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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 a |