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ROARING OF THE SEA
Posted by Yosef Ben Shlomo Hakohen, December 31, 2004. |
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Given the news of the great loss of life and suffering in Asia, we share with you the following teaching of Rebbeinu Yonah, a 13th century Torah sage, where he discusses our universal yearning for "shalom" -- peace, harmony, and wholeness: A human being should pray for the shalom of the entire world and feel the suffering of others. And this is the way of the tzadikim -- righteous ones...For a human being should not make supplications and requests just for his own needs; rather, one should pray that all human beings should thrive in shalom. These words are from Rabbeinu Yonah's commentary to Pirkei Avos 3:2 (Ethics of the Fathers), which teaches that we should pray for the true shalom of all governments, so that anarchy, violence, and chaos not prevail. In this spirit, we pray for the arrival of the Messianic Era when the roaring of the sea will be a sign of life and not death. Moreover, in this new era of spiritual enlightenment, the sovereigns of the nations will finally accept the sovereignty of HaShem -- the Compassionate One -- Who created all life. All Creation will therefore rejoice, as it is written: Tell it among the nations: When HaShem reigns, the world will not falter; He will judge the peoples with fairness. The heavens will be glad and the earth will rejoice; the sea and its fullness will roar. The field and everything in it will exult; then all the trees of the forest will sing with joy -- before HaShem, for He will have arrived, He will have arrived to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness and peoples with His truth. -- [Tehillim/Psalm 96:10-13] Shabbat Shalom from Liberated Yerushaliyim Mr. Yosef Ben Shlomo Hakohen is an Advisory Board Member of both the Ecology Fellowship and the Social Welfare Fellowship of the Root & Branch Association, Ltd. He is author of "The Universal Jew" (Feldheim Publishers) and editor of Shema Yisrael website: "Hazon: Our Universal Vision" (http://www.shemayisrael.co.il/publicat/hazon/) |
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MY BROTHERS KEEPER - THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL
Posted by David Ha'ivri, December 31, 2004. |
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The recent natural disaster in south-east Asia and the extraordinary response of the Israeli government and media shows us something of what can happen when the Jewish State, takes responsibility for the Jewish people around the world. Every part of the apparatus of the State is currently enlisted in the effort to find, and rescue several hundred Israeli private citizens who've been stranded and hurt in the disaster areas in Sri Lanka and other countries in south-east Asia. The State of Israel acts as if it is an insurance policy for Israelis on vacation. Isreali government representatives are searching the jungles and wasteland trying to convince these vacationers to come home now. The government is saying "get on the plane and we'll take you back to Tel Aviv right now, because we don't want your mommies to worry." El Al even sent chartered planes to countries where it is normally unwelcome. Israeli soldiers have been sent to search for Israelis in isolated areas in those countries. In all the media we hear of government representatives and of all the humanitarian organizations in Israel, Zaka, l'tet (to Give), the Foreign Ministry, Chabad, and almost anyone designated as a charity - climbing all over each other looking for Israelis, trying to get them out of the disaster area and send them home This is a wonderful thing, regardless of the issue of what Israelis are doing in these places to begin with and why they chose to vacation in such countries where food is far from Kosher, Idol worship and drugs are a way of life, these are things and practices that Jews should distance themselves from. I see this situation as an example of how the Israeli government should always act when Jews are in trouble anywhere in the world. The State of Israel should always assume responsibility not only for Israeli vacationers but for the Jewish people as a whole and be their guardian no matter where they are. The State should intensify its efforts to help all Jewish people return and settle in the land of Israel, but as long as Jews are spread out around the world, the government of the Jewish State and its organizations of national security have a responsibility towards the Jewish people everywhere. If a Synagogue is burned down in Paris France or Istanbul Turkey, or a Jewish institution is vandalized in Denver Colorado or anywhere else in the world, the Israeli establishment and media should be enlisted to protect, and rescue the Jewish people who are in danger. If there are acts of anti-Semitism in New Zealand, the Foreign Ministry should send El Al planes and they should bring relief to the Jewish community there. They should send in Jewish soldiers to protect the Jewish community, provide guards, send Rabbis, social workers, and government representatives to convince them to pack their bags and return to Israel. In Samuel 1, Chapter 23, we learn that King David went out to Keilah and saved the people of Keilah from the Philistiens. Judah haMaccabee crossed over borders and fought battles to save the Jewish community who were being attacked in Gilad. As it was in those times, protecting Jews is the primary responsibility of the modern State of Israel and its leaders. Israel feels obligated to go into Sri Lanka, even to help save the goyim who were affected by this disaster. The State of Israel must have rescue teams made up of representatives from the Foreign Ministry, the Army, and all the rescue organizations. These rescue teams should go out immediately whether it be to Paris France, Istanbul Turkey, New Zealand, Denver Colorado, or anywhere that Jews are in danger. This should be done without hesitation and without being concerned about the response of the country where Jews are in trouble. Israel mustn't wait for permission from anyone when it goes out to protect Jews. Of course it is the obligation of each country to protect its own residents, but when it comes to the well being of the people of Israel if those countries do not properly fulfill that obligation, Jews have a homeland and government to look to. The Israeli government has a law that allows them to bring Nazi war criminals to trial. For his part in the atrocities against Jews in WWII, Adolf Eichmann, SS Chief of the Jewish Office of the Gestapo, was abducted from Argentina, brought to Israel, put on trial, and executed by hanging. John Demyanyuk was brought to Israel and tried for participating in atrocities as a Ukrainian Nationalist concentration camp guard for the Nazis, but unfortunately he was mistakenly released. Protecting Jews is the government's primary responsibility. There is every reason - moral, ethical, and historical - for the State of Israel to have the same type of laws empowering its forces to go out and protect the Jewish people anywhere in the world where they are in danger. Israel must take on the responsibility and not be afraid of what the world will say. When the world sees that Israel, the Jewish State, has taken responsibility for the Jewish people, the world will respect Israel as a Nation who looks after its own. This policy will reduce acts of anti-Semitism because anti-Semites will be afraid of the consequences. Anti-Semites will know that if they attack Jewish institutions or Jewish individuals, they'll have to be concerned with the Israeli Defense Forces sending in their representatives and bringing those anti-Semites to justice. David Ha'ivri can be contacted at haivri@hameir.org |
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WOULD YOUR REPRESENTATIVE/SENATOR CONDONE ABU MAZEN'S INVITATION TO THE WHITE HOUSE?
Posted by Yoram Ettinger, December 31, 2004. |
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The following concerns the intent by the Administration to invite Abu Mazen to the White House: A teacher poses the following question to his sixth graders: "If we define a dog's tail as a leg; how many legs would that dog have?" "Five" responded one of the kids. "Wrong", said the teacher, "it doesn't matter how we define dogs' tail; it always remains a tail, and dogs always have four legs!" It doesn't matter how one defines next week's Palestinian election. Election held by a totalitarian/terrorist regime is not free! It doesn't matter how one defines Abu Mazen. A deputy/confidant (since the 1950s!) of a terrorist leader - who has been the role model of international terrorism - is no more of a legitimate leader than are the deputies/confidants of the Taliban and of the Ba'th leaders. Would the US invite to the White House the architect of PA-Hamas series of understandings?! Would the US welcome to Washington the engineer of PLO ties with ruthless E. European regimes and the USSR?! Would the US host in DC, the home of the most impressive Holocaust Museum, a Holocaust Denier (thesis of his Ph.D.)?! Would the US tolerate a co-founder of the most obscene anti-Jewish and anti-US Hate-Education system in modern history?! Would the US Kosherize Card #2 of the PLO/PA regime, which has been the role model of Bin-Laden's terrorism?! Would the US appease Arafat's right hand man, who co-supervised the March 1973 murder of two US ambassadors in Sudan?! Would the US placate the person who handled the financing of the 1972 Munich Massacre?! Would the US accord legitimacy to Arafat's deputy and top confidant of the last 50 years?! Would the US Administration undermine its own moral values and strategic principles, by inviting Abu Mazen to Washington?! Would you invite Abu Mazen to your private home?! Would your Representative/Senator condone Abu Mazen's invitation to the US?! Shabbat Shalom, a Happy New Year, and may it be top heavy on Moral Clarity and low on moral equivalence, This article is by Caroline Glick and is a Special to the Sun in the New York Sun today. It is called "Palestinian Arab Also-Rans Fight Uphill Battle on Campaign Trail" and is archived at http://www.nysun.com/article/7024 Oslo 2, Maybe? JERUSALEM, Israel - Yesterday found Mahmoud Abbas, (aka Abu Mazen), Yasser Arafat's replacement as head of the Palestinian Authority, hot on the campaign trail in the Jenin refugee camp. There Mr. Abbas, the Bush administration's favored candidate in the elections scheduled to take place January 9, spent the afternoon with Zakariah Zubeidi, who is head of the Fatah Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade terrorist organization, and one of the top men on the Israeli army's list of wanted terrorists. Mr. Zubeidi has planned and orchestrated several suicide bombings and shooting attacks against Israeli civilians, and has been actively involved in recruiting terrorists and coordinating his operations with the Hezbollah terror group in Iran, and senior international terrorists in Damascus. In the company of Mr. Zubeidi, Mr. Abbas met with, hugged, and kissed several members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, and visited the "Martyrs Cemetery," where he paid homage to the memory of Palestinian Arab terrorists who have been killed over the past four-and-a-half years. During his visit with the terrorists, Mr. Abbas pledged to remain faithful to Arafat's legacy. To finance the upcoming election, and as a sign of its support for Mr. Abbas, the American government for the first time since 2003 transferred $23.5 million directly to the Palestinian Authority's bank account on Wednesday. The assistant secretary of state for the Middle East, William Burns, said that the funds reflect "our confidence in the direction of the PA's reform program, and our expectation that reform will continue to be implemented energetically." President Bush signed a special waiver enabling the funds to be transferred without congressional approval December 8. Mr. Abbas is the only candidate that the ruling Fatah party is fielding in the elections. Fatah is the largest faction of the PLO, and was founded by Arafat in 1964. Its members control the PA bureaucracy, security forces, education system, and press. Initially, the imprisoned Fatah leader, Marwan Barghouti, who is serving several consecutive life sentences in an Israeli prison for multiple counts of terrorist murder of Israeli citizens, announced that he was planning on running against Mr. Abbas. But a concerted campaign by Mr. Abbas, supported by America and Israel, caused him to change his mind and pull out of the race in early December. A Palestinian Arab journalist in the West Bank argues that the pressure exerted on Mr. Barghouti was misplaced. In his view: "The decision to have Abbas run unopposed from within Fatah effectively blocked all possibility of a democratic election that would provide the Palestinians with the opportunity to express their wishes at the ballot box. If Barghouti had won, it would have been a clear signal that they reject peace with Israel and support murderers. If Abbas won in a race against Barghouti, it would have been a clear signal that the Palestinians reject terrorism, since that is what Barghouti represents. The problem with Abbas running unopposed from within Fatah is that he isn't given the opportunity or the challenge of stating clearly if he supports or rejects terrorism, and so we're back to the same unclear situation we had for years with Arafat." Before Palestinian Arab voters cast their votes, it is clear to all that Mr. Abbas will win the election, but he is still not running unopposed. Six men are running against him. The three most notable challengers are Mustafa Barghouti, Bassam el Salhi, and Tayfeer Khaled, who all reside in Ramallah. One of the problems these men have had campaigning is the Palestinian Arab press, which is under the complete control of the PA, has given almost no coverage to their campaigns. All three men's platforms, vis-a-vis Israel, are more or less identical to Mr. Abbas's platform. They call for the establishment of a Palestinian Arab state in all of the West Bank and Gaza Strip with its capital in Jerusalem. They call for the destruction of all Israeli communities in these areas, and demand recognition of the so-called "right of return" of the descendants of Palestinian Arabs who left Israel in 1948 and 1967. None of the three have spent time in Israeli jails, and according to Palestinian Arab sources, they have not been involved in terrorist attacks against Israel. While their platforms regarding Israel are like Mr. Abbas's, they spend little time discussing Israel. Mr. Abbas's opponents devote the overwhelming majority of their time discussing the need to reform the PA - making it accountable, transparent, and subordinate to the rule of law - democratizing Palestinian Arab society, and developing the Palestinian economy. All are highly critical of the Palestinian Arab security services, which they accuse of being the source of the lawlessness and chaos in the Palestinian Arab areas. Mustafa Barghouti, a distant cousin of the imprisoned Marwan Barghouti, is the most popular among the non-frontrunner candidates. Polls have him enjoying the support of between 10% and 20% of Palestinian Arabs. Mr. Barghouti is a physician and a former communist. He is the founder and head of the Medical Relief Center in Ramallah. He is the Palestinian Arab point man for the American-based, radically anti-Israel International Solidarity Movement, and has led most of the Palestinian Arab demonstrations against Israel's security fence in the West Bank. At a campaign meeting in Beita village near Nablus on Wednesday, Mr. Barghouti, who has been an outspoken critic of PA corruption, and a strident advocate for democracy for the past two years, spoke of the "Oslo elite" meaning the Arafat associates surrounding Mr. Abbas, who became rich and powerful as a result of the Oslo peace process with Israel. To a crowd of hundreds of supporters in the communist-leaning village, Mr. Barghouti declared, "The Palestinian people have the right to ask what happened to the $6.5 billion that we received in foreign aid over the past 10 years." Mr. Barghouti received a push for his campaign on Wednesday when the jailed leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Ahmed Saadat, declared his party's support for Mr. Barghouti. Mr. Saadat is under detention in Jericho for masterminding the assassination of Israel's tourism minister in October 2001. Bassam el-Falhi is the chairman of the Palestinian Communist Party. Tayfeer Khaled is the West Bank representative of Nayef Hawatweh's Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine terror group, headquartered in Damascus. Both men have placed the emphasis of their campaigns on fostering democracy and fighting corruption, much like Mr. Barghouti. Neither has registered significant support in opinion polls. According to Palestinian Arab sources, one of the reasons that none of the three candidates has received much support is intimidation by the PA. "People are afraid to be seen even reading their campaign literature," says one Palestinian Arab who asked to remain anonymous. The message that the people have received from various leaders of the PA is that if they vote for a candidate other than Mr. Abbas they will either lose jobs they already have in the PA or will not be hired by the PA in the future. Since the PA is the largest employer in the West Bank and Gaza, the threat carries a great deal of weight. Physical intimidation has also played a role in frightening Palestinian Arabs not to pay attention to candidates other than Mr. Abbas. On Wednesday, shots were fired at Salhi's offices in Ramallah as well as at the home of PA legislator and former Cabinet minister Abdel Jawad Salah, one of the most outspoken critics of PA official corruption. The turnout in next Sunday's elections is expected to be low. As the saying on the streets of the West Bank goes, "Why bother voting, all the ballots were already filled out in Washington." Ambassador Yoram Ettinger is an editor and consultant who lives in Jerusalem. |
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SLIME
Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, December 30, 2004. |
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It is well know that someone covered in slime is very difficult to grab hold of. This comes from IMRA (http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=23457). It is called "Netanyahu: Disengagement Tragedy, Cites Unmet Requirements to Justify Vote" and was written by Aaron Lerner. Dr. Lerner is Director of IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis). Contact IMRA by email at imra@netvision.net.il or go to its website: http://www.imra.org.il Maariv reports today that Treasury Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told a meeting of activists in Tel Aviv last night that he opposed the disengagement in his conversations with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon but voted in favor because "the conditions I presented were met." Netanyahu termed disengagement a "tragedy in the making." The report does not indicate if the activists pointed out to Netanyahu that his conditions were not actually met nor if anyone asked Mr. Netanyahu if there is any possibility that at any time in his career that he will opt to give priority to avoiding a national "tragedy" over avoiding a personal "tragedy" (losing his seat in the cabinet). Among the "conditions" Netanyahu ostensibly set that were not met: #1 Vote on the removal of communities in stages - with the vote on the removal of each group of communities taking place after the actual removal of the previous group and the first vote taking place close to the actual removal. Instead Mr. Sharon explained this week that the vote to remove all the communities will take place in early 2005, half a year before the actual operation. #2 Completion of the separation fence encompassing all the settlement blocs prior to the removal of the first home. Aryeh Zelasko lives in Beitar Illit, south of Jerusalem. He is Director of Sales and Marketing of Israel Visit (www.israelvisit.co.il) which provides information and an internet buying facility for American visitors to Israel. |
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"RELIGIOUS AND SECULAR" JEWS IN MANHIGUT YEHUDIT
Posted by Manhigut Press, December 30, 2004. |
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Some people try and present Manhigut Yehudit as a religious movement divorced from reality. In fact the opposite is true and a short story will illustrate this. When Ezer Weitzmann wished to be re-elected President, Manhigut Yehudit (then in its early days) decided to exploit the opportunity and put forward an emunah-based candidate for the presidency. Although the President of Israel doesn't fill a leadership function, we felt that presenting an emunah-based candidate for the position would be of value in increasing public awareness of the issue, as a first stage to achieving emunah-based leadership for the country. We found an ideal candidate: Prof. Yermiyahu Branover, a believing Jew with loving eyes and an impressive appearance. An academic, world leading scientist, had taken part in the struggle for Aliyah from the USSR and a man of the people. All the required characteristics in a single person. We didn't think we would have a problem. We only required the signatures of ten MKs who would support Prof. Branover's participation in the contest, and there were far more religious MKs than this. Without doubt the religious people would sign our application, and the idea of Jewish leadership would receive a great boost, regardless of the final results. We rushed feverishly through the corridors of the Knesset. Seven MKs signed for us. Raful Eitan z"l was one of them. Michael Kleiner signed and also helped a lot. No religious MK signed. Gandhi z"l almost signed, but Rabbi Benny Elon grabbed the pen from his hand at the last moment. At the end of the day we realized that not only was Manhigut Yehudit not a religious movement, but in a much deeper sense was actually an anti-religious one. This is a movement that by trying to extend Judaism to all features of national life is actually threatening the sectoral religious concept. Obedience and Destruction It was interesting to see an interview in the weekend edition of Ma'ariv with advocate Moshe Lador. The latter was the chief prosecutor in the trial of the heads of Zo Artzeinu. Lador describes in the interview how urgent it was to bring the heads of the movement to trial: The implementation of the clause regarding incitement to mutiny is legally very controversial, and it is claimed that it is not worthy to be included in democratic legislation. However, Lador, as the prosecutor for the Jerusalem district, did not hesitate to use it against Zo Artzeinu leaders Moshe Feiglin and Shmuel Sackett in 1997, and who were found guilty in the end. Lador makes a comparison between then and now: "The late Prime Minister wished to implement a certain policy and Feiglin and his people wished to prevent this. As a minority they wished to prevent the majority from implementing its policy by physical disruption of daily life, by blocking major road junctions, etc." The Courts accepted this approach: "The accused wished to create a situation in which their activities would prevent the government from functioning, not necessarily as a result of the influence of public opinion (or not only because of this influence) but because of lack of the physical possibility of functioning." It's not certain that the people of Yesha have reached this stage, but Lador is convinced that Wallerstein, by his remarks, has violated the provisions of the law of incitement, after in his opinion he created "a real possibility of violence." It seems that the government and its accomplices regard disobedience as having the greatest potential for defeating their plan of destruction. The Cossacks who have turned democracy into a bad joke are now claiming that the majority who are fighting for their lives against their brutal manipulations are in fact threatening democracy. The opposite is the case. Non-violent civil disobedience is the last protection, not only for the existence of the State, but also for the continuation of democracy. Thousands of people have since Oslo paid with their lives the price of obedience. All that remains of Israeli democracy in the wake of this obedience is a bad joke called the Sharon family. The hysteria displayed by the Cossacks in the face of disobedience by the Right proves once again that this is the best approach to adopt in the struggle for life, for the country, and for liberty. Announcements On Sunday (21 Tevet) 2/1/05, at 13:00 the Jerusalem Magistrates Court will pass judgment on Elisheva Federman and her friends. The State of Israel has a new method for fighting against these brave women: An attempt to kidnap their children in the guise of "abandoning the children!" The public is invited to attend. Our aim: To perfect the world in the kingdom of the Almighty Manhigut Yehudit Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish Leadership) is a group of people inside the Likud party who want to see Israel adopt a more Jewish character. Moshe Feiglin, its cofounder, has emphatically said he does not want a theocracy, but he does want a State based on Jewish values. The Manhigut Yehudit website address is http://www.manhigut.org. |
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THERE IS ONLY ONE CONFLICT BETWEEN MUSLIMS AND SO-CALLED ISRAEL
Posted by David Mark, December 30, 2004. |
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Message: No my friend, there is only one conflict between muslims and so called Israel
who come from diifferent countries to take muslim land, other conflicts just feuled by Israeli.
Muslims always live in peace, actually the word, Islam and muslims graeting (salam) means peace. all wars around this earth created by Israeli. any conflict supported by them money, arms, and propaganda just like this site.
but in the end peace will prevail and so called Israeli will lose and for ever beacuse there is a god who created this world and see what you doing and knows every thing. David Mark can be reached at D_mar@hotmail.com |
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THE VATICAN IN WW2 AND IN THE TSUNAMI CRISIS
Posted by IsrAlert, December 30, 2004. |
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These are two news items about the Vatican - one that has information
about how the Vatican behaved in World War II and one how it is
behaving in the tsunami crisis.
"Pius XII told churches not to return Holocaust war babies" By Amiram Barkat, Haaretz Correspondent, from today's Haaretz. The Vatican instructed the Catholic church in France not to return Jewish children to their families after the Holocaust, according to a letter dated November 20, 1946, that was published Tuesday in the Italian daily Corriere della Sera. The children had been placed in the church's care to save them from Nazi murder, but after the war the church was instructed to return them to surviving parents only if they had not been baptized. The letter containing these instructions was sent by the Holy Office to Angelo Roncalli - later Pope John XXIII - who was then the papal representative in Paris. "Please note that this decision has been approved by the Holy Father," the letter emphasizes, referring to Pope Pius XII. The letter reveals how the controversial wartime pope sought to restrict the number of children the church returned to their families by, among other things, instructing that baptized children "may not be entrusted to institutions that are not in a position to guarantee them a Christian upbringing." As for orphans who had not been baptized, the church must not hand them over to any "persons who have no rights over them". Roncalli had a reputation when previously serving as the Holy See's envoy to Istanbul for favoring Jews. In Paris he helped many Jews escape to Israel, and disobeyed the Vatican instructions by helping to return Jewish minors to their families. On July 19, 1946, he sent a letter to the chief rabbi in Israel, Isaac Herzog (father of Israeli president Haim Herzog), in which he gives him permission "to use his [Roncalli's] authority so these children can return to their original environment." Amos Luzzato, president of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, said in response Wednesday: "The documents indicate that the Vatican completely ignored the Holocaust and murder of Jews. There is a sticking to theological arguments as though this were an ordinary situation, when in practice these children were not entrusted to churches to convert to Christianity but to save them from murder." The publication of the letter to Roncalli will only add to the controversy surrounding Pope Pius XII, making it difficult for the Vatican to ignore accusations that the Vatican under his tenure did not do enough to combat Nazi persecution of Jews, and even helped Nazi war criminals to evade justice. The latest revelations are also likely to hamper efforts by Pope John Paul II to lay the groundwork for beatifying Pius XII. [ED NOTE: ATTN: We originally published an article from Israel Insider based on an article from Catholic World News (CWNews) that blamed Israel for not offering aid. CWNews has since said there was an error in translation and, actually, the Vatican was blaming Sri Lanka, not Israel, for Sri Lanka's rejection of Israeli aid. CWNews apologized for the error and withdrew the article. Below is a revised version. Aside from the goof-up, we observe that CWNews didn't find it surprising that the Vatican would denounce Israel.] Vatican, Dec. 28 (CWNews.com) - The Vatican newspaper has denounced a decision by Sri Lanka to reject emergency aid offered by the Israeli government. Sri Lanka declined the Israeli aid because it would have been furnished by a military team. Calling for "a radical and dramatic change of perspective" among people "too often preoccupied with making war," L'Osservatore Romano Romano chastised the government of the stricken Asian nation for putting unnecessary restrictions on an Israeli offer to furnish medical help. The Vatican paper observed that in what "should be a time for unconditional solidarity," some world leaders seem incapable of escaping a "small-minded approach that restricts their horizons." he suffering caused by the tsunami has created "a mass of deaths, across borders," L'Osservatore observed. The fact that the devastation swept across different societies, cultures, and nations should help to reinforce the universal perspective, the paper suggested. An Israeli plane carrying 80 tons of food and medical supplies worth $100,000 departed for Sri Lanka Wednesday morning. A similarly equipped mission went to Thailand. Israeli acceded to the requests of the Sri Lankan and Thai governments to send supplies as well as rescue personnel. After a larger military group was rejected, the Sri Lankan president's military secretary sent a notice to Israel's foreign and defense ministries Tuesday expressing support for the arrival of a 50-member Israeli delegation. "We are not opposed to a plane loaded with medical supplies, food and blankets that will be accompanied by a medical team comprised of 50 IDF people, as the Israeli Foreign Ministry requested in a letter," the military secretary said in the notice. Israel is sending to Sri Lanka 10,000 blankets contributed by the IDF, tents, nylon sheeting and water containers. The IDF Home Front Command is organizing aid preparations. In addition, the Israeli humanitarian organization Latet ("To
Give") sent a separate aid package Tuesday, filling a jumbo jet with
18 tons of supplies worth $50,000, at Sri Lanka's request. The group
is also considering sending additional aid shortly, Haaretz reported.
Harv Weiner, a businessman in Dallas, Texas, is the founder and
moderator of Isralert. To subscribe to IsrAlert, send an email to
isralert@aol.com
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ISRAEL'S UNREPORTED AID TO SOUTHEAST ASIA
Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, December 30, 2004. |
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The New York Times may be one of the most anti-Israel newspapers this side of any Arab media. Thursday, December 30th the NYT front page is correctly filled with columns and photos showing the effects of the South Asian mega-disaster. But, just turn the page and there is an article more than a third of page 3 speaking about some antiquity forgers in Israel. However, the NYT hasn't written a word about Israel's generous offers of aid to the Muslim communities that were devastated in the Sunday, December 26th 9.0 earthquake and resulting tsunamis that washed away whole villages. The death toll is now estimated to be 120,000 and will probably grow as the missing are added in. Israel gathered her considerable expertise in disaster relief, search and rescue on the first day. Several Muslim communities in Sri Lanka refused her aid. Israel offered over 150 doctors, field hospitals and tonnage of relief supplies. The supplies were accepted but the Jewish doctors and rescue experts were rejected. The quake's epicenter was just off the coast of Indonesia, a primarily Muslim nation. The tsunami swept across the Indian ocean washing people out to sea and wiping out whole villages in mostly Muslim countries. Observant Christians and Jews were not surprised at the location. The Muslims have declared a Global War using Terror against those they call infidels, Christians and Jews. Their goal is world domination for Islam. But, the Free World hasn't gotten the point - so far. Add up the Muslim massacres of 9/11, 3/11, Beslan in Russia, airplane hijacking, killing of Americans, bombings of American Embassies in Dar es Salem and Kenya, the USS Cole, Khobar Towers Saudi Arabia, Twin Towers 1993, on-going Terror war against those who freed and are rebuilding Iraq, including burning the bodies and beheading of hostages .... but, the Free West doesn't get the point. Still we await the promised next 9/11 by Osama bin Laden in America and/or Europe. As for the NYT, this supposedly flagship journal of America, has always been anti-Jewish from its earliest beginnings, hiding the Holocaust during WW2 with increasingly hostile journalism when the State of Israel was born. The NYT deliberate neglect to tell the world that it was the Jewish nation of Israel who was among the very first to respond with real help, shames that journal, among others - including the TV and radio news, who refused to use the story. While politicians were jabbering and the media was blabbering, Israel was loading field hospitals, medical supplies, tents, blankets, food and water on cargo aircraft within hours. But, the Muslim nations would not even move to save their own people if it meant acknowledging assistance from the Jews. While Israel reacted and prepared her rescue teams and supplies within hours, the Islamic world was relatively silent and inactive. The Israelis ignored the rejection of her doctors and rescue personnel trained in finding still living people and bodies trapped in rubble or their expertise in identifying bodies through DNA analysis. The nation of Israel sent the supplies anyway but, without the first 150 doctors. Newspapers are selling like mad while telling all that polluted water and dead bodies will cause a myriad of diseases which could kill as many as those washed away in the tsunamis. The Jewish Israelis were coming to administer antibiotics, treat the injured but, the Muslim politicians and clerics would not let that happen. The media, such as the NYT, among others, could have used their pages to shame those Muslim leaders into saving their own people but, instead they remained silent about this latest atrocity against the Muslims' own people. Journalists, editors, publishers are as guilty of bias as are the Muslim clerics and politicians who thrive on their anti-Jewish manifesto. Israel was ready to act for the good of the Muslims within the first vital hours. Everyone else was slowly assembling assistance while Muslims, among others, were dying of their injuries with no one there to administer the help needed. And, the Muslim nations did not respond with aid - so far. I wonder where the next epi-center of nature's disasters will be? America already had four hurricanes slam into Florida - one after another. Asia had its 9.0 earthquake, accompanied by a vast tsunami. The West Coast of California is being battered by storms. We await Mt. St. Helens - Vesuvius is stirring. No doubt, the 10,000 mile wide "ring of fire" in the Pacific is active. Are Muslims being sent a message long overdue - to behave as humans, to give and receive humanitarian aid from good people - to drop their goal of World domination by Islam in order for the World to live together peaceably? Rav Yitzhak Kaduri, over 100 years old, was quoted by Yediot Aharonot December 12th, predicting this disaster from G-d as "natural calamities". [See below for complete story.] From Honest Reporting: "Israeli Aid, Unreported," December 28, 2004. When disaster strikes anywhere in the world, Israelis can be counted on to help. So it's no surprise that within hours of the devastating tsunami in the Indian Ocean, the following humanitarian missions all departed from the tiny Jewish state: ! The Israeli organization Latet ('To Give') filled a jumbo jet with 18 tons of supplies. [El Al flew the delegation and the equipment free of charge and FedEx will fly equipment to the target site - also free of charge. ! A medical team headed by four doctors from Jerusalem's Hadassah Hospital arrived in Sri Lanka on Monday night (Dec. 27), carrying medicine and baby food. The doctors specialize in rescue operations, trauma and pediatrics. ! An IDF rescue team is now on its way to Sri Lanka with 80 tons of aid material, including 10,000 blankets, tents, nylon sheeting and water containers, all contributed by the IDF. ! A ZAKA rescue-and-recovery team arrived in the disaster areas Monday night, armed with its specialized equipment for identifying bodies. [ZAKA is an organization of Orthodox Jews who have developed immediate rescue and trauma treatment to a high level of excellence based, unfortunately, on so much experience in treating Israeli Terror attack victims. They also pick up all the body parts for proper burial after such bomb blasts.] ! A Health Ministry contingent left for Thailand on Monday night to aid in rescue efforts. The group includes doctors, nurses and four members of the IDF. ! Israel has also offered its assistance to India a search-and-rescue team from the Home Front Command, as well as consignments of food and medicine. Yet, with the exception of UPI (as of this writing - Wed. 12/29 4pm EST), none of the major news outlets dedicated an article to this remarkable Israeli humanitarian effort - despite the fact that the IDF sent all Israel-based journalists a press release Monday evening (Dec. 27), inviting them to the airport to cover the departure of one IDF group. This is all the more surprising given the fact that the major news agencies have entire teams of reporters in Israel, who submit at least one 'Israel-article' each day. So what did the Associated Press send out today to its 15,000 subscribing news agencies? A dreary story about the construction of a new IDF base near Jenin. AP sarcastically remarked in this 'news' story that the base's 'elaborate color scheme and landscaping shows that the army is not planning to pull its forces out of the area anytime soon.' Lack of media interest in this Israeli humanitarian effort means that Israeli benevolence toward other peoples is not fairly conveyed to the western world. Perhaps if it were conveyed, observers would come to understand something else that Israel's response to Palestinian violence is also motivated by the highest ethical concern for all human life, and is not (as the media so often portray it) driven by an oppressive, mean-spirited national ethos. HonestReporting encourages subscribers to write letters to your local papers, radio and TV, praising the massive Israeli humanitarian mission to South Asia which the major media have apparently deemed 'not newsworthy.' Thank you for your ongoing involvement in the battle against media bias.
This comes from Chabad of Thailand, 96 Rambuttri St., Banglamphu, Bangkok, 10200 Thailand. (see pictures below.) December 28, 2004 Dear Chaverim, I write to you in the midst of the mounting humanitarian disaster effecting Southeast Asia. As the only Jewish service agency in the country dealing with this catastrophe, our offices and staff in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Ko Samui have put everything else aside, working 24/7 to assist those in need and comfort. I therefore turn to my colleagues for urgent help in funding our humanitarian efforts during the crisis, Chabad of Thailand's response to the crisis was immediate and is growing daily.
Israel's Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom has acknowledged the help we are providing to the Israeli Foreign Ministry. As the initial efforts of search and rescue wind down over the next week, the grim work of identifying bodies and counseling bereaved families will unfortunately keep the Chabad staff fully occupied for the foreseeable future. We are also expecting the stream of survivors of this natural disaster appearing at our doors in Bangkok to increase, placing the burden on us to clothe, feed and accommodate them as they slowly try to make their way home. The initial estimate of expenses incurred to our organization as a result of this Tsunami already runs into tens of thousands of dollars for food, clothing, shelter, medical expenses and transportation to and from the disaster zones. It seems very possible that hospital expenses as well as transportation of bodies for burial may also become a significant expense as the situation unfolds. Please contact us at (24 hour phone number for emergencies) (661) 837 7618 Or email rabbi@jewishthailand.com Thanks in advance for your assistance in this most important Mitzva Rabbi Yosef Chaim Kantor Exec. Dir. Chabad of Thailand (For US tax deductibility please write checks to American Friends of Chabad of Thailand), or donate online at http://www.chabadthailand.com J. Cohen This is an item from today's Arutz-7. It is called "Disaster, Redemption and the Tsunami" and is archived at http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=74451 At least one Kabbalist sage predicted "natural calamities" over two weeks ago. He and others call for an increase in acts of kindness, as they try to place the events in universal context. The venerated Rabbi Yitzchak Kaduri, considered Israel's leading Kabbalist rabbi, was quoted in the Yediot Acharonot newspaper on Dec. 12 as saying: "We are now in the fourth year of what could be the seven-year Redemption period, according to the calculation of the Vilna Gaon. [However.] in the coming three years, uncertainty about the future will hang over our heads, unless we work and strive that the Messiah be revealed. The Messiah is already [here] in Israel. Whatever people are sure will not happen, is liable to happen, and whatever we are certain will happen may disappoint us. But in the end, there will be peace throughout the world. The world is mitmatek mehadinim (lit., becoming sweet from/of strict justice), great tragedies in the world are foreseen, that's the thing of the Jews going to the East. [emphasis added] But our enemies will not prevail over us in the Land of Israel, 'fear and trembling will fall upon them,' in the [merit of the] power of Torah." Rabbi Kaduri said this week, "What can save the world from calamities is real repentance by Jews, who must increase acts of kindness towards one another... The cry of the many poor in Israel and the expulsion of Jews from their homes shakes the world... It's not for naught that this place was hit, where many of our compatriots went to look for this-worldly lusts." Rabbi Kaduri has told his students that the current government will be the last one of the "old era," and that the new government will already have leadership of the Messianic era. Another sage, Rabbi Chaim Kanevsky of Bnei Brak, quoted in Yediot in the same article said that we are verily in the period of the beginning of the Redemption period, and that the Messiah could be revealed at any moment. He called for further outreach "in order to prevent calamities and to bring mercy from the Creator. All Jews must come to the Land of Israel." The Rabbi also called to establish Torah schools in every area, and that "Torah study will prevent calamities - from earthquakes to other natural disasters." The Kipa website, a Hebrew-language forum for religious youth, features a response by Rabbi Uziel Eliyahu, Chief Rabbi of the Misgav Regional Council in the Galilee regarding a Jewish approach to the calamitous events. "First of all," Rabbi Eliyahu wrote, "we should pray and ask G-d to remove His wrath from the word, send a complete recovery to the injured, and help and protect everyone in the world, causing sorrow to depart." Rabbi Eliyahu added that what is happening now was decreed on Rosh HaShanah [the Jewish New Year]: "It was a Divine decree that was issued regarding 'who will be killed by water, and who by fire...'" Our job now, he wrote, is to "pray to G-d, to try harder in studying Torah and fulfilling the Torah and doing acts of kindness and charity. This is an hour of reckoning for the entire world!!!" Rabbi Eliyahu emphasized that G-d has complete control of nature, and that the Jewish People live "amidst great faith, despite questions that remain open. No question mark can break our strength of great and perfect faith in G-d... This does not prevent us from asking and searching for answers and [logical] explanations, but it all takes place on the solid ground of great faith in G-d... The Bible (Zechariah 14) mentions that in the future, when the Messiah comes, the Mt. of Olives will be split in two... The Messiah can come at any minute, even as you read these lines..." Published: 16:46 December 30, 2004 "About 10 Israelis Feared Dead," Arutz 7 (IsraelNationNews.com) "Another Israeli delegation will arrive in Thailand today, in an attempt to locate and/or identify Israeli victims of the tsunamis in southeast Asia. There is a concrete fear about 10 lives.. Forensic experts of the police and the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute will reinforce police and Zaka officials already in the country. Only 19 Israelis have not yet been heard from today in southern India and one in Sri Lanka. No word at all has been heard from some 10 Israelis vacationing in southeast Asia and seven of those were seen being dragged away by waves. Officials emphasize that they could be lying hospitals, unconscious or otherwise injured. 15 Israelis are still missing in Thailand, 3 in India and one in Sri Lanka. The fear, of course, is that dead Israelis will be buried, unidentified and anonymously, in mass graves - or possibly even cremated. The Thai authorities have said that they will try to take DNA samples from every corpse, and are, so far, separating the foreigners [bodies] from the locals. The fear of spreading disease from unburied bodies may force authorities to step up the pace of burials, or to begin mass cremation. An Israeli rescue team headed by Yechiel Magnus rescued 7 young Israeli hikers, one of whom was lightly injured, from Sri Lanka on Wed. night. The team had previously rescued 2 families. An airplane carrying 40 Israelis departed from Sri Lanka for Israel this morning. Meanwhile, as frantic relief, medicinal and burial efforts continue, the Indian government issued a warning for its southeast coastline that an additional tsunami wave is expected within the hour (Thursday morning Israel time) and residents have begun making their way inland. The bright light to this catastrophic picture is that the largest international relief effort in history is underway. Five million people are without shelter and food. Countries such as America, Canada and Australia have donated hundreds millions of dollars of supplies. Israel has sent well over 100 tons of supplies, medical teams, rescue teams - over $100,000 worth of medicines and more. The IDF sent a shipment of aid and medical equipment to Sri Lanka, with more than 82 tons of supplies including 10,000 blankets, 3,679 liters of mineral water, 12 tons of food, 17.5 tons of baby food, over 9 tons of medicines and additional supplies - such as generators, blankets, tents, beds and mattresses. Magen David Adom, in coordination with the International Red Cross, dispatched an El Al flight with a shipment of medicines to Sri Lanka to aid trauma victims. The shipment contained 4,080 bottles of serum albumin, worth over $100,000. (France, with a population 10 times that of Israel, reported yesterday it was donating only some $136,000 in aid.) Israel responded immediately, generously, with equipment developed and skills learned during her unfortunate battle for survival against Global Terrorism. Please send this to your local and national media contacts, CNN and
Fox News asking why they spiked this story of Israel's rapid response
- even to Muslims who proclaim their hatred of Jews and Christians as
infidels - promising another mega-attack against them.
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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WELCOME TO K'CHOLMIM!
Posted by David Yisrael HaLevi, December 30, 2004. |
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K'Cholmim An Introduction Yedidim-Friends, Shalom. I am writing to introduce all of you to a relatively new organization called K'Cholmim (which literally means "As Dreamers"). K'Cholmim is the beginning of a new and passionate Zionism founded on the principles of love, understanding, and participation in Am Yisrael - The Nation of Israel, Torat Yisrael - the Torah/religion of Israel, and Eretz Yisrael - the Land of Israel. You are receiving this welcome letter because you either signed up to our email list or had a friend recommend that K'Cholmim find out if you are interested in joining us. If you wish to be removed from this list please skip to the end for instructions on how to unsubscribe though we would request you read a bit further before making a decision. Our goals are mighty, perhaps even arrogant, in that we hope to serve as a holy instrument, and help bring about positive change for the Jewish People and bring both mankind and the Jewish People closer to our destiny.Among the ways K'Cholmim seeks to achieve this is through education and various activities we run - all aimed to aid in the furtherance of the Jewish Peoples return to our Holy Mission as set out in both the Torah and interpreted by our Sages, a mission that we were all born into as part of a covenantal community. We at K'Cholmim hope that all of you will join us in this great undertaking, an undertaking that is none other than the destiny of the Jewish People. Our three websites, which I encourage you to visit, are: WWW.KCHOLMIM.ORG Our Home Page
K'Cholmim was founded by David Yisrael Epstein (who changed his last name to HaLevi upon making aliyah) - and grew into her first chapter and beginnings with the help of several colleagues (including Yehuda Halper, and Talia Magnes) at the University of Chicago. We have expanded greatly since then, and despite our youth as an organization we have, thank God, been met with great success. We have run many successful events, including Aliyah Shabbatonim in Chicago, NY, and elsewhere in which we brought together hundreds of Jews and helped to create terrifically warm Shabbatot and encourage all present to seriously consider their aliyah and tell us how we can help them achieve this reality of dreamers. We already boast a membership of nearly 10,000 people worldwide, and have succeeded in earning wonderful news coverage in both Jewish and local press to get the word out about our group and her purpose, including several recent live interviews on Arutz Sheva (www.israelnationalnews.com) as well as on National Public Radio (which you can listen to by clicking on http://www.theconnection.org/shows/2003/10/20031016_a_main.asp). From our first chapter at the University of Chicago we have now opened up over one dozen chapters at both universities and communities from Florida to New York, to Chicago, to Toronto, to California. Of course, Israel, as our Home, is our base of activities. We have already achieved great success in setting up a base in Israel with a chapter at both Bar Ilan University in Tel Aviv as well as an active chapter in Jerusalem. For more details about K'Cholmim chapters visit http://kcholmim.org/chapters.php. Our purpose in creating K'Cholmim is manifold. First we shall quickly sketch the more pragmatic aspects, secondly some of the more unique and visionary. In creating an email list, we set out to bring the more unique, interesting, and important emails about Israel and the Jewish People to you that we think our readers are less likely to see elsewhere our emails are sent out infrequently, not usually more than once every two weeks. On our website, we have created and are adding to such categories as: What Can Be Found on Our Website www.kcholmim.org 1. Articles to read on the topics of Am Yisrael, Aliyah, and Ahavat Yisrael. http://kcholmim.org/articles.php 2. Aliyah Journals: This is an amazing collection of journals from members of K'Cholmim who are making aliyah. Read about their struggles, visions, and dreams, and be inspired and strengthened. Recall your own moments of clarity when you too realized the passion and love which your Jewish soul has for Israel and join in the dream that is being made a reality, creating a healthy and vibrant Jewish community within the confines of Eretz Yisrael, just as our destiny calls for. http://kcholmim.org/journals.php 3. Links to terrific news sites or radio broadcasting from Israel (you can improve your Hebrew with over 12 radio broadcasts and programs from Israel! There is also a French Jewish radio station with music and news from Israel.) 4. Programs and Internships in Israel, well indexed and easy to navigate so you can more easily find a meaningful program for you (or your family, child, etc. this list is still being extensively updated). 5. Actions that students on campuses can partake in and use/tailor to their own campuses (including a list of campus posters for download, the Aliyah Shabbaton - Exodus Shabbat Program, and the Torat Eretz Yisrael class (which we are working on getting a free trip to Israel for all students who partake in), etc) 6. Weekly Zionist Devrai Torah - Articles written by members of K'Cholmim and/or Devrai Torah of Rebeim from Eretz Yisrael. If you would like to write a Zionist Dvar Torah for K'Cholmim's website, please write us at Devraitorah@KCholmim.org 7. The Philosophy of K'Cholmim (in progress - we hope to turn this into a printed Journal with articles on a systematic vision of Torat Yisrael, Eretz Yisrael, and Am Yisrael with various authors next year that will be distributed back in America). 8. The Aliyah Page. This addition has information, links, and articles pertaining to actually making the greatest Zionist action of all (for those in Exile), returning home to Eretz Yisrael! Read up on such things as where to live, schools, job opportunities, and more. We will be adding a password protected section soon with a list of contacts in Israel who have offered to help new olim by hosting them for a few days/Shabbat/Chagim etc. 9. Kippot from Uganda. We are selling kippot made by Jews from Uganda in order to raise money for them to return to Eretz Yisrael. We are also raising money for them to finish a giurl l'chomre (a conversion that may or may not be strictly 'required' but is done to remove any possible doubts and/or problems) under the supervision of the Chief Rabbi in Eretz Yisrael. We hope to bring home this congregation of 150 Jews in the coming year. A first hand account of the history of the Ugandan Jewish community can be read at http://www.kcholmim.org/uganda.php 10. K'Cholmim Columns: We currently have four columns on the K'Cholmim website, including articles by Professor Paul Eidelberg, Ariel Natan Pasko, and Professor Beres. 11. A terrific list of Recommended Readings on various topics on Israel, Torat Eretz Yisrael, and philosophy so that we can better educate ourselves, and more! 12. The Revival of Jewish Jericho! K'Cholmim has been instrumental in bringing about the revival of a Jewish community that maintains access to our holy sites in and around the ancient city of Jericho. Visit our separate website @ www.kcholmim.org/jericho.php Thanks to our recent fundraising efforts, headed by founder David HaLevi, this past summer, Jewish Jericho has now begun building the first mikveh in the Southern Jordan Valley and the Jericho area in nearly 1,500 years. Basic Outlook for Jewish Activities in the Exile: Our most basic premise for activities in galut is that they must provide a positive and aggressive picture of what Judaism IS instead of worrying so much about what Judaism is not. Nearly every Jewish organization in America today is involved in apologetics and defensive stances. This is a grave mistake and particularly true of the utterly 'parve' organization on most campuses, namely Hillel. Refusing to take a stand is a stand, a stand that says everything has legitimacy, all views are 'kosher'. We don't accept this premise, there are such things as good and evil, right and wrong, just and unjust, indeed, the words of Socrates should be recalled here, that "a man who is good for anything ought not to calculate the change of living or dying; he ought only to consider whether in doing anything he is doing right or wrong, acting the part of a good man or of a bad." (Plato The Apology) When K'Cholmim began at the University of Chicago we initially took a defensive and apologetic posture, brining in highly educated professors and speakers to explain why Israel is not a "apartheid state" etc. We quickly realized this was not the way to go. Rather than explaining why "East" Jerusalem isn't "occupied territory" we celebrated the reunification of Jerusalem Day the anniversary of our victory in the '67 war, with more than 100 students and faculty celebrating the reclamation of Jerusalem by the Jewish People. We listened to an American war veteran who fought in the Six Day War and was one of the first Jews to walk the streets of the Old City, to see the remains of the Second Temple, to gaze upon the splendor that is Jerusalem. And this captured people's hearts and minds much more. It created a real experience and reminded all of us of that intimate and special connection we have with the Land of Israel and the Jewish People. Many non-Jews came as well, and they understood what took place, it created a lasting impression. Instead of apologizing for the existence of a Jewish State and defending her against calls of racism K'Cholmim raised the banner of aliyah in Chicago, calling for Jews to return home. This has proved both a unique and exceptionally successful approach. We have, of course, as the same time, maintained high academic standards in our presentation of facts and often have speakers discuss more 'academic' subjects that revolve around Jewish topics. K'Cholmim Chapters in Exile - Activities and Purpose All our Chapters participate in at least the following two events: 1. A Torat Eretz Yisrael class - A class to be based on a close reading of the books *Lights on Orot* by HaRav Samson and Tzvi Fishman as well as *Eim HaBanim Smeicha* by Rav Teichtal. Many of these classes are being run by local Kollel Torah Miztion students. This class allows us to explore a part of the rabbinical world view, especially in the way much of normative Judaism understands Israel's role as central to Judaism. This will be accomplished by reading these books, the first being an English commentary on the thought of Rav Kook, the first chief Rabbi of Israel, and one of the more systematic thinkers of the Jewish People in recent history. The second is an amazing book written by a European Rav during the Holocaust, who went from being a rabid anti-Zionist, to writing one of the most profound and poetic Zionist writings (with a firm basis in Jewish Philosophy and Rabbinical Judaism) of our time. 2. Aliyah Shabbatonim (usually takes place in chapters outside Eretz Yisrael) - The goal of this program is to facilitate those making aliyah, and encourage those who are on the fence about their decision. This program has been run in participation with Kumah in the past and will be done so where available next year. We seek to create a warm and enjoyable davening (prayer) experience on Friday night, which begins to create a sense of community among those at the Shabbaton. This hopefully gives a taste of remembrance for what it means to be a part of a true Jewish Community, and to be part of the Jewish People, a realization only possible in Israel - where prayer and conversation with God was meant to be. We have done such things as invite speakers from the Aliyah Agency to discuss ways to help those considering aliyah, and speakers about specific programs/jobs etc. We also have a discussion that takes place Friday night and Shabbat in which everyone shares their moment of clarity (a lifelong moment for many as it turned out) in which they realized that they must choose to move to Israel, or became aware of the need to consider this more seriously, etc. This last aspect, turned out to be a surprisingly powerful experience for many, causing most to remember moments and experiences of love/understanding/participation in the three major themes of Judaism that they had not thought of for a long time. It also creates a strong bond between our members, witnessed by the fact that nearly everyone came to me privately and said they felt like they knew everyone for such a long time and yet most had never met. In short, an Aliyah Shabbat run by K'Cholmim seeks to give a taste of what it means to rejoin Israel in her destiny, to be part of Am Yisrael, Eretz Yisrael, and Torat Yisrael. The hope being, that such a profound experience may open the eyes of those on the fence to choose life! and make aliyah, and to give information, help, and chizuk (strength) to those who have committed themselves already to making aliyah. Those are the more pragmatic and basic services that we look to provide, and are continuously looking to upgrade. We have recently added campus posters that can be downloaded for student activists to use so we don't have to keep reinventing the wheel, etc. Feedback is welcome and encouraged, as are services that would be useful but are not currently provided. K'Cholmim Chapters in Israel - Activities and Purpose Creating a New Model of Growth for Communities in Eretz Yisrael Based on the American Model In Israel our activities are very differently focused. We are working on finding groups of olim and Israelis who are ready and willing to help settle the land of Israel. Our specific purpose in doing this, aside form helping settle the land of Israel, is to create a new model of growth and settlement in the Land of Israel. Sad to say, Israel is founded on a very elitist and often socialist and conformist philosophy that does often does not respect or welcome the individual. We are looking to bring American and Western wisdom to the Jewish People and show there is a different way to build a community, a way that we believe is at root also very Jewish, but one that the Jews have forgotten after 2,000 years of exile. The average yishuv in Yesha rejects 66% of all Jews who apply to live there, there could be nearly 1 million Jewish settlers instead of the 300,000 there are now if this attitude did not exist. Communities are exclusive, unwelcoming, and often full of prejudice towards ethnic Jews and those from less fortunate backgrounds educationally - this MUST change. The gift of the American aliyah is to teach Israel political wisdom and building communities that function properly is perhaps the most basic political unit aside from the family itself. For more information visit our yahoo group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kcholmim/ Bringing Ugandan Jewry Home to Israel Perhaps our most important project saving the lives of 150 fellow Jews living in Uganda. This is a magical community, one of incredible strength, a community that the can't help but inspire all of us. We are trying very hard to work through all the bureaucracy and hidden racism in Israel that has thus far kept barred these 150 souls from returning home. A Systematic Approach K'Cholmim's more long term goal and vision (which these 'pragmatic aspects' are all born out of) is to help disseminate a systematic vision of Am Yisrael (the Nation of Israel) Torat Yisrael (the Torah/religion of Israel) and Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel). We at K'Cholmim strongly feel that while such systematic visions and understandings of what it is to be Jewish and to live as a Jew exist or have existed throughout Jewish history they must continuously be updated, discussed, and most importantly find meaning in the Jewish masses that they are supposed to serve. (As Paul Tillich, the great Christian theologian points out so beautifully in his Systematic Theology) If the Answers don't address the Questions, then we have not done our jobs. We believe the modern Jewish educational system has thus failed at two levels, in both failing to have offered a systematic understanding of what the Jewish message and mission is, and in failing to have offered this message in a way that is understandable and meaningful to Jews today. That most Jews so easily and nonchalantly dismiss all of traditional Rabbinic Judaism as something 'childish' 'foolish' or otherwise 'stupid' is appalling. Most Jews simply have bad initial experiences by teachers of Judaism who in their own ignorance present Judaism in a way that does makes it seem like a foolish religion. But in truth, most Jews are rejecting that which they remain entirely ignorant of. K'Cholmim believes that the only possibly way we can find answers, authentically and halachically Jewish answers to the problems that face our troubled nation today, is to first educate ourselves more thoroughly in our own history and tradition - in our own wisdom. To have a proper, systematic approach, appreciation, and most importantly, love, for Am Yisrael, Torat Yisrael, and Eretz Yisrael is a precondition for any real progress. It is for this reason that we posted a section on Torat Eretz Yisrael on our website (if you would like to contribute please email me) and it is for this reason that we are beginning to write the Philosophy of K'Cholmim, and are looking to gain the support of Am Yisrael at large, including of course the Rabbis and other leaders of our generation as well. Rav of K'Cholmim We have recently elicited the support of several Rabbis in Israel. We are now looking to raise money for a salary for our new Rav of K'Cholmim - Yehoshua Friedman. Rav Friedman is a graduate of St. John's College, and is thus well versed in western wisdom and classic secular liberalism, and is also steeped in Jewish wisdom having learned for the rabbinate. Rav Friedman is thus the perfect Rav for K'Cholmim, as he can address Jews in both the language of the West and that of Judaism. Rav Friedman is also a major proponent of the Bnei Noach, one of the more universal aspects and visions of Judaism. In brief, it is what the Jewish expectation of the non-Jewish world is - namely, to keep the 7 Noahide Commandments. Through Rav Friedman's added energy and wisdom to K'Cholmim we hope to make several steps towards implementing educational programming both in Israel and in North America. K'Cholmim is making a major push for aliyah. We feel that any proper systematic understanding of Am Yisrael, Torat Yisrael, and Eretz Yisrael 1. Inevitably leads to the conclusion of aliyah as an answer. Meaning if we articulate the Question implied in the vision of Am Yisrael, Torat Yisrael, and Eretz Yisrael, then for those of us in Exile, Aliyah is the first and necessary part of the Answer and 2. We can only truly gain a systematic vision of Am Yisrael, Eretz Yisrael, and Torat Yisrael while living in a Jewish society in Israel. We strongly feel and believe that a systematic understanding of what it is to be a Jew is lacking in Jewish education today, across the Jewish spectrum, in Israel and outside (all though, to be sure it is much worse outside) and that the results are most dangerous and disastrous. To be K'Cholmim we must return to our roots and understand what it means to be a Jew, and that means knowing and loving Am Yisrael, Torah, and Israel, and understanding how these ideas all fit together and why. That is no small task, but it our destiny. "You are not required to complete the task, yet you are not free to withdraw from it." (Avoth 2:21) It is our hope and prayer that we will succeed in our mission, and that in attempting to better understand ourselves, our past, our tradition and history, we will have a much more hopeful, happier, and brighter future. To quote Plato, "Where have you come from, and where are you going?" The Jewish People can not possibly hope for a bright and fulfilling future for Am Yisrael, while we remain so ignorant of our roots. May the Holy One bless us with Strength and Peace. For HE shall bestow peace upon us, and upon all the Nation of Israel. B'ahavat Yisrael,
David Yisrael HaLevi is founder of K'Cholmim. Contact him at david@kcholmim.org or visit http://www.kcholmim.org |
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JEWS AND CHRISTIANS, RALLY AROUND THE BIBLE!
Posted by Ruth Matar, December 30, 2004. |
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Dear Friends, Ariel Sharon is Ready to Attack G-d's Covenant with the Jewish People Sharon's "Disengagement" Plan aims to make the Biblical lands of Gaza (Gush Katif) and Northern Samaria "Judenrein". In fact, on June 2 of this year, Prime Minister Sharon was quoted as saying "that there will be no Jews in Gaza or Northern Shomron by the end of 2005". Shortly thereafter I heard him say on Israel radio: "the Disengagement Plan is the most important item on our agenda, AND WITH G-D'S HELP WE SHALL SUCCEED". What incredible chutzpa! Sharon well knows that the Almighty promised his Holy Land to the Jewish People and that this Promise certainly includes Judea, Samaria and Gaza. His "Disengagement" Plan is directly against the Word of G-d. Let us again make this clear once and for all! Gaza is Jewish Land promised by Hashem in the Bible as an everlasting inheritance to the Jewish People. Jews have lived in Gaza ever since they crossed into the Promised Land in the great Exodus from Egypt, approximately 3,270 years ago. It was, in fact, apportioned to the Tribe of Judah (Joshua 15:47 and Judges 1:18) as part of its eternal patrimony. (See the map of TERRITORIES OF THE TWELVE TRIBES, Stone Edition of the Tanach, page 2,045 appendix D, map 2) The battle against Sharon's Disengagement Plan (the plan to throw out thousands of Jews from their homes in Biblical Gaza and Samaria) is becoming very intense. The slogan "With Love We Will Be Victorious" and the fact that 200,000 Jews were able to form a human chain from Gush Katif to the Western Wall, did not influence the Sharon government in any form or fashion. Sharon continued, with his bulldozer behavior, to advance his plan by trying to push through the Knesset draconian measures, such as: * Three years of imprisonment of persons who act together to oppose disengagement, even if one of them is a minor. The major slogan of the Gush Katif residents "With Love We Will Be Victorious" has proven to be ineffective against the hatred of the Sharon Government, the Left, and the leftist controlled media. This is what finally prompted Pinchas Wallerstein, one of the leaders of the Yesha Council (Judea, Samaria and Gaza) to write an open letter calling for massive civil disobedience against the prospect of ethnic cleansing of Jews from Gaza and Samaria. In addition, some residents of Gush Katif, mainly holocaust survivors, started a campaign to wear on their clothing an orange Star of David in order to shock people into realizing that there is a valid comparison between the Germans expelling Jews from their homes, and Sharon's proposed "Disengagement" Plan. Immediately there was a tremendous and skillfully organized outcry against this campaign from the leftist media, claiming that the settlers were besmirching the memory of the Holocaust victims, and trying to compare the Sharon government to the Nazis. Let me state right here that I will never compare my fellow Jews to the Nazis. The Arab enemies are today's Nazis! Those who are trying to push the "Disengagement" Plan down the throats of the Israeli People, are unwittingly helping this very enemy. Both Abu Mazen and Marwan Barghouti boast in their campaign speeches that the Jews are fleeing from Gaza because of the successful Arab struggle against "Israeli occupation". In fact, Abu Mazen says that whereas Israel calls the Arab armed groups murderers, "we call them successful strugglers". Abu Mazen further says: "I will never turn guns on my own people"! Please permit me to remind you once again of my background. I have written about this before, but my childhood experience is most relevant to this discussion. I was born in Wiener Neustadt, an ancient city in southern Austria. According to the Encyclopedia Judaica, Wiener Neustadt was founded in the year 1192. Jews lived in this city almost from the very beginning. In fact, there are gravestones in the Jewish Cemetery in Wiener Neustadt, which date from 1252 and 1261. Our family lived in Wiener Neustadt until November 9, 1938, until Krystall Nacht, when Hitler's storm troopers forcibly evicted all Jews from their homes in this city. While violently dragging us out of our house, they severely beat my mother for not following orders quickly enough. Within a few days after November 9, the city of Wiener Neustadt was successfully cleansed of its Jewish population. The Germans boasted that now yet another city was completely Judenrein. Many people feel that there cannot and should not be comparison between today's situation and the Holocaust, and that such comparison is sacrilegious and should not even be permitted. There is no plan, they say, by the Sharon government to put Jews into gas chambers! However, if we're honest with ourselves, there are frightening similarities. Sharon's "Disengagement" Plan aims to make the Biblical lands of Gush Katif and Northern Samaria "Judenrein". In fact, on June 2 of this year, Prime Minister Sharon was quoted as saying "that there will be no Jews in Gaza or Northern Shomron by the end of 2005". Just another way of saying that he promises that these areas will be "Judenrein". Some unfortunate comparisons can be made: Jews lived in Wiener Neustadt for hundreds of years before this city was made Judenrein by the Nazis. Jews have been living in Gaza for thousands of years, and now, Ariel Sharon aims to follow the example of the Germans and make the rebuilt Jewish communities of Gaza Judenrein. (There are many examples of Jewish presence in Gaza starting from Biblical times, even though the Arabs have recently tried to erase such evidence in order to convince the world of their Big Lie, that they are the original inhabitants of the Holy Land.) Another shameful example: Sharon has promised the Arabs, in an obscene and immoral gesture that the remains of Jews in Gaza be disinterred from their graves, thus making even the very soil Judenrein. To my knowledge, the graves in the Jewish cemetery in Wiener Neustadt dating from 1252 and 1261 are untouched. Finally, an important difference: GERMAN STORM TROOPERS dragged my family out of our home. Sharon plans to compel JEWISH SOLDIERS AND JEWISH POLICEMEN to do the same to their Jewish brethren. In light of the above, I defy anyone to tell us Holocaust survivors that there are no similarities at all between November 9, 1938 (Kristall Nacht) and 2005, the planned expulsion of Jews from Gush Katif and Samaria. Having said all that, I can understand that some Holocaust survivors feel that the orange Jewish Star campaign should be abandoned. Former Knesset speaker Dov Shilansky (Likud), a Holocaust survivor himself, said that any comparison to the Holocaust must be avoided "if it will cause pain to even one survivor." That is the reason why the Gush Katif Holocaust survivors abandoned the orange Star of David campaign. We will now instead wear orange scarves to identify with our Jewish brethren in Gaza. The noose is definitely tightening around our necks! A big headline on page one in today's Jerusalem Post reads: OLMERT UNVEILS "DISENGAGEMENT PLAN 2" TO POST. Olmert says "There is no option of sitting and doing nothing. Israel's interest requires a Disengagement on a wider scale than what will happen as part of the current Disengagement Plan." There you have it! Con-artist Sharon ultimately plans to abandon all of our Biblical Heartland, including the rest of Samaria and Judea, as well. We must understand that Olmert is the Vice-Premier of the Sharon government and a close ally and confidant of Ariel Sharon. He has often been the first in the government to go public with Sharon's future planned policy. Further "Disengagement" is in Israeli's interest? To give up our G-d given Land and retreat behind Auschwitz borders? Have we learned nothing from the last Holocaust and 2,000 years of persecution? WAKE UP ALL THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN THE MIRACLE OF ISRAEL'S REBIRTH AS A JEWISH STATE! Wake up and start fighting back! What you can do for starters: visit our website
With Blessing and Love for Israel, Ruth Matar P.S. A great number of replies to last week's "Goodbye Christmas?" Letter mentioned the fact that Mr. Krauthammer is somewhat hypocritical in asking us to respect other people's religion, while at the same time supporting Sharon's Disengagement Plan. I hope to discuss this apparent inconsistency in next week's Letter. Ruth and Nadia Matar established Women For Israel's Tomorrow (Women in Green), an activist group of women based in Jerusalem. Their website address is http://www.womeningreen.org |
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SAUDI DENIES CIVILIZATION CLASH; ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT FACTS
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, December 30, 2004. |
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A REFORM RABBI DISCOVERS ARAB-ISRAEL CONFLICT Led by her personal guide, a touring US reform rabbi made the usual observations about Israel's land development, agricultural enterprise, balmy climate, and largely peaceful existence despite the headlines' preoccupation with war. She also discovered the Arab-Israel conflict. Some "progressive Israelis," she wrote, contend that the Palestinian Arabs violated their peace agreements with Israel, and that Islam is a religion of world conquest. "On the other hand," she pointed out, the other side says the same about Judaism. A rabbi should know that there are absolute truths, and not adopt the multicultural and moral relativism nonsense that equates all societies and assertions. Facts are facts. Thus, it was not a theory that Imperial Japan attacked the US in 1941, it was a fact. Nazi Germany was not on an equal moral plane with the US, in WWII, as if one should give equal weight to what it asserted about the US being the aggressor, with what the allies asserted about "the Nazi beast." How dismaying to find a rabbi so uninformed about the Arab-Israel conflict, and who automatically views political disputes evenhandedly! One should not be evenhanded between evil and its victim. A rabbi should recognize and oppose evil. A rabbi should side with her own people in this long adversarial relationship. She thought she was being objective, but was not, in giving a demon equal weight to a besieged human. Rabbi, world conquest IS a key component of Islam's creed. The PLO DID violate all its agreements with Israel (and by the time of Oslo, its 200 other agreements). Those are facts. Those are not disputable theories; the two sides are not on an equal moral plane She went too far, though she was somewhat cryptic, when she referred to Israeli troops and Arab "civilians" as killing each other. "Civilians?" Those Arabs mostly are terrorists, not civilians, though Arab civilians are ready to murder, if they can mob an Israeli soldier. They mostly attack civilians, not troops. Her misuse of terms makes Israelis seem to be war criminals and the Arabs not. Actually, the Arabs are war criminals and Israelis are not. If she understood the situation, she would not slander Israel. The term, "progressive," tipped me off that she was going to spout nonsense. These days, as in the days of Communist fellow travelers, "progressives" often were radicals who sided with totalitarians and had unrealistic notions of the world. The "progressives" who favor the Arab totalitarians are regressive. A friend recently endorsed some governor as being a "leftist." I responded that the term, "leftist," doesn't sit well with me. Chavez, would-be dictator of Venezuela, is a leftist. In the US, "leftist" embraces a range of ideological views, but most are unrealistic and some are anti-American. I dispute some US policies, but am not, as a whole, anti-American. That is centrist. ABU MAZEN, MODERATE? In a rational world, Abu Mazen's negotiating unity with Hamas would be seen as making a spectacle of himself. In this world, he does so without losing the reputation, based on wishful thinking and cynical duping of the Jewish people, of being a moderate. His negotiations have important implications. For one, he is following the example of Arafat, whom the US finally admitted is not moderate. For another, he is embracing the most Islamist organization. It would be like Pres. Bush negotiating a merger with the KKK -- assuming for the sake of discussion that the KKK still were a large and powerful organization -- without requiring the KKK to abandon its basic ideology and strategy. Indeed, Abu Mazen asks Hamas to suspend some of its tactics, in favor of other tactics more likely to assure ultimate victory, and yet he is called moderate. The purpose of unity is to concentrate forces against Israel (and to safeguard himself from Hamas). That is not moderate. SAUDIS: NO CLASH OF CIVILIZATION The Saudi Foreign Minister addressed his foreign counterparts at the "Forum of the Future." In denying a clash of civilizations, he espoused many notions a la Thomas Jefferson. So far, so good. Then he ascribed all the Arab-Western differences to the Arab-Israel conflict. He did not refer to his country's financing of Islamist jihad, which strives to destroy the West. He said, "Let us face it, our differences are neither religious nor cultural. We perceive no clash of civilizations or of competing value systems. The real bone of contention is the longest conflict in modern history. For too long the Arabs have witnessed the Western bias towards Israel. We have come to understand the Western and especially American guarantees to the security of Israel. What the Arab peoples can not fathom is why these guarantees are transformed into unrestricted backing of unrestrained Israeli policies contrary to international legality." (IMRA, 12/10.) These unstated US guarantees are exaggerated, and previous US breaches of guarantees were not mentioned. Israel is acting in accordance with international law, but the world pretends otherwise. The Arabs violate international law, but the world ignores it. Israel's policies are restrained, or they would have won. US backing is restricted to certain measures for a temporary period, after which, with minimal P.A. cooperation, the US would force Israeli withdrawal. Actually, the Muslims hate the US and the West more for having Jeffersonian principles and Western ways, for blocking Islamic conquest, for having conquered them in the past, and for showing their civilization inferior in at least certain ways. Arab culture likes to hate. The problem with the US, one that facilitated 9/11 and still hampers our alleged war on terrorism, is the US backing for S. Arabia, which bribes its diplomats and universities. WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THIS? Addressing the Emirates Center for Strategic Research, Gary Samore, formerly an advisor to Pres. Clinton, expressed his opinion that in emphasizing the nuclear disarmament of Iran, Pres. Bush might consider military tactics, if diplomacy failed. The brief put it that the US was considering that, already. It was not clear whose assessment that was: the reporter's, the Emirates', the speaker's, or Pres. Bush's (IMRA, 12/11). Do you think the US is seriously considering a military strike against Iran? Is the discussion a military deception intended to put force behind current diplomacy? WHO IS IMMORAL, IN THE ARAB-ISRAEL CONFLICT? Israeli officials worry that they may be employing excessive force against their Arab enemies. Israeli leftists wrongfully denounce the IDF as if it does use excessive force. Meanwhile, another Israeli soldier was killed by a mine in PLO-controlled territory, because his unit did not come in sufficient force (Voice of Judea, 12/11, e-mail). The details of this story are not clear, but the principle has occurred in other situations. Who is immoral, the Israelis, who use insufficient force, or the Arabs, who use illegal force? WHAT DOES SHARON HOPE FROM P.A. ELECTION? An Arab claimed that PM Sharon hopes Abu Mazen, as (alleged)moderate, would make great compromises. IMRA notes that not a single such compromise was identified (IMRA, 12/12 from Jordan Times). HAMAS MILITARY PLAN Hamas urges the P.A. to unite all the military forces into a single army, the better to fight Israel (IMRA, 12/12). That approximates the Quartet "reform" plan. It indicates that the Quartet works against Israel. SHARON'S FURTHER PLANS Bringing Shimon Peres into a prominent Cabinet position indicates that PM Sharon would evacuate from more than the limited area previously specified (Arutz-7, 12/12). Don't assume that whatever is motivating PM Sharon to promote a limited withdrawal, which he has been unable to explain the benefit of other than vague assertions, would rest there? Indications are that he always planned to withdraw more. IDF BOASTS MORE THAN IT ACTS The Arabs have been shelling Jewish communities in Gaza more often. They wound innocent victims. The Israeli Army hardly pursues the Arabs. When it does, after perhaps weeks of such shelling, it boasts that it does not tolerate attacks by terrorists. To the Jewish residents under frequent attack, the boast is empty (Arutz-7, 12/12). They think that the Army is afraid. Usually, however, the troops would like to fight aggressors, but the politicians do not want them to. Question is why not. I think the politicians want the residents to feel besieged enough to withdraw without being required to by the government of Israel. That way, the government's task of appeasement is rendered easier. This is a cynical view, but how much patriotism has the government of Israel shown towards its people on security matters? WARNING ISRAELIS: DO NOT VISIT EGYPT Egypt and Israel traded prisoners. Egypt released a Druse whom it had "convicted" of spying for Israel. Israel released 6 students who had come to commit terrorism. Nevertheless, PM Sharon expresses gratitude to Egypt's President and wishes to release more Arab prisoners, this time P.A. Arabs. If Israel does, it would encourage Egypt to capture more Israelis and hold them to exchange for more Arab prisoners. Some released prisoners revert to terrorism (Arutz-7, 12/12). IS ARAB REFORM HOSTAGE TO WAR? Sec. Powell denied that Arabs cannot reform their societies until the Arab-Israel conflict has ended (IMRA, 12/12). An Arab journalist commented that the Arabs cannot settle the Arab-Israel conflict if they keep calling Israel "the Zionist entity." Talk nicely to Israel, and the Arabs could get what they want from it (IMRA, 12/13). Appear moderate, and get extremist demands fulfilled. Yes, what does this one conflict, among others, have to do with reform? The conflict is an excuse not to reform. Previously, it was used to divert attention from dissatisfaction with Arab society. 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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THE 2004 APOLOGISTS FOR PALESTINIAN TERRORISM AWARDS
Posted by Angela Bertz, December 30, 2004. |
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The stage is already set for the biggest event of the year in the terrorism apologist's calendar. "The 2004 Apologist for Palestinian Terrorism Award Ceremony" is about to get underway for the 4th year running, coinciding with the four year of Intifada (uprising). The apologists have been arriving in droves, to an undisclosed (to avoid the unwelcome presence of any Zionist supporters) American University Campus. Rutgers was reported to have turned down the event. Politics are well represented with the attendance of Britain's Foreign Minister Jack Straw. He was quoted as calling the event "justified". Mr. Straw, always a favourite among the apologists is especially extolled for his heartfelt comments after Israel's assassination of Hamas leaders, Sheik Yassin and Rantissi. He has in fact been selected to hand tonight's winner a garland of Red & Gold Chrysanthemums. Former President of the United States, Jimmy Carter, has as usual a prominent seat in the front row. This delusional peanut farmer will be fondly remembered for his wonderful comments at "The Geneva Initiative Conference". He was much appreciated for having the foresight to blame President Bush for favouring Israel and allowing "Palestinians to suffer". Jacques Chirac somberly dressed and still numb from the death of Yasser Arafat arrived together with Nelson Mandela, dressed in one of his trademark brightly coloured shirt. Both of these apologists were hoping to pick up this years special prize, commissioned to mark the tragic passing of Yasser Arafat. A beautiful piece of glassware, designed in Sweden will be handed to the person, who the judges, in this instance from the International Court of Justice in The Hague felt made the best remark upon the tragic death of Yasser Arafat. Competition for this award is fierce, with both the Vatican and North Korea as hot contenders. No Apologist event would be complete without a heavy sprinkling of both U.N. and E.U. representatives. In fact this year sees the welcome appearance of two former winners of the coveted award. Mary Robinson needs no introduction for her heroic deeds at the 2001 Durban Conference on Human Rights. On the last day, this larger than life apologist declared the conference a success. She had in fact turned the event into a forum for expressing vile Anti-Semitism and Anti-Israel commentary, resulting in the withdrawal of both Israel and the United States from the conference. Looking resplendent and prosperous in a new suit, crowds cheered the arrival of Arab Lackey and Chief Representative of the U.N. Kofi Annan. Many will remember Mr. Annan's wonderful speech last year, when he himself accepted the award as the 2003 winner. He brought more than a few tears to Saudi Arabian eyes when he declared this a glorious victory for apologists, not only in the UN, but around the world, who have for years supported the many U.N. resolutions against Israel. He did not forget to send a special thanks to all the U.N. ambassadors, who would often have to give up some of their free time when last minute sessions of the Security Council were needed to protect the poor Palestinians. Chris Patten arrived looking cheerful from a recent vacation to the Bahamas. He was happy to reiterate on his findings into PA aid money being diverted for terrorism. He clearly stated that no evidence had to date been found and the Palestinians themselves had assured him that the very idea was preposterous. A glittering array of stars has turned out. Vanessa Redgrave, often seen fawning herself at Yasser Arafat's feet has been revered time and time again. This fading British star, ever hopeful of being a winner herself was beaten into second place last year by Kofi Annan. She was however given a special mention for her 2003 visit to the Palestinian Authority. She was commended for using a press conference in Israel's capital city of Jerusalem to condemn the security barrier. Many will remember her amazing knowledge on walls, declaring Israel's even higher than the Berlin Wall. New to the apologist circuit, Hollywood star Angelina Jolie was seen sitting with her dear friend Queen Noor of Jordan. The two pals were probably discussing the Arab Children's congress held in Amman, Jordan earlier in the year. This congress was simply the child's version of Durban. Ms. Jolie delighted the Queen by praising Jordan's policy of keeping its borders open and hosting the world's largest group of Palestinian refugees in the world. Jolie went on to claim she was a big supporter of Children's rights. Strangely enough she seemed totally unaware of the Palestinians appalling abuse of their children. Furthermore she seemed unable to make any connection to how this abuse affected the rights of Israel's children, many of them victims of this demonization process. The Presbyterians were among the last to arrive. It seems that since they decided to divest from Israel they have all handed in their cell phones. These handy little items were developed in Israel and without them the Presbyterians had a little trouble coordinating their arrangements. The BBC has sole rights to televising this glittering event. Their years of anti-Israel reporting have put them in the forefront for lifting the award this year, with strong competition from CNN and the Guardian Newspaper. The BBC's case is greatly strengthened by the appearance of Barbara Plett. This woman was applauded in apologist circles after her tearful performance outside Arafat's Ramallah compound. Barbara is reportedly putting a great strain on the BBC's makeup department as she tearfully recalls the moment they lifted the "frail old man" into the night sky. No event of this magnitude would be complete without a glittering host and who more fitting than the queen apologist herself, Hanan Ashrawi. Cheers from the huge ISM contingent greet her appearance on the stage. The band strikes up for a rousing performance of Muhammad Dervish's Prisoner's songs, which is the anthem of Palestinian terrorists imprisoned in Israel. The performers are a talented selection of singers from both Hamas and Al Aksa martyrs brigade, with a Gaza scouts group, flown in to lend their unbroken little voices to the chorus. Always popular with the apologist is the "Suicide Bomber of the year" award. Ms. Ashrawi is set to announce the winner, with several dozen mothers hoping to win the $100 prize money. The competition is fierce for this award, with many of the mothers bemoaning the fact that the Zionists wretched apartheid wall is having an adverse effect on their child's martyrdom aspirations. There has been strong criticism at every level against the wall with the majority of apologists strongly voicing their objections to it. This year's big prizes for the 2004 Apologist winner are better than ever. They include, the much coveted and sought after "Yasser Arafat Silver Trophy" which will have this year's lucky winner's name engraved on it. The Body Shop has generously donated a huge basket of their wonderful products, guaranteed to make this year's apologist feel pampered from head to toe. These will include some very useful and well thought out items including their peppermint foot embalming ointment and what every winner needs to counter the effects of spending so much time apologizing for Palestinian terrorism, The Body Shops prickly pear and guava lip balm. Suha Arafat is offering this year's winner a brand new Hermes silk scarf from Paris, said to be worth $100 and in a choice of lovely colours. A framed portrait of Yasser Arafat will also be presented. This year's portrait is especially poignant with a very special touch added on the back. One very lucky little Palestinian kindergarten child in Gaza was chosen to add a red hand painted print to the back of the portrait. Kofi Annan has very generously offered this year's winner the chance to sit in on the U.N. assembly every time they pass a resolution against Israel. He jokingly says you need to be on call almost day and night for that. Tragically more than 1000 dead Israelis may still have been alive today, had even one of these pathetic apologists ever looked beyond all the vile Palestinian Propaganda. These apologists have for years glorified horrendous acts of terrorism. Had they not allowed themselves to be duped by distorted terms like occupation, freedom fighters, cycle of violence or armed resistance maybe thousands of Israelis would not be facing years of both physical and emotional therapy. Maybe these Palestinian mothers, who show themselves beneath the animal kingdom, with so little protective instincts towards their own children, would be at home right now looking forward to their children's bright future, instead of glorifying their death. Hanan Ashrawi is in fact about to apologize to the apologists, but don't hold your breath, the only thing she is about to apologize for is the delay in announcing this years winner of; "The 2004 Apologist for Palestinian Terrorism Award". Angela Bertz is a freelance writer. She made aliyah in the 1980s, coming from London, England. Contact her at angela03@netvision.net.il This article appeared December 28, 2004 on the Front Page Magazine website (http://www.FrontPageMagazine.com). It is archived at http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=16458 |
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HAARETZ'S TRAVESTY OF LANGUAGE
Posted by Steven Plaut, December 30, 2004. |
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This was written by P. David Hornik and it appeared on the Front Page
Magazine webiste (http://www.frontpagemag.com) and is archived at
http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=16466
P. David Hornik is a freelance writer and translator living in
Jerusalem whose work has appeared in many Israeli, Jewish, and
political publications. Reach him at pdavidh2001@yahoo.com.
A Haaretz story from Monday, December 27 informs us: : ... an Israel Defense Forces tank opened fire and killed two Hamas activists early Sunday morning near the fence along the Green Line... The two were seen crawling some 200 meters from the fence, and the IDF believes they were planning to set an explosive charge. Hamas confirmed the two were members of its organization." Activists? What were they, campaigners against whale farming, or for a higher minimum wage, or a shorter school day? "Activist" is a strange term for people who were seeking to commit mass murder, and who belong to an organization whose charter states: "Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it... There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad... Jihad is [our] path and death for the sake of Allah is the loftiest of [our] wishes..." When Haaretz isn't referring to terrorists of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, or the various PLO offshoots as "activists," it calls them "militants" - a word that connotes, or used to connote, hard-boiled labor leaders and the like. And what, exactly, would Haaretz have called people in Germany in the 1930s who called for the destruction of the Jews and incited and perpetrated attacks against them - militants? Activists? Last week the residents of Gush Katif, a Jewish community in the Gaza Strip, set off a firestorm in Israel by donning orange badges in the shape of the Star of David. The badges were meant to stir associations with the yellow Stars of David that Jews were forced to wear by the Nazis. Gush Katif is not only slated for destruction as part of the Israeli government's "disengagement" plan; it is also - as a gesture of the Gaza terrorists - "appreciation" for the plan - being subjected to round-the-clock bombardment with mortars and missiles. According to reports, not only the Gush Katif residents but IDF officers in the area are exasperated by the government's refusal to give the IDF the green light to quash the bombardment, a refusal allegedly aimed at "softening up" the residents for their evacuation several months from now. In other words, the Gush Katif residents are living in nonstop mortal danger and feel doubly abandoned by their government - both because they're slated for evacuation and because they're not being militarily protected. Nevertheless, their signaling of their despair with the orange stars sparked fierce protest in Israel across the political spectrum. Even right-wing politicians who oppose disengagement and sympathize with the Gaza Jews objected that this was going too far. The Gaza residents, even if eventually evacuated, will be financially compensated and reabsorbed in Israel - a far cry from the fate of Jews deported by the Nazis. After a couple of days, the Gaza residents heeded the protests and ended the campaign. Fair enough; but if we're going to protest offensive, inappropriate usages, why not pass it around equally? Which brings us back to Haaretz. It struck me that during and since the orange-stars uproar, Haaretz, quietly and seemingly unnoticed, continues with its outrageous travesty of language in which cold-blooded genocidists are referred to in "neutral," "objective," politically-correct terms. After all, there may be someone out there who views the latest suicide bombers or knife murderers as "freedom fighters," and whose feelings might be hurt if a word like terrorist was used to describe them. And, of course, the world must know that Haaretz is an objective, nonpartisan observer. This Israeli newspaper will only use the language of CNN, the BBC, and the New York Times to describe ideological murders in Israel. The editors of Haaretz will not refer to the potential or actual killers of their own children as terrorists, but as activists. They're, after all, part of the bigger, sophisticated world, not of little, parochial Israel. Haaretz's use of delicate terminology for today's Nazis is no less an offense against truth, against the memory of what Jews have suffered, than the Gaza Jews' use of the orange stars - arguably - was. The difference is that the Gaza Jews' gesture was protested, and they heeded, respected, and responded to the protest. Haaretz, though, gets away with it. 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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STOP THE GAZA COMPENSATION BILL!
Posted by Judith Nusbaum, December 30, 2004. |
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Bombard the following MKs with emails, faxes and phone calls They must NOT pass the Gaza compensation bill! They are aware of the dangers of "withdrawal", but tell them again:
Tell them you will not pay for this immoral act with your taxes You know what to tell them. Time is of the essence. If not now, when? Please act and send to your entire email list A list of the MKs on the Finance Committee:
Alternates for the Finance Committee:
Additional MKs:
Judith Nusbaum is with the Jerusalem Liaison Office of the Unity Coalition for Israel organization. Contact her at etzion76@netvision.net.il |
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RELIGIOUS COERCION, REFORM STYLE
Posted by Steven Plaut, December 29, 2004. |
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This was published in the Jewish Press and is archived at http://www.jewishpress.com/news_article.asp?article=4542 The political interference by the rabbis is getting more and more unbearable. The attempt to impose their opinions and lifestyles upon us, regardless of the preferences of the majority of their fellow citizens, is outrageous. They are intolerant, increasingly fundamentalist, arrogant, anti-democratic and coercive. I refer, of course, to the Reform rabbis of America. I should state here that I do not criticize the Reform movement because of the level of observance of Jewish ritual and tradition of its members. I do not consider it my business or right to tell other Jews how much ritual and tradition they should be observing or not observing in their private lives. I have no problem with those who wish to choose non-observant or secularist lifestyles. I acknowledge the right of Reform Jews to live as they please. I am all in favor of religious pluralism. I should also state up front that the Reform synagogue movement contains quite a few thoughtful and intelligent leaders and members. I believe that individual Reform Jewish leaders collectively share the blame for only one thing - allowing the Reform movement to be hijacked by leftist extremists and not doing more to stop them. Let me also point out that I am hardly uncritical of Orthodox rabbis, especially here in Israel, when they engage in political partisanship, misbehavior, or general silliness. I have no problem with those promoting religious pluralism in Israel or anywhere else. The only problem is that the same Reform leaders who are so enthusiastic about religious pluralism have made it clear that political pluralism has no room in their own movement. Yes, like the tired plot of a late-night science fiction movie, the Reform movement has been taken over - by those who believe religion and liberal social activism are synonyms. While not every rabbi or every member of the Reform movement has been recruited into the Political Liberalism as Judaism school, enough have, and that school's philosophy dominates the pronouncements by the official institutions of the movement as a whole. This is the philosophy also known as Tikkun Olam Paganism, due to its compulsive misuse of the notion of "tikkun olam" by holding that all of Judaism can be reduced to the agenda of politically correct liberalism. It is a form of political fundamentalism, impervious to challenge. It believes that the best chances of survival for the eternal and timeless religion of Judaism are through repackaging it so that it can appeal to college students in Berkeley, drag queens in Provincetown, and actors in Hollywood. The "Political Liberalism as Judaism" pseudo-religion dominates the main institutions of the Reform synagogue movement, including its Central Council of American Rabbis (CCAR), which regularly claims to represent 1.5 million Jews and 900 congregations in the U.S. and Canada. And of course the leftist SWAT team for the Reform movement is the Religious Action Center (RAC) based in Washington, whose "religious action" rarely has anything to do with Jewish religion. The RAC has been under the leadership of David Saperstein for almost as long as Libya has been under the personal rule of Moammar Khaddafi. Saperstein, who is a Reform rabbi and an attorney, is also active in such outfits as People For the American Way, set up by the television producer Norman Lear to save the world from Republicans. The RAC and the CCAR regularly compose and approve political fatwas, the collection of which is online and virtually identical in content with the platform of the furthest-left wing of the Democrat Party. These cover everything from "globalization" (they essentially oppose it) to "animal rights" (they want Jews to be vegetarians). Homosexuality has a special interest for them, bordering on a fixation. Saperstein recently expressed shock when Boston's Rabbi Chaim Schwartz, writing in the Boston Globe, compared homosexual relations with bestiality. In Sapersteins words: "That a rabbi would... demean the committed and loving relationships that many people share, is not only irresponsible and hurtful, but wrong." Only one little problem here. The Torah itself explicitly compares homosexual relations with bestiality and in fact declares both to be capital offenses. Maybe Saperstein should actually try reading the Torah. Maybe the RAC should actually base some of its "religious action" on the Jewish religion. Does the RAC regard the Torah itself as "irresponsible and hurtful and wrong?" A few years back, the Passover cause celebre of the Reform establishment was Tibet, with Tibetan officials invited to Passover seders and Jews urged to hold Tibetan "freedom seders" to show solidarity. The eleventh commandment handed down by Moses is, in their opinion, "Thou Shalt be Trendy!" The RAC is so radical it has motivated many an observer, just a bit unfairly, in my opinion, to question whether Reform Judaism should even be regarded as a branch of Judaism, rather than a form of leftist political agitprop, little more than a sister organization of Tikkun, A.N.S.W.E.R. and MOVE ON. But the Reform establishment goes beyond PC goofiness. In recent years it has been increasingly hostile to Israel and attempts by Israel to defend itself. The CCAR is on record supporting Palestinian statehood, eviction of Jewish settlers, and a return by Israel to more or less its 1949 borders. The CCAR and RAC recently launched an attack against Israel's attempts to defend its children from terrorists by constructing a "security wall". The CCAR actually condemned Israel for this in a resolution passed at its annual meeting. It has also denounced Israel for demolishing homes of terrorists. It has openly endorsed the leftist-extremist Israeli splinter group "Rabbis for Human Rights" (which might more properly be named "Rabbi for Human Rights"). The resolution and other recent statements by RAC have been exercises in "even-handedness", that is, balanced condemnation of both Palestinian terror and Israeli attempts to defend its citizens from that terror. The Reform establishment, few of whose leading lights live in Israel, has in recent years canceled youth trip after youth trip to the Jewish state, does not like Israel's "security wall" because it makes Palestinians unhappy, and in general counsels Israel against using arms if there's any possibility that Palestinian civilians might be injured. Since no one has ever fought a war in which only uniformed fighters get hurt, and since Palestinian terrorists hide among civilians and never wear uniforms, this counsel amounts to an insistence that Israel not fight terror at all. The RAC is more worried about inconveniencing the Palestinians with a security wall than it is about the rights of Jewish children to ride buses in Beer Sheba without being blown up. It is often more critical of the Boy Scouts for not hiring gay scout leaders than it is of the Palestinian Authority. Adopting a balanced condemnation of both the Palestinians and Israel is about as morally high-minded, principled and courageous in 2004 as would have been a balanced condemnation of both Nazi Germany and the armies and partisans fighting against it in 1943. After all, the anti-German forces sometimes mistreated innocent Germans, were insensitive toward homosexuals, and even ate meat. The Jerusalem Post recently attacked the armchair peaceniks in the CCAR and their "even-handed" anti-Israel propagandizing, accusing them of hypocritical moral grandstanding. Saperstein himself took time off from demonizing the Boy Scouts and fighting for the promotion of lesbian Reform rabbis to respond to the Post. He insisted, predictably, that Reform leaders in the U.S. have as much right to voice their views on Israeli security and issues of war and peace as do Israel's own leftists. Actually, U.S. Reform leaders have no such right. If Saperstein and his comrades wish to promote their agenda, let them make aliyah, pay Israeli taxes, serve in the army, and suffer on their own persons the consequences of leftist folly, just like Israel's home-grown leftists. But even then, while they'd have the right to promote their agenda, they wouldn't have the right to misrepresent leftist political extremism as Judaism. No less outrageous are the efforts of Reform rabbis who attempt to impose their liberal political theology not only on fellow American Jews, but on the U.S. as a whole. While whining about supposed Orthodox religious coercion in Israel, the Reform establishment today embodies the worst forms of Jewish religious coercion on earth, with the religion in question being liberal politics and liberation theology. The Reform establishment has adopted the entire agenda of the American Left, down to and including bashing Israel for daring to defend itself. It is barely distinct politically from the sages of the Tikkun-Renewal cult of Michael Lerner and Arthur Waskow. It is becoming so extreme that it increasingly resembles the old anti-Israel Reform break-off group, the American Council for Judaism. The Reform establishment opposes school choice for Jews; supports every wacky idea to emerge from the most extreme environmentalist movements; and endorses affirmative action programs even if they discriminate against Jews. The number-one item on its agenda these days is gay marriage. David Saperstein's comments opposing welfare reform were so outrageous that a few years back they were cited with approval by the American Communist Party newspaper. The Reform establishment blocks school vouchers by trotting out the old bogeyman of religious coercion, while at the same time its modus operandi is religious coercion of the liberal variety. It has no patience for policy trade-offs nor nuanced policy analysis, no time for subtle cost-benefit evaluation, and refuses even to acknowledge that there are trade-offs involved in real-life policy decisions. It prefers empty moral posturing and liberal recreational compassion combined with ignorance about markets and social science. The Reform establishment supports partial-birth abortion of innocent babies but vehemently opposes execution of convicted murderers and terrorists. The Reform movement in Israel has led the local "anti-globalization" hooligans seeking to make the world safe for Marxism. The U.S. Reform movement has conscripted itself on behalf of Lori Berenson, jailed in Peru for her involvement with a murderous group of leftist terrorists. I have a serious question for David Saperstein and the Reform establishment (and for certain parts of the Conservative synagogue movement as well). I am not being facetious: In your considered opinions, are Michael Moore, Ted Kennedy, Ralph Nader and Dennis Kucinich Jewish? I am quite serious. If being Jewish constitutes nothing more than liberal political activism, why are these people not to be regarded as Jews? It can't be because Reform doctrine holds that in order to be an authentic Jew one must eat kosher and keep the Sabbath. We know, after all, that these are hardly universal practices among Reform Jews. And it can't be because Reform Judaism insists that authentic Jews base their politics and belief system on the Bible. Where in Jewish scripture do we find acceptance, much less endorsement, of homosexuality, Palestinian statehood on the West Bank, and abortion on demand? (Besides which, many of the Reform leaders I have met know less of the Bible than your average Mormon schoolboy.) Seriously, if Judaism is basically just an ethnic version of sanctimonious liberal agitprop, why can't Moore, Kennedy, Kucinich or Nader be considered Jewish? And if a Jewish liberal marries a non-Jewish liberal, why should anyone consider that an intermarriage? After all, they have exactly the same religion! As for religious coercion by the Orthodox in Israel - that's little more than an urban legend. There is virtually no religious coercion in Israel. True, the politicized religious parties once forced the cinemas closed on Sabbath, but today every Israeli owns DVDs. True, the Orthodox politicos once forced the buses to stop running on Sabbath, but these days everyone has a car. I would venture to say that almost no secularist Israeli is ever forced to observe any religious ritual against his or her will. And other than some minor difficulties for those wishing to have a "civil wedding", which is quite possible today in Israel, no secularist in Israel has to have any contact whatsoever with Orthodox institutions if he or she prefers not to. The religious parties and their members are not the ones responsible for Israel's self-destructive policies, for the deepening national demoralization, for the carnage heaped upon the country in the wake of liberal peace schemes. The secularists deserve the lion's share of the blame, though the religious parties certainly have displayed plenty of cowardice in not attempting to stop all that. (One wag famously suggested that if the Israeli government ever decided to turn over the Golan Heights to Syria, the National Religious Party's main concern would be that the eviction of the "settlers" there not take place on the Sabbath.) Contrast the extremely limited nature of religious coercion by Orthodox parties in Israel with political interference and pressure on the part of the Reform movement in the U.S. In an era when true believers in fundamentalist liberalism are an endangered species outside of Hollywood and parts of Manhattan and Massachusetts, the Reform establishment lobbies in the name of Judaism and biblical ethics to impose its leftist political biases on all Jews and, indeed, on the entire United States. It seeks to hijack Judaism, Jewish holidays and Jewish ethical authority on behalf of any given week's leftish fads and fancies. The time has come to get these rabbis and other Reform leaders out of our bedrooms, out of our politics, and back to their proper roles. It is time to introduce some political pluralism into the Reform movement itself. It is time to stop CCAR-RAC from hijacking the moral authority of Judaism for its campaign on behalf of pseudo-Jewish liberal fundamentalism. Steven Plaut is a professor at Haifa University. His book "The Scout" is available at amazon.com. He can be contacted at steven_plaut@yahoo.com |
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BREAKING THE BAD NEWS THAT JEWS WILL BE EXPELLED FROM SAMARIA AND JUDEA?
Posted by Stephen M. Asbel, December 30, 2004. |
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Is Olmert launching another trial balloon for bigger Judea/Samaria withdrawal? This article appeared in the Jerusalem Post. It is entitled "Sharon: Only one unilateral disengagement." It was written by Herb Keinon and Etgar Lefkovits and is archived at http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename= JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1104291022831 Israel will not unilaterally withdraw from any other territories after carrying out the Gaza disengagement plan, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon made clear Thursday, responding to comments to the contrary that Industry, Labor and Trade Minister Ehud Olmert made to The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday. Olmert, whose comments in the past have occasionally been an indication of where Sharon plans to go in the future, said that Israel will need to carry out a large-scale withdrawal from the West Bank after leaving Gaza and northern Samaria, regardless of whether a peace partner emerges on the other side. "Israel's interest requires a disengagement on a wider scale than what will happen as part of the current disengagement plan," Olmert said, though he declined to define the extent of such a second disengagement. The Prime Minister's Office responded by saying that "Olmert's comments are completely unacceptable to the Prime Minister. There will be no other diplomatic plan besides the road map, as was agreed with US President George W. Bush on April 14. Israel will not carry out any other disengagement beyond what was approved by the cabinet and the Knesset. The Prime Minister's position on this is unequivocal." One senior official in the Prime Minister's Office said that the disengagement plan approved by the cabinet and Knesset "is the only one on earth." He said that if after implementation of the plan the Palestinians will take measures to uproot terror and institute significant governmental reform, then the next step will be to go back to the road map. "As far as unilateral steps are concerned," he said, "they begin and end with this plan." Despite the denials, Olmert's comments did attract attention in the diplomatic community. "If Israelis expect that after they evacuate from Gaza and the four settlements in the West Bank there will be peace, then they are not grounded in reality," one Western diplomat said. "The game now is disengagement. We support Sharon on the plan, that is what we are focused on. The day after it is successfully completed, we will refocus." The official said that policy makers in Washington will certainly take note of Olmert's comments, "but are not likely to get starry eyed." In response to the Prime Minister's statement, Olmert said that had the prime minister carefully read the interview with the 'Post', he would not have found it necessary to issue a statement rejecting the comments. "Nowhere did I say that there is another plan for disengagement," Olmert told Israel Radio. Olmert unveils 'Disengagement 2' plan to the 'Post' Israel will need to carry out a large-scale withdrawal from the West Bank after next year's initial disengagement from the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria, whether or not a viable peace partner emerges on the Palestinian side, Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Ehud Olmert said Wednesday. "There is no option of sitting and doing nothing. Israel's interest requires a disengagement on a wider scale than what will happen as part of the current disengagement plan," Olmert told The Jerusalem Post. He declined to describe the extent of a second "disengagement plan" but said that it offers the only clear and realistic alternative to a massive pullback from all the territories as a result of the internationally backed road-map peace plan and could become a useful solution to a future impasse in negotiations with the Palestinian Authority. A close ally and confidant of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Olmert has often been the first in the government to go public with future policy. Last year, in what was widely viewed as a trial balloon, he called for unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank, just weeks ahead of a similar move by Sharon. According to Sharon's current plan, which is slated to go to the cabinet for final approval in February, Israel will withdraw from the Gaza Strip and four isolated settlements in Samaria starting in July. In the interview, Olmert said that it was far from certain that PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), who is expected to win the January 9 election for the PA chairmanship, will become a workable peace partner. Even if Abu Mazen does rein in the Palestinian terror groups, Olmert said, his hard-core stance on major negotiating issues, such as final borders, Jerusalem and refugees, may make it impossible to reach a deal with him. "We could very well have negotiations [with Abbas] and these negotiations will break down, but Israel will continue to progress, by carrying out unilateral moves, including the possibility of further withdrawals that are in the interest of the state," Olmert said. The minister dismissed as "premature" both the early optimism over Abbas's leadership voiced by some and the possibility that the unilateral pullout from the Gaza Strip could become a bilateral agreement. He noted that Abbas has not yet proved that he has the ability to struggle effectively against terror or to build a democratic infrastructure for PA institutions. "Without this, we don't see much chance for progress with the PA," he said. He added that even if Abbas does fulfill his basic obligations - such as a crackdown on terror organizations - under the road map, there remains a "danger" that his negotiating positions will be intransigent. "A PA crackdown on terror is a prerequisite for restarting negotiations, but is in no way a basis for agreement on final-status peace negotiations," Olmert said. He said that while a bilateral agreement with the PA would clearly be preferable, unilateral moves would give Israel greater freedom and are "more comfortable" as far as the country's interests are concerned. In an interview earlier this year, Olmert had said that he envisioned ceding at least six outlying Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem to full PA control as part of a final-status agreement, a dramatic shift in stance on the status of the capital for the formerly hawkish Jerusalem mayor. Public-opinion polls have indicated that about two-thirds of the public support the disengagement plan. Olmert said that it is "only natural and human" that the nearly 9,000 settlers slated to be uprooted from their homes as part of the current unilateral withdrawal plan oppose it vociferously, but he predicted that, "while painful," the pullout would be "less horrible" than people might think. Yeshayah 62:1 - Israel News and Views - is at http://www.bermanlaw.com/weblogs/sma2 It is hosted by Stephen M. Asbel. He can be contacted at sma@bermanlaw.com |
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IN DEFENSE OF THE ORANGE STAR
Posted by Dafna Yee, December 29, 2004. |
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I am very pleased to be able to forward this heartfelt
article. (I took the liberty of correcting some spelling mistakes.)
And I am even more proud to call this Christian Zionist my friend even
though we've never met.
The article was written by David Potter and appeared today on Israel
Insider (http://web.israelinsider.com/Views/4677.htm).
As I touch on this sensitive subject, please know that I have given this matter considerable thought. Out of consideration for the survivors of a mad man's regime, I did not want to say anything stupid -- that would add to their pain. As a Gentile, I sometimes try to analyze what is going on in your country. Things that you take for granted are not always obvious to me. But since many of you seem confused yourselves, with half of you thinking one way, and half of you thinking another -- about this orange star -- perhaps you would appreciate an outside opinion. I think you should keep it. I do not believe that it is the star of David itself that half of you find objectionable, for this beautiful symbol is placed on your national flag. And it is a revered enough symbol, that it is placed on the uniforms of soldiers, when they have performed acts that are above and beyond the call of duty. So you do not object to it being worn by people. It could not be confused with the yellow star, that Jews were once forced to wear; unless of course, a person who is color blind is unable to tell the difference. So it is really not the orange star that half of you object to at all; but the symbolism it represents under these present circumstances. What is really being objected to, in my opinion, is the fact that large groups of people are wearing this star; to include women and little children. It is objectionable to half of you, because the circumstances in Gaza ACTUALLY DO remind you of the horrors of the past. NO - nothing these present day Jews are going through can ever be as horrible as the things that once happened -- only a moment ago as historical events go -- and in another country. But at the same time, they do have enough things in common, that the very mention of one is a reminder of the other. Names like "Judenrat" have been spoken, and comparisons have been made in various assorted articles on this website. And I have no doubt ... In countless other places in Israel as well. And yet it is NOT the same, because nothing will happen to these people that is as terrible as the things of years gone by. Even so ... It is important to remember that THESE people are victims as well; although victims of another sort. They are victims of a government that has lied to them for years; and told them that Gaza could be their home. Many of them received cash subsidies from this government, and were told that they could move in there, with the blessings of Israel. They were told they had a future there. NOW the rug has been yanked out from under them, and they are told their homes will be sacrificed for a peace process that will never happen; at least not in any of our lifetimes. Their homes and their livelihoods, the neighborhoods they grew up in, businesses they started; laughter and pain; blood, sweat, and tears -- are now being tossed in the trash can. And for what? Oslo Part 2. But it is only land, isn't it? Those who feel this way, would probably become angry and rankled, if the suggestion were made that the Jews should abandon Israel altogether. After all, Israel is not only land -- but the birthright and heritage of every Jew. The Jews have a rich cultural heritage there, and to abandon it would not only be unthinkable -- but a crime against your most deeply held beliefs. So why shouldn't the same apply to Gaza? And to the settlers in the West Bank? Or is it simply "convenient" to forget about these people for the moment, in the same manner that the world "forgets" about Israel itself, whenever it is convenient to do so? NO -- you shouldn't forget; because these are your brothers and sisters, your neighbors and friends; and not to mention your only real barrier against the Muslim hordes. And yet they are being sold out, under a corrupt government that has made a mockery of every legal and democratic process. These people are victims also, but of a different kind. They remind me in fact, of what my own government did to the American Indian. Similar in some ways -- but different. As I see it, the orange star of David is a protest. It is an act of defiance; and although it is similar to a symbol from days gone by, it is also very different. It is a message to a corrupt government, that is no less powerful than the students who once stood at Tiananmen Square. It is a message that says ... We will not go gently into the night ... NOR will we allow this government corruption to take away our heritage -- the heritage of all Jews -- the heritage of Greater Israel. I do not believe that these Jews meant for this orange star to be a cheap publicity stunt; nor do I believe that they meant to add pain to the survivors of the Holocaust. Instead ... I see this as the orange badge of courage. Each and every person who wears this star, knows that he or she can be arrested simply for taking this stand. They KNOW they are in defiance of a corrupt government, who would think nothing of letting the bullets fly, simply to carry out this disengagement plan. Think I'm exaggerating? Then why hasn't Sharon done anything about the mortar shells, that are constantly bombarding their settlements? Has he given these Palestinian terrorists his blessing? Maybe. Maybe not. But his lack of action against these bombardments, is clearly a green light for the terrorists to continue. The Israelis who are brave enough to wear the orange star democratically protest the government which has abandoned them, and stand up to the terrorists who wish to drive them out and kill them. I applaud their courage. Dafna Yee is director of Jewish Watch Dog (JWD); its website address is: http://jwd-jewishwatchdog.home.comcast.net |
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STOP THE DISCRIMINATION NOW AGAINST AMERICAN JEWS IN ISRAEL!
Posted by Ariel Natan Pasko, December 29, 2004. |
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The United States government is violating a group of US citizens' civil rights and it has to stop. They want to throw a whole ethnic group out of their homes, and restrict where they can or can't live. Sounds racist doesn't it? The White House, State Department and other agencies, right under the noses of us all, without a peep by us, are pursuing a deliberate policy of ethnic/religious "cleansing". They haven't started for real yet, but the plans are in the making. Who could possibly stand for this discriminatory behavior on the part of the American government against its own citizens in the year 2005? A class action suit demanding an injunction to stop these law-breaking plans needs to be filed in the courts. No, I'm not talking about African-Americans, Native Americans, Hispanics, Pacific Islanders or some small, exotic, unknown tribe from who knows where. I'm talking about a group estimated to encompass at least 8-30,000 people, whose members are known to all Americans. I'm talking about a group who's been persecuted and discriminated against throughout written history. It's a group who thought they found refuge in the US, and became good, law abiding citizens, only now to find themselves being treated differently than other American citizens. Their homes are in jeopardy, their livelihoods are threatened, and their way of life is under siege. We must demand that the US government cease and desist in this discriminatory behavior. We must demand that the government put an end to violating their civil rights and sue for redress in the courts. I'm talking about discrimination against American Jews, who once again are being told where they may or may not live, this time by the American government. In the darkest days of Czarist Russia, Jews were told where they couldn't live. They were restricted to the "Pale of Settlement", to the west of Moscow and Petersburg. Most European cities until modern times segregated Jews into "ghettos". Earlier in European history they were thrown out of county after country, in the most brutal way. Muslim society in North Africa and the Middle East was no better, introducing distinctive clothing (the equivalent of the Nazi's Yellow Star) by Islamic Dhimmi law, from the 7th century onward and restricting Jews to certain "quarters" of the city. And now in the 21st century, in the name of "Peace," Jews are being told that they will have to leave their homes or be forced out. Such a blatant violation of civil rights must be resisted by all Americans. Not to protect the Jews, but to protect themselves. There exists in American law the concept of the "Right of Eminent Domain". Simply put, if a governmental body, whether federal, state or local wanted to build a highway through an existing neighborhood, and people would need to be moved out of their homes to accomplish that public good, the government has the right to force people to relocate. Of course there would be zoning committee meetings, a judicial process of appeal, and ultimately if decided to proceed with the building, the payment of compensation. But if only the white people, or only the black people, or only the purple people were told they must move...well you get the idea. That's exactly what's taking place right now. It's not Puerto Ricans or Koreans being told, "You can't live there". It's not Women or Men being told, "You can't join our club". All civil rights violations I might add. But, only American Jews are being told - by the American government - that they will have to leave their communities, their homes, schools, business, and farms in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) and Gaza; American Arabs aren't being told that. That's a civil rights violation, pure and simple. You might say, that it will be the Israeli government that might expel people and not the American government, and that's partially true. But the American government with its involvement in the "Peace Process," through the Quartet (US, EU, UN and Russia), the Road Map, and it's support for the Sharon government's "disengagement" plan from Gaza and Northern Samaria, calling for the dismantling of "settlements" (i.e. Jewish cities, towns, and villages), and the transfer of Jews, including American Jews to another place, has been caught red handed, with its fingers in the cookie jar! The American CIA is being used to monitor the implementation of the "Road Map". There is a "Special Operations Committee," whose main purpose is to see that "settlement" activity is "frozen" and "outposts" are "evacuated," i.e. expel Jews, including American Jews from their homes. When the former US Secretary of State, Collin Powell spoke at an American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference last year and blankly stated, "Settlement activity is simply inconsistent with President Bush's two-state vision," quoting Bush's statement that, "as progress is made toward peace, settlement activity in the Occupied Territories must end," the American government was annunciating it's illegal and discriminatory policy, and they've continued ever since. Two different private "peace" initiatives have been circulating around as well... The first, the Nusseibeh-Ayalon document, called "the People Vote" is a petition that Israeli Adm. and former head of the General Security Service (Israel's F.B.I.) Ami Ayalon and Palestinian professor Sari Nusseibeh have circulated. It calls on Israel to give up all the territory the Arabs lost in the 1967 Middle East war and turn the land over to the Palestinians for a state. It assumes that all the Jewish "settlers" will be ethnically cleansed from "Palestine". When US Deputy Defense Secretary, Paul Wolfowitz, met with Ayalon and Nusseibeh, praising their efforts as, "a significant grass-roots movement," the American government was pursuing a policy that will lead to civil rights violations. Then there was Powell's meeting with former Israeli Justice Minister Yossi Beilin and former Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo, after their PR inspired "Geneva Accord" signing ceremony was held in Switzerland last year. The "Geneva Accord" also came up with a plan for a Palestinian state on nearly all of the West Bank and Gaza, with most Jewish "settlers" being uprooted. The then Secretary of State, Colin Powell, responded just before the signing ceremony held in Switzerland with an encouraging letter to Beilin and Rabbo. "Dear Yossi and Yasser," Powell wrote, "The US remains committed to the president's two-state vision and to the road map, but we also believe that projects such as yours are important in helping sustain an atmosphere of hope." And now, the American government is again encouraging a process that will impact negatively on Jewish American citizens. They are continuing to carry out such a discriminatory policy, with their support for Sharon's "Gaza Expulsion Plan". Bush and company aren't calling on Arab Americans living in Gaza to leave, only working to force American Jews out. American officials need to be careful not to be discriminatory in their behavior. You see, making plans, pursuing a policy, and calling for the expulsion of American Jews - and not - American Arabs or non-Jewish American citizens married to "Palestinian" Arabs from some area, whether its Hebron, Illinois, or Hebron on the West Bank, is a discriminatory policy, that violates the Jews' civil rights protections, and is patently illegal! You might try to tell me, that civil rights protections are for what goes on inside the United States only. Well think through this one. Two American citizens who are living overseas, in Paris, Tahiti, or where ever; go to their local American Consulate or Embassy, requesting IRS tax forms, to update their passport, to register a birth of a child, or any other standard service. They request the identical service. The white guy gets processed quickly without any problems. The black guy is hassled. He's told to come back tomorrow, and that he needs to bring other types of documentation, etc. He decides that he's being treated differently than the white guy. He feels he hasn't been given the same type of consular services because he's black. He screams racial discrimination, calls his stateside attorney, and sues the United States government for civil rights violations. How many of you don't think that he might get somewhere in court? Of course civil rights protections extend overseas. Of course American government agencies and their agents must follow American laws when dealing with American citizens overseas. Of course American government policy can't discriminate between different groups because of ethnic, racial, religious, or gender differences, overseas. All decent and fair-minded Americans must demand the US government stop pursuing this discriminatory policy. Write to your Congressman, Senator, the President, the media, and tell them so. The US State Department issues travel advisories for troubled areas, and it occasionally calls on its citizens to leave an area temporarily that it deems dangerous, but it never implements any policy to force American citizens to leave an area or country. Either it must call on all American citizens, Jew and non-Jew, to leave the "West Bank" and Gaza, but do nothing to encourage them to be forced out - i.e. using the CIA; or simply trash this discriminatory policy just like racial segregation was trashed stateside, in the 1950's and 60's. Jews have a right to live anywhere they want in America. We wouldn't accept anything less today. Not for Blacks, not for Hispanics, and not for Jews. Why accept such blatant segregation of Americans, just because they're Jews and not Arabs. "Palestinian" Americans aren't being told by the US government to leave, their communities aren't in danger, and their livelihoods aren't being threatened. The same equality of treatment should go for American Jews too. The US government is breaking its own laws, in violating the civil rights of some of its citizens, overseas. It must be stopped through the courts or the ballot box. Where will it happen next, Paris and Tahiti, or New York, Texas and California? Any ideas, suggestions, or offers to help work on this issue
can be directed to
Ariel Natan Pasko is an independent analyst and consultant. He has a Master's Degree in International Relations & Policy Analysis. His articles appear regularly on numerous news/views and think-tank websites, in newspapers, and can be read at: www.geocities.com/ariel_natan_pasko |
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COUPS AGAINST, AND HONORING ENEMIES OF, THE JEWISH NATION; SHARON'S INSECURITY
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, December 29, 2004. |
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COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS IN YESHIVA U. The Council on Foreign Relations has taken anti-Israel stands on the Territories and anti-Jewish stands on Jerusalem. Rich, appeasement-minded Jews who belong to, or collaborate with, the Council have been taking over the few independent-minded organs of the media. Council member Ronald Lauder has bought out Israel's religious weekly, "Makor Rishon," and the TV station, Techelet, and bid to control the religious daily, "HaTzofeh." (The "Jerusalem Post" is owned by a member of the Council. PM Sharon closed the independent, nationalist radio station, Arutz-7.) Now Yeshiva U., foremost trainer of Orthodox rabbis in the US, is setting up the Arthur Schneier Center for International Affairs. Inaugurating it, Richard Haas (one of "Baker's Jews," i.e., a Jew in the State Dept. who worked against Zionism), celebrated it as a center for promoting another Palestinian Arab state in the Jewish homeland. He also touted the Road Map for laying out Israel's retreat from secure and traditional borders. (Of course, he did not put it in those words.) Steven P. Cohen inaugurated a program at the Jewish Theological Seminary to produce "moderate" clergymen of the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim faiths. Mr. Cohen is complicit in the scandalous corporate fronts set up by Yossi Ginossar, who negotiated with the P.A. for Israel but had his own large investments in the hands of the P.A.. Mr. Cohen has spent his career promoting the peace process (Barry Chamish, 12/8, e-mail) which would fulfill early stages in the Arab plan for the conquest of Israel in phases. He was an advisor to the PLO. INSURGENCY DIRECTED FROM SYRIA Telephone traffic indicates that, with Syrian complicity, former Iraqi Baathist officials both finance and direct the Iraqi insurgency in Iraq traffic. Some US officers think they do not (IMRA, 12/8). P.A. OPPOSES FRENCH BAN ON HATE TV The P.A. objected to the French ban on the Islamist station that slanders the Jews. The programs were based on "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" (the fraudulent Czarist libel of the Jewish people that the Nazis utilized and the Arabs spread). The P.A. claimed not to find any hatred in it. ZOA suggests that the US finally recognize that the P.A. is, itself, a hate organization that is both anti-American and anti-Jewish. Instead, the US supports statehood for the P.A. (IMRA, 12/8). The French ban may be evaded by the use of satellite technology (IMRA, 12/9). "The Protocols" accuses the Jews of plotting everything evil. It is no Valentine card. POLITICS BY VOCABULARY PM Sharon's plan to forcibly transfer thousands of Israelis from Gaza and Samaria "has infuriated Israeli hard-liners." Some of the Jews to be expelled wore Star of David patches, a la Holocaust. Critics deemed that belittling to Holocaust survivors (NY Sun, 12/26, p.7, Associated Press). I find appropriate the analogy of forcible transfer of Jews in behalf of the Arabs, who are the ideological heirs of the Nazis. As for calling settlers "hard-liners," that plays politics by using pejorative terms for one's opponents. The Associated Press does that often. Is it hard-line to want to keep one's home in the cradle of one's civilization in an area set aside for Jewish settlement by the Mandate, rather than turn strategic territory, secure borders, and needed water, over to terrorists? No, but PM Sharon, who proposes to make the area Judenrein, is serving Israel's enemies. KEEP JOB, LOSE COUNTRY Oslo was forced upon Israel by leftist ideologues who thought it would bring peace, and woke up to terrorist war. (Some, such as Peres and Beilin, never woke up.) Its dangerous extension into the Sharon plan and Road map could be stopped by leaders of the Likud Party, such as Netanyahu, Livnat, and Yisrael Katz, among others. They temporize, however, because to openly oppose Sharon could cost them their jobs (IMRA, 12/9) by elections or being fired. To keep their jobs for a time, they risk losing their country for eternity. P.A. MODERATES ON THE MARCH Arafat's heirs, Nabil Shaath and the so-called moderates Quria and Abu Mazen, went to Damascus to pledge coordination with the terrorist head of state there. Then they called on the terrorist leaders in Damascus. Then they went to the internment camps and pledged themselves to securing unlimited immigration of these foreign-born Arabs to Israel. Although the Syrian government, to which these P.A. leaders pledged coordination, launches terrorism against the US in Iraq, the US pledged millions of dollars to the P.A. for elections, so those three can formally be declared the leaders of the P.A. (Madeline Glick, IMRA, 12/10). PM SHARON'S INSECURITY PLAN "Pro-Israel writers and policymakers in the US like Charles Krauthammer, William Safire and Abraham Sofaer have publicly lauded Sharon for his "strategic wisdom" and have castigated as extremists those who insist that the planned withdrawal will be devastating to Israel's national security. Sharon's minions in the government like Deputy PM Ehud Olmert have taken to threatening Israelis directly, arguing that if we oppose the withdrawal we will receive Yossi Beilin's delusional Geneva Initiative, which gives up the entire store to the PLO even, as the US National Security Council's point man on Israel, Elliott Abrams, reportedly told leading American Jewish leftists that the White House views all Israeli communities located to the east of the security fence as slated for destruction. (Not just the State Dept., but the White House.) In an opinion column in Thursday's Wall Street Journal, Sofaer, who as legal adviser to the State Department during the Reagan administration arguably did more than anyone to prevent international law from being used as a whip to prevent nations from fighting international terrorism, argued that Sharon's withdrawal plan is the only option. Sofaer allows that "the Palestinians are far from ready to negotiate." The advantage of Sharon's plan therefore, is that it gets Israel out of an "untenable" position in Gaza. Sofaer compares the withdrawal from Gaza to Israel's May 2000 withdrawal from Lebanon, arguing, "Today, the Lebanese-Israeli border is more secure than during occupation." This is the sort of sophistry that friends of Israel like Sofaer would almost certainly never have entertained before Sharon adopted the plan. The fact of the matter is that today, Hizbullah forces in south Lebanon (point 13,000 missiles at Israel and) constitute a strategic threat to Israel. Just this week the army reported that Hizbullah is developing unconventional weapons. Last week the IDF deployed a battery of Patriot missiles to Haifa to prevent Hizbullah drones, which can be armed with chemical and biological weapons, from infiltrating Israel - again. Hizbullah's transformation from a tactical challenge to a strategic threat has advanced unfettered over the past four years because the IDF left Lebanon and stopped fighting Hizbullah. The fact that since the withdrawal of IDF forces from Lebanon no soldiers have been killed in Lebanon is a tautology, not proof that the move was wise. (Hizbula fires on Israel.) Aside from that, the IDF also reported this week that the majority of Palestinian terror cells in Judea and Samaria that executed successful terror attacks in 2004 have been affiliated with Hizbullah. And so we disengaged from them in Lebanon only to fight them in Israel (Op. Cit.). Supporter of the Sharon Plan have not justified it logically and factually. They just make unsupported and unsupportable generalized claims for it. Richard Shulman is a veteran defender of Israel on several web-based forums. His comments and analyses appear often on Think-Israel. He provides cool information and right-on-target overviews. He distributes his essays by email. To subscribe, write him at ricshulman@aol.com. |
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ONE-SIDED NON-VIOLENCE
Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, December 29, 2004. |
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The brutality with which Sharon's goons attacked the residents of the Jewish town of Sa-Nur is what any peaceful, non-violent demonstrators can expect from the enforcers of a dictatorship. Those who do not hesitate to use brutality and murder to accomplish their goals are not impressed by non-violence. This is a news item from Arutz Sheva (IsraelNationalNews.com) entitled "Violent Response to Civil Disobedience in Shomron." It is archived at http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=74373 Expel Sharon, not Jews! Police and soldiers responded violently Tuesday to sit-ins in the Shomron that prevented a busload of Disengagement Authority and army officials from making their way to the threatened communities. The government, army and Disengagement Authority are presumably studying yesterday's events in northern Shomron, asking themselves a simple question: If a busload of officials is delayed two hours by a few dozen people on its way to survey an area, what can be expected if and when the actual expulsion is attempted? Kedumim Mayor Daniella Weiss, one of three women arrested for several hours in yesterday's incident, discussed it afterwards on Arutz-7's evening newsmagazine. "When I saw the youngsters of Sa-Nur, fourth-generation in the Shomron, grasping so strongly onto the Land of Israel, I said to myself, 'There won't be an expulsion.'" Sa-Nur is one of the four Shomron communities - and 21 Jewish communities in Gaza - slated by Prime Minister Sharon for demolition this summer, in the framework of his "disengagement" plan. Opponents refer to it as expulsion, transfer and abandonment of the Land of Israel to the enemy. Weiss said that when she heard that a busload of 50 Disengagement Authority officials, army officers and infrastructures, electric, telephony and other personnel were on their way to survey the Shomron areas in question, "a group of citizens immediately got together and blocked the road near Shavei Shomron. The bus was unable to pass for two hours, until large IDF and police forces arrived on the scene." The mayor related that the police forcibly dragged the protestors away: "I and two other women lied down on the road. At first, against instructions, there were no women policemen, and we were dragged away by men. They behaved brutally." Video footage of a woman being dragged off while holding onto her nine-month old baby was shown on Israeli television. Two hours after the blockage began, the bus finally made its way to the community of Homesh, whose residents refused to speak with the "guests." At Sa-Nur, the situation was more volatile. "The gate was closed," Weiss said, "and could not be opened [because of an electricity black-out arranged by the citizens for the occasion - ed.]. The army broke down the gate, and the police and soldiers acted violently towards the citizens who continued to try to block the bus from coming in. They tore clothes, and hit people... People were crying and yelling... While all this was going on, the delegation finally came in and started walking around." The 500 residents of the four threatened Samaria communities are sometimes overlooked by the planned expulsion of nearly 8,000 residents in Gush Katif - but they are at least as determined to stop the "disengagement." The abandonment of their towns would leave practically the entire northern Shomron in Arab hands, leaving areas such as Netanya, Hadera, Afula and others under the same military threats they faced in the 1950s and 60s, before the Six Day War. The residents of the Shomron say they won't let it happen. One woman of Sa-Nur told Arutz-7 today, "This is war. They want to bring total destruction upon us, and we will fight back. They said they won't bring weapons, but they'll bring bulldozers. If they hit, we'll hit back. If they bring bulldozers, we'll sabotage them. We'll do whatever we have to." Mayor Weiss, who was released by police yesterday after three hours, said, "The entire system has lost its bearings. All the army and security officers know that pragmatically, leaving Gush Katif and northern Shomron is a mortar danger to the residents of southern Israel and the northern coastal areas. With such a danger on its way, you don't wait for the wave to overtake you - because then it will obviously be too late. We have to stop it now. Therefore, when people come just to 'check the area,' they are preparing the expulsion, and we won't let this occur." Photos of the clash in Sa-Nur can be seen at http://www.israelnn.com/images/news/Sa-Nur/Sa-Nur1.htm Aryeh Zelasko lives in Beitar Illit, south of Jerusalem. He is Director of Sales and Marketing of Israel Visit (www.israelvisit.co.il) which provides information and an internet buying facility for American visitors to Israel. |
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AULD LAND ZION 2005
Posted by Steven Plaut, December 29, 2004. |
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1. Subject: Auld Lang Zion 2005 (Haifa, Israel) Should auld accomplice be forgot,
For betraying auld lang Zion, my dear,
We yids hae run aboot the world,
Save auld lang Zion, my dear,
2. REVIEW & OUTLOOK "A Great Natural Disaster"
The world's thoughts are with the victims of the tsunamis that swept across South Asia Sunday, killing at least 23,000 and leaving millions homeless. In the coming weeks and months, the priority must be to render the survivors every possible assistance. The response so far has been admirably swift. One might think that a disaster of this scale would transcend normal national or political considerations. But in the world of environmental zealotry, even an event such as this is seen as an opportunity to press the agenda. Thus, the source of the South Asian tsunami is being located in global warming. In an interview with the Independent newspaper in Britain, Stephen Tindale, executive director of Greenpeace UK, said: "No one can ignore the relentless increase in extreme weather events and so-called natural disasters, which in reality are no more natural than a plastic Christmas tree." Speaking to the same newspaper, Friends of the Earth Director Tony Juniper pressed the argument home: "Here again are yet more events in the real world that are consistent with climate change predictions." It is perhaps appropriate that the strongest, recent refutation to such feverish assertions may be found in Michael Crichton's new thriller--also about environmental extremists, a tsunami and the myths of global warming. People prone to hysteria often become further unhinged in the face of a great disaster, and that may explain these remarkable comments on the tsunami disaster. Still, these comments by the movement's leadership may serve as a case study of how such imaginings work their way into public discussion of the environment. That is all the more reason to come to grips with the real causes of calamities such as this. Geologists say that groups of giant earthquakes hit Sumatra every 230 years or so. The last quakes there were in 1797 and 1833--and surely not even Greenpeace would blame those on greenhouse gases--and so Sunday's latest quake was more or less on schedule. It is preposterous to blame the inexorable forces of nature on the development of industry and infrastructures of modern society. The more sensible response to natural disasters is to improve forecasting, put in place efficient communications and evacuation procedures and, should the worst arrive, conduct relief efforts and rebuild what nature has destroyed. Those cautionary measures, as is now clear, cost money. The national income necessary to afford them is made possible only by economic growth of the sort too many of environmentalists retard with their policy extremism. Rich countries suffer fewer fatalities from natural disasters because their prosperity has allowed them to create better protective measures. Consider the 41,000 death toll in last December's earthquake in Iran compared with the 63 who died when a slightly stronger earthquake hit San Francisco in 1989. The principal victims of the tidal waves in Sri Lanka and elsewhere Sunday were the poor people living in coastal shanty towns. The wealthier countries around the Pacific Rim have an established early-warning system against tsunamis, while none currently exists in South Asia. Developing countries that have resisted the Kyoto climate-change protocols have done so from fear that it will suppress their economic growth. These countries deserve an answer from the proponents of those standards. How are they supposed to pay for such protection amid measures that are suppressing global economic growth? As we mourn the loss of life and unite to help the survivors rebuild their lives and communities, let's also bear in mind that the best long-term help is an economic environment that allows these nations to put in place better manmade defenses against future depredations from nature. Copyright 2004 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 3. "A Palestinian Academic. Will be be offered a job at Ben Gurion"
University?
Introduction: Much media attention has been given in recent weeks to a reported "drop" in PA incitement. Unfortunately, while there have been some changes in PA TV, the same hate messages continue to be espoused -- just by different speakers. For example, world attention has brought pressure on the PA to change the content of the Friday sermons, in which religious leaders have repeatedly called for the genocide of Jews. The PA has not eliminated the message, however, but has merely transferred it to another framework. For years, the PA religious establishment has repeatedly portrayed the killing of Jews as a religious necessity. Today, PA TV chose to rebroadcast this same call to genocide as a historical necessity -- this time from a senior PA academic rather than from a religious leader. Dr. Hassan Khater, founder of the Al Quds Encyclopedia and a TV lecturer, cited the identical Hadith - Islamic tradition attributed to Mohammed - that the religious leaders have used to demand this genocide. This was part of a lecture focusing on what he described as the war of the Jews against Palestinian trees. These were his words quoting the Hadith: "Mohammed said in his Hadith: 'The Hour [Day of Resurrection] will not arrive until you fight the Jews, [until a Jew will hide behind a rock or tree] and the rock and the tree will say: Oh Muslim, servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him!'" PA TV Dec. 27, 2004 [Rebroadcast from July 13, 2003] The continued teaching that this Hadith applies today could well be a dominant factor driving terror against Israeli civilians. By depicting redemption as dependent on Muslims' killing of Jews, the PA world view presents this genocide as a religious obligation and historical necessity -- not related to the conflict over borders, but as something inherent to Allah's world. To view today's call to genocide click here: To hear this call to genocide expressed earlier in the year by a religious leader click here: Sheik Ibrahim Madiras Friday sermon, PA TV Sept. 10, 2004: "The Prophet said: the Resurrection will not take place until the Muslims fight the Jews, and the Muslims kill them. The Muslims will kill the Jews, rejoice [in it], rejoice in Allah's Victory. The Muslims will kill the Jews, and he will hide. The Prophet said: the Jews will hide behind the rock and tree, and the rock and tree will say: oh servant of Allah, oh Muslim this is a Jew behind me, come and kill him!. Why is there this malice? Because there are none who love the Jews on the face of the earth: not man, not rock, and not tree everything hates them. They destroy everything they destroy the trees and destroy the houses. Everything wants vengeance on the Jews, on these pigs on the face of the earth, and the day of our victory, Allah willing, will come." 4. Web site of those who left Islam: http://www.faithfreedom.org/index.htm 5. I have posted several things related to the new Israeli watchdog group "Israel Academia Moinitor" at www.israel-academia-monitor.com which keeps tabs on tenured traitors in Israeli academia and exposes the academic radicals. They need your help! Please go to the web site and contribute to them what you can and get others to do the same. They are operating on a shoestring and we need to help keep them afloat. The work they are doing is invaluable! Please help out! If you know anyone with deeper pockets who wants to help Israel, let them know that THIS is the best way to do so! Thanks. 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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EURABIA
Posted by Time to Speak, December 29, 2004. |
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The word "Eurabia" is a recent coinage, a name for the political-economic-cultural entity lately formed by the merger of Europe and the Arab world. That entity was so dubbed by the historian Bat Ye'or, who discovered and revealed and explicated the existence of Eurabia. "Bat Ye'or" is Hebrew for "Daughter of the Nile". It is the pen-name of a scholar who comes from a Jewish family long rooted in Egypt, was among the Jews expelled en masse from Egypt in 1955, and has since lived in Europe. Her books on "dhimmitude" cast light on a subject theretofore little noted or understood: That is, the plight and depressed status of the "dhimmi" -- the non-Muslim living under the rule of Muslims. [See Issue No. 20] Now, her articles, lectures, and forthcoming book Eurabia: The Euro-Arab Axis cast light on a radical and drastic shift of national identities. [See also Issue No. 36] The European Union [EU] began around 1950 as the European Community, then primarily an economic partnership and free-trade zone composed of Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands,. It now has twenty-five members, with additional memberships pending, and is developing into a super-state, whose unelected and non-accountable commissioners regulate more and more aspects of national and even personal life. (Under EU law, all bananas must have the same angle of curvature. Under EU law, a grocer in Great Britain was prosecuted and convicted of the crime of letting his customers weigh fruits and vegetables in ounces and pounds instead of grams and kilos.) The member states surrendered independence and liberty to the EU, and the EU collectively surrendered to the dictates of Islamism. That is: Europe has adopted voluntary dhimmitude. It has bound itself to be the henchman of the mortal foes of Israel and of the United States. It is crucial that both Israel and the United States understand this, and understand that any involvement of Europe in their own affairs and policies can be nothing but pernicious. The EU has long expended what zeal it can still muster on hostility toward Israel. Europe's anti-Israel posture is not caused by anything Israel does or refrains from doing, and so Israel cannot by any means affect or modify that posture. Europe is not misled by lies about Israel. Europe actively invents and disseminates such lies. It sets its demands for "peace" in the Middle East not because it does not understand the terms are lethal to Israel, but because it understands that very well. On the surface, this hostility is a continuation of Europe's millennia-long Judeophobia, aggravated by vexation that Israel thrives with creative energy, while a moribund Europe decays. It is now revealed that below the surface this hostility comes not merely from inclination but from formal political requirements: That Europe must work toward the destruction of Israel is one of the terms of the contract by which it joined Eurabia. There is a question-and-answer outline of the construction and character of Eurabia, and its invention of Palestine in "Eurabia, Eurabia", an interview with Bat Ye'or, FrontPageMagazine.com, 21 September, 2004: "FrontPage: First things first, can you explain the term "Eurabia" to our readers? The role of the EU in promoting jihad against Israel is further explicated in "Europeans Are Adopting the Arab Viewpoint -- And Not By Accident", by Bat Ye'or, FrontPageMag, 27 July 2004: "Last Tuesday, the 25 nations of the European Union (EU) voted unanimously to support a United Nations Resolution condemning Israel's defensive fence (ignoring that this barrier was constructed to keep jihadist murderers from entering the nation via Judea and Samaria). The EU's craven, morally bankrupt stance was sadly consistent with Eurabian policies evident now for three decades. [...] Bat Ye'or's work provokes campaigns to silence her or drown her out. From "Deadly Dangerous", by David Frum, National Review, 23 December 2002: "... criticism -- even strident and unjust criticism -- is something that most organized religions in our democratic society have learned to tolerate. Most -- but not all. Compare two recent cases, one famous, one not. Harvard professor Daniel Goldhagen [in his book A Moral Reckoning] argues that the Roman Catholic Church -- not just the Pope, but the entire hierarchy and the ancient doctrines -- should be regarded as complicit in the century's greatest crime. Strong stuff, and it has been strongly resented by many Catholics. Yet so far as I know, no Catholic has tried to kill Goldhagen -- the very idea would be ridiculous. When he lectures at universities, nobody shouts him down. Nobody tries to intimidate his publishers into discontinuing his work. Bat Ye'or's own comments are quoted in "Bat Ye'or on Jihad and Dhimmitude", by Rod Dreher, National Review Online, 25 October 2004: "[...] In Bat Ye'or's view, universities and naive Jewish and Christian religious leaders are carrying water for Islamists, as is the political Left ('The leftists were educated with hate of America and rejection of Judeo-Christian values', she said, and this perversely leads them to view Islamofascism uncritically). 'We have to understand the cultural war we're in," Bat Ye'or said. "The war is not only a terrorist war, but a cultural war on our values and on our integrity'. : The embrace of dhimmitude in Europe is cited in "The Islamization of Europe?" by David Pryce-Jones, Commentary Magazine, December 2004: "[...] European countries in the postwar period seemed largely to have lost the will to respond to aggressive challenges from without, ... In the meantime, though, a battle of a different but no less decisive kind has been taking place within Europe, where some 20 million Muslims have settled. Thanks to their high birthrate and to the sub-replacement birthrate that has become the norm among other Europeans, the demographic facts alone suggest a continent ripe for a determined effort to advance the Islamist agenda. His Excellency the Honorable Monsieur Gerard Araud is Ambassador of the French Republic to Israel. He thus represents a state whose President Chirac describes Israel as "a parenthesis in history". Araud recently went on Israel Radio to complain that France is unfairly criticized by Israel even though "anti-Semitism in France is no different from that in other countries in Europe" Furthermore, a popular Israeli comedian makes fun of the French. His Excellency gave as his professional diagnosis: "There is a sort
of anti-French neurosis in this country ... I think there is a
neurosis that causes anti-Frenchism."
This is "A Tme to Speak -- Messages About Israel", Vol. IV:12 (No.
47) (December 2004 - Heshvan-Kislev 5765)
"A Time To Speak" appears once a month, and each issue is on a theme
that relates to Israel and the Middle East past and present, including
history, background, current events, analysis and comment. All issues
appear on its website: http://www.israel.net/timetospeak. A
complimentary subscription to the e-mail edition is available by
request to: speak@actcom.co.il.
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GAZA IS PART OF ISRAEL - BOOK OF JOSHUA
Posted by David Frankenthal, December 29, 2004. |
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Know your T'nach - "The lot for the tribe of the Children of Judah... Gaza, its towns and its villages" Joshua (15:1;15:47). Gaza is part of Israel. from Join the Boycott http://www.geocities.com/truthmasters/jointheboycott.htm David Frankenthal is with Join the Boycott. |
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HUMAN RIGHTS: WATCHING THE WATCHERS
Posted by Gerald M. Steinberg, December 29, 2004. |
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In October 2004, Kenneth Roth, the head of Human Rights Watch, flew from New York to Jerusalem for a day to publicize a 135-page report entitled Razing Rafah - a scathing condemnation of the Israeli government's policies along the border between Gaza and Egypt. Roth's claims were immediately repeated on wire services, television and radio news broadcasts, and in newspaper stories around the world. The tragedy is that the credibility of HRW and the human rights movement is being undermined. And without credibility, the activities of HRW, Amnesty International, and Oxfam have no impact in a complex debate taking place in Israel. The issue is how to balance the core human right - the right to life in the face of a terrorist onslaught - with the rights of noncombatant Palestinians. But this is not a problem that concerns HRW. It has long departed from its origins as Helsinki Watch with its campaigns for freedom in the former Soviet Union on behalf of Prisoners of Zion such as Anatoly Sharansky. As the Cold War ended, officials, including Roth and activists Joe Stork and Sarah Leah Whitson, adopted a new agenda, exploiting the rhetoric of universal human rights to promote narrow political and ideological preferences. In this framework, human rights are filtered through the subjective distinction between "victims" - say Palestinians or Irish Republicans - and "colonialist oppressors" - Zionists, Irish Unionists, and Americans. As a result, in the past four years, despite terror attacks that clearly violate any common-sense concept of basic human rights, HRW's reports and press releases have focused - by a ratio of over six to one - on allegations against Israel. Roth has claimed a "two-to-one" ratio - which, even if true, would be morally unjustified. Reflecting the lack of a political agenda in Africa, HRW issued far fewer reports these past four years on the mass killing in the Sudan than on the Arab-Israel conflict. Roth says he "does not do comparisons" of this sort. BY FOLLOWING this political path Roth became a major public figure and commentator. HRW has evolved into a superpower with an annual budget of over $20 million and a staff of over 200. In September 2001, HRW emerged as a key player during the nongovernmental organization sessions of the infamous Durban anti-racism conference, which were hijacked to demonize Israel. Anne Bayefsy and other witnesses have described how HRW officials refused to act when members of the Jewish caucus were evicted. And three years later, HRW joined the movement to boycott Israel - another step in the "South Africa strategy." In contrast, the murder of over 1,000 Israelis did not lead Roth and HRW to call for corporate sanctions against the Palestinian leadership. To avoid serious debate and criticism of these dubious practices, Roth chooses his platforms carefully, steering clear of confrontations with well-informed critics able to refute his claims. Although Roth told Natan Sharansky that he was too busy to participate in the Global Forum on Anti-Semitism, he had time for friendly journalists at the American Colony Hotel - an unofficial Palestinian press center - a few days earlier. And in the interview with the Post, Roth emphasized how he "grew up on his father's stories of life in Nazi Germany until he fled in summer 1938" - his standard response when confronted with the evidence of anti-Israel political bias. But such assertions do not address the substance or the evidence. And many of Roth's other claims, such as the statement that "out of our staff of 200 people we have one researcher on Israel/Palestine" are less than half-truths. These incidents demonstrate the continued impact of the human rights halo effect, which protects Roth from serious investigation. Like other powerful organizations, HRW and its leaders should be subject to a system of checks and balances to ensure that the claimed objectives - moral and otherwise - are consistent with the choice of issues, the presentation of evidence, and the hiring process. Governments at all levels include independent comptrollers, and news organizations have ombudsmen, but prior to the establishment of NGO Monitor in the wake of the Durban conference no such mechanism existed to watch the watchers in the realm of human rights. NGO Monitor's analyses provide a foundation for assessing the credibility of NGOs active in the Israeli-Palestinian and other political conflicts, but its scope is still limited. This work needs to be supplemented by parallel activities run by the NGO network itself. By dedicating a portion of funds to a system of independent controls, and by demanding transparency and accountability, philanthropies and individual donors to groups such as HRW can begin to restore lost credibility. Perhaps in this way the lost moral force of the human rights movement, reflecting exploitation of universal principles in support of private political biases, can also be repaired. The writer is editor of NGO Monitor and director of the Program on Conflict Management at Bar-Ilan University. This appeared in the Jerusalem Post and it is archived at http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/ JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1104291016560&p=1006953079865 |
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THE ANGST OF APATHY
Posted by Moshe Dann, December 28, 2004. |
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This should have been a 'summer of discontent' in Israel. Palestinian terrorists continue to blow up buses, although they are less successful; missiles from Gaza are near-missing homes and schools in Israeli border towns; Gaza is in a controlled state of "anarchy;" even Hizbullah is hitting us from Lebanon. But things have changed. The army has finally demonstrated conclusively that there is a military solution to terrorism. Defensive barriers and checkpoints do prevent terrorists from walking and driving into Israel unimpeded. Drive-by shootings, a common occurrence only a few years ago are no more. Amidst all of this life goes on as if normal. Tourists are back; stores and cafes are open and often packed; it's safe again to gather in more than small groups in Jerusalem; hotels are overbooked. But hold the euphoria. Despite all that Israel has accomplished in its war against Palestinian terrorism, the government is about to rekindle those flames by walking away from the Gaza Strip, destroying two dozen Jewish communities there, and condemning both Israelis and Palestinians to a new reign of terror. It's called "disengagement," or "unilateral withdrawal." It means RETREAT. And Gaza is only the beginning. Over the next few years (or less), according to Ehud Olmert, PM Sharon's deputy minister, the government plans to abandon most of Yehuda and Shomron and allow a terrorist-based Palestinian state to emerge. If nothing else, this will encourage Arafat and his gang of terrorists. If something might be gained from this policy of defeatism, one might learn to live with and even accept it. But no one, not even its staunchest adherents believe that terrorism will diminish (let alone end) or that Israeli security will be strengthened. 'Israel is morally obliged to withdraw,' they argue, from the Prime Minister on down, including his bitterest rivals. "Israel cannot occupy another people against its will. That is immoral." One would expect some organized opposition. Except for the Jews of Gush Katif in Gaza, there is practically none. The 'hilltop youth' (mostly in the Shomron) see themselves as a first line of defense against attempts to destroy existing more well-established Jewish communities. The media overwhelming supports the government, an anomaly in democratic societies where the media is usually critical and provides a balance. The Supreme Court, also a potential balance, is even more extreme to the Left than the government. Israeli think tanks also support the government or are silent on the issue. The result is a sense of political paralysis and apathy from the majority of Israelis who support settlements and who disagree with government policies. Their voice could only be heard in an election or referendum - which the government refuses to hold. Even a simple examination and approval by the Knesset is absent. Perhaps, in a strange way, this is the effect of a 'post-traumatic-stress syndrome' when people feel so weary that they will accept anything, when they are so weakened by years of terrorism, vilification and condemnation by the world that they believe the myths and lies of their enemies, when they will accept any small short term respite from the pain and believe that is enough. If there is any hope, it will come from those who see themselves as outside of, not part of the system, who are willing to rebel against conventional thinking and not succumb to the mind-numbing advice of 'experts.' Sharon's mobilization of every institution under his control to stifle critical debate, including the police, army, media and intelligence units has created the greatest threat to Israeli democracy since Yitzhak Rabin hijacked the country with the Oslo Accords. The government presents a monolithic superstructure that seems unstoppable and invincible. Almost. Throughout Judea and Samaria (the 'West Bank') small groups of idealistic young families have taken over empty hilltops which are adjacent to well-established communities. Moshe Dann is a writer and journalist living in Jerusalem. He can be reached at moshedan@netvision.net.il |
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BENNI HINN PUTS ALL US 'CLEVER' JEWS TO SHAME
Posted by IsrAlert, December 28, 2004. |
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Hinn is a Christian evangalist who travels the world 'saving' people by getting them to accept Jesus as their personal saviour and lord. Every week he is seen on hundreds of TV stations from India to Peru, Greenland to New Zealand, by hundreds of millions. His personal 'crusades' are attended by unbelievably huge crowds wherever he preaches. If you watch you will see him 'touch' someone on the forehead, someone supposedly crippled, lame, or sick. They immediately swoon and fall backwards into the waiting arms of attendants who look like ex-footballplayer giants! These swooners are then are shlepped to their feet and miraculasly become 'cured', proceeding to walk (for the first time in years we are told), or dance, wave their arms and sing 'Halaloojahs' all over the stage. No one bothers to follow up with these people six weeks after the big performance to see are they real, were they ever really crippled, are they still healed or back in a wheelchair. I have my doubts, but to look at the faces in Hinn's audience, they have no doubt they are witnessing to a miracle direct from God, performed right in front of their adoring eyes. They cry, they shout, they wave their arms above their heads in ecstacy. They pray, they sing. It is something to see. An incredible display of what - mob hysteria? Mob hypnotism? Herd mentality? What? Why do I say Benni Hinn (and hundreds of others like him) are putting all us clever Jews to shame? In the first place, do you realize where the Jews would be today if we had deened to proselytize? That's a fancy word for 'marketing', selling your product. In this case we'd be extolling the benefits of our religion, culture, and history. We never did that. Not only did we keep our light well hidden under a basket, we actually make it terribly difficult for someone to convert to Judaiism. Our brilliant Rabbis actually discouraged most would-be converts and continue to do this today. And those they can't turn away immediately, they put through the ringer for up to several years, before they will bestow the great honor of taking on all our grief and world hatred! Had we been as smart as Saul, an early Jewish marketing genius, later called Paul, who then became Saint Paul... had we been half as clever and went out to the heathens and gentiles to explain our religion, how we brought the no-idols-one-God principle to mankind, and all the 'benefits' of becoming Jews... my God, we might today have become a worldwide powerhouse of hundreds of millions! I doubt Hitler would have started up with us, nor would Muslims be trying to destroy us, if we were that strong. Instead, we are a tiny group, always on the verge of extinction, always being picked on and blamed for all ills in the world. And constantly, day and night, being harangued, seduced, and pressured into becoming Christians, or worse, Muslims! That brings me back to Benni Hinn. I watched his incredible 'show' on TV. Take one guess where this crusade was being performed. Right. Jerusalem!! JERUSALEM fer crimminy sakes! Jerusalem, the eternal capital of our people. Jerusalem, towards which every praying Jew turns his eyes three times daily from every corner of the globe. Jerusalem, that's where this Christian missionary, this Evangelical salesman supreme, that's where he was addressing a throng of thousands, promising them eternal life in heaven (sorry, no 72 dark eyed virgins for you guys), that all their sins will be eaten by Jesus, and they'll end up with the pure heart of a new-born child - no matter what sins they committed - including murder, rape, pedophilia - nothing is too vicious to be forgiven!! A helluva great deal if you ask me, and when he throws in dozens of healing miracles right in front of their faces - well his spiel is irresistable, and hundreds upon hundreds with hunger in their eyes, line up to 'accept' Jesus (I often wonder what this gentle Jew Jesus must be thinking when he views such shenanigans from his grave!) Hinn is clever. He never says directly to the Jews that he came to Jerusalem to get them to abandon their religion. He knows he is being watched by our ever-vigilant ultra-religious Jewish 'protectors', and by government people. Nevertheless, he speaks fervently of the new day coming, when all will be light and love in the universe, and how it almost upon us (he knows this. God has told him directly) ... it will all happen just as soon as 'ol Israel finally accepts its true destiny and show the correct 'way' to the world! Well, folks, our sages of old really muffed it. They were arrogant, stiff-necked, analy retentave religion-wise. They wanted to believe they were exclusive with God, that they were special, supreme, and yes, chosen. And like all the non-Jews who kept us from joining their exclusive golf clubs in Beverly Hills, USA, our sages decided to strike first and keep out the rabble from the exclusive Club of Jews. We have been paying the price for this short-sightedness ever since. But it's not too late to change this policy. The Haredi, or ultra-religious amongst us (a small minority) will never accept this, however, if the Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist branches, which represent maybe 80% of world Jewry, if they get together and make this a common goal, we can begin to turn things around. We can conduct our own worldwide crusades, maybe call 'em Jewsades, or Jewcrusades, or Return-to-Your-Roots Crusades, but sure as God make little green apples, we can bring thousands into our ancient fold. An influx of new blood will strenghten our educational systems, increase our representation in governments, and open more opportunities for our kids and their kids. Everyone loves being a part of something dynamic, something that grows and attracts more adherents. For pity's sake Scientology, a totally discredited mumbo-jumbo pseudo religion is growing much faster than Judaism! One thing for sure, the Arab and Muslim world will have to rethink their fantasy about destroying Israel and the Jews! Hell's bells, many of them may even decide to join us, especially their abused and brutalized women! Tis a fact, every Irish mother knows that Jewish men make the best husbands! Harv Weiner, a businessman in Dallas, Texas, is the founder and moderator of Isralert. To subscribe to IsrAlert, send an email to isralert@aol.com |
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WHERE WOULD YOU PUT YOUR MONEY?
Posted by David Frankfurter, December 28, 2004. |
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Dear Friends, The international press reflects optimism for a brighter future for the Palestinian Arabs. A return to democracy, with the first local municipal elections for almost three decades and upcoming presidential elections - with electioneering in both polls focusing on corruption and governance - augers well for the implementation of the reforms necessary to satisfy donors that taxpayer money will be more effectively and honestly utilised than in the past. It is far from clear sailing, though. Current PA Chairman and election front-runner Mahmoud Abbas (a.k.a. Abu Mazen) has "welcomed" Tony Blair's proposed international conference, intended to give donor countries the level of comfort needed to continue their funding of the Palestinian Arabs and promotion of the Roadmap to peace. Al-Jazeera (1) reports, however, that Abbas' Prime-Ministerial consort is "taken aback: by his leader's support for the conference. Ahmad Querei (a.k.a. Abu Ala) sponsors the view that such meetings are an interference in internal Palestinian Arab affairs, and takes umbrage at what he regards as arrogant British suggestions that the Palestinians need "grooming" in the peace process. Certainly there is more than a suspicion that current Palestinian reforms toward peace are a sham, with Palestinian Media Watch (2) reporting that promotion of the culture of hate on Palestinian Authority controlled TV only met the letter of European demands. The weekly Friday sermon dropped its exhortations to violence against Jews and Israel. In fact, the messages were simply "transferred", almost word for word, to a segment by TV lecturer Dr. Hassan Khater, founder of the Al Quds Encyclopedia. With a man-made crises in the Sudan and natural disasters in the Far East far eclipsing poverty in the West Bank and Gaza, the Palestinians may need to think hard and fast about what they are willing to do in order to keep the flow of humanitarian aid in their direction. International aid money is a finite resource, and decision makers will have to assess where to direct their aid. Will long-term benefit accrue from continuing to finance a society governed by thieves who have deliberately mismanaged billions in international aid over the last decade, using violence and poverty for the masses as a strategy? Or will aid to decent regimes with a history of dedication to creating self-sustaining democracies but currently facing temporary crises, such as India, Thailand and others be more effective? (1.) http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/D6D9EEAE-ECC2-4C34-84C1-21204CCFEC4F.htm
To subscribe to Frankfurter's 'letter from Israel', email him at david.frankfurter@iname.com. Or go to http://www.livejournal.com/users/dfrankfurter/ |
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TSUNAMI CHABAD THAILAND RELIEF EFFORT
Posted by J. Cohen, December 28, 2004. |
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Chabad of Thailand
Dear Chaverim, I write to you in the midst of the mounting humanitarian disaster effecting Southeast Asia. As the only Jewish service agency in the country dealing with this catastrophe, our offices and staff in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Ko Samui have put everything else aside, working 24/7 to assist those in need and comfort. I therefore turn to my colleagues for urgent help in funding our humanitarian efforts during the crisis.
Chabad of Thailand's response to the crisis was immediate and is growing daily.
Please note that the Israeli Consul in Thailand, Yakov Dvir, asked for our help in locating hundreds of Israelis who are stranded in the ravaged seaside towns of Thailand which we are doing to the best of our abilities. Israel's Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom has acknowledged the help we are providing to the Israeli Foreign Ministry. As the initial efforts of search and rescue wind down over the next week, the grim work of identifying bodies and counseling bereaved families will unfortunately keep the Chabad staff fully occupied for the foreseeable future. We are also expecting the stream of survivors of this natural disaster appearing at our doors in Bangkok to increase, placing the burden on us to clothe, feed and accommodate them as they slowly try to make their way home. The initial estimate of expenses incurred to our organization as a result of this Tsunami already runs into tens of thousands of dollars for food, clothing, shelter, medical expenses and transportation to and from the disaster zones.It seems very possible that hospital expenses as well as transportation of bodies for burial may also become a significant expense as the situation unfolds. Please contact us at (24 hour phone number for emergencies) (661) 837 7618 Or email rabbi@jewishthailand.com Thanks in advance for your assistance in this most important Mitzva Rabbi Yosef Chaim Kantor
To help us in our humanitarian mission of Ahavat Yisrael and
Tzedaka in the aftermath of the Tsunami please send checks to Chabad
of Thailand 96 Thanon Rambuttri, Bangkok Thailand 10200 (For US tax
deductibility please write checks to American Friends of Chabad of
Thailand), or donate online at Bangkok Bank
Rabbi Yosef C. Kantor
J. Cohen can be reached at yjofl@yahoo.com |
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ISRAELI AID, UNREPORTED
Posted by Honest Reporting, December 28, 2004. |
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Dear HonestReporting Subscriber, When disaster strikes anywhere in the world, Israelis can be counted on to help. So it's no surprise that within hours of the devastating tsunami in the Indian Ocean, the following humanitarian missions all departed from the tiny Jewish state:
Yet, with the exception of UPI (as of this writing - Wed. 4pm EST), none of the major news outlets have dedicated an article to this remarkable Israeli humanitarian effort. This, despite the fact that the IDF sent all Israel-based journalists a press release Monday evening (Dec. 27), inviting them to the airport to cover the departure of one IDF group. This is all the more surprising given the fact that the major news agencies have entire teams of reporters in Israel, who submit at least one 'Israel-article' each day. So what did the Associated Press send out today to its 15,000 subscribing news agencies? A dreary story about the construction of a new IDF base near Jenin. AP sarcastically remarked in this 'news' story that the base's 'elaborate color scheme and landscaping shows that the army is not planning to pull its forces out of the area anytime soon.' The lack of media interest in this Israeli humanitarian effort means that Israeli benevolence toward other peoples is not fairly conveyed to the western world. Perhaps if it were conveyed, observers would come to understand something else - that Israel's response to Palestinian violence is also motivated by the highest ethical concern for all human life, and is not (as the media so often portray it) driven by an oppressive, mean-spirited national ethos. HonestReporting encourages subscribers to write a letter to your local paper, praising the massive Israeli humanitarian mission to South Asia - which the major media have apparently deemed 'not newsworthy.' Thank you for your ongoing involvement in the battle against media bias. Honest Reporting monitors the media for inaccuracy and unfairness in how they report the news about Israel. Ther website address is http://www.honestreporting.com. You can help support their research online or by sending contributions to: HonestReporting, 400 South Lake Drive, Lakewood, NJ 08701-3167. |
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WHO SPLATTERS THE COFFEE WITH INNOCENT BLOOD?
Posted by Evelyn Hayes, December 28, 2004. |
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As Israel Oslo-ists rally against the Jewish re-settlers in Gush Katif, unilaterally seeking to expel three generations of Jews (many Gush natives as well as refugees from Holocaust, Arab lands and Yamit ) who have created a garden in a desert, an oasis and a "wall" against evil jihad and as American Marines suffer "nuts and bolts" suicide bombers in their dining halls in Iraq, wake up and admit who splatters the coffee with innocent blood. Remember the reason why Arafat al Husseini the Egyptian long term partner of the "moderate" jagged tongued Mahoud Abbas was jailed in the Mukatta in Ramallah. The harddrive and other papers found by a young IDF of only 21 who died for his country revealed that Saddam Hussein paid for these suicide bombs and bombers stuffed with "nuts and bolts." Rewarding the "Nuts and Bolts" bombers with Jewish Land from the time of Judah and King Solomon, from the time of Israel ben Moshe of Najara, the Balfour Mandate and pre-Egytian 1948-1967 occupation, where Jews returned after each imperialism, rewards the enemies of America and the victimizers who toppled the Twin Towers and attacked the Pentagon in a suicide fly. As the Isaiah Wall across from the UN reads, "And they shall turn their swords into plowshares and learn war no more," the only answer to Jihad "Nut and Bolts" Suicide War is to make Gush Katif eternally Jewish and a role model for reform of pan-Jihad. The way Jews made the desert green, live and plant should be an inspiration for all. Let the Jews stay; demand Jihad reform or suffer the consequences of their evil in Gaza as well as in maxi-Gaza known as Iraq. From Sbarro Aug 9, 2001 to Twin Towers Sept. 11, 2001 the "concerned" liberals should have opened their eyes to the simple "nuts and bolts" truth and not give evil more years and sweet compensation. Bust the phantoms before their "nuts and bolts" bloody our coffee with our own blood and bust the foundations of truth, justice, liberty, civilization and all. Evelyn Hayes can be reached at haze@rcn.com |
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AN ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION: THE JEWISH REPUBLIC OF JUDEA AND SAMARIA
Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, December 28, 2004. |
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If there is room here for yet another Arab state, why not another Jewish state? This is an article from yesterday's Arutz-7 that was written by Moshe Yisraeli. It is archived at http://www.israelnationalnews.com/article.php3?id=4597 In view of the recent developments in the Sharon government, I am musing about whether anyone has considered the creation of a second Jewish state, in Judea and Samaria with eastern Jerusalem as its capital. It does not sound practical at the moment, but we can certainly do a better job than the Palestinians ever will. There is already a Judea, Samaria and Gaza Council and there is the newly created Sanhedrin. Professor Eidelberg and Moshe Feiglin have both drafted good Torah-based constitutional constructs that would be fine starting points. For security, we would need to hire some of the finest mercenaries. Good mercenaries are more efficient than regular armies, and we would need less of them, especially if they are well-equipped commando units. The beauty of such a state is that it will not be violating any UN resolutions or the British Mandate. It would not be a part of the State of Israel and thus not an occupying force. As for the Arabs, they may have Ramallah and any other Arab-dominated city as a neighborhood or an Arabistan enclave within the new Jewish state. They may also keep their current communities in Gaza, which would become the definitive Islamic Palestinian Republic. The world community would no doubt cry foul. But it is already crying foul, so there will be no love lost. We would certainly not be the beneficiaries of any aid from anyone in the world except some staunch fundamentalist Christian entities and Jews who are willing to put their money where their mouth is. As a landlocked state, we would be dependent on Israel. I'm not sure this would be the best arrangement, but at least we would both be Hebrew-speaking states. In Judea and Samaria, Jews are outnumbered 250,000 to 1,500,000 Arabs; how can a venture of this kind be possible without a massacre? Jewish wars have always been won at incredible odds. It is almost as if the Jewish neshama needs such odds in order to perform royally. In any event, Jews are more organized and more purposeful than their Arab counterparts. Some of the current IDF soldiers can be recruited into the army of the new Jewish state. A sharp force whose hands are not tied can fight much better than the currently constrained IDF, which is still fighting a conventional war against guerillas. The end of the cold war has spawned a plethora of mercenary firms eager to help, for a price. A timely and coordinated withdrawal of the IDF from Judea and Samaria would not create a sudden vacuum for Arabs to massacre Jews, because there would be recruited IDF forces and mercenaries ready to take their place. This would be a force fighting by completely different rules. A declaration of independence by Jews in Judea and Samaria would create saliency on the ground with Arabs. The issue would be what brand of hegemony will be sovereign over Judea and Samaria. It will have to be either a renegade group of Jews living in Judea and Samaria, or a militant group of Arabs living in enclaves of Judea and Samaria. The Arabs would have to fight the Jews of Judea and Samaria in order to win their state. They would not need to fight Israel anymore, thus taking pressure off Israel and allowing undeterred development. One would think Israel might welcome such a scenario and even facilitate the surreptitious funding of such an enterprise. The Palestinian infrastructure, electricity and water are still dependent on Israel. The state of Israel is currently providing and paying for these services. The declaration of independence puts the new republic in control or gives it access to these vital assets, allowing it to do untold harm to the Palestinian community should the Arabs have any hostile ideas. Their supply of arms and explosives will be greatly curtailed by the new mercenary commando unit patrols. Their food supplies could be greatly curtailed, too. Arab states may launch an attack again, but if they have any pride at all, they would find it absurd to mobilize the Arab nation of 300 million against a 250,000-person rag-tag bunch of Jews. The United Nations and other international organizations will most likely try to assist the Arabs. Depending on how invasive their assistance would be, this could develop into a situation of the world against the Jewish Republic of Judea and Samaria. However, the most likely scenario would be the world community putting pressure on Israel to curtail the new republic - something that would probably drag on long enough for the new republic to take root (as long as Ariel Sharon is not in office). With the establishment of the new Jewish republic, Arabs in Judea and Samaria may opt to sell their properties and be transferred to Arab states, taking their rightful place within the Arab nation. Those who remain will be subject to Jewish hegemony as non-voting residents (a status of ger). Of course, we would need lots and lots of money. Who would fund such an enterprise? How much would it cost? If we can find a reliable source of cash for the formative years of this Jewish state, is this a viable alternative? What would be our economic base? Aryeh Zelasko lives in Beitar Illit, south of Jerusalem. He is Director of Sales and Marketing of Israel Visit (www.israelvisit.co.il) which provides information and an internet buying facility for American visitors to Israel. |
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FOREIGN AID TO THE P.A. FOR WHAT? STUDENTS VS SECURITY; PA WANTS PEACE?
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, December 28, 2004. |
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FOREIGN AID TO THE P.A., FOR WHAT? Foreign donors to the P.A. de-emphasize what they know about P.A. misuse of their contributions. The World Bank director for the P.A. admits to them, "Maybe your $12 billion a year hasn't produced much, but we think there's a case for doing even more in the next three or four years." He knows that the P.A. does not use the money to build an economy and take care of its people, but to envenom them and unleash them against Israel. His excuse is that now the P.A. has a new leadership. (It does not, just a new head coming in from the old leadership, still in power.) The world pretends that the new head is moderate. He never was moderate; he devoted his career to terrorism. He still wants to flood Israel with "Arab refugees" so as to put in charge of it people whom he still lets be indoctrinated in bigotry against the Jews. Thus he is not a moderate but a pragmatist. Foreign donations given to the P.A. before it reforms its program of bigotry and war would, like previous donations, reinforce bigotry and war (Daniel Pipes, NY Sun, 12/21, p.7). The new head of the P.A., Abu Abbas, has been lauded as a pragmatist. As an extremist who is pragmatic, he is all the more dangerous. He should be captured and put into Barghouti's cell. TURKEY TURNS ON FORMER ALLIES Seeking membership in the EU, which it presumes would bring great economic benefits, Turkey has aligned its foreign policy with the EU. That means turning a cold shoulder to the US and turning on Israel. That suits its Islamic party leadership fine. Turks in general disapprove of the US war on Iraq. Their government-influenced media have converted the people into disapproval of Israeli policies of defense as "terrorism." For example, the Prime Minister called an Israeli effort to thwart arms smuggling by demolishing some houses in Gaza "terrorism." (Most of those houses are either abandoned or rented by terrorists as concealment for smugglers' tunnel exits.) Turkey called for Islamic solidarity against Israel. It contends that Israeli anti-terrorism constitutes genocide (IMRA, 12/7). Terrorism really is a tactic in the Arab practice of genocide. SEALING TERRORIST OFFICES The IDF sealed offices of a terrorist front charity (IMRA, 12/7). When the troops move on or PM Sharon move them out, will the seal stay on? Isn't it obvious that current anti-terrorism measures are temporary? A long-term program is needed. ZOA OPPOSES U.S. SALE OF MISSILES TO JORDAN Jordan does not need air-to-air missiles, because: (1) It has no foreign enemies; (2) It has domestic enemies, Islamists. If the Islamists take over, the country would declare Israel an enemy and threaten it with those missiles, among other weapons; (3) Even if not overthrown, the present regime is not reliably steady for peace. It could join general Arab aggression against Israel, as it has done before; (4) Jordan does not cooperate with the US against terrorism. It had seemed to block Hamas bank accounts, then unfroze them. Ominously, Jordan has resumed letting Fatah operate on its soil and send funds to terrorists in the P.A.; (5) Jordan violates its peace treaty with Israel in other ways, as by broadcasting mosque sermons calling for the death of Israel or of Jews and by withholding its ambassador from Israel for the past four years (IMRA, 12/8). Should ethics or profits motivate US arms sales? The US gives arms to Egypt and probably to Jordan. Those are not ethical, but a grievous waste of scarce taxpayer funds. COLLEGE COURSES ON SECURITY PROTESTED Security having become a major industry, Manhattan Community College plans to offer a certificate program on it. Courses and curriculum include: (1) Terrorism and Counter-terrorism - guerilla warfare, hostage situations, and profiles of terrorists and their organizations; (2) Speakers from the NY State Office of Homeland Defense about security in cyberspace and in high-rise buildings; (3) Travel, Tourism and Hospital Security; (4) Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design; (5) Legal and Ethical Issues in Security Management. Students and "progressive" faculty there object to the program. They call it an endorsement of the Bush Administration Dept. of Homeland Security. They think the Department oppressive and that the program would intimidate students. The president of the student government complains that the program would expose students to one-sided, right-wing views about foreign countries' wrongdoing against the US (Jacob Gershman, NY Sun, 12/26, p.1). "Progressives" want to bury their heads in the sand, which would enable the totalitarians to bury us in rubble. Save us from "progressives," with their paranoid accusations. It they think there might be unfairness in the program, let them caution the university against letting it in. Let them not accuse the college and the Administration of wrongdoing they did not yet do. That is not fair on the part of those protestors who claim the Administration would not be fair. As for what other countries have done to the US, do they deny that they have bombed the US people and property here and abroad, and that security from the Islamist world war is justified? Those jaundiced students and faculty are notoriously unfair about world issues. Most college faculties spout regimented leftism on campuses all across this country and Canada, and bar opposing views. All my adult life, I have found that student activists generally protest over issues about which they know little. Within a short period of time, from childhood ignorance about these topics, they acquire a radical line. Now their ignorance is deepened with misinformation. Let them complete their education, before they attempt to grapple with these issues. But who is on the faculty now, to educate them, equally misinformed radical professors? THE FOLLY OF ANTI-PATRIOTISM The Israeli Army has reported killing 29 innocent Arab civilians in the past year, in the course of military operations. The Left in Israel condemns Israel over it and tries to use that fact to delegitimize the military operations if not the Jewish state, itself. Actually, it reveals Israel to be particularly humanitarian. How so? During that year, thousands of Arabs were involved in thousands of firefights. Arab attackers do not wear uniforms distinguishing them from amongst the civilians around them. The fact that so few innocent Arabs were killed is testimony to the high standard of the Israeli Army. It also is testimony to the Army's excessive humanitarianism. Israel should have killed many more, in order better to safeguard its own troops. That is, the Army held back and took needless casualties, in order to spare enemy civilians, as at Jenin. Sometimes the Israelis did not fire back; other times they used riskier means than demolishing a fortified house with artillery. (I am not proud of that.) The 29 were killed because the P.A. launches its terrorist forces and auxiliaries from among civilian areas (which is a war crime). Therefore, their death is the responsibility of the P.A. (Prof. Steven Plaut, 12/7, e-mail). Leftist bias blinds them to this PM SHARON POLICY ON WITHDRAWAL PM Sharon's stated policy: withdraw from a portion of Judea-Samaria. US stated policy: withdraw from all of Judea-Samaria. PM Sharon's stated policy: (1) Israel would decide, itself, how much to leave; and (2) Israel would not make the decision, itself, but would coordinate with the US (IMRA, 12/8) whose policy is stated, above. I trust you see the self-contradiction. IRAQI KURDS DEMAND INDEPENDENCE Half the Kurds of Iraq signed a petition to the UN for independence from Iraq, after 80 years of repression by the Arabs. Members of the Coalition there and of the UN fear that independence may cause the breakup of Iraq (Benny Avni, NY Sun, 12/26, p.1). I include this regular news item because of its incendiary significance, in case you missed it. The real problems with this move are: (1) Turkey invade an independent Kurdistan, lest it cause Turkish Kurd's to agitate for their areas to be folded into new country; (2) The UNO cannot grant independence, probably would not approve it, and would make its opposition manifest, but the Kurds want to get the issue raised; (3) Would the oil-bearing areas that traditionally were Kurdish, but which Saddam attempted to ethnically cleanse non-Arabs from, be included in Kurdistan; and (4) By definition, severing almost a third of the country means the breakup of Iraq. Maybe they mean the Sunnis would break off from Shiites. I wish the US had divided Iraq. HAS THE P.A. DECIDED TO MAKE PEACE WITH ISRAEL? Not if one judges by the P.A. textbooks. Their theme is to destroy Israel. Thus the P.A. is raising a generation of people who would think it treasonous to make peace (IMRA, 12/8). "Moderate?" THE SHARON-U.S. SHELL GAME IN JUDEA-SAMARIA An official in the US National Security Council said that Americans (i.e., US policy?) would approve the retention of the five settlement blocs that PM Sharon has stated are his minimum demand (and which he claims his voluntary withdrawal from Gaza would cause the US to approve) only if Israel withdrew from all the rest. The US has not formally promised that. A member of Israel's National Security Council said that Israel would withdraw from those five blocs, too. He refused to confirm whether that were Sharon's policy. Meanwhile, PM Sharon has not built the security fence around the five blocs. That may indicate that he is not serious about retaining them for Israel (IMRA, 12/8). I think that the US is seeking to get Israel to move out of as much area as it can keep getting Israel to do under the illusion that the US is promising to let Israel keep the rest. As IMRA has pointed out, the West is planning peace summits for new agreements and new Israeli withdrawals, without the P.A. ever having had to keep its Oslo agreements against terrorism. This new Western ploy is a sad commentary on the reliability of assurances that the US had given on Oslo and ignored. 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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"EXCESSIVE FORCE"
Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, December 28, 2004. |
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This is just a free sample of what is to come. The protesters were not "hill top youth" or extremists. They were all rather stodgy, middle class people. As far as I can determine, no one was seriously injured but they got smacked around a bit. In the end the police cleared the area and nothing was accomplished. Did anyone see blazing headlines in the media? Was the political establishment shocked? Just another uneventful protest. For those who believe that peaceful, passive, civil disobedience will accomplish something, let this be you "market test." This comes from Arutz Sheva (www.IsraelNationalNews.com). http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=74326 (IsraelNN.com) Residents of the northern Shomron community of Sanur are reporting security forces are using "excessive force" to remove demonstrators from an area road. The area residents turned out blocking the road in an effort to prevent Disengagement Authority officials from reaching an area community. Aryeh Zelasko lives in Beitar Illit, south of Jerusalem. He is Director of Sales and Marketing of Israel Visit (www.israelvisit.co.il) which provides information and an internet buying facility for American visitors to Israel. |
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THE BLOOD LIBEL AGAINST THE JEWS: THE AL-DURRAH AFFAIR
Posted by Steven Plaut, December 28, 2004. |
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"The Israeli Crime That Wasn't" was written by Alyssa A. Lappen
and appeared on Front Page Magazine's website (www.FrontPageMagazine.com,
December 28, 2004. It is archived at
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=16432
It is worth reading the original, which contains direct links to
additional material.
More than four years have passed since the picture of Mohammed Al-Durrah was aired across the world, but the public still imagines the boy's Sept. 30, 2000 presence at Netzarim junction in terms described by President Clinton in My Life: "As the violence persisted, two vivid images of its pain and futility emerged," he writes: "a twelve year old Palestinian boy shot in the crossfire and dying in his father's arms and two Israeli soldiers pulled from a building and beaten to death, with their lifeless bodies dragged through the streets and one of their assailants proudly showing his bloodstained hands to the world on television." Al-Durrah should never have been juxtaposed with a lynching, much less by the leader of the free world. Two weeks after the al-Durrah tape aired, two Jewish soldiers lost their way in Ramallah, where they were savagely beaten to death, their innards eaten by hysterical and frenzied crowds screaming Allah Akbar God is great and seeking revenge for the supposed death of the boy. Indeed, the Al-Durrah case is nothing more than a classic Islamic incitement to jihad. But evidently, the shooting was merely photographic. The violence erupted after the Al-Durrah incident, notes Daniel Seaman, director of Israel's Government Press Office, who openly calls the incident a hoax, a staged forgery. Since Seaman made this charge publicly in late 2002, few mainstream news media have picked up the story. These include the European Wall Street Journal and New York Sun, which both ran columns in November, respectively by Stephane Juffa, the Metula Press Agency (MENA) chief in Israel, and Nidra Poller, an American expatriate writer living in France. Nearly two years ago, France 2 Jerusalem bureau chief Charles Enderlin also the vice president of Israel's foreign press association threatened to sue. On Jan. 2, 2003, the legal adviser to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon wrote to Enderlin, noting that Israel is a free country. Seaman named neither Enderlin nor France 2. But if he felt injured by Seaman's remarks, Enderlin was more than welcome to take appropriate legal action. The counsel advised Enderlin that Israel had reliable information that the case was indeed a fraud, the counsel advised Enderlin, however. At long last, in November, attorneys of France 2 and Enderlin have sued in France not Seaman, not Israel, not Metula, not the Wall Street Journal, but X. Before detailing French statutes making such a preposterous case possible, a brief recap of the Al-Durrah hoax is in order. On Sept. 30, 2000, dozens of reporters and cameraman waited around for news as children lobbed stones, Molotov cocktails and heavy appliances from the ground and nearby buildings onto the roof of the only Israeli guard post at Netzarim Junction. In a superb investigative coup, renowned Israeli physicist Nacham Shahaf wrested three hours of raw Sept. 30 newsreels from Reuters and the Associated Press. These rushes show very clearly that the Israelis shot only when fired upon, and that Palestinians walked around without fear. Another important fact shows too: the Israeli post was situated at a very wide angle to the position of Jamal and Mohammed Al-Durrah behind a Palestinian warehouse two times its own height. In other words, even if the Israelis were filmed shooting, which they weren't, it was physically impossible for them to have wounded either Mohammed or his father, Jamal Al-Durrah, who were crouched, entirely out of view, behind a barrel topped by a cement cinder block. On the Al-Durrahs' side, moreover, the barrel has no bullet holes. If bullets penetrated it from the Israeli side, they did not come out. Whoever shot at the Al-Durrahs that day, it was not the Israelis. Shooting footage was Talal Abu Rahmeh, a Palestinian stringer for AP and Reuters, who created the icon of supposed Israeli brutality. Abu Rahmeh said under oath that he shot 27 minutes of film. In tapes broadcast worldwide, he asserted that Israeli soldiers subjected the man and the boy to 45 minutes of withering fire, that Israelis intentionally shot the boy dead. Abu Rahmeh said the boy bled for 20 minutes. The father said he was shot in the hand, arm and leg and that his elbow and pelvis were crushed--and that a bullet ripped through his son's stomach and exited from his back. But in the rushes, there is no blood on either the victims or the ground. The supposed 27 minutes of footage was apparently less than three minutes. Three hours of additional rushes from AP and Reuters obtained by Shahaf show much more besides. At the rear of the warehouse, inside a hollowed-out room, several armed and uniformed Palestinian Arabs were filmed on Sept. 30, 2000, talking calmly with directors. The latter then clear the area before takes. Since when do fighters take their cues from civilians? Later the same day, at least five AP and Reuters photographers taped the same Palestinians firing through a large hole in the rear cinder block wall into the empty warehouse room they had quietly occupied hours earlier. At whom were they firing? The Israeli position was on the other side of the warehouse, in a building half the size. Given their lack of fear and the positive glee of bystanders, these men were surely acting. Thirty people were reportedly killed and hundreds wounded that day, but the rushes show not one critical injury. Every evacuation was careless of its effects on the supposed patients. One man grabs his leg as if shot, but like the Al-Durrahs remains unbloodied. He is then roughly loaded onto a gurney on his injured leg. Another young man hands off a Molotov cocktail before being swooped into his colleagues' arms and thrown into the back of a waiting prop one of several Red Crescent and U.N. ambulances. Actors clap and laugh as its doors close. Others were caught sunbathing, talking on cell phones, standing nonchalantly, their backs turned to the Israelis. Clearly, these are mises en scene. Only Talal Abu Rahmeh, with alleged ties to terror groups, filmed the supposed shooting of Mohammed Al-Durrah. No one taped the evacuation of the wounded boy and his father. Finally, a Reuters cameraman behind the Al-Durrahs caught many others running by in supposed fear as the boy and his father talked calmly in the background and stayed put behind their barrel. Says Enderlin now: I am really fed up with this story. We are very confident it was not staged, and there is no doubt about that. Our cameraman caught the scene, and other cameramen were there and they caught part of the scene. Really? That is not what Enderlin said at the time. Indeed, on Sept. 30, 2000, he personally hand-delivered copies of the France 2 footage to every major foreign news outfit at the Jerusalem Journalism Studio House, according to MENA's Stephane Juffa. If the incident were real, wouldn't other cameramen also have grabbed some footage? Enderlin also says now: We NEVER got any formal request about any inquiry or complaint about Mohammed Al-Durrah from any Israeli Authority. I wrote the Israeli Army spokesman in November 2000 that our legal department might consider an official request to participate in an inquiry. I NEVER got any answer. By Enderlin's reckoning, the official Israeli investigation under the direction of General Yom Tov Samia and Physicist Nacham Shahaf was not official. Now Enderlin is suing X. One of those ostensibly covered by this legal appellation is Philippe Karsenty, who runs the Media-Ratings Agency in Paris, the first organization in France to objectively critique and expose the routine manipulations of its foreign print and broadcast media. The agency has taken on many other issues, too, at its www.m-r.fr Web site. The democracy in France stops when the press follows foreign affairs, says Karsenty today. All the media are talking the same language and have corporate attitudes. If the media says the moon is green, then the moon is green for everyone. Since France 2 is, like the British Broadcasting Corporation, government-funded and chartered, correcting this outrage can occur only with help from French politicos. To that end, Karsenty on Nov. 28 visited French Minister of Culture and Communications Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres and on Dec. 3 showed his counselors MENA's film, exposing the fraud. They were shocked, he says, adding that Media-Ratings will not be intimidated by the France 2 suit. The network evidently hopes to use a statute most often applied to criminal cases in which the perpetrators are unknown. By suing X, says Juffa, they are saying, 'Please investigate and discover who did it'. Enderlin himself confirms as much. For French justice, a name and address on a Web site is not proof that the person is the author of the material, he says. France 2 could file against these people, but since you have no proof that they are a company registered under the law, [you] cannot file a suit against [them]. The judge must file against these people. ... At press time, Enderlin's attorney had not responded to questions. But Metula, Media-Ratings, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Sun, are well-known companies with published addresses. They have taken a big risk, says Juffa. The prosecutor in this case must include the Wall Street Journal in the procedure, must include the state of Israel, must include Daniel Seaman. Moreover, some years ago, in a hearing before 40 witnesses, Enderlin publicly refused to provide Israeli General Yom Tov Samia with a full set of tapes. If France 2's case ever goes to trial, which Juffa and Karsenty doubt, Enderlin will be obliged to produce the evidence that seems to contradict almost everything he has said to date. The list of anomalies goes on and on. The major ones:
The bottom line: the tapes suggest that the man and boy were not shot, period, least of all by the Israelis. Speaking last summer, Foreign Ministry press director Gideon Meir said that reopening this four-year-old case would only cause more damage to Israel: The myth has taken on a life of its own, he said. Besides, some Israeli newsmen say, exposing the lies of Palestinian newsmen and leaders would be like reporting that it rains in the spring, or it's hot in August. It's not news. But the power of the myth may be precisely why Israel should make a federal case of this affair. Perhaps the Jewish state will do so if France 2 ever presses its case. After all, Mohammed Al-Durrah played a huge role in the incitement to global jihad; the episode has real significance as the first blood libel of the 21st century. Press behavior was equivalent to that in the 19th century Dreyfus Affair. For the media industry, this case could be equivalent in scale to the Enron accounting scandal. In September and October 2000, the endless airing of newsreels and photos from this non-event immediately wiped out all good will generated by Prime Minister Ehud Barak's historic offer of peace at Camp David II. It directly prompted Arab riots in Israel, resulting in the deaths of 13 youths two days later. I live in the Galilee with many Arabs, says Juffa. After this incident, I went to talk to them. Until then, they knew (and trusted) Israeli policy that forbade shooting at civilians. But after seeing these tapes over and over, they thought the Israeli policy had changed, he continues. They thought their lives were at stake and they were in danger. The affair also fired the largest worldwide wave of jihad attacks on Jews in history. Daniel Pearl's murderers used Al-Durrah's image in their grisly snuff film. Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi referred to the case, as did even Osama bin Laden. If Mohammed Al-Durrah is the poster boy of the 21st century jihad, Jews are at the epicenter of the hatred. For the more than 30,000 attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions in Israel, 1,000 killed and thousands wounded, hundreds of far less publicized incidents have occurred worldwide. Jewish schools and synagogues have been firebombed in London, Munich and Paris, and rabbis have been stabbed in broad daylight. In Texas in August 2003, Ariel Sellouk was murdered by a longtime Muslim friend. In France one year ago, Jewish shopkeeper Chantal Piekolek and famed Parisian DJ Sebastian Sellam were brutally murdered within one 24-hour period. Sellam was the son of refugees from Morocco and spoke fluent Arabic. He met his death in his parking garage, en route to work. A Muslim that he had known since childhood slit his throat, carved up his face with a fork and gouged out his eyes. The Muslim then climbed the stairs to the Sellams' apartment and showed the horrified mother his bloody hands. I have killed my Jew, he said. I will go to heaven. Piekolek's 10-year-old daughter heard her mother's murder while cowering in the shop storage room. Neither of these murders was reported in the mainstream French press. In all three instances, officials dismissed anti-Semitism as the motive. Shouldn't law enforcement officials call jihad a motive? The Western press corps in Israel too politicized to believe that Palestinians might lie about the Al-Durrah episode, and much else besides is almost certainly taken in daily by many more (albeit smaller) hoaxes. Journalists are undoubtedly duped, in turn duping the global public, at Jewish expense. Ultimately, the survival of Western civilization may hang on press refusal to apply professional skepticism equally to both sides. Consider these examples:
In other words, the media are not only political, they are also intimidated. Last summer, a spokesman for Prime Minister Ra'anan Gissin and Foreign Ministry Press officer Gideon Meir suggested that the U.S. press is most friendly to Israel. Certainly, the press outside the U.S. is more hostile to Israel. Nevertheless, interviews with a few reporters at major U.S. metropolitan dailies showed the differences are not all that great. Take Washington Post bureau Chief John Anderson, who has spent the better part of the last decade in Iran, Central Asia and Turkey, but learned not a single language spoken in those places. In Israel for the last two years, he and his wife, Molly Moore, speak neither Arabic nor Hebrew, and rely totally on translators to conduct interviews and report. They were in Istanbul for 13 months before moving as a twofer team to Jerusalem. They planned the move for six months, but say they could not learn the languages while working. In 13 years as foreign correspondents, the only foreign language they learned was Spanish, while in Mexico. Anderson admits that Israeli translators are unimpeachable, while Palestinians are merely good. Their chief advantage, he says, is being on the ground in the territories, where Israelis cannot go. As for context, he admits to having read no regional history before or during his tenure in Jerusalem. He sees himself as something of a fireman, what is known in the trade as an ambulance chaser. Furthermore, despite a decade of reporting from Islamic nations, Anderson has never learned the dominant laws or tenets of Islam, much less the laws of jihad. These laws require Muslims to invite infidels to Islam, and if they reject the faith, to prosecute holy war. They apply even in modern times. Anderson contends that writing for 13 years with Farsi, Arabic, Kurdish, Hebrew, Spanish, Tamil, Hindu and Pashtan translators, he and Moore have learned enough to accurately weigh the veracity of translations. It is sufficient, he says, to know an interpreter's level of English proficiency, education and his political leanings which Moore and Anderson ascertain while en route to appointments and from the types of interviews he arranges. But Western reporters in Israel are 100 percent reliant on Palestinian fixers, as reporters call them, say journalists and officials. The vast majority come with political and ideological baggage. A few attempt to report the truth about corruption, murder and censorship in the territories, says one unusual Palestinian journalist, but 99 percent and 100 percent of the fixers for the Washington Post and New York Times are allied with the PLO, Fateh, Hamas, Islamic Jihad or even Hezbollah. Their understanding of the truth is correspondingly one-sided. You can't blame the Palestinians, says the Palestinian. This is the way they were trained, to be loyal, not to air the dirty laundry, this is media in the Arab world, he says. Unfortunately, 100 percent of the fixers see themselves as foot soldiers in the revolution. They will not tell foreign journalists anything that reflects badly on the PA. As an Israeli journalist notes, they are also starving, and most can be bought for $50. Consequently, Western reporters rely too heavily on spokesmen like Nabil Sha'ath and Sa'eb Erekat, and when a corruption scandal hits the news, they are surprised. Foreign journalists in Israel come in four stripes. They may be flown in for one-shot coverage. They may know nothing and realize they know nothing. They may know a little and assume they know much more. But more often than not, they know nothing and don't want to know. The last type are especially arrogant, [and] prejudiced against Israel, and do not let the facts get in the way, says the Palestinian journalist. Even Americans are overly sympathetic to Palestinians and hostile to Israel. Dig deeply, and the picture of the foreign press in Israel deteriorates further. Evidently, networks and newspapers rarely if ever investigate reporters before hiring or posting them to assignments. A few cases in point:
The first victims of the corrupt Palestinian Authority and press naï:veté: are Arabs. This peace is killing us, says another Palestinian reporter who, after the Palestinian leadership, blames the Western press most of all. An entire generation has been irretrievably destroyed. In 1993, if the foreign press had reported on the corruption, murder and totalitarianism in the Palestinian Authority, says this Palestinian source, the current war might have been avoided. But the mainstream press treats Palestinians with silk gloves. The Washington Post's Anderson, however, admits none of this. Questioned about alliances of his own Arab translators, he says: I don't believe all the fixers are affiliated. If they are and you don't know it, you haven't done a very good job. As for his own fixers, we use very independent minded people, he says. Not according to others who know them. Translators would not lie to the point of fabricating stories, says Anderson. They have a point of view, they have an agenda, and they try to get their point of view across. I try to play it down the middle. But playing it down the middle, for him, means accepting the Palestinian charge, for example, that Israelis once set up a roadblock outside Ramallah simply to dismantle it for show and put it up again a few miles down the road when no pressmen were looking. They made the cage a little bit bigger. ... The whole thing was a scam, he says. As to whether the Al-Durrah case was also a scam, Anderson last summer thought it unlikely. There were so many camera crews, he says. You never want to say never, but on a news story that big, if it was totally bogus, it would have gotten out. ... There is not a vast conspiracy among Palestinian journalists to keep that kind of thing quiet. On the contrary, says a Palestinian journalist, the Arab press organizes so as not to reflect badly on their leaders, whatever that requires. Anderson thinks he knows better. In other interviews with foreign journalists the results were pretty much the same: a lot of skepticism greets the notion that Palestinians fabricate news. It's part of being a professional and a correspondent and a fireman, to be able to assess the situation, get over the language barriers and get on [the story], says Anderson. By this reckoning, foreign pressmen in Israel are nothing more than cub reporters and most think, like Anderson, in fact there is incitement on both sides. So, was Mohammed Al-Durrah an incitement? Anderson of the Washington Post would say no, and the vast majority would agree with him. In the end, dismantling this press roadblock to the truth will take another Emile Zola. Failing that, readers should assume that news fakery will continue to erode the very underpinnings of our way of life. They should also apply to reports from Palestinian Authority areas the skepticism that newsmen do not. 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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MAN-MADE DISASTERS
Posted by Ellen W. Horowitz, December 28, 2004. |
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:...Therefore, we shall not be afraid when the earth is transformed, and at mountains' collapse in the heart of the seas; when its waters rage and are muddied, mountains quake in His majesty..." (Psalm 46) Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsh explains that we need not be afraid when the earth undergoes violent change, because the catastrophes and surging waters are G-d's floods. And it is He "that rules them, that causes and guides them..." Okay, I'll concede that earthquakes and tsunamis belong to G-d, and that He's in control. But the images of suffering and magnitude of the devastation still frightens me and overwhelms the senses. I imagine there are two types of individuals who didn't absolutely quake at the destruction that instantaneously hit ten countries in Southeast Asia this week. They are those people in possession of complete and unwavering faith in G-d (a rare and endangered breed), and those who are struck by blind apathy (the world's got a surplus of them). The rest of us are simply scared and shaken. I guess I've pretty much covered earthquakes, hurricanes, typhoons and tsunamis in my previous writings (see "Shell-shocked, but Hopeful," http://israelnationalnews.com/article.php3?id=4164 and "The Infinite Scream," http://www.israelnationalnews.com/article.php3?id=3148) There's not much we can do about these events, other than to mourn, offer assistance and comfort, meditate on the state of humanity and of ourselves, and to pick up the shattered pieces and rebuild. When G-d overturns our world, whether it be on a personal or universal scale, there is nothing to analyze, intellectualize or say. "And Aaron was silent" (Lev. 10:3). But in our silence, there is plenty to ponder. And it is incumbent upon us to do all we can to prevent another disaster, whether that be the development of technological warning systems, better construction techniques, or trying to improve ourselves and humanity through altruistic efforts and prayer. Aaron was silent after Divinely -ordained tragedy struck, but Mordechai screamed in order to prevent a man-made atrocity from happening. There is something I fear far more than natural disasters. Man-made disasters blow my mind. Because, unlike G-d, we mortals are not perfect. Our plans and designs are inherently flawed and the damage we cause tends to reach beyond our control and there are no guarantees of our ability to ultimate rectify what we've ruined. We mere humans were put on this earth to build and create. It's beyond our realm to do anything but. The only time it is permissible for us to destroy is when evil raises its ugly head. Then, because we are commanded to choose life, we are under obligation to obliterate that which would destroy us. Now we have all seen the horrors, grief and suffering brought about when the hand of G-d wipes away entire communities. Tragedy of this sort is unfathomable, incomprehensible and untouchable. So, why would any human in his right mind aspire towards those ends - even on a small scale? It is the absolute antithesis of humanity to voluntarily uproot a creative and productive endeavor. It is the height of insanity to displace a thriving population and hand what remains of their endeavors and inheritance over to destructive forces. And yet, for the most part, we remain silent and allow our Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, to proceed with his deranged Gaza disengagement plan. A year ago, in response to the earthquake which struck Iran and killed 31,000 people, I wrote about a natural disaster which occurred in Indonesia in 1883 and triggered tsunamis which killed 40,000 people. It seems, at the time, the event turned the sky red over Oslo and may have inspired Edvard Munch to paint his masterpiece "The Scream." Four months ago, that painting, which captured the existential fear and scream of humanity, was stolen by masked gunman from the museum in Oslo, Norway. Back here in Israel, it seems that the masked gunmen of Oslo have managed to silence our screams. It appears we've lost out voice, and that has the makings of a man-made tragedy of immense proportions. Ellen Horowitz lives in the Golan Heights, Israel with her husband and six children. She is a painter and columnist for Israelnationalnews.com. email: ellen@artfromzion.com |
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HELP FIGHT ANTISEMITISM AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
Posted by Judah Tzoref, December 28, 2004. |
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This comes from a new group - www.ColumbiaPetition.org They need your
help to urge President Bollinger of Columbia University to fire two
professors guilty of blatant, irresponsible anti-semitism.
By now it is a well known fact that certain Arab countries and individuals have been making a deliberate effort to direct money towards influencing some of our major American universities. The problem of Arab wealth corrupting the learning experience of America's young people is particularly prevalent in many of what would otherwise be considered our finest Ivy League institutions. So please, click here to go to the Petition site. Read, Sign, and Forward this information to your Family, Friends, and Co-Workers. There are heavy ramifications associated with sitting still and allowing this trend to continue. In future years, this country will be run by the Ivy League graduates of today. Historically, those are the individuals that dominate politics, media, industry, government, and the other important components of our cherished society. To have the current student / future leaders be influenced and persuaded by hateful Anti-Semitic teachers and professors that are in place as a result of lump sum payments and other forms of ongoing financial support by these Arabs to our universities, is the equivalent of a time bomb waiting to explode. We cannot sit back and do nothing. As American Jews, we cannot afford to allow this climate in our best higher learning establishments to continue to ferment. Conversely, we need to protect and preserve these environments for our Jewish students, so that there will be a balanced representation of highly educated Jewish graduates in the overall mix. ColumbiaPetition.org is committed to nullifying the impact of these ill conceived ambitions that are being developed by those who hate Jews, deny their right to exist, and spend so much time, thought, energy, and money on trying to eliminate the Jewish population in these cunning and insidious ways. To begin our important campaign geared towards battling these forces of destruction, we need to gather the evidence of a united Jewish voice, and exhibit the strength in numbers that will allow this message, - that this form of behavior is unacceptable, - to obtain the right audience and be heard. THIS CAN ONLY BE DONE BY HAVING YOU AND ALL THOSE YOU KNOW SIGN THE PETITION. So please, click here to go to the Petition site. Read, Sign, and Forward this information to your Family, Friends, and Co-Workers. By signing our petition, you are letting the president of Columbia University, Lee Bollinger, know, that we will not sit silently while he allows Columbia University and their previously fine reputation to be bought by Anti-Israeli, Anti-American, and Anti-Semitic hate mongers with evil agendas. We are letting university presidents throughout the United States know, with fair warning, that the Jewish Community will not stand for them selling our future and our safety to the highest bidder, regardless of motive or intention. We thank you for your time, concern, and participation in helping to make this campaign as effective as possible. ColumbiaPetition.org |
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ARAB MK SAYS SHAS OFFERING OPPOSITION HEAD AGREEMENT
Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, December 28, 2004. |
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Funny idea that an Arab would be the head of the opposition to Sharon. What could he possibly be opposed to? Sharon and his gang are doing everything possible to fulfill the PLO goal of destroying the State of Israel. Maybe he is just annoyed that it is a Jew doing it and not an Arab. They can be like that sometimes. This news item comes from Arutz Sheva (www.IsraelNationalNews.com) and is archived at http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=74298 (IsraelNN.com) MK Abdulmalik Dehamshe told Galei Tzahal (Army) Radio a short time ago that Shas leader Eli Yishai has offered to make a deal with him by which Shas and Arab parties would enter a six month alternating rotation agreement to serve as opposition leaders. Yishai according to Galei Tzahal denies such an offer was put on the table. It appears that Yishai is only missing 2 or 3 signatures to have adequate support to claim the position, one that entitles him to regular briefings with the prime minister, an audience with visiting dignitaries, and an armored vehicle, driver, and staff. If the reported deal is actualized, it would mark the first time in the nation's history that an Arab MK would serve as head of the opposition. Aryeh Zelasko lives in Beitar Illit, south of Jerusalem. He is Director of Sales and Marketing of Israel Visit (www.israelvisit.co.il) which provides information and an internet buying facility for American visitors to Israel. |
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GAZAN LAUNCHES ARABSFORISRAEL.COM WEBSITE
Posted by Michael Freund, December 28, 2004. |
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As a child growing up in Egyptian-controlled Gaza in the 1950s, Nonie Darwish remembers how she was taught to hate Jews from a very young age. "I was told not to take any candy from strangers since it could be a Jew trying to poison me," she recalls. "We were told Jews were devils and evil and the enemies of God." Now, nearly five decades later, Darwish has discarded the views with which she was raised, and become a vocal activist on Israel's behalf. She recently launched a Web site, ArabsforIsrael.com, and has begun lecturing across the US about the need to stand behind Israel and support its existence. "It took me many years to realize that Israel is not a threat to the Arab world and is actually an asset in the area," Darwish told The Jerusalem Post. "When I moved to America in 1978 my first job was given to me by a Jewish man. Both he and his parents were very kind to me." Additional contacts with Jews in the US, who Darwish says taught her "to be a humanitarian," led her to begin to rethink all that she had been taught as a child. This feeling was later reinforced after her brother's life was saved by the Hadassah-University Hospital in Jerusalem. The turning point, though, came with the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, which was when Darwish says she at last developed a fuller grasp of the realities of the region. "The most crucial reason for me to support Israel was 9/11. That was when I realized that Israel was the victim of Arab terrorism for all its history," she says. "My culture of origin was responsible for this unspeakable terror in New York and the Pentagon." In the wake of the attacks, Darwish began to speak out, saying that she could no longer be silent while "terrorism is destroying the moral fabric of Muslim society." Her message is twofold: stop pressuring Israel, and push for reform of the Arab world as a means of developing a freer and more diverse Middle East. "Some say that America needs to pressure Israel to achieve peace, but I say the world needs to pressure all the Arab countries to pressure the Palestinians to achieve peace," Darwish says, adding that the Palestinians "have to end terrorism." Israel, she asserts, is a convenient pretext that Arab leaders use to deflect domestic criticism directed at their corruption and misrule. "The game of using Israel as an excuse for their internal problems has to end and be exposed for what it is." The Arab world desperately needs democratic reform, she says, because if change does not come soon, "the alternative will be devastating to all." Driven by a sense of urgency, Darwish has traveled across the US, addressing a wide variety of audiences, including on college campuses. She also recently paid a visit to Israel to take part in the annual Jerusalem Summit. As she reaches out to a growing number of people, her Web site, which contains articles and other material in both English and Arabic, has rapidly started to serve as a platform for pro-Israel Christian and Muslim Arabs to communicate their views. "There are many Jews and Israelis who freely express compassion and support for the Palestinians," the Web site says. "It is time that we Arabs express reciprocal compassion and support." While Darwish has been the target of some hostile mail as a result of her activities, she says that after launching the site she received numerous supportive e-mails from like-minded Arabs and Muslims. "We are still few, but growing in numbers," she says, adding, "If some Muslims and Arabs do not like it, then so be it." She is careful to emphasize that her criticism is not aimed at Islam, nor does she think that anti-Semitism is intrinsic to its worldview. "I truly believe that anti-Semitism is more of a cultural phenomenon in the Arab world rather than a religious phenomenon. It is up to Muslims who practice and teach the religion they claim to love and cherish, to elevate it and interpret it in the spirit of tolerance." Though she is confident that the Arab world will eventually come to terms with the existence of a Jewish state, she is less sanguine about the growing danger posed to the West by Islamic fundamentalism. "The greatest misconception of the West is that their culture and democracy is indestructible and that the forces of terror and evil are not all that significant, but the bottom line is that many Muslims have their eyes set to Islamize America and the West and will not let go even after 9/11." Michael Freund served as an adviser to former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. This article appeared today in the Jerusalem Post and is archived at http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/ JPArticle/Printer&cid=1104122542292&p=1078027574097 |
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BUY SEEDLINGS FROM GUSH KATIF FOR TU B'SHVAT
Posted by IsrAlert, December 27, 2004. |
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Seedlings grown at the Gush Katif Nurseries will be planted in communities from Dugit in northern Gaza to Morag in the south of the strip. Organizers expect to plant thousands of trees this Tu B'Shvat. You can deepen your roots in Gush Katif in just four easy steps: Go to http://www.katif.net/2b/english.php
Harv Weiner, a businessman in Dallas, Texas, is the founder and moderator of Isralert. To subscribe to IsrAlert, send an email to isralert@aol.com |
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BERNADINE HEALY AND THE RED CROSS
Posted by Laureen Moe, December 27, 2004. |
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Dr. Bernadine Healy's resignation as president of the American Red Cross in December 2001 was a tragedy. This remarkable woman had, in less than two years, forced major reforms on a reluctant governing body and shown superb crisis management skills in the aftermath of the terrible events of Sept. 11. But this is not all she should be remembered for. Healy, shortly after she took office, discovered that the American Red Cross had acquiesced for decades in the policy of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent to oppose accepting Magen David Adom as a legitimate emblem of the Israeli equivalent of the Red Cross. She rightly saw this as, at best, turning a blind eye on a moral wrong; in an act of great moral courage, she set about to put things right. She spoke against the federation's anti-Israeli stance in Geneva, the home of the federation, and stirred up a hornet's nest of denials of wrongdoing, complaints against her lack of diplomatic finesse and charges that her methods just "weren't done" in Geneva. When it became obvious that the federation (and most of its member states) were not going to change their ways, Healy settled in for a long and sometimes nasty battle. She made it clear to the federation and her own board that the American Red Cross was no longer prepared to accept in silence a policy that was inimical to our deepest held values and that put the lie to the federation's claims of universality. Healy was forced out of office by a behind-closed-doors vote of the American Red Cross's Board of Governors -- not because of anything relating to the Sept. 11 tragedy but because she dared to try to right a wrong -- the wrong of denying a sovereign nation equality because of its ethnicity. The weak and easily persuaded had indeed succumbed to the blandishments of the sophisticated federation apologists who are so adept at making a wolf look like a sheep. Before long the American Red Cross, under its new and surely more "moderate" leadership, would return to paying its dues and "cooling it" on the issue of granting Magen David Adom the equality justice demands. As a result of this, whenever I receive a letter from the Red Cross soliciting funds, I send a note back in their post-paid envelope stating that, since Israel's Magen David Adom is not recognized by the organization, until this wrong is corrected I will withhold any contributions and will advise everyone I know to do the same. If you agree please send this to everyone on your list. It may help get Magen David Adom back on the funded list of that organization and they sorely need the help. It's like chicken soup.... it couldn't hurt! Laureen Moe is a Christian Zionist and lives in Canada. She can be reached at her website, http://www.laureenmoe.org She writes, "I dedicate this to the children that never came; and to my brother who died trying to stop a mad man that was on the loose in Germany." |
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FREE PALESTINIAN ELECTIONS
Posted by Yoram Ettinger, December 27, 2004. |
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The Palestinian elections, which will be held in January 2004 cannot be free. Free election on one hand, and the nature of the Palestinian Authority on the other hand, constitute an oxymoron. Elections do not become free through rhetoric, even when the rhetoric is uttered by leaders of respectable nations and by media and academia stars. Elections do not constitute a magic wand, which transforms totalitarian regimes into democracies. On the other hand, it is a free society, which is a critical prerequisite for Free Elections; a Free Society, which is based on the rights of the individual, rather than the rights of the ruler. Free elections are the by-product of a society, where citizens accord certain rights to their government. Free elections cannot be a by product of societies, where regimes accords certain rights to their subjects, eliminate their opponents and brainwash their population with hate-education. Elections held by a non-free society are inherently non-free, even if prestigious evening news anchormen and press conferences in Jerusalem, London, the UN and Washington, DC refer to them as "free elections". My late friend from Athens Texas would have said that "It doesn't matter how much lipstick and make-up you apply to a Doberman, it will always be a Doberman and never a Poodle." The January 2004 elections will deal a severe blow to the hopes of Palestinians to be liberated from the oppressive regime, which was imposed on them by "The Tunisians": Arafat, Abu Mazen, Abu Ala', Dahlan, Rajoub and other members of the PLO, who have been considered - by fellow Arabs - as the role model of treachery, corruption, intolerance and terrorism. These elections will accord further Western legitimacy to the political, ideological and financial infrastructure of Palestinian terrorism, and will therefore deal a setback to the pursuit of peace. The coming Palestinian elections will raise further doubts about the capabilities of post-1992 Israeli leaders to benefit from the lessons of the 1996 Palestinian elections, from the unprecedented terrorism of the last 11 years (since the signing of the Oslo Accord) and from the Regime-Change and subsequent elections initiated by the US in Afghanistan and Iraq. The January 1996 Palestinian elections were supervised by international and Israeli observers. They were certified as "free and democratic" by global personalities, such as former Presidents Clinton and Carter, by then Israeli Prime Minister Peres, by the UN, by all European leaders, by the NY Times, CNN, the three major US Networks, etc. They applied much lipstick and make-up, in order to Kosherize the elections, which upgraded the legitimacy of Arafat, Abu Mazen, Abu Ala' and other graduates of terrorist camps in Iraq, Yemen, Sudan, Syria, Libya, Lebanon and Tunisia. However, when the lipstick and make-up disappeared, it became obvious that notwithstanding the "free" election, the Palestinian Authority persisted in hate-education, terrorism, gross violation of human rights, corruption, systematic and violent violation of commitments made to Israel and to the US and repression of the Christian minority. A cardinal prerequisite to Free Election, to moderate regimes and to durable and peaceful coexistence is the uprooting of the regime, which has been responsible for the deterioration of the Palestinian society. Abu Mazen and Abu Ala' have not been in exile or in the underground during the last eleven years, since the signing of the Oslo Accord. Sometimes they opposed Arafat's tactics, but they always supported Arafat's strategy. Therefore, they were among Arafat's closest confidants and senior deputies since the 1950s, when they were leaders of the Palestinian cell of the Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo (which became the ideological mentor of Hamas terrorists). Along with Dahlan and Rajoub, they devised a series of understandings with Hamas, starting with the 1993 edition, which committed the PA and Hamas to a joint strategy (Israel's elimination), while assigning different tactical roles to each organization. Together the four PLO/PA leaders masterminded the system of hate education in PA-controlled schools, mosques and media. The four have earned the nickname - coined by fellow Palestinians - "Mr. 20%", for the notorious kickbacks extracted from businessmen, who deal with the PA. The US did not initiate elections in Afghanistan and Iraq, before the comprehensive dismantling of the Taliban and the Ba'th regimes. The Allies did not hold elections in Japan and Germany prior to the tearing down of the Tojo and the Nazi regimes. The Palestinian Authority is not a platform for Free Election. The Palestinian Authority is the key obstacle for Free Election. Legitimizing the January 2004 election - in defiance of the clear track record of the PA - has constituted another victory to wishful thinking over realism. It would, once again, reward Palestinian terrorism and adrenalize Islamic and international terrorism. It would cause, therefore, a setback to moderate Palestinian elements and to the pursuit of peaces. Ambassador Yoram Ettinger is an editor and consultant who lives in Jerusalem. This article appeared as a Ynet Op-Ed today. |
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THE ISSUE OF REFUSAL
Posted by Moshe Feiglin, December 27, 2004. |
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The Issue of Membership in and Voting for the Likud Many people are currently asking us: How can we vote for the Likud in
the coming elections? Whey should we join a party that expels Jews
from their country? Naturally, Ariel Sharon, Ehud Olmert, Shaul Mofaz,
and the other evil people, who stole the Likud from its members (as
clearly demonstrated by their ignoring the results of the referendum)
wish the loyal people in the national ruling party to give up and
leave.
Sharon and his gang in the Likud really want to see this happening,
thus giving them freedom of maneuver. They are so frightened of us
that, in an unprecedented step, they are refusing to accept
application forms for membership of the Likud. Doesn't this prove that
this is precisely what we should currently do - continue to recruit
new members? Do members of the Mafdal or Ichud Leumi worry Sharon? Or
perhaps the only ones that Sharon loses sleep over are the Manhigut
Yehuditmembers in the Likud.
Join the Likud. It is now far more difficult to do so than in the
past, but we can promise everyone who sends us a membership
application form that in the end the form will be accepted.
"But how can we continue to vote for the Likud?" continues the
questioner. Fortunately elections don't seem to be imminent, but those
who wish to receive a detailed answer should read the following
article (Recruiting, Voting, and Morality):
The Issue of Refusal
The controversy that surrounded Pinhas Wallerstein's letter is only
a storm in a teacup. For years the Left has consistently justified and
supported refusal. Even Attorney-General Mazuz has "displayed
understanding" for refusal to serve in the army, and don't forget that
this case is far graver that that of civilians.
It is therefore clear that the cries by the robbed Cossacks do not
address the fundamental issue, and they should be treated accordingly.
Wallerstein has started a positive process of assimilation of the need
for a total change of direction in the struggle for Gush Katif.
Leftist circles have frequently explained the legitimacy and
importance of public civil actions against the law, if done without
violence and with readiness to pay the price.
But why should one look for justification by Amos Oz, Yeshayahu
Leibovitz, Moshe Negbi, and Co. The Rambam has already explained in
Hilchot Melachim, that if a king commands to transgress Mitzvot from
the Torah, he is not to be obeyed. The issue is simple, and it is
therefore astonishing that there are rabbis who still support obeying
a clearly illegal order that totally contradicts the entire Torah (as
well as Israeli law). Don't forget that this is not a theoretical
issue, but one of the status of the State and the Redemption.
The issue is one of grave, undisputed offences, of aid for murder. The
experience accumulated over the last ten years clearly and unequivocally
indicates that every withdrawal encourages the murderous terror and
provides it with bases for continuing its murderous attacks. All the
warnings by those faithful to the country of what will happen if we
retreat, have been fully realized. Thousands of people have already paid
with their lives the price of obedience. Withdrawal means giving aid to
continuation of the terror.
Naturally, this is not the government intention, but this makes no
difference. Things that you see from here, Sharon doesn't and won't
see from there. A soldier who expels a Jew from his home in Gush Katif
and aids in handing over the area to the Arabs, also aids, judged by
all the precedents, the continuation and increase of Arab murders.
This is simple logic based on the clear and undisputed existence of
the last ten years. All the learned arguments by those rabbis who
support obeying this cursed order will not change this bitter fact.
But even those who dispute this argument cannot deny the simple
fact that this is a case of robbery. Is it permissible for a soldier
to steal the home of another Jew simply because the State ordered him
to do so? Is it permissible to steal on behalf of someone else? The
argument that the State, and not the soldier, is stealing is
ludicrous. The State is made up of individuals, and those who are
required to commit the crime have the right to refuse to do so. Those
who do not refuse are criminals.
Where is Manhigut Yehudit in All This?
Manhigut Yehudit is the successor to the Zo Artzeinu movement, that
orchestrated non-violent civil disobedience throughout the country.
The leaders of the movement willingly paid the price of their actions.
However, in the end, when the civil struggle of Zo Artzenu and others
was translated into a political victory, the alternative was Binyamin
Netanyahu.
It rapidly transpired that we had returned to square one. It became
apparent that without a substantive alternative the struggle in the
field was meaningless. Manhigut Yehudit was established for this
purpose. This is the issue we are engaged in and we shall not abandon
the first buds of the alternative that we have developed, even if we
are tempted to once again lead the struggle in the street. Zo Artzeinu
indicated clearly how to wage the struggle, and we hope that there
will be new people in the field who will lead the struggle that is so
vital today.
And Gush Katif?
Gush Katif possesses a great advantage over its attackers. All it has to do
is to remain strong and not give in. It is far more difficult for Sharon
than for the residents of Gush Katif. A combination of passive
determination in the Gush, and a real struggle throughout the country,
while things are getting more complicated for Sharon, will, with G-d's
help, lead to the cancellation of the evil decree. We shall of course
continue to employ all the political tools at our disposal in the Likud.
However, their effect is limited and we must not forget that we did not
join the Likud for this purpose.
A Study Day in the Subject of Renewal of the Community in the
Jewish State
On the 14th of Adar A we shall hold a study day in Jerusalem on the topic
of renewal of the community in the Jewish State.
The more we address the challenge of the future Jewish State, the more we
realize that the foundation stone of society in it is the community. The
Jewish people developed and was supported by the community structure over
the course of the generations, and this was the source of its social
strength. The centralized State of Israel discarded the community structure
out of hand, and the State in fact regarded itself as a single large community.
The result apparent today is that the State is incapable of really taking
care of its citizens, regardless of how much money is available. The
privately run soup kitchens prevent real starvation. The Israeli individual
lacking a community has entered a state of despair.
How can we renew the community structure in this great social
wilderness? It appears that this is the greatest social challenge
awaiting the Jewish State when it is established. In the study day
Prof. Paul Eidelberg will address the issue from the
legislative-scientific aspect; Rabbi Dr. Yitzhak Lipshitz from the
Halachic-political aspect; Prof. Hillel Weiss from the cultural-social
aspect; and Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu Zini (the Technion rabbi) from the
Torah-scientific aspect. The final address will be given by Rabbi
Israel Ariel on the symbiotic relations between the Jewish community
and the Temple.
The lectures will be held in Jerusalem on the 14th of Adar A, from 14:00
until the evening.
Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish Leadership) is a group of people inside the Likud party who want to see Israel adopt a more Jewish character. Moshe Feiglin, its cofounder, has emphatically said he does not want a theocracy, but he does want a State based on Jewish values. The Manhigut Yehudit website address is http://www.manhigut.org. |
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TELL ME SOMETHING I DON'T KNOW
Posted by Carrie Devorah, December 27, 2004. |
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TELL ME SOMETHING I DON'T KNOW
Tell me something I don't know. Article after article offers opinions on the Lion of Palestine, a small man who hid behind the veils of his religion while plundering it with one hand and violating its doctrines by, on the other hand, marrying out of his faith to a Christian. His name is not Arafat. It remains at time of his death, Mohammed Yasser Abdul-Ra'ouf Qudwa Al-Husseini. It was never legally changed. Al-Husseini's death certificate is hidden from his people's eyes delaying their knowing they were led by a literary re-creation of the Wizard of Oz into the Wizard of Gaza, another small man who manipulated lives from behind a screen until his cover was blown by a dog. Remember, it was Toto who pulled the curtain back. I puzzle at continual credits being given to former President William Jefferson Clinton for the Roadmap to Piece when the architect of origination was former President Carter. Clinton stood back of the infamous handshake between Rabin and Al-Husseini replicated time and again. I wait, but I don't hear the historical corrections just witness the continuous marching forward of hearing being re-written fraudulently one day at a time to re-inforce a people that didn't exist until modern media began rewriting it. Kevin Costner in his movie 'Field of Dreams' should be credited for the existence of the second Palestinian state. Yes, the second. The first is and remains Jordan, formerly known as Transjordan. The first Palestinian state bolstered its bottom line by tossing out those who lived off it with giving back little. Remember history. England. Pennsylvania. 1700's. A little visit down history lane... the undesirables - religious, prisoners and others were thrown on to boats and set up in a little known town called Philadelphia soon to become known as the place where the new country was declared a reality. You got it America, now the dominant corner of the world. So what is it we are really looking at when I review the photos of shot of Sharon slinking out of No. 10 a year ago, his head hanging down looking a grown boy schooled. What was it Blair, standing Texan tall, said to him, the leader of the Israeli state. And what was it the Israeli press wasn't allowed to hear last March when Sharon shut them out of inner office talks with then first term President Bush's meetings. The Israeli journalists words ring in my ears to this very day as I read the column stating the obvious about Israel's fence... Doesn't it make sense? Do we forget the walls from 60 years ago? Fences were built around Jews as holding tanks until it was time for their slaughter. A populace was shoved into cramped quarters while Jews working with the Nazis negotiated who went first and when. The truth remains, once all the deals were cut, those Jews went to the slaughter too. There is a little known fact I share looking at the photos of Blair touring Ramallah. While Arafat and his cohorts martyred themselves within two rooms, the truth remains unspoken. Their children live in places like Jordan, Beverly Hills. One of his cohorts ex-wives lives in DC and LA. She told me she makes movies for the US Treasury Department and plans on sending her sons to Beverly Hills High for the education. Her one hesitation - she was afraid her son might be prejudiced against being from the Middle East... Then I scratch my head once more looking at another headline dealing with illegal immigration, ID's and driver's licenses. Simply solved, let them all in. Our borders let in a man who does not use his real name and gave him the plum prize of the world, at a cost to our citizens ponying up the dollars and sense it took to wine, dine and protect him. Next time a pundit takes time to write a column, look around, and play the childhood game of Memory. One card up. Then put it face down and remember where you put the facts the next time you go to write a column on Occupation, Palestinians and media spin making a mountainous non-existent people out of moles in hills. Carrie Devorah is an investigative photojournalist based in DC. Former religion editor of "Lifestyles" Magazine, her areas of focus are faith, homeland security and terrorism. Devorah is the sister of Jewish Press columnist Yechezkel Chezi Scotty Goldberg, victim of Egged Bus 19 bombing, 1-29-04. Goldberg was a noted psychologist with expertise in at-risk youth. |
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THE PROSPECTS FOR A REAL ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN ARAB PEACE IN THE NEAR FUTURE
Posted by Avraham Weissman, December 27, 2004. |
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In his first official campaign speech, Mahmoud Abbas, (also known as - "Abu Mazen") the leading candidate (and I believe the winner of) - the Palestinian Authority presidential election - said this past Saturday (on December 25th, 2004) that "he would not employ force against any Palestinian group - and (he) called for an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 (war) borders as a prerequisite for achieving peace." ** Of course, the Palestinian groups he was referring to and against whom he refuses (and will continue to refuse) to employ force - were and are - the "Hamas," the "Jihad Islami" and (the PFLP or) the Popular Front for The Liberation Of Palestine, all of whom are rejectionist groups that publicly and totally "reject" the existence of Israel in the Middle East, no matter what its borders. All their rejectionist ideology is in complete accord with the PLO Covenant! Furthermore, recent reported election results indicate that the openly rejectionist Hamas obtained no less than 30 percent of the votes for representatives to the (PA) Palestinian Authority's new legislative council. That certainly does not forbode any relaxing of the PA's anti-Israel position nor of an increased or strengthened interest by the PA in "peace with Israel." Abu Mazen had already previously publicly declared that he would continue Arafat's policies. Abu Mazen insists, as Arafat did, that Jerusalem become the capital of the Palestinian State and that "the Palestinian refugees" must be permitted to return to what is now Israel - the resulting effect of which would be the eradication of an independent State of Israel! Previous experience, however, has shown that the statements of the "Palestinian" Arab leadership vis-a-vis Israel can be depended upon to be taken seriously, - but despite previous experience, the present Sharon government insists on interpreting Abas' statements as simply "electioneering rhetoric." Those same assumptions were made after the now failed "Oslo Agreement," when Arafat said, in Johannesburg, S. Africa, that the "jihad" (or holy war, a.k.a. "Islamic terrorism") would continue. At that time, the Israeli left wing lead government deluded themselves into believing that the "Palestinian Arab leadership" - didn't really mean what they said. History, of course, has shown that they were "dead wrong" with thousands of dead and wounded to prove it - without any peace in sight! With all due respect to the PM; Not only is PM Sharon's - (with help from his left-wing Labor Party pals) "disengagement plan" irrational, - because there is no quid-pro-quo on the Arab Palestinian side, (and none can realistically be expected) but such a move constitutes depriving people in the Gaza strip of their homes & property "without due process of law," that is to say with out a trial in a court of law. Such methods of doing things are used in dictatorships! Even the Soviet communists and other dictatorships called themselves "democracies" while knowing little if anything about the fundamentals of "free democracies" where both human rights and personal property rights are respected! Similarly, here in Israel, there is much talk about "democracy" but little understanding of some of its basic fundamentals. In addition the (disengagement) plan (which is really a forced population transfer) will encourage more terrorism, since Israel is proving that "terrorism works," and it will be leaving the worst of the terrorists (the Hamas & Jihad Islami in Gaza) free to arm themselves at will and in a perfect position to shell much of central Israel, including Tel Aviv, Ashkelon and many cities and towns in the northern and central Negev. ** The statement quoted is taken from page 1, The Jerusalem Post, Sunday - Dec. 26, 2004 edition. Avraham Weissman lives in Petach Tiqvah, Israel. He can be reached at avna@bezeqint.net |
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ONE NATION, 22 COUNTRIES
Posted by Yuval Zaliouk, December 27, 2004. |
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Dear friends,
As I have repeated many times in my bulletins, the one Arab nation is divided into twenty two separate countries. Likewise, the Arab-Palestinians are by their own definition an integral part of the Arab nation. Moreover, they already have an independent country called Jordan, in which 70% of the population is, you guest it, Arab-Palestinians. WHY DOES ONE ARAB NATION DESERVE 22 COUNTRIES, AND WHY DO THE ARAB-PALESTINIANS DESERVE TWO? Historically, we know what happened: The European colonialists, mainly Britain and France, divided the Middle East between the various tribes they favored for one reason or another. But Britain also allocated a national home for the Jewish people in the British Mandate territory, an ancient and distinct nation with all the typical and acceptable attributes of a separate nation. This territory was than, yet again, chopped off by Britain who gave 78% of it to Emir Abdallah, thus creating the country of Jordan. This huge country of Jordan is a viable, independent
Arab-Palestinian state, yet they now wish to chop off another part of
what's left of the Jewish homeland, the Biblical regions of Judea and
Samaria, and create yet another Arab-Palestinian state in them, and
the short-sighted, if not the blind, West, is pressuring Israel to
concede these regions and allow a murderous state 8 miles from the
center of Tel-Aviv.
Yuval Zaliouk writes the Truth Provider columns. To subscribe, send an email to ynz@netvision.net.il |
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PRISONER-RELEASE NEUROSIS; UNO RIGHT AND WRONG; KILLING TERRORIST
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, December 27, 2004. |
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MUSLIMS AGAINST TERRORISM Muslims in Cologne, Germany, 20,000 strong, rallied in protest against terrorism. The head of the Turkish-Islamic union, sponsors of the march, declared terrorism incompatible with Islam. More than three million Muslims are estimated to live in Germany. A couple of million live in the US, where more than a third were born and more than half (among adults and probably just males) are college graduates who want tougher anti-terrorism laws. They either do not speak out or, as some claim, do not get much publicity when they do (John P. Avlon, NY Sun, 12/21, p.8). Are the Cologne marchers representative of their co-religionists in that country? Are they sincere in opposing terrorism? In Britain, a similar rally was called by Islamists to take the wind out of the sails of a movement against terrorism, but mostly excused terrorism and did not call for reform. ISRAELI CIVIL RIGHTS GROUP "ACRI (Association for Civil Rights in Israel) is a radical far-left anti-Israel propaganda outfit, well-financed, as are all seditious activities in Israel, by the New Israel Fund and other groups outside Israel who do not exactly have Israel's best interests at heart." ACRI denounces violence, racism, and "occupation." The issue of "occupation" is not a civil rights one but a political one. A border dispute is not within the purview of a civil rights organization. As for violence and racism, the Arabs engage in that without much objection from ACRI. A genuine civil rights organization would object to the Arabs blowing up school buses. Perhaps ACRI is just a Communist (or pro-terrorist) front like B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights. The chairman of ACRI is a Communist from Iraq. When Prof. Steven Plaut asked ACRI for help in defending himself from a lawsuit for slander brought for criticizing a leftist, obviously to intimidate Plaut in the exercise of free speech, ACRI refused. It was not interested in that Jew's civil rights, just as it does not uphold Israel's right to defend its people from bigoted assault by the Arabs. Mr. Michael denied that Hamas activists are terrorists, because, he said, echoing the Arab line, they are fighting for their land (Prof. Plaut, 12/6, e-mail) It isn't Hamas' land. Nor is the point who is entitled to the land. The issues are: (1) Hamas' criminally inhumane methods Hamas uses; (2) The Arab war violates their negotiated peace; (3) The Territories are the immediate goal in a plan to seize Israel; and (4) Ironically, Israel would have given them the Territories war if they had kept their bargain, so there is no excuse for war. THE RELEASED PRISONERS To give the P.A. regime "confidence," Israel released prisoners who had not committed murder. They didn't commit murder, it is supposed (not known), but not for lack of trying. They shot at Israelis, threw firebombs at them, and stoned them. The government defined shooting, throwing firebombs, and stoning without bringing fatal results, as "relatively light crimes." What a travesty! (IMRA, 12/6.) Attempted murder is not a "light crime." Releasing attempted murderers is criminal negligence based upon the "Jewish neurosis" of appeasement that my people are afflicted with. The release sure does give the P.A. "confidence." It gives it confidence that Israel does not know who its enemies are and makes it easy for those enemies. Can't Israel figure out that people who committed lesser crimes in the attempt to commit graver crimes should not be released, lest next time they succeed in killing people? UNO DOES THE RIGHT THING The General Assembly approved a resolution criticizing Iran for human rights violations. The resolution cited new Iranian restrictions, such as arbitrary arrest and detention without trial or charges against journalists, parliamentarians, students, clerics, and academics. Iran closed newspapers and blocks Internet sites without justification. It disqualified most candidates for Parliament and harassed opposition activists during the campaign (New York Sun, 12/21, p.7 from Associated Press). More states abstained and voted no than approved. UNO DOES THE WRONG THING The UNO offices for coordination of humanitarian affairs and for the "peace process" in the Middle East released a study about the economic effect of the conflict in P.A. cities. The report blames Israel and only Israel for the decline in the Christian population of Bethlehem. Its explanation is that Israeli security measures impose hardships upon the Christians. These measures, such as roadblocks, the defensive barrier, some temporary restrictions on access to holy places, and even expansion of settlements, caused a loss of jobs in Bethlehem, especially in the tourism industry and agriculture. (Terrorism reduces tourism. Settlements provide jobs.) Since 2000, when the current war began, a tenth of the Christians exited, leaving Christians as 9.3% of the population of Bethlehem. The report ignored P.A. measures favoring Muslims. (One is that it brought to Bethlehem masses of Muslims from Hebron, diluting the Christian presence.) Nor did it explain that the fence had not yet separated Bethlehem from Jerusalem, so suicide bombers from Bethlehem committed many attacks in Israeli cities. Another shortcoming was that Christian emigration is general throughout the Mideast, under Muslim pressure. Christian emigration from Judea-Samaria fell 50% during Jordan's 17-year rule there (Benny Avni, NY Sun, 12/21, p.7). If the fence did not separate Bethlehem from Jerusalem, should the fence be cited as a factor? Why blame Israel for measures the Arabs force it to take in self-defense? The P.A. embezzled, or financed war with, most of the budget. A couple of hundred thousand Muslims emigrated, largely because P.A. governance wrecked the economy and made it unsafe. If Israeli security measures played a role in that emigration, wouldn't it also have affected Muslims too, so that the two faiths' relative proportion would remain the same? The gangs of Muslims that pick on Christians and their businesses must have had a great effect. The study failed to note those factors and the greater Muslim birth rate as factors reducing the Christian proportion and exonerating Israel from blame for it. ARAB VICTIMS OF AGGRESSION? "Arab countries, leaders and people, must not fall into the trap of believing that because they are the victims of aggression they escape judgment and responsibility for their own actions." IMRA notes that when Jordan speaks with Pres. Bush, it does not condemn the US as an aggressor (IMRA, 12/7 from Jordan Times). Jordan speaks with forked tongue. Which is Jordan's true sentiment? No longer victims of Western aggression in this era, the Arabs constantly wage aggression in one place or another, but pretend to be the victims. JORDAN RECOMMENDS DEMOCRACY, CLAIMS TO HAVE IT King "Abdullah called on the US to extend further support for Jordan. He said the Kingdom has gone a long way in implementing political and socio-economic reforms and enhance democracy in the country, where justice, equality and equal opportunity are guaranteed. Jordan, he said, has become a model to follow in the region." [IMRA: Of course it is not so.] He recommended democracy for the P.A. (IMRA, 12/7). Since Jordan lacks democracy, what is he recommending? Jordan is close to take-over by totalitarian Islamists. WHO PAYS FOR ISRAEL'S LEFT? "Who pays for Israel's Orthodox" (Hillel Halkin, December 21, 2004, referring actually to the ultra-Orthodox) is unassailable in its facts. Yes, in Israel, as contrasted with the US, the ultra-Orthodox do consider religious study a full-time endeavor to be supported by the rest of the country. But the article is one-sided in citing just them as welfare-oriented. And it would have been fairer to acknowledge a trend among the ultra-Orthodox to work for a living. Focusing on the ultra-Orthodox is like focusing on one slice of a pie chart. Mr. Halkin directs one's indignation against that slice, ignoring the rest. Here are examples that lend perspective: (1) The leftwing kibbutzim mismanaged their resources, the most recent time being a greedy over-speculation in a stock market that crashed. They appealed to the government to bail them out. That cost billions of dollars. (2) The kibbutznicks leased public land to cultivate. Now that such land has appreciated, the kibbutznicks want the privilege of selling it as if they had paid for it. More billions would go from the general taxpayer to that privileged, leftwing sector. (3) Workers' insurance funds squandered their assets. They were not held accountable either in a criminal sense or to make up for the losses. The government bailed them out. (4) Mr. Halkin reported that "large sums are transferred by the government in this community every year, both in the form of child allowances to maintain its high birth rate and of transfer payments to its religious and educational institutions?" The same is true of the Arabs, but Mr. Halkin does not object to that. Why not? Bedouin polygamy is winked at. Arabs enjoy lower tuition rates and admission standards, and are allowed to steal public and private land, build illegally, evade taxes, riot, and directly incite to murder? To focus on one sector for what all abuse is unfair. Israel's problem is broader. The government owns and controls too much; people expect it to solve all their problems. The result, conservatives know, is dependency, failed programs, and high taxes. IT ALWAYS IS MORAL TO KILL A TERRORIST An Israeli soldier killed a wounded terrorist. The soldiers explained that this was in the midst of combat, and that wounded Arabs sometimes succeed in injuring Israeli troops. US troops have found that wounded Arabs may be booby-trapped. B'tselem cited Arab sources that claimed the wounded man already was incapacitated. Religious Jews explained theTorah justification for killing terrorists. Terrorists are like serial killers. If allowed to live and be released, they will try to kill again. Evil they are, and evil must be eradicated. If kept in decent conditions in a prison, then released to become national heroes, they will not feel deterred (Arutz-7, 12/7). I think Judaism doesn't suggest killing all terrorists rather than imprisoning those who surrender. An Arab tactic is to pretend to surrender but then to pull out weapons and shoot unwary troops. Given Arab and B'tselem duplicity and solidarity against Israel, Arab witnesses against the Israeli Army should not be taken seriously. MEDIA COMPLICIT IN PM SHARON'S UNDEMOCRATIC MANEUVERS PM Sharon acts outside the rules. Each time a vote is to be taken in the Likud Party, members have to sue in court to force the Party to abide by rules inconvenient for Sharon. One vote involved allowing poll watchers. MK Landau asked that coalition negotiations be discussed before voting. Request denied, but the drama was omitted by the media (IMRA, 12/7). 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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PLEASE G-D, STOP THE MISSILES
Posted by David Wilder, December 27, 2004. |
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Where to start? Yesterday afternoon I attended a demonstration in the heart of Tel Aviv, joining hundreds of others protesting the continued bombardment of Gush Katif. In truth, we weren't protesting the attacks - rather we were protesting the lack of reaction. The Israeli armed forces are doing nothing, absolutely nothing, to stop the Arab Kassam missile and mortar attacks on Gush Katif's 8,500 Jews. Why? According to Gush Katif spokesman Eran Sternberg, not too long ago, Defense Minister Shaul Mufaz ordered Chief of Staff, General Moshe Ya'alon, "Don't hit back until after the palestinian elections (on Jan. 9th). In other words, the Israelis will just have to suffer for a while - this is the cost of peace. At the demonstration I met Mrs. Debbie Rosen, ([debihof@hofaza.org.il] - 972-8-68408470) who is working with Eran and Dror Vanunu in the Gush Katif spokesperson's office. Interviewing her for today's show, I asked Debbie, a resident of Neve Dekalim, about the situation in Gush Katif. She told me that not too long ago, following another rocket attack against them, speaking with a senior officer in the area, she asked him why the army doesn't shoot back, in the same fashion that the Jews are attacked? "Just like they shoot mortars at us, let's shoot mortars back at them." The officer looked at her, stunned, and replied, "What, shoot at them, just like that? It's not ethical to shoot mortars or missiles at innocent people." Debbie's response: "What about us - aren't we innocent people too?" The officer didn't answer - he just looked at her and walked away. I also asked her to describe to our listeners what happens when a bomb falls on your house, or next to it. Debbie attempted, for a few minutes, to express in words the inexpressible. We parted ways, and a couple of hours I was back in Hebron. I came into the office to pull down some the pictures from the event, when my cell phone rang. It was Debbie. In a voice choked with emotion, she related to me the following account: "You asked me to describe how it feels when a mortar or a Kassam rocket hits. Well, you just cannot imagine. Listen, tonight, while we were at the demonstration, there was a Bat-Mitzvah party for one of the girls here in Neve Dekalim. My daughter was there. The girls were outside in the yard when suddenly they saw an approaching missile. Running inside the house, well, they made it just in time. The missile exploded in the garden of that very same yard, where only seconds before, they had been playing." She added, "it's just like the boy who was playing basketball last week when a bomb exploded on the basketball court, very close to him." I sat, listening, not being able to speak. What can you say? We decided that I'd call Debbie back in the morning and let her repeat the story again, so I could record it and play it on my weekly radio show, later today (www.israelnationalradio.com). Late last week there was a general meeting of activists from around the country, in Jerusalem. Initiated by the Yesha council, the meeting introduced the organization's new campaign to prevent the abandonment of Gush Katif and the northern Shomron. The basic element of the program is a huge sit-down strike next to the Knesset, commencing next Tuesday. People from around the country will be asked to participate, irregardless of the rain and cold, and hopefully, the crowds will grow and grow, eventually reaching tens, if not hundreds of thousands of people. The goal: to convince the Knesset that the Israeli public will not accept expulsion of people from their homes, that the Israeli public will not accept abandonment of Eretz Yisrael to our enemies, that they - our representatives in the Knesset, must vote against legislation called 'the pinui-pitzui (eviction-compensation) law" when it reaches the Knesset floor. MK Uri Ariel of the National Union party, speaking at the conference, claimed that the only way to stop the eviction is via the Knesset - convincing them to vote against the law, and if necessary, bringing the issue to the people, either in the form of a national referendum, or regular elections. According to Ariel, there is a very strong probability that Sharon will not receive his party's nomination for the premiership, and that the eviction plans will draw to a complete halt. Other ideas are springing up. I receive an email from a reader in the United States, who (rightly) claimed that the 'Wallerstein proclamation' petition (www.petitiononline.com/eretzyis/petition.html) is not enough, that action must be taken. He suggested organizing a general strike throughout Israel, either in conjunction with the Yesha council campaign, or separately. Last night this person called me, and after some discussion, offered to try and organize such a strike. My own idea, sort of hidden within the petition, is very simple. Certainly I hope that the eviction plan will be thwarted long before Sharon attempts its implementation. However, should it come down to it, we are going to need hordes of people to stop the horror. We need thousands and thousands of people to drop what they're doing, board the planes, come over here, and do what has to be done. It's as simple as that. Simple, you ask? Simple? Work, family, etc etc - how can we leave all and just... come over? So ask you. But I ask you - what about Eretz Yisrael - what comes first - Eretz Yisrael, or work, or... etc? Remember, we're not just talking about Gush Katif and the northern Shomron. We're talking about all of Judea and Samaria. We're talking about Hebron. We're talking about Jerusalem. We are talking about the fate of the Jewish people in Israel. So, what comes first? You tell me. Basically, what it comes down to, is that we are going to have to close down the country. Not everybody is going to be able to get to Gush Katif, or even close to Gush Katif. However, Israel isn't a one-road country - I'm sure you understand what I mean. There are those who might recoil at such a suggestion. And to an extent I agree - under normal circumstances. However, these are not normal circumstances. This government, led by Ariel Sharon, is intentionally abandoning thousands of citizens, Israelis who serve in the army, citizens who pay taxes, citizens who are people, just like you and me - to their fate, like sheep surrounded by wolves. Ariel Sharon, together with Mufaz and Ya'alon, have adopted a policy of 'live and let die' - leave the Arabs alone, even at the price of Israeli lives. There is a difference between Arab blood and Jewish blood - Arabs are, in the words of the above-mentioned officer, 'innocents.' The Israelis are 'settlers,' and we all know what that implies. Last night, speaking at the protest, Bentzi Liberman, secretary-general of the Yesha council said, 'if three mortars hit Tel Aviv, the army would spare no efforts. But when it comes to Gush Katif, nothing is done - the people are abandoned.' After I had, more or less, finished writing this article, I had the second above-mentioned conversation with Debbie from Gush Katif. As we were talking, I couldn't help but think: this morning the Israeli media is drenched with yesterday's disaster in India-Thailand. It really is an awful calamity, tens of thousands dead; hundreds of Israelis traveling in that part of the world are still missing. We hope and pray that they are all safe and well. But what I have trouble understanding is that daily, almost hourly, Israeli citizens here, in Israel, not in India, not in Thailand, but here, an hour from Tel Aviv, are facing enemy attacks, their lives are threatened and some lives are destroyed. Where is Israeli radio? - where is Israeli television? - where is public opinion? Fine, talk about India, but what about our back yard? Debbie Rosen also told me about a woman whose home has come under direct enemy fire nine times. Do you have any idea what that does to a person? It has left this woman in permanent shell shock. Last night I came upon the Barat family from Kfar Darom. Hannah Barat was seriously injured during a terror attack and left paralyzed, living permanently in a wheelchair. Hannah is a very special person, and about a year ago gave birth to another child, a little boy, despite her disabilities. Her husband, Eliezer Barat, told me how, a few days ago, a rocket hit their home, destroying part of the roof. Thank G-d, no one was injured. But don't let anyone tell you that lightning doesn't strike twice. Eliezer and Hannah Barat and their family One final story. Debbie told me how her youngest son, in kindergarten, hearing thunder outside, told her, "Mommy, ask G-d to stop the mortars and missiles." The present administration can only be labeled as a 'memshelet shmad' - a government of annihilation a government willing to sacrifice its own people - and for what - for what? For absolutely nothing. Please G-D - Stop the missiles. With blessings from Hebron. |
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GREG MYRE ON "SETTLERS" ACQUIESCENCE TO RELOCATION
Posted by Marion D.S. Dreyfus, December 27, 2004. |
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Greg Myre wrote about a "Collective of Jews Agrees to Leave Gaza Under Plan" in today's New York Times. The settlement, Peat Sadeh, consists of just 20 farming families. Although Greg Myre takes note of the tiny number of Israeli citizens who chose to accept resettlement inside the "Green Line" as a part of Prime Minister Sharon's plan to render Gaza and associated areas of disputed territories judenrein, this advent ought not to be taken as the advance troupe of ensuing thousands. Most of those citizens living and working for decades in these areas are vociferously opposed to bending to the will of what they consider to be an ill-conceived plan for currying favor with a constituency clearly unacquainted with civilized norms of behavior no matter what the inducements; the Arabs even under the arguably less contemptible leadership of Mahmoud Abbas have still not internalized the self-defeating futility and savagery of their longtime response to having Israel as a neighbor. It is their obdurate rejectionism that must be overcome, in addition to their expedient temporary calls for cessations of violence against sovereign Israel, as countless observers have noted for the past decades, since the sanguinary machinations of Yasir Arafat somehow captured the world's attention as worthy of concern. It would be useful to note that Abbas does not call for abrogating villainous terrorism against innocents for the moral abhorrence of such crimes, but only to stem the short-term world memory of how appalling such behavior is. He wants only to tamp global revulsion at the uncanny Arab tropism toward maximal infliction of pain and death until such time as they achieve the goals sought, then, without cavil or hindrance, to continue their repugnant corpse-count cavalcade once the world's attention wanders elsewhere. This is neither a 'moderate' nor responsible posture, and to accord Abbas any respect on its ''merit'' is neither insightful nor historically sagacious. The vast preponderance of Israelis refusing to pay obeisance to this regrettable pre-debacle are aware of their options yet attuned to pragmatic realities. Marion Dreyfus can be reached at dreyfusmarion@hotmail.com |
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ARE YOU COMMITTED?
Posted by Ken Heller, December 27, 2004. |
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If you are and have the resources to go and the ability to take the time away from your jobs and family and friends, please let me know. I am trying to organize a list. I am in touch with Moshe Saperstein, from Gush Katif, to get some of the logistics worked out, like dates, accomodations, etc. I am also trying to locate organizations and/or individuals who would be willing to finance this overall effort for what I hope would be a large contingent of American Jews and Christian Zionists to go stand with our brothers and sisters against Sharon's tyranny. Anyone willing to help with that financing or if you know anyone or any group, please let me know and I would be happy to contact them. Let me know your thoughts. Thanks and shavua tov! Ken Heller
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COMING CATACLYSM: A BUSH ABOUT-FACE
Posted by IsrAlert, December 26, 2004. |
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One essential element of this (US) strategy is the pursuit of diplomacy up until a final settlement without waiting for the eradication of Palestinian terrorism. A second is sweeping change of current territorial divisions - and longstanding perceptions... Save for minor territorial adjustments, the US president sees the entire West Bank being incorporated in a future Palestinian state, leaving Israel with no more than five or six percent of the total land area of Judea and Samaria. If you are concerned about this, contact the White House today! White House phone and fax numbers:
Bush Wants Most of West Bank for Palestinian State. Sharon Is Left High and Dry. From: DEBKA Intelligence http://debka-net-weekly.com/  The Middle East is in for a big surprise.Belying the outward impression of steering clear of involvement in the Israel-Palestinian conflict as long as Palestinian terror persists, President George W. Bush is quietly planning dramatic moves - revealed here for the first time by DEBKA-Net-Weekly's Washington sources. His intentions have surfaced in fragments through telephone calls, messages by envoys and in off-the-record briefings to various forums over the past two weeks. Through these channels, the Bush administration has signaled Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, Jordan's King Abdullah and Palestinian presidential frontrunner Mahmoud Abbas, that he has decided to draw on the Afghan and Iraq models for an Israeli-Palestinian settlement formula.This entails some significant reversals which leave at least one of the four far from delighted. One essential element of this strategy is the pursuit of diplomacy up until a final settlement without waiting for the eradication of Palestinian terrorism. A second is sweeping change of current territorial divisions - and longstanding perceptions. The Bush administration goal common to Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestinian regions is the establishment of stable and democratic governments - even before the winding down of terrorism.An Israeli-Palestinian settlement has become a priority for the sake of its potentially powerful impact in the West, on the Muslim world and on America's standing in the Middle East. DEBKA-Net-Weekly's Washington sources report exclusively that Bush is resolved to be the first American president since Israel's establishment 56 years ago to come to grips with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by decisively addressing its core problems. As seen from the White House, it all comes down to territory. Crumbs for Israel Having determined where he stands on Israel's final borders and the frontiers of the projected Palestinian state, Bush has therefore come down firmly on the Palestinian side. In a series of messages to Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, he stipulated that all lands east of the as-yet unfinished Israel-West Bank security barrier will be lost to Israel in a final settlement. Save for minor territorial adjustments, the US president sees the entire West Bank being incorporated in a future Palestinian state, leaving Israel with no more than five or six percent of the total land area of Judea and Samaria. The decision reached the Israeli government through various channels. Elliot Abrams, the president's top strategist on the Middle East conflict and a senior director at the National Security Council, shocked a closed meeting of American Jewish leaders in Washington on November 30 when he said that the Jewish settlements outside the barrier will have to dismantled in the end. Abrams did not clarify whether he was referring to Jewish settlements currently on the other side of the defense barrier, or those which end up on the eastern side after the project's completion. The devil is in the details: Around 129 settlements with a total population of about 100,000 will remain outside the fence after it is fully constructed. About 130 settlements, including major towns like Ariel in the central West Bank (population 18,000), Maale Adumim southeast of Jerusalem (population 30,000), Efrat (population 7,500) and Kiryat Arba (population 8,000) adjacent to Hebron, are at present on the eastern side of the barrier, whether in places not yet reached by the fence or spots where construction has been interrupted by litigation or other causes. No mention has been so far of the major residential blocs in the West Bank inhabited by tens of thousands of Israelis or the districts added to Jerusalem after 1967. But a rough assessment indicates that a total of more than 100,000 settlers, or 40 percent of the 250,000 Israelis living in the West Bank, will be evacuated under the US plan - a prospect that dwarfs Sharon's disengagement scheme for pulling 8,000 Jews out of the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank. Abrams was a bit clearer the next time he expressed himself on the issue at a closed meeting of the Council of Foreign Relations in New York on Monday, December 20. According to DEBKA-Net-Weekly sources who interviewed its participants, the White House official said he stood by his previous assertion that all Jewish locations to the east of the defense barrier will have to be dismantled. He added that their number will probably be around 70, which is much higher than the current popular estimate, because the Bush administration continues to stand opposed to drawing the security fence around settlement blocs - especially those in the central West Bank, the Lod-Modiin area east of Tel Aviv and Gush Etzion. The last bloc is the largest group of settlements southeast of Jerusalem and an important corridor linking the Gaza Strip, West Bank and southern Israel. A Bush about-face is denied In short, the US government is challenging Sharon's much-trumpeted claim of a Bush concession at their April 14 White House meeting: in return for Israel's planned Gaza pullout next year, the prime minister reported Bush had agreed Israel would retain control of the large West Bank settlement blocs under a final-status peace agreement with the Palestinians. Asked about this seeming about-face, Abrams responded that Bush had warned Sharon at the time that any understandings they reached would be governed by three fundamental provisos. Those provisos were spelled out in their White House statements and in their exchange of letters. 1. The United States will not prejudice the outcome of final status negotiations and matters for the parties. But the realities on the ground and in the region have changed greatly over the last several decades and any final settlement must take into account those realities and be agreeable to all parties. With all respect to Sharon, Abrams said, the prime minister should have paid more attention to the detailed phrasing, i.e. that any permanent deal must be acceptable to both sides. Bush, he added, believes his formula fits that definition. 2. As part of a final peace settlement, Israel must have secure and recognized borders, which should emerge from negotiations between the parties in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions 242 and 338. 3. In the light of new realities on the ground, including already existing major Israeli population centers, it is unrealistic to expect that the outcome of final status negotiations will be a full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949... It is realistic to expect that any final status agreement will only be achieved on the basis of mutually agreed changes that reflect these realities. According to Abrams, mutuality is the key, meaning that Abbas, Mubarak, Saudi crown prince Abdullah and Jordanian King Abdullah must also sign on to the deal. As far as Abrams and the White House are concerned, the US position couldn't be any clearer and anyone saying otherwise is suffering from tunnel vision. A Washington dressing-down for Abbas According to DEBKA-Net-Weekly's sources in Washington, immediately after winning re-election on November 2, Bush informed Abrams he was appointing him US ambassador to Israel. The appointment would be announced, he said, after Sharon finished putting together his new government coalition and the January 9 Palestinian presidential ballot was out of the way. The President informed the ambassador-designate that his job would be to carry forward the new American policy on Israel and the Palestinians. Our sources report that shortly afterwards, the White House notified the incumbent ambassador, Daniel Kurtzer, that Abrams would take over. Abrams and the designated head of the National Security Council, Stephen Hadley, have meanwhile been on the phone to Abbas. He was reprimanded for pushing for final-status negotiations with Israel to start immediately while ignoring Sharon's disengagement plan and Palestinian obligations under the Middle East roadmap to peace. He was also put down for demanding that he and the Bush administration come to an understanding on a formula for presenting to Israel at the final-status talks. Washington cautioned the Palestinian leader that this short cut was "a recipe for failure". In any case, Abbas was putting the cart before the horse, demanding negotiations before his election. He was therefore advised by the White House officials to line up behind Sharon's Gaza pullout scheme, discuss coordinating the project between the Palestinians and Israel and try and make it attractive to the Palestinians. The Palestinian candidate was given an incentive for being accommodating. World Bank chief James Wolfensohn arrived in Jerusalem and Ramallah this week with a pledge in his pocket of an immediate $125 million cash infusion to tide over the Palestinian Authority until the election. On the US government's behalf, Wolfensohn promised Abbas more of the same if he was cooperative. Middle East roadmap clock starts ticking next month According to DEBKA-Net-Weekly's Middle Eastern sources, Jordan's King Abdullah and Egypt's Mubarak also received US messages defining their respective roles in future Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking. Washington dismissed as unacceptable Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman's plan for Egypt to become the main overseer of security in the West Bank as well as in the Gaza Strip. There were no American objections to Egypt taking charge in Gaza, but Jordan had been cast as the senior manager of security in the West Bank. "Do not act unilaterally in the West Bank," one US message said, informing Egypt it was expected to synchronize its actions not only with Israel, as it has hitherto, but with Jordan as well. In another message, setting out the diplomatic framework for the Israeli-Palestinian track, the Bush administration notified King Abdullah, Sharon, Mubarak and Abbas that the day after the January 2005 presidential inauguration, "the roadmap's clock would start ticking" and the countdown begin for its implementation. Sharon's disengagement plan was termed the preliminary to putting the broad peace blueprint into motion. The message did not refer to the roadmap's original timetable for a full Israeli withdrawal and establishment of a Palestinian state by the end of 2005. Signaling a schedule change, Bush recently said he hoped a Palestinian state would be created in 2008, but our sources note the president this week also cited 2005 as a year that could bring Israeli-Palestinian peace. "Sudden Discord between Bush and Sharon," DEBKAFile Exclusive Report from Washington, December 17, 2004. Israel's prime minister Ariel Sharon was warned many a time to beware of placing all his major policy eggs in the George W. Bush basket. But from the time he first took office more than three years ago, he never wavered from his bond with the US president. Their friendship was often cited as one of Sharon's prime assets. And until last week, the Bush administration stood behind the prime minister and heartily endorsed his plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank in stages ending in September 2005. But then the wind blowing in from Washington suddenly turned chill. In the last week, according to DEBKAFile's Washington sources, the White House suddenly spun its sympathies around from Ariel Sharon and his disengagement plan to Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), Fatah frontrunner in the Palestinian January 9 election, and his sweeping demands for territorial concessions. The prime minister's office in Jerusalem has not acknowledged that a main prop has been knocked out from under his most fundamental policy positions. But it was suggested in Sharon's "2005 - year of big opportunities" speech Thursday night, December 17, in Herzliya. He declared in ringing tones that recalled the way he laid down the law to Likud rebels: Disengagement will take place and it will proceed according to the format and time scale I laid down! DEBKAFile's Washington sources outline the new state of play. Our sources in Washington believe that the determining factor in the US president's turnabout was the message from Abbas that he will be in a position to announce a comprehensive ceasefire on or around January 1. He promises to bring all the Palestinian organizations including the radical Hamas and Jihad Islami into the truce. Bush decided that if Abu Mazen can pull this off, his demands deserve close attention. They are, first, that Israel hold up its plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank by September 2005 and set a new timeline. Its execution must also be swift, no more than a few weeks. He thus rejects Sharon's hard-and-fast timetable on which Israel's security chiefs have based their 2005 planning. The Bush administration may have bought another key Palestinian demand: Israel's withdrawal from the West Bank must be a lot deeper than the line marking off the northern tip with the four settlements that Sharon proposes to evacuate. That pullback too, according to the new US thinking, must take place in the space of weeks rather than the six months allotted by the Sharon government. These demands are not the sum total of Abu Mazen's shopping list - just starters. But if confirmed by Washington, they will require Sharon to scrap his four key policy objectives. 1. The disengagement strategy born at the peak of Yasser Arafat's campaign of terror as a unilateral exercise will be laid on a future negotiating table and subjected to tough Palestinian bargaining every inch off the way. Since last week, Washington looks like lining up behind Palestinian demands rather than Israel. 2. The proposition that the withdrawal from Gaza and northern West Bank will be Israeli's last territorial concessions to the Palestinians, presented to the Israeli public as the crowning achievement of the Sharon-Bush friendship, will go by the board. On April 14, President Bush received Sharon at the White House and endorsed his disengagement plan. ("I commend Prime Minister Sharon for his bold and courageous decision to withdraw from Gaza and part of the West Bank" - as did British premier Tony Blair later). The US president also said "in the light of new realities on the ground, including existing major population centers, it is unrealistic to expect that the outcome of final status negotiations will be a complete and full return to 1949 armistice lines." 3. Washington has said often that terrorism must stop as a prerequisite for political progress. But how serious is this assertion? Since last month, the Americans and Iraqi prime minister Iyad Awali have been in and out of Amman for secret meetings under Jordanian King Abdullah's aegis to coax Iraqi Sunni leaders and Saddam loyalists to take part in Iraq's new democratic enterprise. Some of the Iraqi interlocutors lead guerrilla operations against US forces in Iraq - either from inside the country or from outside bases, mainly in Syria. If Washington is willing to engage Iraqi terrorist leaders, why not open an indirect channel to Palestinian terror organizations too? 4. In his "Big Opportunities for 2005" speech Thursday, Sharon presented his Gaza pullback plan as the road to cure-alls for Israel's economic woes, to new markets and to solutions for the extreme social and economic disparities between Israel's rich and poor. DEBKAFile's Washington sources note that, while the Bush administration never promised US aid for the payout to evicted settlers or the Israeli army's redeployment in the Negev, it was understood that Washington would be helpful to Israel on international and financial markets. That too is in doubt. The Bush administration is now focusing fully on raising $6-8 billion dollars from its own resources and those of other nations, including the Europeans, for Palestinian reconstruction and recovery projects over the next five years. Israel will not only miss out on funding for its peace efforts but its taxpayers will be asked to contribute to the Palestinians. Former prime minister Ehud Barak has picked up the new winds blowing from Washington, for, speaking after Sharon, he called for the urgent completion of the defense barrier. Because of delays in its construction, he said: "... Israel may have already lost Ariel and he is not sure that Maaleh Adumim is not lost too and Gush Etzion at risk." Barak was nudging the prime minister to stop bandying words with the White House and instead to create facts on the ground without delay. Sharon is therefore in for some hard shoves to adapt to the Palestinian scenario. He is still clinging to his plan with all his strength. In his Herzliya speech, he noted bitterly: I cannot accept changes of plan after all my struggles, sacrifices and battles. A month ago, he could have escaped the pressure by dissolving his minority government and calling an early election. But that door is closing fast. In the next few days a coalition agreement which he initiated is due to be signed for attaching dovish Labor and Oslo Accord architect Shimon Peres to his government. Sharon is careening very fast into a fix undreamt of two weeks ago; he is about to be dragged by the White House and pushed by his Labor partner away from his cherished disengagement plan and forced to kowtow to a US-backed Palestinian agenda.
Harv Weiner, a businessman in Dallas, Texas, is the founder and
moderator of Isralert. To subscribe to IsrAlert, send an email to
isralert@aol.com
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AVERAGE TIME SERVED BY RELEASED PALESTINIANS BY CRIME
Posted by Dr. Aaron Lerner, December 26, 2004. |
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"If you first don't succeed try try again"
Placing bomb: 39.3 months Shooting: 37 months Throwing fire bombs: 28.8 months Source: Data collected from list of Palestinian prisoners slated for release as gesture to Egyptian President Mubarak - Israel Prison Service Website http://list.ips.gov.il/list20041220a.htm Dr. Aaron Lerner is Director of Independent Media Review and Analsis (IMRA). Its website address is http://www.imra.org.il |
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BIG TROUBLE BREWING BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND THE EUROPEAN UNION
Posted by David Ben-Ariel, December 26, 2004. |
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The rift between the U.S. and the E.U. grows daily, and politico-religious differences could lead to military surprises and blitzkrieg betrayals with global impact. (PRWEB) December 27, 2004 -- France and Germany's rejection of the United State's lead in the war to liberate Iraq, is only the tip of the iceberg of America's estrangement from former allies. America's solitary confinement, our frightening isolation, has only just begun - according to author David Ben-Ariel - and threatens to grow deeper as the distance between our world views grows wider. The United States is in for a rude awakening: Europe wants to go it alone and will pursue their "Grand Design" of European Unification without us. Yet Europe condemns America for unilateral actions. America has been the chief architect of a German-dominated Europe, and now that the Frankenstein is ready for lightning to shock it into being, the United States is no longer needed and could actually become the first victim of such a monstrous creation. The Balkans sparked Germany's return to military power in Europe and the injustices against the Orthodox Serbs will seem tame to what lies in store. Europe and the United States are on a collision course. The continental drift continues despite pretty political platitudes, and spiritual fissures increase behind diplomatic smiles. Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall is determined to bring what's going on in the dark out into the open for national debate and international discussion. David Ben-Ariel iss author of "Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall." Contact him at http://www.pushhamburger.com/david.htm |
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FIGHTING A WAR ON MANY FRONTS
Posted by Batya Medad, December 26, 2004. |
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The Right to Feel I was about to start this with "Many years ago..." then suddenly I realized that the word "many" is terribly subjective. My concept of "Many years ago..." is less than that of my parents, and my own children's is certainly less than my own. I have no problem respecting it. Food that is indelibly salty to me is absolutely tasty and delicious to others. Music that gets on my nerves is fantastically popular with other people. That doesn't make any of us wrong. So why are the feelings of the holocaust survivors living in Gush Katif less valued, legitimate, kosher, than those who run Yad Veshem? The survivors in Gush Katif are feeling a terrible deja vous, like they're back in the time of the Nazis being herded out of their homes into danger, and possible murder. While the Yad Veshem crowd is still insisting that millions "perished;" the "M" word not escaping their lips. No one forced anyone to wear an "orange star," and it really bothers me that the campaign was derailed. Obviously it hit a nerve, and that means that their message was getting across. It's a shame that the Gush Katif residents stopped the campaign, because I would have fought for them. Their pain and memories are no less haunting and legitimate than those of the "survivor celebrities." Another Campaign More and more people are trying to figure out how the Prime Minister, a former general, known for his patriotism and courage, is sitting idly by while civilians in cities and communities are being bombed daily. I don't have anything nice to say. Thank G-d there is a G-d. There is no other explanation for the miracles that happen daily and nightly in Gush Katif, Sderot and surrounding areas. For years we've marveled at the miracles of the Gulf War. Statistically it?s impossible for there to have been so few casualties. That's how we know it's G-d. G-d goes against nature. And is that why Arik Sharon is getting more and more stubborn and hard-hearted about the good patriotic citizens in Gush Katif? Is it the same hand of G-d that hardened Pharaoh's heart, hardening Sharon's? Sharon and his advisors think that a few more bombs, and the good Jews will run gratefully into the "camps" he's setting up for them. Sharon won't get his wish. We are stronger. We may not have jails and tanks and physical weapons, but we are a "stiff-necked people." Education A revolution is being planned in Israel's education. It sounds like a nightmare. Ten's of thousands of teachers are to be fired, and class-size is to be reduced. Now, you don't have to be a CPA's daughter like I am to see problems with the numbers. The Dovrat Commission thinks that if they offer the teachers a little more money, the teachers, the better ones of course, will stay in school double the hours, five days a week. They think that parents will pay extra money for extracurricular activities for their kids on Fridays. Only the largest schools will be financially stable. Religious schools will be required to drastically reduce the hours for Jewish studies or they'll lose government support. I really don't like writing all this depressing stuff. And I didn't even mention the soldier thrown out of an officers' course, because he said that he could never pull a Jew out of his home. The army told him that such opinions disqualify him from being an officer. Strange that when left-wing air force pilots signed a letter that they wouldn't drop bomb on civilians sheltering terrorists, that was considered ok. His father, an immigrant from the former USSR, was sure that he had left such a totalitarian society. Basically all these stories are the same. We're going through a very difficult time, fighting a war on many fronts. And the biggest and most dangerous is the one for our hearts and minds. They're trying to destroy us, to weaken us, but they won't succeed. Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokenu, Hashem Echad This is Musing #91. Batya Medad lives in Shiloh. She can be reached by email at Shilohmuse@yahoo.com or visit her website http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/ or go to http://www.shilo.org.il |
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THE "STRUGGLERS" MUST PULL OUT
Posted by Evelyn Hayes, December 26, 2004. |
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Mahoud Abbas modifies militants into "strugglers"; in fact, many are illegal mercenary inmigrants who took the places of the Jews who would have arrived in their Mandated Homeland and not suffered the Holocaust. The militants must pull out of Israel. Before Jordan invaded Israel in 1948 there were only 3000 Arabs in Jericho. Gaza had a Jewish population. Jews were a majority in East Jerusalem. Rabbi Aryeh Levin used to walk to Bethlehem from Nachlaot. The Yemenites lived in the Silwan Valley. The "strugglers" are a continuation of the Arab Pogromers and Warriors against the Jews and at this time they are in a very evil jihad with repercussions in Iraq, America and around the globe. This jihad not only suicide-kills Jews, American diplomats, etc., but smuggles heavy weapons from Egypt and the Karine A against the Egypt/Israel peace treaty as well as the Arab moderate middle classes and Christians, so many of whom have fled the Arab corrupt extortionists. The settlers are Jews who have reclaimed lost land and historical, Biblical, legal property. These re-settlers have made uninhabitated deserts and wartorn communities green and thriving. In Gush Katif, Jews use plowshares and have proud greenhouses to provide for the whole globe. Mahoud Abbas is vehement in his lies and uncompromising in his demands; his smooth talk is jagged edged. As he will not use force against his jihad strugglers, even if armed, Israel must not use force against the three generations of Jewish re-settlers in Gaza including Jewish refugees from Egypt, Yemen and other Arab countries. Israel must recognize and demand its rights, deeds, legacy, Holyland and its responsibility to what is under the Temple Mount renamed Al Quds because Moslem-buried Jerusalem was Jewish First, suffered destruction of 58 synagogues under Jordanian occupation and is rebuilt and a light unto all nations only if occupied by the righteous Jew. The paid jihad "strugglers" must pull out and go home; the Jewish re-settlers must be left to rebuild their reclaimed land decimated by the latest imperialists. Israel is not only a memorial to those past and lost, chased across the globe and then chased back; it is monument of the highest civilization that considers all humanity. It's settlement means settlement for all the oppressed by pan-jihad "strugglers" and their tyrannical "deathlords". Evelyn Hayes can be reached at haze@rcn.com |
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FORGIVE THEM FATHER FOR THEY DO NOT KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING
Posted by Yoram Shifftan, December 26, 2004. |
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In this season of good will it is in particular befitting to act in Christian spirit and to express understanding for "Presbyterians and others" who propose to divest of Israel. They refer to "Illegal expansion of Israeli settlements and a new security wall that encroaches on Palestinian land" (http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1206/p11s02-lire.html). I trust that their motivation is sincere and well-meant since how would they know that international law actually calls for such an "expansion" i.e. for the encouragement and facilitation of dense settlement of the land of Palestine with Jews and it forbids the transfer of the land out of Jewish control in any way. The security wall cannot "encroaches Palestinian land" since according to international law it is built on Jewish land. Indeed how could they know when the government of Israel itself refuses for many years to allow its representatives to openly assert the dictates of international law with respect to Palestine. This is a refusal that persists in the face of the international community focusing precisely on the "illegality of the settlements built on Palestinian land". This refusal feeds the motivation of countless number of anti-Israel acts, terrorist and more civil such as academic and commercial boycotts, it feeds the demoralization of the Jews and their belief in the injustice of their cause, and it is the direct cause of major loss in Jewish life and assets. But this refusal has one more significance: In the absence of the voicing by official Israel that international law encourages the expansion of settlements, the uprooting of settlements becomes easier. Indeed imagine the public outcry if the public knew that international law actually calls for the urgent expansion of Jewish settlement in the land of Palestine. Such a knowledge by the public will have reinforced the more general dictate of human rights that Jews should not be uprooted from anywhere in the world. Therefore I say with respect to the "Presbyterians and others", forgive them father, for they know no better. Dr. Yoram Shifftan has published many articles on Israeli hasbara, in publications such as Ha'aretz, Ma'ariv, Hatzofeh, Hamodia and Ha'Uma, Think-Israel and Jewish Internet Association. See his articles on the validity of Israeli claims to Palestine in the September-October 2004 Think-Israel issue. |
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SHARON'S NEW PHALLIC MCCARTHYIST: OPHIR PINES
Posted by Steven Plaut, December 26, 2004. |
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Well it is now official. The new Minister of the Interior in the new coalition of appeasement to be composed of the Likud and the Labor Party will include Ophir Pines as the Minister of the Interior. This is one of the more powerful cabinet slots because the Minister is in charge of all allotments of finances to local authorities. He also is in charge of things like immigration rules and population registration (such as registering gay "marriages".) This is atrocious for several reasons. Pines is arguably the most openly contemptuous Labor Party politician regarding free speech and democracy. He has filed motions with the authorities regularly and frequently, trying to urge the police and prosecution to indict and investigate anyone who happens to disagree with the Left, include Rabbis and journalists and other politicians (http://web.israelinsider.com/bin/en.jsp?enPage=ArticlePage &enDisplay=view&enDispWhat=object&enDispWho=Article^l2885& enZone=Politics&enVersion=0& and http://www.forward.com/issues/2003/03.12.05/news8.treason.html and http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=160353 &contrassID=2&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y and http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/ JPArticle/Printer&cid=1094959652453&p=1078027574097). He has made it his special cause to try to get the authorities to persecute Rabbis (http://middleeastinfo.org/article.php?sid=3690) and "Women in Green" and similar anti-Oslo protest groups. Pines is an anti-democratic McCarthyist who has even called for indicting Ariel Sharon for exercising his freedom of speech (http://www.israeleconomy.org/opeds/oped6.htm). He was the leading spokesman for the "Netanyahu was guilty of Rabin's asssassination" school of McCarthyism (http://www.netaxs.com/home/r/afsi/OUTPOST/97NOV/nov2.htm). He was one of the main promoters of the anti-democratic doctrine of "judicial activism" by which non-elected judges can trump laws passed by thge elected representatives of the people (http://www.irac.org/article_e.asp?artid=193). He has campaigned against Sharon's security wall (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/ JPArticle/Printer&cid=1088566588655&p=1078027574097) Moreover, Pines is one of the dumbest people in Israeli politics. He tried to initiate a constitutional change making it an automatic entitlement to receive lage welfare handouts from the government (http://www.iasps.org/nbn/nbn463e.htm). He has been the father of some equally dumb things. The appointment does have one humorous side and that is Pines' name. Ophir Pines is actually pronounced "Offer Penis". Really! (I usually respond to hearing his name mentioned by saying Sure but not mine.) In one of God's funnier moments of humor, "Penis" was a common name for German Jews, and in Germany it did not carry the phallic connotations you are all chuckling over. In fact there were a number of famous Rabbis with the name, and if I am not mistaken they were even "Cohanim". In Germany and in Hebrew you can write the name in a way that does not cause us all to snicker like junior high kids. Most of the Jews with the name spell it "Pines" when using Latin letters or addressing English speaking audiences for obvious reasons, although a few courageous ones use the alternative and pnenon-correct spelling. Some Jews also changed the pronunication to sound like the Ponderosas. The kind with the cones on them, not the kind Bill showed Monica. So the Ariel Sharon's national unity caper is about to impose a Minister Pines upon us. And we will no doubt get endless laughs from all this (can someone pass on the info to Leno and Letterman?), every time he steps up to propose a new persecution of non-leftists exercising their freedom of speech. And every such act of McCarthyism should trigger demands that Sharon circumcize his cabinet of this minister! And cut down the Ponderosa! 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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COL. HIRSCH EXPELS ANOTHER STUDENT FOR POLITICAL VIEWS
Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, December 26, 2004. |
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This is a news item from today's Arutz-7. It is archived at
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=74182
A young cadet in the IDF Officers Training School has been expelled from the school because he said he would not fulfill orders, if given, to destroy Jewish communities. The soldier was taking part in a class on democratic ideals and refusal. The issue arose during discussion about last year's "Pilots' Letter," in which a group of Israel Air Force pilots wrote that they would refuse to drop bombs on residential areas used by terrorists to hide. During the course of the class, the commander said that the army would not tolerate refusal under any circumstances, and that he himself would volunteer to evacuate Jewish communities in Yesha. The soldier in question - a resident of Karnei Shomron in northwestern Samaria who serves in the Engineering Corps - was unable to remain silent, and said that there was no room for comparison between the two issues. He made it clear that he would refuse an order to take part in demolishing Jewish communities. The soldier's father told the Yediot Acharonot newspaper, "My son said that the refusal of the pilots, who in the middle of a war announced that they would not fight, is not the same as ideological refusal to expel citizens from their homes and destroy Jewish communities in the Land of Israel. He said that the evacuation of communities is a badge of shame for the country, and that the comparison to the pilots who refused is inflammatory." Col. Gal Hirsch, Commander of the Officers School, in consultation with other officers, spoke with the soldier, who repeated his claims and said that the disengagement plan "stands in opposition to the spirit of the Declaration of Independence." Hirsch then removed him from the course, for reasons of "unsuitability" and "unbecoming behavior." The soldier's father, Vitaly Vovnoboy, who made Aliyah from one of the former Soviet Union countries in the late 1980's, told Army Radio that he is proud of his son. "An order to evacuate communities is a blatantly illegal order, which no one is allowed to fulfill. If they tell the soldiers to conquer the Knesset, would they be expected to fulfill that order?" He added that when he was in the Diaspora, "I dreamt for a long time that my son would serve in the Israel Defense Forces." The father also said, "I taught him that the IDF is a humanitarian, strong, and thinking army. But now he sees that the army... creates a situation in which soldiers and officers are afraid to sound their views and to ask questions. This is the true danger, not my son." Col. Hirsch, in February of this year, also removed a cadet from an officers' course after he expressed harsh criticism of then-Chief of Staff Sha'ul Mofaz, now the Defense Minister. The would-be officer criticized Mofaz for the way he handled the October 2000 incident at Joseph's Tomb - in which soldier Madhat Yusuf bled to death while the army waited for PA forces to allow Israel to rescue him. Likud MK Ayoub Kara, who led an unsuccessful public campaign at the time to have the student reinstated, spoke with Arutz-7 today about Col. Hirsch's apparent tendency to oust students because of their political views, said, "It's a terrible thing for an army to do. In this [latest] case, the student is not refusing orders, but merely expressed his view about what he would do if and when he faces the situation. To oust a student from the course because of his views?!" Aryeh Zelasko lives in Beitar Illit, south of Jerusalem. He is Director of Sales and Marketing of Israel Visit (www.israelvisit.co.il) which provides information and an internet buying facility for American visitors to Israel. |
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SHARON MERCILESSLY ABANDONS THE JEWS OF GUSH KATIF
Posted by Ruth and Nadia Matar, December 25, 2004. |
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Over the past 3 years, 5000 katyusha rockets have been fired by Arab terrorists at the Jewish Communities of Gush Katif. Over the past few days, a non-stop flow of katyusha rockets and missiles have been falling like rain on the communities in Gush Katif. Only by miracle, entire Jewish families have not yet been murdered in their homes. Despite these above facts, the Government continues to tie the hands of the Army, and does not send our soldiers to eliminate, once and for all, all Arab terrorists and their helpers. One cannot explain this in any other way then that there is a deliberate policy by Sharon to encourage abandonment by the Jews of Gush Katif of their respective communities. By causing despair amongst those Jews by reason of such rockets, and the army doing nothing about it, we have a situation of Arabs killing Jews with the approval of the Sharon Government! To our shock and horror, Sharon is callously encouraging the firing of these rockets. He is thereby encouraging Arab terrorism. What he doesn't want to realize, is that the Arabs will learn from this, that terrorism pays and is rewarded even by a Jewish Government. It is time for Sharon to stand trial for the crime of not protecting Israel's residents as any Prime Minister is required to do. We urge all residents throughout Israel to go to the nearest police station in whatever city they are located to file a complaint against Prime Minister Sharon for abandoning Jews living in the Promised Land to Arab terror. We must not remain silent when our fellow Jews are under attack by Arab terror. It is a disgraceful and callous government that is allowing these Arab attacks without any response whatsoever. These actions of Sharon are unpardonable, and he should be indicted, before the likelihood that a Jew is murdered or is severely injured. We can no longer stay silent in the face of what is happening to our fellow Jews. GO TO YOUR LOCAL POLICE STATION, AS WE IN JERUSALEM WILL DO ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2004, AT NOON, EN MASSE. THE MORE POLICE COMPLAINTS THE BETTER ! Ruth and Nadia Matar established Women For Israel's Tomorrow (Women in Green), an activist group of women based in Jerusalem. Their website address is http://www.womeningreen.org |
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A FAILURE OF "CONCEPTZIA" - AGAIN?
Posted by Dr. Ron Breiman, December 25, 2004. |
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Professors for a Strong Israel asks the Prime Minister: * Doesn't the death of Arafat create a need for a pause and a reevaluation of the reality around us? Dr. Ron Breiman, is Chairman of Professors for A Strong Israel (PSI). He can be reached by telephone at 050-5-518 940 in Israel. |
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A CRY IN THE DESERT?
Posted by Yuval Zaliouk, December 25, 2004. |
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Dear friends, The following article is about a shot in the right direction, even if the Dutch ambassador's remarks come decades late. But as the cliche says, better late than never... The Dutch ambassador is of course correct: The number of UN anti-Israel resolutions is ridiculous and always has been. Knowing what the UN is all about, political interests of the free world in the 50 or so Muslim countries with their 1.3 billion population and petroleum in the ground, the ambassador remarks should be taken with a very large grains of salt. I hope this does not turn out to be yet another lonely cry in the desert from a true friend, drowned in the usual chorus of anti-Semitic anti-Israeli bias. If you belong to the cynics, you will probably look at it as a form of European bribery to Israel for making concessions to the Arabs. It is an article from the Jerusalem Post December 23, 2004 and it archived at www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ ShowFull&cid=1103776318226&p=1078027574097 It is called "EU to help Israel in UN, Dutch envoy says" and was written by Tovah Lazaroff. Calling the number of anti-Israel resolutions in the UN "ridiculous," Netherlands Ambassador Bob Heinsch told reporters on Wednesday the EU was committed to reducing those numbers. "We all agree that it is ridiculous that we have 19 to 20 resolutions every year, it is a ritual and we should get rid of that," he said at a Tel Aviv press conference to promote the new European Neighborhood Agreement approved between Israel and the EU on December 13. It offers Israel many of the same rights afforded states within the European Union. The plan opens Europe's economic, cultural and scientific doors to Israel in exchange for an enhanced EU involvement in the Middle East diplomatic process. Within the context of the plan the EU also promises to combat anti-Semitism and to help Israel normalize its relations with international organizations including the UN. Hiensch, whose country now holds the EU presidency, said that the EU is so serious about combatting anti-Semitism that it would be committed to that battle even if there were no action plan. "We condemn it on our own," he said. The three-year process set out in the Neighborhood Agreement brings Europe and Israel closer, said Hiensch, but is separate from the question of membership in the EU. Nor does it preclude it, he added. "Israel has not applied for membership," said Hiensch. If it were to do so, an EU aide explained, it would have to agree to take on all the rules of its institutions, including freedom of movement, which allows Europeans of all religions to settle in EU member states in a way that would run counter to Israel's Law of Return, which grants special status to Jews. The Neighborhood Agreement with Israel as well as a similar document agreed on between the EU and the Palestinian Authority reflects Europe's desire to play a larger role in the Middle East, said Hiensch. "I expect the EU's role [in the Middle East] to increase," he continued. He pointed that the EU is already very involved in pushing for free elections and financial reform within the Palestinian Authority. "It is in the interest of Israel to work together with Europe and we want to work together with Israel," he said. He added that any EU initiatives in the Middle East would be coordinated with the other three Quartet members - the US, UN and Russia. When it comes to the right of return for Palestinian refugees, he said, the issue can only be settled once there is a Palestinian state. "We understand that the Palestinians, when there are no negotiations, at this stage are not willing to give up the right of return. That is something that has to be solved in the final status. Like Israel has the settlement question which is parallel to that and Israel has not been willing to give up settlements," said Heinsch. Within the document, Hiensch said one of the more sensitive issues was the section in which the EU and Israel promise to "cooperate on nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction." "We are pleased that Israel was willing to put it on the agenda," said Hiensch. "It is such a touchy subject that I do not want to make any interpretation of the text other than what is written there," he said. When asked by a reporter if the EU wants Israel to get rid of its "nukes," he said it was difficult to answer the question because Israel "does not confirm publicly that it has any nukes." But he added, "We would like Israel to join the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty." The document, which also sets out ways for Israel to cooperate on many international issues such as drug and human trafficking as well as the fight against terrorism, is not a formal contract. It sets out a blueprint for Israel and the EU to work together on issues of mutual interest through subcommittees that have already begun to meet. Similar actions plans were drawn up between the EU and Moldova, Ukraine, Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan. Yuval Zaliouk writes the Truth Provider columns. To subscribe, send an email to ynz@netvision.net.il |
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SHARON MERCILESSLY ABANDONS THE JEWS OF GUSH KATIF
Posted by Ruth and Nadia Matar, December 25, 2004. |
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Over the past 3 years, 5000 katyusha rockets have been fired by Arab terrorists at the Jewish Communities of Gush Katif. Over the past few days, a non-stop flow of katyusha rockets and missiles have been falling like rain on the communities in Gush Katif. Only by miracle, entire Jewish families have not yet been murdered in their homes. Despite these above facts, the Government continues to tie the hands of the Army, and does not send our soldiers to eliminate, once and for all, all Arab terrorists and their helpers. One cannot explain this in any other way then that there is a deliberate policy by Sharon to encourage abandonment by the Jews of Gush Katif of their respective communities. By causing despair amongst those Jews by reason of such rockets, and the army doing nothing about it, we have a situation of Arabs killing Jews with the approval of the Sharon Government! To our shock and horror, Sharon is callously encouraging the firing of these rockets. He is thereby encouraging Arab terrorism. What he doesn't want to realize, is that the Arabs will learn from this, that terrorism pays and is rewarded even by a Jewish Government. It is time for Sharon to stand trial for the crime of not protecting Israel's residents as any Prime Minister is required to do. We urge all residents throughout Israel to go to the nearest police station in whatever city they are located to file a complaint against Prime Minister Sharon for abandoning Jews living in the Promised Land to Arab terror. We must not remain silent when our fellow Jews are under attack by Arab terror. It is a disgraceful and callous government that is allowing these Arab attacks without any response whatsoever. These actions of Sharon are unpardonable, and he should be indicted, before the likelihood that a Jew is murdered or is severely injured. We can no longer stay silent in the face of what is happening to our fellow Jews. GO TO YOUR LOCAL POLICE STATION, AS WE IN JERUSALEM WILL DO ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2004, AT NOON, EN MASSE. THE MORE POLICE COMPLAINTS THE BETTER ! Ruth and Nadia Matar established Women For Israel's Tomorrow (Women in Green), an activist group of women based in Jerusalem. Their website address is http://www.womeningreen.org |
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FROM CHURCHES, A CHALLENGE TO ISRAELI POLICIES
Posted by Annie Cohen, December 25, 2004. |
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Some may wield an old financial tool - divestment - to register concern about peace prospects. This article is called "From churches, a challenge to Israeli policies" and was written by Jane Lampman, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor. It is archived at http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1206/p11s02-lire.html A vote by the Presbyterian Church (USA) to use economic sanctions against certain companies doing business with Israel - namely those that profit from the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza - has set off a quiet firestorm within the American religious community. The Presbyterians' decision to consider divesting such businesses from its $8 billion portfolio, coupled with the prospect that the Episcopal Church and other churches might do the same, is adding to tensions that have risen over recent years between mainline Protestant churches and the American Jewish community over their differing views of the Israeli- Palestinian conflict. It is also stirring Jewish groups to try to head off divestment - and to rebuild a rapport with these churches, with whom they have long worked to further civil rights and social justice. "To call for divestment played into all the language of boycott, from earlier periods in Jewish history to the Arab boycott of Israel. It caused an explosion in the Jewish community," says David Elcott, director of interreligious affairs for the American Jewish Committee (AJC). In some ways, last summer's divestment vote has forced a conversation about the Middle East conflict. It also raises the stakes for those who, earlier this year, launched a bid to renew the old coalition. Christian and Jewish leaders have met twice, hosted by AJC and the National Council of Churches. From discussions on the "theology of land" to the divestment issue, the religious leaders "spoke from their pain" and asked tough questions of one another, says the Rev. Shanta Premawardhana, NCC interfaith secretary. Tensions rose when a Presbyterian delegation traveling in the Middle East in October met with members of Hizbullah, the Lebanese group on the US terrorist list. The church's national leadership disavowed the action. Then in November, the church received a letter threatening arson against Presbyterian churches unless it halted the divestment process. Jewish groups condemned the threat. Last week, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs asked Protestants to reject divestment in favor of joint efforts to end the conflict. Elaborating on Jewish concerns, it said the divestment process is discriminatory, will provoke intransigence on both sides, and "is dangerously ill-matched to our passionately shared vision of a peaceful resolution to the conflict." Mainline churches have supported Israel since 1948 and reject terrorism; they also have longstanding ties to churches in the Holy Land and are critical of Israeli military practices in the territories. Illegal expansion of Israeli settlements and a new security wall that encroaches on Palestinian land are making a viable Palestinian state less feasible, Presbyterians and others say. With the US government taking little action to help matters, they add, unusual measures are required. "The decision to initiate a process of phased, selective divestment ... was not taken lightly," the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, a Presbyterian leader, wrote to members of the US Congress. "It was born out of the frustration that many of our members, as well as members of other denominations, feel with the current policies of Israel and those of our own government." The Presbyterians say their aims are to influence the practices of companies and use their resources - an $8 billion portfolio - in morally responsible ways. "We have to be principled; we respect human rights and the legitimacy of international law, and when Israelis or Palestinians breech either we'll take a hard look at our investments," says the Rev. Marthame Sanders, who was in ministry in the West Bank. The church's committee on socially responsible investment will identify firms that provide services or equipment to support the military occupation or Jewish settlements; finance or assist in building the wall; or provide help to Israeli or Palestinian groups that commit violence against innocent civilians. It will seek meetings with corporate leaders, and possibly file shareholder resolutions, using divestment a last resort. Divestment decisions require approval by the church general assembly in 2006. Some US Jewish peace groups support the initiative, Mr. Sanders says, including Jewish Voice for Peace. JVP has filed its own shareholder initiative asking Caterpillar Inc. to investigate whether Israeli use of its bulldozers to demolish Palestinian homes violates the firm's code of conduct. Other liberal Jewish groups, however, oppose it. The Jewish community has countered other divestment efforts. Campaigns on colleges have made little headway. A proposal to make Somerville, Mass., the first American city to divest from Israel is likely to be turned back this week. It is making some inroads with the churches, too. Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago, which has close ties to a neighboring synagogue, is asking the denomination to slow the process and engage the Jewish community. It proposes that, if divestment occurs, money from stock sales be reinvested in Israel in companies not tied to the occupation. "I've tried to interpret to my Jewish friends that this is not an anti-Israel nor anti-Jewish decision, but an attempt by a church to speak a word of hope and justice for [Palestinians] for whom those words are pretty elusive," says the Rev. John Buchanan, church pastor. But "I'm not convinced divestment is a wise thing." The US Episcopal Church, meanwhile, said in November it will begin to study how it should respond to companies that contribute to the occupation's infrastructure or to violence against civilians. It will include Jewish groups, Palestinians, and the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem. "For us, the term is not 'divestment,' " says Bishop Christopher Epting, deputy for interfaith relations. "We'd be voting certain shareholder resolutions expressing concern to companies in which we own stock." Jewish leaders are more approving of this approach. Other mainline Protestants are also talking about the issue. "The notion that a two-state solution might no longer be realistic is very unsettling to many people, both Jewish and Christian," says Jim Winkler of the United Methodist Church's public policy board. Jewish and mainline Christian leaders say they will travel together to the region to talk with Israelis and Palestinians, and will urge the US government to become more engaged in the peace process. "The Presbyterian decision was a flash point," says Bishop Epting, "but in a strange way, it may well reenergize the relationship." This was distributed by the Jewish Community of France. Contact them at Communaute-Juive-France-owner@yahoogroupes.fr |
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MAYBE WHEN IT COMES TO PRIME MINISTERS IT IS TIME TO GET THE HOOK
Posted by Arlene Peck, December 25, 2004. |
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Sometimes, after writing one of my politically incorrect columns, I get e-mail - lots and lots of email. Most times, they arrive after my dissertations of how I cannot, no way, no how understand how the government in Israel continues to cow-tow to the American State Dept.'s and European Union's demands by acting like a banana republic. Truly, it amazes me how the same band of old and destructive men continue to call the shots in the Israeli government. However, then again, as big as our country is, it is a wonder that the Democrats could not find anybody other than Kerry to save the party. On the other hand, how is it that the Republicans could not do any better with what they came up with? Truly, we had slim pickings. Yet, as bad as our decisions are, and they are sometimes very bad, I sit amazed how the citizens of Israel are not demonstrating by the millions their discontent with the appalling lack of leadership that continues to be heaped upon them daily by the powers that be. Shimon Peres? Good Lord! How are people still listening to him after the other fiascos this man has caused over the decades? I think it's time to "get the hook" as they did in the old vaudeville days and drag Peres off the international stage before he causes his usual destruction while pretending to be a "statesman." Correct me if I am wrong. Isn't Shimon Peres the same man who is the perennial Prime Minister and/or holder of various other appointed key positions who has never won an election by the citizens of Israel? Naw, this isn't possible. Is it? Could this be a man who is appointed by his Likud counterpart, Ariel Sharon, in what seems to be on a regular basis from the opposing party (Labor) to keep the band-aid of unity on Sharon's government and it is allowed to happen. Truly, I do not understand it (but I know that Israel does not have a written constitution or direct election of government leaders and Knesset members by the people themselves). Has nobody remembered the thousands of Oslo-related murders of innocent civilians in Israel and the many more thousands of maimed or wounded Israelis by actions initiated by Peres and his self-serving commentaries? Well, for one thing, it is obvious the current Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, is suffering from dementia and complete loss of memory. How does it work? It seems that every time the Likud gets into trouble, they do the "appease" dance and rush to bring back the very same politicians who got them into that situation in the first place. Then Labor comes to the rescue and they both celebrate by re-opening the jails and releasing a couple of hundred terrorists as another "good-will" gesture. So, I read and I listen to the news. And, frankly, I was a little surprised to read in today's Los Angeles Times a headline "Labor OK's Alliance with Sharon." Ok, that didn't surprise me. They are always sharing these alliances with Sharon. We have all seen them do this dance before. What does surprise me, though, is how there is not more outrage and how these same men keep being voted in or appointed to power positions decade after decade. How long are they going to play musical chairs with the same tired old men before letting fresh blood make some of the decisions? And, they talk about the old Palestinian leadership? Now, what do I know? I am just an American interloper sitting in the comfort of my Marina del Rey home watching the same savages on our television who have been bombing and terrorizing the citizens of Israel for years. Silly American me. I actually thought at one time that if a defeated party such as Labor were roundly defeated by the electorate, then that's it. However, that's not how it works in Israel. From what I understand, only as an outsider mind you, is that socialism is so entrenched in the culture of Israel that no matter how many times the Likud is actually voted in by the country, Shimon Peres will always be there to pick up the pieces for Sharon. They will never have to worry about having a date for the prom, as they always seem to have each other. The hell with the voters! Which reminds me, how come nobody notices that though the majority of Sharon's parties voted overwhelmingly against the establishment of a Palestinian state a couple of years ago and again over two-thirds majority against his unilateral disengagement plan, he is still able to proceed on his merry way? Hey, what do I, as a tourist know? It seems to me that refusing to allow your own people the right to go to the polls by way of a referendum before this disastrous disengagement plan leads you guys to the brink of civil war might be the way to go. I don't think that dividing and wounding your constituents is the way to go, other than making a lot of people in my State Dept. happy. I know if George W. would wake up one day and say he wants to turn California over to Mexico, we'd need a vote. Although, come to think of it, I think that's already happened. And, folks, to me it looks like this is only the first step of a further withdrawal from most of the Jews ancient land, from Judea and Samaria. I wouldn't be surprised it the next step would broaching the thought of how Tel Aviv or Haifa is Muslim-based. Hey, they've already staked a claim as Jerusalem as their capital. Maybe you could move Abraham and the rest of the family to Toledo since Islam has already set it up for destruction in the holy name of Allah? However, just a thought, even though I'm only a "tourist" from America. I like the fact that the nine million of us Jews who are living like me, outside Israel, have a place to find refuge. In fact, silly as this sounds, I consider myself as an American-born Israeli. Hey, if the blacks, most of which have never even set eyes on Africa are called African-Americans, then why not the Jews? And, with anti-Semitism at an all-time high, it might be a prudent thing to do. So, shouldn't the million plus European Jews who are once again facing dangers from Jew-hating have a place to go when the time comes? Does Sharon really have the right to give away to the sworn enemies of the Jews part of the land that will lead to the end of their and our home and refuge? Incidentally, the same article in the L.A.Times quoted the front runner in the upcoming election, Mahmoud Abbas: "Arafat will remain the beacon that will lead us in the struggle for the end of the Israeli occupation of our land occupied in 1967, where we will build our independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital and by fairly solving the refugee problem, which is the heart of the Palestinian issue." Ain't that grand? I wonder if he thinks anything should be done about the million or so Jews who were forced out of Muslim nations? I?m not even very religious, but, somehow it's important to me that the Muslims aren't given this Palestinian state which is obviously going to be an Islamic springboard to remove what will be left of Israel. But, then, what do I know? Get rid of the U.N. and replace it with the "THE UNITED FREE
DEMOCRATIC NATIONS" Send to everyone.
Arlene Peck is an internationally syndicated columnist and
television talk show hostess. She can be reached at:
bestredhead@earthlink.net and www.arlenepeck.com
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CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE
Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, December 25, 2004. |
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Those planning passive, civil disobedience please take note of the equipment the Police are buying and plan to use against peaceful, non-violent and legal protesters: "...hundreds of new batons, dozens of horses and a number of vehicles fitted with water cannons. The Police plan on Cossack style, horse mounted charges into densely grouped protesters. These will be followed up by foot charges using riot batons. The results will be predictably brutal. The article below was written by Amir Ben-David, a writer for Yediot Aharonot. It is called "Police Prepare for Forced Evacuation". It appeared yesterday and is archived at http://www.israelbehindthenews.com/#terror9 The Israel Police has begun to equip for the operation to evacuate settlements in the context of the disengagement plan. The police would like to purchase equipment that will be used by the Israel Police and Border Police troops who take part in the evacuation of the settlements in the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria, as well as the troops who will maintain law and order in the major cities in Israel. The equipment in question includes hundreds of new batons, dozens of horses and a number of vehicles fitted with water cannons. A document submitted by the police Operations Department to the Finance Ministry for budgeting purposes also cites dozens of special protective suits to protect the policemen from physical blows from either fists or stones. Police Commissioner Inspector-General Moshe Karadi said this week that most of the evacuation would be "done by hand." But the police are also aware of the possibility that grave scenarios of mass public disturbances, in which hundreds of thousands of people block central traffic arteries or try to storm the Knesset and the Prime Minister's Office, could ensue. Senior police officials said, "demonstrations like that can't be dealt with by hand." Many Border Police reservists will be drafted to help the police complete its task, as will soldiers. The police would like to purchase padded overalls for the troops that will allow them to "absorb" blows dealt them by the demonstrators without getting hurt. Police officials hope that this will also minimize incidents in which injured policemen then respond with violence. Police representatives have held a series of meetings with Finance Ministry officials in an attempt to persuade them to accede to their budgetary requests. The police have scaled down their original request for NIS 500 million to NIS 370 million, but the Finance Ministry has not agreed to meet the request yet. A substantial part of that sum is to be used to recruit reservists and to deal with logistical aspects of evacuation operation. Yossi Yehoshua adds: Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said yesterday: "the implementation of the disengagement plan will be a difficult, heart-rending task, but we will implement it in full. There will be no compromises on this issue." Mofaz called on the settlers "to accept the democratic decision, to behave with restraint and, heaven forbid, not to strike IDF soldiers. The public debate mustn't enter that mine field. Mine fields can cause casualties." Leading Settlers Council officials call on Israelis not to take part in the orange star protest, read a statement issued last night. President Moshe Katzav also called on the citizens to refrain from appending an orange star to their clothes. "This is an awful memory from an awful period for the Jewish people. The Nazis, may their name be obliterated, made horrific use of the yellow star, and no use should be made of it." The Education Ministry yesterday instructed all school principals to ban students from wearing the orange star on their clothes while on school grounds. This ran in the December 24th, 2004 edition of Yediot Aharonot Aryeh Zelasko lives in Beitar Illit, south of Jerusalem. He is Director of Sales and Marketing of Israel Visit (www.israelvisit.co.il) which provides information and an internet buying facility for American visitors to Israel. |
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WHO ARE THEY KIDDING?
Posted by Yuval Zaliouk, December 25, 2004. |
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Dear friends, Issue One: When you ask those Israelis who support Sharon's retreat from Gaza plan despite the obvious political and national dangers, the response of the majority of them is: To spare the lives of Israel's young soldiers. Our young sons and daughters, they say, should not be killed in order to protect some 8000 "settlers." This, my friends, is a fallacy if not a lie!!! After the retreat, when Hamas will transform what's left of Gaza into a huge ammunition dump and continue to shell Israel with intensified ferocity, the IDF will be forced to act at much greater disadvantage compared with protecting Israel from within. Think FALUJA, only much worst! Also think that every Israeli soldier killed equals 60 American casualties. This is no longer a question of whether Gaza is part of our Biblical land, the issue is our lives and the survival of Israel. Caroline Glick's brilliant article on the subject is attached. Please make an effort to read it. Issue Two: Israel is doing all it can to facilitate "free and democratic" elections for an Arafat replacement. Hundreds of observers from Europe and the USA are expected here to monitor the "elections." What for? I ask. Only one candidate is running unopposed, Arafat's crony for 40 years, Abu Mazen. Is this a democracy? Does it really matter if 80% or 87% vote for him, or whether the elections are fully or partially free? What is the difference between these elections and those for Stalin, Mubarak or Saddam? Do you wonder in amazement about this charade as I am? Are we to cry or to laugh? Excuse me, but who are they kidding? Your Truth Provider,
"Bigotry's harvest" by Caroline Glick appeared in the Jerusalem Post This week, Maj.-Gen. (res.) Doron Almog, who commanded the IDF's Southern Command from 2000-2003, wrote a paper for the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs entitled "Lessons of the Gaza Security Fence for the West Bank." In his paper Almog explains that the fence around Gaza has blocked 30 percent of the attempted terror attacks on Israel, while IDF offensive operations inside the Strip have accounted for the other 70 percent of Israel's successes. Although his paper is intended to be instructive for Judea and Samaria, his point raises the obvious question for Gaza: If the government goes through with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to unilaterally withdraw, thereby ending the IDF's offensive operations in the area, how will such attacks be prevented? Furthermore, today the IDF has a defensive perimeter one kilometer long inside Gaza. According to Almog, this perimeter, along with monitoring equipment that can see six kilometers into Gaza, accounts for most of the success of the fence. Who will be manning the perimeter and maintaining the observation equipment if the IDF pulls out? Maj.-Gen. (res.) Ya'acov Amidror, the former head of the IDF War Colleges and Military Intelligence analysis division, warned last week that in the absence of an Israeli military presence in Gaza, the area will become a focal point for global jihad. Just this week, the Shin Bet announced the arrest of Jordanian national Muhammad Abu Juyad in Tulkarm this past August. Abu Juyad was recruited by Fatah and Hizbullah. He received terror training twice in Syria and also took part in the terror war against American forces in Iraq before turning up here with a plan to recruit Israeli Arabs to blow up trains, kidnap soldiers and attack Israeli facilities in Jordan. Abu Juyad is emblematic of the global and regional face of the war. Luckily our forces are deployed in Judea and Samaria. If he or one of the thousands of terrorists like him were to come to Gaza after Sharon's proposed withdrawal goes through, who would arrest him? More than 5,000 rockets and mortar shells have now fallen on Israeli communities in Gaza since the Palestinian terror war began. In anticipation of the proposed expulsion of their 8,000 Jewish residents, the Palestinians have dramatically increased their attacks. They want to make it look like we are running away. And the IDF is doing little to dissuade them. IDF incursions into Khan Yunis have been as ineffective as IDF operations against Hizbullah in southern Lebanon were in the months that preceded the withdrawal in May 2000. Like Hizbullah in Lebanon, the terrorists in Gaza will be viewed by the entire global jihad network as having defeated Israel. The price we paid for our precipitous withdrawal from Lebanon was the Palestinian terror war. What should we expect after we have Hamas, Fatah and Hizbullah terror cells operating openly five kilometers from the power station in Ashkelon? THOSE WHO oppose the withdrawal have sought to make these arguments. But no one will listen. Ariel Sharon, the great military leader of yesteryear, says that it will be okay. And so, as we did when the late prime minister and former IDF chief of General Staff Yitzhak Rabin scoffed in 1994 at the notion that the Palestinians would use the territory he transferred to their control to shoot mortar shells and rockets at Israeli communities, we now believe that our lives will be better and safer if we eject Jews from their homes and farms and villages as our military withdraws to the 1949 armistice lines. The residents of Gaza themselves are at their wits' end. Over the past several weeks they have been absorbing volley after volley of rockets and mortar shells, antitank shells and rifle fire. Their homes and synagogues have been bombed. Their children's nurseries and community centers have been hit. Their hothouses have been shelled. In a meeting Thursday in Netzer Hazani, residents spoke of the prospect of taking measures into their own hands with village residents manning any gun post that the IDF abandons. Speaking to Ynet, Yaki Yisraeli, treasurer of the community in Gush Katif, said, "If there isn't a suitable response to the mortar fire, people will start defending themselves. The residents serve in all the IDF units and the fear is that they will take the law into their own hands. If the IDF evacuates positions, the residents will take them over." Aside from the fact that the IDF is clearly failing in its mission to defend them, the residents of Gaza have another problem on their hands. How are they to deal with the fact that the government and the Knesset seem determined to expel them from their homes? How are they to imagine that the lands they have cultivated, the communities they have built and the homes where they have raised their families are set to be turned over to the same people who are bombing them around the clock? The moral dimension of the proposed destruction of Israeli communities in Gaza and northern Samaria is one that has received scant attention over the past year since Sharon adopted the Labor Party's plan of retreat and expulsion as his own. Indeed, although it was one of the implicit assumptions of the 1993 Oslo process, the fact that a precondition for a final peace accord with the PLO was that all Jewish residents of Judea, Samaria and Gaza would be ethnically cleansed has rarely been mentioned. As for Sharon's withdrawal plan for Gaza and northern Samaria, everyone from US National Security Council Middle East Adviser Elliott Abrams to Labor Party leader Shimon Peres to Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak to British Prime Minister Tony Blair have all noted that the plan, if enacted, will provide a precedent for the destruction of all or most of the remaining Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria with their population of some 250,000 Israelis. THIS WEEK, the public debate shifted its attention for the first time in 11 years to the question of whether it is moral to ethnically cleanse the territories of their Jewish residents and force all Israelis to live within the cease-fire lines from 1949. With the publication of an open letter from Binyamin Regional Council head Pinhas Wallerstein calling for mass civil disobedience against the proposed ethnic cleansing of Jews from Gaza and northern Samaria, the question of the morality of the plan has exploded onto the public stage. Wallerstein wrote, "The government of Israel has approved the first reading of the immoral law that paves the way for the crime of the displacement of Jews from their homes. The law does not provide those targeted for expulsion with even the minimal human right - to oppose their displacement from their homes. I call for the public to break the expulsion law and to be ready to pay the price of going to jail." Wallerstein's call, which was adopted by the entire organized leadership of the Israeli communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, caused some dozen members of Knesset to sign a declaration stating that they will oppose the enactment of the law even at the price of losing their parliamentary immunity from prosecution and going to jail. Gaza residents caused a public outcry when they taped orange Stars of David to their clothes this week. The hue and cry of the politicians on the Right and on the Left said that in using symbols from the Holocaust they were besmirching the memory of the victims of Europe's genocide of its Jews. It would seem that those who decried the residents' symbol have forgotten what a metaphor is. The point was not that Sharon is Adolf Hitler or that Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz is Adolf Eichmann. The point of the protest was that Israel is the first Western state to call for the forced removal of Jews from their homes,simply because they are Jews, since the Holocaust and that there is something morally atrocious about the notion that for peace to come - to Israel and to those bombing Israel - it is necessary for entire regions to be rendered Judenrein. And again, as leaders in Israel and throughout the world have stated, the expulsion from Gaza and northern Samaria is simply a preview of coming attractions for what awaits those who live in Judea and the rest of Samaria. The security implications of the planned withdrawal of the IDF from Gaza and northern Samaria are entirely separate from the moral dimensions of the policy for what it means for Israel to be a free and secure Jewish state. But they share a common root. This root is to be found in those who are shooting off the mortars and rifles and rockets. It is found in Abu Juyad; it is found in the murder of Ariela Fahima outside her home near Beit Shemesh this week; and it is found in the attempted murder of an Israeli motorist who accidentally drove into Ramallah Monday night and had to be saved by the IDF as a lynch mob gathered around him. This common root is Palestinian rejection of Israel. There would be no reason for the IDF to be operating in Gaza if the Palestinians weren't conducting a war against Israel from Gaza. And there would be no question about the right of Jews to live in Gaza or northern Samaria or anywhere else they have lived for thousands of years if Palestinian nationalism weren't predicated on genocidal anti-Semitism. Yuval Zaliouk writes the Truth Provider columns. To subscribe, send an email to ynz@netvision.net.il |
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A GREAT IDEA
Posted by Yuval Zaliouk, December 24, 2004. |
This was a news item in today's Israel National News
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=74127, December 24,
2004.
Gush Katif residents Friday took security matters in their own hands to fight against terrorism in the wake of the tepid Army response to more shelling and gunfire on Jewish communities. Dear friends, Today the Israeli communities in Gush Katif, Gaza, endured the biggest ever barrage of mortar bombardment by Hamas in one day. Scores of mortars over a period of several hours rained over the Israeli villages. The Israeli army was ordered to stand aside and did not intervene to protect the Israeli citizens and destroy the attackers. The bombardment went literally undisturbed. Luckily, no Israeli was badly wounded due to Arab typical "efficiency." Here is my great idea designed to quickly and decisively resolve Sharon's Escape from Gaza plan: Have the Israeli army bombard our own communities in Gush Katif instead of Hamas. Since the IDF is much more efficient than Hamas, the Jewish homes and villages will be totally demolished and the horrible-fanatic- extreme-anti peace-Jewish "settlers" will be eliminated. Thus, the agony of evacuating them will not become necessary and Israel's cowardice will not be exposed to the admiring world community. Maybe, as an added benefit, the Arab terrorists will thank Israel and new avenues of cooperation between the two sides will finally emerge. After Gush Katif, the triumphant IDF will concentrate its attention on the "settlers" in Judea and Samaria. This was my great idea, but after today's shameful events, it seems someone must have already thought about this solution before me. Yuval Zaliouk writes the Truth Provider columns. To subscribe, send an email to ynz@netvision.net.il |
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THIS ORANGE PATCH CANNOT BE REMOVED
Posted by Dr. Judah (Yehuda) Tzoref, December 24, 2004. |
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This is a letter to anti-Patch Campaigners. No person in Israel nor any organization can assume monopoly over the Holocaust remembrance legacy. Under the pressure of Yesha council, the citizens of Gush Katif suspend their Orange Patch campaign. However, members of all grassroots movements for the integrity of Israel shall demonstratively continue to wear the Patch. For no mind-and-opinion control police shall be able to suppress our sentiments of outrage most faithfully expressed by the Orange Patch symbol in the face of ethnic cleansing threats looming over the Jews of Northern Negev and Samaria. The public condemnation campaign orchestrated against the wearers of the Orange Patch stands as a sore indictment of our national tragedy. So much for a nation enraged at the wearing of Holocaust symbols while plotting ethnic cleansing against its own brothers and sisters. Across the world, people shake their heads in bafflement at the moral decay of Israel and wonder: is this the nation that keeps complaining about the Holocaust... My late parents were forced to wear the Yellow Patch during WWII, and I wear the Orange Patch that most truthfully reflects my sense of horror at a Jewish governmental ploy of crimes against Holocaust survivors. This Patch is indispensable, as long as Israel is galloping on a cataclysmic race to make the most anti-Semitic country in the world. Instead of bending heads in shame before the Orange Patch protest, the disengagers prefer to blast against the wearers of the Patch and lecture them on values of morality. That vile tactic of sanctimonious nerve, typical of anti-Patch campaigners, might help them disengage from their own Jewish conscience and human morals. For how else can one account for such perverted morality that is appalled by Orange Patch but tolerates ethnic cleansing of Holocaust survivors. The Patch has been indeed removed in Gush Katif, but it will persist before your very eyes, mingle with your thoughts and permeate into your conscience. For the truth of it is undefeatable, and eventually it shall win. Dr. Judah (Yehuda) Tzoref is a scientist, trained at the Technion in Haifa and Oxford University in England. His expertise is in physics and energy engineering. He is a grass-roots activist on behalf of Israel. He lives in Rehovot. |
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TULKAREM OLIVE OIL
Posted by Dafna Yee, December 23, 2004. |
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This is a letter I sent to the Michigan Peace Team.
A friend of mine forwarded me your e-mail promoting "Palestinian Olive Oil" aka Tulkarem Olive Oil which named your group (http://www.michiganpeaceteam.org/) as the distributor. It would be nice if you really wanted to promote peace; instead your website makes it clear that you are only interested in spreading the same old anti-Israel propaganda. If you were really interested in bringing peace, then you would support the efforts of ALL people who are trying to make a living in the area. Instead you choose to only promote the product from the one group of people who have made "suicide bombing" into a cult! (You show me ONE Israeli paper or organization which celebrates the death of anyone -- including Arabs -- in the name of Judaism and I will donate $1000 to your organization.) Your "Palestinians" are the same people who called the murderers of innocent people eating in restaurants, sleeping in their beds and driving in their cars shahids and heroes! Go to: Israeli Eyes (http://www.geocities.com/israeli_eyes/) and look at the faces of Israelis who have been killed in order to make these people you support "martyrs"! These people weren't hurting anyone; they were just going about their PEACEFUL daily lives. What kind of sick people are YOU, that you can support a group whose very constitution calls for the mass extermination of all the people in Israel? (They even murder any Arab who tries to genuinely live peacefully with Israelis!) Not to mention that they hate Americans, too! These people who you are supporting are the same people who danced in the streets when over 3000 Americans were killed on September 11, 2001! Go to PMW-Palestinian Media Watch and read for yourself what they say about Americans -- and that includes YOUR group of gullible people who swallow every lie that they read about the "poor Palestinians" whose fellow Arabs despise far more than any Israeli does. (That's why you state in your own promotional e-mail that: "the Arab nations in the region refuse to sell Palestinian olive oil.") If you don't want to take the trouble to read the articles, then look at the anti-American (and pro-Saddam) cartoons for yourself! (http://www.pmw.org.il/) I DARE you to open your eyes and look at the truth about the people you are supporting. Luckily, people who want to support peaceful farmers have no need for "Palestinian olive oil"; they can buy excellent olive oil products from Isroil Olive Oil Company. (http://www.isroil.com/) This product is not only of the finest quality, but the price is better than yours, too! "IsRoil brand sells for $12.65 per 250ml.bottle plus shipping and handling. Orders over $100. are exempt from shipping and handling charges." (Compare this to your product which sells at $20 a bottle without counting shipping charges.) Look for your alert on the Jewish Watch Dog along with the other groups who support the murderers of innocents, just because those people killed are Israeli, while pretending to be promoting "peace"! The blood of the innocent Israelis killed for the "Palestinian cause" is on your heads also, because your contributions helped to buy the bombs which killed them. Dafna Yee is director of Jewish Watch Dog (JWD); its website address is: http://jwd-jewishwatchdog.home.comcast.net |
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THERE'S MORE THAN IRONY HERE ...
Posted by Gerald A. Honigman, December 24, 2004. |
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As more rockets and mortars continue to rain down upon S'derot and other Jewish communities on both sides of the so-called Green Line, there's more than a bit of irony here. Consider, for example, the origin of the name of one of the new Arab terror weapons of choice, the Qassam rocket. This becomes laughable--if it were not deadly--when the two Abus now running the "Palestinian" Arab show continue to demand that Israel consent to its own suicide by allowing millions of "returning" native Arab refugees to overwhelm the Jews in Israel proper. So, Kassam, Qassam...What's in a name? Hold onto your seats... Ever since Prime Minister Sharon announced plans for a unilateral disengagement from Gaza last April, adjacent Israeli towns have come under increasing attack, often by Qassam rockets deliberately aimed at terrorizing civilians. While Israel tries its best to carefully target those responsible for the murder of its people, the Arab targets of choice are the most innocent. Not only is greater shock value derived from this, the reality is that, in Arab eyes, there are no Jewish innocents. Two Jewish preschoolers were recently killed in such a volley, helping to set into motion Israel's latest assault on Gaza's terror apparatus. Now, when choosing this Arab weapon of terror, Hamas (which, like most other Arabs, denies Israel's right to exist with or without the disputed territories) gave careful thought to the name that it should go by. Since the "militant wing" of the organization (the folks that actually blow up the buses, teen night clubs, pizzerias, and such) was named after Sheikh Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, it made sense to name the weapon after him as well. Surely such a man must have had some great credentials in the "Palestinian" Arab movement...don't you think? Of course. Izz ad-Din made his name by butchering and disemboweling "Zionist invaders" during the early mandatory period after World War I. So, what else do we know about this legendary leader of the "Palestinians?" Well, for starters, hold on to your seats... Hamas' hero--like most other "native Palestinians"--was born elsewhere. In his case, Ladeqiya, Syria. In just one three month period alone, the League of Nations Permanent Mandates Commissions documented scores of thousands of other Syrian Arabs pouring into the British Mandate of Palestine. Like numerous other Arabs moving in from elsewhere, they came to take advantage of the economic boom going on because of the influx of Jewish capital. And for every Arab newcomer--i.e., settler--that was documented, many more slipped in under cover of darkness and were never recorded. Add to this the fact that, for a number of reasons, the Brits were more concerned about entering Jews than entering Arabs. Despite this, lots of evidence exists which shows that--like the murderous Sheikh--most "Palestinian" Arabs were no more native than most of the returning, forcibly exiled, Diaspora Jews. Now think about this for a moment... So many Arabs were recent arrivals into the Mandate that when UNRWA was created to deal with the Arab refugee situation, created as a result of the invasion by a half dozen Arab states of a reborn Israel in 1948, it adjusted the definition of "refugee" from the prior meaning of persons normally and traditionally resident to those who lived in the Mandate for a minimum of only two years prior to 1948. Also keep in mind that for every Arab who was forced to flee the fighting that the Arabs started in their attempt to nip a nascent Israel in the bud, a Jewish refugee was forced to flee Arab lands...but with no UNRWA set up to help them. Indeed, scores of thousands of Jews fled the same Syria that the Sheikh immigrated to Palestine from. Greater New York City alone now has some tens of thousands of these folks. Many others moved to Israel and elsewhere. But, while Arabs see it as their natural right to settle anywhere in the Dar ul-Islam and what they claim as purely Arab patrimony (despite the fact that scores of millions of non-Arabs also live in the area and have been conquered and forcibly Arabized by them), when Jews moved into their sole, reborn state (as opposed to some two dozen for Arabs), Arabs declared this to be al nakba - the catastrophe. Hundreds of millions of Hindus and Muslims could arrive at a less-than-perfect modus vivendi in the 1947 partition of the Indian subcontinent--at virtually the same moment Arabs were rejecting a similar offer over what was left of the Palestine Mandate after Arabs had already been awarded the lion's share in 1922 with the separation of Transjordan--yet the mere thought of anyone else gaining a mere sliver of the very same political rights that Arabs demand for themselves (be they Kurds, Berbers, Black Africans, Jews, or whomever) was out of the question. The conflict we have in the Middle East today is largely all about this mindset. The next time you hear about those "Qassam" rockets, consider beyond the irony here. And, oh yes, I almost forgot... Old Yasir himself was born in Cairo. And tens of thousands of other Egyptian Arabs had preceded his own migration and settlement in Palestine somewhat earlier in the wake of Muhammad Ali and son Ibrahim Pasha's military excursions in the 19th century. 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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WILL THE CHIEF BECOME A CHIEF RABBI?
Posted by Steven Plaut, December 24, 2004. |
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This is by Chantelle Benjamin. Born into African aristocracy, Nkosinathi Gamedzes love for languages led him to Judaism, and to being a rabbi in Israel WHEN Nkosinathi Gamedze walked into the Hebrew department at Wits University and said he wanted to study the language he was greeted with stunned silence. This week, 16 years later, he addressed members of the Jewish community in Johannesburg in a mixture of Hebrew and English - as Rabbi Natan Gamedze. Gamedze, 41, converted to Judaism in 1991 and now lives in the northern Israeli city of Tsfat, where he teaches various aspects of the Torah, the Jewish scripture. A descendant of the Swazi royal family, he lives the strict life of an ultra-Orthodox Jew with his wife and children. Entertaining the audience, Gamedze said he has often been referred to as a Swazi prince, but in reality his family lost their rights two generations back when the British recognised a rival clan as Swazilands leaders. As consolation, his family was granted roles such as diplomatic posts. His father, Aaron Gamedze, Swazilands former education minister and its high commissioner to the UK, began travelling around the world with his large family when Gamedze, the middle child, was eight years old. Gamedze studied at the University of Witwatersrand and left South Africa in 1988. He converted three years later. The day after his conversion turned out to be a religious fasting day and he joked with a friend: "I have just become a Jew and already Im suffering ... where is the teiglach (cookies)?" His friend told him things were not easy for Jews and welcomed him to the club. Gamedze returned to SA two weeks ago to take part in an SABC2 documentary on his life, which saw him reunited with his five siblings and his mother, Nina, who all live in SA. My family, who are dedicated Christians, found my conversion very difficult to deal with, he said. My grandfather abdicated so that he could become a preacher and he named his children Aaron and Moses, so it was no small thing when I decided to convert. But his family has long since accepted his new life. The only thing they now have to put up with is the fact that Gamedze can eat only kosher food prepared according to religious rules. My mother, who is a very good cook, still does not understand why I cannot eat her food, he said with a smile. Nina Gamedze, speaking from her home in Centurion this week, insisted that Gamedze was the one battling with this problem. I am a good cook, she said with a laugh. And he is finding it hard not eating my food. Gamedzes move to Israel came after a chance meeting with visiting Professor Moshe Sharon, who held the Hebrew language chair at the Hebrew University in Israel. I was sitting in the cafeteria when he walked up to me and asked why I was reading a Hebrew newspaper and I said that it claimed to be a newspaper for people who think and I was a thinking person, said Gamedze. The two men hit it off and during the conversation Sharon asked if Gamedze had ever considered doing a post-doctorate degree in Hebrew. An academic at heart, Gamedze - who sppeaks 14 languages and holds an honours degree in languages from Oxford University and a masters from Wits in Italian and German - was first attracted to the Jewish faith through his fascination with Hebrew. He is under no illusion, however, about the choice he made. I knew it was always going to be difficult. Wherever I go I stick out like a sore thumb, he said. Wherever I go in the Jewish community, I am the only black guy, and I am not the kind of person who likes to be in the limelight. Speaking about his 16-year absence from Africa, Gamedze said his life in Israel was far removed from his African roots. I came from a background where people were living in dire poverty and struggling day-to-day just to survive, while in Israel the people I met were working simply to make enough money so that they could study further and gather more knowledge on the scriptures. It was the pursuit of spiritual growth and not survival that was the priority, he said. Rabbi Dovid Hazdan, of the Oaklands Great Park Synagogue in Johannesburg, where Gamedze gave this weeks talk, said the young rabbi was an inspiration to all who heard him. (PS Interesting to see how it is responded to by the Zionism-is-Racism crowd) 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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ARAFAT'S SUCCESSOR: PALESTINIAN STATE WILL REPLACE ISRAEL
Posted by Yisrael and Batya Medad, December 24, 2004. |
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This was a special to World Tribune.Com December 22, 2004. It is archived at http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/breaking_9.html Well, at least they're honest. The new leader of the ruling Fatah movement said the Palestinians want to replace Israel with a state of their own. Fatah chief Farouk Khaddoumi said the Palestinian strategy toward Israel was two-fold. In the first stage, he said, the Palestinians would accept a Palestinian state alongside Israel. In the second stage, the Palestinians would seek to eliminate the Jewish state. In November, Khaddoumi replaced the late Yasser Arafat as leader of Fatah, Middle East Newsline reported. "At this stage there will be two states,"Khaddoumi told Iran's Al Aram television. "Many years from now, there will be only one." Khaddoumi, who regards himself as Palestinian foreign minister, said he was confident that Israel would be eliminated. He said he always opposed Israel's existence and cited the Arab numerical superiority over the Jewish state. "[There are] 300 million Arabs, while Israel has only the sea behind it," Khaddoumi said. Khaddoumi said his platform was endorsed by the PLO in 1974. He said the strategy called for a phased plan that would establish authority over any territory obtained from Israel, concluding with an Arab war to destroy the Jewish state. [On Thursday, the Palestinian Authority launched the first municipal elections in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in more than 25 years. The PA has been promising such elections since 1996.] The Fatah chief played down the powers of PA ministers. Khaddoumi said the Fatah Central Committee marked the source of authority for the PA and Cabinet. "The Palestinian Authority is a partial authority," Khaddoumi said. "It is a local government, just like any local government in any country. We shouldn't delude ourselves that these 'ministers' are actually ministers." [On Thursday, Palestinian gunners fired 30 mortar rounds into the Gush Katif community in the central Gaza Strip. The attack was launched from the Khan Yunis refugee camp hours after Israeli forces left the area.] |
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STRONG AND ARDENT SUPPORTERS OF ISRAEL - WE WISH YOU A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR |
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A HOLIDAY MESSAGE FROM UNITY COALITION FOR ISRAEL
Posted by Unity Coalition for Israel, December 24, 2004. |
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FROM THE UNITY COALITION FOR ISRAEL
As we approach the new year,
Founded in 1991, we are the largest worldwide coalition of Jewish and Christian organizations, with more than 200 groups representing millions of people dedicated to Israel. Though we have many different backgrounds, we have one common goal: A Safe and Secure Israel. Israel is not just a Jewish issue. Millions of Christians resolutely endorse the principle of peace with security for the state of Israel. Because we work closely together and speak with a united voice, our message is being heard! The Unity Coalition for Israel - UCI - can be reached by email at voices@israelunitycoalition.org or at their website: http://www.israelunitycoalition.org |
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BAD BUSH POLICY CHANGE? DEMANDS TO NEGOTIATE; FBI PLOT AGAINST AIPAC
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, December 23, 2004. |
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DEMANDS TO NEGOTIATE Israelis all want peace. They usually are ready to negotiate one, but from time-to-time terrorism so revolts them, that they realize, until the next binge of over-optimism, that they cannot attain peace peacefully. They maintain the futile hope that the next leader of P.A. jihad would make peace. The Arabs all want hegemony. They either give priority to the "armed struggle" and refuse to negotiate, or they think they can negotiate a victory with naïve Israelis under pressure from a supposed friend of Israel, the US. They may stop shooting during negotiations. Sometimes they negotiate in order to stave off an enemy offensive by cultivating the illusion that peace is in the offing. When Israel refuses to negotiate, the world presses it in a demanding and demeaning way. When the Arabs refuse to negotiate, the world coaxes it to in a sympathetic way. Note the double standard! BAD BUSH POLICY CHANGE COMING? Pres. Bush's first post-re-election statements were halfway encouraging for Israel. He seemed to part company not only with Powell but also with Powell's extensive appeasement of the western Palestinian Arabs. He indicated that he would not exert pressure upon Israel, would not send an envoy there, and primarily was interested in getting the P.A. to reform. By "reform," Pres. Bush stresses democratization. He does not mention disarmament. If the P.A. reformed, he said, he would help it gain statehood (as if that were an ethical imperative). That meant that he would seek to wrest the core Jewish patrimony from the Jewish people in behalf of these Arabs, part of a nation having perhaps the greatest extent of territory. Most people saw the Bush respite for Israel but not the eventual resumption of an anti-Zionist policy. People are fooled easily. Now Pres. Bush has taken on a messianic air, asserting, "I will manage to bring peace." He who has yet to bring peace anywhere, exudes an undeserved air of confidence in succeeding where all others failed. He does not indicate he has researched why they failed nor why their efforts were unjustly anti-Israel. He simply will follow down their path. What does that augur for Israel? The previous path is to pretend that now the P.A. leadership is moderate and, if it suspended terrorism to provide diplomatic cover, the US would exert sufficient pressure upon Israel to sign an agreement that won't fall apart until after the President leaves office and can blame others for the miscarriage. He'd get a prize and his successors would get blame. Unfair but typical. Why is Bush confident, now? Is it the usual Presidential megalomania, fed by sycophantic aides and religious certainty? To some extent, it probably is. I think that the President finds PM Sharon particularly compliant. Why compliant? Several reasons. Israeli leaders are notorious for buckling under pressure. PM Sharon is particularly vulnerable -- he and his son are subject to indictment by a leftist Attorney-General. In addition, Ariel Sharon may be trying to refurbish a reputation unfairly tainted as brutal in Lebanon and as right wing. If Israeli Prime Ministers weren't dredged up by a corrupt system from the ranks of secularists not particularly devoted to faith and country, and whose ethics were situational, Israel might be making progress in its struggle for survival. Instead it holds the territories in limbo, as if in sacred trust for its Arab nemesis. Unfortunately, its Prime Ministers emerge from among politicalized generals and Members of Knesset who risk national survival to retain another year or two of tenure. Must be quite a fine living! They can pursue failed policies because the media pretends they haven't failed. Effective opponents often die young. The US nurtures compliant leadership. The people of Israel are misled or stymied. DOES ISRAEL CONTROL U.S. FOREIGN POLICY? "The Bush administration has authorized the sale of 50 sophisticated American-made air-to-air missiles to Jordan, despite Israel's protests to (sic) the sale? Sending Jordan 50 AIM-120C Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) and associated parts and systems would boost its ability to shoot down enemy aircraft at long range with its U.S.-designed F-16 fighters." Israel is afraid that the precedent for such sales may be extended to Egypt. It urged the US to modify the missiles so that they could not shoot down Israeli airplanes (IMRA, 12/4). The US has not acceded to that request. Originally the Arabs, the Far Left, and the Far Right claimed that Israel controls US foreign and defense policy. From them, the notion has spread into some of the general media, at least in Europe. The constant US sale and gifts of advanced arms to the Arabs refutes the notion. DOES THE U.S., ITSELF, FOLLOW THE RULE OF LAW? US statute forbids the US from dealing with terrorists. Marwan Barghouti is a convicted terrorist and leader of a group on the US list of terrorist organizations. That organization has murdered Americans. Barghouti may run in an election to choose the head of the P.A.. The State Dept. has indicated that if he wins, it would deal with him (IMRA, 12/4). The State Dept. doesn't mean by dealing with him that it would liquidate him. The US wants other societies to follow the rule of law. Then let the State Dept. do so! ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER DIDN'T MEAN TO BE FUNNY Defense Min. Mofaz was pleased to report that Egypt is increasingly determined to interdict the arms smuggling from Sinai into Gaza. It is less than pleased to report that the Arabs increasingly smuggle (12/5). It seems to be beyond his ken to put the two statements together and realize that Egypt is increasingly determined both to spur arms smuggling and to deny it. ARABS DISCERN ISRAELI PLOT AGAINST IRAQ The Arab committee that plots a boycott of Israel has detected an Israeli plot against Iraq. You see, Israel wants to trade with Iraq (IMRA, 12/5). What a nefarious plot by Israel, seeking normal relations with an Arab country! It means that Israel seeks influence there, in order to undermine that country for some reason the committee did not share with us. Now the Arabs never would seek to undermine Israel by plotting. Oh, no. ARRESTS OF ARAB TERRORISTS Every couple of days, another senior Arab terrorist is captured or killed in the P.A.. Not once has the elimination of a terrorist been accomplished by the P.A., but always by Israel. The world complains about what Israel is doing. It does not complain about what the P.A. fails to do as obligated by agreement and decency. What does that tell you about the world, Israel, and the P.A.? THE ARAB CASE AGAINST ZIONISM The Arabs argue that the Jewish people have no right to statehood in Israel. Until modern Israel was created, the Jews did not exercise sovereignty there for 1900 years. That is too long ago. The Arabs go on to argue that since Arabs exercised sovereignty there almost a thousand years ago, until the Turks took over in 1071, the country now should belong to Arabs. (For this argument, they are Arabs and not "Palestinians." There never was a Palestinian Arab state.) Why does the brief Arab control make the area more Arab than Greek, Roman, Turkish, or British, conquerors who controlled it afterwards? If the Arab claim is superior to the ancient Jewish one, because it is more recent, why don't the Jews have a superior claim, because they have controlled a piece of their homeland in modern time, long after the Arabs lost control? Another Arab argument is that most Jews moved away from their homeland. (Actually, many were killed off or driven out, especially driven out by Muslims.) But they moved back. If moving in does not count, what shall we do with most countries, which took form from mass migration? Should the Arabs have to move out of N. Africa and Jordan, Syria, and Iraq, and back into the Arabian Peninsula? Most of the Arabs in Israel and in the P.A. are of relatively recent immigrant stock (Prof. Steven Plaut, 12/5, e-mail). COMPENSATION PROMISED TO JEWS? Khadaffi stated that Libya should compensate the families of Jews his country expelled, provided they do not possess property taken from Arabs who fled from Israel in 1947 and 1948. In response, a delegation of those families is headed to Libya, to meet with officials and try to negotiate compensation (Arutz-7, 12/5). Talk is cheap; compensation is dear. Wait and see. KILLING TERRORISTS SHOWS "BAD FAITH?" The P.A. accused Israel of showing bad faith towards movement to reopen negotiations, by killing a Hamas terrorist (Arutz-7, 12/5). The more dead terrorists, the likelier a peace. Isn't it bad faith on the part of the P.A. to let the terrorists continue to attack Israel and claim protection for them in the name of peace negotiations? Understandably, Israel does not want to negotiate under fire, but Hamas headquarters ordered its men to keep fighting. FBI TRIED TO DESTROY AIPAC An FBI courier was under investigation. The FBI used that leverage to demand that he try to set up AIPAC. He gave officials of AIPAC life-saving information about Iranian plots against Israel. We have his dubious word for it that he told them the information was classified. (Then the FBI leaked the case and tried to make it seem as if Israel, via AIPAC, were spying on the US.) AIPAC denies having broken any law or passing any documents to Israel. No indictments were made (Winston Mid East Analysis, 12/5). Entrapment not of professional criminals but for political reasons is particularly obnoxious. PRISONER RELEASE CRITERIA As a goodwill gesture, Israel released P.A. prisoners "whose offenses were relatively light, such as throwing Molotov cocktails or rocks, or shooting but not killing anyone (IMRA, 12/5). 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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MORAL COURAGE NEEDED TO WIN THE WAR
Posted by Dr. Yaron Brook, December 23, 2004. |
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The blame for the recent murder of 18 Americans in Mosul lies not only with the insurgents who initiated the attack, but also with the Bush Administration's suicidal policies. The insurgency would have been crushed long ago, and yesterday's attack averted, were it not for America's altruistic policy of placing the lives of Iraqi civilians above its own self-defense. America must destroy the insurgency if we are to implement a non-threatening government in Iraq. This can be done, but to do so we must make the insurgency's complicit civilian population--those who harbor and support the insurgents--pay for the violence that they abet. We must enforce their complete surrender to our presence. Thanks to such a policy, during the occupation of Japan zero soldiers were killed by insurgents and the threat posed by the country was ended. Shamefully, the Bush Administration has been unwilling to make hostile Iraqi civilians pay for their crimes. Time and again, it has treated Iraqi lives as sacrosanct and American security and soldiers as dispensable. It is in the name of sparing civilians that our soldiers have been ordered to follow crippling rules of engagement that have cost hundreds of their lives. It was in the name of sparing civilians that we withdrew from Fallujah in April, and in November allowed thousands of insurgents to flee to places like Mosul. Such capitulations have preserved and emboldened the insurgents, while giving hope to Islamic terrorists worldwide. To win this war we need a fundamental shift in our moral priorities. We need to see the military place the lives of Americans--including American soldiers--above the lives of Iraqi civilians. To those who insist that we continue to sacrifice for the sake of Iraqi civilians, I say that the death of 18 Americans this week, and the many more to come, are on your heads. Dr. Yaron Brook is president of the Ayn Rand Institute, based in Irvine, CA. |
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URGENT! FREE ZVIKI KORETZKI!
Posted by Ruth and Nadia Matar, December 23, 2004. |
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Dear friends-
Please read the following horrendous story and then act
urgently to help Zviki Koretzki
We cannot remain silent in face of this blatant injustice. Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz fax: 972-3-697-6218 tel: 972-3-697-5436 Ron Shechner (Aid to Shaul Mofaz) fax: 972-3-697-6328 tel: 972-3-697-5195 Bugi Yaalon, Chief of staff fax: 972- 3-569-6777 tel: 972-3-569-6601 IMPORTANT: Send your emails of support to Zviki's parents, Malka and Yefim at koretzki@yahoo.com Zviki's father, despite his difficult physical condition, has started a daily sit-in protest in front of the Defense Ministry at the Kyria in tel Aviv demanding his son's immediate release. He is there every day from 6:30am till 1:00pm from Sunday till Thursday.It is important to come and show support.If we do not scream gevalt right now- then today it is Zviki, tomorrow it can be any of our boys in the army. This is called "Zviki" and was written by Moshe Feiglin. Yefim Kortzki could not understand how he had remained alive. A unit of the Golani Brigade, comprising 24 half-tracks and three tanks, began the climb towards Tel Faher during the battle to liberate the Golan Heights. The fortunate ones who reached the approaches to the objective stormed forward and fought like lions, exposed to the light of day, and facing superior forces deployed in well-dug-in positions. Fourteen commendations and two medals for bravery were awarded for this battle. There were few survivors. Yefim's luck ran out at the end of the Six Day War when his jeep, fitted with a recoilless gun, encountered a mine and he was gravely wounded. But Yefim isn't the kind of man who gives in. Despite his grave disability he refused to accept financial aid from the Ministry of Defense. "The country doesn't owe me anything", he explained. He was hospitalized for more than a year. After being discharged he immediately started working, built a wonderful family, and continued to fight the daily war of existence with his own efforts. Over the course of the years the effects of his serious injuries became more marked, and he is now confined to his home, and every movement he makes causes agonizing pains that recall for him the terrible events of that battle. I visit Yefim every Shabbat. A ray of hope emerged despite the terrible pains and the nightmares of yesterday. Nine years ago his son, Zviki, joined the IDF. Yefim passed on to his son all his Zionist ardor, his belief in the State of Israel, and in the IDF. Zviki is really something. He is hard-working and talented, and stunned the senior officers who encountered him. He finished an officer's course and then advanced rapidly through progressive ranks, leaving a trail of reports of excellence in his wake. As a young officer he filled a number of positions usually given to people several ranks above him. In everything he did he introduced improvements and was well liked by those both above and below him. Zviki saw his future in the army. He joined the ranks of the regular army and was scheduled to start a course of studies about two years ago. When Yefim saw Zviki this made his day. But Zviki was too good for the State of Israel. One Shabbat, when the battalion commander took a vacation, he left Zviki in command of the battalion. Zviki was patrolling with a single jeep when he suddenly received a message. In the Arab village of Nazlat Zid a car bomb was being prepared to make an attack on Hadera. This was at the peak of the terrorist attacks, the distance from the village to the target was short, and there was no time to organize additional forces. Just Zviki, his driver, and an additional soldier, blocked the path of the car bomb intended to attack Hadera. Zviki didn't hesitate and entered the village. It was Shabbat. There were no people in the area apart from the residents of the village. So why was there a demonstration blocking his path? Obviously, this apparently spontaneous demonstration was intended to delay him and thus permit the car bomb to leave for its destination. Zviki got out of the jeep and called on the demonstrators to leave the place. Naturally, no-one obeyed him. He fired in the air and this still had no effect. Time was pressing so Zviki did something that was customary at that time. He took careful aim and fired at a brick wall in a nearby house. He clearly saw the place that his bullet had hit. Now the demonstration dispersed and Zviki rushed to patrol the village. The car bomb was no longer there, and thank G-d had been caught in a nearby village. When Zviki left the village he saw that a crowd had gathered. The villagers pointed to an injured person in a vehicle. They claimed that he had been hit by a bullet. Zviki helped as best as he could and brought the vehicle with the wounded person to a nearby medical unit. As a result of pressure applied by the Betzelem organization, Zviki was brought to trial. The prosecution had no real proof. The body of the injured person had been taken away by the Arabs and buried a long time earlier, and no-one could prove that he had been killed by a bullet. It is quite likely that as in other similar cases, local Arabs had killed the person and used the body for propaganda purpose. But why should the military court concern itself with such explanations, when precedents have already been established by the Supreme Court, and Leftist media person Ilana Dayan is breathing down its neck? A windowframe, without the glass, was produced as proof that Zviki's bullet had exploded it. (It's worth mentioning that a bullet from an M16 rifle, as used by Zviki, leaves a hole, but the rest of the glass remains intact.) Zviki request to return to the village and locate the place where his bullet hit the wall was rejected. Two very difficult years ensued for Zviki and his parents. They had spent all their money on lawyers and appeals. Nothing was of any avail. Even his final request to receive a pardon from the CGS was rejected. He was reduced in rank, the studies promised him were cancelled, and this morning Zviki entered the military prison where he will serve his six months sentence. This is the prize given by the State of Israel to a devoted, talented officer who gave nine years to serving in the IDF, years in which a person builds his future. For his courage in facing alone an incited crowd, and terrorists planning to perpetrate an attack on Hadera, the State of Israel should have awarded Zviki a medal. But this is not what happens in the Israeli era of reversal of values. Zviki, an excellent officer wearing a kippah from Karnei Shomron, was just the prey the establishment was waiting for. I have visited Yefim every Shabbat for many years. Over the last two years I have seen how his world has collapsed around him in ruins. He is incapable of understanding how the same State in which he believed and for which he gave everything, can do such a thing to him. I tried to explain to Yefim that it isn't the State. Someone has stolen the State from us, but one day it will be liberated. But Yefim doesn't want to hear this, and is sinking into depression. I have avoided publicizing the affair until now. Zviki has been taken captive by people who have covered their eyes with a red sheet. I didn't want them to know of the connection, but it's now all over. Zviki is in jail and Yefim is more broken in spirit than in body. This man with a broken body, who lives on drugs against pain that would have killed a normal person, is starting tomorrow a sole demonstration opposite the entrance to the General Staff HQ in Tel Aviv. He intends to sit there in the rain and cold, and I fear for his life. And Zviki? Thank G-d, Zviki is beginning to understand what his father is unable to accept. "You must appeal to the Supreme Court", one of the lawyers tried to persuade him. But Zviki had already understood that he had been caught in the claws of the monster. He now recognizes what he is up against. "What's the point?", he replied, "It will only mean that in another two years I'll be in the same situation, but with bigger debts". Zviki will be released in another six months. He will be an asset for any entrepreneur. He will study and work industriously, and faithfully, and will be better than others. "In another two years", I said to Yefim, "you and your wife will thank the court for finding Zviki guilty. You will thank the CGS and the other spineless officers who turned their backs on him. You will thank them, because without them Zviki would have stayed in the army and wouldn't have realized even part of his capabilities." We shall in the end release the State from its captivity, and it will then need first-rate people like Zviki. It will thank them when it is released from its captivity. Ruth and Nadia Matar established Women For Israel's Tomorrow (Women in Green), an activist group of women based in Jerusalem. Their website address is http://www.womeningreen.org |
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HELP PEACE NOW MEMBERS VOLUNTEER
Posted by Steven Plaut, December 23, 2004. |
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Peace Now, the anti-Israel far-leftist extremist organization, has spent the past few years urging leftists to refuse to do military service. Like most leftists, Peace Now is of the opinion that leftists should be excused from the inconvenience of having to obey any laws they happen to dislike. In particular, Peace Now endorses those soldiers who have been refusing to do any military service until Israel adopts the policies being advocated by Israel's communist party and the PLO. Now let us make this very clear. When it comes to defending Israeli civilians from mass murdering Palestinian nazis, when it came to serving in the military to protect Jewish children on buses, Peace Now sees no reason why its members should participate and serve. It promotes insubordination and mutiny by leftist soldiers. But now, all of a sudden, Peace Now has organized a new campaign under the slogan "I Volunteer". Peace Now wants its members to volunteer to fight against Jews and help expel Jewish settlers from their homes in the Gaza Strip when Ariel Sharon begins to implement Amram Mitznas plan to make Gaza judenrein. The background to this is that some on the Israeli Right, including some Rabbis, have been urging soldiers to disobey orders and refuse to serve in units ordered in to expel Jews from their homes (in order to coddle the Palestinian fascists). In order to take the places of any soldiers following these calls, Peace Now is suddenly uber-patriotic and urging its members to volunteer for military service. So are you following this? To fight Arab nazis and fascists and terrorists is an unthinkable crime in the "minds" of Peace Now extremists, something all moral people must refuse to join, but to serve in the military for the purposes of fighting Jews and expelling Jews from their homes is the height of moral sublimity and humaneness! Not to mention patriotism. Now the campaign is operating by placing large Peace Now ads in the press financed by you can guess who, in which there are forms to be filled out by Peace Now supporters and mailed in to the Chief of Staff of the army or to the Peace Now kremlin, in which people pledge their willingness to volunteer to help fight against Jews but not against Arab terrorists. The forms are to be sent to the offices of the Chief of Staff of the military: DZ (military post box) 02145, Tel Aviv. Peace Now members can also sign up for these missions at www.peacenow.org.il Now I know what you are thinking and that is that clearly the Peace Now petitions and ads do not go nearly far enough. After all, why should Peace Now members merely volunteer to serve in units that expel Jews from their homes? Why not have a REAL Peace Now campaign for Palestinian victory, in which Peace Now members sign petitions and send in forms to the military Chief of Staff in which they volunteer to place bombs in Jewish schools and cafes and buses? Or in which they volunteer to fire automatic weapons at groups of Jewish mothers or senior citizens? I mean, come on, lets have some REAL volunteering for Peace Now's true goals! Accordingly, I have a request. Please send a form in to the Chief of Staffs offices at the above address with a copy sent to Peace Now kremlin at POB 29828, Tel Aviv. In this form, fill in the name of one of the leaders of Peace Now, a list of which you can find at the Peace Now web site listed above. Then send in the form in the name of that Peace Now leader to the army (cc: Peace Now Kremlin) and help this Peace Now leader in his or her effort to volunteer to promote the Palestinian agenda. State in the form that the leader in question seeks to volunteer to bomb Jewish schools or cafes or otherwise promote Palestinian fascism. Some of you more cynical types might try an alternative form in which certain leftist extremists volunteer to be hanged for treason. Let us help out our brethren from Peace Now in their campaign to recruit volunteers for peace! 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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SAUDI GOVERNMENT DAILY ACCUSES U.S. ARMY OF HARVESTING ORGANS OF IRAQIS
Posted by Josef Said, December 23, 2004. |
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This is from MEMRI and is
archived at http://www.memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD83404
In the Saudi government daily Al-Watan, a n article from Brussels written by Fakhriya Ahmad charges that, based on alleged secret European military reports, the U.S. military in Iraq is harvesting and selling human organs. The following day, the story was also published in the Iranian daily Jomhouri-ye Islami, [1] as well as the Syrian daily Teshreen. [2] The following are excerpts from the article: [3] "Secret European military intelligence reports indicate the transformation of the American humanitarian mission in Iraq into a profitable trade in the American markets through the practice of American physicians extracting human organs from the dead and wounded, before they are put to death, for sale to medical centers in America. A secret team of American physicians follow the troops during their attacks on Iraqi armed men to ensure quick [medical] operations for extracting some organs and transferring them to private operations rooms before they are transferred to America for sale. "The reports confirm the finding of tens of mutilated cadavers or cadavers missing parts. Some were found without a head. The American military command could not offer reasons to explain the bewilderment about the missing parts, suggesting that this may have been caused by the penetration of bullets to the [missing] parts. But these excuses cannot be medically accepted. The reports also confirmed that the burning of bodies was deliberate in order to conceal the crime of organ extraction. [The reports] further indicate that American medical teams have [made] active and suspicious moves in Iraq to recruit some Iraqis to guide them to dead and critically injured individuals to engage in the extraction of organs. These teams offer $40 for every usable kidney and $25 for an eye. The reports confirm the finding of mutilated bodies in Fallujah. The reports indicate that the cadavers are immunized inside special cars to prevent the spread of the plague until the bodies are buried by their relatives. "The reports have indicated that a number of those killed in 'Abu Ghraib' and other prisons were subjected to operations for extracting their organs. Following their mutilations, the bodies were discarded far from the prisons to conceal the facts. The reports revealed that that the American forces restricted the media by force to prevent them from getting near the scenes and recording the events. But the relatives of the Iraqis are aware of these facts. The reports have [also] indicated that the military forces of the European allies have noticed the absence of organs from the cadavers that were dealt with by the Americans and have reported to their high command, which instructed them to maintain silence and to avoid the discussion of the subject due to its gravity, while the military and intelligence high command have written secret reports about was observed by their forces and sent them to the European ministries of defense for their information." [1] Jomhouri-ye Islami (Iran), December 19, 2004. http://www.jomhourieslami.com/1383/13830929/archives/oldindex.html. The article in Jomhouri-ye Islami also included pictures of Iraqis whose organs had allegedly been taken, including a picture of Abu Ghraib. [2] Teshreen (Syria), December 19, 2004. [3] Al-Watan (Saudi Arabia) December 18, 2004. Josef Said can be reached at www.khilafism@yahoogroups.com |
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ISRAELI-ARABS PLANNED SUICIDE-BOMBING "HONEYMOON"
Posted by Mordechai Ben-Menachem, December 23, 2004. |
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Please pardon me if I cannot but laugh at this. It is so sick that I can't but find it humorous. I accept responsibility if this is being "superficial". This was a news item in today's Arutz-7. The Sbarro restaurant in Jerusalem was to be the target of choice for an Israeli-Arab couple who planned to blow themselves up following their wedding. Israeli security forces thwarted their plans. It was released for publication on Wednesday that the GSS recently arrested an Arab resident of eastern Jerusalem on suspicion of planning to carry out a suicide bombing together with his 16-year-old fiance. The attack was scheduled for shortly after their wedding. Ahmed Jazawi, an Israeli-Arab resident of the mixed Jewish-Arab neighborhood of Abu-Tor, was recruited by Hamas handlers from Hevron - the same terror gang that carried out the double suicide-bombing in Be'er Sheva this past August, murdering 16 people. Jazawi, 22, had already convinced his young fiance, to carry out the attack together with him, and was in the midst of gathering intelligence with the goal of bombing the Sbarro pizzeria when he was arrested. Sbarro became famous in the summer of 2002 when, in a different downtown Jerusalem location, it suffered a suicide terrorist blast felling 15 Jews, including parents and three of their eight children. The investigation revealed that Jazawi had friendly relations with Moutzab Hashlamoun, a Hamas handler from Hevron. They studied together at Abu-Dis University. Half a year ago, Jazawi told Hashlamoun he wanted to carry out a suicide bombing in Jerusalem. The Hamas handler agreed and began to direct Jazawi on how to make his way to a target with his bomb, and how to maximize the number of murdered. Jazawi enjoys the benefits of Israeli citizenship, including an Israeli ID card. Equipped with that card, he began surveying downtown Jerusalem's streets for targets. He visited Jaffa Road and chose the newly relocated Sbarro pizzeria as his favored target. Hashlamoun then had Jazawi obtain chemicals and transfer them to Hamas bomb- makers in Hevron to construct bomb-belts. Jazawi then decided that a double suicide bombing would be more effective, and approached his new fiance, also from Abu Tor, on the matter - and she agreed. In the end, however, they decided to postpone the attack until after the wedding. Their plans were nipped in the bud on December 15, when Jazawi was arrested and handed over to the GSS for investigation. Mordechai Ben-Menachem is at Ben-Gurion University. He can be reached by email at quality@computer.org |
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'THE AMBASSADOR' FOR REAL
Posted by Neal Sher, December 23, 2004. |
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This is called "`The Ambassador' - for real" and was written by Haim
Handwerker. It appeared today in Haaretz.
Israeli diplomats and government officials come to New York for some tough training on how to deal with American media NEW YORK - Marco Greenberg, owner of a film production company who has abundant experience in public relations, sits down in front of several Israeli diplomats and spokesmen of government ministries in the conference room of a Manhattan office building. His role today is to play an unsympathetic television reporter: first a reporter for the local Channel 4 in Los Angeles, then for Al Jazeera. A studio atmosphere has been created in the conference room. Standing alongside Greenberg is a cameraman-sound man. The overhead lights are dimmed. In the background, behind the back of the interviewee, a colorful backdrop hangs. Greenberg begins the broadcast: "Good morning to all the viewers. With me today is a representative of the Israeli government. Hello, sir ..." The innocuous preamble quickly gives way to a shower of scathing questions aimed at each of the Israelis, one after another. Why shouldn't the Palestinians be permitted to return to their land and realize the right of return? Why doesn't Israel improve the situation of Israeli Arabs? Why do you need the wall, which makes life so hard for the Palestinians? Really now - why don't you stop the occupation? In an adjacent conference room, the images are repeated. Here the interviewer is Neal Sher, a consultant on media and lobbying, and a former executive director of AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee) who was once a Nazi -hunter for the U.S. Department of Justice. "We're losing a lot of boys in Iraq," he says, "and some people claim Israel pushed America into the war in Iraq. Does Israel intend to push America into a war against Iran, on the basis of its nuclear programs?" Waiting off to the side is Elias Buchwald, one of the founders of Burson-Marsteller, the major public relations firm, who is venerated in the industry. When the interview ends, it will be shown to the entire group on a video monitor. The sharp-tongued Buchwald will waste little time in skewering the interviewees for their responses. "Think hard about what you want to get across," say Buchwald and Greenberg. "Focus on your message. If you are asked an embarrassing question, give a short answer, and then cross the bridge over to what you really want to say. Don't repeat negative messages that the interviewer or the person you are debating has used. Don't get into an argument with the interviewer." Buchwald nearly jumps out of his skin at hearing the answer given by one Israeli diplomat to the question posed by Sher regarding Israeli responsibility for the distressing crisis in Iraq. When the man tries to "cross the bridge" too quickly, and says that the most important thing is that the American economy is in good condition, Buchwald has a hard time controlling his emotions. "The second you said that, you lost your audience," he bellows. "What are you talking about? This is a very serious question, and you cannot answer in such a manner. In this sort of matter, you only have one answer: I am certain that the American administration makes decisions on the basis of American interests, and American interests alone." The next Bibi While "The Ambassador," the Channel 2 TV show, is making a lot of noise in Israel, the real version of the program is in fact taking place in New York. Some 15 diplomats and representatives of Israeli government ministries came here for four days of practical in-service training to learn how to contend with the American media. In Israel, it is televised entertainment. Here, it is supposed to be serious. The training program, which has been offered for the past 20 years, is organized by the American Jewish Congress and the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. But the people who pour their hearts and souls into the program are Buchwald, who has volunteered for the job for 20 years, and Greenberg, who has volunteered for 13 years. Their dream was to find the next Benjamin Netanyahu, and it mattered not what his or her political opinions might be. A person with a good screen presence, who would get across the messages of the State of Israel in proper fashion. Hundreds of diplomats and government officials have taken part in the program, which is held once a year. Many have managed to improve their ability to express themselves, but the next Bibi, the person who can speak fluent English, formulate his words easily, is capable of translating complex ideas into words, has not yet been found. This year's participants included David Baker, foreign press coordinator in the Prime Minister's Office; David Akov, the consul general in San Francisco; Ran Gidor, a foreign ministry adviser; Avital Leibovich of the IDF Spokesman's office, Limor Banai of the office of the Finance Ministry Spokesman; Shahar Shelef, a deputy consul in Philadelphia; Anat Friedman, spokeswoman of the Israeli delegation to the UN; Andy David, the deputy consul in Chicago; Sharon Regev, a deputy consul in Philadelphia; and Kobi Brosh, the consul general in Toronto. Over the years, Buchwald and Greenberg have experienced much frustration. Too many unsuitable candidates have been sent to the course. At times they felt that people were being sent mainly to reward them with a trip to America. There were times that they were fed up and had no intention of continuing. At times they wondered if it wouldn't be better to send high-ranking politicians from Israel than low-ranking officials, but the program did not interest cabinet ministers. This year, Buchwald says, the level of personnel is higher than in past years - a major source of solace for him. Aging generals The program is intended to provide participants with an understanding of how the American media works. But its high point is the practical work in front of the camera with Buchwald, Greenberg and Sher. The program is designed to improve the primary task of the foreign ministry representatives: hasbara - that peculiar Israeli word that is a hybrid of information, public relations and propaganda. The chief exponents of this craft are supposed to be the prime minister and foreign minister, but their English, ability to express themselves and the content of what they say does not exactly help to promote Israel's hasbara efforts, say Buchwald and Greenberg. The people out in the trenches are foreign ministry officials - who are often accused by Israelis and American Jews of falling down on the job. Greenberg starts off the morning by showing an assortment of video clips that is intended to explain the problem of Israel's hasbara, at its worst. Two American commentators on the sympathetic to Israel "Fox News" are discussing the question of why Israeli hasbara is unsuccessful. One says that Americans see all use of force as a criminal act. To win the battle for public opinion in America, you have to present yourself as a victim; that is how you win the heart of Americans. He who apologizes for using force loses. The American media doesn't delve too deeply into the question of why the Israel Defense Forces do what they do. The Israelis, explains Greenberg, are concentrating on survival, not the media war. Their leaders are aging generals who do not know how to explain themselves. The video clips also include several Palestinian spokesmen in various appearances on American television. Diana Buttu and Michael Tarazi, two American Arabs who speak fluent English, and Hanan Ashrawi, who also speaks impeccable English. When they go on the air after acts of terrorism, their answer to nearly every question is the same - the biggest problem of all is the occupation, a mantra that they repeat over and over again. "They have a good message, a very powerful message. No matter what you ask them, they will `cross the bridge' to this message that they want to get across," explains Greenberg. He suggests that the Israelis learn from them. Every question you are asked will receive a brief response, and from there they will cross the bridge to what they want to get across. The participants send up a barrage of suggestions: Israel should be depicted as victim; someone else thinks this is a problematic approach, especially as Israel wants to attract investors and tourists; we have to focus on terror; we must not present ourselves as underdogs because we aren't, and if we do so then we will lose; instead of the word "occupation," we have to use the terms "disputed territories" or "transitional territories." Buchwald looks a bit impatient. He wants the Israelis to decide themselves what their mantra should be, but his sense is that they are opting for a mantra that may have worked last year. The terror mantra, for instance, is no good anymore, given the changes since Arafat's death. He suggests delivering a positive message: telling the Palestinians, "Come, let's make peace. We want a good economy for you. We want a good economy for us. We've had enough war. Let's live together. That'll play well on television." Greenberg, who lived in Israel for several years and even served in the IDF Spokesman's office, says there is no magic cure for Israeli hasbara. "The subjects they deal with are very complicated. People in Israel talk a lot about hasbara, but do little. The truth is that we are lacking the public relations gene in our DNA. Israel still hasn't found its Diana Buttu or Michael Tarazi," he says. "You have to bear in mind that in order to be an effective spokesman, there's no need for a beauty contest. The physical appearance of the spokesman is important, but to do the job properly, it has to be done by a skilled professional, for instance, Israeli high-tech people who have been successful abroad and have good English skills. They have learned American communications." |
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BLAIR'S PALESTINIAN PROBLEM
Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, December 23, 2004. |
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Once again the astute Rachel Ehrenfeld cuts to the heart of the problem - just as she has with tracking drug organizations. My only comment is that, those who force Israel into indefensible positions, with no demand that Terror is stopped before Israel implements irrevocable peace gestures. If Israel withdraws from any of her ancient homeland, Arab Muslim terrorists from all over the world will move into that vacuum. Then Israel must pay the price in fatalities (more than 1500 Jews murdered since Oslo) based upon political considerations of foreign interests. Therefore, Britain's PM Tony Blair and World Bank President James Wolfenson should be pre-indicted for assisting terrorists for crimes against the Jewish people... particularly when, not if, terror continues under their guidance. This article is by Rachel Ehrenfeld, PhD, Director of American Center for Democracy, author of many publications and several books, the most recent of which is "Funding Evil: How Terrorism is Financed - And How to Stop It." Her website is www.public-integrity.org. The article appeared in Front Page Magazine and is archived at
President Bush is clearly determined to bring peace to the Middle
East. However, the pressure put on Israel by the British premier Tony
Blair and World Bank President James Wolfenson will only assist in the
creation of an independent terrorist Palestine. Arafat's replacement,
Mahmoud Abbas, is widely perceived as being more pragmatic than his
predecessor, especially since he keeps repeating his commitment to
peace. But at the same time, like Arafat, he calls on the Palestinian
people to "continue the struggle... to raise the Palestinian flag on
the walls of Jerusalem, the capital of our independent Palestinian
state."
The need for security reforms in the Palestinian authority, i.e.
dismantling all the terrorist organizations, the bomb workshops, the
smuggling of weapons, and making all the security forces accountable
to a single leadership, was acknowledged by the World Bank's own
December 2004 report "Stagnation or Revival: Israeli Disengagement and
Palestinian Economic Prospects." However, Wolfenson doesn't want to
wait until that happens. Instead, he wants to remove all Israeli
closures and checkpoints immediately as a condition to increasing
international aid to the Palestinians to almost $1.5 billion a year.
This "common sense" step, according to Wolfenson, will "restore the
possibility of hope for young Palestinians."
However, Palestinians young and old will have no hope unless the
Palestinian Authority stops all terrorist attacks against Israel and
Israelis, stops religious and secular incitement against Israel on
television and in the print media, changes its official maps and the
maps used in Palestinian school textbooks to include the State of
Israel, and updates history textbooks used in the Palestinian schools.
Only then will it be possible for a true democratic state to emerge in
the Palestinian territory, as President Bush has called for.
The Palestinians have asked international donors for four to six
billion dollars for the next four years to help them rebuild the
economy, but the donor community has already seen billions of its
dollars disappear while the Palestinian economy collapsed and many
Palestinians were left living on $2 a day.
Many of these Palestinians receive their economic support and
social services not from the Palestinian Authority, but from HAMAS.
Although HAMAS is not challenging Mahmoud Abbas' candidacy directly,
it is continuing to build up support for itself among the
disenfranchised Palestinian population. With a well-established
civilian/military infrastructure in the PA-administered territories,
HAMAS has an annual budget is estimated at around $70 million, at
least $20 million of which it receives from Interpal, the HAMAS front
organization in the UK. Interpal not only raises funds for HAMAS in
the UK, but also serves as the major courier of funds from other
HAMAS-affiliated organizations in Europe to the West Bank and Gaza.
Its activities are documented at length by the Intelligence and
Terrorism Information Center. Why does the Blair administration allow a HAMAS front to openly
operate in the UK? After all, following US pressure, the European
Union as well as the UK have outlawed HAMAS as a terrorist
organization and prohibited the collection of money to assist
terrorist organizations for any purpose, including civilian. Is the
electoral support of the anti-Israeli lobby that crucial to the Blair
administration staying in power? In his attempts to hold on to power,
Blair apparently fails to understand that HAMAS' continued operations
will eventually undermine any hope for a viable Palestinian state.
President Bush has called on the free world to focus "on helping
the Palestinians develop a state." However, Mr. Blair's negligence of
stopping Interpal's activities and the funding of HAMAS in the UK
stand in striking contradiction to the President's plea. So does Mr.
Wolfenson's insistence on Israel's relaxation of its necessary
security measures in the West Bank and Gaza, which he claims impede
the economic development of the Palestinians.
The President is right in saying that the Palestinians have to
first prove that they are serious about stopping terrorism, and only
then, by setting benchmarks for Palestinian reforms and milestones for
their fulfillment, should the international donor community resume
donations as a sign of its confidence in the new Palestinian
leadership.
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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CLASHING SYMBOLS
Posted by Batya Medad, December 23, 2004. |
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In deep pain, opponents of "disengagement" are wearing "orange stars," and from the way the media and many politicians are acting - so shocked, scandalized and horrified, you'd think that they were pelting innocent civilians with rocks, or shooting at people traveling in cars, or stabbing people to death or even strapping explosives to themselves to blow up, murder, everyone in the vicinity. Oops, they don't get that outraged at the murder of innocent Jews. They keep shoving our other cheek out in case the terrorists need easier targets. There's a lot of misplaced anger here. I wish these same politicians, diplomats, historians and journalists would just listen to themselves. Who are the victims? Why are they so deaf and callous to Jewish pain? Many years ago, when I was in high school (Great Neck North), I tried to publicize demonstrations to give religious freedom to Soviet Jewry. My fellow classmates, mostly Jewish, first insisted that they were only interested in American issues, like civil rights, and Russia was much too far away for them to relate to. The following year they were enthusiastically demonstrating for Biafora, in Africa. Nothing's changed. Nadia Matar's being attacked for saying that the transfer, uprooting, destruction reminds her of the Nazis. She was raised in Europe and grew up hearing of the murder and persecution of Jews. Nadia's an idealist, a Jewish idealist, who sees Jewish survival as Jews in our Eretz Yisrael as the most important ideal. I identify with that. What I don't understand is Yaakov Amidror, the retired IDF general, the first religious general, who was brought into the TV studio to serve counterpoint to Nadia. He stated and repeated that in principle, he agrees with Nadia, that Sharon's "disengagement" withdrawal, destruction plan is the worst possible policy for our country. But he stated that he supports it, because a democratic government voted for it. Nadia, in the studio, and I, watching a repeat of the interview, were equally dumbfounded. Where are his values? Where are his ideals? Are there any absolute truths in his life? If he found himself living or serving with a group of people who democratically voted that the kitchen would be traif (not kosher), would he eat traif just to obey the majority? Four terms keep repeating themselves in the arguments: democracy, Nazi, anti-Semite and civil war. Key words, as I'd tell my students. I was raised to be a good American, and democracy was a major ingredient. It's hard to say when I fell out of love with democracy, but now I no longer think it as an infallible necessity. There are subjects that are not for democratic vote, and one of them is religion, and another is certain social issues. A group of people shouldn't be able to justify their bullying of another group by claiming "democracy." Yes, bullying. That is what's going on here. The residents of Gush Katif are being bullied by the wealthier more influential and powerful Israelis, all in the name of democracy. The Jews being threatened, persecuted, are countering that they feel like they are going to be destroyed like Jewish communities were by the Nazis during the Holocaust. For the past sixty years, ever since it became common knowledge what happened in Nazi Germany and most of Europe, Jews have sworn "never again." Jews will never bow to pressure to give up their homes, property and businesses. Jews will never go "like lambs." And now, what is happening, and here in Israel? Jews are being ordered to give up their homes, businesses, property - and this travesty is taking place in our Holy Land! In the name of democracy? Hitler was also put in power via democracy. In Gush Katif there are Holocaust survivors who thought they finally found their haven, their heaven on earth. Some of them, wearing their orange stars, visited the Knesset and were attacked for their feelings and opinions. See; http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=74011 In Hebrew the term "civil war" is "war of brothers." Those of us who say that we will oppose the expulsion of Jews from our homes are being told that we are causing a "civil war." We are supposed to go "like lambs to the slaughter." We have no rights. The government even proposed a law that would incarcerate us for three to five years for opposing expulsion of Jews from their homes, but thank G-d it was eliminated from the bill. In simple words, the government is starting a war against Jews, but we have no right to self-defense. Can a Jew be an anti-Semite? In frustration this term is also being used. Who would have thought that Jews would be calling each other "Nazi" and "anti-Semite"? They're must be better words to use. For sure "Nazi" should never be used; it was for a specific country and time. And instead of "anti-Semite" another word must be used. The wrong words and symbols damage the cause. I don't agree with President Katzav's reason for opposing the wearing of an orange star. He said: "There is no justification to enlist, in the public struggle against the evacuation, the star which constitutes a memory of the most horrific and awful period in the history of the Jewish people.? They must focus their struggle in the realm of the permitted, the legal and the legitimate." In all honesty, I think that in a very crucial way, today's situation is no less "horrific and awful." And that's because today Jews are planning on evacuating other Jews from their homes; Jews are destroying Jewish schools and businesses. Jews are planning "camps," "compounds" and jails to detain Jewish refugees. Jews are planning on confiscating weapons from Jews, leaving them defenseless, while at the same time armed police and soldiers will be sent to throw them out of their homes. President Katzav suggests that we "must focus" our struggle on "legal and ...legitimate" methods. But according to the proposed law, it will be illegal to protest! If the orange star bothers people and makes them think of the Nazis, then it's doing its job. That's the whole point. When I began writing this, I wasn't sure what I'd do, but especially after reading President Katzav's statement, the star looks more and more legitimate. Will I wear an orange star? I don't know. Maybe I'll just take out "my ripped flag." (http://www.israelnn.com/article.php3?id=4385) [Ed note: Batya had ripped a flag as kniya, as a sign of mourning, when the Oslo Accords were signed.] This is Musing #89. Batya Medad lives in Shiloh. She can be reached by email at Shilohmuse@yahoo.com or visit her website http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/ or go to http://www.shilo.org.il |
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TAKE OFF THE STARS
Posted by Naomi Ragen, December 23, 2004. |
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Dear Friends,
Reactions to the protest of Gush Katif settlers and the call to civil
disobediance, along with the wearing of the symbolic stars, have
brought me a storm of letters. Some support the pullout, some the
right of settlers to disobey. But no one, including myself, thinks
that the use of the Holocaust symbol is a good idea. Although I fully
sympathize with the settlers desperation and their use of the symbol's
one time shock value to wake up those around the world who don't see
the pain of those about to lose their homes because they are Jews,
along with MK Effie Eitam, I say to my sisters and brothers in Gush
Katif and Samaria: enough is enough. Take off the stars. We built the
land of Israel so we'd never have to wear such a symbol again. I
implore those in charge to burn them and never may they see the light
of day again in our lifetimes.
Below, some letters from listmembers Dear PM Sharon: I am a gentile who puts my energy, actions, money, and prayers toward standing with the Land of Israel. I am only one of millions of gentile Christians who stand with Israel. It is very discouraging for us to see that you, along with many others in your government, are turning against your own people by trying to expel them from Land that is yours. While we Christian Gentiles fight anti-Semitism, you perpetuate it against your own people by planning to uproot them from their homes and livelihoods. We pray for you Mr. Sharon. We pray for Israel. We come there and spend money. Our friends look at us like we are crazy but we don't care. We stand with the Jewish people and the nation of Israel and your right to your inheritance which includes the biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria as well as Gaza. I know the pressures upon you from the world and many in your own government are enormous. But I implore you to recall all your pioneers, your own previous commitment to settling the Land, and your right to your ancestral heritage. This is not the time to win friends. Giving up your Land and uprooting your people is only giving in to evil and expediency. Put the pressure on Palestinians instead to democratize their society. Then you will not have to uproot anyone. Jew and Palestinian will peacefully co-exist. Israel is probably never going to have many friends anyway on the world's stage so why not do what is right for your own people and principles and let the world complain. Please don't disappoint the millions of us gentile Christians who are honestly your best friends now. Respectfully,
I don't agree with Sharon's policy of unilateral disengagement either. However, like Rabin before him who before the 1992 elections stated that we would never go down from the Golan heights, and after being elected, was perfectly willing to go back to the international border that existed before 1967 (but not to the cease-fire lines that gave the Syrians access to the Kinneret), Sharon changed his policy once elected. The point is, there is no mechanism in a democracy to call early elections just because the person (or party) you voted for changed policy between one election and the next. Only the elected representatives can do this. All we can do as voters is vote them out in the next election. It may be difficult to swallow, but that's the way the democratic game is played. Remember, what we have here, and even more so in the States, is a representative democracy. That means we the people have given the power to decide for us to the elected representatives, and through them to the government. Wallerstein's call to defy the government's decision is a dangerous position to hold. By doing so, he endangers the democratic structure for all of us, because he is saying that if he doesn't agree with something the government does, he is free to break the law to stop it. But what can stop someone from the Left from doing the same thing? If it's unacceptable to us that soldiers will defy orders to serve in the territories to protect us from terrorism, so it must be unacceptable to say that soldiers must disobey orders to dismantle settlements, if that's what the government decides. The fact is, the government is really saying that they will not continue to send the army to protect those Israelis living in the Gaza Strip after a certain date. They are not "forcing" them to move. The comparison to the deportations during the Holocaust is deplorable. It's not exactly the same thing. Then the Nazis sent people to their deaths; now the government is basically invoking "imminent domain" paying these people compensation for relocating. Hardly the same thing. From a listmember, a quote from Mr. Sharon in 1995: "I felt pain after the agreement was signed; pain caused not merely by the government's mistaken, irresponsible decisions, but chiefly by its ministers' devilish joy at the "defeat" of their foes -- the settlers. Sometimes you have no choice but to retreat...But to give up something that's entirely yours with cries of joy -- the joy of retreat -- is a sick phenomenon." Ariel Sharon, The Jerusalem Post, Sept 29, 1995 Dear Ms. Ragen, I have been receiving your email column for about two years ago and deeply admire what you are doing. As you may remember from some of my past emails to you, I am an "ex-peacenik" and have come to understand that the Oslo Process was a terrible mistake. I still believe, with respect, that the settlement movement was fundamentally mistaken from the beginning; nevertheless, it has become obvious that "settlements" and "settlers" were never more than an excuse for the Palestinians, that the real issue for them is the very existence of the state of Israel, and that Israel's "peace camp," with the very best of intentions, bought into a murderous lie on this point. Of course anyone who feels that the settlers are somehow "legitimate targets" for murder forfeits all rights to speak about anything. I do not wish to argue about the disengagement plan. While I disagree with them, of course the settlers and their allies have every right to protest and even to engage in civil disobedience; as a disciple of Henry David Thoreau and a one-time sympathizer with Yesh Gvul, I can hardly decide now that this tactic is illegitimate just because it is being used for a cause I do not support. Moreover, the settlers certainly have a right to feel that Peres and Sharon in particular are playing the hypocrite, having encouraged them to build their lives in the West Bank and Gaza only to seek to expel them now. With all of that being said, I beg you to reconsider your support for the use of the orange Magen David symbol by the protestors. At a time when the Jewish people really IS threatened with, G-d forbid, a second Holocaust, it is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS to cry Shoah for anything less than the actual threat of genocide itself. For the State of Israel to expel the settlers and destroy their homes, painful as it is to them, is not remotely the same thing as even the pre-1938 expulsion of German Jews. Surely it is not necessary to belabor this point. I might also point out that for the settlers and their supporters to use this symbol is to implicitly call the leaders of Israel Nazis--precisely the same obscene blood libel that has taken hold in Europe, the Arab world, and the United Nations, which you have so elqouently condemned. The rabbis repeatedly compared lashon hara to bloodshed--and in this case, nine years after the Rabin assassination, the metaphor is all too real. Please, please reconsider your backing for this dangerous and obscene misuse of the greatest tragedy in Jewish and world history. With respect,
Naomi Ragen is an American-born novelist and journalist who lives
in Jerusalem. She can be contacted at www.naomiragen.com, where you
can subscribe to her newsletter.
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CLEVER TRICKERY!
Posted by Evelyn Hayes, December 23, 2004. |
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This was written by Jan Willem van der Hoeven, Director of International Christian Zionist Center. The Center's email address is iczc@iczc.org.il and its website is http://www.israelmybeloved.com Cheques in support of their work can be made payable to ICZC, P.O. Box 49063, 91490 Jerusalem, Israel. No Mr. Sharon, that is not true and you from all people must know it yourself - it was not those who were loyal and faithful to the dictates and wishes of the ideology and votes of your own party that caused the Labor party to enter at this moment your now leftist-led government. It was you by refusing to listen to the majority of your party's wishes in your mistaken and harmful drive to dismantle your own people from their carefully and lovingly built homes in Gush Katif and other areas who caused the present situation that forced you upon Labor's shoulders. You first fired all ministers who after all were faithful to what you, yourself promised in your good days to your party - who opposed your Mitzna-like plan of unilateral withdrawal. This caused you to loose your majority in the Knesset. To say now cleverly that it is their fault - "the rebels" as you call them - that forced you to embrace Labor is pertinently not true! That is a clever manipulation of the real situation! You refused to listen to the majority wish of your own party when they first voted overwhelmingly against the establishment of a Palestinian state two and a half years ago and then recently with a two third majority against this unilateral disengagement plan. And now you again refuse to go to your own people by way of a referendum before this disastrous disengagement plan leads us all to the brink of civil war - to the delight of all your enemies. You fired or threatened to fire any minister or deputy minister who dares to contradict you. All this to hold on to this your plan - cheered on by the world as only the first step of a further withdrawal from most of your ancient land, from Judea and Samaria. Is all this really worth it? To hurt, divide and wound your people with maybe getting some "gentile peanuts of approval" in return? If Judea and Samaria are not lawfully yours, why then is Tel Aviv or Haifa - or the Negev or Galilee? You undermine the very dream of Zion, the vision of Jabotinski - the words of all of Israel's prophets. You trample upon the sanctity of your own people's history by even giving a hint of justification that those who have murdered you ceaselessly have now more historic right to this your G-d-given land than you yourself. Bethel the place where Jacob dreamed that G-d would give him the land, where he had laid, to him and his descendants; Shilo where G-ds holy ark stood for over 300 years; Elon Moreh where G-d showed Abraham all your land from coast to coast - this all is not to be your land now any more? Judenrein, by the wish of those who claim it now as their own and may soon use it as a springboard for your further destruction in the name of Islam? And where - where - should all the Jews - nine million of them - who still are outside Israel - now with new waves of anti-Semitism increasing all over the world - find refuge? The one million European Jews - now threatened - and many others like them? If you give away to Israel's sworn enemies part of the already tiny land which will in the end be their place of home and refuge. How can one even think of such a betrayal of their only hope and future? If it only brought real peace with your neighbors, one could argue that for this, these very painful concessions were necessary - but as you may know, such a Palestinian state may result in just the opposite and become an Islamic springboard to eradicate what will be left of Israel. However you turn it - in a time that as never before the world has at least one leader, George W. Bush, who is willing to fight terror - terror in this part of the world still wins by the acquiescence of your Israeli government. After all their countless and gruesome acts of terror, the slaying of Tali Hatuel and her four daughters and unborn son and so many others, maimed for life - in spite of all the kassam rockets and killings - terrorists still get what they wanted - the evacuation of all Israelis, military and civilian, from the biblical land of Gaza. What will have to happen, Mr. Sharon, before you understand that you have put yourself on a collision course with G-d Almighty, He who has given you and your people this land as an everlasting possession not and never to be handed over to the enemies of your people, certainly not as a reward for terror. G-d in the end I believe will find a way to stop it, but I fear it will be through a lot of pain and suffering before we all shall become wiser! May G-d have mercy upon us, I pray! Evelyn Hayes is author of "The Eleventh Plague, Twins, because their hearts were softened to accept the unacceptable" and "The Twelfth Plague, Generations, because the lion wears stripes." Contact her at haze@rcn.com. |
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UN-CIVIL WAR
Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, December 23, 2004. |
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The Israeli Left has been frothing at the mouth for years at the prospect of a civil war. In personal conversations I have had over the years, more than one "Leftist" has warned me that they will soon be taking care of "people like you." It always goes more or less like this (translation in brackets): "You and those like you are anti-democratic (You are having too many children and, despite all our efforts, are succeeding in educating them as Jews.) and are planning to take over the country by undemocratic means (You will eventually be the majority of the voters and elect the majority of the Knesset). We must defend Democracy. (By illegally withholding Government money appropriated to your institution, maintaining a dual legal system; one law for you and a different one for me, vilifying and ridiculing you in our highly controlled media and when necessary intimidate, imprison or kill your leaders.) Your actions are endangering and dividing the nation. (You are endangering our aristocratic life style and the Billions of Dollars we who are about 5% of the country manage to pilfer every year from the public.) This could lead to civil war! (Please, please, pretty please make a civil war so I can have an acceptable excuse to finally murder all of you!)" This is a news item from Arutz-7. Called "Labor MK Sneh: Civil War Has its Merits," it is archived at http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=74000 Another left-wing voice has been added to the still-small chorus of those saying that bloodshed in the fight to retreat from Gaza might be worthwhile - and it even sings the praises of a civil war. "Even if the clash over Gaza exacts a price in blood, it will be tiny compared to the blood and victims that we will have to pay in decades of conflict with the Palestinians." So says senior Labor MK Ephraim Sneh, who is running in today's Labor election for a senior ministerial post in the Cabinet. Sneh made his remarks in an op-ed in the Maariv newspaper. "A cruel and destructive civil war formed the democratic character of the United States," Sneh wrote, and "the conflict amongst ourselves is unavoidable." "Next week," Sneh concludes, "a new government will be sworn in. If it has courageous and determined members, it will meet the challenge of the conflict that has been forced upon it - and will win." Sneh is the son of the late Moshe Sneh (Kleinbaum), a four-time Knesset Member and member of the Israel Communist Party's Political Bureau. Haaretz columnist Yoel Marcus has written - this past August 31, for instance - that an elite army unit should be charged with removing settlers, "even if that involves bloodshed." Aryeh Zelasko lives in Beitar Illit, south of Jerusalem. He is Director of Sales and Marketing of Israel Visit (www.israelvisit.co.il) which provides information and an internet buying facility for American visitors to Israel. |
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MYTH THAT SHARON'S A RIGHTIST, EGYPT FOR TERRORISM; SHARON FOR EGYPT
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, December 23, 2004. |
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"CREATIVE" PEACE PROPOSALS Anthony Lewis used to come up with what he called "creative peace proposals" for the Arab-Israel conflict. They always were variations of piecemeal Israeli surrender to jihad, a goal he obsessed over and sneaked into irrelevant discussions, as the "NY Times" does generally. One "creative" aspect was in disguising the same basic deal in slightly different raiment. Another frequently proposed "creative" aspect is a self-contradictory arrangement, such as sovereignty with disarmament. Once sovereign, the PLO would not have to disarm. Sovereignty trumps contracts made before sovereignty. How convenient that foreign policy advisors such as Lewis never seem to know such disqualifications for their plans! Are they afraid to read Jewish nationalist sources that would apprise them of the facts? The right wing in Israel also has a creative peace proposal. It suggests that if the Arabs cannot be forced or induced to leave Israel and the Territories, then Israel should annex the Territories but the Arabs would be allowed to vote in, say, Jordan. In that way, the Right imagines that its plan is democratic. Let us not make a fetish of democracy in form, permitting jihad in practice. The Right's plan does just that. First, it is not democratic. What good would it do for the Arabs of an enlarged Israel to vote in Jordan, which would not affect their lives? Second, to keep the Arabs as a fifth column among the Jews is foolhardy. These Arabs have been contending against the Jews for some time, now rioting, then bombing, now biding their time. Why would the proposed arrangement induce them to cease struggling? The only worthwhile point in this proposal is its inadvertent rescinding of Israeli citizenship. Without citizenship, the Arabs would become ineligible for most welfare and health benefits and college preference. Some might move away. The trouble with this kind of a proposal is that one side offers it without understanding what the other side seeks. Ethnocentric in concept, it founders in reality and favors a fanatical enemy. MYTH OF ARIEL SHARON BEING A RIGHT-WINGER Myths provide a comfortable substitute for reality. Hence people are reluctant to overturn false ones. Besides, to see through a myth, people must get information that contradicts it, and they must be able to deduce the truth. These days, people get mostly misinformation and gain little skill in logic. They state false postulates and argue with poor rationalizations. A long held myth is that Ariel Sharon is a right-winger. I won't repeat earlier discussions of why that was not the case, in order to have room to note the new evidence that it is not so, now. In order to maintain power (over Israel, not for Israel), and to keep himself and son from being indicted, he defied his Party to form a coalition with the Labor Party. The Labor Party accepted his offer not only because Labor Party head Peres seized an opportunity to gain power, but because Sharon's evacuation plan, of which he revealed only the first stage, resembles theirs. In other words, Sharon has a left wing plan. The Palestinian Arabs, among the most extreme of Muslims, have been emphasizing a myth about Sharon, and, in typical Arab demonology, casting him as "extremist" right-winger. He is an extremist, but an extremist in being leftist or appeasement-minded and in being undemocratic. His bulldozer techniques might be forgiven if they were in service of protecting his people instead of ruining many of them and exposing the rest to ratcheted-up terrorism. PUBLICITY & TERRORISM Islamic terrorism is a method of warfare that combines elements of psychosis, religious fanaticism, and desperation in behalf of an unpersuasive cause. Terrorists often make more effective use of the publicity from their attacks than do the countries and companies attacked, despite poorer access to public relations counsel. Some of the victims, particularly the Israelis, don't yet understand the value and techniques of good public relations or refuse to recognize that they are the victims not only of bombs but also of psychological warfare. Others, such as the government of Spain, are cowed by terrorism. One big attack, and Spain was neutralized. (A contributing factor was government dissembling.) Another reason for the propaganda effectiveness of terrorism is the perversity of the media and the public. The media gives terrorism too much publicity. The public takes the stated agenda of terrorism too seriously. Media and intellectuals set the stage for public acceptance of the terrorists. They do this by specious explanations of terrorism and by their bias against certain victims of it. The world media does not sympathize with Israeli victims and conveys little sympathy for American victims. Intellectuals spread the misconception that Arab terrorists act out of financial desperation and political oppression, and the slanderous theory that this desperation is caused by Israeli mistreatment of the Arabs. How patronizing but sophisticated are terrorist leaders, knowing that their horrid crimes bring a favorable response: fear or appeasement! The more despicable terrorists are, the more audiences despise the terrorists' enemies and seek to comfort the terrorists. Perverse! However, there does come a point at which terrorism is seen by the public as excessive. Hence the PLO now advises various suspensions of it or changes in tactics, until the world cools off. The misconception about the "root cause" of terrorism is being contradicted by studies, but its overthrow should not require formal studies. All that people needed to do was compare the Arabs with many other poor ethnic groups that do not commit terrorism. People didn't bother. They may lack the mental capacity. They accommodate their beliefs to the prevailing wisdom of the day, however unwise it be. Bin Laden is one of the terrorist leaders who changes his message to suit his changing perception of what public relations would advance his cause. He varies it by attributing his cause to grievances now against S. Arabia, then against the US, then against Israel, and back again to S. Arabia. He now redefines the goal as bringing down the oil infrastructure of the Arabian Peninsula. He contends that it doesn't serve Islam. Thus he would create the very poverty among the faithful that naïve Westerners imagine fuels the terrorism that that multi-millionaire inspires. GOING TOO FAR WITH AN ARGUMENT Capitalists and liberals have been debating for almost a century and-a-half, but each side seems to pay no attention to the other's arguments. Both still tout maximum claims. Champions of private enterprise, i.e., freedom from government interference but not subsidy, still claim that competition guarantees low prices and high quality. The truth is mixed. Sometimes it brings those improvements, and sometimes it doesn't. Some industries pass on their savings from cheap imports, and some don't. Some industries improve quality, as did manufacturers of light bulbs and razor blades, but many other products deteriorate rapidly. Customer service can be a trial, as companies compete for the worst-qualified staff. The lesson here for the Arab-Israel conflict is that partisans go too far in advocating their causes. Try to discount some of the claims without discarding reasonable ones. Let us be more responsible in our own contentions. A worthy cause should not grasp at weak arguments that can be turned against one. SYRIA ORGANIZING EXPATRIATES Syria is compiling a list of Arab expatriates, to help them resist host country efforts to assimilate them (Ibid.). Bad enough as stated. Considering Syria's reputation for purging Arabs abroad, this register may be a way of organizing a fifth column abroad. Western countries made a mistake in welcoming Arabs. Now Syria may manipulate them against their hosts. EGYPT'S JUSTIFICATION FOR TERRORISM An official Egyptian newspaper, "al-Ahram," always justifies terrorism against Israel. It finds the terrorism inconvenient for Egypt's diplomatic goals against Israel, but an "understandable" reaction to Israel's "brutal occupation" (IMRA, 12/4). The Egyptians think, "How dare Israel fight back against the Muslim attacks on Jewish women and children! Israel's sending troops back into the P.A. to neutralize the source of those attacks is a 'brutal occupation.'" That self-serving thinking is thoughtless. Arab terrorism IS brutal. EGYPT'S VIEW OF PM SHARON Pres. Mubarak describes Sharon as the P.A.'s last hope (Op. Cit.). Praise from Israel's most powerful neighboring enemy is damning. PLO DEMANDS ISRAEL SUSPENDS SECURITY MEASURES The PLO's Executive Committee demanded that Israel "... lift the siege and closure imposed on the Palestinian (sic) cities, remove the checkpoints, halt the daily incursions, and stop its assassination policy," to facilitate the P.A. election. The demand would have the effect of halting all Israeli forward security measures (IMRA, 12/4). Israeli security measures would not hamper P.A. elections. Assertions have been made that they would, but no evidence or argument has backed them up. The P.A. has not halted daily terrorism attempts. Therefore, the PLO demand is an attempt to facilitate not the coronation of a new dictator but further terrorism. It is a brazen demand that it gets away with because this world is so jaded and biased. The heads of the PLO and P.A. are even called "moderate." MEANWHILE, ISRAEL MAKES ANOTHER CONCESSION TO PLO Israel decided to release of 170 P.A. prisoners as a goodwill gesture. PM Sharon linked it to a "deep friendship" for the President of Egypt. How did the P.A. react? The deputy P.A. Min. of Prison Affairs considers the step "a cosmetic one." (Mark Lavie, NY Sun, 12/20, p.7 from Associated Press.) The Arab motto is "never enough." What's Israel's, "again and again?" Pres. Mubarak led the worldwide diplomatic offensive against Israel, established an officially antisemitic line for his media, and let arms be smuggled into Gaza to kill Israeli citizens. What is the Prime Minister of Israel doing professing "deep friendship" for him? How can Pres. Mubarak not feel contempt for such servile flattery? Every time Israel makes a goodwill gesture, the Arabs reply with scorn. What is the point to these gestures? What explanation is there for Israel's constantly eliciting Arab scorn? Masochism? It must be the neurosis afflicting my fellow Jews, a kind of appeasement-mindedness towards gentiles that supercedes reality. 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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IS THE WAR IN IRAQ WORTH IT?
Posted by JINSA, December 23, 2004. |
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Media headline readers told us that a majority of Americans don't think the war in Iraq is "worth it." We have to ask, "What is 'it'?" An ABC News/Washington Post poll (19 Dec) framed the goals of the Iraq war as "ousting Saddam and establishing democracy," and 70 percent of respondents said it wasn't worth "the cost in U.S. lives." That is a perhaps true, but extremely limited, point. It may not be "worth it" to lose brave and precious American men and women in a quest to help the citizens of Ramadi and Najaf obtain what we won't help the people of Havana, Beijing or Harare obtain. To be blunt, nothing in that frame of reference makes the Iraqi, or any other people, "worth it." But the frame of reference is wrong. The war in Iraq cannot be uncoupled from the fact that for 30 years - since the Munich Olympic massacre - terrorists have chosen the time and place to wage their war. Israelis have been fighting for a long time, but only after September 11th did America and a few of our allies join in. This war is against terrorists and the states that harbor and support them. And this war - even with its terrible losses, even yesterday's losses, even with all the mistakes and all the blown chances - is "worth it" because we simply have no choice if we are to preserve our way of life as free people. For decades, terrorists and their state sponsors have rewritten the rules to say that a legitimate target is whatever they say it is: New York secretaries; Jews on a bus in Jerusalem, in a hotel in Egypt or a synagogue in Istanbul; Spanish commuters; Australian partiers in Bali; an American journalist in Pakistan; children in Beslan; contractors in Fallujah. They've rewritten the rules to say that a legitimate tactic is whatever they say it is: bombs in schools; airplanes full of people and jet fuel; suicide belts; ambulances filled with fighters or explosives; hanging bodies from bridges; beheadings; taking money from charities for the helpless and spending it to encourage the hopeless to blow themselves up. Those are their choices. Our choice is not "war or no war." Ours is military and political resolution in this war or another 30 years of them making the rules. Our choice is not the sacrifice of our soldiers or no sacrifice. Ours is between the sacrifice of our soldiers and the continuing slaughter of civilians. And even as we fight, the last two will overlap. The military battle for control of Iraq, and the political struggle for a stable, consensual government there are tactical stages in the strategic effort to break the link between states with powerful assets and terrorists who need those assets to continue their war. Choosing a time and place to deal with the Ba'athists in Syria and the mullahs in Iran are tactical stages. Ending Arab incitement against Israel is a tactic. Economic and political liberalization in the Arab/Muslim world are tactics. Reconstruction in Afghanistan is a tactic. Supporting voices of modernization in the Arab world is a tactic. All to advance a strategic goal that is, indeed, "worth it." The JINSA Reports are published by the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (http://www.jinsa.org). To subscribe, email jinsareports-www@lists.jinsa.org This is JINSA Report #458. To view this Report online, go to http://www.jinsa.org/JINSAReports/2772 |
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POST-OSLO MYTHS
Posted by Honest Reporting, December 23, 2004. |
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Dear HonestReporting Subscriber, George W. Bush, Tony Blair, and Ariel Sharon have all recently expressed a commitment to try restarting Mideast talks. As things move forward, it is self-evident that any successful new process must overcome three obstacles that doomed the Oslo process of 1993-2000:
Yet, as movement toward new talks begins, anti-Israel ideologues in the media have begun chipping away at all three of these established truths - rewriting history and denying the fundamental challenges facing the region: 1) 'OSLO FAILED BECAUSE OF ISRAEL' In the Buffalo News, academic Jerome Slater claims that Oslo failed not because of Arafat, but rather because of Israel and Ariel Sharon. Slater writes: Arafat's real bottom line was not the destruction of Israel... but a genuine two-state compromise settlement... it is a myth that Arafat "never made a counteroffer" and walked away from the bargaining table or that the negotiations broke down when the Palestinian Intifada broke out. Slater presents himself as more knowledgeable than those who actually conducted the negotiations - ignoring President Clinton's famous response to Arafat's compliment that Clinton is 'a great man.' Said Clinton: 'I am not a great man. I am a failure, and you have made me one.' And Slater ignores the testimony of Dennis Ross, who directed the entire negotiating process during those years. In his recent book 'The Missing Peace', Ross recalls the end of the negotiations: If there had been any hope for an agreement, it was gone now... Arafat was not going to say yes under any circumstances... As he had so often in his career, Arafat was seeking to have it both ways, creating the illusion of being positive by accepting the ideas, but practically rejecting them with his reservations. (p. 13) Slater's article distorts this all-important aspect of the historical record - the Palestinian rejection of Israel's far-reaching peace offer of 2000. Comments to: LetterToEditor@buffnews.com 2) AN 'ISRAELI CULTURE OF MARTYRDOM' In a Dec. 22 article in The Nation, Baruch Kimmerling brushes aside the Palestinian culture of suicide 'martyrdom' (one factor that killed Oslo), and fabricates in its place a supposed Israeli promotion of death culture. In an article entitled 'Israel's Culture of Martyrdom', Kimmerling claims that "... in the case of Israel the connection between nationalism and death is especially visceral... Zionism, the state's ruling ideology, is a triumphal creed shadowed by death... It is deeply ironic that the very same society now claims to be shocked by the 'martyrdom culture' in the occupied territories." Kimmerling goes on to describe 'European Jews who colonized Palestine,' Israeli leaders 'unburdened of almost any moral restrictions, or even obedience to internal and international laws,' and an 'obsessive commemoration of the Holocaust and of Jewish victimhood... the victory of death over life.' A similar denial of Palestinian promotion of martyrdom recently appeared in the International Herald Tribune (Dec. 18), where Roger Avenstrup claimed that 'time and again, independently of each other, researchers find no incitement to hatred in the Palestinian textbooks.' In response, expert Itamar Marcus said those like Avenstrup 'are tragically enabling the Palestinian Authority to avoid necessary changes in its education system.' Marcus gives a number of examples of Palestinian schoolbook lessons that the Koran views the Jews as 'the enemy of God,' that Israel resides on Palestinians' 'stolen homeland,' and of an Islamic religious obligation to destroy the Jewish state. 3) ISRAEL IS AN ILLEGITIMATE, COLONIAL STATE This week, both the LA Times and The Guardian published an op-ed from David Hirst that challenges the very legitimacy of the state of Israel: The real trouble is that... the U.S. has never been able to acknowledge the real nature of the problem... is essentially one of decolonization... If the Palestinians were to secure the redress that other colonized peoples have, there would be either no Israel (as there is no Algerie francaise) or there would be a binational state (like South Africa). Read carefully: Hirst claims that all of Israel is an illegitimate colony. Hirst ignores the plain historical facts that: 1) Jews have dwelled in the Land of Israel for 4,000 years - millennia before Islam ever began, and 2) those who immigrated as Zionists did not come to extend colonial European influence. This type of historical revisionism has undermined every effort of peaceful Arab/Israeli coexistence, including Oslo. As Mahmoud Abbas said just days before the outbreak of violence in 2000: They [the Jews] claim that 2,000 years ago they had a Temple. I challenge the claim that this is so. (August 25, 2000, Kul Al-Arab, an Israeli Arab newspaper) The LA Times ostensibly published the Hirst op-ed as a public service, in the interest of open debate. But by promoting such a radical and distorted viewpoint, the Times actually performs a disservice - obscuring the real issues and distancing the hope of Mideast peace. Comments to: letters@latimes.com With the hope for renewed discussions in the air, media promotion of outright falsities from the Oslo era is unwelcome, for it only undermines possible progress. HonestReporting subscribers are urged to be on the lookout for these and other post-Oslo myths. Thank you for your ongoing involvement in the battle against media bias. Honest Reporting monitors the media for inaccuracy and unfairness in how they report the news about Israel. Ther website address is http://www.honestreporting.com. You can help support their research online or by sending contributions to: HonestReporting, 400 South Lake Drive, Lakewood, NJ 08701-3167. |
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GOODBYE CHRISTMAS?
Posted by Ruth Matar, December 23, 2004. |
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Dear Friends, I am intent on keeping abreast with what is happening in America. I find the best way to do this is to tune in to Fox TV News. To my utter amazement, much time has been spent during the last few weeks on the controversy of whether public Christmas celebration should be allowed to have religious content. Or whether a Christmas tree should be allowed in a public square, unless it is called a Holiday tree! Or whether public schools should be allowed to feature Christmas carols! The legal system, as well, is apparently used in an attempt to accomplish these goals. What has happened to us Americans? I am writing this as an Orthodox Jewish American now living in the Holy Land. When our family lived in New York, I never felt threatened by my children admiring the beautiful Christmas displays in the Fifth Avenue department store windows. Nor did I feel reluctant to let them look at the giant Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center. Our children had a religious Jewish upbringing and they looked forward with great anticipation to their own holiday, Chanukah. Chanukah commemorates the miracle of how, with the help of the Almighty, the "few defeated the many". The many, of course, were not only the army of the Syrian-Greek King Antiochus, but the Hellenist Jews who wanted to "disengage" from the Jewish religion and thereby be accepted by the rest of the world. History unfortunately replays itself in interesting and tragic ways. Today we unfortunately have Jews both abroad, and in the Holy Land itself, who want to "disengage" from the Jewish religion, from their fellow Jews, and from the Promise of the G-d of Israel that the Holy Land be their everlasting inheritance. It is vitally important that we all strive to learn more about our own religion, rather than preventing other people from publicly enjoying theirs. The well-known American columnist, Charles Krauthammer, wrote a wonderful article last week (December 17, 2004), which I would like to share with you in its entirety:
I think this is a wonderful article, especially since I am in complete agreement with Mr. Krauthammer! It is important that we all remember that America's Founding Fathers wanted us to have Freedom of Religion, not Freedom from Religion. I WISH ALL MY CHRISTIAN FRIENDS A JOYOUS CHRISTMAS! With Blessings and Love for Israel,
Ruth and Nadia Matar established Women For Israel's Tomorrow (Women in Green), an activist group of women based in Jerusalem. Their website address is http://www.womeningreen.org |
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HEBREW UNIVERSITY'S DISGRACE
Posted by Steven Plaut, December 23, 2004. |
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1. As you may know, there is a large Islamofascist pro-terror movement among Israeli Arabs, one that raises money and probably more than money for the Hamas. It is sentered in Umm al-Fahm, which is inside Israel's Green Line (pre-1967 borders) and its neighboring towns. The heads of this Islamofascist movement are now on trial for sedition and supporting terrorism. Yesterday saw an interesting court development. The court was thrown into disruption by the testimony of a distinguished professor of Middle East Studies from the Hebrew University, Prof. Rafi Israeli, Read the article below - "Court erupts over expert's testimony on 'Arab mentality'" (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/518005.html) - which was written by Yair Ettinger. Prof. Israeli is a Professor of Islamic, Middle Eastern and Chinese history at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He is author of 15 books and some 80 scholarly articles in those domains. A member of the Steering Committee of the ACPR, his work in Hebrew, French and English frequently appears in leading international publications including NATIV. His pedigree can be seen at http://acpr.org.il/people/risraeli.html and http://truman.huji.ac.il/israelicv.htm Israeli upset the court by making some politically incorrect comments. The defense team, led by leftist extremist Avigdor Feldman (the lawyer who often defends Arab murderers of Jewish children), had a conniption. Please read the details in this news piece. I think one of the most interesting aspects of the story is that it shows that not everyone on the faculty at the Hebrew University is a leftist traitor. The Haifa District Court was thrown into disarray yesterday during testimony given by an expert witness on behalf of the State Prosecution in a case involving the Islamic Movement. At the height of the uproar, Judge Micha Lindenstrauss ordered one of the five defendants, Dr. Suliman Agbariya, out the courtroom. In protest, the remaining defendants and their supporters left the courtroom, too, directing cries of "You're a Nazi" at the state's expert. The Arab mentality is made of "a sense of being a victim," "pathological anti-Semitism," and "a tendency to live in a world of illusions," said Prof. Rafi Israeli, a lecturer in Middle Eastern studies at Hebrew University, on the witness stand yesterday, adding that the Arabs neglect sanitation in their communities. "Most of the Arab villages are dirtier, physically - it's a fact," he said. Professor Israeli is the last of the prosecution's witnesses in the case against five Islamic Movement members accused of security and financial offenses. The defense initially requested that Israeli's testimony be rejected, claiming the professor is identified with the extreme right - but his testimony was heard. The professor's entire testimony, which began last week and was completed yesterday, was accompanied by interjections and outbursts of emotion. Israeli was summoned to testify on an opinion he rendered at the request of the prosecution and according to which there exists an ideological similarity between the Islamic Movement under Sheikh Ra'ad Salah and the Islamic Brotherhood and Hamas. Like the Islamic Brotherhood and Hamas, Israeli believes, the Islamic Movement is a subversive organization that seeks the destruction of Israel. During cross-examination yesterday, Israeli was asked to respond to questions on a number of issues concerning his viewpoint on the Arabs in Israel, Islam in general, and the sketch he offered of the nature of "the Arab mentality." The cross-examination, handled by attorneys Avigdor Feldman and Riad Anis, focused on the opinion Israeli wrote for the prosecution and, primarily, on quotes from a book he published in 2002 in which he describes Israel's Arabs as a fifth column "that sucks on the udders of the country." Yesterday in the witness box, Israeli reiterated that the Arabs were "a burden on the state." During the course of the court hearing, Sheikh Ra'ad Salah likened Israeli's opinions to those of the Nazis. Similar views, Salah said, "caused the people of Israel to fall in the Holocaust." Addressing Israeli, Salah said, "You are the danger; you are the worm of your people." The Islamic Movement and its defense team expressed shock and outrage at the choice of Israeli as a witness for the prosecution. "It's a shame and a disgrace," said attorney Feldman, noting he would be taking the matter up with the attorney general "to see if he stands behind this testimony." 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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THIS IS THE WAY IT IS. THIS IS IT
Posted by Lise Rubin, December 22, 2004. |
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Greetings: I have read over materials from a number of people, including the Wallerstein Proclamation, and I hope that this suggestion will be taken as helpful. Please note that prior to my having received the formal "proclamation", but merely by having seen the article on Arutz Sheva, I sent out a notice entitled: "Pinchas Wallerstein - My Hero". We should give him a Judah Maccabee award immediately! Print up notices, and post them everywhere. I completely support any and all actions taken by those of you out there in the front lines. I just want us to be effective, and not allow others to define the issues and spin them away. That being said, most of our writings are missing the most salient [relevant and on point] aspect to the underlying matter. Beautiful language is used, etc., but the complexity of the concepts dilutes the message as given. These beautiful writings are not effective tools as they are being used. What is this all about? Judaism. The Jewish religion. And our duties as Jews. So I am suggesting that we "get real", get "to the point" and "in their face". We need to agree on a few short phrases, short and absolute, as above. And that is that. No more flowery explanations - we need to simplify the matter and put it in "their face". Here is an example of a paraphrasing and re-framing of all of the beautiful and lengthy Wallerstein Proclamation: NEW STATEMENT TO ISSUE: THIS IS ALL ABOUT THE JEWISH RELIGION WHICH REQUIRES THAT JEWS LIVE IN ISRAEL AND POSSESS ALL OF IT. JUDAISM REQUIRES IT. IT IS A BASIC TENET OF JUDAISM THAT ALL OF ISRAEL IS JEWISH; MUST BE SETTLED BY JEWS; AND MUST BE CONTROLLED EXCLUSIVELY BY JEWS AND JEWISH LAW. THIS IS THE 3,000+ YEAR OLD JEWISH RELIGION. YOU DON'T LIKE IT? GO SOMEWHERE ELSE. YOU HAVE LOTS OF OTHER PLACES TO GO. JUDAISM REQUIRES THAT WE STAY IN HEVRON. WE KEEP SAYING, "WE HAVE NO CHOICE. JUDAISM FORCES US TO DO THIS, REGARDLESS OF OUR DESIRES AND WILL. WE ARE NOT PERMITTED TO LEAVE OR BE MADE TO LEAVE." AVOID THE "ZIONISM" DISCUSSION PIT IF THEY TRY TO ARGUE ABOUT ZIONISM? DON'T. IT IS, IN ESSENCE, IRRELEVANT. ZIONISM? - THAT TERM HAS BEEN OVER USED, MISUSED, AND CLAIMED BY OUR ENEMIES. THE ADL GAVE "WORKSHOPS" TO BRAINWASH NORTH AMERICANS INTO ARGUING DUMB POINTS FOR WHICH OUR ADVERSARIES WERE ALREADY PREPARED, AND THIS INCLUDES EXTENDED DISCUSSIONS ABOUT "ZIONISM" - IS IT GOOD, IS IT BAD, IS IT THIS OR THAT? ETC. FURTHER ZIONISM PIT - THE NON-RELIGIOUS CAN CLAIM IT AGAINST US. Precisely because "Zionism" has secular connotations, as soon as we utter it we are in the wrong camp. In truth, there should not be varieties of Zionism. That a group would call itself the "Religious Zionists" shows the flaw in the word and concept - it is an agreement to separate Israel from Judaism. But we don't agree. Israel = Judaism. and Judaism = Israel. WE DON'T NEED "ZIONISM" - WE ALREADY HAVE "ZION". WE JUST NEED TO KEEP ISRAEL, AND THIS IS THE JEWISH RELIGION. IT IS SO CENTRAL TO JUDAISM THAT THEY CANNOT BE SEPARATED. ISRAEL = JUDAISM. KEEPING EVERY LITTLE PIECE OF HER = JUDAISM. JUDAISM = KEEPING EVERY LITTLE PIECE OF ISRAEL - AND LOVING HER. STRAIGHT FORWARD AND TO THE POINT. WE KNOW THAT G-D GAVE IT TO US. BUT ATHEISTS DON'T CARE. THEY DO, HOWEVER, NOT WANT TO BE CALLED INTOLERANT BIGOTS, WHICH IS WHAT THEY ARE WHEN THEY WANT US TO GIVE IT OVER. "DISENGAGEMENT PLAN"? THIS IS A DIRECT AND OPEN ATTACK ON JUDAISM, ISRAEL AND THE JEWISH PEOPLE. END OF DISCUSSION. WHY? IT IS NOT PERMITTED BY OUR RELIGION TO PARTICIPATE IN IT. IT IS FORBIDDEN TO CONSIDER IT. DO NOT GET INTO LENGTHY DISCUSSIONS OR EXPLANATIONS. IN MOST CONTEXTS IT DOES NOT HELP. REFERENDUMS? - STUPID IDEA! WE NEED NO REFERENDUMS ON THE JEWISH RELIGION OR THE OBSERVANCE THEREOF. THE TORAH AND OUR SAGES ARE CLEAR ABOUT ALL OF THIS. AGAIN, THERE IS NO CHOICE. A REFERENDUM ON ANYTHING ABOUT THE MATTER IS DIRECTLY INTOLERANCE OF THE JEWISH RELIGION AND THE JEWISH PEOPLE. BY DEFINITION. END OF DISCUSSION. GIVE THEM NO ROPE. WALLERSTEIN'S PROCLAMATION SHOULD BE SIMPLIFIED. ISRAEL IS OURS.
IF YOU DEMAND THAT WE LEAVE, BY THAT ACT YOU ARE INCITING HATRED TOWARDS AND INTOLERANCE OF JUDAISM. CUT IT OUT.
IT IS THE JEWISH RELIGION TO REFUSE TO COOPERATE WITH YOU.
OUR RELIGION REQUIRES THAT, LIKE THE MACCABEES, WE STAND OUR GROUND. MESS WITH US AND YOU ARE MESSING WITH JUDAISM - AND THE BIG GUY, THE GREAT LEGISLATOR OF THE UNIVERSE. IN THE MERIT OF TODAY'S FAST, MAY IT BE IMMEDIATELY AND COMPLETELY REVEALED - THE LIVING PRESENCE OF OUR KING MOSHIACH! Trying to be His faithful servant,
Lisa Rubin can be reached by email at elishevarubin@msn.com
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BRITISH PM BLAIR: "DISENGAGEMENT IS JUST FIRST STEP"
Posted by Mordechai Ben-Menachem, December 22, 2004. |
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Prime Ministers Sharon and Blair held a joint conference in Jerusalem today. Blair said that if terrorism against Israelis ceases, "the disengagement from Gaza will not be the last step." The British Prime Minister said this in response to a reporter's query whether he sees the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza as the last Israeli withdrawal. Sharon said he might soon be able to return to the Road Map plan, which he temporarily abandoned in favor of his unilateral withdrawal plan from Gaza and northern Samaria: "I initiated the disengagement when we had no partner. Now, if the necessary security measures are taken, this will enable us to return to the Road Map." Abu Mazen, who is expected to be elected to head the Palestinian Authority 18 days from now, has said that after the elections, he will "negotiate" with Israel about the disengagement. If this is true, it will negate the unilateral nature of the withdrawal, leading to an increase in support for the plan among Israelis. On the other hand, negotiations with the PA over the disengagement plan are likely to delay its implementation. Blair expressed his acceptance of Israel's refusal to take part in the Middle East conference he is planning in London this coming February. Sharon explained that Israel appreciates Blair's efforts in convening the conference, "which is designed to help the Palestinians implement the necessary reforms towards their democratization and to grant economic aid to the Palestinians." Sharon continued that as "it deals with Palestinian issues exclusively, we have decided, together with the British, that there is no need for Israeli participation." Mordechai Ben-Menachem is at Ben-Gurion University. He can be reached by email at quality@computer.org |
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US CONGRESS COULD WEAR ORANGE STARS
Posted by David Ben-Ariel, December 22, 2004. |
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Why doesn't everyone encourage their representatives, their senators, to wear orange in support for the Gaza Jews? I think it's a great idea and would send a powerful message to Sharon and his EU masters! David Ben-Ariel was author of "Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall." Contact him at http://www.pushhamburger.com/david.htm |
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CURSE ME, SPIT ON ME, BUT PLEASE, SIR, NEVER CALL ME THAT...
Posted by Gerald A. Honigman, December 22, 2004. |
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This month marked the twelfth anniversary of my Dad's passing. Seems like it was yesterday. After reciting Kaddish, I stared long and hard at his picture hanging in the house. Given the turmoil in the Middle East, recollections Dad shared with me many years before now came to mind. Dad quit Philadelphia's prestigious Central High School at age seventeen and had to have my grandfather, a naval vet of World War I, sign for his permission to join the fight against Hitler since he was only seventeen years old. Competing against older recruits, Edward Honigman excelled and was scheduled for officer training. And then there was the interview when Dad was asked what kind of name Honigman was. Somehow Dad wound up, soon afterwards, in the Armed Guard branch of the Navy instead. What a coincidence! These were the guys who had to run interference with German U-Boats and such to protect Allied shipping...extremely high casualty. Dad's own sister ship went down. There but for the grace of G_d go I... One particular story that especially came to mind occurred during Dad's participation in the Rommel Campaign in North Africa. He was involved in many others over the four years that he served in World War II. Dad and several friends were on leave in Aden in the southeastern part of the Arabian Peninsula. His buddies decided to "have some fun" and so asked him to call the Arab attendant carting them around town yahudi. Here was the latter's response: "Please, Sir, curse me, spit on me...but never call me that..." My Dad, G_d rest his beloved soul, had called this Arab a Jew. Sixty years later, in the wake of Arafat's death, Jimmy Carter now readies himself to oversee elections among Palestinian Arabs. The latter, like many of their brethren elsewhere, have been raised on such "religious" teachings as those which call Jews descendants of apes and pigs. They use the blood of non-Jews to make Passover matzoh, are killers of Prophets, and other such goodies. You get the idea. Oh yes, Jew was also a common adjective in the Arab world. Kilab yahud -- "Jew dogs" -- was the common appellation for the "Arab World's" native Jews who make up one half of Israel's Jewish population. And if you buy the Arab line that this was only a recent development, due to the rise of modern political Zionism (how dare those Jews want the same thing in one tiny state that Arabs have conquered from others and created for themselves in some two dozen!), then I have not one but two bridges to sell you. The works of the Egyptian Jewess and scholar, Bat Ye'or, and Professor Albert Memmi of the Sorbonne, whose family dates back hundreds of years in Tunisia, are must reading. While Jimmy Carter runs off to once again promote his pet international project, the creation of the Arabs' state #22 or #23 (and second, not first, Arab one within the original borders of the 1920 Palestinian Mandate), and demands, as he always does, that Israel cave in to all that the Arabs ask for, despite the risks, and despite the fact that the Arabs openly admit that their end goals for Israel remain the same as Hamas', with or without Arafat, is it not reasonable to ask him to demand that Arabs offer concrete evidence that they can be trusted by those whom they see as the equivalent of dogs, pigs, and apes? Will he demand a for real revision of the Palestinian Arab Charter, which still calls for Israel's destruction? Will he lecture Arab leaders--as he freely and frequently does Israel's--that the Palestinian Authority's schools, textbooks, maps, insignias, newspapers, mosques, and the like must stop preaching hatred of Jews, recognize Israel as a Jewish State, and/or show a proposed "Palestine" existing along side Israel instead of replacing it? Will Mr. Peanut explain to his Arab friends that theirs is not the only justice in this world, and that any compromise over the disputed territories--as in any other conflict--must take into consideration territorially the needs of both parties to the conflict, not just focus on forcing Israel to allow those who continue to plot its destruction (as the "moderate" Mahmoud Abbas and other PA leaders, not to mention the Hamas crew, have openly called for on recent trips abroad, in interviews, and such) to have their way with it? And finally, will he tell Arabs that they'll have to resettle their own refugees, created due to their own assault on a reborn Israel in 1948, the same way hundreds of millions of other non-Arab refugees have been resettled and give up on the idea that Israel will be fool enough to consent to the Arab "moderates'" plan to overwhelm Israel's Jews "democratically" instead of blowing them up (or at least put the latter method on hold for a while)? If Carter isn't willing to do these things, then let him stay home. For he'll only be up to his same old hypocritical, double standard manure regarding this conflict. Now, some advice for Israel as well... Carter will accept no concession nor compromise as "fair" unless it involves the Jews caving in to all that those who still openly plot their disappearance call for. He is an enemy, pure and simple. Like others of his ilk, he'd rather eulogize over dead Jews than empathize with live ones. And that's the best that can be expected from him. He usually blames the Jewish victims of Arab barbarism themselves for their own deaths. List Mr. Peanut persona non grata, don't allow him into Israel, and let him stay in some Arab hotel while he continues his love fest with those who demand that you bare the necks of your kids in return for a temporary lull in violence designed to only bring about your destruction. And, oh yes...Dad would agree. 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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PIMPIN' THE GREY GOLD
Posted by Beth Goodtree, December 22, 2004. |
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Oil is the commodity referred to as black gold. But there is another form of gold that will never be exhaustively pumped out of the ground and only gets better and stronger with age. Unfortunately Israel and Jews throughout the world have been nearly giving away this item for mere acceptance. It is way past time to leverage the world's hunger for what Israel and the Jews have in abundance: intellectual properties. What passes for high finance and complex economics is nothing more than pimping and whoring with fancier words. It is also the oldest game around: you have something someone else needs, you sell it for the highest price the market will bear. This is a game that the oil-producing countries know very well. When oil became a commodity in the civilized world, the majority of Arab desert dwellers were living in tents and using camel dung as fuel to cook their food. They had no idea how valuable oil might become, or even how to extract and refine it. So they became low class prostitutes, selling their only possession for enough to keep them going with a little bit of style. For some simple trappings of civilized life and a small fee, they allowed Western oil companies to develop their oil fields (at the expense of the Western oil companies). The Arabs were happy, the West was happy. But one day, as any savvy two-bit whore will do, these Arab countries realized that the Western oil companies (their pimps) were making the big bucks on their (Arab) non-renewable resources. So over time, various Arab countries stole the developed oil wells from the private enterprises of the West under the less negative-sounding name of 'nationalization.' Then these Arab oil monopolies allowed their oil to be sold to the Western petroleum companies for resale to the public. Suddenly these Arab countries went from prostitute to pimp. And made a fortune. But they wanted a bigger fortune. Plus power. Plus political clout. Luckily for them, the civilized world had an addiction: oil. So the oil-producing countries formed OPEC and went from pimp to drug-dealer. Knowing the West's addiction to oil, they squeezed the civilized world for all the money and political power they could grab. Because of this oil addiction, Saudi Arabia has been allowed to carry on a thriving slave trade and execute non-Muslims like a slaughterhouse the week before Thanksgiving. They also fund, aid and abet terrorism as well as anti-Israel and anti-Semitic sentiment with absolute impunity. All because of the West's addiction to oil. Israel and Jews in general are in the same situation the Arab oil world was in. Unfortunately, they are still like 2-dollar whores, turning tricks so as not to receive a beating. The Arab/Muslim world, as well as Europe and America have become dependent upon technology, science and advanced medicine. As much as they need oil to make their machinery run, they need new and better tools, technologies and medicines to keep their societies running. And where do these new and better scientific and technological advances come from? Israel and Diaspora Jews for the most part. To put it in corporate-speak for all of the 'edjumacated' bean-counting Yuppies out there who are offended and perhaps confused by my down-and-dirty explanation, "We must maximize upon the non-diversity regarding competition to our supply-side status of this commodity, with an eye towards market bundling and a maximization of potential marketable assets to offset the outlier history within an atmospheric vacuum regarding our product." Atmospheric vacuum? Israel and the Diaspora Jews produce an overwhelming amount of the innovations, research and discoveries on this planet. No other group can say the same. Don't believe it? If it weren't for Israel and Jews, you'd still be calling Aunt Trudy on your landline telephone, using a stone age computer to slowly type her a note while the two of you suffer from what are now easily diagnosed and curable diseases. Here are but a few facts regarding Israel -- the 100th smallest country, with less than 1/1000th of the world's population: The cell phone was developed in Israel by Israelis working in the Israeli branch of Motorola, which has its largest development center in Israel. Most of the Windows NT and XP operating systems were developed by Microsoft-Israel. The Pentium MMX Chip technology was designed in Israel at Intel. Both the Pentium-4 microprocessor and the Centrino processor were entirely designed, developed and produced in Israel. The Pentium microprocessor in your computer was most likely made in Israel. Voice mail technology was developed in Israel. The technology for the AOL Instant Messenger ICQ was developed in 1996 by four young Israelis Israel has the highest ratio of university degrees to the population in the world. Israel produces more scientific papers per capita than any other nation by a large margin - 109 per 10,000 people --as well as one of the highest per capita rates of patents filed. Twenty-four per cent of Israel's workforce holds university degrees -- ranking third in the industrialized world, after the United States and Holland - and 12 per cent hold advanced degrees. Israel leads the world in the number of scientists and technicians in the workforce, with 145 per 10,000, as opposed to 85 in the U.S., over 70 in Japan, and less than 60 in Germany. With over 25% of its work force employed in technical professions. Israel places first in this category as well. Meanwhile, the Nobel Prize, usually a good indicator of brainpower (except for the case of the tardily late Yasser Arafat), shows how Jews dominate this commodity: (1) Chemistry (28 prize winners, 19% of world total, 28% of US total)
Time to stop giving away the goodies. Why should the Islamist terrorists, anti-Semites, haters of Israel, and their sympathizers, aiders and abettors get the use of Jewish brainpower for a pittance and a sneer? It is way past time to start leveraging those patents and discoveries. Maybe have a built-in clause for all the patents and discoveries: You hate Israel, you hate Jews, no Jews allowed in your country or you support Israel's enemy? You don't get any. Or you pay at 10X the going rate. Maybe 100X. You call for sanctions against Israel when Israel is defending herself against genocidal monsters? Same deal. You want to divest or boycott Israel, same deal. Hey, the Arabs and Muslims do the same thing with oil, because 'oil's' fair in hate, genocide, and Profit/Prophet to them. At least with Jews and Israel, all's fair in survival. If this could be implemented, just see how fast the world would line up with Israel and Jews. Tie in medical and science advances, cell phone use and computer and internet technology with politics, the way Arabs/Muslims have tied oil in with the spreading and conquest that is Islamism and I'm betting Israel would win. If you're dying of cancer, you don't want oil, you want a cure. And you want to talk to your Mommy (or Aunt Trudy). Oil can't cure you, connect you, or give you hope. (Or to put it in the vernacular, "You be disrespectin' and scandalizin' Israel an' the Jews, you got nuthin' comin.' Unnerstand?") Endnotes (1) http://www.simpletoremember.com/vitals/JewishNobelPrizeWinners.htm#notes Beth Goodtree is an award-winning writer who lives in the NYC metro area. She writes political commentary/analysis, and the occasional science and humor articles. Or visit her website: http://hometown.aol.com/bgoodtree/ |
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WHO SAID IT?
Posted by Ken Heller, December 22, 2004. |
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"I see with sorrow and great anger how a part of the people still clings to hopes of reaching a peaceful settlement with the Arabs. Common sense tells them, too, that the Arabs haven't abandoned their basic aim of destroying the State; but the self-delusion and self-deception that have always plagued the Jews are at work again. It's our great misfortune. They want to believe, so they believe. They want not to see, so they shut their eyes. They want not to learn from thousands of years of history, so they distort it. They want to bring about a sacrifice, and they do indeed. It would be comic, if it wasn't so tragic. What a saddening and irritating lot this Jewish People is!" The writer goes on, "The Wars of the Jews" are always the ugliest and hardest of all. These are the wars of apologetics and futile bickering, suppression or distortion of facts, and procrastination in making decisions. There is no doubt that what's called for is new leadership, a more correct perception of the realities, a sound recognition of the enemy's aims, and clear, definitive strategic-political planning. There must be no fumbling in the dark and no more tactical expedients, for these will get us nowhere. If we don't have a well-defined, realistic objective, we won't have to fight the Arabs for our survival. The Arabs won't need to fight. The Jews, as usual, will destroy themselves." He ends by saying, "In the main, the people, as a body, lacks the perserverence while it abounds in political and military blindness. But I repeat, maybe this time we'll sober up." CLEARLY, NOTHING HAS CHANGED! Yoni Netanyahu, in letter to his Mom and Dad, 11/17/73. Ken Heller is a pro-Israel activist and a member of the Philadelphia Chapter of Americans For A Safe Israel. He can be reached at kjhnha@aol.com. |
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OP-ED CLAIMS ISRAEL IS A COLONY
Posted by Lee Green, December 22, 2004. |
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"The Palestine problem, a legacy of Western colonialism as virulent today as it ever was, has always been the greatest single source of anti-Western sentiment in the region," intones David Hirst, a Guardian correspondent, in an Op-Ed printed in the Guardian on Dec. 21 and in the Los Angeles Times ("Path to Peace Runs Through Palestine") on Dec. 22. Hirst continues: "The real trouble is that ... the U.S. has never been able to acknowledge the real nature of the problem...is essentially one of decolonization....If the Palestinians were to secure the redress that other colonized peoples have, there would be either no Israel (as there is no Algerie francaise) or there would be a binational state (like South Africa)." Notice that when Hirst writes of colonization, he is not referring to just the West Bank and Gaza, but to all of Israel as well. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, "colonialism" is defined as "a policy by which a nation maintains or extends its control over foreign dependencies." A colony is defined as, "a region politically controlled by a distant country." But this is hardly the case with Israel and the Jewish people. Jews have lived almost continuously in the land of Israel for thousands of years, with hundreds of years as a sovereign nation. After the demise of the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah, Jews were largely expelled from the area, but individuals and groups always returned to restore religious and communal life. Other than short-lived Crusader states in parts of the area, the Jews have been the only people historically to establish an independent and enduring sovereignty in the land. Many of the founders of the modern Jewish state of Israel were immigrants from Europe, but they obviously did not come to extend the power of Poland or Russia or Nazi Germany. They came to rebuild, to reconstitute the Jewish nation, to include Jewish immigrants from the diaspora, as well as those Jews whose families have lived in the land of Israel for generations. Israel's founders recognized that Palestinian Arabs also feel they have historical ties to the land. This is why Israel's leaders agreed to the 1947 UN partition of the land (then called Mandate Palestine) into two states - a Jewish state AND an Arab state. It was the Arabs who turned down this division of territory and launched the 1948 war. Their longstanding refugee status doesn't result from Jewish aggression, but from a war the Arabs themselves initiated, and from Arab states subsequently not allowing the refugees to become permanent residents in the countries where they settled after the war. Arab nations chose to encourage the refugee problem to fester for decades. War has consequences and it is ludicrous to label Israel as a "colonizer" simply because it successfully defended itself against genocidal Arab aggression. Moreover, Hirst goes on to claim that Palestinians are the most accommodating of "colonized" people: "They have formally committed themselves, via Oslo, to the loss of 78 percent of their original homeland." The suggestion that Israel took over 78 percent of the "original homeland" is entirely fallacious because the original land of Palestine, as determined by the League of Nations, includes what is now Israel, Gaza, the West Bank and the entire state of Jordan. In 1922, the British divided Mandate Palestine so that nearly 80 percent of it became Transjordan (now Jordan). Jews were barred from immigrating there; Palestinian Arabs were not. In 1947, the United Nations partitioned the 20 percent of what remained of Palestine, offering Israel only about half of that 20%. As for the "Palestine problem" being the "greatest single source of anti-Western sentiment in the region," many would argue that Al Jazeera and other anti-western, anti-Israel propaganda sources that distort and demonize American and Israeli policies have a far greater influence on regional sentiment than the American policies themselves. There are many other distortions in the Op-Ed that you will notice; we have only called attention to the most egregious. Hirst is hardly the first Op-Ed writer in the Los Angeles Times to label Israel, even in its 1948 boundaries, illegitimate. On Nov. 21, 2004, Saree Makdisi called for a bi-national state, which would entail the destruction of the Jewish state ("In the Wake of Arafat, Will the Two-State Solution Survive?"), and on Oct. 10, 2003, Tony Judt made the same argument ("'Jewish State' Has Become an Anachronism.'") While certainly it is commendable for a newspaper to offer diverse opinions, one would hope that appropriate editorial judgment would prevail when an Op-Ed submission is based on extremism and inaccuracies. It is emblematic of the lack of historical knowledge throughout the newspaper industry that Op-Eds questioning Israel's very legitimacy are becoming commonplace. Please encourage editors to put a stop to the demonization of Israel as illegitimate and the cause of the world's ills. The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) monitors the news and TV media for how fair they are in reporting on Israel. The website address is www.camera.org. Lee Green is Director, National Letter-Writing Group, CAMERA. |
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REALITY SETTING IN
Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, December 22, 2004. |
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It would seem that the reality of what is involved in the extermination of the Jewish communities of Yeshah is finally sinking into the minds of the people that Sharon and his gang want to do the dirty work. The Army and the Police have been playing hot potato with this since the beginning of the betrayal. Each one calling on the other to take charge of the "honor" of destroying the State of Israel. Or is it really like that? Are they really so worried and concerned? While there is no doubt a certain element of genuine concern on there part (exactly for what is a different question), I strongly suspect that the media attention this is getting is manipulative. The sight of high ranking Police or Army officers anguishing over the terrible dilemma of how to expel Jews from their homes is intended to arouse sympathy for this abomination in the general public and from the Yeshah residents as well. How can you really hate someone or fight him when all he really wants to do is what is best for everyone? They really don't want to be doing this but, well you know, orders are order and Sharon UBER ALLES. Do not fall for their crocodile tears and phony concerns. They feel no anguish or hesitation to uproot and destroy Jews. If any of our breast-beating Government employees actually felt as worried or concerned about the fate of Jews as they are pretending, they would do the logical and honorable thing and resign their jobs. Those who work for and aid an evil Government are just as evil as the Government. Each and everyone of us will eventually have to answer the question: What were you doing during the Sharon Holocaust? This news item appeared today in Arutz Sheva (www.IsraelNationalNews.com). It's entitled "IDF Doubting Success in Uprooting Towns" and is archived at http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=74000 (IsraelNN.com) Sources in the IDF are today expressing doubt as to the ability of the police department to carry out the uprooting of towns as called for in the "disengagement" plan. Haaretz newspaper reports that there is concern in the IDF that the police would "drag its feet," ultimately leaving the bulk of the burden on the army's shoulders. The military is preparing forces for use in uprooting the Jewish communities of Gaza and northern Samaria. However, in the IDF as well, there is some doubt as to the ability of the army to carry out the evacuation itself. Two days ago, Police Chief Moshe Karadi said that it was possible the uprooting would not be successful; however, he withdrew his comments under political pressure the next day. Aryeh Zelasko lives in Beitar Illit, south of Jerusalem. He is Director of Sales and Marketing of Israel Visit (www.israelvisit.co.il) which provides information and an internet buying facility for American visitors to Israel. |
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THE ORANGE STAR: SAD BUT APPROPRIATE
Posted by IsrAlert, December 22, 2004. |
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This was written by Aliza Karp.
Every year the prudent adult goes for routine tests to screen for the first signs of harmful diseases. If detected in the early stages, these diseases can be eradicated with less treatment and more accuracy than if they develop to a more advanced stage. The symptoms of the disease have not even shown themselves and yet strong medication is needed to prevent their emergence. We are still in the early stages of the disengagement/deportation disease. There have been no symptomatic atrocities committed to date, and yet, there are people walking around displaying orange stars, which are reminiscent of the Holocaust. How can they utilize the memories of the Holocaust when nothing to resemble the Holocaust has happened? Is this an over reaction? Does this not minimize the memory of those tragic years of history which no words can describe? The question is valid. It justifies a look at the stages that led to the atrocities of the Holocaust, in comparison to the progress of the deportation plan and its potential, its logical outcome. Leading up to the Holocaust there were various stages. The early stages were tolerable. Jews had suffered from the hands of their neighbors in the past, and these early stages resembled other eras which Jews had experienced. There was no way to predict the unbelievable outcome that would emerge from the first edicts that opened the way to carnage to come. A Jewish resistance would have been much more effective in the early stages. The Jews were still strong, not yet psychologically and physically drained. But for whatever reason, they did not read the early warning signs. They cooperated with the authorities. In one Holocaust diary that I read, the author says it was actually a relief to move to a ghetto because they expected they would not have to endure the daily harassments. Little did they suspect the round ups and the unbridled cruelty they would suffer once inside the ghetto walls. The deportation of Gush Katif residents is not an end in itself. It is a part of a chain of events. Under the current Prime Minister, a widow was forced from her home in the middle of the night on Hilltop 26, just outside of Kiryat Arba; a Shul was destroyed and the Sefer Torah confiscated, just outside of Tapuach; and thousands of soldiers and many horses were needed to remove the crowds that came to protect the home of Itzik Sandler in Mitzpeh Yitzhar. These were the trial cases, staged to see if one Jew can forcibly remove another from his home in Eretz Yisroel. The next stage is on a larger scale: Gush Katif, the towns of northern Aza, and four towns in Samaria. The deportation of more than 8,000 Jews. If the deportation disease is allowed to progress to this stage, the Jewish citizens in Eretz Yisroel will then be sandwiched between a government with more plans of retreat and deportation and a power base for terrorists within shooting range and tunnel range of the major Jewish population centers. The early stages are in motion. If the Jews wait until the atrocities begin, it will be much harder to effectively stop the murderous, monstrous progression. Wearing an orange star is sad, but appropriate. We are in the early stages of the disease. We have to combat it in any way we know how. The Germans were creative in their cruelty beyond imagination. Does anyone think the Arab terrorists will be more civilized once they are in a position to unleash their sadistic fantasies? Should we wait for the dawn when the symptoms will resemble the Holocaust or should we learn from the past and recognize that the early stages have proceeded far enough? The deportation disease is malignant and it is spreading, it has no intention to stop at the Kissufim junction. Half of the Holy City of Yerushalaim is at risk, and only the naïve will say that will not affect the other half. Sure Yerushalaim was divided before 1967, but that was before the Arabs were using mortar shells and tunnel bombings. We need to medicate now. We need to stop the progression, instead of waiting for the Holocaust symptoms to advance. Sadly, wearing an orange star is not an overreaction. Of course it is not enough to stop the advance of the potential catastrophe, but it is part of the reverse chain of events. It is a stage of heightening the awareness of the severity of the deportation of Jews from their homes... of Jews from their homes in their homeland. It is a potent reminder and hopefully will stir the hearts of those who have not yet realized the impending danger. The failure to realize is a Holocaust symptom. Along with wearing the star comes the adherence to the Shulchan Orech, Orach Chaim 329:6, that clearly states: when an enemy comes to a border town, even if there is no immediate danger to life, since allowing them control of the border town puts the entire land in danger, we are to take up arms, even in violation of the Shabbos, in order to stop them. The Lubavitcher Rebbe declared that all cities in Eretz Yisroel are so close to the border that they can be considered border towns, but he says, how much more so when the towns really are on the border. So today, when more than twenty border towns are in question, we are even more obligated to take up arms. Retreating from the border towns, puts the entire country in danger. So says the Code of Jewish Law! In Parsha VaYechi, this week's Parsha, Yaakov says to Yosef: "And I have given you Shechem... which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow." The Oral Torah explains this to mean, "With my wisdom and my prayer." The Rebbe distinguishes between the application of the Written Torah and Oral Torah as pertaining to the nations, and says that the simple meaning of military weapons, the sword and the bow is what is applicable in today's situation. He says it is forbidden to rely on miracles, and forbidden to be satisfied with prayer and supplication, when enemies are intent on overtaking Eretz Yisroel. "We are obligated to come with sword and bow in the plain meaning. Through this the goyim can see it. Only this can have an effect on them. From the beginning they will become fearful and this will prevent a war." As I am writing, the sun is setting and the Tenth day of Tevet is beginning. This day we fast to commemorate when Nebuchadnetzar, King of Babylon, surrounded and laid siege to Yerushalaim, in the final days of the First Temple. Two other fast days remember the destruction of the first Temple, but it is only the Tenth of Tevet that, should it fall on Shabbos, is not postponed. The extra stringency of the Tenth of Teves teaches a lesson that provides insight into today's political situation. Even though breaching the walls on the Seventeenth of Av and the actual destruction of the Temple on the Ninth of Av were more devastating than surrounding the city, it is the original siege of the Tenth of Tevet which is remembered without being postponed, because it signifies the root of the subsequent events. Had a strong opposition overcome the siege, the next two stages could not have occurred. Those voices that have been raised against the orange star should first be raised against the disengagement/deportation plan. When they see to it that a law is passed that such a plan is evil, cruel and illegal... then we will put our stars back in the memory chest. 1. Public talk by the Rebbe on the Tenth of Tevet, 5746, 1986
Harv Weiner, a businessman in Dallas, Texas, is the founder and moderator of Isralert. To subscribe to IsrAlert, send an email to isralert@aol.com |
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THE PALESTINIAN SCHOOLBOOKS: PLANTING SEEDS OF THE NEXT WAR
Posted by Itamar Marcus, December 22, 2004. |
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This is the full version of the article that appeared today in an edited version in the International Herald Tribune. One of the most meaningful gauges of the integrity of a peace process and its likelihood for success is the degree to which the "peace partners" educate towards peace. It is for this reason that the entire Palestinian Authority (PA) education apparatus, both formal and informal, has been such a tragic disappointment. Instead of seizing the opportunity to educate future generations to live with Israel in peace, the PA has done everything in its power to teach hatred to young minds. Compounding the problem is that ever since the hatred in the Palestinian textbooks has been exposed and world pressure has been mounting to eliminate the hatred, various defenders of the PA curriculum have surfaced, trying to legitimize this problematic educational system. The truth is that the PA schoolbooks, both old and new, incite to hatred, violence and anti-Semitism, and it's tragic that their defenders are enabling the PA to avoid necessary peace education. Anti-Semitism in presented openly in PA education. In the new 6th grade book Reading the Koran, children read about Allah's warning to the Jews that because of their evil Allah will kill them: "...Oh you who are Jews, if you think that you are favored of Allah... Then long for death if you are truthful... for the death from which you flee, that will surely overtake you..." In other sections they learn of Jews being expelled from their homes by Allah, and in another Jews are said to be like donkeys: "Those [Jews] who were charged with the Torah, but did not observe it, are like a donkey carrying books..." [1] And while the Koran and Islam are certainly not under scrutiny here, it is tragic that although the Koran and Islam have positive traditions regarding Jews, the PA educators have chosen to incorporate only hateful religious traditions. PA children are left with the impression that that the Koran sees the Jews as an enemy of God, and consequently their enemy as well. In the new textbooks, Israel is de-legitimized as a state. Israel is portrayed as a foreign colonial occupier: "Colonialism: Palestine faced the British occupation after the First World War in 1917, and the Israeli occupation in 1948..." [2] Once Israel is an "occupation" it is a logical step to define all of Israel's cities, regions and natural resources as being part of "Palestine," including the Beersheba, the Negev, the Sea of Galilee.[3] Israel's land is called the "stolen homeland," Israel's creation the "catastrophe" and an encyclopedia is cited that was written for "...Palestinians, so that they would remember their stolen homeland and work for its salvation..."[4] This teaching to not recognize Israel's existence is cemented through dozens of maps in the schoolbooks in which "Palestine" encompasses all of Israel. The argument that the map is not modern "Palestine" but "Mandatory Palestine" is an insult to our intelligence. Children reading these schoolbooks believe they are looking at maps that reflect the current situation, not maps and pictures of British territory more than half a century ago. Completing the dangerous messages of the new books is the teaching that it is a religious obligation for Israel to be destroyed: "Islam encourages this [love of homeland] and established the defense of it as an obligatory commandment for every Muslim if even a centimeter of his land is stolen. I, a Palestinian Muslim, love my country Palestine..."[5] The complete message Palestinian children are taught is that Jews, according to Allah, are like donkeys; Israel is a colonial occupier who stole their land; the cities, lakes and deserts of Israel are "occupied Palestine;" and the Palestinian children are learning that they have an obligation to liberate it "even if a centimeter is stolen." The result of this delegitimization is a belief, frequently expressed by Palestinian children, that justice can be achieved only through Israel's destruction. Speaking on PA TV, a 14-year-old boy explained: "The Israelis [came] from Holland, America, Iran. They [the Jews] came to take Palestine, that is Tel-Aviv, Jaffa, Haifa, Acre, Ramle. All these cities belong to Palestine. We must expel all Israelis from Palestine. Because Israel - there is nothing called Israel in the world." [PA TV Dec. 25, 2003] Having never seen Israel on a map in school or on television, this intelligent 14-year-old has concluded, "There is nothing called Israel in the world." Finally it should be stressed that all the new Palestinian schoolbooks cited here were written during the most optimistic periods of the peace process, before the violence began in September 2000. They are not a response to the war but an expression of dangerous ideology that has to be replaced if there will ever be peace. The ongoing attempts to defend these PA schoolbooks are tragic, as the PA is using these arguments to justify its education, and to refuse to improve their books. The PA is planting the seeds of the next war in its youth. The defenders of PA hate education are protecting and nurturing those seeds of war. *** [1] [Reading the Koran, grade 6. p.20, 23, 78]
Itamar Marcus, Director of Palestinian Media Watch
(http://www.pmw.org.il), was Israeli representative to the Tri -
Lateral Anti Incitement Committee established under the Wye accords,
and has written reports on Palestinian Authority, Syrian and
Jordanian schoolbooks.
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FAREED ZAKARIA FLASHES WIT AND FIZZLES OUT; JEWISH ANTIEMITES IN ISRAEL
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, December 22, 2004. |
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FAREED ZAKARIA FLASHES WIT AND FIZZLES OUT Only a flashing smile was visible from row X, but what witty insights were audible! It was healthful for us Americans to be reminded how insular we really are. For example, Americans gauge a foreign country by whether its people speak English, but we haven't enough speakers of foreign languages to get the best trade deals with those that don't. We initiated globalization, but China and India exploit it more effectively now, and complain that the US exempts itself from globalization's principle of free trade. Fareed Zakaria, a fast-rising foreign policy editor, suggests that the US let W. Europe negotiate more with Iran. After all, he said, Iran's nuclear facilities are difficult to get at. An attack on them might generate national pride in support of the regime's nuclear program. Europe would imagine that the negotiations we halted might have succeeded, and therefore it would not join our use of force against Iran. On the other hand, I find that Europe is afraid to use force if it costs money or might encounter strong resistance. It also does not want to cooperate with the US. The US might do better to shame Europe out of its shell of superiority complex towards us and inferiority complex towards the Muslims. We have to, but shouldn't have to, remind it of the futility of negotiations with fanatical totalitarians. Europe suffered more than did the US from reliance upon negotiation with the Nazis and Communists. The Arabs and Islamists are equally imperialist and duplicitous. The Europeans argue that we refuse even to talk. We don't have to make concessions they point out, just discuss and perhaps something would come of it. No harm can come of just talking. Tell that to the folks watching the mushrooming cloud made possible by the delay, owing to dragged out negotiations, in resorting to force Actually, the US did palaver. It found that Iran had been running a secret nuclear weapons program in violation of its assurances and its agreements. Pres. Bush realizes there is no point to talking endlessly with that deceitful enemy, letting it meanwhile develop the means for destroying us. When Zakaria turned to the Arab-Israel conflict, he fizzled disappointingly. Neither foreign policy expert evinced an understanding of that conflict, which, as if to drive the point home, they did not identify as such. They certainly expressed no inkling that the conflict is a form of jihad and some imperialism. Once one recognizes the nature of the conflict, one is immune to those speakers' notions that a truce is desirable and negotiations with US guidance may bring peace. Are they unaware that US "guidelines" mean pressure on Israel, if for no other reason than that the Arabs are recalcitrant? A truce is temporary. Islamic doctrine approves of taking refuge in them when losing, building up one's forces, and striking the infidel all the harder when ending the truce. When fighting, Israel wears down the Arabs. A truce would enable the consequently rearmed Arabs to inflict heavier casualties. What is there to negotiate with fanatics who want to drive out all the Jews, if not murder them? Our experts failed to recommend reforming the Islamic and Arab culture of intolerance and violence, nor even to disarm the militias and terrorist P.A. police. But the interlocutor stated, "the two sides do not trust each other." Having broken all their agreements, the P.A./PLO has forfeited all trust. In order to appear the aggrieved party, and out of their paranoia that supposes their enemies are as unscrupulous as they, the Arabs assert that they do not trust Israel. Fact is, Israel is trying to appease them. Yes, the government of Israel cannot be trusted, but it cannot be trusted by the Jews. Isn't it odd that this pair of foreign policy experts can be brilliant about all other issues, but dull about the Arab-Israel conflict? They are sophisticated about the other issues, but naïve about jihad. They are skeptical about the other issues, but credulous towards misconceptions about this one. The human mind has a great capacity for self-deception. The speaker and his interviewer had an opportunity to open minds, but they locked them tighter. Most in the audience were my fellow Jews. They rarely get to hear the alarming news about the foolish risks Israel takes for discreditable reasons and with no chance of success. They didn't that night. FONT OF ANTI-ISRAELI SENTIMENT (1) "Fortress Israel, as we call it, is by necessity based on a culture of strength, violence and crudity. In the final analysis, it will be the bulldozer that razes the structure that once was Israel." (2) "Israel's Nazification needs no dictatorship since plenty of sturdy little Hitlers seem to be securely ensconced in a great many number of hearts." (3) "Israel wants to do more than keep the suicide bombers out... It wants to erase the Palestinian nation once and for all." (4) "This unarmed uprising was turned into an armed revolt by harsh Israeli retaliation to demonstrations and street protests." (5) "There is an entire sector in the Jewish public which I unhesitatingly define as a coCOALITIONpy of the German Nazis." (6) "The Israeli army has been terrorizing cities and villages in the West Bank... there is one simple thing that anybody can do: Boycott Israel!... Israel is not the US. It is a small country with hardly any economy, and with a self-image completely detached from reality. It can be stopped." Who made those slanderous statements about Israel? "...every one of those statements was made by an Israeli academic employed by an Israeli university. People entrusted with teaching history, political science, sociology, and the like to young Israelis. People whose seditious writings, declarations, and activities against the state of Israel are underwritten by the Israeli taxpayer and by those who make donations to these institutions out of a desire to help the Jewish state. And, of course, are used by anti-Semites all over the globe as prime ammunition against Jews and Israel." (Prof. Steven Plaut, 12/1, e-mail.) MARCH OF ISRAELI FOLLY & MARCH OF EGYPTIAN TROOPS "Israel Radio reports that the Egyptian forces will have armored vehicles (to monitor the Gaza border). It should be noted that under the terms of the treaty Egypt can deploy an unlimited number of Egyptian police equipped with full battle gear: assault rifles, body armor, etc. In fact, the three "police" Israel killed by mistake were actually Egyptian soldiers acting as "police". The change is the vehicles." "#1 Did the decision making process take into account what Egypt could already do under the treaty or was it decided to follow the Israeli tradition of not actually reading texts?" #2 Did the decision making process study the actual need for armored vehicles in order for Egypt to effectively stop smuggling? The implication of accepting the need for armored vehicles is that thousands of Egyptian "police" equipped with full battle gear: assault rifles, body armor, etc. are not able to handle a fire fight with smugglers taking place in an isolated area on sovereign Egyptian soil, without having armored vehicles." (IMRA, 12/1.) Israeli folly seems bottomless and unfathomable. Israeli leaders act as if complicit in efforts to destroy the Jewish state. I think it is more than acting, judging by the Far Left's desire for just that. The Far Left, like native Communists in the Soviet era, do not think ahead to the horrible purges that the bigoted totalitarians, in this case, the Arabs, would initiate. P.A. BROADCASTING HEAD DENIES ORDER TO END INCITEMENT (IMRA, 12/1.) So it goes with almost every Arab indication of moderation. To paint Abu Mazen as moderate, the story that he had ordered the P.A. media to cease defamation of Israel was bruited. He got the credit. Now the story is denied. The media will not retract the credit. WHO FINANCED THE ANTI-ISRAEL FILM, "JENIN, JENIN" An Israeli Arab produced the film, "Jenin, Jenin," to slander Israel as having perpetrated a great but actually non-existent massacre at Jenin. Although the film's points were repudiated as lies, and an Israeli court had ordered it not shown, the Left showed it and lionized it. Revelation: the P.A. Min. of Propaganda financed the film! (Prof. Steven Plaut, 12/3, e-mail). EU STILL NEGOTIATING WITH HAMAS Although the EU had declared Hamas a terrorist organization, EU Foreign Min. Xavier Solana admits to having continued meeting with Hamas over its role in a future P.A. administration. He seeks a truce by Hamas. (A truce resolves nothing, but gives the terrorists opportunities to rebuild damaged forces.) He presses money upon the Arabs, though much of the funds go for terrorism. He is trying to force his "solutions" upon Israel (IMRA, 12/3). CHRISTIAN AID Christian Aid is another warped humanitarian organization. Its Christmas appeal features an Arab girl blinded by Israeli gunfire. In other words, it goes out of its way to make Israel look bad (as do most so-called humanitarian organizations involved there). The organization's promotional brochure specifically connects the current situation with that of the traditional suffering of Jesus. This is a way of connecting the current situation with the traditional antisemitism that developed from Christianity. The brochure pro forma condemns Arab attacks on Israeli civilians for impeding peace (and not for being inhumane!). It promotes the biased and simplistic notion that Arab poverty stems from Israeli "occupation." (Israeli administration, mostly out of the P.A. now, does not force the P.A. to embezzle foreign aid and divert tax revenues to war.) Terrorism preceded Israeli administration, and the terrorism caused the Israeli security measures, such as the security fence. Christian Aid condemns all Israeli security measures in exaggerated fashion, and fails to explain that Arab terrorism that justifies them. It recommends EU pressure on Israel to withdraw from the territories. That is taking a political position, improper for a supposed humanitarian organization. It even blames Israel partly for 9/11, citing bin Laden. (Bin Laden's original statement did not attribute much of his motivation to presumed US support for Israel. Even if it did, that would not be Israel's fault, and appeasement is not the way to deal with fanaticism.) Christian Aid's web site accepts assorted assertions from Arab sources uncritically, such as that Israelis shoot holes in Arab water tankers. (Israel makes great efforts to let supplies in to the P.A.. The Arabs drill for water illegalIy. Israel hasn't the courage to prosecute.) Christian Aid has introduced Scripture and religious symbolism into the Arab war effort. This is part of Christian Aid's general support for radical causes and against globalization (IMRA, 12/3). Ironically, the P.A. persecutes Christians. STATE DEPT. ON P.A. ELECTION "The emergence of a leadership, Palestinian leadership, that's committed to democracy, the rule of law, transparent government and an end to violence and terror is indeed critical. It gives the Palestinians a chance to build the institutions of the Palestinian state. It gives them a representative who can negotiate on their behalf in a credible manner. It gives them a representative who can stand for them in international meetings and discussions." The State Dept. refused to condemn candidacies of murderers those ineligible under Oslo (IMRA, 12/3). The US was not reticent about interfering in Israeli elections. Why the double standard? 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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ARAFAT'S SUCCESSOR IS HELL-BENT ON DESTROYING ISRAEL
Posted by Women in Green, December 22, 2004. |
This article is entitled "Why is America upping the hundreds of
million $ it already gives the 'Palestinians'" and was written
by Daniel Pipes.
Yasser Arafat died last month. This month, his death is prompting plans for a foreign aid bounty of $500 million to $1 billion a year for the Palestinians. That's the scoop Steven R. Weisman published in the New York Times on Dec. 17. He revealed that Western, Arab, and other governments plan to add a 50 to 100 percent bonus to the $1 billion a year they already direct to 3.5 million Palestinians in the territories, contingent upon a crackdown on terrorist groups and the holding of credible elections in January 2005. (Women in Green are publishing this article despite the fact that we disagree with Mr. Pipes on many issues. Daniel Pipes is quite unrealistic when he supports the Road Map, and an eventual two-state solution wherein Israel supposedly will live alongside of the Arabs in peace. It is clearly against the word of the G-d of Israel in the Bible. However, most Arabs, who are mainly Muslims, rejoice in the terrorist activity, and sympathize and are supportive of much of this immoral, inhumane and terrorist conduct. Moreover, we disagree with Mr. Pipes that there is such a thing as a "moderate" Islamite. While they do exist, they play an insignificant role in the total picture, and have no real influence within the Arab world, and for the most part are silent witnesses to Moslem brutality. Nevertheless, Mr. Pipes may be wrong on some points but he definitely should be heard on several issues, and this is one of them.) Ruth and Nadia Matar established Women For Israel's Tomorrow (Women in Green), an activist group of women based in Jerusalem. Their website address is http://www.womeningreen.org |
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YOTER TOV BIKELLEH MEKEVER - 'TIS BETTER TO BE JAILED THAN BURIED
Posted by Batya Medad, December 22, 2004. |
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Twenty-three years ago, when we were rather new to Shiloh, I remember hearing my neighbor say that she had instructed her husband that she'd rather see him jailed than buried. Unfortunately that's a choice many have made, and things aren't getting any better. There are quite a few Jews imprisoned or tangled in legal quagmires due to the fact that a Jew in danger who ends up killing or injuring an Arab is severely prosecuted and punished. The only way to prove self-defense is to be dead or very seriously wounded, and then you still must prove that the Arab started it, and you had no other way to stop him. When I was run over in a terror attack, less than ten years ago, the police spent a lot of time and money trying to prove that it could have had been an accident and weren't interested in hearing the testimonies of the survivors. In addition, the young men who shot the terrorist dead were interrogated, and it took a long time until they were finally cleared of murder charges. This "catch 22 situation" is no joke. There are many who believe that it is the reason why the soldier Kfir Okayon was killed in April 2004. Just a few days before he had been reprimanded and threatened by the army with punishment for pointing his weapon at an Arab who wouldn't cooperate when being inspected for arms and explosives. Trying to "obey orders" and being gentle with the terrorists cost him his life. Recently, another absurd story was in the news. Almost ten years ago, in the spring of 1995, during at time of terror attacks, Avraham Ofir, then an IDF soldier, came across an Arab vehicle that refused to stop for inspection, and when the vehicle crashed the Arabs fled, ignoring requests in Arabic to stop. You don't need even half a brain to infer that they were acting suspiciously, and were most probably terrorists. Therefore Avraham shot them when they ran into a house. For this he was demoted and worse, and not long ago his nightmare resumed as the state began legal action against him. And not to keep you in suspense, the Tel Aviv District Court withdrew the indictment against him, on charges of killing an Arab fugitive - charges for which he was tried in a military court nine years ago. Details can be found in the following news story: http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=73022 There's an organization that helps people who get into those "Twilight Zone" situations. It's called "Honenu." The person who runs it is Shmuel Meidad (no relation) of Hebron. It's the only civil rights organization that supports Jewish civil rights. Unfortunately it is very busy. Many people need them, because the police, law and the court system here look for ways to make us pay for our self-defense. I recommend contacting them for more information by calling: 02-960-5558 or cellphone 852-869-3999. Or by email at honenu@honenu.org.il I pray that none of us, nor any of our friends and family will ever need their help. One of the ways of protecting ourselves and our dear ones is to help Honenu. This is Musing #89. Batya Medad lives in Shiloh. She can be reached by email at Shilohmuse@yahoo.com or visit her website http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/ or go to http://www.shilo.org.il |
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2004
JIHAD TERRORIST WROTE SPEECHES FOR TARIQ RAMADAN
Posted by Steven Plaut, December 22, 2004. |
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Remember Tariq Ramadan? The Swiss Arab anti-Semite with ties to al-Qaeda funded by the same Marxist Kroc Institute that funded Ben Gurion University's Neve Gordon's "research" proving that Israel is a terrorist state? Well, there is now more news about Ramadan: This is entitled "Jihad Watch: Jihad terrorist wrote speeches for Tariq Ramadan" and it is archived at http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/004397.php [Editor's note: See "Tariq Ramadan's Two-Faced Islam" (http://www.think-israel.org/magister.ramadan.html) for an excellent review and analysis.] Tariq Ramadan is the world's most famous "moderate Muslim." He was slated to take a professorial job at the University of Notre Dame this year, until his visa was revoked by DHS. DHS hasn't explained why, and his case has become a cause celebre for the anti-anti-terror Left, but here is a French-language story (from the Swiss Le Temps, via proche-orient.info, with thanks to Phil), that gives a hint as to why Ramadan may have been kept out of the U.S. Here is Phil's translation of the salient part: According to the bill of indictment, Djamel Beghal, the preacher accused to have prepared a suicide mission against the American embassy in Paris, was preparing Tariq Ramadan's speeches. More news In French: Selon l'acte d'accusation, Djamel Beghal, prédicateur accusé d'avoir préparé une opération suicide contre l'ambassade américa. (http://www.proche-orient.info/ xjournal_pol_der_heure.php3?id_article=34161)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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ORGANIZE NOW. OPPOSE THE ETHNIC CLEANSING OF GAZA
Posted by Professor Paul Eidelberg, December 22, 2004. |
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Support the 'Wallerstein Proclamation' 1. Sharon's plan to uproot 8,000 Jews from their homes in Gaza is the prelude to eventual uprooting of 230,000 Jews from Judea and Samaria in preparation for the establishment of a Palestinian state that will include eastern Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. 2. You are thus resisting not just what Israel's dictator calls "disengagement" but a plan that will lead to Israel's ultimate demise. 3. Your object is not merely to resist but to defeat this nefarious plan and thereby put an end to a government whose dictator betrayed the hundreds of thousands of Likud voters who opposed this plan in the January 2003 elections. 4. Your ultimate but not necessarily declared objective is to prepare the grounds for a New Israel. 5. While you focus efforts on defeating disengagement from Gaza and speak of "civil disobedience," it is counterproductive to say you will not resort to violence. This does not mean advocating armed resistance, but recommending silence on this issue. 6. The government will employ force to overcome any resistance to disengagement. Hence you must develop tactics to blunt such force. 7. While you employ moral suasion to convince soldiers and policemen that it is both illegal and immoral to uproot Jewish men, women, and children from their homes in Gaza, you must also have (like Ya'akov Avinu when he went to meet Eisav) a multifaceted strategy to defeat disengagement. For this, organize with the help of military personnel. But do it NOW. 8. Mobilize all Zionist organization in the US to vehemently oppose disengagement. Thousands of Jews and Christians should come to Israel and demonstrate day after day against disengagement. Noted lawyers, generals and rabbis should give interviews emphasizing the illegality, the danger, and the immorality of the disengagement plan. Yes, this is interfering in Israel's domestic affairs--but Israel's survival is everyone's affair! 9. The pressure against uprooting Jews from Gaza must be constant and multifaceted. Professor Paul Eidelberg is President of the Foundation For Constitutional Democracy. He can be reached by mail at 244 Madison Avenue, Suite 427, New York, NY 10016, Tel: 212-372-3752, and by email at Constitution@usa.net |
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U.S. INCREASES INTEL AGAINST ISRAEL
Posted by IsrAlert, December 21, 2004. |
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This articlecomes from www.menewsline.com.
NOTE: It is not the full item. This service contains only a small portion of the information produced daily by Middle East Newsline. For a subscription to the full service, please contact Middle East Newsline at: editor@menewsline.com for further details. LONDON [MENL] -- The United States has increased intelligence operations against Israel as part of an effort to prevent a war in the Middle East. Western diplomatic sources said that over the last two years the U.S. intelligence community has increased monitoring of Israel's military and government. The sources said the move was ordered by the White House as part of an effort to prevent an escalation of the war with the Palestinians or a regional war that could begin with an Israeli attack on Syria. "There's been concern that Israel would pull a surprise on the United States with either an offensive against Hizbullah in Lebanon or a massive attack on the Gaza Strip," a diplomatic source said. "Washington doesn't want to be surprised and would rather know this information in advance and first hand." The sources said the result has been increased U.S. satellite monitoring of Israel to determine military movements, import and export of weapons, weapons tests and construction of housing in Israeli communities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. They said the United States has also expanded the interception of signals communications from Israeli government and military facilities. Harv Weiner, a businessman in Dallas, Texas, is the founder and moderator of Isralert. To subscribe to IsrAlert, send an email to isralert@aol.com |
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PETER JENNINGS - WOT! HIM BIASED?
Posted by Yocheved Golani, December 21, 2004. |
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What bias?: Disturbing news from a man in news: The New York
Post is reporting (http://www.nypost.com/missing/missing.htm) that
ABC newsman Peter Jennings will use his purported pro-Palestinian
leanings to determine who will be the next Jerusalem correspondent for
the network. "There's a litmus test," said one insider. "If you
support Israel, you need not apply."
Yocheved Golani provides a journalist and writing service; she does author reviews and book reviews. She can be reached at her websites: www.ygolani.com, www.yochevedgolani.com |
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NOT A PERSONAL STRUGGLE
Posted by David Ha'ivri, December 21, 2004. |
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The Judea, Samaria and Gaza (Yesha) Council recently set out on a campaign entitled, "The Struggle for our Homes". It included the well-publicized gimmick of a human chain from Gush Katif to the Western Wall in Jerusalem, culminating in a young girl from Gaza placing a note in the Wall. In order to finance this campaign, the Yesha Council turned directly to the residents of Yehuda, Shomron and Gaza to foot the bill of three million NIS. It turned out that the Yesha Council hadn't yet repaid its debts from previous campaigns. The bulk of this debt was owed to public relations advisors and advertising professionals who sold the Yesha Council meaningless slogans at an inflated price to print on thousands of signs, full-page newspaper ads and public busses. Being in no financial position to finance another campaign, they were forced to go "begging" to the residents of Yesha for money. The Yesha Council has more or less gone bankrupt. The financial bankruptcy is a direct result of their ideological bankruptcy. The people who tried so hard to remain in the "consensus", by arranging careful demonstrations and PR campaigns with empty messages, were eventually exposed as a body bereft of any ideology whatsoever - causing their supporters to lose interest in their grandiose campaigns. The constant stream of empty, meaningless slogans makes it clear that those writing them have no idea what the struggle is really about. The slogan "A Palestinian State is a Prize for Terror" implies that were it not for Arab terror, it would be perfectly acceptable to hand over parts of our ancestral heritage. The slogan: "The Struggle for our Homes" implies that we are only concerned with the financial loss of the residents who will be expelled from their homes, when the real issue is the Chillul Hashem of banishing the Jewish People from Eretz Yisrael, the land given to us by G-d. We need to declare the truth. The Land of Israel belongs to the Jewish People. Whoever attempts to find favor in the eyes of the "nation", by distorting the problem as being merely a personal injustice to the residents of Gush Katif, is defeating the entire purpose of the struggle. The fact is that the residents of Yehuda, Shomron and Gaza are sick and tired of the Yesha Council, which has failed for so long to represent them. On top of this, the nation as a whole isn't even buying into their ideologically vapid slogans. A study released not long ago by Haifa University showed that 1.5 million citizens of Israel support the path of Rabbi Meir Kahane. The divine right to the Land of Israel, which is deeply ingrained in the heart of every Jew, is not in question. We don't need gimmicks to arouse these sentiments and reap the sympathy of the nation. We already are in the national consensus; it is only the corrupt government and media cartel that do an excellent job of hiding the fact. The only thing necessary today is the courage to proclaim the truth: the Land of Israel belongs to the Jewish People. This isn't a personal issue; it is a national one. No one cares about the potential financial loss to the "settlers", especially since Ariel Sharon has promised to pay them compensation. We are dealing with a betrayal of one of the basic tenets of the Jewish faith. The land of Israel collectively belongs to all the Jewish people - an eternal gift from G-d. End of discussion. David Ha'ivri, chairman of Revava, is also editor of Darka Shel Torah and Ideas in Action newsletters, and the publisher of books teaching Jewish pride and faith in HaShem. He has set a goal to put the Jewish people back on the footpath of our fathers, and build a proud and strong nation whose national policy is based on Jewish values. He can be reached by email at haivri@hameir.org or at his website: http://www.hameir.org/ This essay appeared as an opinion piece in Arutz-7 (www.IsraelNationNews.com) today. |
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MANAGEMENT 101: ALL I NEEDED TO KNOW ABOUT BEING A MANAGER I LEARNED IN HEBREW SCHOOL
Posted by Jeff Dunetz, December 21, 2004. |
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I sat next to my 10-year-old son in the very first row of a crowded movie theater. We went to the hit film Spiderman 2. He just had to see it on the first day it appeared in the cinema. Since we were late to the theater the uncomfortable front row was our only seating option. As I slouched in my chair (so I could stare straight up at the giant screen) my feet became glued firmly to the floor by the remnants of soda spills from long ago. Watching the movie it occurred to me that Spiderman's boss, J. Jonah Jameson, the publisher of the Daily Bugle is a perfect example of what I always imagined a manager to be when I was growing up: a gruff, cigar chomping, get the job done without caring whose feelings were hurt, type of guy. All of the TV shows featured bosses just like Jameson. You remember the type, characters such as Alan Brady of the Dick Van Dyke Show or Larry Tate on Bewitched. Fox has pushed the envelope further with My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss. In this show, graduates from major business schools compete for a $250,000 salary and the "honor" to work for a mean, despicable, SOB of a boss. The twist is -- there isn't even a job involved, the "boss" is just a very good actor. Each week contestants are abused and humiliated for our amusement. They compete with each other so that the next week the archetype mean boss can abuse them further. For some reason sitting in the theater, I was thinking about bosses (and fighting a growing stiffness in my neck from tilting my head to see the screen 90 degrees upward toward the action). It was nice to realize that the prototypical boss, imagined as a child (and displayed in the new Fox show) is a not what I adopted as a style once I had become a manager. I have not turned in to one of those grumpy stereotypes, not because of any formal training, as a manager I was always thrown into fire and told to do my best. Maybe it was the management training program that my parents had enrolled me. They schlepped me to it each Monday, Wednesday, and Sunday. You see all of my management training was from an unusual source. In fact, all I really needed to know about being a manager (and an employee), I learned in Hebrew School. Management wisdom was not found in some human resources manual or executive self-help book it was all right there in Mr. Gefter's Torah class. And it's still there for all the people to look. These are the things I learned from my teachers in Hebrew school: Who you work with is more important that what you are making. Lot traded being close to his uncle Abraham for the fame and fortune of a judgeship in Sodom ... eventually that turned out to be a dead end job. Do not tolerate office gossip. Despite all of her good deeds during the exodus from Egypt, Miriam got in trouble for criticizing her boss (brother Moses) behind his back. Delegate, delegate, delegate. The section of the Torah with the Ten Commandments is not named after the great revelation at Sinai, where God spoke to the entire Jewish people; it's named after Moses' father-in-law, Yitro. Why? Because that is where the Torah tells us: Yitro taught his son-in-law that if he doesn't delegate, he would burn out. It's ok for a boss not to know the right answer. When the daughters of Zelophe had asked Moses a real stumper about real estate and inheritance law, he didn't try to fake his way through it, he just said I don't know let me check with top management. Stand up for what is right even if it is not popular. After the Golden Calf, Moses said whoever is with God come with me, the Levites answered the call, and for that, they got a big promotion out of it. When a manager loses control of his people, then maybe its time for him to move on. Sure he hit the rock, but by the time God told Moses his mission was done, the Jewish slaves that he started with were dead. Their children had become a new nation, raised in the wilderness not under an Egyptian's whip. Moses had a hard time relating to this group, calling them rebels. While the people loved their leader God know they needed fresh blood. God's love was so strong that he told Moses that he was fired for the "sin" of hitting the rock -- because he didn't want to hurt his feelings by saying that had lost touch with the people. Protect your people at all costs. We remember Abraham for trying to protect Sodom and Gomorrah, "even if there are only 10 good people." He gave birth to nations. The only humans Noah tried to save were his own family and quite possibly, because of that, all nations were destroyed during his watch. Protect yourself also. Jacob though he had an ironclad contract with Laban -- he ended up with the wrong wife. David's success made his boss Saul feel threatened. He ended up out of work (and almost dead). Most bosses are not like that, but you never know which ones are. Make sure to protect yourself and speak up, respectfully, when you feel that a boss is being hurtful. Balance makes for better workers. The Torah tells us that employers and employees alike should take off one day a week, Shabbat. The purpose of this day is to lose touch with the work world, and those work pressures and worries in order to find balance in your life by getting in touch with your kids, family, and friends. Probably the most powerful management lessons I learned in Hebrew School were about decisiveness and teamwork. Three thousand years ago, Moses and twelve tribes of freed slaves stood on the shore of the Red Sea bracing for an attack by the army of their former masters. As they began to pray, God said to Moses, enough praying ... do something. Moses took action, leading the twelve tribes across the sea as one nation, proving that a decisive leader and a unified team can work miracles. It has been more than 30 years since I went to Hebrew school, and even longer since the time of Abraham and Moses, but it still stands that God is one great manager of people and that the Torah would make a heck of an HR manual. This appeared today in Jews Week. It is archived at http://www.jewsweek.com/bin/en.jsp?enDispWho=Article %5El1563&enPage=BlankPage&enDisplay=view&enDisp What=object&enVersion=0&enZone=Opinions& |
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ORANGE STARS IN THE KNESSET
Posted by Bryna Berch, December 21, 2004. |
This is from Arutz-7. We should take it seriously. Gush
Katif is fighting back and is winning friends - soldiers, students and
ordinary folk - and infuriating those who thought them toothless. So,
maybe the Madness of King Sharon won't prevail.
 Channel Ten's political talk-show host Mordechai Kirshenbaum, ex-director of the Israel Broadcasting Authority, was unable to conceal his rage at Gush Katif spokesman Eran Sternberg last night when the two were "discussing" the issue on the air. Kirshenbaum yelled at Sternberg and barely allowed him to complete a sentence. Sternberg's office announced afterwards that its representatives would no longer appear on Kirshenbaum's program. At the Knesset today, a group of Holocaust survivors who live in Gush Katif met with Knesset Members - while wearing the self-made orange stars. "The direct association that is aroused in connection with the plans to uproot us are the experiences we went through in the Holocaust," one of them said in a broken voice. Some reporters on hand attacked them for their views. The visitors said that they are in no way likening the Israeli government or its soldiers to Nazis, yet emphasized that the planned expulsion brings up Holocaust associations. Ida Ackerman, a survivor whose children and grandchildren also live in N'vei Dekalim, said that the orange star itself is an unimportant symbol: "When I see and hear what they're planning to do to them, my Holocaust experiences come to mind. It's not the same thing, but what people feel in their heart is the same. They took us from our home and put us in camps. Now too, they're cruelly taking us from our home, with our children and grandchildren." Another woman took a different approach: "This orange star is meant to shock people. People are in despair, and no one is reacting to what they want to do to us. We want to shock them." A reporter asked, "But this is a Jewish government, not a German one; how can you compare?" The women answered, "That makes it even worse!" - and several of them burst into tears. The stormy meeting took place in the National Religious Party faction office. NRP head MK Effie Eitam, a strong opponent of the expulsion plan, expressed great sympathy with the visitors - but asked them to remove the orange star. "Here is an 82-year-old Jew who was deported from Germany and later from Hungary," Eitam said, "and now he is about to be expelled once again... No one can know how an elderly person makes associations when he sees, once again, his home and property and dreams being destroyed... My parents were hanged in a butcher shop in a village in the Diaspora, and that's how they ended their lives. Your unrest is real and terrible, and I understand you - but I ask you to remove the star. You have made your statement, continue the struggle, but remove the star." Dr. Abraham P. of Jerusalem, a Holocaust survivor who lived in the Lodz Ghetto, said he is not offended by the use of the orange star to protest the expulsion plan. "Sharon talks about it as if it is just a mere 'disengagement,'" he told IsraelNationalRadio yesterday, "but the Arabs view it as the transfer of Jews." Minister of Diaspora Affairs Natan Sharansky objects to the use of the Holocaust imagery because of the damage it does to the struggle against anti-Semitism: "Our ongoing struggle against anti-Semitic elements in Europe and Arab nations, who frequently compare Nazis and the State of Israel, has received a great blow from within," Sharansky said in a statement released yesterday. "I understand the fear and pain of the Gush Katif residents, but the ends do not justify the means." Sharansky opposes the disengagement plan. Beit El Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, head of Yeshivat Ateret Cohanim in Jerusalem's Old City, says the issue is not the Holocaust, but rather the uprooting of Jewish communities. "It is self-evident," Rabbi Aviner wrote yesterday, "that nothing in history, neither before the Holocaust or afterwards, can be compared to that terrible event. However, it is peculiar that serious-minded people evade dealing with the problematic issue of uprooting Jewish communities, hiding behind the question of whether the Holocaust should be compared to it or not. This is a cheap demagogic trick, known as 'negating the middle ground' - i.e., defining a problem by its extremes while avoiding the problematic middle area. After all, there could be something very grave, something that is a national and human tragedy, even if it is not as grave as the Holocaust." Rabbi Aviner added another point: "Just as individuals who mercifully survived the Holocaust were left with terrible emotional scars, so too the nation can be left with scars of this nature - and in fact our nation was left with these. The main scar is the lack of boldness and strength to declare before the entire world that we have full national rights to our entire Land. The Holocaust meant to negate our national existence, and other nations joined in, to varying extents. The British, for instance, did not allow us to actualize our right and obligation to establish a State, and the Arabs, to one extent or another, want to negate or reduce the validity of our existence in our Land. These are ongoing side-effects of the Holocaust. This is the time, then, to stand nationally erect, to grasp firmly onto our Land, and to protect our communities." |
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CREATING A PALESTINIAN APARTHEID STATE?
Posted by Ariel Natan Pasko, December 21, 2004. |
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You know for years, leftists and Arabs, and all kind of anti-Semites have compared Israel to South Africa. For the last few years, there's been a divestment campaign against Israel as was done against South Africa. Many Jews shrugged off the comparison, or hid from it. And most decent people of all persuasions, argued, "No it's not true, Israel is a democracy, and the old South Africa had apartheid." But it has dawned on me that the comparison makes some sense. Not between Israel - the embattled victim of morally degenerate suicide bombings - and the once racially segregated South Africa. Not between Israel, the victor in a defensive war - that pitted several enemies against it, attempting a second Holocaust in 1967 - and a cruel divisive South African regime that pitted one group against another for racial supremacy. But between Israel the country that since 1948, has wanted to live peacefully with its neighbors; between Israel who has won all the wars that were forced upon it and still made agreements to return territory captured - territory that gave it much needed strategic depth - in return for promises written on paper; and the new racially diverse South Africa of Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, and the current President Thabo Mbeki. You see Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Klerk - winners of the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize - and Desmond Tutu - winner of the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize - called for reconciliation between groups in South Africa. It might not be perfect now, but after Mandela's release from 28 years of imprisonment in 1990, the first thing he DIDN'T do was call for killing whites. Being elected President in the first multi-racial election in South Africa in 1994, Mandela also knew how to step down after 5-years in office; instead of like Arafat - the infamous Nobel Peace Prize winner - who died in office, incapable of releasing power until his death. Desmond Tutu has used his Nobel money to set up the Desmond Tutu Peace Centre. Will Yasser Arafat's heirs (Mahmoud Abbas, Marwan Barghouti, Hamas, and others), use some of his stolen money to set up the "The Yasser School of Safe Explosive's Use," maybe? The Quartet's (US, EU, UN and Russia) so-called Roadmap to Middle East peace, envisions the first case of "Ethnic Cleansing" of the 21st century, this time internationally legitimated. The Sharon government in Israel intends to be a willing accomplice, if it carries out it's planned expulsion of Jews from Gush Katif-Gaza and Northern Samaria (euphemistically called "Disengagement"). I understand that if most countries would have favored the Nazi attempt to commit genocide against the Jews, or most of the world supported forced racial segregation - Apartheid - in South Africa, that would have made them okay to do. You don't agree? So why is it okay to close Jewish "settlements," uproot several hundred thousand Jews from Judea and Samaria - the West Bank - and Gaza, in the name of "Peace," when the world is being promised an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and a democratic Palestinian State? Forget Apartheid, they're planning a racially-ethnically pure Arab state free of Jews. If the "democratic" Palestinian state that Bush and Blair keep talking about, and everyone else envisions, requires uprooting whole communities; towns and villages of thousands, expelling families from their homes, destroying everything built - schools, synagogues, community centers, businesses, people's lives - in the last 37 years, where may I ask is the reconciliation? Where is the peace? When the blacks in South Africa finally gained power, they didn't throw the whites out, or try to murder them. If Palestine has to be "Judenrein" - free of Jews - then it won't be "democratic" but NAZI! Palestine won't be an Apartheid State like the old South Africa, but a Nazi state, not racially supremacist but racially pure. And that's a far cry from the vision being presented to us by Bush, Blair, Sharon, and all those nice people who say, "we have to solve the Palestinian problem" or "The solution is two states living side by side in peace". The Palestinian Authority till now has done nothing to stop the Oslo War for over four years. Plenty of evidence indicates they've actually helped carry it out. Marwan Barghouti (founder of the al-Aksa Martyrs Brigades terror group, affiliated to Arafat and Abbas's Fatah) just called on Mahmoud Abbas (the Fatah candidate for PA President) not to give up the option of "armed struggle". The express purpose of the terror groups is to drive Jews out of their homes, and Sharon is helping them with his expulsion plan for Gazan Jews. But Jews have a longer history (almost 4,000 years) with these ancient Holy Places (Gaza, Hebron, Shechem, Bethlehem, Shilo, Tekoa, and Jericho) as the indigenous population - than the Arabs do. Most of whom came into the area from the surrounding Arab countries in the late 19th & early 20th centuries. Why should the Jews have to leave? If Arabs can live as equal citizens in Israel, able to be elected to the Knesset (there are Arab citizens in Israel's parliament), or serve on Israel's Supreme Court (there is an Arab Supreme Court Justice), why can't Jews be equal citizens in the democratic Palestinian state in the making, with full rights, responsibilities, and privileges? The comparison between Israel and the old South Africa doesn't fly, but the comparison between the Palestinian state that they're trying to sell us, and the old racist South Africa goes quite well. On the other hand, the correct comparison is between Israel and the new multi-racial South Africa. The population of South Africa today is about 75% black, with the remainder made up of white, coloreds, and Indians. Israel's population is about 80% Jewish, with the remainder Arab, Druze, Bedouin, Circassian, Armenian, etc. Both are democracies with a dominant majority and minorities sharing equal rights. The proposed Palestinian state will have an estimated population of between 2.4 and 2.9 million people, and almost 10% of the population is Jews. In Judea and Samaria - the West Bank - there are about 1.5 to 1.8 million Arabs and almost 250,000 Jews, or about 15%. When you include the post-1967 parts of Eastern Jerusalem that some want to make into the Palestinian capital city, it brings the total number of Jews in the so-called "occupied territories" to about a half a million, or almost 20% of the proposed Palestinian state. So why exactly can't Jews stay in "democratic" Palestine? In Hebron for example, the media always tells you that there are 500 Jews living among 100,000 or 120,000 Arabs. BIG LIE! What they "forget" to tell you is that the population figure for the Arabs, is for the greater metropolitan area of Hebron, surrounding villages (i.e. suburbs) and all, and if you include all the Jews living in the same areas (Kiryat Arba, and the Hebron Hills towns and villages) there are close to 10,000 Jews living there, or about 10% of the total population. Jewish cities in Judea and Samaria like Ma'ale Adumim with almost 35,000 Jews and Ariel with 22,000 - the size of Anytown, USA - they're going to be expelled? Why can't all these Jews stay living in Palestine, just as the non-Jews live in Israel? Real peace doesn't mean "Ethnic Cleansing," real peace means reconciliation, respect, and mutual trust. If there aren't any of these, THERE ISN'T ANY REAL PEACE! So, why are the Jews being forced from their homes exactly? Why does everyone (Bush, Blair, the Quartet, Sharon, Peres and Israel's left) just assume Jews can be moved like cattle (and have no rights)? Why does the world want to Ethnically Cleanse "democratic" Palestine of Jews? Why would the world voluntarily create - at best - another old South Africa - at worst - a Nazi Arab state? Does the world somehow have lower expectations from the Arabs? That Arabs somehow can't live peacefully among others? No one even mentions the possibility of Jews staying in their homes and becoming Palestinian citizens. Does the world have racist attitudes that somehow Palestinians can't live in democratic societies and share? Or, does the world not care about persecuted Jews? Just like in the time of the Holocaust. Where are all the "Great Souls" of the world, morally outraged by a "Peace Plan" that calls for the expulsion of people from their homes? Where are all the anti-apartheid activists, who saw such evil in the old South Africa? Why aren't they protesting this latest injustice? Why not divest from Palestine? So, I challenge you Desmond, I dare you Nelson, and all you "Anti-Apartheid Great Souls," stand up for those high morals everyone has attributed to you. Don't just sit back and watch as 8,000 people get expelled from their homes in Gaza. Don't let several hundred thousand more Jews get Ethnically Cleansed from their ancient homeland and call it "democracy". Remember Rev. Tutu, the Land of Israel, Canaan or Judea, that place described in your Bible? Certainly men of such high moral fiber as yourselves, and all the others like you, will call out for "understanding," "tolerance," and "peace and reconciliation," between Arab and Jew in a democratic Palestine. And certainly, you will all oppose expelling people from their homes in Gaza and elsewhere, even if they are only Jews. Ariel Natan Pasko is an independent analyst and consultant. He has a Master's Degree in International Relations & Policy Analysis. His articles appear regularly on numerous news/views and think-tank websites, in newspapers, and can be read at: www.geocities.com/ariel_natan_pasko |
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INCITEMENT OR IDEOLOGY: UNDERSTANDNG PA MEDIA
Posted by Itamar Marcus & Barbara Crook, December 21, 2004. |
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This appeared today in the Jerusalem Post. It is entitled, "The Incitement Yardstick." Following his demand for a crackdown, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon recently remarked that anti-Israel incitement in the Palestinian Authority media had indeed lessened. The incitement issue has generated significant interest and optimism worldwide. Unfortunately, both Sharon's satisfaction and the resulting optimism demonstrate a fundamental lack of understanding about Palestinian society. If media incitement were merely the tactical use of hate language by PA leaders to provoke violent behavior against Israel, then even a limited reduction would indeed be significant. But if the hate messages of the past 10 years reflect widespread and deep-seated beliefs within the PA leadership and society, then temporarily removing them from TV screens is like taking a painkiller to fight cancer. The pain may be veiled but the cancer still festers. Palestinian Authority religious and academic leaders have been teaching for four and a half years that Allah demands the killing of Jews; and for 10 years that Israel has no right to exist. Moreover, hate messages expressed through the media mimic the messages the PA espouses through schoolbooks, summer camps, religious lessons, culture, poetry, and more. Every action and statement by the PA indicates that these are not merely superficial statements to "incite" people to sporadic violence, but are accurate indicators of Palestinian society's beliefs and dreams. Just look at the PA Ministry of Education's choice for first-place in its recent letter-writing contest for children. The winning letter, entitled, "I will yet return to Lod," is a child yearning for Israel's eventual destruction: I am Lara from Lod, and I am an 11-year-old girl living in the city of Ramallah. I used to accept that Ramallah is a substitute for Lod, and that the large [Mediterranean] sea has been exchanged for a small pool... you [Israel] do not deserve Lod, and after this day I will no longer accept the small pool. I will dream of the sea at Jaffa and the sunshine in Lod. It is not insignificant - nor is it mere "incitement" - that PA educators chose for first place this powerful hate message to children. Denial of Israel's right to exist and the anticipation of its destruction are among the fundamental principles of PA ideology and education. This is a message they want for their children. Sadly, the PA doesn't even wait for children to reach school to inculcate violence as a value. An October 2004 PA television program for preschoolers featured a talking puppet chick who was asked how he would respond if "a little boy cut down his tree." "I'll fight him and make a big riot," he answered. "I'll bring AK-47s [assault rifles]... I'll commit a massacre in front of the house." A FUNDAMENTAL theological tenet inculcated by the PA media is that Jews - even as individuals - have no right to exist. "The Prophet said: The Resurrection will not take place until the Muslims fight the Jews, and the Muslims kill them. Rejoice in Allah's Victory... Everything wants vengeance on the Jews... these pigs on the face of the earth. And the day of our victory, Allah willing, will come." (PA TV, Sept 10, 2004) For more than four years PA religious and academic leaders have repeatedly promoted the murder of Jews as the will of God and historical necessity. We can delude ourselves that this is merely temporary incitement - or we can face the harsh reality that such indoctrination has convinced a significant portion of Palestinian society that murdering Jews is an act of worship. At any rate, Sharon's talk about reduced incitement was premature. Just last week, PA TV rebroadcast - for the 11th time - an hour-long hate-promotion film that indoctrinates viewers, especially youth, with the message that Israel has no right to exist. The program stresses that Jaffa, Haifa, and Acre are occupied "Palestine," stolen from the "refugees." It even features a child vowing - with his "blood" - to "return" to west Jerusalem. Yet another recent rebroadcast featured a senior Palestinian historian calling for Israel's destruction: "Let the intruders be erased," taught Dr. Issam Sissalem. He said Israel is a like the "parasitic worms in the ocean that eat a snail, and then live in its shell," and vowed: "We will not let anyone live in our shell." ALL THIS explains why a tactical reduction in media incitement isn't enough. We face a political, religious, educational and popular culture which in its entirety promotes hatred of Israelis and Jews and teaches that violence is the preferred means of achieving political goals. Media incitement per se is not the problem. The problem is Palestinian aspiration for Israel's destruction - and the Palestinian media are merely our window to these hopes and dreams. If the new Palestinian leaders are serious about peace with Israel they will have to do more than just mask their beliefs with politically acceptable facades. They will have to fundamentally change their world view and then detoxify their society with messages that actively promote peace. Palestinian leaders need to go to their people and systematically - repeatedly - renounce years of hate promotion. They need to emphatically acknowledge both Israel's right to exist as a nation and the Jews' right to live as individuals. They need to reject violence against Israel - not because it's politically ineffective, which is the current rationale, but because it is morally wrong. The day we start seeing PA leaders promoting these messages on PA TV is the day a peace process will have begun. Itamar Marcus is director of PMW - Palestinian Media Watch - (http://www.pmw.org.il). PMW is based in Jerusalem. Barbara Crook, a writer and university lecturer based in Ottawa, Canada, is PMW's North American representative. |
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MIASMA
Posted by A Time To Speak, December 21, 2004. |
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Webster: MIASMA -- from the Greek for "defilement" "pollution"
They neither know nor understand. They go about in darkness.
A miasma obscures reality and distorts perception about Israel and the Middle East. The elements in its vapors are malice, falsehood, hypocrisy, and ignorance. Some stoke its noxious fumes for their own ends. Some wander through a fog of misinformation, unaware that they are being led astray by propaganda and false reporting. This miasma can indeed "cause disease", with symptoms of ethical corruption and dangerously deluded policies. "Sometimes the first obligation of intelligent men is to restate
the obvious." "Sometimes I believe as many as six impossible things before
breakfast."
1] A miasma can shroud simple facts and promote fallacies when false and misleading terms are repeated until they are widely accepted and carelessly repeated. Among such terms are "Palestinians", "Palestinian Territory", and "Israeli Occupation" -- none of which exists. [See especially Issues 2, 6, 8, 9]. Another example of a wrong word creating a wrong impression is the media addiction to "militant" or "activist" as a euphemism for "terrorist". Words that do not fit realities obscure accurate perception and so hinder sensible understanding. 2] Facts that are not at all obscure may be deliberately ignored. The miasma is then in the mind of the non-beholder. This is a refusal to perceive the obvious, often linked to an inability to learn from experience, that underlies impractical theories, plans and policies. For example: Arab leaders and spokesmen openly state that they will never permit Israel to continue to exist, on any terms or under any conditions; that they entered into the Oslo Accords as a way to facilitate the destruction of Israel; that a Palestinian State will have no other function than as a base from which to destroy Israel. [See Issue 5] These declarations of intent do not inhibit personages who influence or execute policy Middle East policy from producing and trying to impose one flawed plan after another, all based on the principle that Israel must make more concessions, endanger its people with more "good will gestures" and abandon more of its redeemed homeland. Then perhaps the Arabs will reciprocate with the word peace. (The word will suffice. Deeds are not required.) This relentless bumbling is worse than useless; it is pernicious. So too is the notion that concessions will win counterpoint concessions and appeasement will actually appease. All past experience shows that concessions and appeasement are taken as proof of weakness. This inspires foes to escalate hostility to win more concessions and appeasement. It also inspires friends and pseudo-friends to put heavier pressure on Israel to show even more weakness, and therefore supposedly advance their own flawed plans. 3] Miasma can also take the form of amnesia that blots out past convictions, commitments, and promises when it is inconvenient to remember them. [See Issue 7] Once, the United States was determined never to recognize or deal with the PLO. Then it did recognize it, and then deal with it, and finally adopt it as a dependent. Once, the United States, and even Great Britain and France, pledged never to force an imposed solution on Israel, or try to herd it back within the pre-1967 cease-fire lines. [See Issue 23] Now the Quartet Roadmap is designed to force just such an imposed solution and thereby make a vassal of a gravely damaged Israel. [See Issues 23, 28, 29] Once, presidents of the United States understood the folly of planting a PLO state in the heart of the Land of Israel. Such a notion was rejected by Ronald Reagan. George H.W. Bush gave a commitment in writing that the United States would not deal with the PLO, or expect Israel to deal with it, or favor a Palestinian State. A decade later, his son George w. Bush discovered "a long-standing vision of U.S. policy" to create just such a state, and appointed himself its godfather. [See Issue 19] A required condition is that the prospective citizens adopt democracy. But democracy means only that citizens vote for their government. When the bulk of them demand the destruction of Israel, they will vote for the leaders they think most likely to accomplish it. The "vision" thus conjured up is called "Two States for Two Peoples -- Palestine and Israel Living Side by Side in Peace". In 1922, the British Mandatory Government chipped off 76 percent of Palestine to invent the Arab Kingdom of [Trans-]Jordan, that now has a peace treaty with Israel. It is not explained why U.S. national interests require further vivisection on the Land of Israel for the sake of Three States -- two of them Arab, with 83 percent of the land. [See Twelve Bad Arguments for a State of Palestine] The pursuit of this policy is not dictated by any domestic political need. More than three-quarters of U.S. citizens oppose it, and their perception is clearer than those of recent feckless and reckless governments in Israel. From "Arafat's Last Threat to Israel?" Daniel Pipes, New York Sun, 9 November 2004: "'I think it's very important for our friends, the Israelis, to have a peaceful Palestinian state living on their border. And it's very important for the Palestinian people to have a peaceful, hopeful future.' So spoke President Bush just two days after his re-election, just exactly as news reports were leaking of Yasser Arafat's demise. The combination of Mr. Bush's stunning new mandate and Mr. Arafat's near-death condition will lead, I predict, to a quick revival of Palestinian-Israeli diplomacy after months of relative doldrums and to massive dangers to Israel. The doldrums will cease because the Bush administration views Mr. Arafat as the main impediment to achieving its vision - articulated above by the president - of achieving a 'Palestine' living in harmony side-by-side with Israel. As Mr. Arafat exits the political stage, taking with him his stench of terrorism, corruption, extremism, and tyranny, Washington will jump to make its vision a reality, perhaps as soon as this Thursday, when the British prime minister ('I have long argued that the need to revitalize the Middle East peace process is the single most pressing political challenge in our world today') comes to town. In Europe collectively, and in small but noisy coteries elsewhere, the Palestinian cause is an obsession. It has a virtually monopoly over hearts untouched by the genuine oppression and suffering of Tibetans, Kurds, Cambodians, Biafrans and others. It inspires an urgency never sparked by massive anguish and death in Africa. It is pursued with zeal while the human catastrophe in the Sudan stirs but lackadaisical procrastination. For the Palestinian cause to inspire such unique fervor it must have some special irresistible appeal that all others lack. That appeal is easily perceived: From "Incitement to Genocide, Act Two", by Steven Plaut, www.FrontPageMagazine.com, 16 November 2004: "The pro-Palestinian movement is nothing more than the 21st century's reincarnation of medieval anti-Semitism, complete with medieval anti-Jewish blood libels. People who claim to feel empathy for Palestinians are typically motivated by hatred of Jews. The reason the pro-Palestinian movement wants the Palestinians to have a state is because it understands that such a state will operate as an instrument to attack Israel, murder Jews, and seek the annihilation of the Jewish state. It is said that a camera does not lie. But a caption on a photograph can lie. For news media always prone to a miasmic view of Israeli brutality and Arab-Palestinian subjugation and oppression, it is easy to concoct false impressions that linger on even after the falsehood has been uncovered. 1] In September 2000, news media worldwide featured a picture snapped in Jerusalem, that shows a young man lying on the ground, injured and bleeding, and an Israeli policeman standing over him holding a billy-club. The world was told that the young man was a Palestinian-Arab being beaten by an Israeli policeman. In fact, the young man was an American Jewish student who had been beaten by a gang of Arabs and rescued by the policeman. 2] In November 2004, news media worldwide featured a picture snapped at an IDF [Israel Defense Forces] security checkpoint. It shows a Palestinian-Arab playing a violin. The world was told that the Israeli soldiers had forced him to play his instrument, in order to humiliate him. This set off a wave of accusations of Jewish brutality. A writer for the Israeli tabloid Ma'ariv hysterically compared it to the Holocaust. In fact, the soldiers had only asked him to open his violin case -- as would be asked of Israelis entering any public place, or of passengers boarding airliners in the United States. They did not request much less demand that he play the violin. That impromptu recital was entirely the musician's own idea. 3] In September 2000, France-2 Television distributed as a gift to the world's news media a set of pictures taken in the Gaza Strip, while PLO gunmen, hiding within a crowd of stone-throwers, were firing on an Israeli military guardpost, and the IDF soldiers were firing back at the gunmen. One picture shows an man crouching behind a small concrete barrier, with his son huddled behind him. A picture taken shortly afterwards shows the boy lying sprawled and limp. The world was told that the Israeli soldiers had brutally murdered Mohammed al-Dura, age 12. The pictures and story were flashed around and around the world. An IDF spokesman too hastily, and it turned out incorrectly, said the boy might have been accidentally caught in crossfire from the guard-post. Subsequent assiduous analyses of the photographs, positions, distances and lines of trajectory proved that the Israeli soldiers could not have possibly have shot the boy. The world that scorned the notion that the IDF did not deliberately target him shunted aside the proof that the IDF had no part in the boy's fate. Thus was created the myth of the Boy Martyr, that has done incalculable harm to Israel, as an impetus to terrorism, an excuse for contempt, and a stain on its honor. Mohammad al-Dura became an icon both in the Arab world and in Europe. The PLO repeatedly runs a TV commercial in which a child actor portrays the martyr and urges other children to sacrifice themselves and follow him to Paradise. (The PLO authorities also sent his parents the standard $2,000 martyrdom fee. Reportedly, the check bounced.) Cities in Europe named streets after him. The government of Belgium announced that he would be honored on a postage stamp. One European summed it up: "At last, we can forget that picture of the Jewish boy ...", meaning the much-reproduced photograph of a small Jewish boy surrendering to Nazi Storm Troopers. The deliberate and calculated Arab terrorist murders of Israeli children and babies are either ignored or excused as understandable. Investigation of the story of Mohammed al-Dura have gone past the question Who Killed Him? to the question of Was He Really Killed? On this question, the miasma exhaled by news media and governments together is pierced by WorldNetDaily 21 November 2004: "The 'martyrdom death of 12-year-old Palestinian Mohammed al-Dura at the hands of Israeli soldiers - which received widespread international news coverage and spurred on the current intifada, inspiring countless "suicide bombers" to attack Israel - was actually a "staged" piece of street theater, according to an in-depth report in the current issue of WND's monthly magazine, Whistleblower. [...] "Now, a just-completed, long-term journalistic investigation conducted in France concludes that the Mohammed al-Dura affair was actually a piece of Palestinian theater - similar to the dramatic Palestinian funeral processions last April after the Israeli incursion into the Jenin refugee camp. During that public spectacle, a martyred "corpse" twice fell off the stretcher, only to hop back up and retake his place in the procession. "[...] Gerard Huber, a psychoanalyst and permanent Paris correspondent of the Israel-based Metula News Agency, reports on the investigation conducted by a team of journalists, including Huber and Stephane Juffa, Metula's editor-in-chief. "'What really happened at Netzarim junction?' asks Huber. One thing is certain: Given the position of the protagonists during the firefight it is impossible that the child was hit by Israeli bullets. Mohammed al-Dura was not killed by Israelis. And the bigger question remains: Was Mohammed really killed?" "Whistleblower cites stunning reports of Palestinians playing to the camera, including Israeli commentator Amnon Lord's account of the larger scene at Netzarim Junction when al-Dura was supposedly shot to death. He describes 'incongruous battle scenes complete with wounded combatants and screeching ambulances played out in front of an audience of laughing onlookers, while makeshift movie directors do retakes of botched scenes'. "Palestinian journalist Sami El Soudi echoes Lord's observation, who discloses that '[...] Most of the cameramen there were Palestinians. - They willingly took part in the masquerade, filming fictional scenes, believing they were doing it out of patriotism. When a scene was well done the onlookers laughed and applauded'. "'It is incredible,' says Huber, 'how many people were calmly filming the battle of Netzarim on September 30th, 2000. Not only professionals - some of them standing no more than ten meters away from the al-Dura incident - but amateurs as well. [...] In another rush we are startled to hear a Palestinian shouting: It's a flop! We have to do the whole thing over again!' "Even more disconcerting, says the Whistleblower report, is the fact that France 2, the news organization that broke the story of Mohammed al-Dura's supposed 'martyrdom' at the hands of Israeli soldiers, adamantly refuses to release all the raw footage taken by its Palestinian cameraman. For instance, journalist Charles Enderlin, who narrated the original story of the shooting, claims his employer, France 2, holds onto images of the child?s death throes - which he says he took out of his report for ethical reasons - because they were just too terrible to view. To this day, says Huber, it remains unproven whether Mohammed al-Dura is dead or alive. [... ]" Comment: A hospital in Gaza reports that the body of a boy was received there on the day in question. A photograph of that boy does not match the one of Mohammad al-Dura, and he was brought to the hospital several hours earlier than the alleged shooting of shooting of Mohammad al-Dura. In August 2001, the United Nations convened a conference against racism and allowed it to morph into a Hate-the-Jews Jamboree. In November 2004, it convened a panel to discuss Anti-Semitism, including participants who are themselves experienced practitioners of Judeophobia. Among the conclusions, now to be official UN dogma. 1] "Superimposing the Jewish symbol of the Magen David on the Nazi swastika is not anti-Semitism." 2] "It is necessary to conserve the distinction between anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism, whilst defending the right to be anti-Zionist without being branded an anti-Semite." 3] "The leaders of Jewish communities should also act to distinguish defense of the State of Israel from the fight against anti-Semitism." 4] "Jews bring on attacks against them because it is supposed that they support Israel." 5] "The Jews should cease to regard the Holocaust as 'their own tragedy'." The conference is covered and its conclusions defined in "Your Tax Dollars at Work", Anne Bayefsky, Wall Street Journal, 18 November 2004: The subtitle of the article sums it up: "The U.N. Discovers the Cause of Anti-Semitism: Jews". The author comments: "Simply put, Jews are responsible for anti-Semitism. Or, if it weren't for Israel's annoying insistence on defending itself, on the same terms as would be applied to any other state faced with five decades of wars and terrorism aimed at its obliteration, Jews would be better off." Ion Pacepa, Director of Intelligence in then-Communist Romania, once wrote that after meeting Yasser Arafat "I wanted to go take a shower ... Never did I see so much cleverness and blood and filth in one man." An exceptionally thick and polluted miasma enveloped worldwide reactions to the demise of that blood-soaked mass-murdering terrorist and tyrant. 1] When President George W. Bush, at a public press conference was informed (prematurely) of Arafat's death he made the excruciatingly inappropriate response "God bless his soul". At the funeral service in Cairo, the United States was officially represented by Assistant Secretary of State William Burns. In 1973, Arafat personally ordered and supervised the abduction and murder of three Western diplomats in the Sudan: U.S. Ambassador Cleo Noel, U.S. Charge d'Affaires George Curtis Moore, and Belgian Guy Eid. The Department of State front the start had proof of Arafat's guilt, but always tried to suppress it. It seems that the Department of State does not even find it unseemly for one of its high officials to join the mourners of the terrorist who murdered its own diplomats. 2] Members of Israel's Yahad Party, a subsidiary of EU-stooge Yossi Beilin, voted 17 to 14 to send condolences to the Palestinian Nation. 3] The Vatican described Arafat as a "charismatic leader". It can be supposesd that the Vatican uses the word "charismatic" in its original religious meaning: Inspired by a heaven to perform a mission of salvation. It also implored on his behalf: "May God in His mercy receive the soul of the Illustrious Deceased". 4] Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations, declared himself "deeply moved" by the loss and ordered flags lowered to half-mast. Totally reversing the truth, he declared that the deceased had "lead his people to accept the principle of peaceful co-existence" with Israel, when in fact he never deviated from promising his people the destruction of Israel. 5] Monsieur Jacques Chirac, President of France, called him "a man of courage and conviction" and averred that "I have come to bow before president Yasser Arafat and pay him a final homage." 6] News media personages compared him George Washington and Moses (sic) and counted as his finest accomplishment "his successful use of terrorism". 7] British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw went to Ramallah and laid a floral wreath on Arafat's grave. "They must have worked long and hard to make themselves what they are, for such stupidity does not come naturally." The United States has thus far given more than $3,500,000,000 to the terrorist regime of the Palestine Authority. This is not subject to review when Palestine-Arabs joyously celebrate the murder of Americans, or when their leaders heap invective and threats on America. The Administration now bestows a special extra gift of $23,000,000.
This generosity more or less coincides with the PLO legal document
bestowing on Suha Arafat an annual Widow's Pension of $22,000,000.
Since funds are frangible, the U.S. taxpayer will be subsidizing her
lavish life style in Paris for one year and a few weeks over.
This is "A Tme to Speak -- Messages About Israel", Vol. IV:11 (No.
47) (November 2004 - Heshvan-Kislev 5765)
"A Time To Speak" appears once a month, and each issue is on a theme
that relates to Israel and the Middle East past and present, including
history, background, current events, analysis and comment. All issues
appear on its website: http://www.israel.net/timetospeak. A
complimentary subscription to the e-mail edition is available by
request to: speak@actcom.co.il.
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WHAT HAPPENED TO FLAME? ISRAEL PERSECUTES JEWS
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, December 21, 2004. |
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HAS "FLAME" BURNED OUT? Facts & Logic About the Middle east, or FLAME, takes out full-page magazine ads that debunk one or another misconception about the Arab-Israel conflict. In December "Commentary," I think it reinforced one or two misconceptions. That ad discussed whether Israel should allow itself to become a bi-national state. As FLAME explains, the Arabs devised that proposition in the knowledge that they outbreed other peoples and eventually would dominate them. A separate Arab state in the territories would not be viable. What is the solution, FLAME asks. Its answer is bi-national federation. The Arabs in the territories, it suggests, would be "part of Israel, with full autonomy and with their own internal governance." Otherwise, they could migrate. FLAME had always been sensible. This proposal of theirs is nonsensical, and therefore puzzling. Any people that associates with the Arabs risks survival. Autonomy was tried for the Arabs in the Territories. They used the privilege to make war on Israel. There is no solution to the Arab-Israel conflict. Nor would it be fair to give the land-rich Arabs part of the land-poor Jewish homeland. Besides, the Arabs are eager to conquer, murder, rape, and loot. Until their religion and culture reform, there is no end to conflict with them. Their contentiousness is global, so no solution should be sought on the basis of Western notions of local conflict. It is global jihad. I think the answer is victory and separation. The second part of the FLAME alternative, Arab migration, should be expedited by Israel, which currently does much to retard it. NOTHING LIKE PAYING FOR THE ENEMY'S WAR While the P.A. is waging a terrorist campaign of jihad against the Jewish state, the Jewish state's Prime Minister told the European donors to the P.A. there is no reason for them to slack off in their contributions (IMRA, 12/2). Sharon has become Israel's worst enemy. SYRIA-ISRAEL NEGOTIATIONS There is an international attempt to get negotiations between Syria and Israel started. (It's taking Israel too long to disappear, so tales are being told about Syria being interested in peace and requests are made that the US make a stronger effort to bring the parties together, i.e., by pressuring not the aggressor, Syria, but the victim of Syrian aggression, Israel.) A news brief states that Syria wants to resume negotiations without preconditions, but Israel has preconditions and Syria rejects them for being preconditions (IMRA, 12/2). The news brief fails to state what Israel's preconditions are supposed to be. It is a report without news. I think that is defective reporting. I surmise, from other reports, that Israel suggests negotiating without preconditions, and Syria that insists on preconditions. The Arabs usually do. In this case, they insist that Israel agree as a permanent offer, a one-time extravagant and repudiated feeler by PM Rabin, to cede the Golan (now legally part of Israel), without Syria making any of the concessions that Rabin offered it for. Sometimes Syria also asks for a piece of land that always was part of Israel but was seized by Syria during one of its wars on Israel, and held until another war liberated it. That piece would give Syria access to Israel's water reservoir. This "peace" would ratify aggression! KNEE-JERK REACTION TO "PEACE" OFFERS "Yediot Ahronot" has a rationale for Syria's offer to renew negotiations ostensibly to make peace. The Soviet no longer support Syrian war efforts, and the US demands peace. The editors accuse Israel of declining the challenge of negotiating (Arutz-7, 12/2). (Russia sells Syria weapons.) The editors are unfair to the government of Israel. That government is appeasement-minded, but it rejects Syria's extreme preconditions for territorial and homeland surrender. In a sense, by setting preconditions, Syria has begun negotiating, and Israel, by rejecting a conference, has counter-negotiated. The Arabs don't believe in peace but in using diplomacy to facilitate war. They want to negotiate an Israeli withdrawal from strategic areas that bar a Syrian invasion. They have found that when they falsely assert that they would like to use such diplomacy to make peace, they deceive friends of Israel or find it warmly received by declared and clandestine enemies of Israel. Is that leftwing newspaper among the duped friends of Israel or its clandestine leftist enemies. Probably it is some of both. Can't it figure out that the appeasement it favors would put the Arabs in charge and itself out of business? PERSECUTION OF JEWS IN ISRAEL A certain neighborhood in Lod, Israel, located strategically near the main airport, has turned 70% Arab. "The problem started 15 years ago, when the government decided to bring Arab collaborators from Judea and Samaria to live in Lod. Each of the 80 families brought their entire clan with them, transforming the neighborhood into a place of drugs and crime." The Arabs harass their Jewish neighbors so much, that the Vice-Mayor has suggested paying the Jews to move to a new neighborhood to be built elsewhere (Arutz-7, 12/2). The Arabs would call that discrimination. This is a case of excessive humanitarianism. Israel should have compensated their compromised agents in the P.A. to move elsewhere but not into Israel and not with clans, just nuclear families. Officials should analyze what new problems their proposed solutions incur. Israel was set up as a Jewish state. Its first duty is to gather in the Jewish people in a state of their own, in safety from persecution. Millions came. Having a government so extremely secularist as to be antagonistic towards Judaism, and overly confused by the gentiles' political correctness of multiculturalism and that it isn't "nice" to admit that another people seeks to displace one's own, Jews allow Israel to be a place of persecution of Jews. It is cowardly and shameful. Secularism to an extreme and political correctness is cowardly and shameful. Israel needs a Jewish government rather than a government of self-hating Jews. It needs a government of Jews who are proud of their heritage and emotionally normal about preserving it. Such a government would crack down on Arab harassment of Jews in Israel, would rescind the official status of the Arab language, and cancel Arab citizenship. It would stop the various subsidies of the Arabs, exemption from performance of national service, and sermons by radical Islamists. It would enforce laws against theft of land, illegal building, tax evasion, rioting, immigration, and polygamy, that, without themselves being persecution, would encourage the Arab population to dwindle and safety for Jews to increase. Why shouldn't Jews in Israel enjoy equal enforcement of the law? DUAL ISRAELI ANNOUNCEMENTS 1. Israel is withdrawing from Gaza, to separate the Jews from the Arabs and gain security. 2. Israel has agreed with the World Bank on a five-year program to allow into Israel 38,000 P.A. Arab workers. Israel's rate of unemployment is estimated as exceeding 10%. The World Bank is seeking to build up the economy of the P.A. (which is making war on Israel). The Bank supposes, contrary to a recent study (and evident evidence) that poverty does not cause terrorism. The Bank made other demands of Israel, which Israel rejected. Those other demands include zones for P.A. Arabs to pass freely through Israel to go between Gaza and Judea-Samaria (without compensating Israel with other territory) and a P.A. seaport and airport. The Bank demanded of the P.A. a proper court system, a systematic fight against corruption, and a plan for disposition of the assets PM Sharon would turn over to it from the Jews he expels from Gaza and parts of Samaria (Arutz-7, 12/2). Shouldn't the Arabs compensate Israel? Usually, the P.A. does not adhere to its agreement but gets the aid anyway. Terrorist fanatics run the government. Would more money to do it with cause its terrorism to wane? That theory is illogical and contrary to experience. It is such an absurd rationalization as to be suspect in motive. Dupes may believe it, but does the World Bank? Perhaps. My theory is that increasing poverty would reduce terrorism. If the World Bank and foreign countries did not subsidize the P.A., it could not finance much terrorism. If its people started starving, instead of looking better fed than the far more innocent Africans, who get less foreign aid, they would have to move away. But do not let them move to the West, where Muslims seek to dissolve its civilization! There really is no place on our planet for the Palestinian Arabs, who cannot live by themselves or with other peoples, in peace. ISRAEL BLIND TO EGYPT'S MISCHIEF The Foreign Minister thanked "Egypt for its key role in helping to stabilize the PA by strengthening its moderate forces." IMRA remarked, "Egypt has played a key role in helping to preserve the various radical armed militias by promoting arrangements under which they can continue to grow in strength and size in return for promising to temporarily not shoot. They also 'contribute' by allowing a constant flow of weapons from Egypt to these forces. But when Israeli politicians are keen on coming up with a way to justify abandoning control over the border and Palestinian ports the last thing that they are going to allow to get in their way is reality." (IMRA, 12/2.) I never thanked my bullies. The P.A. police are NOT "moderate forces." Recruited largely from among terrorists and commanded by terrorists, they commit and protect terrorism. Why should anyone suppose that in a jihadist dictatorship, the armed forces are "moderate?" Is it because those armed forces repress the terrorist militias? No, they don't do that. The answer is as IMRA suggests, willful rationalization in behalf of evil, so as keep from open realization of the evil that one is promoting. I think there is an element of antisemitism in pro-Arab apologetics. POLITICALIZATION OF THE INTL. RED CROSS (IRC) The IRC has criticized the US as violating Guantanamo prisoners' rights and torturing them. It calls mental torture holding them for at least the duration of the war, but the Convention permits that for POWs. Since that "right" is not in the Geneva Convention, the IRC is suggesting more privileges for terrorists than for POWs. The IRC has become as another anti-human rights organization (Prof. Plaut, e-mail). 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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NY TIMES AND THE HOLOCAUST HAPPENING AGAIN?
Posted by Avraham Weissman, December 21, 2004. |
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I wrote this to CAMERA: Gentlemen: The day after two Israeli reservists were lynched in Ramallah, a Gaza preacher, Dr. Ahmad Abu Halabaya, in a sermon broadcast live on official Palestinian Authority television, verbally matched the lynch mob's brutality, calling on Muslims to slaughter all Jews: "They are the terrorists. They are the ones who must be butchered and killed, as Allah the almighty said: 'Fight them; Allah will torture them at your hands, and will humiliate them ..." In the midst of violent disturbances that have shaken the Middle East, how did the New York Times cover this appalling call to the mass murder of Jews by a PA religious leader? By covering it up. In a story published October 24th, Times reporter William Orme tries to establish a parallel between such Palestinian incitement to the butchering of Jews, and factual Israeli broadcasts of the lynching of its soldiers. But Orme did this without actually reporting the venomous hatred that had been spewed by Palestinian television. Instead, Orme informed Times readers that: Israelis cite as one egregious example a televised sermon that defended the killing of the two soldiers. "Whether Likud or Labor, Jews are Jews," proclaimed Sheik Ahmad Abu Halabaya in a live broadcast from a Gaza City mosque the day after the killings. Celebrating its centennial a few years ago, the Times admitted its shocking failure to adequately cover the Holocaust: The New York Times has been criticized for grossly underplayed coverage of the Holocaust. Although some reports were given prominence, this display shows that the criticism was valid. (New York Times exhibit at the New York Public Library, as reported in The Jewish Monthly, December-January 1997) But the Times failure did not begin with muted coverage of the mass murders. It began with its underplaying of the virulent anti-Semitic propaganda assaults on the Jews that laid the groundwork for the genocide. By failing to inform readers, by failing to force the issue to the forefront of public discourse, the "newspaper of record" also failed the millions of Jews who would soon die in the crematoria of Europe. Had the Times not shirked its duty in the 1930's and 40's, millions might have been saved. Apparently old habits die hard. Avraham Weissman lives in Petach Tiqvah, Israel. He can be reached at avna@bezeqint.net |
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WE SUPPORT THE WALLERSTEIN PROCLAMATION
Posted by Yrachmiel ben Menachem Mendel Elias, December 21, 2004. |
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READ PINCHAS WALLERSTEIN'S PROCLAMATION WE URGE EVERYONE TO SIGN THE PETITION: Click Here Sometime today we will be sending out the petition to our database and placing a link on our website! There is no question that the members of Netzah Yisrael Lo Yeshaqer that love Eretz Ha'Kodesh and Am Yisrael will stand and protect the Gush, Hebron, Shomron, Judea and Samaria with our bodies! Netzah Yisrael Lo Yeshaqer (Which translates as) 1.) The ETERNAL ONE of Israel never lies, or changes HIS mind, as HE is not like a man that HE should change HIS mind! 2.) Eretz Yisrael's Eternality is not a lie! Yrachmiel Elias can be reached at action@netzahyisrael.org |
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POLL OF SETTLERS: 22% ARE READY TO BE JAILED IN PROTEST
Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, December 21, 2004. |
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These poll results were presented by Dr. Aaron Lerner, Director IMRA
(Independent Media Review & Analysis). They are archived at
http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=23311
Would you be prepared to use violent physical force against soldiers and
police who come to evacuate you?
If 22% of the men in Yeshah are willing to admit that they are "prepared to use violent physical force against soldiers and police" then there will most definitely be violent resistance to the extermination attempt. Furthermore, is that resistance is organized (and it is reasonable to believe that it would be) then the likelihood of significant casualties on both sides is very high. There is also the real possibility that once the opposing forces are engaged that the Yeshah forces and supporters would counter attack targets in Israel. If that likely possibility were to occur, we would be in the middle of the civil war the Left has been attempting to start for years. Poll of Settlers: Ready to be jailed in protest 40%:49%, Won't use violence 76%:14% Telephone poll carried out by "Brain Base" ["Maagar Mochot"] of a representative sample of over 584 from the adult Israeli population in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip under the direction of Prof. Y.Katz for the Israeli television program "Reshet in the Morning" program on 20 December 2004. Survey error +/- 4.5 percentage points: Do you support or oppose Pinhas Wallerstein's call to the pubic to "break
the transfer law en masse and be prepared to pay the cost of going to jail."
Are you prepared to go to jail within the framework of the struggle
over the disengagement plan?
Would you be prepared to use violent physical force against soldiers and
police who come to evacuate you?
Do you maintain that realization of the disengagement plan may lead to an
additional political assassination?
Contact IMRA by email at imra@netvision.net.il or at their website: Website: http://www.imra.org.il Aryeh Zelasko lives in Beitar Illit, south of Jerusalem. He is Director of Sales and Marketing of Israel Visit (www.israelvisit.co.il) which provides information and an internet buying facility for American visitors to Israel. |
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THANK G-D FOR PINCHAS - THE WALLERSTEIN PROCLAMATION
Posted by David Wilder, December 21, 2004. | |
Today it is incumbent upon on all lovers of Zion, supporters of the Jewish right to all of Eretz Yisrael, all who oppose uprooting Jews from their homes and their land in Gush Katif and north Samaria, to actively support the Wallerstein Proclamation. I call on all people who oppose the Sharon expulsion program to sign a petition, supporting the 'Wallerstein Proclamation' at http://www.petitiononline.com/eretzyis/petition.html (Click here to go directly to the Petition) I call on all lovers of Eretz Yisrael, Jews and Gentiles alike, to assist in preventing the uprooting of over 9,000 Jews from their homes in Gush Katif and north Samaria, and the abandonment of Eretz Yisrael to our enemies. I call on you to come to Israel and help us, blocking the 'disengagement' with your bodies, preventing Israeli security forces from expelling men, women and children for their homes and their land. Tens and hundreds of thousands of people, standing in the roads, in homes, in communities, non-violent Civil Disobedience, can and will stop the destruction, prevent the exile. The time has come to tell Ariel Sharon - you will not be able to move us. You will have to imprison multitudes of people who refuse to surrender Eretz Yisrael to our sworn enemies who desire our collective demise. We will not abandon Gush Katif. We will not abandon northern Samaria. We will not abandon Eretz Yisrael. We are here to stay!!! Signed,
Civil Disobedience: Henry David Thoreau - 1849 [http://eserver.org/thoreau/civil.html] After all, the practical reason why, when the power is once in the hands of the people, a majority are permitted, and for a long period continue, to rule, is not because they are most likely to be in the right, nor because this seems fairest to the minority, but because they are physically the strongest. But a government in which the majority rule in all cases cannot be based on justice, even as far as men understand it. Can there not be a government in which majorities do not virtually decide right and wrong, but conscience? - in which majorities decide only those questions to which the rule of expediency is applicable? Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his conscience to the legislator? Why has every man a conscience, then? I think that we should be men first, and subjects afterward. It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right? The mass of men serve the state thus, not as men mainly, but as machines, with their bodies. They are the standing army, and the militia, jailers, constables, posse comitatus,(5) etc. In most cases there is no free exercise whatever of the judgment or of the moral sense; but they put themselves on a level with wood and earth and stones; and wooden men can perhaps be manufactured that will serve the purpose as well. Such command no more respect than men of straw or a lump of dirt. They have the same sort of worth only as horses and dogs. Yet such as these even are commonly esteemed good citizens. Others, as most legislators, politicians, lawyers, ministers, and office-holders, serve the state chiefly with their heads; and, as they rarely make any moral distinctions, they are as likely to serve the devil, without intending it, as God? Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for
a just man is also a prison...
David Wilder is spokesman of The Jewish Community of Hebron. You
can contribute directly to The Jewish Community of Hebron, POB10,
Kiryat Arba-Hebron 90100, hebron@hebron.org.il, 972-2-9965333 or write
to The Hebron Fund, 1760 Ocean Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11230,
hebronfund@aol.com
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SOME COMMENTS ON ARTICLES POSTED ON THINK-ISRAEL
Posted by T. Hamid, December 21, 2004. |
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LESSONS FROM NORTHERN IRELAND FOR THE ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT
Terrorism in Ireland and Islamic terrorism in the Middle East is like two abscesses.....the first one is due to a local problem (e. g. infected wound) that could be solved by draining the abscess and putting some local antibiotic......but in the second case the abscess is a manifestation of underlying AIDS affecting the whole Islamic nation...in such case draining the abscess, even though it is necessary, will not solve the problem. From the first look many people think that the two problems are similar but the difference is huge. Just to make it more clear.....if Israel was not existent (G-d save), Islamists-with the blessing of MOST Muslims- would have been searching for the Jews in the world and every where to kill them........I feel pain that the truth is too painful but sadly this is the truth..........Islamists are simply not able (but very willing) to do this at a big scale but if they could they would do this. MUSLIM "MODERATES"
Nonie Darwish told me that in this summit [Ed: Nonie Darwish of Arabs for Israel was a speaker at the Jerusalem Summit in November] a lady from Iran was very critical of Islamism.............after her talk Professor Khaleel Mohammed "supposed to be one of the most moderate Muslims" took off his shoes and knocked with them on the table like President Khurshof of Russia did in the U.N. and started to shout in bad words against this lady! Can we call this a "moderate"! A SYMPOSIUM: THE TERROR WAR: HOW WE CAN WIN
There is no way to win Islamic Terrorism but to use certain tactics (ideological)...and these has to be implemented from above............relying on the so called moderate Muslims to do the job will end in absolute failure.............there are certain steps that need to be done (example: Changing the sward on the flag of Saudi Arabia into a pigeon with two olive branches.........you can not imagine the impact of this on Islamism........it is far beyond the imagination of most people ....but it is part of a much bigger strategy to end Islamism.) Mr. Hamid can be reached at his website, http:/www.IslamicReformation.com |
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NEW STAFF; SHARON CRACKS THE CODE
Posted by Manhigur Yehudit, December 21, 2004. |
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Manhigut Yehudit (USA) Hires New Staff Member Manhigut Yehudit (USA) has just hired Mr Rob Muchnick to be its USA Chapter Coordinator. Rob's main job will be to set up chapters for Manhigut throughout the United States. In addition, Rob will be running events in these chapters, arranging exciting and educating seminars, organizing membership drives, local fund raising events, press meetings and awareness campaigns. Rob lives on Long Island (NY) and is married with 3 children. A special "Manhigut" email address is being set up for Rob but in the meantime, please contact him directly at: rmuchnick@themetrogroup.com. Please contact him if you are interested in setting up, or just getting involved, in a chapter for Manhigut Yehudit in your area. The time to spread the word about new leadership in Israel is NOW... so we will be ready when elections are declared. We wish Rob much success in his new position. Cracking the Code It seems that Sharon has cracked the code and found a way to overcome the Likud Central Committee. The first law of politics is the law of conservation of the seat. When Sharon presented Central Committee members with a clear choice between ideology and holding on to the seat, the latter won. Those Central Committee members who had invested large sums of money in order to be elected, for personal motives, never made the effort in the past to come and participate in exhausting ideological debates. Now Sharon came up with an inspired solution: there is neither a debate nor even an alternative proposal. There is only one proposal, and buses laid on to transport you at all times during the voting day. Come like a robot, put the right voting slip in the envelope, and preserve your personal status. In the last two votes, in which Central Committee members voted for personal instead of ideological reasons, Manhigut Yehudit found itself on the losing side. After a long series of important ideological victories in the Likud Central Committee, some people thought that the unified, ideological group had gained control of the Likud and could do as it liked in it. Those who thought in this way were wrong. We are very far from controlling the party and, in contrast to Sharon's behavior, we have no intention of achieving leadership of the Likud by means of tricks and manipulation. We established Manhigut Yehudit ten years ago and joined the Likud six years ago - not in order to save Gush Katif but to save the country. Again and again we see that however talented and strong the leadership we elect (there is currently no leader more talented than Netanyahu or stronger than Sharon), it is incapable of meeting the challenges presented by reality. Without deep, binding, belief-based Jewish consciousness we shall find ourselves always with Peres. Even if we achieve 50 seats in the Knesset, and even if we find a leader stronger and more to the Right than Sharon, without leadership that believes in the G-d of Israel we have no real alternative and shall find ourselves again with Peres. A Bright Light at the End of the Tunnel However, the results of the recent elections also indicate a bright light at the end of the tunnel. 40% of the Likud Central Committee members chose ideology and not personal benefits. It transpires that despite all the tricks and manipulation there is still a large ideological core that has not given in. This is of tremendous significance. The code cracked by Sharon can be used by him as a temporary historical event only. Sharon is benefiting from a grave leadership crisis in the Likud. It becomes clear that although Netanyahu is very talented he is not a leader, and he belongs to the past. The belief-based alternative will certainly arise, but it still remains in the future (and we pray that this will be the near future). In the leadership vacuum that has been created Sharon is playing a solo role, and with the backing of the media and the judicial system he is treating the Likud as a doormat to implement the wishes of the Left. But Peres's life belt is made of lead. Just as the Oslo process collapsed and dragged the Labor Party down into the depths, the same thing will happen to the Oslo continuation - the disengagement plan - dragging Sharon, Peres, and their supporters down into the depths of oblivion. Gush Katif will hold out. Those who are familiar with the tremendous strength of character of the heroes of the Gush know this. But, just like Oslo, the disengagement plan will cause Israel to confront a very grave reality. At that stage all Sharon's tricks and manipulations will be of no avail. Everyone will flee from Sharon as they fled from the Left. Who will then lead the Likud and the national camp? We are slowly but surely preparing the real life-boat for that difficult time. The recent elections proved that there is a very large core in the Likud that remains loyal to the values of the national camp, and the new leadership will emerge from it. This core will be rapidly joined by those who are currently relying on the broken reed of Sharon and Peres. Our aim: To perfect the world in the kingdom of the Almighty Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish Leadership) is a group of people inside the Likud party who want to see Israel adopt a more Jewish character. Moshe Feiglin, its cofounder, has emphatically said he does not want a theocracy, but he does want a State based on Jewish values. The Manhigut Yehudit website address is http://www.manhigut.org. |
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LET'S EXPEL THE WORLD BANK PREZ!
Posted by Steven Plaut, December 21, 2004. |
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1. Israeli settler leaders are calling for non-violent civil disobedience to prevent the ethnic cleansing of the Jewish population of the Gaza Strip by the Likud branch of the Labor Party. The Attorney General is already preparing to indict them for "incitement". You know, the very same Attorney General who has never found time to indict any Israeli leftists for fomenting mutiny in the army nor for endorsing Arab terror nor for calling for Israel's destruction nor for collaborating with Israel's enemies nor for breaking the law nor for violent confrontations with police over the Security Wall! Meanwhile, Ran Cohen, a Knesset back-bencher from the semi-Marxist Meretz party, denounces these protesters against the ethnic cleansing of Jews. He claims they are "preparing the path for the next political murder in Israel." Hmmm. This is a notable citation. Ron Cohen should know about what he is pontificating! After all, Meretz prepared the path for the 1600 political murders so far perpetrated by the Oslo "peace process" that was imposed upon Israel anti-democratically by Meretz and its fellow travelers. 2. It is time that Israel quit its membership in the World Bank, a misnamed international welfare agency. The World Bank ladles out cheap money to developing countries, and Israel is not one of the beneficiaries (http://lnweb18.worldbank.org/mna/mena.nsf/Countries/Israel/ 2A4CA4967555B03885256DDD00710929?OpenDocument). The main reason the World Bank maintains any presence in Israel is to promote the agenda of the Palestinians and to channel money to the PLO. This week the President of the World Bank came to Israel and the purpose of his mission is evidently to promote Palestinian terrorism and to delegitimize Israel. In an interview to Haaretz, he demands that Israel capitulate to all PLO demands (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/517051.html). Simply pulling out of Gaza is not enough, pontificates the chief. He is not the only member of the international finance politico-bureaucratic elite to recruit himself on behalf of Palestinian fascism. The wife of the head of the European Central Bank has emerged as the 21st century's Eva Braun, and devotes her every waking hour to promoting PLO terror and demonizing Israel (http://www.bintjbeil.com/articles/en/021101_dar.html). I quote the Haaretz piece: "The Palestinian Authority currently receives $930 million a year in international aid, and the World Bank wants to raise this by $500 million. But it recommended conditioning the increase on Israel removing checkpoints and closures." So unless Israel stops trying to prevent PLO suicide bombers from blowing up buses full of Jews, the World Bank will refuse to fund the PLO terror? Is that what he means? Shucks, here's a thought - how about the World Bank conditioning its Welfare-for-Terrorists program to the PLO on its refraining from engaging in murder of Jews for a few years? 3. "Time to Defend the California Missions from the PC Pagans!"
Senator Barbara Boxer, a liberal Democrat from California, finds herself on the wrong side of a group of fundamentalists. A modest piece of legislation that Ms. Boxer sponsored is under attack in court by plaintiffs who demand that the government enforce their moral views. These are secular fundamentalists, not religious ones. At issue is the California Missions Preservation Act, which allots $10 million to restore and repair 21 historic churches in the Golden State. On December 2, two days after President Bush signed the act into law, Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed suit on behalf of Betty, Carol, John and Ronald Doe -- not their real names -- contending that such funding violates the separation of church and state. A description of the four Does sounds like the beginning of a joke: A Unitarian, a Jew, a Buddhist and a "freethinker" go before the bar ... Americans United is selective in its opposition to government funding of
religious expression. The group filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the
1998 case of National Endowment for the Arts v. Finley, in which it
unsuccessfully urged the Supreme Court to overturn a law imposing "decency
and respect" restrictions on NEA grantees. Among the NEA-funded works that
had prompted Congress to impose the regulations was Andres Serrano's
notorious photograph "Piss Christ," which depicted a crucifix submerged in
the photographer's urine.
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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WHEN I ASKED MY MUSLIM FRIEND: WHY DO YOU HATE THE JEWS?
Posted by T. Hamid, December 20, 2004. |
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I am an Arab/ Egyptian/ with a Muslim background. I was a fanatic at some stage of my life and I was with Dr. Alzawaheri (who became second of command of AlQaeda later on.....I rejected the teaching of these fundamentalists and started a totally different way of thinking. I would like to send this article for publication (below): An analysis of the roots of Muslim hatred toward Jews in the Islamic world and possible solutions. T. Hamid A few months ago, I was sitting with my Muslim friend sipping good hot American coffee. He has an advantage, which is that he does not get violent if he cannot answer a question, or is cornered in a discussion. After the first two sips I asked him to tell me honestly, why do you hate the Jews? My friend started to change his position in the chair and said of course I can. I asked him to give me the reasons and let us start to discuss them one by one. My friend was very confident that he had very powerful reasons to justify hating the Jews and he started to list them as follows:
I thanked him for making the reasons so clear so that we can start the discussion. I said, Let us now start discussing these points one by one Regarding the first they think that they are the chosen people and better than others, I asked him if Allah said something in the Quran, would you believe it or not. He replied of course I will. I then asked him Are you ready to anything the Quran says? He immediately replied of course. Then I opened the Quran and showed him the following verses: 2:47 Children of Israel! Call to mind the favour which I bestowed upon you, and that I preferred you to all other nations. 2:122 O Children of Israel! Call to mind the favor which I bestowed upon you, and that I preferred you to all other nations. 44: 32 And We have chosen them (the Children of Israel) above the 'Alam'n (mankind, and jinni) and our choice was based on a deep knowledge. I then again asked him: Do you still believe the Quran in anything it says as you just said? He did not answer and I immediately told him it seems that you only believe the Quran when it is against the Jews! My friend went into a state of shock and absolute silence. I then continued with the second point. The Quran described them as Monkeys and Pigs. This is not what the Quran has said. He immediately answered What? I said to him let us open the Quran and see the exact verse: 5:60 Say: "Shall I point out to you something much worse than this
(not following the holy book: the Bible) by the treatment it received
from Allah, those who incurred the curse of Allah and His wrath, those
of whom some He transformed into apes and swine, those who worshipped
evil - these are (many times) worse in rank, and far more astray from
the even path!"
After I showed my friend the exact verse I said to him: Can you please show me the word Jews in the verse? Then I repeated show it to me please I then said, It seems that you want to understand the Quran in such a way that makes you hate the Jews more and more. Sadly, hatred makes you blind so that you cannot even see the words in the verse. You go out and say everywhere that the Quran said that the Jews are pigs and Monkeys without even reading the verse properly! You insult a whole great nation that is considered in the Quran as God s preferred and chosen people My friend was in near shock and I agreed to give him few minutes to breath and have a drink. After the break I continued to tell him that the third point that he mentioned Allah cursed the Jews in the Quran is also an absolute lie as the exact verse is: 5:78 Curses were pronounced on those among the Children of Israel who rejected Faith (in G-d and the Torah), by the tongue of David and of Jesus the son of Mary: because they disobeyed and persisted in excesses. So the verse as in the previous one is not talking about all the Israelites, but only about those who rejected God and the Torah. Once more, go deeply into the Arabic language first before accusing a whole great nation that is highly respected in the Quran as God's chosen people of being cursed by God and do not generalise that which is specific. We then had another cup of coffee and then continued the discussion. While sipping the second cup I went through the next point, which was: They are rich and control many markets. I did not want to spend much time on this one as it just represents jealousy, but I said to him Why then you do not also hate the Saudis while they are rich and control the oil market? He did not answer. I then asked him Why, if a Muslim is rich, you do not hate all Muslims. Whilst if one Jew is rich you hate all of them? Is this reasonable? My friend, you should not hate someone because he is rich. You should judge people by their deeds and actions. There is nothing wrong if you are rich. What is wrong is when you use that money to promote hatred toward others. Throughout history, millions of Jews were extremely poor, and they lived in the poorest places in Europe. If a minority were rich, it is not a sin. This is no different from Muslims, Christians, or Hindus who also have some rich people among them Will you hate all of these people too because some of them are rich? My friend it seems that your primary intention is to hate the Jews and you are just trying to find any reason to justify your hatred, because if you really hate them because some are rich you should also hate Muslims because some of them are rich. Can I hear your answer my friend? Silence. Then he started to ask, What do you think about this point: They think that they are an intelligent race. I told my friend that I really cannot understand why it is normal for you and for many Muslims to say that the Afro-Americans are genetically athletic and the Arabs are great in poetry. But it is very difficult for you and for them to admit that the Jews are genetically intelligent. Genuine statistics show that the Jews have had more scientists and contributed more to science than the whole Arab world, even though they are only a very small number compared to Arabs. Furthermore, IQ is mainly genetic, and it is well known that Jews marry mainly from within their community. This feature magnifies the effect of certain genetic factors and could have contributed to the very high IQ among many Jews, and at the same time contributed to the development of certain genetic diseases within their own community (such as Tay-Sachs disease). Do you only accept the rules of genetics when it causes mental retardation for some Jewish kids (who have metabolic errors) and you totally forget about the same genetic rules if it causes high IQ among them? He started to get angry and asked me to shift to the next point. I said to him the next point was They do not believe in Mohammed and Islam. I continued, saying the Quran did not consider that Jews or Christians have to believe in Mohammed to be accepted by God. My friend just opened his mouth and said, This is impossible. I just opened the Quran for him to the following unambiguous verse: 2:62 Those who believe (in the Qur'an), and those who follow the Jewish (scriptures), and the Christians and the Sabians (certain sect in Arabia),- any of them who believe in God and the Last Day, and work righteousness, shall have their reward with their Lord; on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve. In fact the Quran did not ask the Jews and Christians to follow any thing but the Torah and the Bible And before my friend had time to think, I recited for him the following verse of the Quran: 5:66 if only they (Jews and Christians) stood fast by the Law of the Torah, the Gospel, and all the revelation that was sent to them from their Lord, they would have enjoyed happiness from every side. In fact the Quran blamed the Jews for asking Mohammed to judge between them in their tribal problems, instead of following the torah: 5:43 But how do they (the Jews) come to you for decision, when they have the Torah which has the law of God. Then I said to him What do you think now my friend? I think you can see now clearly that your hatred for the Jews based on the fact that they should believe in Mohammed and follow the Quran, is simply against what the Quran had said. This time my friend opened his eyes and could not blink. Then I continued saying, in addition, the next point that you mentioned they betrayed the prophet Mohammed and Muslims has no logic in it at all. Sadly, many Muslims hate the Jews based on this historical point. It is described in Islamic history books as: when Mohammed had a war against the Idolaters, he and the Muslims burrowed a great tunnel around the city of the Muslims and left an area to be protected by the Jews According to this story, the Jews allowed the enemies of Muslims to enter the city from this area. Sadly, based on this story, millions of Muslims came to hate the Jews. I then said to him, Let us assume that this story is correct, does this mean that if your grandfather hit my grand father a hundred years ago I should hate you for that? What a strange and unjustifiable logic the Quran is teaching you. But it says; 17:15 No bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another (mistakes or sins). So, even if the historical story was correct, how come you hate the Jews of today for something they did not do? Furthermore this story does not come from the Quran. It is only present in some Islamic history books, which are considered much less accurate than the Quran. So do you want to follow a story that could be absolutely inaccurate in order to hate a whole nation? Is this right or moral? We now come to the two last points Israel has stolen the Muslim s land. Without going into to many details of this point let me tell you that the Quran considered this land as the promise of God to the Israelites, the land that is written to them in a permanent contract, and that it is their inheritance according to the following Quranic verses: 1- 17:104 And We (represents God in Arabic language) said thereafter to the Children of Israel, "Dwell securely in the land of promise": 2- 5:21 "O my people (the Jews)! Enter the holy land which God hath written to you and turn not back ignominiously, for then will ye be overthrown, to your own ruin." 3- 26:59 Thus it was, but we made the Children of Israel inheritors of it (the Promised Land) At this time I felt sorry for my friend, as he was nearly speechless, shocked, and I could only hear the sounds of his anxious breathing. Then I said to reassure him, If you really love God. love the truth and speak it, even if it is against what you want to prove, and what you may like to believe, or if it is supporting those that you hate, as the Quran teaches you the following: 4:135 O ye who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to God, even as against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin 5:8 O ye who believe! Stand out firmly for Allah, as witnesses to fair dealing, and let not the hatred of others to you make you swerve to wrong and depart from justice. Be just: that is next to piety: and fear Allah. For God is well acquainted with all that ye do. The final point that you mentioned my friend is what the Arab media propagate everywhere that is that: Israel kills innocent Arabs and Muslims everywhere, tortures them and rape their women. I then asked him: if this was true, why then do we see tens of thousands of Palestinians waiting at the cross borders to get permission to go and work in Israel? Why would these people go intentionally to the place that as you said, Kills them, tortures them, and rape their women! Is there any possibility that someone goes to a place where he/she knew very well that he/she will be killed and tortured or are these are just lies. If what you say that, Arabs are killed and tortured in Israel was truly happening, we would not have found these thousands of Palestinians dreaming about getting permission to work in Israel. In fact we would have found that more than a million Arabs who live in Israel, are the ones who are crossing the borders to go to their Arab relatives in the West bank and Gaza to be saved from what they call The Israeli oppression. My friend,
My friend,
Have you ever tried to give them a smile, to laugh with them, and to cry with them?
Mr. Hamid can be reached at his website, http:/www.IslamicReformation.com |
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ALPHABET GAMES A.K.A. SOUNDS OF THE SIXTIES REDUX
Posted by Yocheved Golani, December 20, 2004. |
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In the 60s and 70s, the phrase "You can't hug a child with nuclear arms" was a chilling indictment of the weaponry competition among the political Superpowers of the era. That was the time of the Cold War, the unceasing but nonviolent hostility between Communist Russia and the astonishing land of opportunity, the democratic USA. Europe, the Middle East, and the rest of the world vied for political power with the Big Boys. That led to re-definitions of who comprised the Super Power nations and some echoing initials, like 1949's NATO and 1946's UNICEF. More importantly, it indicated who had bigger, badder, less controllable weapons that were prone to theft and abuse. Tales abounded of outdoor market merchandising in clandestine locations. One of the James Bond movies depicted that scenario. Scary stuff. The late 20th century was the time when the alphabet changed. ABM no longer stood for innocuous letters, but for Anti-Ballistic Missile and shivering in your pajamas when you listened to nightly news reports. SSJ meant "Save Soviet Jewry," a cause which had formerly placid Jews marching all over Washington, LA and New York, demanding the immediate release of "POC's," Prisoners of Conscience languishing in Russian jails for the chutzpah being openly Jewish. "SDS" designated the self-destructive Students for a Democratic Society. Other acronyms for social justice were eventually swept into and confused within ethically challenged Spiro Agnew's condescending term for fact-driven journalists and intellectuals, "effete corps of impudent snobs." Moral or immoral as they may have been, these groups promoted massive public protests for the end of cold and hot warfare (particularly the Vietnam War), the destruction of the "Military-Industrial Complex" and other "unhealthy things for the planet." As a writer, I am more attuned to the twists, the turns and the vagaries of language than some other people. That led to the manuscript of my first novel LEGACY, in which I foresaw the diabolical use of stolen aircraft against America by anti-democratic, anti-Christian and anti-West misanthropes (bad guys. Very BAD guys). I kept noticing the once-unfamiliar name "Osama bin Laden" and the phrase "WMD" (Weapons of Mass Destruction) in news coverage, press releases and research materials. A little imagination on my part, and my cautionary tale's plot thickened. Readers sometimes tell me how surprised they are at the similarities between my fiction and later-day developments. I'm also sensitive to what motivates people to behave outside their ordinary conduct. Conscience, need and untamed ego are the usual culprits. Thinking about that led to my second novel, "Legacy 2006: Integrity", which culminates in Israel after the characters do a globe-hopping search for something more powerful than atomic reactors. New developments alarm me. I won't commit my third book to the printed page because it's too awful to be a mere exploration of interesting issues. Besides, a far better scenario should beat me to any publication date, if you understood L2006's ending. Newer and newsworthy developments alarm me, though. And they're alphabetical, just like the gut-churning ABM's of yesteryear. Perhaps an Op-Ed/Commentary is in order, such as this one. Americans know their television channels like nobody else, so imagine their confusion that NBC no longer means colorful peacocks and ratings wars. Nope, it now stands for Nuclear, Biological or Chemical weapons, tools of global destruction that news-savvy people suspect to already be in the hands of fiends. The Alphabet song has tripped up many toddlers trying to yodel "L, M, N, O, P." It usually comes out as "Menelope," similar to the name Penelope and a deliberate if embarrassed cover-up for limited memory and singing skills. That may change. The phrase WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction) is, I fear, going to put that adorable song right out the English lexicon. Friendly and innocent people don't sing about things that cause MCE's, Mass Casualty Events. Not even by accident. I have worried about compact letter groups since realizing that "D. P. Camp" meant "Displaced Persons Hellhole," the awful collection sites of survivors following the European genocide of Jews. The phrase rings a warning in my ears every time I hear "D. P." for Disengagement Plan. "D" is also for "Duped," which is what the rest of the world wants from Israel and the Jews. After millennia of fighting for our survival through Egyptian slavery, Herodian dictates, Greek and Syrian power-grabs, Russian pogroms, the Holocaust and its spiritually warped heir the Oslo War, we Jews should understand that the world begrudges us any space at all. Our very existence is an affront to global sensibilities. The good news, though, is that we've outlived all our enemies. We will again. If you think this isn't true in the 21st century, read the headlines about who is murdering whom throughout once Muslim-friendly Europe. France and Holland may soon compete for aliya statistics with America. I'd now like to see another old acronym invigorated with new life. It is "I. I. R." Israel is real. A flaccid slogan of the 60's and 70's, it prompted some Jews with budding awareness of their global predicament to proudly wear metal "buttons" on their clothing. Unfortunately, it missed an opportunity to mobilize our moral indignation. Israel should be a reality that will Never Again (another slogan of former times) fall to those who wish us ill. Worried about the FBI and what's is alleging about AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee)? Remember sweating over the Adam Ciralsky/CIA case before that? Wondering if the UN can't do better than an Oil-for-food scandal and castigating Israel while Darfur's citizens are mass murdered like Rwanda's Hutus and Tutsis before them, and the Biafran children died with swollen, starved bellies on the UN's watch? Can't fathom what some of the MKs of Israel (Members of the Knesset) are doing to their own country? Want to take back what's rightfully, morally yours? The sound of protest was the overriding sound of the Sixties. It is echoing in the early 21st Century. Come home. Come live in the land you've been praying for since there was a Jewish people. Make it "This year in Jerusalem" and direct history in favor of the Jews. Play the alphabet game if you must, but play it in the Jewish People's favor. Contact the JA (Jewish Agency) office in your town for aliya information. Take the NBN way home with Nefesh B'Nefesh if you wish. Go to your local JCC (Jewish Community Center) and sign up for Hebrew classes so you'll be able to converse with the rest of us when you arrive. Stand up for your self- R. E. S. P. E. C. T. Yocheved Golani provides a journalist and writing service; she does author reviews and book reviews. She can be reached at her websites: www.ygolani.com, www.yochevedgolani.com |
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PETITION AGAINST ANTI-SEMITISM AT COLUMBIA U
Posted by Maria Silwa, December 20, 2004. |
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Dear Friends, There is a problem with bias against Jews and Israel which is promoted by a number of profs at Columbia University's MEALAC department. To quote from the November 22, 2004 article in the Wall Street Journal entitled "High Bias" (http://www.opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=110005928)
There is a petition to promote academic freedom FOR ALL at Columbia. We need as many people as possible to sign this important on-line petition' Please send this to your e-mail lists, blogs, and listserves. |
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LETTER ON DISENGAGEMENT TO STATE COMPTROLLER
Posted by Dr. Yoram Shifftan, December 20, 2004. |
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I submitted this letter to Judge Eliezer Goldberg in his capacity as Mevaker Hamedina (state comptroller). His office keeps confirming receit, but so far no reaction of substance. Dear Mevaker It is of course important to give priority (urgency) to matters related to the disengagement (hinatkut) as compared to the other related points that I raised such as those dealing with the education system and hasbara. In relation to this one can note that PM Sharon was relatively successful in limited forums such as the Knesset, or Likud central, where he can control or affect jobs. But this "bribing" effect on vote is absent in the national level. Hence the importance of polls (the swiss system is based on polls), or national elections to decide the disengagement and similar issues. Regional election system like in the UK is much less likely to produce a reneging on election commitments. In any case the law should be changed so that in case of a major reneging on election commitments, a committee of judges will decide whether there has been such a drastic change (since the election date) on the ground to justify denying election promises. Such a committee should also be able to require a poll [* Thus for the question at hand the poll will ask: do you support, yes or no, PM Sharon proposition to transfer the Jews out of Gush Katif and the four settlements in the North Shomron and the destruction of those Jewish communities] or election in case of a PM carrying out policy opposite to his election promises. It is an absurd that in minor commercial transactions one has to keep an agreement and in a major national transaction, such as national election, this is not necessary. Sincerely
Dr. Yoram Shifftan has published many articles on Israeli hasbara, in publications such as Ha'aretz, Ma'ariv, Hatzofeh, Hamodia and Ha'Uma, Think-Israel and Jewish Internet Association. See his articles on the validity of Israeli claims to Palestine in the September-October 2004 Think-Israel issue. |
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AMERICA'S FUTURE - ISLAM-WISE
Posted by Tamar Rush, December 20, 2004. |
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We are now in the final days of the "Merry Winter" / "Kool Kwanzaa" season. Folks in the USA are being summoned to court for "Winter Lighting displays that bother their neighbours, children are being suspended from school for offending the sensibilities of their communities by mentioning that old, archaic, and offensive "December holiday", or wearing objectionable symbols of that "other" holiday. Until the Saudi attack on the United States (9-11 2001) only a few crackpots objected to traditional CHRISTMAS celebrations.....that was until George Bush declared Islam "The Religion of Peace", and Americans began to bend over backwards to appease those who had attacked their country. [And a whole lot of US citizens converted to that vile cult also!] It saddens me to see Americans turn their backs on the culture and traditions that made their country great. Perhaps the sound of their Constitution being shredded distracted the population from realising that the very foundation of their Republic has been handed over to a gang of bloodthirsty, bronze-age assassins. Please read this post in it's entirety, and glimpse into your future. Peace!
"Islam is a faith that brings comfort to people. It inspires them
to lead lives based on honesty, and justice, and compassion."
"All Americans must recognize that the face of terror is not the true faith -- face of Islam. Islam is a faith that brings comfort to a billion people around the world. It's a faith that has made brothers and sisters of every race. It's a faith based upon love, not hate."
"According to Muslim teachings, God first revealed His word in the Holy Qur'an to the prophet, Muhammad, during the month of Ramadan. That word has guided billions of believers across the centuries, and those believers built a culture of learning and literature and science. All the world continues to benefit from this faith and its achievements."
"The Islam that we know is a faith devoted to the worship of one God, as revealed through The Holy Qur'an. It teaches the value and the importance of charity, mercy, and peace."
As one young woman awaits sentence and another faces death this week, Alasdair Palmer reveals the Iranian legal system's shocking barbarity towards children "My mother doesn't visit me in prison. If you see her, tell her she promised to bring me cheese curls and chocolate. And she shouldn't forget to bring my red dress." Those pathetic words may be among the last utterances of a 19-year-old girl, identified only as Leila M, who has been condemned to death in Iran for "acts incompatible with chastity". According to Amnesty International, Leila has a mental age of eight. What evidence there is of her life so far records an existence of unrelieved misery and brutality. She was sold into prostitution at the age of eight by her parents. She recalls the experience of when her mother "first took me to a man's house" as "a horrible night. I cried a lot - but then my mum came the next day and took me home. She brought me chocolate and cheese curls." Forced by beatings and threats to continue "visiting men" from that night onwards, she became pregnant and had twins when she was 14. She was punished with 100 lashes by the Iranian courts for giving birth to illegitimate children. Leila was bullied back into her degrading and demeaning work. Earlier this year, she confessed to the authorities that she had been working as a prostitute since she was a child - perhaps because she thought that they might help her escape her miserable existence. The courts did respond by pulling Leila out of prostitution, but they also imprisoned her and used her confession to convict her of "moral crimes", for which the judges have decided the appropriate penalty is death. They dismissed evidence from doctors and social workers that she has a severe mental handicap. This week, Iran's Supreme Court, which by law must confirm every death sentence imposed by the lower courts, will rule on whether to uphold her execution. There is every indication that the Supreme Court will decide that Leila must die. Earlier this year, they upheld a sentence of death on 16-year-old Atefeh Rajabi. Atefeh had also been convicted of "acts incompatible with chastity". In her defence, she said she had been sexually assaulted by an older man. The judges did not care. So, on August 16, at 6am, Atefeh was taken from her cell and hanged from a crane in the main square of the town of Neka. Witnesses report that she begged for her life as she was dragged kicking and screaming to the makeshift gallows. She shouted "repentance" over and over again - a gesture which, according to Islamic law, is supposed to grant the accused the right to an immediate stay of execution while an appeal is heard. Atefeh's cries were in vain. Haji Rezaie, the judge who presided over her trial, put the noose around her neck himself. He said he was pleased to do it. "Society has to be kept safe from acts against public morality," he insisted. He ordered that her body be left hanging from the crane for several hours so people could see what happened to teenagers who "committed acts incompatible with chastity". In the case of Hajieh Esmailvand, a young woman found guilty of adultery with an unnamed 17-year-old boy, the Supreme Court has not only confirmed the death sentence imposed by the lower court, but changed the means of death from hanging to execution by stoning. Hajieh's original sentence had been for five years' imprisonment followed by death by hanging. A month ago, the Supreme Court annulled her jail sentence - but only so that Hajieh could be stoned before December 21, and with the recommendation that she should be. In the next two days, it seems likely that Hajieh will die from wounds caused by stones thrown by "executioners". The Iranian Penal Code states that women should be buried up to their breasts before being stoned. Article 104 is specific about the type of stones that should be used when a woman is to be punished for adultery. They "should not be large enough to kill the woman by one or two strikes, nor should they be so small that they could not be defined as stones". Hajieh will die slowly, in agony, buried in sand, as officials lob correctly sized stones at her head. It is a fate that also awaits Zhila Izadyar, a 13-year-old girl from the northern province of Mazandaran. She has been sentenced to be stoned to death after her parents reported that she had had an incestuous relationship with her 15-year-old brother and had become pregnant by him. Zhila has already received a "preliminary punishment" of 53 lashes. A representative from Iran's Society for the Protection of Children's Rights has managed to visit Zhila in prison. She found the 13-year-old in a desperate state, in solitary confinement and unable to keep down food. She has not been allowed to see her child. "I am scared. I want to go home," said Zhila. "I want to go back to school like the other children." But if Iran's judges have their way, Zhila will see neither her school nor her home again. She will be buried up to her neck and the last thing she will see will be stones hurtling towards her head. The barbarity towards children of the Iranian legal system is all the more surprising in that it contradicts the international legal obligations on the treatment of children, which the Iranian government has adopted. Iran is a signatory both to the International Convention on Human Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, both of which explicitly forbid the execution of minors - let alone their killing by stoning. Even Iran's chief justice has seemed to recognise that, although stoning is prescribed by Sharia law as the punishment for women who have sexual relations with men to whom they are not married, pelting a woman to death with rocks counts as excessively cruel. Two years ago, he ruled that, while stonings should still be the nominal punishment for adultery and pre-marital sex, that sentence should be routinely commuted to execution by hanging. It appears from the fate in store for Zhila Izadyar, however, that his commitment to the de facto abolition of stoning was about as sincere as the Iranian government's commitment to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. There are no plans to change any of the provisions of the Penal Code that relate to children, and which state that girls as young as nine can be executed (boys have to reach the age of 14 before they can be killed). Many Iranians are revolted by the brutality and injustice of their judges' attitude to children. Shadi Sadr, an extremely brave lawyer who represents Atefeh Rajabi's family, has filed a suit against the judiciary for wrongful execution, and is preparing a murder charge against the judge who hanged her. While fundamentalist mullahs still hold on to power in Iran, her suit is unlikely to succeed. Indeed, those who are disgusted by judicial decisions cannot even safely express their condemnation of a system that not only hangs children, but beats them to death in public: Kaveh Habibi-Nejad, a 14-year-old boy, suffered this fate on November 12 for eating on the streets during Ramadan. A witnesses said that they thought he died because "the metal cable being used to flog him hit his head". Mahbobeh Abbasgholizadeh, an Iranian academic, was arrested on November 1 after having queried some aspects of Iranian justice in a speech she made at a conference. She was held for a month before being released and charged with "acting against the security of the country". If she is convicted, it could mean an indefinite prison sentence. The European Union has said that it is ready to "intensify" political and economic ties with Iran if the Iranian government takes steps to allay international concerns over its involvement in terrorism and the abuse of human rights. But the Islamic administration seems to care more about protecting what many of the religious hierarchy regard as "divinely ordained justice" than achieving fresh political and economic concessions from the EU. Britain, France and Germany, acting on behalf of the EU, have already agreed to further trade links with Iran, after Tehran agreed to suspend its uranium-enrichment process, which could yield material suitable for nuclear bombs. For Hajieh Esmailvand and Zhila Izadyar, the prospects are bleak. The best they can hope for is to die by hanging rather than being stoned. As for the mentally retarded Leila M - she seems likely to hang in public before Christmas. Under Iran's 'divinely ordained justice', girls as young as nine are charged with 'moral crimes'. The best that they can hope for is to die by hanging (Filed: 19/12/2004) Tamar Rush can be contacted at psio1909b@yahoo.com |
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ISRAEL'S 'SWOT' TEAM
Posted by IsrAlert, December 20, 2004. |
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This was written by Shlomo Maital and appeared December 19, 2004 It is
archived at the Israel 21C website and is archived at
http://www.israel21c.org/bin/en.jsp?enScript=
PrintVersion.jsp&enDispWho=Views^l162
Every manager regularly analyzes his or her company's internal strengths and weaknesses, and the external threats and opportunities that it faces. In business schools, including the Technion Institute of Management, managers are taught to think about how to transform threats and weaknesses into opportunities by leveraging the company's strengths and confronting its weaknesses. They call this 'SWOT' (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Threat). Israel is a country, but it is also a business. So, ask Israel's political leaders about threats. They will likely tell you about Iran, Hamas, Hizbullah, the Philadelphi arms smuggling tunnels, or about Sharon's dwindling minority government. Finance Minister Netanyahu will talk only about Israel's budget deficit. But I believe the real threats to Israel's future lie elsewhere. Here is a partial SWOT analysis for Israel, focused on knowledge and intellectual property. There is a huge opportunity here, if only a few political leaders would devote five minutes a day to think about it. External Threat: 'The Great Knowledge Robbery' TIM Chair Lester Thurow recently pointed out that a major disaster occurred around September 11. No, it was not the terror attack on the World Trade Center. Almost unnoticed, between September 11 and 14, 2003, in Cancun, Mexico, the rich and the poor countries failed to agree on a deal in negotiations sponsored by the World Trade Organization that began in Doha in 2001. The deal was to allow freer access for poor countries' agricultural exports to rich nations' markets, in return for poor countries' agreement to respect patents and intellectual property. In the rich countries, farmers have enormous political power. So the rich countries refused. The result: The poor countries may in future ignore the intellectual property rights of the rich. In fact, they already do. This is a huge threat to all nations who make their living with their brains, including Israel. Internal Strength: Israel is one of the world's great producers of basic research. A Neaman Institute study by Gideon Czapski and Yael Ilan (International Status of Israeli Research: Neaman Institute, Technion, 2004) examines research 'productivity' (scientific publications per capita) and 'quality' (the frequency with which other scholars cite publications in their own articles) for over 25 countries. In computer science, Israel ranks second in the world in 'productivity' and third in the world in 'quality'. In chemistry (the field in which two Technion scholars just won the Nobel Prize), Israel ranks 4th and 5th, respectively; in molecular biology, 3rd and 4th; in biology and biochemistry, 5th and 10th; and in physics, 2nd and 9th. In addition, Israel ranks first in research 'productivity' in economics and business, mathematics, psychology, and psychiatry! These outstanding achievements reflect Israel's investment in basic research and in its top universities in the 1970's and 1980's. Internal Weakness: Research resembles baby elephants it takes years for the embryo or idea to develop and become a full-fledged elephant or product. Female elephants have a two-year pregnancy! World-class research takes far longer. Former head of Military R&D, Dr. Itzik Ben Yisrael, recently told a Technion R&D conference that it is a huge mistake to lump Research and Development together conceptually as R&D. 'R' is different from 'D'. And there is no development, he said, without research. If Israel neglects basic research, in 10 or 15 years there will be no development. On December 5, the head of the Planning and Budget Committee of the Higher Education Council, Prof. Shlomo Grossman, told a Technion conference on higher education that Israeli universities should seek research funds abroad, and that they cannot expect more resources from the government. As a result, when Czapski and Ilan repeat their study in 20 years, the results will be awful. And without research, there will be no development of innovative products, no startups, no exports, and no jobs. Then it will take another 20 years to repair the damage. Gen. (res.) Amos Horev once told me that in 1953, he wrote down the specifications for a sea-to-sea missile named Gabriel. The missile proved decisive in the 1967 War. It took fully 14 years of basic research, applied research, and engineering development to create an outstanding operational weapons system. Investments in research were made in the 1950s, when Israel was exceedingly poor. Why are we starving research today, when we are relatively rich? External Opportunity: Israel's 'unique global selling proposition' will become 'where knowledge thrives'. It will give top priority to its research universities. As Ireland pulls in massive multinational investments to build factories, Israel will become a favored global site for focused research and time-to-market development. Israel will reverse the disastrous collapse of its high school mathematics and benchmark itself by adopting the OECD measurement standards, aiming to be among the top five countries in high school math within a decade. Currently, Hong Kong, Finland, Korea and Netherlands lead, in that order. United States is a miserable 28th. If Israel were included in the study, it would likely be ranked well below 20th. In Shanghai, I recently spoke with a young mechanical engineer, Zhang Bin. When did you begin studying differential calculus, I asked him. In Grade 7, he said. That is standard in China. In Singapore, when it gained independence in 1965, the legendary Dr. Goh, head of the Economic Development Authority, saw that you cannot produce great engineers if young people do not excel in mathematics in high school. So he told Singaporean mothers to urge their children to study math. They did. Two decades later, Singapore grew wealthy because of its highly skilled engineers. There's one thing Israel must do immediately. If Israel is to grow wealthy by producing applied knowledge, and attracting companies who create it, it must be a country where the property rights vested in knowledge are zealously protected. No more illegal copying of software. No more Central Bus Station music theft. We have strong intellectual property laws. Why not begin enforcing them? And finally, let our voice be heard, telling the US: like us, you too can remain wealthy only through knowledge creation, not by growing cotton at 10 times the cost of Egypt or India. Buy cotton, and create and sell (patented) knowledge. Go back to Cancun and cut a deal. Now. It's just, fair, and smart. (Originally appeared in Globes) Harv Weiner, a businessman in Dallas, Texas, is the founder and moderator of Isralert. To subscribe to IsrAlert, send an email to isralert@aol.com |
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PBS, RECRUITING FOR ISLAM
Posted by A Koltov, December 20, 2004. |
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This appeared on the Navy Seals website and is archived at
http://www.navyseals.com/community/articles/article.cfm?id=33
Author is anonymous.
What would be the best way to convert lots of Americans to Islam? Forget print, go to film. Put together a handsome documentary with an original musical score that presents Islam's prophet Muhammad in the most glowing manner, indeed, as a model of perfection. Round up Muslim and non-Muslim enthusiasts to endorse the nobility and truth of his message. Splice in vignettes of winsome American Muslims testifying to the justice and beauty of their Islamic faith. Then get the U.S. taxpayer to help pay for it. Show it at prime time on the most high-minded TV network. Oh, and screen it at least once during the holidays, when anyone out of synch with Christmas might be especially susceptible to another religion's appeal. This is precisely what the producers of "Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet" have done. In a documentary The Washington Post calls "absorbing, ... enjoyable and informative," exotic images of the desert and medieval miniatures mix with scenes of New York City and the American flag. Born- and convert-American Muslims speak affectingly about their personal bond to their prophet. The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) will premiere this two-hour documentary across the nation tomorrow night, then repeat it in most areas. The film's largest tranche of funding comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress that in fiscal 2002 received $350 million in taxpayers' funds. The heart of the film consists of nine talking heads competing with each other to praise Muhammad the most extravagantly. Not one of them criticizes him. Some of their efforts are laughable, as when one commentator denies allegations about Muhammad contracting a marriage of convenience with a rich, older woman named Khadija: "He deeply, deeply loved Khadija." Oh, and his many marriages were "an act of faith, not of lust." How could anyone know this? Other apologetics are more consequential. What Muhammad did for women, viewers learn, was "amazing" - his condemning female infanticide, giving legal rights to wives, permitting divorce and protecting their inheritance rights. But no commentator is so impolite as to note that however admirable this was in the 7th century, Muslim women today suffer widely from genital mutilation, forced marriages, purdah, illiteracy, sexual apartheid, polygamy and honor killings. The film treats religious beliefs - such as Muhammad's "Night Journey," when the Quran says he went to heaven and entered the divine presence - as historical fact. It presents Muslim wars as only defensive and reluctant, which is simply false. All this smacks of a film shown by missionaries. Move to the present and the political correctness is stifling. Hostility is said to be "hurled" at American Muslims since 9/11 - but there's no mention about the prior and vastly greater (foreign) Muslim hostility "hurled" at Americans, killing several thousand. The narrator exaggerates the number of American Muslims, overestimates their rate of growth and wrongly terms them the country's "most diverse" religious community. But these are details. "Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet" is an outrage on two main counts. PBS has betrayed its viewers by presenting an airbrushed and uncritical documentary of a topic that has both world historical and contemporary significance. Its patronizing film might be fine for an Islamic Sunday school class, but not for a national audience. For example, PBS ignores an ongoing scholarly reassessment of Muhammad's life that disputes every detail - down to the century and region Muhammad lived in - of its film. This is especially odd when contrasted with the 1998 PBS documentary, "From Jesus to Christ," which focuses almost exclusively on the work of cutting-edge scholars and presents the latest in critical thinking on Jesus. The U.S. government should never fund a documentary whose obvious intent is to glorify a religion and proselytize for it. Doing so flies in the face of American tradition and law. On behalf of taxpayers, a public-interest law firm should bring suit against the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, both to address this week's travesty and to win an injunction against any possible repetitions. |
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MOHAMMED AL-DURRA -MODERN BLOOD LIBEL
Posted by Naomi Ragen, December 20, 2004. |
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Friends,
Some of you may have seen this, as it came out at the end of November. But for those who haven't, it's worth reading. For who can forget the images of the little boy crouching behind his father as Israeli soldiers shot him? For years, Israel's own investigators adamantly claimed that it was logistically impossible that the boy had died from gunshot wounds inflicted by Israeli soldiers. And now, surprise, it turns out the whole thing was staged and Mohammed al- Durra is probably alive and well! Never underestimate the lying spin of Palestinian media gurus, who managed to create the first blood-libel of the new millennium. Would it surprise you to hear that the French are involved, and it was a Palestinian working for French TV and CNN that was the only one among hundreds of cameramen present to "get" the footage and show it all over the world? Talal Abu Rahma, whose images have won numerous awards, is actually the Milli Vanilli of journalism, and he's finally retracted his claim that he filmed 27 minutes more that were so 'horribly graphic he refused to show them." As we say in Israel, no bears and no forest. Asked for years to produce the footage, he finally retracted his story. The two lying liars for French tv? Yes, they are still working, and still covering the Palestinian-Israeli conflict! This is called "The Mythical Martyr" and was written by Stéphane Juffa. It appeared in the "Wall Street Journal" November 26 - 28, 2004. Mr. Juffa is editor in chief of the Israeli-based Metula News Agency. Read this story, and yes, the next time you see some horrible news story about Israel, don't believe your eyes. I wonder if anyone is going to say they are sorry to Israel's soldiers? Naomi Ragen The first thing that comes up when you google Mohammed al-Durra's name is poem written by Sheikh Mohammed of the United Arab Emirates called "To the soul of the child martyr." It gives an idea of the mythical proportions that the young boy has assumed in the Middle East. The images of Mohammed al-Durra hiding from Israeli fire behind his father's back in the early days of the second intifada, only to be struck down by enemy bullets, shocked the whole world. For many Arabs and Muslims, the boy became the symbol of Palestinian suffering under Israeli occupation. On the Palestinian Authority's TV channel, as well as in Palestinian school books, his example is used to encourage other children to emulate his spirit of sacrifice. Even in the West, the pictures that won so many journalism prizes have become the most recognizable symbol of Israeli aggression. Then Ehud Barak, then Israel's prime minister, visited Paris in the same year, French President Jacques Chirac wryly scolded him. "Killing children is no policy." And yet, it was nothing but a hoax. For those readers who recognize the famous image reproduced here, it might be difficult to believe that the scene was actually staged. I will elaborate later how it has been proven that Israeli soldiers could not have killed the boy. Some might ask why it still matters. Haven't too many innocent people on both sides died since then, and is it not time to look ahead now? Well, it matters for exactly those same reasons. Mohammed al-Durra became more than just the poster boy of the intifada. According to the Mitchell report, drafted in May 2001 by a joint U.S.-European committee, this story was one of the events that sparked the intifada. For peace we need reconciliation and for reconciliation we need the truth. But French stateowned TV channel France 2, which produced and distributed the damning footage, refuses to release the facts. The story began on Sept. 30, 2000, two months after Yasser Arafat walked out of the Camp David peace talks. The place was Netzarim junction in Gaza, where Israeli soldiers were posted to protect a nearby settlement. Palestinian rioters were throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at the Israelis while gunmen were shooting at them from amidst the crowd. It was during this fighting that the boy allegedly died. Claiming they didn't want to make money on an innocent child's death, France 2 distributed the dramatic coverage free of charge to the global media. The Israeli army hastily issued a statement saying that the boy may have accidentally been killed in Israeli cross-fire. Only later, maybe too late, did the army authorize a full investigation. It entrusted this mission to civilian physicist Nahum Shahaf, who scientifically proved that-given the angle of the Israeli position vis-á-vis Mohammed al-Durra - the soldiers could not have possibly killed the boy. Mr. Shahaf then uncovered an incredible plot: He demonstrated that since the shots must have come from directly behind or next to the cameraman, the whole scene of the supposed infanticide must have been staged-and that the boy seen in the film was not killed at all. Going through the film in slow motion, he could even see the cameraman' s finger making a "take two" sign, used by professionals to signal the repeat of a scene. Three years ago I interviewed Mr. Shahaf, and after viewing all his evidence I realized that this might be one of the greatest media manipulations the world has ever seen. We started our own investigations and wrote over 150 articles on the issue, concluding that the French report is, beyond any reasonable doubt, pure fiction. We can't cite all the evidence that we were able to uncover on top of Mr. Shahaf's findings. But to give just one example: We have the testimonies of Dr. Joumaa Saka and Dr. Muhamad El-Tawil, two Palestinian doctors of the Gaza Shifa hospital who said Mohammed's lifeless body was brought to them before 1 p.m. The problem is that Charles Enderlin, the France 2 correspondent in Jerusalem, claimed in the disputed report that the shooting started at 3 p.m. How can someone be killed by bullets that were fired hours after he was already dead? This is only one of the many questions that the French state TV channel needs to answer. In our battle with France 2, we have focused on the statements of the two journalists who filed the report. In order to fully appreciate them, it is important to realize that the pictures themselves do not actually provide any evidence for the charges raised against Israel. No Israeli soldier, no weapon (Israeli or otherwise), no strike, no wounds and no blood, not a drop, can be seen. That's despite claims by official Palestinian sources that Mohammed was killed by three high velocity bullets, and Jamal al-Durra-the father-wounded by nine. What turned these images into a modern blood-libel against Israel was only Mr. Enderlin's voice-over. Even though Mr. Enderlin was not in Gaza when the alleged killing happened, he tells the viewers with great confidence that the "shooting comes from the Israeli position. One more volley and the kid will be dead." Possibly in order to compensate for the lack of real evidence in their film, the two authors of the report, Palestinian cameraman Talal Abu Rahma (who works for France 2 and CNN) and Mr. Enderlin, a French-Israeli journalist, provided supporting statements. Mr. Abu Rahma did so in October 2000 in a written testimony-under oath-in the office and presence of attorney Raji Surani in Gaza. (The statement can be found on theWeb site of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights: www.pchrgaza.org/special/ tv2.htm.) Mr. Abu Rahma describes in great detail the alleged killing of the boy by Israeli soldiers. The words that particularly caught our attention were the following: "I spent about 27 minutes photographing the incident which took place for 45 minutes." The importance of this sentence is twofold: First, Mr. Abu Rahma said he has 27 minutes of footage while France 2 had previously only shown about 55 seconds of film and later released about three minutes and 26 seconds of material to the Israeli army. This is of enormous significance as the additional material could help shed more light on this story. One of the most bizarre aspects of this affair is that among the hundreds of people present at the scene, including dozens of other cameramen, only Talal Abu Rahma claimed to have actually witnessed the alleged killing of the boy and managed to catch it on film. Second, Mr. Abu Rahma gravely raised the charges when he said the incident lasted for three-quarters of an hour. Before his statement, it could have been argued that the boy might have been unfortunately caught in cross-fire. But for 15 Israeli servicemen to single out a harmless small boy and fire at him for 45 long minutes-that's a war crime. Mr. Enderlin added his own colorful detail, saying the 27 minutes of rushes contain pictures of the child's agony that are too graphic to be shown to the world. "I cut the child's death throes. It was too unbearable. The story was told, the news delivered. It would not have added anything more," he told the French monthly Telerama in October 2000. For years we have pleaded with France 2 to let us view the additional pictures. We are senior pressmen living in a troubled area, certain we could endure the "unbearable" pictures. We sent numerous registered letters, made phone calls and repeatedly suggested to compare our findings with the France 2 report. But to no avail. France 2 would not let us see its footage. The French TV channel's obstructionism and our own investigation led us to the conclusion that the additional footage did not exist. We were so certain that we even published several articles to this effect. However, it took until Oct. 22 of this year before France 2 finally caved in. Following massive political pressure, the stateowned channel was forced to invite Luc Rosenzweig, a former chief editor of Le Monde and one of our contributors, to view the ominous rushes. On that Friday, Mr. Rosenzweig, together with Denis Jeambar, editor-in-chief of L'Express, and Daniel Leconte, a former France 2 reporter, was admitted into the office of Arlette Chabot, the head of France 2's news department. Our friend delivered the sentence we had rehearsed so many times: "I came to watch the 27 minutes of the incident mentioned in Mr. Abu Rahma's statement under oath." A legal clerk for France 2 told Mr. Rosenzweig and his colleagues that they "will be disappointed." "Didn't you know?" added Didier Epelbaum, an adviser to the president of France Tél&ecute;vision (the department presiding over all French state-operated TV networks) "that Talal has retracted his testimony?" No, they did not know. How could they since neither the French channel nor the Palestinian cameraman ever made that public? It is incredible how France 2 so nonchalantly admitted that their star witness, well, their only witness to the alleged killing, retracted his accusations. Without this testimony there is no story, and yet the channel refuses to make any of this public. The 27 minutes of footage that the three journalists were finally allowed to see didn't contain a single new relevant scene, except for one that showed the child in a different death position from the one shown before. So the child moved after he was presumably dead? The unbearable images of the child 's death that Mr. Enderlin rhapsodized about? A mirage, a total invention, worthy of Scheherazade, the storyteller of "The Arabian Nights." So I keep asking France 2 three questions:
For four years, France 2 has been holding the "27-minute footage," pretending it contained crucial evidence, knowing full well though that both of their journalists simply lied. France 2 must be held responsible for this manipulation, first for issuing this fabrication and then for not coming clean. Naomi Ragen is an American-born novelist and journalist who lives in Jerusalem. She can be contacted at www.naomiragen.com, where you can subscribe to her newsletter. |
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WHY POLITICAL CORRECTNESS FOR ILLEGAL ALIENS?; JOKE OF THE YEAR
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, December 20, 2004. |
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GETTING AN ISRAELI CLARIFICATION Seeking "the Israeli" point of view, US campuses invite some Israelis to explain the issues. Academics think that the Israeli is clarifying the issues for them. Ethnocentrically, they assume that if Israeli, he must know. They imagine that foreign countries have intellectual uniformity. The colleges often get a far leftist speaker, representing a tiny fraction of Israelis. Far leftists share much of the Arab point of view with which the students are familiar. Most speakers slant and muddle. Few speakers deal in basic facts that can be verified and from which students might draw independent conclusions. Instead, leftist speakers accuse and condemn -- and slander. The students, already programmed to accept both that manner of presentation and the distortions it enables, don't know they are being deceived. They think they are being fair. As these students are roused to hate Israel, Zionism, and Jews as a whole but (for now) not the radical ones who agree with them, they indignantly deny having become antisemitic. Accusations of antisemitism they have been taught to brush off as a defensive tactic by unnamed pro-Israel demagogues. One cannot even warn biased people that their notions are antisemitic. One certainly cannot point out that they are ignorant and illogical. I think they don't know what is logical, fair, and decent. Their sense of justice is amplified but distorted. Attila the Hun at least accepted his barbarism. These speakers and audiences deny theirs. WHY POLITICAL CORRECTNESS FOR ILLEGAL ALIENS? After having made some astute observations, a reader closed with an inquiry: Why is political correctness wielded in behalf of illegal aliens, who cost US taxpayers billions of dollars? Interesting question, but let us consider all the reasons for turning a blind eye to this illegality. The simple answers are: (1) Western society has lost its nerve. Any group that asks for something is given it, except that big corporations do so behind the scenes by lobbying and by lightly publicized legislation and administrative "regulation"; and (2) Business likes cheap labor. There are more parts to the answer: (3) Some of the same ethnic groups here legally have formed political organizations that champion extending rights to the illegal ones. On the other hand, some of the legal aliens resent fellow countrymen sneaking into this country ahead of turn; (4) Certain lawyers' groups act as lobbyists for their clientele; (5) Pathetic circumstances appeal to Americans who meet individual aliens; and (6) Related to answer 1 is political correctness. The politically correct attitude rejects American solidarity and identifies more with "Third World" society and citizens. Hence some border churches think of themselves, when knowingly taking in numbers of illegal aliens, as running an "underground railroad" like abolitionists. New York City has a mayor, not the first, who instructs city agencies not to turn illegal aliens in to immigration authorities for deportation. City and State expenditures on illegal aliens for medical, school, and other expenses probably amounts to half their multi-billion dollar deficits. Mostly the City's motive is political correctness. Sympathizing with the aliens, people argue that if the aliens applied for those services, only to risk deportation, they would not come forward. I insist it is not our concern that illegal aliens receive our free public education rather than eventual detection and deportation. As for medical services, humanitarianism should not serve criminality, including large-scale theft of services. On the other hand, if they are afraid to be police witnesses, other crime, including exploitation of them, goes unpunished. U.S. CONCERNED WITH S. ARABIA The US has determined that a priority for it is to help stabilize S. Arabia. The US seeks to mend relations with S. Arabia and engage in security cooperation (IMRA, 12/1). Does the policy include getting S. Arabia to cease financing global indoctrination in jihad? Note the vague language. It states a broad goal without indicating what the US intends to do. That is the way of the diplomats. They fail to outline the program enough for citizens to evaluate it. They may as well not issue any press release. Many press releases are about meetings between representatives of Israel and of other countries. The representatives meet, greet each other in laudatory terms about their peoples' relations, and state vague generalities about cooperation or the need for taking some action. The reader learns nothing, except perhaps contempt for the time-wasting by diplomats and media. WHAT DOES PM SHARON ASK OF EGYPT? Before Israel would depend on Egypt for security from Gaza, and would allow air and sea ports to open in Gaza, PM Sharon said, Egypt would have to deal "thoroughly" with arms smuggling from Egypt into Gaza. IMRA notes that this language is vague. It could mean that Israel would consider the smuggling ended after only a brief suspension of it. After all, Israel has praised Egypt for dealing with the very smuggling that it cooperated with, for years (IMRA, 12/1). MAGINOT LINE MENTALITY RETURNS TO ISRAEL (The Maginot Line was a string of French fortresses designed in the hope of barring German invasion in WWII. The Germans invaded not from Germany but, as they had done in WWI, through neutral Belgium, and came at the Line from a direction in which the fortresses' fixed position cannon did not face. Israel had its Bar Lev Line before the Yom Kippur War. The concept wasn't too bad, but Israel tried to save money on it by thinning out the garrisons, until they were too few to defend themselves. They, too, embodied a fatal misconception, being constructed largely of sand that Egyptian water hoses dissolved.) PM Sharon informed the IDF that after it is withdrawn from Gaza, he would not allow it to reenter much, to put down terrorism. The IDF is resorting to building a string of electronic, unstaffed watchtowers between Gaza and Israel. Watchtower monitors would thwart would-be infiltrators. How they would do so was not specified (IMRA, 12/1). Terrorists surely would build and emplace alongside Israel thousands of rockets and mortars. The towers and the fence do not reach high enough to thwart them. ISLAMISTS ACCUSE ISRAELIS OF BEING LIARS A P.A. historian asserted that Israeli "claims" to have had holy temples in Jerusalem are based on biblical lies. Instead, Jerusalem has been the Arabs' capital (IMRA, 12/1). He's calling all the Christians liars, for their Testament also refers to the Temple. He also is calling mainstream historians liars, for the historical record confirms the past existence of the Temples. Arab liars typically accuse their enemies of lying. Jihad is waged not only by force of arms but also by means of deceit. It officially is part of he Islamic creed. JOKE OF THE YEAR The Arab states are worried that the Iraqi elections might not be fair. (As if) They know all about fair elections (Prof. Steven Plaut, 12/1, e-mail). DEMOCRACY NOT THE KEY ISSUE FOR P.A. Pres. Bush asserted that the key to changing the P.A. is democracy. ZOA differs. It points out that a terrorist who gets elected still is a terrorist. Abu Mazen is a terrorist (IMRA, 12/2). "THE ISLAMIZATION OF EUROPE" That is the title of David Pryce-Jones' article in December "Commentary." Having read his books, I find him on a par with Bernard Lewis, and more down-to-earth. This article is one of his best. Whereas I recently outlined the notion of a resumption of the Cold War, especially on campus, Mr. Pryce-Jones fills in the outline, for Europe, in a tour-de-force. I highly recommend it. Yes there is a clash of civilization, he points out, at least in France. Either Europe assimilates the Muslim immigrants or they Islamisize Europe. The Islamists take measures, from false propaganda to violence, to incur counter-reactions they then can rally their people against, so as to prevent assimilation. They demand Islamic solidarity at the same time as they denounce Christian solidarity. (Their fellow Muslims don't even realize they are being manipulated.) Worse is the growing alliance between the Left and the Muslims. The Left is becoming towards the Muslims like the fellow travelers who were apologists for the Communists. That explains the reluctance to call terrorists what they are. It also explains the excessive calls for, and defense of, diversity. Another offshoot is that political correctness protects Islam and even Islamists from much criticism, criticism freely leveled against Christianity. So do the expenses of libel suits and the Muslim death threats. Whatever it is thought Muslims might object to is censored, even if central to Western history. (Example: a monument to Spanish resistance to Moorish conquerors was demolished.) Muslims in Europe are exceedingly unfair, in an insolent manner, without being reprimanded. Sometimes they avoid reprimand when they and fellow travelers pretend they are moderate, despite a record of extremist statements and plotting. The result is to begin subordinating non-Muslims to Islam in speech, rights, and privileges. In some public schools, the Koran is studied but not the Bible. Only the Bible is subject to Church-State separation. A relative of mine noted that Western peoples formerly knew when they had enemies. Now the political correct attitude is to pretend we don't have enemies, that it isn't "nice" to admit we have, and it is "racist" to identify them as "the Arabs." Those same politically correct leftists fail to acknowledge and protest against the Arabs' racial and religious slurs (and even genocide). THE LEFT & THE ISLAMISTS In that same December "Commentary, Joshua Kurlantzick describes the Arab media campaign to appeal to leftists. Communists and Islamists hold joint conferences. (So much for Islam being conservative!) Although leftists usually are incensed over oppression of women and homosexuals, they ignore Arab oppression of women and homosexuals. What a double standard! The Left is finding in common with the Arabs the same scapegoats for everything: Americans and Jews. In their minds, the Jews direct the Americans, and the Americans oppress. The campaign against globalization serves as a joint rallying point against the scapegoats. The Left is getting increasingly menacing towards the Jews. (This Jewish conspiracy is kept secret from every fellow Jew I ever met.) Unfortunately, obviously extremist positions by the hard Left are not denounced by the moderate left and by liberals, but seep into their own ideological framework. They accept at face value Islamists' pose of moderation, although once Islamists took power in Iran, Sudan, and Afghanistan, they shed the velvet gloves. 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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BLACK DAYS FOR ISRAEL
Posted by Bernard J. Shapiro, December 20, 2004. |
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There are dark clouds looming over the People of Israel. These dark clouds have been preceded by several Black Days that portend the destruction of Zionism in Israel. These Black Days that have followed in quick succession are the Knesset vote on the expulsion of Jews from Gaza and the Shomron, then the decision to allow Labor to join a coalition with the Likud and finally the revelation that the United States (with Sharon's acceptance) will demand a complete expulsion of all Jews east of the security fence. Labor, which lost the last election, with Shimon Peres in the coalition, will be a driving force behind the expulsion Jews, not just from Gaza but from all of YESHA. The consequences of all of the above are much more serious than many understand. It will create a dramatic deteriorations in Israel's security as well as a total breakdown of national morale. The destruction of the homes and lives of so many Jews will totally undermine the principles of Zionism that are the bedrock of the Jewish State. The Jews have faced expulsions many times throughout their history - the largest from Spain in 1492. Today we witness the first time Jews have been expelled by a Jewish government from their own nation. The immediate consequence of this vile act by the Sharon government is the total fracture of the national consensus. It is a rupture of the historical roots of Israel in Zionism. The ruling Likud Party will be split and there is a possibility that the anti-Zionist left will emerge as the most significant influence on Israeli politics after being defeated in the last election by a landslide. Democratic principles are being undermined and critics of Sharon's policies are being threatened with imprisonment. What can we expect in the future following the surrender to terrorism. For one, Gaza will be come a haven and training base for terrorists from all over the world. New weapons will be introduced in large number including rockets capable of reaching Israel's major cities. Just like the days before the Six Day War, terrorists will infiltrate into Israel from Gaza bringing death and destruction in their wake. The most significant damage will be to Israeli morale. While the Arabs will feel elated at this victory over Israel, Jews will become depressed and their feelings of national pride will be greatly diminished. Many Jews will seek to avoid joining the IDF and its elite units. Many more will emigrate to other countries, disgusted with Israeli anti-Jewish policies. The goal of improving Israel's demographic balance by leaving Gaza will fail as fewer Jews will immigrate to Israel as the security situation deteriorates. As increasing numbers of Jews emigrate and the Arab birthrate continues to grow Israel will find itself in the same difficult position. There are other answers to the problem like transfer, but the leftist government will refuse to even discuss it. HOW CAN WE SAVE ISRAEL AND PREVENT EXPULSION OF JEWS [Writer's Note: This editorial is conceptually based on the history of both the American Revolution and Martin Luther King Jr's struggle to emancipate the black population of the United States. Of course it is modern and on the struggle for Israel, but the voices of George Washington, Patrick Henry and Dr. King ring loudly in my heart and soul.] It is clear to all of us that the present Likud government of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is leading Israel to disaster. It is also clear that nothing external is compelling this self-destruction. The only thing that will save Israel is new elections. THAT COULD BE TOO LATE! ISRAEL WILL BE LOST! The only way to speed up elections and thus save Israel is by destabilizing the current government and causing it to fall. This would force new elections and stop the insane Oslo/Road Map/Retreat process. HISTORY Over the last one hundred years, many governments have been destabilized by the action of a determined group of its citizens, not necessarily a majority. Two recent cases in this country are the Civil Rights Movement and the Anti-War in Viet-Nam Movement. There is no doubt that Lyndon Johnson chose not to run for a second term because of the anti-war movement. There is also no doubt the Afro-American population would not have been able to throw off the yoke of discrimination without non-violent protest. In Israel it is obvious that the intifada succeeded, no doubt because of the Israeli government's reticence in crushing it. It is this reticence by democratic regimes to crush popular uprisings that is the biggest weapon in the hands of groups wishing to destabilize their government. This principle does not work under autocratic governments as witness Syria (Hama) and China (Tiananmen Square). TECHNIQUES 1. Demonstrations -- the larger the better. Demonstrations will not in and of themselves bring down a government. Good media coverage is essential to give the population a feeling that the tide of history is turning against the regime. 2. Civil disobedience -- the key to success. There is one essential requirement for destabilizing a government and that is for a determined group of people to be willing to go to jail, be beaten by police, and possibly be killed in the pursuit of their political aims. More will follow later on organizing civil disobedience. 3. The Wrench In The Machinery Of Government A Physical - roads and bridges can be blocked by slow or stalled cars. B. Electronic - computer networks, telecommunications can be adversely affected [10,000 people calling government offices at the same time can paralyze the system]. C. Psychological - photos can be taken of police and military personnel who become involved in violent action against peaceful demonstrators. Available now are miniature video cameras that can be worn inconspicuously and send live feed to distant computers. At a time and place of your choosing their names can be revealed - you can compromise those security officers involved in non-democratic violence against demonstrators. Their names and photos can be publicized, leading to fear and a sense of insecurity. 4. Violence - ONLY TO DEFEND ONE'S LIFE A. Armed resistence to non-democratic police and military actions is not the best course of action since the military, police and security services will always be stronger and better equipped. B. Open revolt against authority - Democracies are primarily based on voluntary compliance with the legal system. When that democracy ceases to govern in the best interests of its citizenry, with its security and survival, then it is lawful and justified to resist authority. This includes refusing to pay taxes, following illegal orders of the non-democratic army, traffic regulations etc. C. Mass demonstrations, including the right of self-defense, are meant to intimidate the police and the government. The horrible vision of civil war will restrain the government. Knowing that the Zionist/Right will not physically resist, gives the government strength to pursue suicidal policies. The policy of not striking back at the Left (as experienced during the "season") begun in the pre-state days by Menachem Begin has had the effect of emasculating the Right in its relations with the Left. STRATEGY While it is preferable to wage a non-violent campaign, there are certain lessons one can learn from the Israel Defense Forces. 1. Most important: Do not give the enemy time to rest and re-group. The IDF always advances in one massive push to victory, never allowing the enemy a respite. The same must be true of the demonstrations against Sharon. It is a mistake to agree to a truce. This time will be used to organize special police units including female police officers to handle demonstrators. The government has already learned that reservists do not like this heartrending undemocratic task. 2. Attack in many places at once, causing physical and psychological stress on the enemy. Demonstrators should not just take over hills in YESHA, but should take over government offices from Eilat to Metulla. Roads should be blocked all over the country. In Jerusalem, with its many government offices and a supportive religious population, you should be able to create and sustain chaos. CONCLUSION Half measures will not work. Either we want to bring down this government or we don't. You can not be both meat and milk. It was the IDF's failure to destroy the intifada that led to much of our trouble. Remember the principle of vaccinations: a tiny doze of the disease that allows the body to build its immune system. Half-measures allow Sharon to develop a resistance to the demonstrations. We must take the momentum and build continuously to the day of victory. The decision is ours. Under the Nazis, the Jews of Warsaw numbered over 500,000. They were depleted with regular deportations aided by Judenrats (Jewish leaders). The Revolt in Warsaw began when the Jewish population was down to 50,000 (or 90% murdered). At what point is it OK to rebel? When is civil disobedience OK? When is civil war a better course than suicide? All throughout history there have been rebels and loyalists. History is usually written by the victors but truly there is seldom a universally accepted moral standard as to what is a proper rebellion and what is not. We can say with absolute certainty, however, that the Jewish return to Zion and our struggle today for Eretz Yisrael are more righteous than any other struggle for national liberation in the history of the world. The Jews of YESHA must not be passive pawns in the political surrender of their homes. The defeatist Israeli leaders, who have surrendered our Jewish rights to Eretz Yisrael, should be told that there are still proud Jews in YESHA who will give up neither their inheritance from Abraham nor their right of self-defense. The Brave Heroes of Zion must not limit themselves to passive civil disobedience but must on the offensive. My friends it is way past time to mount an active civil disobedience campaign that will be celebrated by future generations as the Maccabees are today While such internal Jewish conflict would be DREADFUL, it is a consequence of the government's disregard for the security and well being of its citizens. At this great time of trial and apocalyptic threat, the safeguarding of the future of the Jewish people's right to Eretz Yisrael must take precedence. Bernard Shapiro is executive director of The Freeman Center For Strategic Studies, which has daily political, military and news analyses and a monthly internet magazine, The Maccabean Online. Contact him at bernards@sbcglobal.net |
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CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE IS IN THE AIR
Posted by Bryna Berch, December 20, 2004. |
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These three news items appeared today in Arutz-7 (www.IsraelNationalNews.com)
"Jewish Law Takes Precedence Over Israeli Law" Citizens need not fulfill orders that violate Jewish Law, even according to modern Israeli law. This was the general consensus reached at a Jewish Jurisprudence seminar this past Sabbath. Journalist David Bedein told Arutz-7, "It was fantastic to see 250 people, most of them lawyers and most of them very knowledgeable in Judaism, discussing the definition of an illegal order and concluding with a consensus that one must not adhere to such an order. They brought many examples from our sources, such as King Saul's order to kill the Priests of Nov, where it was clear that an illegal order of this nature must not be carried out." Among the lecturers were Supreme Court Justice Elyakim Rubenstein and former IDF Chief Prosecutor Menachem Finkelstein. Bedein noted that the speakers refrained from giving specific examples, such as the disengagement/expulsion currently on the public agenda: "They spoke of the general responsibility of a soldier in the field who receives an illegal order. The soldier has the responsibility to decide on his own; he is not just a robot who must fulfill orders, but must rather use his own judgment. This was something that everyone agreed on: the responsibility of the individual to consider the situation and use his own judgment." "They did not bring specific examples," Bedein noted, "such as the evacuation plan, nor something that I consider even more grave, Clause 5 of the disengagement plan which calls upon Israel to train terrorist security forces in Gaza; helping an enemy in time of war would seem to be a clearly illegal order. In addition, the transfer plan calls upon soldiers to abandon property, including synagogues, to the enemy. None of these examples were mentioned; the intention was only to teach the general principles. I'm sure that if there is a Part II dealing with practical issues, which I anticipate will happen soon, these examples will be brought up." The seminar, entitled, "The Fulfillment of Illegal Orders," was organized by Israel's "Jewish Law Heritage" movement. The organization bemoans the fact that the British Mandatory laws became the "default" laws of the State upon its establishment, instead of Jewish Law. It tracks progress in this area, however, and notes examples of cases where Jewish Law provides inspiration for state law, or actually becomes the law. There was a consensus among the speakers that according to both modern Israeli law and Jewish law, a law that contradicts Jewish law need not be adhered to, as freedom of religion is guaranteed in both the Declaration of Independence and the Basic Laws. Another point widely made was that a Jewish king is not allowed to give orders to violate the Torah. One leading lecturer with great military-legal experience reminded the audience that a military order to desecrate the Sabbath for a non-combat purpose is a clearly illegal order that must not be fulfilled. Justice Rubenstein expressed the hope that indictments would not be served, if at all possible, against soldiers who refuse orders based on their religious beliefs. He lamented the fact that most of Israel's judges don't use Jewish Jurisprudence in their rulings, due to lack of knowledge and lack of desire. INN.com correspondent Ruti Avraham reports that it was noted that though a soldier must fulfill orders, he will not be punished for not doing so if their illegality is "perfectly clear to him." On the other hand, if the order is "blatantly illegal," he is forbidden to carry it out. "Yesha Leader: I'm Ready to Go to Jail to Save Gaza" Pinchas Wallerstein, head of Binyamim Regional Council in Samaria, calls on Israelis to break the law non-violently against the so-called disengagement plan, "even if it means going to jail." Wallerstein, a leading member of the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza (Yesha Council), wrote Yesha residents a letter declaring that the government plan "allows the crime of uprooting Jews from their homes" and that the proper reaction is "to be ready pay the price and go to prison." He told Arutz-7 that the proposed government law determines that anyone who resists transfer is in violation of the law. He specifically added that opposition should be "non-violent," a phrase that most media reports did not include. Peace Now leaders as well as some Knesset Members immediately called on Attorney-General Menachem Mazuz to investigate him on suspicion of incitement. The Yesha Council is to meet Monday afternoon to discuss its opposition strategy to the plan to transfer Jews from 25 communities in Gush Katif and northern Shomron and hand Jewish land over to the Arabs. Wallerstein said he expects unanimous approval of his approach. "If someone were to try to pass a law for a transfer like this of some Arab village... all the knights of justice and civil rights would immediately protest and scream their hearts out to the heavens. But when it concerns Yesha residents, there is no justice and there are no rights," Wallerstein wrote, and continued: "The evacuation/compensation law [currently being discussed in two Knesset committees - ed.], which has already passed its first reading, and with the new government has nothing standing in its way, is an immoral law. This is not only because of the Stalinist way in which it was formed, and not only because of its inhumane clauses such as those that negate compensation from whoever objects to being thrown out of his home, but primarily because it legalizes an unspeakable crime: the forcible uprooting of Jews from their homes." "Only if there will be a large population already today that is committed to be in Gush Katif and northern Samaria (if and when there is forced evacuation) and bodily resist transfer, only then is there a chance that this government will understand the gravity of its steps. I'm not scared of going to prison, and I hope that many people will understand, like me, that this is the price we must pay in order to object in a non-violent manner to this unethical crime." Wallerstein later said that if enough people are willing to follow his example, "there won't be enough prisons in the country to hold them all, and something will have to give." "Yesha Council Expected to Back Call for Civil Disobedience" A Yesha leader's call for civil disobedience and willingness to go to jail are the issue of the day, and the Council leadership is set to convene this evening to decide its stance on the matter. Pinchas Wallerstein heads the Binyamin Regional Council north of Jerusalem, and is a leading member of the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza (Yesha Council). He wrote an open letter to Yesha residents yesterday in which he declared that the government disengagement/expulsion plan must be opposed with a willingness to non-violently break the law if necessary and even go to prison. Wallerstein explained that the only chance to stop the evacuation is if there is a sufficient number of people who are willing to bodily resist the transfer. "I'm not scared of going to prison," he wrote, "and I hope that many people will understand, like me, that this is the price we must pay in order to fight this unethical crime." The Yesha Council will convene this afternoon, and is expected to support Wallerstein's statements, even if not unanimously. Wallerstein did not consult with his colleagues before publicizing his letter. Former MK Elyakim HaEtzni of Kiryat Arba, speaking on Arutz-7 today, congratulated Wallerstein for his letter, and said, "Although it has been reported that not everyone on the Yesha Council agrees, I would like to make it clear that I, too, as a member of the expanded Yesha Council board, identify with his letter. I will do everything I can to violate this law of persecution - a law that is cruel, wicked, dictatorial, anti-democratic, and oppressive, reminiscent of anti-Semitic laws throughout history, anti-Zionist and anti-national, and a disgrace to those who legislated it. Those who enforce or implement it will be fulfilling a blatantly illegal order." HaEtzni also decried Prime Minister Sharon, acting Justice Minister Tzippy Livny, some of the media and others who "self-righteously act as if disobeying this law is a blow to democracy. The opposite is true: Since this law is anti-democratic, the refusal to obey it is the way to stabilize our democracy. This evil approach of presenting those who initiate the pogrom as if they are the 'princes of democracy' stems, in part, from ignorance of the very fundamentals of democracy." HaEtzni quoted Ariel Sharon himself as recommending, in the past, two important approaches "that will be the keys to our victory. One is civil disobedience to the law of transfer, and one is refusal by security forces to enforce the expulsion." In 1995, in the face of plans to give Jewish land to the Palestinian Authority, then-opposition MK Ariel Sharon said, "As one who has served in the army for many years, I say that a soldier must fulfill orders. If he feels that the order given him is against his conscience, he must turn personally, and I emphasize 'personally,' and explain this to his commander - and be willing to bear the consequences.'" Also in 1995, Sharon told the Kfar Chabad weekly journal, "A year and a half ago already, I called for passive popular resistance... The most effective demonstrations are silent protests of tens of thousands. If we could have 50,000 people around the Prime Minister's office for ten days, the government would fall... This is a permitted method in democratic regimes." HaEtzni added that it is "obvious that Sharon knew that this would involve the blocking of streets, and even the whole city. Pinchas [Wallerstein] is merely carrying out the ideas of the Prime Minister... Let's hope that Pinchas' letter is just the opening shot, and that it will soon be followed by actions." He mentioned Women in Green's efforts in collecting signatures of soldiers who declare that they will not follow disengagement orders. Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu (Likud) said this morning that civil disobedience is a recognized democratic tool, "but if someone employs this tool, the government has the right to punish him." Netanyahu said that the best solution would be a national referendum on the matter of the expulsion plan: "Almost all of the Yesha residents, even Pinchas Wallerstein, say that they would honor the results of such a referendum. The reality is greater than any individual public figure, and as the tensions increase, the situation is likely to force the Prime Minister to hold a referendum." Mr. Sharon was quick to respond later this morning, saying that a referendum would not be held. Both Prime Minister Sharon and President Moshe Katzav, who met this morning and held a short press conference afterwards, condemned Wallerstein's statements, as did many on the left. Attorney-General Menachem Mazuz is to hold a consultation this evening on the legality of Wallerstein's letter. Some left-wing figures, however, such as Ynet's commentator Ariana Melamed, wrote that Wallerstein was merely exercising his democratic right to oppose laws he feels are immoral. Yesha Council member Sha'ul Goldstein, head of the Gush Etzion regional council, said he would not have taken Wallerstein's approach without first preparing the public. Goldstein supported him in principle, however, and said he himself plans to engage in permitted passive resistance to the intention to uproot Jews from their homes. "If a democracy is permitted to make laws to throw people out of their homes, and to declare me a law-breaker just by my very presence in my home - then what's a dictatorship?" he asked today. Rafi Ben-Bassat, Wallerstein's deputy in the Binyamin Regional Council, said that his boss' position was a "calculated move, and I believe that many people will follow his lead." He told Arutz-7 that Wallerstein is not likely to be arrested for his statements: "If they didn't arrest people like Yossi Sarid and author Amos Oz who talked about lying down in front of bulldozers and blowing up bridges to stop a possible transfer of Arabs, then we can assume that they won't arrest Pinchas either." Asked if attempts were being made to expand the struggle against the disengagement beyond the borders of Judea, Samaria and Gaza, Ben-Bassat said, "Most definitely. Where I live, in N'vei Tzuf in northern Binyamin, we go from house to house in Petach Tikvah; every Tuesday a large group goes out, and other groups go to other places, and explain the significance of this destruction plan." Dr. Ron Breiman of Professors for a Strong Israel (PSI) said, "In the present situation, PSI anticipates that thousands of people will be willing to go to prison as a way of stopping the dangerous process promoted by the two leftist leaders, Sharon and Peres." |
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THE DUTCH RETHINK MULTICULTURISM - (THIS IS WHAT ISLAM HAS IN STORE FOR AMERICA!)
Posted by Tamar Rush, December 20, 2004. |
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This was written by Christopher Caldwell, a senior editor of the Weekly Standard (www,Weekly Standard.com). It is entitled "Holland Daze". This is so disturbing, that I'm having trouble maintaining my equilibrium. These people are deadly serious. They want a return to the 7th century. Make no mistake about it. Amsterdam Early this month, another Schiedam native, a 30-year-old man known in his police dossier as Farid A., was found guilty of issuing death threats over the Internet. When the conservative Dutch politician Geert Wilders described Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat last year as a "terrorist leader," Farid A. posted a picture of him on an Islamist website urging: "Wilders must be punished with death for his fascistic comments about Islam, Muslims, and the Palestinian cause." That was a year ago, and since then, Wilders has done even more to tick off Muslim radicals. He left the conservative Freedom and Democracy People's party (VVD) after a personal spat with the party leadership, promising to launch his own "Geert Wilders List," along the lines of the one-person movement that turned the gay populist Pim Fortuyn into the most popular politician in the Netherlands in early 2002. Wilders has focused on Turkey, crime, and the unsustainability of high immigration. He has warned that many of the more than 1 million Muslims who live in the Netherlands "have already opted for radical Islam," and has urged closing extremist mosques. There is a market for his forthrightness. In early November, a poll in the left-leaning daily de Volkskrant showed that Wilders could win several hundred thousand votes, which would translate into nine seats in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the national legislature. When the gadfly filmmaker Theo van Gogh was shot and knifed in southeastern Amsterdam on November 2, the letter that his killer pinned with a knife to his corpse contained a promise to do the same to the Somali-born feminist VVD member of parliament Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Wilders got similar threats shortly thereafter. There were two results for Wilders. First, his popularity shot through the roof: A second poll in de Volkskrant showed Wilders would now win almost 2 million voters, taking 28 seats, or a fifth of the parliament, and that he was drawing support across party lines and in every single sector of Dutch society, despite - or perhaps because of - perceptions that he is a single-issue candidate. But Wilders also had to go into hiding. He now appears in public only for legislative sessions in the Hague, where he travels under armed guard. He complained in mid-December that the death threats had hampered his ability to build his party. The head of a conservative think tank told newspapers he had been advised by security personnel to stay away from Wilders. Anyone who declared himself for one of those 28 seats that looked ripe for the plucking would thereby place himself on a death list, too. One strange but highly professional video that can be downloaded off the Internet shows drawings of machine guns, then photographs of Wilders with Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and then captioned panels reading: name: geert wilders |
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REFUSE!
Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, December 20, 2004. |
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Civil disobedience is an established method to fight an immoral law or decision of a Government. It is true that the Ukrainians have be successful in preventing the "back door" takeover of their country by the use of non-violent, civil disobedience. However, and this is a big however, they did not engage in any form of disobedience, civil or un-civil when they were under Communist control. Why not? Non-violent protest can only work when there is a reasonable level of civility in the political process and overall culture. A political system that stays in power by systematically brutalizing its population will not be moved by Mahatma Gandhi type protesters. It should be remembered that ALL successful, peaceful protests have occurred under democratic regimes. Only violent and generally extremely violent protests have ended the rule of dictatorships. There has never been a non-violent movement that has succeeded against a dictatorship. The most accurate description of Israel's political system is Plutocracy; rule by gangsters. I do not say this to be clever but to be clear. All of the evictions of Jews by Government forces in the past few years have been conducted with premeditated and extreme brutality. Do not forget that when Moshe Feiglin organized peaceful demonstrations against Oslo, the Government reacted initially with scorn and eventually with extreme violence. Moshe Feiglin was sentenced for sedition and is fortunate to be alive. In the previous generation when Sephardim peacefully protested against blatant Government discrimination and bigotry, they were viciously beaten and dragged through the streets of Israel. Over the short history of the State of Israel, there have been numerous examples of this. Gangsters always react with violence and murder when their interests are threatened. It is true, nevertheless, that there have been many peaceful demonstrations that were not attacked by Government forces but in every case they were "approved" events. The massive anti-Oslo events over the years all had Cabinet members, MKs, "leading Rabbinical figures," and were very tame affairs. I saw how anyone who carried an "unapproved" banner or sign was swiftly taken care of. Even establishment types who strayed too far from the approved norms would suddenly find their microphone had gone dead or were cut short by someone on the podium. Israel's rulers may be gangsters but they are not stupid. They understand that they need to let the masses blow off a bit of steam. Let them waste their time and money, they reason, on pointless rallies and petitions. Nothing will change because they are in control and uninfluenced by such things. However, as soon as a demonstration, group or action become a real threat, they will react quickly with brutal, repressive violence. If you are planning peaceful, civil-disobedience against gangsters then be prepared for the possibility of being severely beaten, maimed for life or killed. Do not expect to be treated with respect or in accordance with your civil or human rights. No consideration will be shown because you are old, a woman, a child, a well know person or any other factor. The Government forces that will confront you will be men carefully chosen because of their psychopathic tendencies to violence. Each one will attempt to pour onto you the maximum amount of rage, hatred and violence he feels he can get away with. If after all this you still believe that it is worth it, then at least make sure that whoever has convinced you to show up and get bashed is in the front and not off to the sides giving interviews to Fox News. Aryeh Zelasko lives in Beitar Illit, south of Jerusalem. He is Director of Sales and Marketing of Israel Visit (www.israelvisit.co.il) which provides information and an internet buying facility for American visitors to Israel. |
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IS ARIEL SHARON ABOUT TO BE "STUNG"?
Posted by Tamar Rush, December 20, 2004. |
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Israel WILL be the sacrificial lamb! The EU is more than happy to sacrifice Israel for what they think will lead to peace in the middle east.... and it seems that the US will also follow suit and sacrifice Israel in exchange for a renewed co-operation with Europe... Within 2 years both the EU and US will be calling for a single state solution, because Israel's 1949 borders won't provide the security the little country needs... A sacrifice to satiate the Arab and Iranian oil sheikhs... As always in politics, money means more than a few million lives.... we see the genocides in Sudan and the Congo, but how far behind them will Israel be? This is by Reuven Koret, publisher of Israel Insider. It is archived at http://web.israelinsider.com/Views/4613.htm In recent days, several U.S. Congressmen have written to President George Bush, asking him to explain the recent developments in the FBI investigation of AIPAC, the powerful pro-Israel lobbying organization. Press reports have indicated that, contrary to initial reports that the investigation was the accidental offshoot of a probe into a Pentagon researcher, AIPAC was the primary target of a "sting" operation. The Pentagon man, Larry Franklin, was used to provide bogus information to AIPAC lobbyists to find out whether that information - whether it was described as classified is unclear - would wind up in Israel. The FBI does not operate in a vacuum, and the question arises as to which purpose the investigation serves, and whose? Already, lobbyists for Jewish organizations in the United States report the "chilling effect" of such a probe, comparable to the aftermath of the arrest and subsequent conviction of Jonathan Pollard, the naval officer who passed classified information to Israel. They are circumspect about contacts with Israeli officials for fear of being suspect or even subpoenaed, as occurred with the senior AIPAC officers. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has put all of his diplomatic eggs into the basket prepared by George W. Bush. Based on Sharon's interpretation of assurances that Bush would back his plan for "unilateral disengagement" from Gaza and Northern Samaria, oppose the Palestinian "right of return" and recognize that major settlement blocs would be eventually annexed by Israel, Sharon sought to win the backing of his coalition partners and the Israeli public. He lost all those partners, but his popular standing remains relatively strong. There is popular support, as always in Israel, for a national unity government, with the ruling Likud party forming a coalition with Labor and at least one small religious party. Sharon's disengagement plan was based on several concrete assurances which he made to ensure passage of the initial bill inside his government. One was that Israel would retain full control of the Philadelphi route separating Gaza from the Israeli-Egyptian international border. Another was that Israel would retain full control of the Gaza coast and airport, preventing the smuggling which has recently become a huge problem, resulting in rocket attacks on Israeli towns and Jewish settlements in Gush Katif and tunnels used to blow up IDF bases. He also said that there would be a separate vote on actual "evacuation" (i.e. expulsion) of residents of each of four groups of settlements. Now, it would appear, Sharon is being forced to retreat from all these positions. Shimon Peres, head of the Labor party, his new coalition partner, has called for Israel to turn over control of ports to the Palestinians, enabling air and sea access for improved weapons, and for Israel to withdraw from the Philadelphi route, relying on the Egyptian to police the border and prevent tunnels (although who needs tunnels when you can ship it in or fly it in?). Moreover, in a surprise move in response to "legal experts," Sharon is now saying that he must move up the evacuation vote from June to January and to have the vote to expel the Jewish residents from all communities in Gaza and northern Samaria in a single vote, not four, leaving plenty of time to crush, with a sympathetic Supreme Court and Attorney General, expected appeals on the legality of the "transfer" process. Sharon clearly is no longer in control of the process. He is already being dragged headlong beyond the "red lines" he set as conditions for the far-reaching process he initiated. No wonder the leader of the Labor party's negotiating team said he was "groveling" for their entry into the government. In the days and weeks to come, we can expect to see increasing pressure from the Americans and the Europeans for Sharon to make increasing concessions. The silk glove treatment he has enjoyed till now is likely to yield to brass knuckles from the Americans, British and other Europeans should the Israeli Prime Minister stray from the Quartet-dictated roadmap, perhaps strengthened by a "peace conference" in London or elsewhere. Already, the Americans and the Europeans, not learning from their mistakes with Arafat, are ready to pledge huge sums of money - reportedly $6 to $8 billion - to aid the Palestinians, including increasing their "security." Much of that money will be poured into Gaza which promises to be an untouchable terror state within striking distance of Tel Aviv. As for the huge costs which will accompany Israel's redeployments, destruction of settlements, and relocation of settlers - this apparently will be left for Israel alone to bear. The Europeans now have their man a heart-beat - or an indictment - away from the leadership of Israel. If, heaven forbid, Ariel Sharon were to die in office, or perhaps to resign or suspend himself in the wake of various investigations still open against him, Shimon Peres will shortly be in a position to take over, and call the shots, at least during a hundred day transition period as provided by the Basic Law of the Knesset. As Sharon has showed, that can include firing uncooperative ministers, promoting cronies, and ignoring inconvenient laws or uncomfortable precedents. A lot can be achieved, and dismantled, in one hundred days. In short, the stage is set for Ariel Sharon either being made expendable, and replaceable, or at least being played as an increasingly constrained and uncomfortable puppet. The cascade of concessions he is now making relative to his initial unilateral disengagement reflects this, but represents a small down-payment on the massive concessions to be extracted later. In short, an outmaneuvered Sharon has placed Israel on the fast-track to an imposed solution which promises to look far different than his original vision of a Palestinian state "in formaldehyde." Indeed, it is the Prime Minister who is being pickled. The Late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin apparently had a similar queasiness in late October 1995, when he drew back from the "unofficial" Beilin-Abu Mazen agreement, godfathered by Peres, and put forth his own moderate, security-conscious alternative (which included the need to retain the Gush Katif bloc in Gaza - see my Rabin was Right"). A few weeks later he was assassinated, and Peres took over. There is a point in the not distant future when, I believe, the FBI investigation of AIPAC and the ungloved squeeze on Israel will coincide with concerted international economic and political pressure on the Jewish State and Jews worldwide to toe the line - or else. At the same time massive pressure is being applied on Israel, indictments will be served against Jewish lobbyists, along with lavish helpings of alleged dual loyalties. The "sting" is set. It may come with the "honey" of action against Iran's nuclear capacity, or the Iranian nuclear threat may be allowed to hang over our head as a friendly reminder of what friends are for. The stab in the back will come with soothing words, and stroking reassurances that it really is for the best. Our choice then will be to stand up and fight the world alone, or lie back and enjoy the world's tender mercies. Pickle, anyone? Israel's prime minister Ariel Sharon was warned many a time to beware of placing all his major policy eggs in the George W. Bush basket. But from the time he first took office more than three years ago, he never wavered from his bond with the US president. Their friendship was often cited as one of Sharon's prime assets. And until last week, the Bush administration stood behind the prime minister and heartily endorsed his plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank in stages ending in September 2005. But then the wind blowing in from Washington suddenly turned chill. In the last week, according to DEBKAFile's Washington sources, the White House suddenly spun its sympathies around from Ariel Sharon and his disengagement plan to Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), Fatah frontrunner in the Palestinian January 9 election, and his sweeping demands for territorial concessions. The prime minister's office in Jerusalem has not acknowledged that a main prop has been knocked out from under his most fundamental policy positions. But it was suggested in Sharon's "2005 - year of big opportunities" speech Thursday night, December 17, in Herzliya. He declared in ringing tones that recalled the way he laid down the law to Likud rebels: Disengagement will take place and it will proceed according to the format and time scale I laid down! DEBKAFile's Washington sources outline the new state of play. Our sources in Washington believe that the determining factor in the US president's turnabout was the message from Abbas that he will be in a position to announce a comprehensive ceasefire on or around January 1. He promises to bring all the Palestinian organizations including the radical Hamas and Jihad Islami into the truce. Bush decided that if Abu Mazen can pull this off, his demands deserve close attention. They are, first, that Israel hold up its plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank by September 2005 and set a new timeline. Its execution must also be swift, no more than a few weeks. He thus rejects Sharon's hard-and-fast timetable on which Israel's security chiefs have based their 2005 planning. The Bush administration may have bought another key Palestinian demand: Israel's withdrawal from the West Bank must be a lot deeper than the line marking off the northern tip with the four settlements that Sharon proposes to evacuate. That pullback too, according to the new US thinking, must take place in the space of weeks rather than the six months allotted by the Sharon government. These demands are not the sum total of Abu Mazen's shopping list - just starters. But if confirmed by Washington, they will require Sharon to scrap his four key policy objectives. 1. The disengagement strategy born at the peak of Yasser Arafat's campaign of terror as a unilateral exercise will be laid on a future negotiating table and subjected to tough Palestinian bargaining every inch off the way. Since last week, Washington looks like lining up behind Palestinian demands rather than Israel. 2. The proposition that the withdrawal from Gaza and northern West Bank will be Israeli's last territorial concessions to the Palestinians, presented to the Israeli public as the crowning achievement of the Sharon-Bush friendship, will go by the board. On April 14, President Bush received Sharon at the White House and endorsed his disengagement plan. ("I commend Prime Minister Sharon for his bold and courageous decision to withdraw from Gaza and part of the West Bank" - as did British premier Tony Blair later). The US president also said "in the light of new realities on the ground, including existing major population centers, it is unrealistic to expect that the outcome of final status negotiations will be a complete and full return to 1949 armistice lines." 3. Washington has said often that terrorism must stop as a prerequisite for political progress. But how serious is this assertion? Since last month, the Americans and Iraqi prime minister Iyad Awali have been in and out of Amman for secret meetings under Jordanian King Abdullah's aegis to coax Iraqi Sunni leaders and Saddam loyalists to take part in Iraq's new democratic enterprise. Some of the Iraqi interlocutors lead guerrilla operations against US forces in Iraq - either from inside the country or from outside bases, mainly in Syria. If Washington is willing to engage Iraqi terrorist leaders, why not open an indirect channel to Palestinian terror organizations too? 4. In his "Big Opportunities for 2005" speech Thursday, Sharon presented his Gaza pullback plan as the road to cure-alls for Israel's economic woes, to new markets and to solutions for the extreme social and economic disparities between Israel's rich and poor. DEBKAFile's Washington sources note that, while the Bush administration never promised US aid for the payout to evicted settlers or the Israeli army's redeployment in the Negev, it was understood that Washington would be helpful to Israel on international and financial markets. That too is in doubt. The Bush administration is now focusing fully on raising $6-8 billion dollars from its own resources and those of other nations, including the Europeans, for Palestinian reconstruction and recovery projects over the next five years. Israel will not only miss out on funding for its peace efforts but its taxpayers will be asked to contribute to the Palestinians. Former prime minister Ehud Barak has picked up the new winds blowing from Washington, for, speaking after Sharon, he called for the urgent completion of the defense barrier. Because of delays in its construction, he said: "... Israel may have already lost Ariel and he is not sure that Maaleh Adumim is not lost too and Gush Etzion at risk." Barak was nudging the prime minister to stop bandying words with the White House and instead to create facts on the ground without delay. Sharon is therefore in for some hard shoves to adapt to the Palestinian scenario. He is still clinging to his plan with all his strength. In his Herzliya speech, he noted bitterly: I cannot accept changes of plan after all my struggles, sacrifices and battles. A month ago, he could have escaped the pressure by dissolving his minority government and calling an early election. But that door is closing fast. In the next few days a coalition agreement which he initiated is due to be signed for attaching dovish Labor and Oslo Accord architect Shimon Peres to his government. Sharon is careening very fast into a fix undreamt of two weeks ago; he is about to be dragged by the White House and pushed by his Labor partner away from his cherished disengagement plan and forced to kowtow to a US-backed Palestinian agenda. |
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THE LEFT AND ISLAMISTS; LETTERS TO SANTA, 2004
Posted by Steven Plaut, December 20, 2004. |
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1. "The Left and the Islamists", Joshua Kurlantzick,
Commentary Magazine. Joshua Kurlantzick is the foreign editor
of the New Republic.
The Manhattan attorney Lynne Stewart has been wedded to activist causes since the 1960s, defending a long train of leftists who have had run-ins with the law. A grandmotherly woman with a wide, jowly pink face and graying hair in a bowl cut, she has represented antiwar demonstrators, aging yippies, and Black Panthers. In one well known display of her skills, she convinced a jury in the late 1980s that Larry Davis, a drug dealer who had wounded six policemen in a shootout, was himself the victim of corruption and racism, and won his acquittal. When Stewart arrived at a federal prison hospital in Minnesota in May 2000, however, she met a client from a very different milieu. In the visiting room, Stewart sat down across from Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, the infamous blind Egyptian cleric imprisoned for life in 1995 for inciting the 1993 World Trade Center attack and plotting to blow up the FBI's office in Manhattan as well as the United Nations and the Holland and Lincoln tunnels. Though roughly the same age as Stewart, Abdel Rahman seems to have missed out on many of the famously tolerant ideals associated with her generation of activists. He has called for the slaughter of Jews, and for women to have little public role in society. Yet, with Sheik Omar, Stewart allegedly took a step beyond mere legal advice. Videotapes reportedly show that Stewart loudly spoke nonsense words while her client, under the din, instructed a man traveling with Stewart and posing as a translator to execute a new terrorist plot. For this, Stewart has been charged with providing material support for terrorism, since the dangerous sheik is forbidden from contacting his followers. At Stewart's trial this fall, an FBI agent told the court that Sheik Omar later issued a proclamation, found in Stewart's office, announcing that "Any statement that comes from her ... should be taken as if I said it." Also at the trial, an Egyptian reporter for Reuters testified that, at roughly the same time as this proclamation, he had received a call from Stewart relaying a message from Omar to his followers that they should break their cease-fire with another Islamist group. Revelations of her complicity with known terrorists left Stewart nonplussed. "We hit if off," she gushed to the Washington Post about her interactions with the sheik. "He's really an incredible person." The seemingly improbable partnership that has emerged in recent years between figures like Lynne Stewart and Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman is the subject of David Horowitz's new book, "Unholy Alliance: Radical Islam and the American Left."* According to Horowitz, links that began to form between Islamists and American leftists at the end of the cold war have been cemented by 9/11 and the Iraq war. Calling this alliance the Hitler-Stalin pact of our times, he warns of its potential impact, especially in undermining the war on terror. Horowitz, the founder of the online magazine FrontPage and a former radical leftist, is at his best in documenting the intellectual connections between these strange bedfellows. He shows, for instance, how the anti-American pronouncements of Noam Chomsky have become increasingly indistinguishable from those of the fire-breathing clerics who appear on Arab satellite TV stations. Horowitz dredges up reams of similarly incendiary quotations from a range of American and Arab radicals. At the organizational level, he documents occasions on which leftist Western lawyers like Stewart have defended Muslim groups accused of abetting terrorism, and he points to the participation of militant Muslims in some of the most publicized antiwar rallies. Horowitz also provides useful historical context for this unlikely romance. Over the past century, he argues, the radical Left in Europe and the U.S. has come to define itself as a movement against, rather than a movement for. Primarily, of course, its target has been the United States, no matter what the United States has stood for. For Horowitz, the historical roots of todays red-green alliance (green being the color of Islam) are to be found in the American Left's long-standing obsession with the treatment of blacks and Native Americans and especially in its loudly proclaimed solidarity over the years with Fidel Castro, the North Vietnamese, and Communist rebels in El Salvador and Nicaragua. When the U.S. declared war on terror, it was time, once again, for the Left to lionize whomever America opposed. The fact that radical Islamists hold social and cultural values diametrically opposed to those of American leftists is not, Horowitz maintains, as big a problem for either party as it might appear. As in a previous era, when the hard Left dealt with Stalin's widely acknowledged crimes by turning its attention to more attractive proxies of the cause like Vietnam and Cuba, todays radicals tend to pay tribute not to al Qaeda but to groups like Hamas, whose extensive social-service network can be invoked to soften the horrors perpetrated by its terror cells. (Interestingly, though, few if any of todays leftists have decamped for Teheran or Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, as some once did for the workers paradises of Cuba and North Vietnam.) For their part, the prophets of radical Islam have not only borrowed from the Left in recent decades. Citing Bernard Lewis, Horowitz notes that anti-Americanism seems to form the one exception to their categorical hatred of Western ideas. They have learned to appeal to leftist sympathies. The Arab media now constantly condemn the U.S. for victimizing the third world and supporting tyrants. Many Islamists have even mastered the rhetoric of class struggle and anti-colonial resistance. As Horowitz observes, the Ayatollah Khomeini sought to portray his revolution in Iran as a movement of the oppressed, thus gaining the support of elements of the global political Left. Horowitz's Unholy Alliance is among the first serious examinations of this troubling and relatively new relationship, and for that he certainly deserves credit. But there is a good deal more to be said about the origins of this ideological convergence and the concrete ways in which it has already found expression. Useful as it is to be reminded of the long history of the radical Left's shifting allegiances, Horowitz scants what is decidedly new in the developments he describes. A decade ago, a red-green alliance would have seemed astounding. On campuses in Europe and America, women's groups usually avoided Islamist organizations, which often held highly misogynistic beliefs. The primary concerns of hard-leftist groups tended to be local issues, like labor rights and poverty. Few had ties to any Muslim organizations. One powerful catalyst that changed all this was the birth of the anti-globalization movement. The real and imagined evils of globalization have breathed new life into the international Left, especially among the young. The social dislocation brought about by trade, outsourcing, and economic integration has proved to be a potent issue. But radicals have not rested content with protesting the policies they dislike. They have also sought villains, and they have found familiar ones: America and the Jews. As Mark Strauss of the Carnegie Endowment has argued in "Antiglobalism's Jewish Problem" (Foreign Policy, December 2003), this is no accident. Despite the youth of many anti-globalization activists, they have drawn upon and updated venerable tropes of traditional anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism. The Rockefellers and Rothschilds have disappeared as international bogeymen, only to be replaced by theories of Jewish and American intrigue at the World Trade Organization and other supranational economic agencies. In the demonology of the Left, the top-hatted banker in striped pants has given way to the greedy, globe-trotting American consultant and the conspiring Zionist warmonger. That such images should have found a ready audience in the Muslim world is no surprise. But their dissemination depended on yet another recent development: the Internet. Before the advent of today's computer technology, the hard Left in Europe and the U.S. would have had no idea how to seek out Islamist sympathizers. A generation ago, it would have been necessary for the two groups to occupy the same physical space - an unlikely prospect, given that traditional Muslims living in Arab-French suburbs, for example, rarely mingle with the college students who frequent Left Bank cafes. The Internet has opened a door between these disparate environments. Since the 1990s, Europe and America have seen a dramatic increase in the number of homepages on the Web created by both radical Muslims and anti-globalization activists. Creating links among these groups has become, literally, a matter of pushing the right buttons. Horowitz provides few details about the actual political and financial connections, as opposed to the ideological affinities, between Islamists and radical leftists in the U.S. More disappointingly, he does not turn his attention to Europe, where such connections abound, thanks to the large and growing presence of Muslim immigrants and the interest groups that cater to them. In early 2003, several British left-wing parties - Marxists, socialists, Labor radicals - came together with Islamist groups, including the local branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, to create a joint steering committee. Its co-chairmen (to give something of its flavor) were Andrew Murray of the British Communist party and Muhammad Asalm Ijaz of the London Council of Mosques. On the Continent, at roughly the same time, similar alliances were cemented between Islamist organizations and leftist parties like France's Trotskyist Workers Struggle. These links were quickly put to use. Throughout 2003 and 2004, Islamists and anti-globalization activists in Europe have held a number of joint protests, marches, and conferences. A February 2003 demonstration in London, co-sponsored by the Muslim Association of Britain and the Stop the War Coalition, drew some one million people. In France, several anti-globalization groups helped to lead marches protesting the government's order that headscarves could not be worn in public schools. At all of these rallies, Islamist and anti-Semitic ideas have become commonplace (a precedent set, as Horowitz correctly notes, by the notorious UN World Conference against Racism held in South Africa in 2001). Islamists and anti-globalization activists have other pan-European activities planned for 2005. Still more worrisome is the fact that the leftist-Islamist partnership has been able to convert its cooperation into votes. In 2004 elections for local offices throughout Europe and for seats in the European Parliament, Islamic groups either worked together with leftists on joint lists or helped promote Left candidates in Belgium, Great Britain, and France, where the hard Left won 5 percent of the vote, a substantial figure for any small group. The electoral advantages of this united front can only grow as immigration and high birthrates add to Europes already sizable Muslim population. In their outreach to Muslim radicals, hard-Left groups in the U.S. lag only slightly behind their European peers. Horowitz singles out one of the best-known of these organizations, International ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism), a New York-based group founded by former U.S. attorney general and long-time radical agitator Ramsey Clark (who has also represented the blind sheik). ANSWER, Horowitz shows, traffics in precisely the same kind of anti-American and anti-Semitic vitriol as the most hateful Islamists. In fact, ANSWER's transgressions extend well beyond the dangerous rhetoric cited by Horowitz. In December 2003, the group helped to convene the second annual Cairo Conference, an anti-U.S. hate fest attended by a variety of Islamists, including Osama Hamdan, a top leader of Hamas. ANSWER has also given a seat on its steering committee to the Muslim Students Association (MSA). This American group presents itself as a benign advocate for Muslim college students. But as Jonathan Dowd-Gailey has recently documented in the Middle East Quarterly (see also The MSA ), the MSA has funneled money to the Holy Land Foundation and other charities accused of funding Hamas and Hizballah. MSA leaders have called for the death of all Jews and have spread pro-Taliban propaganda. The group advises its members that their long-term goal should be to Islamicize the politics of their respective universities. Indeed, for radicals in the U.S. and Europe, any taboo that may once have kept them from openly collaborating with known Islamic terrorists has largely disappeared. As Lynne Stewart's trial was proceeding in Manhattan in September, an international strategy meeting was being held in Beirut under the title, "Where Next for the Global Anti-War and Anti-Globalization Movements?" Among the hundreds of groups in attendance, from over fifty nations, were such pillars of the anti-globalization hard Left as Focus on the Global South, a think tank devoted to issues of international trade; ATTAC, a socialist network with branches across Europe and Latin America and links to European political parties; and CorpWatch, an American group that monitors corporate influence on politics. And who was on hand as a conference host to welcome the delegates to Beirutto make sure hotel rooms were acceptable, meals met everyone's tastes, and delegates could call their loved ones back home? None other than the Shiite terrorist group Hizballah, along with local Islamists and secular leftists. Though the conference did include radical advocates for the rights of women and other minorities, attendees seemed to have no problem taking directions from a group whose clerical overlords believe in a version of Islam that sentences homosexuals and adulterers to death by stoning. Immediately after this conference adjourned, another left-wing group, this one of a religious cast, descended on Lebanon. A delegation of the American Presbyterian Church met with Hizballah officials in Beirut and praised the terrorist organization. As one of its members helpfully explained on Hizballah television, "Relations and conversations with Islamic leaders are a lot easier than dealings and dialogue with Jewish leaders." The partnership between Islamists and the international Left poses its most immediate threat to Jews. As Horowitz rightly worries, the anti-Semitic propaganda spread by the red-green alliance stokes violence against Jewish communities and makes Israel an ever more vilified object of rage. Ultimately, too, Islamists may turn some part of the anti-globalization movement toward violence, just as groups in the 1960s like the Weather Underground took up guns and bombs as they became more radical. Indeed, many older members of the hard Left have never forsworn such tools. As Lynne Stewart told the New York Times (in an interview cited by Horowitz), there is nothing wrong with using directed violence against the institutions which perpetuate capitalism. In the longer term, the ideas propagated by the hard Left-Islamist alliance could also seep into the wider political culture, poisoning the mainstream Left and otherwise sane liberals. Praise for suicide bombers, Horowitz notes, can already be heard at times from members of Europe's socialist establishment. In France, Belgium, Great Britain, and other European states, some parties of the moderate Left have tried to co-opt Muslim groups while sidestepping their extreme rhetoric, hoping thereby to bolster the parties' own credibility with dissatisfied radical voters. The French Communists, traditionally one of the larger and more mainstream leftist parties, have been leaders in this regard. On the American side, too, pressure seems to be building for Washington to engage Islamic extremists more directly, in an effort to blunt some of their sting. According to a recent report in the Washington Post, American diplomats around the world have begun to make contacts with the Muslim Brotherhood despite serious concerns about the organization, which has fomented revolution across the Middle East and is dedicated, in the Post's words, to creating an Islamic civilization that harks back to the caliphates of the 7th and 8th centuries. Edward P. Djerejian, a former top State Department official, insists that the U.S. must know where they [Islamists] are coming from, to influence them. To demonize the Muslim Brotherhood, warns a former CIA official, would be foolhardy to the extreme. As if to confirm this new strategy, the government-funded National Democratic Institute recently hosted a delegation from a Yemeni party linked to the Muslim Brotherhood at the Democratic National Convention in Boston. As we and our allies try to develop more sophisticated political and diplomatic strategies for dealing with the Muslim world, the temptation will be great to reach out to those Islamist groups that express some willingness to work with us. Signs of apparent reasonableness are difficult to resist, especially for well-meaning internationalist bureaucrats. In its item on the Muslim Brotherhood, the Washington Post reported that some State Department officials believe the group could be persuaded to temper its anti-U.S. stance and even to battle the jihadists. Such hopes defy reality. They also ignore the long history of Islamist groups in Sudan, Iran, Afghanistan, and elsewhere that have worn a moderate face in their formative years but, once in power, have moved quickly to implement sharia law, eliminate all opposition, and give aid to terrorists. As Islamists become more visible participants in the politics of the Western democracies, and as their new friends on the hard Left strive to obliterate or gloss over their record of mendacity and violence, the rest of us cannot afford to turn a blind eye to who they are and what they stand for. 2. Letters to Santa: Infidel Santa,
Attention Santa Sir,
My Dearest Santa,
Dear Mr. Claus,
Dear Santa,
Hey Claus,
Dear Santa:
Dear Abu Klaus:
Dear Brother Klaus:
Dear Comrade Klaus:
Dear Mister and Mrs. Claus:
Dear Chaver Claus:
Dear Loving and Caring Claus:
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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THE KATIF WALL?
Posted by David Wilder, December 20, 2004. |
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Last week, during Hanukkah, the kids were home on vacation. Here in Hebron we try to provide daily activities for the children, including parties, trips and the like. On Tuesday one of my friends approached me and asked if I'd be busy the next day. As all spokespeople are trained to do, I answered his question with another question - "why, what do you need?" He proceeded to tell me that on Wednesday, he was to escort a busload of kids on their Hanukkah trip, but something came up. Could I replace him? I didn't have too much planned for the next day so, why not - it's a day out of the office, without having to sit in front of the screen. So I asked, "where are they going?" and he answered, "Gush Katif." That clinched it. I sort of felt like we were playing round robin. That very day a large group of children from Gush Katif came to visit in Hebron. They participated in all sorts of events, including skits, touring, and a big candle-lighting ceremony with Hebron children at Ma'arat HaMachpela at sundown. On Wednesday a group of Gush Katif women arrived for a day in Hebron, at the same time that our children made their way down south. I'm sure many people will ask - this is the way to spend a vacation day? Gush Katif residents travel to Hebron and Hebron goes to Gush Katif? Couldn't we each find more relaxing places to splurge a day away from home? I guess in some ways it's hard to explain, but in other ways, maybe not. We spent a couple of summers vacationing in Gush Katif, at Kfar Darom. Two of my daughters did their national volunteer service there, and we developed friendships with people in the community. We'd borrow someone's house for a few days, someone who was vacationing somewhere else, and spend a few days at the nearby beach, barbeque outside, and just enjoy the quiet, tranquil atmosphere, the beautiful scenery, which sort of reminded me of the Garden of Eden. Believe me, it really is like that - perhaps it's a little less quiet these days, with mortars and Kassam missiles exploding all over the place - but Gush Katif still has a beauty difficult to express in words. I guess this is one of the reasons it was decided to send our kids there for a day during Hanukkah, to experience the character of this endangered part of Eretz Yisrael. But of course, there's more to it then just that. When we were under attack in Hebron, nothing was more heartening than people coming to visit - to walk the streets, to speak with us, to show support, just by being there. And I believe so it is today in Gush Katif. Over 5,000 mortars and missiles have been fired at Gush Katif residents over the past few years. Each one of those projectiles is targeted to kill - it is only due to Divine miracle that people aren't injured or worse every single day. Only last week a Thai woman, working in a Gush Katif greenhouse, was killed by a mortar which exploded right next to her. On September 24, twenty-four year old Tiferet Tratner was murdered by one of these flying bombs. I have a beeper which receives almost immediate news bulletins whenever 'anything happens' - including missile and mortar strikes in Gush Katif. There isn't a day or night that goes by when I don't get numerous reports of missiles and mortars, landing in Neve Dekalim, Netzarim, and other communities. Early this morning the beerer buzzed, announcing that four mortars hit Kfar Darom, damaging a whole row of homes. Thank G-d, no one was injured. So, in truth, you really can't ask how we go to visit for a few hours. You really have to ask how people there are able to do it - how they can live with this day after day, night after night, literally year after year. It's difficult to speak for them, but I have a feeling that the answer is sitting there, on the tip of my tongue. First of all, and most importantly, the people in Gush Katif aren't crazies - over 9,000 people with a death-wish. They are people just like you and me - but they have a tremendous amount of faith - faith in G-d, faith in what they are doing, faith and determination to live their beliefs, to live the land, to bring life to the desert, to settle Eretz Yisrael. They are merely braver than most other people. It seems clear to me that they also know and realize, all too well, that we cannot and should not flee from terror. The only way to deal with terror is to stand up to it - to fight it, but never to acquiesce to it. This is why they are so determined to stay where they are, despite the dangers and difficulties, because they know all too well: if Gush Katif falls and is abandoned to our enemies, the next front will not be Kfar Darom. The front will move up, past Sderot, (which is still under continued missile attack) to Ashkelon and Ashdod. The heroism of Gush Katif's residents cannot be explained as a personal interest to maintain their own homes: rather it is true patriotism - doing what is best for their people and their country - putting their lives on the line to protect others, only slightly further north. Having experienced the horrors of bombs falling out of the air at all hours of the day and night for years, they know what's in store for their fellow countrymen, should the Arabs have the chance to hit them. And truthfully, I'm doubtful if those city residents would have the stamina or faith to endure such constant attacks, such as we've witnessed in Gush Katif for the past four year years. That's why we go there - that's why we took the kids there - first, by our physical presence to show our support - to let them know that they are not struggling alone. But also to let our kids breathe the great courage of others - to show them that Gush Katif residents are the bravest people alive in Israel today. It really was a beautiful day. Not in the classic sense. The weather was rather miserable. But that doesn't stop Hebron's children from having a good time. We had lunch on the beach, at the 'Pagoda,' once a stylish restaurant, perched on the Mediterranean Sea. The hotels closed, the tourism dried up, and the restaurant's clientele became non-existent. But the owner, a pleasant fellow named Menachem who could not abandon his dream, still lives there, and opens the building to wayward wanderers like us, who need a few tables and chairs for a lunch break. The wind was chilling, and he was gracious enough to make me a cup of coffee, a lifesaver on a cold day next to the water. We talked for a while, and I could see the sea in his eyes, the idealism of a true Israeli pioneer, who could never, ever, abandon his homestead. After lunch we drove down the road a ways, to a small community called 'Shirat HaYam.' Today inhabited by 17 young families who literally live on the beach, this community was initiated by a few single girls, a few years back, who fell in love with the site. They married and established their homes there - small, simple caravans, - with the sea as their back yard. It's an amazing place populated by amazing people. Our last stop was the Neve Dekelim Yeshiva. It was during our brief stay here that the kids really got excited. They heard booms in the background, booms of mortars falling, not too far away. But that wasn't what struck me at this yeshiva, which was originally established in the Sinai community of Yamit, which was deleted from the face of the earth following Menachem Begin's abandonment of the Sinai to Egypt, almost twenty-five years ago. Inside the yeshiva building, just as you walk in, is a memorial to the Yamit community - called the 'Yamit wall.' A Neve Dekalim resident who happened to be there explained the significance of the wall to the children - telling them about Yamit, explaining how it was destroyed, and how the wall remained as a memorial to the fallen community. Watching the children, and listening to the explanation, I had a hard time keeping my composure. I kept asking myself: Twenty five years from now, will one of these kids be standing in front of a group of children, explaining to them the significance of the 'Katif wall'? I sure hope not. With blessings from Hebron. This commentary is dedicated to the memory of Menachem ben Shaine and Elihu - Robert V. Lewis David Wilder is spokesman of The Jewish Community of Hebron. You can contribute directly to The Jewish Community of Hebron, POB10, Kiryat Arba-Hebron 90100, hebron@hebron.org.il, 972-2-9965333 or write to The Hebron Fund, 1760 Ocean Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11230, hebronfund@aol.com |
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FORD NGO FUNDING UPDATE: AL-DAMEER
Posted by NGO Monitor Organization, December 20, 2004. |
Summary: The extremist agenda of the Al-Dameer Association of Human Rights demonstrates the need for faster implementation of Ford Foundation guidelines on funding for NGOs that engage in incitement and justification of terror. Established in Gaza in 1993, the Al-Dameer Association of Human Rights describes itself as "concerned with presenting legal services to detainees inside Israeli jails, along with its activities in defending the victims of violations, whoever perpetrates them" and "works on raising the societal awareness in the field of democracy and human rights through working with different sectors of the local society". It receives funding from individuals, local donors and international institutions, including the UNDP, Norwegian Peoples Aid, the International Commission of Jurists, and the Ford Foundation. According to the Ford Foundation's website, Al-Dameer was the recipient of a $50,000 grant in 2004. The funding policy of the Ford Foundation, examined previously by NGO Monitor, has supported blatantly political anti-Israel activities. Following the analyses published by NGO Monitor and the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Ford Foundation President Susan V. Berresford initiated a review and declared that it would act to ensure that funds no longer went to "groups that promote or condone bigotry or violence, or that challenged the very existence of legitimate, sovereign states like Israel." While some changes have been made, the activities of Al-Dameer show that the Ford Foundation is continuing to fund Palestinian NGOs that do not comply with Ford's own funding regulations. Al-Dameer is a member of the Palestinian NGO Network, which was instrumental in producing many of the preparatory documents for the Durban 2001 conference including the document calling for embargoes on Israel. This behavior has continued, and while claiming to promote human rights, Al-Dameer's leaders defend terrorism, stating: "Palestinian people have the right to resist occupation to achieve their rights, especially their right to self-determination. We must reject the connection between the struggles of the Palestinian people in resisting the Israeli occupation with terrorism." A 4 October 2004 press release refers to 75 "martyrs" as a result of a "barbaric attack" by the IDF. (This press release was removed from the Al-Dameer website after NGO Monitor's draft analysis was sent to Ford for comment.) The language of demonization continues in the press release, which refers to "an assault of ethnic disinfections against Palestinian civilians" and "the savagery of these crimes that forms a unique model never been used before against an unarmed occupied people." Repeating the standard call of the Palestinian Authority, Al-Dameer demands the dispatch of an international force 'to protect Palestinian civilians'. Offering no context to IDF counter-terror operations in Gaza, another press release of 9 September 2004 calls for "the formation of a War Crimes Tribunal to bring to justice the perpetrators of these actions." Al-Dameer also makes unsubstantiated claims in relation to the extent of IDF operations. For example, a 17 March 2004 press release claims that the IDF "destroyed the administrative buildings and the campus of the Al-Aqsa University." Al-Dameer also refers targeted killings of Palestinian terrorists to be "war crimes" and fails to acknowledge the role of terrorist leaders in perpetrating acts of murder against Israeli civilians. Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin is portrayed as a "handicapped adult confined to a wheel chair". When Al-Dameer does acknowledge the memberships of terrorist organizations of Palestinians killed in IDF operations it still refers to them as "martyrs" along with civilians caught in the crossfire. Thus, two Hamas members are "martyred" in what is described as a "massacre" in the Al-Zaitun neighborhood. Similarly, Al-Dameer displayed five photographs on its website, which it referred to as "Photos of daily life under occupation". These lack any context or explanation leaving the viewer to draw uninformed conclusions. Two of the photos, despite offering no evidence as to the identities of those involved or the actions taking place, were described as an "Israeli soldier torturing a Palestinian prisoner". (As in the case of its missing 4 October 2004 press release, this section of Al-Dameer's website was recently cleaned up, and was empty as of December 20, 2004). As this evidence demonstrates, Al-Dameer engages in anti-Israel demonization while condoning Palestinian terrorism, in violation of the Ford Foundation's guidelines. The Ford Foundation's response: NGO Monitor's analysis was sent to the Ford Foundation, whose Assistant Secretary and Associate General Counsel, Nancy Feller replied on 3 December 2004: NGO Monitor has requested a more substantial response, which will be posted upon receipt. The NGO Monitor organization (www.ngo-monitor.org) promotes critical debate and accountability of human rights NGOs in the Arab Israeli Conflict. Note that the original article contained dynamic links to additional material - see http://www.ngo-monitor.org. |
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IT BEGINS AGAIN
Posted by David Gerstman, December 20, 2004. |
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Over the years - especially since 1993 - Israel has been called upon to make "goodwill gestures" or "confidence building measures" to the Palestinians. In general these gestures involve risky activity - ceding land, freeing prisoners and allowing greater freedom of movement - making it easier for Israel's enemies of the Israeli measures to launch attacks. Yet despite the risks, the conventional wisdom is that these things are "the least" Israel can do and parties all around dismiss their importance. Israel, in another "confidence building measure" has agreed to free 170 Palestinian prisoners (http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041219/ap_on_ re_mi_ea/israel_palestinians_17). Israel on Sunday approved the release of 170 Palestinian prisoners in a goodwill gesture toward Egypt and the new Palestinian leadership, officials said, but a Palestinian official dismissed the Israeli move as "cosmetic." Note that the source is not a member of Hamas, but a "Palestinian official," (identified later in the article as "Radi Jaraie, the deputy Palestinian minister of prisoner affairs.") Where did the idea originate that releasing prisoners was a "confidence building measure?" Here's one of the earliest references in the "Agreement on Gaza Strip and Jericho Area" (http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace+Process/Guide+to+the+Peace+Process/ Agreement+on+Gaza+Strip+and+Jericho+Area.htm"): ARTICLE XX There are some interesting aspects to these confidence building measures: 1) Israel's obligation is quite specific and was fulfilled. 2) The Palestinians never fulfilled even their ill defined obligation. Palestinians suspected (fairly or more likely not) of helping Israel were (and still are) regularly killed as "collaborators." 3) There was a limit on the amnesty. Violence against Israel prior to Sept 13, 1993 was to be forgiven by Israel. The implication is that this was a peace treaty and acts of war prior to the signing of the treaty were to be forgiven. Israel made a huge (and dandgerous) concession here allowing acts of terror to be construed as acts of war. Effectively this legalized Palestinian terror making it legitimate but even at that: the amnesty only applied prior to the signing of the original Oslo Accords. Any Palestinian engaging in terror subsequent to Sept 13, 1993 showed that he didn't accept the peace treaty and was therefore not elibible for amnesty. Yet for the past 11 years the PA has insisted that Israel release all of its Palesinian prisoners even those who engaged in terror after the Oslo Accords. In this way the PA openly flouted its supposed acceptance of pursuing only a political solution; even after Oslo they sought to excuse terror against Israel in violation of their own commitments! (Charles Krauthammer once made this argument, but I haven't found it.) Now Israel is once again proposing to release Palestinian prisoners, all of whom committed offenses subsequent to Sept 13, 1993. And once again the Palestinian minimize the significance of the proposal. A willful media ignores the precedent and allows the Palestinians to conflate terrorists with prisoners of war or political prisoners. If the gesture is to be minimized, Israel should reverse itself. If it builds no confidence why release men who will go back to committing terror? This isn't Hamas rejecting the significance of Israel's actions but a member of the PA. The NY Times has been very good at this sort approach. An editorial today "Timely Help for the Palestinians" (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/18/opinion/18sat3.html? ex=1261112400&en=36e825b1fde3f874&ei=3D5090&partner=rssuserland) states: After the Palestinian elections set for Jan. 9, the new government must crack down on armed groups. Donors are also calling for Israel to remove scores of roadblocks and checkpoints. While those checkpoints have undoubtedly reduced the number of attacks by suicide bombers, they have made it virtually impossible for average Palestinians to move freely, whether going to the polls or simply trying to go to work. Notice how Israel must allow "Palestinians to move freely" even a the cost of no longer reducing "the number of attacks (not just of) suicide bombers." And what does Israel get in return? An expectation of the Palestinians. And what happens if the Palestinian don't live up to their side of the bargain? Will the editors of the Times condemn them and say that Israel mustn't concede anything else until the Palestinian fulfill their obligaitions. Or will they insist on continued Israeli "confidence building measures" to convince the faithless Palestinians of Israel's serious intent? I would bet on the latter. Consider for example a column from Thomas Friedman earlier this year. He criticized PM Sharon for not boosting Abu Mazen in his first incarnation as Palestinian PM by releasing prisoners. First he asserted (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/05/opinion/05FRIE.html? ex=1391403600&en=14e5a661e648a085&ei=3D5007&partnerUSERLAND): While Mr. Sharon's decision is in the right direction, it's not all so simple. Why? Because in the past two years, Mr. Sharon has crushed Mr. Arafat's corrupt Palestinian Authority, but failed to lift a finger to empower more responsible Palestinians - like Mahmoud Abbas and Muhammad Dahlan Then when he was called on it, and many pointed out that PM Sharon had indeed released prisoners to boost Abbas's image he wrote the next week (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/12/opinion/12FRIE.html? ex=1391922000&en=89c2413816c1293e&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND): My Feb. 5 column erred in saying Ariel Sharon had released no Palestinian prisoners to Mahmoud Abbas. He did. It was just too limited a release to have any impact. See above. But as I noted back then (http://doubting.baltiblogs.com/archives/000827.html): First of all there was at least one "big name fighter" who was released. That was Ahmad Jabara, the "refrigerator bomber." Jabara was welcomed by many people in addition to Arafat and given a special title. The release may not have been enough for Abbas, but would any number have been? It's also wrong to claim that the release was too limited. This is from a contemporaneous account by The Media Line: Crowds gathered to greet Jabara at the Qalandia checkpoint, from where Jabara headed straight for the Muqata'a, Arafat's compound in Ramallah. Jabara was greeted by Chairman Arafat with open arms. The Palestinian Al-Hayyat reported Jabara's release as the main item on its front page, alongside a picture of Arafat holding Jabara's hand as a demonstration of strength and solidarity. The release of Jabara was fron[t] page news in the official Palestinian press. That suggests that this was an excellent "confidence building" measure for those who believe that such things help. Instead of strengthening Abbas, Arafat got all the credit. For Friedman - as well as his editors - no Israeli concession is too great and no Palestinian obligation is too small. With such an orientation there will never be peace. Hopefully the Bush administration will show greater sense. This article is crossposted on Israpundit (http://israpundit.com/archives/2004/12/it_begins_again.php) and Soccer Dad (http://soccerdad.baltiblogs.com/archives/004567.html) |
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THE "EVICTION AND INDEMNITY LAW" - AN IMMORAL PROPOSAL FOR ETHNIC CLEANSING
Posted by Dr. Ron Breiman, December 20, 2004. |
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Professors for a Strong Israel agrees with the head of the Binyamin Regional Council, Pinchas Wallerstein, that the "Evacuation and Indemnity Law" ("pinui-pitzui") is an immoral proposal for ethnic cleansing. Like Mr. Wallerstein, we see only one common denominator in the Sharon-Peres government: a lust for razing Jewish communities and evicting Jews from their lands. Under the circumstances we predict that thousands will be willing to go to prison in order to put a brake on the dangerous plan espoused by the two leftists and their government. We expect of the attorney general and of the legal establishment that they will declare that the cleansing of populations from their homes on an ethnic basis is unacceptable and illegal, even when the population is Jewish. Their silence in the face of this transfer law will damage heavily the rule of law in Israel, even as the norms of democracy are being trampled. Dr. Breiman is Chairman of Professors for a Strong Israel (PSI). He can be reached at 050-5-518 940 |
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LONG LIVE PINCHAS WALLERSTEIN!
Posted by Ruth and Nadia Matar, December 20, 2004. |
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WOMEN IN GREEN applauds and supports the stand of Pinchas Wallerstein! His resistance to the transfer of Jews is the number one topic of discussion on the Israeli media. The fact is, the time has come to fight the illegitimate government that wishes to implement the treacherous and illegal plan of Sharon. We dare not uproot Jews from their homes in the Promised Land. We urge all Jews to take whatever non violent of civil disobedience, to bring down the onerous government of Sharon. That is what the masses did in the Ukraine, when they succeeded in ending its corrupt government. We in Israel must do the same. The masses must take to the streets and stop the usual life of this country. We must finally bring down the dictator Sharon and the Oslo criminals who surround him. The biggest criminal of them all is Shimon Peres, who heads the list of those who support Sharon's Disengagement Plan. Pinchas Wallerstein must be allowed to continue to spread his message. In addition, Women in Green call upon everyone to urge the security forces not to obey the illegitimate order to transfer Jews from their homes. It is sacrilegious to destroy their synagogues! The holy graves of their loved ones must not be disturbed! No soldier or policeman should lend a hand to help transfer Jews from their Homeland. No Jew, and certainly not the Jewish State of Israel, has the right to turn against what is clearly Promised by the G-d of Israel in our Bible. How much more so is it forbidden to give any part of our Holy Land to the murderous Arab enemy. Send your words of encouragement to Pinchas Wallerstein at these fax numbers: Yesha Council 02-5814072 (from abroad - 972-2-581-4072)
Ruth and Nadia Matar established Women For Israel's Tomorrow (Women in Green), an activist group of women based in Jerusalem. Their website address is http://www.womeningreen.org |
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THE BUTS AND THE BIBLICAL LAW
Posted by Steven Shamrak, December 19, 2004. |
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The real Zionists are often criticized for their strong, uncompromising points of view. Israel is criticized for not doing enough for peace, too. But, the same people are able to find any inconceivable justification for the horrendous actions of Jewish enemies. Many critics are Jewish and, in their strange way, they do care about the Jewish state. Regrettably, a well designed and executed propaganda campaign, supported by terror acts does affect people on a deep psychological level. Therefore, even decent members of the public, who have been exposed to and brainwashed by anti-Israel propaganda for a long time, are unable to evaluate the reality and the facts behind the news. Even committed Zionists have become indifferent and cynical, due to self-destructive policies and inaction by successive Israel governments. There is an atmosphere of despair among many staunch Zionists and supporters of the state of Israel. Even they began to use 'politically correct' terminology and self-limiting ideas. This creates the perception of hopelessness and facilitates an inability to follow through the realisation of the Jewish national goal. I would like to address the most commonly expressed scoldings: "We can't have everything" - We do not want 'everything'! It is 'others' have been 'acquiring' all they could for centuries. And now, they are imposing limitations on Jews, so we wouldn't even try to return what is rightfully ours! "One must be pragmatic and realistic" - The reality is perceived illusion. It is created by action. Why should we accept 'sh***y' reality imposed on us by our 'friends' and enemies? Only by setting the 'Big' goals can anything great can be achieved! "What about 3 millions Arabs living in Israel and territories" - What about them? Most of them came to Palestine after Zionists started reclaiming Jewish land. The goal of their masters, Arab and British, was to prevent the creation of the state of Israel. There are 22 Arab countries. It is time for them to return home. The message must be clear: Their sinister plan has failed! "They will not allow us..." - Those mysterious 'They' again: 'They' were silent and did not want Jews survive Holocaust, 'They' did everything possible to prevent creation of the only Jewish state, 'They' have been doing nothing to stop Arab terror against Israel. Must we care what 'They' think? We must do what is right for us. Nobody else will. This is the only way! It is written in Torah that if a thief is trying to tunnel into your house at night, you are allowed to kill him (The reasoning is that your life is without a doubt endangered). Arabs has continually said that they want to remove all Jews from Palestine. Only recently, they actually spent 4 months digging 730 meters long tunnel and killed 5 Israelis. For two thousand years Jews let robbery and killings go unpunished. We closed our eyes on too many 'tunnels'. The time has come to invoke the biblical law! Steven Shamrak was born in the former Soviet Union (USSR) and participated in the Moscow Zionist "refusenik" movement. For the last 3 years, he has been publishing internet editorial letters on the Arab-Israeli conflict - independently, not as a member of any organization or political movement. He can be reached by email at StevenShamrak@mail2world.com |
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DOUBLE CROSS PART 2
Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, December 19, 2004. |
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President George W. Bush has double-crossed Israel with the intention of by-passing Israel's refusal to accept the Muslim Arab demand of the "Right of Return" for 3 to 5 million relatives of those 450,000 Arabs who left Israel before and during the Arab declared wars of 1948 and 1967. Recall that the incoming 6 Arab armies told the approximately 480,000 Arabs to leave so their well-armed soldiers would have a clear field of fire and open roads for their tanks, trucks, etc. Their plan was for the incoming Arab forces, particularly Egypt, Syria and Jordan to occupy the Jewish territories and take over their material assets. They would confiscate all that the Jews had built - with no intention of returning any of the Arab refugees to the land. Most of these refugees were merely peasant farmers, called fellahin, who leased the land they farmed from absentee land-owners in Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Europe. UNRWA (United Nations Relief Works Association) had a philosophy or definition of "who is a refugee" for Arab from Mandatory Palestine, different from "who is refugee" from any other country. As they defined it: "A refugee from 'Palestine' is one who had lived in that country for a minimum of two years - not from 'time immemorial'. No other refugees in the world are defined in this category. Now, under Bush's diktats, UNRWA wishes to empty ALL Jews from ALL of YESHA (Judea, Samaria and Gaza) in order to allow 3 to 5 million relatives and descendants of those 450,000 Muslim Arabs who had left to take the homes, farms, factories, roads, water, sewage treatment, electric grid and even their cemeteries to fill them under a false "right of return". This transfer of Jews is supposed to appease Muslim Arab Terrorists and Terrorist nations such as Syria, Iran, etc. The Bush Dynasty, the pro-Arab U.S. State Department, the Europeans who helped kill 6 million Jews needed to "Rent-a-Jewish-Leader" to assist in betraying the Jewish State of Israel. Here they employed the enthusiastic dictator-to-be Arik Sharon and Sharon brought in Peres - always ready to give up Jewish Land neither had personal title to. Bush has abandoned his support for Israel now that he is again in office for four more years in his second and final term. He lied to the Israelis; he lied to the Christian Right. He now wants to pacify the Arab Muslim World because he has killed Muslim Arabs in Afghanistan and Iraq. (I only hope he proves me wrong!) His War against Global Terror - which is a war against Muslim Terrorists - will, no doubt, spiral down, unless Al Qaeda succeeds in obliterating a few towns as they threaten to do - like Washington, etc. Then perhaps, Bush will be impeached and someone with conviction and real courage will take his place. Such is the history of this young American Democracy., Should any American city be hit with WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction) including NBC (Nuclear, Biological or Chemical), I see a temporary take-over by the military under martial law, accompanied by a rain of nuclear missiles on the key nests of Muslim Arab Terrorist Nations. As for Sharon's plan, coupled with the regeneration of Peres failed Oslo, all designed to compress the Jews into one small area - guess what follows? If this horrific government - now to be led by two would-be dictators - is not taken down and replaced with a democratic government which abides by a Peoples' Referendum to keep the Covenant wherein G-d gave the Land to the Jews in perpetuity - even those dedicated Leftists will flee the country like the proverbial rats leaving a sinking ship. 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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KNESSET, KAHANE AND MORE VOICE OF JUDEA NEWS AND COMMENTARY
Posted by Voice of Judea, December 19, 2004. |
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IT IS NOW LEGAL TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE KAHANE CHAI LEGAL DEFENSE FUND!! www.kahanechailegaldefensefund.com MAJORITY OF ISRAELI YOUTH WANT ARABS OUT OF KNESSET Israeli politicians and representatives of the Israeli educational system are not happy with the recent findings of a survey taken of Israeli Jewish youth. According to the survey published in Maariv Dec. 19, 51% of those polled said they were against Arabs being allowed to serve as Knesset members. Only 9.5% felt that democracy is the most important thing. Voice of Judea Commentary: Miracles of miracles. The more the system tries to brainwash youth to be brain dead supporters of democracy even at the expense of Israel's survival, the more young people develop a healthy survival instinct. KAHANE COUPLE REMEMBERED An overflow crowd packed the main synagogue of Kfar Tapuach last Thursday night to hear Torah lectures and eulogies in memory of Rabbi Binyamin Ze'ev and his wife Talia, who were murdered by Arab terrorists on the Jerusalem-Tapuach highway four years ago. Distinguished Rabbis; including Rav Dov Lior, chief Rabbi of Yesha, and Rav Shlomo Aviner, head of Yeshivat Ateret Cohanim; delivered sermons for over five hours. Rabbi Baruch Kahane, Rav Binyamin's older brother, closed the service with recitation of Mishnayot and Kaddish. Members of the Referendum to Save Israel distributed a flyer with the following message: "To take our destiny into our hands" This was the last message of Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane HY"D and of his father, HY"D. At the end of their lives, both endorsed the creation of a referendum, through which the nation of Israel could demand a drastic change in the dangerous government policy. Today, finally we have launched the referendum. As a first step, we will be holding a mini-referendum in the city of S'derot. S'derot the city that has been hit the hardest by Kassam rockets is the most logical place to host the preliminary referendum. The referendum will contain two questions.
Sharon's treason will, ironically, help us to promote an alternative, and to inject a real solution into the national dialogue. For if it is acceptable for Sharon to suggest the expulsion of Jews, then it must surely be acceptable for us to propose a referendum that includes the counter alternative the expulsion of the Arabs. Today we have an incredible opportunity to propose to the nation of Israel another way based upon the Torah. A way which is, in actuality, the only way to save Israel before Sharon forces tragedy upon us, G-d forbid. The path of Sharon/Labor = tragedy. Because surrendering land will only increase Arab terror and bring it closer to the heart of the country. The way of the Right/Yesha Council=tragedy. Because the retention of the territories along with its hostile Arab population is not a viable alternative. The only reason that so many Israelis presently support leaving the Gaza Strip is that they wish to free themselves of the malignant and hostile Arab population that lives there. And the referendum that has been proposed by the Yesha Council does not offer any answers to the Arab threat. The path of Kahane/Torah = the only way to save Israel. Because there is no solution other than the expulsion of the hostile Arabs to beyond a security zone far outside of the state's borders. This proposal will enjoy the support of the majority of the Jews of Israel as we will prove, G-d willing, after sharing the results of the S'derot referendum. We are in need of volunteers to man polling stations, as well as funds to finance this vital campaign. Those interested can contact Ezra at 054-791-0341 or at 054-4-876-709. US callers can call 718-874-2057. Checks can be sent directly to "The Referendum for Israel" PO BOX 6592 Jerusalem 91060. " Attorney Seeks to Legalize Kahane Organizations Finally an American attorney has stepped forward to challenge the anti-Semitic State Department's erroneous classification of Kahane Chai and other pro-Israel organizations as terrorist groups. In the government's initial listing, it was unable to bring evidence to even one case of terrorism allegedly committed by any one of the groups. Before March 2, 2004, pursuant to Treasury regulations and Federal anti-terrorism laws, making contributions to or on behalf of Kach, Kahane Chai, and Kahane.org, even for challenging the foreign terrorist designations, was generally illegal. On March 2, 2004 the Treasury Department issued a license allowing Mr. Klein, Attorney at Law to establish the Kahane Chai Legal Defense Fund, to solicit contributions, and receive payments from the Fund for the work he has done. If you believe in the mission to remove Kach, Kahane Chai and Kahane.org from the State Departments Foreign Terrorist Organization list, please contribute to the Kahane Chai Legal Defense Fund. Initial contributions will be used for payment of completed legal work. For the first time since 1995, it is possible to donate money to help challenge this listing of Kahane Chai. Those interested in donating can visit the legal fund's website at: http://www.kahanechailegaldefensefund.com/ Funds can also be sent to:
The office can be contacted by telephone at (202) 628-4936
To subscribe to Voice of Judea emails, send a request to jsid@dorsai.org |
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WILL THE REAL ABU-MAZEN PLEASE STAND UP?
Posted by Naomi Ragen, December 19, 2004. |
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Friends, If anyone knows what the Palestinians are really saying to each other in Arabic - not the stuff they feed gullible Jews and Western journalists in English, it's Michael Widlanski, who is an expert in Arabic and has been studying the Arab media for a decade. Dr. Michael Widlanski teaches Political Communication at the Hebrew University's Rothberg School and has researched the Palestinian media for nearly a decade. Below, a very revealing article that appeared in Haaretz. Naomi Does the Palestinian Arab press know something that the Israeli press does not know? Even as the Hebrew press headlined the remarks of Mahmoud Abbas (nickname Abu-Mazen) calling for an end to the "Intifada," the Arab press especially the Palestinian press ignored the "news" item. When "Haaretz" wrote in its lead headline (Dec. 15, 2004) "Abu Mazen: The Use of Weapons in the Current Intifada has hurt us and has to stop," Radio "Sawt Filasteen" "Voice of Palestine" - the official mouthpiece of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), kept completely quiet. When "Yediot" and "Maariv" extensively covered and featured the remarks of Abu-Mazen (which were made to "Al-Sharq al-Awsat," an Arab newspaper published in London), official Palestinian television and the daily newspapers ignored the event. So what does this mean? Who got it right the Israeli Hebrew press or the Palestinian Arab press? It seems that the Arab press was right, if only for professional journalistic reasons. After all, PLO Chairman Abu Mazen has said exactly the same thing or almost exactly the same thing several times before. In March 2003, he said the same thing to the same Arab newspaper in London when he was Prime Minister-presumptive of the PNA. He said almost identical things to the Jordanian newspaper "Al-Ra'i" in September 2003, and I have personally heard him say similar things on several Arab television stations in Lebanon and the Gulf. Indeed, Dr. Abbas made very similar remarks at the Aqaba Summit on June 4, 2003, and then he quickly "explained" his remarks in a susbsequent "special press conference" held for the Arab press. One therefore has to ask what is the real importance of the remarks of Dr. Abbas (Abu-Mazen). First, we must stress that the Arab press's disregard of the "moderate" remarks of the current PLO Chairman concerning the "current Intifada" are not part of a desire to ignore Abu-Mazen, the successor to Yasser Arafat. Quite the contrary! On the same morning (Dec. 15, 2004), Radio Voice of Palestine opened its broadcasts with extensive quotations from the new PLO Chairman who was touring Gulf countries. In fact, the radio as well as official PA television quoted Abu-Mazen's strong opposition to any kind of limitations of the Palestinian "right of return." The Palestinian media asserted that Abu-Mazen said and with him the entire PLO/PA leadership that they would not tolerate leaving any Palestinian refugees inside Arab countries. It appears, then, that a careful examination of Abu-Mazen's remarks to the Arab newspaper in London as well as other recent remarks shows that Abu-Mazen does not oppose violence against Israelis from a moral or ideological perspective. Rather, he opposes some violence only from a "pragmatic" or "utilitarian" perspective. And then only for a short time. Dr. Abbas believes that the Palestinian-Israeli War of Attrition has done more harm than good to the Palestinians. In other words, Abu-Mazen opposes using bullets and bombs against Israeli civilians inside "The Green Line." And he opposes this use of ammunition for reasons of "profit and loss." In the current interview in "Al-Sharq al-Awsat" as in earlier interviews Abu-Mazen has been very consistent on several points. 1. The "Intifada" is a legitimate form of "resistance to occupation," and it should continue, but without bombs and bullets; On the same morning that the Israeli press praised Abu-Mazen for his "moderation," the senior anchorman of Voice of Palestine, Nizar al-Ghul called the attack on the Israeli border checkpoint in Gaza a "resistance operation." The radio anchorman also proudly claimed that the "resistance operation" was carried out by the FATAH (headed by Arafat and Abbas) and the HAMAS (the Islamic Resistance Movement) with whom Abbas has been negotiating. Is this the real meaning of "Palestinian unity" so sought by Abu-Mazen? The Voice of Palestine radio anchorman's remarks on the "resistance operation" were the lead-in to the morning headlines. The day earlier, Voice of Palestine and PA Television called the tunnel bombers "mustash-hedeen" "heroic martyrs" in Arabic. It appears possible that Dr. Abbas (who got his Ph.D from the Soviet "Patrice Lumumba University" on the subject of "Relations between Zionism and Nazism") is not only the formal successor to Yasser Arafat but a willing and eager student anxious to apply Arafat's methods of sending multiple messages to multiple (and sometimes gullible) audiences in different locations and in different languages. Dr. Abbas, who wears a suit rather than the military uniform of Arafat, has a more refined and subtle style than his mentor, but it seems likely that their ideological content is similar, if not identical. We will surprise ourselves a lot less if we study the words and methods of the new Palestinian leadership. Perhaps, we might even discover that when it comes to the "right of return" of Palestinian refugees living in Arab countries for 50 years that Abu-Mazen and Abu 'Ala (Ahmad Qreia) may actually have a tougher line than the Egyptian-born Arafat. Naomi Ragen is an American-born novelist and journalist who lives in Jerusalem. She can be contacted at www.naomiragen.com, where you can subscribe to her newsletter. |
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SHARON AND FEELING PAIN
Posted by Moshe Dann, December 19, 2004. |
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"I felt pain after the agreement was signed; pain caused not merely
by the government's mistaken, irresponsible decisions, but chiefly
by its ministers' devilish joy at the "defeat" of their foes -
the settlers. Sometimes you have no choice but to retreat... But
to give up something that's entirely yours with cries of joy -
the joy of retreat - is a sick phenomenon." Moshe Dann is a writer and journalist living in Jerusalem. Contact him at moshedan@netvision.net.il |
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THE TURKEY-SYRIA EXAMPLE; VICTORY AT NOTRE DAME!
Posted by Steven Plaut, December 19, 2004. |
1. Nice letter in Haaretz by Benjamin Yafet, Tucson,
Arizona, United States of America
(http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ArticleNews.jhtml?
itemNo=511261&contrassID=13 &subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0)
When Turkey first annexed Hatay, Syria adopted a position that it was "occupied" land and it was official policy to "liberate" it by returning it to Syria. After many years of tensions, recently the Syrian President visited Turkey and the issue seems to be solved forever. I have some trouble understanding why "land for peace" becomes necessary only when it comes to Israel. There is no significant Arab population on the Golan. After another fifty years of Israeli presence in the Golan, Israel will have both peace with Syria and the Golan, exactly like Turkey which kept Hatay and now has peace and friendship with Syria. 2. You may recall that the Kroc Center at Notre Dame University in Indiana, a Marxist pro-terror outfit at a "university" best known for its football team, has been trying to get French Arab anti-Semite Tariq Ramadan a gig at the "university" with Kroc picking up the bills. Tariq Ramadan has ties to al-Qaeda. This is the same Kroc Insitute that funded the "research" by Neve Gordon, the lecturer at Ben Gurion University who thinks Israel is a fascist, terrorist, apartheid state, in which Gordon "proves" that Israel is engaged in "state terrorism". Anyways, it turns out that Kroc and Notre Dame have given up their attempts to lauch a Hoosier jihad: http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/385 They can still fund anti-Israel activities at Ben Gurion University, of course. 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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WHY CHRISTIANS SHOULDN'T SUPPORT A NEW PALESTINIAN STATE
Posted by An Li, December 19, 2004. | ||
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The PA never was, isn't and never will a friend of U.S. The Palestinian Authority is our Ideological, Political and Religious Enemy.
PA never was, isn't and never will a friend of U.S. Palestinian Authority is our - Ideological, Political and Religious Enemy
If we are ignoring a history lessons, we condemned to repeat it again. An Li can be reached at info@americandefenders.org This essay is from the American Defenders Organization website (http://americandefenders.org/Terrorism/Palestinians/ Dont_give_them_state.htm). The original has some excellent pictures not reproduced here. The mission of the organization is to provide information on the threat of radical Islamism and establish a Joint front of Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and other religion groups oppressed by Islam. |
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A QUESTION AND AN ANSWER
Posted by Yuval Zaliouk, December 19, 2004. |
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YUVAL, WHAT IS THE ALTERNATIVE TO NEGOTIATING PEACE? WHAT SOLUTION OTHER THAN THE STATUS QUO DO YOU WANT TO SEE HAPPEN? SELECTIVELY QUOTING EXTREME VIEWS TO SUPPORT YOUR OBVIOUS BIAS WOULD NOT SEEM TO OFFER ANYTHING OF A POSITIVE NATURE. DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE YOU HAVE A LOCK ON THE "TRUTH"? HARRY. Dear Harry, Thank you for your note. The worst attitude to any plan or project, whether in business or in politics, is "there is no other way" or "this will not work." Israel's policies should not be based on what the others say (even if the others include the President of USA). Israel should identify its ultimate best possible goals and then do all it can to achieve them. Based on this indisputable premise, here is what would be best for Israel. There should not be any disagreement about it, if it could be achieved, even from the far left: Judea and Samaria will become part of Israel, free of most its Arab population. I do not of course advocate forceful removal of Arabs. Suppose that the Arabs will decide to vacate out of free will, surely, every Israeli would agree that this is the ideal situation. Having stated the ideal, the question is how to achieve it. This is what our government must plan and achieve. A few ideas: 1) Use the world's financial resources to resettle Arabs elsewhere (this option is included in UN Resolution 194). How many attempts were made to offer $100,000 per Arab family that wishes to leave? They do it to Jews in Gaza, why not the Arabs in Judea and Samaria? 2) Absolutely regard Jordan as the already existing Palestinian state on 77% of the British Mandate territory. Why do the Arab-Palestinians deserve two states? 3) While Arabs are resettled elsewhere, increase the Jewish population in Judea and Samaria. Israel is getting too small for 6 million Jews. Many will agree to move to nice locations in Judea and Samaria. 4) A relaxation of our rabbinical conversion laws, will bring about from the entire world many people from mixed marriages. This, with proper incentives, will also help save many souls, particularly from USA, Europe and Russia, and bring them over to join us. Others who wish to convert and join us could also be considered. They also could live in Judea and Samaria and counter demographically the remaining Arabs. These are some ideas. I am sure we can find more, after all, we, Jews, are supposed to be very creative. In my opinion, what is absolutely sure is that Judea and Samaria cannot accommodate another viable independent state with another part detached in Gaza. This will put Israel in a pincer between two parts of deadly enemy non viable state. There will be constant pressure from the Arabs to explode into Israel. Think pressure cooker! If our leaders took the stance of "over our dead body" there will not be a second Palestinian state, the world will eventually come around. Effective hasbara must go with it. So far we only proved that we are willing to escape with the tail between our legs. No other country with lucid leadership would ever agree to such a calamitous move. Best wishes,
Yuval Zaliouk writes the Truth Provider columns. To subscribe, send an email to ynz@netvision.net.il |
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BIITERSWEET VICTORY FOR THE BOIMS
Posted by IsrAlert, December 19, 2004. |
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This comes from Tom Fitton, President Judicial Watch
(http://www.judicialwatch.org) Isralert.com source: Barry Shaw,
Chairman, Netanya Terror Victims Fund, mailto:netre@matav.net.il
Judicial Watch is a non-partisan, educational foundation organized under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue code. Judicial Watch is dedicated to fighting government and judicial corruption and promoting a return to ethics and morality in our nation's public life. Our client, FBI Special Agent Robert Wright, received a measure of vindication after a federal judge recently ordered U.S.-based Islamic "charity" organizations to pay a family $156 million for the murder of their son by Palestinian terrorists who were funded by the groups. Special Agent Wright initiated an investigation of the groups, but the FBI shut down the probe and criticized Wright. A federal jury in Chicago last week awarded damages of $52 million against the Islamic Association for Palestine, the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, the Quranic Literacy Institute and Muhammad Salah, which worked in the United States raising funds and laundering money for the Palestinian militant group Hamas. A federal magistrate tripled the award to Joyce and Stanley Boim, whose 17-year-old son was murdered in Israel in 1996 by members of Hamas. Special Agent Wright in 1996 started an investigation of the "charity" groups' activities. Code named "Vulgar Betrayal," the investigation led to the seizure of $1.4 million from Salah and a U.S.-based educational group with ties to Hamas. But because of turf battles within the FBI and because it appeared that some of the money had come from Saudi Arabia, a U.S. ally, the investigation was shut down by the U.S. Justice Department in early 2000. Wright publicly criticized the FBI for its handling of terrorist investigations. In retaliation, the FBI has brought several administrative actions against Wright in an attempt to fire him. A memo written by a former FBI official tells how the FBI tried to "take out" Wright. The 14-year veteran of the FBI has two separate lawsuits pending against the agency and is represented in both cases by Judicial Watch and former U.S. House impeachment counsel David Schippers of the Chicago law firm of Schippers and Bailey. The Justice Department reopened the investigation of the Islamic "charities," and in August, Salah and two other men were charged with racketeering conspiracy for fundraising for and funneling money to Hamas over a 15-year period. This bittersweet victory for the Boims was secured through Bob Wright's investigation of these terrorist front groups, yet the FBI and the Justice Department have never acknowledged Bob's efforts and, in fact, have tried to fire him for being critical of their mistake in shutting down the investigation. Bob was vindicated in August when these groups and individuals were indicted and now with this latest action. The FBI and the Justice Department owe Bob Wright an apology. Harv Weiner, a businessman in Dallas, Texas, is the founder and moderator of Isralert. To subscribe to IsrAlert, send an email to isralert@aol.com |
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OUR OWN MATTERHORNS
Posted by Michael Freund, December 19, 2004. |
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Following is an article of mine from today's Jerusalem Post regarding
people's willingness to put their lives on the line for a higher
cause. It is archived at
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/
JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1103356913317&p=1006953079865
Letters to the editor of the Post may be sent to: letters@jpost.com. Your comments and feedback are welcome. In the quaint little Swiss village of Zermatt, near the Italian border, stands one of the most peculiar burial grounds a tourist is ever likely to see. Adjacent to a small cathedral, in the shadow of the snow-capped Alps, a few dozen tombstones mark the final resting place of people who died scaling the nearby mountains, each one bearing testimony to a heroic, yet failed, attempt at glory. For a visiting Israeli, thousands of kilometers from home, the scene provided an important, if somewhat unexpected, reminder of the strength and resilience of the Jewish state. Many of those buried in the tiny Swiss cemetery died trying to conquer the famed Matterhorn, whose summit reaches a height of 4,477 meters, making it one of the tallest in the area. With its steep precipices, and unique, almost pyramid-like peak, the Matterhorn presents a challenge would-be adventurers apparently find too alluring to ignore. The graves span continents as well as age groups, with young and old from various countries of origin represented - almost like a morbid band of unsuccessful Olympic athletes. One headstone in particular caught my eye. It belonged to a 17-year-old killed nearly 30 years ago. Affixed to the stone was a red hiking tool, above which was engraved his epitaph: "I chose to climb." To be honest, it is hard to avoid being incredulous at this strange mix of mortality and sentimentality. After all, these are not the graves of people who died defending their country or making the world a safer place. They were risking their lives to scale a mountain, which hardly seems worth jeopardizing one's health, let alone one's very existence. As much as I tried to write off the whole scene, however, there was something about that epitaph, something about those chilling four words "I chose to climb" that would just not leave me in peace. What, after all, would compel a person to voluntarily undertake such a dangerous activity, obviously knowing it could be the last thing he ever did? If these prospective mountaineers were so intent on gambling with fate, they could surely have found other forms of entertainment, with better odds of survival, to boot. Of course, we each have our own Matterhorns, the things for which we would readily risk life and limb, for example, to save family members or close friends from impending danger. But what about more abstract things, like values or ideals? Do these still motivate people the way they once did, or have they been surpassed by the likes of bungee-jumping and mountain climbing? In that sense, Israel remains very much unique, as there are still strong undercurrents of selflessness and self-sacrifice, of people willing to risk it all on behalf of something larger than themselves. THIS PAST Sunday, we received a painful reminder of this when five Israeli soldiers were killed in Rafah by Palestinian terrorists. We have become so used to seeing young Israelis armed and in uniform, manning checkpoints or providing security, that we no longer appreciate the contribution they make to defending this country, or the dangers they face in doing so. Unlike their counterparts, who are busy enjoying college and partying through the night, our young people slog through basic training and do their utmost, day in and day out, to keep our enemies at bay. There are plenty of other groups that also do not get their due, ranging from new immigrants who leave behind the safety and comfort of their homes to tie their fate to this country's, to people willing to settle all parts of the land and build it. But one of the gravest internal threats facing Israeli society today is that these values are increasingly losing the centrality they once held in the nation's consciousness, as the focus subtly begins to shift away from the collective and more towards the individual. To some extent this trend is unavoidable, but that does not make it entirely desirable or welcome. As we live in a country struggling to maintain its existence in the face of internal and external threats, it is essential that Israelis not lose sight of the pioneering spirit that built this country, and which will continue to propel it forward. It is precisely this spirit that has always served as the fuel driving the engine of Zionism, which is Israel's central organizing principle. A society that ceases to strive for larger and nobler ideals is a society that has lost its way, so rather than demonizing or mocking the idealists in our midst, we should instead embrace them. "I chose to climb" might be an acceptable epitaph for a young person in a country such as Switzerland, which has little, if anything, to worry about. But we can all be grateful that here in Israel, at least, there are still higher ideals that continue to inspire. Our land may lack physical Matterhorns, but we have no shortage of spiritual and national ones. The writer served as an adviser to former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. |
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EGAD! HOW DO WE KNOW WHO TO ROOT FOR?
Posted by JINSA, December 19, 2004. |
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This is JINSA Report #457, December 16, 2004. It is archived at
http://www.jinsa.org/JINSAReports/2770
Egad = how do we know who to root for?
Or against? The Saudi government has few redeeming qualities. Actually, none we can think of. The ruling family squandered billions in oil revenue and produced nothing to show for it but intolerance, death and destruction at home and abroad. American governments - of all parties and ideological leanings = have had a split-brain response to Saudi Arabia. On one side was the negative balance sheet of Saudi behavior. On the other side, the fact that their American constituents = of all parties and ideological leanings = like driving their cars and heating their houses. We ourselves had a split-brain response to the latest audiotape purporting to be Osama. The speaker accused the Saudi government of corruption, misdeeds and "violating God's rules." "The sins the regime committed are great ... it practiced injustices against the people, violating their rights, humiliating their pride." The speaker accused the Saudi royal family of misspending public money while "millions of people are suffering from poverty and deprivation." Interestingly, he called for nonviolent revolution. With what should we disagree? Well, for starters, the voice on the tape then praised the Saudis who stormed the US consulate in Jeddah this month, killing five employees. The voice accused the Saudis of being under the control of the US, called for the targeting of oil fields and called Iraq a "golden opportunity" to kill Americans. So here is the dilemma. We don't like the Saudi government; he doesn't like the Saudi government. He wants regime change; we want regime change - for different reasons or the same reasons. We can't support his call for revolution; but revolution will likely come and we can't say it would necessarily be worse. Apologists for the regime do say it would be worse, but given the billions the princes have spent arming terrorists and exporting virulent anti-Semitic and anti-American screed, including in the US through Wahabi mosques and schools, it might be better to have those things done overtly so we can choose to deal with the threat directly. President Bush was talking to the Saudis as much as to the British at Whitehall when he said, "We must shake off decades of failed policy... (We) have been willing to make a bargain, to tolerate oppression for the sake of stability... Longstanding ties often led us to overlook the faults of local elites. Yet this bargain did not bring stability or make us safe. It merely bought time, while problems festered and ideologies of violence took hold." But he added, "It is not realism to suppose that one-fifth of humanity is unsuited to liberty; it is pessimism and condescension, and we should have none of it." A few months ago, the Arab League Foreign Ministers issued a statement that admitted to "standing at the Gates of Hell," meaning internal upheaval because they had failed to provide avenues for legitimate criticism from their own people. For Saudi Arabia, the Gates of Hell are open and time is running out, no matter whose voice is on the tape. The JINSA Reports are published by the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (http://www.jinsa.org). To subscribe, email jinsareports-www@lists.jinsa.org |
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FOLLOW THE MONEY: FINANCING OF TERRORISM
Posted by Dr. Reuven Erlich, December 19, 2004. |
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This is a Special Information Bulletin from the Intelligence and
Terrorism Information Center at the Center for Special Studies (C.S.S)
in Israel, November 2004. The original article is appended in Arabic.
"Financing of terrorism" by by Abd al-Rahman al-Rashed (1) is an exceptional article printed in Al-Sharq al-Awsat, an Arabic newspaper published in London (October 20, 2004). It concludes that funds donated for charity are used for the financing of terrorism and nurturing of extremism. Without funding, extremist groups would not have been able to spread all over the world in terms of ideology, organization and arms. [Likewise, they would not have been able] to deliver blows from Bali to Casablanca, using the most costly explosive materials available. Without money, they would not have been able to manage such a vast army of people: friends and associates, ideologists, organizers, supervisors, perpetrators, preachers, camps, positions, arms, print shops, hideouts, broadcasting stations and programs. Contrary to current belief, ideology is not the secret behind the organization, nor is enthusiasm the fuel that keeps it running. Extremist movements are not popular resistance groups whose members meet each other at street corners, violate public order or block roads. Spontaneous resistance movements do not have missiles, car bombs, airline tickets, millions of dollars, rented houses, extensive smuggling networks, cells in dozens of countries, and satellite telephones. The reason for that is the naiveté and zeal of the writers and preachers who call upon the public to donate funds for various causes, including the war against the occupation in Palestine, Iraq and Chechnya. Ultimately, the money ends up in the nearby neighborhood and is used against them in [the Saudi cities of] Riyadh, Buraydah and Medina, and [the village of] Tamir. When we have recently warned against uncontrolled funds, everyone was astonished, even though there were plenty of signs. Now, many cases have been uncovered where the people's money was found in the terrorists' pockets - Riyals and Dollars - some of it still inside charity boxes labeled "Palestine" and "Chechnya". Money laundering has not stopped and it will continue in the future, by means of [collecting funds] for humanitarian purposes for the poor and the needy, fast-breaking dinners, dialyses and excavation of wells; however, these funds ultimately end up in terrorists' houses. Even though officials say they have established rules and set inspectors, it will be almost impossible to monitor hundreds of associations and thousands of donors and collectors. The statement made by arrested terrorist Al-Faraj (2), on the methods used to collect the good men's funds, is yet another proof that some of the charity funds were used for funding extremism, both on the ideological level as well as for acquiring arms. Therefore, it is necessary that the methods used by the associations for collecting donations be fully reassessed, rather than merely reorganized anew. It is clear that this money is the source of the power of terrorism, for ideology without funds would remain an ideology of words and nothing but words. A person who wanted to commit suicide, then, whatever his purpose and interest in dying for his cause may be, could crash his car but not detonate it and kill hundreds of people. The results of drying up the financial resources of terrorism were clearly seen in Egypt. When the government froze the assets of Al-Jama'ah al-Islamiyyah, the extremists were forced to rely on robbing jewelry stores to fund their activities, and when they could rob no longer their activities dwindled until, eventually, they surrendered. In the Persian Gulf countries, as long as the preachers associated with those movements are able to find sufficient money and enthusiastic youngsters, they will have the means to perpetrate acts of terrorism against those who previously assisted them. Footnotes: 1. Abd al-Rahman Rashed is a highly regarded journalist. Formerly, he was the editor-in-chief of Al-Sharq al-Awsat, where he currently writes a daily column. 2. Khaled Hamoud Jabar al-Faraj, an Al-Qaeda terrorist who operated in Saudi Arabia. Described as an administrative and logistic supervisor. He was arrested by Saudi authorities (January 2004) and interviewed on a Saudi television program (September 2004). Dr. Reuven Erlich is Head of the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center in Israel. Its website address is http://www.intelligence.org |
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ISRAEL'S SINGLE ISSUE POLITICAL PARTY
Posted by Steven Plaut, December 19, 2004. |
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1. Israel's Single Issue Party
Some are dumbfounded that Ariel Sharon and the Likud have just brought the Labor Party into the government coalition to form a national unity coalition. Some cannot believe their eyes and ears and noses. After all, this is the same Labor Party that imposed Oslo upon Israel anti-democratically and then turned the country into the Valley of the Shadow of Death. This is the same Labor party that decided that Israel needs to try to appease its way to peace, needs to reward each and every atrocity committed by the Palestinians with new concessions and goodwill gestures, and the result has been 1600 Oslo-murdered Israelis and thousands of wounded and maimed, with countless destroyed lives of family members. But no one should really be surprised by this turn of events. To understand why Sharon would bring Shimon Peres in as his Number Two and replace his other coalition partners with the Labor Party, it is necessary only to understand one thing. The most fundamental fact of life about Israeli politics is that the Likud is a single-issue party. And that single issue is the re-election of the Labor Party. The Likud is a party that is devoted only to one thing and that one thing is the restoration of the Labor Party to power. Seriously. That is why almost every time the Likud has been elected by voters nauseated at the Labor Party, its first priority has been to bring the defeated Labor Party back into a national unity coalition. Including this week. The Likud is afraid to govern Israel, even after winning elections by landslides. It seeks only to restore Labor hegemony and is perfectly willing to implement Labor-style socialism until that becomes feasible. But the evidence of the Likud being this sort of a single-issue party is far broader and comprehensive than what I have indicated. Ever since the first Likud government under Menahem Begin took power in 1977, every single time the Likud has implemented policies whose only conceivable explanation is that it is the Likud's main goal to restore the defeated Labor Party to power. Until 1977, Israel was one of those single-party near-totalitarian countries more commonly found in the Third World or in Eastern Europe. But the debacle of the Yom Kippur War at long last toppled the Labor Party monopoly. Almost from the first day of its reign, the Likud government of Begin worked to bring Labor back into power. To do so, it initiated the massive Bank-Shares Pyramid Scheme, one of the largest and most harmful economic scams in human history, and when it collapsed it cost the country about a quarter of its GDP. At the same time, Begin's people went on a Latin American-style money-printing jihad, without precedence in Israel, and by the mid-1980s the inflation rate was approaching quadruple digits. So, as you can see, Begin was working very hard to discredit the Likud and bring back the Labor Party's hegemony. It was only Yitzhak Shamir who was at last fully successful in restoring Labor Party rule. After inviting the Labor Party to re-enter the government ruling coalitions in the 1980s, Shamir displayed such complete incompetence that in 1992 the Labor Party was re-elected, and without reciprocating the Likud's generosity, refusing to invite the Likud into ITS national unity coalition. By 1996, the Labor Party had produced such a disaster with its mindless Oslo initiative that even the enormous upsurge of sympathy for it after the Rabin assassination could not save it from electoral collapse. Bibi Netanyahu was elected Prime Minister, and once again proved that the Likud is a single-issue party. Netanyahu did everything humanly possible to bring the Labor Party back into power, and, while he was waiting for his efforts to bear fruit, he implemented Oslo policies that even the Labor Lemmings had not dared to implement, including the Wye capitulation. Like the fiasco with New Coke and Coke Classic, voters realized that the real Labor Party was more genuine than the Likud's impression of being the Me-Too-Other-Labor-Party, and decided it would rather have the real thing. Ehud Barak from Labor beat Netanyahu and came within a facial mole of destroying Israel and turning the Western Wall and the Old City over to the PLO savages. But like with Pharaoh, Israel was rescued with a miracle it probably did not deserve to receive. Sharon then creamed Barak and his team in the polls, and then came back and again trounced the Laborites, when they ran for office under the commissarship of Amram Mitzna and his gang of oligarchs (highly reminiscent of those in post-Soviet Russia, by the way). But in true Likud manner, Sharon proved he was a single-issue candidate and that his single issue was the restoring of Labor to power. At first he did so by adopting as his own pet the mangy stray dog that Amram Mitzna had try to run past the voters as his own election platform: the unilateral capitulation by Israel to the PLO and the eviction of all Jews from the Gaza Strip. But that was only the opening round. Sharon was counting the moments until he could restore Shimon Peres to his proper position as the Likud's Elder Statesman and Sharons intimate sidekick. Can Defense Minister Yossi Beilin be far behind? And at last the inevitable has happened. The Likud may be one of the most successful political parties in human history. It nearly always succeeds in its single-minded pursuit of its single goal. PS. That heroic deal that Sharon signed with Egypt to get the Israeli Druse prisoner released without letting any murderering Palestinians out of Jail? Well, this week Sharon is paying the REAL price in extortion he agreed to pay and will release 170 Palestinian terrorists. 2. Website attacks 'anti-Zionists' Helena Flusfeder, Jerusalem Published: 17 December 2004 http://www.thes.co.uk/current_edition/story.aspx An Israeli website appears to be targeting left-wing academics and universities that it deems to be anti-Israel or "anti-Zionist". The site, Israel Academia Monitor, is similar to Daniel Pipes's American Campus Watch, which monitors Middle Eastern studies in North American universities. According to a statement on the IAM website, it represents a "group of donors, concerned academics, students, researchers and others" who wish to "bring to light statements and articles written by and about the academic extremists and university anti-Zionists" and highlight "abuses of academic freedom in Israel". Dana Barnett, manager of the IAM website and a student of Middle Eastern studies at an undisclosed university, claims that "we are fighting not to be a political body". The site contains a "large collection of articles, publications, and petitions (regarding) Israeli academics who have published materials against Israel", she said. IAM focuses on academics and universities, including Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and the University of Haifa. Articles discuss Teddy Katz, whose thesis claimed that Arabs in the village of Tantura were massacred in 1948, and Ilan Pappe, a lecturer at Haifa who has given support to an international boycott of Israeli universities. Ms Barnett said: "We sense that something is not quite right. If an academic says that Israel does not have the right to exist, why is he/she living in Israel? I believe that people such as Ilan Pappe are being invited (to conferences), don't pay for their trips and food and are well received." Despite its pro-Israel stance, IAM also publishes comments from those opposing its views, such as: "So much for the 'only democracy in the Middle East,' as Israel is often described." Details: http://israel-academia-monitor.com 3. Tikkun "Rabbi-Impersonator" Trying to Fan Christian Anti-Semitism: News Release: CHRISTMAS WARS: The Jews and Secularists Did NOT Steal Christmas, But It WAS STOLEN! by Rabbi Michael Lerner (Lerner has no rabbinic training at all nor any ordination from any Rabbinic seminary nor one that any real Rabbi would recognize.) Flush from their electoral victories in November, some leaders of the Christian Right have decided to make an issue of the secularization of Christmas. Objecting to the move by Macy's and some other retailers to wish their shoppers "Happy Holidays" or "Seasons Greetings" instead of the traditional Merry Christmas, they have begun to accuse secularists in general, and, on some of the right-wing talk shows, Jews in particular, of undermining Christmas. It's easy to dismiss these Right-wingers as sore winners. They are well on their way to packing the judiciary with judges who may erode the division between church and state, make abortion more difficult or illegal, and support the pro-torture position of Bush's choice for Attorney General. Yet the 25% of Jews who voted for Bush in this past election may not have imagined that along with his vigorous support for Sharon and for the war in Iraq, Bush's electoral victory could spur a public assault on the legitimacy of Jewish identity in the U.S. The assault has been led by Bill O'Reilly, the most popular cable newscaster, who told millions of viewers that there was a systematic assault on Christmas by secularists. When challenged by a Jewish caller who said he felt uncomfortable being subject to frequent attempts to convert him by Christians at his college, O'Reilly responded: "All right. Well, what I'm tellin' you, is I think you're takin' it too seriously. You have a predominantly Christian nation. You have a federal holiday based on the philosopher Jesus. And you don't wanna hear about it? Come on - if you are really offended, you gotta go to Israel then. I mean because we live in a country founded on Judeo - and that's your guys' - Christian, that's my guys' philosophy. But overwhelmingly, America is Christian. And the holiday is a federal holiday honoring the philosopher Jesus. So, you don't wanna hear about it? Impossible. And that is an affront to the majority. You know, the majority can be insulted, too. And that's what this anti-Christmas thing is all about." Meanwhile, Richard Viguerie, the master of Right-wing direct mail campaigns, interviewed by Terry Gross on NPR's Fresh Air on Dec. 13, repeated the charge that Christians were the victims of a systematic secularists assault against Christmas. On MSNBC last week William Donahue of the Catholic League insisted, "Hollywood is controlled by secular Jews who hate Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular. It's not a secret, OK? They like to see the public square without nativity scenes." Liberals and civil libertarians would be making a huge mistake to see this as merely the rantings of a few overt anti- Semites and anti-civil-liberties extremists. They articulate a legitimate concern that many Christians say privately: their children have learned that Christmas is about buying-and the person with the most expensive gifts wins! There is a beautiful spiritual message underlying Christmas that has universal appeal: the hope that gets reborn in moments of despair, the light that gets re-lit in the darkest moments of the year, is beautifully symbolized by the story of a child born of a teenage homeless mother who had to give birth in a manger because no one would give her shelter, and escaping the cruelty of Roman imperial rule and its local surrogate Herod who already knew that such a child would grow up to challenge the entire imperialist system. To celebrate that vulnerable child as a symbol of hope that eventually the weak would triumph over the rule of the arrogant and powerful is a spiritual celebration with strong analogies to our Jewish Chanukah celebration which also celebrates the victory of the weak over the powerful. And many other spiritual traditions around the world have similar celebrations at this time of year. The loss of this message, its subversion into a frenetic orgy of consumption, rightly disturbs Christians and other people of faith. Yet this transformation is not a result of Jewish parents wanting to protect their children from being forced to sing Christmas carols in public school, or secularists sending Seasons Greeting cards. It derives, instead, from the power of the capitalist marketplace, operating through television, movies and marketers, to drum into everyone's mind the notion that the only way to be a decent human being at this time of year is to buy and buy more. Thus the altruistic instinct to give, which could take the form of giving of our time, our skills, and our loving energies to people we care about, gets transformed and subverted into a competitive frenzy of consumption. Not surprisingly, the Christian Right is unwilling to challenge the capitalist marketplace-because their uncritical support for corporate power is precisely what they had to offer the Right to become part of the conservative coalition. Their loyalty to conservative capitalist economics trumps for them their commitment to serving God. But for those of us who want to prevent a new surge of anti-Semitism and assaults on the first amendment, our most effective path is to acknowledge what is legitimate in the Christians' concern- and lead it into a powerful spiritual critique of the ethos of selfishness and materialism fostered by our economic arrangements. It's time for our liberal and progressive Christian leaders and neighbors to stand up against on behalf of Jews and on behalf of their own highest spiritual vision - and challenge the real Christmas thieves! "Rabbi" Michael Lerner is editor of Tikkun Magazine www.Tikkun.org,
and author of Spirit Matters: Global Healing and the Wisdom of the
Soul. www.tikkun.org 4. I believe I have found a political party that Israeli author Sammy Michael, head of the misnamed "Association for Civil Rights in Israel", can at long last support: Iraq's communists join election race by AL Jazeera (repost) Saturday, Dec. 18, 2004 at 9:11 AM The communists, Iraq's oldest political party, have submitted a list of 257 candidates drawn from all sectors of Iraqi society and united under one banner, newspapers said. "The Union of the People list includes personalities of all faiths and all communities," party secretary Hamid Majid Musa told the daily Al-Madaa, without saying who would head the new group. He said, however, that one of those on the list is Culture Minister Mufid al-Jazairi, who represents the communists in the interim government. Musa said negotiations to link the party with other non-religious ones and the Kurds in order to have a wider-based list had failed. "Each preferred to go it alone," he said. The communist party is the oldest political group in Iraq. It was founded in 1930 and became one of the most powerful parties in the Arab world, before being progressively weakened by the former ruling Baath party and the advance of socialist ideology throughout the world. 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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"ISLAMOPHOBIA" AND THE REALITY OF ISLAMIC TERROR
Posted by David Haimson, December 19, 2004. |
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This article was written by Robert Spencer and appeared on
www.FrontPageMagazine.com, December 16, 2004.
Last week Kofi Annan presided over a UN seminar on "Islamophobia," explaining with a straight face: "When the world is compelled to coin a new term to take account of increasingly widespread bigotry - that is a sad and troubling development. Such is the case with 'Islamophobia.' The word seems to have emerged in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Today, the weight of history and the fallout of recent developments have left many Muslims around the world feeling aggravated and misunderstood, concerned about the erosion of their rights and even fearing for their physical safety." The focus, not unexpectedly, stayed mostly on the aggrieved, misunderstood Muslims, with no questions raised about the Islamic roots of jihad terrorism. Nor was there any discussion of the compatibility of Islam with universally accepted ideas of human rights, as embodied in the UN's own 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Islamic world has seen fit to formulate two major responses to this document: the 1981 Universal Islamic Declaration of Human Rights and the 1990 Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam. Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which we owe to the courageous Charles Malik of Lebanon, states: "Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief ..." You will find no analogous guarantee of the freedom to change one's religion in either of the Islamic declarations: indeed, Islamic law mandates the death penalty for those who leave Islam. What's more, the Cairo declaration states: "Everyone shall have the right to advocate what is right, and propagate what is good, and warn against what is wrong and evil according to the norms of Islamic Shari'ah." If Sharia is the norm, women's rights as well as those of non-Muslims will be severely restricted. These two documents were not written by "Islamophobes," but by some of the foremost Muslim thinkers in the world. But the world is not supposed to notice: that was made clear again this week by the Council on American Islamic Relations? predictably venomous reaction to some observations by former CIA official Bruce Tefft at the Canadian branch of the Simon Wiesenthal Center. CAIR objected to statements by Tefft such as "Islamic terrorism is based on Islam as revealed through the Qur'an"; "To pretend that Islam has nothing to do with September 11 is to willfully ignore the obvious and to forever misinterpret events"; and "There is no difference between Islam and Islamic fundamentalism, which is a totalitarian construct." The Islamic advocacy group called on the Wiesenthal center "to condemn these Islamophobic remarks in the strongest possible terms. Characterizing Islam and its revealed text as promoting terrorism can only lead to increased anti-Muslim prejudice and intolerance." "As an organization that says it is committed to 'fostering tolerance and understanding,'" CAIR fulminated, "the Simon Wiesenthal Center must immediately repudiate all Islamophobic rhetoric and hold its Canadian office accountable for failing to challenge the speaker's hate-filled views." Since this is all about "fostering tolerance and understanding," CAIR could go a long way toward doing so by answering a few questions itself: 1. What steps have you taken to keep jihad terrorists from "characterizing Islam and its revealed text as promoting terrorism?" In light of the fact that many Muslims advocate jihad as warfare against unbelievers, and base their arguments on the Qur'an and Sunnah, it isn't as if Tefft invented this connection himself. So what are you doing to refute it at its actual source, which is within the Islamic community worldwide? 2. Do you deny that there was any actual connection between Islam and September 11? What, then, do you make of Osama bin Laden's own statements to the contrary? Please provide, for the reassurance of the American people, a detailed refutation of Osama's Islamic arguments, showing us how you keep such ideas from spreading among American Muslims. 3. Please explain the difference that you see between Islam and Islamic fundamentalism. Please explain how you intend to stop the spread of Qur'anic literalism in the Islamic community, and how you intend to blunt the force among Muslims of such verses as 9:29, 9:5, and many others. These are the only important questions when "Islamophobia" is equated with examining the real source of jihad terrorism. But they went unasked at the UN seminar - in which CAIR representatives participated. It is unlikely that the free world can host these whitewashes and leave such questions unasked while remaining free for long. David Haimson send out emails with links to articles both timely and pertinent to what's happening in Israel. To subscribe, write DvHaimson@aol.com. |
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CHANUKAH LESSON: WHEN DEMOCRACY IS SUSPENDED
Posted by Moshe Feiglin, December 19, 2004. |
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In Israel, the general public tends to think that the more the State is Jewish, the less democratic it will be. This view, created by the media, is also formed by lack of democratic awareness among the belief-based public. We have argued that, on the contrary, the more Israel distances itself from its Jewish identity, the more it loses democratic characteristics and slides towards dictatorship. This year on the third day of Chanukah - the festival celebrating the victory of the Jewish spirit over the Greek invader, the Likud Central Committee members were asked to approve or reject the prime minister's proposal allowing the Labor Party to join the coalition government. Success would give Sharon a government majority for his plans to expel Jews and to give away parts of Eretz Yisrael. It was a strange vote: there was no debate, not even an alternative proposal. Neither Jewish spirit nor democracy prevailed, not in the Likud - and not in Israel. We are witnessing two interlinked processes. The first is the disengagement plan, and the second is Ariel Sharon's overwhelming desire to set up a unity government. The disengagement plan creates the political impasse that "requires" unity government as a solution. Destruction of Democracy and the Disengagement Plan What lies behind these two processes? Sharon has never provided a logical explanation for the idea of disengagement. Any objective analysis indicates that it will (a) cause Israel's security and economy to deteriorate, and (b) will create such a rift in the public - that no one can foresee the consequences. So why is Sharon doing it? Sharon understands that in the State of Israel the Left writes both history and the charge sheets. He has chosen this path because the Left has imposed it upon him. And why is the Israeli Left interested in evicting 8000 Jews from their homes in Gush Katif and Shomron? The root of the matter is the Jewish identity of the State. Leftists have always aspired to universalism at the expense of nationalism. The flight from national identity forces the Left to flee from the heart of the country, to flee from the historical sites that form the cradle of the Jewish nation. It is difficult to abandon your Jewish identity when you walk around Hebron, Rachel's Tomb, Shechem, and the Temple Mount. Add to the problem of geographical identity the fact that, in these very regions, settlers - in their lives and in their communities - are taking Judaism out of the religious corner and returning it to history, and you create the ultimate nightmare of the Israeli Left. Disengagement from the country is based on disengagement from its Jewish identity. At all costs the State must not become Jewish ... and if this means the destruction of democracy, so be it. Suspension of Democracy and the Creation of a Unity Government In a democracy, the citizens determine the path to be taken by their country. For this purpose, different ideas are presented to the public and the voters make their choice. Naturally, the personalities are also a consideration, but the ideas should come first. If, after the results are known, the coalition and opposition join forces, this means, in effect, a suspension of democracy. For example, a trade commissioner is appointed to prevent an unhealthy joining of forces in the economy. If large companies create a monopoly, the commissioner breaks it up. A unity government is a monopoly in the marketplace of ideas. The competitors join together and there is no longer any significance to the market forces - the voters. With a unity government, the meaning of democracy is destroyed. What is the history of unity governments in functioning democracies? In the United States, the very idea is absurd. Nothing like a unity government, a rotation, or other such trick has ever been employed by the Republicans and the Democrats, even when the election of Bush/Gore rested on a few hundred problematic votes in Florida. In Britain of 1940, Churchill and Atlee formed a unity government in the face of the German threat - as did Eshkol and Begin (for the first time in Israel's history) after Nasser deployed the Egyptian army in Sinai. It seems that in certain extreme cases the public is completely united, and it can be understood why, in such circumstances, democracy can be suspended. But is this really the case in Israel today? Is the issue in question beyond dispute? Not at all! At least half the nation does not regard the settlements as a "danger to Israel's existence" but, on the contrary, believes that flight from Yesha creates the danger! Can democracy be suspended in order to ignore the wishes of half the population? In Israel - apparently, yes. In order to eliminate the Jewish identity of the country, it is permissible, even desirable, to suspend democracy. As we have seen, this is the basis of the disengagement process. Neither the media nor the judicial establishment will stand in the way. These days of Chanukah gave further proof that an attack on the Jewish character of the country is also an attack on its democratic nature. Only a truly free and democratic approach can relight the Jewish menorah - the symbol of the State of Israel. Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish Leadership) is a group of people inside the Likud party who want to see Israel adopt a more Jewish character. Moshe Feiglin, its cofounder, has emphatically said he does not want a theocracy, but he does want a State based on Jewish values. The Manhigut Yehudit website address is http://www.manhigut.org. |
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MR. PRESIDENT...BEWARE THE SWEET-TALK
Posted by Gerald A. Honigman, December 19, 2004. |
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Mr. President, please don't be sweet-talked into abandoning your friends. True, Arafat is gone. But his hate-filled legacy lives on. The two Abus now running the show still insist that Israel commit national suicide by absorbing millions of real and fudged refugees. They repeatedly state that they will accept no less. The first Abu, Mahmud Abbas, stated this yet again clearly in his early December 2004 visit to Lebanon. Bombing buses brings bad press, so it's better to destroy Israel "democratically." That's why he and the second Abu, Ahmed Qurei', and others refuse to acknowledge Israel as a Jewish State. The same end, but via different means. Other Palestinian Arab leaders have said similar things as well and call any "peace" moves with the Jews merely a Trojan Horse. The "peace" they all envision is just a temporary hudna, the "Peace of the Quraysh" the Prophet Muhammad permitted until he gained the strength to deliver the final blow. Nice words, Mr. President, cannot change these sad realities. Back in April, you had the courage to publicly state the basic ingredients for a true peace between Arab and Jew in the Middle East: Arab refugees would have to settle in the projected new (and second) Arab state to be created within the original 1920 borders of Palestine. And Israel would not have to return to the U.N.-imposed armistice lines - and you used those very latter words - which simply marked the point where hostilities came to an end after Arabs invaded a reborn Israel in 1948. Like in later wars Arabs launched against Israel, the United Nations did nothing to stop the Arab attempt on Israel's life. It got involved only after the Jews turned the tables in order to limit Arab losses. And that's how those armistice lines were formed. Israel was never meant to be a nine-mile wide rump state, but that's how those earlier armistice lines left it until June 1967...a constant temptation to its enemies. Starting with Egypt's blockade of Israel - a casus belli - the war that then erupted backfired big-time on the Arabs, and Israel found itself in the disputed territories. As I'm sure you are aware, Jews owned land and lived in Judea (Judean=Jew) and Samaria until they were massacred by Arabs in the 1920s. Those lands weren't known as the "West Bank" until British imperialism made its presence in the 20th century, and purely Arab Transjordan - created itself in 1922 from 80% of the Mandate for Palestine Britain received on April 25, 1920 - annexed the "west bank" of the Jordan River after the 1948 fighting, making it off limits to Jews. Saying Jews have no rights in places like Hebron (where Jewish history dates back some four thousand years) is like claiming that if China conquered the Vatican, then Catholics would no longer have rights there. The world would not know of the significance of places like Hebron on the "West Bank" if not for the Holy Scriptures of the Jews. And tell me, please, if one million Arabs can live as citizens without fear in Israel, then why is it that Arabs insist that lands where both peoples have historical ties must be made Judenrein? The League of Nations Permanent Mandates Commission documented massive waves of Arab settlers from other countries coming into these very territories during the mandatory period to take advantage of the economic development going on because of the Jews. Many other Arabs had arrived just a bit earlier during the latter 19th century with the invading armies of Muhammad Ali and son, Ibrahim Pasha, of Egypt. More "native Palestinians." Arafat himself was Egyptian, and Hamas' "patron saint," Sheihk Izz-ed-din al-Qassam, was from Ladeqiyah, Syria. Now think about this... So many Arabs were recent arrivals into the Mandate that when UNRWA was created to deal with the Arab refugee situation, created as a result of the invasion by a half dozen Arab states of Israel in 1948, it had to adjust the definition of "refugee" from the prior meaning of persons normally and traditionally resident to those who lived in the Mandate for a minimum of only two years prior to 1948. Also keep in mind that for every Arab who was forced to flee the fighting that the Arabs started in their attempt to nip a nascent Israel in the bud, a Jewish refugee was forced to flee Arab lands into Israel and elsewhere... but with no UNRWA set up to help them. U.N. Security Council Resolution 242 emerged in the aftermath of the Six Day War. Despite how Arabs like to tell it, 242 did not call for Israel to return to those suicidal, pre-'67 armistice lines. It called, instead, for the creation of secure and recognized borders to replace those Auschwitz lines. I've heard, Mr. President, that you once said that some Texas driveways were longer than the width of Israel at its waist. Please remember this. And remember that the two Abus have told Hamas that both of their end goals remain one and the same. Indeed, with Sharon's controversial Gaza withdrawal (which I can reluctantly support under the proper conditions), Arabs see their destruction in phases scenario playing out nicely. That's why, Mr. President, you must not abandon Israel as it attempts to arrive - once again, despite Arab rejectionism - at a fair and reasonable compromise with those who still wish it destroyed, one way or another. For the Gaza withdrawal to have some chance of succeeding to do more than simply giving terrorists free reign to smuggle more arms into the land to kill more Jews, or allowing Egypt, once again, its millennial invasion route into Israel proper, then you must stick to your April recipe. Notice, please, that the vast majority of Israeli settlements have been built on strategic high ground areas designed to provide precisely what Israel is entitled to under Resolution #242... a somewhat adequate, yet minimal, increased buffer from those who would destroy it. Other nations - including our own - have demanded far more from their defeated foes. Once again, 242 states that any eventual Israeli withdrawal was to be linked to the establishment of secure and recognized borders. Many of those now demanding Israel to forsake this have conquered nations and acquired territories hundreds or thousands of miles away from home in the name of their own national security interests. As just a few of many examples, your friend Tony Blair's Britain's Falklands War comes to mind as well as our own actions in Panama. As has been repeatedly quoted over the decades, legal experts such as William O'Brien, Eugene Rostow (one of 242's architects), Arthur Goldberg, and others have stated that the non-apportioned areas (the West Bank in particular) of the Palestinian Mandate were open to settlement by all residents of the Mandate, not just Arabs. That Arabs disagree is not a shock. They don't believe Jews have rights in any part of Israel. Keep in mind that most of the almost two dozen so-called "Arab" states were themselves conquered and forcibly Arabized from non-Arab peoples like Berbers, Copts, Kurds, Jews, black Africans, and others. Think about what is happening in the Sudan, as just one of many examples, as this essay is being written. By the way, that Arab genocidal war against black Africans has been going on for decades, with millions killed, maimed, turned into refugees, enslaved, and so forth. Until very recently, have you noticed the world's deafening silence over this, while the hypocrites brought Israel to court because of a fence erected to prevent Arabs from blowing apart its kids? A few years ago, President Clinton pushed Israel beyond the limits of sanity and reasonable compromise at Camp David 2000, and Israel was subsequently pressured by its closet friend to forsake the promises of 242 at Taba. As it turned out, the Arabs were exposed as a result of this episode to any reasonable observer. And as any fair observer already knew, settlements and occupation were not the issue. Israel's very existence - regardless of size - was and still is. Again, refer to the opening paragraphs above. So, while other nations (including our own) have conquered, manipulated, and/or taken over territories thousands of miles away from home in the name of their own national security interests, microscopic Israel was expected to forsake even minimal territorial adjustments to give it some semblance of a strategic buffer. Israel was pressured to make one-sided concessions to a PLO/PA which was willing to settle for nothing less than Israel's disappearance. The Palestinian Authority of the two Abus still shows "Palestine" in its school books, on its websites, maps, insignias, and so forth encompassing all of Israel as well as the disputed territories. Palestine is to exist in place of Israel - not along side of it. Refer, again, to Abbas' recent comments in Lebanon. Mr. President, please keep all of this in mind since your "moderate" Abu friends are still demanding the same things but coating them with sugar. The Middle East may actually have a chance to truly advance into a new era now. Your support of Israel in the face of Europe's and others' cowardice has been wise and admirable. But you must stick to what your heart told you was fair back in April. The steps towards peace must be taken cautiously, and - as in most other conflicts (especially ones in which aggressors launched wars and lost) - there must be a meaningful territorial component to the compromise. Arabs have lived in a milieu of bloodlust of Jews, and this must be taken into account in allowing the latter an adequate buffer from those who take pleasure in deliberately targeting and killing Jewish mothers and their children. Demanding, as just one other example, that Israel's major airport remain hostage to Arab gunners, rockets, missiles, and mortars is something you would not expect of others... So why Israel? Mr. President, I believe that you feel that justice does not demand that the security of the one tiny, resurrected state perpetually-victimized Jews finally got to once again have must not be sacrificed for the Arabs' 22nd or 23rd one...and second one within "Palestine." Please do not let others lead you astray. 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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HAVE ALIENS MORPHED INTO SHARON'S BODY?
Posted by Yuval Zaliouk, December 18, 2004. |
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Dear friends,
Are the following statements coming from people with whom Sharon and
Peres intend to negotiate "peace" and for which they intend to
ethnically cleans Jews from their beautiful homes?
Read these quotes and answer for yourself. Then read the entire article below. It was published today in Jerusalem Post. (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ ShowFull&cid=1103356912960). This is called "PA: 'Right of return' a red line" and was written by Khaled Abu Toameh. "Calls by some Palestinians to stop the armed Intifadah are totally rejected," a masked spokesman for the two groups said. "These statements are not binding on us." He added: "The blessed Intifadah will continue, both on its military and popular levels. No one, however senior or at whatever level - Palestinian, Arab or international - will be able to stop it." We must all wonder if some out of space aliens morphed themselves into Sharon's body. Can any of you come up with a better explanation to the madness? Your Truth Provider, Yuval The Palestinian Authority will never give up the right of return for all refugees to their original homes inside Israel, Zakariya al-Agha, head of the PLO's Refugees Department, said on Saturday. Meanwhile a prominent Palestinian commentator, Hani al-Masri, called on the PA not to abandon the armed struggle in light of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's remarks at the Herzliya Conference last Thursday. And PLO chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), who arrived in Oman Saturday as part of a Gulf tour to ask for financial aid, said Sharon's statements were "disastrous" to the peace process and insisted that the Palestinians would make no concessions on the right of return. In his speech, Sharon stressed that Israel would not allow Palestinian refugees to return to their former villages. He also said that Israel would not withdraw to the pre-1967 borders and would continue to hold large settlement blocs in the West Bank. "The Palestinian leadership and people categorically reject these statements," said al-Agha, a leader of the ruling Fatah faction in the Gaza Strip. "These racist statements ignore United Nations resolution 194." Al-Agha added that Sharon's remarks, in addition to media reports about an Israeli plan to resettle the refugees in Arab countries, "prove that the Israeli government does not have a political plan to calm the situation." The Palestinian leadership, he emphasized, will never sign any deal with Israel that abolishes the right of all the refugees to return to their original homes. It is "a red line for the Palestinian leadership that can't be trespassed," he said. "There won't be stability in the region until each one of the refugees feels that he has attained his freedom to return to his home. Without this, the refugees will use all methods available to achieve the right of return." Palestinian political analyst al-Masri said Israel was making a mistake by assuming that the Palestinians have changed after the death of Yasser Arafat. He also said the new Palestinian leadership was making a mistake by calling for abandoning the armed struggle against Israel. "Calls for endorsing negotiations as the only method for ending the conflict and the talk about a popular intifada will only result in a new interim solution and another Oslo agreement," Masri said. "Although I'm convinced that the Palestinians don't have a military option, dropping the option of the resistance completely and finally would be a grave strategic mistake that would harm the negotiations." The Aksa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah, has rejected Abbas's call for an end to armed attacks on Israel. Hamas and Islamic Jihad have also rejected Abbas's remarks against the militarization of the intifada, but the announcement by the Aksa Martyrs Brigades is seen as a severe blow to Abbas, who is Fatah's candidate for the January 9 election for the presidency of the Palestinian Authority. The Fatah group, which has hundreds of gunmen in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, has supported Abbas's candidacy and called on its members to vote for him. Last year the group rejected a similar call by Abbas while he served as prime minister. Leaflets distributed by the Aksa Martyrs Brigades on Thursday criticized Abbas for saying the Palestinians had made a mistake by resorting to armed attacks. In a joint statement with Islamic Jihad, the Aksa Martyrs Brigades in the Gaza Strip said they will ignore Abbas's call to stop the violence. The two terrorist groups had claimed responsibility for last Sunday's attack on an IDF outpost near Rafah, in which five soldiers were killed and six others injured. "Calls by some Palestinians to stop the armed intifada are totally rejected," a masked spokesman for the two groups said. "These statements are not binding on us." He added: "The blessed intifada will continue, both on its military and popular levels. No one, however senior or at whatever level - Palestinian, Arab or international - will be able to stop it." Two of the group's prominent leaders in the West Bank, Ala Sanakrah of Nablus and Zakariya Zubeidi of Jenin, dismissed Abbas's comments and expressed opposition to Abbas's attempts to reach a temporary truce with Israel. "Before talking about the militarization of the intifada, the Palestinian leadership should work towards lifting the Israeli siege and halting incursions, assassinations and detentions against our people," Sanakrah said. "The Aksa Brigades will not be part of any hudna [temporary truce] or political process before Israel takes real measures on the ground. We won't stop our armed attacks against Israel until the Israeli government stops all repressive measures." Commenting on Abbas's remark that Palestinians had made a mistake by resorting to armed attacks, Zubeidi said: "The intifada was the decision of all the Palestinian people, and all the people can't be wrong. If the Palestinians want to reconsider the tactics against the occupation, they should do this through the relevant institutions and not the media." Meanwhile, Bassem Abu Sumayah, director of the PA's Voice of Palestine radio station, accused Israel and the US of seeking to undermine Abbas and the new Palestinian leadership. "America and Israel have not changed, and Sharon and [US President George W. Bush] are still trying to light fires in the region and rest of the world," he charged. "America and Israel know that Abu Mazen will be elected as the next Palestinian president," said Sumayah. "Washington and Tel Aviv are trying to undermine him already now for fear that he might embarrass them with a realistic political program, which they won't have a convincing excuse to reject." Yuval Zaliouk writes the Truth Provider columns. To subscribe, send an email to ynz@netvision.net.il |
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A DOUBLE-CROSS
Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, December 18, 2004. |
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Please note the incoming DEBKAfile piece: "SUDDEN DISCORD
BETWEEN BUSH & SHARON". It outlines a complete reversal of declared
Bush policy, turning against Sharon in favor of a complete
Disengagement of ALL the "west bank" (Judea & Samaria) with the Gaza
District of Gush Katif and to complete the uprooting, evicting and
transferring of some 250,000 Jews from their homes, farms, schools,
synagogues, businesses and even their cemeteries.
This would be the Big Apology by Bush for attacking Global Terror in the Muslim nations of Afghanistan and Iraq. In addition, sacrificing Israel is a bone thrown to England's Prime Minister Tony Blair needs political support and is now leading a charge against Israel. Also, a trap is being laid in Britain, calling for an International Peace Conference where Israel has been invited to attend the 'hanging' as was done during the 1991 Madrid Conference. Newly re-elected President George Bush apparently pre-planned to double cross Israel, her Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and all the Christian conservatives he misled. Bush following in the footsteps of his father, George Herbert Walker Bush and James Baker, is obviously dedicated to the Saudi demand that Israel be taken down, using Arafat's planning through Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), We had watched prior lies by the Bush Administration but, this betrayal is so blatant that no other nation entitled: "Ally", can ever rely upon an American President's verbal commitments and/or promises. Arik Sharon, having relied wholly upon President Bush's commitments has no alternative but to stop all processes of "Disengagement" by resigning and moving toward new elections. President Bush seems to have become politically and personally hostile toward the Jewish State in his second term of office (which we prognosticated early on). Never trust the Bush Dynasty and, if impeachment were possible, this would be a best course of action. Bush has shown himself to be an inveterate liar to achieve his goals and an adversary to the Christian Right as well as World Jewry. Ask your Congressmen (Republicans and Democrats) to repudiate this Bush Betrayal of the only Democracy in the Middle East. "Sudden Discord Between Bush and Sharon" DEBKAFile Exclusive Report from Washington December 17, 2004. Israel's prime minister Ariel Sharon was warned many a time to beware of placing all his major policy eggs in the George W. Bush basket. But from the time he first took office more than three years ago, he never wavered from his bond with the US president. Their friendship was often cited as one of Sharon's prime assets. And until last week, the Bush administration stood behind the prime minister and heartily endorsed his plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank in stages ending in September 2005. But then the wind blowing in from Washington suddenly turned chill. In the last week, according to DEBKAFile's Washington sources, the White House suddenly spun its sympathies around from Ariel Sharon and his disengagement plan to Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), Fatah frontrunner in the Palestinian January 9 election, and his sweeping demands for territorial concessions. The prime minister's office in Jerusalem has not acknowledged that a main prop has been knocked out from under his most fundamental policy positions. But it was suggested in Sharon's "2005 - year of big opportunities" speech Thursday night, December 17, in Herzliya. He declared in ringing tones that recalled the way he laid down the law to Likud rebels: "Disengagement will take place and it will proceed according to the format and time scale I laid down!" DEBKAFile's Washington sources outline the new state of play. Our sources in Washington believe that the determining factor in the US president's turnabout was the message from Abbas that he will be in a position to announce a comprehensive cease-fire on or around January 1. He promises to bring all the Palestinian organizations including the radical Hamas and Jihad Islami into the truce. Bush decided that if Abu Mazen can pull this off, his demands deserve close attention. They are, first, that Israel hold up its plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank by September 2005 and set a new time line. Its execution must also be swift, no more than a few weeks. He thus rejects Sharon\s hard-and-fast timetable on which Israel's security chiefs have based their 2005 planning. The Bush administration may have bought another key Palestinian demand: Israel's withdrawal from the West Bank must be a lot deeper than the line marking off the northern tip with the four settlements that Sharon proposes to evacuate. That pullback too, according to the new US thinking, must take place in the space of weeks rather than the six months allotted by the Sharon government. These demands are not the sum total of Abu Mazen's shopping list - just starters. But if confirmed by Washington, they will require Sharon to scrap his four key policy objectives. 1. The disengagement strategy born at the peak of Yasser Arafat's campaign of terror as a unilateral exercise will be laid on a future negotiating table and subjected to tough Palestinian bargaining every inch off the way. Since last week, Washington looks like lining up behind Palestinian demands rather than Israel. 2. The proposition that the withdrawal from Gaza and northern West Bank will be Israeli's last territorial concessions to the Palestinians, presented to the Israeli public as the crowning achievement of the Sharon-Bush friendship, will go by the board. On April 14, President Bush received Sharon at the White House and endorsed his disengagement plan. ("I commend Prime Minister Sharon for his bold and courageous decision to withdraw from Gaza and part of the West Bank" - as did British premier Tony Blair later). The US president also said "in the light of new realities on the ground, including existing major population centers, it is unrealistic to expect that the outcome of final status negotiations will be a complete and full return to 1949 armistice lines." 3. Washington has said often that terrorism must stop as a prerequisite for political progress. But how serious is this assertion? Since last month, the Americans and Iraqi prime minister Iyad Awali have been in and out of Amman for secret meetings under Jordanian King Abdullah's aegis to coax Iraqi Sunni leaders and Saddam loyalists to take part in Iraq's new democratic enterprise. Some of the Iraqi interlocutors lead guerrilla operations against US forces in Iraq - either from inside the country or from outside bases, mainly in Syria. If Washington is willing to engage Iraqi terrorist leaders, why not open an indirect channel to Palestinian terror organizations too? 4. In his "Big Opportunities for 2005" speech Thursday, Sharon presented his Gaza pullback plan as the road to cure-alls for Israel's economic woes, to new markets and to solutions for the extreme social and economic disparities between Israel's rich and poor. DEBKAFile's Washington sources note that, while the Bush administration never promised US aid for the payout to evicted settlers or the Israeli army's redeployment in the Negev, it was understood that Washington would be helpful to Israel on international and financial markets. That too is in doubt. The Bush administration is now focusing fully on raising $6-8 billion dollars from its own resources and those of other nations, including the Europeans, for Palestinian reconstruction and recovery projects over the next five years. Israel will not only miss out on funding for its peace efforts but its taxpayers will be asked to contribute to the Palestinians. Former prime minister Ehud Barak has picked up the new winds blowing from Washington, for, speaking after Sharon, he called for the urgent completion of the defense barrier. Because of delays in its construction, he said: "... Israel may have already lost Ariel and he is not sure that Ma'aleh Adumim is not lost too and Gush Etzion at risk." Barak was nudging the prime minister to stop bandying words with the White House and instead to create facts on the ground without delay. Sharon is therefore in for some hard shoves to adapt to the Palestinian scenario. He is still clinging to his plan with all his strength. In his Herzliya speech, he noted bitterly: "I cannot accept changes of plan after all my struggles, sacrifices and battles." A month ago, he could have escaped the pressure by dissolving his minority government and calling an early election. But that door is closing fast. In the next few days a coalition agreement which he initiated is due to be signed for attaching dovish Labor and Oslo Accord architect Shimon Peres to his government. Sharon is careening very fast into a fix undreamt of two weeks ago; he is about to be dragged by the White House and pushed by his Labor partner away from his cherished disengagement plan and forced to kowtow to a US-backed Palestinian agenda. 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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LETTER TO KNESSET JUDICIAL COMMITTEE
Posted by Susie Dym, December 18, 2004. |
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Shalom, Dear MK Miki Eitan, and all of you Chavrei Kneset on the Constitution, Law and Justice committee: vdept4@knesset.gov.il; meita@netvision.net.il; nzeev@knesset.gov.il; ytamir@knesset.gov.il; gsaar@knesset.gov.il; aravitz@knesset.gov.il; pinespaz@knesset.gov.il; elivni@knesset.gov.il; ithakl@knesset.gov.il; zgalon@knesset.gov.il; gerdan@knesset.gov.il; aeldad@knesset.gov.il; yedelstein@knesset.gov.il; rchen@knesset.gov.il; ecabel@knesset.gov.il; nblumentl@knesset.gov.il; rbaron@knesset.gov.il) As members of this important Committee, you have the unique opportunity to STOP the illegal and immoral plans of the Prime Minister whose obsession with the desire to do something no democratic country has done and for no reason other than to to fulfill an obsession and to show the Left that he can be more leftist than they are! I am quite certain that Yitzchak Rabin, z"l, wouldn't have gone for such an immoral one-sided plan at this point. This shameful plan would give everything and gain nothing but disgrace and desecration and encouragement not only of Arab terror but of international anti-semitism as well, which doesn't seem to need our encouragement... (Jewish rights are cheap - throw them out if you don't like them! We've been there - done that!) It's clear that throwing Jews out of their homes and communities won't save Tzahal work; quite the opposite is true. We all know that but are allowing Ariel Sharon to dictate his illogical and illegal policy on us. Does every PM have the legal right to destroy communities and throw its Jews out to nowhere? In Israel? Can anyone consider this justice? Did they do anything wrong? It seems to me, they do everything right! They are examples of what we should all be doing - building, not destroying! Please don't allow this treachery of throwing Jewish communities out of their homes, of expelling three generations of outstanding Jews from their communities, of encouraging terror beyond Oslo or any other past disasters, and of depriving the rest of us of the outstanding produce of Gush Katif and the economic boom of the exports of Gush Katif produce all over the world! I have been visiting and watching the growth and miracles of Gush Katif since they began to make the sand-dunes flourish into world-class agriculture and have so much admiration for what these amazing Israelis have done. How can anyone dare punish them this way? What have they done to deserve such punishment? What have our children done that they deserve to see such immoral and depressing scenes, God forbid!? PLEASE, Chavrei Knesset! Don't allow this obscene expulsion of Jews from Israel! Yes, it's in your power to stop this craziness because it's illegal and immoral. Thank you so much for listening. Maybe God put you in this position to give you this opportunity, as we read in Megilat Esther. Maybe? Have a good day! Contact Susie Dym at sddym@bezeqint.net and let her know the responses you get. |
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WE'RE IN BIG TROUBLE!
Posted by Batya Medad, December 18, 2004. |
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This is Musings #88.
"It's hard to beat a person who never gives up." - Babe Ruth There's a lot of wisdom in sports, sportsmanship and sportsmen. Babe Ruth was right. Our politicians have given up, so we're in big trouble. If our politicians are leading us anywhere, it's not where I want to be. That's for sure. This past week, I was at the Begin Heritage Center for the Begin Prize Ceremony. It was a very inspiring evening. The winners were all people who had done something above the norm. Nefesh B'Nefesh, the organization that facilitates aliyah from North America, doing what the Jewish Agency and Israeli government should be doing, won the Begin Prize. The initiators of that organization had a dream to help North American Jews make aliyah. They didn't give up, and today hundreds of Jews are successfully living in Israel due to their assistance. Special recognition was also given to two extraordinary people. The first was a man who has captured the hearts of many by his rare and remarkable generosity. Eric Swim, an American, who donated one of his kidneys to Moshiko Sharon, an Israeli boy. Little Moshiko was dying. The call went out throughout the world that Moshiko needed a kidney. Rationally and logically, there was very little chance that a kidney would be found, certainly not from a live man. But they had a dream, and reality caught up with the dream. They didn't give up. And, what a donor! When Mr. Swim spoke to the crowd, it was clear that he had no idea why we all found him so admirable. He spoke with simple faith and ended his words with a chapter of T'hilim, psalms, in Hebrew. As he struggled reading a language he barely knows, most of the crowd recited along with him, and the rest wept. The final recipient was Israel's top female athlete, Keren Leibowitz, the winner of seven medals, including five gold ones, at the Olympics for the physically handicapped. Giving up, even after being seriously injured in the army, is not in her vocabulary. One of the speakers, Salai Meridor, Chairman of the Jewish Agency, quoted Herzl as he spoke about the recipients to the crowded auditorium. "Im tirtzu, ain zu agadah," "If you truly wish it, it's not make-believe." And right before our eyes, we saw people whose dream became real life. There are people in our very special country who have the strength to dream and make their dreams come true. That's why it's so disturbing that our government is filled with weak, faithless people. How can it be? Even those who seemed strong and idealistic before assuming office changed and lost their faith and confidence. I wonder if it's like what we see on television. There's the old comedy, "Yes, Minister," the old British TV show that depicted the behind the scenes workings of the British government, run by the civil servants, the unseen clerks and secretaries. But I have trouble believing that Arik Sharon could be manipulated and controlled by some civil servants. Then there's another TV show, "The Agency," that depicts the inner workings of the American CIA. This program features technology that seems more science fiction than reality, even in the twenty first century. One memorable scene showed a clandestine medical exam of a foreign visitor while he was meeting a CIA official. Somehow, as he sat in the comfortable, innocent-looking office chair, all of his vital signs were measured, and if I'm not mistaken, he was also x-rayed. All of this, while he believed that he was just talking. Is someone zapping our politicians' brains? Are they being controlled by ___? This is starting to get very spooky. Or are our politicians just "burnt-out," like many professionals? Are they tired of bucking the world? Are they looking for praise from those who had previously rejected them? In that sense the two who made the most radical changes, Menachem Begin and Arik Sharon, have the most in common. They were the most reviled by the media and international leaders before becoming prime minister, and then, all of a sudden, they proposed policies that they had been totally against previously. Our greatest Biblical leaders, Moshe Rabenu and Shmuel HaNavi (Samuel the Prophet), also had trouble with the pressures trying to get public support. They both complained to G-d about the difficulties in leading the Jewish People, but in the end they prevailed. Moshe led us to the Land of Israel, and Shmuel crowned our first two kings, Saul and David. I have a little advice for our politicians: "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen." As said by American President Harry Truman's friend, Harry Vaughan, Time, April 28, 1952 * *Results from Internet Collections: 20th Century Quotations Batya Medad lives in Shiloh. She can be reached by email at Shilohmuse@yahoo.com or visit her website http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/ or go to http://www.shilo.org.il |
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THINK AGAIN, AMOS
Posted by David Haimson, December 18, 2004. |
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This was written by Sarah Honig and appeared in the Jerusalem Post
December 16, 2004. It is archived at
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/
JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1103170789588&apage=2
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Who can forget the Left's furious guru Yitzhak Ben-Aharon on that fateful 1977 election night, when thunder struck and our smug socialists were astounded to have been voted out of power for the first time ever? Without equivocation, Ben-Aharon instantly rejected the voters' verdict, denigrating it as "the decision of the street." The "street" by definition was inferior and in urgent need of reeducation. Nearly three decades later, another veteran leftist guru - author Amos Oz - continues to condescendingly look down on the obviously benighted masses. In a recent Yediot Aharonot op-ed, he dejectedly lamented the Left's failure to convince "the poor and exploited of Israeli society that the settlements oppress and impoverish them, and the poor themselves - owing to their suffering and despair - tend to be more nationalist, captive in the cellars of fear and hostility, of Arab-hate and of misguided support for hawkish and religious extremism. This vicious cycle - the pampering of settlers, the deprivation of the poor, the desperation of the disadvantaged - which pushes them to extremes - this cycle the Left hadn't succeeded to break." Bottom-line: Oz penned a more verbose version of Ben-Aharon's immortal one-liner. It betrays the identical haughtiness and basic presumption that the Left's beautiful trendsetters monopolize all smarts, that they are our indisputable source of enlightenment, and that unreformed non-leftists are their qualitative antithesis, that they essentially lack reason, that their views are tainted, that they're unworthy of respect and, most of all, couldn't actually be right. Moreover, not only do commoners' wrongheaded opinions lack merit, but they're also inevitable by-products of grinding misfortune, ignorance, and despair. It doesn't take particularly astute textual analysis to realize that Oz regards his political opponents' logic as flawed. Positions he disagrees with couldn't conceivably be as valid as his, but were inculcated in minds dulled by material circumstances less bountiful than his own. OZ'S OP-ED ought to become compulsory reading for all students of sociology, political science, and communications worldwide. It's an object lesson on why conceited elites cannot make friends and influence people. Oz belittles and dismisses those with whose misery he ostensibly commiserates and tells them they've been misled because they hadn't enjoyed an even break. He implores fellow keepers-of-our-collective-conscience to persuade the proverbial "great unwashed" to let their superiors guide them and call the shots, as they inherently and invariably know best. Subsequently, after the Left will have presumably patronized ideological rivals, impressed upon ordinary folk that they're intellectually deficient have-nots, and explained that "the street" cannot be entrusted with truly important decisions - the omniscient ones will be back in the saddle again. Think again, Amos. During the 2003 campaign, one of the anti-poverty demonstrator-squatters in Tel Aviv's posh Kikar Hamedina (temporarily renamed "Bread Square") was held to ridicule by TV interviewers after she admitted her plans to continue voting Likud. "How can you?" they reacted in shock, "It's Likud's economics you're protesting against." Her succinct retort was emphatic: "Labor favors the Arabs." To Oz that's incontrovertible proof that the pitiable woman's hardships had caused her to lose her reasoning. Her unsophisticated sentiments couldn't possibly have been inspired by Arab terror - by the fact that the buses she rides (unlike Oz's peers) are targeted, as are the markets she frequents (unlike hip sushi eaters). There's no chance that her conclusions are based on our objective reality, that she's a whole lot smarter than the celebrated scribe and that her down-to-earth sense is healthier - and probably Israel's only long-term salvation. If Oz indeed gives voice to the still-enduring Ben-Aharon superiority complex, then the only way his Left can ever gain power is via the unlikely conversion to its cause of rightist leaders like Ariel Sharon - who was elected on the very national-camp platform Oz despises, but who then inexplicably and quite undemocratically switched his hawk's feathers for dove plumage. Sharon has transmogrified into the Left's new leader, but not its chosen headliner. He was elected by folks Oz disrespects, for reasons he renounces. Yet Oz has no compunctions about enjoying his unexpected ill-gotten windfall. So much for holding us all to higher, unimpeachable ethical standards. Oz will do well to listen attentively to a more recent squatter-demonstrator, this one outside Sharon's office. There to back demands for public housing, she was captured on camera offering food and drink to protesting Gush Katif settlers. The reporter - an obvious Oz think-alike - strove mightily to dissuade her from the good deed, stressing repeatedly that the settlers are her foes. She wouldn't buy it: "I'm homeless, and they might soon become homeless because the government wants to suck up to the Arabs who want to make all of us in this country homeless." Words to the wise. David Haimson send out emails with links to articles both timely and pertinent to what's happening in Israel. To subscribe, write DvHaimson@aol.com. |
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MOSHE BOAZ BEN YOCHEVED HENNA
Posted by Hebron Organization, December 18, 2004. |
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MEDICAL UPDATE
MOSHE BOAZ BEN YOCHEVED HENNA IS STILL IN VERY SERIOUS CONDITION AND IS NEED OF YOUR CONTINUED PRAYERS AND HASHEM'S GREAT MERCY. BOAZ ZEIFMAN IS A VERY SWEET 10 YEAR OLD WHO LIVES IN TORONTO = HIS FAMILY IS VERY CLOSE TO HEBRON AND ALL OF ERETZ YISRAEL. PLEASE CONTINUE ADDING BOAZ'S NAME IN YOUR PRAYERS THIS SHABBAT. WITH BLESSINGS FROM HEBRON. |
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WANTED: ISRAELI NEOCONS
Posted by David Haimson, December 18, 2004. |
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This was written by Caroline Glick and it appeared in the Jerusalem
Post. It is archived at
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/
JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1103170794708
Speaking at the Interdisciplinary Center's Herzliya Conference on Monday, IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Moshe Ya'alon said that Israel's "interest is to separate the general Palestinian population from those involved in terrorism." This, of course, stands at the core of all anti-guerrilla and counterterror operational thinking. Ya'alon noted the economic devastation that the Palestinian terror war has wrought on the general Palestinian population. Repeated suicide attacks at the Erez Industrial Park, where some 4,000 Gazans worked each day to support some 35,000 people, forced Israel to close the park. This week's attack against an IDF outpost on the border between Gaza and Egypt forced the army to close the border-crossing terminal, preventing Gazans from conducting business in Egypt. Suicide bombers disguised as ordinary workers have forced Israel to stringently limit the number of Palestinians working in Israel and to erect roadblocks throughout Judea and Samaria. Israel has, over the past four years, and indeed since the first Palestinian suicide bomber introduced himself to Israeli civilians back in 1994, tried to develop methods of screening cargo and workers that would make Palestinian economic activity possible while preventing the infiltration of human bombs. Additionally, as Ya'alon noted, Israel has worked to ensure that the health and education systems in Judea, Samaria and Gaza have continued to operate. This, in spite of the fact that terrorists have hidden in maternity and cancer wards from Bethlehem to Jenin and that the Palestinian school system teaches children that their life goal should be to become a suicide bomber. Yet, in spite of all of Israel's attempts to separate the broader Palestinian population from the terrorists, Ya'alon admitted that support for the terrorists had not waned, nor had enthusiasm for terrorism in general. In his words, IDF counterterror operations over the past two years "have decreased the ability, not the motivation" of Palestinians to carry out attacks against Israelis. And so it can be said that the IDF, and Israel as a whole, have failed in the mission of separating the general Palestinian population from those involved in terrorism. How can this be the case? After all, Israel's leaders have never declared war on the Palestinians. To the contrary, every time it seemed there was a break in the clouds, Israel moved quickly to embrace any opportunity to begin discussions with Palestinian officials - whether at the political level or among the various official Palestinian militia commanders. An answer to this seeming paradox was provided by The Jerusalem Post's Khaled Abu Toameh in a dispatch from Gaza earlier in the week. Toameh reported the case of Dr. Hassan Nurani, a psychologist from Gaza City who wished to run for the PA's presidency. Nurani composed a platform calling for the building of a "civilized and moral society." He was able to collect the requisite 5,000 signatures to submit his candidacy but couldn't afford the $3000 needed to register for the election. Desperate to run, Nurani tried selling off his small parcel of land and his home furnishings. But he still wasn't able to raise the sum, which is the rough equivalent of an annual salary in Gaza. It is possible that Dr. Nurani supports terrorism. It is possible that he is not willing to live in a Palestinian society which exists alongside a strong and vibrant Jewish state. It is possible that he insists that Israel allow millions of foreign-born Arabs to immigrate freely into Israel as a condition for peace. But we'll never know, because he is too poor to tell us. And then we have the frontrunner for the Palestinian presidency, new PLO head Mahmoud Abbas. He's the only show in town. It doesn't seem to bother anyone that Yasser Arafat's deputy of 40 years has refused to call for an end to the Palestinian terror war, saying just Wednesday in Saudi Arabia that he didn't mean to offend anyone when he said the day before that violence against Israel is counterproductive. "All I meant," Abbas explained, "is that we are in a phase that does not necessitate arms because we want to negotiate." And in the meantime, he decried Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom's call earlier in the day for the international community to build permanent housing for the millions of Arabs, whose ancestors may have once lived in Israel, who have been interned in UN refugee camps in the Arab world for the past 55 years. "Any proposal regarding the resettlement of the refugees is completely rejected," Abbas, the soon-to-be-democratically elected Palestinian leader, said. Shalom's call for the rehabilitation of the residents of the UN refugee camps was given in the course of his address to the Herzliya Conference. Aside from daring to raise the possibility of letting these poor people finally be free of the burden of living their lives as political symbols, his speech was actually wholly supportive of the combative, rejectionist Abbas. Shalom devoted much of his address to calling for the convention of a second Aqaba summit with US President George W. Bush, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Abbas right after the January 9 elections. In his words: "The lead actors from the first Aqaba summit, which took place in June 2003 - Sharon, Bush and Abu Mazen [Abbas] - are the same actors today, but stronger." So, in the run-up to the Palestinian election, which is supposed to be the first step toward the liberalization and democratization of Palestinian society, the presumptive winner - who stands opposed to any action against terror operatives or compromise on the so-called refugees that would enable peace to be achieved - is embraced as a positive development, a window of opportunity and a foregone conclusion. In an interview with the Post's Ruthie Blum appearing today, Palestinian apologist extraordinaire Hanan Ashrawi assailed Bush for adopting "the neocon agenda" in calling for the transformation of Palestinian society from a terror-supporting and -engendering society into a peaceful democratic one before the establishment of a Palestinian state. In her words, "You don't use democracy for justifying the existence of states. You would then have to remove many states. Self-determination for Palestinians is a right that has to be implemented as a way of bringing peace and stability to the region. Therefore, you don't make a state dependent on its system of government." And Ashrawi isn't alone. In his speech at the conference on Tuesday, Labor party leader and soon-to-be acting prime minister Shimon Peres assailed the notion that democratic reform is a necessary condition for peaceful relations. Indeed, the very thought that Palestinian society must be democratized meets its staunchest opposition from Israeli elites. In his column in Yediot Ahronot last Friday, Nahum Barnea, Israel's journalistic supremo and proud socialist, wrote scathingly of Bush's attachment to the notions of democracy and morality. Speaking of Bush's reading of Minister-without-Portfolio Natan Sharansky's book, The Case for Democracy, which argues that peaceful relations are contingent on individual freedom and democracy, Barnea sneered, "The book publisher can now advertise it as 'the only book the president has read in the last 10 years.'" He then went on to witheringly criticize Sharansky's book, describing it as "clear, easily digestible, unburdened by doubt, moralistic, very positive and totally simplistic." Israel's elitists, like Barnea and Peres, and their sheep-like followers like Shalom, no doubt took comfort in the obnoxious responses evinced toward the Bush administration's policy doctrine of bringing democracy to the Arab world during last Saturday's conference on the topic in Rabat, Morocco. There, US Secretary of State Colin Powell was barraged by angry statements from the Egyptian, Saudi and Libyan foreign ministers, who claimed that the US can't talk about democracy until "the peace process" goes forward and US occupation of Iraq comes to an end. Even German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, the champion of the Israeli Left, said that progress toward peace between Israel and the Palestinians "will lend all reform and modernization efforts in the Arab world unprecedented momentum." It isn't surprising that the same people who demonize their political opposition in Israel as warmongering extremists and potential political assassins would have such a low opinion of the possibility that Arabs might, if given the opportunity, choose to live freely and at peace with Israel and the rest of their neighbors. And yet, as The Washington Post's editorialist noted on Wednesday, even as the Arab potentates were berating the Americans for daring to discuss democracy with them, Arab human rights activists who also participated in the conference insisted that the Americans continue to pressure their governments and that "Palestinian and Iraqi issues should not be used as excuses for not launching reforms." And what did these people want? They demanded that their governments "allow free ownership of media institutions and sources; allow freedom of expression and especially freedom of assembly and meetings; ensure women's rights and remove all forms of inequality and discrimination against women in the Arab world; and immediately release reformers, human rights activists and political prisoners." The American neoconservatives, who have been the most visible proponents of democracy in the Arab world and who Barnea, echoing Ashrawi, alleges "control the foreign policy of the Bush administration," have often been accused of working for Israel. Yet, as our elites' revulsion with democracy and our government's silence on the issue shows, American democracy advocates have almost no one to talk to in Israel. Indeed, Israel's passivity in the face of Palestinian corruption, authoritarianism and hate indicates that what Israel needs most desperately is for a movement of Israeli neoconservatives to arise and "take control" of Israel's foreign policy. David Haimson send out emails with links to articles both timely and pertinent to what's happening in Israel. To subscribe, write DvHaimson@aol.com. |
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CHILD OF THE IRANIAN REVOLUTION
Posted by Arieh Lebowitz, December 18, 2004. |
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This is a book review of "Journey from the Land of No: A Girlhood Caught in Revolutionary Iran" by Roya Hakakian. Publisher: Crown 256pp.: $23.00. The review was written by Myra Noveck, a writer living in Jerusalem; it appeared in the Jerusalem Report. Roya Hakakian was 12 on the eve of the Iranian revolution, when she joined her Muslim friends in cheering Ayatollah Khomeini. A half dozen years later, the young Jewish woman dreamed of murdering him. A history, says my Random House College Dictionary, is a "continuous systematic narrative of past events." It can tell us about the big picture, the big causes and the larger-than-life players in the events that have shaped our world. But what about the little guy? The teacher, the secretary, the schoolgirl, whose names are never recorded in newspaper accounts, cabinet minutes or military reports, but who all saw through their own eyes a piece of history that no musty document can reveal? Their view can come from memoirs - but memoirs can be so personal that a reader not familiar with the period in question can lose track of events. Roya Hakakian's "Journey from the Land of No" manages to convey the best of memoir and the best of history. Hakakian, a documentary filmmaker and a former producer for "60 Minutes," grew up in a Jewish family in Teheran during the last years of the shah and early years of the rule of the Ayatollah Khomeini. These years of her girlhood are the parameters of this memoir. She poignantly describes the repression under the shah - her brother Albert had to flee Iran in 1975 when Roya was 9, because of his political cartoons - the euphoria when Reza Shah Pahlavi was overthrown in 1979, and the slow and horrifying realization that his replacement was worse than the shah ever was. The memoir is chronological but far from systematic. Hakakian does not even reveal the whole history of Roya Hakakian in these times. Her book is more a series of beautifully written vignettes that characterize each period described. Her visits with her best friend and Muslim neighbor Zaynab culminate in a night in the fall of 1978 when all of Teheran, including 12-year-old Roya, together with Zaynab's pro-Khomeini family, go to the rooftops shouting "Allahu Akbar" in support of Khomeini, who then is still in exile. Somehow, she and they conceive of revolution only in terms of what it will get rid of, not what it will bring. The glorious year of 1979 starts to go sour when the principal of Roya's Jewish girls school is suddenly replaced by Mrs. Moghadam, a Muslim proselytizer and black-veiled version of Dolores Umbridge, the cruel bureaucrat who takes over Hogwarts in the fifth Harry Potter novel. Nineteen eighty-four is the year when Roya dreams constantly of murdering the ayatollah. Despite the discontinuous narrative, though, the book provides enough background for the uninitiated to follow the line of history. Hakakian, who has been in the U.S. nearly 20 years, and laments Americans' ignorance of what goes on beyond their shores, provides a timeline and glossary in the back. Hakakian has also written two books of poetry in Persian, and the power of poetry for the Iranian people becomes a unifying element in her different stories. Even Roya's forward-looking father, a respected educator and poet, seeks to find the precise meaning in her cousin Farah's upcoming but ultimately doomed marriage by opening randomly to a page of the great national poet Hafez on the day of her engagement. Years later, a day hike in the mountains with friends turns sinister when, stopping in the wood for a break, they compare new and old printings of another poem, and realize that censorship - this time of erotic content - has returned. Before the gravity of this can sink in, the group is seized by Islamic paramilitary guards and Roya must surreptitiously eat the uncensored poems before she is searched. Two years later, as Roya makes the decision to leave Iran, she muses, "maybe it had all begun with the great Hafez, with his hyperbolic loves, with his celebration of blind sacrifice, with his shadowing muses, and his wordplay that should never have become the guidebook of the nation." The cousin's marriage, celebrated with Hafez, turns into a tragedy. So does the revolution. As all Iran sobers up from the revolutionary euphoria, so does Iran's ancient community of 100,000 Jews, only more so. Roya's relatives begin leaving Iran to escape Khomeini, following the ones who left to escape the shah. But Roya and her parents remain until the mid-80s, as the position of Jews, as Jews, becomes ever worse. Roya's parents argue about whether to leave or not. Roya's father, who so admired his village school principal for publicly sharing a glass of water with him - a single act that obliterates the Shi'ite view of Jews as emanating impurity - refuses to recognize anti-Semitism's return when separate drinking fountains for non-Muslims are instituted at schools. "Eh, they come and go these lunatics," he says. What Roya's father and many others failed to realize was that "these lunatics" were an intrinsic part of the revolution. Khomeini's message was always one of religious fanaticism. The name "Roya" in Persian means "dream." The Iranians dreamed of getting rid of the shah, but like so many dreams, the revolution got out of hand. The poetic dream of the revolution became a prosaic nightmare of repression. |
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PALESTINIAN GIRL KILLED NEAR BORDER - NOT ON WAY TO SCHOOL
Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, December 18, 2004. |
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This item was written by Dr Aaron Lerner and is archived at
http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=23267
The IDF Spokesperson's Office has released an aerial photograph of the area where a Palestinian girl was killed on October 5. The photograph was published in Maariv today. Since the photo is not on the IDF Website, IMRA has scanned it and it can be found at: www.israelnn.com/data/images/2004/12/17/photo_english.jpg Contrary to Palestinian claims that the girl was killed on the way to school, the photograph clearly indicates that the Girit outpost, where she was shot and killed, is locate in the opposite direction from her home. The area of the Girit outpost is off limits to civilians. It should be noted that it is a common practice of Palestinian terrorists to send children to both test the security arrangements in outposts and at times even place explosive charges. Aryeh Zelasko lives in Beitar Illit, south of Jerusalem. He is Director of Sales and Marketing of Israel Visit (www.israelvisit.co.il) which provides information and an internet buying facility for American visitors to Israel. |
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THE GOOD FRIENDS AND POLITICAL ALLIES - SHARON AND PERES
Posted by by Sergio Tezza (Hadar), December 18, 2004. |
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What did I tell you?... The good friends and political allies Sharon and Peres are now both in the government! And the "yeshivish" political prostitutes of UTJ, make it possible, even if it will mean the beginning of Hashem's wrath on Israel for spitting on the open miracles of the Six Days' War and giving land to the enemies and deporting Jews from their own homes in the Land of Israel. Ahavath bez'a, redifath mamon and chairs are the guiding principle. This article is called "Labor, Likud parties reach coalition government deal" and was written by Gil Hoffman and appeared in the Jerusalem Post December 15, 2004. It is archived at http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename= JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1103080753176&p=1078027574097 Be`ahavath Israel :-) from HaDaR
After days of heated coalition negotiations, Labor and Likud have reached an agreement on the division of portfolios, and the parties are expected to sign the deal on Sunday, officially bringing the Labor party into a coalition government. According to the agreement, Labor will be granted eight ministries: the Interior Ministry, Infrastructure, Housing, Tourism, and Communications Ministries, two ministers without portfolios, and three deputy ministers. In addition, Shimon Peres will fill the position of deputy prime minister in the Prime Minister's Office. Peres' position is counted as a ministerial portfolio. Sharon approved Likud negotiating team chairman Yoram Raved's meeting with Opposition leader Shimon Peres on Friday. Peres and Raved agreed on the eight ministerial portfolios, Channel 2 reported. The two parties said they had reached agreement on diplomatic and economic issues. The two parties are expected to sign the agreement on Sunday, and the deal should come into effect next week. Industry and Trade Minister Ehud Olmert on Friday said he would resign if Prime Minister Sharon gave his position as deputy prime minister to Labor as part of the coalition deal. After anger towards MK Dalia Itzik was running high among Likud members, Labor's head of negotiations was excluded from the final meeting between the two parties Friday night, Channel 2 reported. "Itzik is acting crazy and her management of the Labor party is reminiscent of a remedial class," Army Radio reported one Sharon confidant as saying. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon decided to suspend coalition talks with Labor on Thursday night to protest comments by Labor negotiating team chairwoman Dalia Itzik that insulted him. Itzik hinted in radio interviews that the reason Sharon does not want to give up legal portfolios in negotiations is connected to the ongoing criminal investigation against him. She said the Likud "insists on keeping the Internal Security Ministry and the Justice Ministry, and it is easy to understand why." Itzik offended Sharon further when, in a speech to the Labor convention at the Tel Aviv Fairgrounds, she accused him of crawling toward Labor. "The Likud team tried to stick pins in us and it hasn't worked," she told the convention. "No one can humiliate this party. No one! We are not crawling to the coalition. The Likud is running to us. The groom is more powerful, but without the bride, there is no government, no disengagement, and no budget." Sharon's associates said several of Itzik's senior Labor colleagues have complained about her as well. "A party that wants to be a partner in one of the most important years in Israeli history and in one of the most influential steps must behave with minimum fairness and not like an uncouth souk vendor," a high-ranking Likud official said. "We do not think Itzik's behavior exemplifies a partner, but rather an extortionist." Likud negotiating team chairman Yoram Raved said he thought he would have been able to complete negotiations with Labor on Thursday, but Itzik kept on asking for more. In a two-hour meeting between the two Thursday afternoon at the Dan Hotel in Tel Aviv, Raved agreed to Itzik's request for an eighth portfolio and a third deputy minister. Itzik, who heard about the suspension on the radio, responded that the Likud, and not her, is not behaving like a partner. "When they have no answers, they shift to attacks to try to distract attention," she said. The Labor central committee was expected to meet early next week to select the party's ministers. Peres will not have to run for his portfolio. The other seven will be contested by some 13 Labor MKs. A Shavakim Panorama poll of Labor members found that the most popular candidates are Matan Vilna'i, Avraham Shochat, Itzik, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer and Haim Ramon. A recent Smith Research poll of central committee members found that the top five candidates were Vilna'i, Itzik, Ben-Eliezer, Ephraim Sneh and a tie between Ramon and Ophir-Pines Paz. Four Labor MKs are pursuing deputy ministries. Labor's agreement with Meimad says that if it joins the government, Meimad will get a ministry if possible, and if not, the senior deputy ministry. Vilna'i called for reserving a deputy ministry for a minority candidate, most likely MK Raleb Majadleh. A coalition of Likud, Labor and United Torah Judaism would number 64 MKs. Shas chairman Eli Yishai informed the Likud coalition negotiating team on Thursday that his party has decided not to enter the coalition, but Sharon has not given up on the party. Sharon invited Yishai to meet with him on Sunday. He who is merciful with the cruel, will end-up being cruel to the merciful - Kohelet Rabba 7:16 |
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FEAR THEY UNDERSTAND: GIVE IT TO THEM!
Posted by Arlene Peck, December 17, 2004. |
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Sometimes the sheer stupidity of my surroundings astounds me. Truly, I think, "Naw, they can't be that dumb." Recently, I read in the Los Angeles Times a feature entitled, "Who are the Enemy?" The next page had a column entitled, "Arab Issues Eclipse U.S. Agenda." Virtually the entire newspaper was filled with the latest disgusting atrocity caused by this so-called peaceful religion. And, we have the nerve to ask who the enemy is? We, in the United States are bankrupting ourselves and making the world hate us because we are "attempting to launch ambitious reform programs across much of the Western and Muslim nations." The powers that be in Washington are thinking of ways to dissolve Social Security because the trillions that are going into the defense from the Muslim declaration of war on civilization have to be paid somewhere down the road. Have any of your seen the bill for the Home Security, which we never needed before the Muslim march over the hill? Billions... and billions... and that is not counting what has gone into the secret shopping fund of Mrs. Arafat. We have forums, and lots, and lots of meetings to discuss ad nauseum as to how every Iraqi child should have an education and happy life. What about our children? They discuss how much money we should set aside for funds to assist small business ventures and private-sector start-up projects in Arab countries. Our politicians sit in meetings planning the steps (and I quote) "To make a first step toward a vision set out by President Bush of combating extremism and instability by helping to transform the Middle East and much of the broader Muslim world into an economically vibrant, democratic region." Frankly folks, I don't give a diddlysquat about giving these barbarians an "economically vibrant, democratic region" Repeat the mantra... They hate us. Much of their world is led by radical Islamists who want to kill us. They want to kill us. You cannot negotiate with these people. These are evil people, who are trying to destroy civilization throughout the world. I am more worried more about being able to buy toilet paper in our schools than making sure every child in Iraq has their need fulfilled. Who do they think are the enemy? Virtually every war around the world is now being carried out by the leaders and followers of radicalized Islam. I used to think that everyone was just so bleeding heart liberal that they would not accept the fact that we are in a World War. Now, I'm beginning to realize that much of the world is made up of "nice people" Unfortunately, nice people just cannot understand the reality of true evil. We have never experienced it. The Jews knew it when the Nazis slaughtered six million of them. Yet, even that was different. This is an entire Islamic culture of 1.3 billion people who, have been carefully taught via their religion, their fanatical religion, to kill any and everyone that is not the same as them. And, that means Jews and Christians. In addition, I am becoming more and more alarmed at how many people who you think are "nice" are simmering with hatred toward the Jewish State just beneath the surface. Recently, I wrote about a "nice Holland couple" at my gym that shocked me when they began to relate to me their concern about the Palestinians. That is, until their family began to move away from Holland because of the danger they now feel from these same people. Yesterday, I was at the taping of a national television show and sat next to a young man from Iceland. We began to speak of his travels and he told me how he had been visiting Syria, Jordon, Egypt, and Lebanon. When I asked had he been to Israel he said, "No, I couldn't visit a people who are torturing the Palestinians." He then began to list, erroneously, how the Israelis were murdering and taking away the Arabs land. The day before, I agreed to have brunch with a man who I had met from Oregon. He had told me that he owned a small newspaper there and I thought it might be interesting. It was. For about fifteen minutes I bit my tongue while listening him speak about how Israel is behind all the conflict that's happening in the world today and they are receiving all of the aid from our tax dollars. Finally, I erupted when he began to tell me what a "great statesman Arafat was and how much he helped his people." This man from Oregon who earlier told me how he was a tree-hugger ... and fought to save the dolphins represented a real danger. I felt he would have had no conscience standing in a mob denouncing "the Jews". No, I didn't hit him but angrily left the table telling him that I could not sit at the same table with an anti-Semite like him and how disgusting I thought he was. The reason that I am so shaken by these isolated events is that they were all "nice" people". Until I began to delve into their inner thoughts, I would have walked away with a feeling of comfort that they would never be a danger to the Jewish people. I have been telling myself that there are a lot of people who are beginning to see what the real plan of the radical Muslims are. That being the destruction of our world, as we know it. Now I wonder. Unfortunately, the radical Muslims have a good propaganda machine in place. They are masters at "the big lie". Yet, from what I can see, other than a few organizations such as StandWithUs and Palestinian Media Watch, I do not see much in the way of Jewish truth getting out to the masses. I remember when the Israeli consul, Youval Rotem, was here in Los Angeles. I never knew whether he didn't like me personally or considered it beneath himself to go on a local talk show and talk about Israel. Nevertheless, despite repeated requests, I could never get him or any representatives to come on my television show. (www.arlenepeck.com) We actually believe as Colin Powell said in his opening remarks at the latest forum, "To defeat the murderous extremists in our midst, we must work together to address the causes of despair and frustration that extremists exploit for their own ends." Well, I for one know the causes of despair and frustration. Their fanatical, radical culture teaches death, destruction and corruption. The only thing that is revered is death. Anyone that isn't LIKE them must be destroyed. They laugh at our efforts to make their lives more comfortable. It is based on submission. What makes us think that there is any alternative other than showing them what they understand most - FEAR and strength? That, they understand. BTW: Check out these two sites:
Arlene Peck is an internationally syndicated columnist and television talk show hostess. She can be reached at: bestredhead@earthlink.net and www.arlenepeck.com |
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I LIKE MUSLIMS BUT ABHOR 'MECCA-ISM'
Posted by Beth Goodtree, December 17, 2004. |
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The title of this piece sounds odd I realize; yet this is the equivalent of what the Arab and Muslim world is now trying to do regarding the Jews. Saudi Arabia is the newest entrant to this deviant and deceptive stance: Jews are acceptable but Israel isn't. Ever since the reestablishment of the ancient and aboriginal Jewish homeland, the Arab/Muslim world has been up in arms because the Jewish people rightfully dared to take back that which was stolen from them through genocide and war. Make no mistake, the majority of the Arab/Muslim world wants not merely Middle East hegemony, but world conquest. However, this sort of thinking does not go down well with the civilized world. So the Arab/Muslim spin-doctors burned the midnight camel dung (1) and came up with a disingenuous twist. They say that Jews are acceptable, but Israel is not. This has been their mantra since they lost three wars of aggression against tiny Israel to humiliating defeats where they outnumbered the Jews by multitudes to one. Since 9-11, with it's overwhelming majority of Saudi murderers, the Kingdom has been intent on proving that they are benign, peaceful and loving despots and that their Islamist country is all sweetness and light. This is because since September 11, civilized people have become aware of the Saudi hand in the slave trade of Africa and even slave owners among their own Saudi royalty, persecution, torture and execution of non-Muslims and countless other atrocities, all committed in the name of Islam. Something had to be done. In response to public awareness and anger at Saudi Arabia's barbarity and unending atrocities, the Kingdom ran a multi-million dollar dud of an ad campaign in America to persuade people that the Saudis are next best things to sliced ham. The only change I personally noticed during this flopperoonie of a campaign was that while it was on, oil prices shot up (methinks this was their way of billing us for it). Certainly the American public is not nearly so gullible as the Arab/Muslim world when it comes to propaganda. Everyone laughed at their feeble and expensive attempt to make them the nice followers of the Profit.... er...Prophet. Within weeks of deciding that throwing good oil pelf after bad was getting them nowhere except as a laughingstock, Saudi Arabia unleashed their latest sneak bid to bamboozle the civilized world. This stealth attack comes in the form of one Dr. Khaled M. Batarfi. Dr. Batarfi, someone whose credentials I found impossible to verify, has been put forth as the putative moderate voice of the Saudi ruling despots. In his most recent article, run by an official 'news' organ of the Saudi regime - al-Madina - Dr. Batarfi seems to be a peace-loving dove. This article has the unwieldy title of The Problem Lies with Those Who Misinterpret History in Order to Serve Self-Interests. Fortunately for those of us in the civilized world that Dr. Batarfi, who apparently must be the best the Saudis have to offer, is so obvious in his hatred, lies and prejudices that he unwittingly states it in his first two sentences. In the opening of this clumsy bid to gain world approval as a moderate tyranny, the Saudi mouthpiece states the following: "Some of my Jewish readers have doubts. They suspect that Arabs and Muslims hate them, blaming them for Israel's misdeeds and past mistakes..." (2) Right away he vilifies and demonizes Israel, separating the history, love and yearning for a stolen Jewish birthplace and homeland from Judaism itself. This in spite of the fact that Jerusalem and a return to the aboriginal Jewisah homeland is mentioned hundreds of times in the Bible. For someone who dares claim a doctorate, Batarfi's lack of knowledge regarding the intrinsic ties of the Jewish homeland of Israel to the Jewish religion is staggering, to say the least. Doesn't this man ever read? His stance is the equivalence of saying that Muslims are okay but their devotion to Mecca is unacceptable. Or that Catholics are all right, but their ties to Vatican City, Lourdes, and other holy places are abhorrent. Further investigation into Batarfi reveals his obvious hatred and ignorance of Jews and Judaism. In an article ostensibly about the Iraq war entitled "Too Wise to Fall for Tricks," Dr. Khaled M. Batarfi (why am I tempted to call him "Dr. Call-Me-Barfbag"?) goes out of his way to repeatedly call Israel a monster and a criminal. To wit: "The bigger Israeli monster complained to daddy and demanded specific action. Daddy decided to get rid of his Iraqi evil creation and run business directly with the help of its now one and only partner in crime, Israel." (3) This putative moderate sounds like merely another genocidal Islamist monster with an unverifiable pedigree after his name and the backing of the Saudi royal family. And lest you think this is merely a 'Jewish issue,' may I remind you readers that the Muslims have already begun their takeovers of Christian holy places, chasing out and/or forcibly ejecting the Christians from one of their holiest lands, Bethlehem. They also used the Church of the Nativity for an Islamist terror hideout for weeks, defecating and urinating inside it and using the bibles for toilet paper. And the roof on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was turned into deviant and blasphemous latrine for the King of Modern Islamist Terror - Yasser Arafat and his demonic minions. (4) Nor have the Islamists stopped with 'merely' Jewish and Christian holy sites. The Taliban destroyed irreplaceable ancient Buddhist statues because they were, in the Taliban's own words, 'Un-Islamic.' Meanwhile, over the centuries the Muslims have converted Hindu shrines and temples into mosques. And this has nothing to do with the dispute over Kashmir. Therefore, any Arab or Muslim who is not willing to openly say these behaviors and philosophies are wrong and should be condemned must be considered an enemy of humanity. Dr. Khaled M. Batarfi is, and so are his Saudi royal handlers. End Notes (1) Lest you think that this fact is inflammatory, camel dung was and often is the most common fuel for fires among desert (Arabian) peoples:
(2) http://www.memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD83004 (3) http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=53375& d=24&m=10&y=2004&pix=opinion.jpg&category=Opinion (4) http://conservativetruth.org/opinionet/archives2/ccnr/2002/ccnr09.htm Beth Goodtree is an award-winning writer who lives in the NYC metro area. She writes political commentary/analysis, and the occasional science and humor articles. Or visit her website: http://hometown.aol.com/bgoodtree/ |
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THE COLD WAR NEVER ENDED; ARABS TURN LAW AGAINST THE WEST
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, December 17, 2004. |
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THE COLD WAR NEVER ENDED I thought the Cold War ended with the routing of US radicals and the collapse of the USSR. Now, however, Pres. Putin acts as if rebuilding the dictatorial and imperialist Soviet system into its former threat to our way of life. Some experts think he is centralizing federal rule just for effective government. Others worry he is rolling back democratic reform. He tries to draw peripheral states into the Russian orbit. How innocent is that? We find that the Cold War was not extinguished in the US. It merely went underground. It now has re-emerged clandestinely. College professors, Middle East Studies programs, and the Democratic Party became increasingly leftist. The more leftist, the more anti-American. They automatically oppose US foreign policy, finding rationalizations for doing so after the fact. They oppose the US no matter how well-meaning or progressive our policy, and no matter how ill-intended or regressive our foes. If our policy is good for the US, they denounce the US for the temerity to intervene abroad, but if neutral, they insist on US boldness in intervening abroad. They view the US as an unmitigated evil, not noticing that the US also is the world's only hope, as in taking the lead to support democracy in the Ukraine and opposing genocide in Sudan. To some extent, however, our foreign policy was criticized this year simply because of the election. Like their Communist and fellow-traveling intellectual and sometimes parental forebears, contemporary leftists try to cow their critics by accusing them of McCarthyism. The leftists complain that criticism of them is censorship, but indulge in censorship, themselves. They cheat in behalf of racial diversity, but censor in behalf of intellectual uniformity. Sensitive about their rights, they are insensitive about their students' rights. Fortunately a reaction is setting in, it is thoughtful, and it is growing. In their heyday, the Communists infiltrated some unions, Hollywood, the State Dept., etc.. Into their orbit, they drew a larger number of fellow travelers. The country awoke and beat them back. Now their orbit contains the social studies faculty on most campuses and many fellow travelers in the Democratic Party. They have rendered that Party incapable of electing a President. A Democrat would have to present himself as a radical in order to win Party primaries, but that would leave an unpalatable impression on the general electorate. Patriots and realists need to gird themselves again, this time to overcome the radical power in the Democrat Party and on campus. The campus must be a place of free intellectual ferment, and not an indoctrination center for the enemies of our society. The interesting challenge is to present this idea to liberal Democrat friends. Will they be open to challenge, or are they too insulated? They assume that anyone they meet agrees with them. They have their Party line and faith in the heavily slanted "NY Times." They claim that Pres. Bush lied to them about the Iraq War - his explanations were not coordinated. I say the "Times" did. They set up false standards for the permissibility of this war. They already have heard me out that Bush didn't wage too many wars but too few. It helped them be patient that I excoriated Pres. Bush for certain domestic policies. In the wake of electoral defeat, they were tolerant of my denying that it was Pres. Bush who was stupid but Sen. Kerry. (Kerry's campaign theme was his record in an old war. His medals are questionable, but he refused to open the record! What is not open to question is the fact of his comforting the enemy still at war with us. He therefore invited good Americans to vote against him.) Some Party advisors said they will pass along my suggestions for waging a more effective Presidential campaign. It was easier for them to indulge me when I was mild about it. However, now that I see that in addition to defense against jihad, I must be reborn as a Cold War warrior. My broom cannot leave undisturbed intellectual cobwebs. I think that my friends are fine and well-meaning people. They will see that I realize limits to my knowledge, and am willing to accept correction. To me this is an intellectual matter, not a dogmatic one. That is the American way we all should restore. FLIMSY EXCUSE FOR DEFAMATION The purpose of Israeli checkpoints in the P.A. is to detect terrorists before they reach Israeli areas. The women's Checkpoint Watch organization acts as if the purpose is to deny Arabs civil rights. They claim to document abuses of those rights. Actually, they misrepresent abuses and rights and harass soldiers to the point of menacing security. Here is one of an increasing number of examples that reflect badly not only on Checkpoint Watch but also on the world media. An Arab youth approached a checkpoint with a violin case. Soldiers asked him to open it for inspection. It held not a machine gun but a violin which, of his own accord, the youth played. The Israeli commander asked him to stop. Checkpoint Watch reported that the soldiers had asked him to play. The media accepted the report without verification. Acting upset but actually having a field day, the world media lampooned Israel as comparable to the Nazis who required Jews to play music as fellow Jews entered a concentration camp. (It wouldn't be comparable, because the Nazi purpose was to dupe the arrivals with an appearance of normalcy.) A week later, "Haaretz" admitted that the soldiers had not asked the youth to play (Prof. Steven Plaut, 11/30, e-mail). The new antisemitism is a pretense that the Israelis are like Nazis and that they oppress the Arabs. The Arabs really are Nazi-like. I think that this is not the usual case of media carelessness. I think that the media prefers not to verify anti-Israel sources, because those sources so often are false. It would rather defame Israel for a week than present truthful news for a day. What Israel doesn't do makes more exciting "news." The Checkpoint Watchers claim to be upholding the dignity of the Arabs. The Arabs, however, mock and threaten the Jews at checkpoints, humiliating them with impunity. The Watchers do not care about their own soldiers' dignity. The double standard indicates to me that they don't care about Arab dignity, either, which usually is unmolested. They really seek to humiliate the troops, as their encouragement of Arabs to attempt it indicates. Their goal is to undermine Israel's grip on the Territories, however much that would undermine Israeli security. POWER TO SUE VS. FREEDOM OF THE PRESS (more) Saudi billionaire bin Mafouz has sued 29 newspapers and other publications that report about his donations to terrorist organizations. He tends to do so in jurisdictions that are more pro-plaintiff. He has the funds to go through expensive trials. Most publishers do not. They usually capitulate and apologize, reimburse his legal expenses, and pay "damages." No trial, no airing of the truth, and the truth is retracted by the publishers. Freedom of the press is lost. Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld's book, "Funding Evil," made similar accusations against Mafouz. He sued her in England. Dr. Ehrenfeld is ignoring that suit and pre-empting it by asking a US court for a declarative judgment that she did not libel him, under US law. In her suit, which puts him on the defensive, she would have an opportunity to insert into the judicial record her evidence that he funded terrorism both personally and through the main Saudi bank he once owned, and that the Saudi government funded terrorism, too. She may have to lay out $300,000 for the suit, an appeal, and some public relations, until a judgment is made. He is counting on her not obtaining that funds and lasting the months required (Op. Cit.). Are there any decent foundations with funds to help? They might get reimbursed by the verdict. They should not let laws intended to protect the innocent be abused to punish the innocent for exposing the guilty. P.A. ARABS NOT ATTACHED TO THE LAND A survey that P.A. Arabs helped formulate found that most P.A. Arabs dislike their quality of life, believe that the P.A. does not try to improve it, and would be willing to move away if to better housing and employment (IMRA, 12/30). Remember my program for rescinding Israeli subsidy of the Arabs, so they would move away. It would be practical. U.S. HIGHER EDUCATION IS LOWER College costs are rising and their educational achievement is declining. Why? (1) Professors use their classrooms to indoctrinate, and repress dissenting facts and views; and (2) As a result of the same hostility towards Western civilization, many courses have little academic content. Titles of courses conferring academic credit towards a diploma: "Canine Cultural Studies;" "I Like Ike But I Love Lucy"; "History of Electronic Dance Music"; "Rock & Roll"; etc.. Most students could not summarize a newspaper argument; use a bus schedule; compute the right tip to give; calculate the change from giving $3 for a $1.95 sandwich and a $.60 bowl of soup (in 1993); and 90% could not use a calculator for determining the cost of carpeting a room. Universities have become hotbeds of political activism and academic fraud. Let alumni to be more prudent with donations! (Walter E. Williams, NY Sun, 12/8, p.11.) I omitted other examples comparing students' answers in recent years with those of a generation ago. Some involve unimportant details (or is it that I had some difficulty with them), such as that G. Washington was the (US) general at the battle of Yorktown. Another is the near unanimity of leftist opinion among college professors in the social sciences. By itself, that doesn't prove bias and censorship. COLLEGES LACK INTELLECTUAL DIVERSITY College professors are overwhelmingly liberal, but their students are overwhelmingly middle of the road and conservative. Without hearing a conservative point of view, students cannot become well educated in some fields. (This is especially true when, in the absence of conservative competition, and unchecked by competition, there is a lack of restraint. Professors can teach nonsense that is factually and logically unsound but ideologically conformist). Students claim that they hear only one side of the issue and that professors promote their personal political views. Liberals attribute the disparity among the professors to conservatives being less intelligent. Funny, but how did the disparity really arise? Because it is difficult to gain tenure, and the liberals block conservatives' advancement. Tenure requires strong faculty endorsement if not unanimity. Such endorsement depends on collegiality. It helps greatly not to have offending political views. Conservative mentors are rare and are reluctant to stand out. Tenure and advancement also require publication. Publication requires peer-review by experts in the field. Anonymous reviewers can blackball conservatives. When they don't publish, their careers perish. Colleges lack intellectual diversity (Bruce Bartlett, Op. Cit.) and academic integrity. How intelligent are the faculty of Middle Eastern Studies, who don't know that jihad stems from internal intolerance and not from a reaction to unpopular US policy or to poverty? Fanatical aggressors don't have justification. SAUDI CRITICISM OF U.S. LAW MONITORING ANTISEMITISM The Saudis object to the US arrogating to itself the right to monitor prejudice and against only a specific group. "Perhaps one of the most important questions raised by the law is who will monitor Israeli racism and confront the libelous campaigns waged by certain Jewish and Zionist organizations, Jewish clerics, and parts of the Israeli media against non-Jews? Or are these people immune from accountability, left alone to freely attack other religions and peoples?" (IMRA, 12/30.) They cite some statements that are questionable or offensive, but not dangerous. Everybody monitors Israel but almost nobody monitors the defamers of Israel. The Saudis are indulging in the usual Arab evasiveness by means of false comparison. The US already acts against other persecutions. Persecution of Jews, defenseless in many countries, can result in genocide. The Arabs are working at genocide against the Jews and in Sudan successfully against the Christians and even non-Arab Muslims. 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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HELP US END STONING IN IRAN!
Posted by Tamar Rush, December 17, 2004. |
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This comes from the Faith Freedom organization. It is an announcement
from the Organisation for Women's Liberation-Iran which writes: "2
weeks to the New year! 2 weeks to the end of a woman's life in Iran!"
Hajiyeh Esmaelvand is a woman who is going to be stoned to death in Iran by the end of December. We can not let this happen. According to the Islamic laws in Iran and the supreme court of the Islamic Republic of Iran she is to be executed by stoning for having sexual relations outside marriage. Hajiyeh is yet another victim of backward and brutal laws and values of Islam being imposed on millions of people in Iran. How many lives does it take to tell the world that the Islamic government of Iran is violating every human and civil rights known to man? How many people should live in fear before the Iranian government is condemned? How many acts of stoning must be carried out before we can declare the Islamic government of Iran a government not worthy of being? One life, one person, one stoning is too many! Stoning and all forms of capital punishment must be banned in Iran. We support the efforts of the International Committee against Stoning and call upon all to do the same. This is their message: Write to the Iranian President Mohammad Khatami demanding: * Immediate abolition of stoning and all other forms of punishment for extra-marital relations and all other Sharia laws; Please send your letter of protest to Mr. Khatami president of Islamic state of Iran either by fax or by e-mail. Email: khatami@president.ir Fax: 0098 21 649 5880 Sign our online petition: http://www.PetitionOnline.com/azadizan/ Please send your letters to us: Mina Ahadi Email: minaahadi@aol.com
The site also has a video of Stoning to Death Go to http://www.faithfreedom.org/Announcement/412151150.htm for details. |
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THE TIMES HIGHER EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT (LONDON) ON ISRAELI ACADEMICS
Posted by Steven Plaut, December 17, 2004. |
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1. This article is concerned with an article entitled "Academic witch-hunt or a digital defence?" and archived at http://www.thes.co.uk/current_edition/story.aspx and is Does the monitoring of left-wing Israeli scholars help or hinder democracy? Neve Gordon sees danger, Steven Plaut a watchdog. A new spectre is haunting the far-left fever swamps that fester in certain corners of Israeli universities. Israel Academia Monitor, like its American cousin Campus Watch, has begun recording the more outrageous words of academic extremists. The US website has long been controversial for publishing some of the loopier statements of faculty members who pose as Middle East "experts". Campus Watch has outraged members of the academic left wing, who denounce it for its "McCarthyism". Now the Israeli Academia Monitor (www.israel-academia-monitor.com) has aroused similar outrage and denunciations. Of course, critics of the Israeli academic left have been attacked for some time. David Newman, professor of political geography at Ben-Gurion University, complained in The Times Higher in April about right-wing McCarthyists attempting to suppress academic "diversity". This from a man whose department does not include one non-leftist. Free speech is indeed what the hysteria is all about. The attacks on both the Monitor and Campus Watch come from people who insist on the right to endorse terrorist attacks against Jews, demand the annihilation of Israel and use their podiums to impose their extremist political agenda on their hapless students. All of this, they claim, is within the rubric of free speech and academic freedom. But then they try to silence those people who criticise them. Those being documented by the website watchdogs complain that it is an attempt to deny them free speech. Poppycock! These websites are just collections of direct citations published by the extremists in question. True, the Monitor expresses the desire for donors to the universities to review the material and make their views heard regarding the political misbehaviour of faculty members. What is wrong with donors also having the freedom of expression? No one is denying academic freedom to the extremists, even though there are serious questions as to whether their words always fall within the bounds of what should be legitimately protected, especially in a time of war against annihilation by Arab fascism. Oswald Mosley was not granted an academic lectureship as a celebration of free speech when Winston Churchill was Prime Minister during the Second World War. And I doubt there are any European countries in which an open Holocaust denier could hold a university post. So academic freedom does seem to have its boundaries. But this is not even on the agenda in Israel. Despite laws against open endorsement of terrorist violence and racism, no leftist has ever been indicted under such legislation. Many of the left-wing extremists on Israeli campuses have embarrassing academic records, consisting of little more than political propaganda misrepresented as scholarly research. Yet they stay in the system thanks to the political solidarity of other academic leftists. Let us be clear. Israeli campus extremists have never had their free speech curtailed. But there is a difference between affirming their rights to academic freedom and insisting that others have to foot the bills for their politicising. Israeli universities are all, with one exception, state financed, with foreign donors covering what the taxpayer does not. Both parties have the right to demand accountability and resist being coerced into financing sedition and radicalism. Those university departments that wish to function as leftist propaganda machines are free to secede and operate independently without taxpayer support. 2. "Hamas Admit BBC Reporter Is One Of Theirs" Israel's influential leftist newspaper, Ha'aretz, has finally highlighted the fact that one of the BBC's main reporters in Gaza has very close ties with Hamas. Fayad Abu Shamala, who has reported from Gaza for the BBC Arabic Language Service since 1996, is also possibly a Hamas member. Ha'aretz reported yesterday ("Leading Hamas preacher warns of clash with Islamic Jihad," by Arnon Regular, December 15, 2004) that Fathi Hamad, the leading Hamas preacher responsible for "Hamas' coordination with the international media," has been caught on tape saying that BBC correspondent Faiz Abu Smala slants his reports "to favor Muslims." Ha'aretz reports that Hamad said "that Hamas man Faiz Abu Smala works for the BBC, and that way he writes the story in favor of the Islam [sic] and Muslims." Ha'aretz adds: "Hamad believed that he was speaking in a private closed forum, but the session was filmed and then distributed a copy of which was obtained by Ha'aretz." He also says that the Al Jazeera correspondent in Gaza, Wa'al Dahduah, is a supporter of the terror group Islamic Jihad. This is the Ha'aretz article. BBC: He Is "A Senior, Experienced And Impartial Journalist" Faiz Abu Smala is also transliterated in English as Fayad Abu Shamala and as Faid Abu Shimalla. On several occasions in the past, I have questioned the appropriateness of the BBC employing Fayad Abu Shamala as a senior reporter in Gaza. See for example, references in the following articles of mine from 2001 and 2004. ** The Euro media and the Intifada The National Review, 2001, and repeated on several websites, including: honestreporting.com/articles/reports/ European_Media_and_Anti-Israel_Bias.asp ** Living in a Bubble: The BBC's very own Mideast foreign policy The National Review, June 18, 2004 www.nationalreview.com/comment/gross200406181018.asp In May 6, 2001, Abu Shamala told a Hamas rally in Gaza (attended by the then Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin) that journalists and media organizations in Gaza, including the BBC, are "waging the campaign shoulder-to-shoulder together with the Palestinian people." Yet after that revelation, the BBC declined to remove him as one of their main Gaza correspondents and he has continued to file incendiary reports about Israel from Gaza. The best the BBC could do in response to these remarks at the time
was to issue a statement saying, "Fayad's remarks were made in a
private capacity. His reports have always matched the best standards
of balance required by the BBC. He is a senior and experienced
journalist who knows the requirements for impartiality."
Steven Plaut is professor of economics at Haifa University. He writes
in a personal capacity.
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PALESTINIAN GUNMEN SPURN ABBAS
Posted by Eliezar Edwards, December 17, 2004. |
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DEBKAFile feels Prez Bush is going to start playing footsies with soon-to-be-forceably-'elected' Abbas and his phony government (or should that be gun'ment) - and forcing Abbas' desires on Israel. What a position for Israel to be in - her people expelled from their homes in Yesha either by both the Palestinians and their own government or just by their own government. And terrorism and the slaughter of Jews in either case will just increase. Haven't the Israelis heard of the C-D word - Civil Disobedience? This was written by Nidal al-Mughrabi and was distributed by Reuters yesterday. GAZA (Reuters) - Key Palestinian militant groups have rejected a call by moderate leader Mahmoud Abbas to end their armed fight against Israel, saying they were not bound by his authority and attacks would continue. Members of the Islamic Jihad group and the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed group within Abbas's own Fatah movement, rebuffed the demand in a taped joint statement on Thursday. "Calls by some Palestinian persons to stop the armed uprising are totally rejected ... These statements are not binding on us," a masked gunman said on the video. It also claimed joint responsibility for an attack on Wednesday on a Jewish settlement in Gaza. "The blessed intifada will continue, both on its military and popular lines. No one, however senior or at whatever level - Palestinian, Arab or international - will be able to stop it," added the gunman, wearing an Islamic Jihad headband. His remarks echoed the stance of the largest militant faction, Hamas. It says its campaign is legitimate self-defence against Israeli military strikes and incursions in the West Bank and Gaza, occupied by Israel since the 1967 Middle East war. Hamas and Islamic Jihad are also sworn to destroying Israel. All three militant groups have carried out suicide bombings and other attacks targeting Israeli soldiers and civilians in a four-year-old Palestinian uprising. Abbas, named head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation after Yasser Arafat's death last month, is the clear frontrunner to replace him as president in a January 9 election. Abbas called on Tuesday for his people to pursue negotiations instead of violence in their struggle for a state, reiterating his longstanding view that armed attacks have been counterproductive to the Palestinian goal of statehood. But his bid to restore internal order faces serious challenges from militants, including some from his own party. Israel rules out statehood talks unless Palestinians manage to rein in armed groups in a way that Arafat failed to do. Mounting violence in Gaza, which Israel plans to evacuate next year, has dampened hopes of a peace breakthrough following Arafat's death last month, despite Abbas's pragmatic stance. A top Islamic Jihad official, in a statement on the group's Web site, said it was not the right time to give up arms. "Resistance factions have the right to keep their arms as long as occupation exists and as long as Zionist aggression continues on Palestinian land," Mohammad al-Hindi said. Militants want to portray Israel's planned unilateral pullout from the Gaza Strip next year as a victory while Israel wants to smash them before any withdrawal. |
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JEWISH STORIES FOR A LOST TRIBE OF ISRAEL
Posted by Michael Freund, December 17, 2004. |
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This appeared in Arutz-7 Israel National News today. It is archived at
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=73757
For the first time, members of a Lost Tribe of Israel in northeastern India will be able to read about great Jewish figures from the Talmud in their native tongue. The Shavei Israel organization, a Jerusalem-based group which assists "lost Jews" seeking to return to the Jewish people, has just published a collection of stories about Jewish sages in the Mizo language, which is spoken by the Bnei Menashe in the Indian state of Mizoram. The Bnei Menashe claim descent from the lost tribe of Manasseh, who were exiled from the Land of Israel by the Assyrians over 2,700 years ago. Some 800 Bnei Menashe have made aliyah to Israel in recent years, and another 7,000 are still in India. The book, called Juda Thawnthu ('Jewish stories') was compiled by Bnei Menashe scholar Allenby Sela, who serves as principal of the Shavei Israel Hebrew Center in Mizoram's capital, Aizawl. It contains dozens of stories highlighting ancient Jewish personalities such as Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, with an emphasis on the importance of being charitable, loving one's fellow Jew and having faith in G-d. "The publication of this book is part of our ongoing efforts to reach out to the Bnei Menashe and assist them with their return to the Jewish people," said Shavei Israel's Chairman, Michael Freund. "Stories are among the most powerful of educational tools, as they have the ability to reach different people regardless of their age or level of knowledge. We hope that the Bnei Menashe will draw strength from these stories about our people's greatest figures, and that they will gain a deeper understanding of Jewish history and its significance," he said. Through its team of emissaries, Shavei Israel operates two Jewish educational centers in India for the Bnei Menashe, where they study Hebrew and Jewish tradition and learn about life in Israel. For more information, contact: office@shavei.org or go to their website: http://www.shavei.org To support the Stavei Israel organization, please send contributions to:
The writer served as Deputy Director of Communications & Policy Planning in the Prime Minister's Office under former premier Binyamin Netanyahu. |
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SHARON'S FANTASY AND AMIDROR'S FACTS
Posted by Bryna Berch, December 17, 2004. |
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These are two items from today's Arutz-7. Sharon sounds more off the wall than Peres. Amidror told it straight. It's interesting that Arutz-7's current QuickPoll showed that only some 10% of respondents feel that Ariel Sharon's political turnabout - he took over the political position of Mitzna, the guy he defeated in the last election - is due to a sincere shift in his ideological thinking. But when will Israel wake up? 1. "Gaza Spokesman: Sharon Speech Reminiscent of Oslo" Prime Minister Ariel Sharon delivered the keynote address at the Herzliya Conference Thursday evening. As he promoted his withdrawal plan, Gazan terrorists launched four mortar shells. Sharon spoke about the benefits of his proposed Gaza withdrawal/expulsion plan, using language reminiscent of that which accompanied the 1993 Oslo Accords. "We will reach a time of tranquility not experienced since the beginning of the State of Israel," Sharon promised. "Disengagement has already produced a long list of benefits," Sharon said. "Because of it, there is no criticism of Israeli actions against terrorism. Now it is clear to everyone that when Israel declares its willingness to make painful compromises, it indeed intends to make genuine and painful compromises. Very painful." He thus seemed to contradict his earlier statement that most Israelis are "justifiably not willing" to endure Israel's continued presence in Gaza and much of Judea/Samaria. The Prime Minister enumerated several hopes for 2005 - the year, he assured the audience, that Israel would leave Gaza. "In 2005 we have the opportunity to extricate ourselves from the recession," he said. "In 2005 we will establish new, improved relations with the international community. Europe has begun to understand our need to fight terrorism. In 2005 Israel will have the opportunity for a historic breakthrough with the Palestinians - a breakthrough for which we have been waiting many, many years." Sharon outlined several other priorities of his government, including the absorption of one million new immigrants in the next 15 years - in 2002 he said it would take ten years - and the implementation of the educational reforms outlined by the Dovrat Commission. He stressed, though, that the most important issue, in his view, is the withdrawal from Gaza and the northern Shomron: "Israel's most important opportunity is leaving Gaza, which we will implement next year. This decision is the cornerstone of these opportunities." The Prime Minister claimed that the majority of Israelis support his plan. "The decision that we will not be in Gaza and have nothing to look for there does not divide the people or tear the nation apart," he said, referring to bumper stickers and placards across the country decrying the expulsion of Jews from their homes. Terming those who oppose the disengagement "a small minority," Sharon insisted that his plan in fact "brings the nation together." Sharon reiterated the fact that US President George W. Bush backs his plan and has promised that Israel will be "allowed" to maintain some large blocs of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria and not have to completely return to Israel's pre-1967 borders. MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union) today contested this claim, saying, "Read the Bush letter 1,000 times, and you will not see one word to this effect. All he says is that Jerusalem and other settlement issues should be left for a later stage in the negotiations." The Prime Minister cited the release of Israeli Druze Azzam Azzam from Egyptian prison as a sign of new Egyptian goodwill. He expressed his hope for "Egyptian cooperation in stopping the weapons-smuggling" along the Egyptian-Israeli border, which "will allow Israel to leave the Philadelphi route as well." Ironically, Egypt announced just yesterday that it was postponing until April 2005 its increased military deployment along the Israeli border - a deployment which is meant to contain arms-smuggling into Gaza. "Both people can live on this strip of land in peace," Sharon concluded wistfully. "I believe it is within our grasp." Gush Katif Spkesman Eran Sternberg responded: "Sharon's address was a carbon-copy of that delivered by Shimon Peres in Oslo and is another step in the strangulation of Israeli democracy." "The Israeli public threw the left-wing out of power," Shternberg added, "but via deceitful actions, has found itself returned to the hallucinations of Peres." Just a few hours prior to Sharon's address, former Prime Minister Ehud Barak assured a Herzliya Conference audience, "After Gush Katif and the northern Shomron will come the removal of Bracha, Itamar, Yitzhar and all the other isolated settlements in the Shomron." According to Barak, the Likud Party has been deceiving the nation ever since 1977 by building communities in places they knew "would not remain in our hands." Barak also called for what many suspect is Prime Minister Sharon's ultimate goal as well: the removal of all Jewish communities on the eastern side of the partition fence currently being erected. Major-General (res.) Yaakov Amidror, a former Deputy Head of IDF Intelligence, sharply protested the limited time that conference organizers allotted to speakers with opinions opposed to the Prime Minister's plan. He pointed out that pro-disengagement speakers were granted large blocks of time to express their ideas, as opposed to mere minutes allotted for anti-disengagement views. Professor Uriel Reichman, who heads the Herzliya Inderdisciplinary Center, seemed to confirm this when, upon introducing Sharon, he said: "Mr. Prime Minister, I am sorry you weren't able to join us for the entire conference ' you would have enjoyed yourself. Nearly all the speakers gave you compliments on your handling of the political situation." 2. "Israel Won't be Able to Fight Terrorism After Disengagement" Defense/Security Ex-Deputy Head of IDF Intelligence Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror, speaking at the 5th Herzliya Conference yesterday, laid out his strenuous objections to the disengagement transfer/expulsion plan. "I think that the disengagement is harmful to the State of Israel from three standpoints," Amidror said. "These are: security, strategic, and diplomatic... "From a security angle, this plan returns Israel to the dark days when our security was dependent on the good will of the Palestinians. The situation after the disengagement will not allow Israel to fight terrorism. There is simply no way to fight terrorism without controlling the area. Ask yourselves: Why are there no Kassams from Kalkilye? Why are there no tunnels from Judea and Samaria? Why do we not have 140 terror victims a month, as we had just a year and a half ago? It's not because of the partition fence - because there are more areas in Judea and Samaria that are not fenced in than are fenced in. "The answer is simple: It is because we have had control of the area. During Operation Defensive Shield, the IDF re-acquired its ability to fight terrorism. The moment we leave Gaza, even the little we have will be lost. "A week after the signing of the Oslo Agreement, the IDF Intelligence Division wrote a paper saying that it could be a historic move, but that it could also very well end up with Katyusha rockets fired on Ashkelon. Now, the unilateral disengagement will enable this. Will it happen? I'm not sure [- but] it's not up to us; it's solely dependent on the good will of the Palestinians. "The unilateral disengagement will return us, in Gush Katif and northern Shomron, to the worst days [of the past few years], with the 140 victims a month... Let it be completely clear: The ability to fight terrorism with an army, which we acquired with our blood, and which everyone said was impossible, will be totally lost when we leave Gaza. There will be no way to fight terrorism, not militarily and not by intelligence... The tunnels that we see now are child's play compared to what will be after we leave - if the Palestinians wish; it will not be up to us. I haven't heard one word from anyone explaining how they plan to fight terrorism after we leave Gaza. For there is no answer..." Gen. Amidror also said that the disengagement plan would "turn Gaza into the only shelter state in the world for the Al-Qaeda organization." He then explained the strategic dangers of Prime Minister Sharon's withdrawal plan: "Someone [IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Moshe Yaalon - ed.] has already said that this plan gives a supportive wind to terrorism. I'll explain why. If there is an [ideological] dispute in the Arab and Moslem world - if there is, according to the optimistic ones among us - it's between the [late Egyptian President Anwar] Sadat's position and that of [Hizbullah terrorist chieftain Sheikh] Nasrallah. Sadat said that Israel is an established fact, and that [the Arabs] have to make some sort of agreement with it - cold peace, warm, or whatever. Nasrallah says, 'I have a different way: terrorism will get them [the Jews] to scatter away from here.' "So what do we do? Right in the heart of the terrorism, we run away from Gaza! We can give 1,000 excuses and provide a million reasons why we're not doing it because of terrorism, but because of other reasons... How will the Arabs see it? I can tell you: 74% of the Palestinians see the disengagement as 'running away because of terrorism.'" Regarding the diplomatic aspects, Amidror explained that rather than directly harming Israel, the disengagement plan simply wastes cards that could have been used to much greater advantage. He elaborated on this to Arutz-7 last month: "The world community [will now] come to Israel and say, 'Look, Arafat is dead, Bush has been re-elected, and what are you willing to give in order to advance the peace process?' We could have said that we would make a very dramatic and momentous sacrifice in Gaza - but now that we announced our intention to do so several months ago, the world tells us, 'Great, you've already given up on Gaza, what else can you give us?'" |
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SLIDING INTO MAJOR NATIONAL CONFLICT
Posted by Dr. Judah Tzoref, December 16, 2004. |
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The evacuation-compensation bill debates, held in the Knesset Constitution Law and Justice Committee, examine various issues related to the Disengagement, such as sensitivity to the emotional state of prospective evacuees, adverse prospects of bloodshed and settlement alternatives. The committee debates stand as a sore evidence of the extent to which its members, representing the typical state of mind prevalent among governmental circles, are so fatally detached from reality. It isn't a limited-scale scenario of squabbling with evacuees, settlers and far-right activists but, rather, an unrelenting popular uprising, should the government dare to implement its uprooting ploy in Gush Katif. The professed governmental intention to ethnically cleanse the Jews of Gush Katif has already incurred a significant strategic damage to Israel. Beyond the orchestrated media theater, Israel's weird indulgence in a bizarre self-uprooting spree imparts the image of a state that has evidently lost its mind. What is readily observed from there can be no longer seen from here. In contrast to Israel's obtuseness, typical of a country bogged in the quagmire of moral decline, the psychotic symptoms of the Disengagement moves are unmistakably sensed by the perceptive international community which prepares for the epilogue of the Jewish episode in the Middle East. Both government and Knesset, that persistently ignore the no-uprooting agenda resolved by a decisive majority of the Israeli electorate, have lost their democratic, moral and national legitimacy to lead the state. The citizens of Israel have thus no other choice but to renounce the brutal junta that have taken over the state. As the despotic machinery whet the swords for perpetration of ethnic crimes on Jewish communities of the Northern Negev and Samaria, the winds of popular uprising are gathering momentum and the lore of unconventional tactic against any imminent offensive by the concerted military, police and juristic uprooting forces. Meanwhile, urgent endeavors are coordinated to step up the foundation of Israel's government in exile, international court of justice for crimes against Jews as well as an information network for the preemption of anti-Semitic atrocities against Jewish citizens of Israel. Dr. Judah (Yehuda) Tzoref is a scientist, trained at the Technion in Haifa and Oxford University in England. His expertise is in physics and energy engineering. He is a grass-roots activist on behalf of Israel. He lives in Rehovot. |
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AS TO KOFI ANNAN AND OIL FOR FOOD?
Posted by Jerome S. Kaufman, December 16, 2004. |
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This was written by Wesley Pruden, editor in chief of the Washington
Times. It appeared in the Washington Times, December 19, 2004
We're not supposed to notice the aroma. Kofi Annan is the perfect expression of the-United Nations: soft, suave, urbane, and a magnet for incompetence and corruption. The apologists for the U.N. are fond of saying that if the U.N. didn't exist we would have to invent it. Just what this means is not meant to be clear. If Kofi Annan didn't exist someone would have to invent him, too. Mr. Annan, in fact, was invented, and by the very Americans the apologists loathe, when the stink of the BoutrousBoutrous Ghali administration finally became so overpowering that nearly everyone agreed that he had to go. His replacement had to satisfy the requirements of the Lilliputians of the Third World who are forever fantasizing about how to tie down Gulliver, and the Americans scrounged through what was available and came up with Mr. Annan, fresh from mismanaging the U.N. "peacekeeping" operations in Rwanda and Bosnia. Wherever Mr. Annan went, massacres followed. But he apologized nicely and that was that. The man and the hour had met. Now there's a fresh aroma hovering over the east side of Manhattan and it's not the aroma of the usual effluvia of the city. We're not supposed to notice, but there's a lot we're supposed to not notice. The growing scandal over the oil-for-food program - the scheme meant to enable Saddam Hussein to sell enough of his oil to buy food and medicines despite the sanctums imposed after the first Gulf war - engulfed first the usual suspects namely France, Germany and Russia. Now the scandal threatens to lap over Mr. Annan's own immediate family. His son, Kojo, appears to have been on the take from Saddam. Since Kofi himself, who has told several versions of what he knew and when he knew it, concedes that he was disappointed. It's probably OK for the rest of us to be "disappointed." We're supposed to let it end there. Crowded against the wall, Mr. Annan, the U.N. Secretariat and his apologists agreed to the outside investigation headed by Paul Volcker, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve Board (and the former North American chairman of the Trilateral Commission). Several congressional committees, clothes pins securely fastened to noses, are trying to find out who got what from the oil-for-food scam. U.N. employees and contractors have been gagged by the Secretariat and the Oil-for-Food program files have been locked away from prying eyes. But, only a few billion dollars are involved and somebody has to finance terrorism What's the big deal? Mr. Voicker's writ includes both the criminal and civil. He cannot only investigate graft and mismanagement, but the evasions, deceptions and contradictions of the secretary-general himself over what his son took, and why, from the Swiss company hired to monitor the goods, allowed through the sanctions into Saddam Hussein's Iraq. His investigation will be as thorough as he wants it to be. The congressional investigators are a sharp spur that Mr. Volcker may not want. The demand by Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota, a moderate Republican, that Kofi Annan resign now has discombobulated those in New York and Washington who wish Mr. Coleman had kept his mouth shut. They're wary of saying so because what everyone wants to know is whether the White House is encouraging the cries for Mr. Annan to quit now. President Bush pointedly declined to say nice things about him when he had a fine opportunity to do so. So did John Danforth, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Sen. John McCain, trying to find something nice to say, said only that he, like Mr. Annan, is "disturbed" and he thinks there will be "plenty of time" later to decide "whether people should keep their jobs or not." The usual suspects are closing ranks behind Mr. Annan. The 191 ambassadors to the U.N., terrified at the thought that any Lilliputian should be deprived of his sweet life in America on someone else's dime, gave Mr. Annan a standing ovation this week when he presented his "blueprint for U.N. reform" to the General Assembly. There was no appreciation of the irony of the moment, with the presentation of institutional reform by the man who may be in desperate need of personal reform himself. Jerome S. Kaufman is National Secretary of the Zionist Organization of America. and host of www.israel-commentary.org |
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ISRAELI STEM-CELL TECHNOLOGY REPAIRING NERVES
Posted by Mordechai Ben-Menachem, December 16, 2004. |
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Israeli technology aims to use stem-cells to repair neurological damage such as that which results from Parkinson's disease. The technology was developed at Tel Aviv University and is being used by BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics, which has established an Israeli subsidiary to commercialize it. The patent-pending technology, called NurOwn, is based on discoveries made by Professor Eldad Melamed, head of Neurology at Rabin Medical Center, and expert cell biologist Dr. Daniel Offen, at the Felsenstein Medical Research Center of Tel-Aviv University - together with their research teams. The technology enables the differentiation of bone marrow-derived stem cells into functional neurons and has already been demonstrated successfully on animals. BrainStorm is developing cell-therapy products with adult stem cells to be used in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. They are initially focusing on the development of bone marrow derived neural-like cells for the treatment and rehabilitation of those suffering from Parkinson`s disease. "Our company has chosen to focus on autologous cell therapies, which use cells from the patients` own bone marrow to repair a physical dysfunction, since we believe that this approach may circumvent many of the safety hurdles and ethical controversies involved in competing stem cell research," said Yaffa Beck, President and CEO of BrainStorm Therapeutics. Although the debate over stem-cell research has gotten quite heated in the United States, due to Christian views on the matter, the use of stem-cells taken during the first 40 days of the embryonic stage is much less problematic according to Jewish law. During its recent conference in Jerusalem, the Orthodox Union emphasized its support, "consistent with Orthodox rabbinic teaching, for the continuation of and public funding for cutting-edge biotechnology research, including embryonic stem-cell research." Mordechai Ben-Menachem is at Ben-Gurion University. He can be reached by email at quality@computer.org |
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CHANUKAH WRAP-UP
Posted by December 16, 2004 Ellen W. Horowitz, December 16, 2004. |
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[You guys are gonna hate me for bringing-up this one...but someday you may thank me.] I promised myself that I wouldn't say anything on this issue, that I would bite my lip and remain silent. But on the eighth day of Chanukah, I received the eighth email highlighting that delightful little clip of Chanukah in the White House with President Bush, and I could contain myself no longer. It's funny, because just as a "Chanukah bush" (sic) is brought into some assimilated Jewish homes in order to make the children feel more comfortable around the Christmas holiday season, this heartwarming Chanukah-Bush video (http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/12/20041209-16.v.html) serves the same purpose for much of Diaspora Jewry, and dare I say for a good number of anglo-Israelis. I don't know why it is that American Jews have to kvell every time a President of the United States interacts with a menorah. We've seen it so many times before. In 1979 President Carter lit a menorah across from the White House for all to see in Lafayette Park. In 1986 a delegation from Chabad presented a menorah to President Reagan in the Oval Office. In 1997 President Clinton lit a menorah in the Oval Office and in 1998 he lit the first candle of Chanukah in Jerusalem. It's one thing for us Jews to be grateful when any gentile nation offers us refuge and is good to us. It's quite another thing for us to grovel to and idolize the leaders of those nations. What those who enjoy Chanukah merry-making in the White House need to remember is that Achashverosh offered us drinks on the house, Pharaoh provided the chauffeur-driven wagons that brought us down to Egypt, and there were some royally golden moments for us in pre-inquisition Spain and pre-Nazi Germany too. I am not implying that the President of the United States has anything sinister up his sleeve, but we do need to remember that a week before young mens' voices permeated the White House walls with "Oh Dreidel", President Musharraf of Pakistan decked those same halls with a very different tune - and the U.S. President was equally, if not more, attentive. Our reactions ranged from amusement to embarrassment when President Clinton's Oval Office escapades with Monica Lewinsky were revealed, but let's not forget that President Bush has been caught on camera holding hands with a Saudi Prince (note - it's been recently reported that the oil-rich kingdom is in possession of nuclear weapons -thanks to Pakistani technology). Chanukah in the White House, like the Pope's placing a note in the Western Wall, or Arafat's attending mid-night mass in Bethlehem, is a diplomatic gesture - it doesn't warm the cockles of my heart. Whereas hosting Musharraf in the White House, and granting him favored ally status, is a gross foreign policy mistake - and sends chills up my spine. Lest you think that I'm being overly critical of America, I can categorically say that when it comes to democracy and guaranteeing personal freedom, nobody does it better than the United States. America has worked for it, fought for it, and has had highly developed principles and leaders consistently bolstering her position as a leader of the free world. That kind of successful struggle and political maturity cannot be exported - it needs to earned, learned, and nurtured over time. America, should also take note as to what she's importing, because her precious and just foundations are susceptible to corruption by external forces - which is why nobody should be comfortable seeing arch villain and nuclear powered strongman Musharraf in the White House. America's policy of both covertly and openly propping-up strong men and their regimes while simultaneously advocating democratic reforms in a region not yet ripe for or deserving of western-freedom is a formula for disaster. These type of mixed messages given to nations that are entrenched in dictatorial pasts and are babes in the woods when it comes to democratic reforms, lead to the kind of revolutions that bring us the likes of Khomeini. Aside from the obvious problems that this type of policy bodes for us in Israel vis a vis our situation with the Palestinian Arabs, this week gave us three additional examples as to why this tactic is especially problematic in other areas where Islam dominates. Trouble is brewing on the home front for three of America's "allies" - Egypt, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. In Egypt there were rare demonstrations against President Mubarak. Egyptians defied a ban on public protests and openly called for an end to Mubarak's 23 -year regime. The BBC reports that the banners at the protests bore the message "No heredity, no succession" and "No to Mubarak, his party and his son". In Pakistan President Musharraf reneged on a promise he made to parliament to give up his military position. There have been protests on the streets and, according to the Washington Times, "... Musharraf is less popular than ever, having sparked a strange bedfellows backlash among both Islamists and democracy advocates." As of this writing, Saudi Arabia was bracing itself for rare public protests as an increasing number of citizens are demanding everything from democratic reforms to a total change in regimes. And an alleged bin Laden tape has just surfaced bitterly criticizing the Saudi leadership, which is sure to add Islamic fuel to the fire. The free world and the not-so-free world is in trouble, and if watching some cute kids light a menorah and a young mens' choir sing some tunes in the White House made you feel warm and secure for a few moments, then I suppose it was good. But I'll feel better when that room full of Jewish guests is back here in Israel where they belong. Then you'll see me kvell. Next year in Jerusalem - for all of us. Ellen Horowitz lives in the Golan Heights, Israel with her husband and six children. She is a painter and columnist for Israelnationalnews.com. email: ellen@artfromzion.com |
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THE DISHONEST REPORTING 'AWARDS' 2004
Posted by Honest Reporting, December 16, 2004. |
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Dear HonestReporting Subscriber, 2004. It was the end of the Arafat era, the end of Sheik Yassin's terror reign. The year Israel's security fence saved innumerable lives - yet was condemned at The Hague. Deadly Kassam rockets from the south, Ketushas from the north, and suicide bombings in Ashdod, Beersheva, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The year of Iraq conspiracy theories, and vicious anti-Israel material disguised as art, science, and urbane opinion. On one hand, the media are looking better. This year, the western press became more careful in its reporting of the Mideast conflict, with news stories only rarely exhibiting the overt anti-Israel bias prevalent in previous years. On the other hand, the bias that persists has become more subtle, implicit, and downright libelous. For example, the media have allowed the following terminology to gain broad legitimacy: The security fence as an 'Apartheid wall', Israel practicing 'ethnic cleansing' of Palestinians, and a sinister 'Likud cabal' infesting Washington - such terms have gained currency on the pages of major newspapers, despite having no basis in reality. Thanks for sending in your nominations. Now, without further ado, we present this year's Dishonest Reporting 'Award' winners: THE 'CAMERA SEES ALL' AWARD Winner: While photojournalists were recording a seemingly candid expression of Palestinian suffering alongside the security fence, AP's Enric Marti shot the scene from another angle, including the pack of photographers in his frame:  This image speaks volumes about media coverage of Palestinian life. The photographers are not merely 'capturing the scene,' but rather creating it - either actively (by asking the woman to pose) or passively (allowing themselves to be manipulated by her posing for their cameras). The 'Award' winners in this category are the five unidentified photographers who sent to their newsrooms the version depicted here (at right). SYMPATHY FOR TERRORISTS AWARD Winner: Barbara Plett, BBC. When Yassir Arafat's health failed in November, BBC's West Bank reporter Plett openly wept for the Godfather of Modern Terror. Plett's weeping revealed an unprofessional (and, some would say, bizarre) identification with one side of the conflict that she is employed to cover in an objective fashion. Runners-up:
SLIP-OF-THE-TONGUE AWARD Winner: David A. Schlesinger, Reuters. In a remarkable moment of candor, Schlesinger, Reuters' global managing editor, admitted that one reason his agency refuses to use the term 'terrorist' has nothing to do with editorial pursuit of objectivity, but is rather 'to protect our reporters.' Schlesinger described the 'serious consequences' if certain 'people in the Mideast' were to believe Reuters called those who detonate civilian buses and open fire on pregnant women 'terrorists.' Runner-up: Washington Post ombudsman Michael Getler, for rationalizing the Post's ongoing refusal to use the 'T-word' in reporting on Palestinian terror. The term 'terrorism' is 'not helpful,' Getler explained, since using it would 'adopt the language of one side.' Moreover, said Getler, 'Palestinians view many Israeli actions... as terrorism.' ISRAEL CONSPIRACY AWARD Winner: Neil MacDonald, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. In May, while delivering CBC television's lead story on the political fallout from the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuses, Macdonald shifted attention away from Iraq and toward Israel, proposing to viewers that the occupation of Iraq and George Bush's unprecedented alliance with the right wing government of Israel has placed Americans overseas in danger. Macdonald then brought on camera a retired US diplomat who made the outlandish claim that the Israeli Mossad was behind the Abu Ghraib tortures. Then in December, Macdonald did it again. Reporting on the deadly al-Qaeda attack on a US consulate in Saudi Arabia, Macdonald gratuitously dragged Israel into the story, going out of his way to find someone willing to blame America's relationship with Israel for the attack. Macdonald put one Allen Keiswetter on the air, who said I think the principal reason is our policies on the Arab-Israeli issues. This is extremely important. We're now regarded as being very much in the pockets of Sharon. And the second reason of course is Iraq. CBC Ombudsman David Bazay, in response to allegations of anti-Israeli bias in the May incident, declared that while Macdonald was not guilty of bias, 'editors and producers must not only avoid bias; they must avoid the appearance of bias. And, I agree, the May 4 report did expose [CBC] to the appearance of bias.' With Macdonald, CBC is finding it increasingly difficult to discount the allegations of bias. ALTERNATIVE MEDIA AWARD In 2004, anti-Israel invective made its way off the newspaper page and became propagated via 'alternative' media: Winner: Dror Feiler. A Stockholm art show (accompanying an international conference on preventing genocide) included a large exhibit by Feiler glorifying the Palestinian terrorist who murdered 21 Israelis at Haifa's Maxim restaurant. Dubbed 'Snow White and the Madness of Truth,' the exhibit showed a tiny sailboat floating on a pool of red water, and the accompanying text cast the mass murderer as a 'Snow White' victim. In a spontaneous act of protest, Israeli ambassador to Sweden Zvi Mazel threw a light fixture into the red pool, then said: 'I could not remain indifferent to such an obscene misrepresentation of reality. This was not a piece of art. This was a monstrosity.' Runners up:
So while 2004 saw real progress in certain areas, Israel remains the target of biased and distorted reporting the world over. In 2005, HonestReporting subscribers will need to remain diligent to this crucial facet of the Mideast conflict. Thank you for your ongoing involvement in the battle against media bias. HonestReporting
Honest Reporting monitors the media for inaccuracy and unfairness
in how they report the news about Israel. Ther website address is
http://www.honestreporting.com. You can help support their research
online or by sending contributions to: HonestReporting, 400 South Lake
Drive, Lakewood, NJ 08701-3167.
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HIGH-TECH LYNCHING OF ISRAELI SOLDIER
Posted by Judy Lash Balint, December 16, 2004. |
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A 20-year-old Israeli Army private in handcuffs is led into a military court on a base near Ashkelon. Some eighty supporters are there to greet him, waving Israeli flags and carrying signs reading: "Save Our Soldiers"; "Free the Soldier"; "Prosecute the ISM"; and "No Human Shields in War Zones." The soldier, son of a poor Bedouin family from the north of Israel, is accused of manslaughter in the death last year of British International Solidarity Movement (ISM) agitator Tom Hurndall. Hurndall, privileged product of a British public school, was shot in Rafah in April 2003 as he was making his way to the front lines of the area where the Israeli army was operating to uncover and destroy tunnels used to convey arms and ammunition from Egypt into Israel. Israeli Army officials told the Associated Press that an initial investigation, based on soldiers' accounts, indicated a Palestinian fired on a watchtower and the soldiers returned fire, hitting someone believed to be the gunman. Hurndall deliberately put himself in the area of known military operations, and took a bullet intended for a terrorist. The IDF noted, "It is important to keep in mind the danger posed by the illegal, irresponsible, and dangerous behavior of the ISM group that led to the tragic death and sad results." Hurndall was well aware of the risks inherent in his activity in Rafah. In one diary entry he wrote: "A few hundred meters away there are army snipers, and each one of us can appear in a sniper's telescopic sight. It is possible to say with certainty that they are watching us, and my life is in the hands of an Israeli marksman or settler. I know that I will probably never know what hit me, but that is part of my role - to be as exposed as possible." We'll never know why Hurndall viewed his exposure as a crucial factor in bringing about peace in the Middle East, but this upper middle class lad from north London first tried his hand at being a human shield in Iraq, before arriving in Israel. Hurndall had joined a group of international volunteers who wanted to put themselves in front of Iraqi schools and hospitals, but when they arrived, it soon became apparent that sites would be selected by Iraqi government officials. After two weeks of heated discussion, the shields were given a list of seven sites and an ultimatum to "start shielding or start leaving." Hurndall left, passed through Jordan where he heard about the activities of the ISM, and entered Israel on a tourist visa. It's worth noting here that a number of ISMers seem to be the well-educated offspring of well-to-do parents. Hurndall attended Winchester College, one of England's most venerable and prestigious boarding schools. Tuition at the 600-year-old school is around $30,000 per year. Tom's father, Anthony Hurndall is a well-known London property lawyer. Mother Jocelyn, who says she is proud of her son, is head of a learning support unit. Fellow ISM volunteer, Radhika Sainath, a U.S. citizen arrested three times for her violation of Israeli law during her repeated entries into Israel between 2002-2003, now plans on attending Columbia University graduate school, and is the daughter of two Orange County, California physicians. In Hurndall's case, the resources and prominence of his family enabled them to hire a high-profile British attorney to realize their efforts to prosecute an Israeli soldier for the death of their son. They chose Imran Khan, a controversial high-powered lawyer who tried to prevent then Israeli Chief of Staff Shaul Mofaz from entering Britain for an official visit in 2002 because of "war crimes." Khan and the Hurndalls ran an effective public campaign that led to British pressure on Israel to finger an Israeli soldier for the unfortunate death of young Tom. Hurndall had control over his fate and went with full awareness into a battle zone. Tragically, he paid the price. The young Bedouin soldier arrested in January 2004 after Hurndall's demise in a London hospital was serving his country and tried to do his part to smash terrorism. Now he too is paying the price of the ISM's unconscionable efforts to put themselves in the way and encourage their volunteers to violate closed military zones. The accused has spent the last six months in jail. His family is so poverty stricken that they have been able to afford the bus fare to visit him only once during his incarceration. So far, his legal representation has been court-assigned, although Nitsana Darshan-Leitner of the Shurat HaDin Law Center has offered to assist the family. In court the other day, the accused, a stocky, dark young man dressed in a plain military green uniform, sat silently as his defense attorney addressed the court. His eyes didn't engage anyone in the room - neither the witness nor the dozens who had come to support him seemed to be of interest. The three-judge panel in the small, wood-paneled courtroom listened intently as a military interrogator answered questions about the interrogation and confession extracted from the accused. How could the court take this written six-page confession seriously, asked the attorney, when the defendant neither reads nor writes Hebrew? Why did interrogators have the defendant sign the confession at night, at the end of more than nine hours of interrogation when he was tired and hungry, after he had allegedly stated: Give me a cup of coffee and a cigarette and I'll sign anything. Neil Wiggan, of the political office for the British Embassy, was present in court with a Hebrew-English interpreter. He took a few notes, but spent most of the time catching up on his reading. "The soldier is being scapegoated by the prosecution to appease the British Foreign Office," charged Shurat HaDin attorney Leitner. Worse than that, noted Shimon, one of the supporters who had bused down from Jerusalem. "It's the wrong entity on trial here. It's the ISM who should be sitting there accused, not this soldier who was doing his best to defend us from terrorist evil." Judy Lash Balint is an investigative journalist and author of "Jerusalem Diaries: In Tense Times" (Gefen). It is available for purchase from www.israelbooks.com |
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ISRAEL BETRAYS POLLARD, WHO SAVED IT; GENOCIDAL ARABS ANTI-AMERICAN
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, December 16, 2004. |
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ISRAEL STILL BETRAYS POLLARD, WHO SAVED IT The Israeli government impedes clemency for Pollard from his excessive sentence, while assuring the public that it is striving for it. "Justice Tempered by Mercy" (NY Sun, December 13, 2004) undermines possible release by misrepresenting the case. 1. Merely affirming Israel's obligation to retrieve guilty agents, and offering no reason for mercy, Mr. Halkin weakens Pollard's situation. Reasons for release are: (a) The US broke its plea bargain with Pollard; (b) Pollard's original lawyer failed to make the usual appeal and to advise Pollard of his right to do so; (c) The judge accepted a defamatory statement by the Sec. of Defense, who had a conflict of interest, and denied Pollard's counsel an opportunity to study and respond to it; (d) The judge imposed a far more severe sentence than for any other spy convicted of similar crimes and for most spies convicted of far worse crimes; and (e) The prisons treated Pollard Soviet style, as by maliciously placing him for months in a psychiatric ward and forbidding suitable medical care for major illness. The crime for which Pollard has overpaid enabled Israel to prepare for chemical warfare by Saddam's Scuds. It is believed that this preparation discouraged Saddam from inserting the poison in the Scuds. Pollard probably saved thousands of Israeli lives and prevented a major victory by Saddam. 2. It is not correct that Pres. Clinton NEARLY agreed to release Pollard in return for the release of Arab prisoners, as Halkin claims. Clinton did agree. Then he reneged. But Israel fulfilled its end of the bargain. 3. Therefore, the US owes Israel Pollard's release. The Bush Administration let out word that if Israel formally asked for Pollard's release, it would oblige. PM Sharon didn't ask. 4. Citing the deals to free Azzam and Tannenbaum as evidence that PM Sharon "cares about such cases" is misleading. PM Sharon does not want Pollard released. Despite a petition signed by just about all the Jewish Members of Knesset, PM Sharon declined to raise the subject of Pollard with Pres. Bush. He also kept certain officials, such as the Ambassador, from meeting with Pollard and inquiring after his medical condition. He has demonstrated to the US that as head of government, he has no interest in getting Pollard released. 5. Sharon's motive was made clearer by the revelation of his early involvement in the Pollard case. 6. The US motive for not freeing Pollard initially included suspicion that he had caused the deaths of US agents. It turned out that Aldrich Ames and another mole were responsible for those deaths, but they helped scapegoat Pollard. Despite those facts, malicious defamation continues. There are other, sordid motives behind pressure to keep Pollard incarcerated. A more potent, remaining motive is to keep Pollard from revealing subversion in the US government. Pollard initiated his espionage when he found that the US secretly was withholding vital intelligence promised by agreement with Israel. He learned that the US also conveyed disinformation to Israel that could result in heavy Israeli casualties in battle with the Arabs. He tumbled onto the Iran Contra conspiracy, for which the culprits never were held accountable and were given immunity by Pres. Bush Sr., in advance of investigation. It would be healthy for US democracy to let Pollard out and unearth those subversives. Americans need to find out how their government really works. The Jewish people need their blinders removed. WHICH COUNTRIES SHOULD BE ANTI-AMERICAN Many countries are anti-US, and few besides Israel are pro-American. It should be the reverse. The US has betrayed Israel a number of times, having opposed it at birth, slapped an arms embargo on it to make that a stillbirth, restricted its military victories, armed the Arabs, and striven to reduce its territorial holdings. The US has saved France and other anti-American countries. PREVENTING WMD ATTACK ON U.S. The U.S. is pleased that Khadaffi seems to be standing down his development of weapons of mass-destruction. The US assumes that he gave up his expensive program in response to US resolve demonstrated in Afghanistan and Iraq. Emanuel Winston considers the US reaction unwary. He thinks that Khadaffi knows of a planned attack on the US, and wants to make sure that his country is not retaliated against. When the attack comes, the US, Mr. Winston feels, would retaliate against almost all the Muslim states that have developed weapons of mass-destruction and N. Korea. Winston supposes that other Arab states also know of this attack. He would like to motivate them to squelch it. He suggests that the US declare in advance that if the US survives such an attack, it would obliterate all such countries. He had urged Israel to make a similar announcement (Winston Mid-East Analysis, 11/29). THE RECORD OF ABU MAZEN AND ABU ALA Distorting what these two PLO leaders say, the Western media calls them moderate. Here is their record before coming to the P.A.: (1) The pair had been Arafat's top confidants from the 1950s. (2) They started in the Moslem Brotherhood, whose terrorism got it expelled from Egypt. (3) In 1959, they helped Arafat found Fatah, in 1959, which took sanctuary in Syria. (4) After Fatah executed Syrian intelligence officers in 1966, it wa expelled. (5) Jordan then gave Fatah and its PLO an opportunity to commit terrorism against Israel. (6) By 1970, however, the PLO attempted to take over Jordan. The PLO had to flee to Lebanon. (7) For 12 years, the pair helped the PLO commit civil war and numerous atrocities in Lebanon. In the P.A., they helped Arafat impose and maintain the corrupt, dictatorial, jihadist regime (IMRA, 11/29). They make war and betray hosts wherever they go. That is extremist! SYRIA ADMITS & DENIES HOLDING IRAQI FUNDS Syria admits holding some Iraqi money, but asserts that it is a tenth of what the West estimates. It froze some deposits, and was not a repository for large-scale funds (IMRA, 11/30). NOTE ON HONOR KILLINGS Jordan has been wrestling with its laws on honor killings. There it is a controversial issue. Some blame the impetus for reform upon the West, and call it a Zionist conspiracy, as they call most of their problems. A reform critic misrepresented the crime's nature by arguing, what should a man do if he finds his wife in bed with another man, apologize to them? IMRA clarifies: "Honor killings are by close blood relatives of the victim. It is the "honor" of her blood family which is being cleansed. These are premeditated acts rather than unbridled passion." (IMRA, 11/3.) OXFAM VIOLATED SUDANESE LAW Oxfam feeds 300,000 Sudanese. It was asked to leave the country, after it reported that Sudanese planes bombed near its operations. Sudan claims that violates the country's law, which requires confirmation by some African monitors, before reporting such news (IMRA, 11/3). The dictatorship, operating outside the rule of law, complains that reporting its act of genocide violates national law. It's just a typical Arab excuse for getting humanitarians out and death in. HOW TO REFORM THE P.A. The P.A. is a jihad-obsessed regime (and culture). The regime is characterized by international terrorism, treachery towards the Arabs, non-compliance with all its agreements with Israel, hate-education, corruption, and repression. It cannot be reformed they way the anti-Zionist West conveniently suggests, by having Arafat's remaining gangsters gain dictatorial control via elections. (Nor would ending the corruption and consolidating the armed forces, especially by integrating the terrorist militias into them, and training them to act more powerfully, do.) The whole regime or culture must be changed. The West keeps suggesting that moderate leaders take power. This would require a complete regime change and an extensive purge, as happened to defeated Germany and Japan, whose old-guard was not allowed to take power. (The new P.A. generation may be more radical.) Worse, the West pretends that the leading P.A. candidate, who helped perpetrate the regime upon the Arabs, is moderate. His ascendancy would reward terrorism and perpetuate war. A decade ago, that the same legitimacy was conferred on his associate, Arafat (IMRA, 11/30). How neurotic my fellow Jews are, that few figure out that the West, which regretted the independence of the Jews, wishes to end it, with the help of the P.A.! ARAB JOURNALISM VS. ARAB REGIMES The Arab states that themselves have not held free elections, denounce the interim government of Iraq as illegitimate, for not having been elected. Then they demand that Iraq suspend elections until having security, though that would be the first free election in Arab history. The states' hypocrisy has been pointed out by Arab journalists. Although the Arab League never invited opposition movements to its conferences, it demanded that the opposition from Iraq be invited to the Sharm el-Sheikh summit (although that opposition are terrorist insurgents). If the League is concerned that Iraq Sunnis be represented, why does its constituent states not give representation to minorities, or even to majorities, domestically? Ironically, the journalists think, the sovereign Arab states do not hold free elections, but the (supposedly) occupied Iraqi and P.A. areas will be holding free elections. They also think that the media is free in Iraq and the P.A., but not in the sovereign Arab states that criticize those elections but fear having their own (IMRA, 11/30). The case for suspension has logic. The P.A. media is not free but owned or directed by the P.A. to indoctrinate in dictatorship and jihad. Is the P.A. election to be free? Then no competition and no moderate? EGYPT'S WAR ON ISRAEL CONTINUES The IDF charges that Egypt not only helps smuggle weapons into Gaza, with which to weaken Israel. Egypt also infiltrates staff to train the Gaza Arabs in their use. Meanwhile, Israel thinks it is working out security cooperation with (actually, dependency upon) Egypt (IMRA, 11/3). Israeli intelligence assessments of Egypt are growing more negative, but do not receive much publicity. The Sharon regime is acting contrary to the information it receives. Its ideology or other, more sordid motives, dominate factual and rational analysis. Egypt signed a non-aggression pact with Israel, but violates it in many ways. That fact, too, has not been widely disseminated. All the worse, then, that Israelis are acting under the illusion that Egypt plays a constructive role in peacemaking. This is a deadly illusion, the height of folly. 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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THE POODLES AMONG US
Posted by Professor Paul Eidelberg, December 16, 2004. |
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In his 2002 foreward to Raphael Patai's 1973 classic, The Arab Mind, Norvelle B. de Atkine writes: "This book ... forms the basis of my cultural instruction, complemented by my own experiences of some 25 years living in, studying or teaching about the Middle East." De Atkine notes that "officers returning from the Arab world describe the cultural barriers they encounter as by far the most difficult to navigate, far beyond those of political perceptions. Thinking back on it, I recall many occasions on which I was perplexed by actions or behavior on the part of my Arab hosts - actions and behavior that would have been perfectly understandable had I read The Arab Mind." To speak of Arabs is to speak of Muslims, for Arab culture is permeated by Islam. Islamic hatred of America and of Israel is more intense and more widespread today than it was in 1973. American pop culture and commercial imperialism constitute a threat to the Arab's tradition-based society, and Muslims see Israel as America's vanguard in the Middle East. Patai, says de Atkine, does not deny the virtues of Arab culture. "The hospitality, generosity, and depth personal friendships common within the Arab world are rarely encountered in our more frenetic society. The Arab sense of honor and of obligation to the family - especially to the family's old and young members - can be contrasted to the frequently dysfunctional family life found in our own society..." But such is the burning hatred Arabs bear toward Jews that many willingly use their own children as human bombs, while the Arab street cheers such self-immolation. Hatred trumps love. Arab hatred was not born with the Balfour Declaration or the establishment of the State of Israel. It precedes Muhammad and remains deeply engrained in Arab culture. Patai quotes Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406), the greatest historian ever produced by the Arabs. Khaldun's portrait of Arab national character is that of a historian who could look back upon seven centuries of Arab history. The Arabs, he says, "are people who plunder and cause damage" The civilizations they conquer are "wiped out." "Places that succumb to the Arabs are quickly ruined." "The reason for this is that [the Arabs] are a savage nation, fully accustomed to savagery ..." "Savagery has become their character and nature. They enjoy it because it means freedom from authority and no subservience to leadership. Such a natural disposition is the negation and antithesis of civilization." Again, "because of their savagery, the Arabs are least willing of nations to subordinate themselves to each other, as they are proud, ambitious, and eager to be the leader." (Recall Genesis 16:12 on the character of Ishmael: "He will be a rebel. His hand will be against everyone, and everyone's hand will be against him.") The Arab's sense of honor is notorious. Any insult or injury, let alone defeat in war, must be avenged. The Yom Kippur War was nothing less than an act of revenge for Israel's victory in the Six-Day War - and that is why the war was launched on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. Any bellicose people are well-practiced in deception; as for the Arabs, however, one must add they are unequalled in the art of ingratiation. Khaldun's disciple, Taqi al-Din Ahmad al-Maqrizi (1364-1442), an Egyptian, writes that Egyptians "are extremely inclined to cunning and deceit, from their birth they excel in it and are very skillful in using it, because there is in their character a basis of flattery and adulation which makes them masters in it more than all the peoples who have lived before them or will live after them." Egyptian President Anwar Sadat's campaign of deception before the Yom Kippur War is documented in my book Sadat's Strategy. But he was also a master of ingratiation. He constantly referred to Secretary of State William Rogers, whom he had met for the first time, as "Bill." When Secretary Kissinger replaced Rogers, he became "dear Henry" just as quickly. Countless pundits have been deceived by Sadat. A few quotes may dispel their naiveté. In an interview with al-Anwar on June 22, 1975, Sadat said: "The effort of our generation is to return to the 1967 borders. Afterward the next generation will carry the responsibility." In a New York Times interview dated October 19, 1980, he boasted: "Poor Menachem [Begin], he has his problems ... After all, I got back ... the Sinai and the Alma oil fields, and what has Menachem got? A piece of paper." A year after signing the March 1979 peace treaty with Israel, Sadat ominously declared: "Despite the present differences with the Arab 'rejectionist' rulers over the Egyptian peace initiative, the fact remains that these differences are only tactical not strategic, temporary not permanent." By the way, in his Knesset speech of November 20, 1977, Sadat used the name of God 10 times in his first ten sentences. Surely a man of God would not lie about his desire for peace - a word he used 95 times in his 50 minute performance! With astonishing insight, Ibn Khaldun points out that "The Arab can obtain authority only by making use of some religious coloring, such as prophecy or sainthood, or some great religious event in general. Patai's 1973 classic, says de Atkine, "has not aged at all. The analysis is just as (prescient and on-the-mark now [in post-September 11, 2001]) as on the day it was written. One could even make the argument that, in fact, many of the [Arab] traits described have become more pronounced." Israeli politicians and diplomats are children compared to the likes of PLO-Palestinian leaders like Abu Ala and Abu Mazen. And sending Foreign Minister Sylvan Shalom to negotiate with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak would be laughable if it did not have tragic consequences. Despite its overwhelming military power vis-á-vis its Arab neighbors, Israel is retreating toward its indefensible 1949 borders. Even a Machiavellian like Ariel Sharon has become a poodle of the Arabs. Professor Paul Eidelberg is President of the Foundation For Constitutional Democracy. He can be reached by mail at 244 Madison Avenue, Suite 427, New York, NY 10016, Tel: 212-372-3752, and by email at Constitution@usa.net |
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THE SAD SAGA OF THE KIBBUTZ MOVEMENT
Posted by Judy Lash Balint, December 16, 2004. |
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This was written by Carl Alpert who lives in Haifa.
Haifa - The day may not be far distant when little children here will ask: "Abba, what is a kibbutz?" For more than 50 years commentators have been observing the gradual changes taking place in the composition and functioning of the kibbutz and have been predicting its ultimate disappearance as an ideal collective in which the interests of the collective as a whole take priority over the interests of the individual members. None have questioned the important role played by the kibbutz in the early days of Jewish settlement here, when such sacrifice of individual interests was necessary to overcome external difficulties. Of the 270 units which still retain the descriptive name, only about 90 have until now followed the traditional collective framework, but even the latter are now undergoing dramatic changes as a result of social and economic realities. With rare exceptions, most have built up staggering debts totalling billions of shekels. The original kibbutz ideology provided for little children to sleep in collective quarters, rather than with their parents. This was perhaps the first kibbutz characteristic to be justifiably abandoned, albeit gradually. Today this has been discontinued in all kibbutzim. As they were originally created, the kibbutzim were granted large areas of Jewish National Fund and then government land earmarked for agriculture to encourage occupancy and settlement throughout the country. Though kibbutz members constitute only about 1.5% of the population of the country, they control about 11% of state lands. Gradually most of the kibbutzim began to engage in industry and other business activities which were, in effect, a violation of the conditions under which they were given the land. Some made arrangements with real estate developers to utilize part of the land for construction of private suburban housing and even for rental of offices. Of late, in recognition of this fact, some large kibbutzim have returned portions of their land to the Israel Land Authority, in return for which millions of shekels of their debts have been erased. Almost all of the kibbutzim today operate business and industrial enterprises of various nature, said to number some 2,000. Many kibbutzim operate companies which are listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, and some are doing relatively well. As a result, the principle of equality has given way to economic reality. More than two thirds of the kibbutzim now provide individual members with salaries based on the duties and functions which they perform. A survey just conducted among 30 kibbutzim by the kibbutz movement itself, reveals that the highest paid members, in managerial positions, earn seven times more than the lowliest members of the "egalitarian" society. Many have discontinued central dining rooms. Further, with uncertain economic futures, more and more kibbutzim are arranging to register the homes of veteran members with the Land Authority in the names of the occupants, thus providing them with a degree of security. In 1984 there were about 160,000 members of the kibbutzim. As young people began to leave, and few new members were added, this total shrank to 116,000 in 2003, a large percentage of these approaching retirement age. The birth rate is very low. Of late a campaign has begun to enroll new members, with special inducements, or call back youth who have left, emphasizing the internal changes. There are marked differences in ideology among the several kibbutz organizations. Takam, the United Kibbutz Movement, which has been associated with the political labor parties, claims 170 settlements. Kibbutz Artzi, founded by and associated with the Hashomer Hatzair movement, further left ideologically, and among the last to yield to change, numbers 85 units. The religious kibbutz movement has 16 members. A rough survey indicates that though none of them has yet given up their identification as kibbutzim, only about 30 are still true to the major elements of the traditional form, but are obviously subject to powerful influences to change. Most recently, kibbutz Ma'anit, founded in 1942 by Hashomer Hatzair pioneers from Czechoslovakia, and located south of Haifa, began struggling with a formula to privatize the unit. Fifty-two children of the original founders, claiming rights of inheritance, went to court to protest the move. This is the first time that the second generation in a kibbutz has spoken up to express legal claims to their families' assets. If the courts uphold their demands, the whole kibbutz structure may collapse legally. And so the day is not far distant when little children in Israel will ask..... Judy Lash Balint is author of "Jerusalem Diaries: In Tense Times" (Gefen). It is available for purchase from www.israelbooks.com |
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HANUKAH AND HOLIDAY GREETINGS FROM KHAN YUNIS: KASSEM ROCKETS
Posted by Moshe Saperstein, December 16, 2004. |
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[ One of the reasons this letter is taking so long, apart from natural sloth and depression, is that my fingers are failing. You'll have an idea of how bad it is when I tell you I have given up my revolver. If any of you know of a really good voice-operated program, let me know. Ideally I would like to dictate on to a disc that could then be put into the machine.] I was in the commercial center in Neve Dekalim when some guy walked up to me and shoved a microphone under my nose. This is a no-no. Not the microphone, but approaching us unannounced, without authorization from our Information Service. "Are you an English-speaking settler?" the idiot asked. "You bet your ass" I replied, "a gen-you-whine right-wing fascist anti-democratic enemy of peace, and paranoid to boot. So #$%^&*& off!" The people here continue to amaze me. Sharon failed to show up at a memorial service for war veterans, and cancelled a scheduled radio interview. The rumor started that he had suffered a slight stroke and his speech was slurred. Not one of the people here I spoke with expressed satisfaction or pleasure. Each and every one expressed genuine sympathy, with the hope that he would soon recover. I adore these people. And I am so out of place among them. 3.10.04 noon Nothing to add to what you will already have read in "Happy Holiday from Khan Yunis!", except that the projectile wasn't a mortar but a Kassam rocket. Larger, nastier, and for those of you who have seen the pictures on www.english.katif.net, more dramatic. We spent a glorious Shabbat in Maale Adumim with Ari, Efrat and the kids. Making it even better is the fact that we have friends and acquaintances there and so have every reason to feel at home. So what was wrong? The feeling of discomfort being away from Gush Katif, the sense of having abandoned our post. 6.10.04 3am I went out for a smoke a while ago and just as I lit my cigar there was an explosion. Unfazed - not even annoyed, to tell the truth - I walked to the end of our short block and there, at the edge of the dunes, simultaneously emptied my bladder and contemplated the stars. As I relit my cigar there was another explosion. This happened twice more, once relighting and once lighting a fresh cigar. Four times in the space of thirty-five minutes every time I used the lighter a mortar fell nearby. I'm developing a theory of causality... There is a Bridges for Peace Solidarity Mission in Jerusalem and I talked to them yesterday. This is an organization of Christians who are here for several days of speeches, seminars, workshops. Dror Vanunu was supposed to represent Gush Katif in a session on the disengagement plan. Unfortunately some group showed up unexpectedly in Gush Katif and he had to shepherd them around, so I was dragooned into taking his place. Life in Gush Katif was the subject of my scheduled ten-minute talk, following politicians from Left and Right who would argue Sharon's plan. All of this would take place at the Kibbutz Ramat Rachel Hotel and Convention Center. I got there early, as is my wont, and settled back among the 200 or so attendees spread out in the 1000 seat amphitheatre-shaped main hall. What the crowd lacked in numbers they made up for in enthusiasm and seriousness of purpose. These were no psalm-singing holy rollers but all church officials and academics. My heart sank when I realized that my automatic pilot performance would be both insufficient and inappropriate. My heart sank even further when I heard the politicians. First up was Labor Knesset member Yitzhak Herzog. His English was excellent, and though the things he said were palpable nonsense - example, `After we leave Gaza the world will rally to our side against the Palestinians' - he made a good impression in his twenty-five minute address. Many hands were raised to ask questions when he finished but he apologized and fled the hall because - I'm not sure if I heard correctly - he had left either his car or his wife with the motor running. I will not identify the Knesset member from the Right who followed Mr. Herzog. He is a person I respect, and I was certain he would chew up and spit out all of Mr. Herzog's arguments. Alas, his English is abysmal, and in the hour (!!!) that he strode the stage he never once mentioned the disengagement. Instead he devoted himself to incomprehensible stories about his travels in North America and his family history. Example: "My grandfather was a fur trader in Russia" came out as "My grandfather was a fair trader in Russia", which made gibberish out of the sentences that followed about "smuggling fairs" and "hiding fairs". By the time he finished there were three cases of cardiac arrest and eleven of irreversible brain death. When the moderator asked for questions the silence was deafening. The moderator called for a recess - "We can all use a ten-minute break, right?" - and I just sat glumly at the back of the hall waiting for them to return. Had they been a Jewish audience they would all have disappeared and gone shopping. But these were disciplined Christians and, emulating their Lord's suffering they dragged themselves back into the hall for more punishment. Something happened. A miracle? As had happened with the Baptist ministers who visited Neve Dekalim, I spoke as one possessed. Every thing I said came out right, even my stupid jokes. From my opening, "The United States Supreme Court has ruled that having to listen to one politician after another is cruel and unusual punishment", to "Mr. Herzog invoked the need for Israel to placate the United Nations, the United States, the European Union, the great powers... but he never once invoked Israel's need to find favor with the sole power that justifies our being here, the Almighty", to my closing, when they all stood and applauded, "Are you standing to air something out?" A rare day, and especially treasurable for being so rare. 8.10 Rachel caught my cold - talk about sharing! - so as soon as the holiday ended I went to a nearby guest house to fill one of her speaking engagements. She had been told the visitors were some forty Norwegian Christians who have been here several times before. Imagine my surprise to find over 150 people. In addition to the Norwegians there about seventy Hollanders, with the balance from Southeast Asia and the States. So, instead of sleepwalking through my appearance I had to work. [The Norwegians speak little English and have a lively interpreter who embellishes whatever I say. Sorry. That's not fair to the interpreter, who cleans up my act and makes order out of my gibberish.] Fortunately I brought along the Kassam for show-and-tell, so I couldn't miss. I just repeated the same dumb jokes you read in "Happy Holiday from Khan Yunis", and as the visitors standards are as feeble as your own everyone was pleased. More than pleased, actually. The night before there had been some shooting in the vicinity and several visitors had panicked. When calm was restored one Hollander voiced the feelings of them all, "How do the people of Gush Katif live with this all the time?" So you can imagine the effect the Kassam had on them. 18.10 You can't live with them and you can't live without them. No, not women. I'm referring to the unmanned drones that are supposed to be overhead 24/7 to warn us of mortar attacks. They sound like bagpipes, or microphone-enhanced flies buzzing, or nasal congestion, or snoring. There is no shortage of descriptions, all negative. And they do work. Statistically the number of attacks while drones are overhead is far lower than when they are absent. But the drones drive me crazy. To me they are Excedrin Headache #1. And I am torn between the need for the relative safety they provide and my desire for the loudest noise to be the surf crashing on to our shore. There is another factor that I am embarrassed to admit. Our home is at the outer limits of mortar range, and most mortars fall on the other side of the settlement. When the drones are up, our peace loving neighbors prefer firing Kassam rockets which can be launched from several kilometers away, safe from the spying drones. And our home is the center of the bulls-eye for Kassams. As a result, not only do the drones give me a headache, they increase our chances of being hit. So, whatever my personal misgivings, the general good demands that the drones be up 24/7. Yet they aren't. For long stretches they can neither be seen nor heard. And during these stretches our neighbors blast away at us. It isn't as if the drones are Sabbath observers, or belong to a union that limits their operational time. Pardon our paranoia but the general belief here is that our government, seeing we can't be bribed out of here, is giving our neighbors the green light to blow us out of here. 19.10 Mendy and Sharon Bauman, good friends and staunch supporters of the Ulpana, were here for a visit. Mendy owns a supermarket that makes its own salami and, if you believe as I do that salami is the food of the gods, his beef salami and garlic beef salami are heavenly. To sit in front of the tv, watching an episode of HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREETS while nibbling on a Mendy-made salami is as close to paradise as one can get in this life. When I'm down the solace of salami keeps me going. So during Mendy and Sharon's visit I was in perpetual ecstasy. We were their first stop and they had brought soul food for other friends and relatives as well. Much to my shame, and their amused consternation, I consumed all their supplies. Thank G-d they are a forgiving couple. A few days after they returned to their hotel in Jerusalem we received a call from Women in Green asking if I could blow a shofar at a demonstration at the Knesset in Jerusalem. I can't even blow a harmonica but I called Mendy who, perfect timing, had bought a shofar in Jerusalem just the day before. I arranged to pick them up at their hotel and take them to the demonstration. Rachel wants to go but she is `booked' for two groups of visiting journalists. My practice of leaving here at 4am or 4:30 drives Rachel crazy. Nothing in Jerusalem opens til 8:30, and as the trip take 2 hours, I am left with over two hours to kill. Often I visit my mother. More often I park in the city center, delighting in my recently acquired disabled veterans parking permit, and just wander around. I've tried to explain that I leave early because I love traveling on near empty back roads, without any hitch-hikers, and because I am traveling east I can watch the sky slowly lighten. I try to explain that I've always loved Jerusalem in the early morning - before the traffic piles up and the fumes are overpowering and the streets are filled with glum-faced people - when garbage men and police and delivery people are the majority, supplemented by a fresh wave of newly-risen beggars and those stale from having plied their trade all night. Watching them compare notes and mooch off each other is always a pleasant time-waster. But Rachel can't or won't understand, so I say "I'm going to meet my girlfriends", at which she snorts - she really does snort - and says "Good luck." It is 6am when I arrive and park in front of two policemen. There is a rumor that the police are harassing vehicles with Gush Katif stickers and flags, both of which festoon my car. But the police barely glance at me. On this morning I have two stops to make before collecting Mendy and Sharon for the demonstration. The first is at my bank which opens at 8:30. I walk down Jaffa Road, buy a bagel and a hot chocolate at a kiosk whose owner is still wearing a prayer shawl and phylacteries. Every bus stop has a security guard and as I am the only person not moving purposefully they give me the once over. I clearly don't fit the homicide bomber profile, but these days who knows? And my gut is large enough to be concealing three loads of dynamite. So each, in turn, says something to me in Hebrew. And I give a wise-arse reply. And relieved laughter follows. It is shortly after 7 and I'm tired. A table and chair, to be used later for selling greeting cards, is chained to the railing in front of my bank. I maneuver the chair upright and sit down. Every few minutes someone approaches to give me money. I wave them away. Do I look that pathetic? [Some of you may recall how several years ago I dozed off at a bus stop with a pot, that Rachel had given me to repair, on my lap. And when I awoke the pot had 2 shekels and 20 agorot in it.] I doze, and am awakened by someone tugging at my empty sleeve. He is in his 40's, black hat, black suit, black beard. "I have tzedakah, charity, for you" he says in Brooklyn-accented English. I wave him away. He tugs again. "You must take it. It is a mitzvah to receive as well as to give. Our Sages say ..." "Thank you" I say, "but I don't need it. Give it to someone who does." "You must. You must take it. A mitzvah. Please?" "Alright" I say, already debating with myself whether I keep whatever he is going to give me, or pass it along to the deserving poor. He smiles, digs into a pants pocket, drops a shiny dime in my lap, and walks away. I decide to keep the dime. The bank successfully negotiated, my next stop is the Obese-a-torium. There I find shorts and buy four pairs. Yes, friends, the crisis is past. You may formally dissolve the non-profit organizations like GFM (Gottkes for Moshe) and CMNN (Cover Moshe's Nakedness Now). They are just a teensy bit tight, and each pair had a small note - legible only under a magnifying glass - "regular use of this product will render you sterile". No matter. I'm past it anyway. All the streets surrounding the Knesset are blocked off so I park in the Israel Museum parking lot and we walk toward the Knesset. Every few yards the police ask where we're going. "Women in Green demonstration!" says Mendy proudly. Women in Green demonstrations usually have fifty or sixty regular participants. This one barely has twenty. We later learn that the police have been misdirecting those arriving after us. In any case there are five shofar blowers in addition to Mendy. Unfortunately they are either suffering from respiratory ailments or have escaped from a tuberculosis ward. Only Mendy, resplendent in prayer shawl, gives a magnificent display, garnering applause and exclamations of delight from passersby. I am very proud. Especially when an onlooker asks me if Mendy is a cantor as well as a shofar blower, and if he is already booked for the High Holidays. 11.11 A terrible day - standing out in a sea of terrible days - that began with an early morning phone call: "Moshe," said my friend Debbie from the Information Service, "there's a monster here to see you". "Send her over" I said. A friend in Jerusalem had warned me about this person. And being of unsound mind and body, and bored to tears by the interviews that I do on automatic pilot, I looked forward to baring my fangs at a journalist. The reporter, a blond lady of indeterminate age, was accompanied by a photographer and their taxi driver. During the hour or so they were in the house the photographer kept an absolutely blank expression on his face. I am used to this, and generally put it down to boredom or indifference. But in his case I sensed a deep hostility. Maybe it was his body language. He sat on the couch next to the reporter, never once relaxing or slouching, but coiled as if ready to strike. The taxi driver, who greeted me as an old friend, gave me warm regards from someone in Jerusalem. I didn't remember the driver, nor the person sending regards. In fairness, I don't remember lots of things these days. In any case he sat off to the side staring at everything in the room as if casing the joint or preparing for a public auction. The interview over [it was far less confrontational than I had anticipated. You can read it by accessing St. Petersburg Times / Susan Taylor Martin / "An Unsettling Plan" / Nov. 21, 2004] I thought I had two hours before my next gig, talking to a group of British Christians in the Local Council meeting hall. Another automatic pilot job. Alas... The phone rang. Debbie, again. "Could you? sorry... please... another monster..." I was still revved up for the confrontation that hadn't taken place. "Send it over!" He was tall and thin. Skeletal, actually, and I immediately felt a physical loathing - what the obese and the skeletal generally feel for each other - to match my intellectual loathing. Mid-40's, close-cropped gray hair, and - oh so appropriate - a Hitler moustache. [A driver entered with him, reptilian, and asked to use the toilet. He then slithered out and remained outside. When they had gone I emptied cans of Raid and air-freshener.] We are accustomed, even from the most antagonistic inquisitors, to do the Politeness Waltz small talk routine for a minute or two. So I was taken aback when he opened with "Do you concede that the Palestinians hate you because of the occupation?" I started to explain that Arabs were killing Jews for the pleasure of it long before the foundation of the State, much less the "occupation", but he cut me off in mid sentence and hissed "I've just seen Israeli soldiers shooting young children throwing stones!" This put me in a dilemma. His statement was a bald-faced lie. I know the regulations and these days our soldiers are so spooked with the threat of prosecution that they often won't even shoot in self-defense. Never mind shooting to defend us. I could have said "You're full of fertilizer. Get out of my house." Instead... Instead, I leaned back, smiled, and said "So how many of the little bastards did they kill?" He stared, mouth agape, eyes bulging. This clearly was the one answer he hadn't expected. "What... did... you... say?" "C'mon now" I grinned. "Israel has one of the best trained armies in the world. If we shot at the little snots it must have been a slaughter. So how many of the tiny turds did we get?" He snapped his notebook shut and stood up. I just sat and smiled. "If you're still here this evening, come by about 9. We're having a meeting of the Elders of Zion. World domination, you know? You can attend because we aren't discussing anything operational. Just a bake sale." He moved to the door. I followed him to his car. Reptillo was already behind the wheel. "Remember to place your order early for our special Passover matzos" I waved as they drove off. Still on a high from the Raid and the air-freshener, I walked over to the hall where the British Christians were assembled. I could have easily called in my performance. They were elderly, sweet, smiling, clueless. Had I recited the Kama Sutra they still would have applauded and burst into song every few minutes. Fortunately it was over in minutes and, drained, I was soon walking home. Rachel had been seeing journalists and visiting firemen at the Ulpana all morning and was now at the house of a friend who was hosting army officers on an "informational visit" to Gush Katif. I decided to join her. There were eight of them, all colonels, all attending the War College and clearly on the fast track for promotion. These were `the best and the brightest', the people in charge of defending the Land and People of Israel. And though they appeared or pretended to be sympathetic to us as individuals, they were openly hostile to the settlement enterprise in general and Jewish settlement in Gaza in particular. These products of secular, even anti-religious education and all-pervasive media indoctrination were totally clueless as to why Jews are in Israel, much less in Gaza. Hostile foreign journalists have evinced greater understanding of our cause. The officers mouthed mantras about `democracy' and `giving peace a chance' and `justice [for the Arabs] who have lost their land'. Indeed, they repeated word for word the demonstrably false claims made by Yitzhak Herzog at the conference in Jerusalem. Claims that didn't surprise me coming from a bottom feeding politician simply flabbergasted me coming from these people. When we went home Rachel remarked that "they are nice boys". I said I wasn't feeling well, got into bed, and wept. These "nice boys", and our present woes, are the result of pretending that Zionism can exist without Judaism. 14-16.11 One of the plot fixtures that so endeared the various STAR TREK tv serials and movies to me was the encounter between human and alien cultures. I can't say that these last three days equaled Earthlings meeting Klingons, but it was close. When the Baptist ministers came here something clicked between myself and them in general, and their leader Pastor Jim Vineyard in particular. Whatever it was, was reinforced when pastors and young people from his Windsor Hills Baptist Church in Oklahoma City came to Israel and participated in `the human chain' from Gush Katif to the Western Wall. Now Pastor Vineyard has returned with two other ministers and about a dozen students from his Oklahoma Bible College. For their days in Gush Katif Pastor Vineyard and two of his students sleep at our home while the rest are in a hotel in Ashkelon. Our three visitors (two different students each night) eat breakfast with us, then their bus arrives from Ashkelon and all go off touring. They return shortly before nightfall, wave goodbye as the bus returns to Ashkelon, and have dinner with us. Rachel is the heroine of this tale, cooking and cleaning, and she is quite exhausted. It is fortunate we'll soon be off for a week's vacation. The visitors have provided us with an unique learning experience, and I hope we have done the same for them. Growing up surrounded by Jews, with only marginal connections to non-Jews most of whom were Italian, Irish or Hispanic Catholics, my idea of Baptists in general and rural southern and western Baptists in particular, was that they were little better than troglodytes, with country-and-western music and stock car racing as the twin pinnacles of their culture. Their view of contemporary American Jews was equally distorted. Jews were the American Civil Liberties Union and the Reform and unaffiliated Jews in their area for whom the Bible was on a par with Aesop's Fables, for whom the Ten Commandments had become, at best, the Ten Suggestions, and for whom the only verities were Gay Rights and Abortion Rights. Rachel and I, in long conversations with the boys, found them to be educated, intelligent and thoughtful. Just the opposite of our preconceptions. As to Pastor Vineyard, apart from his "I'm just a poor boy from the panhandle of Texas" cover, he is one of the sharpest people I've met. Though I can't speak for them, I suspect they found in us the Biblical Jews of their imagination, Jews true to God and His land. Two things I'll long remember: Pastor Vineyard had, in his youth, been a Special Forces Ranger in Vietnam and when I got up before 5am to have a cup of coffee before leaving for morning prayers he would sneak up behind me and scare the life out of me. He was proud that he still had the skill of stealth, and I didn't ruin it by telling him I'm almost deaf. My smoking bothered them, and egged on by Rachel they composed a song that the group sang at every opportunity, much to my amusement and embarrassment: We have a friend, he is a Jew
You are our friend, and we care for you
I've written this before but I have to repeat it. I feel closer to these Christian Zionists than I do to most Jews. And that's not limited to genetic Jews, irreligious and anti-religious Jews, self-hating Jews. It includes the many Orthodox Jews who are indifferent or openly hostile to us. 17.11 Once a month I drive to Modi'in and take Dafna shopping. We go shopping, good for us both as the supermarket we go to - it's where I bought the shorts designed for space aliens - has the best prices anywhere. But most of all I enjoy her company and shopping is an excuse to spend a few hours together. This morning - I would have postponed it because of stormy weather, but as we are going on vacation on the 21st it had to be today - I left the house at 6am. I would have preferred to leave earlier but there was no point as Dafna puts Gur into pre-kindergarten at 8. Wipers on, defroster on, cigar ablaze, music blasting, I set off in a downpour that drastically cut visibility. Sailing out the front gate of Neve Dekalim I rejoiced that there were no hitch-hikers to burden me with guilt over my smoking or my music [The soundtracks for KING KONG, CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE, TREASURE OF SIERRA MADRE]. But at Nezer Hazani, the last settlement before leaving Gush Katif, a lone figure stood shrouded in fog and, my better instincts drowning out a horde of protesting voices in my head, I took him aboard. No good deed goes unpunished. He was a policeman, wearing a kippa, and the moment he sat down he took out a book of Psalms and began to murmur. Gnashing my false teeth till they started to chip, I turned off the music. My hope was that he would get out before too long but this was dashed when I said I was headed for Modi'in and he replied "The Lord must have sent you. I'm going to Modi'in." At least I kept smoking. But when the cigar went out I didn't relight as my passenger was engaged in the most theatrical coughing. The downpour continued for most of the trip, often getting so heavy that most vehicles pulled over to the side of the road til it lightened. Not I. Though I reduced my speed I never stopped, in spite of or because of his reading the Psalms more audibly as the rain increased. We had been traveling for well over an hour and were on the road north, just before the turnoff for Rehovot, when we came over a rise and had a spectacular 180 degree view, horizon to horizon, the sky black and every shade of gray, with holes punched in the clouds through which the sun poured. I won't - I can't - accurately describe it. Suffice to say it was ... heavenly! And I was so overcome at the sight I burst into tears, and pulled off the road. He snapped his Psalm book shut. "Tell me, mister," he said in an exasperated voice, "when everyone pulls off the road because you can't see in such heavy rain, you keep going. So now the rain has stopped and you start crying and pull off the road. Please, mister, tell me why." Surely the more intellectual among you will remember a scene in the first TERMINATOR film when the robot Schwartzenneger is in a cheesy hotel room removing an eyeball and the manager yells at him through the door, "What are you doing in there?" To which Schwartzenneger, after reviewing a variety of possible replies, says... well, in the interest of propriety I won't repeat his reply. Though no Schwartzenneger I too reviewed a variety of possible replies, keeping in mind that the questioner is a gendarme, and after a dramatic pause said "My cat died." He stared at me for a really long minute, and when I resumed driving, reopened his book of Psalms. His sole comment was the muttered, nearly inaudible, wholly appropriate, "Majnun!" `Majnun' is Arabic for idiot. 21.11 I was loading the car while Rachel did her last minute checklist to see what we have forgotten to take. It is an immutable law of nature that we forget something, whether it is an important item like medication or a minor thing like house slippers or a fly swatter or backscratcher. She was taking her time about it, as she always does - she calls it being thorough - and I was ready to lean on the horn, as I always do, when four mortars exploded within seconds of each other. I was astonished. They seldom fall in such rapid succession. As we pulled out of the driveway we could hear the public address system, "Take cover". "They're certainly giving us a fine sendoff!" said La Passionara. 21-28.11 Our vacation: Where: We had wanted to go to the Dead Sea but our favorites were booked. So we chose Kibbutz Lavi, high above Tiberias and the Sea of Galilee. Before we moved to Gush Katif we had been regulars at Lavi. It was two hours from Jerusalem through the Jericho-Jordan Valley-Beit Shean road, is modern Orthodox, has good food, good accommodations, and over the years we made many friends. And the scenery is spectacular. There are two major drawbacks. First, Lavi is four hours from Gush Katif, a tortuous trip. Second, Lavi is some twenty kilometers from the Tiberias Hot Springs Spa where I had to go for treatments daily, on a winding road that crawls through what passes for the Tiberias town center. Why: We were both desperate to get out of here for a while. I more than Rachel. Though she complains of a variety of ailments, collapses dramatically and says she can't go on, after she vents she continues to function at the top of her form. She is the tree that bends, and survives. I, stiff upper lip and calcified brain, the tree that won't bend, barely function at all. Rachel can juggle multiple tasks... going to the Ulpana to work and greet visitors, running home for an interview with a journalist, then a telephone radio interview, then a television camera crew in the afternoon, then working on her Gush Katif Viewpoint articles before going to sleep. And doing all brilliantly. It awes me how she, so female, so verbal, driving me crazy by always using thirty words when ten will do, has turned herself into Suzie Soundbite when dealing with the media. Just tell her how much airtime she has and she sizes the message perfectly. And she always remains focused and on message. To watch her asked a question she isn't interested in answering, replying "That's an excellent question but we have to keep in mind that..." is to watch a great artist at work. Even with her writing, the area where I am supposed to reign, she has honed her work into short, repetitive sentences that win the heart of the reader with their feeling and directness and honesty. While I, on those increasingly rare times when I do write, remain lost in thickets of my own cleverness. As she has grown to fit the needs of the media who are ever on us, I have shrunk in every way except stomach size. I cannot handle more than one task at a time. If I'm headed for the supermarket and Rachel asks me to stop in at the fruit store and the bakery as well, much less do other chores, I simply can't cope. Everything is too complicated for me. One of the reasons for my inability to write is that I can't compartmentalize. If I know I have an interview later in the day, or tomorrow, or the next day, I obsess on it to the exclusion of all else. No matter that I've done so many, and the questions are always the same, and my answers are always the same, I can't focus on another task. I'm either mentally preparing for the encounter or doing a detailed post mortem when it's over. And as the interviews for both of us come without pause I am simply paralyzed. When the intifadeh began some four years ago journalists discovered Gush Katif and I handled most of the interviews. Since the announcement of our expulsion-to-be, journalistic interest has become a tidal wave. I have been running on empty for so long that even the fumes are dissipated. As I faltered Rachel rose to the task. She now does radio and television, the bulk of the work. I still do groups - the scars, empty sleeve, crippled hand are more eloquent than anything that can be said - and print journalists who are more forgiving of my meandering, elliptical conversation and weird humor. So this vacation was essential. In my case, it was vacation or collapse. The trip: A nightmare. Though we took the new toll road that cut a half hour off travel time, the car started acting up. I won't pretend that I know what was wrong; my knowledge of the mechanics of automobiles is the same as my knowledge of molecular physics. Whatever the problem, the car started stalling even at high speed and the trip was simply nerve-wracking. Amazingly once we got to Lavi, and for the duration, the car behaved itself. But my anxiety level was very high. The hotel: As we expected, just fine. Except for a faulty join in the two halves of our picture window, letting in freezing air. We solved the problem by stuffing the join with towels. Not aesthetic, but effective. The guests: Mostly tour groups from abroad just staying overnight or for a few days. A handful of Israelis. Rachel, of course, was friendly to everybody. I, of course, was friendly to nobody. Example: At morning prayers I was usually the first. One morning a father and two bar-mitzvah aged sons arrived just after me. I don't know why Americans assume strangers don't speak English for one of the boys, not even pretending to whisper, said "Look, dad, that guy has no arm." To which his brother added "Yeah, and he's missing fingers, too." I pretended not to understand, or even to hear. But my blood pressure started rising as the kids nagged their father, "Ask him, dad. Ask him!" After some hesitation he approached me. I looked up in pretended surprise. "Do you speak English?" he asked. "A leetle bit" I said. "I'm sorry... but my boys would like to know about your injuries." I stared at them, then, expressionless, said "I sell power tools. And I demonstrate them. And I'm clumsy. This [holding up my empty sleeve] is from an electric saw. This [holding up my mangled hand] is from a drill." I then returned to my prayer book. "Aw, dad, I don't believe it" said one of the twins. "Shut up" said dad. I got another shot at these unfortunates when I found them sitting in the lobby after breakfast. "Are you guys twins?" I asked the boys. They nodded. "Who was circumcised first?" I continued. They stared at each other while the father appeared to be going into cardiac arrest. "Where I live [I didn't say where I live, and they didn't ask] we have two mohels (ritual circumcisers) who are Siamese twins, joined at the hip. They only do twin boys and they're very popular because you get simultaneous circumcisions and two for the price of one." I smiled, and walked away. "Aw, dad, I don't believe it" said one of the twins. "Shut up" said dad. The treatments: Though the trip up and back to the Tiberias Hot Springs was a serious pain - lousy road, crazy drivers, pouring rain more often than not - the treatments were fine. I love the masseuses and they pretend to love me. There's nothing sexual in it. You already know what condition I'm in. And these ladies appear to have come off the assembly line at Heavy Machinery Factory #27 in Protoplasmovsk, Siberia. I love them because they are funny. The kibbutz: Familiarity breeds relaxation, and weather permitting we spent a lot of time just walking around. Going through the kibbutz allowed us to visit old friends but the circular route provided us with spectacular landscapes: the hills stretching to Nazareth and Haifa to the west; Mt. Tabor and Lower Galilee to the south; The Horns of Hittin, Tiberias, the Sea of Galilee and the Golan Heights to the east; the rolling hills rising to Kiryat Shmona to the north. The one great disappointment during our kibbutz rambles came during our visit to their impressive factory for making synagogue furniture. The disappointment came from the selection of left-wing bumper stickers that festooned a section of the factory and the adjacent kibbutz garage. Quite by chance - really - I had a Gush Katif bumper sticker and offered it to the person responsible for their present collection. He accepted it with ill grace and it was clear it would never soil their walls. Remarkably, this person is related to friends in Neve Dekalim. In a short, sharp exchange he said "Sacrifices have to be made for peace. Your position is untenable. You're living in a sea of Arabs." "Have you looked outside your door?" I said. "You are surrounded by a sea of Arab villages. You pay them protection money not to steal you blind." His answer will not be followed by any comment from me. When a clearly intelligent person becomes delusional there is no point in arguing. "Our Arabs love democracy. Our Arabs appreciate the economic benefits of living here. Our Arabs are loyal citizens of the State of Israel!" Side trips No vacation is satisfactory for Rachel unless we explore local sites. [Personally I would prefer to sleep.] Fortunately all my treatments were scheduled for early evening, giving us the opportunity on the two pleasant days we had to travel. Our first trip was to Zippori National Park near Nazareth, a half hour drive from Lavi. The ruins of this ancient village are lovingly preserved and, as the place was largely empty, we wandered unhurriedly from home to amphitheatre to synagogue marveling at the mosaic tiles mixing pagan gods and traditional Jewish symbols. When a schoolbus filled with raucous pre-pubescent children disgorged its load, and the boys pummeled each other while the girls just shrieked, we beat a hasty retreat. What I will remember longest - no credit to me - is that next to Zippori is an Arab village called Shimshit. My kind of place. Our second trip was farther afield. We were on the way to an `Australian Theme Park', Gan-Garoo, between Afula and Beit Shean and next to the Sakhne Nature Reserve, about an hour away from Lavi. The trip highlighted a problem that has plagued us throughout our over forty years of marriage. La P, irrespective of her chronological age, remains young in spirit. One of the manifestations of this youthful spirit is spontaneity. So as we are driving to Gan-Garoo we pass a variety of signs put up by the Tourism Ministry noting places of historical, archeological, religious or general interest. At each one of these signs Rachel exclaims "Let's go see that!" I, who lost my spontaneity between the ages of 9 and 10, just keep on driving. When I set out for someplace I can't relax until we get there. As the sign fades in the rear-view mirror Rachel exclaims "You never want to do anything interesting?" This trip's flashpoint came as we passed a kibbutz with a sign "Visit the Robotic Cowshed". "Let's go see that!" "I read about it. You wouldn't be interested. Robot cows giving motor oil. Big deal." Fortunately we reached Gan-Garoo before she could work up a head of steam, and the magic of the place made her forget she was stuck with Mr. Fuddy Duddy. Gan-Garoo is small but perfectly maintained and laid out in a way that gives the impression of great size. The birds are in cages, of course, but the kangaroos run free and visitors 0 after a detailed lecture on where to stand, what to touch, etc - are invited to stroke them. Up close they look like giant rats and whatever miniscule desire I might have had to touch them was quickly dissipated. All the animals were remarkably ugly. Kookaburras, wallaroos, wallabies, cassowaries, emus... what a collection! Only the cockatoos were impressive. And I was informed that next year there will be cockathrees and cockafours! One very discordant note. We heard shooting and explosions and these really startled us. I couldn't calm down even when we were assured that the explosions come from a nearby rock quarry, and the shooting from hunters in adjacent hills. It may not have been a particularly memorable vacation, but there was never one more timely. 29.11 2am I was out for a smoke and was disconcerted that the only sound was that of the waves, the only sight that of stars. No shooting, no explosions, no drones. Have we returned to pre-intifadeh Neve Dekalim? Are we caught in a time warp? 4am Machine guns. Tracer bullets. Thank God, now I know we're home. 30.11 They have devised a new form of torture for us, I think. The drones are bad enough but this morning I was awakened by what sounded like all the cars at the Indianapolis 500 revving their motors outside the bedroom window. The noise went on for a good half hour though even after hauling my carcass outside I couldn't identify the source. I can only hope this doesn't become a regular occurrence. Last night about 8pm a huge explosion rattled the house. It was certainly the loudest I had heard, and the fact that it fell a half kilometer away yet was louder than the one that fell in our yard means it was a Kassam, and probably a new, improved, bleaches-your-bones-as-it-whitens-your-teeth Kassam. I stepped outside and my heart sank to see our doctor-neighbor run to his car and drive off toward Rachel's school, the Ulpana. Thank God no one was hurt though there was some damage. 1.12 A beautiful sunset. Gray and pink clouds, slowly darkening, speckled the horizon while the sky overhead was clear. I climbed the dunes to watch the sun drown, something I haven't done for quite some time. What touched me most was the color of the water: the Mediterranean the color of the North Atlantic in winter. Years of watching "Victory at Sea" and films like "Action in the North Atlantic" (1943) have made me sensitive, perhaps oversensitive, to the beauty and terror and vastness of that stretch of ocean. No balmy, sarong-laden, gentle-breezed seas for me. Most of this morning was spent translating some boring propaganda piece about Gush Katif from Hebrew to English. "We really don't want to bother you with this, Moshe, but it's urgent." It's always urgent, and I am too detached to protest. Upon entering the Information Service office to deliver the translation I saw two gorilla-sized gentlemen, each with a notebook on his lap and a ballpoint pen almost hidden in a paw. I started to walk out but was seen by one of the staff: "Wonderful that you are here, Moshe! Two German journalists are here and would like to talk to you." I could feel my internal organs undergoing petrifaction. More likely, putrefaction. I couldn't talk to them. The two nodded to me. They were middle-aged, hairless, heads round as bowling balls, and as expressionless as Sluggo [from the Nancy and Sluggo comic strips of my youth] whom they greatly resembled. It wouldn't have surprised me had they been introduced as Tveedledee from der `Gestapo Gazette' und Tveedledum from der `Wehrmacht Weekly'. Each raised a paw revealing pens that looked more like scalpels. "Gentlemen" I said, shoulders back, spine as straight as I could make it, "I am unable to accommodate you. I am in the midst of a nervous breakdown which I am trying to get through as quietly and with as much dignity as possible. My sincere apologies." I then clicked my sandals - a poor substitute for clicking boot heels learned from the great Erich von Stroheim in the 1927 `Foolish Wives' - nodded, turned and walked out. The Katzenjammer Kids remained expressionless. The Information Service people were wide-eyed and slack-jawed. Later I was approached to translate into some semblance of English a request for funds to launch a laser-beam-firing stationary space satellite. That, I enjoyed doing. Five mortars have hit Neve Dekalim since nightfall, and a Kassam hit neighboring Gadid. Our response? Single shot rifle fire. I've spent most of the evening outside despite the cold. Earlier I chug-a-lugged a can of Heinz baked beans and La P - who refers to me as The Wrong-Ended Dragon - has `suggested' I walk it off or she'll put a sign on our door saying "Chernobyl - No Entry for 300 Years". I don't mind being out - the stars are brilliant tonight - but have this fear that someone will strike a match near me and all of Neve Dekalim will disappear. [Please don't write to tell me that the glowing end of my cigar is as likely to cause an explosion as a lit match. Great artists need not be bound by logic. And neither am I.] 2.12 Another breath-stopping sunset. Which I'm not supposed to be watching as everyone is invited for a "special gathering of prayer and penitence" being held in our synagogue. If our fate depends on prayers by the worn-out and worthless like myself, our cause is lost. But it doesn't. About 10am this morning, staring abstractedly out the kitchen window while chewing on the seventh or eight course of an endless breakfast that started at 7am, I saw what first appeared to be an apparition: A line of kindergarten kids holding hands, moving awkwardly on little legs, passed our home, heading for the dunes. For a nature walk, perhaps? They were beautiful. Caucasians, Orientals, Africans, and various combinations, all Jews. Clutching small bags, with even smaller lunchboxes as backpacks, these little Jews were going to explore the land that the Almighty has given us. While tears diluted the ketchup on my omelet I realized with the most painful clarity that it is the virtue of these little ones and their holy young parents that will determine our fate. 7.12 Happy Pearl Harbor Day! Yesterday morning Rachel was at a printer in our industrial zone adjacent to the wall separating us from Khan Yunis. As she got into the car to come home two explosions rocked the area. Mortars had hit a supermarket about fifty yards away. There was some damage, two women were treated for shock, and the lone injury was to Ahmed who works in the supermarket. I often shop in that market. Though inconveniently located, and clearly dangerous, its prices are lower and - best of all - I can smoke while shopping. And I am very concerned about the injury to Ahmed. The bar-code price-reader at the checkout counter is often not functioning, and price stickers are often missing from items. The checkout counter people would call "Ahmed!" and he would come over and tell you the price. If he wasn't available you could stand there forever while printed price sheets were consulted. So lets all pray for Ahmed's speedy recovery. On one fundraising trip I spoke at Yeshiva University in New York. After the speech a young man came up and told me he is going on aliya to Israel. "Wonderful!" I said to him. "I'll believe it when I see it" I said to myself. Well, I am now a believer. The young man showed up at our door in the evening, splendid in IDF uniform, with a weapon almost as big as he is. Bright, funny, a non-stop talker - the quality of his talk makes him less a talker than a raconteur - he left Rachel and I both exhausted and delighted with his enthusiasm. We hope to see a lot more of him as he is stationed nearby. One of his tales, just to give you an idea of the kid: "I had to bring religious items from the base to various outposts. They gave me a truck and a driver. I went out to the truck and saw that my driver had a large cross around his neck. `My name is Anton' he said in a heavy Russian accent. Please, God, I prayed silently, these are religious items. Please let me have another driver. I went back inside to sign some papers and when I came back out I was happy to see a different driver. Until he said `I am Sharif. I am a Bedouin.' You have to be careful about what you pray for." Rachel was visiting friends this afternoon - the same people who hosted the army officers - who live on the other side of Neve Dekalim, in the area that is most often plastered with mortars. The neighborhood collected all the mortar fragments and built a Hannuka menorah out of them. What an amazing people. And I learned that Rachel burns scented candles in her Ulpana office while playing New Age ear-candy music and brewing herbal tea for her visitors. Is it any wonder her office is always crowded? It appears I am married to an ageless hippy. What an amazing woman. We have lit the first Hannuka candle, and the Almighty has responded with a spectacular thunder-and-lightning show over the ocean. Rachel can hardly contain her excitement. I - far gone, alas - am hoping it doesn't rain as I've just done the windows. 8.12 When the garden in our present home was first planted some five years ago we had firs put in. Though not suitable for our climate or landscape they have flourished and have reached heights of forty feet. Just looking at them thrills me and I imagine we are in the cold far north. In bad weather I look at them and the raging sea beyond and hum Sibelius or some other portrayer of frigid nature. The recent storms have damaged them severely. They needed rocky soil to sink their roots deep. In our sand their roots have remained near the surface. Now they are tipping at dangerous angles and to keep them from falling over we have had to have them lopped. Watching it done - they are down to twenty feet, and still impressive - has caused me actual physical pain. In my present mental state I can't help wondering if their fate is a precursor of our own. Rachel is working on a piece called `from mortars to menorah', about the menorah built from scraps of mortars. It is very beautiful, and we were there for the lighting of the second candle. Despite a strong wind and intermittent drizzle there were about fifty children and half that many adults for the parking lot lighting ceremony. Even a cynical s.o.b. like yours truly was moved to tears. Afterwards I went to pick up our soldier friend at his base and we all went to a Hannuka party. There were twenty people, all Anglos, the soldier played the piano and Rachel played the flute in songs of the season, and I am sick from gorging myself on hand grenades disguised as jelly doughnuts. 10.12 It's an hour and a half before Shabbat and in the last few minutes we've had eight mortars and three Kassams fall. No word yet on damage or injury. It would barely draw a yawn from me but Oshri, Tamar and the Enlarged Wrecking Crew are with us and I am concerned for them. After the first Kassam I grabbed a cigar and ran outside. My Yemenite neighbor, the security officer, was on a mobile phone. "It doesn't bother me" he was saying, "if they fall when we're here. They can fall all day and night for all I care. But my wife's parents are with us..." Jerusalem Post internet reports "three moderately wounded, one lightly wounded." Of course the drones are on vacation, and our shooters are firing skyward. Perhaps an organization like STIFF [Stop Torturing Innocent Feathered Friends] will protest the endangerment of passing birdies. Shabbat Shalom from the Twilight Zone. 12.12 4am If it weren't so sad it would be funny. Now that we have suffered injuries the drones are back. Apparently they were away at a Dronukka [a Hannuka party for drones] but from a half hour before Shabbat were out in force. As were helicopters and armored units "operating in Khan Yunis to clear out mortar nests" according to the media. Bullshit. The wounded, apart from an 18-year-old who has shrapnel in his chest close to his heart, are out of danger. So Shabbat was quiet, we enjoyed our visitors, and we worked ourselves into exhaustion restoring the house after their departure. 13.12 Yesterday was a veritable Helicopter Hootenanny, with a side order of drones thrown in. Not that it stopped the shooters who pounded us at intervals all day. Just as we were once again ordered indoors I grabbed a handful of cigars and ran for the dunes to watch a spectacular blood red sunset, my back to the exploding mortars as the sea swallowed its prey. Today, appropriate for Hannuka, Greek television is interviewing La Passionara on our lawn. La P, claiming I step on her lines, has banished me from the interview. Perhaps I'll have a walk-on later, brandishing my stump and mangled hand. The Greeks should have something to cheer about. Much of last night was spent discussing their visit. Greece is tied with France for first place in The Most Anti-Israel Country in Europe contest and I really don't know what they want here. Particularly as the person who spoke to Rachel on the phone - displaying a wicked sense of humor by `apologizing' for Greek behavior at the time of the Maccabbees - said he doesn't want to talk politics, just to show how we live. Sure... I wanted to welcome them with signs on the door, `Beware of Greeks bearing gifts' and `If you drop the soap in a Greek shower, DO NOT BEND OVER to pick it up'. And to greet them with quotes from their great philosophers, Snophocles, Plotzo and Aristoodle. At the very least, considering calimera is good morning in Greek, to shout Lassiemera on their arrival as Lassie is the most famous collie of them all. Is it any wonder I've been banned? 11pm There is supposed to be a meteor shower tonight and I've been out several times in hopes of spotting a meteor through the cloud of cigar smoke that surrounds my head like a wreath. I have seen a few, but then I see a few every clear night. What I did see when I first went out at seven, a sight that made my heart soar, were the menorahs ablaze in every home. And ablaze is the word, what with this being the seventh night of Hannuka. The effect was even more dramatic during a twenty minute power failure. With no competition from electric lights even the most modest of candles shown like lighthouse beacons. Unfortunately we few seem to be the only people in Lemming Land who recognize the danger these beacons are illuminating. I suppose we should stock up on candles as the government will certainly cut the power, if and when... And thank God salamis don't require refrigeration. 14.12 We were warned about noise all night, the IDF's "harsh response" to yesterday's tunnel bombing in which five soldiers were killed. And it was noisy when I fell asleep. Rachel says there was incoming as well as outgoing mail. At 2:30am - I was already comatose - the house shook with a nearby explosion. Outgoing mail returned for insufficient postage? I had my own mini-disaster. On my last star-gazing meteor-seeking ozone-depleting foray outside, shortly after midnight, I was standing at the edge of the dunes emptying my bladder when something exploded close by. I was so startled that I ceased directing the flow and created a situation requiring that I do more laundry this morning. Near the close of her interview with the Greeks - actually, one Greek with an Israeli cameraman and an Israeli soundman - Rachel had to leave for a few minutes so they turned their attention to me. Clearly they had gotten a great interview from Rachel and I felt that I was being included for the sake of politeness. Especially as the soundman, after discovering that we fought in adjacent units during the Yom Kippur War, treated me as a long lost brother. Of course he threw lots of names at me, none of which I remembered, but I grinned and nodded like a dashboard dog and he seemed happy. One question was all I was asked: If the danger is so great, why don't you leave? The Greek, in fairness, was funny and charming. And seemingly sympathetic. But when I started to reply by talking about faith it was as if a barrier had come down. His expression, his body language, maintained their posture of interest; his eyes, however, gave it away. Eyes are the window of the soul. They are also the windows of the brain. And his brain simply switched off. I lost any desire to explain, to persuade, to even talk. I suppressed an urge to remind him that Ancient Greece, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Rome, ancient anyplace are dead and gone, still glorious only in history books, still remembered only in their ruins, their descendants remarkable only in their inability to be remarkable. While we Jews, small, weak, despised, prey to every momentary power through the ages, have endured. And our greatness and glory with us. And if most Jews are unworthy of their heritage, unable or unwilling to bear the burden, even self-hating collaborators with those who would destroy us, enough of us remain who understand who we are and what we are and behave accordingly. That is why we remain in the land portioned to the tribe of Judah. Though every hand, including those of the majority of our Jewish brethren, is raised against us, we know who we are and what we are and what is required of us. That is why we remain in Gush Katif. (Completed on the eighth day of Hannuka, the holiday when the few Jews who remained loyal to God and heritage defeated the many Jews who would abandon God and heritage.) Moshe Saperstein lives and writes about his home and life in Neve Dekalim, Gush Katif, Gaza, Israel. He lost an arm while fighting in the 1973 Yom Kippur War and was again wounded in February 2002 when he drove his car into a terrorist who had just shot and killed a young mother traveling in the car in front of him. He writes frequently of his physical and emotional struggles. His wife, Rachel (La Passionara) published a booklet for families dealing with terror victims, and is an activist in the struggle against the Sharon expulsion plan. |
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FRANCE CLOSES DOWN AL-MANAR TV CHANNEL - WHAT COMES NEXT
Posted by Dr. Reuven Erlich, December 15, 2004. |
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1. France's highest administrative court, the Council of State, ordered (December 13, 2004) the operators of the French satellite, Eutelsat, to stop beaming the Hezbollah TV channel Al-Manar within 48 hours. As of today, December 15, 2004, at 6 p.m., all Al-Manar programs are to be dropped from the package of nine Arabic language channels broadcast to France (and the rest of Europe) via Eutelsat. 2. The French court ruled that Al-Manar had violated France's laws against incitement and was thus endangering public order. French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier praised the decision, calling it "just." 3. As a result of the court's decision, French and other European viewers will now find it difficult to receive Al-Manar's broadcasts. While it is an important step in the right direction, it does not solve the basic problem: France is not the only country to which Hezbollah spreads its messages of hate, terrorism and anti-Semitism nor is Eutelsat the only satellite corporation spreading them. Hezbollah uses multi-national satellite corporations and companies to broadcast Al-Manar around the globe. Other countries, including the United States, must also take measures to stop the broadcasts precisely for the same reasons that prompted the ruling of the French court: the spread of hatred, terrorism and anti-Semitism. To view Al-Manar, subscribers will now have to install satellite dishes to receive Arabsat and Nilesat, which continue broadcasting Al-Manar's programs, which will significantly increase their costs. 4. Silvan Shalom, Israeli Foreign Minister, at the Herzliya Convention, responding to a question asked by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center regarding the closing of Al-Manar, said the following: the Israeli Foreign Ministry considers preventing the spread messages of incitement, terrorism and anti-Semitism to be of primary importance. After Al-Manar's broadcasts were banned in France, the Ministry intends to work actively to have them banned in other countries around the globe as well. It is the Ministry's intention to bring the seriousness of Al-Manar's broadcasts to the attention of the international community and to convince them to prevent Al-Manar from operating in as many countries as possible. 5. Attached to this report (http://www.intelligence.org.il/eng/sib/12_04/almanar_e.htm) see our bulletin of October 2004 which contains information about how Hezbollah's distributes Al-Manar's programs: "Marketing of Terrorism: Hezbollah's use of the Al-Manar TV station to spread incitement and hatred across the globe." Additional information about Hezbollah and Al-Manar can be found at the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center Website, www.intelligence.org.il. Dr. Reuven Erlich is Head of the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center in Israel. Its website address is http://www.intelligence.org This article is archived at http://www.intelligence.org.il/eng/sib/12_04/almanar_e.htm It is worth examining the original, which has graphics and contains much additional material. |
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THE REFUGEE CURSE
Posted by Max Yas, December 16, 2004. |
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This article was written by Daniel Pipes and was first published in August, 2003 by the New York Post. It resurfaced recently and makes a point that many of us may have missed. Below is an abridged version. The complete version is at http://www.israelunitycoalition.com/html/ article.html?id=4806 The UN's own protocols require that "The application of justice must be based on the same equal standards for everyone ... International laws should be applied even-handedly throughout the world." Yet the UN has created a double standard and definition for who is a refugee." The application of this standard to only the Palestinians, resulting in an ever growing refugee population bereft of any constructive future, represents the greatest obstacle to peace in the Middle East. Shalom from Max. Here's a puzzle: How do Palestinian refugees differ from the other 135 million 20th-century refugees? Answer: In every other instance, the pain of dispossession, statelessness, and poverty has diminished over time. Refugees eventually either resettled, returned home or died. Their children - whether living in South Korea, Vietnam, Pakistan, Israel, Turkey, Germany or the United States - then shed the refugee status and joined the mainstream. Not so the Palestinians. For them, the refugee status continues from one generation to the next, creating an ever-larger pool of anguish and discontent. Several factors explain this anomaly but one key component - of all things - is the United Nations' bureaucratic structure. It contains two organizations focused on refugee affairs, each with its own definition of "refugee":
Fortunately, the U.S. Congress is waking up. Chris Smith, a Republican on the House International Relations Committee, recently called for expanding the General Accounting Office's investigation into U.S. funding for UNRWA. Tom Lantos, the ranking Democratic member on that same committee, goes further. Criticizing the "privileged and prolonged manner" of dealing with Palestinian refugees, he calls for shuttering UNRWA and transferring its responsibilities to the High Commission. Other Western governments should join with Washington to solve the Palestinian refugee problem by withholding authorization for UNRWA when it next comes up for renewal in June 2005. Now is the time to lay the groundwork to eliminate this malign institution, its mischievous definition, and its monstrous works? |
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FEDERMAN WARNS HE WAS JUST 'TEST-CASE'
Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, December 15, 2004. |
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This was a news item in today's Arutz-7 (www.IsraelNationalNews.com).
"Today they are doing it to me, tomorrow they will do it to others," recently-released administrative detainee Noam Federman told Arutz-7 today. The Hevron resident and former Kach activist has just had his conditions of house-arrest improved, but believes the move stems from ulterior motives on the part of the Shabak (GSS). Federman warns that the same laws that enable the regional IDF commander to keep him under house arrest can be used to do the same to any Jewish resident of Judea, Samaria or Gaza. Federman was released from prison in June after being held, without trial or the knowledge of what he was being accused of doing, for over six months in administrative detention. "The Supreme Court cleared me of any involvement with any 'underground' or any connection to any of the attacks on Arabs," Federman told Arutz-7. "The Court came to the conclusion that it would look too strange for me to continue sitting in prison under administrative detention for the crimes I was just acquitted of and released me, claiming they would continue the investigations. Upon my release, though, I received a new administrative order placing me under house arrest - and I have been confined to my house for half a year now." Tuesday, Federman's second house arrest order expired and, through his lawyer, Naftali Wurzberger, the State Prosecutor offered Federman an extra hour a day, in which he would be allowed to leave his house each day, on the condition that he signed the order, agreeing to it. "They wanted me to declare my agreement to three more months of house arrest in exchange for my being able to take a walk down the street for an hour a day," Federman said. "Their aim was to demonstrate that I agreed to the terms, thereby preventing me from appealing the order." Federman told Wurzberger that he refused to take the offer. "I told him to tell the State Prosecutors and the Shabak (GSS) that, on Chanukah, I don't sign deals with Hellenists and that I refuse to be party to any such agreement." "Then came the threats," Federman said. "They said that if I didn't agree to the deal they would make my house arrest more severe, but I stood my ground and today received a renewed order allowing me to move around during the day, but requiring me to return to my 'fox-hole' at nightfall." Asked if he is happy with the new improved conditions of his house arrest, Federman said that he doesn't look at the situation in such a manner. "The problem is that this issue doesn't just affect me. The issue we are speaking about is the system of persecution by which orders are issued which are next to impossible to deal with in the courts. Everything is kept secret from you and you must defend yourself by guessing [the accusations against you]. You are forced to defend yourself blindfolded, with your hands tied behind your back." Federman says the administrative orders being used against him are just the latest tool used to suppress right-wing activists. "I told them that if they had something on me - then issue an indictment. The fact is that to this day, they have issued tens of indictments and, thank God, I was acquitted each and every time. It is therefore no surprise that since they failed using one method they began using another one - that is why the situation is so serious." Federman warns that he is just a test-case. "Today they are doing this to me, tomorrow they will do it to others. If we don't stick our finger in the dam and stop this leak - today it's Noam Federman but tomorrow it will be the residents of Beit El and Gush Katif. "We all know Ariel Sharon's evil plans and the punishment he plans to inflict upon anybody who stands in the way of this savage expulsion. It is clear that if the silence in the right-wing camp with regard to the administrative orders that have been used against me continues - tomorrow there will be others in my place," Federman warned. Aryeh Zelasko lives in Beitar Illit, south of Jerusalem. He is Director of Sales and Marketing of Israel Visit (www.israelvisit.co.il) which provides information and an internet buying facility for American visitors to Israel. |
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JUDENREIN (JEW-FREE)
Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, December 15, 2004. |
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Has the frequent use of the word Judenrein lost its true meaning and impact to the public. Perhaps you can recall what Judenrein really encompassed. Do you remember that Adolph Hitler made the policy of Judenrein the cornerstone of what came to be known as the Holocaust. Using this idea, he was able to enlist most of the European nations to join his Judenrein. There were planned phases to achieve Hitler's "Final Solution for his 'Jewish' Problem" - one of which was to transfer Jews from their homes, stores, factories, synagogues, schools - making the Land free of Jews with good Germans moving in to occupy what the Jews had built. However, before the actual clearing action began, Hitler (like other tyrants before him and regrettably, after him) understood that the public had to be first prepared with a state of mind to accept the gathering of Jews and ejecting them from the Land. The Land was to be ethnically cleansed of Jews erasing their presence for all time. Only after the minds of the people were sufficiently 'cleansed' of friendliness or conscience toward their Jewish neighbors and replaced with anger inspired by the tyrants would the forced evacuation begin. Judenrein is not merely a catch phrase but a well-prepared state of mind. The normal restraints of conscience were removed and once unleashed the lowest instincts dominated. The later words of "Ethnic Cleansing" bonded easily with Judenrein. The years of the Holocaust are a high peak in terms of sheer numbers, 6 million Jews were murdered by the Nazis, including 1 1/2 million Jewish children. However, uprooting Jews from their homes, farms, factories, synagogues and always the Land - was a common practice for centuries in Europe, Russia, Poland, Lithuania, Croatia, Romania, Hungary, Greece...etc. Did you think that Fiddler on the Roof was merely an imaginative musical made out of thin air? Now, unfortunately, we have the Prime Minister of Israel, Ariel Sharon, advocating what the non-Jewish Jews of the Left have been trying to do for years - namely, making large parts of the tiny State of Israel Judenrein. They wish to force the Jews east of the 1967 cease-fire lines, to vacate the Land and turn it - with all the homes, gardens, farms, schools, synagogues and even cemeteries over to a mix of hostile Muslim Arabs who call themselves Palestinians. The Arab Muslim nations share the policy of making the Jewish State Judenrein. This is the policy now proposed by Arik Sharon, Shimon Peres, Yitzhak Rabin (in his time), the U.N., the E.U. and now accepted by the Bush Administration as a preferable appeasement to the Arab Muslim oil nations. The Arabs have long ago adopted a policy of Judenrein in each of their nations. I doubt there is a single Jew publicly acknowledged in Saudi Arabia. Most, if not all the Jews who lived for centuries in Arab and/or Muslim nations were driven out of Egypt, Iran, Iraq (Persia), Syria, Libya, Lebanon, Morocco - under the threat of being massacred. When the Jews were forced to flee, it was understand that they would be forced to abandon the Land and make it Judenrein. Their properties, homes, factories, bank accounts were simply confiscated just as the Nazis did. Hatred and greed were close companions when it came to expelling Jews and confiscating whatever they owned. Now Ariel Sharon has accepted from the Bush Administration a plan which would make Gaza Judenrein, followed by the rest of YESHA, Judea, Samaria, Golan Heights and finally the division of Jerusalem.... Here again what the Jews have built along with the Land cultivated into great fertility - all of this is to be turned over to hostile, Muslim Arabs - close to pagans. Granted, neither Peres, the Oslo Gang, Sharon and the sycophants who follow Sharon are very Jewish. From the earliest days of David Ben Gurion, the Left Labor Party's policy was to diminish the Jewishness of Israel and to make her into a secular democracy. Their philosophy was if they could become like all others they would no longer be a hated people. Sharon ignored the lesson of Spain and the Inquisition when the Jews accepted forced conversion, they were still hated and called Marrannos (Pigs). Regrettably, Israel's leaders have become dictatorial tyrants who are a mirror image of those who, for centuries, forced Jews off their Land. Arik Sharon is slowly adopting the successful methods of those tyrants of the past who experimented and refined their methods to force the Jews from their Land. But, as I mentioned in the beginning, Sharon and Peres understood that, first the minds of the people have to be brain-washed so that they come to hate those they pejoratively call "settlers" on the other side of the "Green Line", the cease-fire lines of the 1967 Six Days? War. Thus, few will complain when force is used to transfer the Jews from their homes, farms, schools, synagogues, businesses and even the dead from their cemeteries. I recall how Sharon pre-planned with foreign interests that any Media who would object or expose his intentions to transfer Jews was to be closed down. Not unlike the behavior of Goebells or the Chinese government or any tyrannical dictatorship. First to go and be bludgeoned was Arutz 7 Broadcasting, who frequently exposed what the Rabin, Peres, Oslo Gang were doing and later the Sharon 'coup d'etat'. For now you can still read and listen to Arutz 7 on the Internet. Now, there is some pending legislation in the Israeli Knesset where ads and Emails will be curtailed under the guise of eliminating Spam but, in practice, they will insure a virtual news blackout when Sharon sends in what is commonly known as his specially trained "Storm-troopers" as in the days when towns in Germany and across Europe were made Judenrein. We have been told that the Jews East of Sharon's Security Fence must be pushed back to areas West of what Sharon told the people would NOT be a border. All 250,000 of the men, women and children "settlers" are to be removed and that Land with its long, thousands of years' history of Jews living there is to be ethnically cleansed of Jews and to be made Judenrein. Recently, Shimon Peres proclaimed that, in his opinion, there would soon be no Jew East of the 1967 Armistice Lines. Hitler's vision of a Land cleansed of Jews is to be implemented by a Prime Minister who is a weak or non-Jewish Jew - collaborating with a President anxious to renew his dynasty's affiliation with Arab oil countries and to make up for the "insult" of attacking Muslims in Afghanistan and Iraq to retaliate for the Al Qaeda attack on America on 9/11/01. The 'apology' being offered up is the sacrifice of the Jewish State of Israel. They plan to reduce the now tiny State to an indefensible strip of land - half the size it is now - huddled behind Sharon's Wall with thousands of howling Arab Muslims from every Muslim Arab country in the world, pounding to get across. As for preparing the minds of the different interests, some are already eager for the demise of the Jewish State of Israel. Certainly, the Arab Muslim nations which are now Judenrein would like to advance to the next stage with the Bush Administration as the driving force. The Europeans had no need of mind preparation given they were the virtual partners with Adolph Hitler in making every effort to reduce their Land to the status of Judenrein. They are presently in lockstep with the Arab Muslims much as the Muslims and Arabs were in lockstep with Hitler's policy of eliminating all the Jews living on Land they brought under their control. Their goal was World Domination by the Nazis under the Third Reich and now it is the Muslims turn to take world domination for Islam or the Great Caliphate. Little need to discuss the United Nations and their attitude toward the Jewish State. While they refused to release troops to join America in taking out Saddam Hussein and refused troops for fighting the massacres in Africa, one can be fairly certain they would send troops to the Middle East if it meant removing the Jews from their Land. As I said earlier, first the mind - followed by the force when it comes to demolishing the Jewish nation. IF what Sharon is doing in collaboration with President Bush, Egypt's President Mubarak happened in any other country, namely, accepting and participating in ethnic cleansing of their own people, I have no doubt that their people would rise up and tear any tyrant from his office. But, of course, most tyrants will not think of giving up their Land unless, you happen to be a dictatorial Jewish tyrant. Then, you genuflect and plead to give up anything your enemies want IF the word "Peace" greases the discussion. Transferring Jews is no problem. Giving up our Jewish Holy Sites is something non-Jewish Jews are anxious and willing to do IF it will hasten a secular state and remove their perceived embarrassment of being called a Jew. Strangely, it is Evangelical Christians who have a firm belief that G-d gave the Land in perpetuity to the Jewish nation while our non-Jewish Jews like Sharon and Peres cannot wait to divest this Holy Property and pass it over to a pagan people. Granted it is hard to fight the world when you have no belief in what you are or supposed to be. Where there is no pride; where you accept all claims against you then, indeed, you must lose. IF a Sharon-Peres and all they represent beg forgiveness for simply being there then they must lead the nation off this planet IF they can get the people to follow. Emptying the Land given to the Jews by a G-d neither Sharon nor Peres believe in, makes ethnic cleansing of Jews from any land mandatory. To be Judenrein is not only evacuation of the Jewish Land but, an evacuation of the mind. In the thoughts of Sharon-Peres and all who follow this unholy duo, there is nothing sacred about Israel for them. Not the Land, not the People, not the Temple of David and Solomon - nothing, absolutely nothing. To conspire with foreign interests or even the Arab and Muslim enemies is not to them betrayal or treason because they give away what they never believed was theirs as they did not believe they are the real Jewish people. Fortunately, there are real believing Jews who do not share the Sharon-Peres policy of making the Land of Israel Judenrein. Wherever these Jewish Patriots put their hand, the Land turns green with life. Hopefully, the true Jews of Israel will once again gain control over the Erev Rav, the criminal trash who left Egypt with the Jews and are still with us today. 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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DEFENDING THE CAMPUS THOUGHT POLICE
Posted by Don Feder, December 15, 2004. |
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Ellen Goodman is a lot like conservative pundit Ann Coulter - except that she lacks Coulter's wit, style and discernment. Okay, the liberal columnist is nothing like Coulter. Still, Goodman is among the best the opposition has to offer. And, if nothing else, her misconceptions usually make an amusing starting point for an exploration of reality. On December 5, Goodman warned her readers of a dangerous development: Conservatives have turned their fanatical gaze on the college campus. "While many of us assume that the right is busily targeting the highest court as their last unoccupied power base, a whole subset of conservatives is after higher education," Goodman cautions. "Every year conservative groups put some $20 million into campus politics and publications." On the other hand, liberals simply spend the endowments of colleges and universities to advance their cause. Conservatives have co-opted our rhetoric, Goodman complains. They're calling for "diversity" and "playing victim politics." Goodman admits that faculties are politically homogenous: "Two new studies point to campuses as oases of blue. The first, a survey of 1,000 academics, shows that there are seven Democrats for every Republican in the humanities and social scientists... The second study of voter registration records shows that Democrats outnumber Republicans 9 to 1 on the faculties of Berkeley and Stanford." But, so what, says Goodman - who, based at The Boston Globe, writes from the heart of darkest Kerry country. After all, faculties are still 87% white and 77% male. Good liberal that she is, Goodman thinks everything comes down to race and gender, rather than ideas. Party registration reflects ideology, race and gender do not - witness Kerry and Edwards, Howard Dean, Dennis Kucinich and Ted Kennedy - all melanin-deficient, testosterone-rich, and dogmatically left. Goodman's contends: "These surveys don't actually prove that one-party faculties color classrooms blue. Nor do they prove that students are being wooded leftward." Of course, it's just a coincidence that those with post-graduate degrees are overwhelmingly left of center. They're probably the product of random selection. Goodman's most preposterous claim is this: Maybe the lack of conservative faculty is a matter of "personal choice," rather than discrimination. "No one is suggesting that Republican PhDs might rather work in the free market than teach the free market." In other words, conservatives are a bunch of crass, money-grubbers. Liberals are willing to sacrifice personal gain to spread knowledge. (Certainly not because they're too incompetent to hold a position in the corporate world and like the security that comes with tenure.) Professor George P. Lakoff, who teaches linguistics at Berkeley, made a similar argument in his self-congratulatory book "Moral Politics: How Liberals and Conservatives Think." "Unlike conservatives," Lakoff writes, liberals "believe in working for the public good and social justice, as well as knowledge and art for their own sake, which are what the humanities and social sciences are about." Rather than an indictment of academic Stalinism, the dearth of conservative faculty becomes another way for liberals to feel superior: We're self-sacrificing and have a higher calling. Conservatives are selfish philistines. The college campus is a hermetically sealed environment where alien ideas rarely intrude. When they do, the academic immune system attacks them with a ferocity rarely seen outside the Islamic world. Typical of the worldview of the higher-ed elite is Brandeis Peace Studies Professor Gordie Fellman, who is quoted as saying that "If (the War on Terror) is about terrorism, and terrorism is the killing of innocent civilians, then the United States is also a terrorist." Or consider the carefully nuanced comments of Cornell Professor John Pilger, who calls Guantanamo a "concentration camp," Israel a "terrorist state" with a "policy of state murder" and (three days after 9/11) indicted America as "the greatest source of terrorism on Earth." In 2001, Pilger claimed Israel was capable of using nuclear weapons against Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. (Wonder what he thinks Israelis would do with the fallout.) Then, of course, there's Columbia anthropology Professor Nicholas De Genova, who told a post-9/11 teach-in, "The only true heroes are those who find ways that help defeat the U.S. military." Thus, De Genova said he wished for "a million Mogadishus," in reference to the Somali city where 18 U.S. soldiers were ambushed and killed in 1993. As cartoonist Al Capp said of Harvard back in the '60s, the inmates are running the asylum. Brainwashing, intimidation, exclusion and retaliation for unorthodox ideas are standard collegiate fare. In the novel "1984," Big Brother cautions, "Right thinking will be rewarded, wrong thinking punished." He would have made the perfect instructor at PCU. * The aforementioned Fellman reportedly told one of his classes that a third of their grade would be based on "personal evolution" during the semester - in other words, their ability to assimilate and parrot his ideas. * In a Cal State Long Beach freshman English class, the assignment was to write an essay about some aspect of Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 911." In her paper, student Marissa Freimanis argued against Moore's thesis that Bush rushed to war with Saddam Hussein. Her essay was marked with the comment "You miss the point of the film." Needless to say, Freimanis received the lowest grade in the class (after getting nothing but A's on previous papers). What she missed was the point of the exercise - to reach Moore's and the professor's conclusions. * At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a sophomore English class was assigned an essay on the subject "Why do heterosexual men feel threatened by homosexuals?" In his paper, a student, named Tim said that while he wasn't intimidated by gays, "Being a Christian, I would feel uncomfortable having to explain to my son at a baseball game why two homosexual men are kissing." Poor Tim. Someone forgot to tell him that he was expected to reflect his professor's views. In a mass e-mail, his instructor, Dr. Elyse Crystall, said Tim's observations constituted "hate speech that created a hostile environment in class," while Tim himself was "an example of privilege: a white, heterosexual, Christian male who feels entitled to make violent, heterosexist comments and not feel marked or threatened or vulnerable." Rest assured, after Dr. Crystall's public pronouncement, Tim felt marked, threatened and vulnerable. * Most academics treat dissent as a social disease. When asked why he didn't assign the works of conservative thinkers, Ithaca College Government Professor Charles Santiago replied, "I am teaching Hitler." If conservative equals Holocaust, how do you suppose Prof. Santiago treats students who express right-of-center views in his class? Like the Nuremberg war criminals? Stephen H. Balch, president of the National Association of Scholars (an alliance of iconoclastic academics) observes: "Our colleges have become less marketplaces of ideas than churches in which you have to be a true believer to get a seat in the pews. We've drifted to a secular version of the 19th-century denominational colleges, in which the university's mission is to crusade against sin and make the country a morally better place." Daniel Klein, an associate professor of economics at Santa Clara University, explains how heretics (conservatives) are excluded from the priesthood (professorate): "Screened out, expelled or self-sorted, they tend to land outside of academia because the crucial decisions - awarding tenure and promotions, choosing which papers get published - are made by colleagues hostile to their political views." Dr. Mike Adams (author of "The Ivory Tower of Babel: Confessions of a Conservative Professor"), who teaches criminology at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, discloses: "I served on several hiring committees in my time at UNCW. I saw an applicant's file denied because his writing a piece for a conservative publication made him 'too conservative'... In 2001, an applicant was asked whom he voted for in 2000." But the reason college faculties are blue through and through (a la Goodman) is because conservative PhDs - with no love of teaching or dedication to truth and beauty - would rather get rich in the private sector. Perhaps the classic illustration of how the churches are kept heresy-free is my friend Gene, who asked me not to use his last name for fear of retribution. One of the gentlest and most unassuming men I know, Gene (who has a PhD. in English) taught that subject at a Massachusetts state college for five years. Evaluations by his students were uniformly excellent. Unlike his liberal colleagues, he was never accused of using his classes as a showcase for his politics. Gene's problems began when he started writing an opinion column for a local newspaper. One of his colleagues (doubtless a champion of the First Amendment) ordered him to stop writing articles critical of feminism. He heard from a faculty friend that every time he wrote something un-PC, colleagues would go to the chairman of his department demanding: "Look at what he's writing now! Can you believe it? You've got to get rid of him." This they eventually did. Gene, who didn't have tenure, was replaced by a die-hard feminist who used her classes to cram her views down students' throats. Gene struggles to get by teaching adult education courses. Since we all live in the same area, I could introduce Goodman to Gene. But, like academic leftists, Ellen Goodman is anxious to keep the real world from disturbing on her carefully constructed universe. This essay appeared today on Don Feder's home page, http://www.donfeder.com |
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THE ARABS STOLE PALESTINE FROM THE JEWS, AND NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND!
Posted by Steven Plaut, December 15, 2004. |
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A few unfashionable facts worth knowing about the Middle East 1. Nationhood and Jerusalem. Israel became a nation-state in 1312 B.C, 2,000 years before the rise of Islam, and was a nation before that. 2. Arab refugees in Israel began identifying themselves as part of a Palestinian people in 1967, two decades after the establishment of the modern State of Israel. 3. Since the Jewish conquest in 1272 B.C., the Jews have had dominion over the land for 1,000 years with a continuous presence in the land for the past 3,300 years. 4. The Arabs conquered Palestine in 635 AD, stealing it from its legitimate Jewish rulers, who had evicted the Byzantines while being led by a woman general, one Hefzibah, who then restored Jewish sovereignty. Palestine was stolen from the Jews by the Arabs and not the other way around. Arab sovereignty over Palestine ended in 1071 when the area was conquered by Seljuk Turks. "Palestinian" Arabs never held sovereignty over "Palestine" and cannot even pronounce the name of their supposed "homeland". They cannot say "Palestine". 5. For over 3,300 years, Jerusalem has been the Jewish capital. Jerusalem has never been the capital of any Arab or Muslim entity. Even when the Jordanians occupied Jerusalem, they never sought to make it their capital, and Arab leaders did not come to visit. 6. Jerusalem is mentioned over 700 times in the Jewish Holy Scriptures. Jerusalem is not mentioned once in the Qur'an (Koran). 7. King David founded the Jewish city of Jerusalem. Mohammed never came to Jerusalem. 8. Jews pray facing Jerusalem. Muslims pray with their backs toward Jerusalem. 9. Arab and Jewish Refugees: In 1948 the Arab refugees were encouraged to leave Israel by Arab leaders promising to purge the land of Jews. Sixty-eight percent left without ever seeing an Israeli soldier. 10. The Jewish refugees were forced to flee from Arab lands due to Arab brutality, persecution and pogroms. 11. The number of Arab refugees who left Israel in 1948 is estimated to be between 400,000 and 630,000, many of whom in fact were allowed to return after the Israeli war of Independence ended.. The number of Jewish refugees from Arab lands was much larger. 12. Arab refugees were INTENTIONALLY not absorbed or integrated into the Arab lands to which they fled, despite the vast Arab territory. Out of the 100,000,000 refugees since World War II, the Arabs are the only refugee group in the world that has never been absorbed or integrated into their own peoples' lands. Jewish refugees were completely absorbed into Israel, a country smaller than the state of New Jersey. 13. The Arab - Israeli Conflict: The Arabs are represented by 22 independent states, not including what Israel has offered the Palestinians. There is only one Jewish nation. The Arab nations initiated all five wars and lost. Israel defended herself each time and won. 14. The PLO's Charter still calls for the destruction of the State of Israel. In the 1990s Israel gave the Palestinians most of the West Bank land, autonomy under the Palestinian Authority, and has supplied them with weapons. 15. Under Jordanian rule, Jewish holy sites were desecrated and the Jews were denied access to places of worship. Under Israeli rule, all Muslim and Christian sites have been preserved and made accessible to people of all faiths. 16. The United Nations (U.N.) Record on Israel and the Arabs: Of the 175 Security Council resolutions passed before 1990, 97 were directed against Israel. 17. Of the 690 U.N. General Assembly resolutions voted on before 1990, 429 were directed against Israel. 18. The U.N. was silent while 58 Jerusalem Synagogues were destroyed by the Jordanians. Kind of like its silence over the massacres of Algerians or Sudanese by Arab fascists. 19. The U.N. was silent while the Jordanians systematically desecrated the ancient Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives. 20. The U.N. was silent while the Jordanians enforced an apartheid-like policy of preventing Jews from visiting their holy sites at the Temple Mount and the Western Wall. Similar discrimination against Jews has continued under Israeli rule. 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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SHARON INVITES INVASION; ODD WAY TO REDUCE "TENSION"
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, December 15, 2004. |
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ILLUSION STILL DRIVES ISRAELI POLICY Brig. Gen. Gilady, who originated the Gaza withdrawal plan, remarked that peace and economic advancement do not motivate the Arabs to stop terrorism. His interviewer asked, wouldn't the withdrawal enable the terrorists to turn Gaza into a safe haven for terrorism? Wouldn't they fire rockets into Israel from there, forcing Israeli troops back into Gaza to stop them? No, he replied, Israel could fight back with airplanes. Withdrawal is an incentive for the "moderates." And the absence of Israeli troops would motivate the Arabs to reform (Why should it? When Israeli troops were absent before, the Arabs didn't reform. How could they? Their culture is bellicose and hate-filled, and their polity is dictatorship.) Wouldn't they be able to smuggle in through Egypt more powerful weapons (that could shoot down those planes)? That is a concern, he admitted, but he had faith in ultimately getting security cooperation with Egypt. Gen.Gilady's reply about "how Israel would handle the post retreat security situation in Gaza serves inadvertently to warn that preparations for the morning after seem to be following the traditional Oslo-era 'faith based' approach" (Panglossian, fairy-tale reasoning): 1. He assumes that with improved anti-aircraft capabilities and the presence of international observers/human shields, Gaza Arabs would not seek to neutralize Israel's air superiority. 2. He hopes the Egyptians, who until now have consistently acted as if they want Israel to be tied down by a low-scale ongoing war of attrition, will for some reason seriously and permanently stop the flow of weapons across their border. Would Egypt give up its goal of conquest as it nears it? To his credit, Brig.-Gen.Gilady admits that he "didn't recognize at first that Arafat was not a leader with whom we could make peace." But unfortunately, instead of engaging in some healthy introspection to consider if his own political views still may impair his analysis, he allows the same political orientation to drive him to push for retreat with the hopes that rewarding Palestinian violence with a massive retreat will somehow be "an incentive to the moderates". (IMRA, 11/27.) Israeli ought to study Arab cultural attitudes. What moderates? Certainly moderates do not control the armed forces, the mosques, the schools, the media, or the economy. How then could they act against a dictatorship whose jihadist goals the public supports? ISRAEL PLANNING PEACE BUT INDUCING INVASION Egypt claims to have brokered a halt to "Israeli-Palestinian" violence, just after Hamas terrorists set off a deadly bomb in Gaza," followed by Israeli retaliation that killed four terrorists. Egypt planned a "peace conference in Washington to include all parties to the agreement: Israel, the Palestinian Arabs, America, and the EU." It would consider a cease-fire and principles for ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Egyptian troops would be responsible for security of the Gaza border not only with Egypt but also with Israel (Mark Lavie, NY Sun, 12 from Associated Press). Although the Arab world initiated wars and other violence as part of jihad, the Associated Press uses terms for it that circumscribe the scope, extent, and culpability by mentioning Israel first and only some Arabs. The "parties to the conflict" should not include the US and EU, and should include other Arab states and Iran. Egypt, whose Army still dreams of conquering Israel is likelier to refine it invasion plans and heavily arm the P.A., and invade Israel, which it hates, than it is to provide Israel with security. Jews cannot depend on enemies. It is our Jewish neurosis to do so. EGYPT CHANGES TONE TOWARDS SHARON After years of having denounced Ariel Sharon as a warmonger, Egypt is praising him as a facilitator of peace. Egypt and Israel exchange prisoners. There are other signs of Arab willingness to deal with PM Sharon. "Yediot Ahronot" calls the new tone a "honeymoon" and "the beginning of a wonderful friendship." (Salah Nashrawi, NY Sun, 12/6, p.9 from Associated Press.) Arab fanaticism does not preclude working with Israelis who make concessions to them. Such Israelis are susceptible to flattery. They are more interested in their place in history, which they confuse with enemies' temporary approbation, than with their people's survival. DUAL USE TECHNOLOGY When N. Korea developed and launched an innocuous seeming space satellite, it gained technical experience useful in developing long-range missiles for nuclear weapons. Now Iran is developing and launching an innocuous seeming space satellite. The US is wary (IMRA, 11/29). Thanks to a tolerance for dual use technology among potential enemies, Armageddon nears. ODD WAY TO "REDUCE TENSIONS" Proponents of PM Sharon's Gaza abandonment plan claim that the plan would reduce tensions between Israelis and Arabs by removing the Jews from Gaza. Prof. Steven Plaut asks why not also "reduce tensions" by removing the Arabs from Jenin? (11/29, e-mail.) If their aggression builds tension relieved by [punishing their enemies, they will be encouraged to intensify aggression, no? HAMAS PROPOSES TRUCE Hamas seeks opportunities from the death of Arafat. It wants to join a P.A. government, would agree to any pact with Israel that advances its cause (which would make Israelis cautious, if they weren't under an illusion), and would settle for a 10-year truce. IMRA warns that the truce would be used to build up Hamas forces for a greater war on Israel (IMRA, 11/29). Israeli officials probably would be taken in by euphoric visions of a truce during their tenure. They tend not to visualize what would follow the truce. Neither are they likely to remember that the Arabs violated previous truces. How long before Hamas is called moderate? INVESTIGATION OF RIOT CONTROL Military investigators reported that an Israeli citizen was shot in the leg by Israeli troops during a riot at the security fence. One can see from the report that the citizen was a rioter. He was part of a masked group waving P.A. flags, and whom the handful of troops mistook for Arabs. Trying to cut and to pull out the security fence, the rioters refused to heed warning shots. The troops were too few to quell a riot, for which they were not trained. Exceeding their orders, they will be punished (IMRA, 11/29). y punishing their enemies, they will be encouraged to intensify aggression, no? Why were the rioters, especially the one who was shot and presumably apprehended, not also punished? I find perverse the humanitarian procedures toward rioters seeking to undermine Israeli national security. Free rein fro rioters hardly is civilized. Why, after clear warnings, aren't a few deliberately shot, to see if the rest would desist. If they don't, open fire on them. The number of riots and attacks on national security and on Israeli troops would diminish. CENSORSHIP BY LAWSUIT The right to sue is as important as any. It is another avenue to the pursuit of justice. Unfortunately, it is being warped into a path to injustice. Islamist organizations (and leftists and big corporations) resort to lawsuits, usually charging libel, to repress criticism of them. Their critics may not have the funds to fight the lawsuits. Daniel Pipes found himself being sued after having issued a statement critical of a professor as using the classroom to slander Israel and to insist that students regurgitate his radical views in their test answers. At first the professor talked the matter over with Mr. Pipes. Then he sued. Eventually they discussed it, again, with the help of lawyer mediators. The professor issued a clarification that strongly denounced antisemitism and professors who abuse their classrooms for indoctrination in anti-Zionism. They reconciled, out of court. Pipes has become appreciative of the many pro bono lawyers who help resolve conflicts and urges people to utilize their services and not casually sue (Pipes, NY Sun, 12/7, p.11). Law firms rum up class-action lawsuits against one industry after another, blamed for problems for which they are partly culpable. They put companies and industries out of business. Hitherto, jury awards were so "generous," that they put strains on the losing side. This has become such a grave problem, that Pres. Bush urges tort reform as a major part of his program. I wish the Democrats would join him on that effort. It is a worthy one. Let the Democrats, however, be wary of conservatives who have sought to end class-action suits altogether, as a means of blocking recourse to courts for organizations seeking enforcement of environmental law. As ever, we need a happy medium. IS MAHMOUD ABBAS MODERATE? "Mr. Abbas, 69, a pragmatist who has spoken out against violence, and who enjoys the tacit support of the international community, is the candidate of the ruling Fatah movement" (Associate Press brief in NY Sun, 12/7, p.10). "Fatah Central Committee Sakher Habash explained the meaning of the 'right of return,' in a statement on the official Fatah web site on Aug.12, 1998 (see www.fateh.org/e_public/refugees.htm - courtesy of IMRA): "To us, the refugees issue is the winning card which means the end of the Israeli state. They have, therefore, refused to solve it this way. Meanwhile, we should not seek negotiable solutions ... I visualize the future in establishing a democratic state by peaceful means. This will come true when the Zionist illusion comes to an end, the thing that has begun to occur in the Labor Party and Meretz... "Morton A. Klein, National President of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), said: 'The 'right of return' means the destruction of Israel as a Jewish State. Mahmoud Abbas has stated clearly that his goal is not peace with Israel, but the eventual elimination of Israel. The claims that he is a 'moderate' are belied by his own words.'" (IMRA, 12/10.) Every time Associated Press refers to Mahmoud Abbas, it credits him with being a moderate peace-seeker who denounced violence. He did not denounce violence but its timing. He seeks not peace but conquest. No moderate, wily he. Associated Press is editorializing and unfairly so. 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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FEEDING THE CROCODILES
Posted by Jonathan Spyer, December 15, 2004. |
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The internal peace of the democracies of western Europe is no longer assured. It is threatened by the growing presence, and growing confidence, of the organizations, activists and spokesmen of radical Islam. This is a phenomenon rarely remarked upon in Israel. It may yet have serious and damaging effects on European views of the Middle East conflict. Observe: In July 2004, Ken Livingstone, mayor of London and a Labor Party member, hosted Imam Yusuf Qaradawi on a visit to the city. Qaradawi, an Egyptian with a Muslim Brotherhood background, is a resident of Qatar and a founder member of the Al-Jazeera TV channel. He is also the director of the European Council for Fatwa and Research, based in Dublin. Qaradawi is a keen supporter of suicide bombings in Israel, which he describes as "martyrdom operations." He has spoken of the inherent "iniquity of the Jews as a community." These views (in addition to suspected terrorist connections and his support, variously, for the execution by stoning of homosexuals and adulterous women) led to Qaradawi's being banned from entering the United States. They did not prevent, however, the princely welcome afforded the controversial cleric by the elected mayor of London, who addressed a packed public meeting together with Qaradawi, praised the "unacceptable truths" he has raised, and denounced the "Islamophobic outcry" against him. The public action of Mayor Livingstone, is, according to Jewish community activists in the UK, only the tip of the iceberg. They point to the presence of Muslim Brotherhood extremists such as Azzam Tamimi among the leadership of the Stop the War Coalition, which was raised to protest the war in Iraq (and organized a demonstration of over a million people in central London in April 2003). Hebron-born Tamimi, in an interview in November on BBC's "Hard Talk," expressed his willingness to undertake a suicide bombing in Israel. The coalition has now morphed into a left-wing political party, improbably uniting Muslim Brothers and British leftists under one political roof. In the very different context of France, as official recognition of communal differences increases, once again the representation of Muslim communities is falling into the hands of the extremists. Thus, the French Council of the Muslim Faith, created in December 2002 as a representative body of the Muslim community in France, is headed by a moderate, Dalil Boubakeur. The real power in the organization, however, is the Union of Islamic Organizations of France (UOIF), a Muslim Brotherhood-associated group. The role of Tariq Ramadan, with his condemnations of Jewish "communalism," close relationships with key mainstream bodies (including the editorial staff of Le Monde Diplomatique) and quoting of Voltaire is of similar importance. Ramadan, surely a world master in the art of ambiguity, deems the killing of Israeli children in suicide bombings to be "contextually explicable." (He has similarly refused to condemn the stoning of female adulterers.) Why does any of this matter? The shared goal of Qaradawi, Tamimi, Ramadan, the UOIF and other Islamist organizations in Europe is to effect a shift in the terms of the European debate. They seek to establish a foothold in the mainstream political discussion in Europe for elements of militant Islamist ideology. These elements include the delegitimization of Jewish communal activity, the normalizing of support for violence against Israelis and Jews, and of calls for the destruction of Israel. This is a long-term project, which through the slow build-up and nurturing of political power and influence is intended to eventually bring forth the fruit of profound shifts in policy. It is primarily, though not exclusively, the ideological left in western Europe which is opening the door to the Islamists, due to their shared hatred for Israel and the United States. But those elements of the European political classes who believe that the ideas of the Jihad can become simply another item in the supermarket of a pluralistic society (once the police have dealt with their most violent proponents) are making a grave error. What is taking place here is old-fashioned political warfare, complete with front groups, fellow travelers and "useful idiots." The Islamists described here will not be co-opted. Neither will they become contented citizens of secular Europe in return for shifts in policy toward Israel. Theirs is a revolutionary project, concerned with the transformation of societies. They see, however, the shifting of the European view toward greater hostility to Israel as an important interim goal. Israel's legitimacy, they hope, will be tossed to them as a morsel in return for political and social peace. A crucial task for Israel in Europe must be to lay bare the real nature of these individuals and organizations, and to remind those who would treat with them of Winston Churchill's classic definition of an appeaser: namely, one who feeds a crocodile in the hope that it will eat him last. Jonathan Spyer is a senior research fellow at the Global Research in International Affairs Center, Inter-Disciplinary Center, Herzliya. He can be reached at jspyer@idc.ac.il This article is archived at http://gloria.idc.ac.il/columns/2004/12_03.html |
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WORRISOME DEVELOPMENTS REGARDING THE DISENGAGEMENT PLAN
Posted by Ruth Matar, December 15, 2004. |
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First of all, I want to thank you all for the many hundreds of emails which we have received from you during the past few weeks. Please be assured that I read each letter carefully. Your support and prayers are very important to us, but recently I have unfortunately not had time to answer you individually, as the situation here in Israel is developing from very serious to very dangerous. There has been a worrisome development for those of us who are against Sharon's Disengagement Plan. Member of Knesset Zvi Hendel makes a shocking statement: he feels that Prime Minister Sharon is perfectly capable of giving an order to open fire on Jews who resist the security forces who come to evacuate them from their homes. MK Hendel let fly this bombshell on December 9. He explained: Sharon has carried out this entire process in a dictatorial manner... and he won't have a problem giving such orders. I also heard there was an article in Ha'aretz saying that if 10-20 Jews will be killed [during the disengagement], it will be a worthwhile price to pay - and I'm not convinced that they didn't hear this in one way or another from the Prime Minister himself. "It is typical of his character; this whole process was done for his personal and family benefit, in order to make sure that the police investigation against him would not lead to an indictment - after all, who would want to touch him when he's in the middle of such dramatic and important diplomatic moves? From the moment he made the decision to go in this direction, everything became kosher to him. No one can stop him; if the settlers dare to bother him - if thousands of them and their friends won't want to get on the trucks, or won't want to load their dead onto the trucks, then he'll be capable of giving this order. I think that everyone who knows him knows that he is capable of giving such an order..."Hendel explained why he went public with this observation on the day when the Likud voted whether to have a coalition with Labor: "My purpose was that the Likud members should think once again before they place their ballot. They know Sharon, so let them think carefully to themselves, when they are alone with themselves: isn't it likely that this is probable? Let them realize what's on the table here - not just a political game within the Likud, but rather, one of the most dictatorial, ruthless processes in the history of the State. They should know that G-d has given them the opportunity to make the decision. I'm truly not worried; if they don't make the right decision, 'salvation will come from other quarters' - but they have the option of stopping this now. ... Many MKs, from both left and right, agreed with me that Sharon is definitely capable of this." How is it possible that the Likud Knesset Members caved in to Sharon? The majority of the Likud Knesset Members voted to allow Sharon to shore up his tottering government by allowing the Labor Party to join the coalition, even though Sharon has promised Shimon Peres, the main architect of the disastrous Oslo Accords, that he become vice premiere with virtually unlimited powers. I want to give a short summary of the sorry history of the Likud Party's betrayal of their platform, when they approved Ariel Sharon's Disengagement Plan. Ariel Sharon did fulfill campaign promises - those of his Labor opponent Amram Mitzna, who had promised, if elected, that he would evacuate every last Jew from Gaza. Because of this very platform Amram Mitzna was roundly defeated. Thus, Sharon literally stole our votes. He won by a landslide as head of the Likud Party, opposing Labor Party candidate Amram Mitzna. The Likud Party platform clearly states: "No to a Palestinian state; and no abandonment of any Jewish community." Sharon's Disengagement Plan is a betrayal of both his Likud Party and of the electorate at large. After this betrayal, the membership of the Likud Party voted against Sharon's Disengagement Plan, in a referendum, with an approximately 20% majority. Likewise, the Likud Central committee voted the same way with a similar majority. Unfazed, Sharon continued to ignore the Likud membership, the Likud Central Committee, and almost half of the Likud Knesset Members. So how was Dictator Sharon able to convince the majority of the Likud faction to go against the Likud Platform, and to vote for a Plan which the Likud Membership in a referendum had voted against with a hefty 20% majority? An article in the Jerusalem Post of December 10, 2004 entitled "Santa Arik is coming to town" gives us an interesting explanation. "In Israel's version of Santa Claus, Santa Sharon ... has made it clear that promotion will only be given to politicians who are nice and not naughty. "Whoever works more and brings his supporters in the Central Committee will be promoted and rewarded accordingly," sources close to Sharon said ahead of Thursday's decisive Likud vote on widening the coalition. Likud MK's took the message to heart. Suddenly, Likud MKs Gila Gamliel and Yehiel Hazan, who want to be deputy ministers, have left the so-called Likud rebels and announced their support for the formation of a National Unity Government. One of the major newspapers even ran a lead headline suggesting that Ministers who do not support unity could lose their jobs. "A Sharon associate said, 'Whoever votes against us will find a lump of coal in their stocking and no present.'" * * * What is the cause of this sad and undemocratic situation? Sharon's machinations are made possible by Israel's electoral system, where the Prime Minister and the Party are all powerful. The Party selects the candidate for Prime Minister. The Party also selects the candidates for the Knesset and determines their placement on the list. The Prime Minister, as Sharon has done, is able to give himself dictatorial powers, with virtually no checks and balances. (The U.S. Senate, for instance, has to approve by a 2/3 majority any treaty with a foreign entity.) The Prime Minister is able to reward his supporters with Ministerial and Deputy-Ministerial jobs, and is able to fire them at will when they dare to disagree with him. What we desperately need in Israel is a system like the American one, where the Congressman is directly responsible to the people in his district, and therefore has to listen to the voice of his constituents. This is in dire contrast to the Israeli system, where the Party functionaries hold the reins. We have a dangerous situation, where jails are now being built to accommodate the Gush Katif and Samaria settlers, who are to be uprooted and evacuated. Thus, the Knesset is able to pass laws, which Natan Sharansky calls worse than Bolshevik, to punish the "settlers" who oppose, even verbally, being dragged out of their homes. The punishment is three years for a gathering of three people (even if one of them is a child), who express opposition, and five years for anyone who is caught with a "weapon", even if the weapon is a salad knife. And according to Knesset Member Zvi Hendel, someone who opposes Sharon's Plan may even be fired upon. This pretends to be democracy? Cry my beloved country. Another worrisome development. Are some good friends in the U.S. media abandoning Israel? I am quoting from an article by columnist Caroline B. Glick in the December 10 Jerusalem Post: "Pro-Israel writers and policy makers in the United States like Charles Krauthammer, William Safire and Abraham Sofaer have publicly lauded Sharon for his 'strategic wisdom' and have castigated as extremists those who insist that the planned withdrawal will be devastating to Israel's national security. "Sofaer allows that 'the Palestinians are far from ready to negotiate.' The advantage of Sharon's plan therefore, is that it gets Israel out of an untenable 'position' in Gaza. Sofaer compares the withdrawal from Gaza to Israel's May 2000 withdrawal from Lebanon, "Today the Lebanese-Israeli border is more secure than during occupation." "This is a sort of sophistry that friends of Israel like Sofaer would almost certainly never have entertained before Sharon adopted the Plan. The fact of the matter is that today Hizbullah forces in South Lebanon constitute a strategic threat to Israel. Just this week the army reported that Hizbullah is developing unconventional weapons. "Last week the IDF deployed a battery of patriot missiles to Haifa to prevent Hizbullah drones which can be armed with chemical and biological weapons, from infiltrating Israel - again. "Hizbullah's transformation from a tactical challenge to a strategic threat has advanced unfettered over the past four years because the IDF left Lebanon and stopped fighting Hizbullah. The fact that since the withdrawal of IDF forces from Lebanon no soldiers have been killed in Lebanon is a tautology, not proof that the move was wise. Aside from that, the IDF also reported this week that the majority of Palestinian terror cells in Judea and Samaria that executed successful terror attacks in 2004, has been affiliated with Hizbullah. "AND SO WE DISENGAGED FROM THEM IN LEBANON ONLY TO FIGHT THEM IN ISRAEL. [Emphasis is mine. - R. M.]? * * * National Security Advisor General (res.) Giora Eiland said the following: "Hizbullah represents the Iranian trend. The threat is generally underrated in Israel. Hizbullah is a threat all along the border, and they are involved in Palestinian terrorism - even more so than other Palestinian organizations. Their very many rockets along the border are not only a terror threat but a military threat." Have the U.S. pro-Israel writers and policy makers like Charles Krauthammer, William Safire and Abraham Sofaer fallen for the Sharon government's skillful spin? Is uprooting 8,000 Jews from their homes "strategic wisdom"? Is abandoning the Gush Katif area to Arab terrorists and bringing the Kassam rockets now raining on the Jewish communities in Gaza to Sderot and Ashkelon "strategic wisdom"? Is it "strategic wisdom" to so divide the Jewish People, that even a civil war is no longer unthinkable? Please, dear friends in the United States, don't buy Ariel Sharon's skillful spin! We know that you are a powerful voice in shaping public opinion in the United States. It is your responsibility to investigate the true situation in Israel, rather than to laud Sharon's "strategic wisdom." Finally, I am going to quote the final paragraph of Caroline Glick's column: "It is hard to dispute the strategic wisdom of a man with Sharon's military credentials. But can we not at least entertain the notion that Sharon at 76, embroiled in criminal investigations, may be past his prime? ... But we owe it to ourselves to coldly analyze the strategic options with which we are faced, rather than simply saying that, since Sharon has said his piece, all that is left for us to do is quietly follow along." With Blessings and Love for Israel,
Ruth and Nadia Matar established Women For Israel's Tomorrow (Women in Green), an activist group of women based in Jerusalem. Their website address is http://www.womeningreen.org |
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THE KILLING MACHINE THAT IS MARXISM
Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, December 15, 2004. |
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This is especially important for Jews in Israel to know since Marxism is the philosophical underpinning of Israel's ruling elite. The Kibbutz, the Histadrut, all the left wing parties, the economic structure of the country and a good part of the Likud are all products of Marxism. Not since the idolatrous practice of human sacrifice has any belief system caused as much wide scale murder and misery as has Marxism in all its various forms. This article is by R.J. Rummel, professor emeritus of political science and Nobel Peace Prize finalist. He has published 29 books and received numerous awards for his research. The article is archived at http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=41944 With the fall of the Soviet Union and communist governments in Eastern Europe, too many have the impression that Marxism, the religion of communism, is dead. Hardly. It is alive and well in many countries still, such as North Korea, China, Cuba, Vietnam, Laos, a gaggle of African countries, and in the minds of many South American political leaders. However, of most importance to the future of democracy, communism still pollutes the thinking of a vast multitude of Western academics and intellectuals. Of all religions, secular and otherwise, that of Marxism has been by far the bloodiest - bloodier than the Catholic Inquisition, the various Catholic crusades, and the Thirty Years War between Catholics and Protestants. In practice, Marxism has meant bloody terrorism, deadly purges, lethal prison camps and murderous forced labor, fatal deportations, man-made famines, extrajudicial executions and fraudulent show trials, outright mass murder and genocide. In total, Marxist regimes murdered nearly 110 million people from 1917 to 1987. For perspective on this incredible toll, note that all domestic and foreign wars during the 20th century killed around 35 million. That is, when Marxists control states, Marxism is more deadly then all the wars of the 20th century, including World Wars I and II, and the Korean and Vietnam Wars. And what did Marxism, this greatest of human social experiments, achieve for its poor citizens, at this most bloody cost in lives? Nothing positive. It left in its wake an economic, environmental, social and cultural disaster. The Khmer Rouge - (Cambodian communists) who ruled Cambodia for four years - provide insight into why Marxists believed it necessary and moral to massacre so many of their fellow humans. Their Marxism was married to absolute power. They believed without a shred of doubt that they knew the truth, that they would bring about the greatest human welfare and happiness, and that to realize this utopia, they had to mercilessly tear down the old feudal or capitalist order and Buddhist culture, and then totally rebuild a communist society. Nothing could be allowed to stand in the way of this achievement. Government - the Communist Party - was above any law. All other institutions, religions, cultural norms, traditions and sentiments were expendable. The Marxists saw the construction of this utopia as a war on poverty, exploitation, imperialism and inequality - and, as in a real war, noncombatants would unfortunately get caught in the battle. There would be necessary enemy casualties: the clergy, bourgeoisie, capitalists, "wreckers," intellectuals, counterrevolutionaries, rightists, tyrants, the rich and landlords. As in a war, millions might die, but these deaths would be justified by the end, as in the defeat of Hitler in World War II. To the ruling Marxists, the goal of a communist utopia was enough to justify all the deaths. The irony is that in practice, even after decades of total control, Marxism did not improve the lot of the average person, but usually made living conditions worse than before the revolution. It is not by chance that the world's greatest famines have happened within the Soviet Union (about 5 million dead from 1921-23 and 7 million from 1932-3, including 2 million outside Ukraine) and communist China (about 30 million dead from 1959-61). Overall, in the last century almost 55 million people died in various Marxist famines and associated epidemics - a little over 10 million of them were intentionally starved to death, and the rest died as an unintended result of Marxist collectivization and agricultural policies. What is astonishing is that this "currency" of death by Marxism is not thousands or even hundreds of thousands, but millions of deaths. This is almost incomprehensible - it is as though the whole population of the American New England and Middle Atlantic States, or California and Texas, had been wiped out. And that around 35 million people escaped Marxist countries as refugees was an unequaled vote against Marxist utopian pretensions. Its equivalent would be everyone fleeing California, emptying it of all human beings. There is a supremely important lesson for human life and welfare to be learned from this horrendous sacrifice to one ideology: No one can be trusted with unlimited power. The more power a government has to impose the beliefs of an ideological or religious elite, or decree the whims of a dictator, the more likely human lives and welfare will be sacrificed. As a government's power is more unrestrained, as its power reaches into all corners of culture and society, the more likely it is to kill its own citizens. As a governing elite has the power to do whatever it wants, whether to satisfy its most personal wishes, or as today's Marxists desire, to pursue what it believes is right and true, it may do so whatever the cost in lives. Here, power is the necessary condition for mass murder. Once an elite has full authority, other causes and conditions can operate to bring about the immediate genocide, terrorism, massacres or whatever killing the members of an elite feel is warranted. But it is power - unchecked, unconstrained, uncontrolled - that is the killer. Our academic and intellectual Marxists today are getting a free ride. They get a certain respect because of their words about improving the lot of the worker and the poor, their utopian pretensions. But when empowered, Marxism has failed utterly, as has fascism. Instead of being treated with respect and tolerance, Marxists should be treated as though they wished a deadly plague on all of us. The next time you come across or are lectured by one of our indigenous Marxists, or almost the equivalent, leftist zealots, ask them how they can justify the murder of over a hundred million their absolutist faith has brought about, and the misery it has created for many hundreds of millions more. Aryeh Zelasko lives in Beitar Illit, south of Jerusalem. He is Director of Sales and Marketing of Israel Visit (www.israelvisit.co.il) which provides information and an internet buying facility for American visitors to Israel. |
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IRANIAN TV NOW AIRING AL-SHATAT, HORRIFIC SYRIAN ANTI-SEMITIC SERIES
Posted by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook, December 14, 2004. |
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To view seven short segments from the series, go to the PMW website: http://www.pmw.org.il Full transcripts appear below The Diaspora (Al-Shatat), a Syrian-produced TV series, aired last year during the Ramadan on Al-Manar (Hizbollah TV) is now being aired on Iranian TV. The series covers the period of the Zionist movement, and is primarily a depiction of the classic anti-Semitic libel that attributes to Jews the desire for world domination. The series revolves around the "Secret Jewish World Government," whose members sit and plan how to use their control and influence over the leaders of the world to direct all of history. The Jewish Government is shown plotting and causing the Communist revolution in Russia, the World Wars, encouraging the Nazi murder of Jews in the Second World War, and engineering the use of atomic bombs on Japan. The Jews are described as evil and bloodthirsty, interested only in power and world domination. In addition to the global threats attributed to Jews, the story line includes numerous horrific libels, such as a graphic episode featuring Jews slitting the throat of a Christian boy to drain his blood for Passover Matzah, and the brutal execution of a Jew by a "Talmudic" court, by pouring boiling lead down his throat. [Warning: These two links, which appear below, are very difficult to view.] All of the anti-Semitic libels in this series are presented as fact. Much of the hateful fantasy draws from a dangerous world view that is becoming increasingly prevalent in the Islamic and Arab world today. Just last year, the Prime Minister of Malaysia's words," Jews rule this world by proxy - they get others to fight and die for them," brought a standing ovation from Islamic leaders at the Islamic Summit Conference. Al Shatat, this hate program that depicts Jews so maliciously, is being rebroadcast today to the entire Arab world via satellite TV from Iran, because it reflects the spread throughout the Arab world of this dangerous belief in the Jews' world domination. It can be noted that the transcripts below contain similar messages to ones that have been published in previous PMW bulletins coming from PA ideology. The following are links to seven short segments of this anti-Semitic series that is now showing on Iranian TV, as they appeared last year on Al Manar. These segments can be viewed on the PMW website. 1. "Secret Jewish Government" discuss benefits of extermination of Jews in the Second World War. 2."Secret Jewish Government" plans the dropping atomic Bomb on Japan. 3. The Jews prepare Passover Matzah by using the blood of a Christian boy.WARNING: This is very difficult to view. 4. The opening scene of the series, in which Edmund De Rothschild on his death bed divides the world up among his children and shares with them his plans for world domination. 5. Adolf Eichmann discusses with a Jewish Agency official the similarities between Nazis and Jews. 6. "Secret Jewish Government" toasts the murder of Jews in the Second World War. Deaths will now be used for profit. 7. Jewish "Talmudic" court's brutal execution of a Jew, by pouring boiling lead down his throat. WARNING: This is very difficult to view. The Transcripts: 1. "Secret Jewish Government" discussing benefits of the extermination of Jews in World War 2: Chairmen, Secret Jewish World Government: We have to assist Hitler in the extermination of the Jews, because this is the only way to drive the Jews in the countries which haven't been occupied by Hitler, to immigrate to the Promised Land. Member of Government: Isn't there another way to draw the Jews to the Promised Land, except by extermination? Chairmen: To my sorrow, no, because there is no Jew, living a comfortable life, who would consider coming back to here [Palestine 1940], unless he is convinced that he may otherwise be exterminated... Let us all cooperate in order to extend the abolishment so that, in the end, we will realize our dream to establish the great empire in the Promised Land... Chairmen: We have tried and he [Hitler] refused, unless we offer him a fortune, which is beyond our means. Member: We can try to raise donations, and help our brothers over there. Chairmen: This is infantile thinking. With the sum of money that Hitler is demanding, we can help ten million Jews emigrate from the rest of the countries of the world, instead of the thousands in his [country]. Member: From your words I can understand that increasing the number of Jews in the Promised Land is more important than saving the innocent ones in Germany? Chairman: Of course, there is no doubt... any cow in Palestine is more important than the Jews of Germany. 2."Secret Jewish Government" plans the dropping of Atomic Bomb on Japan. A member of the Jewish government: Excuse me, Doctor, Before we start the activating and we finish the war, we must close the small matter with Japan. The Chairman of the Jewish government: I asked our people in America to put pressure on President Truman to use the atomic bomb for the first time. (Pictures of destruction from the bomb are shown under the Magen David) 3. The Jews preparing Passover Matzah by using the blood of a Christian boy. Scene I: Two men talking. Rabbi (speaking to a young man seated next to him): "We have a task from the leadership. We need the blood of a Christian child before Passover for Matzah". Scene II: Dimly lit hallway. Rabbi with young man behind him. A third man enters dragging a child. Christian child: "Nathan save me!" Nathan: "Don't be afraid". Rabbi nods to the young man who nods to Nathan. Nathan forces the child down onto the floor and cuts his throat. Someone catches the blood in a bowl. Scene III: Rabbi and young man standing, eating Matzah. 4. The opening scene of the series. Edmund De Rothschild on his death bed divides the world up among his children and shares with them his plans for world domination. Rothschild: All the non-Jewish nations are the seeds of an ass ... God has honored us, the Jews, with the mission of ruling, through money, knowledge, politics, murder, sex and by all other means... He ordered us to establish a Jewish state... The government's mission is preserving the Jewish religion and ruling the world, the whole world, through faithful agents who will infiltrate the foreign governments and force their [the Jews'] ideas and views upon them [the world]. My role is over. Now your turn has come. Europe is not going be easy [to infiltrate], therefore all of you must work side by side in order to strike country after country and region after region. You must cause wars and internal conflicts. Rothschild: I have left a sum of money to each of you, making each of you of the richest men in the world. Son: But the money alone is not enough to fulfill the mission. Rothschild: True, true. You must use cunning... Anslem Anslem: Yes Rothschild: Your role is Germany. I want you to not let it get out of one war without getting into another. Anslem: OK. Rothschild: And you, Solomon, stay in Austria... Nathan. I have left you the most comfortable country - Britain... Karl, I want you to have all your genius available to annoy the Pope in Rome and destroy it over his head. James, You must be France's king more than any other king. James: You can be sure that I will be. Rothschild: Now I want you all to swear on the Torah to carry out God's will in ruling the world. 5. Adolf Eichmann discussing with Jewish Agency official the similarities between Nazis and Jews Kastner: Mr. Eichmann, believe me that if we, the Zionist, were not Jewish, we would have been Nazis... It is deep and true, and can be the basis for cooperation... You, the Nazis, consider the Aryan race to belong to the perfect people, and the German people as the most perfect one. We also consider ourselves a perfect people, and Zionists, the most perfect ones. Eichmannn: But we consider, as has been proven by science, that the Jewish people are the most inferior people. Kastner: This is not a problem. What matters is that we are alike in principle... 6. "Secret Jewish Government" toasting the murder of Jews in World War 2 that will now be used for profit. Chairmen: First, let us raise a toast to the millions of dead pagans in the war declared by Hitler against the world. Member: Before we raise a toast to the death of pagans in general, and Christians in particular, we should mention our German Jewish brothers, who are in great and unbelievable disaster. Chairman: This subject has become boring ... Isn't this war worth some victims? ... We will take advantage of Hitler's oppression against them and the world's loathing [of Hitler] for tens or hundreds of years... As the number of the dead Jews rises in this war, the world will be convinced that "Protocols of the Elder's of Zion" is only a lie... Let us raise a toast to the Great War. 7. Jewish "Talmudic" court's brutal execution of a Jew, by pouring boiling lead down his throat. click here. WARNING: This is very difficult to view. Rabbi, to different people: You will close his nose, you will open his mouth with forceps, you will pour lead in his mouth. You will cut off his ears, you will stab him with a knife before he dies of the lead. Did you understand me? This is the holy Talmud court. Who ever fails in his mission, will be sentenced by me like this criminal. Victim: Water, I want water. Itamar Marcus is director of PMW - Palestinian Media Watch - (http://www.pmw.org.il). Barbara Crook, a writer and university lecturer based in Ottawa, Canada, is PMW's North American representative. |
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FAST PEACE AND FAST FOOD ARE DEADLY
Posted by Evelyn Hayes, December 14, 2004. |
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Remember Yaakov prepared for an encounter with Esau.
Remember Pepto Bismo, Maalox, Tums.
Remember, pan-palestinianism ignores all the peoples of Palestine
Fast food, like fast peace, is unfilling, unnourishing, a narcotic that overkills,
Fast peace doesn't win war, doesn't save lives, isn't peace
Fast peace and fast food may be cheap shortcuts, and even if reprepared, spiced and enticing
Let's cook a healthy piece and enjoy a relaxing meal with family and friends.
Evelyn Hayes is author of "The Eleventh Plague, Twins, because their hearts were softened to accept the unacceptable" and "The Twelfth Plague, Generations, because the lion wears stripes." Contact her at haze@rcn.com. |
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'THE VERBAL ABUSE WAS WORST OF ALL?'
Posted by Mordechai Ben-Menachem, December 14, 2004. |
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This is 4th in a series written by Mayaan Jaffe. It appeared in today's Arutz-7 The other articles in this series are:
"He Was Taking Over My Mind" (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=72500) and "When Israeli Women Marry Arab Men" (http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=72865). See also a related Arutz-7 op-ed article, "Jewish Wives are Arab Husbands' Prey." (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/article.php3?id=4455) Mayaan Jaffe runs Jaffe Reporting and PR. She can be contacted at mjaffe@hotmail.com Thousands of Jewish Israeli women marry Arabs, unwittingly entering a trap of torture. Mayaan Jaffe has spoken to some of the women who were fortunate to escape. Lev L'Achim is an outreach organization working to bring the lost souls of Israel back to their roots. contact them by email at levlachim@neto.bezeqint.net "I always thought we could be happy again, but I now know that I am never going back to my abusive Arab husband - I had eight years of physical and emotional torture, I bore him three children, none of whom he is grateful for. Now I am ready to start over." So says Sarah [all names have been changed], with an empowering grin on her face. Then she tilts her chin, closes her eyes: "But it is really hard. There is always some reason to not feel good enough. Memories seep through my veins. They may be empty, but sometimes they are very powerful." A sigh; Sarah is ready to tell me her story, to explain how she ended up in Lev L'Achim's rehabilitation center for battered women, to clarify how she lost so many years of her life to an Arab man who never really loved her... November 1997: Sarah is a rebellious woman in her early twenties. Born into a traditional family and a graduate of the National-Religious school system, she says she needed a break. Enter Yasser, a dashing young Arab man with a decent occupation. He gives her all the love in the world. He whispers sweet nothings in her ear and slowly convinces her she doesn't need her family or friends. They move in together. She converts to Islam. He becomes her whole world. They get married. March 1998: Sarah becomes pregnant. Yasser locks her in their apartment. He comes home in fits of rage. "I own you," he tells her. He yells. He hits. He pounces on her swelling stomach. The pain is great. Sarah fears for the baby's life and asks for a divorce. Yasser agrees only on condition that they continue living together. Sarah doesn't know what else to do, so she agrees. "When our son was born in December 1998, Yasser didn't even come to the birth. I had to drive myself to the hospital. He forbade me from having anyone with me. I gave birth in the hospital, but on my own. Screaming in pain, I had no one to turn to," Sarah sobs. "When the baby was born and Yasser came to see him, he took one look at our son and he said, 'He is not mine.' I never felt so devastated in all my life." March 1999: Sarah realizes she must escape. She picks the lock of their apartment - her prison - and runs to her sister's, begging for help. Her sister takes her in. Their son is given a brit milah [circumcision], and Sarah prepares to start a new life. June 1999: Yasser finds out where Sarah is staying. He comes to her, reminding her of the times they had together, promising to change, offering to be the father her son doesn't have. Sarah agrees to re-marry Yasser. March 2000: Sarah gives birth to a daughter. Four months later she is pregnant again. When their third child is born, a boy, the abuse begins again at full force. "He would hit me, throw heavy objects at me, bruise me all over," Sarah whispers. "But the verbal abuse was the worst of all. I can't even begin to tell you the repulsive words he said to me." Sarah perseveres. When she left her sister's home the year before, she was told she could never return. She now has three kids, no money, and no self-confidence. June 2001: Sarah is on her way home from the grocery store when she hears thunderous wails coming from her apartment. She recognizes her son's screams and darts for the door. She enters and finds her two-and-a-half year old boy black and blue, bleeding. His father had beaten him to a pulp. Sarah goes crazy. She threatens to call the police, but she is too terrified. Sarah shuts down emotionally. Her husband continues with his usual tirades against her, and against the children, but she has no strength to fight back. She cries. She prays. For three more years Sarah lives in fear. She and her children are regularly beaten and Sarah each day understands more why she should leave this life behind. Sarah begins secretly to reconnect to her Judaism. She practices holiday rituals when Yasser is away and reconnects privately with some former Jewish friends and with her sister. Sarah begins to plot escape. She knows she will need her sister's help, but her sister takes more than a year to determine that Sarah is serious about her decision. October 2004: Sarah's fateful phone call to her sister. Hearing Sarah's voice, and recognizing that Sarah truly wants to rescue her children from this Arab prison, her sister immediately calls Lev L'Achim. Representatives of the organization arrive three hours later, when Yasser is out with his friends, to rescue Sarah and her family. They come to the hostel. Sarah is empowered. Her children change their names: Ali is Evyatar, Nura is Moriah and Abdul becomes Aviad. Sarah is trying to obtain a divorce through the Muslim court. Her husband refuses her; he wants the children to remain Muslim. She refuses to agree to his ultimatums. Lev L'Achim is handling the paper work. Yasser tries to call, but is told by the hostel director that their relationship is over. He can't get through to her by phone. He writes her letters, but she just tears them up, often without even reading them. Sarah says the fight to leave her Arab husband is almost as difficult as it was to stay with him. She is constantly battling positive memories, as well as his current provocations, which sometimes reach her via mutual friends. Inside she knows what is right, and she believes she can succeed in breaking away. "I have so much strength," Sarah says. "I am so thankful to G-d that I have this chance. I will get a divorce and I will raise my children as Jews. If he won't give me one, I will disappear. I will change my name and Yasser will never find me. He can't have these children - he doesn't deserve them. I am the one who will take care of them, I always have. If he loved and respected us, he wouldn't have been violent." Mordechai Ben-Menachem is at Ben-Gurion University. He can be reached by email at quality@computer.org |
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YAALON SAYS SOLDIERS MUST EXERCISE "PERSONAL JUDGMENT"
Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, December 14, 2004. |
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It seems I am not the only one to use that dreaded word; resign. In every other speech our Chief of Staff gives these days, he has some sort of hint in it that he is not a very happy camper. Not only must he be confronted by the need for self honesty and public responsibility but all other government employees must be confronted with this as well. If you really believe that the extermination of the Jewish communities in Gaza is an evil act and will lead to a great disaster for the rest of the nation, how can you continue to work for this Government? Not only should the Chief of Staff resign if he really believes this Government is leading the nation to disaster but so should any other government employee who believes the same. Whatever your function, great or small, you help them in their evil. This is a news item from today's Arutz-7 (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=73574) The IDF Chief of Staff thought he was merely laying out general ethical principles for soldiers to follow - but then a member of the audience challenged him to apply them to the disengagement. Speaking at the Fifth Annual Herzliya Conference last night, Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Moshe Yaalon expressed his personal credo on decisions IDF soldiers must make on ethical issues that arise during the course of their service. Yaalon said that there are three aspects a soldier must take into account when he encounters a problematic situation. The first one, he said, is "between the soldier and himself" - one's own personal judgment. "Every one of us knows what type of things we would never do," Yaalon said. The other two considerations are the national and the international aspects. From a national point of view, Yaalon said, the army and its soldiers must take into account the ramifications of various actions upon Israeli society at large. This includes the basic obligation not to deepen the social fissures, as well as the need for home-front support for the army's activities. The army as a whole and the individual soldiers must also keep in mind the attitude of the international community, the Chief of Staff declared, as well as the world's reactions to various Israeli actions. Audience member Dr. Ron Breiman, Chairman of the "Professors for a Strong Israel" forum, was particularly struck by Yaalon's remarks about "personal judgment" and "deepening societal fissures." At the end of Yaalon's speech, Breiman posed the following questions: "You said that every individual knows there are some things he would never do. How does this jibe with the disengagement plan [which the army plans to force soldiers to implement]? How does this jibe with the personal oath every soldier takes to fulfill all orders?" Breiman also asked Yaalon if, in the context of the "personal judgment" he said every soldier should exercise, "would you yourself consider resigning rather than giving the dreadful order to expel Jews from their homes in their Land?" Breiman later reported that Yaalon responded that in a democratic state, "the army is subservient to the political echelons, and it must execute every order it receives." Breiman told Arutz-7's Shimon Cohen, "Yaalon clearly contradicted himself, saying one thing in his speech and another thing in his response to me. Would he order the army to expel 8,000 Arabs from 22 villages if the government decided to do so, or would he choose to resign instead?" Aryeh Zelasko lives in Beitar Illit, south of Jerusalem. He is Director of Sales and Marketing of Israel Visit (www.israelvisit.co.il) which provides information and an internet buying facility for American visitors to Israel. |
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HOW TO HANDLE ISLAMIC SUBVERSION; PRISONER RELEASE; ASSESSING SHARON & ABBAS
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, December 14, 2004. |
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PRISONER RELEASE Israel has hinted it might release some terrorist prisoners as a goodwill gesture to the new P.A. leadership. Judging by experience, once Israel offers to release lesser security convicts, the Arab ingrates would demand that more be released and that they be greater security risks. Thus one "gesture," which really is a sacrifice, feeds the movement for more sacrifices by Israel. In my opinion, terrorists belong in prisons or cemeteries. Some used their freedom to commit further terrorism. Thus the goodwill that Israeli leaders supposed they are sowing brings the Grim Reaper to Jews. Why don't Israeli leaders judge by experience? Another overlooked feature of prisoner release is that the P.A. is being asked to crack down on terrorism. Releasing terrorists is not cracking down on terrorism by Israel. Rather, it pours more terrorists into the P.A., theoretically making it harder for the P.A. to crack down on them. Actually it doesn't make it "harder," because the P.A. never does crack down on terrorism. I won't repeat here my usual arguments that goodwill gestures towards terrorists are futile, unreciprocated, unappreciated, and counter-productive. The gestures are based upon an erroneous, appeasement-minded, ethno-centric view of the Arab enemy. One cannot win a war by supposing that the enemy, from a culture alien to ours, thinks like ours. Arabs don't. They pocket the gestures and go right on hating. WHAT TO DO ABOUT ISLAMIST SUBVERSION? Some civil rights are in contention with others. We tend to be simple-minded about civil rights. Automatically we uphold some against others. In dealing with subversive movements, the US has moved from repression to excessive tolerance. Islamists are benefiting from this permissiveness to cite our own Constitution as a shield for their undermining of it. If we do not rise to our defense, they may conquer us, Europe first. The standard for restricting freedom of speech is "clear and present danger." Problem is, the danger is a growing one, but the ultimate, a coup, is not a present danger. Terrorist attacks are a present danger, but the movement that indoctrinates people to become terrorists does not connect clearly to specific attacks. We need to modify the standard. It should hold that a totalitarian movement that seeks to dominate our culture, destroy our Bill of Rights, and commit terrorism along the way, may and must be banned. That would ban all Islamist organizations. Among them are 80% of the mosques in the US. Since the mosques, and the ranks of Islamists, are fed by Muslim immigration that Islamists indoctrinate, immigration law should be revised. Current immigration law reflects a thrust towards diversity. This drive for diversity requires some restrictions. Immigration rules should keep out Muslims. We should reverse the Muslim immigration, if we want to preserve our civilization and our lives and avoid as many terrorist attacks as possible. These recommendations go against our grain. One can hear objectors claiming that we are becoming like the Islamists, that we always had immigration and the immigrants contributed to society, etc.. Those are poor arguments. What occurred in the past is not always occurring now. We are coming up against new ethnic groups and anti-American ideologies every bit as hostile and dangerous as the Nazi and Communist ones were. We should be as willing to take measures of self-defense against the new totalitarian menace as we were against the old ones. We should not become soft targets, because we wishfully imagine that other peoples are as benign as ourselves (while our anti-American Left denounces the US as malign and makes excuses for the evil Islamists). That just makes us suckers. ASSESSING ARIEL SHARON Ariel Sharon is described as Labor Party's "traditional ideological and political rival." (Steven Gutkin, NY Sun, 12/3, p.10 from Associated Press.) Like Labor, Sharon believes in territorial concessions to the Arabs, big government, and abuse of police powers. How is he Labor's ideological rival, now? He rationalizes that his proposed withdrawal would enable him to retain areas that Labor would relinquish. However, his deputy, Min. Olmert, has admitted that this withdrawal is the first of several. This means giving away before negotiations what he considers bargaining chips that could have been used to trade for the areas Sharon claims to want to retain. When negotiations start, the world would ask Israel at that point again to do something for the Arabs, to induce them to come to terms. Plainly, Sharon is dissembling about national security and the Jewish heritage. ASSESSING ABBAS Abu Mazen (a.k.a. Abbas) answered an interviewer's questions (IMRA, 11/29) very carefully with wording about ceasefires and "cooling things down." He did not mention disarming terrorist militias and ending terrorism. He does not change the jihadist ideology or P.A. violations of Oslo. His exact words: "Just over a year and a half ago, Abu Mazen told the London-based al-Sharq al-Awsat that though a 'temporary cease-fire' in the war against Israel had been agreed upon, 'We did not say, however, that we are giving up the armed struggle... The Intifada must continue.'" (IMRA, 11/28.) That man of violence will continue the holy war, but is praised as moderate. START OF NABLUS COLLEGE SCHOOL YEAR The terrorist youth movements distributed propaganda and indoctrination kits to students at al-Najah U. in Nablus. During the year, the movements intensely propagandize and recruit members from among the 11,000 students at that terrorist incubator called a university. The movements work through student organizations, assisted by faculty. Student fatalities are in the dozens. Far from discouraging the youth, the deaths of others are held up as models. One of the kits lists the 19 suicide bombers from al-Najah (IMRA, 11/28). RADIATION SICKNESS THREAT Crops in northeastern Europe still are contaminated with radioactive strontium-90 from the accident at Chernobyl. A similar accident is likely in Iran. Iran is rushing to develop nuclear weapons capability. To deter a knockout attack on its facilities, it has divided those processes among more than a hundred sites, requiring more control mechanisms. In its haste, it may use inferior technology and fail to control the processes sufficiently. Iran has asked permission for 8 centrifuges for experimental purposes. The real reason probably is so that the electricity they give off will mask the electricity emitted by the illegal centrifuges. That would make illegal weapons development untracable (Winston Mideast Analysis, 11/28). TNUVA CREAM NO LONGER SO SWEET Tnuva Dairy is the world's largest kosher one. It is actively courting the P.A. market, from which to penetrate the whole Arab world. Is that why it recently stated, rather politically for a diary company, that the Jewish presence in Yesha is a "cancer?" The Jews of Yesha subsequently stopped buying from Tnuva (Arutz-7, 11/2). Why just those Jews? Since the spread of Arabs in Yesha means murder, theft, hatred, and sewage pollution, it isn't the Jews who act like a cancer. HATE-TV IN FRANCE MAY BE CHECKED Pres. Chirac of France incurred much criticism in his country and from abroad, when the French Broadcasting Authority, CSA, granted a TV broadcasting license to Hizbullah, the Lebanese Shiite terrorist group. The license covers all member states of the EU. The channel put in writing a commitment to abide by French law. CSA has found several violations of those commitments. The most egregious one is the accusation, "The Zionist attempts to transmit dangerous diseases like AIDS through exports to Arab countries." (Do the Arabs oppose Israeli exports because they are dangerous or do they fabricate the danger so as to retard those exports?) The Foreign Minister of Israel asked the EU to classify Hizbullah as a terrorist organizations, as has the US. (Maybe he would have been wiser not to cite the US, which the EU doesn't like, as an example to emulate.) The Prime Minister of France said he intends to take the terrorist groups off the air. For now, however, France lacks the legal means, he said. "Sometimes law is slow. This is why I will very soon take a legislative initiative that will give us the means to stop at once such programs supporting hatred and violence and human vileness." (Michael Zlotowski, NY Sun, 12/3, p.10.) Israel's citation of the US banning of France as a model for anti-American France might dissuade the French. I would have put it, "Once again, France shows itself the leader of civilized values, in moving to ban Hizbullah from French airwaves. Let France follow through with prompting the EU to declare Hizbullah a terrorist organization!" Did France not realize it was granting a license to a terrorist organization? The last thing France needs is a radical broadcaster stirring up the Muslims of Europe against the existing order. Was that so difficult to figure out? Did France really expect an Islamist organization to abide by the law it had signed an agreement to obey? Islamists consider their word not their bond, and themselves above secular law. BIG AL QAEDA ATTACK ON U.S. COMING Al-Qaeda had shown that US security could be penetrated. For internal and ideological reasons, al-Qaeda did not make another attack on the US. The internal Muslim debate, over whether the use of atomic weapons for terrorism is justified, has just ended in the affirmative. (Doesn't it always!) The Arab secular and religious elites have indicated their approval of "punishing" America. Bin Laden perceives the re-election of Pres. Bush as the American people's choice to join the enemies of Islam. Experts detect al-Qaeda preparation for another attack, one with weapons of mass-destruction! A new attack would have to be spectacular, to make the desired impression. The US is losing the war against terrorists, in that they get more recruits than before. More than half a million are trained and willing to die. Ten million are willing to help them in many ways. About 50 million support their effort financially (Winston Mid East Analysis, 11/29). If Pres. Bush, who differentiates Islam from Islamism, is an enemy of Islam, then the distinction is incorrect. Pres. Bush has been getting credit for the absence of another major attack since 9/11. Its absence was not because of his governance. We had better extend the war on terrorism, fast. The West should ban Muslims, to prevent them from raising funds for terrorism. MULTILATERALISM & FOREIGN OPPOSITION TO IRAQ WAR Rep.Tim Murphy said that opponents of the war in Iraq, such as Russia, France, and China, publicly claimed they wanted sanctions, rather than war, to block Iraq's development of weapons, rather than war. Actually, they shared in the graft of the sanctions program (Meghan Clyne, NY Sun, 12/7, p.5). The UN scandal illustrates the pitfalls of relying upon the UN and multilateralism. There aren't enough decent governments and societies for it. Richard Shulman is a veteran defender of Israel on several web-based forums. His comments and analyses appear often on Think-Israel. He provides cool information and right-on-target overviews. He distributes his essays by email. To subscribe, write him at ricshulman@aol.com. |
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LOST CHICKEN-SENSE
Posted by Sarah Honig, December 14, 2004. |
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This appeared in the Jerusalem Post.
Among the junk mail that clogs my postbox daily, I found a Gush Shalom leaflet calling on me to fulfill my "national duty and the duty of every peace-loving person" to help remove all settlements. How do I pitch in? By boycotting anything that's settlement-made. To facilitate my task, I was supplied with a list of brands to be shunned. In case of unmarked agricultural produce, I must grill the retailer to make sure he's not selling me forbidden fruit. Moreover, I was urged to disseminate said blacklist amongst friends and relations, post it on neighborhood billboards and in my workplace. Lastly, should I feel a tad discomfited, I was advised to ignore counterarguments that I collaborate in "depriving Jewish brethren of their livelihood." Most settlers, I was assured, anyway "aren't productive citizens but live off the public. This is why they had so much free time to participate in the violent demonstrations that preceded the Rabin assassination. "While most Israelis worked for a living, the settlers blocked roads and burned tires. Settlements constitute the chief obstacle to a historic rapprochement between Israel and Falastin." I finally realized who's responsible for our collective distress and insecurity. I forgot about the Arab genocidal penchant for throwing us into the sea - long before any occupation or beyond-the-Green-Line settlements existed. I never asked about all the available time Gush Shalom altruists have to protest against the security fence and IDF roadblocks (which keep me and them alive). I was too reviled by the use settlers make of the right to free assembly and speech. I discovered who the parasites feeding off my honest toil were and was reminded of the dastardly mischief they were up to, which invariably led to Rabin's slaying. There's no telling what existential disaster they could drag us into. They make my skin crawl. In ordinary times I'd quickly return to my senses and identify this as the post-Zionist fringe's self-destructive variation on entrenched anti-Semitic themes. These, however, aren't ordinary times. Ever since Ariel Sharon's epiphany, demonizing settlers is no longer an exclusive far-Left prerogative. Arik gave settler-bashing unprecedented respectability. Now that he no longer loves them, it's bon ton to vilify those freeloaders who infest our surroundings, endanger our perfect peace, dare dissent and protest against Arik's designs, and who may now be plotting the next assassination. REINFORCED BY Tnuva's chairman, I can finally enjoy the coziness of the mainstream. It's good being in league with those who gang up on Public Enemies. It's good being on the same side as Arik, now King of the Enlightened Ones. It's good to enjoy the security of running with the majority flock, like the flock of hens that loomed large in the homespun childhood recollections Arik was once excessively fond of recounting. Growing up in Kfar Malal, young Arik astutely observed the chickens on his family's farm. He noted that the hens clucked harmoniously most of the time; but if one took ill, its mates suddenly and ferociously turned on it, pecking, scratching, and clawing their victim to death. It was then the future general concluded that weakness encourages aggression. Those who can't defend themselves are terminated viciously. Those who don't deter, invite their own destruction. That's how it is in nature, in the barnyard, in Israeli politics, and in the Mideast. When Arik grievously injured the settlers, he must have realized he was turning them into fair game, not only for Gush Shalom's serial predators and Tnuva's chairman. Confused ordinary folk prefer being among the assaulting fowl rather than associating with pitiful pariah pullets everyone rips into. That's why the projected construction of prison camps for entire settler families and of mock-settlements for destruction drills evoke not a grassroots murmur. Fearful folks are glad it's not happening to them and rationalize why the others have it coming. Arik counts on that. Manipulating mass psychology will win him support. It's elementary, but not without risks. The delegitimization, blackballing, and ostracism visited on slandered settlers could become the sad lot of us all. One flock's top hen is another's ravaged prey. Arik seems to have conveniently relinquished his once-reliable chicken-sense. By retreating and dismantling veteran villages, he signals the rest of the world that Israel is weakening. He thereby turns Israel into the enfeebled chicken of this savage region and of the heartless world. He weakens our moral claim to any part of this land in an international environment where it's already increasingly trendy to dispute Israel's very right to exist. He may be intent on dismantling some settlements. Enemies and their overseas sympathizers focus on all settlements, first outside the Green Line and later within. Like it or not, Arik, we're all in the same chicken coop. Ruth and Nadia Matar established Women For Israel's Tomorrow (Women in Green), an activist group of women based in Jerusalem. Their website address is http://www.womeningreen.org |
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LOOKING AHEAD TO 2005
Posted by Morris J. Amitay, December 13, 2004. |
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2005 should be a banner year for news from the Middle East. We can expect voluminous reporting and commentaries on Iraq, Iran, Israel, the Palestinians, terrorism, oil - you name it. So it would be wise to step back and examine our basic assumptions if we are to make realistic judgments about what is really happening. The outcome of the Iraqi election in late January (assuming the Jan. 30 date holds) should furnish an important clue as to whether there is a chance that the three disparate factions inhabiting Iraq - Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds - will somehow be able to live together in a united Iraq. We should also know by spring whether the insurgency is waning - or whether we are in deeper trouble there. Unless the Iraqis themselves demonstrate that they are able to bear an increasing share of the burden of defeating the terrorists - all bets are off. Except for Britain, we really can't expect any help from our "friends", and NATO's inadequate response raises doubts as to this alliance's future viability. What is also certain is that next door, the Iranian regime is actively pursuing a clandestine program to develop nuclear weapons and delivery systems. The IAEA's ElBaradei's "disingenuous" (to be kind) assertion that there is no evidence of an Iranian nuclear weapons program strains credulity, and this alone should cost him his job when it comes up for renewal. The EU-3 efforts to prevent Iran's nuclearization from happening by polite diplomatic means alone, must be seen by now as no more than a farce. The Iranian mullahs are playing Britain, France and Germany like a violin, with the Europeans dancing to a Persian tune. They must obviously be operating on the dubious assumption that the region will be able to live with a nuclear-armed Iran. But tell that to Israel which has been openly threatened with annihilation by the Iranian leadership. If, as President Bush has stated, the United States will not tolerate a nuclear Iran, then 2005 could see some form of direct action taken by our own country, or with an American wink and nod, by Israel. Military action would definitely slow down the Iranian program. But at the same time we should expect much more U.S. support for the forces for change in Iran itself. We could be doing much more to bring about regime change without the use of outside force. The current movement for a national referendum for a new Iranian constitution surely deserves encouragement. And while on the subject of Iran, we must not overlook its ongoing activities to undermine U.S. objectives in Iraq by supplying, men, money, and training to the insurgents. At the same time the regime is still supporting terrorist groups worldwide - including the increasing Hizbullah terrorism against Israel. How to deal with Iran is exemplified by what Natan Sharansky has described as the great debate - "Once again, the world is divided between those who are prepared to confront evil and those who are willing to appease it." Those in our country calling for "engagement" or a "grand bargain" with the Tehran regime have chosen the route of appeasement, learning nothing, it seems, from the tragic experience of choosing this path. Somewhat less egregious than appeasement, but equally dangerous, is wishful thinking in dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The euphoria in some quarters following the demise of Arafat leading to the conclusion that there is now a real opportunity for significant progress toward a genuine peace agreement is largely misplaced. While the Sharon government has indeed made a number of conciliatory moves, it looks like the pre-determined Palestinian election outcome will have been predicated on hewing to maximalist Palestinian demands. Abu Mazen's recent visit to Damascus to get the blessings of the various irredentist terrorist groups there is a sure sign that he will have insufficient flexibility in any future negotiations with Israel. Even if he were to try to emulate the courage of Sadat, how can an entire generation nurtured on hatred of Israel and Jews be transformed overnight? As one observer put it - only when a Palestinian policeman shoots a Palestinian terrorist attempting to kill a Jew, can there be a chance you could have peace. So far, there is no indication any Palestinian leader is ready to give that order - or that it would be obeyed. Following Arafat's departure, there has also been an apparent thaw in Israeli-Egyptian relations. But this recent phenomenon should be scrutinized with an eye to what the benefits accrue to Mubarak? After almost 25 years of dictatorial rule, Mubarak is more concerned with passing his mantle of one-man rule on to his son than a viable Israeli-Palestinian agreement. His cooperation at this time is an acknowledgment of the pre-eminent U.S. role in the region, and no doubt, the annual $1.8 billion in US aid he receives. Mubarak is always seeking to enhance Egypt's stature as the key regional player, but having nurtured anti-Israel sentiment in his own populace, he will not, even if he wanted to - help Israel in any real way. It remains to be seen whether giving Egypt a role in Gaza after Israeli disengagement will actually prevent terrorist attacks on Israel. More likely, Egypt will do just enough to satisfy America, while taking satisfaction as Israel continues to bleed. Syria, too, has been making conciliatory noises, expressing a willingness to begin new negotiations for a peace deal, i.e. getting back the entire Golan. You can be certain that if Israel agrees to hand over this strategic plateau to Syria, Bashar Assad, beset by internal problems, will eagerly take it. But the fundamental question remains - in exchange for what? Only when Syria shuts down all the terrorist organizations operating in Damascus, begins dismantling its police state, and curbs incitement against Israel - could there be any productive negotiations. Until then, why should Israel help prop up Assad's foundering autocratic regime, and why should America urge Israel to negotiate when Syria is also making trouble for us in Iraq? Another example of wishful thinking that should be abandoned in 2005 is the idea that the United Nations could be able to play any useful role in bringing about peace in the Middle East - or anywhere else for that matter. By now, the UN's performance in "conflict resolution" can only be described as pitiful, and even worse as far as asserting any moral authority. The crass hypocrisy of having the likes of Cuba, Libya, and Sudan serve on the Human Rights Commission, the incessant institutional Israel-bashing, and the oil-for-food scandal are all symptomatic of an organization that has to be rebuilt or replaced. Composed mainly of nations (and mini entities) that are undemocratic and anti-American, we can expect more criticism of the UN in the coming year and increasing diminution of support by the Congress and the Administration. Already, there have been calls for the creation of a new world body more committed to the ideals of its original founders. But unfortunately, Israel will continue to be the UN's number one whipping boy with inordinate amounts of the UN's resources devoted to demonizing the Jewish State. In the year ahead it will also be important to emphasize that the "war on terrorism" is actually a war against Islamic extremists. We should cringe whenever we hear Islam described as "a religion of peace" that has been hijacked by a small band of extremists. If it really fit that description, why hasn't there been widespread Muslim outrage against the massacre of innocents? As long as the victims were "infidels", you never hear much protest. One only needs to review the mainstream Arab and Muslim media to see the extent of the hatred and incitement against the West, along with the conspiracy theories and glorification of martyrdom. Of course, there are millions of peaceful Muslims worldwide who just want to be left alone, but the statements and actions of too many of their religious leaders reveal a murderous hatred in the name of religion. And finally, we can hope that with new leadership at our State Department there will be no more prizes awarded to Foreign Service Officers for openly opposing their own President's policies. But since diplomacy is invariably considered an end in itself at Foggy Bottom, we must assume that the old bad habits and tired traditions will be difficult to change. This means that strong, bold leadership will have to come from the White House if progress is to be made in the Middle East. So hold on to your hats, we should be in for a very bumpy ride in the coming year. Morrie Amitay is a former Executive Director of AIPAC and founder of the pro-Israel Washington PAC (www.washingtonpac.com). |
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SECRET OF LIKUD POWER
Posted by Manigut Press, December 13, 2004. |
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The following op-ed piece was written by Moshe Feiglin, Founder and President of Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish Leadership) and was published in The Jerusalem Post on December 7, '04. It provides an EXCELLENT background into the ideology and direction of Manhigut Yehudit. We highly recommend you forward it and even print and distribute. Manhigut Yehudit maintains an office in the USA, run by Shmuel Sackett, the organization's co-founder and International Director. He can be contacted at (516) 295-3222. About five years ago I announced my intention of bringing the Jewish Leadership movement, which I chair, into the Likud Party.When I shared my plans with past and present Likud members who were honest, ideologically committed people, I got the same reaction from most of them: "They'll eat you for breakfast." I was told that Likud today is only about jobs, patronage and special interests. "Either you will become like them, or find yourselves outside within a short time." Fortunately, I did not heed the warnings and, lo and behold, the Jewish Leadership movement did not turn into job seekers. And we certainly have no intention of leaving the party. Instead, the opposite happened. The ideologically committed elements in the party raised their heads. The national party of government turned from being a body that had abandoned its values, and whose internal discussion mostly revolved around the distribution of patronage, into a body whose internal discussion has gone back to being substantive. It is hard to overstate the significance of the ideological impetus caused by a serious and determined body the Jewish Leadership faction which joined the Likud with no "price tag." Of course, interests and ambitions are still prevalent, as in any party. But it is substantive discussions that have now taken center stage. Today Israel is privileged to have a ruling party that repeatedly examines itself in light of the values with which it set out. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who thought his party was devoid of ideology, did not appreciate the change we had wrought when he turned in a direction that contradicted the Likud's original values. Today Sharon finds himself fighting for hegemony in his own party. Sometimes he loses, sometimes he wins, but the misunderstanding he displays about the true undercurrents in the Likud will ultimately lead to him being thrown out of the party in disgrace. In the Knesset vote on the disengagement plan, the Likud split. Half voted an ideologically committed vote and against its leader's plan. The other half ignored ideology and went with Sharon. It looks as if the national ruling party is crashing. But those who eulogize it do not understand the secret of its power. The Likud is the last party in Israel that is not sectarian. It is not the party of the Orthodox, nor of those who hate religion. It is not the party of the rightists, Sephardis, leftists or Arabs. It is the party of "the Israelis," of the middle class, of all the ethnic groups. Mainly it is a party where Jewish (not religious) identity serves as the basic ethos and starting point. It was not Sharon who handed victory to the Likud, but vice versa. The Likud, as a microcosm of Israeli society, handed victory to Sharon. Anyone who quits the party will disappear into the political desert, and those who stay will lead by setting the national agenda. Those who are turning their backs on the national camp's ideology as Sharon's supporters in the Likud are doing will not retain their positions in the movement indefinitely. Their bloc will gradually weaken until it is ultimately ejected from the Likud; and that process can be expected to bring the national movement back to itself. The crumbling of the NRP will at the same time lead a majority of Orthodox Zionists to integrate into the national ruling party. The national-religious combination will allow the Likud to offer an accurate ideological alternative to the Left. Armed with this alternative, the Right can not only win an election, but rule in a direction that takes us away from Oslo. The Left, understanding the meaning of the process I am describing, has aimed many of its arrows at our Jewish Leadership faction. The all-out effort to delegitimize the movement includes charges that we intend to turn Israel into a theocracy, and that we support violence. The truth is that we object to the very existence of religious parties and support a significant reduction of religious legislation. We trust the basic Jewish ethos within the vast majority of the population and wish to break down the walls of fear and hatred that the mixture of religion and politics has created. Speaking of political parties, I believe that bringing Labor into the government will actually quicken the process of the Likud returning to itself. But that's something that can only happen with Sharon's departure from the party. Accusing us of "violence" is slander. We have always spoken out against it. Had the Left listened to us before it forced the Oslo process on Israel, nearly 2,000 Jews would be alive today, as well as tenfold that number of Arabs who lost their lives because of a madness whose end is nowhere in sight. We believe the Oslo process is fundamentally a process of escape from collective Jewish identity. Israel cannot be a state of all its citizens. It has to be a Jewish state; or else it cannot continue to exist. The process taking place inside the ruling party of the national camp the Likud is painful but necessary. It will guarantee that, at the end of the day, the Jewish state will have a leadership that understands our destiny as a people, what we are doing on this tormented piece of land; a leadership that will lead the people according to their values, one that is genuinely capable of confronting the challenges we face. Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish Leadership) is a group of people inside the Likud party who want to see Israel adopt a more Jewish character. Moshe Feiglin, its cofounder, has emphatically said he does not want a theocracy, but he does want a State based on Jewish values. The Manhigut Yehudit website address is http://www.manhigut.org. |
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AN ANOMALY: ONE NATION POSSESSES 22 STATES
Posted by Yoram Shifftan, December 13, 2004. |
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The Palestinian Charter asserts that the Arabs are one nation and the Palestinians are an integral part of the Arab nation. But, they say, in order to realize Arab unity it is incumbent on the Palestinians to emphasize Palestinian identity, in this stage of the struggle. (You can read the Palestinian National charter in a posting by Ruth Matar.) In the 1974 PLO "phased plan" (see http://www.acpr.org.il/resources/plophased.html) article 8 states: "Once it is established, the Palestinian national authority will strive to achieve a union of the confrontation countries, with the aim of completing the liberation of all Palestinian territory, and as a step along the road to comprehensive Arab unity." Thus in addition to declarations to the Western press in moments of frankness (for example the PLO executive committee member Zahir Muhsein declared on the March 31, 1977 to the Dutch newspaper Trouw: "The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct 'Palestinian people' to oppose Zionism.), the fundamental founding documents of the Palestinians, explicitly assert that the notion of a Palestinian nation is only a temporary ploy to make it easier to destroy Israel, on the way to the realization of one Arab state. Other fundamental Arab documents, for example the founding documents of the Baath party, similarly emphasize that all the Arabs constitute one nation. It is an axiom of international relations that one nation deserves one country only, so since the Arabs themselves emphasize that they are one nation only (often complaining that they were artificially separated by the colonial-imperialistic powers into many countries), it logically follows that the Arabs deserve one state only (i.e., one vote in the UN, etc.). It follows that the Arabs should reduce the number of their states from 22 to one, and surely not increase this number to 23. A cleverer Israeli government would instruct its diplomats to point out the above anomaly and demand (even the very act of demanding is of value to shed light on the real situation) that the Arabs be given one vote only in the UN as follows from the Arabs' own logic. Furthermore, the hypothetical clever Israeli diplomat would point out that the demand for an additional Arab country, as the road map suggests, will only enhance the anomaly and the already absurd situation. It will enhance the unfairness to the Kurds, the Tibetians and the many other true nations that are not allowed to have even one state. And this is true even before invoking the fact that this 23 Arab country will be yet another totalitarian terrorist state. Moreover, the hypothetical clever Israeli diplomat would be in a position to point out that the commonly believed injustice to the Palestinian nation, which is deprived of a state of its own, is non-existent. Also, if the "Palestinians" are just Arabs, then their return to other Arab countries is the completion of the population exchange began when Jews from Arab countries were forced to leave these countries. This idea of such a population exchange was originally suggested by Arab politicians. It should be noted that not only in the second half of the twenty century the Arabs regarded themselves as one nation (which indeed they are by all criteria) as expressed for example in founding documents. This is also reflected in the many international agreements in the first part of the twenty century. For example, the Feisal-Weizmann agreement of 1919, agrees upon the division of the Middle East into an Arab state and a Jewish state, the latter state was referred to as ... "Palestine"! Using the true historical-legal sequence of events and the correct terminology, brings out the great injustice progressively committed against the Jews: The Balfour declaration was codified in international law by the League of Nations' Mandate for Palestine. This mandate allocated for a Jewish state an area of less than 1% of the Middle East. Later, in September 1922, more than 80% of this miniscule area was taken from the prospective Jewish state upon the creation of Trans-Jordan. Now, the road map proposes to take 22% of the even-more-miniscule area that remained after the creation of Trans-Jordan (it is of great importance to realize that the number of 22% quoted above is the area of Gaza and the West Bank of Western Palestine, i.e. of fifth of Palestine, and not of Palestine as Arabs and friends often mislead the world.) This succession of events does not even refer to the vast areas in Africa that the one Arab nation also possess or to their natural resources. The natural extension of this successive dispossession of the Jewish people is to dry the Mediterranean sea and indeed even the late Rafoul considered it seriously. But in fact even this would not help since any notion of Jewish sovereignty, no matter how absurdly miniscule is the surface on which it is realized, is an anathema to the Arabs. Thus Arab racism is reflected not only in the fact that while Israel contains 20% Arabs, the prospective "Palestinian state" cannot entertain the notion of even a very small fraction of Jews within itself, and not only in that all Arab countries are essentially Jew-free, some by law, and earlier the Jews were dhimmis (second class). Arab racism is also reflected in the fact that a nation that already possess 22 states instead of the lawful one, is denying the right of the Jewish people to have just one state. Even more amazing - by common consent it is the victim of racism who is called racist. Dr. Yoram Shifftan has published many articles on Israeli hasbara, in publications such as Ha'aretz, Ma'ariv, Hatzofeh, Hamodia and Ha'Uma, Think-Israel and Jewish Internet Association. See the September-October 2004 Issue of Think-Israel for his articles on the legal basis for the right of Israel to its land. |
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NAZIISM DID NOT DIE!
Posted by David Ben-Ariel, December 13, 2004. |
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Here is what U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill said in February, 1945, in a signed document about American-British policy on Germany: "It is our inflexible purpose to DESTROY German militarism and Naziism and to ENSURE Germany will NEVER AGAIN be able to disturb the peace of the world. We are determined to disarm and disband all German Armed Forces, break up FOR ALL TIME the German General Staff that has repeatedly contrived the resurgence of German militarism, remove or destroy all German military equipment, eliminate or control all German industry that could be used for military production. It is not our purpose to destroy the people of Germany, but ONLY WHEN NAZIISM AND MILITARISM HAVE BEEN EXTIRPATED, will there be hope for a decent life for Germans and a place for them in the community of nations." A good idea back then, but not carried out, as Brian Connel points out in his book, A Watcher on the Rhine: "The vexing problem of DENAZIFICATION which had been handled up to that time [the spring of 1947] by the Allied authorities, WAS HANDED OVER TO THE GERMANS." Arthur Spiegelman of Reuter's said on May 10, 1996, "Realizing they were losing the war in 1944, Nazi leaders met top German industrialists to plan a secret post-war international network to restore them to power, according to a newly declassified U.S. intelligence document." Beyond these disturbing reports that Naziism did not die after World War II, one only needs to look at the resurgence of German might today. On October 9, 1995, Margaret Thatcher, former British prime minister, said in a speech given in Colorado, that German reunification WAS A BIG MISTAKE for which all of Europe is now paying. "Germany is very powerful now - her national character is to DOMINATE," she said. In her book, The Downing Street Years, Thatcher said, "I do not believe in collective guilt: it is individuals who are morally accountable for their actions. But I do believe in national character." (pp. 790-791). People are responsible for their own actions. And the reason we are heading for a worldwide, cataclysmic disaster is because of the inherent human nature within all mankind. But nevertheless, nations are simply families grown large. And as Mrs. Thatcher said, there are certain family traits, or a national character, among different peoples. And the German character, as thousands of years of history proves, is to dominate! "You have not anchored Germany to Europe," Mrs. Thatcher said in the speech quoted from above, "You have anchored Europe to a newly dominate, unified Germany. In the end, my friends, you'll find IT WILL NOT WORK." (http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:py1TBnTMlnkJ:www.originofnations.org/ germany/history_of_germany.htm+Margaret+Thatcher+said+the+ German+nature+is+to+dominate,&hl=en) David Ben-Ariel is author of "Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall". He can be reached at http://www.pushhamburger.com/david.htm |
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WESTERN WALL HILL - OUT; TEMPLE PERIOD FINDS - IN
Posted by Mordechai Ben-Menachem, December 13, 2004. |
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In Jerusalem city engineers will take down the hill jutting out from the Western Wall, replacing it with a bridge. Archaeologists expect to find treasures, such as a tall gate from the Second Temple. The Jerusalem Municipality has decided to take down the hill that leads up from the Western Wall (Kotel) entrance to the Temple Mount, for fear that it might otherwise collapse. The walkway up the hill leads to the Mughrabim Gate, which is currently the only entrance for Jews to the Temple Mount. The city plans to replace the hill with a bridge that will lead into the Mughrabim Gate. The plans are a bonanza for students of Jerusalem history, as the removal of the hill will uncover an eight-meter high gate leading into the Temple Mount. The gate, dating from the period of the Second Temple, is known as Barclay's Gate, after the 19th-century American consul who first identified it. In addition, archaeologist Dr. Eilat Mazar told Arutz-7 today, "it's not every day that we get to excavate so close to the Western Wall. We expect to find, as we did in other excavations nearby, the Roman street alongside the Temple Mount structure, and many other treasures." She said that Barclay's Gate descends several meters below the current street level of the Western Wall plaza. "Today, only the top of its lintel can be seen [from the women's section]. It is very beautiful, and when it is uncovered it will be one of the most beautiful scenes in the Old City." The hill in question, located to the right of the women's section when facing the Wall, is an ancient one, comprising several layers of old buildings. Dr. Mazar said that some of them may be as old as the Mamluke Period, some 700 years ago, but under them are remnants from the Second Temple Period, 2,000 years ago. "I assume that they will study these structures, and document whatever needs to be learned, but in the end, the real find lies behind them. I assume, therefore, that the authorities will remove whatever now forms the hill, so that the full glory of the Wall and the Gate can be seen... It should be a matter of months." The entire area that is currently the Western Wall plaza was filled with low buildings when Israel liberated the area during the Six Day War of June 1967, and was later cleared away - except for the area on which lies the walkway-hill leading to the Mughrabim Gate. City engineers fear that the collapse of the hill that began last winter could continue this year, leading to a total collapse. Part of the women's section of the Western Wall plaza is already closed off for fear that worshipers below may be injured by falling rocks and earth, or by a major cave-in. The collapse began last year following a week of heavy rains, a snowstorm and an earthquake. The Western Wall Heritage Foundation launched a new website (http://www.thekotel.org) last night, providing historical information on the Western Wall and real-time photos thereof. The site's English version is scheduled to be ready on January 20. It provides historical background, Jewish sources, historic photos, Bar/Bat Mitzvah options, a virtual "tour" of the entire length of the Western Wall - only a small portion of which is familiar to the public at large - and educational programs, all using impressive and attractive technology. The site also features three different real-time video views [clickable on the right side of the screen] of the goings-on at the Kotel. One camera is a wide-angle view of the entire plaza, while another one zeroes in on the prayer area. A third camera shows the Wilson's Arch area, to the left of the men's section. Mordechai Ben-Menachem is at Ben-Gurion University. He can be reached by email at quality@computer.org |
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KATZAV PROPOSES "DIASPORA KNESSET"
Posted by Eliezar Edwards, December 13, 2004. |
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This was a news item from today's Arutz Sheva
(www.IsraelNationalNews.com)
President Moshe Katzav told a Knesset committee today (Monday) that he favors the establishment of a Jewish assembly in the Diaspora to help fight the alarmingly rising assimilation rate. President Katzav suggested that a "second house" - a play on words of the same expression in Hebrew meaning Second Temple - be set up to bring together Diaspora leaders in a permanent forum parallel to the Knesset. To be chaired by the President of Israel, the body would discuss the issues of concern to Jewry worldwide, and would try to find solutions. Katzav said that the assembly should also discuss ways to tighten the bonds connecting Jewish communities around the world with Israel and Judaism. "The intermarriage rate is more than 50 percent in the United States, Russia and Europe," Katzav warned, "and is getting worse." The president's idea, while not inviting Diaspora interference in Israel's internal affairs, represents a major change from a policy that has lasted since the days of Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion. Ben-Gurion strongly resisted world Jewry's attempts to advise Israel on its affairs, and instead repeatedly appealed for Diaspora Jews to move to Israel. "There are many day-to-day issues in Israel that have a direct effect on Diaspora Jewry and that require joint discussion," Katzav told the Knesset Committee on Aliyah [Jewish immigration to Israel], Absorption and the Diaspora. He cited anti-Semitism, terrorist threats on Jewish sites, Jewish education outside of Israel and the status of Jewish culture as some of the subjects that should be discussed. Natan Sharansky, Minster of Jerusalem Affairs and the Diaspora, supported Mr. Katzav's idea, and warned that in the past few years, the detachment between Diaspora communities and Israel has grown. "We must do something serious, revolutionary and significant to change the worldwide trend of Jews drifting away from their Jewish identity," Sharansky said. |
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THE WISDOM OF THE FATHERS
Posted by Yuval Zaliouk, December 13, 2004. |
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The following article by Caroline Glick, published in Jerusalem Post, is mandatory reading. (It is archived at http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/ JPArticle/ShowFull%26cid=1102601525415) She is not advocating from the "right" but from simple logic. I call upon those who will demand to be removed from my list, to answer her concerns instead. Is it really so very difficult to gaze at the facts and apply minimum logic? The liberals, the left, the pro-Palestinian elements around the world, who for four years have been demonizing Sharon as a war criminal, are suddenly treating him as a leader of peace. This is itself should be extremely suspicious to anyone with minimum logic, but that aside, the "Palestinians" and the Arab world actions speak louder than any "soft" words intended for gullibles, consummers of "Palestinian" propaganda, and the Western liberal media and academia. Please read the insightful article and devote some time to ponder about the signs Caroline is warning us about. Of particular importance is the section in which she discusses the transformation of Hizballah in South Lebanon from a tactical force to strategic threat. Your Truth Provider,
This week saw Arafat's heirs, PLO chairman Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei and PA Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath, on a junket to Syria and Lebanon where they labored to shore up their base of political support. In Syria, the Palestinian "moderates" met with dictator Bashar Assad and his underlings and agreed to coordinate their positions in future negotiations with Israel with him. That base covered, they went to meetings with the senior terror chieftains who make their homes in Damascus: Ahmed Jibril, head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command; Nayef Hawatmeh, head of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine; Khaled Mashaal, head of Hamas; and Ramadan Shalah, head of the Islamic Jihad. Reinforced from their meetings - where, according to Shaath, they discovered that between the "moderate" leaders and the arch terrorists, "There are no differences over the objectives" - the three went for visits in UN-run internment camps falsely referred to as Palestinian refugee camps in Syria and Lebanon. There they promised that they will never give up the demand for the unlimited immigration of these foreign-born Arabs to Israel in the framework of a peace treaty. At the same time as they were running around in the terrorist capitals of the Levant, the US announced that it would for the first time be providing the PA with $23.5 million in direct budgetary aid to make it easier for the Palestinians to conduct elections in which these three moderates will be elected. Unfortunately, no one of any consequence seems to think it at all necessary to call attention to the fact that in order for Abbas and his colleagues to shore up their legitimacy in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, they have moved to build alliances with the most overtly extreme and violent forces in the region. Even as the US is now openly admitting Syria's major role in leading and financing the terror war being perpetrated in Iraq, no one has cast aspersions at Western supported Palestinian leaders who just declared their fealty to Assad and his terrorist vassals. At the same time, Israel has been awash this week with excitement and enthusiasm over Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak's newfound adoration for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Pharaoh Hosni's decision to release Azzam Azzam from his dungeon, like his announced intention to begin to abide by his obligation to the Camp David peace treaty by returning his ambassador to Israel sometime next year, have been taken as indications that Mubarak is now an ally of Israel. He can be trusted, we are told, to remilitarize the Sinai and control the border between Gaza and Egypt even though he is responsible for his country's refusal to date to do anything to stop the weapons smuggling into Gaza. He can be trusted to train Palestinian military forces even though the ones he trained in the last go-around went on to become senior terrorists in the now four-and-a-half-year-old Palestinian terror war. No one in Israel this week saw fit to mention that the very day Azzam was finally allowed to come home after eight years of politically motivated persecution, it was announced that Iran had transferred Mustafa Hamza, leader of al-Gamaa al-Islamiya, to Egyptian custody. Hamza had been tried and sentenced to death in absentia by Egyptian courts three times since 1992 and is believed to have masterminded the attempted assassination of Mubarak in Ethiopia in 1995. Reports of the transfer noted that ever since Egypt hosted the Sharm e-Sheikh conference aimed at preventing Iraqi elections last month, Egyptian-Iranian relations have improved considerably to the point where they are considering reinstating full diplomatic ties. Few in Israel, or in the US for that matter, are particularly interested in analyzing what is happening with the Palestinians or the Egyptians today. This is so because it is considered impolitic, not to mention extremist, to point out anything that might cast doubt on the viability of Sharon's plan to abandon Gaza and northern Samaria while expelling some 10,000 Israelis from their homes, farms and communities. Next week we will have the fifth annual Herzliya Conference. The conference has become a centerpiece in Israel's national politics because the prime minister has used his address there for the past two years to mark dramatic shifts in his policies. Two years ago he shocked everyone by saying that he supports the establishment of a Palestinian state. Last year he outlined his plan to withdraw from Gaza and northern Samaria. Each time, it took several months for Sharon to ram his new strategic outlook down the throats of his party members. But with the assistance of the press, this year, he is going into the conference with his withdrawal plan firmly entrenched in the received wisdom of our times. Sharon's adoption of the Labor Party's cut-and-run strategy has had catastrophic consequences for Israel's international standing. Because the plan is being advanced by Sharon, who has been demonized by the international Left as a war criminal, Israel's friends abroad have abandoned the strategic wisdom of never rewarding terror that they bravely advocated for decades and embraced the plan. Pro-Israel writers and policymakers in the US like Charles Krauthammer, William Safire and Abraham Sofaer have publicly lauded Sharon for his "strategic wisdom" and have castigated as extremists those who insist that the planned withdrawal will be devastating to Israel's national security. Sharon's minions in the government like Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert have taken to threatening Israelis directly, arguing that if we oppose the withdrawal we will receive Yossi Beilin's delusional Geneva Initiative, which gives up the entire store to the PLO even as the US National Security Council's point man on Israel, Elliott Abrams, reportedly told leading American Jewish leftists that the White House views all Israeli communities located to the east of the security fence as slated for destruction. In an opinion column in Thursday's Wall Street Journal, Sofaer, who as legal adviser to the State Department during the Reagan administration arguably did more than anyone to prevent international law from being used as a whip to prevent nations from fighting international terrorism, argued that Sharon's withdrawal plan is the only option. Sofaer allows that "the Palestinians are far from ready to negotiate." The advantage of Sharon's plan therefore, is that it gets Israel out of an "untenable" position in Gaza. Sofaer compares the withdrawal from Gaza to Israel's May 2000 withdrawal from Lebanon, arguing, "Today, the Lebanese-Israeli border is more secure than during occupation." This is the sort of sophistry that friends of Israel like Sofaer would almost certainly never have entertained before Sharon adopted the plan. The fact of the matter is that today, Hizbullah forces in south Lebanon constitute a strategic threat to Israel. Just this week the army reported that Hizbullah is developing unconventional weapons. Last week the IDF deployed a battery of Patriot missiles to Haifa to prevent Hizbullah drones, which can be armed with chemical and biological weapons, from infiltrating Israel - again. Hizbullah's transformation from a tactical challenge to a strategic threat has advanced unfettered over the past four years because the IDF left Lebanon and stopped fighting Hizbullah. The fact that since the withdrawal of IDF forces from Lebanon no soldiers have been killed in Lebanon is a tautology, not proof that the move was wise. Aside from that, the IDF also reported this week that the majority of Palestinian terror cells in Judea and Samaria that executed successful terror attacks in 2004 have been affiliated with Hizbullah. And so we disengaged from them in Lebanon only to fight them in Israel. This week St.-Sgt. Nadav Kudinsky was killed in Gaza as he led forces in uncovering a tunnel for transferring terrorists into Israel. How exactly will Israel be able to prevent such tunnels from becoming operational once IDF forces have left the area? Will Egyptian or British forces fight Palestinian terrorists for us? Sofaer writes that "Israel's security would be threatened if Gaza is taken over by terrorists." Well, who else does he think will take it over when, in order to shore up domestic support, the likes of Abbas and Qurei and Shaath feel it necessary to bed down with the likes of Ahmed Jibril and Assad? What do Sofaer or any of Israel's other staunch supporters think Egypt, with fresh diplomatic ties with Teheran and new legitimacy in Israel because of Azzam's release, will do against these people when Mubarak's chief government-sponsored cleric Sheikh Tantawi this week extolled the legitimacy of the Sunni terrorists fighting Iraqi and coalition forces in Iraq? The fact of the matter is that by fighting Palestinian terrorists on the ground in Gaza and along the Egyptian border and by controlling the air, land and sea entry points to Gaza, Israel is not in an untenable position. It is in a difficult position. But there can be no doubt that the threat won't go away if we turn our backs to it and call it untenable. As in Lebanon, it will grow all the more dangerous. It is hard to dispute the strategic wisdom of a man with Sharon's military credentials. But can we not at least entertain the notion that Sharon at 76, embroiled in criminal investigations, may be past his prime? This is not the time for debating Sharon's place of honor in Israel's history, which he more than earned long ago. But we owe it to ourselves to coldly analyze the strategic options with which we are faced, rather than simply saying that, since Sharon has said his piece, all that is left for us to do is quietly follow along. Yuval Zaliouk writes the Truth Provider columns. To subscribe, send an email to ynz@netvision.net.il |
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ISRAELI PULLOUT MEANS DISASTER; ISLAMISTS IN AMERICAN SCHOOLS; ADVISE TO MS. RICE
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, December 13, 2004. |
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NEW FOREIGN SUPPORT FOR P.A. TERRORISM Iran now finances most P. A. terrorism, via Hizbullah and Fatah. Israel found this out from informants and by tracing the financing of terrorism back to its source. If Iran develops an atomic bomb, it would be difficult for Israel either to demolish the bomb facility, because Hizbullah has 13,000 rockets trained on Israel, or to demolish the Hizbullah forts, because Iran would have an atomic missile trained on Israel (Eli Lake, NY Sun, 12/1, p.7). It's a mistake to let terrorism or the Evil Axis get and retain footholds. Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon was a major blunder. QARADAWI'S JIHADISTS REPLACING MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD "The main challenge to the Brotherhood, however, appeared in the form of the doctrines of global Jihad, which attracted many Islamic youngsters, and provided them with a channel for expressing their feelings of rage, humiliation, social and economic frustration, and opposition to Arab dictatorships. (Terrorism involves scapegoating!) The Iraqi affair added and continues to add to this rage - and hence to the challenge - while the response of the leaderships and scholars of the Muslim Brotherhood seems to be old fashioned and weak." Qaradawi founded a rival organization, the World Council of Muslim Clerics, headquartered in Ireland. Its platform forbids Muslims to cooperate with the Coalition in Iraq. It claims that the US oppresses its people, especially its Muslims. It describes international jihad as defensive. The Council represents a radicalization and globalization over the formerly dominant Brotherhood, which was not violent except for Hamas. Arab governments apparently are not opposing the new Council as they did the Muslim Brotherhood. The Council serves their purpose in asserting what they believe but cannot say without irritating relations with the US (IMRA, 11/26). Will the US be deceived by the Arab governments? The Arab governments are playing with fire. Damn Ireland for allowing a jihadist headquarters on its sovereign soil! What nonsense the Council asserts about the US being oppressive towards its own people and about jihad being defensive! How totalitarians twist the truth! PROBLEMS WITH THE PULLOUT Three Jewish communities in Judea-Samaria draw their water from the northeastern Aquifer, in the area from which PM Sharon plans to evacuate. The P.A. had agreed not to tap that aquifer, but already is doing so, illegally. The Arabs had made 200-300 unauthorized drillings, in it. Along the Green Line, hundreds of illegal drillings have been made, increasingly deeper. Israel did nothing about those (or other types of) violations, letting them multiply. Israeli experts warned that this nonchalance by Israel is criminal negligence. They worry that it would influence the P.A. to usurp the main mountain aquifer. If Israel evacuates from certain areas, the P.A. is liable to bring in heavy equipment to intensify the drillings. In turn, Lebanon and Syria would be encouraged to infiltrate or block water flowing into Israel. Israel would have to abandon agriculture, as its water becomes saline. (Then it would have to abandon drinking of water. Where would Israeli Jews find refuge, in France?) Israeli enforcement of the agreement would be viewed as depriving the Arabs of water, not as the Arabs being prevented from further theft of it. Israel has other means of pressuring the P.A., but in any new agreement, the Arabs would demand more (IMRA, 11/26). Israel should do what it must and explain it as best it can, not hamper itself in order to please the implacably anti-Zionist world. Israeli timidity produces Arab boldness. War results. There is no solution but for Israel to annex all vacant areas and stop facilitating Arab residency in the Arab cities. There is room for only one viable country, not a sere Israel adjacent to a jihadist P.A. ISLAMISTS INFILTRATE U.S. SCHOOLS Islamists propose to censor all levels of American schools and use them for spreading Islam. They propose parents' committees to monitor schools that teach about Muslim terrorists and misogyny. The committee would arrange to explain about Islam and Muslim holidays. (Their explanations, aside from technical details, may be deceptive.) After Muslim terrorist attacks, the committee should ask for an opportunity to discuss terrorism and Islam (at which they would deceitfully denounce terrorism as incompatible with Islam, but not denounce the Islamist ideology nor demand action against terrorists). The committee should lobby for Muslim interests. Another web site "portrays public schools as 'fertile grounds where the seeds of Islam can be sowed inside the hearts of non-Muslim students. Muslim students should take ample advantage of this opportunity and present to their schoolmates the beautiful beliefs of Islam.' This, the website asserts, is best achieved through both direct and indirect steps, such as: Host Islamic exhibitions. Start an Islamic newsletter. Set up tables offering Islamic literature. Carry flyers from the Islamic Circle of North America and pass them out to non-Muslims. Place advertisements in the school paper with a toll-free telephone number for non-Muslims to call to learn more about Islam. Establish one-to-one contacts with non-Muslim students (along gender lines: "It is advised that brothers work with non-Muslim boys and sisters work with non-Muslim girls". Found Muslim groups that portray Islam "in a positive way," such as a Muslim Students Association, Islamic Circle, or Quran Study Group." "Engage in 'simple actions that reflect living Islam,' such as saying 'Insha Allah' (God willing), praying, and wearing Islamic-style clothing. Take advantage of disasters to set up a disaster relief assistance booth to give 'a very positive picture of Islam and Muslims.' 'Make use of the school newspaper: 'Being a writer will give you ample opportunity to provide Islamically oriented articles which will Insha Allah [if God wishes] open the hearts and minds of readers.' Ideally, an article on Islam should appear in each issue. If the school does not allow overt preaching, 'Alhamdu lillah, there are ways to circumvent this problem,' such as reporting on Islamic events or writing about Islamic holidays. 'This way, you are still presenting an aspect of Islam without coming across as a preacher.' DawaNet.com also coyly instructs its adepts 'to have a good rapport with the editor and the writing staff of the paper.' "Lobby to include Islamic dates on the school calendar. Add books and magazines on Islam written by Muslims to the school library; if the library does not purchase them, raise the money to donate them. Incorporate Islam into class projects. For example, 'for a speech class, if there is freedom to choose a topic, an Islamic topic should be selected. Similar opportunities can be created in history, social science, writing and other classes.' 'Schools and campuses are no exceptions as places where Islam can be victorious. ... We should use every opportunity to sensitize non-Muslim peers and school staff to Islam and to establish an environment in which everywhere a non-Muslim turns, he notices Islam portrayed in a positive way, is influenced by it and eventually accepts Islam.' "Comments: (1) This is a total perversion of the American public space, a blatant effort to suborn it to serve Islamic missionary purposes. (2) Such an attempt by Islamists hardly comes as a surprise but rather complements their already in-place campaign to exploit textbooks and curricula supplements for da'wa purposes. (3) The "multikulti" spirit so prevalent in American schools today means that too many parents, teachers, and administrators find themselves virtually helpless to stand up to this assault on the traditional values of the public school." (Winston Mid East Analysis, 11/26 from Daniel Pipes.) Notice the sneaky Islamists subversion and the undermining of defense against it by a society used to tolerance and fair play and by political correctness! ISRAEL POLICY FORUM'S ADVICE TO MS. RICE The Israel Policy Forum, a US organization with ties to Israel's Labor Party (1) urged a vigorous US effort to bring the Palestinian Arabs to democracy and to peace with Israel. (2) Such a peace would diminish worldwide anti-Americanism. (3) The US needs other countries to help stabilize Iraq and fight terrorism. (4) The US should help strengthen the P.A. and to find new, moderate, and pragmatic leaders who would improve living standards "right away." (5) How will the P.A. do it? By ISRAEL's easing Arab movement in Judea-Samaria, allowing more Arabs to work in Israel, and releasing more funds to the P.A., provided the P.A. ends terrorism and resumes security cooperation. (6) Israel's unilateral withdrawal should merge with the Road Map to peace. (7) The US must be an "honest broker." (8) Parallel to the P.A. ending terrorism, Israel should fulfill its commitment to the US to "stop settlement activity." 1. IMRA remarks that "support active and sustained American efforts," for peace means "support American pressure on Israel". The Israel Policy Forum ignored P.A. non-compliance" with Oslo (IMRA, 11/28.) Its call for peace may be lip service. How can peace be made with fanatical jihadists? Why would peace only with Arafat's Arabs end the Arab-Israel conflict? 2. Much anti-Americanism stems from other issues. The price for reducing it - forcing Israel to give in to our common Arab terrorist enemies - is too high and is wrongful. 3. Other countries are not likelier to fight terrorism, because the US brings about P.A. statehood and, probably, a terrorist one, at that. An opportunity to make money in Iraq might. 4. Why does a Jewish organization care about the living standards of Arabs who relish the murder of Jews? Wouldn't a stronger PA. economy strengthen the Arab-Israel conflict, which is religious? What moderate P.A leaders? Each new leader is hailed as moderate by those whose agenda really is Jewish concessions. They argue that since the Arab leader is moderate (which he isn't), then Israel could make peace, and peace requires concessions to strengthen the moderates against the extremists. That means appeasing the extremists by fulfilling part of their agenda. It's a fraud. 5. What security cooperation? It was pretended so as not to admit that the Arabs engaged in jihad. We cannot trust the Forum or the State Dept. to attest that the Arabs have stopped terrorism. The Forum is biased against Israel and misunderstands the Arab-Israel conflict. The US falsely certified P.A. compliance with the Oslo accords. Compliance would have disarmed the terrorist militias. Since terrorist militias remain, the P.A. did not comply. Therefore the US lied. Hence the US cannot be trusted by Israel. Instead, Israel should grow up and defeat the Arabs. That means inspecting Arab traffic in Yesha, barring all P.A. Arabs from entering Israel, and withholding all funds from the P.A., as well as many services. It means letting the Arab standard of living drop, until the Arabs have to quit the area. Then there would be peace. 6. The Road Map would lead to war, by depriving Israel of strategic depth, secure borders, and major water supplies, without requiring measurable anti-terrorism by the Arabs. Nor should that part of the Jewish homeland be ceded to the undeserving Arabs, who have a vast homeland outside it. 7. "Honest broker?" We've just shown that the US is not that. Nor should it be. It should do the right thing and what is good for the US, which is to assist Israel against P.A. terrorism. 8. What is wrong with Jewish settlement activity, required by the Mandate? How dare the US have demanded it end, and not that Arab settlement activity end! The Forum probably wants the US to demand this one-sidedly of Israel, and make it seem a reasonable exchange for P.A. cessation of terrorism. Actually, the P.A. should end terrorism regardless of what Israel does. Instead, it may suspend terrorism without ending the war. The Forum wants Israel not to expand its communities as laying the basis for US pressure on Israel to terminate its presence at those communities. That is what its rationalizations are about - getting the Jews out, under the illusion that the Arabs would be satisfied with the territories. But the Arabs attacked Israel before Israel had those territories! 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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A LITTLE LIGHT GOES A LONG WAY
Posted by David Wilder, December 13, 2004. |
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Shalom. We are in the midst of Hanukkah - the holiday of lights. Today is also the first day of the new month of Tevet - as we say in Hebrew - Rosh Hodesh. Hanukkah is generally a happy holiday - eight days when we light the menorah, commemorating the miracle of the Maccabees, a minority which overcame a majority of their fellow countrymen and brought about the defeat of the Greeks, the USA of their day. We celebrate the discovery of a small tin of pure olive oil, enough for lighting the Menorah in the Temple for one day, but miraculously lasting for eight days. We observe the victory of true Jewish spirit and culture over that of the Greek empire, a civilization which brought foreign traditions and assimilation to Eretz Yisrael, leading to massive Hellenization of the Jewish people in Israel. In keeping with the spirit of the holiday, this commentary should be full of shining light, radiating with optimism and hope. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The events I am obligated to speak about today are quite the opposite. Let's begin with several events which occurred towards the end of last week. Our illustrious armed forces decided that Hebron's Jews had crossed the line of no return and decided to take action. Last summer, Hebron's children took upon themselves construction of, what we call in Hebrew, a 'pinat chai,' which in English, is roughly translated as a 'petting zoo.' The children, using their own money and their own two hands, constructed wire cages and purchased a variety of animals, including ducks, chickens, rabbits and the like. At one point they even bought a donkey. This project occupied them for days and weeks, and the site became a favorite of many mothers in Hebron, whose young children had much fun clucking together with the birds. Being that space is quite limited within the Jewish neighborhoods in Hebron, the children built their little zoo in an abandoned gas station, bordering the Beit Hadassah neighborhood. This gas station has been closed for somewhere in the vicinity of seven years, and very little of it remains. It was a perfect outdoors area for ducks, chickens and rabbits to roam around in. At least, so we thought. Unfortunately, Hebron's new military commander, Col. Moti Baruch, thought otherwise. Last week, after having been honored to light the first Hanukkah candle at Ma'arat HaMachpela, Col. Baruch, in the middle of the night, led his forces to the 'pinat chai' and ordered its destruction. The gates to the cages were opened and their occupants expelled. Then the troops went to work. It didn't take long to finish the job. Soon, the only remnants of the zoo were a few poor ducks, quacking away their frustrations. Why did Col. Baruch order the zoo's obliteration? Simply, because it was labeled 'illegal construction' in Hebron. A short time earlier the same force of destruction did their dirty work on a shack in the Avraham Avinu neighborhood parking lot. A Succah, built by one of the families during the Succot holiday, had been left standing and was used for storage purposes. The family, with three children, lives in a 35 sq. meter apartment, and needed a little extra room. However, Col. Baruch doesn't really care about families living in ridiculously cramped conditions. The wood Succah-shack was declared 'illegal building' and demolished. It should be noted that the demolition squad was accompanied by massive police and riot squad units, offering protection from the dangerous residents of Hebron - no, not the Arabs, rather the Jews. Now, a word about illegal building in Hebron. For months on end, even before Col. Moti Baruch appeared on the scene, Hebron's leadership has been attempting to halt massive Arab illegal construction in the area surrounding Hebron's Jewish neighborhoods. The previous military commander understood the problem and attempted to help us find solutions. However, Col. Baruch is of a different opinion. He doesn't see any problem with a massive influx of Arabs into the 'Jewish-controlled' section of Hebron, despite the obvious security dangers. For months Arabs have been illegally building and renovating abandoned property, yet the Jewish demolition squad is nowhere to be seen. In particular, the Arabs are building a 'mosque' on the main road between Hebron and Kiryat Arba, at a location crucially important to Hebron. This building has been officially recognized as 'illegal construction' but Col. Baruch doesn't have the necessary forces available to halt continued Arab work at the site. It seems that the only forces he has available are those who destroy Jewish zoos and shacks. These problems come on top of deteriorating security in the Hebron region. Last week a 16 year old Arab tried to kill Jews in Hebron by throwing a home-made bomb at a car in the city. Fortunately the bomb exploded in his hand, before he could hurl it. Several times over the past week Arabs have tried to stab Israeli security forces near Ma'arat HaMachpela. Thank G-d, these attempts have failed. However, the pattern is crystal clear, and we are certainly not happy about it. On a broader scale, we were hoping that Hanukkah would usher in another miracle which would witness the end of the Sharon fiasco. This too, didn't happen. To the contrary, it looks like Sharon will come out of the latest government crisis stronger than he was before, forming a new coalition with Labor, and probably Shas and Agudat Yisrael. In the meantime, the situation in Gaza isn't getting any better. Last night we lost five soldiers in an explosion of a tunnel underneath their outpost. This morning an Israeli engineer offered a unique solution to the problem of underground tunnels. He said that, just as walls can be constructed above ground to keep 'the bad guys' out, so too, walls can be built in the other direction, going down underground, offering protection from terror tunnels. In other words, the suggested new Israeli ghetto is bi-directional, with walls surrounding us from above and from below. Truthfully, while listening to this interview I almost decided to visit my local ear doctor, requesting urgent aid. Or perhaps I needed a good psychologist - I had to have been hearing things - voices out of the air, imaginary conversations. I just could not believe my ears. So, with all of this gloomy news, you ask, what's next. And the truth is, I really don't know. It might get worse before it gets better. At the moment, despite the holiday, there seems to be much more darkness than light. But, then again, that's what Hanukkah comes to teach us, that a very little bit of light can expel a tremendous amount of darkness. Try it. Put yourself in a totally dark room, without any windows or lights. Opening your eyes wide won't help. You can't see anything. Then, light a match - the darkness suddenly disappears. Much of what was invisible is quickly visible. It doesn't take much light - just a very little bit. I guess that's today's lesson - to ignite a small flame and watch it start to burn away the darkness, first slowly, but then blazing - just as we begin the first night with one candle, but reach the eighth night with eight candles. Remember - a little bit of light goes a long long way. Happy Hanukkah. With blessings from Hebron. David Wilder is spokesman of The Jewish Community of Hebron. You can contribute directly to The Jewish Community of Hebron, POB10, Kiryat Arba-Hebron 90100, hebron@hebron.org.il, 972-2-9965333 or write to The Hebron Fund, 1760 Ocean Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11230, hebronfund@aol.com |
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HANUKKA SPARKS OF HUMANITY
Posted by Women in Green, December 13, 2004. |
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This was written by Rabbi Stewart Weiss and appeared in the Jerusalem Post. Rabbi Weiss is director of the Ohel Ari Jewish Outreach Center in Ra'anana (jocmtv@netvision.net.il). Precisely when times are darkest, the Jewish soul shines its most brilliant light. In moments of our deepest despair, we have refused to give in to the Gloom, instead exhibiting a remarkable resiliency, resourcefulness and spirit of renewal. This was true in the throes of the Egyptian exile; it was true following the destruction of Jerusalem in Temple times; it was true in the aftermath of the Inquisition. When it appeared that our flame had flickered for the last time, we sprang back and rebuilt ourselves, much to the amazement - or chagrin - of the world at large. One does not have to read ancient history to discern the irrepressible Jewish spirit. We can see it reflected in the eyes of anyone who lived through the Holocaust. No one could have predicted that these tortured remnants of European Jewry would emerge from the ashes of Auschwitz to forge new lives, let alone build a State of Israel and defend it against all odds. Their heroism is the collective story of millions of individual acts of courage and hesed. My mother-in-law, who survived Auschwitz, relates how the women in her barracks would greet new arrivals in the camp, some of who had traveled more than 20 hours in cramped rail cars without food or water: While German guards watched their every move, they would kiss the newcomers on the lips, transferring a mouthful of water they had saved for them from their meager daily rations. In the hopeless squalor of the ghetto, the Jews of the Shoah maintained schools, clinics and heders until the very last moment. Parents insisted their children continue music lessons, and strangers were invited to share every centimeter of livable space. In the most hellish of circumstances, we never lost our hope, our dignity, our mentschlachkeit. The law of the jungle never became our law. But we don't even have to go back a half-century to see the light that has come pouring out of dark corners. Just look at all the amazing expressions of spirit exhibited by victims of the Palestinian Terror War. While some of the bereaved families have understandably been immobilized by depression and sadness, the vast majority of victims have chosen to build, create, and enlighten other lives in memory of their martyred loved ones. A small sampling: A suicide bomber in Tel Aviv blew up Yoni Jessner, a Scottish medical student studying in Israel, in September 2002. In his memory, scholarships are given by his family to other medical students to spend a year here to study. Young, beautiful, talented Malki Roth was murdered in the Sbarro massacre. In response, the Roths created Keren Malki, providing home care for seriously disabled children. Koby Mandell was only 13 in 2001, when his severely battered body was found in a cave in the Judean desert. Camp Koby now hosts hundreds of terror victims each summer. The Gideon family made aliya in 1988. In the course of their perilous journey from Ethiopia to Israel, nine of their 12 children perished. One of their only two remaining sons, Malato, joined the Nahal brigade's elite Palchan unit, and was killed in the 1997 helicopter disaster. His family built a synagogue in his name in Lod, and is now dedicating a Torah scroll in his memory. I would be remiss if I did not mention the efforts of my own wife, who directs the packaging and sending of food and gifts to IDF soldiers in the field in memory of our son Ari, also a member of the Palchan unit, who was killed two years ago in a raid on Hamas headquarters in Nablus. Jews who have faced tragedy and death know better than anyone how precious life is, and how short time in this world can be. And so an amazing percentage of those who have suffered most have decided to ease the sufferings of others and try to make this world a better place. In spite of - no, because of - all we have endured, we desperately want to create new sparks of humanity where others were extinguished. Not so our enemies, alas. While our suffering breeds love, theirs generates hate. Spurred on by cynical leaders, caught up in a culture of revenge, they revel in the violence and scream for more. It is telling that the Palestinians, despite all the billions taken in during their intifada, have not built a single hospital in any of the territories they control. Hospitals prolong life, an item that has not been high on their leadership's agenda. Ultimately, we will prevail in this battle of wills because, as Hanukka so clearly proclaims, even the smallest candle can dispel a multitude of darkness. Ruth and Nadia Matar established Women For Israel's Tomorrow (Women in Green), an activist group of women based in Jerusalem. Their website address is http://www.womeningreen.org |
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HAIFA LEFTISTS OPPOSE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TALKING TO MILITARY OFFICERS
Posted by Steven Plaut, December 13, 2004. |
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Israeli radicals call for prohibiting military officers from addressing high school students. A group of professors and other faculty members, mainly from the University of Haifa, and some communist party members, have published a petition (available in full in Hebrew at http://list.haifa.ac.il/pipermail/alef/attachments/ 20041213/eebefb1f/attachment-0001.dot) calling for a prohibition on allowing military officers to speak with Israeli high school students. Because high school students usually enter the army right after graduation, it is common for the army to open contact and dialogue with prospective soldiers while they are still in school, to help them find appropriate jobs and career directions while they are in service. The signatories denounce this as "militarization" of the high schools. The signatories demand that students be taught to pursue peace and ethics, and see speaking with military officers as contradicting the pursuit of peace. Some of the signatories are on record as favoring mutiny and insubordination by Israeli soldiers, and have called on them to refuse to do military service until the country adopts the policies advocated by Israel's Far Left. Among the signatories are
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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ANTI-SEMITISM MASQUERADING AS ART
Posted by Naomi Ragen, December 13, 2004. |
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This came from a list member. He comments on a news item from "The
Age", a Melbourne Australian newspaper
(http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/
Jewish-group-blasts-offensive-artwork
/2004/12/10/1102625519852.html?oneclick=true#
Naomi The Palestinians and their allies among the fashionable left have found a new way to broadcast their anti-Semitic message: publicly funded art exhibitions. And they're getting Australian taxpayers to pay for it. Note the justification by the dhimmi curator: all points of view have an equal right to expression. Once more, the "cycle of violence" obscenity, which we know so well from the BBC and CNN, equating the victim with the murderer. Why don't they do this in rape cases, I wonder, present the rapist's point of view as equally valid? "Jewish group blasts 'offensive' artwork" December 10, 2004 - 2:49PM Public art in Melbourne's CBD depicting dead militant Palestinian leaders has sparked an outcry from the nation's peak Jewish group. The Australian and Jewish Affairs Council has branded the artwork, which features the faces of two former Hamas leaders, offensive. The privately funded exhibition, on the exterior of an office building off a busy Melbourne laneway, depicts the faces of four Palestinians killed by Israelis. Two of the faces belong to former Hamas leaders, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin and Abdul Aziz Rantisi, both of whom were killed by Israelis. "I think that it is appropriately located at the end of an alley right next to the garbage cans," Australian and Jewish Affairs Council senior policy analyst Ted Lapkin said. "It's obviously a political statement, I can only surmise by someone who supports Hamas and Hamas is a terrorist organisation with the blood of hundreds of Israeli civilians on its hands." Mr Lapkin likened the exhibition, which is part of the City Lights project, to artwork depicting the Bali bomber, Amrozi. AdvertisementAdvertisement "Amrozi comes from an organisation that specialises in the deliberate killing of Australian citizens. What's the difference?" he said. But exhibition curator and director Andrew Mac said the artist was trying to bring attention to what could be called state sponsored assassination or terrorism. He defended the exhibition, saying it was important the public had access to a wide range of views. "I think that it is important we receive a diverse range of opinions and cultural comment from a wide variety of people," he said. "In today's kind of climate where media channels are controlled by fewer and fewer organisations, it is the role of artists to question information and provide critical and cultural comment." Earlier this year, a council-funded artwork critical of Israel's treatment of Palestinians was taken down after it was criticised by Jewish groups as an inappropriate use of taxpayer funds. But while Mr Mac had received council funding in the past, he said he had not received government funding for around two years. A Melbourne City Council spokeswoman confirmed the council had not contributed funding to the current exhibition. The exhibition, which has been on for two months, is scheduled to
be replaced next week.
Naomi Ragen is an American-born novelist and journalist who lives
in Jerusalem. She can be contacted at www.naomiragen.com, where you
can subscribe to her newsletter.
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JEWISH TOMBSTONES UNCOVERED BENEATH SILWAN DUMP
Posted by Arieh King, December 13, 2004. |
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This article were published in the Jerusalem Post August 1, 2004
by Etgar Lefkovits.
JERUSALEM (August 1) - A committee of Jewish residents from the Old City of Jerusalem has uncovered nearly two dozen 400-year-old Jewish tombstones from the Mount of Olives that were laying underneath a garbage dump in the adjoining east Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan. A 1930 aerial photograph of the Mount of Olives that the group acquired several weeks ago shows hundreds of Jewish graves in the area where the present-day Silwan garbage dump now lies. The group, Life in Jerusalem, received permission from the Burial Council to look for the graves. About a dozen youth volunteers have started digging up the earth in the area under the dump, and have so far unearthed 22 tombstones, the head of the committee, Arieh King, told The Jerusalem Post last night. Among the graves found was that of the famous 18th century Jerusalem rabbi, Yehuda Pepo, who was known as "Rav Peleh." "We haven't found even one-eighth of all the graves that are there," King said, adding that the group will continue its work next week. He said that the Arab residents have not given them any problems whatsoever, and were only puzzled why anyone would be looking through what is today a garbage dump. The oldest Jewish cemetery in the world, the Mount of Olives is the place where Jewish tradition holds that the resurrection of the dead will begin. |
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MORE INDICATIONS THAT GAZA IS ONLY SHARON'S FIRST STEP
Posted by Bryna Berch, December 12, 2004. |
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The State Department complains everytime a Jew builds ON HIS OWN PROPERTY in eastern Jerusalem. Willie Burns of the State Department told some 'good Jews' - the Peace Now crowd - almost a year ago that "the United States viewed new construction in parts of Jerusalem occupied in 1967 as settlement activity which was therefore 'inconsistent with the road map.'" because they want the Arabs to have that part of Jerusalem. Is Sharon and his gang waiting until Samaria and Judea are destroyed before they announce they are giving a large piece of Jerusalem to the Arabs? Of course the Arabs can continue to buy anywhere in Jerusalem while Arab-controlled areas become Judenrein. It looks like the Gaza Displacement plan is the start of a massive campaign to kick Jews out of Biblical Israel. Let's see: more than 200,000 Jews live in eastern Jerusalem; 250,000 Jews in Samaria and Judea; and aroumd 8,000 in Gaza. That's a hell of a lot of refugees that Sharon plans to create. This comes from today's Arutz-7 (www.IsraelNationalNews.com). The Sunday Times of London reported today that Labor Party leader Shimon Peres "believes that Ariel Sharon will eventually be prepared to withdraw" from much of Judea and Samaria - not just Gaza. The Sunday Times writes that Shimon Peres feels that Sharon will "eventually be prepared to withdraw from more West Bank land than the small amount designated in his disengagement plan." Peres is on the verge of leading his party into a unity government with the Likud - a government in which Peres will have a major say in diplomatic affairs. Peres explained to the Times that Sharon has "accepted the vision of President Bush which includes the declaration of a Palestinian state," and that such a state cannot be created with the presence of the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. The logical conclusion, according to Peres and the Times, is that Sharon agrees that "tens of thousands of Jewish residents" in Judea and Samaria must be expelled from their homes. The question of the future of Judea and Samaria has been a point of contention between the Likud and Labor since Israel liberated these areas during the Six-Day War in 1967. The disagreement has largely been overlooked, though, in the drive to form a national unity government between the two parties. Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu (Likud) alluded to it in an interview with Voice of Israel this morning, and said that the Likud must be on guard to ensure that Labor's position does not win the day. "Mr. Peres is already looking beyond the disengagement from Gaza," Netanyahu said, "towards a return to the 1967 borders and the division of Jerusalem. Labor has apparently not learned very much from the dismal failure of Oslo. In any event, the Likud will have to stand very strongly on its principles, namely, no return to 1967 borders and no division of Jerusalem." Netanyahu may be waging a losing battle. As reported on Arutz-7 last week, there have been other indications that Sharon and the U.S. do not plan to stop in Gaza. Elliot Abrams, director of the U.S. National Security Council Middle East section, told American Jewish leaders in Washington not long ago that the US demands that Israel evacuate and abandon all Jewish communities behind the anti-terror partition fence. "It's clear to us that in the end, the settlements on the other side of the partition will be dismantled," Abrams said. He explained that the Americans will support Israel's retention of "settlement blocs" only if Israel uproots everything else in the Biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria. Close colleagues of Ariel Sharon indicate that the Prime Minister shares these positions. Former Herzliya Mayor Eli Landau told Arutz-7 over three months ago that Sharon's withdrawal plan "would eventually take Israel all the way back to the anti-terrorism partition fence." Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, as well, has been saying for a year that Israel will have to withdraw from many areas in Judea and Samaria. MK Yitzchak Levy (National Religious Party) told Arutz-7 today, "It's totally obvious that if he can, Sharon will continue withdrawing from more and more areas." He noted that residents of Gush Katif and northern Shomron are purposely being directed only to the Galilee and the Negev, and not to other areas of Judea and Samaria. |
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'HOW TERORIST PROPAGANDA KILLS' AND GEORGE BUSH
Posted by Dafna Yee, December 12, 2004. |
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The recent article, How Terrorist Propaganda Kills by Rachel Ehrenfeld (http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/authors.asp?ID=579), pulls the usual twist of facts. The statement demonstrates that FrontPageMagazine has, as usual, managed to point out how it is bad to work on the creation of a "Palestinian" state as the solution to peace in the Middle East and completely ignoring the fact that that is EXACTLY what George W. Bush is doing - and has been doing - all along!": "Tony Blair and the Europeans are focusing their attention on the creation of a Palestinian state as the magic formula for peace in the Middle East. At the same time, they are turning a blind eye to the growing propaganda and fundraising campaign on websites and TV stations in their own countries. Every single one of their comments about Blair and the EU can be applied directly to Bush and his "vision" as well as members of his Administration. I, for one, am disgusted with the blind devotion that allows them (and others like them) to continue to proclaim Bush as the "greatest friend to Israel" while ignoring every single statement and action taken by Bush to further his stated "vision" - to "create two states, Israel and Palestine, living peacefully side by side." Bush's "vision" is more than a fantasy; it is an oxymoron! I challenge anyone to show me how Bush's "vision" is in any way different from the plans of Blair and the Europeans to create "a Palestinian state as the magic formula for peace in the Middle East." Or how Bush insisting on "Palestinian" elections with "moderates" composed of anyone who was ever associated with Arafat or his Palestinian Authority, as well as demanding that Israel "stop its 'illegal' settlements" (and "stop humiliating the Palestinians") can ever bring about peace! For that matter, I'd love an explanation of how Bush's "peace" differs in any way whatsoever, from the Leftists who brought about the Oslo debacle, except that Bush picks and chooses which Muslims are his enemies and which (who he proclaims are the majority) are "really wanting peace and justice for all men". (From Bush's speech to Turkey: http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p= washfile-english&y=2004&m=June&x= 20040629081619frllehctim0.1081812&t=livefeeds/wf-latest.html) You can find the same theme of the "good Muslims" throughout every one of Bush's statements about the Middle East including every one about the "Palestinians". Maybe then someone will explain to me how Bush's push for "taking advantage of the new opportunities for peace" since Arafat's death differs in the slightest from the "Road Map" which he has been pushing for four years. Or how that "Road Map" with its accompanying "Quartet", along with Sharon's despicable "disengagement plan" which is part of the whole concept, can possibly bring peace to Israel or even to the "Palestinians". Anyone who condemns Blair and the EU for promoting terrorists with their "peace initiatives" but supports Bush's "vision" can rightly be called either blind or hypocritical. Maybe both. Dafna Yee is director of JWD - Jewish Watch Dog (http://jwd-jewishwatchdog.home.comcast.net). |
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TODAY GAZA, TOMORROW?
Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, December 12, 2004. |
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Today this is happening in Gaza. As soon as the PLO has a free hand it will do the same in all of Israel. This is a DEBKAFile special report published today: http://www2.debka.com/article.php?aid=950 It is entitled "Top Gaza General Leads Combined Palestinian Force in Rafah Crossing Assault." It's about how Gaza`s Palestinians joined to hit Israel under its military commander. A ton and a half of high explosives smashed into the Israeli military compound at the Rafah border crossing into Egypt, injuring 11 Israeli soldiers, four critically. The mighty explosion erupted from a secret 800-meter long tunnel, the longest the Palestinians have dug so far. The charge was divided into three parts - each placed under one of the structures of the Israeli position. The triple blast, detonated by two suicide bombers, was followed by long salvos of Palestinian mortar and gunfire to make sure there were no survivors and to impede rescue operations. At least two terrorists dived into the damaged buildings on a killing rampage among the wounded. One was killed. More bomb traps waylaid rescue teams rushing to the scene. By then dark had fallen, adding to the havoc. But one man remained trapped under the debris. Homeland front and engineering unit experts were brought in to raise the heavy blocks and bring him out, as helicopters and drones hovered overhead to secure them. Ongoing Palestinian fire crossed the border to Kerem Shalom whose residents rushed for shelter from the flying anti-tank missiles. In a single week, Palestinian terrorists have carried out 42 attacks in the Gaza Strip and against Israeli locations outside. But DEBKAFile's military sources report that the strike against the Rafah crossing was no run-of-the-mill Palestinian terror attack such as Israel has endured for decades, but a meticulously-planned military operation in which a battalion-scale force was deployed. The border crossing into Egypt was chosen by planners aiming at a number of targets: 1. Israeli soldiers. 2. Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon's plan to disengage from the Gaza Strip and remove settlements. 3. Prospective Israel-Egyptian security collaboration. 4. Mahmoud Abbas' chances of succeeding Arafat in the January 9 election. His near-murder in Gaza City last month did not frighten him off 5. Sharon's new coalition government and its commitment to his disengagement plan as an element in a future accommodation. 6. US president George W. Bush's Palestinian policy. For weeks, Israeli forces in the southern Gaza Strip had been braced for a tunnel blast at the Rafah crossing, the only exit point for Palestinians living there. The troops closed the crossing to hunt for an underground passage and warn the Palestinians that an attack at this sensitive point would hurt them by halting their regular traffic between Gaza and Sinai and Egypt. But then world media images of suffering Palestinian women and children denied access to their homes on the other side of the border had their effect. The certain warnings by Israeli officers that a bombing attack was in the works went unheeded. Under the threat of "a human catastrophe," Israel reopened the crossing with no guarantee of non-attack demanded from the Palestinian Authority, its presidential candidate, prime minister or other officials - or even from local Palestinian commanders who commune regularly with Egyptian and British intelligence officers. General Mussa Arafat, who knows the exact location and function of every smuggling tunnel from Sinai was not warned off; neither was Egyptian intelligence minister Omar Suleiman who spends hours talking to Hamas and Jihad Islami leaders asked to mediate. The gateway to Egypt swung open to Palestinian traffic unconditionally. From that moment, the countdown began for the strike against the Israeli military position at Rafath. It ended Sunday night, December 12 in the largest military assault mounted so far in the four-year Palestinian war. No single terrorist group, whether Hamas or Fatah, would have been capable of an action on this scale, nor would their operatives have commanded the logistical, intelligence and financial resources to carry it through. Who orchestrated the assault and timed the explosions and the mortar fire? This question jars harshly amid the new wave of optimism over the prospects of peace and the apparent decline in terrorist attacks gripping top-level Israeli politicians. The fact that Palestinian fighting elements are constantly improving methods, regrouping and learning from past mistakes is damped down by the euphoric atmosphere generated by the impending entry of dovish Labor to the Sharon coalition and the high hopes riding on Mahmoud Abbas' expected election. But Sunday night, all the Palestinian terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip proved they could work together under a single commander. DEBKAFile's military sources name him as 62-year old Khan Younes-based Palestinian brigadier general Saib Ajez, a veteran officer of the moribund commando-trained Palestinian Liberation Army and the best tactical brain the Palestinians have. He has 20,000 men under arms at his disposal. The rank and file are members of the Palestinian General Security Service, but their disciplined hard core is made up of Fatah, Hamas and Jihad Islami units in Rafah, Deir el Balah and Khan Younes. This unified force Ajez deployed last May to repulse the IDF's first offensive against the smuggling tunnels of Rafah. The attack is his way of saying that, even if Abbas is elected in the West Bank, Suleiman continues his conversations in Cairo, Sharon builds a new government and pulls every last Israeli out of the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian war will not be touched. It will go on in Gaza, inevitably ignite the West Bank and, even if the Israeli army quits every last inch of Palestinian-claimed land, subterranean passages burrowed under the borders and security fences will carry Palestinian warfare into Israel's heartland. General Ajez has no interest in a cushy job in the future Abbas administration or pats on the back from Brussels. He has undertaken the mission of carrying out Yasser Arafat's legacy. Therefore, while peace diplomacy may begin in Jerusalem, Cairo and Ramallah, the Palestinians dedicated to violence are determined to bomb the palaver into silence - exactly as they have done before. They are sure they will have the last word. Aryeh Zelasko lives in Beitar Illit, south of Jerusalem. He is Director of Sales and Marketing of Israel Visit (www.israelvisit.co.il) which provides information and an internet buying facility for American visitors to Israel. |
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TARABISHO AND THE TELETUBBIES
Posted by Dafna Yee, December 12, 2004. |
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This was written by Angela Bertz, who lives in Israel.
Please keep in mind that the "Palestinians" who are promoting Tarabisho to their children are the same people who Bush claims are going to elect a democratic leader so the non-existent "peace process" can move forward. They are also the same people who will "inherit" the homes and land of the "settlers" in Gush Katif if Sharon's despicable "disengagement plan" takes place. Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa Laa and Po are Teletubbies. Everyday of the week these oversized and colouful creatures come out to play, beaming out their message to millions of little children around the world. Their message is a simple one; they love each other, hugging is great and hey if you want to play your parents up just a little bit at bedtime, well that's ok. Tarabisho is a talking chick. He's cute and yellow and wears a little black hat. He beams out his message to thousands of little Palestinian children. In blaring contrast to the Teletubbies this talking chick's underlying motive is not about love and being nice to your parents. In fact this rather putrid piece of poultry is used as a tool to poison the minds of little children. It spews out Palestinian propaganda designed to brainwash impressionable young minds. This talking chick was once the center of a discussion on the importance of trees. The moderator of about 12 asked Tarabisho the seemingly illogical question of what he would do if someone, specifically "a little boy" were to chop down his trees. Tarabisho plumped himself up to his full 20 centimeters and in a squeaky little voice these were the words that came out of his vile little mouth. "I'll fight him and make a big riot; I'll call the whole world and make a riot. I'll bring AK-47s (assault rifles) and the whole world; I'll commit a massacre in front of the house". This delightful little show appeared on Palestinian T.V. on October 22, 2004. "Al-Kihta" or "Al-Kua" is a Palestinian term used to describe locally manufactured hand bombs. As'ad 14 still keeps his amputated finger that he lost while playing with one of these contraptions. He stares at his hand that was seriously disfigured in the incident and says "I want to keep it. It is my finger". As'ad is not the first casualty from this cottage industry and tens of children have lost their limbs or even their lives from these bombs. A commander of the terrorist organization Al-Aksa Martyr's Brigade has denied reports that their organization has any intention for children to participate in military resistance activities. He went on to lament that the reason behind so many injuries to children is that some resistance fighters have been known to store explosives in certain areas frequented by children. It would seem that it is then purely coincidental that these children then play with them. Rami another victim of these explosives had three finger amputated. He knows the materials are dangerous, but goes on to say; what can we do. This is the only thing remaining for youths to do. Abdullah Quraan was 11 years old when he arrived at a checkpoint near Nablus. He attracted the attention of the Israeli soldiers. The bag on his back seemed too heavy for him to carry and there were wires dangling outside. They stopped the young boy and discovered a bomb weighing 8 kilos. The terrorist's that had planted the bomb in the boy's bag were watching from a distance. Not enough that these people have no moral conscience when it comes to the indiscriminate killing of innocent Israeli civilians, they don't even have any towards their own children. When they realized their plot had been foiled they dialed a cell phone in the bag, which had it rung would have detonated the bomb, killing both the child and the soldiers. Fortunately there was a fault preventing the bomb from going off. Abdullah was relieved of his bag and the bomb was safely detonated. It transpired that the terrorists had given this child approximately $3.35 to carry the bomb across the checkpoint. Had he succeeded it would have been handed over to be used for the mass murder of countless innocent people in Israel. This is the cheap price of Palestinian terrorism where innocent children are literally "a dime a dozen". On the 22nd of September, 2004 "Alfatah" the Hamas children's newspaper showed a picture of a pretty Palestinian girl on the front page of their magazine. The picture intended for children shows this young girl with her severed head lying on the ground under the caption. "Suicide bomber Zainab Abu Salem. Her head separated from her pure body, and her Ra'ala (Moslem head scarf) remains to decorate her face. Her place is in Paradise, where in the highest heavens, Zainab ... sister (who has been raised to the level) of men". This heroic young woman was on her way into Israel to commit mass murder. Only the alertness of two young Israeli soldiers, barely older than this brainwashed young woman and just out of basic training prevented a far worse massacre. Both of the young boys lost their lives while confronting her. She was turned into a cult hero. This year Sky news had access to a Palestinian summer camp. No capers in the pool or frolics on the basketball court for these children, some of them as young as 10 years old. The camp, at an undisclosed location was run by a group called the Popular Resistance Committee. They said that the next generation of Palestinians needed to know how to fight the Israeli occupation and activities centered round drilling these youngsters in the ways of war. Many of these children were dwarfed by their AK-47 assault rifles as they were taught to carry out ambushes. One of the camp highlights was an obstacle course where children were made to crawl under barbed wire and leap through hoops of fire, while live bullets were fired overhead by their instructors. At the end of the course the children received certificates. On October 12, 2000 two Israeli reservists took a wrong turn and ended up in Ramallah. Seeking refuge in a police station it was soon taken over by a blood thirsty Palestinian lynch mob. These dehumanized people turned on the two men with almost unbelievable savagery. They beat and stabbed the two men. The gouged out their eyes and literally disemboweled them. The highlight of this attack came when one of the ring leaders held up his bloodied hands to a cheering crowd. Almost two years later a kindergarten in Gaza took the much loved activity of hand painting to an almost all time low level of depravity. Beaming parents cheered ecstatically as their children, dressed in clothing to represent this Ramallah lynch mob held up little red painted hands at their graduation ceremony. The Palestinians use the media and especially television to indoctrinate their children in hatred. They promote violence and many of these children are given to believe that their greatest value in life is through their young deaths. Since the start of the Intifada in 2000 clips used to maximize intolerance and a longing for death have been used on an almost daily basis. They are beamed out continuously to thousands of impressionable youngsters. In Israel every mother longs for the day when she can say "My son the doctor". The height of every Palestinian mother's aspiration is to say "My son the shahid" (martyr). The PA has almost successfully removed every mother's natural instinct which is to protect their child at all costs. In September 2004 PA TV returned a once popular clip to their TV screens call the "Farewell letter clip". It teaches children to aspire to "Shahada" Martyrdom, calling it sweet. In this particular clip civilians are shown attacking Israelis with a hand grenade. The clip, to maximize the impact changes to slow motion as one of the attackers falls dead. His body is brought to his mother who kisses him, then raises her hand above her mouth to call out the traditional Arab call of joy. After this scene she dramatically hands the rifle firmly in the hands of her next son so he too can fight and die for this noble cause. Many of these mothers have been interviewed on PA TV and far from expressing their repulsion, speak proudly of their son's and how they can now walk with their head held high in the streets. They say it brings honour to the family and people will say as she walks the streets; "There goes the mother of the Shahid" Of course thousand of dollars, often donated by the Saudis go a long way in cushioning the blow as she now looks longingly in the direction of her other seven sons. These are just some of the examples of how the Palestinians have abused their children. They breed them in an atmosphere of intolerance, where a three year old has been so well brainwashed that when interviewed she said she hated Jews. What sort of society produces children of this age, who would normally only be able to express an opinion of hatred towards a certain vegetable or pair of socks. Yasser Arafat once said his best weapon was the Palestinian mother's womb. Golda Meir said "We can only have peace with the Palestinians when they love their children more than they hate Israel" From the 8th-10th May, 2002 a special Session of the General Assembly on Children convened at the United Nations. It was attended by a Palestinian delegation. The focus of their address to the assembly on May 9th was on the state of Palestinian children. They said that these children continued to be denied the rights guaranteed by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Declaration on the Rights of the Child. They went on to stress that this was the result of the continuing denial and violation of Israel, the occupying Power of even the most basic of their rights. One can only wonder from what planet these delegates were coming from and maybe a heavy dose of PA TV would have been a more appropriate approach at the United Nations. The UN, had they had anything better to do other than slap endless ridiculous resolutions on Israel, should have instead passed any number of much needed ones on the Palestinians for the blatant abuse of their children. Maybe the Palestinian delegates should start by insisting their own government reverses their campaign of 24/7 hate incitement, not just from their TV, but from their mosques, schools and homes. They have deliberately targeted these poor children to believe in nothing worthy, except the lies and this horrible death cult they have deliberately and systematically created for them. For this, Israel is blameless. They should make a start by taking Tarabisho, the evil talking chick out to a field at the dead of night, strap him with explosives and detonate him so he can talk no more. After that maybe the PA could take a leaf out of one of the trees that flourish in Teletubby land and allow their children the very basic right of every child - their innocence.
Dafna Yee is director of JWD - Jewish Watch Dog (http://jwd-jewishwatchdog.home.comcast.net). |
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PERVERTED DEMOCRACY
Posted by Ron Breiman, December 12, 2004. |
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* Prime Minister Sharon is disengaging: advancing the program for eviction of Jews from their homes, rejecting Zionist and Jewish values and the platform on which he was elected; * Finance Minister Netanyahu is capitulating yet again: sacrificing his economic program on the altar of "disengagement," violating the economic principles he has been preaching all along; * Opposition leader Peres is running wild, already promising further retreats; * The public has no idea of the price in security, in money, and in social costs that will be exacted by the program of Sharon's new leftist government. Professors for a Strong Israel rejects this perverted form of government under which a Prime Minister who was elected on a clear platform survives in office at the mercy of the opposition, who allow him to continue on condition that he implement their dangerous policies. We further declare that while the program of flight and eviction may be legal, it is wholly illegitimate. If another state were to ban Jewish residents and send an army to expel them, how would we react? If another state were to tax its citizens in order to fund this expulsion, how would we react? If another state were to give such strong support to terrorism, how would we react? Dr. Breiman is Chairman of Professors for a Strong Israel |
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THE CLARITY OF JONATHAN POLLARD
Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, December 12, 2004. |
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When a moral employee of a government finds himself forced to support or implement an untenable policy, he can resign. The concept of "just following orders" or even following them under protest is nonsense. Anyone on any level or at any function employed by an evil government supports and aids that evil. Please do not confuse evil with bad or misguided or just stupid. They are not the same. All Israeli governments have been some or all of that. Evil is a result of choice. This government is evil because they know full well that the consequences of their actions will lead to the murder of millions of Jews and the destruction of the State of Israel. However as long as they and their own come out unscratched (and with sizable profits from the exercise) they want it. That is evil. This is entitled "Jonathan Pollard's Open Letter to Chief Rabbi of The IDF" and comes from Independent Media Review and Analysis (IMRA) and is archived at http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=23182 IMRA can be contacted by email at imra@netvision.net.il To: Brigadier General Rabbi Israel Weiss, Chief Rabbi of the IDF
Dear Rabbi Weiss, As you know, our tradition teaches that a Jew does not sin unless he is afflicted by temporary insanity, a "ruach shtut". How else are we to understand why a G-d -fearing Jew like yourself, the Chief Rabbi of the IDF, would declare his support for orders to uproot thousands of Jews from their homes in the Land of Israel? I refer to your recent comments on IDF Radio supporting the evil disengagement plan and identifying secular military commanders and state officials as the ultimate authority which soldiers must obey. "Refusal to carry out orders is liable to bring about the collapse of the army and the end of the People of Israel's task," you said. "The army, the state is the authority." "We can't allow a soldier to do whatever he wants. This will bring a danger that the army will end its function and this nation will end its task," you declared. With all due respect, Rabbi, it is difficult to imagine that you truly believe that it is the state and the army alone which protect us and ensure our viability as a People! The Jewish People lived for 2000 years without a state and without an army, under the grace of G-d Almighty. It is only because of His lovingkindness and His will as expressed through the Laws of Torah, that we live in the Land today and continue to thrive as a People. When you visited with me 2 months ago, I told you that HaRav Mordecai Eliyahu, shlita, is my father. You replied joyfully, "We are sons of the same father! He is my father too!" You said that you consider HaRav Eliyahu to be your superior in Torah, and that before issuing any important Halachik ruling for the army, you first consult with him. Surely you are aware that HaRav Eliyahu has unequivocally declared that it is forbidden for G-d -fearing soldiers to obey orders to uproot Jews from the Land! HaRav Eliyahu has ruled that it is better for soldiers to sit in prison than to take part in the expulsion of Jews from their homes. Rabbi Weiss, in light of your apparent disregard for the psak Halacha of your own rabbinic superior, how can you expect thousands of soldiers to rely on you? In my dealings with Jewish leaders over the past 20 years, it is clear to me that often Heaven raises a man up to a position of power and authority not as a reward, but as a test. It is obvious that in this lifetime, G-d has placed you, of all men, in the unique position of being able to single-handedly defeat the immoral disengagement plan. You, amongst all men, can say "No!" to disengagement, and in so doing, support thousands upon thousands of soldiers to do the same! No other rabbi living in the Land today, is in such a powerful position as your are, in regard to this issue. Just as good government never depends on laws, but upon the moral character of those who govern, so too an army depends not upon specific orders, but upon the personal qualities (midot) of its leaders. The functioning of the army is always subordinate to the will of those who administer it. The most important element of an army is who its leaders are. And Torah is the software that transforms it into a Jewish army. Without our divine software, we are nothing but machines and uniforms. Rabbi Weiss, it appears that you are now being tested as both soldier and rabbi. You must now choose between your officer's commission and the yoke of Torah; between serving G-d or serving man. Your choice will set the model for all G-d -fearing soldiers. It will also determine whether your name is revered for all generations as the rabbi who stood up to secular power in defense of the Land; or, G-d forbid, remembered as the rabbi who betrayed Jewish soldiers into defaming Torah and desecrating the Land. Therefore, I plead with you to retract your statements regarding the disengagement plan! It is imperative that you issue a new ruling in harmony with the psak Halacha of HaRav Mordecai Eliyahu. Retracting now, especially since it is Chanukah, would be a great kiddush HaShem, in the best tradition of Mattityahu HaMaccabee himself. I implore you to act now in the tradition of Gideon, of Yehoshua Bin Nun, and of Yehuda HaMaccabee! Be a Jewish warrior in defense of the Land! Say "No!"to disengagement! Kavod HaRav, by retracting your previous position and openly encouraging soldiers not to participate in uprooting Jews from the Land, you will create a powerful model of Tshuva not only for the soldiers but for all of Israel. You will bring relief to the Nation and honor to the Israel Defense Forces. As it is written in Tehillim: "Some trust in chariots, some trust in horses; but we rely solely upon Hashem, our G-d!" As upholders of Torah we know that G-d and G-d alone is the ultimate authority for a Jew. Respectfully,
Aryeh Zelasko lives in Beitar Illit, south of Jerusalem. He is Director of Sales and Marketing of Israel Visit (www.israelvisit.co.il) which provides information and an internet buying facility for American visitors to Israel. |
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WASHPOST REPORTS ISRAELI SOLDIERS ROUTINELY ABUSING PALESTINIANS
Posted by Robert G. Samet, December 11, 2004. |
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Friends:
The Washington Post continues to publish exaggerated and downright false reports asserting that Israeli troops are inflicting a steady stream of "horrible" and "shameful" abuse upon Palestinians, including the killing of Palestinians with "impunity." According to the Post, Israeli soldiers not only kill Palestinians with impunity, but they then "routinely abuse the bodies" of the dead Palestinians. Below is our latest Media Alert about an article in The Post on Saturday, December 11, 2004. It can also be viewed on our Web site at http://www.eyeonthepost.org. Please let The Post know you are opposed to this type of slanted news reporting, and please forward this Media Alert to as many people as you know who have an interest in anti-Israel bias in the media. Most people don't appreciate the extent of the Post's anti-Israel bias, and this is a good example of the type of unethical reporting that has become typical of The Post. You can extend our reach in educating the public by helping to disseminate this report. War conditions inevitably create isolated instances of abuse. It is the job of a civilized society to investigate, punish the perpetrators and attempt to root them out. Israel does that. The Post continues to publish the serial exaggerations and distortions of Molly Moore in which she falsely portrays such abuses as routine in the Israeli military's treatment of Palestinians. (Israeli Soldiers' Testimony Supports Claims of Abuse, Top General Vows Probe of Alleged Wrongdoing, 12-11-04, A16) Ms. Moore peppers today's article with a handful of isolated but well publicized instances of abuse previously or currently under investigation, and intersperses them with her own overstatements, as well as quotes from agenda-driven individuals and organizations known to inflate and overstate their claims: "... soldiers who contend that the long conflict is undermining basic concepts of decency in the Israeli Defense Forces." " ' These are not exceptions, but the reality itself ...' " " ' Horrible and shameful as it is, this is the normative situation.' " " ' They don't understand the occupation has corrupted the soldiers and changed their mode of fighting. It's not fighting against an army, but policing among populations.' " " ' The IDF is compounding the problem because of the impunity with which soldiers kill Palestinians without proper investigations.' " "... the first photographic evidence of allegations that Israeli soldiers routinely abuse the bodies of Palestinians killed during army operations." We have no doubt that there are instances of abusive conduct by soldiers. The lie is in Ms. Moore's depiction of it as routine or commonplace. She makes no attempt to provide context by reporting the small number of soldiers involved in such incidents or by contrasting that figure against the size of the Israeli military and the length of the conflict. In quoting only a few politically active soldiers, she makes no attempt to report the views or facts as seen by the majority of soldiers. This false suggestion that widespread dissidence is surfacing in the Israeli military is magnified in the headline itself, which proclaims: "Israeli Soldiers' Testimony Supports Claims of Abuse." Ms. Moore virtually ignores the investigations that have found improper conduct and have resulted in severe disciplinary action, but doesn't hesitate to unquestioningly note that "[c]ritics contend that the Israeli military has a poor record of investigating and prosecuting allegations of wrongdoing by soldiers." She broadcasts her deception of routine abuses not only through this article, but by repeating over and over again the same several incidents widely reported in the news in recent times. We note above that Ms. Moore throughout this article "quotes from agenda-driven individuals and organizations known to inflate and overstate their claims," but in reality she and her employer have joined them. We urge you to send your opinion of this type of unethical reporting to The Washington Post. Letters can be sent to: Bo Jones, Publisher, The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, DC, 20071 (email: jonesb@washpost.com). Donald Graham, Chairman, same street address (email: grahamd@washpost.com). Leonard Downie, Executive Editor, same street address (email address: DownieL@washpost.com David Hoffman, Foreign Editor, same street address (email address HoffmanD@washpost.com) Please BCC feedback@eyeonthepost.org with your letters and email. Robert G. Samet is Chairman, Eye On The Post, Inc. Please send your contributions to: EyeOnThePost, Inc., Carol Greenwald, Treasurer, 5600 Wisconsin Ave, Suite 108, Chevy Chase, Maryland 20815 If you'd like to work with Eye On The Post, please write to us at feedback@eyeonthepost.org. For further information, please call 301-468-2726, and please visit our web site at http://www.eyeonthepost.org. |
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FRENCH AMBASSADOR ACCUSES ISRAEL OF HAVING "ANTI-FRENCH NEUROSIS." NEUROTIC?
Posted by Gabrielle Goldwater, December 11, 2004. |
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To French Ambassador in Israel
Ref.: French Ambassador accuses Israel of having "anti-French
neurosis" (*) Geneva Switzerland - 12 December 2004 Mr. Ambassador; As Yves Charles Zarka, a French philosopher and analyst, has written: "there is taking place in France a central phase of the more general and mutually conflicting encounter between the West and Islam, which only someone completely blind or of radical bad faith, or possibly of disconcerting naiveté, could fail to recognize." Mr. Ambassador would you call such words as - Anti-French - Neurosis as well - despite being totally factual? The Nation France - where it's Diplomats and Politicians pursue the legendary old French style of politics we are confronted with on a daily basis, wonders why they turn up in daily Journalistic reports. Sir are YOU Naive? Who in fact suffers the Neurosis? If there was ever anybody in desperate need of the prosaic couch treatment for plenty of Neurosis's - plenty of serious dysfunction's - Frankly speaking it's France. Typical example:
Chirac, who had visited Arafat days before his death, called him a "man of courage and conviction who, for 40 years, has incarnated the Palestinians' combat for recognition of their national rights." [And we are still waiting for France to assure that the fraudulent certificates of Arafat's birth place in his death certificate will be legally corrected] http://goldwater.mideastreality.com/2004/nov/11_18.html If anything is Neurotic or worse - rather SICK - it is hailing the oldest terrorists - Arafat, the man who since Hitler has installed in a people's mind that Jews must be killed - that the Nation of Israel has no right to exist - haling such mass murderer of humanity - including his very own people he would lynch - as a man of courage and conviction - Mr. Ambassador - if anything is NEUROTIC and SICK - and such blasted out into the entire world - from President Chirac - then such statements are qualifying for the term of NEUROTIC. Mr. Ambassador; It has always been a mystery to all of us why the French think they are superior about anything, especially when it comes to the fact that they have spawned or been affiliated with some of the greatest mass murderers in history. French universities educated many of the worlds most vicious and sadistic genocidal tyrants, including Pol Pot. And there's a reason why the intellectual leaders of the Khmer Rouge have been called "Sartre's children." The French also have their hands drenched in blood in their relations with the fascist Baath regimes in both Iraq and Syria. They are actually helping to reinstall same right now on French soil. What's the deal on the French? There appears to be something quite morbid and pathological here. In the 20th century, Ho Chi Minh and Pol Pot both learned about Communism when they were students in Paris. The founders of the Baathist Party that instituted secular police
states in Saddam Hussein's Iraq and Hafez al-Assad's Syria also went
to school in France. France fertilized the soil in which modern-day totalitarianism grew. In which the base of terrorism was able to have their first teachings and still has. The notion that France has ever been a steadfast ally is a pernicious myth that serves French interests, not ever in reality Europe - never ever Israeli nor American ones. To the contrary they are as Anti-Israel and American as they can be. Mr. Ambassador ....... If anything is NEUROTIC - this is; Irresponsible France; Jacques Chirac of France (and Gerhard Schroeder of Germany), two of the most inept, and incompetent leaders in the modern history of Europe, have asked the European Union to lift a ban on arms sales to China (the Bejijng dictatorship, not the Taiwanese democracy). The reason is very simple: they - esp. Chirac (France) need new customers for their arms industry now that their best customer, Saddam Hussein, is gone. In December 2004 - Chirac sells out France to China. During a recent, much publicized, trip to China, Chirac declared that "France and China share belief and wish in common for a just and peaceful world, stable economic development". This said from the man who supported Saddam Hussein (and countless other mad dictators) to the regime that is still occupying Tibet and Turkestan, that has annexed Hong Kong against the will of its people and that wants to annex Taiwan against the will of its people. Basically, France is selling out centuries of western science and technology in exchange for hard cash that France desperately needs. One can recognize Chirac's old style. He did the same with Saddam Hussein, who was mostly armed by France (from the MIG warplanes to the nuclear technology). In fact the very arms that murder now daily American and coalition troops. Except that this time the beneficiary is China, a much more powerful enemy of freedom. No other western leader has ever been accorded such prominence by the Chinese regime; possibly because no other western leader has even been so naive - or shall we say vicious and desperate to run with the big despots again and again. Mr. Ambassador - now that's what is NEUROTIC behavior Ms. G. Goldwater (*) Menahem Rahat, "French Ambassador accuses Israel of having 'anti-French neurosis'" http://www.maarivintl.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=article&articleID=11963 Gerard Araud complains Israel accuses France in almost any incident. "Every anti-Semitic graffiti in Paris gets major headlines here," he protested. French Ambassador to Israel Gerard Araud unleashed an unprecedented attack against Israel this morning. In an interview with Army Radio, the senior diplomat said, "I think you have an anti-French neurosis. You just love to hate France." Araud complained that the Israeli government spared no chances of accusing France. "Every anti-Semitic graffiti in Paris gets major headlines here," he said. Araud criticized Israeli journalists in general and singled out comedian Eli Yatzpan in particular, whose mission, according to the ambassador, is to ridicule France. "Everyone knows that Yatzpan has chosen France as his usual target, and he is always making fun of the people of France," he protested. Yatzpan responded, "The patrons of the Arab states always know everything. They preach morality to everyone, perhaps because they know French and English, so it sounds better. Definitely not- it sounds like shit!" Gabrielle Goldwater can be reached at her website http://goldwater.mideastreality.com or by eamail at iii44@aol.com She lives in Geneva, Switzerland. |
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ISLAMIC TERRORISM AND PUBLIC RELATIONS
Posted by IsrAlert, December 11, 2004. |
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This article was written by James Dunnigan. It appeared December 11, 2004 on the Strategy Page website and is archived at http://www.strategypage.com/dls/articles/200412112.asp Nearly all international terrorism is basically religious violence by Islamic radicals. The cause of the terrorism is not poverty or politics, but the paranoia of Islamic clerics unable to deal with increasing social change. It is the Islamic clerics who are preaching and supporting the terrorism. There are far more poor Hindus, Buddhists and Christians in the world, yet the terrorism is mainly by Islamic radicals. This pattern is no accidents. Many of the terrorist attacks are encouraged, supported and financed by Islamic charities and wealthy donors in the Persian Gulf. Another major source of funding, Arab migrants in Europe and North America, has been greatly reduced by police action, and repugnance at the attacks made by the terrorists. Moreover, the solicitations in Europe and North American increasingly played down the possibility of the money supporting violence. But the charities have not been able to cover their tracks. Last weekend, German police carried out raids on 34 sites believed to be part of the Al-Aqsa organization. Al Aqsa has long collected money for Palestinians, but police investigations revealed that much of the money went to terrorist activities by the Hamas organization in Israel. Cracking down on donations from individuals in the Persian Gulf is more difficult. Terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia have made it unpopular to give money to terrorists inside the kingdom. Yesterday's attack on an American consulate in the port city Jeddah was the first major terrorist operation in Saudi Arabia in seven months. It was a spectacular failure. No Americans were killed, and most of the dead were Saudis. Moreover, two of the five attackers were captured. This puts those who helped prepare the attacks at risk. Since al Qaeda attacks began in Saudi Arabia last year, the government has shown that it is capable of dealing with terrorism. Soon after the first attacks, the government released a list of the "26 most wanted." Since then, 17 of the people on that list have been killed, captured or surrendered. Parents of some of these terrorists have gone on television and publicly denounced their children. But the key to the government success in anti-terrorism is the network of tribal friendship and obligation that the royal family uses to control the country. This network, nourished by frequent meetings with tribal leaders, and members, is replicated by the police, who can always invoke a tribal chief, or Saudi prince, to get information. The Saudi police will often bumble around like Keystone Kops, but they are rarely ill-informed about what is happening on the street. Terrorists in Saudi Arabia must spend a lot of their time staying away from the cops, and police informers. Many al Qaeda attacks have been aborted because the police were on to it. A police visit to parents and tribal leaders would often be enough to discourage the terrorists. Although Saudi Arabia is the main source of Islamic conservatism, most Saudis are not willing to overthrow the monarchy (which Islamic radicals consider not Islamic enough), or support terrorism in their own country. Killing foreigners overseas is still considered OK. Terrorists are also learning that mass murder is bad PR. The Basque ETA group in Spain has resumed attacks, but in two instances of multiple bombings this month, they used low power bombs, and called in warnings. As a result, no one was killed, fewer than twenty were injured, and the terrorists made their point without being tagged as monsters. In Saudi Arabia, al Qaeda is trying to emulate this tactic by just attacking foreigners. But this does not work because so many Saudis work with foreigners. And the foreigners tend to have better security, meaning that attacks are more likely to kill Saudis. What really makes the Islamic terrorists fearsome is that they are willing to kill themselves while making their attacks, and their goal is world conquest. To attain their goal, they are willing to kill millions. The Islamic terrorists are not very efficient, or numerous. But they are real and they are trying. And they might just get lucky again like they did in September, 2001. Harv Weiner, a businessman in Dallas, Texas, is the founder and moderator of Isralert. To subscribe to IsrAlert, send an email to isralert@aol.com |
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MIRACLE ON 15th STREET: HANNUKAH ANGELS
Posted by Carrie Devorah, December 11, 2004. |
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The first night of Hannukah, a miracle took place yards from the White House back gates. Just before the holiday torch was lit, three pictures were taken capturing two blue images ascending from center of Friends of Lubavitch's Menorah, skywards to the right. They were not planes. Nor camera flashes. Or lightning. Or sprites. Blue Angels. Eve of Hannukah, an erroneous email swept the Internet stating President George Bush would be lighting the holiday's first candle on a Menorah built by a Florida congregation in memory of Israeli terrorism victim, Noam Apter. President Bush, was at California's Marine base Camp Pendleton, seen by the world. One frame from the three shot at the Ellipse, was posted hours later on Joseph Farah's worldnetdaily.com. Around 1:00am. First response, from a professor, was cynical. "This is cool! While I was looking at it another UFO appeared, and then another! How'd you do that?" I offered to send the raw images. He apologized, "I now realize you are serious," "I thought you were joking," mentioning something about images able to be produced in Photoshop. A friend, a former airtraffic controller wrote, "I've seen some unexplained things on a radar scope." A Vietnam Vet offered, he requests in his prayers, "for God to send angels to care, minister, and protect individuals and He does." Believers were buoyed. "This is awesome." Farah forwarded an email to me with this note, "I've gotten many of these..." from readers responding to my photo accompanying his article. "Angels Photographed Over Nation's Capitol" addressed my mystery blue images taken at DC Chabad's outdoor menorah lighting, asking "Is it strange that seven candles were lit on the menorah on the first night of Hanukkah" I makes me wonder when the picture was taken. It is something to consider. Thank you." Of course, even during the holiday of miracles. I arrived late at the Ellipse. I thought Friends of Lubavitch was lighting the holiday's first night candles at 6:00. Or was it 5:00. I couldn't remember. I read Rabbi Shemtov's Menorah Lighting poster outside CVS earlier in the week, distracted by an out-of-place PLO flag flying in Dupont Circle park. The last time I saw Rabbi Levi was Rosh Hashanah, partaking in his New Years "Big Tzimmes." A family tragedy in January was bringing me back to tradition. That night at the Rabbi's, was the first time in a long time I had been inside a shule. Best I could do was hold the machzor, holiday prayer book, tight and cry, crying harder as I walked home. Alone. Angels appear in all sorts of shapes and guises. At the Big Tzimmes, one revealed himself in the form of a developmentally challenged man, talking without a care in the world as to who I was, how I looked, just happy to chat. I listened, all the while thinking about a man I grew up with, whose soul soared in the realm of challenged youth and adults. As moments moved forward, I eased being chatted to, ducking the occasional spit tossed in course of his excitability sharing his day and his world. I had met Rabbi Levi before. Twice. At the White House Faith Based Initiative conference held at "the Hinckley Hilton," amongst industry insiders, the industry being politics. Ironic the spot where Reagan was shot would be the venue the White House chose for it's first conference seeking bringing God in the community closer to government. Rabbi Levi recalled my 2003 Hannukah Ellipse photo capturing Chabad's Menorah outsizing the National Christmas Tree. That was the first time we met. My intention had been to drop workout gear off at my gym before heading to the work. Somehow I sidetracked on to the Elliptical machine. Fifty minutes later, back on the sidewalk, I picked up my pace. Nearing Lafayette Park, skies darker than I expected, I heard Z'mirot, Jewish holiday songs, ringing out from behind the White House. Admittedly later than I wanted to be, my consolation was Hannukah's holiday affords eight photo opportunities, one each night celebrating the miracle that took place in the Temple for eight days. I was delayed crossing G Street. The Metropolitan Police officer said either al-Yawer or King Abdullah from Jordan was staying up its block. Crossing over F, I ended up on the wrong side of the wood and linked chain fence, despite tracing the path I used to get into the photographer's pen, earlier in the week, while covering the National Christmas tree lighting. I arrived in time to hear Rabbi Levi introducing the Three Rabbis last song before licht benching, candle lighting accompanied with the holiday blessing. With no hope of climbing either fence to get into shooting position, I took the advice of the armed officer standing in front of me, "Walk around." There is one thing you don't do in DC. Debate officers. I hiked. Coming around the National Christmas tree barrier, I saw Lubavitch's menorah, eerily backwashed in floodlights, two candles appeared as if stems of blackness reached from them for the sky. The Three Rabbis concluding, Rabbi Shemtov was inside the cherry picker being raised to light Hannukah 2004's first flame acknowledging a thousands year old miracle of "the few over the mighty." My larger camera still packed in my backpack, I popped one shot from the distance with my wide angle lens. Too far off, I strode through the grassy mud to the menorah's base, popping three more shots in sequence, with no hope of making it all the way back to the snapper's pen. I raced, front of the menorah alongside the Marine Navy band, calling out "Hi Rabbi" as Shemtov and his guests reached the pinnacle, lit the candles and my taking a 2004 "larger than the Christmas tree" menorah shot. Savoring Chabad's jelly donut and latkes, I headed home. I almost forgot about the backlit menorah pics. The one I selected to edit had strayed to my main screen. At first I thought the blue zig-zags on the images were from a bounced flash. I hadn't used mine. There was no one near me when I snapped away in the night's blackness. The only tall structure was the Washington Monument, "picture left," identified by its two red lights. Planes? I looked again. Closer. Then sent the image out with a note attached. Maybe it is "M" time. There are the moments when simanim, signs, appear. In Exodus 13:21, it is written, "And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night." Like this first night of Hannukah, alone, nibbling my jelly donut, missing being amongst people who know me, "the sister recovering from loss," I felt like I needed to sink, somehow letting this year swirl past. Ten months now, there is not a day I do not feel Chezi's presence. It will never seem real. We mourned the latter of our obligatory Seven Days, in Beitar Ilit, my brother's community. I received, there, a perspective on dying I carry with me each day. And share. The murdered are being called Home, invited to join Hashem, God. Understanding their work is done on earth. It is less painful for loved one's left behind I am finding, to consider our loved ones, are the Chosen. In the case of Chezi, my brother, and Noam, leaving us earlier than we thought of or expected. It is the "not saying goodbye" that remains. I found myself explaining to my Vietnam Vet friend my expressing, after Chabad's candle lighting, I wanted to be beamed up Star Trek style. I think he understood I accept the Lubavitcher Rebbe's saying "when we leave this earth, we are released to be with all of our loved one's at the same time." I wanted to be everywhere. With my mom in Canada, my boys in LA and NY, Chezi's kids in Israel and my soulbeat in Florida. The next morning, due diligence began with calls to the Pentagon, the FAA and following up on Lee Bailey's email to Joseph Farah about sprites. "Nothing of ours," said the Pentagon. Bailey wrote, "Looks more like the new form of lightning scientists started getting photos of back in the 90s, what they are calling 'sprites'. Electrical fields that surge straight up to the edge of the atmosphere and space. They thought they were only with thunderstorms at first, but now they are seeing that they can form anytime. They are so fleeting that they are gone within split seconds, so getting three frames of the lights is quite amazing. She should send it into a scientific group studying lightning." I emailed Bailey's recommendation, Berkeley. Harland Frey, of University of California's Space Sciences Laboratory, responded, "As I never want to say 'never' I call it very unlikely that these lights could be sprites. The major reason is that you took three images... Sprites are sometimes called 'transient luminous events' because they only last for 1-5 milliseconds. And having three of these short light pulses in a row and captured by your photo camera, appears impossible. In addition, most sprites emit red light, and so called 'blue jets' are rather rare... Moving airplanes could be another explanation, but the shape is not right, and I doubt that two planes would fly so close together (except military formation)." The third night of Hannukah, I sent Mr. Farah, an explanation for readers confusing flame shaped glass globes with lighting torches, in the 21st century entertainment arena of outdoor menorah lighting at the Nation's Capitol Ellipse. The miracle of the Holiday is the flames die out naturally. Blowing out a flame is like snuffing out a human life. 1014 in the recent Intafada. That same evening, in the Booksellers Area in the White House, President George Bush and First Lady Laura, lit a sterling silver Menorah brought from Florida's Boca Raton synagogue, to the third Annual White House Hannukah Reception. The intimate affair was limited to guests- New Jersey's Kol Zimra choir, the children and wife of senior Jewish chaplain in Iraq with Hawaii's 84th, Captain Shmuel Felzenberg, Boca Raton Synagogue Rabbi Kenneth Brander and Rabbi ShemTov. Unknown to White House media affairs, Israeli press said, an administrator at Noam's school, Otniel Yeshiva, told Israel NN's Ezra HaLevi "the Florida congregation had taken a tour given by Noam shortly before he was murdered." The same hour America's president lit Boca Raton synagogue's Hannukiah, memorial menorah commemorating the murder of 23 year old Noam Aptor, slaughtered in cold blood saving classmates by refusing to turn the school's dining hall key over to Arab terrorists disguised as Israeli military, a "convoy of light" linked across Israel by a string of cars and buses, from Sa-Nur, in northern Shomron to Gush Katif's Gan-Or, the territory Sharon ordered relinquished. The President words, "Chanukah: the burning of a lone flask of kosher oil for eight full days in the Temple, and the victory of the 'few against the many' in the Maccabee clan's revolt against the massive trained army of the Syrian-Greeks," weighing throughout the world, why Hannukah is, in these days and times remindful of politics thousands of years old. Shy two months of our family's year of mourning coming towards closure, a miracle happened in the District, on 15th Street. Two victims of Palestinian terrorism represented Israel, this Hannuka in Washington, DC. Noam, by a menorah. Chezi, by me. I took a deep breath, reflecting on the words I sent out with the picture, originally, "... in a year of loss and gain, maybe it is "M" time... decide for yourself... if angels came to DC. (http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=41819)" As for me, forever the rose-colored eyeglass-wearing Saggitarian, I look at the picture Mr. Farah cropped from my photo. I'll spin my Hannukah dreidle, my traditional wooden top, wishing for "M" time. That I can live with. A siman, a sign, of Chezi, of Noam, of hope, all will be well. Carrie Devorah is an investigative photojournalist based in DC. Former religion editor of "Lifestyles" Magazine, her areas of focus are faith, homeland security and terrorism. Devorah is the sister of Jewish Press columnist Yechezkel Chezi Scotty Goldberg, victim of Egged Bus 19 bombing, 1-29-04. Goldberg was a noted psychologist with expertise in at-risk youth. |
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A PHOTGRAPH OF JOSEPH'S TOMB IN SHECHEM (NABLUS) IN 1900
Posted by Yuval Zaliouf, December 11, 2004. |
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Dear friends, I hear and read it all the time: The Zionists colonized Israel after WWII, expelled the "indigenous" "Palestinians," and stole "their" lands. These false impressions are now well set in the minds of all those who are gullible enough to swallow this foul Arab-Palestinian propaganda. Friends, these are lies! How do I know? Because I was there and nothing can be further from the truth. Here are the facts: 1) Jews always lived in the Holy Land. 2) The first modern-era Zionists arrived in Israel in the late 19th century. 3) Except for some city dwellers, as in Jerusalem, Haifa, Jaffa, Nazareth, the Holy Land was completely barren, uncultivated and uninhabitted. 4) No indigenous people existed on the land. Only caravans of nomads crossed it on occasions. Read the very accurate description by Mark Twain in his book The Innocents Abroad. For instance a description of how they walked thirty miles without seeing a person in any direction. Thirty miles in Israel is a long distance. 5) The early Zionists started to cultivate the devastated land, set up communities, dried the swamps, gathered the rocks and stones and transform the land into the blooming country it is today. 6) These actions by the Zionists, and from 1917 by the British, brought about an influx of labor-seeking Arabs from neighboring Arab countries and from as far as North Africa. 7) Most of these Arabs and their descendants are today those the world and the media refer to as the "indigenous" population, but they have not been there longer than the Jews and the Zionists. This, my friends, is the truth. When I was a child in Israel in the 1940s, the country was still mostly barren. Photos of the Holy Land from my grand parents' time (I am eighth generation Israeli born) show it very clearly. I possess quite a few photos of Israel around 1900. The clear evidence jumps out at you without mistake. Today Nablus is built up and full of Arabs. It surrounds the Tomb. But this is a photo from http://keveryoseph.tsel.org of the Tomb of Joseph in Shechem (Nablus) from 1900. This gives a very good illustration of what was there 100 years ago when the Zionists arrived: NOTHING!!!  So, please, learn your facts and teach the truth. Do not let Arab propaganda cheat you. Your Truth Provider,
Yuval Zaliouk writes the Truth Provider columns. To subscribe, send
an email to ynz@netvision.net.il
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BUSH PLANNING OFFENSIVE AGAINST ISRAEL?
Posted by Voice of Judea, December 10, 2004. |
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SHARON'S DISENGAGEMENT WILL NEVER SATISFY THE ARABS OR THE AMERICANS. IS BUSH PLANNING A MAJOR OFFENSIVE AGAINST ISRAEL? Sharon might be able to sell his disengagement debacle to some feeble members of his party by assuring them that the plan will now create final facts on the ground that will be accepted by the international community. However, there is every indication that his plan will only increase pressure on Israel to surrender more land. Elliot Abrams, director of the National Security Council Middle East section and his recent clarification on this matter is further proof that the Americans consider the surrender of Gaza and the Northern Shomron as a first step in the direction of a complete withdrawal from all of Judea, Samaria and parts of Jerusalem. Abrams controversial comments were made when speaking to American Jewish leaders recently. They were visiting Washington when Abrams told them, "It's clear to us that in the end, the settlements on the other side of the partition will be dismantled." Abrams, considered a pro-Israel element in the American government, said that the US has no plans to be satisfied merely with the uprooting of the Jewish presence in northern Samaria and Gaza. He explained that the Americans will support Israel's retention of "settlement blocs" only if Israel uproots everything else in the Biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria. Of even greater concern to pro-Yesha elements is a statement uttered just yesterday in a session of the Knesset Law Committee. Itamar Yaar, a senior figure on Israel's National Security Council, said outright, "The goal of the disengagement plan is to bring about a new reality, a permanent arrangement in which there will not be Jewish settlement in these areas [Judea and Samaria]." Voice of Judea Commentary: We have said all along, that the alleged security fence will turn into the new Auschwitz borders of Israel, and Sharon's plot of disengagement will simply be Gaza and Northern Shomron first, the rest of Judea and Samaria next, and then Sderot, Ashqelon and Tel Aviv. It is not as if the Arabs and the Americans are hiding their piece by piece strategy. Bush agreed to shelve his Road-Map to Auschwitz baby because it is much easier to allow Sharon to begin the dismantling of Jewish homes and the expulsion of Jews on his own than to try and force him to swallow everything at once. Even a man with the appetite of Ariel Sharon and with better than average swallowing skills, would have a hard time swallowing the whole roadmap in one gulp. For the Americans and Arabs they are simply putting Israel in a mode of surrender, building momentum and precedent for the big kill. After all, if Sharon is giving away land and expelling Jews when there is no pressure and no deal, he will be expected to move forward when there is a new "make believe" peace agreement and when there is intense pressure to continue. We can now better understand the timing and the context of the recent FBI set up of AIPAC which was clearly sanctioned by the Bush government. Bush is planning to make good on his strong pledge and commitment to British, Arab, other European and Pakistani diplomats. Bush fully intends on honoring his promise to get very involved in imposing a settlement upon Israel and the "Palestinians". I believe Mr. Bush when he says he will be making it a priority. Those who fall over themselves praising the pro-Israel, Born-Again President Bush don't seem to get it: Bush just loves Israel to death. No pun intended. However, he loves America and his diplomatic ties with the rest of the world even more. And he loves his war on global terrorism. We all know the truth - that Europe and the Arab and Muslim allies will never be true allies against Islamic terrorism. However, Bush feels that he needs them to isolate the extremist elements in the Muslim world. As the congressional findings in the 911 commission attest, Israel was a key factor that triggered Bin Laden's terror rampage. Bush erroneously believes that he will only be able to win his global war against Islamic terrorism by sacrificing Israel. Bush, who is perceived as Israel's greatest friend, is the only man who can get Israel to make the types of surrender that the international community expects. Ironically, Israel could not be worse off and the timing could not be any worse. Sharon is the only politician in Israel who could get away with quelling rightwing opposition to his plan, because he is perceived as the great nationalist rightist war hero. And Bush, who is perceived as the best friend Israel ever had is the only world leader who could get away with entrapping Israel to make the necessary suicidal concessions. The timing of the AIPAC setup is no coincidence. AIPAC is Washington's top pro-Israel lobby. The Jerusalem Post reported Sunday that the FBI directed a Pentagon official to give the two AIPAC staffers intelligence about alleged dangers facing Israeli agents in northern Iraq, which AIPAC's Rosen and Weissman later allegedly shared with Israeli officials in Washington. The Arab world, the Europeans and the Americans are about to launch an unprecedented diplomatic offensive to slice Israel down to size. Sharon is walking right into the trap. Nobody will be there to argue Israel's case now that AIPAC has had their wings clipped off. AIPAC leaders will be expected to sit quiet and watch their own backs, so as not to be accused of wrong doing and of dual loyalty during the most critical time when they will be needed most. AIPAC leaders have received the message loud and clear: Don't make too much of a fuss for Israel during the upcoming months. Big brother is watching and may not be particularly sympathetic to pro-Israel elements who voice any harsh criticism of Washington policy at this time. I KNOW THESE WORDS WILL BE HARD FOR OUR PATRIOTIC AMERICAN JEWS TO HANDLE. It is much rosier to believe that Bush loves Jews and Israel and that he will always be our savior. It is much easier on our wishful Jewish brains to play intellectual and mystical acrobatic mind games with our selves in the hope of concluding that Bush has lied to Europe and to everyone else and that in the end he will not make good on the promises he has made to them to secure their support for his war in Iraq. However, in the end logic wins out. Israel needs to do that which is good for Israeli interests. And it is clear that there are conflicts of interest between Israel and the United States. It does not matter if we think that Israel and the U.S. should stand alone against the rest of the world. What matters is what America thinks. And America is not prepared to stand alone with the Jews. They would much easier sacrifice the Jews. So lets stop fooling ourselves. During the Holocaust the Americans would not make minor changes in their immigration quotas and they were thus partners in the annihilation of millions of Jews. America may be a great country and may be the greatest haven for Jews outside of Israel. However, America is America, and it would not be wise to expect the Americans to do more for Israel and the Jews than the Jews are prepared to do for themselves. And that which was is not always that which will be. Israel must stop placing their faith in America and in man-made gods. Israel must place her faith in the G-d of Israel and stand proud and strong, ready to stand alone and ready to take all of the necessary steps to secure her G-d given borders. Israel must make it clear to the world: We expect nothing from anyone. We will fight for our survival. We will never surrender our land. Those who help us will be blessed in every sense of the word. This policy might lead to partial or complete isolation. That is fine. It is better to stand alone and to know where we stand, than to fall like fools with some false perception of togetherness. The disengagement plan must be stopped! If anybody thinks that by Sharon giving away Gaza he will hault future U.S. pressure - they are only kidding themselves. SHARON GAINS SUPPORT OF PARTY TO DISENGAGE - HOW TO STOP THE DISENGAGEMENT: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon overcame a major hurdle in his quest to withdraw from Gaza and parts of the Shomron when the Likud Central Committee voted to allow him to enter coalition talks with the opposition Labor Party. Are you against the surrender of Gaza and the Shomron? If so - you might want to read the following plan sent out by "The Referendum For Israel": Listen closely because time is running out. Sharon, the bulldozer is moving ahead to forge a coalition with Labor. The Likud party is backing him. The situation must be reversed quickly! To subscribe to Voice of Judea emails, send a request to jsid@dorsai.org |
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IF YOU'RE GOING TO BOYCOTT ISRAEL - DO IT PROPERLY!
Posted by Barry Shaw, December 10, 2004. |
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OK. So I understand that you are ticked off at Israel, and in love with the Palestinians. That's fine with me, as long as you have truly weighed up all the facts. So, you want to boycott Israel? I'll be sorry to miss you, but if you are doing it - do it properly. Let me help you. Check all your medications. Make sure that you do not have tablets, drops, lotions, etc., made by Abic or Teva. It may mean that you will suffer from colds and flu this winter but, hey, that's a small price for you to pay in your campaign against Israel, isn't it? While we are on the subject of your Israeli boycott, and the medical contributions to the world made by Israeli doctors and scientists, how about telling your pals to boycott the following..... An Israeli company has developed a simple blood test that distinguishes between mild and more severe cases of Multiple Sclerosis. So, if you know anyone suffering from MS, tell them to ignore the Israeli patent that may, more accurately, diagnose their symptoms. An Israeli-made device helps restore the use of paralysed hands. This device electrically stimulates the hand muscles, providing hope to millions of stroke sufferers and victims of spinal injuries. If you wish to remove this hope of a better quality of life to these people, go ahead and boycott Israel. Young children with breathing problems will soon be sleeping more soundly, thanks to a new Israeli device called the Child Hood. This innovation replaces the inhalation mask with an improved drug delivery system that provides relief for child and parent. Please tell anxious mothers that they shouldn't use this device because of your passionate cause. These are just a few examples of how people have benefitted medically from the Israeli know-how you wish to block. Boycotts often affect research. A new research center in Israel hopes to throw light on brain disorders such as depression and Alzheimer's disease. The Joseph Sangol Neuroscience Center in the Sheba Medical Center at Tel HaShomer Hospital aims to bring thousands of scientists and doctors to focus on brain research. A researcher at Israel's Ben Gurion University has succeeded in creating human monoclonal antibodies which can neutralise the highly contageous smallpox virus without inducing the dangerous side effects of the exisiting vaccine. Two Israelis received the 2004 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Doctors Ciechanover and Hershko's research and discovery of one of the human cells most important cyclical processes will lead the way to DNA repair, control of newly produced proteins, and immune defense systems. The Movement Disorder Surgery program at Israel's Hadassah Medical Center has successfully eliminated the physical manifestations of Parkinson's disease in a select group of patients with a deep brain stimulation technique. For women who undergo hysterectomies each year for the treatment of uterine fibroids, the development in Israel of the ExAblate 2000 System is a welcome breakthrough, offering a non-invasive alternative to surgery. Israel is developing a nose drop that will provide a five year flu vaccine. These are just a few of the projects that you can help stop with your Israeli boycott. But let's not get too obsessed with medical research, there are other ways you can make a personal sacrifice with your anti-Israel boycott. Most of Windows operating systems were developed by Microsoft-Israel. So, set a personal example. Throw away your computer! The Pentium NMX Chip technology was designed at Intel in Israel.
So, due to your complete boycott of anything Israeli, you now have poor health and no computer. But your bad news does not end there. Get rid of your cellular phone! Cell phone technology was also developed in Israel by Motorola, which has its biggest development center in Israel. Most of the latest technology in your mobile phone was developed by Israeli scientists. Feeling unsettled? You should be. Part of your personal security rests with Israeli inventiveness, borne out of our urgent neccesity to protect and defend our lives from the terrorists you support. A phone can remotely activate a bomb, or be used for tactical communications by terrorists, bank robbers, or hostage-takers. It is vital that official security and law enforcement authorities have access to cellualr jamming and detection solutions. Enter Israel's Netline Communications Technologies with their security expertise to help the fight against terror. A joint, non-profit, venture between Israel and Maryland will result in a 5 day Business Development and Planning Conference next March. Selected Israeli companies will partner with Maryland firms to provide innovation to the US need for homeland security. I also want you to know that Israel has the highest ratio of university degrees to the population in the world.
Relative to population, Israel is the largest immigrant absorbing nation on earth. These immigrants come in search of democracy, religious freedom or expression, economic opportunity, and quality of life. Believe it or not, Israel is the only country in the world which had a net gain in the number of trees last year. So, you can vilify and demonize the State of Israel. You can continue your silly boycott, if you wish. But I wish you would consider the consequences, and the truth. Think of the massive contribution that Israel is giving to the world, including the Palestinians - and to you - in science, medicine, communications, security. Pro rata for population we are making a greater contribution than any other nation on earth. We can't be all bad..... Barry Shaw writes the "View from Here" columns. He can be reached at netre@matav.net.il |
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IMMIGRATION: SHARON MARK OF INSINCERITY; BUSH CAME HALF THROUGH FOR ISRAEL
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, December 10, 2004. |
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PRIMITIVE EMOTION VS. REFLECTION ON IMMIGRATION
In the past few thousand years of every inhabited continent, what stands out as typically human is imperialism. Incas, Aztecs, Zulus, Persians, Arabs, Greeks, Romans, French, English, Germans, Russians, Chinese, and briefly the Yankees - all and more sought to expand personal rule or national domain. First they seek national unity. Then they strive to dominate other nationalities. It manifests, I believe, a similar territorial imperative to that exercised by other specials. I think it explains some of the exodus to the suburbs. Peace, cooperation, and trade would have maintained prosperity. War brought bankruptcy, destruction of civilizations, yes, some broadening of ideas, and population declines. Of course, with prosperity sometimes came population explosions and resulting ecostructure collapse. Did French kings ever question their drive to expand their borders? The problem is that humans are ruled by primitive emotions more than thy like to admit. They find it difficult to change course. The world changes, but perceptions are slower to change, and policy even slower. As a systems analyst, I used to ask employees why they performed duplicative steps in some processing. They said because that was always how it had been done. There was no reason for doing it that way now, if ever. It never occurred to them to question their procedure. With management backing and theirs, I revised procedure. In politics, change is more difficult and not always constructive. Consider immigration policy. There are advantages and disadvantages to allowing immigration into the US. I think that the disadvantages far outweigh the advantages, with some exceptions. That is not the point, here. The point is how our country considers the issue. The usual way of coming to a conclusion is to support what is in one's immediate and personal interest, as one understands it. This selfish way may cause a great loss of national interest, which affects the person adversely. US Jewry, being rather civic minded, is less likely to vote selfishly, as they understand the issues. It is one thing for proponents of immigration to suggest that immigrants bring in skills we need and better work habits than some of us possess. That is a rational argument. I find much of the argument for immigration is that we always had immigration, and we, ourselves, are the grandchildren of immigrants. How absurd to suppose that the conditions that made a policy useful in the past will persist indefinitely! It is like keeping on drinking a glass of water, because one has just drunk a glass. One would drown from the surplus. So, too, the US is drowning in pollution and overpopulation, leading to ungovernable big urban entities. Consider political correctness applied to immigration. Political correctness is a kind of blind self-righteousness. It causes poor policy-making, stifling creativity. Although adocated primarily by liberals, it, itself, is conservative in setting up sacred cows. Nevertheless, it carries on, without much contradiction. It is based on assumptions never analyzed in a scholarly way. One such false assumption is that all peoples are equal in social development. The highest goal is not to discriminate. I think that the highest goal is to discriminate, when that discrimination is necessary to enforce the first law of nature, which is self-preservation. To preserve Western civilization and our lives, we must fight off jihad. That means barring and reversing Islamist immigration, lest it bring in jihad and paralyze our fight. It means barring and reversing all Muslim immigration, because Isam is the seed bed of Islamism. It means considering Islam more as a war society with a religious flavor than as a religion with some more militant members. The likelihood of such consideration is low, given the tenacity of self-defeating political correctness and the persistence of naivete. We were more prudent during WWII and the Cold War, when we did not let in flood of Nazis and Communists. We knew they would be subversive. We know not, now. SHARON'S TRIAL BALLOON LETS CAT OUT OF THE BAG Deputy PM Olmert is at it again. Again he is taking a more radical position than does PM Sharon. Olmert's proposals serve as trial balloons for Sharon. This time Olmert is suggesting that the controversial withdrawal from Gaza and a part of Judea-Samaria is just the first of several. He did not state how far the government intends to unravel its strategic depth that way (Arutz-7, 11/25) nor why the Gaza withdrawal wasn't proposed as just a down payment to the undeserving Arabs. Although PM Sharon seems to have forgotten his skill as a military strategist in behalf of Israel, he seems to be offering his skills in strategy in behalf of the State Dept.. Rather than show his hand at the outset, he must be planning a series of withdrawals, so that the first does not so distress people as to guarantee its popular rejection. The Right tried to warn the country. The difficulty in warning Israelis is right-wing lack of access to the media, which is leftist and censorial. The justice system threatens with imprisonment for "incitement" whoever exposes the Sharon plan's danger to national security. POLLS OF P.A. VOTERS The news from Israel includes frequent and varying polls of potential P.A. voters. My usual complaint about political polls is that a campaign hardly has begun, when pollsters descend upon an electorate whose earliest opinions are premature. These polls prompt candidates to withdraw before they have had the opportunity to address their constituency about the issues. For Israelis to take an interest in polls of P.A. voters is less warranted. In the P.A. monoculture, it hardly matters which terrorist takes charge of the war on Israel. Barghouti might rally more murderers, whereas Abu Mazen might appear, only appear, more moderate, as an excuse for foreigners to support him. The tone and the timing of incitement to murder and riot might vary, but both would continue jihad. Neither is likely to allow another election to shorten his tenure. HOW MUCH DOES COUNTER-TERRORISM PROMPT TERRORISM? Ethicists studying the differences in ethical values of the protagonists in the Yesha war found that before Israeli counter-terrorism, terrorism was supported by 95% of the Arabs in Yesha. After Israeli counter-terrorism, with its inevitable accidental deaths of civilians, support for terrorism was 96%. In other words, the counter-terrorism did not much increase terrorism. (The opposite was true. The counter-terrorism greatly reduced terrorism by killing many of the terrorists who otherwise were trained to conduct raids. It generated popular Arab resentment against terrorism because it invoked Israeli raids.) Israeli counter-terrorism finds that in this kind of war, the ethical differences between the two sides are paramount. There are no battle fronts and borders. The enemy does not come out and face Israel with organized units. Terrorists wear civilian clothes, making it difficult for Israel to differentiate them from non-combatants. There are not the usual objectives of holding a hill, capturing a town, or defeating an armored column. Victory sometimes lies in thriving against the enemy attempt to wear one down. (That is too static a goal for me, especially against the Islamist enemy that murders for the sake of eliminating unbelievers.) The enemy fights outside the rules of warfare. For example, terrorists take cover behind their own civilians. Israel has to decide what rules it finds both ethical and effective. (It usually chooses ethics over effectiveness. I wouldn't. When it let the Hamas leadership escape, because it used a smaller bomb in order to minimize collateral casualties, it permitted more terrorism, which lead to the deaths of Israelis, quite a few and worthier than the Arabs, imbued with hatred and doting on terrorism.) Israel seeks the methods least likely to cause collateral damage, although international law authorizes fighting more fiercely. Israeli troops take risks when they warn the population to evacuate from a proposed battle zone. The devisers of the code went into great detail, setting complex standards, as in a Talmudic discussion (IMRA, 11/25). Impressive, but it helps the Arabs war of attrition. WHAT IS CALLED "EDUCATED? Terrorism recruits well from among more educated folks. That brings into question what is "educated." I think that Americans make ethnocentric assumptions about matters such as education. They assume that what is considered as educated in other cultures is what is considered as educated in their own. It may not be equivalent. They erroneously assume that other cultures share their values about peace and tolerance. What is education? Omitting some of the finer aspects, it is a combination of training in analytic thinking, introducing knowledge and a skill and taste for acquiring more, and inculcation in values. Values may be neglected or distorted, knowledge may be false, and thinking may be non-analytic. Those problems afflict Arab societies, whose intellectuals, such as they are, bemoan them. W. European education seems to impart both more knowledge and more shame of its civilization than does the US system. US education, regardless of any rise in standards, is declining in worth to society. These problems are exacerbated when the media stresses non-analytic or stereotyped thinking, false knowledge, or extremist ideology, as happens in Arab and other dictatorships and even in the West. Most societies are unable to see the significant ways in which other societies differ from theirs. Neither do they readily understand how other societies perceive them. Often they comprehend other societies in a warped manner. I think the Arabs have become adept, however, at understanding Western society in ways that Arab strategists have been exploiting to disrupt. SHARON'S MARK OF INSINCERITY Why did PM Sharon come up with a plan for unilateral, allegedly partial withdrawal? He says that for lack of a negotiating "partner" among the Arabs, he had to find a unilateral solution. He does not explain how leaving the Arabs an area free of Israeli troops, one in which the P.A. may import and manufacture weapons and rebuild their terrorist forces, is a solution. He does contend that with this sacrifice of territory (and it would sacrifice lives, too, as do all of Israel's appeasement policies), Israel could annex areas of Jewish settlement in Judea-Samaria. In dealing with fanatics supported by the supposedly civilized world of Jew-haters, a sincere Jewish leader of minimal intelligence would not lead off with a major, unwarranted concession, in the hope that the non-existent decent leaders of this world will be touched by Jewish decency and agree to let Israel keep other territory that those leaders have spent decades demanding Israel relinquish to its mortal foes. Each Israeli concession leads to demands for more. The concession is tangible, but the anticipated reciprocity is mere hope. The Arabs never have reciprocated Israeli goodwill gestures. Jihadists don't. Sharon could be believed if he coupled the Gaza withdrawal with settlement annexation. Instead, he plans more withdrawals! ORTHODOX UNION'S UNORTHODOX STANCE The Orthodox Union convention consulted with rabbis about political and security aspects of PM Sharon's plan to abandon part of the Holy Land. Its initial reaction was to defer to "the democratically elected government of the State of Israel. "Exiled Atlantic" wondered why it did not consult with rabbis over the moral aspects of the plan (MEPF, 11/26). The plan violates a Torah injunction not to abandon parts of the Land of Israel. On this, no Jew should defer to the State, whether it be democratically elected or not, and it is not. Not with the foreign election funding and regimented media. Not with its non-constituency elections and now one-man rule, neither in its self-perpetuating, activist, leftist judiciary and prosecution and its secret police. The government also holds too much power over industry and most endeavors. It does not properly meet its responsibility to provide national security. Legally, the State has jurisdiction over the Territories. Actually, the Jewish people do. A small number of Jews had survived the various Christian and Muslim persecutions over the ages, but the population was replenished by immigration. The Zionist movement - largely comprising Diaspora Jewry - secured the world's recognition for the area to become a Jewish state, notably via Balfour Declaration and Mandate. The Mandate called for Jewish settlement on the land, not just in the part that due to the outcome of war, became the State. Mandate and State were set up for the ingathering of the Jewish people. It is held in trust by and for the Jewish people. The Jewish people need it and the Territories as a refuge. It is their patrimony, not just real estate belonging to the State. Most of the Jewish people reside outside the State, which has no right, especially under Jewish law, to cede their patrimony. Nor is the Jewish state under governance warranting defererence. The State of Israel does the most stupid things of any state I have ever heard! For example, Rabin and Peres turned over the names of its Arab agents to the P.A., which then liquidated them. After some were liquidated, those Israeli leaders turned over more names, because, on paper, which is worth nothing to the Arabs, there was supposed to be "security cooperation. How utterly naive! One could cite many other examples of Israeli stupidity, but why repeat previous articles. Let us acknowledge that the Israeli system produces mediocre but conceited, corrupt and blackmailed, Jewishly-alienated and appeasement-minded leaders. Israel's leaders should defer to the wisdom of Judaism, and not the scholars of Judaism to those assimilated ignoramuses. BUSH COMES HALF THROUGH FOR ISRAEL For his second term, Pres. Bush reset policy on the Arab-Israel conflict. He is pressing for P.A. reform rather than sending another envoy to ignite final-status negotiation between the P.A. and Israel, in order to build his own legacy on a (pretended) peace pact, by pressuring Israel. (Only Israel would be asked to sacrifice.) Apparently, Pres. Bush read Natan Sharansky's book that advocates democracy as enabler of peace, met the author, and adopted his recommendations. The Administration wants the P.A. to set up the rule of law, effective counter-terrorism, and fiscal transparency, before negotiating. When it negotiates, it should recognize Israel's claim to the areas of most of the Jewish communities in Judea-Samaria. But the CIA will oversee more of the P.A. police training (Eli Lake, NY Sun, 12/1, p.1) that got Israelis slain. The Administration made several consecutive and therefore reinforcing statements. This is a relief not only from what one had anticipated from Bush, but also from the likelier expectation that Kerry would have pressed Israel harder. Bush came only half through, however, because he still wants Israel to give, some now, some later, the rest of Yesha - its homeland, its strategic depth, its secure borders, to the Arabs - full of land, hostility, and aggression. A DAY AT THE "NY TIMES" Fatah is backing Abu Mazen's candidacy to head the P.A.. Steven Erlanger of the "NY Times" advises readers, "Mr. Abbas is a relative moderate who has consistently and publicly opposed violence as counterproductive to the Palestinian goal of a viable, independent state. Mr. Barghouti, like his mentor Mr. Arafat, supports violence as a tactic." Several Fatah leaders complained that the candidacy of Barghouti would split Fatah (12/3, A3). Mr. Erlanger leaves it up to rushed readers to think this through and to challenge as undemocratic the notion of an election in which if someone within an organization challenges the first candidate to emerge from it, he shatters it unity. Is conformity better than offering voters a choice? Oh, you think, telling them that would be commenting, not appropriate in a news column. You would be right, but then you should see that Mr. Erlanger did comment gratuitously about Abu Mazen, and it was false commentary. Mazen is an extremist who has consistently and publicly advocated violence, except for limited periods in limited areas, when and where it would be advantageous to jihad. The "Times" is misinforming readers. Perhaps Erlanger's excuse would be that he didn't call Abu Mazen "moderate" but "relative moderate." It would be a devious rationalization, because the term is meant to give the impression of moderation. In other words, Abu Mazen is an extremist who is clever enough to alternate among methods, so as to be more effective. That makes him not moderate but more dangerous a jihadist. Erlanger does readers a disservice in not reminding them that Abu Mazen was Arafat's right-hand man for decades. How much more terrorist can he be? AFTER ARAFAT, DESPAIR & HOPE' The 12/3 "NY Times" editorialized: (1) Min. Netanyahu is a "hard-liner"; (2) When planning the Gaza withdrawal while refusing to negotiate about it with Arafat, PM Sharon could have intended the withdrawal to be "as difficult as possible" for the P.A., but has "had a change of heart"; (3) That means working "with the moderate Mahmoud Abbas" (a.k.a. Abu Mazen); (4) Israel can help Abbas' "cause" by making concessions to P.A. leaders who distance themselves from terrorism; (5) Abbas said he ordered the media to stop inciting against Israel; and (6) There is a lull in violence, so "maybe both sides do want peace." 1. Netanyahu a hard-liner? Hardly! He always gave in under pressure. His tongue is hard but his fist is soft. 2. There is no basis, and no evidence is cited, to suppose that PM Sharon would have made the withdrawal difficult. This is "Times" bias, maliciously designed to make Israel look bad. The basis for the withdrawal is the terrorists having made life difficult for Israelis. The "Times'" insinuation of ill will by, and only by Israel, is typical of the "Times." So is its one-sided sympathy for the Arab bigots and its lack of sympathy for their Jewish victims. I have made a case for the Arabs not warranting any sympathy, because as a society, they are evil. 3, 4. We've already seen that Abu Mazen is not moderate. Also he has stated that after the election, he would resume the armed struggle. Why should Israel help his cause? What is his cause? Directing the armed struggle to take over Israel. 5. The "Times" hopes that the P.A. would follow Abu Mazen's order to stop incitement. The "NY Sun" is much wiser in wanting the P.A. to free its media to do so, not keep it on a string that would be pulled back when Abu Mazen resumes the armed struggle. What about the mosques - they incite to violence? 6. By wondering whether "both sides" want peace, the "Times" subtly equates the Arabs' genocidal jihad with Israeli defense. It snidely insinuates that Israel, which has made great sacrifices in the futile (and foredoomed) hope they would bring peace, didn't and may not want peace. The lull may be due to Israeli success, Arab exhaustion, and terrorist caution during this period of uncertainty. 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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HYPOCRISY
Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, December 10, 2004. |
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In Hebrew there is a saying: BAAL HAMEAH BAAL HADEAH. The corresponding concept in English is: He who pays the piper calls the tunes. This man is a senior Government employee. He was only able to rise to his high position (Brig.-Gen) because he demonstrated on, no doubt, thousands of occasion over the years that his primary loyalty is to the Government of Israel and the IDF. He and all the other loyal servants of the ruling elite are totally domesticated and faithfully follow the commands of their masters. Just the other day Likud MK Michael Ratzon bemoaned the end of democratic measures to end the Sharon dictatorship. He issued a call for the "people" to take to the streets to stop the extermination of the Jewish communities of Yeshah. There does, however, remain at least one totally democratic means to end the Oslo madness: Massive resignation of Government employees. I suggest that MK Ratzon lead the way by resigning his Knesset seat and call for all those loyal to G-D and the Land of Israel to do the same. It is the height of hypocrisy to criticize this Government in the evening and then show up for work in the morning and help it destroy the country. This appeared today in http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=73386 and is entitled "IDF Chief Rabbi: Disengagement Orders Must Be Fulfilled". The IDF Chief Rabbinate's recent proclamation against any form of "refusal to carry out orders" has aroused great anger in parts of the religious-Zionist public. The issue at hand is the order that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon would like to give to remove Jews from their homes in Gush Katif and northern Shomron. Many rabbis have said that these are orders that a G-d-fearing Jew must not carry out. IDF Chief Rabbi Brig.-Gen. Yisrael Weiss does not agree. "Refusal to carry out orders is liable to bring about the collapse of the army and the end of the People of Israel's task," Rabbi Weiss said on Army Radio this morning. The Chief Rabbinate issued a proclamation to this effect earlier this month. Rabbi Weiss said today he does not at all recognize the concept of refusing orders among religious commanders in the army. "We are forced to deal daily with difficult and painful issues regarding the evacuation issue," the Army Radio website quotes him as saying. "The army, the state is the authority. We can't allow a soldier to do whatever he wants. This will bring a danger that the army will end its function and this nation will end its task." Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, a former IDF Rabbi of the Northern Command, is aghast. "As a military rabbi, I say that this cannot be heard in the army, if this is to be a Jewish army," Rabbi Ariel told Arutz-7. "A rabbinate that says something like this pulls the rug out from under its feet." Rabbi Ariel demands that Rabbi Weiss retract his statements. "It's not something that he cannot do. The worst that will happen is that they will fire him. After all, he's not [hired] by the Chief of Staff, or by the Prime Minister; his job is to transmit the Torah's teachings. His job is to say that a soldier is not permitted to take part in the evacuation of a Jew from the Land of Israel." A protest was held outside the home of the IDF's Rabbi Yehuda Vizner on this issue. Noam Livnat explained why. Rabbi Ariel quoted Maimonides, the 11th-century author of the most authoritative Jewish law code dealing with issues of a Jewish State. "Maimonides wrote in the Laws of Kings that if the king [who in general must be adhered to, according to Torah law - ed.] makes a decree to nullify a Torah commandment, he must not be listened to, because if the servant's words contradict those of the master's, we listen to the master. We must adhere to the word of G-d, and not to those of mortal man. If an army rabbi sends his soldiers to extinguish Chanukah candles, who needs such a rabbi? The Chief IDF Rabbi is turning into an axe in Sharon's hand to uproot the Torah from Israel." Rabbi Ariel recounted that during his tenure as Northern District Rabbi, he forbade soldiers to travel in a car to their guard posts on the Sabbath. "Raful [the late IDF Chief of Staff Rafael Eitan, who was then Northern Region Commander] threatened to fire me. But in the end, the Rabbinate's stature was strengthened from this move, because our strength is in saying the truth of Torah... The Chief IDF Rabbi must [retract] these statements, or resign." Former Chief Rabbi Avraham Shapira, and others, recently declared that soldiers must not fulfill military orders connected with Prime Minister Sharon's disengagement plan. Two months ago, Rabbi Shapira stated emphatically, "G-d-fearing policemen and soldiers should make it clear to their commanders, before the event, that just as they would not fulfill orders to desecrate the Sabbath and eat non-kosher, they similarly will not uproot Jews from their homes." Rabbi Shapira, in his 90's, is head of Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav and the senior rabbi of the religious-Zionist camp. Rabbi Shapira said that Rabbi Aviner of Beit El, another leading rabbi of the same sector, was wrong in stating that there is a difference between desecrating the Sabbath and uprooting communities, and that the latter "sin" is not an individual issue but rather a "sin by the State." Rabbi Aviner said that refusing such orders could lead to a collapse of the army. Rabbi Shapira rejected this, saying, "There is no such distinction... It's a sin [to uproot], and therefore it's forbidden to everyone... The army will not fall apart [as a result of soldiers refusing these orders]." Aryeh Zelasko lives in Beitar Illit, south of Jerusalem. He is Director of Sales and Marketing of Israel Visit (www.israelvisit.co.il) which provides information and an internet buying facility for American visitors to Israel. |
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HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS ARE WORKING AGAINST PEACE
Posted by Gerald M.Steinberg, December 10, 2004. |
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It is too early to know where Palestinian Authority president Yasser Arafat's departure will lead, but for the first time in many years, there is some reason for optimism. Many obstacles must be overcome, but Arafat's successors have a chance to move away from "armed struggle," incitement, and efforts to erase Israel from the map. To foster this process, they must first end Palestinian chaos and use massive aid for economic development instead of channelling funds to private accounts and illegal arms. But even with the best of intentions, it will take a much wider effort to reverse generations of hatred and terrorism. The culture of compromise must be anchored in broad public support. Third parties can play a role in this immense task - particularly the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that are active in human rights and humanitarian issues. But these groups have an abysmal track record. With their multi-million-dollar budgets, global superpowers such as Human Rights Watch (HRW), Amnesty International, Christian Aid, Oxfam and dozens of smaller allied groups have contributed to the hatred, rather than supporting peace. Their activities amplify the rhetoric that labels Israel as an "apartheid regime" and Jews as "imperialists" and "colonialists," while whitewashing terror and condemning Israeli defensive actions. In contrast to their PR images as peacemakers, the one-sided approach of the NGOs boosts radical Palestinians voices. HRW and Amnesty use terms such as "war crimes" to condemn Israeli defensive actions while closing their eyes to terror. And by ignoring Palestinian corruption, these groups have helped to keep the PA elite in power. Similarly, NGOs based in Canada, and financed in part by the Canadian government, contribute to the demonization process. For example, KAIROS, which calls itself "a coalition of churches ... devoted to justice," is funded by the Canadian International Development Agency and members churches. As documented by www.ngo-monitor.org, KAIROS is also active in selling Palestinian distortions of history (while claiming that "Israeli occupation is the root cause of the violence"), as well as denouncing Israeli "war crimes" and exploiting the vocabulary of human rights. Similarly, the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), "Rights & Democracy," and Montreal-based Alternatives use government humanitarian funds to wage political war against Israel. Thus, rather than fostering support for fundamental reform, these human rights and aid groups help to legitimize the culture of hatred and ideology of murder. The NGO community has lost direction, destroying the human rights norms that it claims to support. This was highlighted in September 2001 at the UN-sponsored World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa, where HRW and Amnesty joined hundreds of NGOs to promote the equating of Zionism with racism. This process continued with the orchestrated condemnation of Israel's separation barrier as an "apartheid wall," while referring to anti-terror actions in Jenin and elsewhere as "war crimes." The political obsession with Israel has also led to the neglect of mass killings in areas such as Central Africa or Sudan, where there is less media coverage and political mileage. After years of relative silence, HRW only put Sudan on the top of its agenda after media and U.S. government reports of mass brutality. Despite these failures, a "halo effect" protects the NGOs from the accountability they demand from others. Kenneth Roth, who has headed New York-based HRW for decades, recently used part of his $22-million (US) war chest to hold a press conference at Jerusalem's American Colony Hotel (the main Palestinian public relations hub). He was publicizing a 135-page report condemning Israeli military actions in Gaza. Few noticed that the claims were based on unverified evidence from Palestinian "eyewitnesses." A few days later, London-based Christian Aid denounced Israel's "land grab policy" and unveiled its Christmas campaign about Palestinian suffering that features posters of a "child from Bethlehem" - a thinly disguised anti-Semitic image. In this biased environment, pretensions that human rights and humanitarian groups promote peace have no credibility. As a result, the NGO community is, tragically, in no position to help end the violence and promote understanding. Before they can preach to others, they will have to drop their ideological agendas and demonstrate a credible commitment to the universal human rights values that they claim to advance. Prof. Gerald Steinberg is the founding editor of www.ngo-monitor.org, and directs the Program on Conflict Management at Bar Ilan University. This article was initially published in the Canadian Jewish News, Dec. 9 2004 |
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MEMBERS OF REESTABLISHED SANHEDRIN ASCEND TEMPLE MOUNT
Posted by Bryna Berch, December 9, 2004. |
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This was in Arutz-7 (www.IsraelNationalNews.com)
In a dramatic but unpublicized move, members of the newly established Sanhedrin ascended the Temple Mount, Judaism's holiest site, this past Monday. Close to 50 recently ordained s'muchim, members of the Sanhedrin, lined up at the foot of the Temple Mount Monday morning. [The word s'muchim comes from the same root as s'michah, rabbinic ordination.] The men, many ascending the Temple Mount for the first time, had immersed in mikvaot (ritual baths) that morning, and planned to ascend as a group. Despite prior approval from the Israeli police who oversee entry to the Mount, the officers barred the group from entering the Mount all together, and allowed them to visit only in groups of ten. Given the newly-mandated restrictive conditions, many of the s'muchim refused to ascend at all, especially as a group of over 100 non-Jewish tourists filed past the waiting rabbis and up towards the holy site. "It is unconscionable that on the eve of Chanukah, which celebrates the rededication of the Holy Temple, we should once again be barred from worshipping - by our own people," Rabbi Chaim Richman of Jerusalem's Temple Institute told IsraelNN's Ezra HaLevi. The Sanhedrin, a religious-legal assembly of 71 sages that convened during the Holy Temple period and for several centuries afterwards, was the highest Jewish judicial tribunal in the Land of Israel. The great court used to convene in one of the Temple's chambers in Jerusalem. This past October, the Sanhedrin was reestablished for the first time in 1,600 years, at the site of its last meeting in Tiberias. "There is a special mitzvah [commandment], not connected to time, but tied to our presence in Israel, to establish a Sanhedrin," Rabbi Meir HaLevi, one of the 71 members of the new Sanhedrin, told Israel National Radio's Weekend Edition. "The Rambam [12th-century Torah scholar Maimonides] describes the process exactly in the Mishna Torah [his seminal work codifying Jewish Law]. When he wrote it, there was no Sanhedrin, and he therefore outlines the steps necessary to establish one. When there is a majority of rabbis, in Israel, who authorize one person to be a samuch, an authority, he can then reestablish the Sanhedrin." Those behind the revival of the Sanhedrin stress that the revival of the legal body is not optional, but mandated by the Torah. "We don't have a choice," says Rabbi Richman. "It is a religious mandate for us to establish a Sanhedrin." The Sanhedrin was reestablished through the ordination of one rabbi agreed upon by many prominent rabbis in Israel and approved as "fitting to serve" by former Chief Sefardi Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef and leading Ashkenazi Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv. That rabbi, who is then considered to have received authentic ordination as handed down from Moses, was then able to give ordination to 70 others, making up the quorum of 71 necessary for the Sanhedrin. "Even Mordechai HaYehudi of the Purim story was accepted, as it is written, only 'by the majority of his brethren,' and not by everybody," Rabbi HaLevi explained. "Anyone who deals with public issues can not be unanimously accepted." The rabbis behind the Sanhedrin's reconstitution claim that, like the State of Israel, the old-new Sanhedrin is a work-in-progress. They see it as a vessel that, once established, will reach the stature and authority that it once had. "The first members requested that their names not be published, so as to allow it to grow without public criticism of individuals," HaLevi said. "We want to give it time to develop and strengthen the institution, giving a chance for more rabbis to join." He added that each of the current members of the Sanhedrin has agreed to be a conditional member until a more knowledgeable rabbi joins, taking his place. Rabbi Richman, also a member of the Sanhedrin, hopes the body will bring about a revolution in Jewish jurisprudence. Declining to discuss exactly what issues are on the Sanhedrin's agenda, Richman said that one of the main long-term goals of the Sanhedrin is to reunify Jewish observance in Israel. The Sanhedrin includes members of Ashkenazi, Sefardi, Hasidic, National-Religious and Hareidi communities. "We Jews went into exiles all over the world," Rabbi HaLevi said. "Every community established its own court. We are talking about more than 50 different legal systems developing separately from one another. Part of our return to Israel is the reunification of our Jewish practices." A tradition is recorded in the Talmud (Tractate Megillah 17b, Rashi) that the Sanhedrin will be restored after a partial ingathering of the Jewish exiles, but before Jerusalem is completely rebuilt and restored. Another Talmudic tradition (Eruvin 43b; Maharatz Chajas ad loc; Rashash to Sanhedrin 13b) states that Elijah the Prophet will present himself before a duly-ordained Sanhedrin when he announces the coming of the Messiah. This indicates that despite common misconceptions, a Sanhedrin is a pre-, not post-messianic institution. |
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EUROPE - THY NAME IS COWARDICE
Posted by IsrAlert, December 9, 2004. |
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Matthias Döpfner is Chief Executive of German publisher Axel
Springer AG. He has written a blistering attack in the daily WELT
against the cowardice of Europe in the face of the Islamic threat.
This is archived at http://www.welt.de/data/2004/11/20/363020.html
A few days ago Henryk M. Broder wrote in Welt am Sonntag, "Europe - your family name is appeasement." It's a phrase you can't get out of your head because it's so terribly true. Appeasement cost millions of Jews and non-Jews their lives as England and France, allies at the time, negotiated and hesitated too long before they noticed that Hitler had to be fought, not bound to agreements. Appeasement stabilized communism in the Soviet Union and East Germany in that part of Europe where inhuman, suppressive governments were glorified as the ideologically correct alternative to all other possibilities. Appeasement crippled Europe when genocide ran rampant in Kosovo and we Europeans debated and debated until the Americans came in and did our work for us. Rather than protecting democracy in the Middle East, European appeasement, camouflaged behind the fuzzy word "equidistance," now countenances suicide bombings in Israel by fundamentalist Palestinians. Appeasement generates a mentality that allows Europe to ignore 300,000 victims of Saddam's torture and murder machinery and, motivated by the self-righteousness of the peace-movement, to issue bad grades to George Bush. A particularly grotesque form of appeasement is reacting to the escalating violence by Islamic fundamentalists in Holland and elsewhere by suggesting that we should really have a Muslim holiday in Germany. What else has to happen before the European public and its political leadership get it? There is a sort of crusade underway, an especially perfidious crusade consisting of systematic attacks by fanatic Muslims, focused on civilians and directed against our free, open Western societies. It is a conflict that will most likely last longer than the great military conflicts of the last century - a conflict conducted by an enemy that cannot be tamed by tolerance and accommodation but only spurred on by such gestures, which will be mistaken for signs of weakness. Two recent American presidents had the courage needed for anti-appeasement: Reagan and Bush. Reagan ended the Cold War and Bush, supported only by the social democrat Blair acting on moral conviction, recognized the danger in the Islamic fight against democracy. His place in history will have to be evaluated after a number of years have passed. In the meantime, Europe sits back with charismatic self-confidence in the multicultural corner instead of defending liberal society's values and being an attractive center of power on the same playing field as the true great powers, America and China. On the contrary-we Europeans present ourselves, in contrast to the intolerant, as world champions in tolerance, which even (Germany's Interior Minister) Otto Schily justifiably criticizes. Why? Because we're so moral? I fear it's more because we're so materialistic. For his policies, Bush risks the fall of the dollar, huge amounts of additional national debt and a massive and persistent burden on the American economy-because everything is at stake. While the alleged capitalistic robber barons in American know their priorities, we timidly defend our social welfare systems. Stay out of it! It could get expensive. We'd rather discuss the 35-hour workweek or our dental health plan coverage. Or listen to TV pastors preach about "reaching out to murderers." These days, Europe reminds me of an elderly aunt who hides her last pieces of jewelry with shaking hands when she notices a robber has broken into a neighbor's house. Europe, thy name is cowardice. "All that is necessary for the forces of evil to win in the world is for enough good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke Harv Weiner, a businessman in Dallas, Texas, is the founder and moderator of Isralert. To subscribe to IsrAlert, send an email to isralert@aol.com |
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ARE JUDEA, SAMARIA, AND GAZA HEADED FOR DESTRUCTION?
Posted by Ruth Matar, December 9, 2004. |
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Dear Friends, Last night, we lit the second candle of the Chanukah holiday. Our whole family was sitting around the table, eating latkes and other goodies, with the children excited about the presents they have received. All in all, it was a grand party. It was a happy occasion until our son David told us that he had just read on the Arutz 7 news website the following bad news. These are excerpts from an article entitled "US and Israeli Officials: Yesha Headed for Destruction": "The US demands that Israel evacuate and abandon all Jewish communities behind the anti-terror partition fence. So says Elliot Abrams, Director of the National Security Council Middle East section. "Abrams gave this short-thrift treatment to the 250,000-strong, 35 year-old Jewish settlement enterprise when speaking to American Jewish leaders recently. They were visiting Washington when Abrams told them, 'It's clear to us that in the end, the settlements on the other side of the partition will be dismantled.' "Abrams, considered a pro-Israel element in the American government, said that the US has no plans to suffice merely with the uprooting of the Jewish presence in northern Samaria and Gaza. He explained that the Americans will support Israel's retention of "settlement blocs" ONLY [emphasis is mine. - R.M.] if Israel uproots everything else in the Biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria. "Of even greater concern to pro-Yesha elements is a statement uttered just yesterday in a session of the Knesset Law Committee. Itamar Yaar, a senior figure in Israel's National Security Council, said outright, 'The goal of the disengagement plan is to bring about a new reality, a permanent arrangement in which there will not be Jewish settlement in these areas [Judea and Samaria].'" * * * Is this our Chanukah present, courtesy of Ariel Sharon and the American government? It is extraordinary, how history repeats itself. Also, that this announcement came during Chanukah. The story of Chanukah is, of course, very much simplified in our generation: "A small band of courageous Maccabees fought the mighty Syrian-Greek army of King Antiochus. The miracle of Chanukah is the rededication of the Temple, and the triumph of freedom of religion in the face of oppression." The TRUE Chanukah story is not so simple. Yes, the Maccabean wars were fought against a foreign occupying force, the Syrian-Greeks. But these wars were also waged against another enemy trying to destroy Israel as a Jewish entity, an enemy WITHIN. The Hellenized Jews at the time of the Hasmoneans were a dedicated group of "worldly" Jews drawn to the "beauty" of Greek culture and alienated from their own heritage and from the G-d of Israel. They existed to ingratiate themselves by serving the whim of their foreign patrons and to eliminate the yoke of their own heritage - the Torah. They longed to be like the other nations of the world, free to indulge in whatever they wished, and to eradicate any vestige of what makes a Jew Jewish in the first place: The G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the Land of Israel, and the Holy Torah itself. The REAL battle of the Maccabees was not only against the Syrian-Greek army of Antiochus. It was also against their fellow Jews, who were willing to sell out their Jewish identity for universality, world citizenship, economic advancement, and of course, acceptance by other nations. They were even willing to give up the Holy Temple, and to allow Jerusalem to become a Greek city, all in order to obtain for themselves "the good life", and to become enlightened "citizens of the world". Today, our modern assimilationists are very much like the Hellenists of old. We have our own version of disloyal high priests and our own Hellenizers - the Sharons, the Olmerts, the Shimon Pereses, the Tommy Lapids, and others too numerous to mention. What makes the leader of the Hellenists, Ariel Sharon, run? Sharon, who personally induced and himself helped his fellow Jews settle in Judea, Samaria and Gaza? Aryeh Stav wrote an editorial in the Israeli Magazine 'Nativ', entitled "Your Destroyers and Those Who Laid You Waste Go Forth from You":
* * * Thus, on one side we have today's Hellenists, the enemies within, who are willing to sell out their Jewish brethren. But who is the modern equivalent of the Syrian-Greek Army of King Antiochus? Is it all the anti-Semitic countries in the world? Is it the members of the Quartet, Russia, the United Nations, the European Union and the United States? Undoubtedly, some of these countries have joined the modern equivalent of the Army of Antiochus. However, I think we must rid ourselves of the comfortable fiction that poor Ariel Sharon is being unbearably pressured by the United States and its President, George W. Bush. Sharon, for his own reasons, (avoiding prosecution for his and his family's alleged questionable actions in the past, his persistent legal problems, etc.) has in effect, told the United States: "It would be helpful for you to put pressure on Israel. This would achieve goals which would be beneficial for both of us." Can we really blame the United States government, especially its State Department, for gratefully accepting a diplomatic geopolitical victory, which supposedly would have a positive effect on the relationship with approximately 1.4 billion Muslims? However, it is certainly a danger sign when Elliot Abrams, the Director of the United States National Security Council Middle East section, declares that the American government wants to uproot virtually all settlements in Judea and Samaria. Who does he speak for, President George W. Bush or the U.S. State Department? I doubt if Mr. Abrams speaks for Congress or for the Christian Evangelicals, many of whom refer to themselves as Christian Zionists. The Los Angeles Times noted, not to happily, after the American election: "Christian Evangelicals provided much of the passion and manpower for President Bush's reelection" (November 12, 2004). In the words of the Christian leader Pat Robertson, "Evangelical Christians support Israel because we believe that the words of Moses and the ancient prophets of Israel were inspired by God. We believe that the emergence of a Jewish State in the Land promised by God to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, was ordained by God. "You must realize that the God who spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai is our God. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are our spiritual Patriarchs. Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel are our prophets. King David, a man after God's own heart, is our hero. The Holy City of Jerusalem is our spiritual capital. And the continuation of Jewish sovereignty over the Holy Land is a further bulwark to us that the God of the Bible exists and that His Word is true. "Make no mistake: the entire world is being convulsed by a religious struggle. The fight is not about money or territory; it is not about poverty versus wealth; it is not about ancient customs versus modernity. No, the struggle is whether Hubal, the Moon God of Mecca, known as Allah, is supreme, or whether the God of the Bible is Supreme. "If God's chosen people turn over to Allah control of their most sacred sites, if they surrender to Muslim vandals the tombs of Rachel, of Joseph, of the Patriarchs, of the ancient prophets, if they believe their claim to the Holy Land comes only from Lord Balfour of England and the ever fickle United Nations rather than the promises of Almighty God - then in that event, Islam will have won the battle. Throughout the Muslim world the message will go forth: "Allah is greater than Jehovah. The promises of Jehovah to the Jews are meaningless. We can now, in the name of Allah, crush the Jews and drive them out of the land that belongs to Allah." "In short, those political initiatives that some have asserted will guarantee peace, will in truth guarantee unending struggle and ultimate failure. Those political leaders who only understand the secular dimension of Israel's existence and dismiss the spiritual dimension will find that they receive the mess of pottage of Esau rather than the inheritance of Jacob." * * * The present situation in Israel now is becoming unbearable. Sharon is a virtual dictator and is hell bent on getting his own way. He is pursuing policies which are not in the Jewish nation's interest. A civil war is unfortunately a possibility. It is definitely not in the interest of the United States to decimate and destabilize the Jewish Nation, and to create an additional terrorist state in the Middle East. Dear Friends, it is in the power of Christian Zionists to stop this madness of the modern equivalent of the Hellenists and the Army of Antiochus to try to cause a second Holocaust. It is not only in your power, but it is your responsibility to make clear to whoever in the American government is contemplating to uproot Jewish communities in the Holy Land, that this is directly against the Word of G-d. Please don't put off writing to President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Dr. Condoleezza Rice, your Senators and your Congressman, and tell them how strongly you feel about the survival of the Jewish State. Also tell the American government representatives how important it is that the United States not become a partner to the Crime of uprooting G-d's People from the Holy Land. With Blessings and Love for Israel,
Ruth and Nadia Matar established Women For Israel's Tomorrow (Women in Green), an activist group of women based in Jerusalem. Their website address is http://www.womeningreen.org |
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THE GUSH KATIF MENORAH
Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, December 9, 2004. |
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This Menorah was make from the remnants of mortar shell that landed on Gush Katif. Today alone, there where six rockets fired into civilian areas by Sharon's peace (and maybe casino) partners. The picture is archived at http://www.nrg.co.il/images/archive/wallp/218/333.jpg
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THE 29 "INNOCENT PALESTINIAN CIVILIANS"
Posted by Steven Plaut, December 9, 2004. |
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The Lemming Left in Israel is all upset because in an official army report it was stated that, over the past year, 29 innocent Palestinian bystanders were killed by Israeli army fire. The treasonous Left thinks that this is a reason to denounce Israel and delegitimize it. In fact, this is one of the greatest badges of honor and decency of the Israeli military. Let us be clear about this. Last year there were thousands of firefights started by the PLO and its affiliate terror groups, in which fire was opened upon Israeli troops and civilians, possibly tens of thousands. In every single case, without exception, these were attacks on Jews by Palestinians NOT wearing military uniforms designating them as fighters. They were launched from within masses of Palestinian civilians by the terrorists. The fact that ONLY 29 Palestinian bystanders were killed in the return fire is little short of a Hannuka miracle. And how many of those 29 innocents have their blood on PLO hands? All of them! They were murdered by the PLO when it opened up firefights with civilians nearby. As surely as if the PLO had shot them in the head as "collaborators"! Actually the datum is more than that. The simple fact of the matter is that this 29 number really SHOULD be much higher. The reason is that the Israeli military is far too cautious and timid about returning fire. Israel routinely endangers its own troops by its overly-cautious behavior towards terrorist dens that are hidden among civilians. Instead of leveling them with artillery, Israel endangers its troops by trying to be surgical, and dozens of Israeli soldiers have died in order to avoid killing Palestinian civilians. No other army on earth will endanger its troops in order to avoid civilian coillateral damages. 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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ONCE AGAIN - JORDAN IS PALESTINE
Posted by IsrAlert, December 8, 2004. |
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This was written by Victor Sharpe an Israel Hasbara Committee (IHC) Featured Writer. It appeared on www.infoisrael.net/cgi-local/text.pl?source=3/e/011220041 25 November 2004. The abstract was written by Jennifer Rifkin, an IHC volunteer. Abstract As post-Arafat Palestinian leadership verbalizes demands for further geographic compromises by Israel and a "right of return" for Arab refugees to the Land of Israel, Victor Sharpe reminds readers that in 1981, King Hussein of Jordan confirmed historical facts when he said "...Jordan is Palestine and Palestine is Jordan." Sharpe traces the history of the territory including the 1920 Palestine Mandate granted to the British by the League of Nations, which required that the British facilitate "the re-establishment of the Jewish National Home in Palestine." The British split the territory in two and 77% of that area became modern Jordan (independent Trans-Jordan in 1946 and Jordan in 1950), an area that today is home to 78% of Palestinian Arabs. Sharpe emphasizes the importance of knowledge of history in the consideration of modern political rhetoric. During the course of recent lengthy correspondence in the "letters" column of my local newspaper, I pointed out there has never, in all of recorded history, existed an independent Arab state called Palestine. This fact silenced the many correspondents who had opined that the Arabs who call themselves Palestinians were the native people of the land and had ruled there for millennia. These same anti-Israel letter writers were equally convinced the Jews had no historical rights in the area. They were quite happy to ignore the Jewish Bible as history or the archaeological Jewish sites that cover Israel, while at the same time quite content to swallow, hook, line and sinker, the fantastical Arab propaganda that has been fed to them. Herein remains the great Hasbara challenge to supporters of Israel who attempt to win over the hearts and minds of the majority of uninformed people throughout the world. With arch-terrorist Yasser Arafat no longer in the land of the living but now fast entering the mythology of Araby, those who follow him are falling over themselves to appear even more obdurate and extreme than Arafat himself. Consider the putative and interim Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, who told his "parliament" recently that he would follow in Arafat's footsteps by demanding the so-called "right of return" of Arab refugees to live in Israel; thus in essence sounding the death-knell of the Jewish state. Here again, through its own words, the Palestinian Arab leadership is destroying any chance of a true peace with Israel, let alone the creation of yet another Arab state. Having repeated the call for all or nothing, and having indoctrinated the minds of generations of Palestinian Arabs with the crudest and most sickening antisemitism since Nazi Germany, any compromise with Israel is condemned as unacceptable. Indeed, any Arab leader who appears to veer towards compromise with the Jewish State is duly dispatched by his fellow Arabs using the gun, the bomb or the knife. In short, as Israel's late Foreign Minister Abba Eban once said, "The Arabs never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity." But let us return to the empirical facts that silenced the anti-Israel letter writers, namely that Palestine was never an independent Arab state. It was, of course, a geographical entity, as Siberia is, and was the name given to the Land of Israel in the second century by the Roman Emperor Hadrian. After the destruction in 70 CE of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem by the Roman general Titus, son of the Emperor Vespasian, the independent Jewish kingdom of Judea was destroyed. However, though hundreds of thousands of its Jewish inhabitants were killed or sent into slavery throughout the Empire, Jews still remained in large numbers, enduring the yoke of Roman occupation. A wave of Roman government hostility and persecution drove the Jews to rise up again in 132 CE under the charismatic leader, Simon Bar Kochba, known as son of the star. The revolt succeeded at first and the Romans were driven out. Jewish independence in its ancestral homeland was restored for some three years. But Rome unleashed its might against Judea and its legions destroyed 50 forts and 985 towns and villages. Hadrian was determined to blot out the name of Judea and decided to rename the land with that of the hated ancient enemies of the Jews, the Philistines. He thus named the land, Syria-Philistia, which became Palestina and eventually Palestine. The Emperor also renamed Jerusalem, the capital city of the Jews, as Aelia Capitolina. Greek speakers colonized the city and no Jews were allowed in under pain of death. Hadrian erected a statue to the Roman god Jupiter in place of the destroyed Jewish Temple. At no time in the intervening centuries was the now desolate and barren land independent. It was invaded and occupied by successive alien peoples including Byzantines, Persians, Arabs, Crusaders, Mamelukes, Ottomans and finally the British. Yet all the time there were Jewish inhabitants who clung to their spiritual and physical homeland in whatever numbers they could. The British in 1920 were granted the Palestine Mandate by the League of Nations after the defeat of the Ottoman Turks who had occupied the territory for some 400 years. Palestine, as a geographical entity, historically included the area east and west of the River Jordan. The League of Nations charged Great Britain, as the new Mandatory Power, with the duty of facilitating the re-establishment of the Jewish National Home in Palestine. However, in 1922, the British divided the territory in two. The greater part - some 35,000 square miles east of the Jordan River (77% of the total area of Palestine) - was given away to the Hashemite tribe under the chieftain, Abdullah. Through this betrayal, by the British Colonial Office, of both the Balfour Declaration and the League of Nations Mandate, the vast area was immediately closed to Jewish settlement. Now only the remaining 23%, west of the River Jordan, remained of the promised Jewish National Home - an area less than 50 miles wide from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River. Trans-Jordan, east of the River Jordan, declared its independence in 1946 and in 1950 became what is now called Jordan or the Kingdom of Jordan. Today this territory, which occupies well over two thirds of the original Palestine Mandate, is populated primarily by Palestinian Arabs who represent some 78% of the total population. In essence, Jordan is Palestine. The British officered Jordanian Arab Legion, along with the armies of Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and bands of Arab irregulars, invaded the newly proclaimed independent Jewish State of Israel in 1948 with the intent of driving the Jews into the sea. Though Israel succeeded in repulsing the Arab invasion, Judea and Samaria (the so-called West Bank) was illegally occupied by Jordan. The Gaza Strip, in turn, was occupied by Egypt. For 19 years, Egypt and Jordan occupied the territories (again no Jews were allowed to live there) and never once offered the Arab inhabitants independence, let alone autonomy. The late King Hussein of Jordan, Abdullah's grandson, said, in an interview for the Paris-based An-Nahar al-Arabi w'al-Daouli on 26 December 1981, "The truth is that Jordan is Palestine and Palestine is Jordan." Those Israel bashers in the "letters to the editor" columns who routinely accuse Israelis of seeking a "greater Israel," and who would force Israel to return to the 1967 lines and become a state only nine miles wide at its most populated center, should be reminded over and over again how far the Jewish State has in fact shrunk - through a combination of historic betrayal and "land for peace." Harv Weiner, a businessman in Dallas, Texas, is the founder and moderator of Isralert. To subscribe to IsrAlert, send an email to isralert@aol.com |
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PLEASE SIGN PETITION: KOFI MUST GO
Posted by Bruce Tuchman, December 8, 2004. |
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Please sign the petition, "Kofi Must Go."
Click Here
Send this email to all your friends and post on bulletin boards and blogs. Thanks
Bruce is with New York Coalition Against Terrorism. To subscribe to his email, write him at bruce@nycat.org |
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BUSH'S OXYMORONIC POLICY: FASCIST-IMPOSED DEMOCRACY
Posted by Beth Goodtree, December 8, 2004. |
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On the surface it sounds great; bring democracy to the Middle East. Yet closer scrutiny reveals a fatal flaw in this idea. This democracy that President Bush plans on bestowing is being brought at the point of a gun and/or blackmail. Sounds like candy-coated fascism to me. Don't believe me? Here are a few definitions that clarify the issue. From the Merriam Webster online dictionary, the definition of 'Democracy': "government by the people; especially: rule of the majority." Now here's the definition of 'Fascism' from the same source: "a political philosophy, movement, or regime ... and forcible suppression of opposition." President Bush is determined to force democracy upon peoples and nations that have not asked or struggled themselves for it. Also, he is forcibly sacrificing the territorial integrity of the only democratic nation in the Middle East to achieve his unrealistic goals. Using force to suppress opposition to his single-minded idea of Utopia is Fascism. Meanwhile forcing a political philosophy upon a people - no matter how well intended - is the absolute antithesis of democracy. To make matters worse, President Bush, in his quest for his version of 'democracy,' is blackmailing Israel to ethnically cleanse her own lands of her own people. Nor does this delusion of putative 'democracy' stop there. Bush plans on bestowing the title of 'democracy' upon an artificially created country whose very core and raison d'etre is anything but democratic. Mr. Bush has promised the Arabs occupying Jewish Palestine their own state if they institute 'democracy.' However, to Mr. Bush, it seems that 'democracy' is merely the appearance of elections. He ignores the fact that this group of mainly Jordanians and Egyptians (certainly not 'Palestinians') continues to outlaw and in fact murder any Jew who steps foot on the lands they control. Is this democracy? Not in this universe. As to their candidates, not one embraces equal rights for all people. Not a single candidate has come out and said they would welcome Jews. Israel, in contrast, welcomes Muslims all the time. But then, Israel is a true democracy. And yet, being a true democracy has not saved Israel from being the sacrificial lamb on Bush's plate of misbegotten forced democracy as a cure for terrorism. Never mind the fact that the Arabs themselves admit that they have no rights to the claim that they are a separate people deserving their own country. As one of the leaders of the 'Palestinian' movement put so clearly: "The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct 'Palestinian people' to oppose Zionism." - Zahir Muhsein, PLO executive committee member, in an interview with the Dutch newspaper "Trouw" March 31, 1977 (1) Meanwhile, Mr. Bush ignores the root cause of terrorism: Islamism. He has yet to state it. With the exception of a few Basques, the occasional Hindu upset over Kashmir, and some fighting in and around the Ivory Coast, every single act of terrorism around the globe for the past few years was committed by an Islamist for the cause of forcing the slavery and conquest of Islamism upon a non-Islamist world. Yet somehow Mr. Bush seems to think that the superficialities of democracy, such as holding elections, will suddenly turn millions of monsters into peace loving and accepting human beings. In the case of the Arabs occupying Jewish Palestine, this means electing the US favorite candidate, Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen). Abbas is the author of a notorious work entitled "The Secret Connection between the Nazis and the Leaders of the Zionist Movement." (2) In this piece of fiction, for which he received a doctorate, Abbas denied that the Holocaust ever took place. Does this hateful Islamist sound like a prime candidate to enforce democracy? Apparently, Mr. Bush isn't bothered with such trivialities as the denial and rewriting of history, as well as a genocidal bent towards the aboriginal inhabitants of the land he wants to steal from Israel and give over to their sworn enemies and destroyers. But then Mr. Bush is counting on the appearance of elections, with the only candidates being Islamists bent upon genocide and the stealing of rightful Jewish land, to suddenly make these fiends turn into sweet, loving, civilized creatures. To those who would point out that Abbas declared the current Intifadah a 'mistake,' may I point out something further. He said the Intifadah was a mistake because it did not achieve anything for the Arabs waging this nefarious war. He did not say it was a mistake because it deliberately targeted women, children and entire families in a concerted effort to commit genocide. He did not say that tearing lost Jews limb from limb and keeping trophy body parts was a mistake because human beings do not do that. He did not say that fabricating lies about a Jenin massacre was a mistake because such lies foment genocide and are a Crime Against Humanity. He did not say that using a sharpshooter to explode the skull of an infant was a mistake because such a thing is beyond evil. (3) No. Abbas said the Intifada was a mistake because it gained the Arabs nothing. Not a word of regret or remorse for the thousands of Jewish victims killed or left living with pieces of rat-poison coated shrapnel in their bodies, or horribly disfigured from the exploding infernos unleashed upon them. Yet Mr. Bush thinks ramming through elections and a 'Palestinian' state will halt terrorism. It will not. But I will tell you what it will achieve. It will give the Islamists - all of them - a quasi-legitimate country from which to launch better and more vicious attacks. It will give every Islamist group, including al-Qaeda and Hizbollah a safe haven and air of legitimacy. And perhaps worst of all, it will show that terrorism has, as its reward, its own country, carved out of the heart of its victim. Maybe for an encore, Mr. Bush would like to give al-Qaeda its own
state, carved out of the heart of the US. In that case, I vote for
Texas, starting with the Bush Ranch.
(1) http://www.paktoday.com/expert.htm
Beth Goodtree is an award-winning writer who lives in the NYC metro area. She writes political commentary/analysis, and the occasional science and humor articles. Or visit her website: http://hometown.aol.com/bgoodtree/ |
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GOOGLE REDUCES "PALESTINE" PROPAGANDA ADS FOLLOWING WAVE OF PROTEST
Posted by Dave Frankenthal, December 8, 2004. |
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Google has reduced, but not eliminated, the "Palestine" propaganda ads it is placing on Israel related websites like The Body Shop Petition (see ads at top) http://www.petitiononline.com/tbsbok/petition.html following a wave of protest. Thank you to all those who have taken time to protest so far. If you have not yet done so, please help remove "Palestine" propaganda ads by clicking on the "Ads By Goooooogle" link at the top of the petition and using their form to complain to Google. Thank you. Happy Chanukah, from Join the Boycott http://www.geocities.com/truthmasters/jointheboycott.htm teachntrain@yahoo.com wrote: Here are the deceptive Google ads on many Jewish/Israel websites which are drawing people to "Palestine" propaganda. You will see them at the top of the Body Shop Petition. http://www.petitiononline.com/tbsbok/petition.html You may have to hit the refresh button (or the F5 key) a number of times as there is a rotation of different Google ads. American Task Force for Palestine (http://www.americantaskforce.org/palestine_map.htm) which is also promoting reading material including "The New Intifada: Resisting Israel's Apartheid" at http://www.americantaskforce.org/resources.htm - and, by the way, promoting violence is not free speech. Note this group uses deceptive leads on their ads such as "can there be peace?" and "Palestine-Israel 101" to draw you to their website. Americans for Just Peace, another grossly misnamed group which is pursuing the rights of Palestinian "refugees" rights including the "right of return" (http://www.ajpme.org/pdfs/rightofreturn.pdf) Buy Peace (http://buypeace.com/geneva-accord.htm) which is promoting the unauthorized and very unpopular Geneva Accord Jewish Voices for Peace (http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/), a grossly misnamed website promoting Israeli "refuseniks", Presbyterian Divesment, and attacking Caterpillar for doing business in Israel. Google is making money off spreading these "Palestine" propaganda sites. Please complain to Google by clicking on the "Ads By Goooooogle" link and please stop using Google as your seach engine - there are so many alternatives just as good including Yahoo. Users of Google's toolbar please uninstall it - it is very easy to do - see http://www.toolbar.google.com/faq.html#uninstall and use Yahoo toolbar instead http://toolbar.yahoo.com/?.cpdl=fp and be sure to leave a comment in the message box Google provides seeking your reason for uninstalling. More details are available at http://www.geocities.com/truthmasters/jointheboycott.htm Please pass this on to your friends and lists. Thanks.
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HUDNA, HUDNA, WHO WANTS A HUDNA?
Posted by IsrAlert, December 8, 2004. |
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This was written by Rabbi Haim Cassorla. You can read his essays at
http://www.rabbihaim.com.
All languages have single words for complex concepts. The cultural foundation and bias of a people can be seen in the concepts that they compact to single words. I live in America and speak American English. I drive a Ranger. If you speak American English you know a lot about my vehicle of choice and can visualize it. That is what language is for. The cultural baggage of language is the bane of translators. I am not sure how the word Ranger would be translated outside of its linguistic cultural context. I am quite sure that it can be easily mangled with or without malice. Hudna is usually translated as "cease-fire." Hudna is an Arabic word with cultural and linguistic context. As of this moment, Israel is on the verge of being offered a Hudna by Hamas, or maybe not. As of this moment, The West in the person of the EU is being offered a Hudna by Iran. A Hudna is not a concession by any account. A Hudna is a tactical maneuver and is always constructed so as to make the opposition think that they are gaining a large concession. If you trace back through the history of Islam, all the way to the Qran and the life of Mohammed himself you can learn the true meaning of Hudna. A Hudna is a "cessation of outward offensive actions with the express intention of continuing covert offensive actions." A Hudna is constructed around what the opponent states as its primary definition of cease-fire, e.g. "stop shooting at us." It is constructed so as to specifically allow the narrowest possible definition of the opponent's greatest need. It is also constructed to specifically allow you the greatest latitude in other offensive activities including but not limited to, buying more guns, loading them, and pointing them at the opponent population. The purpose of a Hudna is to allow the grantor of the Hudna sufficient time to regroup and/or make sufficient other preparation to defeat the enemy. Iran's offer to the West - We will stop uranium enrichment in specific technologies, and at specific sites, for a specific duration. In exchange for that we want money, technology, and nuclear reactors. We will grant you (the IAEA) specific oversight and policing powers to ensure that we are not engaging in the specific technologies at the specific sites. Any attempt on your part to expand on your oversight or policing powers will be viewed as a breach on your part of the terms of the Hudna. Such breach will entitle us, at our sole discretion, to either resume activities covered or renegotiate a new Hudna. Hamas's offer to Israel - We will not fire rockets or other weapons, including our beloved Shahidin (homicide bombers) at your civilian population for a specific duration. In exchange for that we expect you not to take any action, punitive or pre-emptive against any Palestinian anywhere. Any attempt on your part to pre-empt actions or to interdict weapons and/or explosives shipments will be viewed by us as a breach on your part of the terms of the Hudna. Such breach will entitle us, at our sole discretion, to either resume activities covered or renegotiate a new Hudna. These two offers are deadly poison of equal potency. As a matter of fact, they are the same offer. Their design is to allow the offerer some peace while continuing activities to the detriment of the offeree. Israel, specifically the Government of Israel, should be too smart to accept the Hudna. It never worked any differently before. If the EU has any doubts as to the [lack of] wisdom of accepting the Iranian offer, I suggest that they consult with ex-President Bill Clinton, or just read the agreement he signed with the North Koreans. I guess that Hudna might be a Korean concept also. Harv Weiner, a businessman in Dallas, Texas, is the founder and moderator of Isralert. To subscribe to IsrAlert, send an email to isralert@aol.com |
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ISLAMIC TERROR BASED ON QU'RAN: EX-CIA OFFICIAL
Posted by IsrAlert, December 8, 2004. |
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This was written by Sheldon Kirshner, Staff Reporter for Canadian
Jewish News. It is archived at
http://www.cjnews.com/viewarticle.asp?id=5056
A former top official of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency paints a menacing picture of the relationship between Islam and terrorism. "Islamic terrorism is based on Islam as revealed through the Qu'ran," keynote speaker Bruce Tefft claimed in a panel discussion at the University of Toronto on jihad and global terrorism. The session, held late last month, was sponsored by the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Speakers Action Group. Tefft, a founder of the CIA's counter-terrorism center and now an advisor to the New York Police Department's intelligence and counter-terrorism divisions, said that without Islam, the long-term strategy of Al Qaeda and its followers make little sense. Linking Osama bin Laden to the attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in 2001, Tefft said: "To pretend that Islam has nothing to do with Sept. 11 is to willfully ignore the obvious and to forever misinterpret events." In a harsh indictment of Islam - the world's fastest growing religion and the second-largest faith after Christianity - Tefft said that while there may be moderate Muslims, Islam itself is immoderate. And, he added, "There is no difference between Islam and Islamic fundamentalism, which is a totalitarian construct." According to Tefft, the Qu'ran enjoins Muslims to believe that the whole world should be governed by the principles of Islam, an expansionist religion that has historically grown through conquest. All infidels are to be converted, enslaved or killed, he said, drawing on the knowledge of Bernard Lewis, a Jewish historian who has written books about Islam and Islamic history. Tefft, whose career at the CIA spanned 21 years, argued that Islam was a religion of peace and tolerance in its formative phase, but has since grown intolerant of non-Muslims. Islam cannot be reformed because its teachings, as revealed through the Qu'ran, are regarded as the word of God, and to be a Muslim, a believer must accept the Qu'ran on a literal basis, Tefft said. He said Islam views Judaism and Christianity as failed religions and itself as the only true religion. Islamic terrorists are animated by passionate anti-Western convictions, Tefft argued. They blindly sacrifice their lives for the chance of going to paradise and enjoying the charms of 72 virgins. To them, the United States is the epitome of evil, because its constitution separates church and state. Tefft said Al Qaeda's 700-page training manual covers all aspects of terrorism, from surveillance to assassinations, and is drawn from U.S., Russian and Iranian manuals. "They've compiled the best of the best." Of the 6,000 or more mosques in North America, 80 per cent are radical in orientation and devoted to spreading an intolerant Wahabi strain of Islam. They are funded by Saudi Arabia, he said. David Harris, the former head of strategic planning at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, said that Islamic fundamentalists are hostile to Canada and consider it a "Little Satan." He warned that Hezbollah has begun surveying sites in Canada for possible terrorist attacks. Canada, though, innocently thinks it is immune to such aggression, Harris said. John Thompson, the president of the MacKenzie Institute, a Canadian research organization, said Al Qaeda has a reservoir of recruits for at least a generation to come. Tom Kay, the chief of police in Owen Sound and the immediate past president of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police, said Canadian law enforcement agencies that combat terrorism are under-funded. "We face complacency from people in power," he said, referring to Canadian politicians at all levels. It is scandalous that more money is not being allocated to counter-terrorism efforts, Kay said.Leo Adler, the director of national affairs for Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, urged Canada to be more resolute in fighting terrorism. Rather than operating in a vacuum, Jihadists work with highly honed organizations that supply them with funds, logistical support and intelligence, Adler commented. Harv Weiner, a businessman in Dallas, Texas, is the founder and moderator of Isralert. To subscribe to IsrAlert, send an email to isralert@aol.com |
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SPECIAL EVENT FOR THE NAIVE AND UNINFORMED
Posted by Jerome S. Kaufman, December 8, 2004. |
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Once again we received a very beautifully done expensive invitation to a Seeds of Peace social, fund-raising movie event in the Detroit area. Of note was that one of the corporate leadership chairs is Debbie Dingell, Vice Chair of the General Motors Foundation and wife of Dearborn Congressman John Dingell. You may remember Seeds luminaries of the past: Adam Shapiro of Brooklyn who was program coordinator of Seeds for 4 years prior to marrying Seeds counselor Hawaida Affaf, an Arab girl from Roseville Michigan. They then went on to together found the organization, International Solidarity Movement (ISM) that regularly sends protestors into Israel to create TV photo-ops displaying Israeli brutality and Arab persecution. Just a few months ago the ISM was extremely successful. They sent over a young woman named Rachel Corie who in her dedication threw herself on to a pile of ruble surrounding demolished homes in Gaza that had contained underground tunnels used to smuggle in weapons from Egypt. It was a great photo-op for the cause - never mind an Israeli bulldozer killed the poor deluded girl inadvertently. The ISM objective was totally successful, nevertheless - giving the Israelis a nightmare in press coverage. Besides the movie fundraiser, Seeds of Peace has made some tell-tale changes in the last year. The director of the whole operation is now Aaron Miller. You may remember Aaron Miller from the American State Department. He left State about the same time as his buddy Dennis Ross and falls within the same State Department rubric described by Eric Rozenman working for Moment magazine at the time. Ross was responsible for "shaping the Bush-Baker State Department into the least sympathetic American government toward Israel in that country's 43 years." Miller just last year had his buddy Dennis Ross as the featured speaker at the dedication of Seeds of Peace in Jerusalem. Thus, the tandem's good deeds for the benefit of Israel continue. Then we have an even more immediate and timely revelation. The co-community leadership award nominees, along with our own Florine Mark, are Tim and Fatimah Attalah. Particularly pertinent to the event is the quote of Tim Attalah in the Detroit News of November 12, 2004 - just a few weeks ago. Various local people were asked about the possibility of peace following the death of Yasser Arafat. Tim Attala, a lawyer in Dearborn of Palestinian descent and the current honoree of Seeds of Peace said, "The obstacle to peace has never been Yasser Arafat. The obstacle to peace is the occupation of territory by the Israelis. It's that simple. Anyone who said that Arafat was an obstacle to peace dodged the real issue of the conflict," said Attala, a Muslim who is active in Seeds of Peace, an organization that unites Israeli and Palestinian youths to foster goodwill!" "Unites to foster good will?" How is that? By embracing the philosophy of Tim Attala, Saeb Erekat, long time political spokesman for Yasser Arafat and also a director of Seeds of Peace or other Seeds directors - Congressmen John Dingell and John Conyers and former Congressman David Bonior - all respected members of the Arab Hall of Fame created to honor those Congressman voting most regularly for anti-Israel legislation; or by producing graduates like Adam Shapiro? Does anyone think any of the above would be part of an organization alien to his or her own basic beliefs? Do you think that politically savvy Debbie Dingell would be part of anything that harmed her husband's political image among his very large Arab constituency? But what about the Jews who are part of Seeds of Peace and continue to send in thousands of dollars? What about our own misguided Congressman of the Jews here in this area, Joe Knollenberg, who sponsors legislation that gave near a million dollars of US taxpayer money to this outrageous Arab propaganda machine? Does anyone but the naïve or misinformed believe that the objective of the above participants is to bring the kids together? Could it not rather be to undermine the very existence of the State of Israel and persuade the young impressionable and poorly directed Jewish kids that they are on "occupied Arab land" and must go back to New York or the killing fields of Europe from whence they all came? Jerome S. Kaufman is National Secretary of the Zionist Organization of America. and host of www.israel-commentary.org |
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HOLLAND: DISASTER IN WAITING
Posted by Arlene Peck, December 8, 2004. |
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My kid, Dana, once told me, "Mom, if you don't get away from watching the news, you're going to have to get on medication." She is right, if I did not have my columns, speaking engagements and television show to blow off steam, I would be in big trouble. On good days, I head to the gym and try to work out the hostilities. It's not easy being a sex goddess. For the past few years, I've seen an older couple from Holland working out there, and from time to time, we would chat. That was until a year or so ago when I mentioned my disgust at the latest Muslim atrocity carried out against Israel. To my absolute shock, the wife's response was that the Israelis must have been doing something to deserve the attacks. After all, the Palestinians did need their own homeland. Then she began to go on about the poor suffering of the Palestinian people. You get the idea. After that, I gave them a wide berth. That is until the recent attack against her fellow citizen, director Theo van Gogh, who had the audacity to make a film that denounced the mistreatment of women in Muslim communities. That was apparently enough to cause these barbarians, who are now residing in Holland, to slaughter Van Gogh. This act has set off a wave of savagery that is now threatening to have a spillover effect in neighboring countries, including Muslim communities to do what they do best; murder and terrorize. The Dutch, however, are not used to dealing with a mentality that reveres death and seems to cause destruction and suffering wherever they settle. So, who suffers because the Dutch are a society who have only known permissiveness and a social policy that always had the welcome mat out for 'visitors'? The artistic community is in fear because they have a clear threat of death hanging over their heads if they even consider writing something that could be interpreted as "anti-Muslim." Dutch legislators are also living in fear and being forced to travel to "safe-houses" every night to sleep, while these Arab killers are allowed to walk free down the street. "The police can't arrest them... there is not enough evidence." I find it fascinating how this culture, which only seeks to destroy and kill, has learned how to use democracy as a weapon to further their radical, and violent Islamic ideas. So, where did their huggy, kissy, welcome get the poor people of Holland? From what I heard from the nice Dutch woman at my gym when I confronted her with the latest events of her city, was, "Oh, it is terrible... just terrible. Most of my family is moving, as they don't like what they are seeing. And, it has gotten very dangerous." Oh really? The Muslim community is giving press conferences how they are "afraid and don't speak to the Holland community. And, that's not good for the society." Well, folks, I am happy to see that some of them sense a little fear as a consequence of the dysfunctional behavior of their culture. Yet, somehow, it doesn't seem as the authorities of Holland "get it" yet. They continue to shut their eyes to the dangers of Islamic fundamentalism. Apparently, they have leftist, politically correct citizens there mistakenly believe that any interaction they would have with the new citizens from Arab countries should be comparable to their permissive, liberal attitudes for toward gay marriage, drugs, and prostitution. Besides, like Salman Rushdie, Van Gogh spoke out about the uninterrupted influx of these new residents from Muslim lands (along with the inordinate influence allowed them vis-á-vis leftist policies) were beginning to change the character of the Dutch culture. Being a happy-go-lucky and gracious people, they are now terrorized and don't know how it happened. I wonder if it was the same in Paris before their culture changed. Do they look back today and think, "I should have done something when the first church was torn down to put up a mosque?" Whatever, it is too late to get it back now. The women of Paris are now wearing Bursas as a fashion statement. Gone is the atmosphere of the little French cafes, and it's a given that violence is always just beneath the surface. How ludicrous that the legislators of Holland are so afraid of the violent Arabs, who are taking over their community, that they can't sleep safely in their homes for fear that one of them might come in and behead them. People, for now, seem to be rising up and measures have begun to be taken to beef up anti-terrorist laws, ban foreign imams and deport extremist. Funny, they always call these savage killers, "extremist", It's a terrible conflict for the "nice people" of the world. To people who revere life instead of thinking it is cool to strap bombs onto babies' backs and teach the art of death in school, it's a big problem. Because, the only thing these savages understand is POWER. Yet, to those who do not understand the mentality of the fundamentalist Muslims, the conflict which could cause the demise of democracy is spelled out in bullets. To my way of thinking, the only thing their seventh century mind can deal with is exactly that. Again, the word is POWER. This is a culture that lives for death! Why should we deprive them of it. Give them what they want! Arlene Peck is an internationally syndicated columnist and television talk show hostess. She can be reached at: bestredhead@earthlink.net and www.arlenepeck.com |
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YESHA HEADED FOR DESTRUCTION
Posted by Eliezar Edwards, December 8, 2004. |
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This was a news item from Arutz Sheva (www.IsraelNationalNews.com) today.
The US demands that Israel evacuate and abandon all Jewish communities behind the anti-terror partition fence. So says Elliot Abrams, director of the National Security Council Middle East section. Abrams gave this short-thrift treatment to the 250,000-strong, 35-year-old Jewish settlement enterprise when speaking to American Jewish leaders recently. They were visiting Washington when Abrams told them, "It's clear to us that in the end, the settlements on the other side of the partition will be dismantled." Abrams, considered a pro-Israel element in the American government, said that the US has no plans to suffice merely with the uprooting of the Jewish presence in northern Samaria and Gaza. He explained that the Americans will support Israel's retention of "settlement blocs" only if Israel uproots everything else in the Biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria. The five "settlement blocs" in question are Ariel and environs, Gush Etzion, and Kiryat Arba/Hevron, as well as the city of Maaleh Adumim and the town of Givat Ze'ev. US President Bush has never formally expressed his consent to Israel's demand to retain these areas. The Prime Minister's Bureau, according to Maariv newspaper, seems unfazed by Abrams' remarks. Even if this is the American stance, a staffer said, "Israel has a different position, and ours will be the one to determine." This does not jibe, however, with Prime Minister Sharon's oft-repeated position that Israeli policy will coordinated with the US. In fact, there have been indications that the position stated by Abrams is shared within the Sharon government. Former Herzliya Mayor Eli Landau, a good friend of Prime Minister Sharon, told Arutz-7 three months ago that Sharon's withdrawal plan "would eventually take Israel all the way back to the anti-terrorism partition fence." Of even greater concern to pro-Yesha elements is a statement uttered just yesterday in a session of the Knesset Law Committee. Itamar Yaar, a senior figure in Israel's National Security Council, said outright, "The goal of the disengagement plan is to bring about a new reality, a permanent arrangement in which there will not be Jewish settlement in these areas [Judea and Samaria]." Yaar said this in response to a question by MK Yitzchak Levy (NRP). Levy asked why the residents of Gush Katif and northern Shomron are being directed only to the Galilee and the Negev, and not to other areas of Judea and Samaria. Yaar then provided the above explanation. Committee Chairman Michael Eitan (Likud) was astonished at this answer, and demanded that Yaar clarify his remarks - but Yaar did not do so. |
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A BRIT WHO GETS IT
Posted by Judy Lash Balint, December 8, 2004. |
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Don't let the upper class British accent or title fool you. Baroness Caroline Cox, 67, Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords does not hold by the politics or the worldview of many of her fellow upper class Brits. The modest demeanor and strong convictions of this Christian human rights campaigner were much in evidence at the Jerusalem Summit last week, as Baroness Cox stepped up to receive the Scoop Jackson Award for Vision and Values awarded annually by Summit organizers. (Richard Perle was the recipient of the first Jerusalem Summit Scoop Jackson Award in 2003) The Baroness ("please call me Caroline") is a life peer created by former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. She has spent a lifetime acting on behalf of human rights and performing real humanitarian acts. During the Solidarity movement days in Poland, Cox rode on the 32-ton trucks delivering medical supplies behind the Iron Curtain. In the ethnic conflict of Nagorno-Karabakh, Cox traveled repeatedly to Azerbaijan and Armenia to discover the truth for herself. She spoke out loud and often on behalf of Christian Armenians. Cox has been in and out of the "no-go" areas of Sudan 28 times over the past four years. Her visits included buying freedom for Dinka and Nuer people from the heavily Christian southern region. For her trouble, Cox was sentenced in absentia by the National Islamic Front to imprisonment for illegal entry into the country. In Indonesia, she was shot at by jihad warriors. On her visit to Jerusalem Cox remarked to a small group of British journalists that she would not be commenting specifically on the Arab war against Israel both due to her lack of first hand experience in the area but also because her expertise is "forgotten peoples." One could say with certainty, she noted, that the amount of attention focused on Israel and the disputed territories ensures that neither Arabs nor Israelis are in any way "forgotten." "Coming from the killing fields of various regimes - many because of Islam, I began to study Islam," Cox says. In fact, she studied so many areas first hand that she co-authored with her colleague Dr. John Marks, a powerful little book, entitled The "West", Islam and Islamism. Is ideological Islam compatible with liberal democracy?" (Civitas, London, 2003) Co-author Marks remarked to reporters that "there are many who don't understand the nitty gritty about what Moslem culture is really about." The Baroness expressed her sensitivity to the dangers of Islamaphobia, but quickly added that she is greatly concerned by the "radicalization" of the Moslem population in Great Britain. "My Muslim friends tell me that there are many young people who go around in respectable clothing but are in fact seething with hatred underneath," she said. Dr. Marks, a nuclear physicist and renowned British educator, told journalists he had recently attended a Muslim rally for support at the Friends Meeting House in Central London. The House is run by Quakers, renowned for their pacifism and humanitarian concerns. "I came out really chilled by the hatred," Marks said. "They say such people are only 1 percent of the Moslem population in Britain - but that's still a lot of people," he noted. Marks added that the vast majority of Britons now recognize the danger of radical Islam, "and they expect Moslem leaders to speak out." Baroness Cox explained that as in many European countries, the demographic reality means that many members of Parliament are now "deferential" to the growing numbers of Moslem constituents. British Foreign Minister Jack Straw has 8,000 Moslems in his district, noted Dr. Marks. Dr. Marks, with advanced degrees from both Cambridge and London Universities, says groups like the Islamic Foundation speak openly about creating an Islamic state in the United Kingdom. "We know they have links in British universities," he claims. Marks reminded reporters that Prince Charles had given the foundation his seal of approval during a visit to a Foundation sponsored institute last year. Cox concludes her chat with the Jerusalem based journalists by giving a little lesson on Sharia law, after she was asked whether Western societies can co-exist with the Islamic legal code. "Sharia law is not compatible with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it does not allow freedom to choose and change religion, you can become a Muslim, but if you stop being a Muslim and you convert out, you run the risk of the death sentence for apostasy. It does not permit equality before the law, as between men and women, Muslims and non-Muslims." A simple, straightforward answer from a straightforward woman who speaks and acts from deep conviction. "Jerusalem Diaries: In Tense Times" by Judy Lash Balint is available for purchase from www.israelbooks.com. This article appeared today in Front Page Magazine and is archived at http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Printable.asp?ID=16203 |
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LUCKY YEHUDAH THE MACCABEE DIDN'T ASK
Posted by Mordechai Ben-Menachem, December 8, 2004. |
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This essay was written by Rabbi Shlomo Aviner. It is from "Responsa She'eilat Shlomo" vol. 8 #35 and "Sefer Am Ve-Artzo" vol. 2 #182. It was originally published in the Israeli newspaper Ma'ariv and translated by Rabbi Mordechai Friedfertig. It is lucky that Yehudah the Maccabee did not ask politicians, because if he had, they would have told him that one must consider the possible international pressure in the overall constellation, and he would have sat and deliberated and deliberated. It is lucky that he did not ask too many military strategists and experts, for they would have told him differently - that there is no chance of delivering "the strong into the hands of the weak," and they would have broken his spirit. It is lucky that he did not ask statisticians, because they would have revealed the secret to him that we are "the few against the many," and he would have been afraid of the demographic demon. He also did not ask too many Roshei Yeshivot (Heads of Yeshivas), because if he had, they would have ruled that it is forbidden to cause nullification of Torah learning from yeshiva students who engage in Torah study, and then there would not be a delivering of "the heretics into the hands of those involved in Your Torah." He also did not ask too many rabbis, because if he had, they would have told him, by G-d, it is forbidden to challenge the nations of the world, and we do not rely on a miracle, especially where there is a real potential for danger, etc., etc. He also did not ask the humanists, because they would have revealed the secret to him that one soul of Israel is worth more than kilometers of land and is more costly for the nation. He certainly did not ask those who are pure-of-heart, because they would have depressed his spirit, and preached to him that it is not at all proper to kill or to be killed. He did not ask deep thinkers, because out of great depth they would have confused him and stopped him with discussions of the order of priorities, perhaps the nation takes precedence, etc., etc. He did not ask the pacifists at all, because they would have illuminated his eyes to the greatness of peace, and that one should never use violence, that goodwill will resolve everything. He did not ask too many questions, but he served his national and spiritual obligation and jumped into the lion's den, with amazing self-sacrifice, into the great battle, which saved Israel. And then, all of the politicians, all of the strategists, all of the statisticians, all of the Roshei Yeshiva and rabbis, all of the humanists, all of the pure-of-heart, all of the thinkers and all of the pacifists came and, all of them, became sages after the fact. They lit Chanukah lights as a remembrance of the victory, and these lights illuminate our lives from those days until this time. Mordechai Ben-Menachem is at Ben-Gurion University. He can be reached by email at quality@computer.org |
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"SECURE BORDERS"; SURPRISED BY ISLAMIST MOLES
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, December 8, 2004. |
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"SECURE BORDERS"
The "NY Sun's" November 5, 2004 editorial expressed a lofty sentiment: "... America has a role in helping those Palestinian Arabs who disavow terrorism, support freedom, democracy, and the rule of law, and accept Israel's right to exit as a Jewish state in peace and within secure borders." The statement cannot be evaluated without defining "secure borders" and identifying those Arabs. The problem with identifying them is that doing so marks them for death. The Palestinian Authority is such a violence-prone society, and has built such a pervasive culture of bigotry on a foundation of Islam, that the few Arabs there who might dissent do not dare speak up. If they can't speak up, they have no influence. This supposed role for America is a pipe dream. Yes, some Palestinian Arabs do disavow terrorism and say they accept a Jewish state. Arafat is among them, and we know he doesn't mean it. His ideology approves of such deception. Hence he signs agreements promising those lofty goals in order to get concessions from Israel. He gets the concessions and breaks the agreements. We should stop getting fooled. Any new leaders we assist into power are most likely to renew terrorism. When we analyze how to implement these fine sentiments, we find the proposals not feasible and certain to cause more injustice. Now let's discuss secure borders. Security Council Resolution 242 proposes that there be "secure borders." The Security Council has assumed the power to call its decisions related to security binding under international law. The UN, however, is a political, opportunistic, and non-idealistic organization. It hesitates to do good, and openly advocates evil. Therefore, its rulings should not be considered binding. All decent countries should abandon it. Resolution 242 calls for an Israeli withdrawal after a peace agreement that leaves Israel with secure borders. Even when the Arabs sign peace pact and armistices, their unabated hatred prompts renewed aggression or assistance to aggressors. In anticipation of that, international law authorizes the victim of past aggression to retain territory that the same aggressor states otherwise might utilize to attack again. The Resolution leaves the extent of withdrawal to the warring parties. That gives a veto to Arab negotiators, who just don't come to terms (because they don't want peace or compromise). No convincing justification was offered for the UN's demanding even some withdrawal from such territories. Israel's total withdrawal from the Sinai, the bulk of the eligible territory, and its partial withdrawal from the Golan, met the terms of the Resolution. There is no basis for the Quartet to demand more. The Arabs have not done their part, as they boycott Israel, prepare for renewed aggression, attack Israel, and assist terrorism against it. Israel remains in control of small areas acquired in that war. Some, around Jerusalem and atop the Golan, it has annexed, which legally removes them from contention. Under the anti-Zionist atmosphere in the State Dept. and elsewhere, efforts persist to oust Israel from those areas. Not annexed is the unallocated part of the Mandate. It is Israel's right to annex that area, as indicated by the Palestine Mandate, which was incorporated into the UN Charter. The Security Council is trumped. But those in power there ignore legal restraints. Law and justice do not move them; hatred does. Force reigns. To the Quartet, the sole question is how to get total withdrawal. They don't try to end terrorism and the indoctrination in hatred that engenders it. Statements that terrorism must end are just formalities. How few sincere people notice the diplomat's insincerity! The same thing is true of the question what boundaries then would be secure. They state the phrase, "secure borders," as if the lip service of stating it balances the disservice of almost total withdrawal. By withdrawal, need I add, the powers that be mean Israeli withdrawal, when justice would dictate that the aggressor Arab population withdraw from the Jewish homeland. How can withdrawal be almost total, if not total, and provide secure boundaries? Would they haggle over this rock, that house, and tree-by-tree? That would make for micro-security and macro-insecurity. "Secure borders," however, were defined. The US Chiefs of Staff made a definitive study, years ago. The changes since then - the worsening of Arab jihadism and development of missiles - increase the need for strategic depth. Therefore, Israel's need for secure borders via territorial retention is greater. (Judea-Samaria and the Golan furnish more than half of Israel's water supply, too.) The Chiefs of Staff found that Israel must retain almost all of the Territories and the Golan. These areas would give Israel some strategic depth. They position Israeli artillery near enough to Damascus to deter Syrian attack. Their hills and valleys allow early warning, prevent being shelling from above, and serve as natural tank traps. Our Sec. of State studiously avoids mentioning the Chiefs' study. It debunks his lip service. WHO'S A TERRORIST The Dutch Foreign Minister demanded that the EU add Hizbullah to its list of terrorist organizations, to reduce its ability to raise funds in Europe. The EU had made a distinction between Hizbullah's military and civilian wing, but Min. Bot explained that the both wing serves the organization's supremacist goal and repressive means. Hizbullah attributed the demand to string-pulling by Israel, and not to heightened Dutch resentment against Islamist terrorists, even after one's gruesome murder of an infidel in Holland (MEPF, 11/25 from Miriam Gardner of American Yated Neeman, 11/19). W. Europeans must be heavy sleepers. It takes many terrorist bombs to wake them up. "COME IN, MOLES" After 9/11, the Dutch secret service (like the FBI) realized that it needed more familiarity with the Arab customs, personnel, and language. It recruited Arabs and other Muslims. It has discovered that one, at least, was a mole. (Duh!) He tipped off his cell about secret service plans. Thousands of Indonesians moved to Amsterdam from that former Dutch colony, in the 1950s. In the late 1960s and 1970s, hundreds of thousands of non-Dutch speaking Moroccans and Turks moved to the Netherlands, but kept their distance from the natives. The murder of a right-wing leader prompted the government to deport 26,000 rejected applicants for political asylum. (They had been rejected but allowed to stay?) Now there are frequent attacks on mosques, churches, and schools. Most Dutch want tight restrictions. They had tried to be welcoming, but their guests were too alien and non-assimilating (Op. Cit.). These immigrants would rather complain than advance themselves. Would you like to invite immigrants who come not to adjust, but to force you to adjust? ISRAEL'S "VIBRANT" MEDIA Imagining Israel's media to be democratic, Americans commonly praise it as "vibrant." Since it actually is regimented, they are reduced to describing it with vague adjectives instead of describing how it operates. Miriam Gardner described how it operates (in MEPF, 11/25 from American Yated Neeman, 11/26). A semi-private, ultra-Orthodox school network, called Toriani, solicits patronage by secular and traditionally observant families. Its proposed radio advertisements were refused by the government stations. The government does not allow the religious establishment to run its own stations. (TV and the major newspapers are leftist, too.) The network resorted to producing a CD. The CD quotes secular officials' alarming comments about public education. Most high school graduates do not earn a certificate of competency. Students do not admire their teachers. (That remark is of lesser validity.) The prospect is one of "collapse." (An alarmist term, when stated without qualification.) Favorable testimony from secular students and teachers in the network is quoted (but I find them glittering generalities.) In earlier reports, Gardner had explained that not only is the base for the secularist student body dwindling due to their low birth rate, but masses of secularists are switching to the Toriani and other religious schools. The secularist schools lack the discipline in which learning can proceed, and there is much violence in them. The curriculum is not satisfactory in more than one aspect, particularly in Jewish history and values. (At least the CD is "vibrant.") U.S. TO COMMAND SAUDI AIR FORCE DEFENSE The "United States has approved a project to maintain the command and control network of the Royal Saudi Air Force. Under the project, the Defense Department and private contractors would operate and maintain the Saudi air force's command, control, communications, computers and intelligence systems over the next three years. The project would ensure the deployment of U.S. personnel in several air force bases in the kingdom. The Pentagon has awarded a $16.6 million award to Abacus Technology Corp. for support for the C4I systems in the Saudi air force. The contract called for Abacus, based in Chevy Chase, Md., to provide 34 man-years of contractor engineering and technical support to the Royal Saudi Air Force for the 'operation, maintenance and support of their C41 Systems each year for up to three years.'" (IMRA, 11/25) Does the Pentagon pay for the defense of S. Arabia, which is charging the US extra billions of dollars by means of peak oil prices? Suppose S. Arabia attacked Israel, whose forces then counter-attacked. Would US personnel continue to maintain the command network of the Royal Saudi Air Force, to protect the aggressor? MORE PRIVILEGES ASKED FOR ALIENS IN U.S. In some states and cities in the US, legal aliens, or at least immigrants who have applied for citizenship, are permitted to work in fire and police departments. Some New Yorkers want to amend the law in their state, to permit the same. They argue that since holders of green cards may serve in the US military, permanent residents should be able to serve in the domestic police and fire departments. The Center for Immigration Studies contends that security concerns in domestic departments are less serious than they are in the military. Given the high proportion of foreign-born people in New York City, recruitment of police and fire fighters from among them would permit faster and perhaps more trusting communication between the municipal employees and residents. Some immigrants come from countries whose police are corrupt and dictatorial. They are afraid of being deported. The City is improving translation service. Under the proposal more employees could be recruited. The unions reply that if wages were made competitive, more could be recruited. Union leaders contend that some of the motivation for this movement is to dilute the labor market and therefore its wages (Daniella Gerson, NY Sun, 11/29, p.1). Some organizations overly identify with their clientele, right or wrong. They become lobbyists for immigration at odds with national security and conservation of resources. SYRIAN DIPLOMACY TOWARDS ISRAEL UNO Middle East peace envoy Larsen reports that Pres. Assad offers his hand in peace, and would negotiate without preconditions. Assad's spokesman immediately laid down major preconditions, such as that the negotiations start from where the last Israeli negotiators left off. That hand of peace directs terrorism. Israel notes that Syria remains in the axis of evil and supposes that the offer is just to mollify the US so it doesn't crack down on Syria (Arutz, 11/25). Neither the UNO nor Syria seek peace. Larsen is anti-Israel. The last Israeli negotiator wanted to give away the store, and was repudiated by the electorate. The Arabs usually qualify their fine-sounding statements after duping naïve or biased Westerners with them. Sudan and Iran use the same ploy to suspend Western moves against them - they promise peace or negotiations. 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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HAS ANYONE HEARD A TREE FALL IN THE FOREST? DOES THE FOREST EXIST?
Posted by Anita Tucker, December 8, 2004. |
"I haven't heard from you in a while. And the newspapers here seem to have stopped reporting news from Israel, preferring to report on Iraq instead. I hope all is well with you & your families. '' I THOUGHT ALL OF YOU INVOLVED IN HASBARA WOULD BE INTERESTED IN READING THE ABOVE QUOTE FROM AN E-MAIL I RECEIVED FROM A RECENTLY DISCOVERED RELATIVE IN CALIFORNIA (SAN DIEGO} WHO I PRESUME READS ONLY THE REGULAR SECULAR NEWSPAPERS. APPARENTLY ALL OUR EFFORTS IN DEVOTING SO MANY HOURS TO THE FOREIGN PRESS IS NOT ENOUGH AND IS NOT GIVING THE NEEDED RESULTS. CAN IT BE THAT SO MUCH IS HAPPENNING IN GUSH KATIF, SO MANY MIRACLES, SUCH HEROISM AND NOBODY "HEARS THE TREES FALLING IN THE FOREST" ???? PERHAPS WE MUST COME UP WITH SOME NEW IDEAS AND APPROACHES????? CHIZKU VEIMTZU,
Anita Tucker lives in Netzar Hazani, Gush Katif, Gaza. |
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WHERE'S THE TEMPLE?
Posted by David Ben-Ariel, December 7, 2004. |
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Something's missing. Rome is synonymous with the Vatican, Mecca with the Kaaba, and Jerusalem's known for its Western Wall. But WHY should we stand before the wall, letting it obstruct our vision, when we could be praying in a Temple? Why should Jews continue to bow before an illegitimate Gentile decree that tells them where to pray? (Isa. 10:1). The Turks designated the Wall as an alternative "holy" site since Muslims had stolen the Temple Mount! If we rightly refused to accept Uganda as a Jewish "homeland," why should Jews settle for anything less than a Temple for worship? That basically, is the gist of the message our demonstrations seek to send. The Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful Movement doesn't only protest the ongoing Muslim occupation of our Temple Mount, but proclaims that this unnatural set of circumstances will come to an end. We're confident that Muslim rule on the Temple Mount will soon be history, just as surely as the Berlin Wall fell and Eastern Europe came out from under the Russian heel! The restoration of Jews from all over the world to their ancient homeland is only the first step towards the redemption of our land and lives. Israel, for the most part, is an empty, secular state. It's about as Jewish as America is Christian! THE FACT THAT THE TEMPLE MOUNT IS STILL WITHOUT A TEMPLE STANDS AS AN INDICTMENT AGAINST ISRAEL! God will hold Israel's political and religious leaders responsible! Jerusalem's known as the heart of Israel, the crown of the "Jewish" State. The Temple Mount is the crown jewel. This historic Jewish treasure is a "diamond in the rough." It awaits our craftsmen's tender loving care to bring it to the brilliant perfection it deserves (Ps. 50:2). We protest that this responsibility hasn't been fulfilled yet, but we proclaim that these things could change overnight. The world was caught off guard by the rapid succession of events that shook Europe and the former USSR. The "experts" exposed how ignorant they really are. Nobody needs to be surprised when inevitable events ROCK JERUSALEM, and they feel its aftershocks worldwide. They've been foretold. What's presently missing in Israel will be found when we're filled with our historic mission and accomplish our intended purpose: the restoration of the sacrifices and the construction of the Third Temple! Hanukkah Hypocrisy Shamefully, today's leaders reflect a GHETTO-MENTALITY and expose the sorry state of Israel and Jewish affairs! They're starved for this world's affection, afraid to be different, and too willing to sacrifice our unique identity! God condemns those KAPOS OF COMPROMISE who would rather sell-out than take an unpopular stand! Whereas it's not politically correct, and goes against our democratic grain, and could result in a backlash - Hanukkah represents those who are willing, if and when necessary, to risk the wrath of others to insure the triumph of good over evil, of light over darkness, and right over wrong. In this particular case, the Light of what's good and right was the brilliant example of those faithful few Jews who held their head high - sick and tired of being beaten down - and publicly chose to reject alien ideas and destroy imposed idols. The Maccabees weren't overly concerned with a suicidal fear of world opinion, but mightily expressed their faith in GOD. They didn't flirt with "foreign affairs," or engage in self-destructive interfaith orgies. They kept the faith and cleansed the Temple Mount of its spiritual filth. World Jewry continues to celebrate Hanukkah to this day, but in the spirit of hypocrisy! We're more like the COWERING HELLENISTS who assimilated, rather than the courageous Maccabees who fought to remain true to themselves! Thank Heavens, there are a growing number in Israel who want to see Jerusalem restored as our spiritual center, and our lives rededicated to Biblical ideals, not humanist ideas. Pray for Jerusalem's peace and the rekindling of Israel's light! David Ben-Ariel is author of "Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall". He can be reached at http://www.pushhamburger.com/david.htm |
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THERES A HOLE IN THE DONUT
Posted by Evelyn Hayes, December 7, 2004. |
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"Let's fill the hole in the donut with a Shofar" There's a hole in the donut and the oil's leaking out.
Evelyn Hayes is author of "The Eleventh Plague, Twins, because their hearts were softened to accept the unacceptable" and "The Twelfth Plague, Generations, because the lion wears stripes." Contact her at haze@rcn.com. |
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ISLAM
Posted by Abd Allah, December 7, 2004. |
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islam is the real religious in now adays .allah will protect his
religious in yhis earth . you know carfully that muslims will fight
israelian people in there houses and they will hide by trees .trees
will call muslims to kill the israelian body who hidden with.you
never kill all muslims in this world. you will kill some in iraq , in
sudan,in iran but you never kill all muslims on all world.
Abd Allah can be contacted at dahrawy2004@yahoo.com. |
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THE HIJACKING OF THE SEASONS", A CHANUKAH POEM
Posted by Evelyn Hayes, December 7, 2004. |
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Tis the season to get ready for the seasons
Hopes of peace are shattered by shot after shot.
Rachel Imeinu, Naomi, Ruth and Boaz, David HaMelech, Rabbi Aryeh Levin and HaRav Kook
The parents remember their sugarplums snuggling, but now its rockets bursting to scare.
Out on the lawn there's a shattering and smattering and shouting and screaming.
And the world just isn't there, doesn't care,
Cry Rachel! Pray David! Protest CIPAC!
Now Straus and Merkaz, JNF and the rabbis are not claiming their claims
Tis the season that is unseasoned
It's all blamed on the Jews and aimed at the Christians.
The City of Love is a Taliban trust, trusting in Hiz'ballah, Tanzin and hate.
From deserts to mountains, continent to continent, denying Chanukah
and Xmas
Our seasons uprooted are the hijacking of hijackings.
Politics unmakes people;
Will the grinch give Chanukah and Xmas back?
Nothing is achievable when deception is right
It's a time to be merry,
Happy holiday to all and to all don't forget
Evelyn Hayes is author of "The Eleventh Plague, Twins, because their hearts were softened to accept the unacceptable" and "The Twelfth Plague, Generations, because the lion wears stripes." Contact her at haze@rcn.com. |
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ISRAEL'S MORALITY AND THE WORLD'S MYOPIA
Posted by Yuval Zaliouk, December 7, 2004. |
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Dear friends,
Occasionally commentators hit things right on the nail. Here is one such article. It was written by Daniel Gordis. He is vice president of the Mandel Foundation-Israel and director of its Jerusalem Fellows program. Those of you who believe that somehow, with a magic wand, things suddenly changed after Arafat and "peace" is possible, are in for a very rude awakening. Quite the contrary, this is the time to double our vigilance and prepare ourselves for the next series of great dangers and pressures, both from within and from without. Some among us are already trying to drag out from under the pile of debris the Oslo two states solution. This is lunacy in the making. Will they ever learn?
Yuval Zaliouk writes the Truth Provider columns. To subscribe, send an email an email to ynz@netvision.net.il |
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WHY DEFER TO EU DIPLOMACY? JIHADISTS' MULTIPLE VOICES
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, December 7, 2004. |
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CAN'T BOYCOTT EVERYBODY Germany was among the countries that let corporations sell components of weapons of mass-destruction to Iraq and Iran. Since many of those components could be components of civilian goods, the countries and corporations pretended that they thought those fine Iraqis and Iranians intended only the civilian use, even though those governments were engaged in an arms race. Suddenly Germany developed a conscience. It decided to join Britain and some other countries in refusing to sell conventional weaponry to Israel. Germany knows that the Arabs constantly attack Israel, and that foreign Arab armies are awaiting the opportunity to invade successfully. Germany's righteous position on that is to demand that Israel evacuate from the strategic and secure borders afforded by possession of Judea, Samaria, and Gaza. Arm the aggressors and disarm the victims. That's a prescription for another Holocaust. (Tell PM Sharon, trying to expel his people from at least some of those parts of their homeland.) In retaliation, Israel will stop buying buses from Germany. People suggest boycotting goods from the EU and China, whose sale helps finance jihadist states and entities such as the P.A.. Boycott China? Unfortunately, China and Muslim states manufacture much of what is in the stores. The list of countries to boycott over the Arab-Israel conflict and other persecutions and oppressions is too long to be practical. It is like the attempted US boycott: too extensive to work. WHY DEFER TO EUROPEAN DIPLOMACY? Iran is threatening to set off a nuclear conflagration, whose ramifications for the planet are not known, in order to eradicate those whom its Islamist rulers, from their backward, corrupt, and murderous perch, consider inferior and evil. They believe that their god would be pleased with the result, when alongside the ashes of millions and even billions of human beings, there emerge to dominate the survivors those who submit to Allah. The US wants to head off that prospect. It proposed that the UNO and IAEA demand that Iran stand down from its secret nuclear development program, undertaken contrary to its assurances and agreements. Otherwise, the US suggests, let the Security Council place sanctions upon Iran. This is the multilateral diplomacy that the Democrats insisted the US adopt. Such an approach usually fails, unless the sanctions are likely to be sure, swift, and firm. The UNO increasingly is vacillating, slow, and feeble, when it even has good will, which it usually does not. The main countries that Sen. Kerry wanted the US to work in concert with on matters of urgent diplomacy - France, Germany, and Britain - demurred. Instead, they proposed to offer Iran nuclear power for electricity, which was Iran's excuse for continuing this military nuclear development, in return for Iran's promise to cease military development. Verification of Iran's compliance required? No. Europe would rely upon Iran's promise. Worth of Iran's promise? Nil. Iran has been deceiving the world about its intentions for decades. Even as it was accepting the European plan, it was setting new conditions. That is how the Arabs operate, too. Nor do Islamists believe themselves bound by their word to infidels, if to anyone. The value of the plan? Zero. The nuclear plants that Europe would make available to Iran could be used to fashion weapons grade fuel. How constructive or sincere is the European plan? Aint. The diplomacy of France and Germany is designed to thwart the US and to make money, however dirty. The current diplomacy of Britain is devoted to denying its devotion to the US, so PM Blair can win re-election in his increasingly anti-American country. Media opinion of the plan? Wait. The mere presentation of it preempts US diplomacy, which now must wait for events to play out. Iran may develop bombs first. US government view? Skepticism. Perhaps the US will pursue its original approach. Let us hope Pres. Bush is sufficiently a "cowboy" to do so! FREEDOM OF RELIGION FOR A SUBVERSIVE WAR CULT Attendance of Muslims at Tel Aviv U. rose to 1,100. They demanded a mosque in their dormitory. The University was amenable to accommodating the Muslim students. University employees implored an Israeli official to forbid the construction. They note that radical elements use mosques in the P.A. to defame Israel, incite to riot, and recruit terrorists. They expect no less from the university mosque, especially as in the mosques of Israel, similar defamation is expressed. The Students Assn. had found posters calling for disruptions on "Land Day." By contrast, when Orthodox Jewish students sought to open a synagogue at the University, they were turned down. You see, liberal circles in Israel favor Islam more than Judaism (MEPF, 11/25 from Miriam Gardner of American Yated Neeman, 11/12). That's being liberal? NEW ISRAELI CONTRIBUTION TO SECURITY An Israeli invented a device that can detect a shoe bomb in two seconds, without an airline passenger having to remove his shoes. Another invention uses one's fingerprint for computer password, instead of a typed password that might be decoded by someone else. Israeli companies are offering to sell dozens of other types of security systems to the US (Op. Cit.). FRANCE EXTREMELY BIASED The French media almost uniformly reports the Arab side of the Arab-Israel conflict, and defames Israel. Jews are ignored or their protest is disparaged and discounted as naturally they would support Israel, they are Jews. (I wish that were true. It is truer that naturally French gentiles oppose Israel, they are French gentiles.) Those who do not share the regimented ideological view are treated as troublemakers. Media uniformity and libel are not accountable to anybody. This is harmful to democracy (and to the country's survival). French reporters in Israel changed Arafat's bigoted statements into politically correct ones or omitted them from the rest of their quotations of him. French readers were fed an idealistic picture of Arafat. When Jews are among gentiles, the gentiles criticize Israel excessively. If the Jews defend Israel's reputation, the gentiles accuse them of favoring PM Sharon and violence, and become personally nasty. Antisemitic slogans are scrawled on college walls. Jews are avoiding meeting gentile friends and attending public schools for having become unsafe for them. The Jews are reverting to ghetto mentality. French policy, to persecute Israel, encourages Muslims in France to attack the Jews, as the weak link in French society. So long as the brunt of bias attacks are borne by the Jews, as if they are not equal citizens, the French government pretends that the attacks on Jews arise from community conflict or from Israel's "bad" policies. Thus the government makes the Jewish victims of Muslim attacks out to be co-aggressors. The system of reporting leaves accuracy to officials' discretion. Not wanting to admit how serious the problem is and that it is growing, police report few of the incidents. This helps the government to pretend there isn't much of a problem. It seems that there isn't much to unify Western Europe but anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism (Ibid). This report probably is correct, but too much of it is made by assertion and value judgment, and not enough by example of the antisemitic statements, so readers can gauge it for themselves. JIHADISTS' MULTIPLE VOICES The head of Hamas operations in Judea-Samaria indicated that Hamas would not attack Israelis during the P.A. electoral campaign. Two hours later, a pair of Hamas terrorists were killed attempting to attack an Israeli military outpost in Gaza. Hamas headquarters in Lebanon denied there was a truce (Ravi Nessman, NY Sun, 11/30, p. 9 from Associated Press). It is common for one Arab leader to say something promising, and for another to rescind it. It also is common for an Arab leader to retract something he very recently had offered. I think that their word means nothing to them. They seek favorable publicity and fly trial balloons. We should not get taken in by Arabs' initial statements. MAYBE ARAFAT DID NOT HIDE MUCH MONEY It is widely assumed that billions of dollars were held out by Arafat, and with his death, may be lost to his heirs. Michael Jansen takes a fresh look at that assumption. He finds it wanting. The assumptions arose from Arafat's secrecy, tight personal control over the funds, and co-mingling of funds for the P.A. and the PLO. Arafat, himself, was a modest consumer. The sums he lavished upon his estranged wife may have been payoffs. Sources of his income dried up. He let the P.A. economy shrink. Israel withheld much of the usual funds it passed on to him. The Gulf States discontinued their subsidy of him. (The US suspended some of its subsidy, when the P.A. murdered some Americans in Gaza and refused to conduct proper investigation and prosecution, probably because it was a P.A. operation. Nevertheless, the US demands that Israel keep transferring excise taxes to the P.A..) Arafat had to draw down his funds (IMRA, 11/26 from Jordan Times). In support of this thesis, Arafat continued his subvention to Fatah, but recently financed the P.A. police parsimoniously. I was looking forward to the world's greatest treasure hund. THE "DO MORE" VAGUENESS PM Sharon told Sec. Powell that Egypt is doing more than in the past (which was to do nothing) to stop arms smuggling from the Sinai to Gaza, but that it must "do more." If Egypt does stop the smuggling, he said, Israel would stop patrolling the border and allow the P.A. to open a port and airport. He did not define "do more." Neither did he state how long Egypt would have to block the smuggling to be considered sincere about making it a permanent effort (IMRA, 11/25). When the Arabs do nothing substantial to meet their responsibilities, the West covers the Arab bad faith by urging them to "do more" or "try harder." That way, the West does not have to inform the world that diplomacy does not work with the Arabs, who shirk their responsibilities. The West omits criteria for judging Arab fulfillment. That way, the West can claim its satisfaction with the Arab effort and certify that the Arabs are meeting their commitments. WHEN THE U.S. WORKS WITH THE UNO In order to get any resolution passed condemning Sudan for continued violations not only of human rights but also of its recent peace agreement in the north-south war, the US had to omit mention of sanctions from its proposed resolution. The African states refused to allow a strong resolution. Without the threat of sanctions, Sudan continues violations (IMRA, 11/25). Multilateralism fails as much as multiculturalism, when the parties include fanatics or vested interests. The African governments prefer continental solidarity to admitting that one of them commits genocide and to breaking ranks with the Muslim states among them. 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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DNA CLEARS THE FOG OVER LATINO LINKS TO JUDAISM IN NEW MEXICO
Posted by Eliezar Edwards, December 7, 2004. |
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This story was on the Internet Haganáh
(http://haganah.org.il/haganah/israel.html) today. It comes from the
Los Angeles Times and was written by David Kelly, Times Staff Writer,
December 5, 2004.
Tests confirm what tradition and whispers have alluded to - a Sephardic community often unbeknownst to many of its members. ALBUQUERQUE - As a boy, Father William Sanchez sensed he was different. His Catholic family spun tops on Christmas, shunned pork and whispered of a past in medieval Spain. If anyone knew the secret, they weren't telling, and Sanchez stopped asking. Then three years ago, after watching a program on genealogy, Sanchez sent for a DNA kit that could help track a person's background through genetic footprinting. He soon got a call from Bennett Greenspan, owner of the Houston-based testing company. "He said, 'Did you know you were Jewish?' " Sanchez, 53, recalled. "He told me I was a Cohanim, a member of the priestly class descended from Aaron, the brother of Moses." With the revelation that Sanchez was almost certainly one of New Mexico's hidden or crypto-Jews, his family traditions made sense to him. He launched a DNA project to test his relatives, along with some of the parishioners at Albuquerque's St. Edwin's Church, where he works. As word got out, others in the community began contacting him. So Sanchez expanded the effort to include Latinos throughout the state. Of the 78 people tested, 30 are positive for the marker of the Cohanim, whose genetic line remains strong because they rarely married non-Jews throughout a history spanning up to 4,000 years. Michael Hammer, a research professor at the University of Arizona and an expert on Jewish genetics, said that fewer than 1% of non-Jews possessed this marker. That fact - along with the traditions in many of these families - makes it likely that they are Jewish, he said. "It makes their stories more consistent and believable," Hammer said. It also explained practices that had baffled many folks here for years: the special knives used to butcher sheep in line with Jewish kosher tradition, the refusal to work on Saturdays to honor the Sabbath, the menorahs that had been hidden away. In some families, isolated rituals are all that remain of a once-vibrant religious tradition diluted by time and fears of persecution. Norbert Sanchez, 66, recalled the "service of lights" on Friday nights in his hometown of Jareles, N.M., where some families would dine by candlelight. "We always thought there was a Jewish background in our family, but we didn't know for sure," he said. "When I found out, it was like coming home for me." In 1492, Jews in Spain where given the choice of conversion to Catholicism or expulsion. Many fled, but others faked conversions while practicing their faith in secret. These crypto-Jews were hounded throughout the Spanish Inquisition. "In the 1530s and 1540s, you began to see converted Jews coming to Mexico City, where some converted back to Judaism," said Moshe Lazar, a professor of comparative literature at USC and an expert on Sephardic Jews, or those from Spain and Portugal. "The women preserved their tradition. They taught their daughters the religion. People began rediscovering their Jewishness, but remained Catholics." But in 1571, the Inquisition came to Mexico. Authorities were given lists to help identify crypto-Jews, Lazar said. People who didn't eat pork, knelt imperfectly in church, rubbed water quickly off newly baptized babies or didn't work on Saturday were suspect. If arrested, they were sometimes burned at the stake. Many fled to what is now northern New Mexico, and remained secretive even after the U.S. gained control of the area in 1848. "Still, no one would come out and say: 'I am a Jew.' That didn't happen until the 1970s," said Stanley Hordes, a professor at the Latin American and Iberian Institute of the University of New Mexico who is writing a book on crypto-Jews. "The first few generations kept the secret because of danger of physical harm, and later they kept it because that was just what they did. The $64,000 question is: Why the secrecy today? Why are people keeping this information from their kids and grandkids?" Some haven't. "I found out when I was 13," said Keith Chaves, 47, an engineer in Albuquerque. "My great-grandmother told me that we were Sepharditos." The family matriarch was a repository of knowledge - and the keeper of secrets. "She kept a kosher knife rolled up in a piece of leather that she would only use for killing," Chaves said. "And she would kill the animal by cutting its throat in one motion. She abhorred the ways others killed animals." Born a Catholic, Chaves now attends an Orthodox synagogue in Albuquerque. He has made four documentaries on crypto-Jews and is working on a movie about his family history. "When I found out about my roots, I went to the library and my world opened up. I started peeling what turned out to be a 500-year-old onion," he said. "I have reclaimed my life. I live a Jewish life now. I think my great-grandmother told me because she expected me to do something fruitful with the information." Others have sought the truth on their own. Elisea Garcia was raised by a strong-willed grandmother with strange habits. "We would have a big dinner on Friday night with candles," said Garcia, 66, who is awaiting the results of a DNA test done on her son to see if he has the Cohanim marker, which is found only in the Y chromosome. "She would butcher the animals then examine them inside out for any sign of impurity. On Saturday we weren't even allowed to wash our hair." When her grandmother died, Garcia found a silver menorah hidden in her room. "I'm a curious person, but my uncle told me not to dig into things because they weren't important," she said. Garcia, a Catholic, attends both synagogue and church. "It makes me aware of the whole concept of God," she said. Greenspan, whose Family Tree DNA does the testing for Sanchez's project, said there had been a surge of interest in genealogy among Latinos looking for Jewish connections. "We believe a fairly high percentage of first families [arriving] in New Mexico were nominally Catholic, but their secret religion was Judaism," he said. "We are finding between 10% and 15% of men living in New Mexico or south Texas or northern Mexico have a Y chromosome that tracks back to the Middle East." They are not all Cohanim, and there's a slight chance some could be of African Muslim descent. But Greenspan said the DNA of the men is typical of Jews from the eastern Mediterranean. Test participants scrape cells from the inside of their cheeks and mail samples to Greenspan, who has them analyzed by researchers at the University of Arizona. The process takes about a month, with costs ranging from $100 to $350 depending on the detail requested. Women, who do not possess the Y chromosome, must have a male relative take the test in order to participate. Since discovering his past, Father Sanchez - who wears a Star of David around his neck - has traveled throughout the state giving talks on the history and genealogy of New Mexico. He also runs the Nuevo Mexico DNA Project and website that tells how people can take part. Sanchez describes his Jewish history as "a beautiful thing" complementing, not conflicting with, his priestly life. "I have always known I was Jewish; I can't explain it, but it was woven into who I was," he said. After Mass one recent morning, a group of parishioners filed out of St. Edwin's. None had a problem with their priest's dueling religious traditions. "He has taken us back to our roots," Robert Montoya said. And Theresa Villagas smiled. "We are all children of God," she said. "I think this just adds richness to our lives." |
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DEFYING G-D
Posted by TheRaphi, December 6, 2004. |
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This article was written by Shifra Hoffman. She is founder of the Victims of Arab Terror International organization (VAT), a noted journalist and executive director of "Shuva (Return), the Israel Emergency Aliyah Movement". Contact her on her website: http://www.victimsofarabterror.org/ This unidentified illness is often accompanied by symptoms of extreme headache and nausea, particularly when Israel's re-hashed politicians appear on the screen to present their 'new' images, with which they hope to influence potential voters to elect them as 'leaders' of the Jewish State. For some time now, as I reluctantly turn on television to see the evening news, a strange reaction seems to overwhelm me. This unidentified illness is often accompanied by symptoms of extreme headache and nausea, particularly when Israel's re-hashed politicians appear on the screen to present their 'new' images, with which they hope to influence potential voters to elect them as 'leaders' of the Jewish State. Incredible! Not one of the re-cycled former prime ministers or the 'wannabes' waiting in the wings for that coveted position, who denounce each other with a passion rarely exhibited against the Arab enemies, seems to understand exactly what is required of a true Jewish leader, particularly at this critical juncture of Israel's existence. Ironically, it was the late and unlamented arch terrorist murderer, Yasser Arafat, (may his name be forever erased) who well understood the 'Achilles heel' of Israeli politicians. Through the deceptive, so -called 'peace process', the diabolical PLO leader succeeded in portraying his gang of terrorist henchmen as 'freedom fighters' for the liberation of Palestine (sic), even as each successive Israeli prime minister eagerly rushed to shake his bloody hand and offer him more concessions of the sacred land of Eretz Yisrael. Yet, after thousands of Israelis have been murdered or wounded as a result of the ill-conceived Oslo Accords, having learned nothing and forgotten everything, the present prime minister, Ariel Sharon, and his potential challengers are again falling all over themselves to find a "new peace partner". For this purpose, they have to choose from among the myriad of Arab terrorists whose qualifications, seemingly, are how many Jews they have slaughtered or attempted to kill. Giving the devil his due, the 'preferred' candidate, Abu Abbas (whom our inane politicos view as a moderate), has honestly stated innumerable times that he intends to continue in the exact path as Arafat. Furthermore, Abbas, a Holocaust denier, demands the establishment of a 'Palestinian state' not later than the year 2005. What on earth could cause such madness and blindness in Israel's leaders? Many of them even have impressive military backgrounds, yet are incapable of understanding that the conflict between Jews and Arabs is not political. It is a religious war to eradicate Israel and, indeed, the Western world. The only possible explanation for the warped policies of Prime Minister Sharon, and that of both the left- and right-wing governments that preceded his, is an ostensible belief that they, and not the G-d of Israel, know the best solutions. That they decide the fate of Eretz Yisrael. Thus, in disregarding the expressed admonitions of our holy Torah, which prohibits selling, much less giving up, even one inch of our hallowed soil to non-Jews, the 'leaders' of Israel are guilty of defying G-d. In continuing to 'negotiate' with sworn Arab enemies of Israel instead of defeating them, as commanded by our holy Torah, the 'leaders' of Israel are guilty of defying G-d. In sacrificing our precious IDF soldiers' lives in order to spare the lives of so-called innocent Arab civilians, who by-and-large support suicide bombings and other means of murdering Jews, the 'leaders' of Israel are guilty of defying G-d. And in what is perhaps the most blatant chilul Hashem (desecration of G-d's holy name): by appeasing and ceding to the demands of gentile nations, rather than trusting in the Rock of Ages as did the Macabees of old (whose courage we celebrate each Chanukkah), by continuing to engage in a so-called 'peace process' that has proven detrimental to Israel's survival, the 'leaders' of Israel defy Israel's truest and Eternal ally - almighty G-d. TheRaphi (http://www.theraphi.com/archives/oldindex.html) is a pro-Israel and pro-Zionist site; it provides news articles and essays. |
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KNOW YOUR ENEMY: THE FATAH CONSTITUTION
Posted by Yuval Zaliouk, December 6, 2004. |
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Every person who is concerned about the Middle East conflict, but particularly Jews and Israelis, must learn the truth about the intentions of Israel's enemies, the Arab-Palestinians and the Fateh organization which controls the PLO and the PA. They do not even try to cover their intentions which are available for all to see. Those who support the Arab-Palestinians are also supporting the demise of the State of Israel. Here is my advice to those of you who are, yet again, being duped by false "peace" noises: We are still in winter, not spring. Remove the blindfolds and read the attached document. This is the Fateh Constitution: (http://www.fateh.net/e_public/constitution.htm) Principles... Goals.... Methods The Movement's Essential Principles Article (1) Palestine is part of the Arab World, and the Palestinian people are part of the Arab Nation, and their struggle is part of its struggle. Article (2) The Palestinian people have an independent identity. They are the sole authority that decides their own destiny, and they have complete sovereignty on all their lands. Article (3) The Palestinian Revolution plays a leading role in liberating Palestine. Article (4) The Palestinian struggle is part and parcel of the world-wide struggle against Zionism, colonialism and international imperialism. Article (5) Liberating Palestine is a national obligation which necessities the materialistic and human support of the Arab Nation. Article (6) UN projects, accords and resolutions, or those of any individual which undermine the Palestinian people's right in their homeland are illegal and rejected. Article (7) The Zionist Movement is racial, colonial and aggressive in ideology, goals, organisation and method. Article (8) The Israeli existence in Palestine is a Zionist invasion with a colonial expansive base, and it is a natural ally to colonialism and international imperialism. Article (9) Liberating Palestine and protecting its holy places is an Arab, religious and human obligation. Article (10) Palestinian National Liberation Movement, "FATEH", is an independent national revolutionary movement representing the revolutionary vanguard of the Palestinian people. Article (11) The crowds which participate in the revolution and liberation are the proprietors of the Palestinian land. Goals Article (12) Complete liberation of Palestine, and eradication of Zionist economic, political, military and cultural existence. Article (13) Establishing an independent democratic state with complete sovereignty on all Palestinian lands, and Jerusalem is its capital city, and protecting the citizens' legal and equal rights without any racial or religious discrimination. Article (14) Setting up a progressive society that warrants people's rights and their public freedom. Article (15) Active participation in achieving the Arab Nation's goals in liberation and building an independent, progressive and united Arab society. Article (16) Backing up all oppressed people in their struggle for liberation and self-determination in order to build a just, international peace. Method Article (17) Armed public revolution is the inevitable method to liberating Palestine. Article (18) Entire dependence on the Palestinian people which is the pedestal forefront and on the Arab Nation as a partner in the fight, and realising actual interaction between the Arab Nation and the Palestinian people by involving the Arab people in the fight through a united Arab front. Article (19) Armed struggle is a strategy and not a tactic, and the Palestinian Arab People's armed revolution is a decisive factor in the liberation fight and in uprooting the Zionist existence, and this struggle will not cease unless the Zionist state is demolished and Palestine is completely liberated. Article (20) Achieving mutual understanding with all the national forces participating in the armed struggle to attain the national unity. Article (21) Revealing the revolutionary nature of the Palestinian identity at the international level, and this does not contradict the everlasting unity between the Arab Nation and the Palestinian people. Article (22) Opposing any political solution offered as an alternative to demolishing the Zionist occupation in Palestine, as well as any project intended to liquidate the Palestinian case or impose any international mandate on its people. Article (23) Maintaining relations with Arab countries with the objective of developing the positive aspects in their attitudes with the proviso that the armed struggle is not negatively affected. Article (24) Maintaining relations with all liberal forces supporting our just struggle in order to resist together Zionism and imperialism. Article (25) Convincing concerned countries in the world to prevent Jewish immigration to Palestine as a method of solving the problem. Article (26) Avoiding attempts to exploit the Palestinian case in any Arab or international problems and considering the case above all contentions. Article (27) "FATEH" does not interfere with local Arab affairs and hence, does not tolerate such interference or obstructing its struggle by any party. Organisational Rules and PrinciplesCommitment ... Discipline ... Centrality... Democracy... Public and Self-Criticism In its organisational work, the Movement depends on the following rules and principles: First: Commitment. This means: Article (28) a. Firm belief in the case and the Movement's objectives and utter readiness to sacrifice for its sake till victory.
Second: Discipline. This means: Article (29) a. Abiding by the terms of the essential constitution and its organisational regulations,
Third: Central Democracy: This means Article (30) a. Central planning, leadership and surveillance, but not central execution, freedom of discussion and the right of participating in making decisions and recommendations within the organisational frameworks. b. Realising democratic centrality by adopting the following organisational methods:
Fourth: Public and Self-Criticism: Article (31) This is one of the cornerstones according to which the revolutionary practices are evaluated in order to emphasise their positive results and circumvent their negative effects. This equally warrants the Movement's faultless process and the practice of public and self-criticism by all members and leaderships within the organisational frameworks. Fifth: Organisational rules and principles are realised by the following methods: Article (32) 1. When convened, the Movement's conferences (General Conference, District Conference, Region Conference) are the highest leading authority, each according to its speciality and jurisdictions outlined in the constitution. And they have the sole authority to elect the leading committees, plan their activities, and observe and question their practices.
Yuval Zaliouk writes the Truth Provider columns. To subscribe, send
an email an email to ynz@netvision.net.il
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HAPPY HANUCHA
Posted by Carrie Devorah, December 6, 2004. |
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Carrie Devorah is an investigative photojournalist based in DC. |
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ALLAH BE PRAISED
Posted by Mordechai Ben-Menachem, December 6, 2004. |
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A recent Al-Manar broadcast (November 11) in praise of suicide
terrorism is typical of the fare presented. In an interview, the
mother of a slain Islamist terrorist said, "Allah be praised, I am
very happy. ... I am crying out of happiness. This is a blessed day,
the day my son gave me reason to hold my head high...."
In the same broadcast, another mother of a dead terrorist told an interviewer, "All I want is martyrdom. I'm willing for all my children to become martyrs. May my husband also become a martyr, and, Allah willing, may I die as a martyr." And a third Arab mother said, "It's true I sacrificed a son, but others have sacrificed two or three. I hope more of my sons will become martyrs." Mordechai Ben-Menachem is at Ben-Gurion University. He can be reached by email at quality@computer.org |
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YASSER, THAT'S MY BABY
Posted by Irwin N. Graulich, December 6, 2004. |
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He was responsible for blowing up babies in pizza parlors. Yet Jacques Chirac did everything possible to save his life and honor him. He had babies shot in their homes and schools, sometimes while their mothers watched. Yet Jimmy Carter welcomed him into his home in Plains, while Rosalind actually served him a nice dinner. Much of Europe and Scandinavia called him "a great and courageous leader," yet he orphaned the babies of 11 Israeli athletes in the 1972 Munich Olympics. He murdered a disabled, elderly American tourist, the wheelchair-confined grandfather of the Klinghoffer babies by "heroically" tossing grandpa off a cruise ship at sea. Yet President Bush said, "May God rest his soul," upon hearing initial false reports of his death. To the Arab and Muslim world, his legacy was teaching their babies how to blow up and murder innocent non-Muslims. Yet he somehow attained heroic status. And there you have the upside down world in which we live today. Under present conditions, a Palestinian state would undoubtedly send the horrible message that there are positive consequences to terrorism. It would be virtually impossible for Ariel Sharon, upon hearing the good news of bin Laden's demise, to react with, "May God rest his soul." The correct Jewish response would be, "How wonderful. Evil is dead. Now let's have a holiday or at the very least a party!" Well, Arafat is finally dead. "Hooray; the wicked witch is dead!" That is actually an appropriate Jewish reaction from which the free world can learn a valuable lesson. There should be no compassion for evil whether it is Hamas, al Qaeda, Timothy McVeigh, Pol Pot or Hitler himself. "Purposely" hurting innocent people changes the status of a human being into sub-human monster. So where do we go from here? Do the Palestinians deserve, yes deserve a state? The simple answer is "No, but...." After 2000 years, the world agreed to divide ancient Israel, which belonged to the Jews, into 2 parts; giving half the land to Arabs and the other half to Jews. Naturally, Arabs were permitted to continue living in the Jewish part and reap their rewards. However, Jews were forbidden to live in the Arab portion, keeping Arab/Muslim land Judenrein. Somehow, the entire free world has agreed with this bizarre position. Egyptian born Abu Amar aka Arafat was able to change his birth certificate without forgery by simply repeating the big lie. This Master Manipulator understood that the best way to keep his message on CNN, NBC, ABC and CBS was to maintain refugee status on his people and change the word occupation from a noun to a verb. The wandering Jew has morphed into the wandering Palestinian, a people without a homeland. Would it be possible to keep generations of people in refugee camps, where no one was guarding them or forcing this squalor? Now that is a trick worth studying whereby bright people remain destitute and willing to kill themselves, while their leader steals infrastructure funds to set up his wife in a Parisian hotel on $500,000 per week. And they somehow love him for it. This is not a fairy tale. The wicked witch was a real live person with a kaffiya. Now that the ultimate terrorist is dead, where do we go from here? Is peace possible in 2004-5? The truthful answer is "no," unless one has the bizarre belief that it is indeed possible to negotiate and trust evil. Of course, many immoral, foolish leaders have bought into the Neville Chamberlain approach. Such moral luminaries (sic) as Chirac, Straw, Annan and Schroeder have fallen into the foolish leftist trap called "trusting humanity", whereby even Bill Clinton and Dennis Ross once mistakenly stepped. Unless we begin with the premise that people need to earn or deserve something before the are given it, society will fail. The Jewish people yearned for a return to their homeland for 2000 years. Therefore, a valid argument can be made that the Palestinians still have 1950 years to approach a quid pro quo. Why did this simple fact not even enter into the Oslo process or the Camp David talks? Because we live in a world of immediate gratification which usually leads to disaster. It is necessary and better for a group to wait and learn values before they are permitted to have a state. There are very wise biblical precedents for this concept. 3350 years ago, God made an incredible effort to "take the Jews out of Egypt," and bring them into their land of Israel. He used plagues to free them and even split a giant sea to permit escape. After all those amazing miracles, the Master of the Universe made those same Jews wander in the desert for 40 years, before bringing them into the Promised Land. Herein lies the answer to the present Israeli-Palestinian issue. God understood the important concept that the children of Israel were simply not ready for their own state, because they were filled with poisonous Egyptian values and a death culture. That generation had to die out and a new generation had to be raised and taught different values and behavior. Unless this same change is applied to the Arab Palestinians, a decent, democratic state is not possible. As the Jews did 3300 years ago, Arabs must change their thinking, their ideologies, their methods of raising their children and their behavior. The Arab Palestinians must go through their own "Wilderness Program" in the same way that Jewish Palestinians underwent their transformation. The simple answer to this lingering problem that politicians have not been able to figure out is that the West Bank and Gaza should become commonwealths of Israel for at least a generation. If the Palestinians take advantage of learning science, technology, business, nation-building, values and democracy from Jews, while teaching their children the important biblical concept of "love your neighbor," a separate state can eventually go off on their own. Just like an IPO spinoff, only then will their shares truly be worth something. Irwin N. Graulich is a motivational speaker on morality, ethics, Judaism and politics. He is also President and CEO of a marketing, branding and communications company in New York City. He can be reached at irwin.graulich@verizon.net |
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MARKETING OF TERRORISM THROUGH THE INTERNET
Posted by Dr. Reuven Erlich, December 6, 2004. |
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The original contains Appendices with additional supportive material. Marketing of terrorism through the Internet: The marketing of Hamas' messages of hatred and terrorism through an extensive network consisting of approx. 20 active websites. These websites are serviced by various companies worldwide, primarily by East European and East Asian companies (first priority) and US companies (second priority) Overview
Characteristics of the Hamas movement's Internet infrastructure
Characteristics of Hamas' websites: First priority group of websites
Palestine-info, the main website, is supported by six secondary websites in different languages (8.):
The above group of websites, as mentioned, is of prime significance among Hamas' websites. Following are additional groups of websites that can be classified as second, third and fourth priority websites.
Conclusions The following conclusions arise from an analysis of Hamas' Internet service providers (as at October 25, 2004):
Footnotes 1 The marketing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad's messages of terrorism - consult the Information Team's document dated August 2004. 2 These websites are of varying levels of association and affiliation with Hamas. 3 "...used by the organization", i.e., provide it with ISP services. 4 In our investigations on the identities of the Internet service providers, we have relied on the Haganah website (haganah.org.il) and the whois.net website. 5 According to the Haganah website, these other websites include al-fateh.net, palestinegallery.com, fm-m.com and palestinianforum.net. 6 Ibid. 7 While the address is in Lebanon, the telephone number listed is located in the UAE. This is meant, most probably, to turn attention away from Lebanon to the UAE. It is possible that Nizar al-Hussein has an office in the UAE. Worth mentioning in this context is that one of the Internet service providers used by Palestine-info.com is a company based in Dubai (see Appendix A). 8 The languages chosen by Hamas may indicate the importance of target audiences in those countries. 9 There is an additional website run by the student movement that has not been updated in nearly two years: http://www.khayma.com/majles. 10 As opposed to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, whose websites are serviced primarily by American companies. 11 Thus, for example, on October 24, 2004, the manager of the Hamas message board (Hamas' official message board, see Appendix O) announced that the Russian government ordered the immediate shutdown of the server. The manager added that "we are constantly on the lookout for other providers in different locations." Dr. Reuven Erlich (Colonel, Ret.) is director of the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Center for Special Studies (C.S.S) in Israel. He can be reached by email at mlm@intelligence.org.il The Appendices in the original article (http://www.intelligence.http://www.intelligence.org.il/eng/ sib/10_04/oct_02.htmorg.il/eng) reproduce supporting text material in Arabic. |
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PEACE AND GOODWILL TO ALL MEN?
Posted by David Franfurter, December 6, 2004. |
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Dear Friends, UK Christian Aid (http://www.christian-aid.org.uk/) has long pushed an anti-Israel program, aggressively promoting the Palestinian narrative as a path to both peace and of relieving Palestinian poverty. It is interesting to compare their approach with that of the World Bank, a neutral body which also seeks to find the causes and propose solutions to Palestinian poverty. The World Bank's latest report (http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWESTBANKGAZA/ Resources/WBGOverview-Paper.pdf) also took input largely from Palestinian sources. It agrees that Palestinian freedom of movement would improve things for the Palestinians. It also clearly rejected the proposition (not too subtly promoted by Christian Aid) that Israel is therefore at the core of the poverty that the Palestinians suffer from. The World Bank clearly determined that until internal Palestinian reforms take place, any Israeli action would not be sufficient to significantly alter the plight of the average Palestinian - and that until the Palestinians acted against terror it would be totally unreasonable to ask the Israelis to remove the checkpoints that Christian Aid complain about so bitterly. This is the difference between a world body which is trying to find real solutions to a human problem, and create peace and prosperity - and Christian Aid, whose motivations are hard to fathom. The World Bank requires the money of the world community, action by the government of Israel - but says that this would all be "hard to justify" without pre-requisite action by the Palestinians themselves. The Palestinian Authority must "demonstrate strong committment to security reform" and " reinvigorate its program of governance reforms". The World Bank further specifies "Without a visible and effective effort [to control Palestinian violence], the case for persisting with certain closure measures is hard to refute....the PA [must] complete the cycle of popular elections it has embarked on, control lawlessness, develop a solid judicial system and address concerns about transparency and corruption." The latest Christian Aid appeal continues to promote its anti-Israel agenda, without referring to the contribution of Palestinian corruption and violence to the plight of their own people. The falsity of this Christmas time appeal was recently analysed in a report (http://ngo-monitor.org/editions/v3n03/ChildofBethlehem.htm) by the Jerusalem based NGO-Monitor. Not only does Christian Aid seem unconcerned about deceiving its donor base and abusing the huge amounts of Government funding it receives to promote an agenda which runs contrary to UK foreign policy, it also seems unconcerned by the plight of fellow Christians who live under the Palestinian regime. Until they adopt a more balanced approach, Christian Aid will not just continue to create divisions between the peoples of the region. Its focus on demonizing Israel also creates a divide within Christian communities and between Christian and Jew within Britain. I attach an email I received from Angela Bertz (one of our friends) which very eloquently addresses this latest Christian Aid campaign. Please let your friends in the UK become aware of the dangers of Christian Aid's political agenda. Best Regards,
From: Angela Bertz
Ruth and Zeev Almog were only one year away from celebrating a remarkable event in their lives; 50 years of marriage. They had three children and were devoted to their seven grandchildren. They were often seen picking them up from the pool, or from an after school activity. Zeev had devoted a large part of his life serving as a commander of the naval officer's training school in Acre, Israel. One of his nephews described him as a great man who loved other people. Two weeks before a horrible fateful day in October 2003 was to darken the lives of these people for ever, the whole family, totaling nearly 200 people had celebrated a family gathering. Zeev was considered one of the leaders of this clan and delivered an emotional address to his extended family. "I have outlived all my brothers and I am thankful for my lot because it's impossible to know what awaits us at every corner" That corner was sadly almost upon Zeev. Two weeks later Zeev and Ruth were enjoying an afternoon meal with their son and his wife, one of their daughters and three of their grandchildren. It was a balmy afternoon and the family had been to the beach in Haifa before heading to Maxim Restaurant. They were undoubtedly sharing the warmth and intimacy that comes from being part of a large family. Within seconds the lives of this innocent family was shattered. Zeev and Ruth, together with their son and two of their grandchildren aged 11 and 9 were blown to pieces by a monstrous Palestinian homicide bomber (in this instance a woman, later glorified as a heroine and role model). While they were still scraping the body parts of these devoted grandparents and 19 more people of the restaurant walls, one of their grandchildren was fighting for his life. Oran was 10 years old. He was blinded in the blast and suffered excruciatingly painful internal injuries. Maybe even worse than that is the deep emotional scars this child will carry around with him, probably for the rest of his life. This year Christian Aid centers their appeal for Christmas on a 7 year old little Palestinian girl called Jessica who lives in Bethlehem. The appeal has been aptly called "Child of Bethlehem". This little girl was tragically caught in crossfire between Israelis and Palestinians. She was hit by shrapnel and consequently blinded in one eye. Jessica found it very hard to adjust to life with an artificial eye and at the beginning would take out one of the eyes of her dolls. She would then say "it would be like me". Jessica and her mother have had years of counseling and this has helped her face the adjustments she has had to make to her life. This year Jessica and her family hope to worship and celebrate Christmas in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. O little town of Bethlehem, so goes the well know Christmas carol. Known for being the birthplace of Jesus, it is one of the most revered spots for Christians around the world. The Church of the Nativity was built atop the spot where Jesus was believed to have been born in a small cave that was then used as a stable. Up until the year 1995 the town of Bethlehem was occupied by a predominantly Christian community of 70%. It came under the jurisdiction of Israel and Christians from around the world flocked there by the thousands. In 1995 the Palestinian Authority were handed control of this well known tourist spot. Within a few years the Palestinians incorporated 3 predominantly Moslem towns of 30,000 people into Bethlehem. The city also added thousands of Bedouins and encouraged Moslem immigration from Hebron. Within a short time the demography of this peaceful Christian town had been stunningly changed. To date almost 50% of the town's once large Christian population have fled, many of them from fear. In the year 2000 the then Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat slammed the door at Camp David. He turned his back on the best deal he had been ever been offered, with 97% of his demands met, including the absolute unthinkable of Judaism's holiest city Jerusalem as his capital. Two months later as an alternative to statehood he instigated the Intifada (uprising) against Israel. On the 2nd of April 2002, over one hundred armed Palestinian terrorists forced their way into the Church of the Nativity. They invaded the prayers of 200 nuns and monks. They were seeking refuge from Israel's "Operation Defensive Field" launched after the previous month of March had seen the worse spate of homicide bombings since the start of the Intifada. These gunmen purposely used one of Christianity's holiest sites knowing full well that Israel would exercise both restraint and respect towards this most sacred site. The gunmen held the Church under siege for 39 days. They used it as a convenient firing range to shoot at the Israeli soldiers who had surrounded the church. They knew that Israel would not fire back out of respect for the sanctity of the church. When the standoff came to a head many of the gunmen were expelled, not only from the PA, but transported to freedom via a luxury hotel in Cyprus to start new lives in several European countries. Christian Aid has issued a 71 page document entitled "Facts on the ground - The end of the two-state solution". The cover page features these words below a picture of a barbed wired barrier. Such a front page already speaks volumes for the derogatory contents to be found in this report. Christian Aid certainly makes no mention of this siege; neither does it bother to mention the rapidly dwindling Christian population of the town of Bethlehem. In fact Christian Aid devotes almost the whole 71 pages into blaming Israel for almost every ill that has befallen the plighted Palestinians. It ignores historical facts by referring to "Palestinian Occupied Territory" and at some point even refers to the Palestinians as being indigenous to the region. While Christian Aid has indeed proclaimed their abhorrence to Palestinian terrorism they seem unable, or refuse to portion hardly any of the blame on the people that have created it. It refers continuously to the children of the Middle East and even has a picture gallery. With the exception of one picture of Iraqi children every single one of them shows Palestinian children. Most of the pictures are taken to provoke maximum sympathy by concentrating exclusively on only one side of the conflict. It shows Palestinian children next to Israel's security barrier, waiting at one of Israel's checkpoints or refers to them as children living in refugee camps. The website claims that its focus is not only on the Bethlehem of the bible but on the contemporary situation in the Middle East With this in mind one really needs to ask why Christian Aid does not have even one picture of an Israeli child. Both Jessica and Oran were tragic and innocent victims of Palestinian terrorism. There is no outpouring of Christian Aid charity or words of grief for the hundreds of Israeli children whose lives have been shattered by terrorism. No poems, no pictures, no twinkling little stars in the sky to guide them as there was for Jessica and the Palestinian children. Frankly I have immense respect for the millions of Christian's worldwide, especially the large numbers of them that support Israel, not only in its fight against terrorism, but respect the Jews for being the true people of the Bible and the real guardians of this Holy Land. Most of the drivel apologizing for Palestinian terrorism written in the 71 page report and on Christian Aids website is an insult, not only to Israel but to the millions of Christians around the world that support Israel wholeheartedly. Sadly the message coming from Christian Aid this Christmas is a selective and sadly biased one. Whatever happened to peace and goodwill to all men?
To subscribe to Frankfurter's 'letter from Israel', email him at
david.frankfurter@iname.com. Or go to
http://www.livejournal.com/users/dfrankfurter/
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HOW FBI SET UP AIPAC
Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, December 6, 2004. |
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This was written
by Janine Zacharia, The Jerusalem Post, Dec. 5, 2004.
Dear Friends, Now that it is exposed, the rest of the world can see
how the FBI set out to frame Israel and impune the patriotism of
American Jews as well as Israel and Israelis.
At this crucial time when the world and America are embroiled in a War Against Global Terrorism, Israel is the best and maybe only effective ally of America. Israel has native Arab speakers who can interpret Arabic propaganda in its word and nuance. Israel is geographically located to serve as a natural base, supply and service center for American war materials. Israel is the only country in the Middle East that votes with America almost 100% of the time. Because Israel is ideologically and geo-politically America's best ally. This disturbs many anti-Jewish and anti-Israel people in the Free West so they try hard to smear Israel - Jews and Israelis alike. To give pro-American allies information about how dangerous Iran is, how and why, makes it incumbent upon good Americans and good Jews to give this information to Israel who is America's virtual red-line, first line of defense. THAT IS NOT A CRIME! To NOT give the information to Israel would be a crime against American interests. I would guess or bet that Larry Franklin never told the AIPAC officials that the information was secret or classified. At most, he would probably have admitted that it might be 'sensitive'. So IF the AIPAC officials gave Israel life-and-death information about a potential nuclear threat from Iran, Israel's knowledge of this would aid both American and Israeli interests. Israel may be able to device tactics and strategy to defuse this potential time-bomb to the Free West. All the best.
HAG CHANUKAH SAMA'ECH
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P.A. CONFIRMS: WASN'T A PEACE PROCESS; HALKIN'S GAZA ARTICLE; SERVANT BECOMES MASTER
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, December 6, 2004. |
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P.A. OFFICIALS CONFIRM ARAFAT'S BELLICOSITY Members of the P.A. ruling elite have been explaining Arafat's legacy. He never sought peace. He used diplomacy to promote what dupes called a peace process, but was his strategy to conquer Israel in phases. He wanted martyrs to the old ways, not leaders to new ways of civility. His goal was independence with Jerusalem as capital over all the land from the Jordan R. to the Mediterranean Sea, i.e., including Israel. (He probably hoped to seize Jordan, for Arab dictators are expansionist.) Establishing the P.A. was not the end goal but the interim goal. Using it, he or his successors would conquer Israel. Oslo was part of that strategy. Arafat's successors vow continued violence. Thus it is not only Hamas that threatens a no-holds barred violence. They consider violence as the lubricator for diplomacy, and diplomacy as the oil of imperialism. (This is how Jewish nationalists pegged Arafat, all along.) In the face of these admissions, US diplomats finally are realizing or at least acknowledging that Arab incitement to hatred and violence should be recognized as cause and indicator of the problem (Steven Stalinsky, NY Sun, 11/24, p.9 from MEMRI). Arab means are unjust. So is their cause. Diplomacy with them is futile and risky. Defeating them is the answer. Whether the anti-Zionist State Dept. will go that far is not likely. POLLARD APPEAL SUMMARY Jonathan Pollard's brief to the US Court of Appeals states that his life sentence was leveled not because of what he did but because of what the government and his original attorney did to him. The government violated his right to due process. His original attorney performed grossly ineffectively, thereby not safeguarding that right (IMRA, 11/23). In other words, he sat in court without having his day in court. ARAB STATES SEEK TO DELAY IRAQI ELECTION They urge inclusion of the insurgents in political contests and in the voting, rather than meeting the target date of elections. IMRA points out that willfully not voting is a kind of voting and should not veto the holding of elections. Iraq's interim government is asking neighboring countries to close the border to terrorist infiltrators (IMRA, 11/24 from Arab News). Do those Arab states want to see the elections proceed or are they hoping to give the insurgents a victory in postponing them and staving off an example of the democratic process that their own people might demand? On the other hand, Iraq is rushing into election during a civil war and before setting up the sinews of democracy that would bind elected officials to democratic means. INDONESIAN HOUSEMAIDS IN S. ARABIA About 2,000 housemaids have been repatriated from S. Arabia to Indonesia. "Many" of them "leveled charges of maltreatment, nonpayment of wages or physical abuse against their sponsors." Six others committed suicide. S. Arabia employs about 250,000 housemaids. Most are from Indonesia. The rest are from Sri Lanka and the Philippines. Indonesian officials have criticized mistreatment of their citizens in S. Arabia and have set up monitoring and support groups (IMRA, 11/24). How does that compare with the treatment of alien workers elsewhere? Some Israeli employers exploit theirs economically, but sexual and other physical abuse has not been alleged. GAZA PLAN & SECULAR VS. RELIGIOUS Recently I took great exception to Hillel Halkin's attempt in the "NY Sun" to silence opponents of PM Sharon's abandonment plan by smearing them rather than offering a rational argument for the plan. Mr. Halkin depicted the opponents as being too religious and extremist. I counter-charged that Israeli secularists are too anti-religious and extremist, and gave an explanation, something that Halkin did not do. Among Jews in Israel, the religious population is increasing and the secular population is decreasing. Circles active as secularists fear the likely political and social changes. They dread becoming a minority in their towns, where a religious way of life would predominate. Secularists, like their parents and grandparents running the State in the 1940s and 1950s, who forced religious immigrants not to observe religiously, are resorting to desperate measures. In city planning, they allot too few or even no space for synagogues and mikvot, to discourage religiously observant Jews from moving in. Summarized here is another, more grievous case of fraud and duplicity in its discrimination against the ultra-Orthodox, a case some of you may have read before, in greater detail. The point is not defense of homogeneity in neighborhoods and towns, which has something to be said for it, but dirty government tactics that cause financial and emotional loss. Beit Shemesh is a developing town that has been attracting a large proportion of ultra-Orthodox. In the late 1990s, the Housing Ministry decide to erect a secular neighborhood in the path of their expansion. It put 158 housing lots up for bid at advantageous prices, and advertised the heavily subsidized deal only in secularist media. Foiling their plans, ultra-Orthodox people, found out about the government grant and submitted tenders. The state signed infrastructure agreements with the winners, who made down payments. Of the 72 tenders that won, 52 were by ultra-Orthodox and only 20 by others. "At first the officials denied it and issued a statement, 'An attempt by chareidim (ultra-Orthodox) to take over the Shachar project for the secularists and the datiim (Orthodox) failed. Of the 80 winners of the 'Build Your Own Home' tender, the chareidim only received 16.'" (Note that an attempt to participate in a public enterprise from which the government had tried by subterfuge to exclude them is called an attempt "to take over.") Then the government realized its mathematical error. Housing Ministry Director-General Shlomo Ben-Eliahu fraudulently advised the Tender Committee and the then Attorney-General Rubinstein that he had not signed the contracts nor received down payments. On the basis of that lie, he asked the Attorney-General whether he may cancel the tenders. Usually, government moves leisurely (and as I have pointed out, Israeli officials act capriciously, not democratically). This time, within the day, the Ministry canceled the tenders, apprising intimates that the reason was that "too many" ultra-Orthodox had won bids. (The deal had not been offered with religious restrictions.) The Ministry notified the winners, but gave the excuse that the Ministry now realized that it could not recoup its development costs, because it could not market sufficient lots. (The deal had not been offered with a proviso that there had to be a minimum number of sales.) Eleven victims appealed to the Jerusalem Administrative Court, and lost. They appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court. It ruled that the contracts were legal, not their arbitrary cancellation. A lower court judge assigned to adjudicate related problems declared that no vital public interest was harmed by the original deal, the government's rationale was invalid, and that obviously it was an excuse for improper religious discrimination. The same government that appealed for sympathy on the basis of prospective economic losses had put customers in the position of having sold their former houses and undertaken new mortgages for the new property, only to be denied use of that property. The judge poked other holes in the tissue of government excuses. She pointed out that the government continued developing the project's infrastructure for two years after it had canceled the project allegedly for being not feasible. Government lawyers claimed it got too few offers, but it neither had specified a minimum nor cancelled the deal then, only upon discovering that most of the winning offers were from ultra-Orthodox. Its claim that the project was intended for the "general population" was declared religious discrimination, permissible neither in awarding contracts nor in marketing the project. As for the claim that the presence of ultra-Orthodox would drive away other purchasers, surveys show that the ultra-Orthodox attract more. (They probably are not secularists.) The Mayor, too, tried to stave off the ultra-Orthodox. He asked that the project be delayed until a municipal center were built. The Court found that irrelevant, a delaying tactic, since the center was not scheduled to be built for another decade. The Center would contain a university and entertainment facilities likely to attract secular Israelis, and help keep the mayor in office after he barely won the last time. He recently fired all municipal workers affiliated with religious political parties (MEPF, 11/25 from Miriam Gardner of American Yated Neeman, 11/26). That firing adds political discrimination to religious discrimination. Secularists have been waging a similar political-religious, defamatory campaign against the Orthodox in general, and right-wingers, over the Rabin assassination and PM Sharon's abandonment plan. Government and leftist rationalizations about these matters are just as fraudulent and thin as in this housing issue. In the broader cases, the government put the power of the whole Establishment, including the secret police and the judiciary, to repress inquiry and justice. My goal is to clarify the issues here and appeal for justice, not to make a brief for the ultra-Orthodox. There may be legitimate issues between them and the other Jewish citizens. However, with a regimented Israeli media that prefers defamation to definition, it is difficult to gauge their legitimacy. In Israel, things are not as depicted. For example, secularists resent ultra-Orthodox Jewry for mostly not serving in the Army, though neither do more secularists. The Ultra-Orthodox reply that the Army imposes its secularist ways upon them, the way the socialists did upon the religious immigrants from N. Africa, decades ago. Someone should set up research organizations to establish the facts and lay out the controversies. Oh, we have them and they are called "think tanks." No, they are either too specialized or too ideological. Their leaders don't think. To stir things up, I raise this prospect: Suppose Arabs won some of the tenders. The same arguments about equal rights for all citizens could apply to them, and in some courts have been so applied. The situations are different. Arabs in mixed communities can become a menace to peaceable Jews. Besides verbal and written antisemitism, they may engage in violence and offer an ever-present threat of terrorism and prospect for radicalization. They make life untenable for Jews. This is a real menace, as contrasted with the mere differences in style of life among Jews. (The reverse, Jews picking on Arabs, is not true. This is a fact that the W. Europeans and other antisemites never notice.) Nor is the issue a local one. The broad issue is control of the country and survival of its Jewish population and Jewish national sovereignty and cultural development. The Arabs are an enemy population, defeated in its past attempt at dispossession and genocide, and now sympathetic to, and increasingly helpful to, the P.A. attempt to do likewise. The Arabs are an extreme example among many examples of the failure of multiculturalism. The underlying problem is their having been granted citizenship and residency, legal and illegal. Those grants must be discouraged and rescinded, as they must be in the whole Western world, against which the Arabs are waging holy war. The issue is not one of local residency and of civil liberties but of national security in wartime. FROM TOOL TO MASTER A dictator sets up a secret service to secure its rule by spying on and liquidating any opposition to his rule. In theory, a democracy sets up secret service to protect the country by spying and sometimes liquidating foreign opposition to the democracy. It doesn't always work that way. Informed Israelis are concluding that their country now is run by the secret service or the cabal that controls it. The Rabin family requested an investigation of the Rabin assassination, but are afraid that sordid details would come out about Yitzchak Rabin. (His widow was given placebos for her cancer). Others are afraid to publicly demand an investigation or hear key testimony. Israel's system of government control of most endeavors, and of excessive discretion in that control, guarantee the corruption that the secret service and the leftist system of justice can blackmail opponents over (MEPF, 11/25 from Miriam Gardner of American Yated Neeman, 11/19). There isn't enough oversight over US intelligence agencies. No one ever inquired publicly what was the secret mission of the USS Liberty, run by the hush-hush National Intelligence Agency. The ship entered the Six Day war zone with spying equipment. My guess is that it was spying on Israel in behalf of the Arabs and contrary to public policy. If the Israeli government is aware of it, it is nevertheless not informing its people. In general, the government fails to disabuse its people of their groundless belief that the US government is pro-Israel. As a result, Israeli policy is to risk national survival for dependency on a US umbrella periodically folded up. Israel should strive for independence from the US. IRAN DEVELOPED UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE The drone that Hizbullah flew into Israel, through its defenses, is one of several furnished it by Iran. Iran developed the machine. Other Iranian drones have been monitoring US troop movements in Iraq (MEPF, 11/25 from Miriam Gardner, 11/19). What Iran did with its intelligence was not stated. THE CIA IN 1947 - ALREADY ANTI-ZIONIST Before the General Assembly recommended partitioning western Palestine, the CIA secretly reported on the prospects. It gave the Jewish state no more than two years to survive the anticipated war. It thought that the Jewish forces would succumb for lack of supply, and it proposed (what Pres. Truman implemented) an arms embargo (as if to guarantee Israel's conquest). The report was shot through with observations about the Arabs' propensity for violence and with nasty, unsubstantiated remarks about the Jews. The assessment resented Jewish independence for injuring US prestige and commercial activity in the Mideast (Op. Cit.). One would think that the observations would lead to remarks hostile to the Arabs. How much prestige comes from trucking with Arab aggressors, how long does it last, and how valuable is it? PANDERING TO MUSLIMS IN BRITAIN British prison authorities sometimes defer to their growing number of Muslim inmates, many being terrorists. The Muslims objected to the inclusion of pork on the menu. Prison officials made pork unavailable to ALL prisoners (Ibid.). I don't eat pork and wouldn't require Muslims to. But neither would I deprive Christians of it. Richard Shulman is a veteran defender of Israel on several web-based forums. His comments and analyses appear often on Think-Israel. He provides cool information and right-on-target overviews. He distributes his essays by email. To subscribe, write him at ricshulman@aol.com. |
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ELI COHEN: HERO OF ISRAEL
Posted by IsrAlert, December 6, 2004. |
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This comes from http://www.saveisrael.com/martyred/elicohen.htm On May 18, 1965, the Government of Syria executed a man who, although a friend of the president of Syria, had none the less saved the State of Israel from being destroyed. More than any other one man, Eli Cohen, an Egyptian born Jew, earned the Israeli Secret Service, known as the Mossad, its reputation as the best Intelligence Service in the world and paved the way for Israel to win the Six Days' War in June 1967. Eli Cohen was deeply moved as a young man in Cairo by the trial of two members of the Stern Group Eliahu Bet-Zouri and Eliahu Hakim. Hakim and Bet-Zouri were the assassins of the Anti-Semitic British High Commissioner of the Middle East, Lord Moyne. The young Cohen helped to organize demonstrations in support of Bet-Zouri and Hakim. The demonstrations proved fruitless. The men were sentenced to hang, on the scaffold they sang Hatikvah. After high school Cohen was instrumental in establishing an "Underground Railroad" that smuggled Egyptian Jews to the land of Israel. In the early 1950s Cohen was recruited by the Mossad to participate in an espionage operation that spied on Nasser's Nazi scientists attempts to build rockets and engaged in sabotage. After the Mossad's activities were discovered and most members were rounded up Cohen made Aliyah in 1956. After a brief time adjusting to life in Israel and service in the Israel Defense Forces Cohen was approached to become an information analyst for the Mossad. The Mossad eventually accepted Cohen's request for field duty. Cohen adopted the persona of a rich Arab merchant who had emigrated to Argentina and then returned to his Syrian homeland, calling himself Kamal Amin Taabes, this Mossad agent had gained access to the most influential sectors of Damascus society. As "Kamal" Eli Cohen joined the revolutionary Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party. Cohen was able to become very active in the Ba'ath Party and friendly with its leaders. After a bloodless Coup de ta the Ba'ath Party came to power. Among the men he had befriended many became officials in the new government many were high ranking military officers such as the head of intelligence, Colonel Ahmed Suweidani, and Syrian President Amin el-Hafiz. Cohen was among the only civilians to ever inspect Syrian installations in the Golan Heights. He was able to send photographs and sketches of the entire Syrian frontlines back to the Mossad. In one case he was able to warn Israel of an impending attempt by Syria to cross the border. When Cohen was finally discovered, quite by accident - his radio equipment was detected by KGB agents - he was being seriously considered to become either Minister of Defense or Assistant Foreign Minister. After two lengthy trials Eli Cohen was finally sentenced to death by hanging. Cohen was 41 years old, and left a widow, three daughters and a son. In his final letter to his wife he wrote "I beg of you not to waste time crying for me. Always think of the future." Through his nearly four years as a spy in Syria Eli Cohen succeeded in sending a steady flow of extremely valuable information back to Israel. Cohen left advice for future leaders of Israel. Advice that the late Menachem Begin listened to in 1981 when he was Prime Minister and ordered the Israeli air force to bomb the Iraqi nuclear plant in Baghdad. Eli Cohen said "Against the Arab you mustn't defend yourself. You must attack...." For further information about the Mossad and Eli Cohen: "The Mossad" by Dennis Eisenberg, Uri Dan, and Eli Landau. Two biographies about Eli Cohen: "The Shattered Silence" by Zwy Aldouby and Jerrold Ballinger and "Our Man in Damascus: Eli Cohn" by Eli Ben-Hanan. Harv Weiner, a businessman in Dallas, Texas, is the founder and moderator of Isralert. To subscribe to IsrAlert, send an email to isralert@aol.com |
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THE "MODERATION" OF THE PALESTINIAN'S NEW LEADER - MAHMOUD ABBAS
Posted by Jerome S. Kaufman, December 6, 2004. |
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This was written by Morton Klein. It is re-printed from the Detroit Jewish News of December 3, 2004. Morton A. Klein is National President, Zionist Organization of America. Mahmoud Abbas, who has succeeded Yasser Arafat as chairman of the PLO, is no moderate. As co-founder with Arafat of the terrorist Fatah group and as Arafat's number two-man in the PLO for more than 40 years, Abbas was the architect of numerous mass murder terrorist attacks against Jews. As prime minister of the Palestinian Authority from April through September 2003, Abbas presided over the PA's ongoing terrorist war against Israel. During that period, 78 Israelis were murdered and 489 wounded by Palestinian Arab terrorists. Abbas told the Arab newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat on March 3, 2003. that when he met with Hamas terror leaders. "We didn't talk about a break in the armed struggle ... It is our right to resist. The intifada must continue, and it is the right of the Palestinian People to resist and use all possible means in order to defend its presence and existence." Abbas said in Cairo on July 23, 2003 that, "cracking down on Hamas, Jihad and the Palestinian organizations is not an option at all." He offered cabinet positions to leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad (NY Times, March 31, 2003; Israel Radio, March 31, 2003). He praised the Arab terrorists imprisoned by Israel as 'political prisoners' and 'heroes' and authorize a book denying that the Nazis murdered 6 million Jews. Abbas' attitude toward terrorist groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which are on the U.S. terrorist list because they have murdered hundreds of Israelis and American, is already clear. Recently, he met with their leaders and invited them to take part in upcoming Palestinian Arab elections. Instead of dismantling and outlawing these terrorists, he is offering them a chance to gain power. President Bush, in his June 24. 2002, speech about the Middle East, said that the Palestinian Arabs must "elect new leaders, leaders not compromised by terror." Mahmoud Abbas is not such a leader. Jerome S. Kaufman is National Secretary of the Zionist Organization of America. and host of www.israel-commentary.org |
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THE JIHAD OF ISRAEL'S CIVIL RIGHT IMPOSTORS
Posted by Steven Plaut, December 6, 2004. |
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The time came a long time ago to end the farce of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) pretending to be a human rights watchdog. It is nothing of the sort. The ACRI is a radical far-left anti-Israel propaganda outfit, well-financed, as are all seditious activities in Israel, by the New Israel Fund and other groups outside Israel who do not exactly have Israel's best interests at heart. We have already had reason to comment on these civil-rights impostors at http://www.israelnn.com/article.php3?id=3469 The ACRI gives itself away because, in its ads, filling the papers and paid for by its overseas sugar daddies, it lashes out not only at "discrimination, unemployment, racism, violence, indifference, etc.", as for example in its front page ad in Haaretz today (Dec 6, 04), but also in the same breath attacks Israeli "occupation". Now "occupation" might be a political issue of controversy, but since when are border disputes a matter for a "civil rights watchdog" to call? And since this "civil rights watchdog" is upset by violence and racism, why has it never ever spoken out against the racist violence of Palestinians blowing up bus loads of Jewish children, all with the applause of other Arabs and of other Jewish far leftists? Could it be that the ACRI is just another communist-front anti-Israel propaganda group, like "Physicians for Human Rights" and Betselem? What's that, you protest aghast? Jewish far leftists applauding Arab terrorists blowing up bus loads of Jewish children? Can't be, you say? Just name one? Ok, I will just name one. Sami Michael, the chairman of the very same Association for Civil Rights in Israel. That's who. Michael is a well-known Israeli novelist who often celebrates the communist movement back in his native Iraq, in which Arab and Jewish Stalinists teamed up to make the world safe for gulags. Here is our earlier comment on Michael's endorsement of terror: Sami Michael is one of the strangest members of Israel's Literary Left. He was raised a Jewish communist in Baghdad and then carried his nostalgia for Stalinism into Israel. He has written many novels, some of them celebrating communism, most of them celebrating Iraqi Jewry. He currently heads the far-Leftist anti-Israel extremist group, the "Association for Civil Rights in Israel", which is of the opinion that Jews have no civil rights, especially not the right to defend themselves against terror. I found out the hard way that the ACRI simply does not believe in freedom of speech for non-leftists, when I invited it to support my defense against the anti-democratic SLAPP suit harassment that was filed against me by the anti-Semitic lecturer from Ben Gurion Univerity, and the ACRI refused to do so. The ACRI, it seems, does not believe in free speech for non-communists. ACRI is funded by anti-Israel leftists from overseas and probably also by the Eurotrash. And Sami Michael also celebrates mass murder of Jews by the Hamas. In today's Haaretz (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArtVty.jhtml? sw=sami+michael&itemNo=491499) he is cited as endorsing the right of the Hamas to mass murder Jewish children. Here is the full citation: Sami Michael: Hamas fighters are not terrorists! In an interview published in the latest issue of New Horizons, a monthly on society and the state published by the Berl Katznelson Foundation, Michael rejects the definition of Hamas fighters as "terrorists." By Akiva Eldar Author Sami Michael, the president of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, has a definition for the rabbis of the hesder yeshivas and the pre-military academies in the territories who are calling for rebellion against the prime minister: "an armed Jewish militia that lives at the public's expense." He told Haaretz yesterday that an unproductive group of people is pooling all its resources to forcibly impose an ideology rooted in ancient texts on the silent majority, which supports leaving Gaza. Michael understands the Hamas members who are fighting these Jews, who stuck a wedge down their throats. In an interview published in the latest issue of New Horizons, a monthly on society and the state published by the Berl Katznelson Foundation, Michael rejects the definition of Hamas fighters as "terrorists." "Imagine the feeling if I woke up tomorrow and saw this neighborhood, which we inhabit, forcibly conquered by the Syrians, and they established settlements here, and in order to go to the bus station, I needed permission from the Syrian army. How would I feel?" the author from Haifa asked. "If I fight them, I will be considered a terrorist. Why am I a terrorist? Why do we call Hezbollah or Hamasniks terrorists? Why? Because he fights on his own territory? Suddenly, aliens, occupiers, land on him and tell him: Your house is ours. It's his land, he and his forefathers were born here, and the settlers say: We will never leave ... How would you respond to this?" ...."How is it that slaves, poor people throughout the world, are turning to Islam, even though they know that redemption will come only from Western democracy? Islam sends a message of equality: Everyone is equal before Allah. And that's also true of the Likud: Everyone is equal in nationalism, the door is open. In reality, this isn't so, because the Likud is a government of the elite, but the `masses' don't understand this. It's sophisticated." Nor does the left escape the lash of the 78-year-old author's tongue. "The Israeli left is hopeless and always was," says Michael, who was a member of the Jewish-Arab communist underground in Iraq. "It never connected with the common classes of Jewish society the way the Likud did with its messages. It did connect with the poor Arab classes and promised to satisfy their nationalist desires. The Israeli left is elitist, not revolutionary, and it didn't emerge from the grass roots. Its parents were communists, and they became communist because they were communists in Poland and Hungary and continued it here." For an earlier interview with Comrade Michael, see http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=10454 Oh, and do not hold your breath for Comrade Michael to be indicted for "incitement". After all, he did not state that he is opposed to Sharon's disengagement plan, and so is not one of those people that anti-democratic Labor bimbette Dalia Itzik recently petitioned the Attorney General to indict for "incitement". See also: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=292536&contrassID=2&su bContrassID=5&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y Meanwhile, Haaretz is still obsequiously citing the ACRI as some sort of legitimate source on the "racism" and "discrimination" against non-Jews by Israel's evil Jews: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/510354.html This is entitled "ACRI slams Interior Min. for human rights violations" and is by Relly Sa'ar. "The Ministry - Violation of Human Rights by the Ministry of the Interior's Population Registry" is the name of a 50-page report published this week by the Association of Human Rights in Israel (ACRI), documenting the difficulties faced by thousands of people who live in Israel but are not eligible for citizenship based on the Law of Return. The report, written by ACRI attorney Oded Feller, describes how the Population Registry "views itself as defender of the Jewish character of the state," leading to flagrant violations of human rights. According to the report, the Interior Ministry routinely tramples the dignity of many people "only because they are non-Jews" and also that of Israeli citizens who have chosen to share their lives with citizens of other countries. The report is comprised of three chapters, covering the policy of granting residency and citizenship to non-Jews, violation of the basic right to lead a family life when one member of a couple is non-Jewish, and lastly, a chapter describing "organized and methodical bureaucratic harassment," whose purpose is to "wear down applicants whose requests the Ministry of Interior does not want to grant." l The policy of granting residency and citizenship: Those not entitled to citizenship through the Law of Return may become permanent residents of Israel (e.g., if the person is the spouse of an Israeli citizen, or the child of an Israeli citizen and a foreign citizen). Requests for permanent residency are screened by an inter-ministerial committee within the Population Registry. The report claims that in this realm, the committee's workings are "shrouded in mist," the identity of its members and the times and venue where it meets are unknown, and the criteria it uses have not been made public. By the by, if you want to contact Michael, who runs the far-leftist
anti-Israel
extremist group Association for Civil Rights in Israel, go to
http://www.acri.org.il/english-acri/engine/index.asp/
Contact ACRI
PO Box 34510, Jerusalem 91000, Israel
Tel: + 972 - 2 - 6521218, + 972 - 3 - 5254163, + 972 - 4 - 8348876
Fax: + 972 - 2 - 6521219
E-mail: mail@acri.org.il
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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GLUT OR GLATT
Posted by Ellen W. Horowitz, December 5, 2004. |
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It is both frustrating and frightening to learn that after five plus decades of obsessively reciting the mantra never again, accompanied by intensive efforts on an international scale towards Holocaust education, that nearly 50% of the British have never heard of Auschwitz. At least that's what a BBC poll revealed last week. And, according to a recent German University study, almost 70 percent of the Germans say they are annoyed at being held responsible for the Holocaust and many believe that the Jews use Germany's Nazi past to their advantage. But then again, I don't know why we Jews should be surprised, as we, not the gentiles, are the ones who are required to remember what Amalek did to us. It's also we, and not the gentiles, who are commanded to blot out the memory Amalek from under the heavens (forgot that one, didn't you?). As admirable and valuable as our attempts at promoting Holocaust awareness have been, perhaps we would have fared better had we also collectively channeled as much effort into being "a light unto the nations" and into keeping the commandments. Those museums, archives, and films created with the purpose of jarring our collective memory, as well as the conscience or the world, are impressive. But while we inundated the international community with images of cattle cars and corpses, we also allowed the evil in our midst to proliferate. Don't dismiss the above polls as being indicative of a strictly European phenomenon, because things aren't much better on the other side of the Atlantic. It must be painfully perplexing for those of our people who have contributed so much to the greatest superpower in the world, and who have conscientiously endeavored for a couple of generations to be both good Jews and loyal US citizens, to suddenly become cognizant of the following: As far as the American media is concerned, not only do Jews burn wigs in Brooklyn, but they also slaughter cows in Iowa and run a spy network out of Washington. Yep, we Jews should have been as intent on bolstering our many words and images of Nazi-era destruction with just as many teachers and leaders who could have guided us with regards to the potent lessons we needed to absorb, along with the images we were disseminating. Instead, we insisted that the international community reflect on those pictures of the past, while we encouraged unlimited freedom of expression. Left to their own devices, and with few limitations, a very liberal world drew some warped conclusions. My grandmother used to say that "more is caught than taught". The very veggie people at PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) have caught-on well and have learned to use and exploit Holocaust language and imagery for their rather over-the top agenda. Last year they caused an outrage by juxtaposing images of concentration camp inmates alongside those of caged chickens at factory farms. The campaign was entitled Holocaust on Your Plate. A representative for PETA defended the strategy by saying, "Nazi concentration camps were modeled after slaughterhouses." Last week I informed some friends in an email that "we've glatt a problem", and I attached the press release of PETA's latest campaign which depicts "shocking video footage of fully conscious cows writhing in agony as they are mutilated at Postville, Iowa-based AgriProcessors, Inc., the largest glatt kosher slaughterhouse in the world." It would be great if we could dismiss all of this as part of some anti-Semitic or political agenda. But it appears that there may have indeed been some abuses or at least questionable practices that may run contrary to Jewish tradition and that need to be addressed and rectified. In addition to PETA, the U.S. Department of Justice, the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) seem to have issues with the AgriProcessors plant ranging from water pollution violations to investigating slaughterhouse techniques. I imagine it's the normal type of stuff that any large meat industry deals with, but to some in the media-saturated public it would appear that those Jews are unjust, inhumane and just plain dirty. PETA filmed and investigated AgriProcessors over a seven week period. In a radio interview addressing this issue, which can be heard at http://ou.org/other/5765/interview65.htm, Rabbi Tzvi H. Weinreb, Executive Vice-President of the Orthodox Union, "... in seven weeks that plant slaughters 18,000 animals and, therefore, "statistically almost anything can happen." Unlike PETA, I feel that the entire issue has little to with whether one chooses to be a meat eater or a vegetarian (we've all met cruel vegetarians) and everything to do with how one conducts themselves as a person, both in private and in public, before G-d, and before man. It will be interesting to see how the Jewish plant owners, the kashrut supervisors and all those involved handle this matter. One can only hope that they will be able to turn this potential chillul Hashem into a kiddush Hashem by conducting themselves in an exemplary fashion. I also have a feeling that any sloppiness on the part of a kosher slaughterhouse, or any slaughterhouse, may have something to with the need to meet the quota required to satisfy the excessive appetite and consumerism of the West, and not with any flaws inherent in the laws of shechita. Eighteen thousand animals is a far cry from the neighborhood butcher shop in Pinsk, and this could very well be indicative of the problem. But even in a bigger and more complex world, let it not be said that when a Jew is questioned concerning unethical or dubious practices he or she responded with, "Duh... I dunno man...I just work here... I'm just following orders." We're not a robotic people of the assembly line. We're a thinking, feeling people, and whether we work in a meat factory, military setting or executive office, we're expected to keep our wits about us. On a metaphysical level, a McDonalds-style meal simply isn't Jewish, and it's not only because the beef is treif - it goes deeper than that. Preparing a proper kosher meal, as simple as it may be, is like being a proper Jew - it requires time, preparation and some effort. We enjoy Shabbat, because of the efforts that go into the preparations, the time we spend with our family and the extra meaning connected with the day. We thank G-d before we eat and after. We sit with our families and hopefully discuss meaningful topics of substance. By nature, fast food and kashrut are as incongruous as life in the fast lane with traditional Judaism. Primarily because a Jew is required to take time out to think and reflect on his or her actions -and in the mad rush of today's world, we've lost our sensitivity and ourselves. On one hand, it's great that in our modern world, keeping kosher is relatively easy and that an observant Jew can enjoy a vast range of simple-to-make, readily available kosher products. On the other hand, is anybody or anything truly "kosher" anymore? If we Jews don't take a deeper and more introspective look at these issues, we stand to lose a lot more than just a hechsher. "The voice is the voice of Yaacov, and the hands are the hands of Esau" (Genesis 27:22) .Twenty one years ago, when we were newly religious and living in Boston, my husband was explaining the reasons for our then strictly vegetarian diet to the rabbi who managed the butcher shop and who was also the neighborhood shochet. There was no argument. The rabbi simply smiled and said, "Good. In this way you'll never eat treif meat." It was an honest answer from a very honorable man, who wasn't interested in making a buck off of us. He's also a very gentle and patient person, and if you saw him you?d be apt to say, "funny, he doesn't look like a butcher, but he must be a good one." I have a friend who was born and raised in Iowa. Her father was an orthodox rabbi there and he foresaw the problems with the kosher meatpacking-houses years ago. He was concerned about the fact that the shochet got paid per kill and would be under pressure to meet his enormous quota. The rabbi said that the combination of kashrut and big business was always problematic, and that mistakes were bound to be made. He curtailed his meat intake because he believed that self-control and refinement of the spirit was something a Jew should strive for. Today I keep a dairy kitchen, but I admit to carnivorous cravings, and I've been known to indulge in meat in a very big way at simchas. In PETA's book, does that make me a hypocrite, a barbarian, or both? I prefer to think that it makes me human. My guts tell me that some of the angels at PETA also have those cravings, but I believe they sublimate their bloodlust into some rather ruthless campaigns and activities. Perhaps they should chill out and have a steak. I think other members of the organization have a real taste for the grotesque, and a very warped agenda. I mean why would an animal rights organization address a man who trained terrorists, by having them bite into live chickens and rabbits and tear them apart, as "Your Excellency" I kid you not. PETA's letter to Arafat is online, but far be it from me to provide you with the URL. I do believe that some activists are sincerely and passionately concerned about the state of the world, and are doing what they can to change things. And the fact is, that regardless of what we think of PETA and their tactics or agenda, something does appear to be amiss in Postville U.S.A. Please don't write to me about the involuntary post-shechita muscular and limb movements in animals, as I have no doubt that this phenomenon exists. However, the video seems to depict something very different. I live on a Moshav which raises both dairy and beef cattle, and I can tell you that these animals are extremely heavy. For a cow to be dumped on a concrete floor and then be able to raise itself to its feet after its dead, and to walk around for a significant period of time sounds...well...almost arafatian (remember how long he lived after he "died"?). It was a mistake -and a terrible one at that. It probably happens more than it should in a factory that slaughters 18,000 animals in a 7 week period. I imagine that the USDA allows for a certain percentage of mishaps in an operation of this kind. I bet the percentages of accidents and abuses are far higher in nonkosher slaughterhouses. But what I can't understand is why doesn't the company management and kashrut boards admit that they are dealing with a huge volume of production and that under the circumstances these accidents will sometimes occur? Why don't they announce to the public that they will review their procedures and take immediate measures to rectify and minimize the problems? Even if they lose a figurative (financial?) arm and a leg over this, at least they will have behaved with integrity and cause a kiddush Hashem rather than the opposite. This issue won't walk away by itself (like that cow did). It may disappear for a while, but it's sure to resurface in an even more menacing form. Sure, it's an embarrassment and a shame that a questionable organization like PETA uncovered those questionable activities. But if we Jews were doing all G-d had intended for us to do in the name of humanity, then organizations like PETA would be under our supervision (with an OU hechsher), and the relationship between animals and man would be put in a proper perspective. Then we would be the ones uncovering the abuses -and making sure they were corrected. But now we find ourselves in a most uncomfortable situation. Do we apologize? Do we thank PETA, kick them in ass, or do both? Where are the voices of integrity and wisdom? Where are America's rabbinic leaders? From what I understand, the laws of shechita are fairly cut and dried - treif or kosher. So why the controversy? C'mon rabbis, where's your voice? I would hate to think that the delay or inability to come up with a unified and appropriate response, and creative solution would have anything to do with pride, politics or financial loss? We've glatt a problem - It seems the hands of Esau may have overpowered the voice of Yaacov.
Ellen Horowitz lives in the Golan Heights, Israel, with her husband
and six children. She is a painter and columnist for
Israelnationalnews.com. She can be contacted through her website
http://www.artfromzion.com
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SLOGANS FOR OUR TOMBSTONES
Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, December 5, 2004. |
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Slogans which aim to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are, in retrospect, a deadly combination of words that seems always to work against the Jews. Often their authors mean well while at other times they intend harm to the Jewish people. Oslo, as a slogan, became synonymous with a stupid, brokered deal, evolved in the dark, intending to eject Jews from the Lands they had settled. Here we find Rabin, Peres and Beilin as godfathers of what became a "Slogan of Death"... "The Right of Self-Determination" (for the Arab Muslims), which took root during the Begin era. We all remember the affirmative vote in the U.N. by America's Ambassador Andrew Young, wherein he voted that "Zionism Equaled Racism". It took 16 years to expunge that hateful slogan, driven by the Arab Muslim bloc in the U.N. Do you recall Rabin and Peres slogan of "Jericho and Gaza First" wherein the false statement was meant to mislead or, in effect, tell the Jewish people that, if Jericho and Gaza - and the new Palestinian Authority in Gaza and Jericho did not act peacefully, we Israelis would re-take the cities we had given away. It didn't work. Rabin and Peres never moved to re-take these cities. Only when the Palestinian Arab Muslim Terrorists made life intolerable with their attacks inside Israel with bus bombs in her major cities, ambushes on the road, firebombs and kids with deadly stones did Ariel Sharon move troops into Gaza to disrupt what was building up to a major operational base of Terror. Now we have the handy Slogan of "The Road Map" foisted off on a young, gullible President by the pro-Arab U.S. State Department. The "Road Map" Slogan was fleshed out to include all sorts of 'safety checkpoints' which, like all other past Slogans, were ignored and/or discarded when reality crept in with bloody Terrorism. These Slogan invariably assumed that Arafat and his Arab Muslim Palestinian Terrorists would carry out the finer points of these dream-like documents. The first pre-requisite was for them to cease Terror, turn in their weapons, disband their Terror organizations, have Palestinian Police control and/or arrest Terrorist leaders and much, much more. The Slogans remained slogans, although their authors continued to demand that Israel fulfill her side of these unworkable directives - requiring that Israel give away tangible assets of Jewish land and homes, despite ongoing Terror and zero effort on the part of the Arab Muslim Palestinian leadership. Even such easy things as developing new text books for Palestinian children from age 3 through high school, eliminating the Muslim Arab taught hatred of the Jews was not and would not be eliminated. Thus we have numerous generations of the infamous "Manchurian Candidates" growing up to an age as low as 12, when they can become a Shahid or Shahida (a male or female martyr for Islam). Like trained attack dogs, they cannot be de-programmed and will, at sometime in their life feel compelled to kill. The Road Map Slogan was easy to say but, it was a naive simplistic statement, slipped into President Bush's political jargon by a malicious State Department, who knew exactly what they were doing with a malevolent intent they wrote our obituaries and Slogans for our tombstones. Israel's current Prime Minister Ariel Sharon bought into the "Road Map" Slogan and moved to assist President Bush by offering up his own Slogan, namely his "Disengagement Plan" ("The Plan" for short). Like Olso, "Disengagement" was never well thought out. When it became clear that the vacuum left by an Israeli pull-out from Gaza would become a fully operational Global Terrorist base, Sharon's giant sized ego would not let him cancel his Slogan, because that would admit to his poor judgement. Sharon has proven that the Slogan "Never Again" is happening again - by his hands. Kassem Rockets and other missiles fell in Gush Katif (over 4839 in 4 years). In Israel 'proper', at least 5 people were killed in the town of Sderot, including 3 children under the age of four - who were 'only' playing outside. As a general, Sharon knows he has made a grave error. He also must see that, by his single personal act of his "Disengagement Plan" Slogan he is dividing the nation, setting Jew against Jew. Today even loyal, patriotic Israeli soldiers are proclaiming in large numbers that they would not be party to evicting, uprooting, transferring Jews from their homes, farms, schools, synagogues, businesses, water resources and their cemeteries. The Israeli soldiers know these homes and this infrastructure could be turned over the Arab Muslim Palestinian Terrorists. And, no one in Gush Katif has accepted the bribe money offered by Yonatan Bassi's "Disengagement Plan". When a field trip to visit their supposed new homes in the beautiful mountains of the Galil was held, so few people went that they could have fit into a car - according to "YEDIOT AHARONOT" - but they took a bus anyway so it would look impressive and not embarrassing. However, Sharon has now been caught by his own tongue - as the "Quartet" (the pro-Arab U.S. State Department, U.N., E.U. and Russia) who re-formatted the "Plan", removing safeguards for Israel, creating a 'training force' that would also arm the new Palestinian Terrorist Police. Remember at the start of Arafat's second "Intifada" (on Rosh Hashanah, 2000), several Palestinian Police killed their Israeli partners on patrol. So the "Quartet", caught Sharon's wagging tongue and began to drag him around like a helpless, castrated ox. All had latched onto the Bush Slogan of a "Road Map" (which they re-drew to suit their purposes to weaken the Jewish State of Israel). No doubt, President Bush is a wiser man now than when he allowed Sec. of State Colin Powell and the State Department to put words into his mouth called "The Road Map" in June 2002. Bush learned that "Democracy for Iraq" was a good political Slogan but, Arab Muslims do not easily take to Democracy even if the Slogan makes a great sound byte for TV and other Media journalists. But, can you name one real Democracy in any of the Arab Muslim country? Even when they have elections, there is usually only one candidate (and perhaps one 'sacrifice' pretend candidate to make it look democratic to the Free West). Iraq was to be the start of cascading dominos of "Democracy", where Afghanistan would go first, followed by Iraq, Syria and Iran among other Arab and/or Muslim states. As it turns out the only nation in the Middle East that has any semblance of Democracy is the Jewish State of Israel and even that is in jeopardy as Sharon, following the Slogans of "Road Map" and "Disengagement Plan" is becoming a virtual dictator to make Israelis fall into line. Script writers can easily come up with Slogans for their political bosses. The words may sound good, with a lot of implied meaning but usually, they are merely empty phrases - often deadly to those who must fulfill the pledges made. Do you recall the Slogan: "Peace in our Time" by Neville Chamberlain who, through this slogan gave Adolph Hitler the right to take the land of Europe? Slogans by foolish men are often a prelude to the population who must pay the price of being slaughtered because of simplistic, misleading Slogans. Sharon's "Disengagement" Slogan will make southern Israel into the most efficient operational base of Global Terror that area has ever known. Besides the numerous Arab Muslim Palestinian Terrorist organizations already there and functioning, be assured that the Mujahaddin (mix of Arab Muslim Terrorists or 'fighters for world domination by Islam') will migrate from Iraq, Syria and Lebanon into Gaza. If they can't beat the "Great Satan" (America) in Iraq, they will move en masse to destroy the "Little Satan" (Israel). Gaza will become the operational home for Hamas, Hezb'Allah, Al Aksa, Al Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood, et al. Long range missiles will fall on Israel's cities and Israel will not allowed by the U.N., E.U., NATO, U.S. to go back in to break up Terrorist groups or prevent perceivable coming Terror attacks or follow Terrorists in hot pursuit after they committed their atrocities. All of this will be carried on the back of Sharon's infamous Slogan of "Disengagement" and the Bush Slogan (recaptured by the 'Quartet') as the "Road Map" Slogan. I believe that President Bush now regrets adopting the State Department's version of his "Road Map" but he too, like Sharon, has been caught by his own tongue. Perhaps this is one reason why he has let Powell out and brought the more astute and stalwart Condelezza Rice. Slogans are not good policy and only camouflage the pitfalls. They serve to confuse and mislead the public who must eventually pay the ultimate price in blood. Regrettably, Slogans usually work with the uninformed public because each person thinks they understand the implied benefits where there are none. Sharon has shown himself to be a befuddled ox, walking in circles, guided by foreign interests. Clearly, Sharon is no longer fit for the office of Israel's Prime Minister - if he ever was. If Israel is to live on, Sharon must be voted out and sent home to his farm. 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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TESTING 1-2-3 - CODE NAME: AIPAC-GATE
Posted by Carrie Devorah, December 5, 2004. |
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I received an email expressing outrage, "What was John Ashcroft thinking?" when subpoenas, issued last week, ordered four AIPAC officials to appear before a Virginia grand jury. The email linked to Jerusalem Post reporter Janine Zacharia's article asking, were AIPAC's four "setup" by the FBI from governmental suspicion of dual American-Jewish loyalties to Israel and the US. Pentagon analyst Iran expert Larry Franklin, co-operated with the FBI to seduce AIPAC officials he knew into accepting what Franklin described as "ticking-bomb" "classified information" "outlined in a draft national security presidential directive on Iran." Key word "classified." Franklin is alleged to have told AIPAC's staffers, at a lunch an Israeli official attended, "Iranians were monitoring and planning to kidnap and kill Israelis operating in the Kurdish areas in northern Iraq." One AIPAC official took the bait. Zacharia reports AIPAC states its employees did not believe the information, apparently circulated in other channels, was either secret or classified. Black's Law Dictionary defines espionage, dating back to ancient Egyptians as: "...gathering, transmitting, or losing.. information related to national defense, from rivals or enemies for military, or economic advantage as part of an organized effort." In the '50's, McCarthyism tested loyalty of American organizations. The Rosenbergs were executed for handing American nuclear secrets to the Soviets. 1971, Department of Defense worker Daniel Ellsberg leaked 7,000-pages of top-secret Pentagon papers. In the '80's, an FBI sting led to the arrest of members of Congress taped accepting bribes for political favors from agent provocateurs posing as Middle Eastern businessmen working for non-existent "Abdul Enterprises." 1982, US automobile executive DeLorean was found not-guilty of selling cocaine to undercover LAX police having argued " without the Government, there would be no crime," the police having threatened him with violence if he refused. In 1990, Reagan officials illegally lobbied on behalf of Wedtech, a small business defense contractor to secure lucrative army contracts. Recipe for Wedtech's success in the $117 million scam reaching up to Ed Meese was bribes, lies and friends in high places. Most prominent in espionage history is convicted spy former United States Navy Intelligence officer, Jonathan Jay Pollard, found with stacks of classified documents unrelated to his work in his office. Espionage checkers America's beginning days. George Washington's friend Continental military general Benedict Arnold V, his name now synonymous with traitor, passed information to British forces using his wife Peggy Shippen to correspond with her former suitor. In a letter to his former friend, Benedict Arnold said, "love to my country actuates my present conduct, however it may appear inconsistent to the world, who very seldom judge right of any man's actions". Parochial school students when I was in day-school would challenge classmates asking, "If Israel and America were at war with each other, who would you fight for?" There is one answer that will keep respondents out of trouble. Right hand over heart, "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." (36 U.S.C. - 172) Allegiance is a duty citizens owe their country pledged in their oath to the United States of America. The United States Revised Statute, sec. 1999 acknowledges, in questions of dual loyalty, for American citizens, the United States and American law, come first. It is not un-American to offer opportunities to commit a crime but treason, for any reason, by a US citizen is a capital crime punishable by death or life imprisonment. If the sequence of AIPAC's, Franklin's and the FBI's events media is reporting are correct, at the mere mention of "classified documents" AIPAC's officials under investigation, in accordance with American law, should have asked Franklin for written clearance to review the information. None being proferred, they should have notified the FBI they were approached to receive sensitive government information, protecting the lobbying group they represent. And themselves. Individuals too often disregard legal liability not realizing their actions put others at equal risk. By taking the course of action they did, ignoring the best interests of AIPAC, disregarding a Standard of Care required of a prudent person, the individuals acting in self interest have jeopardized AIPAC's history of good work. Was the AIPAC emloyee's gamble of one cell phone call to the Feds worth the negative publicity brought upon a longstanding prominent organization headed by corporate and global leaders. A court will determine that answer. Fact remains, at least, one employee failed the United States government's And his people. Carrie Devorah is an investigative photojournalist based in DC. Former religion editor of "Lifestyles" Magazine, her areas of focus of faith, homeland security and terrorism. Prior to photographing political races, Devorah was based in Europe photographing horse races. And boxing. And local London news. Devorah is the sister of Jewish Press columnist Yechezkel Chezi Scotty Goldberg, victim of Egged Bus 19 bombing, 1-29-04. Goldberg was a noted psychologist with expertise in at-risk youth. |
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CHANUKAH AND JEWISH HISTORY: Will We Be Maccabees Or Victims?
Posted by Bernard J. Shapiro, December 5, 2004. |
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The year is 70 C.E. and a young Roman legionnaire stands on a hill overlooking Jerusalem. While he watches it burn, he says to his comrades in Latin, "Judea Capta Est" (Judea is conquered).Yet like the legendary phoenix, rising from the ashes of its own destruction, Israel burst onto the world's stage 2000 years later, with the cry of a lusty infant yearning to breathe free. Five Arab armies tried to destroy that new life before it could take hold. With blood and fire, including the sacrifice of one per cent of its population (6000 of its best young people), besieged Israel secured its independence. Just nine short years earlier, European Jewry faced its most devastating experience, the Holocaust. In the areas under Nazi occupation, the Jewish death rate was 90%. Despite revolts in dozens of camps, and heroic resistance with the partisans of free Europe, the Jews were unorganized, unarmed and ultimately became victims. During both the Holocaust and Israel's War of Independence, the world and its leaders were indifferent, if not hostile, to the fate of the Jews. Jews in their own land, with their G-d, have great power, much more than the sum of arms and men. For example during Israel's War of Independence, some 6000 Jews were killed. A horrible number and a great sacrifice, but ONLY 1% of the Jews of the Yishuv. Compared to the Holocaust we see a great transformation in the power of the Jews to defend themselves. Unfortunately with the advent of Oslo in 1993, the price of Jewish blood is again becoming cheap. During Chanukah we should recall the legacy of the Maccabees. Remember how two "Hellenized Jews," Jason and Menelaus tried to destroy Judaism and force assimilation on the Jewish population. For generations we have taught our children about the evil Antiochus and his attempt to suppress the Jews. In reality, there were traitors among our own people who led the way for Antiochus. There arose in Israel, an almost similar situation when Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Yossi Beilin led a leftwing coalition that was blatantly hostile to everything Jewish. They forced Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin to go along with their nefarious schemes. They pushed through the Oslo Accords in the Knesset which surrendered the heartland of Eretz Yisrael, promised in perpetuity to Abraham and his descendants by G-d. The educational system in Israel was then revamped to eliminate the study of Jewish sources like the bible. They cultivated hatred of all things Jewish and especially religious Jews. Units of the Israel Defense Forces were recruited from the non-religious population for the sole purpose of suppressing and possibly destroying the religious villages of YESHA. Peres, Yossi Beilin, Avraham Burg and other extreme leftists, anxious to win favor with the Arabs, much like Jason and the Greeks, planned to give away Israel's strategic assets. Territory is not important if your new god is economics. While the Israeli government renounced anything Jewish, including Holy Sites, the Arabs sought strength and comfort in a revived Islam. Nothing portrays the difference better between the Arabs and the Jews than how each views his religion. Young Arab men, promised paradise, cry "ali Akbar" (G-d is Great), then sacrifice their lives to kill Jews in one great jihad. Jewish soldiers filed to respond to the enemy, uncertain about their open-fire instructions, demoralized by a government, which lies to them about the advent of peace. The Israeli people rose up in the 1996 election and threw out the party of appeasement that had abandoned Eretz Yisrael. Benjamin Natanyahu became Israeli Prime Minister and the National/Zionist/Religious groups breathed a collective sight of relief. ONLY RELIEF DID NOT COME. For some reason known only to him, Netanyahu (and now PM Ariel Sharon) proceeded to implement the very same Oslo (now called the Road Map) agreements the voters had rejected. And Sharon has decided to retreat from Gaza and encourage the development of a Palestinian State. Such a terrorist state would create a major strategic and existintial threat to Israel's survival. What should we do? Let us be Maccabees again. Let us go into battle with the Maccabee cry, "All who are with G-d, follow me!" With the words: "Who is like untoThee O G-d (the acronym of which spells out he word Maccabee in Hebrew) inscribed on their flags, the G-d inspired Jewish army swept the much larger enemy from the field in a great victory. It is this victory for which we celebrate Chanukah and not just the miracle of the oil burning eight days. There is a simple but crucial lesson for us all in the above events. If we as Jews turn our backs on our religion and our G-d, we can expect disaster. The current government of Israel has brought down the wrath of G-d on the Israeli people for turning its back on our heritage. Like Judah Maccabee, angered by the treason of Jason and Menelaus, and outraged by Antiochus, we must revolt against Sharon as we did against Peres and Rabin. The nationalist opposition in Israel must unite behind one Zionist banner. They must fill the streets and jails with protesters. City after city must be shut down. Victory will not fall into our lap. It must be fought for and won. We must demonstrate that the strength of our will and the power of our belief can not be defeated. Only then will victory come. Bernard Shapiro is executive director of The Freeman Center For Strategic Studies, which has daily political, military and news analyses and a monthly internet magazine, The Maccabean Online. Contact him at bernards@sbcglobal.net |
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SEXUAL AMPUTATION GROWING IN EUROPE, MET WITH SILENCE
Posted by Janet Lehr, December 5, 2004. |
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This was written by Jamie Glazov, managing editor of Front Page Magazine and appeared in Front Page Magazine (http://www.frontpagemagazine.com) December 2, 2004. The mutilation of Muslim girls' genitals is on a steady rise throughout Europe. Young girls born in Europe to immigrant Muslim families, mostly from Africa, are being assaulted with female genital mutilation (FGM). No one, save a handful of courageous activists, is doing anything about it. The Scotsman.com recently reported that Waris Dirie, the Somalia-born supermodel and best-selling author, who has campaigned to stop female genital mutilation (which disfigured her at age five in her homeland), has stated that approximately one out of every three African families in Europe is secretly perpetrating this crime against their daughters. Germany, the Netherlands and Austria are the main scenes of this barbarity - where approximately 8,000 girls have been assaulted. European authorities, with the exception of those in France, are benignly standing by, operating according to the progressive Party Line that disallows any criticism of Third World cultures in general - and Islamic culture in particular. Police officers, social workers, teachers, doctors and nurses operate under the social obligation not to report this crime. This sexual lobotomy of women is usually performed on girls at the age of seven or eight, right before their menstrual periods begin. The impulse behind this savagery is clear: the hatred of women and the terrifying fear of their sexuality. Demonizing female sexual desire and pleasure - and annihilating it - becomes the priority. To successfully achieve female genital mutilation, therefore, the mutilators have to legitimize and institutionalize it. As a result, they socially construct the pathological ideology that a girl's genital area is "dirty" and, therefore, unacceptable. In Egypt, an uncircumcised girl is considered nigsa (unclean). The way she becomes non-nigsa is to have her clitoris sliced off. In Sudan, the term used for getting rid of the clitoris is tahur - which means "cleansing" or "purification." Africa and Arabia are the regions where misogynists carry out the highest number of these "purifications." Muslims serve as the principal religious group that bestows this cleansing gift unto women. In Egypt, 97 percent of girls are circumcised. Nawal el Saadawi, a leading Egyptian feminist and author, describes in her autobiography, The Hidden Face of Eve, how, at the age of six, this monstrosity was violently perpetrated against her - while her mother stood by and smiled proudly. While Egyptian girls' clitorises are amputated (clitoridectomy), in countries like Sudan the purifiers are not so kind: all the women's external genital organs are completely removed. In a crime against humanity called infibulation, the clitoris, the two major outer lips (labia majora) and the two minor inner lips (labia minora) are amputated. Many of the "purified" victims lose their lives during this torture - which is often inflicted with broken glass. Most victims suffer from severe and chronic infections and pain for the rest of their lives. With serious and disabling lifelong consequences, the mutilation robs women of their equilibrium forever. It deprives them from enjoying the fullness of their sexuality and the completeness of their lives. More than a hundred and thirty million women living today have been victimized by this horrifying crime, and more than two million girls are assaulted by it each year. In other words, we are talking about 6,000 girls every day - 6,000 girls today. In terms of sexual pleasure, we know that approximately 75 percent of women cannot achieve orgasm without clitoral stimulation. In other words, the possibility of orgasm has been obliterated for all of these millions of victims. And since the psychic, mental and physical health of women cannot be complete without sexual pleasure, it means that all of these millions of women as beings are mutilated. Female genital mutilation is a holocaust. But because most of the victims of this holocaust are women behind the Islamic Curtain, the world turns a blind eye. Since the Left moulds the West's boundaries of permitted discourse, criticism of cultures - and especially adversary cultures - is taboo, unless, of course, it is criticism of American culture, then everything is fair game. Thus, harsh judgement of American culture is not only permissible but highly promoted, while the slightest criticism of Third World cultures represents a violation of the progressive Party Line. To add to this tragedy: whenever the genital mutilation holocaust is raised, the first chorus that comes from the Muslim community is that this genocide is not rooted in Islam and predates Islam. Well then, why are Muslim girls this genocide's greatest victims? And why do so many Muslims spend more of their time and energy arguing that female genital mutilation is non-Islamic than campaigning to stop this "un-Islamic" barbaric practise from violating their women and defaming their religion? The answer is simple: female genital mutilation produces the oxygen that Islamic fundamentalism needs to breathe. It helps militant Islam keep intact the foundation on which its life depends: the subjugation and enslavement of women under a rigid system of gender apartheid. Thus, Islamic clerics and educators do everything in their power to keep this mutilation in place. No wonder the Eqyptian government's efforts to protect little girls' sacred body parts are crushed every time. Any hint of opposition to mutilation is consistently met with furious resistance from Islamic clerics, who fervently emphasize that female genital mutilation is Allah's will and point to the Prophet's sanctioning of female circumcision in the hadiths to prove it. Umdat al-Salik, e4.3, therefore, a manual of Shafi'i Islamic law, which is endorsed by Al-Azhar University of Cairo, Egypt (the oldest and most prestigious university in the Islamic world), states that circumcision is obligatory for both men and women. The prominent Egyptian Sheikh Mustafa Al-Azhari is one of the heroes of the pro-mutilation movement. He has led the way by insisting, among other things, that the attempt to stop female genital mutilation is a Western conspiracy designed to spread promiscuity among Muslims. For him, the Egyptian media's attempt to stop female circumcision is a "crime." Surgical specialist at Al-Azhar University, Dr. Muhammad Rif'at Al-Bawwab, meanwhile, puts it more simply: the pleasure that women derive from the clitoris is simply just unnatural and abnormal - and leads to moral degradation. In terms of the free West, Muslim girls in Europe are not the only tortured victims of mutilation. The savage practise is also perpetrated right here on our continent. And what are North American Muslim leaders and clerics doing about it? What are we doing about it? Many of our own political leaders and authorities are not doing anything about this silent holocaust because protecting Muslim girls from this sexual genocide would mean criticizing Islamic culture, which would mean the unimaginable: violating the liberal sacred cow of multiculturalism. The Left feels too good about itself and its tolerant ways to get off track by protecting innocent young girls' genitals from mutilation. Once again, therefore, the Left has succeeded in continuing its dark tradition of sacrificing human blood on the altar of utopian ideals. The 100 million human corpses socialism engendered in the 20th century were, apparently, not enough. And so, one heart-wrenching and disquieting question remains: when the next Muslim girl, perhaps right next door to us, is forcibly held down and her genital area is attacked with a piece of broken glass, who will hear her cries? |
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AZZAM AZZAM: 'I AM PROUD OF ISRAEL FOR NOT FORGETTING ME'
Posted by IsrAlert, December 5, 2004. |
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This was written by Herb Keinon and Arieh O'Sullivan and appeared in
The Jerusalem Post, Dec 5, 2004.
Bearded, full of blisters and gaunt from eight years in Egyptian prison, Israeli businessman and convicted spy Azzam Azzam returned to Israel Sunday in exchange for six Egyptian terrorists in a deal reflecting the warming relations with Egypt. In a conversation with President Moshe Katsav, Azzam said he was proud of the state of Israel, which did not forget him, and "gave me new life." "I am proud of the government of Israel, which did not forget me. There is no other nation on earth that would have done this for me," Azzam said. Katsav responded by saying, "All of Israel is happy for your return, and happy that you are reunited with your family." The prisoner swap provided Prime Minister Ariel Sharon with the opportunity to personally thank Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak for the "humanitarian gesture," adding it would lead to deepening bilateral relations, Sharon's office said. Sharon told Azzam he had worked hard for his release and that "the entire country is united in happiness over your return home." Azzam's brother, Iftan, said the family only found out earlier Sunday that the prisoner was to be released. "He has been reborn. He has a new birthday, December 5, 2004," Iftan told Channel 1. In addition to freeing the six Egyptian prisoners, Sharon said Israel would weigh the possibility of commuting the sentences of Palestinian prisoners according to already agreed upon criteria. There had been a court-ordered ban on publication of the deal, which was eventually lifted as Azzam crossed the border crossing at Taba Sunday afternoon. Israeli security officials who accompanied Azzam said he cried and flashed a victory sign as he emerged from the van that carried him across the border crossing. Asked whether he expected he would win early release, Azzam said: "I always believed because I am an Israeli citizen. I believed, because the state of Israel takes care of its citizens." Celebrations had already begun at Azzam's hometown, in the northern Druse village of Mughar. A stage was quickly erected in the village center, and Israeli singers and bands are said to perform there Sunday night to celebrate Azzam's return. After crossing into Israel, Azzam underwent medical checkup and an "informal chat" with members of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency). Shin Bet officials insisted this was not a debriefing and that he would not undergo any such thing since he had no connection with any Israeli security service. Azzam was flown to Tel-Aviv's Carlton hotel, where he ate lunch, rested, and started receiving guests, including Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, and former Shin Bet chief Ami Ayalon. Immediately after the swap, Sharon telephoned Azzam and personally welcomed him home. "This is an historic moment for Israel, a moment we have waited for a long time," Sharon said, and recounted the meetings he had with Azzam's family and efforts he took to win his release. Azzam profusely thanks the prime minister. "I told my brothers that if I wasn't released while Ark [Ariel] Sharon was prime minister than I'll never be freed. I am fortunate and proud to have been born in Israel," Azzam told Sharon, according to a press release from the Prime Minister's Office. "I am strong. I am not crying because I am weak, but because I am strong. I believed I was in a grave, and that I would get out eventually. And now I have a new life. I am proud to be an Israeli citizen, and proud of Israel for not forgetting me. In jail, I felt strong because I knew my prime minister would not forget me. Here I am now in my beloved State of Israel. Inshalla [with God's help] we will meet very soon," Azzam told the Prime Minister. The deal came about after persistent, if not demanding, appeals by Israel's leaders to free the Israeli Druse businessman. Israel has repeatedly promised Egypt that Azzam was not a spy. Azzam was arrested in 1996 and charged, convicted of espionage and sentenced in 1997 to 15 years in prison. A worker at a textile plant in Cairo, he was accused of passing on Egyptian state secrets by soaking women's underwear in invisible ink. At the same time that Azzam crossed into Israel, a vehicle from the Prison Authority transferred the six Egyptian students to Taba where they were led across to Egyptian officials and later were reportedly transferred to Cairo. Their trial was postponed in Israel so that the 'Azzam deal' could go ahead, Channel 1 TV reported. The students had sneaked into Israel in August near Nitzana, along the border with Egypt. They were charged with conspiring to kill Israeli soldiers. The Beersheba District Court in September had indicted them on charges of infiltrating into Israel, planning hijack an IDF tank, kill its crew and rob a bank to get money that could be used to fund further attacks on Israel, including kidnapping soldiers and negotiating their return in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Egyptian officials said that back in Egypt, the students could face charges of illegally crossing the border. The six, students from Cairo, ranging in age from 25 to 30, were caught by Border Police armed with 14 knives and reconnaissance equipment. The Egyptian daily Al-Ahram identified the students as Imad Syed, Muhammad Yasri, Mustafa Mahmoud Yousef, and Mustafah Abou Deif, Mahmoud Jamal Azza, and Muhammad Maher. Five of the six had undergone previous military training. Police said they worked independently and were not affiliated with any terrorist organizations. Parents of the students have said in interviews that their sons had no political views and had gone to Israel merely to find work. A father of one of the six was quoted on Channel 10 TV as saying he was against the release of his son in exchange for the "Zionist spy who had done real damage to Egypt's interests." The prisoner exchange deal came together on Friday after Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz signed deportation order for the six Egyptian detainees. Once that was signed, the process of Azzam's released moved forward, officials said. Mofaz himself phoned Azzam upon his return and told him he was personally moved when he signed the deportation orders because he knew it would be "the gate to your return." The defense establishment has long sought the release of Azzam and has brought up the issue at many opportunities. Officials however ruled out media reports that this deal was made during the visit of Egyptian Intelligence chief Omar Suleiman to Israel last week, indicating it had been in the works previously. The Egyptians said Sunday that there was no relation between Azzam's release and the return of the six Egyptian infiltrators. In fact, there have been reports that Azzam's freedom had originally been set for November 14, but this was postponed after Yasser Arafat died. Danny Yatom, who was head of the Mossad during the time of Azzam's trial, told Channel 2 TV that he had met with the Egyptian president as well as with Omar Sullieman after Azzam's arrest to plead the accused spy's innocence. He categorically told them that Azzam was not a member of any Israeli intelligence organization. Although President Mubarak was receptive to his overtures, he said that he could do nothing to guarantee Azzam's release because it was not his position to intervene in the decisions of the Egyptian High Court, which had sentenced Azzam to 15 years in prison. Yatom said Sulleiman told him "Danny, don't worry, we will release him in two weeks." Yatom added that shortly after that meeting, Israeli press reports said Israel was pressuring Egypt to release Azzam, and that the Egyptian government did not want to be seen to surrendering to those pressures, and thus did not release Azzam. Egypt withdrew its ambassador from Israel shortly after the outbreak of the conflict in 2000, to protest what it considered Israel's excessive use of force against Palestinians. Egypt's surprise release of Azzam Azzam Sunday is a clear sign that Cairo is very serious about warming up ties with Israel. What is less clear is why. Azzam had been incarcerated in Egyptian jails since 1996, and his sudden release indicates that had Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak had the will, he could have released Azzam much earlier. The reasons proffered by diplomatic officials, former ambassadors to Egypt and academics for the sudden change range from the prosaic to the poetic. Those in the prosaic school argue, as did a number of diplomatic officials in Jerusalem on Sunday, that Azzam was simply a bone in Mubarak's throat that he needed to extricate. According to this school of thought, Mubarak is very keen on reaping certain benefits from Israel, such as the establishment of three way Egyptian-Israel-US Qualifying Industrial Zones (QIZ) that would give goods made in Egypt with some minimal contribution from Israel preferred trade status in the US. A similar scheme has been working with Jordan for some five years, and has led to a significant increase in Jordanian exports to the US. Egypt wants in on what is obviously a very sweet deal, but Israel - because of Azzam - has been dragging its feet. Now that Azzam has been released, Israel will move faster, indeed Israel will sprint, and the program is now set to be launched in Egypt with an official launching on December 14. According to the prosaic school of thought, Mubarak woke up on November 3, saw the election results in the US that brought George W. Bush back into office for another four years, and realized that it was worthwhile to warm up ties with Israel in order to gain favor in Washington. He knew, however, that this would be difficult to do while Azzam was incarcerated. Sharon, unlike his predecessors Ehud Barak, Binyamin Netanyahu and Shimon Peres, didn't show any great interest in flying to see Mubarak, something that in the past bestowed a great deal of diplomatic prestige on the Egyptian leader. One reason for Sharon's reluctance: the incarceration of Azzam. The release of Azzam is expected to be followed by Egypt's return of its ambassador to Tel Aviv, pulled in November 2000 to protest Israel's response to the Palestinian violence. Diplomatic officials said this is only likely after the Palestinian elections on January 9. And then, when there is something truly dramatic to announce in Egyptian-Israeli ties, such as perhaps an Israeli decision to move out of the Philadelphia corridor on the Gaza-Egyptian border, a Sharon-Mubarak meeting is likely. Zvi Mazel, who became Israel's ambassador to Egypt a month after Azzam was incarcerated in 1996 and served there until 2001, said the Egyptians realize that if they want a bigger part in the diplomatic process, they need to cooperate with Israel. "We are 50 percent of the equation," Mazel said, adding that the Azzam issue was forcing Sharon to keep the Egyptians at arm's length.. Yoram Meital, the head of the Chaim Herzog Center for Middle East Studies and Diplomacy at Ben-Gurion University and author of "Egypt's Struggle for Peace, 1967-1977," takes the more "poetic" view. Meital says the release of Azzam is a highly significant change in Egyptian policy, and needs to be seen within the context of Yasser Arafat's death, attempts to help Mahmoud Abbas establish control, Sharon's disengagement plan, and clear signals from the US administration - from Bush downward - that the US will be very engaged in the diplomatic process. Mubarak sees this as a window of opportunity, Meital says, and believes that in order for Sharon to move beyond mere disengagement from Gaza, Egypt needs to be highly engaged in the process. But in order to be fully engaged it needs Israel's cooperation, something that was difficult to attain with Azzam in prison. Mubarak, says Meital, is concerned lest the diplomatic process end with the disengagement plan, and all Egypt gets out of the bargain is the unhappy role of securing the Egyptian-Gaza border. Mubarak's designs, he says, "are much more ambitious." He wants the diplomatic process to move forward from Gaza, he wants to see something much more wide reaching, he wants to see the road map implemented. Mubarak's gesture, Meital says, was designed to impress both the Israeli government and Israeli public opinion. The Egyptian leader who on Thursday said that Sharon is the Palestinians "best chance for peace," really means it, Meital says. Mubarak's fear is that if the government crumbles, disengagement will be put on hold and the diplomatic process will go nowhere. It is for this reason that he decided to release Azzam now. "This creates new momentum," Meital says. And Mubarak wants to ensure that the Israeli public feels it. Harv Weiner, a businessman in Dallas, Texas, is the founder and moderator of Isralert. To subscribe to IsrAlert, send an email to isralert@aol.com |
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JANE'S DEFENCE NEWS BRIEFS
Posted by Mordechai Ben-Menachem, December 5, 2004. |
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Iraq was developing upgraded guidance for its ballistic missiles Iraq was planning to add re-entry phase guidance to its Al Samoud and Al Fatah (Al Fat'h) ballistic missiles, a modification that would have improved the accuracy of both missiles. In the versions fielded, the Al Samoud was guided only during the powered stage of flight, while the Al Fatah was unguided (although a guided version was under development). In its Comprehensive Report of the Special Advisor to the DCI on Iraq's WMD, the Iraq Survey Group (ISG) described how Iraq was planning to fit both missiles with improved guidance systems able to correct the flight path during re-entry. [Jane's Missiles & Rockets - first posted to http://jmr.janes.com - 18 November 2004] SPECIAL REPORT - Iraqi explosives fuel insurgency THE disappearance of 380 tonnes of military high-explosives from a site in Iraq, first reported by the New York Times in October 2004, served to heighten the threat of further, more devastating, conventional terrorist attacks both inside and outside Iraq. A golden opportunity for the acquisition of such powerful explosives, which are the chosen weapons of all terrorist groups, may have been presented to Al-Qaeda and others. [Jane's Terrorism & Security Monitor - first posted to http://jtsm.janes.com - 17 November 2004] Tehran altering ballistic missile As the controversy over whether Iran is conducting a secret nuclear weapons programme gathers momentum, new details are emerging about Tehran's ballistic missiles likely to carry such weapons. [Jane's Defence Weekly - first posted to http://jdw.janes.com - 3 December 2004] |
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LEAVING THE HALL OF MIRRORS
Posted by Naomi Ragen, December 5, 2004. |
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This is from the wonderful Caroline Glick. Right on, Caroline! This article appeared in The Jerusalem Post Dec. 3, 2004. It is archived at http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/ JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1102061191837&p=1006953079897 Freelance journalist Kevin Sites was just another guy trying to make his way in the business until the battle of Fallujah. While accompanying US Marines into a mosque, Sites filmed a Marine shooting a prostrate terrorist lying in the mosque, then crassly pronouncing him dead. As the pictures made their way around the world, millions of anti-US voices rang up angrily denouncing the Marines for committing "war crimes." Overnight, Sites became an international star. Everyone wanted to read the Left's dazzling Johnny-on-the-Spot and all "right-thinking" people pronounced him a professional upholding the highest standards of journalism. Heady stuff for a reporter on the make and a powerful message for all aspiring plyers of the trade. In Israel, our TV news broadcast Sites's footage over and over as wizened anchors shook their heads with revulsion over the inhumanity of US armed forces in Iraq. The newspapers played up coverage of the event to make certain that all of us knew just how awful American forces really are. No one bothered to make mention of the fact that Marines and soldiers fighting in Fallujah had been repeatedly attacked by terrorists playing possum. No one bothered to make mention of the numerous instances of terrorists raising the white flag of surrender only to fire at forces coming to take them into custody. What does the context of the battle matter when a case can be made for vilifying US Marines as war criminals on the basis of Sites's isolated, deconstructionist footage rather than praising them as battle-trained warriors? Terrorists have two basic advantages over the Western armies and societies that fight them: their own invisibility, and the self-obsession and hatred of Western Leftists. By not abiding by the centuries-old rules of war that stipulate that combatants are uniformed members of the armed forces of a country or a recognized insurgency in control of territory, the terrorists have an upper hand despite their relatively small numbers and outdated weaponry. How can a war be justified against an enemy you can't see who looks just like the civilians you are obligated by law and your values to protect? Add to this the fact that terrorists eagerly exploit universally recognized symbols of non-combatants and you have a war that you simply cannot justify on camera. Terrorist shoot from mosques so mosques must be raided. Terrorists are transported in ambulances so ambulances must be inspected. But of course, the television cameras aren't filming when the terrorists fire RPGs from minarets, only when terrorists wounded while shooting them lay pitifully on the floor. And there is no camera on hand when they plant explosives beneath gurneys. AND FOR all that, the US in Iraq is in a better position than Israel is in waging its counterterror operations against the Palestinians. Iraq is a heterogeneous society. The US can mobilize the Shi'ites and Kurds to assist its efforts to fight the Sunni Arab terrorists and it can depend on Iraqis generally to support coalition forces' efforts against foreign jihadists. Israel, on the other hand, is fighting against a homogeneous enemy. The Palestinians are almost exclusively Sunni Muslims and the majority of Palestinians support the aims of the terrorists to murder Israeli civilians with the eventual goal of destroying Israel. For solipsistic Leftists, who reign supreme in Israel's media, academia and judiciary, the homogeneity of Palestinian society makes it easy to ignore the enemy while vainly walking through their distorted halls of mirrors and echo chambers. Their goal is to create a perception of reality in which the Palestinians are all innocent and Israel is always at fault. In recent weeks, their primary target has been the IDF. A week and a half ago, Supreme Court justices demanded that Deputy Chief of General Staff Maj.-Gen. Dan Halutz present them, in writing, with his views on the morality of collateral damage. The fact that there is no legal basis for this Orwellian thought control has never been raised by any of Israel's legal pundits or court reporters. Halutz's appointment to his job was opposed by the radical Left for a statement he made in a newspaper interview in which he said he slept like a baby after arch-terrorist Salah Shehadeh was killed by an IAF helicopter in 2002, despite the fact that civilians were also killed in the operation. The crusaders of mercy for Palestinian terrorists petitioned the Supreme Court to revoke his appointment. No one in the media ever questioned whether in a normal country these radical leftist organizations would have any standing, or wondered about the credentials of these groups that never launched a petition questioning the moral probity of Palestinian murderers with whom the Israeli government has negotiated. Then we have the Palestinian violinist. On November 9, the radical Leftist "human rights" organization Machsom Watch videotaped a Palestinian playing his violin at an IDF checkpoint near Nablus. Machsom Watch is a group of enlightened ladies that fan out to checkpoints to ensure that soldiers charged with keeping terrorists out of Israel behave politely to Palestinians wishing to cross into Israel. According to its Web site, the organization is devoted to advancing Palestinian human rights. No mention whatsoever is made of Israeli human rights, but then why get bogged down by details? The fact made very plain by Machsom Watch's Web site is that the organization is devoted to exposing the evil of the Israeli military forces. But who cares about the inherent hostility of Machsom Watch to the IDF when it shoots great footage of soldiers caught red-handed "humiliating" a Palestinian violinist? The local media pounced on the tape. In last Friday's papers, the IDF was excoriated for its inhumanity. Novelist Meir Shalev, writing on the cover of Yediot Ahronot's news magazine, likened the scene to images of the Holocaust. Maariv devoted its cover story to eyewitness accounts of reserve soldiers enumerating the human-rights violations they committed during their reserve service. No mention was made by anyone of the fact that a violin case is a pretty good place to hide a bomb or of the fact that the terrorists who conducted the massacre at Sbarro pizzeria in August 2001 hid their bomb in a guitar case. The incident at the roadblock was investigated by the IDF and the findings, released this week, show that the Palestinian in question was asked to remove his violin from its case by the soldiers and that he began playing his instrument on his own initiative. Indeed, the report reveals that the soldiers had to ask him to stop playing. But what does the truth matter when the image can be used by the Israel-bashing radical Left to "prove" that its narrative, in which Israel is the aggressor and Palestinians are innocent victims, is right and reality is wrong? The inability of Israel's "enlightened" elite, like their counterparts in Europe and the US, to ever see anything right about their own side, and their insistence on refusing to countenance that many aspects of their enemy's culture of hatred are unpardonably evil, extend to all aspects of life. This week at the Jerusalem Summit conference, Shinui MK Etti Livni participated in a panel discussion regarding the persecution of women in Muslim society. Livni stated that in her view, the stories of abuse of Muslim women are similar to tales of abuse of ultra-Orthodox Jewish women. The preposterousness of this claim is boundless. In Egypt, the majority of girls are forced by their fathers to undergo the barbaric procedure of genital mutilation euphemistically referred to as female circumcision. Where does this happen in ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities? According to a report released this week by Human Rights Watch, one third of Egyptian women have been beaten by their husbands. In what ultra-Orthodox community are comparable numbers to be found? But admitting that Muslim societies and countries are misogynistic and systematically enslave half their members would make Israel look good by comparison, so it is better to sweep the evil under the rug. Washington Post columnist Anne Applebaum reported this week that a new legend is being propagated in left-wing circles in Europe and the US that the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians who have been demonstrating against the patently fraudulent elections results in their country are actually all CIA provocateurs. An article in the UK's Guardian, for instance, alleged that the protests are "an American creation, a sophisticated and brilliantly conceived exercise in Western branding and mass marketing." As Applebaum argues it, the myth is being created to explain away the inconvenient truth that millions of people look to the US as an inspirational beacon of freedom which they wish to emulate. It cannot be, say these reactionary anti-American "progressives," that good people actually like the US and oppose those who share the "enlightened" public's hatred of Uncle Sam. Therefore, anyone advancing a claim that could be viewed as pro-American cannot be an authentic activist. Rather, the CIA must be paying his light bill. When faced with this sort of opportunistic America- and Israel-bashing we have to ask what exactly these people want. The only rational answer is power. If we can be convinced that they are right and reality is wrong, they will never have to pay a price for all their mendacious notions of Israeli racism and American imperialism. They will never be taken to task for the thousands who have died as a result of their conviction that anyone who fights for the right to be free and unmolested by Third World fascists is by definition a fascist. The only way to fight these people is to refuse to play by their rules. We must be able to look in the mirror and realize that indeed we are the good guys here. And we must be willing to look at the rotten evil that characterizes the ideology of our enemies and say that defeating them is the mission of our generation. Naomi Ragen is an American-born novelist and journalist who lives in Jerusalem. She can be contacted at www.naomiragen.com |
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MEASURE PALESTINIANS BY DEMOCRACY, NOT SUMMITS
Posted by IsrAlert, December 5, 2004. |
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This was written by Natan Sharansky and appeared December 3, 2004 on
the Israel Insider website.
(http://web.israelinsider.com/Views/4507.htm)
The death of Yasser Arafat has once again placed the search for peace at a crossroads. Ten years ago, policymakers took the wrong road, believing that peace could be made with a dictatorship. Today, we must instead embrace a peace process that is anchored in the expansion of freedom within Palestinian society. The temptation to return to the Oslo formula will be very great. Today, many hope to identify a Palestinian strongman as quickly as possible who can prevent chaos, rein in the extremists, and reach a deal with Israel. Similarly, many view the upcoming Palestinian elections as an opportunity to legitimize a Palestinian leadership that could quickly be "strengthened" by Western and Israeli largesse. This was exactly the misguided approach to peace that failed so miserably over the last decade. According to the logic of Oslo, a "moderate" like Arafat should be embraced and empowered by the free world so that he would be strong enough to fight terror and reach an agreement with Israel. Unfortunately, little attention was paid to how Arafat ruled. In fact, far from being considered an obstacle to peace, Arafat's repressive rule was seen as facilitating peace. As prime minister Yitzhak Rabin put it only days after Oslo was signed, Arafat would fight Hamas "without a Supreme Court, without human rights organizations, and without all sorts of bleeding-heart liberals." What was not understood then, or often even now, is that a non-democratic Palestinian regime will, by its nature, always threaten Israel. Non-democratic regimes always need to mobilize their people against external enemies to maintain internal stability. This is why the regime in Egypt, having lost Israel as a political enemy by signing a peace treaty, sponsors what is perhaps the most rabid anti-Semitic incitement on earth. That is also why the Saudi regime funds a Wahhabi fanaticism at home and abroad that is terrorizing our entire world. And that is why the Palestinian Authority used all the resources, not to improve the lives of Palestinians but rather to strengthen hatred toward Israel. It is time to explore the road not taken, a road that could make all the difference. Toward the end of the Cold War, the free world began to link its policies toward the Soviet Union to human rights within that nation. Rather than focus on what Soviet leaders had to say about the West, the focus turned to how the Soviet regime was treating its own subjects. THE JACKSON Amendment, for example, linked most favored nation trade benefits to the Soviet Union to that regime's respect for its citizens' right to emigrate. By focusing attention on a concrete right that was easily measurable, the Jackson Amendment proved a highly effective means of measuring the degree of freedom within the USSR and, as a result, Soviet intentions. We, too, should seek to find concrete means to determine whether Palestinians are making progress on democratic reforms, so we can link our policies directly to such reforms. In addition to the obvious need to preserve the Palestinians' right of dissent - the quintessential mark of a free society - there are other reliable measures of the new leadership's commitment to reform. First, that leadership can finally seek to end the suffering of the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who live in refugee camps. Four generations of Palestinian refugees have been used as pawns in the Arab world's struggle against the Jewish state. These refugee camps should be dismantled as soon as possible and the refugees resettled in decent housing. A leadership that is willing to end the fantasy of destroying Israel and begin to actually improve the conditions in which Palestinians live should be embraced by the free world with a new international Marshall Plan that can put an end to a shameful humanitarian disaster. Second, the new leadership can stop poisoning Palestinians to hate Jews and the Jewish state. Textbooks where Israel does not appear on the map and PA-controlled television programs where kindergarten children beckon their classmates to follow the path of suicide martyrdom should be replaced with an educational system that promotes peace. Third, the new leadership can expand economic opportunities for millions of Palestinians. For a decade, Arafat hollowed out Palestinian civil society and crushed its middle class. He monopolized basic industries, controlled work permits in Israel, as well as the distribution of international aid. A test of the new PA will be whether it, unlike Arafat, is willing to embrace joint ventures that strengthen the Palestinian middle class while inevitably lessening the control the new regime has over its subjects. Finally, a new Palestinian leadership that is committed to reform will be our partners in fighting terror, for as long as terror continues no reform will be possible. We should be under no illusions about the upcoming Palestinian elections. The winner of these elections, like the elections that were regularly held in the Soviet Union, will not have anything to do with democracy. The winner will be chosen well before Palestinians go to the polls. Free elections can only be held in a free society where people can express their views without fear of being punished, let alone killed. Indeed, free elections are never the beginning of the democratic process but one of its crowning achievements. Still, whoever emerges from the elections in January should be given an opportunity to win the trust of the free world, including Israel. How can a new Palestinian leadership win our trust? Simple. By trusting its own people. If the new Palestinian leadership seeks to build a democratic society, then the free world should support and encourage each step along the way. Such a leadership should be provided with international legitimacy, money and, yes, territory. But if the new leadership is not interested in building a democracy, then it should be given no legitimacy, no money, and no concessions. The formula for peace is simple: Embrace leaders who embrace democratic reform and reject leaders who don't. In the last 10 years, the state of the peace process was measured largely by whether summits were being held, negotiations were being conducted, envoys were being sent to the region, or concessions were being made. According to these criteria, the peace process was either moving forward or stuck in neutral. But I measured the state of the peace process by the degree of freedom within Palestinian society. By that standard, the peace process was almost always in reverse over the last decade as a fear society descended on the Palestinians. In the weeks, months, and years ahead, those who want to know the state of the peace process might want to tune out all the chatter and ask themselves one question: Is there more freedom today within Palestinian society than there was last week, last month, or last year? If the answer is yes, then we will truly be moving down the road to peace. Harv Weiner, a businessman in Dallas, Texas, is the founder and moderator of Isralert. To subscribe to IsrAlert, send an email to isralert@aol.com |
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MINI-IRAQ IN ISRAEL'S BACKYARD?
Posted by Unity Coalition for Israel, December 5, 2004. |
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This was written by Morton A. Klein, who is the national president of
the Zionist Organization of America. It appeared in Ha'aretz,
December 3, 2004.
The beginning of the Bush administration's second term offers an opportunity to reassess U.S. policy regarding Israel and the Palestinian Arabs, to learn from the mistakes of recent years, and to forge a fresh new approach. U.S. officials have said repeatedly that Yasser Arafat's death creates new opportunities for peace, because his successors are "moderates." In fact, the new PLO chairman and leading candidate for chairmanship of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), co-founded the Fatah terrorist movement with Arafat and was Arafat's senior deputy for 40 years. Just last week this "moderate" told the PA parliament: "We promise you [Arafat] that our heart will not rest until we achieve the right of return for our people and end the tragic refugee issue." Every Palestinian knows the "right of return" means flooding Israel with millions of Arab "refugees" from around the world. When he was PA prime minister in 2003, Abbas declared that "cracking down on Hamas, Jihad, and the Palestinian organizations is not an option at all"; offered cabinet positions to leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad; and praised the Arab terrorists imprisoned by Israel as "political prisoners" and "heroes." He also wrote a doctoral thesis that later became a book, in which he denied that the Nazis murdered 6 million Jews. Arafat's death has also not resulted in any changes in the PA cabinet. It's as if Saddam Hussein's top deputies and cabinet ministers all remained in power in Iraq after Saddam was deposed. Would the Bush administration tolerate such a situation and praise Saddam's Ba'ath Party cronies as "moderates"? The bigger problem is that the entire PA regime - not just a few Arafat loyalists - is involved in terrorism, and actively promotes a culture of hatred and violence against Jews. Hatred is taught in the PA's schools, mosques and media. Schools, streets and parks are named after terrorists. This "hate process" is succeeding: Polls consistently show that a large majority of grass-roots Palestinians support suicide bombings and other terrorism against Israel. Instead of recognizing that the culture of hatred is the obstacle to peace, the Bush administration has repeatedly criticized Israeli self-defense actions as "disproportionate"; it has focused obsessively on the insignificant outposts in the West Bank; it has more than doubled U.S. aid to the Palestinian Arabs; and it seeks to create a Palestinian Arab state, ignoring the fact that the Palestinian Arabs' goal is not just a small state in the West Bank and Gaza, but the destruction of Israel. The maps in PA offices and in school text books show all of Israel as "occupied Palestine." The administration acts as if giving the Palestinians sovereignty will result in them embracing democracy, peace and coexistence with Israel. Libya, Syria, and Iran also have sovereignty, yet they are terrorist dictatorships. U.S. policy toward Israel and the Palestinian Arabs is today at a crossroads. If the Bush administration continues down its current path of pressuring Israel into making one-sided concessions, ignoring Palestinian violations and pretending that Arafat's cronies are moderates, it will end up establishing a new terrorist state, a mini-Iraq in Israel's backyard. But there is another way. The U.S. should refuse to deal with Arafat's deputies just as it refuses to deal with Saddam's deputies. It should refuse to negotiate with the pro-terrorist PA regime just as it refused to negotiate with the pro-terrorist Taliban regime in Afghanistan. It should insist that the PA take meaningful, verifiable and irreversible actions to prove that it is no longer a terrorist regime - actions to which the PA committed itself in the Oslo Accords and road map, such as outlawing and dismantling terrorist groups, arresting terrorists and confiscating their weapons, and honoring Israel's 45 requests for the extradition of terrorists. But most of all, the U.S. must work to eliminate the PA's culture of hatred. As syndicated journalist George Will has proposed, there must be a process comparable to the de-Nazification that the Allies imposed on Germany after World War II. The PA educational system must be completely overhauled. Its television and radio stations must stop broadcasting anti-Jewish incitement. Maps omitting Israel must be banned and streets, schools and soccer teams named after terrorists must be renamed. The PA must be transformed from a terror regime that teaches violence and Israel's destruction, to a civilized regime that teaches peace with Israel. If the U.S. does not step in and use the full weight of its financial and political leverage to bring about these changes, there will be no hope for a meaningful and durable peace. The Unity Coalition for Israel (http://www.israelunitycoalition.org) is "the largest worldwide coalition of Jewish and Christian organizations, with more than 200 groups representing millions of people dedicated to Israel. Though we have many different backgrounds, we have one common goal: A Safe and Secure Israel." |
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PRISONER OF ZION, SALAH UDDIN SHOAIB CHOUDHURY
Posted by Richard Benkin, December 5, 2004. |
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Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury is an inconvenience. He is an inopportune reminder. He is an option, an alternative that most would rather not have presented. And last week, he sat alone in his Dhaka prison cell, marking the one-year anniversary of his arrest for being that inconvenience. Choudhury is a Muslim, imprisoned for advocating against the prevailing, politically correct orthodoxy about Israel and the Jews, urging instead recognition, respect and peace. His story is one of redemption, moral action, false imprisonment, a faith tested and, we pray, a happy ending. Reared in a Muslim society, Choudhury received a worldview that demonized the Jewish State and the Jewish people. He even worked for a time at an Islamist-backed paper, the Daily Inqilab. But something happened to make him question that direction. Perhaps it was his family upbringing that made him recoil at the blatant bigotry; perhaps it was the tolerant form of Islam widely practiced in his native Bangladesh. It might have been his natural journalistic curiosity and the alternative perspectives to which it led him, especially on the Internet. And so, he sent out a cry for help, one of which arrived in my inbox, and which only a heart of stone could fail to answer. The people of Bangladesh were being deceived; getting only carefully selected news and information about the Middle East. The media were portraying Israel and the Jews unfairly, and those one-sided media portrayals were contrary to the basic core values and tolerance that characterize his people. Ultimately, he challenged that view and saw how much Jews, Muslims and Christians share. So, throughout much of 2003, he published articles urging Bangladesh to recognize Israel, condemning the insidious and growing fundamentalist movement in the country, its dangerous hold on elements of government and society, and the biased reporting on Israel and Jews. His fledgling weekly, Blitz, carried his nation's first media interview with an Israeli, Professor Ada Aharoni from Haifa; and he helped others, including this author, publish pro-Israeli articles in Bangladesh, sparking debate in the nation's press and government. Choudhury did not know, however, that sinister forces including his own brother-in-law, had him under surveillance and were waiting for a chance to pounce. That chance came on November 29. As he prepared to board a plane for an historic address on the media and peace to Aharoni's Hebrew Writers Association in Tel Aviv, he was seized and secreted away for questioning. The next day, a magistrate announced the pending charge: spying for "the interests of Israel against the interests of Bangladesh," and remanded him for more interrogation. Then, the police raided his home and office, seizing his computers, disks and other files. On their heels came a mob that sacked the premises with impunity, so that even when he is freed, "I will have to start from ashes." Next ensued a bizarre public vilification program with self-contradicting elements that made clear its evil intent. Through selective government leaks, innuendo and outright falsehoods, the police and the press accused Choudhury variously of being a Mossad agent and a Muslim fundamentalist, a homosexual and a womanizer, a committed Zionist and an opportunist seeking personal gain. His family received frequent threats, mobs gathered at the family home and his children had to be kept indoors for their safety. Religious groups and others pressured the family, and especially his aged mother, to denounce him. That pressure and the overall stress of her son's imprisonment led to his mother's death this past August. His brother and principal spokesman, Sohail Choudhury, was attacked physically and twice had to flee the capital for his safety. When he went to the police for help, they refused, instead blaming the Choudhurys for their "alliance with the Jews." Choudhury was hauled into court numerous times, always remanded for "interrogation". And each time, he recognized Islamic fundamentalists among his tormentors. Then, in March, Choudhury was charged with sedition, a capital offense. Another penalty - for violating Bangladesh's passport law that outlaws travel to Israel, something that Choudhury freely admits - was deemed satisfied when his incarceration far exceeded the maximum possible penalty. Despite ongoing and peremptory denials of bail, lack of access to evidence and the court's admitted refusal to follow its own law, Choudhury said on many occasions that he was not worried about the sedition charge. For one thing, he knew that the charge was baseless, that he is innocent, something the government has as much as admitted. Finding solace in his Muslim faith, he is convinced that his advocacy of peace and "dialogue between Muslims, Christians and Jews" is the "will of the Almighty G-d." The only obstacle, we thought, was Bangladesh's notoriously corrupt lower courts; which is why it came as a crushing blow when on August 21, 2004, the respected Bangladesh High Court rejected Choudhury's final plea for bail. This sent him back to his captors with no date set for further hearings, no further avenues of appeal, no legal means of freedom or even due process. The court's reason for denying bail was that the matter was "under investigation," but that is nothing more than a transparent ruse. The government has never presented any credible evidence for the charge, while in early leaks, government sources claimed that they already had the goods on Choudhury. The most damning bit of evidence, they alleged, was the speech he was to deliver at the Tel Aviv conference. As the author of that speech, I can assert unequivocally that it has no seditious content. In fact, while it condemns radical fundamentalists, the speech praises Bangladesh for its history of tolerance. The Choudhury case is a microcosm of the evil we face: officials complicit hiding behind the facade of manufactured "popular" sentiment, anti-Jewish hatred, goose-stepping toeing of the anti-Israeli line. But it would be wrong to paint all of Bangladesh with that brush, which is why we were working in that nation, a nation that can produce a Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury. There are, however, evil elements afoot there with the intention of hijacking the nation for their twisted philosophy. Choudhury scares them and is an obstacle to their foul purpose, for he is telling the world that there is not one standard Muslim narrative of right and wrong in the Middle East, that contemporary followers of the prophet Mohammed do not need to divide the world into Muslims and infidels. To accept that is to accept the possibility of peace - and of a Jewish state in the Middle East. The fundamentalists and their sycophants feel that they must stop Choudhury and others like him, in order to warn others who might dare speak the heresy of peace with the Jews, to assert fundamentalist power and to curry favor with the populace during times of unrest. But they have not defeated him. Even while Choudhury languishes in prison, where fellow inmates pejoratively call him "friend of Israel," the "agony, pain, sufferings and humiliations" that are his lot strengthen him. "Captivity inside the cell," he writes, "is making me much stronger spiritually. I can see the lights of my goal during my prayers and meditation." He pledges to continue advocating for peace and dialogue and not "surrender to unholy forces" of radical Islamic fundamentalism. His moral backbone soon might be rewarded. On the anniversary of Choudhury's capture, I met with ministers at the Bangladeshi embassy in Washington. Our talks were positive and there was not even a hint of the standard anti-Zionist line or backdoor justification of this human rights abuse. Their approach was conciliatory and trailed into discussions of Jewish-Muslim dialogue. I remarked on the irony of how a key element in this affair is Bangladesh's refusal to recognize Israel and, as I sat in their embassy, I could see the Israeli flag flying proudly only two doors down at the Israeli embassy. In fact, the neighbors do interact. What a waste, I said, that we have not found a way to translate that contact into open relations. Most significantly, however, the ministers agreed that they could not answer my question as to why this man remains behind bars. One of them even admitted that his own inquiries were dismissed without evidence. I responded that nations - like the United States, like Israel and like the Bangladesh that can be - living under the rule of law do not brutalize their citizens while their suspects were "under investigation." They agreed and asked for some time to respond and take action. And action is what we need, for everyday that the officials do not act is another day that my friend and colleague remains in prison, that his family grows ever more impoverished and the prospects of peace fade. If every individual reading this article goes to the web site devoted to Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury's freedom, www.freechoudhury.com, the impact at this critical juncture will be enormous. If those same people also sign the petition linked on the site, their actions would be even greater. And if each person asks one or more friend to do the same, their good deeds will be multiplied several fold, and we will have a true human rights movement. And if, while at the site, those good people use the links there to send letters of protest to the Bangladesh government and others, they will have made a difference. Hard historical lessons have taught that evil tends to happen when good people are silent or indifferent. And current events remind us that purveyors of evil remain active today, especially when they face little or no opposition to their foul intents. Help and support this courageous man. Stand up for my friend and colleague, for the man whose fellows call him "friend of the Jews." He took a personal risk by standing with us and is now paying for it. We must not sit by idly. For if Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury had been in Europe during the Shoah, he would have refused to drive the trains. Richard Benkin chairs the international effort to free Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury. His articles on Israel, Choudhury and current events, including groundbreaking articles on Israel in the Bangladesh press, have appeared on several continents. An analyst in the workers compensation field, he resides in the Chicago area. |
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MORE GOOD NEWS ABOUT ISRAEL
Posted by Israela Goldstein, December 5, 2004. |
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One of the important aspects of our tasks as media activists and mini ambassadors for Israel is to spread the good news. And there is plenty of it. Despite never having enjoyed a day's peace in her 56 year history, Israel has probably done more for the world in relation to her size and age than any other country in the world So when you see or hear people calling for boycotts of Israel, economic, academic or divestment, just remind them that their boycott means they don't have the right to benefit from the many everyday things they use thanks to Israel, or to benefit healthwise from all the medical breakthroughs which include breast cancer, stem cell research, diabetes, MS, Alzheimers, flu and many other areas. Israel also leads in technological development, and works closely with America and other friendly countries to develop techniques to fight the war on terror. Recently they have invented a new machine to xray shoes at airport security areas. One of the best regular sources for hearing this good news is Israel21c.org which is the source of a lot of the material in this list
The cell phone was developed in Israel by Israelis working in the Israeli branch of Motorola, which has its largest development centre in Israel. Most of the Windows NT and XP operating systems were developed by Microsoft-Israel. The Pentium MMX Chip technology was designed in Israel at Intel. Both the Pentium-4 microprocessor and the Centrino processor were entirely designed, developed and produced in Israel. The Pentium microprocessor in your computer was most likely made in Israel. Voice mail technology was developed in Israel. Both Microsoft and Cisco built their only R&D facilities outside the US in Israel. The technology for the AOL Instant Messenger ICQ was developed in 1996 by four young Israelis. Given Imaging M2A capsule safe for children Over 65,000 patients worldwide have swallowed the M2A capsule, the incredible 'camera in a capsule' technology developed by Israel's Given Imaging. Now kids aged 10 to 18 can also be given the M2A to diagnose Crohn's, Celiac disease and other intestine conditions. Israel has just won an international prize for this invention and has two out of the top three winners, a truly amazing statistic. Israel has developed a bone glue for use in treating fractures An Israeli company has developed a simple blood test that distinguishes between mild and more severe cases of MS Simple new blood test can determine severity of multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis - a debilitating disease that affects some 400,000 Americans - doesn't hit every sufferer the same way. Now, a new blood test, developed in Israel, may help doctors distinguish mild cases from severe ones early on, paving the way to more effective, individualized treatment. Israeli-made device helps restore use of paralyzed hands A device that electrically stimulates the hand muscles should provide hope to millions of stroke sufferers and victims of spinal cord injury. The NESS-H200, now being introduced at rehab centers in the US, provides regular exercise to inactive hands, preventing long-term disability. Israeli innovation unmasks childhood breathing problems Wheezy infants who require aerosol-administered medication will soon be sleeping more soundly thanks to a new Israeli device called the Child Hood. This child-friendly alternative to the inhalation mask improves drug delivery and provides relief to baby and parents alike. Children injured in the school seige in Beslan, Russia are convalescing at an Israeli coastal resort in Ashkelon - at the invitation of that city's mayor. The end of bad breath - Israeli scientist discovers cause and cure An Israeli researcher has finally discovered the reason why some of us just can't get rid of our bad breath: the stench-producing bacteria hide in our tonsils! And through a new laser treatment, he's also established a clinically proven way to cure the chronic problem. Parkinson's patients turn back the clock The Movement Disorder Surgery program at Israel's Hadassah Medical Center has successfully eliminated the physical manifestations of Parkinson's disease in a select group of patients with its deep brain stimulation technique. Israeli non-invasive treatment for uterine fibroids recommended for FDA approval For the 200,000 American women who undergo hysterectomies each year for the treatment of uterine fibroids, the development of the ExAblate 2000 System is a welcome breakthrough which offers a non-invasive alternative to surgery. Whenever there is a major disaster around the world Israel is invariably one of the first countries to offer help, arriving on the scene with a fully equipped field hospital, appropriate equipment and trained personnel. Only Iran refused Israel's help calling for international help except from the Zionist entity! Israel regularly sends teams of doctors to China to perform heart surgery on children and to train local doctors. They also send Palestinian abroad for life-saving treatment. Israeli scientists have shown that hypnotism doubles the chances of success of in vitro fertilization, and they are developing a nose drop that will provide a five-year flu vaccine. Israel's $100 billion economy is larger than all of its immediate neighbors combined. Israel has the highest percentage in the world of home computers per capita. According to industry officials, Israel designed the airline industry's most impenetrable flight security. U. S. officials now look to Israel for advice on how to handle airborne security threats. Israel has the highest ratio of university degrees to the population in the world. Israel produces more scientific papers per capita than any other nation by a large margin - 109 per 10,000 people - as well as one of the highest per capita rates of patents filed. In proportion to its population, Israel has the largest number of startup companies in the world. In absolute terms, Israel has the largest number of startup companies than any other country in the world, except the U.S. (3,500 companies mostly in hi-tech). With more than 3,000 high-tech companies and startups, Israel has the highest concentration of hi-tech companies in the world - apart from the Silicon Valley, U. S. Israel is ranked #2 in the world for venture capital funds right behind the U. S. Israel has the third highest rate of entrepreneurship - and the highest rate among women and among people over 55 - in the world. Relative to its population, Israel is the largest immigrant-absorbing nation on earth. Immigrants come in search of democracy, religious freedom, and economic opportunity. Israel has the world's second highest per capita of new books. Israel has more museums per capita than any other country. Israeli scientists developed the first fully computerized, no-radiation, diagnostic instrumentation for breast cancer. A new acne treatment developed in Israel, the ClearLight device, produces a high-intensity, ultraviolet-light-free, narrow-band blue light that causes acne bacteria to self-destruct - all without damaging surrounding skin or tissue. THE LIST IS ENDLESS AND GROWS DAILY IT'S UP TO US TO MAKE SURE EVERYBODY SEES THE BEAUTIFUL FACE OF ISRAEL, A COUNTRY OF WHICH WE SHOULD BE JUSTLY PROUD |
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"YOUR DESTROYERS AND THOSE WHO LAID YOU WASTE GO FORTH FROM YOU" AGAIN
Posted by Arieh Stav, December 4, 2004. |
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This was written by Arieh Stav. Arieh Stav is the Director of the
Ariel Center for Policy Research, as well as Editor of NATIV, a
bi-monthly periodical on politics and the arts. Contact him at
www.acpr.org.il/ENGLISH-NATIV/authors/stav-a.htm
The reader is no doubt astonished by the fact that the current edition of Nativ contains no reference to the central issue on the national agenda, i.e.: the expulsion of Jews from the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria as a first stage of the anticipated ethnic cleansing in Judea, Samaria and Gaza; the problem is the lack of tools to address this issue rationally. Isn't the very attempt to present and explain the political failure and the moral disgrace, which is Sharon's action is an insult to the intelligence. Is it necessary to again emphasize that the introduction of the Egyptian army into the Gaza Strip is a strategic failure, the likes of which, in any proper country, would lead to the Prime Minister's removal within 24 hours and his being tried before a military tribunal on counts of treason? Is it not self-explanatory that the expulsion of Jews by Jews from Judea, Samaria and Gaza, the cradle of the Jewish nation and Zionism's raison d'etre, is sinking to depths unprecedented in Jewish history? After all, everything has been written and rewritten and rehashed in the patient pages of this periodical. However, is Sharon indeed guilty? True, a corrupt con artist captured the Israeli premiership, one who led his voters astray and stole their votes. However, Sharon is not alone. Sharon is only a manifestation of the spiritual and moral prostitution of the general public, which bows its head and acquiesces as if possessed by a demon. The fact that a majority of the government of the Jewish State, and all the more so the Israeli Knesset, supports transfer is testament to the moral bankruptcy and the system-wide madness to which we are all subject. This ease, with which Sharon collects these wretched, obsequious, avaricious souls to surround him in perpetrating a national crime - that is what arouses horror and despair. Here we see the head of the Judenrat appoints the Jewish capo who entices the victims of the ethnic cleansing with bribes; here the Jewish policemen are preparing the detention pens to incarcerate opponents of the expulsion; here is the Jewish judge pleased with the result: The houses of those expelled will be destroyed, the work to which they devoted their lives is lost. Synagogues, schools, public institutions will be transferred to the murderers, the heirs of the Third Reich. Is it possible to imagine a similar phenomenon in a normal society, among a populace, which has not totally lost its survival instinct? Can one imagine a more profound moral nadir than the "Israel Defense Forces" expelling a Jew from his land and destroying his house" An army whose hands were tied, preventing them from liquidating the murderous Arab gangs, and was therefore ordered to turn on its own people? Here we see the Israeli Defense Minister preparing the IDF destruction units; while the same colorless, pathetic character, a former IDF Chief of General Staff, declares, "next year there will not be even one Jew remaining in the Gaza Strip" - has the man lost his mind to the point that he is quoting the perpetrators of the Final Solution? Indeed, if his scheme is successful, he will be able to rub his hands and note with satisfaction "Also, Gaza ist Judenrein," to paraphrase the words Hans Frank, the executioner of Poland after the deportation of Warsaw's Jews. True, we can hope that ultimately Sharon will break his political neck and his name will be inscribed for eternal infamy in the annals of the nation. The question is whether together with him he will drag us down with him to oblivion. I know that these are harsh words and it is conceivable that the undersigned will be forced to pay the price. However in a world in which Sharon and his ilk are running free, sitting in detention will be considered an honor. |
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DETAINED AND DEPORTED FROM ISRAEL
Posted by David Ben-Ariel, December 4, 2004. |
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Nobody arrested me. I was DETAINED when I faithfully reported to the police office at 9 a.m. Monday morning, January 9, 1996 (day before my birthday) the day after The Jerusalem Post published on their frontpage an article shedding light on what they were doing in the dark. After my initial interrogation of six and one half hours, the Thursday before, I reported, as demanded, to the police station Friday morning, Saturday morning, Sunday morning, and then Monday morning the fellow who had actually been nice to me, he said his name was Moshe, was ordered to serve me a deportation order. He expected me to sign it and, APPALLED, I purposely dropped the accursed paper from my hands and let it fall to the floor where it belonged! I refused to sign it. They put me in that dungeon called the Russian Compound, built hundreds of years ago by the Turks, and which has since been toured by Israeli parliament members saying it should be torn down! I was in a cell made for 10 and at one time we had 21 people in it, with mats lying all over the floor and bed bugs crushed on the walls and everyone but me (by the grace of God) had welts on them from their bites! We had one "bathroom" for all of us in that cell: it was a literal hole in the floor, and the shower pipe (no showerhead) was just over that hole, and a filthy sink, and everyone had to practically beg for toilet paper. I was there for over two weeks before being deported, after being brought before the Jerusalem magistrate (who refused to release me, being represented by famous Israeli lawyer Naftali Warzberger), and later before Israel's High Court who agreed there was no reason I shouldn't have been set free, that there was no risk of flight, but now they were just going to deport me since my citizenship request was denied. The Temple Mount Faithful paid for all my legal expenses, recognizing the whole ordeal was politico-religious persecution against all of us, yet the Leftists targeted little ol' me! Is it a crime to have an abiding love for Israel? To believe what's written in the Law and the Prophets concerning the Temple and our responsibility to construct it? To mourn that it hasn't been done yet? As the Jerusalem Talmud states: "every generation in which the Temple has not been built is as if the Temple were destroyed in it...." Isn't Israel's state emblem a gold menorah in between two gold olive branches? Must I remain in exile, banished from the Land I love, because my hope, prayer, and dream is for Israel to fulfill what that symbol represents: the Temple and Israel's destiny to become a Light to all nations? David Ben-Ariel is author of "Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall". He can be reached at http://www.pushhamburger.com/david.htm |
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GOOGLE IS MAKING MONEY OFF SPREADING "PALESTINE" PROPAGANDA
Posted by Dave Frankenthal, December 4, 2004. |
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This came from teachntrain@yahoo.com. The text is at:
http://www.geocities.com/truthmasters/jointheboycott.htm
Google is making money spreading "Palestine" propaganda. Here are 2 more deceptive Google ads on many Jewish/Israel websites which are drawing people to "Palestine" propaganda. Take a look at the top of the Body Shop Petition to see these ads. one is at http://www.petitiononline.com/tbsbok/petition.html You may have to hit the refresh button (the F5 key) several times as there is a rotation of different Google ads. One is under the titles "Geneva Accord" and "Middle East Peace" which link to a website touting the unauthorized and highly unpopular Geneva negotiations promoting "Palestine" - http://buypeace.com/geneva-accord.htm Another site under the deceptive title "Middle East Peace" is a website calling itself by the inappropriate name Jewish Voice for Peace and supports "Palestine", Israeli "refuseniks" and Presbyterian Divestment, while attacking Caterpillar which does business with Israel - http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/ Google is making money off spreading these "Palestine" propaganda sites. Do you care? Hopefully you do. Please complain to Google by clicking on the "Ads By Goooooogle" link and please stop using Google as your seach engine - there are so many alternatives just as good including Yahoo. Users of Google's toolbar please uninstall it - it is very easy to do - see http://www.toolbar.google.com/faq.html#uninstall and use Yahoo toolbar instead http://toolbar.yahoo.com/?.cpdl=fp and be sure to leave a comment in the message box Google provides seeking your reason for uninstalling. More details are available at http://www.geocities.com/truthmasters/jointheboycott.htm Please pass this on to your friends and lists. Thanks.
Dave Frankenthal can be reached at jointheboycott@lycos.com |
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IN DEFENSE OF ISRAEL
Posted by Naomi Ragen, December 4, 2004. |
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The article below is from another far flung member of this e-mail list, informing us about good news in Spain. For my Spanish-speaking friends, and those enquiring about possible translations, I have this information to offer from another list-member, Anat Kehati-Trahtemberg. In Spanish the book is called "En defensa de Israel" - Editorial Certeza (certeza@certeza.com and http://www.certeza.com/). I saw the book in a friend's hands last October in the Latin American Jewish Congress (Cordoba, Argentina), someone gave it to him, since then I'm trying to find the book. In Lima you can't find it in any bookstore. Certeza offers me to ship it to Lima for 50.00 dolars!!! Someone knows if the book is buyable in Argentina? Dear Naomi, I read your newsletter regularly and I really appreciate your work. I thought you should know that yesterday I attended the official launch of a book in Madrid, called "In Defence of Israel". The Spanish language book is a compilation of 19 chapters written by 19 different writers around the world offering his or her personal view on the matter. Significantly, most of the writers are not Jewish. They are professional writers, educators, ex-Govt. officials or journalists. They wrote the book because of the burning desire to publicly decry so many wrongs that they see in the world media and to educate the majority public opinion with facts, not prejudice. Given the politically charged title, amazingly, many publishers were not interested in the work. One of the writers, Pilar Rahola, attended the book launch and explained why she contributed to this book, explaining that she defends Israel because Israel represents her values. Those Europeans that don't recognize the universal values that Israel represents are near-sighted and are jeopardizing their own future. She explained it was out of a sense of restoring truth to journalism, out of support for freedom and out of a sense of justice. She is an outstanding speaker and it was unbelievably uplifting to hear somebody clearly and unambiguously express what should be obvious to everybody but woefully isn't. Regards,
Naomi Ragen is an American-born novelist and journalist who lives in Jerusalem. She can be contacted at www.naomiragen.com |
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LET'S JUMP FOR JOY (OR NOT)... HAMAS PROPOSES A HUDNA
Posted by Gerald A. Honigman, December 4, 2004. |
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In an apparent change in policy, it was recently reported in Israel Insider that a top Hamas leader in the West Bank told the AP that his specialist disembowelers of Jewish kids and other innocents would accept the establishment of a Palestinian Arab state in the West Bank and Gaza along with a long term truce, or hudna, with Israel. Sheikh Hassan Yousef, a senior Hamas official, stated that he envisions Israel and a Palestinian Arab state "living side-by-side in peace and security for a certain period." Wow! Now if that's not a reason to give away everything but the kitchen sink, then what is? Of course, as soon as the Sheikh stated this, it was immediately denied by another Hamas spokesman, Ossama Hamdan, in Lebanon. Not to mention the fact that the hudna he's referring to is modeled after - as the Arabs readily admit to themselves - the famous "Peace of the Quraysh." The latter was the temporary truce Muhammad permitted, over thirteen centuries earlier, with the pagan tribe of the Quraysh in Mecca until he gathered the strength to deliver the final blow. Israel's answer to such a deal should be to find out where both of the above spokesmen are located and send them (and as many of their colleagues as possible) swiftly to the awaiting seventy-two virgins in their envisioned Muslim Paradise. Hamas unabashedly proclaims that it is dedicated to the absolute destruction - sooner or later - of the Jewish State. With such a murderous foe, there are no deals to be made. On a related topic, ever since Sharon announced plans for a unilateral disengagement from Gaza last April, adjacent towns in Israel proper have come under increasing attack from Hamas. Qassam rockets have been frequently fired into communities such as the Negev's Sderot, deliberately aimed at terrorizing civilians. The IDF recently prevented another such attack. Whereas Israel tries its best to carefully target those responsible for the murder of its people, the Arab targets of choice are the most innocent. Not only is greater shock value derived from this, the reality is that, in Arab eyes, there are no Jewish innocents. Not long ago, two Jewish preschoolers were killed in such a volley, helping to set into motion Israel's latest assault on Gaza's terror apparatus. Now, when choosing this Arab weapon of terror, Hamas (which, like most other Arabs, denies Israel's right to exist with or without the disputed territories) gave careful thought to the name that it should go by. Since the "militant wing" of the organization (the folks that actually blow up the buses, teen night clubs, pizzerias, and such) was named after Sheikh Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, it made sense to name the weapon after him as well. Surely such a man must have had some great credentials in the "Palestinian" Arab movement ... don't you think? Of course. Izz ad-Din made his name by butchering and disemboweling "Zionist invaders" during the early mandatory period after World War I. So, what else do we know about this legendary leader of the "Palestinians?" Well, for starters, hold on to your seats... Hamas' hero - like most other "native Palestinians" complaining about "occupying Israelis" - was born elsewhere. In his case, Ladeqiya, Syria. In just one three month period alone, the League of Nations Permanent Mandates Commissions documented scores of thousands of other Syrian Arabs pouring into the British Mandate of Palestine. Like numerous other Arabs moving in from elsewhere, they came to take advantage of the economic boom going on because of the influx of Jewish capital. And for every Arab newcomer - i.e., settler - that was documented, many more slipped in under cover of darkness and were never recorded. Add to this the fact that, for a number of reasons, the Brits were more concerned about entering Jews than entering Arabs. Despite this, lots of evidence exists which shows that - like the murderous Sheikh - most "Palestinian" Arabs were no more native than most of the returning, forcibly exiled, Diaspora Jews. Now think about this for a moment... So many Arabs were recent arrivals into the Mandate that when UNRWA was created to deal with the Arab refugee situation, created as a result of the invasion by a half dozen Arab states of a reborn Israel in 1948, it adjusted the definition of "refugee" from the prior meaning of persons normally and traditionally resident to those who lived in the Mandate for a minimum of only two years prior to 1948. Also keep in mind that for every Arab who was forced to flee the fighting that the Arabs started in their attempt to nip a nascent Israel in the bud, a Jewish refugee was forced to flee Arab lands...but with no UNRWA set up to help them. Indeed, scores of thousands of Jews fled the same Syria that the Sheikh immigrated to Palestine from. Greater New York City alone now has some tens of thousands of these folks. Many others moved to Israel and elsewhere. But, while Arabs see it as their natural right to settle anywhere in the Dar ul-Islam and what they claim as purely Arab patrimony (despite the fact that scores of millions of non-Arabs also live in the area and have been conquered and forcibly Arabized by them), when Jews moved into their sole, reborn state (as opposed to some two dozen for Arabs), Arabs declared this to be al nakba...the catastrophe. Hundreds of millions of Hindus and Muslims could arrive at a less-than-perfect modus vivendi in the 1947 partition of the Indian subcontinent - at virtually the same moment Arabs were rejecting a similar offer over what was left of the Palestine Mandate after Arabs had already been awarded the lion's share in 1922 with the separation of Transjordan - yet the mere thought of anyone else gaining a mere sliver of the very same political rights that Arabs demand for themselves (be they Kurds, Berbers, Black Africans, Jews, or whomever) was out of the question. The conflict we have in the Middle East today is largely all about this mindset. The next time you hear about those "Qassam" rockets or another deal offered by Hamas, consider the irony here. And, oh yes, I almost forgot... The late murderous ghoul, himself, was born in Cairo. And tens of thousands of other Egyptian Arabs, besides Arafat, had preceded his own migration and settlement in Palestine just somewhat earlier in the wake of Muhammad Ali and son Ibrahim Pasha's military excursions in the latter 19th century. 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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POST ARAFAT: NOW WHAT?
Posted by Arlene Peck, December 4, 2004. |
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Being an American journalist living in Los Angeles, I have always wondered what those in Israel are reading, when it comes to the region that they are living in. Recently, thanks to the organization, standwithus.com who consistently finds people to bring in of incredible insight, they gave us, on this side of the globe a view of what is really happening. Yesterday, I was privileged to be invited to a brunch at the home of its executive director, Roz Rothstein and listen to an amazing award-winning Palestinian journalist, Khaled Abu Toameh who for the past thirty years has been based in Jerusalem. He told us much of what I have been writing for the past several years. The international press cannot be trusted. It is bad enough that there is an innate hatred for the Jews and Israel from a great many of the foreign press. "They are not reporting the truth because it's not 'in' to report the facts." Unfortunately, the Israeli and international public make it easy for them to get away with it. Most of the public in Israel seems to be going along with the "big lie" that Arafat built over the past fifty years. I do not know how many times I, and journalists like Khaled Abu Toameh, must repeat; there is no window of opportunity or Avenue of hope now that the evil king is dead! Everyone seems to be walking around in a state of delusion euphoria. We are so tired of the same old stories coming out of the terrorist's camp that we want to believe that Arafat's death is going to make the difference. However, until there is a new era of political change with new faces, things are going to remain the same. Why are they thinking that the old faces are going to make the new changes? Now, nobody seems to be telling these Arabs and Islamic fundamentalists that their savage, barbaric behavior is not acceptable. Their leaders should not be legitimized by being invited to diplomatic conferences or promised anything, much less an independent state. The same way that these Arab countries shouldn't even be allowed into the United Nations unless they allow their own citizens the right to democracy and the right to vote, those living in Gaza shouldn't be encouraged to do more violence by legitimatizing these irresponsible Arab leaders. Lord, even Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti is running for president of the Palestinian Authority from an Israeli jail where he is serving five consecutive life sentences for killing five Israeli civilians in one of his many terrorist's acts. As a journalist, I know how easy it is to write 'double-talk.' The Palestinians are masters of doing it. While they are saying, "We will follow in Arafat's footsteps." they talk to the press about "new beginnings." So, while they are spouting hate-filled speeches to their population, the so-called leaders of Israel and foreign press and our State Department are repeating the same Oslo mistakes. Mistakes that can only result in a demand for Israel to commit suicide for peace. As a journalist, I am probably privy to information, films and scenes that you who are reading this don't see. That is why I find it chilling how they have managed to turn so much of the world into a cauldron of pre-Nazi events against the Jews. These people don't want negotiation, peace or even sections of Israel. They want the entire country dead! Gone! The mistake that the left make is thinking that if they get their "State," the problems will go away. Repeat the mantra. They had and have a plan! We don't! Gawd, doesn't anyone remember how Arafat diverted Arab anger to the Jews with pressure to give more... more... more! We, in the United States gave, the United Nations gave, the European Union gave, even Israel gave and it was never enough. So, while Arafat was diverting the anger of the masses against the Jews, with pressure we give, billions went into the hidden vaults for the untold wealth to end up in the shopping sprees of Shua and the foreign mansions of the old guard. I have little doubt that had those misplaced billions gone into the right hands there would have been no "intafada" but Arafat and company could not allow that to happen. So, no hospitals were built, no schools, no factories. (except bombs). I always wondered why the PA needed a complex that was almost the size of the Pentagon, but the population still lived in hovels and nobody seemed to complain. Books however were printed which carefully taught a whole generation of Palestinians to hate the Jews and Israel. Then, I wrote, how could Israel be so dumb? How could they allow Peres to build an army and even give the "Palestinian Authority" the guns to shoot them? And, even with all that, there are still those who say Peres is a great man. For G-d's sake,WHY!? I remember he once said, he did not care what the Arab press said about Arafat, only about what Arafat said to him. Well, he should have because he was telling the Arab audience to kill Jews and grab Jerusalem as the capital of their homeland. Before running off into the sunset believing how there is "new hope" the leaders of Israel ought to be remembering that Arafat is still living. The old guard is still running things. They may not be afraid to speak out as they were when Arafat was living but in the end, it is the same old tired ruling party that is calling the shots. They are using new code words however. The President may be dead. However, the "Presidency still lives." And, by doing so, the same old guard stays in power. They must have a new regime change and not the same people. Or, as Khalad Abu Toameh said, "Old wine in new bottles." The same old show continues as the "security forces" are being run by militias and being controlled by "war lords". Has it ever occurred to anyone that a partial solution might be really meaning democracy when the word is used? If Israel is serious about the hope for the future now that Arafat is dead, then, it's time to insist, and not give vague demands, that democracy is really going to have to happen before more money is sent. Except the word democracy is so alien to their way of life, culture and thinking that it isn't about to happen. In fact, somebody ought to start questioning where the billions are hidden and start using them to pay the electric and water bills. Better yet, Israel should cut off the water and lights off. Unfortunately, the elections are going to be pretty much, what they have always been. The Palestinians see themselves as foot soldiers for revolution. That is why leaving Gaza is something that they are looking upon as a foothold in getting the Jews out of Israel. It is sad to say as I think Gaza is a hellhole. Somehow, they do not notice or acknowledge that it is because their leader stole their money, which had been earmarked to change their lives. I have traveled there a few times as a journalist and it is a disgusting place. Nobody really wants it. Yet, for Israel to leave is going to give the Arabs the excuse to set up a terror state in the middle of Israel. I find it ironic that there is no talk among the Arabs of peaceful coexistence, cooperation, tolerance, acceptance and negotiated compromise. They are looking upon Israel as fools that can be manipulated. The Arabs accept the removal of Israelis from Gaza as something they have achieved by killing Jews. To their twisted minds, they figure that they were able to kill Israelis in Lebanon and they were forced to leave. Now, they have killed over a thousand Jews since the intafada so they are leaving Gaza. Next, maybe if they kill two thousand, they will give up and leave the West Bank. Finally, who knows? Maybe if they are able to kill ten thousand, they'll end up with Israel. Wow! What a prize! Arlene Peck is an internationally syndicated columnist and television talk show hostess. She can be reached at: bestredhead@earthlink.net and www.arlenepeck.com |
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FATAH'S LEADER FAROUK KADUMI: "TWO STATES" JUST A TEMPORARY SOLUTION
Posted by IsrAlert, December 3, 2004. |
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This comes from yesterday's Arutz-7 and is archived at (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=72993).
A top PA official has reiterated the end-goal of the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel: a Palestinian state instead of Israel. In a seeming re-affirmation of the PLO's 1974 "destroy Israel" program, commonly known as the Phased Plan, Fatah co-founder Farouk Kadumi termed the struggle for a two-state solution just a "stage" on the road to "only one [state]." Kadumi spoke on Nov. 29th with Iran's Al-Aram television station. When the interviewer asked Kadumi, "What is the future of Palestine?" the PLO leader answered: "At this stage there will be two states. Many years from now there will be only one." Asked why he has not softened his stance against Israel's existence, Kadumi replied, "Our enemy always says, 'This is Judea and Samaria' ... They haven't changed their discourse. If they change theirs, we will change ours, and if not, we will keep saying that armed resistance is the way to Palestine." He expressed confidence in the Arabs' ultimate victory, saying, "[There are] 300 million Arabs, while Israel has only the sea behind it." The entire clip, translated by MEMRI, can be viewed at http://www.memritv.org/search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=390 The basic principle of the 1974 Phased Plan (see below) is that the PLO would struggle to initially establish an "independent combatant national authority" over any territory "liberated" from Israeli rule. That "national authority" would then be used as a base for continued terror attacks. The final phase of the plan is all-out war against Israel by all her Arab neighbors with the hope of destroying the Jewish State entirely. The PLO's Phased Plan (provided by The Ariel Center for Policy
Research In the October 1973 Yom Kippur War, the Arab states launched a
surprise attack against Israel on the holiest day of the Jewish
calendar. Once again they tried to eliminate Israel, further motivated
this time by the desire to redeem their honor after their major defeat
in the 1967 Six-Day War.Though Israel was initially caught off guard,
it then regrouped and repelled the Arab attack, but not before
incurring heavy casualties.The war convinced the Arabs that they would
not be able to destroy Israel militarily within its post-1967
boundaries. Thus they embarked upon a new three-stage strategy for
Israel's destruction, embodied in the PLO's 1974 decision commonly
known as the Phased Plan (the text of which is below).
The Plan in Brief:
1. Through the "armed struggle" (i.e., terrorism), to establish an "independent combatant national authority" over any territory that is "liberated" from Israeli rule. (Article 2)
2. To continue the struggle against Israel, using the territory of
the national authority as a base of operations. (Article 4)
3. To provoke an all-out war in which Israel's Arab neighbors destroy it entirely ("liberate all Palestinian territory"). (Article 8).
Today, the Phased Plan remains relevant. Speaking just after the 1993 revelation of the Israel-PLO accord, PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat announced that the historic agreement "will be a basis for an independent Palestinian state in accordance with the Palestine National Council resolution issued in 1974.... The PNC resolution issued in 1974 calls for the establishment of a national authority on any part of Palestinian soil from which Israel withdraws or which is liberated." (Radio Monte Carlo, 1 September 1993)
It is worth noting that the PLO's term for the self-rule council now in place in Gaza and the West Bank is the "Palestinian National Authority," echoing the language of the Phased Plan.
Also note that Articles 5-6 call for a revolution in Jordan to establish a new Jordanian regime which will ally itself with the Palestinian National Authority.
Historically, Jordan comprised the bulk of the Palestine territory, and a majority of its residents are of Palestinian origin. The PLO has never recognized the legitimacy of Kingdom of Jordan as a state independent of Palestine.
Political Programme
Text of the Phased Plan Resolution:
The Palestinian National Council:
On the basis of the Palestinian National Charter and the Political Programme drawn up at the eleventh session, held from January 6-12, 1973; and from its belief that it is impossible for a permanent and just peace to be established in the area unless our Palestinian people recover all their national rights and, first and foremost, their rights to return and to self-determination on the whole of the soil of their homeland; and in the light of a study of the new political circumstances that have come into existence in the period between the Council's last and present sessions, resolves the following:
1. To reaffirm the Palestine Liberation Organization's previous attitude to Resolution 242, which obliterates the national right of our people and deals with the cause of our people as a problem of refugees. The Council therefore refuses to have anything to do with this resolution at any level, Arab or international, including the Geneva Conference.
2. The Liberation Organization will employ all means, and first and foremost armed struggle, to liberate Palestinian territory and to establish the independent combatant national authority for the people over every part of Palestinian territory that is liberated. This will require further changes being effected in the balance of power in favour of our people and their struggle.
3. The Liberation Organization will struggle against any proposal for a Palestinian entity the price of which is recognition, peace, secure frontiers, renunciation of national rights and the deprival of our people of their right to return and their right to self-determination on the soil of their homeland.
4. Any step taken towards liberation is a step towards the realization of the Liberation Organization's strategy of establishing the democratic Palestinian state specified in the resolutions of previous Palestinian National Councils.
5. Struggle along with the Jordanian national forces to establish a Jordanian-Palestinian national front whose aim will be to set up in Jordan a democratic national authority in close contact with the Palestinian entity that is established through the struggle.
6. The Liberation Organization will struggle to establish unity in struggle between the two peoples and between all the forces of the Arab liberation movement that are in agreement on this programme.
7. In the light of this programme, the Liberation Organization will struggle to strengthen national unity and to raise it to the level where it will be able to perform its national duties and tasks.
8. Once it is established, the Palestinian national authority will strive to achieve a union of the confrontation countries, with the aim of completing the liberation of all Palestinian territory, and as a step along the road to comprehensive Arab unity.
9. The Liberation Organization will strive to strengthen its solidarity with the socialist countries, and with forces of liberation and progress throughout the world, with the aim of frustration all the schemes of Zionism, reaction and imperialism.
10. In light of this programme, the leadership of the revolution
will determine the tactics which will serve and make possible the
realization of these objectives. The Executive Committee of the
Palestine Liberation Organization will make every effort to implement
this programme, and should a situation arise affecting the destiny and
the future of the Palestinian people, the National Assembly will be
convened in extraordinary session.
Harv Weiner, a businessman in Dallas, Texas, is the founder and
moderator of Isralert. To subscribe to IsrAlert, send an email to
isralert@aol.com
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NEW PA LEADER, SAME POLICY; NONSENSE ABOUT ANTISEMITISM AND MODERATES
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, December 3, 2004. |
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NEW P.A. LEADERS, SAME POLICIES The provisional head of the P.A., Abu Mazen, pledged allegiance to Arafat's policy of overwhelming Israel with descendants of alleged Arab refugees. The head of Fatah pledged allegiance to Arafat's policy of armed "resistance," meaning terrorism needless in Western eyes, essential in jihadists'. In the West, incoming leaders tend to promise continuity, in order to lull potential opponents into complacency. Once entrenched, these leaders pursue their agenda. The Arabs have a more regimented culture, unlikely to change. To change policy, they would have to contradict their way of life and confront fanatics loyal to it. Despite such remote prospects, Western pundits proclaim new hope for peace from the deceased jihadist's successor. Diplomats and leftists who call for negotiations are dissembling about such hope; their followers are naïve about it. The dissemblers know there won't be peace and the leftists care only about Israeli withdrawals that such negotiations really are designed for. The naifs believe what they read. It hurts me to see well-meaning people allow themselves to be manipulated into indignation against Israel for balking at diplomatic proposals aimed against it, by the newspaper of false record. Don't look for support of Israel and of Western civilization itself from the universities' Middle Eastern Studies programs. Arabs and leftists run these programs, even as they enjoy subsidy from their target, the US government! We need a groundswell of demands for education to be thorough and thoughtful enough about history so that our people know the failure of appeasement of the Nazis and Communists and the false peace movements spawned by those totalitarians. Such knowledge would prepare Americans for dealing with the analogous Arab totalitarians. Instead, the American emphasis is on learning merely to read and write. America has sunk that low. The media view news as: (1) Entertainment rather than as information, although information can be presented interestingly; and (2) Raw material for indoctrinating the public with its own views. The problem is that those in power don't feel a secure sense of responsibility towards those dependent upon their rule, and prefer to channel opinion rather than persuade it via controversy and debate. Eventually in democracies, the people catch on to foreign menaces. Unfortunately, events swirl ever faster, and these menaces may grow formidable before the democracies can gear up to over-match them. We barely had time in WWII and the Cold War. That was before the proliferation of super-weapons and mobility of terrorists. NEW YORK VS. THE UNO The UNO wants to repair and enlarge an office building, in the meantime using an annex to be erected on a nearby city park. Residents do not want to lose their park, but some would be amenable to turning a nearby lot into a substitute park. Permission for the UNO to take over a park requires State approval. State legislators are mounting a campaign against granting permission. They find the UNO mostly useless and a font of such evils as antisemitism. They do not want to assist it. Although I share the legislators' animosity towards the UNO, I also am a resident of New York City. The City depends on its being a world class city, to attract tourist income. I would be loathe to lose some of that income. I think that New York should keep the UNO here as long as the US belongs to it, but that the US should quit it and turn it into a league of democracies. NONSENSE ABOUT ANTISEMITISM & "MODERATES" Both a Ph.D. and a professor criticized the "NY Sun" for what it didn't suggest, and missed the point the "Sun" did propose (November 26, 2004) about Columbia University treatment of Israel. Both of them complain mistakenly that the "Sun" suggested allowing only pro-Zionist viewpoints on campus, and that you confuse opposition to Israeli policies with antisemitism. What the "Sun" is attempting is to stop Columbia from allowing only anti-Zionist viewpoints and from allowing intimidation and personal insult against Israeli and other Jewish students. You seek freedom of thought, and your critics seek to continue the present repression. They have the temerity to do so in the name of freedom of thought. Another issue is whether Columbia professors are scholarly about these issues. Preliminary reports indicate that they exhibit the same name-calling tantrums and perversion of history as did Arafat. By brooking no opposition, they certainly are not scholarly. The PH.D. cites her Jewish origin as proof that her opinion cannot be antisemitic. I comment here not whether her opinion is antisemitic but about her ignorance of what constitutes proof of not being antisemitic. Some Jews are antisemitic. They reject their heritage in a vicious manner or seek acceptance in radical circles that are antisemitic, or have internalized antisemitism. Remember the Communists of Jewish origin, who persecuted Jews? Some contemporary leftists stand with the Arabs and accept their denouncing Jews as inherently evil "apes and pigs." There are Israeli journalists who call religious Jews "lice." The professor lectures us that opposition to the existence of the Jewish state is not antisemitic, because it does not oppose all Jews as an ethnic group. What a nice excuse for antisemites! Dear professor, the reason for most opposition to Israel's existence, even by non-Arabs, is that it is a Jewish state. Israel attracts the venom of antisemites, as a less flagrant substitute for attacking Jews, since people like you excuse it. These antisemites try to avoid identification as bigots because they say they merely are anti-Zionist. By singling out only the Jewish people as not entitled to a state of their own in their own homeland, indeed they are antisemitic. Antisemites also hide behind another rationalization, that they merely oppose certain policies of Israel. The policies they oppose are its defense against Arab aggression, almost every means of defense. Are we to suppose that those who want to stop Israel from letting murderers through are not antisemitic? Why don't those critics of Israel deal with the cause, which is Arab aggression? The critics condone the aggression. They also condone terrorism, which is the deliberate commission of violence against civilians, but try to pass off their unjustified criticism of Israeli policies with righteous indignation. One method of defense might be improper, but all? It is sad when educated Americans so misunderstand these issues of life and death and side with jihadists, who are the common enemy both of Israel and of the US. ABBAS NOT MODERATE Yes, Mahmoud Abbas, leading candidate to replace Arafat, "is seen as a pragmatist and moderate opposed to violence" (Mohammed Daraghmeh, "Abbas Kicks Off Presidential Campaign, November 24, 2004 from Associated Press). What mental agility to perceive Arafat's deputy terrorist chieftain for decades as "moderate" and "opposed to violence!" The claim that suddenly he does not have the jihadist ideology of favoring violence derives from a distortion of what he did say recently. He called for a temporary cease-fire during his election, but maintained fidelity to the armed struggle afterwards. In other words, desist from violence temporarily, so the Arabs may rearm unhindered by Israel, then resume violence tenfold and with an advantage. That certainly is the plan of a "pragmatist," but he is pragmatic in behalf of terrorism. "Seen" as moderate by whom? By those who used to "see" Arafat as moderate but were mistaken? All too often, Arab statements are misconstrued conveniently for pro-Arab spokesmen. They never tire of finding additional terrorists as moderate, such as Marwan Barghouti, now serving five life sentences for murderous terrorism, and Mohammed Dahlan as pragmatic, though he directs terrorist forces. Some who "see" this simply are myopic and credulous. Others more cynical will crown as leader any Arab who can sign an agreement with Israel that gets Jews out of Judea, Samaria, and Gaza, with its secure borders. This is not done as a step towards peace, as they pretend, but to weaken Israel. Actually, the weaker Israel becomes, the likelier an Arab attack. Thus Israeli withdrawal from secure borders is a step towards war. A.P. tries to cover itself by stating that unnamed people perceive Mr. Abbas as moderate. It doesn't state he is as fact, for which it could be held accountable. No, it cites others' opinion. By citing a one-sided opinion, when there are contrary opinions about Mr. Abbas, A.P. indicates it believes the cited opinion and suggests it is factual. It probably hopes readers won't notice this advocacy journalistic tactic. Let it stop making these gratuitous and unwarranted positive characterizations of Arab leaders of holy war! TIME OUT FOR TOURISM The P.A. and Israel agreed to cooperate in promoting safe tourism by Christmas pilgrims. Their communiqué asserted that besides an economic boost, this cooperation would help build trust between the two sides (IMRA, 11/24). How can a pilgrimage be safe when Arab terrorists constantly seek to set off bombs? For years the Arabs have promised security cooperation but delivered war. Only fools keep anticipating they may come to trust the Arabs, who organize as fanatical, duplicitous totalitarians. Israelis should seek not trust but victory. The Arabs sow Israeli trust in order to reap victory. HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH EXPANDS ASSAULT ON ISRAEL Human Rights Watch (HRW) is building upon its anti-Israel report condemning Israeli counter-terrorism in Gaza. That report was based on unverifiable allegations by Israel's Arab adversaries and on unsubstantiated security judgments. The new tack is a campaign to get the manufacturer of bulldozers not to sell them to Israel. HRW claims that Israel uses them to demolish Arabs' houses illegally. A boycott would deprive Israel of legitimate means of defense from the use of buildings for military attacks. The boycott is part of the overall strategy developed during the Durban conference. HRW played a prominent role there. Participants decided to prepare the path for the destruction of Israel by delegitimizing it, by treating it as it once did to apartheid S. Africa (IMRA, 11/24). Why no call to boycott the P.A., which commits the terrorism, and ambushes Israelis from abandoned buildings, requiring Israeli military response? That is a rhetorical question. Obviously the answer is that with regard to the Arab-Israel conflict, HRW is not humanitarian but inhumane, because it is anti-Israel and pro-terrorist. TWO DIFFERENT WARS IN IRAQ There is the war that occurs and the war that is reported. There is the war by the coalition and the war by the terrorists, who fight by different rules or no rules. The Islamists spread rumor about coalition abuses, in order to discredit the coalition in Muslim eyes. Their campaign of defamation is succeeding in garnering support for their cause. Although their media originates most of the slander, they are gaining support in the West, too. With a couple of exceptions, the many abuses are by Islamists. Coalition forces come upon grisly evidence of torture and murder. The terrorists are responsible for hundreds of civilian deaths (actually, for all of them, since they have no justification for bringing the war into cities nor for making war in the first place). They have bombed Shiite mosques and UN headquarters and beheaded hapless foreign workers. (The media, Eastern and Western, however, report civilian casualties in cities attacked by the coalition as if all were committed by coalition forces.) The insurgents target women, children, and relief workers, wave white flags and shoot approaching coalition troops, booby-trap the bodies of slain insurgents, fire upon crews collecting dead bodies, smuggle weapons in ambulances (as do P.A. insurgents), and routinely torture captives and distribute videos of it for public entertainment. They hope to provoke over-reactions, to then pretend to complain about. They wish to provoke an Islam-West war (IMRA, 11/25). Arabs can see from the videos how barbaric the insurgents are. Why are they indignant against only the West, which generally does not do those things? Double standard! 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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THE PURPOSE OF THE IDF
Posted by Ruth and Nadia Matar, December 3, 2004. |
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Please Spread This Important Message:
THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES BELONGS TO ALL OF US. ITS SOLE PURPOSE IS TO FIGHT THE ARAB ENEMY. ITS PURPOSE IS NOT TO FIGHT THEIR JEWISH BRETHREN. JEWS AND THEIR FAMILIES ARE NOT TO BE UPROOTED FROM THEIR HOMES. THEIR SYNAGOGUES AND COMMUNITIES ARE NOT TO BE DESTROYED. THE BURIAL PLACES OF THEIR LOVED ONES MUST NOT BE DESECRATED. SHARON IS DEFYING THE G-D OF ISRAEL! Ruth and Nadia Matar established Women For Israel's Tomorrow (Women in Green), an activist group of women based in Jerusalem. Their website address is http://www.womeningreen.org |
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JOEL BEININ'S KAMPF
Posted by Steven Plaut, December 3, 2004. |
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Joel Beinin is the self-proclaimed Middle East expert from Stanford University (a.k.a. the People's Republic of Stanfurd) who leads the Middle East Studies Association, an anti-American and anti-Israel professional orgainzation of "Orientalists" and "scholars." He has been thorough "outted" by Martin Kramer's work on his "scholarship" (see http://www.geocities.com/martinkramerorg/2002_12_30.htm and http://www.meforum.org/article/500 and http://www.geocities.com/martinkramerorg/2003_01_24.htm) Well, Comrade Beinin has an opinion on Israel's existence and here it is: "Since I don't accept as unalterable truth the views of Lenin and Stalin, this does not settle the matter of what rights a nation in general or the Israeli Jewish nation in particular may have. In my view, the state of Israel has already lost any moral justification for its existence. It not only oppresses the Palestinian people, but its claims to represent all Jews throughout the world endanger even Jews who totally reject Zionism or are severe critics of Israeli policies." and more at http://list.haifa.ac.il/pipermail/alef/2004-December/008971.html Here is his web page: http://history-db.stanford.edu/faculty/beinin where you can see a photo of him in which he is not sporting a kafiya or a swastika. 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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TRAUMA AND TERROR
Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, December 3, 2004. |
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There is a concept called degrees of separation. It means the number of people between any two people in a group. One study indicated that there are only 6 degrees of separation between any two people on Earth. Starting with myself, I know someone who knows someone who knows someone and so on until we can get to anyone on the planet. Only five or six people stand between me and anyone else. Obviously, the smaller the group the less degrees of separation exist. In Israel I suspect that there is no more than two or three degrees of separation between any two people. This is true irrespective if they are a Jew or an Arab. This is something that needs being taken into account in assessing the full impact of terror in Israel. Not only is every Jew in Israel separated at the most by only two or three people from any victim of terror but he is likewise close to the perpetrator of the act as well. Most of the families and friends of terror victims know who murdered or maimed their loved ones. They know as well where the murderer's family lives and (especially in Yeshah) often see the place on a regular basis. All this adds anger and rage to the effects of trauma and anguish. Because there is so little separation between people in Israel, this rage has spread to large segment of the Jewish population and will eventually focus on an outlet. This article is called "Survey: Entire Israeli population suffers war trauma" and was written by Dalia Tal. It was published yesterday. The Israel Trauma Center for Victims of Terror and War concludes that 11% of Israelis have been directly exposed and 20.2% indirectly exposed to terrorist attacks since September 2000. The article is archived at http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=860099&fid=942 "The entire population of Israel can be said to suffer from direct or indirect trauma from terrorism and war," declares a survey of Israelis' coping mechanisms for dealing with the reality of terrorism, conducted by NATAL - Israel Trauma Center for Victims of Terror and War (www.natal.org.il), chaired by Judith Yovel Recanati. The results of the survey will be presented today at NATAL's conference on trauma from terrorism and war - crisis and hope. The conference organizers, headed by Prof. Avi Bleich MD, Head of the Psychiatry Department in the Sackler School of Medicine at the Tel Aviv University, believe that the issue of trauma from terrorism and war should be put on the public agenda and coping mechanisms offered. The NATAL survey found that 11% of Israelis claim to been directly exposed to terrorist attacks since the outbreak of the El-Aqsa intifada in September 2000. 20.2% claim to have been indirectly exposed, through family or friends who have hurt. 83% of respondents tend to frequently check up on the safety of their dear ones, 80% use social support, 75% accept the situation and have adjusted to it, and 64% tend to seek information in the media. Half the respondents admitted feeling that their sense of personal security was diminished, and felt that their safety and the safety of loved was threatened on a daily basis. While 82% of Israelis are optimistic about their future, only 56% are optimistic about the future of the country. Founded in 1998, NATAL is based on the assumption that trauma from war and terrorism has unique characteristics. NATAL decided to hold today's conference following recent terrorist attacks in Beersheva, Sinai, the Carmel Market in Tel Aviv and elsewhere, as well as the kassam rocket attacks on Sderot. Another goal is to raise public awareness and debate on the issue of trauma. At the conference, Prof. Zahava Solomon of the Tel Aviv University School of Social Work will present new studies that found that 15-19% of Israeli adolescents - both Jews and Arabs - and 37% of Palestinian adolescents residing the territories suffer from post traumatic disorders from exposure to terrorist attacks, requiring professional intervention.
Aryeh Zelasko lives in Beitar Illit, south of Jerusalem. He is
Director of Sales and Marketing of Israel Visit
(www.israelvisit.co.il) which provides information and an internet
buying facility for American visitors to Israel.
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GUESS WHO FINANCED THE FILM "JENIN, JENIN"?
Posted by Steven Plaut, December 3, 2004. |
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Scoop. Remember that Goebbals-like propaganda film made by pro-terror Israeli Arab film director Muhammed Bakhri? The one the Israeli treasonous Far Left hailed as a great "alternative narrative", where they insisted on screening it on campuses and in Cinameteks even after a restraining order banned its screening, the film that was so full of lies that soldiers actually involved in the battle of Jenin sued to declare it libelous. The film that invented the myth of Israeli "war crimes" in Jenin, which all turned out to be lies. Where even Shimon Peres insisted that no more than 20 civilians were killed in the fierce house-to-house battle against the entrenched terrorists in Jenin, less than in single bus suicide bombings in Israel of the sort the operation was designed to end. Yes, that film. Well, Maariv Dec 3, 04 has a scoop in small print. Guess who put up the cash for making the film? Abed Rabu, quite literally the PLO's Goebbals, that is, the PLO's Minister for "Information" and Education. He was the sugar daddy. And will Bakhri be indicted or at least denounced by the Israeli media for taking PLO money to stage a Goebbals-like anti-Semitic blood libel propaganda film? My guess is he will be nominated for this year's Israel Prize by the Likud and then maybe even a Nobel Prize. 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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"CHILD OF BETHLEHEM" EXPLOITS CHRISTMAS TO PROMOTE ANTI-ISRAEL CAMPAIGN; "PRESSUREWORKS" INCITES TEENS
Posted by NGO Monitor, December 3, 2004. |
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The launch of Christian Aid's 2004 Christmas campaign appeal once again highlights the biased political agenda of this powerful organization regarding the Middle East conflict. Drawing upon powerful Christian imagery and symbolism, Christian Aid headlined its appeal "Child of Bethlehem", concentrating on the story of a seven-year old Palestinian girl living in Bethlehem who was "hit in the eye by shrapnel from a bullet fired by Israeli soldiers." In keeping with previous reports, as analyzed by NGO Monitor, Christian Aid's focus on sympathy for this child in large subway advertisements and elsewhere erases the context and the dilemmas posed by Israel's right to defend itself against Palestinian terror. While Christian Aid operates in over 50 countries, it has chosen to headline this particular case for its Christmas appeal. It is impossible to ignore the emotions that images of a child from Bethlehem conjure among Christians during the Christmas period. It is also clear that Christian Aid has, in a subtle way, linked the suffering of Palestinian Christian children with that of Jesus, who was born in Bethlehem, and to centuries of anti-Semitism and blood libels against the Jewish people. Indeed, Christian Aid is planning to distribute an 18-page brochure to churches for use as a religious resource to promote this Christmas appeal. The brochure is described as containing "Worship resources which make connections between the Bethlehem of Christ's birth and the contemporary situation in the Middle East". The brochure acknowledges that "Attacks on Israeli citizens by Palestinians, unreservedly condemned by Christian Aid, continue to impede efforts to build peace". Despite this, Christian Aid has never released any detailed report or campaign focused on the brutality of Palestinian terrorism, demonstrating that this is a secondary issue, at best, on Christian Aid's pro-Palestinian agenda. Christian Aid continues to promote a highly simplistic and biased "solution to Palestinian poverty" based on "an end to military occupation?" Such a sweeping political claim that places the entire blame on Israel is incorrect, as illustrated by the Arab terrorism and aggression that preceded the "occupation", and clearly outside the professional competence of a charitable organization. The brochure also alleges that Israel's security barrier and other measures have harmed the Palestinian population, without mentioning the terror that led to these measures. This campaign marks a dangerous departure, adding Christian scripture and religious symbolism to the ingredients of the volatile cocktail of anti-Israel propaganda that is being promoted widely under the guise of humanitarian assistance. In another example, Christian Aid has also attempted to engage with the younger generation with the recent launch of its "Pressureworks" website. The website, while promoting Christian Aid in the background, makes no secret of its support for what are regarded as radical causes allied to the anti-globalization movement, describing itself as "direct and fast moving campaigning action for the wired and fired up". The prominence of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is evident from the large photograph of Jerusalem's Har Homa neighborhood seen behind barbed wire, which dominates the website's homepage. Drawing attention to Christian Aid's highly politicized and misleading report "Facts on the ground: The end of the two-state solution?", Pressureworks urges its readers to "Take action now!" by contacting their MPs and Foreign Office ministers. For this purpose the standard letter condemns Israeli security policies, settlements, the security barrier and "the presence of overwhelming Israeli military force in Palestinian civilian areas, [which] threatens people in the region and beyond." Calling for the dismantling of all settlements, the letter urges the European Union to "take appropriate measures if Israel fails to comply". Nowhere is there a call for Palestinians to put an end to terrorism. Pressureworks asks "What's wrong?" in the Middle East, stating that "Osama Bin Laden refers to US support of the Israelis as one of the main reasons for his 9/11 attack on the World Trade Centre", thus attributing the rise of international terrorism to the US and Israel. Pressureworks also features an article on water shortages in the Palestinian areas, relying upon the testimony of the highly politicized Christian Aid partner Palestine Monitor. Unsubstantiated allegations are made accusing Israeli settlers of attacking water tankers and preventing them from getting to Palestinians in need and that "Israeli soldiers have shot and punctured rain-water tanks on the roofs of Palestinian homes." Christian Aid's promotion of its anti-Israel agenda is continuing through the organization's attempt to broaden its appeal beyond its traditional Christian supporters and into the youth market and its 'trendy' political causes, thus spreading the demonization of Israel to a new generation. With its Christmas campaign, Christian Aid is acting irresponsibly by mixing religion with its brand of anti-Israel politics, in order to further its own biased agenda. The NGO Monitor organization (www.ngo-monitor.org) promotes critical debate and accountability of human rights NGOs in the Arab Israeli Conflict. |
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ISRAELI SOVEREIGNTY AND AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY: A MACCABEAN PERSPECTIVE
Posted by Bernard J. Shapiro, December 3, 2004. |
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This article is quite critical of American Foreign Policy, therefore, I would like to say a few positive things up front. The American people when properly polled come out consistently in support of Israel. There are at least 50 million Evangelical Christians who are friends and dedicated supporters of Israel. Many of America's presidents have bucked the US State Department to help Israel with arms and money. The US Congress and Senate have consistently been friends of Israel. Martin Luther King, Jr. expressed his love of Israel many times. My own grandfather, for whom the Freeman Center was named, expressed his love of America upon his arrival on our shores:
Unfortunately there are institutions in America that don't love Israel as much as most of us do. Israel's relations with America go back even before statehood in 1948. During the critical years of WWII, the Zionist community of both America and Israel appealed to President Franklin Roosevelt to take action to stop the Holocaust. They were rebuffed at every turn. It was apparent that neither America nor any of its allies were very interested in saving Jewish lives. England was the most persuasive when arguing that the Jews saved would want to go to Palestine. This would anger the Arabs and should be avoided at all cost. It is true that European Jewry would have been a vast reservoir of new citizens for the emerging State of Israel. Their sheer numbers would have eliminated the Arab demographic problem in the new State. American policy came down solidly on the side of dead Jews as opposed to live Jews. When Israel declared its independence in 1948, we were all pleased that the American president, Harry S. Truman, made America the first nation in the world to recognize the Jewish State. Yet even here there was a dark side to American Foreign Policy. The State Department had argued in vain against the recognition of Israel. When they didn't succeed at that they successfully placed an embargo of arms to Middle Eastern States. Seemingly neutral it only affected Israel since the British and French were arming the Arabs. So we have the spectacle of American recognition of Israel's independence while at the same time refusing the arms it needed to survive, to defend their lives. Following Israel's Sinai Campaign in 1956, Eisenhower and Dulles forced Israel to withdraw with little political gain. Two "benefits" appeared to be: a UN Force in Sinai to guarantee free passage for Israel in the Gulf of Eilat; and an American promise to guarantee such free passage. In 1967 the UN Force disappeared, as did the American promise, which the State Department claimed they could not verify. In the period since 1967, the US State Department has devoted an excessive amount of time developing and promoting plans to force Israeli withdrawal to the 'suicide' borders of pre-1967. With amazing regularity, the State Department has failed to be honest about violations of the agreements it has negotiated between the Arabs and Israelis. The US has been blind to Arab violations from the failure to see missile movements in Egypt (1970-76) to the failure to see Palestinian violations of the Oslo and Wye Agreements. This US blindness has always been one way. The Israelis are subjected to constant misinterpretations of agreements. For example, never having agreed to a freeze in Jewish building, US spy satellites are active daily counting houses in YESHA. And then publicly rebuking Israel for a normal activity of a sovereign country. In order to pressure Israel, stories appear on a regular basis claiming that Israel is transferring American technology to third parties. In every case they are proven false, but the constant repetition is meant to weaken Israel diplomatically. The State Department has orchestrated a media campaign to damage Israel's reputation in general. A few examples: 1. Sharon was labeled a hardliner or rightwing extremist until he began his plan to retreat from Gaza. Other world leaders are Statesman and Arafat was a 'leader' The list could on but now we must say something that should have been said years ago. It is very important for Israel to disengage from its close embrace with American diplomacy. It should be obvious to all that American and Israeli interests differ markedly in relation to the negotiations with the Palestinians. America has by its own admission ceased to be either pro-Israel or a neutral mediator (the Americans claim to be 'even-handed'). American policy in the final analysis will leave Israel with indefensible borders and an irredentist Palestinian neighbor yearning for all the land "from the river to the sea." Then, of course, they will also want Jordan. Much more can be gained for Israel by negotiating directly with the Arabs. This used to be Israeli policy. In reality, the Arabs have ceased negotiating with Israel and now are negotiating only with Washington.. It may be necessary to give up American aid dollars and possibly weapons to break out of the current US embrace. It will certainly be difficult, but in the end, there will exist a truly free and sovereign Israel. You shouldn't worry about severe consequences for Israel when it asserts its sovereignty for several reasons. For one, Israeli military technology is in very high demand in the American Armed Forces. Israeli aid to the United states in both high technology and intelligence far out weighs what Israel receives from America. Simply put, it is in the US self interests to maintain strong ties to Israel. And another major point is that the US population has a deep appreciation of Israel on a moral and religious basis and faces a common enemy: Islamic terrorism. The alternative is to learn nothing from history: placing Israel's destiny in America's hands as was done during WWII. America won the war, but 90% of Europe's Jews were already dead. I would prefer Israel to survive. Bernard Shapiro is executive director of The Freeman Center For Strategic Studies, which has daily political, military and news analyses and a monthly internet magazine. Contact him at bernards@sbcglobal.net |
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AND THE SAP DOESN'T CARE
Posted by Yocheved Golani, December 2, 2004. |
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My Power-Walking partner Ellen and I were making our way down a lovely Israeli boulevard on a chilly December night recently when I sighed with longing. "I miss seeing the trees turn colors in the fall. Here in the Holy Land, broad leaves stay green and on the trees all year, let alone the evergreens. They never turn color no matter what country they're in. I learned in grade school that the change in temperatures causes the tree sap to make the leaves turn gold, red and brown. Remember those magnificent purple leaves from oak trees? No oak trees in Israel. I'm from Oak Park, Michigan, Ellen. I need my fall colors," I sighed. Being a practical woman, US-born and educated Ellen responded that Israel's absence of fall colors was indeed a mystery. Then she asked for my opinion on why our school civics lessons never alluded to the fact that the head of a parliamentary government could fire ministers at will. "Parliamentary governments are coalitions. There are votes, and the public is represented by casting votes. But here, the Prime Minister can fire anybody who doesn't agree with him. It's not a coalition is it?" "Ellen," I said, "Nothing in the old country prepared us for life in Israel. The rules in any country don't prepare their Jews for life in Israel, either. Those can't apply here. This country survives on G'D's will, not human rules of engagement for war, politics, or weather. Look, Sharon just survived two no-confidence votes. And the government is still standing. On borrowed time, I'm sure. Can you imagine Canada surviving what this government goes through? England?" We walked in silence, except for our huffing breaths making small clouds in front of our faces. "Yocheved, who's going to be Prime Minister after Sharon?" "Feiglin," I answered. "After the whole country goes nuts from a political crisis. The army won't have a commander in chief. Any business that can strike will strike. The dati'im will help each other. All Israelis who have ethics about doing for each other will pull through the crisis together. Then Israel will get its act together while HaShem is arranging the chessboard that is Earth. HaShem's rules always override human rules." Ellen and I looked meaningfully at the stars above. Then we did a 180 for the walk home. "Have you noticed that the only level surfaces in Israel are inside buildings?" I asked. "Everything else is like a middot roller-coaster. You're either going up or down when you're outdoors." "Beautiful night. It's cool, clear and no rain since Sunday. Perfect for walking up hills," Ellen remarked. I stared sadly at the trees nearby. "Yep. And the sap doesn't care," I said. Yocheved Golani is the author of "Legacy" and "Legacy 2006: Integrity." Contact her at www.yochevedgolani.com or www.ygolani.com |
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REASONS FOR CONCERN AT THE CIA
Posted by Neal M. Sher, December 2, 2004. |
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This article appeared on the Jewish World Review website
(http://www.JewishWorldReview.com) November 30, 2004. It is archived at
www.jewishworldreview.com/1104/sher_cia.php3?printer_friendly
It is a wake-up call to the Jewish and pro-Israel communities by the former director of the Office of Special Investigations in the Justice Department Recent headlines scream that the CIA is in disarray, beset by high level resignations and open warfare between various factions along the Potomac. Porter Goss certainly has his hands full, although the smart money is on the side of new Director. For those who live and die "inside the Beltway" this is drama of the highest order, generating delicious fodder for the cocktail party circuit. While such intrigue should be of little interest to the Jewish and pro-Israel communities, recent events suggest that there is indeed reason to be concerned about the thinking at the Langley headquarters - or at least in parts of it. Last year, in a very unusual development, a CIA official was granted permission to publish a book detailing his work as a counter-terrorism expert and setting forth his highly critical analysis of U.S. policy. There was one caveat imposed by his employer: his identity could not be revealed. Hence, the book "Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror" was officially penned by "Anonymous". Having just resigned from the Agency, the author is now "out" and Michael Scheuer (who headed the bin Laden desk at the CIA) has been making the rounds of all the TV studios (including 60 Minutes) and granting interviews to countless newspapers and magazines. In his book and recent media fest, major emphasis is placed on Scheuer's negative views of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and of our failure to eliminate Osama bin Laden. But there is another significant theme which surprisingly has not generated the level of concern it deserves. Central to his thesis is the notion that bin Laden, Al Qaeda and the terrorist attacks and threats against us are to some degree a function of America's support for Israel. Reminiscent of the famous charge by a well known pundit that Israel is an albatross around America's neck and that Capitol Hill is "Israeli occupied territory", Scheuer contends that U.S. policy towards Israel is 'the tail leading the dog" and that pro-Israel activists have undue and dangerous influence over foreign policy. Most respected scholars and analysts have little brief for that view and reject the argument that all we have to do to insulate ourselves from the terrorist threat is change our policy towards Israel. First of all, the argument flies in the face of the facts and logic. For example, Al Qaeda attacks against the U.S. embassies in east Africa and the USS Cole came at a time when, under U.S. auspices, Israel made the most generous concessions imaginable to Arafat and the Palestinians. Moreover, it smacks at the discredited "blame the victim" phenomenon ("if you Jews would only do this or stop doing that, there would be no anti-Semitism"), with which we are all too familiar. It's not that Scheuer is raising something new. He isn't. We've heard it before from Israel's detractors and we'll certainly hear it again. It comes with the territory. We can recall commentators saying in the immediate aftermath of 9-11 that Americans now know what Israelis live with on a daily a daily basis. Some predicted, however, that such sympathy would eventually wane and that anti-Israel crusaders would push the view that America's pro-Israel stance was the root cause of terrorism directed against us. This is precisely the sort of thinking our enemies want us to embrace. Surely, no reasonable person can believe for a moment that if the U.S. were to throw Israel overboard tomorrow all terrorist threats would miraculously evaporate. The raw truth is that they hate the U.S and the West for reasons having nothing to do with Israel. What is terribly distressing is that Scheuer's view of the U.S.-Israel relationship was given a Tenet-led CIA seal of approval when publication was authorized. Make no mistake, a book like this, approved as it was at the highest levels of the Agency after scrutinizing every last word, was meant to send messages. Whatever the other ones might have been, the one regarding Israel could not have been clearer. For whatever reason, the hostility towards Israel in Imperial Hubris, which should have raised a host of red flags, seems to have flown under the Jewish community's radar screen. To be sure, Scheuer is careful to throw out the obligatory protestations that he is not anti-Isarel, arguing that he merely seeks a "re-examination" of U.S. policy in the middle east. But we all know what that really means and one would have thought that officially sanctioned Israel bashing - and that's precisely what Scheuer's views represent - would have come under fierce attack. I don't know which is worse: that he actually believes this nonsense, or that a person of that mindset actually oversaw the campaign against an enemy and movement which perpetrated the worst crime ever on U.S. soil. The CIA is now under new management; the role Goss intends to play regarding Israel and the region remains to be seen. But it is essential that we keep a watchful eye on the situation. To date, we have seen nothing from Langley to repudiate Scheuer's provocative comments. Given his high public profile and his eagerness to perpetuate his views about Israel, the Agency's silence is troubling; and Goss himself is at best a question mark on this issue. This is especially so in light of the fact that as chairman of the House Committee on Intelligence he was not at all sympathetic to the plight of a CIA employee who had been subjected to blatant anti-Semitism and scurrilous accusations of dual loyalty, even though Agency improprieties were established by irrefutable documentary evidence. I know this because I represented the aggrieved employee during his travails at the Agency. Scheuer's charges - which have been given seeming legitimacy by a backdoor CIA imprimatur - must not be taken lightly. We have every right to demand that Mr. Goss and his Agency squarely repudiate the views of the man formerly known as Anonymous. Neal Sher is a former executive director of AIPAC and the former director of the Office of Special Investigations in the US Justice Department is a NY-based communications and government relations consultant His web site is: http://www.publicspeakingny.com |
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FIDDLEFADDLE: UNDESERVED HYPE RE ARAB PLAYING VIOLIN AT CHECKPOINT
Posted by Lee Green, December 2, 2004. |
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On November 9th, Wissam Tayam (sometimes spelled Tayem), a Palestinian seeking passage at an Israeli checkpoint near Nablus, was observed playing his violin. According to Horit Herman Peled, a member of Machsom Watch (Checkpoint Watch, a group that monitors Israeli soldiers' behavior at checkpoints) who videotaped the incident (see http://www.horit.com/violin.htm), Tayam was forced to play the violin to gain passage while Israeli soldiers laughed. As a result of her statements and video, numerous articles were written in Israel and worldwide condemning the soldiers at the checkpoint, the morals of the Israeli army, and some even claimed to find in the incident echoes of the Holocaust, when Jews were forced by the Nazis to play music in concentration camps. You can watch Peled's video yourself at http://www.horit.com/violin.htm. The soldier interacting with Tayam cannot be seen or heard laughing and appears to be merely sorting through some papers. No other soldiers can be seen or heard laughing. Peled, the videographer, doesn't appear to be close enough to the Palestinian and soldier to hear whether the soldier did or did not order the Palestinian to play. Furthermore, the video does not indicate that she witnessed the actual moment when Tayam began to play or what occurred right before. According to a November 30th IDF statement (http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=23001), the soldier states that he asked Tayam to open his violin case for inspection, to make sure it didn't contain explosives or weapons, but it was the Palestinian who chose to play the violin of his own volition and that the liaison officer had to ask the Palestinian to stop playing. Wissam Tayam, now a cause celebre, claims that he was asked to play a sad song. According to a November 30 Haaretz report, statements by other members of the Machsom Watch group who were there make clear that NONE of them, including Horit Herman Peled, has any idea what was said by the soldier to the Palestinian, because they "did not hear the exchange between the soldiers and the violinist, and in addition, the conversation was held in Arabic, which none of the volunteers understand." In fact, initially another Machsom Watch volunteer, Rachel Bar-Or, gave a statement to the IDF supporting the Israeli soldier's version of events. She wasn't able to hear the conversation between the soldier and Tayam, but based on what she saw, "she said that until she read the violinist's account of the incident in the press, she was more than prepared to believe the soldiers' version of events at the checkpoint. 'When I found out that the Palestinian was denying [their story], I had no reason to prefer the IDF's version of events over his.' Another volunteer, Neta Efroni, also claims that the volunteers did not hear the exchange between the Palestinian and the soldiers." (Haaretz, Nov 30) Got that? Based on what Rachel Bar-Or saw with her own eyes at the time of the incident, Bar-Or felt that the Israeli soldier had not done anything wrong. Only AFTER hearing Tayam's version, did she discount what she herself saw, saying, "I had no reason to prefer the IDF's version of events over his." So initially, this was a case of the Israeli soldier's word against Horit Herman Peled's, who it turns out, didn't even hear (and couldn't have understood) the Arabic conversation between the two men. None of the initial stories had any statement by Tayam himself. Apparently based on only Peled's questionable "evidence," many in the media went for the story, perhaps because it had an interesting visual to accompany it, even though if one actually watched the video rather than just a photo captured from it, it tends to support the soldier's case, and contradicts Peled's. The readiness of the media, including members of the Israeli media, to assume malice on the part of Israeli soldiers and to level inflammatory accusations against them, without solid evidence, is very troubling. Even if the soldier had asked Tayam to play his violin for a few seconds to ensure that it didn't contain any explosives, such a measure is not per se humiliating or evidence of malice. And it certainly would not warrant comparing Israeli soldiers to Nazis. It must be said that the IDF added unnecessary confusion to the issue. According to a November 25th BBC article, "The Israeli army says the man was asked to play the instrument he was carrying to prove it was not full of explosives. But, it said, the soldiers' conduct at the West Bank checkpoint had been insensitive and they were reprimanded." The IDF did not explain if such a security measure (playing the violin to make sure it didn't have explosives taped inside it, which would affect the sound when played) would indeed be needed, and if so, why following this precaution would be "insensitive." It is only in a statement made November 30th, as reported by AP, that an explanation of the "insensitivity" is given: "Col. Yuval said the soldiers acted insensitively only in that they did not make Tayem stop playing sooner." Since the IDF's Nov 30th announcement of the conclusion of their investigation says the soldier only asked Tayam to open the violin case, not to play, we see that their earlier official response was not only unclear but inaccurate. Despite the IDF's confusing initial response, there is no justification for media coverage that leaped to extreme charges that Israeli soldiers were seeking to humiliate Tayam rather than simply making sure his violin contained no explosives. This is a writeup of the incident by Hillel Halkin. It's called "Off-Key Comparison" and appeared in The New York Sun November 30, 2004 as an Op-ed piece. An American friend just sent me an e-mail containing an article that appeared yesterday, in the November 29 British daily the Guardian. Written by the Guardian's Israel correspondent Chris McGreal, the article deals with an incident that took place on November 9 and was widely reported last week in the Israeli and international press. In this incident, Israeli soldiers at a West Bank check post near Nablus made a Palestinian violinist play his instrument in front of them before giving him permission to pass. Of all the recent revelations of the "routine dehumanizing treatment" of Palestinians by the Israeli military, Mr. McGreal wrote, including an Israeli officer's "pumping the body of a 13-year old girl with bullets" in the Gaza Strip, "none so disturbed" Israelis as this one, because of its associations with the Holocaust. As an example, the Guardian cited the Hebrew writer Yoram Kaniuk, the author of a novel about a Jewish violinist forced by the Nazis to play marches in Auschwitz as Jews were taken to the gas chambers. Mr. Kaniuk was quoted as saying: "This story....negates the possibility of the existence of a Jewish state. If the military does not put these soldiers on trial, we will have no moral right to speak of ourselves as a state that rose from the Holocaust." My concerned friend asked for my opinion. It's a bit complicated, my opinion. It's actually several opinions. There is no doubt that the phenomenon of Israeli soldiers brutalizing and humiliating Palestinian civilians, let alone killing them without justification, is shameful. What is even more shameful, as Mr. McGreal rightly points out, is that in the vast majority of these cases the perpetrators have either been lightly punished or have gone scot-free Although, in the situation of extreme animosity that currently exists between Israeli and Palestinian societies it is impossible to avoid such incidents entirely, they could certainly be decreased if the higher echelons of the Israeli army were determined to prevent them. It is reprehensible that they do not seem to be. At the same time, not every incident that is reported as a case of brutality or humiliation is one, as we know from the infamous story of Mohammed Durra, the Palestinian child whose supposed martyrdom at the hands an Israeli sniper in the year 2000 turned him into an international icon even after clear evidence showed that he was killed by Palestinians. In itself, after all, there is nothing wrong with Israel soldiers at a checkpoint asking a young Palestinian to play his violin as a way of making sure it is not stuffed with explosives. Palestinians have been caught in the past with explosives in bags, in belts, in knapsacks, briefcases, in underwear, in what appeared to be the pregnant stomachs of women. What makes a violin above suspicion? Nor, studying the photograph of the incident published in the Israeli press, can one identify any would-be humiliators. Neither of the two soldiers directly in front of the violinist, one talking on a cell phone and the other checking documents, is even looking at him, much less taking pleasure in the situation. Whoever it was who ordered the young man to play his instrument certainly didn't do it as a show for their benefit. Yet the facts of this specific case are perhaps beside the point. Are Palestinians at Israeli checkpoints often treated badly? The answer is yes. Should everything possible be done to stop this? Yes, again. Are the checkpoints nevertheless necessary? Yes, once more. (They have saved many Israeli lives, and Israelis will have to be excused for thinking that a humiliated Palestinian is better than a dead Israeli.) Is it legitimate to compare such incidents, or any other aspect of the Israeli presence in the occupied territories, to the Holocaust? Absolutely not. Under no conceivable circumstances. Imagine, if you will, the following dispatch in The Guardian in 1943: "As the German dehumanization of Eastern European Jews grows worse, a new height of sadism has been reached: Jewish violinists have been forced to play their violins in front of jeering German soldiers." Would that the Holocaust had been a matter of humiliated violinists. Would that it had been a matter of humiliated Jews. Would that it had been a matter of the occasional killing of innocent Jews by German soldiers. But of course, it was none of these things. It was the successfully systematic murder of the Jewish people. Which is why, whenever anyone, Jew or Gentile, Israeli author or English journalist, compares Israeli actions in the occupied territories to those of the Germans or their allies in the Holocaust, something vile and intolerable has been done. The descendants of the victims of the Holocaust have been turned into the perpetrators of another one. In order to make such a comparison, one has to be either (1) totally ignorant of what happened in the Holocaust; (2) totally ignorant of what is happening in the occupied territories; (3) totally indifferent, in one's eagerness to bash Israel and Jews, to the historical facts in either case. Compare Israeli actions, if you will, to those of the French in Algeria. (The French were in reality a hundred times worse.) Compare them, if you must, to those of the Americans in Vietnam. (The Americans were incredibly more brutal.) Compare them to anything you want - except the Holocaust. This isn't because the Holocaust isn't comparable to other things.
It is. But it is comparable only to other mass exterminations: That
of the Armenians by the Turks in World War I, that of Cambodians by
the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s, that of Tutsis by Hutus in Rwanda in
1995. It is not comparable, ever, to anything Israel has done or is
doing in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Any such an analogy
should automatically be beyond the pale of acceptable human
discourse.
The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America
(CAMERA) monitors the news and TV media for how fair they are in
reporting on Israel. The website address is www.camera.org.
Lee Green is Director, National Letter-Writing Group, CAMERA.
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HARVARD STUDY: POVERTY IS NOT THE CAUSE OF TERRORISM
Posted by Mordechai Ben-Menachem, December 2, 2004. |
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This is a news item on Nov 26, 2004 from Arutz-7
(http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=72635).
A new study by a Harvard professor has found that terrorism is not caused by poverty - thus further undermining the main premise behind international aid to Arabs of Judea, Samaria and Gaza (Yesha). The Harvard University Gazette reports that Alberto Abadie, associate professor at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, "examined data on terrorism and variables such as wealth, political freedom, geography, and ethnic fractionalization for nations that have been targets of terrorist attacks ... Before analyzing the data, Abadie believed it was a reasonable assumption that terrorism has its roots in poverty, especially since studies have linked civil war to economic factors. However, once the data was corrected for the influence of other factors studied, Abadie said he found no significant relationship between a nation's wealth and the level of terrorism it experiences..." (New York Sun, Nov.10, 2004) Arab journalist Khalid Amayreh, himself from the Yesha region, has likewise written that it "is simply nonsense" to "claim that Islamic terrorism in Israel, as elsewhere, is the product of poverty, backwardness, and ignorance ... Islamic fundamentalism is not a product or by-product of poverty. Several studies have shown that a substantial majority of Islamists and their supporters come from the middle and upper socio-economic strata ... The fact that city-dwellers [in Judea-Samaria], who are generally more educated and better off economically, have consistently lent more support to Islamists refutes the widely held assumption that Islamist popularity thrives on economic misery." (Jerusalem Post, Feb. 21, 1995) Morton A. Klein, National President of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), commented: "Poverty is not the problem; hatred is the problem. An entire generation of Palestinian Arabs has been raised to hate Jews and Israel. Giving them American money will not solve the problem - in fact, it will have the opposite effect, sending a message to them that they need not change their ways. Like German society after World War II, Palestinian Arab society will require a lengthy and intensive period of de-Nazification, to wean them away from their hatred and violence. What they need is years and years of education towards peace, democracy, and coexistence. As long as the PA educates its people for hatred, in the official PA schools, summer camps, television, radio, newspapers, speeches, and religious sermons, peace will not be possible." Mordechai Ben-Menachem is at Ben-Gurion University. He can be reached by email at quality@computer.org |
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THE BATTLE FOR AND AGAINST DISENGAGEMENT
Posted by Ruth Matar, December 2, 2004. |
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Dear Friends, The battle for and against disengagement is heating up amongst the Israeli public. Unfortunately, those who are for disengagement are in possession of very powerful means, i.e. they control the major newspapers, all radio outlets (since Prime Minister Sharon managed to get the only national radio station, Arutz 7, off the air), and all the television news channels. In addition, politicians who are in favor of disengagement are continually quoted in the media, whereas those who are against disengagement seldom get any publicity whatsoever. Those members of the Israeli public who are against disengagement definitely are a growing majority. However, they do not have the opportunity to express their opinions, because the Leftist controlled media uses all possible means to prevent them from doing so. An attempt to focus the discussion on this important issue was made by Dr. David Matar, by publicizing a letter which he had written to his commanding officer on November 16, 2004. To quote from Dr. Matar's letter, he states that he has been a Reserve Medical Officer in the Jerusalem Recruitment Office for fifteen years, on one day duty, which usually exceeds thirty days a year. Dr. Matar describes Sharon's "Disengagement" Plan as follows: "The term 'Disengagement' is a euphemism for the forcible expulsion of more than 8,000 Jews from their homes and lifework in the Gaza district and the Northern Shomron, and the uprooting and destruction of tens of flourishing communities, including every last synagogue and cemetery. Dr. Matar's letter initially created a great deal of media interest. The major newspapers asked for interviews, one of them even sent a photographer to his pediatric clinic. Two of the three news channels arranged for interviews on prime time television. What was the result? Nada. Nothing! The appearance on television programs was cancelled without any explanation. The newspapers never used the photograph they had taken of Dr. Matar, while interrupting a busy day examining sick children. The story quickly died an unnatural death. The only publicity we received was by reproducing Dr. Matar's letter to his Commanding Officer as a paid ad in the Jerusalem Post. Unintended help came from an op-ed article by Joshua Berman in Yesterday's Jerusalem Post (December 1, 2004) He writes that the army is not responsible for the Disengagement Plan, AS IT IS MERELY THE EXECUTIVE ARM OF THE POLITICAL ECHELON. [Emphasis is mine - R.M.] But what if the political echelon gives an order which is patently immoral and illegal? Is David Matar and other reserve officers forced to go along with such an order? Have we learned nothing from the Nuremberg Trials, which were held after World War II from November 20, 1945 to October 1, 1946? The defense of most of those German Nazis accused of "crimes against humanity" was "that they were only following orders!" Is it not a horrendous crime to expel 8,000 Jews from their homes in their own Homeland - men, women and children, to be forcibly dragged out of their homes, and imprisoned even if they just passively or verbally resist such expulsion? Would it not be wrong for Jews to follow such an illegal and immoral order? What is about to happen in Israel - G-d forbid - is even worse than what happened in Germany during World War II. This time, the Sharon government is planning to order Jews to forcibly expel their Jewish Brethren from their homes. Permit me to tell you about events in my childhood, which I try to forget - Kristallnacht in Wr. Neustadt, Austria. I was eight years old when Hitler annexed Austria on March 13, 1938. On the night of November 9, 1938, Kristallnacht, the SS storm troopers broke down the doors to our home, and forcibly dragged my parents, my older brother and sister and myself, out of our house, barely allowing us to put on warm clothing even though it was bitterly cold outside. They herded us into police cars and brought us to the synagogue where all the town's Jews were subsequently brought. The next day the only food we were offered was a stew which contained pork. This was the German sense of humor. They well knew that it is forbidden for Jews to eat pork. I will never forget what happened after the Germans had laughingly removed the pork stew. A young man in SS uniform, came up to me and surreptitiously handed me a candy bar. He told me he was a former employee of my father, but had been unemployed since my father's business was confiscated. "That is," he said, "why I had to join the SS [SchutzStaffel, the 'security' service of Adolf Hitler]. I don't like what they're doing to you Jews, but I have to follow orders, or they will punish me severely, probably even kill me." History does repeat itself. Only now Jews are ordered by Israel's dictator Ariel Sharon to break into the homes of fellow Jews and forcibly drag them out. And all this to reward Arab terror? Have we become a nation of madmen? Dear American Jews and Christians, Dear President Bush, Dear Members of Congress, do not become partner to this crime against humanity. You may have been influenced by the media that the majority of the People of Israel are in favor of "disengagement" from their Homeland. This is a deliberate falsehood. The majority of the Jewish People do not want to commit suicide. It is not in Israel's interest, nor in the interest of the United States to have an additional terror state in the Middle East - carved out of the Holy Land. Dear Friends, it is important that you forward this Letter from Jerusalem to President Bush and all your government representatives, your acquaintances, your friends or anybody else you might be able to influence. Please add to this email your own feelings on this very important issue. With Blessings and Love for Israel,
Ruth and Nadia Matar established Women For Israel's Tomorrow (Women in Green), an activist group of women based in Jerusalem. Their website address is http://www.womeningreen.org |
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HOW LEGITIMATE IS THE P.A. ELECTION? EU JIHAD ROLE: THWART U.S.
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, December 2, 2004. |
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HOW LEGITIMATE IS THE P.A. ELECTION? The EU is sending observers to the P.A. election, to lend confidence in electoral legitimacy. Let us assume that the voting being monitored is done properly this time. Last time, Arafat rigged it. He allowed only one, weak candidate and almost no campaigning. Nevertheless, the world called it legitimate. They did so, to get on with the process of dismantling the Jewish homeland. That called that process the peace process, though strengthening jihadists induces war. The voting procedure may be fair, but the election is not legitimate, because the P.A. isn't. The P.A. is a dictatorship. Terrorists are competing to keep it that way. No legitimacy in that. HOW LEGITIMATE IS MEDIA REPORTING Unnamed State Dept. officials claim that Pres. Bush forced Sec. of State Powell to resign, because he requested more power to "rein in" Israeli PM Sharon, as part of re-starting peace negotiations with the P.A.. Most readers coming across such assertions, probably consider that news. It isn't news. It is gossip. I think that when the media reports personal claims, rather than observable facts, they should report on the probity of the sources. Why should we take their word for it? Sec. Powell does suggest, perhaps insincerely, that the death of Arafat is an opportunity to reopen negotiations. Neither he nor the media, which discuss much background, remark on the poor likelihood of negotiations accomplishing anything with religious fanatics who believe in deceit and who violated all prior agreements. They should emphasize that the P.A. has not changed, even if the leadership does. The media would perform a public service instead of its customary misleading, by pointing out that the Arab goal of negotiations is to weaken Israel for the next war, not to make peace, and that the negotiations are a hoax in which the State Dept. is complicit. The goal of the State Dept., for now, is to get Jews out of the Territories. I can only guess the real story. Powell long has worked against Bush's policy, but Bush did not have the courage to fire him. Bush laid out certain principles for the Road Map. Powell then reversed those principles. Bush never restored what admirers thought was his own policy. That was the opportune time to confront Powell's frequent insubordination and fire him. On the other hand, we are not sure just what Bush's policy is for the long run, rather than just the short run. Bush probably saw this as an opportunity to get someone more in harmony with his approach, to head the State Dept.. The anti-Zionist State Dept. exploited Powell's departure to give it an anti-Zionist interpretation that Sharon needed to be reined in, and that Bush would not let Powell do it. Rein Sharon in? From what? He voluntarily is withdrawing from territory needed to maintain Israeli security. He removes checkpoints needed to maintain Israeli security. He cracks down on dissenters. That is what Sharon needs to be reined in from, and by his own people. What the US needs to rein in is the State Dept., for supporting Arab terrorists. Let each look to his own! SUSPICION OF CIA IS SELECTIVE Many Americans and perhaps most foreigners think that the CIA conducts secret subversion almost everywhere. The one country they fail to suspect CIA interference with is Israel, such interference being grievous. Absent is the usual blind indignation against the CIA. CIA interference in Israel is no secret, though neither does the establishment media publicize it. Indeed, the US and Peres openly had the CIA to "monitor" the P.A. and to train it in intelligence. The P.A. applied its skills to kill Israelis and thwart counter-action. Should anything else have been expected? In any case, suspicion of the CIA is selective and misapplied. Countries that consider themselves democratic often fail to perceive or acknowledge their own, undemocratic manifestations. Thus Americans may consider the CIA a poor gatherer and assessor of intelligence and that it may be employed in misguided missions, but they consider it under democratic control. Is it? Not enough. In theory, the President directs it and a few key members of Congressional intelligence committees are consulted about proposed missions. Just a few. Not enough. If the full Senate, which Constitutionally is supposed to be consulted about foreign policy, were apprised about secret foreign policy, leaks would be made to the media and the effectiveness of clandestine missions would be compromised. Ideally, exact missions would remain secret but their thrust be in accord with public policy. CIA missions about Israel do not accord with public policy. Public policy is supportive of Israel to some extent, whereas CIA missions and State Dept. machinations are anti-Zionist and in collusion with people who singled out Americans, as such, to murder. This dichotomy is not realized by the American public nor by most Jews. They take full stock in the public declarations. It is easy to deceive Israelis, who of all peoples feel the greatest affinity to America and can't imagine US leadership being insufficiently warmed to reciprocate. From "The Secret War on the Jews," one can discern a dark US policy run by US intelligence and directed by the President without Congressional participation, first to protect masses of Nazis whom the post-war Administrations mistakenly thought might be useful, then to protect the reputations and careers of the protectors, and now to protect the US officials who subvert Israel, and whom Pollard discovered. The dirtiest linen never is washed in public. Presidents carry on rogue operations. In that sense, they use the CIA in a dictatorial manner as a secret police. This is one danger of having operations beyond the usual democratic oversight. There is another danger. The President may not know of all the rogue operations. Sometimes CIA executives deploy the clandestine forces in operations they do not reveal to their superiors, including the President. If power corrupts, imagine the effect of great secret power! The problem is too much clandestine work in too few hands. There is a conflict of interest in having the same agency gather and analyze intelligence, conduct the missions it proposes, and evaluate those missions. The popular proposal to appoint an intelligence Czar would exacerbate that built-in incentive for slothful intelligence-gathering, deceitful proposals, misguided missions, and biased judgment about their success. The proposal would extend budget famines, the CIA mono-culture, or the FBI philosophy of exclusiveness and avoiding risks of criticism. The Czar would become a source of weakness, in that the bureaucracy would tend to regiment analysis and proposals. Diversity of options would be smoothed away. Unimaginative or uninformed Presidents would seek or have fewer options. The 9/11 Committee that proposed a Czar concentrated on the gathering of intelligence to thwart terrorist plots. It is too narrow a focus. Recently, some in Congress widened their horizon somewhat. They contend that spying on plotters is made unnecessarily difficult and partly too late after terrorists have been allowed to enter the country. They would restrict such immigration. This would be an effective reform, if it overcame the political correctness favoring free immigration, the desire of immigrant groups to bring more of their own people here, and big business avidity for massive immigration of cheap labor. The horizon should be opened up more by investigating the State Dept. role in overriding security measures about visas and in facilitating Saudi entry. The State Dept. operates a rogue operation so powerful, that it ordered the CIA and FBI not to follow leads against Saudi terrorists! Although the State Dept. bears major responsibility for allowing 9/11, it has escaped investigation, and the CIA and FBI received almost all the blame. Democracy, anyone? EUROPE THWARTING U.S. POLICY, AGAIN The U.S. has been trying to get Syrian occupation forces out of Lebanon and Syria to stop infiltrating insurgents into Iraq. This effort requires coordination with other countries. That, the US has been seeking. The US imposed sanctions on Syria, and the UN passed a resolution against it. The weakness of Syria's economy, including high unemployment (despite foisting half a million Syrian workers upon Lebanon and extracting wealth from Lebanon) weakened the regime in Syria. The EU is thwarting the isolation of Syria. Syria recently signed onto associate EU membership, strengthening Pres. Assad's grip on power. The Western media largely ignored this. This Euro-Mediterranean Partnership strengthens economic and political ties among signatories. The EU cites in justification Syria's new promise to fight terrorism and promote human rights. Contrary to the agreement, Syria sends terrorists into Iraq to fight against the coalition and continues to host terrorist organizations, in Damascus, itself. From Syria, mortars, probably manned by insurgents but with Assad's complicity, fire upon the coalition. Syria's promises are vague and without monitoring (as are most such agreements, being appeasement of dictatorships whose word requires intense monitoring). The promises do not reverse Syria's stockpiling of chemical weaponry and missiles for delivering them and its program for biological warfare. The promise is in exchange for free trade. (The Arabs manage to get without having to give.) In the agreement, Syria also promises to protect democratic and humane rights. Meanwhile, it arrests dissenters seeking to foster democracy. The EU seeks to become a counter-weight to the US. Indeed it is becoming that. It also is making the world less safe (Prof. Steven Plaut, 11/24, e-mail). US COMMENTARY ABOUT THE UNO Again, the UNO has failed to take action against the ethnic cleansing in Sudan. The US Ambassador to the UN wondered whether the General Assembly has any utility (Benny Avni, NY sun, 11/24, p.8). Good question. I am glad the US is asking it. And the answer is ? IDF COMBAT UNITS SOUGHT AFTER The IDF invites prospective inductees to state three preferences for branches of the military. 92% list combat units. The IDF places 96% of them there. This is a record. The conclusion is that motivation for combat units is at a peak (IMRA, 11/24). That statistic gives an inadequate picture without one about what proportion of eligible inductees seeks exemption. There also is a question about whom the youth would be willing to fight. PM Sharon is organizing a special unit without scruples about dragging Jews out of their houses in Yesha, to make way for the Arabs and for the casino that Israeli investors want to build there. The special unit may include hundreds of foreign Muslims. Ideally, when or even before Sharon gives the order to evacuate, regular Army divisions would surround this unit of betrayers, disarm it, and arrest PM Sharon for treason. The world is far from ideal. 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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CHANUKAH
Posted by Reuvan Kossover, December 2, 2004. |
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If you ask a rabbi what the most important Jewish holidays are he's likely to tell you Yom Kippur and the Sabbath, in that order. There are other holidays he will likely mention - the High Holy Days, the Three Festivals. He probably will not answer Hanukkah. First of all, Hanukkah is not mentioned directly in the Torah, like the aforementioned holidays. Our commentators do give it a nod as being referred to there, but you have to look for the citations. The references to dates in Jewish history that were to yet occur, like Pessah in connection with the visit of the three angels to Abraham before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (found in B'Reishit/Genesis before the Exodus from Egypt in the following Book of the Torah, Shmot/Exodus), or the 9th of Av - mentioned in connection with the events surrounding the Sin of the Spies, are much better known in Jewish scholarship. In addition, the books of the Maccabees, the works that most directly relate the events surrounding Hanukkah to us, are not even in the Tana"kh. But I argue that Hanukkah is the most important holiday we have. Why? Hanukkah is the ugly mirror in time through which we Jews see the modern reality of our country and the condition of our people today in an event that occurred 2,100 years ago. In spite of what the Talmud says, Hanukkah is not really about a cruse of oil that lasts eight times as long as it is supposed to; it is not about Greeks persecuting Jews and not allowing them to practice their religion; it is not about brave Jewish soldiers liberating the country from foreigners; it is not about potato pancakes; it is not about jelly doughnuts. Hanukkah is about a civil war. It is about a people drinking the wine of madness. The source for my assertions on this topic is Solomon Zeitlin's Rise and Fall of the Jewish State: A History of the Second Judean Commonwealth, a two volume opus that dealt with a period of time critical to the development of Judaism. In it, he explained how a large number of Jews of the day, very possibly a majority, were very happy to follow the Hellenization of the country spearheaded by Antiochus Epiphanes, the insecure monarch of the Seleucid Empire that ruled over Syria from Antioch. They had no problem with not circumcising their children, eating pork, going to the gymnasia, worshiping the idols placed in various places by the Greek soldiers, including the Temple in Jerusalem. This was particularly true of the Jews in the higher classes of society. When I read this book thirty two years ago, I did not understand its significance at all. In 1972, Israel strode the Middle East like a small colossus, stretching from the Suez to the Jordan. Hanukkah was the time to celebrate how the I.D.F. had kicked Arab butt all over the place, winning wars in six days and celebrating victory on the seventh, much the way HaShem created the universe in six days and rested on the seventh after pronouncing His creation "very good". Today, Israel is a small weak country whose leaders come to heel like trained dogs when called by their masters in the U.S. and elsewhere. Her people suffer terrorism and do not effectively fight back; her oppressors are lionized and idolized throughout the world, even by a large number of Israelis in power here. The Israeli Army does not talk about kicking Arab butt anymore. Instead, on the illegal orders of the prime minister, they prepare to uproot Jews from their homes in this country. One would think that they were the Greek soldiers putting idols in the Temple. Except that today there is no Temple - the Arabs who control the Temple Mount systematically destroy evidence of its previous existence and the Israeli government does nothing at all but wring its "helpless" hands. Not only this, but the Temple Mount is in the hands of the Arabs - by the consent of the same Israeli government that wrings its hands! Woe to the Jew who seeks to as much bless the sight of a rainbow from the Temple Mount! He'll be thrown off with all the ceremony of a bum being kicked out of an American shopping mall. What is worse, the civil war fought then was between those Jews who wanted to follow the dominant secular culture of the day and those who insisted on following the religion of the G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. We are fighting that exact same civil war now. The vast majority of Jews of today's world, not merely here but world wide, want very much to follow the secular culture of today, that of America and Europe; they want to dispense with the faith of their ancestors or at least "encapsulate" it so that its observance will not interfere with the pleasures of the secular culture. By and large, they don't care about the Sabbath, they don't care about kashrut, they don't care about teaching their children Torah, and they don't care about the sanctity of the land. Too many of them, even so-called "Torah observant" Jews, care more about how closely they can model their own lives after the non-Jewish Europeans or Americans. They want to drink the wine of madness that is the secular culture of Europe and America. This is as true here in Israel as it is in exile. Some of Israel's leaders are so against Judaism that they try to do whatever they can to weaken the Jewish structure of the state by refusing to enforce the ban on the sale of yeast containing products during Passover, and doing what they can to weaken Sabbath observance. They do what they can to sabotage the prohibitions on the sale of pork and publicize the ideas of Jews who are against circumcision, the ideas of Jews who call the brit mila that ties every male Jew to G-d in an eternal covenant "inhumane". They blithely push for homosexuals to parade openly in Jerusalem, conveniently forgetting that homosexual behavior is classified as an abomination in Torah. This coterie of un-Jews, a small clique who have little to do with the decent people who make up most of those who are not "Torah-observant" by Israeli standards, these are the modern Hellenists - the Hilonim who want nothing to do with Judaism or with G-d and who are ashamed of the faith of their ancestors. And today they run the government, and dominate the upper classes of society just like they did twenty one hundred years ago. At a November 4th conference in Jerusalem discussing the Rabin assassination, Professor Aryeh Zaritzky, of Ben Gurion University, warned the largely Torah observant audience of Jews about the Hilonim. In so doing, referring to this tiny coterie of evil men, these modern Hellenists who would abandon Judaism, he said that "they hate you. They are preparing a war against you. Not a war against brothers, but a war against those who are not even brothers!" My blood ran cold when I heard this. I wish I could say, looking at the above several paragraphs, that what I've written is unbalanced and one-sided. If I could honestly say that, my reasons for sending out this essay would disappear. I could hit the delete button and I could move on to other, more pleasant things. But the mirror in time that is Hanukkah prevents me from doing so. I look in that mirror and see the realities of civil war reflected from 2,100 years ago then in chilling images today. There is a Jewish theory about a "helix of time". The lazy hawk rises on a thermal in the same circular path never quite going over the same place he went a number of feet below. Events don't recur exactly. Yet in this mirror of time one might see in the American government or in the E.U. the image of Antiochus V - a foreign oppressor. But the High Priest and his associates who actively pursued the policies of de-Judaizing the country - and the many, many supporters the High priest had then - these people were all Jews, just as the cabinet is ruling from Jerusalem today. These are the realities that I see today, whether I like them or not. So these then are the lines of the modern civil war. One side - the faithful - doesn't even realize (or want to realize) that it is being attacked, while the other side has the press, the government and the army on its side. One reads from Zechariah 12 and sees that even Judah will come up against Jerusalem. One waits in vain for the modern version of Mattatyahu Hashmonai - the brave Kohen who ran his sword through a Jew willing to worship an idol and then who screamed "those who are for G-d come with me!" Every Jew who has attempted to take this mantle up until now has either been jailed or silenced by the Israeli government. We are again living in the days when Jews, led by blind fools who have neither pride nor honesty nor dignity, who are indeed a "generation of reversals", are determined to bulldoze over their core beliefs to chase after the passing fads of the "modern" world. For this we will pay - as we always have - in blood. Shabbat Shalom and Chanukah Sameach from Liberated Yerushaliyim, Reuven Kossover was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. and then lived in Minnesota, writing stories and managing restaurants. He lives in Jerusalem with his wife and family, working as a writer and business consultant. This article was distributed by the Root and Branch Association of Jerusalem. |
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WHAT IF IT'S NOT ISRAEL THEY LOATHE?
Posted by Naomi Ragen, December 2, 2004. |
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A most enlightening piece from the Jerusalem Post.
It's written by Amir Taheri.
In his recent foray into Ramallah, Britain's Foreign Secretary Jack Straw identified the Palestine-Israel conflict as the most important issue between the West and the Muslim world. Straw was echoing the conventional wisdom according to which a solution to that problem would transform relations between Islam and the West from what is almost a clash of civilizations to one of cuddly camaraderie. But what if conventional wisdom got it wrong? I have just spent the whole fasting month of Ramadan in several Arab countries, where long nights are spent eating, drinking coffee and, of course, discussing politics. There are no free elections or reliable opinion polls in the Arab world. So no one knows what the silent majority really thinks. The best one can do is rely on anecdotal evidence. On that basis, I came to believe that the Palestine-Israel issue was low down on the list of priorities for the man in the street but something approaching an obsession for the political, business, and intellectual elites. When it came to ordinary people, almost no one ever mentioned the Palestine issue, even on days when Yasser Arafat's death dominated the headlines. When I asked them about issues that most preoccupied them, farmers, shopkeepers, taxi drivers and office workers never mentioned Palestine. But when I talked to princes and princesses, business tycoons, high officials, and the glitterati of Arab academia, Palestine was the ur-issue. The reason why the elites fake passion about this issue is that it is the only one on which they agree. In many cases, it is also the only political issue that people can discuss without running into trouble with the secret services. More importantly, perhaps, it is the one issue on which the elites feel they have the sympathy of the outside world. For example, I found almost no one who, speaking in private, had any esteem for Arafat. But all felt obliged to hide their thoughts because Arafat had been honored by French President Jacques Chirac. When some Arab newspapers ran articles on Arafat's alleged corruption and despotism, other Arab media attacked them for being disrespectful to a man who had been treated like "a hero of humanity" by Chirac. Conventional wisdom also insists that the US is hated by Muslims because it is pro-Israel. That view is shared by most American officials posted to the Arab capitals. But is it not possible that the reverse is true - that Israel is hated because it is pro-American? When I raised that possibility in Ramadan-night debates, I was at first greeted with deafening silence. Soon, however, some interlocutors admitted that my suggestion was, perhaps, not quite fanciful. Let us consider some facts. If Muslims hate the US because it backs Israel which, in turn, is oppressing Muslims in Palestine, then why don't other oppressed Muslims benefit from the same degree of solidarity from their co-religionists? During Ramadan, news came that more than 500 Muslims had been killed in clashes with the police in southern Thailand. At least 80 were suffocated to death in police buses under suspicious circumstances. The Arab and the Iranian press, however, either ignored the event or relegated it to inside pages. To my knowledge, only one Muslim newspaper devoted an editorial to it. And only two newspapers mentioned that Thailand was building a wall to cordon off almost two million Muslims in southern Thailand - a wall higher and longer than the controversial "security fence" Israel is building. Muslim states have never supported Pakistan on Kashmir because most were close to India in the so-called nonaligned movement while Pakistan was a US ally in CENTO and SEATO. When Hindu nationalists demolished the Ayodhya Mosque, no one thought it necessary to inflame Muslim passions. Nor has a single Muslim nation recognized the republic set up by Muslim Turks in northern Cyprus. The reason? Greece has always sided with the Arabs on Palestine and plays occasional anti-American music while Turkey is a US ally. When the Serbs massacred 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica 10 years ago, not a ripple disturbed the serene calm of Muslim opinion. At that time, the mullahs of Teheran and Col. Muammar Gaddafi of Libya were in cahoots with Slobodan Milosevic, supplying him with oil and money because Yugoslavia held the presidency of the so-called nonaligned movement. Belgrade was the only European capital to be graced with a state visit by Ali Khamenehi, the mullah who is now the Supreme Guide of the Islamic Republic. And what about Chechnya which is, by any standard, the Muslim nation that has most suffered in the past two centuries? Last October the Muslim summit in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, gave a hero's welcome to Vladimir Putin, the man who has presided over the massacre of more Chechens than anyone in any other period in Russian history. Right now there are 22 active conflicts across the globe in which Muslims are involved. Most Muslims have not even heard of most of them because those conflicts do not provide excuses for fomenting hatred against the United States. Next time you hear someone say the US was in trouble in the Muslim world because of Israel, remember that things may not be that simple. Naomi Ragen is an American-born novelist and journalist who lives in Jerusalem. She can be contacted at www.naomiragen.com |
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JEWS TRANSFER JEWS
Posted by TheRaphi, December 2, 2004. |
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This was written by Gary Fitleberg,
a political analyst specializing in
International Relations with emphasis on Middle East affairs.
Jews transferring Jews, removing them for the sake of Arabs. What is wrong with this idea? The very idea is a sick, terrible tragedy of helping others, but not ourselves. In fact, it is helping our enemy, sworn to destroy us, to do it ourselves. The only Jewish nation-state in the world is self-destructing by giving up G-d's gift, an eternal covenant with the Children of Israel for a Jewish homeland - not another Arab homeland. First, we witness the impending transfer of Jews from Gaza in Ariel Sharon's surrender to terrorism and terrorists, referred to as the "disengagement plan" to soften the blow. Now, the Lod vice-mayor calls for the transfer of Jews from a majority-Arab neighborhood. What is going on here? Help! Lod Vice-Mayor Emil Haddad has called for the state to finance the evacuation of the Jewish residents of the Ramat Eshkol neighborhood, where 70 percent of the residents are Arabs. Haddad is certain his plan is the best way "to save the Jews" living there from "harassment," as he says, by the Arabs. "In any case, there are 700 housing units needed for Arabs in Lod. The Housing Ministry should just buy those apartments from the minority of Jewish families still living in Ramat Eshkol, and move them to a new neighborhood that will be built in the northern part of the city. We'll make available 460 dunam and build a good, quality neighborhood," he said. Haddad is so sure of his plan that he calls its opponents "blind." The veteran Likud activist says that he is very close to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. "I'm the closest to him," he brags. "He'll hear about my plan and I hope he loves it. I also plan to present it to Absorption Minister Tzippi Livni. This is the solution to the problem here. You have to understand, I say these things as a Lod resident, who was born here and lived here 51 years." Haddad is bothered by the complaints from neighborhood residents. "According to the complaints, I understand that it is impossible to live there. A young Arab can come along and make friends with a young Jewish woman, and her mother won't say a word. She won't complain. She won't talk. She'll just be afraid." Aharon Ganashvilli, a resident of the neighborhood, agrees. "There's no choice," he says, "My family is one of the few Jewish families left in Ramat Eshkol. I've suffered for years. It is impossible to go on like this. Already 25 years ago, when the first Arab family moved in, we warned this would happen. Now we have to leave, go live somewhere else." Another resident, who is opposed to Haddad's idea, nonetheless reports about stones thrown by Arab children at Shaarei Shamayim, a synagogue in the neighborhood. "The synagogue was full of worshipers, but Haddad's talk legitimizes such things." According to city hall officials, some 70 percent of the 500 families living in Ramat Eshkol are Arab and the rest are Jewish. Most of the Jewish residents are poor, new immigrants from Russia and Ethiopia who don't have the money to move to other, better neighborhoods. Those who can leave the neighborhood didn't wait for Haddad. "Up until a decade ago," said a Lod city councillor, "the Arab families were not even 7 percent of the neighborhood, but the Jews left the neighborhood over the years, paving the way for the Arab families to move in." Haddad, whose idea was first reported last week in the local weekly, Ayalon of Yedioth Tikshoret, caused a scandal in the mixed city with the idea. Opponents of the plan - and there are many in the town - said it sounds like "transfer" for the Jews. Others say that the idea is sheer populism, meant to improve his political stature. Mayor Benny Regev made it clear that Haddad's idea is Haddad's alone, that he has nothing to do with it, and that it does not represent the city's policy. When he encountered a couple of dozen demonstrators from the Yisrael Beitenu movement yesterday outside city hall, he told them that the ruckus was "much ado about nothing." Yisrael Beitenu appears to be the most upset about the Haddad proposal, and party leader Avigdor Lieberman has become involved. "It is horrifying," he says, "especially because it comes from someone in the Likud. We understand that there is pressure from Arabs, and people are running away. That's how we ran away from Lebanon, that's how they want to run away from Gush Katif and now they want to run from Lod. This is a dangerous precedent with ramifications for other mixed cities like Ramle, Upper Nazareth and Jaffa." The Arabs of Ramat Eshkol don't exactly understand what Haddad is upset about. They are proud of the coexistence in the neighborhood. Yatim Seif, 20, says, "Haddad's plan is sheer racism. Instead of investing so much energy in such an approach, let him nurture the neighborhood a little. Clean up the playgrounds that are full of garbage, put up a fence around the basketball court near our homes, trim the bushes that block the sidewalks." Shabtai Katash, from the independent religious list in the city council, also opposes the plan, and has offered one of his own instead. "A Torah-oriented group should move in, settle there and at the same time, the police presence in the neighborhood should be strengthened." Katash and nine other city councilors want to hear an explanation form Haddad. "If he means what he says, we will lead a move to have him removed from office," said Deputy Mayor Rafi Krichli, a Yisrael Beitenu politician. "He simply wants to transfer Jews in the heart of the country. Escape? Run away? Give the neighborhood to the Arabs? We want the neighborhood to remain Jewish." If the Arabs don't grab land by bombing Jewish citizens to destroy and eliminate the population, Israel's leaders will give it away to the Arabs, who are stealing our great gift given to us by G-d. Are we willing to give up the gift? Apparently so. Why? There are presently 22 Arab/Islamic nations. Most of them have expelled forcibly the nearly one million Jews that lived in those places for hundreds and thousands of years. There is only a miniscule number of Jews left anywhere in any Arab nation. The Jewish State of Israel should allow its Jewish citizens to live wherever they choose and not forcibly remove or transfer them. Instead they should consider the removal or transfer of the Arab population back to where they rightfully belong - to their homelands in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. A Jewish State can only remain so if it treats the Arabs fairly and squarely by treating them to a free transfer back home. Jewish rights in a Jewish state must be considered first, as top priority. Let's remove the Arab settlers and squatters who are living in a Jewish state and let them have their "right of return" to their ancestral homeland of Arabia. I am sure they will enjoy the democracy and freedoms of the corrupt dictatorships, human rights violators, ruthless, repressive regimes and tyrannies. TheRaphi (http://www.theraphi.com/archives/oldindex.html) is a pro-Israel and pro-Zionist site; it provides news articles and essays. |
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BRING THE FALASH MURA HOME TO ISRAEL
Posted by Michael Freund, December 1, 2004. |
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The following is an article of mine from today's Jerusalem Post about the
need to rescue the remaining Jews still left in Ethiopia.
It is archived at
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/
ShowFull&cid=1101830894029&p=1006953079865
So what do Israel's Sephardic Chief Rabbi, Canada's Minister of Justice, two US Congressmen, the Chairman of the Jewish Agency and the head of the Reform movement all share in common? Over the past year, each has expressed support for expediting the aliyah of the remaining 20,000 Falash Mura to Israel. Descendants of Ethiopian Jews converted to Christianity, many against their will, the Falash Mura now wish to rejoin the Jewish people. With such an impressive constellation of figures offering their encouragement, and with the Ethiopian authorities themselves not raising objections, what then could possibly be standing in the way of fulfilling this historic and Zionist mission? Why, the Israeli government, of course! Sure, a steady flow of Falash Mura are allowed to make aliyah each month, in accordance with the February 16, 2003 cabinet decision to bring the community to Israel. But despite pleas from the Jewish Agency, the Knesset Aliyah and Absorption Committee and American Jewish leaders, the government has steadfastly refused to increase the number being allowed to come here on an annual basis. And so, this past Monday, Ethiopian Jewry activists found themselves in the halls of Israel's Supreme Court, essentially trying to force the government to live up to its own decision and speed up the Falash Mura aliyah. Earlier this year, in February 2004, a committee headed by Interior Minister Avraham Poraz chose to impose a quota on Falash Mura immigration, setting the limit at approximately 300 per month. As a result, according to Ministry of Absorption figures, just 370 Ethiopians arrived in August, 309 in September and only 197 in October. With some 20,000 still in the aliyah pipeline, that means it will take at least another 6 to 7 years for the remainder of Ethiopian Jewry to be brought home to Israel. Hence, families will continue to be divided, and potential immigrants, whom everyone agrees have the right to come here and will eventually be brought, might have to wait until 2010 or later to be reunited with their loved ones. This simply makes no sense, even in the bizarre bureaucratic world in which we live. If the government has committed itself to bringing the Falash Mura here, and both the Chief Rabbinate and the Jewish Agency are supportive of the move, then why on earth should thousands of immigrants have to wait until the next decade to come? And if Israel is truly looking to attract more immigrants to its shores, as the Prime Minister repeatedly states, then why are quotas being imposed on Ethiopian immigration? On the surface, the government claims the reason is purely financial. On various occasions, both Poraz and Absorption Minister Tzippi Livni have asserted that it costs approximately $100,000 on average to absorb each Falash Mura immigrant. Hence, they argue, to bring in more than the allotted number of 300 Ethiopians per month would mean additional expenditures, money the government says it simply doesn't have. Hogwash. To begin with, it is not entirely clear how Poraz and Livni came up with the magic number of $100,000 per immigrant, but even if it is true, do we really want to start attaching a price tag to new immigrants? Is that what Zionism is all about? Moreover, as any first-year economics student knows, mass immigration, generally serves as an engine of economic growth, one that spurs expansion across a wide range of fields and industries. So Poraz and Livni need not worry, as the country's "investment" in additional new immigrants will eventually "pay off". Ironically enough, on the same day that the government was pleading poverty before the Supreme Court, a couple of blocks away over at the Knesset, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was busy promising hundreds of millions of shekels to two political parties to elicit their support in the vote on the state budget. With those same funds, estimated to be some 410 million shekels, the government could increase Ethiopian aliyah by more than third, helping to reunite friends and family that have been waiting for years to do so. The need to accelerate the Falash Mura aliyah is critical, as thousands of them are living in decrepit conditions. Just last month, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization said in a report that Ethiopia's "overall food supply situation remains highly precarious", with some eight million people currently dependent on food aid. Groups such as the Famine Early Warning System Network are sounding the alarm, saying that the number of Ethiopians requiring food aid "could increase from the current 7.8 million to up to over 12 million in 2005" (Reuters, Nov. 4). Now is not the time to quibble over how much it might cost to absorb the Falash Mura. The government, together with world Jewry, needs to speed up their aliyah and bring them home. It is not a lack of funds that is preventing this from happening, but a lack of will. The Falash Mura are our brothers and sisters, and they are calling out to us to return them to the fold. History is offering us an opportunity to restore these precious souls to the people of Israel. We must act now, and help them to complete their long journey home. The writer serves as Chairman of Shavei Israel (www.shavei.org), a Jerusalem-based group that assists "lost Jews" seeking to return to the Jewish people. |
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BETHLEHEM CHRISTIANS UNDER PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY
Posted by Mordechai Ben-Menachem, December 1, 2004. |
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This comes from the Jerusalem Summit 2004
(http://www.jerusalemsummit.org/eng/bethlehem.php).
Jan. 2004: Bethlehem (6,559 Christians) Beit Jala (6,343 Christians) and Beit Sahour (7,335 Christians) make up 20,237 Christians of the 120,000 total population (1) The Christian population was reduced from a 60% majority in 1990 to a 20% minority in 2001 (23,000) (2) In 1995 after assuming control of Bethlehem, Arafat changed the municipal boundaries and its twin towns, Beit Jala and Beit Sahour, incorporating (into the 65,000 residents) additional 30,000 Moslems of three neighboring refugee camps, Dehaisheh, El-Ayda' and El-Azeh with and additional few thousand Bedouins of the Ta'amrah tribe located east of Bethlehem (3) 1,640 Christians fled Bethlehem between Oct. 2000 and Nov. 2001 (4) More Beit Jala Christians reside in Belize (Central America) than left in Beit Jalah itself (5) Before 1995, Bethlehem had a majority-Christian municipal council. After the PA take- over, Arafat replaced the municipal council with a predominately Muslim council. Today Christians have virtually no political power in Bethlehem (6) 51.2% of Christians in Beit Sahour are considering emigration (7) 28% of Palestinian Muslims support Arafat's Fatah, 21% support Hamas, and the total Islamist vote at 29%, with 0% Christian support (8) 2001 poll: 45% of Palestinian Christians in Bethlehem expressed growing fears of tensions between Christians and Muslims Mosques in Bethlehem: 1970 - 5 mosques; 2004 - 72 mosques (9) 1. Dr. Bernard Sabella "The Situation of Palestinian Christians: Some Food for Thought" Jan. 26, 2004
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MORAL COWARDICE OR THE FAILURE OF ISRAEL'S RULING ELITES
Posted by Professor Paul Eidelberg, December 1, 2004. |
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Israel's ruling elites have failed the Jewish people. By "ruling elites" I have primarily in mind Israeli prime ministers and other elected officials - those primarily responsible for the Jewish state and the safety its citizens. But we must include among Israel's ruling elites the heads of Israel's defense forces and intelligence services, none of whom resign in protest against the failed policies of Israel's political elites. More fundamental among Israel's ruling elites are Israeli universities, especially departments of political science and institutes dealing with foreign affairs, conflict resolution, and military strategy. We must also mention the decisions of Israel's judicial elites and the writings of journalists and other intellectuals which influence and public opinion and public policy. I say these elites have failed Israel. They have failed to drive home the fact that Israel is at war with an implacable foe whose ultimate objective is the destruction of the Jewish state. The foe is not merely the "Palestinians." No, the foe is ISLAM! Every effort has been made to obscure the nature of Israel's enemy. Some pundits refer to the enemy as "militant Islam," when in truth Islam, from Mohammad to Osama Bin Laden, has always been militant. To speak of Muslim "moderates" is to speak of a politically insignificant fringe element of Islam - and here it should be borne in mind that Muslims are masters of the art of ingratiation, and that Taqiyya or lying to advance Islam is required of the faithful vis-a-vis "infidels." Denial of reality permeates Israel. A three-day conference was just concluded called the "Jerusalem Summit"; its theme, "Peace Based on Truth." This conference, organized by reputed Israeli conservatives, and attended by Jews, Christians and Muslims, was based not on truth but on obscuring the most crucial truth confronting Israel, namely, the true nature of its enemy. To emphasize peace in this country at this time is to disarm the Jews and aid the enemy! All its efforts to establish peace with Israel's neighbors is the result of moral cowardice: a refusal to face the truth about Islam - about the "culture of hate" documented in the writings of that gallant woman, Bat Ye'or. All the divergent academic interpretations of the Quran amount to nothing compared to 1,400 years of Islamic history, during which Muslims pillaged, raped, and destroyed countless Christian and Jewish and Zoroastrian communities. Let us face the truth: Israel and Islam are involved in a clash of civilizations. Those who deny this clash are guilty not merely of ignorance but of moral cowardice. Israel's enemy is the same as America's enemy - not "terrorism" but the engine of global terrorism: ISLAM. It is no accident that hatred of Jews and of Americans coincide in a world now witnessing the revenge long simmering in Muslims against Zionists and "Crusaders." The mother of all wars is descending upon us. This war is like no other. The enemy, like the countless admirers of Osama Bin Laden, has no state boundaries. Indeed, the enemy can tap 1.3 billion men, women, and children in more than fifty Islamic countries. I am not referring to potential Muslim "terrorists." I am referring to professionally trained cadres involving hundreds of thousands of Jihadists training millions of more Jihadists in a worldwide insurgency whose primary target is Christian America and the Jewish State of Israel. The alternative confronting Israel - and this applies to America - is not between war and peace. We cannot avoid the war that has been thrust upon us. This war will grow increasingly savage, depending, in part, upon the policies we pursue. We cannot negotiate our way out of this war. The enemy is committed to this war, and to our destruction. All our talk about peace amounts to lies - manifestations of moral cowardice. While we talk about peace, the enemy arms for war and trains more Jihadists from its enormous, widespread population. While we talk about peace, the enemy is developing the most horrible weapons of war. Unlike our ruling elites, the enemy sees this war for what it is: a religious war. And because our ruling elites, out of moral cowardice, have failed to define the enemy, the enemy is winning. Israel, like America, has no choice but to fight. The decision we make is about policy, which will determine the fight's duration and its cost in human life and treasure. Unless we overcome the moral cowardice of our ruling elites, the darkest of tyrannies will descend upon us. Prof Paul Eidelberg is President of the Foundation For Constitutional Democracy. He can be reached by mail at 244 Madison Avenue, Suite 427, New York, NY 10016, Tel: 212-372-3752, and by email at Constitution@usa.net |
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THE REAL SHARON, FINALLY
Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, December 1, 2004. |
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I suppose, as someone grows older, it becomes harder and harder to maintain pretenses. There has always been talk that Sharon is a deep cover mole for the Leftist establishment. That he was either assigned, volunteered or because of his natural deviousness became a "secret agent" for the Left within the Nationalist camp from the early days of the State. There have been others as well. Former President Weizmann was one. Then there were all those Likudniks that went over to the Center Party and let us not forget Sharon's side kick, Olmert. In the end, the Likud will either have to do a major house cleaning and expel all its crypto-leftist or be destroyed by them. This is a news item from Arutz Sheva - www.IsraelNationalNews.com, Tuesday, November 30, 2004. is called "Likud Leaders: Sharon Has Turned His Back On Jabotinsky" and is archived at http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=72845 Knesset Speaker Ruby Rivlin, a long-time friend and colleague of Ariel Sharon, is sorely disappointed with the Prime Minister's ideological turnabout. "Most of the Likud's Knesset Members are not in favor of the Prime Minister's policies," the Knesset Speaker said. "The Prime Minister is conducting a policy that is a 180-degree change from the positions of the movement he heads." Sharon now sees his disengagement plan as "some kind of holy process," Rivlin told Army Radio yesterday, "and not just a 'need for painful concessions.'" He said that the party must undergo a process of "introspection" and decide whether it wishes to continue to carry on the ideology of the Revisionist Zionist Movement of Ze'ev Jabotinsky, or whether it wishes to abandon these ideas and replace them with others. Jabotinsky (1880-1940) is consider the founder and spiritual leader of Revisionist Zionism. He worked for the establishment of the Jewish Legion and participated in battles against the Turkish and British rulers. He founded the youth movement Betar, aimed at educating its members with a military/nationalistic spirit. Two years later, in 1925, he established the Union of Zionists-Revisionists, which called for the immediate establishment of a Jewish State. In 1935, after the Zionist Executive refused to clearly define that the aim of Zionism was the establishment of a Jewish state, Jabotinsky resigned from the Zionist Movement and founded the New Zionist Organization. In 1937, the Irgun Tzvai Leumi (Etzel) became the military arm of the movement, with Jabotinsky as its commander. Throughout these years, he continued to write poetry, novels, short stories and articles on politics, social and economic problems. He was the mentor of future Prime Minister Menachem Begin. Rivlin, in his interview with Army Radio, said that it appears that Sharon is turning his back on the Jabotinsky tradition. "I was sorely offended by Sharon's speech at the memorial to David Ben-Gurion [a bitter personal rival of both Jabotinsky and Begin - ed.], in which he strongly implied that Ben-Gurion was correct in his policies against the Revisionists, including the shooting at the Etzel's ship Altalena." Sharon said in his speech that Ben-Gurion "knew that this talented and intelligent people is sometimes plagued by factionalism, sectarianism, and in-fighting, and that there were, in its history, unrealistic visions that served as obstacles... Ben-Gurion always emphasized the importance of national authority, the authority of law, and the authority of the rule of the State's official institutions." Interestingly, a predecessor of Rivlin - former Likud MK Dov Shilansky, who served as Knesset Speaker from 1988 to 1992 - implied similar disappointment with Sharon yesterday. Shilansky was a Holocaust survivor and an Etzel officer who arrived in Israel on the Altalena. Speaking with Arutz-7 yesterday, he said that Menachem Begin arrived every year at the Altalena memorial ceremony, "standing in line like a soldier at attention. All the Likud leaders always attended, including Ariel Sharon - although, for some reason, Sharon informed me last time that he would not attend..." Sixteen Etzel fighters were killed in the Altalena affair, when Prime Minister Ben-Gurion ordered what he called "holy cannon" fire on the ship carrying arms for the Etzel. Rivlin continued yesterday that he was "astonished to see Prime Minister Sharon taking off his gloves and even the mask that was on his face for the past generation, showing that he views the Revisionists as 'factional separationists' or even 'rebels.'" He said that he was personally offended by what appeared to be Sharon's "revulsion" at Revisionist principles that "for many years he would proudly speak of at Likud movement gatherings, with Jabotinsky's portrait behind him." Asked if he would raise his hand to topple the government if it came down to his vote, Rivlin evaded the question and said that the situation has not yet reached that point. Aryeh Zelasko lives in Beitar Illit, south of Jerusalem. He is Director of Sales and Marketing of Israel Visit (www.israelvisit.co.il) which provides information and an internet buying facility for American visitors to Israel. |
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ISRAELI EDUCATION IMPOVERISHES ECONOMY; NUCLEARIZATION ENGENDERS RESPONSIBLITY?
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, December 1, 2004. |
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SOCIAL ACTIVISM DAY AT HEBREW UNIVERSITY On Social Activisim Day, almost all the booths enlisting student volunteers were anti-Zionist and anti-capitalist fronts. These groups reflect the professors' propagandizing. The economics classes teach mostly Marxism and ignore market economics, though the latter (if modified) is more successful and realistic than the former. "Despite Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's courageous economic reforms, the Israeli economy remains mired in low productivity and growth. High unemployment, low wages, and the inability of hundreds of thousands of families to make ends meet create serious social problems. "For some 60 years of socialism and then statism, our economy has been choked by heavy government regulation and red tape, by inefficient monopolies, and the misallocation of investments by a banking duopoly. "For decades, Israel has been saddled with "progressive" labor laws and unemployment benefits that have diminished the incentive to work. This is why a nation with arguably the best human capital, a country in which more than 100 billion foreign dollars have been invested, cannot provide most of its workers with more than a $1,200 average monthly wage. But instead of drawing the obvious conclusions and working on pro-market reforms that will unleash Israel's enormous potential, powerful ideological groups and vested interests - peopled by our university-educated elites - are fighting tooth and nail to preserve the status quo. They fight to make Israeli workers even more dependent on welfare and political handouts. "Generously funded by Diaspora Jews who ought to know better, such NGOs as The New Israel Fund (with an annual budget in excess of $20 million) are spawning hundreds of shell organizations run by Marxists. For more than 60 years, Israel has been spending on education as much as, if not more than, any Western country. The results, however, are dismal. Not only do Israeli elementary school pupils lag behind those of many less-developed countries in language skills and mathematics, but our higher education is also in grave trouble. Admitting ever more ill-educated students, the universities do very little to help them catch up on the educational basics that must underpin all learning. "Instead, in most humanities and social science classes, they get indoctrinated in crypto-Marxist ideas, "post modernist" nihilism, and a hostility toward markets and enterprise. "Consequently, most university students graduate with a Third World statist-welfarist orientation. They believe that the national income somehow descends from heaven like manna, and that the only problem is how to divide it equitably according to the mantras of "social justice." "Since most of the Israeli elites are university trained, this acquired mind-cast has had a harmful effect on public debate and policy, and on Israel's economic performance and the state of its society." (Prof. Steven Plaut, 11/22 from Daniel Doron, Jer. Post, 11/11). Their socialist orientation should but does not extend to objecting to monopoly and resulting high prices and loss of jobs. Excessive reform, however, would restore capitalism's evils. RANKING THE WORLD'S UNIVERSITIES Among the world's 500 best universities, as rated by a Chinese one, none were Arab, and, acknowledged a Saudi paper, and none deserved to be. Israel had seven entries in the 500, and that is no surprise, either. Arab universities deal in elementary academic matters and ignore the problems of their societies (IMRA, 11/23 from a Saudi newspaper). MODERATE MUSLIMS FOUND? Good news! Anti-Islamist Muslims finally are speaking up. Daniel Pipes names a number of those moderate individuals and their new organizations. They are condemning Muslim connections to terrorism. Noticing the respectability enjoyed by the moderates, immoderate Muslims pretend to be moderate, too. They make moderate statements in public that they contradict in private. They have taken in the US government. Islamists held a rally in Germany against terrorism. They nevertheless apologized for jihad and asserted vague irrelevancies such as "Islam means peace." They did not accept responsibility for the rise of Islamism and call for purging it. Their purpose was to make it seem that Islamism is on the wane and no drastic reform is needed. Careful research is needed to distinguish moderate from extremist Muslims, especially before the government supports them with recognition and educational subsidy (Daniel Pipes, NY Sun, 11/23, p.10). "CHARITY" IN CANADA IN THE SERVICE OF JIHAD The Jerusalem Fund dispatched hundreds of thousands of dollars to Hamas' civilian infrastructure in the P.A.. Captured P.A. documents prove the transfers to illegal Hamas organizations. This infrastructure helps maintain support for Hamas terrorism and boost Hamas' standing as an alternative to the P.A.. The Jerusalem Fund publicly changed its name to the Intl. Relief Fund for the Afflicted and Needy, and continues business as usual. Other terrorist fronts changed their names, too, when there came a crackdown on terrorist financing. Although Canada finally banned the Jerusalem Fund as a Hamas front, after 9/11, the subsequent change in name impeded banning of the renamed organization (IMRA, 1123). Canada should reform its law so a superficial name change does not thwart the law. It should not let terrorists exploit loopholes with childish rationalizations, as if a change in name were a change in mission. COMMUNIST PARTY USA EULOGIZED ARAFAT "Despite incessant efforts by the Israeli government to vilify and discredit him, despite all the slanders and snubs, Arafat remained until the very end a dignified symbol of resistance to colonial occupation and aggression, and a steadfast champion of freedom and justice. "Whether he was presenting the case for the human and national rights of the Palestinian people before the UN, or building the PLO, or meeting with leaders of the Israeli and US peace movements, Arafat was untiring in his search for a just resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict." (James Taranto, NY Sun, 11/22, p.5.) Jihad is discriminatory and inherently unjust. The Communists care little about people with whom they pretend to sympathize, in this case, the Palestinian Arabs whom Arafat robbed and oppressed. The Communists are still the Communists, as false and evil as ever. It is significant that two of the four original, prominent historical revisionists in Israel were Communists. They revised history as deceitfully as did the Soviets. FAMILY TOGETHERNESS IN AMMAN The heavy winter rains have arrived in Amman, and with it the danger of drainage system flooding. The more debris that falls into the system, the more likely the pipes will overflow. The problem is exacerbated by widespread theft of manhole covers. Families drive around the city in trucks, unscrew the manhole covers, and sell them at half-price, for scrap metal (IMRA, 11/23). DOES "NUCLEARIZATION" ENGENDER RESPONSIBILITY? Don't worry about Iran acquiring nuclear weapons, someone advised. He called that acquisition inevitable and supposed that with it would come a sense of responsibility about its awesome power. He asserted that such is human behavior. What does he know about human behavior? Human cultures vary so much as if derived from lien species! Islam has its own system of ethics, including a lesser concern for human life. The Arabs have a different way of thinking from Americans, that college Middle Eastern Studies fail to recognize. Europeans have a different slant from Americans. Most Americans have no idea what China's main goals are. Totalitarians pursue power at all costs. Rulers, including US Presidents expend billions of dollars upholding policies for egotism. Israeli Prime Ministers risk national survival for psychological reasons rooted in former Jewish powerlessness and because their society is statist, and therefore corrupt. Judaism's appreciation for life is not understood widely. And so it goes. It behooves one not to liken all cultures, especially not when weaponry of mass destruction is involved. The stakes are too high in lives and in civilization. A country's acquisition of nuclear weaponry is not inevitable. Israel stopped Iraq's acquisition the first time. The US did, the second time (with both Gulf Wars and sanctions). Pres. Bush hinted that Iran's turn is coming, as he sees that the Europeans, guided by money, anti-American malice, and naivete, made another deal with the duplicitous mullahs, like the one Pres. Clinton did with N. Korea, that only pretends to stop its nuclear weapons development, but actually spur it on. These efforts by European states, two of which possess nuclear weapons, argue against there being a sobering effect in such possession. The supposed sobering effect of power used to be argued, as Hitler was rising to power, that it would induce a sense of responsibility. Hitler was an observable sociopath. A sociopath, by definition, is not capable of social responsibility. Iran's governing Islamist orientation may be viewed as a sociopath towards other religions and in its lack of concern for human life on earth. It relishes victory by death to infidels and paradise by death for its own people. True, there is some hypocrisy among the P.A. jihadists, who keep themselves and their own children away from the recruiters for suicide missions. Muslims talk, however, of an "Islamist bomb." Ponder that! It implies a wish to possess nuclear weapons for religious imperialism. Do they mean the power to cancel out opposing forces or to launch a first strike? What we do know is that Iran and the Arabs threaten aggressive use. That would not be responsible, by our lights, but it would be Allah' wish, according to theirs. What is the record on possessors of nuclear weapons? The US used such weapons, a second time after having witnessed the devastation of the first. Gen. MacArthur campaigned to drop one on China. Pres. Eisenhower first let the cat out of the bag by disseminating knowledge of nuclear physics in a policy, called "atoms for peace." He foolishly thought the knowledge would be limited to industrial energy rather than military use. Although its Presidents are called reckless cowboys, the US is trying to be responsible about this now. The USSR threatened to fire atomic missiles at Israel. France guided Saddam in constructing a nuclear reactor that was about to produce weapons material. Russia is doing so for Iran, more or less. N. Korea and Pakistan did so for each other and are doing so for other countries. Western European countries, some of which have atomic bombs, are profiting from proliferation. They do not exhibit a sobering sense of responsibility, as they empower rogue states who intend to threaten them, among others. Some Europeans behave like rogues. The Europeans call the US irresponsible, but their own pacifism is useless in defending civilization from Islamism. They have no qualms about arming Islamist states and inviting Islamists past the gates. Israel has been responsible, but if the State Dept. and PM Sharon succeed in depriving it of the strategic depth that the Territories provide, Israel's defense would have to be atomic! 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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FROM SORROW, A GIFT: THE MIRACLE OF LIGHT AMIDST DARKNESS
Posted by Carrie Devorah, December 1, 2004. |
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I received an early Hanukkah present, affirmation small acts of kindness ripple with untold effects. An email arrived from Canada, soon after I returned from dinner with a love. "Chezi's Corner" will open in December. Meyer and I stood alongside the restaurant menu, noting the traditional tin metal menorah aside a resplendent holiday tree festooned in velvet and gold trim. How tiny the menorah looked. I smiled. I was raised to believe size doesn't matter. I thought of Israel. Eight blue and white candles, thin, tall, tilting each in their own direction unanchored without hot wax dripped to hold them steadfast, I thought of my brother's children growing in different directions without their dad to anchor them. The email was from Edwin Schilds, executive director of Regesh Family and Child Services. Ed approached the family, months earlier, wanting to continue Chezi's beacon burning amidst at-risk youth. He planned to open a safe-house in our hometown, Toronto. The only thing Ed asked was our blessings. Ed had been a childhood teacher and one of several mentors during Chezi's professional years. Transfixed by the menorah, I was transported back to our childhood at Bubba Taibles' Chanukah table plastic coated with a flannel backed cloth, near impossible to spin our dreidles. We were surrounded with applesauce and sour cream that fell from her latkes, perfectly crisped within an inch of being burned. The foil wrapped gold gelt chocolate coins, we were given to play dreidle games with, disappeared long before any of us spun a complete, Nes, a miracle, Gadol, great, Haya, was, Sham, there. The real silver dollar Chanukah coins Zaida Leib handed us were taken for "safekeeping" by our dad. They had "value" we were told. Our choruses of "Chanukah, Oh Chanukah" and "I had a little dreidel, I made it out of clay" were interrupted with our peals of laughter at wrong words and cracked singing voices. One of us 5, Chezi, sang louder and sillier than the rest, proudly sporting his classroom made Chanukah candle paper hat, its flame centered above his brow. Being the littlest lets the youngest escape reproach. I thought we knew the story of Chanukah too well from Yeshivah, the miracle of "pat shemen", the tiny pot of oil. It took terrorism to teach me eternal flames burn forever from small acts of chesed. Charity. After all, Chanukah means "dedication." Back then, it wasn't important to ask if Chezi was candle one, two or three through eight in the school play candelabrum. This holiday season, Chezi stands alone. Tall. The shammes, servant flame, still lighting for lives, one human at a time. Chezi grew up to become a modern day Macabee in the land of Judea, now known as Israel, fighting for from religious persecution and freedoms of belief Syria's king Antiochus fought to take away about 2200 years ago. After the death of Alexander the Great, Antiochus IV, thinking everyone should worship Greek gods as he and his people did, despising Judaism, forbad Jews to practice their religion. Those who disobeyed were put to death. Though the miracle of the holiday is the one days worth of oil found in the Temple Ruins that lit the eternal flame for eight days, Judah the Maccabee's miraculous liberation of Jerusalem with 3000 Maccabees fighting against 20,000 Greeks cannot be forgot. After all, history is repeating itself. This Chanukah, the shammes holds new meaning for me. Placing it above the other candles in the Menorah, a shomer, a watcher, amidst the darkeness, I will continue as I have been since I was a child to be transfixed by its flames. Continents apart, I will join my brothers, and sisters in solemn peacefulness of the candles soft glow, as the Hanukkah blessings are sung, "she-hecheeyanu v'keey'manu v'heegeeyanu la-z'man ha-zeh," "who has kept us alive, sustained us and enabled us to reach this season." Ed Schilds wrote he found a frum, observant, couple to move into the house in Thornhill, Ontario. still seeking the right fundraiser, he is able to start his call for residential referrals for his Mentor Program. Ed says businessmen are interested in its residential and day treatment components. While giant menorahs are lit in communities around the world, the holiday grows for others who might not celebrate this tradition, warmed by the Eternal Light of a Toronto boy who grew into a beacon of hope, a remembrance of Jews who fought anywhere or anytime for the right to practice Judaism, or as they will be able to, in "Chezi's Corner," challenge personal battles. There is light at the end of the proverbial dark tunnel. I've believed that since I was a child. Through walls of tears I have shed since January, I see, Ed's dedication to opening "Chezi's Corner," is, Al Hanisim, for the miracles. Carrie Devorah is an investigative photojournalist based in DC. Former religion editor of "Lifestyles" Magazine, her areas of focus of faith, homeland security and terrorism. Prior to photographing political races, Devorah was based in Europe photographing horse races. And boxing. And local London news. Devorah is the sister of Jewish Press columnist Yechezkel Chezi Scotty Goldberg, victim of Egged Bus 19 bombing, 1-29-04. Goldberg was a noted psychologist with expertise in at-risk youth. |
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WASHPOST FALSELY DEPICTS WIDESPREAD ISRAELI ABUSE OF PALESTINIANS AT CHECKPOINTS
Posted by Eye on the Post Organization, December 1, 2004. |
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On Monday, November 29, Mollie Moore wrote an article in the Washington Post on Israel and the Palestinian Arabs. To sum it up: Molly Moore Used Emotionally Charged Language, Exaggeration, False Statements and Unreliable Sources in Front Page, Above-the-Fold Article Portraying Israeli Soldiers as Abusers of Palestinians The headline tries to moderate the top to bottom anti-Israel tone of the article by suggesting that checkpoints cause problems to both Palestinians and Israeli soldiers.. (Checkpoints Take Toll on Palestinians, Israeli Army, Civilians Describe Abuse; Troops Lament Conditions, 11-29-04, A01, href=3D"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18597-2004Nov28.html) But the very first sentence of today's front page, above-the-fold article by Molly Moore sets the tone of her latest opinionated report about Israel. She states: "At a sandbagged military checkpoint on a bleak patch of asphalt in the West Bank, an Israeli soldier yanked 29-year-old Mohammad Yousef out of a Palestinian ambulance. When Yousef's medical papers were produced, the soldier waved them off and bellowed, 'I wouldn't let you in even if you brought God here with you!' " And that's all she said about this incident. There is no when, why or who ... no witness ... no context ... not so much as a mention of the multiple documented occasions of ambulances being used to ferry terrorists and bombs through checkpoints into Israel. So much for fair and balanced journalism. You'll get none of that from Ms. Moore. What you'll get from Ms. Moore are judgmental and emotionally charged descriptions, such as her words describing the lines leading into the checkpoints as "concrete lanes resembling cattle chutes." And then we have the following from Ms. Moore: "At least 83 Palestinians seeking medical care have died during delays at checkpoints, according to the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group." Leaving aside for the moment the very important question of this group's credibility as a source, Ms. Moore falsely cites a report by this group in support of the figure she notes above. The report does not assert that 83 Palestinians seeking medical care have died during delays at checkpoints. Rather, the report contains a total of 83 deaths anecdotally associated in any imaginable way with checkpoints and not necessarily by virtue of any delay in seeking medical care. Some of the anecdotes include shootings or other violence. Some say nothing about delays and give no cause of death. Many are miscarriages that were already in progress and may well have taken place before ever reaching the checkpoint. Many were simply heart attacks that took place at or near a checkpoint, without any attribution to delay in seeking medical care as a cause. Some anecdotes suggest the victims may have been involved with terrorist activity. For instance: "He died as a result of being shot at by an Israeli tank" and "He died of a heart attack after being pursued by the Israeli forces near the check point" and "Died as a result of tear gas while being chased by the IDF soldiers on the checkpoint." Some were deaths of Palestinians who deliberately avoided a checkpoint and blamed the checkpoint for causing the death. One anecdote attributes nervous shock at hearing shooting as a cause of death: "Died as a result of a nervous shock caused by the Israeli gunfire at Netzarim Junction/ Gaza Strip." Many use the same exact boiler plate wording, thereby casting further doubt on the veracity of the anecdotes. For instance, the exact wording of the following phrase was used in at least three reports: "The mother was stopped at a military checkpoint and prevented from reaching hospital on time and so the baby died as a result of arriving lat at the hospital." Even the word late was misspelled as "lat" in all three reports. The following exact wording was used on two reports five months apart: "He was prevented from crossing the checkpoint in an ambulance the ambulance was kept for several hours until his conditions became very critical and died." No medical evidence exists to support any of the anecdotes. The point is, Ms. Moore grossly misrepresented the report itself in terms of the number of such deaths it relates to delays in obtaining medical care at checkpoints. The number was far lower than 83. But more importantly, this report is of highly questionable veracity, and only a journalist with an agenda would have relied upon it. In the final analysis, the failure of this article is not just in the biased words, false statements and unreliable sources, but also in its lack of context and balance. In an article consisting of 38 paragraphs only one brief paragraph even mentions that Israel contends the checkpoints are necessary to reduce the flow of terrorists into Israel and have been effective in doing so. After extensive coverage given to claims of brutality by Israeli soldiers, the article then attempts a pretense of balance by noting the unpleasantness and stressfulness of checkpoint duty to Israeli soldiers. It even goes so far as to quote a soldier as saying: "'If you blame the soldiers, you miss the point... These duties corrupt." That may well be so, but the article itself misses the point by completely failing to address the source of the problem and the solution as perceived by the parties. If the source of the problem is the terrorism that necessitates the erection of checkpoints, and if checkpoints are themselves stressful and dehumanizing, what is the solution? Certainly nothing as simple as providing more training to the soldiers at the checkpoints, a need to which the article alluded. Ms. Moore interviews several Israeli soldiers and attempts to give the impression that they are opposed to the checkpoints. But she conspicuously either never asked them whether the checkpoints are necessary to reduce the flow of terrorists into Israel or did ask them but is not reporting their responses. Good journalism should have prompted the author to ask this question of her sources and report their responses. Ms. Moore once again sadly reveals an agenda to depict Israel and Israelis in a negative light while downplaying and ignoring terrorism and its destructive effects. Those of you who can spare the time are urged to send your opinion to The Washington Post. Letters can be sent to: Bo Jones, Publisher, The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, DC, 20071 (email: jonesb@washpost.com). Donald Graham, Chairman, same street address (email: grahamd@washpost.com). Leonard Downie, Executive Editor, same street address (email address: DownieL@washpost.com David Hoffman, Foreign Editor, same street address (email address HoffmanD@washpost.com) Please send a blind copy (BCC) to feedback@eyeonthepost.org with your letters and email. We have limited resources and need your help to continue our operations. If you believe we are performing a valuable service and should continue our efforts, please send your contributions to: EyeOnThePost, Inc.
If you'd like to work with us, we can use your help, so please write to us at feedback@eyeonthepost.org. For further information, please call 301-468-2726, and please visit our web site at http://www.eyeonthepost.org. Robert G. Samet
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HELP MEIR PANIM FEED THE HUNGRY IN ISRAEL
Posted by Mesora Organization, December 1, 2004. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
or Mail inquiries to Mesora of NY, Inc., 553 Central Ave. 19A, Cedarhurst, NY 11516. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DISENGAGEMENT FROM LOD, TOO? DEPUTY MAYOR OF LOD SAYS YES
Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, December 1, 2004. |
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As I mentioned in a recent email, there are many crypto-leftists in the Likud. The Likud deputy mayor of Lod seems to be one of them. Great idea he has to expel Jews from there homes in Lod and replace them with Arabs. This will of course increase the number of potential missile launchers and homicide bombers living next to Israel's only major airport. But as one of his fellow Leftist, in the Labor Party, former General Vilnai explained once, missiles are not a danger to people because they only shoot down airplanes. He is right though Sharon will no doubt love the idea. This was a news item in Arutz-7 (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=72893). (IsraelNN.com) The deputy mayor of Lod, Emile Haddad, is calling on the national government to fund the transfer of Jewish residents of Lod's Ramat Eshkol neighborhood because the majority of neighborhood residents are Arab. The Likud mayor explains that his city is short 700 housing units for the Arab sector and by vacating homes in Ramat Eshkol, in additional to constructing new ones, the housing shortage for the Arab sector in Lod could be solved in addition to bringing an end to the friction between Jews and Arabs in Ramat Eshkol. According to the report appearing in the daily Ha'aretz, Haddad in confident that the prime minister will support his plan. Aryeh Zelasko lives in Beitar Illit, south of Jerusalem. He is Director of Sales and Marketing of Israel Visit (www.israelvisit.co.il) which provides information and an internet buying facility for American visitors to Israel. |
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