, the defense pointed out, oral communications do not provide the recipient with notice that their contents are restricted. "It's not a coincidence that the words of the statute speak in [terms= of] tangible items, and the conduct here is oral," said defense attorney Abbe Lowell. Under such circumstances, "How can a defendant, a potential defendant, trying to decide whether or not he's stepping across the line, determine when -- what information is national defense information, and when it isn't?" Judge Ellis asked the prosecution. "It all depends upon the facts, your Honor," replied Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin DiGregory vaguely. Furthermore, documents can be returned to their rightful owners. But oral information once received into conscious awareness is difficult not to by unauthorized recipients is illegal too. "Well, what are they supposed to do," asked Judge Ellis, "have a lobotomy?" Prosecutors argued that this is not a First Amendment case involving protected speech. "What we have alleged in our indictment, your Honor, is not First Amendment protected activity," said Mr. DiGregory. "What we have alleged is that these two men conspired with persons, known and unknown, they conspired to gather and disseminate national defense information. And we have alleged that they have done so, and communicated that information to persons not entitled to receive it." "What we're talking about here, your Honor, in the first instance, is conduct. We're not talking about speech," he said. "Do you think that you can transform speech into conduct?" Judge Ellis replied. "You can't do it just by labeling it conduct." "All speech is a type of conduct," the Judge continued, "but it's a type of conduct which [defense attorney] Lowell would quickly say falls within the First Amendment. But he would have to be quick to concede that conduct in terms of giving someone a document is not speech, under the First Amendment." None of these disputed issues were resolved, and the Court's aggressive questioning does not reliably indicate the Judge's own predilections. The parties were ordered to further brief the First Amendment issues by Friday, March 31. A copy of the transcript of the March 24 hearing in U.S.A. v. Rosen
and Weissman was obtained by Secrecy News and may be found here:
"I am not sure why FAS and other outlets are trying make AIPAC into some kind of martyr of freedom," wrote one commenter on the Secrecy News blog last week. "Its activities were clearly illegal and in violation of US law. Let's be careful not to confound the defense of freedom with a defense of illicit activity." AIPAC, however, is not on trial and is not accused of wrongdoing. Whether or not the defendants' activities were illegal is the question that is now before the Court. As for Secrecy News' interest in the case, it stems from the fact that we also gather and disseminate "national defense information," a term that encompasses both classified and unclassified defense information. We have "unauthorized" conversations with government officials. Sometimes we deliberately pose questions about matters that we know to be classified ("Psst...How big was the total intelligence budget 50 years ago?"). If the government's unbounded new interpretation of the espionage statutes were to prevail, much of our research and publication activity could arguably be considered illegal. "Under the government's theory, in fact, countless conversations and publications that take place every day are criminal acts," the Washington Post editorialized last week. Contact Barbara Sommer by email at sommer_1_98@yahoo.com |
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THE AIPAC CASE: CRIMINALIZING PUBLIC SPEECH
Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, March 31, 2006. |
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This article is called "Secrecy News" and was written by Steven Aftergood from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy, Federation of American Scientists. I suppose this is the logical extrapolation of the efforts of previous US administrations to prevent unpleasant news leaking out to the public. The traditional view in America has always been that it is the specifically right, and even obligation, of a free press and private individuals or organizations, protected by the first amendment of the US Constitution, to go out of their way to find and expose those unpleasant events the Government would rather not have anyone know about. If the US Courts uphold the Government's contention that such actions are now espionage, that will pretty much be the end of a press freedom in America and the right of American citizens to expose actions of their Government. The fact that the powers that be have seen fit to start this effort against a well known and respected Jewish organization should not be lost on the Jewish community. In an unprecedented and previously unimaginable case, two former employees of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee were accused last year of mishandling classified government information. Now they are asking a federal court to dismiss the charges against them. The prosecution of the former AIPAC officials, Steven J. Rosen and Keith Weissman, represents an extraordinary attempt by the Bush Administration to use the Espionage Act to restrict the activities and even the conversations of members of the public who are not government employees. "The prosecutors in this case have taken the unprecedented step of criminalizing an alleged leak not just against the government official who was charged with protecting such information, but also members of public policy organization with First Amendment protection who listened to what this government official had to say," the new defense motion to dismiss states. "If this indictment is allowed to stand, a statute which in the first instance is intended to address classic spying will not only be applied to erring government officials but now will be applied to private American citizens pursuing first amendment protected activities." What Rosen and Weissman are charged with is nothing more than "what members of the media, members of the Washington policy community, lobbyists and members of congressional staffs do perhaps hundreds of times every day," the defense says. There is no allegation that Rosen or Weissman "ever stole, secreted, purloined, paid for or otherwise obtained classified information from any person -- inside or outside government -- by any illegal means." Instead, they listened to, and repeated, information provided by former Pentagon official Lawrence A. Franklin that was purportedly classified. "Never has a lobbyist, reporter, or any other non-government employee been charged... for receiving oral information the government alleges to be national defense material as part of that person's normal First Amendment protected activities." "The government's construction of [the Espionage Act] would allow for the punishment of any private citizen who obtains classified information -- regardless of how or why -- and then discloses it to another private citizen." "Such a result would be profoundly disturbing," according to the Defendants' motion. Remarkably, the legal memorandum on behalf of the defendants was co-authored by Viet Dinh, the former Justice Department attorney who is best known as one of the architects of the USA Patriot Act. The defense memorandum was filed under seal on January 19 and
unsealed by the court in the Eastern District of Virginia on February
9. A copy was obtained by Secrecy News and posted on the Federation
of American Scientists web site. See (4.2 MB PDF file):
www.fas.org/sgp/jud/rosen011906.pdf
Aryeh Zelasko lives in Beitar Illit, south of Jerusalem. He is Director of Sales and Marketing of Israel Visit (www.israelvisit.co.il) which provides information and an internet buying facility for American visitors to Israel. Contact him at zelasko@actcom.co.il |
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LIKUD IS SPOT ON, CONCERNING DISPUTED LAND POLICY
Posted by Lawrence Uniglicht, March 31, 2006. |
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Concerning disputed land policy, Likud is spot on, yet ironically a pie-in-the-sky Israeli voting public sends an R.I.P. message to Bibi in no uncertain terms. The pied piper Olmert plays his flute, heading for the cliff overlooking a valley of extinction, while exasperated muddled minions follow. Ehud and his Kadima cohorts bizarrely plot to unilaterally force tens of thousands of Jews dwelling in Judea and Samaria to exit stage left, in effect cede Israeli soil justifiably won in a defensive battle for survival; more justifiably won then say when the manifestly destined U.S. aggressively took its Southwest from Mexico; to an insane cadre of Hamas psychopaths only salivating to annihilate the entire state of Israel. Bibi indeed knows better; he and his patriotic cerebrally prescient realists would expand, not contemptuously contract, the number of Jewish towns in Judea, Samaria, the Golan Heights, as well as keep all of Jerusalem. Furthermore, no doubt he would unilaterally declare all this land to be an intrinsic part of sovereign Israel. PERIOD! Any Arab nationals residing on such Jewish soil could then either pledge allegiance to the State of Israel, publicly renouncing any affiliation with those who refuse to recognize or would do harm to Israel, or don't let any check point door hit you in the butt baby as you vacate to your true homeland of Jordan or perhaps Egypt! What sort of twisted hand-wringing logic infects the minds of planetary pundits, living in non-Middle East safe havens, impelling them to presume Israelis occupy and stifle so many 'career' Arab refugees, all of whom are in fact free folks truly citizens of the Koran by their own perspectives, many of whom refuse to get their acts together, reversing self-imposed wretched lives on land they lease from Israel, never even contemplating going elsewhere in quest of boots having bootstraps they might lift themselves up with? Furthermore, it takes no rocket scientist to recognize the deterioration of Gaza since civilized Israeli families were ever so stupidly evicted, not by Arabs, but by their own government. The vanguard science of hydroponics, advancing within fertile Israeli greenhouses in Gaza, indeed a boon to mankind, must await a rebirth elsewhere, now that such bastions of progress will perhaps morph to repositories for Kalishnikovs and mortar shells. Dark age Arabs, alas, prefer launching implements of death and destruction at Israel in lieu of tugging at any bootstraps; why lift yourself out of squalor when you can strike out at and blame the omnipresent Jew for all your troubles? Israelis can run behind unilaterally crafted borders, surrendering most of Judea and Samaria, but they cannot hide from adversaries who will only interpret such strategy as weakness. Contracting an area already less than 1/5 of 1 percent as large as all surrounding mostly hostile Muslim nations is treasonous to any sense of national worth. What indeed would future generations of Israelis say to such folly? Expand your horizons Israel, hold your head high, stake claim and prosper within all land secured in battle; including Judea, Samaria, all of Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights; that is rightfully yours! Respect yourself and someday the world will respect you! Lawrence Uniglicht is a career civil servant, working for the Social Security Administration. He advocates for the State of Israel with an American perspective. He writes, "Advocating for the disrespected underdog has been my passion, no doubt Israel falls into that category." Contact him by email at luniglicht@snip.net |
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ISRAEL CHOOSES SUICIDE
Posted by James Biga, March 31, 2006. |
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On the same day that Islamic Jihad officially announces it has "many" Russian made Katyusha rockets smuggled into Gaza from Egypt; Israel decides to follow a group of appeasers. The land for peace deal, which has been a failure thus far, is going to have its life extended. While Israelis die, more land will be given. While Hamas builds up its defenses, Israel will go about in blissful ignorance. I realize there were other issues that resulted in Kadima maintaining the majority in the Israeli elections. I just have a hard time believing that there was a more important issue than Israel's own survival. A paragraph in a Jerusalem Post article states some reasons why Binyamin Netanyahu lost: social security, joining disengagement at the last minute. Kadima will lead to the final destruction of Israel. They will ignore the charters of their enemies and give up land and finish putting up the fence. All the while, Israel's enemies will gather and prepare for a final assault. Death to Israel is their rallying cry. They will not stop until they are victorious or they have been annihilated. Israel has chosen to utilize the approach of their enemy: martyrdom. Mr. Netanyahu will be forced out as the head of Likud and will retire in embarrassment. An embarrassment that comes from trying to do what is right. An embarrassment which is the result of wanting to defend his people. An embarrassment that his people choose to stop fighting and give into the demands of an evil enemy. An embarrassment that Moses must have felt when the Israeli's started chatter of wanting to go back to Egypt. Maybe he could have done things differently. Political pundits will debate what he could have done to win. I am not one of them. I don't believe he could have won no matter what approach he attempted. Israeli's have given up. They are tired of fighting. 58 years of wars, battles, attacks, homicide bombers, political gerrymandering just to survive has led to the Israeli people giving up. When people that live outside the borders of Israel want Israel to survive and prosper more than the actual residents do, the battle is lost. In this instance not only is a nation lost, its faith has been lost also. Oh Israel. Open your Torah and read your history. See how the present day Israeli sounds a lot like the historic Israelis who turned their backs on G-d and decided they knew better than the Almighty. The seed of the Wild Man surrounds you and you are willing to give up your birthright. The hope that you provided to the world is diminished. You have chosen to step down from your pedestal and become part of the world. Why should others fight for you when you won't fight for yourself? Mr. Netanyahu is not a perfect man, no man is. But I believe he was the perfect man for this moment. Winston Churchill failed numerous times but succeeded at protecting his country when it was needed the most. Abraham Lincoln was a failure at most everything but was able to keep a country united. Mr. Netanyahu would have taken the fight to the enemy. Israel will be asking for this in the future. They will ask this man to come back and correct what they have ruined. They will ask his forgiveness and beg that he defeat the enemy. They will pray to G-d that this man be given the power necessary to defend them. If they don't, Israel will end up in the sea as Hamas has promised. Israel's enemies will succeed and the only one that can be blamed is Israel itself. At this moment I am frustrated, disgusted, and angry. Those that I believe to be G-d's people are willing to give up what they have been given by G-d. I had always seen a scenario that the Israeli's tired of the continued attacks, would launch an all out response which would end these attacks for good. I guess I was wrong. Although I have no right to, I am embarrassed for Mr. Netanyahu, I am embarrassed for Israel, and I am embarrassed for mankind. Giving up because of weariness is a form of cowardice. Reading what has occurred in Israel the last 58 years I had never associated the word coward to Israel. I guess things can change. I was raised that a man does what is right no matter the consequence or who stands against him. Would the MEN of Israel please take a step forward? Your fellow citizens have chosen suicide. Are you willing to go out this way? Mr. Netanyahu, I am sorry. Reality did not play a part in your election loss. Your fellow citizens placed their head in the sand and are hoping all these bad things will just go away. I hope they realize what is exposed while their heads are covered. I foresee discussing with my grandchildren where Israel used to be and how its people gave up. What a shame. Contact James Biga at Jebiga88@aol.com |
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INFORMATION TO HELP TO STOP UNILATERAL PULLOUTS
Posted by Arlene Kushner, March 31, 2006. |
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Regarding Olmert's projected unilateral pullouts, Sec. of State Rice said there might be some benefits but more information is needed before a decision is made to support this policy. We thus have a small window of time to impress upon her and President Bush that this would NOT be a good idea, neither for Israel nor for the interests of the US. At the bottom of this posting I provide contact information. I wish to emphasize that a letter -- written and mailed -- is always most effective. I know it takes time and trouble, but that's the whole point. Recipients are impressed that you took the time to do this; it means you care. And then they have hard copy in their hands. E-mail is the least effective and jams the system. Please! I ask you to do this and to get others to do so as well. If you are reading this in Israel, please send to everyone you can in the US who might be of assistance. A few hundred letters would make a real difference. Write your own letter, drawing from the Steve Rodan's material below. Keep it short (you don't have to use all of the information), clear and factual. Let them know this matters to you, a voting American citizen. If Israel pulls out, terrorist forces, beginning but not ending with Hamas move in. We have seen this already from Gaza -- it is now in chaos and run by armed militias that cause fear in the population and kidnap internationals who are there to help. The area of the West Bank would become a terrrorist center. This would threaten the stability of Jordan and American interests in Iraq; it would weaken the war on terrorism. And it would be disasterous for America's ally in the area, Israel. This is what Steve Rodan, Director of the Middle East Newsline, predicted in a briefing provided just days ago. Steve is an expert of security matters and speaks Arabic. There may soon be two Palestinian entities, with different competing forces. Outside elements would enter in order to gain control. In Gaza, we are likely to see the presence of Egypt, Iran (via the powerful Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps) and the Saudis. In the West Bank, there would be al-Qaida <96> moving in from Iraq, Hezbolla, and a Jordanian presence. Because the Palestinian Authority areas will become a battleground for competing Arab interests, money will flow; there will be new and more efficient rockets, and more explosives will be brought in. You don't have to believe that Israel should keep all of the land forever to know that this is the wrong time for a pullout. If there is ever to be a withdrawal, it has to be when terrorism is defeated and there is a peaceful Palestinian entity on the other side that will negotiate in good faith. Hamas will not accept borders drawn by Israel unilaterally; this will invite more terrorism. Nor will Hamas accept Israeli army presence on "their" side of any border that is drawn. If Hamas should declare a state, this would then prevent Israel from going into the area and taking out terrorist infrastructure. Does the world need another rogue, terrorist state? A state that provides a place for terrorists to function and supports them internationally. Make no mistake, all of Hamas's words of conciliation are just words -- their first goal is Israel's destruction. They are part of the international Muslim Brotherhood movement. As Islamists their final goal is defeat of the West and establishment of a Caliphate. When Hamas received a vote of confidence from the Legislative Council, the cry went up: "Death for the sake of Allah is our most lofty aspiration" President Bush
Sec. of State Rice
Contact Arlene Kushner by email at akushner@netvision.net.il or go to her website www.ArleneFromIsrael.info |
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THE WAY TO PEACE: MURDER A JEW, LOSE A CITY
Posted by Professor Eugene Narrett, March 31, 2006. |
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If the government and ruling classes of Israel were serious in their desire for peace, and /or if the Jews of Israel were somehow able to exercise adequate pressure on the ruling groups and institutions to make them truly pursue peace, this is what they would do: Deport CNN and all other hostile news organizations; Announce to all peoples west of the Jordan River that henceforth, the murder of a Jew by a non-Jew would result in the destruction of one of the "Palestinian" cities in the area. Murder fuour Jews, you lose four cities, the biggest first. Since Jews are people of loving kindness, Arabs will have 6 hours to get to a neighboring Arab state before the IAF demolishes the cities. Most of them would leave on their own, as so many of them did in June 1967, before being cajoled back by very foolish people who had no clue what peace is nor did they truly want it. What they wanted was not to have a Jewish state; they're well on their way to getting that, but as for peace, forget it. Murder a Jew, lose a city. At least there would be the light of peace at the end of the tunnel of islamic jihad. And after taking another couple dozen casualties, Isarel will be a Jewish state and there will be peace within it. That's beautiful, and will enormously benefit the economy. The "Pensioners" ought to strongly support this peace plan, and everyone who wants to get a life and a job...... The same method can be applied to pacify the neighboring enemies of the Jewish people. Any more rocket barrages or infiltrations, lose a city. PEACE: reality not rhetoric. It's not too late. Professor Eugene Narrett teaches writing and Literature at Boston University. He is the author of hundreds of articles, columns and reviews on politics, American culture and the arts. He is completing a study on Romanticism and the longterm decline of Western Culture. He writes often on subjects relating to Israel and Judaism and is a weekly columnist for the MetroWest Daily News in Framingham, Massachusetts. Contact him at culturtalk@aol.com |
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MY TRIAL BEGINS ON WEDNESDAY
Posted by Salah Choudhury, March 31, 2006. |
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Greetings from Dhaka! And, finally there is news from the court. The trial of the sedition charge will begin on this Wednesday at the court of Additional Metropolitan Session Judge. My lawyer Advocate S.N. Goswami goswami@connectbd.com is tirelessly working on making a strong argument so that the charge can not be framed. As you know, 25th April 2005 was the date fixed for framing of charge, and the government could not do that. Rather I was released on bail on 30th April 2005. First of all, let me brief you, according to official documents, the investigation officer identifies few points as my offense, which he thinks as seditious and blasphamous: 1. In the speech I prepared for Hebrew Writers Symposium, I said that, Islamist radi cals were gaining strength. 2. In the speech I also mentioned that they were receiving financial support from Afro-Arabd sources and were using mosques and madrassas as their base for training etc. 3. In the speech I mentioned, leaders of these groups are repatriated 'soldiers' from Afghanistan and Palestine. Now... Everyone in Bangladesh and abroad are aware that all the points I mentioned in 2003 are not proved Gospel truth. But, still stupid people wants to continue with the trial . Why? Because, they think, if the case is dropped, it will annoy the Islamist radicals in Bangladesh. In the First Information Report (FIR), the investigation officer stated that, I wrote an article titled 'Hello Tel Aviv' and sent it to USA Today for publication. In that article, I made lots of positive comments on Christians and Jews while I made negative remarks on Muslims. After I sent this article to USA Today, the ambassador of Israel in Singapore contacted me and since there I have relations with Israel. The IO also mentioned that I am a 'spy of Israeli intelligence agency'. Isn't it funny? First of all, I never sent any such article to USA Today. The Investigation officer even could not provide any evidence or copy of this so-called article. Moreover, just imagine, USA Today is a very large newspaper receiving hundred of op-eds every day. How the Israeli ambassador could know about a very specific op-ed which was sent from Bangladesh and never published there? The story concocted by police is so funny that any child in kindergarten will possibly burst into laughter if they will hear it. But, this is the fact that Bangladesh authorities are continuing to harass me with this false, fabricated, concocted and motivated case. As you know... Three esteemed members of US Congress, Mr. Mark Steven Kirk, Mr. Joseph Crowley and Mr. Peter King wrote a letter last month to Bangladesh ambassador in Washingto asking to 'immediately drop the false case, return passport and other possessions and stop continued harrassment'. In that letter, the honorable Congressmen wrote 'if this case proceeds, we assure you, it will come under insense international scrutiny'. But... After receiving such a strong letter from the US Congress, Bangladesh government is rather reluctant to listen to what they have requested and even they are going to begin the trial on Wednesday. It is almost like the attitude of former Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Earlier... A number of international organizations like PEN USA, Committee to Protect Journalists, IFLAC and Reporters Sans Frontiers sent letters to Bangladesh Government to drop the false case. But, those were also ignored. Some of the esteemed members of media in New York Times, International Herald Tribune, Middle East Web, Jerusalem Post, Buffalo Grove etc., also published comments on me. But, it did not reach the deafs in the Government. By the grace of G-d... We shall win the case. The judge can not even frame a charge, if he will have minimum respect to the facts and realities. But, if he is dictated to frame the charge, even the government will loose the case, by the Grace of G-d, for sure. In that case, my lawyers will file a 200 million Taka compensation suite against the Government for unnecessarily harrasing a journalist and obstracting the freedom of speech. Even now... Very tactfully some of the powerful figures in the Government are trying to convince me to change my profession, become a shop owner or a small trader and abandon my news papers and publication business. They want to suffocate us by silently suggesting the advertisers to refrain from advertising in Blitz and Jamjamat. They term us as Zionists. Okay, we are proud to be Zionists. You all know, in past six months, Blitz did not get even a single inch advertisement from the domestic business houses. Although Blitz is now the largest tabloid weekly in Bangladesh. And our vernacular weekly Jamjamat has already reached a weekly circulation of 15,000 copies and actually we can sell more than 50,000 copies, if we want. But, for this we need advertisements, which we do not have. Jamjamat is the colorful magazine and priced at Taka 5 only, while its competitors are priced at minimum Taka 10. Readers are pressing us to increase our circulation. But, we can't do that at this stage. We have to face extreme adversity along with serious financial constraint. But, still, our spirit is leading us in sustaining such adversities and challenges. Large multinationals... Like Unilever, Bata, Pepsi, Coke, Mobil, Proctor & Gamble, Reckit and Colman, Phillips, Sony, Hewlet Packard, Microsoft, IBM etc etc etc are spending millions of dollars in advertising their products in Bangladeshi media. But, they even did not respond to us as their advertising agents are locals. But... My friends, we have learnt to live in extreme adversity and we shall continue. Thank you very much for kindly extending your valued support which gives me courage and inspiration. Just becasue of your blessings and support, I am still free from the jail. Just because of your encouragements, I still have dream and mission. Just because of your trust, we shall win... one day. Finally my profound thanks to Dr. Richard L. Benkin, Dr. Ada Aharoni, Mr. Ami Isharrof, Dr. Tasbih Sayyed, Mr. Kamal Nawash Esq, Ms. Yehudit Barsky, Ms. Abi Wright, Ms. Kristin Jones, Mr. Mark Lee, Ms. Eileen Moskwitz, Mr. Adam Somers, Mr. Avner Tavori, Mr . Sheikh Abdul Hadi Palazzi, Ms, Loraine Despres Eastlake, Mr. D.H. Kerby. Mr. David Frunkfurter, Dr. Asher Eder, Ms. Kimberly Fornek, Mr. Saul Singer, Ms. Trudy Gefen, Rab bi Yehoshua, Ms. Marjorie Goldberg, Ms. Abby Dees, Mr. Israel Litman, Dr. Bernice Lipkin, Brother John, Ms. Candy Shinaar, American Jewish Committee, World Jewish Congress, Root & Branch, Islam Israel Fellowship, Rabbanit Peli, Ms. Jeanine, and Sister Susan Rosenbluth. Please continue to support me. Please let us work in unison for global peace. Let us work together in seeing a world without bloodshed. Shalom Uvracha! Shoaib The writer is a journalist, columnist, author, amd editor of "Weekly Blitz". Email him at salahuddinshoaibchoudhury@yahoo.com |
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TAKING ADVANTAGE OF "CHESED"
Posted by Batya Medad, March 31, 2006. |
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Chaza"l, our Sages, tell us that the world stands on, is supported by, three pillars: Torah, avodah (work) and g'milut chassadim (kindness to others). Judaism is the only religion that synthesizes all of these factors. * We must keep religious laws The YESHA communities are perfect examples of this with a large percentage of Torah-committed Jews, all sorts of business and other occupations and a social structure that supports all. One of the examples of the help given to others involves giving rides, since public transportation isn't frequent nor extensive enough, and not everyone has cars. Last night the terrorists took advantage of this chesed and murdered four Jews. He disguised himself as a Jew, was welcomed into a car and thanked them by igniting explosives and blowing up the owners and two other innocent Jews. As a frequent hitch-hiker, trempistit, as I'm called in Hebrew, this obviously adds stress to my already difficult commute to work. There is no public transportation between Shiloh and Beit El, and my bosses insist that there is no budget to provide me any sort of "taxi service." If I were to take the existing public transportation it would take me hours to travel the twenty minute trip, and I would have to wait around unprotected. One of those murdered last night was a bystander, not even a passenger. This week's elections had the lowest voter turn out in Israeli history. A very large percentage of Israeli citizens doesn't see the point in voting. Politicians are all crooks, and they change their opinions and party affiliations, so what's the point. Of those who did vote, many don't care that their fellow Jews are in danger, and that the danger is getting closer to all, wherever they may live. Southern Israel is being attacked daily. Though it was hushed up until a half-hour before the polls closed, a Katyusha was fired in southern Israel Tuesday morning for the first time ever. Five Kassams were fired Wednesday morning. The Jewish month of Nissan, miracles, began yesterday. Chodesh Tov and Shabbat Shalom Batya Medad lives in Shiloh. She can be reached by email at Shilohmuse@yahoo.com or visit her website http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/ or go to http://www.shilo.org.il |
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ARAB BOMBER DRESSED AS JEWISH HITCHHIKER MURDERS THREE
Posted by Ezra HaLevi, March 30, 2006. |
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This news item appeared in todays arutz sheva
An Arab terrorist from Fatah's Al-Aksa Brigade dressed as a Jewish hitchhiker and blew himself up inside the car of those who picked him up near Kedumim, in Samaria - murdering three Jews. The attack took place at 10 PM near the gas station and hitchhiking station adjacent to the town of Kedumim. The terror group released a statement saying the bomber was a 24-year-old from Hevron. Shortly following the explosion, police believed the blast was a terrorist bomb that detonated prematurely, killing the bomber inside. The vehicle was engulfed in flames so preliminary reports took over an hour to begin to reflect the reality. It now appears that the bomber dressed as a Jew, wearing a kippa (yarmulke) and hassidic garb and was given a ride by the unsuspecting occupants of the Israeli vehicle. He then blew himself up inside, killing three passengers. The number of dead remains unclear but it appears to be two at this time. Security authorities are still emphasizing that details of the attack are not yet clear. Ezra HaLevi is writer for Arutz Sheva. |
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HELP IBF SAVE LIVES IN ISRAEL
Posted by Voice of Judea, March 30, 2006. |
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Tonight another 4 Jews were murdered in Israel by an Arab terrorist suicide bomber, who boarded a Jewish car disguised as a Jewish hitchhiker. Our sincere condolences must be extended to the families of the victims. At this time, all of us must make a commitment to do everything within our power to stop such heinous attacks in the future. I.B.F. – Israel's Best Friend is a unique life-saving association that sponsors special bomb detection and patrol dogs, as well as their volunteer handlers to help detect terrorists and their deadly bombs in Israel. The sponsorship and training of a team consisting of a dog and handler cost 10,000 dollars. IBF has already sent dozens of dogs and handlers to Israel and has already helped prevent at least 4 terrorist attacks by assisting the Army and local security patrols in early detection of terrorist movement or by assisting the IDF in tracking after fugitive terrorists. IBF has now embarked upon a unique breeding program and has imported a new breed of tracking dog to Israel, known as the Plot hound. The maintenance and training of these dogs is a costly venture. IBF is currently financing a medical response vehicle that will transport medics, dogs and handlers quickly onto the scene of attacks where they can be extremely useful in treating the wounded as well as tracking down terrorists before they murder more innocent people. IBF volunteers have already arrived on the scene of such attacks on many occasions before other medical units have arrived. In a recent attack, near Migdalim, Tal, a young volunteer medic arrived on the scene together with his dog that was trained by IBF trainers and helped treat the wounded, arriving before anyone else. We have brave and courageous wonderful volunteers and we have the expertise to train these special anti-terror canines. Please help us sponsor more dogs and handlers. We urge you to make a generous contribution to IBF – Israel's Best Friend. If you can't afford to sponsor a team for 10,000 dollars then send whatever you can afford. We desperately need your help and we are grateful for any and all help you can offer us. You can call Jack Bender for more information: 1- 888 663 9297
Your 501c3 tax deductible contributions can be sent now to
Subscribe to Voice of Judea emails by sending an email request to jsid@dorsai.org |
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NYU CAVES IN TO MUSLIMS' PRESSURE
Posted by Dr. Yaron Brook, March 30, 2006. |
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IRVINE, CA--Yesterday, in a shameful act, NYU broke its own official policy and denied free speech to its students. After having approved the display of the Danish cartoons for a panel discussion on free speech, NYU's administration reversed its decision in the face of Muslim protests. A day before the panel discussion was to take place, NYU gave the student event organizers a non-negotiable ultimatum: if you display the cartoons we will close the event to non-NYU guests. This was in spite of the fact that NYU's own rules leave this decision to the student sponsoring organization. And even though the students opted for not showing the cartoons, NYU barred entry to at least two journalists and more than 30 registered guests. Even after learning that Muslim students had sabotaged the event by acquiring and destroying two hundred tickets to leave as many seats empty, NYU officials still refused to allow non-NYU guests to enter. In caving in to fear, in restricting and obstructing attendance, in forbidding the display of the Danish cartoons, NYU handed a victory to the Islamic totalitarians and their facilitators. In standing up to the destroyers of free speech, the NYU student sponsors of the free speech panel showed the courage that the NYU officials lack. Dr. Yaron Brook is executive director of the Ayn Rand Institute (http://www.aynrand.org/) in Irvine, CA. He has appeared on hundreds of radio and TV shows, including FOX News (The O'Reilly Factor, Your World with Neil Cavuto, At Large with Geraldo Rivera), CNN's Talkback Live, CNBC's Closing Bell and On the Money, and C-SPAN. [Editor's note: to see these cartoons as well as an article about them before the riots exploded around the world.] |
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MODERATE MUSLIMS REMAIN SILENT
Posted by Lawrence Uniglicht, March 30, 2006. |
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Royal robed rogue Islamic Khartoum characters, orchestrating genocide against Muslim Black Africans in the Darfur region of western Sudan, generate hardly a whimper of protest from Islamic populations worldwide, yet cartoon caricatures of their revered erstwhile prophet Mohammad generate fulminating fury throughout those same nations of Islam. Might such twisted reactions be consistent with the lack of outrage expressed by many if not most members of the faith at the subhuman act of homicide/suicide bombing, practiced by young mostly male mesmerized Muslim martyrs? Are these perspectives indeed Koranically correct, and if so what sort of bizarre affliction has so tainted the very fabric of a culture, rendering it collectively unfit to rationally deal with an emerging second millennium? Is there a latter day Freud or Jung capable of psychoanalyzing the culturally psychopathic phenomenon where after-life so trumps secular life? Misogynist perceptions of promised virgins in paradise, such delusional thought patterns despicably denigrating the worth of earthbound females, does induce a Muslim sick-o to blow himself to smithereens while taking out the infidel; yet how might an entire culture, in possession of any collective self-esteem whatsoever, not spasmodically wretch at this odious behavior, so degrading to its ethnic being, thus force itself to purge the perverted perpetrators of a barbarism beyond human comprehension? Rational societies incarcerate the criminally insane, fundamentalist Islamic societies bizarrely glorify them as martyrs. Islamic janjaweed savages rape, torture, and murder hapless Islamic Black Africans in Sudan at the behest of sadistic Islamic rulers. Islamic terrorists behead their victims on a regular basic in dysfunctional Iraq. Homicide/suicide martyrdom is all the rage among Muslim mutants. Yet the silence remains deafening within so many presumably moderate Islamic communities. Are such populations spineless, do they not possess mirrors, or are they too infected by the disease that so besmirches their faith? Is there anything sadder? Lawrence Uniglicht is a career civil servant, working for the Social Security Administration. He advocates for the State of Israel with an American perspective. He writes, "Advocating for the disrespected underdog has been my passion, no doubt Israel falls into that category." Contact him by email at luniglicht@snip.net |
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HOW KADIMA STOLE THE ELECTION
Posted by Ruth Matar, March 30, 2006. |
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In the election of 2003, the voters overwhelmingly chose the Likud Party, which supported settlement in all of the Land of Israel. The G-d of Israel, as revealed to us in the Judeo-Christian Bible, has given the Promised Land as an everlasting inheritance to the Jewish People. Those who abandoned the Likud and formed the new Kadima Party such as Ariel Sharon, Ehud Olmert, Tzippy Livni, Meir Shitreet, Avraham Hirshson, Ze'ev Boim, Ronny Bar-On, Rehuma Avraham, and others, betrayed the people who voted for them. In effect, they stole the votes of those who elected them. Thus Kadima, a party of vote stealers, a party which did not even run in the election of 2003, has been wrongfully occupying the seats of power for many months. The most obvious culprit for this political crime, this crushing of democratic norms, is Ariel Sharon. He is the one who set the agenda for these elections, and even the party structure, by destroying one party of the government, and creating another. He is the one who inaugurated the policy of unilateral withdrawal and forcible expulsion of Jews from their homes. After Sharon's massive stroke in January, Ehud Olmert was catapulted into the office of Prime Minister, even though he and Sharon had previously abandoned the Likud. The acting Prime Minister should have been selected from the Likud Party, according to law, since Kadima was not the Party which had won the previous election. As a matter of fact, Kadima did not even exist at that time! However, Attorney General Menachem Mazuz, who was appointed by Sharon in January 2004, anointed himself as the sole elector of the Prime Minister by some legal hokus-pokus. If he had declared Sharon permanently incapacitated, which he definitely is, then a complicated multi-step procedure for selecting and approving a new prime minister and government would have been set in motion. He thus effectively prevented Netanyahu from becoming Prime Minister by defining Sharon's condition as: "temporary incapacity of a permanent character." Could some legal authority please explain to us simple folks what that means? Thus we went into this fateful election, where a non-elected acting Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, from a non-elected party, Kadima, was able to use the radical leftist media to promote their agenda. The voter turnout in this election was the lowest ever for the Knesset, a mere 63.2%. This is unquestionably a sign of a disaffected electorate. What's the point of voting, was the common attitude, someone or other is bound to steal our votes just like Kadima did! This low voter turnout is especially surprising since the stakes are so high. The very size of Israel is up for grabs! Israelis voted on the very day the Palestinian Legislative Council approved the new Hamas Government and its guidelines: "The Koran is our constitution, jihad is our path, and dying as martyrs our biggest wish." The Israeli people voted on the very day that a Katyusha was fired into Israel for the first time. This was deliberately hushed up until a half-hour before the polls closed, for obvious reasons. The Katyusha is believed to have been smuggled in from Egypt. It is much more powerful than the amateur Kassam rocket. The Ketyusha has a range of 30 kilometers (12 miles) and is capable of hitting most population centers in Israel! The Likud Party did poorly. It received only 11 mandates. Likud Chairman Netanyahu, rightly blamed Sharon for leaving the Likud as a "fragmented party". A very ugly phenomenon of this election is the demonization of Netanyahu, the only person who might have been able to stop Olmert from giving our Land to the Arab enemy. Olmert is reported to have said: "My job is to have the people hate Netanyahu." Silvan Shalom, who was defeated by Netanyahu in the race to be party chairman, is now actively working to unseat Netanyahu. The media, particularly Channel 2, and Israel's largest newspaper Yediot Achronot, are working full time to discredit Netanyahu. Why, in heavens name? Because he was against Disengagement? Because Silvan Shalom would be better for the Likud Party? A much simpler reason! I am surprised nobody else pointed this out. Silvan Shalom's wife, Judy Nir Moses Shalom, is a member the Moses family, one of Israel's wealthiest and most influential clans. The Yedioth Group media empire owns Israel's largest daily newspaper, Yedioth Aharonoth. She naturally would want to advance her husband's and her own career. Her brother runs the newspaper and misses no chance to attack Netanyahu. Some good news of the election! Kadima won an underwhelming victory 28 seats rather than the much larger number predicted by the pollsters. The big surprise of the election was the seven seats gained by the Pensioners Party. One of the reasons for the success of this party, may be that its leader, Rafi Eitan, has promised to do everything possible to obtain Jonathan Pollard's release and subsequent Aliyah. Ehud Olmert, on the other hand, said in his victory speech that he would act only with the agreement of the world and United States President Bush. Apparently he perceives Israel's interests to be subservient to those of the United States and the world at large! Will Ehud Olmert expel thousands of Jews from Biblical Judea and Samaria to please President Bush, the U.S. State Department, the Arab enemy and the rest of the world? Moreover, does he plan to disengage from certain neighborhoods in Jerusalem? Knesset Member Aryeh Eldad (National Union) has revealed that the roof of the Knesset is currently being reinforced. Is it feared that Sharon-Olmert regime has made possible not only the election victory of Hamas, but has endangered the lives of our Knesset members as well? Dear friends: I want to remind you that our new prime minister wants to forcibly evacuate thousands of Jews from their homes in Judea and Samaria. Amona was just a dress rehearsal! I also want to remind you that Palestinian Authority Chairman Abu Mazen endorsed both Olmert and the Kadima Party. No surprise there! In the words of Knesset Member Yuval Steinitz: "The road is being paved for a Hamas State in the heart of Israel." Pray that the Jewish People will recognize the radical leftist orientation of Olmert in time, before he brings about a disaster for all of us! Ruth and Nadia Matar established Women For Israel's Tomorrow (Women in Green), an activist group of women based in Jerusalem. Their website address is http://www.womeningreen.org |
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PAYING THE PRICE OF THE "CONCEPTZIA"
Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, March 30, 2006. |
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Those who voted for the withdrawal of Israel from Judea and Samaria through the Kadima Party platform will, unfortunately, soon be paying the price in terms of their own massive casualties. Those who, through apathy, indifference or anger at the Government, didn't bother to vote in effect gave their votes to the Kadimites. Their inaction will haunt them all the days of their lives. As for President Bush pushing for HaShem's Land given to the Jewish people, being abandoned to pagan terrorists, I believe America will sadly similarly suffer the consequences. Accommodating a primitive, murderous people who are driven by an Islamic religion will give no peace to Israel or to America. The price to be paid will be exacted again and again as Global Terror rages across the whole world. Israel, America, Europe and Russia had every reason and opportunity to fight Terror driven by Islamo-fascism but, instead, they abandoned the field of righteous fire. Ehud Olmert, the current Acting Prime Minister (newly elected to head the Israeli government). IF he can cobble together a coalition with at least 61 Knesset members, Olmert is following the plans of former Prime Minister now comatose. Ariel Sharon abandoned Gaza and now Olmert plans to abandon Judea and Samaria, with the Jordan Valley and Golan Heights to follow. Finally these surrenders of Jewish Land may lead tragically to the Arab Muslim world taking over the rest of Jerusalem that Jordan had occupied and desecrated for 19 years from 1948 to 1967. Gaza has become the operational base for Global Terrorism - as we and many others, including the former Israeli Chief of Staff and Head of Intelligence predicted. These organizations of Global Terror include Hamas (newly elected to dominate the Palestinian Authority), Al Qaeda, Al Aksa Martyrs' Brigades, Islamic Jihad, with cells of Hezb'Allah - all backed financially and tactically by Iran and Syria. Gaza is now in an advanced firing position to launch Kassem and Katyusha Rockets and Missiles at most of Southern Israel. Such weapons and more explosives have also infiltrated Samaria and Judea. The price of Sharon and Olmert's perfidious actions is merely a down-payment for surrendering the 10,000 Jewish men, women and children who built their beautiful homes, farms, innovative, bug-free agriculture which supplies 6% of the world's potatoes, and a large percent of Israel's farm exports. Sharon immediately demolished their homes, farms, schools, synagogues, stores, factories and even their cemeteries after the people were uprooted and evicted. When Sharon had rendered the Jewish land Judenrein (Jew-free), the Muslim Arab Terrorists poured in from all over the surrounding countries with weapons that had been stockpiled in Egypt and elsewhere. Islam has proven itself to be a plague on all of humanity. But, plagues come in many forms as we watch HIV spread, awaiting Avian Flue to jump the human barrier into a world pandemic - among other calamities such as tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, drought and famines. Israel's so-called deep thinkers have blundered time and again with something they call the "Conceptzia". This means the "Concept" or pre-conceived ideas that have little basis except for the delusions of a few "leaders" who have floated to the top of the pack. The "Conceptzia" is what destined Israel to hold back from a preemptive attack before the "secret" Yom Kippur Attack in 1973, when Israel's Military Intelligence believed that the Arabs in Egypt and Syria were "too weak to attack the Israel who had miraculously won the 1967 War in Six Days." The result of this pre-conceived "Conceptzia" was that 6,000 young Israeli soldiers died in 1973 - needlessly. The latest "Conceptzia", of course, is Olmert's declarations of his intentions to abandon more territory to Hamas Palestinians, even as they pledge to accept whatever Israel abandons and then go on and forcefully take the rest. Olmert and his "gaggle" of Leftist Generals like Shaul Mofaz (current Defense Minister), Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz (current Chief of Staff) and others find it irresistible to plan on targeting the Jews of Judea and Samaria than fighting the Palestinian Muslim Arab Terrorists. In the March 20th issue of U.S. Defense News, a highly respected American military journal, an article was published entitled "Israel Gears for an Indefinite War of Attrition". In summation, the conclusion is that Palestinian and other Terrorist cells will continue indefinitely to assault Israel. This was known by Sharon, Olmert, Shimon Peres, among many others before they gave Gush Katif/Gaza over to the Terrorists as their staging area to fire freely on Southern Israel. They currently have Rockets and Katyusha Missiles that can reach some 30 Km. with accuracy. Regretfully, the planners of this "Conceptzia" were not investigated and brought to trial for crimes against the nation and the Jewish people - because this will affect Jews from all over the world as well as Israel. (I will be writing a separate article on the conclusion of the U.S. Defense News piece.) Political decisions which knowingly put the general populace at risk should be viewed as treason and not white-washed as lapse in judgement. It's interesting to note that Hamas pledges to occupy Israel and Kadima through the voice Olmert similarly pledges to insure that Hamas occupies Judea, Samaria, the Jordan Valley, Golan Heights and Jerusalem. As have said in past articles, the Israeli people have put themselves into such danger that I fear they will have to pay a horrific price in dead and maimed good Jews because of this false "Conceptzia" of the Left. While Kadima and the leeches who will attach themselves to this perfidious gang have yet to form a government, all decent Israelis should be preparing to unseat Kadima and its gaggle of shysters, hustlers and political predators. Regrettably, their motivation will be a rain of missiles and street bombs before the public realizes what they have brought upon themselves. 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.com |
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ISLAMIC INSURGENTS IN BANGLADASH
Posted by Salah Choudhury, March 30, 2006. |
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These two news items were written by
Patricia Ovemarrie, editor of 24-7 Press Release.
"Bangladesh in the grips of Islamist radicals" Bangladesh has virtually gone into the hands of Islamist militants. Although governm ent of Begum Khaleda Zia, which has two extremist Islamist radicals as its alliance partners are trying to project the recent arrest of Shaikh Abdur Rahman and Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai, there are a number of media reports in Bangladesh quoting intelligence sources that more than 50 notorious Islamist terrorist groups are still active in the country. They are using mosques and madrassas as their safe shelter. This has also been proved when for months; the media had provided factual information on the issue that mosques and madrashas were being used by the militant groups to train new recruits. This warning from the media went unheeded. Worse still, a section of government loyalists with religious leanings shot a counter warning to the government. They asked the government that harassment of madrashas must not be made in the name of controlling militancy. Indeed, public meetings were organized by them and some of the key organizers or participants were members of parliament belonging to the four-party government. This is not to say that all madrashas and mosques were used for training of JMB cadres. Even the few that were identified and highlighted by the media were not touched by the law-enforcing agencies. Now, based on disclosures by the top two leaders, the media had reported that some mosques and madrashas were used for training in militant activities. The disclosures thus made show that as many as 21 districts have such training centers. It is also said that more than 700 madrashas and over a hundred mosques were used for the purpose. Prior to August 17 countrywide bomb blasts, despite continuous and factual reports published in the media, some government leaders continued to deny the existence of Islamic militants in Bangladesh. That was the time when a foreign diplomat described the August 17 events as awake up call. It may be argued that the wake up all started earlier than August 17. The confessions so far made by the top two leaders of JMB serve only to confirm the worst fears of the media and the civil society that militant outfits under different names did exist in Bangladesh. While much have been written and published in the media about what the reality was and is likely to shape up in future, it is perhaps necessary to take stock of the situation in light of the disclosure made by arrested leaders of different militant groups. What had come to light through the bold actions of a section of media and the civil society relate to a number of areas that need dispassionate review. Bangladesh government was so badly influenced by its Islamist alliance partners like Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh (JIB) and Islami Oikya Jote (IOJ), that a number of sedition charges were brought against leading journalists in the country for forecasting the rise of radical forces. From 2001 after assuming power, record number of sedition cha rges was brought against journalist in the country. International observers have already termed Bangladesh as most dangerous place for journalists. Government had always be en extremely intolerant to the journalists. Repression of press is a common phenomenon there. In 2003, BNP government arrested and brought sedition charges against the editor of a leading weekly, Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury. His 'crime' was, he forecasted t he rise of Islamist militancy in the country. He also mentioned that, Islamist radicals were using mosques and madrassas as their safe haven. This was the point which angered Bangladesh authorities. Moreover, their anti-Christian-Jew mentality prompted them in bringing the false sedition charge against Choudhury and keeping him behind bars for 17 months for no obvious reason. Just recently, three influential members of US Congress wrote a letter to Bangladesh government with the request of immediately dropping the false charge. But, the government is visibly reluctant in paying any heed to the letter from the esteemed members of US Congress. Many opine that, such attitude of the Bangladesh government evidently proves their "softer feelings" for militants. Till date, although there is operation to combat Islamist militancy, it is well understood that, a large section of such notorious groups, are still enjoying patronage, support and favor from the state machinery. The number of militant groups and their strength: The views articulated by the media and the civil society earlier confirmed the existence of 45 to 50 militant organization deeply wedded to the ideology of establishing Islamic rule. The number was said to be in the range of 15 to 20,000. Of these, about 2000 belonged to the so-called hard-core groups. It was also made known to the citizens that many of the leaders of such groups were trained in Afghanistan during the eighties and had since come back to Bangladesh. Indeed, according to one report, some arrests were also made but somehow the government of the day failed to bring them to justice. The evidence of Taliban connection was also there in the form of writing on the wall in a literal sense in Dhaka city. The writing was "We are Taliban and we shall turn Bangladesh into Afghan". Probably to achieve alliterative effect the words "Afghan' substituted the word "Afghanistan". It has now come to light that after August 17 bomb blasts, the law-enforcing agencies prepared a list of 8,500 militants including suicide squad members and district-based commanders. Why this was not done earlier to August 17, remains a mystery. How many of 8,500 have so far been arrested needs to be known. The disclosures further reveal that training of trainers (TOT) method was employed in the process of capacity-building of the JMB activists. Those trained in Afghanistan first trained locally recruited activists and the process went on presumably with or without knowledge of the law-enforcing agencies. At least, in Rajshahi region, it was not without the knowledge of the government. What remains unexplained now is the exact number of militants trained by the hard-core militants who were first trained in Afghanistan. Earlier to the arrests of the top two leaders of JMB, the media have also highlighted the flow of foreign funds. Some government leaders turned the attention to intelligence organizations of some foreign countries including Israel. Immediately following his capture by the law enforcing agencies. Shaikh was reported to have identified sources from the UK, Pakistan and the Middle East. The definite information now available, following disclosure to the interrogators, is that mosques and madrashas were built under funds received from a foreign Islamic NGO based in Kuwait. Evidently the name has not been disclosed to the media although the media had earlier provided some specific names. It has also come to light that Shaikh first received his training in Pakistan having become associated with Lashkar-e-Taiba. The media are unfolding more facts about flow of foreign funds and their beneficiaries. It has been reported in late March this year that Bangla Bhai and Abdul Awal maintained bank accounts in an Islamic bank. Flow of funds in the name of Iftar and the many mosques that received money have now come to light. It appears to be no coincidence that the recipient religions centers are located in areas, which were the breeding grounds of militancy. These facts need further probe. Bangla Bhai, now under arrest, had disclosed that in his criminal acts of violence in Rajshahi region, five union Parishad chairmen, nine local leaders and a member of parliament had supported him. Besides, two ministers also were involved. Consider this with volumes of press reports on the similar issue and further confirmed earlier by som e insiders from the BNP, the majority party of the alliance. The names obviously have not been disclosed even after Bangla Bhai had confirmed political patrons. Such identification can only be obtained and made public at the time of legally admissible confession made before a court of competent jurisdiction. Whether specific disclosure of names with at all comes out for public information can be anybody's guess. There are several key areas that are yet to be unfolded. One such areas is now under continuing debate on whether the networks of JMB and other militant groups have now been totally immobilized. Earlier, claims were made by some government leaders that after the arrests of two top leaders and few of their key followers, the network of JMB had been dismantled. The key issue here is what about other such organizations of which reportedly a list was earlier prepared by the intelligence agencies and submitted to the government. As far as is known, only two such organizations including JMB were ban ned by the government based on intelligence reports. The other key issue on which there is no information yet is the question of inter-organizational relationships among various groups. Evidently, they are all working for achieving the same objective i.e. establishing Islamic rule in Bangladesh based on their own perception The above issue acquires relevance in that the mysteries surrounding the grenade attacks still exist. If there are no direct relationships, who are the others trained in grenade blasts with precision and then escape being brought to justice. An equally impor tant issue relates to the prosecution and trial of the godfathers some of whom as earlier stated, have been mentioned by Shaikh and Bangla Bhai but names have not been made public. On this issue, some top leaders of the government are on record saying that n one would be spared if it is proved that they had complicity in JMB activities. Have these godfathers been identified based on the confessions made so far by the two top le aders. The JMB networks or for that matter those of other militant groups still pose a threat to the security of the State and its people. This appears to be confirmed by the suspension of Peace Corps activities in the recent past. Secondly, it is further confirmed by the recent tightening of security in the diplomatic zone, the airport and other places in the city. Finally, in the heat of the debate following the arrests of Bangla Bhai and Shaikh, the name of Mufti Hannan and his activities have receded into the background. The focus is now wholly on the top two leaders of JMB. Besides Harkatul Jihad, the names and act ivities of other militant organizations also lie buried. It is felt that the interrelationships between and among different militant organizations should be a key objective of the interrogation process. At the same time, utmost care is needed to legalize the confessions already made by using the legally admissible mechanism of confessional statement to be made before a magistrate competent to record such confessions. Otherwise the entire exercise will remain open to question. The government would lose its credibility in public eye. "Bangladesh still in serious corruption cloud" Patricia Ovemarrie Bangladesh Prime Minister, Khaleda Zia, finally endorsed that her country is still amongst the world's most corrupt nations. During a recent public meeting at Rajshani, a northern district in Bangladesh, Khaleda said if her party was voted to power again, the next course of action of her government would be to eradicate corruption. This is quite a confessional statement from the horse's mouth. The PM's vow to eradicate corruption in the next term clearly shows that they did nothing in addressing this issue during their present tenure. Moreover, during BNP's present rule, a few hundred leaders and activists of the party turned into millionaires and even billionaires by looting the public wealth. Sons of the Prime Minister are known to be most notorious looters in the country, who not only minted millions and smuggled out to various countries, but even helped their pals and friends in becoming fabulously rich through illegal means. Friend of PM's elder son Tareq Rahman, Gias Uddin Mamun is a name well known in Bangladesh. Mamun belongs to southern part of the country and hails from a very poor family. Just because of being Tareq's friend, he became multi millionaire in just few years. Now, he runs million dollar businesses and very recently even started a private television channel named Channel-1 with US$ 40 million as capital. Mamun's elder brother Hafiz Ibrahim also became a business tycoon and has even invested a few million dollar in print and electronic media. Former political secretary to Khaleda Zia, Musaddek Ali Falu, another poor man became billionaire during the present tenure of BNP. He owns two private television channels namely NTV and RTV as well a vernacular daily named Amar Desh. Falu made his fortune when he served as the political secretary to Khaleda Zia. No one dares to question the sou rce of income of Falu as he is one of the most confident men of the PM. Barrister Nazmul Huda is the Communication minister in BNP's coalition government. Local press several times published prolific reports of his corruption through which he minted millions of dollar. But the PM did not take any actions against him as he donates a part of his illegally earned money to BNP's party fund. Altaf Hussain Chowdhury, Barkat Ullah Bulu, Iqbal Hassan Mahmood Tuku, Lt. Col (Retired) Akbar Hussain, Shahjahan Siraj, Barrister Moudud Ahmed, Khurshid Jahan Huq (minister and sister of the PM), Abdullah Al Noman, Mirza Abbas, Fazlur Rahman Patal, Lutfor Rahman Khan Azad, Major Quamrul Islam, Amanullah Aman, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Advocate Goutam Chakravarty, Jafrul Islam Chowdhury, Asadul Habib Dulu and Advocate Ruhul Quddus Talukder Dulu are the members of the present cabinet who turned into millionaires during the tenure of BNP government. Khaleda Zia's brother Major Sayeed Iskander, who was fired from Bangladesh Armed Forces is another figure who became fabulously rich by using the power of his sister. BNP government became shaky after the country topped the list of most corrupt nations published by Transparency International for the consecutive five years. They are trying to do everything to make an eye wash to the people of the country and to the global population with the formation of so-called neutral Anti Corruption Commission (ACC). But in reality, three of the main figures in this institution are all either former activists of the ruling party or their ideological allies. This was the main reason behind ACC's dilly-dally in taking real effective measures against the corrupt figures in Bangladesh, as such initiative would primarily grill most of the members of the ruling party and family members of the Prime Minister. Critics opine that Bangladesh will never be able to combat corruption unless extremely corrupt people are removed from power. "BD Islamist militants started operation in 1998" by Patricia Ovemarrie The chief of Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh, Shaikh Abdur Rahman, told investigators Wednesday that the banned Islamist organization had started activities as the Kital Party back in 1998. The decision to launch Kital Party operations towards the establishment of Islamic rule in Bangladesh was made during a meeting at his Jamalpur residence in 1998, he told the taskforce of interrogation. Abdur Rahman is learnt to have said all the current members of the JMB majlish-e-shura (highest policymaking body) were present in the meeting and resolved that the activit ies would primarily be restricted to recruiting members and collecting arms and explosives from different sources. "We managed to recruit 2,000 full-time members across the country within the first two years as most of the leaders and activists of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh [a component in the BNP-led four-party ruling alliance] and its front organisation Islami Chha tra Shibir joined in willingly for the cause of Islamic rule," an official, close to the taskforce, quoted him as saying. Besides Jamaat and Shibir, some leaders and activists of other militant organisations, which were yet to be banned, also joined hands with us when we launched the cleansing operation against ultra-left elements in Rajshahi on April 1, 2004 with the help of the ruling party,' Abdur Rahman told the investigators. The taskforce member said he had also said the militants decided to regroup as Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh during a meeting at a hideout in Mugdapara in the capital Dhaka in January 2002. Salahuddin, one of the two majlish-e-shura members yet to be arrested, has the ability to reorganise Jamaatul Mujahideen, Abdur Rahman is learnt to have said. Khaled Saifullah, the other member of majlish-e-shura, is dedicated and will not hesitate to sacrifice his life for the cause of Islam, he said. Khaled Saifullah risks being arrested as he moves from one place to the other with his wife and two children but there is no chance to arrest Salahuddin, as he is the most dedicated leader of Jamaatul Mujahideen, claimed Abdur Rahman. The writer is a journalist, columnist, author, amd editor of "Weekly Blitz". Email him at salahuddinshoaibchoudhury@yahoo.com |
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ANOTHER RECKLESS RIDE
Posted by Naomi Ragen, March 30, 2006. |
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Living here in Israel, I sometimes feel like the mother of a juvenile deliquent. You love the kid, really, but the choices he makes! You bail him out again and again. Sometimes, he puts you into
horrible sitations with his thoughtless acts and flawed
decision-making process, and his stubborn refusal to learn a single,
solitary thing from his mistakes. Sometimes, when he really gets
whacked, he seems to come home and lick his wounds, and rethink his
behavior, and you begin to hope again. But then you watch him take off
on another wrong junket to nowheresville, and you know you will be
dragged along, getting bumped and scraped, and put into
life-threatening situations as he speeds along recklessly into the
future. What next, you wonder? shuddering. How much more can you take?
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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ANALYSIS OF THE ISRAELI ELECTIONS
Posted by Sackett, Shmuel, March 30, 2006. |
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The votes are in, the deals have begun and the finger pointing has started. The coming days will bring us the winners trying to push their way into the government, the losers blaming everybody in the world except themselves and Israel's sea of self-proclaimed political experts writing about an election that few even cared about. The winners; Kadima, Labor, Yisrael Beitenu (Lieberman's party), Shas and the Retirees will try forming a government that will, first and foremost, focus on themselves. As usual, they will neglect their voters, forget their campaign promises and will push for cushy jobs and ministerial positions. Hey, this is Israeli politics, where the Tamudic teaching; "If I am not for myself, who will be for me?" is held in high regard. The losers; Likud, National Union/NRP and United Torah Judaism (UTJ) will blame the low voter turnout, the anti-religious and anti-right wing media, the pre-election polls and the public's sympathy for Ariel Sharon as the reason for their miserable failure. They will not do any soul searching, not change direction nor realize that their days are numbered. They will continue with life as usual. And finally, Israel's self-proclaimed political experts will analyze, dissect and delve deep into every facet of this election. They will interview Knesset members whose careers are over and introduce us to ones whose careers have just begun. They will place Ehud Olmert high on a pedestal and will call him a modern day savior. They will work hand-in-hand with the leftists to make their victory twenty times bigger than it really was. The bottom line of all this is that it really doesn't matter. Israeli politics is like nothing else in the world. A historic landslide victory in the previous election by Ariel Sharon turned into a nightmare for the people he swore he would protect. Victorie s by left wing politicians have traditionally failed to produce anything concrete for their agenda and Shinui's famous revolution of 15 seats just a few years ago quickly turned into a big, fat ZERO in this current election. Therefore, when all is said and done... more is said than done. In a word, Israeli politics is "unpredictable". Therefore, before you get all upset over the results and begin a period of mourning or before you start hosting wild parties to celebrate, consider the following; G-d runs the world. If, for whatever reason, He wants Gush Katif to be ripped away from His people, this will happen even if Ariel Sharon has promised otherwise and if He wants Jewish life to thrive in Shilo and Elon Moreh it will... even if Ehud Olmert says it won't. The question is not, "what will happen now" but rather, "what does God want from us?" We must constantly ask ourselves that question and pray with all our heart for the wisdom to find the right answer and the courage to act upon it. As for me, I am continuing in my work. Five years ago Moshe Feiglin and I started Manh igut Yehudit with the dream of bringing about true and authentic Jewish Leadership to the State of Israel. We want the modern state to be filled with Jewish pride, based on the State of Israel. We want the modern state to be filled with Jewish pride, based on Jewish values and dedicated to educating every Jewish child in his/her traditions. We want a Jewish based economy where Jewish poor are taken care of with respect and dign ity. We want a court system based on our rich heritage and an aliyah revolution which the Jewish world has never seen. Finally, we want a proud and mighty Jewish army that sanctifies the Name of G-d and brings honor to His people. This will continue regardless of whom the Prime Minister is and how he sets up his government. We at Manhigut Yehudit pledge to continue our struggle to gain control of Israel's leadership and once and for all, turn the state of the Jews into the Jewish State! Shmuel Sackett is cofounder of Manhigut Yehudit. Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish Leadership) is a group of people inside the Likud party who want to see Israel adopt a more Jewish character. The Manhigut Yehudit website address is http://www.manhigut.org. |
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WHAT DOES THE ELECTION RESULTS SAY ABOUT THE ISRAELI PUBLIC?
Posted by Moshe Feiglin, March 30, 2006. |
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The Religious Jews and the Arabs are the only stable populace in Israel. If we just consider the Jewish population, the only sector that did not have any significant change is the religious sector. The ultra-Orthodox (6 Knesset seats) the Sephardic/Religious Shas party (13 Knesset seats) and the Nationalist Religious (9 Knesset seats) make up the 25% of the Israeli public that remains politically constant. The rest of the Israeli public -- a whopping 75% -- are in complete turmoil. Kadimah, Leiberman's party and the Pensioners party that make up 55% of the Jewish electorate are all default parties. In other words, more than representing a coherent ideological stand, they represent aversion to the present political reality. Very few people even know who is the number 2 Knesset member on the Pensioners list. The Labor party came in second with a significant achievement, but it is not the party of yesteryear. People who voted Labor were also voting for a basically unknown entity. There is one thing that these elections clearly tell us about the Jewish public in Israel. 75% of the public has no real political anchor. There are no more political "homes," for which entire families vote because that is their tradition. There is no more ideology, there is no one that can be believed and there is nothing in which to believe. The only constant in three quarters of Jewish Israel is apathy and essentially -- deep despair. Nobody seemed to have noticed, but in the week that Iran's President, who publicly calls for Israel's destruction, announced that he will have atomic weapons within the year, elections were held in the country targeted for destruction -- and the person elected to lead the sheep slated for slaughter did not relate to the subject at all. And actually, why should he relate to it? No other party gave it any notice either... The Good News The bad news is plain to see. The deep despair played into the hands of the most sense less political powers in Israel. But the good news is that the potential for a true revolution is tremendous. If in the past we were accustomed to Right and Left wing blocs with inconsequential percentages of people open to new ideas, today the calm winds of change have become a virtual storm. Anything is now possible. Tens of Knesset seats move from here to there and essentially do not go anywhere. Olmert's scheming arrogance ("Living here is going to be great") will quickly shatter on the rocks of reality and the option for a belief based revolution for leadership of the country will be closer than ever. Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish Leadership) is a group of people inside the Likud party who want to see Israel adopt a more Jewish character. Moshe Feiglin, its cofounder, has emphatically said he does not want a theocracy, but he does want a State based on Jewish values. The Manhigut Yehudit website address is http://www.manhigut.org. Contact Manhigut Yehudit at jewishisrael@gmail.com www.jewishisrael.org |
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COMMENTARY OF ISRAELI ELECTION RESULTS
Posted by Fern Sidman, March 29, 2006. |
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The election results are in and the immediate future of Israel is in deep peril. Despite the low voter turnout, it appears that the Kadima, Labor and Meretz coalition has taken power with the lowest coalition majority in the history of the state. At Mr. Olmert's victory speech, his ominous policies were clearly vocalized. "The people have spoken clearly, they want Kadima," Olmert boomed, adding that the dream of the Greater Land of Israel must be repudiated "and Jews, with much pain, must be evacuated." Olmert's words were echoed by Shimon Peres of Kadima, who announced Tuesday night that the future coalition will be one that will promote the "turning inward" plan -- a new euphemism for unilateral withdrawals that frames the forced evictions as moving outlying towns to the delineated settlement blocs. And who is really celebrating tonight? You guessed it. The Arabs. While they spew forth their vituperative towards the State of Israel and plan it's destruction, our Jewish leaders fall all over themselves attempting to make "peace" with those who seek our destruction. The Arabs are also elated because the Arab parties received 10 seats in the next Knesset. When did we ever believe that this would occur? Let us remember the words of Rabbi Meir Kahane, ZT"L who said that Arabs would eventually become a majority and quietly, democratically vote Israel out of existence. We have now witnessed the beginning of this phenomenon. "The ultimate hope of the Arabs who dream of destroying the Jewish State, of realizing that vision, is the left-liberal camp inside Israel" Rabbi Meir Kahane - (Israel: Revolution or Referendum?, 1990, page 62) It is also apparent that the government of Israel seeks to quell the right of free speech, a basic component of a democratic government. This was evidenced when MK Michael Kleiner of Herut came to Jaffa, in a last-minute effort to solicit Arab votes. Kleiner's supporters posted signs in Arabic in Jaffa, and in other Arab towns throughout Israel, urging Arabs to vote for him, in the upcoming Israeli national elections. Kleiner is promising to push for legislation of a law that would pay Arabs to leave Israel. According to recent surveys, as many as 50 percent of the "Palestinians" would gladly leave Israel if they were given start-up funds to begin a new life elsewhere. Local Arab leaders incited a riot, and police refused to allow Kleiner to come back to Jaffa. Kleiner also filed complaints against Tel Aviv Councilman Rifat Torik for incitement and his statements in support of the attacks against party activists, who Kleiner maintains were in life-threatening danger. It is clear that anyone who proposes the idea of transfer of the Arab population is subject to harassment and arrest and severe prosecution. Anyone who attempts to promulgate the idea of self preservation of the Jewish people and the Jewish State is viewed as a villain, a criminal, a fomenter of unrest. Anyone who speaks the Torah truth, who speaks of the uniqueness of the Jewish people, who declares the Oneness and Omnipotence of the G-d of Israel is subject to ridicule, and worse, arrest and imprisonment. The powers that be in the Israeli government cannot quash the truth. They cannot silence those whose belief in and adherence to the laws of Hashem and His Torah, are their first priority. We can no longer remain blind to the truth. And the truth is the Arabs are indeed on their way to becoming a majority in the State of Israel. Rather than being voted out of existence by the Arab in this ostensible democracy, we must raise our collective voices in protest of the impending destruction of Israel. We must summon up the strength and courage to do the will of Hashem. We must purge the malignant Arab population before it is too late. May Hashem be at our side. Contact Fern Sidman at ariellah@aol.com |
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THE FOUNDING OF THE ARAB LEAGUE
Posted by Eliyahu Green, March 29, 2006. |
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Dear Friends I would like to bring to your attention an official British statement from 1941, a speech by foreign secretary Anthony Eden, in which he calls for founding an Arab League. In other words, it was the British government that took the initiative to found the Arab League, rather than the Arabs themselves. Here is the link:
How does this information square with the common and conventional nowadays, spread by "new historians" and other forms of crooks, that Zionism and Israel enjoyed unconditional support from the British empire? Hope you find this material of interest. Your comments are welcome. Contact Eliyahu Green at eil@100@zahav.net.il |
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THE NEW PENAL COLONY REVISITED
Posted by Professor Eugene Narrett, March 29, 2006. |
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A confession by a peace activist: "They deceived me and the entire Israeli left. They lied to us and manipulated us. Everything they said was just part of the [PLO] phased plan" for destroying Israel. "Arafat is an arch-liar and arch-murderer... but we [the left] wished for peace so much that we ended up taking our wishes for factual reality. There is not going to be peace now, and not five years from now..." ----- Chaim Shur, Ma'ariv, 22 June 2001 "There is not going to be peace now, and not five years from now" (i.e. June 2006). Chaim was right in everything he said above. His awakening and revelation form the last sentences in the last chapter of my book, "Israel Awakened: a Chronicle of the Oslo War" (Author House, 2001; page 207). There are many, many passages in this text one can read now with the additional wisdom and wistful perspective of almost five years. For example, the title of the last chapter is, "Sharon saved Labor, Kept Israel in Pain" (184-88). With the Afterword (and many previous chapters, too) it chronicles the increasingly disturbing gap between the "vigorously pro-active champion" of Israeli defense that would "liquidate terrorism. Not to react, but to initiate, initiate, and again initiate. The Oslo agreement is finished. We must win against terrorism... We, the nationalist camp will restore security..." (195) etc., etc., but the man who also spoke the magic phrase, "painful compromises" and after winning on the platform of victory and preemption, made Shimon Peres his Foreign Minister, gave Labor half the cabinet ministries, and created an inner "Security Cabinet" dominated by Labor. Two years later Sharon defeated Mitzna by rejecting unilateral withdrawal from any Jewish held land, specifically around Gaza ("Gush Katif is like Tel Aviv") and we know the sequel to that. Even as Arik's old pals are passing beyond his shadow, in Tel Aviv they better begin looking for alternate housing solutions. But in the first half of 2001, the alternatives seemed few and bleak [sounds familiar], so I sought to cut him some slack. Even as IDF Radio headlined, "IDF will not take the initiative" (4/11/01) despite candidate Arik's reiterated promises that it would I hypothesized that "perhaps Sharon plans to work Israel's way by torturously slow increments back to a strong deterrent policy. But his repeated dispatch of his son, Omri [remember him] to confer with Arafat blurred the fact that, as Rehav'am Ze'evi noted, 'Arafat is not a partner for peace, period'" (4/22/01, page 188). Since then, the relentless devolution of "the perfect progressive idea" has brought us from Arafat and Dahlan, to Dahlan, Abas, and Hamas. Now that we daily accumulate further examples of the war of attrition against the Jewish people in their homeland, consider a few words about the torture device, havlaga, into which the left has strapped the Jewish people in the state of Israel for decades. The weakness of this policy's rationale and the gist of its irrationality is that it is not truly a policy but a defense that masks an intense rejection of Judaism. Thus it works subliminally like a drug, an evil enchantment. Permeating Israel's ruling elites, enforced by the courts and the bought and owned top dogs in the parties, they have worn down most of the people (as the falling vote %'s show) by promising to defeat terror, to never even discuss dividing Jerusalem, and then giving them the opposite. They've turned Israel into a Penal Colony for Jews. Kafka's low-keyed, chilling tale is set on a detention camp on an un-named island in never-never land. At its center is a machine that brings the same truth, every time, to the face of the accused. The apparatus combines re-educational, judicial, confessional and penal purposes. A complicated series of conveyor belts, straps, ink jets and styluses engrave the sentence into the body of the accused. By glancing at the gaping expression of the victim at the end of the process, his retreat, surrender and guilt were apparent. The process worked every time... This is the process the left uses in aligning itself with the world against the Jews. The mountain of treaties, memos, accords, "undertakings" are betrayals engraved as if by iron quills into the body of the Jewish people to "justify" removing them from their holy sites and land. The debasement of language, amplified into a wall of sound, a virtual reality by the media proves the logic of the betrayal that is defined as "peace" or "disengagement," or, more modishly, "turning inward." Alas, Esau is within this crew. They will never get away from him, nor Jacob from them... Have you noticed who now is positioned to be head of the government? That shadowy #2 man in Kadima who so publicly 'lost control' of Labor? Once indictments of Olmert begin coming in, and Peretz recedes as Mitzna did before him, this familiar spirit will control two parties and fulfill his wish. It was forseeable and described then: "Peres and crew strapped the Jewish people into their torture device, engraving ever more disastrous 'stipulations' and 'understandings' into their flesh," and etched them into the land with a wall. Citizens stop believing and vote less and less often. "The mouth of the tortured man goes dry. The technicians declare the success of their procedure and ride toward yet another rigged election. Havlaga conquers the Jews again" (Israel Awakened, pp. 66-7)... It looks a lot like surrender; like a child hiding his head under a blanket while bandits ransack the home. When I wrote Israel Awakened I knew, and explained in the text, that the title was ironic and dual-edged: "the people have awakened, but the politicians have not." And I explained that the "Oslo War" was part of a much longer and more comprehensive cultural war that intensifies to this day. The book is worth re-visiting and drawing lessons from. The war will not go away till it is lost or won. The Jewish people know the cost and taste of losing only too well. Professor Eugene Narrett teaches writing and Literature at Boston University. He is the author of hundreds of articles, columns and reviews on politics, American culture and the arts. He is completing a study on Romanticism and the longterm decline of Western Culture. He writes often on subjects relating to Israel and Judaism and is a weekly columnist for the MetroWest Daily News in Framingham, Massachusetts. Contact him at culturtalk@aol.com |
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ISRAEL'S VOTE FOR CONFUSION
Posted by Marcel Cousineau, March 29, 2006. |
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This article is by Jim Searcy. Israel held elections on the same day the Hamaz Terrorist organization took control of the Palestinian Authority. The PA has their direction as clear as the Israeli direction seems confused. The Terrorist PA cabinet, headed by Ismail Haniyeh, was ratified by a majority of 54% of the votes. The outgoing Fatah Terrorists with 27% voted against the cabinet, and another 1% abstained and the remaining 17% of the PA Terrorist cabinet members could not participate in the ratification vote because they are all in Israeli prisons for their acts of terror. At the conclusion of the PA Terrorist cabinet ratification the traditional Allahu Akbar, meaning the terrorist moon god is greater than the God of the Jews and Christians was shouted. The PA Terrorist cabinet of new PA government is UNITED and very clear in their direction to destroy Israel. PA legislator Hamed Bitawi shouted: "The Koran is our constitution, Mohammed is our prophet, jihad [holy war] is our path and dying for the sake of Allah is our biggest wish." The Palestinian Terrorist government is as united for the destruction of Israel, as Israel is in a state of confusion with their elections now completed. The Israeli winner of Peres' Kedima party is Olmert. One news source called Olmert's victory, UNDERWHELMING. It was a devastating defeat for the Likud party of which Olmert had been part until many rats facing prison terms, in several parites jumped ship less than six months ago, to Peres' new party of corruption hoping Kedima could keep them out of jail. Benjamin Netanyahu, who led the Likud in its great defeat should be finished in Israeli politics, as well as Barak. Peres' new party, which Olmert heads until Peres either has Olmert killed or jailed, says they will continue brutalizing and evicting the Jews of Israel, to be able to deliver Jerusalem to the Pope, as Peres agreed to do since before Oslo. Olmert is so confused he does not seem to realize how soundly the people of Israel defeated him and his boss, Peres, and Sharon whom they put on ice to set up this UNDERWHELMING victory. The exceedingly confused Olmert is now the head of the Israeli party with NO IDEALOGY, and the smallest number of Knesset seats ever to try to put together a government within the next 42 days. Olmert is so confused as to say he has a mandate to evict more Jews from their homes and to give the Terrorists a Terrorist state within the heart of Israel because he and the rest of the nation have NO IDEALS, and are TIRED, and confused. YES, brethren, and as crazy as this may all sound it means that VERY SIGNIFICANT BIBLE PROPHECY IS NOW UNFOLDING AND THE EFFECT OF EVERY VISION IS NOW AT HAND. Just look at the numbers and you should see the HANDWRITING ON THE WALL FOR THE PERES Government and the END of the oppression and treachery of the Four horns of the Gentiles: Kadima-28 = 23% Of the Knesset seats
Out of a TOTAL of 120 Knesset Seats. The people of Israel sent a loud and clear message to the world that they are sick and tired of the treacherous dealing and lies of the New World Order puppets that have been set up to control, divide up, and destroy Israel. If PERES protégé Olmert can form a government IT WILL NOT STAND. One thing for sure, is that the government is now hamstrung in terms of being able to do the Road Map plan to set up the Terrorist PA state within Israel, and give Jerusalem to the Pope. It will soon get bloody in Israel and the battle of Armageddon is now in sight. Terrorists love this kind of political confusion and the FIRST IRANIAN made katusha rockets took the lives of two Israelis on this same election day, to send the clear message from the new Hamas PA Terrorist organization. Yes, it is a Hamas official message to the world that Ashkelon is well within their range and soon to become a desolation, just as the God of Israel had his prophet Zechariah tell us - Zep 2:4 For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation: they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day, and Ekron shall be rooted up. The election in Israel means the FOUR HORNS of the Gentiles, the treacherous dealers who have dealt so treacherously with the people of Israel, are on the way out. The handwriting is on the wall for PERES and his party of corruption. These four horns of the Gentile New World Order, PERES, SHARON (OLMERT), NETANYAHU, and BARAK are FINISHED. The handwriting is on the wall. They have less than 6 months. Israel has the most insane and corrupt system of government in the world today. It has NO constitution. It has NO bill of rights. It is NOT a democracy. It most definitely is NOT a Republic. The people of Israel always get a sham show every few years to have a sham election. The voters clearly said they do not want any of the POISON, LIES, and TREASON being offered in this last sham election. The people of Israel KNOW their vote is MEANINGLESS in the New World Order sea of corruption bent on the destruction of the state of Israel. The people of ISRAEL VOTED AGAINST THE NEW WORLD ORDER SYSTEM OF CORRUPTION by the lowest turnout in Israel history. The people of Israel did vote overwhelmingly AGAINST THE FOUR HORNS OF THE GENTILES regardless of which party in which they tried to hide. That message is clear that PERES your kingdom is divided and taken from you just like the handwriting on the wall in Daniel chapter 5. The corrupt Shaas religious party, whose vote is ALWAYS for sale, who are RELIGIOUS IN THEIR CORRUPTION, was able to raise the cost of their rabbinic confirmation of corruption. Kadima, the premier secular party of corruption, the New World Order party, to which the greatest ministers of corruption and treachery have fled, CAN NOT STAND. The Kadima party of treachery got 1/3 less seats than all the polls predicted even a week ago. All of the corrupt money and influence of corruption and treachery could NOT provide a government that will be able to stand. Before the days of Awe this government will fall and the four horns of the Gentiles now must see the handwriting on the wall as surely as Ariel Sharon now sees it in his comatose condition from which he will not recover. The Kadima party is the PERES party, and as the prophet Daniel did interpret the handwriting on the wall for the ministers of corruption, treason, and murder -- thy kingdom is divided and taken from you. Peres, Sharon (Olmert), Netanyahu, and Barak, the FOUR HORNS of the Gentiles are going to be CAST OUT. (Zech 1:18-21) The big looser is Olmert. There is NO WAY Olmert can form a stable government. The treacherous dealers who want to destroy Israel for the antichrist and his false prophet pope, will have their government toppled probably in less than 6 months if they can even form one in the first place. Historically any government formed in Israel by a party with less then 40 seats can not stand. Kadima, the party of corruption has less than 30 seats, only 28 in fact. The government formed is on record as having NO Ideology, NO principles, other than being for sale to the highest bidders for their influence of corruption. Bottom line is that the people of Israel are ready for the veil to be removed when Moses speaks of Messiah. The people of Israel are ready to LOOK UP to Him, the Lamb of God, prophesied by Abraham whom we have all pierced. The EFFECT OF EVERY VISION IS AT HAND. Just read Ezekiel 12:20-13:10. Ezekiel means God Will STRENGTHEN. Then read Ezekiel chapters 20 and 21 and you should be able to see it clearly, IF you are using a KJV (King James Version) Holy Bible and are truly born again by the Spirit of Truth and Holiness, the Spirit of Messiah, and identified by God to be part of Israel. -- From Chittim, Isa 23:1 Shalom & Simcha, Contact Marcel Cousineau at up2zionsg8@yahoo.com or go to his website: http://averyheavystone.blogspot.com |
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A GOOD NEWS DAY FOR JONATHAN POLLARD
Posted by Zalmi, March 29, 2006. |
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zalmi.blogspot.com/2006/03/good-news-day-for-prisoner-09185-016.html
Good News Day for Prisoner #09185-016 Waking up on your 7,798th day in a prison cell, there can be few reasons to be cheerful. Especially when no end is in sight. But for Jonathan Pollard there are two reasons to take heart this morning. First is the demise of his crucifier, Caspar Weinberger, who expired overnight at the age of 88. The United States justice system convicted Pollard, but many say it was Weinberger who threw away the key. Ask the average American or Israeli about Pollard and they will say: he was tried for treason against the United States. The truth is that Jonathan never had a trial, fair or otherwise. Neither did he commit an act of treason as defined in United States law. He was encouraged to enter into a plea bargain by powers that were anxious to avoid the exposure of a public trial on issues which would embarrass the government of the day. The person who perhaps stood most to lose from a public trial was Caspar Weinberger whose earlier arms shipments to Saddam Hussain would have been exposed. Now that Weinberger is in the Beth Din of the next world, perhaps the judiciary down here will now release the secret memo he sent to the presiding judge which damned Jonathan to more than 20 years in jail. Oh, and the second reason to be cheerful is one of those wonderful coincidences that so often occur in the life of our people. The biggest surprise in the overnight election results from Israel is the stunning success of the almost forgotten Pensioners' Party in winning 7 seats in the new Knesset. The party is headed by retired Mossad agent Rafi Eitan, who has always had the inside story on this affair and promises to work for Pollard's release. His new parliamentary privilege will enable him to speak freely on views which denied him his natural promotion to head of Mossad. In a recent interview, Eitan refuted charges that Pollard handed over to Israel information used to expose American spies in the former Soviet Union. "I'm willing to put my hand in fire and swear in everything dear to me that those charges are a blatant lie," Eitan said. "Nothing of what Pollard delivered leaked out of the Israeli intelligence community, nothing. Besides, he never provided us with information that could have exposed American agents in the Soviet Union or anywhere else." Eitan revealed that Weinberger's secret damage assessment - which sabotaged Jonathan's plea bargain - was drafted by a CIA counter-espionage department then headed by Aldrich Ames, America's most notorious traitor. Eitan suggests that Ames was motivated to smear Pollard to deflect attention from his own ongoing treachery. After Ames's conviction, everyone -- from Weinberger, to Judge Robinson, to President Clinton -- would have been aware that Pollard was convicted on tainted evidence. The just thing to do would have been to reopen the case or at least free Pollard unconditionally. But this is not about justice. This is about appeasement of the anti-Israel lobby in the United States that maintains there are too many Jews in high places and that Pollard must remain in his jail cell as a permanent example of the terrible price that must be paid for dual Jewish loyalties. The truth - as we have seen from the Vannunu affair - is that Jews will sooner sell out Israel than the Golden Medina. Take heart Jonathan. Your hero's welcome in Jerusalem is not far off. Contact Zalmi at zalmi@zalmi.net or go to his website:http://zalmi.blogspot.com |
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OLMERT'S STRATEGY WILL BRING TSURIS TO ISRAEL
Posted by Lawrence Uniglicht, March 28, 2006. |
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The State of Israel, less than 1/5 of 1 percent the size of its Middle East Muslim neighbors, is expected to cede territory, justifiably secured in battle, to Muslim Arabs by gratuitous myopic world denizens, some with agendas. Self-flagellating Jews beat themselves with the term occupier, as well as many Israeli citizens yearning for peace at any price. Alas, that price would be ever so steep to the tens of thousands of Israeli citizens living in such lands of disputed sovereignty. Furthermore, the anticipated Muslim Arab recipients of any gifted Israeli soil elected Jew-despising Hamas to lead them on a quest to someday push Israel into the sea, thus would treat Judea, Samaria, and eastern Jerusalem as hors d'oeuvres before the main course, that is all 8,000 or so square miles of the Jewish democracy. Israeli voters, resigned to uncertain futures, carelessly elect leaders who suggest unilaterally crafting borders that will morph most of Judea and Samaria into an Arab West Bank sans even one Jewish inhabitant, as well as perhaps surgically slicing off the eastern part of their capital Jerusalem thus adding icing to that Arab largesse. Will such incompetents, bereft of sanity, also allow some sort of right of return to salivating Jordanians calling themselves exiled Palestinians? Leaders like these should strip off Armani suits, adorning themselves in turbans and robes while reciting Koranic verse, before selling out future descendants by signing Faustian covenants conveying only weakness to Muslim Middle East fundamentalists smelling blood thus preparing to sever an already torn Jewish jugular. Kadima Party Prime Manipulator Olmert and his sidekicks might believe they carry a Sharon baton that will lead the beleaguered state they were elected to steward toward a promised land. They should know better. Strategies based on wishful thinking will only bring Israel 'tsuris'. Lawrence Uniglicht is a career civil servant, working for the Social Security Administration. He advocates for the State of Israel with an American perspective. He writes, "Advocating for the disrespected underdog has been my passion, no doubt Israel falls into that category." Contact him by email at luniglicht@snip.net |
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DISENGAGEMENT AUTHORITY ANNOUNCES ANOTHER BLOW TO GUSH KATIF EVICTEES
Posted by Lee Caplan, March 28, 2006. |
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(IsraelNN.com) Beginning in April, as most Israelis are preparing their homes for the Passover seder, evictees from the former Gush Katif community of Netzarim will be wondering how they will feed their families. Disengagement Authority officials on Monday announce that starting in April, any former Gush Katif resident not living in a temporary home will no longer receive food or food allowances. This will hit Netzarim residents particularly hard, since they are living in a dormitory building in Karnei Shomron, a facility which lacks kitchens or food preparation facilities. At a town hall meeting on Saturday night, the despondent residents heard the bitter news, now wondering how they will continue to exist and how they will arrange a Passover seder for their families. To further add to their bleak plight, some of the families will not receive a caravilla temporary prefabricated home since some of them settled in Judea and Samaria, leaving them without a living solution. Shortly after settling into the dormitory arrangement, the refugee families were receiving meals from a catering service. Then, Disengagement Authority officials signed a deal with the community yeshiva, which has been preparing food for the families. Now, in accordance to the latest ruling, the funding to pay for the yeshiva service is coming to an abrupt halt, before the Passover holiday. Contact Lee Caplan at leescaplan@yahoo.com |
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AMERICANS UNITE AGAINST FURTHER PULLOUT
Posted by Women in Green, March 28, 2006. |
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This was written by Aaron Klein and it appeared in www.WorldNetDaily.com A number of Christian and Jewish American groups have announced the formation of an umbrella organization that will lobby against acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's plan to withdraw Jewish communities from the West Bank, arguing in part any withdrawal would be against United States interests. "Olmert's plan means the destruction of the Jewish state. Judea and Samaria is part of Israel's biblical homeland. It borders Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and most other major Israeli cities. There is not a single doubt if Israel vacated this heartland it would be turned over to Islamic terror groups for use to attack Israel with missiles," said Susan Roth, founder of the United Front for the Land of Israel, the new coalition of American organizations acting against an Israeli West Bank evacuation. "Olmert's withdrawal would be a victory for worldwide Islamic terror. It would result in the formation of an al-Qaeda/Islamic Jihad/Iranian-satellite state that would serve as a sanctuary for all kinds of terrorists. The withdrawal would be disastrous for America's war on terror, for Israel and for the Jewish people. We have come together to do everything we can to stop this withdrawal from happening," Roth said. Roth is also chairperson of the Eshet Chayil Foundation, a Jewish humanitarian and charity organization. She was one of several Jewish leaders to speak at a press conference in New York last week announcing the formation of the new United Front. Olmert last month revealed his administration will seek to change Israel's borders by withdrawing from most of the West Bank. He said it is necessary to separate from the Palestinians for reasons of demography, explaining the large Palestinian population in the West Bank and Gaza Strip threatens Israel's Jewish character. The Front plans to educate the public about what they say are the dangers of a West Bank withdrawal and lobby U.S. politicians against Olmert's plan. The new organization also plans to promote the results of a new demographic study presented to Congress last week that documents the Palestinians inflated their numbers by over 50 percent, and that contrary to Palestinian Authority statistics, Jews in 20 years will likely outnumber Arabs by two-to-one if the West Bank and Gaza are retained. The allegedly inflated PA population numbers have been accepted by Israel and were reportedly used in formulating future demographic statistics, including those outlined in Olmert's withdrawal plan. 'Would Bush cede territory to al-Qaeda?' Groups now part of the United Front include Americans For A Safe Israel, the Jewish Action Alliance, Women in Green, Justice for Jews, Friends of YESHA, the Jewish Political Educational Foundation and several university-based groups. Roth says she welcomes other American organizations to join. Joseph Frager, chairman of the Jerusalem Reclamation Project, which joined the Front, told WorldNetDaily, "It is inconceivable that while Hamas talks of destroying Israel, Olmert talks of further concessions and appeasement. This time Judea and Samaria. How can the U.S. allow this? Would President Bush cede territory to al-Qaeda?" The West Bank, home to over 200,000 Jews, is considered landlocked territory not officially recognized as part of any country. Israel calls the land "disputed," while the United Nations says the West Bank is "occupied" by Israel. The Jewish state maintains overall control of most of the area while the Palestinian Authority has jurisdiction in about 40 percent. Many villages in the West Bank, which Israelis commonly refer to as the "biblical heartland," are mentioned throughout the Torah. Withdrawal from the West Bank may place Jerusalem and Tel Aviv within Palestinian rocket range depending on which territories are evacuated. Military strategists long have estimated Israel must maintain the West Bank to defend its borders from any ground invasion. In a widely circulated WND article, leaders of every major Palestinian terror organization warned last month they will soon launch a massive violent campaign against Israel focused mainly on West Bank Jewish communities. One senior terrorist said now that Olmert announced a West Bank withdrawal, terrorism against Israel must be stepped up "to prove we are chasing out the Israelis like we did in Gaza." |
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THE KIDNAPPED LEFTISTS IN IRAQ AND GAZA
Posted by Steven Plaut, March 28, 2006. |
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In recent months, numbers of leftist moonbats from the West have been kidnapped by the very same Islamofascists and terrorists they came to help. These include people kidnapped by the Iraqi terrorists, bleeding hearts in the country to help the terrorists "resist occupation", and other Westerners grabbed up by Hamas and Jihad terrorhoids in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. We think the greatest comment on or spoof of such people comes from a character played by Anthony Quinn. In a movie not very well know, but in fact an Eastern European Holocaust saga, The 25th Hour (Director: Henri Verneuil), Anthony Quinn plays a Romanian farmer mistaken for a Jew and cast about Europe for the better part of a decade. Quinn's farmer is arrested by a fascist collaborator trying to get him out of town so that the latter can make a pass at Quinn's wife. In the most notable and famous scene, Quinn is being deported to a concentration camp with a group of Romanian Jews, after the fascist constable has turned Quinn over to the nazis claiming he is a Jew. Quinn stands in the middle of the throng in a daze, whining to the Jews around him about to be murdered that he himself was deported even though he is not even a Jew. The Jews are not overly sympathic to his plight. "Yes, I agree, in YOUR case it is an injustice," whines the Quinn character, "but in MY mistake it is a MISTAKE!"" Steven Plaut is a professor at the Graduate School of the Business Administration at the University of Haifa and is a columnist for the Jewish Press. A collection of his commentaries on the current events in Israel can be found on his "blog" at www.stevenplaut.blogspot.com. |
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THE DISENGAGEMENT DELUSION
Posted by Shaul and Aviva Ceder, March 28, 2006. |
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This article was written by Frank Gaffney and appeared in Jewish World Review (www.JewishWorldReview.com) Today, even more than is usually the case, Israel is the Free World's "canary in the mine shaft." Its voters are poised to vote for a policy approach their American counterparts are being tempted to embrace in the months ahead. Call it the "disengagement delusion." Israeli polls suggest that today's elections will ratify an idea that former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon applied last year to the Gaza Strip and -- but for a career-ending stroke -- one he seemed determined next to apply tothe West Bank: Unilateral withdrawal of Jews from much, if not virtually all, of the disputed territories in which they had built fortifications, homes and communities in the decades since Israel wrested such lands from enemies trying to destroy it in the 1967 Six-Day War. A barrier would then be completed to divide the Palestinians who would assume full control over such ceded territories from their Israeli neighbors. The theory, as Robert Frost famously put it, seems to be that "Good fences make good neighbors" -- or at least this arrangement will make it possible for Israel to live with security next to bad ones. If Israel's voters do, in fact, give a mandate to Ehud Olmert, the man who now leads the Kadima Party created by Sharon in the months before his illness, they will actually be indulging in not one delusion, but two. The first delusion is that the Israeli electorate is voting -- as it has done time and time again over the past fourteen years -- for someone who promises them security in the face of an increasingly virulent threat from the Palestinian community. Currently, the Palestinians are led by Hamas, a terrorist organization explicitly committed to the destruction of the Jewish State. A succession of previous prime ministers have run on such a platform, then proceeded to indulge in various diplomatic maneuvers that have put Israel at still greater risk. The second delusion is that what amounts to cutting-and-running -- in this case, it is running behind a security fence, yet remaining within easy range of artillery and rocket fire -- will make matters better. In fact, Olmert's plan for turning over much of the high ground of the West Bank, its vital aquifers and strategic depth in the immediate wake of Hamas' electoral victory can only embolden those and other Islamofascist enemies of freedom. It will compound the danger they pose, not only to Israel but to all of us. This is not idle speculation. The results of Sharon's earlier disengagement from Gaza are already evident: The ascendancy of the most unabashedly hostile of Israel's foes; the creation of new Taliban-style safe-havens for terrorists (including al Qaeda); and a metastasizing threat as Russia, the European Union and the United Nations seek to legitimate Hamas, even as Kadima proposes to reward it with further territorial concessions. Unfortunately, polls in America suggest that the voters in this country are prone to a similar strain of the disengagement delusion. Majorities now declare their desire to withdraw from Iraq, evidence of the cumulative effect of relentless negative reports about the difficulties confronting Iraqis aspiring to freedom, and the Coalition forces seeking to help them. Much as in Israel, American politicians, pundits and anti-war activists are blithely suggesting that disengaging from Iraq by pulling U.S. troops out will not only reduce the costs to us of conflict there. It supposedly will also mitigate international hostility against us, making us more secure. Nothing could be farther from the truth. As is the case for Israeli withdrawals, an American disengagement from Iraq under present circumstances will be portrayed by our enemies in-country -- and amongst Islamofascist movements worldwide -- as further proof of our inevitable defeat. It will encourage a redoubling of their deadly activities, not their slackening. Any respite will be as fleeting as it is artificial; the War for the Free World will simply be fought on different battlefields, including here in the United States. A recent, shameful depiction by two prominent academics -- one of whom is a dean at Harvard University -- of American solidarity with the Jewish State as a product of some massive conspiracy they dub "the Israel Lobby" (of which the Center for Security Policy is said to be a part) misses an inconvenient, but far more plausible, explanation for what binds the two nations together: Common values, common enemies and common needs to protect from the latter open societies that cherish the former. Our ability to assure such protection is put at grave risk when one other common quality takes a holiday -- common sense. It is understandable, but not acceptable, for voters to tire of the costs, human, financial and psychological of being under assault. Another Harvard University professor (and psychiatrist), Dr. Kenneth Levin, has authored an excellent book on the phenomenon, The Oslo Syndrome: Delusions of a People Under Siege. As he put it recently: "It is characteristic of people under siege or chronic attack -- whether you're talking about minorities that are marginalized, defamed and attacked or a small state under attack by larger neighbors -- it is characteristic of portions of those populations to embrace the indictments, however bizarre, and to believe that if they perform in a way consistent with those indictments, then the siege will end." It is simply a delusion -- and a highly dangerous one at that -- to kid ourselves that the enemy will be mollified by the retreat they demand of us today. Only by remaining on offense can countries like Israel and the United States hope to prevail in this War for the Free World. Contact the Ceders at ceder@netvision.net.il |
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PERFIDY
Posted by Professor Paul Eidelberg, March 27, 2006. |
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Israel faces the prospect of being ruled by a government led by Ehud Olmert, chairman of Kadima, a party that renounces all ideologies, hence a party with no past, no moral values, hence no Jewish values -- hence a party that has renounced Judaism. Such a party, by definition, can only consist of unmitigated Egotists. Such a party can only consist of traitors -- traitors of the Jewish people and of the Jewish State of Israel. Is it not remarkable that a prominent rabbi and a university president joined this mindless and soulless party? Is it any wonder, however, that Ehud Olmert has named Shimon Peres as one of his projected deputy prime ministers -- Peres, celebrated for his mindless and arrogant statement, "I have become totally tired of history, because I feel history is a long misunderstanding." Shimon Peres is indeed a fitting leader of Kadima, a party of fools and opportunists, but above all, of traitors to the heritage of the Jewish people. Before an innocents vote for such a party, let me remind them of Ben Hecht's Perfidy, one of the most powerful books of the 20th century. Hecht's book documents not only the deeds of Rudolf Kastner, who collaborated with Eichmann's plan to exterminate 800,000 Hungarian Jews, but also the complicity of the most prominent founders of the State of Israel. I mention this lest we forget that Jewish politicians betrayed the Jewish people in the past, have done so only yesterday, and are primed to do so tomorrow. We dare not remain silent. "In my own time," writes Hecht, "governments have taken the place of people. They have also taken the place of G-d. Governments speak for people ... and determine, absurdly, their lives and deaths." This was not so of the Jewish people in days of old, when our Prophets admonished kings and kingdoms, or when our Sages taught us the laws of piety and of public morality. In those days, "in the soul of the Jews, in his tabernacle and kitchen, there was only one Kingdom -- that of G-d." Hecht asks: "What happened to this fine heritage when Jews finally fashioned a government of their own in Israel; what happened to Jews when they became politicians, what happened to a piety, a sense of honor, and a brotherly love that 2,500 years of anti-Semitism were unable to disturb in the Jewish soul?" What happened is that Egoism and impersonal authority arose and removed piety and honor and brotherly love from public life. There is no devilish or disgraceful deed, writes Hecht, "that cannot be shined up into a patriotic necessity by the right propaganda [such as the propaganda about 'peace' or 'disengagement' or a 'two-state solution' to the Israel-Arab conflict]. All that is needed is for people to believe in their duly elected leaders." Gentiles have also been guilty of perfidious deeds. But in view of the centuries of torture to which the Jews have been subjected by the gentile world, it is doubly disturbing when Jews betray their own people, or remain silent in the face of perfidy. Again Hecht: "The Jews have of necessity been good traders and bright salesmen, although they never before sold what a government clique has been selling [yesterday] to the Germans [and today to Arab Nazis] -- their loyalty to their dead, their moral judgment of their enemies." Thus it was when Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres shared a Nobel Peace Prose with Yasser Arafat, despite his responsibility for the murders of Jews -- nay, his genocidal intentions toward the Jewish state. Hecht reminds us that "The ancient Greeks believed that unpunished crimes brought plagues to the people who harbored them. They sought out and punished the evil doers in order to purify human life." Today the government of Israel rewards the murderers of the Jewish people with land, as Benjamin Netanyahu did when he gave Arabs 80% of Hebron, and as Ariel Sharon did when he dispossessed and deported Jews from Gaza and northern Samaria and turned their land over to Arab terrorists. This is the path of perfidy to which Sharon's successor, Ehud Olmert, is committed. Is it not obvious that Kadima, mindless of the past, can have no future? But therefore a vote for Kadima is a vote for nihilism or nothingness. Professor Paul Eidelberg is President of the Foundation For Constitutional Democracy. He can be reached by mail at 244 Madison Avenue, Suite 427, New York, NY 10016, Tel: 212-372-3752, and by email at Constitution@usa.net |
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REBUTTING RABBI WASKOW'S PRO-TERRORIST
Posted by David Meir-Levi, March 27, 2006. |
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Two weeks ago I published a brief article in Front Page Magazine in which I critiqued the 387 Rabbis who signed the Brit Tzedek v'Shalom petition opposing the Ros-Lantos bill (see addendum #1 for details.) [Editor's note: Also see below here and here.] I sent this article, and an expanded version[2] which did not get published, to all of those signatory rabbis whose emails I had.....not very many, but a bunch. I also urged all of you guys (addressees for my regular emails) to send copies of my article to any rabbis whom you know who signed the petition. I received only two responses from signatory rabbis, which resulted in a series of emails between me and each of them separately. Both steadfastly resisted my request to deal with the factual basis of my critique. Both, instead, focused only on their emotions, insisted that I was insulting them, that I was slandering them and the other "great rabbis" (a term that both used) by impuning their motives, and that it was really quite horrible of me to be so beligerent. My replies included the repetition of my request that they address my critique factually. Tell me where I am wrong. Show me what data I have mis-understood. Where I have erred in logic. Where my analysis is incorrect. How my conclusions reflect flawed reasoning. reflect flawed reasoning. Neither was willing, or able, to do that. Our email conversations may continue, but I am no longer hopeful that they will lead to any more enlightened outcome. This past Friday, Rabbi Arthur Waskow's "Cutting off funds to Palestinians will only breed violence" appeared in the "J" (the San Francisco Bay Area's weekly Jewish newspaper). He is a signatory on the petition. His essay laid out the putative rationale for signing the BTvSh petition. In my opinion, his article is unreasoned, has a number of errors of fact, suffers from numerous assertions for which there is no evidence and against which much evidence abounds, and draws conclusions that border on the irrational. Can it be that demonstrating their universalistic altruisitic humanist liberal credentials to some unknown audience, even though such demonstration involves their abetting in the iincreased likelihood of Hamas' future murder of Israelis, is more iimportant to them than taking a stand in support of Israel's defensive war against an implacable enemy whose capital is Ramallah and whose answer to the "Jewish Question" is the Final Solution? Is it possible that these rabbis would rather abet the murder of Jews than not stand up and speak out for the rights of Palestinians? Can Rabbi Waskow really prefer an empowered Hamas, and consequently a greater likelihood of Israeli deaths, to the tragedy of continued Palestinian discomfort? Rabbi Waskow tells us where he wants the casualties 3.26.06 Rabbi Arthur Waskow's "Cutting off funds to Palestinians will only breed more violence" in last week's "J" (Jewish Community Newspaper of San Francisco, 3.24.06) offers us revealing and powerful insight ---- ---- into the mind of a person who is hopelessly imprisoned in a benighted and out-dated ideology. A harsh indictment? Disrespectful of a great Jewish leader? Let's look at what he has written. His essay is in defense of the petition by Brit Tzedek v'Shalom which seeks to overturn the Ros-Lehtinen/Lantos Bill, HR4681, which would deny U.S. funds to the PA unless Hamas relents on its commitment to the destruction of Israel (see below, Addendum, for more details). The essay opens with the assertion that "...just about every voice in the 'official' American Jewish community has urged passage of this bill". Can he be unaware of the fact that Brit Tzedek v'Shalom's petition which he signed was also signed by almost 400 other rabbis each of whom is a public voice for some part of the American Jewish community? Why does he begin his essay with a statement that is transparently false? He tells us that the Ross-Lantos bill is "..draconian.. (and) .. rooted in revenge... or ... an iron fist.." Can he be unaware of the fact that the bill has arrangements for aid to be given directly to Palestinian needy? There is nothing draconian or vengeful in it. It is simply a re-iteration in Hamas-specific language of the US government policy to refuse to recognize or support terrorist regimes, while at the same time seeking legitimate ways to support the impoverished Palestinians. Did he not read the bill before condemning it? He tells us that Hamas was elected for its "...humanitarian success." He must not have heard the numerous pre- and post-election speeches of Hamas leaders who remind the world that "...Hamas has 'known stances' (i.e., its raison d'etre is the destruction of Israel)"; and thus whatever may have motivated their voting choices, the Palestinian people knew full well that they were voting for a terrorist organization which is committed to the genocide of Israel's Jews. He also tells us that Hamas is not monolithic, and there is a power struggle within Hamas. Where is his evidence? So far all Hamas spokespersons are spouting the same evil line. Even the very recent comments by Israeli officials about Hamas perhaps softening its stance (Ynet Israel News, 3.26.06, appearing after Waskow signed the BTvSh petition) acknowledges that this "softening", if actually carried out, would be done merely to gain the confidence of the West, and does not change the real Hamas agenda. It sounds like Rabbi Waskow is deeply ignorant of what Hamas really is [a genocidal terrorist organization waging war on behalf of Terrorist Islam (*)], and what Hamas really wants (the total destruction of the entire world's Jews). He insinuates that withholding aid and recognition from Hamas is an "...indictment of a whole people." Has he not noticed that every western nation has been providing billions of dollars of aid to the Palestinian Authority despite its endless relentless 12-year terror war against Israel precisely because they do not want to indict the Palestinian civilians for the terror crimes of their leaders? Just this past week, Condoleeza Rice has successfully pressured Olmert and Mofaz to open the Gaza Strip crossing points to Palestinian farmers? produce (and possibly to their terrorists and bird flu as well) because putting Israel at greater risk is far less important to the US Department of State than helping the Palestinian people not pay the price of following the leadership of the world's worst terrorists. Even as I write, Israeli MKs are encouraging the EU and World Bank to pour new millions into the West Bank and Gaza Strip to help Palestinian farmers there stop the bird flu (AP, 3.26.2006). Could Rabbi Waskow please tell us who is 'indicting' the Palestinians? He suggests that the Likkud party and Sharon's unilateral withdrawal "...starved the possible sources of pro-peace energy in the Palestinian polity." Nice New-Age rhetoric. Where is the substance? It would be interesting to find out what 'sources of pro-peace energy' Rabbi Waskow has uncovered; and just exactly how could unilateral concessions, and ceding land, and forcibly removing Israelis from that land, and telling the Palestinian leadership that Israel is doing this in order to 'jump-start' the peace process, and telling the Palestinian leadership and the Jewish and Palestinian polities that Israel will make more painful concessions for peace, possibly result in the "starving" of any "pro-peace" energy. Apparently he is unaware of the sixteen attempts since 1937 by the UK, UN, USA and a variety of Israeli governments to offer peaceful resolution to the conflict, all of which were rejected with Arab violence, murder, terrorism and war. He seems to be unaware also of President Bush's offer of statehood to the Palestinians on 6.24.2002 ("If you stop the terror, you get your state"); or of PM Sharon's offer of statehood to the Palestinians in his speech of 4.14.2004 ("If you stop the terror and join us at the negotiation table, you get your state. But even if you do not stop the terror, you will still get your state; but I will draw the lines"). He seems equally oblivious to the fact that both offers were vociferously rejected by Arafat, Qurei'a and Abbas. He asserts that neither the Israeli government nor the PLO was a "useful partner for peace". Can he really be so totally ignorant of the history of the PLO's absolute rejectionism, endless refusals to negotiate any kind of peaceful settlement, and Arafat's use of terror to torpedo every peace talk that was forced upon him by the USA or Israel? All of which can be contrasted to the numerous Israeli offers of peace and statehood. Does he have some sort of secret knowledge about Hamas' internal workings which would indicate that they don't really mean what they say when they repeat to the world that they will never recognize, never negotiate with, and never make peace with Israel? If so, he should share it with his readers. If not, then he has mounted a deeply misleading apology for an existentially destructive moral relativism. He suggests that the Israeli government was "...at the mercy of the most rage-filled, violent elements..." One cannot but wonder what planet this rabbi lives on. Rage-filled elements in control of the Israeli government? There are some enraged elements in the Israeli government. Take Ahmed Tibi, for example. An Arab MK who routinely asserts from his Knesset seat that Israel should be destroyed because Zionism is racism and the Israeli state is an irredeemable apartheid state. Or Izmi Bishara, another Arab MK, who has illegally visited Syria and spoken with Syrian leaders; and been quoted in Syrian press as being in favor of the destruction of the Jewish state. Raging, ranting, furious, yes!...but hardly in control. There may be some enraged Jews as well. After 70 years of the Arabs' relentless diatribe of genocide, and after five wars, and after 12 years of Arafat's endless relentless terror war, and in light of obdurate rejection of Israel's most generous offers, and after Hamas' stubborn refusal to countenance any further negotiations that could lead to peace... well, yes, some Israelis may indeed be enraged. Some leaders of extreme right-wing pro-settlement groups do indeed use the language of rage and some even act out their rage in the violent overturning of vegetable carts in downtown Hebron, or in spray-painting anti-Arab graffiti on abandoned buildings. There was one deeply tragic Israeli attack on innocent Arabs in Hebron back in 1994, and one by a soldier on an Israeli bus just last year. So that makes two! There have been more than 28,000 Arab terrorist attacks. But considering that these extremist Israeli positions have been excoriated by Israel's mainstream majority, defeated in polls, and relegated to the realm of the Israeli lunatic fringe by most Israelis; and considering that perpetrators are routinely imprisoned by the government for opposing the dismantling of Israeli communities; it is difficult to see how anyone living on planet earth could suggest that these Israeli extremist fringe elements have the Israeli government at their mercy. But let's give credit where credit is due. Rabbi Waskow is right about the fact that the Palestinian people have been at the mercy of the rage-filled hate-preaching mass-murdering genocidal Arab terrorists whom they elected to office in 1996 and again in 2006. Rabbi Waskow urges his readers to support grassroots action to press Congress to provide grants to Palestinian social service organizations for humanitarian work. Sounds good. But let's recall that only two years ago President Bush requested that Palestinian charitable groups sign a pledge that they would make sure that no money would go from their organizations to terrorist groups. Thirty-five of these organizations refused to sign! And how many more are there who did sign but will still contribute some of their money to support the "resistance" (aka terrorism against Israel)? In short, there is a very good chance that some (maybe much) of the money provided to Palestinian social service groups will end up in the coffers of Hamas, and provide funding for the murder of Israelis. Although Rabbi Waskow does not address the issue directly in the text of his essay, his title demonstrates either a galactic ignorance or a strange myopia regarding the relationship between money and terrorism. Will cutting off funds to Palestinians breed more violence? There is an instinctive sort of knee-jerk tendency to say "yes" after all, does not desperation arise from poverty, and terrorism from desperation? Well, actually, no! More money does not mean less terrorism. In fact, the history of the post-Oslo terror war shows exactly the opposite. From 1994 to 2004, tens of billions of dollars poured into the Palestinian Authority from Arab countries, the UN, the EU and the USA. Almost none of that went to the impoverished Palestinian people. Almost all of it went to support the Arafat-Hamas terror war. What evidence does anyone have that Hamas now will behave any differently than it has behaved since its inception? Its priority, indeed its sole raison-d'etre, is the destruction of Israel. Thus, even if money were to go directly to the support of impoverished Palestinians, that charitable largesse would merely free up more funds (from, for example, Iran and Arabia) which Hamas will use to kill Israelis and destroy Israel. Moreover, Hamas does not need to worry about money. The "impoverished Palestinians" and "PA on the verge of bankruptcy" are street theatre for the benefit of potential donors. Objective analysts put the PA finances at a plus $10,000,000,000. Much, if not all, of Arafat's $3,000,000,000 which he embezzled from his own people, has been recovered by PA agents. Hamas will hold the finance ministry portfolio and thus have full control over that money. Iran and Arabia have promised to make up any short-falls that occur due to any Western country's withholding financial aid to Hamas. The Palestinian people are poverty stricken only because their leaders choose to use their billions for terrorism, instead of for state building and social services. The much ballyhooed link between impoverished Palestinians and terrorist acts, especially suicide bombers, is fiction. A number of analysts have shown that many of the bombers are/were from well-to-do families. Some have/had good careers. Some are/were married with children. A few have been western converts from well-to-do families. Poverty does not drive people to desperate acts. If that were the case, we would be seeing suicide bombers in sub-Saharan Africa, among the indigenous of South America, among the oppressed indigenous of Tibet, among the brutally harassed Christians of Malaysia, and among the many countries around the world that exist on levels of poverty far lower than that of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The supposed "poverty drives them to desperation" syllogism is the creation of the Arab propaganda spin-meisters. It is far more likely that what drives Arabs to suicide bombings are the 12 years of the PA's hate-teach, hate-speech, hate-preach, and the Machiavellian manipulations of Hamas and Fatah recruiters, all of which together have created the "cult of death" (aka cult of martyrdom). This cult of death permeates Palestinian society and glorifies the killing of Jews (not Israelis, but Jews) for the sake of family honor, and for the acquisition of heightened status for one's self and one's family in this world, and for eternal sexual joy in the next world. When a 4-year old learns in kindergarten to sing "we buy paradise with Jewish blood", or "we knock on the gates of heaven with Jewish skulls", they are being set up for their future "martyrdom operations" by their own teachers and preachers and leaders, and even by their own parents. This is a most horrific example of criminal child abuse raised to the level of public policy. In sum, Rabbi Waskow has mounted an argument, in favor of the Brit Tzedek v'Shalom petition, which is completely devoid of reason. Every single one of his assertions is at very least highly questionable, and most stand in direct contradiction to unassailable facts. When, in any debate, does one side mount a completely unreasoned argument relying on hyperbole, platitudes, untestable assertions, unfounded generalities, and incorrect assumptions? Only when one cannot mount a reasoned argument, only when one cannot muster facts, offer accurate data, produce rational analyses. So, in the absence of facts, reason, rational analyses, why proffer an unreasoned argument at all? Only because one's ideology demands it. Let's take a look at this ideology. Just as military leadership has sometimes been criticized for a lack of forward thinking, because they are "planning to fight the previous war"; so too, it seems to me, much of our mature liberal leadership today, and especially our rabbinic liberal leadership, is stuck in an almost sophomoric intellectual time warp, opposing today's conflicts as though these were the conflicts of their youth. Young activists fighting the good fight back in the '60s and 70S took to the streets in their opposition to "Big Government", the "military-industrial complex", "corporate America", and especially the Viet Nam war. Their support, most admirably, went to the oppressed, the poor, the disenfranchised, the minorities, and the victims of international aggression. These liberal leaders today still labor under the presumptions (perhaps accurate then) that the bigger and the stronger must, de facto, be the oppressor; that the poor, brown-skinned, third-world folk must, as an a priori given, be the victims; and that the apparent under-dog is always the one fighting for justice and freedom. That such aphoristic generalities do not apply in today's Arab-Israel conflict does not seem to be a possibility for these rabbinic leaders. Their liberal ideology demands that they stand up and speak out in favor of the under-dog, that they join forces with the victim, and that they agitate for peace and justice. So, speak out they must. But only by filtering reality through their ideological screen, by selectively cherry-picking their facts and, in the absence of facts, fabricating the false truisms and misleading New-Age rhetoric needed to lend credence to their out-dated perceptions, can they mount an argument supporting their vision of the conflict. And there lies the great harm that they do: harm to Israel, to Jews world-wide, and even to Western Civilization which, just as much as Israel, is in the cross-hairs of Terrorist Islam's(*) relentless war against "global non-belief"(**). Let's look at how his erroneous ideology does this. Supporting the petition directs money to Hamas. If the BTvSh petition sways Congress, then USA money will go to the PA. The PA has been funding terrorism against Israel since its inception in 1993. Fatah and the el-Aqsa martyrs' brigade and force 17 and Tanzim are all part of the PA. Some (maybe most) of that money will go to those terrorist gangs as well as to Hamas, and it will help them kill more Israelis. Even if the petition does not sway Congress, the petition itself, by virtue of being able to boast 400 Jewish religious leaders' names, supports the Palestinian cause and lends legitimacy to the terrorist genocidal goals that Palestinian leaders slyly cloak in the language of "Peace and Justice". Supporting the petition exonerates Hamas. The petition may not directly exonerate Hamas, but it certainly does so indirectly. The American government's current position is that Hamas is a terrorist organization, and the US government does not interact with terrorists. The Ros-Lantos bill supports that position in the specific context of Hamas as the elected government of the Palestinian Authority. The petition asks that the bill be defeated. To urge the US government to interact with Hamas means that the US government must re-define Hamas as not-terrorist; and this is indeed a very clear exoneration of Hamas. Or worse, the petition means that the US government must re-define its position vis-a-vis interaction with terrorist groups in general; which is an exoneration of all terrorist groups. That suggested interaction, whatever form it may take, however cautious it may be, is a reversal of the current government position and thus support for, and legitimization of, Hamas. Supporting the petition strengthens Hamas. By dealing with Hamas, by reversing its position on Hamas as a terrorist group, and by giving Hamas money either directly or indirectly, the USA will strengthen Hamas' status with the UK and the EU; and it will lend credence to Hamas' claim that its political victory legitimizes its terrorist goals. Such gains in political legitimacy will also strengthen Hamas' hand in its struggle with Fatah and the PLO, and in its efforts to gain the support of those among the Palestinian people who did not support it. Supporting the petition almost guarantees Israeli casualties. Perhaps the most horrific aspect of Rabbi Waskow's essay is that it tells us where he wants the casualties. "Where do you want the casualties?" is a brutal and ugly question which the terrorist armies force us all to answer. In the case of the defensive barrier, for example, the casualties on the Palestinian side are those individual Palestinians inconvenienced by the fence or wall that impedes their movement or their farming. But in the absence of the barrier, the casualties would be the dozens, scores, or hundreds of Israelis who will be blown up or burned alive or shot or stabbed by the terrorists who would otherwise have been stopped by the fence. Similarly, with the road blocks and ambulance searches, the casualties are those Palestinians who are delayed in reaching their destinations for medical attention, or humiliated by the body searches. This is unpleasant, may be painful, and in some rare cases even lethal. But in the absence of those road blocks and ambulance delays, the casualties would be the Israelis killed or maimed for life by the terrorists who successfully infiltrate and reach their targets. So too with the issue of our government's denial of money and legitimization to Hamas. The casualties may indeed be some Palestinian people who would have benefited from American aid. But if the USA were to exonerate Hamas and agree to funding the PA, the results will most assuredly be a stronger Hamas, and a Hamas capable of bigger and better terror attacks. Then the casualties will ineluctibly be those un-numberable Israelis who would otherwise have lived. By signing the petition, by urging our government to fund Hamas, and by concocting a misguided and misleading essay that stoops to hyperbole and decontextualizations in order to legitimize his ideology, Rabbi Waskow has told the world that he prefers Israeli deaths to Palestinian discomfort. Rabbi Waskow and his fellow signatories have made a grievous error, an error which is very likely to redound to great harm to Israel and to Jews world-wide. So, while some signatories may take personal umbrage at my harsh critique, there is nothing disrespectful in calling their attention to the fact that this erroneous ideology of the liberal rabbis who are still protesting Viet Nam, when they should be protesting Hamas, truly endangers many lives, undermines the real victims in this conflict, and supports our generation's enemies in their war against our civilization. One cannot rationally assert that one seeks peace and yet supports the funding of the terrorist forces ferociously devoted to war and genocide. One cannot claim a love for Israel while supporting those who seek her destruction. (*) "Terrorist Islam" is the term I coined to identify that version of Islam which uses murder and violence, terrorism and warfare to advance Islam to the position of world dominance in accordance with the Qur'anic injunctions found in Sura 9 (and in numerous other verses) to wage jihad until the entire world is brought under the dominance of Islam. There are, of course, other versions of Islam which do not subscribe to such extreme actions. (**) "Global non-belief" is the term used by Osama bin-Laden in many of his public statements to define what for him is the main target of his terrorism, i.e., all of the non-Moslem world and those in the Moslem world who are not Moslem enough. Addendum 1 My Brother's Keeper?
Brit Tzedek v'Shalom (Covenant of Justice and Peace: hereafter BTvS), a Jewish "peace and justice for Palestinians" group (www.btvshalom.org) published the names of 387 Rabbis who have signed a petition demanding that our government not withhold aid to the Hamas-controlled government of the Palestinian Authority. This petition is BTvS's response to the Ros-Lehtinen/Lantos Bill, HR4681, which would deny U.S. funds to the PA unless Hamas relents on its commitment to the destruction of Israel and the extermination of the Jewish people. These rabbis have to be familiar with the Hamas covenant, which spells out Hamas's messianic commitment to the end-of-days when the infidels are vanquished and the world is redeemed; when the dead are resurrected and Islam is established as the only religion on earth. According to traditional orthodox Moslem teaching - as we are reminded by Hamas - this happens only after Moslems have murdered every Jew on the planet. The rabbis cannot have missed the fact that for the past 12 years, tens of billions of dollars in humanitarian aid have gone to the Palestinian Authority and approximately 80 percent has been siphoned off to support the terrorist gangs that have perpetrated 28,000 attacks, killing 1,700 Israelis and wounding approximately 7,000. These are the numbers since 1993, when Arafat signed the Oslo peace accords. The Palestinians receive per capita more aid than any country on earth except Upper Volta. But they have nothing to show for it except grinding poverty, an obscenely wealthy political elite, and a dozen terrorist armies. Hamas' commitment to destroy Israel and exterminate its Jews is a religious faith and therefore non-negotiable. In other words, these rabbis know that if they succeed in convincing Congress to send the money to Hamas, this aid to "the Palestinian people" will be used to help Palestine's Nazis kill their fellow Jews. But the rabbis would rather abet the murder of Jews than face the fact that Israel is confronting an implacable enemy whose capital is Ramallah and whose answer to the Jewish question is the Final Solution. Additional information not in original Front Page magazine article: This controversial letter by Brit Tzedek is particularly offensive because it is misleading to the point of being mendacious. The Ros-Lehtinen/Lantos Bill, HR4681 sends a strong and clear message to Hamas by banning direct aid and limits direct assistance to the Palestinian Authority until President Bush can certify that the PA is not controlled by a terrorist group and meets a series of other conditions, such as fighting terrorism and recognizing Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state. The bill also prohibits U.S. contacts with members of Palestinian terrorist groups such as Hamas. . Hamas was designated a terrorist group by the USA and the EU, and has killed more than 500 people since 1989, including 2 dozen Americans. . Control of the Palestinian legislature by Hamas--which seeks Israel's destruction and is committed to violence--is a complete rejection of the very principles upon which the peace process is based. . Hamas must disarm, renounce and end violence, recognize Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state, and accept all previous international agreements between Israel and the PA before being seen as a legitimate party. The bill also includes an exception for humanitarian assistance and special projects that can be considered by the Congress on a case by case basis. Thus, via this exception, the humanitarian needs of impoverished Palestinians can be addressed with little or no risk of money reaching Hamas. However, the BTvS letter proffering its petition makes no mention of the humanitarian aspects of the bill. It is difficult to understand how anyone who has actually read the legislation would object to its requirements. It is beyond belief that prominent American Jewish Rabbis should expect that Israel or any country should negotiate with terrorists who have emblazened in their founding document (the Hamas " covenant") that their intended goal is the destruction of the State of Israel and the genocide of all the world's Jews; and who have spent the last 20 years demonstrating to the world that they mean what they say. addendum 2 (the larger version of the above article) "Nearly 400 Rabbis value Palestinian rights more than Israeli lives" Brit Tzedek v'Shalom (Covenant of Justice and Peace: hereafter BTvS), a Jewish "peace and justice for Palestinians" group (www.btvshalom.org) published the names of 387 Rabbis (cf. Addendum #1 for names listed alphabetically and by state) who have signed a petition demanding that our government not withhold aid to the Palestinian people. This petition is BTvS's response to the Ros-Lehtinen/Lantos Bill, HR4681, which would deny USA funds to the PA unless Hamas relent on its commitment to maintaining a state of war until the destruction of Israel. These rabbis are obviously the second most altruistic universalistic humanitarian people on the planet. Here's why. By now they must have read the Hamas covenant[2]. They must then know of Hamas' religious commitment to an end-of-days scenario when the world is redeemed, the dead resurrected, and Islam becomes the only religion on earth. According to traditional orthodox Moslem teaching, this happens only after Moslems have murdered every Jew on the planet (see addendum #3). They cannot not know that for the past 12 years, tens of billions of dollars of humanitarian aid have gone to the Palestinian Authority and been siphoned off mostly (like 80% mostly) to the support of the various terrorist gangs that have perpetrated 28,000 attacks, killing 1,700 Israelis and wounding c. 7,000, since 1993 when Arafat signed the Oslo peace accords. The Palestinians receive per capita more aid than any country on earth except Upper Volta. But they have nothing to show for it except grinding poverty, a mega-wealthy elite, and a dozen terrorist armies. They cannot not know that Hamas' commitment to destroy Israel and genocide its Jews is no less, and probably more, virulent than that of the Fatah and PLO gangs who were morphed from international terrorists into their new political identity as the PA (Palestinian Authority) by the Oslo Accords. They cannot not know, therefore, that no matter what safeguards are used, any money from the USA is very likely to go, at least in part, and probably in very large part, to the terrorist organizations that have been killing Jews in Israel and abroad for the past 42 years. So they know that if they succeed in convincing Congress, then their words and deeds on behalf of the poverty-stricken and suffering Palestinian people will end up helping Palestinian terrorists kill more Jews. But they would rather abet the murder of Jews than not stand up for the rights of those Palestinians.[1] In this context it is important to recall that many Israelis feel the same way. There are a number of Israeli human rights organizations that try to help Palestinians, such as Machsom Watch, Physicians for Human Rights, Yesh Din, Ta'ayush, Hamoked - The Center for the Defense of the Individual, and B'Tselem. Machsom Watch, for example, is a self-defined human rights organization comprised of hundreds of women. For the past five years, it has maintained shifts at 40 checkpoints throughout the West Bank, asserting that they are there in order to document what happens at the check points, and help individual Palestinians.[2] Many Israelis feel that these organizations, each focusing on a different consequence of the Israeli military presence in the West Bank, is the least that universalistic humanitarian Israeli citizens can do to try to prevent injustice against Palestinians. This is a very important point. Most of the world sees the work of these volunteer groups in a negative light. The very existence of these groups seems to demonstrate that Israel is violating Palestinians' human rights. However, consider this situation in its actual context. Israel is at war. Arab terrorists have declared war on Israel. They have launched tens of thousands of attacks since the war was declared, killing more than 1,700 and wounding many thousands more. Their intent is to destroy Israel totally, and kill or exile all of its Jews. In response to this war, Israel has not done what other countries have done (launched massive attacks with overpowering force to stop the terrorism at the expense of many, many civilian lives of the enemy population). Instead it has used defensive and constrained actions to impede or stop the terrorist attacks. Hence the road blocks, check points, and defensive barrier. But it is clear that a massive attack killing thousands of Palestinians might indeed put an end, at least temporarily, to the terrorist offensive...thus saving many hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Israeli lives. So by deciding to not mount such an offensive, Israel has opted to put Israeli lives at risk, and indeed to lose Israeli lives, rather than kill innocent Palestinians. It is an undeniable demonstration of Israel's integrity and its commitment to human rights that it has handled the terrorist war in the restrained defensive way that it has. The Israeli government has tacitly decided that it would rather that more Israeli lives be lost than that innocent Palestinian civilians be killed. The clearest example of this unique and breath-takingly altruistic decision is the battle for Jenin in April, 2002. The IDF knew that the terrorists in the Jenin refugee camp were deeply ensconced within the civilian habitations. An infantry battle would cost many Israeli lives. An artillery barrage or an aerial bombardment would put no Israeli soldiers at risk, but would undoubtedly kill hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent Palestinian inhabitants of Jenin. Nonetheless, the IDF chose to wage an infantry battle against the terrorists in Jenin, going house to house, announcing their entry, giving innocents (and some terrorists) time and space to flee to safety, and focusing only on the armed terrorists. As a result, almost all of the 75 Palestinian dead were armed terrorists. But the price that Israel paid for this humanitarian largesse was 25 soldiers killed and scores wounded. So, when asked: "where do you want the casualties"?, the IDF chose to have the casualties among their own soldiers rather than in the ranks of the innocent Palestinian civilians. Such a decision in war time is without precedent in human history. But it is not only the government that has made this decision. Is there an antecedent for any country, in war time, allowing civilians into the war zone to interfere with military activities? Is there an antecedent for any country's citizenry demonstrating such concern for justice and honor that they flock in droves to the war zone to make sure that Israeli troops commit no violations of the human and civil rights of the enemy's civilian population....even though they know that by doing so, they increase the likelihood that terrorists hidden within that population may successfully slip past the checkpoint because of the distractions that the volunteers' presence creates? Thus, it is not just the government and the IDF that value Palestinian lives over Israeli lives. The volunteers themselves, through their interference with the IDF screening activities, strive to improve the condition of the enemy civilian population; and by doing so they knowingly facilitate some terrorists' successful avoidance of the IDF searches. Such terrorist successes result in more Israelis killed. So, large segments of the Israeli body politic have decided at all levels (prime minister and Knesset and IDF all the way down to Makhsom volunteers) that they would rather have Israelis die than run the risk of killing innocent Palestinians or violating their human or civil rights. BTvS's nearly 400 Rabbis have made the same decision. They would rather put at risk (knowing that some will die) the lives of their co-religionists in Israel (and non-Jewish Israelis as well) than abandon their commitments to the humanitarian treatment of Palestinians. By signing this public, high-profile petition, they have said, in essence: "the lives of some of my co-religionists are expendable in order for me to maintain my very public and high-profile commitment to the very highest of universalistic humanitarian standards; standards that demand my speaking out in favor of aid to the suffering civilians of the population whose leaders are engaged in a declared genocidal war against my co-religionists (and non-Jewish Israelis)." In other words: better that others be put at risk and die than that my highly visible commitment to universalistic humanitarianism be doubted. The only level of universalistic humanitarianism that could possibly be higher than this is the one at which those Rabbis would say: "My OWN LIFE is expendable. I would rather put my OWN LIFE at risk. My OWN LIFE is of less value to me than my commitment to my altruistic universalistic humanitarian calling; a moral calling which demands that I abandon my 4000-year-old historic/religious/national/ethnic ties in favor of humanitarian aid to the suffering civilians of the population whose leaders are engaged in a declared genocidal war against my co-religionists." It is interesting to note that this Israeli decision that Israelis will die so that Palestinians may live is indeed at that very highest level of universalistic humanitarianism. The same Makhsom demonstrator abusing a soldier for detaining a Palestinian at a roadblock may indeed be blown up on her way home when that terrorist who slipped through that road block, thanks to her distracting the soldiers, detonates his suicide bomb in that same bus that she is riding -- or in the one that her children are on. It is much easier to be on the second highest level of altruistic universalistic humanitarianism than on the highest level. End Notes 1. The Brit Tzedek v'Shalom petition is misleading to the point of being mendacious. It critiques the Ros-Lehtinen/Lantos Bill, HR4681, because the bill sends a strong message to Hamas by banning direct aid and limiting direct assistance to the Palestinian Authority until President Bush can certify that the PA is not controlled by a terrorist group and meets a series of other conditions, such as fighting terrorism and recognizing Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state. But the bill also includes an exception for humanitarian assistance and special projects that can be considered by our Congress on a case by case basis. It is thus obvious to anyone who has actually read the legislation that the bill allows for assistance to impoverished Palestinians. Yet the BTvS petition makes no mention of this accommodation for humanitarian assistance. 2. It is well known that most of the time hundreds or thousands of Palestinians pass through checkpoints without incident. Such uneventful processes are never documented by the so-called human rights groups that monitor the check points and road blocks, nor are they of interest to the media. Rather, only the relatively rare occasions when there are problems become fodder for the monitors' complaints and interviews with the media. Thus, far from documenting what actually happens at the check points, the monitors cast an inordinate emphasis on the occasions when there are problems. Moreover, the very presence of the monitors inspires problems. IDF reports have often mentioned that "everything is going smoothly until the TV cameras or human rights monitors show up". Then some Palestinians start acting out, and acting up, to create negative PR for Israel in front of the media whose very presence both feeds, and feeds upon, disruptive behavior. Often problems at a checkpoint are due to associates of the terrorists who are creating diversions so that the terrorists have a better chance of getting past the checkpoint. Sometimes problems are caused when the IDF unit at the checkpoint gets a notice from military intelligence that there is a heightened likelihood of an attempted terrorist infiltration at that point at that time. Then the IDF tightens controls and checks Palestinians more often and more thoroughly. This tightening up can cause the problems about which the monitors seek to intervene. But such situations are exactly when the IDF must be most vigilant, and most tightly inspect everything and everyone. This is when distractions are the most dangerous; because if the soldiers are distracted, the terrorists are more likely to slip by and perpetrate their terror. Thus the monitors not only are sometimes at cause for the disturbances that they seek to monitor, but can also be at cause for the success of terrorist attacks.
David Meir-Levi is an American-born Israeli,
currently living in Palo Alto. His expertise is in Near Eastern
studies and the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. He is Director
of Peace and Education at Israel Peace Initiative (www.ipi-usa.org).
Contact him at david_meirlevi@hotmail.com
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NIGHTMARE INTO DREAM: BACK TO THE FUTURE
Posted by Professor Eugene Narrett, March 27, 2006. |
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I must have been sleeping. I had this dream in which a leader of Israel said 'we have no beliefs, we have no traditions. We are tired of winning battles, we are tired of being brave......' It was March 2006. No; it wasn't a dream: it was a nightmare. Then, by providence divine, my beloved pinched me and I woke up and it was early morning on June 05, 1967. Jews had been anxious for weeks as the Arab nations again massed their armed forces and vowed to soak the sands of Israel in blood, to drive all the Jews into the sea. Then Israel attacked Egypt and the forces of the armies of Israel swept across the Sinai to the Nile. Israel attacked Syria and Lebanon, liberating the Golan Heights and upper Galil, to Sidon. When the displaced Meccan sharif in Amman bombarded Jewish Jerusalem, Israel drove the trespassers out of Judea and Samaria and into the deserts beyond Moav and Ammon. The Temple Mount was in our hands. General eye-patch retired; Motta Gur heeded the counsel of Rabbi Goren and the abominations were taken down. The Mount was cleansed and sanctified. Mikvehs were built and the daily ascent of Jews to the Mount began. The beautiful synagogue there is a taste of sweeter things to come. They say that even at Tekoa they can smell the incense from the altar made at the Temple Mt. Institute..... Of course, Israel annexed Judea and Samaria, the Gilead and Bashan all of which began flourishing with Jewish farms and towns. Oil was discovered in the deserts beyond Gilead. When Israel destroyed the PLO entirely in spring 1970, Russia pushed Syria into invading the Gilead. Thank you very much: the Israeli counterattack destroyed the armed forces of Syria and in a last great battle by ancient Carcamesh near the Euphrates secured Israel's northeastern border. Aram was filled with Jewish settlement. After a work by Israeli ecologists and marine biologists there was great trout and salmon fishing in the streams of the Lebanon, "this good Lebanon" Moshe called it when he described it as part of the Promised Land. When Egypt, again prodded by the die-hard Soviets, attacked along the Suez-Ismail front in October 1973, the devestating Israeli counterattack led to the withdrawal of the Soviets from the eastern Mediterranean and the Israeli annexation to Gush Yehudah of the entire Sinai and formal ownership of the Suez canal. With the tithes from its operation, Israel realized the prophecy that "the riches of the west shall be given over to you, and I will bring you the wealth of nations" (Isaiah 60). Giving America free passage for its ships, Israel helped America help the south Vietnamese defeat communism and form a self-sustaining constitutional democracy whose example spread throughout the region. A communist named Pol Pot became an ardent champion of balanced powers and gemillut chasdim. The Chinese and Japanese became Bnei Noach..... When, in 1977, in a last ditch effort to re-assert its influence, Russia prompted its client, Saddam Hussein to launch a missile strike against the Gilead, the Israel forward defense systems achieved 100% shoot down of the missiles and proceeded to obliterate the Mesopotamian military. The Russian people rose up and by 1979 Communism, the cold war and the Russian Empire all were things of the past, bad dreams. Jimmy Carter, an obscure peanut farmer from Georgia, had a small success as a fill-in for Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show. In his later years, he co-wrote a book about the wisdom of Judaism and the importance of blessing the Jewish people. The Herbert-Walker-Bush clan spent their remaining fortune on rocket ships and left for another galaxy with an ooze-master named Baker. Meanwhile, Israel gave the oil fields east of the Euphrates to American companies, and to this day (Sukkot 2010), gasoline is .25 cents/gallon. Israel is the 3rd largest oil exporting nation on earth and, with its solar and de-salination facilities, sustains the highest annualized GDP and the cleanest environment. Animal and bird species thought extinct have begun appearing in the Promised Land. Re'im are regularly sighted; even the chassidah.... The Persians have reverted to Zoroastrianism and in increasing numbers are becoming Bnei Noah. What did you expect after all those victories by the Jews. A channel was dug from the Red Sea east of Aqaba to the Dead Sea to keep that mineral bank at its optimal level and allowing for maximal tapping of sweet water from the Kinneret. By 1993, after fifteen years of consultation, the Sanhedrin was re-established and met regularly in its beautiful chambers on Har haZeitim. Its rulings were sought out by peoples everywhere. Among its daily study were the plans for rebuilding the Temple complex, projected for completion by 2015. By 2007, election had come to mean the selection by the people of the tribal areas of "men of accomplishment, men who love truth and disdain money." All 'state lands' have been sold at cost to Jews and the fertility of the Promised land is the wonder of the world. Hebron has grown to a sprawling all-Jewish city of 77,000 souls, its hills interspersed and surrounded with orchards and vineyards whose fruits and beverages are sought out from every corner of the earth. The entry to the caves of Machpela are thronged with Jews praying every day. West of the Jordan the Jewish population is twelve million, nearly 30 million throughout the dominion. What's amazing is the amount of green space. Sober people talk about the imminent arrival of the Messiah. Ordinary folks figure he'd probably already returned and was working incognito but happily, the job largely finished until it was time for the formal Chanuka haBayit........ Next time we'll do it right. Professor Eugene Narrett teaches writing and Literature at Boston University. He is the author of hundreds of articles, columns and reviews on politics, American culture and the arts. He is completing a study on Romanticism and the longterm decline of Western Culture. He writes often on subjects relating to Israel and Judaism and is a weekly columnist for the MetroWest Daily News in Framingham, Massachusetts. Contact him at culturtalk@aol.com |
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A QUOTE FROM RABBI MENACHEM MENDEL OF LUBAVITCH (1789-1866)
Posted by Avodah 15, March 27, 2006. |
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This is the meaning of "Love your fellow as yourself": Just like
you are blind to your own failings, since your self-love covers them
up, so, too, should your fellow's failings be swallowed up and
concealed by your love for him.
Contact Avodah 15 by email at Avodah15@aol.com |
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STEYN: FACING DOWN INSANITY
Posted by Avodah 15, March 27, 2006. |
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Mark Steyn wonders when we're going to start facing down a culture where they talk like crazies[2]. The reality is our society pays enormous respect to minorities -- President Bush holds a monthlong Ramadan-a-ding-dong at the White House every year; the immediate reaction to the slaughter of 9/11 by the president, the prince, the prime ministers of Britain, Canada and everywhere else was to visit a mosque to demonstrate their great respect for Islam. One party to this dispute is respectful to a fault: after all, to describe the violence perpetrated by Muslims over the Danish cartoons as the "recent ghastly strife" barely passes muster as effete Brit toff understatement. Unfortunately, what's "precious and sacred" to Islam is its institutional contempt for others. In his book Islam And The West, Bernard Lewis writes, "The primary duty of the Muslim as set forth not once but many times in the Koran is 'to command good and forbid evil.' It is not enough to do good and refrain from evil as a personal choice. It is incumbent upon Muslims also to command and forbid." Or as the shrewd Canadian columnist David Warren put it: "We take it for granted that it is wrong to kill someone for his religious beliefs. Whereas Islam holds it is wrong not to kill him." In that sense, those blood-curdling imams are right, and Karzai's attempts to finesse the issue are, sharia-wise, wrong. I can understand why the president and the secretary of state would rather deal with this through back-channels, private assurances from their Afghan counterparts, etc. But the public rhetoric is critical, too. At some point we have to face down a culture in which not only the mob in the street but the highest judges and academics talk like crazies. Rahman embodies the question at the heart of this struggle: If Islam is a religion one can only convert to not from, then in the long run it is a threat to every free person on the planet. What can we do? 1. Mark Steyn, "Facing down a culture where they talk like
crazies," March 26, 2006, |
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TAKE PART IN HISTORY: VOLUNTEER TO CREATE THE ISRAEL WHITE PAPER
Posted by Lee Caplan, March 27, 2006. |
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For the first time ever, we are assembling a central clearinghouse for Israel's rights to Judea, Samaria, and Gaza. It will be totally accessible to the general public and researchers, so they may learn and widely disseminate this vital information. Finally, Israel will have a strong legal and moral case to present to the world. Please give your time to this historic effort. No experience necessary. If desired, you can remain anonymous. Contact Israel White Paper at http://www.israelwhitepaper.org Contact Lee Caplan at leescaplan@yahoo.com |
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THE BIG PICTURE
Posted by Lawrence Uniglicht, March 27, 2006. |
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Spaceship Earth Inc evolves with species mankind at the reins. Among tribal enclaves called nations, alliances form, yet subsuming all such groupings is that one small dominant predatory carnivorous corporate-minded cadre of humans, unimpeded by international borders, practiced in arts of illusion and duplicity, able to funnel much of the world's raw material and industrial wealth into their exponentially expanding repositories. Concurrently an ever more powerful natural force looms, dwarfing all conceptual and physical institutions intelligent life might imagine or erect, that with but one fell swoop could disassemble such man-organized hierarchies and tangible structures into chaotic pieces attuned to our universe's time honored principle of increasing entropy in spades. Within this milieu the aforementioned self-anointed mostly invisible monstrous cadre of towering metaphorical human redwoods, muscular limbs basking in sunlight, omnipresent roots satiated with nutrients; surrounded by those multi-billions of puny pine tree brethren, some bigger than others, searching for light, jostling to secure more than a few of the finite scraps strewn about the forest floor; succumb to the inevitable laws of generational change as our wobbly planet steadily revolves, yet just as tenaciously cling to Darwin's tenet of natural selection, thus that overall proportion of have lots to have-lots-less to have-not family trees remains about the same. Meanwhile snapshots, alas, convey little information to cerebrally challenged pecking orders in this grand scheme of things; even when transmitting orts of simultaneously occurring what-should-be-construed-as-perilous data, suggesting one northern glacier melts a mere tad every night, surely less than a millimeter yet ever so sinister a warning; still immensely less important to an oblivious presumably intelligent species than perhaps results pertaining to tribe verses tribe or even the neurotic nonsensical machination of tinsel-wood superstars. You can't fool around with Mother Nature! When the what could be inevitable happens; if and when Europe's Atlantic conveyer current disappears, several decades hence under fossil fuel exacerbated fresh glacier melt, consequentially freezing farmlands and mindsets of one half billion desperate denizens foisted into a Canada-like climate meant for perhaps forty million, ravages of Islamic fundamentalist immigration will in comparison seem but a walk along the Champs Elysee. If and when extreme weather worldwide inundates coastal metropolises, buries inland suburbs, topples skyscrapers, might inhabitants of this third stone from its sun then notice? They say it couldn't happen here. Hmmm! Israel's scientists should be furiously at work, even if all other corporate and national agendas are shrouded in me-first wealth accumulating and political priorities, figuring out ways to avert a human influenced potential climatic Armageddon. Signs of imminent danger are not just written in Hebrew, but maybe one ever-besieged nation, battling for survival since birth, can appreciate the need to stand alone if necessary attempting to thwart that grim reaper born of global warming. At least one small fraction of our species must take charge. Lawrence Uniglicht is a career civil servant, working for the Social Security Administration. He advocates for the State of Israel with an American perspective. He writes, "Advocating for the disrespected underdog has been my passion, no doubt Israel falls into that category." Contact him by email at luniglicht@snip.net |
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SPEAKING OF RIFF-RAFF
Posted by Boris Celser, March 27, 2006. |
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I remember when the Jerusalem Post was not a mirror copy of Ha'aretz. Whoever bought the JP hired the editor and set the tone, and the editor hires whomever he wants and fires whomever he wants to make room for those he likes. It looks like the bright new future of Israel as of tomorrow is.....Shimon Peres. No one should be surprised about the demonization of the settlers coming from certain columnists. After all, even without PhDs, they feel good sharing the view of the majority of political scientists at Israeli universities. Indeed, these columnists will realize their dreams tomorrow. They will be officially part of aKademia. This was written by Carl Sesar (sesar@noho.com). A while back I said I never heard "Middle Israel" used by anyone else except for JPost's Amotz Asa-El, but JPost's David Horovitz gave it currency in an editorial last month or so on Kadima's "centrist" stance, making it two "Middle Israelis" now. And what with "Hebron's Jewish riff-raff," as Amotz Asa-El calls them, forcibly expelled, and, he adds, "with Gaza's Jewish ghettos gone," and the police riot in Amona, "Middle Israel" seems well along cleansing areas of Jewish undesirables, cracking skulls, and clubbing, trampling and sexually assaulting "modern Orthodoxy's biological children" (as Amotz Asa-el also dubs them), so that its genocidal, Jew-hating would-be-neighbor-state-in-the-making, "Palestine," needn't sully its lily-whites ridding ancestral Jewish lands of "Jewish riff-raff." The New York Times, the Guardian, Le Monde, etc., plus world television news, ought to plaster their papers and screens daily, a la Abu Ghraib's saturation coverage, with the Gaza and Amona atrocities that "Middle Israel" so stalwartly champions. Cartoons, too, a Yassamnik say, in his black shirt with Star of David-cum-swastika insignia (classical anti-Semitic Jewish-Israeli-Nazi caricature, but in the flesh this time), jabbing his police baton into the sex of a religious teenage Jewish girl, or beating a religious adolescent Jewish boy's genitalia: "Middle Israel" gone berserk in a violent orgy of "biological" revulsion toward "modern Orthodoxy's children," with brazen allusions of rape and sterilization, by order of its "centrist" government. Hooked up to and artificially sustained by Sharon's respirator and feeding tubes, "Middle Israel" represents a land of the living dead, a post-Zionist wasteland hostile to time-honored, living traditions of Judaism, as implacably so, in fact, as any enemies of the Jews are from without. "Middle Israel" hasn't unilaterally set its borders yet, but they're plain as day to see on the map of "Palestine." Let's hope and pray that undecided voters in Israel open their eyes and vote for life, not death, and against "withdrawals," or "convergences," or other double-talk and euphemisms for ethnic cleansing and similar atrocities that Olmert, Kadima, and "Middle Israel" all have in store. And, Mr. Amotz Asa-El, if you want to call people "riff-raff," start with yourself in the mirror. Contact Boris Celser at celser@telusplanet.net |
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PROUD TO BE A CONSERVATIVE
Posted by Shaul and Aviva Ceder, March 27, 2006. |
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This article was written by Burt Prelutsky. It appeared today on Townhall.com (www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/BurtPrelutsky/2006/03/27/191319.html) Burt Prelutsky has been a humor columnist for the L.A. Times and a movie critic for Los Angeles magazine. He is the author of Conservatives are from Mars (Liberals are from San Francisco). The other day I was listening to a talk radio show, and heard a caller announce that there's no freedom of speech in this country, that, because of the fascistic administration in Washington, people are afraid to criticize the government. His proof was that Cindy Sheehan had been rebuked for merely exercising her constitutional right to mouth off against authority figures. The show's host correctly pointed out that the 1st Amendment guarantees her freedom to speak her mind, such as it is, but that doesn't in any way curtail the right of other Americans to call her an idiot. What the host didn't point out was that even as the caller spoke, he was contradicting his own statement. He was freely sharing his own foolish thoughts with millions of listeners. Liberals have become so accustomed to having only their own points of view disseminated by the mass media that they now believe that any opinion in conflict with their own is an infringement on their right to free speech. So not only do they feel entitled to spout off ad nauseam, but honest disagreement is regarded as censorship! What they enjoyed before talk radio and the Internet bloggers came along was a virtual news monopoly, consisting of the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the three major networks. All of which could be counted on to parrot the liberal line. Now, like spoiled brats being forced to share their toys, they can't stop whining. Frankly, I'm amazed that liberals can be wrong so often about so many things. One of the few issues they are occasionally right about is protecting the environment. But even when it comes down to that, the radical element that infests their ranks like termites are always trying to stop any and all forms of development, the source of homes and jobs for those of us who don't want to live in trees. Their love for Mother Earth leads them to blow up buildings, bomb car dealerships, and sabotage logging sites, all with an air of moral authority. They don't, in fact, love snail darters, spotted owls or Alaska's caribou, anymore than the rest of us; they merely hate western civilization in much the same way that Islamic fascists do. A fact worth noting is that during LBJ's administration, a group of tree huggers got an injunction to prevent the feds from working on a certain project in the South, for fear it would harm the environment. The project involved shoring up the levees of New Orleans. As someone who has spent most of his lifetime working in television, I find it odd that there are two Hollywoods. The famous one is filled with wealthy writers, directors, actors and production executives, 99% of whom are liberals, all of whom naturally regard themselves as populists, standing shoulder to shoulder with the working stiff. What isn't so widely known is that when it comes to the caste system, whatever its status in modern day India, it's alive and well out here. Go on any movie or TV sound stage and you'll find that among Hollywood's untouchables, those who don't pop up on award shows or in the tabloids -- the grips, the costumers, the camera crew, the wranglers, the stunt people, the technicians -- the percentage of conservatives is roughly 99%. I would think the hardest part of being a liberal is always having to remember to spout the party line, just like old-time Stalinists. For instance, they always have to keep in mind that they support our troops even though they believe the men and women in Iraq are spilling innocent blood in an evil war. In the same way, they must always remember to parrot the propaganda that they, every bit as much as conservatives, want a strong military. The basic difference, of course, is that they don't want it to do anything. Sometimes, people ask me why I invariably identify myself as a conservative, and not a Republican. The first, I point out, is a philosophy, while the latter is a political party. A philosophy can afford to be pure as the driven snow. A party, on the other hand, has to deal with the nitty-gritty of fund-raising and electing candidates. I accept the realities of politics. Furthermore, I know too much about human nature to ever have my illusions crushed. Unlike my fellow conservatives, I don't believe it when an office seeker of any political persuasion vows he'll cut spending and clear out all the bloated bureaucracies once he or she is elected and goes off to Sacramento, Springfield, Albany, Montgomery, Austin, or, especially, Washington, D.C. It simply goes against every instinct known to man to seek office with the intention of having less money, power and influence, than one's predecessor. While it's true that I invariably vote for Republicans, I never fool myself into thinking they'll be anything except better than their Democratic opponents. Those people who are hurt by such political facts of life are to be pitied. It's like a child's discovery that Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny aren't who they've been cracked up to be. To such conservatives, all I can say is: Grow up. Looking back on my own political metamorphosis, I realize how typical it is that, as one matures, takes on responsibilities, deals with tragedy and loss, one tends to drift from left to right, and how rarely the reverse occurs. It is hard to dispute the old truism that if, at 20, you're not a liberal, you have no heart; and, if by 40, you're not a conservative, you have no brain. And, it's worth noting that if, by, say, 50, you have neither, you'll probably wind up voting for Ralph Nader. |
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SEARCHING FOR TRUTH
Posted by Paula R. Stern, March 27, 2006. |
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Much of Israel is still undecided in the last moments before the election. Some choose not to vote, rather than undergo the emotional and intellectual exercise of determining the least bad candidate. What most of Israel knows is that there is no ideal choice, no single person or party espousing a real solution to the problems we face. In the midst of all this, my son is about to vote for the first time. He is less torn by indecision than I am. "I'll vote for the only party telling the truth," he told me. "Who is that?" I asked, truly wondering if perhaps youth can really see and understand things that we seasoned voters might have missed. "The Arabs," he answered with a smile. At least they can be counted on to implement their platform if they were actually elected, he explained. That their platform is the destruction of Israel was less his point, than that he, like so many of our youth, have already learned the truth, or the lack of it, in Israeli politics. "So who will you really vote for?" I asked him again. "Do I have a choice?" National Union/National Religious Party was his response. For my son and many others, the choice is black and white, or perhaps orange and white is a better answer. As the clock slowly ticks away and I realize for the first time in many years I will not vote for Likud, I recognize that the concept that we can all go to the polls on Tuesday and elect a viable solution for Wednesday is gone. Whether we have all become cynics or realists may be the real question of the day. But what we all know is that Wednesday will dawn, as all the days before it, with the same economic problems, the same social problems, the same security problems. We are all searching, trying to rationalize, trying to find hope and truth in a system that likely has none to offer. The more arguments I hear, the less I am convinced. Party-by-party, I find no real solutions and yet I know I must vote. It is the one certainty I have. My son is correct. I will search for truth. Despite my son's joke about the Arab parties representing truth, even a twisted one, I know that their sitting in our Knesset while espousing our destruction is an affront to democracy. It is a twisting of justice that brings them to the Knesset podium to praise terrorist attacks against our people and condemn the very government system that gives them a voice, unlike any other in the Arab world. Like the Arab parties that Ehud Olmert is likely to require to form a coalition, Kadima is not interested in truth or Israel's security. It is a party born of a man who showed the ultimate contempt for his supporters. It is a dirty party, a corrupt one. I find no nobility there, not of purpose, not of intent. Truth is an unknown concept to them, a joke they play on Israel. Ehud Olmert is an opportunist, Shimon Peres a loser. Even if you understood their platform, you cannot trust them to implement it. Olmert and the others have learned the most dangerous of all lessons from their master: say what you must to get the vote and then do what you wish. I would sooner vote for the Arab parties. At least they will destroy us up front rather than stab us in the back. As for Labor, Amir Peretz is, above all else, an embarrassment. The thought of him representing Israel abroad should be enough to convince even the most diehard Labor supporters that this time they must put their votes elsewhere. As in the past, Labor presents a policy of weakness and surrender. No, they do not deserve our support. With much sadness, I will dismiss Likud as well. The nobility of Menachem Begin, the great voices of Uzi Landau and Natan Sharansky are not enough to offset the reality that Likud is desperate to maintain a presence in the Knesset, and will likely bend its principles again for the sake of power. Who can I trust? Who will take my vote and not betray it? Already United Torah Judaism has indicated that it is ready to sell its values for the same power that calls to Likud. They may sit with Ehud Olmert and Kadima, but they will not sit there with my vote. Time rushes past, the options dwindle. I am left with so few and still I search onwards. Michael Kleiner of Herut suggests that if Jews can be forcibly transferred, why not offer the option to Arabs to leave? Would they go, if given the option and payment? The problem with this theory, of course, is that the ones who would go are probably not the ones currently waging a war of terrorism against us. Baruch Marzel's party, like Herut, may not even make it into the Knesset. Then there is the National Union/National Religious Party (NU/NRP). There are those I respect there, and those who did not fight the battle against disengagement as it should have been fought. Do they represent truth? Will they hold to the values they espouse and for which they might be given our trust and our votes? Is there any other choice for those who want to prevent future expulsions and surrender. Uncertainty remains. Instead of finding answers in the election that is soon to be upon us, I find hope in an unlikely source. An email on a popular aliyah list included a recent post by someone who asked if they should come to Israel now or wait until personal issues in the US are settled? Trying to reassure the list member that she should first deal with matters there and then come here, an email poster wrote, "Israel isn't going anywhere." That doesn't sound good, until you hear it within the context of how it was written. It is a message worth considering. We are here, and here to stay. Whoever wins the election, whatever government is formed, we Israelis must ensure that the fundamental principles on which we built this country remain in focus. The truth, as my son reminded me today, is that the future of Israel is ours to determine, tomorrow when we vote and more importantly the next day when we awaken under a new government because ultimately, what we must remember, what we must tell the world, is that Israel isn't going anywhere. Paula R. Stern is a technical writer, founder and documentation manager of WritePoint Ltd and part of the Techshoret Jerusalem Technical Writers Group. Contact her at paula@writepoint.com or go to her website http://www.paulasays.com/ |
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PALESTINIANS DESERVE NO AID
Posted by David Holcberg, March 27, 2006. |
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In a disgraceful decision that amounts to aiding and abetting terrorism, the EU gave $78 million to the Palestinian Authority. Through the years, Western governments have given billions of dollars to the Palestinians. This drain on Western wealth has been used to promote anti-Semitism in Palestinian schools, mosques and media--and to finance suicide bombings in Israeli streets, restaurants and malls. The election of Hamas--an Islamic terrorist group committed to the destruction of Israel--is another demonstration that the Palestinians deserve no aid, or sympathy. What they deserve is to suffer the consequences of electing terrorists to rule them. David Holcberg holds a degree in civil engineering and is a Media Specialist at the Ayn Rand Institute Institute (http://www.aynrand.org/) in Irvine, CA. The Institute promotes the ideas of Ayn Rand--best-selling author of "Atlas Shrugged" and "The Fountainhead" and originator of the philosophy of Objectivism. |
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WHAT SORT OF SIGNAL ARE YOU SENDING YOUR ENEMIES?
Posted by Steven S. Carol, March 27, 2006. |
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The day before the proclamation of the re-establishment of the State of Israel, the Egyptian army invaded from the Gaza strip and threatened the coas tal heartland of the nascent Jewish State. Flash forward 58 years. Now, newer more deadly, longer range rockets fired from Hamas-controlled Gaza, threaten that very same Israeli heartland. What is alarming is how Israel responded to these two very similar threats. In 1948, the Israeli Defense Force battled the Egyptian army and drove it back towards Egypt. They trapped a portion of the Egyptian army including future Egyptian president Gamal Abdul Nasser in the Faluja pocket. After driving into the Sinai for the first time in the 125+ year Arab war against the Jews of the Land of Israel, the Israelis forced Egypt to agree to an armistice. This use of Israeli military force into the Gaza Strip would also prove successful in 1955, 1956, and 1967. In contrast, since the unilateral Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in August 2005, there has been neither peace nor tranquility but rather unending rocket fire on Israeli towns from Sderot to the southern outskirts of Ashkelon. Among the targets in Ashkelon is the Rotenberg power plant which supplies 25% of Israel's electricity. During the past 3 months at least three rockets have hit the area very close to the power plant. Ironically this is the same facility which supplies electricity to the Arabs in the Gaza Strip. Obviously, the Arab terrorist groups such as Hamas, Fatah, the Al-Aksa brigades, or Islamic Jihad don't care if their own people would suffer deprivation and a literal black out. This raises an important question. What is the current Israeli government response to these increasing rocket attacks? The IDF has lobbed a few artillery shells into empty fields. The government owned plant now unbelievably, sent the following warning guidelines to the workers: [Do] ... Not ... walk in groups or to eat together in the dining rooms"[1] for fear of greater casualties if rockets hit the power plant. Instead of a proactive policy we see retreat and the government conveying a sense of fear. The policy of unilateral withdrawal pushed by the Sharon government and now echoed by his successor Ehud Olmert, has proven to be a disaster. Over 9,000 Israelis have been uprooted from their homes, and 21 Israeli towns have been demolished. These moves did not bring peace or more security to Israel. In the eyes of those Arabs who wish to destroy the Jewish state, it was a confirmation that tactics of terror have succeeded. They see the Israeli withdrawal as a retreat and a defeat for Israel which is a victory for them. Further unilateral territorial withdrawals that reduce Israel's strategic depth, that deprive Israel of control of the Judean-Samarian highlands and the Golan Heights, that reduce the time for Israeli mobilization, that increases Israel's chances of being cut into two, and that require greater reliance on "hair-trigger" preemptive strategies will cause Israel far greater existential problems than those it faces now. Where is the fortitude that Israeli governments in its first 30 years displayed? Rather than issuing advisories for people to avoid being in groups at the workplace and elsewhere, what is needed is the immediate use of military force on a scale no less than what was employed in 1948, during the first Arab war against Israel; 1956 during the Sinai campaign; 1967 during the Six Day War; 1973, during the Yom Kippur War; and 1982 during the Lebanon campaign to clear out terrorist bases from that nation. Anything else signals Israel's enemies that the Jewish state lacks the will to defend its nationhood and encourages their belief that the Jewish state can be destroyed. [1] Israelnationalnews.com March 16, 2006 Dr. Steve Carol is Professor of History (retired); Official Historian, Middle East Radio Forum (www.middleeastradioforum.org); and Senior Fellow, Center for Advanced Middle East Studies, http://www.cames.ws in Scottsdale, Arizona |
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GALLUP: A DECLINE IN PALESTINIAN FERTILITY
Posted by Yoram Ettinger, March 27, 2006. |
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1. A March 17, 2006 Gallup survey of Palestinians and Jews -- aged 15 and older -- west of the Jordan River (http://poll.gallup.com/content/?ci=21940) lends credence to recent findings about the declining Palestinian fertility, accompanied by increasing Jewish fertility (while substantial net negative Palestinian migration and net positive Jewish migration persist). The recent findings highlight the demographic study, led by Bennett Zimmerman and published in February 2006 by the " Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies" (www.besa.org). 2. According to Gallup, Palestinians wish to reduce the size of their families (to 4.7 children per woman), while Israeli Jews aim to expand their families (to 3.7 children per woman). While younger Palestinians aspire for even smaller families, younger Jewish families aspire for larger families. The preference by Israeli Arabs is similar to the Jewish preference. 3. Gallup finds strong evidence (base on its track record since 1936) that people's preferred family size has a strong bearing on actual fertility rates. 4. According to Gallup, "the assumption that Palestinians will eventually out-number the Jewish population in the region has come under recent criticism." 5. Gallup's conclusions have been supported by the Palestinian Ministry of Health (PMOH), which has documented the systematic decline in fertility, birth rate and population growth. PMOH shed light on the causes for the decline: *Unprecedented family planning, just like in the Third World, Muslim countries (Iran -- 1.98 children per woman) and Arab countries (Egypt -- 2.9 children per woman). Hang Tough, Yoram PS: May Israel's new government resurrect the spirit of the Book of Numbers (whose reading was concluded last week): From physical slavery to deliverance, and from spiritual slavery (to the Golden Calf) to spiritual deliverance (the construction of the Holy Ark). Ambassador Yoram Ettinger is a consultant on US-Israel relations as well as the Chairman of Special Projects at the Ariel Center for Policy Research. Formerly the Minister for Congressional Affairs to Israel's Embassy in Washington, DC, Ettinger also served as Consul General of Israel to the Southwestern US. He is a former editor of Contemporary Mideast Backgrounder, and is the author of the Jerusalem Cloakroom series of reports. Contact him at yoramtex@netvision.net.il |
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AMERICA TAKES SIDE OF ISRAEL
Posted by Women in Green, March 27, 2006. |
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This article was written by Jeff Jacoby. It appeared in the Boston Globe yesterday. A GALLUP POLL released last month puts American support for Israel at near-record levels. When asked for their views on the Middle East, 59 percent of Americans say they sympathize with the Israelis, while just 15 percent favor the Palestinians. Pro-Israel sentiment rises with increased knowledge -- 66 percent of those who follow international affairs "very closely" support Israel, compared with 52 percent of those who don't pay close attention to foreign news. Other findings are comparable. More than two-thirds of Americans say their overall view of Israel is favorable. Only 11 percent, by contrast, have a favorable opinion of the Palestinian Authority. While 22 percent of the public wants Washington to conduct diplomatic relations with the Hamas-controlled Palestinian government even if it refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist as a sovereign state, 44 percent say recognition of Israel must be a precondition to relations with the United States. Another 25 percent -- one American in four -- oppose any US dealings with Hamas at all. Staunch American support for Israel is nothing new. In February 2005, Gallup reported similarly lopsided findings -- 69 percent of the public viewed Israel favorably, 25 percent unfavorably. In 2004, when Israel was being denounced in Europe and the United Nations for its assassination of Sheik Ahmed Yassin, the leader of Hamas, 61 percent of Americans said Israel was justified in killing him. In 2002, when a CBS News poll asked whether Israel's actions against Yasser Arafat and his forces were equivalent to US actions against Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda, 59 percent agreed that they were. In short, solidarity with Israel is an abiding feature of American public opinion. Because the American people are pro-Israel, the American government is pro-Israel. And because Americans so strongly support Israel in its conflict with the Arabs, American policy in the Middle East is committed to Israel's defense. Only someone far outside the American mainstream, then, would insist that "Israel's past and present conduct offers no moral basis for privileging it over the Palestinians." Or that US policy is engineered through a Zionist "stranglehold on Congress." Or that "neither strategic nor moral arguments can account for America's support for Israel," leaving only one possible explanation: "the unmatched power of the Israel Lobby." Those aren't the words of American neo-Nazi David Duke -- though Duke has ringingly endorsed them. They aren't the words of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, the granddaddy of Islamist radicalism -- though a top Brotherhood official praises them. They aren't the words of the PLO -- though the PLO is actively distributing them. The source of those words, and many more like them, is a bitter anti-Israel screed masquerading as academic scholarship. Co-authored by Stephen Walt, academic dean of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, and University of Chicago professor John Mearsheimer, "The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy" was released last week as a "working paper" on the Kennedy School website. But so slipshod is the paper's research and so extreme its bias that within days the Harvard and Kennedy School logos were stripped from the title page. "It clearly does not meet the academic standards of a Kennedy School research paper," said Marvin Kalb, one of the school's best-known scholars. The idea that the American public and US policy makers dance to a tune played by an all-powerful "Israel Lobby" is an old canard. Neo-Nazis like Duke have long described Capitol Hill as part of the ZOG, or Zionist Occupation Government. Right-wing nativist Pat Buchanan notoriously charged "the Israeli defense ministry and its 'amen corner' in the United States" with "beating the drums for war" in 1990. If the truth be told, it isn't hard to understand why America's ardent support for Israel might strike some people as odd, or even suspicious. In so much of the world -- Europe, the Middle East, the UN General Assembly -- Israel is despised. Even if Americans don't share the anti-Semitism that is rife in other lands, wouldn't it be more practical for them to stop taking Israel's side? After all, there are 500 million Arabs in the world, and they control one-third of the world's oil supply. Why should Americans alienate them by continuing to support Israel, a country with no oil and just 6 million people? As a matter of plain economic common sense, the United States has every reason to turn against the Jewish state. What accounts for its refusal to do so? If it isn't an "Israel Lobby" pulling hidden strings, what on earth can it be? Something more powerful than economics: the kinship of common values. Ruth and Nadia Matar established Women For Israel's Tomorrow (Women in Green), an activist group of women based in Jerusalem. Their website address is http://www.womeningreen.org |
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PHONY ISRAELI ELECTION; UNIVERSITIES FOR MIS-EDUCATION; LEFTIST ISRAELI PROFS.
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, March 27, 2006. |
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PHONY ISRAELI ELECTION I was waiting to hear of a vigorous campaign by Likud against Kadima. The Winston Mid East Analysis went further. It observed that the muted campaign by Netanyahu indicates that he is throwing the election in return for a place in the new Cabinet. Once his Party takes that place, other parties would, too. They must, to get political patronage. Patronage in Israel, where the government controls almost everything, is crucial. The new government would withdraw, the Arabs would bomb, and eventually the people will have to string up their leaders and try to salvage the rest of the country (3/23). In support of the Winston theory is Netanyahu's skill at articulating. He could run a strong campaign, if he wanted to. Netanyahu may have struck a similar deal before, forcing Peres to throw the election for Prime Minister to him, lest he reveal that Peres assassinated Rabin. Israelis think they have democratic choices. Well, they could pick a minor party of integrity and vote it in. They haven't the sense and fortitude to do that. They think they are too smart to waste their votes on minor parties, so they waste their votes on corrupt and unpatriotic major parties. DUBAI'S EXPLOITATIVE BUILDING BOOM Dubai is building the world's tallest building. Its companies pay masses of foreign workers peanuts, and then withhold their pay. In reaction, the workers riot (IMRA, 3/23). One can afford a building boom when one doesn't pay. Abuse of employees is a common complaint about Arab employers of foreigners. Still the workers apply. ARAB WEDDING PRESENT Celebrating a friend's wedding, a P.A. man fired his gun into the air. He lost control of it; bullets wounded the groom. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights deplores the proliferation of guns among civilians. It calls upon the P.A. to investigate and punish individuals and groups (militias or just gangs?) that possess arms illegally (IMRA, 3/23). How else is one supposed to demonstrate one's manhood, celebrate, settle clan disputes, and engage in freelance terrorism? The Center probably would like arms restricted to official troops prosecuting the terrorist war. Then it would be able to devote all its efforts to deploring Israeli counter-attacks as harmful to Arab human rights. All the militias are armed illegally. Perhaps the Center hasn't noticed, but the P.A. set them up. Now it couldn't disarm them even if it wanted to. ANNAN'S UNHELPFUL REMARK Hizbullah's excuse for retaining its militia is to expel Israeli forces from a tiny part of what it claims is Lebanese, known as Shaba Farms. The UNO had certified, however, that Israel had withdrawn all its forces from Lebanon. Annan said that the Farms had been part of Syria, and recommended that Syria and Israel negotiate its status (Benny Avni, NY Sun, 3/10, p.7). His suggestion is gratuitous. The Farms area, like all of the Golan Heights, has a status -- incorporated into Israel. There is no need to negotiate. What does negotiation mean? It means the issue doesn't get resolved unless Israel cedes this part of the Land of Israel. This is because the Muslim Arabs don't compromise. What is at stake? The Heights are a strategic defense area. They would be ceded to the aggressor that repeatedly used them as a shield from which to bombard Israeli farmers and as a jumping off point for invasion. They are vital for Israeli security. They furnish about 40% of Israel's water supply. Without them, Israel would dry up. Giving the Heights to Syria would nullify the penalty for Syrian aggression, as well as reposition Syria for renewing aggression. Considering that Syria remains bellicose, and is backed up in this by Iran, the probability of renewed aggression is high. That is why international law provides that the defender of aggression may annex parts of the aggressor country that it is afraid may otherwise facilitate renewed aggression. To whom should the Heights belong? When the Turkish Empire was dismantled, there was no Syria. Since the Golan Heights had been part of ancient Israel, the Palestine Mandate, drawn up to re-establish the Jewish state, included the Golan. Shortly afterwards, Britain high-handedly switched the Heights to the new Syrian Mandate, for local political reasons. Syria, an artificial country, has no special claim to it, doesn't deserve it, and should not get it. Otherwise, "there's no justice." WHAT ARE UNIVERSITIES FOR? The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) interviewed Rashid Khalidi, head of Columbia University's Middle East Institute. Prof. Khalidi said that Hamas is not responsible for the violence, Israeli "occupation" is, and that if Israel withdrew, it could have peace (IMRA, 3/9). This is the old land-for-peace concept, disproved before it was conceived. It was disproved by the multiple Arab attacks on Israel before Israel acquired the Territories. It is disproved again by the Hamas charter and statements, which deem all of Israel to be "occupied Arab land." There can be no peace with Hamas for Israel. Khalidi is misleading. Is that what university Middle East Institutes are for? QATAR TO HELP ARM P.A. Qatar offered the P.A. 100 armored personnel carriers, equipped with mortars and anti-tank missiles. It claims the vehicles would be used for police work (IMRA, 3/9). Police work or overkill? More likely, Hamas would use them to attack Israelis. Thanks to the Sharon-Olmert abandonment of Gaza, the personnel carriers may be brought in through the Sinai. Previously, Israel guarded that entry point and would have barred them. Thus withdrawal proves more and more deadly for Israel. WHAT VALUE, POLLARD'S MILITARY INTELLIGENCE NOW? Pollard says that after 20 years in prison, any military intelligence he knows (that he hadn't already given to Israel) has no value left. Therefore he is not being kept in prison to safeguard US military intelligence. The Chiefs of Staff had told a reporter that they got the judge to boost the usual 2-4 year sentence to one of life without parole in order to warn American Jewry. It worked. In all those years, although the major Jewish organizations wrote letters urging his release, none of them invited to the White House annually ever asked the President for clemency for Pollared. The White House could see that they didn't care (or were afraid). He thinks his excessive sentence aims to dissolve the former closeness between the US and Israel, by making him seem to have harmed the US. However, no information he gave Israel harmed a US agent or was turned over to another country (IMRA, 3/9). LEFTIST ISRAELI PROFESSORS AGAINST ISRAEL The man behind the attempt to get the British Association of University Teachers to boycott Haifa U. was Ilan Pappe, a Communist professor at Haifa U.! The leftist persecution of normal Israelis continues. The new campaign targets individuals. Leftists threaten effective, even heroic Army officers traveling abroad to prosecute them for war crimes (i.e., fighting back against war criminal terrorists with legal means, that some people have decided should be denied Jewish victims of aggression.) One of the ex-Israelis who petitioned a British court in this way is a lawyer for a pro-terrorist Arab group, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, which will not condemn the war crime of suicide-bombing civilians. Helping it is an Israeli group that tries to stir mutiny against defense from the P.A. Arabs. Israel has instructed its officers not to study in Britain, lest they be arrested on false charges (Prof. Steven Plaut, 3/9). There is no confidence that the trial would be any fairer than the false charges, in the international climate of ignorant anti-Zionism and condoning of Arab evil. 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@aol.com. |
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TEL AVIV U'S RED PROFESSOR
Posted by Steven Plaut, March 27, 2006. |
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Israel's Tel Aviv University has long been a notorious outpost of "Post-Zionist" (i.e. anti-Israel) professors and openly communist faculty members. It would be hard to pinpoint the very worst and most outrageous of these professional radicals, but Yehouda Shenhav is surely a serious contender. Shenhav is an Associate Professor and past department chairman of sociology at Tel Aviv University. Born Yehouda Shaharabani to Iraqi parents who had immigrated as refugees to Israel, he later changed his name to a less obviously Asian one. He teaches Marxism and anti-Zionism to Tel Aviv University students and he edits the pseudo-academic Israeli journal Theory and Criticism. Publishing anti-Israel propaganda and boilerplate Marxism, Theory and Criticism was founded in 1990 by a gaggle of Israeli communists, Arabs, and leftist anti-Zionists. Shenhav also sits on the board of another anti-Israel "journal" published by extremists at Israel's Ben-Gurion University. Shenhav was a visiting faculty member at Columbia University when the radicals at the late Edward Said's campus were turning it into a hotbed of anti-Jewish sentiment. Unsurprisingly, Shenhav did not speak out against the rising campus anti-Semitism there nor did he denounce the academic ultras. Instead, Shenhav attended anti-war events throughout the region, starring Columbia faculty and others opposed to the American-led war against Iraqi Baathism and Islamist terrorism. During his appearances, Shenhav compared the war in Iraq to "Israeli acts of aggression in the West Bank," which he saw as "acts of colonialism" led by "crude military men." (Notwithstanding his incessant complaints about the immorality of Israeli society and the intolerable colonialism of its government, Shehav has never refused his taxpayer-financed university salary.) Shenhav is a "critical" part of the leftist clerisy that has taken over a once-serious Israeli think tank, the Van Leer Institute in Jerusalem, turning it into a little taxpayer-supported arm of anti-Jewish propaganda and activism. He is one of the charter members of a far-leftist group of Asian Jews (those whose families immigrated to Israel from Islamic countries) calling itself the "Mizrahi Democratic Rainbow Coalition". While pretending to be a lobbying group for underprivileged Asian Jews in Israel, the "Rainbow Coalition" spends most of its time promoting the Communist Party's formula for ending "occupation" and bringing peace to a future Middle East that evidently will not contain a Jewish state. The "Rainbow" is one of the anti-Jewish Israeli groups celebrated by the Marxists at Z magazine, Noam Chomsky's favorite magazine. While having a picayune membership, the "Rainbow" nevertheless is awash in funds it gets from the radical New Israel Fund and similar foreign groups. Shenhav is clearly the star of the "Rainbow Coalition" web site, which is crouded with pieces by anti-Israel writers, including pro-terror Stanford professor Joel Beinin, "Professor" Smadar Lavie, a feminist and anti-Zionist who is not a professor at all, and even an Israel-bashing article by UFO crackpot conspiracist Barry Chamish. The web site publishes articles endorsing the campaign by European anti-Semites to boycott Israeli universities. Yehousa Shenhav is among the better-known of Israel's anti-Israel academics. He has signed many of those anti-Israel petitions, collected regularly by certain academics, including one endorsing the Jewish woman arrested for helping her Palestinian boyfriend plan terror bombings, and another proposing international intervention to end Israeli sovereignty. Shenhav's main "academic thesis" has long been the claim that Asian/Sephardic Jews who came to Israel from Arab countries are in fact Arabs of the Jewish faith. He insists that their national identity is determined, like throughout the West, by language, whereas anyone with the slightest familiarity with the Middle East knows that nationality groups there are defined primarily by religious identity. (That is why secular Jews who do not practice Judaism are still Jews.) In trying to stake out a niche as an academic exponent of "multiculturalism," Shenhav in fact shows that he is a victim of his own Western provinciality, lacking any understanding of so basic a fact of life. For Shenhav, the "Jewish Arabs thesis" is a purposeful and egregious misapplication of the modern European Jewish liberal posturing. It is designed to make Jews more accepted by claiming to be Germans (or Hungarians, or whatever) of the Jewish religion, and then tendentiously applies the same idea to Jews from Arab countries. Arabic-speaking Jews are Jews, and not Arabs, just as Hebrew-speaking Arabs are still Arabs. Shenhav might be able to find Sephardic Jews who agree with his "Jewish Arabs thesis," and who hold that they are Arabs of the Jewish religion, but there is no validity to the claim. Shenhav has promoted his view that Asian Jews are Arabs in numerous articles and his recent book, The Arab Jews: Nationality, Religion and Ethnicity, won rave reviews from Arab extremists and from PLO front groups. Shenhav considers Zionism to be a form of colonialism. Indeed, Shenhav has long argued that Asian Jews and Palestinians need to unite to fight Zionism, that old "common cause" of the communist party in "Palestine" from the 1920s onward. Asian Jews and Palestinians are, in his view, two wings of the same struggle in absolutely everything--except that Shehav has staunchly opposed the idea of compensation for Asian Jews from Arabs. Though a child of immigrants to Israel from Iraq, Shenhav wants his own family and those of all other Jewish refugees from Arab countries to be denied their due rights to compensation for property stolen from them. At the same time, he endorses unlimited rights to "compensation" for Palestinians and even their "right of return" to Israeli territory after a Palestinian state is created. This is all the moral equivalent of someone insisting that Germans have the right to compensation for losses during World War II while neither Jews nor Czechs do. Unsurprisingly, Shenhav has been denounced by Justice for Jews from Arab Countries and similar pro-Sephardic groups. While a prominent Tel Aviv University professor, Shenhav has a long track record of promoting crackpot theories about a variety of matters. He has promoted the long-discredited conspiracy holding that Yemenite Jewish children from families who came to Israel in its early years were "kidnapped" and surreptitiously handed over for adoption to European Jews. Not a shred of evidence that any such "kidnappings" took place has ever surfaced, including via DNA tests. Shenhav's latest cause célèbre is the struggle against "neo-liberalism". Those living in the real world--meaning outside of campuses--might be confused by that terminology. But back in the 19th century liberalism used to mean free markets, democracy, and the right to pursue equal opportunity. By the 1960s, American "liberalism" had come to mean the very opposite of traditional liberalism, while the banners of 19th-century liberalism had been adopted by American conservatives. The far Left in recent years adopted "neo-liberalism" as its favorite nonsense term, and its main political crusade today is directed toward attacking what it calls, interchangeably and erroneously, "neo-liberalism" and "neo-conservatism". To paraphrase George Orwell, some ideas are so stupid that one can only learn about them from professors. Shenhav is one of those professors. What he and his ilk really mean by "neo-liberalism" is economic freedom. They may not understand first-year economics but certainly they know that economic freedom is evil and must be suppressed at all costs. Writing in Haaretz on March 22, 2006, Shenhav declares that "neo-liberalism" is a "destructive" form of "religious-like fundamentalism," a "new form of global imperialism controlled by multinational corporations," which develop "anti-democratic styles of management, laws, justice and morality," all designed to oppress the poor workers. He has said, "Patriotism and national solidarity are eroded from below by social injustice, and from above by globalization." Shenhav pontificates about how he thinks markets operate, recites long-discredited Marxist "theories," all the while singing sycophantic praises of the recent book A Brief History of Neoliberalism by David Harvey. Harvey is far-Left professor of Anthropology at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. For Shenhav and the cadre of Marxists in the sociology and political science departments at Tel Aviv University, the solution to "neoliberalism" is more of the "progressive" policies that have failed to such disastrous effect in the last century. That makes him but the latest example of the pampered academic whose political fervor is inversely proportional to his expertise. yThis article appeared March 27, 2006 in Front Page Magazine (http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=21798). The original article has live links to additional material. |
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PESACH 2006 -- YESHA SOLIDARITY DAY TRIPS
Posted by Aaron Tirschwell, March 26, 2006. |
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One Israel Fund Presents its Annual Pesach 2006 YESHA Solidarity Day
Trips
Sunday, April 16, 2006: SHOMRON AND THE JORDAN VALLEY * Travel to the shores of the Jordan River to the site where B'nei Yisrael crossed into Eretz Yisrael under the leadership of Yehoshua * Visit Einot Kedem and meet an idealistic young Jewish family that established a 1,000 acre farm to help reclaim Eretz Yisrael * For kids of all ages who like excitement -- slide down a long and speedy water slide and dip in the pond of Ein Uga * Ascend to Ba'al Chatzor where Hashem showed Avraham Avinu a phenomenal view of all of Eretz Yisrael after he left Lot * From the top of Har Grizim observe the location of Kever Yosef in Shechem * See the ancient Samaritan community as well as their modern-day descendants * Visit the sprawling hilltop community of Itamar and view the numerous communities of the Shomron from its heights * Visit a young community, Givat Har'el, the site of an ancient Bamah and explore an ancient Shomera Monday, April 17, 2006: TWO EXCITING CHOICES OF DAY TRIPS Option 1: YEHUDA: GUSH ETZION AND HEBRON * Pray at venerated Kever Rachel in Bet Lechem. View the national Security Fence that surrounds the Kever. * Tour the flourishing dati leumi community of Efrat. Hear from community leaders about the route of the proposed security fence and discuss the ramifications. * Visit Beitar Illit, one of the fastest growing and most beautiful communities in Yesha * Tour Tel Azeika, the site where David fought Golyat * Explore the Bar Kochva cave at Tel Godaid * Visit Hirbat Midras, believed to be the site of dovecotes for the raising of korbanot * Visit the multi-cultural spiritual community of Bat Ayin, site of an ancient winepress from Biblical times * Walk the Path of the Patriarchs and explore the ancient Mikvah from Temple times * Explore the Jewish neighborhoods of Hevron * Mincha at Ma'arat HaMachpela * Eve Harow will serve as the guide. Option 2: CHOL HAMOED WITH GUSH KATIF'S REFUGEES * Visit the caravillas of Nitzan and the tent city of Ir Emuna, temporary home of the displaced families of Gush Katif, and show solidarity with these heroic men, women and children. * Bring some Chol HaMoed joy to those who have been displaced and are still trying to find their permanent homes. * Cost for the day is $30 per person.
DAY TRIP DETAILS * Era Rapoport, an outstanding licensed tour guide, will lead the tours in English in an air-conditioned, bulletproof bus * Tours will leave from Jerusalem's Inbal Hotel at 9:00 a.m. promptly and return at approximately 7:00 p.m. * Cost per day: $50 adult; $40 child under 12 (Option 2 on April 17 is $30 per person) * Please bring your own Kasher Le'Pesach lunch to meet your
individual standards. Bottled water will be provided.
For reservations and additional information, please contact One Israel Fund: In the United States: Ruthie Kohn: 516.239.9202 ext. 10 In Israel: Irwin Borvick: 054-570-1548 Eve Harow: 057-622-8275 Online: daytrips@oneisraelfund.org Contact Aaron Tirschwell at aaron@oneisraelfund.org |
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GROUCHO QUIZZES THE LEADERS
Posted by Israel Zwick, March 26, 2006. |
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On March 24, 2006, the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, reported an exclusive interview with Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas. The same day, the Israeli website, Ynet News, reported an exclusive interview with Kadima leader, Ehud Olmert. The next day, the two Middle East leaders were invited to participate in the TV quiz show, "You Bet Your Life." This show, hosted by comedian Groucho Marx, was aired on television from 1950 to 1961. The popularity and longevity of the program was attributed to the humorous interactions between Groucho Marx and the contestants. Grouch Marx died in 1977. Announcer: Welcome to "You Bet Your Life." The secret word tonight is "RELOCATION." If any of the contestants say this word during the show, they will receive a bonus prize. Now let's bring up tonight's contestants, Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas. Gentlemen, meet Groucho Marx. Groucho: Welcome to our show, Mr. Olmert and Mr. Abbas. The secret word for tonight is a proposed solution for resolving ethnic conflict. If any of you say the secret word during the show, a rubber duck will come down and give each of you 1000 Shekel. We can no longer use a real duck because of concerns over avian flu. At my age, there's one thing I always wanted to do before I quit... retire! So Ehud, tell us a little about yourself. What do you do? Ehud: You mean that you don't know who I am? Groucho: Well, I never forget a face, but in your case I'll be glad to make an exception. Ehud: I am the Acting Prime Minister of the State of Israel. Groucho: So, you're an actor. Ehud: No, I'm not an actor. Groucho: I already figured that out for myself. You should seriously consider finding another profession. You could become a decoy for duck hunters. What about you, Mahmoud, are you also an actor? Mahmoud: No, Groucho. I take my job very seriously; I am the democratically elected President of the Palestinian Authority. Groucho: So you must be the one responsible for bringing the Palestinians up from nothing to a state of extreme poverty. Mahmoud: I have devoted my life to the plight of the Palestinian people. I am one of those who signed the Oslo agreement and was a patron of the negotiations that were conducted prior to it in secret for eight months. I supported, and continue to support, a clear peace plan, based on the legitimacy of international law, to which we all agreed, and on the road map. I have called ceaselessly for a hudna [cease-fire] in order to enable the continuation of negotiations, and I achieved a period of calm when I was prime minister. I have often swum against the current, but when our public hears from Israel that there is no Palestinian partner - that is something that I cannot explain. Groucho: I can see that time flies like an arrow and fruit flies like a banana. Ehud, what about you? Are you impressed by Mahmoud's self-assessment? Ehud: I know him and we were very friendly, but I cannot base my attitude toward the PA on the sympathy I may have for a certain individual. Abbas failed in the biggest challenge that he faced from the get go -- the war on terror. As a result of his government's failure, Hamas rose to a very influential position. Groucho: It seems that time wounds all heels. Mahmoud, do you accept the blame for the rise of Hamas? Mahmoud: That is the price of democracy. The Palestinian people elected this government, but the PLO Executive and all the organizations stated that they reject the Hamas platform. Fatah made mistakes in a few places, and the election system helped Hamas win. But 51 percent of the Palestinians support Fatah's political plan. I prefer to moderate Hamas and not to push it to extremes. Groucho: What is this political plan that you are referring to? Mahmoud: Our solution is based on the Beirut declaration of 2002, which was the biggest gift Israel received since its establishment. It has a special importance because its origin is Saudi Arabia, the land of the Islamic holy places, and because all the Arab states and all the Muslim states at the conference declared their readiness for normalization with Israel after the occupation of the territories ends. Groucho: Mahmoud, it seems that you learned that the secret of life is honesty and fair dealing, and if you can fake that you've got it made. Could you explain that Saudi plan? Mahmoud: I accept the right of every Israeli citizen to live in security and within agreed borders, which are the borders of 1967. I know well the meaning of life in a situation of unstable security. On the other hand, we, too, have the right to live in an independent state in the 1967 borders, without fences, without settlements, and without military attacks. You should know that not a day passes without a funeral here, without people being wounded and without arrests. Groucho: Now there's a man with an open mind -- you can feel the breeze from here! Ehud, what do you think about Mahmoud's plan? Ehud: I can promise them a state, without giving up on the settlement blocks, but only if they accept the basic conditions set by the international community as they appear in the Road Map for peace initiative, any government that recognizes this will be legitimate. Groucho: So Mahmoud, can you make Ehud happy and accept the Road Map? Mahmoud: The negotiations with Israel will be conducted by the PLO's negotiations unit on the basis of international legitimacy and the Saudi initiative. I am unreservedly committed to the Road Map, to which Israel appended 14 reservations. If we reach and agreement, I will be the one to sign it. If needed, I will put it to a referendum. Groucho: Does that satisfy you, Ehud? Ehud: The PA Prime Minister, Ismail Haniyeh, is an enemy according to his own definition. He does not recognize Israel or the agreements signed with us; he also does not recognize Israel's right to exist. Groucho: So Ehud, do you have an alternative plan? Ehud: When I speak of gathering inside permanent borders, the unilateral issue is insignificant. In lieu of negotiations, first of all I want to reach via domestic dialogue a position that represents the Israeli consensus regarding the country's permanent borders. Then I said I would negotiate with the US and the International community with the objective of convincing them of the logic behind such a move. If it will be conducted in such a manner -- it is not unilateralism but a coordinated process. Then a Palestinian state could be established within the same borders we will set after we decide to evacuate, with internal agreement and international support -- without relinquishing the military options we will have in all of the West Bank to protect ourselves from terror. Groucho: A child of five would understand this. George, send someone to fetch a child of five. Mahmoud, do you understand Ehud's plan? Mahmoud: Olmert's plan may bring about a 10-year hudna and a state with temporary borders, but it will not bring peace. Plans like that leave the problem open, but do not resolve it. We saw what happened when the end of the conflict is postponed. According to Oslo, we were supposed to reach a final-status agreement by 1999, and we saw what happened. Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated, Shimon Peres lost the elections, and Benjamin Netanyahu destroyed everything. I am proposing to sit now and discuss the end of the conflict. I proposed to Peres and the Americans to open a back channel of talks, far from the spotlight, and I am convinced that within less than a year, we will be able to sign an agreemnent. Groucho: Ehud, do you share Mahmoud's optimism? Ehud: Only a Palestinian Authority that is committed to the agreements and is not involved in terror may be a partner for negotiations and an agreement. After Hamas rose to power, the hope of holding substantial negotiations was dashed. Groucho: Ehud, I understand that allegations were made about your honesty, integrity, and worthiness to become Prime Minister. Ehud: Have you heard any complaints against me on these issues in the past four years? No! Why? Because I was not a candidate. People are not stupid and realize that this is part of the elections campaign and the smear campaign. Groucho: I have always said that there is one way to find out if a man is honest -- ask him. If he says "yes," then you know he's a crook. Mahmoud, do you have anything to say to Ehud? Mahmoud: We must come to the negotiating table in good faith and with a genuine and true desire to end the conflict. I have to put myself in your shoes and you will put yourselves in my shoes. When each side understands the rights of the other, there is a chance that we will reach a solution. It will not happen if you ambush me into a corner in order to grab a slice here and a slice there. Groucho: Gentlemen, our time is up. I've had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn't it. I am now convinced that politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it, misdiagnosing it, and then misapplying the wrong remedies. Since neither of the contestants said the secret word, our next contestants will get a chance to get the bonus prize. George, who are our next contestants? Announcer: Bibi Netanyahu and Ismail Haniyeh. Contact Israel Zwick at israel.zwick@earthlink.net |
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PRE-PESACH APPEAL FOR SHIMSHON CYTRYN
Posted by Ken Heller, March 26, 2006. |
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This message comes Dina at Yeshivat HaRa'ayon HaYehudi, Jerusalem, Israel (jidea@netvision.net.il). Months ago I sent an appeal for funds for the defense of young Shimshon Cytryn, age 18, who is currently under house arrest and wrongfully accused of attempted murder of an Arab youth in the Muassi compound on the Gaza beach last summer. The Cytryn family wishes to thank all of those who thus far have so generously given of themselves towards his legal expenses, thereby fulfilling the mitzvah of "Pidyon Shevuim". These generous gifts have provided the family with all but the last approximately $10,000 for his lawyer. Once again, I appeal to your generous hearts to give what you can to cover this last $10,000. Please see the details of Shimshon's ordeal below, as well as the addresses to which to send these much-needed funds. In the merit of this great mitzvah, may you and yours live many years of good health and grow from strength to strength, and be blessed with a Chag Pesach Kasher v'Sameach. B'ahavat Israel,
Now one of these young protestors needs your help. On July 28, 2005, Arab terrorists attacked Jewish residents and protestors in Gush Katif with rocks. Several Jews were struck and badly wounded by the rock throwing. Their friends attempted to fight back and apprehend the Arab attackers. By the time time IDFsoldiers arrived on the scene to restore security, the Jews had managed to detain several of the Arab terrorists and were demanding that the soldiers place them under arrest. Instead, the IDF soldiers decided to simply separate the two groups and allow the Arab rock throwers to escape. One witness said that in the course of the incident, "about 30 Arabs came out and started pounding everything in sight with rocks. It was a terrible disgrace for the IDF... The soldiers were simply unable to protect themselves from this onslaught, even though the Arabs were pounding the jeeps and everything."  Israeli television stations showed footage of an Arab - Halil Majeida - lying on the ground and then two Jewish boys running towards him and throwing rocks at him. It is alleged that one of these boys is Shimshon Cytryn, an 18-year-old yeshiva student -- and the State has accused him of attempted murder. But, according to an eye-witness, "That's not the story! I saw this same Arab get hit in the head with a rock - and yet he continued to throw rocks, like a tiger, for the next 15 minutes! And then I saw some reporters go over to him and tell him to lie down and act as if he was unconscious. Later on, he was taken out walking on his own, holding on to a soldier; all this talk of his being mortally wounded is total nonsense." Majeida is the one who Shimshon Cytryn is being accused of attempting to murder! Yet not only was he among the most actively involved in attacking the Jews, and not only was he seen several hours afterwards "standing and laughing with his friends," according to at least one report - but he even later admitted that his injuries were caused not by rocks but by a soldier's gun butt! Television crews captured the Arab rock attack against the Jewish residents on film, as well as the efforts of the residents to fight back. But naturally, the media broadcasted only the portions of their tape that depicted the Jews defending themselves, making it seem as if their fighting was unprovoked by the Arab rock throwing. Based on the footage, the reporters and leftist politicians were quick to label the retaliation against the Arabs, including Shimshon's actions, as an attempted "lynching." Over and over again they screened the footage, and over and over again they called it a "lynching." They thus heatedly incited and pumped up political tensions, while splashing photos of the incident across the front page of every newspaper in the country. 
By the time the police arrested Shimshon, the media had already labeled him as a violent criminal who acted out of hatred against the Arabs. There was no mention of the Arab rock attacks that had preceded the Jewish acts of retaliation; there was barely a mention of the tense moments when the Jews were under heavy attack. Shortly after Shimshon's arrest, the truth of the matter started to be brought to light. It was revealed that Majeida was no innocent bystander, but rather he was an active participant in the rock-throwing attack on Jewish residents. Photos of Majeida hurling stones at innocent Jews were published on the internet. Even the left-of-center daily newspaper Ha'aretz realized its initial mistake and grudgingly published a retraction: "Contrary to initial reports, Majeida was not seriously or critically wounded, but sustained only light injuries. He was sent home after receiving treatment, and even gave interviews to a number of media outlets a few days after the lynching attempt. In the interviews, Majeida said that most of the injuries he sustained were caused by Israel Defense Forces soldiers prior to the lynching attempt. Majeida also declared his desire to be a shaheed (suicide martyr)." Yet the Israeli State Attorney's Office is pushing on with its prosecution of Shimshon for attempted murder. For months, the Israeli police and leftist media had been predicting that Jewish settlers would use violence against other Jews. As the hour of the IDF's evacuation operation drew near, the Israeli radio and television carried hourly updates on the civil war that they fantasized would break out at any moment during the protests against the Gaza Evacuation. In fact, however, the settlers and protesters reacted with the utmost of discipline and restraint. Yes, they engaged in civil disobedience against the forced eviction of thousands of Jews from their homes and land, but there initiated no violence. Thus, they proved that those inciting against the settlement movement were once again spreading baseless blood libels against Israel's nationalist religious camp. It is clear that the State's Attorney's Office and the leftist Israeli media have now decided to make Shimshon into a scapegoat to perpetuate the myth of the violence of the settlement movement. They are setting him up to take the fall for all the predicted bloodshed and civil strife during the Gaza evacuation that, to their frustration, never materialized. As such, Shimshon has now been charged with attempted murder -- a crime carrying a punishment of many long years in prison. 
We must not allow him to be convicted. We must confront this miscarriage of justice. Shimshon cannot be punished for a crime against the Arab rock-throwers that he did not commit. He cannot be made into a public scapegoat for Sharon's failed political policies and the Left's frustrations. The costs involved of defending Shimshon at trial and proving his innocence, however, are enormous. Top criminal lawyers, investigators and forensic experts do not come cheap. Moreover, the Israeli State's Attorneys office, with its unlimited financial resources, will stop at nothing to win a conviction and send this teenager to prison for many long years. A legal defense fund has been established to financially assist the Cytryn Family in proving Shimshon's innocence. Your help is desperately needed. We are asking you to please make a pre-Rosh Hashana donation for Shimshon's legal defense and fulfill the mitzvah of redeeming this Jewish captive. All donations to the Cytryn Family defense fund in the U.S. are tax deductible: To donate make checks payable to:
mail to: Cytryn Family, Yeshuv Nachliel,Doar Na Modiin,Israel 71938 OR Bank Discount, Main Branch acct. no. 921157 "For the mitzvah to ransom Captives takes precedence over
supporting and clothing the poor. Indeed no comandment, be it ever so
important, can compare with it" (Rambam Mishneh Torah, Zeraim)
Ken Heller is a pro-Israel activist and a member of the
Philadelphia Chapter of Americans For A Safe Israel. He can be reached
at kayjayphilly@yahoo.com
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COME TO THE CABARET
Posted by Women in Green, March 26, 2006. |
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This article was written by Sarah Honig and it appeared in the Jerusalem Post March 23, 2006. A few tedious nights ago, while watching an endless array of televised electioneering, I started to doze just as another Kadima luminary explained to the viewing public how the infamous Right cynically seeks to frighten the voters, who have absolutely no reason whatever to feel uneasy or unsafe. Didn't Ehud Olmert, the great centrist enchanter, repeatedly stress that Hamas isn't a strategic danger to the state of Israel? We need to entrust the helm-of-state to him, put our faith in his braggadocio and suspect abilities, place our futures in untried hands, and most of all, not allow his political adversaries to scare us with malicious prophesies of doom. Olmert's insistent voice invaded my drowsy consciousness. He kept urging that we not obsess about our national insecurity and collective vulnerability. "Leave your troubles outside," I heard him exclaim. Imperceptibly Olmert's face grew chalky and across it stretched a garish red grin. He winked roguishly and with salacious solicitousness asked: "So, life's disappointing? Forget it. In here life is beautiful! The girls are beautiful! The orchestra is beautiful!" As I drifted off, visions from Cabaret, the critically acclaimed 1972 hit, floated before my eyes. I was transported to the movie set of the Kit-Kat Club in decadent 1930s Berlin. Infectious rhythms resonated in my ears, when it dawned on me that Olmert was none other than the eerie emcee. Deftly doing his grotesque introduction number, Olmert bellowed: "Willkommen, Bienvenue, Welcome im cabaret, au cabaret, to cabaret..." Inside the cabaret, as Olmert enticingly promised, everything was gaudy, syrupy and self-indulgent. Olmert did his seductive utmost to banish desperate anxiety and lull the clientele into obliviousness of the looming nightmare outside his pleasurable sanctuary. Magnetic hallucination prevailed in Olmert's cabaret. His popular Jericho hocus-pocus - non-too-spectacular a feat of legerdemain and of limited impact - made him look macho and steadfast. Hamas faded into irrelevance, while the emcee advised cloyingly against fretting about an al-Qaida foothold next-door. BESIDES, TERROR can be combated via the destruction of more settlements, this time only five minutes from Kfar Saba. The success of the abandoned Rafah Crossing can be replicated on the Allenby Bridge. It's simpler to pretend to control demographics by uprooting Jews than to actually defeat genocidal enemies. It's less distressing to appease implacable foes with territorial tributes than face the truth that this conflict isn't about real estate but about our very existence in this land. Unilateralism has regressed us 130 years, but better not dwell on the unpleasantness of a life-and-death struggle. So far unilateralism erased the Left's territories-for-peace equation. We gave territories and got no peace. It also rubbed out the border-surveillance prerequisite of even minimalist Israeli defense doctrines. Likewise gone is the notion of demilitarizing the areas Israel cedes. Israel retreated from Gaza but, contrary to disengagement's elementary logic, remains somehow responsible for its sworn enemies' welfare. Last but hardly least - the Palestinians escaped penalty for unleashing their homicidal intifada. Their terrorist offensive was instead handsomely rewarded. Olmert has recently announced that yet more bountiful handovers (euphemistically dubbed "convergence") are in the pipeline. Can these realistically mitigate Hamas bloodlust? Will more free gifts constitute significant disincentives for an Iranian-Hamas Axis, for raining Kassams on the densely populated Coastal Plain, Greater Jerusalem and Ben-Gurion Airport? Why desist from aggression when it pays off? The irrationality of Olmertian assumptions is what swept Hamas to power. Moreover, it's only a matter of time - not much time - before Hamas rule gains international legitimacy. The junkets of Hamas kingpins to Russia and South Africa and their planned excursions to Turkey and Venezuela are only harbingers of what's to come. Things are sure to go from bad to worse. When George Bush's term ends, he's likely to be replaced by a Carter-Clinton clone who'll rule out any American intervention in this region - even if Iran flexes nuclear muscles, Lebanon becomes a bastion of Islamic extremism and our own Hamastan destabilizes all neighboring regimes, primarily Jordan. We'll be left on our own then, weaker and more exposed, restricted to our shrunken confines and under a vacillating, irresolute and unprincipled leadership. We'll never know what drove Ariel Sharon to promote the disengagement opiate. Perhaps legal entanglements indeed tipped his scales. But Olmert pushed this drug way before Sharon ever came near it. Olmert continues to hawk addictive delusion. Anyone who tries to poop his party is scorned. The merrymaking must go on regardless of occasional wake-up calls from pesky reality, including from in-your-face Hamas honchos, who have no intention of misleading us. They remind us at every opportunity that for them Israel is a candidate for termination. Olmert plans to douse their destructive ardor by showering them with additional gratuitous concessions. There's really no need to worry or take savage threats seriously. It's all a lark. Life is a cabaret. So Olmert hypnotically chanted, mesmerizing us to the bitter end - like the old film's iconic emcee - with the assurance that "we have no troubles here!" Before the credits, Olmert's musical accompaniment too switched to a fatalistic drumroll, which culminated in a cymbal's sharp reverberation and abruptly fell silent. As in the movie, the sudden stillness evoked a sense of approaching cataclysm, but the final blurred images that lingered ominously through the unfocused camera lenses weren't of Brownshirts and swastikas but of Hamas Green. I awoke in a cold sweat. The Kadima commercial was still running on the boob-tube. All's well - no need to panic. The cabaret is still in business. Ruth and Nadia Matar established Women For Israel's Tomorrow (Women in Green), an activist group of women based in Jerusalem. Their website address is http://www.womeningreen.org |
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ISRAELI HUMOR
Posted by Barry Shaw, March 26, 2006. |
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God turned to the Angels and said: "I am going to create a land called Israel. It will be a land of mountains full of snow, sparkling lakes, forests with all kind of trees, sandy beaches and wonderful sea life. I shall make the land rich and the people there wealthy. The people shall be called Israelis and all the people on earth will know of them". "But Lord," the Angels said, "don't you think you are being too generous to these Israelis". "Not really" God said, "Just wait till you see the neighbours I'm going to give them". Barry Shaw writes the "View from Here" columns from Israel. To sign up to receive his emails, contact him at netre@matav.net.il |
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POLITICKING AND ECONOMICS IN A CUPPA JOE
Posted by Marion D.S. Dreyfus, March 26, 2006. |
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What Happens if a fly falls in a cup of Coffee? (1) Englishman: Throws his cup away and walks away. My (historically accurate, non-worshipful, unrose-tinted) version: 6) First offers the coffee-with-insect to his wife languishing in a back room somewhere wondering how to get her husband's attention without being a suicide bomber while not having an affair she doesn't have to apologize/kill herself for. His kid runs in meanwhile and he decides to give the kid the promise of the coffee if the kid promises to be a shaheed. Gets both the kid and wife to promise to kill as many Israelis as possible with their Allah-dedicated otherwise-useless lives for the coffee, which represents the only thing this husband/father ever gave them in a lifetime of husbanding and fathering, then runs to Mahmoud and Achmadinejadian financiers for shukhran/thank-you money, which has lowered a lot since Saddam was taken prisoner and his $25,000 per shaheed-smithereening has cratered at the regime change. Decides he never liked coffee, keeps the insect to maybe put into a tourist's unsuspecting drink when he next meets one and eavesdrops their conversation at a cafe, and goes out for the daily tire-burning session against his 'government' for not paying out the salaries they have earned being police/terrorists/brigand members because corruption never sleeps and the money taken in from the gullible EU and other idiotarian governments trying to bribe peace of mind and no fire-filled North-African-style car-burnings and rampaging like no other people on earth do except these model immigres/illegals/irrationals every month that demands no accountability gets no accountability, and Abbas (aka Abu Amar, Father Bitter) pockets some of the money and disburses the rest to cronies, leaving none for the highest-grossing-voluntary-alms-receiving 'refugees-cum-permanent whiners' and amoral subnormals in the world, higher per capita in total without any justification than any group of ethnics or even deserving and legitimate minority, let alone a made-up grievance career-arc thugs that have made playing the victim game their entire history, literally and figuratively. Well he thinksArafat would have sucked off all of it into his private swiss accounts, and abbas just invisibles a portion then misdirects the rest, be glad for small no-favors while the world thinks him a 'moderate,' 'speakable-to militant' ha. These cronies have their high mountain-site enriched blends flown in weekly from Belize, and corral their insects...? Their insects do battle for high-stakes bets. That's the more accurate version. Contact Marion Dreyfus at dreyfusmarion@hotmail.com |
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POLITICAL CO-OPTATION
Posted by Professor Paul Eidelberg, March 26, 2006. |
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Political co-optation is a method of attracting "outsiders" to join the Establishment so as to preclude them from forming or strengthening a party that diminishes the Establishment's electoral base. Some people believe the Likud co-opted Moshe Feiglin to prevent him from forming a right-wing coalition. Feiglin did in fact encourage several thousand people to vote for the Likud in the January 2003 Knesset elections -- people who would otherwise have voted for National Union or Herut. Indeed, were it not for those additional Likud voters, it's quite possible that the composition of the Sixteenth Knesset would have differed enough to prevent the "disengagement" from Gaza.* Interestingly, Feiglin has not ceased recruiting people into the Likud, even though other parties are more firmly opposed to disengagement. Co-optation works. It may even be argued that the Labor Party co-opted Ariel Sharon, but in a more complicated way. Let's explore the idea -- and here we can make Labor and Shimon Peres interchangeable. Peres and Sharon have four basic things in common. First and foremost, the System: No other politicians have so effectively exploited the existing parliamentary electoral system. I mean a system where the entire country constitutes a single electoral district in which parties, with fixed lists of candidates, compete for Knesset seats on the basis of proportional representation. This system has enabled the never-elected Shimon Peres to remain in the Knesset for five decades! Moreover, it enabled Ariel Sharon to form the Kadima party and announce that he would name its entire slate of candidates! Two marvelous manifestations of Israeli democracy. Any democratic reform of this grotesque parliamentary system, such as regional elections, would diminish the power of the Establishment on the one hand, and increase the power of the voters on the other. Despite Peres and Sharon's democratic rhetoric, it was never their intention to empower the people. Second, the Economy: Sharon originally shared Labor's (or Mapai's) socialist outlook, which was not democratic but elitist -- a transplant from Eastern Europe. Various factors eventually induced Sharon and Peres to adopt the idea a market economy. (This does not mean elitism is passing from the scene -- not as long as MKs are not accountable to the voters, and the Supreme Court issues rulings that violate the abiding beliefs and values of the Jewish people.) Third, Judaism and State: Sharon, like Labor, advocated separation. Recall that Sharon defined a Jew as anyone who serves in Israel's army. He also opposed amending the "grandfather clause" of the Law of Return. That clause, which has brought an influx of gentiles into Israel, was intended to diminish the voting power of Israel's religious Jews. Consistent therewith, Sharon appointed Tommy Lapid Minister of Justice and Avraham Poraz Minister of Interior -- both of the anti-religious Shinui Party, whose agenda was to transform Israel into "a state of its citizens" and therefore sever Judaism from public law. Fourth, the Land of Israel: Sharon, like Labor, originally supported Jewish settlement in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza |but neither advocated Jewish sovereignty over this land. Labor's attitude changed, however, as a result of the 1977 Knesset elections. For the first time in 29 years, Labor lost control of the government, and, with it, the support of the religious parties. With this diminished electoral base, Labor became dependent on the Arab vote to regain power. Labor began to advocate Israel's withdrawal from Judea, Samaria, and Gaza. Who or what would fill the vacuum? Between 1988 and 1992, Labor spokesmen engaged in clandestine and illegal meetings with representatives of PLO chief Yasser Arafat. Israel was approaching the June 1992 elections. Hardly anyone discerned the electoral coup d'etat that occurred in that election. Labor regained control of the government -- but only because of two Arab parties, something unprecedented in Israel's history. The Arabs were rewarded. The reward is called the Oslo or Israel-PLO Agreement of 1993. The architect: Shimon Peres. To implement Oslo -- meaning Israel's phased withdrawal from Judea, Samaria, and Gaza -- Ariel Sharon, serving as Likud foreign minister, signed the 1998 Wye Memorandum. In February 2001, Sharon, now prime minister, appointed Peres minister of foreign affairs. Finally, in December 2003, Sharon adopted Labor's policy of "unilateral disengagement." Thus, as regards four basic issues -- Israel's parliamentary electoral system, the economic system, the relationship between Judaism and the State, and the Land of Israel -- Sharon is indistinguishable from Labor. If we ignore party labels and consider only the substance of things, it was not difficult for Labor to "co-opt" Ariel Sharon. Sharon thus became Labor's surrogate prime minister. Is it any wonder that Shimon Peres has joined Kadima and has cuddled up with Sharon's poodle, Ehud Olmert? * Recall that the Likud-Labor-United Torah Judaism coalition government of 2004 was confirmed by the Knesset by a bare majority of 58 to 56?enough to doom Gush Katif. Professor Paul Eidelberg is President of the Foundation For Constitutional Democracy. He can be reached by mail at 244 Madison Avenue, Suite 427, New York, NY 10016, Tel: 212-372-3752, and by email at Constitution@usa.net |
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THE ISRAEL CONSPIRACY; DEIR YASSIN; DEFEND ISLAMIC ART FROM THE LEFT
Posted by Steven Plaut, March 26, 2006. |
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1. The Israel Conspiracy
by Bret Stephens, The Wall Street Journal March 25, 2006 Imagine a conspiracy so vast the only person not in on it is you. In 1998, Hollywood indulged that conceit in The Truman Show, a film about a reality show so all-encompassing that its unwitting hero, Truman Burbank (Jim Carrey), has no idea the very world he inhabits is a stage. Now imagine a conspiracy that makes Trumans of us all. According to professors John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago and Stephen Walt of Harvard, it's called The Israel Lobby. The professors make their case in an extensively footnoted "working paper" from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, a revised version of which is published in the current issue of the London Review of Books. Their premise is that Israel is a huge strategic liability for the U.S., which wrecks our reputation in the Arab world, complicates our diplomacy at the U.N., inspires Islamic fanaticism and terror, goads us into misbegotten wars and makes us complicit in Israeli human-rights abuses, all the while costing some $3 billion a year. But here's a puzzle: If Israel is so damaging to U.S. interests, why do consistent and broad majorities of Americans support it? A Gallup poll from last month shows that Americans are more sympathetic to Israelis than to Palestinians by 59% to 15%. Among Americans who claim to follow world affairs "very closely," Israel's favorable ratings rise to 66%. I went back over polling data since the mid-1970s, and the percentages hold roughly constant. Americans also tell pollsters that Israel deserves support even if it puts the U.S. at greater risk of oil boycotts or terrorist attacks. The answer, according to Messrs. Mearsheimer and Walt, is "the unmatched power of the Israel Lobby," which they define as a "loose coalition of individuals and organizations who actively work to steer U.S. foreign policy in a pro-Israel direction." They might have underlined the word loose. In their reading, the Lobby comprises much more than just the American-Israel Political Action Committee (AIPAC) and other pro-Israel lobbies. It also pairs such opposites as the editorial pages of The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times; the right-of-center American Enterprise Institute and the left-of-center Brookings Institution; Republican Tom DeLay and Democrat Joe Lieberman; Bush Administration ambassador John Bolton and Clinton Administration ambassador Martin Indyk. These aren't your usual political bedfellows. But for Israel, it would seem, they come together in a sordid cause. What are the Lobby's methods? Money, political and academic infiltration and moral blackmail. Drawing on some boastful self-appraisals by AIPAC staffers, the professors paint a picture of an organization able to funnel untold sums of money to elect or defeat political candidates virtually at whim. Capitol Hill is said to be swarming with Jewish staffers, who all but write the script on Israel policy. The proliferation of "Israel Studies" curricula is seen as an insidious propaganda effort. Those who depart from the approved line on Israel are said to run the risk of being labeled anti-Semitic. Finally there is the Israel Lobby's control of the media, which in the Mearsheimer-Walt telling is near-total. "The Lobby doesn't want an open debate," they write, "because that might lead Americans to question the levels of support they provide [to Israel]." Cowed or complicitous publishers and editors are alleged to act as gatekeepers for the Lobby. By now the gist of the Mearsheimer-Walt hypothesis should be clear. So should its pedigree. The authors are at pains to note that the Israel Lobby is by no means exclusively Jewish, and that not every American Jew is a part of it. Fair enough. But has there ever been an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory that does not share its basic features? Dual loyalty, disloyalty, manipulation of the media, financial manipulation of the political system, duping the goyim (gentiles) and getting them to fight their wars, sponsoring and covering up acts of gratuitous cruelty against an innocent people -- every canard ever alleged of the Jews is here made about the Israel Lobby and its cause. No wonder former Ku Klux Klansman David Duke was quick to endorse the article, calling it a "great step forward." I do not mean to suggest that Messrs. Mearsheimer and Walt are themselves anti-Semitic. But as outgoing Harvard President Larry Summers once noted, what may not be anti-Semitic in intent may yet be anti-Semitic in effect. By giving aid and comfort to people who have no trouble substituting the word "Jews" for "Israel Lobby," the Mearsheimer-Walt article is anti-Semitic in effect. It is also incredibly dumb, as an anecdote well-known to the staff of this editorial page will illustrate. Our late editor, Robert Bartley, is cited by Messrs. Mearsheimer and Walt as among the more notorious fellow travelers of the Israel Lobby. "[Yitzhak] Shamir, [Ariel] Sharon, Bibi [Netanyahu] -- whatever those guys want is pretty much fine by me," the article quotes him as saying. I can vouch for that quote, since Bartley said it to me. But what the authors take as evidence of the thrall in which the Israel Lobby held the editor of The Wall Street Journal was closer to the opposite. "My support for Israel," he once half-jokingly remarked to his staff, "is directly proportional to their willingness not to meet with me." Robert Bartley was a man of modest Christian beliefs and principled political convictions. He supported Israel for much the same reason he supported Great Britain, Poland and Taiwan -- because they were friends of the United States, because they were democracies, because they were places where his core beliefs in free men and free markets held sway. In this respect, and like so many of us who are friends of the Jewish state, he was not privy to an Israeli conspiracy but part of an American consensus. 2. From the new edition of Yoav Gelber, PALESTINE 1948:- "Propaganda as History: What Happened at Deir Yassin?"
"Folklore Versus History: The Tantura Blood Libel"
3. On a non-political matter, read the fascinating story of Robert Whitehill, the Jewish kid from an assimilated family in Lubbock, Texas, an autodidact who became a great Hebrew poet: http://commentarymagazine.com/article.asp?aid=12103047_1 Similarly, you will find the story of Omar Hasnin interesting. Omar is an Arab Haifa local rap singer, who sings rap "music" in Hebrew and performed in Hebrew and Arabic in front of 20,000 fans in Alexandria Egypt. His group, all from Haifa, consists of two other singers, a drummer, and two dancers. They appeared with several Egyptian bands, the best known of whom was M.T.M. 4. Defend Western Exhibits of Art from the Left and the Islamofascists! One of the most amusing phenomena among the Western campus Left is how they always march about demanding "multi-cultural studies", just as long as no one requires that they take a course in a foreign language. Even more amusing is the fact that multi-culturalism, in the sense of respect for other people's cultures, only exists in Western civilization. So anyone promotong multi-culturalism should really be celebrating Western civilization and its values. Tell that to the campus intifaders. To see some good illustrations, compare the Islamofascist violence over the cartoons with the deep respect given to Islamic art and culture by Western cultural institutions. The Museum of Modern Art in New York is currently presenting Without Boundary: Seventeen Ways of Looking, an exhibit on some of the finest achievements of Islamic civilization - before the modern growth of Islamist fascism, that is. One of the finest museums in Jeruealsm is the Israeli Museum of Islamic Art. In a city crawling with world-class museums, it is still a must-see. The Met, in NY, also has a great exhibit, as do dozens of other Western museums. Now compare this respect and tolerance for Islamic civilization to the uncivilized neo-fascism of Alexander Cockburn and Counterpunch magazine, the web magazine for leftist neo-nazis and pro-terror anti-Semites. Cockburn runs a raving piece attacking the NY Musuem of Modern Art exhibit, crayoned by one Maymanah Farhat. She is upset because the exhbit is not anti-American enough. The pro-terror Farhat objects to the exhibit as a crime of Western colonialism: "Without Boundary and the discourse surrounding the exhibition demonstrate the desperate need for an extensive and critical examination of the mainstream art world. Art historical definitions used by academia, institutions and galleries remain imbedded in the cultural and social hierarchies that have resulted from the colonial and imperial geopolitical policies and activities of Western nations in Latin America, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the Pacific Islands. These policies have been primary factors in the denigrated classification, documentation and representation of art and visual culture created by non-Western populations. The political, theological, ethnic and class biases of institutionalized art activity today must be held accountable for defining non-Western cultures as inferior. She then gets all PMS over the representation of male chauvinism in Arab culture in the exhibit: "To associate the keffieh (Arab headdress) with oppression and male dominance is to dispel the need for an examination of the larger sociopolitical picture." 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. Or contact him by email at splaut@econ.haifa.ac.il |
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INTERNALIZE THE TRUTH -- THE MYTH OF "OCCUPATION"
Posted by Sasha F., March 25, 2006. |
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This article was written by Arthur Cohn March 22, 2006 and it
appeared in the Jerusalem Post
The Palestinian film Paradise Now, which sympathetically depictsthe lives of two Palestinian terrorists, won the Golden Globe and was nominated by the Academy of Motion Pictures in Hollywood for the best foreign film Oscar. How is it possible, I ask myself, that such a film is acclaimed by people of culture? The main reason is that terrorists active against Israel are regarded by many as freedom fighters whose motives should be understood. One word has transformed Palestinian terrorists into sympathetic figures in certain quarters and has tainted all political discussion surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: That word is "occupation." All land not part of Israel until 1967 is deemed "occupied territory." And in dealing with supposedly stolen land all means are justified. By these criteria there can be no negotiations about Gush Etzion or other settlement blocs, no discussion about a united Jerusalem. These areas are illegally occupied and have to be given back. The term "occupation" also reminds people of the German occupation of Europe during WWII. This allusion to Nazism makes Israel's transgression even worse. It is only a small step from the "occupation" to a full-scale comparison of Israel to Nazi Germany. In this context, who can deny the Palestinians the right to fight the "occupation"? Calling the West Bank "occupied" is irresponsible and unjustified. Let's remember that Israel didn't initiate the war in order to conquer land. Israel was attacked in 1967. Israel didn't take any land from a sovereign state. The West Bank and Gaza were illegally in the hands of Jordan and Egypt respectively. The disputed areas were promised for Jewish settlements by the League of Nations in 1922, and all the resolutions of this body were transferred to the UN under Article 80 of the UN charter. THERE IS no parallel case in history that treats territories captured in a defensive war as occupied. Moreover, for most Arabs all the land of the state of Israel is stolen ("the occupation started in 1948") and those who speak now about "occupation" of the areas beyond the Green Line play into the hands of the Palestinians and their anti-Israel propaganda. The soft treatment by many in the international community we are now seeing of the soon-to-be Hamas-led PA - which declares that all Israel has to be "liberated" by terrorism from "occupation" - is the proof for that. All use of the misleading term "occupied territories" encourages the double standard whereby many nations treat the various terror groups such al-Qaida one way and the Palestinian terror groups another way. IF THERE will come a time for a peace agreement between Israel and a reliable Palestinian partner, many concessions will have to be made. But to declare in advance that all these areas don't belong to Israel, that they are part of an illegal occupation, makes no sense. Does the Old City of Jerusalem, which was attacked in 1948, not belong to Israel? Are areas like Gush Etzion not part of the Zionist enterprise? Have the survivors of the Jews brutally killed in the Hebron pogroms no right to return to their historical Jewish center? Those who declare that great parts of Israel are occupied territories also indirectly support the Arabs' claim that the Jews really don't have any true roots in the Holy Land at all. One sixth-grade Palestinian school book put it this way: "The argument that the Jews have historical rights in Palestine is the greatest lie in human history." The ugly efforts of the Arab propaganda to rewrite Jewish history, by saying for instance that the Temple never existed, are indirectly supported by those who speak flippantly about "occupied territories." By declaring that the West Bank is "occupied" we are also supporting the peculiar idea that they must become judenrein - free of Jews. If more than one million Palestinian Arabs live in Israel, why is it unthinkable that Jews would live under the Palestinian Authority? AS FOR the ownership of the land, almost all Jews who settled beyond the Green Line built their homes on public land and not on privately owned Arab property. If Israel's demand for security lacks a basis in law, justice and morality, if Israel does not stress its rights in the Land of Israel, if it basically justifies the Arab position that large parts of Israel belong only to them and are forcibly stolen, the Jewish state and its supporters cannot wonder when we see so many students on American university campuses embracing the Palestinian propaganda narrative. We cannot be surprised that so many writers and media people speak out against Israeli policies; we cannot wonder when major churches tell their congregants they are divesting from Israel; and we cannot wonder when a prestigious award is given to a film that shows understanding, even a certain admiration, for anti-Israel terrorists. Contact the poster at thelady@bayarea.net |
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WELL, HAMAS, SINCE YOU BROUGHT THE SUBJECT UP...
Posted by Gerald A. Honigman, March 25, 2006. |
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Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar gave an interview which aired on Al-Manar TV on January 25, 2006. Among other things, he stated: In this region we have faced Roman occupation, Persian occupation, Crusader occupation, British occupation - they are all gone. The Israeli enemy does not belong to the region. It does not belong to the region's history, geography, or faith. Irresistible? Typical figments of that legendary Arab imagination at work again. But repeat a lie enough times and the ignorant--whether innocent or not so--will accept it. So, allow me the pleasure to burst the bubble. Let's start with the assertion of how alleged Arab aboriginals--not Jews--faced Roman occupation in "Palestine." And rather than relying on Zionist sources, let's let those Roman and Persian occupiers al-Zahar mentions speak for themselves. There was no country or nation known as "Palestine" during the Roman occupation. In fact, there was never an Arab country of Palestine. The land was known back then as Judaea and its inhabitants were Judaeans... Jews. Tacitus, Dio Cassius, and Josephus were famous Roman and/or Roman-sponsored historians who wrote extensively about Judaea's attempt to remain free from the Soviet Union of its day, the conquering Roman Empire. They lived and wrote during, or not long after, the two major revolts of the Jews for independence in 66-73 C.E. and 133-135 C.E. They make no mention of this land being called "Palestine" or its people "Palestinians." And as can be seen below, they knew the differences between Jews and Arabs as well and exposed Hamas' predecessors for the vultures that they were and are, jumping on the Roman bandwagon to gain a share of the kill. Listen carefully to this quote from Vol. II, Book V, The Works of Tacitus: Titus was appointed by his father to complete the subjugation of Judaea... he commanded three legions in Judaea itself... To these he added the twelfth from Syria and the third and twenty-second from Alexandria... amongst his allies were a band of Arabs, formidable in themselves and harboring towards the Jews the bitter animosity usually subsisting between neighboring nations... Some things change, some things never change. What really needs to change is Israel exchanging helicopters for bombers in its dealings with the butchers of its innocents. But I'm jumping ahead, so let's return to the Roman occupation? After the 1st Revolt, Rome issued thousands of Judaea Capta coins which can be seen today in museums all over the world. Notice, please... Judaea Capta... not Palaestina Capta. Hear that al-Zahar? Additionally, to celebrate this victory, the towering Arch of Titus was erected showing Roman legionnaires carrying away the giant menorah, other spoils of the Jewish Temple (which Arabs deny ever existed), and Judaean captives. It stands tall in Rome to this very day. I'm surprised Arabs haven't tried to blow it up yet as they destroyed thousands of Jewish graves, synagogues, and the like in Israel to try to eradicate the age-old Jewish presence. Not that I want to give them any ideas? When, some sixty years later, Emperor Hadrian decided to further desecrate the site of the destroyed Temple of the Jews by erecting a pagan structure there, it was the grandchildren's turn to take on their mighty conquerors. Listen next to this quote from Dio Cassius: 580,000 men were slain, nearly the whole of Judaea made desolate. Many Romans, moreover, perished in this war (the Bar Kochba Revolt). Therefore Hadrian, in writing to the Senate, did not employ the opening phrase commonly affected by the emperors, 'I and the legions are in health.' Judaea, al-Zahar... not Palaestina. Roman sources, 'al-Zahar... not Zionists'. The Emperor was so enraged at the Jews' struggle for freedom in their own land that, in the words of the esteemed modern historian, Bernard Lewis, "Hadrian made a determined attempt to stamp out the embers not only of the revolt but also of Jewish nationhood and statehood... obliterating its Jewish identity." Wishing to end, once and for all, Jewish hopes, Hadrian renamed the land itself from Judaea to "Syria Palaestina" -- Palestine -- after the Jews' historic enemies, the Philistines, a non-Semitic sea people from the eastern Mediterranean or Aegean area. So, sorry Hamas & Co....trying to hijack the Philistines' identity as your Arab brethren have done with airplanes and have constantly tried to do with that of the Jews won't work either. Palestine became largely "Arab" the same way that most of the almost two dozen states that call themselves "Arab" today did...by the conquest, occupation, settlement, and forced Arabization of other native, non-Arab peoples and their lands...Berbers, Copts, Assyrians, Black Africans, Jews, Kurds, native Semitic but largely non-Arab Lebanese, and so forth. Muhammad and his successors' imperial caliphal armies burst out of the Arabian Peninsula in the 7th century C.E. in all directions spreading Arabism and the Dar ul-Islam by the sword. And any and all who resisted subjugation and/or becoming part of what Arabs like to call today "purely Arab patrimony" were eliminated. Think of earlier variations of the Arabs' modern day gassings of Kurds, genocide against and enslavement of black Africans, murder of Copts, Jews, and Berbers, and so forth. As I've often written before, imperialism is only deemed nasty by Arabs when they themselves are not indulging in it. Al-Zahar next spoke of the Persian occupation in the early 7th century C.E. Let's listen to what Euthychius, the Patriarch of Alexandria (and certainly also no Zionist), had to say about this in his book of history, the Annals of Euthychius I, 216... The Persian commander went to Damascus and destroyed the land, and the Jews from Tiberias, Hebron, Nazareth, and Tyre gathered together to help the Persians... the Jews of Jerusalem, Hebron, Tiberias, Damascus and Cyprus came together until they numbered an army of 20,000 and came to Tyre to destroy it. Keep in mind that this was centuries after the Roman decimation of the Jews in their land and the onset of the Great Diaspora. Of course prior to these events, unquestionable archaeological and historical corroboration from other "non-Zionist" sources testifies to the Jewish presence in the land and region for numerous centuries prior to the Roman occupation. So much for Hamas' wishful thinking--or just plain lies--regarding the alleged non-Jewish connection to the region via history and geography. Let's move on to al-Zahar's comments about the alleged non-connection of the Jews' faith to the region. Putting it bluntly, when Hamas' ancestors were still practicing fertility rites and worshipping idols of different sorts and dimensions, over two thousand years before the Prophet of Islam was born, the Jews were introducing the G_d of Eternity to the world from that very region. The Qur'an itself is filled with such references to the Children of Israel. When Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, fled Mecca to Medina in 622 C.E. (the Hijrah), the inhabitants welcomed him. Medina had been developed centuries earlier as a thriving date palm oasis by Jews fleeing the Roman assault (the banu-Qurayzah and banu-al-Nadir tribes, etc.), and its mixed population of Jews and pagan Arabs had thus become conditioned for a native prophet speaking the word of G_d. Muhammad learned much from the Jews. While the actual timing of his decision on the direction of prayer may never be known, during his long sojourn with the Jews of Medina, his followers were instructed to pray towards Jerusalem. Early prominent Arab historians such as Jalaluddin came right out and stated that this was done primarily as an attempt to win support among the influential Jewish tribes (the "People of the Book") for Muhammad's religio-political claims. It is from the Temple Mount of the Jews in Jerusalem that Muslims believe Muhammad ascended to Heaven on his winged horse. A mosque, the Dome of the Rock, would later be erected on this Jewish holy site after the Arabs' own imperial conquest of the land in the 7th century C.E. You see, despite Arab figments and distortions of the truth such as those spouted by Hamas, there is no doubt among objective scholars that the Jews of the region had an enormous impact on both Muhammad and the faith that he founded. In fact, the holy sites for Muslims in Jerusalem (i.e. the mosques erected on the Temple Mount of the Jews) are now deemed "holy" only precisely because of the critical years Muhammad spent after the Hijrah with the Jews. The Temple Mount had no prior meaning to pagan Arabs. While there was some early Christian influence as well, intense scholarship has shown that the faith spelled out in the Holy Law (Halacha) and Holy Scriptures of the Jews had a tremendous influence on the Qur'an, Islamic Holy Law (Shari'a), and so forth. Muhammad's "Jerusalem connection" was most likely not established until after his extended stay with his Jewish hosts. Understand that this was no mere coincidence...Muslim religious beliefs regarding Muhammad's conversations with the Angel Gabriel and the like notwithstanding. When the Jews refused to recognize Muhammad as the "Seal of the Prophets," he turned on them with a vengeance. Before long, with the exception of Yemen, there were virtually no Jews left on the Arabian Peninsula. And the direction of prayer was changed away from Jerusalem and towards the Kaaba in Mecca instead... Some six centuries ago, Ibn Khaldun was one of the world's most important thinkers and is perhaps the greatest scholar the Islamic world has ever produced. He was also a Zionist. In The Muqaddimah, he devoted much time and effort to the evolution and development of the Jewish nation, its early struggles with its adversaries, and its later fight for freedom with the mighty Roman Empire and its consequences. He then followed this with an analysis of the Jews' tragic condition of powerlessness throughout subsequent generations. The Muqaddimah emphasizes that the Jews were forced to wander in the desert for forty years due to their "meekness." Ibn Khaldun stressed that this was necessary so that a new generation would arise with a new, more powerful asabiyah (group feeling). The Zionism Arabs condemn today was just the prescription Ibn Khaldun was calling for. At a time when homicidal Arabs, like al-Zahar, are demanding their 22nd state and second, not first, one in the original 1920 borders of the Palestine Mandate ( Jordan created by the British in 1922 on some 80% of the latter, and most others having been created by the conquest of non-Arab peoples and their lands), chances are more than good that this great Muslim scholar would have approved and viewed the resurrection of Israel as an answer to the unique plight of perpetually victimized, stateless Jews...the end of an even more tragic and extensive wandering and period of meekness and powerlessness in the desert Ibn Khaldun spoke of so eloquently six hundred years earlier. While much more evidence could be included to expose the Arabs' lies, I've covered this nicely in many of my other writings. Check them out at www.geraldahonigman.com and elsewhere. Besides, if I cover too much now, I'll cut out the fun for later? It's now Spring training time for baseball here in Florida. And regarding Hamas' assertions regarding the Jews' alleged non-connections to the region vis-à-vis history, geography, and faith? It's one, two, three strikes and you're out! And as a footnote, with elections just around the corner, Israel needs to get itself leaders who will truly know how to deal with Mahmoud al-Zahar's murderous disembowelers of its children... and then act on it. 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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ARIEL SHARON, EHUD OLMERT, DOV WEISSGLAS AND THE GAZA SURRENDER
Posted by Jerome S. Kaufman, March 25, 2006. |
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This article was written by Emanuel Winston, Middle East analyst and commentator. It appeared in the Jewish Press. When Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was advised by his senior military and intelligence staffs that Gaza would become a global terrorist base, Sharon ignored their advice -- even to the point of forcing out his excellent chief of staff, General Moshe Ya'alon, and Avi Dichter, director of the General Security Service. Sharon had two other advisors, Ehud Olmert and Dov Weissglas, who advised him that abandoning Gaza would cause such a public stir that upcoming indictments for criminal actions which he and his son faced would either be ignored or would become inconsequential by comparison. So, to save himself, he and his perfidious advisors decided to implement a Disengagement policy that would turn Gaza into a global terrorist outpost. In effect, Sharon (famous for his superb military planning) should have known that Gaza would become a military outpost for Iran, Syria and the Egyptian-based Muslim Brotherhood. The terror groups that drew their financial and weapons support from Iran and Syria were already operational, but only on a small scale. Operating in the area were the Fatah, Yasir Arafat's army, which he left in the hands of Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority (PA). In addition, there were other terror groups in operation, such as Al Aksa Brigades (the military wing of Fatah), Tanzim, Islamic Jihad and, last but not least, Hamas - now voted into power with Olmert's assistance. Also operating freely in the Gaza Strip and the cities turned over to the PLO's (and subsequently the PA's control, there are other terror groups, such as the aforementioned Muslim Brotherhood, Hizbullah, and now Al Qaeda -- spreading terror all over the Middle East and the world. But all were funded, in one way or another, with both money and weapons by Iran. Syria, of course, continued to play its spoiler role as a planner, supplier and terrorist base for some 10 to 12 global terrorist organizations. Saudi Arabia was always the "Big Bank" for all the terrorist organizations. Remember, of the 19 hijackers and suicide/homicide plane bombers on 9/11, 15 were from Saudi Arabia. In effect, Sharon, Olmert and Weissglas became the co-"godfathers" of an Iranian-Syrian outpost in Gaza. When the Karine A ship was caught in the Red Sea with a massive load of weapons and explosives from Iran and headed for the PA, in January 2003, there was the lie that it was a one-of-a-kind shipment. But it indicated that Iran and Syria were actually backing the PA. No doubt, the Karine A was only one of many ships that are smuggling weapons to the PA from Iran via Syria with Egypt playing its role as the enabler. Regrettably, Egypt was criminally responsible in letting other ships through to Alexandria to unload the weapons that were being transported into Gaza by small craft. These weapons, as we now know, are in the hands of all the abovementioned terrorists Now, of course, all kinds of weapons, small and large, as well as terrorists themselves, can pass through Gaza directly into Israel. Because of Sharon's Gaza blunder and Olmert's continuation, what formerly would have taken months to smuggle contraband weapons, explosives and terrorists through the Sinai tunnels can now be accomplished in only days. Tonnage and weapon size were no longer limited by a tunnel's small dimension. Recent reports detail the infiltration of Russian multiple rocket launchers of a larger caliber and capable of more accurate range. They have been openly passed into the armories of the terrorists. These rockets can easily reach Ashkelon -- the electric power plant that powers half of Israel -- and the fuel depots. The electric plant has already been hit by a primitive Kassam with a small, 10-kilo warhead. But, now it's just a matter of time before those rockets fly north to Tel Aviv. Gaza has become a vital base of operations for Iran, Syria and the Muslim Brotherhood. It will not only grow stronger, but it has already become a distributing channel for weapons and explosives into the PLO and soon Hamas controlled cities of Nablus, Hebron, Qalqilya, Bethlehem, Jenin, Jericho and Ramallah. The operational cells of the previously mentioned terror organizations are awaiting the signal to launch attacks into Judea, Samaria and the coastal cities of Israel. But, even before that, when Intifada 3 arrives, to whom will the people turn for military guidance and protection? Olmert and his Kadima party jumpers? Will he know what orders to give or how to deploy, defend and retaliate? I don't think so. This is especially frightening to contemplate, since the Left turned the once vaunted Israeli officer corps into an incubator for future Leftist politicians Even now, they meet in useless sessions to quibble about how to deal with Hamas and the terrorist outposts that they, the "godfathers" invited into Gaza. 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.com |
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SELF NEGATION
Posted by Max Yas, March 25, 2006. |
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When it became obvious that terror alone would not destroy Israel, the fanatical Muslims started a PR campaign, well financed by oil billions. With the support of residual antisemitism in the West, the campaign met with much success. Oddly enough this campaign drew much support from left-wing academics, among them a number of Jews, who gave credence to the most outrageous allegations, such as Holocaust denial and rejection of another historical fact: the Jewish presence in ancient Israel and their temple on Temple Mount. Why would Jewish Academics become rabid enemies of Israel? An interesting book by Ivan Kalmer, an anthropology professor, was published in 1993 with the intriguing title: " TheTrotskys, Freuds and Woody Allens." He coined the acronym EJI -- pronounced 'edgy' -- for Embarrassed Jewish Individuals who, more than anything, want to be like everyone else and put as much distance as possible between themselves and their Jewish origins. They go as far as Holocaust denial and equating Ariel Shaon with Hitler and the Israel Defence Forces with Nazis. In 2004, at an International Conference on antisemitism in Berlin, Colin Powell, then US Secretary of State, said, "Those who compare Israel to the Nazis are crossing the line of legitimate criticism of Israel to outright antisemitism." From Melanie Phillips's Diary on this subject, 01/12/ 2005: "The Deadly Phenomenon of Jewish Self-negation" Prior to World War ll, the assimilated EJI's in Europe considered themselves as eg: In Poland: "Jestem Polakiem wyznania mojzeszowego." (We are Poles of the Mosaic Belief). They finally realized who they were in the crowded cattle cars on the way to Hitler's extermination camps, but alas, it was too late. Contact Max Yas at maxyas@victoria.tc.ca |
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HERUT LEADER ALMOST LYNCHED -- ARAB EMIGRATION PLAN ANGERS ARABS
Posted by Mishal, March 25, 2006. |
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This was written by Moshe Ben Israel. Michael Kleiner, the leader of the Herut party was nearly lynched when he came to Jaffa in a last-minute effort to solicit Arab votes. Kleiner's supporters posted signs in Arabic in Jaffa, and in other Arab towns throughout Israel, urging Arabs to vote for him, in the upcoming Israeli national elections next week. Kleiner is promising to push for legislation of a law that would pay Arabs to leave Israel. According to recent surveys, as many as 50 percent of the "Palestinians" would gladly leave Israel if they were given start-up funds to begin a new life elsewhere. Arabs in Shefaram and Um El Fahem greeted the Herut supporters and helped post up the provocative Arabic posters. In Jaffa, local Arab leaders incited a violent riot when Herut's Michael Kleiner arrived to spread his message. One Herut supporter was injured. Local Jaffa Arabs also hurled a stun grenade at the Herut campaigners. Footage of the violent incident can be seen on http://www.voiceofjudea.com/eng/tv.asp Contact Mishal at mishal@voiceofjudea.com |
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U.S. DESIGNATES TELEVISION STATION AS ARM OF HIZBALLAH TERRORIST NETWORK
Posted by Naomi Ragen, March 25, 2006. |
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From: Office of Public Liaison [mailto:Jewish.Public.Liaison@WhiteHouse.Gov] Subject: U.S. Designates Al-Manar as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist Entity: Television Station is Arm of Hizballah Terrorist Network Earlier today, the U.S. Department of Treasury issued a press release identifying Al-Manar, the media arm of the Hizballah terrorist network, as well as al Nour Radio and the Lebanese Media Group, as a "specially designated global terrorist entity." Stuart Levey, Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, discussed the significance of this Executive Order, saying that "any entity maintained by a terrorist group - whether masquerading as a charity, a business, or a media outlet - is as culpable as the terrorist group itself." For full details, please see the press release below. Jay S. Zeidman
"I made it clear, I'll make it clear again, that we will use
military might to protect our ally, Israel."
U.S. Designates Al-Manar as a Specially Designated Global
Terrorist Entity
The U.S. Department of the Treasury today designated pursuant to Executive Order 13224 al Manar, a satellite television operation owned or controlled by the Iran-funded Hizballah terrorist network. Additionally designated today were al Nour Radio and the Lebanese Media Group, the parent company to both al Manar and al Nour Radio. Al Manar and al Nour Al Manar and al Nour are the media arms of the Hizballah terrorist network and have facilitated Hizballah's activities. "Any entity maintained by a terrorist group - whether masquerading as a charity, a business, or a media outlet - is as culpable as the terrorist group itself," said Stuart Levey, Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. Al Manar has employed multiple Hizballah members. One al Manar employee engaged in pre-operational surveillance for Hizballah operations under cover of employment by al Manar. Al Manar and al Nour have supported fundraising and recruitment efforts by Hizballah. Al Manar raised funds for Hizballah through advertisements broadcast on the network and an accompanying website that requested donations for the terrorist organization. As recently as late 2005, Hizballah-affiliated charities aired commercials on al Manar, providing contact information and bank account numbers for donations. Moreover, Hizballah Secretary General Nasrallah publicized an invitation for all Lebanese citizens to volunteer for Hizballah military training on al Manar and al Nour. In addition to supporting Hizballah, al Manar has also provided support to other designated Palestinian terrorist organizations, including the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, notably transferring tens of thousands of dollars for a PIJ-controlled charity. PIJ is listed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist and a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the U.S. Government, and is also named on the European Union's list of terrorist entities. Hizballah Secretary General Hasan Nasrallah, along with Hizballah's Executive Council, managed and oversaw the budgets of al Manar and al Nour. The Lebanese Media Group The Lebanese Media Group is the parent company of both al Manar and al Nour. Prominent Hizballah members have been major shareholders of the Lebanese Media Group. Background on Hizballah Hizballah is a Lebanon-based terrorist group. Until September 11, 2001, Hizballah was responsible for more American deaths than any other terrorist organization. Hizballah is known or suspected to have been involved in numerous terrorist attacks throughout the world, including the suicide truck bombings of the U.S. Embassy and U.S. Marine Corps barracks in Beirut in 1983 and the U.S. Embassy annex in Beirut in September 1984. Hizballah also executed the 1985 hijacking of TWA Flight 847 en route from Athens to Rome and assumed responsibility for the suicide bombing of the Israeli embassy in Argentina in 1992. It also attacked the Israeli cultural center in Buenos Aires in 1994. On January 25, 1995, the Annex to Executive Order 12947 listed Hizballah as a Specially Designated Terrorist. The Department of State designated Hizballah as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 1997. Additionally, on October 31, 2001, Hizballah was designated as a Specially Designated Global terrorist under Executive Order 13224. Today's action prohibits transactions between U.S. persons and the designated entities and also freezes any assets they may have under U.S. jurisdiction. The U.S. Department of State added al Manar to the Terrorism
Exclusion List (TEL) in December 2004. For more information on this
action, please visit: 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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MAHMOUD ABBAS AND HAMAS HANIYEH
Posted by Marcel Cousineau, March 25, 2006. |
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There are many things that unite the two pathological liars for allah. Their goal of replacing all of Israel with an Islamic Arab state is the number one. The rest is semantics as to how fast to accomplish this goal. Abbas' stratdegy is one of patience as the Jews are stupid and weak enough to give up their land without a fight (as the Jewish lemming political platform of Kadima,Likud and Labor reveal). Gaza was so easy as was Amona. The Jewish fools do the work for the Palestinian terrorists,and do an even better job so that one Jew remains when the Kapo's are done, so why rock the boat with Hamas now, their time will come soon enough. Haniyeh's fellow travelers figure that if the Jews are this weak and stupid than it's best to get it over with and just go for the throat now. Either group has no real desire to see Israel around in the land of the living much longer. The real question is ;Will the stupid Jews wake up before it is too late or will they quietlty and obediently follow their worthless leaders to the gas chambers once again? Contact Marcel Cousineau at up2zionsg8@yahoo.com or go to his website: http://averyheavystone.blogspot.com |
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C.A.I.R. BACKS DOWN
Posted by Avodah 15, March 24, 2006. |
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The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has dropped their libel suit against Andrew Whitehead of Anti-CAIR (www.anti-cair-net.org/). "CAIR Settles A Libel Suit Against Critic" (www.nysun.com/pf.php?id=29748&access=811579) No one will say much, under the terms of the settlement, but it looks like CAIR decided to bail out when it appeared the judge might force them to disclose a bit too much information to Whitehead and his lawyer. An Islamic group has settled a $1.35 million libel suit against one of its critics, who operates a Web site charging that the organization, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, has links to terrorism. The terms of the settlement between the Muslim group and Andrew Whitehead of Virginia Beach, Va., are confidential, but the Web site, www.anti-cair-net.org, still includes the statements Cair contended were libelous. "Nothing has changed in that regard. It's as if this lawsuit had never existed," said Mr. Whitehead, 48, a former Navy sailor. An attorney for Mr. Whitehead, Reed Rubenstein, described the outcome as a victory for his client. "This is the first time somebody has stood up and stopped these folks," the lawyer said. A spokesman for CAIR, Ibrahim Hooper, confirmed that the libel case was dismissed earlier this month on the request of both parties. "It was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount," he said. Asked if he was suggesting that Mr. Whitehead paid the organization to drop the case, Mr. Hooper said, "We filed the suit." Asked again, the spokesman simply repeated the statement. An attorney for CAIR, Jeremiah Denton III, declined to comment. The group's lawsuit, filed in a Virginia state court in March 2004, accused Mr. Whitehead of libeling Cair by calling it "a terrorist supporting front organization that is partially funded by terrorists." The suit also charged that Mr. Whitehead falsely claimed Cair was founded by supporters of a Palestinian Arab terrorist group, Hamas, and that the organization favored the "overthrow of the United States Constitution" and the imposition of Islamic law, known as Shariah. ... Mr. Rubenstein said Cair's interest in settling the suit intensified late last year just as a judge was considering whether the group should be forced to disclose additional details about its inner workings, including its financing and its alleged ties to Hamas and other terrorist groups. "It would have opened up Cair's finances and their relationships and their principles, their ideological motivations in a way they did not want to be made public," said Mr. Rubenstein, who represented Mr. Whitehead without charge. Mr. Rubenstein charged that the lawsuit was one of a series of suits filed by Cair and other Muslim organizations as part of a concerted effort to intimidate their critics. "It's part of a larger pattern groups like this have followed. If you say something some of those Muslim groups don't like, they sue you even though the cases have no merit," the attorney said. "You change people's behavior simply by bringing the lawsuit." "It looks like all they're really trying to do is stifle free speech," Mr. Whitehead said. Contact the poster at avodah15@aol.com |
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THE YALIE WHO IS A TALIBANI
Posted by Marion D.S. Dreyfus, March 24, 2006. |
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What people forget when they--like the Jewish Yale Kosher Kitchen Nurse Ratchit who inanely opines her mealy-mouthed 'diversity' catechism in numerous formats and regurgitations--suggest that the Yale Talibani, Sayed Rahmatullah Hashemi, was 'so young' when he was the minister of education/propaganda, etc., was that 'young' is relative. In our society, we celebrate an obscenely prolonged teenage-hood that elongates as there are grad schools to engage money and wits. Men in societies that hold no truck with teens and angst and nonsense of this privileged and etiolated an order have no demarcations between young and the not-so-young. Thus Sayed Rahmatullah held the same views 10 years ago that he manifestly holds today. Hashemi (means God-like, by the way, for those uninitiated in the ways of the mystic Arabic that foils our usual attempts to discern when they want to slaughter us and raoe our women) was no youthful Ted Kennedy, say, jackanapesing along in the wilding promontories of penile and alcohol internalization at Chappaquiddick. Or the equally thatched, similarly dewy-eyed John Kerry, carousing and fraternizing with the murderous North Vietnamese Communists while our real soldiers were under fire and the rack. In the mostly civil West, children grow up and away from ignorant childishness, and generally become tax-paying members of the votertariat and marriage alter. Not HaShemi. This Talibani atavist holds the same views in all recent interviews or as close to interview as his protoplasmic excrescence engages in. In Hamid Karzai's range rover, a hapless christian convert can be separated from his head for the --to us--innocuous act of pledging allegiance to a different prayer mat. It requires the combined interventions of the topmost powers in the educated world to save the skull of one lone (no-doubt loony) ex-Muslim. Because Islam is, after all, such a religion of peace and liberality that even switching theistic batters is punishable by a quick chop of the noggin without, of course, a word of recourse. He has contempt for us, for the US way of life, for the very paradoxical conditions that ensconce him in the rarefied air of the ivied halls of Old Eli. He warrants no especial consideration, as no nazi or Russian commissar of murder during the massive manipulated starvations or Maoist revolutionary monsters would. He deserves the door and a perpetual freeze of his entry privileges to this country. To think that he will alter his benighted views, or take cozily to the stylings of Barth and Wittgenstein, is fanciful rubbish. This man is of a piece, and it is steely and resolute, much tougher elementary adamantine than the mush-head pabulum that constitutes the 'minds' of the admissions staff at Yale. Or the upholders of this scandalous policy, whether tenured or transitory. What insidious mineral has seized the grey matter of these career university servitors, to so infiltrate their self-preservation defenses (let alone their common sense) to this outlandishly fatal an extent? Contact Marion D.S. Dreyfus at dreyfusmarion@hotmail.com |
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WHAT PROMPTS AID TO THE PA?; THE QUALITY AND LOYALTY OF LEADERSHIP; ASSAULT ON FREE SPEECH IN ISRAEL
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, March 24, 2006. |
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TOO LITTLE FIGHTING BACK AGAINST MUSLIMS Woe be to the more advanced peoples who develop birth control and conscience first! They lose influence to countries with rising populations. They may be giving away their birthrights to immigrants from countries without consciences. The Western world has let the Muslim Arabs, who are committing excesses now, make it feel guilty for the West's past excesses. The West thinks itself obliged to help the Arabs. Muslims exploit the phony cartoon issue as part of its jihad campaign to cow the West. Why phony? Because the cartoons mostly are introspective and a couple are truthful about Islamic terrorism and not insulting. The Muslims compounded their offensiveness by violent reactions and stereotyping all Danes or all Westerners. Just about the only defense the West is mounting, apart from what a few journalists write, is the Danish government's refusal to apologize for the private exercise of rights by an editor. The government legitimately could observe that, judging by the indiscriminate Muslim violence, more sarcastic cartoons are warranted to alert the West to what barbarians masses of Muslims are and what vicious demagogues many of their religious leaders are. If the West engaged in the jihad that is mostly one-sided against it, instead of carping at the US for confronting jihad in a couple of countries, it would take action against the outrageous and ignorant Muslim response to the cartoons. All the Christian countries should join the faltering coalition in Iraq as a start. Turning the other cheek to Muslim fanatics is not a strategy for survival. WHAT PROMPTS WESTERN AID TO THE P.A.? The West sympathizes with the P.A. vis-à-vis Israel. It aids the P.A. with propaganda, diplomacy, money, and arms (and restrictions upon Israeli defenses). The P.A. hates the West, on which it would turn if it disposes of Israel. Why does the West aid the P.A.? For various reasons, none worthy. The West does not plan long-range strategy in its own interest. Its governments and media often do not perceive what is in its interest or they serve other interests. The media slants the news, so the people, including many government officials, sympathize with the Arab aggressors. Political correctness further confuses them. Some Christian sects and human rights organizations have perverted their callings as with great indignation they condemn Israel when they should be challenging the Arabs. Those keepers of morality no longer know right from wrong. Rooted in antisemitism and in missionaries who appeased the Arabs, the State Dept. is anti-Zionist. W. Europe basically has sold out to the Arabs, and bases its policies on appeasement. The Catholic Church thinks it can gain holy places by deals with the Arabs. Oh, the Muslim Arabs would take over and kick out! Western states that respond to P.A. appeals against the bankruptcy it invited must be driven by some basic evil, or else they wouldn't waste money on salaries for P.A. terrorists and neglect Africans. THE QUALITY, & LOYALTY OF LEADERSHIP Quartet envoy Wolfensohn resigned. "...frustrated by the Bush administration's inability to ensure that Israel would keep its promises of improved access in and out of Gaza for people and goods..." (Steven Erlanger, NY Times, 3/12, A10.) The mask is off. Israel is not sovereign, if it is the role of the US to make Israel risk national security and in behalf of those undeserving Palestinian Arabs, imbued with deceit, intolerance, and murder. Israel is accused of breaking promises, but the promises were not unilateral. They depended upon the P.A. keeping its agreements to make peace and guard the border. The P.A. broke those agreements, since making them a dozen years ago. By their violations, the Arabs released Israel from its obligation. No censure for the Arabs? The Arabs are making war on Israel, but Israel should let terrorists in? By leaving Wolfensohn's misleading placing of blame uncorrected, the Times endorses it. What effect does this one-sided presentation have? Imagine Times readers, systematically denied Israel's side. After years of reading false accusations that Israel breaks its agreements, and no true statements that the Arabs break their agreements, the readers must consider Israel more the obstacle to peace than the jihadists. They get used to the contradictory notion that the US is pro-Israel and has the prerogative of dictating terms to Israel. Subtly, the Times pursues its traditional anti-Zionist agenda. Wolfensohn, who acts against the Jewish state, himself is Jewish. It should dawn on people that being a Jew does not mean one is pro-Israel. What kind of leaders has the Jewish people? Consider the quantity, quality, and loyalty of leadership. The Jews have enough leaders. If the quality is poor, the quantity is irrelevant. The quality is poor, in their ignorance of the issues with which they grapple, they don't think things through, and most don't plan, they scheme. Sharon politically planned like a brilliant general. He seemed to fail to plan beyond the next day's public relations, but he didn't care what his policies did to his people. He fails the key test of loyalty. Most Jewish leaders are not loyal to their people. They are venal, foolishly ideological, or appeasement-minded. Like the Times' former Jewish owners, Western Jewish leaders worry about appearing to have dual loyalty, so they attempt to demonstrate loyalty to their own country by being disloyal to Israel. Actually, that is disloyal to their own country, which needs Israel as an ally against jihad. Some of these leaders carry humanitarianism to counter-productive lengths. Wolfensohn tries to keep the P.A. Arabs from extreme poverty. But, as the Talmud teaches, by being kind to the cruel, he is cruel to the kind. Charity to those Arabs facilitates their continued jihad. Jihad means terrorism. How kind is that? I would rather we had tough leaders such as Moses and Joshua, than appeasement-minded crooks such as Peres, Olmert, Sharon, Wolfensohn, and naive Abe Foxman. 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@aol.com. |
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PROMISE THEM ANYTHING
Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, March 24, 2006. |
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Israel's Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has made a lot of promises in his life. Some he kept; some he did not. His most recent promise was to reimburse the chicken and turkey farmers who are losing all their chickens and turkeys to Avian (Bird) Flu. No doubt IF the numbers are small, he may keep his promise for compensation. But, IF the numbers are high, he may conveniently "forget" his promise. Promises by a Politician, particularly Olmert, are generally worthless unless it brings something he wants for himself. Perhaps you will remember another promise Olmert and Ariel Sharon made to the Jews of Gush Katif/Northern Samaria? Olmert and Sharon offered extravagant promises to fully compensate those pioneering settlers who had built their homes in Gush Katif and Samaria - some for 30 or more years - three generations. These promises took into consideration many things: That successive governments urged the pioneering settlers to move to the barren sand dunes and create a life. That they were to settle the land in the name of all the Israeli people and add to the safety of all the Jewish people. The Jews of Gush Katif relied upon government promises. That there was no infrastructure, which they had to create from virtually nothing, such as roads, schools, water supplies and sewage disposal as well as businesses and stores. That they sacrificed their own comfort and did as they were urged to do. They were (and are) patriots and selfless pioneers. Arik Sharon was, of course, the most forceful advocate for settlers to take the Land, build, farm and construct factories. He was the advocate of the frontiers for defense and the pioneers followed his words. When Olmert and Sharon planned the evacuation of 30,000 men, women and children, they knew that the promises of full compensation would have to be made. Olmert and Sharon are both lawyers as well as politicians. As such, they knew that such promises need not necessarily be kept - just believed. So Sharon planned the 'stick' and Olmert planned the 'carrot'. Both delivered as promised. Both were excellent as devious planners. Sharon organized an excellent attack against the settlers while uprooting and exiling them from their homeland, place of birth, etc. If you know Sharon (and I do) no detail escapes his attention. If there was to be a planned 'before'; then was also to be a well-planned 'after'. Both Sharon and Olmert knew the 'after' because these men are quintessential planners. It is no accident that very little (to nothing) of what was promised was delivered. The fumbling about by the bureaucrats, supposedly assigned to arrange the compensation and re-settlement of the evacuated settlers, the constant demands for more proofs that the now Gush Katif refugees ever even had a home, a thriving farm, greenhouses, factories which employed hundreds, including Arabs. Always more proof was demanded and a well-choreographed delay ensued. Now the pakids (clerks) are lowering and lowering the already assessed properties to way below their cost and true market value. Since all the structures were demolished immediately after the ejection of their owners, nothing remains except the photographs and assessments taken before the mighty upheaval. But those properly assessed schedules are being ignored and deleted from the bureaucrats files. Therefore, No housing. No compensation. No schools. But, always more promises and lies the Media that, in fact, the Gush and Samarian refugees have been paid huge amounts of money and that everyone had a 'solution' for home and job. These were the ugly lies released to the accommodating Media who then convinced the rest of the Israeli and world people that the refugees were getting rich on their taxes. Sharon and Olmert wanted to keep these good Jews shuffling between decrepit, tiny hotel rooms, minuscule caravan/trailers (euphemistically called "cara-villas") and scattered around the country to they could not gather together in their communities to protest the evil treatment they were continuing to receive. None of this was accidental...not between these two planners. Promise them everything but deliver only when there is no other choice - or when their true condition hits the Media and endangers the 'planners' ambitions for higher office. (Note! Many others besides Olmert and Sharon are culpable in this 'fleece the settlers' operation and should also be investigated for their crimes against humanity.) These are the ways and manners of the low, unethical people who will use anyone, betray friends and even their own family. They promised the Jews of Gush Katif to replace their fruitful, successful lives with homes like they once had built and funds to do so when there was never any intention to keep the promise. Now all of Israel carries this shame and pretend that the Gush Katif/Samarian homeless are invisible. So, if I were a farmer who had created a new way to raise vegetables without insect infestation or a chicken farmer, or a factory owner/developer now waiting for Olmert to keep his and Sharon's promises, I shouldn't be disappointed or surprised if it gets more difficult to see him or the apparachniks he appoints. And Yes! The refugees of Olmert's promises are still wandering the Jewish Land, awaiting the next expulsion of Jews to join them from Judea and Samaria, the Jordan Valley, the Golan Heights and then those parts of Jerusalem controlled and desecrated by Jordan for 19 years. Olmert and the Kadimites have promised to make new refugees of those who built their homes and lives in Judea and Samaria. This promise they WILL KEEP if allowed to. Please vote to see that they cannot fulfill this self-destructive promise. 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.com |
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HEBREW UNIVERSITY EVICTS HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS!
Posted by Steven Plaut, March 24, 2006. |
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Israeli university campuses have long been open to radical
anti-Israel extremists and communists. Indeed, as reported two years
back, the University of Tel Aviv has turned its campus over to the
Israeli Communist Party to conduct indoctrination in communist dogma
under the pretense of operating a non-accredited "Socioeconomic
College" for its followers (see below). In these corners we dubbed
this the Felix Dzerzinsky College at Tel Aviv University. I attach
below a reprint of the full report on that, from 2004. Tel Aviv's
other on-campus indoctrination in hatred of Israel is described on the
Discover the Network website
Tel Aviv of course is not alone. The other campuses routinely allow communists, Arab fascists, pro-terror cheerleaders, and mourners of the "catastrophe (al-Naqba) of Israel's creation" to use campus facilities. It is all free academic speech, you see. Well, Israel's campuses are open to ALMOST anyone. There is one group for whom they are NOT open: pro-Israel Jewish Holocaust survivors. Maariv March 24, 2006 reports that representatives of the "New Zionism Party", a small party running in the elections to be held next week in Israel, were expelled from the Hebrew University campus this week by campus security at the orders of the university administration. The party consists almost exclusively of Holocaust survivors, and the main plank in its platform is assisting Holocaust survivors still alive. Because the average age of its members, by the nature of things, is probably in the 80s, it has very few 23 year old activists. So when it wanted to hand out its fliers to students on campus, it sent to the Hebrew University campus some elderly and retired persons. The Hebrew University authorities suddenly decided that leafleting for political causes on campus is restricted to students only. Never mind the long track record of hosting non-student commies and non-student anti-Israel radicals. So the authorities ordered the elderly Holocaust survivors off campus. Juden, raus. Here is the earlier posting about Tel Aviv University: It is conservatively estimated that communism directly caused about 100 million deaths in the twentieth century. These of course include the millions starved to death by communist forced collectivization of agriculture, by the intentional famines in the Ukraine and in China, and by the massive shortages and upheavals and repressions, not to mention the Gulags and mass murders. In China, massive cannibalism was produced by communist food shortages, where families swapped children so parents would not be forced to eat their own children. A disproportionate number of those killed by communism were Jews. Jews were always subjected to special venom and animosity by communists, and the fact that some of the communist leaders and "thinkers" were Jews or ex-Jews does not change anything, in fact it probably explains the anti-Semitism that has always characterized both communism and some forms of anti-communism. Communists today lead the movement for a Second Holocaust of Jews. They seek the annihilation of Israel and its population. The communist countries have always been allied with Arab fascism and aggression and today support Islamist terror. All of which might have been regarded by most people as more than a sufficient reason why a College of Communist Indoctrination should not operate within the auspices of Tel Aviv University. But they would be wrong. Today is the inauguration ceremony of the opening of the College of Communist Indoctrination at Tel Aviv University. Really. The official name of the "college" is the "Socioeconomic College", and it operates on the Tel Aviv University campus, although evidently not with direct funding by the Israeli taxpayer, at least not yet. The comrades will, however, be using the university facilities paid for by Israeli taxpayers. The initiator of the College of Communist Indoctrination is Madame Gulag, Tamar Gozansky, who was until recently the Stalinist Rent-a-Jew sitting in the Knesset as representative for the Hadash Stalinist Party in the Israeli parliament. Hadash is an Old-Left anti-Israel Arab-national communist party, one that never quite got around to renouncing Stalinism. Madame Gulag has been unemployed, as are most people under communism, ever since her own party got tired of her hogging one of its parliament seats. So she and her fellow commissar, a lawyer named Aviv Wasserman, came up with the idea. They decided they were sick and tired of the "capitalist hegemony in Israeli academia" (in their words, see Haaretz July 23, 04), and you can see right away how someone who had spent the last few decades in some other galaxy might not be aware of the Far-Leftist hegemony that actually operates in Israeli academia. Students in this new re-education Gulag center to open at Tel Aviv University will be indoctrinated in the "theories" of Marxism that were totally debunked more than 160 years ago. They will learn the communist party's principles and its correct thinking about class struggle and other "social issues". The "college" will be administered by a newspaper journalist named Efraim Davidi. Its "degree" will not be recognized at first as a bona fide academic degree, although it might be enough to get you a job in a Cuban torture facility. The "faculty" at the "college" will consist of the usual Israeli Far-Leftist tenured radicals, including a Marxist economist (that is actually an oxymoron) from Ben-Gurion University, the extremist "Post Zionist" Moshe Zuckerman from Tel Aviv University, the Stalinist Dov Chanin, who was supposed to replace Madame Gulag as the Hadash Party Rent-a-Jew but the party decided to do without further Jewish reps, some Arab non-academics whose academic credentials are that they are anti-Israel, and others. They do not get paid, I guess as there way of showing what happens to employees under communist regimes. If you want to tell the heads of Tel Aviv University what you think of this new "college" on their campus, contact: President of Tel Aviv U: Prof. Itamar Rabinovich
Here is a list of other university officers (you will need to look up their addresses if you want to contact): http://www.tau.ac.il/officers-eng.html You may want to let any donors to TAU know about what is going on! By the way, a few years back we posted a story about a senior lecturer at the business school at Tel Aviv University, associated with the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, who petitioned the university authorities on behalf of a group of religious women students to be allowed to use empty classrooms in off-hours to study Talmud and the weekly Torah portions. The university turned them down flat. THAT would have been inappropriate use of campus facilities, unlike setting up a Stalinist Indoctrination College on campus, run by the communist party apparatchiks. Also, you may recall that when Tel Aviv University decided to accept a large donation from a Swiss industrialist to build a synagogue building on campus, some leftist faculty and students held angry protests against the decision, maintaining that a synagogue would pollute the largely secularist campus. I guess Judaism pollutes Tel Aviv University, but not Stalinism. 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. Or contact him by email at splaut@econ.haifa.ac.il |
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A CONTRAST IN ATTITUDES
Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, March 24, 2006. |
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Please take note that the very same people who saw no problems in unconditionally turning over total control of American ports to a hostile Arab dictatorship found it unacceptable to allow an Israeli company to buy an American software group due to security considerations. This article is by Ted Bridis and is called "Israeli Software Firm
Abandons U.S. Deal" WASHINGTON (AP) - A leading Israeli software company failed to resolve security objections by the Bush administration over its plans to buy a smaller U.S. technology rival and abruptly abandoned the $225 million deal. Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP) of Ramat Gan, Israel, withdrew its plans Thursday near the conclusion of a rare, full-blown investigation by a U.S. review panel over the company's plans to buy Sourcefire Inc. Check Point had been told U.S. officials feared the transaction could endanger some of government's most sensitive computer systems. Lawyers for the companies offered to attach conditions to the sale that executives believed were onerous but were intended to satisfy the concerns expressed by the review panel, said one person familiar with the process. But no agreement could be reached. The Treasury Department, which oversees the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States, formally accepted Check Point's request to withdraw from the review process. The objections by the FBI and Pentagon were partly over specialized intrusion detection software known as "Snort," which guards some classified U.S. military and intelligence computers. Snort's author is a senior executive at Sourcefire, based in Columbia, Md., near the ultra-secret National Security Agency. The investigation was carried out by the same U.S. review panel that approved the now-abandoned ports deal involving Dubai-owned DP World. Sourcefire said in a statement it was prepared to continue operating independently as a booming software security company. One financial analyst said Sourcefire may limit future transactions with U.S.-based companies to avoid another security review. "Given the CFIUS concerns, they may have to limit their potential partners," said Peter Kuper of Morgan Stanley. (MS) "A U.S. acquirer would be a lot simpler and cleaner." In private meetings between the panel and Check Point, FBI and Pentagon officials objected forcefully to letting any foreign company acquire some sensitive Sourcefire technology for preventing hacker break-ins and monitoring data traffic, an executive familiar with the discussions previously told The Associated Press. This executive spoke on condition of anonymity because government negotiations are supposed to remain confidential. Under the sale, publicly announced Oct. 6, Check Point would have owned all Sourcefire's patents, source-code blueprints for its software and the expertise of employees. The review panel privately notified Check Point on Feb. 6 it intended to fully investigate the transaction's security risks, the executive said. That was days before the furor erupted over the Dubai ports deal. Check Point disclosed the news to investors Feb. 13, but the announcement drew little attention despite escalating scrutiny and interest in Washington over such reviews. The U.S. committee has concluded only 25 full-blown investigations in more than 1,600 business transactions it has reviewed since 1988. In roughly half the investigations, companies pulled out of the deal rather than face imminent rejection. Aryeh Zelasko lives in Beitar Illit, south of Jerusalem. He is Director of Sales and Marketing of Israel Visit (www.israelvisit.co.il) which provides information and an internet buying facility for American visitors to Israel. Contact him at zelasko@actcom.co.il |
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HOW EHUD OLMERT BECAME A MILLIONAIRE
Posted by Aryeh Avneri, March 24, 2006. |
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By Israeli standards, Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is considered to be a millionaire, even though he never publicly reported the extent of his financial and real estate assets. He will probably take care to do so from now on, in ongoing reporting to the State Comptroller, to draw away from himself the flames of public criticism that burn around him. The law requires government ministers who hold assets and bank accounts abroad to include them in their reports; their declarations have the standing of a deposition under oath. After Olmert's election in the 1970s, he declared, with pathos that could have an effect on simple citizens who did not know him well: "I was elected to the Knesset to fill a certain position, and to act, inter alia, to correct the current corruptions in Israeli society. I come to reveal serious phenomena and to arouse public opinion for proper treatment, to motivate the executive authority, and adapt priorities to the real needs of the society." Dripping with honey, really. In actuality, however, Olmert has acted throughout all his years of parliamentary activity to make money. A lot of money, and quickly. Without being accountable to anyone. From time to time he throws a bone to his voting public. During the period in which Members of Knesset could act as lawyers, several lawyer-Members of Knesset were not squeamish about taking advantage of their parliamentary activity to do more for themselves and their families than for the public that sent them to the Knesset. Olmert led the pack. He gained a reputation as a lawyer acting as an intermediary, with connections to all government officials, with the ability to get things done, and with the singular expertise to find shortcuts to almost all the government ministries and the various state authorities. Likud MK Michael Eitan relates: "Olmert did not participate in many sessions of the Knesset and its committees. He spent most of his time in legal activity on behalf of his clients. He told me straight out that he wants to make money for himself, and it transpires that he does this very nicely. Today Olmert is a serious millionaire." Already in that period people identified Olmert as having unbridled behavioral traits, that were expressed in his way of life, his frequent trips abroad, and his obsessive connecting himself to the very wealthy both in Israel and abroad -- without his ever being bothered by the question of whether his new friends had a criminal past, and how they amassed their wealth. One of the outstanding examples of this was his relationship with the questionable American millionaire Mark Rich, who fled from the US to Switzerland to escape the American tax authorities, who wanted to put him on trial for serious crimes. Olmert asked President Bill Clinton to arrange a "pardon" that would enable Rich to return to the US. One deal followed another, Olmert's circle of international multimillionaires gradually expanded to other countries, as well, and included the wealthy from Europe also. Olmert was the lawyer of, among others, the Russian multimillionaire Shabtai Kalmanovich who lived in Israel and became close to several central political figures, and who was later charged with espionage against Israel. In any event, Olmert was one of the first politicians to identify the oligarchs who arrived in Israel over the course of time, without troubling himself to check their moral standing. It is not coincidental that the billionaire Arkadi Gaidamak is only one of his friends among the oligarchs; nor is it by chance that Olmert persuaded him to buy the Jerusalem Beitar soccer team. We will return to this topic in the continuation of the series. At the beginning of his career that combined being a lawyer and an MK, Olmert discovered a sophisticated method of acquiring clients among businessmen in Israel and foreign investors who inquired about buying into various projects in Israel. At the time, when I was an investigative reporter for Yedioth Ahronoth, I uncovered the method when I happened to receive an instructive document that was written on the stationery of "Olmert, Advocate," alongside which were the additional words: "Member of Knesset." We need not emphasize the significance of the double title as a "sales gimmick." In the letter, that was addressed to potential investors in Israel and abroad, Olmert proposed that they invest in the establishment of a new private medical center in Jerusalem (Medical Center). It would not be difficult to guess why the lawyer-Knesset Member Olmert was busy in the medical ralm. Eliezer Shustak, one of the heads of his party at the time, was Health Minister. The door to his office was open to Olmert when the latter came in the service of his clients and gleaned information about current projects (when Olmert himself was Health Minister, he was involved in another affair that we will discuss at length in another chapter of this series). I had contacted Olmert then to receive his response, in order to examine the question of his use of his political standing on his office stationary for his private dealings. Olmert said to me: "This was a mistake by a secretary." I told him that I intended to publish this response, and he said to me: "It's not worthwhile for you to start with me, I can harm your standing in the newspaper." Olmert tried to prevent the publication, as he did over the course of years about many other items in the media. After he was not successful in this, he found a foolproof way to punish the newspaper: exclusive political materials were leaked to Maariv, the competing newspaper. Ever since then Olmert has been waiting to catch me. I continued to take an interest in his open and concealed activity, but I estimated that my victory was short-lived. The higher that Olmert ascended politically, becoming, among other positions, a member of the Knesset Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee, a member of the Secret Services Subcommittee, and very close to Prime Minister Yitzchak Shamir, with a large quantity of scoops at his disposal, the media's dependence upon him grew, and it was clear that, sooner or later, I would lose the battle against the interests of the newspaper. Olmert did not succeed in having me removed from the newspaper, but I felt that my professional freedom of activity was restricted. Nor was I surprised when one day Tami Mozes-Borowitz, a shareholder in the newspaper, asked me: "What do you have against Olmert, maybe just leave him alone." After the Knesset decided to forbid its members from concurrently practicing law, Olmert lowered his profile, and he no longer appeared in the Knesset accompanied by his clients. Formally, he resigned from the law office in which he was a partner, but there were signs that the legal bug had not left Olmert. In the Hakhsharat Hayishuv (Palestine Land Development Corporation) sale that is detailed below, in which the corporation was purchased by the businessman Yaakov Nimrodi, Olmert took his fee when he was already a government minister. This deal clearly shows how Olmert took advantage of his public positions to become rich by being an intermediary for the sale of a public corporation -- Hakhsharat Hayishuv, that was jointly owned by the Jewish Agency and Bank Leumi. Hakhsharat Hayishuv is a corporation rich in properties, residential and commercial buildings, plots of land, hotels, and holdings throughout Israel. in order to attain control of this attractive corporation, it was necessary to purchase a bloc of founder's shares that was held by the Jewish Agency's Companies Authority and Bank Leumi's holdings in the corporation. Nimrodi relates: "I was asked to participate in the tender for purchasing control of the corporation, together with two partners. But I preferred to go to the tender alone. After I arrived in Israel, Olmert contacted me and told me that he could take care of the transaction. I gave him power of attorney to act in my name. At the last minute we submitted the tender to Bank Leumi, and we won." The purchase of the shares held by Bank Leumi was not sufficient to attain control of the corporation, for which the shares held by the Jewish Agency would have to be bought. A number of trenchant questions arose concerning this purchase. Olmert received $250,000 from Nimrodi for obtaining the Jewish Agency's shares. After the acquisition, Olmert arranged for Nimrodi to meet the Israeli international businessman Yossi Brender, who purchased a portion of the Hakhsharat Hayishuv shares for a certain period of time and entered as a partner. During the course of the transaction, Olmert traveled for the who-knows-how-many time on behalf of Israel Bonds, on a speaking and fund-raising tour. As always, Olmert took advantage of the trip to search for investors and deals. Olmert, who was still a Knesset member, demanded that Nimrodi give him additional hundreds of thousands of dollars as his fee for being the go-between with Brender. Nimrodi refused. In the end, they agreed that the Chairman of the board of Discount Bank at the time, Yossi Ciechanover, would be a mediator, and he allocated to Olmert an additional $200,000 (incidentally, the Discount Bank, like other public and financial bodies, had in the past purchased paintings by the wife, Aliza Olmert, and this was not deemed questionable). The rest of the go-between money to Olmert was paid in 1989, when Olmert was already serving as Health Minister. The payment was made through Adv. Uriel Messer; we will return to him below. One of the classic stories is the joint exercise that Olmert pulled off together with the former Knesset member Avraham Shapira, when the latter served as Chairman of the Knesset Finance Committee, in order to approve government aid in the amount of six million shekalim to the Jerusalem contractor Matityahu Lifshitz, who was among Olmert's close friends. Although Lifshitz's construction company did not appear in the list of construction companies in distress who were eligible for aid, this didn't stop Olmert from pulling off a joint exercise with public money together with Shapira. Olmert "happened" to be present at a session of the committee, and warmly recommended granting the aid to Lifshitz. Shapira helped, knowing that Olmert would reward him. You help me, and I'll help you. When Olmert was later asked what he was doing in the committee session, he replied: "By chance I happened to pass by there." It was later learned that Olmert purchased an expensive house from Lifshitz on Khaf-Tet Benovember Street, which he sold in January 2004 for $2,700,000 to the billionaire Daniel Abrams, by means of the attorney Yaakov Neeman (this controversial transaction is currently being examined by the State Comptroller). Olmert claimed that the top floor of the house in which special effort was invested is not his, and is occupied by the daughter of Adv. Yaakov Neeman, whose ties with Olmert were always very close. Neeman repaid him on another occasion when he put his office in the capital at the disposal of Olmert's campaign headquarters, and even more so when he testified on Olmert's behalf in the Likud tax receipts trial. The price that Olmert paid Lifshitz for the renovated house has not been revealed to the present, and it is unclear whether the special price constitutes an additional bonus on top of the fee that Olmert collected for mobilizing state funds for his contractor. The amount that Olmert received from the NIS 6,000,000 remains a professional confidence between the lawyer and his client, and it almost certainly was not disclosed to the members of the Finance Committee who voted to allot state funds to Lifshitz. It has been claimed that Olmert did not perform any service without recompense. Olmert claims that he did not receive any discount. The contractor Lifshitz responded at the time, in response to my question: "I cannot tell you the exact sum that Olmert paid me, but he received a very fine discount from me." Olmert told me at the time that he had not received any discount from Lifshitz. It's not hard for me to decide which of the two to believe. Aryeh Avneri is an Investigative Journalist, NFC.CO.IL. This was
published by www.IsraelBehindtheNews.com
This appeared in
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BURN OUT FOR KADIMA
Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, March 24, 2006. |
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None of this looks very good for the Kadima Krud. There are elections and then there is (so it seems at times) the minor problem of actually running the country after the elections.
Kadima is a truly unnatural conglomerations of political odds and ends. The only common denominator to all its members is unbridled ambition driven by nearly superhuman levels of egotism and arrogance. Even if they manage to steal enough votes to Jerry-rig some sort of Government, it will not survive for very long. This menagerie of political predators was assembled by the King of Bestiality, Ariel Sharon, to insure the continuation of his Junta. He was the only one who could have pulled off such a round up of natural enemies and placed them all within one corral. Now that he is dead, the only thing keeping them from following their instinctive inclinations to tear each other to pieces is the need to win an election. Once that is over, the blood feast of the beasts will begin.
This is from yesterday's DEBKAfile (http://www.debka.com/index.php) and is entitled "Ruling Kadima dives again five days before Israeli poll, while all main opposition parties look up." Acting prime minister Ehud Olmert declared Wednesday that as head of next government he would only accept coalition partners committed to unilateral withdrawal from the West Bank. But, according to two radio polls -- Army Radio's poll confirmed by the Voice of Israel -- Kadima has plunged 20% (9 seats) in a week to 33-34. Labor has jumped by 3 seats to 20, Likud by 1 to 18, Israeli Beitenu by 1 seat to 13, ultra-religious Shas by 1 to 8-9 and anti-evacuation National Union-NRP by 1 to 7. Left-wing Meretz has also gained slightly by one seat to 5-6. The merged Arab list Raam-Taal is stable at 3-4, as is the Communist Hadash at 3. The floating vote is still relatively high (4-5 seats). According to one expert analysis, if the turnout is similar to the last election, 68%, Kadima could drop to 30 seats or less. This raises the potential of a Likud-right-wing bloc being in position to challenge a Kadima-Labor bloc to form the next government after next Tuesday -- as one of several possible scenarios. The dark horse is Avigdor Lieberman's (Russian) Israel Beiteinu, which is pulling in the Russian voters (750,000) lost by Kadima. Lieberman is keeping his cards close to his chest. According to the latest polls, a pensioners party and a party that wants marijuana legalized (Green Leaf) have a reasonable chance of reaching the electoral threshold of 2.5 percent of the voters. For a measure of the young vote and its diversity, mock votes took place at various universities and colleges. At the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the National Union-National Religious Party came in first with 24 mandates. Meretz finished second with 23, Labor got 21, the Likud and Kadima 11 each and Green Leaf received eight. At the Technion in Haifa, Green Leaf finished in first with 19 mandates, Kadima received 18, Meretz 13, Labor 12 and the Likud nine. Labor came in first at Jezreel Valley College with 22 mandates. Kadima and Israel Beiteinu each received 19, Green Leaf got 16, the Likud nine, National Union-NRP eight, Meretz eight, Balad seven, Hadash six, Atid Ehad four and United Torah Judaism two. Labor came in first at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beersheba with 34 mandates. (Prof. Avishai Braverman, the former chancellor of the university, is running on the Labor list.) Meretz came in second with 20 seats, Kadima had 19, Green Leaf nine and the Likud six. Students at Tel Aviv University didn't bother to vote. Aryeh Zelasko lives in Beitar Illit, south of Jerusalem. He is Director of Sales and Marketing of Israel Visit (www.israelvisit.co.il) which provides information and an internet buying facility for American visitors to Israel. Contact him at zelasko@actcom.co.il |
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ANOTHER BLOW TO GUSH KATIF EXPELLEES
Posted by Lee Caplan, March 23, 2006. |
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Some 60 families -- still in Jerusalem hotels after their eviction from Gush Katif 7 months ago -- are to be thrown out in three weeks, even though their future living arrangements are not guaranteed. "We were all set to receive the keys to our new caravillas in Ein Tzurim," said David Banjo, formerly of N'vei Dekalim, "when all of a sudden, we saw that the contracts they placed before us were different than the ones we had seen a week before. In addition to all the uncertainty and instability we have been living with for seven months, now we have to face deception by a government body. It is simply too much." The main issue is that the families are to be moved to a pre-fab housing site in Kibbutz Ein Tzurim, with the intention that they will be able to build a new community in Lachish and live there upon its completion. However, there is no guarantee that the new community, currently known as Givat Egoz, will be ready or even approved by the government by any specific date. Despite this, the contracts presented to the families for signing specify that the families must leave Ein Tzurim within four years. "And if the community is not ready? Where do we go then -- back to the street once again?" asked Banjo rhetorically. "We demand the same conditions as the other expellees -- which are that the four-year term can be extended if necessary. But here, the government refuses to do that, because of an agreement it has with Ein Tzurim." The four-year clause is an improvement on the version of the contract they were presented with two days ago -- which called for them to leave after only 18 months. However, the government agreed to increase the terms to four years after a long meeting with the residents' volunteer lawyers yesterday and last night. The residents have reason to believe that their plans to build a new community will not be approved in a timely fashion -- or at all. The area in question is located in the northern Negev, and the government approved it for new communities several years ago. However, since then, environmental groups have caused it to be termed a "national priority biosphere," which, though somewhat less restricted than a nature preserve, is not readily available for construction. In short, its status is unclear. "Here we are," said Banjo, the volunteer 'mayor' of the Egoz group, "thrown out of our homes, living out of boxes, filled with uncertainty, and yet willing to be pioneers and build up a new area - which is adjacent to the Green Line fence! And yet the government is placing all sorts of obstacles. It's hard to believe, and very hard to go through." To make matters worse, the Disengagement Administration has dropped off packing boxes off at the hotels, a form of "threat" to the families that they must be out within three weeks. "The psychological pressure is terrible," said another displaced citizen, Merav Zohar, "and some people are on the verge of collapse. It's simply unbearable. We are a bunch of large families, on the eve of Pesach [the Passover holiday], and we have no idea where we will be for the holiday. It's not like we are young couple who can just decide to spend it with their parents." "We need a solution right now," Banjo said. "Not in a few days, but immediately. In order to be ready for Pesach, we still have to pack up, move all our stuff into a new house, get our belongings from the containers that are in Kastina or elsewhere that we haven't been able to get to, figure out which of our belongings will fit -- if they are not broken, as many are -- into our new, smaller houses, and buy whatever needs to be replaced. This is all in addition to all the other problems we face, such as lack of work, school, family issues, and the like." So far, some 120 families have signed up for the Givat Egoz project. These include 50 families living in Jerusalem hotels, 10 in Ashkelon hotels, and another 60 who are living in what they call the "Diaspora" -- individual apartments in various cities in the south. Contact Lee Caplan at leescaplan@yahoo.com |
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U.S. COURT TURNS POLLARD DOWN, IT'S NOW UP TO ISRAEL
Posted by Hillel Fendel, March 23, 2006. |
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This article appeared today in Arutz-Sheva (www.IsraelNN.com).
The U.S. Supreme Court has turned down a request by Jonathan Pollard to access documents that could help his bid to seek clemency. The ball is now totally in Israel's court, says his wife. The Supreme Court refused this week, without comment, to hear Pollard's request to see classified documents -- including a critical memo written by ex-U.S. Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger. The documents in question were submitted to the judge who originally sentenced Pollard to life in prison 21 years ago for having passed classified documents to Israel, a U.S. ally. Pollard's attorneys say the documents are crucial in his bid to seek clemency from President Bush. Pollard's wife Esther responded to the U.S. Court's decision by saying that Israeli Prime Ministers have always said that they are restrained in their efforts on behalf of Pollard because of the "ongoing legal initiative in the U.S. But now, no one can claim [that]! The legal initiative is over! Every additional minute that Jonathan remains in prison, his life is at risk. ... The [Acting] Prime Minister [Olmert] must act at once -- before this day is over!" Mrs. Pollard told Israel Radio, "This is the first time in the history of modern espionage that an agent has been forced to face a court of law on his own in the country where he operated, without receiving any support from the country which sent him and for whom he sacrificed himself. It is now 21 years! Ayfoh HaBoosha?! [Where is the sense of shame?!] To this very day they are not working for Jonathan's release and not giving him any backing!" "Whenever I am out in public," she said, "people come up to me again and again to express their outrage at the ingratitude and irresponsibility of the government, which instead of freeing from captivity the one who served the State and saved the lives of Israeli citizens, just threw him to the dogs... You know, even the ordinary citizen on the street understands that whomever is willing to leave a wounded soldier 'me'ahora' [behind] is not capable of leading the nation 'Kadima' [forward]." The blow to Pollard from the U.S. legal system follows by just three months a similar blow from Israel's Supreme Court. Israel's High Court rejected Pollard's plea to have the State of Israel recognize him as a Prisoner of Zion, ruling that his activities on behalf of Israel did not meet the required criteria, such as teaching Hebrew or encouraging immigration to Israel. Mrs. Pollard refused to condemn U.S. Jewry's inaction on behalf of her husband, saying, "They take their marching orders, their instructions, from the Government of Israel. As long as the Government of Israel continues to turn its back on Jonathan, everyone else will continue to do the same." "I want to repeat and reiterate: He is in mortal danger. Every additional moment, every additional second that Jonathan remains in prison, his life hangs in the balance. There is no reason to wait to bring him home in a coffin, G-d forbid! ... If [Olmert] does not immediately turn to President Bush to demand an immediate end to this travesty, and to free my husband after 21 years in prison, then Mr. Olmert will personally be sentencing Jonathan to death." The Pollards later released a statement expressing "admiration, gratitude and profound respect to their American attorneys, Eliot Lauer and Jacques Semmelman, for their heroic, undying, untiring efforts to secure justice for Jonathan Pollard, against insuperable odds. Their courage, determination, dedication and devotion to the truth has done the Jewish People great honor and been an enormous Kiddush HaShem [Sanctification of G-d's name]. Fighting a battle for justice -- uphill all the way -- against three government agencies [the Justice, Intelligence and Defense Departments] determined to prevent the truth in this case from ever coming to light, Lauer and Semmelman fought all the way to the Supreme Court without ever breaking stride or becoming discouraged in the face of utter corruption and behind-the-scenes subversion." The statement accuses the above agencies of having "thrown their full weight into subverting the rule of law to ensure that Jonathan Pollard, the Jewish agent of the Jewish State, never gets his day in court and that he remain in prison as a constant symbol for use against Israel and against the American Jewish community." For more information on the Pollard case, see
Hillel Fendel is Senior News Editor for Israel National News. |
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JEWS FOR SPITTING ON OUR FRIENDS AND SLOBBERING OVER OUR ENEMIES
Posted by Don Feder, March 23, 2006. |
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One thing must be noted at the outset -- Not only is there nothing authentically Jewish about the agenda of the Jewish left -- it is, in fact, anti-Jewish in every detail. It rejects Torah-based morality, sanctions Muslim and left-wing anti-Semitism and champions causes that would lead to the extinction of the Jewish people -- not to mention the end of civilization. OK, now I'll tell you what I really think. Though they occasionally try to justify themselves with vague references to what they call "Jewish tradition" -- and often include in their ranks those to whom the title "rabbi" is misapplied- there is nothing remotely Jewish about their worldview. By Jewish left, I mean those occupying the modest territory to the left of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and Reform Judaism's Religious Action Center. Which brings me to an article in the influential Jewish Forward by E. J. Kessler, published on March 17th ("Activists Prepare for New Church-State Battle"). The Forward quotes me on the upcoming War On Christians Conference (March 27-28), where I'll be speaking on a panel called -- "Jews Confront The War On Christians," along with Rabbi Aryeh Spero, Michael Horowitz (a Hudson Institute scholar) and Joseph Ben Ami of the Institute for Canadian Values. As a counterpoint, the Forward presented a website called "Jews on First!" -- whose self-proclaimed mission is to "expose the intimidation" tactics of "right-wing Christian fundamentalists." (As opposed to middle-of-the-road Christian fundamentalists? But then Jewish leftists have always been big on verbal overkill.) The Forward says Jews on First! (love that exclamation point) was formed to "expose and counter the people at the March 27-28 conference." The site is the joint project of Jane Hunter ("a one-time Pacifica Radio journalist and longtime leftist organizer") and Rabbi Chaim Dov Beliak. Point of information: California-based Pacifica Radio makes the rest of Public Radio look like the Rush Limbaugh Show. In June of 2003, Pacifica's KPFK-FM in Los Angeles hosted a 32-hour marathon by one Dr. Kwanku Person-Lynn (could I make up something like this?) called "African Mental Liberation Weekend." Among other liberating factoids, Person-Lynn claimed Jews ran the slave trade and that Jews and white gentiles were "the pale horse (of Revelations) with Death as its rider and Hell close behind" -- probably not intended as a compliment. These reflections were interspersed with pre-recorded ravings of the always informative Louis ("Judaism is a gutter religion") Farrakhan. How proud Ms. Hunter must be of her association with Pacifica. And what excellent credentials for putting oneself forward as a defender of the Jewish people. Jews on First! and its allies -- Tikkun Magazine, Michael Lerner, Noam Chomsky, Barbra Streisand, Ed Asner, etc.-- might be called the left's kvetching amen corner. The site warns of the "intimidation of judges by Christian fundamentalists." By "intimidation" it means -- criticism, analysis, reform proposals -- really, anything other then acting like a puppy that wants its belly rubbed in the face of judicial assaults on representative government. Among other smears, Jews On First! accuses Focus On The Family of "an anti-Semitic attack on (a) federal appeals judge." Focus is headed by Dr. James Dobson (who would bleed for Israel, if it came to it). The anti-Semitic outrage in question? The February issue of the organization's "Citizen" magazine contains a cover story on Appeals Court Judge Stephen Reinhardt (think Ruth Bader Ginsburg on crack cocaine), who, in a recent ruling, said parental rights stop at the school house door. According to Jews On First!, the Focus publication "unnecessarily called attention to the fact that Judge Reinhardt is Jewish in a way we find offensively anti-Semitic." (To wit: It interviewed his ex-wife, who observed that Reinhardt "thinks about his Jewish heritage a lot.") Oh, no, say it ain't so! How I wish all of the long, bloody, history of Jew-hatred amounted to no more than this. Imagine the stereotypical Nazi from central casting in a bad B-movie, telling his victim: "Ve haf vays of unnecessarily calling attention to the fact that you are Jewish." Not exactly "Schindler's List" stuff. The site also denounces another stalwart friend of Israel, Pat Robertson, for calling Islam "satanic." Now, let's see: The imam who's paid $76,600 a year to serve as chaplain for New York's City's correctional system rails against Zionist control of the media; French Muslims fire-bomb synagogues and Jewish day schools; a French Jew named Ilan Halimi is kidnapped and tortured to death by a Muslim street gang, the president of Iran says Israel "should be wiped off the map;" Saudi clerics preach the annihilation of Jews (calling us "the descendants of pigs and apes"); Egyptian television serializes a dramatization of The Protocols of The Elders of Zion, Syrian President Basher al-Assad told Pope John Paul II that Jews "try to kill all principles of divine faiths with the same mentality of betraying Jesus Christ and torturing Him," and the party that constitutes the new government of the Palestinian Authority boasts that its minions drink the blood of Jews. And Jewish leftists run around denouncing Pat Robertson for saying mean things about the religion that introduced jihad to our political vocabulary. (On the other hand, no Moslem spokesman has unnecessarily called attention to the fact that Judge Stephen Reinhardt is Jewish. So there's still hope for universal brotherhood and understanding.) With his "satanic" observation, Robertson joins that hoary hate-monger Winston Churchill, who said of Islam, "No stronger retrograde force exists in the world." Britain's World War II prime minister also admonished that the religion of peace was a breeding ground for "improvident habits," "a degraded sensualism," and a "murderous fanaticism" -- as well as for exerting an influence that "paralyzes social development." Would you like to know just how dogmatically reality-disconnected the Jewish left is? On March 13th, FrontPageMagazine.com ran a story by David Meir-Levi noting that an organization called Brit Tzedek v'Shalom (the so-called Covenant of Justice and Peace) has assembled 387 RINOS (rabbis in name only) who've signed a petition opposing a move in Congress to cut off aid to the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority. The Hamas covenant -- which says the end-times will unfold after every Jew on earth dies -- recently posted a video on its website where a suicide bomber in-waiting joyfully proclaimed: "My message to the loathed Jews is that there is no God but Allah... We are a nation that drinks blood; and we know that there is no better blood than the blood of Jews." No matter how murderously psychotic its legions, Palestinian statehood is an article of faith for the left. If Palestinian Muslims donned SS uniforms and began building gas chambers and crematoria, the Jewish left would still want to "maintain a dialogue" with them, greased with millions from U.S. taxpayers -- as they ranted at the Christian right for wanting to display the Ten Commandments and ban gay marriage. My generation had a word for it -- "mind-boggling." Writing in The Jewish Press on December 14, 2005 ("The Real Reason Liberal Jews Fear Evangelical Christians'), Levi Sokolic asks: "What is it that many Jews really fear from the perceived power of the Christian right? They fear for the secular, leftist causes, beliefs, practices and values they espouse and hold dear. But then, Torah Judaism is even stronger in its opposition to what secular Jews believe and how they define themselves." Abortion, gay marriage, mainstreaming homosexuality, feminism, radical secularism (a religion-sanitized public square), philo-Islamacism - this is the "Torah" of the Jewish left. Its fear and loathing of Christian conservatives is driven by their opposition to this agenda. At least the Nazis hated Jews for the right reason -- because they perceived authentic Judaism as the principal moral force opposed to their values. The Jewish left hates Christian conservatives for upholding Jewish values. It's almost funny -- in a sick sort of way. Don Feder was an opinion writer for the Boston Herald and a syndicated columnist. He is currently a political/media consultant. |
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HAMAS IS THE MOSLEM BROTHERHOOD
Posted by Steven Shamrak, March 23, 2006. |
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As described in its Charter (or Covenant), Hamas (as Fatah) is the "Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood," the movement known as "al-Ikhwan al-Muslemeen." The "Brotherhood" was founded in Egypt in 1928 by the Islamic ideologue Hassan al-Banna (grandfather of today's controversial Islamic activist Tariq Ramadan). His cornerstone assertion was that true Islam had been diluted and betrayed by Moslem politicians truckling to the West, and that the only way to set Islam back on a true path was to violently replace these traitorous Moslem politicians with true Islamic leaders who would make the Qur'an their nations' constitutions and Shari'a their civil law. Ultimately, once the trans-national population of Moslems, known as the "umma" (the nation), was under the leadership of right-thinking religious Moslems who eschewed westernization and modernization, the whole concept of nation-states would dissolve and the Moslem "umma" would be united, from Mauritania to India, from Turkey to Yemen, and from Pakistan to Somalia, under one Islamic religious Caliphate. (Reaching of any compromise agreements with the Infidels is strictly forbidden by the organization! Hudna -- a truce that can be broken at any time convenient for Arabs -- is the best one can hope for.) Steven Shamrak was born in the former Soviet Union (USSR) and participated in the Moscow Zionist "refusenik" movement. For the last 3 years, he has been publishing internet editorial letters on the Arab-Israeli conflict -- independently, not as a member of any organization or political movement. He can be reached by email at StevenShamrak@mail2world.com |
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THE SPIRITUAL ROOTS OF ANTI-SEMITISM
Posted by Shaul and Aviva Ceder, March 23, 2006. |
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This article was written by by Sara Yoheved Rigler and appeared on the Aish.com website (www.aish.com/search/article_search_results.asp?article_author= Sara+Yoheved+Rigler&title_text=&date_amount=&date_option=year). Sara Yoheved Rigler is a graduate of Brandeis University. Her spiritual journey took her to India and through fifteen years of teaching Vedanta philosophy and meditation. Since 1985, she has been practicing Torah Judaism. A writer, she resides in the Old City of Jerusalem with her husband and children. Her articles have appeared in: Jewish Women Speak about Jewish Matters, Chicken Soup for the Jewish Soul, and Heaven on Earth. Rising anti-Semitism is a hot topic. This month the subject was blazoned across the covers of such disparate magazines as U.S. News and World Report, Tikkun, Commentary, and Foreign Policy. A recent poll in which 59% of Europeans labeled Israel as the primary threat to world peace and a subsequent Italian poll in which 17% thought Israel should cease to exist and 22% declared that Jewish Italian are "not real Italians," has set off an alarm -- and a host of attempts to explain the source of "the world's longest hatred." After all, anti-Semitism is more paradoxical than an Escher staircase. As
the seminar * Jews are hated for being a lazy and inferior race -- but also for dominating the economy and taking over the world. To that we must add the newest flavor of anti-Semitism: Jews were hated for 2,000 years because they didn't have their own state; now they're hated because they do. Natan Sharansky, writing an epic-length article in Commentary, traces the transmogrifications of anti-Semitism from ancient Rome to modern anti-Zionism. His theory for the root of anti-Semitism is that it is the result of Jewish rejectionism of the prevailing religion/morality/mores of the surrounding society. He quotes the Roman historian Tacitus: Among the Jews, all things are profane that we hold sacred; on the other hand, they regard as permissible what seems to us immoral... The rest of the world they confront with the hatred reserved for enemies. They will not feed or intermarry with gentiles... They have introduced circumcision to show that they are different from others... It is a crime among them to kill any newly born infant. And what of Jews who whole-heartedly embraced the prevailing ethos? After all, German Jewry in the century preceding the Holocaust was the most assimilated Jewish community in history (until the present American Jewish community). Before the passage of the Nuremburg laws, forbidding Jews to co-habit with Aryans, the intermarriage rate was 42%. Conversion to Christianity was also widespread, with cultural luminaries such as Heinrich Heine, Felix Mendelssohn, and Gustav Mahler the most prominent examples. This did not, however, prevent the Nazis from burning Heine's books and gassing his descendents. Mr. Sharansky explains the phenomenon of targeting non-rejectionist Jews: "The modern Jew was seen as being born into a Jewish nation or race whose collective values were deeply embedded in the very fabric of his being. Assimilation, with or without conversion to the majority faith, might succeed in masking this bedrock taint; it could not expunge it." The point is more profound than Mr. Sharansky may realize. What is so "embedded in the very fabric of his being" that a Jew can be sniffed out by anti-Semites even when he looks, dresses, and acts indistinguishably from non-Jews? What is this "bedrock" essence that cannot be expunged, denied, or eradicated even by conversion? Judaism would say: the Jewish soul. THE CHEMISTRY OF THE SOUL The Jewish soul, which is really a cell of the collective soul of the Jewish people, is eternal and immutable. Once someone acquires a Jewish soul, either by inheritance from one's mother or by halachic conversion, one can no more renounce one's Jewish soul than one can renounce one's DNA. Souls are not generic. The Jewish soul, like the soul of every nation, has its own specific properties, some of which are compassion, altruism, and shame (the source of Jewish guilt!). The Talmud goes so far as to say that if you see a Jew devoid of compassion, you can legitimately doubt that he's a Jewish soul. One of the properties of the Jewish soul is that it cannot bond with any other type of soul. This is why intermarriage is ultimately a denial of one's essence. Marriage is a union of souls, not just bodies and hearts. A Jewish soul cannot unite with a non-Jewish soul any more than a helium atom can bond with any other atom. Not because helium is clannish or racist or snobbish -- or any worse than a hydrogen atom, but because chemical inertness is simply one of its essential properties. THE COVENANT Assimilation means forfeiting one's own unique Jewish identity and adopting the behavior and values of non-Jews, whether Catholic or communist, Protestant or secular humanist. According to the Torah, God's design for the Jewish people is to be separate, discrete, "a nation that will dwell in solitude and not be reckoned among the nations." (Numbers 23:9) Jews are bidden to be "a light unto the nations." (Isaiah 42:6) A light stands separate from that which it illuminates. The Divine charge to the Jewish people is to "be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." (Ex. 19:1) This is a mission from which we cannot resign because it is embedded in the Covenant between God and the nation of Israel. The Covenant, which God introduced in His promises to the Patriarchs, which was accepted by the entire Jewish nation at Sinai (where all Jewish souls were present), and which was renewed on two other occasions in Jewish history, stipulates the following: 1. On God's side, He promised: * That the Jewish people will never cease to exist (Gen.17:7). 2. On Israel's side, we promised: * That we will be faithful to God and keep His Torah (Ex.24:7). Unlike most covenants, this one is unconditional. Even if Israel reneges on its obligation, God, in the merit of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs, will never annul His Covenant with us. In her recent book, The New Anti-Semitism, feminist author Phyllis Chesler writes: My heart is broken by the cunning and purposeful silence of progressives and academics on the subject of anti-Semitism and terrorism. I write "silence" to be kind. What I'm really talking about is the betrayal of the Jews... by western intellectuals, some of whom are also Jews themselves. Perhaps like me they do not want to give up the larger world in order to retain their religious, racial, and cultural identities as Jews. After all, who willingly wants to wear the yellow star? Ms. Chesler is not oblivious to the Covenantal mission of the Jews. A few pages later she describes the Jewish people as "an eternal translator between realms: God's messenger." However, her aversion to "the yellow star," combined with her attraction to "the larger world," define the twin forces that have always drawn some Jews (in smaller or larger numbers) into the black hole of assimilation. Since assimilation is antithetical to God's design for the Jewish people, what can God do to keep His promise that the Jews will never become extinct? A cornerstone of Jewish monotheism is the insistence that everything -- everything -- comes from God, the one and only source. At the same time, He has given human beings free choice in the moral realm. Humans may not be able to choose what happens to them, but they are always choosing between right and wrong, good and evil. So, what if all the Jews in any given generation choose to assimilate into extinction? That's where anti-Semitism comes in. Anti-Semitism is the Divine equivalent of the parent of a diabetic child locking the cookie jar. A Jew in 15th century Spain or 20th century Germany or 21st century America may want to blend in with the surrounding society, but anti-Semitism is a sealed door, strong and black as iron, which keeps him out -- and separate. Anti-Semitism keeps the Jewish people from dissipating into oblivion. The ubiquitous effort to trace the source of anti-Semitism to the Jews remaining different and aloof -- implying that assimilation cures anti-Semitism -- is an inversion of the truth. Assimilation is not the antidote to anti-Semitism; anti-Semitism is the Divine antidote to assimilation. THE SPANISH INQUISITION The Spanish Expulsion is a case in point. The Expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, after five centuries of Spanish Jews' flourishing -- professionally, politically, and economically -- was the greatest catastrophe in European Jewish history prior to the Holocaust. As Rabbi Berel Wein described the Expulsion: "The disaster that befell the wealthiest, most sophisticated and stable section of world Jewry plunged the Jewish people everywhere into a state of depression." The common understanding of the Expulsion is that Catholic antipathy toward the Jews in Spain grew until, in April, 1492, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella proclaimed the Edict of Expulsion: Jews had the choice to convert, leave, or be burned at the stake. Thus started the Inquisition. The true story of Spanish Jewry is quite different. In 1391, a full century before the Expulsion, anti-Jewish violence erupted. The response of large numbers of Jews, including some of the leaders of Spanish Jewry, was to convert to Catholicism. ("After all, who willingly wants to wear the yellow star?") In the course of the next fifty years, more than half of Spain's Jews converted, many of them continuing to secretly practice Jewish rites. As historian Maurice Kriegel writes of the pre-Expulsion period: The combination of intimidation with the promise of integration [into Spanish society] was indeed difficult to resist. Members of the Jewish intellectual elite, inclined to a certain philosophical indifference towards the external manifestations of religion, could thus justify their acceptance of baptism... Thus, by the mid-15th century, New Christians outnumbered those who continued to profess Judaism despite persecution and temptation. Both the Inquisition and the Expulsion were meant to solve not the Jewish problem, but the problem of the assimilationists, the conversos, who were suspected of secretly adhering to their former religion. According to Paul Johnson's History of the Jews, all of the 700 people (some sources put the figure as high as 2,000) burned by the Inquisition between 1481 and 1489 were conversos. As Johnson writes: "A marrano was thus much more unpopular than a practicing Jew because he was an interloper in trade and craft, an economic threat; and, since he was probably a secret Jew, he was a hypocrite and a hidden subversive too." (p.224) The goal of the Expulsion was to eliminate the influence of practicing Jews on the conversos. Again to quote Kriegel: "So long as there was a large and active Jewish community on Spanish soil, they [the Spanish inquisitors] said, all the Inquisition's attempts to deter and punish Judaizing Christians would be of no avail." The conversos were the catalyst that led to the Expulsion, historically and spiritually. The Expulsion obliterated the Jews in Spain, but saved Spanish (Sephardic) Jewry. Of the 200,000 overt Jews in Spain in 1492, 150,000 chose to leave. They set up new communities in North Africa, Turkey, Holland, and Palestine.. The se communities became thriving, creative, energetic centers of Jewish life. The mystic community of Safed in the 16th century, for example, was wholly comprised of descendents of Spanish exiles. What would have happened to those 150,000 Jews if they had been allowed to remain in Spain, a land where waves of conversion had already claimed most Jews, including rabbis and community leaders? This is not to say that all the persecution Jews have suffered during our 2,000-year-long exile is the result of assimilation. Suffering can be caused, at times, by many kinds of spiritual lapses, beyond the ability of human beings to discern. The Talmud explicitly states that the destruction of the Second Temple and the concomitant exile, considered the central tragedy of Jewish history, was caused by unwarranted hatred among Jews. (A cautionary statement for our times as well.) The concept that God engineers anti-Semitism to ensure the survival of the Jewish people does not mean that anti-Semites are exonerated from the evil they perpetrate. Anti-Semites, like everyone else, have free choice to choose between good and evil, and they bear the responsibility for their choices. However, as the Midrash states, "God has many bears and lions." If not Arab terrorists, there are always some European leaders, academics, assorted anti-Zionists... GLOWING IN THE DARK I was recently walking home with my son in Jerusalem's Jewish Quarter long after the darkness of night had driven most tourists back to their hotels. Just past the falafel shop, we were detoured by a sign which promised: 3D ART. By the side of the pedestrian walkway, we saw a table sporting a picture of a Jerusalem cityscape propped up on a wooden box. In the box was a special kind of fluorescent light which made the white paint in the picture glow in the dark, creating a three-dimensional effect. "How do you do it?" my son asked the young artist. "I have special glow-in-the-dark paint," he replied. The artist told us that he had just, two months before, made aliyah from South Africa. I could see that he needed a sale, but we had no money, and the young locals sitting around tables by the falafel shop were clearly not art patrons. I opened my mouth to advise him: If you want to sell pictures, you should really set up here during the day, when the tourists are out in full force. They're your natural clientele. But before I uttered a word, I realized that these pictures could not be displayed to advantage in daytime. In the light, the special effect would be lost. The particular beauty of these pictures shows up only in the dark. Anti-Semitism is an encircling darkness. When Jews view "Kill the Jews" signs at American peace rallies or read a respected academic in the New York Review of Books opining that the Jewish state has no right to exist, we feel fear in the pit of our stomachs. As Ms. Chesler so graphically expresses the dread we all feel: "'Tis a season of blood that's upon us. I knew it from the moment the two Israeli reservists were lynched in Ramallah in the fall of 2000... I wept because I understood that Jewish history was, once more, repeating itself. How foolish I'd been to think that we had finally escaped it." The Jewish soul, however, is coated with a special glow-in-the-dark paint. The darkness is not our foil, but our challenge, our opportunity to shine. The purpose of life is to dance in the dark.* Only in the dark does the greatness of a soul manifest. And what of the light? It's there to show us where the stairs are, so we can learn to navigate them. But the soul's true test is when the lights go out. Jews must not be intimidated by the venom, the hatred, the calumnies of our enemies. Being popular is not a Jewish value. Being true to God's Covenant is. * As heard from Rabbi Leib Kelemen, based on an essay by Rabbi Yerucham Levovitz, of blessed memory. Contact the Ceders at ceder@netvision.net.il |
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MY GRANDFATHER'S DIARY OF HATE
Posted by Shaul and Aviva Ceder, March 23, 2006. |
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This was written by Margaret Jones and published
March 19, 2006 on the Aish.com website
(http://www.aish.com/search/article_search_results.asp?article_author=
Margaret+Jones&title_text=&date_amount=&date_option=year).
Little did I know that my grandfather, a British officer stationed in Palestine in 1943, was a Nazi sympathizer. Three years ago my parents asked me to store a trunk for which there was no space in their new, smaller house. I was delighted because I recognized it from my childhood -- it was kept at the back of a cupboard, underneath heavy sets of encyclopedias and old records, and only on rare occasions was my father persuaded to lift everything off it, drag it out of the cupboard, find the key in among hundreds of others in an old shoe box, and open it up. But when he did... what a treasure trove! Photographs of long-dead relatives in Victorian dress had me enthralled for hours, along with letters from people I never knew, but whose handwriting I came to recognize, about times and travels that to my 1960-born eyes seemed impossibly ancient and romantic. Perhaps most intriguing was an envelope of small, black and white photographs, white-bordered with curly-cut edges and stamped "Approved Military Photographer" on the back. Some were of ferries crossing fast-moving rivers in jungle settings, watched by half-clad African men and children, and over-dressed, pith-helmeted British soldiers. There were others, too, of places I couldn't identify then, but later became very familiar with -- the Damascus Gate, Temple Mount and others landmarks in and around Jerusalem, all with the same stamp on the back and many with annotations in a spidery handwriting. My grandfather was never close to any of his grandchildren: The son of a stern Victorian priest, his upbringing led him to regard children generally as rather a nuisance, at best. Our upbringing was also quite alien to him, taking place largely on farms in Zimbabwe and South Africa, both very much wilder, freer places and times than his turn-of-the-century, stiff, conformist British childhood. Our involvement in anti-apartheid politics created even more of a gulf: the moral impulse that compelled us to take an active stand against prejudice was incomprehensible to someone of his background, for whom conformity and maintenance of the status quo were all-important. Perhaps the only times he and I ever had anything resembling a proper conversation were before and after I went to Israel. He showed me his black and white photos, explaining the annotations on the back, and asked me to take new photos so he could see how the places looked some 45 years later. Spidery Handwriting When my parents asked me to store the trunk for them, I was delighted. I would be inheriting a large collection of my grandfather's photos, along with his precious old camera, still in its original leather cover. Finally I'd have the opportunity to explore the contents of the trunk more fully and could even get right down to the bottom, to the things I'd never reached before. I was intrigued by my grandfather's war photos and hoped to find out more about the five years he spent in the Sudan, the Belgian Congo and what he always referred to as Palestine. Near the bottom of the trunk I found a brown paper-covered notebook, filled with the same spidery handwriting that I recognized from the annotations on the back of his photos. I realized this was my grandfather's war diary, which I knew existed but had never seen before. My mother had only ever referred to it in passing, saying that no-one had read it as his handwriting was "worse than a doctor's." I was thrilled to find it: Knowing how meticulous were his records about his antique porcelain and silver collection, with receipts neatly filed for each item, I was sure the diary would plug the gaps in my knowledge. To my disappointment, most entries were simply a banal record of how his job as an engineer in the British army progressed -- e.g. "In the office today. Ordered parts but don't expect them to arrive soon. Very hot." Absolute Scum I nearly gave up the hard slog of deciphering his handwriting, but then I came to some entries dated 1943. These entries fundamentally transformed the way I felt about the man who wrote them. In essence, these entries were a vitriolic attack on the Jews in Palestine, especially those who were refugees from Nazi Europe, whom he regarded with the utmost contempt. The diary expressed sentiments that I can only describe as abhorrent, not just because they were anti-Semitic (bad enough in itself), but because they were specifically targeted at those who had escaped the unspeakable hell of Europe, to whom he showed callous disregard for their suffering. These entries were also quite shocking, as I had no inkling that my grandfather harbored such attitudes toward Jews. When I told him of my plans to spend a year on a moshav in my early 20s, when we went through his and my photographs from Jerusalem, when I introduced him to my first love, an 18-year-old Jewish boy -- on none of these occasions and at no other time could I recall even a hint of anti-Semitism. Shocking, too, because what he wrote made it clear, in no uncertain terms, that as early as 1943 the British military in Palestine were very well aware of what Hitler was doing to Jewish people in Europe, and that though they were fighting against Hitler, some of the British military most definitely supported his policies. Although I do not bear responsibility for my grandfather's thoughts or beliefs, reading the diary left me feeling deeply shamed and sullied. After reading the diary, I took off work because I couldn't concentrate on anything -- for over a week all I did was cry and cry and cry. I came to understand that my own sense of personal shame and hurt are less important than the possibility that this awful diary can serve a redemptive purpose. For that reason I include here some excerpts, with a warning that they are deeply offensive: March 7-13 1943, Jerusalem: "...All the military here getting very fed up with these damn Jews who do nothing but yell for help from us because they are getting bumped off by Hitler and yet they do nothing but try and hinder our war effort in Palestine by every possible means. We all hope the Arabs here will give the Jews hell after the war is over -- and in the meantime we also hope that Hitler will go on bumping off as many as possible. Absolute scum that they are, thinking of nothing but lining their own pockets." August 1-7 1943, Jerusalem: "...as usual the Jews look after themselves, and let the war effort go to hell -- it is no wonder they are so universally detested. I feel it is a great pity Hitler hasn't exterminated more of them. They reminder me of the story of manure -- spread all over the place it isn't too bad, collect it in a heap -- as they are here -- it stinks to heaven, and they have the infernal cheek to say that Palestine is their home -- not only are they very much in the minority here compared with the Arabs, but they were booted out of here 2000 years ago and have been homeless ever since and a damn good job too. The genuine Palestine Jew isn't too bad, but the refugee immigrants are the bloody scum of the earth and they are the ones causing all the trouble -- expecting us to do their fighting for them -- while they sit back and make fortunes at our expense." The Camera In a later diary entry, my grandfather crowed about having bought a camera from a German refugee, "beating him down" so that he got it at a good price. A refugee from Germany arriving in Palestine in 1943 could only have been Jewish and must have gone through hell to get there. How despicable that my grandfather could have so blatantly and with such delight taken advantage of someone's desperate circumstances for his own benefit. But how ironic that this was the camera used to take the "Approved Military Photographer" pictures that I found so fascinating as a child and which, in turn, sparked my interest in the diary and so brought to light my grandfather's awful sentiments. Even now, some three years later, the sense of shock is overwhelming at times. And it gets me to wonder: Who is ultimately responsible for the Holocaust? The answers are many: Hitler, Nazis, Germans, governments, media. The kinds of attitudes my grandfather had were what made it possible not only for a Hitler to emerge, but more importantly, for all his foot soldiers, who actively carried out his policies, to do what they did during that shameful time. In that sense, I feel that my grandfather, with his vitriolic attitude, was complicit, too. Since my unpleasant discovery, I have undergone a process of disengagement from anything even vaguely relating to my grandfather, which involves slowly but surely removing all traces of him from my home. And the camera? That is now at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum in Jerusalem. There it has a fitting home in the collection of artifacts, brought together from that tragic period. Contact the Ceders at ceder@netvision.net.il |
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ISRAEL ASKS: HAS AHMED TIBI BECOME A RACIST?
Posted by Ariel Natan Pasko, March 23, 2006. |
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Has the former Arafat mouthpiece and "Palestinian" infiltrator (or is that just plain traitor?) in the Israeli Knesset, Dr. Ahmed Tibi, (Ta'al), turned away from integration and become a racist? I ask that question out of intellectual honesty and a search for the truth... You see, Israeli Arab leaders have made much "noise" recently about a new study conducted by the Geocartography Institute called, "Index of Racism Towards Arab Palestinian Citizens of the State of Israel." Notice the title of the study includes, "Palestinian" (i.e. member of a "national" group), at war with the Jews of Israel. It "bothers" Israeli Arab leaders, that after years of war and terrorism, 63% of Israeli Jews agree with the statement, "Arabs are a security and demographic threat to the state." It "troubles" them, that 41% of Israeli Jews want separate places of recreation (cafes, malls, etc.) between Arabs and Jews. Forget the fact that you have to be concerned that every Arab you see, when walking down the street, might be a suicide bomber (so far not one Jew has blown himself up at a mall trying to kill other Jews). It "hurts" them, that half of Israeli Jews express fear or discomfort when hearing people speaking Arabic near them. How am I to tell the difference between a "good Israeli Arab" and a "murderous Palestinian" when I hear Arabic? It "angers" them, that 18% of Jews said they feel hate when hearing Arabic speakers. What was that percentage in the US after 9/11? Back to Ahmed Tibi... He used to be such a nice mole for Yasser Arafat, probably was a cute baby too...So why the turn toward apartheid-style Arab segregationism now? Speaking not long ago to Israel Radio, Tibi called on the American State Department to dedicate part of its foreign aid monies to Israel, specifically to Israel's Arab sector. Tibi wants to build an Arab university in Nazareth as well as an Arab hospital in the Galilee. Why the fallback to voluntary segregation? Till now, Israeli Arabs have enjoyed the use of Israeli hospitals (there are Arab doctors and nurses besides patients), and benefited from enrolling in Israeli universities (even earlier than Israeli Jews, since Arabs are exempt from military conscription). P.S. There are Arab professors at Israeli Universities, besides students. Or, is this the beginning of their drive for "Palestinian" apartheid-style "autonomy" in the Galilee, that will end in irredentist demands for secession from Israel and attachment to a Palestinian state? One thing we know, even before Hamas was elected to rule the Palestinian Authority, is that the Arabs want "Palestine" to be a Judenrein (clean of Jews) Arab-only state. And Ahmed Tibi is not alone. Not long ago, Israeli Arab leaders met with a group of forty foreign diplomatic officials. They insisted that twenty percent of all foreign aid to Israel, be earmarked for the Israeli Arab community. They want 20% of international donor money to be for Arabs only, while other the 80% of aid to Israel, should be for both communities as it has been till now. So who are the real racists? After the results of the study were published, Tibi said, "Overall, it pays to be racist in Israel because you don't pay a price for it and you can always explain it away by a security need and a self-defense mechanism." I see Ahmed has learned the lesson well, calling for apartheid-style segregation himself. With 58% of the "Palestinians" choosing Hamas to represent them in "Palestine," and Israeli Arabs freely proclaiming their support for the Hamas victory, is it any wonder that the study found that 40% of Israeli Jews believe that the state should encourage Arabs to emigrate from the country? Continuing his intellectual dishonesty, Tibi added, "Racists have a long time ago moved from the street to government benches. Every anti-Arab phenomenon is accepted with understanding within Israeli society." Has he conveniently forgotten the banning of Rabbi Meir Kahane's Kach Party and the consistent persecution (both legally and in the media) of those Jewish political activists that warn of the existential dangers a violent Arab minority represents to Jews in Israel? Tibi by the way, has drawn comparisons between American soldiers in Iraq and German troops of the Third Reich. The Arab MK has stated repeatedly that upon viewing atrocities attributed to the soldiers, he is reminded of the actions of the German troops. Yet, he wants American aid for Arab-only projects. Fellow Arab MK Taleb el-Sana, also used the study to attack Israeli society, saying the results are a "stain on democracy, moral bankruptcy, and a complete failure by the Israeli education system. In my opinion, this shows we're not talking about a few people but rather, a worrying phenomenon that places question marks over the Zionist movement. The mosquitoes of this racism apparently grew in the swamp of incitement against the Arab public, as well as the occupation and the settlements. This is definite proof occupation corrupts." Likewise, responding to the study, Hadash MK Mohammed Barakeh said racism against Israeli Arabs "is a direct result of the official racist discrimination policy that has been led by all Israeli governments. This policy was extended in light of the occupation, which created Liebermanism, Kahanism, Olmertism and Netanyahuism," he charged. This is the same Mohammed Barakeh, who said in the Knesset not long ago, that although he was sworn in as an Israeli MK, "I admit here that I am not loyal to a state that is Zionist and Jewish." Notice an interesting phenomena, all these Israeli Arab members of Knesset (who are equal citizens, legally entitled to be elected to Israel's parliament -- unlike "Judenrein Palestine") are attacking Israeli society and its institutions for causing the poll results, rather than looking closer to home for the answers. No, it's not the vicious mass murder of Jews in malls, cafes, and on buses by Arab terrorists that causes Jews to feel uncomfortable around Arabs. No, it's not the apartheid-style (or is that Nazi-style?) demand for a Judenrein Gaza, a Judenrein Palestine, even by so-called moderates like Mahmoud Abbas. No, it's not the consistent polls for the last five years, showing 50-80% "Palestinian" support for suicide bombings, or the fact that Hamas garnered 58% of the vote in the recent elections in the PA. No, it's not the recent announcements by Hamas leaders of their intention to continue what they euphemistically call the "resistance," better called genocidal attacks against Jews in Israel. No, it's not the public support Israeli Arabs, both leaders and led, both educated and not, have voiced for Hamas' victory in the PA. No, it's not the growing active participation of Israeli Arabs in terrorism against Israeli Jews. No, it's not their own admission of disloyalty toward the State of Israel. No, it's not their own call for apartheid-style segregation, and Arab supremist rights in Israel itself. No, it's not any of the above reasons why many Jews have negative feelings toward Arabs in Israel. No, it's all the Jews' own fault, according to Tibi, el-Sana, Barakeh, and others. How intellectually "honest," how utterly perfidious of them... It sounds to me like classic anti-Semitism, Jew-hatred, and Judeo-pathy. Can you believe Israel is letting these racists run in the upcoming elections? Ariel Natan Pasko is an independent analyst and consultant. He has a Master's Degree specializing in International Relations, Political Economy, and Policy Analysis. He also has a degree in Jewish History and Thought. His articles appear regularly on numerous news/views and think-tank websites, in newspapers, and can be read at: www.geocities.com/ariel_natan_pasko |
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JEWISH DISCOVERY DAY APRIL 2, 2006
Posted by Mifgash, March 23, 2006. |
Details are at
www.nik.nl/default.asp?oUrl=content_detail.asp?fld_pk_algListId=615
Contact Mifgash at info@mifgash.nl
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ISRAEL STILL DOESN'T MAKE ITS CASE; ARABS BUY INFLUENCE IN U.S. GOVERNMENT
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, March 23, 2006. |
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ISRAEL STILL DOESN'T MAKE ITS CASE The Arabs promote their case at press releases, college lectures, international organizations, and among diplomats' meetings. Israel has some such access, but does not press its case. Perhaps its notorious and unwarranted Jewish guilt feelings confuse it. Perhaps it is too defeatist or corrupted to stand up for its own rights. What it states, when it states anything, is a weak defense of its military measures. It does not take the offensive and try to wake the world up to the menace of jihad and show that the Arabs are as menacing as any other fascists. All Israeli measures of defense against terrorism are condemned by Europe and the State Dept., among others. Israel fails to explain why those measures are legal and proper. It lets the Europeans believe that the IDF commits war crimes. It should prove to them that the Arabs commit war crimes. It should be condemning the Arabs constantly. It should call the self-described humanitarian organizations to account for this. It should bring the Arabs up before the UNO on charges. At first, those charges would not be taken seriously. Eventually, they would make an impression. They would, if undertaken as part of a carefully planned campaign. Call it the "big truth" technique. Israel does urge Europe not to aid the Hamas regime. It should have done the same with the PLO regime, for consistency means clarity means understanding means approval. Even when it asks that of Europe, it generalizes. Generalizations don't move people. Have you seen Israeli reports on aspects of the Arab-Israel conflict? They are too intellectual, repetitious, and slow to get to the main point. They are too academic, rather than, what a battle of public relations requires, emotion-rousing. Israel still engages in the demagogic practice of threatening harsh retaliation, while it hardly makes war. It bombs empty houses and fields, yet gets condemned for "brutal" military means and occupation. Its own leftists mistakenly call its possession of the Territories "occupation." It boasts of humanness, as in expediting food convoys and commuters, but too routinely to attract attention. It should publicize Muslim Arab brutality, as in tearing to pieces Jews they catch. One of its latest threats is to assassinate the head of Hamas. Some of the NGOs condemn Israel for having assassinated prior heads of Hamas. The world does not understand that this is war and that tactic is justified. It is the job of Israel to explain it. Israel doesn't understand public relations. It has refused help from American Jewish public relations organizations that do understand it. It fails to take public reaction into account before it decides upon certain actions that public or State Dept. reaction causes it to reverse. That loses face and weakens its deterrence. Either it doesn't realize that the State Dept. is its enemy, or its leaders are ideologically treasonous or suborned by US bribery or blackmail. Otherwise it would expose the State Dept. into quietude. Israel does not need US aid, but independent-minded Israeli leaders have left meetings with top US officials, Israeli faces turned white. What hold has the US over them? Why don't the American people know what it is? What kind of government do we really have? BASIS FOR POLITICAL ASYLUM The US is releasing some detainees from Guantanamo. Released prisoners are suspected by the terrorist organizations of having cooperated with their captors in order to get released. The organizations threaten to kill them for that. Prisoners claim that their governments may kill their families or them for being Muslims or for crimes. They plead for political asylum for themselves and their families (Ben Fox, NY Sun, 3/8, P.7). Interesting issues! Too bad there are insufficient facts for evaluating them. We don't know why they were captured and why they are released. If captured reasonably but they were not fighting us, is it a US responsibility to take care of them and of their families? Should we welcome to our country a drug dealer because his country would execute him, or should we gladly turn him over for execution? Should we admit those who would overthrow our tolerant way of life? S. ARABIA JOINING WORLD TRADE ORG. & BOYCOTTS ISRAEL S. Arabia pledged to Pres. Bush that it would drop its boycott of Israel, in return for supporting its application to join the World Trade Organization that prohibits boycotts in restraint of trade. Nevertheless it continues upholding the boycott and is hosting a conference on promoting it (IMRA, 3/7). Why am I not surprised that an Arab government broke its word? More surprising might be that the US government accepted the Arabs' word. That isn't surprising, either, because the US doesn't have principles, when S. Arabia is concerned. But it is foolish to give the Arabs something in advance, in exchange for their word. They are not likely to keep their word after they've gotten what they want. BRITAIN ASKS THE IRRESPONSIBLE Britain condemned Israel for an attack on a terrorist that wounded some civilians, too. The British government mentioned that it also asked the head of the P.A. to stop the terrorist attacks on Israel (IMRA, 3/7). What does Britain suggest Israel do? But the P.A. doesn't stop the terrorist attacks. It exists to make them. Asking it not to is a fatuous gesture or lip service. Asking Israel not to defend itself is unconscionable. If Britain is concerned about the collateral casualties, let it denounce the P.A. for the war crime of having the terrorists in urban areas, so there are collateral casualties. IS THIS A GOOD TIME FOR WITHDRAWALS? Al-Qaeda is encircling Israeli on three sides. It is readying for war. Meanwhile, the government of Israel is planning more withdrawals. That would make it easier for Al-Qaeda (IMRA, 3/8). Israel is sleepwalking into the bog. ARABS BUY INFLUENCE IN U.S. GOVERNMENT Dubai not only purchased a management contract for US ports. It also buys into the US government. One or twice each year, Dubai and S. Arabia each fetch former Pres. Clinton by private jet to a posh hotel, where he delivers a 20-minute, "off-the-cuff" lecture and some private advice. (Did he have to earn that when in office?) Consumer warning: that allegation comes from Youssef M. Ibrahim, managing director of Strategic Energy Investment Group, a "political risk consultancy" in Dubai. It probably is correct, because he approves -- "Buying influence is an ancient and honored Arab custom..." The Arabs were shocked at the US objection to Dubai's purchase of the port contract (NY Sun, 3/8, p.6). The Arabs objected on grounds of discrimination. Besieged by global jihad, are we not supposed to be suspicious of Arabs controlling major US ports? At this late date, after journalists have pointed out that although the US remains responsible for security at the ports, Dubai could let containers avoid inspection or could reveal security blueprints to terrorists, Mr. Ibrahim probably is deliberately lying, in making it seem as if Dubai would have no opportunity to let in weapons of mass-destruction. He further lies about Dubai being an ally, when it has been exposed as the transshipment point for nuclear parts going to rogue states. It is a typical Muslim practice for a regime, sometimes actually divided in its outlook, to play both sides. Mubarak was called an ally of the US, but sheltered terrorists who fled there from US pursuers, and he lied about it. What favors did the UAE do for the US? Dubai "graciously and secretly hosted American war ships, combat and spy airplanes, in its ports and airports, allowing America to keep an eye on Iran and Iraq." Since the US protected the UAE and fostered Dubai's commercial expansion, it is more of a deal than graciousness. How could the berthing of US warships at UAE ports be kept secret from the enemy? Mr. Ibrahim takes particular umbrage at US politicians whose opposition to the port deal he thinks demagogic if not bigoted. New lobbyists for Dubai were ex-Sen. Dole and Ex-Sec. of State Albright's company. She once imposed some sanctions on the Arabs. The worst offender is Sen. Clinton, wife of Bill Clinton. Apparently Ibrahim takes the sexist Arab view that the wife is the cipher of the husband, on Dubai's payroll. He is right in suggesting that objection should come from other quarters than politicians, but wrong in suggesting that it did not. There was a wave of outrage. In the US, politicians usually do not lead, they follow, so as to be carried by the tide of public opinion. He is right that the Bush administration should have brought this issue before the public for open discussion, rather than attempt to sneak the deal through. Sneaks arouse suspicion. Unfortunately, that is how the Administration works. Congress is sneaky, too. Senators tried late at night to tack onto an unrelated bill a redefinition of "organic" Industry would be allowed to call "organic" what has various adulterants. That would be like having one's cake and choking on it, too. 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@aol.com. |
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OPERATION DIGNITY DILEMMA
Posted by Rachel Saperstein, March 23, 2006. |
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When does dignity begin and when does it take second place to need? Who are the people in need? Are they the shouters, the whiners, the shirkers, or are they the quiet people often too proud to ask for help? These are the problems I ponder as I am suddenly pressed for cash gifts. When we were at the hotel stage following our expulsion from Gush Katif people were in desperate straits. Having left the Gush with only the most basic needs in their luggage they were also stranded without cash to purchase simple items. So the people of Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria came with toothbrushes, pajamas, shoes and socks, and for the first Shabbat white shirts for our men. And so Operation Band Aid came into being. People brought and sent cash and we gave out the money as quickly as possible. There was no question of need. The money was handed out equally. The Band Aid Fund became OPERATION DIGNITY, a non-profit organization with new needs to fill. As families left the hotels and came to live in the caravillas of Nitzan and Yad Binyamin an envelope containing NIS 1000 was given to each family -- to help the folks get started in their new environment. We are so grateful that you, the people out there, sent us your gifts of money. Now OPERATION DIGNITY is experiencing a dilemma. The fund has been given a new task. This task is whether to respond to a request for money from those families that had voluntarily left Gush Katif before the actual expulsion. They, too, want the NIS 1000. They feel it is their right, as residents of Neve Dekalim, to receive this cash gift. They claim they are just as deserving a those who were forcibly evicted. Is this a case of deserving or a case of need? Do people who deliberately signed away their homes to the government and moved away without so much as a token fight deserve the aid of OPERATION DIGNITY? There are two Nitzans, those who left under their own volition with their belongings intact and sums of money from the government in the bank, and those who were physically ejected with their belongings locked in containers and their pockets empty. We call the first group the vatikim, the old-timers, a euphemism for those who physically left early, and the hadashim, the new-comers, those who stayed until the end. I've learned since coming here that the vatikim have been left with their own scars and a deep sense of betrayal. There are different people. Some simply wanted out; take the money, take the caravilla, and ideology be damned. Some did not wish to expose their children to the horror of soldiers and police dragging them and their parents from their home. Some left as a majority of their farm community had decided as a group to leave together. Others just gave up. In Neve Dekalim, the largest of the communities, the vast majority remained until the end ignoring all government offers and threats. Out of 550 families, 40 left. Today the problem of those who left early remains with us. Many of those who left found themselves cheated by the government. Many did not receive fair compensation or employment. The first caravillas were shoddily made. Water seeped out of shower stalls, toilets overflowed, roofs leaked, mud surrounded each home, hot water and electricity were sporadic. A food outlet was non-existent. Families with four children were closeted into 60 meter caravillas. Today each family receives a 90 meter caravilla, with 120 meters for larger families. But worse is their own sense of shame. We hear over and over again, "What are we? Second-class citizens?" The government not only betrayed them but has robbed them of their dignity and self-worth. Their children are often ashamed of them. They suffer deeply. OPERATION DIGNITY responded with gifts of NIS 1000 to all. Those who did not ask for help received their gift first. Many were in desperate need but did not ask. The shouters received their money last. Passover, the holiday of freedom, is upon us. The families of Gush Katif -- the vatikim and the hadashim -- are in need. The special foods for Passover are expensive. OPERATION DIGNITY, along with other funds, is determined to give all the families NIS 500 for Passover needs. NIS 500 is US$110. The mitzvah of kimche d'paschah, money for Passover, is required of us all. All the Gush Katif funds are banding together to help each family. Please send your kimche d'paschah as quickly as possible. Earmark checks "Operation Dignity Passover Fund". May we all have a kosher and peaceful Passover. OPERATION DIGNITY, now an Amutah [Non-Profit Organization] is the umbrella organization to which the Band Aid Fund belongs. We are continuing to give money to each family from Neve Dekalim. The Simcha Fund aids people with brits, bat- and bar-mitzvahs and weddings. The Seed Fund helps people settle into Nitzan and other communities. We are now collecting funds for Pessach needs. Send contributions earmarked Operation Dignity to Central Fund for Israel
OR Central Fund for Israel
Rachel Saperstein and her husband Moshe lived in Neve Dekalim, Gush
Katif, Gaza, Israel. She was a teacher at the Neve Dekalim ulpana and
a spokeswoman for the Katif Regional Council. Her recent book,
"Eviction: A Gush Katif Viewpoint", with photos by Moti Sender can be
ordered from www.pavilionpress.com.
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NO LOVE FOR THE ENEMY
Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, March 23, 2006. |
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Like so many other sensitive issues surveyed in Israel, the results most likely understate the true public attitude. In a country as small as Israel, there are two or the very most three degrees of separation between any victim of Arab terrorism and any other Jew. That is very close. Quite literally, every Jew in Israel has been severely and directly affected by murderous Arabs. Either on himself, on a close relative or friend or on the close relative or friend of an acquaintance. It is on the basis of this and other similar factor that I find it so hard to believe the polls as to how people will vote. It is one thing for someone who has always voted Likud to do so again even if he isn't all that happy about some issue or person. The same with the Labor supporters and those of the other parties. However to loyally and stubbornly stick to a new, untried and unstable political party? It just doesn't make sense to me. There is a great deal of truth to the concept that the typical voter asks, "What have you done for me lately?" when judging the value of a politician or party. What can the new, untried and unknown Kadima answer, "Trust me, I'll be good to you." I just don't understand how anyone can go with them. This is called "40% of Jewish Israelis Want to Encourage Arabs to Leave," and is from today's Arutz Sheva -- www.IsraelNationalNews.com (www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=100663). (IsraelNN.com) Some 40% of the Jewish residents of Israel believe Arabs should be encouraged to emigrate, according to the findings of the Center Against Racism. 41% would be pleased to segregate places of entertainment between Arabs and Jews; with two-thirds stating they would not live in a mixed Jewish Arab neighborhood. The Center released its first report on Wednesday, reporting the poll was conducted by the Geocartography Institute, polling 480 Jews 18 and older, asking questions regarding their position vis-à-vis Israeli Arabs. 63% expressed that Arab citizens pose a security and demographic threat. One-third support revoking the right to vote from Israeli Arabs. Aryeh Zelasko lives in Beitar Illit, south of Jerusalem. He is Director of Sales and Marketing of Israel Visit (www.israelvisit.co.il) which provides information and an internet buying facility for American visitors to Israel. Contact him at zelasko@actcom.co.il |
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SAND STORM
Posted by Rachel Saperstein, March 23, 2006. |
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Wednesday, March 8 The air is thick with sand. It goes into my nostrils. I feel as if I am choking. Israel suffers from Spring sandstorms, and living in Nitzan close to the beaches and sand dunes reminds me that Pessach is not far behind. In Israel we bow before God's decree as we re-clean the house after having put the final touches to our Pesach cleaning. A sandstorm dirties the sparkling windows, spreads yellow sand on our polished furniture and turns terraces into mini dunes. "Lord", I have asked many times, "why do you do this to your Jewish people? We are preparing our homes to recreate Your great miracle of redemption. You made us, a simple people, into a nation and yet you blind us with sandstorms." I am here in Nitzan, another step in our search for a home. I am blinded. This is indeed a refugee camp. Each caravilla is exactly like the one near me, behind me, and in front of me. I have asked our gardener from Neve Dekalim to put in a garden. A few flowering plants, vines and bright pink geraniums have made this sameness a bit more bearable. I hang my pictures, paintings and our diplomas on the bare walls. The walls come alive. Books are in new cupboards as our wooden shelves on metal rods cannot be hung on the plasterboard walls. Simple, inexpensive light fixtures replace the dangling light bulbs. One fixture has already fallen from the ceiling. They will not turn me into a refugee. Their sand has been slapped, poured and blown into my face but they will not make me cower. PURIM 2006 It is the Purim season. We have invited our children and grandchildren for the Purim feast. The grandchildren will sit on the floor. We have no room for a longer table. Imaginatively I have called their sitting area a "Persian Party". They will all perch on pillows like princelings. This is our first family gathering since our expulsion. A tent has been erected across the street for the communal Purim party tonight. We are each preparing two gift baskets. Sending out dozens of mishloach manot is too expensive. Friends come to visit. The curious come to visit. We greet the people. We tell our story. The Jews from abroad are incredulous. This actually happened to you? But you seem so ordinary. You're like we are. You could be a Jew from Boston or Los Angeles or Toronto. Why are you in this refugee camp? Purim is a time of fun remembering an evil edict that didn't happen. A time of reversal of a mad decision by a mad prime minister. We of Gush Katif were also the victims of a mad decision by a mad prime minister. Our edict of expulsion was not reversed. We are two ordinary Jews who came to live in God's promised land, and became refugees. Today we look on in horror as the government of Israel, ruled by a political party that no one ever voted for, ruled by an acting prime minister no one ever elected, promises that the uprooting of Jews and the surrender of Jewish land will continue and continue. How can we celebrate Purim with joy in our hearts as these evil edicts are promulgated by Jews against Jews? Surely the Purim miracle must happen again. We desperately need Purim. The sands of evil are blowing. Rachel Saperstein and her husband Moshe lived in Neve Dekalim, Gush Katif, Gaza, Israel. She was a teacher at the Neve Dekalim ulpana and a spokeswoman for the Katif Regional Council. Her recent book, "Eviction: A Gush Katif Viewpoint", with photos by Moti Sender can be ordered from www.pavilionpress.com. |
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CHECK OUT INFOCUSNEWSNET -- A LOCAL PAPER FOR MUSLIMS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Posted by Rachel Neuwirth, March 23, 2006. |
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For the sake of refreshment about the activities of the
American/Islamists/CAIR, Shura,Islamic relief, KindHeart et al,
please, do read through the March 6 Issue of InFocus:
Check out the cartoon on page 30 -- On the left top front page they shows a photo of the Israeli flag, which stand out while the caption underneath it says: "Islam called evil at UCI Event....page 2" -- (a quote by Reverend Jesse Peterson) Read page 7, an article called: Muslim American Homeland Security Congress Created". (MAHSC) -- Check out its members. Are the Islamists/American maybe planning another way to infiltrate U.S. Law Enforcement under the guise of the MAHSC organization? I hope we aren't that naive. And there is so much more on this paper that need to be scrutinized that it is not even funny... and it's getting more sophisticated by the day. Rachel Neuwirth is a Los Angeles-based analyst on the board of directors of the West Coast Region of the American Jewish Congress and the chairperson of the organization's Middle East committee. Contact her by email at rachterry@sbcglobal.net |
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HAMAS TALKS PEACE IN ENGLISH AND DENIES IT IN ARABIC
Posted by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook, March 23, 2006. |
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Hamas's Concilatory Face
In its attempt to gain international legitimacy, Hamas is presenting a conciliatory face to the Western media, while rejecting peace to its own people in Arabic, and even denying that the conciliatory statements were made. In the latest example, Hamas Prime Minister-designate Ismail Haniyah told CBS on March 16 that he hoped to some day sign a peace agreement with Israel. A Hamas member of Parliament immediately told the Palestinian Authority media that the CBS report was "unfounded," and part of a "crazy campaign which aims at embarrassing and confusing the Palestinians and undermining the trust of the masses in Hamas." [Al Hayat Al Jadida, March 19, 2006] Haniyah was interviewed on CBS news and said, among other things, that he was "seeking a peace settlement and stability in this region," "looking forward to peace and tranquility in this region," and "seeking American administration to create this missing peace." [www.cbsnews.com] Hamas Denies Statements Were Made A Hamas MP, speaking in Arabic to a PA newspaper, immediately denied these statements as lies, and part of a conspiracy of the US media to damage the true image of the Hamas: "[Hamas] MP Mushir Al-Masri denied what was reported in various places in the media about Hamas abandoning its principles, relying on statements attributed to the Prime Minister designate, Ismail Haniyah, according to which he hopes that a peace treaty will be signed with the Israelis. He said that these statements, released on CBS, are unfounded [lit: naked of all truth]. Al-Masri said that these matters are part of a crazy campaign which aims at embarrassing and confusing the Palestinian arena and undermining the trust of the masses in Hamas movement... He added: "the Palestinian media grasps that this campaign should not be related to... and it understands that America endeavors to undermine the [Hamas] movement in the eyes of the Palestinian people..." As to the PM's statements, which have been distorted, Al-Masri said: "the American channel [CBS] broadcast that Sheikh Ismail Haniyah had said in an interview that he hoped that a treaty with Israel would be signed in the White House. I believe that the basis for the controversy over the [Hamas] political plan are the [peace] agreements, which in our opinion bring no benefit..." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadidah, March 19, 2006] It should be noted that the reason for this strong rejection of the willingness for peace with Israel is that it violates the most basic tenet of Hamas' belief, that Islam demands the destruction of Israel. Article 13 of the Hamas charter states: "... Renouncing any part of Palestine [i.e. accepting Israel] means renouncing part of the religion." Hamas would have to scrap and recreate the basis of its religious ideology to accept Israel. Itamar Marcus is director of PMW -- Palestinian Media Watch - (http://www.pmw.org.il). PMW is based in Jerusalem. Barbara Crook, a writer and university lecturer based in Ottawa, Canada, is PMW's North American representative. |
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PREPARE FOR NEW ELECTIONS SOON AFTER THE KADIMA GOVERNMENT IS ELECTED
Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, March 23, 2006. |
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It is advisable to take a deep breath and start preparing for new elections again, soon after the newly elected Kadima Government takes office. Even the most uneducated of Israelis will come to see that Kadima will be a collection of the most incompetent rascals ever collected under one roof in the Knesset. The stink of deals being made even now, as the politicians gather to feed at the Kadima trough of public money should be apparent to all. Have you noticed the weak campaign of Bibi Netanyahu, as he barely speaks about his opponent, Ehud Olmert? It is as if Bibi has already agreed to run a soft race and, when Olmert inevitably wins, Bibi will pull the Likud Party into a coalition with Kadima. Of course, Bibi would expect a high-ranking Cabinet Post, such as Foreign Minister or other such high profile position. There is only so much corruption that the nation can tolerate before she sinks into despair. Naturally, one can count on the Arabist State Department being involved in betraying the Israeli voters who really are not considered important in the bigger game of regional politics and betrayal of the Jewish country. Once Olmert and Kadima win and if Bibi brings Likud to join the Kadimites, the other parties will stampede like a herd of wild animals headed for the feeding trough. They have to so their constituents and children can receive a piece of the Government pie to live on. Olmert promises to start disposing of Jewish settlements soon after he wins, expecting a cash compensation from the Bush Administration. But, President George W. Bush has his own financial troubles, given his soon-to-be trillion dollar cost of the Iraq War, the Katrina debacle, the recent disasters of state-wide grass fires, with the attendant die off of cattle in Texas, now declared a state disaster area. America has a $2.8 trillion dollar budget for 2007. Bush has raised the U.S. debt ceiling four times, now to $9 trillion, with interest on this debt that will swamp all other American domestic programs. There may be no money for Olmert's betrayal of the Jewish people in Israel. Couple that with the Hamas win and their follow-on assault, joined by Al Qaeda and Hezb'Allah on Israel's core cities. As then PM Ehud Barak looked to President Bill Clinton to pay for his midnight run-out of Lebanon (which Barak didn't get), so too will the Gaza expected payout from America not materialize. Nor will the costs of evacuation from Judea and Samaria be paid for by America. The real pay-off will be in the form of a saturation missile attack, coming from the Judenrein (Jew-free) Gaza Strip, from Hezb'Allah in Lebanon and a grand opportunity for Iran and Syria to release their nuclear and/or chemical missiles. By this time, the Olmert government will be living in spider-holes, hoping enraged Israelis won't find them. Hopefully, the probable Kadima-Likud Government will be quickly overthrown before what is left of the Jewish State is given over to the Arab Muslim Palestinians. Perhaps HaShem will intervene with a regional earthquake that will give the Muslim Arabs something else to catch their attention other than Israel. 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.com |
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MICHAEL FREUND AND SHAVEI ISRAEL RECEIVE JERUSALEM PRIZE
Posted by Ezra HaLevi, March 23, 2006. |
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Michael Freund and the Shavei Israel organization were presented with the Jerusalem Prize at the closing ceremony of the Jerusalem Conference. The Maaleh School of Cinema was also awarded. "The Jerusalem Prize is being granted to Shavei Israel for lending a hand to Jews and their descendents all over the world, educating them and assisting them in returning to Judaism," read the award. "Whether assisting crypto-Jews in Spain, Subbotnik Jews in Russia, B'nei Menashe in India, the Morrocan Jews living in Peru or those elsewhere, Shavei Israel -- acting through determination and sensitivity, as well as with an overarching sense of humanity - welcomes these souls back to our people." The award plaque was presented to Freund by Gonen Ginat, Editor of HaTzofeh. Recent Shavei Israel projects include providing a rabbi for the "Jungle Jews" of Peru, reaching out to the Chinese Jewish community of Kaifeng and establishing an outreach center in Brazil for the descendents of Anousim -- Jews who hid their Judaism during the Spanish Inquisition whose descendents are rediscovering their Jewish roots. Another project reaches out to Subbotnik Jews in Russia, who are descendants of Russian peasants in the Voronezh region, located hundreds of miles south of Moscow, who converted to Judaism nearly two centuries ago and adhered to their faith despite continuous persecution. Several other projects are ongoing as well. Additional information is available on Shavei Israels web site, www.shavei.org. An award for original Jewish creativity was also presented to the Maale School of Cinema, Television and the Arts. The Jerusalem-based film school caters to religious film students, exploring the role of film in the religious world and producing films free of profanity and gratuitous nudity. Several of Maaleh's films have received awards and its graduates are playing increasingly prominent roles in Israeli film and television. Ezra HaLevi is a writer for Arutz-Sheva |
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HAMAS IS NOT LACKING FUNDS
Posted by David Meir-Levi, March 22, 2006. |
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Scott Wilson's "Hamas is Alone in Cabinet Plan" (Washington Post, 3/20/06) -- see below -- bemoans the sad straits in which Hamas finds itself. Financially strapped and alone at the wheel, poor Hamas is casting about for ways to form its government. But Wilson neglects a few details which coflict with this misrepresentation of Hamas. A.) The Palestinian Authority is not strapped for funds. Tens of billions of dollars have poured into the coffers of the PA since the Oslo Accords (9/1993). Half of the EUs international aid (hundreds of millions of dollars) goes to the PA. Billions of Arafat's embezzled riches have been found and quietly refunnelled back into the PA financial offices (much to the distress of Arafat's widdow, Suha Arafat, and her daughter -- after all, Paris is an expensive city). And Israel released more than $140,000,000 to the PA last month before the Hamas government was formed. The total assets of the PA at this time are estimated by outside analysts at c. $10,000,000,000!! Since Hamas controls the Financial Portfolio of the PA, it has easy access to this money ... quite enough to run the government of a country smaller than Delaware. B.) The PA spin-meisters represent their government as destitute... and 150,000 "civil servants" have not been paid. But half of these "civil servants" are in "security services". Since Israel has frequently captured "PA Police" or "Security personnel" in the perpetration of terrorist acts, and Abbas himself has complained of Fatah policemen moonlighting for Hamas, it is obvious that "security services" is a euphemism for terrorists. Why would any country want to pay salaries to the terrorists who attack them? C.) Arafat's rapacious graft, and the galactic kleptocracy of the PA, have long been known. Had the billions of dollars that poured into Arafat's hands after Oslo been put to the use for which they were intended (state-building), there would today be a prosperous country called Palestine living in peace alongside of Israel. Instead, Arafat kept c. 20% of those billions for himself (and his wife and daughter), and diverted most of the remaining 80% to his terror war. So today's Palestinians are indeed poverty-stricken, but only because they fielded no leadership to put a stop to the graft and the terrorism that are now the hallmarks of Fatah and the PLO. D.) Hamas could bask under the benevolent good wishs of the western world, and enjoy the bounty of hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars in aid from the EU and the UK and the USA and Israel; if only it would abandon its principles. But its principles are very clear, and its commitment to those principles is unshakeable: destory Israel, genocide its Jews, then move on to killing Jews world-wide, and then move on to an Armageddon war with the West until "Islam is in charge of all the affairs of life" (Hamas covenant, 12/1988). So western countries withhold funds only because Hamas remaiins committed to perpetrating crimes against humanity. E.) Hamas could form a government with the PLO and/or Fatah, if it would agree to honor the PA agreements reached with Israel, and with the Road Map's "Quartet". But doing so would inherently imply recognition of Israel. So Hamas sticks to its principles (see above, "D"), insists that it will use its power and wealth solely for the purpose of committing crimes against humanity, and thus faces the lonely job of running its terrorist government all by itself. F.) Iran and Arabia have already declared that they will make up the short-fall of any money that is denied Hamas from the West. So, far from lacking funds, Hamas and the PA are actually swimming in money...but cry poverty to get more money from the gullible West so they can better carry on their terror war against Israel. "Hamas Is Alone In Cabinet Plan
JERUSALEM, March 19 -- Hamas finalized a proposed cabinet Sunday that would place several key ministries in the hands of senior leaders but not include any other Palestinian faction, precisely the narrowly partisan government that the radical Islamic movement had hoped to avoid. Ismail Haniyeh, the designated prime minister, submitted the list to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, whose secular Fatah party declined to join the cabinet. The cabinet's makeup is likely to complicate efforts to persuade international donors to continue funding the government once Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by the United States and European Union, assumes control of the ministries. "Their task was to have as wide a government as possible with Fatah, other factions and independents," said Ali Jarbawi, a political science professor at Beir Zeit University in the West Bank. "The cabinet they have proposed will be, in effect, all Hamas. They are facing a deep problem." Also Sunday, the U.S. ambassador to Israel assembled Israeli and Palestinian delegations to discuss mounting humanitarian problems in the Gaza Strip resulting from closures of the main cargo passage with Israel. The Karni crossing has been shut for most of the year because of Israeli security concerns, but shortages of food and medicine are beginning to threaten the welfare of Gaza's 1.3 million residents. Richard Jones, the U.S. ambassador, called the meeting in Tel Aviv on a few hours' notice to salvage a U.S.-brokered deal setting out the terms of operation at Karni following Israel's withdrawal from Gaza last fall. In recent weeks, Israeli officials have made clear they want the Palestinians to use a southern passage at the intersection of Gaza, Israel and Egypt, far from the strip's economic center in the north, rather than Karni. Palestinian officials had refused, citing terms of the deal. But the delegations decided Sunday to open the southern passage, known as Kerem Shalom, on Monday for humanitarian deliveries from Egypt. "The ambassador took the initiative to bring the parties together to find a way to move humanitarian assistance into Gaza in a way that addressed security concerns on both sides," said Stewart Tuttle, the U.S. Embassy spokesman. Haniyeh's proposed cabinet, which was due by the end of the month, could change in the weeks ahead. Hamas will probably continue seeking partners to broaden its domestic support and assuage international donors, who supply nearly half of the Palestinian Authority's roughly $2 billion annual budget. Abbas has demanded that Hamas accept several signed agreements backed by his Fatah party that would, in effect, amount to a recognition of Israel. Although Palestinian law does not give him the authority to veto the proposed cabinet, Abbas could fire Haniyeh immediately after it is sworn in by the Hamas-dominated legislature elected in January. Hamas leaders so far have rejected Abbas's demands and pledged to continue confronting Israel "by all means." Abbas's aides have indicated in recent days that he will give Hamas a chance to run the ministries while working to persuade its leaders to endorse a negotiated two-state solution to the conflict. Abbas will likely wait a few weeks to forward the proposed cabinet to parliament, the Palestinian Legislative Council. The delay would allow Israeli elections on March 28 to conclude before Hamas takes control of the ministries, a transition that could otherwise boost the showing of Israel's most hawkish parties. It would also give Haniyeh more time to recruit another Palestinian party for the cabinet, ideally Fatah, which controls the second-largest parliamentary bloc. Haniyeh came close to bringing in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a Marxist party that, like Hamas, appears on the U.S. list of foreign terrorist organizations. But the leaders of the party, which holds three of parliament's 132 seats, announced Sunday that they would not participate. The Palestinian Authority is already in severe financial straits. International donors are considering ways of financing humanitarian programs for the Palestinians outside channels controlled by Hamas, whose charter calls for Israel's destruction. Israel has frozen the monthly transfer of about $55 million in tax and customs revenue it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority under an arrangement established by the 1993 Oslo accords. Those transfers amount to roughly half of the authority's $115 million monthly payroll for 150,000 civil servants and trainees, nearly half of them in the security services. Hamas officials said Haniyeh's cabinet, which was not made public, gives the interior and foreign ministries to members of the party, formally known as the Islamic Resistance Movement. But many of those nominated to run the 24 ministries are technocrats from outside the movement, although they have strong ideological connections to it. Saed Siyam, a former teacher who won the most votes on the Hamas list in Gaza, has been nominated as interior minister with control of several Palestinian security services. Mahmoud Zahar, a thyroid surgeon and hard-liner, would run the Foreign Ministry, although Haniyeh has signaled that Abbas will be given wide latitude in dealing with foreign governments. Haniyeh, considered a pragmatic figure within the movement, has been working since soon after the party's parliamentary victory to form a broad cabinet. But some Palestinian analysts say Hamas would have had a better chance of building a national unity government if it had selected a figure from outside the movement as prime minister. David Meir-Levi is an American-born Israeli, currently living in Palo Alto. His expertise is in Near Eastern studies and the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. He is Director of Peace and Education at Israel Peace Initiative (www.ipi-usa.org). Contact him at david_meirlevi@hotmail.com |
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NEW TERRORIST GOVERNMENT; 2-STATE SOLUTION A FARCE; JIMMY CARTER -- ARAB SHILL
Posted by James Biga, March 22, 2006. |
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These essays appeared this month in www.opinioneditorials.com as well as being linked to townhall.com 1. "Palestinians" will get what they asked for The PLO does not intend to approve the Hamas government, since the organization did not recognize the PLO or the Palestinian Authority's basic laws. Hamas is using the power of the ballot box as legitimacy of their government. Which one gets it right? For decades the PLO has squandered opportunities and money in order to manipulate and stay in power. The "Palestinian" people, having been brainwashed, decided to elect a group of people who have lived up to what they promised. Hamas will not change its charter or re-define the governmental platform. They have the power of the mob behind them. Using verbiage from the west they will contend that they are democratically elected to fulfill the promises of their organization. Their exiled political leader, Khalid Mish'al, has traveled the Middle East to let others know the intent of Hamas and its new government. Mish'al has warned that "...as long as the occupation continued and as long as the United States supported Israel, then terrorism would only escalate?" Hamas would only opt for a ceasefire if Israel ceased military activities and releases all Palestinian prisoners currently in jails. And of course Hamas sees the right of return as legitimate. Hamas, a known terrorist quantity, appears to have incited certain members within Fatah to become more aggressive. Based on recent writings it appears that Fatah has decided to increase the activities of its military wing. If this is true, then not only will increased terror activity occur against Israeli's there appears to be a pending internal war within the "Palestinian" people. Hamas versus Fatah with the "Palestinian" people being led to the slaughter. Clerics of each side will consider the other infidels and blasphemers and will issue fatwas. At some point the "Palestinians" will destroy themselves. They will still find a way to blame Israel of course. Based on the Torah and the Old Testament, the Arabs, descendants of Ishmael, would be wild men and their hands would be against every man and every man's hand against them. I see nothing in the Middle East to refute this. These people believe that might is right and they don't like the fact that their might is miniscule. They pray to their Allah as taught by their prophet and they continue to live under oppressive despotic regimes that use them for fodder. When a little sunlight makes it through the cracks of this society it is quickly covered up. Following Islam and praying to their version of Allah has given the Islamists a history of murder and oppression. The so-called golden years were achieved on the backs of others. Slavery, war, and deception were the tools used to build the Arab world and they are the instruments that have led to its self-destruction. Because the "Palestinians" do not receive a truthful education, the decisions they make are based out of ignorance. This is the ultimate proof of the adage that ignorance is dangerous. Fear, hatred, and ignorance are what spur the "Palestinians" to act the way they do. In fact, this is a problem that permeates the Middle East as well as other Third World nations around the globe. In order to engage these people it must be done realistically taking the aforementioned into account. Because of these shortcomings the "Palestinians" will reap what they have sown. They wanted a forceful government and now they have it. Internal strife will increase and external strife will continue. They will continue to suffer whilst their leaders pass the blame to the Israel and the Great Satan America as well as the infidels within their own realm. If the Arab world had signed onto the partitioning of Middle Eastern land in 1948 none of this would have to happen. Botched political attempts, billions of dollars of aid wasted added to the ignorance and hatred has given us the world's largest terrorist welfare state called "Palestine." Just as the people elected Hamas, they can choose to overthrow them. From Arafat to Abbas to Hamas the "Palestinian" people have allowed the evil and inept to lead them. Despite their ignorance, this is their choice. A violent people adhering to a violent religion and following violent leaders with the end result being more violence. The "Palestinians" have gotten what they asked for. 2. The Two-State Solution is a Farce Believing in a two-state solution with Israel and Palestine goes beyond asininity and sets in insanity. What, in the last decade, would lead anyone to believe that this is a viable option? The PLO, PA, and now Hamas truly want nothing to do with Israel. Their intention is to eradicate Israel. Eradicate is actually a nicer word than what these groups really want to do. Yassir Arafat cared about nothing but his own perceived authority. Abbas is the typical modern day politician. Hamas and Khalid Mish'al are at least honest with their intentions. They are not covering up their hatred for Israel and are blatant in telling the rest of the world. Just as the Arabs blew it in 1948 the "Palestinians" have been doing the same for at least the last decade. If the Arab world wanted peace they have had numerous opportunities starting in 1948 to have it. When the Arabs realized that they could not militarily defeat this tiny country called Israel they decided to use the "refugee crisis" to garner sympathy and financial support. Sadly, it isn't Israel that has left these people as refugees. Jordan chased them out after there were continuous uprisings and then the Lebanese army, with Syrian backing, chased them out of Southern Lebanon. For some reason these people are unwanted. Had countries taken in and integrated these people we would not have the problems we are having now. This is why I do not believe that a two state solution is even a legitimate option let alone viable or attainable. I have stated numerous times that the "Palestinians" are nothing more than cannon fodder to be used against Israel by the Anti-Semitic, Anti-Zionist, Anti-Jewish, and Anti-Israel forces in the Middle East. These people are being setup as human shields and human bombs in order to distract the rest of the world from dealing truthfully with the Arab world. Despotism and oppression are the order of the day. Keep the money flowing to the elite while the poorer masses are scrounging for food. Offer money to those who will kill a few Israeli's and then send them to Allah so they can reap their reward, the younger the bomber the better. Let children sacrifice their lives so angry old men can reap the benefits of power. All the while they eliminate any kind of future that their own people might have had. Whereas abortion is the murder of an unborn human, Homicide-Bombers actually volunteer to kill themselves and others. They have a choice in the matter and they opt for death and murder. The former dies innocently while the latter has the blood of many on his hands. These are not people that can be dealt with logically. They do not want what is good for them and they could care less about life. Mohammed founded a religion based on death and the modern day Mohammedans are doing their best to live up to it. We need to start dealing with these people as they are and not how we wish they would be. I do not know who is holding the leash to Israel but it needs to be let loose. It has been held long enough to cause fractioning within that country. There are now portions of Israel that have gone into denial and believe that the "Palestinians" just want to live in peace. All that has to be done is give them some land. The Oslo Accords should have eliminated this fallacy. Israel is the homeland for the Jewish people. Mohammed declared the Jew's to be filthy Infidels and unbelievers. Therefore, the elimination of Israel would be mandated from Allah via Mohammed. There is an entire religion bent on the destruction of another. If Israel does not reunite under the banner of David they will have to worry about their individual existence. When Mohammed was spreading Islam through Arabia he took advantage of the split amongst the Jews. When the Jews had a chance to stop this they didn't. The result was the spread of a violent religion which is bringing hell to earth. Israel is the frontline of this battle for civilization. This is also a religious battle, whether we like it or not. So far the Islamists have dictated the terms of how this war is being fought. They have used spineless diplomats and lecherous politicians to ensure this. They have been able to get people to believe that they are the victims. The defeats suffered in wars caused the demise of Arab pride. Now they are trying to get it back. Sadly there are people willing to give it to them instead of making them earn it. The two-state solution will not work. I say let Israel defend itself and go on the offensive. See who wins the war between these societies. I would be willing to wager that Israel would obtain the land that was promised to them by G-d. Quit allowing the Arab world to use the "Palestinian" issue to tear away at the lone bright spot in the Middle East. Israel, reunite and stand strong. The history of the Jewish people has been one of continuously overcoming hardship. It is Israel that provides the way for the rest of us. If you give up or give in, the rest of the world is doomed to the same fate. There is nothing in Mohammedanism that would lead me to believe that I would be content in a world ruled by his followers. Treat them as they deserve to be treated and things will actually change. 3. Jimmy is at it again Jimmy Carter continues to display the ineptitude that defined his presidency. By denying truth and fact he is able to push his idea that a peace in the Middle East is attainable under present circumstances. He believes that the "pre-eminent obstacle to peace is Israel's colonization of Palestine." The fact that Israel has been attacked mercilessly since its inception doesn't play into the equation. The fact that the so-called "Palestinians" have been chased out of other Arab nations including Jordan doesn't seem to matter. The Arab world wants Israel to go away. They use the "Palestinian" people as cannon fodder to pick away at Israel until the Arab world feels they are ready to make another attack. Iran will be the first to do this. Good Ol' Jimmy wants to give Hamas a chance at running the "Palestinian" government. Despite recent reports and admissions by Hamas that Mahmoud Abbas will have less authority than he has now, he thinks the Israeli's should continue to deal with him. This, despite the fact that the Fatah party was never a valid partner for peace anyhow. They were playing a political bait and switch. Now they are busy trying to prove that they are tough and are conducting their own terrorist operations publicly. According to post election polls that Jimmy uses, 80% of "Palestinians" want a peace agreement while nearly 70% support Abbas. Whoopdy-doo! They wanted peace so much they elected a murdering terrorist organization to lead them down this path of peace. If the "Palestinians" truly want peace they will have to reject the Jihadist mentality and ultimately reject Islam. As long as they continue to follow their Koran as well as their clerics they will follow a path of destruction. This destruction will be of themselves and all those around them. Maybe national martyrdom is the end goal especially if they could take Israel with them. Any so-called diplomat that follows the ideology of Jimmy Carter is destined to make matters worse. The Israelis need to step up to the plate and take on their enemies. Quit playing the political game and force the hand of the Arab world. Politics and compromise have not worked nor will it in the future. This is not a pessimistic view it is a realistic one. Destroy your enemies before they destroy you. The Islamists can not be trusted to live up to their word. Their backwards society deems it necessary to have weapons and technology without having education and compassion. Having the bomb is more important than building a school to teach science. Islam does not leave any room for reform. It is what it is and nothing more. It is a hateful religion bent on the destruction of the infidels. Compromise cannot be attained and is not desired. Jimmy Carter is in denial. The only way a person can agree with his current approach to the crisis is to deny the truth and the history. Jimmy needs to go back to building homes for the homeless. At least there he came across as a good man. When he puts himself back into the national/international realm he comes across looking like the churlish boor he really is. Contact James Biga at Jebiga88@aol.com |
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DOES ISRAEL REALLY CARE ABOUT WORLD JEWRY
Posted by Michael Freund, March 22, 2006. |
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This article appeared in today's Jerusalem Post (www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1139395652756&pagename= JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull). For a country that is supposed to be concerned with safeguarding Jewish interests around the globe, Israel sure has a funny way of showing it. To get a sense of how the government views this issue, I decided to take a look at the Web site of the Ministry for Diaspora Affairs, which seemed like the natural place to start. After all, if our elected officials went to the trouble to establish such an entity, it must surely serve as an all-inclusive repository of updated facts, figures and information about our fellow Jews around the world, right? Well, not quite. As it turns out, the Diaspora Affairs Ministry does not even have its own Web site, which speaks volumes about the role this body plays in serving as a bridge to world Jewry. Instead, it gets a whopping total of one - count 'em, one! - Web page that is static and bereft of any useful data, and which is, moreover, buried away deep within the confines of the Prime Minister's Office site. Worse yet, it has not been updated since last year, as it still lists Knesset Member Rabbi Michael Melchior as heading the office, even though he left the post at the end of November, when the Labor Party quit the government. Perhaps, I thought, somewhat naively, Israel's venerable Foreign Ministry will demonstrate a slightly more sophisticated approach. After all, Israel's embassies and consulates maintain regular contact with Jewish communities and organizations worldwide. Surely, as the primary interface abroad between the State of Israel and Diaspora Jewry, the Foreign Ministry would give pride of place to the subject, on a par with its importance and centrality to the future of the Jewish people. WRONG AGAIN. The Foreign Ministry's World Jewish Affairs Division gets a measly page of its own, with the date at the top currently listed as "4 Feb 2004." By contrast, the Foreign Ministry devotes more Web pages to Israel's development aid to Bulgaria and Vietnam than it does to the country's ties with world Jewry. But this is not just a matter of Internet resources, or the lack thereof. It is a symptom of the apathy and indifference that typifies the government's outlook when it comes to world Jewry. Take, for example, the issue of Jewish religious rights. We tend to think that Jews throughout the Western world are entirely free to practice Judaism, unencumbered by any restrictions on their observance of fundamental Jewish tenets. But that is not always the case. In a number of European countries, such as Switzerland and Norway, Jews are forbidden to slaughter animals in accordance with Jewish law, and are forced to import kosher meat from elsewhere, adding unnecessary expense and inconvenience. Other countries, such as Sweden, have imposed restrictions on circumcision, a basic rite of passage in Jewish life. While Israel has been more vocal when it comes to matters such as rising anti-Semitism in Europe, the government is largely silent on other issues affecting Jews, as though they were of no concern or importance. IT IS TIME for this to change. As the state of the Jewish people, Israel has an obligation to stand up and defend Jewish rights wherever they are trampled, and to speak out forcefully on their behalf. A simple, yet compelling, step that the government could take would be to compile and publish an annual report on respect for Jewish rights worldwide, modeled on the US State Department's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. For nearly three decades the human rights report issued by Washington has served to raise public awareness about the state of freedom worldwide, placing many governments under the glare of international scrutiny and criticism. The most recent one, for calendar year 2005, was released just a few weeks ago. At a March 16 congressional hearing, Assistant US Secretary of State Barry F. Lowenkron noted that these reports "serve as a reference document and a foundation for our cooperative action with other governments, organizations and individuals seeking to end human rights abuses and strengthen the capacity of other nations to protect the fundamental rights of all." Of course, Israel does not have the diplomatic or economic clout of the US. But it most certainly has the moral standing and historic duty to press other countries when it comes to protecting the rights of Jews everywhere. An annual Israeli government survey chronicling the state of Jewish rights worldwide would serve as an effective tool for monitoring and exposing abuses, as well as for pressuring other countries to take stronger steps to ensure the safety and freedom of their Jewish populations. It would underline and reaffirm Israel's commitment, centrality and responsibility for Jews around the globe and serve to focus the nation's attention on the fate of our brethren in the Diaspora. So whatever new government may come to power after next week's elections, here's hoping it will devote a little more time and effort to looking out for our fellow Jews. That, after all, is our raison d'etre. The writer is Founder and Chairman of Shavei Israel (www.shavei.org), which assists "lost Jews" seeking to return to the Jewish people. |
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JUSTICE MAY BE BLIND BUT INJUSTICE IS VERY MUCH ALIVE
Posted by Shaul and Aviva Ceder, March 22, 2006. |
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This comes from Eric Mahr. Jonathan and Esther Pollard wish to express admiration, gratitude and profound respect to their American attorneys, Eliot Lauer and Jacques Semmelman, for their heroic, undying, untiring efforts to secure justice for Jonathan Pollard, against insuperable odds. Their courage, determination, dedication and devotion to the truth has done the Jewish People great honor and been an enormous Kiddush HaShem. Fighting a battle for justice -- uphill all the way -- against 3 government agencies determined to prevent the truth in this case from ever coming to light, Lauer and Semmelman fought all the way to the Supreme Court without ever breaking stride or becoming discouraged in the face of utter corruption and behind-the-scenes subversion. The American Justice, Intelligence and Defense Departments have for 21 years thrown their full weight into subverting the rule of law to ensure that Jonathan Pollard, the Jewish agent of the Jewish State, never gets his day in court and that he remain in prison as a constant symbol for use against Israel and against the American Jewish community. In their intransigent, two-decades-long subversion of justice for Jonathan Pollard, these agencies have repeatedly demonstrated that their hatred for Israel far outweighs any regard they have for the rule of law or for the American Constitution. Even the support of some of the greatest legal minds in America was of no avail. Among the influential signees of Amicus Briefs to the court in support of Pollard's case were such illustrious names as Anthony Amsterdam, Charles Ogletree, Charles E. Rice and Michael Tigar. Among the important legal organizations supporting Jonathan's brief were the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. This heavyweight support was of no avail in face of the massive subversion of the courts by the Justice, Intelligence and Defense Departments. Their stubborn opposition caused the entire legal struggle to be calculatedly sandbagged at the outset of every filing, and the merits of Pollard's case were never reached. Every filing was summarily dismissed on spurious and flimsy technicalities. Refusing to give in to the subversion, and more determined than ever, Lauer and Semmelman took Pollard's the case all the way to the American Supreme Court. This final avenue of appeal behaved no differently than the lower courts: it subverted justice by simply refusing to hear Pollard's petition. Contrary to misinformed media reports, Jonathan Pollard did not lose the case; it simply was never heard. Justice4JP released the following statement to the Israeli media
today.
"US Supreme Court Hammers Final Nail in the Coffin of Hopes to Secure Justice for Jonathan Pollard Via Legal Avenues." J4JP Release -- March 21, 2006 ESTHER POLLARD: "Jonathan's very life is at stake. If the Prime Minister will not respond at once -- even before the day is done -- by making an immediate appeal to President Bush to release my husband, then he personally will be sentencing Jonathan to death." The US Supreme Court yesterday dismissed Jonathan Pollard's final petition, driving the last nail into the coffin of hopes to secure justice for Jonathan Pollard via the US legal system. Here are some of the comments Esther Pollard made in the Israeli media today: "The decision of the Supreme court is disappointing but not surprising. The dismissal of this petition, just like all the ones that preceded it, was based solely upon legal technicality; the merits of the case were never reached." "Israel's abandonment of her agent, my husband, Jonathan Pollard, was never a problem that could be solved via the American legal system." "The real issue is: this is the first time in the history of modern espionage that that an agent has been forced to face a court of law on his own, in the country where he operated, without receiving any support from the country which sent him and for whom he sacrificed himself." "From the outset Jonathan never had any chance of receiving justice from the Americans as long as the country that sent him, and for whom he sacrificed himself, continued to turn its back on him." "Whenever I am out in public, people come up to me again and again to express their outrage at the ingratitude and irresponsibility of the Government of Israel, which instead of freeing from captivity the one who served the State and saved the lives of Israeli citizens, just threw him to the dogs." "For years we were told to be patient, that there is an on-going legal initiative. No one can say that any longer. It is over. This was the final nail in the coffin of our hopes of securing justice for Jonathan via the American system of justice." "Every additional minute that Jonathan spends in prison he is in mortal danger. Every additional moment, every additional second that Jonathan remains in prison, his life hangs in the balance. There is no reason to wait to bring him home in a coffin, G-d forbid!" "If the Prime Minister will not respond at once -- even before the day is done -- by making an immediate appeal to President Bush to release my husband, then he personally will be sentencing Jonathan to death." -30- SEE ALSO: Transcript: Kol Yisrael Radio Interview of Esther Pollard on US Supreme Court Dismissal of Jonathan's Petition Contact the Ceders at ceder@netvision.net.il |
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HURT POLLARD, HIDE SUBVERSION; SIGNIFICANCE OF SCANDALS; FINLAND AIDS
ANTI-ISRAEL NGOS
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, March 22, 2006. |
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HURT POLLARD, HIDE SUBVERSION Known for insight into espionage, Wm. F. Buckley's take on Jonathan Pollard ("Spytime in Washington," March 6, 2006, p.9) astonished me. He denies Pollard got a harsher sentence, when Aldrich Ames unfairly blamed Pollard for exposing CIA agents to the Soviets. Come now!. Government leaks fanned indignation against Pollard for the deaths of those agents. Pollard's sentence properly was not minimized, just for having helped an ally -- The rules don't change according to whom we give stolen secrets," wrote Mr. Buckley. The record shows that they usually do. Sentencing is flexible. Then there must be criteria for veering towards the minimum or the maximum. An equitable formula would levy a harsher penalty for helping an enemy, with malicious intent, and wreaking harm. That is customary. Unfortunately, politics intrudes. Spies for favored Arab countries that our government courted but that are not benign towards the US have gotten away with only a couple of years in jail or non-prosecution. Pollard got a heavier sentence than most spies for enemies of the US. Mr. Buckley did not explain that illogic. As for the rules that he sets store by, as do I, the government flouted them by violating the plea bargain for a lighter sentence; basing the heavier sentence on an unusual, last-minute submission of a secret, probably biased memo not available to Pollard's defense attorneys for study; and treating him with uncommon brutality. There was extreme institutional indignation against Pollard. His spying thwarted a secret maneuver to deprive Israel of officially promised, vital intelligence about Arab military plans, such as Saddam's to poison-gas Israel. Thanks to Pollard, Israel was ready, so Saddam used conventional bombs, and thousands of Israelis were spared. By silencing Pollard, however, those who subverted the official policy of intelligence disclosure stayed hidden. Mr. Buckley's stance protects those subversives. COMPLAINTS ABOUT CALLOUS ABANDONMENT UPHELD The Comptroller of Israel issued what is called a "scathing" report about the treatment of the Jews expelled from Gaza. There was little planning for what to do with the residents, promises and assurances were made when it was known that the resources were not being made available, the residents were mistreated on the way out and improperly deprived of their possessions, poor implementation continues, and the hardship grinds on. The comptroller vindicated most of the complaints about the Sharon-Olmert regime's mishandling of this abandonment (even as Olmert schemes to abandon more). More scathing is the Winston Mid East Analysis accusation that the misplanning was planned by Sharon in order to keep the settlers politically off balance (3/9). THE SIGNIFICANCE OF SCANDALS The NY Sun's Britain correspondent wrote a confused piece asserting that every country has political scandals, including one by a son of Sharon, and that the details of the foreign ones bore him. Then he devoted the next 14 paragraphs to a British political scandal, without explaining why he thought it worth sifting out of the political mud for us Americans, to whom that scandal is foreign (Daniel Johnson, 3/9, Op.-Ed.). An implication is made that political scandals have little significance. Some do, some don't. There are levels of significance. An ordinary political scandal, whereby a public official takes pay for using his power to circumvent regulations, as Olmert has done, is venal but not vital. That is not very significant, though it helps one gauge character. This kind of scandal can rise in importance if it becomes a club in the hands of a blackmailer working against national security. That happened to Sharon and son, when their acceptance of campaign donations and their real estate practices enabled the left-wing Attorney-General to investigate and indict the Sharons, if he wanted to. Why might he not want to? Because then, lacking integrity himself, he can hold sway over the Prime Minister and get enacted leftist policies that could not have won approval by democratic election. A significant level of corruption is that of the Israeli official who ran the abandonment of Gaza and northern Samaria. He also helped run a private company that made money from the abandonment. In this conflict of interest, the worse he performed his duties in behalf of the dispossessed, the more his company profited. This is on the level of the US officials who are recruited from private companies into federal agencies that regulate them, later to return to the industry. The weaker the regulation, the greater the private profit. Such officials subvert their public purpose. That is more offensive than just taking a bribe to buy equally acceptable products of one company over another. The highest level is bribery or extortion to serve a foreign country working against one's own. Peres might have done that in his scandalous profiteering from the "peace process" he staged. PM Barak might have done it, in accepting illegal campaign contributions from foreign sources whose goals contradicted his platform, but whose goals he forwarded, once elected. On the other hand, it may not have been a bribe, for he may have intended to deceive the electorate. Israeli politicians do that. Sharon did it by having as Israel's representative in negotiations with the P.A. a lawyer who had as a client the P.A.. If the lawyer betrayed Israel, he got more to share with his client. Several Israeli leaders had investments in P.A. businesses, including, apparently, Sharon. In the State Dept., many officials look forward to retiring into high salaries from S. Arabia. A Saudi Prince boasted about having them in his pocket now. Inasmuch as S. Arabia finances much of the jihad mentality that is getting our troops killed, those officials are as corrupt as can be. When a scandal involves an official selling out his country to the enemy and in wartime, it is worthy of capital punishment for treason, whether it be Sharon or a US Ambassador. DISQUIETING NEWS ABOUT IRAN Iran has been making alliances with leftist regimes in Latin America. From those countries, they may be able to launch nuclear weapons at the US in their intermediate-range missiles that cannot reach the US from Iran (NY Sun, 3/8, Ed.). Iran gears up to destroy the US. The US just waits for this?q FOLLOW-UP ON BROOKLYN IMAM SERIES Recently, I commented about a NY Times series that coddled a Brooklyn Imam, who made some compromises with Western ways but slandered Israel and sanctioned terrorism against it. It called him "moderate." The NY Sun added comments. The Times made much of the childish harassment of Muslims, but failed to make clear that New Yorkers did not retaliate against mosques after Islamic terrorists murdered three thousand innocent people in New York. Nor did the article mention that 12 years ago, a member of that mosque, on hearing the sermon of the current imam's predecessor, murdered a Jewish boy (Daniel Freedman, 3/8, Op.-Ed.). That is how the Times slants stories, in order to bolster its preconceived conclusions. FINLAND AIDS ANTI-ISRAEL NGOS Finland set up a bureau to subsidize foreign development and humanitarian efforts. Direct and indirect recipients in the P.A. and in Israel include: the Palestinian Center for H uman Rights, the Jerusalem Center for Social and Economic Rights, Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group, World Vision-Finland, the Public Committee against Torture, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, JCSER, Psychologists for Social Responsibility, Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs, and Sabeel. All of those groups have laudable sounding goals. Some of them foster those goals. But they all abuse their respected goals and positions in a slanderous political campaign against Israel. Examples of bias: (1) Accused Israel of violating Intl. humanitarian law by killing Arabs, without acknowledging that that Israel has to pursue terrorists who violate that law by hiding in cities and emerging to attack Israeli civilians; 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@aol.com. |
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THE JEWS ARE STUCK AT THE WALL
Posted by Marcel Cousineau, March 22, 2006. |
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My response to plan for Cable Car access to the Kotel. Years ago when our Jewish guide, Gershon, pushed us to go up on a tour of the Temple Mount, he told us, "We Jews are 'stuck at the wall'. The Jewish people are truly dumb sheep easily led by the nose and easily satisfied wiith token things like a Wall. While Islam controls the Temple Mount and destroys artifacts from the first and second Temple period, they continue to settle for the meatless bone of a wall. Now we have another token idea to keep the Jewish people stuck at the Wall. I understand the fear of much of Israel in not offending the present occupiers of the Temple Mount, they are bound in fear and enslaved by fear, prisoners to threats and intimidation and for this reason, the wall is their limitation and the wall is all their faith can rise up to. Truly a faithless and weak people, ruled by fear. It's no wonder the enemies of Israel are so bold and the threat to Israel grows. Marcel Contact Marcel Cousineau at up2zionsg8@yahoo.com or go to his website: http://averyheavystone.blogspot.com |
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ISRAEL'S UNINFORMED ELECTORATE
Posted by Women in Green, March 22, 2006. |
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This article was written by Caroline Glick and appeared in the
Jerusalem Post.
On the eve of the Knesset elections, Israel faces multiple challenges. Hamas, in appointing technocrats and terrorists to run its new government is showing that it is possible to learn from the Nazi model of governance. Even genocidal mass murderers who seduce their societies with delusions of racial and religious supremacy can receive international acclaim if they make the trains run on time. Israel's political spectrum is divided between the Left, represented by Kadima and the Right represented by Likud. Kadima wishes to contend with the Hamas threat by making a public show of shunning Hamas while surrendering Judea and Samaria to the terror organization. The Likud points out that surrendering Judea and Samaria to Hamas will make it impossible to defend the rest of the country. Since Likud doesn't think that Israel should surrender its right to defend itself by turning its heartland over to a global terrorist organization which together with Fatah and Islamic Jihad has already murdered over 1,100 Israelis and remains committed to annihilating Israel, it objects to surrendering any territory to Hamas. It has been repeatedly noted in this column that the Israeli media has blocked all public debate on this issue. The media mollycoddles politicians on the Left -- applauding them for mindlessly repeating the talking points they received from their public relations advisers. Politicians on the Right on the other hand are harassed, insulted and forced on the defensive for daring to suggest that expelling Israelis from their homes and transferring their land to Hamas might not be in Israel's best interest. It isn't just issues related to Israel's national security that are shunted under the rug by our media stars as they obsess over our politicians' relative likeability and body language. All issues of concern are ignored. A week before the elections, it seems worthwhile to look at a few of these other issues so that we will at least have some idea of what is at stake. FIRST, WE have the economy. Of all the parties running in these elections, only two have enunciated their economic policies in any coherent manner. Likud, led by Binyamin Netanyahu is a free market, small government party. Labor, led by union boss Amir Peretz who oversaw the Histadrut labor union as it plunged into bankruptcy taking several workers' pension funds with it, and held the national economy hostage to its illegal general strikes, maintains that Israel must adopt the South American socialist model that has done such wonders for the Argentinean, Venezuelan and Bolivian economies. The front-running Kadima party has outlined no economic platform. Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert both promises to continue the free market reforms Netanyahu pushed through as finance minister, and to reverse them, while his deputy Shimon Peres promises an end to "piggish capitalism." Kadima's incoherence serves its needs in the election season because the only question that the media considers relevant or newsworthy is whether a candidate or a party expresses sufficient "social sensitivity." Translated into talking points this means that candidates are judged by the amount of contempt they level against Netanyahu for having implemented free market reforms. While Netanyahu's reforms caused a large, sustained drop in unemployment and moved Israel from the brink of economic collapse to become the fastest growing market in the Western world, the media barrages the public with unsubstantiated, and transparently imaginary statistics proclaiming that a quarter of Israel's children are starving. Aside from the invisible hundreds of thousands of starving kids, no one seems to care that workers just barely scraping the borders of the middle class are paying 33-40 percent income taxes, or that VAT -- a regressive tax if there ever was one -- is 16.5 percent. It doesn't seem to bother anyone that our markets are run by monopolists that overcharge us for everything from food to housing to banking services because they can because they are monopolists. All the journalists who ooze "social sensitivity" never seem to make a connection between overtaxed business owners and unemployment or low wages for skilled and unskilled, educated and uneducated workers. Given the media's love affair with South American socialism, it should surprise no one that those minor parties that have something to say about the economy generally say that they hate and oppose capitalism and small government. ASIDE FROM the economy, there is the issue of Israel's constitutional crisis. During the course of the campaign, there have been several notable episodes which illustrated the depths of Israel's constitutional morass. First we have the interim government's treatment of the Knesset's investigative committee into police brutality against protesters at Amona last month. Acting in clear contempt of the Knesset, Internal Security Minister Gideon Ezra and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz barred their senior officers from testifying before the committee. The fact that as government ministers in a parliamentary democracy they are constitutionally bound to uphold the decisions of the Knesset seems to have made no impression whatsoever on the ministers -- who have the full support of the media in their law-breaking activities. Then we have the odd decision by Attorney-General Menachem Mazuz to appoint himself arbiter of what decisions the interim government is allowed to make before the elections. Last week, Mazuz ordered the Health Ministry's medications committee, which is responsible for determining what prescription drugs should be covered by state medical insurance, to desist from convening until after the elections. It never seemed to occur to Mazuz that it might not be any of his business whether the committee convenes since absolutely no legal issue is raised by the schedule of its meetings. Mazuz's decision to turn a committee of civil servants into a matter under his purview is just the latest in a series of dubious if not downright unacceptable maneuvers on his part that have served to empower him far beyond what any reasonable person would deem reasonable. Following Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's massive stroke in January, Mazuz invented a bit of Orwellian legalistic gobbledygook by defining Sharon's condition as of one of "temporary incapacity of a permanent character." Mazuz had good reason to act as he did. If he had simply declared that Sharon was "permanently incapacitated" -- which he is -- then a complicated, multi-step procedure for selecting and approving a new prime minister and government would have been set in motion, the results of which are unclear. But by declaring Sharon "temporarily incapacitated on a permanent basis," Mazuz blocked that procedure from taking place. In so doing, he seized the power to select the prime minister from Israel's elected officials, effectively anointing himself the prime minister's sole elector. Israel's constitutional crisis has two central characteristics -- the Knesset is emasculated and the legal establishment as represented by the Attorney-General and the Supreme Court is disproportionately empowered. By all rights, this state of affairs should have been a major issue in the election campaign. Yet, it has received no attention. Before his temporary incapacitation of a permanent nature, Sharon and his PR consultants began espousing support for constitutional reform that would transform Israel from a parliamentary democracy to a presidential democracy. Since Olmert replaced Sharon, Kadima has been all but silent on the issue. For its part, Labor members have repeatedly voiced their satisfaction with the current imbalance of powers. This makes sense because in constitutional matters, the state prosecution and the Supreme Court routinely rule in accordance with their members' leftist political beliefs thus empowering the Left well beyond its numerical support among the public. NETANYAHU HAS stated his preference for a reform of the method of electing Knesset members. The Likud supports splitting the ballots so that 60 members of Knesset will be selected directly by voters on a regional basis while the other 60 will continue to be elected by the proportional party lists. There can be little doubt that a movement away from proportional elections will not only increase accountability by tying parliamentarians to their constituents, it will also eliminate some of the smallest splinter parties and so stabilize Israeli governments. In the next few years, Israel's security, economic growth and constitutional order will all be challenged in both familiar and unfamiliar ways. Sadly, because of our media's temporary bias and superficiality of a permanent nature which causes it to squelch all public debate on all the issues of the day, as we go to the ballot box next week, we will be casting votes that will influence how those challenges will be met without the least awareness of either the issues at stake or the manner in which the political parties will contend with them. Then again, since they have never been challenged on any of these issues, most of our politicians are also unaware of them. Ruth and Nadia Matar established Women For Israel's Tomorrow (Women in Green), an activist group of women based in Jerusalem. Their website address is http://www.womeningreen.org |
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POST-PURIM UPDATE
Posted by Anita Tucker, March 22, 2006. |
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The obstacles that our government place in our way of building our homes and businesses anew continue. The lawyers tell us that the Gov't representatives have now insisted that their own assayers, who had come into Gush Katif weeks before our expulsion to assay our homes, must now lower the figures they presented (which were based on what they saw and measured on our homes in Gush Katif then). The Gov't wants lower numbers than the already much lower numbers of the gov't assayers. The gov't reps are apparantly disturbed by the fact that their figures are too similar to the figures presented by the private assayers that we each had privately hired before the expulsion (the most reliable, experienced and known realty assayers in country). The result is that the gov't refuses to reach a settlement until their own assayers lower their numbers (based on nothing but crumbles -- that even that they can't get in to see). This is to assure that the final bargained down price will be very low and not enable building anew (In the law there is an option of not accepting the absolute fee/per meter which is unfairly low but because of improvements in the homes that in fact had involved much higher sums to accept a total sum based on gov't assayers fee on each individual home) So meanwhile most of us are unable to receive compensation for our homes and thus build our homes anew in the seeable future. Why is this illogical thing being done???? This new obstacle, as the others before, of course, causes much suffering, pain and aggravation, not to mention slow crumbling of our communities, that we have struggled with such conviction to hold together. Our community has been our so important sanity maintaining factor that we succeeded in taking out with us of the destruction of Gush Katif, as well as being our motivation to build anew. I hope your Purim was joyful. Ours was outstanding. We were privilaged to feel the warmth of many individual caring Jews. Several Jews from NY-NJ area individually went to all the communities of people fromGush K Atif to deliver Mishloach Manot packages to each family. Other generous individuals donated costumes to share Purim happiness with each child here in GK communities. In addition we felt really pure Purim Joy this year. We were not joyful because we have a beautiful house today, nor because we have a successful business today. However we were trully joyful because we so tried with all our hearts and spirits that we have left, to feel the light of help, the joy, the happiness that the Jews of Shushan and of all over those places where Jews lived there felt in those very special times when all was salvaged with God's help and Mordechai's, Esther's and all the Jews courage. The Jews then were able to continue their lives as they were used to. We rejoiced sincerely and purely in this joy of Purim and prayed that we too, will soon, God willing, be able to feel this joy in our communities anew every day, not only on Purim! Thanks so much for caring -- caring gives strength.
Anita Tucker is a remarkable woman. Once a farmer in Gush Katif, growing highly prized and praised organic vegetables, she is now one of the Gush Katif refugees. Once she helped turn a desolate area into a wonderful place to live; now, as she writes, she works "... to build our homes and businesses anew and again be a constuctive and welcoming community, renowned for chesed." Contact her at tucker.anita@gmail.com |
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THE JEWISH LEFT AND HAMAS; WHAT ISRAEL LOBBY?
Posted by Steven Plaut, March 22, 2006. |
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1. "Embracing Islamo-Fascists"
by P. David Hornik FrontPageMagazine.com, March 22, 2006 http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/authors.asp?ID=1978 The Jewish Left is failing the Hamas test. Seemingly, the election of the fanatically-religious Hamas would have enabled the Jewish Left to join most other Jews in solidarity behind Israel as a country facing a threat. The Left tends to view religion as irrational and destructive, and secularism as rational. During the early period of Oslo terrorism ca. 1993-1996, the Jewish Left constantly assured us that the terror came from fundamentalist "enemies of peace" -- Hamas and Islamic Jihad -- whereas the ostensibly-secular Arafat and his PLO remained committed to conciliation. But the empowerment of Hamas -- now promoting suicide terrorism for children (http://www.pmw.org.il/) on its children's website -- has caused no change in the Jewish Left's mindset. True, for Israeli leftist author Amos Oz, who has steadily vilified "fundamentalist" Jewish settlers, it is still not Hamas itself that is yearning to make peace with Israel. But in an op-ed called "Someone to Talk To" (www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3229453,00.html) on the ynet news site, Oz complains that both "Ehud Olmert and Benjamin Netanyahu ... claim there is no one to talk with on the Palestinian side" and want to take unilateral measures. Instead, Oz suggests that Israel "try to strengthen the moderate elements amongst the Palestinians, the ones concentrated around [President Abbas's] office, to negotiate with them and to sign agreements with them. ... Were negotiations with the presidential establishment to produce even a draft agreement, it could signify a breakthrough for a 'bypass road' to avoid Hamas and could lead to victory for the moderate Palestinian camp." Apart from the fact that Oz predictably upholds Abbas's wholly undeserved (www.science.co.il/Arab-Israeli-conflict/Articles/Ettinger-2005-01-14.asp) reputation for moderacy -- not to mention efficacy, even after over a year of rule in which Abbas never lifted a finger against the Palestinian terror organizations -- this may also be the first time anyone has suggested simply "bypassing" a serving totalitarian government and "negotiating agreements" with selected elements in the regime. And should that fail to work, "Israel," Oz assures us, "has got one other way to bypass Hamas: to negotiate with Arab governments for a general resolution to all elements of the conflict on the basis of the 2003 Arab League proposal (the so-called 'Saudi Proposal')." In other words, skip over the PA regime altogether and do it all in one shot -- with the whole Arab world, with its great fondness for Israel. For Oz, it is better to engage publicly in ludicrous mental contortions than to join the rest of us folks who just think we're going to have to fight Hamas. The editorial board of Israel's left-wing daily Haaretz, though, accepts the fact (www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/695993.html) that "the Palestinians elected the parliament and government that Hamas will apparently rule," and criticizes Labor prime-ministerial candidate Amir Peretz for, like Oz, "want[ing] to establish a moderate track for negotiations with the Palestinians and strengthen pragmatists, while intentionally ignoring the fact that Hamas is in power." Does this mean Haaretz has, for the time being, despaired of its dreams of turning Israel and its environs into a southern version of the EU -- peaceful, nonchalant, and more or less productive? Not at all: "it is with these elected [Hamas] bodies that Israel must hope to reach an agreement. ... while Israel's intelligence services think there is a slim chance for political negotiations with Hamas[,] we must remember that the same intelligence was mistaken in its assessment of Hamas' political power, and it's possible that it is mistaken in its assessment of the changes that will take place." In other words, for Haaretz the partner for peace is -- Hamas itself. As for the American Jewish Left, the emergence of House and Senate bills calling for an end to aid and ties with a Hamas-led Palestinian Authority has prompted objections. The notion that anyone, anytime, might act assertively toward the Palestinians, hold them accountable for their actions, and redirect aid to someone more deserving proves too much for the devotees of the peace ideology. Seymour Reich, for example, of the Israel Policy Forum (www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID582) insists in a Jerusalem Post op-ed (www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite cid=1139395582395&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter) that "US policy -- and any Congressional legislation -- should ... provide opportunities and inducements to Palestinians to publicly commit to achieving a two-state solution using nonviolent means and accepting the State of Israel, and allow for engaging with those Palestinians who make such a commitment." Read: sustain the dream of bribing the Palestinians to adopt Western values after, seemingly, it had been painfully discredited. At the same time, Reich pontificates, the US must "make certain [its] funds are not used to advance the goals or methods of Hamas." Read: micromanage a distant, corrupt, anarchic, Third World society to ensure that funds end up, and stay in, the hands of alleged good guys and in no way abet the aims of a terrorist government and a general population of people inundated with anti-Semitic propaganda since earliest childhood. For the Jewish Left both in Israel and abroad, dreams die hard. But so do
the Israeli victims of Palestinian terror that is enabled by those who lack
the courage to look at reality and substitute fantasies of friendship with
those who loathe them.
2."What Israel Lobby?"
In Boston in the early 1980s, I was asked by an Irish cab driver what language I had been speaking with a fellow passenger we had just dropped off. When I told him, Hebrew, the language of Israel, the man exclaimed: "Israel! That's America's fighting front line! Israel fights our battles better than we could fight them ourselves." Now Professors Stephen Walt of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago would have us believe that the Boston cabbie was a dupe of the "unmatched power of the Israel Lobby." Their essay in the latest London Review of Books -- based on a longer working paper on the Kennedy Center Web site -- contends that the U.S. government and most of its citizens are fatally in thrall to a "coalition of individuals and organizations who actively work to steer U.S. foreign policy in a pro-Israel direction." Though not all members of said "coalition" are Jews, and though not all Jews are members, the major schemers are such key organizations as the America-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations, joined by neoconservatives, think tanks, and a large network of accomplices including (they will learn to their surprise) The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. The thesis of Messrs. Walt and Mearsheimer is remarkably broad and singleminded: A loose association of special-interest groups has persuaded the country to sacrifice its interests to a foreign power, thereby jeopardizing "not only U.S. security but that of much of the rest of the world." Israel, it is claimed, hurts every facet of American life: U.S. emergency aid to Israel during the War of 1973 triggered a damaging OPEC oil embargo. Israel is a liability in the war on terror: It goaded the U.S. into the war in Iraq, betrays America through espionage, and destroys American democracy by quashing all criticism. Recently the Israel Lobby -- a term the authors render with a sinister capital "L" -- has begun to intimidate the universities by trying to create a field of Israel Studies and monitoring anti-Israel bias. Were it not for the Lobby, the U.S. would have nothing to fear in the world, not even a nuclear threat from Iran: "If Washington could live with a nuclear Soviet Union, a nuclear China or even a nuclear North Korea, it can live with a nuclear Iran. And that is why the Lobby must keep up constant pressure on politicians to confront Tehran." Not Iran but the Lobby is the true threat to America's security by trying to compel the U.S. to oppose Iran against its interests. Most dangerously, Jews control the man at the top: In the spring of 2002 "[Ariel] Sharon and the Lobby took on the president of the United States and triumphed." Given the creative scope of these charges, one is surprised to find no hint of Israel's role in the spread of avian flu. Organized as a prosecutorial indictment rather than an inquiry, the essay does not tell us why the "Israel Lobby" should have formed in the first place. The 21 countries of the Arab League with ties to 1.2 billion Muslims world-wide are nowhere present as active political agents. There is no mention of the Arab rejection of the United Nations's partition of Palestine in 1948; no 58-year Arab League boycott of Israel and companies trading with Israel; no Arab attacks of 1948, 1967 and 1973; no Arab-Soviet resolution at the U.N. defining Zionism as racism; no monetary and strategic support for Arab terrorism against Jews and Israel; and no Hamas dedication to destroying the Jewish state. The authors do not ask why Arab aggression and Muslim "rage against Israel" should have morphed into a war against the U.S. and the West. Israel's existence elicits Arab and Muslim hostility, hence in their view Israel is to blame for Arab and Muslim carnage. Judging from the initial reaction to their article (one of my students called it "wacko quacko"), the two professors may be subjected to more ridicule than rejoinder. Several Web sites are in the process of listing all their bloopers, distortions and omissions. Their tone resembles nothing so much as Wilhelm Marr's 1879 pamphlet, "The Victory of Judaism over Germandom," which declared of the Jews that "There is no stopping them ... German culture has proved itself ineffective and powerless against this foreign power. This is a fact; a brute inexorable fact." A parallel edition of these two texts might highlight some American refinements on the European model, such as the anti-Semitic lie that "Israeli citizenship is based on the principle of blood kinship." In fact, unlike neighboring Arab countries, Israeli citizenship is not conditional on religion or race. Yet it would be a mistake to treat this article on the "Israel Lobby" as an attack on Israel alone, or on its Jewish defenders, or on the organizations and individuals it singles out for condemnation. Its true target is the American public, which now supports Israel with higher levels of confidence than ever before. When the authors imply that the bipartisan support of Israel in Congress is a result of Jewish influence, they function as classic conspiracy theorists who attribute decisions to nefarious alliances rather than to the choices of a democratic electorate. Their contempt for fellow citizens dictates their claims of a gullible and stupid America. Their insistence that American support for Israel is bought and paid for by the Lobby heaps scorn on American judgment and values. No wonder David Duke, white supremacist and former leader of the Ku Klux Klan, claimed that this article "validated every major point I have been making since even before the [Iraq] war started." But he and Walt-Mearsheimer have it backwards: Americans don't support Israel because of the strength of any lobby; Israel earns American support the hard way, for the very reasons the Boston cabbie cited several decades ago. Ms. Wisse is the Martin Peretz Professor of Yiddish Literature and professor of comparative literature at Harvard. 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. Or contact him by email at splaut@econ.haifa.ac.il |
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E-85 FUEL
Posted by Israel Zwick, March 22, 2006. |
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This was written by Beryl Shmuel (beryl@unionavenue.net). It is an important letter on alternative fuels. This E-85 fuel issue has really fired me up. It really sums up the current state of the energy industry and us -- the American people -- quite nicely. Switching to E-85 fuel would substantially, if not completely, reduce our country's dependence upon Arab oil. More importantly, perhaps, switching to E-85 fuel does not in any way, shape or form resemble anything that could even remotely pass for a pipe-dream. There are currently over 6 million vehicles on the road today here in the US that were designed to and which can thusly use this fuel. The primarily ingredient of this fuel is a renewable resource that can be grown virtually anywhere in the US (World) and thus switching to it would result in a major boom for the agricultural industry. It seems to me that E-85 fuel is a win-win situation if there ever was one. The oil industry would not make nearly as much money if we switched to E-85 fuel but they'd most certainly be major players in the new resulting industry as gasoline is required to create E-85 fuel and the oil industry already has the distribution network in place. The only real expense is the modifications necessary to the existing pumps at gas stations and while this is expensive, it's not at all out of line in that the pumps at gas stations are replaced every now and then anyway. Regardless, a few tax breaks and away we go and the revenue lost in those tax breaks, it seems to me, would quickly be replaced with the income from the taxes on the fuel itself and the huge boost in jobs, all related taxes (employment, sales, etc.) and revenue that result from a new major industry that could be created in short order, and for which all the required technology and infrastructure is pretty much already in place. So why are we not hearing a whole lot more about E-85? Gotta wonder... Contact Israel Zwick at israel.zwick@earthlink.net |
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DO YOU LOVE AMERICA?
Posted by Janet Lehr, March 22, 2006. |
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It was shocking -- We saw Muslims throughout the world cheering ecstatically when the twin towers came down. The burden of proof does rest with the Muslim. Attitude modification, sensitivity training for the non-Muslim is balderdash. Fear is good, fear is our first line of self-defense. Non-Muslims have everything to fear, whether the threat comes from 1%, 10%, 50% more or less of the world wide Muslim population. To Muslim leaders I say, start with a prayer for your (host) country blended into each and every religious service. Recognize that in the free world countries in which you live, countries that respect a multiplicity of religions, there is a defined separation between Church and State. If you don't like it, l e a v e, or we will have to forcibly remove you. In this life and death struggle between Islam and the West we must do more than pray that Islam will self correct. This was written by Captain John Maniscalco and it appeared at
FrontPageMagazine.com, March 16, 2006.
I've been trying to say this since 9-11 but you worry me. I wish
you didn't. I wish when I walked down the streets of this country
that I love, that your color and culture still blended with the
beautiful human landscape we enjoy in this country. But you don't
blend in anymore. I notice you, and it worries me. I notice you
because I can't help it anymore. People from your homelands,
professing to be Muslims, have been attacking and killing my fellow
citizens and our friends for more than 20 years now. I don't fully
understand their grievances and hate but I know that nothing can
justify the inhumanity of their attacks.
On September 11, nineteen ARAB-MUSLIMS hijacked four jetliners in my
country. They cut the throats of women in front of children and
brutally stabbed to death others. They took control of those planes
and crashed them into buildings killing thousands of proud fathers,
loving sons, wise grandparents, elegant daughters, best friends,
favorite coaches, fearless public servants, and children's mothers.
The Palestinians celebrated, The Iraqis were overjoyed as was most
of the Arab world.
So I notice you now. I don't want to be worried. I don't want to
be consumed by the same rage and hate and prejudice that has
destroyed the soul of these terrorists. But I need your help. As a
rational American, trying to protect my country and family in an
irrational and unsafe world, I must know how to tell the difference
between you, and the Arab/Muslim terrorist.
How do I differentiate between the true Arab/Muslim-Americans and
the Arab/Muslims in our communities who are attending our schools,
enjoying our parks, and living in OUR communities under the
protection of OUR constitution, while they plot the next attack that
will slaughter these same good neighbors and children? The events of
September 11th changed the answer. It is not my responsibility to
determine which of you embraces our great country, with ALL of its
religions, with ALL of its different citizens, with all of its
faults. It is time for every Arab/Muslim in this country to
determine it for me.
I want to know, I demand to know, and I have a right to k now
whether or not you love America. Do you pledge allegiance to its
flag? Do you proudly display it in front of your house, or on your
car?
Do you pray in your many daily prayers that Allah will bless this
nation, that He will protect and prosper it? Or do you pray that
Allah with destroy it in one of your "Jihads"? Are you thankful for
the freedom that only this nation affords? A freedom that was paid
for by the blood of hundreds of thousands of patriots who gave their
lives for this country? Are you willing to preserve this freedom by
paying the ultimate sacrifice? Do you love America? If this is
your commitment, then I need YOU to start letting ME know about it.
Your Muslim leaders in this nation should be flooding the media at
this time with hard facts on your faith, and what hard actions you
are taking as a community and as a religion to protect the United
States of America. Please, no more benign overtures of regret for
the death of the innocent because I worry about who you regard as
innocent. No more benign overtures of condemnation for the
unprovoked attacks because I worry about what is unprovoked to you.
I am not interested in any more sympathy...I am only interested in
action. What will you do for America -- our great country -- at this
time of crisis, at this time of war?
I want to see Arab-Muslims waving the AMERICAN flag in the streets.
I want to hear you chanting "Allah Bless America ". I want to see
young Arab/Muslim men enlisting in the military. I want to see a
commitment of money, time, and emotion to the victims of this
butchering and to this nation as a whole. The FBI has a list of
over 400 people they want to talk to regarding the WTC attack. Many
of these people live and socialize in Muslim communities. You know
them; You know where they are.
Hand them over to us, now! But I have seen little even approaching
this sort of action. Instead I have seen an already closed and
secretive community close even tighter. You have disappeared from
the streets. You have posted armed security guards at your
facilities. You have threatened lawsuits. You have screamed for
protection from reprisals.
The very few Arab/Muslim representatives that HAVE appeared in the
media were defensive and equivocating. They seemed more concerned
with making sure that the United States proves who was responsible
before taking action. They seemed more concerned with protecting
their fellow Muslims from violence directed towards them in the
United States and abroad than they did with supporting our country
and denouncing "leaders" like Khadafi, Hussein, Farrakhan, and
Arafat. If the true teachings of Islam proclaim tolerance and peace
and love for all people then I w ant chapter and verse from the
Koran and statements from popular Muslim leaders to back it up.
What good is it if the teachings in the Koran are good and pure and
true when your "leaders" are teaching fanatical interpretations,
terrorism, and intolerance?
It matters little how good Islam SHOULD BE if large numbers of the
world's Muslims interpret the teachings of Mohammed incorrectly and
adhere to a degenerative form of the religion. A form that has been
demonstrated to us over and over again. A form whose structure is
built upon a foundation of violence, death, and suicide. A form
whose members are recruited from the prisons around the world. A
form whose members (some as young as five years old) are seen day
after day, week in and week out, year after year, marching in the
streets around the world, burning effigies of our presidents,
burning the American flag, shooting weapons into the air. A form
whose members convert from a peaceful religion, only to take up arms
against the great United States of America, the country of their
birth. A form whose rules are so twisted, that their traveling
members refuse to show their faces at airport security checkpoints,
in the name of Islam.
Do you and your fellow Muslims hate us because our women proudly
show their faces in public rather than cover up like a shameful
whore? Do you and your fellow Muslims hate us because we drink wine
with dinner, or celebrate Christmas? Do you and you fellow Muslims
hate us because we have befriended Israel, the ONLY civilized
democratic nation in the entire Middle East?
And if you and your fellow Muslims hate us, then why in the world
are you even here? Are you here to take our money? Are you here to
undermine our peace and stability? Are you here to destroy us? If
so, I want you to leave I want you to go back to your desert
sandpit where women are treated like rats and dogs. I want you to
take your religion, your friends, and your family back to your
Islamic extremists, and STAY THERE!
We will NEVER give in to your influence, your retarded mentality,
your twisted, violent, intolerant religion. We will NEVER allow the
attacks of September 11, or any others for that matter, to take away
that which is so precious to us: Our rights under the greatest
constitution in the world.
I want to know where every Arab/ Muslim in this country stands and I
think it is my right and the right of every true citizen of this
country to demand it. A right paid for by the blood of thousands of
my brothers and sisters who died protecting the very constitution
that is protecting you and your family. I am pleading with you to
let me know. I want you here as my brother, my neighbor, my friend,
as a fellow American.
But there can be no gray areas or ambivalence regarding your
allegiance and it is up to YOU to show ME where YOU stand. Until
then ... you worry me.
Janet Lehr is editor/publisher of a daily e-mail called "Israel Lives."
She can be contacted at janetlehr@mindspring.com
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WHAT IS YOUR POSITION VIS À VIS TERRORIST-ABETTING AND SUPPORTING PLO?
Posted by Marion Dreyfus, March 22, 2006. |
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To The L'Oreal Company: In light of your recent bid to acquire The Body Shop, I am writing to you as a former shopper at The Body Shop, to make you aware of The Body Shop's support for PLO causes and its failure to make amends. The Body Shop's Support For The PLO http://www.geocities.com/truthmasters/TheBodyShopProtest.html In 2001 The Body Shop gave an entire day's revenues from its Gulf Stores to "Palestine" and will not say who exactly received the funds. In 2002 The Body Shop gave an award of $75,000 to an extremist anti-Israel group that advocates a "Palestinian right to return" to Israel. In 2004 The Body Shop attempted to cover up its controversial award by deleting the several pages on its website which gave details of it. However, they failed to realize that there are still copies of their web pages available on the Internet. The Petition As a result, many thousands of former shoppers of The Body Shop worldwide refuse to buy any more of their products. A few of the many thousands of outraged former shoppers of The Body Shop have also signed a petition to make public their displeasure with the company. Click here to see the petition. Making Amends We want to be fair to the L'Oreal company. We would like L'Oreal to clarify its position with regard to these past offensive actions of The Body Shop and to clarify L'Oreal's attitudes towards Israel. We would also like an assurance that no further outrageous actions supporting PLO causes will be made. We would like to see L'Oreal have The Body Shop satisfy the demands of the petition, namely: 1. Withdraw the award, and disavow a "Palestinian right to return" and the PLO and its goals; 2. Apologize to the many millions of supporters of Israel worldwide that it has offended; 3. Make a substantial gift to Israeli victims of PLO terrorism. Thank you, Sincerely, m ds dreyfus
Contact Marion Dreyfus at dreyfusmarion@hotmail.com |
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LINKING THE CALIPHATE
Posted by Mordechai Ben-Menachem, March 22, 2006. |
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It was announced this morning, by the Jordanian government, that they (the government of Jordan) have warned Hamas that they must cease interference in Jordanian internal affairs. This interference is via the Muslim Brotherhood (the founder of Hamas; Ahmad Yassin was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood inner council). This is "code" that Hamas has already begun active destabilization attempts in the Hashemite Kingdom -- before their government is even legally established in "the other" Palestinian country. When erasure of the Hashemite government is accomplished, it will be replaced with the Muslim Brotherhood offshoot that establishes a "radical crescent" with territorial contiguity, including PA, Jordan, Syria and Iran -- with of course, Iraq not far behind. Remember that Lebanon is already a satrapy of Syria with Iran-sponsored Hezbollah in control of the country and the Muslim Brotherhood is well established in Egypt and Yemen. This essentially establishes an effective Caliphate (the word "Caliph" means replacement; that is, it is the replacement of Muhammad on the earth). At that point, expect pressures on the Arabian Peninsula (i.e., Gulf Oil centres) to increase markedly. If this scenario occurs, world oil markets stability ends; oil will then be a chief weapon in the Jihad, not just a means to drain financial resources from the Dhimmi (i.e., Christian) world. Mordechai Ben-Menachem is at Ben-Gurion University. He can be reached by email at quality@computer.org |
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A FAREWELL LETTER TO THE PEOPLE OF THE GOLAN HEIGHTS
Posted by Anita Tucker, March 21, 2006. |
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Dear people of the Golan Heights, It is now seven months since the expulsion and we are packing our suitcases again, to move south and open a new page in our lives and the life of the Netser Hazani community. We should have gone from house to house in the Golan Heights, to embrace each and every one of you and say farewell. So many good people there deserve our thanks for the warmth and love you gave us. We came to you in days of destruction, betrayal and disappointment, with heavy hearts and tired eyes, broken from what had happened to us: an evil government expelled us from our lands and destroyed our homes, but did not bother to help us once we were over the Kisufim crossing. But God in His mercy brought us here, to the Paradise, a place of beauty and good, pure-hearted people. You, dear people, in your simple and honest way knew how to hold out your hands to us without giving us the feeling that we were needy; you treated us so gently and sensitively that today we are able again to raise our heads and look forward. For this and so much more you have our heartfelt thanks. We shall never forget the evil people who destroyed our world, but we shall also never forget the people of grace and truth who helped us in our most difficult moments. Dear people, we want to tell you that you live in a truly wonderful place, where the enchanted countryside fits the enchanted people who live there (there used to be another place like this, but evil people destroyed it). We hope you will be able to continue building and flourishing for many generations. We are now leaving on a long journey; we hope we shall reach its end soon, and leave with you some of us who have chosen to share your journey. We are confident that you will help them in future, too, so that they can fulfill their dreams as well. Let us pray that the Lord will give us all the strength to withstand the tribulations of Geula,Redemption and keep our faith strong. With God's help we shall live to see the coming of the Messiah. In the name of all the people of Netser Hazani who did not have time to say good-bye, Osnat and Aviel Tucker, and the Tucker families. Netzer Hazani will be rebuilt again soon with God's help! Anita Tucker is a remarkable woman. Once a farmer in Gush Katif, growing highly prized and praised organic vegetables, she is now one of the Gush Katif refugees. Once she helped turn a desolate area into a wonderful place to live; now, as she writes, she works "... to build our homes and businesses anew and again be a constuctive and welcoming community, renowned for chesed." Contact her at tucker.anita@gmail.com |
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BEYOND THE CALL OF DUTY
Posted by David Frankfurter, March 21, 2006. |
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Dear friends, Army service is a part of growing up for most Israeli youth, although young religious women can be exempted. An alternative volunteer national service framework exists for young religious women who nevertheless want to contribute a year of their lives to the country. As I told you in June 2003, our second daughter, Tamara, chose to join the army and had a very fulfilling experience. Our eldest daughter, Naomi, volunteered for National Service. She wanted to make sure that what she did really contributed, and insisted on doing a full two years, giving at least as much as her secular friends in the army. When we first arrived in Israel, we were greatly assisted by an immigrant support organization called "Tehilla". They arranged for a family who had arrived a little before us to take us under their wing -- and we did the same for the next family. On landing late at night, we found our beds were made and our fridge was stocked with basic necessities to "get started". One of the Tehilla National Service girls came every week to tutor the children, and to be an encouraging friend. After I finished an intensive language course, Tehilla activated its wide volunteer network and helped me find my first job. Naomi decided to do her National Service with Tehilla -- giving back some of what we had received some seven years earlier. Volunteer organizations are naturally understaffed, so responsibility is quickly thrust on anyone willing to take it. Managing the office, arranging and leading group "pilot trip" tours of Israel for potential immigrants to scout out housing, schooling and employment, tutoring children and finding people jobs were all part of a normal day. She learned important skills which she took with her to University, and as a graduate, to her first job. 
Naomi touched many people, and made many friends. To this day, she tutors children arriving "fresh off the boat" to our community in Ra'anana. Not just helping with schoolwork, but becoming an "older sister", a friend and a role model who has so successfully gone through that difficult adjustment to a new language, a new society and a new culture. One of the people Naomi met during her time at Tehilla was a young New Yorker, called Aryeh Brickner. She led his pilot tour and helped plan his immigration. They met up again a few months ago, and Aryeh has now been in the country for five years. He lives in the northern beach town of Nahariya, close to his job as a marketing manager in a hi-tech company. With his army service behind him, he has settled in well. It seems that in the case of our family and Aryeh, Tehilla went above and beyond its normal immigrant assistance program. Naomi and Aryeh have found love -- and have just announced their engagement! Rochelle and I are naturally very excited, feeling very blessed. We look forward to sharing more good news with you in the future! David
To subscribe to David Frankfurter's 'letter from Israel', email him at
david.frankfurter@iname.com. Or go to
http://www.livejournal.com/users/dfrankfurter/
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AID TO ISRAEL -- DOES THE U.S. GET ITS MONEY WORTH?
Posted by Mark Leventhal, March 21, 2006. |
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Israel and Egypt are the two largest recipients of U.S. aid. For its "participation" in the Gulf War, Egypt was forgiven its indebtedness of $9 billion. Israel pays its bills. It receives $2.8 billion every year. Of that amount, $2.0 billion is for military aid and $0.8 billion for economic aid. It's fair to ask whether this is a good deal for the American taxpayer. What are the Facts? The only democratic country in the Middle East. Israel is the only genuinely democratic state in the Middle East. It is committed to freedom and equality, and the rule of law. It embodies the fundamental values that are in tune with those of America and that America has traditionally supported. Israel's military and political importance in the Middle East and its strategic position stabilize the entire area, including the oil fields of the Persian Gulf. During the Cold War, it was America's indispensable rampart against the inroads and expansionist ambitions of the Soviet Union. It is now a western bulwark against the aggressive intents of Iran, Iraq, and other bellicose nations that threaten the interests of the United States. It is a most reliable partner in the promotion of Western strategic interests and in the stabilization of the Middle East. Over 20% of its budget goes for defense, compared to 7% in the U.S. and less than 1% in Japan. Israel has one of the best armies in the world. Its navy and air force are the major deterrent forces in the eastern Mediterranean. Israel effectively secures NATO's southeastern flank, without having a single American soldier stationed in its territory. Still, the superb military installations, the air and sea lift capabilities, the equipment and food storage capacity, and the trained manpower to maintain and repair sophisticated U.S. equipment are instantly at hand in Israel. It is the only country in the area that makes itself available to the United States, in any contingency. Only fraction of aid stays in Israel. There is no other country in the Middle East except Israel that can be considered to have a stable government or populace friendly to the United States. There is much danger that any military aid to Arab countries, and military equipment given or sold to them, will suffer the same fate as the untold billions of dollars and priceless military secrets that were lost to our enemies in the debacle of Iran. Is Saudi Arabia more stable? Egypt? Jordan? Kuwait? Judge for yourself! Only a fraction of the aid given stays in Israel. By far the largest share remains with American defense contractors. Peter McPherson, former administrator of the Agency for International Development, estimated that every billion dollars of aid to Israel creates 60,000 to 70,000 jobs in the United States. Compared to the $2.0 billion yearly military aid to Israel, the U.S. contributes more than $130 billion(!) every year to the defense of Europe and more than $30 billion to the defense of Japan, Korea, and the Far East. Over 300,000 U.S. troops are stationed with NATO and over 30,000 U.S. troops in the Far East. In contrast, not one single U.S. soldier needs to be stationed and put at risk in Israel. U.S. military analysts estimate that the U.S. would have to spend the equivalent of $150 billion a year in the Middle East to maintain a force equivalent to Israel's. There are many other benefits that the U.S. military derives from Israel. Israel is the only country that has gained battlefield experience with U.S. weapons. This experience is immediately conveyed to the U.S. Enormous quantities of captured Soviet weapons and defense systems were turned over to the U.S. military for analysis. Israel, in the light of its experience, continually modifies U.S. weapons systems. For instance, Israeli scientists have made over 200 improvements in the F-15 alone and similar improvements, mostly in avionics, in later-generation planes. It would be more in line with reality if military aid to Israel were classified as part of the defense budget, rather than as "aid". Israel is truly America's unsinkable aircraft carrier in the Middle East. Former President Reagan put it well: "The fall of Iran has increased Israel's value as perhaps the only remaining strategic asset in the region on which the United States can fully rely." American aid to Israel is a two-way street. Aid to Israel is America's greatest defense bargain. Contact Mark Leventhal at lev@consultant.com |
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KOL YISRAEL RADIO INTERVIEW OF ESTHER POLLARD
Posted by Shaul and Aviva Ceder, March 21, 2006. |
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This is the transcript of the Kol Yisrael Radio Interview of Esther Pollard on US Supreme Court Dismissal of Jonathan's Petition Kol Yisrael's broadcast anchor, Yaacov Achimeir, interviewed Esther Pollard in Hebrew on Reshet Bet, 21 March 2006. The transcript of the interview appears below as translated by J4JP. YAACOV ACHIMEIR: We turn now to Esther Pollard, the wife of Jonathan Pollard, convicted of espionage on behalf of Israel -- he is sitting in prison in Butner USA. I ask you, dear lady, do you have any expectations of the upcoming Israeli elections in Israel? ESTHER POLLARD: Here's the issue, Yaacov, with regard to what is happening to my husband: this is the first time in the history of modern espionage that an agent has been forced to face a court of law on his own, in the country where he operated, without receiving any support from the country which sent him and for whom he sacrificed himself. Yaacov, it is now 21 years! Ayfoh HaBoosha? (Where is the sense of shame?!) To this very day they are not working for Jonathan's release and not giving him any backing! YAACOV ACHIMEIR: But, Prime Ministers, when they meet with the Presidents -- the latest one is President Bush -- the say that they keep bringing up the issue of Jonathan Pollard with the president. ESTHER POLLARD: That's just what they tell the Israeli media. But to us they have been saying, look there is still an on-going legal initiative. But now, Yaacov, no one can claim that there is still an on-going legal initiative! It is over. Every additional minute that Jonathan remains in prison his life is at risk. The government -- the Prime Minster must act at once -- before this day is over! The decision of the Supreme Court to dismiss Jonathan's case -- like all of the previous dismissals by the courts -- was based solely on technical considerations, with absolutely no consideration given to the substance of Jonathan's petition. YAACOV ACHIMEIR: They refused, in the United States? ESTHER POLLARD: They refused to hear it. YAACOV ACHIMEIR: They refused to allow his attorneys to see additional documents. ESTHER POLLARD: No. That's not it. They simply refused to hear the petition. This is exactly what happened with all of Jonathan's previous petitions as well. People have the impression that perhaps Jonathan's case was not convincing enough -- but that is not so -- the court simply rejected the petition without ever hearing it, without ever considering the actual merits of the case -- on technicality only. YAACOV ACHIMEIR: But now I would like to return to my first question, the one that is close to my heart, with your permission, Esther Pollard: what do you expect from whomever is be elected to lead the Government of Israel with regard to the issue of Mr. Pollard, your husband? ESTHER POLLARD: (responds with a pun in Hebrew) You know, even the ordinary citizen on the street understands that whomever is willing to leave a wounded soldier "me'akhora" (behind) is not capable of leading the nation "Kadima!" (forward) Whenever I am out in public, people come up to me again and again to express their outrage at the ingratitude and irresponsibility of the Government, which instead of freeing from captivity the one who served the State and saved the lives of Israeli citizens, just threw him to the dogs. As long as we do not see Jonathan Pollard here, there is no relying on the promises of any political party or of any Israeli leader. YAACOV ACHIMEIR: And how do you feel about the struggle that is not being waged in the United States by American Jews on the issue of Pollard, perhaps out of fear that that will be accused of dual loyalty? ESTHER POLLARD: They take their marching orders, their instructions, from the Government of Israel. As long as the Government of Israel continues to turn its back on Jonathan everyone else will continue to do the same. I want to repeat and reiterate: He is in mortal danger. Every additional moment, every additional second that Jonathan remains in prison, his life hangs in the balance. There is no reason to wait to bring him home in a coffin, G-d forbid! If Ehud Olmert -- our current prime minister -- if he does not immediately turn to President Bush to demand an immediate end to this travesty, and to free my husband after 21 years in prison, then Mr. Olmert will personally be sentencing Jonathan to death. YAACOV ACHIMEIR: I thank you very much, Esther Pollard.. ESTHER POLLARD: Thank you. YAACOV ACHIMEIR: Good morning to you! And good morning to your husband Jonathan, in FCI Butner in the United States! Shaul and Aviva Ceder can be contacted at ceder@netvision.net.il |
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SHIRT STORY
Posted by Steven Plaut, March 21, 2006. |
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This is by Jay D. Homnick and was published 3/20/2006. Recently I visited my brother's home and met his sister-in-law for the first time in more than a decade. "You know," she said, "when you close your eyes you sound just like your brother." "Yes," I responded. "That's why I always keep my eyes open." Sometimes you have to believe your eyes more than your ears. The New York Times editorialized in a huffing tone this weekend on Israel's raid to "free" prisoners from the Palestinian prison in Jericho. These men, who numbered among them the assassin of an Israeli Cabinet Minister, were terribly humiliated, snapped the shirty Times editorialist, by being marched out in their underwear. This "trampled the dignity of any Palestinian watching that spectacle." Well, for once I agree. And do you know why? Because they were all fat. Yep, fat. Portly. Stout. Chubby. These killers and terrorists, ostensibly being held in maximum security, all look like Firestone execs advertising their spare tires. On second thought, nothing spare about these fellows. Full and fulsome. Not having to impress any women until they arrive in Paradise has really gone to their heads, or more accurately, to their hips. So this is certainly a diplomatic embarrassment for the Palestinians, as their prisoners are shown to be eating better than the populace. Luncheon in the dungeon turns out to be double portions in the oubliette. Sure enough, the Times of London reveals, it turns out that these boys had been sitting pretty in those erstwhile jails. They were keeping exotic birds, communicating with their cronies by cell phone, and smoking Cuban cigars. One piece is notably missing from this story about the "country club" prison: where is the deluxe weight room? The only weight those fellers were lifting was just some of that "settling by volume" they warn about on the cereal box. That's really putting the ham back into Hamas. Which brings us to the Palestinian leadership, if that's not an oxymoron. Clearly, they were not running a jail in any penal sense. Either they were trying to, in which case they're inept, or they were not, which makes them corrupt. Howbeit, their job they were certainly not doing. And what good are a bunch of fascists if they can't even make the trains run on time? This answers the complaint of Israeli disrespect; the other side doesn't deserve respect. The problem still remains: what about tomorrow? Israel retaking those areas is not an option, nor has democratization produced a really viable government. What is the answer? Is there an answer? Allowing the situation to slide into anarchy is rife with the greatest danger of all, namely a combustible tinderbox in Israel's backyard. And to be very honest, no one has a real solution short of importing a million old schoolmarms to civilize the heathens. Neither Sharon nor Olmert nor Netanyahu nor Peretz nor Peres knows how to turn these guys into mensches. Sharon used to think he could beat it out of them and Peres used to think that the chance to make a buck would turn them all into be-bopping yuppies. All of those illusions have long since sunk deep into the human quicksand that is "the Palestinian people." The only sliver of hope is that they will somehow take control of their own destiny and conclude that violence, to use a phrase from twelve-step programs, "avails them naught." That they had ought do aught more productive. It's just that they don't want to hear it from us. No amount of lecturing or posturing by Israelis or Americans will penetrate their hauteur. Olmert (extending Sharon's policy) is gambling that if he parks them behind a wall and lets them do their own thing, they just might defy all odds and get a grip. It's an awfully slender reed to build a future upon. One thing is clear. For that to happen, they must get as disgusted with the bloodthirsty Hamas guys as they are with the sleazy and social-drinker-bloodthirsty Fatah fellas. The last election was a very sharp step in the wrong direction. They bought the image of the lean, mean fighting machine, Bruce Dern playing Cassius or some such thing. Elect Hamas and watch these grim inexorable proto-Zarqawis send the Jews back to Europe. So Israel decided it was time to make them take their shirts off. In a nation of skinny people, the great warriors turned out to be a bunch of paunchy couch potatoes smoking Cuban cigars. The Times wrings its hands about the Palestinians feeling humiliated because their great civilian-killers are down to their drawers instead of drawing down. But they miss the populist anger that will register when they see their swashbucklers with more avoirdupois than savoir-faire. The emperor has no clothes: a sallow and adipose specimen is he. He needs to put his palate on a stricter regimen, then who knows? Maybe he'll produce a more palatable regime. 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. Or contact him by email at splaut@econ.haifa.ac.il |
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DUKE 1, HARVARD 0
Posted by Bryna Berch, March 21, 2006. |
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Something is truly bizarre when Harvard and U Chicago professors sound like David Duke, America's best imitation of a Nazi. And they believe what David Duke believes -- them damn Jooos are controlling the country. When them talk about a classless society, are they talking about academics and KuKu Klux Klaners having the same nutsy philosophy? This was written by James Taranto and it appeared yesterday on the
Opinion Journal website
With Yale struggling to control the damage owing to its admission of an unrepentant onetime Talib as a student (John Fund has the latest), Harvard now finds itself in a similarly embarrassing situation. It's the sort of Ivy League rivalry that causes "prominent alumni" of third-tier Western universities to break into a slightly guilty smile. The New York Sun reports on the latest trouble in Cambridge: A paper recently co-authored by the academic dean of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government about the allegedly far-reaching influence of an "Israel lobby" is winning praise from white supremacist David Duke. Now of course, just because Duke endorses Walt and Mearsheimer doesn't mean they endorse him. Indeed, we suspect they're as mortified by this praise as Yale is by the criticism it has received over Sayed Rahmatullah Hashemi. Yet without ascribing to them any invidious motives, it seems fair to say that their views dovetail disturbingly with those of unquestioned anti-Semites. Walt and Mearsheimer argue that "neither strategic nor moral arguments can account for America's support for Israel," and therefore the only possible explanation is "the unmatched power of the Israel Lobby." The premise is plainly false; the "Israel Lobby" in fact makes many strategic and moral arguments in its own favor. Walt and Mearsheimer merely disagree with them, and they spend the opening paragraphs of the paper explaining why. We'll pass over their strategic arguments. We find them wrongheaded, but we will stipulate that one can in good faith take the position that the costs to the U.S. of supporting Israel outweigh the benefits. Their rejection of the moral arguments, however, is highly problematic. They write: [Israel's] backers ... argue that it deserves unqualified support because it is weak and surrounded by enemies; it is a democracy; the Jewish people have suffered from past crimes and therefore deserve special treatment; and Israel's conduct has been morally superior to that of its adversaries. On close inspection, none of these arguments is persuasive. Let's take these points one by one:
Walt and Mearsheimer's method of analysis presumes Israel's guilt. Every past or present Israeli transgression is evidence of its wickedness, whereas Arab ones, if they are acknowledged at all, are "understandable." This approach paints a highly misleading picture. It is anti-Semitic in effect if not in intent. Which brings us back to David Duke. His endorsement no doubt is anathema to Walt and Mearsheimer, but it is telling that he finds their ideas congenial. Their brand of anti-Israel prejudice is much more common and respectable in Europe than in America (indeed, their paper was published in the London Review of Books), a fact that they would no doubt attribute to the mighty "Israel Lobby." But here is another difference between Europe and America: In many European countries, David Duke would not be allowed to speak because of postwar prohibitions on Nazi propaganda. Passing these laws surely was an act of prudence, and it may be that they are still necessary for the protection of European democracy. By contrast, America's ability to tolerate the likes of Duke demonstrates the health of our body politic. It may be that Duke's presence even enhances that health. Think of him as a sort of vaccine that helps immunize us against more insidious forms of bigotry. |
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OLMERT'S SCHEME TO DESTROY JEWISH COMMUNITIES; ISRAEL ADMITS
TERRORISM INCREASED; THROW WHOM OUT?
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, March 21, 2006. |
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WHAT GOES ON IN THE P.A.? The Palestinian Center for Human Rights complains about the continuing mayhem in the P.A., where almost every man is armed or plots terrorism. Bombs go off prematurely, gunmen kidnap and beat people up to make a point, and clans settle disputes with arms. "Over the past 2 days, scores of armed Palestinians stormed a number of public institutions in Nuseirat, Rafah, and Gaza City. Under gunfire, they forced staff out of their offices, and prevented them from carrying on with their work." They were protesting non-payment of salaries. As after every such report, the Center calls upon the P.A. to find and punish the culprits (IMRA, 3/5). The P.A. does not punish them. The Center is flailing the wind. Are only Arabs human, with rights? Do we not bleed? The Center never complains about the purpose of those bombs, to kill Israelis, usually civilians. It doesn't object to the existence of jihadi militias or to the P.A. firing at Israel. It doesn't care how brutal its own people are towards Israelis. It doesn't realize that this same brutality, arising from its culture, turns inward, too. Fanatics in control do pick on their own people. ISRAEL ADMITS THAT TERRORISM INCREASED "Defense Min. Mofaz said that there has been a rise in the scope of terrorism, especially shooting and stabbing attacks in Judea and Samaria and rocket fire from the Gaza Strip. He referred to the increase in threats against the Gaza Strip crossings and noted that it was against this background that the Karni crossing has been closed... It is important to inform the international community that there are temporary alternatives regarding the passage of humanitarian aid via the Kerem Shalom crossing and that the Palestinians are rejecting this for reasons that are not substantive. The Palestinians are responsible for the worsening humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip even as the terrorist organizations view attacking the crossings as a goal despite the price being paid by the Palestinian population." (IMRA, 3/5.) Thus the Gaza withdrawal, supposedly made to enhance Israeli security, instead degraded it. International organizations complain against Israel when food runs short in the P.A., even though it is the Arab waging of unnecessary and forbidden war on Israel that causes the shortage. Not very humane, after all, are those organizations, neither for Arabs nor for the Jews? OLMERT'S SCHEME TO DESTROY JEWISH COMMUNITIES Some of the blocs that Olmert says he would retain would be isolated from Israel and from each other. Some knowledgeable people believe that even with the Army remaining in the area to be turned over to Hamas, Hamas would mount terrorism from there (Arutz-7, 3/6). Isolated blocs would be picked off. They would not long remain Israeli. The claim of their being retained is a cruel deception. Hamas would fill vacated areas with terrorists who would fire on the Israeli troops. ARABS' BRIDGE TO UNDERSTANDING Fifteen years ago, the Egyptian semi-official daily, Al-Ahram, launched a weekly whose stated purpose was to bridge the misunderstanding between the Arabic-speaking world and the West. Its comments upon the West, however, were exaggerated, totally one-sided criticism of the US (IMRA, 3/6). The weekly expresses jihad against the West and the Arabs' misunderstanding of the West. Hating the West and lacking scruples, the Arabs fabricate accusations against the West. They then come to believe their false charges. Some of this is done in the West, too. People are confused and illogical. What passes for reason is rationalization in behalf of illogical positions. MUSLIM WORLD'S NOTION OF DOUBLE STANDARD? The US made an agreement to support Indian use of nuclear energy but did not make such an agreement with Pakistan. The government of Iran called that a typical US double standard (Arutz-7, 3/6). It is not a double standard but a logical standard. Pakistan is a dictatorship that supports Islamist terrorism and proliferates nuclear weapons technology and parts. India is a democracy that does not support terrorism and does not proliferate its nuclear technology. By the US standard of which country may be more trusted with nuclear materials, India qualifies and Pakistan does not. Iran may realize the difference and ignore it in the effort to propagandize against the US, which finds Iran to be an international nuclear rogue. The Arabs, however, continually accuse their chosen enemies of having double standards, by oversimplifying the standards. They find a common element in two situations that the enemy treats differently because of the overriding differences in those situations; then the Arabs accuse the enemy of having a double standard. The Arabs, themselves, have no standards. They believe that the ends justify the means, permitting all sorts of deceit. They are as unscrupulous as the Communists, Nazis, and Jesuits were. Some of our democratic politicians can be unscrupulous, but usually several degrees less. The unscrupulousness of Israeli leaders towards their own people is somewhere in between. WHILE ISRAEL WAITS, HAMAS ACTS Hamas is converting its militia in Gaza into an army avowedly to fight against Israel. It is recruiting, training them for four months in infiltrating and firing rifles and rockets, and arranging for warning them where to deploy when Israel counter-attacks. An Israeli attempt to re-conquer Gaza would encounter fierce resistance (Arutz-7, 3/6). By the time Israel gets around to it, that would be true. What is Israel waiting for? THROW WHOM OUT? "Throw the Bums Out" headlines a reference to the Israeli Arab politicians. Their most recent and glaring demagoguery manifested itself in the recent uproar at the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth, Israel. It started with a protest by a "mentally disturbed" Jewish man, his Christian wife, and a daughter. They objected to a court order transferring their younger children to foster homes. They did so by tossing firecrackers into the Church. The couple surrendered to police. The Arab politicians called this foolish personal protest "terrorism." Attributing it to alleged hatred of the Arabs incited by the government of Israel, they roused thousands of marchers. When the P.A. persecutes Christians, however, those politicians, all Muslims, do not defend them. (Their indignation in behalf of the Christians in the Church is just an excuse for denouncing Israel. They distorted the situation in order to blame Israel.) These Arab politicians could accomplish a lot for their people, if they tried, instead of using their positions to inflame the Arab-Israel conflict. Arab voters should replace those politicians (Hillel Halkin, NY Sun, 3/7, Op.-Ed.). Like many of Mr. Halkin's essays, this one begins with sound points but ends with a sour notes, misconstruing the Arab-Israel conflict. For the Arabs, government exists to accumulate power and allocate graft, not to serve the people. A chief object of power is to pursue jihad, and a major reason for pursuing jihad is to retain power. Hence the Arab parties in both Israel and the P.A. compete over who can do the most against Israel. That is why those politicians were elected and not sidelined. Arabs there are not consumer-oriented like Westerners but faith-oriented. A key omission from Halkin's essay was a denial that Israel has a climate of hatred against the Arabs. The climate is more of tolerance and appeasement. He should have pointed out that the Arabs, as usual, accuse Israel of what the Arabs do wrong, which is to foster a climate of hatred, both in Israel and in the P.A.. Viz. the firecracker incident. Could Israeli Arab politicians do much more for their people? If they engaged in normal log-rolling, they might have to give up what they get away with now: (1) Arab towns under-assess taxes, run deficits, and get the national treasury, fed by the Jews, who pay full taxes, to cover the deficits; (2) Bar tax assessors by threat of riot, but when they do riot, the prosecution ignores them and may even harass police. By contrasted, the much more peaceful Jewish settlers get their skulls cracked; (3) Immigrate illegally, practice polygamy among the Bedouin, steal land, build illegally, and evade building licenses; (4) Exemption from national service and subsidy for college; and (5) Keep Jews out of their towns, but get court approval to move into Jewish towns. Perhaps the solution is not to expect Arab voters to retire their demagogic politicians but for Jewish voters to deport their Arab citizens. That would end the jihad, within. Arabs would no longer hold the balance on issues of national security come before the Knesset. That would be the "separation" that Olmert claims he is providing the Jewish people. ISRAELI SECURITY LAPSE
Criminals find Israeli passports among the easiest to alter. The black market pays a premium for them. Hundreds of Israeli backpackers in Asia make extra money selling theirs, reporting them lost, and then asking for replacements (from YnetNews, 2/22). One would think that Israel would design more tamper-proof passports, and that young Israelis would not sell out their country like that. EMIRATES INFILTRATED BY AL-QAEDA An internal document of Al-Qaeda captured by US forces in Iraq reveals a threat by that terrorist organization against the United Arab Emirates, when demanding the release of some of its members from prison. The threat was implied, when it reminded the UAE that it had infiltrated many organs of the government. It warned of potential sabotage or attacks by agencies "exposed to us." (from NY Post, 2/25.) Thomas Friedman didn't acknowledge that when he fulminated in behalf of the Dubai port deal. That is further evidence against having the UAE run US ports. It is diluted by the Pentagon admission that gang members enlist for US military training and access to arms. JUST DOING THEIR PART Germany, Egypt, and S. Arabia among other foreign countries publicly objected to a proposed US invasion of Iraq. When the US advanced, however, Germany quietly provided some missiles, and military intelligence, and guarded sea lanes and bases for the US, and Egypt and S. Arabia provided bases and air space (from NY Times). Why didn't the Times mention the help from Israel. The US keeps Israel's help secret and then some people don't realize what a bargain is US aid for Israel. EUROPEANS BALKING AT ISRAELI DEFENSE MEASURE Israel is equipping its passenger planes with an anti-missile system that warns of incoming missiles and attempts to evade them. It diverts missiles' sensors by emitting flares. Some European countries are refusing to let such planes use their airports. Israel claims the Europeans don't understand because their heads are under sand (from Der Spiegel). Do they want their airports to be targets? If they don't understand, then Israel failed to brief them adequately, in advance. Perhaps the European stance is an excuse for hindering Israeli competition. Israel should try to sell the system to foreign airlines. 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@aol.com. |
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OLMERT (PRONOUNCED ALL-MERDE)
Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, March 21, 2006. |
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Politics, like bank loans, is ultimately about trusting people. Can you trust the person to do what he says or not? Issues are of course of importance but not as nearly important as character. If an honest man says he will or will not do something, his word has meaning. However if he is a villain? For years I unsuccessfully warned people about Sharon. I have also warned many about Olmert (pronounced all-merde) since he was the mayor of Jerusalem. In Olmert's (pronounced all-merde) case it is not so much that he is dishonest. The primary issue with him is that he is amoral. He is in many ways the ultimate CHILLONI. He really has no moral, political or ethical beliefs. If it is good for Olmert (pronounced all-merde) then it must be good for the world. When it was good for him to be a Rightwinger so that was what he was. When it was good for him to be "Mr. Clean" so he was "Mr. Clean" and fought the crooks. When it was good for him to be "Step and Fetch It" for Generalissimo Sharon, he shuffled with the best of them. Now that he wants to be "Mr. Big, Tough Fearless Leader" he does not hesitate to send psychotic thugs to beat and molest nonviolent teenagers engaged in legal and peaceful protest. He is a villain with no values or scruples and is quite capable of any despicable act if he can benefit from it. It really is ultimately about character. This article was written by Aaron Klein and it appeared in World Net Daily. It is called "Olmert's family blasted as 'pacifists, army deserters' Wife supports groups aiming at dividing Jerusalem, children live abroad." Aaron Klein is WorldNetDaily's Jerusalem bureau chief. JERUSALEM -- With national elections here just one week away and public rhetoric noticeably heating up between politicians, some candidates and parties have been bringing the family of acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert -- running for top office -- into campaign ads. In a television commercial last week, the opposition Likud party pointed out Olmert's son deserted Israeli army service and his children, including a declared pacifist, live abroad. Some ads attacked Olmert's wife, who has been active in organizations that promote the division of Jerusalem for a Palestinian state. Olmert, running as head of the newly formed Kadima party, claims to be a "moderate." The Likud broadcast begins with a scene of Olmert at a speech exclaiming, "I want our children to have a better future." A background voice then asks which children Olmert is referring to: "perhaps his own children, Olmert's sons and one of his daughters, who refused to serve in the IDF; moreover, his sons live overseas and do not see their future in Israel ... if Olmert's children who live abroad knew of his withdrawal plan, they would not return to Israel at all." Olmert announced last month if his administration wins upcoming elections, he would seek to withdraw Israel from most of the West Bank, which borders major Israeli cities, including Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Olmert's oldest son Shaul lives in New York full time. After he finished compulsory Israeli military service, Shaul signed a petition of the pacifist organization Yesh G'vul, which calls for soldiers to refuse specific orders or serve in the Israeli military all together. The acting prime minister's youngest son Ariel reportedly refused to serve in the Israeli Defense Forces. Israel has a mandatory draft for all Jewish men and women over the age of 18. Olmert's daughter Danna is active in Machshom Watch, an Israeli leftist organization that monitors and often acts against Israeli checkpoints in the West Bank. The IDF says the checkpoints are necessary to stop terrorists from infiltrating Israeli cities. Some politicians running for office also have pointed out in ads and debates that Olmert's wife Aliza long has been involved in extreme leftist activism. Aliza Olmert reportedly is a member of Israeli Women in Black, an activist group that calls for Israel to withdraw from the Gaza Strip, West Bank and parts of Jerusalem. Articles in the Israeli media have stated Aliza has been involved in the leftist Peace Now group and reportedly has voted for the Meretz party, whose platform includes the division of Jerusalem. Aliza Olmert refuses to tell the media which party she will vote for next week. The use of Olmert's family in ads drew the ire of some Kadima supporters. "Bibi [Netanyahu] is still the same Bibi," said Kadima strategist Lior Horev regarding the Likud television ad. A Kadima spokesperson told WND "family members are irrelevant in elections. The attacks are inappropriate and immature." But Mitchell Barak, managing director of Kidron Strategies, an Israeli-based political consulting firm, said while he thinks attacking Olmert's family is "not in good taste," the technique is legitimate. "Olmert needs to lead by example and that means what you do and what your family does," Barak told WND. "In that sense it is legitimate and something voters should consider. Having family in another country may affect decision-making and loyalty." Sasha Klein, head of Likud's immigrant section, said, "Olmert talks of the future of my children, why can't I talk about the future of his?" Olmert announced last month Israel will unilaterally withdraw from most of the West Bank and make other moves aimed at changing the Jewish state's borders. The West Bank is considered landlocked territory not officially recognized as part of any country. Israel calls the land "disputed," while the United Nations says the West Bank is "occupied" by Israel. The Jewish state maintains overall control of most of the area while the Palestinian Authority has jurisdiction in about 40 percent. Many villages in the West Bank, which Israelis commonly refer to as the "biblical heartland," are mentioned throughout the Torah. Withdrawal from the West Bank may place Jerusalem and Tel Aviv within Palestinian rocket range depending on which territories are evacuated. Military strategists long have estimated Israel must maintain the West Bank to defend its borders from any ground invasion. In a widely circulated WND article, leaders of every major Palestinian terror organization warned last month they will soon launch a massive violent campaign against Israel focused mainly on West Bank Jewish communities. One senior terrorist said now that Olmert announced a West Bank withdrawal, terrorism against Israel must be stepped up "to prove we are chasing out the Israelis like we did in Gaza." Aryeh Zelasko lives in Beitar Illit, south of Jerusalem. He is Director of Sales and Marketing of Israel Visit (www.israelvisit.co.il) which provides information and an internet buying facility for American visitors to Israel. Contact him at zelasko@actcom.co.il |
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WILL ZIONISM BE VANQUISHED?
Posted by Fern Sidman, March 21, 2006. |
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It was recently reported that the leader of Hamas, Khaled Mash'al said in a speach in Damascus that Arab determination and spirit will ultimately vanquish Zionism and bring about the liberation of Palestine. Mash'al who is the real power behind Hamas, is a former resident of Gaza. After an unsuccessful assasination attempt by the Israeli government in 1997, Israel has barred Mash'al from re-entering the country and assuming any role in the new Hamas government of the Palestinian Authority. The following are excerpts from his speech: "Ben Gurion (Israel's first prime minister) hoped that subsequent generations of Palestinians will forget their defeat in the 1948 War of Independence, commonly referred to by Arabs as the catastrophe." To those who are shocked by these statements, we retort that we're shocked that you're shocked. Indeed, the Arab knows time is on his side. He has a deep and abiding belief in Allah, which stirs his nationalism. He confronts an obsequious state of Israel, who is bent on making even more territorial concessions to the Arab. Subsequent to the evacuation and demolition of Gush Katif, while the Arabs celebrated the beginning of the end of the State of Israel, the Kassam rocket attacks started on Israeli settlements near the Gaza border. Let us remember the words of Rabbi Meir Kahane, ZTK"L, HY"D, who said, "The confrontation will come as the Arabs of Israel constitute one-quarter or one-third of the state. Riots and rebellion will be seen on television screens all over the world. Bombs will go off, and bloody clashes between soldiers and Arab civilians will take scores of lives." (They Must Go, 1981, page 115) And to those who are still not convinced of the ultimate goal of the Arab, let us ponder this statement by Rabbi Kahane, ZTK"L, "The Muslims are bitterly anti-Israel and anti-Jewish... They combine fervent anti-Zionist nationalism with the even more fervent Islamic creed. That the Arab youth of Israel are undergoing an Islamic revival is admitted by one and all." (Israel: Revolution of Referendum?, 1990, page 47) The government of the State of Israel and our leadership is tired of fighting the enemy. Mr. Olmert has said as much. The weakness and disarray of the government of Israel is clarion call to the Arab. He feeds on this weakness, and views concessions by Israel not as signs of compromise for long term peace, but as admission of defeat. The Jewish State, unlike the Arab, is not propelled towards nationalism, because they have no connection to the Almighty G-d of Israel. They are not a nation that is fortified in it's conviction and belief in the power and omnipotence of Hashem. It is not a state that is devoted to the precepts of the holy Torah. It is a nation that does not comprehend faith and trust in G-d. It is not a nation who believes that their ultimate battle for survivial is inextricably tied to the Final Redemption. It is not a state of warriors that goes out to sanctify the name of G-d. It is a state of non-believing, morally bankrupt individuals who are bent on self destruction. The Jewish State is depressed, weary, exhausted and empty. And the Arab knows it. He knows that he cannot be satisfied with a "Palestinian" state in Judea and Samaria and Gaza. He wants all of his "homeland" liberated from the Zionist oppressors, and that includes Haifa, Tel Aviv, Ashkelon, etc. "The voices of the Arab revolution are clearly heard in the land, and, as if cursed from heaven, the Jewish leaders of Israel sit, paralyzed." (Rabbi Meir Kahane -- They Must Go, 1981, page 120) We must wake up and smell the coffee. Only through a mass infusion of Jewish strength and power can we emerge victorious in this battle for our very existence as Jews and for the Land of Israel. Only through belief in and devotion to the G-d of Israel and His Torah can we develop the courage and strength to purge the Arab enemy from our midst. Only through our unwavering and stubborn adherence to the laws of the G-d of Israel can we face our vapid and self destructive leaders with words of truth. And let us ponder these words of hope and inspiration, "The Jewish concept of government is clear: The government exists to serve the people. The people exist to serve G-d." (Rabbi Kahane, Israel: Revolution or Referendum? 1990, page 98) "If you love Jews enough, you say the painful things which will save them. No concern what they will do to you, that's not relevant." (Rabbi Kahane's last speech, November 5, 1990) Let us pray to the G-d of Israel to give us strength and the courage to sanctify His holy name and let us take the actions required for our own self-preservation. Contact Fern Sidman at ariellah@aol.com |
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HIDEOUS POLITICAL CORRECTNESS
Posted by Steven Shamrak, March 21, 2006. |
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Not long ago political correctness was introduced to the West with very good intentions. It was needed to make a transformation from a barbarian and bigoted society to one that pretends to be civilised, where all are equal. Therefore, Blacks have become African Americans; the Spanish and Chinese -- Ethnic minorities; Jews, Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims -- Religious minorities; man or woman are called Persons. Political correctness is not a new invention. According to the unofficial codex of intelligencia of Tsar Russia, "Member of intelligencia must not admit or show his anti-Semitic tendencies." It was never about not having them! Now Political correctness has reached new levels of absurdity. For example, blind and short people are called visually and vertically challenged or impaired. Political correctness became a tool of aggression and intolerance in a quite slippery, 'joking', passive-aggressive way. The current TV serial "Commander in Chief" has topped them all in its sophisticated, subliminal, hammer-like, presentation of 'Political correctness'. It is meant to be a substitution for the highly intelligent and professionally made "The West Wing" serial. But, with an independent, female president, African American as a Chief of Staff of the White House and Arab Palestinian as her most trusted staffer, it can only be described and viewed as a spoof. No wonder the show has rating problems. Next, they will probably make the science fiction movie -- "George Bush and Democracy on Mars". It will be a more likely scenario than creation of true democracy in Iraq, Iran or in any Muslim country during this century. In international politics political correctness plays a big role when oil is concerned. Everyone is so deliberately polite and 'considerate' toward, the most often, fake and even obnoxious claims and behaviour of the Arabs and Muslims in general. At the same time there is no interest and a complete disregard of Jewish National rights and aspirations. Jews and Israel are used as an international scape goat, in order to drive public attention from domestic or international issues! International political correctness is not applicable to Jews. For centuries, the Jewish leadership, so-called 'official Jews', have been playing the games of appeasement and conformity with their masters. Even after the creation of the Jewish state, the Jewish leaders seem unable to shake off the Galut mentality -- the mentality of the slaves of Egypt, enforced by centuries of abused, hatred and anti-Semitism. They are not truly able to represent the dreams and aspirations of the Jewish people. Is there no Jewish leader who would give direct answer to the question -- "What is the Jewish land?" Instead, they will go on and on, but would never tell it straight and simple that the League of Nation allocated the land called " Palestine" for the Jewish state and gave a temporary mandate to United Kingdom to carry out the League resolution. Or, simply, they would pull the Israeli coin of 10 Agorots out and show the engraved image of Eretz Israel. If they can't perform such a simple act of personal 'bravery' by telling the world where the Jewish land is, why do they occupy the position of leadership, but instead lead Jewish people to nowhere? By inaction they are deceiving and destroying the Jewish nation. Steven Shamrak was born in the former Soviet Union (USSR) and participated in the Moscow Zionist "refusenik" movement. For the last 3 years, he has been publishing internet editorial letters on the Arab-Israeli conflict -- independently, not as a member of any organization or political movement. He can be reached by email at StevenShamrak@mail2world.com |
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STAND FIRM AGAINST HAMAS-LED PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY
Posted by Lee Caplan, March 20, 2006. |
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Dear Friends, I have just read and signed the online petition: "Stand Firm Against Hamas-led Palestinian Authority" hosted on the web by PetitionOnline.com, the free online petition
service, at:
I personally agree with what this petition says, and I think you might
agree, too. If you can spare a moment, please take a look, and
consider
signing yourself.
Best wishes,
Contact Lee Caplan at leescaplan@yahoo.com |
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OPPOSING FORCES DEFINE THE MIDDLE EAST
Posted by Lawrence Uniglicht, March 20, 2006. |
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The ever-shifting sands of spaceship Earth's inscrutable Middle East paints a mal-adaptive panorama, ever-influenced by those antagonistic forces of progressive secularism and regressive Islamic fundamentalism. Israel, a tiny beleaguered nation, reborn within the heart of this asymmetric oxymoronic evolving/devolving region, amazingly thrives within its own maelstrom of political/religious volatility thankfully subsumed by life-sustaining technological innovation; albeit overwhelmed in size by hostile mostly raw material sustained Muslim neighbors, themselves torn asunder by an intolerant dark age faith-based dysfunctional after-life obsessed fundamentally flawed corrupted Koranic misogynist mantra juxtaposed to a satellite-dish observed enlightening emerging century twenty-one global economy immersed in man-made achievement. That Bedouin bogeyman, imbued by belligerence, intimidates the mindsets of such psychologically wandering wondering desert dwellers, slowly sinking into mullah-crafted scorpion infested sinkholes, blaming the Jew for every grain of wretched existence they must tolerate, while cunning carnivorously contemptible Machiavellian robed rogue rulers maintain reprehensible bejeweled rip-off life-styles. Of course, Muslim hatred of less than kissing cousin Jews, scapegoat supreme role models for all ages, remains directly proportional to a culturally caused collective self-hatred, not unlike that felt by an erstwhile championship boxer Muhammad reduced to wiping the Western new kid on the block's sweat puddles from his greenback stuffed workout mat. Why else might frustrated emasculated Muslim males be so easily conned into shrouding themselves with explosives, detonating, taking out the infidel; indeed a small price to pay for blowing their earthly digs on that fast track to promised sexual ecstasy, respect, and solace in Allahland? Criminally insane behavior surely has its roots, mixing with that vicious viscous energizing black gold sucked up by sycophantic industrial nations, under the ever-shifting sands of spaceship Earth's inscrutable Middle East. Raw material economies surely yield a few filthy rich despots, but mostly hordes of underachieving undereducated unprepared masses, career refugees of an emerging demanding century twenty-one, unwilling to be masters of their unfulfilling fates, captains of their tormented sorry souls, preferring instead the easy way out one-way ticket to paradise; that P.T. Barnum sucker born every minute guaranteed Allahland of milk and honeys. That deadliest of admixtures, twisted Koranic verse merged into raw material dependent economies bereft of domestically produced technological achievements, sadly defines the Islamic fundamentalist dominated Middle East. Small in size, mighty of mind, Israel pushes against this scourge to enlightened progress. Surely Israel must push the harder and win for the sake of mankind! Lawrence Uniglicht is a career civil servant, working for the Social Security Administration. He advocates for the State of Israel with an American perspective. He writes, "Advocating for the disrespected underdog has been my passion, no doubt Israel falls into that category." Contact him by email at luniglicht@snip.net |
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EXTREMELY IMPORTANT AND MOVING VIDEO OF THE CONFRONTATION AT AMONA
Posted by Buddy Macy, March 20, 2006. |
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This letter is being provided to you as a lover of Zion, and as a person truly concerned with the departure from our democratic tradition undertaken by the present government of Israel, under the direction of acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. You have probably heard of the recent incident in Amona, in which thousands of border police and "Yassamniks," under the direct orders of the government of Israel, violently attacked hundreds of Jewish youth and supporters engaged in the simple act of non-violent and passive demonstration. This contravention of fundamental human rights and freedoms, including freedom of expression and association, was accompanied by horrible acts of police brutality. Teenagers, who sat passively in and around the houses that the government sought to destroy, were savagely beaten by "evacuating forces" and trampled by police on horseback. A couple hundred were wounded. Many sustained serious head injuries inflicted by border police, who had been directed to "teach the settlers a lesson." The wounded included one fifteen- year-old boy who was beaten so horrifically that he lay in a coma for days, as well as members of the Knesset who had arrived on the scene in an attempt to mediate. Prior to this incident, security and military advisers had recommended to the government that a compromise solution enabling peaceful evacuation be found in co-operation with settler leaders. However, despite proposals offered by the settler leaders and the security forces, these recommendations were rebuffed; Ehud Olmert wished to demonstrate his toughness on the backs of Jewish teenagers, instead of fighting the Hamas enemy. We are sure you share our outrage at these senseless acts of police brutality perpetrated against young Jews, which only serve to divide the people of Israel, and, which are entirely inconsistent with the democratic imperatives of the modern State of Israel. We hope that once you view the graphic footage on this link --
AMONA FORUM FOR JUSTICE YOU CAN NOW PUT THIS FILM ON YOUR WEBSITES; AND, YOUR CONTACTS AND
THEIR ORGANIZATIONS CAN PUT IT ON THEIRS. TO DO SO, SIMPLY:
Right click the link below, and then left click, "save target as..."
Israel Kaplan (israelkaplan@yahoo.com) is the producer of the Amona
film for Arutz Sheva Online. Contact Buddy Macy by email at vegibud@aol.com |
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PANIM EL PANIM CAMPAIGN AND LET'S HELP THE GUSH KATIF REFUGEES HAVE A NICE PESACH
Posted by Lee Caplan, March 20, 2006. |
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Please ask all the people that you know in Israel to participate in this extremely important campaign of Panim el Panim (first piece below), and please see the second piece below and act to help the Gush Katif refugees. Tizku lemitzvos. Mattot Arim Eli Yishai, head of Shas, also gave a public commitment a week ago, in Besheva newspaper (9/3/06), indicating that Shas is opposed to settlement razing (in contrast to earlier Jpost interview).
These commitments did not drop out of the sky like rain -- we earned them -- that is, those of us who are working really hard in the Panim el Panim campaign and making phonecalls or housecalls. When people are working hard "in the trenches" -- this is not lost on our politicians, far from it, the politicians pick up on this right away as you see, and in return -- are willing to make valuable public commitments, as you see.
So, much depends on us (as usual). Please ask yourself: Have I
volunteered for Panim el Panim? If not, please call the nearest racaz
RIGHT NOW (see attached file with names and tel. nos.) -- and nudge
him or her until he gives you stuff to do!!
If your racaz is unobtainable, or doesn't give you stuff to do, within 24 hrs -- grab your city map or local phonebook and assign yourself any old column in the phonebook or any old street. Use the Tasrit Sicha attached. Inform sddym@bezeqint.net as to what street/page in phonebook you are using, what were the results (who's voting right, who's undecided) and who was the racaz who "messed up" (so we can improve matters...)
Best of luck and many thx,
Sharon Katz Today, while at the Jerusalem Conference at the (old Hyatt) Regency Hotel in Jerusalem, my friends and I had the opportunity to meet one of the Gush Katif mothers who lives there. She mentioned how worried all the Gush Katif families at the Regency and other hotels were, because they have all received EVICTION NOTICES. They have been told to vacate the premises (in different cases) between ten days and three weeks from now. Their caravans and caravillas are not yet ready. Nonetheless, they have been informed that they are being kicked out of their hotel rooms. They have nowhere to go.
The Gush Katif Mom mentioned that one family had been notified to get the keys to its caravan, although the caravan wasn't ready yet. And when the family signed that it had accepted the keys, it was immediately locked out of its hotel room, because now it had keys to a caravan. The families are feeling helpless and afraid.
Friends, our brethren from Gush Katif are suffering so terribly. We must do something to help. But truthfully, the Israeli government doesn't care if we protest about our Gush Katif brethren. The government does, however, care VERY MUCH what Jews and supporters in the Diaspora say, and what foreign officials say.
I know that just about everyone on this list has family in
America, Canada, England, Australia, South Africa, etc., and many
are coming to Israel for Pesach, IY"H. Please pass this letter along
to anyone traveling here for the holidays. Actually, pass this along
to any caring Jews.
Let's make a difference together, IY"H.
On Pesach, we call out that hungry and needy should join in our Seder. Well, let us make sure that our brethren from Gush Katif are NOT further abandoned this Pesach.
Please forward this letter to the Diaspora.
**
Dear friend coming to Israel this Pesach,
Just before you, your friends and your families will be checking
into different hotel rooms throughout Israel this year, the
ex-residents of Gush Katif will have been thrown out of their hotel
rooms. These families have known no other "home" since their own homes
were destroyed this summer. These families will literally be on the
street, because their future caravans are NOT ready for habitation.
Despite this fact, the government is offering them no solution at all.
What can you do?
Call the Israeli Consulate in your area. Say, "I am going to
Israel for Passover, spending my hard-earned money there. I want to
know where the Gush Katif families are spending Pesach!!! And don't
tell me, 'in their caravans', which have not yet been hooked up with
electricity, water or sanitary plumbing."
Demand a response, and register your complaint that the Jews of
Gush Katif are being treated so inhumanely. Say, "How I sit at my
seder in Israel when I know that at the same time, the Israeli
government is once again throwing hundreds of Gush Katif families into
the street."
Call your Congressman/Senator/Representative and ask him to
register his disdain as well.
Your words will make a difference. Please raise your voice for
your brethren, and may G-d bless all His people with a happy and
kosher holiday.
Contact Lee Caplan at leescaplan@yahoo.com |
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COUP D'ETAT
Posted by Professor Paul Eidelberg, March 20, 2006. |
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Although a coup d'état may only involve a radical change of those who control the State, it often produces a basic changes in the character and purpose of the State. Before examining coup d'états that have occurred in Israel, some preliminary remarks are necessary. The concept of the sovereign State, which goes back to Machiavelli, is foreign to the Torah, which recognizes only the sovereignty of God. The paramount instrument of the State is of course its government, its political and judicial institutions and bureaucracy. The State has taken the place of people. The State has also taken the place of God. The worship of the State is everywhere, including Israel. Here, even religious Jews genuflect to the sovereign State. There was a time when, in the soul of the Jew, there was only one sovereign, one kingdom, that of God. What "happened to this fine heritage," asks Ben Hecht, "when the Jews finally fashioned a [State and] government of their own in Israel; what happened to Jews when they became Jewish politicians, what happened to piety, a sense of honor, and a brotherly love that 2,500 years of anti-Semitism were unable to disturb in the Jewish soul?" Look at Israeli politicians: what a travesty of the Jewish heritage! Consider carefully. The State is a product of human will, an artificial construct. A democratic state can change into a Fascist state, and vice versa. This can happen as a result of war or revolution. Or it can happen by a violent or a non-violent coup d'état. 1. Unbeknownst to the people of Israel "including their political scientists" Israel has undergone two recent coup d'états. One occurred as a result of the June 1992 election, when Labor leader Yitzhak Rabin, contrary to his campaign pledge to the nation, recognized and engaged in negotiations with the PLO. The other coup d'état occurred in December 2003, when Ariel Sharon, contrary to his campaign pledge to the nation, adopted Labor's policy of "unilateral disengagement. -- Where was honor, let alone piety" 2. The first coup d'état was sanctified on the White House lawn where Rabin signed the Oslo or Israel-PLO Agreement of September 1993. The architects of Oslo envisioned Israel's step-by-step withdrawal from Judea, Samaria, and Gaza, including eastern Jerusalem. This amputation of Israel's heartland and lobotomy of the historic memory of the Jewish people had to be justified. The Labor government had to erase the teachings which the Prophets and Sages of Israel linked to the Jewish heartland. And so, with the help of the media, the government sold Oslo to the public by intoning two supposedly supreme values or mantras, "peace" and "democracy." 3. But these mantras were not enough: they had to be supplemented by basic changes in the curriculum of public education. A generation of youth had to be "reeducated" to erase the meaning of Judea, Samaria, and Gaza. "Judaism" and "Zionism" had to be erased from the public school curriculum. These terms, along with "Eretz Israel," had to be erased from the Soldiers Code of Ethics. 4. Labor's coup d'état required nothing less than the transformation of the Jewish State of Israel into "a state of its citizens." The achievement of this required the cooperation of Israel's Supreme Court. The Court was armed by the March 1992 passage of Basic Law: Human Dignity. This Law, according to Supreme Court president Aharon Barak, makes everything -- hence everything Jewish -- "justiciable," hence subject to the interpretation and manipulation of the Court. That law, enacted by less than a majority of the Knesset, made Aharon Barak Israel's law-giver -- one may even say Israel's monarch. 5. Turning to Sharon's coup d'état of December 2003: recall that 69 members of the Sixteenth Knesset obtained their seats by campaigning against the Labor Party's "unilateral disengagement" policy. That policy was rejected by an overwhelming majority of the public in the January 2003 election. Sharon vetoed that election. And with the complicity with the Barak Court, he dispossessed and deported 8,000 Jews from Gush Katif. 6. This produced a crisis among religious Zionists. Many of their rabbis bowed to the State and condoned the government's violation of the Torah. Even now, the parties of the religious Right justify their failure to prevent the crime of Gush Katif by saying they had to obey the Knesset's Evacuation Law, that obedience to the laws of the State take precedence over the laws of God, that loyalty to democracy takes precedence over loyalty to the Torah. 7. This admission of the religious Right signals the end of religious Zionism so far as concerns its collaboration with the State. Many religious Zionists now find it difficult to maintain their belief that the State is an instrument of the Jewish redemption. This crisis of the religious Right is one of the consequences of Sharon's coup d'état. 8. Sharon's coup, carried forward by Kadima, also reveals the fraudulent character of Israeli democracy. Sharon, now in a coma, thus personifies the moribund condition of Israeli politics on the one hand, and of religious Zionism on the other. This decay was inevitable. Look at the first sentence of the 1948 Proclamation of the State of Israel: It declares that the Jews became a people in Eretz Israel. Not true. The Jews became a people when they accepted the Torah at Mount Sinai. We see that the Proclamation tacitly denies the Sinai Covenant. This denial is compounded when the Proclamation refers to Theodor Herzl -- all honor to him -- as the "spiritual father" of the State. What's more, the Proclamation was signed by four rabbis! 9. It's hard to fault them -- especially when Jews were still languishing in Europe and in detention camps. Still, the fact remains that religious Zionism represents a long history of compromise, of turning a blind to the character and goals of secular elite. Didn't those rabbis know they were consorting with politicians who, during the Holocaust, pursued a rescue policy biased against religious Jews? Didn't they know that these politicians were committed to making the Jews a "normal" people by erasing their Jewish identity? 10. And didn't the religious Right -- specifically, the National Union (NU) and the National Religious Party (NRP) -- didn't they know the man with whom they were collaborating when they signed Sharon's coalition agreement, which bound them to the Oslo Covenant of Death? Did he not say before the 2003 election that he would not appoint to his cabinet anyone who opposed a Palestinian state? Were the religious leaders of NU and the NRP hard of hearing? Were they oblivious of Sharon's and the IDF's year-long preparation to expel the Jews of Gush Katif -- almost all religious Zionists? 11. That they should collaborate in a government that had betrayed the electorate and had therefore ceased to be legitimate; that they would prop up a government whose Machiavellian leader had perpetrated a coup d'état; and that they should justify their spineless behavior saying they were bound by the imperatives of democracy over against the imperatives of the Torah -- from this I conclude that the 58-year charade of the misnamed Jewish and Democratic State of Israel is nearing its end. 12. When a democracy in name only corrupts the souls of Jews, when it removes from the Jewish soul the Kingdom of God and replaces His sovereignty with the sovereignty of the State, and when, in the name of this fraudulent democracy, religious politicians subordinate the Jewish people to the diktat of the State, and tolerate the government's dehumanization of thousands of Jews, then it's time for good men to take counsel and devise plans to put an end to this vicious charade. 13. That's what my Yamin Israel Party is all about. It is the one only philosophically oriented revolutionary party in this country. And that's why Baruch Marzel, came to us and invited us to join his Jewish National Alliance, Hazit. Our program represents Israel's future. * Transcript of the Eidelberg Report, Israel National Radio, March 20, 2006. Professor Paul Eidelberg is President of the Foundation For Constitutional Democracy. He can be reached by mail at 244 Madison Avenue, Suite 427, New York, NY 10016, Tel: 212-372-3752, and by email at Constitution@usa.net |
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POLL: SETTLERS DON'T TRUST STATE INSTITUTIONS
Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, March 20, 2006. |
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These are two news items from YNet 1. Poll: Settlers disengage from state
Recent survey shows most settlers distrust police, High Court, State, citizens living within green line and, mostly media; Rabbis remain popular, some 46 percent say they respect IDF. Large number of settlers say religious nationalist parties, Yesha failed in protecting their cause A poll conducted among settlers after the evacuation of the Amona illegal outpost has found that two-thirds of the community are disappointed and angry with the State's policy towards them, Israel's leading newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported Monday. Some 71 percent of settler youths who took part in the poll said they trust no one in their struggle against government plans to evacuate more settlers from the West Bank. The poll, which was conducted among 828 respondents from 43 settlements, also probed the popularity of Yesha council leaders and religious nationalist parties. About 56 percent of respondents said the National Religious Party and National Union party "failed," with only 14 percent expressing satisfaction with their policy. The Yesha Council also saw its popularity drop, with 49 percent of respondents saying its leaders' strategy towards the government failed, in comparison to 25 percent who approved of the council. Rabbis were the most popular among respondents. 'Bond between army, settlers must be strengthened' Three in every four respondents said they do not trust the High Court of Justice, two-thirds distrust the Israel Police, and one-third said they distrust Israelis living within the green line. The media is perceived as the most anti-settler institution, with 83 percent saying they distrust its coverage of their cause. About 46 percent said they trust the IDF in comparison to 29 percent who said their trust in the military institution has dwindled since the August disengagement from the Gaza Strip. Despite the alarming findings, 62 percent of polled youth said confrontations with the army and the police during the disengagement and the evacuation of Amona have not deterred them from enlisting to the national service. Only 20 percent said they will not serve the army. Settler leader Pinchas Wallerstein said the poll's findings are reassuring, citing that a mere 7 percent of respondents said they support having recourse to violence should the government go ahead with further pullouts from the West Bank. "Despite the disappointment with the security forces the IDF enjoys a favorable treatment when the High Court and the police's popularity have dropped. We need to invest a lot of time in strengthening the bond between the army and the people so that the split does not widen," he said. 2. "Gaza evacuees protest salary failures"
Former Gush Katif settlers say they have yet to receive promised salaries while attending conversion courses for other professions; staff at Employment Service refuses to speak to demonstrators Dozens of former Gush Katif settlers, studying at a special training center for evacuees, protested Sunday at the offices of the Employment Service Office in Ashkelon against the failure to transfer their salaries in recent months and against the cancellation of professional training courses which they were supposed to take. The former head of the Regional Gaza Council, Eran Sternberg, also claimed that the wages evacuees will receive in the future will be taken from the compensation moneys they are receiving. Sternberg and his friends are furious at the staff of the Employment Office, who refused to leave the building and talk with them. "We are announcing that we won't continue to arrive at these courses until they sit with us and clarify the whole matter with us," said Sternberg. Among the evacuees camped outside of the offices are mainly academics and farmers, who were promised conversion courses for other professions. Neve Dekalim evacuee Debby Rosen, who was a spokeswoman to the foreign media on behalf of the evacuees, attended one of the courses. 'I simply can't find work' 
We were all affluent in the past. (Photo: Tsafrir Avayov) "We are all a group of people who were affluent in the past, some of who managed projects worth millions of dollars. We are not lazy unemployed types. We were promised a solution for every settler and a minimum wage, and we were placed in a course which did not allow us to look other work. But in the meantime the days have passed and we have received NIS 279 (USD 59) a month, and from this we are supposed to live on. It's not clear when we will receive the additional payment; we are simply asking to continue our lives and live with honor," said Rosen. Yair Tzahi, who was evacuated from the settlement of Gadid, is a qualified computer programmer who has managed agricultural projects in the past. He and his partner studied in the course for the past three months, and did not receive their salary. "We were given promises and told that this course would advance us. In reality, the course itself is not advancing, and we are not seeing the money. We are living in a huge overdraft and it's not clear what the future will hold," he said. Tzahi said he lost hundreds of thousands of shekels because some of his products were lost due to lack of marketing before the disengagement. "I'm 50 already and I simply can't find work," he said. The Employment Service did not give a response. The Disengagement Authority said that the matter did not fall under their responsibility. |
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AN ALTERNATIVE TO A UNILATERAL WITHDRAWAL FROM JUDEA/SAMARIA
Posted by Robert S. Barnes, March 20, 2006. |
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There is an Alternative to spending 100 billion shekels to forcibly expel 80,000 Jews from their homes! There is an Alternative which respects everyone's human rights! There is an Alternative which ensures a Jewish majority for generations to come! There is an Alternative which will unite the nation and not divide it. There is an Alternative which a majority of Palestinian Arabs could be convinced accept. There is an Alternative which Israel can implement without the agreement of the US, EU or Arab countries. What is this Alternative? To establish a Ministry of Emigration which would give the same financial incentives and aid to Arabs who want to emigrate as is given to Jews who want to make aliyah. According to polls 59% of Israeli Jews support the government encouraging Arabs to emigrate, and 20% of West Bank Arabs would emigrate today if they had the money to do so, more would do so if the financial incentives were available. There is an Alternative! Sign the Petition for an Alternative to Another Unilateral Withdrawal People need to know that there is an alternative! Please sign this petition and send it to everyone you know who has an e-mail address and might also want to sign. Don't leave out spouses and kids! Contact Robert S. Barnes at editor@loadofisrael.info |
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NY TIMES PUFFERY ON ISLAM; THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE YE FREE" VS. TRUTH "INSULTS" ISLAM
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, March 20, 2006. |
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NY TIMES PUFFERY ON ISLAM Its serial on an Imam in Brooklyn had misleading propaganda. Just as the Times does hatchet jobs on Israel, it does powder puff jobs on Islam. It is like the feature articles on some Arab towns -- all points of interest and no dark side. The newspaper will get away with this deception, because it gives readers little basis for evaluation. The article is well crafted, of human interest, and skillfully appearing balanced without being so. There was not a false statement in it. But it was misleading. Example: "by some accounts," six million Muslims live in the US. Yes, but by whose account? By Muslim institutions which inflate the figures, just as organizers do to make their public events seem successful. Why cite include the more realistic 2-3 million? The article contends that the congregation and imam are struggling to reconcile their faith with Western ways. This process is liberalizing the imam's outlook. Muslims may assimilate. They make personal adjustments, but intolerant Americans harass them. The series is a case study. The author can claim she is not generalizing, though she is in some instances. It is inevitable that readers will generalize. They will be misguided when they extrapolate. I believe that the editors realize this, judging by their unerring instinct, when doing a hatchet job on Israeli settlers, at finding the most militant Jewish settlers to quote, thereby leaving the poorest impression of the settler movement. If written with genuine integrity, the article would put this mosque in perspective. (I'm assuming that most of what was described is true of that mosque.) Perspective for an example requires placing it in context of most mosques. Real balance is not, for example, "some think this and some think that," like a horizontal see-saw, but perhaps, "80% think this and 20% think that," like a see-saw balanced at an angle. For example, 80% of US mosques are financed by the extremist Saudis, and tend to pick imams not reasonable like the atypical subject. He is said to be assimilating, but a growing number of Islamist schools alienate youth from America. They see America as prey. And he approves of suicide bombing of Israeli soldiers as self-defense. Self-defense when the Arabs aren't being attacked and violate their peace agreements? It is the Israeli soldiers who engage in defense, not, as the imam claims, the Palestinian Arabs. Then is he really moderate? A thoughtful article rather than a propagandistic one would have pondered the extent of Muslim Americanization and whether the alleged moderates will keep radicals from indoctrinating youth. It would ask whether, if the "moderate majority" would impose Islamic practices and policy upon the country. No Muslim country treats minorities with full rights, though Turkey did for a while when really secular. Perspective would be that the Islamic community in the US has a mixed ideology, but that on the whole it constitutes a growing fifth column, subversive of American tolerance, democracy, and survival. Muslims are more of a threat to Americans than Americans, who have largely quieted down since 9/11, are to them. The article makes it seem only that the "poor Muslims" should not be picked on. What about terrorists caught in common crimes to earn the money for terrorist ones? What about the pro-terrorist conventions they hold, donations to charity fronts for terrorist organizations, radicalization of the youth, and building of terrorist cells? How quiet would US Muslims be if they attained a critical mass as they did in the France they torture and torch? The author treats a problem facing imams as if a great quandary. The FBI asked the imam to inform it of terrorist plots. The author admits there was one plot at that mosque. The imam agreed to cooperate, not, he said, out of fear, but because "Muslims also care about keeping their country safe." Oh do they now? How does the author know, because that one imam said so? What about the general American Muslim satisfaction that on 9/11, America got its comeuppance, and then their belief that the US or Israel perpetrated it? In any case, the quandary was put as how to cooperate with law enforcement while retaining members' loyalty and "living at the center of a religion under watch." Insinuation: the police are just as much a problem. They do cause small problems, which they are learning to minimize. Will readers realize that most of the Muslim complaints are because of their own misconceptions about Western customs? Some prosecution had unreliable informers, insufficient evidence, or was mistaken, but there are terrorist crimes and crime sprees. It is a Muslim way of thinking, that the author fell in with too readily, that if the police made some mistakes, then all the prosecutions are unfounded. Well of course he should cooperate with law enforcement! The question would be almost inconceivable to ask of Christian or Jewish clergymen. There are some conflicts over confidentiality and a few churches that harbor illegal aliens. Towards the end of article II is stated the government's premise, that terrorists are likely to be Muslim and to gestate in mosques. That key point is buried by the impression given of Islam, by the emphasis on social and religious matters, that Islam is just another religion. It isn't. It seeks to repress the others. Where is the concern of these new Americans that they collectively are the main source of this major threat to national security? On the other hand, the article itemizes a number of instances of insults and hostility shown towards Muslims. These alienate young people. Who are these stupid and intolerant Americans who denounce individuals not observed at crime but for their religion? It is one thing to oppose mass immigration, but it is another thing to single out individuals solely based on their affiliation. This is un-American. This notion of Islam as a religion under pressure is presented in one-sidedly. Not stated is that the US is making another show trial of Jews. Arab Muslims have made many Jewish students afraid to display their Judaism or express support for Israel. Christian public practices are being curbed, while Muslim practices are being fostered. Textbooks increasingly are hostile to Christianity but favorable to Islam. (I prefer facts and truth.) In order to deter vigilantes against Muslims, in reaction to 9/11, Pres. Bush lies about Islam being a religion of peace and downplays what an international menace is Islamism. U.S. MUSLIM YOUTH BEING ALIENATED Islamists ferret out inexperienced Muslim teenagers, ignorant of basic Islamic principles. Posing as religious authorities, the Islamists indoctrinate them in fanatical and violent aspects of the religion. The youths are taught just a few verses of the Koran. Those verses concern "jihad, takfir (condemning opponents as apostates), infidels, striking terror into the hearts of the enemy, and the establishment of a [Muslim military] force." This narrow focus stimulates the rebelliousness and violence for which the youths were picked. They reject their society and families or destroy TV sets and photographs and demand that their relatives dress in conformity with Islamic precepts and that the women stay at home. When US security services attempt to intervene in the mosques where the subversion arises, the Muslims condemn the government for interfering in freedom of religion. And when the security services leave the mosques autonomous, the Muslims condemn the government for allowing subversion to continue. Damned if do, and damned if don't. Muslims who might rally against the subversion of their youth instead are diverted by their conspiracy theories. They think that the government is plotting against them. "This responsibility requires parents to not allow their young children to participate unaccompanied in religious gatherings. Instead, they should go with them to hear what they are told in the mosques. They should thoroughly investigate the biographies and views of religious preachers in the mosques, and should demand... the removal of anyone who distorts religion, distorts the interpretation [of religion], and leads the youth astray." "This responsibility requires... giving them a [positive] example, both in thought and in behavior. The crisis of identity should be discussed objectively, rationally, and in a language that the youth can understand, and they should be guided in how best to deal with life in America and its demands... Parents need to get to know their children's friends and everyone they mingle with, at school and in their free time... They need to monitor everything that their children see on the computer..." (IMRA, 3/4/06 from the editor of a US Arab newspaper.) ABU DHABI SEIZES AMERICAN TEXTBOOKS THAT WERE TRUTHFUL The government seized the sixth grade textbook of a private, American school there, for "racism." The book should be more multicultural and not disrespectful of the country's religion. The book made "derogatory remarks against Islam and the Muslim world, for example, dubbing Middle East as one of the most dangerously explosive areas in the world and the Muslim conquest of India as the most bloodiest in the world history, to mention a few." Some Arab children study there. The book also had pictures and descriptions about the religion and way of life in Israel. It stated, "Israel is one of a few democracies in North Africa and the Middle East today. Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Morocco are all kingdoms; the country of Syria has sponsored terrorism by giving aid to radicals in the Palestine Liberation Organization, known as the PLO." School officials pleaded, "We do our best to follow the ministry guidelines... We normally take care to delete materials or replace textbooks that carry sensitive content." (IMRA, 3/5.) The books were truthful. If the truth about their faith would repel infidels, then Muslims hide it. ISRAELI SURRENDER PRESENTED AS FIRMNESS This month's Israeli election is riveting. The leading Party is presenting its platform the way Sharon presented his withdrawal and security fence borders with undefined bounds. Olmert has made it known that he would withdraw at least the civilians from some more parts of Judea-Samaria, but at first, not which ones or where. The troops would stay behind to prevent rockets from being placed nearer Israeli cities, as happened in the Gaza withdrawal. (This reveals Sharon to have been criminally negligent. Voters now are supposed to pick Olmert without knowing the extent of withdrawal and how insecure the new borders are to be.) Fatah would have been willing to negotiate with Israel and Hamas is not. The proposition is presented as Israel, having no responsible Arab parties to negotiate a permanent peace with, will set its own borders. (Not always part of that presentation, and not in this NY Times article, is the US rejection of what Israel does as being a permanent border. In other words, the US intends to press Israel to make further concessions. Therefore, all Israel is doing is reducing its bargaining position.) Uzi Landau of the Likud Party, which correspondent Greg Myre describes as "right-wing," reacted, "Who is the Palestinian (Arab) fool who will sit in negotiations and will have to pay so that we evacuate territory, when he knows if he simply waits, Israel will evacuate the territory?" (3/6, A5.) Israel would give the Arabs something for nothing.) The NY Sun presented much the same view as the Times, because its source is the biased Associated Press. At least it indicated that Olmert actually has no plan, and is waiting for the election before making one. Hamas contends that by acting unilaterally, Israel has proved itself not a peace partner. Candidate Avi Dichter said Israel would seek US backing for the withdrawals (Mark Lavie, 3/6, P.5). Later he was more specific, but still indecisive. Like the failed Oslo Plan and the ruinous Gaza withdrawal, the proposed withdrawal policy is open-ended. As patriotic critics, unfairly called right-wing and "hard line" have pointed out, it picks off and destroys the settlements and settlers piecemeal. Why not call Olmert "defeatist"? If Sharon and Olmert had been honest, and admitted from the outset that they intended almost a full withdrawal, they would have been stopped by a shocked and outraged Knesset. No permanent peace can be negotiated with the Arabs, because the Arabs don't want peace but conquest. That was known before Oslo, and was demonstrated after Oslo, but it hasn't stopped some people from continuing to talk about "peace process" and partner. Seek US backing for the withdrawals? Of course the US would accept them, and may even be the silent impetus behind them, but when Israel thinks they are over, it would demand more. Remember, the State Dept. is anti-Zionist. 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@aol.com. |
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ESTEE LAUDER BOYCOTTED BY ARABS
Posted by Esther Green, March 20, 2006. |
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Estee Lauder Corporation (which is also the parent company of Prescriptives, Mac, Bobbie Brown, La Mer, Jo Malone, Origins, Aramis, Aveda and Bumble and Bumble) is being boycotted by a loud and ambitious campaign of the world's Arab and Muslim community due to Ron Lauder's (Estee Lauder's President) support for Israel. Mr. Lauder has been extremely courageous and public in his support for the Jewish State and has taken real personal and financial risks to inform the world of the war that the Palestinian Authority has declared on Israel and Jews worldwide. To combat this boycott I suggest that we all go out and buy as much Estee Lauder and Clinique products as possible. Make the Estee Lauder and Clinique counters your gift of choice. Switch brands at least for a while. It is said that beauty has many discomforts. So does supporting those who speak for us. PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW! LET'S SHOW THE ARABS THAT PEOPLE ALL OVER THE WORLD WILL STAND TOGETHER. Ronnie Lauder is married to Jo Carol Knopf Lauder born and raised in Wilmington, Delaware. Her parents were humble Holocaust survivors! He also works undauntingly for the re-establishment of the Hungarian Jewish community. A good man! |
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COMPENSATION
Posted by Batya Medad, March 20, 2006. |
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Official government announcement: (Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser) Following are Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's remarks at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting today (Sunday), 19.3.06: "Bird flu has recently been discovered in Israel. The Government has been prepared to deal with this issue for some time. Today, we are taking all the measures that we prepared for. All of the dead birds will be buried in order to prevent the disease from spreading. It is important to emphasize that at this stage, we are talking only about bird flu; there is no indication that the there is the possibility of the disease spreading to people. All necessary measures to ensure that this does not happen, are being implemented. Of course, while I suggest attributing due seriousness to the appearance of bird flu, we should also be more relaxed about the dangers that people may be concerned about, given the measures that we have taken and are taking to prevent further spreading. In any case, it will not lead to an outbreak among people. Of course, the team that the Government will set up will deal with compensating farmers who have been damaged as a result of the disease and this will be done soon. Agriculture Minister Ze'ev Boim and Health Minister Ya'akov Edery will brief us on the bird flu phenomenon." In addition to the $300,000 -- the former kibbutznikim of Shomriya are receiving, and they're leaving willingly after failing to make a success of their kibbutz. I'd like to know how much government money was wasted on Kibbutz Shomriya as they floundered, since kibbutzim have been highly subsidized by the government and Jewish Agency. They're not being charged for the mortgages of the homes the government stole and destroyed. Kibbutz homes are free for members. But at the same time, the expellees of Gush Katif and Northern Shomron are not receiving their compensation for the " loss " of their homes, businesses and jobs. And don't forget the "fence," whether you call it "security," "separation" or border, billions of dollars have gone into it, and it's far from complete. Amazingly, neither the Israeli right, which considers it a danger, nor the left think it will solve anything, as I read in The Olive Branch, Youth Magazine of Seeds of Peace: "In my opinion, putting this wall between people is not going to stop anything, except the hope that some people still have of a better future." The only ones in favor of the fence are the businessmen who are profiting from it, especially every time the route is changed. It seems like money is controlling Israel, and that's bad news, not only for us, but for the entire world. Batya Medad lives in Shiloh. She can be reached by email at Shilohmuse@yahoo.com or visit her website http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/ or go to http://www.shilo.org.il This article is archived at http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2006/03/compensation.html |
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THE JERICHO JIHAD: A CARTOON INTIFADA RERUN, BUT WORSE
Posted by David Meir-Levi, March 20, 2006. |
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Ahmad Saadat is the PFLP terrorist leader accused of assassinating Israel's Minister of Tourism in 2001. He and 5 other terrorist inmates have enjoyed unusually plush "prison" accommodations since April, 2002., after the siege of Arafat's Muqata, when Israel agreed that Saadat, and other wanted PFLP terrorists, were to be imprisoned in Jericho and guarded by British and American troops. Israel complained repeatedly that the Palestinian Authority was continuously violating the 2002 agreement. The British and American consuls complained too. Instead of the PFLP terrorists, with the blood of dozens on their hands, serving real jail time, they enjoyed almost hotel-like accommodations, with an office, phones, televisions, a private reception area (off limits to the jail's guards), unlimited access to visitors, a private kitchen, immunity from cell searches, and unmonitored correspondence. Thus the six were able to regulate and direct terrorist operations from inside the Jericho "jail". They had even taken over the jail's armory and had access to weapons. No one doubted that the "prisoners" ran the "prison", or that the American and British guards were vulnerable and feared for their personal security. Shortly after winning the recent elections, Hamas leaders threatened to release the Jericho prisoners. Israel then promised to re-arrest them. Meanwhile, Israeli and UK military intelligence reported credible and actionable warnings that the PFLP planned to free the prisoners, taking UK and USA monitors as hostages. What finally sparked Israel's operation against the Jericho prison was Palestinian Authority's release of Islamic Jihad operatives from other PA jails. It was clear that the Jericho prisoners would be next. So Briton and the USA gave Abbas an ultimatum: Either implement the agreement in full, at once, or reach a different agreement with Israel. Failing to do either, Abbas received a letter from the consuls that they were canceling the 2002 agreement. The prisoners were due to be released on March 15. So Israel swooped down on March 14, surrounded the jail, rained a hail of artillery rounds aimed intentionally at the unoccupied areas surrounding the building where the inmates were housed, used bulldozers to topple surrounding walls, and after a 10-hour stand-off, accepted the surrender of the prisoners. Two Arabs were killed during exchanges of small arms fire. Among the 200 prisoners in the jail were 75 with no terrorist crimes. These were freed. The PFLP leaders were taken, alive and unharmed, to an Israeli jail. But then the "wrath of the Saracen" erupted. In waves of rent-a-mob violence, armed Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and West Bank began a series of choreographed riots, setting fire to British Consul offices in Gaza, vandalizing other UK official buildings in Ramallah, and attacking other western offices throughout the West Bank. Ratcheting up the stakes, PFLP operatives in Damascus have now put out an APB telling their terrorist cells in Europe to start targeting Jewish sites for suicide bombings. Well, why not? It worked with the cartoon Intifada (minus the suicide bombings), so why not try it when Israel does something that the terrorists don't like? Israel re-arrests Palestinian murderers, and in response terrorists kidnap innocent, unrelated and unarmed westerners, burn western buildings, threaten westerners with death.....and make it clear to the world just how upset they are, and how violent they can become when they are upset. Tony Blair blames Abbas. Israel blames Hamas and Abbas. But the PA, EU and other Arab countries blame Israel. No surprise there. Blaming Israel helps to calm the "Arab Street". The New York Times chastises Israel ("As if that fire needed fuel", editorial, 3.16.06) for humiliating the prisoners by making them strip to their underwear before Israeli soldiers would handcuff them and cart them off to a real jail. Justice for murderers pales in importance when compared to the terrorists' embarrassment at needing to strip for security reasons. I guess the editor never read all those Times articles on the hundreds of suicide bombers hiding 20 lbs. of TNT in their underwear. Let's see how long it will be before the UK, UN and other western states start pressuring Israel to release the murderers in order to free the western hostages and calm the raging Arab "street". Let's see how long it will be before rent-a-riot violence explodes all over the Moslem world, before PFLP suicide bombers start masquerading as Hasidic Jews so they can use European synagogues as their springboard to heaven and eternal sex, and young Moslem students in American universities start driving their SUVs into crowds of innocent Americans standing at bus stops. Now that would really be "deja vu all over again". David Meir-Levi is an American-born Israeli, currently living in Palo Alto. His expertise is in Near Eastern studies and the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. He is Director of Peace and Education at Israel Peace Initiative (www.ipi-usa.org). Contact him at david_meirlevi@hotmail.com |
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The NY TIMES TELLS THE TRUTH SOME OF THE TIME
Posted by David Meir-Levi, March 20, 2006. |
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For those still feel that the New York Times publishes all the news that's fit to print, in an unbiased and objective manner, please read the example below. The motive is unclear, but the actions are clear ... and they have been par for the course at the NY Times for 20 years: Israel is the cause for all the Palestinian ills. Bush is wrong no matter what he does, and the prefered story will always be one with a skewed and reconstituted version of reality that will pillory Bush, the Republican party, Israel. So...next time you read something uncomplimentary in the NY Times, remember the examples below. For a broader picture of the American mainstream media's betrayal of its journalistic commitments, read Elliot Kramer, "Complicity" and Bob Kohn, "Why we cannot trust the NYTimes". Below is my distillation of several articles in non-mainstream press. Saturday, March 18, 2006
The New York Times today in an embarrassing front-page article and editor's note admitting that it had been suckered by a liar who claimed he was the famous "man in the hood" at Abu Gharib. But the Times still doesn't get it. This piece, like an earlier unsigned article on the subject, still doesn't acknowledge the distinct possibility -- if not probability -- that nothing this man said was true and, again, obscuring his motive, which was clearly monetary. He is, after all, suing the US government. The story shows the extent to which the Times was sloppy in its reporting: A lawsuit Mr. Qaissi joined, filed on July 27, 2004, also made no allegation that he was shocked with wires or forced to stand on a box. That allegation appeared only on an amended version of a complaint he later joined, filed last month, which said he had been forced to stand on the box and fell off from the shocks of the electrocution: "They repeated this at least five times." Unfortunately, this red flag sailed right past the Times reporter who wrote this story, house terrorism apologist Hassan Fattah, who was too gullible and too anxious to embarrass the U.S. military with his "scoop." The issue, however, is not one reporter's sloppiness or gullibility, but rather a system that is all too eager to skew the military and publish anti-American swill without even elementary checking. Tuesday, March 14, 2006
In a brief, unsigned article buried deep within the newspaper today, the New York Times admitted that a major "scoop" in the newspaper on the previous Saturday may have been nothing more than fiction. The front-page article, by the Times's house terrorism apologist Hassan Fattah, told the grisly tale of the poor feller who was photographed in a black hood at Abu Gharib. However, Salon last night found that the Times had the wrong guy -- and, as the Times did not point out, that his story had big holes. In addition to questioning whether the fellow interviewed by the Times was the one in the photo, Salon also found that other details in the ex-prisoner's story were apparently wrong. That is, the names of prisoners supposedly humiliated at the prison were not correct. Which might well mean that he just made up stuff. Thursday, March 16, 2006
The New York Times has been in mourning since the Hamas electoral victory, which ripped to shreds one of the central tenets of the Sulzberger Indifference Template. The Myth of Palestinian Moderation looks pretty silly now, but the Times is trying hard to cope, and we see that in its editorial today bemoaning the Israeli raid on the Jericho "prison." Blaming America and Britain and Israel for -- for -- murderers being brought to justice. First and foremost, whatever the mess, it is Times editorial policy that the Palestinians themselves are never to be held principally responsible. In this instance, as graphically recounted in the Times of London and pretty much everywhere except the New York Times, the Jericho "prison" was a sham. The prisoners lived a life of luxury and turned the prison into a suite of offices for the PFLP, one of the most murderous terror groups. This received little publicity outside Israel until recently, as IRIS noted. But that is not the sole reason to "blame" anyone for what just happened. The one and only reason is that the Palestinians do not want to punish other Palestinians for murdering Israelis and Jews. That is the central reason why the Jericho prison was a sham and
why the raid was necessary. That is why Mohammed Abbas favored
releasing the murderers, just as he had released four dozen terrorists
from that same "prison" a couple of months ago -- which the Times
almost completely ignored.
David Meir-Levi is an American-born Israeli,
currently living in Palo Alto. His expertise is in Near Eastern
studies and the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. He is Director
of Peace and Education at Israel Peace Initiative (www.ipi-usa.org).
Contact him at david_meirlevi@hotmail.com
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JIMMY CARTER: "ISRAELI COLONIZATION IS OBSTACLE TO PEACE"
Posted by Warren Manison, March 19, 2006. |
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Just to let people know what our ex-president is saying and doing. Carter's latest stupid position and comments received no publicity that I know of in American newspapers. But it sure has received lots of publicity overseas. Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has again lashed out at Israel, this time using an op-ed in an Israeli newspaper to do so. In a piece written for the mass circulation Haaretz, Carter said, "The pre-eminent obstacle to peace is Israel's colonization of Palestine. Israel's occupation of Palestine has obstructed a comprehensive peace agreement in the Holy Land, regardless of whether Palestinians had no formalized government, one headed by Yasser Arafat or Mahmoud Abbas, or with Abbas as president and Hamas controlling the parliament and cabinet." Carter also doubts Israel's commitment to the Road Map peace process despite its public acceptance. The former president wrote that "Israel has officially rejected its basic premises with patently unacceptable caveats and prerequisites." Regarding Israel's controversial security barrier, Carter said it "will never be acceptable either to Palestinians or to the international community, and will inevitably precipitate increased tension and violence within Palestine, and stronger resentment and animosity from the Arab world against America, which will be held accountable for the plight of the Palestinians." |
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RIOTS IN FRANCE AGAIN -- OR STILL; HALIMI MURDER UPDATE AND OTHER
MUSLIM ANTISEMITISMIC ACTS
Posted by Janet Lehr, March 19, 2006. |
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"ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT." Does that sit in the upper left of the NY Times any longer? Multinational media bias is a case for the International Court. Newspapers that misinform thru misfeasance or malfeasance ought to be held culpable. One recent case stands out, the inhumane torture and slaughter of Ilan Halimi. (today's second article) AN EXAMPLE OF BIAS. Paris: 'Youths' suspected of killing Jew nabbed [13 people, animals really, attacked and bound a 23 year old then tortured him for two weeks.]. Presumably these were the same family of perpetrators, "youths" as noted in Le Monde, who marauded in France New Year 2005 and afterwards, torching 20,000 cars and wrecking terror throughout the country -- Muslim "youths", were they not? AND ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF BIAS -- OBFUSICATING. 1 million youth in France have been rioting for the last few days. Why? Chirac conceived a bold plan to attempt to cope with the 40-50% unemployment among the Muslim youth who rioted throughout France beginning on New Years eve and continuing for several weeks. Checking thru google, neither in a French publication nor any publication world wide is the seething mass of disenfranchised youth termed, Muslim, and all underreport the numbers of rioters, the following article comes closest speaking of 50 percent among impoverished young people, perjorative for MUSLIM. Chirac's proposed labor law is a breach of French convention, where employment is a life long "appointment" with 6 weeks annual vacation and numerous other perks. Firing is a near impossibility. As a band-aide attempt to employ the unemployable, this new law would enable an employer to hire among this youthful worker pool and be able to fire them for any cause within the first two years of their employment. Unemployment among what these Muslims call "WHITIES", Frenchmen not of Muslim origin, is 25%, itself, not an insignificant number. It was these "WHITIES" who have now taken to the streets of France in protest to the proposed new law that would in effect favor the hiring of Muslim youth from the seething suburbs which surround every major city in France. No newspaper uses the word Muslim, nor does any analyze the effect of this law on the college graduates, the WHITIES of France -- further joblessness among the educated class of native Frenchmen. Until politicians and press name the insurgents and terrorists in their midst correctly, they can not begin to fix the problem. 19 of 19 hijackers in 9/11 were MUSLIMS. Probably 99% of the New Years eve rioters were MUSLIMS, Anti-Semitic acts ripping like wildfire thru Europe are perpetrated by MUSLIMS. Two reports follow:
1> "French Police Subdue Riots Over Jobs Law"
PARIS -- Police loosed water cannons and tear gas on rioting students and activists rampaged through a McDonald's and attacked store fronts in the capital Saturday as demonstrations against a plan to relax job protections spread in a widening arc across France. The protests, which drew 500,000 people in some 160 cities across the country, were the biggest show yet of escalating anger that is testing the strength of the conservative government before elections next year. At the close of a march in Paris that drew a crowd of tens of thousands, seven officers and 17 protesters were injured during two melees, at the Place de la Nation in eastern Paris and the Sorbonne University. Police said they arrested 156 people in the French capital. Four cars were set afire, police said, and a McDonald's restaurant was attacked along with store fronts at the close of the march. Tensions escalated later Saturday as about 500 youths moved on to the Sorbonne, trying to break through tall metal blockades erected after police stormed the Paris landmark a week ago to dislodge occupying students. The university has become a symbol of the protest. Police turned water cannons on the protesters at the Sorbonne and were seen throwing youths to the ground, hitting them and dragging them into vans. "Liberate the Sorbonne!" some protesters shouted. "Police everywhere, justice nowhere." In an apparent effort to set fire to a police van serving as a blockade, protesters instead torched the entrance of a nearby Gap store, apparently by accident, engulfing the small porch in flames. With commerce snarled in some cities, people asked whether Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin would stand firm on implementing the change that he says is needed to encourage hiring. The usually outspoken leader was silent Saturday. Protest organizers urged President Jacques Chirac on Saturday to prevent the law from taking effect as expected in April. The group issued an ultimatum, saying it expects an answer by Monday, when leaders will decide whether to continue protests that have paralyzed at least 16 universities and dominated political discourse for weeks. "We give them two days to see if they understand the message we've sent," said Rene Jouan of CFDT, France's largest union. The law would allow businesses to fire young workers in the first two years on a job without giving a reason, removing them from protections that restrict layoffs of regular employees. Companies are often reluctant to add employees because it is hard to let them go if business conditions worsen. Students see a subtext in the new law: make it easier to hire and fire to help France compete in a globalizing world economy. Youth joblessness stands at 23 percent nationwide, and 50 percent among impoverished young people. The lack of work was blamed in part for the riots that shook France's depressed suburbs during the fall. Protests on Saturday reached every corner of France most of them largely peaceful with organizers citing 160 marches from the small provincial town of Rochefort in the southwest to the major city of Lyon in the southeast. In Marseille, extreme leftist youths climbed the facade of City Hall, replacing a French flag with a banner reading "Anticapitalism." Police used tear gas to disperse them and made several arrests. Police also fired tear gas at a protest in Clermont-Ferrand, a central city where 10,000 people marched and about 100 youths threw beer cans and other projectiles at a building. The Paris protest march was the biggest, attracting some 80,000 people, according to police. Organizers put the number at 300,000. Widespread discontent with the government has crystallized around a new type of job contract that Villepin says will alleviate France's sky-high youth unemployment by getting companies to risk hiring young workers. Critics say the contract abolishes labor protections crucial to the social fabric. "Aren't we the future of France?" asked Aurelie Silan, a 20-year-old student who joined a river of protesters in Paris. Government spokesman Jean-Francois Cope insisted on the need for a "spirit of dialogue." "The hand is extended, the door is open," he said on France-3 TV network. However, he limited dialogue to "improving" Villepin's plan not withdrawing it. Waves of red union flags topped the densely packed crowd in Paris, which overflowed into side streets and stretched more than 3 1/2 miles under bright sunshine. "Throw away the job contract, don't throw away the youth!" chanted a group of students shaking tambourines. Many wore plastic bags to illustrate their feeling that the new law reduces young people to disposable workers. Some demonstrators became violent as the march ended. Youths set a car on fire, smashed a shop window, trashed a bus stop and threw stones, golf balls and other objects at police. Police responded with tear gas during skirmishes that lasted several hours. Chirac has pushed Villepin to act "as quickly as possible" to defuse the crisis, but has backed the contested measure. On Friday night, a group of university presidents met with Villepin and called on him to withdraw the jobs plan for six months to allow for debate. Failure to resolve the crisis could sorely compromise Villepin, who is believed to be Chirac's choice as his party's candidate in next year's presidential election. Associated Press writers Jean-Marie Godard and Greg Somerville in Paris contributed to this report. 2> The story of Ilan Halimi begins on January 21, 2006 http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/010303.php Here is a typical example of how crimes of this nature, happening all across Europe, are being reported. The fact that Muslims are involved is not revealed until the last sentence in the interview with the family, long after most people have stopped reading. This is from Ynet, with thanks to Hugh. The French police arrested 13 people on suspicion of kidnapping, torturing and murdering Ilan Halimi, a 23-year-old Parisian Jew. Halimi was found on Monday tied to a tree, naked and wounded, with burns covering all parts of his body. He died on the way to the hospital. Police officials said that the abduction and murder were apparently not motivated by anti-Semitism, but added that they have not yet discovered what led the group to commit the acts... Then, way down at the end of the article: Despite the police's doubts, Halimi's family believes that the act was motivated by anti-Semitism. "We think there is anti-Semitism in this affair," Rafi, Ilan's brother-in-law, told the European Jewish Press. "First because the killers tried to kidnap at least two other Jews, and secondly because of what they said on the phone."Y "When we said we didn't have Euro 500,000 to give them, they answered we should go to the synagogue and get it," Rafi stressed. "They also recited verses from the Koran. We didn't know what they were saying but the police told us," he said. France is not alone in fudging. In reporting the heinous crime James Burke filed the following report in The Observer Note that the description Muslim is not used: "Torturers' Iraq link"
Criminals who tortured and killed a young hostage, keeping him naked and hooded and burning him repeatedly before throwing him from a train, were inspired by images from Iraq, according to a French prosecutor. Jean-Claude Martin, a senior government lawyer, said that the kidnappers, who kept their victim imprisoned for three weeks, were 'repeating things they had seen practiced elsewhere'. Police have distributed a picture of Youssef Fofana, 26, who is the presumed head of the gang. Last week, a young woman, suspected of acting as 'the lure' in the murder, gave herself up. Raids then resulted in the arrest of 15 other suspects, aged between 17 and 32, in a poor suburb of Bagneux, near Paris. The 23-year-old victim is thought to have been starved and tortured while negotiations with his family for a ransom of up to 450,000 Euros continued. According to a police source, the violence was 'gratuitous, extreme, spontaneous and without any limits or boundaries'. The gang was composed of jobless youths from the suburbs around Paris which erupted in violent riots last autumn. They are believed to have made several previous attempts at kidnapping. According to the Liberation newspaper, the gang was inspired by a film which had itself been inspired by a press report. Halimi murder update
In a Jihad Watch exclusive, Nidra Poller provides an update on the Ilan Halimi murder case: Youssouf Fofana has been extradited from the Ivory Coast. His return to France was the opening subject on prime time news. We saw him led to the plane in Abidjan under heavy escort, taken from the plane in Paris under even heavier escort, brought from the airport to Paris in a convey with motorcycle cops and screaming sirens, and delivered to the main courthouse on a cold blustery night. He appeared before the judge, heard charges, more-or-less explained himself and was tightly locked up in a French prison. I don't agree with Hannah Arendt's concept of the banality of evil. It's more like the deflation of evil under pressure of the law. Taking the life of a human being is immense, it's limitless, it's the size of divinity and the depth of iniquity. When Fofana was the Barbarian's Brain, pushing people around, packing a rod, inflicting torture, dehumanizing Ilan Halimi, slitting the throat of all that was left of him after three and a half weeks of torture, he was a big operator. Now he's a punk. He's helpless, useless, worthless. But we want justice. We want him to account for his evil deeds and be punished to the fullest extent of the law. Ilan Halimi was lured into the death trap on the 20th of January. He died shortly after he was discovered on the 13th of February in a condition that we wish we could not imagine. The extent and the brutality of the tortures inflicted on him have not been described and will never be fully revealed. One haunting detail torments the mind: not content to blindfold their victim, the Gang of Barbarians covered his eyes with tape, in fact his whole face was wrapped in tape... from the very beginning... from the first days when, in the words of the arch coward Fofana, the kidnapping was undertaken for the purpose of financial gains. Though there were some attempts by mainstream media to let the story fade out, it kept coming back to assume its rightful place. We are getting an exceptional quantity of investigative reporting. And English-speaking media are slowly awaking to the importance of this case for all it reveals and all that remains hidden in French society. Twenty-one people have already been arrested, nineteen are behind bars, several big goons are still on the run. Police think that an even wider circle of people knew about the hostage and the torture, and kept silent. Some may be charged with "non-assistance to an endangered person." Youssouf Fofana will be charged with other extortion attempts, going back to 2002, targeting prominent personalities and general practitioners, many of them Jewish. Which raises metaphysical questions about anti-Semitism. Though one or two of the barbarians accuse fellow gang members of anti-Semitism, none of them admit to it for themselves, least of all Fofana. He lost miserably on his first line of defense, opposing extradition on that grounds that he was Ivoirian because his parents were born in the Ivory Coast. The court ruled that he is French, and got him out of there as fast as the Airbus could carry him. Now Fofana is camping on a new bargain: he admits he masterminded the abduction but denies he killed the hostage; he admits he specifically chose a Jew, but denies that he was motivated by anti-Semitism. His choice of a Jew was pragmatic. As he repeatedly explained to the victim's family and even to his rabbi, if the family doesn't have money, they can get it at the synagogue. Some analysts put two and two together, and come up with a clear case of anti-Semitism. Others subtract two from two and the anti-Semitism disappears. The guys in the 'hood, as we will see below, put two and two and two and another two together, and when it adds up to deep seated widespread dangerous anti-Semitism, they rub out the figures and get aggressively defensive. You get the impression that for many people anti-Semitism is not an attitude, a mindset, an emotion, an explosive combination of ideas and passions, it's a concrete object, a thing at least twice as big as an SUV, and when someone has it you can see it with your own two eyes, and if you don't see it parked there in front of his nose, he doesn't have it. The newspaper of record, Le Monde, had tried to shy away from the murder case but finally decided to swim with the current. Suddenly we get a flood of information, including names of some of the gang members and details about their roles in the hostage operation. To wit: Giri N'Gazi, 19, jailer. Christophe Martin Vallet, 22, works in a school canteen, chauffeured one of the baiting chicks and gave Fofana advanced IT training. Samir A't Abdelmalek, 27, liaison between jailers and kidnappers, got the keys to the apartment where Ilan was held before being transferred to the boiler room. Gilles Serrurier (serrurier is French for locksmith), building custodian, gave the keys to Samir. Jerome Ribeiro, 30, quit the gang at the end of January because things were getting too violent. Jean-Christophe G., 17, one of the most violent torturers. Yahia Touré Kaba, 19, acted as guard for 2 1/2 weeks. Another jailer, pizza delivery boy Nabil Moustafa, 18, brought in Ce@acute;dric Birot Saint-Yves, 28, to help. Fabrice Polygone, 19, vocational school student, jailer for the whole 3 1/2 weeks (played hooky?). This thug admits to a slash, another to a cigarette burn, a third to shaving Ilan's head, but nothing that measures up to the wounds found on his wretched, wrecked body. Le Monde apparently obtained this information from lawyers involved in the case. Their identities are not officially announced, their faces re not shown. Innocent until proven guilty, until their trial two or three years from now. According to French law they cannot be sentenced en masse for what they did all together. Each individual criminal act must be attributed to its rightful author. But they've already been doused with a splash of victimhood: their families are stigmatized, terrorized, forced to move away or living behind closed shutters, harassed and targeted with "disguised threats." Norbert Goutmann, who has been defending Fofana since 1999 gave up. Too much pressure... from Jews, one must assume, who don't understand how a Jewish lawyer can defend a vicious Jew killer. Matre Goutmann tried to explain, on a Jewish radio station and on national television, that he was only doing his job, that Madame Fofana was terrorized, that it remained to be seen if the accusations made against his client are founded. As it turns out several members of the Barbarians' gang have Jewish lawyers. Doesn't that prove they are not anti-Semitic? Ever since the November riots, "positive discrimination" has been in the air. So it is no surprise to find Moustapha Kessous reporting from the 'hood for Le Monde: "Bagneux: 'You don't dare say the word 'Jew.'" What with the pressure exerted on the lawyers, the families of the Barbarian gang, and their nice neighbors, you understand that the Jews are making it tough for everyone. Djibril Issaka lives a few doors away from Youssouf Fofana, and works for a cultural association a few steps from where Ilan Halimi was tortured. Djibril and the brothas, who have to put up with stupid stereotypes about Blacks, are insulted by insinuations of wholesale anti-Semitism in the projects. He actually joined the March in memory of Ilan, but stepped out after 6 minutes when he heard people saying Ilan Halimi was killed because he was Jewish. Too much. Abou Decore, 24, monitor in a social club, complains that you can't even pronounce the word "Jew" without being accused of anti-Semitism. It's okay to say Muslims are terrorists but you can't say Jews have money. A 19 year-old neighbor chimes in: "Jews are always playing victim... This affair is going to create anti-Semitism." Daoud Ouatara, 23, says the French have a moral debt because they sold out the Jews during the war, but it's nothing to do with us, we're sons of immigrants, we're racaille. And another brotha adds that the Jews stick together. The least little thing and they've got the CRIF, the Licra, they don't let you get away with anything. When Bernard Abouaf of Radio Shalom checked out the 'hood he didn't get a warm welcome like Moustapha Kessous. One teenager unashamedly admitted that he didn't know they were torturing a guy, but if he did, he wouldn't have squealed on the gang, "because they live around here." Four Jewish men were attacked in separate incidents in the Sarcelles banlieue this weekend. Nicolas Sarkozy received the victims and their families in his gilded offices. But one local official declared that four individuals were attacked by delinquents; we have not established that this was a case of inter-communitarian violence. Unless you see the double SUV it's best to be cautious, n'est-ce pas? Clearly Guy Millière doesn't shy from the descriptive adjective. Nothing gratuitous, just the horrendous facts "The Murder of Ilan Halimi"
How many Jews are still living in France today? Around 500,000. The number is going down year after year. Those who leave go mostly to Israel. Some of them move to Canada or to the United States. The larger part of those who stay in France are frightened and anxious. They feel they need to make escape plans for the future. " France is not safe for us anymore," one of them said on a TV show a few weeks ago. And this was before the murder of Ilan Halimi. This young Parisian Jew was kidnapped by a gang of thugs on January 21st and held captive for three weeks. On February 13th, early in the morning, he was found on the edge of a railway station, naked and handcuffed, his body covered with burn marks from acid and cigarettes. He had been savagely tortured and stabbed in the neck. He was not dead yet when discovered, but he died a few minutes later. Little by little, information emerged about the crime. There were at least fifteen thugs, maybe more. They had used a girl to seduce Halimi into the trap where he was captured. They knew he was a Jew and they had chosen him for that reason. In his pocket they found the phone number of a rabbi and he was the first person they called, telling him: "We have a Jew. The family has to pay. If the family cannot pay, it will be the synagogue." In succeeding days, they called the rabbi again, howling sentences full of hatred. Later, they called the family, asking for $600,000, before lowering the price to $5,000. They spoke to the mother, to Halimi's sisters, uncle, and father. When they were not asking for money, they were reciting suras from the Quran. In some of the conversations it was possible to hear Halimi screaming in the background. The thugs sent a videotape showing the young man naked, humiliated, handcuffed, just like on a Zarqawi videos from Iraq. They called many times, but the police, stating later that "technical problems" kept them from tracing the calls, told the family to stop answering the phone and to stop negotiations with the kidnappers. The police also claimed that there was "no anti-Semitism involved." When the judge learned almost all the details about the case, he did not speak about anti Semitism either. But as the case became news all over France, the motive became really obvious to deny any longer and the judge finally declared, "anti-Semitism is involved." Some politicians started using the word too. A ceremony was organized in the main Paris synagogue and deputies and ministers came. Jacques Chirac, who only three years ago had insisted that "anti-Semitism does not exist in France " even showed up. A protest against the hideous crime was organized a few days later, but political correctness had already won out: the protest was mostly against racism in general, not the specific pathology that had claimed Halimi's life. "It's necessary to avoid tensions between communities," declared one of the organizers. There were some Muslims at the protest--fifteen, maybe twenty out of 30,000. In the days since the dying Halimi was discovered, some journalists have been making ugly discoveries. The gang of thugs (they called themselves "the Barbarians") had sequestered the young man in an apartment that had been rented by the doorman of the building. The doorman knew what had been happening but did nothing. Many other residents in the building had heard a man screaming, but had decided to mind their own business instead of calling for help, even anonymously. "When you live here, you think about yourself and only about yourself," one of them said. The screams must have been loud because the torture was especially atrocious: the thugs cut bits off the flesh of the young man, they cut his fingers and ears, they burned him with acid, and in the end poured flammable liquid on him and set him on fire. The head of the gang, Fofana, was arrested in a brothel in Abijan, Ivory Coast. He had been able to leave France freely, without being stopped at the border. He spoke to a French TV channel while in Abijan. He was smiling at the camera and eating a good lunch. He said he was not anti-Semitic; he just wanted money (and, he added, "Jews have money.") He insisted that he had not killed anyone; to torture and to burn is not to kill. Had he any remorse? No. He was only disappointed: he had not been successful and he had not gotten any money. The future? "If the guillotine were still in use," he smiled, "somebody would suggest that for me." Fofana will be judged and sentenced. He will spend 10 or 15 years in jail, maybe less. Then, he will be released. He knows France's laws. He has been sent to jail 12 times (the previous time for attacking a bank and leaving a clerk severely injured), and he has been released 12 times. Before deciding not to take case, his French lawyer had started to state to the media that Fofana is a nice guy, not "capable of violence," and not a racist: "It must have been a collective moment of crazy behavior." added the lawyer. If a judge agrees that it has just been "a collective moment of crazy behavior," Fofana and the rest of the gang will not even go to jail: they will head for an insane asylum where they will be cured after a few months. Already, a number of columnists and intellectuals, in the typical French way, are starting to say the real victims of this crime are the thugs and their families. During the last ten weeks, the people who tortured and killed Ilan Halimi had tried unsuccessfully to kidnap four other Jews in Paris. The police had descriptions of these people. They knew where these people were operating. They did nothing. A little more than two years ago another Jew named Sebastien Sellam, was savagely killed in the eastern part of Paris. The murderer cut off his head and took out his eye globes with a fork. He came home a few minutes later saying to his family: "Now, I can go to paradise. I killed my Jew." He was a Muslim, just like most of the gang that killed Ilan Halimi. He was sent to jail, then to an insane asylum. He has been declared cured and will be out in April. During the last couple of years, several Jewish doctors have been blackmailed and threatened in France. Some have been killed, but the "official reason" for the murders never made a connection between the fact that the victims were Jews and the killers were Muslims. During the same years, many tombs in Jewish cemeteries have been desecrated and covered with Nazi slogans. Jewish children in a number of high schools have been harassed by Muslim children, but in the end, the troublemakers have been able to stay in the high school and the only the Jewish kids have had to leave and to go study elsewhere. This week, a teacher in Paris was brought to justice because he had told a Jewish student that he would have to be sent to "the oven" after the class (his colleagues immediately protested that the teacher is a good man and did not deserve punishment). A nurse in Strasbourg was mugged, attacked with a knife and covered with swastikas and anti-Semitic slogans because her aggressors thought -- incorrectly -- that she was a Jew. A dozen Jewish students were mugged by supporters of the Palestinian cause on the campus of one of the main French universities. ("They looked Jewish," explained one of the muggers). Nobody has been arrested. In Sarcelles, a small town in the north of Paris, three Jews were mugged last Saturday on their way to the synagogue. Two of them are still at the hospital. I am sad to have to say so, but it's impossible to rely on the French government to protect the Jews of France: the government has too many interests in Muslim countries. It's impossible to rely on the police because the police in France are not independent and have to do what the government asks. For the same reason, it's impossible to rely on the judicial system. It's impossible to rely on journalists to tell the whole truth because the media are infected with chic leftism. Radical Islam is at war with civilization. A few days ago, Caroline Glick wrote in The Jerusalem Post that now every Jew is on the frontline of this war. She was right. The question now is not only whether the Middle East will belong to Hamas, to Al Qaida, and Ahmadinejad, but whether France and Europe will belong to the people who murdered savagely Ilan Halimi.
Janet Lehr is editor/publisher of a daily e-mail called "Israel Lives."
She can be contacted at janetlehr@mindspring.com
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THE FACE OF RADICAL EUROPEAN MUSLIMS
Posted by Max Yas, March 19, 2006. |
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This article was written by Dale Hurd, CBN News Sr. Reporter. CBN.com -- LONDON, England -- When the Muslim world reacted in fury over the Danish cartoons of Mohammed, it was the face of moderation that European Muslim leaders wanted the world to see. "The mainstream Muslims living in this country want to show that we can express our protest in a very legitimate, in a very civil, in a very courteous way," said Sheik Zaim Siddiqi. But the other face of European Islam has also expressed itself -- for instance, when Muslims took to the streets and chanted: "Denmark, go to Hell. George Bush, go to Hell. U.S.A., go to Hell. Nuke, nuke Denmark -- We want Danish blood -- we want Danish blood -- we want Danish blood!" That demonstration took place this year, outside the Danish embassy in London. The chants continued: "Denmark, you will pay... with your heads, with your heads. Denmark, you will pay ... with your blood, with your blood." One of the demonstrators was dressed as a suicide bomber. Even moderate British Muslims were outraged that no one was arrested, even though British law forbids incitement to murder. But this follows a pattern of extraordinary -- some would say dangerous -- tolerance of Muslim radicals. Flashing back to 2004, Muslim protesters threatened bloodshed in a demonstration that occurred one year before London's "7/7" subway and bus bombings. Abdulrahman Saleem, Al Muhajiroun said, "Tony Blair has been warned. Pull your troops out of Afghanistan. Pull your troops out of Iraq. If you do not pull your troops out, you will get bloodshed on the streets of London." Again, no one was arrested, and moderate Muslims showed up to keep the media from publicizing what -- for them -- has become a public relations nightmare. "That's disgusting," said moderate Muslim Masood Bazak. "I mean, it doesn't serve any purpose. These guys don't represent me. They probably don't represent most Muslims in this country. And they do a disservice, not only to (those) living here in the UK, but they do a major disservice to Muslims." They may not represent the views of most British Muslims, but polls do suggest the Muslim middle is radicalizing. A recent survey shows that 40 percent of British Muslims want Islamic Sharia law in the United Kingdom. Sharia imposes punishments such as amputations and stonings. And in a separate poll, nearly one third of Muslims (32 percent) agreed with the statement that "Western society is decadent and immoral, and that Muslims should seek to bring it to an end." Critics say that European political correctness and multiculturalism, which were supposed to embrace Muslim radicals and somehow westernize them, have backfired. And now, western Europe seems paralyzed by the political correctness that grips the government and the media "One of the biggest fears for a lot of commentators, whether they're terrorist commentators or commentators on the Middle East," said terrorism expert Simon Barrett, "is that if they actually address this whole issue of Islam and start to question it... is being labeled an Islamophobe." Trevor Kavanagh, journalist for Britain's biggest-selling daily newspaper, The Sun, said, "There is a real reluctance to offend the ethnic communities of any sort, let alone the Muslim community," And there seems to be lack of political will to stop Muslim radicals bent on conquest. The Dutch Parliament has tried to strike a blow against radical Islam by voting to ban the burqa and veils. But that exposes unveiled women to being raped by Muslim men as punishment. There is reported to be a growing rape epidemic of unveiled women in Europe. In London, Shadow Homeland Security Director Patrick Mercer of the Conservative Party said Britain remains in denial, and thinks it is protected by what he calls "pointless legislation." "You have to ask yourself," Mercer said, "what is a piece of paper going to do to an Islamist fundamentalist, or any other form of fundamentalist terrorist, for that matter, and the suicide bombers? Are you going to be able hold [it] up in front of them and say, don't blow yourselves up or we'll get really cross?" In France, the government continues to pretend that Muslim anti-Semitism is not a major problem. But it could not keep tens of thousands of Frenchmen from marching last month, after the brutal murder of a young Jew named Ilan Halimi by French Muslims. Halimi was held for ransom and then tortured to death by Muslim immigrants, who phoned his family and recited to them verses from the Koran as their son screamed in agony. "A lot of Jews in Europe, and especially in France, are really scared about the future. I have many Jewish friends and they say to me, 'We think we should have to leave France to go to the United States, to Canada, to Israel, but France will not be our country any more,'" said French conservative political writer Guy Milliere. It is a similar story all over Europe. Muslims demonstrate and chant: "Khlabar, Khalbar, O Jew, the Army of Mohammed is coming for you." In the wake of the cartoon protests, a worldwide group of intellectuals, including Salman Rushdie, who was threatened with death by Muslims in the 1970s for his book on Mohammed called The Satanic Verses, recently signed a declaration. The declaration states... "After having overcome fascism, Nazism, and Stalinism, the world now faces a new global threat: Islamism... It is not a clash of civilizations, nor an antagonism of West and East that we are witnessing, but a global struggle that confronts democrats and theocrats." And Europe's problem with radical Muslims is our problem too, because they cry, "Nuke, nuke U.S.A. In your blood, in your blood..." Political correctness has been the fertilizer that has helped Muslim radicalism grow in Britain. Political correctness intimidates the media and law enforcement. The chanters warn, "Denmark, watch your back. Bin Laden's coming back." But Western Europe and Britain may have to choose between political correctness and the survival of its civilization. Contact Max Yas at maxyas@victoria.tc.ca |
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WAGGING THE DOG IN IRAN AND ISRAEL
Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, March 19, 2006. |
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It has been reported that the arranged and coordinated attack on the Jericho Prison has, as intended, gained Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, a rise in what had been steadily dropping polls for the Kadima Party. At the same time, President George Bush, having dropped into the lowest approval ratings, gained a "bump" up in his polls from the American air attack in Iraq against the "insurgents". Although little of practical value was achieved -- aside from discovering some small arms caches, nevertheless, his approval ratings were temporarily lifted. It is expected that the gullible public will again be misled by the media who always follows the propaganda axiom: "If it bleeds, it leads". "Wag the Dog" is an American movie about a manufactured war to cover a potential scandal over improprieties with a teenage girl threatening an American President during his election. "Wag the Dog" has become synonymous with political hacks staging events to mislead the public for their support. Here are two recent "Wag the Dog" tales relating to propaganda lifting these two leaders -- Bush and Olmert. Both Bush and Olmert needed a quick lift in the polls. Each needed the other. Bush needed a compliant Olmert in the Israeli Prime Minister's seat who would obey the dictates of the insidious Bush "Road Map". This included the division of Jerusalem, the evacuation of Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley and the gifting of the Golan Heights to Syria. The Golan Heights was always in the U.S. plans for a large base and airfield for the American military but first, Israeli forces would have to be evacuated. Similar bases are already under construction in Iraq, denials notwithstanding. Many multi-tailed dogs are being wagged in the region. The well publicized U.S. air assault had a different spin. No reporters were allowed to be embedded with the attacking U.S. forces. Instead, news reports and edited film was supplied to the networks by the military. It was indeed a grand PR stunt and it worked. No reporters or film crews were there to blow away the staged hoax showing how little was achieved for the fanfare and the expenditure. However, the "Wagging Dog" did well for the President so, like Olmert, he could appear decisive and militarily competent. Olmert needed something to offset the daily launching of Kassam rockets from the Judenrein (Jew-free) Gaza into Israel. Reports about organized cells of al Qaeda and Hamas in the seven cities under control of the Palestinian Authority in Judea and Samaria were beginning to chew away at Olmert's lead in the polls just before the election on March 28th. Bush had his own image problems as more and more American soldiers were being blown away daily with IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices). All of the Hi-Tech American weaponry could do little against the relatively primitive and cheap road side explosives. Bush and his advisors were never able to explain to the American people why they were in this war. There were answers but Bush and his entourage could never find them, let alone explain themselves convincingly. We can look for more expensive show stunts to offset what is not good news from the war fronts. Take that to mean both war fronts -- Iraq and Israel. The one that Bush is losing and the one that Olmert is losing. In the case of the U.S., American troops will eventually declare victory and fly the soldiers back thousands of miles -- alive, dead and wounded -- many maimed for life. In the case of Israel, if Olmert is indeed elected, he will have no place to go -- particularly since he has drawn a very dedicated enemy closer and closer to Israel's population centers. The U.S. is simply too big and powerful to lose an disappear. On the other hand, Israel could be swamped with surrounding Arabs while the Europeans cheer wildly as they continue to fund terrorists. Of course, the Europeans will also soon have to choose the countries to which they will immigrate as the Muslims take over their nations. The French can go to Canada, the English to Australia, etc. But to what countries will the Jews of Israel flee once Olmert and his Kadimites open the gates again to the hordes of Muslims screaming: Itbach al Yehud (Kill the Jews) because Allah Akbar (Allah is great)? 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.com |
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APATHY OR AFFIRMATIVE ACTION?
Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, March 18, 2006. |
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The points being raised here are serious ones and need consideration. This is not a new issue and involves the same principles that lead Agudas Yisroel to join the political process at the beginnings of the State and the Eidas Haharedis to not join. It is a fundamental difference between those who believe that the best way to guard and advance Torah is through limited and cautious cooperation with villains and those who belive that there can be no cooperation with them at any level and that the only way to guard and advance Torah is by as much separation as is possible. I do not wish to restate all of the arguments for both points of view. What I would like to point out is that underlining both approaches was that these were community and not individual actions. When the Eidas Haharedis decided to not participate in the political process of the State, they continued as an autonomous community. They have their own educational system, judicial system and as much of an independent economy as they can create. They not only do not participate, they also do their very best to not partake. Their institutions do not ask for or accept State money and strive as much as is possible not to be involved with any of the institutions of the State of Israel. The Aguda as well has built up its institutions to be as independent of the State as possible. To not vote as a means of rejecting the legitimacy of the State of Israel is a justifiable position. What is not is to reject the legitimacy of the State and then simultaneously demand that this illegitimate entity provide you will all the security and civil services you want. The logical extension of rejection is to build your own autonomous community. Without doing so, the rejectors are open to the charges of hypocrisy. It is your State and legitimate when you want your free or subsidized education, health insurance, social security benefits, military or police protection, passport and State job but not when it come to the dirty business of politics. For years I have been warning the Jews of Yeshah that the State of Israel is not to be relied on. That as long as Yeshah was not officially annexed, our lives and communities would always be at the mercy of our internal enemies. The concept is: Yeshah, annexation or independence. The only alternative to that is destruction. This is no longer a theoretical discussion. We have seen the destruction and have been promised more. Either one works for the annexation of Yeshah to the State of Israel by participating in the political process or one must work for the creation of an independent State in Yeshah. To not be actively involved in one or the other is allow further destruction. So by all means, reject the Fascist, Police State called Israel but work for some alternative. Do not throw all the community problems on G-D and then walk away to take care (personally) of your individual problems. I was born and raised in the United States of America. The concept of freedom and democracy was imbibed by me from the time I was a small child. I have always cherished the democratic right to vote and participate in shaping the destiny of my country. While all political systems have their failings, in the USA we feel that our representatives in government sincerely wish to fulfill the will of the people. If there is a pending decision which concerns us we can call our senators or congressmen and they will listen. Because I understand and respect the glorious concept of government of the people by the people and for the people, I also understand why so many American Jews are so concerned about the upcoming elections in the Jewish State. What I try to explain to my brothers, both in Israel and abroad, is that the system of government in the Jewish State only pretends to be a democracy. The only democratic decision we make when we vote is to put a rubber stamp on the mockery that serves as democracy here. Israel was established to be a Jewish State. It was meant to be a haven for Jews all over the world. Unfortunately the founding fathers of the reborn Jewish State feared world opinion more than G-d and developed a system of government which was designed to allow them to grovel before the nations of the world in their vain effort to become like all the other nations. Yitzchak Rabin once stated in the Knesset, "We are no longer a nation that stands alone". And Bibi Netanyahu wrote a book called "A place Among the Nations". Like it or not, it is our destiny to be a nation that stands alone, not to be reckoned among the nations of the world. We will never have a place among the nations. Our destiny is to be the head of all nations; an example for all the others to follow. But first we must accept our responsibilities as Jews. I have been living in Israel for nearly a quarter of a century and I have watched carefully how every government has bent its principles to please "world opinion", even at the peril of the security of the nation. No honest observer can tell me that this country is secure because of her government. It is secure in spite of our government. It has survived and thrived in spite of our governments ever since, and even before, we became a state. While we all would like to believe that we control our own destiny, this is simply not the case. The fact is that our leadership consistently defies our destiny and often seeks to deny it altogether. Yet, in spite of both our enemies and our hapless leaders, we have consistently developed and thrived when, by logic, we should have perished even before we were reborn. I have heard all the arguments as to why we must vote on March 28th. I am told that by not voting I will help Olmert win. Well I voted for Ariel Sharon because I was worried that Mitzna might win. Now it is clear that it would have been better had Mitzna won! If we succeed to block Olmert what will we get, Bibi? I am choosing not to vote, not because I am apathetic or have lost hope in our future. I am choosing not to vote because I realize that not only is voting in this country an exercise in futility, but my vote is a personal endorsement of a fraudulent system which works against Judaism and the good of the nation. When I vote I choose to accept and endorse the right of the ruling clique to rule according to its capricious will, with absolutely no limits. I consider such an act to be irresponsible. I may not be able to change the system, but I certainly will not endorse it. It is my belief that the Living G-d of Israel has the final say in what happens here. Those who suggest that Olmert has the power to destroy Israel are, in fact, saying that they don't believe in G-d! No power on Earth can destroy Israel. Yes, we can and do suffer needless tragedy due to our failure to act as good Jews. But participating in a corrupt system as if it were something holy, when it is the exact antithesis of holiness, is to be party to the continuation of an aberration of democracy, Judaism and justice. This I will no longer do. There is only one way for a Jew to act. He must search deeply within himself and seek ways in which he can try to please his Creator. Aside from praying and observing the Sabbath and dietary laws, he must find ways to demonstrate his faith in G-d. For the Jew living outside of Israel the best way to demonstrate his faith is to make plans to come home now. And for the Jew living in Israel, by deliberately boycotting the fraud called "democracy" in spite of what seems to be a real threat to our very survival, we are showing our G-d that we believe in Him more than in Israeli democracy. Redemption will not come from our Knesset nor our Supreme Court. It will come from simple Jews who truly love our G-d, and are prepared to express that love by self sacrifice. y |
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ISRAEL'S FATAL RETREAT REFERENDUM
Posted by Dr. Aaron Lerner, March 18, 2006. |
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I wanted to send a simple message to my fellow countrymen who oppose the retreat but out of disgust for the politicians do not plan to vote: These elections are not about Netanyahu, or Silvan Shalom, or various other politicians in the other parties in the national camp. These elections are a national referendum on retreat. Staying at home is a vote for retreat. I have no illusions. There is no guaranty that the politicians will ultimately even honor the outcome of the "referendum". But it is our only shot. And sometimes in life you make an effort because an issue is so important even if you can't be certain that the effort will pay off. In less than two weeks Israel's citizens go to the polls to vote in what has clearly become a retreat referendum. Yes, Acting PM Ehud Olmert only said explicitly that he intended to tear down the Jewish communities located beyond an as yet to be finalized security fence -- and two of the Kamida party's senior security personalities, Avi Dichter and MK Gideon Ezra, have asserted that the IDF will not retreat from the rubble, but Olmert has carefully maintained his option to embrace DM Mofaz's position that once the homes are bulldozed that the IDF should high-tail it back behind the fence. And since the retreat is just that -- a retreat, this "package" does not include any clear picture regarding what will transpire in the evacuated areas beyond the tradition secular messianic view that the IDF will be eternally able to prevail, at an acceptable cost, regardless of the opening conditions on the ground. And those opening conditions in a post retreat conflict may be nothing like the IDF-Palestinian clashes we have seen to date thanks both to Hamas' rise to power and Israel's forfeiture of control over transit between the areas and the outside world (as has already happened in the Gaza Strip). Until now, PA armed forces have suffered from internal corruption and a lack of unity that limited their ability to launch an effective war of attrition against the Jewish State. The Hamas led Palestinian army will be considerably more potent. And after an Israeli retreat, they will be able to not only readily arm themselves with considerably more deadly weapons -- but also introduce foreign elements both to bolster their forces and to serve as human shields. Today when an IDF team goes into Jericho or Jenin, they face light arms fire, grenades, and some low grade anti-tank devices and the third party casualties are Palestinians. The Palestinian response is limited to threatening terror attacks that they are trying to carry out anyway and firing Qassam rockets at Israelis in the boondocks. After the retreat the situation will be completely different. A nightmare in the very center of the country. A war of attrition that saps the country and a fighting force that in time of invasion can provide both a bridgehead for the invaders and divert vital Israeli forces needed at the fronts. Dr. Aaron Lerner is Director of Independent Media Review and Analsis (IMRA). Its website address is http://www.imra.org.il Contact him by email at imra@netvision.net.il |
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A SYMPOSIUM: THE UNERLYING ROOTS OF TERRORISM
Posted by Jeffrey Epstein, March 18, 2006. |
 America's Truth Forum is hosting a symposium titled:
The Underlying Roots of Terrorism:
This day-long event is scheduled to take place on Saturday, April 29th, 2006 in the Greater Washington DC Area. Tickets at $119.00 per person (lunch included). Ticketing must be done in advance due to security protocol. Featured speakers include: Dr. Andrew Bostom
Topics to be discussed::
VIP Pre-Symposium Reception In addition, America's Truth Forum is hosting a pre-symposium VIP reception scheduled for Friday evening, April 28th, 2006. Those in attendance will be provided with a unique opportunity to personally interact with our speakers and other "prominent" guests including former CIA Director James Woolsey and author of Losing bin Laden, Shadow War and Disinformation: 22 Media Myths That Undermine the War on Terror, Richard Miniter. Tickets for the VIP Pre-Symposium Reception are $100 per person. Reservations need to be made in advance due to security protocol. For Details and Information Contact Jeff Epstein, President of America's Truth Forum, at (866) 709-3474, by email at jepstein92@snet.net or by logging on to www.americastruthforum.com |
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DISROBING POLITICOS AND DANGEROUS AMERICAN 'FRIENDS'
Posted by Eugene Narrett, March 18, 2006. |
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There is something about modern democracy that brings out the worst in most human beings, or maybe it is that it attracts the lower levels of the human gene pool in the first place; maybe it's both. Noticing the Israeli Labor Party's official response to the 'endorsement' by Abu Mazen -- Fatah of Mr. Expul-the-Jews, the human trial balloon, Olmert soi-meme..... To untangle the hair-ball: first they said they were angry. Of course, they were angry that the head of a long-established terrorist group that continues to seek to destroy Israel by phases (to assist in Israel's self-destruction via politicians), ---- NO. They were angry that the head of this terror group dared publicly meddle in Israeli politics: NO. (Otherwise they'd kick the traitors from the Knesset which would greatly reduce the numbers in that august body). No, they were angry that after all that Mr. Peretz has done to assure Mr. Mazen that Labor will help his labor, that he would endorse the expellers in chief from Kadima! Now that's ingratitude! But being prudent in a left-balled kind of way, and being exquisitely sensitive to the feelings of Islamic terrorist leaders (in suits especially), Labor later 'corrected' itself and said it was not angry after all. Thank goodness for their stalwart adherence to some kinds of diversity... ISRAELIS take note & AMERICANS please tell your Israeli friends: forget about getting even rhetorical support from "right wing," generally 'pro-Israel' conservatives in major American media, even FOX TV. Consider the following example: On Thursday evening, March 09, at about 9:35pm, amidst a discussion about the degree of threat from Iran, its missiles, and nuke program, what should be done, etc., the following exchange occurred. Sean Hannity, the moderately conservative co-host asked guest, former GOP House leader Newt Gingrich (latest incarnation a 'reasonable voice' on sober American deterrence) whether Iran was a threat to Israel, "after all he's saying they're going to wipe Israel off the map... isn't there something the Israelis should do? What's their role in this? Gingrich replied: "This is an American issue and a situation for America to address. The Israelis should stick to their local area [!] and build the security fence [!] and make a peace agreement with their neighbors who are stuck in desperation and poverty so they can live together." Well, there it is: that's Israel's role (for the record, anyway) from someone who for years was a fairly strong and reliable strong Israel voice. Now, like so many conservatives he has been borked, and and so often, the path of 'rehabilitation' to 'respectable conservative' status is to take the State Department line of Israel's road to peace.... And Sean Hannity is about as good as it gets, and considering the lack of support he gets from even his 'conservative' guests, it's amazing that he persists as he does in trying to elicit some comments regarding Israeli self-respect and self-defense or preemption. During the 'Danish cartoons' hysteria, Hannity also tried repeatedly to have guests address the vicious anti-Jewish caricatures appearing in Arab media (see pmw.org.il) and even turned them to his production crew's camera, -- in vain. They did not put them on screen, and his guest slipped the issue. LESSON: "go, gather all the Jews"; those Americans who understand and who want to help are not able to steer the ship over here. Jews of Israel, you're going to have to save yourselves as the Jews in the Persian Empire did 2500 years ago. Sooner is better Professor Eugene Narrett teaches writing and Literature at Boston University. He is the author of hundreds of articles, columns and reviews on politics, American culture and the arts. He is completing a study on Romanticism and the longterm decline of Western Culture. He writes often on subjects relating to Israel and Judaism and is a weekly columnist for the MetroWest Daily News in Framingham, Massachusetts. Contact him at culturtalk@aol.com |
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IRANIAN ROCKETS HITTING ISRAELIS?
Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, March 18, 2006. |
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This was written by Aaron Klein, WorldNetDaily's Jerusalem bureau chief; it appeared in World Net Daily March 10, 2006. JERUSALEM -- The Palestinians have a new, improved rocket to fire at Israel named after the Iranian Shahab missile and dedicated to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad "because of his courageous position toward the enemy," a leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group told WorldNetDaily. "I can say it is true that the inspiration concerning the name [of our new Shahab rocket] was taken from the Iranian rocket that is so terrifying to the enemy. On this occasion I can say that we have the honor to dedicate these new and more sophisticated rockets to the Iranian president because of his courageous position toward the enemy," said Abu Ahmed, a Gaza-based leader of the Brigades involved in coordinating the group's rocket network. Ahmed told WND several "Palestinian Shahab rockets" have already been fired into Israel, including rockets fired this week toward Nahal Oz, an Israeli Negev community near Gaza. He warned in the coming days the Al Aqsa Brigades will fire 200 of the new rockets at Jewish communities adjacent to the Gaza Strip in retaliation for Israeli anti-terror operations in Gaza and the West Bank. Officials at the Israeli Defense Forces, informed of Ahmed's claims, told WND they were investigating whether any rockets fired from Gaza this week were different from the usual Qassam missiles aimed at Israeli Negev Jewish communities that border Gaza. One senior IDF official suggested the group likely only changed the name of its already existing Qassam rockets. Qassams are improvised steel rockets, about four feet in length, filled with explosives and fuel. They can travel between 1 and 4 miles depending on the sophistication of the particular rocket. Qassams lack a guidance system and are launched by terrorists who reportedly use the rocket's trajectory and known travel distance to aim at a particular Jewish community. Ahmed declined to describe the makeup of his group's claimed new rockets. "I can only tell you they are more improved in distance and in the rocket fuel, and we call them Shahab-1, Shahab-2 and Shahab-3. They will hit the enemy target much harder," said Ahmed. Iranian Shahabs are a series of missiles constructed in part with Russian and Chinese technology. The Shahab-6 reportedly has a range of up to 5,600 kilometers and is capable of reaching Europe from Iran. Iranian officials have claimed to possess Shahab missiles that can reach the eastern seaboard of the Unites States. Asked if the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades received any Iranian assistance in building its Shahab rockets, Ahmed replied, "We will not give the Israelis any hint about our activities. Let them work hard and investigate about the significance of the name Shahab. I will just say we welcome any help from any anti-Zionist element." He said his group will launch what he called an "Ababil rocket campaign" and will soon fire 200 Shahab rockets into Israel. In the Quran, Ababil is the name of a stone Allah lobbed at infidels who approached to kill Muhammad. Ahmed also told WND that Al Aqsa established a new rocket terror cell, the Hussein Abayat Unit, named after a member of his group previously assassinated by Israel. Israeli security officials believe Abayat was the first Al Aqsa member to serve as a coordinating agent between the Al Aqsa Brigades and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia. Israel says Iran uses the Hezbollah as a conduit to channel funds to Palestinian terror groups, including Islamic Jihad, which took responsibility for every suicide bombing since several Palestinian groups agreed to a truce with Israel last year. 'Iran embassy' opens in West Bank Israel is worried at what it says are increased signs of Iranian influence in the Palestinian territories. This week, WND broke the story a West Bank Islamic Jihad operative opened what he referred to as an "Iranian ideological embassy" in the Palestinian territories to espouse Shia Muslim beliefs -- including Islam's waging of a final, apocalyptic battle against "evil" -- and to help spread Iranian theocracy and rule throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip. "We want the Palestinian people to be exposed to the Iranian heritage and Shia principles. [Our goal is] to reinforce the relations between the Islamic republic of Iran and the Palestinian people. We are part of the Iranian Islamic project in the Middle East," Muhamad Gawanmeh, director of Iran's new Shia Council in Palestine, said in an interview. Gawanmeh opened the council's headquarters in Ramallah, and said there are plans to expand Iranian offices to several other major Palestinian cities in the West Bank and Gaza with official sanctioning from Tehran. Gawanmeh said Iran's Shia Council will not be involved in "military operations," but will promote Iranian theocracy to the local population and serve as a conduit for Tehran's interests in the area. He said the council seeks to espouse Shia Muslim ideology in the Sunni-dominated Palestinian territories, including the belief in the return of the Twelfth Imam to lead an apocalyptic world battle against "evil." Shia Muslims believe Muhammad's family -- the 12 Imams -- were the best sources of knowledge about the Quran and Islam and were the most trusted carriers and protectors of Islamic tradition. They believe in a dynasty of Islamic authorities and promote a hereditary class of spiritual leaders they believe have divine powers. Sunni Islam in part follows the teachings of Islamic caliphs who proclaimed leadership after Muhammad's passing but were not blood relatives of the prophet. The caliphs interpreted important parts of Muhammad's hadith -- or tradition -- that Shias reject. Sunni Muslims make up about 85 percent of Muslims all over the world. The largest sect of the Shias, called The Twelvers, believe there were 12 imams after Muhammad and that the last one, Imam Mahdi, still lives, but he cannot be seen until Allah determines it is time to prepare the faithful for Judgment Day. The Twelvers count Iranian President Ahmadinejad among their faithful. They believe Imam Mahdi will return to lead the forces of righteousness against the forces of evil in a final, apocalyptic world battle. Some Mideast analysts fear Ahmadinejad may be pursuing nuclear weapons in part to precipitate the final, Mahdi-led battle. In a speech in Tehran in November, Ahmadinejad reportedly said his main mission is to "pave the path for the glorious reappearance of Imam Mahdi, may Allah hasten his reappearance." His Cabinet has reportedly given $17 million to the Jamkaran mosque, site of a well at which Shia Muslims believe Mahdi disappeared over a thousand years ago. Israel and the United States have been working with the international community to isolate Iran, accusing it of attempting to develop an illicit nuclear weapons program. The council's Gawanmeh went on to credit Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal's recent visit to Tehran with strengthening official Palestinian ties to the Iranian leadership and emboldening Iran to sanction the opening of its new Palestinian office. Iran last week pledged financial support to Hamas to replace an expected halt of European and U.S. aid to the new Palestinian government. Media reports said Iran would give as much as $250 million to the PA, but Hamas officials said no actual amount had been discussed. Hamas chief Meshaal, in Tehran two weeks ago for a round of talks with Iranian officials, said Iran would have a more significant role with the PA now that his group has formed the new Palestinian government. Aryeh Zelasko lives in Beitar Illit, south of Jerusalem. He is Director of Sales and Marketing of Israel Visit (www.israelvisit.co.il) which provides information and an internet buying facility for American visitors to Israel. Contact him at zelasko@actcom.co.il |
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"IN EVERY GENERATION THEY RISE UP AGAINST US, TO DESTROY US..."
Posted by Professor Eugene Narrett, March 18, 2006. |
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As Israel's State Comptroller aptly lashes those involved in the expulsion of Jews and destruction of their property and lives, let's briefly overview the political gaming that meant to slip off responsibility for this heinous crime against Israeli, international, and Jewish law, against identity, honor and survival. Ariel Sharon won re-election on an overwhelming vote against expulsion of Jews, a greater margin of victory than the huge majorities of Ronald Reagan in 1984, Lyndon Johnson in 1964, or FDR in 1936. Yet within a year of his election (elected initially to destroy the PLO), Sharon adopted the unilateral retreat and expel-the-settlers platform of Labor. This is perfidy; BUT, look at it from the Sharon group's side, as a political and legal problem to be solved. How to carry out the dicta of the new world order's multi-national directorate while also surviving politically to carry out its policies yet again. Remember, as Washington, London, Paris, Riyadh, Cairo, the Vatican and Moscow well knew, NO ONE, no other Israeli could carry out such policies like Ariel Sharon. Here was their plan: the Sharon group uses some its assets in the media and Yesha council to manipulate the opposition, carries out the expulsion and destruction, crushes the hearts of the deportees (and, forget compensation, seizes their assets, too), and then mutates into a new 'untainted' political party. Of course this is a shell game: treif is treif: Kadima is nothing but corrupt and contaminated meat. But after 60 years of socialist autocracy overlapping with 28 years of the big-time screw-job by Britain, most Israelis are too embittered to pay that much attention, and the left-wing media take care of the rest, vilifying or burying them. What else was needed for the switcheroo by the Sharon group ltd to work? The hapless and go-along to get-along Bibi Netanyahu, the flexible-flyer of end-time politics. Sharon group would leave the compliant Bibi holding the bag of the Likud, -- the party that destroyed Gush Katif while the Jew-haters in Labor-Meretz-Shinui, etc stood on the side and primly, quietly applauded and cursed the mitnachlim for 'compelling' them, the enlightened and sensitive ones to be so cruel. Kadima would be 'pristine,' likud would be the expellers. And, once Arik had his accident, sweeping in with all the trumps was the shadow member of Sharon group, ltd, his old pal Shimon to head the "new" Kadima party, and remain mostly in the shadows while non-entites Olmert and Livny became incontinent mouthpipes for the sewerage surging out of Foggy Bottom.... Where does leave the Jewish people, not only in Israel, the Jewish people with more expulsions of Jews already planned from the remnant of ancient Israel? It leaves them in a situation and with a reputation only too similar to that of 1939. In those days, at this season (March 1939) British diplomats were excoriating "illegal Jewish immigration" into the Jewish National Home, that is, into the tiny part of it that the British had left, theoretically, open to Jewish settlement at all. So bothersome and offensive had Jewish illegal immigration into Israel become that, one Brit sputtered, "it is fundamentally anti-social, -- as anti-social as the German persecution of which they complain..."** There it was folks, "Zionism is Nazism" for the first time, not formulated by the Arabs but by the British, America's one true ally in the "War on Terror" [sic]. Yes, to Britain that "illegal Jewish immigration" into the Jewish National Home was "a dirty, sordid, crooked business." "IN EVERY GENERATION THEY RISE UP AGAINST US, TO DESTROY US..." How about instead, we DESTROY AMALEK: how about, instead of expelling Jews and giving an enormous Kadima to Hamas and al Qaeda, Israel expels the Arabs, ALL of THEM who won't take an oath of loyalty to the JEWISH STATE... "Go, gather all the Jews..." ---------
Professor Eugene Narrett teaches writing and Literature at Boston University. He is the author of hundreds of articles, columns and reviews on politics, American culture and the arts. He is completing a study on Romanticism and the longterm decline of Western Culture. He writes often on subjects relating to Israel and Judaism and is a weekly columnist for the MetroWest Daily News in Framingham, Massachusetts. Contact him at culturtalk@aol.com |
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IT'S TIME TO THINK BIG AND TAKE POWER IN ISRAEL!
Posted by Ariel Natan Pasko, March 18, 2006. |
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"Without vision, the people run wild..." (Proverbs 29:18). Boy, King Solomon sure was a wise guy. He could have been living in modern Israel. He sure did understand aimless Israeli politicians. "Palestine," just became "Hamastan". Under an escalating Islamic siege (the "Peace Process") supported by much of the West, social and economic problems are growing in Israel, yet with elections coming up, almost no one running seems to have a clue what to do. Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has been characterized as a ladder climber, a consummate politician of the Simon Peres variety. Zigzagging from right to left to right to left over the years, he's increasingly come under the influence of his far-left wife. Come to think of it, most of the Kadima Party politicians are either ladder-climbing junior politician wannabees drifting left, or senior-level corruption-laden hacks, trying to clean up their image by jumping the "corrupt" Likud ship. There's probably not more than a handful of "principled centrists" (whatever that means) among them. And in spite of Kadima unveiling parts of its platform recently, it's still not clear exactly what they stand for, beyond, getting elected. Oh yah, they call for "compassionate" capitalism, in contrast to Likud's "Tough Thatcherism". They want to continue unilateral expulsion of more Jews from their homes; to show they can do it. No political dialogue with a Hamas-led Palestinian Authority (well maybe just a little), using a back door "security cooperation" excuse, and well, getting elected. Likud's not much better. Remember they're the party that brought you the first ethnic cleansing of the 21st century, kicking the Jews out of Gush Katif. Netanyahu had something going when he was Finance Minister, but committed most of the mistakes I warned about in my article, "Israeli Capitalism with a Human Face," back in March 2003. Which has brought about what I predicted, a "neo-socialist backlash," in the guise of the mustachioed Stalin look-alike, Amir Peretz, of the Labor Party, spouting 1950's Histadrut (trade union) rhetoric. Neither Likud nor Labor can get us out of this mess, heck they both have conspired for the last fifty-some years to create it. Obviously, you know I wouldn't suggest Yossi Beilin's ultra-left, defeatist, Meretz gang, the "Good Israeli Arab" parties, or Avigdor Lieberman's secular Russian "law and order" party, Yisrael Beiteinu. Lieberman wants to de-judaize Israel by introducing civil marriage. So do Peretz, Olmert, and Netanyahu. Nor, would I support the overly sectoral Hareidi (religious) parties, Shas or United Torah Judaism (even though their hearts are in the right place), it just doesn't substitute for brains and good policies. Which leaves us with two groups, the newly combined National Union/National Religious Party of Rabbi Benny Elon, Zevulun Orlev, and Effie Eitam, and Hazit (The Jewish National Front), led by Baruch Marzel. Both groups are made up of hard working, dedicated, primarily religious Jews, who are supporters of settlement in the Land of Israel. The National Religious Party component is a bit weaker on the Land issue, but makes up for it in their concern for education and the Jewish character of Israeli society. Unfortunately, National Union has dropped its "Transfer" plank from the combined platform, due to NRP pressure. Hazit continues in the tradition of its precursors, Kach, Yamin Yisrael, and Herut, calling for the expulsion of Arab enemies from the Jewish State. One "Chidush," something new on the Israeli political horizon, is Hazit's adoption of the political reform program of Prof. Paul Eidelberg (Yamin Yisrael), including his proposed "Jewish and Democratic Constitution". It's not bad (take a look) as reform plans go. But it's not clear that they will even break the threshold and get into the Knesset. "Without a vision, the people cast off restraint; but those that implement the Torah [vision], they will rejoice!" (Proverbs 29:18). The first priority of a leader is to create a powerful vision. Jewish leaders must present the nation of Israel with worthy goals. They must create meaning for the Jewish People; goals worth striving for, goals worth sacrificing for, goals based on the vision of our Prophets, for a just yet prosperous society, goals based on the Torah's vision of the Jewish People's Messianic Future. Several Israeli writers of the Left have recently analyzed the differences between the "Palestinians" and Israelis. They've pointed out that the goal of "Palestinians" is very concrete, a Palestinian State (I would argue Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the rest also want no Jews in "Palestine," another concrete goal). Whereas, Israel's goal of "Peace" is abstract, nebulous, and difficult to express. To them, that explains why the Arabs of Judea, Samaria (the West Bank) and Gaza have been better able to formulate policies, and mobilize their population for the struggle. Lamenting the situation, Israeli leftists argue "Peace" must be "concretized," visions of a better future must be built, in order to rally the Israeli masses. They are definitely on to something, and we need to be concerned. For some time now, I've been saying the biggest problem for the Israeli Right, the nationalist and religious public, is that the Left has captured the Israeli political agenda. Their "Peace Pipe Dreams" have lulled Israelis into a "False Messianic Stupor". At best, the Right has been reactive, a reactionary movement trying to hold onto what was, while, Peres, Rabin, Sarid, Beilin, and more recently Sharon and Olmert have undermined the "National Camp" with their "positive" agenda. That's why Likud has been drifting left for years. That's why Likud finally imploded. That's why (among other reasons), Kadima came into being. Netanyahu was part of this and hasn't changed. Even politicians from NU and the NRP, rabbis and generals included, sat until the last moments, in the Sharonist Expulsion Government watching Gush Katif's planned destruction. NU/NRP officials are campaigning on the theme, "you need to vote for us, we will keep Netanyahu in line". They don't even imagine themselves leading the nation, only as "backbones" for Likud. The Jewish People deserve leaders who exude confidence in their glorious future. It's time to think big and take power in Israel! Instead of being reactionary, instead of being the naysayers of Israeli society, always being "against" the agenda of the Left, the Right and specifically the Religious Right (whatever that means), the Torah Nationalists, have to present their own positive agenda, no holds barred, to Israeli society. Patriotic nationalist and religious politicians have to stop playing the game by the rules of the Left. It's time to tell the nation what we are for, it's time for the Pro-Geula/Pro-Redemption forces to start advocating clear policies that will enable the Jewish People to achieve its Redemptive/Messianic goals in history. Do you think the G-D of Israel brought the Jews home from all four corners of the earth, after nearly 2,000 years of exile, just for the fun of it? What might some of these goals be? Easily summarized, they can be described as, Kingdom, War, Law, Prosperity, Righteous Justice, and Spirituality. 1. Israel needs a strongly Pro-Jewish government. Prof. Eidelberg's Jewish Constitutional Democracy Movement isn't a bad start as I said earlier. Better yet, how about exploring a Malchut/Kingdom. While waiting for the "Son of David" to arrive, in the meantime, the Torah empowers the Jewish People to establish a temporary government of it's choosing. The Maccabees had a Kingdom. Monarchy provides a type of stability that democracy doesn't. 2. Since the rise of IslamoFascism worldwide, Iran, al-Qaeda, and others, and particularly Hamastan in parts of the Land of Israel, a strong hand must be used by Israel to defend its people and interests. The conclusions of an earlier article of mine, "There Is Only A Military Solution," ring truer today than ever. In war you fight to win. It's time to tell the Jewish People the truth, the Arabs in Israel, the so-called "Palestinians," are Amalek trying to replace us in our homeland. This is total war; there will be only one winner, the Jewish People. 3. The legal system of Israel should be brought in line with the values of the Torah. A Sanhedrin, a working Jewish Supreme Court according to Torah Law, is beginning to come into existence through the efforts of many rabbis and lay leaders. 4. A society based on Torah Law will both free up the economy in key ways and establish healthy limits to economic activity, stressing other values beyond consumer consumption. It will encourage Chesed (acts of kindness) and Tzedek (righteousness and justice) through the social sector, so as not to build prosperity on the backs of the poor and the weak. A just and prosperous society is our goal. The final stage of ingathering the exiles will be accomplished, bringing historical justice to the Jewish People. 5. Certainly, we need to clean off the Temple Mount those insults to our religion, the so-called dome and mosque. Jewish Spiritual Rebirth demands complete control of our holiest places in the Land of Israel. Let's think really big. It's time to build the Third Temple on Har HaBayit (the Temple Mount). Really big dreams, really big goals, are what sustain people through difficult times and drive them on toward success. It's time for Jewish leaders with real vision to step forward and say what needs to be said. They need to show the Jewish People the way forward to national redemption and spiritual fulfillment. Jews will rally around real leaders who have their real interests at heart. Jewish destiny and a glorious future lie before us, it's up to us to reach out and grab it. "Where there is no vision, the nation becomes discontent; but when the Torah [vision] is implemented, they will rejoice!" (Proverbs 29:18). It's time to think big and take power in Israel! Ariel Natan Pasko is an independent analyst and consultant. He has a Master's Degree in International Relations & Policy Analysis. His articles appear regularly on numerous news/views and think-tank websites, in newspapers, and can be read at: www.geocities.com/ariel_natan_pasko |
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WAR ON TERROR NOT CONFINED TO AL QAEDA, CENTCOM GENERAL SAYS
Posted by Bryna Berch, March 18, 2006. |
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This news article was written by Sgt. Sara Wood, American Forces Press
Service.
It comes from the US Department of Defense and is archived at
TACOMA, Wash., March 13, 2006 -- The enemy in the war on terror is not limited to al Qaeda and its associated movements in Iraq and Afghanistan, but includes a global network of extremist groups, a U.S. Central Command general said here March 11. "If we declared victory and walked away from Iraq and Afghanistan tomorrow, we would be fighting this fight for years and years," said Army Brig. Gen. Mark T. Kimmitt, CENTCOM's deputy director of plans and policy, speaking at the Pacific Northwest National Security Forum. "We are fighting an insurgency, a terrorist movement, that is represented by al Qaeda, but it is far more than al Qaeda." The terrorist network the United States is facing in this war includes extremist groups around the world, and it is a network the nation has been fighting since before Sept. 11, 2001, Kimmitt said. The extremist groups are made up of primarily Sunni Muslims whose goal is to reclaim what they see as the holy lands in the Middle East and to remove Western influence, he added. Their ultimate goal is to establish a caliphate in the region, where Sharia, or Islamic law, rules, and the people are oppressed, he said. To defeat this network, CENTCOM is pursuing an aggressive campaign to defeat terrorists where they are active and to prevent the spread of their ideology, Kimmitt said. One of the important aspects of the CENTCOM strategy is that it will take a network to defeat the terrorist network, Kimmitt said. The global terror network uses people, the Internet, smuggling, nongovernmental organizations that are sympathetic to their cause, legitimate governments, front companies and safe havens to achieve its goals, he said. "If that's the way that the enemy is going to fight us, it is important to understand that it's going to take far more than the military to defeat this network," the general said. "Our network needs to be equally strong, and it can't simply rely on the military." CENTCOM is developing a strong network that uses all elements of national power to defeat terrorists, Kimmitt said. This network will rely on federal and state law enforcement agencies, the State Department and federal intelligence agencies, he said. Another important aspect of CENTCOM's strategy is building the capacity of other nations to fight terrorism themselves, Kimmitt said. Leaders of the al Qaeda movement have been very clear in stating that their goal is to rid the region of Western influence and then go after surrounding countries, which they call apostate or secular governments, he said. These clear declarations have made countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan and Kuwait more willing to work with the United States and prepare to fight terrorism on their own, he said. "These countries get it; they understand that it's not simply a problem (Osama bin Laden) has with the West, it is simply a problem that bin Laden and these organizations have with anybody that does not believe in their extremist ideology," he said. Most of the high-value target operations in these neighboring countries have been conducted by the countries' own national forces, Kimmitt said, and the United States will continue to work with them to help them prevent terrorist activity inside their borders. Also important to CENTCOM's strategy is denying safe havens or sanctuaries to terrorists, Kimmitt said. The U.S. has to ensure that as al Qaeda and its related organizations are pushed out of Iraq and Afghanistan, they don't just resettle somewhere else, he said. Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa, with headquarters in Djibouti, is the model for this preventive strategy, he said. American and coalition forces there focus primarily on civil affairs and humanitarian missions to establish relationships with the people and foster cooperation, should terrorists try to move into the area. "It's much easier to stop al Qaeda and its associated movements as it tries to establish rather than once it's already established," he said. To make sure a victory in the war on terror lasts, the U.S. is tailoring its post-conflict strategy for the area, Kimmitt said. It would be a mistake for the United States to garrison the Middle East like it did to Western Europe after World War II, he explained. The correct strategy for the Middle East is to maintain a sufficient capability in the region to do necessary tasks, such as deterring adversaries, maintaining lines of communication, and maintaining access to strategic resources, but not have any more U.S. military presence than is needed, he said. "We cannot be seen as occupiers; we cannot breed a cycle of dependency in the region," he said. "The force that we see five years from now, 10 years from now in the Middle East is a fraction of the size the force is today." The war on terror will be a long fight, perhaps lasting a generation, Kimmitt said, but it is one that must be fought, and the support of the American public is crucial. "I, for one, remain confident that America gets it, and America, despite what our critics may say, is willing to pay in treasure and in blood to defeat this enemy in The Long War," he said. |
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THE OBITUARY
Posted by Shmuel Neumann, March 18, 2006. |
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March 23, 2006
Just in time for the election, they pulled the plug on Sharon. The hotel reservations for state dignitaries were made weeks ago and speech writers had months to hone their craft. The three day state funeral consumes the media right up until the elections. Old Merde is personally consoled by Presidents and Prime Ministers from around the world. State dignitaries unanimously paint a portrait of Ariel Sharon as his namesake, a lion. They lionize Arik, courageously saving the lives of the citizens of Israel by war and saving the country by Peace. However, those eulogies do not benefit his soul who is adjudged not by what he did but how far he was from what he could have accomplished. So I will help him. He was a lion all right. He was lying until his second stroke and lie ing until his dying day. Even his death was a lie. He was declared dead after the second stroke, but rather than letting him rest in peace, Olmert had him preserved on life support so that he could take over the government. Olmert became Prime Minister because he was Sharon's assistant and was in charge only while Sharon was only temporarily incapacitated. Had Sharon died, or had the Attorney General ruled truly according to the plain facts that Sharon was permanently incapacitated; Netanyahu would automatically become prime minister. Olmert had to show he was not impotent so he had young adolescents raped on his behalf. His steroid crazed yassam police, as steroids shrink genitalia, raped the girls with their phallic symbol, their nightstick, shoving it up until the handle. Four young adolescents thus had their uteruses destroyed. The other cops "just" copped a feel of the young supple breasts under the girls' shirt. To show his virility, he had his surrogates use the nightsticks to crush the testicles of over thirty young settlers that had the balls to stand up to the army and most vicious police. But Olmert was only carrying on the Sharon legacy. While it was whitewashed, adolescents were routinely beaten up by the Yassam police during the disengagement. People ask how did someone so good turn so bad. Some rationalize it by pinning it on Sharon's Alzheimer's and brain disease allegedly only first discovered by his first stroke. Others rationalize it by laying the blame on the United States. There were reports that Bush forced Sharon into trading Gaza for Iraq. At the time, Iraq had over 2000 chemical and biological warheads with the capacity to deliver wholesale death to Israeli cities. Bush would not do anything about it unless Sharon agreed to relinquish Gaza. To his credit, Sharon paid his debts. And now Sharon is paying other debts. Do you know why Jews insist on burying their dead within 24 hours? Because they believe that from the time of death until burial, the person undergoes unbelievable torture. He is flung across the universe and for every word uttered from his mouth that was deceitful or wasted arrows are shot into him from angels along the way. He is continuously beaten much worse than the yassam are capable of. When he finally reaches the grave, his soul is beaten apart and that part of his soul that contains remnants of the soul of Adam is released and the rest is reintegrated. For a year, that soul has to justify his life and undergoes purification which we call hell. Maimonides describes the pain of hell. He says imagine compressing all the pain a person had in his entire life into one second. This is not even close. Imagine all the pain that everyone on this planet had their whole life and squeeze that into a second. Closer. Now imagine all the pain that everyone from the beginning had their whole life and squeeze it into a second. Getting warmer. Conversely, if you take all the pleasure that everyone had their whole life from the beginning of man and squeeze it into a second, that is only a shadow of the pleasure of a second in heaven. Jews can only be in hell for a maximum of one year after burial. These few months since Sharon's first death does not count. Its gotta hurt feeling your body decay while you are marginally alive. Now, if the rumors that Sharon's mother was not Jewish -- at least not when he was born -- are right, there is no guarantee that he will only stay down there for a year or ever get up there. While all Jews go to heaven, only righteous gentiles may enter the pearly gates. If by Jewish law he was a gentile, he had only seven commandments that he had to fulfill. Not stealing is one of them. As Sharon stole the homes of the Jews of Gaza and Northern Samaria he will never be up there. The Almighty sees all and the eulogies of world leaders notwithstanding, in the world of Truth everything is open for all to see; every infidelity, every deception, every harm done to others. Sharon, along with Rabin helped Ben Gurion "take care of" the Lechi and Stern gang, our underground freedom fighters against the British. As a young man, Sharon was essentially an agent of the British and as an old man, an agent of the United States. For most, death is a terrible thing, in a wink of an eye, usurping an individual's life's work. For others, it is a blessing, a final end to incomprehensible suffering from cancer or other degenerative fatal diseases. For others, it is a blessing for mankind, that their malevolence coming to an end. For Olmert, Sharon's death is a personal blessing: Free and continuous advertising for his election. So Olmert, when you go, you can be sure to be united with your mentor.
Contact Shmuel Neumann, Ph.D. at samuelfm@netvision.net.il Dr. Neumann has created two wonderful visuals satirizing the Meretz-Yachad party. Go to Sheretz and to Pachad. |
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BE A JEW AT HOME AND A MAN ON THE STREET
Posted by Joe Settler, March 18, 2006. |
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Be a Jew at Home and a Man on the Street Why do they hate us (the Settlers) so? This question bothers me. After all, we're not like the Chareidim -- we serve in the army, we work, we pay taxes. They once called us the best soldiers and the best citizens. There are more religious-settler officers and elite combat soldiers in the army than there are secular ones. A mere 8000 Gazan Jewish settlers made up some 20% of Israel's agricultural exports. We are certainly doing more than our share for the State of Israel than the average secular Israeli. Yet suddenly we find ourselves demonized. We're pariahs, hated, and criticized, even beaten and banished. We're treated in ways that even the most hated Chareidi in Israel has never experienced. It's all too easy to say the reason is that we stand in the way of the Israeli panacea. We settlers are "obstacles to peace". If only we weren't here, the Arabs would either accept or we could unilaterally implement a two-state solution. We dastardly settlers are keeping the country at war. Even though a two-state solution could be (and actually has been) implemented right now, without removing a single settler. And on the simplest level, there is no doubt that that has been the explicit message to Joe Israeli -- whether that settler was from Hebron or the Golan Heights. It's all too easy to say that we succeeded too well and they are jealous. We stole their army from them. We built wonderful communities. We are tax-paying professionals and business leaders. Our kids don't beat their teachers or stab their fellow club-goers. But that too is far too easy and unsatisfactory an answer. I think we need to look deeper. We need to examine the battle-cry of the Left. They desire to be a nation like every other. They desire to assimilate and remove the vestige of Jewishness from the appendage of their humanity. In Germany, the battle cry of the Reform was "Be a Jew at home, and a man on the street". Reform Judaism certainly never succeeded at being Jews at home, and when the man on the street shoved them into the gas chambers they were shocked at the affront. "But we are men just like you", they cried, while the world indicated otherwise. As Meretz and Shinui lead the new struggle against Judaism in their blinding desire for national assimilation they look at those who are preventing that goal. In pre-Nazi Germany, it was the religious who prevented the Jews complete assimilation and disappearance into Germany's superior culture, similarly, for many years in Israel it was the Chareidim. Those Chareidim refused to become "New Jews". They refused to shuck off their old traditions and quaint customs. They refused to participate in Israeli society and accept the overt and covert attempts to turn their community into "New Jews" -- like the secular Left forcibly did to the Yemenite immigrants and other Sephardic communities. And so that is why they really became hated. Numerically, there are about as many secular Jews as there are Chareidi Jews who don't serve in the army, and we won't even discuss the percentages of other Israeli minorities who do absolutely no national service for the country, far unlike the Chareidim who open and run national charities and aid centers that serve the entire Israeli population, Jew and Arab alike. And alas for the poor secular Jew desiring to integrate, assimilate, disappear, Chozrim B'tshuva, secular Jews returning to Judaism are still growing more than ever. And worse, many are becoming hated Chareidim. So now we turn to a new front, the Religion of Peace (and Assimilation). After Nazi Germany, what could possibly be more indicative that we have properly and completely assimilated than if no one was trying to kill us anymore? And who more than anyone else is preventing that Messianic Peace from arriving? Hamas? Syria? Iran? Egypt? The Palestinians? No, of course not. The Arabs are simply reacting to our Jewishness. If we were the same like them, quietly eating Hummus in Damascus, then we too would be accepted. Humanity understands why we "expropriated" Tel Aviv and Haifa. After the Holocaust we needed it to survive (so we can assimilate properly on a national level). The Arab would understand and accept that too, if only someone didn't stand in the way of their particular nationalistic aspirations. Who is that someone? Certainly it's not the Israeli living in a former Arab home in Yafo. Of course it's not. It's none other than the Settler moving on to a barren hilltop. The secular left cannot accept that the Arab speaks the truth when he says they want "all of Palestine". After all, the secular, humanistic Israeli understands compromise and the Arab obviously would too, if only, only those pesky obstacles to peace weren't there. And worse, those Settlers aren't just obstacles to peace; they are religious obstacles to peace, just like the Chareidim. Double whammy. And so they must be removed, debased, destroyed, and deported. As long as a single settler stands on land that the secular Left chose to not "expropriate" for their post-Holocaust needs there can't be peace. Don't confuse them with the facts that the Arab won't be satisfied with everything over the Green Line (unless it means both sides), for unlike the secular Israeli's Religion where the Green Line is Holy, the Arabs maintain no such confusion. For if it disagrees with their religion of Peace and Assimilation then it can't be true. So the Settlers are hated. Not because we "cause them more reserve service", and not because we are preventing the Arabs from making peace with us, and not even because we make them "interact" with the Arabs, and certainly not because we are against the "rule of law" (as if they were actually big upholders of it). No, we are hated, because they are completely right, it is we religious settlers who are preventing the national assimilation of the Jewish people. If that makes me hated, I can live with it. Am Yisrael Chai. Visit Joe Settler's website at http://joesettler.blogspot.com or send him an email at joesettler@gmail.com This essay is archived at http://joesettler.blogspot.com/2006/02/be-jew-at-home-and-man-on-street.html |
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TIMING IS EVERYTHING
Posted by David Bedein, March 18, 2006. |
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To paraphrase Khalid Abu Toameh, the Jerusalem Post Arab Affairs reporter on March 15th, the continued presence of Israeli Minister of Tourism Rehavam Zeevi's killers in a Jericho prison represented a continuing threat to Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas and to the Hamas Movement. These killers had been elected to the PA parliament, which would obligate the PA to free them and allow them to join their legislative body as an active opposition. As members of the PFLP faction, these killers represented an official opposition to both Abbbas and Hamas. The PFLP rejected the Oslo accords that Abbas had signed and, as a Marxist entity, rejected the Islamic tendencies of the Hamas Any protection that the PA would provide to the killers would hurt them internationally and also hurt them with any Israeli government, since no Israeli regime could justify negotiations with a PA that openly provided asylum to the killers of an Israeli government minister. On March 11th, Shimon Peres, number two candidate on the Ksdima ticket, met with Abbas, three days after the US and Britain announced that they would pull their guards out of Jericho, since the PA had announced that it would free Zeevi's killers. On March 12th, Abbas travelled to the EU in Brussels to secure aid. While Abbas was in Brussels, the America and British officials who had guarded Z'evi's killers in Jericho indeed left the area. Their departure allowed Israel to capture the killers, after laying siege to their jail cell. Ehud Olmert and the Kadima gained a needed boost in the election campaign. Meanwhile, during the siege of Jericho, Abbas recieved the funds he needed from the EU. So there you have the flow chart of winners: Abbas, Hamas, Olmert, and Peres: circumstantial evidence of an action well timed and well planned. the day before the most crucial public opinion polls are conducted in Israel before the March 28th Israel election day. An aside: On June 9th 1981, I sat in the lobby of the Dan Hotel in Tel Aviv, a week before getting married. This was the morning after it was announced that the Israeli Air Force had bombed The Iraqi nuclear reactor. An ashen-faced Shimon Peres walked into the hotel with an ashen faced Ezer Weitzman, only weeks before an Israeli election where Peres thought he would handily defeat Menachem Begin, with the help of Begin's former Defence Minister, Ezer Weitzman. Weitzman greeted Peres in the hotel lobby and exclaimed, rather loudly, "well, he screwed us, didn't he?", to which Peres said, loud enough for everyone in the lobby to hear: "You better believe it". Shimon Peres, the new heir apparent to Ehud Olmert, understands what timing means in a political campaign. David Bedein is Bureau Chief, Israel Resource News Agency. (http://Israelbehindthenews.com). He is president of Center for Near East Policy Research. Contact him by email at media@actcom.co.il |
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HUMAN-RIGHTS BOTCH
Posted by Bryna Berch, March 18, 2006. |
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This appeared March 13, 2006 as an editorial in the New York Post
online edition and it is archived at March 13, 2006 -- Remember the old saying, "Be careful what you wish for -- you just might get it"? It's proving to be true for those who've been pushing the United Nations to reform its Human Rights Commission. Good news: Under prodding by Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the world body is set to finally abolish its sorry excuse for a human-rights body -- whose members have included such paragons of political virtue as Cuba, Libya and Sudan. Bad news: The replacement -- a "Human Rights Council" -- is no improvement. In fact, it's worse. First, the new provisions are designed to look like reform. But they'll only tighten the control of the body by Third World human-rights violators. Worse, they will make it almost impossible for the United Nations to ignore, as it often has, the results of its more embarrassing ventures, like the 2001 Racism Conference in Durban, South Africa. Indeed, the council -- as things now stand -- would be required to "promote ... the followup of the goals and commitments relating to the promotion and protection of human rights emanating from United Nations conferences and summits." With no exceptions. The "reform" plan skews the council's membership against Western nations and in favor of the Third World despots. It also prevents any country from sitting longer than two consecutive terms. Roughly half of the current commission's time is taken up with condemning Israel -- with the United States regularly running interference. But the "reform" ensures the absence of Israel's staunchest defender. Indeed, America itself would surely become a major target of the council. Israel, by the way, is the only one of the 191 U.N. member states that is barred from the key negotiating sessions when the commission is in session. And the "reforms" don't change that. The plan also mandates that election to the Human Rights Council be by simple majority of the General Assembly -- a conspicuous change from the original reform blueprint that Annan unveiled last year, which sought to screen out nations with weak human-rights records by requiring a two-thirds vote. This in a body that three months ago could only find 79 nations -- just 40 percent of the total membership -- willing to condemn Sudan for its barbarous human-rights violations. As Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch -- the Geneva-based group formed to monitor U.N. compliance with its charter -- asks: "How can we expect a majority to suddenly support Sudan's exclusion" from the new council? Indeed, membership will be open to "all Member States of the United Nations," regardless of their human-rights record, although the assembly is urged to take those records "into consideration." And hope for the best, apparently. America's outspoken U.N. ambassador, John Bolton, makes no bones about Washington's position on this absurd notion of reform: "We're not going to put lipstick on a caterpillar and call it a butterfly." Not surprisingly, though, the proposal has won enthusiastic support from a bevy of Nobel Peace laureates, including Jimmy Carter and Desmond Tutu. (Carter, in fact, told the Council on Foreign Relations of his fervent wish that "the other members will outvote the United States." And that's exactly what might happen.) None of this surprises veteran U.N.-watchers. Hopefully, though, it will cause some of the world body's staunchest defenders on Capitol Hill to wonder whether all the money that U.S. taxpayers pump into this thoroughly discredited outfit really is worth it. |
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A COMMENT ON "ISRAEL'S TRAGEDY FORETOLD"
Posted by Salomon Benzimra, March 18, 2006. |
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Re: "Israel's Tragedy Foretold", by Gershom Gorenberg, Op-Ed. March 10, 2006 Mr. Gorenberg has ruled that Israel has no right to hold on to the land of Judea and Samaria (which he calls the "West Bank", as everyone else who oppose the existence of a State of Israel capable of defending itself against unflinching enemies); no right to have any Jewish settlement on those lands (while the Jews who lived there before were either slaughtered or forcefully removed in the 1930s and 1940s); no right to treat the Arab population living in Judea and Samaria differently than Israeli citizens (while these Arabs' avowed goal is the destruction of Israel). Mr. Gorenberg is living in the same capsule as those who recognized the terrorist PLO as a valid partner; those who produced the Oslo Accords and its trail of bloodshed; and those who would now advocate to pursue the Second Act of that tragic play by letting the Hamas enter the negotiating stage. His position, he tells us, is supported by Theodor Meron who, back in 1967, advised the government of Israel. However, since then, a number of prominent legal experts, smart enough to analyze the conflict from its inception and not merely to narrowly focus on the events of 1967, have demolished Meron's arguments. Among this broad list of experts are Talia Einhorn (Professor of Law at Tel Aviv University), Howard Grief (Legal Advisor on International and Constitutional Law), Eugene Rostow (former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State and former Dean of the Yale Law School), Dr. Yoram Shifftan and many others. The governing document that remains at the core of any resolution of the conflict is neither the Geneva Conventions, nor The Hague Convention, nor even UN Resolution 242, but the Mandate of 1922 which encouraged "close [Jewish] settlement? of the land. Whereas the Mandate allowed the mandatory power to 'postpone' or 'withhold' Jewish settlement east of the Jordan River (in what is now the Kingdom of Jordan), it does not, in the words of Eugene Rostow, "permit even a temporary suspension of the Jewish right of settlement in the parts of the Mandate west of the Jordan River." In the same way that the admonitions of Neville Chamberlain at the House of Commons in the 1930s proved to be factually wrong, legally misguided, morally debasing and strategically disastrous, Theodor Meron's advice to Israel's leaders was ill-conceived and should certainly no longer be held as a valid, constructive argument for the future. I trust the New York Times, which prides itself in the diversity of supported opinion, will soon give voice to those whose broader views of the Middle East conflict can bring new thinking and put an end to the present stalemate. Regards,
Contact Salomon Benzimra at sbenzimra@sympatico.ca. This essay appeared March 11, 2006 in Israpundit (http://www.israpundit.com/2006/?p=409). |
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THE JEWISH SETTLEMENTS ARE LEGAL
Posted by Ted Belman, March 18, 2006. |
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A narrative has emerged that Israel's settlements in the West Bank are a "tragedy." The fatal flaw lies in the original sin of supposedly lawless occupation of land, in contravention of the Geneva Convention. It makes a strong emotional pitch to a sense of justice, a major influence on the thinking of many American Jews. But the narrative is built on a flawed foundation. For example, Gershom Gorenberg in his Op-Ed in the New York Times, "Israel's Tragedy Foretold", on March 10, 2006, opines that Israelis and their leaders have finally seen the light, namely that Israel should abandon the settlements. In so concluding, Mr. Gorenberg puts his faith in an opinion by Legal Counsel to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, a Theodor Merion who wrote in 1967 -- "My conclusion is that civilian settlement in the administered territories contravenes the explicit provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention." Mr Gorenberg laments that Israel, in disregard of this advice, started to build settlements with the "sadly mistaken confidence that the legal, ethical and diplomatic difficulties of settlement could somehow be avoided." The tragedy, according to Mr. Gorenberg, is that Israel now has to untangle the mess at great human and financial cost. Mr. Meron's conclusion has been thoroughly discredited by legal scholars over the years and Mr. Gorenberg's thesis which rests upon it must suffer the same fate. Professor Talia Einhorn, Adjunct Professor of Law, Tel Aviv University, in The Status of Palestine/Land of Israel and Its Settlement Under Public International Law published by NATIV Online in 1993, advises, "In 1967, following the Six Day War, the territories of Yesha, which had been originally designated for the Jewish national home according to the Mandate document, returned to Israeli rule. Leading international law scholars opined that Israel was in lawful control of Yesha, that no other state could show better title than Israel to Yesha's territory, and that this territory was not 'occupied' in the sense of the Geneva Convention, since those rules are designed to assure the reversion of the former legitimate sovereign which, in this case, does not exist. Israel was therefore entitled to declare that it has exercised its sovereign powers over Yesha. One of the "leading international scholars" she refers to was the late Eugene W. Rostow, Dean of Yale Law School, US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs between 1966 and 1969. The New Republic, on April 23, 1990, published his article entitled, !"Historical Approach to the Issue of Legality of Jewish Settlement Activity", in which he argued
In 1991, The New Republic published another article by Dean Rostow, entitled "Resolved: are the settlements legal? Israeli West Bank policies," in which he again argued, It is common even for American journalists to write that Security Council Resolution 242 is "deliberately ambiguous," as though the parties are equally free to rely on their own reading of its key provisions. Now that Israel has withdrawn from Gaza, this percentage has increased. Thus the "occupation" was and is legal, having been authorized by the Security Council and the settlements are legal pursuant to the trust created by the British Mandate. In accordance with Israel's rights, The Oslo Accords did not restrict further settlement. The Mitchell Report which recommended a freeze on settlement activity was incorporated into the Roadmap which Israel accepted. The Palestinian Authority is in fundamental breach of its obligations under the Roadmap. Therefore, Israel is not bound to maintain the freeze. The fact remains that Israel has every right, according to international law, to defend its citizens, to remain in occupation, to build settlements and to refuse to acknowledge a "right of return". The tragedy is that the Arabs refused to accept the existence of the State of Israel and have refused to negotiate peace based on the intent of Resolution 242. Anwar Sadat broke the mold in 1979 and was assassinated for his pains. The tragedy is that the Arabs have refused to absorb the Arab refugees as Israel absorbed the Jewish refugees, preferring instead to doom them to live in squalor as a means of putting pressure on Israel. The late King Hussein of Jordan was the only exception. He too recognized the State of Israel. The tragedy is that the PA created and empowered by the Oslo Accords choose to make war rather than peace thereby sacrificing the well being of the people it represented. And the tragedy is that the world aided and abetted it in this endeavor never once demanding that it honor its obligations or else. Ted Belman is a retired lawyer and currently editor of Israpundit.com. Contact him at tedbel@rogers.com [Editor's Note: Think-Israel has published a series of articles by Dr. Yoram Shifftan inter alia on Israel's ownership of the "territories" -- an ownership that is legal under international law, a trust that is unbreakable. Find the references by writing "Yoram Shifftan" in the Google box at the top of Think-Israel's home page. See especially his two articles in the September-October 2004 issue, ""Is Israel's Legal System Acting Illegally?" and its companion piece, "Who is Entitled to Gift away Jewish National Rights?" ] |
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OLMERT ZIG OR OLMERT ZAG
Posted by Bryna Berch, March 18, 2006. |
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This article is by Yoel Marcus and it appeared yesterday in Haaretz
I guess this is as close as someone writing for Haaretz is going to get to saying that Olmert is -- and will continue to be -- like a twig blown about by a March wind. He has no principles -- unless you think giving away Israel is a moral imperative. If he's elected, a whisper from anyone from the US State Department or from one of the guys who promises him immunity from charges of corruption will make him give up chunks of Samaria and Judea and parts of eastern Jerusalem. Even Sharon wasn't that big a patsy. And Sharon was one big fat disappointment to those who take pride in their country and stand tall. Some think tossing away more of tiny Israel is OK because Olmert won't give it ALL up. What they forget is that ANY nibble is going to make for more refugees, more poverty, more dissension between the religious and the Marxists, more open rebellion, more confusion, more gridlock. A generally weakened Israel. An Israel in disarray. An Israel not attentive to what Israelis should be focussing on -- defending themselves stoutly in the war the Arabs are waging against Israel. And what do you think the Arabs are going to do? Think they'll fly in care packages? Think they'll say, "Hey, let's not bother the Jews till they get it all together"? No, they'll just hit Israel harder. And what will the world do as they see resurgent Islam getting stronger? It will do what the world always does when confronted by strength. The world will try to appease the Muslims, figuring they will be satisfied when they've cannibalized Israel. They'll keep appeasing the strengthened Islam until Islam rewards the world's efforts at a peaceful solution by inflicting a near-death wound on the world. Then it will act. But that might be too late to do Israel any good. Let's hope the people kick out the defeatists and the cowards and elect those who will stop the Resurgency before the Arabs kill off the Jews. Let's hope that journalist jackasses won't keep writing that FIRST Israel gives up land, THEN.... Because there is no THEN. No one is going to bail out Israel. Between his interviews last week conveying the message that within four years Israel will be a fun place to live, and his reassurances to the settlers of Ariel this week, Ehud Olmert had me singing the Hokey Pokey: You put your left hand in, you put your right hand out, you put your left hand in and shake it all about. MK Isaac Herzog was confused, too. "We don't know which Olmert we'll be getting after the elections," he said. "Olmert zig or Olmert zag?" I was reminded of Ariel Sharon's quip to Binyamin Netanyahu at a convention of the Likud: "You asked me to support you, but you didn't say with which hand -- right or left?" Aware of the antagonism in the Russian sector, the jitters of disengagement supporters, and the fickleness of voters who haven't made up their minds yet and could be here today, gone tomorrow, Olmert is winking out of the corner of both eyes. These interviews were ultimately one long election slogan. The gist of it is unilateral disengagement from the West Bank and most of the Palestinians, and "convergence" (a term for which Olmert holds the exclusive copyright) under new borders. The route of the security fence will be adjusted to fit the perimeters of Israel's permanent borders. Implicit in his remarks is the evacuation of 70,000 settlers, even without an agreement. It's not a secret. Spontaneous support for Kadima has come mainly from that broad sector of the public seeking an end to the occupation. But the slow erosion in the surveys, along with the gathering strength of the right, has forced Olmert to pull out a second violin and play a melody that appeals to the settlers. Only a week ago, he said that Israel would not be investing in construction and infrastructure beyond the Green Line in the coming years. Now a police station is already going up in Area E-1. Ariel is Israel, he said. By 2010, we will have a different Israel, with blocs of settlement in the West Bank. "The settlers are a great bunch," he added, for good measure. It's amazing, this ease with which Olmert promises a country that's fun to live in. The who, what and where of how he's going to put this ambitious plan into action is far from clear. It took years before Sharon, the settler of all settlers, could bring himself to say things like: "We had a dream but it's gone now;" or "We won't be in all the places we are now." After his "painful concessions" materialized in the form of a pullout from Gush Katif, Sharon did not set any new dates. He made it clear that Israel would not be embarking on any more unilateral moves. Unfortunately, we can't ask him what he would have done in the event of a Hamas victory. Many people believe he wouldn't have changed his mind even then. Complete disengagement is not realistic. Think back on those scenes from Amona, where eight houses were demolished. Now imagine how many investigating committees would be needed to evacuate tens of thousands of settlers and make this country a fun place. There is no way Israel is going to achieve permanent borders without an agreement with the Palestinians and an American commitment to wipe out those Qassam rocket launchers, for example, or any other weapons of destruction aimed at Israel after it has cleared out of most of the territories. The big unknown is whether Olmert is capable at this point in time of picking up where Sharon left off. His career, up until now, has been helped along by chance and a large dose of luck. If Sharon hadn't snatched away the finance portfolio (which he was saving for Netanyahu), and compensated Olmert with a package of perks that included the title of acting prime minister (in a hand-signed note, at Olmert insistence), he would never have become Sharon's replacement and heir overnight. Take, for instance, the Israel Defense Forces operation in Jericho, code-named "First Fruits." It was planned and carried out from A-Z by the defense establishment, not Olmert. If the operation had failed, Olmert would have been held accountable. But because it succeeded, a Yedioth Ahronoth columnist could praise Olmert to the heavens as the man who gave the orders to "mount a siege, stay cool and wait patiently for surrender." In short, not just an acting prime minister but a five-star general a la Sharon. As a politician all these years, Olmert has done okay. If he got into trouble, he got out of it. He has been an MK, a mayor and a minister. Unlike Amir Peretz, however, he has never been the real captain of the ship. What Olmert has going for him today as head of Kadima, 11 days before the elections, is Sharon's legacy and a lot of luck. As for the rest, we'll have to wait and see. |
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THE MICHAEL JACKSONS OF JUDAISM
Posted by Zalmi, March 17, 2006. |
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Even on a cloudy and unseasonably cold day, it's always a thrill to be back in Israel. Especially Jerusalem on a Friday. The best schmaltz herring, smoked delicacies, pickles and nuts can be found in the Haredi streets of Geulah, where I snake my way through jostling crowds for whom the post-Jericho-jailbreak terror alert takes a very low priority compared with the urgent need to prepare for the Sabbath. The unbounded zeal of Friday shoppers and vendors would make you think it happened just once a year instead of every week. Such is the magic of Shabbat amongst our people. Things are a little different in Geulah this time, with the streets littered with thousands of election leaflets. These ones are for the religious Sephardic party, Shas. However, on my way back through town I am appalled to witness Israeli youngsters campaigning for Arab candidates of the Chadash party. As if it were not bad enough that our government signs away our homeland, must our youth help to vote away our nation's sovereignty in the Knesset?  That is the true ugliness of self-hate. I make a stop in Rechavia to drop in on an elderly aunt and uncle, to wish them Shabbat Shalom. But I put too much money in the parking ticket machine. I press the cancel button, but nothing happens and no money comes out. My young son tries some other buttons on the machine, but I say: "Forget it Elliott. Israel is not a place that gives back money." "Only land," he mutters.
Contact Zalmi at zalmi@zalmi.net or go to his
website:http://zalmi.blogspot.com
This essay is archived at
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HAMAS MUST NOT BE PASSIVELY TOLERATED
Posted by Lawrence Uniglicht, March 17, 2006. |
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That never-enlightened exiled Hamas political leader Khaled Meshal exudes his abominable philosophy on 03/16/2006 in Damascus; to him political power for that fanatical fulminating psycho-pathetic cadre of criminals he represents is only "a means to an end" being less important than fighting Israel. "Our fate is to combine resistance and politics, but resistance remains the basis and politics only a branch." "We and the Zionists have a date with destiny. If they want a war, we are the sons of war. We have more stamina than Israel and will defeat it, God willing." The meshugana Meshal spewed on, criticizing P.L.O. agreements with the Jewish state crafting the interim Palestinian Authority, oozing "A country can only exist on liberated land." How nice! Perhaps this noxious nitwit does not notice Arab voters elected Hamas to improve their lot in life; perhaps expecting that a new untainted party thrust into office would create jobs, repair infrastructure, build better schools, entice foreign investment, and so forth; necessary steps in transforming a rag tag third world disaster into a functional enclave able to cope with an exponentially progressing global economy. Yet, all those hopes, dreams, indeed likely to be unfulfilled expectations now dangle on a less than consequential "branch" while Meshal's delusional tree of resistance, rooted in shifting desert sands infested with scorpions, remains his and Hamas' raison d'etre. No doubt the terror organization Hamas, obsessed with someday annihilating the State of Israel, will continue to shroud its collective weapon-of-choice children with explosives to accomplish that end, having absolutely no intentions to merge the society it stewards with the perceived infidel hence a secular advancing century twenty-one way of life. There is no therapy for such jihad junkies; metastasizing through the bowels of Judea, Samaria, and east Jerusalem; lands truly belonging to the Jewish democracy by virtue of victory in its 1967 battle for survival; as well as Gaza alas gifted to ungrateful Arabs bereft of political savvy. It is most useful to peruse the "Slogan of the Islamic Resistance Movement", Hamas' inarticulate yet deadly babble. "The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree, (evidently a certain kind of tree) would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews." (related by al-Bukhari and Moslem). Clearly, Israel cannot deal rationally with a population infected by leadership espousing rhetoric indicative of the criminally insane. Imagine that skull and crossbones scenario of Meshal and his contemptible cronies accessing weapons of mass destruction. All attempts to fund Hamas should be thwarted, if possible. Israel must intensely monitor land and sea borders surrounding Gaza, as well all air space above that diseased region. Furthermore, supplies imported into other Hamas infiltrated territories must be thoroughly examined. Moderate Arabs in such regions can choose to leave, perhaps migrating to their true homelands Jordan or Egypt. Israel has every right to protect its citizens by, in effect, isolating the malignancy Hamas from the outer world. No sane nation should be expected to passively tolerate such a neighbor. Lawrence Uniglicht is a career civil servant, working for the Social Security Administration. He advocates for the State of Israel with an American perspective. He writes, "Advocating for the disrespected underdog has been my passion, no doubt Israel falls into that category." Contact him by email at luniglicht@snip.net |
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LET ABBAS' FORKED TONGUE R.I.P.
Posted by Lawrence Uniglicht, March 17, 2006. |
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Erstwhile never to be rescinded Holocaust trivializing Mahmoud Abbas, or is it Abu Mazen, is as two-faced as he is two-named. Might a prescient observer believe this multi-decade understudy of corrupt billionaire Yasir Arafat, this prime manipulator of facts in a 1984 published Arabic abomination suggesting gas chambers were not used by Nazis for the purpose of Jewish genocide, would in any way be a reasonable so-called Palestinian peace-maker? Might any pie-in-the-sky cerebrally challenged chump lending credibility to "the smoothie" Abbas be also willing to invest substantial shekels, erecting a Jewish Community Center in Gaza City, while concurrently purchasing shares in the Brooklyn Bridge? Egad, the "Roadmap's" last resort, that ever-so dependable so-called Palestinian president-in-name-only negotiator who would promise Israel the moon, stars, and perhaps the gossamer "illusion of peace" for a mere Judea, Samaria, east Jerusalem, and a Palestinian right of return; has been dealt a seismic blow by those "say it isn't so" backstabbing Americans and Brits; abandoning the Jericho prison, consequently reduced to a pile of rubble, so Israel could justifiably claim filthy Arab assassins before their anticipated Hamas abetted red carpet parole. Et Tu Bush and Blair, albeit Abu isn't exactly of emperor stature, more resembling an empty calorie laden "Orange Julius" than the rampaging Roman strongman. Still, any Arab leader dressed in a suit not toting a Kalishnikov, no matter how devoid of honor, could be "the chosen one" to hawk a "bill of fare" that would be a recipe for perhaps fatal Jewish indigestion. The outer world's tunnel-vision orchestrations, concerning Israeli/Palestinian peace negotiations, would have propped up Abbas while leaning on the beleaguered Jewish State at crunch time, in effect skewering future generations of Israeli Jews lest those four henchmen America, the European Union, Russia, and Kofi's club endanger Faustian future fossil fuel contracts cosigned by robed rogue ruler's of the region who indeed do have all those industrial addicts by the short ones. At least Israel knows where it stands with Hamas. No civil nation would dare cajole Israel into dancing with blatant terror-mongers. However, a seemingly feckless but still-in-charge Abbas, unlike Hamas, would have been quite effective in slathering his slithering proposals to seemingly starry-eyed yet truly sycophantic suck-up oil obsessed gratuitous power-brokers, hence would be evermore perilous to Israel. It is certainly curious that America and Britain, perhaps unwittingly, indirectly pulled the rug out from under the one presumed Palestinian leader they presumably could deal with. No matter what, this serendipitous event must not be sabotaged by stupidity. Movers and shakers within the sovereign State of Israel must not attempt to resurrect the stature of an Arafat in sheep's clothing (albeit an Armani suit). Let his forked tongue R.I.P. Lawrence Uniglicht is a career civil servant, working for the Social Security Administration. He advocates for the State of Israel with an American perspective. He writes, "Advocating for the disrespected underdog has been my passion, no doubt Israel falls into that category." Contact him by email at luniglicht@snip.net |
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A.J.CONGRESS INITIATIVES; THE SADDAM TAPES; WHAT TO DO ABOUT IMMIGRATION
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, March 17, 2006. |
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STEP TOWARDS DEMOCRACY IN ISRAEL Likud switched from having Knesset candidates nominated by Party politicians to Party members. This opens the Party to real primaries and candidates and may introduce some accountability to constituents. It is a step towards democracy (IMRA, 3/2). Polls had shown that this would bring the Party a significant number of additional seats. AMERICAN JEWISH CONGRESS REPORTS A.J. Congress prodded the US Congress to protest Britain's Association of University Teachers' boycott of Israeli professors. The Association rescinded its boycott, probably because it thought that a protest from Rhodes Scholars would reduce donations from US foundations. (But some foundations are pro-Arab.) Some non-evangelical Protestant Churches are boycotting Israel, too. A. J. Congress gives interested clergymen background information about Israel to counter-act this. A.J.C. organized an effort by legal scholars to show that Israel's defensive barrier does not violate international law. Then it attempted to organize civil rights leaders to reject comparisons of Israeli policies with apartheid. Title VI of the Higher Education Act offers support for elementary and middle schools teaching about the Mideast. Middle East centers use the money for an anti-US and anti-Israel agenda. A.J.C. is striving to eliminate one-sided, biased presentations. Muslim violence in France started against the Jews. Then it extended to massive riots in the whole country. A.J.C. concludes that Jews are like canaries in the mines, being the first victims but not the last (Congress Monthly, 11/2005). Those efforts are constructive. I commend A.J.C. for its initiative and for its modesty in not claiming full credit for successes, as politicians tend to do. The likening of Israel to apartheid is offensive, because it is false and therefore both cheapens the offensiveness of real apartheid and persecutes the victims of jihad, which has a racial basis and oppresses to the point of slavery and sometimes genocide. A.J.C. shouldn't stop with its defense of the legality of the fence and of Israeli policies as not being apartheid. It should go on the offensive, to condemn the Muslim Arabs for making a security barrier seem advisable and for P.A. policies of apartheid -- i.e., murdering Israelis who live in certain areas. When Middle East centers at colleges misstate such issues, the solution is not just to avoid being one-sided. It is to present the facts. There is no more need to hear Arab lies than Nazi ones during WWII. IDF ADMITS IT The IDF explained that it bombs and shells areas used by terrorists for launching rockets at Israel. It has been doing that for some time. "The areas attacked are open areas from which terror cells have been firing projectile rockets at Israel, including the Qassam rockets fired this morning." Repeat, "open areas." For that week, 28 rockets were fired (IMRA, 3/3). Launching sites are not some kind of infrastructure but vacant land. Therefore, there is nothing to bomb. The sites are "empty fields," just as IMRA scornfully describes them. Is the IDF tactic effective? The attacks keep coming. All the IDF is doing is giving the P.A. scrap metal. WHAT RUSSIA SUGGESTS TO HAMAS The Foreign Minister of Russia said, "Hamas needed 'to transform itself into a political party and to be sure that the military wing of Hamas becomes a legitimate part of the Palestinian security structures.'" IMRA puts it that Russia wants Hamas terrorists to become salaried P.A. police (IMRA, 3/3). Winston Mid East Analysis puts it that Soviet-style destabilization is back (3/3). The problem is what terrorists and other criminals do, not whether they wear uniforms. Whether Hamas directs terrorists informally or formally makes no difference to their victims. The Russian proposal is disingenuous. Apparently Russia is searching for some formula for pretending that the P.A. is a normal regime and not a terrorist one, so Russia can resume its undermining of the West via Arab jihadists or imperialists. The same pretense was made by the US, when it claimed that the major reform of the P.A. would be unification of the P.A. armed forces, while Arafat and Abbas began to integrate their terrorist militia into the P.A. armed forces, without objection from the US. Whether under one or many commands, the armed forces and militias are forces for evil. A unified force would be more powerful in support of evil. Hence the reform was improper for the US to promote, but the usual critics of Pres. Bush supported it. They hate Israel or don't think. THE SADDAM TAPES A former arms inspector revealed that Saddam taped his conferences. The official made public tapes covering 12 hours out of 3,000. The rest, as with millions of captured Iraqi documents, the new US agency supervising the CIA has not made public. Does the US glean important information from the find? Not much is up for translation! The trove surely contains intelligence useful in understanding what happened and what to do about it. Saddam is heard on the released tape: (1) His submission did not end Gulf War I with the US (hint); (2) Iraq was deceiving weapons inspectors (why, do you suppose?); and (3) The US could be attacked surreptitiously and not realize by whom. That was true of the anthrax attack. Another source indicates that Saddam trained thousands of Islamists in terrorism. The conventional wisdom was that he was too secular to deal with them. The State Dept. is withholding vital information. It claims this is in the "national interest," but is hampering the national interest (IMRA, 3/4/06). While the State Dept. has its own petty fish to fry, we may become a cooked goose. Muslim Arab secularists often work with Islamists against the West. Example: Syria with Hizbullah. Get the word out. WHAT DO TO ABOUT IMMIGRATION TO THE U.S.? This discussion is from the American Jewish Congress Monthly. My remarks are in parentheses. The consensus is that illegal immigration is excessive and unchecked. The controversy is over whether and how to legalize the illegals and whether to curb or increase permitted entry. The case for reform with increased legal immigration: 1. US immigration policy has served American Jews well. Jews suited the country's industrialization, and the country treated them with equality and appreciation. Once here, they were able to help some but not most Jews fleeing persecution. (That was then. It is irrelevant, now.) 2. Immigration is swelling. At present, it is not as significant as in Europe, but it may accelerate, and the US border is too porous. This raises concerns about national security. In other countries, Islamic communities have afforded havens and support for terrorists, stimulated hatred against Jews and Israel, and turned the host country's foreign policy more against Israel. Muslim immigrants to the US support terrorism, too. (Note: half the Arab immigrants are Christians, many being refugees from Islam.) US Muslim immigrants tend to be educated, rather than the type that go on French welfare. Their higher standing in the US facilitates their promotion of Muslim policy, as towards Israel. (Terrorists tend to come from the educated class.) 4. Hispanic immigrants tend to bring antisemitic attitudes in with them. Many of them, however, are turning to Evangelical churches that are friendly towards the Jewish people and State. "To maintain good relations with this voting bloc, it is probably necessary to support the liberal immigration measures that are particularly important to the Hispanic community." (Appeasement creates more problems.) 5. Why immigration reform is proposed: (a) Immigrants pour in, uncontrolled, and the large number of illegal aliens forms an underclass that threatens our values and our security; (b) the expanding US economy needs these people as workers, for Americans are not willing to do the work they do. The result would be cheaper prices both for our consumers and to help boost US exports; (c); Skilled immigrants and their children tend to become the scientists our country needs, and their children eventually earn more than the parents, therefore not becoming a welfare burden; (d) Immigrants boost Social Security funds, because, by using fraudulent cards, they render themselves unable to collect; (e) We would be helping poor people by letting them earn money here; (f) We natives benefited from our ancestors' immigration, so we should not shut the door after us; (g) The US hasn't the will, means, or funds to incarcerate and deport masses of illegal aliens, "whose only crime is the desire to work" -- increased border patrolling did not stop them, for they tried crossing less-patrolled desert. Besides, half the illegal aliens were given easy access with visas, but over-stayed them; (i) Allowing more legal immigration would enable immigration officials to focus more on terrorists (Our national resources cannot sustain this level of immigration.) (Illegal, the underclass would subvert our society, but legal, the Muslims would subvert it.) (First, we should investigate why more Americans don't become scientists, and solve that problem rather than rely upon foreigners, some of whom return to their country of origin and work against the US. Then, we should tailor our immigration policy to encourage those with needed skills who are likely to be loyal.) (Since the proposed reform aims to reduce the number of illegal aliens, it isn't consistent to then cite social security payments by illegal aliens as a benefit.) (The US does not have an obligation to help poor people abroad by admitting them and incurring the problems mentioned. They break the law, and then we are supposed to feel sorry for their mistreatment by unscrupulous employers or hardships sneaking through the desert? We should enforce the provisions against those employers who knowingly employ them, but what about local officials who knowingly provide them services without turning them in?) (Citing past immigration policy is an attempt to make us feel guilty if we bar future immigrants. It is not a logical argument, because favorable conditions of the past no longer exist.) (The presentation in favor of increased immigration that claims their only crime was to want work here -- actually the crime was violating our entry laws -- contradicts itself by admitting that they also present false documents to get those jobs. They knowingly drive without insurance. They take government services to which they are not entitled.) (Since half the illegals had gotten visas, but then overstayed, the answer should be to require bonds posted for entry. That would impair tourism, but would provide the funds that the US lacks for enforcement.) 6. The solution is said to be more visas for temporary and permanent residents and task-driven or cost-free amnesty for illegal aliens. Amnesty would pull aliens out of limbo, where they are mistreated under threat of deportation and are denied health care and other benefits. The case against reform with increased immigration: 1. Mass-immigration depresses the labor market, thereby harming low-income workers already here, and not providing many of the higher-level workers the economy needs. There remains much unemployment here. Let the labor market tighten, and put more resources into education and training of unemployed Americans, who will take the jobs. 2. The savings from paying low wages and not paying much in benefits accrues mostly to employers, not to the country as a whole. 3. Actually, in states of high immigration, taxes are rising to pay for the public health, education, prison, and hospital costs of these low-tax-paying workers. Water tables are falling too. 4. In order to assimilate the immigrants we have, we need to decelerate immigration. 5. Amnesty has turned out to accelerate illegal immigration. 6. A national I.D. must be imposed, so employers and immigration agents can determine who are illegal aliens. Some people think this infringes on privacy, but people have to show I.D. much of the time, now (11/2005, Lois Waldman, p.14). The facts are too much in contention for us to be ready to forge a comprehensive policy. Civil liberties and privacy are important, but are used as an excuse for not providing security. Reformers often lack patriotism. So do many Muslim immigrants, and they are growing more radical. Therefore, whatever reform we do undertake, barring Muslim immigrants should be part of it. 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@aol.com. |
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"JUNK YARD DOG" USES HORSES TO ASSAULT UNARMED PROTESTERS
Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, March 17, 2006. |
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Every nation needs its "junk-yard dog" to protect its territory. Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, in his time, was Israel's "junk-yard dog", dedicated to protecting Israel's territory until he turned on his master: the people of Israel. Or rather the pioneering settlers whom he had championed for a long time to build up the Jewish homeland on Land given by G-d to the Jewish people forever. Now we have General and Chief of Staff, Dan Halutz who has shown his true nature as Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's "junk-yard dog by taking orders from Olmert who was never a general or a soldier. Olmert ordered Halutz to attack the young unarmed resistors at Amona while the legal status of this suburb of Ofra was still under negotiation. It would have taken six whole weeks to move Amona within the Ofra boundary lines and avoid the violent attack against the non-violent young men and women. Here is a man who would do well if he were told to fight the Syrians but -- he will use every snarling energy to beat and break his own people when orders allowed him to do so. Certain personalities are naturally vicious and will, indeed, bite the hand that feeds it. An amoral Prime Minister and a "junk-yard dog" Chief of Staff make a perfect pair. Olmert and Halutz -- among other Kadimites, shame the Jewish nation. Knesset hearings are fine but, how about a real Peoples' Court trial for crimes against the Jewish people with lengthy prison sentences if or when a person is found guilty. You can see the horses trampling young people in the photo and video clips available on line. The New York Times even ran a photo of a dozen soldier/policemen attacking one teenage girl. Israeli protocol requires female soldier/police to carry girls and women. I didn't see any in the photos and video. Eye-witnesses spoke of girls being sexually assaulted, denigrated, stripped, fondled, beaten with heavy batons -- all visible over the Internet. Boys were beaten in the groin as well as their heads, arms, backs, legs -- even when on the ground with no weapons or resistance. None of that appears in the following Ha'aretz article but, this article is revealing as well. The following is by Ha'Aretz News Service March 8, 2006
Halutz: "I permitted use of mounted police at Amona evacuation" Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Dan Halutz on Wednesday told a parliamentary committee of inquiry into the violence during the evacuation of an illegal outpost earlier this year that he had authorized the use of mounted officers at the site. Halutz also said that he given senior police officers permission to allow the use of batons should the need arise. Some 200 people were injured during the February clashes between right-wingers and police forces, which used officers mounted on horseback to disperse hundreds of stone-throwing protesters. Halutz explained that he had specifically defined the means that police were permitted to use and not permitted to use during the evacuation. He also said that he defined the way in which the police was authorized to use the means at their disposal. The IDF chief told the probe that he prohibited the use of rubber bullets during the evacuation, but permitted the police forces to be mounted on horseback. Halutz explained that the security forces arrived on foot from north of the outpost instead of driving from the nearby settlement of Ofra, to avoid clashing with settlers there. He emphasized that the decision to arrive on foot was not a reaction to the road blocks set up by the settlers, but was made beforehand. Halutz said that during the evacuation he received reports from GOC Central Command, but did not give additional orders during the evacuation. The probe asked Halutz why female soldiers were not used to evacuate the female settlers, as had been done during the Gaza evacuation. Halutz responded that since Amona was a small evacuation, neither male nor female soldiers were used to actually evacuate those at the sight. He added that female police officers participated in the evacuation. During the Amona probe, teenage female evacuees complained that police forces sexually harassed them and used sexually insulting language during the evacuation. Halutz: Bitterness between settlers and IDF The IDF chief spoke of the tension that has developed between the IDF and the settlers as a result of these types of operations. He said, "There is a lot of bitterness in the air. Mutual bitterness. Soldiers who are beaten repeatedly by settlers begin to ask themselves questions." "The settlers also feel a lot of bitterness towards the army. We need to find the proper way of dealing with this issue. This is my personal obligation and the army's obligation," he added. Halutz argued that the level of violence used by the security forces was appropriate to the level of those resisting the evacuation. He added the security forces "acted justly" but that the evacuation resistors "used unauthorized force." The IDF chief said, "I totally support the way the police operated. The evacuation was carried out under very difficult circumstances. However, we must find out what led to the high number of people injured during the events." MK Yosef (Tommy) Lapid asked Halutz why more was not done to "prevent the (resistor's) rebellion." Halutz answered that security forces "used the proper formula" to balance between performing the required task and "allowing for the possibility of dialogue." "The world is not a place of force only. We could have used more force (during the evacuation), but we would have made a big mistake," Halutz commented. Halutz: Settlers' proposal was not practical Halutz was asked why the Yesha Council of Settlements' proposal to reproduce the structures in the nearby settlement in Ofra was not accepted. He answered that the proposal was not practical, and that the time required to implement the plan would not have met the time-line that the High Court obligated. Halutz emphasized that the proposal would have taken six weeks to implement, and that the settler leaders waited until just before the evacuation to make the proposal. Police Commander Karadi: probe results will be presented next week Police Commander Moshe Karadi gave evidence to the probe after the Chief of Staff. He stated that the police is nearly finished probing the Amona evacuation, and that the conclusions would be presented next week. Karadi said, "The probe is significant both for learning exactly what happened during the evacuation and for knowing how to act differently during the next evacuation." 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.com |
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ISRAEL TO THE SPUR
Posted by Women in Green, March 17, 2006. |
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This article was written by Sarah Honig and appeared in yesterday's
Jerusalem Post.
Academic pursuits took me in my salad days to the University of Wyoming at Laramie. An archivist at the internationally renowned American Heritage Center on campus assisted my rummage through the unique repository of documents while ceaselessly humming the same upbeat melody over and over. Finally, almost diffidently, he revealed that this wasn't folk music, but an election jingle just two years old, yet popular well beyond the political race that spawned it in 1976. That was when Malcolm Wallop, a wealthy rancher from Big Horn, decided he'd like to represent his state in the US Senate. The consultants he hired could find nothing with which he could recommend himself nor wallop the incumbent. They therefore composed a rousing Western-style song, exhorting the voters to "come join the Wallop Senate drive." The lively cowboy tune accompanied a video clip showing Wallop leading cheery riders -- all suitably attired in buckaroo garb and hoisting aloft the state flag -- galloping exuberantly across the range. The reason Wallop should be elected, according to the vibrant refrain, was that "he's Wyoming to the spur." The copywriter who came up with this immortal campaign line couldn't later specify what "Wyoming to the spur" meant. He intuitively sensed "it somehow sounded good," which is why he adamantly insisted on it. And right he was. Wallop defeated his very able predecessor and went on to win more elections because he had a catchy jingle, a resourceful PR team and money to shell out. Issues were largely beside the point. It may be tempting to laugh this off as the quintessence of American shallowness, impossible in Israel's polarized environment, laden as it is with life-and-death concerns. But Kadima seems determined to assault all our assumptions and demonstrate that our political messages can be every bit as meaningless as the most vacuous out there. What Wallop could do in untroubled Wyoming, Olmert can exceed in beleaguered Israel. INTERVIEWS HE granted to almost every newspaper last weekend featured a surfeit of indefinable "spurs" -- like Olmert's assertion that he'd make Israel "a country that's fun to live in." The Haaretz correspondents who quoted this inanity didn't press the prime-ministerial front-runner to clarify precisely what "fun" signified, why we need it, whether it's top of our wish list, when it would come, how and in what shape. They let him get away with syrupy obfuscation. Olmert committed himself to nothing while simultaneously promising something to almost everyone. Thus all settlements beyond the security fence will be dismantled, but the fence is portable and the IDF will stay in evacuated territories. Olmert will keep Jerusalem unified but not necessarily Jerusalem as we know it today. Kadima's rightist refugees of the Tzahi Hanegbi mold can dream of substantive settlement blocs, while the Peres-Ramon assortment of Labor dropouts trust these will be minimum-scale blocs. Olmert is a headliner for all persuasions. He poses as the executor of Sharon's political last testament, deliberately obscuring the fact that, before his stroke, Sharon stated there'd be no more unilateral moves (not that anything he said could be taken at face value). Fawning journalists don't harp on contradictions nor demand to know how Olmert plans to effect a separation between Israelis and Palestinians; how he'll expel 100,000 settlers when he couldn't resettle the 9,000 already uprooted; how a judenrein heart of the Jewish homeland and narrower territorial confines will enhance Israel's security; how his line of retreat will become Israel's new border when neither the Palestinians nor the international community would recognize it; how bestowing free gifts on Hamas would cool its genocidal ardor, and how he'll prevent Kassam rockets from spoiling the fun of Israelis in Kfar Saba or Ben-Gurion Airport. But why carp pettily when Olmert assures his Haaretz interviewers that "people will love to say they love" their funland. That should make everything just dandy. No need to worry. It doesn't matter that "convergence" (Olmert's disengagement sequel) won't bring an end of conflict, improved deterrence or any sort of gain -- other than "fun." Could Olmert's brief caretaker tenure hint at the manner of fun in store? AFTER HE was stunned by Hamas's ascent, his government spewed an array of inconsistent improvisations and cockily claimed to have mobilized a global anti-Hamas coalition. Almost immediately Hamas honchos began globetrotting as desired guests. Financial aid wasn't fully withdrawn. World leaders already obsequiously plead for pronouncements that can be passed off as incipiently moderate. International legitimization for a regime that doesn't conceal its resolve to destroy Israel is inevitable. Olmert and his surprised sidekicks missed the opportunity to declare Oslo, with its road map and disengagement offshoots, obsolete because Hamas's takeover of an entity Israel created for the Palestinians is inimical to Israel's most vital existential interests. Additional concessions to a Hamas-led PA would embolden it, enhance its prestige and enfeeble the rag-tag remnants of so-called Palestinian moderation. Instead Olmert hawks more unilateralism -- the ratings-oriented antithesis of patience and perseverance. If the other side won't agree to trade peace for land, Olmert will unilaterally cede land for nothing. His object is perverted from winning peace to ditching land. Yet Olmert's bamboozled groupies applaud. The fatigued prefer purveyors of fun to those who offer no facile solutions. Fluff, hype, slogan and spin become be-alls and end-alls. Boastful pretense counts more than sound policy and proven abilities. As Olmert saddles up for the last stretch of the great prime-ministerial drive, what "somehow sounds good" overrides what's good for the nation. Olmert is Israel to the spur (whatever that is). Ruth and Nadia Matar established Women For Israel's Tomorrow (Women in Green), an activist group of women based in Jerusalem. Their website address is http://www.womeningreen.org |
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MOVING RIGHTWARD CAMPAIGN, IGNORING POLLS, GAINS STEAM
Posted by Hillel Fendel, March 17, 2006. |
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With only 11 days before the national election, with Kadima still leading but with over 20% of the voters still undecided, the "Moving Rightward" campaign is gaining steam and intensity. Thousands of people are taking active part in the campaign, the idea of which is simple: To convince Kadima voters -- many of whom voted in the past for right-wing parties -- to vote once again for a religious and/or right-wing party. The method is also straightforward: Hundreds of pairs of volunteers go door-to-door every evening, mainly in the greater Tel Aviv area, to speak with potential voters. Others stay at home and make phone calls to people in areas that voted heavily for the Likud in the last election. Many of the callers and visitors report success. "One man whom I called told me he was planning not to vote on Election Day but rather to make a barbecue," a Beit El man said. "After a short talk, the man said, 'OK, you're right. For the sake of the Gush Katif expellees, I will vote for a right-wing party -- and I'll bring my wife along as well.'" In another case, a 17-year-old girl found herself on the phone with a soldier who said he had taken part in the expulsion from Gush Katif. By the end of the conversation, he admitted he had been wrong, and even -- with the help of a follow-up call later by the girl's rabbi - agreed to hold a parlor meeting on behalf of the National Union/NRP in his home. "I don't talk to them about the dangers I foresee to my own house and community if Kadima wins," said one Face-to-Facer, "but rather about the country, about themselves. Most of the population lives between Hadera and Gedera, the area known as the Coastal Plain, and I want them to think about what it will be like when this entire area will be adjacent to the Palestinian Authority and at its mercies, just like now in Ashkelon and Sderot. I feel that I'm on a mission to clarify to them what Kadima and the left will bring them." A bulletin board in one of the larger Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria featured this message: "You certainly are not threatened by any of the parties in this election. There is no chance that you will find yourself several months from now with your life's work destroyed and your family living out of cartons and suitcases in a glittering-gold refugee camp. There are no parties 'promising' that it won't happen to you. So you certainly don't have to make any special efforts for this election campaign. So you can go back to sleep now..." One woman reported at 10:20 one evening this week, "So many people I call simply don't know who to vote for. They say that they and their families just don't know what to do. I spoke to about four people for about ten minutes each, and I felt that they received, for the first time, a reason to really consider voting for one of the parties on the religious-right..." Yaakov Sternberg, one of the national organizers of the campaign, told Arutz-7, "Every evening we have 1,000 people calling, and over 1,000 going out to visit -- and the numbers are rising." He said, "I overheard one conversation in which the person on the other end at first said he was planning to vote for Labor, but by the end of the conversation said that he would vote either Likud or Shas..." Eli Alali, organizing the campaign in his area on behalf of the Karnei Shomron Yeshiva, said, "Most of those who say they are voting for Kadima, are doing so because 'everyone else is.' The number of those who are voting Kadima out of ideology is very small. Most don't know what the party stands for. When we talked with Sephardim about Kadima's platform on Judaism, for instance, they immediately either changed their minds or said they would consider voting for another party. With other people, just talking about the ramifications of the disengagement was enough to get them to change their minds about voting for Kadima. Many Kadima voters are simply people who are in despair." Hillel Fendel is Senior News Editor for Israel National News. |
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"DEAR ADULTS, NOW IT'S YOUR TURN"
Posted by Ilan Maeir, March 17, 2006. |
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A 16-year-old resident of Beit El in Judea/Samaria wrote the following exhortation to his neighbors, in light of the Face-to-Face get-out-the-religious/right-wing-vote campaign currently underway. [Editor's note: To read about the volunteer Face-to-Face campaign currently underway, see above.]
And you, the adults -- and excuse me for the generalization -- mainly supported us from behind. You told us, "Yasher koach, great job, what wonderful youth!" You told us, "We have jobs and family." And you know something? You were right. At that time, what we did was our job. But now, the moment of truth has arrived. And now we say to you that the "Face to Face" campaign is your job. Now it's your turn.
Please, mom and dad, go out to Tel Aviv or somewhere else today. We'll take care of the rest. This article appeared in today's Arutz-Sheva (www.IsraelNN.com). |
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JERICHO -- AND DEM WALLS CAME A-TUMBLIN' DOWN
Posted by Steven Plaut, March 17, 2006. |
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1. "And Down Came the Jericho Walls!!"
Okay. SO let's put things in perspective. Was the Israeli raid on the Jericho prison this past week necessary and justified? Absolutely! The "prison" was little more than the headquarters for the Marxist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and for other terrorists, who were operating and directing terrorism openly from there. They were just using the prison as their Ramada Inn, sleeping there at night to keep the Americans happy, while allowing the Palestinian Authority to maintain the pretense of keeping the terrorists and mass murderers locked up. Under an earlier Israeli appeasement, instead of Israel insisting that the Palestinian Authority live up to its Oslo obligations and turn wanted terrorist murderers over to it, a pusillanimous "compromise" was reached with American intervention, allowing the murderers to be "jailed" in "prisons" run by the PLO. I have stayed at worse hotels and motels. Was the Israeli operation coordinated with the Americans and British? Israel, the US and UK are all saying no, which means it probably was. The Islamofascist savages are foaming at the mouth at all three countries, which is no doubt the very best result of the raid. Just us anti-terrorism democracies, getting together once again. Western leftist "peace activists" are being snatched up from the streets of Gaza and the West Bank by the Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Nearly all the other anti-Israel bleeding hearts and busybodies who came into those areas to help the Palestinians and their "armed struggle" have fled, with their tails between their legs, back to the safety of "apartheid Israel". Gaza and the West Bank have been cleansed of the International Solidarity Movement, Western pro-terror activists, and their copycats. Suddenly the pro-terror yuppies are not anxious to serve as human shields for the Jericho terrorists in their soiled underwear! And that alone is such a lovely benefit that it justifies the entire operation! Was it timed to help acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert get a better electoral victory? No doubt. Was it an unqualified success? No, it was a qualified success, mixed with the usual dose of Israeli stupidity, incompetence and muddle-headedness. It was a success because the sight of Palestinian murderers, including the Palestinian Authority "guards" ('concierges' would be a more accurate term), being chased out of the "prison" in their stained underwear, unable to control their bladders in fear, was the first real demonstration that Israel was willing to use force to survive in quite a while! The sight of Israeli leaders choosing to shoot mortars at terrorists rather than begging them for talks was a shot of pride into the national vertebra. Terrorists being marched off to an Israeli prison after hours of their usual rhetoric being broadcast out of the prison, via satellite phones provided the "prisoners" by their concierges, was the funniest thing since the Egyptian soldiers in Sinai in 1967 ran off, leaving their shoes behind in the Sinai sand! So much for Islamofascist rhetoric about how they are all prepared to die for their sacred cause. The PFLP terrorists had always been perfectly willing to dispatch other people to their deaths as suicide bombers, but prefer prison food to acting out a Palestinian Masada. And all this on Purim, no less, the anniversary of the downfall of Haman in the Scroll of Esther. The Jericho operation was a typical Israeli boondoggle because the terrorists, including the murderers of the Israeli cabinet minister Rehavam Ze'evi, were not summarily killed, as they should have been. They were foolishly captured alive, and so now serve as an open invitation for the terrorist savages to grab Israeli civilians, as hostages to trade. It would be impossible to find a better illustration of the mindlessness and utter stupidity of Israel's refusal to institute a death penalty. When the "prisoners" refused at first to surrender in Jericho, a single Daisy Cutter could have made a far better statement about peace and Israel's determination to resist than all the show trials Olmert's people now wish to run for the captured terrorists: murderers who will be represented by the usual Israeli Marxist Jewish lawyers, ever ready to defend Arab mass murderers of Jews. There are a number of interesting tangents to the Jericho story. First, the terrorists holed up in the Jericho "prison" surrendered when the walls started to be broken down by an Israeli bulldozer, no doubt a Caterpiller. It was like something right out of the Book of Joshua, minus the trumpets! For the past couple of years the Left has been demonizing Caterpiller, Inc., because Rachel Corrie, the clueless undergraduate who died when she positioned herself where an Israeli bulldozer driver could not see her in her attempt to interrupt an anti-terror operation, died in a Palestinian medical facility after being injured. The 'dozer in question was a Caterpiller. After the Jericho raid, Caterpiller stock jumped by more than a full percentage point on the New York Stock Exchange, and the US stock markets boomed! Second, the raid showed how ridiculous is the media representation of the PLO's Abu Mazen as a "moderate". When Israel simply did what the PLO had committed itself to do with the imprisoned terrorists in the Oslo Accords, Abu Mazen foamed at the mouth at this nefarious Israeli "crime". He was echoed by the pro-terror "anarchists" from the ISM, safe in their overseas Starbucks. Marching the remaining ISM people out of Israel at bayonet point in their underwear would make a great encore to the Jericho raid! Third, the main target of the raid was one Ahmed Sa'adat, chief terrorist in the PFLP, who had ordered the assassination of Israeli cabinet minister Ze'evi, and the actual murderers, who were all in the Jericho "prison". The leftist moonbats, especially the anarcho-fascists, are already screaming out demands for the captured terrorists to be freed, and expressing their "solidarity" with the Palestinian nazis. Amnesty International rushed out to support the captured murderers, having never uttered a word about the murders of Jewish civilians perpetrated by these same people. The viciously anti-Jewish web site Counterpunch ran a piece denouncing Israel's raid on the Jericho prison, written by anti-Semite Jonathan Cook, who has a long track record of cheerleading terrorism. In the past he also sang the praises of "The Engineer", a Palestinian mass bomber of Jewish children. Sa'adat and the Palestinian murderers had long been proclaimed heroes by the Genocide of Jews Now crowd. Even some Israeli extremists, notably the anti-Semitic lecturer in political science Neve Gordon, had in the past served as human shields to prevent the Israeli army from seizing these same terrorists from PLO-controlled buildings. Gordon had earlier gone to Ramallah to embrace Arafat when Arafat was refusing to turn the terrorists who killed Ze'evi over to Israel, and had been arrested for interfering with Israeli military operations against terrorists. His "anarchist" colleague from Ben Gurion University, the home of more anti-Israel extremists than any other school in Israel, Kobi Snitz, was among the first to rush forward to show his support for the captured murderers, quickly joined by a group of Israeli Taliban Jakes. Perhaps Olmert should consider sending in bulldozers for a siege of the Department of Political Science at Ben Gurion University next? Maybe with the sociology department at Tel Aviv University after that? Gordon is not the only Israeli extremist who likes to lunch with terrorists. A viciously anti-Israel ex-Israeli communist lawyer in the UK, Daniel Machover, has been serving as the lawyer for Sa'adat for some time, and is once again serving as mouthpiece for the mass murderer. Machover led the campaign in Britain to boycott Israeli universities, and also was behind the attempt to indict Israeli army officers visiting the UK as private persons as "war criminals". Machover's father had set up a Maoist pro-terror seditious organization in Israel in the 1960s (called Matzpen). The Eurotrash were also coming out to denounce Israel's raid. The EU condemned the actions by both Israel and the Palestinians. "We strongly condemn the attack on the prison in Jericho by Israeli forces as well as the resulting kidnappings and acts of violence in the Palestinian territories," Josep Borrell, president of the European Parliament said in a statement. [Now there is a courageous stand! Like denouncing bin Laden and George Bush in the same breath.] The cowardly evacuation of the prison in the first place by US and British guards was as good a demonstration as any why Israel cannot rely on "observers" and patrols manned by anyone other than Israeli troops. Finally, since the term is once again being bandied about in the aftermath of the raid, you know how the Left likes to whine about how Israel is an "apartheid state"? Well, I though you might want to learn the exact definition of Israeli apartheid: It is when a leftist Israeli Jewish professor of sociology spends the morning getting his car fixed at an Arab-owned garage, stops to pick up his pills at an Arab-owned pharmacy, calls his Arab renovations contractor about the work on his house, pays his Arab gardener, checks the results of his blood test with the Arab lab technician, stops for lunch at an Arab-owned restaurant, takes a cab owned and driven by an Arab to campus, and then lectures his Arab and Jewish college students about how Israel is such an apartheid state. 2. From the Wall Street Journal:
The Zacarias Moussaoui legal circus may finally soon leave town, though not without teaching everyone a few lessons about terrorists and civilian courts. In the more than four years since he was charged with six counts of conspiracy related to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the "20th hijacker" has mocked the U.S. criminal justice system. He finally pleaded guilty last year, and this week at his sentencing trial the al Qaeda operative got some help from an unexpected quarter -- the U.S. government. A lawyer working for the prosecution was found to have improperly coached several key government witnesses, leading Judge Leonie Brinkema to bar their testimony. As a result, Moussaoui may be spared the death penalty and instead spend the rest of his life in prison. The witness coaching was a prosecutorial blunder, which is a shame, but that is not the main issue here. A bigger mistake was President Bush's decision nearly four and a half years ago to assign Moussaoui to trial in a civilian criminal court. As we know from captured al Qaeda training manuals, recruits are instructed in how to exploit the West's legal system if they are caught. The lesson of the Moussaoui trial is that the regular criminal justice system isn't up to the job of trying most terrorists. Moussaoui would have been the ideal defendant to inaugurate the President's then newly announced -- and subsequently much maligned -- military commissions. Much of the evidence against him was unclassified and could have been produced in open court. If he had demanded access to classified information -- as he did during his criminal trial -- it would have been an easy matter to seal the courtroom and show it to his lawyers, all of whom would have had security clearances. The criminal prosecution was a missed opportunity to show the world how trial by military tribunal would work. Which brings us to Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, which the U.S. Supreme Court will hear later this month. The case challenges the constitutionality of the military commissions announced by Mr. Bush on November 13, 2001, to try suspected terrorists. It further argues that the tribunals are unlawful under the Geneva Convention. A lower court ruled in 2004 that military commissions violated international law, a decision overturned last year by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. The case was brought by Salim Ahmed Hamdan, who was Osama bin Laden's driver and is being held at Guantanamo. There's a twist, though, that raises another legal point. Since the lower-court rulings in Hamdan, Congress passed and the President signed the Detainee Treatment Act -- also known as the Graham Amendment. The law narrows the right of Gitmo detainees to bring suit in federal court; thus if the Supreme Court decides that Graham is constitutional, the High Court will lack jurisdiction to proceed in Hamdan. (Under Graham, detainees can still challenge either their designation as an enemy combatant or their conviction in a tribunal to a single court, the D.C. Court of Appeals.) And if that happens, the military commissions may at last proceed. Oral argument in Hamdan is set for March 28. Meanwhile, as the Administration decides whether to proceed with the death-penalty trial against Moussaoui, there's a certain moral irony in a confessed terrorist being saved by the very legal system that he spent three years railing against. 3. Olmert's Anti-Missile Policy
Concern over a possible Kassam rocket attack on the Rotenberg Power Station in southern Ashkelon has led to new guidelines at the plant: Not to walk in groups or to eat together in the dining rooms. A Rotenberg spokesman has confirmed that the new guidelines have indeed been issued. The reason for the new policy is the management's fear that a Kassam rocket might hit the plant. The station supplies a quarter of Israel's electricity. It is widely felt that a direct rocket hit on the plant, and especially one with casualties, would lead to public demands for a military entry and operation in Gaza. Approximately three Kassams have hit the area in or very close to the Rotenberg plant in recent weeks. One building was damaged. The Ministry of Education recently issued a directive forbidding school trips to the power station and other sensitive installations north of Gaza -- for reasons of Kassam-related threats. 9. Conservative "rabbi" wants us to sympathize with Haman. Really!
In time for Purim, Rabbi Joshua Hammerman, the Conservative Rabbi who regularly writes for the Jewish Week and the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, penned a column, 'Is Haman Misunderstood.' The column did not reference the Torah much, instead referencing Broadway musicals, Superman comics, Spielberg's movie Munich, Shrek and the Wizard of Oz arguing that maybe Haman was just misunderstood and finally re-imagining Purim as the story of a persecuted Haman by a scheming and manipulative Mordechai and Esther. Rabbi Hammerman concludes by saying, Amalek and Haman are really us. No this column wasn't a Purim shpiel; sadly a lot of Rabbi Hammerman's columns are just like this. And there is a certain logic to it. Liberal Judaism has spent the last generation re-imagining the persecutors of the Jews as victims and Jews as the persecutors. If we view Arafat as a great leader and Palestinian terrorists as freedom fighters, how can we resist a little historical revisionism when it comes to Haman. In the bad old times a leader who wanted to exterminate the Jewish people would be a villain. In these modern times when politicians respond to a terrorist attack with more appeasement, we stop and ask how we wronged him and how we can abase ourselves before him. In such an amoral environment, it is no surprise that 400 Reform, Reconstructionist and Conservative Rabbis signed an ad calling on the President to fund the new Hamas government. After all how can one have sympathy for Haman and not Hamas. The irony is that were President Bush about to hand over money to the most peaceful and non-violent Orthodox Jewish or Christian institution, these same 'Rabbis' would immediately rush to sign petitions opposing it in the strongest terms. Yet when a fanatical Islamic party comes to power, these same 'Rabbis' including prominent gay and lesbian figures, demand that our government send them money and lobby for the defeat of the Ross-Lehtinen/Lantos bill that would bar further aid to the Palestinians. "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that change darkness into light, and light into darkness," warns the Prophet Isaiah. "That justify the wicked for a reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him." And yet increasingly America and Israel are run by intellectual elites who make a specialty of just that. Modern historians rewrite the birth of both countries from tales of pioneering heroism into cruel acts of persecution and injustice. Modern artists remove the art leaving behind squiggles, obscenity and symbolic messages. Modern journalists do not report the news but manufacture it, imagining Korans in toilets and trying to pass off memos written in Microsoft Word as being from the Vietnam War. And modern moralists describe evil as good and good as evil. The modern day villains are not the terrorists who killed 3000 people on September 11th but the government and the military trying to combat them. When a terrorist blows up a bus in Jerusalem, the media warns Israel against striking back and perpetuating the cycle of violence. When a terrorist is posed for some goofy photographs in Iraq, the media lose their minds at the sheer horror of it all baying for blood like a Southern lynch mob. To modern day liberals and to the Reform Rabbis who rely on a few salvaged scraps of Jewish culture to pretend that they're not Unitarian Ministers, Haman must be the misunderstood hero for a very simple reason. Haman is both violent and aggrieved. Where Mordechai and Esther respond to troubles with inward reflection, fasting and prayer; Haman responds with the frustrated rage that liberals believe is the hallmark of victimization. The very pettiness of the offensive makes Haman all the more justified because in the modern lexicon of victimhood, the more petty the complaint, the more legitimate it must be. The liberals who have already turned Vashti into a feminist heroine, can now add Haman to their wall of honor. Were a liberal to rewrite the Megillah he would do it like this. In Haman's culture, it is expected that he must be bowed to. By failing to bow to him Mordechai demonstrates contempt for Haman's culture which sends Haman into a state of clinical depression. Realizing that Mordechai's mistreatment of him is but a symptom of the historical Jewish oppression of the Amalekites, Haman decides on a course of action to liberate his people. When Mordechai learns of this, rather than empathizing with Haman and trying to atone for the ways in which he offended him, Mordechai and Esther hatch a devious plan that brings down Haman and results in a brutal massacre of his people. The name Purim comes from the lot that Haman cast. Similarly for the liberal morality is not a certain matter but a matter of chance, of casting lots. Nothing is right and wrong but a moral lottery. For the liberal, every day is lived in an upside down world where Haman is the victim and Mordechai the oppressor and where Hamas are the victims and the settlers are the oppressors. They cannot celebrate a holiday dedicated to the downfall of an enemy of the Jews but can only mourn the downfall of a Haman or an Arafat. And indeed there is little point to a liberal celebrating Purim since when you live in an upside down world, every day is Purim. 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. Or contact him by email at splaut@econ.haifa.ac.il |
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B'SHEVA'S THIRD ANNUAL JERUSALEM CONFERENCE
Posted by Yehuda Oliva, March 16, 2006. |
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I would like to personally invite you to participate in our third annual Jerusalem Conference. The three day conference will take place Monday through Wednesday, 20-22 Adar ( March 20-22, 2006 ) at the Jerusalem Regency Hotel (formerly the Hyatt). The Jerusalem Conference will bring together leading figures in Israeli politics, economy, security establishment, culture and academia, as well as prominent Torah scholars. Gathering Israel's leaders, along with worldwide members of the Jewish community, together in Jerusalem will assuredly strengthen the status of our Capital as the eternal heart of the Jewish People. Mr. Robert Rechnitz of Los Angeles is Chairman of the Jerusalem Conference. Former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will deliver the keynote address on Tuesday. Outgoing IDF Intelligence Chief Aharon Ze'evi Farkash will close the conference Wednesday evening speaking on "The Strategic Balance in the Middle East." Former Chief Rabbi of Israel Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau will open the conference. Simultaneous translation into English of all speeches will be available throughout the conference. As guests of the Jerusalem Conference, you will achieve a deeper understanding of the challenges and goals facing the State of Israel and the Jewish People, and meet leading figures involved in their implementation. Key issues and values affecting Israel and the Jewish People will be thoroughly discussed at the conference, impacting Israel's national agenda for the next generation. The primary sponsor of the conference is Arutz Sheva's popular Hebrew weekly B'sheva, Israel's third largest circulation newspaper. Secondary sponsors include the Jerusalem Municipality, leading institutions of higher learning, think tanks, and corporations. The entire Jewish community in Israel and abroad is invited to attend. For registration information, please visit our JerusalemConference.com website. During the conference, IsraelNationalRadio.com will bring highlights to the English speaking audience. Philanthropists Irving and Cherna Moskowitz will be presented with the "Builders of Jerusalem" award at the third annual Jerusalem Conference this Monday. Following two days of mainly political and social issues, the third day of the conference will be dedicated solely to matters pertaining to the city of Jerusalem. Some of the topics to be discussed include: * Panel Discussion within Religious Zionist Society: National Religious, National Hareidi (Hardal), and Faithfulness to the State Some of those participating in the conference (in arbitrary order) are: Brig.-Gen. (Res.) Yaakov Amidror I look forward to meeting you and to working with you to set Israel's national agenda for the next few years and beyond. Yehuda Oliva
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SIZE MATTERS
Posted by Lawrence Uniglicht, March 16, 2006. |
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Israel's area, compared to that of all surrounding Arab/Muslim countries, is very close to Connecticut's area, compared to all of the United States (including Alaska and Hawaii)! Israel indeed is one of this planet's tiniest nations, encompassing about 8,000 square miles, somewhat less than the immense magnitude of that most densely populated state New Jersey. Might say an open-minded fellow contemplate the Kafkaesque notion that "mighty" Israel might ever in one's wildest imagination, being dwarfed 640 to 1 by its Arab/Muslim neighbors, be a land grabber? Size surely means something when the little guy in the desert Israel must continually defend himself from many vastly larger hostile neighbors, one of which continues to develop a Dr. Strangelove nuclear special, concurrently threatening to wipe that little guy off the map. The nuke obsessed Persian doom master even suggests his ever-expansive Islamic Jew-bashing big bad brethren could easily absorb one reactive retaliatory hit from a blind-sided Israel, but in no way could the tiny Jewish infidel absorb the horror of his one initial Armageddon roundhouse. Alas, size does matter. So how might an outer civil world, replete with hand-wringing Palestinian apologists, view such a size-sensitive dilemma? Of course, chastise the little guy for holding onto a few morsels of land, justifiably secured in 1967 as a consequence of vanquishing Arabs bent on annihilating the Jewish state; furthermore accuse the little guy of occupying poor Arab waifs, who in fact must be held in check by military forces, lest they terrorize Jewish citizens having the audacity to move next door to them in Judea and Samaria, truly part of sovereign Israel. Indeed, 640 to 1 means so little, even for many mush-hearted Diaspora Jews, some perhaps residing within Connecticut and New Jersey yet having no clue on perspective, perhaps due to the unlikely prospect of New York or Pennsylvania militias raiding their nests. Pie-in-the-sky land-for-peace peaceniks are indeed selective historians. They conveniently choose to ignore, or perhaps are truly unaware, that the Arafat led PLO set up shop in 1964, never asking that a sovereign Palestinian state be granted to Arabs residing in Gaza, Judea, Samaria, or east Jerusalem until such lands were secured in battle by Israel in 1967 from their former stewards Egypt and Jordan. You think maybe Israel was being set up to be the convenient diversionary scapegoat occupier of career Arab refugees by perhaps opportunist Muslim Machiavellian robed rogue rulers of the region with henchman Arafat in charge of the politically propitious scam? Hmmm! Yet, pseudo-intellects worldwide, as well as political leaders residing in civil nations, most notably London's reprehensible anti-Semitic so-called mayor Ken Livingston, only exude pathos for pathetic populations that refuse to realize responsible behavior would surely begin to cure their festering disease of stagnation. How about forcing an Islamic governing body to prevent rather than passively allow or even support the abomination of homicide/suicide martyrdom for one? Israel, a nation dwarfed 640 to 1 by mostly hostile Muslim neighbors, cannot logically be blamed for the woeful state of affairs enveloping so-called Palestinians, a weak as well as weakened conglomeration of Arabs truly stripped of bootstraps by those manipulative Muslim movers and shakers of the region. No doubt, Israel is small in size, and that indeed does matter, yet ever-large in intelligence, ambition, energy, heart, and soul; otherwise that beleaguered State would not be. When will other nations observe the obvious? Lawrence Uniglicht is a career civil servant, working for the Social Security Administration. He advocates for the State of Israel with an American perspective. He writes, "Advocating for the disrespected underdog has been my passion, no doubt Israel falls into that category." Contact him by email at luniglicht@snip.net |
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THE OSLO SYNDROME: DELUSIONS OF A PEOPLE UNDER SIEGE
Posted by Tovia Singer Show, March 16, 2006. |
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Author Dr. Kenneth Levin Speaks Out on the Tovia Singer Show: New York, NY -- (March 16, 2006) In the 1993 Oslo accords, Israel embraced Yasser Arafat as its "peace partner," installed him in Gaza and the West Bank as head of a Palestinian government, allowed him to bring with him some 7,000 of his loyalist gunmen, and provided the gunmen with weapons, even as Arafat continued to support terrorist attacks on Israelis and to assure Palestinians and other Arabs his goal remained Israel's destruction. Dr. Keneth Levin's new book, "The Oslo Syndrome" explores the psychological, historical and communal forces that spawned policies which undermined Israel's security and even threatened its survival. He speaks out on the lessons learned from Oslo, and what Israel and the Jewish people must do to ensure survival of the Jewish State on the Tovia Singer Show, Thursday, March 16 from 10 PM to Midnight New York time (Wednesday, 5 -- 7 AM Israeli time) on Israel National Radio and around the world on the Internet at www.toviasinge! r.com and through our Virtual Studio at studio.virtualyeshiva.com Dr. Kenneth Levin has written extensively on Israel and the Arab-Israeli conflict. His articles have appeared in The New Republic, The Boston Globe, The Washington Times, and The Jerusalem Post and have also been distributed through the Knight-Ridder syndicate. He is also a clinical instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. The show is broadcast live throughout Israel and on a live stream at Israel National Radio (www.israelnationalradio.com). If you are a radio station general manager or program director interested in program syndication or having Tovia Singer on as a guest, please e-mail guests@toviasingershow.com or call (212) 561-5793. You can call into our on-air studio line toll-free from Israel, USA, & Canada at 1-800-270-4288; England at 00 800 3-700-7000; and, South Africa at 09 800 3-700-7000. To call in live through the Internet using your PC mic, the Tovia Singer Show is multi-cast from VirtualYeshiva.com's new Virtual Studio during show hours. Download and install the quick spyware-free plug-in (PC, MAC and Linux) for Internet Explorer, Avant Browser, Netscape, or Mozilla Firefox, by linking to http://studio.virtualyeshiva.com |
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OLMERT AS "VISIONARY"
Posted by Aaron Bashani, March 16, 2006. |
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The following is proposed as a cartoon about Olmert. Please pass it on: Olmert is seen on a ridge looking over Judea and Samaria dressed like Herzl and saying: "Maybe not this year but surely within 4 years a Hamas State will come into being. If we have the will, it will surely be a Nightmare." A little figure of Arik Sharon is seen in the corner, saying, "Smolmert has it backwards. The withdrawal from Gaza was to save Judea and Samaria, not to set it on fire." Next to Arik is a little Palestinian boy looking up at Arik and saying, "I thought you Jews choose Life, not Death. Then why are you so torturing us with Hamas by giving them one victory after another. Thanks to Olmert we will surely all die together in this our One Land. Oh, Happy Days!!" A fourth figure in the distance is an Iranian Ayatollah holding a nuclear suitcase addressed to Hamas and saying: "The Mahdi surely has ordained that we Iranians will fight to the last Jew and Arab in Palestine. After we remove Israel's protection over Arabia we will surely take that Peninsula as our own." A fifth figure is a little stupid-looking Sabra in "kovah tembel", saying: "But we will all be Jewish and Democratic ... in Heaven!!" Contact Aaron Bashani at artb@netmedia.net.il |
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SELLING OLMERT AS A GENERAL
Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, March 16, 2006. |
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A slightly fishy smell emanates from the action by the Israeli troops surrounding the prison in Jericho, 20 minutes after British guards/monitors abandoned their posts. Since the Brits are sticklers for keeping certain agreements -- as guarding a prison -- and do not casually get into their cars and drive away as they did from Jericho on March 14th. As reported in The New York Times and CNN, Israeli troops and tanks arrived within 20 minutes of the Brits' precipitous departure. Israeli spokesmen declared it wasn't "coordinated, just coincidental". CNN's Tom Clancy and Zain Verze interviewed Mark Regev at the Israeli Embassy of the Foreign Ministry and asked him if this was a pre-election action. Regev denied any connection. Clancy and Verze were hostile in their questions and it was not the first time they displayed their overt hostility. What does this theatrical performance really look like? The Americans and British are anxious to make Acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert appear decisive and militarily capable just before the elections which he hopes gives him the royal stamp of legitimacy as a Real Prime Minister. The Brits, at the request of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, or whoever arranges such back door communications, have the British leave under the false threat that "they feel endangered". The only problem with this is that no one is really threatening them. Abu Mazen failed in controlling this prison and spoke of the possibility of releasing the killers of Minister Ze'evi in an announcement that was clearly meant to curry favor with the new Hamas government. Other than that, there had never been any information about threats to the US/British monitors who had been charged with watching these six convicted terrorists. Mahmoud Abbas (aka Abu Mazen) President of the Palestinian Authority plays along by dropping the hint that he would release the Palestinian leader who ordered the assassination against Knesset leader Rachavam Ze'evi (Gandhi). When political manipulation is mixed with some facts, the truth is usually obscured. With the arrangement for the British monitors to bolt and the instant availability of Israeli troops and tanks, Olmert looks like he is alert and "on the job". This is particularly important as the elections are only a few weeks off and the Kadima Party (created by Ariel Sharon before his massive stroke) is dropping rapidly in the polls. Olmert is needed to carry out the last and failing Bush policy of the "Road Map". The importance of Olmert being there after the elections is as follows: A strike against Iran's nuclear capability is likely. After this strike, Bush and Rice need something to gift to and pacify the Muslim Arabs. That "gift" would be the evacuation of Judea, Samaria, the Jordan Valley, Golan Heights, and those areas of Jerusalem controlled by the King of Jordan for 19 years. Bush and Tony Blair have Olmert in their pocket and can depend upon his giving up these areas. The "Gift" has become even more important since the American Congress slapped down the Dubai Ports deal Bush so desperately wanted to prove U.S. allegiance to Arab Muslims in the region. The Jericho farce is merely one effort, prior to elections on March 28th, to pump up Olmert's image as a military leader -- so, therefore, look for more to come soon. Keep in mind the failed efforts of Katherine Hughes to make the U.S. acceptable to the Muslim Arabs. The last coin the Bush Administration has to put into the Arab one-armed bandit slot machine is Israel. As the Bush ratings spiral lower and lower, he and his crew are growing desperate. He knows that, despite the fallout, he has to hit Iran's nuclear capability or go down in history as the man who allowed a Muslim Hitler to gain dominance in the region. He needs something, anything, to give to the Arab Muslim nations after Iran is brought to its knees. Remember, Iran is a Muslim but not an Arab country.) Israel is that "something". But, Bush needs a compliant Olmert as Prime Minister to do his bidding, regardless of the risk to Israel's survival. The capture of the six assassins of Minister Ze'evi elevates the clerk-like image of Olmert into one of a "man of action." in the arena of military bravado. Bush needs Olmert for a brief moment in time in order to facilitate the abandonment of large swathes of Israel. The goal of this "arrangement" is to dampen down the ever-ready street rage of the Muslim world, which has become so familiar to us all. 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.com |
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SUICIDE TERROR FOR CHILDREN GLORIFIED ON HAMAS CHILDREN'S WEB SITE
Posted by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook, March 16, 2006. |
 Suicide terror for children is now being actively promoted on the Hamas children's web site al-fateh.net. The new material posted yesterday is a short fictional story for children, glorifying a young girl's suicide terror attack. It describes how she calmly progresses, step by step, planning and executing her death in a suicide terror attack. The girl heroically leads "Zionist soldiers" to their death, all the while knowing she will be killed along with them. In death she is said to be "smiling, lying on the grass, because she died as a Shahida (Martyr for Allah) for Palestine." The story is entitled "A Palestinian Girl's Heroism." The illustration with the story on the web shows a young smiling girl with four candles. The image of a living, smiling child in a story about the death of a child appears to echo a familiar message in PA children's education, that those who die as Shahids (Martyrs for Allah) are not really dead. (You can see PA TV broadcasts of Shahada promotion for children on the PMW website.) The Jerusalem Post reports today on Hamas's attempt to deny responsibility for this and other web sites administered from its Beirut office. The Jerusalem Post article is reprinted below, following the translation of the short story from the web site. It should be noted that after PMW publicized that the Hamas children's website was encouraging children to seek martyrdom, the Russian server (CORBINA TELECOM Network Operations) immediately closed down the website on March 9, 2006. However, the site reopened a couple of days later and is now being hosted by a Malaysian webhoster (Eastgate;Telekom Multimedia of Telekom Malaysia Berhad;Telekom Exchange II, Jalan Lingkaran Fauna). The following is the new short story on the web site. It's called "A Palestinian Girl's Heroism." "Suad, the bright Palestinian girl, remembered what the Zionist criminals did, when they killed her father and mother. "Hamas denies running kids' suicide Web site"
Hamas has denied charges by two Israeli organizations that a cartoon-style Web site for kids that praises suicide bombings belongs to the militant Islamic movement. The al-fateh.net site encourages children to commit suicide in order to kill Israeli soldiers and civilians. On Wednesday the site had an item telling a short story about a young girl who knowingly leads Israeli soldiers to a bomb and dies with them. The story said that "Suhad became a shahida (martyr) lying on the grass and smiling because she was a shahida for Palestine." Itamar Marcus, Director of Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), an Israeli organization which monitors and translates Palestinian Arabic language media, said that the site, along with palestine-info.com and palestinegallery.com are official Hamas sites. "A man by the name of Nizar Hussein who sits in Lebanon runs those site and he runs the children's Hamas Web site from the same server," said Marcus. According to Dr. Reuven Ehrlich, a former army general who now directs an organization called the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center said Hussein works in the same office as leading Hamas official in Lebanon, Osama Hamdan. "We know and assume that they are working together," said Ehrlich. "I checked it out with my Israelis sources and they confirmed this. I can't reveal who they are." According to a Hamas official in Ramallah, Hamas has long been falsely accused of running the palestine-info.com Web site. "You should ask [the Israelis] where they have this information from," Farhat Abu-Assad, a Hamas official in Ramallah, told The Jerusalem Post. Abu-Assad said that many Islamic sites sympathize with Hamas "but that does not make them Hamas Web sites. The [people who run these sites] are private individuals that might sympathize with Hamas, but Hamas does not recognize these Web sites." Marcus said the proof is in the content. "The fact is that they use these sites to publicize their announcements," said Marcus. "That is their way of getting their messages out to the world." But Abu-Assad said the announcements are available to all and appear in many Palestinian media agencies including the official Palestinian news agency WAFA and in Maan, an Internet news Web site. Marcus added that palestinegallery.com has materials that could not be available to others. "There is no way in the world that they can get these films of suicide bombings on these Web sites." The children's site, which is in Arabic, has a "Shahid of the Week" on its homepage. PMW believes that the reason Hamas does not have a declared official Web site is because it might be closed down for political reasons. Indeed, in an interview with UPI on October 10, Osama Hamdan said that Hamas did not have its own Internet site and that political pressure caused down its former site to be shut down three years ago. However PMW noted that some countries which host servers, such as Malaysia, would not close a Hamas Web site. This promotion of Shahada death for children is not new in
the PA. The Palestinian Authority through its televised videos and
children's textbooks has taught children to see death through
Shahada as "sweet", desirable, and something to aspire.
Itamar Marcus is director of PMW -- Palestinian Media Watch -
(http://www.pmw.org.il). PMW is based in Jerusalem. Barbara Crook, a
writer and university lecturer based in Ottawa, Canada, is PMW's
North American representative.
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WHEN ISRAELIS ARE THEIR OWN WORST ENEMY
Posted by Deb Kotz, March 16, 2006. |
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Great piece by Rabbi Riskin. When I was at Midreshet Lindenbaum in 1991, he took us, his female students, around Efrat, showing us the newly built homes, video stores and sweeping vistas and pleaded with us to move there. Now we don't know what will become of the Gush if Kadima gets elected. One analysis I read said that if Olmert follows through on his campaign pledge, a slew of yishuvim in Judea and Samaria will be evacuated including some in the Gush and several large ones in Carnei Shomron such as Alon Moreh. These will presumably all be behind the fence now under construction. I've been engaging in a spirited email exchange with a close friend of mine living in Israel for the year. We've had several disagreements but we did agree on one thing: Kadima is a train wreck and the entire political system in Israel is a house of cards that's at risk of tumbling in on itself due to corruption. After this exchange, I tried to figure out why Israel was now in this precarious position, and here's what I came up with. Israel is in the middle of a war far more insidious than any yet fought in the modern state. That's because when you're at war, you need to identify your enemies and defeat them. Israelis aren't certain who their enemies are. In fact, many now see themselves as the enemy. How can you fight yourself and expect to win? That's the tone of Rabbi Riskin's piece. It's called, "If it's true that most Israelis hate the settlers, they must also hate themselves," and appeared in the Jewish Press, February 24, 2006. Rabbi Shlomo Riskin is the founder and chancellor of Ohr Torah Stone Colleges and Graduate Programs, and chief rabbi of Efrat. It's well worth reading. Why was the demolition of the nine homes in Amona accompanied by so much violence on both sides of the ideological spectrum, whereas the destruction of the Gush Katif settlements only seven months ago took place amid comparative understanding and sensitivity, with crying and decrying, with dancing and denying, but in largest measure devoid of the use of force? Apparently the overwhelming majority of those who feel part of the settler community, while strongly disagreeing with the "disengagement" policy -- either on Zionistic or humanistic grounds or because they are against giving a prize to terror and Hamas in this critical time of Palestinian internal dissension and external aggression -- might well endorse passive resistance but would clearly stop short of violence. So what happened half a year later in Amona? I am not merely writing about the youth who demonstrated in Amona; I'm talking about murmurings throughout the settler community, which has been radicalized far beyond the red lines of Gush Katif. The explanation lies between the lines of a survey conducted by Professor Dalia Mor of the College of Management in Rishon Letzion, aimed at examining the attitudes of Israelis toward the various sectors of our broader society: Ashkenazim, Sephardim, secularists, settlers, haredim, rightists, leftists, Israeli-Arabs, new immigrants and foreign workers. The survey revealed that the sector most hated by Israelis is the Palestinians, with the settlers a close second. And among those respondents who defined themselves as left-wingers, hostility toward the settlers ranked higher than hostility toward the Palestinians -- 67 to 55 percent! This study explained to me a curious phenomenon. Israelis may have many faults, but lack of generosity to people in trouble is not one of them. Our telephones and door bells ring every ten minutes with requests for aid to needy families and institutions, Israel as a fledgling country welcomed under-privileged and undereducated refugees from Third World countries in numbers unrivaled by any other country, and our nation was among the first to take in the Vietnamese boat people and to send volunteers and raise funds for victims of the recent tsunami and Pakistani earthquake as well as the homeless of Hurricane Katrina. With this history why is there no national outcry on behalf of the expelled residents of Gush Katif, most of whom are still waiting to receive their government subsidies and are living in substandard housing, without any means of employment? It's not like these residents of Gush Katif built theft settlements as thieves in the night. They were sent as agents of every Israeli government since the Six Day War, and they turned a desert into a garden of flowers, vegetables and flowers. Why is the government, as well as the majority of the populace, so indifferent to their fate? It can only be because the entire settlement community has become a demonized and de-legitimized sector of Israel society. This explains why in Amona the government (and Supreme Court) would not accept a mere seven-day delay to enable the settlers themselves to dismantle their homes and restore whatever they could as they resumed their lives in Ofra, and why the policemen came out on horseback, brandishing clubs and often striking indiscriminately, as pictures seem to testify. I certainly do not condone in any way the stone throwing of many of the youth who were there. But the settler community had come to Amona already feeling disenfranchised and abandoned, and unfortunately those who feel pushed against the wall of hatred and indifference often act with violence because they sense they have nothing to lose. Tragically, the overreaction of the police only exacerbated the perception that we settlers are Public Enemy Number One. What is the source of our repugnant status? Some refer to us as leeches that have sucked the Israeli treasury dry and caused undeserved stagnation to the Negev and the Galilee, by our demands to fund our settlements; others even charge us with immorality, saying we have robbed the Palestinians of lands that rightfully belong to them. There are voices of those like Avrum Burg, who have internalized the cruel canard our enemies have cynically flung at us, holding us responsible for the suicide bombers who murder the innocent citizens of Netanya, Tel Aviv, Hadera and Petach Tikva. These voices have forgotten the Treaty of Versailles arid the Balfour Declaration, which initially called for eighteen Arab states and one Jewish state on both sides of the Jordan; they portray us as white European Boers conquering and colonizing the "South African" homelands of the native Palestinians, paying no mind that it is we Jews who have lived in this area for 4,000 years in unbroken continuity and that we comprised the majority of those who lived on and worked these lands in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In their blind idealization of the possibilities for peace with the Palestinians, they choose to overlook that from the UN Partition Plan of 1947 to the tense period preceding the Six Day War to the Oslo accords of 1993 to the Camp David Summit of 2000, it is we Israelis who have consistently been willing to compromise and it has been the Arabs who have refused offer after offer to share this land. Yes, you can only make peace with your enemy -- but that enemy must be willing to make peace with you. Though most Israelis seem to have bought into the "immorality" of our position and condone any ill treatment we may receive as being well deserved, we settlers remain proud of our settlements, proud of the unique and close relationship some of us have succeeded in establishing with our Palestinian neighbors, proud of our educational network, proud of the idealism and patriotism of our youth, who still find their way into the most elite and dangerous units of the IDF. But we are hurt and dismayed by the hatred leveled against us. Yes, the settler community speaks with different voices and from varying degrees of a wide right-wing perspective, but the overwhelming majority of us are rational, committed, patriotic and idealistic citizens. Do we not deserve to be embraced and co-opted in a consensus government (even if that government rejects Greater Israel as a viable option) rather than cast aside and de-legitimized as criminals? Most of us would welcome a plan enabling us to live in peace with peaceful neighbors -- but instead we are told that many of our legal settlements (beyond the "fence") will have to be dismantled even as Hamastan is gaining unprecedented political support and renewed terrorism is rearing its ugly head. The government's claim that unilateral separation will enhance our ability to defend ourselves -- that once we retreat from settlements it will be easier to extirpate the enemy -- is unproven, but the destruction of our homes and the uprooting of our settlers is taking place with great dispatch and in an atmosphere that only strengthens our feelings that we, the settlers, have become the enemy. Does the government not realize that the insensitivity and hatred we feel emanating from its policies only serves to energize the extremist elements of our population and threatens to rob our state of its most committed and idealistic youth (God forbid)? If it's true that most Israelis hate the settlers, they must also hate themselves. After all, modern Israel was founded by pioneers who settled on lands claimed by the Arabs. If our government continues to de-legitimize the settler community, I fear that eventually we will witness the evacuation of Jews from Tekoa, Efrat -- and Jerusalem. Deb Kotz is an active member of the Brandeis Chapter of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) and maintains an email list to distribute articles of interest to the local community. She can be reached at DebKotz@aol.com |
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BILL NOT ANTI-TERRORIST; TERRORISTS MURDER, OLMERT TALKS
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, March 16, 2006. |
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THE RATIONALE OF ISRAEL'S SUPREME COURT The Supreme Court refused to reconsider a previous ruling against an IDF tactic. The tactic was to ask Arab neighbors to warn a terrorist, in a house surrounded by the IDF, to surrender and avoid a shootout that would get them and perhaps some bystanders killed. The tactic successfully avoided much bloodshed. Only once was a neighbor-messenger wounded. Most Arabs agreed to deliver the message, without being coerced. The Court ruled that the IDF has to find a way to resolve the tactical problem without impairing the "dignity" of an Arab neighbor, even if the neighbor agreed voluntarily to play a role in sparing people's lives. The Court doubted that acceding to the IDF request was voluntary (Arutz-7, 2/28). The undemocratically chosen Court is legislating its values, which most Israelis do not share, and undermining national security. This is an example of the Israeli Supreme Court putting the supposed dignity of Arabs before the lives of Israeli troops. The Court might be seen as also putting this dignity before the lives of Arabs, whom the tactic spares. That would indicate an extremist and suicidal notion of human rights. I don't think that is involved. I think the Court opposes Israeli defense against the Arabs, so that Israel would have to give up the Territories. Problem is, even if Israel gives up the Territories, the Arabs would not give up terrorism. The IDF still would have to fight back, but it is too inhibited, partly by the court, and partly by having come under control of a leftist ideology that is pro-Arab. H.R. 4681 NOT ANTI-TERRORIST, AS BILLED This bill was described by an earlier source as the definitive anti-terrorist bill, to withhold US recognition and funding and permission for terrorist diplomas to travel in the US, without the loophole of Presidential waivers. IMRA published the draft. It has waivers for what the President would call "national security" or "humanitarian" needs. The basic evil of this bill is its codifying of US policy as being to develop a democratic peaceful Arab state in the Territories. It doesn't use the word, "state," but what it calls for implies one. The US does not have the right to allocate the unallocated Territories of the Palestine Mandate for a Jewish national home. That right belongs to the Jewish people, as can be seen from the Mandate that the US endorsed at the time. Congress is conceited if it thinks it can influence the Arabs. A new Arab state would be hostile to Israel. If Congress is sincere about severing aid to terrorists, then let it prohibit spending of US funds in the P.A. until Congress decides that the conditions have changed to warrant such spending. Presidents exercise waivers deceitfully; Congress thus passes meaningless laws. They don't help Israel or safeguard national security. Since Presidents circumvent the subsidy provisions, while the Arabs are not peaceful, the effect is to establish an anti-American state allied to the evil axis. OLMERT'S CLAIM VS. PRESS REPORTS Acting PM Olmert claimed that Israeli military action put enough rocket launchers out of commission as to reduce the bombardment of Israel (IMRA, 3/2). The IDF reported firing artillery towards the launchers. This was derided by IMRA as firing at empty hills. The IDF never mentioned any results of its firing. WHY ISRAELI COUNTER-ATTACKS DON'T STOP P.A. ROCKETS An IDF artillery officer explains, "Before we fire shells, we take great care to ensure that there are no innocent civilians or farmers in the targeted site." "If someone plans a rocket attack ahead of time, they (he) can reach the site and fire the rocket and flee within two minutes." (IMRA, 3/1.) The Arabs are violating the rules of war. Under those rules, Israel need not withhold return-fire. Thus, the Arabs fight barbarically, and Israel doesn't fight. Why should it consider P.A. civilians as particularly innocent, when almost the whole society there is engaged in, or favors, jihad" TERRORISTS GETTING THROUGH After an Arab terrorist stabbed another Israeli in Judea-Samaria, Jewish residents demanded the resignation of the Army commander. That commander oversaw the thousands of rampaging soldiers and police ranged against mostly peaceful protestors, but has greatly reduced the number of troops protecting the settlers, thereby facilitating terrorism (Arutz-7, 3/1). The government does not sympathize with those whom predecessor regimes had invited into the Territories. Neither does it protect people in the State of Israel much from terrorism. KNESSET INVESTIGATING POLICE BRUTALITY? The Knesset has started its investigation of police brutality in the demolition of allegedly illegal houses in Amona. The investigation is not whether there was brutality, for the Knesset has films of it (Arutz-7, 3/1). Nor is it clear that the houses were illegal; the government's position on this is ideological. From the assurances of the investigators' respect and support for the police, the way they ask them to give an account of themselves, and the police use of pejoratives and false accusations such as "extremist" and of settlers chopping down Arabs' olive trees, the investigation appears to be starting off as a whitewash. Some of the questions were sensible, except that they were asked of the malefactors, who stalled. Perhaps the investigation will be more pertinent when civilian witnesses are called. It is difficult to expect the legislature to investigate a political action, which is what the demolition and the conduct of the police was, because the legislature is filled with those who share the ideology behind the police misdeeds. Most modern investigations in Israel and in the US are whitewashes. Thus we have much rule by conspirators. Skeptics of conspiracy theory, such as Prof. Steven Plaut, do not seem to take this into account. They should stop deriding the notion that much government is handled by conspiracy and limit their criticism to theories about particular conspiracies. Some conspiracies are falsely alleged, and some are based on facts. The trick is to tell which is which. IS THE U.S. SUCCEEDING IN PACIFYING IRAQ? I came across this in a report on Iraqi politics that is not involved in the US political contention over the war. "The country remains in a severe state of turmoil and is subject to daily terrorist attacks. Frightened by random violence, many Iraqis rarely venture out of their homes. The supply of electricity and gasoline remains irregular, and the high rate of unemployment shows no sign of abating." (Dr. Nimrod Raphaeli of MEMRI in IMRA, 3/1.) RESULTS OF THE INTERNATIONAL MUSLIM RIOTS The riots have disillusioned millions of Westerners with Islam being a "religion of peace" and that we can trust Muslims and work out differences with them. More Westerners realize that Muslims have not just immigrated, they have infiltrated Western society as subversive, and should be fought off here if not also abroad. Apparently this is more of the wake up call that 9/11 failed to make clear (Jim Geraghty, NY Sun, 3/2). Pres. Bush drew no public conclusions from the riots. It was a golden opportunity he missed. He is too busy putting our ports under Muslim control. THE ARAB WORLD EXPECTS THE WEST TO PAY FOR THE P.A. "While the Arab world coins billions -- even trillions of dollars from the world's economy, they expect all others to feed the Arab Muslim Palestinians. This has been going on for more than 50 years while real refugees in Africa are allowed to starve. The Arabs have kept the "poor Palestinian refugees" on display for all this time, creating a Palestinian refugee industry." (Winston Mid East Analysis, 3/2.) Yes, the world seems to be accommodating itself to the non-accommodating Hamas being in charge of the P.A.. ISRAEL BACK TO FEELING INVINCIBLE Some Arab-Israel wars were so close, that Israel nearly lost. Nevertheless, Israelis have regained the over-confidence they had after the 1968 war that the Arabs cannot defeat them and know it. In the 1976 war, Israel initially was faring so badly that its leaders despaired, but Israelis have forgotten that (Dr. Aaron Lerner, IMRA, 3/2). If the Arabs had sent forth their forces first, in the Six Day War, instead of making acts of war but keeping their planes on their bases, they might have won that war, too. The Arabs don't believe that they will lose the next war. Some of the Arab states are arming for it. Israeli withdrawals give them strategic advantages and deprive Israel of strategic advantages. The withdrawals boost Arab morale and give them to understand that eventually they will win. They feel vindicated in this belief by US support and by Israeli expressions of weakness. 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@aol.com. |
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TIRED OF FIGHTING AND WINNING
Posted by Ruth Matar, March 16, 2006. |
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This week's Letter from Jerusalem is based on an excellent analytical article by Evelyn Gordon in today's Jerusalem Post, entitled: "Tired of fighting and winning". Olmert, unfortunately, appears to have meant exactly what he said. He truly is tired of fighting and winning so tired that he would rather take refuge in fantasies, in lies, empty promises and evasion of any responsibility. Acting Prime Minister Olmert is trying to change his title of "Temporary Acting Prime Minister" to just plain "Prime Minister" of Israel. It is important to understand that elections in Israel are entirely different than those in the United States. People here cannot vote separately for the Party and the Office of Prime Minister. The Party which receives the majority of the votes is entitled to attempt to form the new government, and its leader becomes the Prime Minister. The Kadima Party was nailed together by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon not long before his massive stroke on January 4th, 2006. Politicians in Israel were completely unprepared for Sharon's debilitating cerebral hemorrhage. And so, of course, was Ariel Sharon himself. Few human beings are able to seriously contemplate such a drastic ending to their life's goals. Possible death, yes. But to lie in a coma, barely alive, while somebody else takes on their job, and acts and speaks in their name, no! In today's Jerusalem Post there is a Letter to the Editor by Saul Spiegler, which highlights this unexpected unfortunate situation. Sir, -- it's getting just a wee bit tiresome hearing from Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that "Prime Minister Sharon told me this, he told me that, he wanted me to take over for him," etc. Olmert is not exactly the straightest shooter in the Knesset, so perhaps he ought to give it a rest. Olmert can say anything at all about what Sharon told him. Sharon has now been in a coma for 72 days and is not likely ever to be able to contradict anything that Olmert says. The following is a short list of Olmert's zig-zagging. 1. Last week Olmert pledged that a Kadima-led government "will not invest in construction or infrastructure development beyond the Green Line!" On the contrary, Sharon repeatedly pledged to avoid further unilateral withdrawals. Is Olmert calling Sharon a liar? It is not without justification that Olmert has been called the "Zig-Zag" man.To put it bluntly, Olmert is an opportunist par excellence. He says and does what is good for Ehud Olmert. A VOTE FOR KADIMA MEANS ACCEPTANCE OF EHUD OLMERT'S LIES, EMPTY PROMISES AND EVASION OF ANY RESPONSIBILITY. With blessings and love for Israel.
Kadima's campaign spots, by highlighting Ariel Sharon and billing Ehud Olmert merely as his heir, send an unintentionally revealing message: that Olmert himself has nothing to offer the country, so he must instead exploit the popularity of Kadima's comatose founder. And an analysis of Olmert's recent statements confirms this conclusion: He indeed has nothing to offer -- except lies, empty promises and evasion of responsibility. Consider, for instance, his pledge last week that a Kadima-led government "will not invest in construction or infrastructure development beyond the Green Line," thereby freeing up "billions of shekels for infrastructure development in the Negev, Galilee and Jerusalem." If he truly intends to invest no money at all in the territories, that belies his repeated promises to strengthen the settlement blocs. But if, as his advisers later claimed, he only intends to halt investment outside the blocs, then where will those billions for the Negev and Galilee come from? Even today, there is almost no government-funded construction in the territories outside the blocs; a freeze that excluded the blocs would thus free up almost no money at all. Or consider his pledge to finally build in E1, between Jerusalem and Ma'aleh Adumim. Due to American opposition, Sharon never did this, and deputy premier Olmert, far from protesting, energetically supported this decision. Does Olmert now intend to break with both Sharon's legacy and his own previous positions and defy the Bush administration? Or is he merely fantasizing that the US, for no discernible reason, will suddenly withdraw its opposition? Then take his statement to last week's AIPAC conference: that allowing Hamas to run in the Palestinian elections was a mistake. This decision was made by Olmert's mentor, Sharon, and Olmert himself was part of the cabinet majority that approved it, despite a recommendation by Justice and Foreign Ministry experts that Israel insist on compliance with the Oslo Accords' explicit ban on parties that employ "unlawful or non-democratic means." Yet Olmert offered no apology; rather, he acted as if it had been someone else's decision. Then, finally, there is the centerpiece of his platform: a massive unilateral withdrawal from the West Bank in exchange for international recognition of Israel's self-proclaimed borders. Quite aside from the irony of claiming Sharon's mantle for this idea -- a claim that, given Sharon's repeated pledges to eschew further unilateral withdrawals, implicitly brands Olmert's mentor and role model as a liar -- it is hard to imagine a wilder fantasy than this. IN GAZA, Israel withdrew fully to the international border and pulled out every last Israeli, soldiers and civilians alike. Yet not one single country has been willing to declare Israel's "occupation" of Gaza ended; instead, the world still holds Israel responsible for Gaza's well-being, demanding, for instance, that it allow Gazans to work in Israel and to import and export via Israeli ports. So how does Olmert imagine that a far less complete withdrawal in the West Bank would be rewarded not only with international acknowledgment that the "occupation" had ended, but with recognition of Israel's unilaterally defined borders as well? After all, unlike in Gaza, he does not intend to withdraw to the Green Line; rather, he plans to retain major settlement blocs, including east Jerusalem. Moreover, as senior Kadima official Avi Dichter correctly noted, the army's continued presence east of the fence is essential to Israel's security. But if, as Kadima therefore proposes, Israel withdraws its settlers but not its soldiers, does anyone seriously believe that the world would declare the "occupation" ended? Indeed, the Gaza withdrawal demonstrates just how little international compensation Israel could expect for any West Bank pullout. In exchange for leaving Gaza, Israel received a letter from US President George W. Bush in which Bush, inter alia, wrote that "existing major Israeli population centers" in the territories make a full return to the 1949 armistice lines "unrealistic." Sharon and Olmert trumpeted this as a major achievement, declaring that it permitted Israel to "strengthen its hold" on West Bank settlement blocs. A letter, however, is not a formal treaty; it does not even bind Bush, much less his successors. And indeed, far from allowing Israel to strengthen the blocs, Bush flatly forbade Israel to build in E1 -- which, as Olmert himself acknowledged in weekend interviews, is essential to keep Ma'aleh Adumim from becoming an isolated enclave. And that is the disengagement in a nutshell: Israel gave up concrete territorial assets in order "strengthen its hold" on other assets, only to discover that the international community never supported that bargain and refused to grant the desired quid pro quo. And there is no reason to believe that the world would behave differently in response to the far less complete pullout that Olmert is offering in the West Bank. Perhaps the root of Olmert's delusional policies can be found in his address last June to the Israel Policy Forum in New York, where he declared: "We are tired of fighting, we are tired of being courageous, we are tired of winning, we are tired of defeating our enemies. We want to be able to live in an entirely different environment of relations with our enemies." Unfortunately, an entirely different relationship with one's enemies is possible only if your enemies share that goal -- which even Olmert admits that the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority does not. Until then, the only choices are fighting back or being destroyed, winning or losing, defeating one's enemies or being defeated by them. That is precisely why all Israeli governments pre-Sharon, even those that favored "land for peace," refused to concede land without receiving a peace treaty in exchange: They understood that until the Arabs were ready to make peace, there was no choice but to continue fighting - and that no Arab government would have any incentive to make peace if it could get the land for free. But Olmert, unfortunately, appears to have meant exactly what he said. He truly is tired of fighting and winning -- so tired that he would rather take refuge in fantasies, even if Israel ends up the loser thereby. Ruth and Nadia Matar established Women For Israel's Tomorrow (Women in Green), an activist group of women based in Jerusalem. Their website address is http://www.womeningreen.org |
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TAKING UP RACHEL CORRIE'S CAUSE
Posted by Steve Plaut, March 16, 2006. |
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1. The American Nazis Have a New Cause
The "National Socialist Movement" is a Nazi splinter, claiming to be an actual nazi "party," with headquarters in Minneapolis. It is getting harder and harder to tell the difference between it and Counterpunch. The "National Socialist Movement" web site links to that of Norman Finkelstein, the Holocaust Denier from DePaul "University" who is also a regular on Counterpunch. And new the "National Socialist Movement", whose motto is "Fighting for Race and Nation", has taken up the cause of Rachel Corrie (http://www.nsm88.com/index2.html). Corrie, you recall, committed suicide as part of an attempt to interfere with an Israeli military anti-terror operation. She placed herself in a position where an Israeli bulldozer operator could not see her. She was crushed and then died in a Palestinian medical facility, probably from improper treatrment. She is now a heroine for the American Nazis, the REAL ones and not just the Alexander Cockburn group. The "National Socialist Movement web site is outraged, almost like Vanessa Redgrave writing on Counterpunch, that the propaganda play about Corrie celebrating Arab terrorism will not be staged in New York, or -- as it is called on the nazi web site -- Jew York City. Again like Counterpunch, the Nazi web site is full of rants about Jews controlling the US government. The main difference between Cockburn's site and the Nazi site is that the latter has almost no readers, whereas the Counterpunch nazis do. 2. 'Hands Off My Fridge, Meathead'
Ms. Dalmia is a senior analyst and Ms. Snell the director of education policy at the Reason Foundation. LOS ANGELES -- Hollywood film director turned political activist Rob Reiner believes that he ought to be exempt from accountability because of his good intentions. That was the clear message from his press conference on Tuesday, called to address accusations that he violated a state ban when he diverted taxpayer dollars from First 5 -- an unelected commission to promote children's health that he's headed for six years -- to run an ad campaign promoting his latest ballot initiative called Preschool for All. A bipartisan group of senators has ordered an audit of the commission's funds. Mr. Reiner, who first rose to fame when he played Meathead, Archie Bunker's liberal son-in-law on "All in the Family," vowed not to resign, because he wants to do "right by the four-year-olds." This is not the commission's only questionable contract. First 5 has received to date $800 million -- about 20% -- of the tobacco proceeds that Mr. Reiner convinced California voters to impose on themselves in a 1998 referendum. Of this, the commission has awarded contracts totaling about $230 million to firms or individuals known to Mr. Reiner -- some of them without competitive bidding. Meanwhile, the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office is mulling whether to launch its own investigation to determine if there was any cronyism involved in awarding the ad campaign contract to a firm with long-standing ties to Mr. Reiner. Mr. Reiner is unfazed by all of this. The commission's ad campaign, he says, was perfectly legitimate because it was merely informing parents of the benefits of preschool -- not telling them how to vote on his new initiative. No doubt this is the kind of creative thinking that has made him such a successful Hollywood director. If state authorities buy this logic, however, they will effectively legitimize a scheme to leverage the tax proceeds from one referendum to support another involving still more taxes. But now that Mr. Reiner has succeeded in putting his Preschool for All initiative on the ballot, the most immediate issue for voters is not how he financed it, but what he is selling them. The initiative sounds like a great bargain: By imposing a 1.7% tax on couples making over $800,000 ($400,000 for individuals), it seeks to generate $2.4 billion to fund three hours of free preschool every day for California's four-year-olds. Yet even the Reiner folks don't expect to enroll all four-year-olds in the program -- just 70% of them. However, 66% of California's four-year-olds already attend some form of preschool. This means that $2.4 billion will fund 22,000 new kids -- about $109,000 per new preschooler, according to a recent analysis by the Reason Foundation. For this kind of money, a lot of poor parents could put their kids through a good state college and graduate school and still have some change left for a family field trip to the Galapagos. Mr. Reiner's spokesman Nathan James disputes Reason's cost estimate on grounds that although 66% of four-year-olds currently get preschool, only about 25% get "quality" preschool. "It could be baby-sitting or throwing a kid in front of a TV set," he told the New York Sun. The proof of the pudding, however, is in the eating -- and what's coming out of Oklahoma and Georgia, two states that implemented universal preschool over a decade ago -- is not particularly appetizing. Last year, the gains in reading scores of fourth graders in both states ranked among the bottom 10 on the National Assessment of Education Progress tests -- the premier benchmark for comparing student performance across states. Even more stunning, not one of the 10 best performing states had universal preschool programs. Even before Mr. Reiner went on the offensive this Tuesday, some California Democrats were beginning to wonder about the wisdom of his scheme. Two of them, Tom Torlakson of Antioch and Don Perata of Oakland, have publicly withdrawn support from his initiative, citing concerns that it would only subsidize kids who already have preschool, not those who most need it. Indeed, because universal preschool programs are by definition not means-tested, they help not the poor so much as middle-income or wealthy families who are better at negotiating the system. In Quebec, for instance, which implemented the most ambitious universal preschool program eight years ago, about half of the government-funded day care spots are taken up by families in the top 30% income bracket who can well afford to pay out-of-pocket. But this is not the only way that Mr. Reiner's attempt to play Robin Hood would end up back-firing on the poor. An analysis by LECG, an economic consulting firm in California, has found that the Reiner tax-hike would actually result in more than $4 billion in general fund losses over the first five years as rich taxpayers either flee the state or report less taxable income. This would either mean cuts in health, welfare and other programs for the poor -- or an even bigger fiscal deficit. There is a better way to help poor parents without soaking taxpayers or jinxing the budget. California already spends $3 billion on preschool. It would make far more sense to hand this money to lower- and middle-income families in the form of targeted preschool tax credits. Mr. Reiner's ad campaign mentions neither the indifferent results of universal preschool nor its budgetary consequences. This, in itself, would not be a problem, because a democracy counts not on any one person's script, but many partial ones from numerous interested parties, to get the full story across to voters. But there is a problem when someone has unfair access to taxpayer dollars to bankroll his script over others. This is why California authorities need to give close scrutiny to Mr. Reiner's tactics -- and California voters to his grand taxing plans. As Archie Bunker would say: Hands off my fridge, Meathead. 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. Or contact him by email at splaut@econ.haifa.ac.il |
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STORIES FROM THE NATION'S CAPITAL
Posted by Carrie Devorah, March 15, 2006. | ||
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The pictures were all taken by Carrie Devorah.
January 10. 2006. A chamber music quartet was first established in 1936 in what was to become Israel by Jewish musicians in Tel-Aviv. The Jews were then called Palestinians, so the musicians were part of the Palestine Symphony Orchestra. (When the Jews dropped the name and became Israelis in 1948, the local Arabs and the large number of Arab immigrants picked it up and started calling themselves Palestinians.) The youngsters shown here are the Ariel Quartet from Israel: Alexandra Kazovsky, violin; Gershon Gerchikov, violin; Sergey Tarashchansky, viola; and Amit Even-Tov, cello. They are shown here when they played at the Sixth and I Historic Synagogue in D.C.  January 11, 2006. Chancellor Angela Merkel from Germany is at the White House Chancellor Merkel from Germany at the White House. Bush sees Germany as a "valued ally." This time -- unlike when he speaks of some Arab countries -- he might be right. More recently, Chancellor Merkel has warned that Berlin would cut funding to a Hamas-led Palestinian Authority unless the radical Islamists group renounces terrorism. 
January 19, 2006. The Holocaust Museum Watch (HMW) group monitors the US Holocaust Museum (USHM) in Washington DC. They called on the USHM to fulfill its charter obligation of honoring the memory of the Holocaust's victims and take a leadership role in exposing Arab anti semitism and its threat to world Jewry. USHM has to date ignored the many Sephardic Jews killed by the Nazis and their Arab allies during the Holocaust. Carol Greenwald, a member of HMW, speaks at the National Press Club.  January 23, 2006. Anita Tucker was once a resident of Gush Katif and a farmer who grew wonderful organic vegetables. Now she's raising awareness of the grim reality of the lives of the Jews turned into refugees by their own Government. Here she is in Baltimore. 
Feb 16, 2006. CAIR, a front group for Arab terrorists, gathered to discuss the Danish cartoons of Muhammed. We don't know if they mentioned the only incendiary ones -- the ones added by Arabs to incite Muslims around the world. CAIR rounded up the usual useful idiots. The CAIR spokeman, Ibrahim Hooper, is at the podium and their token Rabbi listens.  February 16, 2006. Secretary Rice struggling to explain Hamas's win in the Palestinian democratic election at a Senate hearing. Senators Boxers, Allen, Chamblee, Kerry asked the questions. And when they didn't like her answers they told her so. So Rice answered some more. And when they still didn't like her answers on the Hamas win, Israel's security, they told her so again....  Feb 17-18, 2006. Hate At Georgetown University. Georgetown University students hosted the 5th annual Palestinian solidarity movement activism conference Feb 17, 18, 19. The conference violated the university's oath of free speech that was in fact distributed in the press packets guaranteeing free speech even if the speech conflicted with the seminar. The Jewish Defense League (JDL) was at Georgetown U and highlighted the lack of balance in free speech at the Palestinian Solidarity Movement (PSM) conference. PSM is affliated with the better-known International Solidarity Movement. Both are Marxist, and defend whatever Arab terrorists do. The ISM founder, Adam Shapiro, is (in)famous for doing breakfast in Ramallah with Yasir Arafat. The Jewish Defense League argues against a Congressionally Chartered University hosting the PSM promoting solidarity with HAMAS on US college campuses, stating "the hosts, sponsors and backers need to see Americans strongly reject these programs." The press release issued by JDL said "the speakers have written articles endorsing extremely harmful conduct toward America and Israel" espousing vile anti-semitic/Israel/America rhetoric.  Saturday, 64 year old Bill Maniaci (he's in the center), a JDL member, acting in compliance with the school's code of etiquette was violently dragged from Georgetown University's Gaston Hall by two black officers. Maniaci, standing about 5'6, a Jewish War Vietnam War Veteran and a retired Reno officer, asked a question of the panel promoting divestment activism by students -- they want churches and colleges to divest their portfolios of companies that do business with Israel. He walked with a cane before the incident; afterwards, he exhibited a concussion, body bruises showing finger marks from the officers, a sprained ankle, and more. Maniaci's question requested the panel state the PSM's policy on suicide bombers. Sue Blackwell, a British activist credited with leading UK teachers to boycott Israel academics, refused to state the PSM policy; instead, she stated her personal position on the murder of innocent Israeli men and women and children in Israel. Blackwell wore a t-shirt with the phrase "caterkiller." Blackwell did not advise students that Caterpillar has longstanding offices in the West Bank. West Bank-based caterpillars are being used by Arabs to demolish homes Jews were forcibly removed from earlier this year. Maniaci requested a second time that the panel state the PSM policy on murder by stealth bombers at which time Todd Olson, GU director of student affairs, motioned the Georgetown campus police to eject Maniaci from Gaston Hall. The following day of the conference, during the talk by Omar Barghouti, a panelist said to be attending the conference in secrecy -- the student press material alleged Barghouti was in danger from IDF -- Tom Gomez, a PSM supporter shouted "from the river to the sea". Gomez was not ejected by Olson from the conference; instead, the panelists and audience applauded Gomez. The PSM student spokesman said Gomez did not reflect the opinion of the PSM, further stating that Gomez was JDL having "been seen at the JDL table the day before." Gomez and the JDL both deny any affiliation. Gomez said he was fired from DC radio station 89.3FM because of his support of the PSM and PLO and for making anti-Israel statements. On the second day of the conference, representatives from the Russian Jewish Community, Yeshiva University, George Washington University Hillel, UDC and the JDL protested outside Gaston Hall where panelists spoke and outside the International Cultural Center. They were within caged areas and separated from the Neturai Karta who were present promoting the destruction of Israel.  Media were denied access to the ICC in which students were being taught how to demand their colleges open up university records to show financial holdings. Standwithus activists who were inside the conference reported that Maher Bitar and Nadeem Muaddi taught students how to approach churches to encourage them to join with the Presbyterian divestment of Israel using tactics (used effectively by cult groups) such as how to dress conservatively in suits with ties, how to delay talk about the palestinian agenda until a friendship trust was established and then to introduce the matter slowly and over time. Opening panelist Philip Farah advised the audience to "inoculate" themselves against the charge of antisemitism by working with "Jews and Israelis." The message was that when you have Jews on your team, you obviously cannot be accused of being anti-Jew. They were told to create hatred for the Jewish state by linking it to images of Nazis and to South Africa's apartheid system, so that there'd be absolutely no question about Israel's guilt for everything that has ever befallen the Palestinian people. The CAIR meeting (see above) was relatively muted and their token Jew was mainstream. PSM is extreme left radical and it is befitting that their token Jews were the Neturei Karta. [Editor's note: see Sultan Knishes Purim spoof on this picture below.]  March 6, 2006. Annual AIPAC meeting at the Convention Center. Vice President Cheney, Majority Whip Roy Blunt, Minority Whip Steny Hoyer and John Boehner addressed the audience which included sexologist Dr. Ruth Westheimer. This is former Senator John Edwards speaking -- prepping his 2008 presidential run.  And this year there was a National Purim Parade for the first time. It was led through downtown DC by Ohev Shalom Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld as Morchedai on horseback.
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"KNESSET COMMITTEE TO DECLARE POLICE BRUTALITY USED AT AMONA"
Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, March 16, 2006. |
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So what's the punch line of this joke? Will anyone of importance be forced to resign? Will there be criminal charges against anyone? Of course not, HABIBI, this is the Knesset speaking just before an election. They will naturally try to look like they are actually more than just a rubber stamp for the Junta. But truly DO SOMETHING, do not be silly. Even if they were to suddenly discover a bit of backbone and actually try to do something, the High Priest of the Supreme Cult would quickly inform them that he is the final authority as to what happens in Israel. This comes from yesterday's Arutz-Sheva (www.IsraelNationalNews.com). It is called "Knesset Committee to Declare Police Brutality Used at Amona" (IsraelNN.com) The special Knesset committee which investigated the Amona expulsion and violence will declare that the police used excessive force against demonstrators, according to unnamed sources cited by the Hebrew news web site Walla. Army Radio also reported that most of the Knesset members on the panel think that the use of horses and clubs should have been avoided except in a "no-choice" situation. The committee also is expected to announce that there was no way to reach a compromise between security forces and residents of the community, next to Ofra in Samaria. Aryeh Zelasko lives in Beitar Illit, south of Jerusalem. He is Director of Sales and Marketing of Israel Visit (www.israelvisit.co.il) which provides information and an internet buying facility for American visitors to Israel. Contact him at zelasko@actcom.co.il |
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THE SECURITY TICKET: A GUARANTEED WINNER
Posted by Ellen W. Horowitz, March 15, 2006. |
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"We are tired of fighting, we are tired of being courageous, we are tired of winning, we are tired of defeating our enemies, we want to be able to live in an entirely different environment of relations with our enemies." (Ehud Olmert in a June 2005 address to the Israel Policy Forum in New York) Myths die hard 'round these parts. But the legend of the battle-weary Israelis, who would rather rest in peace than fight life's battles, bit the dust this Purim. Whether or not the successful raid on Jericho's prison compound was coordinated with the US and Britain, whether it was a calculated political maneuver by a very nervous Mr. Olmert, or whether it was in direct response to the Palestinian Authority's threat to release the assassins of an Israeli member of parliament, doesn't much matter. What does count, is that a very overdue and necessary job got done. Ehud Olmert may be basking in the temporary glory of a military victory -- which rightfully belongs to the Israeli Defense Forces -- and perhaps he's found fleeting comfort in garnering a few more seats in Israel's elusive electoral polls. But had Rehavam Zeevi's killers gone free due to a lack of action on Olmert's part, or had the IDF failed in its mission, it's unlikely that Kadima and its un-elected leader would have made a footnote in the history books. Olmert had no choice, because the Israeli electorate is not that stupid. Despite all of the rhetoric, when push comes to shove, number one on the Kadima list knows full well that security has always been the top concern for Israelis. A sure vote-getter. Number two on the Kadima list knows it too. And Peres also knows that while a passive and submissive stance on Israel's part does secure a vote of confidence from the international community, the peace ticket has never garnered the popular vote at home. Which is why on the eve of elections back in April of 1996, after three consecutive suicide bombings had rocked central Israel, followed by relentless border attacks by Hezbollah, acting Prime Minister Shimon Peres found his substantial lead in the polls being whittled away by Benjamin Netanyahu. So, with no other choice available to him, Mr. Peace made a go at becoming Mr. Security, and operation Grapes of Wrath was launched on the Lebanese border. An always off target Shimon Peres, once again, missed the mark. IDF gunners shelled a UNIFIL compound in response to Hezbollah gunfire coming from that direction. It seems that in addition to the terrorists, 800 Lebanese civilians were taking cover in the compound. One hundred were killed and 300 were wounded in an incident that will most likely not take-up a large chapter in the memoirs of Shimon Peres. For the record, Netanyahu inherited a chaotic security situation and within weeks had it under control, and managed to reduce terror and keep it at its pre-1993 levels throughout his three-year term in office. The average Israeli cherishes their personal security so much, that Israel's so-called peace camp usually finds itself in the rather awkward, hypocritical and deceptive position of having to recruit and package military men as their candidates in a bid to garner the popular vote. The public bought the goods when it came to Labor Hawk and former General Yizhak Rabin, and again with Former Chief of Staff and commando Ehud Barak. But they became a lot more wary by the time Major General Amram Mitzna was dusted-off and presented for public consumption. And seeing as Israelis are rather unimpressed with former Captain Amir Peretz, it appears that the peace camp has run-out of fighting men. They're now counting on the ghost of comatose war hero, Arik Sharon, to pull off this election. These are desperate times, indeed. We the public have twice had the opportunity to preview Ehud Olmert in action. This week he was compelled to take a risk. And thanks to G-d and Israel's fine fighting forces, he made the right choice. Several weeks ago, the test was more telling. The deliberate and calculated decision to use Israel's crack security forces in a brutal operation against Israeli youth in Amona should tell you where Mr. Olmert's heart is -- and it's not focussed on securing this nation for us and our children. "We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission; which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history, the stage of rule by brute force." (Ayn Rand) The writer and her family live on the Golan Heights. She is a painter, columnist and author of The Oslo Years: A Mother's Journal. |
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OLMERT'S ARROGANCE
Posted by Women in Green, March 15, 2006. |
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This was written by Ari Shavit and it appeared in Haaretz. In September 2000, the Palestinians began a terror offensive against Israel. They did this because they refused to accept the Camp David proposal, which promised them the entire Gaza Strip and 91 percent of the West Bank in exchange for full recognition of Israel and an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. If Ehud Olmert is elected prime minister and implements his convergence plan, then in September 2010 the Palestinians will have sovereignty over the entire Gaza Strip and some 91 percent of the West Bank, and all this without recognizing Israel and without ending the conflict. Thus will the national Palestinian movement fulfill the objectives of its wars and obtain a full strategic resolution against the State of Israel. The history books will record Olmert's unconditional withdrawal as the unconditional surrender of Zionism. No, it will not be the end. But it will be the beginning of the end. While relying on big money on one side and big journalism on the other, Olmert will lead the country to the beginning of the end. At first glance, Olmert's plan appears enchanting -- no fear, no hesitation, and very Israeli. Here, we'll take our destiny in our own hands. Within three years we'll evacuate some 80,000 settlers. Within less than five years, we will undergo a final disengagement from the Palestinians and converge within the borders of a flourishing lowlands country. We will surround our existence with a high wall, which will protect us from both the craziness of the Land of Israel and from the threat of Palestine. And so, in one term, we will isolate ourselves from all the sickness and terrors of the Middle East. So simple. So clear. How did we not think of this sooner. Why did we wait so long so that the man who saved Jerusalem could also save the State of Israel. However, on second glance it becomes clear that the Olmert plan has a small flaw: It has no Palestinians. This is a plan whose logic is simplistic and patronizing. This is a plan for Israelis only, which ignores its ramifications on Israelis. It takes an extreme unilateral position to the point of absurdity, totally ignoring the fact that the conflict is bilateral and the political reality is multilateral. The plan, then, is an arrogant one, and the hubris that characterizes it is no less than the hubris of the person who formulated it. What Olmert plans to do in the next few years is to establish an armed Hamas state in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. Via the nearly complete withdrawal, Olmert will promise Hamas almost total control in the Palestinian state for generations. The Palestine of Olmert will be hostile, dissatisfied and violent. Its founding ethos will be "We've chased them out of Ofra, we'll chase them out of Tzahala too." Since Olmert is establishing this country without first assuring its demilitarization, it will have significant military capability. Since he is establishing it without removing the right of return from the agenda, it will have a destructive claim against Israel, whose legitimacy is recognized by the international community. The combination of political sovereignty, military power and a commitment to demanding return will transform Olmert's Hamas state into one that will endanger the very existence of the State of Israel. Despite the irony, the convergence plan will not implement the Bush vision, but will destroy it. It will not build a stable two-state solution, but will create an unstable reality in which an Islamic Palestinian state systematically undermines the foundation of the Jewish democratic state. But it is not just the stability of Israel that Olmert is endangering. He is also endangering the regional stability. A Hamas state will accelerate Jordan's collapse. There is no chance that the Hashemite rule will stand up against a Palestinian state on its doorstep whose religious fervor has just subdued the Zionists. Egypt will also be threatened. A victorious Muslim Brotherhood republic that controls a third of Jerusalem and devours the Temple Mount will be the beacon of zealotry for the Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo. And in Damascus. And in Amman. And Olmert will be supporting not only anti-Israeli terror, but also the anti-Western revolutionary movement. His radical unilateral process will disrupt the American strategy in the area and will bury U.S. President George W. Bush's dream of stability and democracy in the Middle East. ... Ruth and Nadia Matar established Women For Israel's Tomorrow (Women in Green), an activist group of women based in Jerusalem. Their website address is http://www.womeningreen.org |
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ZE'EVI MURDERERS SURRENDER FOLLOWING IDF SIEGE OF PA
Posted by By Hana Levi Julian, March 15, 2006. |
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The six murderers of former Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi surrendered Tuesday evening to IDF forces after a day-long siege on the Jericho prison where they were being held. A special anti-terror police unit and the IDF Nahal Brigade charged the prison Tuesday morning after U.S. and Britain withdrew their observers "out of concern for the monitors' safety." Ze'evi's killers surrendered along with 202 other prisoners after nine hours of shelling with heavy artillery and machine gunfire. The six will be taken to a prison in Israel. Three Arabs were killed and several others wounded during the day-long siege. The IDF released 76 prisoners after it was determined they had not been involved in terrorist activity. IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Dan Halutz made a personal call to Ze'evi's family to inform them of the capture. "This is a great day for Israelis," said Palmach Ze'evi, the son of the murdered Tourism Minister. He also said, however, that Israel should have "settled the score right then and there" on the day his father was assassinated. Arabs protested the action with riots and kidnappings throughout Palestinian Authority-controlled areas. During the day, 17 foreign nationals were kidnapped. Two Australians, an American lecturer and a Red Cross official were released shortly after they were abducted. According to Israel Radio, armed terrorists were hunting for foreigners in local hotels. The Gaza police chief ordered his officers to fire on anyone who attempted to kidnap foreigners. United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan called for an immediate release of foreigners who were kidnapped. Some 15,000 Arabs protested in Gaza City against the Jericho operation, the British Cultural Center was torched and approximately 300 rioting Arabs broke into the European Union compound. In addition, gunmen burst into the German television network (ARD) offices, the same building that houses the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) studios. The office of AMIDEAST, a private nonprofit organization that provides educational support services, was also a target for armed Arab attackers. "We don't want to see any Americans here," one shouted at police who arrived on the scene. The UN and the Red Cross both announced they were pulling their representatives out of Palestinian Authority-controlled areas temporarily in the wake of the kidnappings and other violence. Red Cross officials in Geneva later denied they had told their staff to leave. European Union monitors also fled their posts at the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings with Gaza Tuesday afternoon at the instruction of their governments. Both crossings were closed as armed Arabs gathered at the sites. In addition, the Karni crossing was closed due to specific warnings of impending terror attacks. Meanwhile, PA security forces did nothing to prevent the disorders taking place at the crossings. There was also concern that Arabs might try to break through the fence separating Egypt and Gaza. Egyptian and Israeli officials were continuing to exchange information on the situation. The six assassins who were targeted on Tuesday in "Operation Pay a Visit" were members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), led by mastermind and PFLP leader Ahmed Sa'adat. Israel had warned the PA numerous times that it would capture Sa'adat if he was freed. When the monitors pulled out, the Defense Ministry decided to act immediately in the wake of comments by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who said last week that he had "no problem releasing Ahmed Sa'adat." PA officials angrily said they were not informed in advance of the decision by the U.S. and Britain to pull their observers. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told the British Parliament, "We were afraid that if we announced that our forces were leaving, we would put them at risk of being kidnapped." He said neither Israel nor the PA was warned in advance of the move. The PA and the PFLP both accused the U.S. and Britain of "collusion" with Israel, and IDF Central Command head Yair Naveh pointedly squelched rumors of an international conspiracy when speaking to reporters late in the day. "There was no coordination here with the Brits or the Americans," he said. "We began preparations several weeks ago," he added, and said the PA had received a letter from the British a week ago warning of the impending withdrawal of the observers. Former Prime Minister Shimon Peres held Hamas responsible for the IDF action. He told reporters on Tuesday that the terrorist organization which now leads the PA government planned to break previous agreements to uphold the lifetime prison terms for the killers. Naveh acknowledged that there is a possibility that a new round of terror might be set off by Tuesday's operation although he hoped the minimal number of casualties would "end the wave." He underscored the fact that Sa'adat's capture was no different than other IDF actions to catch Arab terrorists. "We are talking about the detainment of murderers, as we do every night in Nablus, Hevron and Ramallah. In this regard, there is no difference," he said. The PFLP warned that Israel would "pay dearly" for the capture of its leader and Hamas Prime Minister-to-be Ismail Haniyeh warned Israel that hurting any of Ze'evi's murderers would have "serious repercussions on the situation." Several other terrorist organizations threatened to attack Israeli, U.S. and British targets. Al Aksa Martyrs' Brigade spokesman Abu Qusai warned American and British citizens to leave PA-controlled areas immediately, "otherwise they will be subject to kidnapping and other consequences," he said. This appeared in today's Arutz-Sheva -- (www.IsraelNationalNews.com.) |
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RIGHTEOUSNESS MASKING WRONGFULNESS; ESPIONAGE; ILLEGAL ARABIZATION OF JERUSALEM
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, March 15, 2006. |
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RIGHTEOUSNESS MASKING WRONGFULNESS First, the US, EU, and Israel pretend that Fatah is acceptable, but Hamas is not. Fatah ran an Islamic, jihadist dictatorship. It never should have received aid. Israel adopted a few measures against the P.A., but sends some money and lets P.A. workers enter Israel and remit wages, shoring up the P.A.. Their entry risks infiltration by terrorists posing as workers. They also can spy for the P.A.. Thus the government of Israel is complicit in the jihad against it. Such is the depravity of the leftist elite there, with its humanitarianism towards the brutal Arab enemy and its brutality towards the humane Jewish patriots. Eager to appease the US, it also is bribed and coerced into fake measures of defense such as shelling empty P.A. fields in response to rocket attacks. The US, EU, and Israel haven't the courage or intelligence to ban aid to the P.A., now that Hamas won the election there. First they rationalized that they would transfer the funds to the P.A. until Hamas actually takes over. This is a humanitarian measure in behalf of an inhumane people. Why not more aid for the Sudanese victims of Muslim Arab jihad and racism or for the Sahel Africans suffering overpopulation and drought? Then the NY Times suggested that Israel continue to negotiate with Abbas, because he retains control over the security agencies. His "control," however, did not stop anarchy, arms smuggling, or terrorism. Nor was he willing to negotiate peace, only Israeli concessions. One-sided, Israeli concessions are what the Times craves. It has been campaigning for them for decades. The Times' suggestion, never valid, fell apart with the news that Abbas, a weak reed, was turning major control over the security agencies to Hamas. The US resumed rationalization its indirect subsidy of the P.A. under Abbas, to subsidize Hamas indirectly, by sending the funds to NGOs and UNRWA. UNRWA is run in the field by the terrorists. The NGOs are agencies of jihad, defaming Israel over fabricated abuses of Arabs and engaging more in propaganda against Israel than in building up the P.A.. In this, the US has dirty hands, soiled all the more by a pretense of purity. After all the posturing about not assisting a Hamas-run P.A., the EU has resumed its aid. To the world, it's business as usual, and decent Jews are "getting the business." MUSLIM ACCUSATIONS The Muslims fight each other in Iraq and in the P.A.. In their clashes, they shoot their own children. Terrorist bombs may explode prematurely. Iran and the Muslim Arabs routinely accuse Zionism and the US of these acts. Turning their own crimes into jihadist propaganda is a reflex. The Western press should not dignify these accusations without at least indicating no evidence is cited. The media does not give audiences the basis for doubting the Muslims' claims or realizing what liars they are. BLITZ THEN, BARRAGE NOW The British are among the Europeans unsympathetic with the besieged Israelis. When was the last time you heard of any imaginative Israeli initiative to gain British sympathy? Here is an attempt to suggest one. Some Londoners who suffered from the Nazi blitz must still be alive and remember the fear or damage and not just their pluck. An Israeli crew ought to elicit their memories and liken them to the daily barrage from the P.A.. London was more heavily damaged, but the Arabs are improving their rockets, and Israeli withdrawals will let them approach the Israeli cities so it will become like shooting ducks in a barrel. Israelis, in cities and on kibbutzim, see buildings damaged, relatives wounded, and the threat of worse to come. So did Londoners. Publicity of such a comparison, with expressions of sympathy from the British who made no concessions to the enemy, survived, and won, would help Israel gain non-Muslim, international tolerance. Muslims express little sympathy for the plight of others, but plead for understanding for their own, usually caused by themselves. When others suffer, they rejoice or attribute the suffering to punishment of the others for not being Muslim. Why worry about humanitarian aid to the Muslim P.A. Arabs, who approve of mass-murder? "WE JUST WANT TO HELP PAY THEIR SALARIES" The native taxpayers of the European Union, whose economies have been buffeted by global competition, must still have plenty of money. Some member states offer lifetime unemployment insurance for Muslim immigrants who hate them and money for the P.A. to "help pay their salaries." How innocuously put! When are salaries not innocuous? When they hire terrorists. A high proportion of those salaries are for terrorists called security police. They extort from their own people or they commit terrorism against Israelis. Many were, after all, given their posts on the basis of having committed terrorism, the more dire the crime, the higher the rank. When there are so many good causes, why does the world lay out scarce funds for bad ones? For one thing, they don't know what are the good and bad causes, because their media conceals the truth from them. This made it easier for them to hate the Jewish state. For another, they don't know what is in their interest. THE THEORY OF JEWISH CONSPIRACY In one year, three films defamed Israelis and Americans or equated terrorism against them with their anti-terrorism: Syriana, Paradise Now, and Munich, which may win awards. If Hollywood were controlled by Jews for Jews, why the anti-Jewish films? Answer: To the extent they are Jewish, their leftism perverts their identity. OLMERT'S WORDS Acting PM Olmert declared that Israel is not afraid of Hamas but will abandon more parts of the Territories over four years, regardless of who runs them. He put his goal as keeping a "solid Jewish majority" for Israel (IMRA, 2/27). It is not a question of being "afraid" of Hamas. Olmert would leave terrorists in charge of the adjoining land and with free access to imports of heavy weaponry. Al-Qaeda and other terrorists pour in. They will wreak carnage. Perhaps Israel can defeat them. But perhaps they would weaken Israel enough, from point-blank range firing of rockets, including the 14,000 from Hizbullah, to entice the major Arab states to rush armies over the insecure borders that a truncated Israel would leave itself with. Eventually, a critical mass of Jews would evacuate from the State. What "solid Jewish majority," then? Olmert, like Sharon, offers reasons for the retreat that are inconsistent with policy. His rationale is "solid Jewish majority." His policy contradicts that by: (1) Letting illegal Arab aliens stay, steal land, and build illegally; (2) Abandoning undeveloped parts of the Territories, that, in Israeli hands, would not reduce the Jewish majority; (3) Letting masses of Arabs stay in Jerusalem illegally; (4) Condoning Bedouin polygamy; (5) Letting the Supreme Court high-handedly void measures to shore up Jewish populations; (6) Allowing masses of Russian gentiles, even antisemitic ones, move into Israel; and (7) Subsidizing the P.A., which presses against Israel, instead of letting it collapse. Economically, the P.A. is a basket case. Emotionally, Israel is a basket case. ESPIONAGE Pres. Bush claims that a major US security problem is gathering intelligence to thwart terrorism. The NY Times identifies it as the open-ended Presidential measures that, in the name of fighting terrorism, curb or potentially curb American freedom of speech. To back up its claims, the Times revealed US surveillance of terrorist telephone calls, some to phones in the US. This was called spying on Americans. What the Times did apparently violated plain language of the law. It risked untold American lives by tipping off the terrorists. That undermined national security. Should the government prosecute the newspaper? Or should editors determine what military secrets may no longer be kept secret, because they think revelation serves a higher goal? (Gabriel Schoenfeld, Commentary, 3/2006. Seems like a thoughtful analysis. The Times would label its prosecution as curbing dissent. But the Times may be reckless if not anti-American.) The courts have been expanding statutory authority for counter-espionage from terrorism to other alleged crimes. I find it disturbing when the courts sanction more than Congress intended. Exceptions may be made for national security but not for ordinary matters. ABANDONMENT & JORDAN'S RADICALIZATION An Israeli general briefed his government that the rise of Islamism in the P.A. and Egypt dims the prospects for survival of Jordan's monarchy. The briefing leaked, and Jordan objected. Israel felt constrained to apologize and over-compensate with compliments. During the embarrassing furor, in which the government disassociated itself from the briefing, the truth of the briefing was overlooked. The most important organizations in Jordan, however, are Islamist. They oppose peace and normalization with Israel, defame Israel, and favor Saddam Hussein. The regime's newspaper, the Jordan Times, also favored Hussein. The Islamists and the newspaper both accuse the US of being the source of trouble in Iraq. Thus, Jordan has to be given an apology for a realistic assessment of its weakness, but it need not apologize for its defamation of others. The briefing has implications for Israeli withdrawals (IMRA, 2/27). Implications unstated. I'll state them. To avoid Israeli pursuit of terrorists, Jordan keeps them from attacking Israel. An Islamist regime in Jordan would open a new front against Israel. That front would enable arms and terrorists to flow all the more easily from Jordan if, as the present Israeli regime intends, there are more withdrawals from Judea-Samaria, which border on Jordan. The situation would deteriorate into a grave strategic threat if Israel were to withdraw from the Jordan Valley, for that is the invasion path from the east. In hostile hands, the enemy could east the path for enemy armies and obstruct Israeli mobilization to block them. (The trouble with Iraq was Saddam and is Islamism.) Israel has eased the path for invasion from the south by withdrawing from Gaza. In addition, allowing terrorist militias to exist in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza means that the enemy can delay Israel's mobilization, so that the enemy forces have raced into position before the IDF could thwart them. Israeli and State Dept. policies of appeasement have put Israel at a strategic disadvantage. One wonders when the Arabs will fully exploit it. So far, they seem content with the process of whittling Israel down, first. That was Arafat's plan. ILLEGAL ARABIZATION OF JERUSALEM The Israeli-run municipal government of Jerusalem hid the records of illegal Arab building, waiting for the statute of limitations to expire. The municipality complains that the national government does not provide sufficient security for demolition, and that therefore the Arabs would riot against the demolition crews (Arutz-7, 2/28). Is that a Jewish state, in which the Muslims are above the legitimate law, and the Jews are pinned under its illegal and brutal administration? 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@aol.com. |
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DIVESTMENT -- WHY DID THE ANGLICANS GET COLD FEET?
Posted by Jock L. Falkson, March 15, 2006. |
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After beating the big bass drum of divestment from US companies profiting from sales to Israel, specifically Caterpillar Inc, the Anglican Church seems to have gotten cold feet. Not knowing how to get out of the mire of their own making they appointed an Advisory Panel to study their decision and to report back. Church Owns $4.4 Million Stock The panel has done so and has urged against pulling investments "to break financial ties with companies linked to Israel's control of Palestinian territories". Specifically, the Caterpillar company in which the Church holds some $4.4 million stock. We are not told why the advisory panel offered that advice though we may guess that it came in time to stop the church making a right fool of itself. Selling Stock Does No Harm Because selling their stock does not harm Caterpillar in any way. Their stock would be purchased by new buyers -- that's all that happens. We may presume the new buyers would not share the church's anti-Israel concerns. Some might even have been pro-Israel. How would it hurt Israel if the church sold its stock? I can't for the life of me figure that out. Nor, I imagine, can the church. Building With Bulldozers Caterpillar bulldozers are generally employed in construction and revamping the environment. Israel certainly used them to build many new roads in the areas of Arab habitation. And no doubt those 7 universities it built for the Palestinians. Plus a hospital or two, surely the airport in Gaza, schools and a whole lot more. Does the church in its muddled thinking believe it is essential to use a Caterpillar bulldozer to raze a house? Of course not. Israel has previously used tanks or just plain old fashioned dynamite. Could Israel could buy Caterpillars from several countries in Europe or nearer still from Turkey -- Even if they did cost 5% or 10% more. You can bet your shirt on it. Human Rights Factor John Reynolds, the chairman of the advisory group, said his panel "could find no compelling evidence that Caterpillar is, or has been, complicit in human rights abuses." So the motivation of the church was its strong opposition to countries which abuse the human rights. That sounds like an above board reason for which the church might well be entitled to applause. Selective Discrimination But not however, when Israel is the only country selected for condemnation while the human rights violations of so many other countries are ignored. When we alone are chosen for special treatment, Mr. Reynolds and fellow Presbyterians, that's when we recognize the poisonous arrow of anti-Semitism. The Tibetan Comparison Compare China's conquest of Tibet and its brutal ongoing occupation and extinction of Tibetan identity, culture and religion. What was the nature of the Anglican church's protest against the Chinese grievous abuse of Tibetan human rights? Correct me if I suggest, wrongly, that what happened in Tibet and which continues there unabated, was like water off your church's back. You turned your cheek away from their human rights. But the gall of those uppity Jews in Israel who demolished the homes of maybe 100 or 200 suicide murderers, who had killed hundreds of our fathers, mothers, boys, girls and babies ... and wounded and crippled thousands more ... why that's another kettle of fish. Jews are not permitted to react to the abuse of some hundreds of Palestinian murderers and their family of accomplices. It was ok however, for the Chinese to abuse the human rights of six million Tibetans. Where The Cap Fits There are no perfect countries. There are scores of countries however, with flagrant records of abuse far, far worse than those for which Israel stands accused. Palestinian allegations always avoid admitting that Israel has any right to defend herself against terrorists whose collective purpose is, without deviation or variation, the death of Israelis, by murder most foul. Natan Sharansky has defined modern anti-Semitism by its three features: the application of double standards, demonization and delegitimization of Israel. Regrettably, this cap fits the heads of the Anglican church. To be put on Jock Falkson's email list, contact him at falkson@013.net |
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THEY BUY THEIR WAY IN
Posted by David Meir-Levi, March 14, 2006. |
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Dear Mr. President, They have owned our State Department since Roosevelt. They bought up most of the world's Arab news outlets back in the 70's. They have been bribing our journalists to write nice things about them for 30 years. They just tried to buy control of five of our major ports [and 15 minor ones: and you helped them. And since this is still a hot topic, I have added a PS below (*)]. They are intimidating or bribing or cajoling our textbook companies to change history in order to make their own bloodthirsty ancestors look nice. They have such influence over our media that a single brief phone call from Al-Walid had Rupert Murchoch hopping and salaaming to do his bidding. And now the mega-wealthy Saudi and Gulf Arab sheikhs are buying influence and control in our finest universities in order to, in Al-Walid's words "...teach Americans the right things about Islam". Connect the dots, Mr. President. Today's sophomore is tomorrow's Senator. Once they control high level government offices, media, academia, our educational institutions, and our most pourous points of entry, they will be able to facilitate their assault upon an American government and population convinced that they come in peace. (*) PS. And since this is still a controversial topic, I'll remind you that UAE ranks highest in support for bin Laden among Arab countries!!! In a 2004 survey of Arab countries, Osama bin Laden was rated the "most admired leader" most often in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). UAE hostility to the USA in general was overwhelming, with 73% unfavorable vs. only 14% favorable responses. Is this the country that should have inside information on US port security? And since I know how very important to you this deal was, because you and our highest levels of military leadership desperately wanted this deal in order to secure Dubai's cooperation in our use of UAE ports in case we need a launching pad for an attack on Iran; I'll also remind you that: Arabs in the UAE were the financial managers of the 9/11 attacks Two of the 19 9/11 hijackers were from Dubai The UAE has supported Hamas (which our government designates as a terrorist enemy) The UAE was one of two countries to recognize the Taliban, who played a critical role in the staging of 9/11, and whom we defeated in Afghanistan Dubai and DPW paid 70% MORE than the net stock worth of the British company that managed the ports. 70% more?? Why?? What ulterior motives might they have had, other than just good business? DPW managers at high levels will be Dubai appointees some of whom may be bona fide terrorists DPW managers at many levels will have access to trade documents that could compromise American national interests DPW managers at many levels could redirect or delay or even destroy paperwork and other tracking evidence that could reveal shipments of arms or even WMDs in to our ports Coast Guard responsibility for port security may be neutralized if DPW cover-ups designate as legitimate cargos the loads of arms or WMDs in container ships or oil tankers entering our ports The UAE insist that their illegal boycott of Israel and countries doing business with Israel will continue and will be an ineluctibe guildeline in their management of our ports.....even as they know (as do you, I'm sure) that boycotting an ally of the USA is against USA law and contrary to the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO) which bans the use of boycotts by one member state against another. This is "Notes & Comments" from
INVESTING IN THE FUTURE: This weekend, the Saudis took a two-page, full color spread in the Washington Post. The cost of such an ad is well over $100,000. But to the Saudis, of course, that's chump change, a rounding error. The purpose of the ad was to publicize the new "Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Islamic Program" at Harvard University and the new "Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding" at Georgetown University. Harvard and Georgetown recently have been the recipients of gifts of $20 million from the Prince. But "gift" isn't really the correct word. "Investment" would be more accurate. You can be sure that the "scholars" hired for these programs will not be overly critical of Wahhabism, the official Saudi religion/ideology that preaches that Christians, Jews, Shia Muslims and liberal Sunni Muslims are vermin. You can bet that we won't see many critical studies of Militant Islamism and terrorism coming out of these centers. And consider the impact these institutions will have on students -- students who will go on to careers in diplomacy, intelligence, law enforcement and other areas. Meanwhile, the Qatar Foundation, an arm of the Qatar government, has made major gifts to Carnegie Mellon, Virginia Commonwealth and Cornell universities. According to the Wall Street Journal, the amounts range from $10 million to $50 million. Above the two-page ad in the Post was the headline: "We share the same world." Indeed, we do. The question is: Who will dominate this world in the future? And ask yourself this question: Is it more dangerous to have America's ports managed by a firm based in Dubai -- or to have America's elite universities manipulated by Saudi rulers? David Meir-Levi is an American-born Israeli, currently living in Palo Alto. His expertise is in Near Eastern studies and the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. He is Director of Peace and Education at Israel Peace Initiative (www.ipi-usa.org). Contact him at david_meirlevi@hotmail.com |
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THE GHOST OF PURIM PAST
Posted by Bryna Berch, March 14, 2006. |
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This was written by Jeffrey Goldberg, a staff writer for The New Yorker. He is the author of the forthcoming "Prisoners: A Muslim and a Jew Across the Middle East Divide." THREE years ago, while visiting Tehran, I was introduced to a charmless man named Muhammad Ali Samadi, who, I was told, would parse for me the Iranian theocracy's peculiar understanding of Judaism and Zionism. Mr. Samadi said that Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, held no brief for anti-Semitism. Then, a moment later, he deployed an epidemiological metaphor to explain the role of Jews in history. "There are always infections and diseases in man," he said. "In the world there is an infection called international Jewry." A year later, Mr. Samadi became the spokesman for the Esteshadion, or Seekers of Martyrdom, a group that has as its mission the training of young Iranians to kill Salman Rushdie, commit acts of suicide terrorism against Americans in Iraq and blow up Jews everywhere. "The Zionists should know that they aren't safe so long as they are an affront to God," he said. I asked him if, by "Zionists," he meant Israelis or, more generally, Jews. "Jews, Zionists, Israelis," he said, only semi-ambiguously. I was not visiting Iran in order to collect the anti-Semitic leavings of second-tier terrorists, though I did buy a knapsack's worth of Jew-obsessed pamphlets and books, including a copy of "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" in Persian. I was in Iran mainly to cross over into Iraq, whose dictator was about to be deposed by the United States Army. Saddam Hussein had once promised to "make fire burn half of Israel" -- and he tried, ineffectually, to do so in the 1991 gulf war. As chance would have it, it was on Purim that I tried to cross from Iran to Iraq. Purim is the famously disorderly holiday, celebrated today, that commemorates the hairbreadth escape of Persia's Jews from annihilation at the hands of the evil vizier Haman. The Purim story is recounted in the Scroll of Esther, which was read last night, Purim eve, in synagogues all over the world -- including those in Iran, which is home to a remnant of a great and exceedingly old Jewish community. Judaism predates Islam in Iran by 1,000 years. Purim is the ne plus ultra of the "They Tried to Murder Us, They Failed, Let's Eat" subcategory of Jewish holidays, and it is a self-consciously raucous day, a Jewish Mardi Gras when even rabbis are expected to drink themselves oblivious. It is possible to imagine, though, that Iran's intermittently persecuted Jews, living today under a president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who denies the historical truth of the European Holocaust while threatening a new Middle Eastern one, might see Purim not as a story of tragedy averted but as one of tragedy foretold. The Purim story is suspenseful, ribald, comic and almost certainly false, a fantasy of revenge and redemption. Scholars generally agree that it is a pseudo-history introduced into Judaism about 2,400 years ago, at a time when the memory of Jerusalem's conquest by the Babylonians was still laying Jews low. In the story, the supercilious King Ahasuerus chooses the beautiful Esther to be his queen. Esther, who keeps her Jewishness hidden, has an uncle, the stoic and brave-hearted Mordechai, who does not conceal his faith, and who earns the wrath of Haman when he refuses to bow down before him. Haman, in his anger, decides to visit his retribution not only on Mordechai but on all his tribe. "There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of thy kingdom," Haman tells Ahasuerus. "It is not for the king's profit to suffer them." The king agrees to have his Jewish subjects exterminated. To save her people, Esther reveals to him that she is Jewish. Shocked into understanding, the king orders Haman hanged on the gallows originally built for Mordechai. But he is powerless to reverse his genocidal edict, so instead he allows the Jews to arm themselves in self-defense, and, on the day of the planned extermination, they do the slaying. It is an outlandish story on several counts, not least of which is that ancient Persian kings tended to tolerate other gods and the men who worshipped them. Such tolerance, it must be said, is one of the main attributes of polytheism; Jews were not seen as threats to the theological order of pre-Islamic Persia. The Muslim Middle East of today, alas, is a more plausible backdrop for the sort of anti-Jewish plot outlined in the Scroll of Esther than was the Persia of antiquity, the story's actual setting. The Iranian regime, after all, parades Shahab-3 missiles through Tehran draped in banners that declare, "We will wipe Israel from the map." The head of one of Iran's leading clerical councils, Hashemi Rafsanjani, said in December 2001 that the "application of an atomic bomb would not leave anything in Israel but the same thing would produce minor damages in the Muslim world." And the supreme leader himself, Ayatollah Khamenei, said of Israel in 2000, "We have repeatedly said that this cancerous tumor of a state should be removed from the region." There are multiple tragedies here. Persian civilization, pre-Islamic and otherwise, has not been notably hostile to Jews. In fact, one of the great heroes of Jewish history is Cyrus, the Persian king who restored the Jews to Israel after the fall of the First Temple. And the Islamic Republic of Iran, though no Semitic utopia, has not been Poland, either. Even today, the febrile ranting about Jews one hears among the intelligentsia in Beirut and Cairo is mostly absent in Tehran, except among the clerical elite, who understand the utility of anti-Semitism in their effort to gain favor with Arab Muslims. Which is not to say that the clerics don't believe what they say. This brings us back to Mr. Samadi's unfortunate metaphor. The terminology of disease control has now thoroughly infiltrated anti-Semitic discourse in the Middle East. Four years ago, a Hezbollah leader in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley named Hussein Haj Hassan told me that Jews function "in a way that lets them act as parasites in the nations that give them shelter." The leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad speak in much the same manner. One worries about overreacting, but such language echoes the passage of "Mein Kampf" in which the Austrian Haman compares the Jew to "a sponger who like a noxious bacillus keeps spreading as soon as a favorable medium invites him." I still assume that the Jews, and the Jewish state, will survive their encounter with the Iran of Mr. Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Khamenei. Iran's leaders don't yet have the bomb, and eschatologically minded though they are, they might not be entirely immune to the charms of rational deterrence theory. And, of course, both parable and history teach that Jews somehow always manage to survive. Nevertheless, a great many people, in Iran and beyond, believe that the Jewish state is a cancer, and it is foolish to believe that this is an idea without consequences. As one Islamic Jihad leader told me not long ago, "Everyone knows that the cure for cancer is radiation." |
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HOW TO FORGIVE ACTORS' POLITICS
Posted by Jack Engelhard, March 14, 2006. |
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This is entirely personal, so much so that in the survey I took I was about the only one who agreed with me.
The question--to which everyone out there is invited to contribute--is whether actors ruin their images when they get real, or, go from reel to real. It's not just actors, come to think of it, but moviemakers in all forms, like Steven Spielberg, who will never be the same for me after "Munich." It all started weeks ago when something came on, during channel surfing, starring Tom Cruise--"A Few Good Men," I think it was, really a fine movie ordinarily. But times have changed. Or maybe it's Cruise that's changed, or me, a typical movie buff. Anyway, I could not watch this. I kept remembering Cruise so "master of the universe" when he had that tiff with Matt Lauer, but mostly, jumping up and down Oprah's couch. So Tom Cruise will never be the same, not for me, and now I find him tough to watch in anything he does. Can't get that other business out of my mind. So many of these stars have you at hello, but then it's goodbye. Nick Nolte? A fine actor. BUT--that skid row mug shot. Remember? Of course. How can we delete that from any performance he gives? Vanessa Redgrave and her outspoken hostility toward the USA and Israel--how can we (okay, how can I?) separate her politics from her acting? No, actually, it started with Jill Clayburgh. Back in 1983 she starred in a Costa-Gavras movie titled "Hanna K.," a propaganda rant against Israel. I know she's done work since, but I have not heard or seen much of it, or any of it, and I don 't think anyone else has, either. Good for her. Sorry, but this movie was ugly. So is a new release from Turkey that goes by "Valley of the Wolves" and the wolves here are Americans and Israelis. Never mind the details. You are welcome to google it up, plot and all, including how well it's doing in that other part of the world where videos of beheadings (of Americans and other Westerners) go as entertainment. But trust me, we (Christians and Jews,) don't come off too well in this atrocity, "Valley of the Wolves," passing as art. Gary Busey plays in this. So does Billy Zane, from "Titanic." These two, will we ever trust them again? (They needed the work that badly?) I won't forget. I will remember. That is too bad, but that is how it is. Really, actors should stick to the screenplay. Otherwise, shut up. Barbra Streisand does herself no favors by what she says without coaching. She lost me some time ago (can't watch anything she does, now that I know her politics) and likewise Alec Baldwin, though Baldwin really is terrific. How about his performance in "The Cooler?" Okay, I will watch Alec Baldwin, which leads me to admit that I do admire actors as long as they stay "on page." I cannot do what they do. Never mind performing, but remembering. How do they remember all those lines, soliloquy after soliloquy? I get as far as "To be or not to be" and I'm done. Can't do the rest. Also, actors are fun, as long as you don't marry them. They are fun and least likely to be bigoted. (As a group.) Back in Greenwich Village (I'll keep this short), I landed a job as manager of the Premise Theatre, when inpov was at its infancy. Manager was the title, but I just took tickets and handled the lights. One day the performers got themselves tangled in a dispute. I told the real manager that I'd go talk to them. He thought I was nuts. This is what he said: "Talk? Talk to the actors? You never talk to actors. You tell. Actors are children." That's good to know when they stray from the script and go political. Jack Engelhard is the author of the bestseller "Indecent Proposal," the award-winning "Escape from Mount Moriah," and the novel "The Days of the Bitter End," which is being prepared for movie production. Jack's latest novel, "The Bathsheba Deadline," is now available in serial form at Amazon.com. Jack receives e-mail at viewopinion@aol.com. |
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CHAVEZ, ARAB TERRORISTS, IRAN, WMDS AND THE WAR AGAINST THE NETHERLANDS
Posted by David Meir-Levi, March 14, 2006. |
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Dear Mr. President, The situation in Venezuela is rapidly growing to crisis proportions. If Chavez starts a war with Holland over the Netherlands Antilles, he will create exactly the cover needed for Arab and Iranian terrorists to expand their power and their terrorism capacities in his country, in Colombia, and in Argentina/Brazil/Paraguay. Moslem terrorist implacements in South America have been operating with complete impunity for more than 20 years. Hezbollah, Hamas, and el-Qaeda have operational terror bases there, in which full-scale armies of Moslem terrorists cooperate with the FARC, and work with Chavez to strengthen his relationship with Iran. The FBI has already reported hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of illegal Arab and Iranian infiltrators who enter the USA via the Mexican border disguised as Mexican immigrants. Once in the USA, they conveniently disappear, invisible to our law-enforcement agencies, within the wider fabric of the American Moslem community. Please connect the dots, Mr. President, before it is too late. Totalitarian anti-American dictators in South American countries are providing secure land bases for Arab and Iranian terrorist operations against the USA. with such bases, secure in the hinterlands of South American countries, Arab and Iranian terrorist forces can launch their WMDs, via missile or suicide bombers, as soon as the nukes are ready. It is only a matter of time before they are ready to strike. Do you have a plan? This is called "Will Chavez embroil Venezuela in a war in the Caribbean?" and was written by Kenneth Rijock. It is archived at www.vcrisis.com/index.php?content=letters/200603111200 Last week's saber rattling by Hugo Chavez, a blunt threat to remove the Dutch from the Netherlands Antilles islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao, clearly demonstrates the existence of a misguided national policy that can only result in an armed conflict in the Caribbean. The fabricated territorial and maritime claims against the Netherlands by the current Venezuelan government are certainly a recipe for disaster. But by also seeking to expel what he refers to as the other "colonial powers" of France, the United Kingdom and the United States from their possessions in the Western Hemisphere, he risks armed confrontation with the NATO countries. We should not be surprised, as Chavez has always viewed the NATO military installations as threats to Venezuela. While he knows he could no more win a conventional war against any European country than Argentina could prevail over the UK in the Falklands (Malvinas), offensive weapons, such as missiles obtained from North Korea and Iran, when coupled with small, albeit effective, tactical nuclear devices, could result in permanent ecological damages to the Caribbean. There would be no winner of such a conflict. When documentary and photographic evidence of the presence of ballistic missiles inside Venezuela, and of Chavez' serious efforts to develop or buy nuclear weapons, emerges, those who doubt the validity of such serious allegations will ruefully have to admit to the existence of a clear and present danger to peace. Those who scoff at the truth of this information, and seek to draw a parallel to the bogus claims of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq by President Bush, miss the point. Chavez must divert attention from Venezuela's failing economy, and its corrupt Bolivarian elite, who are stealing the country blind. He must do something, or fall from power, either through the electoral process, or a popular uprising. Dictators in political trouble frequently have enmeshed their nations in foreign military adventures to distract the people from domestic problems. The worry is that Chavez and Castro will amass sufficient weaponry to actually initiate military action in 2006. This is not idle speculation; both regimes have been actively acquiring military technology of late. One also must bear in mind the alliance of the Chavez regime with radical, fanatical terrorist organisations who could assist in this madness. Factor in the recent rantings of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro Ruz, and the consensus of veteran Cuban watchers that Castro wants to leave his mark on the region for posterity, and we have the potential for an unthinkable war, Cuba and Venezuela, with covert logistical support from Iran, North Korea and possibly Syria, against one or more of the "imperialist powers." With Chavez losing his grip on Venezuela, he may follow his patron, Fidel, down the road to ruin for his country. We cannot let that happen; the truth about offensive weapons inside Venezuela must be told in a clear and convincing manner. Only then can the folly of military misadventure be avoided. More than a hundred years ago, Chile, Peru and Bolivia fought the War of the Pacific, and bruised feelings from the war still remain in those countries. Do we really want to see a catastrophic conflict brought solely for the purposes of keeping the Chavez regime in power? The outcome would be a nightmare. David Meir-Levi is an American-born Israeli, currently living in Palo Alto. His expertise is in Near Eastern studies and the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. He is Director of Peace and Education at Israel Peace Initiative (www.ipi-usa.org). Contact him at david_meirlevi@hotmail.com |
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THE CAMPAIGN SPEECH WE DIDN'T HEAR
Posted by Israel Zwick, March 14, 2006. |
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The major candidates involved in Israel's upcoming elections have been busy giving interviews to the media and making speeches. However, the speech below went unnoticed by the popular media. It is the speech that we really need to hear. My Dear Friends: Our beloved and beleaguered State of Israel is approaching a critical juncture in its brief, but turbulent history. Our Prime Minister continues to lie gravely ill, never again to return to public life. While his policies in public office have always been controversial, he has made significant contributions to the security and welfare of our state. He has risked and devoted his life to building a strong and secure state for the Jewish people. For this we owe him our respect, admiration, and gratitude. We extend our consolation to his family and pray that the final days allotted to him will be spent in peace and comfort. In a short time, the citizens of Israel will be going to the polls to elect a new government and Prime Minister. We will be electing a new generation of leaders, raised after our country achieved its independence. The new leaders will have to learn to navigate the turbulent sea that our nation has entered. As we chart our course for the future, we cannot forget the lessons of the past, lest we are condemned to repeat the same mistakes. In May, 1967, our tiny nation of only 22,000 sq. km. was threatened with annihilation by our much larger and more populous Arab neighbors. So in June, 1967, our military forces were compelled to launch a pre-emptive strike to ensure our survival. In the ensuing battles, we not only defeated our enemies, but we liberated our historic lands that were illegally occupied by Jordan and Egypt from 1948 to 1967. During that time, Jews were evicted from lands where they lived for thousands of years. Jewish cemeteries, synagogues, and historic sites in Judea and Samaria were intentionally desecrated and destroyed by the Arab occupiers. Jews were denied access to our holiest sites in the environs of Jerusalem and Hebron. During that period, while Jewish rights were so blatantly violated, there was not one word of protest from the international organizations that today express so much concern for the rights of Arabs living in Judea and Samaria. After our victory in June, 1967, we proclaimed liberty throughout the land for Jews, Christians, and Muslims. The liberation of the land also gave us control over a population of about 2 million Arab Muslims and Christians. We gave the Christians and Muslims control over their respective houses of worship and holy sites. At the same time, people of all faiths were able to visit all the religious and historic sites found throughout Judea and Samaria. Outdoor concerts in Bethlehem were attended by large numbers of people of all faiths and ethnic backgrounds. In contrast to the oppressive occupation by Jordan and Egypt, the lands of Judea, Samaria, Gaza, and Sinai, were now open to tourism, settlement, and economic development to people of all faiths. Religious freedom for all was guaranteed and welcome. Unfortunately, the halcyon days were short-lived. Though the Arab population in the territories received health, economic, and social benefits from their association with the State of Israel, they refused to live under the flag of Israel. They proclaimed that they were "victims of Israeli aggression" and perpetrated numerous, barbaric terrorist attacks against the Jewish population in the guise of "waging a battle of liberation from the harsh, Israeli military occupation." The other Arab and Muslim countries supported their "struggle for liberation" and the international community refused to recognize Israeli control of the territories. Even our sovereignty in our capital city of Jerusalem was questioned. Despite all efforts by the State of Israel to live in peace with our Arab neighbors and accommodate their demands, they continued to wage a relentless war of virulent hatred and horrific terrorism against our people. Today, as we approach elections in our free and democratic society, we again are facing an existential dilemma. We would like to maintain the identity and character of a small, Jewish state without controlling the lives of 3 million Arabs. It would be nice if we could separate from the Arab population, but that is not a viable option. It is impossible to effect a complete separation in such a small territory. Any land that we relinquish would be prohibited for Jewish settlement and would be used for hostile actions that would jeopardize our existence. It should not be necessary to carve up our historic lands into inaccessible parcels in order to achieve peaceful coexistence with the Arab population. The State of Israel should maintain control of Judea and Samaria as well as regain control of Gaza. To the Arab population, we make the following offer: "We extend our hand to you and say 'Sholem Aleichem.' We invite you to share in the peace and prosperity of the State of Israel. Let us put down our weapons and combine our efforts to build a land of freedom, equality, security, and economic opportunities. We offer you a commonwealth government modeled after Puerto Rico, or some other form of non-sovereign governmental arrangement. We can build joint institutions of peace that would promote tourism, develop commercial enterprises, develop natural resources, explore alternative energy sources, and share health facilities. Together, we can build a free, and prosperous nation that would benefit all its inhabitants, of all faiths and ethnic identification. "However, if you still refuse to live under the blue and white flag of the State of Israel, we will still try to accommodate your nationalistic aspirations and preferences. That does not mean that we will tolerate your violence or allow you to threaten the existence of the Jewish state. Instead, we will assist you in your decision to live under another flag of your choice. We will provide your family with compensation for your property, transportation to a country of your choice, and a financial stipend to help your family get started in your new home in another country. Under no circumstances will we tolerate incitement and violence against the peaceful inhabitants of the State of Israel and its commonwealth territories." My dear friends, we will not achieve peace and security by abandoning, relinquishing, and retreating from our historic and religious homelands. Of what value is peace, if it costs us our pride? How can our hearts be at peace if our ancestral lands must become Judenrein, prohibited to Jews but open to people of other faiths? Of what value is security if it costs us our dignity? Security doesn't mean traveling in bulletproof vehicles on special roads that are lined with tall concrete barriers. Security means that our children will be free to follow in the footsteps of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, without fear of reprisal. So my friends, when you go the polls next week, don't vote for the illusion of peace and security that will only lead to more violence and bloodshed. Vote instead for true peace with Jewish pride, and security with dignity. Cast your ballot for retaining the YESHA territories, establishing an Arab commonwealth government in the territories, and encouraging emigration of Arabs who refuse to accept peaceful coexistence. Contact Israel Zwick at israel.zwick@earthlink.net |
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THE TAKING OF THE TERRORISTS AT JERICHO PRISON
Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, March 14, 2006. |
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There are two major point that come out of this. The first is that the Arabs are not at war with Israel. They are at war with the entire world. I am sure that all of the "foreign civilians" the Arabs grabbed would have considered themselves sympathetic to the Arab cause and probably hostile to Jews. Nevertheless it did not help them at all. The second point is that the Israeli Junta has informed the world that they are only willing to defend or avenge one of their own. Thousands of Jews have been murdered by the Arabs and tens of thousands maimed and crippled for life. Hundreds of missiles and mortars have fallen on Jewish communities. Yet the Government of Israel has only seen fit to take notice of the killers of a former Army General and Cabinet Minister. Jack de Lowe of Raanana send me this comment: It is interesting to note the Arab reaction to the IDF incursion into Jericho -- They seize foreign civilians in Gaza. So whether one speaks of attacking civilian buses or restaurants, the Arab reaction is always attack those who are unable to defend themselves. The prisoners in question were being held because the PA did not want them in an Israeli prison for the assassination of a high ranking Israeli government official at a hotel in Israel. None of this would have been an issue had the PA continued to provide the security required for the American and British unarmed monitors at the Jericho prison as they had been doing for over 4 years. These monitors had reported the lack of security for over a month. The PA reaction was to make a statement indicating that they intended upon releasing these prisoners. Once the monitors left the scene, Israeli troops swiftly moved in to see that the prisoners did not 'escape' and escape they did not! This article is called "Palestinian Surrenders; American Released" By Sarah El Deeb, 03.14.2006, Associated Press, www.forbes.com/business/energy/feeds/ap/2006/03/14/ap2593572.html Six Palestinian militants holed up inside a Palestinian prison surrendered to Israeli forces Tuesday, almost 10 hours after soldiers using helicopters, tanks and bulldozers raided the compound to seize militants who killed an Israeli Cabinet minister. The militants who surrendered included Ahmed Saadat, leader of a radical PLO faction and mastermind of the 2001 assassination of the minister, the Israeli military said. Palestinians, furious about the raid that also left two Palestinians dead, attacked offices linked to America and Europe, torching the British Council building in Gaza City and kidnapping foreigners, including an American professor, a Red Cross worker, two South Korean journalists and two Australian teachers at an American school. The American, English professor Douglas Johnson, was seized while buying something from a street vendor, American University officials said. He was freed hours later. Aryeh Zelasko lives in Beitar Illit, south of Jerusalem. He is Director of Sales and Marketing of Israel Visit (www.israelvisit.co.il) which provides information and an internet buying facility for American visitors to Israel. Contact him at zelasko@actcom.co.il |
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8DEC1941, PRESIDENT FRANKLIN DELINOLMERT ROOSEVELT ADDRESSED A JOINT SESSION OF CONGRESS
Posted by Jerome S. Kaufman, March 14, 2006. |
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This was modified from an article written by Jack Golbert of www.netzahyisrael.org Suppose that, on December 8, 1941, President Franklin Delinolmert Roosevelt had addressed a joint session of Congress and said something that included the following: "Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a day that will live in infamy, the Japanese militarist extremists bombed Pearl Harbor. This proves we have no peace partner because the Government of Imperial Japan has not done enough to restrain militaristic extremism so the United States will have to act unilaterally. Congress would have had President Franklin Delinolmert Roosevelt taken away in a white coat. Should Israel not do as much?
Jerome S. Kaufman is National Secretary of the Zionist
Organization of America. and host the Israel Commentary website
(http://www.israel-commentary.org).
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WE DON'T HAVE THE LUXURY OF NOT VOTING
Posted by Nadia Matar, March 14, 2006. |
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The elections are in two weeks, and I want to specially address those among us who declare that they don't intend to vote. I, too, feel only contempt and revulsion for the election campaign. Look, you say -- and rightly so -- the last elections brought a presumably "rightist" government to power, and it betrayed us, it deported thousands of Jews from their homes, and it handed over portions of the homeland to the Arab enemy, who turned the area into Hamastan. This is correct. Undoubtedly, with the exception of two, or perhaps three, Members of Knesset, all the other MKs disappointed, deceived, lied, betrayed, did nothing, or did not do enough. The spontaneous response to this is: "If so, then why should I bother to go and vote? I'll stay at home, and I won't continue to take any part in this farce." But after thinking for a while, we must understand that we don't have the luxury of staying home and not voting. What can we do? The upcoming election is really a referendum on the future of the settlement enterprise in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza. It also raises the question of whether Israel is a Jewish state, or a state of all its citizens. Accordingly, without discussing the question of whom to vote for, we must get out of our easy chairs and take part in the activity to persuade the majority of the people for whom not to vote for. All our efforts must be directed to prevent Olmert and Kadima from winning the election. This cannot be achieved by staying home and not voting. To anyone who tells me: "But the other candidates aren't any good, either," I answer: "True, but we were taught to "Shun evil and do good." First of all, we must ensure that the worst of all evils does not get into power. After that, we will be ready to take care of the lesser of the two evils. The Olmert gang is the worst and most dangerous. If, Heaven forbid, Olmert were to receive a majority, he -- together with all his friends, Israel haters here and abroad -- will interpret the election results as receiving a mandate from the people for the total elimination of the entire Jewish settlement movement in Judea and Samaria (and even in the Golan). In essence it means the deportation of more than 250,000 Jews from their Land, a return to the '67 borders, the establishment of a Palestinazi state in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza, the persecution of nationalist Jews, the religious, and the ultra-Orthodox, the expunging of any Jewish character that the State of Israel still possesses, and a total surrender to all the demands of the Arab enemy. If, with God's help, Olmert does not win, and a right-wing, national, national-religious, and ultra-Orthodox bloc takes power, there obviously will be problems, disappointments, and struggles with this bloc, as well. But if and when those in this bloc will -- Heaven forbid -- want to betray Eretz Israel and/or Judaism, then we will be able to say to them: "You do not have a mandate! We will no longer tolerate deceitful politicians. If you dare to once again betray the platform that you are supposed to represent, this time we won't act with restraint! We will break all the rules." In short, we will hold the cards and have the power for "the will of the people is with us." This is nothing small, nor anything to trifle with. Unfortunately, that will not be the case if, Heaven forbid, Olmert were to win. It is worthwhile to leave the house and to vote, even only for this fact that Olmert should not get in. Not to mention that it is important that we have at least a few MKs who faithfully represent the Land of Israel, the Torah of Israel, and the Jewish People of Israel. Thank God, our Camp, the Orange Camp, is a great and mighty traditional Camp. If each person commits himself not to remain home on Election Day, then we will ensure that all of the candidates who are loyal to Eretz Israel will enter the Knesset, where they will constitute a force against the left and the Arabs. They will in fact influence the weak and servile Members of Knesset, even those in the national camp. As the journalist David Bedein wrote in one of his articles: apathy is a tool of totalitarian democracies. We must shed this apathy and act. It is essential, in addition to voting on Election Day, that in the next two weeks we commit ourselves to take part in the "Moving to the Right" campaign. That is, to persuade those who plan to vote to move to the right. Every one should volunteer for this mission according to his capabilities: some people will take a list of telephone numbers from the Moving to the Right headquarters, and spend much time in conversations with the people of Israel to persuade them. Others will stand at intersections with informational material, stickers, and posters, and generate an anti-Olmert atmosphere in the street -- which is extremely important, in order to circumvent the media that is mobilized for Olmert. Our movement, Women in Green, distributes the "Olmert Is Dangerous for the Jews" sticker to anyone who requires them. The impression that we gained from conversations with people on the street or on the telephone is that Olmert does not have a majority. The polls lie, just as they lied when Peres ran for President of the country, and they told us that he would win. But the atmosphere on the street is still one of despair, depression, tiredness, and general lack of interest in the election campaign. Our mobilization on the streets, and in talks with people, is capable of effectuating a change for the better. Takhlis -- getting down to brass tacks: I would divide the activity to prevent Olmert's rise to power into two: 1. We must engage in increased effort within our camp, to ensure that our public goes to vote and does not stay at home on Election Day. The fact is that insufficient work has been done in this area. 2. The public at large must be persuaded to "move to the right." A considerable portion of the people living in Gush Dan who plan to vote for Kadima are doing so without any good reason -- because it's fashionable, because they think that there is no alternative, or because they do not really understand the significance of such a choice. If we explain to them that the fate of their individual home is linked to the fate of Judea, Samaria, and Gaza, they will begin to think twice. Yes, it's true, a sizable portion of them are apathetic to Zionist ideology, to the deportation of Jews and the handing over of sacred parts of the homeland to the enemy. If, however, they will understand that if, in place of Jews, the hills in Judea and Samaria will be controlled by terrorists from the Hamas and al-Qaeda, who will fire at airplanes taking off from Ben-Gurion and they will no longer be able to go abroad on vacations with such ease, and have the fear of being targeted by Kasam rockets or of SAM-7 missiles aimed at their airplanes, they will think twice before voting for Kadima. Someone I know summed up his persuasive efforts with these people in a single sentence: "Olmert will establish a Hamas state in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza, which means Kasams on your house, without the IDF lifting a finger in your defense." Another point that could convince all sectors of the population that it is essential that Olmert not be elected is to be reminded that Shimon Peres, who is despised by the people, is number 2 in Kadima. The same Shimon Peres who brought upon us the Oslo disaster; who brought the arch murderer Arafat and his murderous gang here; who gave them weapons, ammunition, and cities of refuge; and who is responsible for the thousands of victims of Oslo, is Olmert's right hand. Conspiracy theories are already current among the public, that if, Heaven forbid, Olmert will be elected, the left will arrange to have Olmert removed from power somehow, either by putting him on trial for corruption or by any other way that the left knows. Shimon Peres, who is ready to make even more concessions to the Arabs than Olmert, is a distinct possibility to become Prime Minister! If such nightmare scenarios are on the horizon, how can we stay home and not vote? At the very least, we should try and ensure that the Olmert-Peres party won't take power! It is almost Purim. Mordecai and Esther taught us that, in he words of Pirkei Avot, the Ethics of the Fathers, "it is not incumbent upon you to complete the work; yet, you are not free to desist from it." May it be His will that "the opposite happened," and the Jews will finally rule over those who hate them. Ruth and Nadia Matar established Women For Israel's Tomorrow (Women in Green), an activist group of women based in Jerusalem. Their website address is http://www.womeningreen.org |
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PFLP FORECASTS MURDER OF ISRAELI LEADERS
Posted by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook, March 14, 2006. |
 Today Jews around the world celebrate the holiday of Purim, the respite after the defeat of Haman of Persia, who was the first world figure to plan genocide against the Jews. There are those who are still calling for the murder of Jews, as can be seen today on the web site of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) Note that the face in the coffin is that of the murdered Israeli Cabinet Minister Rehavam Zeevi. Text header: "Our brigades will continue to destroy your project". Text on picture of murdered Israeli Minister Rechvam Zeevi: "The fate of your leaders" According to Palestinian media report the Popular Front is to
participate in the upcoming Hamas government. [Al-Hayat Al-Jadidah,
March 9, 2006]
Itamar Marcus is director of PMW -- Palestinian Media Watch -
(http://www.pmw.org.il). PMW is based in Jerusalem. Barbara Crook, a
writer and university lecturer based in Ottawa, Canada, is PMW's
North American representative.
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IS ANTI-ZIONISM ANTISEMITIC?; ISRAEL IN A STATE OF DENIAL AND
SELF-DENIAL; IRAN TAKING OVER IRAQ
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, March 14, 2006. |
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IS ANTI-ZIONISM ANTISEMITIC? Explanations that anti-Zionism is antisemitic usually are insufficient. To decide the issue, first one must define Zionism and anti-Zionism. Many people confuse non-Zionism with anti-Zionism. Understanding that the former is not antisemitic, they suppose mistakenly that the latter is not, either. What is Zionism? Zionism is an ideology emanating from Judaism, that the Jewish people should gather in the Land of Israel. The "Land of Israel" is the Biblical term for where lived the Israelites, ancestors of the Jews. Gentiles renamed the Land "Palestine" (out of hostility and not because there were Arabs living there called "Palestinians" -- they weren't there). It generally includes modern Israel, with its incorporated areas such as the Golan Heights and Jerusalem, and the Territories and most of Jordan. This area constituted the original Palestine Mandate, but was since then truncated and partitioned. The Territories remain unallocated to any national sovereignty. Precision is attainable in geography but not in defining what it is to be Jewish. Being Jewish is uniquely and mysteriously a combination of religious, national and other threads that other ethnic groups and many Jews do not understand. Non-observant Jews don't fathom how the sight of the Western Wall moves them profoundly, but it does. It is easy to understand Jews having converted under threat of death. One can understand gentiles comparing religions and preferring Judaism's affirmation of life and of ethics. But who can understand the growing phenomenon of gentile descendants of Jews, upon learning of their origin, being attracted back to Judaism even when not having made a studied comparison? This goes beyond facts, logic, and emotion into metaphysics. Some Jews don't wish to move to Zion, but support the religious and national rights of other Jews to do so. This wish is not anti-Zionist but non-Zionist. Anti-Zionism singles out the Jewish people as not entitled to their own homeland, which they never surrendered. Why deny only the Jewish people these rights? This ethnic discrimination is antisemitic in effect. It also may be antisemitic in motive. The State Dept. motives are both hostility towards the Jewish people and appeasement of the Arabs. Some Jews in exile are motivated by fear that their adopted countries may suspect them of disloyalty. Further confusion is insinuated into the debate by the innocuous-seeming statement that people are not antisemitic for merely opposing "certain" policies of the government of Israel. They are not referring to such governmental policies as subsidizing profligate waste of water or allowing pollution of water. No, they piggyback onto that statement opposition to policies that would rescind the little Israel has in the way of being a Jewish state and that would defend its continued existence as a state for the Jews. When anti-Zionists propose that Israel not retaliate against terrorist attacks, and fail to urge international retaliation, how can that not be antisemitism? When anti-Zionists propose disinvestments from Israel for defending itself with checkpoints, and propose aid to the P.A. that attacks Israelis, how can favoring murderers be seeking peace? Their indignation against the Jewish state and disinterest in genocidal states exposes their fraud. UNO CONDEMNS LEBANON Iran sent a convoy of arms through Syria to Lebanon for Hizbullah. The Lebanese Army stopped the convoy, but the Lebanese Defense Ministry and the pro-Syrian presidency ordered it to be let through. When the government admitted this to the UNO, the UNO condemned Lebanon for violating the UNO Resolution that Lebanon disarm the militias. Lebanon claims that Hizbullah is not a militia, so it is not in violation (IMRA, 2/26). It is an Arab trait to redefine a plain term, so as to deny the Arabs are doing something forbidden. Westerners rationalize too, but the Arabs distort much more. Thus, Arabs call their aggression "defense." They violate agreements but falsely accuse Israel of violating them. They attempt genocide against Israelis but accuse Israel of attempting and committing genocide against them. So it goes. Perhaps the Western media and leaders were too hasty in lauding the Lebanese for a democratic revolution and liberation. They still are run by a pro-Syrian cabal and are under much control by terrorist militias. ISRAEL IN A STATE OF DENIAL & SELF-DENIAL "Today, the non-elected Kadima interim government, like the Israeli media, is doing everything in its power to lull the Israeli people into complacency towards the storm of war raging around us. Against the daily barrages of Kassam rockets on southern Israel; nervous reports of al-Qaida setting up shop in Judea, Samaria and Gaza; the ascension of Hamas to power in the Palestinian Authority; and Iran's threats of nuclear annihilation, Israel's citizenry, under the spell of Kadima and the media, appears intent on ignoring the dangers and pretending that what happens to Jews in France has nothing to do with us. Unless the Arabs are given a state in the Territories," warned Min. Livni, "Israel will lose its legitimacy as a Jewish state." Does Kadima suppose that, "unlike every other people in the world, the Jewish people does not have an inherent, natural right to exist as a free, sovereign and independent people in its homeland. For Kadima, the Jewish people's right to self-determination in our land is conditional on our enemies' acceptance of our right to be here." (The enemies don't accept Israel.) Kadima acts as if only Arabs have rights in the Territories. "Throughout the areas, the government, backed by the post-Zionist courts, prohibits Jews from building on land that Jews own. Today, as Moshe Rosenbaum, the mayor of Beit El explains, even receiving a permit to build an extension on a standing house or additional classrooms in a school is all but impossible." "While Olmert and Internal Security Minister Gideon Ezra have repeatedly (and falsely) condemned Jews for allegedly cutting down trees owned by Arabs in Judea and Samaria, the government has said nothing and done nothing to stop the wholesale destruction of Jewish orchards and national forests in the areas by Palestinians. Over the past several months, in the vicinity of Gush Etzion alone, thousands of Jewish-owned trees have been chopped down by Arab vandals. Two national forests have been laid to waste." (IMRA, 2/25 from Caroline Glick.) Heavy casualties will afflict Israel. NEW FINDING ON CONTROL OF U.S. PORTS In Dubai, the UAE, due to control major US ports, enforces the Arab boycott of Israel. That contravenes US law and the condition of free trade for membership in the World Trade Organization (NY Sun, 3/1, p.6). Good point, but neither does the US always pursue free trade. It boycotts many countries. It also subsidizes farmers and other exporters. ISRAEL CANCELS IDF 5-YEAR PLAN Israel had a 5-year plan to reconfigure its military. Faced with steep budget cuts, the military has had to scrap its plan (IMRA, 2/26). COUNTING ON PAST TRENDS CONTINUING When he headed Israel's security agency, Avi Dichter held firm views about the need for solid defense against the Arabs. Now that he is running for office under the appeasement-minded Kadima party, he has reversed himself (as do most candidates for Prime Minister). He advises Israelis not to worry about rocket attacks, because most casualties from terrorism are due to suicide bombing. He admits, however, that the Arabs are acquiring more accurate and powerful missiles (Arutz-7, 2/26). Years ago, the Arabs didn't have rockets. Initially, their rockets were short-range and inaccurate. Then the Arabs started developing rocket capabilities. Now they can import better ones. The shells are exploding further and further into Israel. All this is due to the abandonment of Gaza and its border with Egypt, that Mr. Dichter now approves. His clique is allowing the menace to develop. One can foresee heavy casualties in Israel. HOW RELIABLE ARE ISRAELI POLLS? Allegations have been made that right-wingers don't answer left-wing pollsters. That distorts results. Poll workers are said to fill in answers, themselves (IMRA, 2/26). This is in addition to phrasing the questions to ask, in effect, if the enemy would act like angels, would Israel be able to relinquish certain security precautions. Israelis reply that they would. Then the pollsters and headlines announce that Israelis don't believe in those security precautions. But they do. They don't think that the enemy acts like angels. MORE ISRAELI DISCRIMINATION AGAINST RELIGIOUS JEWS The government of Israel let a Muslim preacher atop the Temple Mount rally support for a global Caliphate dictatorship. Police let gentiles ascend the mount without much search, but search Jews thoroughly lest they bring religious material. Regardless, they turn many Jews away (Arutz-7, 2/26). The government is being controlled by the Muslim threat of riots. It dislikes religious Jews, too THE UNCHIC SHEIK A renowned Islamic scholar formerly at Cairo's Al-Azhar U. complains that Wahabbi doctrine befouls the true Islam. He said Islam acknowledges that Jerusalem belongs to the Jewish people (Arutz-7, 2/27). He's right. ISRAELI SUPREME COURT BUFFETS JEWISH STATE Arabs brought suit against Israel for planning to develop Jewish communities in the Negev and Galilee, to balance the growth of Arab communities. The Supreme Court ruled that the plan illegally discriminates (IMRA, 2/26). The Supreme Court did not rule that the Arabs are increasing their population much by banned polygamy and illegal immigration. The Court is taking the Far Left position that Israel should not be a Jewish state. If Israel allows the Arabs to overtake the Jewish population, the Arabs would send them to the undertakers. IRAN TAKING OVER IRAQ Iran is running rings around the Americans in Iraq. It is following the same tactics there that it used to gain a sphere of influence for Hizbullah, which it directs in Lebanon. It indoctrinates in suicide bombing, forms Islamist militias that enforce Sharia, and infiltrates the defense department -- without interference by the US! It gives aid directly to the people, whereas the US has projects run by US corporations it pays. Iran employs bribery. It makes its case on TV and gives Iraqis video cameras and pays for film that would embarrass the US. Oblivious to enemy propaganda, the US plays into its hands. For example, it allowed what was technically true at one time to become part of a UN declaration, that the US liberators were "occupiers." That is the Muslim complaint. Iran has a strategy for victory. The US does not. It lacks a strategy for countering Iran (MEFNews, 2/27 from Michael Rubin.) THE DANISH EDITOR REPLIES The editor commissioned cartoons after Europeans censored themselves inappropriately and solely in favor of Islam, out of fear. Imams demanded that the Prime Minister make the press give Islam more favorable coverage. (Let them earn it!) He felt that Islam was closing in on legitimate criticism, as contrasted with vulgar bathroom "humor." He wanted to make a point that it is permissible to comment about Muhammad realistically. He did not call for insults. Nor did the cartoons insult. They treated Muslims as equals (whereas Muslims insult others constantly). He is not responsible for distortions about them nor for violence against innocent people, which Christians and Jews do not commit. Totalitarians falsely claim to be offended, in order to stifle dissent. Moderate Muslims organized to approve cartooning and denounce the radicals and violence (IMRA, 2/27). 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@aol.com. |
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THE BEST PURIM SPIEL IN THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF PURIM
Posted by Steven Plaut, March 14, 2006. |
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This comes from Sultan Knish (http://sultanknish.blogspot.com/2006/03/ neturei-karta-pay-visit-to-sushan-in.html). 
In time for Purim leaders of the Neturei Karta organization announced plans to pay a visit to Sushan in support of controversial Persian leader Haman HaRasha. "We are here to proclaim that we absolutely reject the Zionists like Mordechai who claim to speak for the Jewish people," said Rabbi Dovid Weiss. "Haman is not an Anti-Semite, this is a lie. Haman did not want to kill all the Jews, he only wanted to kill the Zionists and we support him in this. While Zionists like Mordechai and Ezra are working to rebuild Israel and displace and persecute the native Samaritan and Idumean peoples, we Torah-true Jews reject this and stand with Haman and the Amalekite peoples in utter opposition to Zionism." As part of their tour Rabbi Dovid Weiss, Rabbi Moshe Ber Beck and Rabbi Datan Aviram approvingly visited Haman's lots casting chambers, the king's treasury and the gallows where he plans to hang Mordechai. "Haman is a great leader," said Rabbi Moshe Ber Beck. "For too long the Zionists have oppressed the Amalekite people and massacred their great king Agag. We support Haman's call for justice and a day of reckoning with the Zionists which we look forwards to knowing that no Torah-true Anti-Zionist Jews will be harmed in the process." While the Jewish community of Sushan was busy fasting and praying the Neturei Karta delegation toured happier parts of Sushan where weapons were being sharpened and stakes prepeared by the sons of Haman for the Jewish community of Sushan. "We have met with Haman and his beautiful wife Zeresh, we have enjoyed the hospitality of their home and their many possessions which Haman eagerly showed us," Rabbi Datan Aviram said. "I am sure that his ten sons will grow up to follow in their father's footsteps. They share our common opposition to Zionism and we are sure they will rise very high." On departing the Neturei Karta delegation expressed their hopes that Haman would help ensure the dismantling of the Jewish authority in Israel and fully restore the rule to its rightfull Idumean, Philistinian and Amalekite rulers. "I am not a Zionist or an Israeli," said Rabbi Moshe Ber Beck, "I am instead proud to call myself an Amalekite too and hope one day to live under an Amalekite government in an Amalekite state." Posted by Lo Niskach ve'Lo Nislach
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. Or contact him by email at
splaut@econ.haifa.ac.il
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WE WILL REPLACE ISLAMISM WITH IRANISM!
Posted by SMCCDI, March 14, 2006. |
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The Iranian New Year (Nowrooz) coincides with the beginning of spring. In comparison with other calendars, such as, the lunar calendar, or Islamic calendar, it is somewhat more unique. Nowrooz is a sacred Heritage that is generations old. In many parts of the world and among different nations with different names, they celebrate this annual event. Nowrooz, a main symbol of Iranism, has an important place in Iranian identity and culture, to the point that even during the Arab, Mongolian, and Alexander occupations of Iran, the people of Iran continued to celebrate this sacred event. The existing anti-Iranian regime, which rules today, suppresses these ancient traditions and has repeatedly tried to ban them in the name of Islam. Let us not forget that one of the first things the Islamic Republic did, when it came to power, was to change one of Tehran's avenue named "Persepolis", a symbol of Iranian pride, to "Taleghani" (an Islamist cleric). Due to the then silence of Iranians, generated by their fear, the Islamic regime paved the road for the our day's building of the Sivand dam, in order to flood the ancient city of Persepolis and destroy this symbol of ancient Iran. The next step of the regime was to take the total control of Iranian universities by its fanatic elements and to change these academic institutions into a propaganda and brainwashing tool for the spread of its backwarded and fanatic ideology. In that line and in an effort to extinguish nationalistic feelings, the universities and higher education colleges were closed, with the help of the so-called Islamist 'intellectuals', for over three years under the label of "Cultural Revolution". Indeed, the propaganda machine of the Supreme leader has always tried to promote the destruction of the true Iranian culture and national symbols. To better understand, one must compare the small budget which is allocated for preserving Iran's national monuments with the huge sums that are spend for the development of the JamKaran Well and Mosque. The Islamic Republic regime has always tried, desperately, to replace our ancient Iranian events with Islamic days, such as, Ghadir or Fetr. This policy targets the gradual change of the precise Iranian calendar with the primitive lunar calendar. The anti-Iranian regime is also, desperately, trying to change our proud Iranian culture and heritage with that of backwarded Islamic culture. The dogmatic clerics are also intending to force Iranians to choose Islamic names, such as, Abu Obide or Um-Kolsom instead of Iranian names like Babak, Siavosh or Iran-Dokht. But Iran's new generations are well aware of such tactics and are understanding that the survival of this barbarian and backwarded regime would equal to the destruction of Iran. That's why we must take back our historical culture and universities from this despotic regime and coordinate all Nationalist, Secular and Free Thinker forces in order to push back this regime. Yes, we should not stop till we free totally our land from the hands of the theocratic regime! The new Iranian generations are well aware of the enemy's tactics, therefore; they will challenge the totality of the Islamic Republic regime at the occasion of "Tchahar-Shanbe Soori" (Fire Fiest) regardless of any official or religious ban. We will call on our enemy for fight! The burning of fire bushes will represent Iran's new generations' distaste for the present filthy regime, and in hopes of burning this regime away with giving its ashes to the wind! Fellow Iranians, with our massive participation in the "Tchahr-Shanbe Soori" and other Iranian events, we will consolidate our national unity and we will tell to the world, that the current regime is not ours and that does not represent us! We do believe that we will attract the world's attention and we will astonish everyone with our defiance! The "Student Movement Coordination Committee for Democracy in Iran" (SMCCDI) is hereby forwarding its early best wishes at the occasion of the upcoming Iranian New Year (On March 20th) and is calling on every Iranian to participate actively in the "Tchahr-Shanbe Soori" (March 14th) and all Iranian Cultural and Nationalistic events and ceremonies. Such participations are positive steps in pushing back the Mullahcracy and to make the world hear our call for Freedom! Contact SMCCDI, The Student Movement for Democracy in Iran, by email at peyk@daneshjoo.org. Or go to their website: http://www.daneshjoo.org/ This article was published at http://daneshjoo.org/article/publish/article_3371.shtml |
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FUNDING ABU MAZEN'S HATE EDUCATION
Posted by Yoram Ettinger, March 13, 2006. |
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1. Abu Mazen's education system reflects his ideology/strategy, more than his dialogue with the West. Abu Mazen is the architect of PA education, shaping long term attitudes toward Israel and the Jewish People. It is the main manufacturing line of homicide bombers, a role model/reservoir for Islamic and international terrorism. A Feb. 9, 2006 analysis of 2004-5 PA school textbooks was conducted by Israel's "Center of Intelligence Legacy". 2. Abu Mazen's education system idolizes martyrdom-homicide bombing (5th grade "Our Beautiful Language" pp. 31, 36, 70; 10th grade "Grammar" p. 30), denies the Mideast roots of Judaism, of the Jewish People and of Israel, repudiates Israel's right to exist, fuels anti-Semitism and glorifies "the claim of return" (code name for the destruction of the Jewish Country). 3. Shaheeds (homicide bombers) "live next to Allah" (5th grade "Our Beautiful Language" p.26) and their blood is pure (10th grade "Grammar" p.146 and "Islamic Education -- part II" p.48 and 5th grade "Our Beautiful Language" p.32). A full chapter in 5th grade "Islamic Education" glorifies Shaheeds, including the first female Shaheed and a mother of four Shaheeds (pp.42-44). Supporting Shaheed families is a pinnacle of morality (5th grade "National Education" p.16, 10th grade "Environmental and Health Sciences" p.54). Palestinians revere a religious war on Israel (10th grade "Islamic Education -- part II, p.50). A popular male's name is Jihad (Holy War). 4. Israel's establishment -- in 1948 -- is "the beginning of occupation" and the 1967 War is "continued occupation". Pre-1967 Israeli towns are "illegal settlements" (10th grade "Modern World History p. 64). The 1917 Balfour Declaration is damned (5th grade "Mathematics -- part II" p. 114, "Our Beautiful Language" p. 57). 5. Israel does not exist, according to all PA maps and PA school textbooks, but in a disparaging manner. It is replaced by "Palestine" (5th grade "History of Ancient Cultures" p. 53; 10th grade "Modern World History" p. 86; 10th grade "Environmental Sciences" pp. 112,114). Haifa is Palestinian (5th grade "Our Beautiful Language" p. 86), as are the Galilee and Nazareth (10th grade "Home Economy" pp. 36-7), the Lake of Galilee (5th grade "Physical Geography" p. 25) and the Mediterranean lies on the Palestinian coastline (ibid p. 26). 6. The "Claim of Return" is the central theme, to be realized via Holy War at the expense of Israel's existence (5th grade "Our Beautiful Language" p. 88). 7. The "Protocols of the Elders of Zion", which spearheaded Soviet Anti-Semitism -- a best-seller in the PA and in Arab countries -- has been integrated into Abu Mazen's education system. The "Protocols" expose the racist nature of Zionism and its plan to control the globe (10th grade "Modern World History" p. 63). 8. The Jewish connection to Zion is denied vehemently, and the reference to Judaism is mostly derogatory. 5th grade "Muslim Education -- part II" pp. 46, 52, 54-55 claims that Moses and Aaron were sent by Allah, in order to convince Pharaoh to accept Islam! 9. Holocaust Denial is promoted by "Modern World History", consistent with Abu Mazen's own Ph.D. thesis at Moscow University, (10th grade "Modern World History" p. 83). Ambassador Yoram Ettinger is a consultant on US-Israel relations as well as the Chairman of Special Projects at the Ariel Center for Policy Research. Formerly the Minister for Congressional Affairs to Israel's Embassy in Washington, DC, Ettinger also served as Consul General of Israel to the Southwestern US. He is a former editor of Contemporary Mideast Backgrounder, and is the author of the Jerusalem Cloakroom series of reports. Contact him at yoramtex@netvision.net.il |
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MY BROTHER'S KEEPER?
Posted by David Meir-Levi, March 13, 2006. |
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This appeared today in Front Page Magazine
(www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=21620) Is your Rabbi listed? Brit Tzedek v'Shalom (Covenant of Justice and Peace: hereafter BTvS), a Jewish "peace and justice for Palestinians" group (www.btvshalom.org) published the names of 387 Rabbis who have signed a petition demanding that our government not withhold aid to the Hamas-controlled government of the Palestinian Authority. This petition is BTvS's response to the Ros-Lehtinen/Lantos Bill, HR4681, which would deny U.S. funds to the PA unless Hamas relents on its commitment to the destruction of Israel and the extermination of the Jewish people.These rabbis have to be familiar with the Hamas covenant, which spells out Hamas's messianic commitment to the end-of-days when the infidels are vanquished and the world is redeemed; when the dead are resurrected and Islam is established as the only religion on earth. According to traditional orthodox Moslem teaching -- as we are reminded by Hamas -- this happens only after Moslems have murdered every Jew on the planet. The rabbis cannot have missed the fact that for the past 12 years, tens of billions of dollars in humanitarian aid have gone to the Palestinian Authority and approximately 80 percent has been siphoned off to support the terrorist gangs that have perpetrated 28,000 attacks, killing 1,700 Israelis and wounding approximately 7,000. These are the numbers since 1993, when Arafat signed the Oslo peace accords. The Palestinians receive per capita more aid than any country on earth except Upper Volta. But they have nothing to show for it except grinding poverty, an obscenely wealthy political elite, and a dozen terrorist armies. Hamas' commitment to destroy Israel and exterminate its Jews is a religious faith and therefore non-negotiable. In other words, these rabbis know that if they succeed in convincing Congress to send the money to Hamas, this aid to "the Palestinian people" will be used to help Palestine's Nazis kill their fellow Jews. But the rabbis would rather abet the murder of Jews than face the fact that Israel is confronting an implacable enemy whose capital is Ramallah and whose answer to the Jewish question is the Final Solution. This is the list of the 387 "rabbis". 1. Rabbi Scott Aaron (Chicago, IL)
David Meir-Levi is an American-born Israeli, currently living in Palo Alto. His expertise is in Near Eastern studies and the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. He is Director of Peace and Education at Israel Peace Initiative (www.ipi-usa.org). Contact him at david_meirlevi@hotmail.com |
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CHILD MURDERER AWARDED HONORARY PALESTINIAN CITIZENSHIP
Posted by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook, March 13, 2006. |
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Introduction Societies measure their heroes in different ways. Some societies honor athletes or performers. Others celebrate caregivers and humanitarian workers. The Palestinians, on the other hand, have consistently chosen to honor murderers as their national icons. The Palestinian Authority has announced that it was granting honorary citizenship to two Arab terrorists who killed Israelis -- a Lebanese terrorist, Samir Quntar, and Jordanian terrorist, Sultan Al-Ajaluni. Both are serving life sentences in Israeli jails. In 1979 Lebanese terrorist Samir Quntar murdered Danny Haran and his four-year-old daughter, Einat. Danny's daughter Yael, aged two, suffocated while hiding in a crawl space with her mother. Quntar is serving multiple life sentences totaling 542 years in prison. Smadar Haran, wife and mother of the murder victims, described the murder in the Washington Post in 2003: "It was a murder of unimaginable cruelty? It had been a peaceful Sabbath day. My husband, Danny, and I had picnicked with our little girls, Einat, 4, and Yael, 2, on the beach. Around midnight -- the terrorists burst into our building. Danny helped our neighbor climb into a crawl space above our bedroom; I went in behind her with Yael in my arms. Danny grabbed Einat and was dashing out the front door when the terrorists came crashing into our flat. They held Danny and Einat -- I will never forget the joy and the hatred in the terrorists voices as they swaggered about hunting for us, firing their guns and throwing grenades. -- As I lay there, I remembered my mother telling me how she had hidden from the Nazis during the Holocaust. "This is just like what happened to my mother," I thought. .. The terrorists took Danny and Einat down to the beach. There, according to eyewitnesses, one of them shot Danny in front of Einat so that his death would be the last sight she would ever see. Then he smashed my little girl's skull in against a rock with his rifle butt. That terrorist was Samir Quntar." [Smadar Haran Kaiser, Washington Post, May 18, 2003] This is the Samir Quntar who last week was granted honorary Palestinian citizenship. Palestinian organizations responded with applause to this announcement: "The "friends of the prisoners" organization sees the decision, of the present [Fatah led] government, to award Palestinian citizenship to two Arab prisoners -- Samir Quntar from Lebanon and Sultan Al-Ajaluni from Jordan -- an act of Palestinian national obligation and in dedication to this honored history, that the Arab prisoners have provided to the Palestinian issue." [Al-Quds, Mar. 7, 2006] "The Palestinian Liberation Front, through general secretariat member, Dr. Wasil Abu Yusuf, praised the government's decision... to award the imprisoned fighters, Sarmir Quntar and Sultan Al-Ajaluni, honorary citizenship and Palestinian citizenship as an act of dedication to their struggle and their heroic suffering in the occupation's prisons. [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Mar. 8, 2006] "The Palestinian Popular Committees expressed their appreciation for the government's decision to award the two imprisoned fighters, Sarmir Quntar and Sultan Al-Ajaluni, honorary citizenship and Palestinian citizenship as an act of dedication to their struggle and their heroic sufferings in the occupation's prisons. [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Mar. 9, 2006] From PMW archives: Sarmir Quntar -- for years a Palestinian hero PATV and PA leaders have long seen Quntar as a hero. His picture is repeatedly shown on TV and he was proclaimed the "model warrior," "brave," and a "leader" and "head" of the prisoners. PA Minister of Prisoners, Hisham Abdul Razeq, defined Quntar as the leader of the prisoners: The torch of freedom [that] was lifted by our heroic prisoners and headed by the great warrior Samir Quntar...and our thanks to you. [PATV, Aug. 15, 2004] Prominent PA TV broadcaster Muhammad Albaz: "Here before us is the picture of the great Lebanese Palestinian warrior Samir Quntar. A thousand blessings to the warrior Samir Quntar [the audience claps] and to his family in Lebanon and to this hero who was sentenced to 576 year [in prison] and this is the evil and this is Israeli democracy. [PATV, Aug. 25, 2004] PA TV extolled him: "Quntar is a model of a brilliant warrior -- who believes in his goals, knows his way, and perseveres in achieving those goals...." [PATV, Aug. 18, 2004] Another TV broadcaster referred to him as a leader: "The leader Samir Quntar, our wish for him is that he will soon be released." [PATV, Aug. 18, 2004] A broadcast describing Quntar's life defines his murder as "brave: "He was sentenced to 542 years in prison for committing the brave Nahariya action in Palestine (note-Israel city of Nahariya is defined as 'Palestine.') [PATV, Aug. 18, 2004] Palestinian demonstrators supporting a prisoner hunger strike singled out Quntar as a model to be followed: "We bless the family members of Samir Quntar, we are with you. He is your son but he is also our son, the son of Palestine. We ask of Allah, that there will be 100 more Samir Quntars, 1,000 more Samir Quntars, 1,000,000 more Samir Quntars, that do and act for the Palestinian issue. [PATV, Aug. 18, 2004] Finally it should be noted that this act of granting honorary Palestinian citizenship to Quntar was done by the present Fatah headed government. The Hamas led government has not yet been appointed. Itamar Marcus is director of PMW -- Palestinian Media Watch - (http://www.pmw.org.il). PMW is based in Jerusalem. Barbara Crook, a writer and university lecturer based in Ottawa, Canada, is PMW's North American representative. |
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INCONCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS; CHRISTIANS SHIVER UNDER HAMAS' SHADOW
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, March 13, 2006. |
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MISCONCEPTION ABOUT FORUMS & SCHOLARS A forum is supposed to offer more than one viewpoint about a topic. The usual complaint about purported forums on the Arab-Israel conflict is their being one-sided. The sponsors deny the Jewish nationalist position equal time or even any time. There is a misconception that such a forum would be suitable if, say, there were one Arab and one patriotic Israeli. Most Arabs, like most Nazis and most Communists do not have a point of view, they have an imperialist war and a code of behavior that condones any means for their alleged ends. They come to make false propaganda, not to engage in honest debate. Communists used to deny their faults and their enemies' virtues. They turned history on its head, such as by asserting falsely that S. Korea started the Korean War. They twisted logic as well as the facts. They were impervious to opposing arguments, for they were not debating honestly but making propaganda. The Muslim Arabs are worse then the Communists. Like the latter, the Arabs deny their faults and their enemies' virtues. They turn history on its head, such as by asserting falsely that Israel started all the wars with the Arabs. They twist logic as well as the facts. They are impervious to opposing arguments, for they are not debating but making propaganda. They are worse, because they engage more in blood libel and change their assertions of fact as they go along. They also raise more false accusations in a few minutes, than an opponent possibly could answer. Since our contemporaries are less informed about the issues, much slander is believed. There is no point to allowing Muslim Arabs to debate in Western countries. As for Western universities, the very institutions that aresupposed to teach youths to think increasingly are staffed by Muslim Arabs who stifle independent thought and indoctrinate in prejudice based on fraud. This does not mean that all their criticism of the West they are here to undermine is misconceived, but they do not perform a service. Those Arabs are joined by a native leftist faculty that shares their methods and their mischief. Many of these college teachers have poor academic credentials for the job, but they are not their to perform their jobs but to do a job on the students. INTERVIEW WITH HAMAS PREMIER I read an aggressive interview with Hamas' designated Prime Minister. The reporter asked the right questions, and some of the right follow-up questions. He omitted the key ones, however. When Hamas demanded that millions of Arabs be let into Israel, the question should have been, "Wouldn't that end the Jewish state if not the Jews' lives, so why would Israel consider it?" When he said if Israel met certain Arab demands, he'd 'consider a policy towards them, he should have been asked, 'Concession for a maybe'?" U.S. TROOPS POLLED Pres. Bush and supporters claim that the troops in the field approve his policy on Iraq. Now the troops have been polled by Zogby Intl. Results: they feel that most of the insurgency is from within Iraq, contrary to the US position that most come from without, and if cut off, the insurgency would shrivel up. The troops conclude that victory would require doubling the number of troops and bombing missions. Since they do not expect the increase, they advocate withdrawal. Nicholas D. Kristof goes on to suggest that we schedule a withdrawal to reassure ordinary Iraqis that the expedition does not covet bases and oil and to stimulate the Iraqi government to take responsibility for defeating the insurgents. An immediate withdrawal would demoralize the government and encourage the rebels. Mr. Kristof does not know whether a scheduled withdrawal would work (NY Times, 2/28, Op.-Ed.). The poll may be accurate, but I don't have confidence in it. Zogby is a biased Arab, some of whose polls are tendentious. Perhaps the poll reflects resentment over the same troops being recalled repeatedly for this war, instead of fresh levees being summoned. On the other hand, I don't have confidence in US assertions about morale. In 1962, I was recalled for political reasons. Most in my unit resented being recalled for make-work rather than for military use. The Army claimed our morale was high and that just a small percentage of us opposed the recall. A journalist came to our base, to find out. The officers shepherded him around, not letting him talk with the men, lest he find out. We should not have to be responsible for Iraq forever. But is that the end of our war on Islamism? What is our strategy? Why doesn't our President exert leadership, explain what jihad is about, and try to expand our available armed forces? FRENCH TERRORISM & ISRAELI UNCONCERN The torture and murder of a French Jew by Muslims has aroused increasing protest there. The government of Israel, however, has been silent. Acting PM Olmert probably will issue a protest and sympathy for the surviving family, now that he can see it is safe to do so. He did not exercise leadership or fulfill Israel's role as defenders of the Jewish nationality (Winston Mid East Analysis, 2/26). CHRISTIANS SHIVER UNDER HAMAS' SHADOW Christians have fled from the P.A. in such large numbers, that they have become insignificant there. Picked on in many ways -- dispossessed, raped, beaten, and generally kept down -- they try to be unnoticed. Women cover themselves with veils, as if Muslim, so as not to attract unwanted attention. Their big question is when will Hamas oppress them worse (IMRA, 2/26). Note their being intimidated into dhimmi behavior! 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@aol.com. |
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EHUD OLMERT'S SEDITIOUS OFFSPRING (NOT A PURIM SPOOF)
Posted by Steven Plaut, March 13, 2006. |
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1. Olmert's Offspring
In case you missed this, the Jerusalem Post recently ran several pieces, mainly a column by Sarah Honig, about Ehud Olmert's two sons and one daughter. One son never served in the Israeli army and today lives permanently in Paris. The other is an active member in Yesh Gvul, the seditious organization that foments mutiny and insurrection among Israeli soldiers, demanding that they refuse to serve until Israel completely capitulates to all Arab fascist demands. The daughter of Olmert is an activist in the communist-front organization Machsom Watch (Checkpoint Watch), which harasses Israeli soldiers and policemen checking Palestinian vehicles for explosives and weapons. In other words, she is trying to help Palestinians infiltrate Israel and murder Jewish children. This is the guy who will be Israel's next Prime Minister. The above is his own personal family track record in education and Zionism. A man who himself believes in nothing has raised a brood who believe in Israel's destruction. He will shortly be in charge of educating Israeli children. 2. Portland State's Commentator on Anti-Semitism is an Anti-Semite Portland State University is running an anti-Semitism Forum and decided that it should be run ... by a notorious anti-Semite. I am referring to Michael Lerner, publisher of Tikkun magazine, a magazine of 60s fixated moonbats, promoting armed revolution and LSD. "Rabbi" Mikey is a rabbi in the same sense that Ward Churchill is an Indian. Recall that Mikey the Rabbi-Impostor has a long history of claiming that Jews themselves cause anti-Semitism, especially when Israelis refuse to march peacefully into concentration camps set up by Arabs. We thought we would help Portland State figure out who this buffoon is with some citations: Lerner wrote that "the brutality being done to the Palestinian People is as much a tragedy as the brutality being done by Palestinian terrorists to Israelis." Here is Mikey's take on Katrina. Lerner responded to 911 by urging American's to "feel bin Laden's pain." Our buddy David Horowitz wrote this: "The cake at his first wedding was inscribed with a Weatherman slogan: Smash Monogamy. Soon he and his wife had a child, and the young family went east. When the couple separated shortly thereafter, mother and son went to live in Boston. Lerner, however, returned to Berkeley. "Michael," I said, "how can you leave your son in the east to come to Berkeley? He needs you." Without hesitation, Lerner answered: "David, you don't understand. I have to be here. Berkeley is the center of the world-historical spirit." Lerner also made me understand that drugs were central to the consciousness of the Movement. On discovering that I had never taken LSD, he was incredulous: "You have to take LSD. Until you've dropped acid, you don't know what socialism is." Lerner is a hopelessly neurotic editor and forgerer of letters to his own publication, Tikkun... done likely because not enough people cared to write to this foolish boy at all to fill up a "Letters" column. So he concocted letters by himself, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, and then answered them by himself (http://antiprotester.blogspot.com/2006/03/ portland-states-commentator-on-anti.html). 3. A group is organizing a petition to demand that Israeli Supreme
Court justices be popularly elected. To sign, go to 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. Or contact him by email at splaut@econ.haifa.ac.il |
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KADIMA IS WRONG -- THE "OCCUPATION" IS THE SOLUTION, NOT THE PROBLEM
Posted by Ted Belman, March 12, 2006. |
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Proponents of withdrawal both before Gaza and now, argue that it will save money. They also argued that Israel will be more secure, but that's another story. Olmert has gone so far as to say that Kadima will no longer spend money on the settlements east of the fence. In so doing he is reinforcing the message that the settlements and or the occupation are a financial burden, a waste of money that could be better spent on Israelis rather then settlers. Fair enough, but where is the proof? What are the facts? On an issue as important as this, I would expect to see a study which compared the future expenditures if Israel did not withdraw or if it did. Not only is there not such a study, so far as I know, no! body is talking about it in an detailed way other then to simply declare money would be saved. Kadima is saying it will maintain a military occupation of Yesha. Will this take more troops with the removal of settlements or less? Israel ran from such an occupation in Lebanon. Will it be able to remain in Yesha without the settlers? If we have to remain there why suffer the pain of uprooting settlements? What's the benefit? It doesn't even end the occupation. Yarom Ettinger recently wrote to me, "The 1994 'disengagement' from Gaza quadrupled the number of security persons stationed in/around the Gaza area, but the public is uninformed about it. When you're inside Gaza, you enhance intelligence, deterrence and operability, and therefore you can manage with fewer personnel. When you're out of Gaza, you regress on all these accounts; hence you need to offset the damage by increased personnel/budget." To put it another way, the more you suppress terror, the less terror there is and therefore the fewer soldiers needed to deal with it. To suggest that to give up control of Gaza or the West Bank would result in the deployment of fewer troops is a lie. Furthermore Israel has learned over the decades that it is cheaper to control the land around highways then to forego control and use armored convoys to travel the highways. Like it or not control saves lives and money. A stitch in time saves nine. Reality is simply ignored in favour of an "end the occupation" ideology. It is crystal clear that withdrawal from Gaza and withdrawal from the West Bank will entail an exponential increase in terror and the forces needed to deal with it. Currently the rocket attacks continue from Gaza and will soon emanate from the West Bank. Firing on empty fields is not the answer. Controlling the fields is. Then there is the cost of compensating the settlers the government wishes to uproot. Just think, if you didn't uproot them, you wouldn't have to pay them. And we're talking $12 billion dollars worth over the next four years. Better to use that money to buy land from Arabs living around the fence which could then be incorporated into Israel. The land would them be resold to Israelis and the mo! ney recovered. Thus the occupation is the solution, not the problem. It is beyond ludicrous that Israel should be contemplating withdrawal, when Iran is threatening annihilation, Iraq is disintegrating, Islamic Brotherhood is on the rise in all surrounding lands, Hamas is rearming, Jordan is under attack and America is in retreat. The withdrawal proponents cite the demographic problem. What demographic problem? Aside from the new Demo! graphic Study that reduces the number of Arabs in the West Bank from 2.5 million to 1.4 million, these Arabs only present a demographic problem if given citizenship. Unless and until these lands are annexed, there is no need to deal with the alleged demographic problem. We are our own worst enemy. We allow our enemies to get stronger and have more power and more land only to complain that they are a danger to us. Why not destroy them so there is nothing to complain about. Snuff out any hope they have of destroying us. Rather then give them hope we must destroy their hope. The answer, my friends, is to kill the peace process, kill the PA, kill the Roadmap, kill the terrorists and take control of our destiny. Ted Belman is a retired lawyer and currently editor of Israpundit.com. Contact him at tedbel@rogers.com |
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BACK TO BASICS OF REALITY
Posted by Steven Shamrak, March 12, 2006. |
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In 1948, the UN resolution 242 had a map maze of 6 triangles, Jewish and Arabs, with Jerusalem as an independent city. It was the separation plan for the remaining land of the Palestinian mandate. Immediately, the embargo on arm trade to the region was imposed and population transfer, as a tool for conflict resolution, was forbidden. Arabs rejected the UN resolution, but Jews agreed to accept the left over crumbs, 18% of the original Palestinian Mandate, given by International community through the auspices of The League of Nations. The Arab countries, were created several years before Israel. They already had armed fully equipped armies. It was the plan to complete Holocaust, using blood-thirsty Arab states to produce a stillborn baby - Israel! Only the SINAI OPTION or any complete transfer of the Arabs from all Jewish land to 21 Arab states, from where the majority of them originated, can resolve the Arab-Israel conflict. Next time when someone talks about 'poor Palestinians' and their rights, ask them: "Let us suppose Israel gives up all the West bank, Gaza, Golan Heights and even all of Jerusalem, will it really bring peace?" The Arabs seek the only one border acceptable to them -- it is the coast line of the Mediterranean sea! Why is Population Transfer acceptable for all, but Jews? In 1922, 1.8 million were transferred b/w Greece and Turkey. During last 15 years, almost 4 million refugees were created by Sudanese government. There are many more examples when millions of people were transferred in order to resolve conflicts since 1948. Steven Shamrak was born in the former Soviet Union (USSR) and participated in the Moscow Zionist "refusenik" movement. For the last 3 years, he has been publishing internet editorial letters on the Arab-Israeli conflict -- independently, not as a member of any organization or political movement. He can be reached by email at StevenShamrak@mail2world.com |
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OIL PROFITS AND NUCLEAR POWER
Posted by Israel Zwick, March 12, 2006. |
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This was written by Beryl Shmuel (beryl@unionavenue.net) I've done a bit of research and, as crazy as this may sound, I've come to the conclusion switching to or increasing the use of nuclear power for the generation of electricity would have little if any effect at all on the United States dependence upon Arab oil. The basic statistics for the fuels used for electricity generation here in the US in 2005 are as follows: 50.0% Coal
While the statistics vary a bit depending upon who you get them from Fuel Oil powered power plants are always on the bottom of the list. In the major scheme of things 3.0% is a very large number at the very same time, however, the number is more than a bit misleading as this type of powerplant (oil fired) can easily run (often without any changes to the plant itself) on a wide variety of fuels - including fuels that are not petroleum based. Our dependence upon foreign oil, however, gets much more interesting when one looks at the oil industry itself. Forget the "record" profits that the oil industry has been generating lately, as those are more the result of the sheer size of the companies then they are of the actual profit margin of the company and not while this is not at all unusual for me, this is where I start to see a conspiracy. Based upon my research the five largest oil companies operating in the United States -- The Big Five -- control 61% of the domestic retail gasoline market, 47% of the domestic oil refinery market, and 41% of domestic oil exploration and production. These same five corporations control more of the world's oil production than Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Yemen combined produce. The deeper I dig the more it seems to me that the real problem behind the US dependence upon oil as well as the outrageous prices for oil are the result of an uncompetitive industry which generates more than enough revenue to all but insure their own survival for some time to come. In March of 2001, for example, the FTC released a report (Midwest Gasoline Price Investigation -- http://www.ftc.gov/os/2001/03/mwgasrpt.htm#d.%20High) which stated that conscious but independent choices by industry participants to "intentional withhold supplies" resulted in artificially high prices in the Midwest in 2001. While I am far from an expert the bottom line here, at least this is what I see, is that increasing the use of Nuclear energy will have little, if any effect at all on our reliance upon imported oil. It seems to me that in this particular case we are our own worst enemy. Approximately 60% of our current oil is imported. While this number is expected to rise, more efficient automobiles, increased use of alternate fuels, and simple -- virtually painless -- conservation methods could easily reduce oil imports substantially and in very short order. Contact Israel Zwick at israel.zwick@earthlink.net |
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AMONA FORUM FOR JUSTICE
Posted by Israel Kaplan, March 12, 2006. |
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You have probably heard of the recent incident in Amona, where thousands of border police and "Yassamniks", under the direct orders of the government of Israel, violently attacked hundreds of Jewish youth and supporters engaged in the simple act of non-violent and passive demonstration. This contravention of fundamental human rights and freedoms, including freedom of expression and association, was accompanied by horrible acts of police brutality. Teenagers who sat passively in and around the houses which the government sought to destroy were savagely beaten by "evacuating forces" and trampled by police on horseback. Hundreds were wounded. Many sustained serious head injuries inflicted by border police who had been directed to "teach the settlers a lesson." The wounded included one fifteen year old boy who was beaten so horrifically that he lay in a coma for days, as well as members of the Knesset who had arrived on the scene in an attempt to mediate. Prior to this incident, security and military advisers had recommended to the government that a compromise solution enabling peaceful evacuation be found in co-operation with settler leaders. However, despite proposals offered by the settler leaders and the security forces, these recommendations were rebuffed; Elud Olmert wanted to demonstrate his toughness on the backs of Jewish teenagers instead of fighting the Hamas enemy. We are sure you share our outrage at these senseless acts of police brutality perpetrated against young Jews, which only serve to divide the people of Israel, and which are entirely inconsistent with the democratic imperatives of the modern State of Israel. We hope that once you view the graphic footage on this link http://www.rafflebuilder.com/Arutz7/ you will join us in providing support, by whatever means possible, to our brethren in Israel who are engaged in the valiant campaign to ensure that never again will those forces mandated to defend and protect the Jewish people be instead exploited and ordered to brutalize their fellow Jews for crass political gain. Contact Israel Kaplan at israelkaplan@yahoo.com |
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HUMOROUS FLASH CLIPS SHOWING SHIMON PERES
Posted by David Rutstein, March 12, 2006. |
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1st flash clip: Shimon Peres chasing after Yitzhak Rabin (music:
Eye of the Tiger)
2nd flash clip: Shimon Peres having a drink with Ariel
Sharon(before the stroke) with Omri Sharon (Ariel's son) as a guest
star
pictures that accompany these very high quality flash clips are
available at www.davidrutstein.com
In a ironic twist the producer of these flash clips is actually
sueing Shimon Peres for slander Here is an article about the slander
suit from last week at Media Interviews, Speaking engagements, etc are available by contacting David Rutstein at 052-669-4999 or outside Israel at 011-972-52-669-4999, email: david.rutstein@gmail.com |
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VIOLENT CLASHES ROCK THE WESTERN CITY OF PIRANSHAR
Posted by SMCCDI, March 12, 2006. |
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Violent clashes rocked, yesterday, the western City of Piranshahr, as angry residents attacked official buildings, banks, security patrol cars and trucks. The riot took place following the murder of a resident, by Islamist Militiamen, and the refusal of the local authorities to restitute the body of the victim to his family. Security forces closed all accesses to the Governor's Office and resorted to shooting when facing an increasing number of demonstrators. Several demonstrators were injured and one has been reported in critical conditions. Additional troops were sent from the neighboring cities in order to control the situation which remains tense. The residents are requesting the public trial of agents involved in the murder and the shooting. The try of the take over of the popular action, by individuals affiliated to some separatist groups, was a main reason that residents stopped their riot but they're requesting the public trial of agents involved in the murder and the shooting. The area was also scene of other clashes, last year, but again, the opportunist try of separatist groups, such as the so-called Democratic Party of Kurdistan 'of Iran',(PDKI) to claim leadership of the situation brought the local residents to stop their protest actions. While some foreign circles are evaluating a possibility to create ethnic unrest in Iran, in order to harm the Islamic regime, the reality is that such wrong tactic helps the Islamists to stop popular actions in Iran's border zones. Most Iranians, of every ethnicity, are profoundly attached to Iran and its territorial integrity and the regime plays such nationalistic feeling in its own favor. The Bush Administration has correctly understood such sentiment, and George W. Bush, the US President, declared last July about the "necessity to respect the territorial integrity of Iran". Such positive and unprecedented statement resulted, few days later, in consecutive unrests and popular expression for freedom in most of Iran's western border zones. But the move stopped, few days later and as soon as, some meaningless separatist groups, helped by some foreign circles, tried to claim the ownership of the situation. Contact SMCCDI, The Student Movement for Democracy in Iran, by email at peyk@daneshjoo.org. Or go to their website: http://www.daneshjoo.org/ This article was published at http://daneshjoo.org/publishers/smccdinews/article_4529.shtml |
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MUTA, IN EFECT ALLAH-SANCTIONED PROSTITUTION
Posted by Larry Uniglicht, March 12, 2006. |
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How might Shiite Muslim males get their rocks off? In a twisted oh so convenient misogynist interpretation of the Koran, we might say a twisted Islamic male "Rock of Ages" read, the practice of muta, indeed a mutation of verse begetting Allah-sanctioned prostitution, is permitted. "Your wives are a tilth [field to cultivate] for you, so go into your tilth when you like... says that good-for-the-Muslim-male book, meaning in the minds-eye of salivating "got-rocks" male Shiites, it is OK to plunk down a few rials and plow away. Muta is, in effect, a temporary religious marriage that can be activated for a few minutes, a few hours, or a lot longer depending on a Muslim male hormone-crazed stud's personal proclivities; not unlike what occurs at the irreligious Westernized Vegas "Chicken Ranch" bereft of sanctimonious rationalizations. Indeed, an enterprising entrepreneurial-type Persian sheik can invest in say a chic prayer mat adorned "Camel Compound", perhaps to be located in Tehran or even franchised out someday to friendly neighboring post-preemptive U.S. invaded Baghdad, a holy version of the "Chicken Ranch", stocked with less than fortunate economically distressed supple sharia-sanctioned Muslim females for any well-heeled Shiite heel to have his way with. Philandering, no doubt, remains indigenous to most worldly cultures, yet justifying such behavior with verse provided by the same text that extols a culture's omnipotent deity is a bit much. I suppose, however, unscrupulous manipulators might prostitute any "holy book", including the Koran, for mostly any unsavory purpose; witness the Sunni Wahhabi Koran induced suggestions that homicide/suicide martyrdom as well as honor killings, that practice of relatives murdering any female of any age accused of any extra-marital affair even suffering rape, are quite de rigueur. Still, prescient civilized human beings must view pompous dogmatic preacher/mullah types, ranting self-serving religious doctrine born of convenience or evil-need, as relinquishing any moral authority whatsoever; more aptly belonging to that criminal element of movers and shakers responsible for much of this planet's dysfunction and tsuris. Alas, intrepid moderate Muslims defending gospel and soul by vociferously condemning muta, let alone Koran sanctioned homicide, might anticipate brutal reprisal perhaps death at the talons of zealots. That ineffectual got-no-moral-rocks United Nations will not step up to the plate concerning this matter. Yet regimes that perpetrate, actively encourage, or even passively condone ethically indefensible or in fact savagely criminal behavior, especially (but not necessarily) annexed to religion, must not escape the wrath of civil world denizens. Courageous Muslims, in tandem with honorable governmental spokesmen, must more than clearly tell it like it is; adding teeth to oratory by crafting economic sanctions against those autocracies, including oil-rich autocracies, that so egregiously violate core humane secular principles. Of course there is no free ride, thus nullifying Faustian fossil fuel contracts, coldly conveniently chiseled with those industrial implements representing modern man's own perilous in-your-face-global-warming addiction to the good life, will result in a big but hopefully temporary hit to honor-driven recovering addicts forced to find a more enlightened way to metaphorically "light their fires". Our ever-too-slowly evolving species will grimly reap catastrophic consequences, born of injustice and hypocrisy, if we do not soon clean the corrupted corners of our morally tainted house. It is up to us! Lawrence Uniglicht is a career civil servant, working for the Social Security Administration. He advocates for the State of Israel with an American perspective. He writes, "Advocating for the disrespected underdog has been my passion, no doubt Israel falls into that category." Contact him by email at luniglicht@snip.net |
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TWO STATES LIVING SIDE-BY-SIDE IN PEACE -- A "VISION THING"
Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, March 12, 2006. |
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What's wrong with that title? In speech before the AIPAC, (American-Israel Public Affairs Committee) Conference in Washington, Vice President Dick Cheney spoke about the Bush "vision" of two states living side-by-side in peace and security. Perhaps he really believes that or it was merely a figure of speech reserved for meetings, formal dinners, conferences, et al. The simple fact is that there is nothing of fact in such statements. Reality is what happens -- not altered words that create a fantasy reality -- otherwise known as "visions". President George Bush had a "vision" put into his mind by the pro-Arab technocrats in the State Department, by his father and by James Baker who have created an altered perception of the Arab Muslim oil world. These "vision things" as George Herbert Walker Bush once described it -- with contempt in his time -- can indeed be worthy of contempt. The world of Islam, Mohammed's "vision thing" and Koranic Law are indeed a world apart from the Free West's civilization of freedom and peace for all. One may have "visions" of taking such a world and attempting to make it fit with the world of the Free West but, it still remains separate and apart -- deliberately. Two States with no natural borders such as mountains, rivers, valleys or deserts, crammed together by mere words cannot possibly live side-by-side. Nor will there ever be any peace -- no matter how often the word "peace" is repeated in speeches. It falsely creates the feeling of a warm, fuzzy blanket but that's not reality. There may be mutual respect for your neighboring hostile state(s) out of fear, strength, even common heritage or national memory but, nothing exists today to bond the Jewish State of Israel with the hostile states of Muslim Arabs who believe their separate heritage is superior to all else. Will either the Jews or the Arabs ever lessen their beliefs simply to compromise for the sake of peace? I don't think the Muslim will abandon Koranic or Shariah (strict Islamic) law even when few Muslims even understand it. On the other hand, many Jews desperately attempt to escape their Jewishness and deny their national memory. Like Shabtai Zvi, a false Messiah, they could be drawn out of Judaism and perhaps into Islam because they are empty of their own Jewish identity for lack of education and home teaching of their heritage. That may be because they have nowhere else to go. Conversely, there are those called "Observant" or "Orthodox" Jews who know who they are by virtue of their deep education and heritage from their homes. They are imbued with their rich heritage from the time of Adam and Eve, Noah and Moses, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But, even those Jews who believe in absolutely nothing other than themselves will not be acceptable by Muslims in a companion or neighboring state. Words, declarations, treaties...are all meaningless to Muslims because they are implemented only as long as is necessary, according to Koranic law. The Jews, like the Europeans and Americans believe in negotiated, binding contracts. They cannot bring themselves to believe that all the weeks of negotiation, all their willing and painful compromises, all the words so carefully spelled out will evaporate at a time of the Arab Muslims' choosing. Promises of demilitarization, human rights, water rights, non-pollution of aquifers, restraint on not drilling too many wells which would inevitably lower the water table for all and allowing the seepage in of salt sea water -- all are negotiated by them in good faith but mean nothing to the Arab Muslims. While VP Cheney speaks of two states living side-by-side, he ignores what is already happening on the American-Mexican border. While many of the illegal Mexican immigrants are merely seeking work and have no hostile intentions, there are too many who are Terrorists or drug dealers. The U.S. has the Rio Grande River and is still putting us a huge wall so even in North America the fiction of two states living together in peace is merely that -- just a fiction. Even the most obtuse pacifists will recognize that there is a vast gulf between the relatively minor problems of America and Mexico as compared with Israel and Arab Muslim so-called Palestinians. Even the way Israel and the Free West treat women compared to how they are treated in Muslim countries is not comparable. In Muslim countries women are treated as chattel to be totally covered and restricted both because of custom and Shariah law. A Muslim when speaking to an "infidel" (non-Muslim) will claim Koranic law is fair and beyond reproach. In practice however, these laws are administered in a biased fashion. Cruelty plays a great part in their culture, particularly the way they treat women. When George Bush or Dick Cheney speak of these two different and incompatible civilizations thrust together, cheek-by-jowl, clashes are inevitable and will probably be bloody because the Muslim culture thrives on the excitement of a blood cult. This is particularly true when one side has Koranic laws that mandate War and the annihilation of the other side. The West has refused to come to grips with this reality and instead insists that, with a little bartering, some gestures, a few signed agreements, the two can somehow live together. Islam is a bloody, predator civilization that has a mandate called the Koran, given to Mohammed by Allah -- or so they say. They are mandated to make war and exhorted by their Mullahs and Imams to conquer and convert all non-believers to create a World Caliphate dominated by Islam -- very similar to Hitler's Third Reich, intended to dominate the world for one thousand years. Their war machine (Dar al Harb) moves forward into any space the infidel surrenders. If the infidel fights back, the Muslims will either retreat or use the Hudna (temporary truce) until they are strong enough to attack again. Their M.O. (Modus Operandi) is Conquer, Convert, Kill or Enslave. The Sharon/Olmert blunder of giving space to Muslim Arab Palestinian Terrorists is already proving deadly as Kassem Rockets are launched into Israel almost daily, even hitting Israel's main power plant in Ashkelon (or close to it). "Visions" can come from many sources: Indigestion, Islamic fervor, epilepsy complete with flashes of light, hearing voices and trances from which one awakens, convinced that G-d has assigned you to rule the world. Then there are the voices that come from advisors such as those (the U.S. State Department) with the slogan: "Road Map" which had no substance. So, Israel's former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, in his global ignorance, bought into the Bush family "vision thing". Little did Sharon think that Bush would crumble in the second half of his administration. All the promises, all the guarantees have become as worthless as deals formerly made with Yassir Arafat. Now Israel has as their leader Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert who is woefully ignorant of geo-politics and the real world. Olmert was always a low level go-fer. (A go-fer is merely a messenger or someone who goes out for coffee. Messengers do not make reliable leaders.) Or you might describe Olmert as a "coat-holder", that is someone who holds the leaders' coat until all the good leaders leave or die, and the "coat-holder" gets office by default -- no one good is left. These "visions" are closer to hallucinations than to solutions. As a wish list, it would be great for World Peace IF the Muslims would disconnect from their book called the Koran that mandates world dominance under strict Shariah Laws. It would be great to see the Muslim world abandon their homicidal practices of beheading, martyr sacrifice (even by children) as a pledge to Allah -- even their eager willingness to use nuclear bombs to eliminate the infidel. The so-called "vision" of two states living side-by-side in peace is much more of an hallucination than a "vision" of achievable practical substance. Regrettably, Israel's leadership has been spiraling downward for years to the point where office clerks and political has-beens are the only bodies available to run the Jewish nation. To observe a large number of Israel's voters accepting a new party, composed of the lowest level of Israeli political society -- those whom I would call "the coat-holders" -- is indeed depressing. |
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CHALLENGING THE NGO MYTHOLOGY
Posted by Gerald M. Steinberg, March 11, 2006. |
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For years well-connected groups that claim human rights as their agenda have been bombarding the Israeli courts (and media) with allegations of abuses primarily involving the IDF. Israeli officials have mostly ignored these non-governmental organizations (NGOs), allowing their radical political agendas and selective reporting based on "Palestinian eye-witnesses" to go unchallenged. The damage to Israel's image has been immense. Partly as a result of NGO activities, boycotts and divestment campaigns are spreading, and senior IDF officers are threatened with possible arrest in London, Brussels, and even in the US. The cost of silence has finally sunk in, and several Israelis officials are now taking a new approach. For instance, Attorney Nira Mashriki of the State Prosecutor's Office submitted a legal brief responding to a action involving an NGO with the moral-sounding name of "Hamoked: Center for the Defense of the Individual," and backed, in turn, by B'Tselem, which calls itself the "Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories." They are representing a Palestinian resident of east Jerusalem who is suing the government claiming harassment, abusive interrogations and unnecessary delays at checkpoints. But Mashriki asked the court to reject their requests for information about security personnel and procedures, arguing that both groups "undermine the existence" of the State of Israel, "cause it damage in the world" and hurt the security forces. Breaking the taboo of political correctness, she wrote that HaMoked's claim to be "a human rights organization has no basis in reality and is designed to mislead." The brief notes that the NGO "is funded by outsiders [including European governments, the New Israel Fund, and the Ford Foundation] whose interests differ from those of the State of Israel and sometimes contradict them." And it "works in the interest of [the Palestinians], whose elected leadership is currently in a harsh conflict with the State of Israel and is undermining its existence." As our own NGO Monitor points out, HaMoked routinely uses terms such as "apartheid" to help erase the context of terror. B'TSELEM COOPERATES closely with Hamoked and other politicized NGOs, and its activities are also distant from its image as a neutral reporter on human rights. Their one-sided analyses, including Palestinian casualty reports that count combatants as "victims," are used by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International to promote campaigns which serve to demonize Israel. The latest US government report on human rights in Israel, released Thursday, is influenced by B'Tselem's tendentious reporting. But Mashriki puts her cards on the table, condemning B'Tselem's use of human rights claims to attack "the State of Israel and its security forces throughout the world." Mashriki's straightforward approach comes shortly after a recent statement made by outgoing Supreme Court deputy president Mishael Cheshin in rejecting claims of false-flag human rights groups demanding automatic entry for Palestinians who marry Israelis. Cheshin noted that the "family unification" case before the court -- and presumably the NGOs that pressed it -- served the interests of Palestinians whose leaders "intend to destroy our state... Why should we allow people who could carry out terrorist attacks to enter? We're at war." In a single sentence, Cheshin identified the immorality of human rights claims that systematically and deliberately erase the context of terror: "This is a matter of life and death, and the right to life has priority." Making the same point, but in an entirely different way, IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz recently invited members of Machsom Watch in for a chat. This group also exploits human rights rhetoric to promote a political agenda that blames Israel exclusively for "the occupation" and the continuing conflict. Its subjective and often second-hand allegations of human rights violations at IDF checkpoints accuse soldiers of deliberately humiliating Palestinians, while the context of terrorism tends to be ignored. By seeing the group, Halutz gave Machsom Watch publicity and prestige in the hope that his agenda, rather than theirs, would prevail. Halutz declared that "Humanitarianism is not exclusively owned by Machsom Watch and it is tested not only at the checkpoints, but also in preventing suicide bombers from reaching the markets of Tel Aviv and Netanya..." The checkpoints save lives. While there may be some cases of abuse, Machsom Watch's exaggerated allegations obscure the larger reality. Mashriki's brief, Cheshin's finding, and Halutz's statement, by themselves, will do little to offset the dollars available to Hamoked and similar interest groups allowing them to pursue agendas that ultimately serve to demonize Israel. Indeed, the counterattack against Mashriki began immediately. HaMoked director Dalia Kerstein filed a protest with Attorney-General Menachem Mazuz arguing that "attacks by the state on human rights organizations" and their legitimacy "pose a serious threat to democratic rule." A single brief written by a non-conformist lawyer in the prosecutor's office, a statement made by a retiring justice, and an ill-considered meeting with the chief of staff are not enough to defeat the pressure groups waging political war against Israel. The IDF and Justice Ministry need to focus resources on refuting the false reports of these groups rather than ignoring them. And Israeli diplomats in the Foreign Ministry should give priority to ending the flow of funds from European governments to such NGOs. Like the military analog, winning the political war will require an appropriate strategy and perseverance. The writer is the editor of www.ngo-monitor.org and heads the Program on Conflict Management at Bar Ilan University. This article appeared today in the Jerusalem Post. |
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OLEG CARTOON: KADIMA!
Posted by Women in Green, March 11, 2006. |
Ruth and Nadia Matar established Women For Israel's Tomorrow (Women in Green), an activist group of women based in Jerusalem. Their website address is http://www.womeningreen.org |
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GENTLEMEN (AND LADIES), HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF
Posted by Rachel Kapen, March 10, 2006. |
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In contrast to the adage that maintains that when the cannons blare, the muses are silent, the most beautiful and popular songs that Israel produced were the outcome of the numerous wars the Jewish state had to fight against its enemies during its relatively short existence. One of these songs that come to mind is: Rabotai HaHistoria Hozeret, Gentlemen, history repeats itself -- an expression used in daily Hebrew discourse. Now, with the advent of the holiday of Purim and in the aftermath of the outrageous declaration of the current Persian or Iranian leader that Israel should be wiped off from the face of the Earth, let's revisit the historical relationships between the two ancient nations and see how it fits the aforementioned. History tells us that after King Cyrus (Koresh in Hebrew) conquered Babylonia from the Babylonians in 539 BCE He executed the Koresh Proclamation whereby he gave his permission to the Jews, who were exiled by King Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BCE to return to their land and rebuild it. Alas, only a small minority of Jews took his most generous offer and returned to the land. So far, history doesn't repeat itself, but don't despair, this is not the end of the encounters between the Jewish and the Persian nations. In the Book of Esther, we are told of King Ahasuerus, who is historically identified as King Xerxes I, who ruled Persia from 485 BCE to 464 BCE, who was hoodwinked by his wicked Prime Minister Haman to obliterate all the Jews of the kingdom, a cruel edict ultimately rescinded through the intervening of his beloved wife Queen Esther, who by doing so had to come out of the closet and reveal that she Jewish. Well, all's well that ends well. The Jews are saved and the wicked receives his punishment and we Jews ever since celebrate the Purim holiday. So let's hope and pray that this modern progeny of Haman is ultimately dealt with similarly or better yet, perhaps God can do with him what he did with Balaam, the famous soothsayer, when he was sent by King Balak of Moab to curse the Israelites, but instead God made him bless them (Book of Numbers: Chapter 22). Either way, we can safely say that: Rabotai, HaHistoria Hozeret- Gentlemen, history repeats itself. And a Happy Purim to you all! Rachel Kapan is a West Bloomfield resident. Contact her at skapen285466mi@comcast.net. This appeared in Jewish News. |
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IS AMERICA GUARDING ITS BORDERS?
Posted by Yoram Ettinger, March 10, 2006. |
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This is by William C. Triplett II (a former chief Republican counsel to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee). It was published March 9, 2006, in the Washington Times. As a frequent visitor to the United Arab Emirates, it is painful to see people undeservedly smeared with the terrorist brush. The tough neighborhood they live in dictates certain built-in restraints and from time to time the UAE political leadership has been a little slow on the up-take. But the UAE is not a cesspool of terrorists and anti-Americanism. In 1991, a UAE tank battalion fought its way, shoulder to shoulder with the United States Marines, up the Coast Highway to help liberate Kuwait from Saddam Hussein's looters. There are veterans of that engagement who are justly proud of their service and will tell you about it if asked. The real danger to all of us from the ports deal lies in very real potential for terrorist extortion directed at Dubai Ports World (DPW) personnel. Not to be over dramatic, but if the deal goes forward, inevitably someone will approach a DPW official along the following lines: "This is a picture of your daughter at school in England and we would like ..." Fanciful speculation? No. That's the real world of the Middle East today. Consider the hotel wedding bombing in Amman, Jordan, last year. Contrary to what was reported, the Radisson SAS hotel chain is Scandinavian- not American-owned. The hotel itself is owned by a very wealthy local Jordanian family and the homicide bomb that murdered and maimed dozens of innocent women and children was an unmistakable message to all wealthy families of the Middle East: Pay up the next time the al Qaeda fund-raisers call. The DPW-U.S. ports deal would be a juicy target for al Qaeda. A multibillion-dollar project of this nature would mean lots of U.S. visas for DPW personnel and subcontractors, lots of valuable information to be collected and lots of opportunities to insert a suicide team where it could do the most damage. Visas lead to work permits, drivers' licenses and all the other identity-establishing documents of U.S. residency. Getting "inside the other guy's perimeter" is always a major goal for an opponent. Undoubtedly, al Qaeda operatives are poring over DPW personnel lists right now, looking for vulnerabilities. We are at this point because of a perfect storm of unfortunate circumstances and events. The United Emirates, like the United States and other federal systems contains people with differing experiences and interests. The political elite of Abu Dhabi, the largest and wealthiest of the Emirates, is from the desert oasis of Al Ain where warfare and defense issues are ingrained. Dubai has been a commercial and trading center for hundreds of years. It seems probable the Dubai officials were just looking for a good investment and the Abu Dhabi leadership might not have been completely in the loop. Clearly nobody looked very far down the road on this one. On the U.S. side, both President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld were both fliers and do not have the instinct for perimeter security that they might have if they had served in the infantry or intelligence. Below their levels, the administration is overwhelmingly corporate to the point that neither our security nor the real world of the Middle East ever hit the radar screen. It's not going to be easy to walk this one back. From personal experience, it's clear Sheikh Muhammed, Abu Dhabi crown prince (and the UAE president's de-facto executive officer) does not like to lose and doesn't suffer fools gladly. The Bush administration and its enemies are in a total take-no-prisoners mode. On top of other recent problems, it will be very hard for the administration to change course, knowing the "Keystone Cops" charge will be thrown at them. But walking it back, gently, is what needs to happen. It is a bad deal for the UAE because it exposes Dubai Ports World officials and their families to unwanted attention from al Qaeda and its allies. And, it's a very bad precedent for the United States from a security standpoint. The UAE political leadership needs to ignore the siren songs from the American fixers and cut its losses. If the UAE chooses to blame this on the Americans, so be it. In a slightly perverse sense, this is an opportunity for President Bush to make the necessary personnel and administrative changes the country needs. Even after everything that has transpired since September 11, 2001, and Hurricane Katrina, American perimeter security is still a disaster zone of cronyism and incompetence. That the CFIUS Committee didn't think the ports deal was even worthy of briefing Cabinet officials is proof enough that stupidity and willful blindness needs to be addressed at a higher level. Ambassador Yoram Ettinger is a consultant on US-Israel relations as well as the Chairman of Special Projects at the Ariel Center for Policy Research. Formerly the Minister for Congressional Affairs to Israel's Embassy in Washington, DC, Ettinger also served as Consul General of Israel to the Southwestern US. He is a former editor of Contemporary Mideast Backgrounder, and is the author of the Jerusalem Cloakroom series of reports. Contact him at yoramtex@netvision.net.il |
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TEHERAN TISCH
Posted by Zalmi, March 10, 2006. |
 This has to be the most ghastly tisch in the history of
Chasidism. The beshtreimeled leader of the Neturei Kapo organisation
being feted by clerics in Teheran who hope soon to make a fiery
havdala with our people.
This is almost as crazy as 'punishing' terrorism with the surrender
of Jewish land and the eviction of our own people. Next time our people are brought before the European Court on some
skewed charge, I guess we could always plead insanity.
Contact Zalmi at zalmi@zalmi.net or go to his
website:http://zalmi.blogspot.com
This essay appeared March 9, 2006 on
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MOSLEMS PRACTICE AND EMULATE JUDAISM
Posted by Trouser Shirt, March 10, 2006. |
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I wonder whether it has occurred to anyone that Moslems, wherever they are situated, in fact practice and emulate Judaism. We all know that much of their religion stems from the Torah with which Prophet Mahomed must have been closely connected, but not close enough to do a more perfect representation. When considered, we can observe too many coincidences to be ignored. Halal versus Kashrut. The fast of Ramadan as an extention of our Yom Kippur and various other fasts. The objection to the eating of pork, circumcision, praying five times a day compared to our praying three times. Statements by their Mullas and radio anouncers referring to various Suras, e.g., Men should not visit wives at their homes when husbands are absent. Special conditions for the slaughter of cattle and fowl. Their greeting Salaam vs our Shalom. The imperative of burying the dead without delay. One could continue ad idem quoting similarities. Maybe one could interpret that in fact Moslems practice Judaism without realising the situation. I feel it is time that the fraud I sincerely think they are perpetrating should be exposed once and for all, and the rest of the world's religious followers should be put in the picture. Maybe the intense hostility towards Jews is based on a fear that they will be exposed. Surely this is food for thought. Contact the writer at iti20150@mweb.co.za |
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CITIZENSHIP IS IN THE MIND OF THE BEHOLDER
Posted by Lawrence Uniglicht, March 10, 2006. |
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"Israel's Tragedy Foretold" by Gershom Gorenberg, the marquee editorial looming over the 03/10/06 Op-Ed page of the New York Times, is a work of sophistry any hand-wringing Palestinian apologist would blissfully press to his or her bosom. Within this presumably logical lambasting of so-called Israeli settlements, Gorenberg poses his notion of the Jewish State's terrible conundrum, thus feeding ever-guilt ridden consciences of self-flagellating Jews with spurious sap that so nurtures their cerebral afflictions. He provides copious self-serving detail to support an assertion that Israel in essence cannot legally settle citizens into "occupied territory", per the rules of the Fourth Geneva Convention an agreement Israel has endorsed, yet if such land was declared an indisputable part of Israel i.e. not occupied, its mostly Arab populace would implicitly acquire all rights of Israeli citizenship hence sabotage the viability of a Jewish State. Balderdash! Such a dilemma can be debunked if one clearly exams the tenets of Islamic citizenship verses Western citizenship, presciently noting so-called Palestinian Arabs are likely observant Muslims; further observing that the tiny nation of Westernized Israel straddles but one-tenth of one percent of a Middle East landmass otherwise virtually homogenously populated by Islamic adherents. In fact, non-Muslims can never gain citizenship through birth or migration within the vast majority of fundamentally flawed Middle East nations. If you are a Jew, no rights for you! What is good for the Middle East Muslim is good for the Middle East Jew; each adheres to his own rules of the desert. Islamic nationality is religious not political, ethnic, linguistic, or regional. Naturalization (the granting of citizenship), contrary to Western philosophy, depends solely on the will of an individual to follow the Koran and sharia code, not on location of birth or common bloodline. Essentially, a Muslim citizen owes allegiance to a politico-religious entity based on religious ideology. Hmmm! A faithful Muslim therefore would never "demean" himself by being declared a citizen of infidel infested Israel-hear that all you current Israeli Arabs-so why would that sovereign Westernized democracy even want to consider offering the rights of citizenship, including voting rights, to Muslim inhabitants of Judea, Samaria, or east Jerusalem; it would only besmirch their after-life besot souls? That problem eliminated, let us justifiably consider all lands fairly secured in 1967 by Israel, as a consequence of defending its very existence from aggressive Arabs intent on annihilating the Jewish State, territory won in battle; not unlike, for one, the entire American southwest secured from Mexico in the 1800s during a war even perhaps instigated by Uncle Sam's fearless troops. The U.S. gets to keep California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Texas; why then should not Israel get to keep Judea, Samaria, the Golan Heights, east Jerusalem, and even stupidly ceded Gaza? In fact, an intelligent tolerant Jewish State has every right, based on worldwide past practice coupled with diverse perspectives regarding naturalized identity, to annex all disputed territory to Israel proper without bestowing the rights of citizenship to Arab residents. If such Muslim non-citizens are troubled by that state of affairs, they might consider migrating to a variety of more propitious Middle Eastern Islamic regimes, especially to their true homeland Jordan where full rights inherent to Islamic citizenship ought to be available. Seems to me that would be a win-win solution. Lawrence Uniglicht is a career civil servant, working for the Social Security Administration. He advocates for the State of Israel with an American perspective. He writes, "Advocating for the disrespected underdog has been my passion, no doubt Israel falls into that category." Contact him by email at luniglicht@snip.net |
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FEAR OF APPEARING 'TOO JEWISH'
Posted by Deb Kotz, March 10, 2006. |
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Excellent article. Mirrors the speach Rabbi Weiss gave the the Holocaust Museum Watch event in January. This article comes from today's www.Haaretz.com Avi Weiss is senior rabbi at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale and president of Amcha/Coalition for Jewish Concerns. Contact him at amchacjc@amchacjc.org Shabbat Shalom! Only after it was subjected to the discomfort of having protest flyers distributed outside one of its gala dinners by the Washington-based organization Holocaust Museum Watch, did the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum see fit to post on its Web site a statement denouncing the genocidal threats by the president of Iran to wipe Israel off the map. Tepid at best, the museum's statement comes too late and is far from enough. Its primary follow-up, to date, has been its incorporation by the museum into its latest fundraising drive. Such timidity with respect to the politically sensitive Muslim world fits into a pattern already established at the museum's inception. While the museum's permanent exhibit includes a film linking the Holocaust to the centuries of Catholic Church anti-Semitism, there is no mention at all of the role of Islam, specifically the close alliance between the mufti of Jerusalem and Hitler. Nor is there any hint whatsoever of the effect of the Holocaust on Jews in Arab countries, in North Africa and the Middle East, which, while not as consuming as in Europe, was still considerable and worthy of note. As far as genocidal threats to Jews and Israel are concerned, the museum is practically in a state of paralysis, horror-stricken at the possibility of appearing "too Jewish." There has long been a debate within the museum as to whether it should devote itself exclusively to the Shoah, or whether to universalize its message to encompass other genocidal acts. Whatever one's position on this issue, however, since the museum has already spoken out in a comprehensive way against genocides in such places as Darfur and Rwanda, it must now also speak out forcefully and fully against genocidal threats directed at Israel. Holocaust history, well within the museum's mandate, teaches that before Hitler acted, he threatened. The museum now has a sacred obligation to take very seriously the threats of the Iranian leader. It must raise a strong voice of moral conscience by leading a worldwide movement to lobby governments, convene conferences and educate the public. That it has not done so is the result of its leadership's unwillingness to alienate U.S. government officials, particularly when it comes to matters pertaining to Jews and to the delicate balance of Middle East politics. The museum, after all, is a hybrid. On the one hand, it is officially dedicated to pure Shoah memory; on the other hand, it's a political institution. In its own way, it is a part of the U.S. government, the beneficiary of over $30 million of federal funds annually. It sits on land donated by the federal government. Its leadership is appointed by the president. The consequence of all this is that political demands made on the museum are very often in conflict with its established mission of Shoah remembrance and education. The very creation of the museum was fraught with politics. In 1978, President Jimmy Carter was vigorously lobbying Congress to approve his proposed sale of F-15 fighter planes to Saudi Arabia. Those concerned with the welfare of Israel were deeply distressed with the president's plan of selling sophisticated weapons to a country so hostile to the Jewish state. Three weeks prior to the approval of the sale, the Carter administration invited 1,000 Jewish leaders to the White House to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Israel's establishment with the president and Prime Minister Menachem Begin. It was at this event that Carter announced "a presidential commission to report to [him] on an appropriate memorial in the United States to the six million." The commission, which ultimately recommended the creation of the museum, was clearly meant to appease the Jewish community, which was effectively being given the Holocaust at the expense of the security of the State of Israel. Perhaps the greatest politicization of the six million by the museum occurred in 1998, when Miles Le rman, then chairman of the museum's council, agreed to a State Department request during Middle East peace negotiations to escort Yasser Arafat on a public relations visit of the museum in order to render the Palestinian leader more acceptable to the American Jewish community. Museum director Walter Reich advised against the visit on the principle that the museum, and the dead it memorialized, should never be used as an instrument to promote any political agenda. Lerman disinvited Arafat -- then under pressure from the State Department, reversed and re-invited him. When Reich was asked to escort Arafat on a tour of the museum, he refused, and resigned in protest. In the end, Arafat chose not to come; the Monica Lewinsky story broke on the day scheduled for his visit, and the press was busy elsewhere. Clearly, the hottest political button for the museum involves Jews and Israel, and it has already been burned. Yet having already overstepped the strict interpretation of its narrow mandate of Holocaust remembrance and education to take on matters of conscience such as world-wide genocides, how can it in good conscience refuse to deploy its full moral force against a threatened genocide of Jews and Israel? Its presidentially appointed council, made up primarily of Jews, may, not surprisingly, find it easier to speak out on universal issues, which carries relatively little risk and brings the acclaim of the larger community. But speaking out with equal intensity on behalf of Jews who are once again being threatened with genocide touches upon insecurities and a heightened sensitivity to the perceptions of others - insecurities and sensitivities that Diaspora Jews have acquired and absorbed over the years. Because museum leaders have, until now, refused to respond to these criticisms, we are turning to Congress, which approves the funding of the museum. While we have no interest in interfering with museum funding, its officials must be held accountable. Remembering the Shoah, while neglecting to raise a voice against those bent on another Shoah, is morally unconscionable. Deb Kotz is an active member of the Brandeis Chapter of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) and maintains an email list to distribute articles of interest to the local community. She can be reached at DebKotz@aol.com |
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IN PRAISE OF "MUNICH"; CONSEQUENCE OF GAZA OUSTER; POLITICS DEMORALIZING IDF
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, March 10, 2006. |
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ISRAEL HARDLY REACTING TO HAMAS REGIME Israel declared it was suspending monetary transfers to the P.A.. The media made it seem as if Olmert were working to overthrow the terrorist regime, which legally it may do. Actually, Olmert and his one-party Cabinet do not oppose unconditional international aid to NGOs and UNO agencies in the P.A., though that shores up the regime. Neither did they heed Army advice to cut off Gaza from Israel. (Why not cut off the whole P.A.? Instead, Olmert is letting tens of thousands of Arabs continue to work in Israel and bring back their wages to boost the P.A. economy.) The Olmert regime contends that there is nothing to fear from Hamas. It contends that Israel merely is being humanitarian, and that by doing so it avoids international censure, gains international support, and keeps the P.A. from collapse. This is false. A former chief of staff observes that previous ostracism did not cause P.A. collapse. (More thorough boycott could.) Why sympathize with those Arabs, he said; they knew whom they were voting for and must learn it is not acceptable. Furthermore, the US is taking a stronger position (on the surface, at least). Even the State Dept. is alarmed about the advent of Hamas. It has demanded that the P.A. return $50 million in aid given before its election. Israeli government and lethargy are undermining its friends' efforts in Congress to fashion stronger curbs against Hamas, such as to bar aid to NGOs and UNO agencies there. The proposed bill would bar visas for P.A. officials, P.A. offices in the US, and US officials from meeting with terrorist leaders. This bill, for the first time, does not include a waiver that the President can and does exercise to negate the legislative intent on unspecified grounds of national security (IMRA, 2/21 from Caroline Glick, a great journalist. I tried for years to get waivers eliminated. Did Congress finally wake up? Israeli officials' statements about international support for shoring up a Hamas regime are specious. Stated US policy opposes shoring it up. The hope for international approval is part of a Jewish neurosis that overlooks how unrelenting gentile hostility is. An Israeli government's obligation is to protect the country, not please gentiles trying to protect Israel's enemies. Indeed, appeasement encourages more gentile demands upon Israel. The Western world is not yet in a fighting mode against jihad. Therefore, when it finds the Arabs recalcitrant and the Israelis compliant, it prefers to make demands upon Israel, in the hope of calming matters for the moment. IN PRAISE OF MUNICH Munich reflects the doubts of many Israelis, bred on the false hope of a peace process. It does not show them to be as bad as the Arabs (David Bedein, 2/20). But viewers won't realize that Israelis who question their self-defense are war weary, not wise. CONSEQUENCE OF GAZA ABANDONMENT "Former IDF chief of staff Lt.-Gen. (res.) Moshe Ya'alon on Tuesday accused the government of responsibility for Hamas's victory in the Palestinian elections by disengaging from the Gaza Strip this past summer and of not sufficiently protecting Israeli cities targeted by Kassam rockets. "We need to escalate military action against the Kassam launchers even if it means entering the Gaza Strip." Israel not have to keep troops on the ground in Gaza "for generations" (but) it made a mistake by not responding immediately after the "Kassam rain showers' began." About the P.A., "Isn't it clear already that a society which educates its youth to prefer death over life is not a partner in dialogue?" "A society with a narrative that rejects Israel's existence is not someone we can talk to. It is someone to wage war with." (IMRA, 2/22). In February, Gaza Arabs fired their 200th Qassam rocket at Israel, double the number in January. Their range has not changed lately, but their accuracy has improved. They are landing in strategic areas, though fortunately haven't caused the conflagration they might. Until they do, and hundreds of Israelis are killed, Israel seems unwilling to fight back effectively. "...defense sources expressed their view that the IDF response of firing artillery shells at empty fields has failed. So far Israel has fired some 1,600 shells -- each costing NIS 4,000 for an overall cost of NIS 6.4 million." (IMRA, 2/22.) It is to impress its electorate that Israel wastes shells. After the failure of all previous appeasement of the Arabs, Israel abandoned Gaza to the Arabs. The Arabs have been able to bring into Gaza arms previously barred by Israel. The new government of Hamas is likely to import modern weapons -- rockets of high quality and capable of downing Israeli aircraft. It will be able to inflict dreadful casualties upon an Israel that has forgotten to fight (Prof. Steven Plaut, 2/22). "Military intelligence has termed AAMs and Katyushas as weapons that could change the balance of power between Israel and the Palestinians. 'We estimate that in 2006 anti-aircraft missiles or Katyushas will infiltrate the Gaza Strip and change the situation,' outgoing military intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Aharon Zeevi-Farkash said." (IMRA, 2/22.) "'The campaign of scaring ourselves from Hamas must stop,'" said former PM Shimon Peres... 'We've won five wars and we'll do it again if we have to,' he said, adding that the Palestinians have an elected president, Mahmoud Abbas, who won with a larger majority than Hamas, and who wants to reach peace with Israel." Acting PM Olmert disputes the Secret Service assessment that Hamas is a strategic threat to Israel (IMRA, 2/22.) Abbas is weak, however. None of what Peres said is true. As Prof. Plaut shows, letting Hamas rule is a frightening prospect. Peres' policies, being ones of appeasement, encourage the Arabs to make war. Letting a Hamas-run P.A. make war on Israel means awaiting needless casualties that Israel's previous victories would not prevent. Nor does Peres pose the right question about the balance of power, in assuming that Israel would have to face only the P.A. without powerful Arab allies and as if Israel were free of powerful inhibitors, such as the State Dept. and the Left. There were more than five wars, if one doesn't consider them all part of one, jihad. Abbas won before Hamas organized politically. He does not seek peace with Israel and has made no moves towards peace. Rather, he seeks dominance over Israel. Now Hamas will make most of the rules, there, and it openly declares war. It will be a strategic threat, as its rockets strike its refineries and power plants, shut down Israel's international airport, and attack Israel's big cities. HAMAS GETTING WESTERN MONEY France is pressing the European Commission to unblock funds for the P.A., without waiting for Hamas to renounce terrorism. France explains that it hopes that the funds would become an incentive to mellow (NY Sun, 2/27, p.6). Funding without requiring reform gives fanatics an incentive not to reform. POLITICS ENTERING IDF A leftist Israeli women's organization encourages Arabs to defy Israeli soldiers at checkpoints. It turns in soldiers who search diligently for terrorists and smuggled arms. The meddling endangers the troops' lives. The women oppose the very existence of checkpoints, because they inconvenience Arabs. Checkpoints, however, constitute a major barrier to terrorists. The Army has invited the women's group to address the troops. Soldiers protested against this political interference with their critical work. The Army calls it dialogue, but did not explain why dialogue is needed or what radical appeasers of the Arabs are likely to learn from it. A soldier's parent dismisses the notion that this is dialogue rather than an attempt at indoctrination. She pointed out that even when officers invite frank discussion, they punish soldiers who express dissenting opinion (Arutz-7, 2/23). "The IDF sees the International human rights organizations as an inseparable part of the democracy in Israel, and therefore reveals the soldiers to their activities." (IMRA, 2/23.) Then why does the IDF encourage brutality towards Jews in settlements? Israel's democracy, never vigorous, is fading. The human rights organizations are an inseparable part of the world war on Jewish sovereignty. The Army, itself, permitting only a leftist viewpoint, is part of that war. As this political regimentation goes on, soldiers must become demoralized and their casualties from any war would be higher. Eventually, the Army would become so politicalized, that it is liable to suffer defeat. An army works best that promotes its more capable people, rather than its more politically correct ones. COURT RECOGNIZES JERUSALEM AS ISRAELI Congress passed a law that Americans born in Jerusalem may have "Israel" listed as country of birth. Pres. Bush signed the law but said he would not honor that right. He claimed it interferes with his conduct of foreign policy. ZOA sued. The US Court of Appeals ordered the State Dept. to comply with the law (IMRA, 2/23). His conduct of foreign policy is to deny Israel's de facto as well as its de jure right to Jerusalem. US Presidents single out Israel's capital for non-recognition. A proper policy could be to recognize the city as Israel's capital until it no longer is Israel's capital. 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@aol.com. |
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THE RETURN OF JONAH
Posted by Tommy 3Lions, March 10, 2006. |
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Time: 21:00:48 o'clock GMT
2 Jonah chapter 1 And the word of the LORD came to Jonah again saying, "Go to that great city of London and tell them what you told Ninevah, tell them how their wickedness has come up before me". Jonah at once responded in obedience having learned the hard way last time and made preparations to go to England. Weeks later he arrived at Dover and parked his large fish in the harbour alongside the ferries. Jonah knew that he was in the LORD's perfect timing because the day he arrived in Dover the railway service to London was actually working, a mighty wind had cleared the leaves from the track that very morning, Jonah didn't even mind not being able to buy himself a coffee and a sarny as he only had twenty quid. He was just happy to bring the message of repentance to the city from which time itself takes its origins. Jonah arrived at Victoria station and hopped on the tube finally arriving at Westminster without being mugged or happy-slapped once. Jonah emerged from the tube into the glorious English rain and looked around at his surroundings, He looked up at the clock tower which holds Big Ben and the rest of the magnifient Palace of Westminster, Mother of all parliaments, he glanced over to Westminster Abbey where Kings and Queens have been crowned for centuries and though to himself, 'This is the perfect place to begin'. He walked over to the pleasant green between the two buildings and found a nice spot to proclaim the word of the LORD. Facing the Parliament from where all the greats of England have governed -- Cromwell, Pitt, Churchill and Thatcher to name but a few -- he swallows, takes a deep breath and then at the top of his voice shouts, "Woe unto you London and Woe unto you England for in 40 days all this you see around you shall be thrown down, your sin has reached the heavens and judgement will surely come". Just as he was about to continue with the message that the LORD had gave him, a man with a copy of the Guardian under his arm challenged him, "Who are you calling a sinner? I am not a sinner, I find it offensive that you should label me so". Jonah replied, "Because you say you have no sin, you clearly are a sinner". The man protested. Another man said, "Excuse me, don't you realise that all you see around you is of special historical interest and are therefore protected as Grade 2 listed buildings, you can't say that about them, who do you think you are"? A young women in a hijab protested "Yes, judgement is coming to England, and Islam will govern this land, is this what you mean"? Jonah responded, "No Miss, for there is no salvation in Islam nor the false god of Islam, the true GOD whom made the heavens and the earth will judge in righteousness, there is no GOD but Him and your only hope is to repent before Him. The young woman proclaimed, "That is bigotry, how dare you say, He is the only GOD, how dare you say Islam is false, I will have you arrested". Jonah was just about to respond to this when he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder, "You're nicked"! Turning his head around he noticed 23 policemen behind him. Jonah proclaimed, "Sir, I am here as a prophet of the LORD, I am exercising my right to free speech outside the parliament which claims that I should be allowed to exercise free speech". The Policeman said, "There is a new law which was introduced in August 2005 which outlaws protests within 1/2 a mile of Parliament. Section 132 of the 'serious organised crime and police act' bans unauthorised demonstrations in this designated area. You Sir have broken that law and in the process it appears from what those around you are telling me, you have also committed various hate crimes. You are under arrest and will be taken to Paddington Green for further questioning. We dont need the likes of you around here" http://journals.aol.co.uk/tommy3lions/Repairerofthebrokenwalls/ Contact the author at Tommy3lions@aol.com |
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THE SCENT OF ORANGE BLOSSOMS IN THE AIR
Posted by Moshe Kempinski, March 10, 2006. |
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The scent of orange blossoms is in the air. It is a very delicate and fleeting scent but it is definitely there, in the breeze, wafting through this land. The media is digging up all sorts of refuse and garbage in order to mask the sweet smell of the orange blossoms. The politicians are trying to avert the senses of the public so as to deny that sweet fragrance. Yet the scent is palpable. The orange scent of a change is growing. The faithful community has been very busy trying to heal and revive the expelled Jews of Gush Katif and the northern Shomron. The Vision- based people of this land have been learning to cope with the hatred and violence they experienced in Amona with all its theological and ideological repercussions. The Eternal people have been auguring strength for the long voyage that is still ahead.As a result of all these factors, many people have simply not noticed the signs of an impending change blowing in the wind. The signs may be small and may not herald any expectations of great changes in this coming election but change is a necessary ingredient of growth and its scent is there. The polls continue to augur success for Olmert's scandal ridden party. The media makes a conscious effort of describing Olmert's success as an axiomatic given. The overall pall that these facts have produced has convinced many that the battle has been lost. They have begun to believe that the forces that augur further disengagement from both the spiritual and physical moorings of our faith have succeeded. Yet many are missing that orange scent in the air. Some of the signs that point to this change need to be contemplated and thought about. Some of those signs include the following. Over seventy percent of those that are approached for those demoralizing polls don't even answer. The almost daily exposes of the corruption rife in the Kadima party are only now beginning to surface. No media whitewashing can forever ignore the simple fact that the Hamas who came into power on the wave of Israel's capitulation gleefully announce that they await more such retreats. The thousands of people being contacted either by phone or in person by the Mateh Zazim Yeminah movement are either showing disgust with all the parties or are easily returned into the nationalist camp. In a time where people are slowly being disillusioned by corruption and hedonistic candidates, the opportunities for faith and ideology based movements are great. Those without vision will not make an effort to come out to vote. Those with vision cannot allow themselves not to. It is critical that those who believe in the eternity of this great people not become daunted by the long voyage. We are about ten parliamentary seats away from returning sanity into this embattled and embittered land. Now is the time to get re- involved. Contact the Zazim Yemina group or any of the other faith based organizations and help establish another rung in the ladder out of the black pit we have been thrust into. We have all matured since the expulsion and after the violence in Amona. We have all become even more aware that the political process and its results are but a minor and perhaps insignificant step in the long process of redemption. Yet we cannot ignore even the small steps lest we falter in the large ones. Pirkei Avot remind us, It is not placed upon you the onus of finishing the work, yet you cannot abstain from your obligation to be part of the work. Contact Moshe Kempinsky at komem6@netvision.net.il or go to his website www.shorashim.com |
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KADIMA VERSUS ISRAEL
Posted by Women in Green, March 10, 2006. |
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This article was written by Caroline Glick and it appeared in the Jerusalem Post. US President George W. Bush is immersed in a political crisis of his own making. For the first time in his presidency, Americans trust the Democrats more than the president on issues of national security. There is an Israel angle to Bush's current misfortunes. In fact, the nature of the mess in which Bush now finds himself explains a great deal about the nature of Israel's relationship with America. It also shows how that relationship is harmed by the expedient interests of both the Bush administration and the Israeli government. Last month, the administration announced it had approved a deal to place the management of 21 US ports in the hands of the United Arab Emirates-owned firm Dubai Ports World or DPW. This caused an uproar on Capitol Hill. Citing Dubai's documented connections to al-Qaida, legislators from both parties demanded the deal's cancellation. Rather than bowing to pressure, Bush surprised his supporters by insisting the deal go through. Accusing its detractors of anti-Arab bigotry, Bush -- who has never used his presidential veto -- threatened to veto any bill that cancels the DPW deal. Bush's response precipitated several investigative reports in the US media that exposed wide ranging business connections between high level administration officials -- including Treasury Secretary John Snow -- and DPW. The Jerusalem Post's report last week which exposed DPW's adherence to the Arab boycott of Israel caused the administration additional headaches. It is against US law to adhere to the boycott. In a stuttered response, administration spokesmen intimated vaguely that Dubai is being pressured to end its participation in the boycott. According to polling data, by the end of last month, only 17 percent of Americans supported the deal with Dubai while 63% opposed it. Given its enormous opposition, Bush's refusal to set the deal aside has led several Republican lawmakers to openly criticize him. Indeed, Republican legislators are working steadily to kill the deal as quickly as possible to end their embarrassment. To date, the deal's many opponents have suffered one major setback. It came from an unexpected source: Israel. Last week, Idan Ofer, the CEO of Israel's shipping line Zim, wrote a letter to New York Senator Hillary Clinton in which he praised DPW and expressed his support for the deal. In Ofer's words, "During our long association with Dubai Ports World we have not experienced a security issue in these ports or in any of the terminals operated by them." He added, "We are proud to be associated with Dubai Ports World and look forward to continue working with it in the future." Given Dubai's adherence to the Arab boycott and the fact that in his letter Ofer acknowledged that Zim's ships are forced to fly under foreign flags in order to dock in Dubai's ports, opponents of the deal scratched their heads in puzzlement and exasperation at Ofer's move. Aside from taking steps to cancel the deal, Congress has placed the Treasury Department's secretive Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which approved the deal, under a magnifying glass. In Congressional testimony last week, Frank Gaffney, the President of the Center for Security Policy in Washington, D.C. noted that CFIUS almost never conducts full-scale investigations of deals concerning foreign companies operating in the US. Of the 1,600 deals that have come before CFIUS since it was established in the 1980s, only 26 have come under serious review. CFIUS decided to conduct its 26th full-blown investigation just days after it approved the deal with DPW. Disturbingly, the newest investigation relates to the Israeli computer systems protection company Check Point's intention to purchase its smaller American rival Sourcefire. As the AP report of the investigation noted, "The contrast between the administration's handling of the $6.8 billion Dubai ports deal and the Israeli company's $225 million technology purchase offers an uncommon glimpse into the US government's choices to permit some deals but raise deep security concerns over others." The deal reportedly raised the hackles of Pentagon and FBI officials. They allege that since Sourcefire's software programs are used to protect US military and intelligence computer systems from infiltration, its acquisition by Check Point will seriously damage US national security. Just as the storm of protest against the DPW deal tells us something about the American public's view of the Arabs, so the FBI and Pentagon's objection to the Check Point deal and their support for the DPW deal tell us something about the state of the administration's relations with the Israeli government. CFIUS's counterintuitive treatment of the DPW and Check Point deals tells us two things about how the administration makes its decisions. First, money talks. Not only is Dubai the banking capital of the Persian Gulf, flush with oil revenues, it has become an active investor in the US. In response to the uproar over the DPW deal, the UAE announced that if the deal is cancelled, it will reconsider its stance regarding its ongoing free trade negotiations with the US. UAE officials have also intimated in media interviews that they may limit its investments in the US if the deal does not go through. So rather than addressing Congress's concerns about Dubai's links to Islamist terror, pledging not to take any steps that might endanger US national security, apologizing for its past support for Osama bin Laden or ending its participation in the boycott of Israel, Dubai is threatening the US with sanctions if Congress torpedoes the ports deal. And the administration has responded to those threats by endangering its political support base and marring its credibility as a champion of national security in order to defend Dubai. The administration's support for Dubai shows that it respects power and those who wield it. Similarly, by treating Check Point as if it were an enemy state, the administration demonstrates its contempt for weakness. OVER THE past several years, Israel has demonstrated unprecedented weakness in its dealings with Washington. This weakness has caused a situation where Prime Minister Ariel Sharon acclaimed the Bush administration as the best friend Israel has ever had, while the administration ended Israeli participation in multiple joint military research and development projects. The administration further demanded Israel accept encroachments on its sovereignty by forcing Israel to sign a commitment to give the US veto power over a significant share of its military exports. The economic consequence of this unprecedented step is that Israel must now receive the approval of its chief business competitor in the international arms market before concluding any major deal. So in stark contrast to declarations by Israeli and American policymakers alike, Israel's relationship with the administration in recent years has not been particularly positive. Rather, its prominent features have been American intimidation and Israeli kowtowing. Sharon's desperate, irrational and personal need to feel accepted by Washington rendered him effectively incapable of representing Israel's interests to the administration. What Sharon craved was not substantive cooperation in war, but declarations of support in him personally by the Bush and his senior advisers. In Sharon's absence, his Kadima party maintains the same dependence on expressions of support from the administration even when such declarations come at the price of undermining Israel's basic strategic interests. That is, under Sharon and Kadima, it has become possible to make a distinction between administration support for the Israeli government and administration support for Israel. Given this, it isn't difficult to surmise the background to Ofer's odd statement of support for the DPW deal. From all this we learn that like the Kadima government, the administration is fully capable of ignoring the US's national security interests when doing so advances its political interests. In sharp contrast to the administration's counterintuitive and opportunistic preference for Arab despotisms over Israel, the American public follows its intuition and is generally unsupportive of the Arabs, whom Americans regard as their foes, and consistently supportive of Israel, which they regard as their ally in the war against the global jihad. In the public's outcry against the DPW deal we see the vast potential for changing the administration's attitude towards Israel. Just as the American public decries the notion of turning America's ports over to Arab control, so too, the American public would back an Israeli refusal to transfer control over its national security to Hamas. And just as the public's rejection of the port deal will eventually force the administration to cancel it, so too, were Israel to decide to assert its rights as a sovereign nation in Washington by defining victory against the Palestinian terror war as its strategic aim, it would be able to tap into deep reservoirs of support in the US that would force the administration to back its moves. Sadly, in what can only be judged as pathological opportunism, rather than encouraging its American supporters, Israel's government is undermining them by publicly siding with the administration in the Dubai port dispute. The government's behavior in this matter is reflective of the Kadima party's general policy. Kadima, like its founder Ariel Sharon, operates under the guiding assumption that Israel is weak and cannot defend itself without international support generally and American support specifically. Like Israel's other leftist parties, Kadima assumes that the only way to receive the administration's support is by weakening Israel still further. This is why Sharon decided to withdraw from Gaza and northern Samaria and it is why Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert today claims that Israel must vacate most of Judea and Samaria, with the land to be transferred to Hamas, and continue enabling the transfer of "humanitarian aid" to the Hamas-led PA. That is, Kadima believes that its international support is dependent on weakening Israel and strengthening Israel's enemies. By all counts, it is right to believe this. Today the Bush administration is aggressively backing Kadima in the elections. Last month, administration officials reportedly pressured PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to postpone the formation of the Hamas government until after the Israeli elections because they believed that doing so will help Kadima against the Likud. In backing Kadima, a party committed to transferring lands and money to the Hamas-led PA, the US has effectively made strengthening the Iranian-backed Hamas its central aim in the region. From this it becomes apparent that Kadima's party interests are diametrically opposed to Israel's national interests. What the adamant public opposition to the Dubai deal shows is that regardless of how the administration may presently be treating Israel, if Israel elects a different government this month, the administration will not be able to easily oppose it if it decides to actually advance Israel's national interests for a change. Indeed, as is the case with the DPW deal, if a new Israeli government projects a powerful image in Washington, accompanied by a dedication to the goal of ending the Palestinian war in victory, not surrender, the American people will intuitively support it and force the administration to support it as well. Ruth and Nadia Matar established Women For Israel's Tomorrow (Women in Green), an activist group of women based in Jerusalem. Their website address is http://www.womeningreen.org |
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HOME SWEET HOME
Posted by Anita Tucker, March 10, 2006. |
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This essay was written by Rifka Saltz (rifkasaltz@earthlink.net). She wrote me, "I wrote this essay about my feelings about the people of Gush Katif..." I wrote her back: Rivka, you're article is amazingly thoughtful and caring and just about all that you say about our situation is true. I am forwarding it to all I know and hope they will do the same. The other day my youngest son and his new wife got stuck late at night near the Ein Tzurim guesthouse where we presently live in a small room, since there was no longer public transportation he had no choice but to call us at 1:30 AM to borrow our car to drive to where he is now living. I lay in bed afterwards thinking how many times situations like that had happened in Gush Katif, and how our home was so often a place where anyone who was stuck there knew they could just come in and find the four doors open, in every direction, feel welcome and find an empty bed for staying over with a hot breakfast in the morning as well. How frustrating that today I don't have a bed to offer my own son and daughter-in-law. Rivka, have no fear, we WILL, with God's help, have the strength to build our homes and businesses anew and again be a constuctive and welcoming community, renowned for chesed. Meanwhile we have had the privilege of meeting many caring people who are always thinking of ways to help us reach the building anew stage with our heads up high knowing that Am Yisrael care about each other as you express so well in this essay. We all wish for unity in among the Jewish people as unity represents God himself. Perhaps we will have the privilege of seeing unity in Am Yisrael around caring to help us build anew. Thank you for caring You're caring gives strength,
Home. 'Home sweet home.' 'There's no place like home.' 'Home is where the heart is.' Our language is replete with euphemisms about home. I think about home a lot. I work in the nursing 'home' industry. This industry is in the midst of a major revolution. It is a revolution to transform the cold, sterile, hospital-like institutions that characterize most nursing homes, into places that actually resemble 'home.' If you think about it, at the mere mention of the words 'nursing home' most people cringe. Does anyone want to go into a nursing home? I teach all levels of staff in the nursing homes throughout the metropolitan NY area. I usually ask my participants to raise their hand if they want to be in a nursing home when they're old. I have yet to have one person raise his hand. Nobody conjures up the image of a warm, cozy, inviting place when they think of a nursing home. In fact, the most common refrain you hear from the elderly residents, is, "I want to go home." Another reason I think about home a lot is because I enjoy my home so much. I get tremendous satisfaction tending to my home. I take pride in the way I've decorated it and I get pleasure from the bright light that comes through the many windows in our house. My sense of aesthetics is fulfilled by viewing the various artifacts I've thoughtfully placed throughout the house -- a plant here, a vase there, family photographs up the staircase. Sometimes I think that maybe it's because I'm a woman that I get so much 'nachas' from my home. But my husband told me that there's a Gemara that says a nice home is one of the three main enjoyments a man has in this world. So I guess it's no wonder that the fact that the people of Gush Katif were expelled from their homes bothers me so much. All politics aside, I personally feel so sad for all these people who have lost their homes. It hits me at different times of the day. I'll be awakening in our bedroom, and catch myself appreciating the early morning sunlight casting a golden hue to our walls, and then think of the evicted residents, wondering how they're feeling, waking up in small, crowded, dismal hotel rooms. Or I'll be looking around our living room, thinking that maybe it's time we replaced our worn-out couches. And then I'll think that the people of Gush Katif no longer have couches in their current cramped spaces. It particularly hits me on Shabbos. That's the one day a week when everything in the house is neat and orderly, the day I won't be embarrassed if someone drops in unexpectedly. The living room floor isn't strewn with briefcases, book bags, and other assorted items. The kitchen counters aren't cluttered, and the dining room table looks like a dining room table, not a gathering spot for all the week's mail. In the morning the house is quiet and still, and I have time to walk through the house leisurely, not scurrying to answer a ringing phone or scrambling to head out to work. And as I look around, I take great comfort in the modest beauty of the home we've created. It's not that our furnishings are elaborate, after all, we're working people. But together, my husband and I have created an ambiance that we enjoy, that reflects our spirits. And then I think of the residents of Gush Katif. How they also selected each wall hanging, each knick-knack, in their former homes, only to have them ripped away and destroyed. Or as we sit at the Friday night table, I feel a sense of serenity looking at all of our lovely Shabbos items, the sparkling silver leichter, the china, the crystal decanter, etc. and then I think of the people of Gush Katif. Who knows where they're spending Shabbos. What are they using for a tablecloth? On a personal level, I feel slightly guilty at all these moments when I'm enjoying my home. How can I be enjoying my home when they have lost theirs? Again, this is not a political issue. I fully understand that people can agree with all sides of the politics of Gush Katif. This is a personal issue. My heart goes out to the refugees for the personal trauma that has affected each and every one of their lives. And I feel so small and insignificant, so powerless to help them. My hope, my plea, my prayer, is that each of us reflect for a moment or two. And when we acknowledge the security and comfort of the familiar and routine in our lives, that we utter a prayer for the people of Gush Katif. And that we send them something, a dollar or a thousand dollars, to help them regain the normalcy of life. No politics. Just heart to heart. One Jew caring about another Jew who has lost his home. Home is where the heart is. Maybe by opening our hearts to theirs, we can help them re-create their homes once more. Anita Tucker is a remarkable woman. Once a farmer in Gush Katif, growing highly prized and praised organic vegetables, she is now one of the Gush Katif refugees. Once she helped turn a desolate area into a wonderful place to live; now, as she writes, she works "... to build our homes and businesses anew and again be a constuctive and welcoming community, renowned for chesed." |
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CANADA SHOULD RETHINK ITS JERUSALEM POLICIES
Posted by Gerald M. Steinberg, March 10, 2006. |
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Following the election victory of Hamas, it's a strange time for a group of Canadians to be proposing a "permanent solution" to the issue of Jerusalem. But the team headed by Michael Bell, a former Canadian ambassador to Egypt and Israel and a high-level official in Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs, has decided to overlook these complexities. In the next few weeks, the groups plans to unveil a project that claims to "provide peace negotiators with ideas on how to settle [the issue of] Jerusalem within the context of a peace agreement." Bell even declares the grand goal of "changing the way people think about the old city of Jerusalem" and to present ideas that never been discussed before. This is a tall order for the Holy City, a religious centre that has been fought over for more than 3,000 years, since it was conquered and made the capital of David's kingdom. Beyond the natural skepticism that anyone (particularly a foreign diplomat) can provide a "solution" based on "new ideas," Bell's project suffers from what academics call methodological failure. We are told that these proposals are gleaned from interviews with 300 people "mostly in the Middle East" -- a very small fraction of whom have detailed knowledge and familiarity with Jerusalem's history, meaning, and reality. And how many of these 300 were carefully chosen to justify the predetermined conclusions of Bell's team? As a result, the publication of this report and a major press campaign may garner some short-term attention in the media, but Israelis and Palestinians -- Jews, Muslims, and Christians -- who make up Jerusalem's population are busy coping with reality on the ground. Jews, in particular, have not forgotten the history of failed grand peace plans and schemes for redesigning Jerusalem. The reality is that the "peace process" to which Bell and other Canadian diplomats cling is dormant and will remain so for many years. The late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's rejectionism, including his attempts to erase Jewish history in Jerusalem and his use of terrorism, destroyed the hopes of the Oslo process. Now, the dominance of Hamas has cemented this situation. This is clearly not the time to promote yet another counterproductive scheme for dividing Jerusalem, particularly when it will be seen by Palestinians as support for media campaigns to portray the Israeli presence as illegitimate. Canada's new government under Prime Minister Stephen Harper would do well to stay away from this report. And Canadian groups such as the Canada-Israel Committee are helping by refocusing attention on the centrality of Jerusalem to Israeli and Jewish identity. At the same time, there are important steps that Canada can take on Jerusalem -- short of naive claims of a "grand solution." The government can and should start a review of Canada's failed diplomacy over the past two decades, particularly in adopting a predominantly Arab position on the city. In this realm, the time has come to end the foolish policy of omitting the word "Israel" from Canadian passports issued to Jews born in Jerusalem. Defenders of this policy in the Department of Foreign Affairs use the false claim that Jerusalem is illegally "occupied territory." Indeed, the Jewish Quarter and the Temple Mount were occupied in the 1948 Arab attack and 3,000 years of Jewish history was largely destroyed. In this period before the 1967 war, the armistice agreement that promised access to holy sites was ignored when it came to Jews, who were not allowed to pray at the Western Wall or elsewhere. The Canadian government's policy of refusing to allow Israeli escorts on official visits to the Jewish Quarter and the Wall is a sad remnant of this period, and it's both historically and morally wrong. Most of the world now recognizes that when peace negotiations eventually resume, the future of Jerusalem, including borders, will be determined by the parties, and not by foreigners. The 1949 armistice lines (often erroneously referred to as borders) will finally be discarded, and the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem, as well as other areas, will be accepted as part of Israel's capital and historic legacy. Canada can help this process by recognizing these realities, rather than continuing to promote outdated fictions. Gerald M. Steinberg is editor of NGO Monitor and director of the Program on Conflict Management at Bar-Ilan University. This article appeared February 23, 2006 in Canadian Jewish News - http://www.cjnews.com/viewarticle.asp?id=8560 |
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CHALLENGING THE JIHADISTS
Posted by Dr. Asher Eder, March 10, 2006. |
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In Islamic theology the term "Jihad" can mean waging "holy war" against enemies of Islam, Muslim peoples or nations, but after Rassul Mohammed's conquest of Mecca, he stressed that the real Jihad -- or "greater Jihad" in his words -- is from now on the "holy war" against one's own evil inclinations. Yet, in our times, the idea of Jihad is handed out mainly against the Jewish people and the State of Israel as well as against those nations or peoples which are seen by the Jihadists as supporters of Israel (branded as "Zionist entity"). On other words, these Jihadists wage their bloody assaults against each and every one who is not in accordance with their liking. Jihad against Jews was demanded by the so-called Grand Mufti of Palestine, Haj Amin el-Husseini, already in 1943 i.e. before the foundation of the State of Israel! Mufti el-Husseini, one of the worst Nazi collaborators, called for Jihad against Jews in a broadcast from Radio Berlin during the height of the Holocaust: "Kill the Jews wherever you find them, this is pleasing to Allah". Jihad against Jews was again demanded by the "Fourth Conference of the Academy of Islamic Research", meeting -- not in Nazi Berlin during World War Two -- but twenty six years later in 1969, in Cairo, Egypt. The Conference was convened at the behest of Gaml Abd-el-Nassr, then President of Egypt, at Cairo's Al Azhar University. It was attended by high ranking delegates from 22 Muslim countries. The Conference Proceedings were published in 1970 by the "General Organization for Government Printing Office", Cairo, in Arabic as well as in an official English translation. In its "Resolution and Recommendations...", the Conference stated: "First: The PLO's late "Minister of War" was given the name "Abu Jihad" (literally "Father of the Holy War"). The name of the PLO's chief, "Yasir Arafat", is a nom de guerre (Arafat's real name is Abdul Rauf el-Codbi el-Husseini. "Arafat" is the nephew of the above mentioned Nazi war criminal Haj Amin Husseini, so-called Grand Mufti of Palestine). Taken from the name of a hill next to Mecca mentioned in the Qur'an, "Arafat" signifies the culmination of a Muslim's "hadj" (pilgrimage), in this case the liberation of all the land of Palestine [PLO -- Palestine Liberation Organization]. The Jihad psychosis generated by calls for Jihad -- including the calls for Jihad quoted above as well as many others -- have given birth to criminal terrorist groups such as "Islamic Jihad", "Hamas" and "Hizbullah". These terrorist groups enjoy widespread material and ideological support in the Muslim world. Their murderers are celebrated as heroes: Shaheedim holy martyrs. Some Muslim states grant them shelter and backing (e.g. via UNO resolutions); and/or award considerable payments to their next-of-skin. Suicide bombers (!) etc. are not seen as terrorists in these brainwashed societies. The world is now reaping what was sown at that "Fourth Conference". We should not be fooled into believing for one moment that the Camp David Accords with Egypt; Madrid Accords; Oslo Accords with the PLO' Wye Agreement (or any other agreement so far); "Road Map"; Disengagement from Gaza; etc; has rendered the above calls for Jihad obsolete. Fighting fanatical terrorists with conventional weapons alone (police, military actions; etc) can at best be only one means of defense. The idea that improving the economic situation of the Palestinian Arabs would undermine support for Jihad fanatics, is rather illusory, for two reasons: it would be perceived as "proof" that violence has paid; and, the Palestinian Arabs enjoyed before the present "Intifada" a higher standard of living than most of their Arab neighbors. Also, Jihad groups are primarily financed by the wealthiest Muslim nations!). Addressing the psychological and religious dimensions of Jihad is in the long run infinitely more important than military or economic measures, however necessary they may be. Fortunately, in addressing these psychological and religious dimensions of Jihad, does not require playing mind games with Arab Muslims. THE QUR'AN ITSELF is the spiritual weapon that will enable true Muslims to disarm the Jihad psychosis, liberate the minds of their peoples from its terrible grasp, and pave the way for TRUE peace between Muslims and Israel. I expressed this thesis in my essay entitled, "Peace Is Possible Between Ishmael And Israel According To The Qur'an" in 1969. The current, revised version of my essay, which carries a Forward by Sheikh Prof. Abdul Hadi Palazzi, is accessible at the web-site of the Root & Branch Association Ltd, Yerushalayim (www/rb.org.il) My thesis is supported by the fact that many Muslim nations, such as Nigeria, Turkey, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, which do not accept the (pseudo-religious) call for Jihad against Israel, have established warm diplomatic relations with the Jewish State (as opposed to the cold "peace" agreement with Egypt, which in Egyptian eyes is really just a truce until they and their fellow Jihad warriors are ready to launch the next Arab war of aggression against Israel; or dissect Israel by other means. IF Egypt would honor the Camp David Agreement as real peace with Israel; it would allow free tourism of Egyptians to Israel; and would not turn a blind eye on the tunnels and the weapons' "smuggle" from its territory to Gaza. The Root & Branch Association's Islam-Israel Fellowship, of which Shaykh Prof. Abdul Hadi Palazzi is Muslim Co-Chairman and I am Jewish Co-Chairman, is working together with Muslim scholars and statesmen in various countries to harness the spiritual power of the Qur'an to disarm the Jihad psychosis, liberate Muslims from its evil grasp, and develop a spiritual atmosphere conducive for true peace between Muslims and Israel. Dr. Asher Eder is Co-Chairmen of the Islam-Israel Fellowship, Root Branch Association Ltd, Jerusalem (http://www.rb.org). Contact him by emal at avrason@netvison.net.il |
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AMERICAN BOARD OF RABBIS CONDEMNS THE EHUD OLMERT ISRAELI GOVERNMENT
FOR ITS BRUTAL ATTACK ON CIVILIANS AT AMONA
Posted by Rabbi Mordechai Y. Friedman, March 10, 2006. |
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NEW YORK -- (February 3, 2006) The American Board of Rabbis has issued a Rabbinic Decree for all Rabbis worldwide to publicly curse the Ehud Olmert government. "The entire Olmert government is put into a curse for its brutal attack against Jewish civilians in keeping with the Talmudic dictum, "the curse of a Rabbi, even if unwarranted, shall come to fruition," (Talmudic Tractate Makos 11a) stated Rabbi Mordechai Yitzchok Friedman, President of the American Board of Rabbis. Former Chief Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef publically enacted a curse on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, and look what happened to Sharon! The American Board of Rabbis has undertaken an international campaign for rabbis worldwide to put a lethal spiritual curse on the Olmert government, especially to be cursed the Kapo / Israeli Police / soldiers who physically attacked unarmed teenagers. The tyranny of this government is halachically termed as `Moser' traitors. These pariahs are to receive capital punishment! (Code of Maimonides: Nezekin, Hilchous Chovale and Mazik, Chapter 8; Shulchan Aruch: The Definitive Code of Jewish Law, Volume Choshen Mishpat, Hilchos Mabad Mahmon, Chapter 388) "This `Chelonee' - secular/agnostic/atheistic government - has no right to rule Israel, ipso facto a regime change to a JEWISH THEOCRATIC STATE. May the rabbinical curses be visited upon the government of tyranny," concluded Rabbi Friedman. Contact:
American Board of Rabbis
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ISRAEL'S CANDIDATES SCRAMBLE TO APE SHARON'S POLITICAL CENTER
Posted by Jerome S. Kaufman, March 10, 2006. |
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This article was written by Herbert Zweibon, Chairman Americans for
Safe Israel (AFSI) and it appeared in "The Outpost" (www.outpost.com),
February 2006.
Israel's politicians are in a rush to claim "the center" in the coming elections When Prime Minister Sharon left the Likud to establish the Kadima Party; it was because he felt confident he could obtain the support of the "political center." He seems to have been on to something. As a party based on the popularity of a single individual, Kadima should have collapsed But instead thus far the party seems to have maintained the lead it had with Sharon at the helm. According to Hebrew; University political science professor Reuven Hazan, people are tired of left and right and want "something pragmatic in the middle" The Likud is being urged by professed well-wishers to "out-center" Kadima. In the Jerusalem Post, Aryeh Green, describing himself as "a business consultant active in Israel's public diplomacy efforts" urges newly crowned Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu to "bring the Likud back to the center" Netanyahu needs no urging. He made the purging the party of members not fitting the "centrist image" his first mission as Likud head. He sought to prevent Moshe Feiglin, who had come in third in the race for party leadership, from even appearing on the party's list of Knesset candidates. For Netanyahu the problem with Feiglin was that he was clearly not prepared to relinquish Judea and Samaria to Israel's Arab enemies. (In the end Feiglin voluntarily withdrew his candidacy. saying he preferred to build up his movement of resistance to surrender rather than to serve as another rubberstamp Likud Knesset member.) The National Union Party and the National Religious Party made overtures to the Liked to unite opponents of retreat in an electoral bloc -- Netanyahu turned them down, fearful of being "tainted" by the right wing. Likud "insiders" report that the party will be introducing a "new peace plan" to counter its post Sharon image as a party of hardliners. As for Labor, its new head Amir Peretz, a hard-core leftist on economic issues, promises, if elected, to produce a peace agreement within four years (the identical promise Labor made in 1992 and "fulfilled" by Oslo). But what does "in the center" mean? How does one define a "centrist" solution to the problems confronting Israel? What is a centrist response to Iran -- on the verge of possessing a nuclear arsenal, with an apocalyptically inspired leadership dedicated to wiping Israel off the map? What is a centrist policy to preserve a "united Jerusalem" (to which Likud and Kadima are supposedly dedicated)? What is a centrist policy on Arab terror? What is a centrist policy on the across-the-board dedication of Palestinian Arab leaders Fatah, as much as Hamas, to destroy Israel? Judging from the last decade, a centrist policy is surrender cloaked in euphemisms worthy of the ancient Greeks, who sought to appease the Fates by calling them Euminedes (the kindly ones). (We call them "Moderate Muslims" -- JSK). In the first post-Oslo decade surrender was called "peace," which has now morphed into "disengagement" It is hard to know which is more delusional -- the notion that the Arabs are prepared to make peace or the notion that Israel, by unilateral retreat, can cut itself off from its threatening Arab neighborhood. As Steven Plaut has remarked, what does Israel think its Arab neighbors will do on the other side of the barrier it is constructing -- take up knitting? As the aftermath of Israel's deportation of its citizens from Gush Katif has already made plain, any territory Israel vacates in its self-satisfied pursuit of "the center" will become headquarters for stepped-up terror operations. Israel's political leaders should not be pursuing a mythical center but competing to fashion policies that will promote the national security previous policies have so badly eroded. As Israeli columnist Sarah Honig has bluntly observed: "Compromise without honor isn't necessarily prudent. It merely broadcasts to the world that we have no national pride; that we're sick in the head." And my parents would add, "nisdugadacht." (JSK) Jerome S. Kaufman is National Secretary of the Zionist Organization of America. and host the Israel Commentary website (http://www.israel-commentary.org). |
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SOME REFLECTIONS ON ISRAEL IN THE CONTEXT OF GLOBALISATION
Posted by Kaustav Chakrabarti, March 9, 2006. |
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Ever since its creation in 1948, Israel has had achieved phenomenal progress in all fields, especially agriculture and technology. Its vibrant political democracy is the envy of many a nation in its vicinity. Israel has also been a pioneer in achieving women's equality to a remarkable degree which rivals that of the West. However, the winds of change in the global political and economic sphere have had their repercussions on the state. The collapse of the Soviet Union in the early nineties, the mass aliya of Russian Jews, the aliya of the Ethiopian Jewry and Globalisation have thrown challenges to Israel hitherto inconceivable. The State has had to grapple with many of these, like providing the immigrants with jobs, housing, education,and revamping the Socialist-oriented welfare-State economy to that of a market-driven one. Every change brings with it some good and bad effects. The good ones are more exports, more foreign exchange,new technological ventures(with India and China) and a choice of a wide range of consumer goods from across the world. However, the bad effects have also followed in its train. These have been rampant consumerisation, a money-conscious society, erosion of basic values and widespread privatization of state sectors with its accompanying maladies of reckless competition and unemployment. The result has been a growing rich-poor divide hitherto considered impossible in an egalitarian society as that of Israel. This growing social imbalance may produce class antagonisms that may jeopardise the delicate social fabric that holds the state and society together. Israel has had to fight for its survival ever since its creation against the twin threats of terrorism and external aggression. The fact that it has been able to hold its own against odds is a testimony to its egalitarian social structure based on sharing and sacrifice. In the face of the growing threats of social inequity, this solidarity seems near imminent collapse. The State cannot fight on two fronts, that is dealing with terrorists and their sponsors on one hand, and a class-war amongst its citizens on the other. So one (class antagonism) has to be eliminated in order to effectively tackle the other, that is, terrorism. What Israel basically needs at this hour is the pooling of all available resources, both human and material, for its existence as an entity among the world nations. The basic problems of economic inequity and distribution of wealth have to be addressed in all their seriousness to defuse this potential social timebomb that threatens the society and the state at large. Kaustav Chakrabarti is a Visiting Research Fellow at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. |
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NEGATIVE PERCEPTION OF ISLAM INCREASING
Posted by Bryna Berch, March 9, 2006. |
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This was written by Claudia Deane and Darryl Fears, Washington Post Staff Writers. As the war in Iraq grinds into its fourth year, a growing proportion of Americans are expressing unfavorable views of Islam, and a majority now say that Muslims are disproportionately prone to violence, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. The poll found that nearly half of Americans -- 46 percent -- have a negative view of Islam, seven percentage points higher than in the tense months after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, when Muslims were often targeted for violence. The survey comes at a time of increasing tension; the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq show little sign of ending, and members of Congress are seeking to block the Bush administration's attempt to hire an Arab company to manage operations at six of the nation's ports. Also, Americans are reading news of deadly protests by Muslims over Danish cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad. Conservative and liberal experts said Americans' attitudes about Islam are fueled in part by political statements and media reports that focus almost solely on the actions of Muslim extremists. According to the poll, the proportion of Americans who believe that Islam helps to stoke violence against non-Muslims has more than doubled since the attacks, from 14 percent in January 2002 to 33 percent today. The survey also found that one in three Americans have heard prejudiced comments about Muslims lately. In a separate question, slightly more (43 percent) reported having heard negative remarks about Arabs. One in four Americans admitted to harboring prejudice toward Muslims, the same proportion that expressed some personal bias against Arabs. Though the two groups are often linked in popular discourse, most of the world's Muslims are not of Arab descent. For example, the country with the largest Muslim population is Indonesia. As a school bus driver in Chicago, Gary McCord, 65, dealt with many children of Arab descent. "Some of the best families I've ever had were some of my Muslim families," he said in a follow-up interview. "They were so nice to me." He now works for a Palestinian Christian family, whose members he says are "really marvelous." But his good feelings do not extend to Islam. "I don't mean to sound harsh or anything, but I don't like what the Muslim people believe in, according to the Koran. Because I think they preach hate," he said. As for the controversial cartoons of Muhammad, he said Arabs seem hypersensitive about religion. "I think it's been blown out of proportion," he said. Frederick Cole, a welder in Roosevelt, Utah, acknowledged: "As far as being prejudiced against them, I'd have to say maybe a little bit. If I were to go through an airport and I saw one out of the corner of my eye, I'd say, 'I wonder what he's thinking.' " Still, Cole, 30, said, "I don't think the religion is based on just wanting to terrorize people." A total of 1,000 randomly selected Americans were interviewed March 2-5 for this Post-ABC News poll. The margin of sampling error for the overall results is plus or minus three percentage points. Americans who said they understood Islam were more likely to see the religion overall as peaceful and respectful. But they were no less likely to say it harbors harmful extremists, and they were also no less likely to have prejudiced feelings against Muslims. In Gadsden, Ala., Ron Hardy, an auto parts supplier, said Arabs own a lot of stores in his area and "they're okay." But, Hardy, 41, said "I do think" Islam has been "hijacked by some militant-like guys." Edward Rios, 31, an engineer in McHenry, Ill., said he feels that Islam "is as good a religion as any other" yet vengeance seems to be "built into their own set of beliefs: If someone attacks our people, it is your duty to defend them. ... I don't think Christianity has anything like that." James J. Zogby, president of the Washington-based Arab American Institute, said he is not surprised by the poll's results. Politicians, authors and media commentators have demonized the Arab world since 2001, he said. "The intensity has not abated and remains a vein that's very near the surface, ready to be tapped at any moment," Zogby said. "Members of Congress have been exploiting this over the ports issue. Radio commentators have been talking about it nonstop." Juan Cole, a professor of modern Middle Eastern and South Asian history at the University of Michigan, agreed, saying Americans "have been given the message to respond this way by the American political elite, mass media and by select special interests." Cole said he was shocked when a radio talk show host asked him if Islamic extremists would set off a nuclear bomb in the United States in the next six months. "It was ridiculous. I think anti-Arab racism and profiling has become respectable," he said. Ronald Stockton, a professor of political science at the University of Michigan at Dearborn who helped conduct a study of Arabs in the Detroit area and on views of them held by non-Arabs, said an exceptionally high percentage of non-Muslims feels the media depicts Arabs unfairly, yet still holds negative opinions. "You're getting a constant drumbeat of negative information about Islam," he said. Michael Franc, vice president of government relations for the conservative Heritage Foundation, said that the survey responses "seems to me to be a real backlash against Islam" and that congressional leaders do not help the problem by sometimes using language that links all Muslims with extremists. Polling director Richard Morin contributed to this report. |
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IF IT'S BIKE WEEK, IT MUST BE KRISTOF
Posted by Gerald A. Honigman, March 9, 2006. |
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A few years back during this trying time of the year in the Daytona Beach area of Florida, I penned an article ("Makos, Kristof, and Bike Week") which focused on the hypocrisy and double standards the liberal, left wing press habitually practices towards the Jew of the Nations. Not that I'm in love with extreme right kooks either, but the former have become more of a problem of late than the latter since respected circles--such as those in academia--tend to give them more credibility. Coming right after the world famous Daytona 500 NASCAR race in this town, and just before most of the college spring breakers arrive, Bike Week brings with it scores of thousands of motor cyclists from all over the world...and the traffic snarls and noise that accompany them as well...Lovely. While I'm sure it has nothing to do with the bikers' thunder, The New York Times' syndicated columnist Nicholas Kristof seems to vent some of his own particularly hot air around this season as well. A few years back (late February 2004), for example, he wrote a piece about double standards which appeared in our local news version of the problem being described here in which he complained about Israel's security fence, Arabs allegedly being given no alternatives (to their barbarity), and such. The paper's editors typically spout the same lines, and this prompted my own response mentioned above. Like others of his ilk--Thomas Friedman, David Ignatius, Richard Cohen, just to name a few, who are also obsessed with the creation of a 22nd Arab state (and second, not first, Arab one within the original April 25, 1920 borders of the Mandate of Palestine before the Brits gave 80% away right from the getgo to Arab nationalism with the creation of Transjordan in 1922)--Kristof loves to lecture Israel, practically invisible on a map of the world and roughly the size of New Jersey, about the need to bare the necks of its babes so that Arabs, who have conquered over six million square miles of territory in the name of their nation and desires, can have that additional state as well. And regardless of all the hype about differences between the Arafatians and Hamasniks regarding the acceptance of the Jew of the Nations in what they perceive to be their exclusive neighborhood, a mere reading of what each side of this good cop/bad cop coin is telling their own people--not a Gullible West--puts the lie to those alleged differences regarding the Jews. Any differences at all between the two groups have more to do with who will continue to call the shots--both figuratively and literally--and enrich themselves as Arafat and his buddies did than any long term acceptance of an independent Jewish State. Having said this, Kristof does have a few redeeming qualities...even if he largely ruins them with his own versions of the moral equivalency manure. So, in that earlier Bike Week article, he got on the Syrians' case about their infamous Hama Solution. Now, at this same season, I recently came across his early March 2006 op-ed dealing with the Darfur genocide. And he actually managed to mention the word Arab (once) as well. Indeed, compared to most of his lefty colleagues, he has shown a bit more responsibility than most in portraying the broader perspective regarding the struggle for political rights in the region. Indeed, his current reports are live from the scene of the action in the Sudan. Still, despite his revelations regarding the Arab treatment of black Africans who have dared to assert their own rights and have paid dearly for it, Kristof still doesn't get it... And again, he unfortunately has plenty of company. In the September 16, 2003 Washington Post, Ignatius could only address Kurds as terrorists or rebels--while never dreaming of using the "T" word for Arab disembowelers of Jewish babes and grandmas. In Thomas Friedman's earlier March 26th article that same year in The New York Times, he advised that the Kurds should be told point blank, "what part of 'no' don't you understand? ...You Kurds are not breaking away." And this sickening hypocrisy is too often mirrored by the crew that has hijacked Middle Eastern Studies on far too many campuses and too often in our own Government as well...especially among the Foggy Folks and others with their hands in the past, current, or future petrodollar till. All of these alleged liberals apparently accept the Arabs' notion that they and only they have national rights in the region. So a few, like Kristof, may eventually--after decades of playing deaf, dumb, and blind to Arab atrocities against any and all who don't accept subjugation or dhimmitude as their fate--write exposés about Arab actions but cannot get themselves to make the next essential leap...that others are also entitled to what Arabs demand exclusively for themselves. While this crew is rightly concerned about the earlier effects of imperialism and colonialism Western style in the region, it has willingly turned a blind eye to the numerous non-Arab peoples and lands which had been conquered, settled, massacred, enslaved, turned into refugees, and colonized by the Arabs' own centuries' old and continuing imperialism still going on at the very moment this piece is being written. Despite Arab and their sycophants' complaints about the dangers of divisiveness, what higher code--besides that which the Arabs themselves would like to impose on scores of millions of non-Arabs in "their" region--proclaims an Arab identity to be the only "legitimate" one in a region so culturally variegated as the Middle East and North Africa...Copts, Berbers, black Africans, Assyrians, pre-Arab Lebanese, Druse, one half of Israel's Jews who were refugees from "Arab"/Muslim lands (the other side of the refugee coin that the Kristofs never mention), and so forth? Yet the new, so-called liberals apparently buy right into this...no questions asked. So, thirty million truly stateless Kurds are to simply accept such things as their kids being forced to sing songs praising their non-Kurdish and allegedly Arab identities in Syria, to live amid Sunni and Shi'a Arabs who are blowing each other apart by the thousands in a state as artificial as the former Yugoslavia--Iraq--and so forth. Kurds were promised independence in that former Mandate of Mesopotamia but got sacrificed on the altar of British petroleum politics and Arab nationalism instead. Dr. Ismet Cheriff Vanly, a leading Kurdish nationalist, had much to say about this earlier last century. Here's a small slice from his book, The Syrian 'Mein Kampf' Against The Kurds (Amsterdam 1968): "If a Kurd says that he is a Kurd and not an Arab, he will be publicly insulted and arrested." Related to this, I have written elsewhere about the Uncle Boutros/Uncle Tom effect that Bat Ye'or's dhimmitude has had on millions of subjugated, non-Arab Jews and Christians in the region.(http://www.paktoday.com/mwtoday/tom17.htm) Dr. Boutros Boutros Ghali was the late President Anwar Sadat of Egypt's Coptic foreign minister who counseled that for Israel to be accepted, it must become an Arab country...no room for any other identities in the region. Dhimmitude at its worst. Of course, the way the Arabs like to define things--as Dr. Vanly explained above (and keep in mind that the Kurds are fellow Muslims, like many of the Arabs' black African victims in the Sudan, Chad, Mauritania, and elsewhere)--all of these folks, in Arab eyes, have no identity other than Arab. And to survive, the Uncle Boutroses have learned to play the nauseating game. What would a true "liberal"--or any decent human being--really say about all of this? Yet the new breed can only see an admittedly imperfect Israel and the struggles of its people to survive amid this murderous and rejectionist Arab mess. The Third World likes to continuously chastise the West for its condescending attitudes. I agree with much of that criticism. Rudyard Kiping's poem, "The White Man's Burden", and all that stuff... But while the Kristofs of the liberal media are quick to agree, why are they mum about such things as President Nimeiry's statements during the slaughter of over a half million blacks in the Sudan in the 1960s and 1970s (and continuing ever since) that "...the Sudan is the basis of the Arab thrust into...black Africa, the Arab civilizing mission(Arabism and Pan-Arabism in Sudanese Politics, Journal of Modern African Studies, Vol. 11, #2, 1973, pp. 177-78)? Or why no response to this all-too-typical Arab approach as expressed in the Syrian Arab Constitution of the Ba'th?: "...The Arab fatherland belongs to the Arabs. They alone have the right to direct its destinies...The Arab fatherland is that part of the globe inhabited by the Arab nation which stretches from the Taurus Mountains, the Pacht-i-Kouh Mountains, the Gulf of Basra, the Arab Ocean, the Ethiopian Mountains, the Sahara, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Mediterranean Sea." Can't tell for sure...are any Eskimos also included here? I don't think so... at least not yet. But think about Mindanao in the Philippines. Keep in mind that these are the same folks who like to condemn expansionist Zionists who dare to assert that Jews deserve a state more than nine miles wide. Hamas' leaders recently complained about such things as well. While we're on the subject, again recall that the Arabs burst out of the Arabian Peninsula in the seventh century C.E., and in the name of their own caliphal imperialism carved out that "purely Arab patrimony" they like to speak of by conquering, forcibly Arabizing, colonizing, and settling mostly non-Arab peoples' lands. And, again, no comment from the Kristofs and Cohens or editorials from The New York Times or Washington Post. Those are reserved for Jews constructing a fence to keep Arabs from disemboweling their children or insisting that their sole, microscopic state should not have to forsake its own contiguity and security so that Arabs can have more of what they want in their own proposed 22nd. And as any with half a brain figured out long ago, what the latter really want is a state in place of Israel, not along side of it. As just one more of many other examples of how very different lenses are used to scrutinize Israel and the rest of the neighborhood in which it lives (and while Kristof is admittedly better at this sort of thing than most of his colleagues), why, over the years, have the reports of the London-based Anti-Slavery Society and others about continuing slavery of black Africans by Arabs largely been ignored? Only recently are we starting to hear more about the Sudan and such things. Why? Just imagine if the Jew of the Nations was so indulging... While Kristof should be commended regarding his concern over the fate of black Africans at the hands of genocidal Arabs spreading not only the Dar ul-Islam -- for many of the victims are also Muslims--but a racist Arabism as well, he needs to take this quite a bit further. This is something that Kristof and the rest of his buddies refuse to do. But the Arab-Israeli mess has always come down to one thing...the same exact problem I've reviewed above. That problem has never been about how big Israel is, but that Israel is. And the solution to this problem requires nothing less than a revolution in the age-old Arab mindset regarding the rights of any and all others in what they claim to be only "their" region. Since this is not happening any time soon, Israel better wise up and play the game to win and not just tread water...despite the pressure it will be under from even its "friends." 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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PA DAILY: WESTERN LEADERS ARE HITLER COPIES AND NEO-CONS ARE NAZIS
Posted by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook, March 9, 2006. |
[Bush: "We strongly condemn these violations and we will work for free, fair and democratic violations". Text top right: "Abu Ghraib part 2" February 24, 2006, Al-Quds] Verbal attacks against the US and the West are increasing in the Palestinian Authority press. In different articles this week, the editor-in-chief of the PA daily defined Western leaders as copies of Hitler, American neo-conservative ideology was defined as Nazi "Aryan supremacy doctrine," American policy was defined as "fascist" and the cause of Arab extremism, and an article in the same PA daily scorned the US for "introducing dubious elements amongst the Muslims, such as democratic ideology." This hatred of the US was also expressed in anti-US political cartoons, such as this one at right. It presents the crimes of individual soldiers, who were punished for their actions, as Bush's personal "democracy." PMW has reported in that past that the frequent hatred expressed towards the US by the PA has had significant impact on Palestinian public opinion. A recent European poll found that 65% of Palestinians "support Al-Qaeda actions in the USA and Europe." [Fafo - Norwegian-based NGO, in Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, December 23, 2005] This strong support of those would destroy America came in spite of hundreds of millions of dollars in annual US aid to the PA, and was documented before the US announced a freeze in funding after the election of the Hamas government. The following are two editorials and an article from the PA press this week: 1 - American neo-cons continue Nazism Neo-cons continue Nazism "There is a new ideological Nazism, which has started to dominate the West, but it doesn't speak openly about its totalitarian Nazism, but carries it out in practice. I see in many minor and senior Western officials, copies of Hitler. Many of the western institutions are as if they are managed by the Gestapo and the S.S. "While the Jews suppose they are safe from this Nazism, which is directed towards the people of the third-world and Latinos, they are mistaken, since it is not possible that the wolfish Nazi feelings will not eventually turn against them -- because the neo-conservative idea is derived from the remnants of the Nazi idea, and is an Aryan supremacy doctrine, with new terminology." [Hafez Barghuthi, editor-in-chief of PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 4, 2006] American policy is fascist and caused Arab extremism "The extremism in Arab societies is an outcome of American policy. Whoever wants to spread Democracy must be democratic in one's actions and policy. Washington cannot be democratic in the media and Fascist in its dealing with the affairs of peoples... "Washington has its own agenda and distinct domineering and imperialistic aspirations. The service of Democracy is not among them, but the service of monopolistic companies and allied totalitarian regimes." [Hafez Barghuthi, editor-in-chief of PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 8, 2006] Democracy -- a dubious western element imposed on Muslims "The "Islamic bloc" [identified with the Hamas] central district teachers' representative, Rafat Jabar ... during a rally conducted by the teachers "Islamic bloc" ... that the apology [for the caricature of Muhammad] is a farce, meant to distract from the criminal act committed by the West while insulting the honored messenger [Muhammad]... "Ziad Abu-Al-Haj... said the West spent many years while
introducing dubious elements amongst the Muslims, such as
Democratic ideology, but this did not dissuade the Muslims from
their Islamic Preaching." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 4,
2006]
Itamar Marcus is director of PMW -- Palestinian Media Watch -
(http://www.pmw.org.il). PMW is based in Jerusalem. Barbara Crook, a
writer and university lecturer based in Ottawa, Canada, is PMW's
North American representative.
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THE PURIM STORY ALL OVER AGAIN
Posted by Ruth Matar, March 9, 2006. |
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"And it came to pass in the days of Achashverosh, he was Achashverosh
who reigned from Hodu to Cush over 127 provinces..." (Megilat Esther
1:1)
The center of Achashverosh's Empire was in Persia, today's Iran. Today we have a conglomeration of Moslem States in the same area, many of whom have large radical Islamic populations, including various terror groups. They perceive the United States, the European States and Israel as their mortal enemies, which must be fought and vanquished, so that a worldwide Islamic Empire can be established. The Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on October 26, 2005, openly called for Israel to be wiped off the map. "The establishment of the Zionist regime was a move by the world oppressor against the Islamic world," the president told a conference in Tehran, entitled The World without Zionism. "The skirmishes in the occupied land are part of a war of destiny. The outcome of hundreds of years of war will be defined in Palestinian land," he said. In other words, Israel is not the only target. The whole world is the "oppressor" of the Islamic People. The United States is considered by radical Islam to be Big Satan, Europe the Medium Satan, and Israel the Little Satan. In the eyes of radical Islam all have to be fought and vanquished, as they all are part of the oppressor, the Judeo-Christian civilization. Iran is trying desperately to manufacture the atom bomb, to defeat this "world oppressor against the Islamic world." The Muslims have decided, as a starter, to get rid of Israel. I am including herewith an important article by Michael Freund analyzing these Islamic goals. WAKE UP AMERICA! WAKE UP EUROPE! WAKE UP ISRAEL! WAKE UP WORLD! THE ENEMY IS AT YOUR GATES! With Blessings and Love for Israel,
"Beware: Al-Qaida is targeting Israel"
The writing is on the wall: Al-Qaida is gearing up to attack the Jewish state. Yet no one seems to be paying very much attention. Like a shark honing in on its prey, Osama bin-Laden's henchmen are progressively encircling the Jewish state, creating bases of operation in areas bordering Israel. They are forging alliances with local radicals, hurling invective against the Zionists, and spreading their ideology of hate throughout the region. The latest indication of this worrisome development came in an interview given by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who told the London-based Al-Hayat on March 2: "We have signs about the presence of al-Qaida in Gaza and the West Bank." Essentially, Abbas was confirming what Israeli intelligence has been saying for the past six months. Back on September 28, Major-General Aharon (Zeevi) Farkash, head of IDF Military Intelligence, told a Tel Aviv University audience that al-Qaida had exploited the chaos along the Egyptian-Gaza border after Israel's retreat to move operatives into the area. "Al-Qaida is in Gaza," he said (Yediot Aharonot, September 29, 2005). Indeed, as The Jerusalem Post reported last week, several members of al-Qaida have been identified in Gaza. At least one was recently arrested. And last September, Mahmoud Waridat, a Palestinian from Judea and Samaria, was indicted and charged with having undergone terrorist training at a camp run by al-Qaida in Afghanistan in 2001. PRESUMABLY, if al-Qaida is going to the trouble of investing funds, manpower and resources in order to set up shop in Gaza, it is not because they are looking for inexpensive beach-front properties along the sea. With Hamas now in control of the area, Gaza will serve as a relatively safe, and convenient, launching pad for attacks against Jews. Moreover, if Bin-Laden's official representative in Iraq is to be believed, Gaza is not the only place adjoining Israel where the international terrorist group is active. In an audio tape posted on an Islamist Web site two months ago, terror chieftain Abu Musab al-Zarqawi claimed that four Katyusha rockets fired from southern Lebanon into northern Israel on December 27 were the work of al-Qaida and had come at the instructions of none other than Bin Laden himself. "The rocket firing at the ancestors of monkeys and pigs from the south of Lebanon was only the start of a blessed in-depth strike against the Zionist enemy," al-Zarqawi declared, adding that "All that was on the instructions of the sheikh of the mujahadeen, Osama bin Laden." The incident came just a month after reports surfaced of an alliance being formed between al-Qaida and Hizbullah terrorists in Lebanon with the aim of coordinating attacks against the Jewish state. Al-Qaida's presence in Gaza and Lebanon is extremely significant because it means that the terror group has a foothold in all the countries and territories bordering Israel. Don't forget that al-Qaida has carried out bombings in Amman, Jordan (in November 2005), and in the Egyptian-controlled Sinai (in October 2004 and July 2005) at Western and Israeli targets. And just last week Jordanian officials announced that they had foiled a planned suicide attack by the extremist group in the kingdom. This means the terror group has managed to penetrate these two countries neighboring Israel and establish enough of an infrastructure with which to scout out, plan, prepare and perpetrate attacks. HENCE, OMINOUS as it sounds, al-Qaida now has the ability to target Israel from the west, the east and the north. This fits in precisely with what we know to be the group's ultimate objective: to wage war against the Jewish state. As The Washington Post reported on October 7, US officials last summer succeeded in intercepting a 13-page letter sent by al-Qaida's number-two man, Ayman al-Zawahiri, to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq in which he outlined the group's strategy. The letter talked about a four-stage plan, its final and definitive goal being to confront Israel. And just this past weekend, Zawahiri reiterated his call for attacks against Israel. In a videotape aired by Al-Jazeera on Saturday he urged Hamas "to fight on," waving his right hand in the air for emphasis. All this underlines just how much Israel is on the front lines of the global war on terror -- and how essential it is that we stand firm and confront it. The jihadists and Islamists may be focusing much of their efforts on the "Great Satan" (the United States), but it is clear that they are training their sights on the "Little Satan," too. That, at least, is what Israeli security officials believe. In a report leaked last month to the Israeli media, they said they had concluded that 2006 was the "target year" during which al-Qaida would attempt to carry out a "mega-attack" against the Jewish state. That would certainly explain the group's moves to establish forward bases alongside Israel's borders, as well as its stepped-up rhetoric about the need to confront the Zionists. But patently less clear is to what extent Israel's decision-makers are taking all this into account, as they ponder future unilateral withdrawals in Judea and Samaria. AS THE GAZA experience clearly has demonstrated, pulling out of the territories only creates a vacuum that groups such as Hamas and al-Qaida will gladly, and rapidly, fill. And because of the growing al-Qaida link, it is essential that Israel's government start to view its policies in the context of the global confrontation of terror rather than merely through the narrow lens of internal politics. Likewise, we need to start making it abundantly clear to friends and allies in the West that they cannot expect Israel to carry out further retreats when the threat posed by Islamist fundamentalism is already within striking distance of our major towns and cities. Most importantly, though, Israel must start taking the danger of a possible al-Qaida attack much more seriously and adopt an aggressive, preemptive posture to eliminate the organization's infrastructure in places such as Gaza. It is not too late to stop a Middle Eastern 9/11 from taking place, but if Israel doesn't act soon, and decisively, that is where we may all end up. Ruth and Nadia Matar established Women For Israel's Tomorrow (Women in Green), an activist group of women based in Jerusalem. Their website address is http://www.womeningreen.org |
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OLMERT: I WILL SET BORDERS BY 2010
Posted by Stan Goodenough, March 9, 2006. |
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Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Wednesday he will oversee the fixing of Israel's final borders within the next four years. He means during the term in office he is so certain he will win come the general election in 19 day's time. And indeed, the polls consistently show that Olmert's Kadima Party has no serious competitor to be concerned about. Findings published Thursday show Kadima winning 37 seats, Labor 19 and the Likud just 17. Confident, then, of victory, Olmert gave an interview to The Jerusalem Post Wednesday in which he crowed that he is "poised to become prime minister." Once elected, he bragged, he will wait a "reasonable" amount of time to see if Hamas is interested in dropping terrorism, barring which his government will move unilaterally to "get to Israel's permanent borders." His goal, he said, would be to have these borders in place by 2010. Mr. Olmert's aim, then -- his goal; his ambition; the mark he wants to leave in the history books -- is that it was he who, 62 years after Israel became a state, succeeded in defining the country' final and unchangeable borders. By contrast, Likud Party leader and former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has as his goal the securing of Israelis against further attacks and the quenching of the ardor of Palestinian terrorism by denying it the fuel it depends on to keep going. Even if Olmert had vast leadership experience, the best intentions and the greatest statesmanship ability, he could not succeed in his quest. First of all: Israel's God has already set the country's final and truly permanent borders. Inside them lie Israel 'proper,' Samaria, Judea, Gaza, parts of Jordan, the Golan Heights along with a whole swathe of the land today occupied by Syria, and a chunk of territory occupied by Lebanon north of Israel's current border with that land. One day Israel will have possession of all this land. Secondly, the Arab states and entire Islamic world have never accepted that Israel has the right to set any borders anywhere in the Middle East. The on-dragging Jewish-Arab conflict exists specifically because Jews tried to set up a homeland with borders in what was previously Muslim-controlled land. The Arabs rejected the borders Israel "set" in 1949. They rejected the borders Israel set in 1967. They rejected all changes to those borders and ceasefire lines since 1967. They rejected (even though they rejoiced over) Israel's unilateral withdrawal from Gaza. They rejected Israel's "security fence" border. They rejected as incomplete Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon. They have already announced their rejection of any further unilateral moves Israel might try to make. Actually, they have an unbroken rejection record. Furthermore, Kadima's unilateralist plans works against Israel from the start because they feed the Muslim Arab's belief in his ultimate victory and spur him on to greater and bloodier acts of terrorism. Thirdly, the Arab states have the world on their side. That world has consistently refused to allow Israel to finalize anything in terms of borders and boundaries. Super-sensitive to oil pressure, the great powers will not put their stamp of approval or recognition on any borders that Olmert tries to set unless the Arabs approve. As we have seen, they can be trusted to do nothing of the kind. We can rest assured, then, that Olmert will not determine Israel's final borders. He will fail. We can, and we should, pray that he not even be given the chance to try. For simply by embarking on that course Olmert will only prolong the conflict and further erode Israel's security as he will inflame the rapacious Arab appetite and deepen the rift that Ariel Sharon and others before him have wrought in Israel. This was written by Stan Goodenough and it appeared in Jerusalem Newswire. |
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TRICK OF THE TIMES; HUMANITARIANS FOR THE INHUMANE; SUBSIDIZING THE PA; IF ISRAEL WITHDREW
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, March 9, 2006. |
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TRICK OF THE TIMES The NY Times has under-stated and sometimes shielded for decades certain brutal dictatorships, but enjoys a reputation as a thorough and thoughtful journal. It is indeed lengthy, but what is it full of? For those who know the Times' record of anti-Zionism, its bias is glaring. For those who don't, it seems objective, for the Times employs ruses to obscure its nature. The basic one is not to admit bias and to exclude news, letters, and Op-Ed pieces or to de-emphasize news that would enable readers to make informed judgments. One of the subtlest means of deceit is to present the other side, but unfairly. It is like a boxer "throwing" a fight. The theme of Times writing about Israel since 1967 is that Israel should make concessions to the Arabs in return for peace. It is 38 years later, and Israel has made concessions. It got war. Such is the usual result of appeasement, which the Times often favors. But the Times persists. Oslo, itself, is about 12 years old, and instead of bringing peace it enabled the Arabs to mount more wars. In effect, Israel cedes patrimony and the Arabs murder them for it. Any objective or decent observer would demand a halt to such counter-productive policies. The Times persistence in their advocacy signifies a recalcitrant ideology and depth of anti-Zionism. How does the Times get away with this? It helps to have a non-competitive niche and a non-thinking public. The Times softens the impression of one-sidedness by a form of lip service. Accompanying its demands upon Israel, this time for territory, another time for dismantling only Jewish settlements, sometimes for boosting Abbas' popularity by removing checkpoints that block terrorists, and sometimes by subsidizing the P.A, the Times ostensibly and ostentatiously balances these demands by stating a non-demand, a mere exhortation that the P.A. crack down on terrorism. The P.A. never does. It promotes terrorism. The Times knows that. But it pretends that asking the Arabs, who won't do it, balances a demand upon Israel that the State Dept. often gets Israel to implement. This is being one-sided without appearing as such to the non-discerning. THE THEORIES UPON WHICH POLICIES ARE BASED Governments explanations for peculiar policies may state the actual motives or mask insidious ones. The latter was the case with Sharon's abandonment plan, for which he offered rationalizations, none genuine and none reasonable. The former may be the case with Western aid to the P.A., though they also are an excuse for Western appeasement of the Arabs and for undermining the Jewish state. The West thinks that Hamas would become responsible and dismantle Israel by treaty. History teaches otherwise, about fanatics. Give fanatics money and they feel vindicated without having to reform. The West, itself, does not act responsibly in spending taxpayer money jeopardizing national security, as aid to Hamas does. Policies should be evaluated against their record. SWITZERLAND OBJECTS TO ISRAELI BOYCOTT Israel has announced a partial boycott of the P.A. Switzerland called that harmful both to civilian Arabs and to the search for a lasting peace. Sweden and Russia sent the P.A. money for humanitarian aid (IMRA, 2/21). It is gratifying to learn that Russia has become humanitarian. Unfortunately, the modern humanitarian instinct is to aid people who are uncivil and really not civilian, since their whole society is engaged in a campaign to murder as many Jewish civilians as it can. Perhaps that is the attraction for Sweden. The Swiss government amusingly puts it as a matter of letting a Hamas government form and negotiating peace. That's a good one. It's also an old one. That argument, having failed with the PLO, is now supposed to lure us into condoning Hamas. Hamas exists to destroy, not make peace. It has broadcast its intention. What is it about Hamas replacing Israel with an Arab state that Swiss officials do not understand? It was better when Switzerland was neutral. Then they didn't favor the Axis. Now they succor the evil Axis enemies of their own people. MORE ARGUMENTS FOR THE PORT DEAL The NY Sun is campaigning for foreign control of American ports. It has come up with two more arguments: (1) Foreign control started years ago, so why object now?; and (2) "When we invite ambivalent allies like the United Arab Emirates or Pakistan into contracts like this one, we secure their friendship." No evidence is adduced for the assertion about friendship (Amity Shlaes, 2/24. Op.-Ed.). Friendship is not bought. The US should have learned that from years of policy failure and mistaken notions of who are our friends. Capitalists developed a theory that trade brings alienated countries together. It was a rationalization for not boycotting countries whose aggressive or other anti-social tendencies needed curbing. It didn't work. Citing Pakistan as an ambivalent ally is perceptive, but thinking we can secure its friendship is not. The theory of friendship-from-trade is an ethnocentric conceit. The world does not turn on what the US wishes. Pakistani madrassas pump out Islamists, and Islamists influence the military. The President of Pakistan assured Islamists that sometimes he would oppose them in minor ways, in order to cloak his major support for them. Apparently he deceived Mr. Shlaes, for his regime proliferated nuclear technology and material. Shlaes forfeits his case by calling the Emirates "ambivalent allies." It cannot be prudent to entrust our ports to ambivalent allies whose co-religionists are gunning for us. There are two reasons for objecting to such a deal now. One is that the public didn't know, before. The other is that now we are in a world war with the likes of the Emirates. FIELDSTON SCHOOL BIAS The famous Fieldston School in Riverdale held a Middle East Forum, but stacked it, so it wasn't a forum. It invited two proponents of the Palestinian Arabs and none for Israel. They debated a "two-state solution" versus "one-state solution" (both of which would put the Arabs, at present in a genocidal frame of mind, in charge of the Jews.) Outraged parents got the "forum" canceled. The school also distributed texts that treat Israel as a terrible occupier and express no sympathy for Israeli suffering from the war but only for the Arabs (Andrew Wolf, 2/24, Op.-Ed.). Another trick is to pick a Jew who has a pro-Arab position. These days, debate is rare, pro-Arab bias is common, facts are scarce, justice and humanitarianism are perverted, and our schools may be enemies of our finest traditions. ANOTHER RUSE FOR SUBSIDIZING THE P.A. As some countries contemplate ending their subsidy of the P.A., now that Hamas, openly declaring war on Israel, is taking charge there, suggestions are being made to give the money to UNRWA. The claim is that this would get the funds distributed for humanitarian purposes. The claim is false. UNRWA serves as an indoctrination and organizational and storage center for terrorism. Most of its employees are descendants of Palestinian Muslim alleged refugees, whose affiliation with terrorism the organization does not check. Hamas officials are on its payroll. Therefore, donations to UNRWA would help Hamas (David Bedein, 2/21) and the almost equally bad Fatah. Is the suggestion of donating to UNRWA merely naïve? UNRWA helps perpetuate the refugee status of those Arabs. That is not humanitarian. It serves the Arab policy of perpetuating jihad against Israel. The organization should be dissolved. Imagine if in WWII, there were a "humanitarian" UNO organization that sent billions of dollars to Germany for humanitarian purposes. It might have shored up the German economy and strengthened Nazi resistance to liberating armies. The Palestinian Muslim Arabs are more thoroughly devoted to their genocidal war than the German people were to the Nazi one. Those Arabs do not deserve humanitarian aid. HAMAS BREAKS MORE AGREEMENTS WITH ISRAEL Hamas released murderers of Israelis who, under agreement with Israel, were imprisoned in Jericho, P.A. (Arutz-7, 2/21). Israel should know better than to expect that the Arabs would keep an agreement whose implementation is under Arab or even European control. I did not expect those prisoners to be incarcerated their full term. LIBYAN LOGIC A preacher tried to refute the claim that Muslims are practicing terrorism by citing the large casualties from the World Wars (IMRA, 2/21). What has the one to do with the other? Do past problems excuse current wrongdoing? Furthermore, in case the Arab world doesn't realize it, the Western world has been evolving past the era of initiating war, whereas the Muslim world, liberated from colonialism and the Turkish Empire, has been returning to the era of initiating war. ISRAEL'S SUPPOSEDLY HIGH CLASS DAILY A Haaretz headline in Hebrew: "The Candidate for the Army's Chief Rabbi: 'The Sabbath is More Important than the Life of Gentiles.'" That rabbi once had discussed what to do with a wounded terrorist captured on the Sabbath. He concluded that the terrorist may be saved. Thus the headline was defamatory as well as exaggerated, since he was discussing terorists. Imagine the harm to Judaism when it falls into the hands of other antisemites! "To get a better feel for what Haaretz is, consider last week's weekend magazine supplement in the paper for the thinking Israeli. The cover story was about a Haaretz writer who took a course in getting women into bed, featuring such advice as How to Screw a Lot of Women without being Nice to Them. It is accompanied by photos of sluts and bimbos." "This was accompanied by an article by Post-Zionist Tom Segev in which he tells about how the BBC investigated whether the Israeli media or the Palestinians are better at reporting on the Middle East conflict (guess who Segev thinks does a better job). He expresses his anguish that the Hamas is still regarded by the BBC as a terrorist group." "Then Haaretz runs its weekly feature by Gideon Levy, a person who has openly called for Israel to be destroyed and writes in Counterpunch (produced by antisemites). Levy each Friday runs a sob story about some Palestinian who was wounded, crippled, or otherwise is having a sad life. In most cases the po' Palestinian was shot or wounded as a result of Israelis returning fire after terrorists attack them, but Levy never mentions that. Levy has yet to express his anguish at the killing and maiming of any Jews.? "Then there is an article on a brother and sister where the brother is about to have a sex change operation and the two are shown in a spread where they are naked and one can examine the bris of the brother about to become a sister in all its detail. Really." "Haaretz weekend magazine also usually has a set of recipes for preparing shrimp, ham, or similar items. I mean, you would think they would leave out the ham recipes if only to avoid offending their Moslem readers." (Prof. Steven Plaut, 2/21.) ISRAEL CAPTURES TERRORISTS AROUND JERICHO (IMRA, 2/21.) If Israel withdrew from Judea-Samaria, and Hamas declared a state, it would be easy for terrorists to operate there but not for Israeli security forces. 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@aol.com. |
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"FIRST SELF-DESTRUCT, THEN WE'LL TALK"
Posted by Hillel Fendel, March 9, 2006. |
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While Defense Minister Mofaz says Hamas could be a negotiating partner under certain circumstances, Hamas spokesman Assad Farhat makes it clear: "First withdraw to '49 borders and allow pre-'48 Arabs to return." Assad Farhat, Hamas spokesman in Judea and Samaria [the West Bank of the Jordan River], told the French news agency AFP Wednesday that Hamas has no use for the two-state Road Map. He said his organization views the Road Map as an "American Zionist program" that is irrelevant for his organization. Farhat made the remarks in response to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's optimistic statement that Hamas has not turned down the Road Map as a basis for talks with Israel. Farhat said it's not true. He said that his organization would be willing to recognize and negotiate with Israel only under the following conditions: "When Israel announces that it will retreat from the conquered territories of 1967, releases the Palestinian [terrorist] prisoners, stops its aggression against the Palestinian nation [sic], and announces its willingness to solve the refugee problem [i.e., accepts the Right of Return of millions of Arabs into Israel -- ed.], only then will we agree to negotiate." Israel's Defense Minister Mofaz, visiting in Berlin, said that Israel has its own conditions -- and that if Hamas meets them, Israel would be willing to talk with it. The impression given by some press reports was that Israel refuses to acknowledge the Hamas commitment to Israel's destruction. The Jerusalem Post, for instance, headlined its story, "Mofaz: Hamas may be partner if it accepts demands." Mofaz contributed to this impression by stating, "I suggest that we be patient and see how the Hamas government is formed and which guidelines it will adapt in the end." Mofaz added, though, that if "Hamas continues to act as a terrorist organization, it will be dealt with accordingly." Though the new PA government is being formed by Hamas, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), of the Fatah party, can remain in his position. It is largely felt that his influence will be minimal, but Mofaz still gives him the benefit of the doubt: "Abu Mazen's relevancy is dependent upon him and how much he will pressure and persuade Hamas." Abbas told an Italian newspaper Wednesday that he "hopes Olmert wins" the upcoming elections in Israel. The National Union-National Religious Party list jumped on the opportunity, saying, "It's no wonder that Abu Mazen supports Olmert. Who doesn't like free gifts? He just can't wait for Olmert to grant him the Hamas state. This is the prize Abu Mazen gives Kadima for its promise to carry out free withdrawals." Hillel Fendel is Senior News Editor for Israel National News. |
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EU SUPPORTING TERROR
Posted by Dr. Asher Eder, March 9, 2006. |
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After the election of Hamas, the EU has decided yet to pay 250 million Euro to Abu Mazen's PA in an attempt to prevent its collapse. That money, it is said, should go only to civil services as hospitals, schools, road construction, salaries of PA personal; and the like. Sounds really nice in the ears of PA fans; and makes sense in the eyes of blockheads. Suppose, all that money would really go to the institutions mentioned (never mind if those hospitals treat also terrorists wounded in action), it would release the Hamas-government from taking up its financial responsibility for those civic institutions; and would allow it using all the money it gets from supporters like Iran, for its warfare against Israel. Why not? Didn't Israel's Acting PM state that Hamas is not a strategic threat to the country? So, let them have all the money they think they need, as long as it seems face saving. Quite in line with the above paper tiger's logic is also the fact that Hamas leaders can travel freely all over the world. True, Hamas is declared a terrorist organization (even by Pres. Bush); and our army units in risking lives of our soldiers chase its fighters, but their leaders can form the government of the PA (=Palestinian Aberration); and as said, can travel freely all over the world (so far not in Israel's rump state, but who knows?). Could someone imagine that in WWII, Churchill would have allowed a third nation to transfer money officially to Germany to help its suffering civilians; and let Hitler & Co travel to wherever they wanted in order to drum up support, or were invited to? And mind you, Hitler did not threaten England wiping it off the map; and butcher all her citizens... but Hamas, in chorus with Iran, proclaims Israel's destruction as the goal. Eviva la democracia! Wouldn't that slogan make a fitting inscription on our tomb stones? Or, more advisable, buy for the above money some eye salve, and rub it into the eyes of the day dreamers for getting a clearer sight, also for their own sake! Or, should paper tiger's logic go on? Dr. Asher Eder is Co-Chairmen of the Islam-Israel Fellowship, Root Branch Association Ltd, Jerusalem (http://www.rb.org). Contact him by emal at avrason@netvison.net.il |
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LIKE JACOB
Posted by Batya Medad, March 9, 2006. |
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There is a major controversy going on among Jewish patriots (what others call the "right") recently, that's since Disengagement and Amona. Many preach refusing to enter the army and vote in Israeli elections. I can understand their anger and disgust with the system, but by giving in and "disengaging" from our national rights and obligations, we are only making things worse for ourselves. We have to emulate our forefather Jacob, And the boys grew; and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents. In spite of Jacob's nature, he learned how to deal with Essau's type of character. His mother, who had grown up with it, sent him to her family to train and toughen him. Now therefore, my son, hearken to my voice; and arise, flee thou to Laban my brother to Haran; And he learned his lesson well at his Uncle Lavan's home. So, when the time came for the two brothers to meet up, again, Jacob was ready. He knew what he had to do, and he didn't shirk, even though some of the things were against his nature. Jacob prepared for meeting Essau in three ways: Before meeting his brother Esau (who was coming to kill him), Jacob utilized three strategies: (1) he sent gifts to appease Esau, (2) he prayed for Divine assistance, and (3) he prepared for war. For us, today voting in the elections and serving in the army are the preparations we must make to defeat the modern Esau, in addition to our prayers to G-d. Next week is Purim, the holiday of the " hidden hand of G-d." The holiday which celebrates surprise turns and our defeat of the enemy. Shabbat Shalom Batya Medad lives in Shiloh. She can be reached by email at Shilohmuse@yahoo.com or visit her website http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/ or go to http://www.shilo.org.il This article is archived at http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2006/03/eminent-domain-no-its-not.html |
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APARTHEID WEEK AT THE U OF TORONTO
Posted by Max Yas, March 9, 2006. |
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Apartheid week at the University of Toronto. The most noticeable display upon entering the building is a large sign: "End Canadian Support for Israeli Apartheid." The Arab students and their supporters Circulated a flyer on what constitutes "Apartheid." Among the criteria: Denying to an identifiable group the right to life and liberty of person, the murder of a racial group, refusal to allow refugees to return and continuos massacres against Palestinians. There is no mention of suicide-bombing and others acts of unspeakable acts of terrorism against others. A quick comparison of Apartheid as practiced in various Muslim countries Denial of life and Liberty: In Saudi Arabia women are the property of their husband or closest male relative. They may not drive a car, can only appear in public wearing a burkha and accompanied by a male relative. In a recent case in Pakistan, which is subject to Shari'a Law, a 32 year-old woman, whose husband was away working out of the country while she was employed as a doctor, was gang-raped. In order to lay charges the law requires evidence from four male witnesses Had she proceeded and unable to get the required four male witness, she could be charged with adultery, a serious crime under Shari's Law which may be punished by stoning to death. Finally president Musharrif "solved " the problem by sending her off to England without any means of support. In Israel women enjoy equal right before the law and all killings, men or women, are equally punished. Another form of gender apartheid is the so called "honor killing" which allows any member of her family to kill a women who has brought"dishonor" to her family, even for taking a walk with an unrelated male! This "custom" is widely practiced in Jordan, Palestine and other Muslim countries. In Israel all killings are punishable up to life imprisonment and all women enjoy full equality before the law. Allowing refugees to return: Kuwait expelled 300,000 Arabs after the Iraqi invasion. Sudan has forced millions of Back Africans out of their villages. They are now scattered over the desert and living under appalling conditions on foreign aid. No move to return these people to their homes has been made. The 800,000 Jews forced to leave Muslim countries after 1948 are not permitted to return. They were all absorbed and integrated, most in Israel Not confined in refugee camps. By contrast Israeli General Moshe Dayan made a impassioned appeal for Arabs to return home. Family reunification allowed many Palestinians to return to Israel as well as thousand of Palestinian brides and grooms of Israeli Arabs. While the Jordanians occupied the West Bank from 1948 -- 1867, all Jews were expelled and their property confiscated. To this day Jews are not allowed to live in Jordan even though there are now diplomatic relations between the two states. In Saudi Arabia Jews are not even allowed to enter as tourists. Hypocritically they did make an exception for Henry Kissinger, the then Jewish Secretary of State for the USA. Life and Liberty: Arabs can move around unmolested on Israeli street and none who stray into Israel are lynched, or otherwise mistreated. No Israelis engage in suicide-bombing. Israelis have not slaughtered any Muslim Olympians. Israelis did not mass murder any members of an opposition as Iraq did by gassing 5,000 Kurd, or Syria destroying an entire town and killing all the inhabitants of an opposing tribe. Israelis never hi-jacked planes or ships, Nothing like this has ever happened in Israel. The charge of "the Jenin Massacre" was declared by the United Nations as a fraud and the killings in Sabra and Shatilla were carried out by Christians against the PLO while Israel got the blame! Israel never carried out hi-jackings of planes or ships, never demolished foreign embassies, never blue up subways in London and Madrid. After The PLO was expelled first from Jordan, than from Lebanon, Israel ceded some territory to Arafat and allowed him to establish a foundation for a Palestinian state-to-be. To this day the PLO Charter was not amended as agreed at Oslo. Now Arab activists and their useful idiot allies came out of the closet: what they want is all of the one-time British Mandate. Do they also want all of Jordan, which was part of the Mandate until Britain established the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan? Why are students at Canadian universities not engaged in constructive solutions to world problems instead of having imported their tribal hatreds into a Canada that welcomed them? Why are Canadian universities not making clear to their students the fact that we have serious problems that require serious answers: global warming, flu pandemic, hunger and poverty for a start. We want solutions for world problems, not aggravation of existing conflicts. Shalom from Max Contact Max Yas at maxyas@victoria.tc.ca |
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AMERICAN "CHRISTIAN?" CHANNEL SUSPENDS SHOW AS TOO "PRO-ISRAEL", TOO "ANTI-TERRORIST"
Posted by Bobby Koehn, March 9, 2006. |
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This was written by Melinda Lehan. Have ya done an article about Hal Lindsey the author of "The Late Great Planet Earth"? His shows on a "supposed" Christian Television Network were preempted during Christmas season for being too pro-Israel and negative towards violent Muslims in their J-had. One of the supposed reasons he was preempted was they only wanted Christmas-themed shows but in the past he did the same shows during that season, news that relates biblically and towards Israel. As the Network got some hate-filled letters they suspended Hal and asked him to be a little more less anti-Muslim terrorist and to curtail certain subjects for the purpose of evangelizing to the Muslims and to give no offense. Anything too pro-Israel or showing the suicide +homicide attacks, the kidnappings, the riots, the bombs,the protests and the bibles perspective on that topic is too contrary while other material biblically related would suffice. Given the choice to give in to political correctness on a "Christian?" channel and compromise his beliefs in G-d's word and his love for his chosen people, to keep a spot on that network; Hal chose to resign, leave, and seek other options. His letter of resignation is on his web-site. Because of the outcry by television viewers that liked his show "International Intelligence Briefing" and his good relationship with some there, the network tried to persuade him to come back but he declined. He was tactful, respectful, polite and non-combative the way he handled it. He deserves a lot of respect for that. He didn't sling mud and get dirty but handled it with tact and found another job. A man who believes in what he does and not willing to compromise is worthy of admiration. I don't know whether I would have been so admirable. The supposed "Christian" channel to me has become un-Christian like the past few years very glitz, glamor, new-fads, worldliness, money-oriented, hype, ministers I used to see the love and wisdom of G-d in their eyes I've slowly seen some of them fade away into the same profile, glitz, glamor, new fad, money oriented clones, exactly as the scriptures compare the Phariseeitical white washed, false shepherds, false prophet, new age pseudo spiritualism that would come in the last days. I can see the word fall into place as it has been prophesied by the prophets long ago. G-d bless Hal for not falling into the traps that so many ministers have. For the end age, the end times, will all center around Israel, and how we treat her as a people; whether we bless her or curse her will decide what will happen to us. I've only watched that supposed "Christian network for good people like Hal, Zola Levitt, a few good movies, a couple of minutes of 700 clubs news when it is not tarnished too with the same fads and lack of a backbone, and occasional good guests. Is Christianity becoming like the world in accepting the world's thoughts and not G-d's, the bibles the Torahs, and the holy spirit? Maybe a false Christianity would and will more so. I hope ya will honor a man with non-compromising love of G-d and Israel a man who does not condition his eyes to be blind to the truth with an article in your paper. Love your lil sis in Jesus,
Contact Bobby Koehn at bskoehn@swbell.net |
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THE PERSECUTION OF ISRAELI ARMY OFFICERS BY ISRAELI ACADEMIC LEFTISTS
Posted by Steven Plaut, March 9, 2006. |
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In the campaign in the UK to organize an academic boycott (www.themiddleeastnow.com/autboycott.html) of Israeli universities, led by the British Association of University Teachers (AUT), it turned out that a fanatic anti-Israel faculty member at an Israeli University, Ilan Pappe from the University of Haifa (http://research.haifa.ac.il/%7Eeden/univ_response/html/ html_eng/response_f.htm), was the driving force, seeking to create a boycott of his own university. That boycott campaign ultimately fizzled and failed. But the attempts by radical anti-Israel faculty members in Israel to promote attacks on their own country continue. Recent campaigns are in some ways more outrageous and far worse than the earlier boycott initiative. The newest campaigns are directed against individual Israelis in their private capacity and are being promoted by some of the most openly anti-Semitic of Israel's academic extremists. These campaigns are based upon demonizing and persecuting individual Israeli military officers as "war criminals" in European courts. As you may recall, a few months ago, an Israeli army officer named Doron Almog was forced to cancel a private visit (www.aleh.org/eng/DisplayNewsStory.asp?ID=28) to the UK because some anti-Israel activists, including some leftist ex-Israelis, had petitioned a British court to issue an arrest against the former head of Israel's Southern Command. One of those seeking the prosecution in Britain of Almog was a fanatic lawyer named David Machower, representing a Palestinian pro-terror radical group (www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3141664,00.html). Machover was also one of the people in Britain promoting the campaign to boycott Israeli universities. Machover's client, the "Palestinian Center for Human Rights (www.ngo-monitor.org/archives/infofile.htm)," is a politicized nongovernmental organization (NGO). The organization refuses to condemn Palestinian suicide terrorism against Israeli civilians. Among Almog's most famous "war crimes" was his role in the Entebbe rescue of hundreds of hostages hijacked by Palestinian terrorists to Uganda in 1976. He was the first Israeli para-reconnaissance commander to land on the runway at Entebbe, marking it for incoming Israeli airplanes and leading the capture of the airfield's control tower in the stunning rescue operation of 1976. He also participated in the clandestine airlift of some 6,000 black Jews from Ethiopia to Israel in the Eighties. Was Almog a murderous monster, as the British anti-Semites painted him? Hardly! In a recent interview he was asked about the greatest challenge in his career and he said it was caring for his autistic son. "Taking care of my boy -- that's the most immense challenge I've ever faced," said Almog, watching his son, Eran, frolic in a toddler's wading pool. Eran is 20. He wears diapers, chews only baby food and cannot speak. Almog is active in groups helping the retarded. A local Israeli far-left seditious group named Yesh Gvul (www.yeshgvul.org/english), specializing in organizing mutiny and insurrection among Israeli soldiers, was also involved in the campaign of demonization against Almog. The latest victim of a campaign of leftist vilification (www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArtVty.jhtml?sw=kochavi&itemNo=687468) is an Israeli army officer named Aviv Kochavi. He was scheduled to begin studies in Britain this summer as a private person at the Royal College of Defense Studies. He has now been forced to cancel his planned trip to the United Kingdom after the Israeli Military Advocate's Office instructed that he refrain from commencing studies, fearing that he would be arrested on trumped-up charges of "war crimes." Kochavi has been serving as the commander of the Israel Defense Forces division along the Gaza border. Like the earlier campaign in Britain to organize a boycott of Israeli universities, this personal campaign against Kochavi is the scurrilous initiative of a fanatic anti-Israel leftist faculty member at an Israeli university. Kochavi is the victim of a venomous vendetta and personal defamatory attack by one Neve Gordon, a radical lecturer in the Department of Political Science at Ben Gurion University. Gordon has conducted a campaign of slander, defilement, vilification and defamation against Kochavi for years. Beginning in 2002, Gordon published an article (www.counterpunch.org/nevegordon1.html), reprinted in numerous anti-Semitic and communist web sites around the world, declaring Kochavi (back then still a colonel) to be a "war criminal." The article was published on dozens of web sites and in magazines, and in several languages, including Hebrew, English, Arabic, German and Italian. It not only personally smeared Kochavi falsely, it could reasonably be interpreted to have been an attempt to motivate acts of violence against Kochavi, perhaps even incitement to murder. At the very least, it was a clear attempt to get Kochavi indicted before an overseas courts, such as the International Court of Justice in the Hague or a court in the UK, on the weight of Gordon's trumped-up charges. Gordon signs his piece smearing Kochavi while openly listing his affiliation with Ben-Gurion University, in violation of the University's instructions and prohibitions on such behavior. In his article, Gordon declares that Kochavi (Gordon misspells the name Kohavi) committed atrocities and war crimes against innocent Palestinian civilians, having given direct, personal commands to his troops to do these acts. Gordon lists the supposed use of Palestinians as human shields by the soldiers as one "crime". Now, it goes without saying that this is all Gordon's fabrication. There have been no charges at all filed against Kochavi for his behavior in the military or anywhere else. In the battle in which Gordon thinks Kochavi misbehaved, Kochavi's troops were hunting for bands of vicious terrorists, including suicide bombers, who had killed hundreds of Israelis, a carnage that does not interest Gordon at all in the article. Gordon accuses Kochavi of ordering assorted "human rights violations". Gordon's claim that Kochavi ordered troops to utilize Palestinian civilians as human shields is not only preposterous, but a downright blood libel, and has been investigated and dismissed as fantasy by the Israeli authorities. Gordon was hired by Ben Gurion University back when Avishay Braverman, currently the economic trigger man for the Israeli Labor Party, was running the university. Under Braverman's leadership, Ben Gurion University was filled with anti-Israel leftist faculty members and "Post-Zionists", evidently as Braverman's intentional policy. The Department of Political Science at BGU was so uniformly leftist and anti-Israel that it adopted a policy under which no non-leftist would be permitted to teach there. The single non-leftist in the department was dismissed for incorrect thinking. Some have characterized Ben Gurion University in the Braverman era as the "Bir Zeit (radical Palestinian college) of the Negev". Gordon is so extremist that he has repeatedly endorsed and praised (http://moonbatcentral.com/wordpress/?p=1715) the writings of Norman Finkelstein, considered by the Anti-Defamation League (http://israel.georgetown.edu/ADL-letter.pdf) to be an open Holocaust Denier. Gordon compared pro-terror Neo-Nazi Finkelstein ethically to the Prophets in the Bible. Gordon has built an academic career in large part on his Bash-Israel writings, including articles claiming Israel is a terrorist state. He is a regular columnist for the anti-Semitic web magazine Counterpunch (www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1427778/posts) and his publicist writings are so venomously anti-Israel that they have been reprinted on the web site (www.intellectualconservative.com/article3528.html) of Canada-deported nazi Ernst Zundel. Gordon was arrested for interfering with Israeli anti-terror military operations and served as a "human shield" (http://nevegordon.blogspot.com/) to prevent the arrest of wanted terrorists (www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-1612028,FF.html) being hidden in Arafat's Ramallah headquarters. So why is an Israeli military hero being victimized by a fanatic anti-Israel leftist employed at an Israeli taxpayer-financed university? If you would like to ask the new President of Ben Gurion University that question, contact Prof. Rivka Carmi (http://fohs.bgu.ac.il/people/PDetails.asp?StaffID=11344), at rcarmi@bgumail.bgu.ac.il; Fax: 972-8-6472803 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. Or contact him by email at splaut@econ.haifa.ac.il |
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LETTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER
Posted by Pastor Jim Vineyard, March 8, 2006. |
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Dear Folks: I just returned from the hospital where I was put one week ago today with my tumor. Pray that the liquid diet the doctors have put me on will get me ahead of the curve physically. While there for six days, I had a lot of time to meditate and think on the two-fold dilemma -- the nation of Israel in their upcoming March 29th elections and our fall 2006 Senate and House races -- plus the Presidential race of 2008. We in the Christian community who care must (I repeat, must) do more than we have been doing if we want to affect the outcomes of these upcoming elections. Therefore, take this letter, rewrite it in your words, and fax it to Mr. Olmert at 011-972-2-500-1141. Then, we must be doing something now about this fall's elections as the U.A.E. port deal will surely give the Democrats a majority in the House and the Senate, George W.'s blatherings notwithstanding. I knew Clinton would do what he did. However, I have never been more disappointed in anyone than I am George W. His father is in bed with the U.A.E. His Carlyle Group is in bed with the U.A.E. John Snow, the Secretary of the Treasury, is in bed with the U.A.E. And, John has given our people a "snow job" in how all this came to pass. We must press on.
Dear Mr. Olmert: As a Christian-Zionist Baptist Pastor, who has had the privilege of pastoring for twenty-nine years in Oklahoma City, I am writing relative to the drama of catastrophe and disaster we in the Christian-Zionist community see approaching the sons and daughters of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and King David in the nation of Israel! Mr. Olmert, no more than last year's "disastrous-disengagement" satisfied the blood-thirsty sons and daughters of Ishmael, Esau, Arafat, and Abu Mazen will any further disengagement from "THE LAND" promised by BIBLICAL MANDATE satisfy them. From the World Tribune just this morning, I read how "a Hamas army" was established in 2005 in wake of the Israeli unilateral withdrawal in the Gaza Strip. Thousands of so-called Palestinians have already been recruited into the new military force which has as its mission to destroy Israel and replace it with "an Islamic state." A senior commander in the Hamas Izzedin Kassam military wing told the so-called Palestinian newspaper Dunya Al Watan that "Hamas has established units in every major city and refugee camp in the Gaza Strip," and, Sir, all that has happened since Israel's disengagement from there last August. From Israel just this morning, I read of the Hamas-run Al-Fateh.net (We teach Arabic here at Oklahoma Baptist College.) glorifying shahada, martyrdom, and presenting the deaths of terrorists attacking Israelis as a "time of celebration." Sir, an entire section of the site is called "Stories of the Shahids," and the most recently posted story honors Hamas terrorist Naseem Ja'abari, who murdered sixteen people when he blew himself up on a bus in Beersheba on August 31, 2004. Further, Sir, I read how the Fatah gang of twelve deployed eight mortars and .30 caliber machine guns in Bethlehem, how the IDF stepped in to foil an attack, then further how "infiltrators were arrested," and how Kassams are continuing to fall among innocent Hebrews. Hamas, Sir, remains a terror organization which is unwilling to disarm, unwilling to halt attacks, and unwilling to recognize agreements with Israel. I have a Preacher-friend in Ohio, who on occasions keeps wild American wolves -- raw meat satisfies them, but only for today. In Herr Hitler's early WWII day, when the Nazi armies were rolling up other countries, right there in the land then called Palestine (as a national home for the Hebrews), the effendis (landed aristocrats) were telling the fellahin (peasants): "Now go and sell your land to the Jews and be quick about it, for in a month Hitler will be in Jerusalem, and you will not only have your land back but also everything the Jews possess! Let the knives be sharpened! The great day is about to dawn! The Jews' protector is beaten!" Sir, with the "Comptrollers Report Scathing Disengagement Executors" (your press), Hamas must be gleeful that many months have passed since the Gaza-Shomron deportations, and yet those poor Hebrew deportees still suffer difficult trauma because of their deportation. That report, Sir, states that "grave mistakes [were made] in preparation, which caused harm to the evacuees and caused them unnecessary and very painful suffering." For several months, hundreds of Hebrew families were forced to remain in hotels and dormitories. Even today, Sir, that report states there are 104 families still in hotels and another 150 families in makeshift homes! Further, some 210 containers containing the property of expelled families are still standing at the Kastine Junction, untouched by their owners for the past seven months. The decision forbidding their access to their containers was by an August Cabinet decision. My Lord, Mr. Prime Minister, as if the poor Hebrews do not have enough enemies, their government also aligns itself against them. And, for what reason? "To get the silly approval" of the Bush Administration, the EU, and the United Nations' attempts to "prettify" the Hamas-Fatah, etc., organization's ugly image. It is all, Sir, nothing but a lie required by current political exigencies. The crowd which left eighteen men dead on a minibus in Iraq earlier this week is the same one you face in Israel -- George W., Condi, Tony Blair, and others, notwithstanding. Go ahead with foolish considerations about pulling out of more Hebrew land, and you will find the "throat-slitters" more at your neck tomorrow than they were yesterday! The Politically Correct nostrum George W. (and these others) holds up is the false mirror of eventual possession of Hebrew Land by the so-called Palestinians as a means of achieving peace in the Middle East! This magic formula prescription of lifting the so-called Palestinian peoples out of their economic, political, and cultural stagnation, into which they daily sink deeper and deeper, requires something more radical than turning over Hebrew achievements and acquisitions in Israel to the plunder of the Muslim Brotherhood's sword-side relations. These folks cannot live "at peace" among themselves, Sir, much less with Hebrews or Americans! At Damascus University, the Faculty of Law professor, Muhammad al-Fadil, was assassinated by these same throat slitters shouting "allahu akbar, allahu akbar," which does not mean (as CNN and BBC would have us all believe) "god is great," but, in fact, "god is greater"! Greater than whom? The Lord God of the Hebrews (called that 498 times in my King James Bible). The same folks riddled the body of Dr. Yusef Al-Yusef in front of the medical school at the University of Aleppo, shouting the same "allahu akbar." Now, Sir, if they will do that to al-Fadil, Al-Yusef, and those eighteen men found bound and strangled in Iraq this week, what in the world will they do to the sons and daughters of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and King David after you make further disengagements? And, like European History with its old trick abracadabras, when you do not see a way out of difficulties, you invent a diversionary maneuver and, best of all, plunge into a bloody foreign enterprise. And, the first victims, always then, as will be now, are the "Jews" of the Holy Bible! There are millions of Christian-Zionists in America who know and believe that "Israel belongs to the Jews," and we are against the giving up of even one more inch of soil that God Almighty gave to the Hebrews to the so-called Palestinians. I am humbly and sincerely, your friend and servant, Jim Vineyard
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A CONVOLUTED SCENARIO
Posted by Larry Uniglicht, March 8, 2006. |
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Iran threatens to harm the United States, presumably by withholding its oil fix, if the world's super power refers the emerging nuclear nemesis to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions. Hmmm! If the fossil fuel spigots of an OPEC heavyweight are tightened perhaps closed, the price of ever-needed petrol could sky rocket worldwide, in effect enhancing the already obscene profits of Exxon-Mobil, Shell, Chevron, BP, et al. How might such a dynamic deter a White House led by an oilman whose personal largesse would likely also fatten? Politically, very little would be lost for a second term lame duck President, with no further ambitions, whose poll numbers already are lower than the New Orleans basin. Indeed, would Congressional Republican candidates even absorb much heat for such a presumably principled stand? Thus, logic would dictate such a referral to be imminent. Yet, things are not so simple. Ironically, erstwhile Persia also owes the Bush Administration much for crafting a dysfunctional preemptive invasion of Iraq, toppling Sunni Sadist Hussein, thus allowing friendly fundamentalist Iraqi Shiites to fill a power vacuum thereby increasing Shiite Iran's sphere of influence. The White House gives with one hand and threatens to take away with the other, what indeed is the Bush cadre thinking? Furthermore, even if a presumably screaming and kicking Iran is metaphorically hauled in front of this U.N. ersatz tribunal, pal Putin will not allow sanctions to be meted out, especially after Pres Bush proposes to sign a Faustian contract with a non-participant of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty India, agreeing to sanctimoniously sell that nation nuclear technology. No doubt, this will induce India's Islamic fundamentalist Israel-despising neighbor Pakistan to cuts its own nuclear deal with China. Oh what a tangled web we weave when we so deceive our own frail gift of intelligence. What might strategists inhabiting the beleaguered Jewish democracy be thinking while presciently observing such apparently convoluted foreign policies materialize? Would it not be wise if research scientists begin developing an electro-magnetic missile-disintegrating shield to fully cover this tiny land just in case crazed mullahs decide to light nuclear firecrackers hence initiate Armageddon? Could madness indeed arise from the seeds of incompetence? We will perhaps soon know. Lawrence Uniglicht is a career civil servant, working for the Social Security Administration. He advocates for the State of Israel with an American perspective. He writes, "Advocating for the disrespected underdog has been my passion, no doubt Israel falls into that category." Contact him by email at luniglicht@snip.net |
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RABBI MICHAEL MELCHIOR AND THE USUAL SUSPECTS
Posted by Jerome S. Kaufman, March 8, 2006. |
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Rabbi Michael Melchior, Member of the Knesset and a long time advocate for peace with the Palestinian Arabs spoke at Temple Emanuel in Palm Beach Florida. He spoke under the sponsorship of his wealthy personal patron and the usual nationwide suspects -- the perennial peace-advocating Jewish Federations and their Community Relations Councils -- in this case that of Palm Beach. The lecture was titled, "Is Peace Possible?" (Between Arabs and Israelis). The addendum should have included, "Don't let the facts get in the way." Studiously avoided throughout the lecture was the fact that Jews have been trying to establish a peaceful relationship with their Arab neighbors for 128 years. As a matter of fact, the first modern day Jewish farming settlement was attempted in Petah Tikva in 1878. This attempt failed when greeted with murderous raids by its Arab neighbors along with constant harassment by the Turkish authorities that ruled the Arabs for 500 years. By the way, in all that time, the thought of a Palestinian Arab state never entering anyone's mind, neither Arab nor Turk. And, there was no Jewish State to blame in 1878; no "occupied territory"; no other "settlements"; no unemployment and no Arab poverty that one could blame on the Jews. And no, there was no specific organization like Hamas, Fatah, PFLP, etc. for the Jews to blame and rationalize, "if they could only deal with the 'moderate Arabs'." What "moderate Arabs"? We are still looking for them. While the peace contingency has been stuck in looking for "moderate" Arabs organized Arab riots and the murdering of the Jews of Palestine continued in 1921, 1929, 1936 and the years in between and to this very day. Just about a month ago, a brain-washed Palestinian terrorist female, about age 20, boarded a minibus in the same town of Petah Tikva, but 128 years later, and stabbed its passengers. One Israeli woman was murdered, four other people sustained serious wounds and another lightly injured. And what about the unprovoked wars against Israel by neighboring Arab states -- the attempted annihilation of the Jews of Palestine in the wars of 1948, 1967, 1973 with constant fedayeen raids, intifadas, world-wide boycotts, world-wide hate propaganda, an entire educational system directed toward hating the Jews, constant harassment and conferences and motions against the State of Israel in the United Nations, etc, etc. etc. Rabbi Melchior went into great detail discussing his participation, as Chief Rabbi of Norway, in the Nobel ceremony granting the Peace Prize to Arafat/Rabin/Peres and how very much he was in favor of the Oslo Peace Agreement signed in 1993. Maybe I missed something warranting that opinion in the last 12 years? Under Oslo, Israel brought back from Tunisia an exiled powerless Yasser Arafat and made him Lord of the land; granted him all kinds of territory in the West Bank and Gaza; prevailed upon the United States to recognize his PLO as a legitimate organization rather than the terrorist organization it has always been and thus transformed a bunch of stone throwing kids into a formidable terrorist force that is about to become a full fledged army under Hamas. Israel, in fact, created the likelihood of a Palestinian State that will give them hell for as long as Israel manages to exist and only G-d knows how long that will be. Yet, Melchior is for the Oslo Agreement! What does it take to open the eyes of the Mechiors of the world and the organizations that promote them? When will they stop trying to indoctrinate the uninformed and wishful thinking with their naïve, destructive nonsense? It is exactly as if they were reciting some kind of mantra, "peace, peace, peace" rather than presenting an argument and line of action that makes any sense in light of 128 plus years of painful history and experience. Dr. Kenneth Levin, a psychiatrist and historian who is a clinical instructor at Harvard Medical School, just wrote a marvelous book called, The Oslo Syndrome (Smith and Kraus Global, 2005). As the sub-title -- "Delusions of a People Under Siege" -- makes clear, Dr. Levin is concerned with a pathology that has prompted the Jews of Israel to embrace the false promise of peace -- ostensibly an offer first from Arafat, now from his powerless successor but, never, of course, from the real protagonist in the conflict -- Hamas. And please note it was Hamas that the Palestinian Arabs overwhelmingly elected -- an organization proud of its main goal, the destruction of Israel. And, predictably what do the Melchiors and fellow travelers now claim, "Oh, Hamas really doesn't mean it. They will become good boys and our peace partners once they assume the responsibility of power"!! Dr. Levin describes the roots of this pathology as follows: "[It] lies in psychological responses common among chronically besieged populations, whether minorities subjected to defamation, discrimination and assault or small nations under persistent attack by their neighbors. People living under such stressful conditions often choose to accept at face value the indictments of their accusers in the hope of thereby escaping their predicament." One can't help but wonder what would happen if the Melchiors and the organizations that continue to sponsor misguided self-deluding programs read Levin's book. If the last 12 years are any indication -- not very much. Jerome S. Kaufman is National Secretary of the Zionist Organization of America. and host the Israel Commentary website (http://www.israel-commentary.org). |
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INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM 2006
Posted by Jose Tardio Sanchez, March 8, 2006. |
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JERUSALEM, City of David Upon the occasion of her return to Axum, the Queen of Sheba told our honorable monarch King Solomon: "Praise be to the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on his throne as king to rule for the Lord your God. Because of the love of your God for Israel and his desire to uphold them forever, he has made you king over them, to maintain justice and righteousness." "Because of the love of your God for Israel": That is why we entreat our God in prayer each year for the peace of Jerusalem. The International Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem was established in 2004 so that Jews and non-Jews alike all over the world could pray together -- though divided by miles and beliefs -- that God will bless the city and country He loves with what is needed most at this time: His peace. May 20th, 2006 will mark the third annual observance of the International Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem. The Hebrew Educational Alliance Synagogue will again sponsor the event with a special address during Sabbath services on May 20th. People in the Denver metropolitan area are invited to attend, though it is not necessary to be in any particular place to be part of the effort. In December, 2003, Denverite José Tardío Sánchez was visiting Jerusalem when he had the idea of a day of prayer that would call on the cooperation of Jews and people of all other races around the world. Upon his return to Denver, BMH-BJ Synagogue expressed an interest in seeing the International Day of Prayer become a reality. A special prayer service at BMH marked the beginning of the prayer effort for Jerusalem. Since then, word has spread to all continents and many nations. The Allied Jewish Federation and the Hebrew Educational Alliance have enthusiastically adopted the cause and pledged to see it continue into the future. How can you participate? Simply pray to God for the peace of Jerusalem on May 20th (or on Sunday, May 21st if you gather on a day other than the Sabbath) and so join people all over the world who are also offering prayers, alone or with their congregations. You do not need to be in a particular place or ask for God's help in a particular language; what is important is that we ask in one accord. You are also asked to please pass the word to other individuals and congregations so that they can participate as well. For more information, please see www.theolivetreeofzion.com. Contact Jose Tardio Sanchez at jose@olivetreeofzion.com or go to his website: www.theolivetreeofzion.com |
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WHERE THERE IS NO VISION THE PEOPLE PERISH
Posted by Talya Lapidot, March 8, 2006. |
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This was written by Jacob Gurewich, founder of NJS (Nature, Justice & Science) and former Yeshiva scholar and commander in the IRGUN -- and nearly executed by the evil regime in the Land of Israel. He is author of The Enemy Within (ISBN: 0-9666398-2-0) and "Fear Factors" (ISBN: 0966639839). His website is: www.jackgur.com Where there is no vision the people perish (Proverb 29:18) And I will say it again and again -- until you ingrain it in the ears of the children of Israel Rallies, demonstrations, whining and raising funds, are not the way to depose the present pseudo democratic government of Israel, which leads the State of Israel in harm's way. This government caves in to Arab thugs in the Land of Israel, and to "allies" who reek with petroleum. It's a government of pariahs, from left to right, who inflicted the Oslo Shoah upon us, and banished the Children of Israel from the Land of Israel. They are of the lineage of those who caved in to the evil British regime in the 1940s, and delivered our freedom fighters to the British hangman. They shall be remembered in shame and everlasting contempt! The following 5 steps are the only way to avoid another Shoah which is on the horizon: 1. To complete the ridding of the Land of Israel from the homicidal thugs, and expel the Arab murderers from the Land of Israel Thus, regardless of the inevitable ramifications, even if a confrontation with our own enemies within, or if a civil war (which I doubt should come into sight) -- so be it! Be wary, in light of the dire and dangerous state of affairs: we must expel the Arab murderers from the Land of Israel -- or Arab murderers will expel us! This is akin to the way the United States of America sacrifices its sons and daughters -- not in the Land from sea to shining sea -- but thousands miles away, in order to eradicate the 9/11 murderers from the face of the earth. The vicious cycle of the homicidal thugs, Arabs' hatred of the Land of Israel, of Christians and infidels, will never break -- it's hard wired into their brains. We shall never allow the existence of an Arab country within the boundaries of the Land of Israel, which is hardly a dot (.) on the World's Atlas. And despite the 22 hostile Arab countries surrounding us -- the world shall never ever see such a country in the heart of the Land of Israel! Where there is no vision, the people perish!
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VENEZUELA
Posted by Julie Thompson, March 8, 2006. |
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In Venezuela, the maniac that holds on to power by abuses, electoral frauds and repression, is a clear anti-Semitic monster, lover of Hammas and Iran. Economical powers, many of them Jewish though, still think they can negotiate with such a monster that, like Fidel Castro, hates his own people... and the Jewish community Now, the same group that maintained the tyrant is promoting another of Castro's friends, Teodoro Petkoff, who was a Communist guerilla in the 6Os, in order to avoid possible violence. But we ALL know this is just more of the same and will only result in another fake election to maintain the same monster in power and the image of Democracy in Venezuela. PLEASE I BEG you to inform properly the Jewish community in Venezuela, as the situation is indeed grave and there are serious reports of Chavez selling Uranium to Iran, that adds to the Alqaida relation and Hammas, which visited Venezuela a week ago. There is no possibility of clean elections in today's Venezuela. Who ever says so is manipulating the innocent in the name of maintaining peace. Terrorists DO NOT believe in peace, elections or laws, because violence and chaos is their food. Julie Thompson live in Toronto, Canada. Contact her by email at murphy1905@hotmail.com |
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VICTIMS OR VICTORS?
Posted by Milton Fried, March 8, 2006. |
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Dear Think-Israel: Not because I hate Israel or am indifferent, but because I love Israel, I find that when I "think Israel" it sickens me. Literally. What our enemies do to us is not nearly as sickening to me as what the Jews are doing to destroy Israel. Victory or Defeat starts in the head. Israel's left "progressive" pundits keep repeating that victory is impossible,and that the Jews should build a wall around a truncated semi state and hide from the Arabs. That is the covert grand strategy for Israel. "Take off your yarmulke and run away", which was the operating principle of diaspora Jewry in the face of aggression, is now the hidden strategy in Israel. That never brought peace to the Jews of the diaspora, and it will not bring peace to Israel. A better strategy is to kick the s--t out of the enemy until they cease their aggression. Read the book of Joshua or about King David's history in the "Book of Kings" Learn from Jewish winners what it takes to be winners in the real world. Do not look in the NY Times, the UN the EU or the words of Jewish crypto communist pseudo intellectuals like Chomsky for our guide to strategies that leads to victory. I am sickened by the passivity and slavishness,and defeatism of so many Jews...disguised as multiculturalism, one world ism, Liberalism, Socialism and Progressivism, etc. There is very little in the way of thinking like citizens of a sovereign nation in Israel, or of a nation which will destroy her enemies and continue to flourish into the future. In a time of war, the rallying cry needs to be "Victory", not "Peace at all costs". Real peace can only come from victory. I see Israel throwing away land to the Arabs who have no right to
sovereignty over any part of Eretz Israel. I see Israel giving away
military strategic territorial depth, control of their water supply,
control over the hills a few hundred feet away from Tel Aviv Airport,
so that an Arab with a shoulder fired rocket will be able to shoot
dowm Jets taking off or landing. No Jew will be safe in the Oslo
ghetto-borders so beloved of the EU, the New York Times and the
Israeli and American extreme left wing Jews.
The Jewish people are acting like perpetual losers,
and designated victims. That is why we are perpetual losers and
victims. It all starts in the head. We must give up the "VICTIM" role, which has been assigned to us, and dare to be winners. Still, there are valiant men and women in our Jewish gene pool, and some of them live in Israel. The great Jews must come forward and take the reigns of Israel to victory over their enemies, internal and external. And it must happen now. Doctor Milton Fried can be contacted by email at docmiltfried@miltspring.com |
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EMINENT DOMAIN? NO, IT'S NOT
Posted by Batya Medad, March 8, 2006. |
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During the pro-anti- Disengagement arguments, some of those in favor used the concept of Eminent domain to bolster their point. Eminent domain means: Governments most commonly use the power of eminent domain when the acquisition of real property is necessary for the completion of a public project such as a road, and the owner of the required property is unwilling to negotiate a price for its sale. In many jurisdictions the power of eminent domain is tempered with a right that just compensation be made for the appropriation. That wasn't Disengagement. None of the purposes a government normally has for the land confiscated, or should I say: "None of the purposes a normal government has for the land confiscated" could be compared to what the Israeli Government did to the land and property it confiscated from the hard-working, loyal citizens who had been living in Gush Katif and the Northern Sinai. I'd venture to say, that in the history of the world, and you can count day one from whenever you want, has another country done what Israel just did last summer and what Olmert and his Kadima buddies want to do again, to us. I emphasized the word "another," since there was a country that did it before, Israel itself, when Menachem Begin gave Egypt the Sinai, destroying the young city of Yamit and various agricultural communities and more. The rationale, justification for Eminent domain is that the land must be used for the benefit of the people, for education, community development, etc. The principle of Eminent domain does not cover giving land won in a defensive war to terrorists whose aim is the destruction of the "giving" country. I don't like writing long, repetitious articles. So I think I've made my point. There's something very, very wrong in Israel. Batya Medad lives in Shiloh. She can be reached by email at Shilohmuse@yahoo.com or visit her website http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/ or go to http://www.shilo.org.il This article is archived at http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2006/03/eminent-domain-no-its-not.html |
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US BLUNDER IN IRAQ; HALF THE JEWS APE ANTISEMITES; SUBSIDIZE MADRASSAS?; NEW HISTORIAN ADMITS BIAS
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, March 8, 2006. |
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U.S. BLUNDER IN IRAQ I had just grasped the unlamented implications of what may be the next and worst blunder in the Iraq war. The US allowed Shiite militias to exist and grow. They now constitute a powerful force for subverting the country into an Islamist state. This would give impetus to Iran and nullify any good the US did in deposing Saddam. Then I picked up the NY Times and found the same alarm. I had felt uneasy about militias, other than the Kurds', not being disarmed by occupation forces. But there was little appreciation then of the danger it would pose now. The government will be held responsible for the blunder. The Senate, the media, and the other Administration critics will evade responsibility for their own shortsightedness. OTHER SELF-ENDANGERMENT HARDLY ACKNOWLEDGED Conservatives and liberals won't admit it but capitalism and immigration policies that manufacturers and ostensible humanitarians approve are filling in America's open spaces and befouling the environment. Species disappear or mutate, but we ignore the warning. It is one of these wars that we wage against ourselves or hardly defend against. We also fail to acknowledge the extent of bias and censorship in this American society we like to imagine is almost as free as ever. We can accept airport searches and police cameras in the streets. We remain oblivious to how much truth most are afraid to utter because it conflicts with the monitors of political correctness. Unfortunately in this era of renewed jihad against our civilization, the Muslims are a group favored by political correctness, while the Jews are a group that the politically correct do not protect. The media is increasingly censored by corporate control and largely is biased against Israel. Honest scientists are denied funding for many experiments that may reflect badly upon industry. Liberal or, should one say, leftist, Christian groups do not protect fellow Christians from Islamic oppression but call it humanitarian to undermine Israeli defense against Islamic oppression. Most of these points have been made, but in a muted way rather than coordinated so a to present the full picture of our declining standards. The most glaring and least recognized anomaly is the conversion of half of Jewry into antisemites. Jews will make or reward movies that falsely depict Israel as worse or no better than their Islamic assailants. Many Jewish editors and some of their reporters do likewise. How ironic that antisemites complain about Jewish influence in the media. It is anti-Jewish. The bias may be sincere, but it lacks integrity. Sincerity in bias is no virtue. This bias, due to alienation from Jewish roots and eagerness for acceptance by the Left, has reached into Israel. Religious Jews making the country's best defenders are under physical assault by a government that appeases the enemies of the country, including not only the Arabs but also the State Dept. and the UNO. A Holocaust is in the making. BAD CASE? DEFEND IT WITH POOR LOGIC The NY Sun favors government subsidy to private schools, including the bulk of them that are religious. It objected to Sen. Clinton's warning that jihadists could set up an Islamist school and apply for the same subsidy. Its objection was put, "By this reasoning, Mrs. Clinton should oppose the First Amendment. Why allow religious freedom at all if people can start a jihadist mosque or a racist church? The country already has laws outlawing terrorist violence and violence motivated by racial hatred. Conspiracy laws may be invoked against those planning such crimes. That's the way we deal with racial and religious violent hatred in America, not by dispensing with free speech or freedom of religion to begin with." The editorial contends that the money belongs to the taxpayers rather than the state (2/23). No editor's argument is too irrelevant and no opponent's argument is seen as relevant when the Sun advocates government subsidy for religious schools. The editorial studiously misses the point of Clinton's objection. I'll have to guess at it, because another shortcoming and unfairness in Sun editorials is a failure to cite specifically what the people it derides actually said. At least the Times quotes people it rebuts. Let the editor consult the Madison monument in Washington. Etched in it is a quote from that founder of the Constitution, that forcible tax collection from one person in behalf of another's religion is tyranny. In the case of Islamist schools, funding them would finance the preaching of hatred and violence. What good are laws against violence by graduates of schools that teach contempt of the laws and the desirability of murdering us? There already are a few such schools, and our laws don't stop their perverted campaign against our society. We can't apprehend all conspirators in time and some murder on the spur of the moment. If we increase their schools, we increase their fifth column. That's no way to wage war! Going beyond Clinton's objection, I think we should stop interpreting the Islamist credo as a religion or curb the freedom of a religion such as Islam, when it is at war with us. Tax revenues don't belong to the people who pay them, but to the whole jurisdiction. AMERICANS SUE FRENCH BANK Private individuals are acting creatively against Islamist terrorism. Some Americans are suing a French bank for knowingly transferring funds for jihad. Like European banks during WWII, Credit Lyonnais is accused of fulfilling -- acting as an intermediary in what Hamas is going to depend on -- more fundraising (NY Sun, 2/24, P.5). THE FATAH THAT THE WEST SUBSIDIZES Fatah declared that it would not join a Hamas regime (then vacillated), but it would join Hamas in its declared war on Israel (Winston Mid-East Analysis, 2/17). The EU devised a new formula for subsidizing the terrorist P.A.. It would give the money to Abbas, titular head of Fatah. He'd likely pay off supporters, continue the war on Israel, and line his cronies' pockets. That is how he and Arafat operated. The West would keep subsidizing him under the self-congratulatory pretense that it is supporting a moderate who wants peace. Would that the EU were moderate! JORDAN SUPPORTS HAMAS & LIBELS ISRAEL The Jordan Times blames P.A. problems on Israel. It criticized Israel for not doing anything under Oslo. Wrong. Israel let Arafat establish the P.A., to furnish services for his people. He violated the Oslo provisions against terrorism. That, the Times does not criticize. Instead, it condemns as illegal Israeli settlements Oslo authorizes. The Times accepts Hamas rule as the result of the region's "first democratic" election. That means it excludes all of Israel's elections. Jordan is for jihad. "NEW HISTORIAN" ADMITS BIAS "New historian" Pappe's latest book admits that his colleagues would prefer that he do research and adduce facts in support of his theses. He spurns that advice, and admits being biased. All his books postulate anti-Zionist notions not based on research. His new historian colleagues' research is not much better. They claim to base their theories upon newly released archives, but they hardly researched them. (They were selective and distorted what they reported. They ignored contrary material in older archives. Pappe is a Communist; Communists believe that the ends justify the means; they lie.) Zionism, to Pappe, was a colonialist invasion. His book contributes fraud, not facts and ideas to the field. He fabricates a Jewish massacre of Arabs (already exposed in court as false) and lies that Israel expelled the Arabs within 12 days of the UN Partition Resolution. Israeli Arabs made war on Israel for some time after that, but Pappe blames the violence on the Haganah and "hotheaded youth," although the record is clear that Arabs organized the violence. Efraim Karsh, a genuine historian, cites other errors and lies, much of which any educated reader would detect. Nevertheless, the book was published by the Cambridge U. Press. Is scholarship ending in the West? (MEF News, 2/19). I think that anything anti-Zionist is accepted these days, regardless of how unscholarly. Some "historian"! FINAL ARGUMENT FOR ABANDONMENT SHOWN UP The abandonment of Gaza has let Gaza terrorists enter the Sinai and circulate around to the less guarded southern Israeli border. In reaction, Israel has assigned the Givati brigade to block them (Arutz-7, 2/17). Advocates of abandonment had argued that retaining Gaza tied up Israeli troops to guard against terrorist attacks. All their other arguments had already proved false. POLICE BRUTALITY AT AMONA DOCUMENTED More witnesses are coming forward with accusations of brutality against the police evacuation and destruction of Amona. Three policemen stated that they received orders to "crack open heads." A retired colonel of a special forces unit asked police to stop their unprovoked beating of a group of girls who had asked to leave the area. For that they clubbed him in the stomach and continued beating him. One of the girls asked the police not to beat "your sisters." A cop replied in a Russian accent, "Shut up, you Jewish bitch." The colonel saw mounted police ride their horses over fallen people. He heard police ordered to beat loiterers (IMRA, 2/20). It keeps PM candidate Olmert high in the polls as being "tough." There have been allegations that police abused girls sexually and used their clubs to crush boys' genital organs and penetrate girls'. Why don't we hear protests from the Israeli and foreign humanitarians who protest imaginary or justified Israeli violence against Arabs (which never was as brutal as that)? Apparently they are not humanitarian but under the guise of humanitarianism, assist in the war on the Jews. WHAT "AGREEMENT" ON GAZA-SINAI BORDER GUARDING? The draft arrangement for guarding the Gaza-Sinai border was not signed or completed. It had no safeguards for Israel, though that was not how Sharon touted it. Acting PM Olmert is letting a Hamas regime take over, entrench itself, gain international approval, and better organize P.A. security forces. Hamas would have Iranian military advisor, rockets, anti-aircraft missiles, artillery, and an army that the security fence would be unable to block. The P.A. could shut down Israel's main international airport and bombard all its cities. It would make a defense pact with other Arab governments, deterring Israeli counter-measures by raising their risk. A more experienced Prime Minister would overthrow Hamas before this happens (IMRA, 2/20). Olmert and Sharon have been rendering Israel defenseless. Sharon was experienced, but he was under pressure of criminal proceedings unless he tried appeasement. His doctors kept secret his mental disease. The disease seemed to exaggerate his ruthlessness without diminishing his cleverness. The media kept his deceit from wide public knowledge. 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@aol.com. |
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MEL BROOKS AND KADIMA
Posted by Zalmi, March 8, 2006. |
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This week we finally see Kadima's tough strategy of dealing with the enemies of Israel.  Olmert is getting tough and is playing for keeps. If Hamas does not renounce terror against our people, his Kadima government will take action on the ground and start breaking bones. Only trouble is, the action on the ground will be our withdrawal from most of Samaria, and it will be for keeps. The only bones that will be broken will be those of our -- predominantly religious -- brothers and sisters as they were brutalised at Amona. This farce reminds me of a scene from Mel Brooks' comedy western
Blazing Saddles. To escape from a lynch mob, the black cowboy pulls
his own gun on himself and warns: Isn't that exactly what Olmert is saying to the
Arab lynch mob?
Contact Zalmi at zalmi@zalmi.net or go to his
website:http://zalmi.blogspot.com
This essay appeared at
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MISPERCEPTIONS AND MYSTERIES: GETTING TO KNOW THE UAE & DUBAI PORTS WORLD
Posted by Barbara Lerner, March 7, 2006. |
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Right now, the quaintly named Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O), an old, privately owned British shipping firm, manages six of our busiest east-coast ports. Dubai Ports World (DPW), a shipping company owned by the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), wants to take over from the Brits. Not to worry, proponents of the deal tell us: the UAE is a friendly country, and besides, in today's global economy, this is a perfectly ordinary commercial transaction -- a business deal, not a political one. As Daniel Henninger put it: "Presumably they are in the port management business for the money." It would be comforting if either of these claims were true. Alas, available evidence raises serious doubts about both. Let's start with the friendliness claim. Proponents of the deal insist that, whatever hostilities may have existed in the past, the UAE rallied to our side after September 11, 2001. If so, the people living there didn't seem to get the message. Zogby International pollsters asked a representative sampling of citizens of the UAE if their overall impression of the U.S. was favorable or unfavorable in 2002, after 9/11 had demonstrated our vulnerability to the world. Only 11 percent responded that their impression was favorable; 87 percent responded that it was unfavorable. Things did improve a bit when he asked them again in 2005, after we had demonstrated our military might, and our willingness to use it, in Afghanistan and Iraq. Only 73 percent hate us now. Compare that with a 2005 poll in Afghanistan, where World Public Opinion.Org found that 81 percent of the people view us favorably, or India, where the Pew Global Attitudes Survey found that 71 percent do, and it's clear that it's a misperception to see the UAE as a friendly country. Even if we make special allowances for the fact that the UAE is an Arab state, and compare it only to other Arab states, it's a stretch to call it friendly. In Morocco, for example, in that same 2002 Zogby poll, 38 percent of the people viewed us favorably -- hardly a ringing endorsement, but more than three times as many "friendlies" as in the UAE. But Morocco doesn't sit on the strategic Persian Gulf. The UAE does; it has the best deep-water port and the most modern airfields and air training facilities in the Gulf region, and it lets our military make extensive use of them. This is very useful for us, but it's even more useful for the UAE for geostrategic reasons that have nothing to do with friendliness, and will not change if we reject the Dubai Ports deal (especially if we do it as Bill Bennett and Seth Leibsohn suggest, by sending a back-channel message to the UAE to withdraw its offer, as China withdrew its UNOCAL offer last year). Americans who worry that this is somehow "unfair" should realize that, with the limited exception of the Jebal Ali manufacturing complex in Dubai, the UAE requires at least 51 percent Emirati ownership of all businesses operating in their country. Still, some Americans will doubtless object that, after all, DPW is not owned by the people of the UAE but by its government, and it is unfair to blame a government for the hostility of its people. There may be some truth to that in countries with multiple parties and a free press, but the UAE is not one of those countries. There has never been an election there, all political parties are illegal, and the press is not free. If the UAE government objected to the anti-American propaganda that fills the Emirati press, that would be the end of that. A journalist who flouted the government's well-known unwritten rules wouldn't last five minutes. We should reject the Dubai Ports deal, not just because it is risky to have a hostile country managing critical parts of our infrastructure, but because the claim that the UAE's desire to do so is "just business" presents us with a mystery. At the very least, those who make this claim need to explain why the UAE agreed to pay P&O a 70-percent premium over existing share prices to buy the company. If P&O is really worth $6.8 billion, why didn't any other international shipping company offer anything remotely like that (see also www.geostrategy-direct.com/asplogin.asp?asplReq=%2 Fgeostrategy%2Ddirect%2Fsecure%2F2006%2F03%5F01%2Fdo%2Easp%3F) Apologists for the deal say the problem is that few privately-owned companies have pockets deep enough to pay that much. Maybe, but DPW is hardly the only deep-pocketed, government-owned international shipping giant, and none of the others made any attempt to outbid DPW either. Apparently, no one else thought they could pay that kind of money to manage our ports and still make a profit. Perhaps DPW knows something no other shipping company does. Then again, it may be that DPW has some other motives for wanting to take over the management of key American ports. Barbara Lerner is a frequent contributer to National Review Online (NRO). Contact her at xlerner@ameritech.net |
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PROHIBITING TRUTH-TELLING IN ISRAEL
Posted by Steven Plaut, March 7, 2006. |
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1. Well, free speech enjoyed a fleeting opportunity in Israel, but one already closing. As we reported here yesterday, a courageous attorney at the Tel Aviv Prosecutor's Office, Nira Mashriki of the Tel Aviv prosecutor's office for civil matters dared tell the truth. Mashriki filed an affidavit in a suit in which she explained that the "human rights" groups active in promoting the Palestinian agenda in fact do not care a fig about human rights and actually are attempting to undermine the very existence of Israel. It is so important to restate the obvious! Leftist Attorney General "Manny" Mazuz however is already hard at work at suppressing this fleeting exercise of free speech and truth-telling. Responding to a petition from a Meretz Knesset Member, Zehava Galon, Mazuz has opened a full scale investigation, NOT of the "human rights" groups in question -- but rather of the hapless attorney who dared to tell the truth. The next assault against free speech will take place in the coming persecution of the current candidate to serve as next Chief Rabbi of the Israeli army, Rabbi Avi Ronetsky. The candidate has a track record of daring to speak the truth and of making politically incorrect declarations. In Olmert's Israel, this is unforgivable! This week the Rabbi declared that the way Israel has been responding to the daily barrages of Kassam rockets, fired by the Gaza terrorists into Israeli civilian areas in the Negev, is little more than a joke. How dare he tell the truth! I have little doubt the political machine wull prevent his appointment, perhaps in solidarity with the "human rights" groups Mazuz is promoting by persecuting Mashriki. 2. Dershowitz has offered to defend Israeli military officers who are indicted by kangaroo courts in Europe, courts of Inmquisition that persecute the officers at the instigation of assorted Israeli leftists and other anti-Semites. I have mixed feelings about the spectacle of the fella who got OJ Simpson off defending Israel's leading officers. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/691676.html 3. "The Politically Correct Megilla"
I am sure you will all agree with the Israeli Post-Zionist Left that the time has really come to update the Scroll of Esther. I mean, come on, the Scroll is the epitome of political incorrectness and male chauvinist sexism. You could never get that old out-of-date version reprinted in Tikkun magazine or in Haaretz, what with those sections about how the Jews run around killing anti-Semites and anti-Jewish terrorists instead of negotiating with them. So at the instigation of Yossi Sarid, Amram Mitzna and Shulamit Aloni, I have undertaken a politically correct rewrite. Shimon Peres expects you all to use the Politically Correct Scroll of Esther this Purim. "Renewal Rabbi" Arthur Waskow says he likes it even better than the Black Liberation Passover Haggadah he published. Here is a synopsis: King Ahashveros is having a party with recreational mind-expanding drugs endorsed by Tikkun magazine. He invites Queen Vashti to join, but she is off at a Freedom of Choice pro-abortion demonstration and never shows up. The King has his self-esteem offended by this. He orders her removed from the throne, but Vashti bursts into the King's chambers, calls him a power-fetished patriarchal male chauvinist pig who thinks he can just order women around. She then burns her bra, and throws mud at the king. So then the chauvinist king holds a beauty contest to find himself a new queen and girlfriend. But Vashti and the 'sistuhs' disrupt it and scream "Meat Market!" and throw bottles of blood and paint at the King and the judges. They demand an affirmative action program as compensation. Eventually the King meets Esther at a singles bar and propositions her. "And what makes you so sure I am a heterosexual," she responds. Esther locks the King in the Royal Washroom for a week until he repents his homophobic and sexist attitudes, attends a sensitivity retraining seminar, and agrees to allow free abortions throughout the Kingdom, paid for by a single-payer health care provider. But the evil Haman is still up to his evil deeds. He is plotting to kill all the Jews for not attending his Earth Day and Peace Now demonstrations. Mordecai, the uncle of Esther, suggests that Haman be dealt with in a progressive manner. Esther convinces King Ahashveros to give Haman and his kin their own state. Mordecai provides them with guns and tells everyone that the Hamanites will act as a moderating and restraining force and will suppress all the really radical terrorists. Haman and his sons then launch a series of suicide bombings and rocket attacks, and deny that the Jewish Temple ever really existed at all. Mordecai keeps offering them more and more territory in exchange for their promising not to promise anything. Finally Mordecai embraces Haman when they both get Nobel Prizes for Peace. Ex-Queen Vashti says she would rather shake Haman's hand than that of King Ahashveros, any day. Vashti and Esther then dump the king and set up a lesbian bar in Shushan, where they live happily ever after. 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. Or contact him by email at splaut@econ.haifa.ac.il |
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STICKS BEAT CARROTS
Posted by Barry Rubin, March 7, 2006. |
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One of many amazing things about the Middle East is how ideas about it persist despite being repeatedly proven wrong. It simply doesn't seem to matter to many politicians, academics, and journalists that a particular notion has been mistaken on every occasion over a half-century or so. Sometimes the cause of this strange behavior is ignorance, often political expediency. Consider the most durable and disastrous such notion: that the way to deal with radical movements and dictators is to be nice to them. Noting that these extremists say the West is evil, imperialistic, anti-Arab or anti-Muslim, sensitive observers get the great notion of disproving the accusation. By showing they are good guys, they expect their counterparts to become grateful and moderate. This ploy has been tried repeatedly and each time found wanting. In every case, serious damage resulted to Western interests. And while the careers of those mistaken prospered, others paid for these mistakes in blood. Now it has been hauled out once more to justify a policy of being nice to Hamas--the more sophisticated word here is "engagement"--so it will stop being a genocidal, terrorist organization. Will recognition, money, compliments, meetings, sympathetic understanding of grievances, and other such devices succeed here? Let's examine five cases virtually identical in discrediting this concept: Gamal Abdel Nasser emerged as Egypt's leader and the Arab world's hero. When Britain, France, and Israel were on the verge of overthrowing him in the 1956 Suez war, U.S. policymakers concluded his downfall would anger Arabs. American leaders had initially supported Nasser's coup four years earlier believing it would bring a moderate, pragmatic regime. To save Nasser, America threatened to destroy the economy of Britain, its closest ally, unless London withdrew its forces. The result was that the "defeat" of his enemies was credited not to the United States but to Nasser and the USSR. During 14 years in power, Nasser was a constant thorn in the Americans' side, attacking its policies, subverting other Arab regimes, and fomenting the 1967 war. Helping Nasser survive did not moderate or reconcile him. It was a disaster. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini: While the United States certainly supported the shah as an ally, after the Iranian revolution began in 1977, many American policymakers wanted to show their sympathy for change in that country. They discouraged him from using force and finally backed a transition that included his departure from the country. Efforts were made to persuade those revolutionaries deemed moderate to like America. The result was that the new Iranian leaders concluded this friendship offensive was a plot to overthrow them. To forestall such an outcome, they supported the seizure of the U.S. embassy and the taking of all the diplomats there as hostage. Iran became the world's leading anti-American regime, the main state sponsor of terrorism, the top subverter of U.S. interests and allies, and the cause of several wars which disrupted the region. Another disaster. Saddam Hussein: Following the end of the Iran-Iraq war in 1988, most American policymakers believed this was a golden opportunity to moderate Saddam and turn him into an American ally. Aid was continued to Iraq even after it was clear that the Baghdad was selling food to gain weapons. When Saddam threatened Kuwait in 1990, the U.S. government wanted to assure him that the United States was going to treat him "fairly" and not intervene in the crisis. The result was that Saddam concluded the Americans were too weak or frightened to stop him, he annexed Kuwait and the outcome would be a war, the bloody repression of Shia and Kurdish uprisings (which the United States did not protect because it wanted to convince the Saudis and other Arabs it was not against them) and a series of crises that last to this day. Yasir Arafat: If Arafat was only offered help and concessions, it was argued, he would moderate and end the long-running conflict. Not only did the U.S. government save Arafat from destruction by Israel in 1982 Beirut, it persuaded Tunisia to let him move his headquarters there. In 1988 he was offered a dialogue on terms that he broke. Given more chances, Arafat did more biting of the hands that fed him. Given billions of dollars in aid, the Palestinian movement misspent the money through corruption or using it to support terrorist operations rather than to help its own people. Incitement continued while few efforts were made to stop terrorism. Offering Arafat an independent state and $22 billion in refugee compensation in 2000 led to a five-year-long war of terrorism and a crisis that is still going on. The result was not only the loss of many lives and the deepening of a conflict. Most of the Arab world still claims the United States has never done anything to help the Palestinians. And this is the example cited by some as the "successful" model for Western policy toward Hamas! Hafez al-Asad: To assuage Syria's fears of Western imperialism, Syria's own imperial ambitions in Lebanon were countenanced. Secretary of State Warren Christopher made a dozen trips to Damascus to show America's eagerness to get along with the Asad dictatorship. True, there was some pressure on Syria and the United States wanted Syrian support to fight Saddam (which Asad gave since it was in his own interests) but American strategy was often characterized by trying to win over Asad rather than to gain a win over Asad. The result was that Syria remains a major sponsor of terrorism and subverter of American interests, especially in Iraq. The United States was far more willing, of course, to use sanctions and get tough than were its European allies. Yet when it did try the nice strategy, the result was always catastrophic. There were some cases in which the United States did appear to win a radical dictator to its side. Yet the clearest two examples--Anwar al-Sadat in the 1970s and Muammar Qadhafi of Libya more recently--came after extensive pressure and due to the leaders' decision to make a major policy shift. These were victories for sticks, not carrots. So why is it that an approach which should be thoroughly discredited is now proposed for handling Hamas? That's a very good question. Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and co-author of "Yasir Arafat: A Political Biography" and "Hating America: A History" (Oxford University Press, August 2004). Prof. Rubin's columns can now be read online at http://gloria.idc.ac.il/columns/column.html. |
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MYTH OF THE MODERATES; WHAT SHALL ISRAEL DO WITH P.A. MONEY?
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, March 7, 2006. |
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THE MYTH OF THE MODERATES The old-new rationalization for continuing to deal with the P.A. and even to subsidize it is that we must hang on for a hoped-for emergence of Arab moderates, and find ways to support them. Eventually, the moderates would displace the jihadists. "But how much support can these 'moderates' expect from us when they cannot muster the slightest objection to terrorism in principle, not just in practice?" Even when terrorism turns on its own people, the people still support it against infidels (Jewish Political Chronicle, 1/2006, p.43 from Jer. Post Ed. of 12/5). Policy should not depend on theoretical events one that may not develop. That is an unsound basis. Strengthening a fanatical enemy is suicidal. WHAT SHOULD ISRAEL DO WITH P.A. MONEY? Hillel Halkin explains the bizarre Israeli economics that lay behind that country collecting high excise taxes for the P.A.. Now it is criticized for withholding the funds. He suggests that Israel help the P.A. to import what it wants, under Israeli inspection for arms, and collect its own excise taxes. In the meantime, Israel should hold the money for those Arabs in escrow, pending their making peace (NY Sun, 2/21, Op.-Ed.). It insults our intelligence and sense of justice that Israel should help its genocidal enemy. His case's premise rests on retaining Israeli border inspection, but fails to address the problem of his dear Sharon's having ceased to inspect the Gaza-Sinai border, through which terrorists and arms now are pouring and which Sec. Rice calls the model for a P.A. airport and seaport. The problem with Mr. Halkin is that he does not treat the P.A. as the enemy. The Arabs make war on Israel, but he would help them. What does one call someone who would give aid and comfort to the enemy? If there were peace, Israel could let the Arabs collect their own excise taxes. It still would be under no obligation to pay for P.A. import facilities. The P.A. has plenty of money, including American money, they just steal it and divert it to war. Meanwhile, circumstances give Israel a lever against the P.A. Instead of holding the funds in escrow, let it spend them compensating victims of Arab terrorism. Why should Israel cede this economic weapon, while P.A. aggression and Arab boycott costs Israel so much? Holding the funds in escrow, like holding the Territories, assures them they don't have to pay for their aggression. Imagine if Israel had been spending that money! The P.A. would have found itself in a financial crisis and have to reform or die. Imagine, too, if Israel had annexed a slice of the P.A., for every half-year that the P.A. made war on it. Eventually, the Arabs would have second thoughts about jihad. Of course, Israel would have had to be ready to face down foreign critics over this. It could do it, since justice and law would be on its side. 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@aol.com. |
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ISRAEL'S ONLY VIABLE CANDIDATE
Posted by Marcel Cousineau, March 7, 2006. |
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It's clear that Israel has only one choice in the upcoming election. Those on the ballot are all know puppets who bow to a foreign power and are loyal only to its agenda and not Israel's. That Jewish voters continue to run to and bow down to corrupt men reveals the level of faithlessness in the land today. The focus of every Jew who loves the truth and their G-d given land should be on Hashem and His intervention. A vote for Netanyahu, Olmert, Peretz is a vote for more of the same failed U.S. policy which bring destruction, chaos and DEFEAT to Israel as it does to Iraq. It is long overdue for a national fast and a day of mourning in Israel for God's direct intervention and the rejection of corrupt liars, politicians who masquerade as noble men. Israel by its capitulation to the demands of the world and rewarding its enemies feeds anti-semitism. This show of weakness reveals that Israel stands for no principal's only appeasement, any price for peace. This Nevilleqsue mentality once again encourages evil forces and brings the unbelieving grasshoppers (of the 10 faithless Jewish spies) to their ignoble end. Israel will pay a severe price for its unwillingness to hold onto the land given them by the G-d of Avraham, Yitzak and Yaakov and instead reward it to His enemies. Having made a conscience decision to play the loyal puppet to an amoral empire rather than obey and seek their God, Israel has brought a curse upon itself and not peace. Instead of going in to finish the jihadists off in one fell swoop, Israel does it in a small negligable manner that keeps the failed status quo going. The never ending war strategy of Israel's corrupt politicians is because they are controlled by the global superpower which supports the Arab agenda against Israel. This is why the U.S. makes sure that their corrupt politicians in Israel do not go in a defeat the enemy once and for all. These piecemeal removals of a few terrorists at a time are acceptable under the Bush doctrine of 'Israel defeated by the Palestinians' as they feed the illusion that Israel is doing something. Deception, but no victory. The Jews are not permitted victory by the globalists. Salah Bardawil, Hamas spokesman, said: "We are not seeking immunity or mercy from Israel. We are in a confrontation. The side that is most steadfast is the side that will survive." Israel is steadfast in retreat and rewarding the terrorists and this is the strategy of losers. Something that the U.S.,E.U. and U.N. is quite comfortable with. Contact Marcel Cousineau at up2zionsg8@yahoo.com or go to his website: http://averyheavystone.blogspot.com |
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GOOD FROM EVIL -- A PURIM LESSON
Posted by Steven Plaut, March 7, 2006. |
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With Purim nearly here, I thought it worth mentioning an important strand in Jewish thought. It is that one can never know to what one thing leads, nor how things will turn out. Good things can lead to horror and horrible things can lead to good. In particular this is evident in the often absence of connection between what one person does and his descendents. The tradition in emphasizing the absence of connection between the behavior of descendents and predecessors goes back to the Bible. The descendents of the evil Korach from the Book of Numbers go on to sing in the choirs in the Temple. Haman is thought to descend directly from Agog the evil King of the Amalekites. Yet the Talmud tells us that Haman's own descendents converted to Judaism and studied Judaism in Bnai Barak (Gittin 57b). One tradition holds that Rabbi Akiba, one of the greatest Torah sages of all time, was himself a descendent of Haman (http://www.ateret.org.il/new/library.php?id=309 ). The grandson of Lev Trotsky (or is it his great-grandson?) is today a militant "settler" in Kiryat Arba outside Hebron. Things do not always work out for the best. The son of the valiant Moshe Arens is one of the worst bashers of Israel in America. Noam Chomsky's father taught Hebrew and Judaism at Gratz College in Philadelphia, where I was a student, but look at what he has sired. The children and grandchildren of some of the greatest heroes of Israel's early wars are today marching with the "Post-Zionist" anti-Semites or lobbying for Israeli capitulations at all costs. The worst anti-Semites on earth have often been born Jews, and today people like Neo-Nazi Norman Finkelstein and some of the tenured traitors in Israel continue this tradition. But if history teaches us anything, it is that we cannot foresee. Good can come from evil, and vice versa. Shulamit Aloni's grandchildren may become Orthodox settlers in the Judean hills. Yossi Beilin's may enlist in the army units that beat up the International Solidarity Movement protesters. Alexander Cockburn's grandchildren may convert and become Orthodox Rabbis. Perhaps Israel's self-abasement and defeatism will trigger a militant awakening and ideological rebirth. Who knows? I was driven to pontificate on these matters by the following story, which I reprint here in full, from the British Independent. "Descendant of Goering converts to Judaism"
Matthias Goering says: "I used to feel cursed by my name. Now I feel blessed." The 49-year-old physiotherapist, a descendant of Hermann Goering, Adolf Hitler's right-hand man, is wearing a Jewish skullcap, with a Star of David pendant round his neck. After being brought up to despise Jews, he has embraced their faith. And although he has yet to formally convert to Judaism, he keeps kosher dietary rules, celebrates shabbat and is learning Hebrew. In a Jewish restaurant in Basle, Mr Goering enthuses about Israel. "It feels like home," he says. "The Israelis are so friendly." Even when they hear his name? "Yes, they say they're so thankful I've made contact." With the same name as the former Luftwaffe chief, who committed suicide at Nuremberg hours before he was to be executed, Mr Goering says he did not have a happy childhood. His great-grandfather and Hermann's grandfather were brothers, and that was enough to ensure problems after the fall of the Third Reich. "My siblings and I were bullied mercilessly," Matthias says. His father, a military doctor, was a Soviet prisoner of war, but returned with his anti-Semitic views intact. When times were hard, Matthias says: "Our parents would say to us, 'You can't have that, because all our money's gone to the Jews.'" Mr Goering left home at 18 to join the circus, but eventually settled down, trained as a physiotherapist, married and had a son. But by 2000 his Swiss physiotherapy practice was bankrupt and his wife had left, taking their son. Broke and lonely, he was close to suicide, and says he prayed for the first time in his life. The same day his prayer was answered: a physiotherapy practice near Zurich offered him a job. Mr Goering started attending Christian churches, but two years later began his journey towards Judaism. He says God told him "to guard the gates of Jerusalem", despite his name and his family history. "I knew then," he says, "I had to go to Israel." Other descendants of Nazis have trodden the same path. Katrin Himmler, who published a book last year about the war crimes of her great-uncle, the SS commander Heinrich Himmler, married an Israeli. "It was as if we were predestined to meet," she says. Beate Niemann, daughter of feared SS Major Bruno Sattler, made an award-winning film, The Good Father, documenting her hopeless search for a man she could be proud of, and tried to apologise to camp survivors after discovering her father had ordered the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Jews. Monika Goeth's father was Amon Goeth, the camp commandant played by Ralph Fiennes in Schindler's List, who shot Jewish prisoners from the balcony of his villa. She has spent years seeking rapprochement with camp survivors. "I am completely drawn to Judaism," she says. "Jews were the real heroes. I feel nothing but contempt for those who idolise the Nazis." 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. Or contact him by email at splaut@econ.haifa.ac.il |
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DESCRIPTIONS OF THE EXPELLED ISRAELIS; ORGANIZATIONS THAT HELP THEM
Posted by Buddy Macy, March 7, 2006. |
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Attn: Mr. Sam Astroff, Chief Operating Officer, United Jewish Communities Dear Sam, Thank you for your call this afternoon, and for agreeing to investigate the issues of concern to hundreds of thousands of our fellow Jews. Yesterday, I sent you the Arutz Sheva video that graphically details some of the brutality and degradation against the protestors at Amona. If you wish to learn more about the Jewish tragedy, please visit Shlomo Wollins' website: www.israelreporter.com. Shlomo has compiled more than 100 minutes of graphic footage of the events at Amona; his site contains a wealth of valuable information. American Jews are angered and shocked by the sights and sounds of the Israeli police and military brutalizing their fellow Jews. Sam, please work with Howard Rieger, in your capacities as COO and President, repectively, of UJC, and prepare a public statement about the horrors of Amona; making it clear to all of the officials of the Israeli Government, that American Jewry is sickened and deeply concerned by the actions taken against their own People. The following are segments of three compositions/statements about the Jewish expulsions from Gaza and Northern Samaria. The first was written by a Nobel Prize Laureate and professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The second appears on a website dedicated to the "disengagement" victims. And, the third, is part of a poignant vignette, by an expellee of Gaza, that describes some of the travails experienced by the expelled Jews since the expulsion from their homes this past August. Following the short segments is a (partial) list of some of the most active volunteer organizations and individuals helping the displaced people of Gush Katif, many of whom still have not received any compensation from the Israeli Government. The following is part of the address delivered during the Opening Ceremony of The 6th Annual Herzliya Conference, January 21, 2006, by Prof. Israel (Robert) J. Aumann, Nobel Prize Laureate in Economics, Center for the Study of Rationality, Hebrew University of Jerusalem: "The treatment of the refugees (of the Disengagement Plan) is a national disgrace. Many of the refugees from Gush Katif and northern Shomron are still in hotels, even now, almost six months after the expulsion, and without the most basic conditions. Most of them are not yet in permanent housing, or even in reasonable temporary housing. There is no work, the children are in despair, and there have been some suicide attempts. Many families, and maybe even most, have not seen one agora of compensation, and those who have received are spending it on daily food. 3/5/06 Forum of Disengagement Victims "Six months have passed and it seems as if the prime minister, government, bureaucrats and the people have fallen asleep. It seems that everyone has forgotten that only recently, thousands of families were uprooted from their homes and land, and that the overwhelming majority of us are in terrible financial straits and psychological distress, living with a sense of terrible despair. 80% of us have not been able to find jobs after the expulsion. The farmers are still waiting for plots of land to start again. The little compensation money that we got is paying for food and other basic, daily needs and soon we won't have enough to buy a new home. Our sons and daughters, who were our source of pride, are wandering around with dull eyes and a deep sense of inner destruction that has reached crisis proportions since having to leave the Gush." The following is a partial transcript of comments made to Israel National Radio's Yishai Fleisher and Alex Traiman, by former Netzer Chazani resident, Anita Tucker: "Yesterday I went to the surveyor's office who is dealing with the houses, farms and businesses from Gush Katif. My personal case is not moving forward -- we haven't received compensation and are always being asked for more proof. I asked him how many people from Gush Katif have actually received compensation for their greenhouse businesses. He opened up the files and there was one person who had received compensation. It is often shown on television that everyone is OK and has gotten their lives back together, but it is simply untrue." Sam: six and a half months after the expulsions, many of those expelled from their homes, communities and support groups, remain in desperate need of assistance! Please work with Howard Rieger to initiate, immediately, a special fundraising campaign dedicated exclusively to helping the expelled residents of Gaza and Northern Samaria. Partial List of Active Volunteer Organizations & Individuals The following is a (partial) list of some of the most active volunteer organizations and individuals helping the displaced people of Gush Katif. There is also an active email list at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Gush_Katif/ for up-to-date postings in English of offers and requests for help. Many of the requests are for cash, since hundreds of families have still not received any compensation at all and still have to pay for food, travel, clothing, tuition, medicine, etc. (Please remember that these families were formerly independent and charitable, themselves. They are very uncomfortable at having been placed in a situation where they are temporarily reliant upon the goodwill of others.) The list is very long, so you may wish to select just a few of the possibilities. However, please include 1), since it is the main Gush Katif assistance organization. 1) The Council of Gush Katif Settlers -- is the central umbrella
organization representing and assisting the evacuees and headed by
Rabbi Yigal Kaminetsky (Chief Rabbi of Gush Katif) in conjunction with
Lemaan Acheinu. Lemaan Acheinu is responsible for coordinating
volunteer activities and distributing practical aid throughout the
country.
2) Keren HaTzaddik (in memory of Rabbi Aryeh Levin): Food distribution to tent cities and other evacuee groups around the country. To donate, telephone: 02-6513111 or 1800-203-320. www.tmicha.org jewish@netvision.net.il 3) Lemaan Achai Ramat Bet Shemesh -- www.lemaanachai.org -- Establishing a free-loan fund for evacuees from all communities, plus counseling and other activities. Currently assisting evacuees from Atzmona housed in Shaalvim dormitories through provision of food and practical supplies. Also, Israel Tax Deductible Donations should be made out to "Lema'an Achai", earmarked "Gush Katif Fund", and sent to: Lema'an Achai (RBS), 40/7 Nachal Lachish, Ramat Beit Shemesh 99093, ISRAEL. US Tax Deductible checks to: "American Friends of Lema'an Achai"; on Memo Line indicate: "Gush Katif Fund" c/o Simon Fleischer,35 West 96th St #1F, New York, NY 10025 and 24hr Credit Card donations through (9722)999-9933 or Contact Yehudit Shaulzon (+9722)999-1553. editcard@lemaanachai.org. 4) One of the main problems is unemployment. A list has been set up to try to find new employment for evacuees. To post a job vacancy, email jobkatif@hotmail.co.ilor call 08-6727703. 5) Rachel Saperstein (ex-Neveh Dekalim and currently in the Jerusalem Gold Hotel) has established a"Band-Aid" Fund to provide anonymous cash donations of 500-1000 shekels to meet immediate expenses of evacuee families: To contribute, send checks to: The Central Fund of Israel, Jay Marcus, Rehov Hagoel 13, Efrat, Israel 90435; earmarked for Rachel-Operation Band-Aid. 6) Ruthi Brenner is seeking sponsors for evacuee university students who were unable to work this summer to put themselves through college and may have to forfeit their studies as a result. Brenner says that $5,000 paid directly to the university would cover a full year of college tuition and she would be happy to put sponsors in contact with their "adopted" students. Contact her at: luveretz@netvision.net.ilor telephone: 972-2-561-1962 7) Bracha Jaffe is helping the mostly secular families who were or still are housed in the Green Beach Hotel, near Netanya. She can been contacted for offers of help and donations for the families, at (054) 761-7988 or bracha@tdsoft.com. 8) Katherine (Gita) Weiner is helping those in for the City of Faith -- a tent/trailer city set up by 35 Atzmona families, needs help with construction and caravan repairs, microwaves and or toasters to give at least some independence to families as far as food is concerned,equipment for preschool/kindergarten and monetary donations. Contact Katherine Gita Weiner at izgnanie@yahoo.com 9) Barbara Silverman (02) 623-2548 and attorney Jan Sokolsky (02)566-6388 are raising funds for new winter coats for evacuees in Jerusalem (so far they have purchased 275), plus more winter clothing, winter shoes and prayer books for the upcoming Jewish holidays. They also need volunteers to take groups of children away from confining hotel rooms and to parks. 10) Sarah Alpert is working together with Anita Tucker to provide financial help for the families of Netzer Chazani in the Golan and elsewhere, for the purchase of winter clothing, travel expenses and other practical needs. She can be contacted at salpert@jfsisrael.org 11) Seeking used (but working) laptops, preferably with word, excel and wireless ability to assist community leaders in their administrative work and enable the physically scattered evacuees to reconnect and coordinate with one another through virtual communities. Please contact wisemon@actcom.net.il 12) In the US, Rabbi Pesach Lerner, Executive Director of the
National Council of Young Israel has agreed to assist in this effort
and made a recent trip to Israel in order to see the situation for
himself. Checks can be make out to YOUNG ISRAEL CHARITY FUND. Gush
Katif Fund, NCYI, 3 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011
As I had written in a previous correspondence to Mr. Rieger and Mr. Hoenlein, "If the expelled Jews had been living in any other country in the world, and were forced to permanently leave their homes by an edict of an anti-Semitic local government, the UJC, the Jewish Agency, and many other of the American and Israeli Jewish charities would have immediately come to their aid; millions of dollars would have poured in to help the displaced Jews rebuild their lives; doctors and nurses would have arrived to make sure they were in good health; and, in the irony of ironies, the Government of Israel would have rushed in to bring the victims of anti-Semitism to Israel; and, it would have provided them with housing -- accommodations, no doubt, that would be far superior to those which have been supplied to its own Israeli citizens, its own victims! As Nobel Price Laureate Aumann said, "I, for one, am not silent and will not be silent." Sam, it is more than time for United Jewish Communities, the largest Jewish distributor of donor contributions, to break its silence and help its fellow Jews pick up their lives.
Most sincerely, Contact Buddy Macy by email at vegibud@aol.com |
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IT IS NOW OFFICIAL: ISRAELI LEFTIST "HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS" SEEK THE
DESTRUCTION OF ISRAEL
Posted by Steven Plaut, March 7, 2006. |
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1. George Orwell once said that it is the highest oral duty of all honest men to reiterate the obvious. And that is why we need to honor Attorney Nira Mashriki of the Tel Aviv prosecutor's office for civil matters. She dared to reiterate the obvious, namely, that Israel's far-Leftist groups are working to undermine the very existence of the State of Israel (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/690936.html). An official statement by her submitted several days ago to the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court accused human rights organizations that represent Palestinians and residents of East Jerusalem in court of working against Israel's interests. The courageous statement was submitted to the court court in relation to a suit brought by East Jerusalem Arab, who is claiming tens of thousands of shekels in damages from the state for alleged repeated arrests by the police and Shin Bet. The statement called HaMoked: Center for the Defense of the Individual and B'Tselem -- Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories -- organizations "that undermine the existence" of the State of Israel, "besmirch" the state and its security forces, and "cause it damage in the world." Attorney Nira Mashriki of the Tel Aviv prosecutor's office for civil matters wrote to the court in response: "The organization [HaMoked] does not deal with 'defending human rights' as it claims, but instead with defending the rights of Palestinians only. The organization's activity is one-sided and it works in the interest of a group of people whose elected leadership is currently in a harsh conflict with the State of Israel and is undermining its existence." Mashriki, the state's representative in the proceedings, wrote that "the organization's self-presentation as 'a human rights organization' has no basis in reality and is designed to mislead. The organization is funded by outside entities whose interests differ from those of the State of Israel and sometimes contradict them." Mashriki added that "the organization works in cooperation with the B'Tselem organization, which periodically issues pamphlets that besmirch the State of Israel and its security forces throughout the world, and cause damage." Meanwhile, the Attorney Mashriki who wrote the statement is being targeted by the McCarthyist Left who are demanding that she be censored and silences. If you would like to help defend Mashriki against the McCarthyist attempts to silence her, send a Fax to her bosses at the Prosecutor's Office in Tel Aviv at FAX 972 -3- 6919108 and FAX: 972-3-6918541 with a copy to the Director of the Ministry of Justice:
2. This is not a Purim spoof. The son-in-law of Mister Judicial Activism, Aharon Barak, the Chief Justice of the Israeli Supreme Court, was under investigation in a corruption and bribery case, and just fled Israel a few steps ahead of the cops and has taken refuge from the law in Peru. Dan Cohen, the son-in-law, was a director at Israel's governmental electricity monopoly (you think he got that job through his family connections? huh?). Cohen is suspected of taking a bribe to allow a large international company to win a tender contract of the Israel Electic Company unfairly. 3. Red Graves:
Well, you know that things are really looking up when we have Vanessa Redgrave upset. Redgrave is a third-rate British airhead actress and aging bimbo who has long been active in British Trotsky-Trash organizations. She has taken particular pleasure in Bashing Jews and promoting Islamofascist terror and is an open anti-Semite. Redgrave makes Jane Fonda look like a moderate, and she makes Andrea Dworkin look cute. She got an Oscar once and turned the occasion into her own little intifada, while protesters outside burned her in effigy. In 1962, she became one of the first celebrities to visit Communist Cuba, where she was rumored to have had an affair with Fidel Castro. Redgrave is on Counterpunch today whining about the cancellation of the propaganda play about pro-terror activist Rachel Corrie, which the NY Theater Workshop backed out of showing. The play, which celebrates Palestinian terrorism and never mentions that the terrorists Rachel Corrie died protecting commit mass murders and atrocities, had earlier been staged in London. Redgrave demands that people sue the NY theater for backing out of staging the propaganda play. Here she is on Counterpunch: "This is censorship of the worst kind. More awful even than that. It is black-listing a dead girl and her diaries.... Rachel Corrie gave her life to protect a family. She didn't have or use a gun or bomb." (Cute, coming from an apologist for the world's worst totalitarian regimes.) No, Corrie just helped terrorists smuggle in guns and bombs to murder Jewish families. Frankly we think Voodoo-Doll Vanessa should be sent to live in Cuba or in North Korea, places that know a whole lot about Red Graves. http://antiprotester.blogspot.com/2006/03/vanessa-has-commie-conniption.html 4. March 7, 2006 Army 8, Yale 0 Yesterday the Supreme Court upheld a provision of a law called the Solomon Amendment, which conditions federal funding for colleges and universities on their providing military recruiters the same access they grant to other employers. The decision was no Solomonic compromise but a complete rout of the other-worldly professors who had challenged the law. Those professors, opponents of the Clinton-era law barring open homosexuals from military service, had claimed the Solomon Amendment violated their First Amendment rights by forcing them, as the Yale faculty put it in a friend-of-the-court brief, "to assist the military in telling some Yale Law students that they are not fit to serve in our country's armed forces because of their sexual orientation." Chief Justice John Roberts, in an 8-0 decision (Justice Samuel Alito joined too late to participate), laughed the free-speech claim out of court: "Congress, for example, can prohibit employers from discriminating in hiring on the basis of race. The fact that this will require an employer to take down a sign reading 'White Applicants Only' hardly means that the law should be analyzed as one regulating the employer's speech rather than conduct." And of course anti-military professors, unlike racist employers, are completely free to speak their minds on the subject. Yale can even show its disagreement with mainstream America, as it recently did, by admitting as a student a former senior official of Afghanistan's Taliban, a regime that treated homosexuals far more harshly than the U.S. military ever has. The Solomon Amendment only denies federal funding to schools that discriminate against the military, but the High Court went one step further: It held that Congress, under its Constitutional authority to "provide for the common Defence," "to raise and support Armies" and "to provide and maintain a Navy," could mandate that colleges and universities permit military recruiters on campus, whether they accept federal money or not. We hope Congress does not do so. If those who run America's institutions of higher education really have principled objections to the military's presence, let them take a stand by declining taxpayer money. Then the rest of us can find out how much their principles are worth. URL for this article:
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. Or contact him by email at splaut@econ.haifa.ac.il |
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SAUDI ARABIA WILL HOST ISRAEL BOYCOTT EVENT
Posted by Michael Freund, March 7, 2006. |
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Despite a promise made to Washington last November to drop its economic boycott of Israel, Saudi Arabia plans to host a major international conference next week aimed at promoting a continued trade embargo on the Jewish state, The Jerusalem Post has learned. The Post also found that the kingdom continues to prohibit entry to products made in Israel or to foreign-made goods containing Israeli components, in violation of pledges made by senior Saudi officials to the Bush administration last year. "Next week, we will hold the ninth annual meeting for the boycott of Israel here in Jidda," Ambassador Salem el-Honi, high commissioner of the Organization for the Islamic Conference's (OIC) Islamic Office for the Boycott of Israel, said in a telephone interview. "All 57 OIC member states will attend, and we will discuss coordination among the various offices to strengthen the boycott," he said, noting that the meeting is held every March. The OIC, consisting of 57 Muslim countries, is based in Jidda, as is its boycott office. Honi, a former Saudi diplomat, has headed the boycott office for the past four years. The scheduled gathering is listed on the OIC's official Web site in a section entitled "Provisional Calendar of Meetings." Hamed Salah a-Din, of the OIC General Secretariat, confirmed in a telephone interview that the conference would take place from March 13 to 15, describing it as "our regular annual meeting about the boycott." The Saudi decision to host the parley appears to run counter to assurances that Riyadh gave the Bush administration when Saudi Arabia was seeking entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO). On November 11, the WTO's ruling general council voted to grant Saudi Arabia entry into the prestigious group, which aims to promote international free trade, after it agreed to scrap restrictions on doing business with Israel. Christin Baker, the assistant US trade representative for public and media affairs, told the Post via e-mail that the US had "ensured that Saudi Arabia in its recent accession to the WTO has taken on all rights and obligations with respect to all WTO members, including Israel." " Saudi Arabia," she said, "did not invoke the non-application provisions of the WTO agreement with respect to any member," meaning that it must treat all members equally, "including Israel." Likewise, in hearings last month before the US Senate Finance Committee, US trade representative Rob Portman insisted that the Saudis "have a responsibility to treat Israel as any other member of the WTO." "We've received assurances from Saudi Arabia," Portman said in separate testimony before the US House of Representatives' Ways and Means Committee. "They will abide by their WTO commitments." Nonetheless, the Post has found, Saudi customs officials continue to enforce the boycott, asserting that no Israeli-made goods be allowed into the country. "Absolutely not -- if it is from Israel it is not allowed," Hamad Abdul Aziz of the Saudi Customs Department at Jidda's Islamic seaport said by phone. "I checked with my manager, and he said it is completely forbidden." Similarly, a Saudi customs official at King Abdul Aziz Airport outside Jidda also said that Israeli goods were not allowed into the kingdom. "It is prohibited," he said. "It is not allowed to bring any goods made in Israel, whether the whole item or only part of it was made there. That is the rule." In December, just weeks after being allowed into the WTO, Saudi officials were quoted in the Arab press as insisting that the boycott of Israel would continue. This has raised concerns in Washington that the Saudis are not planning to live up to their commitment. Baker revealed to the Post that "a team of anti-boycott experts from the US departments of Commerce and State has been visiting the region to discuss efforts to eliminate the boycott." She added that later this month, "a senior USTR official plans to visit Saudi Arabia and will again seek assurances that Saudi Arabia understands and remains committed to its WTO obligations." Contact Michael Freund at msfreund@netvision.net.il |
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WOMEN SURVIVE
Posted by Anita Tucker, March 6, 2006. |
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Please read below. Please take it very seriously. Please forward it to every address you have. PLEASE ACT ON IT! Thank you for caring,
Le'veeya (Lioness) -- an organization of mothers for unity in a secure land of Israel -- calls upon women throughout the country to unite: We the people of Israel, presently stand at a critical juncture in our fight for survival. The recent violent scenes of Jew versus Jew lay bare a painful split in our nation, an illness of disintegration that must be healed if we, as a people, are to endure. Like the people of Shushan before us, we confront potential obliteration, but unlike in Shushan, the enemy we now face is us. Women of Israel: Just as Queen Esther took personal responsibility for saving her people, we are compelled to do so today. Jewish women have been blessed by Hashem with an incredible internal power to affect Jewish life within our homes and without, and we are obligated to use this power to bring about Achdut -- Unity, to our nation. Therefore, as we approach Purim this year, we urge all women of Israel, of all factions, political affiliations, cultural backgrounds and religiosity, to follow Queen Esther's example, to join together as one and take action. Specifically, we urge all women to take upon themselves the following two mitzvot of Purim with genuine and extraordinary kavanah. Taanit Esther: Like Queen Esther before us, we urge all women to make a special effort to fast on this day, and to cry out to Hashem as Esther did to bring the about the yeshua of Achdut which we so need right now. We recommend recitation of Tehillim, and in particular, chapter 22, the chapter Queen Esther recited as she risked her life to approach King Achashverosh and plead for her people. We suggest that in communities where this is possible, women get together for half an hour or so to say Tehilim together. Mishloach Manot: In the spirit of "venahafoch hu", we urge all women to approach mishloah manot this year in a fundamentally different way. Specifically, we ask you to give at least two mishloach manot to individuals or families who are not in your usual religious, political and or cultural sphere. They can be people you have never met, the bus driver, the cashier at the supermarket, neighbors you have never spoken to. Our children too, can be encouraged to give Mishlochei Manot to children less popular in the class or kids in a poor neighborhood or, in Israel, the kids from Gush Katif who this Purim are not in their familiar homes with their communities celebrating Purim the way they know. What matters is that we use our G-d given internal powers of spirituality and connection to bridge the gaps and try and create Ahavat Yisrael on every level. And let us use our influence to activate others in this drive for unity and Ahavat Yisrael all over the globe. We urge you to send this on to at least 5 other women and any community activists to spread the word -- THIS YEAR, WE, AS WOMEN ARE GOING TO DO OUR HISHTADLUT TO BRIDGE THE GAPS AND DO AN ACT OF AHAVAT YISRAEL TO HEAL THE TEAR IN OUR NATION. May Hashem hear the cries of the women of Israel this Purim holiday, may He answer our tefillot and may He bless our efforts to restore Am Yisrael to its glory. AMEN! The Mothers of Le'veeya
Contact Anita Tucker at tucker.anita@gmail.com |
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RESPONSE TO KHALID MISH'AL
Posted by James E. Biga, March 6, 2006. |
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The head of the political bureau of Hamas, Khalid Mish'al, had a commentary posted in the Guardian on Tuesday, January 31st. The title, "We will not sell our people or principles for foreign aid" is all you need to know what follows. The opening sentence -- "The Palestinians are among the most politicized and educated peoples in the world" -- provides the initial salvo and continues to launch political duds. Being pro-Israel, I had to prepare myself to read, what I knew to be typical, anti-Israeli, anti-western screed. Mr. Mish'al was about to tell me how the "Palestinians" were righteous and the rest of us are inferior dogs. I knew he wouldn't use these words exactly. He would dodge and parry legitimate arguments. He would try to explain democracy to the democratic world. It's the equivalent of being a shoe salesman and explaining business to Bill Gates. Mr. Mish'al accuses "the worlds leading democracies of failing the test of democracy because they have not recognized the legitimacy of Hamas as a freely elected representative of the Palestinian people". What Mr. Mish'al misses is we do recognize Hamas' electoral legitimacy. We recognize the fact that the "Palestinian people" elected a known terrorist organization as its representative. Every action has a reaction. This bit of information not only comes from our parents and teachers, it has been proven throughout history. Had the proper reaction been taken 70 years ago, Nazism would have been killed before it got a chance to start. Had the proper response been given in 1948, the problems in the Middle East would be entirely different. Had countries recognized Israel as a partner on the world stage, there would have been no refugees. Had countries decided to deal diplomatically and in business with Israel, the current situation would never have been given a chance to rise. But, the reaction given has been proven to be the wrong one. The sad part is, in defeating the invading armies; Israel exposed the weakness in the Arab and Persian world. Their pride was sorely beaten. Instead of taking a serious look inward and correcting their faults, they flaunted them and have made their faults their ideology. Their shortcomings are the banner they wave as they go into continuous battle with the country that exposed them. Mr. Mish'al states that "We are being punished simply for resisting oppression and striving for justice." I would ask why he hasn't responded to the past injustices done to them by Jordan and Egypt. How many Arab and Muslim countries kicked out the "Palestinian refugees"? The same countries that now financially support and provide aid are the ones that don't want you in their country. Even after the initial defeat, there was a possibility to achieve peace. Leaving Israel in their tiny sliver of land caused no financial hardship on anyone. Opening business relations with them could have made the Middle East a very prosperous place. Instead, hatred was chosen. Instead of working to correct problems, the "Palestinians" live by them. The Arab and Muslim world support this. Leftist and other elitists support this. Hatred is a very powerful weapon. In the end it usually kills the hater, but not before it takes out quite a few innocents. Mr. Mish'al also brags about the "...Thousands of martyrs", "...the millions of refugees", and the "... 9,000 political and war prisoners in Israeli jails have not made these sacrifices in order to settle for close to nothing." The martyrs that have been sacrificed were your potential country's future. How much anguish and despair was caused by the useless loss of life. How much hatred had to be developed in order to attain eternal bliss with 72 virgins? When did thousands turn into millions? And of the so-called millions of refugees, how many were actually alive in 1948? This is just another prevarication to get new sympathy. As for the prisoners, the sacrifice was for far worse than close to nothing. It was for nothing. They were tools used to keep a certain ideological group in power. This keeps the money flowing to the true oppressors. The "Palestinian people" have no one to blame but themselves. They have sacrificed to achieve nothing. Worse yet, they are continuing to destroy themselves and take great joy in this. "Hamas is immune to bribery, intimidation and blackmail." This one made me laugh. Not a funny laugh, but a cynically disgusted laugh. Hamas is under the control of anyone who provides money. I would assume that the biggest contributor now is Iran. This makes them openly bribed and blackmailed. If they decide to bite the hand that feeds them they will receive more than intimidation. Being elected doesn't negate this responsibility to their sponsors. Iran is progressively pushing their brand of government through the Middle East. Using a similar enemy, Israel, and a similar result, Islamic Law, they will continue to use and manipulate anyone to their cause. Hamas is now the little fish in the big sea. In order to stay alive, they will have to concede to the desires of the big fish around them. Mr. Mish'al is talking the big game while he hopes not to have to get off the bench. A cliché in the United States covers this pretty well. "If you can't run with the big dogs, don't get off the porch." Mr. Mish'al then states that he expects the Muslim and Arab nations to step in and make up the difference in the loss of aid and then demands that these same countries lift all restrictions on civil society institutions that fundraise for the Palestinian cause. Big talk from a little man usually gets him knocked out. In this case, countries will probably do what is asked. This won't last for long. When the money slows down, the blame will be fully tossed onto the shoulders of the west. Mr. Mish'al's demands are more of the same old rhetoric. Mr. Mish'al ends with the standard Middle Eastern contradiction. "We shall never recognize the legitimacy of a Zionist state created on our soil" followed by "But if you are willing to accept the principle of a long-term truce, we are prepared to negotiate the terms." Even novice knowledge of the Koran and its Hadith's realize what a truce represents to the Muslim world. The fact that they don't recognize Israel's legitimacy shines light on the end result of the truce. The word jizya is making the rounds. This doesn't bode well for non-Muslims. It also doesn't bode well if Israel does get sucked into the reign of a Caliphate. Diplomacy has not worked. Talking only gives countries an opportunity to build up their forces and prepare for the inevitable war. The western world wants peace. The Muslim world wants an Islamic Caliphate. These ideas cannot live together. Men with similar ideas have a hard time dealing with each other. Men with dissimilar ideas will eventually face a confrontation. Whether it is now or in the not so distant future, the face to face confrontation is coming. Better now, when the odds are in the favor of the people who seek to live in peace, than later, when the caliphate is on the rise. More Khalid Mish'al
Khalid Mish'al informs a Russian newsgroup that "armed struggle" would continue against Israel until they withdraw from occupied lands. What does Hamas consider to be occupied lands? Any land that an Israeli lives on. Based on the Hamas charter: "Israel will rise and will remain erect until Islam eliminates it as it had eliminated its predecessors." Mr. Mish'al plays a semantical game with the word occupied which appeals to the western apologists. However, also in the charter is: "Israel, by virtue of its being Jewish and of having a Jewish population, defies Islam and the Muslims." Occupation or not, Jews are the enemy of Islam and must be destroyed. How do I know this battle will continue? In the same charter: "There is no solution to the Palestinian problem except by Jihad." Ignoring the Hamas charter is the equivalent of ignoring the loaded gun pointed at your head. Russia has decided to step forward and try to "persuade" Hamas to accept the existence of Israel. This is nothing more than political tit-for-tat. The US has been hard on the Russian dealing with Chechnya. In return, Russia will try to put the finger in the eye of the US with the "Palestinians". Mr. Mish'al is a continually passing blame onto Israel while deflecting any blame on the "Palestinians". Based on the Hamas charter, this is to be expected. Jews defy Islam, therefore, all problems in the world are a result of the Zionist entity controlling and manipulating everything. Mr. Mish'al is a certifiable nut job. He spews hatred and insanity in the name of a people. Mr. Mish'al is in the same realm with Mr. Ahmadinejad. They are hateful, ignorant men in positions of power that have placed themselves above their movements. As of now, they have usurped their people's authority. At some point they will pay the ultimate price. Benjamin Netanyahu appears to be the only Israeli politician that has grasped the affect of the Hamas victory. My question is, will he confront Hamas or will he fall back to the political answers that will lead to the destruction of Israel. I believe, given a second chance, Mr. Netanyahu will not back down or give into US or European pressure. I also believe that he rightly sees the threat that is now at his backdoor. I will end with the misrepresentations that apologists and the media provide. The article on ynetnews.com is titled Hamas: "We'll end violence if Israel withdraws." What Mr. Mish'al really said was: "But if Israel recognizes our rights and commits itself to leaving all occupied lands, then Hamas as well as the Palestinian people will take a decision to halt armed resistance." The cards are all in the hands of Hamas. Who defines what the rights are? Hamas. Who defines the occupied lands? Hamas. Even if all these are met, then Hamas and the Palestinian people will TAKE a decision. Hamas does not recognize "the Road Map" nor does it recognize the Oslo Accords. Hamas will only recognize Hamas. They have deflected the blame from themselves onto the Israeli's. Israel has tried it's best to live up to the Road Map all the while being attacked. Pulling out from settlements has led to the belief that the Jihad has worked. Although Hamas has to know better, they will use every bit of manipulated propaganda that they can. The recent election had more to do with perceived victory than it did about building roads. Fatah is considered weak. Hamas is not. Mr. Mish'al will continue to trumpet Hamas until he and his organization have been properly dealt with. Mish'al and Jerusalem In the latest ynetnews.com story on Khalid Mish'al, the politburo chief states "Our mission is to liberate Jerusalem and purify the al-Aqsa mosque." This is another deliberate statement that will be ignored by the mainstream press, elitists, and apologists. He has continued the anti-Israel rhetoric and now came forth with the takeover of Jerusalem. This is a man that follows the Hamas charter to the letter. How do they plan on taking over Jerusalem? By Jihad of course. "We tell our people -- the crowd gathered here supports our Jihad way and resistance". He said this to a group of Sudanese in Khartoum. I am of the belief that Mr. Mish'al will soon become a liability and be dealt with internally. However, If I am wrong, this is a man that needs to be taken at his word and dealt with severely. If Hamas decides to deal with him the blame will be passed to Israel anyway. This man seems to be the lone voice of Hamas. I have not heard anyone from within Hamas rebutting any of his hate filled comments. What this man believes and spews is hatred. Mr. Mish'al seems to think that worldwide Muslim support of Hamas will stop the western world from dealing with them in the manner they need to be dealt with: "they will see the Muslims' support from all over the world and stop the threats and manipulations." Mr. Mish'al may not have a physical arsenal but he has a verbal one. As long as this man continues along, more and more radicals will come out of the woodworks. More people will be willing to blow themselves up in the name of Allah. The threat he and his organization represent will receive funding from states that fear repercussions. The "Palestinian People" did not vote for roads and buildings, they voted on a perceived victory over Israel. Mr. Mish'al has stated this at every speech he has given. The withdrawals have been used as propaganda for Hamas. The "Palestinian People" now have a bigger false hope than they had with Arafat and Abbas. By what is written in this article, anti-Semitism is back as a worldwide phenomenon. "The crowd on hand urged Mish'al not to recognize Israel and called out chants for the destruction of Israel." It would appear that we are on the verge of another kristalnacht. These chants have been heard all around the world. Jihad and the homicide bomber are the modern tools of the coward. The people that use these tools do not want a peaceful world. They want domination. As I see it, Israel has two options. One, appease Hamas. Set up deals, send money and aid, and help Hamas take full control of the Palestinian Authority. This includes working with Abbas. He is surely nothing more than a puppet now, as if were anything else before. This will allow Hamas to become stronger and ultimately lead to a confrontation with Israel. Hamas is patient, they will sit back and wait for the right moment in which to attack and then Israel will cease to exist and they will have to find someone else to blame for the failures in the Arab world. Second, attack now. Quit giving land for an unachievable peace. Destroy your enemies before they destroy you. Quit playing games with the lives of your people. Take your head out of the sand before it is too late. Mr. Mish'al represents evil. He believes in a god of death. He believes in a god that sacrifices children in order to kill a Jew. He believes in a god of war. He believes in a god that would sacrifice a people's future in order to attain modern domination. Sorry. That's not the God I worship. I don't believe that is the God that led the Jews out of Egypt. If this is to be a religious war then so be it. Jerusalem belongs to God's people, The descendants of Isaac, not Ishmael. Contact James Biga at jebiga88@aol.com These articles appeared on OpinionsEditorials.com (www.opinioneditorials.com/freedomwriters/jbiga_20060215.html) |
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MATANOT L'EVYONIM -- PURIM TZEDAKA
Posted by Sori Tropper, March 6, 2006. |
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Dear Friend, I've been involved with Yad Eliezer since 1981. I've visited Israel just about every year since then, and have spent countless hours with both the givers and the recipients of Yad Eliezer's assistance to the poor. My most recent trip taught me that while I thought I had seen it all, I had not. Let me share with you just a glimpse of the poverty that exists in Israel today. Ori Segev is an immigrant from Argentina. She left, penniless, after that country experience a huge economic upheaval. Ori married in Israel and now has a family. Her career, teaching Brazilian martial arts, gives her a tiny income. Her husband is unemployed. Ori has a lovely little baby daughter who was born with a rare syndrome and a cleft palette. Her name is Hallel and she requires special formula that needs to be delivered via a tube every two hours. The hospital where Hallel was born graciously lent them an electric feeding machine, but Ori is unable to afford the electricity for the machine or the infant formula (Enfamil AR). Ori's hospital social worker asked Yad Eliezer to provide formula for the baby and food for the rest of the family and the Segevs joined the thousands of families who receive your help. Purim is a wonderful holiday. It is a day that intertwines happiness and tzedaka so intensely that they become one. We celebrate by making others happy! Every dollar given to Yad Eliezer for Matanot Levyonim is distributed on Purim. In the merit of this tzedaka, may you be blessed with good health, with happiness and with the continued ability to care. Sincerely,
P.S. You can read more about our activities at an article recently featured at aish.com: http://www.aish.com/jewishissues/israeldiary/Loves_Pantry.asp |
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DIFFERENCES BETWEEN IRAQ AND VIETNAM; BEHIND THE RHETORIC; MISTRUST
OF ISLAM
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, March 6, 2006. |
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WHOM DO EURO-ISLAMISTS PICK ON? Islamists have been rioting against more liberal European states rather than against more Christian ones. Perhaps they hate hedonism more than a rival religion that at least adheres to monotheism. W. Europe's anti-Americanism and opposition to the Iraq war has not spared it from Muslim attack. The question is whether Europe sticks with appeasement or works with the US and builds a military capable of defending itself. Europe realizes that its nuclear weapons are no deterrent, because its attackers hide among populations in distant places (Winston Mid East Analysis, 2/15 from Victor Hanson Davis). We await the Democrats' reaction when and if W. Europe admits that Pres. Bush's initial policy of war on terrorism was wise. It certainly was the right idea to overthrow, and democratize if possible, states that support terrorists, who hit, run, and hide. Europe's alternative is to declare that it would retaliate against all Islamist states if attacked by terrorists. It would need neutron bombs for that. However, the West does not have the cold-bloodedness to do that. The West had better analyze the problem. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN VIETNAM & IRAQ We fled from Iraq, and were not pursued. The Islamist enemy in Iraq would pursue us and in fact already is amongst us (and teaches many of our college youth). The Soviet Union was less dangerous than the Islamists, with whom mutual deterrence doesn't work. In Iraq, the US removed a tyrant and gave the people the opportunity to pick the regime (Bernard Lewis in Jewish Political Chronicle, 1/2006 p.24 from Wall St. J, 12/13). Did the Iraqi people pick an equally bad regime, an Islamist one? There ought to be a national debate in the US on this, because journalists assert opinions about it without each coming to grips with the others' arguments. RETURN OF THE COLD WAR The US has done much to irritate Russia. US assistance to democratic movements in former Soviet satellites can be justified, but Russian resentment against it cannot be, for it is nostalgia for imperialist control. These US efforts and a US failure to help Russia defeat Chechen Islamism lead to Russian suspicion that the US seeks to carve out its own influence. Russia wants to resume great power status and become the mediator and a Mideast arms supplier. It is returning to the Cold War (IMRA, 2/15). The US needs free, democratic and peaceful countries and free trade, not spheres of influence. IRAN TAKES ANOTHER STEP TOWARDS NUCLEAR WAR The government of Iran has been seeking religious sanction for its movement towards nuclear arming and warfare. Hitherto, the religious establishment has thought nuclear warfare incompatible with Islamic law. Now, however, a pro-government cleric suggested that it is compatible for deterrence and retaliation when many countries possess nuclear weapons. This suggestion is just an opening position (IMRA, 2/16). Islamic clerics always seem to come around, or not object, to horrendous tactics in the name of the faith. Their rulings often contain caveats that are ignored. The idea is to get the main principle recognized and the exceptions forgotten. In the same way, Israel broaches its diplomatic positions. For example, PM Sharon accepted the Road Map with 14 important reservations. He never mentioned them again. They became a dead letter. Jihadists rationalize their actions to make them seem consistent with Western ethical principles. Their "ethical" code holds that Islamic ends justify any means. They rationalize to defuse outside criticism and any rallying against jihad. One favorite rationalization of the Arabs is that their enemy is the aggressor in defending itself from Arab attacks where the Arabs consider themselves the rightful owners on the basis of their religious supremacist belief. Iran may launch an atomic attack and call it self-defense. The President of Iran indicated he would initiate nuclear attack. WHEN BUSH SAVES TAX DOLLARS, AMERICANS PAY Birth defects and other diseases have multiplied in the animal kingdom. The other species are not getting them from eating too much sugar and a sedentary life style. Then humans probably aren't either. Some of the effects last more than one generation. Scientists have traced these interferences in physical and mental development to pollutants that degrade glands and germ cells. These chemicals are extremely powerful, but new chemical compounds may be sold without having been tested. The scientists strove, against well-funded industry opposition, to devise a testing protocol. There are questions whether safe amounts of two endocrine inhibitors add up to an unsafe amount, and whether certain classes of chemicals should be banned, once a few of them are found unsafe, without having to test each one individually. Industry representatives try to get rejected as inapplicable to humans the results from testing animals, but tests on humans are considered inhumane. Catch-22. Some companies deny any harm, while others are removing certain chemicals. "In 2003, 2204, and 2005, the Bush administration tried to cut all EPA funding for independent scientists who do endocrine-disruptor research. While these efforts failed, the total budget for those three years was still less than $15 million." (By contrast, Japan recently spent $135 million on a research program that has identified some 70 chemicals as endocrine disruptors.) (OnEarth, Winter 2006, p.20.) Don't sell untested chemicals! IS THIS PART OF AN ANTI-ISRAEL CONSPIRACY? Sharon's Finance Minister Ehud Olmert, and director of Israel's central bank, Stanley Fisher, sold a 9.99% share of government-owned Bank Leumi to a Jewish sounding, foreign corporation, with an option to buy another 10%, giving it a controlling interest. This corporation had made no other transactions. Its ownership was traced to Dan Quayle, the former Vice-President of Pres. Bush, Sr. and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Barry Chamish, who has traced other conspiracies, sees in this deal a conspiracy by the Council on Foreign Relations and Pres. Bush's circle to control Israel financially (so it could bend that country to its will, which means appeasement of the Arabs). By itself, the deal seems innocuous. However, the price that was paid was so excessive, that the Israeli banking industry was shocked. Businessmen usually seek to get a bargain, not give one. Mr. Fisher was brought in to that position of dominance over Israeli finance from the World Bank, which favors the Arabs over Israel. Not long before, Edgar Bronfman's son Matthew, bought a 6% share in the Israel Discount Bank, with an option to buy another 25%. If the option were exercised, that member of the Council on Foreign Relations would possess a controlling share of that major Israeli bank (Chamish, 2/20). Put all that together, and these appeasement-minded Jews control much of Israel, because Israeli banks, at least when I last checked, hold stock in other industries. ISRAELI VOTERS HAVE NO CHOICE ABOUT OSLO Every Israeli political party more or less endorses Oslo. That is, all stand for Oslo-like appeasement. Israeli voters have no choice (Prof. Steven Plaut, 2/16). Israelis cannot vote for individual candidates, only for parties. The parties are controlled by bosses who put themselves at the head of their slates, guaranteeing their own re-election regardless of how little support their party has. The bosses march to a different drummer from the people. The bosses are appeasement-minded or corrupted. MISTRUST OF ISLAM GROWING In the past month, about 45 people were killed by the Muslim protests over Danish cartoons. The Prime Minister of Malaysia warned that fear and mistrust of Islam is growing in the West by the day (NY Sun, 2/21, p.6). The Prime Minister probably would attribute it to Western bigotry. I would attribute it to riots, war, and threats, due to Eastern bigotry. 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@aol.com. |
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WAFA SULTAN: BETWEEN BARBARITY AND RATIONALITY
Posted by Naomi Ragen, March 6, 2006. |
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Friends, I wrote you about this interview, which can be seen courtesy of Memri. But then I thought, some of you perhaps didn't go see it, or have older computers,etc. etc. Because I think that no more important words have been spoken than those of Arab-American psychologist Wafa Sultan, I'm sending out the transcript of this interview. Please read it.Then read it again (the last paragraph is the best). Then print it out and hang in in your synagogues, churches and mosques (because that's where they need it most). I like it so much, I think I'll send it out every few months, as a reminder, to help keep us safe from fuzzy thinking, and self-haters, and Third-Worlders, and movie star liberals, and newsmen, and other tragically and criminally clueless members of the embattled West who are ready to give up and give in and help us all lie down in front of the bulldozing barbarism of our age. Again, thank you Memri! http://www.memritv.org/Transcript.asp?P1=1050
Arab-American Psychologist Wafa Sultan: There Is No Clash of
Civilizations but a Clash between the Mentality of the
Middle Ages and That of the 21st Century
Following are excerpts from an interview with Arab-American
psychologist Wafa Sultan. The interview was aired on
Al-Jazeera TV on February 21, 2006
Naomi
Wafa Sultan: The clash we are witnessing around the world is not a clash of religions, or a clash of civilizations. It is a clash between two opposites, between two eras. It is a clash between a mentality that belongs to the Middle Ages and another mentality that belongs to the 21st century. It is a clash between civilization and backwardness, between the civilized and the primitive, between barbarity and rationality. It is a clash between freedom and oppression, between democracy and dictatorship. It is a clash between human rights, on the one hand, and the violation of these rights, on other hand. It is a clash between those who treat women like beasts, and those who treat them like human beings. What we see today is not a clash of civilizations. Civilizations do not clash, but compete. Host: I understand from your words that what is happening today is a clash between the culture of the West, and the backwardness and ignorance of the Muslims? Wafa Sultan: Yes, that is what I mean. [...] Host: Who came up with the concept of a clash of civilizations? Was it not Samuel Huntington? It was not Bin Laden. I would like to discuss this issue, if you don't mind... Wafa Sultan: The Muslims are the ones who began using this expression. The Muslims are the ones who began the clash of civilizations. The Prophet of Islam said: "I was ordered to fight the people until they believe in Allah and His Messenger." When the Muslims divided the people into Muslims and non-Muslims, and called to fight the others until they believe in what they themselves believe, they started this clash, and began this war. In order to start this war, they must reexamine their Islamic books and curricula, which are full of calls for takfir and fighting the infidels. My colleague has said that he never offends other people's beliefs. What civilization on the face of this earth allows him to call other people by names that they did not choose for themselves? Once, he calls them Ahl Al-Dhimma, another time he calls them the "People of the Book," and yet another time he compares them to apes and pigs, or he calls the Christians "those who incur Allah's wrath." Who told you that they are "People of the Book"? They are not the People of the Book, they are people of many books. All the useful scientific books that you have today are theirs, the fruit of their free and creative thinking. What gives you the right to call them "those who incur Allah's wrath," or "those who have gone astray," and then come here and say that your religion commands you to refrain from offending the beliefs of others? I am not a Christian, a Muslim, or a Jew. I am a secular human being. I do not believe in the supernatural, but I respect others' right to believe in it. Dr. Ibrahim Al-Khouli: Are you a heretic? Wafa Sultan: You can say whatever you like. I am a secular human being who does not believe in the supernatural... Dr. Ibrahim Al-Khouli: If you are a heretic, there is no point in rebuking you, since you have blasphemed against Islam, the Prophet, and the Koran... Wafa Sultan: These are personal matters that do not concern you. [...] Wafa Sultan: Brother, you can believe in stones, as long as you don't throw them at me. You are free to worship whoever you want, but other people's beliefs are not your concern, whether they believe that the Messiah is God, son of Mary, or that Satan is God, son of Mary. Let people have their beliefs. [...] Wafa Sultan: The Jews have come from the tragedy (of the Holocaust), and forced the world to respect them, with their knowledge, not with their terror, with their work, not their crying and yelling. Humanity owes most of the discoveries and science of the 19th and 20th centuries to Jewish scientists. 15 million people, scattered throughout the world, united and won their rights through work and knowledge. We have not seen a single Jew blow himself up in a German restaurant. We have not seen a single Jew destroy a church. We have not seen a single Jew protest by killing people. The Muslims have turned three Buddha statues into rubble. We have not seen a single Buddhist burn down a Mosque, kill a Muslim, or burn down an embassy. Only the Muslims defend their beliefs by burning down churches, killing people, and destroying embassies. This path will not yield any results. The Muslims must ask themselves what they can do for humankind, before they demand that humankind respect them. 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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PLEASE LIGHT A CANDLE FOR ILAN HALIMI
Posted by Mordechai Ben-Menachem, March 6, 2006. |
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Ilan Halimi, the 23 year old Jew brutally tortured and killed in Paris by the new Nazis, Islamic barbarians filled with anti -- Semitic hatred, must not be forgotten. He was a front-line soldier in the war we Jews now wage all over the world to protect ourselves and our families from those who would take up the cause of Hitler. Please light a virtual candle in his memory by going to the following website: http://www.col.fr/bougies/. All over the world, decent people should be taking to the streets to express their outrage at the new onslaught on Jews and civilization. That is not happening. The total absence of official European reactions, either at an institutional and/or mass media and public opinion level, and foremost the absence of a collective reaction from the part of the European civil community -- or the worldwide Jewish community -- to this racially motivated homicide in the heart of Europe, is something that leaves us numb and without words. Let it be made absolutely clear. This barbarism is French barbarism. This is not the first incident of this nature. It is simply the first that they allowed to be published. France needs to learn, if you allow your Jews to be barbarised, you, the French, will follow very shortly. History never lies, it just repeats. This article is called. It was written by Nidra Poller and it appeared in the Wall Street Journal February 23, 2006. Nidra Poller is an American novelist who has lived in Paris since 1972.
PARIS -- Last week, a 23-year-old man initially identified as "Ilan" was found by a passerby stumbling in a field near the railroad tracks in the Essonne region south of Paris. Handcuffed, naked, with four-fifths of his body covered with bruises, stab wounds and serious burns, Ilan died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. Soon after, police provided more details. The victim had been kidnapped Jan. 20 and held for 24 days by a gang from the banlieues, the poor suburban projects that ring the French capital, who eluded capture while repeatedly contacting Ilan's family with ransom demands. The police suspect the group was involved in other kidnapping attempts in the last two months that used young women as bait. Several of the targeted men worked, as Ilan did, in the small cell phone shops along Boulevard Voltaire in the mixed 11th arrondissement of Paris. In another case, a suspicious father replaced his son for a meeting with a girl who claimed to be a singer, and fell into the hands of masked men who tried to capture him but ran away when someone called the police. Throughout Ilan's disappearance, the police handled his case as a straightforward kidnap for ransom. The discovery of his body, bearing signs of barbaric torture over an extended period of time, raised serious doubts about this hypothesis. Later, a policeman admitted to the press that he and his colleagues were baffled by the gang's erratic behavior. Ransom demands went up to ₣400,000, dropped to ₣100,000 one day, ₣5,000 another. The kidnappers called off several pickup arrangements, acting like amateurs, but were highly sophisticated in using untraceable emails and cell phones. Yet one detail was consistently played down by the investigators and missing from the early media reporting on the killing. The victim, whose full name is Ilan Halimi, was Jewish. Most of the men targeted in other kidnapping attempts were Jewish. Most members of the gang who allegedly carried out the crime are Muslims, whose families come from the Maghreb or sub-Saharan Africa and live in the very sort of neighborhoods that went up in flames during three weeks of nationwide rioting last fall. Jewish community leaders like Roger Cukierman, president of the Conseil Representatif des Institutions Juives de France, an umbrella group for the country's 600,000 Jews, cautioned against hasty conclusions and unreasonable panic. But French Jews have become sensitive to a well-documented rise in violent Muslim anti-Semitism over the past five years and saw anti-Semitism as the missing link in this senseless crime. After all, Ilan's family is simple and modest. Ruth Halimi, who is divorced from Ilan's father, works as a receptionist. Why else, people are asking, would Ilan be tortured so cruelly for so long? No other motive, aside from sheer hatred, is apparent. After Ilan was found on Feb. 13, the pieces started to fall into place quickly. When the police put out a sketch of a blond woman who had tried to bait other young men in similar circumstances as Ilan Halimi's, Audrey Lorleach turned herself in. She led police to a housing project in Bagneux, a suburb in Hauts-de-Seine. Fifteen suspects in the Halimi murder, who call their gang the "Barbarians," were brought into custody. Youssouf Fofana, who refers to himself (in English) as the "Brain of the Barbarians," is the apparent ringleader. He is on the run and, investigators suspect, hiding in northern Ivory Coast, the birthplace of his parents. The girl who entrapped Ilan Halimi, who was also on the run, may be among the three people arrested in Aix-en-Provence Tuesday. Ilan was held prisoner and abused in an apartment and later a utility room in the cellar in one of the project buildings. Both were lent to the gang by the concierge, who is also now in custody. Some in the gang were known delinquents. Mr. Fofana, who is 26, had served time for armed robbery. But another member was in on-the-job training in the IT service of a French TV station. In initial statements to the press, Public Prosecutor Jean-Claude Marin and various police officials stuck to their hypothesis that money was the motive for the crime, not anti-Semitism. They noted that Ilan Halimi had been tortured as if the gang were following "a known scenario." Photos of Ilan, naked, with a sack on his head and a gun pointed at his temple were emailed to family members suggesting, according to the police, "scenes of torture at Abu Ghraib." As it turns out, the beheading of Daniel Pearl or Iraqi snuff films are the better comparison. An anonymous police detective quoted in Monday's edition of Liberation said: "It's simply that, for those criminals, Jew equals money." Later that same day, investigating magistrate Corinne Goetzmann detained seven of the suspects on charges of kidnapping, sequestration, torture, acts of barbarism and premeditated murder in an organized gang. They will also be charged with targeting the victim on the basis of his religion, French for hate crime, which carries a stiffer penalty. Justice Minister Pascal Clement explained that the charge of anti-Semitism was based on the fact that one of the suspects had declared to the judge that they picked a Jew because Jews are supposed to be rich. But, according to reports in the French press, some of the suspects in police custody said that they tortured Ilan with particular cruelty simply because he was Jewish. No longer able to deny or play down the racial motive, the investigation is entering a new phase. One of the most troubling aspects of this affair is the probable involvement of relatives and neighbors, beyond the immediate circle of the gang, who were told about the Jewish hostage and dropped in to participate in the torture. Ilan's uncle Rafi Halimi told reporters that the gang phoned the family on several occasions and made them listen to the recitation of verses from the Quran, while Ilan's tortured screams could be heard in the background. The family has publicly criticized the police for deliberately ignoring the explicit anti-Semitic motives, which were repeatedly expressed and should have dictated an entirely different approach to the case from the start. Police searches have now revealed the presence of Islamist literature in the home of at least one of the gang members. The highest echelons of the French government are now preoccupied with the murder of Ilan Halimi. Paris is well aware that the case threatens France's international reputation, but far more than that is at stake. Once again, as in the suburban riots of 2005, the country is forced to come face to face with the criminalized, alienated and racist Muslim youth and their adult enablers in its midst. Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin declared, in a long speech delivered at the annual dinner of the CRIF, that this heinous crime was anti-Semitic, and that anti-Semitism is not acceptable in France. He promised that the perpetrators would be captured and punished. Two French policemen were sent to the Ivory Coast with an international warrant to arrest Mr. Fofana who flew there on a one-way ticket on Feb. 15, the day that his photo appeared in Le Figaro. A delegation of the CRIF and members of the Halimi family on Tuesday met with Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy. The murder of Ilan Halimi invites comparison with the November 2003 killing of a Jewish disc jockey, Sebastien Selam. His Muslim neighbor, Adel, slit his throat, nearly decapitating him, and gouged out his eyes with a carving fork in his building's underground parking garage. Adel came upstairs with bloodied hands and told his mother, "I killed my Jew, I will go to paradise." In the two years before his murder, the Selam family was repeatedly harassed for being Jewish. The Selam case has not been opened by the magistrate. The murderer, who admits his guilt, was placed in a psychiatric hospital, and may be released soon. The initial response to the kidnapping of Ilan Halimi suggested a comparably selective ignorance. But many things have changed in French society in the past two years. Then, faced with the new tide of anti-Semitism, the Jewish community was left alone with its distress and at times even accused of being justifiably targeted because of its support for Israel. Today the government has apparently decided that the barbarous hatred unleashed against one Jewish man is a threat to all of France. Mordechai Ben-Menachem is at Ben-Gurion University. He can be reached by email at quality@computer.org |
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THE ARCHITECTURE OF ANTI-SEMITISM. PLEASE HELP BLOCK ROGERS!
Posted by Steven Plaut, March 6, 2006. |
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1. Meet architectural anti-Semite Lord Richard Rogers, the British architect supervising the redesign of the Jacob Javits Center (www.richardrogers.co.uk/render.aspx?siteID=1&navIDs=1,2). Rogers is a typical product of the British snooty class, one who has never met a murderer of Jews he does not justify. He was the central figure in the "Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine," a group of 60 prominent British architects who have called for a boycott of Israel until it completely capitulates to the demands of Arab terrorists. (see feeds.israelnews.net/?rid=b0f1ca9fe972ca1b&cat=f81a4d9d561822ee&f=1) It is part of a movement by British anti-Semitic architects to delegitimize Israel (www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/060210/2006021022.html). The "justice in Palestine" they seek is for the Jews to be tossed into the sea (http://www.ejpress.org/article/5868 ). Last month, the organization issued a statement calling for a boycott of Israel and compared West Bank building firms to those that worked in South Africa during the apartheid era. It has endeavored to paint Israel as just another apartheid regime, even though Israel is the only state in the Middle East that is NOT an apartheid regime. Group leader Rogers has been quoted as saying that he supported "targeted activities" against Israel. Now I think the time has come for some targeted activity against Rogers, especially since he is trying to become the architect for some work at the Javits Center in New York City, a Center named for a prominent Zionist Jewish Senator. New York state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Rep. Anthony Weiner have each demanded Rogers be dropped from the project. Weiner, a Brooklyn Democrat, released a letter Friday to the Empire State Development Corp. calling for Rogers' contract to be rescinded. Javits, a Republican, represented New York in the U.S. House and Senate from 1954 to 1981. He died in 1986. The Javits project Rogers is trying to win is a 1.7 billion dollar project. (http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/396329p-335950c.html ) Rogers' other works include the Georges Pompidou Center in Paris and THAT atrocity alone would be more than enough reason to boycott him! Silver, who had already urged both the ESDC and Gov. George Pataki to sever ties with Rogers, sent a letter to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg Friday urging him to discontinue Rogers' participation in the redevelopment of the East River waterfront. Rogers suddenly claims he has backed off his promotion of a boycott of Israel, but he is lying or at most posturing until he gets the contract. Interviewed for "NewsForum" on WNBC, Elie Wiesel, the Holocaust memoirist and Nobel laureate, said Rogers "should disqualify himself" from city projects. (http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/396628p-336183c.html) Do me a favor. Take a minute and fax ro email the Empire State Development Corporation and urge that Rogers be canned from the Javits project. No projects for anti-Semites! They can be reached at Phone: (800) STATE-NY (800.782.8369), Fax: (212) 803-3735, Email: esd@empire.state.ny.us Empire State Development Corporation 633 3RD Ave
To send a congratulations message and encouragement to Weiner, his web page is at http://www.house.gov/weiner/ and ditto for Sheldon Silver: http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/?ad=064 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. Or contact him by email at splaut@econ.haifa.ac.il |
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ALWAYS DARKEST BEFORE THE DAWN
Posted by Gary S., March 6, 2006. |
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This was written by Stan Goodenough and it appeared in The Watchman, March 2, 2006 (www.stangoodenough.com/2006/03/02/ always-darkest-before-the-dawn/). God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God shall help her, just at the break of dawn. The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved; He uttered His voice, the earth melted. The LORD of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge. -- Psalm 46:5-7 Never, in the total 18 years I have lived in Israel, not even in the midst of the hellish Oslo War ("Second Intifada") when buses were blowing up around us and tank fire at Bethlehem was shaking the walls of our apartment, have things looked as bleak and as desperate for this nation as they do today. And from what is being expressed here in Israel -- it is the sense of a great many Jews that their country is poised to enter the darkest stretch so far in the long dark night she has experienced since the brief light of hope flickered with her rebirth in 1948. Thirteen years after Oslo flared, crashed and burned, setting the precedent for the "Road Map" and the "Two-State Vision" -- all of which directly contributed to the explosive growth of Hamas -- the nation of Israel is confronting a reality most its people desperately hoped would never materialize for them. They are learning -- though still too slowly -- that it matters not how much they give, how sincere they are, and how many risks they are willing to take. In the heart of the Muslim Arab lies no fertile ground for peace. The threats -- looming and lingering for so long -- are mushrooming now, coming on thick and fast. It seems there is nowhere to turn; nowhere for the Jews to go; no escape route; no way out. Like a boa constrictor, the menace lies in concentric, crushing circles around this tiny little land. The further its coils extend, the greater the peril they pose. INSIDE ISRAEL The inner circle is right here in Israel, the threat coming from Israeli Jews themselves, and from Israeli Arabs. Israel's Jews are deeply and bitterly divided, even as millions around them pray for and plan their destruction. It's a rerun of 1,936 years ago, when Rome's cohorts stood massed at Jerusalem's gates, and the Jews inside the city did their enemy's work for them, fighting among themselves instead of standing together against the foe. Ask any Jew the meaning of the phrase sinat chinam and he will tell you: It was this "baseless hatred" between Jews that led directly to the destruction of the Second Temple, the sacking of Jerusalem, the mass killing of hundreds of thousands of Jews, and the dispersion among the nations of those who remained. Today, a quarter of a million Israelis -- those living in the settlements in Judea and Samaria -- have been effectively demonized by the overwhelmingly leftist Israeli and world press. According to a recent survey carried out by the Rishon Letzion College of Management, Jews living inside Green Line Israel (inside the 1949 borders) hate the settlers almost as much as they hate the Palestinian Arabs. Some hate them even more. It is a bizarre national reaction, fueled by fear and self-hatred, that sees Israelis holding the settlers responsible for the failure to arrive at peace; blaming them for the rampaging, terrorist-inflicted death and mayhem that unendingly plagues the nation. Now, as the country heads for the March 28 general election, the division tears ugly and deep. Depressingly, the Kadima Party founded by the now comatose Ariel Sharon and run by acting-Prime Minister Ehud Olmert -- a party stinking with corruption and cronyism -- looks set to sweep the vote. If Olmert wins, he is prepared to forcefully remove tens of thousands more Jews from their homes, and relinquish Israel's heartland to the Arabs. ENEMY WITHIN Israel's 1.5 million Arabs (97 percent of them Muslim) are aligning with Hamas, making thems a potent fifth column inside Green Line Israel. Their representatives in the Knesset (yes, Israeli Arabs have the vote and elected officials) regularly call for the dismantling of the Jewish state. They are planning meetings with Ismail Haniyeh -- the Hamas leader recently appointed prime minister of the Palestinian Authority. They travel north to Lebanon and meet with Hizballah, and side by side with that terror group's leaders commit themselves to facilitating Israel's demise. THE HAMAS AUTHORITY The next circle is Hamas. After the world has for decades demanded that Israel accept the PLO as "the only true representative of the Palestinian people [sic]" those people dumped the PLO and chose for Hamas -- the Islamist group specializing in massacring Jews on Egged buses and fanatically devoted to destroying Israel. That uncompromising gang of murderers and their supporters -- those "ordinary" Arabs US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice still insists really want to live in peace with Israel -- lie 2.4 million thick in, among and all around Israel. From Gaza, their rockets fall daily into southern Israel, mostly missing their targets, but being improved and upgraded. It is only a matter of time before serious casualties are inflicted on the Negev's Jews. On a Shabbat two weeks ago, as my family and I enjoyed the peace and tranquility that (somehow) can still be enjoyed in Jerusalem on the God-ordained day of rest -- the start of a "new chapter in Middle East history" was marked in Ramallah, a few miles to our north, and in Gaza, a little way to the south-west. There, Hamas took over the new "Palestinian Legislative Council," in which it now holds 74 of 132 seats -- a clear majority of its own. And yesterday (March 2) Abbas announced his decision to shortly place the PA's entire security apparatus under Hamas' control. Hamas is being feted by many nations, welcomed to Turkey, Iran, Moscow and South Africa, while world leaders from other lands line up to extend an invitation too. "Don't treat them like terrorists," urges the EU. And whatever you do don't stop sending them millions of dollars in an effort to starve them off terrorism. World media like the BBC and the increasingly Arabized CNN are well-practiced in the art of sanitizing terrorists. As they did with arch-Jew-killer Yasser Arafat, they are pushing the line that the Hamas is really pragmatic and reasonable. The blood that soaks them? Well, that's Jewish blood -- cheap stuff, expendable. THE NORTH In Lebanon, directly across Israel's northern border, Hizballah is waiting for war. The Iranian-sponsored group represents Lebanon's largest community -- the Shi'ites. Its leadership daily hurls vitriolic volleys at Israel and has, since the IDF's withdrawal from southern Lebanon, deployed over 12,000 missiles against the Jewish state. These rockets are able to reach deep into the Galilee and as far south as Haifa; some carry non-conventional warheads. North-east of Israel sits Syria, a major supporter of the Hizballah. After recently withdrawing from Lebanon, its influence into that country is increasing once more. Syria is Israel's most implacable foe. Concerning its despotic leadership the American Foreign Policy Council's Missile Defense Briefing Report No. 197 (February 22, 2006) states: The regime of Bashar al-Assad in Damascus is continuing to make substantial progress on its missile capabilities, courtesy of the DPRK. Geostrategy-Direct (week of February 20) reports that over the past three years, North Korean assistance has helped to substantially enhance Syria's existing arsenal of Scud-D medium-range missiles. According to the intelligence newsletter, Syria's upgraded Scuds now boast a range of some 700 kilometers, as well as a separating warhead capable of carrying chemical or biological payloads. For months Syria has been squirming under the international spotlight on its involvement in the February 2005 assassination of Lebanese President Rafic Hariri. Instead of opening up, Assad is off to Tehran next week to meet with Iran's Hitler-like Ahmadinejad. Cooperative strategies will certainly be the order of the day. ISLAMISTAN There, in the unstable and arrogant Ayatollah-run Iran, lies the outer coil of this malevolent snake. In the vanguard of the global jihad, the devoted servants of Allah who rule over what was once Persia push on toward the realization of their avowed purpose: to destroy the Little Satan (Israel) and engage the Great Satan (America) as they take the world for their god. Iran's president flips the birdie at the West, trashing the Holocaust as a myth, openly calling for Israel to be wiped off the map, and actively working towards the achievement of that goal, undaunted by -- in fact basking in -- the agitation of the world. Already in Iran's arsenal: long range North Korean Shihab-3 and other missiles, and plenty of WMD warheads to tip them with; also the ultimate Muslim motivator: conviction in the inevitability of victory, and the wholehearted readiness -- the desire actually -- of untold numbers to sacrifice themselves as shaheeds in this holy war. Meanwhile anti-Semitism is ascendant around the world; new cases being reported every day. In France a Jew is abducted by kidnappers who demand a ransom from his family -- everyone knows that Jews are rich. When they are unable to pay he is found naked, tied to a tree, with burns and other injuries all over his body. Soon he dies. In a rash of copycat incidents, anti-Semites armed with long knives have been targeting synagogues in Russia. This coming Sunday we will learn whether a "Palestinian"-made movie glorifying suicide bombers who kill Israeli Jews has been chosen to win an Academy Award. DARK AND DESPERATE All told, the mortal danger towering over Israel today far exceeds what was stacked against Europe's Jews as they unsuspectingly entered the 1930s, en route to Auschwitz. The spiraling trend of the past decades carries the warning that it will not be much longer before the world, with the exception -- perhaps -- of the United States -- finally concludes that Israel as a small and soon-to-be-truncated country is a nuisance and a consistently destabilizing threat. She will simply have to go -- her Jews offered a choice between being second-class dhimmi citizens in a Muslim Arab state, and resettling somewhere else. This suggested "solution" has already been proposed. It spells a third Diaspora from which Israel will revive, return and resurrect no more. Surely the hour is desperate, and exceedingly dark. After its millennia-long effort to destroy the Jewish people, the spirit of Amalek appears poised to win. AND YET, DAWN LIES AT THE DOOR As desperate and hopeless as things seem to be, for those who believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob -- the only God -- there is every reason to hope. We do not know when this night will fade to grey in the earliest light of day. But this we do know: It always gets darkest just before the dawn. And at dawn, God is going to move. I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in His word I do hope. My soul waits for the Lord. More than those who watch for the morning -- yes, more than those who watch for the morning. (Psalm 130:5-6) For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning. (Psalm 30:5) And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; (2 Peter 1:19-20) Friends of Israel, lovers of Israel's God: Watch, pray, and hold fast to this hope. Ever true to His Word, which He watches over to perform, God is going to act. And when He does, soon, it will be in such a way that the nation of Israel, and the nations of the world, will doubt no more that He, Israel's God, is LORD. Contact Gary S. at ahavat@telkomsa.net |
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CONGRESSIONAL HEARING ON ARAB DEMOGRAPHY MISREPRESENTATION
Posted by Yoram Ettinger, March 6, 2006. |
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1. Palestinian demographic misrepresentations and discrepancies will feature on Wednesday, March 8, 2006 at a hearing, held by the House International Relations Subcommittee on the Middle East, chaired by Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Majority Staff Director: Dr. Yleem Poblete). Bennett Zimmerman, leader of the demographic study will present the most recent study on the subject. 2. The Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies published, last week, "The Million Person Gap: The Arab Population in the West Bank and Gaza " (Mideast Security and Policy Studies #65, February 2006 (www.besacenter.org clique "Publications" and then "Mideast Security and Policy Studies"). 3. Please visit the website of the American Enterprise Institute (http://www.aei.org/events/eventID.1266/event_detail.asp#) -- a leading think tank in Washington, DC -- and read/view the February 23, 2006 presentation of the demographic study on cardinal inconsistencies, discrepancies and inaccuracies in the numbers promoted by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. The presentation was carried out by Bennett Zimmerman. It was hosted and MC-ed by Dr. Nicholas Eberstadt, one of America's most prominent demographers. [Editor's Note: See also "Olmert's Plan To Abandon Jews Of West Bank Based Upon Faulty Demographics."] Ambassador Yoram Ettinger is a consultant on US-Israel relations as well as the Chairman of Special Projects at the Ariel Center for Policy Research. Formerly the Minister for Congressional Affairs to Israel's Embassy in Washington, DC, Ettinger also served as Consul General of Israel to the Southwestern US. He is a former editor of Contemporary Mideast Backgrounder, and is the author of the Jerusalem Cloakroom series of reports. Contact him at yoramtex@netvision.net.il |
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KADIMA -- ADVANCE TO THE REAR
Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, March 6, 2006. |
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The Chief Kadimite, acting prime minister Ehud Olmert has told all Israel that he is going to "advance to the rear" and declare victory. Olmert has decided to give more room to Hamas as he advised Sharon to do in Gaza. Sharon and Olmert created the Kadima Party which means "Advance" (to the Rear). That is the literal translation of the Kadima Party. When divided into parts, Kadima means: Kad = vessel, ima = tears: a vessel of tears. The Gaza Strip is now absorbing Al Qaeda, Hamas, Al Aksa, Hezb'Allah and they have arrived to launch Kassem Missiles at Southern Israel. Not to worry. Because Olmert and the Kadimites are putting an extra layer of cement on the roof of Israel's main Power Plant. The nation is comforted, although the roofs cannot sustain the weight of thick cement layers without collapsing. But, the thin layers are excellent propaganda, although a good-sized warhead will penetrate. Again, not to worry. Because Olmert of the Kadimites has ordered extra barrages of artillery shells and missiles from aircraft to target empty fields long after the Terrorists have launched and left. There is one small problem. If one of the missiles hits one of the highly toxic chemical tanks in Ashkelon, the poisoned cloud could drift north, along the coast, contaminating and killing people (even the Kadimites -- without discrimination) in Tel Aviv and further. Regrettably, it will also sicken and kill many decent people who represent a higher order of civilization. Now Olmert, following the Kadimite Credo of "Advance -- to the Rear", has proclaimed that he will follow the Bush family Road Map as they turn Israel over to Hamas and Al Qaeda. As a General, Olmert is certain that the areas of Judea and Samaria will be de-militarized as happened in Gaza. Hamas will be appeased and they will no longer require human sacrifice. All of this will sort itself out but, first tragically it will take a massive number of dead Jews. Do we need to see schools blown up, car bombs big enough to take down the Sholom or Arieli Towers. When enough women and children, possibly those of the soldiers -- even Generals -- are blown to bits, they may just want to hold a grand Courts martial. Since it is a time of war, those who exposed the nation and the people to bombardment could be brought in to a Military Court. The Kadimites believe that they will face no penalty for bringing the enemy within easy firing range of the civilians. Cowardice in the face of the enemy should be dealt with as it was in all armies. Giving up defensive territory, pejoratively labeled as settlements, is not merely a mistake when it has all happened before. Sharon gave up Gush Katif in the Gaza Strip and it is filling up with well-armed Terrorists from all over the world -- as widely predicted. Therefore, there are no mitigating circumstances and, therefore, no mercy. The Global Terrorists have killed Israelis and now they will kill a lot more from a better, closer military position -- courtesy of Sharon and Olmert's "Advance -- to the Rear". That is the literal translation of the Kadima Party. When divided into parts, Kadima means: Kad = vessel, ima = tears: a vessel of tears. An earlier Kadimite in the making, Ehud Barak, gave up a vital strategic position in South Lebanon, Israel's Security Zone. Barak ran away with the Israeli Army in the middle of the night. The area Quickly filled up with Hebz'Allah, Iranian and Syrian backed Terrorists. All of the North Israel is now within range of as many as 15,000 Katyusha and Kassam missiles, many armed with chemical warheads. I wonder how many of today's Kadimites who planned that evacuation will face justice when those missiles start gassing Haifa and points North. I also wonder how deep the Kadimites will burrow to keep others from knowing what they have done. Recall how the Judenrat tried to hide among the survivors of the camps. England had their Chamberlain; Sweden had Quisling; and now Israel has its Kadimite, Olmert. We Jews have been betrayed for centuries by our own Quislings and Chamberlains. They made arrangements to betray our families to our most dedicated enemies. They always had misleading and soothing words and so we died in the dozens, hundreds, thousands and millions. We were betrayed from the outside always but, the worst blows always came from the inside, from the Quislings who sprang from our own people. 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.com |
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WELCOME TO HAMASTAN
Posted by Fern Sidman, March 5, 2006. |
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Speaking to an audience last night in Holon, Avi Dichter, who is number 5 on the Kadima list of Knesset candidates, outlined Kadima's plans to evacuate and demolish most of the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria and to relocate their residents in those that remain. The new Kadima plan would leave Israel with four or five isolated pockets of Israeli presence; a narrow finger 20 kilometers long from Rosh HaAyin to Ariel in the Shomron; parts of the Jordan Valley; and strips to the north, east and south of Jerusalem. The rest of Judea and Samaria would fall under the control of Hamas. The communities that are to remain, According to the plan Olmert wishes to implement if he wins the elections, have long been mentioned as the "settlement blocs" of Ariel, Maaleh Adumim and Gush Etzion. Karnei Shomron-Kedumim and the Jordan Valley have occasionally, also been included in what might remain Israeli territory. Likud Knesset faction head MK Gideon Saar said the new Kadima plan is a "prize for Hamas." "The areas to be evacuated by Israel will immediately become new Hamas bases for attack against Israel and its citizens," Saar said. Among the communities to be razed under Ehud Olmert's plan would be the following: In the Binyamin Regional Council, north of Jerusalem: Shilo, Eli, Shvut Rachel, N'vei Tzuf, Psagot, Maaleh Michmas, and Maaleh Levonah. In the eastern Gush Etzion: Tekoa, Nokdim (El-David). Maaleh Amos and Meitzad. In Samaria Council and northern Samaria: Kedumim, Itamar, Yitzhar, Elon Moreh, Har Bracha, Avnei Cheifetz, Mevo Dotan, Hermesh and Tapuach. In southern Judea: Adora, Pnei Hever, Maon, Susia, Otniel, Negohot, and Mitzpeh Shalem. And while this is happening, the intifada of Kassam rockets continues near the Gaza border. One of five Kassam rockets landed near Kibbutz Carmiya, where dozens of expelled families from Gush Katif have been relocated. Another Kassam rocket caused damage to what is called "strategic installation" south of Ashkelon. Two people were hurt in the attack on the installation and were treated for shock. National infrastructures in Ashkelon include the following: The Rotenberg Power Plant in southern Ashkelon is Israel's second largest electric station, and supplies about a quarter of the country's electricity. The Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline company (EAPC) in Ashkelon operates three oil pipelines linking Ashkelon, Ashdod and Haifa.. The Ashkelon seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) plant, the largest destination plant of its kind in the world, is set to ultimately provide an annual 100 million cubic meters of water, or some 15 percent of the country's domestic consumer demand. And if we weren't already concerned about national security, it has been reported by the PA news agency Duniya Alwatan that a senior official in the Hamas military, known by his nom de guerre, Abu Huzaifa, told the news agency that since the disengagement from Gaza, the Hamas has set up military bases in every city in Gaza. The bases have been training a new cadre of highly motivated fighters for the Jihad, or holy war against non-Muslims and the Jewish state in particular. More specifically, Abu Huzaifa said PA soliders are taught a number of techniques including firing rifles, shooting Kassam rockets, crawling under fences, and climbing up and down buildings. The instructors are Hamas terrorists who received training abroad. According to Al Qaeda's number two man, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in a statement aired by Al-Jazeera, he urged the ruling Hamas terror group to continue terror attacks on Israelis. "Your only alternative is to pursue the armed struggle until the liberation of Palestine and the bilding of an Islamic state," al-Zawahiri told Al-Jazeera. He also exhorted, " Nothing wil do you good, buttoting arms and taking revenge against your enemies, the Americans and the Jews... The crusaders and the Jews do not understand but the language of killing and blood." Al-Zawahiri is believed to have masterminded the September 11th, 2001 terror attacks against America, as well as the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Africa. Former Israeli UN Ambassador Dore Gold wrote an op ed piece Sunday outlining some of the extensive links that have been found linking Hamas and Al-Qaeda:
Gold also writes about Hamas and Al-Qaeda's common source of recruits and grassroots support of the Muslim Brotherhood present in every country in the Arab world. And with all these facts glaring us in the face, the Olmert government still insists on carving up more of Israel, destroying more Jewish settlements, forcibly evicting more Jews from their homes, and demolishing more communities. Giving up more land and expelling more Jews is not going bring peace nor will it assist it setting up new boundaries that will maintain a Jewish majority. Just ask those folks who were evicted from Gush Katif and Amona. Contact Fern Sidman at ariellah@aol.com |
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DARFUR'S GENOCIDE CONTINUES; THE WORLD DAWDLES
Posted by Lawrence Uniglicht, March 5, 2006. |
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The human species, bereft of soul, vacillates as Arab janjaweed Muslim monsters, at the behest of a fascist Wahhabi driven fanatical Sudanese government, perpetrate genocide on helpless Black African Muslims within the hellhole Darfur region of Sudan, a fundamentally flawed fossil fuel drenched savage Islamic sovereignty, led by the aforementioned sadistic racist psychopaths, hellacious robed hindquarters cynically squatting on the "oil for food" scandalized Kofi Annan led Kafkaesque United Nation's Commission on Human Rights. Shame on the swaggering White House Texan for talking the talk, yet not bullying enough boots on the ground to walk the merciful walk ceasing a horrific abomination. Shame on sanctimonious feel-no-guilt first world governments, unmoved to end this out of sight out of mind replay of the Rwandan bloodbath; especially U.N. Security Council stalwarts China, coincidentally a Sudanese oil customer, Russia, and current Arab council representative Qatar; enamored by Sudan's low life lobbying efforts thus opposed to any beefed up deployment of U.N. troops that just might stop the bleeding. No doubt, this disgraceful ongoing event heaps shame on every world government, yet quantitatively no ethnic enclave deserves more contempt than those Arab Muslim nations solidly unified in their efforts not to ruffle the royal robes of Sudanese Arab Muslim brethren rulers while they slaughter Black non-Arab Muslim Africans. Obviously, derisive cartoons of Mohammed are more blasphemous than "mere" genocide ordered by real life despicable Khartoum characters, to those Machiavellian evil-minded bejeweled billionaire pseudo-Koran worshippers, spindly talons ever tightly gripping the fossil fuel faucets that move and shake oil-addicted sycophantic industrial nations, as well as their ignorant after-life obsessed minions who riot in the streets over offensive pictures yet protest not when fellow "albeit Black" Muslims are burned, tortured, raped, and murdered; oh excuse me, I forgot that many of these charming citizens endorse the blowing asunder of kindred human beings including children for the express purpose of annihilating the infidel-especially the Jewish infidel-so why might we expect any civilized reaction? The State of Israel, in a way, should feel honored that it is so despised by such Muslim citizens of ill-repute; any more cordial sentiment might suggest a like moral turpitude worthy of immediate purgation. Lawrence Uniglicht is a career civil servant, working for the Social Security Administration. He advocates for the State of Israel with an American perspective. He writes, "Advocating for the disrespected underdog has been my passion, no doubt Israel falls into that category." Contact him by email at luniglicht@snip.net |
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AND WHAT SHOULD I SAY?
Posted by Batya Medad, March 5, 2006. |
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Are you waiting for my reaction to the Kadima-Onward Get Lost Plan? Really? What should I say, when the de facto Prime Minister and his Dichter announced that they're planning on throwing me out of my home and destroying my community of Shiloh, G-d forbid! Earlier it was rumored that all of my regional council, Mateh Binyamin, would be destroyed and given away to the terrorists. But trust Olmert to generously decide to "keep" Ofra, home of Pinchas Wallerstein, and Beit El, location of Arutz 7. Just a few short weeks after Olmert sent in his storm troopers to Ofra to destroy a couple of houses and attack demonstrators, he's now announcing that the new refugees, people like me, will be able to live in the remaining yishuvim. Isn't that generous? Maybe we won't want to. I don't want to live in an armed, fenced in fortress. One of the things that attracted me to Shiloh was that it's not surrounded by a fence. It's one of the few yishuvim that refuses to be fenced in. I remember checking out yishuvim to live in in the late 1970's, and I'd get this horrendously claustrophobic feeling in most, like I was locked in a prison. Shiloh was different. It still is; I feel a freedom here. My friends and I take walks together, for fitness and fun. We walk to and from Shvut Rachel to the east, and we walk west, down to the Ancient Tel, the Shiloh where Chana prayed for a son. We wander around freely. Shiloh was the very first capitol city of the Jewish Nation after the Exodus from Egypt. Joshua, Eli and Chana's son, Shmuel, ruled the Jewish People in Shiloh. The Mishkan, the Tabernacle, was here for 369 years, and during that time our nation matured and developed and finally demanded that Samuel the Prophet anoint it a king. For Olmert and his cronies to claim that our country could be safe, could survive without the Land in which is was born is like saying that someone can live a full, healthy life without his heart and brain. If you look at the map of our Holy Land and think of it as an embryo, you will see Shiloh where its heart would be, and the other Samarian yishuvim Olmert wants to destroy, like Kedumim, Itamar, Yitzhar and Elon Moreh are its brain. Sometimes I sit on my comfortable couch and look at all the pictures up on my walls and cry for the families whose homes were stolen from them by the Israeli government, by Olmert and Sharon. Sharon always described his Disengagement as "painful," but Olmert seems stimulated by it, on a "high," proud and happy to show his "mettle." Today I was at a meeting of NU-NRP English speakers. It's hard to believe that we only have a few weeks until the elections. It's all so unreal, and it's all so dangerous. G-d willing our Nation will awake and show the pollsters how incompetent they really are at predicting the election results. I have no doubt that the "amcha," your ordinary Israeli, "the silent majority" believes that our Land belongs to us. It's just the media that has been distorting and brainwashing. We must pray, vote and encourage the "amcha." Shavua Tov. Batya Medad lives in Shiloh. She can be reached by email at Shilohmuse@yahoo.com or visit her website http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/ or go to http://www.shilo.org.il This article is archived at http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2006/03/what-should-i-say.html |
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AN URGENT MESSAGE FROM SOAIB CHOUDHURY-- PLEASE REPLY
Posted by Salah Choudhury, March 5, 2006. |
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Shalom! This evening I received a phone call from Mr. Lutfuzzaman Babar, State Minister for Home Affairs in Bangladesh. He told me about the Congressional Letter from 3 Congressmen. But he told me again that, his government is unwilling to drop the false sedition charge against me, as they fear reaction from their Islamist radical partners in the alliance and other radical forces in Bangladesh. I categorically told him that, if the case will go for trial, government is going to loose the case, as it has no substance. He replied saying, it won't be any problem for the government to get defeated in the court. Moreover, he told me that, his government might not be able to return my passport in time, enabling me to attend the conference of American Jewish Congress (AJC), where they very kindly invited me. I asked the minister clearly as to whether I should inform my hosts about my inability of attending the conference. He said, I should wait some more days to say that, as he should speak to the Prime Minister. He reminded me to show them the draft of speech I would deliver at the Conference. During this conversation, my lawyer, Mr. S.N. Goswami was also with me. My lawyer told me that, he will file an application to the court on Thursday seeking return of my passport. The lawyer said, it was extremely ridiculous for the government to say that, dropping the false case would annoy the local radicals. He said, with such a comment, in other words, the government is trying to prove to the global community that they are under tremendous infleunce of the radicals. Then I received another call from a senior official with the Special Branch, who assured me of getting my passport back. At this juncture, I would like to draw the kind attention of AJC that, generally US embassy asks people to submit visa application at least before 90 days from the date of planned trip. Would it be possible for AJC kindly to inform the US Embassy in Dhaka to grant me a visa, even if I would apply before 7 days of the trip. Meanwhile, may I request my friends, colleagues and others to please put more pressure on Bangladesh Government. I am already grateful to Congressmen Mr. Joseph Crowley, Mr. Mark Steven Kirk and Mr. Peter King. I am also obliged to AJC, PEN, CPJ and other esteemed organizations kindly for their precious support. As we all know, Bangladesh is becoming a country of serious repression of press. Moreover, we should not also ignore the rise of Islamist radicals. The Indian government has forecasted that Bangladesh would become another Afghanistan. At this stage, would it be wise for American businessmen and people to patronize Bangladeshi products? Should there be certain embargo on the import of Bangladeshi goods to US market, to put more pressure on the government? The writer is a journalist, columnist, author, amd editor of "Weekly Blitz". Email him at salahuddinshoaibchoudhury@yahoo.com |
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NEW YORK TIMES SCOLDS ISRAEL
Posted by Lawrence Uniglicht, March 5, 2006. |
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The March 04, 2006 front page hand wringing New York Times article "Gaza Crossings: Choked Passages to Frustration" by Steven Erlanger is a classic example of skewed journalism. Indeed its tone and content mostly malign Israel, a state that will evermore abuse poor Palestinian waifs in the mind's eye of pandering pundits with stunted imaginations unable to grasp how homicide/suicide martyring lunatics justifiably transform the symbiotic dynamics of neighboring peoples. Of course, long lines are inevitable at Israeli/Gaza checkpoints where Palestinian day laborers, desiring a decent day's pay for a day's work, must be carefully searched for explosives lest the blood curdling scream "God is great" precede carnage beyond human comprehension. Whose fault is that!?! Indeed, must a world acclaimed information provider abet the illusion of victimization for those who refuse to accept any responsibility in accepting both extremism and refugee status for life; at least Israel offers work to those Arabs, far exceeding the generosity of presumed brethren states. Equitable reporting of events, presciently bereft of subtle and not so subtle spins, behooves journals hoisted to prominence by truth seeking citizens. Might the Times at least attempt to explain Israel's quandary that quickening the queue increases the odds of grimly reaping catastrophic consequences for its citizens, yet rationally scrutinizing Palestinian bodies and vehicles for explosives and weaponry substantially delays or prevents Arab workers, deliverers, and Israeli employers in accomplishing their aims? Do not Hamas jihad junkies, obsessed with annihilating Israel, create this sad scenario; and is it not the duties of reputable reporters and writers to describe this nexus to a dependent readership? The credibility of this article would be greatly enhanced if it did not just include Palestinian first person Israel bashing viewpoints like "Believe me, if there were jobs in Gaza, we would stay here and never go to Israel again," (reporter embellished) "said Mr. Masri, one of the angry, foiled men stuck at Erez (a crossing) on this day." If but one Israeli family, truly victimized by a homicide/suicide bomber not foiled at a check point was interviewed, at least some semblance of balance would be maintained in this presumably factual description of a less than ideal state of affairs. Of course, that was not the intent of Mr. Erlanger. Undoubtedly, the thrust of this indeed factual misrepresentation by selective reporting, in effect not so subtle opinion piece, was amply demonstrated by the front-page marquee picture captioned "Many of the Palestinians waiting at the Erez crossing turned back out of the tunnel when it was clear the Israelis were not going to open the gate." starkly revealing dejected Palestinians trudging in a line, for the benefit of perhaps casual observers strolling past a newsstand. If such enticed strollers then glanced down the column, a deftly spun paragraph would craft a maligning mental image with words such as "...charged down a long, urine-scented tunnel toward the Israeli checkpoint. It was closed, their way blocked by a metal gate. The workers howled in anger, feeling cheated out of a day's pay and cursing Israel before the sun had risen." Fair by Al-Jazeera standards should not please a prominent first world editorial staff, alas apparently it does. Might a protest or two from perhaps notable angry subscribers impart wisdom by suggesting Times publishers to be hoist by their own petard in unjustly implicitly scolding Israel, or would such admonitions be unheeded thus ineffective in preventing the publication of future Palestinian pandering articles only worthy of wrapping malodorous fish. Lawrence Uniglicht is a career civil servant, working for the Social Security Administration. He advocates for the State of Israel with an American perspective. He writes, "Advocating for the disrespected underdog has been my passion, no doubt Israel falls into that category." Contact him by email at luniglicht@snip.net |
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INTIFADA AND IRAQIFADA
Posted by Women in Green, March 5, 2006. |
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This was written by Joseph Farah, editor or World Net Daily. It appeared March 2, 2006. His latest book is "Taking America Back." He also edits the weekly online intelligence newsletter Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin, in which he utilizes his sources developed over 30 years in the news business. Things are sure working out in the Middle East, aren't they? Israel's decision to turn over the Gaza Strip to the terrorists has, predictably, led to an increase of violence and warnings that a new intifada, or uprising, is on the way. Somehow I must have missed the end of the previous intifada. What Israel got as a thank-you for its unilateral decision to withdraw long-established communities of Jews from Gaza are shootings, stabbings and Molotov cocktail attacks. Now Hamas, the terrorists ruling part of the Palestinian Authority, sees Israel in retreat and is upping the stakes. Likewise, in response to the increasing pressure within the United States to get out of Iraq, terrorism there is on the increase as well. Some see Iraq on the verge of civil war -- mostly one sect of Muslims killing other Muslims. If all that isn't bad enough, later this month, Iran is talking about a nuclear weapons test. What can be done? Can we just throw up our hands and walk away? What's going wrong? Are we sending all the wrong signals? I've said it before and I'll say it again. Only one course of action will prove victorious in the Middle East. Appeasement and conciliation will not work. Promoting free elections will not be enough. There is only one thing we can do if we want to win -- and, in winning the peace, set the stage for real freedom in the region. We've got to destroy the bad guys. It seems obvious. But in the 21st century, it seems preposterous. It seems cruel. It seems barbaric. It seems uncivilized. That's because people have short memories. It didn't seem preposterous, cruel, barbaric and uncivilized when we were fighting for our lives against the Nazis and imperial Japan to do whatever it required to win. And it is no more preposterous, cruel, barbaric and uncivilized to destroy evil people and evil regimes now. I say this as an American of Arabic heritage and a journalist who has covered this part of the world for 25 years. It's time to stop pussyfooting around and destroy the enemy. Yes, in the short run, it will mean more lives lost. In the long run, it is our only chance for peace and freedom and the preservation of many more innocent lives. There has been a lot of talk about spreading "democracy" in the Middle East and around the world. "Democracy" is not the answer. "Democracy" should not be the goal. But free republics that respect the rule of just laws and the will of the people are the answer. Israel can be counted among those -- perhaps the only one in the Middle East. That's why it should not be carved up and reduced in size as a means of achieving peace. Israel needs to follow a course of protecting its own national security. It needs to adopt sane policies of protecting the lives of civilians. Jews and Christians have only one place in the Middle East where their lives and rights are respected. It is the nation of Israel. To ignore this fact is to place the lives and rights of Jews and Christians in greater jeopardy. There's an old saying that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. That is exactly what Israel has been doing in the Middle East for too long. It's time for Israel to wake up -- before it's too late. It's also time for some new thinking in Washington. No more concessions. No more appeasement. No more giveaways. No more invitations to further violence. No more incentives to terrorism. No more encouraging vile hatreds. No more self-flagellation. The same rules should apply in Israel and Iraq -- and certainly in Iran as well. It's time to seek out the bad guys and destroy them. There is no substitute. We cannot win the wars in the Middle East with peace talks and treaties and accords. That's my peace plan. Does anyone have a better idea? Ruth and Nadia Matar established Women For Israel's Tomorrow (Women in Green), an activist group of women based in Jerusalem. Their website address is http://www.womeningreen.org |
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SHIA-SUNNI TENSIONS ARE GROWING IN THE U.S.
Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, March 5, 2006. |
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It is almost inevitable that this 1200 year old feud will erupt in America. As the Arabs have show through out their bloody history, they are totally incapable of respecting different opinions or showing self restraint. Previous feuds that have been fought in America have for the most part been confined to the bounties of the ethnic community affected but not this one. The Arabs, as has been seen time and time again, absolutely relish in bloodshed and destruction. So if while murdering their theological enemies they can murder a few more infidels, why the more the merrier. This article is by Omar Sacirbey and it appeared yesterday on the
Religious News Service When Fatima Pashaei, a Shiite Muslim of Iranian descent, and Atif Qarni, a Sunni Muslim whose parents emigrated to the U.S. from Pakistan, married six years ago, it was a joyous event. Instead of lamenting theological differences that have roiled Shiite-Sunni relations for centuries in other countries, their family and friends celebrated. "Our parents were just happy we were marrying Muslims. Everything else is sort of secondary," said Pashaei, 24, still married to Qarni and living in Manassas, Va., with their 3-year-old son. Sensitive to U.S. pluralistic traditions and forced to work together as fellow Islamic minorities, American Shiite and Sunni Muslims have avoided the violent strife that has plagued Iraq and other parts of the Muslim world. But with Iraq on the brink of sectarian civil war, Muslims growing in numbers in the U.S. and Sunni extremist groups like the Wahhabis sowing discord, American Muslims see increasing Shiite-Sunni tensions here. Divisions have widened worldwide since the golden dome of the Al-Askariya Mosque in Samarra, Iraq, was blown up Feb. 22. Two descendants of Islam's Prophet Muhammad are buried there, making it one of Shiite (also called Shia) Islam's holiest shrines. "For a lot of people, this is one of the most tragic events in the history of the Shia," said Mohamed Sabur, co-director of the year-old Qunoot Foundation, a Shiite advocacy group in Washington. "Things were bad under Saddam, but you never would have seen him do this." Retaliations ensued, killing hundreds of Iraqis while threatening the future of a fragile government propped up by U.S. forces. Historically, the Shiite-Sunni rift is traced to the question of who should have succeeded the Prophet Muhammad, who died in 632, as leader of the Muslim community. Sunnis regard Ali, Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, as the final of four "rightly guided caliphs." Shiites believe that Ali was the rightful first caliph, or "first imam," and that leadership of the community should go only to direct descendants of Muhammad. The next 10 imams, Shiites believe, were all killed by rivals while the 12th imam and last of the prophet's line, Al-Askari, went into hiding in 873. The 10th and 11th imams are buried at the Al-Askariya mosque while the 12th imam is believed to have vanished in the Iraq mosque until he returns to restore justice on Earth. Shiite reverence for these martyred imams is the main theological difference with Sunnis. Ultra-orthodox Sunnis contend that this reverence is tantamount to worship, detracts from the central Islamic principle of the oneness of God and may even constitute blasphemy. Lesser Shiite-Sunni differences include the manner in which one prays and the structure of religious hierarchy. Although these differences have at times resulted in violence, extremist Sunni animosity toward Shiites, who make up an estimated 10 percent to 15 percent of the worldwide Muslim population of about 1.4 billion, has intensified in recent years. In 1994, a suicide bomber attacked the sacred burial place of Reza -- a great-grandson of Muhammad -- in Mahshad, Iran, killing 26 people. Sectarian violence has also claimed thousands of lives in Pakistan and Iraq. Although the Muslim-on-Muslim killing has yet to reach the United States, many Shiites say they believe that the hatred already has, even before the recent violence in Iraq. For the past several years, Shiites have marched in New York City during the Muslim month of Muharram to commemorate the killing of Ali's younger son, Hussein, the third imam, in Karbala, Iraq, in 680. The historic event is regarded as the definitive split between Shiites and Sunnis. When Shiites marched in New York on Feb. 5, they were met by protesters claiming to be from a group based in Brooklyn calling itself the Islamic Thinkers Society, which denounced the ritual and passed out fliers condemning Shiites as heretics. On one American Shiite Web site where the incident was discussed, inflammatory language was exchanged. "The gulf is widening," said Sabur. "That's why we started Qunoot. I didn't find a need for this type of organization 10 years ago." Abbas Kazimi, a graduate student at Harvard and a devout Shiite of Pakistani descent, has seen the divide affect friendships. A few years ago, while living in Houston, Kazimi said that a Sunni friend advised him to leave congregational Friday prayers at a local mosque when the friend noticed that Kazimi prayed in the traditional Shiite manner, with his hands by his sides rather than folded on his stomach as Sunnis do. Shiites also place a stone, leaf or other natural substance on the ground which they touch their heads to during prostration. The animosity has created a climate of intimidation in which many Shiites are now uncomfortable praying in Sunni mosques, even in the U.S., said Kazimi, 23. "There's a constant paranoia in your mind that people are constantly looking whether your hands are down, and that you have a small rock or leaf in front of you," he said. "There's something that you always feel because you know that there is a school of thought that exists that hates you, and you want to know, are they around you." For some, even admitting to being a Shiite to other Muslims has become a point of anxiety. "When I meet a person for the first time, I'm always thinking, when am I going to tell them I'm Shia," said Nousheen Yousuf, a graduate student at Boston University. "I want to tell them (but) at the same time, it's been my experience that as soon as people find out I'm Shia, everything I say they question." Adding to these frustrations is the sense that few Sunni leaders have condemned attacks against Shiites, both abroad and in the United States. Shiites say that the condemnations that have been voiced are superficial and lack conviction. Although Shiite history has translated into an ethos of bearing suffering with patience, the patience of many Shiites in the United States and abroad is running out. "These (Iraq) attacks change the dynamics of how Shias participate in politics," Sabur said. "Shias are becoming more assertive of their rights within the Muslim community. Everybody says, 'Where are the moderate Muslims protesting terror?' But we need that condemnation internally, too." Aryeh Zelasko lives in Beitar Illit, south of Jerusalem. He is Director of Sales and Marketing of Israel Visit (www.israelvisit.co.il) which provides information and an internet buying facility for American visitors to Israel. Contact him at zelasko@actcom.co.il |
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REDEMPTION WILL COME THROUGH WOMEN
Posted by Naomi Ragen, March 5, 2006. |
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Friends, If you don't do anything else today, or tomorrow, or the next day,
listen to this video of an incredibly brave Arab woman, Wafa Sultan,
telling off Muslims on Al Jazeera. This interview with the
Arab-American psychologist is at
Send it to all your "liberal" friends. All the moron movie makers, all the clueless Peace Now Israelis. Remember her words the next time you need to remind yourself that you are sane, and most of the world is mad. Some excerpts: Wafa: "What we are seeing is not a clash of religions in the world, not a clash of civilizations. It is a clash between two opposites, two eras: It is a clash between a mentality that belongs to the Middle Ages and another mentality that belongs in the 21st century...It is a clash between human rights and those who violate human rights. It is a clash between those who treat women like beasts and those who treat them like human beings. Host: If I understand what you are saying this is a clash between the West and the backwardness and ignorance of the Muslims?" Wafa: Yes, that is exactly what I am saying. She goes on to talk about the Jews, how no Jew, even after the Holocaust, has blown himself up in a German restaurant. How all the most important scientific discoveries were made by Jews.... I was so moved by it, It is at http://switch5.castup.net/frames/20041020_MemriTV_Popup/ video_480x360.asp?ai=214&ar=1050wmv&ak=null it made me cry. How rare to hear some honesty in Arabic. 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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OLMERT'S TRUE INTENTIONS ARE REVEALED
Posted by Lee Caplan, March 5, 2006. |
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This is called "Dichter Reveals Olmert's Major Expulsion Plan," and appeared today in Arutz-Sheva. (IsraelNN.com) Former Shin Bet director, Avi Dichter, who is vying for a Kadima Party Knesset seat, over the weekend revealed Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's master expulsion plan. Speaking to a Holon audience, Dichter spoke of the Kadima leader's plan, the removal of most of the Jewish communities throughout Judea and Samaria. According to Olmert, the plan provides for a number of major settlement blocs and a small number of secondary settlement blocs, but most of the existing communities will be uprooted and their residents ousted. Olmert feels that without a Palestinian Authority (PA) partner, he is compelled to act unilaterally, following the example of his predecessor, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Explaining "there is no Palestinian partner," Dichter added the disengagement will be different than Gaza, modeling after the northern Samaria expulsion where Israel continues maintaining security in the evacuated areas. Dichter stated that while civilians will be removed from the areas cited, the military presence would continue until such time the Palestinian Authority (PA) exhibits a willingness and an ability to combat terror and implement law and order. Major settlement blocs will include Maale Adumim, Ariel, Gush Etzion and the Jordan Valley. Secondary blocs will include Hevron/Kiryat Arba, Ofra & Beit El, and Karnei Shomron & Kedumim. Communities slated for removal include; In the Benjamin Council -- Eli, Shilo, N'vei Tzuf, Psagot, Maale Michmas, and Maale Levonah. In Samaria Council and northern Samaria -- Itamar, Yitzhar, Elon Moreh, Har Bracha, Avnei Chafetz, Kedumim, Mevo Dotan, Hermesh and Tapuach. In eastern Gush Etzion -- Tekoa, Nokdim (El-David), Maale Amos and Metzad. In southern Judea -- Adora, P?nei Hever, Main, Susia, Otniel, Neguhot, and Mitzpei Shalem. Other communities include Kedar and Beit HaAravah in the Maale Adumim region. Contact Lee Caplan at leescaplan@yahoo.com |
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WASHINGTON POST CONCEALING HAMAS'S GOAL TO DESTROY ISRAEL
Posted by Hayden Fink, March 5, 2006. |
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Please take a moment to read this ... the more mail we can generate the more likely the Washington Post will have to reconsider this reporter's obvious bias against telling the truth! What follows is an email exchange with the Post's correspondent in Israel, Scott Wilson, in which he attempts to explain his failure to report Hamas's goal to destroy Israel and his use of language that softens Hamas's image. The explanations make little sense, and the effort to reconstruct the image of Hamas is transparent. Whether or not you live in the Washington, DC area or even subscribe to the Post, you are vitally important to us. Part of our success depends on widespread circulation of our message. The Post is protective of its reputation as one of the leading newspapers in the US, and it will respond if shown that its image worldwide is suffering because a few editors or journalists are determined to inject their own political opinions and biases into news reports. You can help us by sending this email alert to as many people as you know who care about the damage being done to Israel's image. Monday, February 27, 2006 Is the Washington Post Downplaying Hamas's Violent Intentions Toward Israel? Post Correspondent Scott Wilson Responds to Charge That He Doesn't Use Terminology Reporting That Hamas Seeks the Destruction or Elimination of Israel Those who are following the Post's reporting on Hamas have noted that consistent with its past refusal to refer to Hamas as a terrorist organization, the Post appears to be downplaying the violent nature of Hamas. Instead of reporting that one of Hamas's goals is to destroy or eliminate Israel, the Post euphemizes Hamas's violence by reporting only that Hamas "does not recognize Israel" or "seeks the creation of a Palestinian state on land that now includes Israel." EyeOnThePost recently wrote to the Post's correspondent in Israel, Scott Wilson, challenging him on this terminology. We received responses explaining his position. Readers might find the following exchange with Mr. Wilson informative. With his permission, we have set forth the exchange verbatim to enable readers to judge for themselves. ______________ Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2006 10:19:02 -0500
Hi Scott. Why do you keep reporting only that Hamas "does not recognize Israel," when in fact Hamas actively seeks the destruction of Israel? If your problem is in the terminology and you don't want to use the word "destruction," you could say Hamas's goal is the "elimination" of Israel. Hamas explicitly acknowledges that this is their goal, so why do you not report it as such? Robert G. Samet
To: EyeOnThePost, Inc.
Mr. Samet: Thank you for your note and valid question. I use several phrases to describe Hamas: does not recognize Israel, at war with Israel, designated a terrorist organization by the United States and European Union, and seeks the creation of a Palestinian state on land that now includes Israel. These usually appear all in the same story. I believe they give a good description of the group; the last, in particular, is in my opinion a more descriptive way of saying what you are recommending. But I will certainly keep in mind your recommendation and opinion on this as I continue refining this description. Best regards,
Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2006 21:31:58 -0500
Subject: Telling The Whole Truth Scott: While we're debating whether telling the whole truth in reporting would require a statement that Hamas seeks to destroy Israel or whether it's sufficiently accurate to report, as you have been doing, that Hamas "doesn't recognize Israel" or seeks to create a Palestinian state on land that includes Israel, how about taking a close look at these two web sites. They're the English and Arabic versions of the same web site, the so called military wing of Hamas, the Ezzedeen Al Qassam Brigades http://www.alqassam.com/arabic/
Notice the graphic on the Arabic site. Notice it has a nuclear explosion, including a mushroom cloud, blowing up the Star of David. In the upper left corner you can click on a button to go to their English homepage. You can verify it is their official site by looking at the "About Us" page. Notice that the the same graphic is not on the English site. Ask yourself why. Ask yourself whether you should be reporting that Hamas seeks to destroy Israel. Robert G. Samet
________________ Subject: Re: Telling The Whole Truth
Dear Mr. Samet: Thanks much for the links. I've actually seen them many times before. I am not disputing that Hamas' charter calls for the destruction of Israel, only that I am glossing over this point. Saying that Hamas wants to create a state on land that now includes Israel is, in my view, saying the same thing in a more useful way for readers, who might otherwise be left asking without it: Destroy Israel for what? But I will keep your valid opinion in mind. Best regards,
********************** You are welcome to provide the Post with your opinion of the quality of its reporting about Israel. Please do not copy the above "Alerts" or even portions of the above "Alerts," because we share our analyses with the Post, and the language will be recognized. Even if you send only a two or three sentence original expression of your opinion to the Post, it will count. Be polite and be temperate in your letters so that you will not give The Post an easy excuse to ignore you. Letters can be sent to: Bo Jones, Publisher & Chief Executive Officer, The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, DC, 20071 (email: JonesB@washpost.com). Donald Graham, Chairman, same street address (email: GrahamD@washpost.com). Leonard Downie, Executive Editor, same street address (email address: DownieL@washpost.com) Philip Bennett, Managing Editor, same street address (email address BennettP@washpost.com) David Hoffman, Assistant Managing Editor for Foreign News, same street address (email address HoffmanD@washpost.com) Keith Richburg, Foreign Editor, same street address (email address: RichburgK@washpost.com) Deborah Howell, ombudsman, same street address (email address: ombudsman@washpost.com) Please BCC feedback@eyeonthepost.org with your letters and email. Contact Eye on the Post by email at info@eyeonthepost.org or go to their website at http://www.eyeonthepost.com |
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INDIA TO WARN BUSH OF BANGLADESH TERROR
Posted by Salah Choudhury, March 4, 2006. |
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Greetings from Dhaka! My friends and colleagues are aware that I had been telling of the uprise of Islamist radicals in Bangladesh. If you have already read the speech that I prepared to deliver at the Hebrew Writers Association's symposium in Tel Aviv in 2003, you should have seen several important information. You may kindly log into http://www.freechoudhury.com to read it again. Now, I shall disclose serious information. United Press International released the following news item on 2nd March 2006. According to this information, Indian intelligence has forecasted that Bangladesh is about to become the next Afghanistan. This article is by Martin Walker, UPI editor. Please read it carefully and comment on it. NEW DELHI, March 2 (UPI) -- Inside the Research and Analysis Wing, India's shadowy but influential intelligence service, this week's sentencing of 21 people to death in Bangladesh in connection with last year's wave of 500 coordinated bombings was greeted with a mixture of relief and skepticism. The relief came because the sentences were an important sign that the ruling coalition government in Bangladesh was at last taking the threat of Islamic and jihadist extremism seriously. The skepticism came because the sentences were evidently timed to coincide with President Bush's visit to India, when India was preparing to present the visiting U.S. president with a large dossier of evidence suggesting that Bangladesh was about to become "the next Afghanistan." The dossier, which has been seen by United Press International, notes that the Bangladeshi government seems only to move firmly against jihadist terrorist movements when international pressure reaches a peak. The government's decision to ban three Islamist organizations, the JBM, JMJB and AHAB, came in February last year, on the day that foreign aid donors were meeting in Washington to review aid to Bangladesh in the light of the country's grim human rights record and the jihadist threat. The 21 people sentenced to death were all members of a banned Islamic militant group, the JMB (Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh), but only 18 of the prisoners were in court. Three of the group's leaders, including two who had been trained in Afghanistan and had close links with al-Qaida, were sentenced in their absence. This is the first verdict from last August's serial bombings, which saw over 500 blasts in all but one of Bangladesh's 64 districts, carefully coordinated to take place within a single hour. Earlier this month, the JMB's top leaders, Sheikh Abdur Rahman and Siddiqul Islam, alias Bangla Bhai, were sentenced in absentia to 40 years in prison for a bomb attack that killed two judges last November. What troubles Indian intelligence officials is first that the governing coalition in Bangladesh includes Islamist parties that are sympathetic to some of the Jihadist groups, and second, that the groups depend on financing from Islamic charities based in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf. Abdur Rahman, the leader of JMB, studied at Madina Islamic University in Saudi Arabia, and worked at the Saudi Embassy in Bangladesh from 1985 to 1989. The RAW dossier that is to be given to the American officials traveling with President Bush claims that the JMB has recruited a special organization of suicide bombers called the Shahid Nasirullah Arafat Brigade, whose members get monthly salaries while in training and whose family are promised substantial sums after the "act of martyrdom." The Indian dossier claims the JMB gets funding from the Kuwait-based RIHS (Revival of Islamic Heritage Society), the Rabata al Alam al-Islami, and the al-Hamain Foundation. There is no direct evidence that these groups were aware that they were funding violence or terrorism. RAW officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told UPI that "Arabian charities have in the past proved gullible to funding requests from groups outside the Arab world who claim to be seeking funds for religious education, while keeping quiet about their readiness to resort to political violence." The Indian dossier also claims that Ahle Hadis (AHAB), a branch of the Saudi-based Wahhabi puritan sect of Islam, whose leader in Bangladesh, Asadullah Galib, is now in jail, also gets funds from RIHS and from Saudi Islamic charities. AHAB operates openly in Bangladesh, with 42 offices and some 700 mosques and madrassas (Islamic schools) around the country. The dossier goes on to track the backgrounds and training of Bangladeshi Jihadist activists in Afghanistan under the Taliban, in Palestinian-run training camps in Lebanon, in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir and in Chechnya. The dossier specifies direct links with al-Qaida and with the Kashmir-based Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist organizations. "When al-Qaida's remaining militants fled Afghanistan after the U.S.-backed military operations overthrew the Taliban, several of the militants ended up in Bangladesh, where they reformed and regrouped and have now built significant operational bases and an influential political movement that preaches an openly Taliban-style program to turn Bangladesh into an Islamist state," a senior RAW official told UPI in a rare briefing of a foreign journalist. "We have accumulated a list of 573 registered Islamic NGOs in Bangladesh that are linked to Libya, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, and we have tracked funding of over $80 million a year, although this is just the tip of the iceberg. This kind of money has a major political impact in Bangladesh," the RAW official went on. "Some of this money is clearly being diverted into the purchase of arms and ammunition." Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia told parliament last September that her ruling BNP party had allied itself only with "those religious parties that support democracy and our constitution." She also told parliament that there was no evidence of Taliban or al-Qaida militants in Bangladesh, and than any such claims were being promoted by the political opposition in order to create splits and division within the governing coalition. "The religious parties have made an important contribution to maintaining social integrity and harmony," she said. "There is no allegation against them." But the Indian dossier and Indian claims that radical Jihadists are well entrenched in Bangladesh is likely to get a sympathetic hearing from the U.S. security officials who are accompanying President Bush to Delhi. Senior U.S officials have already expressed their own concerns. "There have been several seizures of arms. There were some arms shipments. They were not going to the military, they were not going to any group that is up to do good," the U.S. Commander in Chief for the Pacific, Admiral William Fallon, told a Bangladesh press confidence during his visit last year. "We know there are people who preach radicalism, who use religion for their own method," Admiral Fallon added. "They look for areas of unrest, they look for weaknesses. When the pressure is applied in some areas, they move to others. So, our concern is that there may be some movement that might try to take advantage of Bangladesh." The writer is a journalist, columnist, author, amd editor of "Weekly Blitz". Email him at salahuddinshoaibchoudhury@yahoo.com |
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SHARON: FROM ZIONIST TO TRAITOR
Posted by David Ben Ariel, March 4, 2006. |
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The Atlantic Times now contributes to the myth of the man, Ariel Sharon, and perpetuates the big lie of the "peace process." Editor in chief Rafael Seligmann's masterpiece of deception -- "Sharon: 'First and Foremost, I'm a Jew'" -- belies harsh reality for pretty platitudes and historical revision. No self-respecting Jew would act like General Sharon who brutally betrayed those who elected him and violently expelled faithful Zionist Jews from their homes and businesses rather than defeat and drive out Israel's sworn enemies, the Nazi-Muslims. How upside down. How Luciferian! (Isaiah 5:20). Rather than repeating the mindless mantras about a peace that NEVER materialized despite the big lie of "land for peace," with "peace partners" that never existed (read and believe the covenants of death written by the bloody PLO, Fatah and Hamas -- all who collaborate to erase Israel off the map), Seligmann's (fifth) Column could have honestly told the rest of the story and properly informed his readers about how the treacherous and selfish Ariel Sharon sold out Israel to foreign interests, a puppet of his German-Jesuit EU masters, and how he won't be around for the bitter harvest of the rotten fruit of his wicked labor. Herr Seligmann's sloppy swill only feeds further disinformation to the masses and aids and abets those out to weaken and destroy Israel while slobbering "peace" as they prepare for war. The EU beast will rip and tear and devour both Arabs and Jews who are being played against each other, inviting the disaster of international intervention. Sharon didn't "transform from soldier to statesman" (vomit), he morphed for money from Zionist to traitor, backstabbing the Israeli Defence Forces (the first Israeli General to abuse the IDF against Israeli citizens). General Sharon could have enforced peace through strength, securing Israel a hard-earned victory, rather than rewarding terrorism and undermining Israeli security, breaching their sovereignty, permitting Roman wolves in sheep's clothing, "peacekeepers," to pollute the Holy Land of Israel. The EU jackboot will soon trample Ariel Sharon's grave, inherit his farm and occupy the Jewish homeland, while Israelis curse his name, and that of his partner in crime, Shimon Peres. David Ben-Ariel is a Christian-Zionist writer in Ohio, with a focus on the Middle East and Jerusalem. He is the author of Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall. |
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SINGLE, MINDLESS IN AUSTRALIA
Posted by Steven Shamrak, March 4, 2006. |
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Last week I attended a function organised by a new Jewish single group in Melbourne, Australia. For a while, I was sitting next to a guy who was wearing a pro-Aborigines T-shirt. He told me that he is a social worker and passionately involved in and personally supports all Aborigines' causes. During conversation, I causally said that I am surprised that at Jewish functions usually no one even mentioned the Israel and Meddle East conflict. His reply was sudden, strong and categorical: "Jews do not have any rights on the Palestinian land!" All his compassion, love, empathy and humanism had vaporised, gone in a second. He shouted it with powerful, unbreakable conviction. He did not care about political correctness and how offensive his words and ideas could be. He raised the voice and obnoxiously made his statements, perfectly knowing that no one among the 'nice Jews' around would contradict or challenge him. It seems that in modern society only detestable bullies and self-hating Jews have the right to express their opinion without fear of being censored or ostracised! And, he was right! No one made attempt to participate in our discussion. He did not want to hear anything at all that would contradict his opinion. I understood whom I was dealing with and my assumptions were correct. Later, he told me that he is a member of the Jewish Democratic Society, a local Jewish self-hating leftist organization. (I had previous experience with the members of this organization. As a rule, they jump and scream like a pack of mad dogs when the word "Israel" is mentioned in their presence.) He also reminded me of some responses I have received recently to my article, "Sinai Option -- The Road to Permanent Peace!" -- full of categorical rejection of the idea that the Arabs can be transferred from the Jewish land! Many have shown strong support and tried to justify the fictitious Arab claims! At the same time, some of those passionate, nice, sympathetic 'humanists' expressed the wish that Jews would and should be transferred to Canada or to the desert of Arizona! All their friendliness and compassion is gone. Strangely, none of it is applicable to Jews! Those people do not surprise or anger me. To a degree, I even respect them. At least, they have some convictions, beliefs and openly express them. It is the silent Jewish majority that is disappointing and dangerously treacherous! The conversation about the weather, travel, workout at local gym, diet and, at the best, stock market are their pre-dominant pass-times. Indifference, apathy, lack of knowledge and understanding of the current danger, that Israel and Jewish people are subjected to now, is the major concern! How to awake them from this lethargic sleep? Do we really need to wait for another war in Israel, pogrom in Russia or Holocaust in Europe to bring the message home! I know that after thousands of years of persecution and prosecution by the scums of the Earth, it is difficult to have high self-esteem. The stigma of the 'villain of the world' is still haunting many Jews. We are still unable to shrug off the shtetl, the Gallut -- slave's mentality. It is crucial that Jews regain self-respect and self-love now! The history is moving too fast. Delay could be detrimental for Jewish nation! Steven Shamrak was born in the former Soviet Union (USSR) and participated in the Moscow Zionist "refusenik" movement. For the last 3 years, he has been publishing internet editorial letters on the Arab-Israeli conflict -- independently, not as a member of any organization or political movement. He can be reached by email at StevenShamrak@mail2world.com |
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ANNOUNCING THE PEOPLE'S TRUTH FORUM
Posted by Jeffrey Epstein, March 3, 2006. |
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Folks: The symposium has been scheduled for April 29th, 2006 (Saturday) in the Greater Washington DC area. According to our speakers, an event of this magnitude -- and importance -- has never before been attempted. There will be no better opportunity for you to increase your knowledge of the subject matter and interact with other Americans -- people that are concerned for the safety and well-being of their families. You can also expect that many in attendance will be individuals from law enforcement, the counter terrorism community, the military and our government. As you know, the onus of responsibility for understanding the evil that faces out country in the form of radical Islamist terrorism rests with the American people. We cannot rely on the mainstream media to inform the country on this matter without bias. The dissemination of accurate and truthful information regarding this looming danger has become the civic responsibility of We the People. America's Truth Forum is also scheduling a VIP reception for the preceding Friday evening (4/28/06). Those in attendance will be provided with a unique opportunity to personally interact with our speakers and other "prominent" guests. Symposium seating is extremely limited. Please visit our site to register for these events: www.americastruthforum.com As always, I may be reached for assistance at (866) 709-3474. Looking forward to seeing you in Washington. Respectfully,
Contact Jeffrey Epstein by email at jepstein@lauramansfield.com or
at his website:
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BATTLE OF LEXICON
Posted by Israel Zwick, March 3, 2006. |
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In case you've been wondering why you haven't heard from me in the last two weeks, it's because I just returned from a trip to Israel. In the last ten years, I've had children studying or living in Israel so I have been traveling to Israel at least once each year. However, in the last few years I haven't been able to visit the Kevorim in Hebron and Bethlehem so I decided that on this trip I have to go to the Machpeleh and Kever Rochel. I boarded an Israeli bus in the Haredi neighborhood of Geula and paid 60 Shekel for a 5-hour trip to the Kevorim. The bus had double, thick bulletproof windows. It was a warm day so air came in through vents in the ceiling since the windows couldn't be opened. The bus route went through Arab areas in the environs of Bethlehem and Hebron. As we approached Kever Rochel, the bus traveled on a new road lined on both sides by heavy concrete barriers. The bus pulled up to the entrance and the passengers disembarked, protected by concrete barriers on both sides. When the appointed time to return to the bus had arrived, I found that I couldn't open the door in the foyer. The guard told me that the doors have to remain locked until the bus arrives. Then when the bus pulled up to the building, the doors were opened and we embarked. On the way to the Machpeleh in Hebron, the bus made two more brief stops at other Kevorim. Both were located in the middle of Arab neighborhoods. When we arrived at the Machpleleh, we were given an hour to visit and daven at the Kevorim. I left a little early in the hope that I could spend a few minutes walking around the area, since it was such a beautiful, warm day. When I started walking into an Arab street, a young soldier approached and told me that I can't go further because it's dangerous. A minute later, a group of about 20 Christian tourists arrived at the same street. The soldier told them the same thing, that they are not allowed to go further for security reasons. This time the group leader gave him an argument saying that they have been walking through the neighborhood the whole afternoon, it was perfectly safe, and their bus was waiting for them on the other side. Then the soldier allowed them to go through. So a group of Protestant tourists are free to tour the city of Hebron but a Jew with a kipa is no longer able to walk through the second holiest Jewish city. While I was davening at the Kevorim, I tried to concentrate on the appropriate prayers, but my mind was filled with images of my first visit to this area. My first visit to Israel was in the summer of 1969. I went with a college friend. There was a large influx of American Jewish tourists, all eager to visit the newly liberated areas that were so important to Jewish history, culture, and religion. Since there weren't enough organized bus tours to accommodate all the tourists, some enterprising Israeli cab drivers conducted their own private tours. They picked up four or five tourists from the hotels and charged each about $5 for a half-day private tour in their black Mercedes taxi. So my friend and I joined several of these mini-tours. The first tour we took was of the Hebron-Bethlehem area. The scenery was breathtaking, a beautiful pristine area, free of military barricades and unsightly fences. The driver was free to drive anywhere he wanted to without concern about being shot or bombed. Along the route, he pointed out several old Jewish cemeteries and historical sites. At each site there were a group of young Israeli and American volunteers who were cleaning and restoring the site from the destruction and desecration caused by the previous Jordanian occupiers. The driver gave us time to tour the major sites: Machpeleh, Kever Rochel, and the Church of the Nativity. As an Orthodox Jew, I knew that I wasn't supposed to enter a church, but at that time there was such a euphoria and eagerness to view our liberated lands that everyone went in anyway. At each site we were greeted by little Arab children selling bags of fresh figs and cactus fruit. They shouted the only English words that they knew, "dollar, dollar." I thought that a dollar for a bag of fresh figs was a good deal but someone else told me that it was too much. The Arab children were eager to get American money and would be happy with a few assorted coins. I brought with me a bunch of $1 and $5 bills but no coins, so I had to pay the dollar anyway. But I didn't mind, there was such a strong feeling of euphoria in the air among both Arabs and Jews, that I was happy to give the children a dollar for their bag of fresh figs. On another one of these taxi mini-tours, my friend and I visited what was called East Jerusalem. I think I saw every church in the area, but the highlight of the trip was the visit to the Kotel, and Temple Mount, or Har Habayis. At that time, there were no Jewish restrictions to visiting the Temple Mount. We walked all over the area and we were welcome to enter the two big mosques, the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa. The Arabs in charge greeted us warmly and instructed us how to show the proper respect and decorum for their holy sites. There were no signs of animosity or friction between the Arabs and the visiting Jews. Here too, the ubiquitous Arab children were running around selling souvenir and food items for a dollar. All the residents and visitors in the area seemed so excited about the new, free atmosphere. Everyone seemed so grateful for the Israeli liberation of Jerusalem and its environs. While the Israeli military achieved a resounding and decisive victory in 1967, they were totally unprepared for the ensuing War of Words. The conflict soon shifted from the battlefield to the podium at the United Nations, to the images in the TV news programs, and to the articles in the leading international newspapers. Over the next two decades, the Arabs showed their superiority at the Battle of Lexicon. The terminology that we were accustomed to slowly began to change. The liberated Jewish lands and religious sites throughout Judea and Samaria, now became "occupied Palestinian lands." The Sunni Muslims living there, who were the same as in the neighboring countries of Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon, now became a new ethnic group called "Palestinians." These nouveau Palestinians were now "victims of Israeli aggression who were struggling for liberation." Suicide bombers who randomly killed innocent Jewish civilians were idolized in the media for "their desperate struggle to resist the occupation and achieve freedom for their people." The State of Israel, the only free, democratic country in the Middle East, was described as a "racist, apartheid country." This new lexicon soon became so popular around the world that even the native Israelis began to use it. The liberated Jewish areas, which had a continuous Jewish presence except for the brief period from 1948 to 1967, became widely regarded as "occupied Palestinian lands," even though they never belonged to the Palestinian Arabs. Yet the world's diplomats continue to acknowledge the "legitimate rights of the Palestinian people," a code word for the establishment of another Arab state carved out of the tiny State of Israel. The Arabs have won such a decisive victory at the Battle of Lexicon that the whole world has adopted their terminology. The area is referred to as "Palestine" by the CIA Worldbook and online encyclopedias, even though there is no such area. Maps of Palestine at the UN include the entire State of Israel. Even the History channel and Discovery channel on Cable TV acknowledge an area called Palestine, even though it isn't defined. The Arabs living there, most of whom are not indigenous to the area, are "struggling for liberation from the harsh Israeli military occupation." The Arabs are called Palestinians even though it was the Jews living there who used to be identified as "Palestinishers" before the State of Israel was founded. There are many more examples of such distortion of terms. The Arab websites continue to use vitriolic language to describe "Israeli aggression and massacres" and the rest of the world quickly accepts it. The language is pervasive throughout the Arab media and their supporters. Today there are about 30 violent conflicts going on around the world, most of which involve Muslims. The battles are being fought not only on the battlefields, but also in the popular media. Israel is still losing the media battle with movies such as "Munich" and "Paradise Now." It's time to fight back. If Jews are going to retain any rights to Judea Samaria, they have to continue to visit the Jewish holy sites and insist on their own "legitimate rights" to these areas. So I urge you all to visit the religious and historic sites in Judea and Samaria as often as possible. When you do, insist that you are not visiting "occupied Palestinian lands," but you are visiting "liberated Jewish lands." Kol Tuv Contact Israel Zwick at israel.zwick@earthlink.net |
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ISLAM'S RAGE EXPLAINED BY PROFESSOR ASHER SUSSER, TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY
Posted by Jerome S. Kaufman, March 3, 2006. |
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Northern snowbirds escaping to Florida were treated to a brilliant lecture by Professor Asher Susser, Director and Senior Research Fellow, Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, Tel Aviv University. The lecture was entitled Islam and the West and given at Temple Beth El in West Palm Beach, Florida. Professor Susser spoke of the historical origins of the rage and fury of the Muslim masses now being graphically demonstrated in world-wide cartoon riots. He explained how, in inventing the Muslim faith, Mohammed portrayed Islam as a religion which absorbed the best aspects of the previous faiths of Judaism and Christianity, superceded them, and was thus inherently superior to these faiths and their associated cultures. And for several hundred years this indeed proved to be the case. Islam overwhelmed the Christian and Judaic worlds creating, by the sword, an empire that extended well into Europe and well beyond the Arabian Peninsula to the East. The invasion was finally stopped at the gates of Vienna in 1683. Since then, their supposedly superior civilization and religion has been defeated on numerous occasions and their illusions painfully challenged. Napoleon Bonaparte in 1798 captured Egypt for a short time and the Ottoman Empire was finally defeated and dismembered completely by the British and French, supported by the Americans, in WWI, 1914-1917. As a result of this final conquest, an entirely new term was created called the "Middle East." There was no such previous entity in the Arab mind and for many, there still is not. Everything in what they consider the Arab world and all its inhabitants are simply under one banner -- Islam. In more local power struggles, Syria has never given up the concept of a "Greater Syria" which includes the entire British Mandate that was supposed to be Israel, the created nation of Jordan, the recently created Palestinian Arab entity plus Lebanon. Saddam Hussein has always considered Kuwait and much of Iran as Iraqi territory. The greatest insult to Arab illusions was, of course, the victory of a few hundred thousand Israelis supported by starved refugees from the concentration camps of Europe, defeating five invading Arab armies in the War of 1948 and declaring the State of Israel. This was followed by the humiliating Arab defeat in just Six Days of War in 1967 demonstrating the complete superiority of the Israeli military. Professor Susser also briefly went into the astonishing success story of the Israeli economy and its intellectual, scientific and social achievements, which only serve to fuel even further Arab rage and jealousy. He spoke also of the unsuccessful attempt by Islam to develop modernity. He spoke of first their attempt to achieve parity by briefly embracing the socialism of the Soviet Union at the time of Egypt's Gamel Abdel-Nasser. With this failure and the devastating defeat by the Israelis in 1967, a new gambit has been attempted. The Muslim Brotherhood was formed and the concept developed of not trying to reach modernity by imitating the West but rather to return to their basic Islamic fundamentalist values in the hope that this strategy would once again return their society to the world prominence and superiority of the 7th to 17th centuries. This is the strategy in which much of the Arab world now remains and is, of course, doomed to failure. Professor Susser spoke of modernity being based primarily on a secular society and the inherent right of the individual to civil rights, freedom of expression, freedom of movement, education -- all the things that are an integral part of Western culture and completely alien to the fundamentalist religion, tribal loyalty and the recently developed form of Arab nationalism. He saw no immediate end in sight for this Islamic belief system and the resultant state of affairs. He was pleased with the fact that Israel is now drawing its own borders, setting up its own defenses and taking a very practical view of the fact that this is a centuries old problem and mind set that will not go away. The professor did not go into details as to borders, territory, etc. but what with the history and intensity of the Islamic antagonism he described, giving up any territory to an enemy sworn to one's destruction or doing anything to enhance that society, at the expense of your own, has to be an obvious gross error. Its continuation can only result in more of Israel's never-ending "citizen sacrifices for peace" -- Israel's own self-destructive delusion still embraced by the majority of a badly misguided population. Jerome S. Kaufman is National Secretary of the Zionist Organization of America. and host the Israel Commentary website (http://www.israel-commentary.org). |
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PASSAGE OF TIME CLARIFIES; WHILE HAMAS "EVOLVES"; JIMMY CARTER'S
ANTICIPATABLE ADVICE
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, March 3, 2006. |
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DISGRACEFUL DEMOCRATS At the Coretta King funeral, prominent Democrats perverted the occasion into a political attack on the Bush regime. Have they no respect? Democrats were irate that Gore lost to Bush because of confusing ballots. Suppose Gore had won. He just pulled a "Jane Fonda" on us. He went to S. Arabia, font of half the Islamist terrorism, and called American reaction to 9/11 "unforgivable." He denounced Pres. Bush as a "moral coward" allied with "digital brownshirts." What Gore did is unforgivable. It seems to be the product of a feverish mind. Yet it is typical of what the Democrats have come down to. Gore called the Bush regime the most deceitful since Nixon's. Likely, but since Gore has discredited himself, and, as in his campaign, fails to give examples, who believes him? Pathetic, but how can one turn to the GOP? It wastes energy, gives resources to the rich, is deceitful about it, relies upon diplomacy (as do the Democrats), and supports some Arab terrorists at the cost of Israeli lives now and perhaps American lives later. PASSAGE OF TIME CLARIFIES It was an intellectual struggle to figure out, against the prevailing belief that our faith in what we consider democracy is going to resolve the Arab-Israel conflict in particular and end jihad in general. A few weeks later, one can see the evidence preponderantly in support of skepticism as if it were elementary. President Bush delivered fine speeches stating the doctrine. He did not have a sound policy analysis to back up his belief. He did not define democracy, allocate sufficient resources, properly implement the policy, nor warn about the difficulties and time required. He did give some countries the opportunity to restore or develop democracy. The P.A. fell into an election among totalitarian parties and without any notion of what democracy really is, without a democratic civil society, and without civility or tolerance. Iran is exulting in the Islamist victory in the P.A. and its gains in Lebanon and Egypt. As the most organized force in a failed civilization, Islamist parties have the advantage. The Islamists have piggybacked upon Pres. Bush's over-simplified wish for democracy. They demand more elections in the Muslim world. They make it embarrassing for the US to seem to reverse course and discourage holding elections. The US did not think this through. Although stung by criticism that it supports dictatorships, it has continued subsidizing the Egyptian military and the P.A. jihadists. Thus our policy stimulates Islamist takeover of armed forces we underwrote. WHILE HAMAS "EVOLVES" Pres. Mubarak of Egypt rejected pleas to quarantine Hamas and force it to resign. Instead, he urges patience with it. He said Hamas needs time to evolve and mellow. Evolution takes time. Meanwhile, how many Israelis would be murdered? On what basis is Hamas expected to evolve? What other jihadists mellowed within a "reasonable" time? Nor would all the pressure on Hamas be to reform. The whole Islamist movement would help keep Hamas in line and its fervor feverish. Why was Egypt solicited? Egypt has rebuffed or circumvented all requests and opportunities to get the P.A. to make genuine peace with Israel. It stiffened Arafat's resolve against accepting Israeli peace offers. Egypt acts as if it wishes to bleed Israel, if not because Israel is infidel, then because it considers Israel a rival for the regional leadership that Egypt craves or because it retains its dream of conquering Israel. DUBIOUS PORT OUTSOURCING Pres. Bush defends leasing US port management to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on the grounds that they are useful allies. The term "ally" often is hyperbole; it has been misapplied to S. Arabia, one of our worse enemies. These allies often play both sides. The UAE does. Sometimes a government wants to work with us, but its people don't and either infiltrate it or overthrow it. Other defenders argue that we should not be suspicious of Arabs. Where have they been, during the manifestations of wall-to-wall Muslim hostility to the West and a popular jihad against us? The NY Sun spurns the deal's critics for having received political donations from the Longshoreman's Union, which has been corrupt. This insinuates, without evidence, that the opposing politicians sold their position. The Sun ignores the financial ties of supporting politicians, such as Bush, Cheney, and Rice, to the Arab oil industry. David Brooks filled his NY Times article, in favor of political correctness, with scathing sarcasm against an exaggerated straw man of bigotry. Much of the Sun so exaggerates, too, that even when I agree with its thrust, I can't use some of its editorials, because its vague insults do not specify the facts. Mr. Brooks brings in irrelevant and silly issues about China, such as its monopoly of baby toys, which he ridicules, as if applicable to this issue. Toys are not a matter of national security (though why doesn't someone question whether the US is wise to be building up that country, which is arming to confront the US over Taiwan and more?). The counter-argument, that one terrorist was from the UAE, is specious; many terrorists come from Britain, which runs these ports now. Brook's best apparent argument is faulty, that US agencies would handle security. They do not inspect everything! It remains clear that the UAE may easily be infiltrated by terrorists, and should not know port security arrangements. JIMMY CARTER WOULD NOT OSTRACIZE THE P.A. ARABS Former Pres. Carter called these "times of fluidity." He urged Israel and the US to "play positive roles," and not be counterproductive with "devastating consequences." Israel should stop hindering movement of elected Hamas representatives. Ostracism would "alienate the already oppressed and innocent Palestinians (Arabs), to incite violence," and would boost Hamas influence against moderation. Otherwise Abbas could help ease tensions and strive for peace (from "Heinrich" on Internet, 2/20). It would be an impressive case, were it not floating in hot air and fantasy. "Times of fluidity" is refuted by the unregenerate nature of Islamists planning worse jihad. "Play positive roles" is a misnomer for appeasement. To assist genocidal fanatics is far from positive. Carter offers euphemism instead of facing reality. Carter calls the Arabs oppressed. Would he acknowledge that they oppress themselves? Alienated from the West? They already are -- why else did they choose the anti-Western Hamas and Fatah. "Innocent" they are not. Carter seems not to comprehend that almost the whole P.A. society is Islamic and even Islamist, thoroughly indoctrinated to hate Christians such as Carter and to murder Jews. They should be ostracized to make them pay for it and to get them to stop it. Apparently Carter would rather believe the myth of Abbas as a peacemaker than study his record of threatening armed struggle, paying terrorists, lauding martyrs, and managing the P.A. media that promotes terrorism. Carter has a record, too. His own foreign policy failed. That anti-Zionist should not be considered someone of goodwill, when all his sympathy is for murderous Arabs, and when all the sacrifices he asks for are from the Israelis whom his "innocent" Arabs either try to murder or encourage those who do try. IRAQI WITHDRAWAL COMING The next US President is likely to jettison the rebuilding of Iraq that has given hope to millions of Iraqis. Politicians are panicked by the traditional American impatience, reiterated in polls. Most citizens are not aware of our progress and how a retreat would encourage Iran to instigate more terrorism. The US credibility and position would erode from this display of weakness. Islamists would rise up all around us and amidst us. When one rips the bandage off a forming scab, the bleeding surges. Soon we would have to return and fight all the harder (Jewish Political Chronicle, 1/2006, p.22 from Ze'ev Schiff of Haaretzq, 12/2 & Henry Kissinger, San Diego Union Tribune, 12/11). Our republic lacks information, understanding, and leadership. 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@aol.com. |
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WHAT REALLY BECAME OF SADDAM'S WMD?
Posted by Zalmi, March 3, 2006. |
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This is called "Russia Moved Saddam's WMD" and was written by Kenneth R. Timmerman. It appeared on www.NewsMax.com. A top Pentagon official who was responsible for tracking Saddam Hussein's weapons programs before and after the 2003 liberation of Iraq, has provided the first-ever account of how Saddam Hussein "cleaned up" his weapons of mass destruction stockpiles to prevent the United States from discovering them. "The short answer to the question of where the WMD Saddam bought from the Russians went was that they went to Syria and Lebanon," former Deputy Undersecretary of Defense John A. Shaw told an audience Saturday at a privately sponsored "Intelligence Summit" in Alexandria, Va. (www.intelligencesummit.org). "They were moved by Russian Spetsnaz (special forces) units out of uniform, that were specifically sent to Iraq to move the weaponry and eradicate any evidence of its existence," he said. Shaw has dealt with weapons-related issues and export controls as a U.S. government official for 30 years, and was serving as deputy undersecretary of defense for international technology security when the events he described today occurred. He called the evacuation of Saddam's WMD stockpiles "a well-orchestrated campaign using two neighboring client states with which the Russian leadership had a long time security relationship." Shaw was initially tapped to make an inventory of Saddam's conventional weapons stockpiles, based on intelligence estimates of arms deals he had concluded with the former Soviet Union, China and France. He estimated that Saddam had amassed 100 million tons of munitions -- roughly 60 percent of the entire U.S. arsenal. "The origins of these weapons were Russian, Chinese and French in declining order of magnitude, with the Russians holding the lion's share and the Chinese just edging out the French for second place." But as Shaw's office increasingly got involved in ongoing intelligence to identify Iraqi weapons programs before the war, he also got "a flow of information from British contacts on the ground at the Syrian border and from London" via non-U.S. government contacts. "The intelligence included multiple sightings of truck convoys, convoys going north to the Syrian border and returning empty," he said. Shaw worked closely with Julian Walker, a former British ambassador who had decades of experience in Iraq, and an unnamed Ukranian-American who was directly plugged in to the head of Ukraine's intelligence service. The Ukrainians were eager to provide the United States with documents from their own archives on Soviet arms transfers to Iraq and on ongoing Russian assistance to Saddam, to thank America for its help in securing Ukraine's independence from the Soviet Union, Shaw said. In addition to the convoys heading to Syria, Shaw said his contacts "provided information about steel drums with painted warnings that had been moved to a cellar of a hospital in Beirut." But when Shaw passed on his information to the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and others within the U.S. intelligence community, he was stunned by their response. "My report on the convoys was brushed off as 'Israeli disinformation,'" he said. One month later, Shaw learned that the DIA general counsel complained to his own superiors that Shaw had eaten from the DIA "rice bowl." It was a Washington euphemism that meant he had commited the unpardonable sin of violating another agency's turf. The CIA responded in even more diabolical fashion. "They trashed one of my Brits and tried to declare him persona non grata to the intelligence community," Shaw said. "We got constant indicators that Langley was aggressively trying to discredit both my Ukranian-American and me in Kiev," in addition to his other sources. But Shaw's information had not originated from a casual contact. His Ukranian-American aid was a personal friend of David Nicholas, a Western ambassador in Kiev, and of Igor Smesko, head of Ukrainian intelligence. Smesko had been a military attaché in Washington in the early 1990s when Ukraine first became independent and Dick Cheney was secretary of defense. "Smesko had told Cheney that when Ukraine became free of Russia he wanted to show his friendship for the United States." Helping out on Iraq provided him with that occasion. "Smesko had gotten to know Gen. James Clapper, now director of the Geospacial Intelligence Agency, but then head of DIA," Shaw said. But it was Shaw's own friendship to the head of Britain's MI6 that brought it all together during a two-day meeting in London that included Smeshko's people, the MI6 contingent, and Clapper, who had been deputized by George Tenet to help work the issue of what happened to Iraq's WMD stockpiles. In the end, here is what Shaw learned:
The evacuation of Saddam's WMD to Syria and Lebanon "was an entirely controlled Russian GRU operation," Shaw said. "It was the brainchild of General Yevgenuy Primakov." The goal of the clean-up was "to erase all trace of Russian involvement" in Saddam's WMD programs, and "was a masterpiece of military camouflage and deception." Just as astonishing as the Russian clean-up operation were efforts by Bush administration appointees, including Defense Department spokesman Laurence DiRita, to smear Shaw and to cover up the intelligence information he brought to light. "Larry DiRita made sure that this story would never grow legs," Shaw said. "He whispered sotto voce [quietly] to journalists that there was no substance to my information and that it was the product of an unbalanced mind." Shaw suggested that the answer of why the Bush administration had systematically "ignored Russia's involvement" in evacuating Saddam's WMD stockpiles "could be much bigger than anyone has thought," but declined to speculate what exactly was involved. Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney was less reticent. He thought the reason was Iran. "With Iran moving faster than anyone thought in its nuclear programs," he told NewsMax, "the administration needed the Russians, the Chinese and the French, and was not interested in information that would make them look bad." McInerney agreed that there was "clear evidence" that Saddam had WMD. "Jack Shaw showed when it left Iraq, and how." Former Undersecretary of Defense Richard Perle, a strong supporter of the war against Saddam, blasted the CIA for orchestrating a smear campaign against the Bush White House and the war in Iraq. "The CIA has been at war with the Bush administration almost from the beginning," he said in a keynote speech at the Intelligence Summit on Saturday. He singled out recent comments by Paul Pillar, a former top CIA Middle East analyst, alleging that the Bush White House "cherry-picked" intelligence to make the case for war in Iraq. "Mr. Pillar was in a very senior position and was able to make his views known, if that is indeed what he believed," Perle said. "He (Pillar) briefed senior policy officials before the start of the Iraq war in 2003. If he had had reservations about the war, he could have voiced them at that time." But according to officials briefed by Pillar, Perle said, he never did. Even more inexplicable, Perle said, were the millions of documents "that remain untranslated" among those seized from Saddam Hussein's intelligence services. "I think the intelligence community does not want them to be exploited," he said. Among those documents, presented Saturday at the conference by former FBI translator Bill Tierney, were transcripts of Saddam's palace conversations with top aides in which he discussed ongoing nuclear weapons plans in 2000, well after the U.N. arms inspectors believed he had ceased all nuclear weapons work. "What was most disturbing in those tapes," Tierney said, "was the fact that the individuals briefing Saddam were totally unknown to the U.N. Special Commission." In addition, Tierney said, the plasma uranium programs Saddam discussed with his aids as ongoing operations in 2000 had been dismissed as "old programs" disbanded years earlier, according to the final CIA report on Iraq's weapons programs, presented in 2004 by the Iraq Survey Group. "When I first heard those tapes" about the uranium plasma program, "it completely floored me," Tierney said. Contact Zalmi at zalmi@zalmi.net or go to his website:http://zalmi.blogspot.com |
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THIS IS FUNNY
Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, March 3, 2006. |
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This is G-D's sense of humor. These very same people have done everything they can to ingratiate themselves and their political masters to the enemies of the Jewish nation. They have grovelled, licked their boots, betrayed the Jewish people in more ways than can be counted and even carried out a number of bloody Pogroms but nothing helps them. "He who sits in the heavens ridicules them." This comes from today's Arutz Sheva -- IsraelNationalNews.com -- and
is called "Hamas Leaders Free to Travel -- IDF Officers Restricted."
It is archived at (IsraelNN.com) Quoting unnamed senior military officials, the daily Ha'aretz reports senior military brass is outraged over the decision to prohibit IDF Brigadier-General Aviv Kochavi from traveling to the UK for studies during the summer, fearing he may be arrested on war crimes charges for his role as a senior IDF officer in Gaza. The report states that senior military officers point out that while Hamas politburo leader Khaled Meshal and other terrorists travel the world freely, IDF officers are prohibited from doing so. The matter was raised during a Thursday meeting between Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and British Prime Minister Tony Blair in England, with Blair promising to look into the matter. Aryeh Zelasko lives in Beitar Illit, south of Jerusalem. He is Director of Sales and Marketing of Israel Visit (www.israelvisit.co.il) which provides information and an internet buying facility for American visitors to Israel. Contact him at zelasko@actcom.co.il |
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A NEO-ZIONIST ANSWER TO POST-ZIONIST APPEASEMENT
Posted by Martin Sherman, March 3, 2006. | ||||
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Under the title of A NEO-ZIONIST ANSWER TO POST-ZIONIST APPEASEMENT, the Jerusalem Summit is continuing its banner campaign recently conducted in Y-Net, in both the English and Hebrew internet editions of HAARETZ. The banner provides a link to a synopsis of a proposed Humanitarian-Regional resolution of the Palestinian issue. The English and Hebrew versions of the synopsis can also be directly accessed: in English: http://www.jerusalemsummit.org/eng/hs_short_eng.htm
Recent developments and authoritative assessments,seem to indicate that the notion of a "two state solution" is be becoming less and less popular among the Palestinians. Accordingly Israel will increasingly be called on to contend with the "one state for two people" concept. This of course could herald disaster for the Zionist ideal and thus innovative viable counter proposals must be formulated and promoted. It is for these reasons that we believe that the attached proposal is of urgency, importance and pertinence, and that it should be assertively placed -- and kept -- on the public agenda. As we have remarked previously elsewhere, this is a proposal that appears to provide a "win-win" approach. Consequently we are convinced that a serious exchange on its pros and con and a through assessment of its internal logic, its moral validity and its economic and political feasibility must form a central part of the new debate on the Middle East. We therefore request that you refer as many as possible to the campaign -- especially if you have your own mailing list -- and encourage them to respond to and help distribute the proposed idea. What follows is "A Humanitarian Regional Solution To The Israel-Palestinian Conflict". Sincerely, Dmitry Radyshevsky
Martin Sherman
A. Assessment 1. The conventional-wisdom paradigm for the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has failed woefully, bringing nothing but misery and despair to both sides -- but particularly to the Palestinians as individual human beings. 2. This conventional paradigm has attempted to solve the conflict by means of a Political Solution involving the establishment of a self-governing Palestinian entity on territories in Judea Samaria and Gaza which have been under Israeli control since 1967 i.e. on the basis of a "Land for Peace" approach. 3. Dispassionate assessment of the history of the conflict and its current development will strongly suggest that persisting with attempts to attain a political solution on the basis the conventional paradigm is at best futile - and at worse harmful. Accordingly, alternative modes of resolution must be pursued. B. Analysis 1. Analysis of their deeds and declarations over the years make it difficult to avoid the conclusion that the Palestinians are in effect both unwilling and incapable of achieving and maintaining statehood. (a) Palestinian Unwillingness: This is reflected in the fact that the Palestinians have rejected every single viable proposal which would have afforded them a state - from the 1947 partition plan to the 2000 Barak proposals. 2. It is thus far easier to understand Palestinian conduct if one assumes that it 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 dismantle a Jewish state. 3. The latter, and seemingly more plausible, explanation of Palestinian behavior -- i.e. rejection of Jewish self determination and the dismantling of the Jewish nation state -- reflects an agenda totally unacceptable by any international standards and thus must be branded as devoid of any legitimacy. 4. Accordingly if the accepted version of the Palestinian narrative -- i.e. a desire for Palestinian self determination and the aspiration for Palestinian statehood -- cannot be reconciled with the history of Palestinian behavior, this narrative also must be branded as devoid of any legitimacy. 5. This issue of legitimacy of narrative is crucial. Indeed the very fuel of the Political Paradigm, involving the establishment of a Palestinian state, is the perception -- or rather the misperception - of the presently prevailing Palestinian narrative as legitimate. C. Conclusion 1. The establishment of a Palestinian State must removed from the international agenda. 2. However, removing the issue of a Palestinian state from the international agenda will not eliminate the humanitarian predicament of Palestinians residing in Israeli-administered areas. 3. This is clearly an issue that must be addressed and resolved. But it must be addressed not in political terms but in humanitarian ones. 4. Thus, to successfully resolve the Palestinian problem, the Political Paradigm must be replaced by a Humanitarian Paradigm. This, however can only be done if the current Palestinian narrative, which fuels the Political Paradigm, is de-legitimized. 5. Thus, the de-legitimization of the Palestinian narrative becomes a vital prerequisite to any comprehensive resolution of the Palestinian issue. D. Proposal 1. A comprehensive Humanitarian Solution to the Palestinian issue would entail three major elements: (a) The dissolution of UNRWA -- which will end the discriminatory treatment towards the Palestinians with regard to their status as refugees; 2. UNRWA is an organization that perpetuates the Palestinian refugee problem. It is an anomalous organization which exists solely to deal with Palestinian refugees, while all the other refugees on the face of the globe are dealt with by the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). 3. The organizations not only deal differently with the refugees under their auspices, they each have different definitions for classifying an individual as a "refugee". 4. This difference in definition has far-ranging consequences. For in contrast to the UNHCR definition, which results in a decline in the number of refugees over time, the UNRWA definition leads to an inflation of the number. 5. In fact, if the UNHCR's otherwise universal definition were applied to the Palestinian case, the number of refugees would decline from 4-5 million to 200-300,000 i.e. by over 90%!! 6. It thus appears that UNWRA is perpetuating the very problem it was designed to eliminate. 7. Accordingly, the dissolution of UNRWA is an essential prerequisite for any comprehensive, durable solution of the Palestinian issue. 8. With the dissolution of UNWRA, the remaining - and drastically reduced - number of Palestinian refugees, should be placed under the auspices of UNHCR - in accordance with the accepted practice for all other refugee groups on the face of the globe. 9. Those Palestinians no longer classed as refugees under the new arrangements, must be offered all the privileges afforded all other peoples resident in their current countries of domicile in the Arab world -- including the right to acquire citizenship. 10. In order to do this, a vigorous diplomatic and media campaign must be mounted to induce Arab governments to end their harsh discriminatory behavior towards the millions of Palestinians domiciled in their countries and absorb them into their societies as fully fledged citizens. After all, even the Palestinians assert (in the opening paragraph of their National Covenant) that they are "part of the Arab Nation". 11. As for the Palestinians resident in Israeli administered territory, there is only one reasonable and feasible alternative that will: (a) extricate them from their dire humanitarian plight; 12. This is a generous relocation and resettlement package to allow them to build a new life for themselves and their families in countries preferably, but not necessarily exclusively, with similar religious and socio-cultural conditions. 13. In order to minimize the ability of organized Palestinian interest groups to impede the success of such a effort, the offer of financial inducement to emigrate must be "atomized" -- i.e. made to individual Palestinian breadwinners on a one-to one personal level and not on a communal level via some formal Palestinian entity. 14. 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 outright. By contrast, over 70% would accept some form of material compensation as an inducement to emigrate permanently from the areas currently under Israeli administration (see http://www.jerusalemsummit.org/eng/news.php?news=102) 15. The economic cost of such a policy of generously financed humanitarian relocation and resettlement would be eminently affordable and would compare favorably with almost all other settlement proposals on the table today. Indeed, its total cost would be around 50% of the present total US outlay on the War in Iraq!! 16. Indeed, given Israel's present level of GDP, it is an initiative that it could well undertake on its own over the next decade to a decade and a half. It should be realized that this is the period that has elapsed since the initiation of the Oslo process -- which has brought nothing but failure and tragedy at the cost of billions of dollars and thousands of lives. 17. Of course, if the US, the EU and other developed nations were to contribute to this effort, it could be implemented in a far shorter space of time and with almost no burden on the world economy. 18. Quite the opposite, the Palestinians arriving in their new countries of domicile will not be impoverished refugees but reasonably affluent émigrés. The funds that they would be bringing with them would provide a considerable boost for the economies of these nations -- most of which would be developing countries with a pressing need for such a substantial influx of funds. E. Summary The proposed initiative constitutes a "win-win" proposal which will: Alleviate, and even eliminate, the humanitarian plight of individual Palestinians Ensure the continued security and survival of Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish people Provide a significant boost to the economies of the developing world Transform poverty stricken refugees into affluent émigrés This synopsis is published on
http://www.jerusalemsummit.org/eng/hs_short_eng.htm
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