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| GUSH KATIF |
JOIN THE ZOA MARCHERS THIS SUNDAY; ATTEND THE RALLY IN CENTRAL PARK FOR GUSH KATIF/GAZA
Posted by AFSI, May 31, 2005. |
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CENTRAL PARK, SUNDAY JUNE 5, 2005 FROM 2:30-6 pm., RAIN or SHINE PLEASE JOIN THE ZOA MARCHERS IN THE ISRAELI DAY PARADE WHO WILL BE ASSEMBLING AT 1 PM AT 53RD ST. BETWEEN 5TH & 6TH AVES. YOU WILL BE GIVEN AN ORANGE T-SHIRT OF SOLIDARITY WITH THE THREATENED COMMUNITIES OF GUSH KATIF/GAZA. OUR DETERMINATION TO STOP THE SHARON EXPULSION PLAN MUST BE MADE OBVIOUS FOR ALL TO SEE. MARCH FOR THE FREEDOM OF JEWS TO LIVE FREELY IN THE JEWISH HOMELAND. 35,000 PEOPLE WILL RALLY AGAINST WITHDRAWAL FROM GAZA AT CONCERT IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE ISRAEL DAY PARADE, THE LARGEST PRO-ISRAEL GATHERING IN THE WORLD. NEW YORK, NY - The Israel Concert in The Park Committee, in association with the National Council of Young Israel will host the 12th annual Israel Day Concert in Central Park, at the East Meadow, located at 97th Street and 5th Avenue, on Sunday, June 5, 2005 from 2:30-6 PM, rain or shine. Over 35,000 people are expected to gather at this year's event, which is dedicated to supporting the Jewish communities of Gaza, and against the surrender of Jewish territories in this region. Speakers will include 2 former Cabinet Members of the Israeli Government, and current Knesset (Parliament) Members: MK Effie Eitam and MK Uzi Landau (of PM Sharon's ruling Likud Party, a number of New York elected officials, and leaders of the American Jewish community, including Rabbis and major organizational heads. The event is organized by Dr. Joseph Frager, and will feature leading Jewish performers. Additionally, the program will be dedicated to the Jewish communities located in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, the more than 1300 victims of Oslo who have been killed since the signing of the Oslo "peace" accords, the more than 700 murdered since the outbreak of the latest War against Israel which began on September 28, 2000, and the 57th Anniversary of The State of Israel. "As New Yorkers, we feel the need to stand up and let the world know on the 55th year of the Anniversary of the founding of the State of Israel that we will not sit silent as the expulsion of Jews from any part of Israel is imminent. We will gather to rejoice at Israel's independence, and to remember that Prime Minister Sharon himself spoke to this same group in Central Park a few years ago, and today his actions pose a grave danger to Israel," said Dr. Joseph Frager, organizer of The Israel Concert in the Park. "We will not sit silent, and expect tens of thousands to join us to publicly say No to expulsion and yes to Jews in Gaza." Americans For a Safe Israel/AFSI asks that you bring your check book and be prepared to write a check to FRIENDS OF GUSH KATIF to enable the beleaguered communities to continue with their efforts to stop the expulsion. Checks may be mailed to AFSI, 1623 Third Ave., Suite 205, New York, N.Y. 10128. Direct contributions may be made through the Gush Katif website: www.katifund.org. Further information on the event is available by calling Ronn Torossian at 212-999-5585 or writing to afsi@rcn.com; www.afsi.org Americans For a Safe Israel/AFSI is a pro-active pro-Israel advocacy group. AFSI may be contacted by mail at 1623 Third Ave., Suite 205, New York, N.Y. 10128 (Tel: 212-828-2424; Fax: 212-828-1717); by email at afsi@rcn.com; or by accessing its website: www.afsi.org. Helen Freedman is Executive Director. |
| GUSH KATIF |
WE NEED YOU AMERICANS TO SAVE GUSH KATIF
Posted by Susie Dym, May 31, 2005. |
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I am delighted to report that there is now a nationwide cohesive group of Jewish activists in the US who are working together to prevent the displacement, by force, of the 9000 Jews of Gush Katif. The Gush Katif Jews are the only remaining impediment to establishment of a full-fledged World Terror Capital in Gaza. These activists are doing great stuff. For example, they are contacting rabbis in their area to find out who is sympathetic, contacting their local Jewish press and their senators, visiting Gush Katif or sponsoring others to do so, putting together an email list of concerned American Jews, and so forth. Please contact Jon Hambourger at Save Gush Katif
PLEASE EMAIL THIS FLYER TO YOUR DISTRIBUTION LIST. Thank you so much for caring and helping!
On July 25th, 9,000 Jewish residents of Gush Katif (Gaza) will become homeless, by order of the Israeli government. Susie Dym is spokesperson for Mattot Arim, an Israeli grassroots group working towards peace for peace since 1992. As such, she has had a leading role in organizing opposition to Sharon's trampling over the Knesset, his own party - the Likud - and the Jews who live in Biblical Israel. Contact her by email at sddym@bezeqint.net |
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THE WAR ON WHAT?
Posted by Yashiko Sagamori, May 31, 2005. |
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This was written by Zack Lieberberg; and I translated it. The War On Terror Russian people are incredibly rude. They are so rude that even when they make an effort to be polite, they sound threatening. And when they want to sound threatening, it comes out perfectly believable. When Putin, with his face still burning after the heavy slap he had received at Beslan, announced to the world that from then on he intended to strike terrorists preventively on Russian territory as well as beyond, I said to myself, "Uh-oh. We've got ourselves an ally that may cause more problems than all our enemies combined." As it turned out, I had nothing to worry about. In the almost 19 months since the siege that left more than 344 hostages, 172 of them children, dead, Putin has been carefully emulating his more experienced colleagues. Like Sharon, he went after terrorist leaders and managed to kill a couple of them. These tough measures did about as much good to Russia as they do to Israel. The only difference was that the world did not defend the Chechen terrorists' sacred right to kill and maim their victims with the same passion they usually defend the Arab terrorists' sacred right to kill and maim theirs, which means that not only Moscow subway riders can tell a Jew from a Russian. What about ours? It forges ahead. Iraqis enthusiastically kill each other. Unfortunately, they also kill American soldiers, but their sacrifices do not seem to produce any tangible benefits for this country or the remnants of the free world. The price of gas has reached a plateau twice as high as its pre-war level. The terror alert indicator has been frozen in the middle of the scale for such a long time that most people no longer remember if it has a meaning. The Cessna incident raises a few questions. For example, if we are so totally winning this war on terror, why is there still a no-fly zone around the White House? And if there is a no-fly zone around the White House, how can a low-tech, slow, cheap private airplane stumble right into it? And if this is how our Department of Homeland Security protects the President of the United States, what kind of protection can be expected by ordinary people like you and me? And if, after 3 1/2 years of war, we still need protection, then how do we know for sure that we are winning? So, please, remind me once again, what's the purpose of our presence in Iraq and Afghanistan? I don't know if that bill ever passed the Senate and became law. Here's why it doesn't matter. The PA is the PLO; it has the same leaders, the same members, the same goals, and applies the same atrocious means towards achieving its murderous ends. Therefore, the PA is a terrorist organization. Therefore, it is our enemy. As of now (as well as in July 2001), this enemy remains undefeated. Would the US government consider providing humanitarian aid to the German population before the date for D-Day was even chosen? In the immediate aftermath of Beslan, a diplomat accredited at the UN was on TV gravely expanding on terrorism and related matters. He was asked why the UN hadn't taken any steps against the Chechen "militants". "It is so complicated," the diplomat complained. "Those people are not controlled by any government." "Bingo!" I thought. I suddenly saw how simple it was to define terrorism: Terrorism is a military action conducted by a non-governmental organization. Armed with this definition, we can now declare terrorism a capital offense. You participate in it - you are liable to be killed on sight, no questions asked, and no statute of limitation. No more "humanitarian assistance" to the murderers. No more invitations to the White House. No more hiding in the Mukata, in Paris, or even at Berkley. Just an uncomplicated choice between death in battle and death on the gallows. Had we the honesty to implement it, how long do you think terrorism would have remained the favorite weapon of jihad? Oh, Muslims would no doubt have thought of something else, because there is no Islam without jihad, but we would find efficient ways to deal with anything they could possibly bring up against us. It's not that we don't have the power to end jihad; the problem is, we are not willing to. Why will my definition of terrorism never be accepted? Because it would give Israel perfectly legal means to forever stop the unending Arab war against it, and this is exactly what the international community is determined to prevent. The world wants Israel destroyed. As a result, terrorism remains undefeated and behaves like untreated cancer - it spreads, leading to Beslan, to Madrid, to 9/11. "I will curse those who curse you." Do we need another 9/11 to finally wake us up? Or have we become completely incapable of doing the right thing even if our survival, the survival of our country and our entire magnificent civilization depends on it? Can we still tell right from wrong? Yashiko Sagamori is a New York-based Information Technology consultant. To read other articles by the author, go to http://www.middleeastfacts.com/yashiko/ or email ysagamori@hotmail.com |
Like Bush, Putin managed to indict just a single participant in the
attack. The man is currently on trial. Unlike my namesake Zacarias
Moussaoui, Putin's defendant, Nur-Pashi Kulayev, looks human and
vaguely resembles a character from That Seventies Show. This indicates
that Western fashions reach Chechnya much slower than the Wahhabi
ideology - a rather ominous sign if you think about it. As far as
striking terrorists goes, Putin summoned all the self-discipline a
martial arts expert can possibly master and managed to contain his
vengeful urges. Instead of fighting a war against terrorists, he
proceeded to sell modern weapons and nuclear technology to the worst
terrorist states in the world. That's his war on terror.
Before the war, there were two no-fly zones, both in Iraq. Now,
there is also a 3-mile no-fly zone around the White House. A few days
ago, a two-seat Cessna came out of the blue and violated it without
even noticing. As we learned from news reports, the White House was
hurriedly evacuated, but our president's life wasn't threatened,
because at the time of the event he was outside riding his bicycle. He
had a similar stroke of luck in Tbilisi, Georgia, where the hand
grenade thrown at him failed to go off due to a manufacturing defect.
When the next 9/11 occurs, it will be comforting to know that riding a
bicycle or making speeches in Tbilisi will be safer than being inside
the White House.
The original goal of defeating terrorism has been substituted with
a pipe dream of bringing democracy to primitive peoples who harbor an
old, deep, incurable hatred towards us simply because we happen to be
non-Muslims, and the fact that we are so much more advanced and lead
so much better lives only makes their hatred burn ever brighter. Even
if democracy and Islam were not mutually exclusive in principle, the
question remains, how would it make the United States any safer than
we are today? And if it wouldn't, then we should ask what concrete
steps our government has undertaken to diminish the terrorists'
capacity to threaten this country and its citizens. The establishment
of the Department of Homeland Security and other reorganizations
within the government bureaucracy has so far failed to bring down the
terror alert indicator, much less produce any tangible results, so I
will not count them in. Liberal media regularly publish tearful
stories about unwarranted restrictions imposed on good Muslims by the
bad government of the United States, but I see too many of those good
Muslims in the streets to believe that these atrocities may have put a
dent into jihad. Astronomically expensive efforts to improve the
security of our airports have been easily sabotaged by
politically-correct government policies, which, basically speaking,
mean that my chances to smuggle a bomb on board an aircraft are better
if I wear a keffiyeh and scream Allahu akbar! during the security
check. How exactly does our government fight terrorism?
Once in a long while we hear of a Muslim "charity" shut down for
financing terrorism. Its runners receive a slap on the wrist and
continue collecting donations for jihad under another phony name. Does
this even put a dent into financing terror? How can it if the United
States government is probably the second, after the European Union,
most generous donor to the Palestinian Authority? Or are we the first?
In July, 2001, a bill passed the House of Representatives which
included provisions to limit financial aid to the Palestinian
Authority if it continues to engage in, and encourage, terrorism. It
suggested various terrible sanctions against the PA, including, as the
extreme measure, withholding United States aid, except humanitarian
assistance, from the West Bank and Gaza. Despite the fact that it is
the Congress' prerogative to declare war, the bill never suggested
simply destroying (as in killing everyone who is willing to resist and
imprisoning the rest) the PA because it is a terrorist organization.
As a sample of unsurpassed legislative wisdom, the bill included a
clause allowing the president, at his discretion, to disregard any or
all restrictions imposed by it.
A war is supposed to be a process. It goes on for a while. Then one
side wins, the other one loses, and everyone who didn't get killed,
moves on. Our War on Terror is no longer a process. It has become a
state. A permanent state. We may succeed in replacing a government we
don't like with a government we hope to be able to control. Trying to
make it look legitimate, we may succeed in putting together a
semblance of elections that can win Jimmy Carter's endorsement. But
the government we are hoping to control will inevitably bend to
pressure from the people who hate us more than they love their own
children. The democracy we are trying to build among the cavemen will
never take root. Jihad will continue unabated as long as Islam is
allowed to wage its war against us.
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WHY IS THE JEWISH MEDA GIVING ABBAS A FREE RIDE?
Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, May 31, 2005. |
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Except for a handful of Jewish newspapers, most others are a mirror image of the Hebrew Press in Israel, namely Ha'aretz, Yediot Aharanot and Ma'ariv who each act as a political party, loyal to the Political and Liberal Left. There seems to be some psychological attraction to the destructive Left that makes them want to become reporters, editors, publishers who become adversaries to the survival of the Jewish State of Israel. The following article by David Bedein speaks eloquently to this sickness that plagues the Jewish media - except for some. David Bedein is Bureau Chief of the Israel Resource News Agency. Its website address is http://Israelbehindthenews.com At a time when a massive public relations campaign is underway to get the media consumers of the United States to pay attention to the seemingly moderate tone that Mahmoud Abbas portrays when he speaks in English to the American media, the American Jewish media has by and large refused to relate to the content of Abbas's new regime, which showed a consistent message of virulent anti-semitism, anti-Americanism, advocacy of the absolute "right of return" and the continued inculcation of the Palestinian Arab people for war against the state and people of Israel. Essentially,the Jewish media repeats the mistake of its initial coverage of Arafat during the seven year period of 1993-2000. As a direct result of the Jewish media not warning the Jewish community of the diaspora of the real message of Abbas, twenty Jewish organizations met with Abbas, not knowing of the virulent message of hatred that emanates from the man who was and is the protege of Yassir Arafat. The Jewish media had a responsibility to prepare the leaders of American Jewry for the nature of the man whom they were going to meet, and the Jewish media blew the opportunity. We can recall that the lack of Jewish media coverage of Arafat's message led to a decision of the UJC to provide the Isaiah Award for Peace to Arafat in October 1999 - a decision which was rescinded after our agency reported the decision. On a personal and professional basis, it would give me great pleasure to report expressions of peace, reconciliation and compromise that emanate from the official Palestinian Arabic language media. Unfortunately, I cannot do so, because it does not exist. If the Jewish media had warned the world of Arafat's message, perhaps the US would not have nurtured that PLO terrorist, and perhaps some of more than 1000 people murdered in cold blood by the PLO would not have been murdered. Now the Jewish media protects Arafat's protege, which may result in the US arming Abbas once again. Please remember: Abbas is one of the authors of the PLO covenant which has never been amended. That PLO charter is clear in its intention and its program: To exterminate Israel, using the strategy of phases that the PLO adopted in 1974, an amendment written by none other than Abbas. And please remember that the new school books of the Palestinian National Authority are dedicated to the memory of Haj Amin Al Husseini, the Mufti of Jerusalem who lived with Adolf Hitler and who was the mentor of Arafat and Abbas. The Jewish media has a choice: to report the reality of Abbas's new regime, or to report only the utterance of State Department spokesmen who relate only to the fact that he wears a nice suit and says the right things in English at the White House. The question is whether the Jewish media will adopt a position of integrity on the matter of Abbas. 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). |
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TERRORISM'S EXECUTIONER
Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, May 31, 2005. |
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Regrettably, President George W. Bush has found in Israel's Prime Minister Ariel (Arik) Sharon a willing executioner of his own nation. Bush has a loyalty to Arab Muslim desires, the prime one of which is the elimination of the Jewish State. For this bit of dirty work, Bush and his oil confederates hope to secure the approval of the Saudis which includes special consideration in the "oil package." Was it not Father Bush who spoke of establishing a "New World Order" which would include the elimination of Israel because it so irritated his Saudi oil friends. Thus, President George Bush must complete the "New World Order Doctrine" of his father, so reminiscent of German dreams of "another World Order - the Thousand Year Third Reich." This essay was written by Professor Louis René Beres and was published today in the Washington Times (www.washingtontimes.com). Professor Louis Rene Beres lectures and publishes widely on international relations and international law, especially war and terrorism. Our world is "normally" silent in the face of evil. At worst, many are directly complicit in the maimings and slaughters. At best, the murderers are ignored. In this unchanging world Israel must soon decide whether to face the evil of Palestinian terrorism as a pitiable victim or to use whatever reasonable force is needed to remain alive. The use of force is not inherently evil. Quite the contrary; in opposing terrorist mayhem, force is indispensable to all that is good. In the case of Israel, Palestinian terrorism is unique for its cowardice, its barbarism and its genocidal goal. Were Israel to depend upon the broader international community for relief -- upon the so-called road map -- its plea would be unheard. All states have a right of self-defense. Israel has every lawful authority to forcibly confront the still-growing evil of Palestinian terror. Facing even biological and nuclear forms of terrorism, it now has the clear legal right to refuse to be a victim and to become an executioner. From the standpoint of providing security to its own citizens, this right even becomes an obligation. Albert Camus would have us all be "neither victims nor executioners," living not in a world in which killing has disappeared ("we are not so crazy as that"), but one wherein killing has become illegitimate. This is a fine expectation, yet the celebrated French philosopher did not anticipate another evil force for whom utter extermination of "the Jews" was its declared object. Not even in a world living under the shadow of recent Holocaust did Camus consider such an absurd possibility. But Israel lacks the quaint luxury of French philosophy. Were Israel to follow Camus' genteel reasoning, perhaps in order to implement Mr. Sharon's disengagement, the result would be another boundless enlargement of Jewish suffering. Before and during the Holocaust, for those who still had an opportunity to flee, Jews were ordered: "Get out of Europe; go to Palestine." When they complied (those who could), the next order was: "Get out of Palestine." For my Austrian-Jewish grandparents, their deaths came on the SS-killing grounds at Riga, Latvia. Had they made it to Palestine, their sons and grandsons would likely have died in subsequent genocidal wars intended to get the Jews "out of Palestine." Failure to use force against murderous evil is invariably a stain upon all that is good. By declining the right to act as a lawful executioner in its struggle with terror, Israel would be forced by Camus' reasoning to embrace its own disappearance. Barring Mr. Sharon's disengagement, the Jewish state would never accept collective suicide. Why was Camus, who was thinking only in the broadest generic terms, so mistaken? My own answer lies in his presumption of a natural reciprocity among human beings and states in the matter of killing. We are asked to believe that as greater numbers of people agree not to become executioners, still greater numbers will follow upon the same course. In time, the argument proceeds, the number of those who refuse to accept killing will become so great that there will be fewer and fewer victims. But Camus' presumed reciprocity does not exist, indeed, can never exist, especially in the jihad-centered Middle East. Here the Islamist will to kill Jews remains unimpressed by Israel's disproportionate contributions to science, industry, medicine and learning. Here there are no Arab plans for a "two-state solution," only for a final solution. In counterterrorism, Jewish executioners must now have an honored place in the government of Israel. Without them, evil would triumph again and again. For Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah and Fatah, murdered Jews are not so much a means to an end as an end in themselves. In this unheroic Arab Islamist world, where killing Jews is both a religious mandate and sometimes also a path to sexual ecstasy and personal immortality, an Israeli unwillingness to use necessary force against terror will invite existential terror. Sadly, killing is sometimes a sacred duty. Faced with manifest evil, all decent civilizations must rely, in the end, on the executioner. To deny the executioner his proper place would enable the murderers to leer lasciviously upon whole mountains of fresh corpses. 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). |
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JIHAD COMES TO SMALL TOWN USA
Posted by Tamar Rush, May 31, 2005. |
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This can and does happen in any town, anywhere in the western world... This essay was written by Laura Mansfield and appeared in http://www.lauramansfield.com/psk/DesktopDefault.aspx "The extremists have taken over so many of our mosques, one mosque at a time. They have driven out those who disagree with their ideology." Those are the words of Dr. Ibrahim Mohamed, a respected faculty member at a university not far from Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Mohamed is a proud and brave man, but he is also quite concerned that this interview will cause him to be marked as an apostate. At the onset of this interview, he made it clear that he fears retaliation in response to the information he is providing, especially possible during the trip to Cairo he has scheduled for this summer. Dr. Mohamed is a graduate of Ain Shams University in Cairo, and has been in this country since the mid-1970's. He is proud of his U.S. citizenship. "When I came to this country, it was everyone's dream in Egypt to go live in America. Everyone loved Americans. Now when I go back to my home country, I do not advertise that I am an American." He is quite concerned that this interview will cause him to be marked as an apostate, and he fears retaliation, especially on his planned trip to Cairo this summer. "In Egypt, everyone knew about the Muslim Brotherhood, but it was illegal. After the peace treaty with Israel, the radicals came crawling out of the darkness. But they weren't idiots. They were very cunning," he explained. Dr. Mohamed continued, "The US knew there was going to be a problem. They had problems in Iran with the Ayatullah, now they were afraid there would be problems in Egypt. Jimmy Carter and his people were going to reach the next generation of young men by giving them scholarships to come and study in America. They were going to teach them how great the US was. They recruited from universities in Egypt, Syria, Saudia, the Emirates - all the Arab countries." Dr. Mohamed thinks part of the problem was the students themselves. "They [the students] didn't have to be the smartest. Some were just average students. They didn't just come from Cairo and Alexandria, they came from Benha and Assuit and Mansoura and Gharbeya. Anyone who wanted to come to the US and go to graduate school could with a little bit of work, and get a fellowship." He explained that the rural enclaves of Egypt, especially in places like Assuit and Benha, were known reservoirs of Islamic extremism, even back in the 1980's. "The US paid their tuition to go to universities all over the country, and paid them living expenses - around 500 U.S. Dollars per month. You have to understand that was a great deal of money to these men, especially the men from Egypt. Most had been working in an Egyptian university or a public sector job, and they were making less that $50 a month. This is in 1980 money. Much of that $500 a month went to support Bin Laden in Afghanistan, with the blessing of the US," continued Dr. Mohamed. According to Dr. Mohamed, the US inadvertently bankrolled a generation of sleeper agents, educating them, and helping them to become established, respected members of their communities. Many married American women, believing that marriage to an American allowed them to remain in the US. And for many, the two year home country residence requirement was a simple formality. Some took their new wives back to their homelands, remained for two years, and came back to the US. Others found loopholes in the law, or managed to get exceptions to the requirement. "Go look at your newspaper. The US reported that they have a man in prison in Iraq, a man from Jordan, a man who is one of Al Zarqawi's assistants. They say he came to the US, took US citizenship, and lived in the US for over 20 years. How do you think he came to the US? Most likely he came to the US as a student. He probably came to the US to study, maybe paid for by the US, maybe paid for by Jordan. Most likely he married an American girl, got a degree in Engineering, maybe a masters or a doctorate. Or maybe he got lucky and won the visa lottery. Those are the two main ways to get into America and usually it is as a student. They say he lived here for 20 years so he had to have a job, or maybe he started a small business." Dr. Mohamed shook his finger at me, as though lecturing a small child. "There are many like him here. He is not the only one." "Before the 1980's, before Camp David and the ensuing Arab appeasement, there weren't nearly as many mosques as you see now. We met in a classroom or a meeting room at the university, or at someone's home. Then the mosques started going up. They started small. Many started as a simple rented house. Then in a year or two they had the money to buy the land, and buy a building. Where did the money come from? Not the students. The students sent their zakah to Afghanistan. The money came from the governments. From Saudia [Saudi Arabia], from foundations that were set up by the Saudis." "Who ran the foundations, who decided where the money went? The religious men, the ones serious about Islam." But according to Dr. Mohamed, they weren't just serious about Islam. Many were Wahabi Muslims, of the same sect as Osama Bin Laden. And it is these mosques that formed the core of the Islamic terror network that currently sleeps underground in America. "We were very excited to have a mosque to pray in. As Muslims we are required to attend the Jumu'ah (Friday) prayer services. We believe that the reward for group prayer is 27 times that of saying the prayers individually, so having a mosque where we can assemble to say the prayers is something we were very happy about." But divisions emerged, mostly regarding politics, according to Dr. Mohamed. "I prefer that politics and religion be kept separate, the way it is done here in America by your government. The separation of church and state is a good thing. Over the years the mosque became political." Dr. Mohamed explained that at first, the political sermons were against Israel. Most Muslims were sympathetic to the Palestinian issue, and were largely unified against Israeli actions. Still, a few Muslims withdrew from the mosque community, but by and large the group remained together. "First we got our own building. Then soon we needed a full-time Imam, someone who could lead the prayers and lead the community." Dr. Mohamed explained that full-time imams have usually received advance education, maybe a doctorate or masters degree, in Islamic studies. And therein was a problem. Many of these imams have been educated in universities and schools surrounding conservative mosques like the Grand Mosque in Mecca. The Imams brought with them the ideology of Wahabi Islam. And with the first Gulf War, the political divisions within the mosque intensified. As the decade of the nineties progressed, the sermons became more and more radical, says Dr. Mohamed. "Eventually it reached the point, after Bin Laden bombed the embassies in Africa, where I stopped going to the mosque. Anyone with eyes could see what was happening. I didn't want to be connected to that. I love America. But there were so many people in the mosque that hated America. They are still there. Those of us who love this country don't go to the mosque anymore." Has he tried other mosques? Dr. Ibrahim admitted that he had tried several others, in the Atlanta area, and had not found one where he was confortable. I asked how he handles the mandatory Friday congregational prayers? "Several of us get together at our homes, or in our offices at the university, or in a classroom and pray," he explained. "You think there are no terror cells in America? You think the FBI and the Homeland Security has caught them all? I wish they would but they don't. There are cells from Islamic terror groups in every big city in this country." I asked "What about Atlanta?" Dr. Mohamed's answer was chilling. "I am absolutely certain there are groups here in Atlanta. I do not know who they are or where they are. But I am sure they are here. Do you want to know why? Because Mohamed Atta came to Atlanta. Why did he come here? There are flight schools all over America. Why Atlanta? The only answer is he had friends here, he had some sort of support group here." Dr. Mohamed claims that he expressed these concerns to the FBI and he was assured that the matter would be investigated. He admitted that because he didn't have any information other than speculation that it was unlikely that they would be able to do anything about his suspicions. *Note: The name Dr. Ibrahim Mohamed is a pseudonym used to protect the anonmity of the actual source. It is NOT his actual name. |
| GUSH KATIF |
PHOTOS FROM GUSH KATIF
Posted by Judy Lash Balint, May 31, 2005. |
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Here are some photos from my visit yesterday to Gush Katif. The whole collection is at http://www.flickr.com/photos/jerusalemdiaries/ For reprint permission, see http://jerusalemdiaries.blogspot.com
I did manage to see Moshe and Rachel Saperstein at their home in Neve Dekalim for a few minutes--as usual, Rachel was busy with two media crews and Moshe was addressing a group of visitors from Jerusalem. After I conveyed to him how many people have asked what happened to his missives from Gush Katif, Moshe did say he would consider resuming his inimitable dispatches.
Judy Lash Balint is an award winning Jerusalem based writer and author of "Jerusalem Diaries: in Tense Times." Contact her at her website www.jerusalemdiaries.blogspot.com |
Synagogue slated to be
dismantled in Gaza retreat
Peretz family
beachfront home in Shirat Hayam, Gush Katif
Young boy checks pets in
beachfront community of Shirat Hayam
Dairy farmer at Moshav
Katif 
Anita Tucker's new celery seedling, Netzer Hazani
Pepper packing. Cartons labelled in 4 languages
Rachel Saperstein in
TV interview
Moshe Saperstein
addresses synagogue audience
| GUSH KATIF |
DISENGAGEMENT FROM REALITY
Posted by TheRaphi, May 31, 2005. |
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This was written by David Shalom, a leader of Betar in the UK and a research chemist working in the field of nanotechnology. Contact Betar by email at betar@betar.co.uk The plan to expel 9000 Jews from Gush Katif and the Northern Shomron (Samaria) is a precedent for disaster that will endanger the entire state of Israel and the Jewish people. The fight to save Gush Katif is a fight to save the entire state and is a struggle for the very survival of Zionism. There have been several arguments made by the proponents of this suicidal plan which are amateurish at best and deceitful at worst. The New Left, headed by the Likud turncoats including Ariel Sharon himself, as well as the Old Left, headed by the ancient Peres and united with the Arab MKs, have railroaded this plan through the Knesset without a mandate of the people and hope to soon force this calamity upon the nation. Therefore it is necessary to highlight the gaping holes in their logic and to expose the distortions that they have been spinning with the full complicity of the Leftist-traitors that control most of the Israeli media. The argument that we hear over and over again is that the expulsion is necessary since "disengagement", as the plan is euphemistically called, will combat the demographic threat from the hostile Arabs living in the Gaza coastal region of Southern Israel. We are told that it is impossible for 8000 Jews to live amongst 1.5 million Arabs! Firstly, this is a half truth at best since the Jews of Gush Katif are not living inside Gaza city but outside of it and any child who looked at a map of the region could know this. Secondly the number of Arabs in Gaza is far less than that. Indeed a recent comprehensive study presented to the American Enterprise Institute shows that the numbers of Moslems living in Yesha have been ballooned by the PLO and in Gaza, for example, their numbers are actually just under 1 million people. Perhaps more importantly, though is the deeper implication of this logic which ultimately precludes the existence of Israel within any borders. Israel is a state of less than 6 million Jews surrounded by 250 odd million Moslem Arabs- so should we dismantle the state? Isn't the demographic problem impossible to solve? The past century or so of Zionism show that the renewal of the Jewish people within the land of Israel is a glorious feat that will not be defeated by Arab aggressors. We see that such doom merchants, with their history of the "Ghetto" mentality of fear and subservience to the anti-Semites have been proved wrong. History teaches us that the Arabs, who are the authors of the conflict, will have to pay with territorial concessions. A reasonable position for a true Israeli leadership to hold should be that there can be no peace with the Arabs until they take responsibility for their brothers and resettle them within their huge lands. It is not the Israelis, as refugees from the Arab world (as well as Europe) and after 60 years of Arab-initiated conflicts, who should be the ones to surrender territory. Israel is smaller than New Jersey, whereas the Arab world is 500 times its size. The Arab states who have fought Israel in the name of their brothers must now accept the burden of their resettlement as a small compensation for their aggression against Israel and the destruction of Middle Eastern Jewry within their lands. If it is possible to relocate thousands of Jews then surely it is only just and reasonable to advocate the relocation of the Arabs. This is both the only humane option and the true peaceful solution to the problem of thousands of impoverished, fanatical Moslems living in Gaza. Let the Arabs use a small fraction of their oil wealth to build their new homes in Syria and Jordan. Let the Quartet set up programmes to help them adjust to their relocation. This will not be especially hard since they share the same language, nay dialect, as well as history, religion and culture as their Syrian brothers. The other ludicrous argument that is made by the Sharon-Peres regime is that the expulsion plan will allow Israel to separate from Gaza. But this is simply untrue. Israel will still be fully engaged in Gaza, Israel will still provide the Arabs with their electricity, water and of course employment. Thousands of enemy civilians will be allowed to cross the border daily to work in Israel. So whom are we disengaging from exactly? What benefits do we get from this? We are also told that this plan will save Israel money- but how exactly? The government's own conservative estimates suggests that the plan will cost Israel nearly 8 billion Shekels - that is equivalent to 1 billion BP! Is this is the same government that says it does not have enough money to pay for hospital beds for cancer patients? But then again this is the same government that found the funds to appoint 6 new deputy ministers! These ministers just coincidentally happened to be the Likud Knesset members who voted against the Referendum law in direct contravention of their party's decision! Sharon has claimed that his plan will reap Israel international rewards particularly in the form of American approval for the annexation of major Jewish population centres around Yerushalayim. Aside from the fact that Israel does not need American recognition and the very idea that we have to accede to our "masters" in Washington's every wish utterly reeks, the statement has been proved to be utterly false. In fact America's ambassador to Israel, Ghetto-Jew, Dan Kurzer let this slip at a recent briefing to foreign ministry juniors. Kurzer actually stated the obvious, namely that the US has not made any commitments to recognise any Israeli towns in Yesha. The expulsion plan will embolden the Arabs who will rightly see the withdrawal as a victory and as a prize for their terror. The Oslo war, which they initiated 4 years ago was ignited by Ehud Barak's surrender and retreat from Lebanon. The surrender of Gaza will bring the terrorist menace closer to Israel's larger population centres. The 50 Kassam missiles that were fired on Gush Katif, on the day after Sharon concluded a hudna (cease-fire) with PA chieftain Abu-Mazen in Sinai, will be but a drop in the ocean when the Philadelphi route and Gush Katif are in the hands of the PLO and their Hamas allies. The Kassams missiles will then reach Ashkelon and Ashdod and Strellar missiles, recently struggled from Egypt, may threaten Israel civilian aircraft. The most disturbing aspect of the plan is the precedent it will set. If one town or village can be uprooted in Israel than so can all towns. As Professor and MK Aryeh Eldad rightly pointed out, the struggle for Gush Katif is the struggle for Yerushalayim and ultimately the whole country. The world's hostility to the settlement enterprise was based on the premise that such towns once established were impossible to remove, but with "disengagement" completed the push for the surrender of all of Erets Yisrael will only grow. Israel enemies will rejoice and continue their struggle with renewed vigour. Arik Sharon is indeed disengaged, from his party, from his people and most worryingly of all from reality. TheRaphi (http://www.theraphi.com/index.html) is a pro-Israel and pro-Zionist site; it provides news articles and essays.
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GET MAD, THEN GET EVEN!
Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, May 31, 2005. |
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What may be the most corrupt government since King Herod invited the Romans in to keep him in power, I give you Israel's current Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. With him he has gathered the uglies who snivel in his wake. In that I include Shimon Peres, Ehud Olmert, Shaul Mofaz, Menachem Mazuz, Yossi Beilin and a gaggle of American weaklings who define themselves as Jewish Leaders. These shameful creatures are merely another generation of "Judenratters" who are quick to sell out their own Jewish people if they can attempt to please the nations (friends and enemies alike). These are the lowest of our Jewish people who rush to put up monuments to the Jews who died or will die due to their inept betrayal. They run to lift the bars that hold the gates of the Jewish cities to allow in Terrorists to finish the job of killings off the remaining Jews. When the remnant of Jews escaped the graveyards of Europe to go to Palestine, it was only because the Jew killers of Europe were amazed at the butchery they had achieved. So, in that brief moment they blinked, a remnant escaped. But, like Pharaoh, the Christians of Europe awoke and took up the chase like wolves on the trail of a wounded deer. They joined forces with the Muslims who were always their deadly enemies. But, they could agree that both hated the Jews more than they did each other - for the moment. When they finished off the Jews then they could get to butchering each other to settle the claim of who would be G-d's representative on earth. But this time, even the bedraggled remnants who escaped that poisoned continent fought back. They beat the Arab Muslim armies and shamed the best of Islam. Time and again the Muslims, armed by the Europeans and Americans hurled themselves at the Jews and just as many times were beaten back. With each attack, the Arab Muslims gambled away more and more of the Land they squatted on. Now, with the help of the Bush Oil Dynasty, the trash of Islam must be appeased by giving them Land they never owned and thusly pacify the Saudis. As is the custom among such a backward people, they evolved self-elevating myths about how the Holy Places of the Jews were really Muslim although the Jews created them centuries before there were Arab Muslims. But, the Muslims claimed they were there first. Naturally, the European enemies of the Jews accepted the lies, not because they believed it but, it was one more stick with which to beat the Jews. Now we hear from the Americans and the always hostlie media that even the Temple of Solomon is the third holiest place to Islam. This after even Mohammed rejected Jerusalem and the Jews to name Mecca as the direction of their quibla (prayer). So, we now hear that the President's First Lady visits and echoes a lie whispered into her ear by the pro-Arab State Department tour guide that the Temple of Solomon is somehow Islam's third holiest site. (Incidentally, Laura Bush is a most decent lady and should not have been duped by her husband and the State Department into being a shill for the White House PR campaign to 'win the hearts and minds' of the barbaric Palestinians and Islam generally.) But, it is difficult to wholly blame President Bush simply because he managed to put a willing Sharon in a choke collar and on a short leash like an emasculated bull dog. After all, it is Sharon who is abandoning the Land and using Police State tactics to intimidate the Jews of Israel. There is no doubt that Sharon, Peres plus each of their respective gangs of lickspittles have earned and deserved the hatred of all Jews now and in the distant future. They have bound themselves to the wishes of foreign nations who each in turn have wired themselves to Arab oil sheiks. In any nation that would be called treason and subject to imprisonment and capital punishment. Bush makes speeches about Democracy in the Middle East but, when Sharon adopts the tactics of an Undemocratic Police State, there is nary a word from Bush. The surrounding Arab Muslim States and their European supporters have been at war with Israel since her birth and independence. Therefore, Sharon, Peres and their respective gangs, in collaboration with Arab Muslims and the pro-Arab U.S. State Department, have committed treason against their own people. They simply deserve the most severe punishment the law of a Peoples' Court can mete out. As for the sniveling, hand-wringing Jews of American leadership, they should be driven from office and never allowed a day of peace for their conduct as Judenratters. There is an appropriate saying: "Dumb is curable but stupid is forever." Regarding President Bush, there is no longer any doubt as to his plans to shrink Israel as an appeasement to a demonic Islam that desires to rule the world. Bush has made it plain that the 1967 Armistice lines will be the second phase of his attack against the Jewish State after the retreat from Gush Katif and Northern Samaria. Following that the push (putsch) will be to the 1947 gerrymandered border given to the Jews by the United Nations November 1947 Partition vote. They all expected that those indefensible lines would end with the Jewish State conquered by the Arab States. Israel was supposed to die at birth but she defied the odds. After all, friends and enemies can on occasion agree, particularly where oil and Jews are the issues. For those who feel that I am excessively harsh in the descriptions of our enemies and our friends (including Jews, Presidents, the U.S. State Department, the U.N., the E.U. and the barbaric Arab League states) think about our collective national memory. We have been savaged from time immemorial, ever since G-d made His Covenant with the Jews - until today. The world's hatred has remained unbroken and continues now with the Arabs, the Europeans and a President who appears to be in lock-step with the Arab Muslim oil suppliers. So, Get Mad! Then Get Even and throw Sharon and his corrupt Cabinet out of office. 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). |
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SHARON AND CABINET RELEASE 400 MORE TERRORISTS
Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, May 31, 2005. |
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Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's voted to release 400 more Terrorists in addition to the 500 Terrorists he already released earlier. Pressed by President Bush, Sharon had his Cabinet vote for this release in order to elevate the reputation of Mahmoud Abbas (aka Abu Mazen) among the Palestinians. Please note: The 400 terrorists set to be released from Israeli prisons include 170 terrorists who attempted to murder Jews via shootings, bomb attacks and fire-bombings. The release of 400 prisoners is the second installment of an Israeli commitment of three months ago to release 900 such terrorists. The first 500 were freed in late February. Among the criteria for both releases is that the terrorists must have served at least two-thirds of their sentences. Of the 400 prisoners to be released: * 76 carried out shooting attacks, and served an average jail time of 63 months. The data is based on the Israel Prisons Authority list of Arab prisoners slated for release as a gesture to the Palestinian Authority. Most of the other prisoners to be released were convicted of trading in weapons, manufacturing bombs and involvement in the murder of Arabs suspected of helping Israel. The majority were arrested and sentenced during the Oslo War.(1) This follows by one day the story that the Palestinian Authority seeks 5,000 [more] security force recruits for the Gaza Strip (in addition to the 16,000 they already have.) (2) I believe that this far exceeds the number of Police in all of Israel. The true intent of Abu Mazen's recruitment of more Terrorists is to give them arms and to put them in uniform as legitimate Police while they continue their Jihad. Regrettably, statistical evidence developed by Israeli intelligence demonstrated that at least 50% of those released Terrorists went back to Terror. Since these releases have a high probability of generating Jewish casualties there we must cite Sharon and Cabinet as conspirators to Terror against Jews. Thus, subsequent deaths, injuries and psychological trauma for survivors must be laid at the doorsteps fo Sharon and his Cabinet. I cannot help but wonder if there was any justice in Israel, the perpetrators would be cited for crimes against the Jewish people. Imagine if there were penalties such as long jail terms or legal executions where those released committed murders. Would a Cabinet member be so quick to release a Terrorist (or 900) merely so a political figure, that is Abu Mazen was given a false lift because the Palestinian Terrorist groups viewed the release as beneficial to their cause. If such Cabinet members faced prison or death by execution for crimes against the Jewish people (or at least those who will be murdered by the released Terrorists) would they be so casual to follow Sharon's instructions? I think not. In the report by Joel Greenberg of the CHICAGO TRIBUNE he tells us that the Palestinian Authority has already discounted the release of the 400 as inadequate. In other words, the release of Terrorists bought nothing. Sharon aided and abetted the lie by telling us that the release strengthened 'moderate elements' in the Palestinian Authority. (3) (What Moderate Elements?) Sharon in a vulgar effort to pacify Bush and appease Abu Mazen has literally delivered his own people into the hands of Terrorist for their next round of murders of Jews in Israel. Can this be called any less than "crimes against the Jewish People"? After past releases of prisoners convicted of Terrorism, more than half returned to Terror attacks. Therefore, are not Sharon and his Cabinet qualified for maximum punishment? Have they not carried out mandates of foreign governments in a time of war, which qualifies as Treason? (Terror is officially defined as: "low-intensity warfare".) There can be "no crime without a punishment": "Nullum crimen sine poena" (as often reiterated by Professor Louis René Beres as Principle #1 of the binding Nuremberg Principles). Turning loose Terrorists who are known to be fervently committed to attacking your own people is most certainly a crime - before the fact. However, since the Israeli Supreme Court cannot be relied upon to dispense Justice untainted by a politically Left wing bias, the people must wait until this Court is closed down and cleansed of being a political party. One day there will be a Peoples' Court in Israel that will deal with the Osloids and Sharon's lickspittles. But, to provide the catalyst for this correction of Israel's current Courts and Sharon left-wing government, too many people must be killed. There are 1700 dead Israelis (including 48 Americans) resulting from the vulnerability caused by Oslo. Apparently, this is not enough. We must first feel the effects of more dead Jews from the Terrorists that the Osloids and Sharon has loosed upon the people. Remember, Jews do not pour into the streets in protest and violent riots as do the Arabs. Even after there is a horrific Terror incident such as the homicide/suicide bombings of the Sabarro Pizza restaurant, the Pesach Seder in Netanya, the Bus returning from the Kotel (Western Wall), all the other buses, restaurants, schools, homes, drive-by shootings, roadside bombs, Kassam and Katyusha Rockets and mortars..., the people forget within weeks, fall asleep and their anger subsides. We seem to have no memory of the horrors - except in some vague way as we construct memorials and have days of mourning - where only the families mourn. I personally have not forgotten, nor forgiven the Germans, the French, Roosevelt, the Poles, Croatians, the Church of Rome, Haj Amin el Husseini and/or especially Arafat - among others who come to mind on occasion. Nor do I forgive or forget the "Judenratters" of the past and those of today. We must remember the betrayers of the Jewish people and remain angry - in the names of our dead and maimed. I remember the toddlers being led into the Nazi gas chambers, the 5 Hatuel children bombed and the toddlers killed by Kassem Rockets in S'derot. I remember Sharon for becoming a partner in the murders of Jews as he acts as the enabler for jailed Terrorists being released so more Jewish children can be blown up on the street, in their buses or their schools. I will forever remember Shimon Peres and his Osloids who resurrected Yassir Arafat and gave him a Jew-hunting license...telling all that they were somehow "sacrifices for peace". The Jewish people outlawed human and child sacrifice long ago, before any other people. How can we countenance the Osloids and current government's return to such abominations? We have been betrayed time and again by nations, by tyrants, by religious bigots - and now our own people. I suppose there were tribes in the Amazon jungle or the Eskimos at the North Pole who have not been educated to hate Jews. Perhaps that was because they had their own conception of G-d and did not feel in competition with or threatened by the Jews? One G-d. Get Mad! Get Even and throw Sharon and his corrupt Cabinet on the garbage heap of history. ### 1. "Prisoner Release to Include 170 Bombers & Shooters" Arutz Sheva May 31, 2005 IsraelNationalNews.com also Ha'aretz, IMRA and freeman.org 2. "Palestinians Seek 5,000 Security Force Recruits for Gaza Strip" by Mohammed Daraghmeh AP CHICAGO TRIBUNE May 29, 2005 3. "Israel Oks Freeing 400 Palestinians: Release of prisoners part of summit deal" by Joel Greenberg CHICAGO TRIBUNE May 30, 2005 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). |
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OUTRAGEOUS! WE MUST RESPOND!
Posted by Alex Rose, May 31, 2005. |
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I just signed my letter to President George Bush in support of Israel and the Jewish people. I know that you would be outraged by the following speech presented on Palestinian Authority television on May 13, 2005: The day will come when everything will be relieved of the Jews - even the stones and trees which were harmed by them. Listen to the Prophet Muhammad, who tells you about the evil end that awaits Jews. The stones and trees will want the Muslims to finish off every Jew.' The preceding were excerpts from the official Friday sermon on Palestinian Authority TV. The speaker is Sheik Ibrahim Muderis, a paid employee of the PA. (May 13, 2005) We must stand against this virulent drivel and for Israel and the Jewish people. Please take a moment now and add your signature to this letter to President Bush now. Please click here. Alex Rose, an engineering consultant, served for many years on the executive board of Americans For a Safe Israel and was among the founders of the New York chapter of CAMERA. He and his wife Renee have made aliyah and are living in a Jerusalem suburb. |
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MAKING A SILK PURSE OUT OF A SOW'S EAR
Posted by Tamar Rush, May 31, 2005. |
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This is from IsraPundit, which is condemned by Liars, Islamists, and Personality Cultists thw world over! This was written by Ted Belman, cohost of IsraPundit (http://israpundit.com). It appeared in IsraPundit March 2, 2005 and is archived at www.israpundit.com/archives/2005/03/making_a_silk_p.php Israel must also take no actions that prejudice a final settlement, and must help ensure that a new Palestinian state is truly viable. A state of scattered territories will not work.---Condi Rice Unfortunately, no surprise there. It has been the US policy since the Six Day War to prevent Israel from acquiring territory by force. No doubt this position was cooked up in the "Oil Cabinet". As a result, UNSC Res. 242 emphasized "the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war" even though this was not then and is not now, a recognized principal of international law. True that the words "all" or "the" were not included when it required "that Israeli armed forces withdraw from territories occupied as a result of the recent conflict", resulting in what diplomats call "constructive ambiguity". The resolution also required the establishment of "just and lasting peace in the Middle East" and "a just settlement of the refugee problem". What constitutes a "just peace" or "just settlement" is anyone's guess. More important it is a cover for any principles that each side demands in the name of justice. For instance is a cold peace a "just peace". Or does the "just settlement" require repatriation or compensation? And if compensation will suffice, who is to pay it? Justice would demand that the Arab countries pay the compensation because it was their war of aggression that created both the Arab and the Jewish refugees. This resolution wasn't accepted by the Arabs until the Oslo Accords were established. It then became the intended basis for settlement within the Oslo Accords... Nowhere did it require that a Palestinian state be created or, if created, that it be viable or contiguous unless the latter were required for a "just peace". Obviously both sides have different opinions as to what would be just. Israel could rightly argue that having been subject to a war of aggression that justice requires compensation in some form in addition to the establishment of secure borders. It is much harder for the Arabs to argue that a just peace requires the creation of Palestine. After all such a state wasn't even mooted in 1967. Any lands that Israel armed forces were to withdraw from would have automatically become part of Jordan or Egypt. No notion of viability or contiguity there. Furthermore, there was no requirement in Res 242 or in the Oslo Accords that settlement activity cease or be frozen. The US position has consistently considered the settlements as illegal, at worse or an obstacle to peace, at best. In fact there is nothing illegal about the settlements. After all the British Mandate was to enable "close settlement of the land by Jews." Nevertheless the Mitchell Report recommended a settlement freeze with no legal foundation and the State Department endorsed it. Not until the release of the Roadmap did Israel accept this freeze at least in name. The fourteen redlines to the Roadmap which Israel articulated did not take issue with the freeze. I have long argued that the establishment of settlements served the purpose of making time be on Israel's side. That is, the more the Palestinians avoided making a settlement the larger the settlements would become. This was the only pressure Israel could really apply. Yet the US demanded that Israel do nothing to prejudge the outcome denying Israel this tool to bring about a settlement. It has also denied Israel the right of self defence from time to time. It effectively worked to hamstring Israel from bettering its position. I argue that so long as the Palestinians resort to terror to better their position, Israel should be permitted to build settlements to better its position. At a minimum, the two should be linked. The Roadmap for the first time imposed the condition that a viable Palestinian State be created. The redlines also took no issue with the word "viable". Israel is being forced to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Israel is thus prevented from arguing that Palestine should not be created because it would not be viable and thus would not be a good or workable solution. Israel is being forced to make it viable at its own expense and peril. This includes sharing water supplies, hiring Palestinian workers, ceding sufficient land so that the state is contiguous and enabling some kind of passageway to Gaza. In addition it includes ceding the Golan, the Jordan Rift and the Philidelphi Corridor. Israel is also being forced to agree that Palestine be fully sovereign, thus allowing it to have control of its borders and air space. Res 242 also contemplated the establishment of "demilitarized zones", yet it will be a fight for Israel to keep Palestine demilitarized even if it was agreed to. Russia has now offered to supply the PA with weapons in violation of the clauses in the Oslo Accords proscribing such. Whatever happened to a negotiated settlement? Whatever happened to "secure borders"? The only thing left to negotiate is who takes out the garbage. Most of the outcome has been predetermined without any negotiation. |
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BRITISH BOYCOTT BACKERS; ISLAMIST INFILTRATION IN U.S.
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, May 31, 2005. |
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EGYPT BEGS FROM U.S. BUT NOT FROM ARABS Egypt's official newspaper, "Al-Ahram," advises Pres. Bush that if he wants democracy in Egypt, the US should divert foreign aid to foster literacy there. IMRA suggests that Egypt turn to the Arab oil states, which are earning billions of dollars in excess profits now that prices have soared (IMRA, 5/21). Since they were making a profit before the price more than doubled, their profit now must exceed 100%. And you thought G.E. was profitable? The US already is donating to Egypt a sizeable portion of its foreign aid budget, which it now can ill afford, since it has to pay the Arabs so much for oil. Egypt, however, doesn't use it to foster literacy. It uses it to build an ever more powerful military. Let "Al-Ahram" demand that most of that money be used for literacy! Would literacy or anything else foster democracy in that culture? The three most popular books in Egypt are the Koran, "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion," and Hitler's "Mein Kampf." Hooray, more Egyptians would be able to read those books. Suppose they became partly democratic, not that they are likely to grant true equality to their millions of Christians, against the opposition of adherents of Islam, which relegates Christians to inferior status. Would they use that democracy benignly or in their usual imperialist manner? U.S. REBUILDING ROADS IN P.A. The US is rebuilding seven roads in the P.A., in support of its "democratically elected government." "USAID has spent more than $1.5 billion in the West Bank and Gaza to combat poverty, create jobs, improve education, build roads and water systems, construct and equip medical clinics, and promote good governance." (IMRA, 5/21.) It should put it as the "non-democratically elected, Islamist, terrorist, crooked" regime. If the US didn't give them that money, the Arabs might have had less for warfare and fewer people remaining there to wage it. US aid can be harmful, such as the $2 billion given to Egypt for its hegemonic military and the funds given to Israel, that are directed so as to stifle its military industry and that keep Israel from having to reform its economy fast enough. P.A. WORDS VERSUS P.A. INACTION P.A. Interior Min. Yousef "demanded Friday the Palestinian (Arab) factions to keep up the ceasefire?" "Min. Yousef asserted that the Palestinian National Security Forces would continue preserving the ceasefire by preventing any possible firing of rockets at Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip" "with all possible means and under whatever circumstances." IMRA notes that apparently no one in the P.A. has been keeping to a ceasefire nor is there any punishment for violating it (IMRA, 5/21). RESULT OF P.A. STATEHOOD What does P.A. statehood mean, in practical terms? Russia has been discussing the sale of military aircraft to it. Israel is concerned (IMRA, 5/21). That is only one result of statehood. Apparently Israel is not concerned enough to take steps to thwart statehood. It is accelerating the prospect of statehood by voluntarily abandoning Gaza and northern Samaria, and doing so without the P.A. having complied with any of its peacemaking obligations. UNDERSTANDING THE BRITISH BOYCOTT BACKERS The British Association of University Teachers' vote to boycott some Israeli universities used such a false pretext, as to indicate that the universities were not the issue. "Their claims regarding Bar Ilan and Haifa Universities were simply hooks on which to hang the wider campaign to label Israel 'an apartheid state.'" The leaders for the boycott are veteran anti-Zionist campaigners. This was one skirmish. They probably will lose it when a new vote is taken. They will find some other phony issue against Israel and more false pretexts. What moves them is hatred. The strategy for boycotts to isolate Israel was laid out at the UNO's 2001 Durban conference. The NGOs behind the movement "use the rhetoric of human rights, humanitarian claims and charity to justify terror and promote demonization." It's war by non-military means (IMRA, 5/22 from Gerald Steinberg, Jer. Post.) PM SHARON EXACERBATES ANTISEMITISM Antisemitism is soaring. One reason is PM Sharon's policy of restraint toward the terrorist P.A. that he should overthrow. He releases terrorists who murder again, but refuses to get Pollard released. This is a policy of moral reversal. When Israel barely defends itself, and its restraint incurs the murder of thousands of Jews, antisemites feel they don't have to restrain themselves. Why should anyone respect the Jewish state when it doesn't respect itself? (IMRA, 5/22 from Prof. Paul Eidelberg of Jewish Press.) Appeasing evil does not incur nor merit goodwill. ISLAMIST INFILTRATION IN U.S. A powerful Republican figure, Grover Norquist, married a Palestinian Islamist Arab. She is not allowed to marry an infidel on pain of death, but he refuses to admit it. He promotes Islamist causes, has been associated with Islamists now arrested, and helped form the Islamic Institute financed by notorious Islamist agent Alamoudi and at which his wife worked. Now she is a public affairs officer for the U.S. Agency for International development. This is an example of Islamist infiltration into the US government. Norquist appointed Alamoudi's man to head the Institute, and used the Institute to get al-Arian, a reputed head of Islamic Jihad, White House entrée "and others with similar agendas who used their cachet to spread Islamist influence to the American military and the prison system and the universities and the political arena with untold consequences for the nation." "The right to select military chaplains not only offered Alamoudi and his colleagues the chance to recruit still more Islamists with specialized and highly useful skill-sets. It also was an invaluable legitimating credential to be wielded against those who might otherwise regard the American Muslim Council and its leader with suspicion, or worse." "In addition to the seed money from Alamoudi, the Islamic Institute has also received funding from organizations described by the Washington Post as a "secretive group of tightly connected Muslim charities, think tanks and businesses based in Northern Virginia [and] used to funnel millions of dollars to terrorists and launder millions more" - a number of whom are currently part of the "largest federal investigation of terrorism financing in the world." At Norquist's Wednesday Group meetings, someone from the Islamic Institute often "... would make a presentation to the generally standing-room-only crowds of influential Washington conservatives about the plight of Palestinians under Israeli occupation; the much-maligned and badly misunderstood Islamist government of Sudan (in fact, a designated state-sponsor of terrorism); the innocent nature of the process whereby Muslim chaplains have been selected for the armed forces; the honored status of women in the Muslim world; and efforts to promote Islamic causes and candidates in Republican circles." When Pres. Bush sought Muslim votes and wanted to demonstrate that he was not anti-Muslim just anti-terrorist, Norquist introduced him to Islamist officials. Some of them had publicly admitted Islamist sympathies. These people and groups, sometimes working within the Republican Party, oppose anti-terrorist measures, including the entire Patriot Act, not just its excesses. They may have diverted the Administration from finding and working with moderate Muslims. So successful is this infiltration, that the FBI continues to use Islamist organizations that through their prison chaplains have been converting felons to radical Islam, to train people in "sensitivity" towards Muslims and in community relations. Ironically, the Islamists cite their federal work as evidence of their legitimacy. When confronted with his anti-American activities, Norquist calls his opponents "racist." (Miriam Gardner of American Yated Neeman from Daniel Pipes, email). Real Communists used to call their accusers of "McCarthyism." Yes, there have been racists and McCarthyites, but there also have been subversives. The subversives pretend they are being victimized. U.S. OIL SOURCE THREATENED The US imports as much oil from Africa as from S. Arabia. Oil-bearing Nigeria, with its large Muslim population, has become a haven for al-Qaeda bases and radical Arabs. Al-Qaeda's strategy is to hurt the US economy, by reducing its oil supply. Nigeria is a new target (Op. Cit.). 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 ricshulman@aol.com. |
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DON'T TRUST ISLAMISTS
Posted by Barry Rubin, May 27, 2005. |
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The following may soon be true: the good news is that Islamists are not committing terrorism; the bad news is that they are running the governments. Welcome to the latest Western debate: should Islamists be helped to run in elections in order to moderate them. Both in Washington and Europe this idea is seizing people's minds. The European Union advocates dealing with Hizballah and may decide the best way to promote Israeli-Palestinian peace is to strengthen Hamas. In Washington, the main example is to help the Muslim Brotherhood run in fair Egyptian elections. The easy answer is that radical Islamists will not be moderated by participating in elections or gaining power. The Bolshevik (Communist) party in Russia and the Nazi party in Germany ran candidates for parliament. But there is only one point in responding to the latest bad idea -- there certainly seem to be a lot of them, don't there? -- in the Middle East debate. For example: --Remember the Oslo peace process was based largely on the idea that once Yasir Arafat and colleagues governed Palestinians and dealt with daily problems they would be more moderate, responsible, and abandon terrorism. This does not mean pious Muslims cannot be real democrats. A Middle Eastern equivalent of European Christian Democratic parties might eventually emerge. Turkey, however, is quite different from Arab countries, having a more moderate brand of Islam and entrenched democracy. Its governing Islamic party knows it must act moderately enough to avoid antagonizing the secular-oriented majority and army. In addition, in Turkey three vital preconditions creating Islamist democrats don't exist in the Arab world: --There must be a clear split between radical Islamists and moderates. An obvious but vital point is that radical Islamist groups don't commit terrorism for its own sake. Their objective is to seize power and use it for their own purposes. Once in power, Islamist parties would change laws and society to produce more Islamists. Such regimes will use foreign policy adventurism--attacking the West and Israel in words and perhaps with guns--to mobilize support and distract attention from failures at home. The result will be to replace one repressive authoritarian regime with another, adding two more generations to the process of real moderation and democratization for the Arab world. What is going to stop this from happening, assuming that Islamist parties have enough votes? Here the debate gets silly. To quote a liberal Arab reformer I respect, "This does raise questions about who would guarantee that all parties abide by these rules of the game." He suggests the courts do this, concluding, "There must be faith in the system." Given the risks involved--a bloody, repressive dictatorship, foreign wars, the Islamization of society, and so on--basing one's future on faith in a system that does not yet exist and on rulings from courts that are notoriously impotent is not quite sane. Of course, each specific example is important so let's take three: --Hamas wants to rule a country extending from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea based on what amounts to an openly genocidal attitude toward Jews. Hamas will use power it obtains--including a large share of the Palestinian parliament--to veto any peace with Israel and create a base for more terrorism, including social and educational changes to ensure a hundred-year-long war with Israel. --Hizballah wants to take power in Lebanon but cannot since Shia Muslims are only 40 percent of the electorate. It demands proportional representation to give it the largest possible influence. The Christians, Druze and Sunni resist. What Hizballah will win is the right to remain the country's only armed militia and control over the south. It will bide its time looking for future opportunities. Keep in mind two key points. First, the factor most likely to moderate larger Islamist groups is their knowing power is beyond their reach. Hamas never challenged the Palestinian leadership because it knew it would be crushed in a civil war. In Jordan and Egypt, Islamist parties take the quota of parliamentary seats permitted them and cause no trouble because they know beating the regime is impossible. Once they conclude they can win, the result will be instability and more militancy. Finally, the most likely result of any Western belief that power will moderate radical Islamists will be unilateral Western concessions to such groups. They will be given immunity for past terrorist acts, diplomatic backing against the local regimes, money and other benefits in exchange for promises to be good. They will then break these promises, more likely without cost. Let's not be naïve about radical Islamism and make even more problems for the Middle East Barry Rubin is Director of the GLORIA Center of the Interdisciplinary Center and co-author of "Yasir Arafat: A Prof. Rubin's columns can now be read online at http://gloria.idc.ac.il/columns/column.html. This article is archived at http://gloria.idc.ac.il/columns/2005/05_31.html |
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THE SECOND CITY'S TWIN ACADEMIC NEONAZIS
Posted by Steven Plaut, May 31, 2005. |
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In recent months DePaul University has become something of an international laughingstock. While retaining neonazi Norman Finkelstein on its faculty, a person with no scholarly credentials at all and someone who has been accused by the Anti-Defamation League of being a Holocaust Denier, DePaul also fired Prof. Thomas Klocek because he dared to defend Israel to some fanatic campus jihadnik students. Among those who have denounced DePaul's neonazi has been Alan Dershowitz. Many people are comparing DePaul's employment of Finkelstein to the employment of another neonazi and Holocaust Denier in the Chicago area, Arthur Butz, an Associate Professor at Northwestern University, and some wonder aloud what is wrong with having such people on the faculty if academic freedom is to mean anything. (We, for our part, wonder whether there may be something in the Lake Michigan water that produces these crackpots in the Second City!) But closer examination of the twin Chicago "academic nazis" reveals important differences. Arthur R. Butz is an open nazi and Holocaust Denier who crayoned a "book" insisting that the World War II Holocaust of Jews by Germany was a grand "hoax". Butz even touts his nazi ravings on the Northwestern University official web site. (Interestingly, Butz and Noam Chomsky are among the main advocates on behalf of French Holocaust Denier Robert Faurisson .) But there the similarities with Finkelstein end. First of all, Butz teaches in Northwestern's electric and computer engineering department, where he teaches technical courses and does not engage in political advocacy in his classes. Indeed, he is prohibited altogether from spouting his nazi views on Northwestern's campus. Butz evidently does have some serious academic credentials in his field of expertise. So the lunacies he advocates in the privacy of his swastika-bedecked bedroom are his own business, believes Northwestern. We have trouble understanding why being an open nazi does not signal to the Northwestern University brass that Butz is deranged and so should not be on the podium at all, but we are the first to concede that academia is crawling with other lunatics. Finkelstein, in contrast, is not teaching a technical subject and does not have any serious scholarly credentials in anything, yet is permitted to use the DePaul podium to conduct his little Nuremberg Rallies. In addition, Northwestern evidently did not know about Butz's psychotic nazi agenda when it hired him, but DePaul knew exactly what it was getting when it hired Finkelstein. Finkelstein had earlier been fired from two adjunct jobs in New York due to his lack of any scholarly credentials, his charlatan pseudo-research, his Jew-bashing bigotry and his vicious ad hominem attacks against writer Elie Wiesel and other Holocaust survivors. Finkelstein teaches in DePaul's political science department, where he is allowed to offer a departmental course that is completely one-sided anti-Israel indoctrination and anti-Jewish advocacy. Finkelstein's course syllabus consists 100% of anti-Israel propagandists and anti-Semites, some of them Marxists. Not a single pro-Israel voice of dissent is permitted to be aired. Where are the rights of DePaul students to hear all sides of an issue? Why are they not being defended against Finkelstein's podium bullying? Northwestern - by the way - has been trying to dump Butz for years, by buying out his contract (he has tenure), but Butz has refused. Butz is an enormous embarrassment! But DePaul's chiefs, led by DePaul's President, Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M., Ed.D., are downright PROUD of their neonazi, insisting that he is a serious scholar (even though no serious scholars consider him one). The people other than Brer Holtschneider who take Finklestein as a serious researcher usually run Holocaust "Revisionism" web sites and worship David Irving. DePaul would not hire a faculty member in the name of free speech who was claiming that it was actually Jesus Christ who had Pontius Pilate crucified and not the other way around, so what then is a racist flake like Finkelstein doing teaching political science there? If you would like to ask DePaul Prez Holtschneider yourself, his email address is dholtsch@depaul.edu. The Chicago Jewish Star has been commenting at length on the Klocek affair and on DePaul's toady defense of Finklelstein's presence on its faculty. As the Star notes: "When the university first hired Mr. Finkelstein in 2001, his reputation as an out-of-control, unbalanced analyst who mixes vile and vitriolic attacks on his critics with a gleeful exhibitionism was firmly established. With so many credible, intelligent, informed scholars of Middle Eastern studies available from which to select, why in the world did DePaul decide to bring this man on its staff?" 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. |
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FATHER, FORGIVE THEM...
Posted by Gerald A. Honigman, May 30, 2005. |
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For they know full well what they do. Borrowing and modifying a passage from at least one of the Christian Gospels' versions as to what some of Jesus' last words were on the cross, we can, unfortunately, better understand what is happening to Israel today. For Jews, Israel--collectively, the Jewish people--has been the suffering servant of the Bible...one of the areas of disagreement with our Christian brothers. Given this, please allow me to proceed... Once again, the Jew of the Nations, Israel, is on the verge of being forced to become the perpetually suffering servant of Jewish history--and this time largely at the hands of its alleged friends. No one in the State Department or in the White House can claim ignorance about the extreme dangers that they are setting Israel up for. Arab intentions are well known...even those of the so-called "moderates." Their darling, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, got elected running on a widely-announced platform for Israel's destruction--but by other "more legitimate" means. He consistently still demands, for example, that Israel accept the "right of return" of millions of alleged Arab refugees so that the sole miniscule state of the Jews will be overwhelmed by Arabs who have been raised on homicidal Jew-hatred. Blown buses bring bad press--so better to destroy Israel "democratically." These are the moderate, Holocaust-denying Abbas' own words. And Dubya and the Foggy Folks know this well... As they know that Abbas and his fellow Arafatians have repeatedly called any negotiations with the Jews a Trojan Horse, designed to win back diplomatically what Arab arms have not been able to accomplish on the battlefield. Diplomacy as war by other means, the Arabs well known, post-'67 destruction in phases plan...which American officials also know quite well. Abbas, like Arafat, offers only a temporary hudna -- a ceasefire--(or less) in return for Israel being forced to return to its 1949, United Nations'-imposed, 9-mile wide armistice line -- not border -- existence. Those lines were imposed after six Arab nations invaded a reborn Israel in 1948. As would become the pattern in later wars as well, the UN did nothing to stop the Arabs' initial aggression, but intervened only when the Jews managed to turn the tide. The UN then stepped in to limit Arab losses. That's how Israel gained its rump state status. Abbas refuses to confront Hamas and others who openly call for Israel's destruction and has promised to integrate terrorists who specialize in disemboweling Jewish babes and grandmas into his armed forces. Going down this same road before, Israeli soldiers were previously murdered by their similar Arab security "partners." And Dubya and the Foggy Folks know this well too, as they are aware that a quick visit to any of Abbas' Palestinian Authority's websites, maps, textbooks, schools, television or radio programs, mosques, and such will show that the 22nd Arab state that they intend to create--and second, not first, Arab one created within the original 1920 borders of "Palestine" (Jordan created on 80% of the total area)--expects to replace the sole state of the Jews, not live side by side with it. So, the consequences of what Dubya & Co. are now demanding of Israel-- they get quite upset when folks remind them of the obvious analogy with Czechoslovakia, Chamberlain, Munich, Hitler, and the Sudetenland in 1938 -- fit squarely on their own shoulders. They know all too well what they do... Other "friends" sold out that earlier brave democracy to its enemies for at least some disturbingly similar reasons. But how dare those who fear another Munich-style sellout of Israel bring such things up! On the balance sheet of relative justice regarding distribution of land in the Middle East and North Africa after the collapse of the four century old Ottoman Turkish Empire, it must be repeated time and time again--no matter how upsetting this necessary repetition is to some--that what was to become purely Arab Jordan was indeed created in 1922 out of the original April 25, 1920 borders of the Palestinian Mandate as a gift from the British to their Hashemite Arab allies in World War I. So Arabs have held the lion's share of "Palestine" for three quarters of a century. Most of the almost two dozen states that Arabs already call their own, on over six million square miles of territory, were conquered and forcibly Arabized from millions of other non-Arab peoples in the region...Berbers, Kurds, Copts, Black Africans, and so forth. And for every Arab who fled the fighting that Arabs started, there was a Jew from so-called "Arab" lands who fled in the opposite direction. Etc., etc., and so forth. After Israel was blockaded (a casus belli), became the victim of other hostile acts, and was once again forced to fight a war for its very existence in 1967, it finally became obvious to many that it should not be forced to return to its extremely vulnerable, pre-'67, 9-mile wide, rump state status so that Arabs could get the first part of all that they want in what was left of "Palestine" after the creation of Jordan. As we have seen, for even the so-called "moderates," all of Israel proper is still the openly admitted second part of this wish list. After much debate, the final draft of United Nations' Security Council Resolution # 242 was passed, specifically did not call for a total Israeli withdrawal to the fragile '49 armistice lines, and called instead for the creation of "secure and recognized" borders to replace those lines. During a rare, potentially pregnant moment in terms of Arab-Israeli politics, Dubya, back in April 2004, came close to saying the same thing. Unfortunately, our born-again President now seems to endorse an abortion of that pregnancy. By shedding the courage to stand by the explicit or implicit implications of his earlier statements, Dubya sets back, rather than enhances, the cause of peace between Arab and Jew in the Middle East. He renews Arab rejectionist dreams by insisting that the Jews remain forever vulnerable and exposed. The destruction in phases plans Arabs have had for Israel, ever since their pre-'67 plans for quick destruction proved a failure, are now proceeding nicely. Recall that, standing next to Sharon, who became convinced--despite the many arguments that could be made against this--that a Gaza withdrawal was in Israel's best interests (along with some similar moves elsewhere), Dubya stated earlier, before the whole world, and during his run for reelection that Israel should not be expected to return to the '49 armistice lines (his own words) and should not be expected to be overwhelmed by an alleged "return" of millions of Arab refugees. If Arabs finally understood that, as in other conflicts, a territorial compromise would have to be arrived at here as well, then perhaps--while still a long shot--they would finally get serious about ending their perpetual war with the Jews. But that was before the November 2004 presidential election. Unfortunately, Dubya now appears to have been playing some pre-election politics to solidify his key Evangelical supporters in what was forecasted to be a close election. It worked. I voted for him this time...despite my trepidation over his polluting financiers and such. But now that he has been reelected, and with little or nothing to lose since he can't run again, it seems that his family's huge oil ties, the influence of close family friend and former Secretary of State "_ _ _ _ the Jews they don't vote for us anyway" James Baker, and a heavily Arabist State Department are converging to sweep Israel's concerns under the rug. These days, instead, we get a constant barrage of statements from both Dubya and his Secretary of State that Arab state #22 must be no bantustan and must have contiguity and such. Neither of them seem to care about what any of this means for the Jews. The call by Resolution# 242 that Israel's '49 armistice lines should be replaced with "secure and recognized borders" is never even mentioned any more. How, for instance, will the miniscule, sole state of the Jews remain contiguous itself when Gaza is connected to Judea and Samaria (only recently in history renamed the "West Bank")? Look at a map and, if you can manage to find Israel without a magnifying glass, try connecting Gaza to the West Bank. Now see what this does to Israel. And this can be said regarding other areas as well. So, when considered in light of the President's evident deliberate amnesia regarding the public letter he gave to Sharon in April 2004, which the latter then used to justify his unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, this amounts to nothing less than a sellout of his former position. And it completely nullifies Sharon's arguments as well. There is to be no quid pro quo regarding Israel getting the protective buffer elsewhere envisioned by 242. And the Gaza withdrawal will indeed likely send the message that "terrorism works" (Lebanon II) and will serve only as a precedent for forced Israeli withdrawals elsewhere to the '49 Auschwitz lines. Remember the ads Dubya ran against John Kerry for doing such things? But there he stood at the White House on May 26, 2005, next to Abbas, virtually--if not actually--flipflopping, and proclaiming to the entire world that the '49 armistice lines were the reference point for negotiations and that any deviation must have the approval of the Arabs themselves--those same Arabs whose "moderates" even still insist that Israel within the '49 lines must disappear. Big chance of Israel gaining any increased buffer separating it from those who seek to blow up its kids this way... And Dubya and the Foggy Folks know all of this too. This is the same guy who supposedly once noted that some Texas driveways were longer than the width of Israel at its waist, where most of its population and industry are located. And, again, keep in mind that for caving in to all that their would-be executioners ask for, all that the Jews can hope for in return is a temporary cease fire--a hudna--not peace. The Arafatians have been quite honest about all of this. They call their plans for the Jews the "Peace of the Quraysh," modeled after the temporary pause Muhammad allowed with that pagan tribe until he gained the strength to deal the final blow. That the Foggy Folks expect this of the Jews is no shock. They opposed Israel's very right to exist from the get-go. But we were told that Dubya knew better. Shame on any and all who would shove this down Israel's throat...no matter who they are. And shame on Israel's leaders if they cave into this as well. Many a red-blooded American heart is feeling anguish over these developments right now. Shedding more crocodile tears, a la the Holocaust, and expressing sympathy over more dead and victimized Jews is not the ticket in a post-Auschwitz era. Empathy for live ones is what's needed...not applying hypocritical double standards to the Jew of the Nations. But evidently this is too much to ask of even our own nation's leaders, let alone others. Those who wage war and manipulate and topple governments and who have acquired territories thousands of miles away from home in the name of their own nations' security interests can't seem to figure out that Israel--surrounded by nations still sworn to its demise--also has some crucial security concerns that need to be taken far more seriously. Returning to the New Testament of my Christian friends, the story is told of Jesus being sold out for mere shekels of silver. Jews now ask, what is the Suffering Servant--Israel--once again being sold out for...knowingly, and by those claiming to be 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. |
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PRISONER EXCHANGE
Posted by Israel Zwick, May 30, 2005. |
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The following story was inspired by the Yiddish comedy routines of the late Dzigan & Schumacher, z'l. If they are watching from above, the author begs their forgiveness. Zayt mir mokhel. Prisoner R: Guard, how much do you want for that newspaper? Guard: 10 Shekel Prisoner R: But it's written on there that the price is 7 Shekel. Guard: Since when do you believe everything that's written in the newspaper? Prisoner R: You're lucky that you have a monopoly on newspapers here. Hand it over. Prisoner L: I see that you're reading a paper, could you tell me what today's date is? Prisoner R: It won't do you any good, that guard sold me yesterday's paper, the mamzer. Prisoner L: Is there anything new in the paper? Prisoner R: It says here that the economy is up, employment is down, and peace is right around the corner. Same old hogwash. Prisoner L: I see that you don't have much faith in our country's leaders. Prisoner R: They're all a bunch of phony diplomats. They say one thing, mean something else, then they do something completely different. Wait, here's an article that's very troubling. It seems that the Gush Katif settlers were having an anti-disengagement rally and a Peace Now group held a counter rally nearby. There was an altercation and it got ugly, with some injuries and arrests. Prisoner L: You don't have to tell me about it. I was there. I was the one who hit a settler on the head with a beer bottle. Prisoner R: Why'd you do a dumb thing like that for? Prisoner L: I don't know. I regretted it as soon as I saw the blood gushing from him. I think that I had too much beer to drink and my anger exploded. I'm fed up with those religious extremists who are occupying Palestinian lands. Those 9000 settlers are violating the humanitarian rights of the 1.3 million Arabs living in Gaza. Prisoner R: Is that so? You not only had too much to drink, you've also been watching too much Al-Jazeera TV. Prisoner L: Who are you to reprimand me? Who did you kill to wind up in here? Prisoner R: You should have a little more respect. Do you know with whom you are speaking? I am Mikhail Abramovitch, known all over Israel. I never killed anyone. I am a reputable broker. You'll see. My lawyers will have me out of here in an hour. Prisoner L: What did you do, broker rocket launchers and missiles to the Arabs? Prisoner R: Heaven forbid! I deal with Arabs but I only sell them luxury goods like fine Cuban cigars, Scotch whiskeys, and Italian clothing. Prisoner L: For that they put you in prison? Prisoner R: Well the government calls it smuggling and tax evasion. Prisoner L: Aren't you afraid to go into the territories to deal with them? You're not afraid of getting hurt or shot? Prisoner R: No, they know me already. They think that I'm on their side and against the government. Besides, they want my goods. Prisoner L: Where do they have the money to buy luxury goods? I thought that they're all living in poverty. Prisoner R: That's what they want you to think. There's a lot of money coming into the territories. UNRWA has a budget of 500 million dollars, UNICEF spends 17 million, and the Palestinian Authority received over 2 billion dollars from the Europeans and Americans. The problem is that the money isn't going to the people. It's going into the hands of a select few that have the proper connections. They're the ones that want the luxury goods. Prisoner L: That still doesn't give us the right to humiliate the Arabs and violate their human rights. Our treatment of the Arabs is the leading cause of the worldwide increase in anti-Semitism. Prisoner R: What do you young Israelis know about anti-Semitism? In Russia, I grew up with anti-Semitism. It permeated the air we breathed and the water we drank. I lost my job and career to anti-Semitism. Prisoner L: You mean you weren't always a crook? Prisoner R: When I was your age, I was a promising young geneticist at Moscow University. I have a PhD in Microbial Genetics. Prisoner L: How did you lose your job? Prisoner R: I was a Jewish activist. My group used to meet secretly but the KGB was always watching us. One day, when I left a meeting, a policeman was standing nearby with a big German Shepherd. He tried to provoke me. He said, "Jew, you see that dog, that's your brother." Prisoner L: So what did you do? Prisoner R: I was a brash young man and fell for the bait. I called back to him, "Well, let's see. If the dog is circumcised, he's my brother. If not, he's your brother." So they arrested me for insubordination and Zionist activities. Isn't it ironic that in Russia I was arrested for Zionist activities and in Israel I'm arrested for anti-Zionist activities? Prisoner L: So how did you get out of jail? Prisoner R: Eventually they let me out, but I lost my job at the University. I had to make a living by dealing with the Black Market. I traded in tobacco and liquor. Those Russians would do anything for good tobacco and liquor. Prisoner L: Now that you're in Israel, why don't you go back to working as a geneticist? Prisoner R: It's been twenty years since I studied genetics. The field changed so much that I don't recognize it anymore. Prisoner L: Now I understand why you're so bitter. But that doesn't explain why we should be occupying Palestinian lands. We should be removing all those illegal settlements and give the land back to them. Prisoner R: You don't know what you're talking about! Why don't you pick up a history book instead of a beer bottle? The YESHA territories were never Palestinian lands. Most of those Arabs are not indigenous to the area. They fled there at the onset of the 1948 war. Then Jordan and Egypt illegally occupied the area, and the Jews were driven out. If not for Chamberlain's White Paper in 1939, many thousands of Jews would have settled in those areas during the British Mandate. The Jews have at least as much right to that land as the Arabs. Prisoner L: That was the past. But now there are 3 million Arabs living there. If they had their own Palestinian state, there wouldn't be a conflict anymore. Prisoner R: I'm shocked that you really believe that! A Palestinian state would just prolong the conflict and cause permanent friction with the State of Israel. Prisoner L: How is that? Prisoner R: When I was growing microbial cultures for genetics studies, I knew that the culture followed an S-shaped growth curve. A microbial culture in a confined area, such as a tube of nutrient broth, would grow very rapidly then taper off as metabolic wastes accumulated. Eventually, the whole culture would die off from the accumulated waste products. That same pattern could also be applied to human population ecology. Prisoner L: What does that have to do with Jews and Arabs? Prisoner R: It's simple. King David knew what he was doing when he picked Jerusalem as his capital. The surrounding Judean Hills provided increased surface area for population growth and agricultural development. It also provided accessible underground springs for a continuous supply of fresh water. However, the land can't sustain continuous growth in such a small, confined area. Eventually, the population would have to settle elsewhere or die out. We see that happening already to Jewish populations in the USA. Jews moved out of crowded urban areas into less developed areas in upstate NY and Long Island. Now there are even Jewish communities in Iowa and Montana. Prisoner L: So what do you propose? Prisoner R: The 1947 boundaries of the British Palestine Mandate cannot sustain a growing population of 10 million Arabs and Jews. The Jews have no other country to go to, but the Arabs have more than 20 others with sparsely populated lands. So if you're really interested in promoting the humanitarian rights of Palestinian Arabs, you would advocate for voluntary resettlement to sparsely populated areas in other Arab countries. If you gave them a decent compensation package, most of them would be happy to leave. They have no attachment to the YESHA territories. They would be happy to live anywhere that they had decent living conditions and civil rights. But nobody ever made them an offer or gave them the opportunity to live elsewhere. The Arab governments insist that they must live within the 1947 borders of mandatory Palestine. Under those conditions, Arabs and Jews would be competing for scarce natural resources, with disastrous results. It's definitely not a formula for a lasting peace. Prisoner L: So you mean that I would actually be helping the Arab population by advocating for voluntary transfer with compensation. Prisoner R: Now you're getting it. The effects of the alcohol are finally wearing off. Guard: Abramovitch, you're free to go. Prisoner R: It's about time. What took so long? What about my young friend here, can he come with me? Guard: No, we have to get him a lawyer. He almost killed a settler, a father with four young children. We're very lucky that the rim of his orange baseball cap cushioned and deflected the blow. He got away with only minor bruises. Prisoner R: I'll get my lawyers to help you. You're not a bad kid. You just have to get your head screwed on straight. When you get out of here, you have to visit that settler and apologize. Guard, the next time that I come here, I expect to get a decent bowl of chicken soup. When I looked into that slop you gave me, I heard one noodle saying to the other, "Where are you, it's lonely in here?" Guard: Abramovitch, I don't want to see you here again. Why don't you get an honest job? I bet a shrewd operator like you could probably become an agent for Shin Bet. Prisoner R: Hmm, that's not a bad idea. Maybe I'll give it some thought. Israel Zwick can be reached by email at israel.zwick@earthlink.net |
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ONLINE INTERVIEW WITH GUSH KATIF RESIDENT
Posted by Lise Rubin, May 30, 2005. |
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DAYS BEFORE THE START OF THE PASSOVER FESTIVAL, Rabbi Richman and the GLC film crew paid a visit to the home of Rachel Saperstein, resident of Neve Dekalim, one of twenty three Gush Katif and Gaza Jewish communities, slated to be ethnically cleansed of their Jewish residents, by the Sharon government's proposed disengagement (expulsion) "plan". There they filmed two extraordinary half-hour interviews with Rachel. Each of the two interviews form part of the weekly "Light to the Nations" television series, and have been aired extensively by GLC, before millions of viewers in the United States. Now the interviews have been made available for online viewing. Whether you consider yourself knowledgeable, or whether you feel you are ignorant about what is happening in Gaza and Northern Samaria, these interviews are a must. Learn the truth behind the Sharon "disengagement plan", and the "fanatic" Jewish mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers, husbands and wives, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, that this "plan" intends to uproot from their homes, their places of worship, and their communities. Learn what you can, and should be doing about it. To view with Windows Media:
To view with Real Media:
See also: "The Police Storm Satmar Shul, Tear The Place Up."
Israeli elite counter-terror unit terrorizes peaceful Satmars in
retaliation for their protesting desecration of graves.
Contact Lise Rubin by email at elishevarubin@msn.com
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HOW FRANCE SOLVES ITS PROBLEMS WITH LEFTIST "NEW JOURNALISTS"
Posted by Steven Plaut, May 30, 2005. |
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1. This was published today on the Discover the Network website (www.discoverthenetwork.org/moonbatcentral/2005/05/ in-france-you-can-sue-new-journalists.html). In France you can sue the "New Journalists" for Racism! Why not in the US? The French, of all people, have developed a tool for dealing with leftist moonbat journalism and politicalized distortion in the media. They sue the blaggards for racism! Never mind that the damages awarded may be nothing. That is what has just happened to two leftist "journalists" who write biased bigotry for Le Monde. A Versailles court of appeals ruled on an article that ran June 4, 2002, called "Israel-Palestine: The Cancer," was anti-Semitism and prohibited under France's laws against racism and racist defamation. The court ordered the directors, Edgar Morin and Jean-Marie Colombani, as well as the two authors, to pay a symbolic one Euro in damages to a human-rights alliance, and ordered Le Monde to publish a condemnation of the article. Two particular passages were cited for their racist character. The first reads, "One has trouble imagining that a nation of refugees, descendants of the people who have suffered the longest period of persecution in the history of humanity, who have suffered the worst possible scorn and humiliation, would be capable of transforming themselves, in two generations, into a dominating people, sure of themselves, and, with the exception of an admirable minority, into a scornful people finding satisfaction in humiliating others." The second incriminating citation reads, "The Jews, once subject to an unmerciful rule, now impose their unmerciful rule on the Palestinians." SO here is my idea. I say sauce for the Foie Gras is sauce for the moonbat! Let's ship off Alexander Cockburn to France and there sue his derriere off! 2. Repost: "The Israeli Left Was Just Naive, Now It's Treasonous," written by Steven Plaut, Saturday, November 01, 2003. In a recent opinion piece in the Jerusalem Post, Sarah Honig, one of the paper's better columnists, raised the question of whether Israel's left should be regarded as stupid or crazy. She raised the question in response to the latest gambit by Yossi Beilin, the Mother Hen of the Oslo debacle, and his friends--the so-called ''Geneva Understandings,'' which should be better termed the Geneva Misunderstandings. Honig's question deserves to be taken seriously. The most correct answer to her question is that while many leftists are indeed crazy or stupid or both, increasingly Israel's Left is composed simply of people who are evil. This third possibility should be taken very seriously. The growth in the weight of the evil amongst the stupid and the crazy in Israel's left has a simple explanation. While the Israeli left at the time when the first Oslo Accords were perpetrated consisted mainly of the naïve and the foolish, these people have in large part disappeared by now from its ranks. In most cases, they simply became less foolish and naïve over time, and consequently abandoned the left. They were mugged by reality and succumbed to the years of daily empirical demonstrations that the left's understanding of the conflict in 1993 was simply wrong, demonstrably wrong, disastrously wrong. These were the people whose earlier beliefs had remained open to a certain amount of testing and proving in the pudding, whose minds had not been hermetically locked closed. When the pudding proved how wrong they had been, they had second thoughts. They awoke and sniffed the coffee the rest of us had long been sipping. They removed their primrose blinders from their eyes Among the manifestations of these having second thoughts were the near-complete implosion of the leftist Meretz party, which lost half its Knesset representation, and the landslide defeat of Amram Mitzna and the Labor Party left in the last Israeli election. As the naïve abandoned the left in droves, a process of adverse selection occurred. Those who remained in the Israeli left despite the past decade of Oslo experiences are today by and large people who are evil. They constitute the satanic left. Some used to be foolish leftists who evolved into evil leftists. They remain in the left because they are motivated by hostility to Israel, animosity towards Jews, by self-hatred. That a political movement like the Israeli left could be taken over by those motivated by dislike of their own country and hatred of their own people should not come as too much of a surprise. After all, the American campus left is also today little more than a movement of anti-Americanism. It will support any Third World butcher it thinks is sufficiently hostile to the United States and the West. It supports everything imaginable that can harm the United States. In 1993, most Israeli leftists sincerely believed that if Israel would recognize and legitimize the PLO, if it would just make goodwill gestures towards the Palestinians and release them from Israel ''occupation,'' if it offered the Palestinians their own state alongside of Israel, if it allowed Arafat and the leadership of the PLO to relocate from Tunis to the West Bank, and if it showed itself somewhat flexible in terms of the status of Jerusalem, then the Palestinians would respond to the generosity with generosity. The left genuinely expected that demonstrations of Israeli goodwill would trigger outpourings of Palestinian goodwill and moderation, that good sportsmanship would be rewarded with niceness. A decade of goodwill measures later, we now have ample proof. Of course the left was totally wrong. Israeli niceness did not produce Palestinian niceness but rather Palestinian nazification. Israeli goodwill gestures triggered Palestinian fanaticism. Israeli offers to compromise produced Palestinian digging in of heals and insistence that only Israel's destruction through some ''right of return'' was an acceptable solution. When Israel turned over the bulk of the West Bank and Gaza to the PLO, along with perhaps 95 % of the Palestinian population, those areas were not used by the PLO for nation building and economic development. Instead, they were used for nothing except perpetrating endless terrorist attacks, rocket attacks, and mass murders against Jews. It became evident very quickly that Palestinian terrorism was not being caused by Israeli ''occupation'' but rather was skyrocketing as a direct consequence of the REMOVAL of Israeli occupation. Each and every Israeli concession and offer to compromise was met with escalating Palestinian savagery and barbarism, along with blood-curdling screams and demonization of Jews. It became obvious that the terror bonfire was not being fanned by any construction of Israeli ''settlements'' but rather by Israeli offers of appeasement that included proposals to REMOVE those settlements. We are now more than a decade after the infamous White House handshake between Yitzhak Rabin and Yassir Arafat. Frankly, intelligent people should have seen in 1993 that Oslo was not a peace process at all but rather a process of appeasement and defeatism that would end up NOT with a suppression of Palestinian terror but rather with its takeoff to new dimensions without precedent. But in fairness, honest people with good intentions could well have believed in 1993 that Oslo was the path to follow. They were motivated by wishful thinking, by a complete misunderstanding of the Middle East conflict, and by exhaustion. Fast forwarding to 2004: Every single day since the Oslo Accords were implemented has served as new empirical proof that those Accords were founded on a totally incorrect concept of what the Middle East conflict was about. The Middle East conflict was not about any need for Palestinian ''self-determination'' but rather about the total refusal by the Arab world to acquiesce in any form of Jewish self-determination. The problem was not Israeli unwillingness for territorial compromise but Arab rejection of any territorial compromise at all as a form of solution, if it were to allow a rump Jewish state to continue to exist. Oslo proved that the Arabs would not be satisfied with some form of Palestinian statehood restricted to the West Bank and Gaza, but rather would demand all of Israel as well, perhaps in the name of the right of ''self-determination'' for the Arabs of Nazareth and the Negev and Jaffa. If the years of daily proofs were insufficient, surely the events at Camp David II should have been more than enough to convince even the most diehard idealist and obstinate naif on the Israeli left of the errors of its ways. At Camp David, Ehud Barak offered the Palestinians EVERYTHING: virtually all of the West Bank and Gaza purged of their Jewish settlers, all of East Jerusalem including the Western Wall, swaths of pre-1967 Israel, financial tribute, and admission of tens of thousands of Palestinian ''refugees'' into the areas that Israel would retain as partial implementation of the Palestinian ''right of return.'' The PLO response to this suicidal offer by the leader of Israel's Left at the time was complete rejection and the launching of what has now become universally misnamed the ''Al-Aqsa Intifada,'' which should in fact more properly be dubbed the Oslo Pogroms. The carnage is now about 900 murdered Israelis, just since October 2000, and counting. The left's response to the pogroms was characteristically revisionism, to deny that Barak had actually made any generous offer at Camp David at all. It is said that remarriage is the victory of hope over experience (as well as common sense). Israel's leftist politicians continued to court the ugly Palestinian bride who had divorced them over and over and over. To believe after Camp David II that offers of generosity by Israel could ever defuse Palestinian barbarism was simply to divorce oneself from reality and take refuge in fantasy. While the ranks of the left in Israel dwindled, it retained much of its powers, including its near-totalitarian hegemony over Israel's media and universities. But who exactly are these people still in the left? First of all, they are people who insist that Israel continue to pursue the failed Oslo ''strategy'' as if the past ten years of failure never took place. Beilin's Geneva Misunderstandings are perhaps the best illustration. Going somewhat beyond even what Barak had offered at Camp David, they are once again based on endless Israeli concessions, appeasements, and capitulations to Arab demands with absolutely no quid pro quo. They are the child of the same ''concept'' that has been discredited daily ever since 1993. The only thing the Beilin "accord" offers Israel is a promise of yet another empty rhetorical commitment by the PLO to suppressing the terror, which is the same old used Buick the PLO has been reselling to Israel without ever delivering, over and over for the past decade. The PLO was unwilling to countenance even the duplicitous language in the Beliin Capitulations that made it appear that it might someday maybe agree to some compromise over the Palestinian ''Right of Return,'' which is the Palestinian demand for unlimited immigration into Israel even AFTER some Palestinian state is established. The Gargoyle of Ramallah rejected Beilin's Munich offer because of this. Second, the Op-Eds and the official canon being preached by Israel's Left today is increasingly one of treason. Increasing numbers of the remnants who are still denizens of the left openly propose that Israel's existence be terminated. A growing number of Israeli Leftists are promoting the so-called ''One State Solution'' or the ''Bi-National Solution,'' which should more properly be called the Rwanda Solution. This is essentially a No-State Solution. According to it, Israel would cease to exist as a Jewish state. It would be entirely enfolded into a Palestinian state stretching from the Mediterranean to the Jordan with the Arabs the majority and the Jews a minority, tolerated at best like the other non-Arab or non-Moslem minorities in the Arab world. Israeli leftists are increasingly recruiting themselves to serve the very worst anti-Semites of the planet. There are today Israeli leftist professors promoting the views of Holocaust Deniers. Scores of Israeli professors endorse the boycotts being organized by overseas anti-Semites directed against Israel, including even boycotts of the Israeli institutions that pay them their salaries. Israeli leftists are regulars on Islamist fundamentalist web sites and are the universal legitimizers of the very worst haters of Jews throughout the world. There exists today a true axis of evil, which links Jewish leftism with Islamofascism. Third, Israel's left has always been fundamentally anti-democratic, opposing the right of free expression for non-leftists, demanding that non-leftists be prosecuted as ''inciters.'' The left has long insisted that Yitzhak Rabin was in fact murdered because non-leftists and Oslo opponents were permitted to exercise their right to free speech. But lately the left's anti-democratic inclinations have taken a turn towards extremism and outright subversion. The left has long been of the opinion that Leftists should not be expected to obey the law nor submit to the will of the majority because their motives are so nice and pure. Leftists (and Arab fascists) should be able to call openly for violence with impunity. Leftists should be excused from serving in the army or obeying laws or paying taxes if the policies being implemented by the government or the army are not those advocated by the most extremist leftist 5% of the electorate. The left has for years been trying to foment mutiny and "resistance" among Israeli soldiers. It has organized groups who refuse to report to duty as long as Israel ''occupies'' any portion of the West Bank and Gaza. These are people who explicitly refuse to submit themselves to the will of the majority of their fellow citizens. These are not people willing to promote their ideas through persuasion and argument, but rather through subversion and defiance of the rule of law. They seek to impose their minority views on the country through force. Their latest gambit is to organize mutiny among Israeli pilots in the air force, who will refuse to shoot at terrorist mass murderers until Israel ends its ''occupation'' on those leftist terms opposed by the bulk of the electorate. Polls are showing that Israelis oppose the Beilin-proposed capitulations by at least two to one, and Israeli Jews oppose them by about five to one. In 1993 most Israeli leftists supported the left because they believed its ideas would benefit Israel and the Jewish people. Today most leftists support those same ideas because they know they will harm Israel and Jews. In 1993 most Israeli leftists believed in leftist ideas because they thought ''Palestine'' would pursue peace. Today those remaining on the left support Palestinian statehood because they know ''Palestine'' will pursue war. In 1993 most leftists believed in leftist ideas because they thought sraeli concessions would lead to Arab moderation. Today's leftists know that these concessions are seen as signs of weakness that catalyze and energize Arab violence and that is why they demand more of them. n 1993 most leftists believed in Israeli restraint because they thought it would stimulate Palestinian goodwill. Today's leftists demand endless restraint because they do not want Israel to fight terror at all. They want terror to triumph. In 1993 most leftists believed in leftist ideas because they thought Israel would emerge stronger if Oslo were implemented. Today's leftists advocate the very same ''process'' - witness the Beilin-proposed Capitulations - because they desire to see Israel weakened and dismembered. The left of 1993 was by and large a left that could be awakened from its delusions by Palestinian atrocities, endless violations of PLO commitments, Arab betrayal, and the increasingly nazified rhetoric of both Palestinians and Israeli Arabs. The left of 2004 does not need awakening because it has no delusions that Oslo and its ''Road Map'' will produce peace. It supports the Road Map precisely because it knows it will not lead to peace but to a new all-out Arab assault on Israel. The Leftists and their overseas apologists will do anything in their power to underm ine the will of the electorate in Israel and the will of the Jews to survive. They will undermine any government the Israeli voters select. They have no scruples when it comes to collaboration with the worst anti-Semites of the planet. The leftists of 2004 have no delusions that an independent ''Palestine'' will live at peace alongside Israel. They demand a solution precisely because they know it will NOT live at peace with Israel. 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. |
| GUSH KATIF |
BUSH CALLS SHARON'S BLUFF PREMATURELY; BUT SHARON CAN STILL BULLY KNESSET
Posted by Bryna Berch, May 30, 2005. |
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A couple of weeks ago, Bush was playing kissie, kissie with the Saudi prince [Editor's note: See April Blog-Ed page] and last week he made it a threesome when he declared that Abu Mazan - the PLO'second-best terrorist handler (actually, best since Arafat died) - was for peace (aren't we all?) and therefore entitled to millions to start his own Swiss bank account. And full sail ahead for a Palestinian state to be hacked out of Israel. Now it is official - Gaza is the start of a massive dismemberment of Israel. So does Sharon say: "Too much will be lost in translation. We stop everything until clarification"? No way. He continues to forge ahead, defying and bullying the Knesset, whose members have the collective spine of a jellyfish. I take that back. The Arab members who gave him the margin he needed to continue the Gaza retreat plan aren't going against their principles. They incite the Palestinian Arabs to acts of terror and then continue to show their loyalty to the PLO when they sit in the Knesset. Here are two news items from today's Arutz-7 (www.IsraelNationalNews.com). 1. "Bush Totally Mooted Sharon's Plan to Retain Settlement Blocs" The head of ex-PM Y. Shamir's Bureau says that Bush has voided of all significance Ariel Sharon's promise of U.S. recognition of Israel's right to keep large population centers in Judea and Samaria. The spokesman is Yossi Ben-Aharon - a long-time Foreign Service official and currently a writer and commentator on current events. Ben-Aharon told Arutz-7 that Israel has nothing to be happy about following Abu Mazen's visit to Washington this past Thursday: "Bush said that no change in the 1949 armistice lines could be considered for the final status without the agreement of the Palestinian Authority. This emptied of all content that which Sharon has bragged about the U.S. recognizing, for the first time, Israel's right to annex settlement blocs." Ben-Aharon said that Bush's remarks at his press conference with Abu Mazen shows that the disengagement from Gaza has been incorporated into the Road Map, "and it is no longer what the prime minister said it was, namely, a process that will delay the implementation of the Road Map." Bush promised Abu Mazen a $50 million gift following the disengagement - "a gift that is not conditional on anything," Ben Aharon said. He noted yet another PA achievement during Abu Mazen's visit: "Increased American involvement in the process in general, and in security arrangements in particular. This is unprecedented, because up to now, Israel has zealously guarded its exclusivity in contacts and security coordination with the Palestinians. This could lead Israel to pay a large price in its relations with the U.S." "Bush very gently reminded Abu Mazen of his commitments to rein in the terrorist organizations," Ben Aharon said, "but essentially set him up as one who stands opposite the 'Hamas extremists.' Sharon, too, said at today's Cabinet meeting that we must support the 'centrist' and 'moderate' movement of Abu Mazen - this is the same Oslo trap that Yitzchak Rabin and [Shimon] Peres fell into when they said that we must strengthen and support Arafat. But the fact is that over the years, we have seen that it is the Palestinian Authority that is constantly funding and encouraging terrorism against Israel." "We see that not only has a great question mark been placed on the entire process of the disengagement, but the entire government policy is shown in its nakedness. In short, the emperor has no clothes." "The United States is our friend," Ben-Aharon said, "but if it is dealing with a country that stupidly decides to make concessions, why should it argue with us? It presents the U.S. in a good light vis-a-vis with the Arabs... so why should the U.S. be more Catholic than the Pope?" "Israel's public relations campaign is most strange," Ben-Aharon lamented. "Every time an Arab or Palestinian leader arrives in the U.S., his emphasis is on criticism of Israel: Israel's conquest, the arrests, demolition of houses, everything. But when an Israeli leader arrives, what does he have to say? 'We offer our hand in peace, the Palestinians are suffering, we have done so much for them, we ask the Administration to provide them with aid, etc.' - and he barely says anything about the PA's violations, the terrorism, the incitement, etc. So it's no wonder that the impression is created throughout the world, and especially in Washington, that Israel is the bad guy and that the conquest must be stopped to allow the poor Palestinians their freedom. If we don't change our tune, we will continue to pay a heavy price." Israeli leaders seem to think it's "beneath their dignity" to directly quote PA leaders and their incitement against Israel, Ben-Aharon feels. "If they would show the true picture of how the PA covers up for and encourages terrorism, and shows how the democratization process in the PA is a fraud, this might lead the Congress not to approve the President's $50 million grant to the PA - but rather to demand that the PA really take genuine steps to become democratic." 2. "PM Sharon Rebuffs Knesset Criticism" Explaining, "I'm not naive; this body is political," Prime Minister Sharon refrained from giving answers to questions by Knesset Members as to how his government made decisions on the disengagement. Sharon appeared before the Knesset Audit Committee today, and managed to make the MKs laugh out loud several times - but did not provide substantial answers to many of the questions asked of him. For instance, MK Tzvi Hendel asked him, "You said that the reason for the disengagement is security concerns. If so, why are homes and towns all over the Negev being reinforced and protected against rockets? Why is Ashkelon being similar protected? Is there a fear of 'peace rockets?'" Sharon did not respond. Hendel also said, "When the Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem was moved from one end of the city to another, years of preparation were invested in order to make sure that the giraffes and the lions and the deer would not suffer psychological damage... And an extra year and a half was required to move the fish cages in Eilat - so why couldn't at least the same amount of time and effort be invested for the residents of Gush Katif?" MK Meli-Polishu Bloch of Shinui, who supports the disengagement, accused Sharon of spending all his time dealing with that issue, while ignoring other issues such as violence and the firing of teachers. MK Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism) asked Sharon, "How do you manage to get every single one of your ideas passed in the Cabinet?" Sharon asked him if he was planning to run for Prime Minister. He then turned serious and said, "If you have a proposal you wish to pass" - at which point he was interrupted by MK Yuri Stern (Yisrael Beiteinu), who said, "all you have to do is fire two ministers." Sharon smiled with the others and said, "That's not always possible... If I don't have a majority, I ask the Cabinet secretary not to raise the matter." Arutz-7's Knesset correspondent Ariel Kahane summed up by saying, "There were some serious answers... but most of the answers were sarcastic, which made people laugh, but they were not serious and were even mocking and cynical vis-a-vis the criticism against him. The bottom line is that there is no bottom line; Sharon will continue in his way, and so will the criticism." |
| GUSH KATIF |
PAINT THE TOWN - ORANGE
Posted by Dovid Ben Chaim, May 30, 2005. |
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Join the Gush Katif Resistance! You can order the same orange t-shirts, flags and hats that
Israelis are wearing everyday to show their opposition to Sharon's
deportation scheme. All proceeds go directly to the heroes of Gush
Katif. Just visit the Gush Katif OnLine Store by clicking here.
Dovid Ben Chaim can be reached by email at chazak@myway.com
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LETTER TO PRESIDENT BUSH FROM PASTOR JIM VINEYARD
Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, May 29, 2005. |
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I strongly recommend every effort be made to flood the White House with this letter by Pastor Jim Vineyard so that it reaches the eyes of President George and Laura Bush. Clearly, the Bush claim to be a born-again Christian is merely a cover for a man dedicated to the Arab Muslim nations who sit on the oil that the Bush dynasty covet. Sacrificing Israel to the mammon of black gold speaks of a man who is unethical, unprincipled and unholy. Doubtless, the Bush corruption will bring terrible retribution down upon America - although most Americans support the Jewish State of Israel. IF we stand by silent again, we will deserve G-d's wrath. May 27, 2005 President George W. Bush
Dear Mr. President: Yesterday, we watched in horror, Sir, as the duly-elected Republican, Christian, American President offered to "appease" the so-called "Palestinian" leader by immediately transferring $50 million of American taxpayers' money. In horror, Sir, the world looked on in 1938 when Neville Chamberlain thought he could appease Haman the Second, Adolph Hitler, and gave the Nazi's Czechoslovakia without a shot being fired! What happened, Sir? Six million descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob gave up their lives! But, in addition, Sir, nine times that many Gentiles or 54 million folks gave up their lives in that "effort" to appease tyrants. In horror, Sir, we watch presently as a man, who professes to have trusted the Jewish Messiah (There is only one, Sir; there cannot be two.), feels he can lead a nation to deal "honorably" with tyrants. In horror, Sir, we watch as we see (just over the horizon, but coming soon, Sir) the judgment of the Almighty upon this country, if we continue to proceed "foolishly," against the clearly revealed Word of the living God. In horror, Sir, we watch, as we see you and your "near Arab" State Department plan to stand with the purveyors of mayhem and murder against the dear "Apples of God's Eye" (Zechariah 2:8) and with the sons of Ishmael, Arafat, and Abu Mazen. In horror, Sir, we watch as we see you, so arrogantly and yet also so proudly, state unequivocally that we are for the establishment of "the world's largest protected Islamic terrorist base" right smack dab, Sir, in the middle of the little nation of Israel. In horror, Sir, we watch as we see you speak of the Arabs being "re-assembled" in the land that God Almighty gave plainly to the Jew. In horror, Sir, we watch as we read recent history and know plainly that the so-called "Palestinians" were the figment of the imagination of Yasser Arafat and then became a "popular Arab propaganda tool" after Israel captured Judea, Samaria, and Gaza in the defensive Six Day War of 1967. In horror, Sir, we watch as we read of the 100,000,000 refugees since World War II "Arab-Palestinians" are the only refugee group in the world that has never been absorbed or integrated into their own people's lands. In horror, we watch, Sir, as we see that the Arab nations "intentionally" kept the so-called "Palestinians" in refugee camps in Israel, and now, we, the "great satan" in the eyes of the Islamic folks, are going to dole out our tax dollars to build them houses. In horror, we watch, Sir, as those so-called Palestinian refugees' have been kept in Israel as virtual prisoners by the Arab power brokers with their misplaced hatred for Jews and western democracy. In horror, we watch, Sir, as we fully realize there is only one Jewish state, while there are 60 Muslim countries worldwide, including 22 Arab nations. In horror, we watch, Sir, as we know most of those Middle East countries, including Saudi Arabia, have control over vast sums of Middle East wealth (oil, Sir), and yet, you, our American "born-again" President, believe we can exist peacefully with those who seek to destroy us! In horror, we watch, Sir, as we know the Lord God or Israel said "that land" was "my (His, Sir) land" (Ezekiel 36:5), and that He in turn gave it by "an everlasting covenant" to the sons of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In horror, we watch, Sir, as we know that the Lord God of Israel, Jehovah God, Sir, the only true God, said that He will plead (judge, Sir) all nations which parted (divided, Sir) the land of Israel. In horror, we watch, Sir, as the judgment of God looms just over the horizon for the American people. Neville Chamberlain did not have a clue back there in 1938 as to the "horror," Sir, he was bringing, even also, Sir, upon his dear British people. In horror, we watch, Sir, as we perceive that you the man I voted for twice, the man who professes to know the same Messiah which I know take this beloved country on the road to certain doom. May God Almighty, the Lord God of Israel, help us, Sir! Jim Vineyard
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). |
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PRANKS AND POLITICS
Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, May 29, 2005. |
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Aside from the obvious political value of this prank, there is a more serious message to the COS and all the big brass: "You can not hide from your own people. Today it was a can of spray paint. Tomorrow it could be something a lot more serious." If, G-D forbid, there should actually be a Government ordered Pogrom carried out by Israeli security forces of any kind, the American army slang of fragging will very quickly enter the Israeli vocabulary. This is a news item from today's Arutz Sheva - IsraelNationalNews.com (www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=82853). It is called "Israeli Air Force Members Behind 'A Jew Does Not Expel a Jew' Spray Paint at IDF Control Center." (IsraelNN.com) The member of the IDF who spray painted "A Jew Does Not Expel a Jew" on the wall of the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv is a member of the Air Force. It appears the action was coordinated amongst several soldiers, who reported to their friend where Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Moshe Ya'alon was located within the heavily secured building. Thanks to the coordination, the soldier succeeded in spray-painting a wall near Ya'alon's office, where the Chief of Staff then saw the graffiti moments after it had been written. 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. |
| GUSH KATIF |
ORANGE JEWS
Posted by David Wilder, May 29, 2005. |
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Shalom. I spent this past Shabbat with my wife in Beer Sheva. We answered a newspaper advertisement calling for volunteers to speak about Gush Katif and the Northern Shomron during a special Shabbat labeled "Standing Tall." People spoke in cities throughout Israel, focusing on Sharon's expulsion program, and what to do about it. My talks centered around several topics: 1. Why is settling Eretz Yisrael so difficult; 2. Why should people outside of the 'endangered areas' care about Gush Katif and the Northern Shomron; 3. Why it's not too late to prevent the decree; 4. What to do now. 1. Why is settling Eretz Yisrael so difficult? Our sages teach us on the fifth page of the first volume of the Talmud (Brachot 5a) that G-d gave 'three good presents' to Am Yisrael, to the Jewish people, and all of them are received only via suffering and hardships: Torah, Eretz Yisrael and the next world. One of the most important Rabbis of the past hundred years, Rabbi Yosef Chaim, known as the "Ben Ish Chai" asks why these three 'good presents' can be obtained only following suffering and hardship. His answer is, on the face of it, quite simple. He says that G-d is trying us. He wants to know if we really and truly want them. If so, our dedication should be so great that even suffering won't prevent us from desiring them, at virtually any price. Concerning Eretz Yisrael he asks if we want the land because it's comfortable for us, i.e., to enjoy its fruits, or rather, in order to perform the mitzvot (commandments or positive precepts) which are dependant on our being in Eretz Yisrael? Is our desire for Eretz Yisrael superficial, or can we, and do we recognize and appreciate the sanctity of the land? If our love of Eretz Yisrael is authentic, we will pass the test with flying colors. We will be willing to suffer whatever hardships G-d bestows upon us. If our love is superficial, we will give up when the going gets rough. It is clear to me that we are still being tested. We haven't yet proven our dedication to the land, and our belief that Eretz Yisrael is an integral element of our essence. In reality, the test of our endurance hasn't taken too much of a break since 1948, or even earlier, going back to at least, the beginning of the twentieth century. Then too settlers were willing to pay a very heavy price to live on the land. Yet, over the years, for many, that enthusiasm has dwindled. Today we must continue to raise the flag, not surrendering to the shallowness of comfort and despair. 2. Why should people outside of Gush Katif and the Northern Shomron care? Speaking in Beer Sheva, this is a very easy question to answer. In December, 1998, now PA prime minister Abu Ala, (a.k.a. Ahmad Qurei) said in an interview printed in the official PA newspaper 'Al-Hayyat-al Jadida' "...International legitimacy (i.e. UN resolutions) recognized [the existence of] a Palestinian State alongside Israel through the partition resolution [of 1947]. This means that Israel's legitimacy remained dependent and conditional upon the existence of the Palestinian State based on that same resolution, Resolution 181 of 1947." Furthermore, it should be emphasized that the [Palestinian] state has internationally recognized borders, which are the borders set in the [1947] partition resolution..." "...There is no doubt that all the UN resolutions that recognized the creation of the Jewish State, on the basis of [UN] Resolution 181, included an inherent recognition of the boundaries of that Palestinian State, whose legitimacy still exists although it was not established at the time [1947]. [memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=subjects&Area=conflict&ID=SP1898] Any Beer Sheva resident taking a good look at the map of the above-mentioned 1947 boundaries will quickly realize that according to that agreement, the capital of the Negev would have the same status as Gush Katif following the Israeli retreat; i.e., Beer Sheva would be under full Arab control. I asked my audiences, "if Beer Sheva were placed under siege, with all roads leading into the city blocked off, with an ultimatum of 'everyone out,' what would they expect from the rest of the country: that people would watch television, have a drink, and cry along with them; or would they expect everyone to join forces in trying to prevent mass expulsion from their homes?" So too it would be with Hadera, Afula, Eilat or Tel Aviv. The battle today is not for Gush Katif - it is a war for all of Eretz Yisrael. That is a main point which must be understood. 3. Why not despair? Can we really annul the decree? Of course we can. There's no question about it. If Jews fell into the pit of despair, we would have disappeared from the face of the earth a millennia ago. Only faith and hope, prayer and determination kept the Jewish people's collective head above water. Even during the darkest hours, (and there were many of them,) we never gave up. Why should today be any different? The story is told of Rebbi Akiva, who lived some two thousand years ago. An illiterate shepherd, married to the daughter of the wealthiest Jew in Jerusalem, Rebbi Akiva thought that he was beyond all hope, destined to a meager life in this world. One day Rebbi Akiva, watching water drip from above onto a rock below, realized that the water was boring a hole in the stone. "Ah," he thought to himself, "if a substance as soft as water can bore a hole in a substance as hard as a rock, then maybe there is still hope for me too." Rebbi Akiva left home to study Torah, and twenty four years later returned as one of the greatest Torah sages of Jewish history. The pillar of Rebbi Akiva's legacy is 'never lose faith and never give up.' 4. What to do today? Remember, every little bit helps. First, don't forget to pray. That's very important. Follow the Gush Katif web sites: www.katifund.org and www. katif.net in Hebrew and English. Various activities and programs are posted and these sites will keep you up-to-date. (For those of you who read Hebrew and live in Israel, see www.katifund.org/katifund/index.html to participate in an extremely significant project). Do whatever you can - donating time or money or both. Everyone who can get to Gush Katif, this is of paramount importance. Anyone who can plan on being here this summer, participating in various protests, or if and when the need arises, to be on the road to Gush Katif or the Northern Shomron on D-Day, can only be commended. One of the things we're doing here in Israel is to fill the country with orange. Gush Katif leaders chose the color orange to represent the struggle against expulsion and abandonment of our land to the enemy. As a result, people are flying orange flags and ribbons from their car windows and antennas. Everyone is wearing orange Gush Katif shirts. You can do the same. In Judaism, orange is a very interesting color. In mystical Jewish thought, orange is associated with an attribute representing "the power to continually advance, with the determination and perseverance born of deep inner commitment, toward the realization of one's life goals." [www.inner.org/sefirot/sefhod.htm] What could better describe the people of Gush Katif? The Torah verse symbolizing this attribute is in Proverbs 10:9, "He who walks uprightly (innocently), walks securely;" The people of Gush Katif are walking a path of purity and innocence. The result of such righteousness is Divine protection - total security. Despite the bombs, bullets, mortars and missiles, they remain steadfast in their faith, not willing to budge, not one inch. They are the "Vitamin C" of today's Judaism, filling us with faith, strength and energy. They are the genuine 'Orange Jews' of the Jewish people. With blessings from Hebron. David Wilder is spokesman of The Jewish Community of Hebron. You can contribute directly to The Jewish Community of Hebron, POB10, Kiryat Arba-Hebron 90100, hebron@hebron.org.il, 972-2-9965333 or write to The Hebron Fund, 1760 Ocean Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11230, hebronfund@aol.com |
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BUSH MAKES ALARMING STATEMENTS
Posted by Marcel Cousineau, May 29, 2005. |
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This was written by Bill Koenig of Koenig's International News
(www.watch.org/showart.php3?idx=68359&rtn=/index.html&showsubj=1&mcat=1).
President George W. Bush is rapidly moving himself and our nation on a collision course with God over Israel's covenant land. His peace efforts and personal commitments on the surface sound good but they are biblically wrong. He is calling for a contiguous Palestinian state from Ramallah to Gaza, which will divide Israel. Additionally, his plan to put a Palestinian state on God's covenant land and replace Jews with Palestinian terrorists is incomprehensible. The whole peace process is built on lies, deception, misperceptions and unfairness. President Bush's efforts could very well lead Israel into a civil war and further division. He will be responsible for the forceful evacuation of Jews by Jews off the land God gave to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their descendants. If his policies are implemented, Israel will be living with indefensible borders. Is the God of Israel going to let this happen without further judgment? History says no. The war on terror is judgment which has cost $1 trillion in the U.S. and $300 billion in Iraq and Afghanistan - and the cost is rapidly climbing. It's dreadful to ponder what is next for those directly responsible for putting the "apple of God's eye" at risk. I sense that President Bush believes God is going to bless his plan to bring freedom, democracy and peace to the Middle East; he says freedom is a gift from God. He thinks he is going to bring peace to the Israelis and the Palestinians. In reality, President Bush is rapidly moving into territory that could very likely produce events that will cause his presidency to be a major failure. Unless there is a course change, which doesn't seem likely, the Bush Administration and the U.S. will pay an enormous price. Our Lord is not a respecter of man, especially one who puts His people at risk Marcel Cousineau can be reached by email at up2zionsg8@yahoo.com |
| GUSH KATIF |
GAZA JEWS: WE ARE WITH YOU
Posted by Menachem Kovacs, May 28, 2005. |
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This is by Rabbi Elan Adler, who is spiritual leader of Pikesville's Moses Montefiore Anshe Emunah Hebrew Congregation. It appeared in the Baltimore Jewish Times The following remarks were given at Tuesday's anti-Gaza disengagement rally in Washington, D.C., across from the Convention Center, where Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was speaking. Rabbi Adler joined about 45 other Jews from Baltimore for the event. (http://www.jewishtimes.com/site/opinion/oped.stm). I am here with my wife, Dr. Rivkah Lambert Adler, and a busload of concerned Jews from Baltimore, to raise my voice against the Sharon government's plan to remove Jews from Israel. I don't wish to demonize or vilify or insult the prime minister in any way, or to call into question his love for Jews or the State of Israel. ... But for those who conscientiously object to a plan that they feel is anathema to the existing State of Israel, it is a mitzvah to raise our voices. This week's Torah reading begins with God saying, "Im Bechukotai telechu," "If only you will walk in my ways." But the prime minister has a different spin: Im Bechukotai, because of my laws, telechu, you will have to leave. And unusual laws they are - without a referendum, without a majority, ousting Cabinet members who disagree, arresting Jews at the Kotel because they wear orange-colored shirts, withholding pay from rabbis who dare to disagree. The prime minister says, "Because of my laws you will have to leave." But we say, with full confidence and belief in the Almighty, lo nelech, we will not go, we will not budge, we will not abandon our homes and our schools and our synagogues and our yeshivot and our businesses and our playgrounds and our farms and our cemeteries so that our enemies can freely march on the soil soaked with Jewish blood. Lo nelech, we will not leave a land that we love, we will not wave goodbye to our own country, we will not be pawns in a deal that rewards the killers and punishes the victims. Lo nelech! One time in Yerushalayim, a great gadol, Rabbi Aryeh Levin, came upon a street cleaner who seemed dejected. Reb Aryeh asked, "Is everything all right?" The street cleaner raised his head and said, "I can't believe what a lowly job I have, picking up trash and cleaning all the waste that everyone makes." Rabbi Levin reminded him of one person who never even made it into the Land of Israel. "My dear sir," he replied, "don't you think that Moshe Rabbenu would have done anything he could - prayed the right words, done the right mitzvah - to have the z'chus, the merit, to clean even one street in the holy city of Yerushalayim? Wouldn't Moses, our teacher, give everything to hold your broom and to pick up your trash?" And if it were possible for the Almighty to revive Moses and bring him to the Land of Israel, would Moshe feel any less privileged to be in Gush Katif or in the northern Shomron than in Jerusalem? Wouldn't Moshe eat of the produce of Gush Katif or learn in the Kollel of Sanur and feel that he is partaking in the pleasures of Eretz Yisrael? If Moshe stood in Chomesh or Kfar Darom or Kadim or Elei Sinai, would he not look up to the heavens with tear-filled eyes and with every ounce of strength recite the prayer of Shehechiyanu? The prime minister says it costs too much to protect so few Jews among so many Arabs. When will it cost too much to protect Hebron, and Rachel's Tomb, and Jerusalem? Every Jew, in every square inch of the land, must be a priority and must be protected. Does not the prime minister's office and his residence enjoy full and total protection? Will that ever cost too much? Isn't every Israeli entitled to be safe and secure? Is it all about money? The first word in this week's Torah reading is Im, the letters alef and mem. One of our great commentators reminds us that the combination has brought us great victories. In Egypt, we were redeemed through alef and mem - Aharon, Moshe and Miryam. In Persia, we were saved through alef and mem - Esther and Mordechai. And at the end of days, we will have our final redemption through alef and mem - Eliyahu and Mashiach. While we wait for that day, we pray for a speedier redemption, the redeeming of the Jews from Gaza and northern Shomron. We stand with them, and speak up for them. Tonight will be the 31st day of the Omer; the Hebrew letters totaling 31 are lamed and alef. They spell lo. And lo means "no." No to the dismantling, no to the forced evacuations, no to the extraction of Jews from their land, no to the amputation, no to Israel being a challah from which a prime minister can take a motzi through undemocratic means. At the end of this week's Torah reading, which marks the end of the third book of the Torah, we will rise and proclaim, chazak chazak v'nitchazek. Let us be strong, let us gain strength, and let us strengthen one another. Jews of Gush Katif and northern Shomron: Chazak, chazak, v'nitchazek! Be strong, don't weaken, we are with you all the way. Rabbi Menachem Kovacs is Director of the Jewish Roots Center of Baltimore, an education and research center on Torah and social science topics. He is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Montgomery College in Maryland. |
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HIGH REWARDS FOR TERROR
Posted by Dr. George M. Ettinger, May 28, 2005. |
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Not long ago, Saddam Hussein was reported to be paying US$30,000 rewards for each terrorist suicide murderer in Israel, payments made to the murderer's family. Since then, time and reward rates for murder have moved on: Just today, 27 May 2005, President Bush stated that he was making a payment of US$50 million to his favourite Arab leader - Abu Mazen. The Palestinian terrorists have killed 1051 Jews since the beginning of the Oslo Intifada. So the latest payment from American taxpayers, announced by the President, amounts to US$47,600 per Jew murdered, considerably more than Saddam Hussein's rate of US$30,000. (This assumes that President Bush paid no rewards for injuring Jews). However, allowing for 8000 seriously injured Jewish victims, as well as for 1041 killed, the President's gift would cover US$2350 per Jew injured, and US$28,800 for each Jew killed. Are there no Congressional sanctions, like those prior to July 2003? Does the American taxpayer really approve of these payments? This is not all: Go back two years, to July 2003, and look at reports of prior U.S. payments, which included US$30 million (small change?) handed over by the US consul, and US$200 million approved by President Bush. Here is a summary of the earlier report, circulated in July 2003: "Payments For Terror," compiled 13 July 2003 by Dr G.M. Ettinger. Officially released information about payments to the Palestinian Authority for carrying out terrorist murders: Just a week ago, the US Consul is reported to have handed over(1) a cheque for US$30 million as a payment to the Arabs for having successfully killed 850 Jews (and some non-Jews). This means US$35,000 per successful terrorist killing. And now the London Daily Telegraph reports(2) that US congressional sanctions, forbidding aid to Arafat and the Palestinian Authority, "deemed hopelessly corrupt and tainted by terrorist links", has been waived. From the Daily Telegraph: "An official announcement of the waiver was due yesterday, and an initial tranche of GBP 12.5 million (US$ 20 million) has been earmarked." Total US funding "for the Palestinian people" is set to reach some 125 million (US$200 million) this year (2003). The payment of a reward of US$200 million for killing 850 Jews in two years since September 2000 represented US$234,000 (yes,two hundred and thirty- four thousand dollars) per successful terrorist murder of a Jew. This is a very substantial increase over the payment of US$35,000 per killing, made by the US Consul just a week earlier!! Are the rewards to continue increasing? Is this really what the American legislators, and the American people, intended to happen? Here is a question: Once rewards for terrorist killings become a standard procedure, will the United States make retrospective payments to the killers of hundreds of thousands of Tutsis in African Ruanda, to Assad's Syrian killers of their own people, and to Iraqi chemical troops for killing of Kurds in 1991? (Note, added in May 2005): How much reward to the Sudan government for the Darfur killings?) (1) DEBKA.org web site 4th July 2003
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OLEG CARTOON
Posted by Women in Green, May 28, 2005. |
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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 |
| GUSH KATIF |
COME AVERT THE DEPORTATION
Posted by Arieh Zaritsky, May 28, 2005. |
Charlie Levine (clevine@bzdisrael.org, http://www.bzdisrael.org)
writes:
Join Rabbi Gershon and Fran Sonnenschein in Israel for 10-day Family Summer Experience departing August 15. Please RSVP. For more info, contact Fran Sonnenschein at 410-356.1140 or fsonnenschein@bzdisrael.org Jews living abroad who are able, should move to Israel at this critical time to resist the ethnic cleansing and war crimes planned by the Sharon government against its Jewish citizens PLEASE, make efforts to fly to Israel before (IF!) the evil "Jews" Expulsion Project starts (Aug 15) and join the crowds who would come to bodily block it JEWS/SUPPORTERS ALL AROUND THE WORLD:
OTHERWISE (if you are unable to, for any reason) - CONTRIBUTE: MINHELET KE'LA (="the Gaza Absorption Authority)
1) Refurbishing empty homes and structures With Love of Israel,
Please make checks payable to CENTRAL FUND FOR ISRAEL
From Israel please mail checks to Jay Marcus, 13 Hagoel Str, Efrat 90435, Israel Please, write "Women in Green-for Gush Katif" on the memo line of your check. Also please add a note with your address For NIS & $ donations where IRS tax deduction is not required, please make checks payable to MINHELET KELA and mail it to MINHELET KELA, POB 310, Neve Dekalim 79779, Israel Or wire to Minhelet Kela, Bank Mizrachi br #491 in Nevei Dekalim Act #114071 Professor Arieh Zaritsky can be reached at ariehz@bgumail.bgu.ac.il |
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THE STAIN REMAINS
Posted by Barry Shaw, May 28, 2005. |
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So, in Britain, the boycott on Israeli universities imposed by the railroading tactics of malevolent executive members of the Association of University Teachers has been lifted, thanks to a democratic vote that needed to be taken in an extra ordinary session of AUT members. And so the anti-boycott campaigners can congratulate themselves that justice was, in the end, done and they can go home happy in their victory. And yet, the injustice remains. The boycott has been lifted but the vicious slander against the Israeli universities remain. It was strange indeed that no other universities in the world were considered for academic boycott. Singularly, this action stank of anti-Semitism, not criticism of Israeli academic policy. The rationale given for the boycott were proven to be false and malicious. Anything Israeli remains under the threat of future action by the activists who are still determined to pursue their goal of eradicating what they perceive as a scourge - the racist Jewish state of Israel. While the anti-boycott campaigners wend their weary way home, the plotters remain at their posts. Susan Blackwell, the ring leader of the Israeli academic boycott, retains her position on the executive of AUT. She retains her position of power and influence. She has stated that she is determined to continue her actions against Israel from her position within AUT, and we must take her at her word. Sally Hunt, her co-conspirator, remains as general secretary of the union. The Universities of Haifa, of Bar Ilan, and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, would be well advised to continue to pursue their legal actions against the AUT for damage caused worldwide to their name and reputation, at least until the perpetrators of the crime of libel are removed from their posts. The Association of British University Teachers have a vested interest in removing the people who caused their union so much past and, possibly, future damage to their organisation. Until they do so the stain and stench remains. Barry Shaw writes the View from Here columns from Israel. To receive emails, contact him at netre@mataav.net.il |
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FREEDOM HOUSE
Posted by Judy Lash Balint, May 28, 2005. |
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This comes from Bill Mehlman, who is co-editor of ZionNet. He can be reached by e-mail at wmehlman@zahav.net.il or go to http://globalisraelalliance.com The cultural gap between American parents and the teenagers they bring with them on trips to Israel is wide enough to drive a Humvee through. There's a story making the rounds at the Anna Ticho House in Jerusalem (a pre-Shabbat rialto for Anglo ex-pats and their visiting kith and kin) involving a family of tourists from New Jersey that clearly illustrates this point. The family, including two boys, 18 and 15, and a girl of 17, would have made anybody's top 10 list of the most ambivalent travelers ever to alight at Ben-Gurion Airport. They were plain scared stiff. Their fears - exacerbated by too many hours of watching CNN - of being gunned down on the street or emulsified while sipping a café latte, had finally been overwhelmed, but hardly overcome, by the pleas of their children's Jerusalem-resident grandparents and an uncle and aunt who were planning a major family celebration and simply would not take no for answer. Before ordering those fateful tickets to Tel Aviv, the New Jersey couple had their attorney draw up a codicil to their will, appointing the mother's sister in Florida as guardian, in loco parentis, of the three children in the unlikely event they survived the bomb that could be awaiting the family in Israel. That the El Al flight from Kennedy Airport wasn't blown up proved a mild relief, but deeply committed paranoia isn't that easily appeased. Once installed in the grandparents' apartment in Jerusalem, the couple was determined not to leave. Trips to the center of town were out, restaurants were off-limits, and transportation - public or private - was not even to be discussed. It took the three teenagers about 20 minutes to scramble out of the bunker. Before the parents had even unpacked their bulletproof vests, they were off and running with their Israeli cousins to Jerusalem's premier teen hangout, the pedestrian mall on Ben Yehuda St. When they returned to the apartment, several nail-biting hours later, they had two additional teens in tow, instant new pals needing just a little floor space to unroll their sleeping bags. Interspersed between dinner and a café crawl through the German Colony, the teens, their cousins and their friends hatched plans for an early morning departure for Ein Gedi, a hike to the waterfalls, a mud-bath party and a long float in the Dead Sea. Bye mom. Bye dad. It is reliably reported that the New Jersey teens did actually make it to the family celebration. That they spent much more time than that in the bunker during their 10 days in Israel seems highly dubious. Their parents are said to be still in shock. The story offers a microcosmic glimpse of the impact Israel has on the tens of thousands of youngsters- Jewish, Christian and otherwise persuaded - who traverse its paths each year. To their elders, Israel might be anything from a Cook's tour of five-star hotels to a religious experience. To them it spells FREEDOM - a special, euphoric dose of the stuff most of them have never before known. For all its troubles and tragedies, Israel, for the young, is an elixir, defined first and foremost by an aura of informality and commonality unrivaled anywhere in the world. Israel requires no introduction - not if you're 18. Israel introduces itself. It's been anecdotally proven impossible for a teenage backpacker to walk through any town, village, kibbutz, moshav or settlement in Israel without making a minimum of four friends and being offered at least two dinner invitations. Freedom is also defined by Israel's smallness. Even with the so-called "West Bank" thrown in, the whole package is less than the size of Maryland. You can have breakfast on the Kinneret, a mid-morning coffee break on Sheinkin St. in Tel Aviv, lunch on the beach at Ashkelon, high tea in the Arava and a midnight chicken wing barbecue in Eilat. If you haven't got a car and don't want to take the buses, a hitchhike or two- trampim, as they're called in Israel - will do just as well. To the young temporarily on their own, whether for a brief vacation or a year's study, Israel isn't so much a country as a playpen, with adventure beckoning at every turn and nobody around to say no. It's the gratification of that spur of-the-moment youthful urge to do something, go somewhere - and to do it now. It's a crash-pad known to youths on four continents, one that can be pressed into service as easily as the press of a few buttons on a cell phone. Life offers that sort of freedom for only the briefest of periods. Its call is hard to resist. And that's what makes Israel so special to so many of the world's young. Judy Lash Balint is an award winning Jerusalem based writer and author of "Jerusalem Diaries: in Tense Times." Contact her at her website www.jerusalemdiaries.blogspot.com |
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FATAH CONSTITUTION DEMANDS ISRAEL'S DESTRUCTION
Posted by David Ben-Ariel, May 28, 2005. |
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Terrorist Arafat and terrorist business parter Abbas, co-founded the terrorist organization FATAH. In their own words: Article (12) COMPLETE liberation of Palestine, and eradication of Zionist economic, political, military and cultural existence. To Fatah and every other Nazi-Muslim terrorist organization, ALL of the Jewish homeland of Israel is "occupied Palestine." Fatah, and every other Nazi-Muslim terrorist organization, seeks the complete destruction and perversion of Israel into "Palestine." President Bush, Prime Minister Sharon, and every one else who is guilty of aiding and abetting such terrorists, are slitting the throats of every American and Israeli citizen and leading us all to self-destruction with Europe dealing us the death blow. David Ben-Ariel is author of "Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall." Contact him at http://www.benariel.com |
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THE "DEMOGRAPHIC TREAT"
Posted by Yuval Zaliouk, May 28, 2005. |
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Dear friends, Is the "demographic threat" real? Most people of leftist orientation believe that if Israel will not allow yet another independent Arab-Palestinian state, the Arab-Palestinians will have to be absorbed into Israel and through democratic process will turn Israel into a Palestinian state. Thus, separation into two independent states is the only solution that will save the Jewish identity of Israel. I have discussed this matter in several of my previous bulletins. I even suggested ways to counter the "threat." Here is an interesting view point for your consideration by Dr. Aaron Lerner. I am convinced Dr. Lerner hit the nail on the head. If you think Dr. Lerner errs, please let me know why. This is entitled "The Demographic Problem - Excuse Of Last Resort For Palestinian State" It was written by Dr. Aaron Lerner, Director IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis). He can be reached at imra@netvision.net.il; the website address is http://www.imra.org.il "We view the permanent solution in the framework of State of Israel which will include most of the area of the Land of Israel as it was under the rule of the British Mandate, and alongside it a Palestinian entity which will be a home to most of the Palestinian residents living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. We would like this to be an entity which is less than a state, and which will independently run the lives of the Palestinians under its authority." Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in his last policy address to the Knesset on October 5, 1995 before the vote to ratify the Israel-Palestinian Interim Agreement. That's right. Rabin opposed a sovereign Palestinian state. He considered the "two sovereign state" solution a non-starter. If Rabin were alive today he might find himself more comfortable with the views of NRP leader Eitam, who advocates Palestinian regional autonomy within an Israeli envelope, than he would with the views of either his Labor Party rival Shimon Peres or Likud head Ariel Sharon - both proponents of "two sovereign state" solution schemes. Regional autonomy? Contrary to the radical changes associated with the formation of a sovereign Palestinian state, movement towards regional level autonomy is a natural development as municipal level leadership gives priority to the provision of municipal services over what might be termed "national concerns". "The people elected us because they want better streets, water, electricity, work, schools and hospitals...My job is to give him [the voter] those things that he needs." And for that, Mustapha Sabri, a member of Kalkilya's newly elected Hamas-affiliated council told Jerusalem Post reporter Matthew Gutman this week, "we know we need to talk to the Israelis. We are open to that." But what about the "demographic problem"? The "demographic problem" hinges on what might normally be an esoteric question relegated to political philosophy debates in the ivory tower of academe: is it a sufficient expression of the right to vote for the Palestinians to elect the leaders of an autonomy or must they have the right to vote for the leaders of a sovereign state? The "demographic problem" hinges on this otherwise esoteric question because the "demographic problem" only exists if the Palestinians in the autonomy can vote in the Israeli Knesset elections in addition to elections for the autonomy leadership. Just a few short years ago - even after Oslo was signed - even Shimon Peres thought that autonomy was sufficient. and that thus the "demographic problem" was not relevant. "We thought that autonomy is basically, almost independence," Peres explained. Why then the 180 degree change on autonomy as a solution to the "demographic problem?" Before the horrific Oslo experience withdrawals and even a Palestinian state could have been naively claimed to somehow improve Israel's security. But Mr. Bush's glowing talk about "progress" towards a peaceful Palestinian state notwithstanding, with the exception of the radical Left, the Israeli leadership expects anything but a "peaceful" state. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon isn't preparing for peace and tranquility after he retreats from the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria - he's spending millions of dollars reinforcing roofs in preparation for the rockets and missiles he expects the Palestinians to fire from "liberated Gaza" into pre-'67 Israel. And so, with nothing remaining to justify an Israeli policy driven by everything but the Arab-Israeli conflict, the demographic problem has become the excuse of last resort. Yuval Zaliouk writes the Truth Provider columns. To subscribe, send an email to ynz@netvision.net.il |
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AN APARTHEID STATE? OR THE GREATEST LIE EVER TOLD?
Posted by Jock L. Falkson, May 28, 2005. |
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Apartheid in South Africa was based on color separation. It was the whites (the "Europeans") versus the "non-Europeans" (Blacks, Coloreds [mixed race], Indians Malays and Chinese). All suffered from the legalized deprivation decreed by a South African government determined to impose white domination on the rest. It is manifestly clear that Israel has no color problem of any kind. Israel has brought in some 70,000 Ethiopian Jews and plans to absorb 30,000 more. All, including Circassian, Druze, Kurds, Armenians, Beduin and other non-Jewish citizens of the Jewish State, enjoy equal rights. Many Druze and Beduin serve in Israel's army. There is no semblance of South African apartheid here in democratic Israel. If ever a lie has been incessantly repeated to damage Israel, this is a prime example. For as the unlamented and unmourned Dr. Goebbels proved, nothing is more effective than a constantly repeated big lie. While many entries are extensively repeated, a Google search credits Mahmoud Abbas with approximately 19,000 apartheid references. Suffice to say he is an active promoter of the big apartheid lie. The apartheid lie attached to Israel is one of several concocted by Palestinians to publicize their cause. Readers and viewers are led by the nose because lies are so effective in promoting their policies - the bigger the better. Nevertheless the apartheid concept is totally inapplicable to Israel as the following refutations abundantly make clear: 1. Blacks, Coloreds, Indians, Malays and Chinese were legally classified as "Non-Europeans" and did not have the vote in apartheid South Africa. Neither in Municipal, Provincial nor Government elections. Israel's Arab citizens, some 20% of the population, have always enjoyed equal voting rights. Eleven Arabs sit in Israel's Knesset. 2. Non-Europeans exclusively had to carry a "Pass Book". (Identity books were introduced for Europeans round about 1976.) Employers had to sign the pass books monthly. Pass book infringements by blacks led to jail sentences and often to deportation to the black homelands. All citizens and legal residents of Israel carry an identity card as required by law. 3. Job Reservation laws kept non-Europeans from a wide range of jobs. No discrimination of this kind has ever existed in Israel's democratic Jewish State. 4. There was free education for whites till matriculation. Not so for blacks whose educational prowess was strictly limited by an oppressive Bantu Education Act. All school going children in Israel are entitled to publicly subsidized education till matriculation. No racial distinctions whatever are made. 5. Only one university was established for Blacks in South Africa, at Fort Hare. In addition to several Arab universities which Israel established in the predominantly Arab areas, Arab students may study at any university in Israel. 6. Black-white sex was a serious jail time crime. Sex detectives were even employed to catch offending parties in flagrante delicto. Legal sex apartheid in democratic Israel? You must be joking. 7. Medical services for non-Europeans were both restricted and segregated. Arab citizens are members of all the major Medical Service Organizations and benefit equally from government subsidized medical services. 8. Hospitals were largely segregated or had segregated wards. White hospitals were on a par with any in the western world. But black hospitals were under funded, under staffed, and few. Ambulances were also segregated. A "white" ambulance could not take a black to hospital. Not the Israeli way. Israeli Arabs get the full treatment in all State hospitals. 9. Non-Europeans "could not be employed in any of the skilled trades; they cannot become engineers, accountants or pharmacists. ... The Civil Service is closed to non-Europeans, as are also the technical colleges and most of the universities. They may not use the libraries, cinemas, public transport, public conveniences, post offices . ..." [From Prof. Deborah Posel's The Making Of Apartheid.] Arabs can do everything in Israel which non-Europeans in South Africa could not. 10. For many decades blacks had to observe a 9 p.m. curfew or face arrest, jail sentences and deportation. Absolutely unheard of in democratic Israel. 11. No mixed sport was allowed - by law. No such law ever in democratic Israel. 12. Parks and recreational areas provided benches for people to rest. Benches were painted with "Europeans Only" signs. I never saw a bench marked for non-Europeans nor a park. An unimaginable insult in democratic Israel. 13. Non-Europeans were not permitted to use the main entrance to buildings. They had to use the "tradesmen's" entrance at back. An unheard of apartheid stricture in democratic Israel. 14. Black South Africans were given half the pension allocated to whites. They were forbidden membership in trade unions (until the 1980s). Strikes were banned and strikers severely repressed. No such discrimination in democratic Israel. Not only are pensions allocated equally to all citizens but Arabs benefit fully from monthly child allowances to parents of large families. 15. Libraries, public swimming pools and beaches were racially segregated. Even so there were practically no black pools or libraries. No such segregation in democratic Israel. The way the Arabs use "Israeli apartheid" one might think they were protesting because Israel does not permit Arabs in their midst. Of course the very opposite is the case. It is the Arabs who do not suffer Jews in their midst. Many a Jew who has strayed into an Arab city, or taken a chance on doing business there, has been cruelly murdered. To ensure, no doubt, that Israelis do not misinterpret the message of their nazi Judenrein ideology. Last but by no means least, we must not overlook the use of "apartheid wall/fence" - the most often repeated and deliberate misuse of the apartheid calumny. The Arabs speak as though the wall as covers the full length of Israel's anti-terrorist barrier. The unpalatable fact is that it does not. The barrier is 96 per cent fence and 4 per cent wall. Walls are only erected to prevent terrorist sharp shooters targeting Israelis living opposite built-up Arab areas. It takes the chutzpah of an idiotarian* to attach the South African apartheid label to the democratic Jewish State of Israel. For the boot is truly on the other foot. Unlike the Judenrein Arab countries of the Middle East, Israel is the only one which neither believes in nor practices apartheid. *Idiotarian is derisive blogosphere slang for opponents of Zionism, Conservatism and the Bush Doctrine, usually academics, journalists or entertainers. An apparent hybrid of libertarian and useful idiot. Originally coined by Charles Johnson, webmaster of the Little Green Footballs. (Wikipedia) Jock Falkson is a former South African advertising executive, now a free lance writer living in Israel. To be put on Jock Falkson's email list to receive his essays, contact him at falkson@barak-online.net |
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ODE TO JUDE
Posted by Kaustav Chakrabarti, May 28, 2005. |
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I have a short poem on the Jews as a people. Sincerely
A people called the Jew(s) Kaustav Chakrabarti has degrees in modern history and the history of the Calcutta Jewish community. He is currently a lecturer in History at F.C. College in West Bengal, India. Contact him by email at kaustav12000@yahoo.co.in |
| GUSH KATIF |
MONEY WON'T TEMPT US
Posted by Ami Shaked and Yehudit Tayar, May 27, 2005. |
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This appeared in the Jerusalem Post, May 25, 2005.
We, the Jewish people, have an unusual, unbreakable connection to our Land that has lasted through the long endless generations of Diaspora and persecution. We, who live in Yesha, understand the connection of our people and our Land more than many of our brethren in other areas of Israel. However, it was this same spirit of connecting the people and the Land that made the pioneers who drained the swamps in Galilee and faced danger and disease and now in our generation has us determined to stay in the hills and valleys and shores of our beloved homeland. We, through our spirit of fortitude, have turned empty wasteland, barren hills and virgin sand dunes into a Garden of Eden. We have paid in sweat and blood and created towns, built communities and planted fields. We are determined to continue in this direction and protect the birthright of the Jewish people - our Land. Who came up with the idea that if they give us money we would consent to leave our homes? The people of Gush Katif realize that taking such money would destroy the community spirit we have built here. For 30 years we have built here together as a community - more than a family even - and if we were to take money to leave we would be destroying the glorious community that we have achieved. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon did not appreciate the extent of our commitment. He took for granted that by now a mere 20 percent of us would still be here. The opposite is true. One hundred percent of us are here and plan to stay. We are still in our homes and fields and plan to remain here. Our refusal to take money sends a message to the people of Israel. So Sharon intends to banish us from our homes and from our communities and turn our lives upside down. In Gaza, we are farmers, we toil the land and our lives are ordered in accordance with the agricultural needs of our land. What is important to us is our land, our families, and our community. Those who mistakenly thought it possible to translate this into money have been proven wrong. For 30 years we have lived among the Arabs and have surpassed them in our connection to and development of the Land. With determination and fortitude and despite the heavy price we pay, we have succeeded. We personally who deal with security - with life and death situations - have made it clear to our residents that anyone who translates our lives here into money is hurting the sacred memory of our fallen and the honor and dignity of our injured. He is hurting all of the people who night and day are working in Gush Katif's security division to save human lives. We will do all that we can to maintain this ideal combination of people and land. Our struggle is a moral and righteous one against the decision of a passing government to destroy the lives of over 2,000 families and the irreplaceable legacy of the connection of the people of Israel and the Land of Israel. One of the most infuriating aspects of this whole plan is the fact that its implementation will not bring peace and quiet and will not bring security to the people of Israel. On the contrary, it will bring terror into Ashkelon, Sha'ar Hanegev, Netivot and other areas. These regions have no security infrastructure to deal with the prospects of terror as we know it, nor do the populations have the fortitude to live under the terror as we do. We believe in our inalienable right as the nation of Israel to protect our birthright; no amount of money will tempt us to destroy our lives or jeopardize the future of the people of Israel. In May 1966, David Ben-Gurion wrote: "People of the Earth, brave in action, and aware in conscience ... shine... in incomparable human glory and historical depth... future generations will be able to draw on the spirit of our Pioneers, their faith in their own capacities and their knowledge that the great historic labors of our times, and the objectives imposed upon our people, are still at their very beginnings." Ami Shaked is a resident of Rafiah Yam and serves as the director of the security division of the Katif Regional Council. Yehudit Tayar, who lives in Bet Horon, is a veteran spokesperson for the settlement movement and works closely with the security officers in Yesha and the IDF. |
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GKV47 - TOWN MEETING
Posted by Moshe and Rachel Saperstein, May 27, 2005. |
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Several nights ago I attended a Town Meeting in the large hall under our synagogue complex. The residents of Neve Dekalim gathered to listen, confer and speak their piece. The mayor of Neve Dekalim, Mr. Lior Kalfa, asked the people to sign a document with the purpose of alleviating their concerns regarding "the day after". The document - as of now over a thousand residents have signed - declared "One for All and All for One". It is part of a program called AMANA created to unite the people of Gush Katif. Mr. Kalfa explained "We are acting together to remind the government that we are continuing the battle against our expulsion. We want to ensure that if our battle is unsuccessful we will go as a Gush, a bloc. We will all move together, live together, care for each other and function as one unit. We are acting to forestall groups doing their own negotiating and for the individual to know he is not alone." The following morning Israel's dailies purposely distorted the event, declaring that 1000 families had signed away their homes and were ready to leave Gush Katif. After our forceful protests, including the threat of legal action, corrections were printed. At the meeting we were reminded that government bodies dealing with our expulsion were working without direction or information. Not a single committee, not a kibbutz or city planner, not one builder had been issued permits, finances or clear instructions. The army and police remain unable to deal with mass evacuation. In short, there is no disengagement "plan". It is all merely a ruse to convince Jews to leave their homes and begin life elsewhere, without hope of remaining united as a Gush. The government hopes that after years of living separated from each other we will be forgotten by the media and the public and, in despair, will give up the determination to remain as a group. Gush Katif will disappear forever. And, as Vice Premier Shimon Peres told journalists in an interview printed this morning, other "disengagements" will follow one after another. A town meeting means people spoke. And our people spoke from their hearts. One resident told of a friend who said "I just lost my job and was worried. Then I realized I still have a home, my children still have a school, my wife still has her job, I can still pray with my neighbors in our local synagogue. I appreciated that we are not threatened like the Gush Katif people, to be thrown out with nothing at all." Other residents told of strangers calling and writing from every part of the world, each with the same message - Keep Strong! Don't evict yourselves! We are with you and will be out on the streets fighting for you! Just hold on! Others spoke about the panic that the government is experiencing: disputes among ministers, officials under investigation or already under indictment. Chaos! For many in the hall even talking about "the day after" was viewed as a hillul Hashem, a desecration of G-d's name. For these people there is no "day after", only the battle to be continued with a firm belief that the Almighty would see us victorious. With these words of faith and strength the Town Meeting was adjourned. Moshe Saperstein and his wife Rachel live in Neve Dekalim, Gush Katif, in the Gaza Strip. He is a Jerusalem Diarist, one of the group of Israelis who are recording their experiences living in Israel. |
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THE HANGMAN SPEAKETH
Posted by Marcel Cousineau, May 27, 2005. |
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Yesterday the hangman let the noose slip a little bit tighter around Israel's neck. We heard him purposely ignore the terrorists but not forget to call on Israel to halt their existence in numerous areas of their ancient homeland. We saw with our own eyes his whitewashing of the spots that cover the leopard. And yet the Zionist train is stuck on the track, completly ignoring the one who divides Israel and rewards her enemies. Israel's politicians there said the noose was nothing to worry about and felt quite comfortable indeed. There's no way the most Israeli-friendly president would turn into our executor said the dazed and confused fools as they ignored the reality now facing them. We must stay asleep and this bad dream will end they said. The only problem is, this is not a dream. The Hangman has a friendly and sincere smile and this keeps the dumb sheep asleep. WAKE UP ISRAEL! Yesterday I head Israel's Consul General on the radio saying that Mr. Bush was one of Israel's most friendly presidents ever. This was after the Bush-Abbas meeting and another $50 million to help the terrrorists finish the job thay began. This was said about the first U.S. President to call for a Palestinian state, the president who is behind removal of Jewish cities and villages in order to reward the terrorists with a better platform to finish the job of destroying Israel. The president who seduced Israel with his false peace under the guise of democracy and freedom. When we have people like this leading Israel it's not a surprise that Israel continues to sink deeper and deeper into the pit it has willingly climbed into, the Bush Road Map. I don't use the word 'fool' in a careless manner, but today Israel is top heavy with fools. Marcel Cousineau can be reached by email at up2zionsg8@yahoo.com |
| GUSH KATIF |
SOLIDARITY VISITS TO ISRAEL
Posted by AFSI, May 27, 2005. |
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The ZOA and AFSI have teamed up for a 10-day trip to Gush Katif and northern Samaria this coming week, and another 100 supporters will fly to Israel the following week. The two solidarity trips are part of the ongoing activities of support for Israel by the Zionist Organization of America and Americans for a Safe Israel. The visitors will be bringing toys and other gifts for the children of Gush Katif, to where they will head immediately after landing at Ben Gurion International Airport. AFSI Executive-Director Helen Freedman said she will protest to the United States Embassy if Israel tries to prevent the group from visiting the towns, as it tried to do earlier this year on a similar trip. Airport officials told members of New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind's visiting group this past March that the Gaza area was a closed military zone. The group called the government's bluff and visited without interference. The group will visit Gush Katif homes, schools and farms for two days before continuing their solidarity mission in Samaria. They will visit Knesset Member Aryeh Eldad (National Union), who recently moved to Sa-Nur, one of the four communities the government plans to abandon to the Arabs after forcing the Jewish residents out of their homes. The two groups and a 100-person mission led by Hikind, which is to leave Sunday, June 5, will celebrate Jerusalem Unification Day on June 6 and will visit the endangered communities. The New York State legislator is bringing 100 Jews and Christians - more than double the number who came on his earlier trip. Half of the group is made up of Baptist ministers, including Reverend James Vineyard, one of the most active Christian leaders fighting the Israeli government plan to eradicate 25 Jewish communities. Vineyard said he has no intention of trying to convert Jews and has never baptized a Jewish proselyte. "I don't go to Israel to win souls. I go to keep America from going down the tubes," he explained. "If America causes Israel to give away Gush Katif, Israel goes down the tubes, and as goes Israel, so goes America." The fundamentalist Okalahoma preacher added, "The Bible says that land [Gaza] belongs to the Jews." He also has raised $50,000 to distribute a DVD film explaining to churches and synagogues the dangers and pitfalls of the expulsion/withdrawal plan. Americans For a Safe Israel/AFSI is a pro-active pro-Israel advocacy group. AFSI may be contacted by mail at 1623 Third Ave., Suite 205, New York, N.Y. 10128 (Tel: 212-828-2424; Fax: 212-828-1717); by email at afsi@rcn.com; or by accessing its website: www.afsi.org. Helen Freedman is Executive Director. |
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80% OPPOSE SHARON
Posted by Voice of Judea, May 27, 2005. |
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1- 20,000 voted thus far in the independent referendum Mishalot Yisrael has announced that 20,000 people have voted thus far in the independent referendum on the disengagement, www.mishal.org. The referendum is gaining momentum and Mishalot Yisrael continues to call upon every Jew to voice their opinion one way or the other. "Expel our brothers or our enemies" is the new slogan on street signboards and in orange shirts and stickers being circulated throughout Israel. From Gaza in the South to the Golan Heights and Kiryat Shemonah in the North, Israel has become one big chain of Orange signs and ribbons. Mishalot Yisrael is imploring every Jew to forward the website address and to help volunteer to spread the grassroots independent referendum to the widest possible audience. You can cast your vote on www.mishal.org More than 80 percent of the votes that have been tallied are against the Sharon disengagement plan. Vote now on http://www.mishal.org [Editor's note: You can also access the Mishal site from the Think-Israel front page.] ****** 2- EITAN KAVEL: BEGIN COULD NOT EVEN RESURRECT THE LABOR PARTY MK Eitan Kavel, Head of the Labor party faction in the Knesset had some interesting comments published on Mariv online, Iyar May 26, 05. Here are some choice excerpts from Kavels interview: Today, even if Menachem Begin would rise up from the dead to lead the Labour party we still would not stand a chance. The time has come for us to understand that our conception does not work. I have reached the conclusion that as long as the Israeli public views the Palestinians as a threat to our existence we will have a problem to challenge the Likud and the right on issues connected to defense and foreign policy. The public has shown that they prefer the Likud on these issues. Although the majority of generals and chiefs of staff have joined Labor, the simple Likud soldiers keep beating us. Labor needs to raise the issues of economy and the social fabric of Israel Voice of Judea Commentary: That is the political history of the state of Israel in a nutshell. For the past 28 years, Likud has been destroying Labor in national elections because the public is rightwing and nationalist. The Likud leaders get elected and then take a sharp turn to the left and continue the leftwing policies of appeasement to the Arabs and capitulation to terrorists. Sharon is elected and implements policies further to the left than Labor. The only way to correct this madness is by enforcing a program of national referendums that will bind the government to carry out the obvious will of the people on issues such as disengagement. If the people of Israel were given an option they would clearly vote to expel the enemies of Israel out of Israel rather than expulsion of the Jews and surrendering of Gaza to the terrorists. If the issue is the Arab domestic terrorist and demographic threat, then it would be much more effective and logical to expel the hostile enemies. The media reports indicating that a third of Labor members are Arabs and the fact that Likud wins decisive victories for the past three decades are enough evidence that the majority of Jews are against capitulating to the Arabs. It is essential that the nationalist camp do 2 things: 1- Do not allow the left to hoist the banner calling for reform against corruption and the revolution for social and economic change. The left is no less corrupt! And if anyone champions this cause it must be the authentic nationalist Jewish camp and not the leftist politicians and swindlers. The battle against the disengagement needs to be an all out battle calling for an end to the corruption rooted in all of the existing political parties in Israel. The last thing we need is for the Likud to fall and be replaced by Sharon leading a new rightwing centrist party or Labor and Shinui who win elections on the social economic issues. The whole system must be revamped. And we must lead the battle to expose all of the frauds from all of the parties. 2- Support the call for a national emergency referendum to replace the government and clean out corruption as well as to determine policy on issues such as the disengagement. Vote now: http://www:mishal.org ***** 3- Bush backs Abu Mazen Abu Mazen leaves Washington with assurances and support from US Pres. Bush. Oops q- so much for all of the delusions and illusions being peddled by Sharon about how the disengagement will allow Israel to determine its own borders and retain settlement blocks. The truth is that the Arabs, the Americans and the international community are all expecting this to be the first of many Israeli withdrawals, and if anything, the disengagement has only whet their appetites. Hamas has openly said, what a spokesman on Israeli radio reiterated today, that they will resume attacks against Israel after the disengagement. Voice of Judea Commentary: Stop the disengagement! ****** 4- Sharon: The disengagement will ensure a Jewish majority in Israel Sharon repeated the demographic message in every speech he delivered to American Jewish audiences. Sharon explained how he must carry out the disengagement, so as to ensure a Jewish majority in Israel. Sharon explained that by disengaging from areas with dense Arab populations and by building a security fence between those areas and the rest of Israel he will lessen the threat of terrorism and ensure a Jewish majority within Israel. Sharon was applauded by American Jewish leaders in NY and by AIPAC in Washington. There were thousands who protested outside of his addresses and hecklers who were ejected from his speeches. Voice of Judea Commentary: Sharon is a liar! The areas being surrendered in Gaza do not have any significant Arab population. Gaza city is nowhere near Gush Katif. The Jews and Arabs travel on different roads. And the security fence will have zero impact against smugglers and against kassams and will only encourage more Arab attacks after rewarding the terrorists with the land and homes of their Jewish victims. As for the demographic threat, the Arabs will still become a majority and the real demographic threat is within Israel, posed by Arabs with citizenship who vote and who identify with Israels enemies. Moreover, the Arabs in Gaza do not have citizenship. If Sharon really wanted to distance the Arab demographic and terrorist threat, he would drive out our enemies from Gaza and from the rest of Israel and not expel our brothers and sisters. There is not a sane Jew in Israel who would not prefer expulsion of our enemies before expulsion of our most loyal Jews. Sharon will never bring this alternative to a referendum. This is why Mishalot Yisrael is making an independent referendum on this very issue. Vote now and help deligitimize the anti-Jewish, anti-democratic Sharon regime. www.mishal.org Send a contribution now, while there is still precious time to Mishalot Yisrael, Jaffa Road, 210/14 Jerusalem, Israel. Subscribe to Voice of Judea emails by sending an email request to jsid@dorsai.org or read the website - http://www.voiceofjudea.com |
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SHTEINITZ: US NO LONGER SUPPORTS DEFENSIBLE BORDERS FOR ISRAEL
Posted by Bryna Berch, May 27, 2005. |
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The Chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee says Thursday's Bush-Abu Mazen meeting is a great blow to Israeli-U.S. relations, and proves that Sharon is deceiving the public. The committee chairman, Likud MK Yuval Shteinitz (pictured), said today that everything Sharon has long said he was promised by U.S. President George Bush amounts to zero, because "Bush said yesterday that the basis for everything is the pre-1967 borders." Prime Minister Sharon has long boasted that Bush has promised him that he would support Israel's right to retain large settlement blocs in Judea and Samaria in any final-status arrangement. However, Shteinitz said, Bush's remarks on Thursday represent "a regression even from previous American positions in favor of UN Resolution 242, which talked about 'defensible borders.'" In fact, Bush referred not to the 1967 borders, but rather to the 1949 Armistice Lines, which are even less generous to Israel in some areas.(1) "It is deception and misleading of the public," Shteinitz said, "when Prime Minister Sharon claimed that the United States and Bush would support the Israeli position in talks after the disengagement..." Shteinitz further said, "Abu Mazen is doing nothing against terrorism, as the Shabak (GSS), and even Sharon himself, have said. The opposite: he is allowing Hamas and the terrorist organizations to get stronger, and even to run in the elections. And this same Abu Mazen receives compliments in Washington for his opposition to terrorism." MK Yitzchak Levy (Religious Zionism Renewal Party) said, "The lie that Sharon has been disseminating about American commitments to maintain the settlement blocs has exploded. Once again, Sharon receives a spit in the face, and yet he still runs as if being chased to expel thousands of Jews from their homes, receiving nothing in return." Associate Prime Minister Shimon Peres said Friday morning that the Bush "promise" regarding Israel's right to retain large settlement blocs no longer exists, for all intents and purposes. Peres explained that this is because Bush made sure to say in the press conference with Abu Mazen on Thursday that the future of the areas requires Palestinian Authority agreement. Analyst Dr. Aaron Lerner of IMRA notes other major gains for the PA following the White House meeting, and one minor gain for Israel. Among the PA achievements are: * Explicit reference to Jerusalem in the phrase "Israel should not undertake any activity that... prejudice final status negotiations with regard to Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem." On the other hand, Bush showed understanding for Israel's demand to control airspace and sea ports in Gaza - at least until conditions change enough to warrant more Israeli trust of the PA. This could even include control of the Philadelphi Route on the southern Gaza border, Lerner feels. (1.) Aluf Benn's article on the topic is called "Background: "1949 Armistice Line" vs '67 Line"; it appeared in Ha'aretz 30 May 1995.
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| GUSH KATIF |
WARNING!
Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, May 27, 2005. |
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It is a well know principle that G-D interacts MIDA KENEGED MIDA. As a person acts towards his fellow man, so to speak, G-D acts towards him. If the Jews in the Galut act with such indifference or, even worse, with hostility towards the dangers faced by Jews in Israel, how do they expect G-D to treat them when they will be endangered? The wheel of history has turned itself once more and we are in a period very similar to the 1930's. Hatred of Jews is open, deviant and degenerate behavior is open, accepted and officially encouraged and there are malevolent saviours on every street corner preaching death to the Jews it the road to salvation. If not for the sake of G-D's holy name, if not for the sake of your endangered brothers and sisters then at the very least for your own sake, wake up and come home to Israel and help fight the evil here. Your mundane indifference will soon be met with divine indifference. "Easier to Find Baptists than Rabbis' Against Evacuation,"
is a news item from today's Arutz Sheva (IsraelNationalNews.com).
It is archived at www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=82734
(IsraelNN.com) It is easier to find Baptist ministers than rabbis
who are prepared to join the struggle against the government's
evacuation plan, according to New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind.
He has signed up ministers to join about 100 American Jews who plan to
visit Jewish communities in Gaza in early June.
One of the most vocal Christian supporters of Jewish presence in
Gaza and northern Samaria, which the government wants to give to
Arabs, is Reverend James Vineyard. "The Bible says that land belongs
to the Jews," said the Oklahoma preacher. "The Lord, God of Israel, is
not going to look favorably on the giving-away of one grain of sand.
If America causes Israel to give away Gush Katif, Israel goes down the
tubes, and as goes Israel, so goes America."
Hikind's trip is sold out, but he is frustrated at his inability
to sign up more Jewish leaders to visit the endangered communities in
Israel. Among those scheduled to leave for Israel on June 5 are a
non-Jewish state senator.
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.
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LIKE PASSING WORDS
Posted by Women in Green, May 27, 2005. |
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This article was written by Sarah Honig and it appeared in the
Jerusalemn Post, May 19, 2005.
History's taste for bitter irony is indisputable. Take the Mahmoud Darwish-Ariel Sharon connection. Poet Darwish, once an Israeli-Arab communist activist, later a PLO luminary and author of the 1988 Palestinian "Declaration of Independence," fled Beirut where he resided in 1982. That was because Sharon arrived to eradicate terror and expel Arafat and his henchmen. Darwish and Sharon couldn't conceivably have been more adversarial then. How surreal and spine-chilling it therefore is to realize that today none other than Sharon is fulfilling to the letter Darwish's venomous prophesy in verse, also from 1988, entitled Passing Through Passing Words. This poem had come to embody the visceral, uncompromising, all-encompassing animus of those whom our homegrown, indefatigable purveyors of fantasy insist on dubbing "peace-partners" - with whom they seek mutual accommodation, and to whom they entrust our security. Undeterred by what Darwish wrote, they kept painting him in their own idealized image as an eminently reasonable man of peace (his vehement rejection of Oslo notwithstanding) and icon of liberal tolerance. Indeed, five years ago then education minister Yossi Sarid did his darndest to introduce Darwish's literary output to the public-school curriculum of the Jewish state. That folly, shortly before Arafat unleashed his bloody intifada, became emblematic of the excesses that made Ehud Barak's government so unpopular and ultimately contributed to its downfall. The alternative to that defeatist mind-set was heroic patriot Arik, the quintessential Sabra man-of-action. He was the surefire antidote to the festering malaise that threatened to crush our collective spirit. That's why Sharon won so big - twice. How ironic, then, that the hawk who so unequivocally opposed teaching Darwish's Jew-debasing lines should end up doing precisely what those lines prescribe, down to the most eerie details, which Sharon did try to keep under wraps for as long as he could in this land of loose lips. BUT VIA inevitable leaks we eventually discovered that a special army reserve unit is now readied to clandestinely exhume Jewish graves in Gush Katif and remove the dead - including terror victims - just as preparations are under way to uproot the living. Ninety combat troops are assigned to the morbid mission, assured their identities won't be divulged and that their grisly work will be conducted furtively to avoid any confrontation with the families. Darwish must feel supremely elated. His poetry, the one Sarid felt so compelled to inculcate in impressionable young Israeli minds, denies any Jewish connection with this land, any history, tie or right to remain here. Jews to him are irreversibly interlopers, and he contemptuously advises them - "those who pass through passing words" - to: Take your names and get out/ Steal what you will/ From the blue of the sea and the sands of memory/ Don't pass amongst us like flying insects/ Take your bony skeletons/ Collect your illusions from abandoned holes and get out/ It's your time to get out/ Reside where you will but not amongst us/ Die where you wish, but not amongst us/ Ours is the past here/ And the present and the future/ Ours is the world here / So get out of our soil/ Our earth, our sea/ Our wheat, our salt/ Our everything. Get out/ Of all memory/ And remove with you your dead What poetic justice the prospect must seem of Jewish soldiers digging open Jewish graves, as if obediently doing Darwish's bidding - literally taking away the names, the bones, and expunging all memory of Jewish life or death in Gush Katif. Emboldened Darwishes know that past experience has taught Jews that Arabs wreak sadistic vengeance even on graves. Even the dead aren't safe. Savagery obviously pays off. Onlooking Arabs can take heart. If the Jews can be frightened from 30-year-old settlements, then their stay anywhere else, even inside what they call their Green Line, isn't permanent. The very man who drove the Palestinian bard from Beirut is now implementing his vision. From the Darwishian vantage point it's an unequivocal triumph over Sharon and, by extension, over all Israelis. It doesn't matter how much Sharon dismisses Darwish's perception. It becomes a pivotal factor too psychologically potent to ignore. Psychology indeed is key. It's the building block of Mideastern reality. Few today would downplay the boost Palestinians derived from Israel's ignominious retreat from Lebanon. Appearing soon thereafter at Bir Zeit University, Darwish mocked Barak's bravado and contention that he was withdrawing from a position of strength: "If that's the Zionists' idea of victory, why argue? Let's wish them many such victories - in Gaza, Jerusalem, the West Bank, the Golan - all through this land." Darwish is now getting the first item on his wish-list and, as per his injunction, we're taking the dead to remove all residue of our transitory sojourn - as transitory, in the poet's idiom, as that of pesky bugs or passing words. 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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THE IMPACT OF "DISENGAGEMENT" ON U.S. INTERESTS
Posted by Yoram Ettinger, May 27, 2005. |
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This is the 178th issue of Straight From The Jerusalem Cloakroom. Would Congress examine and debate the issue, before transferring foreign aid to the PA and/or to Palestinian NGOs (which are totally controlled by the PA)? Should you wish to examine previous issues, OpEds and PowerPoint Presentations, please visit http://yoramettinger.newsnet.co.il or www.acpr.org.il (Jerusalem Cloakroom and Hatikvah links). Your constructive criticism would be highly appreciated. Shabbat Shalom, and may we heed the lesson of this week's Parasha: Retreat (into larger towns) is a punishment, while chasing the enemy is a reward. Yoram 1. ESCALATED TERRORISM. The morally/strategically justifiable demolition of terror regimes in Iraq and Afghanistan is inconsistent with the creation/bolstering of a terror regime in Gaza, Judea and Samaria. The 1994-6 series of disengagement from 85% and 40% of the territory (and 100% and 95% of the population) of Gaza and Judea and Samaria have established the largest terrorist base in the world, led/harbored by PLO/PA graduates of terrorist camps in Iraq, Yemen, Sudan, Lebanon, Syria, Libya and Tunisia. Since 1993 the PA has harbored anti-US terrorists. US GIs in Afghanistan and Iraq were encountered by Palestinian terrorists. 2. HIGHER US TERROR CASUALTIES. The July 2000 disengagement from Southern Lebanon propelled Hizballah from a local, to a regional, profile, haunting US GIs in Iraq and Afghanistan and threatening US homeland security. 3. CONTRADICTING U.S. WAR ON TERRORISM. Disengagement is perceived, by the Mideast, as cut & run, appeasement and cave-in, in sharp contrast to US war on terrorism: No negotiation with - and no concession to - terrorists; no ceasefire with - but destruction of - terrorist regimes; no political - but military - solution to terrorism. 4. SETBACK TO PEACE. The only peace attainable in the (inter-Arab) Mideast is deterrence-driven peace. Disengagement undermines deterrence, hence it sets the area farther from peace and closer to exacerbated terrorism and an all out war. Every square inch ceded by Israel to the PA, since the 1994 disengagement, has been transformed into a platform of hate-education and homicide bombing. 5. TAILWIND TO ANTI-U.S. TERRORISTS. While the 1976 Israeli "Entebbe Operation" constituted a tailwind to US war on terrorism, the 1993-2005 retreat by the role-model of countering terrorism (Israel) in face of the role-model of terrorism (PLO/PA) has added more fuel to the fire of terrorism. Disengagement has been heralded by the PLO/PA and other Arabs as a crucial victory, frequently compared to the US flight from Beirut (1983) and Somali (1993). It would nurture Arab hope that neither the US nor Israel possess a marathon-like steadfastness, required for a long-term victory. 6. PA FEEDS ANTI-US TERRORISM. A correlation has existed between the bolstering of PLO stock since Oslo 1993 on one hand, and the exacerbation of anti-US terrorism on the other hand (since the 1993 Twin Towers I, through the 1995 Khobar Towers, the 1998 Kenya and Tanzania US embassies, the 2000 USS Cole and 2001 Twin Towers II). The wider the maneuverability of the PLO/PA, the deeper the inspiration to regional anti-US terrorism, irrespective of (and probably due to) US and Israeli appeasement of - and unprecedented concessions to - the PLO/PA. 7. UNDERMINING THE STABILITY OF PRO-U.S. REGIMES (e.g. Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, etc.). Disengagement would enhance the profile of the PLO/PA, a lethal threat to the Hashemite regime and a chief ally of radical regimes in the Mideast and beyond. PLO-Hashemite relations have been a classic case of zero-sum-game: The stronger the PLO the weaker the Hashemites. The rise of the PLO/PA has emboldened subversive anti-US terrorists in Jordan and in the Gulf area. 8. STRENGTHENING ANTI-US MIDEAST REGIMES. Disengagement would buttress the PLO/PA, which has been a sustained ally of the Saddam and Bin-Laden forces, of Khomeini and his successors in Iran, of the terror regime in Sudan and other anti-US Mideast regimes. A stronger PA would be a liability - to the US - in the UN and in the context of Clash of Civilizations. 9. INVIGORATING MIDEAST PROFILE OF U.S. GLOBAL RIVALS. The strengthening of the PLO/PA would facilitate the road to a re-assertive Russia in the Mideast. It would improve the strategic posture of China and North Korea in the region, at the expense of vital US concerns, including US standard of living. 10. IGNORING PLIGHT OF CHRISTIANS. The 1995 disengagement from Bethlehem and Beit Jallah has accelerated the flight of Christians, caused by PLO/PA oppression and desecration of churches. 11. SETBACK TO MIDEAST DEMOCRATIZATION. Disengagement would promote the most corrupt and repressive Arab regime in the Mideast, rewarding a terrorist regime, thus dealing a blow to moderate Palestinians. 12. UNDERMINING ISRAEL-EGYPT PEACE. The 1979 peace treaty disengaged Israeli and Egyptian military forces from one another. The "Plan of Disengagement" would re-engage them in a terror-ridden area, thus fueling unintentional and intentional confrontations. It could drag the US unnecessarily into such conflict. Egypt has facilitated/tolerated the smuggling of terror hardware, missiles and mortars into Gaza. It has undermined US interests in Africa, in the Red Sea and in the UN, and it has spearheaded anti-Jewish Arab/Palestinian hate education (PA hate education employs Egyptian school text books). 13. PLO's TRACK RECORD OF INTER-ARAB TREACHERY. Abu Mazen, Abu Ala', Inc. fled Egypt (late 1950s) for subversive activities. They escaped Syria (1966) for betraying their hosts. They were expelled from Jordan for attempting to topple the Hashemite regimes via terrorism. They exacerbated a series of civil wars in Lebanon since 1975. They spearheaded Saddam's invasion of Kuwait (1990), which hosted them since the 1950s. Their systematic violent violation of the 1993 Oslo Accords have been consistent with their inter-Arab back-stabbing. Disengagement would be viewed - by the PLO/PA as a reward to treachery, which would vindicate the aforementioned track record. |
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AN APPEAL TO THE CONSCIENCE OF THE JEWISH MEDIA
Posted by Naomi Ragen, May 27, 2005. |
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I agree with David Bedein (his article below). Yeah, the media did it again. A whitewash of Abbas, following in the disastrous footsteps of the whitewash of his mentor, Yasir Arafat. And we all know what happened then. For the past four months, our news agency hired credible Arabic-language journalists to translate and provide the Jewish media with the content of the media of the new regime of Abbas, and place it on an a website, www.IsraelBehindTheNews.com. This was done at a time when JTA did not have the budget to do so. Our agency has also provided this material to members of the US Congress. The Jewish media has by and large refused to relate to the content of Abbas's new regime, which showed a consistent message of virulent anti-semitism, anti-Americanism, advocacy of the absolute "right of return" and the continued inculcation of the Palestinian Arab people for war against the state and people of Israel. Essentially,the Jewish media repeats the mistake of its initial coverage of Arafat during the seven year period of 1993-2000. As a direct result of the Jewish media not warning the Jewish community of the diaspora of the real message of Abbas, twenty Jewish organizations met with Abbas, not knowing of the virulent message of hatred that emanates from the man who was and is the protege of Yassir Arafat. The Jewish media had a responsibility to prepare the leaders of American Jewry for the nature of the man whom they were going to meet, and the Jewish media blew the opportunity. We can recall that the lack of Jewish media coverage of Arafat's message led to a decision of the UJC to provide the Isaiah Award for Peace to Arafat in October 1999 - a decision which was rescinded after our agency reported the decision. On a personal and professional basis, it would give me great pleasure to report expressions of peace, reconciliation and compromise that emanate from the official Palestinian Arabic language media. Unfortunately, I cannot do so, because it does not exist. If the Jewish media had warned the world of Arafat's message, perhaps the US would not have nurtured that PLO terrorist, and perhaps some of more than 1000 people murdered in cold blood by the PLO would not have been murdered. Now the Jewish media protects Arafat's protege, which may result in the US arming Abbas once again. Please remember: Abbas is one of the authors of the PLO covenant which has never been amended/ That PLO charter is clear in its intention and its program: To exterminate Israel, using the strategy of phases that the PLO adopted in 1974, an amendment written by none other than Abbas. And please remember that the new school books of the Palestinian National Authority are dedicated to the memory of Haj Amin Al Husseini, the Mufti of Jerusalem who lived with Adolf Hitler and who was the mentor of Arafat and Abbas. The Jewish media has a choice: to report the reality of Abbas's new regime, or to report on all of those State Department cronies who speak and relate to the fact that he wears a nice suit and says the right things in English a the White House. The question is whether the Jewish media will adopt a position of integrity on the matter of Abbas. Respectfully Submitted, David Bedein
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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OH, THOSE PHONY HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS!
Posted by American Chin High, May 26, 2005. |
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I had to yawn when (yet again) the "official" human rights groups, HAD to single out US, Israel... for the human rights in EVERY single Arab and Muslim country on earth is just sooooo so great, in rights, in torture, fair trials, beating women in public or in private, corrupted "religious" policing, imprisoning with false charges the political opponents, or... Does anyone have any idea How many are missing/dead/injured in the Arab Muslim world by their GOVT, Including "moderate" Egypt, Saudi Arabia, etc.? I am sick and tired that those that are being hammered by these groups are precisely the ones fighting for survival against mass murderers that target children for their Filthy Jihad, covered with cheap false "freedom" slogans. This was an encouraging article out of the Review & Outlook Section of the Wall Street Journal about that ridiculous mask by the name of "Amnesty". It's called "The Trouble With Amnesty: A "human rights" group suddenly wants to keep Iraqis oppressed." and was published December 8, 2002. The next time Amnesty International comes trying to sell you a candle this Christmas tell the volunteer you know exactly where it should be displayed--in the sands of a free Iraq, one this organization suddenly seems unwilling to see materialize. The British government has released a detailed dossier showing the horrors Saddam Hussein has inflicted on Iraqis, but Amnesty is now fretting about a war that would end these abuses. Let's see. The London-based organization does not dispute the contents of the dossier, "Saddam Hussein: Crimes and Human Rights Abuses." In fact, the British Foreign Office relied on human rights groups to put together this report. But according to an Amnesty spokesman, "human rights should not be used as an excuse to go to war." This has been Amnesty's line pretty consistently. Its secretary general, Irene Khan, wrote recently that "this selective attention to human rights is nothing but a cold and calculated manipulation of the work of human rights activists. Let us not forget that these same governments turned a blind eye to Amnesty International's reports of widespread human rights violations in Iraq before the Gulf War." This raises several questions. An immediate one is, shouldn't human rights be the best cause for starting a war? Shouldn't conscientious governments care when human beings are being mistreated, and do something about it? Amnesty maintains that it has for some time been saying that Saddam is guilty of "gross human rights violations," as the spokesman herself put it. It says that the West is now preparing for war only for its own reasons, which have nothing to do with human rights abuses. But obviously if Amnesty really wanted the situation to change in Iraq then it would be cheering that--for whatever reason--some governments have now come around to its own anti-Saddam views. The way Ms. Khan's organization has it now, the mere presence of self-interest on the part of the U.S. and British governments--even if this is the protection of their citizens from terror--suddenly obviates the alleviation of the Iraqis' lot. The Amnesty spokesman emphasized that governments should consider the "consequences" of war on the people, but when asked what the consequences of war had been for Afghans or Kosovars the spokesman suddenly wouldn't be drawn. "That's not something for us to comment on." Why? Shouldn't an organization that purports to monitor human rights actually cheer when something is done to improve them, as in Kosovo or Afghanistan, even when that something is war? Lastly, Amnesty insiders say that the organization believes that even if Saddam's regime is abominable, so are many other governments around the world--including U.S. "allies" such as Saudi Arabia--and nobody is proposing regime change there. Readers of these columns know that we're more than a little perturbed with coddling the Saudis, but the ultimate sanction of regime change must be used only in extreme cases. And why isn't improving the lot of at least the Iraqis a good thing? |
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OPEN LETTER TO STATE DEPT ON WITHDRAWING FROM GAZA
Posted by Evelyn Hayes, May 26, 2005. |
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At a State Department Briefing:
QUESTION: Will there be a push to go on with the negotiations immediately after withdrawal for the final status? MR. BOUCHER: The push as you have seen it from the Quartet and from the United States and others is to make this withdrawal from Gaza work so that it benefits both Israelis and Palestinians, so that Palestinians can get more normal lives, so they can sell their goods and go to their jobs and go to their schools and start building -- putting together organized institutions of a state that they want to create. So that Israelis can live safer lives and not have to worry about terrorism or rockets or mortars or things like that. So the goal is to make that work. If we make that work with both sides, we accelerate progress on all the other things. But that's where we are now, is focused on the present, on what needs to be done now. Michel. I find it outrageous that withdrawal of gardeners comes before withdrawal of terrorists and their infrastructure. I find it discriminatory to remove Jews from their own land and re-refugee them again, especially considering Jews were in Gaza before Egypt invaded in 1948 and before those working for the PLO were imported from so many terrorist countries. Worse, I find it outrageous to remove Jews from their deeded property and communities developed from barren land at all. Let The PLO billions and the Arab oil gauging support their native Arabs. Deport the foreign mercennary jihadists. Furthermore, I can see peace if the PLO sells its weapons and uses the money for tools of trade in their major part of the Gaza which is ethnic cleansed of Jews. The PLO has over 90% of the land, much of which was empty land before Oslo imported an army to bully the Christians, democrats and bully the capitalists and to refugee the Jews again. Since the Jews were expelled from Arab lands, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Perhaps Arabs with those origins should return to their homelands. It is a crime to not let our people stay. No more expulsions. No more ghettos, No more theft of Jewish property, lifework, shuls, homeland, history, facts, burial grounds. If the State Department goes on false premises against the Jews, Americans will also be victims. Our army will be fighting Iraq in vain. Remember Arabs of Gaza support the enemy of America, Iraq and may be getting weapons from the supply that disappeared. The same technology of warfare used by the PLO is being used against our soldiers in Iraq, nuts and bolts suicide bombers. Mr. Boucher, Your Push is a shove out of the Jews and an impetus for more pan-Jihad. Evelyn Hayes,
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JOIN THE ZOA MARCHERS IN THE PARADE; ATTEND THE RALLY IN CENTRAL PARK FOR GUSH KATIF/GAZA
Posted by AFSI, May 26, 2005. |
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CENTRAL PARK, SUNDAY JUNE 5, 2005 FROM 2:30-6 pm., RAIN or SHINE PLEASE JOIN THE ZOA MARCHERS IN THE ISRAELI DAY PARADE WHO WILL BE ASSEMBLING AT 1 PM AT 53RD ST. BETWEEN 5TH & 6TH AVES. YOU WILL BE GIVEN AN ORANGE T-SHIRT OF SOLIDARITY WITH THE THREATENED COMMUNITIES OF GUSH KATIF/GAZA. OUR DETERMINATION TO STOP THE SHARON EXPULSION PLAN MUST BE MADE OBVIOUS FOR ALL TO SEE. MARCH FOR THE FREEDOM OF JEWS TO LIVE FREELY IN THE JEWISH HOMELAND. 35,000 PEOPLE WILL RALLY AGAINST WITHDRAWAL FROM GAZA AT CONCERT IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE ISRAEL DAY PARADE, THE LARGEST PRO-ISRAEL GATHERING IN THE WORLD. NEW YORK, NY - The Israel Concert in The Park Committee, in association with the National Council of Young Israel will host the 12th annual Israel Day Concert in Central Park, at the East Meadow, located at 97th Street and 5th Avenue, on Sunday, June 5, 2005 from 2:30-6 PM, rain or shine. Over 35,000 people are expected to gather at this year's event, which is dedicated to supporting the Jewish communities of Gaza, and against the surrender of Jewish territories in this region. Speakers will include 2 former Cabinet Members of the Israeli Government, and current Knesset (Parliament) Members: MK Effie Eitam and MK Uzi Landau (of PM Sharon's ruling Likud Party, a number of New York elected officials, and leaders of the American Jewish community, including Rabbis and major organizational heads. The event is organized by Dr. Joseph Frager, and will feature leading Jewish performers. Additionally, the program will be dedicated to the Jewish communities located in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, the more than 1300 victims of Oslo who have been killed since the signing of the Oslo "peace" accords, the more than 700 murdered since the outbreak of the latest War against Israel which began on September 28, 2000, and the 57th Anniversary of The State of Israel. "As New Yorkers, we feel the need to stand up and let the world know on the 55th year of the Anniversary of the founding of the State of Israel that we will not sit silent as the expulsion of Jews from any part of Israel is imminent. We will gather to rejoice at Israel's independence, and to remember that Prime Minister Sharon himself spoke to this same group in Central Park a few years ago, and today his actions pose a grave danger to Israel," said Dr. Joseph Frager, organizer of The Israel Concert in the Park. "We will not sit silent, and expect tens of thousands to join us to publicly say No to expulsion and yes to Jews in Gaza." Americans For a Safe Israel/AFSI asks that you bring your check book and be prepared to write a check to FRIENDS OF GUSH KATIF to enable the beleaguered communities to continue with their efforts to stop the expulsion. Checks may be mailed to AFSI, 1623 Third Ave., Suite 205, New York, N.Y. 10128. Direct contributions may be made through the Gush Katif website: www.katifund.org. Further information on the event is available by calling Ronn Torossian at 212-999-5585 or writing to afsi@rcn.com; www.afsi.org Americans For a Safe Israel/AFSI is a pro-active pro-Israel advocacy group. AFSI may be contacted by mail at 1623 Third Ave., Suite 205, New York, N.Y. 10128 (Tel: 212-828-2424; Fax: 212-828-1717); by email at afsi@rcn.com; or by accessing its website: www.afsi.org. Helen Freedman is Executive Director. |
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IF YOU BELIEVE, HELP PLANT A SEED!
Posted by Susie Dym, May 26, 2005. |
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Call 1-800-20.2288 now and contribute 1000 NIS to the "If you believe -- plant a seed!" foundation (Keren "Ma'amin veZorea"): Because the Gush Katif farmers can't get loans from the banks at this stage, this Keren will give them loans so that they can begin the agricultural season with credit as all farmers need to do (farmers have heavy initial expenses which get paid off when the crops are picked). Enjoy making your contribution, and please - let me know when you make yours. Susie Dym is spokesperson for Mattot Arim. Contact her at sddym@bezeqint.net |
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THE PROBLEM WITH THE GAZA WITHDRAWAL (AS I SEE IT)
Posted by Deb Kotz, May 26, 2005. |
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I know that many ardent Zionists are strongly in favor of Sharon's plan to withdraw from Gaza and dismantle the Jewish settlements there. And I'm not going to launch into a philosophical argument on our Biblical rights to the land or the concept of trading land for peace. The thing that I find most illogical in what Sharon is doing is the way he is doing it. He is giving back Gaza freely with no peace accord, no guarantees from the PA, and no real sign from the Palestinian people that they are encouraged by what he is doing. I don't see the transformation, the hard-won anticipation of freedom or any sign of appreciation from the Palestinians or Abbas, their leader. I only see TV shows broadcast on Palestinian TV laced with venom-filled diatribes against Jews, Americans and everyone else outside of the Arab world. I only see Hamas gearing up for more terrorist attacks as Abbas allows them to re-arm and invites them into his government. Please read the highlights of the statements that Sharon read to AIPAC on Tuesday. Then read the NY Times article about Hamas and Abbas. Do you see the discrepancy here? Sharon speaks as if he is implementing the first phase of the Road Map. Yet, the Palestinians are once again not holding up their end of the bargain. So, this leads me to believe that they've rejected the Road Map and are not planning on making any changes. The truth is, why should they? Sharon is giving them Gaza for absolutely nothing in return. This is precisely what Natan Sharansky was arguing last week when he resigned from the government. This is why all Jews should have a problem with the Gaza withdrawal regardless of their position on the Road Map or the creation of a Palestinian state. This is why we should all see this act of Sharon's as The Oslo Accords, Part 2. If I've missed something here, please let me know. Perhaps I've missed some crucial element because this just seems too obvious. --Debbie Appeasing the Terrorists Will Only Strengthen Them - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (Prime Minister's Office) Prime Minister Sharon told the AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington on Tuesday: * I came here from Jerusalem, the eternal, united, and undivided capital of the State of Israel and the Jewish people forever and ever. "Abbas's Gamble: Pulling a Foe into Palestinian Politics" - Steven Erlanger In their meeting on Thursday, Mr. Bush is expected to tell Mr. Abbas that bringing Hamas into politics will work only if he moves against the military wing to disarm it and ensure that the PA has a clear monopoly on weapons and force, a senior American official said. "The U.S. would have to be convinced either that Hamas is not a terrorist organization, or that they are dismantled," the official said. "We don't care about religious people with views we dislike sitting in parliament. But we can't accept militant terrorism brought into politics." "Abu Mazen has to take the guns away from the street - not necessarily seize them from houses," the official added. The PA has enough weaponry now "to at least get started," the official said, relaying the judgment of Lt. Gen. William Ward, the American security coordinator for the Palestinians. The PA police in Gaza recently stopped a truck full of locally
made Kassam rockets produced by Hamas, American and Israeli officials
said, but did not confiscate them. "It's in Hamas's interests to keep
Gaza quiet and even make a success of Gaza," said the senior American
official. "But if Hamas believes that Israel can't deal with
casualties, and that it won the war for Gaza, why shouldn't it
transfer resistance to the West Bank?" (New York Times).
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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WILD FLOWERS GREW IN THE GARDEN
Posted by Moshe Feiglin, May 26, 2005. |
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David was six years old when Rabin shook hands with Arafat. He didn't understand very much, but only remembered the expression of helplessness on the face of his father, Yehuda. After completing his service in the Israeli army, Yehuda married Tamar who had at the same time received a BA from Bar Ilan University. The loving couple built their home in a well-established settlement located 25 minutes from Jerusalem. This was during Shamir's period as prime minister, when it seemed that the Likud would rule forever. Although the Left continued to apply pressure, nothing seemed to threaten the future of the settlements. Government publicity on TV encouraged Israeli citizens to buy houses beyond the Green Line. The publicity slogan was "a place in the heart" (of the country). Everything was wonderful. David was their first child, followed by a sister and two brothers. Then Shamir gave in to the pressure of the Left and went to the Madrid Conference. There in Madrid it was already clear that Arafat was returning to the scene, and when the Israelis realized that this was the name of the game, they handed over the reins of the government from Shamir, who had waged a fighting retreat, to Yitzhak Rabin. Rabin, the CGS in the Six Day War, was regarded as Mr. Security and, furthermore, promised a peace agreement within six months. Yehuda and Tamar saw their secure world crumbling around then. Rabin (followed by Peres and Netanyahu) handed over the heart of the country to Arafat, armed his murderous organization with great quantities of weapons, and awarded international legitimacy and extensive economic aid to the enemy, while at the same time suppressing the sounds of protest that began to be heard amongst the Israeli public. We could perhaps have swallowed all these troubles, but worst of all was the loss of the basis of national justice. We were no longer the good guys and our enemies were no longer the bad guys. "It's not us against them", explained Rabin, "but peace lovers against the enemies of peace from both nations". Yehuda and Tamar were born a short time after the Six Day War and experienced the feelings of that victory. They remembered Operation Entebbe, and the bombing of the nuclear reactor in Iraq. For them the State of Israel represented justice, readiness to fight for it, and the capability of achieving it. Suddenly everything changed -- the new equation detached Yehuda and Tamar from their just State of Israel, and turned them into enemies of the State and the nation. Their prime minister placed them together with the Hamas and the Hizballah (that were also opposed to Oslo). From now on they would no longer be pioneers in the forefront of Zionism, but its enemies. Yehuda began participating in various protest activities. They didn't change anything, but at least helped him to relieve his frustration. When the Zo Artzeinu movement blocked the roads in the country, little David had just celebrated his seventh birthday. His mother told him to look after his brothers because she had to go and bring Daddy home from jail. Ariel Sharon lay at that time in a protest tent and maintained a hunger strike against the government's policy. Afterwards Rabin was murdered, all the protests were stopped, and Peres took his place. Peres was given a golden opportunity to hand over to the terrorists all the towns in Yesha (Judea and Samaria), without any opposition, and he exploited it fully. Later there were elections, which Netanyahu won, and then continued in exactly the same direction. Now Yehuda was in total despair. At that time the Arab terrorism increased in intensity: buses were blown up and horrors we had never previously experienced became routine events. The lives of the settlers became cheap, and in some isolated settlements they buried almost 10% of their men-folk. Three years later Ehud Barak defeated Netanyahu in the elections. Just as in the time of Shamir, now also the Israeli public wanted a prime minister who could promise them everything. Rabin, the much decorated and determined general, had promised peace within six months and defeated Shamir, and now Barak, a similar figure to Rabin, promised peace within three months and defeated Netanyahu. Neither Shamir nor Netanyahu attempted to propose an alternative to the promise of peace of the Left. Their hesitation was manifest and their defeat was only a matter of time. Barak tried to realize his promise by handing Jerusalem over to the enemy, but the terrorism that naturally increased prevented him from doing so. He ordered the IDF to flee in humiliation from Lebanon, and thus brought the city of Hadera within the range of the Hizballah's missiles. This led inevitably to his defeat. The peak of the terrorist offensive began in 2000 after Sharon visited the Temple Mount. Arafat called it the Temple Mount War, and he was right. In the election campaign that followed, Yehuda stood at road junctions and handed out material in support of Sharon. He wasn't a Likudnik, but for him Sharon represented a lifeboat in the crisis. Apart from that, who else was there to vote for? Barak? The public, that had already begun to realize the meaning of the Left's peace, fled from everything exuding a smell of Oslo. They wanted someone who would achieve real, not imaginary peace, would wage a small war and bring all this horror to an end. The Likud achieved a resounding victory, and Ariel Sharon became prime minister. At the beginning of the decade that followed Rabin's hand shaking with Arafat, Yehuda fought to return to Israel what it had lost. He still remembered the feelings of victory, of belonging to a country in the right, of solidarity that crossed all the political lines. He was an enthusiastic Zionist, and wanted to return to the good, old Zionism that he knew. However, Yehuda had an open mind, and when Netanyahu continued the Oslo process, he realized that the problem didn't lie simply with who was in power, the Left or the Right, the Labor Party or the Likud. A small pamphlet called Lechatchila began to appear in the synagogue in his settlement. The ideas expressed in it seemed to him to be totally naïve. They talked about the need to set up a belief-based alternative for the leadership of the country. Yehuda didn't believe that it was possible, but he also realized that there was no other solution. He joined the ranks of Manhigut Yehudit (The Jewish Leadership Movement), and instead of clinging to the Israel that he had lost, he began to dream and to promote the belief-based one, that would eventually replace the one that had failed. Little David grew up and became a strong, vital boy. A wild flower had grown in the garden of Yehuda and Tamar. David and his friends wore large kippot (scullcaps) and grew long, curly peot -- a kind of unconscious protest against the knitted kippa (scullcap) that was hidden by his father's Palmach-style haircut. Although Yehuda never changed his own appearance, he liked this fashion of the young people living in the hilltop settlements. A new spirit began to emerge in Yesha. Yehuda couldn't explain it, but it made him feel good. He stopped clinging to the old-style Zionism, and realized that his son was representing something far more relevant. His son David had never experienced the feelings of victory. The State hardly existed for him. It had not protected him against the Arabs who constantly hurled stones at the school bus he traveled in. It had not saved the father of Uri, his best friend, from that terrorist attack. It had released jailed terrorists who had blown off the legs of Shmuel, who sat behind him in class. For David a bulletproof bus, concrete walls, and sand bags in the windows were routine things. Not only had the State failed to solve the problem, it had in fact created it, and even persecuted those who tried to defend themselves. Yehuda and Tamar explained to David that the problem did not lie with the State but with the government. We love the State and the government will change. But David didn't really succeed in understanding these nuances. For him the State did not represent justice, but his parents and his friends did. The teachers and the settlement represented justice, but the State, the army, and the police were something mixed up, that sometimes protects me and sometimes persecutes me. They were something pitiful, that you have to hold onto, to prevent it from getting away. David and his friends grew up in this duality during the Oslo decade. When Sharon decided to destroy entire settlements and evict their residents, David and his friends were 16 years old. They grew up with a great contradiction -- between wonderful G-d-fearing education, love for the nation and the country, restraint, pioneering, and self-sacrifice -- that they received from their parents, and the impotence, nihilism, and criminal abandonment radiated by their State. David and his friends grew up with feelings of moral superiority over the State and its institutions, for which his parents still retained some degree of respect. But for David and his friends respect for the State had not ended. It had simply never begun. Yehuda didn't believe that the day would come when he would return his officer's card to his commander in the crack unit in which he served. "I joined the IDF in order to defend Jews and not evict them", he explained. "The day will come when the Israeli Army will return to its former state, and then I will be pleased to serve in it again". Last week David and his friends sat down in the center of a major traffic route. When the policemen hit them, they laughed, as they had already seen far more dangerous things. When the police officer announced that those who wouldn't leave would be arrested at once, David and his friends surrounded him and vied to be the first arrested. David and his friends had already won. When the prisoners were brought to the cells they sang loudly, and when the Police requested them to identify themselves, to give fingerprints, and be released under restrictive conditions, they laughed again and refused to cooperate. Their feelings of moral superiority dispelled their fear of the system and its enforcement agencies. The weapon of arrest and trial had totally lost its power of deterrence. The system found itself helpless in the face of a reality it had never expected. However, the peak of the strength of the act displayed in the "Practice Run" could only be appreciated two days later. David and his friends were brought before a judge for extension of their period of detention. "We are prepared to release them", explained the exhausted police representative to the amazed judge, "but none of these minors is prepared to identify himself or to pledge not to repeat his action." The judge looked in astonishment at the happy youngsters facing him. "Where are their parents?" he cried. "What kind of parents abandon their children in this way!" Yehuda, who sat at the back, stole a glance at his son who was clearly one of the leaders of the group. Tamar held back her tears. It wasn't easy for a mother who wanted to get up and hug her son in such a situation. But David was already in the future, in a liberated Jewish Israel. Yehuda and Tamar had given up the old Israel and they were with him, with little David who had run forward, and had jumped from the existing "enlightened" dictatorship to the consciousness of freedom. Yehuda and Tamar are nearing forty. Their son, David, is aged 16. They are together in this struggle and no-one can resist them. They have already won. 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. |
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ORIANA FALLACI AND FREEDOM OF SPEECH
Posted by David Holcberg, May 26, 2005. |
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Dear Editor: The decision of an Italian judge to indict author and New York resident Oriana Fallaci for being "offensive to Islam and to those who practice that religious faith" is a violation of her right to free speech and an absurd concession to Islamists at war with Western Civilization. Fallaci, as any individual, should have the right to criticize any religion or ideology, free from government censorship or retaliation. If Muslims (or Italian judges) don't like Fallaci's books, they are free to not buy them. They have no right, however, to punish or silence her. David Holcberg is a senior writer for the Ayn Rand Institute (ARI) of Irvine, California (http://www.aynrand.org). |
| GUSH KATIF |
LIES, DAMN LIES AND POLITICAL STATEMENTS
Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, May 26, 2005. |
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The amazing thing about this is that it happened at all. It is a clear indication how worried Sharon's lackeys have become. I suspect that Mofaz is expecting all this to blow up in his face and has begun preparing his retreat and defence. By openly admitting that the Government has been lying the whole time about its intentions, he can later say he really, truly and sincerely objected (see he let this 'slip out' didn't he?) but was "just following orders" and trying to influence bad boy Sharon to change his ways. If we can believe the article that was printed in HAARTZ, and that is a very big if, Sharon is losing it both physically and mentally by the day. Even if it is not true, someone just might make it true to avoid the consequences of Sharon's Pogrom. So when it all unravels, all the blame can be shifted to Sharon who will most likely be comatose by then. This is a news item from today's Arutz Sheva - IsraelNationalNews.com entitled: "Gov't Backs Off on Evacuation Promises." It is archived at http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=82718 (IsraelNN.com) Police and defense forces will continue the planned evacuation on the Sabbath and also will use male officers to force women out of their homes, according to testimony before a Knesset panel today. Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz previously has stated that the evacuation process will not take place on the Sabbath and that female policemen would deal with female residents of Gaza and northern Samaria. A special Knesset committee, before approving a special allocation of 224 million shekels ($51 million) for the evacuation, also heard that the government has gone back on its promise to relocate synagogues. 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. |
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ANOTHER TERRORIST IS INVITED TO THE WHITE HOUSE
Posted by Ruth Matar, May 26, 2005. |
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Dear Friends, I have a sad feeling of deja vu as I write today's Letter from Jerusalem. Probably, as I write this Letter, the terrorist Mahmoud Abbas is being royally received by U.S. President, George W. Bush with the "red carpet treatment", just the way former President, Bill Clinton used to receive the terrorist Yasser Arafat. In fact, Arafat was the most frequent foreign visitor to the White House, even though Clinton was aware of Arafat's murderous record, including his well documented murder of Americans. Just a few examples:
To his credit, President George W. Bush refused to meet with the Palestinian Authority Leader, Arafat. President Bush is certainly to be applauded for not having continued Bill Clinton's courting of this murderer! It is, therefore, difficult to understand why President Bush has now agreed to invite the equally murderous successor to Arafat, who is also his longtime collaborator in terror, Mahmoud Abbas, to a meeting in the White House. It is especially difficult to understand, since the President said on June 24, 2002: "The first pre-requisite for progress is for the Palestinian people to produce 'regime change'. I call upon the Palestinian People to elect new leaders not compromised by terror. The Palestinians must have new leaders, new institutions and new security arrangements." SURELY PRESIDENT BUSH cannot believe that Mahmoud Abbas meets the criteria of 'regime change', since Mahmoud Abbas co-founded the Fatah terror group with Arafat in 1964 and worked closely with him until his death in 2004, a period of forty years. SURELY PRESIDENT BUSH cannot claim that Mahmoud Abbas is a new leader not compromised by terror.
SURELY PRESIDENT BUSH cannot claim that Mahmoud Abbas has created new institutions and new security arrangements. * The Palestinian Authority security services are still actively involved in terrorism. In fact, Mahmoud Abbas is openly bringing known terrorists into their ranks. President George W. Bush has recently stated most eloquently: "The goal on the war of terrorism is to bring the enemies to justice, or justice to our enemies!" In the light of this statement, is this meeting of U.S. President George W. Bush with the newly "laundered" terrorist sidekick of Arafat, Mahmoud Abbas, really in America's interest? Ahead of his visit with U.S. President, George W. Bush at the White House this Thursday, Abbas said that he plans to demand that Washington beef up its political and economic support for the Palestinian Authority. This means in simple terms that he wants more American tax payers' money to support the documented corruption of the Palestinian Authority, his terror war against Israel, and his continual incitement against the United States. By inviting Mahmoud Abbas to the White House instead of bringing him to justice, America is encouraging terrorists all over the world, like Osama Bin Laden, to commit further and greater acts of terror. In fact, America is broadcasting the message: "Terror pays and increased terror pays even more." CALL TO ACTION: LET YOUR SENATORS AND CONGRESSMEN KNOW, IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS, THAT YOU ARE AGAINST EVEN "ONE PENNY" OF YOUR TAX DOLLARS BEING USED TO SUPPORT ABBAS' FRAUDULENT PEACE PROCESS AND THE "PRETEND" DEMOCRACY OF THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY. With Blessings and Love For Israel, Ruth Matar P.S. Don't forget to circle July 19 on your calendar for the WORLD WIDE RALLY against the deportation of Jews from their homes in our Promised Land. 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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ILLOGIC OF TERRORIST RELEASE; FIRST FAIR "TIMES" REPORT; ISRAEL MOST NAIVE
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, May 26, 2005. |
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ONE-THIRD OF ISRAELI LABOR PARTY IS ARAB! The Labor Party, that founded Israel, has about 90,000 paid-up members. 30,000 are Arabs. They will constitute one-third of the Labor Members of Knesset and, because of in-fighting in the Party, bid to take over the Party. Party leaders are said to be worried about this, but intimidated from bringing it up lest they be accused of racism (Arutz-7, 5/19) Is it better to lose your country and your lives to an Arab fifth column than to be accused of racism? Israeli Jews are afraid of being unfairly accused, but the Arabs are not afraid to make truly racist remarks and state truly racist goals or break other laws. A double standard condones Arab racism and lawlessness. ANOTHER PRISONER RELEASE? The Israeli Army favors more concessions to the P.A.. It supposes that without them, Abbas would fall to Hamas, and it considers Hamas worse. Among the measures being considered is the release of hundreds more terrorists. The US coordinator, Gen. Ward, pressed Israel to make such concessions. He countered Israeli complaints of P.A. non-compliance with, "What about your own commitments?" (IMRA, 5/20.) The P.A. commitments are supposed to be prerequisites for Israeli commitments. It is unfair to equate the P.A. commitments to end terrorism with Israeli commitments to end certain building. Israeli did not make any agreements to release prisoners. Releasing terrorists is not legitimate. The whole process of which Gen. Ward is a part is a phony dismantlement of Zionism and a boost for the Arabs, who do not want peace. A release would boost Hamas claims to be bringing Israel to heel. It would boost Hamas recruiting. Releasing terrorists leads to killing more Israelis. May they kill Gen. Ward and those IDF officers guilty of recommending it, rather than innocent Israelis! But it usually is the innocent who pay for the crimes of the cynical, the rigid ideologues, or the overly clever. ABANDONMENT MEANS WAR "Let us stop kidding ourselves. These bloodthirsty Arab terrorists cannot restrain themselves for five minutes from the thrill of killing Jews. They cannot hold themselves back until after Sharon surrenders the land to them in the upcoming disengagement. If their hatred of Jews permits them to continue their terror now, in spite of the risk it should present to the unilateral withdrawal (under fire), what will be after the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the expulsion of the Jews who live in Gaza? What will be when the border controlled by the PA is that much closer to Sderot, Ashqelon and Tel Aviv? What will be when the Arabs improve the range of the rockets and smuggle more sophisticated missiles and rockets into Gaza and into Israel?" "There is one way to distance the threat of domestic Arab terror and kassam style rockets and that is by distancing those who perpetrate those acts of terror and distancing the hostile population that harbors them. The Sharon disengagement plan does the exact opposite: It brings the areas under terrorist control that much closer to major Israeli cities!" "The majority of Jews would gladly vote against the Sharon plan if they were given an alternative plan that would truly distance the Arab threat of Gaza and the Northern Shomron. If only the nation of Israel was given the opportunity to vote and to decide their own destiny and if they were given an alternative Jewish disengagement plan that would call for the expulsion of the hostile Arabs to an area beyond a deep security zone outside of Israel, thereby effectively distancing the threat of Arab domestic terror and kassams from major Israeli cities." (Voice of Judea, 5/20.) ISRAEL'S NEW POSITION ON POLLARD An Israeli Ambassador visited Pollard, after extensive criticism for not having visited in the 20 years of captivity. He came without any plan to demand Pollard's release, but with the old promises that have proved insincere. "Esther Pollard, meanwhile, accused Sharon of conducting a public-relations campaign with no intention of actually pressing for her husband's release." "Nobody in this country believes that with our special relationship with the US, we couldn't get him released after 20 years;" "Israeli agents were released in a matter of days, weeks or months from Jordan, Cyprus, New Zealand and Switzerland." (IMRA, 5/18.) Excessive incarceration is persecution. Why does the US have to be prodded to do the right thing and exercise clemency? When will Israeli politicians stop doing things so shameful that they would rather keep a man in jail beyond reason in order that he not reveal their dirty linen? AS IF ARAFAT STILL RULES "For the fourth consecutive day, Dr. Abbas's state-controlled media praised men who attacked or tried to attack Israel targets with missiles, mortars, rifles and road-side bombs, calling them 'martyrs,' while accusing Israel of war crimes for killing the terrorists in the course of their attacks." (IMRA, 5/20 from Michael Widlanski.) The Arabs continue their war crimes while accusing Israeli defense against them of being war crimes. Friends of Israel should tell people to stop taking Arab complaints seriously. A FAIR REPORT FROM THE "NY TIMES" Correspondent Steven Erlanger's 5/21 report, "Palestinian Attack Hardens Israeli Settlers' Resistance," stated the facts and clearly phrased Israeli opinions and explanations. A variety of P.A. attacks were reported (although usually they are not reported unless there are fatalities or are spectacular, and instead the newspaper goes along with the pretense that there is a ceasefire). It was plainly put that despite having discovered (or been informed) of a pending rocket attack on Israel, P.A. police let it be perpetrated. A Hamas claim to be retaliating was challenged by a more cogent Israeli denial. Israeli restraint was noted. Settlers' faith in preventing their abandonment was expressed without being mocked. PM Sharon's notion that abandonment of some territory would strengthen Israel's hold on the rest was refuted. This is the first fair "NY Times" report on the Arab-Israel conflict that I have seen. See below. ANOTHER ROCKET BARRAGE Although warned about a pending attack, the IDF was not given permission to ambush it. (This the "Times" omitted." The Arabs fired once at a civilian target and several times at the IDF. Not for two hours did the IDF get permission to fire back. Then it killed one attacker and wounded another (Arutz-7, 5/19). Politics and public relations interference with military operations hampers defense and, by letting the war drag on, constantly provides grist for anti-Zionist mills. The gentile world will not treat Israel more normally, as a country entitled to see to its own security, until Israel treats itself as such. Israel must stop bending over backwards. Friends suggest that "the world won't let Israel do" what it needs to. Mostly it would, though with protest. Israel must learn to defend itself in words and in deeds. First it must get a patriotic government system CHALLENGE: FIND A STATE MORE NAÏVE THAN ISRAEL Vice-PM Olmert admitted he had no idea what would follow Israel's withdrawal from Gaza, and had not studied it. Nevertheless, he approves of withdrawal. (Then this is not about Israel doing something for itself but in behalf of outside interests. Those outsiders favor the Arabs). Olmert blithely looks forward to Egypt as sole guardian against arms smuggling. Has Olmert no understanding that Egypt superintends the arms smuggling (and directs the P.A. not to disarm Hamas)? One thing clearly would follow withdrawal. Egypt would place 750 heavily armed troops, rather than the permitted lightly armed police, at the border with Gaza, and another 2,500 troops at the border with Israel, "to ensure that the withdrawal is orderly." Foreign Min. Shalom is willing for the P.A. to open an airport, if it assures Israel that it would not use the airport to attack Israel. He approves pulling out of Gaza, if the P.A. assures Israel that it would not use Gaza for staging rocket attacks on Israel (IMRA, 5/22). Israel wants "assurances" from the P.A., a fanatical, Jew-hating, terrorist entity that breaks all its agreements? Even now, with Israeli troops stopping some of the rocket attacks, the P.A. lets the reste go on. Why, when Israeli troops would have withdrawn, would the P.A. not freely use the arms it now is smuggling in, with the cooperation of Egypt, and why wouldn't it use the airport to ship in heavier weapons? Perhaps Shalom and Olmert should review the PLO Covenant, which holds that it would use any territory it gains from Israel to conquer the rest, including Israel. I challenge you to find another contemporary government more naively self-defeating than Israel. The religious Jews find their present, minimal casualties a miracle. The Israeli government, however, is going along with US demands to give latitude to the Arabs that inevitably would multiply those casualties. The Muslims must be calling Israeli naivete a miracle, too. PERES PLEASED WITH P.A. REACTION TO COMPLAINT Vice-PM Peres complained to P.A. Prime Minister Qurei, after Gaza terrorists had fired 59 rockets at Jewish communities. Peres reiterated, for the nth time, that the P.A. should disarm the terrorists. Qurei promised, for the nth time, that the P.A. would. Peres professed himself pleased that the P.A. "will take all the necessary measures." (Arutz-7, 5/22). Abbas admits that he will not take forceful measures, and the P.A. keeps no promises, but Peres is pleased at their umpteenth promise. Peres always is good for a laugh. ANTI-POLLARD MYTHS PERSIST "Yediot Ahronot" published a claim that the government of Israel paid a million dollars for Jonathan's personal, post-conviction expenses. The newspaper checked with the government, which denied the claim. Now "Haaretz" published the same debunked claim (IMRA, 5/22). KORAN-FLUSHING IN CONTEXT The story about US interrogators flushing Korans down the toilet, to intimidate Muslim prisoners was fraudulent. A well-known true story is that when searching foreign visitors' luggage, and finds Christian Bibles there, it destroys them. Why no indignation over that? (Prof. Steven Plaut, 5/22). 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 ricshulman@aol.com. |
| GUSH KATIF |
SHARON GETS HIS ORDERS
Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, May 26, 2005. |
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This is called "Washington Sees Gaza Withdrawal as Stage One of Rapid Israeli Rollback." It's a DEBKAfile special report today from Washington (www2.debka.com/article.php?aid=1030). The Bush administration has always shied from getting confrontational with Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon. Eager to see the Gaza and northern Samaria "disengagement" get underway, Washington backed the pullouts with all the diplomatic means and media spin at its disposal. This fitted in with Sharon's strategy of presenting disengagement to the Israeli public as a finite plan that would not lead to additional withdrawals afterward. US officials also had no problem with Sharon describing his three-day visit to New York and Washington this week as nothing more than an opportunity to touch base with American Jewish leaders. But on the quiet, administration officials took the opportunity of a word in the Israeli prime minister's ear to dictate his next steps in the wake of the evacuation of 21 Gaza Strip communities and four out of the 120 in the West Bank. In an exclusive report from Washington, DEBKAfile's sources can reveal that US officials, including national security adviser Stephen Hadley, made a point of seeing Sharon during his visits to New York and Washington in the first part of the week. Tuesday, May 24, he pledged to the AIPAC convention - to loud cheers - that major Israeli population centers in Judea and Samaria would remain an integral part of Israel and be contiguous to the state of Israel in any final-status agreement. That same day, those US officials informed him that the forces assigned to execute the pullout from Gaza must be assigned directly to their next task: the dismantling of each and every "illegal settlement-outpost" in the West Bank. The evacuations would not end there either. Sharon was also told that further steps would be demanded, to be discussed at a later date. Hadley had a simple "suggestion" for Sharon: Since the large forces he deployed for the Gaza withdrawal in mid-August will have been relocated in mid-September to northern Samaria to evacuate four settlements, the prime minister should take advantage of the pullout momentum and the resources dedicated to the disengagement and clear out the "illegal outposts" as well. As to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) and his White House talks Thursday, May 26, the US officials assured Sharon that the Palestinian leader would be made to promise steps suggesting Palestinian cooperation in several disengagement-related issues. The US tactic presented to the Israeli prime minister was clear: President Bush, by forcing Sharon to remove the disputed West Bank outposts without delay, is entitled to demand that Palestinian reciprocity in cooperating with Sharon across the disengagement board - starting from the evacuation of Gush Katif and northern Samaria and continuing through further Israeli withdrawals from large tracts of the West Bank. According to DEBKAfile's Washington sources, the US president was also preparing to warn Abu Mazen to stop trying to jump to the last stage of the roadmap for instant final- status talks. He will be told to stop attempting to put the horse before the cart. Either drop the roadmap or follow through on all its performance-related clauses including uprooting terrorism and reforms. In short, the Palestinians cannot hope to achieve a permanent state with permanent borders in one leap. The US, the Palestinians and Israel, in the Bush administration's view, share in interest in gaining a provisional Palestinian state with temporary borders before the end of Bush's term in office. As for the Palestinian elections on July 17, DEBKAfile's Palestinian sources report that Abu Mazen can now afford to stick to the date without delay and present this as a concession to the US president. In fact, the delay has become superfluous, our sources have discovered, because Hamas has reached a strategic decision not to challenge Abbas' Fatah for the domination of Palestinian government. Its leaders decided that they had better leverage for manipulating Abu Mazen from outside government and leaving him to face the music from Washington and Jerusalem. In opposition, the radical Islamist terrorist group would meanwhile build up its popularity in the Palestinian street. As for Sharon, the administration purposely left Sharon no maneuvering room or a change to explain the new move to the Israeli public. As one senior US source put it, "We did not want to give Sharon leeway for delaying action in the West Bank." The best the Americans could offer Sharon was a vague promise to help him "overcome the domestic difficulties he will face in implementing" the outposts' removal. A startled US official, in Washington for the AIPAC conference and aware of the American maneuver, asked the administration why it had decided to sandbag the prime minister. "There has been no change in the US position. This has always been Washington's position," came the reply. But, the Israeli official argued, Sharon and his chief political adviser, Dov Weisglass, had constantly made clear there would be no additional pullouts after the Gaza and northern Samaria disengagement. "Sorry, but you can't rely on what Weisglass has to say," a US official replied. "He does not understand the way secretary of state Condoleezza Rice thinks. Nor does he understand her diplomatic vocabulary. During his meetings with Rice, he misinterpreted her naturally courteous demeanor as consent to everything he said." 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. |
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THE HAZARDS OF MAKING "THE CASE FOR ISRAEL"
Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, May 26, 2005. |
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This was written by Alan Dershowitz, who is a professor of law at Harvard. His latest book is "Rights From Wrongs: A Secular Theory of the Origins of Rights." Publication of The Case for Israel has made me the target of vicious personal attacks. A systematic effort to discredit the book, and me, has been undertaken by a well-organized group of Israel bashers led by Noam Chomsky, Norman Finkelstein, and Alexander Cockburn. As soon as the book reached the bestseller lists and began to get good reviews around the country, this triumvirate went to work. They had a model for their attack going back 20 years. The mode of attack is consistent. Chomsky selects the target and directs Finkelstein to probe the writings in minute detail and conclude that the writer didn't actually write the work, that it is plagiarized, that it is a hoax and a fraud. Cockburn publicizes these "findings," and then a cadre of fellow travelers bombard the Internet with so many attacks on the target that these attacks jump to the top of Google. Because no one has thus far exposed the pattern, each attack may seem plausible on first impression. But when the pattern is examined and exposed, the entire enterprise becomes clear for what it is: a clear attempt to chill pro-Israel advocacy on university campuses by a form of literary McCarthyism. Many people know who Noam Chomsky is. The jacket of one of his books describes him, without irony, as "arguably the most important intellectual alive."[1] But some are also aware of the darker side of his record - including of supporting, praising, and working with neo-Nazi Holocaust deniers. Chomsky's most notorious bedfellow is Robert Faurisson, who called the Holocaust a "hoax," denied the existence of Hitler's gas chambers, claimed that the diary of Anne Frank was a "forgery," and described the Jewish claims for Holocaust reparations as a "fraud." Chomsky leapt to Faurisson's support, praising him as a scholar who had done "extensive historical research" and to describe his lies about the Holocaust as historical "findings."[2] Chomsky did not see any "hint of anti-Semitic implications" in Faurisson's claim that the so-called Holocaust was a fraud perpetrated by the Jewish people against Germany. Chomsky, the linguist, assured his readers that "nobody believes there is an anti-Semitic connotation to the denial of the Holocaust... whether one believes it took place or not."[3] As Paul L. Berman summarized Chomsky's record on these issues: "Chomsky's view of anti-Semitism is positively wild. His definition is so narrow, neither the Protocols of the Elders of Zion nor the no-Holocaust delusion fit into it... I am afraid that his present remarks on anti-Semitism and Zionist lies disqualify him from ever being taken seriously on matters pertaining to Jews."[4] Ever since his close association with neo-Nazi Holocaust deniers compromised his credibility on "matters pertaining to Jews," Chomsky has tended to leave it to surrogates to continue his campaign of vilification against the Jewish community. His primary surrogate is Norman Finkelstein. Chomsky has characterized Finkelstein as one of his "very close friends"[5] and "a very fine scholar." (Chomsky has also characterized the work of Ward Churchill - the Colorado professor who called the victims of the attack on the World Trade Center "little Eichmanns" - as "excellent, penetrating and of high scholarly quality," and his achievements as "of inestimable value.") Chomsky has urged audiences "to come listen to" Finkelstein because he can speak about Israel "with more authority and insight... than anyone I can think of." This, about a man who boasts of "publicly honoring" and showing "solidarity with Hezbollah," the anti-American terrorist organization dedicated to Israel's destruction by violence. Finkelstein is a transient academic who describes himself as "in exile" at De Paul University because he has been - by his own account - "thrown out of every school in New York."[6] He has been fired by Brooklyn College, N.Y.U., and several other schools for "incompetence," "mental instability," and "abuse" of students with politics different from his own, according to a high-ranking official at one of the schools. Finkelstein has admitted, "Never has one of my articles been published in a scientific magazine."[7] And deservedly so, as Peter Novick, whose book The Holocaust in American Life Finkelstein has characterized as "the initial stimulus for [his] book,"[8] wrote: "As concerns particular assertions made by Finkelstein concerning reparations and restitution, and on other matters as well, the appropriate response is not (exhilarating) 'debate' but (tedious) examination of his footnotes. Such an examination reveals that many of those assertions are pure invention. [...] No facts alleged by Finkelstein should be assumed to be really facts, no quotation in his book should be assumed to be accurate, without taking the time to carefully compare his claims with the sources he cites."[9] Finkelstein has said that he "can't imagine why Israel's apologists would be offended by a comparison with the Gestapo"[10] and asserted that Israel's human rights record is "interchangeable with Iraq's" when it was ruled by Saddam Hussein.[11] He has said that most alleged Holocaust survivors - including Elie Wiesel - have fabricated their past, are "bogus," and that those seeking reparations are "cheats" and "greedy." Because of my support of Israel, he has compared me to "Adolf Eichman [sic],"[12] and accused me of expressing "Nazi moral judgments."[13] When challenged to defend his frequent comparison between Jews and Nazis, he has responded, "Nazis never like to hear they're being Nazis."[14] He is a popular speaker among German neo-Nazis; one, Ingrid Rimland, whose husband, the notorious Ernst Zuendel, wrote "The Hitler We Loved And Why", even referred to him admiringly as the "Jewish David Irving" ("Jüdischer David Irving") - a reference to the British Holocaust denier and Hitler admirer. The comparison is apt because Finkelstein has reportedly praised the Holocaust-denying Irving as "a good historian"[15] and as having "made an indispensable" contribution to our knowledge of World War II."[16] A German writer has observed that "seldom has a Jew been more celebrated by brown propaganda that Finkelstein."[17] Another writer aptly described him as a Jew who "supports anti-Semitism."[18] Gabriel Schoenfeld has labeled his views as "crackpot ideas, some of them mirrored almost verbatim in the propaganda put out by neo-Nazis around the world."[19] His books do not sell in America, but they are best-sellers among the growing number of neo-Nazis in Germany. The third member of this smear team is Alexander Cockburn. Cockburn has used his column at The Nation, and his online radical hotspot Counterpunch, to publicize many of their most outrageous claims. He himself is virulently anti-Israel. In 1984 he was fired from the Village Voice for hiding a $10,000 "grant" he received from an anti-Israel organization.[20] When asked whether he believed the "stories" that he reported were "sloshing around the news" involving Israeli complicity in 9/11 and in the anthrax attacks, his response was, "I don't know there's enough exterior evidence to determine whether they are true or not."[21] Columnist Jon Margolis, after exposing several false charges made by Cockburn, asserted that "Cockburn has been abusing reality for decades" and that "as an accuser, Joe McCarthy was more responsible."[22] The story of this unholy alliance among Chomsky, Finkelstein, and Cockburn begins nearly 20 years ago with the publication of a book entitled From Time Immemorial, by a woman named Joan Peters. The book, an unlikely bestseller, was largely a demographic study of the population of the area that eventually became Israel. Peters' conclusion was that the Arab political claim that the Palestinians who left or were expelled from Israel during the war of Independence (1947-1948) had lived in the area from time immemorial was exaggerated. When Noam Chomsky learned of the Peters book, he became outraged because its thesis undercut his ideological opposition to Israel. He raised questions about whether Peters had actually written the book, claiming in print that it was "signed by Joan Peters,"[23] but "probably it had been put together by some intelligence agency..."[24] In describing the book, Chomsky totally distorted its content, alleging that it "purported to show that the Palestinians were all recent immigrants,"[25] that "there were really no Palestinians,"[26] and that "if Israel kicks them all out there's no moral issue..."[27] Nowhere in Peters' 622-page book does she make any of these claims. Chomsky telephoned Finkelstein, then a graduate student already notorious for the virulence of his anti-Zionism, and directed him to expose Peters' book as "a fraud." According to Finkelstein's own account, Chomsky told him "that if I go through the book more carefully, [I'd] probably discover that the whole thing is a fraud." Any legitimate academic would have rejected Chomsky's unscholarly directive out of hand, but not Finkelstein. Here is how he responded: "Well, you know, I'm a person of the left, and when you get a call from Professor Chomsky, his wish is your command."[29] And, of course, Finkelstein granted Chomsky this wish: he "discovered" that Peters had concocted a "spectacular hoax," a "fraud from start to finish."[30] Exactly what Chomsky had directed him to find Finkelstein also accused Peters of "plagiarism."[31] Having arranged for the hatchet job, Chomsky, who had not himself done any of the research, went even further than Finkelstein in publicizing Finkelstein's alleged conclusions. He said that the entire Peters book "was completely faked" and that "the whole thing was a hoax"[32] - claims that Finkelstein had not come close to proving. The third member of this nasty attack team, Alexander Cockburn, made similar claims. Cockburn wrote articles publicizing Finkelstein's unfair attack against Peters. He characterized her conclusions as "fraudulent," "mad,"[33] and immoral. The Chomsky-Finkelstein-Cockburn mode of ad hominem attack proved particularly successful against Peters because the words "hoax," "fraud," "fake," and "plagiarism" are so dramatic and unforgettable, as is the charge that Peters did not actually write the book, but merely signed a KGB-style forgery concocted by "some intelligence agency." It did not seem to matter that none of these charges made by Chomsky, Finkelstein and Cockburn were even close to the truth. All Finkelstein had managed to show was that in a relatively small number of instances, Peters may have misinterpreted some data, ignored counter-data, and exaggerated some findings - common problems in demographic research that often appear in anti-Israel books as well. To date, Finkelstein has targeted at least the following writers who support Israel and seek justice for Holocaust survivors: Elie Wiesel, Stuart Eizenstat, Martin Gilbert, Daniel Goldhagen, Burt Neuborne, Yehuda Bauer, Gerald Feldman, Richard Overy, Abba Eban - calling these distinguished Jews "hucksters," "hoaxters," "thieves," "extortionists," and worse. The pattern of attack is always similar. Thus, it was only natural that the anti-Israel triumvirate would target me in a similar manner after the publication of "The Case for Israel". The well-planned and carefully coordinated response to "The Case for Israel" employed exactly the same words they had employed so successfully against Peters (and others). They first claimed - as they had with Peters - that I did not "write this book," that I did not even "read it," and that I "had no idea what was in the book." Recently Finkelstein claimed that I don't write any of my books: "[Dershowitz] has come to the point where he's had so many people write so many of his books... [I]t's sort of like a Hallmark line for Nazis... [T]hey churn them out so fast that he has now reached a point where he doesn't even read them."[34] The implication was that some Israeli intelligence agency or propaganda unit wrote it and had me sign it - as they claimed was the situation with Peters' book. The problem for them is that I don't type or use a computer, so that every word of the text was handwritten by me in my own handwriting - and I still have the manuscript. Even after I publicly offered to make the manuscript available for anyone to examine, Finkelstein repeated the false charge on a C-SPAN television broadcast.[35] Well, if I did actually write it in my own hand, I must have copied it or plagiarized it. That was the next charge. And guess who I plagiarized it from? Joan Peters, according to Finkelstein, Chomsky, and Cockburn. The problem with their charge is that Peters' book was entirely demographic and historical, whereas more than 90 percent of my book deals with contemporary events that took place after the publication of Peters' book. The other, even more serious problem for them is that they could not come up with a single sentence, phrase or idea in my book that came from another source and was used without quotation marks, attribution, and citation. Indeed, I explicitly cited Peters' book numerous times while disclaiming reliance on its conclusions because I disagreed with some of them. That, of course, means there was no plagiarism. But Finkelstein knew from his previous experience that the charge of plagiarism, if leveled, would be more likely to garner media attention than simple criticism of my conclusions. In order to level this spurious charge, Finkelstein made up a false quotation, which he called the "smoking gun:"[36] "[I]n the proofs, it... says: Copy from Joan Peters.[37] It does... There was no question about it." He thus alleges that I instructed a research assistant to "copy"[38] from another author without citations. But he simply makes up the word "copy." The note says precisely the opposite: "cite sources on pp. 160, 485, 486, footnotes 141-145." The instruction is to be certain that the material is properly cited. This is not proof of plagiarism; it is proof of scholarship. That is why James O. Freedman, the former president of Dartmouth, University of Iowa, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, concluded after reviewing the Finkelstein charge:"I do not understand [Finkelstein's] charge of plagiarism against Alan Dershowitz. There is no claim that Dershowitz used the words of others without attribution. When he uses the words of others, he quotes them properly and generally cites them to the original sources (Mark Twain, Palestine Royal Commission, etc.) [Finkelstein's] complaint is that instead he should have cited them to the secondary source, in which Dershowitz may have come upon them. But as the Chicago Manual of Style emphasizes: Importance of attribution. With all reuse of others' materials, it is important to identify the original as the source. This not only bolsters the claims of fair use, it also helps avoid any accusation of plagiarism." This is precisely what Dershowitz did. Moreover, many of the sources quoted both by Dershowitz and Peters are commonly quoted in discussions of this period of Palestinian history. Nor can it be said that Dershowitz used Peters' ideas without attribution. He cites Peters seven times in the early chapter of his book, while making clear that he does not necessarily accept her conclusions. This is simply not plagiarism, under any reasonable definition of that word. Professor Charles Fried, the former Solicitor General of the U.S. and the Beneficial Professor of Law at Harvard, agrees, calling the Finkelstein accusation "stupid, unfair and ridiculous" from a biased accuser."[39] The distinguished chief-librarian at Harvard Law School also concluded that I had done nothing improper. An inquiry by Harvard cleared me of any wrongdoing. Finkelstein, of course, knows this, but he also knows that a false charge once made tends to stick, even if it has been authoritatively disproved. The media regards plagiarism as such an explosive charge that even absolute innocence is no defense. After the charge against me was authoritatively dismissed as wholly without merit, it continued to be recycled and even expanded. Finkelstein's tiny accusation that I cited Peters merely eight times instead of a dozen times in two small chapters totaling seven pages of my 264-page book - totally false as it is - has ballooned into a charge that I plagiarized "all" or "large parts" of my book from Peters, despite the fact that the majority of my book deals with events that occurred after the publication of Peter's book. For example, here is what Chomsky has said: "large parts of the book were simply plagiarized from a well-known hoax..." It sounds familiar, doesn't it? The only new element in this tired tactic is the creative use of the Internet. Despite his demonstrable lies, Finkelstein is a popular speaker at anti-Israel events on university campuses around the world. He is not quite as popular as Chomsky and Cockburn, but he is paid handsomely by student groups anxious to promote his anti-Zionist rants. The members of the McCarthyite triumvirate are invited to campuses far more frequently than centrist, moderate pro-Israel speakers. There is something very wrong with this picture, but now that the pattern of literary McCarthyism has been exposed, perhaps the picture will change. [1] Noam Chomsky, What Uncle Sam Really Wants (Tucson: Odonian Press, 1993). [2] Werner Cohn, "Chomsky and Holocaust Denial," from eds. Peter Collier and David Horowitz, The Anti-Chomsky Reader (San Francisco: Encounter Books, 2004), p. 124. [3] Scot Lehigh, "Men of Letters," Boston Phoenix, June 16-22, 1989, p. 30 [4] Paul L. Berman, reply to "Chomsky: Freedom of Expression? Absolutely," Village Voice, July 1-7, 1981, p. 13, 15. [5] Eds. Peter R. Mitchell and John Schoeffel, Understanding Power: The Indispensable Chomsky, (New York: New Press, 2002), p. 245. [6] "I won't lie down and take the insults," Irish Times, July 1, 2003, p. 13. [7] Ibid. [8] Norman Finkelstein, The Holocaust Industry, p. 4 [9] Peter Novick, "Offene Fenster und Tueren. Ueber Norman Finkelsteins Kreuzzug," in: Petra Steinberger (ed.): Die Finkelstein-Debatte, (Piper Verlag: Muenchen 2001), p. 159 (translated from German) [10] John Dirlik, "Canadian Jewish Organizations Charged With Stifling Campus Debate," Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, April/May 1992, p. 43. [11] Norman Finkelstein, "A Reply to Henry Kissinger and Fouad Ajami," Link, December 1992, p. 8. [12] Y.M.D. Fremes, "Interview with Professor Norman G. Finkelstein," Palestine Chronicle, November 24, 2003. [13] May 15, 2004, public forum at the Vancouver Public Library. [14] Simon Rosenblum and Len Rudner, "In a nasty neighbourhood, Israel needs to be tough," Record, June 16, 2003. [15] Anne Applebaum, "The battle for the Holocaust Legacy," Sunday Telegraph, July 16, 2000 (accessible at www.anneapplebaum.com/other/2000/07_16_tel_holocaust.html). [16] Finkelstein, The Holocaust Industry, p. 71. [17] Eds. Martin Dietzsch and Alfred Schobert, "Ein jüdischer David Irving" Norman Finkelstein im Diskurs der Rechten - Erinnerungsabwehr und Antizionismus" (Duisburg, Germany: Unrast Verlag), p. 6 (translated from German). [18] Ibid. [19] Gabriel Schoenfeld's response to critics, "Holocaust Reparations," Commentary, January 2001, p. 20. [20] "Village Voice Suspends Alexander Cockburn Over $10,000 Grant," Wall Street Journal, January 18,1984, p. 12. [21] Franklin Foer, "Relativity Theory; Alexander Cockburn's Dubious Theories," New Republic, April 22, 2002, p. 12. [22] Jon Margolis, "A treatise on columnist Alexander Cockburn," High Country News, May 11, 1998. [23] Eds. Mitchell and Schoeffel, Understanding Power: The Indispensable Chomsky, p. 244 (emphasis original). [24] Ibid., p. 245. [25] Ibid., p. 244 (emphasis added). [26] Ibid. (emphasis added). [27] Ibid. (emphasis added). [28] May 15, 2004, public forum at the Vancouver Public Library, "Is Criticism of Israel Anti-Semitic?" (accessible at http://www.workingtv.com/finkelstein.html). [29] Ibid. [30] Ibid. [31] Ibid. [32]Mitchell and Schoeffel, Understanding Power: The Indispensable Chomsky, p. 245. [33] Alexander Cockburn, "My Life as an 'Anti-Semite,'" from eds. Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair, The Politics of Anti-Semitism (Oakland, Calif.: AK Press, 2003), p. 25. [34]Norman Finkelstein 'Ambushes' Alan Dershowitz (Part II): theExperiment, Dec. 6, 2003, accessible at http://theexperiment.org/articles.php?news_id=1991. [35] Book TV, April 11, 2004. [36] May 15, 2004, public forum at the Vancouver Public Library. [37] Finkelstein, "Israel-Palestine Conflict: Roots of conflict, prospects for peace," Calgary, April 3, 2004 [38] Ibid. [39] Lauren A. E. Schuker, "Dershowitz Defends Book," Harvard Crimson, October 2, 2003, p. A8. 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). |
| GUSH KATIF |
WE'RE NOT AFRAID
Posted by Batya Medad, May 25, 2005. |
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Justice Minister Livni is trying to scare us, claiming that our opposition to Disengagement will cause "chaos." http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=82567 And what's "chaos"? According to the dictionary, it's: "a state of extreme confusion and disorder." That's what Ariel Sharon and his government are causing. He has abandoned all ideology and his party's long-standing platform. He's the Mr. Hyde after Dr. Jeckyl took the magic potion. I just googled Sharon's visit to New York and discovered that almost all of the articles are identical, superficial and ignored most of his speech. Apparently they were taken from a single press release, which is a timely reminder about the level of the professional journalism in our day and age. Those who did listen carefully, or read the text, discovered that he's treating Judea and Samaria like some unwanted junk at a "garage sale." He's offering a good deal if only the Arabs would promise a bissel quiet, and if they don't, it doesn't matter. He'll give it away anyhow. http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=82495 Yes, this is confusing. Wasn't Ariel Sharon a famous Israeli war hero and general? Wasn't he also one of the strongest and most enthusiastic supporters of Jewish settlement in Judea, Samaria and Gaza? He's the one who pointed to the hilltops, such as my neighborhood, and told Jews to inhabit them, like in the days of Joshua of the Bible. And now all of these thriving communities are on a silver platter to be given to our enemies, the same terrorists who murder, maim and educate their children to kill us. He's planning on throwing good loyal Israelis from their homes and businesses and turn it all over to the same Arabs who are bombing our civilians. Think of the chaos in refugee camps and storage depots where the government is planning on herding the homeless refugees and dumping thousands of crates of furniture, appliances, books, clothing, toys and the rest of the personal possessions of the innocent civilians deported from their homes until they get "permanent housing." The military experts are predicting an enormous increase in terror and more rockets and missles will be fired at Israel if Disengagement takes place. http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=82097 Isn't it "peculiar" when a government declares a policy that they know will endanger the country? Maybe "peculiar" is the wrong word. Will I be arrested for using a different word, like "sedicious"? Those of us who don't agree with the Disengagement policy aren't confused at all, nor are we causing "chaos." We're trying to bring stability and security to Israel. We're focused, and we're not afraid. Just now, as I'm writing this, I saw a news report that anti-Disengagement demonstrators blocked one of Israel's main highway. There were no arrests. Last week the police would have arrested them for the same "crimes." But since the demonstrators aren't afraid of being jailed, and the police don't have the manpower to waste on the legal bureacracy, they're changing tactics. That's a victory for our protest movement. Israel's old, veteran Etzel and Lechi (pre-state underground) fighters must feel that they're transported back to the past, as youngsters brag about how they stuck posters on walls late at night. There are two main differences between now and then. One is that today they're protesting against The State of Israel, and the other is that they don't have to cook the glue. Yes, we'll have the last laugh, b'ezrat Hashem, with G-d's help. This is Musing #121. 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 essay is also available at http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2005/05/120-natural-treasures.html |
| GUSH KATIF |
THE WRITING ON THE WALL
Posted by Emanuel A. Wilson, May 25, 2005. |
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This was written by Professor Eugene Narrett. It is archived on the Freeman Center, (http://www.freeman.org/serendipity/). If my opinion matters, I agree completely with Professor Narrett'S scenario and conclusions. It is very important that everyone recognize what the Foreign Ministries of Europe, Russia, the Vatican intend to do to the State of Israel. The "peace process" a.k.a. the "land for peace" process, a.k.a. the worldwide 'crusade for freedom & democracy' [sic] intends to expel from their homes, farms, synagogues, etc. not only the Jewish inhabitants of the Gaza region, Judea and Samaria, the heartland of ancient Israel and location of Judaism's holiest sites, but to all of Israel. None of this is new: its modern phase began when the Cairo office of the British Foreign Ministry extended its sway over all British diplomacy during the 1920s and eventually synchronized it with America through the State Department by 1938, as was evident by the upshot of FDR's directing of the Evian and Bermuda conferences in 1938 and 1943. The powers of the world, enflaming and exploiting Islam's long-inculcated hatred of Jews, intend to cripple Israel and insure that it never is a truly Jewish state, and never approaches even that part of its territory (Israel & transjordan) the League of Nations let Britain administer in order to "facilitate Jewish immigration, close settlement of Jews on the land" and to "establish the Jewish national home." Please, people: just step back and look at the consistent direction of western, and eventually global diplomacy since the British fomented the Arab riots of April 1920. The one glaring constant is hindering Jewish return to the Promised Land, and attacking those Jews who manage to return and settle; attacking them by empowering Jewish 'Hellenists' and arming, creating states and apologizing for Arabs. Currently this plan to "cut them [the Jews] off from nationhood, that Israel's name not be remembered any more" is being pushed ardently & with fiendish cleverness by the US State Department whose 'first ladies' (L. Bush & C. Rice) have demanded the tri-section of Israel to facilitate creating another terror state to be named "Palestine," and asserted that the Temple Mount is "Islam's third holiest place." As Goebbels said, "if you want a lie to be believed, make it a big lie and repeat it as often as possible." Ariel Sharon, the 'manchurian candidate' of the globalists, having betrayed Jewish national rights and Jews everywhere, is going to do the dirty work, he and the Labor party hope, of literally dragging Jews from their homes. This is called, "disengagement" though, as many writers have noted, this is not only an ugly euphemism but a lie, since a million-plus Arabs will continue to live and even more commute to work in Israel, in the businesses Jews have built with their sweat, blood, dedication and skills. Please read the following excerpt from a current column on "Mahmoud Abas" (Abu Mazen, planner of the massacre of the children in Ma'alot, and author of a doctoral thesis doubting the holocaust) by Caroline Glick. Sharon and his retinue in Israel and in the USA (through organs like "the Jewish Community Relations Council" currently running poisonously misleading TV ads in the Boston and NYC areas). Then you will see that the threat to Israel goes far beyond the horror they plan to inflict upon the Jews in Katif and the northern Shomron, the tribal land of Ephraim, Joshua and Joseph's tribe. "...the IDF brass, from the Chief of Staff on down has warned that this reorganization and rearmament is the prelude to the next round of war set to begin the day after the IDF expels all 10,000 Jews from their homes, schools, businesses, farms and cemeteries in Gaza and northern Samaria this summer. In the wake of that operation, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz casually mentioned last week that 43 communities in the Negev will be within rocket range of the Palestinians from Gaza. This, of course, will be a temporary situation since the Palestinians will no doubt quickly extend the range of their rockets the moment the IDF is no longer around to stop them from doing so. The powers of the world are planning to inflict a catastrophe on Israel. Even if Israel emerges with most of its population and nominal sovereignty intact, the damage, and certainty of continuing attacks is plain. Just as in the British-American created nation of "Iraq" now being declared "free & democratic" even as Arabs called palestinians kill Americans there, the disaster planned for what now is Israel will be used to help 'justify' the increasing hegemony of a global security state that means to be the ultimate and only god of this world. Israelis, all Israelis, all Jews and others who know what Israel means to the world, now more than ever as the west disintegrates into terrors, broken families, hopelessly corrupted school systems & state treachery -- must call out to the Jews of Israel to stand together, to claim and settle and make bloom ALL of their inheritance. It is the anchor, the cornerstone, and the last best hope of any peace and humanity of which the world is capable. 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). |
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SHARON IS DECLINING PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY - DON'T LET HIM
DESTROY ISRAEL BEFORE HE IS GONE!
Posted by Emanuel Wilson, May 25, 2005. |
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The following speaks to the impact a leader can have upon his and other nations when compromised by ill health both in body and mind. Recall how a sick Presdient Roosevelt gave away half of Europe to the Communist tyrant Josef Stalin. All of Europe suffered for decades and America was forced to spend Billions of dollars to counter the Soviet Union's military and nuclear buildup. President Bush apologized for that mistake and, no doubt, in the years after Bush leaves office he will have to explain how he single-handedly built the Terrorist Muslim Palestinian State which will come to plague the world along with the other Muslims. "Jews Don't Expel Jews," the Freeman Center Blog (http://www.freeman.org/serendipity/).
This article is entitled "They deserve each other," and was written by Amir Oren and appeared in Haaretz May 24, 2005 (www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/579486.html) In Menachem Begin's final months as prime minister, months of physical and mental decline, his condition was concealed by people in his office, starting with the cabinet secretary at the time, a young lawyer from the Likud named Dan Meridor. Now, there's a Meridor of this generation, Yisrael Maimon. Participants at meetings chaired by Ariel Sharon report that Maimon usually sits to the premier's left, and is in charge of waking the premier from occasional dozes into which he sometimes falls. Maimon holds a pen or some other object, knocks the table once or twice like a hypnotist at the climax of a performance, and Sharon wakens and returns to the discussions. Politicians who follow the activities of their senior colleagues, like impatient hawks take note of every slight movement in their health. Pay attention, said one of the Likud ministers to his aide, Sharon has suddenly lost weight and has moved his wristwatch from his left arm to his right. Something has happened to him. No, the minister reported a few weeks later, it must have been a tendon or his elbow, because the watch is back on the left wrist. Last week, in the southern dunes, in a performance carefully controlled and filmed by the cameraman from his office, Sharon was seen in an outburst of energy, haranguing Defense Ministry officials and contractors in charge of building the housing for the settlers due for evacuation from Gaza. "Start working," he said about seven times, like someone searching for new words or forgetting what he had just said. He wanted to emphasize the work going on, but the impression that was received was that the work hadn't started. Sharon wanted to project power and control, and was perceived as lacking both. There's a gloomy spirit pervading the entire chain of command. Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz suffered a ringing slap in the face from senior Defense Ministry officials who are retired and not subject to his commands, when many of them - as a former Mossad chief pointedly noted as colleagues nodded - didn't show up for the annual Defense Ministry reception on Independence Day evening, protesting the display of bad manners toward Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon. Without discounting Ya'alon's own contribution to the gloom in the defense establishment, those of equal rank in that community lay more blame on Mofaz. It's no accident that all-out war has broken out in the General Staff on Ya'alon's ("liars won't be officers") and Mofaz's watch, reaching a climax this week with the judge advocate general's recommendations on the matter of the three major generals suspected of financial misdeeds. The decay has spread through their court. The use made by former chief of staff Mofaz of a misleading document from the Manpower Branch to move up the date of his demobilization retroactively so he could run for Knesset, was met by silence from Ya'alon and the head of Manpower at the time, Gil Regev - an appointment Mofaz made as chief of staff. The false presentation made by Mofaz was only blocked from outside the army, by the press, the Elections Commission and the High Court of Justice. Ya'alon and Mofaz are experienced dairymen and neither are tender young calves. In recent weeks, a new Web site called www.yoshra.com has been running, operated by Ya'alon admirers, not all from his Kibbutz Gofrit, and calling for Mofaz's resignation. "Likud Central Committee members should be enlisted into the cause not to support the defense minister and keep him away from any ministerial position - not to depose the defense minister will harm Sharon's reelection in the coming elections." That's an Israeli innovation if ever there was one: an unofficial Web site for a chief of staff, an officer in uniform, against the defense minister, from the political echelon. The chief of staff has not been heard forbidding his disciples from attacking the elected echelon above him. The site has been quite successful, with eight operators who have brought it to second place, a hair's breadth away from the sites that support Brigadier General Shmuel Zakai, which displayed only 3,753 names in Zakai's favor, against Ya'alon. "If I had been asked to fill out a form evaluating Ya'alon," sighed a veteran of the military justice system, "I would write that `the officer is not experiencing what is happening in his unit." Ya'alon is thus a worthy partner to Mofaz and Sharon. All of them, each in his own way, is contributing to the atmosphere of the twilight of the gods in 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). |
| GUSH KATIF |
US OPPOSITION TO SHARON'S PLAN GROWS
Posted by Unity Coalition for Israel, May 25, 2005. |
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The visit to the US this week by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon elicited a surprisingly large opposition response from across the nation, protesting his Disengagement Plan. In addition to demonstrators in New York and Washington DC where he spoke at two events, thousands of protest emails, faxes and phone calls poured in to key members of congress and the administration. Simultaneously, teams of people delivered packets on Capitol Hill, stating explicit reasons for Israel and the US to reconsider a retreat from valuable land that appears to reward four years of Palestinian jihad (terror). Thousands of Christians and Jews from every state responded to an outpouring of information and Action Alerts from the Unity Coalition for Israel. These communications highlighted pitfalls inherent in Sharon's unilateral plan to remove, forcibly if necessary, the residents of 21 Jewish communities of Gush Katif in Gaza and 4 towns in Northern Shomrom in the West Bank. They pointed out a troublesome aspect - that no preparations have been made to accommodate these people once they are removed. Certainly American taxpayers are not interested in footing the bill for their deportation, and that of removing another potential 80,000 people from the West Bank. The very fact that the Israel government feels it must adopt such a racist policy of eradicating any vestige of Jews or Jewish history from the midst of a predominantly Arab population, does not bode well for a peaceful two-state future in this area. Abu Abbas, the new Palestinian leader, already has allowed military hardware to be stockpiled in Gaza, has included terror groups in his new government instead of eliminating their infrastructure, and has encouraged international terrorist leadership to move into this potential vacuum. In fact, a radical new form of Al-Qaida now is active there, as reported May 20 in the Jerusalem Post. One UCI Action Alert focused on this recently organized branch of Al-Qaida in Gaza. It consists of the most radical members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad who have rejected these groups on the basis that they are "too moderate", even though both groups are on the US official terrorism list. As an excuse for forming a new more radical Al-Qaida group, they cite their objection to the temporary ceasefire during the Jewish evacuation of Gaza and also the fact that the US has dishonored the Koran. This new Al-Qaida penetration is already operative in Rafah, Gaza and openly avows plans for attacking the United States and Israel once the "settlers" are moved out. The Unity Coalition for Israel has a new section on its website: www.israelunitycoalition.org detailing the Disengagement Plan. Included is: an 8-page booklet entitled, "Disengagement is Not the Answer", videos depicting beautiful Gaza communities with testimony from residents and victims of terror, Action Alerts on important issues, more than 150 articles from very credible sources, and much more. All information can be downloaded for research purposes or for reprinting by churches, synagogues, study or prayer groups. Organizations may use it for their bulletins and newsletters. UCI has served for 15 years as an information clearinghouse. It is a grassroots alliance of more than 200 organizations representing many millions of Christians and Jews, In addition to the daily news summaries, it has sponsored numerous educational conferences, press conferences, and rallies in Washington and at the National Religious Broadcasters annual conventions. Today's News Summaries, a newsletter on the latest Middle East issues, is available at no charge, by email: voices@israelunitycoalition.org, phone: 913-648-0022, fax: 913-648-7997 or website subscription. The Unity Coalition for Israel (http://www.israelunitycoalition.org) is "the largest worldwide coalition of Jewish and Christian organizations, with more than 200 groups representing millions of people dedicated to Israel. Though we have many different backgrounds, we have one common goal: A Safe and Secure Israel." "Israel is not just a Jewish issue. Millions of Christians resolutely endorse the principle of peace with security for the state of Israel. Because we work closely together and speak with a united voice, our message is being heard!" |
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BUSH: ISLAM IS PEACE!
Posted by Tamar Rush, May 25, 2005. |
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"Islam is Peace" Says President," Remarks by the President at Islamic Center of Washington, D.C., Washington, D.C., www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010917-11.html THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very much for your hospitality. We've just had a wide-ranging discussions on the matter at hand. Like the good folks standing with me, the American people were appalled and outraged at last Tuesday's attacks. And so were Muslims all across the world. Both Americans and Muslim friends and citizens, tax-paying citizens, and Muslims in nations were justappalled and could not believe what we saw on our TV screens. These acts of violence against innocents violate the fundamental tenets of the Islamic faith. Andit's important for my fellow Americans to understand that. The English translation is not as eloquent as the original Arabic, but let me quote from the Koran,itself: In the long run, evil in the extreme will be the end of those who do evil. For that they rejected the signs of Allah and held them up to ridicule. The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam. That's not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace. These terrorists don't represent peace. They represent evil and war. When we think of Islam we think of a faith that brings comfort to a billion people around the world. Billions of people find comfort and solace andpeace. And that's made brothers and sisters out of every race -- out of every race. America counts millions of Muslims amongst our citizens, and Muslims make an incredibly valuable contribution to our country. Muslims are doctors, lawyers, law professors,members of the military, entrepreneurs, shopkeepers, moms and dads. And they need to be treated with respect. In our anger and emotion, our fellow Americans must treat each other with respect. Women who cover their heads in this country must feel comfortable going outside their homes. Moms who wear cover must be not intimidated in America. That's not the America I know. That'snot the America I value. I've been told that some fear to leave; some don't want to go shopping for their families; some don't want to go about their ordinary daily routines because, by wearing cover, they're afraid they'll be intimidated. That should not and that will not stand in America. Those who feel like they can intimidate our fellow citizens to take out their anger don't represent the best of America, they represent the worst of human kind, and they should be ashamed of that kind of behavior. This is a great country. It's a great country because we share the same values of respect and dignity and human worth. And it is my honor to be meeting with leaders who feel just the same way I do. They're outraged, they're sad. They love America just as much as I do. I want to thank you all for giving me a chance to come by. And may God bless us all. |
| GUSH KATIF |
A LITTLE VITAMIN ORANGE IN WASHINGTON WAS SUNSHINE AGAINST BLOOD RED
Posted by Evelyn Hayes, May 25, 2005. |
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It's easy to speak up after the evil reign is over. Everywhere there are Holocaust Memorials. The righteous are paying respect to the dead victims after the victimizers were defeated. But what happened to the brave young heroes of Vilna who named their defense, "We Will Never Die"? Who stopped them from saving Vilna? Who is now stopping to hear the voices of the living victims such as David Hatouel and Maayan, the Ger of Croatia? Embezzlers get away with their crimes done behind closed doors, but the Oslo door is wide open and a revolving door for international corruption and murderers while it would make the greatest citizens homeless. From Oslo Redeployment to Gaza Disengagement, the war is given free rein, even called peace, and the victims are fighting themselves. From Oslo Redeployment to Gaza Disengagement, money transfers are a "world-con" which is taking the yellow out of orange and leaving red again. By red, I mean a "world-con" like the Communism and World-Com corruption that depleted the pensions, banks and so many companies. I mean an Enron that is run by a few big "me-lauds" pocketing what doesn't belong to them. Instead of manna of HaShem and rewards for production, there is a minority reducing the assets of the many. Who is courageous enough to listen to the wise, self-sacrificing, devoted, concerned, empathetic voices trying to stop the self-destruction by self-mutilation of Israel that is being carried out to please the Durban Hate Fetishers stopped in their tracks by the towering of the Twin Towers? As the world suffers the same fate of the Jews, the vocal Jews are not only silenced but muzzled. Since when is it not proper to react to the greatest evil of our times? Since when is it proper to sacrifice the greatest good to the greatest evil. As Sharon, looked downcast and guilty during an interruption of a few minutes at the AIPAC Conference in Washington, the challengers were speaking up for 10,000 possible victims of self-mutilation for treacherous results. Nothing registered in the audience. It was reported that besides a well recognized and admired Jewish leader, a woman who declared Klal Gush Katif is family was evicted roughly and with injuries as she was a voice pleading to stop the casual acceptance of disengagement. Who faces divorce casually? Who faces the replacement of plowshares with swords casually? The muzzle is repulsive, especially when Sharon is not acting according to his platform, mandate and with his full cabinet, Shin Bet and IDF. Cabinet members have quit, been fired or been bribed. Army personnel are also protesting, resigning, warning of the consequences of the APPEASE NOW policy allowing War Nearer. Even the victims of hate cannot bear to acknowledge the fate of their brothers and sisters. They divert their brains and will not look at the gross mismanagement. The disengagement is dehumanization of the Jews so they can suffer again; worse, the silent also know their similar fate. I once asked a storekeeper just attacked about the damage. I was told that a terrorist's bullet landed in the Chumash and didn't go through the name of HASHEM. I asked where was this book? I was told, "gone, we don't want to remember. We have to go on living as if nothing is happening." The suffering of those with a history of being abused by imperialists and Jihad aggression takes on a self-mutilating perspective when venom is spewing from brother against brother. When Sharon was interrupted, the AIPAC audience spewed, "It is not the time. It is not the time." Isn't the time usually before and not after? Wouldn't it be better if justice were now and not later. Perhaps it's a Holocaust Syndrome: Don't shake the Reich because it might happen again. Those who realize, "Not Now" allows sooner to become too late spoke up at the AIPAC Conference and demonstrated outside. They are our pride like Abraham creating civilization and Israel in a majority of decadence. Their emotions are the emotions of so many more than appear because individuals see through walls and connect with reality. The reign of madmen herds those drenched in the stench of those who dirty themselves to appear clean to those who think they are dirty and get filthy. The earth in Gush Katif is the most productive in Israel with the blessing of HaShem. Deserts are green because of the emunah of the descendants of Yaakov. Emunah is orange because it has added humanity to red. I have flooded my wardrobe with orange as a bold statement against the red that chased my ancestors out of Russia Poland and the red that lets blood in Israel be forgotten as if it were never shed. Bless those who were brutally evicted from the AIPAC Conference. Let their injuries heal. Bless those who stood outside, who wore orange, who set aside their daily activity to take an active part in keeping Gush Katif and civilization. The American Israel PAC is not pro-American nor pro-Bible laws when free speech is stifled accepting the Sharon unilateral self-mutilization. Disengagement no matter the victims nor consequences is contrary to American values. One has to say no especially when Sharon has split his party, his country and his unmapping is mutilating little Israel, just 22% of its former legal Balfour mandate. What sane, self-respecting person self-mutilates itself for illegal aliens who blow themselves apart to kill Jews, Americans and even Arabs in Iraq who are saying no to terrorism with the help of America? Those who are expressing themselves with emunah for the rights of the Jews are an umbrella against the reign of hate. Those who appease enable pan-jihad to continue to hail flames of human flesh. Yes, even if you don't want to hear it, there were many representatives of the umbrella to stop the reign of hate in New York and Washington. Those of us who stayed home, called, write and support our heroes of today. We advocate for their umbrella to block the world from evil and the heil to hate. Let our human chains ignored be the major wall that supports justice for Jews and all mankind in Gush Katif, Shomron, Jerusalem and everywhere. Those who might enable the Magen David Synagogue containing a museum of Yamit to be destroyed in Gush Katif, should recognize there were Jewish stars in the audience who AIPAC did not let shine. Onward, Jewish Nation. Am Yisrael Chai. Evelyn Hayes is author of The Plague Series:
"The Eleventh Plague, TWINS, because their hearts are softened to
accept the unacceptable" and "The Twelfth Plague, GENERATIONS, because
the lion wears stripes." and "Thirteen, REDEMPTION, if." Contact her at
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ARAB TIBI: CHANGE YOUR FLAG, ISRAEL
Posted by Yardena Anat Even, May 25, 2005. |
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In today's Haaretz there's an editorial by Danny Rabinowitz that triggers response from all Israelis and Jews of the world. Unfortunately Rabinowitz is not the original or the creator of the sentiment that Israel should change its flag, its anthem and its national symbols to please the Arabs who live in Israel and decorate their wall with posters of Yasser Arafat like Ahmed Tibi. Tibi is the one who originated his discomfort about the issue back then in 1998 and the Economist printed a link to the full article. The Economist printed an editorial April 23rd 1998 when they interviewed Dr Ahmed Tibi, Dr Ahmed Tibi is an Israeli citizen. He is also an adviser to Yasser Arafat, whose photograph hangs behind his desk. Naturally, he is a supporter of the Oslo accords. Naturally, he is despondent about the sluggish progress towards peace. But the really disconcerting thing is what he has to say about the Israeli Arabs, not about the Palestinians. The destiny of Israel's Arabs, he says, is not as part of an independent Palestine. "Our struggle is within the framework called Israel." To further jar your memory, in 1998 Ahmed Tibi threatened ALL Israeli media not to publish Zeevi's murder. To quote from "Employees of Israel Radio allege that Tibi called the country's newspapers, threatening not to allow their reporters into the Palestinian autonomy if they dared publish the story," (www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/2527/press47.htm): Last week's story on Rehavam Ze'evi's accusations of collaborating with Israel - leveled against the father of Arafat-aide Ahmed Tibi and the uncle of Arab MK Abdel Darawshe - has a continuation. It has been learned by Arutz-7 that the story was "buried" by Voice of Israel Radio, after threats by Tibi that if it broadcast the item, its reporters would not be allowed in to the autonomous areas. IMW: Voice of Israel is silent on Dr. Ahmed Tibi The hutzpa is that Tibi is allowed to warm up a seat in the Knesset... Preposterous as it sounds, radical as it is, a handful of Jews at Haaretz subscribe to this idea. A typical Dhimmi example Contact Yardena Anat Even at Yardena3@aol.com |
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HEZBOLLAH IN AMERICA
Posted by Tamar Rush, May 25, 2005. |
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This is an Editorial-Op from yesterday's Washington Times
(www.washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20050519-092915-7312r.htm). It is
reprinted
from today's Front Page Magazine (www.FrontPageMagazine.com).
Aside from al Qaeda, no terrorist group has killed more Americans than Hezbollah, which is bankrolled by Iran to the tune of at least $100 million a year. Hezbollah's main theaters of operation are Lebanon, its home country (where it killed hundreds of Americans during the 1980s), and the West Bank and Gaza, where it helps Palestinian rejectionists target Israel. But the group is active in the United States as well. Hezbollah is believed to have cells in at least 10 U.S. cities. Although the organization has yet to launch an attack on U.S. soil, its U.S. activities are far from benign. Its work in this country has two major purposes: One is to raise money and smuggle arms to Hezbollah fighters, often by criminal activities ranging from credit-card fraud to cigarette smuggling; and the other is to conduct surveillance behind enemy lines, with a possible eye toward launching attacks on U.S. targets in the event of an armed conflict between the United States and Tehran. Like his backers in Iran, Hezbollah boss Hassan Nasrallah routinely denounces the United States and Israel as his organization's main enemies. Given the events of September 11, and given Hezbollah's own record of kidnapping, torturing and killing Americans when it has had the opportunity, we ignore the group's operations in this country at our peril. Outside of metropolitan Detroit, last month's arrest of Nemr Ali Rahal, a 41-year-old businessman, at his Dearborn home on charges of smuggling funds to Hezbollah, went largely unreported by the news media around the United States. But the story deserves our attention. In Mr. Rahal's house, agents found a videotape of a Hezbollah rally he attended in Lebanon three years ago. The FBI said it found $600 worth of change in buckets in the Rahal home, and that he said the money was meant to go to "orphans" -- the children of suicide bombers. Mr. Rahal has been charged with stealing more than $400,000 by means of credit-card fraud. When Mr. Rahal returned Feb. 9 from a trip to Canada, Customs agents found traces of explosives on his passport. In March, Mahmoud Kourani of Dearborn pleaded guilty to providing material support for Hezbollah. He will be sentenced next month. Kourani ( whose brother is Hezbollah's chief of military security in southern Lebanon) is an illegal alien who sneaked into the United States from Mexico in February 2001. Federal authorities have repeatedly arrested suspected Hezbollah operatives for attempting to smuggle night-vision goggles and other military equipment to the organization. One suspect, arrested in 1998, skipped bail and fled to Lebanon before returning to the United States last year to face federal charges. In 2003, a federal court convicted a Hezbollah cell based in Charlotte, N.C., on charges of aiding Hezbollah by operating a cigarette-smuggling ring. The leader of that group, Mohammed Hammoud, received 155 years in prison. |
| GUSH KATIF |
IN ISRAEL THE TIDE IS TURNING
Posted by Dovid Ben Chaim, May 25, 2005. |
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Everyone needs to understand that the Sharon Scheme is beginning to crumble. In Israel, the evacuation timetable itself is proving infeasible, dissension is spreading in the ranks of Israel's security forces, the generals are calling for "more time," the Israeli people are beginning to stir, the Arabs no longer can contain themselves, the left and their cohorts in the crypto-left are starting to panic, and the US administration, seeing all this, is hedging its bets. Clearly, the balance is beginning to shift but it has not yet reached critical mass. So this is no time for complacency. It is a time for renewed action. We must not look past the game we're playing today. We should work harder, increase our efforts and do more of what every it is we've been doing in the past. Write a letter, forward this email, attend a rally, stage your own, wear an orange Gush Katif t-shirt*, contact the White House, contribute to the Gush Katif resistance, fly to Israel, move to Gush Katif, pray, argue with a neighbor. Whatever you do keep doing it and more! We can tip the scales and turn back the evil decree!! *Striking, bright orange Gush Katif t-shirts are available in the US for only $10. Simply call 212-828-2424, or write, afsi@rcn.com. Tax-deductible contributions to FRIENDS OF GUSH KATIF may be sent to 1623 Third Ave. Suite 205, New York, N.Y. 10128 or may be donated directly through the website: www.katifund.org. BS"D The March to Stop the Deportation Americans Say Never Again! Never Again to indifference. Never Again to silence. Never Again to deportation. Dear Friend of Israel, The Sharon Government plans to deport close to 10,000 Jews from Gush Katif and Northern Shomron later this summer. Jewish lives are at risk both there as well as in Tel Aviv, Haifa, and other major population centers. Even PM Sharon's own newly appointed head of the Shin Bet Yuval Diskin paints a bleak picture of Israel's security situation after the expulsion. According to Diskin, "Northern Samaria and Gaza without the IDF means terror and the firing of missiles at Israeli targets all over the Land. It would leave the IDF without an effective method of fighting terror." Our brothers and sisters in Israel have pleaded for us to do something to prevent this crime against humanity and violation of G-d's commandment to the Jewish people. They are counting on us. We will not let them down. Join Us Wednesday, June 22, 2005 10:00 am-5:00 pm Outside the Israeli Embassy, Washington DC Register Now: www.stopthedeportation.org Questions/Comments: sbarkochba@yahoo.com A Program of Ascendant Redemption |
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THE RETURN OF YELLOW JOURNALISM
Posted by Max Yas, May 25, 2005. |
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A new WMD (Warmongering Media Disinformation) has been creeping up on us for years, but finally got our attention when Newsweek published a story about guards flushing down the toilet a copy of the Holy Koran in Guantanamo Bay in order to humiliate the confined terrorists and induce them to give up valuable information. In the ensuing riots in Muslim countries 17 innocent people have been killed, more than a hundred wounded and much property destroyed. Newsweek rushed to print based on an unverified tip, which proved to be false. They have now apologized and retracted. A lot of good this will do for the dead and wounded! No matter how firmly and frequently Newsweek may apologize and retract, hundreds of millions of Muslims will continue to believe this story as they believe that the Twin Towers were demolished "by the Jews." Newsweek is not alone in allowing their prejudices to get the better of their judgment. Dan Rather lost his (talking) head by reporting against President Bush, based on forged documents; and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported, in a short documentary on the evening news, that Israelis in Gaza are spreading poison in Arab fields to kill their sheep. This story was based on the death of two newborn lambs. During the Dark Ages the Jews of Europe were accused of poisoning wells and spreading the Black Death - now it's poisoning sheep and spreading HIV. How little we have progressed in the intervening centuries!!! Guilt by omission: In addition to spreading obvious disinformation, the Media misinforms by omission of any news that does not fit their party line. FOR EXAMPLE: Those who follow world news remember the 13 year-old Palestinian boy caught in a crossfire during a shoot-out between terrorists and the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) and eventually shot to death. The media immediately jumped to the conclusion that the IDF killed the boy. Newspapers gave the story big headlines and followed up for days; TV ran the story and photos over and over again daily. When forensic tests eventually proved conclusively that the deadly bullet did not come from a weapon used by the IDF, the media barely mentioned this part of the story. Please think back to the "massacre in Jenin." The media reported, with photos, for weeks on this dastardly action by the IDF. The United Nations, where anti-Israel resolutions are routinely passed frequently and always with lopsided majorities, launched a probe and found that there was no massacre in Jenin!!! In fact 26 IDF members lost their lives by defusing the many booby-traps and mines set by retreating terrorists. They could have demolished the slum area from the air without incurring casualties, but chose instead to avoid "collateral damage" by sending in a mine-clearing team with predictable losses to IDF soldiers. How did the media react? With barely a mention. William Randolph Hearst (1863 - 1951) created the largest newspaper chain in the USA. To build circulation he resorted to what became know as Yellow Journalism: a combination of spurious excitement, exaggeration, and frenzied promotional methods. He seized on the Cuban Revolution of 1895 and by inflating accounts of Spanish "atrocities", aroused public indignation and helped bring about the Spanish American War (based on Encyclopedia Americana - 2000 edition). "News is something someone is trying to hide. Everything else is just advertising." (W.R. Hearst) Today, the second part of Hearst's quotation should be: "Everything else is propaganda." After a century, Yellow Journalism is flourishing again and leading to an unintended conclusion: WORLD WAR III BETWEEN THE MUSLIM WORLD AND THE WESTERN COUNTRIES. Contact Max Yas by email at maxyas@victoria.tc.ca |
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"NY TIMES" MISSES UNFAVORABLE NEWS; LEGALIZING PROTEST IN ISRAEL? BOMBARDMENT IN GAZA
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, May 25, 2005. |
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"NY TIMES" MISSES UNFAVORABLE NEWS Every day the independent, patriotic, but small-scale Israeli media report undemocratic measures by the Sharon regime. The "NY Times" does not. This neglect of crucial news isn't for love of Israel or lack of staff. The "Times" has its own personnel in Israel. So do the major wire services; Western reporters abound in Israel. They are not there to report news, however, they are there to support views. They ignore issues of police brutality and whatever would, if known, sully Sharon's abandonment plan. WHY ISN'T NOTION OF "RESISTANCE" DEBUNKED The Arabs are trying to redefine terrorism so as not to include resistance to national occupation and so as to consider the western Palestinian Arabs occupied. Both concepts are erroneous. Here, let's take up the notion that any fighting by the Arabs is justified. It isn't justified. The Arabs signed a peace agreements. They have no justification for warfare. They could negotiate a final settlement, but do not. Now they say they want to, but they violate agreements already reached. Israel wants to let them alone, but their warriors seek out Israelis aggressively. Why do the Western media not debunk the Arab notion? Do our media not understand it or are they too biased to report accurately and would prefer leaving readers with pro-Arab impressions? UNSAID AT STATE DEPT. PRESS CONFERENCES Most people don't bother to read the text of the question period at press conferences held by representatives of the State Dept.. If people read one or two, they would find it eye opening. The questions about the Arab-Israel conflict are like a cross-examination, seeking to goad the representative into admitting a conflict with Israeli policy and to make a threat against Israel. The representative falls back on vague phraseology, references to previous agreements and that each side "should" do what is expected, i.e., of Israel, what the US demands but denies it is demanding. Like the State Dept., the journalists treat the two sides sometimes as equals, although the Arabs are the aggressors, and sometimes as if Israel were the aggressor. Israel's innocent civilian activities are assumed to be of grievous injury to the Arabs. The Arabs guilty military activity is assumed not to be of grievous harm to the Jews. More important are the questions not asked: (1) Why does Pres. Bush want statehood for the western Palestinian Arabs, after the eastern Palestinian Arabs already have a state and the Arabs have many other states? (2) While waging war on terrorists in Afghanistan and Iraq, why does Pres. Bush offer them financial aid in the P.A.? (3) Since the P.A. media officially preaches a religious duty to murder Americans, why does the Administration propose statehood for it, whether it terrorist leadership be elected fairly or unfairly? (4) Since the PLO/P.A. breaks all their agreements, and since their religious faith, secular ideology, and popular opinion all reject the notion of genuine peace with Israel and acceptance of just the Territories for an Arab state, and since the Arabs call for ceasefires that they violate and which they use to escalate their military preparedness for a renewed offensive, why does the Administration call for restraint from both sides, rather than calling for Israel to go all out and destroy the Arab aggressors? The media invited to the briefings are biased, ignorant, or subdued, and the government is pursuing a policy of folly that the media fails to be a watchdog over. PRETENDED CEASEFIRE "Israel will use 'all necessary means' to stop mortars and rockets fired from Gaza at Israeli towns and settlements, Defense Min. S. Mofaz said ..." "At the same time, Israel promised restraint, unwilling to risk breaking the cease-fire..." (Steven Erlanger, NY Times, 5/20, A8.) On page 4, Mr. Erlanger had a rare human interest story about Israelis. Unlike such stories about the Arabs, this one did not put the subjects sympathetically. Instead, as is "Times" practice, first it had a damning but false and unchallenged Arab claim that the Jews are usurpers, and are interfering with Arab plans to set up a state. Only paragraphs later did a tepid and incomplete Israeli reply appear. Mr. Erlanger found an Israeli who used the expression about Gaza, "give back to the Palestinians." It never was theirs. The Land of Israel is the Jewish homeland that the Arabs had conquered and lost centuries ago. An expression of greater accuracy and for historical justice would be fore "the Arabs to give back the land to the Jews." The Israelis are masters at self-contradiction, the Arabs are masters at having it both ways, and the "NY Times" is masterful at obscuring such news. The Arabs call for a ceasefire, but open fire. With the help of the "Times," they pretend there is a ceasefire, while they go on arming themselves and killing Jews. Subjected to constant unfair criticism, Israel is afraid to declare that the Arabs have ended the ceasefire, so it joins the pretense of there being one, letting the Arabs have it both ways. Israel will use all necessary means to stop the bombardment, but will use "restraint" so as not to break what the constant bombardments prove is not a ceasefire. That is self-contradiction. It answers bombardment with bombast. This is an old Israeli governmental practice of appeasing its people without protecting them. If it exercises restraint, then it doesn't use "all necessary means" to stop the bombardment. To the contrary, it continues to plan abandoning Gaza to the Arab rocket squads. That would enable more attacks. If the times were a news paper rather than an anti-Zionist propaganda paper, it would puncture the illusion that the Arabs have ceased firing, that the Arabs ever honor their agreements with Israel, that the government protects its people, and that the Arabs are deserving of any consideration after their constant terrorism. The paper should not take seriously the Arabs' complaint about Israel preventing their setting up a state, as if statehood were their right. U.S. SHOULD SHOW RESTRAINT After Arab terrorists attacked Israel, and the P.A. failed to try to stop them (even when Israel informed it where the rocket-launchers were and its forces went there), Israel undertook some measures of self-defense. (Israel also destroyed three Hizbullah posts, after Hizbullah fired a salvo at Israel.) The US reaction was to urge all parties to show restraint. That is not fair. Worse, it indicates what Israel can expect when and if Israel abandons Gaza and the Arabs step up their attacks. It can expect a denial of Israel's right to fully defend itself. PM Sharon's forthcoming trip to the US affords an opportunity for him to rally a pro-Israel constituency here over such matters. Unfortunately, he does not take advantage of such opportunities. (No, he comes to take orders.) All he is interested in is retreating (Dr. Aaron Lerner, IMRA, 5/19). US policy is for Israel to abandon all of Yesha, regardless of the consequences to Israel. That should not be Israeli policy. Israeli policy should be to get the US to withdraw and for the US to show restraint in its pronouncements. If it must comment, let it encourage Israel to throw off all restraint in cracking down on terrorism and ending the use of autonomy to promote terrorism. HAMAS VS. RUSSIA According to documents and videos that Israeli forces seized from Hamas in Gaza, Hamas is recruiting Palestinian Arabs to go on jihad against Chechnya, as well as in the Balkans, P.A., Kashmir, and Lebanon. Hamas is making international Islamist contacts (IMRA, 5/19). Left to brood, evil brews. Russia is allying itself with the P.A., which coddles Hamas, which, in turn, gets Russians killed. Is that in Russia's self-interest? Or should Russia ally itself with Israel, and get Hamas crushed and, in turn, Russians saved? Do governments act in their national interest? Do they know what is in their national interest? ARAB OPPOSES ACADEMIC BOYCOTT OF ISRAEL The head of Al-Quds U., Sari Nusseibeh, and the head of Hebrew U, both in Jerusalem, signed a joint declaration of their universities' cooperation and their opposition to the British professors' pledged boycott of some Israeli universities. The declaration affirmed mutual respect as the basis for attaining common objectives (IMRA, 5/19). "Common objectives?" "Mutual respect?" Nusseibeh's objective is the overthrow of Israel. To that end, he has had his university train youths in terrorism. What is his real motive in this statement? WHAT FORMS OF PROTEST ARE LEGAL IN ISRAEL Attorney General Mazuz of Israel was asked what forms of protest against abandonment are legal. Shoving, spitting and throwing stones at soldiers or police are not a legitimate form of expression. Neither is road blocking, which may endanger people's lives. Posters stating, "Disengagement is tearing the nation apart," "The transfer (of Jews) will not be passed," and "Sharon is a dictator" are legal forms of freedom of speech. He noted that "part of the public" demands banning such sloganeering and punishing protestors. "Mazuz said he has asked police to examine complaints whereby legitimate demonstration posters have been confiscated, and people wearing t-shirts with slogans protesting the disengagement have not been allowed into certain events." (IMRA, 5/19.) Well said! Let's hope he means it. BOMBARDMENT IN GAZA Arab terrorists fired 40 rockets at the mostly civilian Jewish communities in the Gush Katif area in Gaza, within a 24-hour period. In response to this Arab escalation, the IDF declared that it would not escalate its response, which was to attack and scatter a few rocket squads, and then halt. Residents told reporters that they consider the dearth of casualties miraculous. Their faith keeps them from moving out. So does realization that their departure would weaken Israeli security (Arutz-7, 5/19). Pres. Bush had asked both sides not to escalate. Israel heeded; the Arabs did not. Have you noticed that the US is ever patient with the Arabs, rarely scolding them for their escalation? Bear in mind that escalation in self-defense is normal. 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 ricshulman@aol.com. |
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AUT AND ANTI-ZIONISM
Posted by Jock L. Falkson, May 25, 2005. |
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D Day is tomorrow, 26 May, for the AUT's meeting to reconsider its boycott of Israel's academic fraternity. This essay was written by Howard Jacobson. It appeared oon http://liberoblog.com/howard-jacobson-on-anti-zionism/ Never heard of Howard Jacobson previously and what a pity that is (for me). Here, in a powerfully expressed and closely reasoned argument, Jacobson exposes the vilification of Israel by Sue Blackwell and her Association of University Teachers. Allow me, in the light of the Association of University Teachers decision to boycott Israeli Universities, to voice a heresy. Anti-Zionism is, after all, anti-Semitism. I say after all because until now I have always resisted the conflation of anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism. I have suffered very little anti-Semitism personally, and don't find it under every stone. I don't think Jews, by virtue of their victimization in the past, have any right to expect exemption from the usual rough and tumble of opinion. And I don't consider it a mark of ill will towards Israel - indeed it might well denote the very opposite - to oppose its policies when they are inhumane. It is important to hammer in this nail. No, no, and no again, I do not accuse all those who censure Israel of hating Jews. Which nail hammered, it is equally important to drive in another. In the boycott by the Association of University Teachers what has been expressed is not criticism or censure but villification. Criticism, the more particularly as university teachers should be expected to understand it, implies the free exchange of judgement and idea, the give and take - however harsh - of argument and counter-argument. Anything less is merely the closing of minds. And a boycott - especially a boycott of thinkers, scientists, philosophers, etc, those for whom open-mindedness should be paramount - is an expression of the closing of minds en masse. There is some fancy abroad that where large numbers of people agree to close their minds together you have democracy in action. You don't. What you have is mobilized prejudice. In this instance, therefore, it is plain to me that the mantra "Criticism of Israel is not anti-Semitic" has no bearing, because we are not confronted with any operation of judgement or debate to which the word "criticism" approximates. But if we are not dealing with fair or open minds, does it necessarily follow that we are dealing with anti-Semitic ones? Let me explain the reasons why I believe it does. No other country has been singled out for similar treatment. No boycotting of Chinese universities, or Universities in African or Arab countries where infringements of human rights are state sponsored and racism is so routine it is part of the curriculum. Were all the charges brought against the State of Israel true, that would still leave it as one sinner among many. By isolating Israel as the worst offender of all - the ne plus ultra of criminal brutality - those who support this boycott consent to conferring unequivocally upon Israel the status of pariah. A degraded and despised place. An outcast from civilized society. The very position, in fact, which Jews have occupied in most countries of the world, not least the countries of the Middle East, for as many years as you care to quantify. Is this merely coincidence? Or do we bring it on ourselves? One thing is clear, in the case of Israel, as in countless instances in Jewish history, an exception has been made of Jews. A Jewish enterprise, this time the Jewish state itself, is found to be unlike no other, not only to be censured more comprehensively than any other, but to be kept outside the city walls, not to be conversed with, a thing unclean, untouchable. "Jewish science" was how the Nazis referred to psychoanalysis and relativity. Because Freud and Einstein were Jewish, the German people had to be protected from the contamination of their work. Now the contaminating science is not Jewish but Israeli. Which we are told is somehow different. I ask the question again and defy the authors of the boycott to answer it - is this merely a coincidence or do we bring it on ourselves? Coincidence or not, Sue Blackwell, the prime sponsor of this boycott, has insisted that yes, Israel is uniquely reprehensible, illegitimate as no other country is illegitimate in that "it is founded on ethnic cleansing". Not occasionally guilty of this heinous crime, notice. But founded on it - ethnic cleansing, if you like, written secretly, as is the way of Jews, into its inauguration and constitution. Here is not the place to detail the socialist aspirations of those Zionist pioneers who saw in Palestine an opportunity to reconfigure their own ethnicity - who, far from wishing to drive out the local Arab population, dreamed an almost Utopian dream of co-operation with them. I have met such idealists myself in kibbutzim up and down Israel, still active despite all their disappointments so far. To talk of ethnic cleansing as hardwired into the Zionist enterprise is a violence not only to history, it is a violence to Jews living and dead. It hates Israel before there was an Israel to hate. And before Israel there were only Jews. The ethnic cleansing accusation has taken hold recently as a sleeker alternative to the charge of Nazism. While it is simple to refute the claim that the Israelis are the new Nazis - show us the extermination camps, show us the gas chambers, show us the will to wipe out an entire culture - "ethnic cleansing" sticks the easier for being vaguer while doing the same job of making Jews guilty of the very crimes of which they were once the victims. Call it a sort of retroactive justice. In a number of public letters over the last months, Ken Livingstone, for example, has accused Israel of systematic ethnic cleansing, citing not some "virulently anti-Israel critic" but the Israeli historian Professor Benny Morris. If a Jew says it, you see, it cannot be anti-Semitic. In fact Professor Morris denounces Livingstone for quoting from his book "without invoking the context in which this occurred. It was in a war of aggression launched by the Palestinian Arabs in November/December 1947 against the Jewish community in Palestine with the aim of preventing the emergence of a Jewish state and possibly throwing them in the sea." A context is not, of course, an excuse. But the villification of Israel of which the academic boycott is the latest example rests upon contextlessness, Israel's every act an unprovoked aggression, at every turn the doer and not the done to, all mention of war waged by the other side expunged. Here, too, I recognize the age-old strategies of anti-Semitism. Jews clung together unwholesomely, the anti-Semites said, and never mind that as a deliberate act of segregation they had been herded into ghettos. They were money-lenders and financiers, and never mind that all other opportunities had been closed to them. The Jew was contextless. He came evil into the world. As did, for those who would shun it, Israel. Like the Jews who founded it in their image, Israel - alone among nations - stands outside history. But then for Sue Blackwell the argument of history is only circular anyway. It is no defence of Israel that it has had to fight against being driven into the sea, because the sea, in her view, is where it belongs. Again, alone among the peoples of the earth, Jews are to have no home but must seek shelter wherever they are lucky enough to find it. A "Holy Land in which people of all races and religions have equal status" is Sue Blackwell's ambition. Forgive a Jew for wondering like unto which other harmonious Middle Eastern country, where Jews have enjoyed equality of status, this would be. St Augustine saw perpetual exile as our mark of Cain, the price Jews paid and must go on paying, for being murderers. Not much has changed. It is anti-Semitic to refuse in principle a homeland for the Jews, or to suppose that they have yet again showed themselves to be unworthy of one. Never mind that there are Jewish academics among those who have signed up to the boycott. The admiration of one's fellows is a seduction few of us can resist, and in the current climate a Jewish academic is a hero (isn't this the very logic of the academic boycott?) only when he publicly signs up to be no friend of Israel. Dark rumours surround Sue Blackwell's feverishly pro-Palestinian website. A Commons committee is said to be investigating possible links with a site blaming Jews for 9/11. An "inadvertent" link, Sue Blackwell insists. Whatever the truth of it, the University of Birmingham, where Sue Blackwell teaches, currently disowns her site. Myself, I don't think it makes much difference to her position whether she has links with overt anti-Semites, or simply wants to sell olive oil made by Palestinians on the web; her politics are virulent either way. More to the point is that she teaches in an English Department. English as an academic subject has lost its way in the last three or four decades, deconstructing itself into a relativism which leaves its practitioners hungry for anything that looks like an absolute. Thus, whereas every text yields itself to a thousand interpretations, the state of Israel yields itself to only one. In this manner do minds which should be enquiring box themselves at last into that darkness where no enquiry, no departure from enforced orthodoxy, is permissible. To a Jew, then, who understands the history of his people as one long subjection to absolutism - where all else shifts, the Jew at least is constant in his graspingness and inhumanity - no, it is no coincidence that in our time the one pariah state is the country of a pariah people. Anti-Zionism, now, is anti-Semitic because by the actions of its members the Association of University Teachers has made it so. Jock Falkson is a former South African advertising executive, now a free lance writer living in Israel. To be put on Jock Falkson's email list to receive his essays, contact him at falkson@barak-online.net |
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'RIGHT' OF RETURN, OR RIGHT TO EXIST?
Posted by Michael Gropper, May 25, 2005. |
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I think the attached article says it all. I hope the American administration is prepared to put the truth to test in the Bush-Abbas meeting scheduled Thursday. I wish someone could talk to Bush and tell him that peace will never materialize in the Middle East when blatant lies are allowed to continue to grow with the world's eyes closed, and too many Israelis are still blinded by their battle fatigue and misplaced dreams. This article was written by Zalman Shoval, who served twice as Israel's ambassador to the United States. It appeared in the Jerusalem Post yesterday. It is archived at www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ ShowFull&cid=1116901693566 When Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) calls on President George Bush at the White House on Thursday, he will certainly receive renewed support for Palestinian statehood. We also know that Abbas, when pressed about the reforms he promised and his failure to act decisively against terror and incitement, will complain about the Israeli "wall" and checkpoints, and his trouble imposing authority. In all this litany, the one issue most central to the Arab-Israeli conflict may not come up at all: the Palestinian refusal to renounce the so-called "right of return" of Palestinian refugees to Israel. In a recent article in The New York Times Magazine, James Bennet, the paper's former Israel correspondent, wrote that Abbas's "stated goals are like Arafat's - [he] also rejected the deal which Barak offered at Camp David." This means, to recall, that in addition to rejecting a state over 97 percent of the territories and most of east Jerusalem, Yasser Arafat would not consider consenting to an end of conflict declaration if he had to give up the "right of return" to Israel. In his letter of April 14, 2004 to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Bush wrote that "it seems clear than an agreed, just, fair and realistic framework for a solution to the Palestinian refugee issue as part of any final status agreement will need to be found through the establishment of a Palestinian state, and the settling of Palestinian refugees there, rather than in Israel." Though certainly a step in the right direction, this formulation leaves much to be desired. The phrase "rather than in Israel" is disturbing as it might imply that settling the refugees in a future Palestinian state is only an alternative, though a preferable one, to settling them in Israel. More importantly, what "seems clear" to the American President is anything but as far as the Palestinian leaders, including Abu Mazen, are concerned. In his televised speech on the so-called "Nakba (catastrophe) Day," the latter not only called the decision to create the state of Israel a crime, but also reiterated his demand for solving the refugee issue on the basis of UN General Assembly resolution 194 - which means getting the "right of return" in through the back door. If that was not clear enough, he went further, stating that the refugees' being in the Arab countries was only temporary "until the day of carrying out the UN resolutions will come." As Haaretz columnist Ari Shavit wrote last week, "Abu Mazen couldn't have been more precise: For him there will never be peace or security, nor stability in the Middle East, without enforcing the "right of return" in practice. In other words, there is no connection between Palestinian statehood and the solution of the refugee problem." Abbas, in other words, completely rejects the basic premise of the Bush letter. THE FACT that the Palestinians refuse to renounce their claim creates a clear gap between the Israeli and Palestinian positions. Israel, by signing on to the road map, has accepted Palestinian statehood; the Palestinians, by claiming the "right of return" are still refusing to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. Furthermore, though the Bush letter sees in a Palestinian state the solution to the refugee problem, it seems to gloss over the fact that, even in the best case, this mini-state would not be able to economically or demographically absorb more than 10% of the refugee population. What about the rest? For unless the Palestinian refugee problem is dealt with it will remain a festering wound, destroying any chance of resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. It is no coincidence that the Palestinian refugee problem has not only not been resolved all these years, but encouraged to multiply. Israel successfully absorbed and integrated a much larger number of Jewish refugees than the number of Arabs who left Israel after 1948, despite its lack of resources and space compared to the Arab world. The Arab states and the various Palestinian leaders over the years, not without a measure of complicity on the part of the UN, deliberately rejected any suggestion to settle the refugees and shut down the camps in which they languished, often under inhuman conditions, and grant the refugees basic civil rights. The obvious aim of prolonging all this Palestinian suffering was to multiply the political and terrorist pressure on Israel. For some of the Arab "host" countries there was an added advantage: cheap labor without fundamental benefits of education, healthcare, job security or workers' rights - let alone the rights of permanent residency and to travel freely. At a recent meeting in the United Kingdom with Palestinian leaders, including ministers in the present Palestinian government, I raised the question of helping to solve the refugee problem by following the Jordanian precedent of at least partly integrating the refugees in the countries in which they reside. The reaction was viscerally negative, even violent: Never! If this is a true reflection of Palestinian attitudes - and I am afraid it is - it is a clear and discouraging indication that the Palestinian concept of peace is still very different from that of Israel and of Abbas's host in the White House. The greatest contribution Bush could make to peace would be to say the plain truth: Until the Palestinians have abandoned their claim of a "right of return" to Israel, they cannot claim to have recognized Israel's right to exist. Dr. Gropper and his wife Ruth made aliyah with two children; he now has 4, one of whom was just made a commander in the tank corp. |
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WHY DOES OPRAH SYMPATHIZE WITH TERRORISM?
Posted by Naomi Ragen, May 25, 2005. |
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Friends, I am a fan of Oprah's, and a subscriber to her wonderful (until now) magazine. And so, I was outraged at O Magazine's publication of an article sympathetic to a young Palestinian girl who wants to be a suicide bomber! She's "helpless," blah,blah, blah. What about the nonstop incitement of children to kill by the Palestinian Authority? What about the rich Palestinians, and Saudis and Egyptians who blow themselves up? We can't let this go unnoticed. Please go to the following site, which will give you information on who to contact to express your disgust and outrage: http://tinyurl.com/bfvn8 Opraqh, you are getting bad advice, and are jumping on the antiSemite, trendy pro-terrorist, hate-America bandwagon. I'm horribly disappointed. To register your protest about the article in Oprah Magazine, write: youropinions@hearst.com Please include your name, address, and daytime phone number. Naomi From a reader: This is not the first time Oprah has taken on the Palestinian cause. Shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, she aired a show on the suffering of people at the hands of terrorists. One segment detailed the suffering of the Palestinians at the hands of the Israelis. She interviewed mothers of suicide bombers who were distraught because their houses were bulldozed. There was not one mention of Israeli babies and their mothers being blown up on buses. Not one mention of Israelis being blown up while eating pizza. Not one mention of the teens who were blown up while dancing at the disco in Tel Aviv. That was the last day I watched the Oprah Winfrey show. I have no respect for her. Benita
Friends, The same day I got the alert from HonestReporting concerning David France's outrageous article in about would be homocide bomber Yusra Abdu in Oprah Magazine's June issue, I got my issue. I thought I'd read it carefully and rebut. But, friends, by the second paragraph, I was hyperventilating. This is the worse piece of pro-terror propanganda I have read, ever. Mr. France lies with every word, including "and" and "but." He quotes enemies of Israel, leftists, and unidentified human rights activists, spouting wrong statistics, disproven facts (ie. Sharon's visit to the Temple Mount started the Intifada...as if the memos proving Arafat planned the whole thing months before and was looking for an opportune moment were never discovered) and pschobabble about "helplessness" and deprived childhoods. He reduces the number of Israeli casulties, and hikes up the number of Palestinians who "die" at checkpoints. It's really, really sickening. And absolutely inexcusable. Enough to make me send back the magazine to its publishers and ask them to cancel my subscription. Enough to make me boycott the sponsors: chevy.com; redken.com,nissanusa.com; clinque.com; lvidocs.com; banana republic; redenvelope.com; shop@lancome.com; target stores; www.prescriptives.com; aveeno.com; subaru.com; visa.com; myswitzerland.com. etc. Just look through the magazine. If you can e-mail just one of these advertisers to let them know your outrage, it will help. And if you haven't e-mailed Oprah at youropinions@hearst.com please do so. Below, some like-minded thinker. Naomi Ann Coulter says Katie Couric is "the affable Ava Braun" of daytime TV. But Couric's got nothing on Oprah Winfrey. Oprah is the affable Joseph Goebbels of daytime talk ... of chick magazines ... of Oprah seminars - and every other medium in which the self-anointed high priestess of the religion of Oprah has her hands. Through all of these, Oprah preaches "how to be your best self" and "live your best life." Unfortunately, a predilection for radical Islam and excusing terrorists is a prominent element of Oprah's "best self." Cheating husbands don't get off as easy as Islamic terrorists, murderers, and torturers in Winfrey's world. Take "O" Magazine, Oprah's monthly print version of self-conceit. Like every other month, the cover of the June issue of "O" features Oprah - for the gazillionth time. Unfortunately, also for the gazillionth time, the inside of the glossy mag features Oprah's unique brand of understanding and empathy for terrorists and radical Islam. Last month, Oprah's "O" asked readers to understand "The Heart of a Destroyer," Mohammed Atta. You remember him - the Al-Qaeda ringleader of the 9/11 hijackers who murdered 3,000 Americans. But that's not exactly the way "O"'s "reading room" wants you to remember him. Beneath a picture of young Mohammed and his smiling sister on the Egyptian beach, "O" exhorts you to read a book that "sets out to understand the hearts and minds of the men behind the photos" of the 9/11 hijackers, a group of "lonely, exiled young men." But the fatherless and motherless children who lost their parents to Atta - they aren't lonely, are they? The book, "O" tells us, "is a simultaneously passionate, compassionate, and dispassionate book that [doesn't] indict Islam." Just what we need - the CEO of the Oprah Book Club urging America's women to have compassion for Mohammed Atta. On the next Oprah, "Stupid Talk Show Hosts and the Terrorists Who Love Them." (Or is that, "Brave Terrorists and the Stupid Talk Show Hosts Who Love Them"?) I think Stedman's starting to get jealous. To add insult to injury, the latest issue, "O"'s June 2005 edition, demands that we understand the pain and turmoil of Yusra Abdu, a teen-age Palestinian would-be homicide bomber, fiancee of Hani Akad, leader of Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine terrorist group. Akad's group, funded by Libya (one of "O" Mag's "Five Places to See in Your Lifetime"), murdered 27 children and injured 134 when they attacked a Jewish school in Ma'alot, Israel. Note the map of hate and swastika in the group's May 22, 2005 Syrian-based newsletter. But in Oprah's world, Muslims aren't terrorists, and terrorists aren't Muslim (more on that, below). Instead, "O" calls Akad "a charismatic and young rebel." "O" describes the cold-blooded, hateful Abdu and Akad as "a Shakespearean tragedy." Yes, in Oprah's world, Islamic terrorists aren't terrorists. They're James Deans, Romeos, and Juliets. And it's not their fault that they're homicide bombers. Or Islam's fault. "O" quotes Saudi-funded Islam apologist John Esposito blaming not Islam, but the desperate "context" of their lives. Reality: Most Palestinian homicide bombers, like the 9/11 hijackers, come from wealthy families, but they hate Jews, Christians, and Americans. That's the "context." Incredibly, super-heroine Oprah calls this psychobabble-ish, understanding-the-world's-Islamic-terrorists sob-story, "Rescuing the World's Girls, Part Five." And some people actually have the nerve to say Savioratrix Oprah is conceited. And what is Oprah's solution? That's easy. Donate to Oprah's Angel Network, "which is awarding a grant to one or more programs that work to prevent Palestinian children from becoming suicide bombers." No thanks. Or donate to UNICEF, "which runs summer camps and trauma programs for Palestinian children." No, actually, UNICEF helps UNRWA (both UN agencies) propagandize future Islamic terrorists from cradle to grave. What about Israeli children's trauma? How about donating to some Israeli children who are victims of Palestinian terror and need prosthetic limbs, even face implants - because half of their faces were blown off at the Dolfinarium Disco in Tel Aviv? Not a word about them in "O." They simply don't exist. Oprah's agenda isn't new. Her unique understanding of Islamic terrorists is manifest in: * A post-9/11 "Islam 101" show - a pandering presentation featuring Jordanian Queen Rania Al-Abdullah. Rania claimed she doesn't have to wear a hijab head-covering and that honor-killings of raped women doesn't really happen in her country. Of course it doesn't, since "her country" is a swanky Fifth Avenue New York apartment in the US, where she mostly lives. Over the past year, Oprah and her publicity team have pushed Oprah's latest weight loss - to loud, gushy media acclaim. Oprah, girlfriend, if only you could have gained the weight of a conscience. The next time we need someone to "Rescue the World's Girls," keep Oprah out of it. Friends, Several people have been concerned about my use of the word boycott concerning sponsors of O Magazine. I agree we shouldn't boycott them. We should suggest to them that advertising in O Magazine is going to alienate people who don't have sympathy for homocide bombers. That is, unless and until Oprah Magazine apologizes and prints a rebuttal. I'm happy to say that public pressure does work. The AUT in Britain, which decided to boycott Israeli universities? Well, they've backed down. Hurray for us. Read the details at: http://tinyurl.com/agbd6 Naomi Dear Naomi- I whole heartedly agree with you about the sentiments in OPRAH! It's a disgrace. But, please don't blame Chevrolet...we own two Chevrolet dealerships (and one Cadillac) and hire anyone who is qualified, providing jobs for 200 employees (and hence, support for their families.) We don't tolerate intolerance of any kind. Unfortunately, Chevrolet (my husband has been on the advertising board and currently sits on both national and regional boards) purchases ads based on demographics. Please don't blame Chevrolet for OPRAH's stupidity...but feel free to ask them to choose other, more suitable magazines, instead. Please do not blame the fine line-up of GM vehicle products for Oprah feeling like she rules the world. Let's come up with another way to let her know we are displeased. It's hard enough doing business these days with high gas prices and the negative press GM has been receiving. You may share this, but please clarify that we are disgusted with Oprah and NOT with Chevrolet. Peri Lieberman
Dear Peri, We really don't intend to boycott anyone. But we need to let the sponsors of her magazine know that their advertising dollars could be better spent elsewhere, because what she's done is hurtful to terrorist victims everywhere. I hope your husband can help suggest this. If you like, I'll be happy to circulate your letter and mine. Best,
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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SHEIK IBRAHIM MUDEIRIS SERMON - THE TRUE FACE OF THE PALESTINIAN-ARABS
Posted by Yuval Zaliouk, May 24, 2005. |
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Dear friends,
The following link will open before you the shocking true world of Arab-Palestinian hate, violence, incitement and propaganda.
http://switch5.castup.net/frames/20041020__PopuMemriTVp/
video_480x360.asp?ClipMediaID=60227&ak=null
Please watch this sermon, worthy of the worst Nazi anti-Semitic manifestations. While you watch, please remember that the sermon was given by a paid official of the Palestinian Authority and broadcast on the official Arab-Palestinian TV. Yes, the official Palestinian TV, controlled by the Palestinian Authority and Abu Mazen, the "moderate" who is doing so much to "reform" his people in accordance with the wishes, hopes and blessings of President Bush and PM Sharon. Please remember that the government of Israel is now preparing to evict dedicated loyal Jewish citizens from their homes in Gush Katif and hand over their beautiful homes and cultivated lands to the enemies, the assassins, who eagerly consume this murderous incitement uttered by the preacher. In two days President Bush will welcome Abu Mazen to the White House. Why? Has anything changed to merit such visit? Such a gesture? If you are as shocked and disgusted as I am, why won't you express your sentiments directly to your Congress representative, and to the President? The support given to Sharon's eviction plan by most official American Jewish organizations is the most bizarre anti-Zionist capitulation act in history. May I suggest that the sermon by Sheik Ibrahim Mudeiris should be shown in every synagogue and church in the USA. Here is a related article called "When Abbas Comes To Call." It was written by Cal Thomas, a nationally syndicated columnist. It appeared in the Washington Times, May 22, 2005. (www.washingtontimes.com/functions/ print.php?StoryID=20050521-100532-5690r). Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled to meet President Bush in Washington May 26. He is getting this meeting because the Bush administration has concluded Mr. Abbas has done more than his predecessor, Yasser Arafat, to reduce violence against Israeli civilians and reform the Palestinian security services, among other preconditions in the road map for Middle East peace. That's debatable, but one issue beyond debate is Mr. Abbas' failure to end the incitement to violence that President Bush mentioned nearly three years ago as a precondition for carrying out the road map. In its print and broadcast media, the Palestinian Authority has increased the invective against Israel, the Jewish people and the United States. According to a report commissioned by the Center for Near East Policy Research, the invective, incitement, paranoia, false accusations and rumors and inflammatory sermons in Palestinian mosques has not changed under Mr. Abbas. These include assertions from Palestinian officials and their media that Israel plans to attack Islamic holy sites such as Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalem's Temple Mount, that Israel uses radiation to poison Palestinian travelers and claims on radio that "America is using her troops to uproot Islam and [true] belief from the hearts of those imprisoned in her jails." On official Palestinian television, viewers saw three hours of nonstop incitement against Jews and Israel. And on "Good Morning Jerusalem," calls were taken from viewers who berated Jews and Americans with approval of the show's hosts. From numerous Palestinian mosques comes rhetoric that, if used by an American preacher about anyone, would properly be condemned as bigotry and an incitement to violence. Sheik Ibrahim Mudeiris, a paid PA employee, said in a sermon aired May 13 on PA TV, "Allah has tormented us with 'the people most hostile to believers' -- the Jews ... and the polytheists." That's code for Christians, who believe in a triune God. "You will find that the Jews were behind all civil strife in this world. The Jews are behind the suffering of the nations." If that isn't enough incitement for the president, how about this from the same sermon: "We have ruled the world before, and by Allah, the day will come when we will rule the entire world again. The day will come when we will rule America. The day will come when we will rule Britain." What about those "troublesome" Jews? The sheik said, "The stones and trees will want the Muslims to finish off every Jew." In case people think this is merely the ranting of a single cleric, they should visit the Palestinian Media Watch Web site where there is a full report outlining the PA's systematic justification for genocide (www.pmw.org.il/KAJ?eng.htm). This isn't only a sermon; it is official policy of the Palestinian government, which the Bush administration believes can make peace and living side-by-side with Israel. If it weren't official policy, one would expect Mr. Abbas to denounce and silence it. If words have meaning, the definition of "incite" should inform administration policy: "stresses a stirring up and urging on; move to action." (Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary) Sermons from Palestinian mosques, along with words and images in Palestinian media, are not the American equivalent of an editorial or opinion column, or a sermon or homily from an American church or synagogue. They are designed to stir up and move to violent action. A preponderance of sermons I have read call for eradicating Jews, Christians and anyone else who doesn't believe as they do. In his meeting with Mr. Abbas, will President Bush raise the issue of incitement in Palestinian media and sermons? Will he demand that Mr. Abbas order a halt to this inflammatory rhetoric intended to incite murder and war and not peace? Will he ask Mr. Abbas if he believes these things? If he won't, what is the meeting's purpose? Yuval Zaliouk writes the Truth Provider columns. To subscribe, send an email to ynz@netvision.net.il |
| GUSH KATIF |
COLOR ME ORANGE
Posted by Paula R. Stern, May 24, 2005. |
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Unlike many in Israel, including hundreds of thousands of Jews born in Eastern European or Arab countries, I have always had the honor and luck to live in a democracy. Born in the United States and then having relocated to the only real democracy in the Middle East, I have always been proud of the lengths to which our justice system has gone in order to protect the democratic rights of the inhabitants of Israel. Having stated without reservation that I am proud to live in a democratic country, one dedicated to honoring the individual while serving the whole, I feel free now to admit my utter amazement at the actions of the police and security forces. I am not surprised that Ariel Sharon's government is afraid of everything orange. Orange, the color of the sunrise. Orange is the color of those who oppose Sharon's plan, but in its own way, orange is becoming the voice of democracy in a country where suddenly irrational fear is replacing freedom and paranoia is rampant. What else is it but paranoia when security guards at the Western Wall spend more effort determining the color of a child's shirt or bracelet than the contents of a backpack? What else but irrational fear would cause security guards at the Knesset to confiscate orange scarves from a delegation of Indian visitors simply because of the color? What did they think the Indians were going to do? Did they fear our honorable leaders would be strangled? Was something possibly hidden by or under the scarves? No, the security threat to the nations leaders came from the simple fact that the scarves were orange. Orange, the color of the sunshine. Young girls wearing orange t-shirts were refused entry to the Western Wall. A boy wearing an orange t-shirt under other layers of clothing was forced to undress before being allowed to proceed. If you approach the Western Wall wearing an orange bracelet, the new police regulations suggest you will be forced to remove it or surrender your right to pray at Judaism's second holiest site (the first being the actual Temple Mount itself). A boy wanting to take part in the national Bible competition was refused the right to participate until he removed or covered his orange t-shirt. Bracelets, orange strips of material, t-shirts, hats. All forbidden because of the color... and more importantly the fact that it represents opposition to the government's plan. Orange, the color of the sunset. A Knesset member was ejected from the proceedings because he donned an orange hat. He did not scream, as they are wont to do, nor did he threaten. The simple act of putting on an orange hat was enough. And the more the Sharon government exhibits this incredible reaction to orange, the more powerful the symbol becomes. Day by day, Israel is turning orange as people realize that Sharon's plan endangers the security of our country. Top IDF members have expressed their hesitation. The highest officers are warning that Hamas is re-arming and getting ready to thrust yet another, more intense terror battle against us. According to some dream-related websites, orange can symbolize "generosity, optimism and nobility." Dreams in orange, says one site, are usually associated with "warmth, sunshine and brightness." But there is another side to orange, suggests the text. Orange is also "a warning, or a caution." Those who chose orange to symbolize the anti-expulsion plan could not have chosen better. As Israel colors itself in orange, we are sending a signal that we believe in the bright future of Israel. We are committed and optimistic that the sun will shine on us. But we are also issuing a warning that we are not blinded by either the sun or Sharon's plan. We see what it will do to Israel. We know, as he has forgotten, that the so-called "unilateral disengagement" is anything but true disengagement and anything but a fulfillment of the promise of peace and security Sharon once made to the people of Israel. As my children go to school with their orange t-shirts and I drive my car draped in the colors of protest, I realize that orange has become the symbol of democracy itself, the right to protest, the right to withhold support, the right to voice opposition. It amazes me that something as simple as a color could come to symbolize not only something we hold so precious, our freedom, but also the lengths to which a corrupt government will go to stop this legitimate expression of our concerns. Out of his blind fear and paranoia has been born the power of orange. Paula R. Stern is a freelance journalist and technical writer living in Israel. Her personal website is www.paulasays.com. |
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IS PRESIDENT BUSH THE CULPRIT? TWO POINTS OF VIEW
Posted by Marcel Cousineau, May 24, 2005. |
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J.: Dear Marcel, Israel is bulldozed into disastrous concessions only because she is pliable, docile and compliant. The infirm attitude of the Israeli leadership actually calls for pressures. This the name of the international power game - the weak pays, the strong wins, as simple as that. I do wonder why you fail to understand that basic fact of life. Marcel: Bulldozed by who? Why ignore this? Why not name the Bulldozer? Is it a form of deep denial that 95% of Zionists ignore the TRUTH? Would an ally or friend act in this way,like a bully rewarding Israel's enemies and restraining Israel at every opportunity? I am convinced that it is because the U.S. has become the only god to most Israeli's that they must deny reality. The U.S. is their only hope, so they cannot face the truth. They must ignore reality as they have no faith to trust in the God of Abraham. The level of denial by the vast majority of Zionists is apalling and breathtaking. It's as if a dark cloud has decended over them and they grope in the dark. Their limited view only reveals the rotund front man for the plan to destroy Israel. J.: Whenever Israel was self-confident, assertive and steeled by the spirit of her just cause, she was considered a strategic asset and was duly respected by the international community. But weak Israel amidst the Middle East conflict, that troubles the entire world, is doomed to be pushed to the corner. Any normal leader of America would have done the same. Marcel: Wrong ! A true friend and ally does not treat his friends the way Israel is treated by the U.S. You along with so many in Israel COMPLETLY ignore that it is the Bush plan to have a Palestinian state and to do this he must steal Jewish land. J.: Henceforth, complaining against President Bush is downright ludicrous. USA administration has always displayed an ambivalent attitude to Israel, a staunch ally as well as an opponent. Marcel: It is ludicrous of you to ignore that it is the Bush call for a Palestinian state that is a grave threat to Israel. EXTRTREMELY ludicrous I might add. Staunch ally? So this is what you call the nation who divides up your land? You sir are deceived and cannot see. Blinded. J.: That dualistic stance stems from the American intricate feat to retain its interests as a world superpower and at the same time remain a ally of an isolated internationally-antagonized miniature state such as Israel. Marcel: Betrayel is not so intricate. I'm sure the Trojans thought they were recieving a gift. And so Israel cannot even awaken to reality that the primary force in her dissection is NOT a staunch ally. J.: But the bottom line is obviously that Israel gets what she deserves. Marcel:God will be the judge of that,not you. But rest assured that the one who divides up Israel for sorrid and duplicitious reasons will recieve justly what will come upon her at His hand. Just you watch and see!
America will be made an example of to all the Jewish people who IGNORE their God,and trusted instead and ran to this IDOL for comfort and protection and silently went along with the EVIL Bush Plan. Marcel Cousineau can be reached by email at up2zionsg8@yahoo.com |
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THEY DON'T CATCH ON; NEW GSS HEAD ECHOES WARNINGS AGAINST ABANDONMEN
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, May 24, 2005. |
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The American Jewish Congress (AJC) reports general Israeli "concern for the welfare of the families who (s.b. "that") will be affected by disengagement." AJC describes the problem at Columbia U. of one of anti-Israel comments and harassment of Jewish students by (mostly Arab) professors. Some people accuse the harassers of trying to stifle challenges to those professors by claiming it is a matter of academic freedom (Congress Monthly, 3/2005, pp. 21,23). That is indeed what such professors claim. Why put it as "some people accuse," as if any doubt? Neither the Israelis, if their reaction is as reported, nor the AJC, get the point. It isn't just the families to be expelled whose welfare is at stake. There also are 44 Israeli towns that, as a result of Yesha abandonment, the government declared "frontline". The government admits those towns would be bombarded by P.A. Arabs, freely moving rockets up closer. Further Israeli towns would come within range when the P.A. develops or imports more effective missiles. Infiltrators, no longer blocked en route, would endanger all of Israel. Since the international airport could be paralyzed by anti-aircraft missiles, Israel tourists and goods could be kept out. From then on, but especially if there is more abandonment, Israel would become decreasingly viable. (As for the P.A. Arabs, they probably would sink in their own sloth.) Israelis would become demoralized and try to emirate. But to where? They have been given false reputations as evil. The Arabs, whose bigotry and terrorism is evil, would have murdered Jews and then inherited the Jewish patrimony. Stop this abandonment and assert Jewish independence and values, and Israel might survive. Pursue it and Israel would not survive. It is a slippery slope on whose edge all of Israel stands. At Columbia, it is not just a matter of opinions against Israel, which is permissible, or of harassment, which is not. It also is the hiring of teachers without academic integrity and whose goal is a false propaganda jihad against Israel and the Jews. Those professors are not performing their job, which is to teach knowledge and elicit independent thought. The matter of opinions is misunderstood, too. One is free not to like something. However, one should be honest about admitting what is factual and not asserting what is fabricated. Those professors are not honest about it. They slander Israel, and preach myths instead of facts. AJC, like each successive conventional organization, makes the same thoughtless analysis as the rest. NEW GSS HEAD ECHOES WARNINGS AGAINST ABANDONMENT "Northern Samaria without the IDF," Diskin, the new head of the secret service, told a Knesset committee, "means terror and the firing of missiles" at Israeli targets. It would leave the IDF without "an effective method of fighting terror in the region." "Diskin also pointed out the dangers of handing over the Philadelphi route on the Gaza-Egyptian border to the PA, in the event that IDF forces withdraw totally from the Gaza district. He took the line of his predecessor, Avi Dichter, who opposed the government's plan to abandon the route to PA forces and rely on beefed-up Egyptian forces to secure the border from their side." "Another serious problem facing Israel is the growing strength of terror organizations in Gaza, particularly Hamas. Diskin said that if Hamas becomes involved politically in governing the Palestinian Authority, Israel would have difficulty targeting its leaders as it has done in the past. He said it would be easier for Israel to deal with Hamas when it functions primarily as a terror group." "Abbas will neither fight terror nor give up the Palestinians' (Arabs') claim to the 'right of return' which if implemented, would flood Israel with hundreds of thousands of Arab 'refugees,' and their descendants, from the 1948 and 1967 wars." (Arutz-7, 5/17.) Sharon had fired Dichter for honestly warning against abandonment. He got Diskin, honest, too. LIMITS TO MY WRITING More stories are coming out about arbitrary police arrests and police brutality against Jews protesting Sharon's abandonment plan. I find the stories convincing, but am not reporting many of them, for two reasons. First, they are coming from one side. They are not verified. This is the sort of thing that should be videotaped and then publicized. Second, some of them involve long stories. My forte is the news brief. I digest the news and comment about it. WHAT WOULD THE P.A. HAVE ISRAEL DO? Israel fired missiles at two terrorists, killing one and wounding the other. The P.A. protested. IMRA wonders, "Since the PA essentially concedes that the Palestinians targeted were engaged in shooting missiles at Israeli targets it remains unclear what the PA expects Israel to do under circumstances that Palestinian 'resistance fighters' are shooting and the PA itself does not act to stop them." (IMRA, 5/19.) It's the usual Arab brazenness in condemning defense against its aggression. The Arabs are unfair in acting if Israel were unreasonable or should restrain itself. WHY DOESN'T "NEWSWEEK" REPORT THIS? US interrogators have stripped or inappropriately touched Muslim prisoners, forcing them to break religious taboos, in order to break down their resistance to interrogation. This not only is illegal, it may be counter-productive. "Newsweek" reported an apparently false story about US troops flushing pages of the Koran down the toilet, to intimidate Muslim prisoners. That led to sympathy about the sensitivities of Muslims being trampled. When the story was found false, it led to sympathy for the maligned US troops, indignation over "Newsweek" carelessness, and some inkling that Muslim prisoners lie about prison conditions. On the other hand, Muslim prisoners have protested their conditions by stuffing their toilets with Korans (Anne Applebaum, NY Sun, 5/19, p.8). If Muslims are willing to put Korans into toilets, why do Muslims riot over GIs doing so? Prof. Steven Plaut asks why they don't report this true story, about lack of Muslim sensitivity towards other faiths: In a sermon on P.A. TV, Moslem cleric Ibrahim Mudayris, an appointee of the PLO, said, "The day will come and we shall rule America, Britain, we shall rule the entire world, except the Jews. According to Mudayris, the only fate awaiting Jews is death by extermination, unlike the Christian countries, which will only be subjugated." (Plaut, 5/19.) That kind of Muslim Arab bigotry is broadcast week after week. Why isn't it reported? If the "Times" reported it every week, how long would it be before Pres. Bush had to stop asserting that those P.A. Arab "aspirations" should e met with statehood rather than with expulsion? A REASON NOT TO RETREAT The Arabs in Gaza complain that the presence of Israelis in Gaza prevents Arab statehood there. That is an excellent reason against withdrawing that presence! OTHER TRICKS OF THE POLITICIANS' TRADE A good source of information about federal ways around our democracy is the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Pres. Bush and his GOP majority in Congress are particularly duplicitous about circumventing and sabotaging environmental law and regulation for short-term gains for big corporations. The following is from its four-page May, 2005 "Nature's Voice." Pres. Bush's "Clear Skies "bill was "Crafted by some of America's Biggest polluters, the bill would have weakened the Clean Air Act?" The Senate Environment Committee rejected it. NRDC suspects, however, that it would be brought up for a full Senate vote by means of a "procedural trick" "or simply attach it as a rider to a spending bill." The Senate vote to allow oil drilling in the Arctic Refuge is under the false premise that it would reduce gas prices. It would not reduce over-consumption of oil. (It would take years to develop, and there isn't much oil there. The Administration refuses to impose conservation, able to save many times as much oil.) The Administration claims that oil development would disturb only 2,000 acres of the refuge, but it would disturb much more. The Fish & Wildlife Service doesn't respond to NRDC's petition to add the yellow-billed loon to the endangered species list. That bird is in the Arctic Refuge. The Administration plans to remove the grizzly bear from endangered status near Yellowstone National Park, so as to help loosen restrictions on drilling and other development there. This would expose the bears to hunting and isolate the ones in the park from others. The Administration "ordered government biologists to rewrite a report warning that a plan to divert million of gallons of water from California rivers would harm Chinook salmon and other endangered fish." (The order is to give the public false assurances in behalf of industry.) Further ignoring the scientific evidence, the Environmental Protection Agency negotiated a secret deal with the manufacturer of atrazine, so it could continue to sell it. The product is a toxic herbicide that gets into US waterways and endangers humans and wildlife both, including Chesapeake Bay sea turtles. This private set-aside is a common tactic. The evidence shows that US naval sonar is killing and injuring whales, but the Administration refuses to take "commonsense steps" to protect them. (The Republic law-and-order cohorts also reduce funding for compliance and enforcement. BUSH-SPEAK "The President expressed our appreciation for Egypt's leadership and active involvement in promoting peace and stability in the Middle East." IMRA noted Pres. Bush's omission of Egypt's tolerance of arms smuggling into Gaza (IMRA, 5/18.) Instead, Bush praised Pres. Mubarak for promoting peace when he is promoting war. When will people realize that Bush is part of the conspiracy to bring Israel down? HUMAN BOMBERS ARE EDUCATED & OF MEANS Gleanings from terrorist web sites about human bombers show that most of the ones in Iraq are Saudi and other foreign Arabs of education and means if not wealth. They found the 9/11 attack inspiring. In their late 20s, most leave wives and young children behind, to cope without them. S. Arabia tries to deny that most of the human bombs are Saudi. It worries that the US may become fed up with the desert kingdom as a source of jihad against it (sorry, lost source). Their education is narrow or their religion and culture prevail over 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 ricshulman@aol.com. |
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ABBAS, THE CIRCUS MASTER
Posted by AFSI, May 24, 2005. |
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This article was written by Caroline Glick and appeared in the Jerusalem Post yesterday (www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ ShowFull&cid=1116814792573&p=1006953079897). How long is the Bush administration planning on putting up with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's terror circus? Ahead of his visit with US President George W. Bush at the White House this Thursday, Abbas said on Saturday that he plans to demand that Washington beef up its political and economic support for the PA. Abbas believes he has the right to expect US support because he has come through so well on his promises to reform the PA. He will tell the president that, just as he promised, he has reformed the PA security forces. He will further tell the president that in reaching an agreement with Hamas for a pause in terrorist attacks against Israel, he has done his part in combating terrorism. Finally, he will tell the president that in pushing ahead with the PA legislative elections in July he is the very model of a democratizing leader, in tune with Bush's plan to bring freedom and liberty to the Arab world. These are all lies. Abbas's claims find their basis in a distortion of language. Ahead of the president's meeting with Abbas, it therefore behooves us to understand how he has twisted the meaning of the terms "reform," "combating terrorism," and "democracy" to serve his interests, all of which are inimical to everything Bush is trying to achieve in the Middle East. Three years ago, Bush called for the PA to transform its 13 security services from terror organizations into counter-terror militias. This demand was immediately emptied of all substance by the Palestinians and their friends, then foreign minister and now Vice-Premier Shimon Peres, the heads of the EU, and the Near Eastern Bureau at the US State Department. Inside of a New York minute, the call for an overhaul morphed into a call for reorganization. Suddenly, the be-all and end-all of PA security reform became the merging of the 13 Palestinian forces into three proto-military organizations under a clear chain of command. This demand had the advantage of being concrete and measurable, but the disadvantage of being completely meaningless. As long as the PA's security services are actively involved in terrorism, who cares how they are organized? It is far from clear that Abbas has actually fused his various militias into three groups, as he claims he has. But what is absolutely apparent is that not one of them is taking any action whatsoever against terror cells. On the contrary, they are openly bringing known terrorists into their ranks. For years Abbas consistently stated that he would take no action against Hamas, Fatah or Islamic Jihad terror organizations. His mantra has always been that he will not start a Palestinian civil war. Since he replaced Yasser Arafat last November, far from changing his view that no harm should befall terrorists, he has strengthened them in every possible way. The first steps Abbas took involved legitimizing these organizations by openly meeting with their commanders. Next he sought to bring Hamas and Islamic Jihad into the PLO (of which his Fatah party and terror group is the largest faction). He has agreed to finance them from the PA budget and lavished them with respect and adulation. SINCE LAST December Abbas has been selling Israel and the US the fiction of his cease-fire with the terror groups. This is a magical cease-fire that gets concluded anew, daily, right after the Palestinian shooters have finished their terror attacks on Israeli targets for the day. And, every day, the press duly reports that a cease-fire has been reached and ignores the fact that, on the one hand, Israel is the only side that has stopped fighting and, on the other hand, that the PA's "reformed" security forces are helping the terrorist groups to rearm with rockets, mortars, bombs, anti-tank and anti-aircraft guns and missiles, small arms and ammunition. Assessing the increasingly dangerous situation, the IDF brass, from the Chief of Staff on down has warned that this reorganization and rearmament is the prelude to the next round of war set to begin the day after the IDF expels all 10,000 Jews from their homes, schools, businesses, farms and cemeteries in Gaza and northern Samaria this summer. In the wake of that operation, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz casually mentioned last week that 43 communities in the Negev will be within rocket range of the Palestinians from Gaza. This, of course, will be a temporary situation since the Palestinians will no doubt quickly extend the range of their rockets the moment the IDF is no longer around to stop them from doing so. As for Abbas's proclaimed ardor regarding democracy, it is important to notice the character of the support bases he is building for himself. During his campaign for PA leadership in December and January, he went out of his way to endear himself to the Palestinian public by visiting terror masters in Syria and Lebanon and being photographed every day with wanted terror bosses in Palestinian cities and villages. Since his election, Abbas's pro-democracy work has involved enabling Hamas to participate in the Palestinian election process; signing the death warrants of Palestinians accused of assisting Israel in combating terror; and ratcheting up incitement in the PA media against Israel and the US. Indeed, the only thing Abbas's "pro-democracy" machinations point to is just how premature the calls for Palestinian elections and statehood actually are. And yet, rather than reaching this forthright conclusion, the Bush administration has been willfully ignoring it. This weekend we learned that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's representative here - the invisible US security coordinator for the PA, General William Ward - ordered the government to release yet another 400 Palestinian terrorists from prison and allow the terrorists who laid siege to the Church of the Nativity in 2002 to return to the PA from European exile. Ward's argument apparently is that Israel cannot expect Abbas to abide by his commitments to Israel (and to Bush) unless it fulfills the promises it made to Abbas at the Sharm e-Sheikh summit last February. As reported in Haaretz, Ward told his Israeli interlocutors: "You complain that the Palestinians are not fulfilling their commitments, but what about your commitments?" So for Ward, in order to get Abbas to fight terrorism, it is necessary for Israel to strengthen the terrorists. The Bush administration seems absolutely committed to ensuring that the PA will not become a failed state on the model of Somalia or Lebanon. And yet, in its rush to strengthen Abbas in order to prevent chaos, the US is backing his bid to establish a Palestinian rogue state. If President Bush really believes in his vision for freedom and democracy for the Palestinians, he would be well advised to tell Abbas that as long as the choices are between a failed Palestinian state and a rogue Palestinian state, the US opts for no Palestinian state. Americans For a Safe Israel/AFSI is a pro-active pro-Israel advocacy group. AFSI may be contacted by mail at 1623 Third Ave., Suite 205, New York, N.Y. 10128 (Tel: 212-828-2424; Fax: 212-828-1717); by email at afsi@rcn.com; or by accessing its website: www.afsi.org. Helen Freedman is Executive Director. |
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LYING ABOUT MIDDLE EASTERN LAND
Posted by Stephen Plaut, May 24, 2005. |
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One of the few things unchallengeable about the Middle East conflict is that it has virtually nothing to do with land. Arab countries already control 6,145,389 square miles of land. That is almost twice the land area of the United States, which is 3,537,438 square miles, and about the same as the land area of Russia. Israel, even when including all of the "occupied territories" retained from the 1967 SIx Day War, controls less than 10,000 square miles. The West Bank and the Gaza Strip comprise about 2300 square miles (a bit less when deducting Jerusalem and its suburbs from the account), which is about half the size of the Everglades. The Moonbats-against-Israel lobby wants us to believe that with 6,145,389 square miles, the Arabs want war and genocide, but with 6,145,389 plus 2300 more, then they will want peace. If Israel only trades "land for peace" with the land-deprived Arabs, and never mind that its abandonment of the West Bank would leave an Israel ten miles wide and waiting for the Arab armies to annihilate, then all will be well. The "anti-Zionists" want the world to believe that the entire Middle East war is due to the fact that those evil selfish Jews are unwilling to share their 10,000 square miles with the poor land-starved Arabs. But in reality, the obvious true cause of the Middle East war is the fact that the Arab world is unwilling to allow the Jews to control even a sixth of one percent of the territory of the Middle East. The Arabs, controlling more land than any other ethnic group on the planet besides the Russians, are simply unwilling to share even the tiniest sliver of the Middle East with the Jews. If the "anti-Zionists", for their part, get what they want, then there will be no Jews left alive in Israel. www.discoverthenetwork.org/moonbatcentral/2005/05/lying-about-middle-eastern-land.html 2. Aharon Barak's pupil? Massachusetts Chief Justice opposes Free Speech In Massachusetts (where else?) there is many-a-moonbat liberal munching beans who is opposed to free speech for non-liberals. Many of them teach at Harvard and Brandeis. But none are as openly in favor of suppressing the rights of conservatives to dissent from liberal dogma as is the chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Court herself. Justice Margaret H. Marshall who has been widely criticized as a judicial activist since writing the court's 2003 decision allowing same-sex marriage. She expressed her opposition to free speech for non-liberals when she spoke before a crowd of 7,000 at Brandeis University's 54th commencement this week. Among those who evidently need to be denied freedom of dissent regarding judicial activism (which is a euphemism for judicial tyranny), in her learned opinion, are Governor Mitt Romney, who accused her and her comrades on the state Supreme Judicial Court of "judicial overreaching" in the Wall Street Journal last year, and President George W. Bush, who has lashed out at "activist judges" -- those who use their decisions to push a social agenda. Marshall dismisses such criticism as "gratuitous attacks on judges undermine that trust." Marshall insisted that rhetoric about judges destroying the country and the suggestion that court decisions should conform to public opinion are threatening the judicial system. Among other comments, she said: "I worry when people of influence use vague, loaded terms like 'judicial activism' to skew public debate or to intimidate judges," Marshall said. "I worry when judicial independence is seen as a problem to be solved and not a value to be cherished." Marshall's exploitation of her invitation to Brandeis to bash critics of loose-cannon judges was probably part of her attempts to defend herself from groups like Article 8 Alliance, a Waltham group founded to remove Marshall and the other three justices who ruled for same-sex marriage from the bench. Its spokesman said, " 'Activist judges' is a specific term that refers to judges who rule outside the rule of law. It has to do with whether they use objective, legal, constitutional means to base their decisions." Marshall is native of South Africa who fought apartheid before coming to the United States. Now she no doubt endorses American apartheid, also known as affirmative action. 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. |
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DON'T SIGN ON
Posted by Herb Sunshine, May 24, 2005. |
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It has come to my attention that Seymour Reich [president of the Israel Policy Forum] is organizing an ad campaign signed by Jewish leaders to proclaim their support for Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan. Mr. Sharon, like Mr. Peres before him, has come up with another "turn your back and run" plan that has no hope of succeeding for one simple reason. The Palestinian Arabs, together with their "brethren" world-wide, have embarked on a dangerous campaign to emulate the Nazis. No land deal, no negotiation, no compromise, no appeasement will satisfy them. I know this sounds extreme, but I ask you to re-read this after you listen to a sermon made two days ago and broadcast on official Palestinian television. Please watch it! Please ask your organizations (including Hadassah!) not to sign! Listen to http://memritv.org/search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=669 Simon Wiesenthal Center has called on Mahmoud Abbas to dismiss the head of Palestinian TV after broadcasting a sermon which said: "The Jews are the cancer spreading all over the world...the Jews are a virus like AIDS hitting humankind...Jews are responsible for all wars and conflicts... Do not ask what Germany did to the Jews but what the Jews did to Germany. True, the Germans killed and burned Jews but the Jews exaggerate the numbers to gain propaganda advantages and sympathy. " - Sheikh Ibrahim Mudairis, May 13, 2005, Gaza During the sermon, in the presence of uniformed Palestinian Authority police, the Sheik also asserted that God has predetermined that the Jewish problem will be solved with the extermination of the Jews, and that God has also predetermined that Christian-Islam interactions will end with today's Christian countries under Islam. "Even in the days of Arafat, we did not see such a blatant antisemitic and Holocaust-denying canard broadcast on Palestinian TV, whose current chief was personally appointed by Mahmoud Abbas," charged Rabbis Marvin Hier and Abraham Cooper, Dean and Associate Dean of the Wiesenthal Center. "This attack comes just days before Mahmoud Abbas' scheduled meeting with President Bush, and during the week which the civilized world commemorated the 60th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany. Is this genocidal sermon the kind of peace dividend that the people of Israel can look forward to? Center officials called on President Bush to raise this issue at the White House during his meeting with Mahmoud Abbas next week. They also called on the US government to link funding of Palestinian entities to their actions, not their promises. Please forward this message to your friends, family, and colleagues. Herbert B. Sunshine is Professor of Law (US). He and his wife Miki live in Jerusalem. |
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MK'S SEEK ADVICE OF US JEWS ON ISRAEL'S CONSTITUTION
Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, May 24, 2005. |
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A Constitution written by Israelis and American Jews is merely the last phase of a disastrous process one could liken to self-immolation. The Jews who would write such a document would be obsessed with a type of obligatory fairness to the hostile Arab Muslim population - both inside and outside of Israel. This document would insure the Arab Muslims eventual dominance, creating one State of all its citizens...meaning that the Jews (if left alone) would go back to the status they had when living in Arab Muslim countries as a Dhimmi (low, second class, despised citizen who (they said) needed to be 'protected' by their Muslim overseers and rulers). Of course, they w4ere never protected but they did have to pay a special "jiza" tax for this non-protection. The already biased Leftist Israeli Courts would be further diluted with Arab Muslim judges and eventually insuring that the description "Jewish State" would fade into merely a 'state'.. Following that, Islamic law (Sha'riah law - Strict Islamism) would control the system. Such a Constitution - if drafted by Left Liberal Jews, who want to be loved by the entire world, will insure the final death knell of the Jewish State of Israel. Jews love the words in the Law and cannot imagine how laws can be used against them - even as it is happening. Most have forgotten the Nuremberg Laws which stripped Jews of all their Jewish and human rights. It stripped them of all they owned and eventually their very lives. Hitler started slowly in 1933 and when the Jews and the world did not object, he upped his ante, increased the anti-Jewish restrictive laws and began their extermination. Germans, French, Poles, Croatians, Rumanians, (you name it) and they fell on what the Jews had built and owned like ravenous dogs, fighting over bones. It's all happening again as Arab Muslims salivate over what the Jews have created in Israel - only this time with a Jew leading what is to be the condemnation of what other Jews have built. With that I give you Sharon, Peres and their respective gangs of aberrant misfits. Wherein the once admired, pre-Hitler, German Judiciary then accepted and promulgated anti-Jewish laws, today in Israel we see Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon easily creating new laws or "re-interpreting" standing laws by using the "strong man" tactics of intimidating his Cabinet and Knesset (Parliament) to get whatever he wants. We observe the activist Israeli Supreme Court, under its "strong man" Chief Justice Aharon Barak, using the power of law to create new laws, mostly biased toward Arab rights. Israel's court system has abandoned her role as an impartial dispenser of Justice for Jews and, instead, has become a Political Party to a great degree. These examples remind me of the compelling film: "Bridge on the River Kwai". Here the actor Alec Guinness plays the role of a British officer captured by the Japanese who are unsuccessfully trying to build a rail bridge over the River Kwai to transport Japanese military equipment and men to fight the Americans and British. Guinness volunteers his men, merely to give them work to keep discipline - and because of his own strong character, he can't do anything less than well. So he stops the prisoners' attempts at sabotage in order to create the Bridge. It has become his compulsion. Unknown to the Guinness, the British officer, an outside team comes to blow up the Bridge, unknown to the officer. On a last inspection, the British officer sees a wire leading to an explosive detonator. He is so consumed with "his bridge", he tries to alert the Japanese and expose the wire leading to the explosives. Only in the last moments of his life does he come to realizes that he was aiding the enemy and, in fact, had become a traitor to his own country. The point being is that today we see people like Sharon, Peres, Olmert, Mofaz, Beilin, among others, so consumed with succeeding at the work of appeasement, they cannot see themselves as committing treason or that they are acting as traitors to their own people. A Constitution sounds great but, not if it includes giving the Arab Muslims the legal rights to take the Jewish State away from the Jews by killing Jews, by taking their G-d given Land, by making the Jews vulnerable and eventually turning the world's one Jewish State into another Islamic Arab nation - the 24th in the world. Jews mention in the Heilman Jerusalem Post article will be consumed with what they believe to be "fairness to all". For Jews, there is no law of fairness by Arabs or the Europeans or the United Nations. We Jews are as Arnold Toynbee opines, a "fossil people and state", which by all logical history, should not have reappeared as a strong, religious, national people, but should have disappeared into history as did all the other ancients. Toynbee thought Jews were outside of the Three Prime Estates: Monarchy/Aristocracy, Church and Peasantry and are therefore the "fourth estate" and are to be treated as if we are outside of the laws adopted by and for the first Three Estates. (Not "fourth estate" as later refers to Journalism) Jews, especially those who aspire to higher office, are merely mouths - unconnected to the brains needed for survival. They invariably confuse words with reality. I would hate to think of the words and thousands of pages devoted to "fairness" for their most dedicated enemies. Such a group would insure that Israel would no longer be a Jewish State but, rather a mixture of its citizens - as often expressed by Chairman Yassir Arafat. Such a gaggle of Jews could not bring themselves to draft a strong Constitution to protect either the Jews, the Jewish character of the Jewish nation or to hold at bay the Arab Muslim hostiles - both within and outside of her borders. If a Constitutional Congress were convened, be assured that, in addition to the dominance of the Left Liberal Jews of Israel and America, the pro-Arab U.S. State Department, the United Nations, European Union, Arab League would be promoted as helpful advisors. Israel could use a Constitution which would act as a restraint on the Government, Supreme Court and correct the drift of the current Government toward a Police State to fulfill the dreams of the few to dictate their will. Regrettably at this moment in time, the Israeli Government, her Courts and her Media are all in the hands of those who wish to de-Judaize the Jewish State and are simply not to be trusted to codify a document to be called a Constitution. They are building bridges, not to help the Jewish State to survive but, rather for the unalterably dedicated Arab Muslim enemies to cross over and bring destruction to a Nation abhorred by Islam. ### 1. "MK'S SEEK ADVICE OF US JEWS ON ISRAEL'S CONSTITUTION Visit to America Generates Rare Coming Together of Rival Jewish Organizations" by Uriel Heilman JERUSALEM POST May 13, 2005 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). |
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URGENT ACTION ALERT: AL-QAIDA SPREADS TO GAZA
Posted by Unity Coalition for Israel, May 23, 2005. |
This ACTION ALERT is based on the newest information on the spread of Al-Qaida to Gaza in the aftermath of the Disengagement withdrawal. Read the entire Jerusalem Post article of May 20, 2005 below. CLICK HERE to send this email to the leadership of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Subcommittee on the Middle East and Asia of the International Relations Committee. Dear Congressmen and Senators, There are many unanswered issues that have surfaced in respect to the Disengagement Plan. Primary among them is the fact that the Plan runs counter to the Bush Doctrine "to oppose any state that harbors terrorists." To date, Abu Abbas has not even started to eradicate the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza. In fact, The Jerusalem Post reported on May 20, 2005 in headlines that read "Al-Qaida-linked terrorists in Gaza". This radical group is now added to the list of those already harbored by the Palestinian Authority under Abu Abbas. It is the same global enemy the United States is fighting. The Jerusalem Post reveals that their ties extend to Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq. The US must be consistent in battling Al-Qaida at home and abroad, and certainly in Gaza. We respectfully ask that you consider this new threat, connected to Al-Qaida, operating under the name of Jundallah or "Allah's Brigades". This terrorist group consists mostly of former Hamas and Islamic Jihad members who launched their first attack on IDF soldiers near Rafah earlier this week. According to PA security officials, "they are especially active in the southern Gaza Strip." The article quotes their spokesman, Abu al-Khattab, in declaring their goal to "avenge those Palestinians and Muslims who have been victims of Israel and the US...US interests will be attacked since the Americans have desecrated the Koran and have been killing Muslims in Iraq. Soon everyone will see operations against the US that would make all Muslims delighted." Congress must take a stand and stop the Disengagement Plan before the 21 Jewish communities called Gush Katif leave a vacuum in Gaza, that will likely be filled by the leading international terrorists, including Al-Qaida. Signed, A new Muslim terrorist group linked to al-Qaida has started operating in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian Authority security officials told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday. Jundallah, or "Allah's Brigades," consists mostly of scores of former Hamas and Islamic Jihad members, the officials disclosed. They said Jundallah gunmen launched their first attack on IDF soldiers near Rafah earlier this week. The IDF said four soldiers were lightly wounded in the attack. Jundallah is a radical Muslim group that has close ties with al-Qaida in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq, said one official. "We know for sure that the group is especially active in the southern Gaza Strip," he added. Another official said that, according to intelligence gathered by the PA security forces, Jundallah consists largely of Hamas and Islamic Jihad dissidents who were unhappy with their groups' ostensible pragmatism. "They believe that Hamas and Islamic Jihad have become too moderate," the official said, referring to the two groups' agreement to temporarily suspend terror attacks on Israel. The emergence of Jundallah in the Gaza Strip confirms suspicions that al-Qaida has been trying to set foot in the area ahead of Israel's planned withdrawal. Abu Abdallah al-Khattab, who identifies himself as the spokesman for Jundallah in the Gaza Strip, on Thursday denied that his group was part of al-Qaida or any other international terror group. He also denied that the group was receiving funds from Muslim terror groups around the world. "Jundallah does not belong to anyone and we don't receive money from any group," he said. "Our group, which was established recently, has vowed to avenge the blood of all Palestinians and Muslims who have fallen victim to Israel and the US." Khattab hinted that his group was also planning to target US interests in the region. "Our people will not remain idle in the face of American crimes in Muslim countries," he said. "It is forbidden to shed the blood of Muslims and it is our duty to respond. The blood of Muslims is not cheap." He accused the US of desecrating the Koran and killing Muslims in Iraq. "Soon everyone will see operations [against the US] that would make all the Muslims delighted," he cautioned. He said Jundallah would not honor the unofficial truce with Israel. "We don't attach any importance to this truce because the occupation forces are continuing their crimes against our people," he added. Khattab said the attack near Rafah, which was carried out by a Jundallah cell named Abu Dajaneh, was the first in a series of operations that his group was planning against Israel.
The Unity Coalition for Israel
(http://www.israelunitycoalition.org) is "the largest worldwide
coalition of Jewish and Christian organizations, with more than 200
groups representing millions of people dedicated to Israel. Though we
have many different backgrounds, we have one common goal: A Safe and
Secure Israel."
"Israel is not just a Jewish issue. Millions of Christians
resolutely endorse the principle of peace with security for the state
of Israel. Because we work closely together and speak with a united
voice, our message is being heard!"
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WHAT'S A 'HASSID,' ANYWAY?
Posted by IsrAlert, May 23, 2005. |
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This was written by Matt Lipeles, a Classic Jew (see http://www.chabad.org/library/article.asp?AID=248950) who also is a writer and teacher. He can be reached at mlipeles@earthlink.net It appeared at http://www.chabad.org/278337 You might have heard the old saying, "There's no such thing as a dumb question." But do you really want to ask one? Most people don't want to be embarrassed, so if there's a question they feel they should already know the answer to, it usually goes unasked. Or perhaps, it never occurs to them to ask the simple question: What exactly is a Chassid? Most Jews, no matter their education level, have heard the terms 'Hassid' or 'Hassidic' (also spelled "Chassid" and "Chassidic"). I was recently visiting a friend back east and while I was there, the subject came up. He was trying to explain to another buddy what a chassid was.
They went back and forth for a while. It was like a Laurel and Hardy bit, which was funny to me at first, but it got me to wondering if I really knew what a Hasid/Chassid was myself. So, I decided to investigate. I vaguely remembered having seen the term "chassid" somewhere where it had looked out of place; somewhere in some book written way back then, before there even was a "Chassidic Movement" in Eastern Europe. It had bugged me, but in that hazy, lazy something-doesn't-seem-quite-right-but-I'm-not-going-to-stop-to-figure-it-out-right-now kind of way. But now that the question had come up, I decided to go back to it. It turned out I'd seen the word in Pirkei Avot, or "Ethics of Our Fathers." Pirkei Avot is a book of very short and pithy but quite profound statements written by the rabbis of the Talmud era. The first time I read it, it reminded me of something out of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching or Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanac. I loved it. It's called a book, but the whole thing is barely 25 pages, six chapters of about four pages apiece; each chapter containing a little over a dozen short bits of wisdom so deep you could mull it over for the rest of your life. And people do. Anyway, the fifth saying in the second chapter of Pirkei Avot includes the statement, "a boor can't be sin-fearing, and an ignoramus can't be a chassid." In the English translation, in the parenthesis next to the word chassid it says, "one who does more than the letter of the law requires." That's it. I was amazed. My friend and his buddy could argue all day long about hats, coats and beards. You and I might be more philosophic, but still not get to the heart of the matter. But our sages didn't waste words. A chassid is simply someone who does more than he has to, someone who goes the extra yard. You've got to love those Talmud guys. Totally to the point. Very clean. Not even a wasted syllable. Man, I wish I could be like that. Anyway, reading it really got me excited, because it made me remember something else I'd once heard a Chabad rabbi say. He said that there are plenty of mitzvahs that you can do that are basically between you and G-d: putting on tefillin, lighting Shabbat candles, etc. These are definitely awesome mitzvahs that you should do. However, he continued, what can you do that will really get G-d excited? Well, suppose a friend of yours confides in you that he is heartbroken because his son in second grade was just diagnosed with a learning disability and is having a lot of trouble learning to read. Well, you could bring the guy a pound cake and that would be nice, but if you could find the right tutor or reading program that would help his kid, well that's what he really needs. You could save him endless heartache. Talk about going the extra yard. The point is, if you want to make G-d happy, be nice to his children. Don't say mean things to people. Don't gossip about them. Smile once and a while. And if you really want to be a chassid, help a fellow Jew who is really having a big problem. Or show him how to do a mitzvah he's never done before. That's what a real chassid would do. Still, if reading all of this, you find yourself with a hankering for a long black coat and a wide brimmed hat, go for it. You've got to start someplace. Harv Weiner, a businessman in Dallas, Texas, is the founder and moderator of Isralert. To subscribe to IsrAlert, send an email to isralert@aol.com |
| GUSH KATIF |
ARUTZ SHEVA GETS IT RIGHT - LARGE CROWDS HECKLE PM SHARON IN NY
Posted by AFSI, May 23, 2005. |
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These photos come from AP - sent in by Marlene Young - and from the Chabad website (www.chabad.org). They were taken of the large anti-Disengagement Rally outside NY Baruch College where Ariel Sharon was speaking yesterday. Below is a news item in today's Arutz-7 (www.IsraelNationalNews.org). Prime Minister Sharon was greeted in New York with signs reading, "Let My People Stay" and "Shame on You," and crowds protesting his plan to give away the homes and lands of Gush Katif and Shomron. As Sharon began that paragraph in his speech, several members of the audience took off their outer shirts, revealing orange shirts underneath, and called out, "Jews don't expel other Jews!" Security personnel escorted them out, and Sharon smiled and said, "Thank you so much for your help; usually I handle these things myself." He did not specify the methods he and his government use to "handle" those who oppose him. The protestors outside, estimated at between several hundred and 3,000, included many Chabad Hassidim and Kach members, as well as Knesset Member Benny Elon and NY State Assemblyman Dov Hikind. Helen Freedman, Coordinator of the American Coalition to Save Gush Katif/Gaza and N. Shomron, and Executive Director of Americans For a Safe Israel/AFSI, MCed the event. She wrote, "As the crowd gathered, wearing their orange T-shirts declaring 'Let My People Stay' and 'Gush Katif Forever,' carrying orange balloons and brandishing orange signs protesting the expulsion, it became clear that the small area the police had cordoned off would be insufficient. The thousands spilled onto 23rd Street, almost bringing traffic to a halt... Everywhere, there was a sea of orange." More protests await Mr. Sharon in the course of his U.S. visit, which continues until Tuesday. Demonstrations will be held this afternoon at Capitol Hill, and on Tuesday morning outside the Washington Convention Center, where Sharon will be speaking. Other planned anti-expulsion events include: * the AFSI/ZOA Chizuk 3-day mission to Gush Katif, Hevron, and eastern Jerusalem, beginning on May 29; For up-to-date information about Gush Katif/Shomron events on AFSI's
Action Program, consult "www.katifund.org" or "www.afsi.org," or write
to "afsi@rcn.com."
Americans For a Safe Israel/AFSI is a pro-active pro-Israel advocacy
group. AFSI may be contacted by mail at 1623 Third Ave., Suite 205,
New York, N.Y. 10128 (Tel: 212-828-2424; Fax: 212-828-1717); by email
at afsi@rcn.com; or by accessing its website: www.afsi.org.
Helen Freedman is Executive Director.
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Benny Elon addressing protesters
| GUSH KATIF |
AN ISRAELI ASKS HELP QUESTIONING ARIEL SHARON UPON HIS VISIT TO US
Posted by Jerome S. Kaufman, May 23, 2005. |
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This is an open letter to Malcolm Hoenlein, Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish organizations from Moshe Dann, a political commentator who lives in Jerusalem. The photos come from http://chabad.info/index.php?url=article_he&id=11361 and were taken in NYC yesterday. A large crowd protested when Ariel Sharon addressed the Presidents of the Major Jewish Organizations. Dear Malcolm, I know you must be under tremendous pressure regarding PM Sharon's visit, but I wanted to ask you if someone (you?) could ask the following questions (we have no opportunity to do so here!) of Ariel Sharon? How can Israel ask the international community to boycott and
eliminate terrorist organizations like Hamas when Israel is
negotiating with them (which gives them recognition and legitimacy)?
Since it appears that Hamas is the controlling force in the Gaza
Strip, is Israel prepared to turn over that territory to them? What
are the implications of that move for any future withdrawals and
policy decisions?
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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The current Commander of the IDF (Yaalon), the former and current
heads of the Shabak (Secret Police) and all the heads of military
intelligence have indicated clearly and openly (publicly) that the
security situation will be much worse after Israel's retreat from
Gaza. They have revealed that Hezbollah and al Quida are also active
in the areas to be evacuated.
In the meantime, the PA refuses to stop incitement let alone
collect illegal arms and stop terrorist attacks. The Egyptians
continue to allow weapons to be transferred to Palestinian terrorists.
How will retreat under fire and under these circumstances improve
Israel's security and strategic position?
| GUSH KATIF |
26 MINORS RELEASED FROM PRISON WITH MINOR RESTRICTIONS
Posted by Hillel Fendel, May 23, 2005. |
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Approximately 40 anti-expulsion youths remain in prison, after 26 minors were released today with only minor restrictions. Their goal: to prove that disengagement will shut down the country. A spokesman for Honenu, a civil rights organization that is providing legal aid for the arrestees, told Arutz-7 today that today's release of the 26 was considered a victory. "The police caved in," he said. "They had refused to be released under severe restrictions, such as four months of house arrest. In the end, the only restrictions are that they may not enter the greater Tel Aviv area until June 15." Thirteen other youths, including 8 girls, still refuse to identify themselves, in a further effort to confound the police and courts. The Prison Service is considering dispersing them in other prisons in order to pressure them to divulge their names. The arrestees' goal is to show that an attempt to implement the disengagement will shut down the country. Over 500 people were arrested after last Monday's mass road-blocking campaign. Organizers expect that many times that number will begin marching towards Gush Katif and northern Shomron, sitting down on the road at police roadblocks, if the order is given to close these areas. The special new Disengagement Wing at the Maasiyahu Prison in Ramle has room for 900 prisoners. Among the 80,000 students taking their high school English matriculation exams today were 11 road-blocking students in Maasiyahu Prison. Their demand to be tested in jail was immediately accepted by the Prison Service, which often affords other prisoners the chance to study and be tested. The demand was originally turned down by Education Ministry officials, however. Yesterday, Education Minister Limor Livnat gave in, saying that only students who agreed to identify themselves could be tested. All the students who asked to be tested identified themselves several days ago. Hillel Fendel is editor of Arutz-Sheva (www.IsraelNationalNews.com) |
| GUSH KATIF |
ARABS STONE GUSH KATIF VISITOR
Posted by Matis M. Zahav, May 23, 2005. |
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A member of the Zaka rescue and identification team visiting Gush Katif suffered minor injuries this evening after Arabs stoned his car at the Ganei Tal hothouses where he was visiting. A large stone broke the windshield and hit the Zaka member, who was treated on the scene by first aid personnel. Arab stonings have been frequent in the area. In Samaria, Israeli soldiers intercepted an Arab youth who was hiding two pipe bombs under his shirt. He was arrested at a checkpoint near Shechem. Matis M Zahav is with Zaka Rescue & Recovery, 1-877-ZAKA-911, www.zakausa.org |
| GUSH KATIF |
BAGHDAD IN JERUSALEM
Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, May 23, 2005. |
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What will Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, Deputy PM Ehud Olmert, Deputy PM Shimon Peres, etc. do when their "Disengagement" brings the radical Islamist Mujahadeen into Jerusalem - as it has in Baghdad? Clearly, so many fat behinds cannot crowd under the same table when the Kassam Rockets start falling. Doubtless, after the Mujahadeen have done as much damage in Iraq against the Americans, they will again lift up like a flock of locusts and head for Israel. There will be plenty of room in the cities of Ram'Allah, Tulkarem, Nablus and the large area of Gaza. Like locusts who devour all the greenery in sight, so too will the Mujahadeen. But - while locusts eat greenery, the Mujahadeen feed on human flesh and suffering. As in Iraq, they will try to terrorize the local Jewish population into obeying their Sha'aria laws (strict laws of Islam), interpreted at did the Taliban with a mix of Wahaabism preached by the Saudis. Where will you run then, Mr. Sharon? Will you evacuate Tel Aviv, Jerusalem? Will you circle the Israeli Defense Force wagons around your Sycamore Ranch? Yes, I do think we will again see car and bus bombing, individual homicide/suicide bombers, in addition to Kassam & Kaytusha Rockets, mortars, snipers, artillery coming in from Gaza, the Lebanon border (courtesy of Ehud Barak's cowardly retreat). I have no doubt that the Mujahadeen will pour in to all the areas turned over to the Muslim Arab Palestinians. The loss of Israelis to these unremitting attacks will fall squarely on the shoulders of Sharon, Mofaz, Olmert and Peres, et al. For their participation and initiation of this opening of the city gates to the Muslim Arab Terrorists, each should pay a price. I suggest a Nuremberg Tribunal for their crimes against humanity, the Jewish people and the Jewish State. I confirmed guilty, to be hanged as were Hitler's enablers and Haman's family. While I entitled this article: "BAGHDAD IN JERUSALEM", you can be certain that every city in Israel will come under fire, thanks to a government who has become co-conspirators with the Muslim Jihadists. Sharon and company know that the cities turned over by the Osloids (by the Oslo Accords) already have operational cells of Hamas, Hezb'Allah, Al Aksa Martyrs' Brigade of Fatah, and dozens of other Terrorist organizations - each with its own agenda. Jenin, Nablus, Bethlehem, etc. are back in the Terror business, despite occasional visits by IDF troops retaliating for their Terror attacks. The ability of the IDF to counter Terror or to chase in 'hot pursuit' or to stop a 'ticking bomb' will be emasculated by the inexplicable ethnic cleansing/retreat/withdrawal/deportation policies of the former great warrior, Arik Sharon and his cohorts. Sharon, in lockstep with President George W. Bush's agenda to "win the hearts and minds of the Arab Muslim people" (for the sake of the oil they sit upon) has signed a death certificate for the Jewish Nation and the Jewish people world-wide. If we Jews didn't have enough museums, memorials, day to honor our Jewish fallen - no doubt, there will be more. Too appropriately, Sharon picked Tisha B'av (or the day after) to begin his uprooting of Jews - again. Sharon, like all of us who have grown into our 70s and 80s, there is a certain decline in our ability to defy, think as we used to, climb a ladder or drive with a steady hand. You are old, Arik Sharon, clearly past your days of competence and you are killing your own nation and your own people. Go away and take your gang with you. You have SHAMED the nation and we have no forgiveness for you. 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). in |