HOME Featured Stories February 2007 Blog-Eds List Background Information News On the Web
 
 
THINK-ISRAEL BLOG-EDS
Opinions And Editorials By Our Readers


HAPPY PURIM -- HAG SAMEACH
Posted by Bernice Lipkin, February 28, 2007.

The first photo is by Fred Reifenberg. See other of his imaginative and delightful photos at
http://freifylites.blogspot.com/.

The second was submitted by Michael Travers of some Israeli Purim spielers.

To Go To Top

TOP RABBIS SEND PERSONAL PLEA TO PRESIDENT BUSH FOR POLLARD
Posted by Hillel Fendel, February 28, 2007.

Nationwide White House Call-In for Jonathan Pollard
White House Telephone Number: 1-202-456-1414

Every call is tallied by subject matter.
Every time you say "Free Jonathan Pollard" it counts!
Take a minute for Jonathan Pollard and call now!
Click here for the facts.

Rabbi Shteinman (l) and Rabbi Lerner (r)

Two of world Jewry's most renowned Torah Sages, Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv of Jerusalem and Rabbi Aaron Leib Shteinman of Bnei Brak, have signed a historically unprecedented letter to U.S. President George Bush, calling for the release of Jonathan Pollard.

It is reportedly the first time that these Torah Sages have ever addressed a foreign head of state about any matter.

The letter was relayed to Jeremy Katz, Special Assistant to the President and Liaison to the Jewish community, and others in the White House. Copies of the letter, written in both Hebrew and English, were also sent to various Jewish communal leaders and activists.

The joint letter to the U.S. President was the initiative of Rabbi Pesach Lerner, Executive Vice President of the National Council of Young Israel. Lerner, who has visited Pollard many times in his prison cell in North Carolina [ See below here. and below here.], met of late with leading Torah sages in Israel and asked for their involvement in securing his release. Another rabbi who has taken great active interest in the case, and whom Pollard considers his personal rabbi, is the Rishon LeTzion, former Chief Sephardic Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu of Jerusalem. Rabbi Lerner discussed with Rabbis Shteinman and Elyashiv the special elements of the Pollard case, over and beyond its being a supreme Torah value of "Redemption of Captives." Mentioned were Pollard's self-sacrifice on behalf of the security of the Jewish People, the disproportionate nature of the sentence, the failure of the Israeli Government to act on his behalf, Pollard's failing health, the positions taken by former CIA head James Woolsey and Dennis Ross [see below], and more.

The rabbis then decided that their best course of action would be to send a concise personal letter to President Bush. The letter reads as follows:

Dear Mr. President,

We appeal to you as President of the greatest power on earth, the epitome of compassion and generosity, to grant clemency to Mr. Jonathan Pollard who has been incarcerated for more than twenty years.

With deep respect and appreciation,
(signed: Rabbis Elyashiv and Shteinman)

In Oct. 1993, nearly 30 leading rabbis in the United States took out a full-page ad in the hareidi-religious Yated Ne'eman newspaper, calling upon "every Jew to make efforts to free [Jonathan Pollard] from his imprisonment; those who can should write letters to the government, and whoever can intercede on his behalf should do so."

The White House has also been bombarded of late with calls for Pollard's release from another direction: A nation-wide call-in campaign, also initiated by Young Israel and endorsed by Agudath Israel.

Jonathan Pollard's wife Esther, speaking with IDF Radio this morning, called on Prime Minister Olmert to follow the example of the Torah sages by making an immediate demand for Jonathan's release. "Mr. Olmert does not have to free murderers or terrorists," she said. "All he has to do is bring Jonathan home now and he will have blessing and the thanks of the Nation."

"After 22 years in prison," Mrs. Pollard said, "22 years of torture and affliction and the worst possible treatment by the Government of Israel - and by the Americans - Jonathan deserves to be home in Israel well in advance of Pesach so that he can truly celebrate the Holiday of Freedom."

Jonathan Pollard has been imprisoned since November 1985 regarding his conviction on one count of passing classified information to an American ally - Israel. The normal sentence for this offense is 2-4 years, and his unprecedented life sentence was in direct contrast to his plea bargain arrangement. He has long been in a maximum security prison, under difficult conditions.

U.S. Appellate Court Justice Steven Williams has called the Pollard case a "fundamental miscarriage of justice," and even James Woolsey - former head of the CIA, a body that has traditionally been against clemency for Pollard - believes Pollard should be released. He recently told Arutz-7, "Now that [Pollard] has served [over] 20 years in prison, my view is that 20 years is enough. I also think that the close relationship between the US and Israel is also of some consideration, and at this point I think he's served long enough."

Former US Ambassador Dennis Ross, who has been involved in shaping US policy in the Middle East under Presidents Bush Sr., Clinton and Bush Jr., has said that Pollard's sentence was excessive, and that he told all three presidents that Pollard should be released. "Pollard has been in jail for so long," Ross said last December, "that whatever facts he might know would have little if any effect on national security today."

Hillel Fendel is Senior News Editor of Arutz-Sheva (www.IsraelNationalNews.com).

To Go To Top

HILLARY CLINTON FOUNDATION SUPPORTS PC INCORRECT KING HUSSEIN FOUNDATION
Posted by Janet Lehr, February 28, 2007.

Bill O'Reilly touched upon a dark aspect of Hillary tonight, don't let it go. Don't let Anna Marie Smith cop 60 % of the airtime, this is important news.

FOXNEWS O'REILLY 070227

Clinton charitable foundation-Hillary an officer.

5 million dollars fund -- Hillary violated Senate rules by not didn't file a report of her position as an officer of this non profit -- Spokesperson said it was a clerical error, From the Fox report, the $5 million foundation has gave spent 1.3 mill

Recipients that O'Reilly noted were : Baptist Foundation; U/AK and King Hussein Foundation. This is an explosive revelation

Here is a list of the past winners of the KHF Prize taken from the foundation website

* Year 2005 winner: The Arab Human Development Reports, Dr. Rola Dashti, Mrs. Sulha Djuderija, and OneVoice
* Year 2004 winner: Medecins Sans Frontiers
* Year 2003 winner: Mary Robinson
* Year 2002 winner: Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization
* Year 2001 winner: UNRWA
* Year 2000 winner: Grameen Bank

Mary Robinson is a very controversial person. Her record at Durban was certainly dismal, and could well be and is often accused of as being anti-Semite. In what years was the contribution to the KHF made?

Surely, the Clintons could have found a more worthy recipient. It brings to mind, Hillary's kissing Mrs Arafat.

UNRWA is a highly flawed institution which has contrived and connived with the Arab powers for 60 years to reduce the palestineans in the UNRWA refugee camps to pathetic peon status -- and then blame their sorry state on Jews and Israel.

NO, any contribution to the KHF needs to be explained on more grounds then not reporting it to the Senate finance committee.

Before I run this in Israel Lives, I'd like some explanation from Hillary's camp.

Susie - What charities or efforts does Hillary, do the Clinton's, support with a decidedly pro-Israel bias?

Yes, I know that Hillary worked for the magic crystal solution for MDA being included in the International Red Cross.

This below was written by Michael Rubin, who is a visiting fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute for International Relations. It is called "Mary Robinson, War Criminal?" and was published May 20, 2002 on National Review Online
(www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-rubin052002.asp).

On September 12, 1997, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed Mary Robinson as the United Nation's High Commissioner for Human Rights. On paper, Robinson is as eminently qualified as any other U.N. political appointee. For seven years, she served as president of Ireland. The website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights trumpets Robinson's "outstanding legal qualifications" and her long record in human rights. Chief among Robinson's accomplishments are her attendance and participation in many United Nations conferences and her travel. The official website crows, "Ms. Robinson was the first head of State to visit Rwanda in the aftermath of the genocide there... While in Rwanda, she met representatives of, and was briefed by, agencies on the ground, as well as by the United Nations Human Rights Monitors. She was also the first Head of State to visit the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia..."

What the United Nations trumpets as qualifications look like little more than empty grandstanding to anyone caught outside the U.N.'s labyrinthine bureaucracy. Nevertheless, the International Criminal Tribunal might be an appropriate place for Robinson to return, albeit for a slightly longer visit.

The trouble starts with Robinson's tenure as president of Ireland. During the last four years of Robinson's tenure, the European Union donated large sums of money to the Palestinian Authority. Ireland even held the presidency of the European Union for the second half of 1996. During this time, Arafat siphoned large amounts of European aid money away to pay for terror. Robinson can plead ignorance, but documents seized during the recent Israeli incursion into the West Bank revealed that the Palestinian Authority spent approximately $9 million of European Union aid money each month on the salaries of those organizing terror attacks against civilians. While European officials like Robinson looked the other way, the Palestinian Authority regularly converted millions of dollars of aid money into shekels at rates about 20 percent below normal, allowing the Palestinian chairman to divert millions of dollars worth of aid into his personal slush fund.

Remember the young boys, students, and old women killed in the rash of Palestinian bus bombings back in 1996? It's hard to believe that European politicians are so incompetent than to notice that Palestinian violence grew in proportion to their aid money. European funds enabled Arafat to purchase $50 million worth of sophisticated Iranian weaponry for use against civilians. While the world knows the story of the Karine-A's interception last January, few remember that the ship represented only one of many Palestinian weapons schemes (Remember the Calypso? The Santorini? The smuggling tunnels from Egypt into Gaza?) European leaders may claim ignorance, but Robinson should be the first to admit that indirect responsibility is no mitigation for war crimes. The sad fact is that aid given by Robinson helped build the organizations that now kill children at pizzerias, teenagers at discos, and pensioners at Passover seders, not to mention numerous American citizens along the way.

Robinson's tenure at the United Nations has been little better than her record as Ireland's president. She was the driving force behind the Orwellian "World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance." At the conference, Robinson presided over little more than an intellectual pogrom against Jews and Israel. She remained largely silent as the preliminary Asian Regional Conference in Tehran (to which Israel was excluded) inserted blatantly racist statements into the conference agenda. She failed to speak out when, on the grounds of the U.N. conference itself, the Arab Lawyers Union distributed pamphlets depicting hook-nosed Jews as Nazis spearing Palestinian children. In the same tent where nongovernmental organizations depicted Israel as a "racist, apartheid state," were distributed fliers entitled, "What if Hitler had won?" The answer: "There would be no Israel, and no Palestinian bloodshed." While Robinson takes no responsibility for enabling the greatest single display of anti-Semitism in 50 years, she failed to lift a finger when the South African government denied visas to European anti-slavery activists critical of human rights in Islamic nations like the Sudan, where over two million people have perished in a war since the regime in Khartoum declared a jihad against non-Muslims in 1983. Either black Sudanese are less worthy of concern to the human-rights commission, or it would be inexcusably politically incorrect to actually protest human-rights violations conducted in the name of Islam.

Robinson's post-Durban record is little better. On April 15, Robinson's commission voted on a decision that condoned suicide bombings as a legitimate means to establish Palestinian statehood (six European Union members voted in favor including, not surprisingly, France and Belgium). The vote came after Robinson initiated a drive to become a fact finder to investigate the now-famous massacre in Jenin (also known as "the massacre that never happened"). Curiously, in the months preceding Israel's incursion into the U.N. refugee camp in Jenin, suicide bombers launched from the camp wearing explosives likely bought with European money killed more than 100 Israeli civilians. However, for Robinson, a massacre is the deaths of seven Palestinian civilians in a war zone (47 Palestinian militants and 23 Israel soldiers also died). The deaths of more than 100 Jewish civilians by suicide bombers is worthy of little more than deafening silence interrupted by an occasional pithy statement of moral equivalence. The world still waits for Robinson to use her bully pulpit to call for an investigation of the terrorist murder of Jews (but then again, such an inquiry might lead uncomfortably close to UNRWA and European Union officials ).

Of course it's farcical to believe that Robinson will ever be brought before the International Criminal Tribunal, or that she even should be. With her double standards, amazing ability to look the other way, and her record at the Human Rights Commission, Robinson has done more than any other international official to demonstrate that international courts, commissions, and agencies are more about politics than ethics, human rights, or morality, and therefore should never the legitimacy of U.S. endorsement.

The charge of indirect responsibility for crimes against humanity is a reasonable charge so long as it is levied against those whom the chattering classes in Europe wish to condemn. Otherwise, dozens of Dutch peacekeepers would be in prison now for handing countless Muslim men and boys to Serb gunmen in a so-called U.N. safe haven. U.N. peacekeepers might be defending their actions in The Hague for working feverishly to avoid taking any action in Rwanda as all hell broke loose. UNIFIL observers might need to explain under oath why they helped cover up Hezbullah's kidnapping of Israeli soldiers from across a border the secretary general himself certified. Speaking of the secretary general, he might wish to explain, at least as a witness, why he saw fit to meet with and legitimize Hezbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah just two months after Nasrallah declared, "Jews invented the legend of the Nazi atrocities." UNICEF director Carol Bellamy might want to explain why slaves (oops.. "abductees" in U.N. and E.U. parlance: We mustn't antagonize the Sudanese government) liberated by UNICEF in Sudan never returned home, but ended up dead at government check points a day after UNICEF representatives crowed triumphant and foreign journalists departed. Then again, with UNICEF workers in West Africa trading emergency food and medical assistance for child sex, why question a few dead Sudanese so long as the photo-op was successful?

The European Union and the United Nations are sick with self-righteousness, moral equivalence, and appeasement, but Mary Robinson is just one symptom. Worthy international causes have been hijacked for narrow political agendas.

Accountability has become a dirty word. And looking the other way, especially regarding terrorism, has become a form of art. But then again, why reform if bashing Israel and sponsoring forums to promote anti-Semitism can reinforce your credentials in the eyes of your peers?

Janet Lehr is editor/publisher of a daily e-mail called "Israel Lives." She can be contacted at janetlehr@veredart.com

To Go To Top

JNF FAILURE
Posted by Janet Lehr, February 28, 2007.
[Editor's Note: For more information, see below.]

Remember the blue and white JNF boxes you and I feed in good faith. Today, JNF abets the acquisition of JNF land by Arabs. How could this be? Will it be stopped?

The JNF, Jewish National Fund was founded in 1901 at the Fifth Zionist Congress at Basle, which resolved: "The JNF shall be the eternal possession of the Jewish People. Its funds shall NOT be used except for the purchase of lands in Palestine and Syria." The public ownership of land is based on the Biblical injunction: "The Land shall not be sold forever, for the Land is Mine." (Leviticus 25:23). The JNF protocol specifically prohibits selling land ownership and selling any rights to non-Jews. Jews from all over the world put their money into the little Blue Boxes, donating millions of dollars to the Jewish National Fund (JNF).

For those wishing to donate to truly Zionist organizations dedicated to purchasing land in Israel for Jews, and guarding and protecting that land, should write to Aryeh King at: kingshir@bezeqint.net.il.

For those wishing to reach leadership at JNF to find an explanation for the apparently inexplicable please write the following and cc janetlehr@veredart.com:

rlauder@jnf.org; adabrow@jnf.org; rlevine@jnf.org; lkleinman@jnf.org; aklein@jnf.org; jhess@jnf.org; hdamsky@jnf.org; blevin@jnf.org; iblachor@jnf.org; shochberg@jnf.org; mwechsler@jnf.org; slizerbram@jnf.org; dfrank@jnf.org; jlevine@jnf.org; dcantor@jnf.org; hweiss@jnf.org; nsiegel@jnf.org; eborkson@jnf.org; mpollock@jnf.org; jperlow@jnf.org; swilensky@jnf.org; bgould@jnf.org; mbrivik@jnf.org; javiram@jnf.org; jlevine@jnf.org; mruskin@jnf.org; jgoren@jnf.org; aklein@jnf.org; cfax@jnf.org; scohen@jnf.org; dmargules@jnf.org; jgrossman@jnf.org; lwolk@jnf.org; rwigoda@jnf.org; tbanks@jnf.org; mwiener@jnf.org; cwhitehill@jnf.org; hlis@jnf.org; nforman@jnf.org; abrooks@jnf.org; sbaratz@jnf.org; eheilicher@jnf.org; jresnick@jnf.org; jlevin@jnf.org; lpalan@jnf.org; jdavis@jnf.org; rlubin@jnf.org; bharrisburg@jnf.org; sfirestone@jnf.org; espritz@jnf.org; jrudoler@jnf.org; rpetcove@jnf.org; rbenedon@jnf.org; dshatz@jnf.org; rgering@jnf.org; mmiller@jnf.org; lbarris@jnf.org; sscheiner@jnf.org; ekay@jnf.org; hober@jnf.org; rsieger@jnf.org; mkelman@jnf.org; msimon@jnf.org; inegrin@jnf.org; jkay@jnf.org; rrobinson@jnf.org ; hcohen@jnf.org; mrosenzweig@jnf.org; abinder@jnf.org; ykane@jnf.org; mbernstein@jnf.org; elankin@jnf.org; aalterman@jnf.org; tbanks@jnf.org; sbaratz@jnf.org; jbelson@jnf.org; jberko@jnf.org; wberkowitz@jnf.org; dberman@jnf.org; mbirger@jnf.org; ebalachor@jnf.org; ablumenfeld@jnf.org; eborkson@jnf.org; sbreslauer@jnf.org; abrooks@jnf.org; dcantor@jnf.org; scardin@jnf.org; schesley@jnf.org; rcohen@jnf.org; gcohen@jnf.org; dcohen@jnf.org; adavids@jnf.org; jdavis@jnf.org; sdelug@jnf.org; jdweck@jnf.org; cfax@jnf.org; nforman@jnf.org; dfrank@jnf.org; sfratkin@jnf.org; jfriedman@jnf.org; tgelbart@jnf.org; sgendell@jnf.org; agoldman@jnf.org; rgolub@jnf.org; jgoren@jnf.org; ihack@jnf.org; rharrisburg@jnf.org; eheilicher@jnf.org; jhess@jnf.org; whess@jnf.org; rhurwitz@jnf.org; bisrael@jnf.org; chacobson@jnf.org; mjacobson@jnf.org; mkagan@jnf.org; bkahn@jnf.org; ckalmanson@jnf.org; trubin@jnf.org; aross@jnf.org; jresnick@jnf.org; dradler@jnf.org; jrabin@jnf.org; mpost@jnf.org; rpopkin@jnf.org; spersky@jnf.org; npaul@jnf.org; rpatt@jnf.org; lpalan@jnf.org; jpabian@jnf.org; roxman@jnf.org; rorkand@jnf.org; tolken@jnf.org; moliner@jnf.org; dnewman@jnf.org; tmower@jnf.org; mmower@jnf.org; mmiller@jnf.org; mmarkowitz@jnf.org; dmarkind@jnf.org; dmargules@jnf.org; rlubin@jnf.org; blipton@jnf.org; rlevine@jnf.org; jlevine@jnf.org; tzuckerman@jnf.org; mzuckerman@jnf.org; swolnek@jnf.org; lwolk@jnf.org; mwolf@jnf.org; swilensky@jnf.org; rwigoda@jnf.org; mwiener@jnf.org; cwhitehill@jnf.org; hweiss@jnf.org; mwechsler@jnf.org; jwachstein@jnf.org; jlevin@jnf.org; blevin@jnf.org; mlefton@jnf.org; mlazar@jnf.org; vkurtz@jnf.org; bkruglick@jnf.org; lkleinman@jnf.org; aklein@jnf.org; lkestenbaum@jnf.org; gkay@jnf.org; jkaufman@jnf.org; tkatz@jnf.org; rkaslove@jnf.org; jkaplan@jnf.org; dkaplan@jnf.org; jrudoler@jnf.org; lruss@jnf.org; msalberg@jnf.org; rsalfeld@jnf.org; jschector@jnf.org; sscheiner@jnf.org; sschonfeld@jnf.org; jschottenstein@jnf.org; mschwartz@jnf.org; eseelig@jnf.org; hshapiro@jnf.org; asilber@jnf.org; bspack@jnf.org; espritz@jnf.org; mstein@jnf.org; msterling@jnf.org; jsternstein@jnf.org; btannenbaum@jnf.org; source: http://www.jnf.org/site/PageServer?pagename=exec_off

Janet Lehr is editor/publisher of a daily e-mail called "Israel Lives." She can be contacted at janetlehr@veredart.com

To Go To Top

MKS EXAMINE DESECRATED ANCIENT MT. OF OLIVES CEMETERY
Posted by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz, February 28, 2007.

(IsraelNN.com) Legislators serving on the Knesset's State Control Committee were given a tour Tuesday of the ancient Jewish cemetery on the Mt. of Olives, overlooking Jerusalem's Old City. The purpose of the tour was to examine first-hand the many complaints registered with the authorities over extensive desecration of graves at the site, including graffiti and smashed headstones.

MK Zevulun Orlev (National Religious Party-National Union), chairman of the Knesset State Control Committee, expressed bitterness over the destruction he saw at the ancient cemetery: "If such vandalism as the smashing of headstones and the desecration of graves had occurred in a Jewish cemetery in Europe, I am convinced that the entire Jewish world would be shocked and the law enforcement authorities would attempt to capture the guilty parties."

MK Orlev noted that, in contrast to the case of a European Jewish cemetery desecration, such "shocking phenomena" are taking place "in the heart of the capital of Israel, adjacent to the Western Wall, [yet] the sovereign Jewish regime remains apathetic."

Representatives of the Development Authority responsible for eastern Jerusalem, who accompanied the parliamentarians on their fact-finding tour of the Mt. of Olives, promised to implement government decisions to preserve and restore the desecrated Jewish cemetery. Among other measures, the development authority is to establish effective security arrangements for the area, repair the damaged headstones, and assure general cleanliness, waste collection and disposal.

MK Orlev announced that the committee he heads will request State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss to examine the conduct of the relevant state authorities responsible for the Mt. of Olives site. In three months, Orlev said, the State Control Committee would hold a follow-up meeting on the issue.

The cemetery on the Mt. of Olives includes approximately 150,000 graves, dating from the First Temple period through modern times. Among the many graves there are those of many famous Jewish historical figures such as Rabbi Moshe Ben-Nachman (Ramban), former Prime Minister Menachem Begin, Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook, Chief Rabbi of the State of Israel Shlomo Goren, the codifier of modern Hebrew Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, author and Nobel Prize laureate S. Y. Agnon, British Chief Rabbi and Lord Immanuel Jakobovits, and media mogul Robert Maxwell. Many Jews through the ages have sought burial on the Mt. of Olives because the site is mentioned in the Bible as the first spot from which the dead will be revivified.


COMMENTS:

1. The real desecration is in fact the attitude of the current Chelmite "government". They just don't like religious Jews of any stripe. Their religion is leftist secularism, and the just want to be loved by the world, a world that hates Jews. And whatever they might think they are, the world will define them too as Jews, just like Hitler did, and if our fate is doom, they will share it. The world doesn't love them back, no matter how much they kiss up. Disgraceful! Chazak Ve-ematz!
Gershon, Champaign, IL (28/02/07)


2. it just cant be and just to think that the Jews werent living in Israel until 1948,hummmmmmmmm now how did these Jews sneak these graves in there? ought to tell them something should'nt it?
harold, usa (28/02/07)


6. The savages attack graves now. If the U.S. and Israeli governments allow them to keep getting stronger and stronger, then these vermin will skip the graveyards and go after the population centers. What will the West do? Coddle our Islamic enemies... let them keep pulling the wool over the eyes of millions in the U.S. and Europe with this 'religion of peace' garbage... that's what will happen. I am starting to know what the process of suicide looks like more and more.
Leo, Fort Wayne, Ind (28/02/07)


8. Disbelief again My disbelief is not at the desecration, which is the normal behavour to be expected from our "neighbors" but the disbelief is yet again in the the East Jerusalem Authority whose promises are as worthless today as they have been in the past. Since I have family on the Mt of Olives - I know at first hand Or-Lev -FOLLOW UP NECESSARY!!!!!
zvi fenton, Jerusalem (28/02/07)


9. RE; Harold in USA Ahmaine...you are so right. I mean if we Jews did not already have the land prior (1948) to the Arabs ...then Explain why all our Patriarchs from.the Torah.and Rabbis and so on are burried in Israel dating back thousands of years. The world needs to wake up to the truth...Shalom
Zahara, USA (28/02/07)


13. Why like this al the time, arabs already destroyes our graves and europe does the same, what's new? But the solution is to throw all arabs and certain christian OUT OF ISRAEL, and i mean shomron and yehuda too...than nobody will do this anymore, throw also our bad leaders out of Israel and put people there like Bibi! Shalov rabotai, tehiyeh bari kolam!


14. WHATS NEW _ WE HAVE BEEN HERE BEFORE SHAME ON THE GOVERMENT AGENCIES AND PRIME MINISTER. THIS WAS RAISED SEVERAL YEARS AGO AND FALSE PROMISES MADE TO RECTIFY THE SITUATION. IT IS AS IF THE AUTHORITIES CLOSE THEIR EYES TO THIS DESICRATION JUST LIKE WHAT THEY DID WHEN ARABS DESTROYED HAR HABAYIT. WE SHOULD SHOW THE ARABS THE DOOR TO JORDAN ONCE AND FOR ALL _ IT IS OUR COUNTRY NOT THEIRS TO DO AS THEY PLEASE
ELIEZER, (01/03/07)

Nissan Ratzlav-Katz is a writer for Arutz Sheva. This article appeared today in Arutz-Sheva
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/121701

To Go To Top

PURIM REPLAY
Posted by Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis, February 28, 2007.

If you stop to consider, it might occur to you that there is something surreal about Purim this year. It is almost as if we are witnessing "replay".

Haman is once again in our midst, but this time he is called Ahmadinejad - same country, same place, same agenda. Today's Iran is Persia of yore, and even as the malevolent Haman schemed Holocaust - the "final solution", so too, his 21st century heir is orchestrating a plan to wipe Israel off the map. And even as the Jews in Shushan were divided, caught napping and assimilating into their secular culture, so today, our people are fragmented, sleeping, and succumbing to the enticements of society.

To be sure, there is one huge difference between Shushan of old and the events of today - Esther and Mordechai are missing. There is no one to summon our people, to awaken them from their slumber and charge them with their Divine calling. There is no one to proclaim those two magic words, "Keemu V'Keeblu" - "Let us re-accept and re-commit to our Torah" - two magic words that resulted in a. nechapochu - "a miraculous turn-around", converting darkness into light, doom into blessing, culminating in the joyous festival of Purim. But worse still, today we find ourselves in an untenable situation. Not only do we have to deal with the Ahmadinejads of this generation - Hamas, Fatah, and all the other anti-Semites who are proliferating on every continent, but we have to deal with a scourge that is by far more menacing - those of our people who have become Jewish self-haters. And that is an evil that we cannot easily overcome, for the decay from within is by far more deadly than any onslaught from without. Our own people, members of the liberal left, have taken up the cause of those who would wipe us off the map (see Professor Alvin Rosenfeld's study on "Progressive Jewish Thought and the New Anti-Semitism".) There is an entire corps of intellectual, liberal Jews who would demonize Israel and accuse her of being an apartheid state which uses fascist tactics for ethnic cleansing. As unbelievable as it may sound, this anti-Semitic vituperative is actually parroted by some of our own people of the left, who, in the name of freedom of speech, justify their anti-semitic stance by claiming that they are merely criticizing Israel.

Incredibly, instead of crying out against jihad and the reign of terror that is being foisted upon Israel without surcease, these so-called Jews excoriate Israel for defending herself. Loudly, they demand a Palestinian state, never realizing that, in point of fact, there already is a Palestinian state in place that came about in August of 2005 when Israel evacuated twenty-one Jewish settlements and forcibly removed her own people from their land. The new State of Palestine has become a launching pad for Jihad; an odious cesspool of terrorists; a depot for lethal weapons; a haven for assassins from Iran and other parts of the globe, a place where slaughter, graft, and corruption are daily fare, - and now these so-called do-gooders would impose that very same fate on Judea, Samaria and East Jerusalem.

To complicate matters, Abbas (the president of the Palestinian authority) has formed a unity government with Hamas. So now they can place added pressure on Israel to relinquish more and more of her land. But what the media and the world fail to report and accept, is that there is no difference between the goals of Fatah and Hamas. Fatah talks negotiation while simultaneously launching savage, murderous attacks, and Hamas just kills without negotiation. But the bottom line is that the charters of both parties call for the annihilation of Israel. When Abbas announced his unity government, he also said that "Arabs have to put their internal strife aside so that they might raise their guns only against Israel, for the sons of Israel are corrupting humanity on earth." But the media and the world chose to ignore all that. To them, attacks on Israel are non-issues.

Now it's one thing for the media to be oblivious to anti-Semitic declarations, but it's something else again when this same platform is endorsed by Jews Was it only yesterday that, despite assimilation, Israel evoked a surge of pride in the most assimilated heart, creating a different climate in America. Remember when Mayor Giuliani, refused entree to Arafat, when Jesse Jackson was called upon to apologize for calling New York City "Hymietown" and Harvard, under pressure, felt constrained to return a very large grant to the Arabs? Why is there silence now?

To understand the extent to which Israel-bashing has become politically correct, just consider that at a recent winter meeting of the Democratic National Committee, Husham al Hussainy, an avowed Israel hater, was chosen to deliver the invocation. During Israel's war with Hizbollah last summer, this man led rallies in support of Lebanese terrorists, carrying swastikas and anti-Semitic posters. Giving honor to such a man could never have happened a few short years ago and I'm not even discussing Carter's best seller which vilifies Israel, or General Clark's anti-Semitic` rhetoric, scoring "New York's 'money people'" And there are many more of their ilk out there. But what is significant is not so much what these anti-Semites are saying, but rather, that they feel confident in saying it. They fear no backlash because they know that none will be forthcoming - a tragic commentary on the state of affairs in the United States today. But all this pales into insignificance when compared to that which is transpiring in the State of Israel, where this same anti-Israel sentiment has taken hold of many of our people.

Now, as if this was not enough, Israel has yet another scourge to contend with. In addition to the usual terrorist attacks, corruption is eroding the moral fiber of our people, from government, political, and military leaders to athletes, almost everyone is under investigation or being indicted - and that is by far more deadly than that to which we are witness in the United States, for if there is decay from within in Israel, the very security, the very survival of the state is at stake. If there is no idealism, if there is no vision, how can the nation defend herself? How can 5,308,300 Jews survive in a sea of tens of millions of hostile Arabs.

So how did we come to this catastrophic turn of events?

The answer is painfully simple - secular zionists were bent upon creating "a state that would be like all other states", and to that end, they were determined to fashion a "new" Jew - a Jew who was not burdened by his past; a Jew who would be physically strong and not be weighed down by a black hat. So, a generation was raised without Hashem, without Torah, and the vacuum filled with materialism, hedonism, greed, drugs, and all the other ills of Western civilization. Secularists of the newly formed state were so obsessed with cutting the umbilical cord to their Jewish past, that, not only did they refrain from mentioning Hashem's Name, but even reference to our Patriarchs to whom G-d promised the land, had to be omitted. For example, in Hatikvah, the national anthem, instead of saying, "lashuv l'eretz avoteinu" - "to return to the land of our fathers," "leyot am chofshi b'artzenu" - "to be a free people in our land" is sung. Our Yom Tovim - Pesach, Shavuos, and Succoth, have been converted to agricultural and national celebrations; Chanukah has become a symbol of military might; Purim a day of carnival and frolicking; Rosh HaShana, a time to take off and go to the beach, and G-d's Covenant - our encounter at Sinai, His promise that the land would be ours in perpetuity, has all but been forgotten. Is it little wonder then that many Israelis question their right to the land and find it difficult to refute the intellectual elite who view Israel as no different than colonial occupiers? More than Ahmadinejad's nuclear threats, it is this internal rot that is threatening our existence.

Our long, painful history is testimony to a simple truth of which I spoke some thirty-four years ago in my first public appearance in Jerusalem: "B'shuv Am Yisrael l'Elokav, B'hitachaid Am Yisrael eem Torato, ayn koach b'olam she youchal lo" - "When the Jewish people return to G-d and become one with their Torah, there is no force on earth that can prevail against them."

How easy it all sounds, and yet, how complicated, how remote this message is if the simple element of faith is lacking. But if those of us who understand; if those of us who can still hears the echoes from Sinai would attempt to be Esthers and Mordechais and awaken our slumbering people, inspire them to take hold of their Divine destiny and assume their Priestly roles, then we would make this remote formula the reality of our lives and once again become a Goy Kadosh - a holy nation; Mamlechet Kohanim - a Priestly Kingdom; Ohr L'Goyim - a Light Unto the Nations." If we will it, it can happen! Our destiny is calling.... It is up to us to make the words of the megillah - "La'YehudimHoyso Orho V'Simcha" - "And for the Jewish people there was joy and gladness" come alive.

Contact the Rebbetzin at webmaster@hineni.org

To Go To Top

CIRCUMVENT THE MEDIA - REACH OUT TO THE BLOGOSPHERE!
Posted by Michael Freund, February 28, 2007.

With the growing importance of blogs in shaping public opinion, Israel has an opportunity to start getting its message across beyond the filter of the mainstream press. As I suggest in the column below from yesterday's Jerusalem Post, it is time for the Jewish state to begin reaching out to the blogosphere and utilizing this important resource in the battle against Arab propaganda.

This article is archived at
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1171894533431&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

As archeologists continue to excavate the site of the Mughrabi Gate alongside the Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City, it remains anybody's guess what they might just find underneath the mounds of soil, rock and debris.

But one item already unearthed by this dig should have us all deeply concerned, and that is the mainstream media's disgraceful habit of parroting Arab propaganda.

It was just a few weeks ago that a shocking array of prominent media outlets, in their coverage of this non-event, went about spreading one irresponsible and malicious lie after another about the Mughrabi Gate dig, tarnishing Israel's image and inflaming public opinion against the Jewish state.

A headline in The Australian screamed "Palestinians unite to fight Temple Mount dig," as if the bulldozers were actually tearing up the mount itself. Across the globe, France 24, the international French news channel, declared: "Palestinians protest over Jerusalem mosque works," falsely implying that Israel was ripping apart a Muslim house of prayer. Similarly, China's official Xinhua news agency reported: "Arab League urges international response to Israel's dig at al-Aqsa Mosque," as though the earthmovers were displacing the mosque itself.

Perhaps the most egregious example was provided by Time magazine, whose editors could not resist taking a swipe at Israel by running the headline: "Raiders of the Temple Mount." It's hard to remember the last time so many falsehoods were spread so extensively in such a short period of time.

If there is a lesson to be learned from this sorry state of affairs, it is that Israel needs to begin utilizing alternative means to circumvent the mainstream media and spread its own message far and wide.

IN ORDER to better counter the Arab propaganda machine, the Jewish state should actively reach out to its many supporters in cyberspace, and especially in the blogosphere, for help in disseminating the truth.

Blogs, or weblogs, are basically on-line journals where individuals or groups can posture, pontificate or simply share their thoughts by posting them on the Internet. There are literally millions of blogs out there, covering just about every subject you can imagine. Their reach is enormous, and their influence is growing rapidly. According to a July 2006 study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 39 percent of US Internet users, or about 57 million American adults, read blogs. This is nearly double the amount of just three years ago.

Over half of all bloggers are under the age of 30, underlining the importance of blogs to the next generation of decision-makers. Some of the most popular sites welcome hundreds of thousands or even millions of visitors.

In recent years, blogs have come to play a key role not only in shaping the news, but in making it as well.

In September 2004, just two months before the last US presidential election, a team of determined bloggers debunked the authenticity of documents presented by CBS News which claimed that George W. Bush had dodged the draft.

Blogs have now become such a vital component of US presidential politics that campaign teams hire people to do "blog outreach." Some have paid and volunteer staffers who monitor blogs and keep track of the pulse and current of public opinion.

Even shady Middle Eastern dictators have come to appreciate, and even fear, the power of blogs. Just last week, in Egypt, Hosni Mubarak's autocratic regime sentenced a blogger to four years in prison for "insulting the president."

THE FACT IS that blogs are a vibrant source of energetic and independent thinking, often providing readers with a fresh way of looking at things that is unencumbered by bureaucratic blinders or organizational self-interest.

As a blogger myself, I often find better and more timely analysis on the Web than in the mainstream media. Indeed, some of Israel's best friends and most articulate defenders can be found in the blogosphere, where sites such as Little Green Footballs, Powerline, Atlas Shrugs, Hugh Hewitt, Debbie Schlussel and Instapundit all provide a refreshing alternative to the moral relativism and politically correct anti-Israel blather of the media.

AT THE height of the Mughrabi Gate crisis earlier this month it was the blogosphere which played a critical role in getting out the truth, just as it did during last summer's Lebanon war. Time and again, blogs have shown themselves to be a potent communications tool, and Israel needs to start tapping into their vast potential.

This can be accomplished by launching a concentrated and effective outreach effort aimed specifically at influential bloggers, who should be courted with the same resources and commitment as the mainstream press.

The government and Jewish groups should begin by organizing periodic fact-finding tours of Israel for key bloggers, giving them a chance to learn firsthand about the situation here in the region.

An annual conference of pro-Israel bloggers, attended by key Israeli statesmen and personalities, could help to galvanize what is already a burgeoning network of support for the Jewish state.

It is also crucial that Israeli spokesmen and leaders take the blogosphere into account when formulating their media strategies and messaging tactics, both by sending them relevant information and making sure to keep them in the loop.

SURE, mainstream entities such as CNN, the BBC and The New York Times will continue to dominate the news business for years to come. But the battle for public opinion is far from being a lost cause. Israel just needs to start thinking a little more creatively about how to wage the battle. By working with our allies in the blogosphere, Israel can begin to turn the tide in its favor and chip away at the falsehoods being spread by the press. If we can't beat the media, let's circumvent it. Reaching out to bloggers seems like a good place to start.

Michael Freund blogs on Middle Eastern and Israeli affairs. His 'Fundamentally Freund' can be found at IsraelNationalNews.com. Contact him at msfreund@earthlink.net.

To Go To Top

THE NEW DEMOGRAPHIC BALANCE IN EUROPE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES
Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, February , 2007.

This was written by Raphael Israeli, who is a Fellow of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and a professor of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is the author of numerous books including The Third Islamic Invasion of Europe (forthcoming); Green Crescent Over Nazareth; Islam in China: Religion, Ethnicity, Culture, and Politics; The Iraq War: Hidden Agendas and Babylonian Intrigue: The Regional Impact on Shiites, Kurds, Sunnis and Arabs; and Palestinians Between Nationalism and Islam.

This a Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA) publication. This article is archived at
http://www.jcpa.org/JCPA/Templates/showpage.asp?DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=111&FID=379&PID=468

  • The aftermath of World War II brought about an acute shortage of manpower in Europe. Former colonies, where manpower was available that required relatively limited cultural adaptation, became the plentiful sources for unskilled laborers who would replenish the dwindling pool of workers in Europe.

  • These workers constructed Muslim communities in certain localities throughout Europe, where their numbers created local majorities that no candidate for elective office could ignore. The growth of these communities required the construction of mosques and Muslim cultural centers, some of which grew into secret lodges of subversion, incitement, and recruitment of radical youth.

  • Muslim communities have imported the Middle Eastern conflict into their host countries, with attending acts of violence and unbridled anti-Semitism toward local Jewish communities which had otherwise lived peacefully except during the Holocaust interregnum.

  • Some European Muslim leaders make no secret of their intent to change Europe to their tune, not to adapt to it. They demand their own school systems, in their own native languages, financed by the host state and, in the long run, to its own detriment.

  • European countries have adopted multiculturalism, and increasingly multilingualism, as an imposed reality whereby they have abdicated their role to absorb the newcomers and integrate them into the existing systems, and instead let the immigrants dictate their own visions of "integration," which means in effect separatism, secession, or an eventual takeover when demography had run its course.

  • There are already areas in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and Britain where Muslim children constitute the majority of the school population. In addition, there are a growing numbers of converts to Islam in major European countries such as France and Britain - 50,000 in each in the past decade.

The Muslim world includes 57 Muslim-majority countries spanning Asia and Africa, comprising about 1.5 billion believers, making it the second-largest faith after Christianity. Since its inception, Islam spread, as did other faiths, by conquest, missionary work, or through expanding trade from the core areas of Islam in the Middle East to the Far East and the coasts of Africa. While Islam was extending its rule into others' territories, it necessarily came into armed conflict with the prevailing cultures, like the Berbers in North Africa, the Hindus of the Indian subcontinent, or the Christians of the Middle East and Europe. But since the Europeans halted the Muslim Ottomans at the gates of Vienna in the late seventeenth century, and the British defeated the Muslim Moghuls in India in the nineteenth century, a reversal in the fortunes of Islam has unfolded. Thenceforth, Islamic was in descent and the European and Western powers were on the ascent. As Islam withdrew, independent Judeo-Christian and Hindu nations emerged in the Balkans, in India, and in Palestine, and the remaining Islamic world was colonized by Europe, until its reemergence as independent nation-states after the world wars.

The Attraction of European Society

Colonization had its long-term effects nonetheless, inasmuch as modernization, both in thought and in effect, set in and began gnawing at the monopoly of Islam in those societies. As a result, the elites of those emerging new nations took to Western culture and learned the languages, the mores, the civilizations, the institutions, and the thought of their occupiers, and remained tied to them long after their emancipation from foreign rule. So, after attaining independence, many formerly colonized populations moved to the metropolis of their previous occupiers and established Muslim communities there.

Some of the newcomers were more at home in the ambiance of their newly adopted cultures than in their original homes where they had become alienated. Others went in search of better economic opportunities. Still others came for study periods or to seek political asylum, but then were reluctant to relinquish the freedom, prosperity, and tranquility of the West and to return to the poverty, oppression, and turmoil of their own countries. Compared to the immense populations of their original homelands, these were tiny trickles of privileged individuals or families who were intent on adapting to their new environments, to adopt their new countries and cultures as their own, and to take the necessary steps to merge into the host-cultures of their choice. Their limited numbers, on the one hand, and their dispersion among the general population, on the other, was a built-in guarantee that in no time they would integrate into the mainstream and assimilate completely.

The rapid economic growth of Europe in the aftermath of World War II - due to both reconstruction of the ravages of war and the economic and technological revolutions that those societies underwent, coupled with the very slow pace of reproduction of European populations, where both men and women were seeking careers rather than raising families - brought about an acute shortage of manpower. Former colonies, where manpower was available that required relatively limited cultural adaptation, became the plentiful sources for unskilled laborers who slowly at first, and then in droves, would lavishly replenish the dwindling pool of workers in Europe. In addition, vast countries like the U.S., Canada, and Australia, which had been founded as immigrant societies, would also absorb much of this massive immigration from Muslim countries to the West.

Abusing European Generosity

This growing movement of populations now came to encompass not only adventurers and seekers of new economic opportunities, but also increasing numbers of "political refugees," some of whom were genuine asylum seekers from their oppressive regimes at home. Many others, however, abused the generosity, concern for human rights, and openness of the West to escape "justice" in their own countries or to use their countries of asylum as launching pads for political struggle against their home regimes. Eventually, some of these immigrants would turn against their adoptive countries and launch terrorist campaigns against them.

These new immigrants, who for the most part gained local citizenship after the requisite period of residency, which varies from one country to another, soon began to have an impact on their adoptive countries in different areas:

  • Under the humanitarian heading of "family reunion," they secured immigration rights for many of their relatives back home, thus markedly increasing their numbers; for many of the radical Muslims, this has become a sort of "soft Jihad" to encourage Muslim immigration into their new adoptive countries in order to increase their influence through sheer numbers.

  • Due to their social and religious needs, they constructed Muslim communities in certain localities throughout Europe, where their numbers created local majorities that no candidate for elective office could ignore; the growth of these communities required the construction of mosques and Muslim cultural centers, part of which were and remain innocent houses of prayer, but others grew into secret lodges of subversion and undercover calls for incitement and recruitment of radical youth.

  • Muslim communities, side-by-side with their irreproachable cultural activities, soon also engaged in illicit avenues of civil disobedience and sometimes in radical incitement against the state; as a result, prisons in Europe are saturated with Muslim inmates out of proportion to their percentage in the general population.

  • Muslim communities have imported the Middle Eastern conflict into their host countries, with attending acts of violence and unbridled anti-Semitism toward local Jewish communities which had otherwise lived peacefully except during the Holocaust interregnum.

  • Some European Muslim leaders make no secret of their intent to change Europe to their tune, not to adapt to it. They demand, and in some cases achieve, in the name of multiethnicism and multiculturalism, their own school systems, in their own native languages, financed by the host state and, in the long run, to its own detriment.

  • European countries have adopted multiculturalism, and increasingly multilingualism, not as the implementation of a social ideal of cross-fertilizing different cultural groups by allowing them to enrich each other, but as an imposed reality whereby they have abdicated their role to absorb the newcomers and integrate them into the existing systems, and instead let the immigrants dictate their own visions of "integration," which means in effect separatism, secession, or an eventual takeover when demography had run its course.

A Population Explosion in the Muslim World

Generally speaking, the billion and a half Muslims of the world are distributed into three major blocs: about one-third in the Middle East and Africa, with the Arabs constituting over half, with another 150 million in Turkey and Iran (75 million each), and the rest in black Africa, principally Nigeria and the Horn of Africa. Another third encompass the Indian subcontinent with its three major components of Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh with about 150 million in each country, and smaller Muslim populations in Afghanistan and Central Asia. The rest are concentrated in East and Southeast Asia, with about half in Indonesia, the largest Muslim country, and the rest in Malaysia, and Muslim minorities in Thailand, Burma, the Philippines, and in Russia and China (about 25 million in each).

The growth of Islam in the Western societies of Europe, America, and Australia is quite a new phenomenon, and as its numbers increase, either via immigration (legal or illegal) or by natural growth, the awakening of a Muslim identity discourages integration and gives rise to problems. There are already areas in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and Britain where Muslim children constitute the majority of the school population, a situation that is pregnant with disaffection and can potentially lead to unrest and terror.

Beyond its expansion into new areas, such as Western democracies, the Islamic world has sustained a consistent internal growth of 3 percent for many years, that is, a doubling of the total population every 25 years. This means that with this high birthrate, a result of tradition, prohibitions on birth control, and the general trend in the developing world where the rich get richer and the poor have more children, and decreasing mortality due to health improvements, there is a virtual population explosion in the Islamic world.

Countries like Iran, Turkey, and Egypt, which boasted populations of 35-40 million in the 1980s, have each doubled since then. Indonesia, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh, where the Muslim populations were already high in the 1980s, have also doubled since then. Smaller countries like Saudi Arabia, Syria, Morocco, and Algeria have also doubled their populations, as have the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. So, in general, the three-quarter billion Muslim population of the 1980s has soared to one and a half billion, that is, 25 percent of the estimated world population of six billion. Moreover, since most of this population is young, the rapid demographic growth in those countries will continue apace as the children in this population come of age.

While demographic statistics in those countries are not always reliable, there is little doubt about the trends. Moreover, while European statistics on incoming Muslim legal immigrants can be relied upon, the countless illegal migrants remain uncounted. A lack of statistics from the Muslim countries of emigration further complicates the calculations of demographers. Yet one thing is certain: an immense surplus of Muslim manpower has been migrating into Western democracies, either as "political refugees," as welcome manpower for manual jobs that Europeans are reluctant to do, or as illegal migrants who easily slip through porous European borders.

Muslims in Europe

When Europe changed the rules and began to tighten its border control following major terrorist attacks in Madrid and London in 2004-5, the 25 million-strong Muslim population of Europe was already difficult to supervise due to the liberal freedom of movement allowed Europeans across the entire expanse of the European Union. An additional source of demographic growth for the Muslim population in the West is domestic proselytization, which produces some of the most devout and radical Muslims, like the Black Muslims of America, and potential recruits for terrorism like Richard Reed in the UK. In France alone, it is estimated that in the decade between 1995 and 2005, some 50,000 Christian French converted to Islam.

These figures amount in their aggregate to a Muslim population of about 6 percent in the European Union today, with France reaching 10 percent (6 out of 60 million), and 7 percent in the Netherlands and Belgium. In Germany, Britain, Italy, and Spain, Muslims can be counted in the millions, and Muslim visibility and public prominence seem out of proportion to their real numbers for a number of reasons:

  • They are usually concentrated in the large cities and clustered together in certain neighborhoods, which seem to have slipped out of the host culture's jurisdiction. In many areas of Paris, Marseille, Malmo, and Berlin, local Europeans feel like strangers in their own countries.

  • Due to the background of the unskilled immigrants, who are usually uneducated, they feel alienated inasmuch as many preserve their languages and mores, are different in dress, food and way of life, and build up a high degree of frustration which occasionally explodes in violent demonstrations.

  • Alienation, poverty, and frustration often lead many of the youth among the immigrant Muslim population to crime. In all European countries, Muslim prison inmates are out of proportion to their rate in the population, leading the host countries to realize that their generosity and openness in welcoming the immigrants and supporting their training and welfare has often turned into a permanent burden on the state instead of relief of its manpower shortage.

  • Muslim enclaves are sometimes seen as insensitive to the general host population. For example, mosques which call for prayer may turn previously quite neighborhoods into areas of friction. Or nationalized Muslims may demand that the cross that garnishes the national flags of their host countries be eliminated.

  • The growing numbers of converts to Islam in major European countries such as France and Britain - 50,000 in each in the past decade - plays a growing role on the visibility of the Muslim community.

  • Scandals like forced marriages of young Muslim women in Europe, or their murder to protect the "honor " of the family, the Rushdie affair of the 1990s, acts of terror, and violent demonstrations such as in the Danish cartoon affair of 2005-6 all tend to raise the profile of Islam in Europe and make it seem particularly menacing.

Factors Limiting Growth of Muslim Identity in Europe

On the other hand, several factors militate against an even faster rise of Muslim communitarian identity and demographic growth in Europe, as discussed in Amitai Etzioni's seminal work:[1]

  • The large numbers of Muslims who have assimilated over the past generation or two in their European environment, especially among the young who have been absorbed by the local educational systems, have grown ignorant of their original cultures and languages, and are more interested in developing peaceful and successful careers than in spreading Islam or responding to its call. Those Muslims may intermarry with locals and ultimately assimilate.

  • Precisely due to the ascendance of militant Islam in Europe and the West in general, with the attending violence that sometimes accompanies its assertion of its identity and its manifestation of disaffection and discontent, the more assimilated and quietist Muslims, who are reluctant to be identified with their radical kin, distance themselves from them and elect to melt unnoticed into the general population.

  • Unlike the radical militants, who do not hide their intent to Islamize European societies, the mainstream Muslims seem to have reconciled to the idea of integrating into their adoptive societies and state their intentions to maintain peace and to mind their own business. While the radicals would rather establish their own Muslim political parties, mainstream Muslims prefer to affiliate with the existing political system.

Muslims Confront European Host Societies

As long as Islam lived within its traditional boundaries, its tensions and frictions with the West remained outside the domain of the Western public; it was remote and lay beyond the horizon. But with the rise of fundamentalist Islam and the increase of Muslim immigration to the West, Muslims learned to face up to their host societies and even to confront them in debate. Their growing self-confidence and self-assertion taught them that they could debate the West without being imprisoned or executed, as they would be in their home countries.

For the Europeans, the clash of civilizations, which had taken place for centuries on the borders of Christendom, moved into their own heartland and they were unprepared for it. Convinced that their open and democratic societies would prevail and lead the new immigrants to abandon their roots and identity, Europeans were shocked to discover that over the years the gaps had widened, the differences grew into clashes, and the complaints had grown into demands. The Westerners began to realize that they were obliterating their traditionally homogeneous societies in favor of multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-religious, and at times even multi-linguistic ones. Europeans began to see their goodwill and hospitality towards Muslims "rewarded" by violent demonstrations.

This European reaction will not make it easy for Turkey to enter the European Union. Bringing Turkey in would mean not only freedom of movement of Turkish labor and nationals throughout Europe, but also spreading the message of Islam into all corners of the continent. With some 6-7 percent of the EU population Muslim today (25 million out of 380 million), frictions are already difficult; how much more so if 75 million Muslim Turks would join, raising the rate of Muslims to 20-25 percent (100 million out of 450 million). The rapid growth of the Muslim population, on the one hand, and the shrinkage of the European family unit, on the other, would mean that in the next generation Europe may become half Muslim. Britain, the most ardent proponent of Turkish integration into the EU, agreed to suspend the talks between the parties when it realized that Turkish oppression of the Kurds continues unabated, that women are still discriminated against in Turkish society, and that Turkish school textbooks, which are monitored by the EU, contain thousands of cases of racism and human rights abuses, notably negative portrayals of Greeks, Jews, Kurds, and Armenians.[2]

The Behavior of Muslim Minorities

Demography has a long-term effect on the chances of coexistence in countries where Muslims are a minority because of the built-in contradiction between the requirement of Muslims to live under Islamic rule, since only there can the Law of Allah can be brought to bear, and the grim necessity for many Muslims to escape from the persecution of their Muslim regimes in order to seek refuge in the West. Believers who live in non-Muslim lands must either regard their stay there as temporary, and in the meantime do their best to live their Muslim life undisturbed, or return to the Abode of Islam as soon as they can, or try to turn their country of residence into a Muslim one by seizing power in it. For this reason, Muslim minorities have pursued states of mind varying from quietist acceptance of permanent minority status to violent rebellion.

The response of the Muslim minority depends in no small measure on the perceived threat posed to it by the majority host culture. Whenever coexistence with it seems feasible, as was the case with Muslim minorities in the West before the rise of fundamentalism among them, they could always say that as long that they could perform the obligations of their faith without inhibition, they could consider themselves as living within enclaves of the Abode of Islam, a state of affairs they could bear indefinitely. But as soon as perceived oppression made their lives as Muslims untenable, and they diagnosed their position as dwellers in the Abode of War, they were set on a collision course with their hosts, and conflict ensued.

Additional variables have an impact, including the general Muslim environment, which when embracing the road of militancy can draw behind it Muslim minorities who are fascinated by its power, which compensates for their feelings of oppression, underprivileged status, and hopelessness in tackling the requirements of modern life. Furthermore, the larger the minority, to the point of constituting local majorities in certain areas, the more it feels self-confident to challenge the majority. In areas where large concentrations of Muslims are clustered together, they feel strong enough to advance demands and to resort to violence or to threaten the use of violence if their demands are not fulfilled. Finally, if the regime under which they live is as oppressive as their own countries of origin, they would be less inclined to rebel, knowing what their punishment would entail, but under the liberal democratic rule of the West, it is easier for them to act to undermine it and paradoxically seek its destruction because it gives them more leeway.

There was a time when Muslim minorities were quite limited in numbers and scope of dispersion, usually as a result of interaction with the colonial powers who encouraged a certain amount of "natives" to tread their cultural ways in their own metropolitan centers, and some of them intermarried and stayed. However, the large waves of Muslim immigrants since the mid-twentieth century to the Americas, Australia and Europe, and more so the opening labor markets in the West to Muslim "guest-workers," coupled with important movements of conversion to Islam as a result of intense Muslim da'wa (mission), has dramatically increased the numbers of Muslim migrants to those countries. Moreover, the "guests" have come to regard themselves as permanent residents with all attending privileges of citizenship and social benefits. Not only do they not any longer regard their presence outside the realm of Islam as temporary, embarrassing and calling for justification, but with the birth in place of the second and third generations, who grow to learn the languages, cultures and ways of their new habitats, the process of their acculturation into their new homelands has accelerated.

As Muslim Populations Grow, the Illusion of Integration Fades

As long as their rate in the general populations of their new countries was negligible, and the socio-political environment was liberal (like in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Israel and Europe), then social pluralism and individual freedom of worship were advocated by the Muslim minorities. Under oppressive regimes like the Soviet or the Chinese, the Muslims were quick to adopt material acculturation into their host society, with all the trappings of language, dress, education and participation in the elites and social customs. The core of the faith was kept almost intact however, with the Muslim calendar, festivals, dietary laws, worship, and places of prayer preserved to the extent possible. This was easier in areas where Muslim minorities were more sizeable and commanded the critical mass necessary to entertain communal life, and much more difficult when the Muslim population was so sparse as to render any public display of Muslim identity impractical.

When Muslim minorities become frustrated by the unworkability of a pluralistic society, either because they believe they are discriminated against or their expectations are not met, they become antagonistic to their host society. This is so much more so when they perceive the majority as having transgressed the limits of previous coexistence and encroached upon their freedom of worship or conduct. In such cases, they use Western vocabulary (freedom, tolerance, democracy, human rights, etc.) to impress upon their hosts that while they wish to play by the rules of their adoptive countries, it is the latter that violate them. In more extreme cases, like with some Muslim fundamentalist leaders (religious actors par excellence) in London, they claim that they came to Europe in order to change it, not to be reshaped by it, or they reject Western attitudes altogether. This sets the Muslim minority, and especially the fundamentalist elements in its midst, on a collision course with the host authorities. Militant elements among this disaffected minority may seek political or cultural autonomy (such as the London Muslim "Parliament").

In India, Muslims had conquered the land and subjugated Hinduism, but when Muslim power was eroded by the British, Islam sought and achieved separation from the Hindus for the most part, rather than submit to the democratic rule of modern India that would have allowed the Hindus to exercise political domination over the Muslims. When the majority of Indian Muslims established their own state (Pakistan), their 'ulama spoke of the reinstitution of the Shari'a as their state law. There was no alternative to this arrangement if one bears in mind the fact that Islam is incompatible with other political ideologies.

As Orthodox Muslims see it, and much more so the fundamentalists among them, Islam is ideally an either-or affair. Either Islamic law and institutions are given full expression and dominate state life or, failing that, if the state is non-Islamic, Muslims should try to reverse the situation or leave.

Despite the initial naïve days of Muslim immigration into Europe, when it was assumed that Muslim minorities would integrate painlessly into the much more prosperous nations where they made their new homes, difficulties began to emerge from the outset, which were dismissed as pangs of acculturation. But as the years passed, the Muslim communities grew, their Muslim radicalism came to the surface, and the illusion of integration began to fade, replaced by the illusory vision of multi-cultural societies, which made cultural concessions to the immigrants in order to accommodate them and make them partners in the system. But far from satisfying the Muslims of Europe, whose growing numbers gave them the necessary self-confidence to defy the system, that only further increased their sense of alienation from their host countries. The Europeans, in turn, sensing that their liberalism had turned against them, began to try to back-pedal, but it was too late and the collision became inevitable.

Notes

1. Amitai Etzioni, From Empire to Community (New York: McMillan, 2004).

2. Anthony Browne and Suna Erdem, "Education Clash Holds Up EU Talks," The Times (UK), April 8, 2006.

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.

To Go To Top

THE WARD CHURCHILL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAIFA
Posted by Steven Plaut, February 28, 2007.

This article appeared in the Arutz Sheva
(http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/6950) The original contains live links to additional material.

The Eichmann metaphor at Haifa University.

Over the past few years, Ward Churchill, an instructor at the University of Colorado, has become the best-known symbol of academic lunacy in the United States. In an essay and then in a "book" authored by Churchill, both with the title On the Justice of Roosting Chickens: Consequences of American Conquest and Carnage, published by the "radical and anarchist" publisher AK Press, Churchill wrote that the victims of the 9/11 Al-Qaeda attacks on New York were "the little Eichmanns inhabiting the sterile sanctuary of the Twin Towers."

Instead of repudiating Churchill's lunacy, many on the fringes of the Western Left embraced and endorsed him, not only supporting his "right of free speech," but agreeing with the content of his statements.

An associate professor of theater at the University of Haifa denounces Israeli soldiers as "little Eichmanns."

Churchill has a long history of turning out anti-American hate screeds. He has long tried to pass himself off falsely as an American Indian, a victim of "white Amerika." He has a long track record of defending terrorism and playing apologist for Holocaust deniers.

Churchill teaches "ethnic studies" at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Since the "little Eichmanns" incident, a movement led by the Governor of Colorado has sought to get Churchill dismissed from his university job, and those efforts are expected to be successful very shortly.

A bit less well known than Ward Churchill, the University of Haifa has its own faculty member who makes a practice out of Eichmann metaphors, whose comments denouncing Israeli soldiers closely resemble those of Churchill endorsing the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center towers.

In the Haifa weekly Kolbo, dated February 1, 2002, page 30, Professor Avraham Oz, a far-leftist anti-Israel associate professor of theater at the University of Haifa, denounces Israeli soldiers as "little Eichmanns."

The news clipping above cites Oz as saying in his classroom, in the middle of a lecture that was part of a university course, that "in each of these people [evidently meaning Israeli soldiers] is hiding a little Eichmann." Oz then went on to compare the actions of Israel's military in the "occupied territories" to those of Nazi Germany. Students listening to him were outraged and complained. (That is probably how the newspaper heard about the incident.)

Oz has a long history of denouncing Israel inside his classroom and utilizing his classroom for purposes of political indoctrination. He was earlier denounced for this by Limor Livnat when she served as Minister of Education, who also demanded that Haifa University officers take action regarding Oz.

Oz's credentials to issue fatwas in judgment of Israeli soldiers are that he teaches courses in theater. When contacted for a reaction by the paper, Oz admitted the comments about Eichmann and added that he even was including questions on them in his course exam. Pity the student who does not provide him with the political answers he is seeking in those exam questions.

Oz has tried to organize "Nakba Day" on his campus, together with Pappe.

Oz has long been a defender and ally of Ilan Pappe, denouncing his own dean and drumming up support for Pappe in the infamous "Tantura Affair" fabrication. (Pappe and a student invented a non-existent "massacre" of Arabs by Jews, and had their legal defense fees financed in part by the PLO.) Like Pappe, Oz has also been active in promoting international boycotts of Israel and even of his own university.

He falsely claims his own university "discriminates against Arabs" and he has tried to organize "Nakba Day" on his campus together with Pappe. On Nakba Day, Israel's catastrophic creation would be mourned.

Among Oz's extra-curricular activities is his running an anti-Israel, anti-Semitic chat list named "ALEF" ("Academic Left"), whose members include some of the worst neo-Nazis and anti-Semites on the planet, some of them Jewish. ALEF operates under the auspices of the University of Haifa and is hosted on the University of Haifa computer. A good idea of the nature of ALEF can be derived from the fact that its members engage in debates over whether or not Hitler was "guilty" of anything, and also post praise there for David Irving. Oz only intervenes in the list debates when pro-Israel material is posted there inappropriately.

Because of his devotion to denouncing his own country and hosting neo-Nazis and anti-Semites on his chat list, Oz is celebrated by them, ranging from Al-Ahram to communist web sites and neo-Nazi web magazines.

Steven Plaut is an American-trained economist, a professor of business administration at Haifa University and author of "The Scout." He frequently comments -- both seriously and satirically -- on Israeli politics and the left wing academic community. His website address is http://www.stevenplaut.blogspot.com or write him by email at splaut@econ.haifa.ac.il

To Go To Top

HATE TERMINOLOGY IN ARABIC SANITIZED IN ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS BY PALESTINIAN NEWS SERVICE
Posted by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook, February 28, 2007.

The Ma'an News Service publishes numerous daily announcements in Arabic, which it subsequently translates and releases in English. In recent stories, PMW has noted that the Ma'an releases in Arabic include the hate ideology espoused by the terror organizations that deny Israel's right to exist, express reverence for suicide terrorists and justify terrorist murder as "resistance." But when translated into English, the same stories go through a sterilization process to hide from the English readers -- and possibly from the two Western countries, the Netherlands and Denmark, who give them funding -- the terrorist ideology Ma'an is helping to propagate.

The following are two examples: 1 -- On Jan. 29, 2007, a suicide terrorist killed three Israelis in the city of Eilat. The Ma'an Arabic report included the language of the terror organizations, while the English was cleansed with changes and omissions, including changes to the language of direct quotes. The differences are striking:

Denial of Israel's right to exist

In English Ma'an accurately reports that the event happened "in the southern Israeli resort of Eilat." But in the original Arabic, Eilat is changed from an Israeli city to a Palestinian city occupied by Israel -- reflecting the terrorist assertion that all of Israel is "occupied Palestine."

Ma'an English: "...in the southern Israeli resort of Eilat."

Ma'an Arabic in first reference: "... in Eilat located in the south of occupied Palestine."
Ma'an Arabic in second reference: "...carried out a brave deed and for the first time in occupied Eilat."

In the English the mother is referred to simply by her name and age: "Ruwaida Siksik, 42."

In Arabic Ma'an adds: " Ruwaida Siksik, 42, whose family originated from the occupied city of Jaffa."

The routine definition in a news story of Jaffa, a part of southern Tel Aviv, as "occupied" and Eilat as "occupied Palestine" is a way to linguistically express denial of Israel's right to exist, and is the terminology used by the terror organizations.

Glorifying suicide terror as Shahada -- revered Martyrdom The act of the suicide bombing is likewise reported differently in the English and the Arabic. The English refers to a "bombing," while the Arabic gives it an idyllic Islamic categorization of an "Amaliyyah Ishtish'hadyyah" - a Shahada-seeking action. This is not merely a positive categorization, but is defining the suicide bombing as an honored Islamic action. The perpetrator is given the status of a Ishtish'hadi- Shahada-seeker, who becomes after his death a Shahid -- a revered holy Martyr. In Arabic: "She heard the news on Monday morning that he died as a Shahid ...

In English: "Family of Eilat bomber"

In Arabic: "mother of the Shahada-seeker"

Another interesting difference is that in the Arabic, the brother of the bomber admits to knowing that his brother was leaving on a terror operation. This is omitted from the English version. 2- The second article demonstrating the terror support by Ma'an is its release yesterday about the murder of Erez Levanon, a 42-year-old Israeli musician and father of three children, who was attacked and stabbed to death by two Palestinians while praying in a field.

The Ma'an English: "Palestinian sources told Ma'an that armed Palestinian men ambushed an Israeli..."

The Ma'an Arabic: "Palestinian sources told Ma'an that Palestinian resistance men ambushed an Israeli ..."

This is not just semantics. In choosing to categorize murder as "resistance," Ma'an is choosing the language used by terror organizations to justify murder.

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.

To Go To Top

CHRISTIAN JIHAD? CHRIS HEDGES THINKS SO
Posted by David Meir-Levi, February 27, 2007.

Dear Christian leaders,

The recent upsurge of anti-Israel and anti-Jewish publications and speeches and boycotts and divestment movements and Holocaust denial is well documented, and continues apace even as Hamas re-iterates for the umpteenth time its commitment to destroy Israel and genocide its Jews.

This upsurge is not unexpected, since, as I have reported numerous times, the propaganda war against Israel is part-and-parcel of the broader Arab war against Israel, and against Jews. When high intensity warfare (what we would call a regular war) failed for the fourth time in 1973, the Arab world turned to an increase in low intensity warfare (aka terrorism) and propaganda warfare in order to weaken Israel and undermine Israel's relationships with Europe and the USA and Canada. Now that the most recent chapter in the terror war saga (aka the Second Intifada) has failed, the assault continues with more and more stress on the propaganda war...hence the upsurge.

The anti-Israel propaganda has, since the USA entry in to a war against the Taliban in Afghanistan, beeen very closely tied in with anti-war propaganda, and anti-Bush propaganda. Recall the anti-war demonstrations that included placards and chants against Israel. Recall the equations of "occupied Palestine' and "occupied Iraq". And recall the baseless and at times utterly irrational anti-Bush placards in anti-Israel demonstrations which condemn Bush for supporting Israel.

These facile and vacuous faux-equations are very useful for propagandists and diatribalists, because they create an effective broad spectrum condemnation of anyone or any institution or any action that can somehow be construed, rightly or wrongly, as support for Israel.

But over the past year, we are witness to a new and deeply threatening turn in that propaganda movement's choice of victims. Now Chistian supporters of Israel are in the pro-terrorist diatribalist's cross-hairs...

...but not for their support of Israel.

That would be too transparent.

Instead, as Robert Spencer's article below demonstrates, Chris Hedges and a number of other rather third-rate authors have suddenly, coincidentally (?) at the same time, come up with books all dealing coincidentally (?) with the same faux-revelation: Right-wing Christian fundamentalists want to take over the USA and shut down its all-too-free and not-Biblical-enough government and replace it with a Biblically-based government.

It is not likely to be just a coincidence that this accusation is a mirror image of what Islamofascist Jihad wants to do, substituting our Constitution with the Qur'an and making Shari'a the law of the land.

It is likely to be no coincidence that this sudden upsurge of books dealing with this accuse-the-victim accusation accompanies the upsurge in anti-Israel and anti-Jewish propaganda.

It is very important to understand that one of the most effective methods of demagoguery and propaganda is to accuse the victim of the very crime that the propagandist is perpetrating against that victim. As Spencer argues, this is a great way to get the audience's attention away from the real crimes (in this case, the Islamofascist terrorist Jihad) and make it more difficult for the victim to defend himself against the crimes being perpetrated against him.

So it is not likely to be coincidental that this new upsurge of anti-Christian books all suddenly appear almost at once, and all deal in only slightly different ways with the same irratioinal theme --the threat posed to our lives, our liberties, our culture, our religion...by the Christian right.

The value of this type of "accuse the victim" propaganda is immense -- it gets the real criminal off the hook (at least for a while); but its danger is far greater than mere propaganda.

Islamic victories against larger more powerful enemies were often brought about by a 'divide and conquer' technique; where Islamic representatives succeeded in getting vying factions in the infidel government or society to side with Islamofascists against their internecine rivals, thus cracking that government's unity and making defense against the jihad less effective.

This ploy worked well against the Byzantime Empire, the Sassanians, the Copts, the Berbers, and the Spanish. And it is working today in the USA as well.

Turning some facets of the Christian community against others is exactly the same ploy, and is being effected, at least in part, by the books discussed in Spencer's article.

This ploy is successful for the anti-Ameican and anti-Israel Jihadists in two ways:

a.) it discredits the Christian supporters of Israel, brands them as anti-American, and thus undermines them and Israel; and, by illogical extension, makes anything that opposes them and Israel into a pro-American endeavour...so indirect support for the Islamofascist terrorists waging war against us is now support for America!

b.) it replaces in the American consciousness a very real threat (Islamofascist terror Jihad) with a fictitious threat (Right Wing Evangelical Christianity's "jihad"), thus making it more difficult for our government to wage its defensive war against that real Islamofascist Jihad.

But why? Why would American or British journalists and writers, at least some of them Christians, want to lend support to the propaganda ploy of the Islamofascist Jihadists who want us all either dead or Muslim (per Osama's frequently televised speeches)?

Can they hate Jews, hate Israel, hate Evangelical Christians, so much that they are willing help the Islamofascists?...willing to dig their own graves, and the graves of their families and co-religionists, and perhaps the grave of Western Civilization as well, by helping the Jihadists in their terror war against us?

A hint of what might be a motive appears when we combine two not well known facts:

1.) the Saudi royal family pays journalists to write nice things about Saudi Arabia. See attachment #4. We do not know exactly which journalists are on the Saudi payroll, but those who irrationally and intentionally distort obvious facts in their reportage of things Arab or Islamic or Israel-related ( a process now named "fisking" in honor of Robert Fisk who epitomizes this faux-journalism) are good candidates for suspicion.

2.) the Saudi royal family has invested billions of dollars in to an endeavour to change the way USA high school and college textbooks present Islamic history and Jewish history: the bloody and brutal Islamic history of conquest and conversion at the point of a sword is sanitized into a paean for "radiant Islam" that peacefully and lovingly won millions of converts by virtue of its -- well, virtue; and Jewish history is distorted such that there is no religious or historical justification for the state of Israel, and the modern Jewish state is demonized. See attachments #5-7.

Could the same Saudi interest in buying the professional loyalty of some western journalists, and rewriting the USA high school and college texbooks to put Islam in a better light, be at work in this new surge of full-length novels-made-documentary about the Christian Right's "jihad"?

There is no proof, not even direct evidence. That is why I say: "a hint of a motive"...just a hint.

But, as my grandmother of blessed memory used to say: when things don't make sense...look for the money.

David Meir-Levi

PS. Regarding Chris Hedges, one of the authors discussed in Spencer's article, it is of interest to note that he has been mis-reporting events in the Israel-Arab conflict for years. Some of his articles are almost textbook examples of 'fisking'.

Chris Hedges wrote "eyeless in gaza I" and "eyeless in Gaza II" in Harper's Magazine, Oct., Nov., 2001, where he accused Israeli soldiers of using arab children for target practice. A careful review of his articles (see attachments #1-3) caught him in what seems to have been a transparent lie.

He wrote that he was behind a sand dune, could not see what was going on...and heard the shouts (in Arabic) between Arab children and Israeli soldiers at a road block in the Gaza Strip. The children, sheltered in a concrete building, taunted the soldiers; and the soldiers called them names and called them cowards and dared them to come out.

When they came out in to the open, according to Hedges, the soldiers shot the children...in cold blood, for target practise. Hedges acknowedged that he did not hear the shots, so the soldiers must have been using silencers, he assumed. He could not see, he could not hear...he assumed.

He then went on to relate how he saw the mangled bodies of the victim children (an M-16 bullet makes a very very big hole when it hits -- that's part of its effectiveness) later, in a Gaza hospital, and silently cursed the cruel and barbaric israelis.

Problem: M-16's can't take silencers. they fire a supersonic bullet. The very loud cracking sound associated with high powered assault and hunting rifles is the sound of the sonic boom made by the bullet's passing the sound barrier. That sound is made only after the bullet has left the rifle barrel. So a silencer would do nothing to silence the sound. Hedges was then a 32-year veteran of wartime news coverage. He, and anyone who ever trained on an M-16, is likely to know what I just described.

If Hedges heard no shots, then there were no shots. And he should have known that.

Did he simply make up the target practice accusation and supported it with the agonized description of the hospitalized children. Or did he fall victim, gullible and naive, to the propagandistic lies of a local Gaza doctor? We may never know. And we may never know how and why such terrible harm was done to those poor chldren. But, based on Hedges' own description, it was not the Israeli soldiers who did that harm.

But that did not matter. The horrific story traveled several times around the world before any later more slow-moving and less dramatic critical analyses caught up with it.

Is Hedges doing now in a full-length novel what he did back in October, 2001?

This article is called "Beware the Christian Jihad?" and it was written by Robert Spencer. It appeared today in www.FrontPageMagazine.com.

A new book that is climbing the Bestseller List warns Americans of a dedicated minority of religious fanatics who are hijacking a great religion and actively working to destroy the United States Constitution and set up a theocracy in America, in which nonbelievers will be discriminated against or even summarily killed. Nor is their nefarious vision confined to the United States alone: this small but influential and wealthy band of religious zealots is also trying to turn events in the Middle East to their own advantage, so as to advance their religious agenda there also.

Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Muhammad Atta? No, James Dobson, Pat Robertson, and Tim LaHaye. The book in question is Chris Hedges' American Fascists, which argues that America as we know it is under threat -- not from Islamic jihadists, but from a small group of evangelical Christians who are determined to remake the United States as a Christian state. Warning about "Christianism," a neologism coined to parallel "Islamism," has become fashionable. Ranging from the merely hysterical to the ranting and paranoid, books sounding the alarms about Christian theocracy are appearing in large numbers. Among the crop published in 2006 alone were, besides Hedges' book, American Theocracy by Kevin Phillips; The Baptizing of America by James Rudin; Kingdom Coming by Michelle Goldberg; The Theocons: Secular America Under Siege by Damon Linker; Thy Kingdom Come by Randall Balmer; Piety & Politics by Barry Lynn; and Religion Gone Bad by Mel White. Other popular books sound many of the same themes, including The Conservative Soul by homosexual activist and blogger Andrew Sullivan and the atheist apologetics The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins and Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris.

A general tendency of such books is to equate to varying degrees, often in an off-handed manner suggesting that the equivalence was self-evident, Christian and Muslim "extremists," "radicals," or "fundamentalists." Hedges declared that "the Christian Right and radical Islamists, although locked in a holy war, increasingly mirror each other. They share the same obsessions. They do not tolerate other forms of belief or disbelief. They are at war with artistic and cultural expression. They seek to silence the media. They call for the subjugation of women. They promote severe sexual repression, and they seek to express themselves through violence." Sure, we're told, the Islamists are working to impose religious rule on their societies, but so are the Christianists, and the Christianists posed the far more immediate and serious threat. Some even charge that just as the Taliban practiced stonings and beheadings, so would these "Christianists" if they got half a chance.

The threat is imminent. Hedges claims that "those arrayed against American democracy are waiting for a moment to strike, a national crisis that will allow them to shred the Constitution in the name of national security and strength." He even asserts that "those in the movement often speak about such a moment with gleeful anticipation." For now -- but only for now -- the Christian Right is "forced to function within the political system it seeks to destroy."

If there really is a domestic threat of religious authoritarianism that threatens to destroy the Constitution, this would be a matter of considerable concern. But as the Qur'an says, "Bring your proof, if you be truthful" (2:111; 27:64). Good advice.

In support of his claims that "those arrayed against American democracy are waiting for a moment to strike, a national crisis that will allow them to shred the Constitution in the name of national security and strength," Chris Hedges offers only a single quotation from "right-wing strategist" Howard Phillips, who said in a speech to the Council for National Policy that "it is time to leave the 'political Titanic' on which the conservative movement has for too long booked passage" and to "build an ark so that we can and will be ready to renew and restore our nation and our culture when God brings the tides to flood."

A call to shred the Constitution? Phillips' words read more plausibly as a call to a conservative movement demoralized by defeat after defeat not to give up, but to develop a new strategy and await a day in which their message will be received more favorably.

The primary focus of the theocracy foes' fears is a movement arising from Calvinistic circles in the United States, Christian Reconstructionism. According to the anti-theocracy writers, Christian Reconstructionism has insinuated its adherents into the highest levels of government, and want to replace the Constitution with laws mandating the stoning of homosexuals and adulterers. The proof for this comes largely from the writings of the intellectual guiding lights of the Reconstructionist movement, and the chief villains of virtually every piece devoted to exposing its enormities: two American Calvinists, Rousas John Rushdoony (who died in 2001) and his son-in-law, Gary North.

Rushdoony and North may be well cast in this villain's role, for at least according to some reports they apparently do depart from Christian tradition in calling for capital punishment for crimes such as adultery and homosexuality, as specified in the Book of Leviticus. In a 1998 piece in Reason magazine, Rushdoony is said to defend Biblical punishments for a variety of offenders: "blasphemers, heretics, apostate Christians, people who cursed or struck their parents, females guilty of 'unchastity before marriage,' 'incorrigible' juvenile delinquents, adulterers, and (probably) telephone psychics." North is quoted in the same article defending the ancient Biblical punishment of stoning: "Why stoning? There are many reasons. First, the implements of execution are available to everyone at virtually no cost."

Foes of theocracy point to statements like this one from the popular Presbyterian minister and writer George Grant: "Christians have an obligation, a mandate, a commission, a holy responsibility to reclaim the land for Jesus Christ -- to have dominion in the civil structures, just as in every other aspect of life and godliness. But it is dominion that we are after. Not just a voice. It is dominion we are after. Not just influence. It is dominion we are after. Not just equal time. It is dominion we are after. World conquest. That's what Christ has commissioned us to accomplish. We must win the world with the power of the Gospel. And we must never settle for anything less...Thus, Christian politics has as its primary intent the conquest of the land -- of men, families, institutions, bureaucracies, courts, and governments for the Kingdom of Christ. It is to reinstitute the authority of God's Word as supreme over all judgments, over all legislation, over all declarations, constitutions, and confederations. True Christian political action seeks to rein the passions of men and curb the pattern of digression under God's rule."

Strong words. But do statements like these amount to a manifesto to subvert the non-establishment clause of the U.S. Constitution and establish Christian rule in the United States? The "theocrats" themselves deny this. Chris Ortiz of Rushdoony's Chalcedon Foundation explains: "The paranoid secularist reads this portion of Grant and links it with the political activism and lobbying of the Religious Right in order to assemble a frightening monster of religious fascism. But, Grant would likely be the first to argue that there is no theocratic conspiracy...In other words, don't confuse the rhetoric or ideology of certain radical thinkers with the mass of conservative Christianity."

Grant is indeed first to argue that there is no theocratic conspiracy, or at least, if there is, that he opposes it. Responding to claims that the passage above is a declaration of intent to destroy the U.S. Constitution, he wrote in an email to me:

1. My body of work demonstrates that I am an ardent defender of the 1st Amendment.
2. I am an opponent of "state churches."
3. I am an opponent of confusing, blurring, or overlapping the spheres of authority and jurisdictions between church and state and family. [...]

The quoted passage is from a long discussion regarding cultural evangelism, not petty partisanship. It is from a discussion of ends, not means. The language is the culmination of a discourse in the realm of eschatological theology, not practical activism...

In a similar vein, Rushdoony's Chalcedon Foundation declares: "We propose an explicitly Biblical system of thought and action as the exclusive basis for civilization. Only by restoring the Christian Faith and Biblical law as the standard of all of life can Christians hope to re-establish Christian civilizations." Theocracy? Maybe, but the statement goes on to say: "We believe that the source of godly change is regeneration by the Holy Spirit, not revolution by the violence of man... No government in any form can make men Christians or truly obedient; this is the work of God's sovereign grace. Much less should civil government try to impose Biblical law on an unbelieving society. Biblical law cannot be imposed; it must be embraced."

In fact, much of the evidence that theocracy foes point to in order to establish their point that Christians intend to subvert the U.S. Constitution and replace it with Biblical law is actually evidence only that Christian pastors and leaders have for some years been reasserting the right and duty of Christians to participate in American public life, as over against the radical secularists who contend that any political activity by Christian groups constitutes a violation of the Establishment Clause.

The more conspiracy-minded among the theocracy foes, of course, brush aside such denials. The whole thing is a secret plot, you see -- what else would you expect but that the plotters would deny their plotting? After all, according to Chris Hedges, the American values of "compassion, tolerance and belief in justice and equality" are "being dismantled, often with stealth..." There can be no rational response to such paranoia, or any definitive refutation of it, but it is noteworthy to compare these denials to the open statements by Muslim leaders about the Islamic supremacist imperative. For while there is no shortage of Muslim spokesmen who proclaim their rejection of terrorism, those who are pursuing the jihad are generally quite open about their intentions -- in stark contrast to the flat denials from the very Christian leaders who are supposed to be leading the push for theocracy.

Before he left Britain one step ahead of law enforcement and returned to his native Lebanon, the jihadist Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad often boasted of his intention to "transform the West into Dar Al-Islam" and establish Islamic law on British soil. "I want to see the black flag of Islam flying over Downing Street," he said, and his now-disbanded al-Muhajiroun group was dedicated to this goal. The transformation of Britain into an Islamic state could come in two ways, he explained: "if an Islamic state arises and invades," in which case "we will be its army and its soldiers from within." But if no such Islamic state arises, Bakri said that Muslims would convert the West to Islam "through ideological invasion...without war and killing."

Al-Qaeda's second in command, Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, articulated a global vision in the summer of 2006: "War with Israel is not subject to a treaty, cease-fire, Sykes-Picot Treaty agreements, patriotism or disputed borders, but it is jihad for the cause of God until the entire religion is for him only. Jihad seeks the liberation of Palestine, the entire country of Palestine and to liberate every land that used to be a territory of Islam, from Spain to Iraq. The entire world is an open field for us...With the grace of God, we have now returned to the field...Dear Muslim brothers everywhere, today we must target the Jewish and the American interests everywhere." [1]

Until November 2003, when adverse publicity compelled them to take it down, the Islamic Affairs Department (IAD) of the Saudi Arabian embassy in Washington carried this statement of Islamic supremacism and belligerency on its website: "The Muslims are required to raise the banner of Jihad in order to make the Word of Allah supreme in this world, to remove all forms of injustice and oppression, and to defend the Muslims. If Muslims do not take up the sword, the evil tyrants of this earth will be able to continue oppressing the weak and [the] helpless..." [2]

In other words, if a country is perceived to be hindering the spread of Islam, Muslims are obliged to wage war against it. The spread of Islam must continue at all costs. There can be no half-measures or peaceful coexistence with unbelievers as equals on an indefinite basis. As the Egyptian jihad theorist Sayyid Qutb (1906-1966), whose works are still widely influential among Muslims worldwide, put it in his jihad manifesto Milestones (Ma'alim 'ala Al-Tariq), which has circulated throughout the world and been published in well over a thousand editions: "Islam cannot accept any mixing with Jahiliyyah [the society of unbelievers]...Either Islam will remain, or Jahiliyyah: Islam cannot accept or agree to a situation which is half-Islam and half-Jahiliyyah...Command belongs to God, or otherwise to Jahiliyyah; God's Shari'ah [Islamic law] will prevail, or else people's desires. 'And judge between them according to what God has revealed, and do not follow their opinions, and beware of them lest they confuse you in matters which God has revealed' (Qur'an 5:50)...'And if they do not respond to you, then know that they are following their own opinions; and who can be more misguided than one who follows his own opinion against the guidance from God? Indeed, God does not guide the wicked people.' (Qur'an 28:50)...The foremost duty of Islam in this world is to depose Jahiliyyah from the leadership of man, and to take the leadership into its own hands and enforce the particular way of life which is its permanent feature." [3]

The jihadist website Khilafah.com puts it succinctly: "Islam makes it a duty upon all Muslims to work to change their countries from Dar al-Kufr [the land of unbelief] to Dar al-Islam [the land of Islam]..." It exhorts Muslims to "carry Islam to the world through invitation and jihad."

Andrew Sullivan, while sounding the alarm about Christian theocrats, concedes that Christian Reconstructionists are "marginal, extremists, and largely disowned by the fundamentalist mainstream." Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the Islamic jihadists, who are active in numerous countries around the world, and whose version of Islam is not being effectively combated by any significant movement of peaceful Muslims anywhere.

Should we turn our attention away from a real threat to an imagined one? That is what Chris Hedges and the other anti-theocracy writers are asking us to do. While fiction has always competed with reality in the public discourse about the Islamic jihad, the Christian theocracy scare books represent projection on a massive scale. Unfortunately, while Chris Hedges leads the hunt for Christian theocrats under our bed, real theocrats continue to advance a violent supremacist agenda worldwide. We ignore or dismiss that at our own risk.

Notes:

[1] "A Video Speech from Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri Regarding the Events in Lebanon and Gaza -- 7/27/2006," SITE Institute, July 27, 2006.
[2] Steven Stalinsky, "The 'Islamic Affairs Department' of the Saudi Embassy in Washington, D.C.," Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) Special Report - No. 23, November 26, 2003.
[3] Sayyid Qutb, Milestones, The Mother Mosque Foundation, n.d., pp. 130-131.

David Meir-Levi is an American-born Israeli, currently living in Palo Alto. His expertise is in Near Eastern studies and the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. He is Director of Peace and Education at Israel Peace Initiative (www.ipi-usa.org). Contact him at david_meirlevi@hotmail.com

To Go To Top

HOW MUCH DUMBER COULD PERETZ GET?
Posted by Nurit Greenger, February 27, 2007.

That's Peretz -- first row right.

How much dumber could he get...Israel's Defense Minister Peretz is looking at a military exercises maneuvers thru blocked binocular lenses. No joking, it is real!

Contact Nurit Greenger by email at 4nuritg@ca.rr.com. Visit her blog:
http://ngthinker.typepad.com

To Go To Top

ISRAEL'S ARAB CITIZENS AND THE JEWISH STATE
Posted by Family Security Foundation, February 27, 2007.

This article was written by Tashbih Sayyed and it appeared February 7, 2007 on the Family Security Foundation website
(www.familysecuritymatters.org/global.php?id=768170). Tashbih Sayyed is the Editor in Chief of Pakistan Today, The Muslim World Today, Our Times, and In Review, and a regular columnist for newspapers across the world.

As another sign of the growing power of Global Jihad, Israel's Arab minority has rejected the idea of Israel as a Jewish state. In a manifesto, "The Future Vision of the Palestinian Arabs in Israel", drafted by 40 academics and activists under the sponsorship of the Committee of Arab Mayors in Israel and endorsed by an unprecedented range of Arab community leaders, Arab leaders have declared that Israel is a bi-national state and Arabs are an indigenous group with collective rights, not just individual rights.

They couldn't be wrong more.

Blinded by their anti-Semitism, Arabs ignored the fact that neither are they an indigenous group nor is the Jewish nationhood is a new phenomenon in Palestine; the Jewish nation was born during 40 years of wandering in the Sinai more than five thousand years ago and has remained connected with Palestine ever since. "Even after the destruction of the last Jewish commonwealth in the first century, the Jewish people maintained their own autonomous political and legal institutions: the Davidic dynasty was preserved in Baghdad until the thirteenth century through the rule of the Exilarch (Resh Galuta), while the return to Zion was incorporated into the most widely practiced Jewish traditions, including the end of the Yom Kippur service and the Passover Seder, as well as in everyday prayers. Thus, Jewish historic rights were kept alive in Jewish historical consciousness."
(http://www.jcpa.org/jl/vp507.htm)

Palestinian Arabs, on the other hand, never had a separate identity. They always thought of themselves as Arabs rather than as Palestinians. It is a matter of record that the Arabs owe their presence in Palestine to the Ottomans who settled Muslim populations as a buffer against Bedouin attacks and Ibrahim Pasha, the Egyptian ruler who brought Egyptian colonists with his army in the 1830s. And during all those times when Arabs lived under the Ottoman rule, they never showed any desire for national independence (emphasis added). According to Bernard Lewis, "From the end of the Jewish state in antiquity to the beginning of British rule, the area now designated by the name Palestine was not a country and had no frontiers, only administrative boundaries; it was a group of provincial subdivisions, by no means always the same, within a larger entity."

Lewis notes, "There had been a steady movement of Jews to the Holy Land throughout the centuries." In 135 CE Jews took part in the Bar Kochba revolt against imperial Rome and even re-established their capital in Jerusalem. Defeated by the most brutal of the Roman legions under the command of the emperor Hadrian, Jews were forbidden to reside in Jerusalem for nearly five hundred years. Once a year on the ninth of the Hebrew month of Av, they were allowed to weep at the remains of their destroyed Temple at a spot that came to be called "the Wailing Wall." In the meantime, the Roman authorities renamed Judea as Palestina in order to obliterate the memory of Jewish nationhood.

A resolution adopted by the first Congress of the Muslim Christian Association which met in Jerusalem in February 1919 underlines the Arab understanding of the situation conclusively. It said, "We consider Palestine as part of Arab Syria, as it has never been separated from it at any time. We are connected with it by national, religious, linguistic, natural, economic and geographical bonds."

Similarly, the representative of the Arab Higher Committee to the United Nations submitted a statement to the General Assembly in May 1947 that said, "Palestine was part of the Province of Syria" and that, "politically, the Arabs of Palestine were not independent in the sense of forming a separate political entity." A few years later, Ahmed Shuqeiri, later the chairman of the PLO, told the United Nations Security Council, "It is common knowledge that Palestine is nothing but southern Syria."
(www.aish.com/jewishissues/middleeast/Arab-Israeli_Conflict_1_Pre-State_Palestine.asp)

Jerusalem has always remained a Jewish majority -- a symbol of Jewish yearning to be an independent nation as they thrived in communities in many of Palestine's towns. "By 1864, a clear-cut Jewish majority emerged in Jerusalem - more than half a century before the arrival of the British Empire and the League of Nations Mandate. During the years that the Jewish presence in Eretz Israel was restored, a huge Arab population influx transpired as Arab immigrants sought to take advantage of higher wages and economic opportunities that resulted from Jewish settlement in the land. President Roosevelt concluded in 1939 that "Arab immigration into Palestine since 1921 has vastly exceeded the total Jewish immigration during the whole period."
(http://www.jcpa.org/jl/vp507.htm)

The present Arab declaration challenging the Jewish character of Israel cannot be ignored because it is not just an expression of dissatisfaction by a minority about their socio-economic situation but a reminder that Islamist radicalism and fundamentalism has now decided to challenge openly the legitimacy of the Jewish state using Arab citizens of Israel as its proxy in Israel. It must not be forgotten that the Israeli Arabs are part and parcel of the same Global Jihad that has been murdering our gallant soldiers on the war fronts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The international community has to act to stop these serious acts on the part of Global Jihad to undermine the only democracy in the Middle East. It is important to note that Israel is the target of Global Jihad for the same reasons as the United States of America and other open societies everywhere in the world.

Israel is the only democracy in the region

As all of the Muslim states, without any exception, are either autocracies or theocracies or both, they feel threatened by the very existence of a truly democratic state in their midst. This is a common experience of anyone who visits the region that for the oppressed populations of the Muslim countries, the Jewish state serves as a beacon of hope. During my first visit to Israel, I was pleasantly surprised to see that most of the Arabs that I had a chance to talk with preferred to live under the Jewish state.

Israel is a pluralistic society

Israel is the only pluralistic democracy, respectful of human rights, that exists in the Middle East. The evidence of Jewish pluralism is everywhere; the Arab population in Israel was freer than the populations in any Arab state. Israel's Arab citizens had full freedom of expression and demonstration. They were enjoying full voting rights. They were free to elect their own leaders to the Knesset. They had their own political parties. Newspapers owned and managed by Arabs were thriving. In fact the Israeli Arabs had full rights to citizenship. Having been born and brought up in a Muslim society, I couldn't believe my eyes as I saw Arab citizens of Israel having more dignity, self respect and rights than any of the Muslims living in any of the Muslim states.

Israel is truly an open society

Israel is the only state in the whole Middle East where women had total freedom of pursuing happiness. I saw Muslim women going to schools, colleges and universities without any restriction or inhibition. I noted with interest that right along with hijab and veil-wearing Arab female students there were many who were wearing jeans. Such an open society is definitely a threat to the traditional Arab society in which women cannot be allowed any kind of freedom -- as free and independent women in a traditional Muslim culture is a sign of diminishing male authority and respect.

From a strict Islamist fundamentalist point of view, a society that allows its women to operate freely and independently is a society representing Jahiliya -- the era of darkness, of ignorance and shamelessness. Islam, in an Islamist's view had come to destroy the pillars of shamelessness that supported the era of jahilya. For Global Jihad representing the strictest and manipulated version of Islam the Judeo-Christian culture today is a symbol of all that was Jahilya. And Israel's Jewish heritage and foundations are a direct threat to the domination and continuance of Islamist obscurantism.

I saw Arab businesses thriving in Israel. To my amazement, most of my Jewish friends were recommending, supporting and promoting them. Such an Israeli tolerance for a people who have never stopped from aiding their enemies was unbelievable. I visited a number of Arab institutions and found them flourishing. This again explains why the Arabs do not want Israel to exist; it is setting an example for a just society that respects human beings irrespective of their color, creed or ethnicity and above all without stopping to think for a moment that they are potentially an enemy.

It is now a common experience in Israel that the Arabs living under Muslim Arab authorities want to be treated in Israeli hospitals, when suffering from life threatening illnesses. And there never have been an instance when any Israeli hospital has ever refused treatment to any Muslim Arab, even in cases when the person who came for treatment was suspected of being a potential terrorist. The world knows that some of the Arabs who received treatments in the Israeli medical facilities did in fact come back as homicide bombers causing death and destruction to the innocent citizens of Israel.

It is a real experience to be in Israel. Just like in the U.S., the Jewish state has citizens who have come from more than hundred countries and represent diverse ethnic, religious, and racial groups. All of the continents, Asia, Africa, Australia, the Americas and Europe are represented there and everyone enjoys equal rights. One cannot find even a shade of discrimination in any form.

It is a model for the region

"Israel's economic, political, scientific and social success have the potential to become a model for the region. The more sensible Arabs in Gaza or the Palestinian Authority, when comparing the miserable life imposed upon them by the bullies of al Fatah, Hamas or Hezbollah with the very superior lifestyle of their Arab-Israeli brothers inevitably conclude that liberty and rationality bring dividends.

Israel, which comprises some 10,000 square miles, compared with Arab countries that total over five million square miles -- not including Iran -- has shown itself to be a model of democracy and decency. Over one million Arabs live in Israel with full rights of citizenship. They vote and serve in Israel's parliament. And yet, bereft of oil, Israel's per capita gross domestic product tops 24,000 dollars (compared with the oil-rich Saudi Arabia whose per capita GDP hovers at 13,000 dollars), and it remains a thriving bastion of democratic liberalism in an ocean of oligarchies and dictatorships."
(http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NWU2M2YyNjFmZDViZmVkN2I2OGEyNjAwOWU1YzQ3ZDM=)

Consequently the Jewish state has already become a magnet for the Arabs living in the neighboring Muslim states, explaining the fast growing population of Arabs in the Jewish state; the fast growth is not just because of the birth rate but is also because of the immigration on many pretexts of Arabs from neighboring countries.

The rejection of Israel as a Jewish state by Israel's Arab minority has underlined the level of threat to Israel's security which has never been so pronounced. It seems as if all the dark forces determined to undermine and overwhelm democracy and pluralism have joined hands; Hezbollah has convinced the world that Israel is not invincible; Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and other Muslim states have arguably proved their effectiveness in convincing Washington that without validating Palestinian terrorism, it cannot win its war on Islamist fascism; Iran is on its way to gain the second Islamist nuclear bomb; and the international assaults on Israel's character are gaining in momentum.

The Islamists' demand to redefine the foundations of Israel is part of the same campaign that has been working not so discreetly in the US to replace the Jeffersonian civic religion by Islamist fascists. It is in the US interest to watch how Israeli Arabs' move to dismantle the Jewish state is shaping up. Just like the manner in which Islamist organizations in the US are taking advantage of our openness to destroy our Judeo-Christian foundations, Israeli Arabs are also taking advantage of a democratic constitution to subvert an open and pluralistic way of life.

Israeli Arabs' rejection of Israel as a Jewish state is an extension of their demand for the return of refugees to Israel. They have kept the refugee issue alive for so many decades only because they knew that what they cannot win in the battlefield, they can gain by using the Jewish state's commitment to remain a democracy.

It is an historical fact that fighting an internal enemy is much more difficult than defending against an external threat. Israel and the US both have fought off external enemies with success but now both are facing an enemy that has entrenched itself deep within their democracies. This onslaught on our freedoms from within has to be dealt with forthwith before it gets out of hand.

Contact The Family Security Foundation by email at operationsdirector@familysecuritymatters.org

To Go To Top

ANTI-JEWISH CARTOON ANGERS L.A. KOREANS
Posted by Rick Weston, February 27, 2007.

LOS ANGELES - Korean-American community leaders said they plan to launch a protest against the publisher of a popular South Korean comic book that contains anti-Semitic images.

One comic strip in the book shows a man climbing a hill and then facing a brick wall with a Star of David and "STOP" sign in front. "The final obstacle to success is always a fortress called Jews," a translation says.

Another strip shows a newspaper, magazine, TV and radio with the description: "In a word, American public debate belongs to the Jews, and it's no exaggeration to say that U.S. media are the voice of the Jews."

Yohngsohk Choe, co-chairman of the Korean American Patriotic Action Movement in the USA, said, "I don't have words to describe the outrage I feel."

The group met Friday with Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish advocacy group. Cooper said he would travel to Seoul on March 15 to raise concerns about the book.

The book, written by South Korean university professor Lee Won-bok, is part of a series called "Distant Countries and Neighboring Countries," which is intended to teach youngsters about other countries. The series has sold more than 10 million copies.

Eun-Ju Park, chief executive of Seoul publisher Gimm-Young, said in an e-mail that the author sent an apology to Charles Kim, national president of the Los Angeles-based Korean-American Coalition.

Park wrote that she would look into the matter "more closely and correct what needs to be corrected."

Contact Rick Weston at matchwest@hotmail.com

To Go To Top

KOREAN COMIC AUTHOR: JEWS RULE U.S.
Posted by Bryna Berch, February 27, 2007.

This story is from yesterday's CNN.com
(http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/02/26/skorea.cartoon.ap/archives/oldindex.html).

A South Korean child reads a copy of the controversial comic at the Kyobo Book Store in Seoul.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- The author of a best-selling comic book series intended to teach children about other countries said Monday he would change a chapter on Jews that has been called anti-Semitic and similar to Nazi propaganda.

Rhie Won-bok maintained, however, that his depiction of Jewish control of American media and politics was based on fact and "commonly believed."

"The Jews are the invisible force that controls the U.S.," Rhie, a professor of visual arts at Duksung Women's University in Seoul, told The Associated Press. "I wrote the chapter to let people know that you can't understand the U.S. without knowing the Jewish community."

More than 10 million copies from the 12-book series titled "Meon Nara, Yiwoot Nara," or "Far Countries, Near Countries," have been sold since it was first published in 1987, according to its publisher, Gimm-Young Publishers. The company boasts that at least one volume is in every South Korean home in this country of 48 million people.

The comics with playfully drawn figures have sought to explain European countries, the U.S., Japan and even Korea itself.

The 12-book series "Meon Nara, Yiwoot Nara" (Far Countries, Near Countries) at Kyobo Book Store.
The first volume of three focusing on the United States was published in 2004. In a chapter titled "You have to know the Jews to see the U.S.," Rhie takes a wide-ranging look at Jewish history, mentioning the Holocaust and Jews being spread throughout the world without a homeland.

Although noting that Jews have faced prejudice for many centuries, the book takes a more sinister view of their role in the United States.

Rhie said the September 11 attacks occurred because of Arab terrorists' hatred for the U.S. he blamed on Jews who "move the U.S. in the way they want using money and the media as their weapon."

The book also says Korean-Americans are diligent and successful in the U.S. "but in the end, always run into the wall called the Jews." The accompanying picture shows an exasperated man walking up a hill only to be blocked by a brick wall with a Star of David and the word "STOP" in English.

Images from the book "echo classic Nazi canards," Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center said in a statement earlier this month. In a letter sent to the publishers, Cooper urged them to review "the slanders in this book that historically have led to anti-Semitism, violence, hatred and even genocide."

Rhie asserted he is "not at all anti-Semitic" and that he would remove the parts that have drawn offense or write them differently. "The last thing I want is a conflict between the Koreans and the Jews because of my book," he said.

There is no established Jewish community in Korea.

To Go To Top

JIHAD'S CAMPUS COLLABORATORS
Posted by Unity Coalition for Israel, February 27, 2007.

This was written by Caroline Glick and it appeared yesterday in the Jerusalem Post. Caroline B. Glick is the senior Middle East Fellow at the Center for Security Policy in Washington, DC and the deputy managing editor of The Jerusalem Post.

The general tendency of Westerners is to view global jihad as a foreign policy issue. But today it is clear that it is also a domestic policy issue.

Over the weekend The Sunday Telegraph reported that a recently circulated British intelligence report warned: "The terrorist threat facing Britain from home-grown al-Qaida agents is higher than at any time since the September 11 attacks in 2001."

After foiling the jihadist plot to down US-bound British passenger aircraft last summer, MI5 director Eliza Manningham-Buller claimed that there are some 1,600 British Muslims actively involved in plotting attacks against Britain. According to the intelligence report cited in the Sunday Telegraph, today that number exceeds 2,000.

As one senior British political source told the newspaper, "The Security Services have constantly warned that the task of countering Islamic terrorism is a daunting one. There will be more attacks in Britain."

It is not surprising that Britain faces the specter of mass attacks carried out by its own citizens in the name of Allah. Repeated exposes of the goings-on in British mosques and in supposedly "moderate" British Muslim communal organizations have shown unequivocally that they are being used as indoctrination centers for jihad.

A poll published last month by Britain's Policy Exchange think tank bore out the poisonous impact this indoctrination has had on young Muslims in the country. Thirty-seven percent of British Muslims between the ages of 16-24 would rather live under Shari'a law than under British Common Law; 36 percent think Muslims should be killed if they convert to another religion; 13 percent admire al-Qaida and similar terror groups; and a whopping 74 percent of young British Muslims believe women should wear veils.

WHILE IT is true that in the US the danger of home-grown jihadists to national security is lower than it is in Britain, it is also true that there is a growing phenomenon of jihadist violence being perpetrated by Muslim men against American civilians in the name of jihad.

Ten days ago, the Investors Business Daily published an editorial enumerating a partial list of acts of terrorism carried out by Muslim men against their fellow Americans since the September 11 attacks. Most recently, Sulejman Talovic entered a shopping mall in Salt Lake City, murdered five and wounded four unsuspecting shoppers before being killed by an off-duty police officer.

As was the case when Derrick Shareef, another Muslim male, was arrested in early December for plotting to carry out a similar attack at a shopping mall in Illinois just before Christmas, the media and the law enforcement agencies covering the Salt Lake City massacre have made light of the fact that the perpetrator was a Muslim.

While Talovic is dead and so cannot explain his motives to authorities, Shareef was arrested after telling an FBI informant of his plans to murder Jews specifically and Americans in particular for Allah. As Shareef told the informant, "I swear by Allah man, I'm down for it too. I'm down for the cause. I'm down to live for the cause and die for the cause, man."

SHAREEF'S protestations of jihadist ardor made little impression on either federal authorities or the media. Upon announcing Shareef's arrest, US Federal Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald insisted that he was acting on his own and that he had no outside inspiration for his decision to commit mass murder for Allah. As was the case with Talovic and with Naveed Afzal Haq, who murdered one woman and wounded five during his shooting rampage at the Seattle Jewish Federation last July, the media and federal authorities have hushed up and failed to investigate the jihadist motives for the Illinois attacker or link him to any larger phenomenon.

The Investors Business Daily editorial ran under the headline "Sudden jihad syndrome." The term, which has been bandied about by law enforcement officials in both the US and Britain in recent months, encapsulates the view that Muslims can be incited and then move to commit acts of murder in the name of Allah and jihad instantaneously.

The attractiveness of the "sudden jihad syndrome" explanation for violent Islamic crime is clear. By arguing that the jihadists are acting on their own after being mysteriously inspired by no one, law enforcement officials and the media are relieved of the thankless task of investigating mosques, Muslim advocacy groups and Islamic centers, where the jihadist indoctrination is conducted on a daily basis.

IT IS hard to know what to make of this view. Perhaps there is something to it. Perhaps the message of jihad is so strong that young Muslim men can be inspired to shoot pregnant women in office buildings after the notion of murder for Allah enters the transoms of their minds independently of other outside factors - through vapors or spontaneous generation perhaps.

What is clear enough is that since this is the view that is informing policymakers, law enforcement officials and the media in handling a clear trend of jihadist murder, it requires serious empirical study. The obvious place for that research to take place is in the universities.

Unfortunately, there can be little hope that universities in the US or in the West in general will devote any serious consideration to this most important sociological, psychological and national security trend. Far from being willing to study the most central issue of our times, universities are leading the charge in either ignoring it, or apologizing for it.

On February 15, the Iraqi Ambassador to the UN, Hamid Al Bayati, spoke at New York's Fordham University. During the course of his remarks, Bayati doubted the fact that the Holocaust had occurred. In his words, "I'm not aware of any dictator who used chemical weapons against his own people. Some academics or diplomats would say Hitler used chemical weapons, but I am sure he didn't use them against his own people - his German people."

When pressed by law professor Avi Bell on the fact that several hundred thousand German citizens were gassed to death by Nazi Germany, Bayati still refused to take the point.

Fordham University is far from alone in providing a platform for Holocaust deniers. Last Thursday the Dean's office at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology co-sponsored an event on the Arab-Israel conflict called, "Foreign Policy and Social Justice: A Jewish View, a Muslim View." The man invited to provide the Jewish view was Dovid Weiss, a member of the crackpot Neturei Karta sect. Weiss rose to prominence when he traveled to Teheran last December to participate in Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Holocaust denial conference.

While MIT and Fordham were hosting Holocaust deniers in the name of intellectual freedom, their fellow universities were hosting "Israel Apartheid Week." As part of their efforts to criminalize the Jewish state, Arab and Jewish speakers at "Israel Apartheid Week" events refer to Israel as "1948 Palestine" and show propaganda films portraying IDF soldiers and Israeli civilians in Judea and Samaria as murderers.

The events are generally sponsored by the International Solidarity Movement. In addition to their campus outreach, the ISM sponsors the weekly riots against the security fence in Bil'in and in Hebron, where its protesters throw rocks at IDF soldiers. Given the violent content of their actions in Israel, it should come as no surprise that their events on US campuses also breed violence.

At an "Israel Apartheid Week" event at City University of New York, after watching a propaganda film, 19-year old Binyamin Rister rose and politely asked the ISM presenters if they supported terrorism. When he received no reply he politely repeated the question. Rather than wait for an answer, CUNY security guards dragged Rister from the room and then repeatedly banged his head against the wall of an elevator and threw him head first down the stairs. Rister's injuries from the assault by campus security required him to be evacuated by ambulance in a neck brace to the hospital.

In an almost identical case at Georgetown last year, Bill Maniaci a 65-year-old retired Jewish American police officer was brutalized by Georgetown security guards after he asked ISM spokesmen if they supported terrorism. He is currently suing Georgetown for $8 million in damages for the assault. According to Lee Kaplan's report of the CUNY event in Frontpage Magazine, there were seven witnesses to the unprovoked attack against Rister. He too has filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against CUNY.

EVEN THOSE propounding the view that jihadist murderers in the US and Britain are inspired to kill after being brought under the spell of the "sudden jihad syndrome" cannot deny that the root of the jihad is ideas. Similarly, it is self-evident that the key to beating the global jihad is victory in the battlefield of ideas. Unfortunately, as the pro-jihadist trend on US and Western campuses, and its impact on idea consumers in law enforcement, the media and policy circles throughout the free world shows, to the extent that those charged with engaging in the battle of ideas are engaged, they fight on the side of the enemy.

The Unity Coalition for Israel (UCI) (http://www.israelunitycoalition.org) is "the largest worldwide coalition of Jewish and Christian organizations, with more than 200 groups representing millions of people dedicated to Israel. Though we have many different backgrounds, we have one common goal: A Safe and Secure Israel."

"Israel is not just a Jewish issue. Millions of Christians resolutely endorse the principle of peace with security for the state of Israel. Because we work closely together and speak with a united voice, our message is being heard!"

To Go To Top

SYNAGOGUES USED AS BASES TO FIRE ON ISRAEL
Posted by Daily Alert, February 27, 2007.

This was written by Aaron Klein, World Net Daily's Jerusalem bureau chief. It appeared today in New York Sun
(http://www.nysun.com/article/49376)

TEL AVIV -- The ruins of two large synagogues in evacuated Jewish communities of the Gaza Strip have been transformed into military bases used by Palestinian Arab groups to fire rockets at Israeli cities, according to a senior leader of a Gaza militant group.

When Israel withdrew from the Gaza in August, 2005, it left intact 20 synagogues of the Gush Katif Jewish communities following an Israeli Cabinet decision against demolishing the structures. Immediately after the Israeli evacuation was completed, Palestinian Arabs destroyed most of the Gaza synagogues.

Speaking to The New York Sun from Gaza, a spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees, Abu Abir, said the area in which the synagogues once stood is now used to fire rockets at Israel.

"We are proud to turn these lands, especially these parts that were for long time the symbol of occupation and injustice, like the synagogue, into a military base and source of fire against the Zionists and the Zionist entity," Mr. Abir said.

Mr. Abir blamed the Jewish state for the desecration of the Gaza synagogues by Palestinian Arabs, claiming the decision to leave the structures intact was part of an Israeli conspiracy.

Israel "left the synagogues behind so the world would see the Palestinians destroying them," Mr. Abir said.

The Daily Alert is prepared for the Conference of presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA). Contact them at daily@www.dailyalert.jcpa.org

To Go To Top

A SECOND BLOOD LIBEL ANTI-SEMITE FROM ISRAELI ACADEMIA
Posted by Steven Plaut, February 27, 2007.

Yehiam Soreq or Sorek is one of the most openly anti-Semitic "academics" employed in Israeli academia. He teaches at the "Beit Berl" college, associated with the kibbutz movement and the Israeli "labor movement" (teh Labor Party and the Histadrut); it is named after the Zionist leader Berl Katsenelson. Sorek teaches history there. He is a vicious anti-Israel extremist, signs all the anti-Israel petitions (here is but one: http://maritimes.indymedia.org/news/2002/09/2941.php ). He differs from the other academic anti-Zionists in Israel mainly in turning out propaganda articles that are much loopier and loonier than those of most of the others --. see below. (His web site in Hebrew is at http://www.beitberl.ac.il/professors/ProfessorsPreview.asp?ID=347 It says he has a PhD from South Africa.)

SOrek has now become the SECOND Israeli "academic" to endorse medieval blood libels about Jews supposedly using blood for ritual purposes in the Middle Ages. As you know, Prof. Ariel Toaff from Bar-Ilan University has been making such claims and Bar Ilan University is now under ENORMOUS attack for employing such a person. Toaff yesterday refused to appear before a Knesset committee to answer questions and he may be charged with contempt.

Over the past weeks, numerous people, including myself, have been saying that there is not a single Jew in the world who endorses Toaff's ridiculous "research". Alas, we were wrong. There is now one other. Yehiam Sorek. In today's Maariv, he basically endorses Toaff's claims (which Toaff himself is now trying to play down). He proclaims Toaff a brave hero and insists that just as there cannot be smoke without a fire, medieval blood libels against Jews must have some factual basis. Criticism of people like Toaff is as illegitimate, writes Sorek, as similar criticisms against pro-Palestinian propagandists in Israeli academia who write about the "Naqba", the Arab word for catastrophe, favorite nonsense word of the braindead Left when referring to Israel's creation.

Yehiam Sorek's blood libel anti-Semitic screed can be read in Hebrew at
http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART1/549/546.html

Ben Dror Yemini, editor of Maariv, dismisses Sorek as a vile anti-Semite and pseudo-academic, in Hebrew at
http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART1/549/492.html Ben Droro Yemini writes that it is only a question of time before Sorek discovers that the Protocols of the Elders of Zion also are factually correct and entitled to be taught in Israeli schools.

The director or Beit Berl is Ruthie Gavri at Phone 972-9-7476302 ruth@beitberl.ac.il

Beit Berl's fax is 972-9-7476340. A form letter on the web for writing Beit Berl is at

http://www.beitberl.ac.il/InfoPages/InfoPagesPreview.asp?ID=494

You may also wish to write to the Minister of Education, Yuli Tamir, email info@education.gov.il, with a cc to mankal@education.gov.il and owl@education.gov.il

Here is an earlier posting of mine on Herr Sorek:


"Hannuka Among the Hellenists"
"Yehiam Soreq or Sorek, a "historian" who teaches at the Beit Berl College"
http://www.americanthinker.com/2006/12/hannuka_among_the_hellenists_1.html
December 15, 2006
www.americanthinker.com/2006/12/hannuka_among_the_hellenists_1.html

Of all the Jewish holidays, the one that I think best captures the contemporary Jewish zeitgeist, the one that is the most relevant to the current (and, if certain trends are not reversed, the last?) chapter in Jewish history, is Hannuka.

Hannuka is, of course, the story of Jewish national liberation. It is the story of the military victory of the few against the many, of the champions of Judaism against the pagan barbarians.

But it is more than this. It is the saga of the heroic struggle of Jewish survivalists (those one would today label "Zionists") against the assimilationists and self-hating Hellenists of the second century BCE.

Hannuka is less a story about the battle against the Greeks than it is about the battle against the predominant assimilationist paradigm at the time among the Jews. It is about the battle against the anti-survivalists, those who hated themselves for being Jews, those who seek to be "progressive", "modern", and "in", through rejecting, abasing, disgracing and degrading themselves and their people. The Hellenists who fought the Hasmoneans were struggling against Jewish survival. Sound familiar?

In the United States, the main movement of Hellenistic assimilationism has been the school of "Political Liberalism as Judaism", the pseudo-religion that holds that all of Judaism can be reduced to the pursuit of this week's liberal political fads. But the global avante garde of Jewish self-hatred these days is the Israeli Fundamentalist.

The Israeli Fundamentalist is the main manifestation today of Jewish anti-Semitism.

It not only promotes "plans" and policies designed to end Israel's existence, increasingly endorsing the one-state, bi-national Rwanda solution to the "problem" of Israeli national existence, but it also regularly attacks every symbol and concept of traditional Judaism.

You think I am exaggerating? Well just consider the Op-Ed a few years back in the Israeli anti-Zionist daily Haaretz, penned by one Yehiam Soreq, a "historian" who teaches at the Beit Berl College in Israel. Beit Berl is a college run by the kibbutz movement. Article appears in English here:
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/objects/pages/PrintArticleEn.jhtml?itemNo=294419

The "historian" Soreq devoted his Haaretz column to proving that the Maccabees were fascist and racist hooligans, bloodthirsty zealots, and downright Likudniks. His column was entitled "Bloodthirsty Zealots". His thesis was that Jews should stop celebrating Hannuka and the exploits of the Maccabees, and should instead feel sympathy for the poor occupied and mistreated Greeks and Hellenists.

His article was not a spoof.

The evil Maccabees were plotting to perpetrate population "transfer", wrote Soreq, that most evil of all crimes in the "minds" of Israel's fundamentalists. Population "transfer" is far worse than, say, mass murdering 2000 Jews after signing with them a series of peace accords, or turning the West Bank and Gaza over to barbarian fascists to allow them to carry out such mass murders. Soreq is a member of that same Fundamentalist that will not rest until all Jews have been expelled from the West Bank and Gaza in an act of ethnic cleansing, and until no Israeli armed forces are left behind to interfere with the terrorist activities of the "Palestinians."

Matityahu, the father of Judah Maccabee and his brothers, was a lunatic, wrote Soreq. He was a warmonger who dragged his country into an unnecessary "war of choice", one that was not a legitimate "war of self-defense". (Never mind that there is nothing at all in Judaism that says Jews should refrain from conquering their lands unless it is part of a war of self-defense.) The Maccabees were the aggressors, insisted Soreq. And they suppressed the free speech of those who supported the Greeks; how undemocratic of them!

Judah Maccabee was guilty of causing many families to lose their loved ones by leading people to war, wrote Soreq, instead of pursuing some sort of Hellenistic Oslo appeasement and capitulation, the sort the "enlightened " seeks today to impose upon Israel. All Judah Maccabee really wanted to do was to Occupy, Occupy, Occupy, insists Soreq. No better than the West Bank settlers today! And not only that, but Judah and his hooligans were Orthodox Jews, which every fundamentalist knows must make them primitive and barbaric; you know, unlike the enlightened Marxist historians who live on nice kibbutzim or teach at the Beit Berl college.

Unfortunately, Soreq is hardly a lone phenomenon. Israel's anti-Jewish have been launching similar jihads against every other symbol of Jewish valor. Masada was a cesspool of non-tolerant fanatics, according to them. The Bible is a backward document full of fabrications. Schools should stop teaching it altogether, they demand, and instead teach something really useful, like the works of Palestinian "poets". Archeology proves the Bible is nothing but lies and fantasy, they insist. One wag labeled such people Pentateuch Deniers (intended as a play on "Holocaust Deniers").

In Israel, the country's politics - particularly its cultural/educational elite and its chattering classes - are now largely dominated by those motivated by the desire for their country to commit national suicide. They scorn themselves, their own country and their own people, the same way that the Hellenized Jews did at the time of the Maccabees. Many endorse boycotts of Israel by anti-Semites abroad. Like the Hellenized Jews, they are convinced that traditionalist Jews are reactionary and primitive, and that the greatest national priority should be renunciation of Jewish peculiarity and the striving to assimilate amongst the cosmopolitan progressive "Greeks" of the world. They are ashamed of their Jewishness and convinced that the only path to peace is to renounce it. They insist that a Seleucid "narrative" should replace the Jews' own reactionary national one.

Israel's universities are by and large the Occupied Territories of these Hellenists. The Israeli media is to almost the same extent. Hellenists dominate much of the Israeli military and, somewhat incredibly, the intelligence services. (It is doubtful the country could have undergone the Oslo debacle had these intelligence services not operated as lap dogs for the Beilinized Israeli Fundamentalist.)

Hellenists have attempted to rewrite the Israeli school curriculum, to teach Israeli Jewish children to despise themselves. Their message is that Jews must feel ashamed, because they are mean, selfish, evil and immoral people. Surely, there would be no anti-Semitism on the planet were not the Jews such racist and insensitive people.

Their aim is to convince the Jews that the only way they may become accepted in the world is to adapt to paganism, to stop seeking to exist as a separate national entity, to commit national suicide. Moreover, their campaign is aimed at challenging the moral existence of the Jews. They realize this is the weakest chink in the armor of the Jews. If Jews can be convinced that they are morally in the wrong, then no Maccabees will emerge. The aim of the Jewish Hellenists is the delegitimization of the Jews as a nation, discrediting the moral position of Jewish survivalism.

The message of the contemporary Hellenists is unambiguous: Those who wish to purify the Temple, who seek pure oil for the Temple lamp, who wish to evict the barbarians from Jerusalem, are the enemies of peace. The Maccabees must be arrested for incitement. The Jews must provide Antiochus with concessions and arms and funds and a Road Map. Under no circumstances should the Jews seek to defend themselves militarily against the Seleucids, for there is no military solution to the problem of Seleucid aggression. If the barbarians murder the Jews, it is because the Jews are evil, selfish people and because they have been too reluctant to abandon their primitive survivalism.

If the Israeli anti-Jewish has its way, the Post-Hasmonean, post-survivalist era will be upon us.

http://www.israel-academia-monitor.com/index.php?type=large_advic&advice_id= 4399&page_data[id]=175&cookie_lang=en&the_session_id= 97a515e465964bc2273301f40c79ca36&PHPSESSID=441c451e14b0eade6a6a48abd467fe53

Sorek's email address is yehiam.sorek@beitberl.ac.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 or write him by email at splaut@econ.haifa.ac.il

To Go To Top

ISRAEL'S ENEMIES SPAN THE GLOBE
Posted by Lawrence Uniglicht, February 26, 2007.

Today's major threats to Israel 's security have connections to Shiite Iran. Iranian ally Syria yearns to once more rule over for the Golan Heights, Hamas and Hizbullah, both financed by Iran, yearn to annihilate the Jewish State, and of course Iran, whose president wishes to "wipe Israel off the map", itself is on the threshold of becoming a nuclear power. Furthermore, the lion's share (or camel's share in the native vernacular) of a morphing Middle East, mostly adherents to a Sunni version of Islam, likewise feel threatened by an emerging Persian juggernaut and its friends. The fact that America and coalition partners destabilized a regional balance of power, toppling and disrupting Iran's proximate archenemies, Sadist Hussein's Sunni Baathist party in Iraq and a Sunni Taliban fundamentalist government in Afghanistan respectively, exacerbates that threat, thus Sunni movers and shakers stain their fashionable robes, unable to hold tea cups steady, sipping with trembling spindly fingers. Indeed, Saudi led OPEC is even willing to pump more fossil fuel, thus lower its barrel price, consequently diminishing the cash flow to Iran's oil dependent economy, disrupting the juggernaut in progress. However, the Shiite regime has underwriting friends in low places, like Russia's egomaniacal Vladimir Putin. Indeed, you can take Vladimir out of the KGB, but you can't take the KGB out of cagey Vladimir; just ask Russia's once most powerful and richest oil oligarch, of partial Jewish ethnicity, Mikhail Khodorkovsky when visiting hours permit, or if it were possible, erstwhile spy Alexander Litvinenko from the grave, not likely to radiate much enthusiasm toward the Don who signed his death warrant from Moscow.

Putin's tentacles, however, extend beyond the Eastern Hemisphere, snaking into Venezuela, a nation in turmoil, ruled by virulent anti-Semite Hugo Chavez. Both Russia and Venezuela, economies dependent on the per barrel price of oil, are on the short list of the planet's foremost pushers of that addictive liquid, thus both leaders, positions of power tied to economic results, fortunes intertwined, might be expected to hold hands singing kumbaya while doing business. Not coincidentally, Chavez is a fan of oil revenue dependent Iran and its 'in your face' Imam possessed anti-Semite supreme President Mahmoud AhMADinejad, kindred spirits in Holocaust revisionism. Indeed, sucking up to extreme Islam, Shiite-style, is also good business for the ambitious South American tyrant, no doubt wearing his socialist hat to suck in vast numbers of poor folks, the core component of his domestic power base. Putin, Chavez, and AhMADinejad, albeit the latter somewhat subservient to Iran's anti-Semitic mullahs, have much in common, are collectively potent adversaries of the Jewish State, more essentially by deeds than words, thus should be observed very carefully by Israeli intelligence forces. It goes without say, Uncle Sam's analysts have mega interest as well in this triad, potentially treacherous to a 'war on terror' right in America's own backyard.

Lest anyone doubt that a Venezuela crafted by Chavez and an Iran defined by AhMADinejad are not far apart in utter disdain for Jews and Israel, perhaps a quantum leap more so than Putin at least in rhetoric, review the following evidence compliments of the ADL.

Anti-Semitism is routinely found in Venezuela's government-sponsored press, with stereotypical descriptions and caricatures of Jews and anti-Israel invective appearing in opinion pieces and editorial cartoons. Some examples:

  • Those who are upset with Ahmadinejad's visit to Venezuela are the gangsters of the local Jewish mafia; the terrorists who control the Confederations of Israelite Associations (CAIV) and other criminal organizations of similar reputation." -- Los Papeles de Mandinga, September 19, 2006
  • It was to be expected. The profound humanistic conviction and moral solidarity of Commander Chavez for denouncing the atrocities that are systematically committed by the state of Israel against Arab people have bothered the cancers of the inferno -- international imperialism and Zionism." -- Diario Vea, September 14, 2006
  • Zionists, the destructive sect of radical Jews, are again impregnating the Jewish community with its animosity towards humanity. The genocide they executed in Palestine and Lebanon is similar to the Holocaust which the Nazis executed against them, and they will undergo another Holocaust because of the global hatred they are accumulating." -- Diario Vea, July 4, 2006.

"President Hugo Chavez and his government institutions have elevated their anti-Israel rhetoric to dangerous levels, and it often crosses the line into anti-Semitism," said Abraham H. Foxman. "It is troubling that the leadership of a Latin American country, that once served as a safe-haven for Holocaust survivors and that still boasts a sizeable Jewish community, has taken a wrong turn into fostering hatred, prejudice and bigotry while supporting countries and groups who call for Israel's total destruction."

Chavez and his government have resorted to implicit and explicit anti-Semitic displays, including rehashing the ancient canard of Jewish control, blaming Israel and the Jews for the world's problems, and adopting anti-Semitic stereotypes about Jewish financial influence. Recently, in a series of public statements on Israel's war with Hezbollah, Chavez repeatedly compared Israel to the Nazis and Hitler, and in speaking to his own people he has on at least one occasion dabbled in classical anti-Semitic canards:

  • Israel was committing genocide in Lebanon and its leaders should be held responsible and should be judged by an international tribunal ... The Israelis criticize Hitler but have done something worse." -- August 25, 2006.
  • This fascism is something similar to what Hitler did: bombard cities, kill innocent children, women and men, and destroy the infrastructure of people." -- July 26, 2006
  • ... The world is for all of us, then, but it so happens that a minority, the descendents of the same ones that crucified Christ, the descendants of the same ones that kicked Bolivar out of here and also crucified him in their own way over there in Santa Marta, in Colombia. A minority has taken possession of all the wealth in the world ... -- December, 24, 2005.

Israel surely has its enemies in the Middle East, but not exclusively in that region. Indeed, worldwide connections exacerbate the Jewish State's security dilemma. Yet, we must note the one common bond of oil revenue dependent economies, and must ask ourselves if the ultimate answer for the beleaguered Jewish State, as well as formidable ally America, is to eventually stop buying their oil and convince other industrial nations to do the same. Hmmm. Just a thought!

Lawrence Uniglicht is a career civil servant, working for the Social Security Administration. He advocates for the State of Israel with an American perspective. He writes, "Advocating for the disrespected underdog has been my passion, no doubt Israel falls into that category." Contact him by email at luniglicht@snip.net

To Go To Top

PERLE: BUSH FAILED BY HIS OWN PEOPLE
Posted by News Max, February 26, 2007.

This was written by Dave Eberhart and appeared today on www.NewsMax.com.

Richard Perle tells NewsMax that key members of the Bush administration have failed the president -- and Perle names names.

In a wide-ranging interview, the former assistant Secretary of Defense under President Reagan and chairman of the Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee from 2001 to 2003 under President Bush calls former Secretary of State Colin Powell a "disaster" and says current Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice "was in way over her head from the beginning."

Others fall within his sights: Al Franken, Nancy Pelosi, John Murtha, and George Tenet, among others.

Surprising words from the man critics of the White House have dubbed "the Prince of Darkness" -- a leading neo-conservative who was one of the key proponents of the 2002 invasion to overthrow Saddam Hussein.

Speaking from his home in Chevy Chase, Md., Perle -- the man who was credited with orchestrating the Reagan policies that led to the fall of the Soviet Union -- is busy explaining his role in a less savory subject, the current situation in Iraq.

While Perle does see a silver lining and believes that our actions may have prevented greater evil, he worries that the situation is looking more and more like Vietnam, especially as that war was lost on the home front.

Perle will be featured in PBS's upcoming two-hour program "The Case for War: In Defense of Freedom."

It is one segment of a series called "America at a Crossroads." PBS says the series will explore the challenges confronting the world post-9/11, including the war on terrorism, the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, the experience of American troops, the struggle for balance within the Muslim world, and perspectives on America's role globally.

The "Crossroads" series will launch on Sunday, April 15, and will run on PBS through Friday, April 20, 9-11 p.m. (ET). Perle's "The Case for War" segment will air on April 17.

Despite the airtime devoted to Perle, PBS never seems to offer him the opportunity to look at the camera and clearly explain how some of the best and the brightest in the Bush administration got it wrong.

Still, there are some surprising turns. In a particularly poignant segment of "The Case for War," Perle talks about the looming threat of Iran, giving this surprising take -- from someone reputedly one of the nation's foremost saber-rattlers:

"I don't think we need to send in the Marines, and it's not being contemplated."

According to PBS, its "America at a Crossroads" initiative includes an extensive public outreach program designed to create a national dialogue. The outreach program encompasses screenings and discussions in more than 20 cities with U.S. military personnel, leading policy experts and Islamic leaders; an in-depth online presence; and educational initiatives.

NewsMax: What do you find most frustrating about this slow agony of progress in Iraq?

Perle: I have watched the president from the beginning and my sense is that his instincts have been pretty good and his policy decisions -- the ones that he himself has acted on -- are pretty good. But he has an administration that not only does not implement his policies, they are often hostile to his policies. He has failed to gain control of his own administration.

NewsMax: Rather than a documentary defending the decision to go to war in Iraq, perhaps folks would better appreciate Richard Perle doing something along the lines of David Halberstam's Vietnam-era tome "The Best and The Brightest" -- similarly discussing how we got where we are in Iraq with the best and brightest leading the way.

Perle: We just don't have the best and the brightest. I think Colin Powell was a disaster. He never liked the president's policies. He did almost nothing to get them implemented. Condi [former head of the National Security Council and now Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice] was in way over her head from the beginning, and the president gave much too much weight to her views. The administration was full of people even in the White House at the National Security Council who were hostile to the president's policies.

NewsMax: On the subject of your "America at a Crossroads" segment for PBS: In one of your filmed confrontations with protestors on the National Mall, you tell a woman, "I'm sorry for your loss, but I'm not the president." You're saying to her that you are not the architect of the war and you didn't make the decisions. But you were a powerhouse on the Defense Policy Board.

Perle: As a matter of fact, I was not at all happy with the conduct of the board. Now people can differ about what approach would have been more effective. I think we got ourselves, unfortunately, into an occupation [of Iraq] that we could have avoided. We could have avoided it by turning things over to the Iraqis more or less immediately, which is what I was arguing for.

NewsMax: Inherent in that view would be the need to maintain the Iraqi army, even though the officer corps may have been riddled with Baathists.

Perle: Yes. I think it was a mistake to disband the [Iraqi] army the way it was done. But the big mistake was not handing things over to the Iraqis immediately. If you are in a position of occupation and you can't get the electricity going, you're bound to inspire an insurgency. I don't think that insurgency was inevitable.

NewsMax: One of the things that PBS is advertising is that it is hoped this unique series, "America at a Crossroads," is going to provoke a national dialogue, and yet, ironically, our own United States Senate is gridlocked.

Perle: They are having a screaming match, not a dialogue.

NewsMax: How do you see it playing out on Capitol Hill?

Perle: The House and the Democratic leadership have decided to make Iraq a partisan political issue. They are using it to rally Democrats, and it seems to me that they have lost all sight of the national interest.

NewsMax: Some have styled what's going on as a looming constitutional disaster -- a potential historic war between two branches of government.

Perle: Despite all of the earlier claims about wanting a bipartisan approach to these issues, everything that they [Democrats] are doing is to the contrary. What's sad is getting this nonbinding resolution and then moving with this basically deceptive [Rep. John] Murtha approach, which is to pretend that all they are doing is putting restrictions on funding in the best interest of the troops.

In fact, they are trying to make it impossible for the commander-in-chief to dispatch the troops.

I've been in Washington now since 1969. I can't recall a more hypocritical coordinated assault by one party than this one. Even in the worse days of the Nixon administration it never reached this.

NewsMax: How do you suspect this is all going to end?

Perle: I think that the Democrats have injected a note of such bitter partisanship that it is going to backfire.

NewsMax: In the 2008 elections?

Perle: Even before that. I think that most Americans are unhappy with the situation in Iraq, but they do not want to see a humiliating withdrawal, and they don't want to see a bitter partisan dispute when they realize that the country needs to pull together.

Nancy Pelosi is overplaying her hand. Jack Murtha has just gone around the bend. I don't understand him at all, and I think in the end the public, broadly speaking, will say, "Enough of this."

NewsMax: Now that Al Franken has declared for the U.S. Senate, do you find him a more serious guy?

Perle: He tells me that he is out of a job [host on Air America Radio]. He actually has a decent sense of humor, so he tries to be funny, but he was reasonably serious with me. I didn't think, however, that he had a lot to say of importance.

Franken was hung up on the fact that we didn't find stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction, and that whole thing gets a little tedious after a while.

The president didn't create [the intelligence organizations]. He made the mistake of keeping [former CIA chief George] Tenet in place, but that is another matter.

NewsMax: What about the U.S. intelligence efforts in the ramp-up to war in Iraq?

Perle: The intelligence that was available to [the president] after September 11 was that they were categorical in their belief that Saddam possessed weapons of mass destruction. There was no deception. There was no cherry-picking. There was no pressure on the analysts. That whole line is rubbish. I was seeing the intelligence at the time.

I was then chairman of the Defense Policy Board, and we had briefings and so I heard the CIA briefings and the Defense Intelligence Agency briefings, and they never left any room for doubt. The idea that that intelligence product was manipulated by the administration is just completely without foundation. But the Democrats have embraced it because it is how they hope to explain the fact that most of them voted for the resolution authorizing force against Saddam.

NewsMax: Throughout your program, you adamantly say you were for the regime change in Iraq. The regime change was a good thing...

Perle: Saddam is gone, and I think that is a good thing. He was a menace. It is very popular now to suggest that because we didn't find WMD, he wasn't the threat. What we didn't find in truth was stockpiles of WMDs. He certainly had the capacity to produce chemical and biological weapons again when he wanted to do so, and so I believe he was a threat, and I think we had the right to respond to that threat.

You can't operate on the basis of what you know later. You've got to operate on the basis of what you know then.

NewsMax: So, the fact is that while the ramp-up to the war was clumsy and less than a smooth scholarly enterprise, we got there and it was justified?

Perle: Yes, I believe it was justified, and I wish we had handled it a little bit differently, but -- if we were having a debate now about how effectively we handled the post-Saddam situation, it would be a very different debate than the one that we are having.

NewsMax: Reportedly, 70 percent of the American public wants the boys to come home...

Perle: It depends on how you ask the question. Of course, we all want the boys to come home. If the question you put was "Do you think that we should withdraw even if it means that Iraq subsides into chaos and we will have been defeated and humiliated in Iraq?" you will get an entirely different answer.

I think polls on a matter like that are pretty useless.

NewsMax: How about the analogy between Iraq and the Vietnam experience?

Perle: I think that there are, unfortunately, elements in Iraq that are a lot more reminiscent of Vietnam than I would have wished -- and more reminiscent than was true in early Iraq. I mean, what is beginning to look a little bit familiar is the withdrawal of support on the home front. I don't see troops who were in Iraq demanding that we pull out.

NewsMax: How about the recent intelligence that Muqtada al-Sadr and members of his army left Baghdad in advance of the troop surge and fled to Tehran, Iran, where he has family?

Perle: It's an indication that we may be able to turn this thing around. One of the mistakes of the administration was in believing that you could deal with Iraq in isolation without a successful strategy for Iran and Syria. What the Iranians are doing now, they have been doing all along, and the administration just hasn't been willing to act on it.

To Go To Top

MECCA
Posted by Samson Krupnick, February 26, 2007.

R&B Editor's note: Wahhabis are not Sunnis and "Saudi" Arabia must be destroyed.

We are in a dangerous situation, wherein mass murder ("terror") continues to spread. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made the mistake of permitting Wahhabi Hamas ("Palestinian" branch of the international Wahhabi Muslim Brotherhood, sister organization of Wahhabi Al Qaeda) to participate in Resident Arab ("Palestinian") elections, supposedly in the interest of "democracy". Hamas won the elections with over 70% of the vote, calling for the destruction of the State of Israel precisely as did The Egyptian from Alexandria (alias "Yasser Arafat", previous alias "Abdul Rauf el-Codbi el-Husseini"). The Potemkin Village Fantasy of two nations, Israel and "Palestine", living side by side in peace and tranquility, evaporated.

The fantasy of "two states" was never accepted by most Resident Arabs, nor even by a minority of Israelis. The terms by which "Palestine" Authority Chairman, 1972 Munich Massacre Mass Murder Master Mahmoud Abbas would accept a two state "solution" were flooding Israel with 4.6 million Arab "refugees" and Israel's retreat to the 1949 armistice borders.

"Arafat" turned down deals offered by Shimon Peres, Ehud Barak and U.S. President Bill Clinton. President George W. Bush refused the terms of Abbas and specified the U.N. resolution of any withdrawal be in consideration of security with safe and defensible borders for Israel.

Abbas was interested in playing the part of a man of peace. Wahhabi Hamas took full advantage of its large democratic victory to pursue its objective: "Destruction of the Zionist Entity". Hamas head Ismael Hanieh visited Iran, where he proclaimed, "We shall never recognize the Zionist Entity". He was promised there some one billion dollars and an endless supply of sophisticated arms, including anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.

Meanwhile, bowing to Condoleezza Rice pressure, more arms and equipment were permitted to Fatah, supposedly to battle Wahhabi Hamas. Abbas declared, "More fire should be against the occupiers rather than at Palestinians".

Under threat of civil war, both Abbas and Hanieh were invited to Mecca. Wahhabi Hamas secured the support of Wahhabi "Saudi" Arabia in its war with Fatah. Already supported by Iran supplying arms through Syria, Wahhabi Hamas came to Mecca the winner and left the winner. Supposedly this was to be a meeting to bring "peace" to "Palestine".

As it appears, Hanieh was the victor and Abbas the loser. Wahhabi "Saudi" Arabia offered one billion dollars for presumed tranquility. Aside from alleged American pressure on "Saudi" Arabia, more prompted them to bring tranquility into the Middle East. "Saudi" Arabia and another five tribal entities ("nations") in this area are dominated by Wahhabis and Sunni Muslims, while Iran and Iraq are primarily Shi'ite. Thousands have been murdered in Iraq by Wahhabis, Sunnis, Shi'ites and Iranian "insurgents".

American and its allies failed to "stabilize" this bloody battlefield. The new Iraqi army cannot keep the peace. Shi'ite groups attack each other, making "peace" almost impossible. Leaving this mad house is not practical.

Meanwhile, local scandals take up much of our time, spreading in the shadow of the failures of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz in the July-August, 2006 Lebanon War. Attacks continue. While the Lebanese army and U.N.I.F.I.L. troops guard borders, neither prevents smuggling in huge quantities of sophisticated arms and equipment for Shi'ite Hezbollah.

Hezbollah dreams of ruling Lebanon. Another war is coming sooner or later with Lebanon. A terrible sin was committed by Ariel Sharon in ordering the ethnic cleansing and expulsion of 10,000 Pioneering Jewish men, women and children from 23 Jewish Pioneering Communities in Gush Katif, and three in northern Samaria, as a "peace gesture" to the Resident Arabs, who considered this crime a great military victory. Gush Katif now headquarters five mass murder organizations, including Wahhabi Al Qaeda. Huge quantities of arms are smuggled into Gaza from Egypt in the south and Lebanon in the north.

Meetings continue to take place between Ehud Olmert, Mahmoud Abbas and Condoleeza Rice, following guidelines established by the "Quartet" of the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia. The "Quartet" requires Wahhabi Hamas recognition of Israel, abandonment of mass murder, and of honoring previous agreements, whatever they may be.

Supposedly we are well equipped to defend ourselves from Iran with our Arrow missiles and the Israel Air Force is prepared to attach and destroy Iranian nuclear installations as Menachem Begin destroyed the nuclear reactor in Baghdad in 1981. We need a new Government quickly to better face more difficulties properly and effectively with the help of the Almighty.

Shalom, Chodesh Tov and Purim Sameach from Yerushaliyim,

Contact Samson Krupnick at krup@012.net.il This was distributed by the Root and Branch Association, Ltd (rb@rb.org.il).

To Go To Top

A JEW WAS MURDERED WHILE PRAYING IN GUSH ETZION
Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, February 26, 2007.

Last night about 6:30 PM CST, I had a call from Israel - 2:30 AM Israel time. The news was not good. A 42 year old Jewish man, Erez Levanon, z'l, who used to drive to a nearby small forest to stroll and commune with nature, pray with G-d and to find his way to peace was found brutally murdered with multiple stab wounds. It was reported that the murderers hiding in a house in Beit Omar near Bat Ayin, had been caught by the Shimshon unit of the IDF (Israel Defense Forces).

I am beside myself with rage. I do not believe in the Christian concept of turning the other cheek. If caught, these rotten dregs of a primitive, vicious race should be immediately sliced into pieces and fed to pigs. This was a good, gentle man with three children who will now grow up without their father.

I am certain that the non-Jewish Government and despicable Leftist Courts will give these monsters a trial and put them in prison for a while. Then this current corrupt anti-Jewish Government will release them along with other Muslim Arab Terrorists in an early prisoner exchange for kidnapped Jews.

This current unholy government has unleashed these radical Muslim hostile creatures to savage Jews wherever they can find them alone and vulnerable.

Once the Arabs in the Gush Etzion area, where Erez Levanon was murdered, feared to accost the Jews but the unholy non-Jewish government of Ehud Olmert taught them they had nothing to fear. The corrupt Jew-hating Courts of Israel were there to protect the Terrorists of Islam so why should they worry.

I can hear the Leftists cheering that another "settler" has been murdered. One less "settler" to be forced off the land. Do you think it matters to the non-Jews of Kadima, Labor, Meretz that Jews cannot walk in Israel's forests, eat at a restaurant, ride a bus? NOT AT ALL!

The real Jews of Israel should be sufficiently enraged to march as a nation to Jerusalem and rip this imposter Government from its comfortable, unearned offices. Never even in its worst moments has Israel, through incompetent leadership, had such low dregs of humanity ruling the nation. Every crooked politicians, embezzler, treasonous dreck (that's shit in any language) has been drawn to this Government like a fly to garbage. The maggots they produce are given other jobs to control the system and the people.

In the last few days I watched a dog expert explain why dogs bark incessantly, forcing the neighbors to call the police to shut them up. The "expert" concluded that these barking dogs were merely frightened and barked to give themselves false courage.

Shortly after that, I read a speech by Olmert to the effect that after the Holocaust we (meaning he) will not live under an existential threat again - ever. Never again!

I could not help but think of a frightened dog barking. But, we have heard such barking before when other Prime Ministers barked their threats that, if the Arabs do this or that, they will know what to do. They knew that barking their fear would influence the people to think they were brave instead of the sniveling, yapping politicians they are.

So now a peaceful man, taking a moment of solitude, in a small forest is dead. Like others before him, his children must be raised by one parent and the ripples of pain spread. Don't expect much of the Olmert Government, a Leftist Court that serves the Terrorists and Police force trained to attack "Settlers". The weak Olmert Government had just recently opened up the road to Arab Muslim Terrorists by closing the checkpoints.

Another dead Jew means nothing to Olmert and Rice in the dismemberment through re-partition of the Jewish State. Isn't it time to clean out the garbage called the Government?

Emanuel Winston is a commentator and Middle East analyst. His articles appear often on Think-Israel and Gamla. He is a member of the Board of Directors and a research associate of the Freeman Center For Strategic Studies (http://www.freeman.org/online.htm). Contact him at gwinston.interaccess.com

To Go To Top

CRITICAL UPDATE FROM THE GUSH KATIF COMMITTEE
Posted by Buddy Macy, February 26, 2007.

This statement is from Dror Vanunu (gkatif@netvision.net.il), of the Gush Katif Committee. My comments are interspersed in red.

Prominent leaders from the Left sign a petition for Gush Katif.

Last week a group of scholars, writers and ex-politicians from the left held a special press conference in the vicinity of the renewed farms of the evacuees in the Ziqim area, south of Ashqelon. They signed a petition against the neglecting of the evacuees and demanding the immediate involvement of the government in their rehabilitation. The petition was presented by Major General (Res.) Uzi Dayan to Lior Kalfa, Chairman of the Gush Katif Committee at the end of a visit and meeting with the expellees.

Public Petition

"Evacuated with determination -- Rehabilitation with sensitivity.

We request from the State of Israel to stop immediately the neglecting of the evacuees from Gush Katif and North Samaria. At certain times a government has the right to evacuate territories and even to uproot communities but the State should also protect the impaired rights of the evacuated civilians, compensate them and rehabilitate them. This is a mutual guarantee that we are all obligated to, this is an order of the morals and of the heart, this is by order of law, this is the credo of democracy.

The residents of Gush Katif and North Shomron have been evacuated from their communities for the sake of us all. In spite of this, one year and five months have passed since the evacuation and thousands of evacuees are still unattended in temporary dwellings in caravilla sites. They do not have permanent communities, the unemployment skyrockets, the communities are torn apart, the loss is immense and thousands of evacuees lack a solid ground to restore their lives. Didn't you learn from the experience? Did you forget that refugee camps struck by unemployment are a ticking bomb?We look into the distress of our brothers, we ache with them and we object to their present situation. The neglecting of the evacuees from Gush Katif could prevent the legitimacy of the government to undertake similar moves in the future. [It can be gleaned from the last sentence that many of the signatories to the petition signed primarily for political reasons; that is, to pave the way for the expulsion of tens of thousands of Jews from Judea and Samaria in the near future. Shameful!]

We evacuated them with determination; we should care for their rights with sensitivity."

The petition was signed among all by A.B. Yeoshua, Arieh Eliav, Sami Michael, Amos Oz, Yossi Sarid, Gila Almagor, David Grossman, Doron Almog, Yaron London, Shulamit Aloni and others.

The following statement was published by the Gush Katif Committee

"The Gush Katif Committee welcomes with satisfaction this initiative and the clear demand to the government to put en end to the plight of the evacuees.

We wish to tell you that despite the neglecting, we are not stopping for a moment to progress and to strive to become again contributing citizens of Israel.

Together with our thanks for the petition we wish to emphasize that it becomes clear today that no purpose can justify the uprooting of communities from their land, not on a moral, Zionist, or Jewish perspective."

UJC Support for Gush Katif evacuees.

The Gush Katif Committee has been investing significant efforts since the evacuation in order to involve the "United Jewish Communities" in the United States (UJC) in the rehabilitation of the evacuated families and to extend financial aid for the multiple needs of the Gush Katif communities. At first the Jewish federations were reticent to recognize the need for massive assistance under the influence of the message conveyed by the Israeli government even prior to disengagement that "there is a solution for each settler" and that their involvement is unnecessary. The periodical reports that were published by the committee, the pressure on the side of supporters and friends of Gush Katif throughout North America who demanded from the local federations to support the expellees from Gush Katif in the same way that they supported the different projects -- as rehabilitation of the north, project for which the UJC mobilized about 350 million dollar- brought about this change in the attitude of the Jewish Federations and a reassessment of their position.

During the past two months a number of delegations from the Jewish Agency, the UJC and heads of major federations have visited the temporary sites of the evacuees, have learnt at firsthand about the hardships faced by the communities and drew mutual reports together with the Gush Katif Committee on the situation and of the special needs of the communities towards complete rehabilitation. During those meetings the delegations became aware of the tremendous difficulties that the people from Gush Katif had to deal with and were astonished to witness an ongoing motivation, a desire to start anew and to succeed to become once again active and resourceful citizens of Israel.

Ze'ev Bielsky, chairman of the Jewish Agency accurately expressed this by saying that:" Undoubtedly the situation of the Gush Katif evacuees is far more critical than the situation of the residents of the North who left their homes for 33 days but at the aftermath of the war had a home and a livelihood to return to. [$350 million was raised for the residents of the North soon after the fighting stopped. Despite the much greater severity of the situation that the expellees are still facing (according to the Jewish Agency, itself!), only $2.5 million has been approved for them -- this after 18 MONTHS of neglect! See below:] For years the State of Israel has been eager to settle those regions, now we have to remove the many hurdles and to help you in your endeavor."

At the end of January, the UJC Board of Trustees convention took place in Florida and among others matters; the situation of the uprooted communities of Gush Katif was discussed.

Rivka Goldsmidt, representing the Gush Katif Committee, spoke with emotion of the plight of the families and her words aroused deep empathy with the terrible reality that has been forced on the Gush Katif families since summer 2005. The decision to extend assistance to the communities was unanimously accepted and a 2.5 million dollars aid (out of the evaluated 86 million dollars program) will be allocated for the support of projects in the fields of employment, education and trauma relief. [That UJC is knowingly giving just 3% of the necessary funds to the expellees, 18 months after their expulsion, is a sin! UJC has well over $100 million remaining from the more than $350 million raised in the Israel Emergency Campaign this past year. EMERGENCY FUNDS ARE, BY DEFINITION, TO BE USED EXPEDITIOUSLY. MANY OF THE EXPELLEES WERE ALSO VICTIMS OF THE WAR IN THE NORTH. WHY DOESN'T HOWARD RIEGER, PRESIDENT OF UJC, APPROVE THE $86 MILLION FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION TO THE FORMER GUSH KATIF RESIDENTS? PLEASE EMAIL MR. RIEGER AND DEMAND THAT HE GIVE THE EXPELLEES ALL OF THE DESPERATELY-NEEDED MONEY. howard.rieger@ujc.org Thank you so much!]

Lior Kalfa, chairman of the Gush Katif Committee has expressed his gratitude to Mr. Ze'ev Bielsky, Mr. Nachman Shay, and to Mr. Doron Krakow for urging their respective organizations to bring assistance to the evacuees and for their true willingness to become partners in the complex rehabilitation process: " We hope that this is the first step to the creation of a stable partnership with the communities of Gush Katif. We hope for your intensive involvement in the restoration of our permanent communities, the building of public structures and the professional rehabilitation of families in the years to come.

The heads of the Gush Katif Committee and the Jewish Agency are defining the areas of assistance for this allocation: Scholarships for students, help for education and relief programs, community needs and re-employment programs through JobKatif.

Contact Buddy Macy at vegibud@gmail.com

To Go To Top

WINDS OF WAR: WHERE'S THE MUSLIM OUTRAGE?
Posted by Michael Travis, February 26, 2007.

This comes from the Winds of War website.

Neal Boortz wrote this piece, and recited it on the air to a Muslim who called in complaining about -- oh you know, Muslims being victimized and taking the rap for a small minority of Muslims who are causing all the trouble in the world.

But a Canada Survey proves otherwise.

But first here's Neal's list of Muslim atrocities that have not produced the Muslim outrage that's due as read to the distressed Muslim caller.

  • Muslims fly commercial airliners into buildings in New York City. No Muslim outrage.
  • Muslim officials block the exit where school girls are trying to escape a burning building because their faces were exposed. No Muslim outrage.
  • Muslims cut off the heads of three teenaged girls on their way to school in Indonesia. A Christian school. No Muslim outrage.
  • Muslims murder teachers trying to teach Muslim children in Iraq. No Muslim outrage.
  • Muslims murder over 80 tourists with car bombs outside cafes and hotels in Egypt. No Muslim outrage.
  • A Muslim attacks a missionary children's school in India. Kills six. No Muslim outrage.
  • Muslims slaughter hundreds of children and teachers in Beslan, Russia. Muslims shoot children in the back. No Muslim outrage.
  • Let's go way back. Muslims kidnap and kill athletes at the Munich Summer Olympics. No Muslim outrage.
  • Muslims fire rocket-propelled grenades into schools full of children in Israel. No Muslim outrage.
  • Muslims murder more than 50 commuters in attacks on London subways and busses. Over 700 are injured. No Muslim outrage.
  • Muslims massacre dozens of innocents at a Passover Seder. No Muslim outrage.
  • Muslims murder innocent vacationers in Bali. No Muslim outrage.
  • Muslim newspapers publish anti-Semitic cartoons. No Muslim outrage
  • Muslims are involved, on one side or the other, in almost every one of the 125+ shooting wars around the world. No Muslim outrage.
  • Muslims beat the charred bodies of Western civilians with their shoes, then hang them from a bridge. No Muslim outrage.
  • Newspapers in Denmark and Norway publish cartoons depicting Mohammed. Muslims are outraged.

Dead children. Dead tourists. Dead teachers. Dead doctors and nurses. Death, destruction and mayhem around the world at the hands of Muslims .. no Muslim outrage ... but publish a cartoon depicting Mohammed with a bomb in his turban and all hell breaks loose. Come on, is this really about cartoons? They're rampaging and burning flags. They're looking for Europeans to kidnap. They're threatening innkeepers and generally raising holy Muslim hell not because of any outrage over a cartoon. They're outraged because it is part of the Islamic jihadist culture to be outraged. You don't really need a reason. You just need an excuse. Wandering around, destroying property, murdering children, firing guns into the air and feigning outrage over the slightest perceived insult is to a jihadist what tailgating is to a Steeler's fan.

Contact Michael Travis at michaelmgr@gmail.com

To Go To Top

THREE-DAY MARCH FOR POLLARD
Posted by Hillel Fendel, February 26, 2007.

Israel's youth is increasingly leading the struggle to free Jonathan Pollard - and now, a yeshiva high school class in Tiberias is planning a three-day march to Jerusalem calling for his release.

Rabbi Avichai Golan, the projects director of the ORT Yeshiva High School in Tiberias, explained to Arutz-7 how the idea came about: "Every year, the 11th grade sets out on a long trek - but this year, with Pollard in jail for his 22nd year, the students decided that they want it to be on behalf of Pollard. We'll be starting out on the first day of the month of redemption - Nissan - for there is no reason that Pollard should not be home in time for the holiday of redemption, Passover, which falls in the middle of Nissan. The students feel that in this way, they can wake up the country to demand that our government submit an official request to the US for his release."

Awards and Recognitions

At the same time, it has been announced that the prestigious Jerusalem Conference - to be held at the same time in the Hyatt Hotel in Jerusalem - will award its "Lover of Zion" award to Jonathan Pollard. His wife Esther will receive it on his behalf. The award and the march are just the latest manifestations of the increasing public recognition in Israel of Pollard's contribution to Israeli security and of his plight. They follow the bestowing of an award to Pollard by the Torah and Land Institute at its annual conference last month in Bar Ilan University, honorary citizenships in Bat Yam, Beit El, Gush Katif, Kiryat Arba and other localities, and more.

'From Bondage to Freedom'

The high school march, entitled 'From Bondage to Freedom,' is scheduled to begin around the Petach Tikvah area, and will end 85 kilometers (52 miles) later, at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. The students will stop at various historic sites along the way, such as Latrun, the battlesites of the Maccabim, the route of the caravans during the War for Independence, and more. The preliminary plan is to spend the first night in Kibbutz Shaalvim, and the second in Kibbutz Tzova.

"We hope to attract many other high school students from all around the country to join us on the last day as we make the ascent to Jerusalem," Golan said. "You can imagine what an impact it can have if hundreds of youths waving Pollard banners and wearing Pollard shirts walk along the main Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway to the nation's capital."

However, the plans are still being made on a small-scale - partly because of budgetary constraints. At Arutz-7's request, Golan provided this email address for those who might be interested in contributing: "avital@012.net.il"

Once in Jerusalem, the students plan to submit a petition signed by thousands of youths calling for freedom for Pollard to the American Consulate on Agron Street.

With the recent statement by former CIA head James Woolsey on Arutz-7 in favor of clemency for Pollard, following years of CIA antipathy towards him, Pollard supporters in Israel feel that many Americans who feared that supporting Pollard implied an anti-American position can now be more open about their true feelings.

In addition, leading Jewish organizations such as Agudath Yisrael and the National Council of Young Israel have called upon their constituents to call the White House (1-202-456-1414) and ask for Pollard's release from prison.

Hillel Fendel is Senior News Editor of Arutz-Sheva (www.IsraelNationalNews.com).

To Go To Top

TERRORIST AMBUSH VICTIM BURIED IN KFAR ETZION
Posted by Hillel Fendel and Nissan Ratzlav-Katz, February 26, 2007.

The body of Gush Etzion resident Erez Levanon, 42 and father of three, was found late last night in an abandoned village near Beit Omar in the Hevron area. It appears that his murderers stabbed him many times.

It is assumed, though the police will not say so with absolute certainty, that the murder was perpetrated by Palestinian terrorists.

Eliyahu Mendelovitch, a neighbor of the victim who participated in the search and retrieval of Levanon's body, told Arutz-7 that the murderers most likely waited in ambush for him. Erez often went to the same spot at the same time each day to pray alone, in the custom of Breslover Hassidim. Click here to listen to the interview with Eliyahu Mendelovitch.

Rabbi Michi Yosefi, a close friend and neighbor of the late victim, said that Eretz was "humble and did not seek attention, yet managed to touch the hearts of thousands of Jews with whom he came in contact during their spiritual searchings in India."

Erez was also a talented musician, who "did wonders with his music and lyrics. He put out a disc that is unlike those sold in stores; something very unique." The Maariv NRG Hebrew website article on the murder includes a link to hear the song "The Heart and the Well," written and composed by the victim.

Erez Levanon's funeral set out this afternoon from Bat Ayin to the regional Gush Etzion cemetery in Kfar Etzion, just a kilometer away.

Erez spent the last seven summers in India - first in Manali and afterwards in Bela - meeting with young Israelis seeking to "clean their heads." "What he managed to do there was simply amazing," Yosefi told Radio Kol Chai. "I always wondered where such a talent came from... He had a special strength of faith."

Sha'ul Goldstein, head of the Gush Etzion Regional Council, attacked the government policy of removing checkpoints in Judea and Samaria as "gestures" to Fatah head Mahmoud Abbas. Goldstein said that the murder should force officials to reevaluate this policy, as the removal of checkpoints is what allowed the killers to arrive in the area and escape quickly afterwards.

Contrary to initial reports, Erez's lifeless body was not found by Arabs, but rather by his neighbors who began searching for him when he did not arrive at a scheduled appointment.

UPDATE February 27, 2007 Israeli security forces on Monday arrested two Palestinians in Beit Omar in the West Bank who confessed that they stabbed Erez Levanon, 42, to death in a forest outside his home in Bat Ayin on Sunday. Mudar Abu-Dia and Mousaa Ah'lil, both 18, told police following their capture that they had followed Levanon to a forest that he liked to pray in and there ambushed and slaughtered him. The two boys originally claimed to have been working alone, but the killing was apparently popular enough among the "Palestinians" that the Islamic Jihad jumped in and claimed credit for having directed the youthful murderers.

Levanon was a popular songwriter and singer who played music for patients in Jerusalem-area hospitals and would entertain for free at bar mitzvas and weddings of those who lacked money. He was a follower of the 18th century Hassidic master Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav. In pursuit of the Bratslav tradition of personal prayer, Levanon and others in the community would often go into the forest where he was slain to pray. (Jerusalem Post)

Hillel Fendel is Senior News Editor of Arutz-Sheva (www.IsraelNationalNews.com) Nissan Ratzlav-Katz is a write at Arutz-Sheva.

To Go To Top

HOW TO SPEAK LEFTIST
Posted by Michael Travis, February 26, 2007.

This was written by Bradley Burston and it appeared today in Haaretz
() It is entitled "A Special Place in Hell."

This is the second in a series of exercises in over-generalization , following Ten reasons the left hates Israel - five good, five bad. Apologies are tendered in advance to the rational left, the members of whom often hate the following as much as Israelis do.

______________

Why do Israelis hate the Western left?

# Because Arabs can murder, rape, starve, maim, torture, deport, excommunicate, honor-kill, abuse, extort, rocket, shell, assassinate, suicide bomb, humiliate, jail without due process, occupy, and enslave other Arabs without eliciting peep one from the evolved, hypersensitive consciences of the Western left - unless the silence is broken in order to find Israel and its U.S. ally responsible.

How to Speak Leftist: Blame the West

Repeat until winded: Arabs have been subjugated and colonized for centuries. The interventionist and occupation policies of the IDF and its Western sponsors promote infighting among Arab allies, in order to divide and continue to conquer.

# Because Palestinians can meat-cleaver, rocket, machine-gun, bludgeon or bomb Israeli civilians to death, without the Western left making a sound.

How to speak Leftist: Blame Israel

Example: Talkback in response to apparent terror stabbing death of settler, Monday:

It must be easy holding a gun to somebody's head and calling them a terrorist when all along you have been demonizing them and restricting their freedom, but then again you are taking out the holocaust frustrations on weaker people, which in your eyes makes you strong, put your gun down and face the Palestinians even handed and see how far you will get, you are bloody cowards.
Monty, no address listed

# Because in recent years, attacks on Jews, Jewish graves, synagogues and other Jewish institutions in Eastern and Western Europe and in North America have reached levels unseen in recent memory, and in many cases in which Muslims were behind the incidents, the left has been notably reluctant to voice condemnation.

How to Speak Leftist: Blame Israel

Repeat until winded: Israel's crimes against the Palestinians have been the driving force in the rise of contemporary anti-Semitism and attacks on Diaspora Jews.

# Because some elements of the left are willing to countenance and euphemize actual genocide when practiced by Muslims in places like Darfur, while missing no opportunity to accuse Israel of systematic genocide, when describing Israeli attempts to repel suicide bombings and other terror attacks.

How to speak Leftist - Example:

Talkback response from Mo, NYC:

Zionist forces who turn a blind eye to the wholesale depravation and oppression of Palestinians are making Dafur a cause celebre. The questions the left asks are -- why are people whose hands are very dirty with human rights abuses, with wholesale cultural annihilation vis-a-vis the Palestinians (not genocide, but destruction of cultural and institutional resources and identity) -- why are such people suddenly focused on Darfur?

If Darfur is an example of a bad situation (and it certainly is, no one on the left is denying that), why doesn't it make you wake up to what is happening in your own back yard, to which you are a party? Could it be that Darfur is an attempt at evasion/redirection? Could it be that any human rights issue if it involves Arabs as perpetrators is pounced on by Zionists to avoid attention to their own misdeeds? That's what troubles the left.

# Because nationalism on the basis of Palestinian cultural affiliation is celebrated as the natural right of a disenfranchised people with a common history of enforced displacement, and who trace their origins to ancestral homeland - while Jewish nationalism on the same basis is condemned as inherently and irrevocably racist and illegitimate.

# Because the Western left absolves the Palestinians of all responsibility for their fate, holding Israel solely responsible for the plight of the Palestinians, their choice to pledge fealty to the armed struggle rather than call Israel's bluff and take concrete steps toward statehood.

# And because the Palestinians are not held accountable for their refusal to wage a specifically non-violent struggle for independence, instead relying on macho-drenched violence, which does little but alienate the world from the Palestinian cause.

How to speak Leftist: Repeat until winded

The withdrawals from Gaza and Lebanon prove that resistance is the only way to force Israel to relinquish conquered territory.

The lopsided pro-Palestinian votes in the UN prove that the Palestinian cause has not been hurt by resistance.

Israeli policies make non-violent protest impossible.

Postscript: It has been suggested to the Palestinians many times, that they organize a massive non-violent protest in which they simply Get Up And Walk. Walk towards Israel. Hundreds of thousands of people, marching for their rights. It has worked for many other movements in history.

No rocks. No cinder blocks. No slingshots. No AK-47s. Just get up and walk.

And if Israel responds with violence, which is likely, the Palestinians will win. The world will respect their cause. Not just the Western left. The Palestinians will win a state. Alongside Israel.

As it is, the masked testosterone undergrounds only win themselves macho bragging rights, which, for them, appears to be enough. But if the masses renounce violence, the Palestinians will finally win one.

Not just the left.

A comment from Michael Green from Tel Aviv responding to the usual "1st world vs 3rd world" line:

Your frame-of-reference is wrong!

"[Israel/Palestine] is the only place the 1st World has a newly founded colony embedded in the 3rd World, newly displaced the indigenous inhabitants, won`t end apartheid separation, and where displaced indigenous people still carry on a conflict."

The Left's major error is that, by viewing the problem as a "1st World vs. 3rd World conflict", it applies the wrong frame-of-reference!

The conflict is in reality between:

- A national liberation movement (Jewish) in its historic homeland; and

- Arab-Islamic Imperialism that wants to annihilate the Jewish nation state -- just like it has annihilated dozens of nations in the 14 century history of Jihadist Imperialism (including in our day, Maronites, Copts, Assyrian Christians, Kurds, Berbers, etc).

Once you see the conflict as "Jewish National Liberation vs. Arab Imperialism", then everything will be crystal clear and the Left will regain its ability to view the conflict from its correct perspective!

Contact Michael Travis at michaelmgr@gmail.com

To Go To Top

AHMADINAJAD - A MODERN DAY HAMAN
Posted by Rachel Kapen, February 26, 2007.

With the Jewish holiday of Purim right around the corner (Jewish holidays are observed according to the Jewish calendar so they may fall on different dates, this year it falls on March 4) a holiday when Jews celebrate the victory of good which represented by Mordechai, a simple Persian Jew, and his niece Esther, the Persian queen who becomes a heroine and the rescuer of her people, let us contemplate some lessons we may learn from this happy holiday.

As the Purim story goes, recounted in the Book of Esther, or the Megilah (scroll) of Esther, Esther is chosen by the King Ahasuerosh, the great king of Persia and the ruler of 127 nations, to be his queen, not disclosing her Jewish background. Alas, an evil and rabid anti-Semitic prime minister named Haman, Haman the Wicked as known in Jewish lore, concocts a scheme to obliterate all the Jews of the kingdom, to which the not too bright a king gives his O.K. and something has to be done A.S.A.P. Mordechai then appeals to his niece the Queen to reveal her true identity to her husband the king and intercede on behalf of her people which she does, albeit reluctantly at first, and the rest is history. The wicked Haman is severely punished and the Jews are saved and celebrate it till today.

However, for the Jews it didn't end there, in present day Persia, now called Iran, there is another evil man and rabid anti-Semite who denies the Holocaust and calls for wiping the Jewish state off the face of the earth.

Furthermore, in defiance of the United States and world opinion by continuing to enrich uranium and most probably on the way to create nuclear weapons, he poses a morbid threat not only to Israel and the entire region but globally, as terrorists may get a hold of these mass destruction weapons, a most formidable thought.

Granted, there is no Queen Esther or Uncle Mordechai to intercede with this modern- day Haman, but let's hope and pray that as it is written in the Book of Esther: Salvation will come from another place.

Contact Rachel Kapen at skapen265466MI@comcast.net

To Go To Top

A FOREIGN MINISTER IN DREAMLAND
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, February 26, 2007.

WHAT THOSE CALLED "MODERATE" DO

While Israel's Foreign Minister Livni calls Abbas moderate, the website of his Fatah still features a cartoon of Sharon "the butcher." In the cartoon, only, Sharon holds a butcher knife over a bleeding Arab baby on a butcher block, near two Arabs hanging on a meat hook. Another cartoon depicts Sharon whipping an Arab tied by barbed wire to a post (IMRA, 1/28).

LIVNI STATES ISRAELI POLICY

She admits that withdrawal from Gaza turned it over to terrorist control and it became a nest of terrorists. "Nevertheless," she said, she doesn't regret it and we must "stick to a two-state solution." (Doesn't she regret the bloodshed?)

She does not suggest what is in Israel's interest nor how she serves her country by making her priority an Arab state that so far makes war on Israel. She serves her ideology, not country, by refusing to draw conclusions from the facts.

She was heartened by Israeli youths imploring her to make peace. She said that setting up an Arab state is the right thing to do. The Arabs first would have to end terrorism (IMRA, 1/28).

I think it is the wrong thing to do. It isn't justified by citing the harm from its earlier step and then rationalizing that it was a legitimate step by interposing the word, "Nevertheless." It sacrifices Jewish patrimony and secure borders to reward Muslim imperialists for attempted genocide. Her encouragement by peace-loving Israeli youths should be over-matched by Muslim youths eager to murder those Israelis. She did not say who those Israelis were, what they knew, and how much they would sacrifice if they knew the situation. Perhaps they are blinded by her ideology. It is an ideology that seeks peace in such a way as to guarantee war, which is what her ideology has wrought, so far.

She says that the Arabs first would have to end terrorism. They were supposed to end it under Oslo, signed 13 years ago. They don't fulfill their obligations, because with US pressure, Israel gives them concessions anyway. Why believe she would be different, she who ignores Israel's record of giving in?

She has yet to give a rational reason for her policy. There is none.

HOW SHE REACTS TO BOMBING IN EILAT

She said the "world" should pressure Hamas and Israel will decide what to do (IMRA, 1/28). Israel always says it is deciding, and should have decided in advance, but praises its restraint. What "world?" The "world" doesn't care!

Richard Shulman is a veteran defender of Israel on several web-based forums. His comments and analyses appear often on Think-Israel. He provides cool information and right-on-target overviews. He distributes his essays by email. To subscribe, write him at richardshulman5@verizon.net

To Go To Top

UN: "JEWS SEEK RACIAL DOMINATION!"
Posted by Michael Travis, February 26, 2007.

This was written by Anne Bayefsky and it appeared February 23, 2007 on National Review Online
(http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MmRlYzUwZjk3OTI4ZjIwYmYzZWY4MWVhMzgzOWJmZWU=).

A newly released United Nations report epitomizes the foul anti-Semitism which has overtaken the U.N. human-rights machinery. In language reminiscent of Nazi Germany, John Dugard, the U.N.'s "Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967," has announced that Jews seeks racial domination.

In Dugard's words: "The IDF inflicts serious bodily and mental harm on Palestinians...Palestinians throughout the OPT [Occupied Palestinian Territory] are denied freedom of movement. Can it seriously be denied that the purpose of such action is to establish and maintain domination by one racial group (Jews) over another racial group (Palestinians) and systematically oppressing them?"

Dugard's U.N. mandate is to demonize Israel. Palestinian human-rights violations were deliberately omitted from the job description, first drafted by the U.N. Human Rights Commission in 1993 and continued by the "reformed" U.N. Human Rights Council. Dugard, a lawyer, not only accepted the one-sided mandate, he relished the opportunity to become an advocate of a one-state solution in the name of human rights. What Dugard fears most is not hate and the terrorism it fuels, but "Judaization" -- the idea of a Jew living in claimed Arab land. Deliberately mirroring Nazi imagery, his report refers to Israel's security fence this way: "The Wall being built in East Jerusalem is an instrument of social engineering designed to achieve the Judaization of Jerusalem..."

The "Judaization" problem stands side-by-side with this U.N. champion of the Hamas government. According to Dugard, Israel has no right to refuse to transfer funds to the Hamas government. Why? "Predictably, Israel justifies its action on security grounds, but the real reason seems to be a determination to effect a regime change." A look at the Hamas Charter might help determine the wisdom of regime change: "Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it...There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad..." But according to this U.N. expert the problem is not a government dedicated to killing Jews, but the Jews themselves.

The primary tool of the U.N.'s point-man for whipping up modern-day anti-Semitism is to pillory the Jew as racist extraordinaire. Israel is the evil equivalent to apartheid South Africa. Referring to apartheid 24 times in his report, he proclaims: "Israel's laws and practices in the OPT certainly resemble aspects of apartheid." He fails to mention, predictably, that one-fifth of Israel's population is Arab -- citizens who vote and hold seats in the Israeli parliament -- while Arab countries are Judenrein. And Israel is the apartheid state?

The ultimate carrying-card of U.N.-driven anti-Semitism is to blame the Jewish state for the world's ills. Dugard exemplifies this most dangerous of canards. He reports:

For years the occupation of Palestine and apartheid in South Africa vied for attention from the international community. In 1994, apartheid came to an end...the OPT has become a test for the West, a test by which its commitment to human rights is to be judged. If the West fails this test, it can hardly expect the developing world to address human rights violations seriously in its own countries...

Thus the U.N. inverts right and wrong. Why should Sudan stop genocide? It's waiting for the Jews to repent or the Jewishness of Israel to be terminated. Why should Zimbabwe stop murdering and starving its own people, white and black? Why should China grant anybody freedom of speech? Why should Saudi Arabia let women out of the house alone or into any driver's seat? Why should Egypt stop the mutilation of the genitals of the majority of its married female population? They're all waiting for a solution to the Jewish state problem.

American tax dollars were used to pay for the Dugard report and its dissemination worldwide by the U.N. Isn't it about time the tap was turned off?

Contact Michael Travis at michaelmgr@gmail.com

To Go To Top

LITTLE EHUD'S AMONA POGROM -- FIRST ANNIVERSARY
Posted by Women in Green, February 26, 2007.

[Editor's Note: Nadia Matar's essay was originally distributed on February 1, 2006 by the Root and Branch Association (rb@rb.org).]

Excerpt from Root & Branch Editor's Note included with Nadia Matar's essay when originally distributed on February 1, 2006: "Nadia Matar was wounded today, along with M.K.s Aryeh Eldad and Effie Eitam, and hundreds of Jewish boys and girls, in the Israel Government...assault on the Jewish Pioneering Community of Amona...The State of Israel as we have the misfortune to now know it is rapidly passing out of existence. Soon missiles from Hamas, Hizbollah, Syria and Iran will devastate Tel Aviv, Haifa and other centers of power of the current regime" [May national repentance avert further evil than has already befallen us since last year at this time -- R&B Editor, February 25, 2007].

Jerusalem Post Report (Thursday, February 8, 2007): "Knesset Director-General Avi Balashnikov announced Wednesday [February 7, 2007] that NIS 375 million was allocated toward the fortification of the Knesset building. The new fortifications will include the installation of security cameras and reinforcing the Knesset's roof against a potential rocket attack".

Now it's official. After the statements by Olmert the week before last and by Inspector-General Karadi last week, there no longer can be any doubts: The Saison, the "hunting season" against the Jews in the Land of Israel, is evident to all. As Yehudah Lapidot tells us in his book The Saison: The Hunting Down of Brothers, the appellation Saison (hunting season in French) was applied to the attempt by the Haganah in [19]44-45 to eliminate I.Z.L. [Irgun Zevai Le'umi also known as Etzel]".

In order to realize the goals of the Saison, the Haganah used almost every means at its disposal, that included kidnappings and protracted interrogations (of Etzel members and supporters), that at times were accompanied by extreme torture; expulsion from places of employment and schools; taking Jews forcibly from apartments, and more. The most drastic step, however, that aroused stormy controversies in the Yishuv (the pre-State Jewish community in Land of Israel), was the surrendering to the British C.I.D. (plainclothes detective branch) of those suspected of belonging to the Revisionist movement in general and to Etzel in particular.

The persecution of members and supporters of the Revisionist movement reached its peak shortly after the establishment of the State of Israel, when Ben-Gurion ordered the sinking of the Altalena, and gave the order to shoot at the Jews on the ship. Sixteen Jews on the sinking Altalena and who were swimming towards the Tel Aviv shore were murdered in cold blood. Their only "crime" was belonging to the movement of Menachem Begin. Ben-Gurion gave the order; Yitzhak Rabin was happy to carry it out. The "holy cannon" was the name given by Ben-Gurion's people to the weapon that they used to sink the Altalena in their implementation of this despicable political murder.

Ben-Gurion never ceased to regard the Etzel as a political rival that must be eliminated. In collaboration with the British, he initiated a campaign to persecute the Etzel's members and supporters. The Saison and the Altalena episode silenced the Revisionists for many years.

At present, the entire Jewish-national camp, headed by the public of Judea, Samaria, and Gaza, constitutes a threat to the rule of the Left. Demographically, the Left, with an average of one child, or a maximum of two children, has no successor generation. These children receive a shoddy, spoiled education, without Judaism or Zionism, that turns them into Hebrew-speaking non-Jews: without roots, without knowing what it is to be a Jew, without an understanding of what they are doing here in Israel. In contrast, the many children (God bless them) of the Jewish camp (both the religious and the traditional) are educated to love of the Torah, People and Land, and, before we know it, with God's help, they will be the majority here.

The Left is panic-stricken. It still controls the key positions in the country: The Media, State Attorney's Office, High Court of Justice and Knesset -- but its days in power are numbered. It needs to silence the Jewish-national camp, once and for all. Flooding the country with hundreds of thousands of non-Jews from the U.S.S.R. was the first attempt to block the demographic revolution of the Jewish camp. But, a miracle occurred, the majority of those from the U.S.S.R., both Jews and non-Jews, who know what Bolshevism is, and who instinctively understand just who the Arabs are and what they want, voted for the Right! The first scheme to preserve Leftist rule was unrealized.

The Oslo Accords were the second attempt in this direction, when the Oslo architects gave cities of refuge in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza to Arafat and his band of murderers, along with weapons and ammunition. The Oslo criminals hoped that the members of the P.L.O. and Hamas would only use these weapons against the Jewish pioneers in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza, turn their lives into hell on earth, and thereby force the Jews to leave Judea, Samaria, and Gaza of their own free will and return to within the 1967 lines.

In this manner, Shimon Peres and Ben-Gurion's other successors hoped to crush the settlers in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza, and, through them, the entire Jewish camp. This would have been a cheap and easy solution for the problem of the Jews of Judea, Samaria, and Gaza and their supporters. But, once again, things went wrong: The P.L.O. and Hamas could not restrain themselves, and, instead of heeding the advice of extreme Leftists in Israel and murdering only Jews within Judea, Samaria, and Gaza, those stupid Arabs also began to blow themselves up within little Israel and murder Israelis!

Thus, the Arabs let everyone understand that they do not draw any distinction between the "settler" from Tel Aviv and the "settler" from Ofra. Moreover, the Jews of Judea, Samaria, and Gaza were not deterred. Like the Children of Israel in Egypt, "the more they were oppressed, the more they increased" and were strengthened. In their Jewish pioneering communities in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza -- the Right gained power, this time under the leadership of Israeli war hero Ariel Sharon.

The Left no longer knows what to do with itself. It is really losing it. The years pass, but they have not succeeded in neutralizing the Jewish camp. To the contrary! The People is increasingly convinced that it is the policy of the national camp that is correct. This is the reason why Sharon was elected, and not Mitzna.

What did the Left do? It used Ariel Sharon to implement the mission of neutralizing the Jewish camp. It threatened Sharon that if he would not realize the policy of the Left, his sons would go to prison. Ariel Sharon, a totally corrupt and egotistical person, did not hesitate to cooperate with them.

Overnight, people such as Peres, Sharon, Beilin, Olmert, Livni, Mofaz and others coalesced into a one-dimensional monster, a Party called "Forward" [Kadima]. With determination but without sensitivity, it would quickly crush the national camp, and support the continued rule of the Left. Of course, they still do not openly proclaim this as their aim, they sell the public all kinds of stories, as if "the disengagement is essential to stop the 'Arab demographic problem'". But anyone who uses a bit of his intelligence knows that the truth is different, and that this is a contemptible plan to curb the Jewish demographic problem.

First, the Sharon-Peres monster decides to disconnect the Jews from their oxygen: The Jewish Pioneering Communities of Gush Katif and northern Samaria. The mission is carried out with humiliating and intolerable ease. The mamlakhti (state-oriented) and naive Jewish victim dances and embraces the hangman.

Color returns to the cheeks of the Left. "Just look, at long last, we finally moderated our bitter rival", they think to themselves. "We beat the "right" with a knockout. Now we can easily toss him out of all the Jewish Pioneering Communities of Judea, Samaria, and Gaza". We will disperse them, defeated and beaten, throughout little Israel -- without assistance, without support, without compensation, without any possibility of rising again. Once and for all, this will take care of our problem with the Jews. Now we can return to the 1949 lines and establish a bi-national state. "At long last, the nations of the world will love us. Without Judea, Samaria, and Gaza, and without the annoying Jewish camp".

It appears, however, that the Left's rejoicing was premature. The Jewish victim is still breathing! And its youth even kicks! In the attempt to destroy the home in Neveh Daniel and the distribution of the evacuation orders in Hebron, the youth did not act as in Gush Katif. They did not dance or embrace, but dared to raise their head and declare: "Another expulsion of Jews from Israel? Never again! This time we won't let them! Our eyes have been opened. We understand that they want to eliminate us, as the first phase in the elimination of the entire Jewish state. No! Here's where we draw the line!"

The Sharon-Peres-Olmert-Livni monster is losing its cool. This cannot go on! How dare the Jews continue to be faithful to their principles? How dare they speak about Greater Israel? Now, the Olmert-Livni-Mazuz-Diskin-Halutz-Karadi gang takes off the gloves and broadcasts to all: Any Jew who is unwilling to commit suicide with dances and hugs -- we will crush him, we will trample him, we will persecute him, we will spray him with tear gas and pepper spray, and even shoot him, if necessary.

Although Ben-Gurion had wanted, for a long time, to get rid of Herut and Lehi (the fighters for Israel), the official excuse for initiating the Saison was the assassination of Lord Moyne in Cairo. Moyne had been appointed by the British as Minister of State for the Middle East, and from his headquarters in Cairo he was responsible for the implementation of the White Paper policy. Lehi regarded him as responsible for the expulsion of the "illegal" immigrants' ships, decided to kill him.

But, as we said, this was just an excuse to begin the Saison. If there had been no assassination, Ben-Gurion would have found some other pretext. The same holds true for us today. Olmert's official reason for his public and grandiose declaration of war against the settlers of Judea, Samaria, and Gaza as a whole is the "violence of the lawbreakers in Hebron". Anyone with eyes in his head, however, realizes that this is merely a pretext, and this is actually a continuation of the Saison that began in 1944: The Left's organized and ongoing persecution of the national camp.

Olmert's speech the week before last with his demand for forceful action against the "Jewish lawbreakers" took us back 62 years, to 1944, when, in a Histadrut convention, Ben-Gurion called for the elimination of the Herut movement, for which he gave operative orders.

To quote him::

"We have been requested by the supreme bodies -- the Zionist Executive and the Va'ad Le'umi -- to vomit them [the supporters and members of the I.Z.L.] from our midst, and I want to translate this demand into the language of reality and action. If a young man, a member of these gangs or a supporter of them, works in any factory or office, the workers and the other office employees are required to expel him... I intentionally chose this harsh example, everyone who is connected to these gangs, everyone who supports them -- not necessarily if he uses a pistol or throws a bomb, but anyone who disseminates their literature and pastes their announcements -- he must be removed from his place of work [...]. The same holds true if he studies in a secondary school or other [school] -- and not only if he himself participates in acts of murder and robbery, but even if he brings the terrorists' unclean literature to youth, and disseminates it among them. He must be expelled from the school, so that he will know, and his siblings will know, and his parents will know, that the public rises up against these crimes, that endanger, not only the individual, but the nation as a whole.

"The second thing that is required of us: Not to give them refuge and shelter. We must tell every Jew in Israel to withhold shelter and refuge from all the members of the gangs and from all their supporters. It is forbidden to give refuge to these criminals who endanger our future. And the third thing: Not to surrender to their threats! We must create such a regime in the nation that they will not be able to threaten anyone. Every boy and girl will be instructed by the school in which they study that if these gangs come to his father and mother to demand money -- the proper place is to be immediately informed; if he does not know of any address -- he is to go to the police".

As regards collaboration with the British, Ben-Gurion said:

"To the extent that the British authorities and the police are interested in the destruction of terror [let there be no misunderstanding, (Ben-Gurion did not speak of the Arab terror, he referred to the I.Z.L. as the "terror" gangs -- N.M.), "I repeat, our interest in the elimination of terror is greater and more vital that of the British government".

Compare Ben-Gurion's speech with the statements by Olmert, the head of the General Security Service Yuval Diskin, and the Chief of the General Staff Dan Halutz in a special meeting of the security-legal leadership before the evacuations in Hebron, in Amona, and in the other outpost Jewish Pioneering Communities. "The Jewish lawbreakers" threaten the existence of the state; they declared. They engage in a "dangerous ideological criminal activity". They called for stiffer enforcement measures against these Jewish "rioters"; announced that they would increase the use of expulsion orders and administrative detention; and said that they would enlarge the police force in Judea and Samaria -- not in order to stop the Arab terrorists who continue to fire Kassam rockets at Israel and murder Jews on the roads, but to smite, to persecute, and to repress these "idealistic" Jews. Add to this Karadi's statement about the possibility of shooting at Jewish pioneers demonstrating for the territorial integrity of Israel, and we have a return to the time of the Saison in 1944.

This frontal attack on the Jewish Pioneers of Judea, Samaria, and Gaza seems daunting. Every newscast, every radio program, and press ­- which attacks and besmirches Jews loyal to Israel, would not shame the anti-Semitic authors of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. We can really identity with what Ya'akov Shavit wrote in his book "The Hunting Season", "In practice, the organized public opinion turned the I.Z.L. into a group that was isolated, shunned, and mercilessly persecuted". The I.Z.L. was described as "insane Jewish fascism" that would lead to the suicide of the Yishuv and "therefore it deserves an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth!" This is the attitude of the ruling Leftist elite today, against the loyalists of Israel.

Accordingly, in light of the renewed Saison, it is important for us to remind ourselves and our wonderful youth that such things already happened, and that we have nothing to fear. We should tell everyone that, in the end, the Saison of 1944 did not succeed, and this time, as well, we will not allow them to succeed. Despite the informing, the arrests, the torture, and the surrendering of underground members to the British authorities; despite the Altalena; and despite the paralysis of the national camp, in the long run Ben-Gurion and his band failed to eliminate the I.Z.L.

Actually, the opposite is the case. The British eventually left Israel, thanks to the activities of the I.Z.L. and the Lehi. Today we -- the camp of Israel loyalists -- comprise a tremendous camp that continues to realize the idea and vision: That all of the Land of Israel belongs to the People of Israel according to the Torah of Israel, and no one has the right to hand it over to foreigners.

Shavua Tov, Chodesh Tov and Purim Sameach from Efrat,
Mrs. Nadia Matar

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

To Go To Top

PALESTINIAN HATE EDUCATION AND ITS JEWISH ADVOCATES
Posted by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook, February 26, 2007.

This was published yesterday in the Jerusalem Post, entitled "Supporting peace education in the PA?."

Anyone who hopes for peace should be horrified by the content of the latest set of Palestinian schoolbooks. In many respects, these new books for Grade 12, written by Fatah-appointed Palestinian educators, are the worst of the textbooks produced by the Palestinian Authority since 2000. These newest books deny Israel's right to exist, anticipate its destruction and define the conflict with Israel as religious, not merely territorial.

As is documented in the new report by Palestinian Media Watch entitled "From Nationalist Battle to Religious Conflict," the ideological divide between Fatah and Hamas appears to be disappearing. Hamas has always defined its war with Israel as religious and existential, and now that is what all Palestinian children will learn in school:

"Ribat for Allah is one of the actions related to jihad for Allah, and it means: Being found in areas where there is a struggle between Muslims and their enemies. The endurance of Palestine's people on their land these days... is one of the greatest of the Ribat." (Islamic Education, grade 12, p. 86-87)

THE PALESTINIAN conflict with Israel is a unique and eternal Ribat with a special Islamic destiny:

"The reason for this preference [of the Palestinian Ribat] is that the momentous battles in Islamic history took place on its land."

As to when there will be peace with Israel? Never, according to the schoolbooks:

"[Palestine's] residents are in a constant struggle with their enemies, and they are found in Ribat until Resurrection Day."

Israel's right to exist is denied and Israel's founding is called a theft:

"Palestine's war ended with a catastrophe that is unprecedented in history, when the Zionist gangs stole Palestine and expelled its people from their cities, their villages, their lands and their houses, and established the State of Israel" (Arabic Language, Analysis, Literature and Criticism, grade 12, p. 104). Israel is called: "the Zionist entity," and "Zionist Enemy." Israel's existence since 1948 is an "occupation" (ibid pp. 104, 122).

The conflict will eventually end - not with peace, but with Israel's destruction, effected by Palestinians of all ages and abilities:

"Palestine will be liberated by its men, its women, its young and its elderly" (Arabic Language and the Science of Language, grade 12, p. 44).

THE BOOKS anticipate this future destruction of Israel by painting a picture for the Palestinian child of a world in which Israel already does not exist. The place of Israel is marked as "Palestine" on all maps, and "Palestine" is defined as a dawla - the Arabic word for "state," not a geographical region. This "state" is said to have water access to both the Mediterranean and the Red seas, a situation possible only in a world without Israel. (Physical Geography and Human Geography, grade 12, p. 105) Likewise, the size of "Palestine," the "state," is said to be more than 10,000 sq. km., a situation possible only if Israel does not exist, since the West Bank and Gaza Strip together total only 6,220 sq. km.

Because Israel has no right to exist, and must be fought and destroyed for Islam, violence and terror against Israel since its founding are justified and glorified as muqawama, resistance: "The tragedy of Palestine of 1948 and afterward the muqawama in which the inhabitants carried acts of most glorious heroism and sacrifice" (Arabic Language, Analysis, Literature and Commentary, grade 12 p. 105).

THE WORLD cringed in horror at the Iranian Holocaust denial conference. But the new PA schoolbooks teach World War II without the Holocaust. There are extensive details about the history of the war, lessons about the Nazi "race theory" and even mention of "an international court to bring to trial the senior Nazi leaders as war criminals." (The History of the Arabs and the World in the 20th Century, grade 12, p. 46). However, the books fail to mention why the Nazis were on trial, or that their "race theory" involved elimination of Jews and other minorities.

It is clear that the newest PA schoolbooks are a tragic recipe for incessant war. Israel is presented as an illegitimate enemy to be hated, fought and destroyed. Even the most well-meaning student is left with no justification or religious option to accept Israel as a neighbor to live beside in peace.

THEREFORE, anyone who is truly interested in peace and peace education should be appalled by these new books, repudiate this hate material and demand that the books be discontinued and rewritten. US Senator Hillary Clinton said earlier this month that this curriculum, together with PA media targeting children, "basically, profoundly poisons the mind of these children" and that these books are "an indoctrination," not an education.

But an American Jewish group, Brit Tzedek v'Shalom-Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace has rushed to defend these hate-filled schoolbooks. As reported by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, the group wrote Clinton urging her to "re-examine claims that the Palestinian schoolbooks indoctrinate hate." The group argued that the books encourage "a peaceful resolution of the conflict," and are better than those used in most of the Arab world because they "endorse democracy."

This superficial defense of PA books, compared to the fully-documented, 35-page PMW report, with its line-by-line descriptions of hate education, leaves us with the strong impression that no one from the group has actually read either the schoolbooks or our report. If so, the group's eagerness to defend these new texts is irresponsible.

We just find it hard to believe that Brit Tzedek v'Shalom has actually studied these grade 12 textbooks and has chosen to defend an educational curriculum that denies Israel's right to exist, justifies terror and promises an eternal religious battle for Israel's destruction, knowingly defending incitement to murder.

TRAGICALLY, the Palestinian Authority will exploit this Jewish group's ill-considered approval of its new texts. Can Brit Tzedek v'Shalom be so blindly determined to champion the Palestinian cause that it will defend even the indefensible? Groups such as Brit Tzedek v'Shalom who have defended PA schoolbook education in the past, created sufficient uncertainty about PA hate-education to ease international pressure on Palestinian leaders to pursue peace education.

Our challenge to Brit Tzedek v'Shalom: If you are as dedicated to peace as we are, you have a moral obligation to publicly retract your defense of the new PA produced textbooks and demand instead that the authority pursue peace education. Otherwise, you will bear moral responsibility as defenders of hatred for the inevitable tragic results of this Palestinian hate education.

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.

To Go To Top

GROVER NORQUIST, TERRORIST-SYMPATHIZER
Posted by Michael Travis, February 26, 2007.

The first part comes from the Wide Awakes website
(http://thewideawakes.org/archives/2005/06/13/ grover-norquist-terrorist-sympathizer/). The second article is by Byron York and is called "Fight on the Right."

There are no absolutes. I love it when people come here assuming that republicans or conservatives are all stupid hicks. What is disappointing and sometimes mystifying is when you realize that someone in your midst doesn't represent the ideas you thought they did. I've had some experiences with that myself within the ranks of TWA, and when reality finally hits, it can be a devastasting blow. I think it was the same for David Horowitz back in 2003, when he published the article by Frank Gaffney. At the time, Instapundit, and many other bloggers were all over the news. Here is some of the background:

Frontpage Magazine had this story back in 2003
(http://www.frontpagemag.com/articles/readarticle.asp?ID=11209&p=1). Always "in the know", David Horowitz prefaces and frames an article by Frank Gaffney, exposing Norquist as a supporter of the Islamic 5th column in the whitehouse supporting Islamic terrorism.

It is with a heavy heart therefore, that I am posting this article, which is the most complete documentation extant of Grover Norquist's activities in behalf of the Islamist Fifth Column. I have confronted Grover about these issues and have talked to others who have done likewise. But it has been left to Frank Gaffney and a few others, including Daniel Pipes and Steven Emerson, to make the case and to suffer the inevitable recriminations that have followed earlier disclosures of some aspects of this story.

Up to now, the controversy over these charges has been dismissed or swept under the rug, as a clash of personalities or the product of one of those intra-bureaucratic feuds so familiar to the Washington scene. Unfortunately, this is wishful thinking. The reality is much more serious. No one reading this document to its bitter end will confuse its claims and confirming evidence with those of a political cat fight. On the basis of the evidence assembled here, it seems beyond dispute that Grover Norquist has formed alliances with prominent Islamic radicals who have ties to the Saudis and to Libya and to Palestine Islamic Jihad, and who are now under indictment by U.S. authorities. Equally troubling is that the arrests of these individuals and their exposure as agents of terrorism have not resulted in noticeable second thoughts on Grover's part or any meaningful effort to dissociate himself from his unsavory friends.

With more background information by David Horowitz, he then shares with the readers of Frontpage Magazine an expose by Frank Gaffney regarding Grover Norquist. Make sure you spread this story far and wide! This has been going on since at least 1998, yet people are refusing to face the facts and put our nation at risk because of political correctness. This is not the time for sensitivity training, people!

The association between Grover Norquist and Islamists appears to have started about five years ago, in 1998, when he became the founding chairman of an organization called the Islamic Free Market Institute, better known as the Islamic Institute. The Institute's stated purpose was to cultivate Muslim-Americans and Arab-Americans whose attachment to conservative family values and capitalism made them potential allies for the Republican Party in advance of the 2000 presidential election.

If successful, such an outreach effort could theoretically produce a windfall in votes and campaign contributions. Consequently, it enjoyed the early support of Karl Rove, when he was then-Governor Bush's political advisor, and who knew Norquist from their days in the College Republicans.

[Editor's Note: To read Gaffney's article, click here. ]

Michelle had this back in July of 2004.

The Washington Post reports that Abdurahman Alamoudi, once embraced as a "mainstream" and "moderate" Muslim activist who courted both the Clinton and Bush administrations, will plead guilty today to accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars from Libya in violation of U.S. law and attempting to hide it from the government.

Despite this defiant public declaration of support for terrorists, Alamoudi was welcomed in GOP elite circles at the behest of power player Grover Norquist.

More surprising and disturbing news at the Citizen Soldier:

Grover Norquist, whom most conservatives know as Executive Director of the College Republicans, boardmember of the NRA, and head of Americans for Tax Reform, has been exposed as helping Muslim groups and individuals who finance and support Islamic terrorism gain access to the Bush White House.

With all of this evidence, who's going after Norquist besides Michelle Malkin back in 2004?

Norquist has also been exposed as the founder of the Islamic Institute, a group believed to be funded by foreign governments, Wahhab Islam elements in Saudi Arabia, and U.S. Muslim groups recently raided by a special Treasury Department task force for funding Al Qaeda and Palestinian terrorists.

Copies of two checks from Alamoudi to the Islamic Institute:

Read the rest and pass it on. Get the message out there and let's figure out a game plan to do something about it!

At Free Republic, they have an old piece from The New Republic, that was published in November of 2001.

As president of Americans for Tax Reform, Norquist is best known for his tireless crusades against big government. But one of Norquist's lesser-known projects over the last few years has been bringing American Muslims into the Republican Party. And, as he usually does, Norquist has succeeded. According to several sources, Norquist helped orchestrate various post-September 11 events that brought together Muslim leaders and administration officials. "He worked with Muslim leaders to engineer [Bush]'s prominent visit to the Mosque," says the Arab-American pollster John Zogby, referring to the president's September 17 trip to the Islamic Center of Washington. Says Zogby, who counts Norquist among his clients, "Absolutely, he's central to the White House outreach." Indeed, when Jewish activists and terrorism experts complained about the Muslim invitees to Adam Goldman, who works in the White House public liaison's office, Goldman replied that Norquist had vouched for them. (Goldman denies this, but two separate sources say they heard him say it.) "Just like [administration officials] ask my advice on inviting religious figures to the White House," says Paul Weyrich, another top conservative activist, "they rely on Grover's help [with Muslims]."

Norquist denies being involved in "micromanaging the specifics" of White House meetings, but admits "I have been a long time advocate of outreach to the Muslim community." In fact, the record suggests that he has spent quite a lot of time promoting people openly sympathetic to Islamist terrorists. And it's starting to cause him problems. Weyrich, echoing other movement conservatives, says he is "not pleased" with Norquist's activity. According to one intelligence official who recently left the government, a number of counterterrorism agents at the FBI and CIA are "pissed as hell about the situation [in the White House] and pissed as hell about Grover." They should be. While nobody suggests that Norquist himself is soft on terrorism, his lobbying has helped provide radical Islamic groups -- and their causes -- a degree of legitimacy and access they assuredly do not deserve.

I want to know what the hell this man is doing now, and why is he in a position of influence when it's a PROVEN fact that he's working with the enemy (American organizations who support terror!). I don't understand some things about the Bush administration, and this is plainly one of them. Norquist served as economic advisor to Angola UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi and was once registered with the Department of Justice as a foreign agent of Angola. He has a pretty high profile. I have several questions -- about his marriage to a muslim, his converting to Islam, his cozy relationship with Islamic terrorism, and whether or not he's getting paid for arranging meetings between Bush and the Saudis.

How can you be "tough on terror" on the one hand, but meeting with muslim leaders who support terror right in the white house? This doesn't make sense.

4 COMMENTS

1. AMERICA FOR SALE is the message communicated by Norquist's activities. I'm sure he will argue that "he's done nothing illegal." That is no doubt entirely true. But does "not" doing something illegal justify selling out your own country? He must know that the people he is "connecting" to high ranking US officials have an agenda that is harmful to America and her people; he must be aware that the organizations that he fronts have ties to terrorists. If this is a correct assumption, then I have to conclude that Norquist is a piss-poor excuse for an American. If Norquist is "unaware" of these terrorist links, then I have to conclude that he must be one of the dumbest people alive, right behind Michael Moore.
Comment by Mustang -- 6/13/2005 @ 3:50 pm

2. Oh I'm sure he's fully aware. I don't understand why people aren't clamoring for this guy to retreat from public life! Ruin his career! SOMETHING! Anything ...instead of mentioning it and moving on as though someone's watching the scenery pass from a train window and noting a passing street or something.
Comment by Cao -- 6/13/2005 @ 6:05 pm

3. Grover Norquist: Terrorist Sympathizer

On the basis of the evidence assembled here, it seems beyond dispute that Grover Norquist has formed alliances with prominent Islamic radicals who have ties to the Saudis and to Libya and to Palestine Islamic Jihad, and who are now under indictment by ...
Trackback by Cao's Blog -- 6/14/2005 @ 3:51 am

4. This all is simply making me dizzy. To you, Mustang, and a host of others collating this disturbing info for us ... hat's off.

To those liberals out there who say that all we do is coddle our own and protect our cronies I say: There ARE such a things as ethics and morals. There IS an absolute RIGHT and WRONG. And, it seems that one of "our own" may have seriously lost sight of this, for what... the almighty $$? what ... the almighty $$?
Comment by The MaryHunter -- 6/14/2005 @ 5:59 pm


MUSLIMS FOR BUSH

Norquist has argued for years that Muslims should be a vital part of the Republican party. In a June 2001 article in The American Spectator, he wrote that Muslims are "a faith-based, naturally conservative community," noting, for example, that majorities of Muslims oppose abortion and support school choice. Citing surveys by Muslim groups, Norquist claimed that in the 2000 presidential election George W. Bush won more than 70 percent of the Muslim vote nationwide. In Florida, Norquist said, Muslims favored Bush over Al Gore by a 20 to 1 margin: "The margin of victory for Bush over Gore in the Muslim vote was 46,200, many times greater than his statewide margin of victory. The Muslim vote won Florida for Bush." (And, Norquist did not need to add, the presidency itself.)

March 19, 2003 9:40 a.m.
"Fight on the Right"
Byron York, New Republic White House Correspondent
http://www.nationalreview.com/york/york031903.asp

"Muslim outreach" and a feud between activists.

In February, a long-simmering and mostly behind-the-scenes feud between two prominent conservatives, tax-reform advocate Grover Norquist and national-security expert Frank Gaffney, burst into the open. At issue was the conduct of Norquist's energetic campaign to bring Muslims into the Republican party. While Norquist argues that Muslim political participation will be a key part of the GOP's electoral strategy in coming years, Gaffney charges that aggressive outreach efforts to Muslim leaders have brought the party, and in particular the Bush White House, dangerously close to organizations that have in the past endorsed or, at the least, declined to condemn international terrorism. Among them are the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Muslim Public Affairs Council, the Islamic Society of North America, the American Muslim Council, and others whose representatives have been invited to meetings in the White House and with officials across the Bush administration.

The feud has now escalated into a full-scale battle. Gaffney and others at his organization, the Center for Security Policy, have distributed thick packets of information to reporters and conservative activists outlining the case against the Islamic organizations. Norquist has responded angrily, barring Gaffney from conservative strategy meetings and accusing him of racism and bigotry. The fight has spread bad feelings on all sides, and has left more than a few conservatives worried that it might do serious damage to the conservative movement.

But the argument between Norquist and Gaffney is about much more than two men, or even the conservative movement. At its heart, it is about the Bush White House and whether its contacts with some Muslim groups might someday make the administration vulnerable to charges that it cultivated close relations with groups tied to radical Islam -- even as it conducted a war on terror around the world. The Norquist-Gaffney feud, some conservatives fear, might be just the first act of a very long play.

A WAR OF WORDS

The conflict began to emerge on January 31, at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Arlington, Va., when Gaffney participated in a panel discussion entitled "Safeguarding Civil Liberties in a Time of War." He discussed the threat posed by recruitment programs run by radical Wahhabi Islamists inside U.S. prisons, on military bases, and on college campuses. And there's more, Gaffney said: "I'm sorry to say there is an active and, to a considerable degree successful, [Wahhabi] political operation aimed not least at the Bush White House."

Later, during a question period, Gaffney said he had recently received a press release from the American Muslim Council == which he called "one of the leading Wahhabist sympathizers, and, I believe, [Wahhabi-] funded organizations in this country" -- announcing that a top AMC official had been invited to the White House. Gaffney continued: "And in this press release, they credited one Ali Tulbah [a Bush administration official] for having gotten them into the White House. It turns out that Ali Tulbah's father is one Hasan Tulbah, the treasurer of the Islamist Da'wah Center, a prominent Wahhabi mosque in Houston. But the reason he was able to influence whether [former AMC executive director] Eric Vickers and the AMC were present in this White House meeting was because he is also, I believe, the associate director for cabinet affairs in the Bush White House, responsible in his portfolio, if you can believe it, for the State Department, the Defense Department, and the Justice Department. This is not how we win the hearts and minds of peace-loving, pro-American Muslims. It is a perilous path, and I hope that it will be corrected."

Gaffney's remarks were startling, not because he was wrong about Islamist recruitment efforts -- he in fact appears to be right on target -- but because he singled out Tulbah, and suggested that the low-level White House aide played a role in the Islamist political operation. In the weeks since, Gaffney has not offered any evidence to back up his charges. Instead, he now says the problem he was addressing was not Tulbah specifically, but the issue of poor political judgment at the White House. Nor have several experts on Islam and terrorism who are generally allied with Gaffney been able to point to any problems with Tulbah.

Gaffney's remarks enraged Norquist, who responded in an open letter to conservative activists. "There is no place in the conservative movement for racial prejudice, religious bigotry or ethnic hatred," Norquist wrote. "We have come too far in the last 30 years in our efforts to broaden our coalition to allow anyone to smear an entire group of people... The conservative movement cannot be associated with racism or bigotry."

The reaction was explosive. Even if Gaffney had been wrong to mention Tulbah by name, some conservatives felt, Norquist's reaction was over the top. To make matters worse, Norquist used a standard rhetorical device of the Left: If you can't win an argument with a conservative, call him a racist. "I, for one, don't see it," says David Keene, head of the American Conservative Union and an organizer of the CPAC conference. "If you read the transcript [of the panel], you can see if Frank was right or wrong, but there was nothing racist or bigoted about it."

Heightening the tension was Norquist's angry assertion that the White House, and in particular chief political adviser Karl Rove, supported his racism-and-bigotry argument. One witness quotes Norquist as saying, "This is terrible. Karl's upset because we're insulting the people who helped Bush win the election." Another witness recalls that Norquist "said the president and Rove were angry at the conference." In addition, Norquist sent an e-mail to American Conservative Union board members saying that "[t]he White House and the press are increasingly angry with [the American Conservative Union] for some indefensible statements and actions at CPAC this year."

The letter caused a complete break inside the conservative camp. Keene has not spoken to Norquist since it was written, and Gaffney, whose organization shares an office suite with Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform, was kicked out of Norquist's famous Wednesday meeting of conservative strategists.

That is where things stand now. In a recent interview, Norquist denied using the White House to support his accusations: "I never invoke the president or Karl Rove on this position -- in anything." But he refused to back away from his incendiary charges about Gaffney, on one occasion calling him a "sick little bigot." "I'm sorry," Norquist said. "His whole life screams of bigotry, and what he said is just part of a pattern." Gaffney could have held higher-up administration staffers responsible for choosing who attends White House briefings, Norquist argued, but instead "decided to single out the Muslim." He continued: "Frank Gaffney and Osama bin Laden share the same view on the relationship between the United States and Islam. I agree with the president in rejecting Osama bin Laden's and Frank Gaffney's worldview."

Suffice it to say that this sort of talk simply doesn't go on in public between two respected conservative leaders. What's more, it is absolutely baffling to anyone who knows only what happened at the CPAC conference. To understand what is really going on, one has to look closely at a conflict that has been building for quite a while.

MUSLIMS FOR BUSH

Norquist has argued for years that Muslims should be a vital part of the Republican party. In a June 2001 article in The American Spectator, he wrote that Muslims are "a faith-based, naturally conservative community," noting, for example, that majorities of Muslims oppose abortion and support school choice. Citing surveys by Muslim groups, Norquist claimed that in the 2000 presidential election George W. Bush won more than 70 percent of the Muslim vote nationwide. In Florida, Norquist said, Muslims favored Bush over Al Gore by a 20 to 1 margin: "The margin of victory for Bush over Gore in the Muslim vote was 46,200, many times greater than his statewide margin of victory. The Muslim vote won Florida for Bush." (And, Norquist did not need to add, the presidency itself.)

As impressive as that sounds, Norquist's numbers are open to serious question. Pollster John Zogby says there is not a great deal of information on Muslim voting, but "my data indicates that it was tilted Democratic in 2000. It went more for Gore and Nader than for Bush." Michael Barone, author of the authoritative Almanac of American Politics, argues that it is impossible to draw an accurate picture of Muslim voters, given the lack of exit-poll information. As for the claim that Muslims gave Bush his winning margin, Barone says simply, "Any 538 voters in Florida can claim credit for winning the presidency for Bush."

Nevertheless, Norquist maintains that Muslims played a key role in the Bush victory. In the Spectator article, he gave much of the credit to Khaled Saffuri, his chief adviser in Muslim matters, who in 1998 helped found an organization called the Islamic Institute. The Institute's mission is to "build relationships between American Muslims and policy makers in the United States," and it has in the past promoted conservative positions on such issues as free trade, school choice, and tort reform.

While those matters are important, Norquist reserved his highest praise for Saffuri's work in having "brought to the GOP's attention the most important issue for the Muslim community -- the misuse of 'secret evidence' in immigration cases." Urged on by Norquist, Saffuri, and others, Candidate Bush denounced secret evidence during the 2000 campaign. In his second debate with Gore, he brought the subject up when asked a question about racial profiling: "There's other forms of racial profiling that goes on in America. Arab-Americans are racially profiled in what's called secret evidence. People are stopped, and we got to do something about that."

In connection with the secret-evidence issue, Saffuri and Norquist made common cause with Sami al-Arian, the University of South Florida computer-science professor who had made a crusade of the issue. (Al-Arian's brother-in-law had been jailed and later deported in a terrorist investigation that made use of secret evidence.) Al-Arian headed the far-left activist group National Coalition to Protect Political Freedom, and made secret evidence its primary concern. Saffuri and Norquist shared a position with al-Arian's group on matters concerning secret evidence, and Bush was photographed with al-Arian during the campaign. Al-Arian also visited the White House in June 2001, a year and a half before he was indicted on conspiracy charges as the alleged head of Palestinian Islamic Jihad in America. The indictment charged that al-Arian and his allies, "while concealing their association with the [Palestinian Islamic Jihad], would and did seek to obtain support from influential individuals, in the United States, under the guise of promoting and protecting Arab rights." During all this time, al-Arian's alleged terrorist ties were public knowledge, having been the subject of press reports and congressional testimony.

THE 'WAHHABI LOBBY' GOES TO THE WHITE HOUSE

The GOP's Muslim connections attracted relatively little attention in the pre-September 11 world. But after 9/11, when the White House began a very public effort to reach out to Muslims, its choices of Muslim contacts -- made with input from, among others, the Islamic Institute --became quite controversial. One particular meeting on September 26, 2001, sparked criticism that the White House had not taken care to screen out groups that have supported terrorism, in word or deed. Groups invited included CAIR, which, according to terrorism expert Steven Emerson, serves as "an ideological support group for militants"; the American Muslim Council, whose leaders (again according to Emerson) "have openly championed Hamas terrorists, defended Middle Eastern terrorist regimes, and issued anti-Semitic and anti-American statements"; and the Muslim Public Affairs Council, whose "rallies and sponsored events reveal implicit support of terrorist activities." (Gaffney refers to these and other groups as the "Wahhabi lobby.")

And that, in turn, brought criticism of the Islamic Institute, because Norquist and Saffuri had been the most prominent advocates of closer relations between the White House and the Muslim community. A significant part of that criticism has come from Gaffney, who points to a number of troubling associations involving the Islamic Institute. Among them:

  • In early 1999, the Institute accepted a $10,000 contribution and a $10,000 loan from Abdurahman Alamoudi, a founder of the American Muslim Council (and Khaled Saffuri's former boss). The next year, in a demonstration in front of the White House, Alamoudi yelled to the crowd, "Anybody who is in support of Hamas here?" When the demonstrators cheered, Alamoudi said, "Bill Clinton, we are all supporters of Hamas. I wish to add that I am also in support of Hezbollah. Anybody supports Hezbollah here?" The crowd cheered again. Alamoudi's words caused a near panic among some of his less radical friends and associates, including those at the Islamic Institute, who say they have dissociated themselves from him. "I think what Alamoudi said was wrong, and I personally asked him to retract it," says Saffuri. "Since he made that statement, we have not had anything to do with him."

  • The Institute maintained contact with Sami al-Arian as late as last summer, when the professor visited their offices in Washington. As with the Alamoudi connection, the al-Arian indictment left Saffuri distancing himself from a former associate. "If the charges are true, I feel deceived by him," Saffuri says. "But look, we didn't do work with Sami. He came by our office two or three times in the last four years." Norquist says he did not have a relationship with al-Arian and dismisses questions about an August 2001 letter -- copied to Norquist -- that the professor wrote to the Wall Street Journal objecting to an article on terrorism. "Many people 'cc' me on letters as a way to impress somebody," Norquist says.

  • In August 2000, the Institute accepted a $10,000 contribution from a Virginia-based charity called the Safa Trust. In March 2002, the Safa Trust was one of several organizations raided by U.S. Customs agents as part of Operation Green Quest, a program designed to cut off terrorist funding. Investigators suspect the trust was part of a complex, interlinked network of organizations that have, among other things, funneled Saudi money into terrorist activities. No one from Safa has been indicted, but Saffuri found himself once again explaining away his association with a group linked to terrorism.

THE MAIN SHOW

The connections call into question the Islamic Institute's role in supporting the White House Muslim outreach effort. But as Norquist points out, the White House has contacts in the Muslim world quite apart from the Islamic Institute, and it would be inaccurate to view Norquist or the Institute as somehow dictating White House policy. Even Gaffney agrees with that. "I think the role that [Norquist] has played personally in this effort on behalf of Wahhabi-sympathetic and -supported institutions is an important one, but it's a bit role," Gaffney says. "It's a sideshow." The main show, he says, is the Bush administration's policy on which Muslim groups will be granted access to the White House.

For example, after the White House took heat for the September 26, 2001, meeting with the president, administration officials are said to have pledged to be more careful in the screening process in the future. But, in January of this year, CAIR's Ibrahim Hooper and Jason Erb, communications director and government-affairs director, respectively, were back in the White House for a briefing on immigration policy. (Not long after, a former CAIR employee who had done community-relations work in Washington was arrested in New York on terrorism-related charges.)

Gaffney and others have urged the ad ministration to concentrate outreach efforts on more moderate Muslim groups. They worry that the inclusion of groups like CAIR in White House events gives them a credibility they could find nowhere else, making it easier for them to meet with officials in the cabinet departments and on Capitol Hill.

What particularly worries some observers is the possibility that White House contacts with some of the Muslim groups and leaders might be more extensive than is publicly known -- and that the president's political opponents will try to exploit them. Indeed, on February 27, California Democratic congressman Henry Waxman wrote a letter to the Secret Service requesting all electronic records of visits by Sami al-Arian to the White House complex. Waxman also asked for "all requests, whether granted or denied, by White House employees that Sami al-Arian be admitted to the White House complex." And he asked whether the Secret Service had identified al-Arian's alleged terrorist connections and objected to his visit, only to be overruled by White House officials.

Administration officials say they will try to "accommodate" Waxman's request. Perhaps nothing will come of it, but they cannot simply dismiss his concerns. Waxman functions as a sort of lead scout for Democrats, a congressman willing to make inquiries into topics that might bear fruit politically but that other politicians are too timid to broach. For example, he took a leading role in demanding that Vice President Cheney release documents from his energy task force; even though some Republicans did not take it seriously at first, Cheney ended up facing a lawsuit from the General Accounting Office over the matter (the suit was dismissed).

So there is a much bigger conflict going on behind the ugly battle between Frank Gaffney and Grover Norquist. Conservatives might wish that it would go away -- or at least that Norquist would stop calling people racists and bigots -- but they first have to worry about the administration's Muslim outreach program, which gave rise to the conflict in the first place.

Contact Michael Travis at michaelmgr@gmail.com

To Go To Top

ONE HARMFUL HANDSHAKE
Posted by Daily Alert, February 25, 2007.

This was written by Danielle Pletka and it appeared February 19, 2007 in the New York Daily News
(www.nydailynews.com/02-19-2007/news/story/498759p-420478c.html). Danielle Pletka is vice president for foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute.

Rice's sitdown with Abbas and Olmert is worse than hollow - it's a backslide for the U.S.

Today, Secretary of State Rice will sit down with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in a summit that's being advertised as the start of a new effort to outline a final settlement between Israel and the Palestinians. The meeting may be perfectly pleasant - but it's another triumph of hope over experience. And the thinking that led to this point portends disaster for the United States.

Olmert leads a government that may soon fall. Abbas speaks for no one but himself; the unity government he has agreed to lead with Hamas does not recognize the right of the State of Israel to exist. And the United States surely has other, more pressing challenges to face in the Middle East.

But Rice, Olmert and Abbas have persuaded themselves that there is, in the tired parlance of the committed peace-processor, a window of opportunity. For the Israeli and Palestinian leaders, the motive is straightforward political expediency. If you can't do anything else, why not engage in distracting diplomacy?

For Rice, there is another dynamic at play: The American secretary of state believes that a Sunni Arab world unified by fear of a radical Iran may finally force the Palestinians into peace with Israel. In other words, the Arabs will deliver the Palestinians, and the Americans will deliver the Israelis.

This is old think at its worst. Before 9/11, American policy in the Middle East rested on the premise that "moderate" Sunni states - like Egypt and Saudi Arabia - offered lasting stability in the region, by serving as a counterweight to states like Iran and Syria. George Bush repudiated that premise, insisting that true stability would flow from democracy.

Now, it increasingly appears that the Bush administration's democracy push is done. American diplomats are again talking up the important role of "moderate" or "reasonable" Arab states, ignoring the fact that most foreign fighters in Iraq are Saudis or that Egypt has launched an unprecedented crackdown on civil society.

In keeping with the effort to bolster the "moderates," the administration is trying to funnel $86 million to Abbas for his security forces. The fact that those self-same security forces are indistinguishable from the Fatah terror group known as the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, and that Fatah itself pursued a policy of terror over peace throughout its tenure in power, has not slowed the administration's eagerness to engage in a new peace process.

The logic behind today's meeting is unclear. Clever State Department diplomats believe that by describing a "horizon," or shape to a future Palestinian state, they will undercut Palestinian rejectionists and, in turn, destabilize Hamas. But embracing one terrorist to weaken another is not a foreign policy strategy, it's just unprincipled gamesmanship.

Similarly, the Bush administration's new fondness for so-called moderate Arab states over extremists ignores all the lessons learned after 9/11. Al Qaeda and its ilk have a foothold in the Middle East because supposedly moderate dictators and autocrats deny people basic rights. Getting back into bed with those moderates at the expense of the 300 million people of the region is a terrible mistake for which the United States has paid dearly once already. Secretary Rice is looking for diplomatic successes in all the wrong places.

The Daily Alert is prepared for the Conference of presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA). Contact them at daily@www.dailyalert.jcpa.org

To Go To Top

HOME GAME PORTRAYS DISENGAGEMENT'S HUMAN SIDE
Posted by Bryna Berch, February 25, 2007.

This was written by David Morris and it appeared February 23, 2007 in Florida Jewish News
(http://floridajewishnews.com/News/Israel/%E2%80%98Home_Game%E2%80%99_Portrays _Disengagement%E2%80%99s_Human_Side_20070223914/).

Trauma. Confusion. Abandonment. Words that no doubt capture the emotions felt by close to a million Israelis living in the northern part of the country this past summer during the 34-day conflict with Hizbullah in southern Lebanon. Yet these same words reflect similar emotions experienced just a year earlier during the summer of 2005 when the approximate 9,000 Israelis living in the 22 communities of Gush Katif in Gaza were told they must leave their homes and be resettled in other parts of Israel. The Disengagement Plan called for the evacuation of all Jews by Aug. 15 -- the day after Tisha B'Av--and the eventual handing over of the entire area to the Palestinian Authority. Thank you for supporting our advertisers!

As the evacuation deadline was approaching, Avi Abelow, a young businessman living in the community of Efrat located between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, decided he must make a personal commitment. He would go to Gush Katif and spend time meeting and encouraging its residents. Following the 1967 Six Day War, Jewish settlement activity began in northern Gaza and peaked in the 1970's. Many of the settlements established were seen as 'agricultural miracles' as they succeeded in growing, literally out of sand, top-quality tomatoes, exotic fruits and exquisite flowers for export to Europe.

"Although my personal politics would have favored a different solution, I saw what was happening as a human tragedy to be shared with fellow Jews who had invested years of their lives building up this area and now saw it come crashing down," Abelow said. "Of course the subject of the Gush Katif settlements was and for many will always remain a very political one. But since the Disengagement, what has happened to these families is a story I believe deserves greater empathy on the part of all Israelis and all Jews throughout the world. For those who lived there, the withdrawal is not going to be seen as a piece of 'history' but rather as an event that changed everything. They had to pay the price for all of us and I think we should at least attempt to understand their plight."

Abelow took his video camera along to document what he saw -- the protests, the maze of military checkpoints and the attempts by both the army and police to keep other Israelis from entering Gaza.

"I had plenty of difficulties driving my car around, needing to take back roads and often driving through fields in order to reach a settlement," said Abelow. "I noticed that others were filming the events happening around me and I'm sure there were many people filming things I didn't know about and in places I couldn't possibly get to. But I never imagined I would eventually leave my job in Tel Aviv and decide to make a full length documentary based on material taken right from the videos of Gush Katif residents."

Abelow knew an upcoming Israeli filmmaker, Yaron Shane, and together they began looking at the some 80 hours worth of footage given to them by 16 different families. They kept seeing scenes from the annual high school basketball tournament between the area's 22 communities that had been taking place amidst all the world media attention concerning the pullout. They also learned that the final championship game was scheduled for August 15--the very last day residents were told they all must leave Gaza.

Shane says he and Abelow initially prepared a four-minute clip for Internet play only and that they never intended on making a full-length documentary.

"When we saw the site counter quickly rack upwards of 50,000 hits, we knew we had to produce a longer, more detailed look at the turbulent events," says Shane. "We began piecing together into a cohesive whole the different personal and public dramas taking place both within the tournament and outside the gym."

Abelow explained that once he and Shane saw the high level of emotion surrounding the basketball tournament and the suspense of who would make it to the final, it was very clear this would be the film's backdrop. They named it 'Home Game.' The film chronicles daily life before and during the evacuation of the 30-year-old farming community of Netzer Hazani, in the southern Gush Katif settlement bloc, as its teenage basketball players prepared for the annual tournament.

Abelow, the film's producer, was recently in South Florida for two days trying to build support and convince every synagogue, federation and JCC to show it. He arranged for two screenings at a small synagogue in Miami Beach (where his grandparents belong) and another at the Palm Beach Orthodox Synagogue.

"Our goal is for every Jew to have the opportunity to see 'Home Game' and to put aside their political orientations and religious affiliations. Whatever baggage they have that keeps them from feeling empathy for the families and especially the youth of Gush Katif, we want them to leave at the door," Abelow said. "We hope this film can create greater tolerance between different sectors of Israel's population."

Over 10,000 people in Israel, the United States and Great Britain have already attended screenings often held at Jewish community centers, synagogues and private homes. Abelow is working on presenting the film on Israeli television and in the country's cinematheques and film festivals.

A.B. Yehoshua, the award-winning Israeli writer and recipient of the Israel Prize commented on the documentary saying, "I viewed the film 'Home Game,' and found that it was made in an objective manner, in order to portray the difficulties and the lives of those people living in the settlements of Gush Katif. This cinematic work is fair despite the ideological position behind which it stands. It is definitely worthwhile to see this film in order to expand one's point of view regarding the reality of Israeli life. "

So far Abelow has single-handedly managed to screen 'Home Game' in some 120 different locations in Israel.

"We started in the religious community and we've expanded rapidly into the secular community. We would like to establish a tradition of showing this film on Tisha B'Av and then discussing its implications in terms of Jewish history. Yes, right now I am looking for money to enable us to expand the number of screenings around the world. But more important that the money, I would like Jews everywhere to plan to visit Israel soon and make a special effort to meet some of the people who experienced this traumatic event."

For information, visit: www.homegamethemovie.com. 'Home Game' is available as a DVD and can be purchased by calling (Israel) +972-2-589-2000 or contacting: dani@ruderfinn.co.il.

To Go To Top

KOSOVO (AND EUROPE) IN THE BALANCE
Posted by David Nathan, February 25, 2007.

Serge Trifkovic of Sword of the Prophet and Defeating Jihad fame has an excellent analysis in Chronicles Magazine of the continued international pressure on Serbia to hand over Kosovo to Albanian Muslims and the terrorist KLA:

On February 2, U.N. special envoy Martti Ahtisaari finally unveiled his much-anticipated plan for the final status of the Serbian province of Kosovo which has been under NATO-UN occupation since Bill Clinton's war against the Serbs in 1999. While avoiding the contentious word "independence," Ahtisaari presented the framework for a new Albanian state that would have all key attributes of sovereign statehood. [...] The period of international supervision envisaged by the plan, as well as a host of "guarantees" and promises of "substantial" municipal autonomy for the few remaining Serbs and other non-Albanians in the province, are but a fig leaf meant to conceal the plan's reality: that on the fundamental issue of Kosovo's legal, constitutional and political status Ahtisaari gives everything to the Albanians and nothing to the Serbs. Even without using the "I" word, the plan proposes de facto separation of Kosovo from Serbia. Its primary focus is to finalize the detachment of Kosovo from the last formal vestiges of Serbia's authority, with the definition of its future status a secondary consideration.

The promise of a "review" after two years is mendacious: if on their current church-burning, dope-smuggling form, the KLA terrorists and criminals who run Kosovo are deemed worthy of independence, it is preposterous to assume that someone -- anyone -- would dare suggest otherwise two years from now, once they are even more firmly entrenched in power. If 150 Serbian churches went up in flames, and a quarter-million Serbs and other non-Albanians were ethnically cleansed while tens of thousands of KFOR soldiers and UNMIK policemen were stationed in the Province, what would be the worth of Ahtisaari's "guarantees" once they all leave and the KLA (under whatever current name) takes over?

Ahtissari's plan is [...] deeply destabilizing because it helps create a base for jihad-terrorism in the heart of Europe and sets a dangerous precedent that will be emulated by each and every disenchanted minority around the world: from Transylvania, to southern Slovakia to the Basque Country to Northern Cyprus to the Crimea, not to mention Transdnistria, South Ossetia, Abkhazia, and Nagorno-Karabakh. (To this there may come yet another assurance from the State Department that "no precedent would be set"; yet, while Foggy Bottom bureaucrats may impact reality, they certainly cannot control it.)

[...]

The 1999 NATO war against the Serbs was ostensibly waged for human rights, but -- judged by any rational standard -- the NATO-UN mission in Kosovo has been, and still is, an unmitigated disaster. The pretense that this is not so is nevertheless maintained by Ahtisaari and his mentors, amidst murders, unreversed ethnic cleansing, rampant crime, prostitution, drug-smuggling, and general dysfunctionality of a thoroughly failed, violent, and dysfunctional polity, a black hole utterly devoid of a single redeeming feature.

[...]

[Ahtisaari's] goal is to create a new Muslim state in the heart of Europe that would be a veritable black hole of criminality, lawlessness, and jihad terrorism. He must not succeed: pandering to Islam's geopolitical designs -- in the Balkans, or anywhere else -- is not only bad, it is counterproductive, and violating laws of God and man along the way is evil.

Fool's Crusade, which blows out of the water the persistent myths of the Balkan wars of the past fifteen years.

Contact David Nathan by email at davenathan@aol.com

To Go To Top

KHOMEINI SPEAKS OF ISLAM AND THE WISDOM OF THE PROPHET
Posted by Michael Travis, February 25, 2007.

On sex with Animals:

"The meat of horses, mules, or donkeys is not recommended. It is strictly forbidden if the animal was sodomized while alive by a man. In that case, the animal must be taken outside the city and sold."

Islamic Teachings on sex with infants:

"A man can have sexual pleasure from a child as young as a baby. However, he should not penetrate. If he penetrates and the child is harmed then he should be responsible for her subsistence all her life. This girl, however would not count as one of his four permanent wives. The man will not be eligible to marry the girl's sister."

The complete Persian text of this saying can be found in "Ayatollah Khomeini in Tahrirolvasyleh, Fourth Edition, Darol Elm, Qom"

Islamic Teachings on sex with animals:

"The meat of horses, mules, or donkeys is not recommended. It is strictly forbidden if the animal was sodomized while alive by a man. In that case, the animal must be taken outside the city and sold."

Editor's notes: I wonder if it is OK to sodomize a dead animal? What happens if the buyer brings the poor animal back into the city?

"If one commits an act of sodomy with a cow, a ewe, or a camel, their urine and their excrements become impure, and even their milk may no longer be consumed. The animal must then be killed as quickly as possible and burned, and the price of it paid to its owner by him who sodomized it."

Editor's note: The poor animal first is sodomized and then killed and burned. What an Islamic justice towards animals? Where are the animal rights group?

"It is forbidden to consume the excrement of animals or their nasal secretions. But if such are mixed in minute proportions into other foods their consumption is not forbidden."

"If a man (God protect him from it!) fornicates with an animal and ejaculates, ablution is necessary."

Editor's note: It does not say who should have ablution: the animal or the man?

"A man can have sex with animals such as sheeps, cows, camels and so on. However, he should kill the animal after he has his orgasm. He should not sell the meat to the people in his own village; however, selling the meat to the next door village should be fine."

From Khomeini's book, "Tahrirolvasyleh"

Contact Michael Travis at michaelmgr@gmail.com

To Go To Top

WESTERN SYCOPHANTS AND ISLAMIC OPPRESSORS
Posted by Michael Travis, February 25, 2007.
This was written by Youssef Ibrahim and it appeared January 29, 2007 in the New York Sun
http://www.nysun.com/article/47573

Ever wondered what might be the correct "Islamic" way to beat your wife, or what a Saudi princess's greatest wish might be if she were king?

The wires were buzzing Thursday with reports of "oohs" and "ahs" from the elitist World Economic Forum gathering in Davos, Switzerland, complete with applause for a Saudi royal princess, Lolwah al-Faisal, after she asserted that her first executive move would be to "let women drive."

Amazingly, according to the Associated Press news dispatch on this lame comment, the audience erupted in applause.

How can what passes as an elemental right in today's world -- when uttered by a Saudi female belonging to the most oppressive, religiously fanatical ruling family in the world -- be treated as a sign of progress in a kingdom of darkness?

The problem with Western sycophants toadying up to Islamic oppressors for money or favors is that those Westerners insult the oppressed majorities by treating their tormentors as precocious 12-year-olds to be coddled when stating the obvious or giving the "right" answer.

Princess Lolwah has since returned to her country where she -- and all other women practically been erased from society by law. It is a place where women are reduced to walking black tents, where they are denied basic rights to education, work, travel, and equality, and where they are left with the options of being someone's first, second, third, or fourth spouse. Indeed, a place where imams are allowed to preach the proper way to beat a wife and whip non-Muslim infidels.

Western enablers at the World Economic Forum fail their most fundamentalist reformist obligations by overlooking these oppressive practices. Instead, the Davos forum should have focused on illuminating landmarks such as the U.N. Arab Human Development Report of 2005, which described in excruciating details the many ways women have been cancelled as human beings under Saudi Arabia's religious jihad.

So woeful are the violations detailed in the report that one apologist, Saudi Arabia's Prince Talal Bin Abdul Aziz, the president of the Arab Gulf Program for the U.N. Development Organizations, attempted in a lame foreword to disassociate religion from such abuses, writing that Islam had "no connection with any of the mistaken practices carried out against women."

Just as with his relative, the disconnected princess in Davos, Prince Talal is wrong on factual grounds. Saudi Islam as practiced today and proselytized to the rest of the world with oil money is an oppressive and anti-life discipline.

Less than two years ago, there was a priceless piece of Islamic jurisprudence that illustrated how disconnected talk of reform is from practice in the Arabian Peninsula under Saudi hegemony. An eminent, and very pro-Saudi, Islamic cleric, Sheik Abdullah Aal Mahmud of Bahrain, enshrined himself with a television broadcast on June 20, 2005, on the Bahraini government-owned network as he asserted that Islam indeed sanctions the beating of wives and instructed his millions of viewers on the "correct" way to do it.

"If the husband wished to use beatings in the treatment of his wife, it is essential, absolutely essential, to never do it in front of the children. The beating must remain between him and her and with the conditions outlined, which are that he does not draw blood nor leave a perceptible bruise on her body and avoid her face as well as dangerous [sic] parts concerning the body. If the husband violates these directives, he then violates the limits set by the almighty. ... Because the woman is not to be seen as merchandise to which he can do whatever he pleases."

Amazingly, the sheik was sincerely trying to show how humane Islam is in its prescriptions on how to treat women.

For the princess's Western enablers at Davos, the same sick logic applies. To show a symbol of oppression as one of liberation treats twisted views as worthy of respect. It is irresponsible.

Contact Michael Travis at michaelmgr@gmail.com

To Go To Top

FIGHTING FOR JUSTICE
Posted by Rachel Saperstein, February 25, 2007.

We have returned to our refugee camp after our trip to Florida. The trial, Moshe Saperstein vs. Palestinian Authority / Palestine Liberation Organization, lasted two days. [My husband had been wounded in his remaining left hand and left leg by a PA/PLO shooter in February 2002.] The PA had defaulted and had no representation in court. Now it was only a matter of determining compensation.

The attorneys for my husband were brilliant, articulate and fully prepared with documentation captured from PLO headquarters showing that Yasser Arafat had ordered and paid for the deadly attack that left three dead and my husband further disabled. In addition, a surveillance camera had captured the event on film.

A jury of eight voted unanimously to compensate my husband with sixteen million dollars. And pursuant to the Anti Terrorism Act of 1990 the judge was duty-bound to treble the amount.

I was on the stand for over an hour describing our life in Gush Katif. When I spoke of my husband's suffering I spoke from the heart, and clearly touched the hearts of the jurors. My husband concluded his own remarks on the stand with "Don't feel sorry for me, because I don't feel sorry for myself."

We felt a sense of justice but also of futility. No one has ever forced the PA/PLO to pay its debts. Despite other similar judgments no one had received compensation.

Despite severe jet lag I plunged into work, holding meetings with the staff of each Operation Dignity project. The Orange Gallery had been out at exhibitions. Our work was now on exhibition in Holland. The square in front of our two pre-fabs has been paved. Furniture rescued from Gush Katif was now in the Gallery. Earthenware urns stand ready for Spring planting. We will create an orange garden around the seating area.

Our official opening date in March 19, the First of Nissan, the month of Passover -- our holiday of freedom.

I emphasize, with the greatest pride, that the Orange Gallery is a Gush Katif project. Not one shekel of government money was used, or even offered. We took control of our own lives with strength and determination. We created a Gallery for our artists and artisans, and our Bnei Menashe sisters. And you, my dear friends, by your belief in us, gave us the funds and encouragement to succeed. Be proud of your accomplishment, and continue to support us. See our website, www.theorangegallerygk.com

KATIFNIK director Natan Anavi reports "We gave out flyers and have been getting calls to repair all those pesky things that never seem to get fixed. People always remember to make repairs before the Pessach holiday."

Our Bnei Menashe women have produced beautiful chalah and matza covers, and a Shabbat bag. You'll be seeing their work on our website.

While out for a power walk last night I met some neighbors. "While you were away the Expulsion Authority called a meeting but we refused to attend," they said.

"Why?" I asked.

"They won't allow our married children to live near us at the new Nitzan site. They won't allow long-term renters to live with us. We want all our people together! They may have destroyed our Gush Katif homes, but they'll never destroy our spirit!"

It is good to be back.


OPERATION DIGNITY is bringing hope, financial aid and employment to our people? OPERATION DIGNITY needs your help to revitalize a once proud people.

Send your check, earmarked "Operation Dignity" to

Central Fund for Israel
Rehov Hagoel 13
Efrat 90435
Israel

OR

Central Fund for Israel
attention: Arthur Marcus
Marcus Bros. Textiles
980 Sixth Avenue
New York, NY 10018 USA

Rachel Saperstein and her husband Moshe lived in Neve Dekalim, Gush Katif, Gaza, Israel. Rachel Saperstein was a teacher at the Neve Dekalim ulpana and a spokeswoman for the Katif Regional Council. Her book, "Eviction: A Gush Katif Viewpoint", with photos by Moti Sender can be ordered from www.pavilionpress.com.

Moshe Saperstein is a Jerusalem Diarist, one of the group of Israelis who are recording their experiences living in Israel. He lost an arm while fighting in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. He was again wounded in a February 2002 incident 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.

To Go To Top

LEST THE SWORD SLIP FROM OUR HAND
Posted by Avodah, February 24, 2007.

This was written by Ze'ev Schiff and it appeared yesterday in Ha'aretz
(www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=829434&contrassID=2&subContrass ID=4&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y).

When Yaakov Peri stepped down as chief of the Shin Bet, in 1994, Jibril Rajoub, then head of Preventive Security Services in the West Bank, called Peri to express his sorrow. "This is a terrible blow to the security of the state!" said Rajoub. The state he was talking about was Israel. And the fact of the matter is that Rajoub, in his day, did work hard to prevent the second Intifada.

This same Jibril Rajoub has now appeared on television and shocked his Israeli acquaintances with the remark that in the end, the Palestinians will recover every inch of land between the river and the sea. Rajoub's standing is no longer what it was, but this sudden, Hamas-style declaration undermines our trust in the statements made by so-called "moderate" Palestinians.

With all due respect to my Palestinian friends, I can only conclude from these remarks that we must shut our ears when the Palestinians scatter promises about wanting to live alongside Israel. It is not words that matter, but deeds, and deeds alone.

Another shocking phenomenon emerges from the appalling account of former cabinet minister and senior Fatah official Sufian Abu Zaida, in an interview with Haaretz correspondent Avi Issacharoff (February 5). Abu Zaida described how his neighbor, a colonel in the PLO, and his nephew, were executed. First they were shot in the legs, and finally in the back, with the gunmen telling jokes while pulling the trigger. Before they shot the nephew, they tried to make him drink acid.

On a previous occasion, Abu Zaida's house was firebombed, and an attempt was made to kidnap his son. "Do you understand how much they hate us?" asked Abu Zaida. "The chances for peace with Israel are greater than the chances for peace between Hamas and Fatah."

Sheik Ra'ad Salah, head of the Northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, should be reading this. In his fury over the work at the Mugrabi Gate, he repeatedly accused the Israelis of being "murderers." But Sheik Ra'ad knows, of course, what the whole world knows and can see on TV: Arabs in Iraq are brutally murdering other Arabs, most of them innocent. Sometimes they even kill them at prayer, and destroy mosques. Sheikh Ra'ad knows what members of the Islamic Movement in Algeria did to tens of thousands of citizens, including women and children, just a few years ago. But in his eyes, Israelis are the murderers.

There is only one conclusion, and Moshe Dayan already said it in his eulogy over the grave of Roi Rutenberg, who was murdered by Arabs from Gaza in the 1950s: "This is our life's choice: to be prepared and armed, strong and determined, lest the sword slip from our hand and our lives be cut down."

When ex-Mossad chief Ephraim Halevy says Israel doesn't need the recognition of Hamas, he is shifting the focus of the argument. He is getting into the fundamental, the moral and the diplomatic. The key issue here, and our primary concern, is the continuation of terror; today manifested in the continued rocket fire, the refusal to release Gilad Shalit, the attempts to carry out suicide bombings and the massive smuggling of arms. Bringing an end to these things constitutes part of the Quartet's demands.

Of course Israel must help Mahmoud Abbas, and through him, the suffering Palestinian people. But it cannot participate in a sneaky attempt by Hamas to use a moderate and positive-thinking man like Salam Fayad, who would have been the finance minister in a unity government, to put aid money into the hands of Hamas ministers, including those heading the movement's military wing.

Having a moderating force in the Gaza Strip and within the Palestinian Authority is in Israel's interest, but it is not enough. Israel must also insist that the Palestinians pass the critical test of reining in terror and fully abide by all agreements.

Contact Avodah at Avoda15@yahoo.com

To Go To Top

SURRENDER TO JIHAD? NEVER
Posted by Bryna Berch, February 24, 2007.

This was written by Franklin Raff and it appeared on the World Net Daily website. Franklin Raff is senior executive producer at Radio America.

Editor's note: On Monday, Feb. 19, Franklin Raff gave this speech at the National Religious Broadcasters' Conference International Christian Prayer Breakfast for Israel in Orlando, Fla.

When I returned from the place that was called Gush Katif -- from the disengagement in Gaza -- returned with the memory of IDF soldiers dragging their Jewish brothers and sisters out of their homes, shackling them up in the dust and permanently banishing them from their property. I thought for a moment of the Judische Ghetto-Polizei, the infamous Jewish ghetto police. And almost perversely, it seemed, I saw them praying together, weeping openly together, forced soldier and forced refugee, as Qassam rockets fell on our retreat. Qassam rockets, launched by Arabs and aimed at us, as we went through the process of giving them houses, greenhouses, villages, farms, cooperatives and endless fields. Green fields, green fields in the desert, fields my distant ancestors first irrigated and made arable -- which I saw for the first time on that last day, and which my children will never see.

I am a Southerner by birth. As we say, by the grace of God I am a Virginian, and I grew up on a farm. Wherever I travel in the world I know the smell that earth has when it is blessed by God and by the working hands of free men who love God. That last evening as we gathered in a field in Neve Dekalim -- in Gaza -- to make a minyan for evening prayer before the final evacuation of the Jews, I was struck by the smell: the same smell I remember from our farm when I was a boy. Nitrogen and mud and life and freedom. Perhaps you know that smell. I have been to Iraq, to the farms along the Euphrates River where the men drink tea in the shade while their wives stoop and toil in the fields, covered head-to-toe in the hot sun in black hajibs. The soil there is dusty, and it smells only of salt.

When I returned from what was called Gush Katif, from that glorious smell which in the days to follow became the smell of bulldozer diesel exhaust and high explosives -- also an unmistakable smell -- I understood, in a visceral way, the tragedy of "land for peace." I understood fully, for the first time in my life, the fable about the scorpion and the frog, which had baffled me as a child. And you know why this fable confuses children. They do not yet believe in evil. And you remember the frog in the pot of water as it comes to a boil. If the path to destruction is taken in small, incremental steps, the frog will make minimal protestations, if any, before he takes his final breath.

Evil exists. The beast which has many disguises. The seductive thief of individual liberty, the destroyer of families. The disarmer of private citizens. The beast gently disposes of our freedoms and seizes our property. He then erases our bodies and our culture and our history and the memory of our God. The annihilator of God's message and God's children, Christian and Jew alike, is alive, and his armies are advancing.

So, who will defend Israel -- not when it is too late, not when its ruins become one more monument to the folly of appeasement -- but now. Who will defend Israel?

We will. This time, the Jews are not alone. Today, together, we defend Masada. I am blessed to live in a time in which righteous Jews and righteous Christians love each other. I will pray that it will be so until the final days.

Our leaders in Washington and Jerusalem will beg us to surrender. They will beg us to surrender, and they will throw Nobel Peace Prizes around like Judas' silver coins. But we will not surrender. To the jihad, which openly promises the destruction of Israel, the overthrow of the United States and our Constitution, the universal establishment of the Caliphate and the enslavement of women and we so-called infidels, I will not surrender one inch of my country, not one inch of Dearborn, Mich., not one inch of my native Virginia, and not one more inch of Judea and Samaria. Never.

Ru'ach is Hebrew for Spirit, or the Sprit of God. It is a cognate of Re'ach, or wind, and smell. We are tied to the land. But what we stand to accomplish by defending it has everything to do with spiritual territory. This, we will defend.

Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done.

To Go To Top

THE DEMOGRAPHIC THREAT IS DYING
Posted by Yoram Ettinger, February 24, 2007.

Enclosed you'll find excerpts from (non-solicited!) Hagai Segal's column in Makor Rishon (Feb. 23, 2007), which reflects the collapse of a 20 year monopoly by Israel's "Prophets of Demographic Doom."

Shavoua' Tov and may we heed the lessons of last week's portion of the Torarh (Terumah): Contributions transform & elevate reality (Temoorah, Rom in Hebrew), constitute a cohesive social and economic force, rewarding givers and receivers, Yoram

"YORAM ETTINGER IS RELENTLESSLY UNDERMINING DEMOGRAPHIC HYSTERIA. It has been many months since this polite person, a top expert on US policy, has conducted 4-5 daily briefings with policy-makers and public-opinion molders, sharing with them his PowerPoint presentation on the demographic reality. Each such presentation lasts for 1-1.5 hours, but Ettinger does not relent and does not get bored. He is as enthusiastic as if each presentation were his first presentation...

"THERE HAS BEEN A DRAMATIC BENEFIT FROM ETTINGER'S EFFORTS. Ettinger has already convinced most politicians and journalists that Israel's leading demographers have been mistaken and have misled. The larger political parties and most Israeli newspapers have admitted that Ettinger and his partners -- and not Prof. DellaPergola and Prof. Sofer -- are right: The number of Arabs in Judea & Samaria is barely 1.5MN and not 2.5MN. There is a solid, long-term Jewish majority, since the 1960s, between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean, and the demographic momentum is Jewish and not Arab. Arabs produce fewer babies and escalate emigration.

"ETTINGER'S DETAILED FINDINGS HAVE BEEN WIDELY DOCUMENTED by most Israeli newspapers. In brief, he has been able to instill a terminal doubt in the conventional estimates of the Palestinian population. He has proven that such estimates are based on deceit and erroneous projections. Hundreds of thousands Palestinians, who reside abroad, are counted as de-facto residents by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Jerusalem Arabs are double-counted as Israeli Arabs and as Palestinians, and no reference has been made to the sharp decline in Arab population growth rate. A significant gap has been developed between the actual and the perceived number of Palestinians, which highlights the baseless demographic fatalism.

"ETTINGER'S DILIGENCE HAS ALREADY PRODUCED RESULTS... Even left-wingers, such as former Prime Minister Ehud Barak and former Justice Minister Dan Meridor have accepted his findings. Senior members of "Ha'aretz'" and "Ma'ariv's" editorial board have been exposed to Ettinger's presentations, and have covered it in their newspapers. Former Finance Minister, Baiga Schochat has slept better, as a Jew, since he saw the presentation. The "Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies" published the AIDRG study. A significantly smaller number of Israeli reporters and columnists still wave the demographic threat. Although Prime Minister Olmert is still reluctant to watch the presentation, the current pace of Ettinger's initiative suggests that the Israeli government will soon accept AIDRG's updated data.

"THE ESSENCE OF PUBLIC RELATIONS IS A GREAT DEAL OF TENACITY. Ettinger does not rest on his laurel... If Ettinger can convince his interlocutors that the demographic problem is by far less severe than previously (mis)perceived, than it is possible to convince them that a withdrawal from Judea & Samaria would be wrong.

SOME INVESTMENT, SOME MONEY, 20-30 ETTINGERS, AND THE SUN SHALL RISE."

Ambassador Yoram Ettinger is a consultant on US-Israel relations as well as the Chairman of Special Projects at the Ariel Center for Policy Research. Formerly the Minister for Congressional Affairs to Israel's Embassy in Washington, DC, Ettinger also served as Consul General of Israel to the Southwestern US. He is a former editor of Contemporary Mideast Backgrounder, and is the author of the Jerusalem Cloakroom series of reports. Contact him at yoramtex@netvision.net.il

To Go To Top

JEWISH LEFT WHINES ABOUT LEFTIST ANTI-SEMITISM - WHAT DID THEY EXPECT?
Posted by Don Feder, February 24, 2007.

Among the many groups for whom I feel absolutely no sympathy is the Jewish left - which has lately been agonizing over the prevalence of Jew-hatred at anti-war rallies.

Signs comparing Israelis to Nazis and identifying Jews as the enemies of humanity have become de rigueur at (you should pardon the expression) peace rallies.

Jewish leftists -- at least those who still feel a connection to the Jewish people -- are dismayed.

An article in the January 27 Contra Costa (California) Times calls our attention to the San Francisco Anti-Defamation League's first conference on how progressives "can protect themselves against anti-Semitism -- from the liberal left."

Among other examples of tolerance and brotherhood cited by the Times, at one San-Fran demonstration last year, Arabs chanted "Jews are our dogs."

According to the article, many on the lox-and-cream-cheese left is upset with former President Pinhead's latest book, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid" -- which condones suicide bombings. (Carter calls on peaceful Palestinians to stop terrorist attacks if Israel begins "respecting international law" -- rolling over and playing dead. )

Jewish progressives wonder why the movement seems to single out Israel for hysterical denunciations, and if their comrades haven't replaced "Israel" for "Jew" in the old anti-Semitic formulation. (Try to imagine Carter writing a book called "Saudi Arabia: Equality Not Misogyny" or "Iran: Democracy Not Theocracy.")

Regarding the group-therapy for Jewish leftists, Jonathan Bernstein, director of the ADL's San Francisco regional office, says, "We have heard from so many people who feel ostracized and alone and don't really know what to do with this problem." Bernstein complains that said good people shouldn't "have to pick between being Jewish and whatever worthwhile cause."

That some Jewish leftists are uncomfortable with the movement's uglier antics is surely one of humanity's great tragedies -- ranking right up there with the heartbreak of psoriasis.

According to organizers, the conference (which was held the following weekend) would include a discussion of "coping strategies," "having a rally within a rally," and "on the spot responses to hurtful language." Wow, "on the spot responses to hurtful language" -- talk about getting tough with anti-Semitism.

I'm reminded of a Woody Allen movie where the comedian is at a cocktail party and some of his Upper East Side friends start discussing how to respond to the Nazis marching in New Jersey. One suggests putting on a satirical play parodying the brown shirts. An agitated Allen says that -- harsh as that may be -- instead, perhaps they should consider getting rocks and clubs and beating the Nazis to a bloody pulp.

Now that's a coping strategy I can relate to.

Leftist anti-Semitism is as old as the left. Since the French Revolution, polemicists have cast Israelites as the quintessential capitalist exploiters -- never mind the prevalence of Jews in various socialist movements. (Voltaire charged that the Jews were "born with a raging fanaticism in their hearts.")

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (the father of modern socialism and anarchism) -- who coined the expression "Property is theft" -- explained:

"The Jew is by temperament an anti-producer. He is an intermediary, always fraudulent and parasitical, who operates, in trade and in philosophy, by means of falsification, counterfeiting, and horse-trading."

What then should be done with this irredeemably anti-social element? "The Jew is the enemy of mankind," Proudhon advised. "It is necessary to send this race back to Asia, or exterminate it...By fire or fusion, or by expulsion, the Jew must disappear." Said genocidal raving predated the Holocaust by a century.

Karl Marx, old Uncle Fuzzy-Whiskers (the scion of a German-Jewish family that had converted to Christianity for social position) explained the Jewish problem this way: "What is the secular basis of Judaism? Practical need, self-interest. What is the worldly religion of the Jew? Huckstering. What is his worldly God? Money."

No wonder Hitler and Stalin got on famously, until that unfortunate incident of June of 1940.

After the fall of the Third Reich, the Soviet Union became the worldwide nexus of anti-Semitism.

After the fall of the Soviet Union, anti-Semitism's Mecca shifted to -- well, Mecca. In the Moslem world, Mein Kampf and "The Protocols of Zion" are best-sellers and rabid Jew-hatred is standard fare in political, religious and cultural discourse. So, naturally, Islam has become the left's pet religion and Islamacism its principal ally.

Besides an unremitting animus toward the Jewish state, the anti-war left has embraced many of the old anti-Semitic stereotypes of its revolutionary forebears. Feminist author Phyllis Chesler observes: "The Jews and the Jewish state have become the symbol of Satanic America, capitalism, imperialism, colonialism."

Consider Noam Chomsky -- Hugo Chavez's favorite philosopher. Sure he wants to see Israel destroyed, and trusts in the good will of Hamas and Fatah for the safety of those Jews left in Palestine. Sure he associates with Holocaust-deniers. And sure he admires Iran's version of Jack The Ripper. But is the Jewish-born Chomsky an anti-Semite?

In a 2002 interview with a Palestinian solidarity group, Chomsky declared, "By now, Jews in the US are the most privileged and influential part of the population."

When a Marxist says someone's "privileged" it means they're getting something they didn't earn and don't deserve.

Chomsky hates American society. Thus the avatar of the New Left and leading intellectual light of the anti-war movement is saying that Jews have risen to the top of a rotten, corrupt culture that spreads war, famine and misery across the globe. Did they attain that favored status by dint of their virtues?

For today's left, the Jew is the corporate executive, exploiting his workers, raping the environment and reaping obscene profits. He's the globalist, pushing a world economy run by multinationals. He's the neo-con manipulating the White House and Congress to engineer a war with Iran -- to enhance Israel's security. He's the quintessence whatever the left despises at any particular point in time.

And not just the loony left, not just the fringy left -- but the establishment left.

Toward the middle of last month, in an online posting at Arianna Huffington's website, retired general and former Democratic presidential candidate Wesley Clark was asked why he thought America would attack Iran.

Clark replied: "You just have to read what's in the Israeli press. The Jewish community is divided but there is so much pressure being channeled from the New York money people to the office seekers."

Why the Israeli press, and not the Wall Street Journal, Rush Limbaugh or Fox News? And, in case you haven't guessed it, "the New York money people" isn't code for Episcopalians.

In his 2004 campaign, Howard Dean urged that regarding Israel and the Palestinians, the United States should adopt an "even-handed" approach. This is another way of saying that between an historic ally and a people who invariably side with our enemies and never miss a chance to tell us how much they hate our guts, America should be strictly impartial.

Any objections from Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama to Carter's vile comparison of Israel to South Africa's former white supremacist regime? Not that I'm aware of.

Is the Democratic Party anti-Semitic or merely soft on anti-Semitism? Nothing could be more damning than the party of Old Joe Kennedy's embrace of Al Sharpton -- the man who sparked a full-scale pogrom in Crown Heights in 1991 and a massacre at Freddy's Fashion Mart in 1995. (Instead of "New York money people," Sharpton prefers "diamond merchants with blood on their hands" and "interlopers.")

During the 2000 campaign, Al Gore obediently appeared at a Sharpton-organized debate at Harlem's Apollo Theater -- which would be comparable to George Bush carrying the torch at a cross-burning.

Anywhere you look on the left, you'll find spiritual descendants of the Cossacks and storm troopers -- anti-Semites or those who condone anti-Semitism.

Peace and justice don't grow in a cesspool. Instead of kvetching about "hurtful language" and devising "coping strategies," Jewish leftists -- those who are more Jewish than leftist -- should reconsider their "whatever worthwhile cause" -- which may not be that worthwhile after all.

Don Feder was an opinion writer for the Boston Herald and a syndicated columnist. He is currently a political/media consultant. This article appeared in www.FrontPageMagazine.com

To Go To Top

HEZBOLLAH'S REVENUE STREAM FLOWS THROUGH THE AMERICAS
Posted by Nurit Greenger, February 24, 2007.

The "Party of God," Hezbollah, its chief sponsor Iran, is the terror organization with the most American blood on its hand; it is the terror organization U.N. Resolution 1701 declared it must be dismantle and disarmed, yet not even a year later it is sitting stronger than ever on Israel's northern border with Israel.

The U.S. government declared Hezbollah's leaders, specially designated global terrorists, yet, it is in proximity of each US citizen; it is here in the United States sitting strong in your neighborhood. Because of the U.S. porous borders with Mexico and Canada Hezbollah operatives have easy access to carry out recruiting operations, interstate criminal enterprises such as, cigarette smuggling, human smuggling, drug trafficking, and counterfeiting. They are using our fund raising system and their "charitable work" of fund raising in the millions of dollars enables the organization to purchase high-tech weaponry and materials that is delivered to the group's Lebanese headquarters.

The mighty dollar, Washington and the big, very big, interest groups and loose laws is the "Achilles Hill" of every Unites States citizen. For all those who appose closing the borders, this is a story of how the United States is aiding and abetting world terror.

This was written by Steven Emerson and comes from The Investigative Project on Terrorism (202-363-8602 or articles@ctnews.org). It appeared March 2007 in The American Legion Magazine. Steven Emerson is executive director of The Investigative Project and author of American Jihad: The Terrorists Living Among US (Free Press).

Since 9/11, U.S. counterterrorism policy has focused primarily on the threat from al-Qaeda. But before Osama bin Laden's men brought down the Twin Towers, the international terrorist organization with the most American blood on its hands was Hezbollah. Even now, Hezbollah continues on its terrorist path. Last summer, the world watched as violence erupted in the Middle East after Hezbollah's cross-border raid into Israel resulted in the capture of two Israeli soldiers and the killing of eight others. Meanwhile, the organization has honed techniques for financing its killing with proceeds from a wide range of illicit activities.

Hezbollah, the "Party of God," began as a radical Muslim Shiite organization in 1982, in response to the first Israeli-Lebanese war. Its stated goals were, and are, wiping Israel off the map and establishing a Shiite state in Lebanon. Its chief sponsor is the Islamic Republic of Iran, which provides major financial support as well as weapons and paramilitary training. Syria, Lebanon 's neighbor, also lends substantial support.

The two major leaders of Hezbollah are Secretary General Sheikh Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and the organization's spiritual chief, Sheikh Muhammad Husayn Fadlallah, both named "specially designated global terrorists" by the U.S. government. Fadlallah issued the fatwa authorizing the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks that killed 241 Americans, the government has charged.

The "Party of God" has evolved from a guerrilla and terror force, establishing itself as a "legitimate" political party in the Lebanese government and acting as a representative of Lebanon 's large Shiite population. Having gained high political profile, Hezbollah continues to maintain its armed militia and terrorist training bases.

Close to Home. Hezbollah's achievements as a multinational terror organization right here in the United States offer a glimpse into how the group functions. Our nation's porous borders with Mexico and Canada give Hezbollah operatives easy access to carry out fund-raising and recruiting operations. High-level Hezbollah agents have conducted complex, interstate criminal enterprises, raising millions of dollars and enabling the organization to purchase high-tech weaponry and materials to be sent to the group's Lebanese headquarters. These networks demonstrate clear chains of command and engage in a wide array of activities, including cigarette smuggling, human smuggling, drug trafficking, counterfeiting and "charitable work."

Perhaps the best-publicized Hezbollah fundraising scheme in the United States involved a Charlotte, N.C., cigarette-smuggling ring. Operatives bought cigarettes in North Carolina and resold them in Michigan without paying Michigan's higher taxes. Mohamad Youssef Hammoud, the group's ringleader, was convicted in 2002 on several charges: conspiracies to launder money and traffic in contraband cigarettes, immigration law violations and attempted bribery. Evidence in the trial revealed links between ringleader Hammoud and Sheikh Nasrallah, including a photo of the two men together. The case demonstrated the ease with which illegal immigrants take advantage of the U.S. system, raising money from illicit activities to support both an American Hezbollah cell and the group's headquarters in Lebanon.

The most high-profile case of a Hezbollah trained fighter on U.S. soil involved Mahmoud Youssef Kourani. In March 2005, Kourani pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, and in June 2005, he was sentenced to 54 months in prison. The FBI affidavit in the case alleged that Kourani had sent $40,000 to his brother Haidar, Hezbollah's chief of military security in southern Lebanon. An informant told the FBI that Mahmoud Kourani claimed he had trained in Iran on behalf of Hezbollah and was a member of the Hezbollah unit responsible for the kidnapping and murder of Marine Lt. Col. William Higgins in Lebanon in 1988. According to government documents, "On approximately Feb. 4, 2001, Kourani surreptitiously entered the United States by sneaking across the U.S.-Mexico border in the trunk of a car. He reached Mexico by bribing an official at the Mexican consulate in Beirut to give him a Mexican visa."

In addition to human smuggling, Hezbollah financiers have engaged in large-scale drug operations in North America. A federal indictment in January 2002 charged 36 individuals nationwide, including Ohio resident Mohammad Shabib. Investigators believe that since the early 1990s, Shabib managed to deposit roughly $8 million skimmed from drug sales into Chicago bank accounts. Part of the loot is believed to have benefited Hezbollah activities.

A New Front. Hezbollah operatives have frequently sought out sympathetic members of the Lebanese Diaspora to assist them, several of whom have owned and operated Lebanese restaurants. Salim Boughader Mucharrafille, owner of Cafe La Libanesa in Tijuana, Mexico, was arrested in December 2002 for running a ring that allegedly smuggled at least 200 Lebanese compatriots into the United States, including an employee of Al- Manar, Hezbollah's television station. Although it was never confirmed, Boughader was suspected of having helped Kourani to slip over the border. Last May, a Mexican judge sentenced Boughader to 14 years in prison for organized crime and human smuggling.

The case of Rady Zaiter, a.k.a. David Assi Alvarez, is an example of drug-running activities designed to benefit Hezbollah, using a restaurant as a front. In June 2005, Ecuadorian police broke up an international drug-trafficking ring led by the owners of El Turco restaurant: Zaiter and his partner, Maher Hamajo. The restaurant in Quito served as the logistical center for the ring's activities. Drug mules carried cocaine in double-bottomed suitcases bound for other countries in South America, as well as Europe and the Middle East. According to investigating authorities, Hezbollah received at least 70 percent of the drug money. Additionally, officials confiscated more than $150,000 and 2,000 euros. Further arrests were made in Brazil, Syria and the Dutch Antilles, bringing the total apprehended to 19 people. El Turco, like the Detroit-area restaurant La Shish that was recently allegedly linked to Hezbollah, was a very popular restaurant, appreciated by the locals.

In May 2006, Detroit-based restaurant owner Tala1 Khalil Chahine and his wife, Elfat El Aouar, were indicted on federal tax-evasion charges. They allegedly concealed more than $20 million in profits from their La Shish restaurant chain and funneled some of those funds to Lebanon. In 2002, Chahine attended an Al-Mabarrat charity event in Lebanon at which he and Sheikh Fadlallah served as keynote speakers. Chahine admitted he attended the charity fund-raiser, reinforcing federal prosecutors' statement that he has "connections at the highest levels of Hezbollah." According to the Department of Justice, "Chahine was the representative at the (Al-Mabarrat Lebanon) event of a worldwide group of fund-raisers." Federal prosecutors also alleged that agents searching Chahine's Michigan house discovered a letter thanking him for his sponsorship of 40 Lebanese orphans -- a term the Department of Justice considers "a euphemism used by Hezbollah to refer to the orphans of martyrs."

Al-Mabarrat has a U.S.-based branch headquartered in Dearborn, Mich. Founded in 1991, the Al-Mabarrat Charitable Organization-USA, Inc., has repeatedly changed its name over the past 15 years. Although Al-Mabarrat acknowledges on its Web site that it works in conjunction with the Al-Mabarrat Association in Lebanon (whose logo it shares), it omits the fact that Al-Mabarrat Lebanon is run by Sheikh Fadlallah. Despite Al- Mabarrat USA's direct link to a Fadlallah-controlled organization, the U.S. branch continues to operate unfettered.

Hezbollah's use of Al-Mabarrat as a fund-raising front is a savvy strategic move, mirroring a tactic long exploited by terrorist groups operating on U.S. soil. By utilizing charities, terrorists can generate popular support by providing some legitimate services, attract contributions from donors both unwitting and aware, and attempt to obscure financial trails. But such operations extend far beyond the United States.

Worldwide Reach. Hezbollah revealed its strong South American presence to the world with the 1992 bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires. The attack killed 29 people and wounded more than 240. The group struck again in the Argentine capital in 1994, killing 86 at a Jewish community center in the largest terror attack against Argentina to date.

Hezbollah has long used parts of South America as a training ground, in particular the tri-border area where Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay meet. It has demonstrated a keen interest in extending its activities to other parts of Latin America, including Venezuela, Cuba, Panama and Colombia.

The best example of the extent of Hezbollah's South American reach is the 2002 arrest of Assad Ahmad Barakat in Brazil. Designated by the U.S. Treasury Department as a Hezbollah fundraiser, Barakat has been called one of the terrorist organization's most prominent and influential members. He is believed to have transferred up to $50 million to Hezbollah since 1995. Two of his businesses -- Casa Apollo, a wholesale electronics store, and Barakat Import-Export Ltd. -- were used to launder terrorist money and facilitate the movement of Hezbollah operatives. Both have been designated by the U.S. Treasury Department as terrorist fronts.

Although Europe has thus far been exempt from Hezbollah attacks, numerous intelligence experts and officials assert that the group's operatives maintain cells across the continent. German authorities, in particular, have expressed concern about the presence of several hundred Hezbollah members in their country. Hezbollah has established several front charities, mainly operating from Great Britain and Germany, to raise funds earmarked to support the group's members in Lebanon. For example, the British-based Lebanese Welfare Committee, HELP Charity Association for Relief and Abrar Islamic Foundation are among the charities suspected of channeling funds to Sheikh Nasrallah and Hezbollah.

Reports of an increase in Hezbollah recruiting have emerged in eastern European countries, specifically Slovakia, Bosnia and Russia. And over the past few years, Hezbollah has sent operatives with European identification papers to Israel in order to collect intelligence for future attacks. Efforts by European authorities to curtail Hezbollah's influence have included France 's 2004 ban of Hezbollah's television station and chief propaganda machine, A1-Manar, from that nation's satellite television providers. Spain and the United States have made similar moves.

Finally, Hezbollah has been actively fund-raising in Africa for the past two decades, tapping a pool of Shiite Muslim communities, especially in Senegal and the Ivory Coast. The organization engages in mafia-style extortion, all the while receiving money from its large sympathetic donor base. The money generated from the group's African operations alone runs well into the millions of dollars. The Ivory Coast is used not only for fund-raising but also as a safe haven for Hezbollah operatives on the run. Iran has also stepped up its Ivory Coast presence, financing mosques and sending imams to preach in them.

While al-Qaeda has long utilized the African "blood-diamond" trade to facilitate its operations, Hezbollah has recently begun taking its own share in various West Africa countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burkina Faso, Togo and Sierra Leone. A blood diamond, also called "conflict diamond" or "war diamond," refers to the precious gem mined in war-torn countries of western and southern Africa, and sold, often clandestinely, in order to finance insurgents, rebels and terrorists. The extortion of diamond merchants is believed to be a tactic adapted by Hezbollah from its South American experience.

New Alliances. One issue with wide-ranging implications for U.S. consumers is the growing alliance between Hezbollah, its regional sponsors, and emerging elements in Latin America -- notably Venezuela, where the terrorist group is calling for a stronger relationship with President Hugo Chavez.

After Chavez visited Lebanon last summer, a Hezbollah official told an Indian newspaper, "Mr. Chavez is closer to us than any other Arab leader, and we hope that we will be able to benefit, as he has, from this particular experience (in Lebanon)." The affection seems mutual. On a trip to Iran in July to meet with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Chavez said, "The brave resistance of the Lebanese people and Hezbollah symbolizes their indomitable spirit and reveals how the Islamic and Arab world is fed up with U.S. policy in the region."

Venezuela, an OPEC nation, owns CITGO Petroleum, identified on CITGO's Web site as a "wholly owned subsidiary of Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A., the national oil company of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela." Filling up at any of the 14,000 CITGO gas stations across the United States thus funds a government that is on the record as being a strong supporter of Hezbollah.

Criminal activity in the United States has raised millions of dollars for Hezbollah as well. The question remains whether Hezbollah members and supporters within our borders possess the wherewithal to carry out attacks if ordered to do so. Although no direct evidence exists of an imminent attack, their presence, as well their ability to conduct illicit operations often undetected by U.S. border security and law-enforcement officials, presents a significant threat to U.S. national security and the safety of American citizens.

Contact Nurit Greenger by email at 4nuritg@ca.rr.com. Visit her blog:
http://ngthinker.typepad.com

To Go To Top

THAT SO-CALLED PALESTINIAN UNITY GOVERNMENT CAN'T SEEM TO RECOGNIZE ISRAEL
Posted by Lawrence Uniglicht, February 24, 2007.

King Abdullah, reciting from his Wahhabi Koran in a recent no Jews allowed ceremony held in Mecca, pronounced Fatah head hancho Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas high muckamuck Ismail Haniyeh kindred spirit anti-Semites, never to recognize Israel for as long as they may live. There were no objectors at the ceremony, attended only by Sunnis attempting to woo adulterer Haniyeh more so than Abbas, the former indeed being courted by lustful Persian Shiite suitors, back into the fold of righteous Arabs, knowing the true chain of command chosen to trod in the tracks of Prophet Muhammad, Allah's right hand warrior. No Rice was tossed at the unified duo while boarding jets en route to a brief honeymoon in wild and crazy Gaza-by-the-sea, where jubilant celebratory creeps regularly fire Qassam missiles into Israel, not just in honor of the occasion, but almost every day. Indeed, there was no need for music in such a religious atmosphere, thus the string-along Quartet composed of out of tune music makers from the United States, European Union, Russia, and the United Nations were not even invited to play their signature song, "You Can't Always Get What You Want," ironically a message that ultimately would be directed at Israel.

No doubt, the two name double game Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen, four decade understudy to Yasser Arafat, ever the snake charmer bedecked in Armani suits, never was that far apart from a not-so-subtle Haniyeh in his hatred of Jews and Israel, but uses different tactics when schmoozing with Western pie-in-the-sky peacemakers. After all, anyone that trivializes the Holocaust as he did, in the early 1980s, composing a doctoral thesis linking Zionists to Nazis, as well as questioning the magnitude of the infamous butchery, despicably even questioning whether gas chambers were utilized, and in fact never renouncing the revisionist filth, is in his heart of hearts not so different than Haniyeh or for that matter Iran's Imam obsessed President Mahmoud AhMADinejad, infamous for his own Holocaust denial conference as well as the profane utterance suggesting Israel must be "wiped off the map." Furthermore, Fatah's Abbas, remaining the default negotiating partner of Western and some Israeli 'land for peace' shlemiels, despite being the more respected member of a not so odd couple of convenience with Hamas' Haniyeh, in effect is even more perilous to Israel than the more outspoken hate-spewing but candid leader of that so-called Palestinian unity government.

"Crazy", indeed, should be a new signature song for the Quartet and any Israeli 'peace at any price' groupies who might still wish to break pita with Mahmoud the 'smoothie', allegedly unified with a blatant terrorist cadre for the sake of harmony. All of Judea, Samaria, and the eastern sector of Jerusalem, garnished by a right of return to core Israel, would be put on the table, along with a peace offering by the 'smoothie' that carries as much weight as an underfed butterfly. Inviting Abbas to the dance, something he could not achieve as Arafat's shmata washer and boot licker, would in all likelihood be an unmitigated disaster for Israel, especially if the Quartet inserts fossil fuel contracts with Saudi led OPEC into its calculations at the expense of the Jewish State. Keep Abdullah happy and everybody's happy, as far as certain petro-addict members are concerned. Indeed, such fossil fuel junkies might accept assurances from Abbas as he forswears violence against Israel out of one side of his mouth, handing him the Jewish shlamazal's farm, while his more honest jihadist 'unity government' partner froths at the mouth like a rabid dog, lining up deadly Qassams with 'who knows what' in their warheads, to launch at Israel after the hugs and handshakes are done, sealing the Faustian covenant.

When the bar is set so low that so-called Palestinian negotiators are merely expected not to trip over it, when recognition of Israel's right to exist is bizarrely still an issue, when Israel is expected to cede land justifiably secured in 1967 in the course of vanquishing Arabs intent on annihilating the Jewish State, an expectation never to be foisted on any other sovereign government under similar circumstances, when a Holocaust revisionist remains the one hope of civilized nations on a fool's errand to stabilize a conflict, vastly overblown in presumed significance on, in fact, totally unrelated events occurring in other Middle East enclaves, when hubristic negotiators possessing personal agendas, unable or unwilling to grasp the smallest part of the Arab mindset, form a Quartet that blows hot air into bugles that play nothing but Taps for Israel, it is time for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to say thanks but no thanks to 'well intentioned' meddlers posing as mediators, while reading the riot act to Abbas and Haniyeh, promising them they will indeed recognize the consequences of Israel's world class weaponry, if not the State itself, if out of control jihad junkies, under their jurisdiction, continue tossing Qassams and deploying homicide/suicide mutants at what is indeed a world class nation about to lose its one last good nerve.

Lawrence Uniglicht is a career civil servant, working for the Social Security Administration. He advocates for the State of Israel with an American perspective. He writes, "Advocating for the disrespected underdog has been my passion, no doubt Israel falls into that category." Contact him by email at luniglicht@snip.net

To Go To Top

11 EMORY PROFESSORS: WHAT'S JIMMY CARTER AFRAID OF?
Posted by SPME, February 24, 2007.

This was published in THe Emory Wheel, February 18, 2007 by Alan Abramowitz, David R. Blumenthal, Sander Gilman, Herbert R. Karp, Harvey Klehr, Melvin Konner, Howard I. Kushner, Deborah E. Lipstadt, Andre J. Nahmias,Raymond F. Schinazi, Donald G. Stein.

It is archived at www.spme.net/cgi-bin/articles.cgi?ID=1856

Once again, Jimmy Carter has shrunk from debate. Despite having written a book whose purpose he claims was to promote dialogue and discussion, he has consistently dodged appearing with anyone who could challenge him on the numerous factual errors that fill the pages of his slim book.

First it was at Brandeis University, where he was invited to appear with professor Alan Dershowitz of Harvard Law School. Dershowitz, who has written two books and numerous articles on the topic (not to mention being a respected First Amendment scholar and one of America's most distinguished attorneys), was not even allowed into the building until Carter had left.

When it became known that Carter was anxious to speak at Emory, the administration consulted a group of faculty and was advised that the most fair and academically valuable format would be to have Carter appear with someone who could engage in a productive interchange and discussion on the topic. This clearly would be the only way for the event to meet the educational standard of a leading university.

Everyone agreed that the best person for this interchange was Ambassador Dennis Ross, who was the main negotiator on the Arab-Israeli situation in both the first Bush administration and the Clinton administration. He was responsible for organizing Camp David II, Clinton's last-ditch effort to find a resolution to the situation. Ross agreed to appear, but Carter pointedly refused to appear with him or with any other expert. No explanation was given.

Is this the behavior of a man who wants to promote dialogue? What precisely is Carter afraid of? Could it be that Dennis Ross -- who, like President Clinton, places the blame for the failure of the negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis at Camp David II squarely on the shoulders of Yasir Arafat -- would tell the former president, who blames Israel for everything, that he is simply wrong? Remember Ross and Clinton were there; Carter was not.

The Brandeis event had sanitized pre-screened questions, no follow-up, and an audience of students clearly mesmerized by being in the presence of a former president. At least at Brandeis, Dershowitz appeared after Carter to point out that Carter's remarks (carefully scripted to appeal to the largely Jewish audience at Brandeis) were very different from what he said in the book and in numerous media events, including Al Jazeera television, where he falsely claimed that most of the critics of his book have been representatives of Jewish organizations. He has also stated on Al Jazeera that rocket barrages against Israeli homes and families are not terrorist acts. These flirtations with anti-Semitism -- however unconscious -- have frightened Jewish -Americans.

The Wheel says that it's best to let Carter have "the last word" because to do otherwise will "only prolong the debate indefinitely into the future." As if the debate will go away if Jimmy Carter is allowed a platform all by himself. Would the Wheel recommend that George W. Bush "be given the last word" on Iraq because to do otherwise would "prolong the debate"? The Wheel has joined Carter in his attempt to stifle debate even while he claims to be seeking it. A prolonged debate with a free exchange of ideas is what an academic institution is all about.

In fact, Bush, who is not known for his responsiveness to the press, has the courage to face seasoned reporters who ask tough, unscripted questions with even tougher follow-up questions. These reporters are trained to recognize when a president is dissembling, being evasive or deliberately misleading the public, and they respond accordingly.

Remember, this is a book which has been described as "moronic" (Slate), "strange," a "distortion" (The New York Times) and "cynical" with a "bait-and-switch" title (Washington Post). The Emory administration has thus far failed to create an event with a semblance of balance. The talk of having "someone" or a "panel on the topic" next semester is an embarrassment for an institution which proclaims that it is dedicated to "creative inquiry."

We shall absent ourselves from this staged event, which will be more a political opportunity for Carter to air his biases than an open exchange of ideas. It is unworthy of an institution with Emory's aspirations, and we have to say sadly that at this moment we are not proud of Emory.

Alan Abramowitz is the Alben W. Barkley Professor of Political Science. David R. Blumenthal is the Jay and Leslie Cohen Professor of Judaic Studies. Sander Gilman is a Distinguished Professor of the Arts and Sciences. Herbert R. Karp is an Emeritus Professor of Neurology and Medicine. Harvey Klehr is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Politics and History. Melvin Konner is the Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Anthropology. Howard I. Kushner is the Nat C. Robertson Distinguished Professor of Science and Society. Deborah E. Lipstadt is the Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish and Holocaust Studies. Andre J. Nahmias is the Richard W. Blumberg Emeritus Professor of Pediatrics. Raymond F. Schinazi is a Professor of Pediatrics and Chemistry, and the Director of the Laboratory of Biochemical Pharmacology. Donald G. Stein is the Asa G. Candler Professor of psychology, emergency medicine and neurology.

Contact Scholars For Peace in the Middle East (SPME) at spmeff@spme.net

To Go To Top

THE DIPLOMATIC FETISHISTS
Posted by Jake Levi, February 24, 2007.
This was written by Caroline Glick and it appeared yesterday in the Jerusalem Post

Iran has an interesting take on international law. According to Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki, the UN Security Council's Chapter VII resolution from last December requiring Iran to cease all its uranium enrichment activities is illegal. As he put it Wednesday during a friendly visit in Turkey, "We were against [the resolution] for being illegal and politically motivated."

Anyone with even a casual acquaintance with international law should recognize that Mottaki's statement is not merely incorrect. His rejection of the legality of Security Council Resolution 1737 is an expression of contempt for the very foundations of the law of nations which have been almost universally adhered to since the Peace of Westphalia in 1648.

What comes across most clearly in Mottaki's statement is that little has changed in Iran since the Khomeini revolution in 1979 brought the current regime to power. Back then, in their first stab at international diplomacy, the mullahs showed that their regime stands opposed to all the norms of civilized behavior that have formed the basis of the nation-state system since the end of the Thirty Years War. The Iranian takeover of the US embassy in Teheran and the holding hostage of 52 embassy employees for 444 days was not merely an act of state terrorism. It was a declaration of war against civilization.

And so, it should come as a surprise to no one that Mottaki rejects the Security Council's right to force Iran to abide by its commitment to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty which Iran voluntarily signed and ratified. He is behaving in a manner that is wholly consistent with Iran's international behavior since the overthrow of the Shah.

Similarly, the US and its Western and UN partners responded to Iran's provocation in a manner that is wholly consistent with their treatment of Iran since the revolution. For the past 27 years, the US, the European Union and the UN have responded to Iran's contemptuous disregard for international law and civilized norms of behavior by seeking to appease the mullahs.

Wednesday US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed this consistent preference in an interview with CNN. Brushing off the allegation that the US may be planning to forcibly prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons Rice said, "The United States is on a diplomatic path and we believe in this diplomatic path."

She continued, "If Iran will, in fact, suspend its enrichment and reprocessing activities we can sit down together, reverse 27 years of the isolation of the United States from Iran and Iran from the United States. We can talk about anything. The United States has no desire for confrontation with Iran. None. We would rather have with Iran the opportunity to discuss whatever matters Iran would like to discuss."

So as far as Rice is concerned, diplomacy is not only her chosen method of dealing with Iran. It is the only method for dealing with Iran.

Muhammad el Baradei, who as chairman of the International Atomic Energy Agency is charged with reporting Iranian non-compliance with Resolution 1737 to the Security Council, took Rice's diplomatic line to the next logical level when he said last month, "the only solution to the Iranian issue... is dialogue, is negotiation."

Baradei argues this point in both practical and normative terms. Practically speaking, he said Tuesday that it is impossible to put the Iranian nuclear genie back in the bottle because the Iranians have already acquired the know-how to build atomic bombs.

Baradei made that statement after meeting with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani. At the meeting Larijani told Baradei that Iran remains steady in its rejection of the Security Council's demand that it suspend its uranium enrichment activities.

Aside from explaining why it is pointless to try to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear bombs, Baradei explained that it would also be wrong to check the mullahs' behavior. "Our experience without exception is that sanctions alone do not work and in most cases radicalize the regime and hurt the people who are not supposed to be hurt... [S]anctions have to be coupled at all times with incentives and a real search for a compromise based on face-saving, based on respect," Baradei opined.

Perhaps Rice's enthusiasm for appeasing Teheran is influenced by people like former senator and Democratic contender for the presidency John Edwards. This week Edwards reportedly said that the greatest short-term threat to world peace is the possibility that Israel will bomb Iran's nuclear facilities. Perhaps it is similar voices in the James Baker and Brent Scowcroft corner of the Republican Party that are motivating Rice to behave like the Europeans and the UN.

Whatever the explanation for the US's French-style Iran policy, the EU for its part insists on negotiating with Iran in spite of the fact that last week an official EU document acknowledged that the Europeans know full well that their four-year nuclear diplomacy with the Iranians has failed to delay even slightly Iran's acquisition of atomic bombs. That is, Europe maintains its "jaw jaw" with Iran in spite of the fact that it knows that by doing so it is all but ensuring that Iran will acquire nuclear weapons which it has publicly pledged to use to eradicate Israel.

THE IRANIANS are more than willing to humor the West's diplomacy fetish. Even as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday that "It is worth it to stop other activities for 10 years and focus only on the nuclear issue," he and his colleagues announced their willingness to discuss their nuclear weapons program with the US and anyone else who asks (aside from Israel), so long as those discussions don't impinge on their freedom to build their nuclear bombs.

From Washington to Brussels to Moscow to Turtle Bay, everyone applauds the fact that both the so-called international community and its Iranian antagonist desire negotiations. This, they say, is proof that there is no reason to abandon diplomacy.

But this is nonsense. The American, European and UN defense of negotiations with Teheran is nothing more than a willful act of collective delusion. For while it is true that everyone wants to talk, it is equally true that there is absolutely nothing to talk about.

In theory, nations engage in negotiations in order to advance their national interests, whether separately or collectively. In the case of Iran, the US and its allies seek to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. They maintain that the best means of achieving that aim is diplomacy.

For its part, Iran wishes to acquire nuclear weapons unmolested. It chooses to negotiate with the West in order to achieve that aim.

The problem here is that the sides' intentions are mutually exclusive so one side's gains come at the other's expense. Since Iran refuses to suspend its uranium enrichment, diplomatically engaging its emissaries serves only to legitimize the regime and enable its leaders to acquire nuclear weapons under the cover of international diplomacy.

THIS SAME disturbing pattern repeats itself with the so-called international community's engagement of the Palestinians. This is particularly the case in the aftermath of the Mecca agreement which relegated the Fatah terror organization to the position of junior partner in the Hamas terror organization's government. As with Iran, so too with the Palestinians: While everyone agrees that negotiations are the answer, they ignore the fact that there is nothing to negotiate about.

The so-called international community argues that it wishes to engage the Palestinians in order to peacefully resolve the Palestinian conflict with Israel. For their part, the Palestinians in Hamas and Fatah claim that the purpose of negotiations is to advance their strategic aim of destroying Israel.

In their dealings with both Iran and the Palestinians, the leaders of the so-called international community assert that were they to abandon diplomacy they would strengthen the most radical elements on the other side. As Baradei put it with regard to Iran, "We know that if you jolt a country's pride, all the factions, right, left and center will get together and try to accelerate a program to develop a nuclear weapon to defend themselves."

Unfortunately, experience shows that just the opposite is the case. The so-called international community's engagement of the Iranians and the Palestinians has in no way weakened the most radical elements in those societies. Rather, it has weakened the West's willingness to confront those radical elements and so brought about an effective radicalization of the West. Case in point is Britain.

Until recently, the British treated Hamas like the genocidal jihadist movement that it is. But Wednesday Britain's policy collapsed completely. In a speech before Parliament, Prime Minister Tony Blair said, "It's far easier to deal with the situation in Palestine if there is a national unity government. I hope we can make progress, including even with the more sensible elements of Hamas."

But of course, there are no "sensible elements of Hamas." So what sort of "progress" does Blair believe it is possible to make?

Moreover, while Ahmadinejad may be the most outspoken Iranian leader on the issue of eradicating Israel, he is by no means alone in his intention. Every Iranian leader from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on down has expressed a desire to see Israel wiped off the map. Engaging these fanatics in talks that have already failed can only serve to strengthen their commitment to carry out their monstrous, openly acknowledged plans.

What we have here is a full-blown eclipse of rational policy-making with diplomatic fetishism. What Rice, Blair, Baradei, French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are all forgetting is that diplomacy is a means and not an end. By engaging the Palestinians and the Iranians, they willfully ignore the fact that if you are not using diplomacy to advance your aims, that diplomacy will be exploited by your antagonist to advance his aims.

If Israel had an even slightly competent government, our leaders would be pointing out the perversity and stupidity of fetish diplomacy. But Israel's government is not even slightly competent. The Olmert-Livni-Peretz government has descended to a level of incoherence that makes it seem like a waste of time to even bother criticizing it. Its moves are transparently motivated by nothing more than a desire to hold onto power for as long as possible.

In light of this abysmal state of affairs, it falls to private individuals to remind the diplomatic fetishists that diplomacy is a means, not an end. If their current policies are played out, the fact that they abjured war and remained faithful to diplomacy will not excuse them when Hamas transforms Gaza, Judea and Samaria into a Taliban state; destabilizes the Jordanian monarchy; and murders thousands of Jews in Israel. Their commitment to diplomacy will not make posterity more forgiving of their failure to prevent a second Holocaust.

You are not being peacemakers when you engage the mullahs and Hamas. You are preparing the ground for a huge conflagration.

Contact Jake Levi by email at jlevi_us@yahoo.com

To Go To Top

AUSTRALIAN JEWISH COMMUNITY DUMPS ISRAELI SCHOLAR OVER MUSLIM REMARKS
Posted by The Gathering Storm, February 24, 2007.

This article was written by Jason Frenkel and it appeared February 17, 2007 in Judeoscope
(http://www.judeoscope.ca/breve.php3?id_breve=3191). It appeared February 16, 2007 in the Australian Jewish News (AJN).

AIJAC 'dumps' scholar over Muslim remarks

THE Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) has withdrawn its support for a visiting Israeli expert on Islam who earlier this week urged Australia to cap its intake of Muslim immigrants.

AIJAC executive director Dr Colin Rubenstein issued a statement on Friday distancing the organisation, which has partly sponsored Hebrew University Professor Raphael Israeli's six-week Australian visit, from the academic's claims that "life will become untenable" unless the Muslim population is kept in check.

Professor Israeli said Australia was in danger of being swamped by Muslims -- especially from Indonesia -- and called for a "preventative policy" to protect national security and ensure Muslims remained a "marginal minority".

But Dr Rubenstein rejected Professor Israeli's "implication that the Muslim community as a whole is a threat or danger".

"Islamist extremism is a genuine and serious global problem, but it is completely wrong to single out all Muslims for suspicion or negatively stereotype the Muslim community as a whole in this way."

Dr Rubenstein said AIJAC had censured Professor Israeli over the "unacceptable and unhelpful" remarks, and "will not be co-hosting any of his further appearances in Australia".

Professor Israeli had just begun a stint as a scholar-in-residence at the Shalom Institute in Sydney, where he is teaching a course on "Understanding Islam".

Shalom Institute CEO Hilton Immerman said that while Professor Israeli's views do not necessarily represent those of the Shalom Institute, which "rejects any form of racial stereotyping or ethnic quotas", the course would proceed.

An author of 20 books on the Muslim, Arab and Chinese worlds, he was also scheduled to give talks in Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane and New Zealand. However, Dr Rubenstein told the AJN that he was unsure whether the talks would go ahead given that AIJAC had withdrew its support.

In an interview with the AJN, Professor Israeli said radical Islam would not be defeated by a war of words.

"You have to infiltrate all those circles where the Muslim radicals operate, to arrest them, and to limit immigration into western countries where these Muslims, who are bent on destroying western civilisation ... to limit immigration, even students who apply to come from Islamic countries to the West," he said.

"It serves no purpose when you have this home-grown terrorist, who has been preparing for years to blow up undergrounds in London, and all you do is lead a war of words. The war of words doesn't help. There is a whole gamut of actions that are possible in order to check this threat of Islam."

Citing France, where Muslims comprise about nine per cent of the population, as an example, Professor Israeli warned growing Muslim communities could change the political, economic, and cultural fabric of a country.

"You have to adopt some kind of preventative policy. In order not to get there, limit the immigration and therefore you keep them a marginal minority, which will be a nuisance, but cannot pose a threat to the demographic and security aspects of a country."

But Islamic Council of Victoria director Waleed Aly branded the comments "ill-advised and foolish" and said Professor Israeli didn't understand Australia.

"It is clearly possible in the current environment to say things about Muslims that you simply cannot say about anyone else," Aly said.

"The fundamental problem at the heart of this is that he seems to be suggesting that increased marginalisation of Muslim populations will somehow produce something other than mutual resentment. It should be obvious to anyone really that it's doomed to failure."

Officially, there are fewer than 300,000 Muslims in Australia according to the 2001 Census, but Islamic community officials estimate the actual number to be at least 500,000 -- about 2.5 per cent of the population.

"Even though it's so low, they are so vocal, and they make so much noise," Professor Israeli said. "And therefore the situation has to be checked before they increase their numbers, because don't forget in your immediate proximity dwells the largest or most populous Islamic country in the world [Indonesia], and by necessity, there is demographic pressure from there to channel the surplus of populations to wherever it's possible.

"And one of the big possibilities is Australia, so they will continue to come legally, or illegally, and settle here, and when they get to the rate of the 10 per cent like in France, then you will see life will become untenable." He said France might already be at the "point of no return".

"Then they control whole sections of the economy, there are areas in France where you cannot be elected to Parliament without the support of the Muslims and so on. And therefore, by increasing their numbers they start to have an impact on the social, economic, political and cultural nature of the country."

He warned that radical Muslims would find it easier to "melt" into the community and plan terrorist acts without scrutiny from authorities if the growth of Australia's Muslim population was allowed to continue.

"You will have then large concentrations of Muslims, so it's not thousands, it will be millions, and when they become millions it's a big mass where individual Muslims, including terrorists, can melt, and then go look for them.

"In England they already have that problem, they cannot locate them, they cannot sort them out from the general population, and sometimes you have to impose a curfew on a whole area to catch one or two or three terrorists, and by doing that you do an injustice to an entire population, and then they start complaining that they are discriminated against."

Immigrant Muslims had a reputation for manipulating the values of their adopted countries to suit their own ends, he said.

"And that's why Islam has become feared in western countries, which are open, democratic, and tolerant of others. And Muslim populations, which are very often minorities, very often abuse that hospitality and use democracy, openness and tolerance to their benefit, to spread their faith and to intimidate their hosts, and very often, to impose their standards and values upon them."

Jihad Watch (www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/2007/02/015305print.html) posted this comment by Raphael Israeli

I became a celebrity two days after I arrived, and that subsumed all the rest of my activities. When the storm erupted, the dhimmi-like Jewish leadership cancelled all activities, in a shameful submisssion to the Muslim thugs and under the false claims of a "multi-cultural society" in Australia, which they know is not true.

The story is two-sided: I gave an interview and said many harsh words about Islam in Europe, which the reporter extrapolated as applying to Australia too. The other issue is the political correctness which does not allow those things to be said, though privately everyone supports what I said.

In any case, my teaching on Islam stands and it even increased interest in my lectures, but the public lecture tour was cancelled and the Jewish leadership shamefully disowned me instead of standing up for me. I blamed the violence of Muslims in the world (and by implication here) for the troubles they are having, but they chose to accuse the messenger. They apologized to the thugs and brought upon themselves the disgrace of unconditional submission.

They do not want to rock the boat. They are scared to stir things up. The easiest way for them was to sacrifice the guest they invited, thus punishing not me, but the Jewish audiences who need the education for which I was brought here.

I was also struck by the provinciality of the place, where a minor item of gossip about one individual who said something becomes a national issue. I am not the Minister of Immigration. Before me the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Costello have said harsher things after Muslim riots, but someone elected to seize upon this opportunity now and sweep Australia into a storm in a tea-cup.

Contact The Gathering Storm by email at gatheringstorm@mail.com

To Go To Top

JONATHAN POLLARD, REMEMBERED AND FORGOTTEN
Posted by Daryl Temkin, February 23, 2007.

Nationwide White House Call-In for Jonathan Pollard
White House Telephone Number: 1-202-456-1414

Every call is tallied by subject matter.
Every time you say "Free Jonathan Pollard" it counts!
Take a minute for Jonathan Pollard and call now!
Click here for the facts.

For the last twenty-two years, Jonathan Pollard is a name that has been remembered, forgotten, remembered, and forgotten. In recent days, a rekindled memory is being resurrected for people to once again call out the name, Jonathan Pollard.

Similar to a Simon and Garfunkel lyric which compares the visionary architect Frank Lloyd Wright to generations of other architects, the lyric reads, "Architects may come and architects may go and they never change 'their' point of view", we have now experienced more than two decades of American administrations who promise to modify the Pollard penalty, but these promises have gone unfulfilled. Over the years, how many ranking American officials have convinced Jewish communal leaders that they will reconsider the Pollard decision, that they will correct this excessive punishment which would lead to his release and/or pardon? All those promises were short lived and replaced with claims of secret damaging evidence.

The Pollard case is about a man in his twenties who saw that significant security information which America had promised to supply Israel concerning weapon and troop movements in various Arab countries was being illegally withheld. Pollard's tolerance for the various American officials who made their personal decision to place Israel in greater jeopardy became too painful for him to bear. Pollard made contact with an Israeli who received and then transferred to Israel the copies of the security information which should have been legally given to Israel. This was done in the hope of securing Israel's future safety.

Two decades later, it still is evident that none of the information transferred placed America at risk and no American security agent's identity has been compromised. No one has died or has even been threatened due to Pollard's actions. This was a case of giving information to a friendly nation which was legally entitled to that information. However, it appears that certain American officials decided to prevent Israel from receiving this information which could threaten its security.

In spite of the fact that Israel has remained America's close friend and America was supposed to share this specific information with Israel, Jonathan Pollard did commit a crime. There were other ways that Pollard could have tried to bring attention to the fact that American officials were denying and defying American policy. However, Pollard decided to do what he saw to be most expedient and immediately effective.

A plea bargain was strongly recommended to Jonathan in order to prevent a life imprisonment sentence for this crime. The American justice system was abused, the plea bargain was actually used as an admission of guilt, and the judge maliciously sentenced him to a lifelong imprisonment. This degree of punishment for comparable crime is unprecedented.

Many legal scholars and journalists have researched this case and cannot justify the extreme degree of criminality assigned to Pollard. It would appear that if Pollard was exposed to such top-secrets that twenty-two years later, he would still be considered a "loose canon", a risk threatening the balance of America's security -- everyone knows how ridiculous that is. Many believe that Pollard is kept behind bars because he is capable of testifying to the criminal activities of ranking American officials who up to this point have escaped justice. If this be the case, then, for those people, securing and continuing Pollard's life sentence is not negotiable.

There are unsupported allegations that what Pollard did may have gotten into the hands of the Soviets, and, also, there is an ongoing claim that there is a secret file on Pollard which cannot be released. Investigators remain puzzled as to what could possibly be in that secret file. Some expect that the secret file is so secret that it doesn't even know about itself.

After all the thankless and risk-filled concessions that President Clinton required of Israel, it was understood that when Clinton completed his term of office, he would thank Israel with a last minute pardon for Pollard.

As Clinton made his last minute pardons of significant criminals, the Jewish world waited breathlessly for the name of Jonathan Pollard to be announced. Unfortunately, Mr. Clinton joined the ranks of his predecessors and did nothing.

Clinton left major segments of the Jewish and non-Jewish community in shock because they were mistakenly expecting the President to be a man of courage, a man of his word, and a man who would not be swayed. That omitted Clinton pardon will forever remain a moment of consequential disheartening memory. Once again, Israel was left compromised without the gesture of thanks. And the keys to Jonathan Pollard's cell were once again hidden if not thrown away.

The name Jonathan Pollard would fade from memory as a helpless situation and a cause which few people would keep alive. Except there were some outstanding persons who made it their business to visit Jonathan. Among them, the famed activist, Rabbi Avi Weiss, and the Jerusalem Post's Caroline Glick, a truth- seeking journalist who writes with wisdom, insight, and passion.

Avi, Caroline, and others who have reported on their visits with Jonathan came away as if they had returned from a ghostly planet. Not because of the shock in seeing and experiencing the oppressive and sparse high security federal prison environment, but because their personal experience with Jonathan was so profound -- as if they were evidently touched and extraordinarily impressed by his intellect.

Since in prison, purportedly Jonathan has devised a breakthrough solution to obstacles in hydrogen technology and alternative fuel advancements. Outstanding scientists have learned from Jonathan's solutions and have reported their amazement with his technological insights and scientific concepts. But it appears more important that Jonathan be kept imprisoned for crimes that few, if any, understand then to allow the world to benefit from the possibility that he may have a solution to an alternative fuel technology.

Now as the eight years of the George Bush administration comes to a close, there is a chance for Mr. Bush to do what his predecessor failed to accomplish. More and more high ranking governmental officials are admitting that there is no longer a legitimate reason for keeping Pollard behind bars. Simply put, it is time to right the wrongs of the past and to bring Jonathan Pollard back into memory and obtain his release.

Rabbi Pesach Lerner has urgently called on all concerned citizens to phone the White House at (202) 456-1414 between 11:00 A.M. and 2:00 P.M., EST, and make it known that they support the pardoning of Jonathan Pollard. That's all you need to say to the White House operator.

The ironic and sad dimension of Pollard is that if he had been a dangerous life-threatening terrorist, he most likely would have been released from prison long ago. Its time that our country reclaims its values, stops protecting criminals, and punishes those who really put America's future at stake.

Let us not forget Jonathan Pollard again. Perhaps with enough social outcries, our protest calling for justice will be rewarded. Hopefully, soon, Jonathan Pollard will rejoin our society and justice would regain a humane level.

We need a Frank Lloyd Wright style visionary who will have the courage and ability to take another point of view. Call the White House and spread the word to all your contacts to do the same and perhaps together, we can start "seeing" another point of view.

Daryl Temkin, Ph.D. is the director of the Israel Education Institute which is devoted to teaching history and contemporary issues of Israel to Jews and Non-Jews. Contact him at DarylTemkin@Israel-Institute.com

To Go To Top

15 YEAR OLD GIRL ATTACKED BY ARAB WOMAN
Posted by Hebron Jewish Community, February 23, 2007.

A 15 year old Hebron girl was attacked this morning by an Arab woman, who hit her and threw her glasses to the ground. A Canadian 'anarchist' named Jacob Kornblum also attacked the girl and assisted the Arab attacker to escape. Following issuance of a complaint tonight, the two attackers were arrested by Hebron police for interrogation.

Hebron's leadership demands that the attacking foreigner from Canada, together with other anarchists in Hebron, be immediately deported from Israel. Their provocative activities and incitement against Hebron's Jewish community cause tremendous tension, are dangerous, and could easily lead to bloodshed.

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

To Go To Top

ENGAGING IN DISENGAGEMENT -- FIVE HORRIBLE DAYS IN GAZA
Posted by Bryna Berch, February 23, 2007.
This was written by Amy Klein, Religion Editor at Jewish Journal
(http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=17253)

One of the first news stories I covered in Jerusalem 10 years ago was the excavation of holy artifacts by the city. Ultra-Orthodox Jews were protesting the excavations, because they said they were disturbing ancient Jewish graves upon which the entire city was built. It was a common problem and even an old news story in Israel, but it was the first time I witnessed it.

Pairs of police officers picked up Chasidim lying down in front of the bulldozers, carrying each bearded, black-coated man by the shoulders and feet to a waiting van. As the men were carted past me -- struggling, kicking, shouting, even calling me names -- tears came to my eyes. I tried to mask them, furiously writing notes.

"Is this your first time here?" the head of the Israel Antiquities Authority said, more as a statement than a question. He offered me a tissue.

"It's hard to watch," he said.

It was true. The sight of men in uniform dragging religious Jews away provokes a visceral reaction in any Jew: nausea, cramps, tears. It evokes the images of the Holocaust, no matter how dissimilar the situation may be.

Perhaps that's why it's so heart-wrenching to watch the handful of new documentaries covering "the disengagement," as the unilateral evacuation of 8,500 Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip was called, when men and women in uniform marched in to confront, corral and drag away the (mostly religious) settlers. No matter that the uniformed people were Jews, and they weren't taking the settlers to their death but busing them to within Israeli territory. Still the shadows of the Holocaust haunt.

Especially from the perspective of the settlers, who primarily believe their mission -- to settle the Land of Israel and serve as a buffer zone to protect the rest of Israel from destruction -- is a direct response to the horrors of the Holocaust. That is why they are not willing to leave -- or be forced from their homes, and that is why, for many, it is worse that the people in uniform are Jews.

"If you're a Jew, you can't do this!" one of the settlers screams at the police in "Storm of Emotions," one of the two new disengagement documentaries showing at the 22nd Israel Film Festival.

"You look like Nazis!" a woman shouts.

"You obey orders fanatically. You think we're fanatics. You're order fanatics," another says, again evoking the famous German soldier's defense of, "We were just following orders."

But following government orders is what the police and soldiers are doing in Gush Katif, the bloc of 21 Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip. Some police don't believe in the evacuation, some don't want to be the ones to evacuate the settlers. Even for those who believe it is the right thing to do -- because they are tired of risking their lives for such a small percentage of the population, or because they think it will bring about peace, or because they don't want Gaza to be part of Israel -- the actual evacuation is a horrible experience.

"Storm of Emotions" is a small picture -- insider, even -- portraying the evacuation from the perspective of the police, who helped the Israel Defense Forces implement the disengagement. The film zeroes in on a few officers (the most interesting is a kippah-wearing Modern Orthodox officer who believes he can ameliorate the situation of his co-religionists but suffers the most slings and arrows of the settlers) and attempts to portray their plight: how they tried to be as gentle as possible, tried to prevent eruptions of violence and tried to evacuate Gush Katif peaceably.

The vérité, television-like "Storm," which was short-listed in the Oscar's documentary feature category, offers a narrow window on the disengagement that sometimes lacks wider context.

"Withdrawal From Gaza," however, presents a fuller picture with broader historical overview. "Withdrawal," also showing at the Israel Film Festival and starting March 23 at the Laemmle Town Center 5 in Encino, is a more polished, feature-like documentary that tells the poignant stories of the settlers -- a doctor, zookeeper, terror victim's widow, American amputee -- shows the stunning and idyllic beauty of Gush Katif beachfront, in addition to providing numbers and facts.

Fact: It was pre-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon who decided to settle Gaza in 1967, but as prime minister ordered its evacuation.

Fact: Many of the residents of Gush Katif came from Yamit, the seaport settlement in the southern Gaza Strip that was evacuated in 1982, when Israel gave the Sinai back to Egypt.

Fact: By 2005 8,500 settlers lived in Gush Katif, and half left before the evacuation, but another 4,000 came down to support settlers, enacting civil disobedience that led to what might be called the five worst days in Israel's history.

In the hindsight of 18 months, it may seem that the disengagement was always a fait accompli from the moment it was decreed, but what these new disengagement documentaries show is that history is not so simple. (In addition to "Storm" and "Withdrawal," two others Gaza docs received international attention: "Five Days" was boycotted at Edinburgh's festival last summer, because of the war in Lebanon, and "Unsettled," a slick, MTV-like documentary following 20-somethings on both sides, won this year's jury prize at Sundance.)

The documentaries remind us -- even such a short while later -- that despite the results, in the beginning nothing was cut and dried.

For one thing, the settlers did not believe for a moment they would ever have to leave.

"It's my hope that we'll stay here," the religious zookeeper says in "Withdrawal." "We're still waiting for a last-minute miracle."

All the films have the requisite shots of the man in the tallit and tefillin praying on the hills; the women in kerchiefs with their eyes closed, swaying; the groups of teens dancing and singing. It's an awesome -- some might say foolish -- collective faith that the edict would never come to pass.

The settlers believed they could prevent evacuation. Even without a miracle from God -- one which they prayed for vehemently -- they believed in their physical powers: They held sit-ins at synagogues, stood behind barbed-wire on rooftops and linked hands to become human chains in the streets. Together with West Bank settlers clad in orange (color for opposing disengagement), many stood their ground until the end, refusing to walk on the bus, forcing soldiers to drag them there.

"Two weeks from now, I will either be dead or in jail or in hospital, because I'm not just going to walk out of my house and say goodbye," one American said in "Withdrawal."

In July 2005, nobody knew how violent the evacuation would be. Were the settlers armed? How would the army and police remove them? What would happen if they wouldn't go? Would an evacuation be possible?

But in 2007, knowing the ending -- that the settlements were evacuated without much injury or harm -- there is another more pressing question: What has the withdrawal from Gaza wrought?

That's one question the films cannot answer, given that they were made so close to the actual event. Some films end with epigrams telling where the evacuees live, but none can tell us what the long-term effects will be on them -- or their evacuators.

How will their lives be affected? Although disengagement only lasted five days, one thing that all the films make clear is that the disengagement was indeed a "Storm of Emotions" for settlers, as well as soldiers.

The disengagement ruptured Israeli society, unearthing the long-simmering rift between secular and religious, settler and peacenik, as never before in its history.

Whether Israel -- and Israelis -- will recover from this remains the real question for five -- or 10-year anniversary documentaries. Will the Gaza disengagement be a footnote in Israel's tumultuous history, just one of many battles, or will it be, as one of the settlers cries out to the evacuators: "It's a crime that will haunt you the rest of your lives."

To Go To Top

ANTI-SEMITISM EQUALS RELIGIOUS TERRORISM
Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, February 23, 2007.

At present, terrorists are either assassinated, captured and imprisoned or killed in the act of trying to kill others. The Muslim Terrorists' anti-Semitic hatred of Jews should be defined as anti-Semitic religious Terrorism -- but, it is more than that. It is a state of mind that permits and recommends deadly force.

When we go back in history, we find that Church-taught Jew-hatred was an acceptable, even honorable practice of predatory hunting.

In the Muslim world since Mohammed initiated Islam in the 7th century, Jews (and Christians) were viewed as "Dhimmis" (second-class people) with few rights while living among Muslims.

The Christians considered killing of Jews a "noble" sacrifice to a Jew they call the son of G-d and their Lord. Anti-Semitism, whether practiced by some Christians, Muslims or even by aberrant Jews is nothing less than religious Terrorism and a license to murder Jews. Therefore, if we kill Terrorists who are driven by religion to murder us or try to murder us, why would we desist in killing anti-Semites who either provoke the killing of Jews or who themselves have their hands on the knife, sword, rope or gun that draws Jewish blood?

Why are anti-Semites not made responsible for killing Jews both before and after the deed?

Were not Jews like the "Judenrat", also deserving assassination in their time -- any less than the Gestapo who shot or gassed the Jews?

Anti-Semitism is unlike any other prejudice, given its history of causing the murder of Jews in unlimited numbers for centuries. Why should Christian village priests in their sermons or Muslim village mullahs, calling out from the muezzin, who provoke the local peasantry to rape, pillage and murder Jews, be spared when the ideas in their religions urge others to kill Jews? As I said before, does it make any real difference between the one who provokes or the actual wielder of the knife or gun or gas? Worse yet, why do we behave so passively, like a deer caught in the car headlights who stands frozen, immobile, letting them murder us with impunity?

On March 22, 2004, the crippled, wheelchair-bound master organizer of Terror, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, founder and head of Hamas, who was dedicated to the murder of Jews and the destruction of the State of Israel, was finally killed in a targeted assassination -- far too late for his victims. Israel killed Yassin after enduring more than three years of continuous Hamas Terrorism. Being wheelchair bound did not minimize his crimes. (1) When Yassin gave orders to kill Jews, was he not one and the same as the Muslim Arab Terrorists who carried out his orders. He was assassinated and rightfully so.

Jewish anti-Semites should not be exempt from retribution when they either assist our mortal enemies in justifying their hatred by provoking them to kill Jews because the Jewish anti-Semite sets the mind of the Terrorists that it is acceptable to kill Jews.

An example of Jews encouraging the enemy is when Jewish Left Liberal women (called: "Machsom" or Women in Black) go to the Army checkpoints. Israeli soldiers are screening Arab Muslim cars and trucks, searching for explosives or other weapons -- all intended to massacre Jews. These Women-in-Black scream at the soldiers who are risking their lives to keep bombs out of Israel's cities. These women give encouragement to the enemy and, thereby, assist in the murder of their fellow Jews.

Americans are presently hunting Terrorists in many parts of the world. Sometimes they kill them with a sniper shot; sometimes with a remote controlled UAV, firing a Hell-fire missile; sometimes in a full scale battle. Why do they kill Terrorists? Simply because Terrorists have killed Americans and others as in 9/11? The blowing up of 3 American Consulates in Africa and Lebanon as well as the Marine Barracks in Lebanon in 1983? The USS Cole? Road-side bombs, suicide bombers, sniper drive-by shootings, suicide bombers? And other Terror attacks in London 7/7, Madrid 3/11, Breslan 9/1, in Bombay 7/11, in Thailand 1/04-2/18 & 19/07?

In other words the killing or the provoking of the killing of Americans and others is sufficient reason to hunt and kill our adversaries. Why are Jews not accorded the same privilege in protecting their families in the Land of our forefathers? If Americans find sufficient reason to conduct summary executions, as surgically targeted assassinations for known Terrorists and their leaders, why should Jews hesitate to similarly execute their pursuers?

Anti-Americanism (when accompanied by deadly force) is equal to anti-Semitism (when accompanied by the will to murder). Granted the murder of Jews has gone on far longer than the nation of America even existed. But now, Islam has America (and all the Free West) in its sights. The killing of Americans will ramp up, accumulating its own history of being a target with no other reason than America and Americans are nonbelievers in Islam. Killing such deadly adversaries seems entirely reasonable and justified to the Terrorists motivated by their religion.

We Jews have been hounded, murdered, raped, disposed of what we owned for a few thousand years. In ancient times, we fought our adversaries on the fields of battle until we were dispersed by the Roman legions and became a fractional minority who could no longer fight with our diminished numbers. As a minority, we became unfair game for Jew-haters in distant lands.

Now time has passed and we Jews have returned to our ancient homeland. Regrettably, our enemies still wish to drink our blood -- as they often say. Now we can assassinate their leaders and kill their Terrorists. But, anti-Semite Jew-hatred still prevails. The European nations who have killed us for centuries now wish to make common cause with the Muslims who also wish to see us dead and gone. We even have a sizeable collection of Jewish anti-Semites who share their goals, that of eliminating the only Jewish nation on this planet.

If Americans can eliminate their enemies, why can't the Jews adopt this Biblical credo of an eye for an eye, etc.?

Let us ponder this solution for whatever race, religion, etc. that pursue us. If we are to be hunted like animals, then let us be as lions, bears, sharks and turn our skills against our adversaries. We tried making peace and living with them, but they refused to accept peace. We have no choice left. "Ein Breira!"

Anti-Semitism is not merely a temporary attack such as when the Turks committed Genocide on their Armenian population. After they butchered over a million Armenians, they stopped. Not so, the enemies of the Jews. No matter how long they hunt and kill us, no matter how great the numbers they kill, they continue the hunt. They gather in hate-filled organizations, usually with a title and a theme telling themselves and others that they do not hate the Jews per se but, just some of the things we do.

Some of the most scurrilous hate-filled institutions are manned by anti-Semitic Jews. Their hatred is even more bizarre and palpable than that of Gentile nations, given that they too are hunted in the end. The Jewish anti-Semites know this but, a pathological anti-Jewish worm in their minds drives them on, even if they themselves might die because they encouraged the Religious Terrorists.

Such anti-Semitism may be likened to something like the Ebola Virus that makes the body's organs liquify and the patient's immune system simply fails. Modern medicine tries to fortify the immune system and kill off the virus but nothing stops anti-Semitism other than killing the virus -- permanently and world-wide.

In closing, it is worthwhile to review the ancient laws of Torah as given in Parasha Mishpatim in Chapter 21 of Shmot (Exodus) in the Tanach (Bible): The Parasha (Torah portion of the week) Mishpatim speaks of penalties within the laws of Torah when men are held responsible for various injuries unto deaths they have caused, as follows.

For example, "One who strikes a man who dies shall surely be put to death. If a man shall act intentionally against his fellow to kill him with guile, from My Alter shall you take him to die." (Vs. 12-14)

The Parasha goes on to speak that "when there is a fatality, you shall award a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot, a burn for a burn, a wound for a wound, a bruise for a bruise." (Vs. 23-25)

Clearly this is a well thought-out judgement for men to live by, assuming they live by any law whatsoever. Men be they -- Gentile or Jewish -- certainly need the above laws to control their murderous passions. Perhaps we have waited far too long to apply that Law.

What do you do when there is not a real Jew in the Israeli Government?

What do you do when the entire Israeli Government meets the criteria of anti-Semites?

For American who are just getting a taste of Religious Terrorism which Jews have had to experience for thousands of years, perhaps you will begin to understand why Religious Terrorists deserve summary execution!:

REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the Marine Barracks in Lebanon, 10/23/83

REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of Khobar Towers, U.S. Barracks Saudi Arabia, 6/25/88

REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of PanAm Flight 103, 12/21/88

REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the World Trade Center in 2/26/93

REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of U.S. Embassies-Nairobi & Dar es Salaam, Africa, 8/10/98

REMEMBER the MUSLIM attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon & (probably) the White House or Congress on 9/11/01 which killed 3,000 people.

REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombings in Madrid 3/11/04

REMEMBER the MUSLIM murders of at least 368, ½ children in Beslan, Russia 9/1/04

REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombings on 4 commuter trains & buses in London 7/7/06 (7/7 is a multiple of 11) killing 52, injuring 700 commuters

REMEMBER the MUSLIM nearly simultaneous bombings of 7 commuter trains and stations on 7/11/06 in Mumbai (Bombay) India -- killing at least 180, wounding as many as 450.

REMEMBER the MUSLIM 54 bomb and arson attacks in Thailand from January 2004 to 2/18 &19/07 killing more than 2000. `

REMEMBER all the AMERICANS and others whose lives were lost in those vicious MUSLIM attacks.

This is only a fraction of what the War of Civilizations by Muslims against all non-believers has produced so far and it is ALL Religious Terrorism. Only when we grasp that salient fact, will we in the Free West be able to conquer, control or combat it so we can all live in real peace.

###

1. "The Targeted Killing of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin" by Jonathan L. Snow Foundation for Defending Democracy March 26, 2004

2. "Chumash" (Five Books of Moses in Tanach) Stone Edition "Shmot" (Exodus) Chapter 21: vs12-14 & vs. 23-25

Emanuel Winston is a commentator and Middle East analyst. His articles appear often on Think-Israel and Gamla. He is a member of the Board of Directors and a research associate of the Freeman Center For Strategic Studies (http://www.freeman.org/online.htm). Contact him at gwinston.interaccess.com

To Go To Top

JIHAD IN HOUSTON
Posted by Michael Travis, February 23, 2007.
This was written by William P. Welty and it appeared today in Arutz-7

[How is it that only the Israelis know that World War III started on September 11, 2001?]

Sooner or later it was bound to happen ? Jihad would come to the United States. (Not that it hasn't been here since the Oklahoma City bombing, mind you.) And by this statement, I don't mean attacks on America's infrastructure, such as the assault on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the apparent attempted assault on the White House that occurred on 11 September 2001. No. I'm thinking of something much more simple than elaborate plans to fly commercial aircraft into buildings. I'm thinking of something as simple as the murder of a Jew by a Muslim. In Houston, Texas, no less.

The Muslim man has confessed to the crime, which his own roommate witnessed as a near decapitation of the Jewish victim.

Amazingly, the press is reporting that Houston police say they don't have a clue as to why he did it.

Honest, I'm not making this up...

The story made the January 12 edition of the Houston Chronicle and www.WorldNetDaily.com on January 13. According to the details of the reports, killer Mohammed Ali Alayed, a Saudi Arabian national, was in the US on a student visa when he slashed the throat of Ariel Sellouk, the son of Moroccan Jewish immigrants to the United States and a personal friend. Alayed "went to a local mosque after the killing."

I called the Houston Chronicle's Andrew Tilghman, who is assigned to the paper's Court House Bureau, to discuss the matter. Mr. Tilghman wrote the Chronicle story on the slaying. We discussed the puzzling statement that appears in paragraph three of the World Net Daily story, concerning the Houston Police Department's alleged inability to attribute religious motives to the slaying, despite the "religious reawakening" of Alayed to a "conservative, Islamic lifestyle".

Does one light a candle to see the sun?

It turns out, according to my interview with Tilghman, that the prosecutors chose not to pursue hate crime indictments because by doing so, the prosecutors risked complicating the case.

"Does it really matter why Alayed murdered Mr. Sellouk?" mused Mr. Tilghman during our conversation.

Good point, Andrew.

I concluded my conversation with Mr. Tilghman by suggesting to him that I'd attempt to send him a list of other Islam-motivated murders that have taken place within the borders of the United States of America since the Oklahoma City bombing. I didn't bother to mention that I won't count the 2,800 Islam-motivated murders that took place in the United States on 11 September 2001.

After all, as President Dubya points out, Islam is a religion of peace.

Concluding Thoughts

We are Dar al-Harb[*] ? and proud of it.

[*] Dar al-Harb: The Domain at War: Territory under the hegemony of unbelievers, which is on terms of active or potential belligerency with the Domain of Islam... ( Glossary of Islamic Terms by Muhammad Ishaq Zahid; Copyright © 1998-1999 by The Sabr Foundation.)

Contact Michael Travis at michaelmgr@gmail.com

To Go To Top

WORLD-WIDE BLITZ AGAINST ISRAEL
Posted by Nurit Greenger, February 23, 2007.

The increasing blame on Israel for problems in the PA, the mounting pressure from Russia and now British Prime Minister Tony Blair willingness to deal with Hamas, one can-should understand how demented and dangerous the world is... Now Jews are defined as a "race," and Israeli army is guilty of terror worse than that of Arab terrorists... many of the United Nations' members are simply pathetically useless and the organization itself is dangerous to the world!

With stopping the flow of funds, the USA [and somewhat Israel] has the tools to stop much of the cyclical madness, which unfortunately she chooses not to do!

This article was written by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu; it appeared in Arutz-Sheva and is archived at http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/121662#replies

(IsraelNN.com) The United Nations, Russia, Arab states and the media have escalated an international broadside against Israel while touting the Hamas-Fatah coalition.

A report by the U.N. Human Rights Council has provided the background for the Arab position, backed by Russia, that the Western-led economic boycott of Hamas must be lifted in order to fight poverty in the Gaza area.

The council report was commissioned to John Dugard, who formerly campaigned against South Africa apartheid and who concluded that the racist policy is similar to that of Israel. He defined Jews as a "race" and charged that the Israeli army is guilty of terror worse than that of Arab terrorists. Dugard's draft is to be published next month in a full report by the U.N.

Dugard wrote that "Israel's laws and practices in the [Palestinian Authority (PA)] certainly resemble aspects of apartheid. Can it seriously be denied that the purpose of such action is to establish and maintain domination by one racial group, Jews, over another racial group, Palestinians, and systematically oppress them?"

The report accuses Israel of terror by flying jets that set off sonic booms, forcing "residents to live in fear of settler terror." Dugard also alleges that Israel still is "occupying" the Gaza region despite the expulsion of Jewish residents from their communities and the handover of the land to the PA. "Gaza became a sealed off, imprisoned and occupied territory," he wrote.

He cited Arabs for committing war crimes by attacking Israel with Kassam rockets, but added that the IDF has "committed such crimes on a much greater scale."

U.N. Report Ignores Economic Aid to PA

Media throughout the world have headlined the report's assertion that Israeli "restrictions on trade and movement" have created conditions where "the poorest families are now living a meager existence totally reliant on assistance, with no electricity or heating and eating food prepared with water from bad sources."

The report's timing "is especially sensitive, coming to light after both Israel and the U.S. indicated that they will maintain the boycott after the planned Fatah-Hamas coalition cabinet takes office unless it clearly commits itself to recognition of Israel, renunciation of violence and adherence to previous agreements with Israel," noted the London Independent.

The report ignores aid that has been redirected through the offices of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in order to bypass Hamas, leaving the PA as one of the world's largest recipients of foreign economic aid. The International Monetary Fund (International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reported that the PA received $709 million in aid in 2006, double the amount received in 2005.

The aid figures do not include hundreds of millions of dollars invested by various U.N. agencies in Gaza.

In addition, Hamas leaders have smuggled more than $60 million into Gaza.

Another report by a U.N. agency and published by Reuters News Agency blames Israel's attack on Gaza's "only power station" for leaving the "Occupied Palestinian Territories" without electricity. However, Dugard does not mention that Israel's Ashkelon power plant also provides electricity to many PA residents.

Britain To Deal with 'Moderate' Hamas Elements

The increasing blame on Israel for problems in the PA, along with the mounting pressure from Russia have contributed to a change in the policy of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who has indicated he is prepared to deal with Hamas.

"It is far easier to deal with the situation in Palestine if there is a national unity government," he said. "I hope we can make progress, including even with the more sensible elements of Hamas."

The United States has been the staunchest opponent of lifting the sanctions against Hamas, but American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has conceded that Abbas out-maneuvered Israel by collaborating with Hamas to form a unity government, which she stated has made the situation "more complicated."

The result was a meeting this week between her, Abbas and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, that analysts agreed was an exercise in rhetoric, although the conversation included angry shouts between the Israeli and PA leaders.

Mashaal To Visit Moscow

The Quartet so far has insisted Hamas meet international demands, but the terrorist organization continues to drum up international support, starting with Russia, one of the members of the Quartet. Syrian-based Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal is scheduled to visit Moscow from Sunday to Tuesday, as Moscow continues to ignore Israeli pleas that international powers not conduct talks with leaders of the Hamas organization.

Abbas, the leader of the Fatah movement, has been courting European nations, claiming that the unity government is committed to meeting international conditions even though Hamas explicitly refuses to do so. Fatah has paid lip-service to the conditions, but terrorist attacks by Fatah terrorists continue almost daily. Abbas also has conditioned his "recognition of Israel' on demands, which every recent Israeli government has categorically stated are unreasonable.

Abbas has said a Jewish state could be recognized only after Jerusalem becomes the capital of a new Arab country and millions of Arabs in foreign countries are allowed to live in Israel.

Abbas's problem is that "Hamas is considered to be more powerful than Fatah," according to Turi Munthe, associate fellow at the Royal United Service Institute in London.

Muslim States Pressuring Quartet

A group of 57 Muslim countries meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia has agreed to step up pressure and try to force the Quartet to lift the economic sanctions against Hamas. The Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) also continues to accuse Israel of endangering the Al Aksa mosque by conducting archaeological operations near the Temple Mount.

"In light of the positive developments in Palestine and formation of the national unity government, the international embargo against Palestinians has no justification," said Ekmel Al Deen Ihsanoglu, Secretary-General of the OIC.

He called on the Arab countries, including oil-rich kingdoms, to provide financial and moral support to Jerusalem Arabs and the Palestinian Authority (PA).

Contact Nurit Greenger by email at 4nuritg@ca.rr.com. Visit her blog:
http://ngthinker.typepad.com

To Go To Top

AN UPSIDEDOWN WORLD
Posted by Steven Plaut, February 23, 2007.

This article is called "An Upside-Down World" and it was written by Nick Cohen. It appeared February 23, 2007 in Wall Street Journal
(http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117220083341716983.html). Mr. Cohen, a columnist for the Observer and the New Statesman, is the author of What's Left?: How Liberals Lost Their Way (Fourth Estate, 2007).

LONDON -- The other day Ken Livingstone, the mayor of my hometown of London, organized a conference on Islam and the West. It was a carefully rigged affair in which handpicked speaker after handpicked speaker stood up and announced that the democracies were to blame for the tidal wave of murder sweeping the world. To provide a spurious air of balance, the organizers invited a few people who dissented from the line of the Muslim Brotherhood and its British allies. Agn.s Poirier, a French feminist, was one of them, but she pulled out because although there were no special facilities for Christians, Hindus and Jews, Mr. Livingstone had provided separate prayer rooms for Muslim men and Muslim women.

She wanted to know: Does Ken Livingstone's idea of multiculturalism acknowledge and condone segregation? It clearly does, but what made this vignette of ethnic politics in a European city worth noting is that commentators for the BBC and nearly every newspaper here describe Mr. Livingstone as one of the most left-wing politicians in British public life. Hardly any of them notices the weirdness of an apparent socialist pandering to a reactionary strain of Islam, pushing its arguments and accepting its dictates.

Mr. Livingstone's not alone. After suicide bombers massacred Londoners on July 7, 2005, leftish rather than conservative papers held British foreign policy responsible for the slaughters on the transport network. ("Blair's Bombs," ran the headline in my own leftish New Statesman.) In any university, you are more likely to hear campaigns for the rights of Muslim women derided by postmodernists than by crusty conservative dons. Our Stop the War coalition is an alliance of the white far left and the Islamist far right, and George Galloway, its leader, and the first allegedly "far left" MP to be elected to the British parliament in 50 years, is an admirer of Saddam Hussein and Hezbollah.

I could go on with specific examples, but the crucial point is the pervasive European attitude to the Iraq catastrophe. As al Qaeda, the Baathists and Shiite Islamists slaughter thousands, there is virtually no sense that their successes are our defeats. Iraqi socialists and trade unionists I know are close to despair. They turn for support to Europe, the home of liberalism, feminism and socialism, and find that rich democrats, liberals and feminists won't help them or even acknowledge their existence.

There were plenty of leftish people in the 20th century who excused communism, but they could at least say that communism was a left-wing idea. Now overwhelmingly and everywhere you find people who scream their heads off about the smallest sexist or racist remark, yet refuse to confront ultra-reactionary movements that explicitly reject every principle they profess to hold.

Why is the world upside down? In part, it is a measure of President Bush's failure that anti-Americanism has swept out of the intelligentsia and become mainstream in Britain. A country that was once the most pro-American in Western Europe now derides Tony Blair for sticking with the Atlantic alliance. But if Iraq has pummeled Mr. Blair's reputation, it has also shone a very harsh light on the British and European left. No one noticed it when the Berlin Wall came down, but the death of socialism gave people who called themselves "left wing" a paradoxical advantage. They no longer had a practical program they needed to defend and could go along with ultra-right movements that would once have been taboo. In moments of crisis, otherwise sane liberals will turn to these movements and be reassured by the professed leftism of the protest organizers that they are not making a nonsense of their beliefs.

If, that is, they have strong beliefs to abandon. In Europe and North America extreme versions of multiculturalism and identity politics have left a poisonous legacy. Far too many liberal-minded people think that is somehow culturally imperialist to criticize reactionary movements and ideas -- as long as they aren't European or American reactionary movements. This delusion is everywhere. Until very recently our Labour government was allowing its dealings with Britain's Muslim minority to be controlled by an unelected group, the Muslim Council of Britain, which stood for everything social democrats were against. In their desperate attempts to ingratiate themselves, ministers gave its leader a knighthood -- even though he had said that "death was too good" for Salman Rushdie, who happens to be a British citizen as well as a great novelist.

Beyond the contortions and betrayals of liberal and leftish thinking lies a simple emotion that I don't believe Americans take account of: an insidious fear that has produced the ideal conditions for appeasement. Radical Islam does worry Europeans but we are trying to prevent an explosion by going along with Islamist victimhood. We blame ourselves for the Islamist rage, in the hope that our admission of guilt will pacify our enemies. We are scared, but not scared enough to take a stand.

I hope conservative American readers come to Britain. But if you do, expect to find an upside-down world. People who call themselves liberals or leftists will argue with you, and when they have finished you may experience the strange realization that they have become far more reactionary than you have ever been.

Steven Plaut is an American-trained economist, a professor of business administration at Haifa University and author of "The Scout." He frequently comments -- both seriously and satirically -- on Israeli politics and the left wing academic community. His website address is http://www.stevenplaut.blogspot.com or write him by email at splaut@econ.haifa.ac.il

To Go To Top

OPERATION PRAYER SHIELD -- TAKE IT ANOTHER STEP
Posted by Matthew S. Finberg, February 22, 2007.

Americans For A Safe Israel is proposing a very nice collective action to pray for the rectification of Medinat Yisrael in its approach to Yesha (see below). I commute back and forth between Boulder, Colorado where my law offices are and Givat HaYovel (where I really live), #1 on the Shalom Achshav (Peace Now) hit parade for destruction. Even though we are within the legal boundaries of Eli and directly next to Shilo and the site of the Mishkan (Tabernacle), the Supreme Court will be hearing the eviction case March 7.

We read in the Torah a few weeks ago that Moshe prayed with all his strength for Divine intervention at bank of the Sea of Reeds when the Egyptians were in hot pursuit of Am Yisrael. To paraphrase HaShem, he said Moshe, what are you doing? There is a time for prayer and a time for action; this is a time for action. Moshe looked up and saw Nachshon walking into the sea, with complete bitachon, until the water reached his nostrils. HaShem then split the Sea providing safe passage to our People.

With all due respect and thanks to AFSI for its current program and consistent support for the Land and People of Yesha, THIS IS A TIME FOR ACTION!

Come Home! Prayer is always good, but we need you. If you can make Aliyah, do so now and settle in the threatened communities (many of which are listed below in the AFSI announcement). If you cannot make Aliyah now, rent a house, townhouse, or caravan (they are very inexpensive by American standards) and come and stay as often as possible for as long as possible. I will help you do this if you would like my assistance. BECOME A FACT ON THE GROUND! BE NACHSHON!

Your action may be the tipping point which will save Eretz Yisrael from the despicable plans of those in power who seek to dismantle Her.

With love of Israel,
Matthew S. Finberg

Contact Matthew Finberg by email at matt@finberglaw.com

To Go To Top

A MITZVAH RABBA: The Plight of Jonathan Pollard
Posted by Justice For Jonathan Pollard, February 22, 2007.

This was written by Rabbi Aryeh Zev Ginzberg and appeared February 2007 in The Jewish Observer Magazine. Rabbi Ginzberg, founding rav of Ohr Moshe Torah Institute in Hillcrest, NY, is currently rav of the Chofetz Chaim Torah Center of Cedarhurst (Long Island), New York. He is a frequent contributor to the Jewish Observer.

[J4JP Note Re Hebrew Terminology: The Jewish Observer Magazine, where this article originally appeared, is geared towards an audience which is largely familiar with the Hebrew terminology that appears scattered throughout. To assist readers unfamiliar with the terminology, J4JP has added a Lexicon below.]

It is human nature to pursue the big score. The three million dollar lotto jackpot doesn't attract much attention. By contrast, the powerball 100 million dollar jackpot finds people standing on long lines for a chance (slim as it may be) for the big score.

Mitzvos (lehavdil elef havdalos) are no different. The seemingly small mitzvos are performed without passion or excitement. The "big mitzvos," the ones that one may think offer the greatest reward, should really draw attention. The problem is, however, that the Mishna in Pirkei Avos teaches that we have to treat all mitzvos alike, for we do not know which are considered "big" or "small" mitzvos.

Yet there is one mitzvah that transcends this Mishna, one that Chazal refer to as a " mitzvah rabba," and that is the mitzvah of pidyon shevuyim -- gaining release for captives.

The Gemara relates how Ifra Hurmiz, who was the mother of the king, once threw a pouch filled with gold coins before Rav Yoseif and told him, "Use it for a mitzvah rabba." Rav Yoseif pondered what could be characterized as a mitzvah rabba, and concluded that pidyon shevuyim is just such a mitzvah (Bava Basra 8a)... The Rambam (Hilchos Ma'tenas Aniyim 8:10) explains that there is no greater mitzvah than redeeming captives, and that this duty takes priority over even feeding or clothing the poor. Chazal explain that being held captive is considered worse than hunger and death, because it encompasses everything... In fact, Ginas Veradim (Yoreh Dei'a 3:10) explains that while there is much discussion in the poskim whether pidyon shevuyim is part of the mitzvah of tzeddaka or is in a category all by itself, most opinions view it as part of tzeddaka.

Our sefarim are replete with stories about our gedolim and the great efforts they exerted to perform this mitzvah. (See Sefer Yalkut Lekach Tov, Parashas Shelach, page 127, which relates how Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik zt" l of Brisk traveled on Yom Kippur in an attempt to fulfill the mitzvah, even though it was very unlikely that he would succeed in his efforts.)

Chizuk: To Give and to Gain

I've long contemplated visiting Jonathan Pollard. I had come across a press release reporting that Pollard, very ill, was about to "celebrate" his twenty-second year in jail. I reached out to Rabbi Pesach Lerner, Executive Vice President of the National Council of Young Israel, who has distinguished himself by supporting Jonathan Pollard in a myriad of ways for the last decade or more, and asked him to arrange for me a visit with Pollard... The day arrived.

While not usually at a loss for words, I wondered: how does one offer verbal chizuk to someone who has endured, is enduring, and is destined to continue to endure the shiva medurei Geihinnom (seven levels of Geihinnom) each and every day? His first seven years were spent in the infamous maximum security facility, the USP Marion, including four years in solitary confinement, several levels below ground. [J4JP: Jonathan spent most of the first 7 years in solitary confinement, not 4 years!] Then, in 1993, he was transferred to the Butner Federal Correctional Facility near Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, where he remains today.

I agonized for nothing. I traveled to Butner to give chizuk and instead received chizuk. Jonathan Pollard is an amazing individual with an insatiable appetite for life. He is strong and upbeat despite his predicament, and has an unimaginable level of bitachon.

To live and walk around in a place that is home to some of "the worst violent criminals in the United States" with a yarmulka on his head and tzitzis on his body is not only unbelievable, it is heroic. His pride in being a Jew and his love for Eretz Yisroel are simply inspiring.

He shared with me his close personal relationship with the late, unforgettable Torah leader, Rabbi Moshe Sherer z"l, who, for a period, spoke to him on the telephone very often. When Jonathan called, Rabbi Sherer always took the telephone. Rabbi Sherer once said to him, "Jonathan, I want you to promise me three things. You will keep Shabbos, eat only kosher, and never grow to hate Hakadosh Baruch Hu, despite whatever happens to you."

I asked Jonathan Pollard, "If Rabbi Sherer were to walk into this room right now, what would you say to him?"

He paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "I would say, 'Rabbi Sherer, I kept my promise to you on all three.'"

I asked him to describe his daily routine and what life is like in a place surrounded by barbed wire, electronic iron gates and thousands of hardened criminals responsible for every and any type of violent crime imaginable (and unimaginable). He did so with remarkable detail. Most of what he said is too horrific to describe. I will limit myself to the details of his life that he shared with me. His cell door is unlocked at night. Every night, before going to sleep, he places a contraption of sorts on top of the door, so that if someone would enter, the booby trap would fall to the floor, and the noise would awaken him, and he would hopefully avoid having his throat slit in his sleep.

It is impossible to imagine what it is like to be on guard for your very life seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day for one week, let alone for an incomprehensible twenty-two years. Jonathan Pollard does not have to imagine it, for he lives with it each and every day of his life.

Keeping the Promises

I asked him how he manages to fulfill the three promises he made to Rabbi Sherer years ago in this place that the inmates refer to as "hell on earth." He explained each point with clarity and commitment, reflecting great courage.

Being a person of superior intellect (as is obvious after just a few minutes of conversation), he was selected to head the administration in the prison factory where many of the inmates work each day. That type of work (the most respectable job in the institution), however, would not allow him to avoid chillul Shabbos and Yom Tov, and would also force him to interact with the fellow inmates on a regular basis. He therefore had himself switched to the degrading job of cleaning latrines and toilets several times a day, each and every day. This difficult, backbreaking job could sink any man's spirits, especially someone of superior intelligence. Yet, to Pollard, it represents a victory, as it reduces the possibility of violating Shabbos, and allows him the solitude to daven (as he does every day), and carry on Jewish living to the best of his ability under those circumstances.

His adherence to kashrus (his second promise) has not come without a huge price tag. Subsisting on canned tuna and sardines for so many years has caused his body to have a dangerously high mercury level that has resulted in a severe blood pressure problem, a heart condition, and a host of other maladies that have brought his health to a very precarious state. Not only are there no complaints, but he also views this as another small victory against his detractors.

His third promise is the most difficult one. For a man who has suffered so much for more than two decades, and is totally ignored by the country that he attempted to help, to remain steadfast in his emuna and bitachon is truly a heroic feat of epic proportions.

He explained how he does so with three different deep and heartfelt thoughts, expressed in different parts of our four-hour conversation. At first he said, "I promised myself at the beginning of this nightmare that I would come out the same way I came in." Then he added, "I love my land, Eretz Yisroel, and I love my wife more than my enemies hate me." Finally, toward the end of our conversation, he made the following bold explanation: "I don't represent myself. I represent all Jews. Our enemies are watching me to see if they can break me. For that alone I must remain strong. I must stay strong in my emuna and bitachon to show the world what Klal Yisroel is all about."

Pollard's Motivation

What motivated Pollard to do what he did? One can gain an insight from several articles published years ago that reported a conversation that Pollard had with his supervisors in the U.S. Department of Naval Affairs. He asked them why information about the poison gas capabilities of Israel's sworn enemies was being withheld from Israel. He was reportedly told, "Jews are too sensitive about gas."

Did the information he conveyed to Israel help them? In 1998, William Northrop, the Middle East Bureau Chief for New Dimensions, wrote that Israeli intelligence experts called him "the ghost of the sealed rooms," for it was largely due to his efforts and sacrifice that they were prepared when Saddam launched El-Abed, the Iraqi missile, at Israel in January of 1991.

This author has no intention of discussing the pros or cons of Pollard's actions and whether they were halachically permitted or not. We will leave that to the beis hamidrash. The purpose of this article is to focus on what the Torah community has done (or has not done) for Pollard in the past, what it is currently doing (or not doing), and what we must do in the future. We as a community have neglected him long enough.

In 1993, a kol korei (public proclamation) was issued calling for Klal Yisroel to do its utmost for Pollard, and it was signed by no less than thirty gedolim from a broad range of kehillos. Since that kol korei was issued, the major response has been one of silence. Jonathan Pollard constantly questions his visitors regarding the lack of voices from the Torah community. "What happened to the kol korei of a decade ago?" he asks.

Response to the Kol Korei

It may be of no surprise that secular Jews throughout the world have ignored the Pollard story, both on an individual and an organizational basis. In fact, just six days after he received his life sentence, the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations sent a letter dated March 10, 1987 to the United States State Department, promising to never interfere on Pollard's behalf. We have not galvanized and organized ourselves after the issuance of the kol korei in 1993. We should be asking ourselves the question that Jonathan Pollard asks.

In my address at Shalosh Seudos at the recent National Convention of Agudath Israel held in Stamford, CT on Thanksgiving weekend, I posed this question to the esteemed assemblage that included rabbinical leaders, lay people, and hundreds of wonderful Jews. All had the same two reactions: We were not aware of this. To the contrary, what can we do?

What is it about the Pollard issue that prevents people from getting involved? I decided to find out, and I selected ten rabbinical leaders and, with a sense of respect, asked each of them why they hadn't taken any initiatives on the matter. Let me share briefly a sampling of their thoughts, with some comments.

Some felt that every legal option had been pursued, and had failed. With the U.S. Supreme Court confirming the life sentence,[J4JP: the Supreme Court declined to hear the case. It did not confirm the sentence. It ignored it!] it is really a hopeless situation. I offered an insight from the Zohar that says that there was a criticism directed at Avraham Avinu for not continuing to daven for the people of Sodom, even after being told by Hakadosh Baruch Hu that there were not ten righteous people in the city. And even though Avraham understood that according to midas hadin (strict justice), the city was to be destroyed, he should have davened anyway... Even though the legal situation clearly looks hopeless, the Zohar instructs us that we must continue to try.

Several others pointed out that efforts were made, and after so many failures, one becomes fatigued. While that is understandable, Jews should never give up.

When a person loses his energy, his entire perspective and even his way of life suffers... and sometimes, even his entire destiny. This, too, is to be found in the Torah's description of Bnei Yisroel in their battle with Amaleik. It says "ve'atta ayeif veyageia -- and you were tired and fatigued." This implies that if Bnei Yisroel permit an ayeif state to take hold of them, then and only then can Amaleik overtake them. Being tired or even exhausted from previous efforts on Pollard's behalf should not be permitted to take its toll on us. We must redouble our efforts as he begins his twenty-second year in Geihinnom.

And finally, one rav suggested that some people are not aware of Pollard's religious dedication. They judge him by his physical demeanor, such as his long, shoulder-length hair. I shared with him an incident involving the late Satmar Rebbe zt"l

The Rebbe felt greatly indebted to the late Agudah leader, Reb Elimelech Tress l"z, for having saved him from the inferno in Europe. When Mr. Tress passed away, the Satmar Rebbe came to the levaya and also paid a shiva call to his family.

One Chassid remarked to the Rebbe, "Why do you show Mike Tress so much honor when he didn't have a beard?"

The Rebbe replied, "I know that he didn't have a beard, and in the next world they are going to ask him, 'Jew, Jew, where is your beard?' But do you know what they are going to say to you? They will say 'Beard, beard, where is your Jew?'"

Jonathan Pollard has given his freedom, career, health, future and very life for Klal Yisroel and Eretz Yisroel. Who among us, with our finely trimmed hair, can make a similar claim?

Consulting Gedolei Eretz Yisroel

The day after the Agudah Convention, I flew to Eretz Yisroel to present this issue to the senior poseik and Torah authority, Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv shlita, and for his position as to our communal responsibility to focus our efforts on freeing Pollard. I was zocheh to spend a considerable amount of time with Rabbi Elyashiv in his home on Wednesday, November 29th, 2006.

Rabbi Elyashiv showed great interest in the case, and when he heard that I visited with Pollard just a few weeks ago, he questioned me in great detail about his health, state of mind, and level of commitment to mitzvos. He commented that although Pollard is being held captive because he committed a crime, his long and difficult sentence is not in line with his crime. Clearly, at this stage, he is being penalized because he is a Jew. Add to that the long period of his suffering -- now 22 years. It is clearly a chessed gadol -- a great act of compassion -- to do whatever we can do for him.

When I asked if I could quote him that this is indeed a "chessed gadol," he said, "No." He then quickly continued, "What you can say in my name is that it is a 'chessed gadol me'od -- an extremely great act of compassion.'" Rabbi Elyashiv then concluded with a beracha that all who involve themselves in this mitzvah be zocheh to all the berachos of "osei mitzvos." (Rabbi Aryeh Elyashiv shlita, grandson and confidante of the Rav, was present during this conversation.)

Should we initiate a massive letter-writing campaign throughout the community, and in all the yeshivos and Bais Yaakovs, to our senators and congressmen? For this, we turn to the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah (Council of Torah Sages) of Agudath Israel of America for guidance as to the proper course of action. Since this writing, the Moetzes Gedolei Hatorah has met on this matter, and issued the statement that appears on the facing page. [J4JP: See http://www.jonathanpollard.org/2007/020507.jpg ]

One thing is obvious. We must do whatever we can. Not only for the sake of Jonathan Pollard. Klal Yisroel is currently in a very difficult situation. How much do we all need the individual and collective zechus of a mitzvah rabba!

[For more information on the Pollard case, one can visit the website www.jonathanpollard.org, or call the National Council of Young Israel office (212) 929-1525 ext. 115, or e-mail Rabbi Pesach Lerner at plerner@youngisrael.org.]

To assist Jonathan Pollard and enable him to buy the food items he desperately needs from the prison canteen, and enable him to pay for the phone calls he needs to make, etc, etc. contributions can be sent to Young Israel Charities, 111 John Street, suite 450, New York, NY 10038, att: Pollard.

J4JP LEXICON:

Here are the approximate meanings in English of some of the Hebrew words in the above article:

Mitzvah: commandment; an obligatory divinely ordained imperative

Mitzvah Rabba: an exceptionally great mitzvah

(lehavdil elef havdalos): to make clear distinction

Geihinnom: Hell

Pirkei Avos: Ethics of the Fathers

Chazal: Our Sages of Blessed Memory

Chessed: a mitzvah to perform; an act of lovingkindness

Sefarim: religious books; holy books

Gedolim: Sages; Great Leaders

pidyon shevuyim: the mitzvah of redeeming a captive

chizuk: strength and encouragement; moral support

emunah: faith in G-d; belief in G-d

bitachon: trust in G-d; reliance upon G-d

Klal Yisroel: the Jewish People

Yarmulke: Kipa

Tzitzis: ritual fringes

Chillul Shabbat: desecration of the Sabbath

Daven: Pray

Hakadosh Baruch Hu: The Holy One Blessed Be He

Beis Hamidrash: Jewish study hall

Kehillos: communities

To be zocheh to all the berachos of osei mitzvos: to merit all the blessings that accrue to those who perform mitzvos.

Zechus: merit

Contact Justice For Jonathan Pollard by email at justice4jp@gmail.com

To Go To Top

INFILTRATION IN THE IRAQ TRANSLATOR PROGRAM:AN INTELLIGENCE DISASTER!
Posted by Michael Travis, February 22, 2007.
[Editor's Note:

From the Department of Justice
http://newyork.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel07/translator021407.htm

U.S. ARMY TRANSLATOR PLEADS GUILTY TO UNAUTHORIZED POSSESSION OF CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS CONCERNING IRAQI INSURGENCY

BROOKLYN, NY -- A U.S. Army contract translator pleaded guilty today in federal court in Brooklyn to illegally possessing national defense documents. The defendant, whose true name and identity remains unknown, was indicted on March 30, 2006, following an investigation by the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force ("JTTF"). Previously, in November 2005, the defendant was indicted for using a false identity to procure his United States citizenship and to gain access to classified military materials, and he pleaded guilty to those charges on Dec. 20, 2005. When sentenced by United States District Judge Edward R. Korman, the defendant faces a maximum sentence of 60 years of imprisonment on his two convictions.

This article was written by Jerry Gordon, a member of the Board of the American Congress for Truth and its Middle East Affairs analyst.

In the U.S. Eastern District Court in Brooklyn on Valentine's Day a Muslim and naturalized American citizen with five different aliases -- stretching from Mauritania to Morocco to Lebanon -- pled guilty to a charge of illegally possessing classified documents and was sentenced to 13 years, according to a report in the New York Sun. A light sentence for committing espionage and passing classified documents to Iraqi Sunni insurgents during one of his two stints in Iraq. Federal prosecutors allege that he did this when deployed at Al Taqqadam Air Base west of Baghdad in March 2004.

The irony is that his military superiors reportedly gave him high marks for his work with an Intelligence unit in Iraq. Little did they know what he really was doing. He was found out when he applied for a security clearance. He even entered the U.S. back in 1989 under false pretenses seeking 'political asylum.'

The information he passed on may have caused the deaths and injuries of hundreds of U.S. troops and thousands of Iraqi civilians in the horrific Najaf battle in 2004. In his Brooklyn apartment on his home computer was evidence that he was an al Qaeda sympathizer. One example cited in a New York Daily News report was a photo of the second airliner that hit the Twin Towers on 9/11 with the caption " we fly straight to you."

He is a spy who used false documents to become a U.S. citizen, engaged in deep espionage against our government and put our troops in the field at great peril.

This person was recruited originally as a translator for the 82 Airborne in Iraq by a multi-billion dollar U.S. company headquartered in Manhattan, L-3 Communications-Titan Group. Titan has received over several billion in procurements for in country translation services in Iraq for INSCOM-the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command since it began contract translation services in 1999.

In 2005, Titan merged with giant L-3 Communications, a defense contracting firm specializing in global communications, surveillance and intelligence technology. This followed SEC investigations about bribery charges and Army procurement penalties concerning Titan because of the revelations involving translators in the detainees 'controversy' at the infamous Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad. The combined entity continues to be awarded translation services contracts by the Army.

This Brooklyn federal court trial of an al Qaeda translator is just the tip of the iceberg confronting the Pentagon and its contractor Titan concerning Iraqi insurgent infiltration of our military in the field. Thus, wreaking death and destruction on our soldiers and loyal Iraqis.

If you go to L-3 Communications-Titan Group website, you'll see postings of translator positions in Iraq clearly labeled as putting yourself in harm's way. The announcement for qualified linguists interested in assignments in Afghanistan and Iraq states that applicants 'must be willing to live and work in harsh conditions co-located with US Army. ' That's an understatement. According to a report in USA today, one hapless Titan linguist, an Iraqi Kurd was captured and beheaded in October 2004 in a grisly video posted on the internet. Of the more than 665 contractor deaths in the War in Iraq, L-3 Communications -- Titan Group Iraqi translators accounted for nearly one third or 216-fatalities. This is 'deadly duty ' blared the headline of a San Diego Union-Tribune report.

How did we let this counter intelligence debacle occur with such disastrous results? The short answer was Titan's screening program for local personnel in Iraq enabled infiltration through ineffective and unprofessional interrogations. When information gathered by professional counter Intelligence linguist/analysts was presented to U.S. military commanders pointing this out it was sloughed off.

According to informed sources, the late Saddam Hussein and his Intelligence cadres prepared the way. Beginning in 2002 he enlisted Iraqis loyal to him to infiltrate as English speaking operatives into American bastions in the event of a conquest. These operatives were trained to gather intelligence and foment insurgency.

When President Bush gave his stirring graduation speech at West Point in June 2002 in the run up to the Iraq War, Saddam Hussein allegedly ordered an accelerated English language training program for 'qualified' members of his intelligence and Ba'athist cadres to become 'lay behind assets' in the event of an American invasion and conquest. The purpose was to infiltrate the unwary American military forces and bore from within by providing intelligence and targeting for insurgents. As one of my sources said; 'pretty wily, but effective strategy.'

To find out how this incredulous lapse in counter-intelligence occurred, I spoke with qualified sources who conducted screenings of Iraqi personnel at Camp Falcon in South Baghdad. The sources were former military intelligence specialists and linguists working under separate contractual arrangements.

In the aftermath of the conquest of Baghdad in April 2003, local U.S. military intelligence personnel were approached by English speaking Iraqis offering to be of 'assistance.' In May of 2003, the first of a series of contracts with Titan were issued to procure U.S. law enforcement trained personnel to assist military commanders at Camp Falcon in screening local employees.

According to these sources, the Titan Local Employment Personnel screenings resulted in a rejection rate of less than 8 per 5,000 persons. That contrasted with a rejection rate of former Military Intelligence specialists and linguists of one-third (33%). Camp Falcon was heavily infiltrated by Hussein's lay behind assets and the information they provided to insurgents resulted in the deaths of several hundred Iraqis and U.S. personnel.

The sources indicated that they passed the counter intelligence information up the line from the Camp Falcon to CENTCOMM intelligence, only to receive little or no response. One of the other U.S. contractors, Kellogg Brown Root, found the procedures and information helpful and implemented more effective screening filtering out suspected insurgents and sympathizers.

These Sources indicated that after they left Iraq, 'the situation worsened.'

The media was pre-occupied by the alleged abuses in the Abu Ghraib Prison and litigation by Iraqi detainees against defense contractors like Titan and CACI. No attention has been paid to how insurgents infiltrated Camp Falcon and the defective screening procedures put in place by Titan.

For this our taxpayers paid the convicted al Qaeda sympathizer who pled guilty in the Brooklyn Eastern Federal District Court over $100,000 as a translator. Meanwhile billions went to Titan for ineffective translator services resulting in the deaths of potentially hundreds of Americans and thousands of innocent Iraqis.

This is a dimension of the "translator scandal" that needs Congressional scrutiny and a quick fix on the Pentagon's procurement pipeline for required translators in Iraq and elsewhere. Otherwise, as my sources said, "it will get worse.'

Contact Michael Travis at michaelmgr@gmail.com

To Go To Top

OPERATION PRAYER SHIELD AND DAYS OF PRAYER AND ACTION
Posted by AFSI, February 22, 2007.

AFSI announces the launching of 'Operation Prayer Shield' and 'Days of Prayer and Action' to unite Jews and Christians in support of the threatened communities of Judea and Samaria and the preservation of the biblical sites. Please read the material below and join us in this effort by forwarding this information and signing on your church or synagogue.


Operation Prayer Shield

Operation Prayer Shield has been initiated to gather an army of Jews and Christians together for the purpose of praying about the Biblical and Political developments surrounding Judea and Samaria.

Judea and Samaria is the biblical heartland of Israel. It houses more than 200,000 Jewish people and is known in the scriptures as "The Mountains of Israel."

Governments inclusive of the United States, Britain, European Union, United Nations, and surrounding Arab Nations are working feverishly toward a plan that will territorially remove Judea and Samaria from Israel and place it in the hands of the European Union Peace Keeping Force until it becomes the Palestinian homeland.

The plan not only mandates the removal of all the Jewish communities from Judea and Samaria, but it also places all Biblical Holy Sites under Islamic control. To date Islam is claiming all the Biblical sites as their own and rewriting the history of each one.

Today, within the boundaries of the ancient landmarks are thriving communities resurrected by G-d Himself as a continuing living testimony that His WORD is infallible. Ezekiel 36 among hundreds of passages states that G-d will bring His people back to the Land given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and that He will settle them in Judea and Samaria never to be plucked up again.

As bible believing Christians and Jews how can we get involved in sanctifying G-d's Name and His testimony existent in the land of Israel and throughout the earth?

We can pray. Join with us for Operation Israel Prayer Shield. We will provide your congregation with a monthly information page on each Biblical Site and the thriving community at each site today. We will also provide an article and prayer points that can be shared by the pastor or appointed leader to engage the congregation in prayer for Israel.

Days of Prayer and Calls to Action in Support of Israel's Biblical Heartland

President Bush's State of the Union Speech was a reaffirmation of the administration's misguided "Road Map" policy for "Peace in the Middle East."

The policy requires that Israel relinquish Judea and Samaria -- the so-called West Bank -- to the Arabs for the establishment of a PLO state.

It would appear that the U.S. State Department is encouraged to revive the "Road Map" -- knowing that they are dealing with the weakest government ever to lead the Jewish State.

Military experts over the last several decades have recognized that Israel would find it nearly impossible to survive if an enemy were to occupy the mountain areas of Judea and Samaria.

For the Bible-believing community, the "Road Map" is unacceptable for reasons that transcend strategic interests.

The names and places so familiar to students of scripture are the names and places of Judea and Samaria.

Those communities include but are not limited to:

Hebron Genesis 21:1,2
Kiryat Arba Genesis 21:1,2
Maon Samuel I 25:2
Carmel Samuel I 25:2
Bethlehem Samuel I 16:1
Efrat Genesis 35:16
Beth El Genesis 35:16 Samuel I 16:1
Shilo Samuel I 1:3
Elon Moreh Genesis 12: 5, 6

PRAYER AND ACTION

AFSI is proposing a series of Days of Prayer and Calls to Action in support of the threatened communities in Israel's Biblical Heartland.

All of the communities in the Biblical Heartland are threatened with expulsion and destruction as we saw in Gush Katif.

'Land for Peace' (as embodied in the U.S. plan called the 'Road Map') is a real threat.

It is our hope that the collective prayers of Israel's friends will be answered and the message of Christian concern these days exhibit will favorably influence decision makers in Washington.

If we are successful, the United States can play a vital role in saving the Biblical Heartland from the spreading threat of Islamo-fascism.

We look forward to seeing the calls to action spread across the country from church to church, raising a loud voice of support for the Biblical Heartland of Israel.

Americans For a Safe Israel/AFSI is a pro-active pro-Israel advocacy group. AFSI may be contacted by mail at 1623 Third Ave., Suite 205, New York, N.Y. 10128 (Tel: 212-828-2424; Fax: 212-828-1717); by email at afsi@rcn.com; or by accessing its website: www.afsi.org. Barry Freedman is Executive Director.

To Go To Top

OFFICIAL ANTISEMITISM ERUPTS IN VENEZUELA
Posted by Boris Celser, February 22, 2007.

This article was written by Karl Pfeifer and appeared in Engage Online
(www.engageonline.org.uk/blog/article.php?id=898).

It was posted on Engage Online by David Hirsh. A number of images from Sammy Eppel's presentation are available online at
http://www.emailpresenter.com/Viewer/Viewer4.asp?p=/ viewer/presentations/20061123/634348139/pres.swf&MsgID= 1864581&TRK=1&pn=antisemitism%20dossier%20WO%20videos It is well worth a look. Just click on the images for the slide-show to progress.

Armed police raided the Jewish elementary and high school at the Jewish Cultural Centre in Caracas on 29 November 2004 implementing a court order that alleged that materials of a criminal nature, such as electronic equipment, arms and explosive devices were concealed in the building.

The swoop started at 6.30 am, when school buses and parents had already started to bringing children to the school, but, after rooting through the building for three hours, the police left having found zilch. The court order, it has since been revealed, had been issued three days earlier but the police waited until Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, arrived in Teheran for a state visit to Iran.

That was two years ago, but things have only got worse in the intervening period. Indeed, since election of the left-wing populist Chavez in 1998, Venezuela has witnessed a proliferation of virulently anti-Israel and anti-Zionist propaganda, frequently entwined with nakedly anti-Jewish slogans.

The Jewish population in Venezuela numbers only around 25,000 out of a total population of close to twenty-seven million. So, why does the official media of a government that claims to be socialist, devote its energy to poisonous attacks on a very small Jewish community?

One possible explanation given is the fact, that one of Chavez's important early advisers and political mentors was a -- now deceased -- Argentine Holocaust denier called Norberto Ceresole, a friend of the French fascist Robert Faurisson and the French ex-Communist Roger Garaudy who converted to Islam and also took up Holocaust denial. Ceresole strongly believed that Latin America must forge alliances with Arab nations to fight the United States and what he called "the Jewish financial mafia."

The tendencies towards distortion of the Holocaust might, further, be explained partly against the background of the increasingly close relationship between oil-rich Venezuela and Iran and other Muslim countries. As such, this kind of nonsense has been incorporated into the Chavez government's anti-imperialist rhetoric with Israel is viewed as a key factor in US politics and, thus, an enemy of the 'anti-imperialist revolution'.

Antisemitic ranting is not confined to government circles but is spread throughout the mass media. For example, in the Diario VEA newspaper, as recently as 20 September, the hardcore antisemite Basem Tajeldine raved: "The Holocaust perpetrated by the Nazis was directed to eliminate the social basis of Judaism that believed in assimilation with the Europeans, the low class majority of Jews ... The ideological affinity and the great ties of collaboration that existed between German Zionism and Nazism is undeniable ... Sionazis is the most appropriate term to catalogue (sic) the organisation of the political capitalist Jewish elite of Israel that is responsible for the present Holocaust of the Arab people".

Similarly in El Diario de Caracas earlier this year, Tarek Muci Nasir claims that "The only resource they [the Jews -- Editor] have left to stay united, is to cause wars and self- genocide," Nasir goes on to urge that his readers "pay attention to the behaviour of the Israelite-Zionist associations, unions and federations that conspire in Venezuela to seize our finances, industries, commerce, construction, even infiltrating public positions and politics" and warns that "Possibly it will again be necessary to expel them from the country, like other nations have done before... this is the reason why the Jews are always in a continuous stateless exodus and thus in the year 1948 they invaded Palestine."

Commenting on the September visit to Caracas by Iranian's fanatic president Ahmadinejad, Freddy Pressner, head of the Confederation of Jewish Associations of Venezuela, expressed "outrage", citing the Iranian leader's open denial of the Holocaust and his statements about erasing Israel from the face of planet. Chavez's bloc with Iran is making Venezuelan Jews worry about their own security for the first time.

Sammy Eppel, a Caracas-based columnist, addressed the deepening antisemitism in Venezuela in his presentation at a recent conference, in Budapest, of the Tel Aviv University-based Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and Racism. In his lecture, he revealed that he had found no fewer than 195 examples of antisemitic content in the official and pro-government media in a 65-day period ending on 31 August 2006.

Among slides shown by Eppel was one depicting the front page of a government publication called Docencia (Teaching) which denounced the "Jewish killers" perpetrating the war in the Lebanon and which conflates the Star of David with the Nazi swastika, Eppel pointed out that, until a few years ago, "there were hardly any antisemitic articles" in the Venezuelan media and that "the government has adopted an antisemitic policy."

At meetings between Jewish community leaders and top-level government officials, including Chavez himself, the government, according to Pressner, has bleated that its hands are tied, saying, "We'll do what we can, but we can't deny people freedom of speech."

The antisemitism evident even in the political cartoons published in government-owned newspapers is now finding explosive expression at street level. For example, antisemitic slogans, bearing the "signature" of the Venezuelan Communist Party and its youth organisation, have even been sprayed on the walls of the Jewish Cultural Centre in Caracas in broad daylight. The perpetrators were filmed on CCTV but when a complaint was lodged with the police and interior ministry nothing happened.

It is clear beyond any question that under Chavez's leadership, Venezuela is experiencing a disturbing rise in antisemitism, fostered in large part by Chavez's own rhetoric and that of governmental institutions. The relentless and baseless attacks on the Jewish community are now putting it at great risk.

Contact Boris Celser by email at celser@telusplanet.net

To Go To Top

PALESTINE IS A LIE
Posted by UCI, February 21, 2007.

This was written by Gary Cooperberg, who runs Project Shofar. Contact him at gary@projectshofar.org>

Goebels, the Nazi master of propaganda, discovered how easy it is to manipulate public opinion. If you tell a lie, no matter how preposterous, repeatedly and with much publicity, eventually people will accept it as truth. The Arabs exploited this concept very successfully vis a vis the alleged "palestinian" people. They created a total fiction, they taught it to their children and they repeatedly announced it to the world as if it were true. Today one is hard put to find anyone who would deny that this fabrication is the absolute truth. One neednt be an historian to know that the so-called "palestinian" people were created in 1964 for the purpose of making

Arabs appear to victims of Israeli aggression and thus to build a framework to replace Jewish Israel with a new Arab Palestine.

In this weeks online Jerusalem Post we can find a subtle but dangerous implication of this recognition of falsehood in their latest reader poll. The two choices we are given are as follows: Israel should negotiate first with: Saudis, "moderate" Arab states; or Palestinians.

The unwritten premise is that we have no choice but to negotiate with both entities. It is interesting to note the quotes around the word "moderate" (which imply that even they realize that there is no such thing), and it makes you wonder why they are missing around the word "Palestinians" (the lack of which implies that they do believe in its legitimacy). It is bad enough that we have enemies who seek our destruction, but it is far worse that we have a government and a so-called free press which lends credence to the claims of our would-be annihilators.

When was the last time a Knesset Member suggested that there is no legitimate "Palestinian" entity? How is it that the President of the United States can dictate to us that we have an obligation to create yet another Arab enemy state on Jewish soil and our leaders find merit in the suggestion? Where are the protests? The silence is deafening. It seems that we are so overwhelmed by the successful "big lie" campaign, that almost no one is willing to stand up and counter that lie with Truth! How can we hope to win the war being waged against us when we refuse to accept the fact that we are, indeed, at war? We have deluded ourselves into believing that we are engaged in a "peace" process. But this is just not true. The only time nations engage in a peace process is after a war is won. The only reason the Arabs are willing to participate is because they think that they have won and are now trying to dictate the terms of our surrender. We can only have a real peace process after we decisively win the war. And you can be sure that were the Arabs to really win the war there certainly would not be any peace process.

The fact that this country still exists serves as indisputable proof that G-d is constantly watching over us. Our errors bring us terrorism and suffering, but the state, as a whole continues to grow in spite of us. Would we just take the time to notice this fact we could end the suffering immediately and hasten redemption. Peace will not be found in Washington nor in Ramallah. It will be found in Jerusalem once we have leaders who are no longer ashamed to stand up as Jews, and who fear G-d more than our enemies and so-called powerful friends.

The Unity Coalition for Israel (UCI) (http://www.israelunitycoalition.org) is "the largest worldwide coalition of Jewish and Christian organizations, with more than 200 groups representing millions of people dedicated to Israel. Though we have many different backgrounds, we have one common goal: A Safe and Secure Israel."

"Israel is not just a Jewish issue. Millions of Christians resolutely endorse the principle of peace with security for the state of Israel. Because we work closely together and speak with a united voice, our message is being heard!"

To Go To Top

E.U. EGGS ON BEDOUIN LAND GRAB; HISTORICAL OPPORTUNITY ISRAEL MISSING
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, February 21, 2007.
BEDOUIN LAND GRAB IN NEGEV & HEBRON HILLS

Arabs have developed a formula for stealing land in the southern Hebron Hills. They dwell temporarily in caves next to Jewish communities. Then they trespass, in order to attract opposition. Left wing activists "photograph violence and alleged Jewish vandalism, often staged by the Arabs."

Israeli and foreign news agencies report as planned. They portray the Bedouins as "trying to live on their homeland which Jews have taken over." "The media do not question the source of vandalism, despite photographic proof that the Arabs have" damaged farms.

Reuters reports sympathetically about one Bedouin family as having "settled in the area more than 100 years ago." "History shows that Arabs never held title to the land. During the Ottoman Empire, a local historical expert said, the leading families of the Hebron suburb of Yatta sat among themselves and divided up the lands arbitrarily. Virtually no one ever worked the land until Jews began developing the area in the early 1980s."

"The Jewish National Fund operates the nearby Yatir forest and requires the Arabs to take all of the fallen branches..." Reuters reported the requirement as unjust. It omitted the reason. The reason is to prevent the Bedouin from setting fire to the fallen branches, as they often did.

The Bedouin inhabit the caves only "for about three months during the year when they herd their sheep in the area. 'They never built in the area..." The Jews did. "The Reuters feature described the Arabs sleeping on floors while residents in the nearby community of Shani 'live in red roof-topped homes, some with backyard swimming pools.' However, there is only one community pool in the town and no others exist."

"Moreover, it is customary for Bedouins to sleep on thick mats stuffed with wool from their sheep. Many Bedouins who have in recent years moved into houses still maintain the tradition, especially those of the previous generation." Again, hardship is implied but non-existent.

"Financed by the EU, the Palestinian Authority (PA) has paid many Arabs and Bedouins to move from the Hebron area and occupy the land. One of the favorite methods of the Arabs to attract sympathy is to trespass on Jewish communities on the Sabbath, when Jews are not allowed to travel, or cross the land during the week on the premise that it is a short cut to school. They have used this method next to the community of the Maon Farm, attracting confrontations photographed by activists of the International Solidarity Movement, who often escort them."

"However, one security officer said he received rabbinical permission to travel on the Sabbath and photograph trespassing and vandalism by Arabs. The rabbis decreed that allowing the Arab actions without an immediate response threatens the existence of the communities and lives of the residents." (Arutz-7, 1/25.)

P.A. RESUMES PAYING SALARIES

The P.A. Finance Minister says that he has resumed paying P.A. employees (IMRA, 2/14).

Half the employees are terrorist police. Many of the rest indoctrinate in terrorism. He should thank Israel for resuming its relaying of excise taxes to the P.A. and for not guarding the Gaza border through which Hamas smuggles millions of dollars. He also should thank the US for continuing to finance the P.A., contending that it is helping one faction against another, though both factions have the same goals and similar means, and helping one enables the other to call it a collaborator. What would jihad do without Western complicity in its own demise?

HISTORICAL OPPORTUNITY ISRAEL MISSING

The whole world is being treated to the Palestinian Arabs' inability to run their own affairs (they just fight and beg). Plainly they don't deserve statehood. By disgracing themselves, they present Israel with an historic opportunity to destroy the "two-state solution," because it is not a solution. Letting the P.A. Arabs rule themselves means war and chaos. Hamas was thought to offer an opportunity to at least produce an honest, efficient, viable regime, but it concentrates on war. Giving terrorists territorial control facilitates war, says Ephraim Inbar.

So far, so good. Then Mr. Inbar, of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, suggests a remedy that is even worse. After pointing out that foreign rule over those Arabs is not good, he suggests foreign rule. To him it is not foreign, because they would be fellow Muslim Arabs -- Egyptians and Jordanians. He claims that they did a good job of running Gaza and Judea-Samaria, before.

Dr. Aaron Lerner finds the remedy a descent into unreality, after a realistic analysis. First, Egypt lets arms flow into Gaza, to be used against Israel. Second, letting the armies of Egypt and Jordan come so close to Israel, even if their governments were decent now, would be foolish, because they could become Islamist any time (IMRA, 1/28).

No, they did not do a good job of running Yesha. Egypt kept the Gazans unemployed, except for terrorist gangs it let loose upon Israel, until Israel had to wage the Sinai War in 1957. Jordan kept the Arabs of Judea-Samaria poor, it destroyed the captured synagogues, and its snipers fired upon Jews in the new city of Jerusalem. Both Arab governments did not promote self-rule nor visions of peace.

Mr. Lerner worries about Islamists taking over Egypt and Jordan, a prospect that should prompt the US to stop arming Egypt. But he also should remember what enemies Israel's neighbors were before the rise of Islamism. Islamism is worse, but Islam is hostile enough!

Lerner suggests that Israel resume its supervision of the Palestinian Autonomy. He has the secularist-type of solution, which is purely security-minded. Like Inbar he would hold those territories of Yesha, with their secure borders, Jewish religious and historical patrimony, and Israeli legal entitlement to them, in custody for the Arabs. In the end, it is inadequate for security and unjust.

I think that Israel should annex the vacant parts of Yesha and with malign neglect, encourage the Muslims to move away from Yesha and from Israel. Then Israel would have secure borders, declining terrorism, and, after a barrage of foreign criticism, respect. The trick is how to get Israelis to overcome their appeasement-mindedness and to learn how to present a Zionist case.

Richard Shulman is a veteran defender of Israel on several web-based forums. His comments and analyses appear often on Think-Israel. He provides cool information and right-on-target overviews. He distributes his essays by email. To subscribe, write him at richardshulman5@verizon.net

To Go To Top

CONGRESSIONAL RESOLUTION RE JEWISH REFUGEES FROM ARAB COUNTRIES
Posted by David Meir-Levi, February 21, 2007.

Quite a break-through.

This is an precedented act by Congress to declare the rights of Jewish refugess expelled from Arab lands, a population that has been long ignored. Hopefully it will be not only in America that such recognition and equality will occur!

david ml

PRESS RELEASE

Landmark Resolutions Introduced in the US Senate and House of Representatives
Recognizing Rights for Jews from Arab Countries as Middle East Refugees

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Stanley A. Urman, 917-606-8262 or 973-669-9788
(World Organization of Jews from Arab Countries: Justice for Jews from Arab Countries)

WASHINGTON, DC (February 20, 2007) -- Rarely is any consensus reached on final status issues in the Middle East peace process. Yet, remarkably, US Congressional leaders have agreed on the rights of Jewish refugees displaced from Arab countries.

In a rare display of bi-partisanship, four Senators and four Congressmen, representing both political parties, have introduced landmark Resolutions on Middle East refugees that call attention to the fact that Jews living in Arab countries suffered human rights violations, were uprooted from their homes, and were made refugees. These Resolutions signify that "it would be inappropriate and unjust for the United States to recognize rights for Palestinian refugees without recognizing equal rights for former Jewish, Christian, and other refugees from Arab countries."

On February 16, 2007, formal bicameral resolutions were introduced in the Senate (S.Res 85) and in the House (H.Res 185). These far-reaching Resolutions seek to ensure that all victims of the Arab-Israeli conflict are treated with equality, including Jewish, Christian and other refugees from countries in the Middle East, North Africa and the Persian Gulf. Concretely, the Resolutions urge the President to ensure that in all international forums, when the issue of 'Middle East refugees are discussed, representatives of the United States should ensure: "That any explicit reference to Palestinian refugees is matched by a similar explicit reference to Jewish and other refugees, as a matter of law and equity."

This bi-partisan effort is being spearheaded in the House of Representatives by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) along with Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL); Rep. Michael Ferguson (R-NJ); and Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-NY). In the Senate, sponsors are Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ); Trent Lott (R-MS); Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN); and Sen. Richard Durbin. The Resolutions will be the strongest declarations adopted by the U.S. Congress, on the rights of Jewish and others refugees that were forced to flee Arab countries.

"When the Middle East peace process is discussed, Palestinian refugees are often addressed. However, Jewish refugees outnumbered Palestinian refugees, and their forced exile from Arab lands must not be omitted from public discussion on the peace process. It is simply not right to recognize the rights of Palestinian refugees without recognizing the rights of Jewish refugees," said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY).

"There can be no true and lasting peace in the Middle East unless the legitimate claims of all refugees displaced by the years of conflict are recognized by the international community," said Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN). "Large numbers of both Arabs and Jews have been forced to flee their countries and it is only right and equitable that the President acknowledge and include Jewish and other refugees in any discussion of Palestinian refugees in pursuing this issue in the international arena."

"It would be constitute an injustice were the United States to recognize rights for one victim population -- Palestinian refugees -- without recognizing equal rights former Jewish refugees from Arab countries " said Stanley Urman, Executive Director of Justice for Jews from Arab Countries. "Both were victims of the very same Middle East conflict and the rights of Jewish refugees must be addressed."

Additional information and materials can be found at: www.justiceforjews.com
Justice for Jews from Arab Countries
Contact Mr. Shelomo Alfassa
JJAC c/o CJH 15 West 16th St. (6th FL.)
New York NY 10011

David Meir-Levi is an American-born Israeli, currently living in Palo Alto. His expertise is in Near Eastern studies and the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. He is Director of Peace and Education at Israel Peace Initiative (www.ipi-usa.org). Contact him at david_meirlevi@hotmail.com

To Go To Top

A HEARTFELT PLEA FROM YAD ELIEZER
Posted by Yad Eliezer, February 21, 2007.

Israel's neediest people are waiting for Purim.

On Purim, it is a special mitzvah to give gifts of money to the poor.

This year, fulfill the mitzvah at its highest level.

Give directly to needy Jews in Israel.

100 percent of money given through Yad Eliezer will be distributed directly.

Last year, Yad Eliezer distributed $220,000 on Purim day.

This year, you too can be a part.

To give Matanot La'evyonim to Israel's most needy Jews, go to:
http://www.yadeliezer.org/site/special.php?id=14

To Go To Top

ONE-SIDED BIGOTRY IN RECENT PC(USA) CHURCH DOCUMENTS -- QUINTESSENTIAL JEW-HATRED
Posted by David Meir-Levi, February 21, 2007.

Dear Christian leaders,

The PC(USA)'s highest levels of leadership continue to villify and demonize Israel, even though their rank and file rejected divestment last year.

The ways and means of this villification are described in the CAMERA article below.

The simplest, most obvious, and most undeniable proof that the PC(USA) docuemnt is a bigotted villification of Israel, rather than an honest attempt at peace making, is the glaringly one-sided and misleading nature of the PC(USA) literature's treatment of the Israel-Arab conflict:

"...calling for the U.S. government to block weapons sales to Israel..." without mentioning that Israel needs these weapons in order to protect itself from an endless, relentless, brutal terror war that Palestinian terrorists have waged against it since Arafat signed the Oslo PEACE accords in 1993...that's one-sided, bigotted, and misleading.

"...asking U.S. officials to make sure U.S. tax dollars are not used to build a security barrier..." without mentioning that this security barrier was built to stop the terror attacks, and has successfully done so (and note too that before the terror war there was no barrier, and the barrier could be removed if the Palesetinian leadership stopped the terror war)...that's one-sided, bigotted, and misleading.

Offering some "...sparse, condemnations of suicide bombings, but... (without describing the)...incitement on Palestinian television, or the manifold expressions of the Blood Libel (which seems to have gotten a lot more traction in the Middle East than the Gospel)..." and thus giving the impression that the cause of the violence is Israel's putative intransigence (see footnote)... that's one-sided and bigotted and misleading.

Presenting such a detailed condemnation of Israel's restrained and defensive use of force without "... documenting and condemning the immensely greater and sustained terrorist violence against Israel with the same vigor that it has condemned Israeli use of force..." is tantamount to denying that Israel has a right to defend itself.

To deny Israel the basic, universal, and self-evident right of any nation to use force in restrained self-defense against barbaric terrorism is not just one-sided and misleading...it is a quintessential expression of Jew-hatred.

The history of the last 70 years is perfectly clear, and irrefutable. The UK, the UN, the USA and Israel have between them made at least fifteen offers of peace and statehood to Palestinian leaders, and Israel has had each one rebuffed with violence and terrorism and mass murder and war.

"The prophetic voices of...[PC(USA)]...institutions are typically triggered by Israeli use of (defensive) force -- and not (by) the Palestinian violence that preceded it, the animosity that motivated it, or the support it receives from other countries in the region."

These are not "prophetic voices". These are the voices of leaders who are possessed by a Jew-hatred so strong that it warps the minds of those whom it possesses.

In word and deed, since 1936, Arab leadership has been excruciatingly clear: "Kill Jews wherever you find them, kill them with your teeth if you must, because killing Jews pleases Allah'..."Palestine must be from the river to the sea"..."there is no room for a Jewish state in Muslim lands"..."we will destroy Israel even if we must do it one Jew at a time"..."we are not fighting Israel because we want something from it, we are fighting Israel because we want to destroy it"..."it is good that Israel exists, since with all the Jews in one place it is easier to destroy them".

And their deeds have matched their words.

With all of its concern for human rights and the well-being of innocents, the PC(USA) report studiously ignores the obvious massive denial of Israel's human rights by the culture of hatred, the diatribe of genocide, the rhetoric of annihilation and the commitment to endless relentless violence nurtured in Arab populations against Jews and against Israel.

In its reports, the PC(USA) turns a blind eye to the 28,000 Palestinian terror attacks, mostly against unarmed innocent Israeli civilians, since 1994, and to the consequent 1,800 Israeli dead and almost 7,000 injured or maimed for life. And it turns a blind eye as well to the ineluctible conclusion that had Arafat been willing to build his state alongside of Israel, there would today be a thriving and viable Palestinian state in most or all of the West Bank and Gaza strip.

The PC(USA) seems to conveniently ''forget'' that Israel too has human rights:

Israel's human right to exist,

an Israeli's human right to get on a bus without worrying about being blown up or burned alive,

a Jewish mother's human right to hold her 10-month-old baby in her arms without worrying that a psychotic child-murdering Palestinian terrorist sniper ensconced in an Arab apartment half-a-mile away will blow the chlid's head off even as her mother holds her in her arms,

a Jewish family's human right to drive a car along a country road and not have a Palestinian mass murderer throw a fire bomb in to it, burning alive a two-year-old child in the back seat as the helpless mother screams in horror.

Terrorism is eviil. Genocide is evil. Mass murder is evil. Nurturing hatred against innocents is evil.

The PC(USA)'s convenient 'forgetfulness' is complicity with that evil.

Complicity with evil is evil.

Is there no one among you who will stand up and speak out against this evil?

FOOTNOTE

Some have asked the question: "Why Israel does not just end the 'occupation'" and "give back the West Bank" so that the Palestinians will be happy, the Arab world will be assuaged, and the Middle East will know peace.

This is a valid and rational question, when it is asked in good faith, by those ignorant of the obvious and clearly documented history of the conflilct.

Below are the reasons why Israel does not do a re-run in the West Bank of its unilateral and unconditional ceding of Gaza.

1. Arab violence against Jews in Israel predates the creation of the state of Israel by many decades.

2. Even though Jews bought land at fair prices from willing ARAB MUSLIM PALESTINIAN land owners, Jewish ownership of land in Israel prompted riots and attacks and pogroms and violence against Jews, including innocent Jews who had no connection to those who bought the land

3. In 1929, the Hajj Amin el-Hussieni, Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, spiritual leader of Muslims in British Mandatory Palestine, was alraedy proclaiming the need to wipe out the Jews of Palestine, even though they had no sovereignty, no state, had stolen no land, had evicted no Palestinians...and his rantings brought about the 1929 riots that killed hundreds of Jews and destroyed the Jewish community of Hebron. The Hajj also collaborated with Hitler, and urged him on to the "final solution" in Europe and then, the Hajj hoped, in "Palestine" as well.

4. The partition plan of 1937 offered a Palestinian state on 85% of the land, and the Jewish state on only 15%...but even that little unwieldy and unviable Jewish state was more than the Arab leadership could tolerate...so they went to war (great Arab revolt: 1937-1939), and were soundly defeated by the British (the Jews had no army at that time).

5. Same re the UN partition plan (11/29/1947)...the Arabs went to war with the explicit intent to not just define borders between the two states (UN partition plan created an Arab state and a Jewish state), but rather to utterly destroy the Jewish state and genocide its Jews. Numerous Arab speeches and sermons in Palestinian mosques and newspaper editorials in Egypt and Syria and Iraq...all said so.

6. In 1953 the el-Fatah terror organization was founded by Arafat and some friends, in Kuwait. They sought to 'liberate' Palestine. The only 'Palestine' that they were talking about was Israel in its pre-67 borders established at the 1949 armistice plan. For them, occupied Palestine was all of pre-67 Israel.

7. Same in 1964 -- three years before 1967 and six day war, the PLO was founded by Egypt and the USSR, with the clearly stated intention to 'liberate' all of 'occupied Palestine'...so the Arab terrorist leaders were still talking about downtown israel, before there was ever any Israeli sovereignty over the west bank or Gaza strip.

8. Section 24 of the PLO charter, in 1964, specifically stated that the PLO had no claim to the west bank or Gaza strip...those were not part of occupied Palestine...those were areas under legitimate (per the PLO) Muslim rule (Jordan and Egypt). Yet, in 1967, after the 6 day war, this section 24 was altered so that the PLO did claim that it planned to liberate those areas too...now that they were under Jewish sovereignty.

9. Israel offered to return conquered territory after the 6 day war, in exchange for peace. All Arab states and the PLO said "NO". There was never any intention on the part of any Arab leaders to create a Palestine in the west bank and Gaza strip alongside of Israel. The plan was always: from the river to the sea...instead of Israel.

10. many Arab leaders, Arafat, Abbas, Qure'ia, Faisal Husseini, Sari Nusseibeh, have said to the west that they want peace and a two-state solution; but in Arabic to their own they are very clear that the 'two state solution' is only a phase, a stage, a stepping stone to the 'final solution' of Palestine from the river to the sea, Judenrein.

This "phased plan" was formally developed and approved by the Palestinian National Council in 1976, and has never been rescinded.

Even when locked up in his muqat'a in April, 2002 during operation ''defensive shield'' when israel RE-occupied the west bank, Arafat made speeches in which he adjured the Arab world to come to his aid so that he could finish the job of destroying israel and annihilating its Jews.

PNC member Zahir Muhse'in told the world the truth in March, 1977 in an interview with "Trouw" (Dutch = truth), an Amsterdam-based magazine, when he explained that there is no such thing as a Palestinian, or a Palestinian state, or a Palestine. The whole idea of Palestinian identity, history, homeland, etc. is all a recent fabrication, a ruse to justify the terror war, punctuated with full scale wars, that are all intended to destroy Israel...all of Israel.

11. Many Arab leaders, inter alia Akhmed Yassin, Abdul Aziz Rantisi, Khaled Mesha'al, Isma'il Haniyeh, have been completely clear and unequivocal...there can be no Jewish sovereignty on Arab land. "The state of Israel will be destroyed even if we must do it one Jew at a time". There will be no end to the resistance until Israel is destroyed.

Arafat made it clearest of all in his pre-taped TV interview that was aired in Jordan on the very day that he signed the Oslo accords..."don't worry; I am not giving up the dream. The Oslo accords are merely a stepping stone, a way to achieve our phased plan of getting whatever state we can, and then using it as a stepping stone, a launching pad, for the final great jihad against Israel. "

12. Hamas makes it even clearer: every Jew, not just in Israel, but in the entire world, must be destroyed, in accordance with the Hadith of the tree and the stone (see the Hamas Covenant, Prologue, Introduction, and sections 7 and 32).

Hamas has refused to alter its Covenant. PLO leaders have agreed to alter the PLO charter's sections that express the commitment to destroy Israel, but they have not done so.

13. Today, after almost 14 years of an endless relentless terror war that began a few days after Arafat signed the Oslo PEACE Accords, terror attacks still occur daily.

Even though Israel has:

offered to exchange land for peace (and in fact has done that with Egypt in 1979 and with Jordan in 1994),

and has made the peace gesture of evacuating the entire Gaza Strip and leaving it "Judenrein" for the Palestinians (who promptly turned it in to a terrorist haven and stock-piled it with weapons of terror and war, and use it to launch rockets daily against israel),

and voted in to power a party (Kadima) which declared its readiness to make more concessions of territory on the West Bank, in the context of binding peace agreements

and dismantled four West Bank settlements as a gesture of that readiness...

...Arab leaders still wage an incessant propaganda war against israel, lying about Jewish connections to the holy land, lying about the Holocaust (Holocaust denial), and creating fake atrocities (Pallywood, Hezbollywood, the fake intifadas, the ramp Intifada), in order to stoke anti-israel sentiment.

...and Hamas and Islamic Jihad and the el-Aqsa martyrs brigade and a dozen other terror groups continue to fire Qassam rockets on a daily basis, and launch suicide bombers and truck bombs and road side bombs and sniper attacks...even as Israel offers to cede more land.

14. Palestinian schools, like many Arab schools throughout the Middle East, teach children from pre-schoolers to high-schoolers that they must hate Israel, hate Jews, hate non-Moslems. Teaching children to hate is child abuse. The Arab governments have raised child abuse to the level of public policy.

15. Israel evacuated Lebanon in May, 2000. But rather than stop its terrorism, Hezbollah continued to bomb Israeli cities and military emplacements, and initiated a sudden and unexpected war in July 2006. The fact that Israel was no longer occupying even one inch of Lebanon did not still the Hezbollah psychotic Jew-hatred and commitment to kill Jews.

16. Even after the recent Mecca accords, reached in mid-February in Mecca, brokered by king Abdullah of Arabia, which Abbas presents to the west as a 'fait accomplis"...''we have reached this agreement and the west must accept it''...Hamas leaders still insist that they will never recognize israel, never stop the terrorism, never make peace...and never desist from their commitment to utterly destroy israel and genocide all of the world's Jews.

17. When pressed by westerners (political or media representatives), Hamas leaders have conceded that maybe they could be coaxed in to a 10-year truce...but after that, back to "business as usual".

Given all of the above, it would be suicidal for Israel to assume that if it did a rerun of the Gaza strip evacuation, and retreated with all of its 250,000 Jewish citizens from the West Bank to the 1949 armistice lines, that then suddenly the Arab world would turn peaceful.

Instead, given the:

125 years of Arab violence against Zionists and Israelis,

the endless terror war since the days of the hajj,

the 10 high intensity or low intensity wars waged against israel (1937, 1947, 1956, 1967, war of attrition, 1973, 1982, 1987, 1994, 2000), including the two intifadas and the threat of a new one related to the mughrabi gate,

the endless incitement to hatred in the schools, mosques, media, and government pronouncements and the endlessly repeated diatribe of hatred and rhetoric of annihilation that has characterized Palestinian politics for the last almost 80 years,

israel demands deeds rather than words. SO...

...when a Palestinian government:

runs its territories by rule of law, with financial transparency

disarms and disbands terrorist gangs,

makes terrorism illegal and enforces that anti-terrorism law by jailing active terrorists and anyone possessing illegal arms,

jails and tries and punishes terrorist leaders with the blood of scores or even hundreds on their hands,

ends the incitement in schools and mosques and media,

changes school textbooks so that the map shows israel as well as 'Palestine' and so that the text speaks of the need to make peace with, cooperate with, israel (instead of the need to destroy israel),

and offers to sit down with israel to negotiate what is intended to be a lasting peace

and then tells the rest of the Arab world that it is time for the Arab countries to follow the example of Egypt and Jordan, and now "Palestine", and stop the wars, stop the terrorism, stop the incitement, stop the Holocaust denial, stop the diatribe of annihilation, the rhetoric of genocide...

...and make peace with Israel, establish political relations, exchange ambassadors, legitimize trade agreements, and establish the same civilized relations that France has with its former enemy Germany, that the USA has with its former enemy Viet Nam, just as is the norm throughout the civilized world and across all of human history...then...

...then the Israeli government can feel comfortable about ceding more land for peace.

This next is called "Indocrination in a PC (USA) Church Near You" and it comes from www.CAMERA.org
http://blog.camera.org/archives/2007/02/indocrination_in_a_cusa_church_1.html

The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) may have reversed its policy of singling Israel out for divestment at its meeting in 2006, but the denomination's leaders and staffers have not abandoned their obsession with Israel's defense policies.

A nine-page document titled "Palestinian Christians in the Middle East -- Study Resources for Children and Youth" embodies the same distorted moral narrative PC(USA) leaders and staffers were broadcasting before the church's 2004 General Assembly passed a resolution calling on the church to initiate a process of "phased, selective divestment" from Israel.

The theme of the resources is "Walls or Bridges?"

The most prominent reference displayed is a video titled "Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land" which includes commentators such as Noam Chomsky, Robert Fisk and Hanan Ashrawi, none of whom can be expected to discuss in any detail, Israel's legitimate security needs or the hostility it faces from its neighbors. Presbyterian layman Will Spotts reports that the video does not provide any dissenting voices. He continues:

It incorporates a series of comments by radical anti-Israel activists as if they were unbiased experts offering objective commentary. ... It shows a series of de-contextualized news clips and random video without providing anything like a complete explanation. It repeats many times statements of fact about Israeli motivations that are simply untrue. This video asserts rightly that one must ask "Does the news coverage reflect the reality on the ground?" Sadly, the video fails its own test. Israel is said to be "involved in an attempt to ideologically occupy the American media." Israel is said to be "in the White House." Israel is severely criticized for focusing on public relations; "the propaganda machine" is used to describe this. Media owners, corporate interests, Israel's public relations efforts, and Jewish and Christian organizations are said to control the news coverage. The occupation is presented the cause of all violence; this claim is one-sided at best.

The resource also suggests teachers and youth advisors obtain the September/October 2004 issue of Church & Society titled "Wall of Security, A Barrier to Peace," which provides extensive detail about the impact of the security barrier on Palestinians. Out of more than 100 pages of text, the magazine included approximately two paragraphs about the impact of Palestinian terror attacks that preceded the barrier's construction. And like a lot of mainline commentary about Israel's security measures, it is filled with distortions and omissions that lead the reader to believe the barrier is something other than a passive structure designed to prevent violence.

For example, Victor Makari, the PC(USA)'s area coordinator for the Middle East wrote an article that falsely suggests the fence near Bethlehem will electrocute anyone who touches it:

"Walking right up to an electrified portion of the barrier at Bethlehem (see photo, page1), one is immediately seized by a sense of desperation when confronted with a red warning sign -- in Hebrew, Arabic and English -- that reads (with some variation): "MORTAL DANGER -- Military Zone, Any Person Who Passes or Damages [the Arabic reads, ... Touches] the Fence [the Arabic reads, ... the Wall] Endangers His Life." (Church and Society, September/October 2004)

By using the word "electrified" Makari gives Sunday school teachers and youth leaders (many of whom will not know that the fence is equipped with electronic detection devices) every reason to believe Israel is zapping or worse, electrocuting innocent children who dare touch the barrier. How else are readers who know little about the barrier to interpret Makari's writing?

Reading the entire issue, one is left with the overall impression that the barrier was built on a whim, out of a malevolent desire to deny Palestinians their freedom and that the terrorism would end if only the Israelis stopped defending themselves from those who have repeatedly and peristently called for the destruction of their homeland.

This is the type of material PC(USA) leaders and staffers think should be used in Presbyterian Sunday schools and youth groups.

Why is this so offensive? A little background is in order.

As dangerous as life can be for Jews in the Middle East, Israel is still a much safer place for Jews than Christian Europe was during the 1940s. More Jews (approx. 33,000) were killed in the course of a few days outside of Kiev in 1941, than in all of Israel's wars since 1948. (About 24,000 Israelis have been killed by violent acts since Israel's War for Independence.)

The relative safety of Jews in the Middle East is not due to the peaceful intentions on the part of Israel's neighbors. Political and religious leaders in the Middle East speak about Israel in the same manner as the Nazi regime in Germany did before and during the Holocaust. Israel is regarded by extremists in the Middle East as a cancerous entity which must be destroyed, just as the Jews of Europe were portrayed as a blight on Europe.

Despite unending and growing enmity toward Israel, it survives.

The decisive factor behind the relative safety of Jews in the Middle East is the very thing mainline Christian leaders in the U.S. obsess about -- its military force -- its ability to obtain weapons, field an army, equip and maintain an air force and yes, build a security barrier to prevent attacks against its citizens.

From a pacifist, peacemaking perspective, calling for the U.S. government to block weapons sales to Israel, asking U.S. officials to make sure U.S. tax dollars are not used to build a security barrier would also require documenting and condemning the violence against Israel with the same vigor it has condemned Israeli use of force. It would also require pointing out the animosity against Israel that is rampant throughout the Middle East. In the main, the co-called peacemaking churches have not done these things.

Yes, there are the obligatory, but sparse, condemnations of suicide bombings, but mainline leaders seem reluctant to talk about incitement on Palestinian television, or the manifold expressions of the Blood Libel (which seems to have gotten a lot more traction in the Middle East than the Gospel) that have taken root in the Middle East.

Take a look at the statements from the leadership of mainline Christian institutions in the U.S. -- the PC(USA) especially -- and you will see a troubling tendency. The prophetic voices of these institutions are typically triggered by Israeli use of force -- and not the Palestinian violence that preceded it, the animosity that motivated it, or the support it receives from other countries in the region.

That's not peacemaking. H/T: Solomonia

David Meir-Levi is an American-born Israeli, currently living in Palo Alto. His expertise is in Near Eastern studies and the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. He is Director of Peace and Education at Israel Peace Initiative (www.ipi-usa.org). Contact him at david_meirlevi@hotmail.com

To Go To Top

WHAT EVERY AMERICAN NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT JIHAD
Posted by Nurit Greenger, February 21, 2007.

Terrorism Awareness

To those who did not get it yet! What Every American Needs to Know About Jihad!
FrontPage Magazine
February 21, 2007

Is Islamic jihad just a harmless form of spiritual struggle -- is often argued by Western apologists for radical Islam? Is Jihadi violence simply a twisted, hijacked version of Islam, rejected by traditional Muslims?

The David Horowitz Freedom Center's new Terrorism Awareness Project, which seeks to educate Americans, and especially college students about jihad, confronts questions such as these. It has produced a powerful new flash video: "What Every American Needs to Know About Jihad."

http://www.terrorismawareness.org/know-about-jihad/

This video is adapted from a new pamphlet by Robert Spencer, which puts the threat of jihadist ideology into historical perspective. As Spencer makes clear, the religious imperatives of jihad demand the subjugation or killing of infidels and form the poisoned logic of Islamists' expansionist war against America and the West.

To read Robert Spencer's essay, download
http://www.terrorismawareness.org/files/WANTKAJ.pdf

Contact Nurit Greenger by email at 4nuritg@ca.rr.com. Visit her blog:
http://ngthinker.typepad.com

To Go To Top

ON MYRE'S "ISRAELIS ARE GONE, BUT GAZA REBUILDING IS SLOW"
Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, February 21, 2007.

As expected of the New York Times, its Left Liberal reporter Greg Myre, gives a spin (distortion) to the stories about the Gaza Arabs.

Myre offers a sob story about how the area abandoned by the Jews is not as productive or hospitable for the Muslim Arab Palestinians. Myre totally ignores the history of the area -- with intent. (1)

When the Jews first came to the Gaza Strip, it consisted of sand dunes that even the Arabs who lived crowded in the Gaza City slums didn't want. It barely grew saw grass and was generally uninhabitable. The industrious pioneering Jews grappled with the sand and, after years of devoted experimentation, the Land began to show life, turned green with red, yellow, blues vegetables and flowers, supplying Israel with bug-free salads while exporting to Europe and America, flowers and tropical fruits and vegetables. Over the 31 years of devotion to the Land, now called Gush Katif (Block of the Harvest) farms, with many greenhouses the size of football fields that grew vegetables in the sand, with no bugs, many organic without pesticides. The hard-working farmers planted comfortable houses for their families as well as factories, schools, synagogues and as for eternity (or so they thought) cemeteries for their loved ones. The Muslim Arabs from Gaza began to have regular employment while also learning high tech farming.

But, as happened too often in our history, as soon as the Land turned green from produce and profits, the Arab Muslim leaders who had never made anything productive, began to bleat about how the Jews stole their fertile Land. That was followed by the recruitment of the Israeli Leftist Jews, spurred on by the Leftist Media who joined the hostile Muslims, shouting: "The abusive Jews stole the fertile Land from those poor, down-trodden Arabs."

At the behest of Ariel Sharon (who at first had helped the Gush Katif project grow) and Ehud Olmert, began to declare: "We'll have to make painful compromises for the sake of peace." They proceeded to campaign; Jews who thought they were safe within the Green Line, began to agree: "Gaza is a thorn in our side. We should get rid of it." [I heard this from a young man at my local Steimatsky's book store. I don't think he had ever seen Gush Katif or met a pioneering settler.]

So, sadly, the Sharon/Olmert campaign planned and organized the special Yatom Police in black uniforms who moved into Gush Katif like storm troopers and in 2 weeks cleared out all of the 10,000 Jewish men, women and children. Then they destroyed their carefully built houses, farms, greenhouses, factories, stores, livelihoods, even moving the dead loved ones from their cemeteries. They left the synagogues for the Arab Muslims to desecrate and destroy. WHY? I still don't know why. Making all of the 21 communities in Gush Katif/Gaza "Judenrein" was not sufficient so they threw out the Jews from 4 North Samarian settlements, leaving that whole area vulnerable to Arab Muslim attack. The Army and special Police (called "Yatom") in those few weeks earned shame that is now a permanent part of their history.

The industrious Jews were driven out by Jewish Kapos and their foreign instigators. Now the Muslim Arab Palestinians were given what the Jews developed. Naturally, the media predators came along as camp followers. They, like Myre, began to write stories explaining why the Arabs could not nurture the sand and, of course, blamed the now-departed Jews.

As the Jews left, the Palestinians came in like locusts and devoured what the Jews had so painstakingly developed. They tore the pumps and control gauges. They even stole the plastic sheeting covering those greenhouses that were left to encourage Arab industry. All went back to sand so Abdullah and Mohammed and all the expectant Arabs stood there with the sand drifting through their fingers, wondering what to do next. Then came the media pimps and the Terrorists, telling all that "It was the Jews who kept them from re-building."

In the first year they were able to scrounge a crop from what the Jews had planted already, but in the years to follow, all that went back to sand.

Arafat's officer thugs personally claimed whatever Land might benefit them but they could not bring back to life what was a thriving enterprise under the industrious Jews.

Now the dregs of the journalistic world write stories with sufficient spin which, somehow blames the long gone Jews for the Arab failure. Worse yet, the Israeli Leftists have become organic partners with Terror as Gaza turned into a Terrorist firebase, throwing Kassam Rockets with increasing accurate range, into the 44 communities "inside" the Green Line, hitting the town of Sderot and the city of Ashkelon.

What happened to those 10,000 industrious Jews who were forced out of the homes, farms and all they had worked for over the years became a black stain on the Government. All the promises of compensation, replacement homes, replacement Land for the farmers, replacement jobs for the now unemployed were all forgotten by the Leftists who had driven them out. Their reward for leaving was for whole families to live in one or two rooms of seedy hotels, given trash trailers (called "caravillas"), denied compensation by the equivalent of bureaucratic terrorists who lorded it over the now wandering Jews. Olmert did little to nothing to fulfill the Government's promises while the Leftist Media spun stories that these industrious Jews brought it all on themselves. The media pimps conveniently ignored the fact that it was the Leftist Government who urged the settlers to go to the Gaza Strip to settle the barren land to begin with.

Greg Myre offers the line that, "When the Israelis depart, the land-hungry Palestinians would flood into the former Jewish settlements." Instead, the Palestinian Land Authority "cum" Terrorists kept them out. But, even those who were allowed in, found they had to work, re-build and this required the same drive the Jews had. So now, the Muslim Arabs sit on sand -- or they use the Land for firing positions to launch Kassam Rockets into Israel. Thus we hear from the yellow journalists both in New York and the Leftist media in Israel spinning and lying as they try to cover up their role in this growing catastrophe.

"Israelis Are Gone, but Gaza Rebuilding Is Slow"
by Greg Myre
New York Times
2/18/07

RAFAH, Gaza Strip, Feb. 16 -- In a place were most everyone has a hard-luck story, Ibrahim Abu Shatat could write an entire book. Two of his homes have been destroyed by Israeli troops, he has been out of work for six years and his family of nine has lived in the storage room under Rafah's soccer stadium for three years.

Yet Mr. Shatat may be one of the few Gazans who see a ray of hope. Partly through his persistence, construction has begun on 300 homes in the sand dunes next to the former Jewish settlement of Rafiah Yam. Along with a neighboring school, they are the first major construction projects in or near a settlement since Israeli soldiers and settlers pulled out of the Gaza Strip in summer 2005. And one of those homes will be his, possibly by fall, Mr. Shatat said.

The Israeli withdrawal raised Palestinian hopes for new homes, schools and businesses, and an easing of the overcrowding in the Gaza Strip, an impoverished coastal territory where about 1.5 million Palestinians live.

"When the Israelis left, we demanded that the Palestinian government give us a piece of land," said Mr. Shatat, 47. But internal Palestinian turmoil, the conflict with Israel and a lack of money have kept the abandoned settlements looking almost exactly as they were the day the Israelis left. Israel, in agreement with the Palestinians, flattened the roughly 1,600 settler homes, and so far, the rubble is being removed from only 3 of the 21 settlements.

But there is progress on the barren patch that was a no man's land just outside Rafiah Yam, in southwest Gaza near the border with Egypt.

Mr. Shatat took his wife, Maha, to the construction site for the first time on Friday to see the cinder-block foundations of about 20 homes. The plans call for modest, detached houses of two or three stories, with one family living on each floor. "I'm so excited," Mrs. Shatat said. "Now I finally believe it is happening."

Since the Palestinian uprising began in 2000, at least 1,500 families in Rafah have lost their homes, according to the Palestinians. Israeli military bulldozers made repeated forays to destroy houses that Israel said were being used by weapons smugglers and gunmen firing on Israeli forces along the border with Egypt.

The Israeli departure raised the prospect of land-hungry Palestinians flooding into the former settlements. But while many Palestinians are impatient for new housing, security guards have kept out would-be squatters in most, but not all, cases. The settlements also came with greenhouses that offered the prospect of thousands of agricultural jobs. Yet the greenhouses sit idle.

The Palestinians invested millions of dollars to repair the greenhouses shortly after the Israelis left, and had an excellent crop in the winter of 2005 and 2006. But they were unable to export their produce to Europe, the main market, because Israel kept Gaza's main crossing for goods closed for weeks at a time, citing security concerns.

Short of money and fearing a similar fate this year, the Palestinians did not plant a winter crop in the greenhouses. But the goods crossing has been mostly open in recent weeks, when the crops would have been ready for export.

The Palestinian Agriculture Ministry says it will soon start renting the greenhouses to private farmers and will encourage them to grow for the local market, since there are no guarantees that fruits, vegetables and flowers can be exported in a timely manner.

Ahmed Yousef, an adviser to the Palestinian prime minister, Ismail Haniya, said the government had been allocating former settlement land for universities, hospitals, recreation facilities and housing. The projects have been slow in developing for several reasons. The Palestinian government has never been known for its efficiency, and several months after the Israelis left Gaza, Hamas, the radical Islamic movement, came to power, which prompted Western countries to cut direct financial assistance. "We had to find countries to finance these projects," Mr. Yousef said. Saudi Arabia is providing $11.5 million for the 300 homes in southern Gaza, and the United Nations development program is overseeing the project.

Mr. Shatat was a welder in Israel for 14 years and built a large, three-story home in Rafah, just 50 yards from Gaza's border with Egypt. But the Palestinian uprising that began in 2000 dealt his personal fortunes a double blow.

Mr. Shatat was among the thousands of Palestinians who lost their jobs as Israel restricted the number of Palestinian workers allowed in. Then, five years ago, with Palestinian militants in Rafah battling Israeli troops, Mr. Shatat's home was rendered uninhabitable when Israeli forces demolished his neighbor's home. The Shatats rented a home nearby; that was destroyed in January 2004 when Israel tore down more homes. The only shelter Mr. Shatat could find for his wife and eight children, now ages 3 to 20, was the storage room under the Rafah stadium.

As soon as he moved his family in, Mr. Shatat began lobbying the Palestinian Authority to build replacement homes for those destroyed in the fighting, but received little help, he said. He set up a committee for the homeless in Rafah, and made himself a nuisance at government offices in Gaza City, particularly at the Land Authority. "I told them that if they did not give us land, we would start living in their offices," he said.

About a year ago, the Palestinian government allocated land for 300 homes, though this will provide shelter for fewer than half those who lost homes in fighting along the border, according to Mr. Shatat.

Several miles up the Mediterranean coast, the former settlement of Tel Katifa offers a more typical example of the state of the former settlements. At its northwest corner, armed members of Fatah stand guard, maintaining positions they have held since shortly after the Israeli departure. Along the southern side, Hamas forces hold an outpost established a month ago, in a bid to replace the Fatah men.

At the southwest corner, unarmed guards from the Agriculture Ministry hope their presence, marked by a torn Palestinian flag flapping overhead, will discourage the factions from shooting at each other. So far, Fatah and Hamas have exchanged only sporadic gunfire during the factional fighting in Gaza.

Meanwhile, a family affiliated with Fatah is living in Tel Katifa's former kindergarten, the one building left standing when the Israelis pulled out. Fawzi Abu Abed said his family moved in after receiving permission from a Palestinian family that claimed it owned the land before the Israelis arrived. Mr. Abed said his home was destroyed by the Israelis in 2002, and government subsidies to rent a home ran out last year. "The government is broke, so we had to find our own solution," Mr. Abed said.

Emanuel Winston is a commentator and Middle East analyst. His articles appear often on Think-Israel and Gamla. He is a member of the Board of Directors and a research associate of the Freeman Center For Strategic Studies (http://www.freeman.org/online.htm). Contact him at gwinston.interaccess.com

To Go To Top

PURIM AND BUILDING A VIABLE PALESTINIAN ARAB STATE
Posted by Daryl Temkin, February 21, 2007.

Let's face it, Purim is coming and it's time to get serious.

For the many Jews and non-Jews who may not be up to speed on celebrating Purim, it's a very simple Jewish holiday. An evil man named Haman made a plan to kill all the Jews of a land mass known as the Persian Empire. A man named Mordechai discovered Haman's plot and along with a woman named Esther, prevented the plot from happening. The turn-around in world events of the ancient Persian Empire moved from a plan to kill all the Jews to the hanging death of Haman, the mass genocide planner.

Turning history away from the verge of destruction to the opportunity to live again is the essence of Purim and the Purim celebration. Purim stresses that it can take only one person to save the world, and it also stresses that because the world was "drunk", or so preoccupied with self indulgence, it didn't realize that massive human destruction was at hand.

From this holiday comes the Jewish joke which summarizes Jewish holidays, "they tried to kill us, they didn't succeed, now let's eat".

In general, Purim is celebrated as a day of frivolous activities. It's a day of jokes, costumes, gift giving, and festive meals, all celebrating that evil was discovered, foiled, and didn't succeed. Purim is the only Jewish holiday during which drinking alcoholic beverages is condoned inasmuch as there is an unusual Jewish legal phrase that allows one to get lost in frivolity or inebriated to the extent that the difference between the evil Haman and the praised Mordechai is not recognizable.

Now, let's get serious.

There is one day of the year for Purim-like behavior to exist. The problem is that most of the world has been acting like it was Purim all year around. Purim is the day permitted for the world to be a little crazy, but it was only meant to last one day.

Purim is a day during which people are allowed to put aside their usual skills of rational thinking. Yes, for one day, it is permitted to act like a naive child who sees good and evil and doesn't know the difference, or worse, sees evil as good and good as evil.

Judaism is mostly concerned with teaching the world to recognize evil and to make clear distinctions between good and evil. In my many years of Jewish observance, I was always troubled trying to understand this element of Purim which encouraged drinking to the extent that one loses the ability to distinguish between good and evil. It just seemed so un-Jewish -- so antithetical to everything that Judaism represents. But now, I think that I finally figured it out.

Purim is a statement that you have one day to feel like what it is to act like an absolute fool, but the rest of the year, you better wake up and get it right. For the rest of the year, you better be sober and resist your desire for self indulgence and irresponsibility. You might desire or even find it comfortable to believe that all the "Hamans" of the world don't have to be taken seriously and they really don't plan to do what they say they will do. You might find it politically correct to simply say, "Oh, he's just an extremist and no one will follow him." Or, how about, "He dresses nicely, let's call him a moderate and let's just appease him with all that he wants." Finally, one has to be very skeptical of those who say, "Come on, everyone just wants to get along. Now lets party."

Purim teaches that even when it is not comfortable, even when you are tired or fatigued, you must be alert and better be skilled to recognize who is evil and who is good, who is an evil Haman and who is a praiseworthy Mordechai. If you don't understand that the world must remain sober and stop acting as if it is Purim, then you will find the world acting as a fool and treating evil as good and good as evil.

So, how can one seriously speak of a Palestinian state at a time of Purim? Perhaps this is the best time to get the world's values out of the phase of self indulgence and into the world of reality and sobriety.

Do the Arabs deserve a state where there won't be a Jewish starred flag flying overhead and a national anthem which speaks of a two thousand year hope for a Jewish homeland? Of course, yes -- there are some twenty-two Arab states which can boast that there is not a Jewish star on their flags. So let there be a twenty-third Arab state and call it Palestine. There happens to be a large land mass currently named Jordan whose population happens to be 70% Palestinian. There happens to be a huge land mass of eastern Jordan that is sparsely populated and could become divided into a second Palestinian state, and it would serve as a strategic buffer between Iraq and Jordan. The land mass is so large that all the Palestinians could live without a concern for overpopulation, with plenty of land to farm and populate, to build roads, schools and hospitals as well as high tech industries, if a state is what they really desire.

Then the Palestinians would be free to establish, to their heart's content, their own army that could protect them and Jordan from an Iraqi invasion. The Palestinians could have their dreams fulfilled for having their own air force and airports. Their imports and exports could pass through Jordan, Iraq and Turkey. There would be no check points since this Palestinian state would be comfortably planted in the midst of the Arab world. The Palestinians would have, as Condoleezza Rice desires, one contiguous land mass and would not depend on Israel for work, for water, electricity, or garbage collection.

So what would the Palestinians have to give up in order to make a real sovereign state with plenty of land for their children to play in and grow? They would have to give up their refugee camps in Gaza and their refugee camps in the West Bank. They would have to give up their squalid homes and lack of effective sewers systems and their rustic hygienic standards. Yes, the impossible "Right of Return" would mean becoming pioneers in their new land. Jerusalem as their capital could become the building of their own New Jerusalem city in an ideal location somewhere near Iraq. Their new Jerusalem could be custom-designed to every Arab or Islamic requirement -- even with a mosque on every desired corner. The Palestinians could start hundreds of new villages and start-up industries. They could plant olive trees in the millions, build universities and even establish their cultural pride of Palestinian weaving and embroidery centers. They could build Palestinian tourism filled with modern day attractions in accordance with Islamic requirements. This could all be done without having to dig explosive smuggling tunnels in to Israel or launching endless numbers of rockets in hope of killing Israeli citizens.

Within the context of Purim, it's time to become sober. It is time to deal with evil and to deal with good in the most rational and effective manner. Instead of making serious political decisions which reflect a lack of rationality and sobriety, we must be mindful that Purim is not really about acting crazy and striving for self indulgence or an inebriated mental state, but that it is an appeal for reality and for taking actions that will promote life and civil human existence. Therefore, build a twenty-third Arab state and call it Palestine but just not in a place where endless numbers of Jews and Israelis will have to meaninglessly sacrifice their lives for endless generations to come.

Daryl Temkin, Ph.D. is the director of the Israel Education Institute which is devoted to teaching history and contemporary issues of Israel to Jews and Non-Jews. Contact him at DarylTemkin@Israel-Institute.com

To Go To Top

MANIPULATING 'CIVIL SOCIETY'
Posted by Gerald M. Steinberg, February 21, 2007.

The differences between Europe and the Israeli government over the status of the West Bank -- Judea and Samaria -- are well known. In London, Paris and Brussels, this area is viewed as "occupied territory," while for Jerusalem, the area is "disputed."

A similar debate is taking place within Israeli society, as groups with different ideologies challenge the government's policies, including the expansion or removal of settlements and the route of the security barrier. This discussion is important, legitimate and extremely complex.

But when foreign governments team up with and provide financial support to private Israeli groups in order to oppose policies selected by democratically elected leaders, this is a problem. It is also a violation of sovereignty, and a clear example of neocolonialism.

Nevertheless, the recent discovery that the British Embassy in Tel Aviv is funding an Israeli non-governmental organization (NGO) known as "Bimkom -- Planners for Planning Rights" -- is not surprising. The ostensible focus of the "research" is on the impact of the security barrier on Palestinian villages caught in the middle, and since Bimkom is a political organization, the outcome is a forgone conclusion.

In this way, the British government will receive an analysis from an Israeli group that supports London's position against the route of the barrier. The same information could have been obtained through official government channels, (i.e., intelligence) but without the important political dimension. (The Danish government provided Bimkom with $200,000 for a project on "Palestinian neighborhoods.")

For years, European governments have used the same approach by providing funding to well-known Israeli domestic political groups, such as Peace Now, B'Tselem, and the Peres Center. The Swiss Foreign Ministry and the European Union, among others, supported the failed public relations campaign to sell the Israel public the Geneva Initiative -- a track-two peace proposal led by Yossi Beilin and his Palestinian counterparts.

And under the misleading label of "partners for peace," the EU Delegation in Tel Aviv is funding a group known as the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, which promotes anti-Israel boycotts and divestment. It also funds Israeli-Arab groups, such as Mossawa and Adallah, which ostensibly advocate for social and economic justice for the Arabs of Israel, but have done their fair share to demonize the Jewish state.

WHAT IS new in the case of Bimkom is the response of the Foreign Ministry, which stated: "It is interference by Britain in an internal Israeli matter. How would they react in London if our embassy was to fund research on a British organization that is trying to promote an agenda that is critical of [the government]?"

The language is a diplomatic and understated -- indeed, almost English -- reaction to a fundamental defect in European policy toward Israel. A more blunt response might have provided a hypothetical examples -- such as an advertising campaign funded by the US government in London or Paris promoting a hard-line anti-abortion position. Or a propaganda effort on the Northern Ireland conflict, or in support of separatist movements in France (Corsica) or Spain (ETA).

Furthermore, the scale of European government funding for Israeli and Palestinian political organizations that claim to promote human rights, peace and democracy is huge, and largely hidden. The massive Euro-bureaucracy has created a complex network of funding agencies for "civil society" in the region, and no central index or reporting system exists.

Until last year, the EU office in Tel Aviv violated its own principles of transparency and kept the list of Israeli NGO beneficiaries secret, ostensibly due to threats of violence. NGO Monitor's investigations led to a change in this instance, but funding for Palestinian NGOs is still largely covert.

THE CHANGE in Israeli government policy and a willingness to confront such anti-democratic manipulation, particularly by European governments (including non-EU countries such as Norway and Switzerland), marks an important step. Going beyond the terse statement, the Israeli representatives should bring a detailed file on the funding provided for politicized NGOs to every meeting between heads of state, foreign ministers and government officials.

If Europe expects to play a more important role in regional security and diplomacy, it cannot also continue to provide funding designed to undermine the Israeli government's positions, both internally and in the international arena.

In Europe, the amorphous entities known as "civil society organizations" and NGOs also need close scrutiny. These bodies are unelected, and their officials are not accountable.

In democratic societies, government officials who provide funds to these entities generally use this as a means to promote their own interests and objectives, without checks and balances or transparency. In closed non-democratic societies, such as Syria, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority, foreign government assistance for NGOs that promote democracy, tolerance, and human rights may have a positive impact, but only if this support is carefully monitored to prevent abuse. Europe's failure to provide such monitoring exacerbates the damage.

Israel, as a vibrant democracy, does not need, and should not be the target of "civil society initiatives" engineered by foreign governments, whether well-meaning or hostile. From this perspective, the example of Bimkom, the security barrier, and the British Embassy is small but highly illustrative.

The time has come to end this misguided and patronizing policy.

Gerald M. Steinberg is editor of NGO Monitor and director of the Program on Conflict Management at Bar-Ilan University. This article appeared today in the Jerusalem Post
(www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1171894478646&pagename= JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

To Go To Top

QUARTET GOES GAGA OVER GAZA
Posted by David Singer, February 21, 2007.

Gaza has all the trappings of a State except declared Statehood.

The 22 members of the Arab League and the Quartet -- America, Russia, the United Nations and the European Union -- have allowed this farce to continue for the last 18 months.

Gaza, larger in area than Malta, has a President, a Parliament, a Prime Minister, multiple police and security forces, a burgeoning bureaucracy, observers to every United Nations Committee you can think of, delegations to countries all around the world, a flag and an anthem and most importantly of all -- not one Jew.

The 7000 Jews living in Gaza were forcibly removed from their homes and businesses 18 months ago. That they were so evicted by other Jews, supposedly for their own safety, is shameful. However given half a chance the Gazan Arabs would have willingly done the job. They even boasted that it was their campaign of terror and violence that finally forced the Jews to leave.

Ethnic cleansing is apparently acceptable in international humanitarian law where Jews are the victims.

The violence against Jews has been replaced by the killing and intimidation of Gaza's now exclusively Arab citizenry, as Hamas and Fatah each battle to assert their authority over the other in an internecine struggle that shows no signs of abating.

The people without a land who had been yearning for a land for the last 40 years was suddenly in full possession and control of part of that land but just couldn't bring itself to utter the magic words of independence.

Figuratively speaking the jilted bride was left waiting at the mosque.

The occupation had ended, the occupiers had gone but the population acted as though nothing had changed.

There was no rejoicing and dancing in the streets, no hugs embraces and tears among the populace who now found themselves in full control of their destiny and self-determination.

There have been no exciting nation building programs implemented to give new direction and vision to Gaza's population.

Destruction, not creation, has become the buzzword in Gaza.

Sadly statehood is the last thing that Gaza wanted because it would put an end to the claim of statelessness, terminate the claim to refugee status by a large proportion of its population and signal the end of the perpetual financial support received from UNWRA since 1948.

Furthermore statehood might be taken to be an abandonment of further claims to any land that was formerly comprised in the Mandate of Palestine.

The reticence of the Arab League in these circumstances was misplaced. True, Statehood for Gaza would pull the rug from under the feet of this cartel and put pressure on it to end its refusal to recognise or negotiate with the State of Israel. But the League's policy of inaction and its' failure to call for statehood has seen Gaza's population become a killing field of ever growing proportions.

The Quartet however need not have been so coy. It had a different agenda aimed at solving "the Palestinian question" which it considered to be the most intractable problem in the Middle East.

The unexpected removal of all Jews from Gaza presented the Quartet with the opening it had been desperately seeking to take a giant step forward in solving this problem. Yet the Quartet faltered dismally in failing to demand that the Parliament in Gaza declare statehood within the boundaries that separate it from Israel and Egypt.

This single act could have been the circuit breaker towards ending 130 years of conflict resulting from competing claims by Jews and Arabs over the same land.

Instead the Quartet focused its efforts on attempting to achieve an overall rather than a partial solution to Arab claims in the West Bank and Gaza in fulfilment of its' misconceived Road Map aimed at misguidedly creating a third State in Mandatory Palestine between Israel and Jordan.

The Quartet has now paid the price for its' folly.

It has created a void into which Hamas has stepped making it impossible now to achieve statehood in Gaza until Hamas is removed from power.

The frantic shuttle diplomacy and endless meetings continue to be held. They achieve no positive outcome other than the accumulation of frequent flyer points for their participants.

Meanwhile the killing and mayhem in Gaza continue to head the news bulletins.

It is now time to call on Jordan and Egypt to play a constructive role in cleaning up the mess in Gaza, which is quickly sinking into the arms smuggling tunnels it has been so busily excavating under its very foundations.

The time for playing semantic word games, holding joint press conferences and grabbing photo opportunities is surely over.

David Singer is an Australian Lawyer and Convenor of: Jordan is Palestine International -- an organization calling for sovereignty of the West Bank and Gaza to be allocated between Israel and Jordan as the two successor States to the Mandate for Palestine.

To Go To Top

IRAN'S OBSESSION WITH THE JEWS
Posted by Mordechai Ben-Menachem, February 20, 2007.

This was written by Matthias Kuentzel This appeared February, 14, 2007 in The Weekly Standard, Volume 012, Issue 22. Matthias Küntzel is a Hamburg-based political scientist and a research associate at the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His book Jihad and Jew-Hatred: On the New Anti-Jewish War is forthcoming this year from Telos Press. This article was translated from German by Michael Bugajer and John Rosenthal.

Denying the Holocaust, desiring another one.

On December 12, 2006, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad personally brought to a close the infamous Holocaust deniers' conference in Tehran. A strange parade of speakers had passed across the podium: former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, the nutty followers of the anti-Zionist Jewish sect Neturei Karta, and officials of the neo-Nazi German National party, along with the familiar handful of professional Holocaust deniers. Frederick Töben had delivered a lecture entitled "The Holocaust--A Murder Weapon." Frenchman Robert Faurisson had called the Holocaust a "fairy tale," while his American colleague Veronica Clark had explained that "the Jews made money in Auschwitz." A professor named McNally had declared that to regard the Holocaust as a fact is as ludicrous as believing in "magicians and witches." Finally, the Belgian Leonardo Clerici had offered the following explanation in his capacity as a Muslim: "I believe that the value of metaphysics is greater than the value of history."

If this motley crew had assembled in a pub in Melbourne, nobody would have paid the slightest attention. What gave the event historical significance was that it was held by invitation, at the Iranian foreign ministry: on government premises, in a country that disposes of the world's second-largest oil reserves (after Saudi Arabia) and second-largest natural gas reserves (after Russia). And in this setting, the remarks quoted above provoked not dismissive laughter, but applause and attentive nods. On the walls hung photographs of corpses with the inscription "Myth," and others of laughing concentration camp survivors with the inscription "Truth."

The Tehran deniers' conference marks a turning point not only because of its state sponsorship, but also because of its purpose. Up until now, Holocaust deniers have wanted to revise the past. Today, they want to shape the future: to prepare the way for the next Holocaust.

In his opening speech to the conference, the Iranian foreign minister, Manucher Mottaki, left no doubt on this point: If "the official version of the Holocaust is called into question," Mottaki said, then "the nature and identity of Israel" must also be called into question. The purpose of denying, among all the Nazis' war measures, specifically the persecution of the Jews is to undermine a central motive for the establishment of the state of Israel. Auschwitz is delegitimized in order to legitimize the elimination of Israel--that is, a second genocide. If it should turn out, however, that the Holocaust did happen after all, Ahmadinejad explains that it would have been a result of European policies, and any homeland for the Jews would belong not in Palestine but in Europe. Either way, the result is the same: Israel must vanish.

This focus explains why the conference's sponsors attached so much importance to the participation of a delegation from the Jewish sect Neturei Karta. Although it does not deny the Holocaust, the sect welcomes the destruction of Israel. That objective was the common denominator uniting all the participants in the conference. In his closing speech, Ahmadinejad formulated it with perfect clarity: "The life-curve of the Zionist regime has begun its descent, and it is now on a downward slope towards its fall... The Zionist regime will be wiped out, and humanity will be liberated."

Holocaust denial and the nuclear program

Just as Hitler sought to "liberate" humanity by murdering the Jews, so Ahmadinejad believes he can "liberate" humanity by eradicating Israel. The deniers' conference as an instrument for propagating this project is intimately linked to the nuclear program as an instrument for realizing it. Five years ago, in December 2001, former Iranian president Hashemi Rafsanjani first boasted that "the use of even one nuclear bomb inside Israel will destroy everything," whereas the damage to the Islamic world of a potential retaliatory nuclear attack could be limited: "It is not irrational to contemplate such an eventuality." While the Islamic world could sacrifice hundreds of thousands of "martyrs" in an Israeli retaliatory strike without disappearing--so goes Rafsanjani's argument--Israel would be history after the first bomb.

It is precisely this suicidal outlook that distinguishes the Iranian nuclear weapons program from those of all other countries and makes it uniquely dangerous. As long ago as 1980, Khomeini put it this way: "We do not worship Iran, we worship Allah. For patriotism is another name for paganism. I say let this land [Iran] burn. I say let this land go up in smoke, provided Islam emerges triumphant in the rest of the world."

Anyone inclined to dismiss the significance of such statements might want to consider the proclamation made by Mohammad Hassan Rahimian, representative of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who stands even higher in the Iranian hierarchy than Ahmadinejad. A few months ago, on November 16, 2006, Rahimian explained: "The Jew"--not the Zionist, note, but the Jew--"is the most obstinate enemy of the devout. And the main war will determine the destiny of mankind... The reappearance of the Twelfth Imam will lead to a war between Israel and the Shia." The country that has been the first to make Holocaust denial a principle of its foreign policy is likewise the first openly to threaten another U.N. member state with, not invasion or annexation, but annihilation.

Yet it's all confusing. Why, if Iran wishes Israel ill, does it deny the Holocaust rather than applaud it? Ahmadinejad's Holocaust denial has been especially well received in the Arab world, where it has won praise from Hezbollah, the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, and Hamas. Yet in the Arab world, Hitler is admired not for building highways or conquering Paris, but for murdering Jews. How can Holocaust denial be most prevalent in a region where admiration for Hitler remains widespread? To unlock this paradox it is necessary to examine the anti-Semitic mind.

Brother Hitler and Eichmann the Martyr

Holocaust denial is anti-Semitism at its most extreme. Whoever declares Auschwitz a myth implicitly portrays the Jews as the enemy of humanity: The assumption is that the all-powerful Jews, for filthy lucre, have been duping the rest of humanity for the past 60 years. Whoever talks of the "so-called Holocaust" implies that over 90 percent of the world's media and university professorships are controlled by Jews and are thereby cut off from the "real" truth. No one who accuses Jews of such perfidy can sincerely regret Hitler's Final Solution. For this reason alone, every denial of the Holocaust contains an appeal to repeat it.

Consider this passage written by an Egyptian columnist for the state-controlled newspaper Al-Akhbar, Egypt's second-largest daily, and published in April 2002:

The entire matter [of the Holocaust], as many French and British scientists and researchers have proven, is nothing more than a huge Israeli plot aimed at extorting the German government in particular and the European countries in general. But I, personally and in light of this imaginary tale, complain to Hitler, even saying to him from the bottom of my heart, "If only you had done it, brother, if only it had really happened, so that the world could sigh in relief [without] their evil and sin."

Often, however, enthusiasm for the Holocaust is expressed unvarnished. In 1961, when the trial of Adolf Eichmann dominated the headlines, such enthusiasm became evident for the first time. The Jordanian Jerusalem Times published an "Open Letter to Eichmann," which stated: "By liquidating six million you have... conferred a real blessing on humanity...

But the brave Eichmann can find solace in the fact that this trial will one day culminate in the liquidation of the remaining six million to avenge your blood." Arab writers such as Abdullah al-Tall eulogized "the martyr Eichmann," "who fell in the Holy War." In her book Eichmann in Jerusalem, Hannah Arendt summarized the mood in the Arab world:

The newspapers in Damascus and Beirut, in Cairo and Jordan did not conceal either their sympathy for Eichmann or their regret that he "did not finish the job"; a radio broadcast from Cairo on the opening day of the trial even included a little sideswipe at the Germans, reproaching them for the fact that "in the last war, no German plane had ever flown over and bombed a Jewish settlement."

This heartfelt desire to see all Jews exterminated was reiterated in the Egyptian daily Al-Akhbar in April 2001 by the columnist Ahmad Ragab: "[Give] thanks to Hitler. He took revenge on the Israelis in advance, on behalf of the Palestinians. Our one complaint against him was that his revenge was not complete enough."

Obviously, from a logical point of view, enthusiasm for the Holocaust is incompatible with its denial. Logic, however, is beside the point. Anti-Semitism is built upon an emotional infrastructure that substitutes for reason an ephemeral combination of mutually exclusive attributions, all arising from hatred of everything Jewish. As a result, many contradictory anti-Jewish interpretations of the Holocaust can be deployed simultaneously: (1) the extermination of millions was a good thing; (2) the extermination of millions was a Zionist fabrication; (3) the Holocaust resulted from a Jewish conspiracy against Germany that Hitler thwarted and punished; (4) the Holocaust was a joint enterprise of the Zionists and Nazis; (5) the Zionists' "Holocaust industry" exaggerates the murder of the Jews for self-interested reasons; (6) Israeli actions against the Palestinians are the "true" Holocaust--and so on.

We are dealing here with a parallel universe in which the reality principle is ignored, and blatantly contradictory fantasies about Jews all have their place so long as they serve to reinforce anti-Semitic paranoia and hatred: a universe in which the laws of reason have been abolished and all mental energy is harnessed to the cause of anti- Semitism.

Amid the confusion, this universe is characterized by two constants: the refusal to come to terms with the facts of the Holocaust as it actually took place; and a willingness to find in the Holocaust a source of encouragement and inspiration, a precedent proving that it is possible to murder Jews by the million. This is why the precise content of Ahmadinejad's Holocaust tirades is not the issue. He is obsessed with the subject because he is fascinated by the possibility of a second Holocaust.

Why, then, did Ahmadinejad repeatedly and publicly embrace the ultra-orthodox Jews at the conference? Why did he personally greet every Jew present and say that "Zionism should be strictly separated from the Jewish faith"? Let us take a look at modern anti-Semitism in Iran.

Ahmadinejad and the Jews

Ahmadinejad's great inspiration, the Ayatollah Khomeini, not only recognized the mobilizing power of anti- Semitism in the struggle against the shah, he made use of it himself, as far back as the 1960s. "I know that you do not want Iran to lie under the boots of the Jews," he cried out to his supporters on April 13, 1963. That same year, he called the shah a Jew in disguise and accused him of taking orders from Israel. This drew a huge response from the public. Khomeini had found his theme.

Khomeini's biographer Amir Taheri writes: "The Ayatollah was by now convinced that the central political theme of contemporary life was an elaborate and highly complex conspiracy by the Jews--'who controlled everything'--to 'emasculate Islam' and dominate the world thanks to the natural wealth of the Muslim nations." When in June 1963 thousands of Khomeini-influenced theology students set off to Tehran for a demonstration and were brutally stopped by the shah's security forces, Khomeini channeled all their anger toward the Jewish nation: "Israel does not want the Koran to survive in this country... It is destroying us. It is destroying you and the nation. It wants to take possession of the economy. It wants to demolish our trade and agriculture. It wants to grab the wealth of the country."

After the Six Day War of 1967, the anti-Semitic agitation, which drew no distinction between Jews and Israelis, intensified. "[1]t was [the Jews] who first established anti-Islamic propaganda and engaged in various stratagems, and as you can see, this activity continues down to the present," Khomeini wrote in 1970 in his principal work, Islamic Government. "[T]he Jews... wish to establish Jewish domination throughout the world. Since they are a cunning and resourceful group of people, I fear that... they may one day achieve their goal." Then in September 1977, he declared, "The Jews have grasped the world with both hands and are devouring it with an insatiable appetite, they are devouring America and have now turned their attention to Iran and still they are not satisfied." Two years later, Khomeini was the unchallenged leader of the Iranian revolution.

Khomeini's anti-Semitic attacks found favor with the opponents of the shah, both leftists and Islamists. His anti- Semitism ran along the same lines as The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, the turn-of-the-century hoax beloved of the Nazis that purports to expose a Jewish conspiracy to rule the world. The Protocols was published in Persian in the summer of 1978 and was widely disseminated as a weapon against the shah, Israel, and the Jews. In 1984, the newspaper Imam, published by the Iranian embassy in London, printed excerpts from The Protocols. In 1985, Iranian state authorities did a mass printing of a new edition. Somewhat later, the periodical Eslami serialized The Protocols under the title "The Smell of Blood: Jewish Conspiracies."

Just two years ago, in 2005, at the Iranian booth at the Frankfurt Book Fair, I was readily able to buy an English edition of The Protocols published by the Islamic Propagation Organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Other anti-Semitic classics were also available, such as Henry Ford's The International Jew and Mohammad Taqi Taqipour's screed Tale of the "Chosen People" and the Legend of "Historical Right." The cover of the latter volume caught my eye: a red Star of David superimposed over a grey skull and a yellow map of the world. Obviously, even after the death of Khomeini in 1989, the worldwide dissemination of anti-Semitism by Iran continued.

The fact that 25,000 Jews now live in Iran, making it the largest Jewish community in a Muslim country, is not incompatible with the foregoing. The Jews in Iran are made clearly to feel their subordinate Dhimmi status. Thus, they are not allowed to occupy higher positions than Muslims and so are disqualified from the leading ranks in politics and the military. They are not allowed to serve as witnesses in court, and Jewish schools must be managed by Muslims and stay open on the Sabbath. Books in the Hebrew language are forbidden. Up to the present, the regime, which has time and again published anti-Semitic texts and caricatures, has prevented such hate-mongering from resulting in violence against Jews. Nevertheless, the combination of incitement and restraint leaves the Jewish community in a state of permanent insecurity. Today, the Jewish community serves Ahmadinejad not only as an alibi in his power game, but also increasingly as a deterrent: In the event of an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities, this community would find itself hostage and vulnerable to acts of reprisal.

Irrespective of the leeway that Ahmadinejad has, for the time being, left the Iranian Jews, his rhetoric is steeped in an anti-Semitism that is unprecedented for a state leader since World War II. Ahmadinejad does not say "Jews" are conspiring to rule the world. He says, "Two thousand Zionists want to rule the world." He says, "The Zionists" have for 60 years now blackmailed "all Western governments." "The Zionists have imposed themselves on a substantial portion of the banking, financial, cultural, and media sectors." "The Zionists" fabricated the Danish Muhammad cartoons. "The Zionists" are responsible for the destruction of the dome of the Golden Mosque in Iraq.

The pattern is familiar. Ahmadinejad is not a racist social Darwinist who, Hitler-like, wants to eliminate every last trace of "Jewish blood." The term "half-Jew" is not used in Islamist discourse. But he invests the word "Zionist" with exactly the same meaning Hitler poured into "Jew": the incarnation of evil.

The Iranian regime can court the Jewish Israel- haters of Neturei Karta all it wants, but anyone who makes Jews responsible for the ills of the world--whether calling them Judas or Zionists--is clearly driven by an anti- Semitism of genocidal potential. Demonization of Jews, Holocaust denial, and the will to eliminate Israel--these are the three elements of an ideological constellation that collapses as soon as any one of them is removed.

Ahmadinejad inhabits a delusional world that is sealed off from reality. The louder the liberal West protests against Holocaust denial or the Islamists' demands for the destruction of Israel, the more conviced Ahmadinejad becomes of Zionist domination. In a conversation with the editors of the German newsweekly Der Spiegel, the Iranian president reacted as follows to the remark that the magazine does not question Israel's right to exist: "I am glad that you are honest people and say that you are required to support the Zionists." Only when we too finally realize that the Holocaust is a Jewish lie--only when we too want to annihilate Israel--only then will Ahmadinejad be convinced that we are academically credible and politically free. It is this lunacy that makes the revolutionary mission of the Iranian leadership so dangerous.

Which brings us to the question of the broader significance of Iranian Holocaust denial. The Islamist mission is by no means restricted to Israel.

"Historical War"

In his first speech on the guiding principles of his politics, Ahmadinejad made this clear: "We are in the process of an historical war,... and this war has been going on for hundreds of years," he declared in October 2005. This is a war, then, that is not fundamentally about the Middle East conflict and will not end with the elimination of Israel. He continued: "We have to understand the depth of the disgrace of the enemy, until our holy hatred expands continuously and strikes like a wave." This "holy hatred" is boundless and unconditional. It will not be mitigated by any form of Jewish or non-Jewish conduct--other than subordination to sharia and the Koran.

In his letter to George W. Bush, the Iranian president described his objective: "Those with insight can already hear the sounds of the shattering and fall of the ideology and thoughts of the liberal democratic systems." The letter also tells how the liberal democracies will be shattered. Even here (if slightly diluted), the ideology of martyrdom--You love life, we love death--is propagated: "A bad ending belongs only to those who have chosen the life of this world... A good land and eternal paradise belong to those servants who fear His majesty and do not follow their lascivious selves."

Shiite Islamism confronts us with an adversary who reviles the achievements of modernity as Satan's work, who denounces the international system created after 1945 as a "Jewish-Christian conspiracy," and who therefore wishes to overturn the accepted historiography of the postwar period. At the start of the Holocaust deniers' conference, Foreign Minister Mottaki explained that the problem is the "wording of historical occurrences and their analysis [are written from] the perspective of the West." As against this "Western" historiography, Islamism wants to create a new historical "truth," in which the Holocaust is declared a myth, while the Twelfth Imam is deemed real. Whereas the delusional worldview of Holocaust denial is elevated to the norm, any deviation from it is denounced as a symptom of "Jewish domination."

Even as he is conducting his religious war, Ahmadinejad is also playing the role of a global populist. He addresses his speeches to all the world's "oppressed." He cultivates good relations with Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez and ingratiates himself with the Western left by using anti-American rhetoric. His use of the word "Zionist" is strategic. It is the Trojan horse by which he makes his anti-Semitism respectable, allowing him to be at once an anti-Semite and Holocaust denier and the ultimate spokesman for the "oppressed nations."

Of course, Iran would not have to rely on Holocaust denial to pursue its strategic objectives. Yet Ahmadinejad insists on the point, in order to provide ideological undergirding to his push to destroy Israel. He also speculates that this project might win the approval of the Europeans. After all, in Europe the delegitimization of Israel has been going on for some time--if for different reasons. Recently the BBC organized a symposium on the question of whether Israel would still exist in 50 years. In a poll taken four years ago in the E.U., 59 percent saw Israel as "the biggest danger to world peace." Even in the United States, a growing number of intellectuals are convinced that Israel and its American supporters are the real source of the problems facing American foreign policy.

The alarm cannot be sounded loudly enough. If Iran is not put under pressure without delay and forced to choose between changing course and suffering devastating economic sanctions, the only remaining alternatives will be a bad one--the military option--and a dreadful one--the Iranian bomb.

Mordechai Ben-Menachem is at Ben-Gurion University. He can be reached by email at quality@computer.org

To Go To Top

MORE THAT A FEW ROTTEN APPLES
Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, February 20, 2007.

Several times Member of Knesset Uzi Landau has put himself up as a candidate for Prime Minister but regrettably, each time he withdrew his candidacy so another candidate seemingly more popular with the party hacks of Likud would stand a beter chance. I proposed at the time that Landau run on the theme of "One Honest Man".

Unfortunately, "One Honest Man" is insufficient for the Party Hacks of the Central Committee and the people who have no real voice in electing a Prime Minister. Whether on the Right or Left, the system stinks like a barrel of fish left to rot in the sun.

Israel desperately needs "One Honest Man" at the top to clean out the stench of years in politics, the judiciary, police -- even the military and intelligence both politicized to serve political masters. The stink of crooked politicians, police, army officers and secret police selected for P.C. (Political Correctness) has cast a pall over the entire nation. Once the people of Israel were patriotic, but now people no longer admire their government and now distrust the police. They also are appalled at the Activist Supreme Court which promotes a Leftist agenda. The country needs an old fashioned revolution replete with a Peoples' Court as in the French Revolution.

Minister of Internal Security Avi Dichter appointed Mickey Levy to replace Karadi's Deputy Benny Kaniak which keeps the dishonor of the Police alive and well!

This article was written by Caroline Glick and is called "More than a few rotten apples." It appeared in the Jerusalem Post 2/20/07.

"The mafia brings people into the police and they act as [the mafia's] servants...The people in the police are afraid of nothing. A person who can take a half-a-million shekels inside a police station and not report it is someone who couldn't care less and fears nothing. A police like this cannot endure."

Thus spake retired district judge Vardi Zeiler Sunday morning. Zeiler's indictment of the police came as he presented the findings of the state commission he led which investigated allegations of police and prosecutorial mishandling of organized crime investigations and of police collusion with the Perinian crime family.

Hours after the Zeiler Commission published its report, housecleaning in the police high command had already begun in earnest. Insp.-Gen. Moshe Karadi announced his resignation. An hour later, Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter announced he was appointing Prison Service Chief Warden Yaakov Ganot to replace Karadi and former Jerusalem District Commander Mickey Levy to replace Karadi's deputy Benny Kaniak.

In explaining his decision, Dichter said, "I have reached the conclusion that in order to undertake policy changes, and especially in order to improve the performance of the 28,000 officers and men serving in the police, I must place a different high command at the helm of the organization."

Praising Dichter's appointments, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that Ganot and Levy "can lead the Israel Police to achievements and successes in preserving the rule of law, public order and the provision of personal security to every citizen."

Both Olmert and Dichter spoke of the urgent need to restore public faith in the police and promised that with its new commanders the police force is embarking on a new path that makes it worthy of the public's trust.

UNFORTUNATELY, Dichter's command appointments do not inspire faith that the police force will reform itself. Moreover, there is no reason to expect that simple replacement of senior commanders will suffice to fix what is clearly broken in the police force specifically, or in the public sector generally.

In 1994 Ganot was indicted for taking bribes. Although he was found innocent of criminal wrongdoing, the facts that led to his indictment -- which are apparently undisputed -- cast doubt on his fitness to serve as the chief of police.

While serving as the police commander of the Northern District, Ganot accepted unusually cheap contracting estimates for home improvements from a contractor whose base of operations was within Ganot's geographical command. It is true that the state prosecutors failed to prove their contention that in hiring the contractor Ganot had accepted a bribe. But in behaving as he did, Ganot displayed at worst contempt, and at best an inexcusable misunderstanding of what it means to be a public servant.

Levy's past service record contains an even more disturbing blot. In 1994, while serving as the commander of the Jerusalem Police station, Levy led his men in dispersing a legal demonstration against the Oslo process organized by the right-wing advocacy group Women in Green. As his men violently dispersed the non-violent, law-abiding demonstrators, Levy brutally attacked Women in Green leader Nadia Matar. After attacking her, Levy arrested her and filed a criminal complaint accusing Matar of attacking him.

In a bit of bum luck for Levy, a Channel 2 camera crew filmed the episode. The film clearly showed Levy assaulting Matar as she passively resisted arrest for leading a licensed, legal protest.

Acting on Levy's false testimony, the state prosecution opened criminal proceedings against Matar. After Matar's attorney entered the Channel 2 footage as exculpatory evidence, the presiding judge advised the state prosecution to withdraw the complaint. It did so only after Levy testified under oath that Matar had assaulted him.[*]

LAST YEAR, in its preliminary findings, the Zeiler Commission issued warnings to the former head of the Police Investigations Department and current State Attorney Eran Shendar and his successor at PID, Herzl Spiro, for what the commission viewed as undue willingness to close its criminal investigation against police Commander Yoram Levy for his documented untoward relationship with the Perinian crime family.

In Matar's case, after the prosecution withdrew its charges, her attorney filed a request for the PID to open a criminal investigation of Mickey Levy on suspicion of assault and perjury. Here, in a manner disturbingly similar to his refusal to pursue the investigation of Yoram Levy, Shendar claimed that in spite of the Jerusalem police station commander's prima facie false testimony against Matar and the film evidence of his brutality, there was insufficient evidence to indict him.

Both Ganot's and Levy's past records raise serious questions about the reasonableness of their appointments. Yet Shendar's failure to properly investigate Levy on the one hand and Dichter's willingness to appoint Ganot and Levy in spite of their problematic records on the other indicates that the problems that afflict the police in general and the public sector generally will not go away with the shake-up of the police high command. Those problems, as former internal security minister Uzi Landau puts it, are "systemic" and cannot be reduced to a few rotten apples here and there that need to be removed.

That systemic problem is not one of lawlessness so much as propriety. In a disturbingly large number of cases the Israel police, like its counterparts in the state prosecution, has forgotten that its status as public servant does not render it a privileged class above the "unwashed masses" who pay their salaries.

AND HERE we arrive at the wider systemic problem that Landau referred to. It is the same systemic flaw that caused the Zeiler Commission to be formed and the same problem that fomented the establishment of the Winograd Committee, whose investigation of the government's and IDF's conduct of last summer's war with Hizbullah is due to be completed next month.

For the past decade or so, Israel's elites in the public sector and in the media have repeatedly drawn an unsubstantiated distinction between professional bureaucrats and politicians. The former are upheld as incorruptible and upright while the latter have been decried as incompetent, unprofessional and inherently corrupt. This absurd distinction has engendered the view that our bureaucrats can do no wrong while our politicians can do no right.

And this is the heart of the matter.

Whether a person is fit to serve or not has far less to do with his resumé than with his character. This is as true of so-called professional bureaucrats as it is of so-called politicians. In the case of the police, what men like Karadi, Ganot and both Levys, like Shendar and Spiro, lack is not professional qualifications, but integrity.

IN SHARP contrast, at the same moment that the disgraced professional Karadi announced his resignation, a purely political meeting in Tel Aviv took place that showed politics at its best.

At Likud party headquarters a group of Likud Central Committee members attempted to convince Uzi Landau to return to the Knesset. Landau failed to be reelected in last year's general elections largely because he refused to abandon his convictions.

Rather than close ranks around then party leader and prime minister Ariel Sharon, Landau led the internal Likud campaign against Sharon's withdrawal and expulsion plan from Gaza and northern Samaria. Now he is in line to reenter the Knesset to fill the seat being vacated by MK Dan Naveh, who has decided to leave politics in order to take a high-paying job in the private sector.

The Likud Central Committee has for years been portrayed by the media as the most corrupt enclave in Israeli society. Its members are castigated as hacks who, to a man, care nothing for the public welfare or the good of the state and are motivated only by an unquenchable appetite for political jobs and graft.

Yet, lo and behold, as the police force was dismembering itself on live television, these supposedly wholly corrupt Neanderthals were imploring one of the most ideologically driven and competent politicians in Israel to drop what he is doing and return to the Knesset for the good of the party and the country.

Unfortunately for both the party and the nation, Landau rejected their pleas. No, he has not abandoned his efforts to serve the country in favor of a lucrative private sector job. After leaving the Knesset last year Landau founded a non-profit organization called "Beautiful Country" that seeks to reinforce the general public's Zionist ideals by organizing subsidized nature hikes and tours of the country, and public lectures for people who are little involved in the issues of the day.

As he explained, Landau doesn't feel right abandoning the project now, before he has gotten it fully operational. In the next elections, he promised, he will think about running again if the party is still interested.

THE CONTRAST between the political meeting with Landau, the politician, and the spectacle of the professional police disgrace makes a point that is crucial that Israeli society understand if we wish to truly solve our systemic problems. Israel has many honest public employees, and it has many dishonest politicians. So too, it has many dishonest and disgraceful public employees and many honorable and admirable politicians.

The challenge of our times is not to find a way to get the so-called professionals to oversee politics. Our central challenge is to ensure that our public servants in both appointed and elected office are honest and good people who have our best interests at heart.
 

[*] More information from Arutz-7 (www.IsraelNationalNews.com) by Nadia Matar, Feb. 20, 2007:

Matar: Police Not Headed in Right Direction
by Hillel Fendel

Nadia Matar, co-chair and founder of the nationalist grassroots organization Women in Green, recalls a demonstration she organized 13 years ago protesting the Oslo Accords -- and in which she was brutally arrested by then-Deputy Jerusalem District Commander Mickey Levy. Levy accused her of attacking him, but when a film of the event was later produced showing the opposite, the charges against her were abruptly withdrawn. Matar now asks that State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss block the expected appointment of Levy as Israel's new Deputy Police Commander. In a letter to Lindenstrauss, Matar asks that he investigate Levy's past, noting that Levy "faced a disciplinary trial in the Bureau for Investigations Against Policemen for perjury -- but was strangely acquitted [despite the film]." The video can be viewed in today's Arutz-7 article:
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/121621

In her letter to Comptroller Lindenstrauss, Matar writes, "Public Security Minister Avi Dichter says that the new appointments [to the police force, following the resignation of Commissioner Moshe Karadi and firing of two others after a corruption investigation] will lead the police along a new path. Given Levy's behavior and the cover-up by the police organs of his criminal acts, I ask you: Aren't these new appointments actually a continuation of the old corrupt ways? If the police truly want to clean up and start fresh, a man like Mickey Levy cannot be appointed to such a high position."

The incident in question occurred in 1994 outside the Supreme Court in Jerusalem. Hearings were being held there regarding the killing of 29 Arabs by Baruch Goldstein, and possibly others, in the Machpelah Cave several weeks earlier. Several Women in Green members -- fewer than the 49 that would have required a special police permit -- gathered to protest the fact that Arab deaths were being investigated, but not Jewish ones.

"Since the Oslo Process began [six months ago]," Matar called out to the small crowd, "33 Israelis have been murdered -- yet no one is answering our call to investigate why." She then began to read aloud the names of the murdered, when suddenly she was beset upon by Commander Levy and other policemen. The video shows that she attacked no one, but that Levy and other policemen pulled and shoved her brutally; a woman in the crowd is heard crying out, "Are you sick, hitting women like that!" Matar later told Arutz-7 that this was Women in Green's first encounter with the police: "We had just been founded several months earlier, and we had weekly rallies -- but we didn't seem to get any media attention. Then we realized that if the media didn't come to us, we would go to them. So when the Goldstein investigation happened, with all the attention it gathered, we moved our protest to there as well -- and that's why Channel Two was able to film what happened to us."

"The police were determined to disperse the rally," Matar said, "even though a license is only required for a protest of 49 people or more... Soon, a police van pulled up, and out jumped Mickey Levy. He attacked me, and violently dragged me to the van. My mother-in-law, too [Women in Green co-founder Ruth Matar], was stricken, and fainted from the attack... I was later charged with physically assaulting a police officer, with Levy lying and claiming in court that I had hit him. Fortunately, a Channel Two news crew was on hand at the demonstration and we were able to get the video that clearly showed Levy's violent treatment of me."

Nadia's trial on charges of "assaulting a police officer" soon got underway, but two years later, in March 1996, just as her defense was to begin, the Police Department and the prosecutor's office suddenly decided to withdraw the charges against her. She expressed disappointment at the time, saying that she would now be unable to prove that she herself was attacked by Levy.

Several months later, however, then-Attorney General Elyakim Rubenstein recommended that Levy face police disciplinary charges -- of which he was later "strangely acquitted," Matar writes, despite the movie clip.

The Israel Channel 2 video discussed in Caroline Glick's article clearly shows Officer Mickey Levy brutally attacking Nadia Matar at a legal, quiet vigil. The video can be viewed in today's Arutz-7 article: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/121621

Emanuel Winston is a commentator and Middle East analyst. His articles appear often on Think-Israel and Gamla. He is a member of the Board of Directors and a research associate of the Freeman Center For Strategic Studies (http://www.freeman.org/online.htm). Contact him at gwinston@gwinston.interaccess.com

To Go To Top

ISRAELI RULE OF LAWYERS
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, February 20, 2007.

ISRAELI RULE OF LAW BECOMING RULE OF LAWYERS

The Attorney-General is making another power grab. Now he assumes control over the Prime Minister's powers, asserting that he would overturn decisions by PM Olmert if he thinks they conflict with the criminal investigation of Olmert. The appointed Attorney-General is not accountable, the elected PM is. The danger to Israel is to be ruled by lawyers, ones who enforce the law selectively, at that.

The prosecutors claim they merely are protecting the rule of law. Actually, they are advancing their agenda (one of which is anti-Zionism). They managed to seize the appointment of the Attorney-General from the government, by having the applicants vetted by a committee of unelected lawyers. The same thing is done by for the Supreme Court if not also other levels of judges.

Having uniformity of view, the prosecutors enforce laws selectively, according to that ideology. They are lenient to favored groups and severe towards groups out of favor. One favored group is the hundreds of gangs of Beduin thieves, who have ended the rule of law in the Negev. Only 15% of the population, they account for 60% of the crime, there. They have squatted on thousands of acres of state land. Then they demand that the state provide them with water and electricity. They cut power lines and water pipes, cellular telephone antennas, and break into businesses, then offer "protection." They also engage in highway robbery. Jews now must travel in convoys at night or in bullet-proof buses. Rustling of livestock, trees, and greenhouses has more than doubled over 2005.

"According to Israeli criminal law, 'A person will not be criminally liable for an act that was immediately necessary in order to prevent an unlawful attack that involved clear danger to his life, his liberty, his body or his property, or that of others.'" The farmer who shot a notorious Bedouin robber leading a gang that had just poisoned his dogs, which preceded the other three times they stole his herd, is being prosecuted for manslaughter. Why?

Could be that prosecutors are afraid of the Bedouin. Probably the bias is political, since the lead prosecutors are far leftists. They don't protect the rule of law in the Negev, so why believe they are doing so with PM Olmert? (IMRA, 1/23.) They keep hold over crooked PMs by suspending strong prosecution. They condone police brutality against observant Jews in Yesha.

Who will clean out of prosecution the far leftists and reform the system, and clear Bedouin off the stolen land and crack down on their criminality? Foreign critics inhibit Israeli self-defense.

In later news, the robbed farmer was ordered into house arrest far from his farm. Who will protect his farm, now? We don't hear that the three robbers who escaped were arrested. Only the Jewish victim is punished, in Israel -- Israel, the anti-Jewish state.

MUSLIMS INDOCTRINATE KIDS AS "HUMANITARIAN" WORK

NGO Monitor contrasts NGOs' malicious actions with NGO statements of noble purpose. Under cover of humanitarian work and objectives, NGOs support jihad or defame Israel. One such NGO is the Palestine Children's Welfare Fund. It exploits children's issues so as to promote radical conflict. Thus a children's drawing contest gave awards to entries that depicted hatred of Israel.

The Fund sued NGO Monitor and allied groups for defamation of character and damages, when they linked it to Islamist terrorism. The Texas Court found his suit a "morass of vitriolic accusations" that had "no basis in law." The Court ordered plaintiff to pay $60,000 in costs and $1000 to each defendant for his violation of court orders. The court did not let itself be used to silence legitimate criticism (IMRA, 1/23). Criticism of promoters of radical conflict is humanitarian.

ANTI-ZIONISTS INFILTRATE ZIONIST ORGANIZATION

The Israel on Campus Coalition was formed by Jewish groups in the US to counteract anti-Zionist propaganda. One of the members of the coalition, the Union of Progressive Zionists, has been sponsoring a campus program that falsely and harshly accuses Israel of human rights abuses against the Palestinian-Arabs. Its program "omits historical facts, provides no balance or context, and promotes outright falsehoods about Israel.

"Examples identified by the American Jewish Congress from the Progressive's web site demonstrate how the program demonizes and incites hatred of Israel. Israel is condemned for its alleged 'violence and law-flouting.' The IDF is condemned for supposedly ordering its soldiers 'to shoot to kill unarmed people without fear of reprimand.'...And Jewish settlers purportedly 'inflict the purest evil on their neighbors.'" (Actually, the Arabs do those things and the IDF inhibits its troops.)

The Progressives don't belong in a Zionist organization. When ZOA proposed expelling the Progressives, however, it lost the vote (IMRA, 1/23).

MESSAGE FROM THE P.A.'S COALITION GOVERNMENT

The head of the new Hamas-Fatah coalition government said it would not stop fighting Israel and start recognizing it (IMRA, 2/12).

Thought Fatah would exercise a "moderate influence?" The coalition is just a ruse to serve as a pretext for renewed foreign aid.

Richard Shulman is a veteran defender of Israel on several web-based forums. His comments and analyses appear often on Think-Israel. He provides cool information and right-on-target overviews. He distributes his essays by email. To subscribe, write him at richardshulman5@verizon.net

To Go To Top

ANOTHER SLICK RICE ILLUSION
Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, February 20, 2007.

We keep reading and hearing reports in the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, FOX and CNN<> to the effect that the U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, having met with Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas is awaiting the positions of Hamas and Fatah in their transition into a Unity Government. Early reports indicate that this is irrelevant because Hamas has already re-stated their position of NOT accepting Israel on any terms. Abbas (aka Abu Mazen) said that "Israel need not talk to Hamas and only he will talk to Israel." (1 & 2) Presumably, Abbas will talk-the-talk that the State Department will put on his tongue and the State Department will call that "sufficient".

Rice and the unholy Quartet (U.S. State Department, the European Union, U.N. and Russia, keeps repeating their mantra that Hamas must accept all prior agreements the PLO made with Israel Given the incontrovertible fact that ALL of those prior agreements were broken either by Yassir Arafat and later by Abbas -- to what exactly is Hamas supposed to adhere? The language embodied in those agreements or the broken agreements following their signing?

Hamas could easily accept the actual facts as written in the now broken agreements and, thereby, meet the convoluted terms of Rice, the Quartet and then accepted by the current consummate fool of a Prime Minister -- Ehud Olmert.

Think about Oslo, for example. Almost all, if not every line of the Oslo Accords was broken by Arafat within hours or days of its signing September 13, 1993 on the White House lawn. That failed agreement snaked through the secret labyrinth of Rabin, Peres, and Beilin machinations with Norway and other nations playing a secret role. That agreement shattered like the broken glass of "Kristallnacht". It was formatted so poorly that it was designed to shatter like glass and thus be acceptable to Arafat -- according to the planning by Shimon Peres and Yossi Beilin.

For Rice to demand that Hamas and Fatah keep such a broken set of agreements is a badly conceived sham. When you review the so-called agreements of Oslo 1 and 2, you can see that, with cold deliberation, Arafat with his advisor Mahmoud Abbas, broke every line, every jot and tittle, of the Oslo Accords. In essence, there is no Agreement in the Oslo Accords and, in practice, there never was such an Agreement. But, if Rice can string together some nonsense words like: "Hamas recognizes Israel but doesn't see her", would that allow the donor money of American tax-payers' dollars to flow once again?

When one sees the thousands of convicted terrorists released in other agreements, here too, the Agreements were broken from day one as most of the terrorists went back to their old units to begin terror again and/or to teach terror. Yet, we see Olmert, at the behest of Rice, contemplating the release of more than a thousand imprisoned terrorists, including Marwan Bargouti who is serving 5 life sentences for murder. All of the tried and convicted Muslim Arab terrorists either have Jewish blood on their hands or were convicted of attempting the murder of Jews.

Once again the Agreements with Muslim Arab Palestinian or other Arabs generally is a non-starter. The pretense by Rice and/or the Quartet that there were binding standing agreements that were honored is merely a sham.

It has been repeated that Rice is willing to hold talks only with Abbas, despite the fact that he is now to be an organic part of Hamas under the guise of a Unity Government. Translate that to mean that Rice and the State Department with approval by President Bush, will be funneling millions into Fatah with a money tunnel branching off to Hamas -- now called the "Unity Government". On January 31, 2007 Bush oversaw a gift to Hamas of $86 million American tax-payers' dollars.(3) Did Bush forget that several weeks ago, Abbas called on supporters in his Fatah faction to turn their guns on Israel instead of fellow Palestinians? (4) This was only small change compared to the hundreds of millions to be spent on training and equipping the 60,000+ man army for the Hamas/Fatah Unity Government.

Translate that to mean that Bush has taken on the obligation in the name of all Americans to fund the Palestinian terrorist army long into the future. Bush and Rice have already begun funding and arming Arafat's old guard (Force 17). Remember that in Khartoum February 1973 the leader of Arafat's Force 17 commanded the Black September Terror operatives when they executed U.S. Ambassador Cleo Noél, U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission George Moore and the Belgian charges d'affaires, Guy Eid -- on orders recorded from Yassir Arafat. (5)

All of this was revealed to the State Department but, they kept on paying Arafat to maintain his Army of Terrorists and his Force 17 Presidential Guard. In effect, the Arabist U.S. State Department became co-conspirators in the murders of Ambassador Noél, Moore and Eid by protecting Arafat with silence. Whoever was responsible in the State Department, all of them, should have gone to jail as accessories to murder and for treason

Come on, Ms. Rice, we are not that stupid to ignore this trick..again...or are we?

Even if a Palestinian State is created with false, unenforceable agreements how long before all agreements are broken and Israel is hit by a saturation missile attack from Judea and Samaria which under control of those "good ole boys" the formerly-imprisoned terrorists who insist that they are Palestinians and should own ALL of Palestine. Remember, they claim ALL of what was British Mandatory Palestine. Their maps claim for a future State cover ALL of the Jewish State of Israel -- which seems consistent with State Department desires since 1947.

Let us conclude with what has been told to President Bush by scholars who specialize in Muslim behavior, tradition and further supported by what he has learned in Iraq and Afghanistan. Moreover, he has a resident scholar in Condoleezza Rice who advised him earlier as an expert in Russia which had Muslim nations as connected nations.

What they all know is that Muslims can make agreements, treaties, even business arrangements -- all of which can and often will be abandoned with or without notice. This is their obligation to the Koran and Islam which they are taught from birth to death. Agreements with infidels (non-believers in Islam) must also follow the way of Mohammed as specified in the "Hadith" (oral teachings) which includes making false, short term agreements with non-believers for the benefit of Islam and Allah.

They may lie, kill, cheat, break any and all agreements if the Muslim believes it inures to the growth and spread of Islam. In fact, agreements with "infidels" must be broken at a time not to exceed 10 years. (This is based upon the Hudaybiya Treaty which Mohammed made as a peace treaty with the Jewish tribe of Qurayza. He broke it when he was militarily stronger, returned, killed the men of the Qurayza by beheading, sold the women and children into slavery. Shortly after the Oslo Accords were signed Yassir Arafat, speaking in Arabic to his followers, said Oslo would be like the Hudaybiya Treaty -- null and void in 10 years.)

If a Muslim swears an oath on a Koran, he is swearing to NOT follow that oath IF it is any law or agreement with an "infidel". Therefore, such agreements with Israel or America are "null and void" -- even as they are being committed to by America or Israel. Signatures on documents may as well be signed in disappearing ink because both the signature and the meaning fades in moments.

The Muslims will seem to keep the spirit and the specifics as long as it benefits them and Islam. The two most obvious dupes (or dopes) are the Americans and Israelis. American soldiers have learned this in Iraq as they train Muslims to fight alongside them, only to find they have either informed the terrorists of where the soldiers will be or the Iraqi soldiers might shoot their American partners in the back on joint patrols.

Rice, Bush and the State Department know all of this and yet they foist these agreements on Israel. Not exactly a vote a confidence in the ethics and trustworthiness of an ally who puts you at risk knowingly.

Currently, Ms. Rice has tripped over to Jordan where she will meet King Abdullah of Jordan, along with Saudi representatives. Presumably, they are planning some method to legitimize the coming Unity Government of Hamas and Fatah previously cooked up in Mecca, no doubt, with State Department planning.

I can hardly wait to see how the lies are dressed up as "peace-making" -- including the release of donor funds to Unified Terrorists, Inc. and including the release of those convicted Terrorists.

###

Please note the following paragraphs reprinted from our article of February 18th, entitled: "RICE GIVES NORTH KOREA A PASS" These particular paragraphs do not deal with North Korea, but with the Hamas and Fatah "Talks" in Mecca under Saudi invitation":

"Well, Hamas and Abbas just had "Talks" in Mecca under Saudi invitation and after much self congratulations of creating a Unity Government, Hamas came back with new demands. Rice, at the behest of her Boss, is desperate for anything that looks like a set of Peace Talks between Hamas/Fatah and Olmert's weak and-about-to-fall government...

"After months of bloody virtual civil war between Hamas and Fatah, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya submitted his resignation to assist in the sham formation of a Unity Government and Abbas immediately asks him to form that new government. Their "trick" is to open up the door for the U.S. and E.U. to resume the paying donor monies in the billions to the Muslim Arab Palestinians because this is a "new" government...(6)..

"However, none of this sham agreement requires Fatah and Hamas to honor the prior mandated obligations, namely, recognize Israel, cease terror and no agreement to the returns of relatives, of so-called refugees to Israel, numbering in the millions...

"The Mecca deal brokered by the Saudi King Abdullah between the Fatah and Hamas was DOA (Dead On Arrival) but Rice, Olmert and LIvni are trying to resuscitate a corpse and make it walk around in a charade of good health. Haniya of Hamas has said openly that he will not recognize Israel's right to exist; he won't disarm; nor will he accept any of the previous agreements such as Oslo...he will "respect" them. Period."

Footnotes

1. "Rice Tries to Hold Together Her Plan for Mideast Talks" by Helene Cooper New York Times February 19, 2007

2. "Cloud Over Mideast Talks" by Joel Greenberg Chicago Tribune February 19, 2007

3. "Bush Gives $86 Million Transferred to Abbas" January 31, 2007
http://www.cncnews,.com/ViewForeginBureaus.asp?Page= /For...01/INT20070131c.html & forum.military.com/eve/ forums/a/tpc/f/409192893/m/958004101001

4. "Bush Orders $86 Million Transferred to Abbas" Jan. 31, 2007
http://www.cnsnews.com/ForeignBureaus/Archive/200701/INT20070112a.html

5. "How Arafat Got Away with Murder" by Scott W. Johnson Weekly Standard Jan. 29, 2007

6. "RICE GIVES NORTH KOREA A PASS" by Emanuel A. Winston February 18, 2007

Emanuel Winston is a commentator and Middle East analyst. His articles appear often on Think-Israel and Gamla. He is a member of the Board of Directors and a research associate of the Freeman Center For Strategic Studies (http://www.freeman.org/online.htm). Contact him at gwinston@gwinston.interaccess.com

To Go To Top

CAN THE SAUDIS BUY OFF RADICALISM
Posted by Barry Rubin, February 20, 2007.

Is the main struggle in the Middle East today between radicals and moderates or between Sunni and Shia Muslims? The United States puts the emphasis on the former while Saudi Arabia stresses the latter idea.

This is how to put into context the Saudi effort to mend the violent conflict between the two main Palestinian groups, nationalist Fatah and Islamist Hamas. The Saudis want to steal (or perhaps one should say "buy") Hamas away from Iran and Syria, which U.S. policy sees as the radical and Saudi policy views as the Shia camp.

The resulting Mecca agreement signed last week provides for a Palestinian coalition government in which both groups could keep their own policy positions. From the Palestinian viewpoint, this is a cynical public relations' ploy. To the West, it can be pretended that the new Palestinian Authority (PA) regime is more moderate, despite the fact that Hamas continues to dominate the government while maintaining its genocidal aim of wiping Israel, and most of its people, off the map.

Indeed, the PA will continue to tolerate and cheer the firing of rockets at Israeli civilian targets daily and the launching of terrorist attacks. Those responsible will not be warned, criticized, stopped, or arrested by it. This makes the PA a state sponsor of terrorism.

The basic plan is to create a coalition government for the PA, control of which was won by Hamas in the January 2006 election. There would still be a Hamas prime minister and a majority Hamas government but with some cabinet posts--notably, foreign affairs and finance, the critical ones for raising Western money and support--to Fatah. An independent would be given the Interior Ministry, which supposedly controls the Palestinian armed forces.

But let's return to the Saudi view because this debate over "defining the enemy" is going to be absolutely critical to the fate of the Middle East, which nowadays means also the fate of the world.

Today, the main issue in the region is the attempt by Iran and Syria to gain control of as much of the Middle East as possible. Usama bin Ladin and al-Qaida are old news. Their ideology and program has been adapted by Tehran and Damascus to be used far more effectively to mobilize support.

The main fronts in this struggle are Lebanon, where this axis uses the large Hizballah group, and Iraq, where its assets include both the Sunni insurgents (who look to Syria) and the most extreme Shia groups (whose patron is Iran).

By putting together this deal, the Saudis cleverly showed three things:

-- Unlike Iran and Syria, the Saudis can work with others and mediate. Iran, Syria, and Hizballah tend to put everyone else into two categories: those who can be intimidated and those who have to be killed. The Saudis are, if anything, flexible.

-- The Saudi advantage is money. Promising $1 billion to Hamas and Fatah if they signed on the dotted line, enough money to finance the PA for a year and pay all those officials who haven't been getting their salary due to Western sanctions, is quite an incentive to go along.

-- The Saudis can get things done. While Iran, Syria, and Hizballah shout a lot of slogans and profess undying love for the Palestinians, the Saudis did something to help them materially.

There are also, however, several problems with the Saudi strategy. First and foremost, the Saudis may be able to rent Hamas but they cannot buy it. In recent years, Hamas has moved increasingly closer to Iran, the main source of its money, and Syria, where it has its headquarters. When Hamas won the Palestinian elections, this was a big victory for the axis and an encouragement for radical Islamist forces in general.

Yet, in its ideology, extremism, and anti-Americanism, Hamas is closer to Iran and Syria than it is to Saudi Arabia. Thus, the Saudis will be subsidizing some radical terrorist groups in the battle against other ones, and even this will be only a very temporary victory.

In addition, and this is a real pity, the Saudis are not going to use the leverage earned by their brokering a compromise to Hamas' advantage and providing lots of money as a way to push or even force Hamas toward a more moderate position. By undermining Western sanctions and rewarding Hamas' intransigence, the Saudi deal makes any diplomatic progress on an Israeli-Palestinian solution even more remote.

Coupled with the Palestinian deal, the Saudis are also pursuing a wider strategy:

-- The Saudis can greatly damage Iran by keeping the price of oil low. The Iranian economy is in terrible shape; in fact, the U.S. sanctions have been very successful in limiting investment there, and Saudi Arabia can do more to pressure Iran on the nuclear issue than any single country by threatening to further cut into Iran's income.

-- Trying to see if a deal could be worked out with Syria, in which Lebanon could be stabilized. The Syrians set their terms too high and the effort failed.

-- Support for Lebanon's government against the Hizballah challenge to overthrow it.

-- The Saudis have offered to make the Iraqi government "honorary Sunnis" (the regime is overwhelmingly Shia) by appealing to them to be loyal to the "Arab world" rather than Iran. The problem is that the Arab states are treating Iraq so bad, including supporting terrorist insurgents there, that it makes it harder to win over Baghdad.

-- Finally, the Saudis want to assure Israel that they are not seeking a confrontation and that their interests are parallel in many ways. At the same time, though, Saudi policy is strengthening the most extreme Palestinian forces. Still, recognizing the wider regional picture, the Israeli government has refrained from criticizing the Saudis and their Mecca deal.

This was written by Barry Rubin, who is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and co-author of "Yasir Arafat: A Political Biography" and "Hating America: A History" (Oxford University Press, August 2006). Prof. Rubin's columns can now be read online at http://gloria.idc.ac.il/columns/column.html.

To Go To Top

HAMAS BEING ASKED TO "ACCEPT" CONDITIONS -- JUST LIKE ARAFAT DID
Posted by Hillel Fendel, February 20, 2007.

Nothing of substance occurred in the Rice-Olmert-Abbas talks, Yoram Ettinger feels, but he says Hamas came away on the up side.

Yoram Ettinger, an expert on U.S.-Israel relations, opines that visiting U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice has the mistaken conception that the Israel-PA issue will affect the fate of US efforts against Iran. "She wants concessions from both sides," Ettinger said.

A former liaison for Congressional affairs in Israel's Washington embassy, Ettinger spoke with Arutz-7's Yigal Shok following the three-way meetings of Rice, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, and Fatah chairman Abbas in Jerusalem yesterday (Monday).

Arafat, Peres, Rabin (l-r)

"The end result is the status quo; nothing has changed," Ettinger said. "Secretary Rice still hopes that Israel and Fatah will come closer and make concessions to each other, because what's important to her is not the Palestinian issue but the situation in Iraq and Iran; she feels -- mistakenly, in my opinion -- that the Palestinian subject is the heart of everything and causes all the shocks in the Middle East and can determine the effectiveness of any coalition against Iran."

Hamas Must Merely Make Verbal Commitments

However, he said, "Hamas is the winner of this summit, because the sense of this policy is that Hamas is being accepted as a legitimate partner for dialogue. Just like when Arafat 'as if' recognized Israel, and 'as if' abandoned the path of terrorism -- even though the last 13 years have shown that this was not at all true -- and now Secretary Rice is trying to get Hamas to do the same thing! Israel is going along as well. All they are asking is that Hamas 'commit itself' to the Quartet conditions. But we have received the same things in the past, and what did we gain? Abu Mazen is now portrayed as a 'leader of peace' merely for his words. The fact that his commitments are not being implemented in practice is a different story."

The purpose of Rice's visit was to "rush up the establishment of a Palestinian state and to bring Israel to uproot Jewish communities in Yesha [Judea and Samaria]," Ettinger said -- "but this plan failed because of the Mecca summit and the current -- I emphasize, current -- problematic stance of Hamas. Rice's anticipations were great, but the reality was not quite that way."

Ettinger emphasized that the Israeli political leadership has come around to Rice's way of thinking, "namely, that Israel must withdraw to the pre-Six Day War borders and enable the establishment of a Palestinian state. This is either because Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzippy Livny actually believe this, or because they feel that there is no choice but to dance according to the tune of the State Department -- even though this is not necessarily the stance of President Bush, and certainly not of Vice President Cheney and the Congress. This shows a genuine lack of understanding on the part of our leaders regarding what goes on in the U.S. and the true status of the Secretary of State."

Hillel Fendel is News Editor of Arutz-Sheva (www.IsraelNationalNews.com).

To Go To Top

REMONSTRATING WITH JEWISH PEACE-BEGGARS
Posted by Lademain, February 20, 2007.

Dear (name redacted)--why are you, of all people, bemoaning possible damage to Iranian sites of scenic beauty?

We are the NON-evangelical Christians for Zion. We challenge you who weep over Iran to take care of your own, first. We challenge you to worry first about preserving the many glorious sites of American scenic beauty. We challenge you to remember that the lands of Israel (once known throughout Europe and the US as "Palestine, the Homeland of the Jews") never belonged to the so-called "Palestinians" who wrongfully claim it, today, because the Islamic Arabs who later re-designated themselves as "Palestinians" were merely a figment of Jimmy Carter's imagination when he and the Egyptian terrorist, Yasser Arafat, put their heads together for to deconstruct the tiny nation of Israel. The land itself, the entire region, once belonged not to the Arabs, but to the Ottoman Empire and the latter lost the region when it took Germany's losing side in WW 1.

It is our belief that the tiny nation of Israel was betrayed by its greedy leadership over the past 30 or so years and that they, in turn, were promoted by financial supporters who have been and still are doing business with the Saudis and their myriad front companies and nominees---primarily in real estate and government countracts, in the US and abroad.

Consider this: OPIC, funded by uninformed US taxpayers, underwrites much of this commerce; witness the enormously costly but failed Dobhar (India) and Gaza Power Plant boondoggles, both involving Enron International and Rebecca Marks. Deep into the Gaza financial fiasco we find the US State Dept.; OPIC; the Bank of Saudi Arabia; Yasser Arafat and his partner, Shimon Peres; Abb Staal of Sweden and Norway; and looming over all of this was Bush and then Bill Clinton (especially Clinton) with their arms stretched out like Laddie Bountiful, distributing not their own funds but only Other People's Money to fund Jim Baker's notion of foreign policy which stood on the sentimental but outrageously self-serving platform: "that those who do business together are friends who will lead us all to peace." The Saudis then enriched our ex-POTUSes. Clinton, indirectly, (through his presidential library, a tax exempt NGO) for promoting this stupid notion. The Saudis and the UAE likewise have been using many ways to fund Carter and Bush and Colin Powell, etc. etc. [Speakers fees in the millions; charitable contributions to their respective tax-exempt NGOs in the mega-millions; junkets; dinners; entertainments, etc. etc.]

Everyone should understand, including US Senator Diane Feinstein, that "People Who do Business Together" are neither allies nor friends and that this is at last dawning on the average American. People who are "doing business together," especially under such circumstances as characterize Enron International (still in business under myriad new names) are at best symbiotic participants, most of whom being in a position to rip-off the uninformed American taxpayer. In fact, we dare speculate that the Saudis know more about ripping-off the American taxpayer than does our average Senator because the Saudis attend our best universities and circle amongst the highest echelons of commerce and "society" in our nation's capital.

The Saudis are patient and cold and use American forces to advance their security. We believe this allows them to further their long-range plans to surround, infiltrate, and then march full-bore into Europe. When Egyptian and Syrians, pretending to be "Palestinians," wave expensive new banners urging Spaniards to hate Israel, who do you think is picking up the tab for these despicable riots? The supposedly "poor-poor-Palestinians"? (Or could it be that Sucha Arafat is finally dispensing dead Arafat's billion-dollar pelf to fund "Pali-symp" demonstrations throughout Europe?) We dare say that the Islamic oil states, many themselves only of recent origin, are pouring their oil revenues into Spain and France and Belgium to set the stage for the destruction of American allies--one being Israel.

KIndly understand that most of the Iranians who do not hate Jews are the Iranian emigrants who escaped Iran when the Ayatollah seized power. Many would return to Iran if there's something worth returning to. Whether there is or is not will depend not on the US or its allies, but on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is responsible for exposing "Iran's beauty" to dire consequences should he make good on his declaration of war against Israel and other U.S. allies. His rantings should not be dismissed. The time has come for Jewish peace-nuts everywhere to face up to the fact that their begging for "preserving the beauties" of their declared enemies (instead of their own) will not put a stop to Iran's declared aggression. Or any Islamic aggression, for that matter. In fact, such absurd beggary merely buttresses the Islamic's notion that the US is already defeated and demoralized, which in turn incites further aggression and murder of civilians because the mindless army of Islam (raised up over the past 30 years by the same simps who funded and sentimentalized and shmalzed over the "poor poor faux-palis) is an army trained to obey orders not just for their own state (Iran) but for their concept of "God." Murdering innocent Christians is but routine "holy war" for a robot-pali-symp.

Any Jew who ignores these facts, or who idolized Colin Powell (a political hack if there ever was one) is either willfully ignorant or blinded by his or her own fantasy that peace can be had if you pray for it, or march for it, or "reach out" to the enemy and beg for it.

It is our opinion that the Jews who get all shmaltzy when proclaiming their love for peace--the so-called "lefties" in Israel, and their wealthy Jewish US funders who do much the same thing, are making theses noises because they are willing to settle for any resolution, any dictatorship, just so long as they are themselves permitted to escape while holding onto their comforts. The tears of joy that pour down their craggy old cheeks when they think their words will persuade the lion of Islam to lie down in peace with the curly Jewish lamb are proof of their failure to understand that the lion and the lamb can indeed lie down together ... providing the lamb is frequently replaced.

The beauties to be found in the US and once-upon-a-time in Indonesia, Israel, France, Spain were mercilessly trampled and destroyed by the same Muslims who will blindly obey Ahmadinejad's call for war. We forget this as our peril.

Contact Lademain by email at lademain@verizon.net

To Go To Top

HAMAS'S VICTORY: FROM GAZA TO MECCA
Posted by Daily Alert, February 20, 2007.

This was written by Mohammad Yaghi, who is a Lafer international fellow with The Washington Institute and a columnist for the Palestinian daily al-Ayyam.

The article appeared in the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and is PolicyWatch #1200
http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC05.php?CID=2569

[Editor's Note: The cartoon was not part of the original article.]

As recently as December, Palestinian Authority (PA) president Mahmoud Abbas refused to back a proposal for a unity government offered by Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) member and head of the Independent Palestine list Mustafa Barghouti. That deal was based on the concept of a technocratic compromise under which Hamas officials would not have held the prime ministership or led any ministries. Yet under the terms of the February 8 Mecca accord, the current prime minister, Hamas's Ismail Haniyeh, will stay on as head of the next government, and the only portfolios Hamas members specifically will not hold are the finance, foreign affairs, and interior ministries, which will be headed by independents acceptable to both sides. The key question then is why Fatah settled for a unity agreement in February that provided it far less gains than previous unity proposals rejected by Abbas.

Fatah's Scare

While the Mecca accord may be interpreted as a mutual effort between Hamas and Fatah to stop intra-Palestinian violence in Gaza, a closer examination of the most recent clashes suggests that Hamas came away the winner and Fatah had to sue for peace.

Fighting between Fatah and Hamas reached an unprecedented level of intensity after a roadside bomb killed two members of Hamas's Executive Force in Jabalya on January 25. Since that incident, most of the clashes pitted Hamas's Executive Force, and Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades against Fatah's Preventive Security Organization, Presidential Guards, General Intelligence Service forces, and elements of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades associated with Fatah leader and legislative council member Momammed Dahlan. For the most part, the national security forces -- the police -- avoided the confrontations and attempted to remain neutral, fearing revenge killings to their families or because Hamas had already penetrated their ranks.

Fatah's forces suffered from internal divisions and rivalries among their leaderships. Despite a public reconciliation between Dahlan and his primary Fatah adversary in Gaza, Ahmed Hilis, forces loyal to Hilis did not join the fighting. Similarly, loyalists to Ashraf Joma, a Fatah PLC member from Rafah, avoided the confrontations with Hamas, signaling that these leaders prefer not to be identified as part of Dahlan's camp in Fatah.

Fatah also remained divided about whether to respond to Hamas provocations in Gaza with attacks against Hamas in the West Bank. In an early February meeting of the Fatah Revolutionary Council, Tawfiq Tirawi, head of the General Intelligence Service, criticized former Preventive Security chief Jibril Rajoub for playing the Red Cross between Fatah and Hamas rather than standing firm with Fatah against Hamas.

Unable to unite its forces under a coherent leadership, Fatah suffered greatly during the fighting after January 25. Most of the combatants killed during the fighting belonged to the Presidential Guards, the General Intelligence Service, or the Preventive Security Organization. Hamas forces succeeded in capturing and in some cases destroying several of the local headquarters of these organizations, in some cases killing colonels and commanders in addition to ordinary soldiers.

For the members of Fatah engaged in the fighting, the intervention of Saudi King Abdullah came at an opportune moment that surely prevented additional losses on the ground. The composition of the delegation Abbas took to Saudi Arabia was revealing. The group included many of the most prominent Fatah leaders who had initially pushed for confronting Hamas and opposed concessions for unity in the past, such as Dahlan, Samir Mashrawi, and Rawhi Fatouh from Gaza and Azzam al-Ahmed and Nabil Amr from the West Bank. It is unlikely that this group would have accepted a unity agreement with Hamas were it not for the substantial losses suffered by Fatah in the fighting since January 25.

Comprehensive Gains for Hamas

Fatah's defeats on the ground enabled Hamas to score most of the gains from the Mecca accord. Hamas succeeded in not explicitly accepting the Quartet's conditions for lifting international economic isolation of the PA. The letter appointing Haniyeh as the head of the new government simply mandates that the government "respect the Arab and international legitimacy resolutions and agreements signed by the PLO." Had the agreement included the word "accept" instead of "respect," or had it even specified which resolutions it referred to, Abbas and Fatah could have claimed that Hamas had shifted its position. Instead, Hamas had to modify none of its political program to reach the unity agreement -- as indicated by subsequent statements from its spokesmen that Hamas will never recognize Israel.

Beyond retaining its political program unchanged, Hamas advanced many components of its long-term strategy of wresting control of the PA and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from Fatah.

First, the agreement secures the official incorporation of Hamas's Executive Force into the Palestinian security services whose salaries will be paid by the PA's Finance Ministry. Further, Hamas will have greater influence over the remaining security forces with the inclusion of Haniyeh and the Hamas-nominated interior minister in the Palestinian National Security Council.

Second, Hamas and its independent allies will formally control twelve ministries, including education, information, labor, and local government. Hamas's majority in the cabinet and its continued control of the PLC will allow Hamas to enact its administrative program, including any decisions to create positions for Hamas loyalists in the PA bureaucracy. A followup committee on political partnership is currently working to divide the highest PA administrative positions previously monopolized by Fatah such that Hamas members will become governors and ambassadors in the coming months. Consequently, the PA will no longer support Fatah's patronage system exclusively; it will soon begin paying expenses Hamas had previously covered with its own budget.

Third, another committee will formalize Hamas's long-sought objective of reforming the PLO and incorporating Hamas's leadership into the body that remains the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. A key part of the agreement will include the establishment of a new Palestinian National Council -- the legislative umbrella of the PLO -- through elections where possible, and by agreement in refugee populations outside the PA.

Fourth, Hamas used the talks in Mecca to advance relations with the Saudis, having previously rebuffed efforts by Egypt and Qatar to broker unity arrangements. The reported Saudi pledge of $1 billion of assistance to the unity government suggests that Hamas achieved its objective of breaking the PA's international isolation by turning to the oil-rich Arab Gulf countries for support. If the Quartet (the United States, European Union, Russia, and the UN) continues to withhold aid to the PA, Hamas will claim that the international community opposes all Palestinian parties, including Fatah and the independents represented in the new government, not just Hamas.

In return for all these gains, the only visible concessions Hamas made for the cause of unity were to accept Salam Fayyad as finance minister after previously opposing him, allowing Abbas to veto the Hamas nominee for interior minister, and accepting the creation of a new Fatah deputy prime minister.

Conclusion

Several final details of the Mecca accord have yet to be formalized regarding the precise apportionment of ministries and administrative positions, so it will be premature to view the deal as final until the new government is seated.

As it stands, the agreement spells significant gains for Hamas politically, institutionally, bureaucratically, and in its relations with the Arab world. It is likely that Abbas and Hamas together will still attempt to use the Mecca accord as a means of alleviating the Quartet's sanctions by claiming the government has accepted its conditions -- even if Hamas as a party retains its core political ideology. Speaking in Cairo on February 11, Abbas decalred, "Those who are not part of the government can say whatever they like, but those who are part of the government must respect the commissioning letter."

The Mecca accord will not end the struggle between Fatah and Hamas to dominate the Palestinian political system, but it does represent an effort to gain a respite from the violence by dividing the PA according to each faction's current position on the ground.

The Daily Alert is prepared for the Conference of presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA). Contact them at daily@www.dailyalert.jcpa.org

To Go To Top

PUBLIC TRUST IN GOVERNMENT PLUMMETING
Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, February 20, 2007.

After all that has happened here, the real question is how anyone can trust any part of the official establishment at all. It has been the case from even prior to the establishment of the State that there is one set of laws for those in power and another for those out of power and a third set for those deemed as "enemies of the State." The major change that has occurred is that today the majority of Jews in Israel are now in the category of "enemies of the State" for one reason or another. Some because of their political beliefs, some because of their religious beliefs and some for the crime of living in the wrong part of the country.

Those who in recent years have expressed shock and outrage at the "sudden" brutality of the Israeli police have studiously ignored the generations long and systematic brutality the establishment has used against the Haredi community. They conveniently forget the hundreds of Sephardi, Yemenite and EDOT HAMIZRACH Rabbis and community leaders that were targeted for false charges and rotted away in Israeli jails over the years for the crime of demanding equality in our "worker's paradise." In short, we have never had the rule of law in the State of Israel. Israel has always been a "People's Republic" and the police the primary instrument of keeping the masses under control. Nothing has changed but the demographics.

This article was written by Hana Levi Julian and it appeared in Arutz-Sheva
(www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/121613).

(IsraelNN.com) A new poll published by the Center for the Study of Crime Law and Society at the University of Haifa has revealed that only 14 percent of the Jewish Israeli public has complete trust in the Israel Police Force.

Professor Arye Rattner, director of the Center, said by contrast, that more than double that number, 38.5 percent of those surveyed expressed a total lack of trust in police.

The numbers have steadily dropped since 2002, when 50 percent of the public reported that they trusted the police force and only 13 percent expressed a lack of trust.

Within a year, the number of Israelis who expressed a high level of trust in police had dropped to 36 percent, although the number of those who said they did not trust law enforcement officers remained at 13 percent.

Prof. Rattner said the statistics are ominous signs that the social fabric of the Jewish State is being strained to a point that the damage may soon cause a rise in crime and social services statistics.

"The results of the survey point to a serious blow to the legitimacy the Israeli public grants -- or doesn't grant -- to the police," said Rattner. "This loss of legitimacy may lead to demonstrations of contempt for the rule of law and a decrease in the level of respect for and compliance with the law," he added.

Researchers questioned 1,625 Jewish Israelis over the past several weeks as part of a multi-year study that has tracked the level of trust in the country's police force since 2000.

Faith in a different sector of Jewish leadership has also dropped to record lows, according to a Geocartographia poll released this week.

An overwhelming majority of 74.4 percent of the respondents said they favor dissolving the Knesset, the highest figures since former Labor Prime Minister Ehud Barak was forced to call elections less than two years after being voted into office.

In a Geocartographia poll conducted in November 2006, the majority of respondents said they were in favor of the resignations of then-IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz and Labor Defense Minister Amir Peretz, who has remained in his post. More than half of the respondents -- 53 percent -- said that Kadima Prime Minster Ehud Olmert should resign his post or call new elections.

Within two months, Halutz resigned. Peretz has remained. Olmert has continued in his post, although the Prime Minister is currently under investigation on allegations of corruption in previous government posts. Former Justice Minister Chaim Ramon was forced to resign his post after being charged with sexual misconduct. Ramon was later convicted.

Recent polls have showed that if elections were held today, the Kadima party would shrink to a bare few seats in the Knesset.

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.

To Go To Top

POLLARD SUPPORTERS MAKE WORLD HEADLINES
Posted by Hillel Fendel, February 20, 2007.

(IsraelNN.com) A rally was held outside Prime Minister Olmert's residence in Jerusalem last night (Monday), demanding that the government cease considering the release of Palestinian terrorists, and work for the release of Jonathan Pollard instead.

Three Pollard supporters were arrested when they managed to reach the David's Citadel Hotel floor on which visiting U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice was staying. A group of about ten people -- not officially connected with the rally -- entered the hotel, and several of them made it past metal detectors towards Rice's room. They managed to call out, "Free Pollard Now!" before being stopped by guards; police later detained three for questioning.

Associated Press, which reported on the incident, stated it was not clear whether Rice was in the room at the time.

Talks Over Terrorist Release

Rice had met earlier in the day in the hotel with Prime Minister Olmert and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, in talks that presumably dealt with the PA demand for the release of hundreds of terrorist prisoners in exchange for kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit.

Pollard continues to languish in American prison in North Carolina, well into the 22nd year of a life sentence. He was never indicted for treason or harming the United States, nor of compromising its codes, agents, or war plans, but rather of one count of passing classified information to an ally -- Israel. The normal sentence for this offense is 2-4 years, and his life sentence -- in direct contrast to his plea bargain arrangement -- was called by Appellate Court Justice Steven Williams a "fundamental miscarriage of justice."

Pollard has said he would never want to be a part of prisoner release deal involving terrorists. He wrote in a letter last week, "The State of Israel is absolutely obliged to bring all of her prisoners and captives home -- but not by making deals with the devil to spill even more Jewish blood... Israel's dismal record since the signing of the Oslo Accords shows a clear pattern of favoring our enemies by releasing terrorists and murderers, always at the expense of their victims and the victims' families. It is a blot on the honor of the Nation of Israel that the Government is far more concerned about appeasing the Americans (who demand these humiliating prisoner releases) and placating our enemies than it is about discharging its most basic responsibilities to those who serve the State."

Among those in attendance at the protest were Pollard's wife Esther, Moshe Feiglin (chair, Jewish Leadership), Shifra Hoffman (chair, Victims of Arab Terror), Nadia Matar and other Women in Green, Elinora Shifrin, Asher Mivtzari, and leaders of the youth activities on behalf of Pollard.

Hoffman held a sign reading, "Arab Terrorists must not be freed! Free Jonathan Pollard!"

A major call-in campaign is underway, in which supporters of Pollard are asked to call the White House (202-456-1111 or 202-456-1414) every day and ask President Bush to pardon Pollard. The National Council of Young Israel, Agudath Israel of America and other American-Jewish organizations are encouraging the endeavor. The Justice For Jonathan Pollard organization exhorts the public to call in, noting that every call to the White House is registered and tallied by subject matter.

SEE ALSO:

See photographs of the Pollard Protest Rally by Jacob Richman at
http://www.jr.co.il/rally/r114.htm and photos by Jonathan Stein at
http://www.kumah.org/2007/02/pollard-rally-in-kikar-paris.html

All photos of the rally to be posted to the photo gallery at www.jonathanpollard.org

Nationwide White House Call-In for Jonathan Pollard
White House Telephone Number: 1-202-456-1414

Hillel Fendel is News Editor of Arutz-Sheva (www.IsraelNationalNews.com).

To Go To Top

'False Claims by Palestians -- Their claims that Jewish Temples never existed is refuted by words from their very own 'holy book' the Qu'ran.' (K.M.K)

The political status of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem is the subject of final status negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. According to press reports, at one moment in the Camp David negotiations last July, senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat asked his Israeli counterpart: "How do you know that your Holy Temple was located there?" A Jerusalem Report cover story (September 11) placed this in the context of a growing Palestinian denial of the existence of the First and Second Temples. "It's self-evident that the First Temple is a fiction," one Palestinian archaeologist at Bir Zeit University is quoted as saying. "The Second also remains in the realm of fantasy."

Archaeologists will have their debates, and their place is in the academy. (There, the biblical account of the First Temple is contested, while the existence of the Second Temple, and its general location on the Temple Mount, are regarded as well-attested facts.) But at the negotiating table, the subjective sanctity of any site is a concrete reality which must be respected in its own terms. This is all the more so in the case of the existence and location of the First and Second Temples: both are attested by precisely the same Islamic sources which render the Haram al-Sharif (including the Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock) holy to Islam.

(The Qur'anic passages below are quoted from what is widely considered to be the most orthodox Sunni translation and commentary, prepared by Abdullah Yusuf Ali, vetted and corrected by four committees commissioned by King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, and published at the King Fahd Holy Qur'an Printing Complex in Medina, Saudi Arabia, by royal decree.)

Did the Temples Exist?

The Qur'an refers to the existence of both temples in verse 17:7. In this passage, the Qur'an deals with God's punishment of the Children of Israel for their transgressions:

(We permitted your enemies)
To disfigure your faces,
And to enter your Temple
As they had entered it before,
And to visit with destruction
All that fell into their power.

The word translated as "Temple" by Abdullah Yusuf Ali (and by the influential translator Marmaduke Pickthall before him) is masjid. This word, which is usually translated as mosque, has the meaning of a sanctuary wherever it appears in a pre-Islamic context. The usual Muslim exegesis of this verse (including that of Abdullah Yusuf Ali) holds that it refers to the destruction of the First and Second Temples.

Muslim tradition is especially adamant about the existence of the First Temple, built by Solomon, who appears in the Qur'an as a prophet and a paragon of wisdom. Verse 34:13 is an account of how Solomon summoned jinn (spirits) to build the Temple:

They worked for him
As he desired, (making) Arches,
Images, Basons
As large as wells,
And (cooking) Cauldrons fixed
(In their places)

Early Muslims regarded the building and destruction of the Temple of Solomon as a major historical and religious event, and accounts of the Temple are offered by many of the early Muslim historians and geographers (including Ibn Qutayba, Ibn al-Faqih, Mas'udi, Muhallabi, and Biruni). Fantastic tales of Solomon's construction of the Temple also appear in the Qisas al-anbiya', the medieval compendia of Muslim legends about the pre-Islamic prophets. As the historian Rashid Khalidi wrote in 1998 (albeit in a footnote), while there is no "scientific evidence" that Solomon's Temple existed, "all believers in any of the Abrahamic faiths perforce must accept that it did."(1) This is so for Muslims, no less than for Christians and Jews. The Location of the Temples

So much for the existence of the Temples. But what of their location? The Islamic sanctity of the Haram al-Sharif is based upon verse 17:1:

Glory to (Allah)
Who did take His Servant
For a Journey by night
From the Sacred Mosque
To the Farthest Mosque

This is the textual proof of the isra', the earthly segment of the Night Journey of the Prophet Muhammad: overnight, Muhammad was miraculously transported, round-trip, from "the Sacred Mosque" (al-Masjid al-Haram) -- that is, the Ka'ba (or its vicinity) in Mecca -- to "the Farthest Mosque" (al-Masjid al-Aqsa). Later Muslim tradition came to identify "the Farthest Mosque" with Jerusalem. But during Muhammad's lifetime, no mosque stood in Jerusalem; the Muslims conquered the city only several years after his death. Abdullah Yusuf Ali's commentary on this verse summarizes the traditional explanation: "The Farthest Mosque," he writes, "must refer to the site of the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem on the hill of Moriah." When Muslims did build a mosque on this hill, Muslim tradition holds that it was built deliberately on the verified site of earlier sanctuaries. According to Muslim tradition, when the Caliph Umar visited Jerusalem after its conquest, he searched for David's sanctuary or prayer niche (mihrab Dawud), which is mentioned in the Qur'an (38:21). (David was believed to have chosen the site on which Solomon built.) When Umar was satisfied he had located it, he ordered a place of prayer (musalla) to be established there. This evolved into a mosque-precursor of the later Aqsa Mosque. Thus began the Islamization of the complex that later came to be known as the Haram al-Sharif. It became the tradition of Islam that Muslims restored the site to its earlier function as a place of supplication venerated by all the prophets, including Abraham, David and Solomon.

Sari Nuseibeh, president of Al-Quds University, has emphasized this original meaning of the site for Muslims: the mosque is the last and final in a series of sanctuaries erected there. "The mosque was itself a revivication of the old Jewish temple," writes Nuseibeh, "an instantiation of the unity with the Abrahamic message, an embodiment of the new temple yearned for and forecasted. And why should this seem strange when Muhammad himself, according to the Qur'an, was the very prophet expected and described in the 'true' Jewish literature?"(2)

Whether it is called the Temple Mount or al-Haram al-Sharif, this corner of Jerusalem is the physical overlap between Judaism and Islam. Verse 17 of the Qur'an, quoted above, is entitled Bani Isra'il, the Children of Israel. The present-day State of Israel has acknowledged the sanctity of the site for present-day Muslims, in the interest of peace. For Muslims to question or even deny the existence of the Temples, in disregard of the Qur'an and Muslim tradition, is to cast doubt upon the very sources which underpin their own claim.

(1) Rashid Khalidi, "Transforming the Face of the Holy City: Political Messages in the Built Topography of Jerusalem," paper presented to the conference on "Landscape Perspectives on Palestine," Bir Zeit University, November 12-15, 1998 http://www.jqf-jerusalem.org/journal/1999/jqf3/khalidi.html

(2) Sari Nuseibeh, "Islam's Jerusalem,"
http://www.passia.org/jerusalem/publications/religiousaspectstext.htm

David Meir-Levi is an American-born Israeli, currently living in Palo Alto. His expertise is in Near Eastern studies and the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. He is Director of Peace and Education at Israel Peace Initiative (www.ipi-usa.org). Contact him at david_meirlevi@hotmail.com

To Go To Top
PALESTINIAN FALSE CLAIM: JEWISH TEMPLES NEVER EXISTED
Posted by David Meir-Levi, February 19, 2007.

To the rational mind, there is no need to provide proof that the Temple Mount today is the site of the Herodian (aka Second) Temple.

The tradition that places the Solomonic (First) Temple beneath the Herodian Temple may be questioned, in as much as there is no archaeological evidence or extra-biblical text that can locate it for us; but the obvious support for such a location comes both from the well-known references of the Assyrian king Sennacherib who beseiged Jerusalem in 705 BCE and was 'bought off" by gifts of the gold and silver in the Jerusalem Temple treasurey (thereby demonstrating that there was a well-endowed Temple in Jerusalem during the time of king Hezekiah); and from the very fact that the Herodian Temple was built on that site precisely because it was the site of the First Temple (and of the intervening smaller and less impressive Temple built by the returnees from Babylonia at the end of the 6th century BCE, as described in the book of Chronicles, which was expanded and rebuilt in to the much larger and more grandious Herodian Temple 500 years later).

The references to the place and character of the Herodian Temple abound in the Christian Scriptures, in the historical writings of Josephus, in the inter-Testamental literature, in the Talmud, and in the Muslim historians mentioned in the article below. There are others as well from Classical sources, but they are not detailed enough to give incontrovertible evidence to the Temple's location on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

It is important to note, however, that there are some (perhaps many) irrational minds at work in the crafting of the Arab narrative that denies the Jewish origins of the sanctity of the Temple Mount.

This is an issue of considerable importance to Christians, in as much as the current Muslim assertions which seek to discredit Jewish and Christian tradition (and Scripture) are at odds not only with Jewish and Christian sources, but also with Muslim sources that pre-date the modern Muslim attempts to re-write history and geography in order to justify their false claims.

It is important to recognize the irrationality of these propagandistic claims of the modern Arab narrative, because these hyperbolic and mendacious faux-history assertions disclose to us, by virtue of their irrationality, the refusal of the current dominant Arab leadership to deal honestly with the existence of Israel, and to work toward any sort of peaceful resolution to the conflict.

If they wanted peace between Israel and the Palestinians, they would not spend so much time and energy making up completely falacious and misleading stuff that seeks to discredit and vilify Israel and Jews and Judaism (and, by extention, Christianity as well -- after all, in the absence of a Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, what is the reliability of the Christian Scriptures which place Jesus, for most of his life, in and around the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem?)

Moreover, the fact that the Qur'an (chapter 17) places both Holy Temples (Solomon's and the Herodian) in Jerusalem demonstrates the degree to which the authors of the Arab Narrative rely upon the Goebbellian system to advance their lies.

By repeating the same lie often enough, and with enough conviction and passion, they will bring others to believe it...despite the mountain of evidence that defies it.

The article below is called "The Temples of Jerusalem in Islam" and was written by Martin Kramer. It appeared as The Washington Institute's Special Reports On The Arab-Israeli Peace Process -- Number 277, September 18, 2000. Martin Kramer is director of the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University.

RAMPING UP THE VIOLENCE: the truth about the Temple Mount controversy
Posted by Unity Coalition for Israel, February 19, 2007.

This article was written by David Gelernter and it appeared February 28, 2007 in the Weekly Standard
(http://weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/013/ 311eafts.asp?pg=1). David Gelernter is a national fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a contributing editor to The Weekly Standard.

[Editor's Note: The graphics were not part of the original article.]

Israeli government authorities are building a ramp to allow non-Muslims to reach the enormous platform atop the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The old access ramp was condemned as unsafe and torn down several years ago. The interim ramp that replaced it was designed for short-term service only. (Muslims control the Temple Mount and therefore have their own private access routes.) The new ramp is controversial. Some ramp must be built or non-Muslims will have no way to reach the Mount; but leading Israeli archaeologists say that the ramp under construction is badly placed and ought to be someplace else.

This dispute among Israelis is important but in itself would never have attracted much attention. However, by the nature of their reactions, Arab leaders have brought worldwide notoriety to the story--and made it a blood-curdling study in the power of lying in this credulous, ignorant global-media age.

Outraged Arab politicians describe the new ramp as an attack on the Al-Aqsa Mosque--although the mosque is on the Temple platform and the ramp stands outside the platform on pylons, and won't have any effect on the mosque at all. But those are mere facts. Prominent Arab agitators disdain even to notice them. Some have called for violence against Israel because of this imaginary assault on the mosque. And we know what "violence against Israel" means to the Jew-hating anti-Zionists among Arab statesmen: restaurants, sidewalk cafés, bus stops, and Passover seders drenched in blood and scattered with smashed body parts as dying children cry quietly.

The leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel, Raed Salah, announced in response to the ramp project that "the danger in Jerusalem has increased. It is high time for the intifada of the Islamic people." The prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, Ismail Haniyeh, called the construction project "continued Israeli aggression on Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem." An Egyptian MP, Mohamed el-Katatny, announced in parliament, "That cursed Israel is trying to destroy Al-Aqsa mosque. ... Nothing will work with Israel except for a nuclear bomb that wipes it out of existence."

This hysterical Arab reaction must be understood in context. Why are Muslim religious authorities in charge of the Temple Mount anyway--Judaism's holiest site, in the heart of Israel's capital city? And who built the Temple Mount in the first place, and what makes this site holy? When we answer these questions--keeping in mind that the ramp story is likely to be reported nearly everywhere (outside the United States and Israel) from the Arab viewpoint--the real question becomes not whether this ramp should be finished (probably not), but how to heal an insane planet. The ramp can be taken down; but how can the Arab world be cured of its blood-lust against the Jews of Israel?

Let's start with the situation on the ground. Prominent Israeli archaeologists object to the new ramp because several of its footings stand in an important archaeological garden outside the Mount. They agree that a new ramp is necessary, but insist that it be routed around the garden. Some Orthodox Jews are unhappy with the project on religious grounds.

The Israel Archaeology Association, which approved the project, responds that you can't please everyone, especially in Jerusalem, least of all near the Temple Mount. If the ramp is moved, other groups will object. Which is a weak-sounding response--or perhaps no response at all, merely an excuse.

But Arab objections have nothing to do with the archaeological garden; Arab leaders are worried (they say) about the safety of the Al-Aqsa mosque. Yet the ramp poses "no risk whatsoever to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which stands about 100 meters to the east," says the eminent archaeologist Eilat Mazar of the Shalem Center and the Hebrew University. Mazar is one of the archaeologists who object to the ramp's current location and want it moved.

Is it possible that Arab leaders are more interested in attacking Israel than protecting religious and cultural monuments? How anxious are Arab statesmen to protect the treasures of the Temple Mount? Let's step back a few years and see.

The Temple Mount is ruled by the Islamic authority of Jerusalem, the Waqf. The Waqf is supposed to respect the status quo and ask Israeli approval before making changes. In 1996, the Israeli government approved a Muslim request to build a large new underground mosque on the Mount. Construction began, and a request to build an "emergency exit" for the new mosque followed, and was also approved.

Enormous excavations were carried out. Thousands of tons of soil and fill were scooped out and trucked away. Those trucks were filled with some of the most precious stuff in the world. The Temple Mount is potentially the most important, exciting place on earth for archaeological digs.

A huge platform is balanced atop the Mount, shored up by enormous earth-and-stone works. King Herod the Great of Judea built this platform in the first century B.C. as a base for an enlarged, rebuilt Temple. (The Temple was the focus of Jewish ritual and pilgrimage.) But Herod's magnificent Temple was burnt to the ground by Roman forces under Titus, later emperor of Rome, in 70 A.D. The Jews had rebelled against Roman overlordship--Herod himself had been a Roman client; they fought hard and lost. Rome was the only superpower of the day. On Titus' arch of triumph in Rome you can still see carvings of the plunder that the Romans carted home from Jerusalem--including the famous seven-branched Temple menorah, later destroyed accidentally by fire.

The Romans grabbed as much as they could, but left behind innumerable traces of the Temple and of life in the Second Jewish Commonwealth, in the age when Jesus preached and the Mishnah was composed. There must be other archaeological treasures up there too, fragments of Jewish, Roman, Byzantine, and Muslim life in the centuries following the Roman rampage. Infrared photographs and other survey techniques suggest the presence of vast underground halls beneath the platform's surface. Some ancient rabbinic sources assert that the Ark of the Covenant, lost since the destruction of the First Temple in 586 B.C., was buried on the Temple Mount; it might conceivably be standing in one of those underground chambers.

But the Waqf has a nice, simple policy regarding archaeological digs on the Mount. Don't bother applying; none are allowed. The world's most important archaeological site is off-limits to archaeology.

Under the circumstances, those underground excavations for the new mosque and its "emergency exit" looked like a stroke of qualified good luck. (The exit turned out to be a 2,000-square-meter pit that entailed the removal of over 6,000 tons of earth.) All that indescribably precious soil was scooped out, trucked away--

And trashed. Hundreds of truckloads were unloaded in municipal garbage dumps. Some drops were made late at night. This was vandalism on a breathtaking scale, and the vandals knew it. (In fact removing the soil was a crime in itself; archaeologists need to inspect soil in situ to understand the context and to know which layers were on top, what came next, and so forth.) All in all this was a sickening crime against the human spirit, a rape of the Mount. But radical Arab leaders routinely deny that a Temple ever existed in this place. They would love to annihilate every trace of Jewish history as they would love to destroy the Jews themselves. For would-be murderers, destroying truth is the next best thing to destroying life.

The precious soil was left unprotected, and garbage accumulated on top. Archaeologists managed to sift through certain portions that remained accessible. Important finds turned up. But "we are certain," Mazar said recently, "that a vast amount of important data was lost."

The Israeli government let it happen; ignored the outcry of Israelis and of archaeologists all over the world and allowed construction and dumping to continue. "The world's patrimony is being carried off in dump trucks," wrote Hershel Shanks (editor of Biblical Archaeology Review) in the Washington Post in July 2000. "All who care about the archaeological remains on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem ... should be incensed at Israel's failure to stop the Waqf ... from illegally destroying precious remnants of history important to Muslims as well as to Jews and Christians." An open letter to Prime Minister Ehud Barak, signed by dozens of prominent Israelis of all political colors, demanded that Barak stop "a serious act of irreparable archaeological vandalism and destruction."

But he didn't. Many believe that the Barak government refused to act lest the "peace process" be interrupted or Arab violence break out. According to this (all-too-likely) explanation, a pathetically self-deluded Israeli government, conscious of the long, venomous history of Arab and world reactions to Israel, was too anxious and weak to stop this ugly crime.

The Islamic Authority of Jerusalem is no one's idea of a competent protector of one the world's most precious sites. How did it come to be in charge of this spot in the first place?

When the United Nations voted in 1947 to create twin states in British Palestine, a Jewish and an Arab state side-by-side, the city of Jerusalem was to be internationalized and belong to neither. The Zionists accepted this plan but the Arabs rejected it--and in May 1948, the armies of Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, and the Arab Legions of Transjordan attacked the new Jewish state. They failed to destroy it but did capture half of Jerusalem--the important half, the Old City, where the Temple Mount stands. For the next 20 years the Kingdom of Jordan refused to allow Jews into the Old City, refused them access to the Western Wall--and systematically destroyed the city's synagogues, presumably as proxies for the Jews who got away.

Egypt provoked another war with Israel in 1967 (the Six Day War) by demanding that U.N. troops be withdrawn from the Sinai buffer zone and blockading the Straits of Tiran. During the fighting, Israeli soldiers recaptured the Temple Mount. They discovered that Jordanians had torn up Jewish tombstones from the Mount of Olives and used them to pave roads and build latrines. And yet soon afterward Israel unilaterally awarded control of the Mount to the Waqf. It was the same sort of pathetic, heartrending gesture that speaks of desperate longing for friendship and no more war that Barak made 30 years later, when he allowed the Waqf to pillage and violate the Mount.

That generous Israeli gesture of the late 1960s was met by universal gratitude throughout the Arab world, especially among the Palestinians of Jerusalem.

Just kidding.

Virtually all such Israeli gestures meet with the same response: redoubled hatred. (In one of the first Israeli digs in Jerusalem after the Six Day War, archaeologists found a previously unknown Muslim palace. "The finds from the early Muslim period are thrilling," said a high ranking official in the Jordanian Antiquities Department at the time, named Rafiq Dajani, "and frankly I am surprised that Israeli scholars have made them public." A few days later he was fired.)

How did it all come to be in the first place? Perhaps it is worth pointing out the obvious: Muslims revere this site in consequence of the Temple that once stood here.

Nowadays some cosmopolitan thinkers speak of the Temple as if it were a folk story or fairy tale or an "alleged" building. But it was as real as the World Trade Center. No sane historian doubts its existence. It is attested in many contemporary sources, Jewish and otherwise.

One report asserts that Titus did not intend to burn the Temple, and said that "the loss would be for Rome. Its continued existence will be a glory of the Empire." But the fighting raged out of control, and the Temple caught fire by accident. In any case, writes Simon Goldhill, professor of Greek at Cambridge University, the Temple "was the largest and most awe-inspiring religious monument in the world." Speaking of the extraordinarily refined and sophisticated engineering that went into Herod's project, Goldhill refers to the Platform's southern retaining wall--which "gives some sense," he writes, "of the [enormous] size of the stones and the brilliance of the wall's construction. There is nothing like this anywhere else in the ancient world."

Israelis created (long ago) the platform on the Temple Mount and the Temple itself, and the religious community that gave it all meaning--a gift to mankind that is valuable beyond measure. Thousands of years later, Israel turned over the keys to the Waqf in a peace offering, an act of friendship. Roughly 30 years after that, they allowed their Arab brethren to pillage and destroy invaluable records of ancient history rather than disturb the "peace process" or the Palestinian Arabs. And so today, Arab leaders demand (in violent outrage) that the world protect the Al-Aqsa Mosque--their precious, sacred cultural treasure--by stopping an Israeli construction project that won't go anywhere near it.

They are showing the world a rare combination of laughable hypocrisy and terrifying evil.

The Unity Coalition for Israel (UCI) (http://www.israelunitycoalition.org) is "the largest worldwide coalition of Jewish and Christian organizations, with more than 200 groups representing millions of people dedicated to Israel. Though we have many different backgrounds, we have one common goal: A Safe and Secure Israel."

"Israel is not just a Jewish issue. Millions of Christians resolutely endorse the principle of peace with security for the state of Israel. Because we work closely together and speak with a united voice, our message is being heard!"

To Go To Top

OPPORTUNITY COSTS
Posted by Lawrence Uniglicht, February 19, 2007.

The opportunity costs, both human and economic, of the Iraq war tragically mount each day, building ever higher dunes of debt, composed of casually minted dead presidents, shrouding the virtual and formal coffins of biologically created disabled and dead mankind respectively, lives shattered and wasted, reshaping America's political landscape, in sync with the shifting swirling blood drenched sands of that war torn Middle East trifurcating nation, rotating ever faster, forming a cyclonic sinkhole relentlessly digging its way to even deeper depths of Hell. The outer world watches in horror, yet does nothing but blast the preemptive 'war on the cheap' invasion planner, too stingy and arrogant to hire an architect ala Frank Lloyd Wright on steroids, both general and general contractor, possessing ample crew to reassemble the mess using technologically advanced bricks and mortars. The tiny nation of Israel observes, contemplates, puts its finger out to sense direction, but "You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows," growls America's greatest Jewish lyricist philosopher Bob Zimmerman a/k/a Dylan, verse honed in erstwhile turbulent times, but guess what, those "Times, They Aren't A-Changin'". Indeed, a resurrecting Vietnam-style traumatized America, unraveling the Bush presidency with the velocity of a spinning dreidel, bodes ominously for the Jewish State if caught in that maelstrom of public discontent, connected by dots to stout Israel supporter and Iraq war planner now retired Pentagon V.I.P. Douglas Feith, potentially morphed in that public's mind's eye to agent provocateur at the behest of AIPAC lobbyists and a wily Knesset, stewarding a State in need of protection. Let the truth be told, the Bush Administration used Feith and other neo cons to justify a need to go to war. Let the truth be further told, directing the flow of Iraq's bountiful reservoirs of Texas tea westward, quenching the thirst of an SUV addicted society, as well as further expanding the bottom line of Big Oil Inc. are concepts that might not have seduced Americans to send Johnny off to war, but selling them the Brooklyn Bridge yet again with Sadist Hussein linkages to Bin Laden and a nebulous 'war on terror' ala neo con rhetoric sounded much more convincing and indeed worked like a charm.

So Israel, homeland of a people heretofore born to wear the Scarlet S for scapegoat, or in the Jewish vernacular shlamazel, emblazoned into its collective chest, what's it gonna be? Might it be wise to deploy a charismatic Israeli ambassador on a transatlantic jaunt to schmooze with say Ms. Nancy Pelosi, for one, newly installed Democratic speaker of a House with damaged siding, convincing her that siding with Israel, a nation not at all connected to the political juggernaut that bullied Congress and America into Middle East quicksand without a rope, would surely be her cup of San Francisco chowder. Furthermore, might this be a 'Golden Gate' opportunity to persuade America's most powerful grandma that tiny Israel really isn't an occupying power, that IDF forces are deployed within the justifiably secured Israeli territories of Judea and Samaria to protect peaceful Jewish citizens (not settlers) from hostile Arab neighbors, that Israel must not cede such land to a dysfunctional crew of so-called Palestinian keystone cops who cannot even govern the small enclave of Gaza now morphing into a safe haven for terrorists, that Warren Buffet would be more than a little upset if his multi-billion dollar investment in Israeli owned and operated Iscar Metalworking Companies, located in the Golan Heights, flew the Syrian flag, and that it would be more than appropriate if Uncle Sam's Embassy relocated to Israel's capital Jerusalem, all of which must remain within the borders of sovereign Israel? No doubt, the opportunity costs to Israel, choosing not to adapt to the rapidly changing political dynamic of her most formidable ally, could be enormous. Most importantly, there are no do overs.

Lawrence Uniglicht is a career civil servant, working for the Social Security Administration. He advocates for the State of Israel with an American perspective. He writes, "Advocating for the disrespected underdog has been my passion, no doubt Israel falls into that category." Contact him by email at luniglicht@snip.net

To Go To Top

UNIFIL LETS ARMS FLOW; 3-STATE SOLUTION; JIHAD VS STATEHOOD; HATE SPEECH IN THE U.S.
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, February 19, 2007.

IDF MALAISE

Taking responsibility for Lebanon War failures, the Chief of Staff resigned. Even if the PM and Defense Min. (who interfered with the IDF daily) resigned, that would not solve the problem. The problem is a recurring one, untouched by periodic sacrifices of individual leaders. There is a fundamental problem in training and decision-making. The IDF also got into politics, by letting itself be involved in expelling the Jews from Gaza and northern Samaria (Arutz-7, 1/18).

What is this deeper problem? I think that at least part of it is the leftist political kowtowing by IDF generals who use the military as a means of entry into politics. Promoting politically correct incompetents harms the military.

Leftism is defeatism, at loggerheads with military means and missions. Afraid of prosecution for shooting, how can the soldiers protect their people? The regime acts as if its major responsibility is to spare the enemy rather than preserve its own people. Israel fails to treat the enemy as an enemy. It bows to US demands to reduce defensive measures. It should take the offensive and root out the terrorist infrastructure. The Jewish people should reclaim the Territories and get them out of the hands of the Arabs, who make war. This would free the IDF for training in broader warfare. The IDF doesn't strategize much.

National security is the first duty of a government. Reducing the military budget and squandering funds within it leaves the Army unequipped and unprepared.

FEEDING THE POOR AT NO COST

Hundreds of volunteers and a few paid staff collect food left on farms or unused by stores and caterers, and redistribute it to the poor of Israel (Arutz-7, 1/18).

EU SEE NO EVIL BORDER-MONITORING

The head of the European monitors of the Sinai-Gaza crossing claims that all weapons confiscated were destroyed and none others were smuggled through. He thinks recent Israeli closing of the border merely arouses terrorism.

What the EU head didn't see, he thinks didn't get through (IMRA, 1/18).

Then why did terrorists blast holes in the fence and sometimes chase the monitors away? Why did Egyptian arms warehouses dispatch trucks to the border? What makes him think the P.A. wants to stop the arms from coming in, when it has been smuggling them in for years, and now Israel mostly is not guarding the border? How does he explain the increase in P.A. firepower? As for the cause of terrorism, the P.A.'s curriculum is terrorism.

MUSLIMS PLAN, ISRAEL DOESN'T

Israeli left its security in hostile Quartet hands, letting the Quartet to judge compliance with the Road Map. The Muslims have spent the past couple of years cultivating in foreign minds their distorted notion of compliance with the Map. Israel failed to counteract that false impression.

The Arabs depict compliance as legalizing terrorists and their weapons by hiring them into the official police force, and not bothering over what they do with those weapons in their spare time. The State Dept. is enthusiastic about this interpretation.

The Map judges compliance of each side relative to what the other side does. But Israel isn't involved in terrorism; the two sides should not be equated. The Map specifies that terrorism be hampered and ended before Israel had to meet its obligations under the Map.

Israel is ignoring the issue, during this temporary suspension of the Map while the world devises a rationale for ending any curbs on Hamas. The Israelis think, if they think at all, that they can explain their different view at the last minute, when the pre-indoctrinated Quartet is ready to make decisions (IMRA, 1/18).

The Map is vague, too. Many international agreements are. Israel should not make concessions based on vague agreements. The Arabs are sure to evade vague requirements and the West is sure to endorse the evasion.

CASTING ISRAEL UNFAVORABLY

The NY Sun mostly is pro-Israel in its opinion pieces and fair in its news articles, but sometimes draws on foreign news from the biased Associated Press or Daily Telegraph.

>From the A.P., it stated an Israeli report of having discovered four bombs in northern Israel recently placed by Hizbullah. Such Hizbullah action would violate the ceasefire. A.P. put it that "The Israeli claim, denied by Hizbullah, immediately raised tensions along the volatile border." (Laurie Copans, 2/8, p.7.)

It isn't clear what "tensions" means. But the placing of the bomb raised an alarm, more than Israel reporting the truce violation. A.P., however, places the onus for raising tensions on Israel. Should Israel not have reported the violation, so as not to raise tensions? Wouldn't the terrorists love an Israeli failure to react!

Why does A.P. bother mentioning that Hizbullah denied the Israeli accusation as if credible? Islamists always deny violations. Denial is their tactic.

MECCA: STOP BARRING INFIDELS & POSING AS RECONCILER

Modern life and globalization require reporters from various cultures to travel to various countries. Mecca, however, bars entry to foreign journalists and others of non-Muslim faith to that city and sometimes to the entire country. Then the Saudi government turns around and poses as the reconciler of conflicts between people of barred faiths, such as in the Muslim-Jewish conflict.

The Saudi contribution to that conflict has been to subsidize indoctrination in an Islamist ideology that intensifies it.

When foreigners of note insist on coming, the Saudis often relent. Let foreign government demand that S. Arabia accommodate them. The Saudi 7th century code is too troublesome (Youssef Ibrahim, NY Sun, 2/8, p.1).

KING'S THREE-STATE "SOLUTION"

The King of Jordan calls for a "two-state solution" before another war breaks out, and claims that the opportunity to help inaugurate it would enable him to visit Israel. He admits that Iran stirs turbulence by subsidizing Hamas, and would resist a solution, but insists that non-extremists are stronger than the obstructionists. He claims unconcern about having a PLO or Hamas Arab state on part of the border with Jordan, where Israel now is in charge (IMRA, 1/18).

Of all the heads of state, it is particularly unfitting of him to call this a two-state solution, when his own country, Jordan, is a Palestinian Arab state. The existence of his state on three-fourths of Palestine precludes any alleged need for another Palestinian Arab state and that the formation of one would exacerbate the problem of Israel seeming small enough for the Arabs finally to destroy. He counts on most people's ignorance of history and geography to get away with this scam. Apparently he would risk a new, Islamist state's overthrowing his dynasty, in order to help Islam overcome the infidel Israelis.

He calls Hamas extremist, but admits he has not visited Israel during his reign of eight years, despite a peace treaty. Pres. Mubarak of Israel also doesn't stain his political purity by such a visit. Who then are the extremists? How sincere is their fealty to a "peace process" that Arafat depicted as part of the phased conquest of Israel, whittling it down to what Sadat called a "manageable size," meaning manageable for Arab armies?

Even if some Arabs in the P.A. were to sign still another agreement with Israel, called a final peace, how do we know that: (1) They suddenly will have switched from religious hatred to tolerance and peace-loving; and (2) Iran won't still stoke Hamas into renewing the war, and on better turf, due to Israeli concessions?

JIHAD VS. STATEHOOD

What the Arabs call "resistance" in the P.A., Lebanon, and Iraq means jihad. The jihadis tell Westerners that all they want is national territorial integrity, but advocate to their people a trans-national caliphate. They have demonstrated the falsity of what they tell the West. (Jihadists pour into Iraq, which has territorial integrity, in order to turn the regime into a jihadist one.)

Although Israel withdrew from Lebanon, Hizbullah still claimed some territory on the Golan, and then added that it wanted some formerly Shiite villages inside an older part of Israel. In other words, the jihadists keep finding excuses for fighting on, really for religious reasons.

Israel withdrew from Gaza. Instead of making peace there, the Muslims used the opportunity to make more war.

The rest of the world should assist Arab regimes in putting down the "resistance." Instead, the tendency is to demand concessions from Israel, such as prisoner releases and withdrawal from the Shaba Farms area on the Golan (that the UNO designated as not Lebanese). If Israel did that, the "resistance" would take credit for it and the problem they represent would grow (Pinhas Inbari, IMRA, 1/18).

Many Arab regimes think they can direct jihadist fire without being singed. The world's motives are murky, muddled, or sordid. It's "solutions" are harmful.

WHY EVEN A REFORMED IDF COULDN'T DEFEND ISRAEL

Suppose the new Chief of Staff were a brilliant strategist and deep reformer. He could not defend Israel. Israel's political rulers are intent on piecemeal surrender to the Arabs. They give priority not to defensible borders but to turning those borders over to the enemy. They don't let the Army defend their cities from P.A. rockets, lest doing so weaken Abbas, whom they pretend would make peace. (The Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations denounced Abbas for having claimed to be against violence against Israel and then recently promoted it. Sen. Spector asked Sec. Rice to confront him over that self-contradiction {IMRA, 1/18}, but she confronts only Israel.)

In striving for what it supposes are the Arabs' interests in behalf of a phony peace process with which Israelis are disillusioned, instead of striving for their own national interests, Israel has built a security fence that motivated tens of thousands of Arabs to pour into Jerusalem. This weakened the Jewish people's hold on their own capital (Caroline Glick, IMRA, 1/18). Israel fails to see or admit probable consequences of its actions. It should have barred those Arabs.

IRAN TO RATION GASOLINE

At an artificial price of 36 cents per gallon, Iranians over-consume gasoline, putting it in short supply. The government proposes rationing (IMRA, 1/21).

Profligacy harms all mankind.

VICTIMS OF GAZA ETHNIC-CLEANSING STILL ABANDONED

Although 21 sites were designated for housing the Jews expelled by Israel from Gaza, and the temporary housing has been withdrawn from them, no permanent housing has been built for them. Most of them remain unemployed and have been living off their (insufficient and late) compensation (IMRA, 1/21).

Israel didn't gain anything from the Arabs for doing this to the Jews. The Arabs now are better able to fire rockets into Israel. The expulsion of the Jews was harsh and simply anti-Zionist.

CHINA'S MAIN POLICY

China's main policy is to secure growing access to raw materials. That need drives its foreign policy (IMRA, 1/21).

AL-QAEDA RUNS SUNNI WAR IN IRAQ!

Although Baathists started the resistance against US forces, the main Sunni forces now are Islamist. The various Islamist groups have come under an umbrella organization run by al-Qaeda.

The NY Times does not report this. Nibras Kazimi, the NY Sun's Iraqi correspondent thinks the Times doesn't want to admit that the US is fighting against al-Qaeda, lest the war regain popular legitimacy, since it was al-Qaeda that committed the 9/11 attacks on the US. Likewise, the Times has not reported that al-Qaeda has asked N. Korea for a nuclear weapon (NY Sun, 2/8, Op.-Ed.).

Why doesn't the Bush administration inform the public?

IRAN CANNOT BE DETERRED

Bernard Lewis points out that the mutually assured destruction that protected Westerners from the USSR's nuclear-armed missiles has no deterrent effect upon Iran. It has the opposite effect. Iran thinks Israel would be annihilated, dead Muslims would go to heaven, and Islam would survive (IMRA, 1/22).

HATE-SPEECH IN THE U.S.

The Muslim Student League organizes events and invites speakers to promote hatred of the Jewish people and of Zionism, even to advocate violence against them. This is considered their freedom of speech, because they don't advocate hatred of particular individuals.

It also is freedom of speech for others to denounce the hate-mongering. Some university heads do so, disassociating university policy with League policy. The University of California in Irvine long kept silence, and its recent rejection of hate messages failed to explain who was vulgarly disseminating hatred against whom. (Prof. Steven Plaut, 1/23 from Amihai Glazer).

That slap on the wrist probably encouraged the Muslims more than the absence of a slap, which might leave them apprehensive.

Defining freedom of speech has not gotten easier, despite court precedent. Conditions have changed. The issue needs to be re-examined.

To start with, the US ought to include in the curriculum enough information so that students can judge totalitarian ideologies without being taken in by them. Universities should allow students freedom of thought, instead of hiring one-sided faculties and letting them impose anti-Zionist and other leftist ideologies. They should stop hiring Muslim demagogues altogether. The universities should denounce preachers of hate. They should protect non-Muslims from Muslims and expel those who commit or organize violence.

I don't see why preaching hatred of a particular Jew, which has minor consequences, is forbidden, while preaching hatred of Jews as a whole, which has genocidal consequences, is permissible. I think rules against advocating certain political views, such as against Holocaust denial, and against preaching hatred, though well-intentioned, invite censorship. However, the old standard of "clear and present danger" should be reinterpreted. Muslims can be incited to violence more readily. For them, almost any incitement to violence presents a clear and present danger. Antisemitic agitation has been demonstrated to be a process that builds up to deadly outcomes. The bars against agitation among Muslims and against the Jewish people should be set lower, in Western societies. I suppose the same holds true for anti-Tutsi agitation in Rwanda.

The broader question is why we allow students or professional agitators from enemy states into our universities and into science courses they can utilize against us, and why we allow Muslims into the US. Pres. Bush should have called for a broader declaration of war. He would have limited it to Islamism, but that is a good start. People who seek to destroy our civilization should not have access to its knowledge or to its malleable youth. I want my country back. I don't want to lose it to repressive Islam or ridiculous political correctness.

Richard Shulman is a veteran defender of Israel on several web-based forums. His comments and analyses appear often on Think-Israel. He provides cool information and right-on-target overviews. He distributes his essays by email. To subscribe, write him at richardshulman5@verizon.net

To Go To Top

MUNICH -- ROAD MAP PARALLELS RUN DEEP
Posted by Professor Eugene E. Narrett, February 18, 2007.
"We must not delude small nations into thinking that they will be protected from aggression..." -- Sir John Simon, London, 2/21/38

Many people have noticed a terrible resemblance between the way Britain sacrificed the Czechs to Germany in 1938 and what the Oslo-Road Map plan has been doing to Israel. Ariel Sharon stated in 2002 that "Israel will not be Czechoslovakia," a rare moment of bravery for which the vassal was rebuked promptly. Shortly afterwards, he returned to substantiating the parallel.

Still, few people realize how deep the comparisons go, how alarming they are and how they illuminate the true goals of British policymakers, -- and their indifference to collateral damage. The record shows that the British are quite willing to accept war and destruction of assets (so long as most of the losses are born by others) and then have others pay and labor to rebuild what has been ruined largely through their own global designs, their relentless pursuit of Atlantic Union and World Federation.

Let us examine British diplomacy re Europe during the 1930s, making pertinent comparisons, predictions and prescriptions for today's Middle East. More...

Just as betrayal of the Jewish National Home was bloodily underway by March 1920 so the British policy of appeasement of Germany was in place by 1920. Dr. Carroll Quigley divides this policy into three stages: 1920-34; 1934-7; 1937-40:* that's right; the British continued to appease Hitler through the first eight months of the war. The pattern of assisting a voracious enemy, pretending incapacity to resist, and demanding crippling "compromises" via "negotiations" (then as now) from allies distinguished British policy during this period.

The Romantic penchant for emotionalizing values and exculpating criminals had been absorbed by 20th century mass media and politicians to psychoanalyze maniacal enemies and offer them therapeutic, fiscal and military emoluments. The English led this trend now familiar as political correctness. Noteworthy is a speech by General Jan C. Smuts of the Round Table in 1934 which demanded that Europe "set free the captive and obsessed soul" of Germany from its "inferiority complex" so that the world could "reap a rich reward of tranquility, security, and returning prosperity" (267). Even James A. Baker III and France's top officials are not as fulsome about Iran and Co. as was this instance of international State interests cloaked in therapeutic pieties.

As early as 1923 the Round Table (the name's allusion to King Arthur hints at the fear of impending self-destruction said to "haunt" Rhodes and his circle; it may be seen in the androgynous aristocratic starvelings of Pre-Raphaelite painting) called for the removal of French troops from the Rhineland, the fertile, ethnic German area west of the Rhine. With its troops occupying the Rhineland, and German troops banned from the industrial Ruhr and Saar valleys on the eastern bank France could preempt any German strike. Yet speaking for the Milner group, John Dove, editor of the Round Table 1921-34 urged this disaster on France, England's ally. Dove also was the proponent of a British-dependent Arab Federation from Iran to the Mediterranean that would include all of "Palestine."

British nationalists pursued such policies because they were in fact internationalists whose main goal since 1877 was the absorption of America into a British-led Oceanic federation that would bring freedom, social welfare and peace to the world, they said.

The Treaty of Versailles (1919) called for French occupation of the Rhineland till 1935; Britain persuaded the French to exit by 1930. They then began pressing for Germany to be given equality of arms with Britain, superiority to the French and pointedly told the latter that Britain did not feel bound to put troops on the continent to help anyone. This was a virtual invitation for Germany to re-militarize the Rhineland, a plan that English diplomats like Lords Lothian, Halifax, Austen and Neville Chamberlain made explicit to Hitler on several occasions (268 passim). At the same time, Britain vigorously undercut French attempts to include Russia in any anti-aggression pacts that might deter German expansion. Why? Because another key British aim was to build Germany up, even under Hitler to, 1) scare America into a lasting alliance; 2) unify the continent under Germany as a bulwark against Soviet Russia; 3) eliminate the Jews who might otherwise enter "Palestine" and be brash enough to demand sovereignty.

Top British leaders made clear to Hitler that they wanted him to absorb Eastern Europe, openly supporting his demand for lebensraum but urged that he proceed slowly and by negotiations that would "soften up" the will to resist of the intended victims and avoid political defeat for his British enablers. The parallels of methods and goals to the Camp David-Oslo-Road Map process is plain: negotiation is not for peace but to soften up the targeted victims, nominally allies; to protract the destruction process so that the enablers suffer no electoral repercussions from their own people and to internationalize the crisis: the expulsion regime and policy must be saved at all costs. Thus the periodic tough talk of the Olmert group during and after the Hizbollah conflict of summer 2006...

The war of nerves against the French and the Czechs that the British pursued from 1930-9 has its parallel in Anglo-American and EU-UN "negotiations" with the PLO, Iraq, Iran, Hamas-Fatah and other jihadist groups in recent decades. As the process lengthens, terror is increased to render targets, including opinion at home, more pliable. Almost a year after Austria and then the Czechs had been offered on the altar of British imperial designs aligned with German supremacists, and four days before WW II broke, Neville Henderson, the ambassador to Berlin was offering Germany an alliance if only the Nazis would follow the soften-the-victim by negotiations route with Poland as they had with the Czechs. But by then the Germans considered the British to be "worms" not unlike jihadist attitudes toward their enablers when they 'talk tough' to stay in office. Call it the spoiled brat syndrome, globalized and fiercely armed.

Hitler was able to browbeat the Austrians into not resisting German invasion and 'joining' (Anschluss) by telling them, correctly that he had British support for his plans. On February 21, Sir John Simon declared, "we must not delude small nations into thinking they will be protected from aggression..." Shortly afterward Austria was gobbled up. When the French met with the British to discuss supporting the Czechs and thus stopping German expansionism, the British pressured PM Deladier to himself join in pressing the Czechs to submit. In parliament Philip Kerr, Lord Lothian wholesaled German excuses and rationales for resuming its place in the sun "and blamed all the disasters in Europe on America" (281): shades of our times, and again, like Smuts, Lothian used Nanny-State clichés to palliate Nazism as a "temporary and pathological state," a comfortable position for those safe enough to take the long view.

It is interesting that leading British statesmen condemned the continued existence of Czechoslovakia as "almost the only racially heterogeneous state left in Europe." The moral frame of reference has flipped over completely (multi-culturalism now is the prime good for western states, the better to "liquidate" all nations and create a world state) but the methods, hypocrisy and viciousness remain up front. "The best security for peace is that the world should be divided into zones," first, "a new Federal unit built around the English-speaking nations... ultimately the commonwealth will be worldwide. Lionel Curtis, trustee of the Rhodes Scholarship Foundation, wrote the pompously titled Civitas Dei, published as the "Commonwealth of God" to promote this approach in America through the Council on Foreign Relations, its journal, Foreign Affairs, and the various publications promoting "Union" or "Atlantic Union" or "Union Now." This Commonwealth of God would be an "international commonwealth" in which nations would "yield part of their sovereignty" to the collective, a goal the UN has been increasingly directed to pursue via regional pacts subject to little congressional control.**

Quigley offers a trenchant point made often by non-establishment commentators of our day: that appeasement does not lead to stability or peace but engenders in the mind of the enabled aggressors the appetite and belief that they can increase their demands (281).

The War on Terror is a form of appeasement; between its low-level chronic bloodshed and threats it mobilizes populations, justifies increasingly obtrusive security measures and oversight and feeds the appetite and expectations of terrorists.

One of his more startling revelations is that the first leader to demand German annexation of the Sudetenland, the heavily fortified Czech border areas was not Hitler but Neville Chamberlain, privately on May 10, 1938 and publicly, in a "calculated indiscretion" on September 7. As late as September 15, 1938 Hitler himself was demanding only self-determination for the region. With the "peace process" progressing too slowly for the British pipers, having previously warned the Czechs not to mobilize their forces they then demanded they do so. This, along with a compliant media helped to create war "terror" in the home population four weeks after the British had assured Goering and Hitler that Britain would not fight for the Czechs (285). The British people were assured that Czech sacrifice was the only way to bring "peace in our time." Today they say Israeli surrenders or unilateral ceasefires are required 'to end the cycle of violence.'

Another irony of this situation, which had Britain simply stayed out might well have precluded WW II is that the armed forces of Czechoslovakia were on a par with those of Germany (287-8). The Germans would have been hard pressed to defeat the Czechs alone much less the Czechs and French. Israel, similarly has or until recently had enormous military superiority to its hostile neighbors and could have totally defeated them, deflated jihad and precluded the war on terror -- had American diplomats simply stayed out. But they do not want to stay out: they want negotiations to disarm the intended victim, in the case of Israel, through client politicians and parties committed to defeat they protract the crisis and make surrender inevitable. The Oceanic bloc wants to dismember Israel as "Chamberlain and his associates wanted to dismember Czechoslovakia." This went so far that when highly placed Germans (including Chief of Staff Beck) plotting to assassinate Hitler that September pleaded with the British to stand firm, Chamberlain promptly flew to Hitler's mountain retreat at Berchtesgaden effectively outing their plot and strengthening Hitler's resolve to carve up and absorb the designated victim (288-90). For six more years various German groups plotted to assassinate Hitler and seek in vain for British assurances of help or at least non-belligerence. But the British wanted a big aggressive Germany to dominate the continent, attack Russia and bind America to their Atlantic Union. They succeeded in each case, -- and they also got Hitler to get rid of the Jews for them so they could proceed toward the Arab Federation "with its front door on the Mediterranean" as promoted by John Dove and others from 1919 till today. And the shoah also assisted them in justifying a "world commonwealth" and Court. ***

Just as Israel has been blamed at every step of the peace process for being 'stubborn' so too in 1939 the Round Table had "severe criticism of the Czechs" for a host of problems including not dealing kindly enough with their minorities, -- unlike the way for instance that Britain dealt with nations great and small. Sounding like Bill Clinton and many others, the Round Table group became vocal on "the reign of law between nations as the only way to prevent war" when the French alone could have crushed Hitler in 1935. But the British had their eye on the prize of global dominion as our diplomats have since.

As astonishing as this history is the Oslo-Road Map process has surpassed it. While the British diplomatic elite felt impelled (partly for political reasons) to declare, if not to wage war on Germany after it attacked Poland (rather than by gradually using diplomacy and threats as in Czech land) in recent decades in the Middle East the Anglo-American elites, not to mention the EU, Russia and UN seem to be 'sisters of perpetual indulgence' for jihadist violence against Jews and blatant, in your face breaking of every accord that is reached. This indicates the special place that crippling Israel and extracting its holiest sites has on the global agenda. Why, pray tell was the old city of Jerusalem made a site of pilgrimage and the capital of "Jordan" during the nineteen years the Arabs ruled it? The discrepancy helps reveal the true agenda of the process.

Quigley mentions that as a reward and inducement to more 'good behavior,' the British gave Hitler six million pounds in Czech gold they had for 'safe keeping.' This resembles the continued western flow of arms and money to jihadists targeting Israel, for now. It also is what may happen to the treasure that Jews in Israel and all over the world have created during the past three centuries in the Promised Land.

The lesson is that when diplomats domestic and foreign lure a small nation toward the path of "negotiations" with genocidal enemies, ignore them, strike hard and agree to join them on your own terms. The only winning option is the military one as McArthur, Patton, and Grant demonstrated.

_______________________________________

*Carroll Quigley, The Anglo-American Establishment (NY 1981). Page numbers in parenthesis refer to this text. The relevant section spans pages 265-303.

** Frank Aydelotte, Clarence Streit, and Christian Herter were major publicists of this trend in America. See James Perlow, Shadows of Power (1986), 66, 85-6, 95-6, 104, 142, 154. Quigley, 282-4

***Numerous texts demonstrate how information about the magnitude of the holocaust was used by the British and American diplomatic establishment to increasingly legalize an issue of war and reparations and to proselytize for the UN and World Court. See for example David Wyman (1998); Christopher Simpson (1995). Predictably it is the Jews of Israel who are targeted by the institution ostensibly created to redress the shoah.

Postscript#

Here are a few of many more salient details that highlight the geopolitical repeat of the phased destruction of Czechoslovakia by British diplomacy and German aggression to the betrayal and phased destruction of Israel by Anglo-American and EU/UN diplomacy and Arab aggression since the second intifada (1987) led to Madrid I and Oslo.

The Arabs west of the Jordan River, both Israeli Arabs and those in the Autonomous areas have many more political and economic privileges and benefits than those in any other state. From medical care to virtually free electricity and water, to uncensored media that spew Nazi-style Jew hatred, their liberties reaches license. Similarly, "the minorities of Czechoslovakia were the best-treated minorities in Europe [in the 1930s] and their agitations were noticeable precisely because they were living in a democratic liberal state that gave them the freedom to agitate."

The resemblance to the violent even murderous agitation and the attentive media that follow and sometimes stage or prompt it in Israel is clear.

Beginning in 1935, second President Czech President Eduard Benes made numerous conciliatory offers toward self-rule for the Sudeten Germans. They were offered proportional representation throughout the Republic but they declined it. One thinks of the gift of total autonomy within Area 'A' with which the Arabs refuse to be satisfied though Jordan and Egypt gave them no autonomy and little if any services.

In 1937, Czech Prime Minister Hodza offered to transfer all German administrators serving in the Czech government to the Sudeten area so that they could be entirely self-ruled. But none of these suggestions was acceptable to Konrad Henlein [head of the Sudeten German Party] for the simple reason that he wanted no concessions within Czechoslovakia ... his real desire was to destroy the Czechoslovak state." Here is a precise description of the position and rejectionist behavior of all the Arab states to an Israeli state, no matter how small since 1937, right down to the PLO, Fatah and Hamas today. They don't want concessions; their real desire is to destroy the Jewish state as they often state while western diplomats minimize and back page the ugly and lethal fact.

But concessions continue to be offered, then and now, under pressure of the great power "friend" the beleaguered nation in question. Months before Hitler demanded self-rule for the Germans in the Sudetenland, Neville Chamberlain, Lords Halifax and Lothian among others were privately discussing, inadvertently 'leaking' and eventually publicly stating that the Czechs should cede the entire mountainous region outright. This demand for conciliation actually was a blatant and vicious recipe for dismemberment and ruin because the nation's system of fortifications ran through the mountain region. The Sudeten Mountains then, the mountains of Judea and Samaria today: a historian asks: how could Czechoslovakia have its peace or even its existence guaranteed by France after surrendering its key defensive positions when according to the British it could not be guaranteed by France, Russia, and England with these defenses intact?

How will the United States, even with the best will in the world be able to guarantee and maintain the existence of Israel minus Judea and Samaria when it claims that peace will never come so long as Israel retains its heartland and mountain barrier and maintains full autonomy for its own armed forces?

One last parallel to emphasize: just as the Czech armed forces' quantity were on par with those of Germany in fall 1938 and the quality of their forces far superior, so is the quality of Israel's armed forces today still far superior to those of its neighbors. But without its mountain barrier, Jewish settlements, and with EU, UN and NATO troops in Judea, Samaria and Gaza these advantages will be gravely compromised. More security measures will follow, everywhere...

History does repeat itself; but with awareness the game need not again be played out till checkmate, global catastrophe and holocaust.

# Quotations are from Carroll Quigley, Tragedy and Hope (NY 1966), 625-7; 628-34 for details of the comparative military strength and additional British diplomatic pressures.

Professor Eugene Narrett teaches writing and Literature at Boston University. He is the author of hundreds of articles, columns and reviews on politics, American culture and the arts. He is completing a study on Romanticism and the longterm decline of Western Culture. He writes often on subjects relating to Israel and Judaism and is a weekly columnist for the MetroWest Daily News in Framingham, Massachusetts.

This article appeared on "Israel End Times. The thoughts and writings of Prof. Eugene Narrett", and is archived at
http://israelendtimes.com/blog/2007/02/18/ munich-road-map-parallels-run-deep.htm#more-86

To Go To Top

SELLING OUT ISRAEL?
Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, February 18, 2007.

Two primary sellers are trying to sell out the State of Israel. One is the political echelon of the Left and the other is the Media which, for all intents and purposes, is a political party in disguise. The former is a political party while the latter purports to be a conveyor of the news. The fact is that the Hebrew Media in Israel is an organic extension of Leftist doctrine. The two "sellers" are inseparable.

Whatever the political Left thinks, the political Media prints and broadcasts.

In a way, the political party of the Media is far more influential that its mentors because it is the Media which reaches the people every day. While they may take their lead from the party of the Left, it is they who format the thoughts so they slip into the minds of the people as reasonable. Brain-washing the public is an art form, practiced by journalists, commentators, editors, directors and broadcasters. Of course, the publishers and politicians set the tone.

Newspapers, led first by Ha'aretz, are the leading voices of the Left -- followed closely by Ma'ariv and Yediot Ahronot. Of course, there are also the TV news Channels1 and 2 who both have large audiences.

As they say, if it's in print or on TV, it must be true. The fact that it isn't, doesn't diminish the misinformation from the Media's presentation of the facts. It's a perfect arrangement for a two party system. The politicians lie and the Leftist Media swears to the distorted facts. Those Media professionals who are drawn to employment at the political Media are already biased in their own thoughts and, therefore, acceptable as employees of a biased Media.

Political Media organizations such as Pravda in Russia, Al Ahram in Egypt would not hire an independent thinker who would go against their State doctrine. Those who apply as reporters, opinion writers would not think of applying to State Media outlets unless they already agreed to serve the prevailing political voice.

The Israeli political Media are the cutting edge for the Voice of the Left and, as I said earlier, are themselves a virtual political party. They should be registered as a political party with the same restraints as the law (such as it is) puts on the other political parties. They are like unregistered foreign agents, free to spend as much money on supporting the party of the Left, as they choose. They can even make policy by printing a format of ideas that force their political mentors as follows:

Publishers, editors are as powerful as elected officials -- even more so. At first the Media was controlled by three powerful Left-leaning families dedicated to secularizing the nation by keeping the ruling party of the Left in political control. The use of the theme: Zionism, was their cover. They were, after all, returning to Zion, the Land of our forefathers: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Solomon and the Prophets.

Who among the Jews could argue with that? But, they didn't believe in any of it. Their goal was to "piggy-back" their return to Zion onto the longing of the Jews to return to live in their ancient Land but, not as observant Zionists. Their goal was to de-Judaize the Jewish nation through the oxymoron of secular Zionism or the eponymous Labor Zionists. In essence, they were not Zionists at all but, merely secular Leftists who, like all other Jews, had to flee the graveyards of Europe.

So having control of the Government, the Media and all government service institutions, what did they achieve? We now have a Land where few believe in their government because the once great ideals of a nation under G-d was bred out of the ideals of many. Those who were once called heroes, pioneers were now pejoratively called Settlers. These were the people who still believed in the Land of Zion. These were the idealists who went to hazardous border fronts to establish kibbutzim, farms and make the arid Land green. These were the people who were honored by the world as workers and defense pioneers. Yes, it was the settlers who were first to volunteer for military service and it was their officers who always took the most casualties with the battle cry: "Acheri!"...Follow Me!" It still is the "settlers", only now they are called the Right.

But, then the tide turned. The Arab Muslim Terrorists said the Land of ours which they lost is theirs and the Leftists joined them. The politicians of the Labor Left, in lock-step with the Media of the Left and the biased Court system -- literally assaulted the pioneers of the Right.

Soon, instead of being seen as heroes and guardians of the Nation's frontiers, the wave of anti-settler propaganda said: "It's all your fault that the Arab Muslims are angry and terrorizing our cities." "If only you give up our Land, farms, factories, schools, cemeteries, holy religious sites, the Arab Muslims will no longer feel shame for having started and lost seven wars to those they said was a contemptible weak enemy -- the Jewish people." The Left invariably snatched defeat from the jaws of victory by pleading for forgiveness for winning these wars of the Arab Muslims intended annihilation.

As the nation wearied of war and the loss of her young soldiers, the Leftists' both Media and Politicians, became ready recruits for the slogans drummed out by the Left. "It's the fault of settlers." Now, Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says: "I am tired of fighting; tired of winning." He means: "Don't blame me. Blame the Settlers, the observant Orthodox and the Right."

Every two bit Leftist politician jockeyed for space in the Leftist Media to shout his or her condemnation of those darned settlers and when they had the power how they would push the settlers out and pacify the Muslim Arabs.

When they succeeded in such enterprises as Oslo 1, Oslo 2, Wye, etc., the Arabs were not appeased. Israeli Leftists mumbled some excuses and moved on to the next appeasement. When all of that failed, the Leftists got frightened. When the politically correct Leftist Generals and their political masters started to lose more and more, the people grew alarmed. All the lies they had been told were starting to fall apart.

To appease the Arab Muslims and divert the public from their own corrupt actions, the Leftists uprooted, evicted and destroyed the homes of 10,000 Israeli men, women and children from Gush Katif in Gaza and Northern Samaria. Now Gaza was turning into everything the Right and those "terrible settlers" had warned them would happen was, indeed, happening. Kassam Rockets were falling inside of Israel "proper". Even then, Leftists like Ehud Olmert, Shimon Peres, Tzipi Livni, Amir Peretz ...could not stop themselves. They wanted more appeasement and more abandonment of the Land to bring the missiles even closer to Tel Aviv, the great bastion of the Left. They've put the homes of 250,000 Jewish men, women and children in Judea and Samaria on line for evacuations.

All the plans to secularize and de-Judaize the nation in order to pacify the Arabs were failing. The Army that was once the inspiring place to which young Israelis could aspire was now not so glamorous. The national Zionists' spirit was fading under the political guidance of the Left. When Israeli Generals, at the behest of the Leftists, trained young soldiers to attack the Jews of Gush Katif in Gaza, and Amona, the spirit of honor left these young soldiers when they saw what they had done to their own people.

Only the settlers held firm in their value of the Land, their idealism and, above all, the conviction that G-d was, indeed, on their side. The young people coming from Leftist families did not have this inner conviction. Theirs was the city life where honor, love of the Land of their forefathers was merely a fantasy.

Only those "crazy settlers" believed in such mysterious things. Why go to the Army? Why believe in anything beyond night life in the big city? Who cares about Zionism -- which is just a word anyway?

This then is what the Left taught the people but, the Left also unleashed self-hating Jews in Academia. They wished to show their Left Liberal credentials so academics in Israel and America began a tirade against such Jews who had some Jewish identity and who actually loved the Land. They began to call the settlers vicious names like "Nazis" and encourage European Academics to boycott Israeli Universities, even those who were Left-leaning.

They tried to out-do each other in their outrage against Jews. Here one is reminded of what happened under Goebbels -- followed by France and other European nations who attacked and dismissed Jewish professors, physicians, etc. Some Leftist Professors now, instead of teaching their subjects, harangued their students with Leftist politics and encouraged them to hate those "pioneering settlers". They taught that the Jews had no real rights to the Land. In their foaming rage, they lost sight of the fact that they too would be dispossessed of their jobs, their homes and would be sent fleeing like their peers in Europe who managed to get away in time.

In the meantime, the Politicians, the Leftist Media, the Academics honored and encouraged the idealism of the Muslim Arabs who swore to Allah to eliminate the smallest vestige of the Jewish State. Whenever an Arab claimed holy ground, no matter how frivolous or how groundless the Muslims' claim, the Jewish Leftists genuflected. No claim was too outrageous to reject.

The Left dragged down the nation, the Army, the spirit of the people until there was little left of a once proud nation except the vigorous roots of those who were pejoratively called settlers or observant dati Jews.

Now the nation must fight for its life against hostile Muslim Arabs, American and European Arabists who want Israel to vanish while they clamor for more crude oil which the Africans call "The Devil's Excrement". We watch with dismay as the dregs of so-called Jewry both in Israel and America pimp for Arab Muslim benefits. There is little doubt that those weak leaders will go underground at the first sign of real fighting which may be coming soon. Even as the Arabs grow in power and the nations are closing in, still the Left clings to power. Like a drug addict desperate for a fix, now willing to sell off the Land, steal, beg for that next fix.

Is this Israel's last chance to save herself? I don't think so. It will require ripping the corruption out of what passes for government. I would also deal harshly with a Media that acts as if it's a political party under cover of a purveyor of news. As for the self-appointed Leftists who call themselves Judges, that fouled nest should be cleaned out. I would also straighten out the Academics to the point where they are limited to teaching their own subjects, educating their students or dismissing them, -- tenure aside.

The roots of corruption in Israel's Politics, Media, Academia and Courts are deep and it will require a good bit of ruthless tugging to pull out the bad weeds that have invaded G-d's Garden.

Emanuel Winston is a commentator and Middle East analyst. His articles appear often on Think-Israel and Gamla. He is a member of the Board of Directors and a research associate of the Freeman Center For Strategic Studies (http://www.freeman.org/online.htm). Contact him at gwinston@gwinston.interaccess.com

To Go To Top

SAVE THE CITY OF DAVID CAMPAIGN
Posted by David Ben Ariel, February 18, 2007.

This is called "Court orders settlers to leave building in East Jerusalem," and is by Meron Rapoport, Haaretz Correspondent.

The Jewish families being shamefully evicted now, associated with Ateret Kohanim, remind me of those Jewish pioneers of the El-Ad ("To the City of David") organization that I was blessed to visit with as soon as they liberated areas of Shiloach years ago, as mentioned within Conflict in Jerusalem. Later I sat and talked with its leader, David Be'eri, on his lawn about the situation and future.

May a proper Jewish government be brought to power that will respect the Jewish Homeland and strengthen it and appreciate those who love it dearly. Meanwhile, may Jews, Israelis and Christian Zionists, encourage such patriotic souls in Shiloach to continue performing the mitzvot of settling the land and launch a "Save the City of David" campaign to show solidarity.

Israel's sworn enemies have no trouble getting a riot on, so why can't we manage to have an overwhelming show of support for those Jews on the frontlines to restore biblical Jerusalem? May the public have massive demonstrations and put pressure on the government to do the right thing and permit the Jews to remain. Let the yeshivas empty their classrooms and take it to the streets. No more Jewish expulsions!

El-Ad Foundation

The El-Ad Foundation is on the forefront of the movement to strengthen the ties of the Jewish people with ancient Jerusalem -- the City of David. Right near the Western Wall, El-Ad is settling Jewish families right where the capital of Israel stood in the time of the Bible, developing archeological sites, and connecting visitors to the ancient City of David.

David Ben-Ariel is author of "Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall." Contact him at http://www.pushhamburger.com/david.htm

To Go To Top

HUMANITY MUST EVOLVE MORALLY
Posted by Lawrence Uniglicht, February 18, 2007.

Those who obsess on destructive past events, hold long-term grudges, inherit the savage instincts of dysfunctional cultures, wallow in hatred, will never see clearly or become productive members of human society. Anti-Semitism does not abate entering its third millennium despite a twentieth century Holocaust beyond human comprehension, today's resurrected Sunni Shiite war does not abate despite being rooted in a seventh century religious dispute, crimes against humanity persist worldwide rationalized by the dogma of dysfunctional cultures, some dating back to the dawn of recorded history, indeed mankind passes his self-destructive baton from generation to generation, each one digging its heels ever deeper into a never ending circular track paved with despair. Having said that, we still must not cede our souls and stare fatalistically at the grimly reaping circumstances surrounding our lives at both proximate as well as seemingly far distances, the latter not as far from us as we might think. We must not ignore all that afflicts our dysfunctional evolving species, and indeed must attempt to fix what is broken and self-destructive to the best of our abilities.

Understanding is paramount in any such serious effort. The United States failed in that regard by toppling an Iraqi tyrant without comprehending the hostile Sunni verses Shiite genie would be released from its pressurized bottle once Sadist Hussein's iron thumb was removed from the narrow opening, leading to an even more blood drenched hell. Today's world superpower, hoist with its own petard, emulated the inadequate preparation displayed by so many superpowers before it in their respective quests, failing to comprehend historical lessons, thus was destined to repeat their fatal mistakes. Yet, this must not deter future powerful nations from attempting to do the right thing. Sadistic Muslim autocratic rulers hire soulless janjaweed mercenaries to torture, rape, and murder hapless Black Muslim Africans in the blood soaked Darfur region of Sudan, such murderers immersed in their own warped devolved culture of hatred, exhibiting a morality past down by racist inhumane savages of yesteryear, still the outer presumably civilized world does nothing but pay lip service. Such inaction remains blatantly wrong, resembling the inaction of world leaders, in the know, merely ruminating over strategies while twentieth century Nazis slaughtered Jews.

Understanding cultural nuances, cultural dysfunctions, indeed what is right about any cultural surely is critical, still many world leaders remain uninformed, perhaps out of arrogance, surely out of ignorance, nevertheless embark at times headlong into challenges ultimately unprepared. Could it be that interests, not at all connected to any announced purported missions, many times motivate such aggressive actions? Could it be that industrial nations, perhaps interested in raw materials that underdeveloped nations possess, might sometimes invade those say mineral rich nations on other say more lofty pretexts? There are many such worldwide examples throughout history. Were Europeans truly interested in civilizing native Africans, evolved within civilizations different and likely more not less humane than conquerors from the North, or were such Europeans truly interested in the raw materials such Africans possessed? Do today's corporate moguls, affiliated as well as in essence unaffiliated with particular nations, sweet talk dictators of say underdeveloped lands to give up natural wealth in order to reap disgustingly high profits, very little of which betters the lives of collective native populations. Such incursions are not native friendly, thus conquerors, both of national and corporate nature, care little about understanding the indigenous cultures they exploit. With so little incentive to do the right thing, why then might we be shocked when such greed is so overwhelming that even genocide cannot move movers and shakers to act with but an ort of morality, at least attempting to stop the bleeding?

The tiny nation of Israel has experienced disrespect from its inception, has been thrust into the hell of combat many times always landing on its feet, has attempted to maintain its moral rectitude throughout such challenges, most recently allowing Hizbullah filth to survive only because intrepid Israeli soldiers would not put to sleep the cowardly Arabs, willing to shield their sorry asses behind the skirts of innocent Lebanese women, the larger frames of innocent Lebanese men, and most egregiously even the small frail bodies of young Lebanese children. Such Israeli soldiers refused to knowingly kill innocents, ever necessary if they were to destroy their craven enemy, and in effect were spat upon by a disappointed outer world for not winning a war they were expected to win. What does that say about an outer world that apparently has lost the ability to discern the fact that Israeli soldiers did the right thing? No doubt, the challenged Jewish nation, still clinging to the tenets of decency, is a prime location for a conference of world leaders from academia, government, and the business world to focus on issues relating to human morality. Why not organize such a meeting in the Israeli capital of Jerusalem? Are you listening Prime Minister Olmert?

Lawrence Uniglicht is a career civil servant, working for the Social Security Administration. He advocates for the State of Israel with an American perspective. He writes, "Advocating for the disrespected underdog has been my passion, no doubt Israel falls into that category." Contact him by email at luniglicht@snip.net

To Go To Top

CONTINUED DESECRATION OF HOLY ARTICLES AND SITES IN HEBRON
Posted by Hebron Jewish Community, February 18, 2007.

Dozens of pages of holy Psalms were found scattered in the road near the Sepharadi Jewish cemetery, near Tel Rumeida in Hebron, this morning.

This is another incident in a continuing pattern of desecrations of holy sites and articles in Hebron over the past few weeks.

Amongst others: graves in the cemetery were desecrated, at the Tomb of Jesse the eternal light was destroyed and an attempt was made to break into the holy ark, and tzedakka (charity) boxes have been stolen. All this, in addition to continued violence and property damage, as well as infiltrations into Hebron's Jewish neighborhoods. The police and army have yet to apprehend anyone for any of these crimes.

Hebron's Jewish community is gravely concerned at the police negligence in dealing with such criminal acts of violence and desecration of Jewish holy sites. Especially noticible is the gap between the police action against Jews and their lack of response at Arab crime.

The subject of discrimination and law enforcement in Hebron -- over-enforcement against the Jews and lack of enforcement against the Arabs, was discussed in Knesset committee for law and legislation last week.

Psalms desecrated by Arabs today near the ancient Jewish cemetery

Desecration at Tomb of Jesse and Ruth

Desecration of Separadi Jewish cemetery in 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

To Go To Top

RE: GREG MYRE, "ISRAELIS ARE GONE, BUT GAZA REBUILDING IS SLOW"
Posted by Marion Dreyfus, February 18, 2007.

To: Editor, New York Times
Subject: NYT: Greg Myre, "Israelis Are Gone, but Gaza Rebuilding Is Slow" (Feb. 18, 07)
February 18, 2007

To the Editors:

Assiduous fact-checkers at the Times should recall the shambles that was left after the Israelis gifted the Arabs with Gaza, and Mort Zuckerman extended his personal $13+ million dollars to preserve the greenhouses that had employed some myriads of Israelis before the ill-starred handover.

Greg Myre ("Israelis are gone, but Gaza rebuilding is slow," 18 Feb) gets the facts completely wrong. The moment the handover of Gaza was complete, the new inhabitants tore the greenhouses pipe from pipe, and limb from limb, literally destroying the work of decades, and laying waste to the potential incomes of millions and employment venues of thousands.

The so-called Gaza closing is also a never-was, and falsely assigns blame for the Arab destruction of her new territory to the Israelis, instead of the ungracious and self-destructive Arafatian minions.

The Times should print an apology as prominently as it printed these major errors of fact.

Marion Dreyfus is a writer and travelor; she has taught English in China on the university level. She can be contacted at dreyfusmarion@hotmail.com

To Go To Top

CULTURE OF DENIAL
Posted by Paula Stern, February 18, 2007.

The roots of the Middle East conflict began in denial and so long as death and denial are the tools of the Arab religious and political leaders, the conflict will remain unresolved. Nothing that anyone can do, not the Israelis, not the Europeans, not even the Americans, can change this simple truth.

After centuries of persecution and yearning for the land that was theirs, Jews in large numbers began arriving in Ottoman and then British-mandated Palestine to join and strengthen the existing Jewish community. The land then, as now, was rich enough and the people creative and dedicated enough, to have supported this influx.

Even more, the native Arabs in Palestine during this time could have benefited from this influx just as the native Jewish population did. The Arab population could have joined in draining the swamps in the north and making the desert bloom. They could have joined in building a country that truly would have been the crossroads of the world, the center of commerce and travel and tourism and research and development.

Instead, they denied the rights of the Jews to return to their homeland and did it with violence. Then, as now, the Arabs chose the path of denial. It is a mistake they continue to repeat year after year. And then, as now, the world rejected their violence and recognized the right of Israel to again take its place among the nations. When the Arabs denied the Partition Plan which would have given them a state in 1947, that idiocy plunged the region and the world into 6 decades of violence and caused the Palestinians to raise their children to worship death and darkness.

The Arab countries denied their Arab brothers by refusing to absorb 600-700,000 refugees, leaving them for decades in squalor and poverty. There were no language, religious, economic, or cultural barriers that should have prevented the Arab refugees of 1948 from easily being absorbed in the Arab countries to which they emigrated. It was the culture of denial that brought about generations of suffering.

Wars often result in an exchange of population, but rarely are those displaced so despised as to remain seemingly homeless and poor through generations. A similar number of Jews, estimated between 600-900,000 Jews were forced to flee their homes in Arab lands. From Libya, Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Iraq and so many other places, hundreds of thousands of Jews came to the new state and were absorbed. It was a painful and slow process, but the Jews of Israel were as determined to absorb as the new immigrants were to be absorbed.

There is no refugee problem in Israel among the Jews who came from Arab lands, because with positive planning, they were given homes. Not so among the Arab nations who worshiped this policy of denial and crowned it with martyrdom and hatred.

A refusal to accept the truth that was obvious to all, continues to plague the Palestinian cause today. Today, the Palestinians not only deny the existence of the state of Israel by refusing to give it "recognition," but are attempting to deny long-accepted archeological evidence that under the mosques they built on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, lies the buried remains of our two Holy Temples. The amazing part of their denial is not that they seek to convince the world that there was no Jewish settlement here thousands of years ago, no Jewish Temple, no organized religion. No, the amazing part of their denial is that they actually believe their own lies.

When Ehud Barak met Yasir Arafat and Bill Clinton at Camp David, he made unprecedented and dangerous concessions that would have seriously damaged Israel's security. To Barak's flawed way of thinking, the goal of any agreement should have been peace so he was willing to compromise Israel's security. We should be forever grateful that the culture of denial among the Palestinians manifested itself once again, even if it did plunge us into yet another Intifada.

And finally, we arrive at Iran's repeated denials of the Holocaust, yet another example of the Arab world attempting to deny what is obvious to all. One need only visit Auschwitz and see the piles of human hair, the eyeglasses, the abandoned suitcases and worst of all, the gas chambers and barracks to know this was a place of great evil and death. The ashes still remain in Maidanek and the bones still rise to the surface during heavy rains in Chelmno.

To deny the Holocaust despite massive physical evidence and the eyewitness testimonies of hundreds of thousands, to deny that the Temple Mount is holy to the Jewish religion because our great Temples once stood there, and to deny Israel's right to exist, are all failed attempts at denying reality. Of all the concepts prevalent in the Palestinian and Arab psyche, this culture of denial is perhaps the most damaging not only to the world and the quest for Middle East peace, but especially to the Arabs themselves.

You cannot make peace with those whom you deny and until the denial stops, there is really no reason for the world or Israel to even attempt to negotiate the situation. The roots of the Middle East conflict began in denial so long ago and so it continues today. If things are bad for the Palestinians now, amidst this culture of denial they have elevated to the level of holiness, than they have no one to blame but themselves. Nothing that anyone can do, not the Israelis, not the Europeans, not even the Americans, can change this simple truth.

Contact Paula Stern at writepnt@actcom.co.il This article is archived at
www.paulasays.com/articles/on_my_mind/culture_of_denial.html

To Go To Top

JONATHAN POLLARD'S LETTER TO THE PARENTS OF YEHUDA LIFSCHITZ
Posted by Justice For Jonathan Pollard, February 17, 2007.

PM Olmert plans to release Yehuda's murderers.

Remember to call the White House and ask that Jonathan Pollard be freed.

REMEMBER, every single call to the White House is counted! Call every day, Monday through Friday, 9 am to 5 pm eastern standard time. (For Israeli readers, that's Monday to Friday from 4 pm to Midnight, but not Shabbat please!)

WHITE HOUSE TELEPHONE NUMBERS 1-202-456 -1111 or 1-202-456-1414

You don't have to be American to participate, just a mench!

February 16, 2007

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Lifschitz,

It broke my heart to learn of your principled struggle to prevent Prime Minister Olmert from freeing the murderers of your beloved son, Yehuda, H'yd, z'l. Please know, you are fighting for the honor and the security of all the Nation of Israel, not just for justice for Yehuda H'yd, z'l.

Although it is not a simple matter for me to get this message to you, I want very much to strengthen your hands and to express solidarity with you.

As the parents of a soldier who was brutally murdered while in the service of the State, PM Olmert's indifference to your suffering and to your feelings is unforgivable. His attitude clearly reflects the saying of our sages, "He who is merciful to the cruel, will end up by being cruel to the merciful."

How does the Government of Israel show its gratitude to those who serve the State? How does it honor its soldiers, agents, and loyal citizens? By freeing those who murder us and terrorize us? By abandoning its soldiers in the field so as not to cause civilian casualties amongst our enemies? By turning its back on the families of the victims of Arab terror as it prepares to release the worst murderers and terrorist masterminds this state has ever known?

The State of Israel is absolutely obliged to bring all of her prisoners and captives home -- but not by making deals with the devil to spill even more Jewish blood.

Israel's dismal record since the signing of the Oslo Accords shows a clear pattern of favoring our enemies by releasing terrorists and murderers, always at the expense of their victims and the victims' families. It is a blot on the honor of the Nation of Israel that the Government is far more concerned about appeasing the Americans (who demand these humiliating prisoner releases) and placating our enemies than it is about discharging its most basic responsibilities to those who serve the State. Olmert's intention to free Yehuda's murderers -- without any moral or legal basis for doing so, proves that.

As past experience has proven, whenever Israel releases murderers and terrorists as a "gesture," these scoundrels receive a hero's welcome home, and they quickly resume their terrorist activities against Israeli citizens and targets. This is true also of those who are released ostensibly to serve out their sentences in other countries. They go in the front door of the jail, and then quickly out the back door to resume terrorizing Israel anew.

Prime Minister Olmert and his cronies need to be reminded that the State has a responsibility to those who serve it and to its citizens. His plans to free murderers and terrorists are unconscionable.

I have asked my wife, Esther to join a critical protest rally on Monday 19/02/07 (organized by the Committee to Bring Jonathan Pollard Home.) The protestors will gather in Kikar Pariz at 6 PM to protest the dastardly deals that Olmert is making with Abbas (at the request of the Americans) to free yet more murderers and terrorists. Let me assure you, your son's name will be upon the lips of the protestors.

You have my word, Mr. and Mrs. Lifschitz, we shall not be silent. Esther and I and all those who are prepared to speak out against this evil, want you to know that you are not alone in your struggle. The People of Israel are with you. May G-d bless our efforts with success!

With love and deep sympathy,

Jonathan Pollard
FCI Butner, NC

SEE ALSO at www.jonathanpollard.org: Hebrew Text: Jonathan's Letter to the Parents of Yehuda Lifschitz

Contact Justice For Jonathan Pollard by email at justice4jp@gmail.com

To Go To Top

SDEROT WAITS FOR A SAVIOR
Posted by David Bedein, February 17, 2007.

Jerusalem -- Most people who follow the Israeli news of the missiles that fall in southern Israel would know the toll that it has taken upon the people there. What you often hear on the news is that a missile fell and that no one was hurt ... physically. The mental damage is another story in itself.

The working class city of Sderot (est. pop. 20,000), in southern Israel, is possibly the first city since Sarejevo to live under constant bombardment of its civilian population for a sustained period of time. Sderot has been under missile attack from Gaza for more than six years, and it has been hit by more than 1,400 missile attacks since Israel pulled its civilians and soldiers out of nearby Gaza during the summer of 2005, which includes more than 100 missile attacks since Israel declared a cease-fire on Nov. 26, and stopped any real military response to these attacks.

One by product of this situation is that the small mental health trauma unit in Sderot was simply no longer able to meet the needs of the situation, with more than 3,000 people in Sderot in treatment for the after effects of shock, anxiety and stress.

And so, in late December 2006, Israel's daily HaAretz newspaper broke the story that Sderot's mental health trauma unit was going to be forced to close in a few days with the beginning of the calendar year, for lack of funds.

Almost immediately upon hearing the news that Sderot's mental health services were collapsing, some American prominent philanthropists wrote to the UJC, the New York-based umbrella organization that helps Israel and other Jewish causes, and asked what the UJC was doing about providing emergency mental health assistance to the already distressed city of Sderot and other communities under fire in Israel's Western Negev region.

The immediate response that these donors got was a letter, dated Dec. 28, from the public relations department director of the UJC, which delineated the generous allocations to Sderot and the Western Negev that the UJC was planning for the region. These letter spelled out the following allocations:

* "$1.5 million has been allocated to provide 20,000 Sderot-area children ages 5-16 post-trauma counseling/therapy; school-based afternoon enrichment activities, study time and meals for two months;

* $997,500 has been allocated to provide 35 psychologists to complement the 110 already in place, to provide therapy in Sderot-area schools for six months;

* $956,640 has been allocated to provide 3,000 of the 37,000 students in ORT schools who suffer from trauma with counseling/therapy;

* $700,000 has also been allocated to provide 4,000 kids in 1st-6th grades with one- to three-day field trips in the center of Israel.

* $150,000 was allocated for the Yuval program, which helps support front-line emergency response personnel, specifically in four locations in the Sderot/Gaza region."

However, on Jan. 8, when Dr. Adriana Katz, the head of the mental health services for Sderot saw a copy of the letter, she laughed and commented that "this is the greatest piece of science fiction that I have ever read", and went on to say that while the six psychologists working in Sderot would be pleased to welcome 35 more psychologists who would indeed be needed to provide follow-up services to 3,000 people in Sderot, there was no indication from the UJC or anywhere else that these allocations were en route to Sderot or to the Western Negev.

Throughout January, calls to the UJC in New York about the emergency allocations to the mental services of Sderot went unanswered -- until this past Wednesday, when a UJC donor received a letter from the UJC in New York which spelled out the way in which $3 million had been spent by the UJC in the Sderot area during the calendar year 2006, yet with no mention of what would be provided for Sderot in 2007.

A source close to the UJC reported that the UJC would indeed hold an allocations meeting some time in March.

What about the $4 million that the UJC promised for Sderot mental health services in the UJC letter of Dec. 28?

No comment about that commitment was forthcoming from the UJC.

At this point in time, the commitment of the UJC philanthropy to provide $4 million in aid to the mental health services in Sderot is only on paper.

Simply stated, the people of Sderot would like to know if the Dec. 28 commitment made by a respected American philanthropy will be fulfilled.

The answer is that they will have to wait until the UJC allocations meeting, to be convened sometime in March.

David Bedein is Bureau Chief, Israel Resource News Agency. (http://Israelbehindthenews.com). Contact him by email at media@actcom.co.il

This appeared yesterday in The Evening Bulletin
(www.thebulletin.us/site/printerFriendly.cfm?brd=2737&dept_id=576361& newsid=17860007).

To Go To Top

THE MEDINA OVER THERE
Posted by Nurit Greenger, February 17, 2007.

I am sure Israelis know that many Arabic words have Hebrew connotation or similarity; I wonder if the Arabs know this too. For instance the word "medina."

Medina in Hebrew means 'country,' 'land,' 'polity,' 'province,' 'region,' or 'state.' For Mohamed, medina was the old section of an Arab city in North Africa. In Arabic madīna, city, from Aramaic mədintā, mədinā, 'jurisdiction,' 'district,' from dān, to 'judge,' 'administer.'

The State of Israel is 'Medina[t] Yisrael.'

This brings me to the point of Medina-Yisrael and Medina-Palestine.

Why is the United States State Department insisting on establishing a terror Palestinian medina on the border of Israel, causing irreversible damage to Israel's national security when there is so much other medina land available for the Palestinians in Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia or in any other of the 22 Arab countries?

During the British Mandate, in then Palestine, the Brits drew the region's maps and borderlines as fast as a newspaper cartoonist draws his or her morning newspaper cartoon assignment.

Why is it that the international community cannot draw a border of a new 23 Arab medina away from the throat of Israel? Why is Condoleezza Rice so adamant about putting the noose of a Palestinian medina on Israel's neck? Why?

The problem is not with the Arabs but the rest of the world. Because of our need for oil, for years we allowed the consistent spread of the Islamic cancer. The only healthy cell remained in the Middle East is Israel and the Untied States State Department is now working mighty hard to destroy it.

When a child is unruly it is not his or her fault, rather the fault of his or her unruly parents. Shamefully, for years, the United States and the rest of the [not so free] world acted as the Muslims' unruly parents. The results are crystal clear, all turned against Israel and us.

From here on, in every meeting that Israel is required to discuss any possible Palestinian state mapping perhaps Israel must demand for a Palestinian medina over there somewhere...end of discussion!

Contact Nurit Greenger by email at 4nuritg@ca.rr.com. Visit her blog:
http://ngthinker.typepad.com

To Go To Top

ISRAEL MUST THINK CLEARLY
Posted by Lawrence Uniglicht, February 17, 2007.

The Bush Administration bizarrely supports Iraq's democratically elected Shiite government, pledging lip service to America's objectives, yet whose heart and future truly belong to the Bush Administration's 'axis of evil' Iran. The Bush Administration bizarrely supports Saudi Arabia's undemocratic non elected Sunni royal ruling class, pledging lip service to America's objectives, yet whose heart and pocket book truly belong to the Bush Administration' 'evil doer' Sunni insurgents as well as worldwide Wahhabi madrassas a/k/a human bomb factories. Although most observant pundits suggest an ever-growing resurrected Sunni Shiite civil war spouts geysers of blood over Iraq's scorpion infested desert, the Bush Administration sticks to its 'good guy verses bad guy' scenario, ignoring thirteen centuries of historical evidence. Although six decades of empirical evidence clearly supports the fact that 'land for peace' is a pie-in-the sky notion, unworkable because so many Arabs do not and will not recognize the existence of Israel, the Bush Administration, consistent with mind-sets of well intentioned erstwhile United States Administrations, will continue to push its Road Map (more aptly Road Kill) scheme on gullible Israeli movers and shakers, as soon as enough dust settles, enough lip service is paid, and some sort of temporary unity government is worked out between clashing Fatah and Hamas so-called Palestinian politicos.

How many foreign policy blunders by its formidable ally, exacerbated by cognitive dissonant illogic, will it take before Israel's leaders finally recognize they alone must do what is best for the beleaguered State they were elected to steward, and not rely on perhaps good intentioned advice bereft of logic that if followed will only bring tsuris? There are no do-overs when land is ceded. If the folly of Gaza does not hammer that home, perhaps nothing will.

The volatile Middle East, no doubt this planet's most perilous region, composed of an unstable admixture of feuding mostly misogynist undemocratic Muslim tribes and one tolerant democratic people disliked by all the rest, has its way with the world, chosen by Dame Misfortune's fickle fossil fuel finger of fate to collectively possess the one desert drenching dinosaur age energy source cherished by mostly all first world industrial nations. The latter point indeed is controlling, thus influences all policy initiatives proposed by even Israel's closest and most essential ally. When U.S. secretary of State Condi Rice, for one, at the behest of her bosses, breaks pita with Abu Mazen, as well as other presumably 'moderate' Arab V.I.P.s, then attempts to extort 'land for peace' concessions from those representing Israel, fossil fuel linkages to her agenda must be considered. As much of an ally America is to Israel, that superpower's access to oil and Saudi guarantees that OPEC will continue to recognize the primacy of its petrodollar trump all. Indeed, the preemptive invasion and all subsequent strategic missteps in Iraq, leading to destabilizing unintended consequences, would not have occurred if Sadist Hussein had not crossed the sacred line in the sand, daring to trade oil for euros, and if the Bush Administration was not also predisposed to assert control over Iraq's vast proven oil reserves. Anyone who believes otherwise is a prime candidate to buy the next Brooklyn Bridge.

Furthermore, Israel, once highly regarded as a reliable proxy fighting force, disappointed present occupants of Uncle Sam's White House by not recently clobbering Hizbullah, albeit it is virtually impossible for any moral nation to vanquish a craven enemy on its home turf willing to use its own civilians as human shields. Still, Israel's usefulness took a major hit. That fact must be seriously considered in any calculations made by Israeli leaders, expected to comply with future land for peace demands foisted upon Israel by Ms. Rice or any other Bush proxy. No longer viewed as a stud, the glue factory is a strong possibility, if that would engender worldwide kudos and oil deals for a persuasive fair weather formidable ally. If the mere mention of that possibility offends many dyed in the wool Israeli Bush supporters, please refer to a 06/18/2006 article in the Jerusalem Post 'US rejected Iranian overtures in 2003'. Reputable sources, per The Washington Post, revealed the Bush Administration ignored a certifiable offer from Iran to begin talks with the United States concerning a variety of issues including nuclear safeguards, ending support of Palestinian as well as other terror organizations, coordinating efforts in Iraq, accepting the 2002 Saudi solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and therefore most incredibly recognizing Israel -- I repeat recognizing Israel!  Of course, no one knows if the sanction-laden Persian regime was merely blowing smoke up Bush's posterior region, but how could he not at least follow up on this offer? Of course, the lunatic Iranian president AhMADinejad has since announced that Israel should be 'wiped off the map', as well as hosted a most despicable Holocaust denial conference, but might talks with perhaps more rational practical Iranian leaders preempted those despicable deeds, perhaps relegating AhMADinejad to irrelevancy? Furthermore, might those discussions have put the kabash on Iran's apparent Dr. Strangelove obsession now manifesting in multitudes of ominously spinning centrifuges? Sometimes incompetence nurtured by arrogance is inexcusable. Israeli leaders should feel no remorse in objectively analyzing one particular lame duck U.S. administration, perhaps a whole lot less of a friend to Israel than it was and is cracked up to be.

Lawrence Uniglicht is a career civil servant, working for the Social Security Administration. He advocates for the State of Israel with an American perspective. He writes, "Advocating for the disrespected underdog has been my passion, no doubt Israel falls into that category." Contact him by email at luniglicht@snip.net

To Go To Top

IT'S SO BAD IT'S GOOD
Posted by Gerald A. Honigman, February 17, 2007.
...

or at least should be.

The crew running my local newspaper, The Daytona Beach News-Journal (aka The News-Jazeera), started my day off on February 24th with almost an entire half page singing the praises to Hamas' leader, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, and blaming Israel equally along with the Arabs for the failure of Dr. Rice's Mideast peace plans. She was hit with a reality check coming out of Mecca, and since the Arabs won't give up their insistance on Israel's destruction and Jews (at least some) refuse to play ball, I guess, for The News-Jazeera, that makes both parties equally guilty. Keep in mind that the only time the paper's editorialists spoke of barbarism related to this conflict was in an op-ed by their Pierre Tristam entitled, "Barbarism Under Israel's Boot."

"Moral equivalence" is always the name of this newspaper's game, so the two AP stories claiming that Israel and the Palestinian Arabs share equal guilt and the nauseating whitewash of Hamas were right up their alley.

I wonder how the editors would feel if it were their own kids getting deliberately blown apart in the local pizzerias, teen night clubs, on bus rides home from school, and such. Would they still insist, for starters, that Haniyeh was just a "militant?"

For years now, many of us have asked what planet The News-Jazeera's folks live on. And our local Florida problem is all too typical these days across the board.

Yet it doesn't take a rocket scientist (and we have plenty just down the road a bit at the Cape) to explain the facts of life here.

If the United States--three thousand miles wide, bordered by non-hostile nations (at least one whose territories were conquered in the name of the United States' manifest destiny ), buffered by two vast oceans, and the most powerful nation on Earth--was asked to negotiate with an enemy dedicated to its destruction, we'd expect our leaders to tell those folks to stick those negotiations as far up some bodily orifice that they would fit. And if such an enemy struck at our people, we would unleash pure hell on them...as in the aftermath of 9/11, in World War II, and so forth.

It pays to be big -- both as a nation and as a people

The resurrected State of the Jews isn't. It's hard to even locate it on a map of the world. On the other hand, Arabs now have almost two dozen states--conquered mostly from non-Arab peoples--on over six million square miles of territory.

I repeat these things often--not because I like to, but because the message just doesn't sink in as soon as it should. And for those who have eyes and see and have ears and hear--yet still behave otherwise--I repeat such key facts to rub in their faces. Neither reason nor ethics will be the excuse for shafting the Jews yet again.

Recently, the Arab terrorist organization, Fatah, met with the Arab terrorist organization, Hamas, in the feudal kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Both organizations' charters still call for the destruction of Israel, and both have continued to launch deadly attacks against Jews.

Mediated by those "moderate" Wahhabi models of morality--in whose country one could still purchase black slaves on the open market not that long ago (with reports of slaves still working the oil fields), in whose holy cities "Infidels" dare not set foot in, the providers of most of the homicide bombers of 9/11, etc. and so forth--the Mecca Agreement was arrived at. The negotiations focused on resolving the inter-Arab feud over who would be calling the shots--both militarily and politically--in the Palestinian Arab territories via the formation of a Unity Government.

Recall that Israel withdrew from Gaza--strategic land used since the days of the Pharaohs as an invasion route into Israel--going on two years now. And its worst (and very predictable) nightmares came true. Arabs saw this as weakness, gave nothing in return, and simply came that much closer to launching their attacks into Israel proper. Gaza is a no-man's-land today.

Arabs are still more dedicated to destroying the one minuscule state Jews have (on land they have lived on for over three millennia) than building yet another state of their own--and second, not first, one in "Palestine." Upon the breakup of the Ottoman Turkish Empire, which ruled the area for over four centuries, Jordan was carved out of the original April 25, 1920 mandated territory in 1922 as a gift to the Brits' Arab allies in World War I.

No where in this new Meccan accord do Arabs recognize Israel, agree to stop terrorizing Jews, or make any attempt to reach a livable modus vivendi with a viable Jewish State as their neighbor.

No shock here, and much of what I write is, again, admittedly repetition of my earlier observations.

But Secretary of State Rice is traveling to the Middle East. And you know--or should know--what that usually means. Any time the State Department gets involved this way--especially when working along with its Saudi buddies (many a Foggy Folk and other Government employee has gotten rich off of petrodollar friendship sooner or later)--it's not the Arabs who get squeezed.

Again, imagine America being placed in Israel's shoes. Think about what our response would be to deliberate butchers of our kids, who deny our very right to exist.

Yet Condi & Co.-- with Dubya's apparent approval -- evidently expect Israel to agree to the birth of yet another rejectionist Arab state in its very backyard. And it will be rejectionist whether ruled by Fatah or Hamas.

On the face of it, the first results of Dr. Rice's meetings in Israel look more promising than I expected. She announced that the Arabs would have to meet The Quartet's obligations which they snubbed in Mecca. But within that lies the bigger problem.

Compared to the Hamas bad cop, Abbas and Fatah--as rejectionist as Hamas when it comes to a accepting a Jewish Israel--have constantly been portrayed by the State Department as the good cop. Long before Hamas won in Arab elections, Arafat and his slicker Fatah successors played the same game--saying one thing to an all-too-gullible West to win support while telling their own people something quite different and allowing terror to continue. The museum Arabs set up showing replicas of body parts hanging from the ceiling of disemboweled Jews in pizzerias was proudly displayed under moderate Fatah's watch. And much of the terror was carried out by it as well.

The same way Fatah and the PLO's general whitewashers tried to claim that Black September was not under the formers' control, likewise is done for Fatah's current various terrorist affiliates. Take a look at this statement by a key Fatah player, Mohammed Daoud Oudeh, also known as Abu Daoud, a Black September operative and former senior PLO member, who, according to a 1972 article in the Jordanian newspaper Al-Dustur, told Jordanian police: "There is no such organization as Black September. Fatah announces its own operations under this name so that Fatah will not appear as the direct executor of the operation." A March 1973 document released in 1981 by the State Department seemed to confirm that Fatah was Black September's parent organization. In short, the Foggy Folks are aware...but need their Arab good cop anyway. How else to get the Jews to forcibly consent to things few others would dream of? Indeed, as is well documented, State covered up for Arafat repeatedly.

Madam Secretary must know that her "moderate" pal, Mahmoud Abbas, was one of Arafat's closest right hand men in Fatah (an organization whose various affiliate groups have barrels of Jewish blood on their hands), and that he was elected President running on an open platform for Israel's destruction. While he may differ with Hamas about the means to that destruction (blown buses bring bad press), his goal remains the same. The most Abbas offers is a long term ceasefire, a hudna, and that after Israel withdraws to its 9-mile wide, 1949 armistice line existence and accepts that it be swamped by enemies sworn to its demise. Even the most moderate of Abbas' crew have described any dealings with Israel as merely a Trojan Horse. Does this really need any further explanation?

Indeed, Abbas and the Saudis agree on a similar tactic: Talk "peace" but vow that Israel must consent to allow millions of jihadi alleged Arab refugees to "return" to swallow the Jews up in their own land. And turn the terror on and off as well if "negotiations" don't deliver the Jews fast enough.

Condi and the State Department know all of this...and we're not even discussing Hamas, which is admirably more honest in its murderous intentions.

So, we're back to the beginning again.

There's absolutely nothing in the Mecca Agreement that's good for Israel. Furthermore, the hundreds of millions of dollars that will probably be heading Abbas and Fatah's way will largely be used against Jews. The Meccan manure was so blatantly obvious that even Dr. Rice felt compelled to address the issues more than she has perhaps ever done before. And I attribute this more to Evangelical connections with the President and upcoming elections than to Foggy good will towards Israel.

Since the Jews' repeated, concrete, unilateral concessions--most, again, forced by America--nothing has changed on the Arab side. The textbooks, government maps, religious sermons, media, and such are as anti-Semitic and anti-Israel as ever. And they have all been controlled by Abbas's alleged good cops. Indeed, Abbas, recently called on Hamas and Fatah to stop shooting at each other and take aim at Jews more often again.

And why not?

Who's really squeezing them?

I'll give you a hint...

Former Secretary of State James Baker's law firm is now the representative of Saudi Arabia's interests in this country. His partner is America;s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. Many officials move in and out of government into major corporations--like Bechtel--with billion dollar connections to the petrobuck. They sit or have sat on the board of directors of oil companies and other corporations tied to Arab gelt. Condi even has an oil tanker named after her in Chevron's fleet. There is a long history of such ties...which helps to explain why the State Department opposed Israel's very rebirth in the first place.

So, Arabs know what to expect in such an atmosphere that is likely to present itself at the coming summit of sorts Condi has planned for Israel and its Arab "peace (of the grave)" partners. They've been there, done that many times before...regardless of Madam Secretary's reasonable opening remarks.

Dr. Rice needs to insist that Abbas show concrete evidence of his own peaceful intentions...not meaningless words that he has yet to live up to with a million excuses for. Again, if he's truly different from the Hamas folks when it comes to Israel (which he most probably isn't), we need to see how. Teaching kindergartners in his Palestinian Authority's own schools the joys of becoming shahids by blowing Jewish children apart ain't the way to do this.

In fact, there's no doubt that the Mecca Agreement is so bad that it should be good.

That is, if reason and justice were the guidelines, the sole, resurrected State of the Jews should be able to laugh at the prospect of being expected to consent to sacrificing itself on the petroleum-greased altar of international hypocrisy so that Arabs can gain their 22nd state--and second one in "Palestine" (the name Rome gave to Judaea after the Jews" second revolt for independence).

But those are not the guidelines running this show.

And these are Jews we're talking about--you know, the folks often distinguished by the "special treatment" they've received both in the Muslim East as well as the Christian West over the centuries.

As I've written before, Israel should refuse to attend the party Condi has planned...regardless of her well-known threats and tirades when it comes to Israel. Israel must make clear that Hamas is not the only problem here.

America would never agree to such a "deal."

That elements within America's government expect this of Israel is a disgrace...and one opposed by the majority of red-blooded Americans. Condi's department is filled with Arabists who too often run the show.

Keep in mind that with problematic results in Iraq very predicable in the not-too-distant future, the Foggy Folks are looking for the Jews to give them a "victory" in the so-called Arab world that they can point to--regardless of the consequences to the Jews themselves.

The only answer is for Israel to hold new elections as soon as possible and bring forth leadership that will tell its best friend, America, that Jews have waited too long for their tiny sliver of justice to throw it away for a "peace for all time" Munich 2007.

Gerald A. Honigman, a Florida educator, has created and conducted counter-Arab propaganda programs for college youth, has lectured on numerous campuses and other platforms, and has publicly debated Arab spokesmen. His articles and op-eds have been published in both the print media and on websites. Contact him at honigman6@msn.com or go to his website: http://geraldahonigman.com/blog.php

To Go To Top

NATIONAL MASOCHISM
Posted by Batya Medad, February 17, 2007.

I'm glad that I live in this "protective Jewish bubble" of Shiloh, where our souls breathe the scent of the ancient Ketoret (incense), and we are surrounded by the walls of the Shechina [see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shekhinah].

The other day I was in Jerusalem helping someone shop for gifts, and we overheard a disturbing exchange in a shop. A customer had requested that the crafts store censor the artist's identification page. The artist lives in YESHA and writes that the ancient views are an inspiration. The customer demanded that the shopkeeper delete that as a condition for buying the gift. Of course, the store agreed to the request, and I have no idea if the artist was informed. People are in business to make money.

The night before, on Israel TV, there were similarly disturbing statements by Israeli politicians about how marginal Jerusalem was to the Zionist movement and how wonderful Israel was before the burdening and unnecessary expansion do to the results of the Six Days War. "We did fine without the territories," he claimed.

Now that's selective memory for sure. The most popular joke in pre-Six Days War Israel, was the request that "the last one leaving, please turn out the lights." The long "peculiar" Auschwitz borders were impossible to defend by all means of human logic. There were constant terror attacks and snipers from the "neighboring" Arab countries on Jerusalem, the Negev and the Galilee.

The standard of living ranked with the "Third World." When we made aliyah in 1970, people in Israel were living under conditions which resembled pre-WWII United States and worse.

Ben Gurion and his followers re-wrote Jewish History. They invented a school curriculum to brainwash the population to believe that what was included in the 1949 "green line" was the true Jewish Nation. Nothing else was necessary for post-Holocaust Jewish survival and the Jewish State, which was to be a country like all others.

In 1967, when the Arabs threatened to attack us, annihilate us, "drive us into the sea," which were their exact words," all the Israeli Government wanted was to preserve those indefensible borders. There were no battle plans to liberate the Old City of Jerusalem or to free Judea and Samaria from Arab rule. Not only didn't they want to allow Jews to visit Joseph's Tomb in Shechem or the site of the Tablernacle in Shiloh or the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron, they didn't even dream of freeing Gush Etzion, which had been the home of Jewish kibbutzim, which were destroyed by the Arabs during the War for Independence in 1948.

This year some of us will be celebrating 40 years since the liberation of Judea and Samaria and the Golan, while others will just be "celebrating" the survival of the country. Israel had existed for only 19 years before that war.

Think about those numbers! The post 1967 Six Days War period is more than twice the time that pre-dates it.

The chasm in Israeli society has deepened both financially and spiritually. Israel's nouveau riche is oblivious to the lives of the majority, and most Israelis only know Judea and Samaria and even our capital, Jerusalem, from army service.

When I was an elementary school student in New York, we had to memorize the map of the United States, know the names and locations of all of the states and the names of the state capitals. Israeli high school graduates are so ignorant of the geography our tiny country that I've heard soldiers waiting for rides in Beit El asking if a ride to Jerusalem passes Ariel. I wish I was kidding. The clerks answering the phone at our washing machine service in Petach Tikvah pronounces ùéìä "Shilah," instead of Shiloh, totally unfamiliar and oblivious to the historic and religious significance of my home town.

I can't lie to you. The situation is not good. We have a lot of work to do to save our nation and country. We tried massive demonstrations and prayer vigils before Disengagement, and they weren't successful. I wish I knew the magic formula to immediately stop this "National Masochism," but I don't.

What I do know is that I'm not giving up, and I'm not alone. We have to just keep on doing everything we can.

Shabbat Shalom from the Holy City of Shiloh

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

To Go To Top

WRITING FOR THE WRONG
Posted by Nurit Greenger, February 16, 2007.

This was written by Barry Rubin, who is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and co-author of "Yasir Arafat: A Political Biography" and "Hating America: A History" (Oxford University Press, August 2006). Prof. Rubin's columns can now be read online at http://gloria.idc.ac.il/columns/column.html.

Among the saddest things about the Middle East is how Arab intellectuals are so overwhelmingly on the side of the dictatorships and extremist ideologies, which cause so much suffering in the region.

Two shocking recent examples of this problem are revealed by the German-Iraqi Najem Wali and French-Syrian Burhan Ghalioun.

Wali tells the story of the Arab Writers Union in an article in the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung. Last December, the Iraqi branch was not invited to the Arab League backed group's convention, allegedly because it was suspected of maintaining relations "with the Zionist enemy." This was better than the Iraqi writers' experience in 2005, when they arrived for the conference in Algiers and then were thrown out of their hotel rooms and banned from the meeting.

Iraq, of course, is a member of the Arab League and the Iraqi branch was created by the government. This did not stop Iraq from being treated as a pariah within these groups. All Arab writers' unions are controlled by the governments -- a strong hint about the limited degree of freedom they enjoy. Culture and intellectual life are state-ruled enterprises.

While Iraqi writers should speak to those in Israel, of course they don't. The explicit charges were false; the implicit accusation was that the Iraqi government is not anti-American enough. On top of this, of course, they are not even responsible for the U.S. military presence. And even more ironic is that, in Wali's words, "Egypt...Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States -- all of whose unions took part in the conference -- wouldn't survive a day without their American 'friend.'"

But even this isn't the worst aspect of the hypocrisy. The Arab Writers' Union has never protested about censorship or any Arab government's repression of its writers. The Saudi poet Ali al-Damini, the Syrian writers Michel Kilo and Arif Dalila, along with many others have been in jail cells without the Writers' Union objecting.

For 35 years, the Iraqi branch had been under the direct control of the dictatorship. During the regime's last years, this meant the supervision of Uday Hussein, son of Saddam. No one ever proposed barring its participation then, even when Shafiq al-Kamali, president of the Iraqi Writer' Union, was executed.

On the contrary, Wali writes, "No other Arab land received such high praise--in poems, novels, songs, films, theatre works" as did Saddam and his regime. "Hundreds of intellectuals and artists were guests of Saddam Hussein's men and traveled from one festival to the next." Bribes were widely distributed to ensure that "dozens of novels and poems sang praises of the heroism of the Iraqi warriors and swore the fall of the 'Zionist' and 'Persian' enemies."

Consider Egypt alone. Film director Tawfiq Saleh directed a film in which Saddam was the hero; author Salah Abu Saif published a book portraying the Iran-Iraq war in racialist terms. Another novelist, Gamal al-Ghitani, wrote a book justifying the killing of Kurds in northern Iraq. A leading Palestinian poet praised the Iraqi minister of propaganda as the minister of poets. Publishers were subsidized by Iraqi book purchases; magazines and newspapers existed largely because of Iraqi funding.

Since Saddam's fall, no one has apologized; nobody criticized for these actions. But the only ones punished have been the Iraqi writers who have been able to work in the aftermath of the dictator's fall.

Not that things are better. Ghalioun was interviewed on al-Jazira television suggesting why things might even be worse. It is to al-Jazira's credit that it let him appear and say these things--though, ironically, the same station is a prime example of the problem he exposed. What is new, Ghalioun explained, is the growing control of radical Islamist clerics over the media.

"Arab societies," he explained, "are held hostage by two authorities." One is "political dictatorship -- arrogant dictators, who are inhuman in their oppression of liberties, and in their crushing and humiliation of the individual." [MEMRI translation] The other are the opposition clerics "who tyrannize Arab public opinion nowadays." Ghalioun points out, "There is a kind of undeclared, practical alliance between the political dictatorship and the dictatorship of the religious authority."

One point on which they are alike is to denounce anyone who has different views "of secularism, which means heresy, or by accusing them of modernism, of having ties with the West, or of collaborating with colonialism."

Actually, this alliance between radical Arab nationalists and Islamists is the most significant trend in the region today. I call the synthesis National Islamism. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallim, speaking on al-Jazira last April, explained that conflicts between Arab nationalism and Islamism were "silly" and merely the product of American plots.

Of course, that's not true, as can clearly be seen by the inter-Arab fighting in Lebanon, Iraq, and among the Palestinians. But radical Islamists and nationalists at least agree that they oppose human rights and freedom. In doing so, they are supported by intellectuals who enjoy the gifts of money and career promotion even as they betray their supposed avocation.

To Go To Top

RICE PUSHING PA STATE AS LEADERS PREPARE FOR SUMMIT
Posted by Sergio Tessio (HaDaR), February 16, 2007.
This was written by Hana Levi Julian and Hillel Fendel of Arutz-Sheva (www.IsraelNationalNews.com). It is archived at
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/121583

Trilateral talks will focus on the "broader political issues," says U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, still withholding support for the PA unity government.

Rice will arrive in Israel on Saturday to hold preliminary discussions with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas prior to Monday's three-way summit in Jerusalem.

Rice has already announced that she hopes the establishment of a Palestinian Authority state will be on the agenda. She has told both Olmert and Abbas that they should begin discussing this issue.

Ramifications of a Palestinian State

The dangers of a Palestinian state west of the Jordan have been outlined and detailed by countless experts. Such a state would be "the world's worst nightmare," writes Middle East analyst Emanuel A. Winston, and "the last link in a string of terrorist states that will stretch from Algeria through Sudan, soon Egypt and then [others]... They will not only incubate new terror groups but will also increase their linkage and operational efficiency for major strikes against America -- as well as Israel."

Rafael Israeli has edited a book entitled, "Dangers of a Palestinian State," which features articles by Israel's leading political analysts outlining the strategic threat of such an entity.

From the demographic angle, Michael Wise, co-author of The 1.5-Million-Arab Population Gap, writes that, "PA control of any part of the West Bank could result in the arrival of 2-2.5 million Palestinian 'refugees' over the course of 3-5 years." The first to arrive, Wise feels, would be the more than 400,000 who have been living in abject poverty in Lebanon, to be followed soon after by up to millions more in Syria, Iraq, Jordan, and elsewhere. "The opportunity to be resettled in Palestine with enormous global financial and political support will be very attractive and immediately accepted by those refugees."

Though a breakthrough in PA unity government talks between Hamas and Fatah was announced in Mecca last week, the new government has still not been formed, as major issues have still not been resolved. Contrary to earlier threats, however, Hamas leader Abu Haniye did resign yesterday, partially paving the way for the new government to be installed.

Rice was careful to reiterate the American "wait-and-see" theme throughout a news conference, dodging questions about whether the U.S. would indeed recognize the new PA unity government.

"We're not going to jump the gun here," she said repeatedly. "We're not going to make a judgment here until we have something that's firm."

But Rice did not deny a report that Middle East envoy David Welch called Abbas this week to warn him that the U.S. will not recognize the new PA unity government because its leading faction, Hamas, has not recognized the State of Israel.

"You know that I'm not going to talk about what we've done diplomatically," she said.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack was equally cautious about commenting on the report. "Back up!" he told journalists Thursday when asked about Bush administration plans to boycott the new Hamas-Fatah PA government.

McCormack, like Rice, said no decisions had yet been made on an American response either way. "You don't have a government of national unity," he told reporters. "You don't know who's in that government. You don't know the platform of that government... On the basis of that lack of facts, I can't offer you an answer."

The Quartet -- comprised of the U.S., Russia, the United Nations and the European Union -- has until now continued to demand that Hamas recognize Israel, renounce terrorism and uphold agreements with Israel signed by previous PA governments.

Whether they will stand by those demands in light of the new Fatah alliance with Hamas, however, remains a question. Rice ducked the issue. "I can't begin to predict what the international reaction is going to look like right now," she said.

Despite her efforts to put a positive spin on the upcoming summit, it is clear that Rice has begun to realize that "never" often simply means "wait a bit" in the PA. For example, Abbas long claimed that he would "never" join a Hamas government that does not meet the Quartet demands -- but this quickly dissolved when he signed on to the pact in Mecca last week.

"We are going to await the formation of that government before we make any decisions about it," she told reporters before setting out for Jerusalem. "Eventually you're going to have to get to a Palestinian government that accepts that it is to live side by side in peace with an Israeli neighbor."

Contact Sergio Tessio (HaDaR) at HaDaR-Israel@verizon.net

To Go To Top

AMERICAN JEWS JEOPARDIZED BY MUSLIM IMMIGRATION
Posted by Michael Travis, February 16, 2007.
This was written by Ilana Mercer and appeared today in World Net Daily
(www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54278).

Following Sept. 11, immigration from Muslim countries tapered off, but, as the New York Times enthused, it has rebounded with a vengeance: "In 2005, more people from Muslim countries became legal permanent United States residents ... than in any year in the previous two decades." Although Bush is unlikely to allow millions of displaced Iraqis the prerogatives he bestows on illegal Mexicans, the reality is that he is responsible for rendering a Muslim country uninhabitable. This makes it harder for the U.S. to reject Iraqi immigrants and asylum seekers. Starting this year, up to 20,000 Iraqis will be granted asylum in the U.S. They will join close to 100,000 "Muslim from countries in the Middle East, North Africa and Asia," who arrived in 2005.

Immigration (and the war in Iraq) ought to be the most crucial question in the 2008 election. It is the issue that will ultimately decide whether American values and institutions endure. Unfortunately, it's a debate American Jews can put off no longer, although it's too late for their European, British and Canadian brethren. To speak plainly: A gathering danger threatens the Jews of America -- to whom George Washington promised peace and goodwill in a 1790 address to a synagogue congregation in Newport, R.I.

American Jewry has "lived up to the standard asked of them by Washington," observed philosopher David Conway in his inquiry into the "Place of Nations in Classical Liberalism." But "The stock of Abraham," which has flourished in the New World -- producing uniquely entrepreneurial, creative and philanthropic citizens -- is now threatened by what it perversely promotes: mass immigration. And in particular, immigration from Muslim countries, where anti-Semitism and extremism are imbibed with mother's milk.

Before 1965, immigration to the U.S. occurred in manageable ebbs and flows, ensuring the new arrivals were thoroughly assimilated and integrated. Multiculturalism was unheard of. In 1965, without voter approval, the U.S. Congress replaced the national-origin immigration criterion, which ensured newcomers reinforced the historical majority, with a multicultural, egalitarian quota system, which divided visas between nations with an emphasis on mass importation of people from the Third World. The new influx was no longer expected to acculturate to liberal democratic Judeo-Christian values. With family reunification superseding economic or cultural requirements, every qualified immigrant would henceforth hold an entry ticket for his entire tribe.

Stephen Steinlight of the Center for Immigration Studies -- in "High Noon to Midnight: Does Current Immigration Policy Doom American Jewry?" -- courageously (for it runs counter to the views of most of his fellow American Jews) highlights the bizarre situation where entire villages from rural Mexico and the West Bank in Israel have U.S. citizenship. How so? One member qualifies and then imports the entire town. In addition to having huge extended families, Muslims and Mexicans share an anti-Americanism, a tendency to crab about historical grievance and cling to a militant distinctiveness, and a predilection for aggressive identity politics (which the New York Times finds "strikingly positive"). Second only to Latinos, the relatively new (roughly 30-year-old) Muslim community is the most anti-Semitic community in the U.S., its members harboring the greatest propensity to act on their hatred.

Although Jews don't benefit in the least from open-door immigration, having long since settled in the U.S., Israel, and other First World countries, the liberal Jewish community has continued to generously support this policy.

In Canada, Muslims now greatly outnumber Jews. In Europe, what remains of a Jewry devastated by the Holocaust comes under daily assaults and threats, mostly from the 20-million-strong Muslim community. American Jewry is next. Although taqiyya-talking Muslim organizations (almost all radical) inflate the numbers, there are still only, approximately, 2 to 3 million Muslims in America to 5.3 million Jews. But mass immigration is rapidly changing that.

Allusions to the rise of a "new anti-Semitism" are misleading, because the violent assaults on Jews and their property in Europe, England and Canada are nourished by an old hatred rooted in the Quran and in anti-infidel Islamic laws. Remember, Muslims invented the yellow rag with which the Nazis tagged Jews. The ghetto, "mellah" in Arabic, was a Muslim-devised gated community for the Jews of the Maghrib back in the 15th century. Not for naught did Maimonides, the 12th century Jewish philosopher and physician, write about the Arabs, "Never did a nation molest, degrade, debase and hate us as much as they."

As Steinlight points out, "It is virtually impossible to be reared in classical Islam and not be educated to hate Jews -- based on a literalist reading of the Quran, where many of the Suras concerning Jews are monstrously hateful, murderous, [and] terrifying. ... These texts also regard Jews as a spiritually fraudulent entity -- all the prophets and great figures of the Hebrew Bible, according to Islamic teaching, were Muslims, not Jews. ... With the exception of a tiny group of courageous American Muslims ... who have spoken out and condemned ... anti-Semitism, the 'Muslim Street' in the U.S. has yet to show its disapproval of this philosophical and political agenda."

Ted Kennedy, the architect of the lemming's lunacy that is American immigration policy, has hammered the administration for its apathy: "We can no longer ignore the plight of millions of [Iraqi] people. ... America must respond." And so should American Jews! So far, however, the exponential growth of the Muslim community through immigration has failed to rally Jewish leaders. Listening to Abe Foxman, you would think that the chief dangers to Jewish continuity are marauding Mormons (who convert dead Jew) or Mel Gibson.

Contact Michael Travis at michaelmgr@gmail.com

To Go To Top

SKINNY TURKEY
Posted by Michael Travis, February 16, 2007.

This is by Obadiah Shoher and it appeared yesterday:
http://samsonblinded.org/blog/skinny-turkey.htm

Embattled Jews tend to hysterically search for friends. More often than not, Israel ends up in the company of useless thugs. Olmert recently appealed for help in arranging peace with Palestinians to worthless Jordan, crumbling Mubarak's regime in Egypt, and pro-Arab Russia, among other equally valuable venues. Now Olmert reaches for Turkey against Syria and Iran. Thanks to democracy, Turkish military junta came under onslaught of Islamic sentiment. Just like China's, Turkey's primary concern in foreign policy is its own territorial integrity. Turkey is preoccupied with separatist threats, Islamism, and terrorism. The country is in no position to influence Syria on terrorism or Iran on nuclear weapons. It is absurd to imagine that Iran would yield to Turkey's pressure after rebuffing the West.

Not Olmert, but any country's leader with a bit of self-respect -- or respect for the people he claims to represent -- would have cancelled his visit over the lecturing remarks such as by Turkey's Erdogan, that Israel should respect Muslim holy places. The reference is to the recent archeological dig near the Temple Mount. Regardless of the fact that the dig comes nowhere near the Islamic artifacts, the point is this: Temple Mount is the Jewish holy place. Whatever we want to do there, we would do. Without a bit of concern for Islamic shrines.

And for those who thought that Druzes are reliable friends: witness the massive demonstration in the Golans which demanded their return to Syria. Still think the Druzes could be counted on in a war with Syria? Israel gave the Druzes her valuable citizenship, welfare, and employment opportunities. Naturally, they side with Israeli Arab enemy.

Contact Michael Travis at michaelmgr@gmail.com

To Go To Top

JIHAD U
Posted by Michael Travis, February 16, 2007.

This was written by Patrick Poole, who is an author and public policy researcher. He also maintains a blog, "Existential Space," where he writes on a number of cultural, political and religious issues. It appeared on Front Page Magazine
(www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Printable.asp?ID=26768).

From the East Coast through the American Heartland to the West Coast, a rapidly growing and extremely popular Islamic studies program is bringing Wahhabi extremism and Muslim Brotherhood activism into mosques and Muslim student groups throughout North America. The Al-Maghrib Institute features motivational-style speakers, aggressive marketing, savvy use of the Internet and slick multi-media presentations as part of their for-college-credit courses leading to an Islamic Studies degree offered at mosques in at least thirteen cities:

College Park, Maryland
Fairfax, Virginia
Houston, Texas
New Brunswick, New Jersey
San Francisco Bay area, California
Seattle, Washington
Memphis, Tennessee
Sacramento, California
Detroit, Michigan/Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Chicago, Illinois
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Toronto, Quebec, Canada

Al-Maghrib also ran onsite seminars in Columbus, Ohio during 2006. In addition to the courses they offer, the Institute sponsors a site selling Al-Maghrib audio and video course lectures, EmanRush Audio, and Khutbah.com, which provides texts of sermons and articles delivered by Al-Maghrib instructors and staff.

The staple of Al-Maghrib's course offerings are the double weekend seminars held at their permanent sites. Locations of upcoming seminars, including one held this past weekend in Atlanta, are provided on the Al-Maghrib website. In addition, the Al-Maghrib instructors are in high demand as motivational speakers at Muslim organization events all over the world. The Institute is also active amongst the 150 chapters of the Muslim Student Association (MSA) located at universities all over the US and Canada. The MSA is one of the front groups operated by the international Muslim Brotherhood. Al-Maghrib staff are also regular fixtures on several Islamic satellite television networks.

The organization's Wahhabi-influenced extremism, rabid anti-Semitism and Holocaust denials, and militaristic preaching of jihad even have other Muslims expressing concern about the radicalizing effect of Al-Maghrib's preaching and programs.

Al-Maghrib's educational courses are accredited by the American Open University, which in turn is accredited by Al-Ahzar University in Cairo -- the headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood, the oldest and largest radical Islamic organization in the world. The courses offered by Al-Mahgrib count only as course credit for the AOU's Bachelors in Islamic Studies degree, the only English language program offered by AOU.

A review of the course summary for the Islamic Studies degree program shows that the reading is dominated by Muslim Brotherhood and Wahhabi theologians and theorists. In particular, the AOU program requires reading of Sayyid Qutb's, In the Shade of the Quran, the text for AOU's 113 Analytic Tafseer I course. Qutb, the leading Muslim Brotherhood thinker executed by Nasser in the 1960s after an assassination attempt, has been described as "Bin Laden's Brain" due to the extensive influence Qutb has had in justifying terrorism and jihad and laying down the theoretical principles that al-Qaeda was built upon.

Another Muslim Brotherhood theorist prominent in the curriculum is Sayyid Sabiq, who wrote his book, Fiqh-us-Sunnah, at the request of Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna. The two volumes of Sabiq's work are the sole text for AOU's 141 Fiqh of Worship I course. In the majority of AOU's required reading for their Islamic Studies program, which Al-Maghrib offers course credit for, members of the Muslim Brotherhood and those influenced and approved by the Brotherhood figure prominently.

Bilal Phillips is another name that appears repeatedly on AOU's and Al-Maghrib's reading lists. Phillips has recently gained notoriety as one of the radical preachers secretly videotaped as part of the Undercover Mosque investigative program aired last month on England's Channel 4 (Robert Spencer reviewed this program for FrontPage in his article, Islamic Prejudice, Islamic Denial).

In the Undercover Mosque program, Bilal Phillips was videotaped explaining during a lecture the acceptability of forced Islamic marriages for prepubescent girls:

The Prophet Mohammed practically outlined the rules regarding marriage prior to puberty, with his practice he clarified what is permissible and that is why we shouldn't have any issues about an older man marrying a younger woman, which is looked down upon by this society today, but we know that Prophet Mohammed practiced it, it wasn't abuse or exploitation, it was marriage.

After the Undercover Mosque program aired, it was severly attacked by Al-Maghrib instructor Yasir Qadhi, who launched into a 15 minute tirade defending the extremist speakers secretly videotaped by Channel 4 at the beginning of his regular Islami Q&A program on the Islam Channel satellite network. After Qadhi's video defense aired, Bilal Phillips himself followed his friend's lead and also aired a defense on YouTube.

But the Muslim Brotherhood influence is not the only troubling aspect to Al-Maghrib's programs and message. In fact, all six of Al-Maghrib's instructors have degrees from Saudi institutions controlled by the extremist Wahhabi sect:

* Muhammad Alshreef, the founder of Al-Maghrib Institute and a Canadian citizen, graduated from the Islamic University of Medina in 1999 with a degree in shari'a. The University of Medina was founded in 1961 by the ruling Saud family specifically for the propagation of Wahhabism worldwide.

* Yasir Birjas, a Palestinian, graduated from the Islamic University of Media as the 1996 class valedictorian. He subsequently worked for a "relief charity" in Bosnia.

* AbdulBary Yahya and Yasir Qadhi both obtained degrees from the Islamic University of Medina.

* Mohammed Faqih obtained his initial degree from the Institute of Islamic and Arabic Sciences (IIAS) in Fairfax, VA, and then graduated from the King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Osama bin Laden's alma mater and haven for Muslim Brotherhood teachers who fled persecution from the Nasser regime in Egypt during the 1950s and 1960s. Sayyid Qutb's brother, Mohammed, was a long-time instructor in Jeddah and was one of bin Laden's primary mentors, as was Abdullah Azzam, the founder of Al-Qaeda. The IIAS was operated by Saudi diplomats as a branch of the Saudi Al-Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University until it came under pressure from the US government when the diplomatic visas of 16 school's instructors were withdrawn by the US, according to a report in the Washington Post; after the Saudis withdrew their support in 2004, the Institute was closed and searched by the US government for its links to terrorism.

* Waleed Basyouni attended the Al-Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, the academic heart of Wahhabi Islam, where he obtained a Bachelors and a Masters Degree. According to Basyouni's DiscovertheNetwork.org profile, he studied under Sheikh Abdelaziz bin Baz, who author Gilles Kepel identifies as "the principal Wahhabite ideologist" in his book, Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam (p. 210).

Al-Maghrib instructors have come under severe public criticism by other Muslims for attacking and declaring heretic other mainstream Sunni scholars who do not hold to the Wahhabi version of Islam preached by the organization's speakers. In fact, in 2006 a boycott of Al-Maghrib's was called for when Yasir Qadhi declared a recently-deceased and universally revered Islamic scholar, Sheikh Alawi al-Maliki, a polytheist on one of Al-Maghrib's online forums:

While it is the general policy of Al Maghrib not to quote individuals, I make exceptions in certain cases -- this being one of them. Alawi al-Maliki is one of the most revered of modern Sufi personas -- to speak evil of him is tantamount to apostasy in the eyes of many of his followers. For them, he is the leader of the awliya of Allah. Yet, it is no exaggeration to state that he was one of the most active proponents in our times of blatant acts of shirk (polytheism-ed.)...

All Islamic traditions identify "shirk" as the gravest offense possible, and therefore, making Qadhi's pronouncement a de facto condemnation to Hell for al-Maliki. But as soon as the boycott was called for, however, Qadhi's post was removed from the Al-Maghrib's forum without any explanation or apology.

The curriculum areas taught by Qadhi, particularly the Light of Guidance and Light upon Light courses, are dedicated to pronouncing as heretical the non-Wahhabi Sunni schools of theology, particularly the Sufi movement. These are some of the most popular seminars taught by the Institute; in fact, the Light of Guidance seminar was taught by Qadhi this past weekend in the Atlanta area.

But the concern over Al-Maghrib's teachings extend much further than their Muslim Brotherhood and Wahhabi influences. Anti-Semitic diatribes and Holocaust denials are regular themes preached by Al-Maghrib's instructors. Institute founder Muhammad Alshareef expressed his thoughts on Muslim-Jewish relations in an article he published entitled, "Why the Jews are Cursed" (curiously, this article is not available on Al-Maghrib's Khutbah.com website). As noted by the Militant Islam Monitor, in Alshareef's article he expounds on the anti-Semitic canard that the international media is owned and controlled by Jews, and thus, biased against Muslims:

When I was in high school, studying in journalism class, our teacher had placed on the wall a statement that I spent many days contemplating. It simply said, "Freedom of the press (speech) belongs to those that own the press!" Who owns the press? Well, you can believe me when I say that it is not the god fearing beloved of Allah.

The remainder of Alshareef's article recites a litany of accusations against the Jewish faith, blaming them for a wide range of iniquities, including changing the words of Allah, making blasphemous statements, and murdering the Prophets. He concludes his essay by decreeing that Muslims should not ally with Jews, should not imitate them and proscribing Muslims from ever marrying Jews or Christians.

But Muhammad Alshareef holds no monopoly on anti-Semitism amongst the Al-Maghrib faculty. In a speech entitled "What Have You Done for the Deen of Allah", Waleed Basyouni identifies the behavior of Jews during Muhammad's era as the reason that Jews do not and cannot know Allah:

Seven years the prophet and his companions suffered from the Jew in Medina. Seven years, the Jew try to destroy this, a new Muslims' country. ... They try everything. They try to kill him. ... They try to make deals with the Kufar, so they could attack Muslims. They support the hypocrites. They start everything. Seven years, suffering from them. He went outside Medina to one of the Jews' city, full of money, full of farms, gold, foods. They went out from Medina, they are poor.

In a September 2002 report published by FrontPage, the Saudi Institute and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies cited Mohammed Fiqih's alma mater, the Institute of Islamic and Arabic Studies, as "the largest source of Saudi hate literature in the Washington area." The report also quotes Saudi Institute Director Ali al-Ahmed on the IISA's enforcement of Wahhabi segregation of the sexes, including separate back door entrances for female students:

IIASA is beyond reform. It practices religious and gender apartheid. Female students are not allowed in the library except for four hours each week, when men are not around. Classes are segregated and women are taught through closed-circuit television.

According to a May 2006 report by David Ouellette, in a detailed exposition of the Quran's Surah Yusuf [complete audio mp3 file] by Alshareef's colleague Yasir Qadhi, he draws from the anti-Semitic tract, Protocols of the Elders of Zion, to explain that Jews are not racially Semitic, and therefore, do not have any right to make a claim on their Holy Land. Citing a book denying the Holocaust, he informs hearers that:

All of these Polish Jews which Hitler was supposedly trying to exterminate, that's another point, by the way, Hitler never intended to mass-destroy the Jews.

Holocaust denial seems to be a regular fascination for Qadhi. In December, Yasir Qadhi sent an email message to the AlifBaaTaa email list (Qadhi's email subsequently has either been removed or is no longer available for public viewing; link is to Google cache) with a link to an article authored by Alexander Baron, one of the invited speakers to the recent Tehran Conference on the Holocaust hosted by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. At this international Holocaust denial-fest, Baron presented a paper entitled, "The Nazi Gas Chambers: Rumours, Lies and Reality -- One Researcher's Views". In his post, Qadhi offered no other comments about the article other than to provide the link, apparently in agreement with the content of Baron's analysis.

The teaching of aggressive militaristic jihad is also a common theme in Al-Maghrib's courses, which rely on commentaries by 13th Century theologian Ibn Taymiyyah and Wahhabi sect founder, Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab. One seminar taught by Muhammad Alshareef is his review of the jihadist exploits and military campaigns of the first four "rightly guided" caliphs, Conquest: History of the Khulafaa'. The militaristic themes for this course are evident in the one minute video trailer for the seminar.

The triumphalist vision of Islam as the inevitable sole world power and the justification of militaristic conquests under the banner of jihad are also repeated in the Al-Maghrib course, Islam Invulnerable: The Making of the Modern Muslim World. Tracing the rise of Islam as a global power from the initial Islamic invasions and occupations of the Near East, North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula, it glories in the triumphs of the Ottoman, Safavid, Qajar and Mughal Empires and provides its unique spin of the present Israeli ("Zionist")-Arab conflict. The Crusades and European "imperialist" and "colonialist" efforts in recent centuries are denounced, while Islamic conquests undergo "narrative reinterpretation" to explain the difference between the two.

Al-Maghrib instructors also regular speak with other extremist preachers advocating for terrorism and violent jihad. In a FrontPage article last March, "The Visiting Jihadist", Joe Kaufman revealed that Institute instructor Abdulbary Yahya was scheduled to speak at an event with Ibrahim Dremali, an advocate of suicide bombings and had led crowds in burning Israeli flags and chanting, "With jihad we'll claim our land, Zionist blood will wet the sand." The event was sponsored by the University of Central Florida's Muslim Student Association and paid for with Student Government Association funds. Dremali and Yahya had previously shared the podium at the 2005 Texas Dawah Convention, which also featured Siraj Wahhaj, an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombings.

The connections between Al-Maghrib staff and terrorist supporters sometimes don't lead far from home. In 2004, Muhammad Alshareef's father, Helmy Elsherief, was detained in Egypt and interrogated regarding his associations with known terrorists. As Alshareef explained in a personal appeal published on the Al-Maghrib online forum, Elsherief was held because of his pre-9/11 work with "charities" in Pakistan that are known to have been al-Qaeda front organizations. Elsherief was eventually released by Egyptian authorities.

In particular, Elsherief was an associate of Ahmed Said Khadr, a top al-Qaeda financier, the top al-Qaeda agent in Canada, and a close personal associate of Osama bin Laden -- a fact conveniently never mentioned by Alshareef in his personal appeals. After leaving Canada, Khadr's entire family, identified by Daniel Pipes as "Canada's First Family of Terrorism", lived with bin Laden in his Kabul compound. Ahmed Khadr was killed in a firefight with Pakistani security forces in October 2003, which also injured and disabled his youngest son, Abdul. His second youngest son, Omar, is presently imprisoned as an enemy combatant at Guantanamo Bay after killing a US medic with a hand grenade in 2002 during a battle in Afghanistan.

The extremist messages preached by Al-Maghrib and their associates have also landed instructors themselves in trouble with US authorities. This past August, the Houston Chronicle reported that Yasir Qadhi complained during a public meeting at Rice University with government officials that he was on the Department of Homeland Security terrorist watch list and consequently is regularly detained when entering the country. In addition, according to an announcement issued by the Al-Maghrib Institute's staff, instructor Yaser Birjas was arrested and detained by US authorities in 2005 due to problems with his immigration visa.

In the span of just a few short years, the Al-Maghrib Institute has quickly established itself as one of the premiere Islamic instructional programs in North America, as attested to by its 13 mosque-based affiliates and their regular appearances at Muslim Student Association events. Audio and video lecture series, an impressive Internet presence and regular satellite television programs by Al-Maghrib faculty extend their influence even further. Furthermore, the Institute's instructors are in high demand as event speakers for Islamic organizations all over the world.

Al-Maghrib's rapid rise should cause concern, however, as its Wahhabi and Muslim Brotherhood-inspired messages of religious extremism, racial bigotry and advocacy of jihad and militancy are being spread like cancer in Muslim communities throughout the US and Canada. And this ideological cancer spread by the Al-Maghrib Institute potentially threatens Muslims and non-Muslims alike as its popularity and radicalism continues to increase.

Contact Michael Travis at michaelmgr@gmail.com

To Go To Top

OLMERT AND ISRAEL ADRIFT
Posted by Nurit Greenger, February 16, 2007.

How can one explain the word adrift: aimlessly floating, at a loose end aimlessly wandering...either way, this means being lost in the oblivion!

The lost nation of Israel led by shyster (unethical person: an unscrupulous person, especially a lawyer or political representative) Olmert and his terribly bureaucratic corrupt and way too many times recycled government.

This was written by Joel Mowbray and it appeared today in the Washington Times
www.washingtontimes.com

No one knows what to make of Israeli politics right now. In a parliamentary system where elections can be called at almost any time, ordinary Israelis neither trust nor support their elected leadership -- yet there isn't much of a public clamor for new elections.

This odd stability could shatter in the coming weeks, depending on the results of the commission looking into the conduct of last summer's war. But if -- as it is now whispered by insiders -- the panel does not whack Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, it could be next year before any real changes occur.

It's not quite political fatigue that has gripped Israelis. Apathy is certainly present, but so is indecision -- particularly on the part of Mr. Olmert. He still has not recovered from his inability to direct a decisive military campaign against Hezbollah last summer. And now, partly because of corruption allegations swirling around him, he has not been setting the political agenda.

Then again, no one else has, either.

This leadership vacuum does not owe to a lack of big issues. Iran poses a threat to the very existence of the Jewish state. Hezbollah and even Hamas continue to stockpile weapons successfully toward their ultimate goal of eliminating the "Zionist enemy." Yet little of substance is being done -- or even planned -- to confront these obvious threats.

Key to understanding the current Israeli stasis is this paradox: Mr. Olmert is as unpopular as any prime minister in a generation, yet he presides over a coalition as stable as any in recent memory.

Israel's parliament, the Knesset, has 120 seats. Normally, it takes a coalition of 61 or bigger to control the government. Mr. Olmert's coalition holds well over 70 seats. By Israeli standards, that's huge. And it's a testament to Mr. Olmert's masterful political skills.

Consider Mr. Olmert's recent move to bring into his coalition Avigdor Lieberman, who was considered the furthest right of any leading Israeli politician. Mr. Lieberman's Israel Beitenu (Israel is Our Home) party has 11 seats, padding Mr. Olmert's majority -- and giving him cushion against defections.

No one had even fathomed such a move, yet even Mr. Olmert's detractors concede that it was genius. Especially impressive is that Mr. Olmert understood the benefits of a staunch right-winger joining the center-left coalition. Even though Mr. Lieberman is to the right of Likud leader and former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, he has as much power now as he might under any center-right government that could topple the current one.

Because the prime minister is no longer elected directly by voters, any new elections would result in large numbers of Knesset members being ousted. Labor and Mr. Olmert's Kadima party would suffer significant losses, and plenty of other coalition members could meet the same fate. Luckily for Mr. Olmert, politicians generally prefer not to vote themselves out of power.

Other than the likely imminent conclusion of the Winograd Commission, which is investigating the conduct of the war with Hezbollah, the only other wild card in the near term is the Labor Party primary, scheduled for May.

The Labor head, Defense Minister Amir Peretz, likely will lose, and his replacement could be the once-believed-dead former Prime Minister Ehud Barak. The former general is mounting a serious campaign as a security hawk (by Labor's standards), highlighting his extensive military experience.

Casting a pall over everything is the Gaza pullout. Religious Zionists and settlers, who have long been the beating heart of the right, are noticeably quieter and seem almost defeated. They mounted a massive opposition to the disengagement, but still lost. Not that most proponents of the pullout feel a sense of victory anymore, though. Graphic images of Jewish soldiers removing Jews from their homes and synagogues being burned to the ground scarred many Israelis. And in the end result, security worsened -- meaning a high price was paid for no gain at all.

Disenchantment resulting from the aftermath of Gaza withdrawal has sapped support for the scheduled sequel, "convergence." Mr. Olmert was elected, in fact, primarily on the platform of "convergence," which would have involved uprooting tens of thousands of Jewish settlers from the West Bank. But now the glue that united Kadima is gone.

Kadima might be a party without a core vision, but it also lacks an adversary capable of ousting it -- at least for now. The only apparent challenger is Mr. Netanyahu, who has no positive message to inspire public support. When forced to answer by pollsters, roughly half of Israelis say they'd vote for Mr. Netanyahu. But as any pollster will attest, the level of support is meaningless without intensity -- and there is little for him. Quips Mitchell Barak of Keevoon, a leading Israeli political consulting firm, "Bibi's message is 'vote for me or we are all going to die.'"

The old American saw trotted out every other October that a month is an eternity in politics could well hold true in Israel. But also by that measuring stick, Mr. Olmert might just be able to last many eternities. It's anyone's guess.

Contact Nurit Greenger by email at 4nuritg@ca.rr.com. Visit her blog:
http://ngthinker.typepad.com

To Go To Top

SALT LAKE JIHAD?
Posted by Robert Spencer, February 16, 2007.

When Sulejmen Talovic entered the Trolley Square mall in Salt Lake City Monday night with a shotgun, a pistol, and a backpack full of ammunition, he intended to "kill a large number of people," according to Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank. Talovic killed five people and wounded four before he himself was killed by an off-duty Ogden police officer who happened to be in the mall.

Why did Talovic do it? No one knows. Talovic's aunt, Ajka Omerovic, told reporters: "We want to know what happened, just like you guys. We have no idea...We know him as a good boy. He liked everybody, so I don't know what happened." Talovic, who was eighteen at the time of the murders, was a Bosnian Muslim who came to the United States with his family in 1998. Could he have been motivated by jihadist sympathies?

FBI special agent Patrick Kiernan discounted that possibility. "We're working closely with the Salt Lake P.D. and we're obviously aware that that [terrorism] is a potential issue out there," he explained. "But at this point there is nothing that is leading us down this road." And with Talovic dead and apparently having acted alone, unless something he wrote explaining his actions is discovered, it is unlikely that his motive will ever be definitively known.

But was Kiernan really correct that "there is nothing that is leading us down this road"? Unfortunately, he didn't explain how he came to this conclusion. Talovic joins an unfortunately growing list of Muslims who have committed random acts of violence, only for officials to assure us that their actions have nothing to do with terrorism. Maybe none of them do, but the list is full of troubling details:

* On January 31, Ismail Yassin Mohamed, 22, stole a car in Minneapolis. He went on a rampage, ramming the stolen car into other cars and then stealing a van and continuing to ram other cars, injuring one person. His father told officials that Mohamed was suffering from mental problems; his mother added he had been depressed and hadn't been taking his medication. During his rampage, Mohamed repeatedly yelled, "Die, die, die, kill, kill, kill," and when asked why he did all this, he replied, "Allah made me do it."

* Omeed Aziz Popal, a Muslim from Afghanistan, who killed one person and injured fourteen during a murderous drive through San Francisco city streets in August 2006, during which he targeted people on crosswalks and sidewalks, identified himself as a terrorist after his rampage, according to Rob Roth of San Francisco's KTVU. Later the murders were ascribed to Popal's mental problems, and to stress arising from his impending arranged marriage.

* On July 28, 2006, a Muslim named Naveed Afzal Haq forced his way into the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle. Once inside, Haq announced, "I'm a Muslim American; I'm angry at Israel," and then began shooting, killing one woman and injuring five more. FBI assistant special agent David Gomez stated: "We believe...it's a lone individual acting out his antagonism. There's nothing to indicate that it's terrorism-related. But we're monitoring the entire situation."

* In March 2006, a twenty-two-year-old Iranian student named Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar drove an SUV onto the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, deliberately trying to kill people and succeeding in injuring nine. After the incident, he seemed singularly pleased with himself, smiling and waving to crowds after a court appearance on Monday, at which he explained that he was "thankful for the opportunity to spread the will of Allah." Officials here again dismissed the possibility of terrorism, even after Taheri-azar wrote a series of letters to the UNC campus newspaper detailing the Qur'anic justification for warfare against unbelievers, and explaining why he believed his attacks were justified from an Islamic perspective.

None of these were terrorist attacks in the sense that they were planned and executed by al-Qaeda agents. And it is possible that all of them were products of nothing more ideologically significant than a disturbed mental state, although it is at least noteworthy that each attacker explained his actions in terms of Islamic terrorism. As such attacks grow in number, it would behoove authorities at very least to consider the possibility that these attacks were inspired by the jihadist ideology of Islamic supremacism, and to step up pressure on American Muslim advocacy groups to renounce that ideology definitively and begin extensive programs to teach against it in American Islamic schools and mosques.

In October 2006, a pro-jihad internet site published a "Guide for Individual Jihad," explaining to jihadists "how to fight alone." It recommended, among other things, assassination with guns and running people over. Is it possible that Sulejmen Talovic and some of these others were waging this jihad of one? It is indeed, but with law enforcement officials trained only to look for signs of membership in al-Qaeda or other jihad groups, and to discount terrorism as a factor if those signs aren't there, it is a possibility that investigators will continue to overlook.

Robert Spencer is a scholar of Islamic history, theology, and law and the director of Jihad Watch. He is the author of six books, seven monographs, and hundreds of articles about jihad and Islamic terrorism, including Islam Unveiled: Disturbing Questions About the World's Fastest Growing Faith and the New York Times Bestseller The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades). His latest book is the New York Times Bestseller The Truth About Muhammad. This article appeared today on Front Page Magazine
(http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=26961).

To Go To Top

GERMAN INTELLIGENCE AGENTS SPYING IN HEBRON
Posted by Hebron Jewish Community, February 16, 2007.

A group of seven German intelligence agents, identifying themselves as 'anonymous diplomats' today began an information-gathering mission in Hebron, led by a member of the Breaking the Silence/Bnei Avraham pro-Arab, anti-Jewish/Israel left-wing extremist organizations.

The agents were approached by Hebron spokesmen Noam Arnon and David Wilder, in an attempt to provide them with an additional perspective of Jewish life in Hebron. However, they were told that the group had no time, their schedules were planned weeks ago, and 'maybe next time.' "When might that be," they were asked. "We don't know," they replied.

With the group standing in the road just outside the Avraham Avinu neighborhood, Wilder requested just five minutes in order to bring them to the Avraham Avinu Synagogue and explain the five hundred year old history of the site and the neighborhood. However, his request was not even considered. After distributing his business card to them, he requested their cards in return, in order to be able to contact them directly. However, all members of the group had 'forgotten' to bring their business cards with them.

Before departing, Wilder commented that a group such as this, especially coming from Germany, with that country's dark, Nazi past, should at least be willing to spend a few minutes with Jews living in the first Jewish city in Israel, trying to revive and renew the Jewish people's past in Hebron. However, the group refused to listen to him and continued their tour with a self-hating Jew, who spouts only hate for Hebron's Jews, representing only the 'poor Arabs' who are being oppressed by the Jewish Community of Hebron, the Israeli army, and the State of Israel.

It later became clear to Hebron leaders that members of the group are associated with the BND, the ANBw, and have ties to the CIA and MI5. Their primary mission in Hebron is to gather information for the European Quartet, in order to begin implementation of their plans to follow in the footsteps of their infamous predecessors, Nebuchadnezzar and Titus: to bring about a Judenrein Eretz Yisrael, starting in Judea and Samaria, and of course, in Hebron.

How ironic that people whose friends, relatives and fellow countrymen participated in the slaughter of between six to seven million Jews should arrive in the city of Abraham with a self-hating Jew, whose goal is the expulsion of Hebron's Jewish population, and should ignore those people trying to reestablish Hebron's glorious Jewish past.

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

To Go To Top

AMERICANS OF NARROW VISION; ABBAS' MILITANT SPEECH; DRAMATIC RESCUE; HOPE FOR ACADEMIA
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, February 16, 2007.

TURKEY'S ISLAMIST CRISIS

In the coming elections, the Islamist party is striving to capture the presidency as well as the premiership. If it does, it would gain the power to transform the country into an Islamist one. The incumbent party benefits from a reputation for ending terrible inflation.

The party has lost half its popularity, however, by corruption and illegal and high-handed but legal means of sneaking in an Islamist agenda wherever it could. The supposed prosperity may be due to an infusion of unaccountable wealth by Arabs promoting the Islamist agenda. The underlying economy is poor.

The State Dept. worries more that the military would oust the Islamists than the reverse. Interference by the State Dept., especially its downplaying of the Islamist menace, is counter-productive. Probably the secular state will resist the Islamist drive without resort to the military (Michael Rubin, MEF News, 2/2/7).

The State Dept. needs to be educated about foreign affairs and Jihad, the worst threat to the US.

TRUCE-AFTER-TRUCE IN GAZA

Hamas and Fatah announced their 9th truce, but violence continues (IMRA, 2/4).

Hamas seems intent on wiping Fatah out in Gaza, and hides from Fatah in Judea-Samaria, truce or no truce. Truces with the Muslims should not be taken seriously by Israel. Britain made a truce with the Taliban, only to find the Taliban overran the town from which British troops had evacuated.

AMERICANS OF NARROW VISION

Pres. Bush had a vision as broad as Reagan's, though flawed by oil-industry biases and appeasement of the Palestinian jihadists. Unlike Reagan, Bush is no "great communicator" of his vision. His vision is of international jihad with various axes of territorial bases and terrorist groups radiating outward and into the West.

The Democrats have a narrow vision of individual wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. They compete to withdraw from Iraq. As Michael Ledeen points out (Jewish Political Chronicle, 12/2006, p.9 from National Review Online 11/1), one cannot end a multi-front war by withdrawing from one front. The Democrats deceive themselves and put the nation at risk. The problem is compounded by what Ledeen observes is the intelligence agencies (and State Dept.) deliberately misleading the President. Where is the objection by Democrats and Republicans to this subversion? The President is accused of lying, but the employees do.

DIVEST FROM IRAN?

Pointing out that the President of Iran, who is developing nuclear weaponry, suggests imagining a world without America and Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu urged Massachusetts to divest from Iran (IMRA, 1/23).

COMMENT ON HARIRI TRIBUNAL

The UNO is about to set up a tribunal on the assassination of Lebanese leaders who opposed Syrian hegemony over Lebanon. Lebanon's pro-Syria President criticized his Prime Minister for agreeing to the tribunal. For one thing, he said, the tribunal threatens the security of his country (Benny Avni, NY Sun, 2/7, P.7).

That's a good one. Syria is maneuvering to retake control over the country. It and its allies particularly assassinate Cabinet Ministers. Knock out enough, and there must be new elections, in which the well-organized Hizbullah thinks it could win enough representation to frustrate attempts to govern independently of Syria, Iran, and Hizbullah. Now that does threaten national security!

ABBAS' SPEECH VERY MILITANT

Abbas' speech admonishing fellow Muslims to turn their rifles from other factions to Israelis was far too militant to pretend any longer that he is a moderate. He said to turn all their rifles against Israel. He rejected compromise on Jerusalem and on "refugee-return." He still wants unity government with Hamas, which wants to conquer Israel. He said, in effect, that terrorists are not criminals. He made them feel proud of what they do (shoot innocent Israelis).

His tirade refuted Sec. Rice's stated premise that the solution would come from starting a temporary state, meaning, sovereignty before having eradicated terrorism or defining the limits of Arab territorial designs (Michael Widlanski, IMRA, 1/16).

His speech also contradicts Rice's depiction of him as moderate and one with whom peace could be negotiated if he had power. After his speech calling for war on Israel, she continued to praise him. (Perhaps it is because of his speech.) He finds he can call for war without repercussion from his US benefactors. Rice claims he made progress, but his people fire rockets. Rice also called dictator Mubarak a US partner, even as he lets the rockets be smuggled into Gaza. Can't the US find a real Arab moderate? (Michael Freund in IMRA, 1/17).

He showed up US policy which is to arm him, to strengthen his faction as against Hamas.

THE MONROE DOCTRINE OF THE MIDEAST

Eight Arab Foreign Ministers joined in a resolution with Sec. of State Rice demanding that foreign countries not interfere with the government of Iraq. The resolution implied criticism of unnamed Iran for interfering.

Dr. Aaron Lerner remarked that the Arabs expect the US to take all the action and risks, and they would applaud (IMRA, 1/17).

The Arabs do have a way of talking about the need to do something, but expecting the US to do it. We give the humanitarian aid to the P.A. Arabs, they don't. We save them from Saddam, they sit it out. And so on and so forth.

The Prime Minister of Iraq is a Shiite Islamist. He may welcome Iranian help. He does have the parties of Islamist militias, the ones fighting the government, in his Cabinet, and he objects to US troops putting down those militias, a requirement for finishing the war. The Shiites call on Sunnis in Baghdad, house-by-house, to leave or be killed. The government does not prevent this ethnic cleansing. Perhaps the extra 21,000 US troops will.

The US has spent tens of billions of dollars building a powerful Egyptian army, imagining we were gaining an ally. Why doesn't that army send a division to help the Coalition? Perhaps they are not the ally that the State Dept. thinks they are.

A DRAMATIC RESCUE

How does a Jewish woman get away from the brutality of an Arab husband in an Arab village in Israel? She escapes. One who did so recently was given a furnished apartment in a secret location in Israel, by the Yad L'Achim anti-assimilation rescue organization. Unfortunately, the woman had to leave behind her daughters, ages four and five.

The organization asked the police in the Arab village to arrest the husband for brutality. They gave excuses, their bluff was called, and finally they did. Then the mother's lawyer successfully petitioned for custody. The local social worker, however, obstructed the court order, falsely claiming that the mother had no home and abandoned her daughters and that the daughters didn't want to go to her. It took a lot of effort to get the daughters out. They rushed into their mother's arms (Arutz-7, 1/17). It was a case of humaneness vs. ethnicity.

Of course most girls would prefer the mother. Arabs beat children as well as wives. Arab men treat most females with contempt unless they go in for suicide-bombing. The government does not protect the Jewish wives.

A CHEER FOR UNIFIL

An Israeli officer said that UNIFIL peacekeepers had thwarted Hizbullah attempts to lay roadside bombs inside Israel (Aron Heller, NY Sun, 2/6, p.7).

That is interesting news. I would like to know how many times this happened and what were the circumstances. How did UNIFIL stop Hizbullah. Did UNIFIL arrest or disarm the Hizbullah men? If not, why not?

HOW MUCH GOOD DO DO-GOODERS DO?

Decent people deplore genocide. Many of them want to stop the ethnic cleansing in Darfur, and remove our troops from Baghdad, where police and the Mahdi army are committing it. "One cannot, with a straight face, support the prevention of ethnic killings in a country where we lack troops, but oppose such prevention in a country where we have them." (Eli Lake, NY Sun, 2/7, Op.-Ed..)

INDISCRIMINATE SLAUGHTER RUINS IRAQ

The insurgents are slaughtering indiscriminately. They are murdering people with skills the country needs for rebuilding. Masses of Iraqis are fleeing the country. The insurgents don't care what happens to the country or its people, so long as their ideology prevails. But their slaughter isn't entirely indiscriminate. They single out academics (IMRA, 1/18 from Arab News of S. Arabia).

Totalitarians attack the intelligentsia, for it is capable of stimulating resistance. We've gone too easy on the Shiite militias.

JIMMIE CARTER FOR A NAZI

Twenty years ago, the US government was actively deporting or imprisoning Nazi concentration guards. An SS guard admitted to prosecutors that he was among the guards who murdered numbers of prisoners. The SS records verified the admission. He also admitted having lied upon immigration to the US.

After he was deported, his grown children in the US appealed to US officials to ask for clemency. They argued that their father was young at the time. They lied that the prosecution was just after vengeance. (What would be wrong with that?)

Usually, Members of Congress sent prosecutors the appeal, and asked their view. When told of the evidence and circumstances, they dropped the matter. Not Carter, then out of office. He did not ask to hear the other side, but urged "special consideration" for the deportee (IMRA, 1/18 from Ezra HaLevi, Israel National News. The witness was Neil Sher, whom I consider most reliable).

HOPE FOR U.S. ACADEMIA

Four state legislatures have bills requiring that state-supported universities report how they encourage intellectual diversity and academic freedom (Andrew Ferguson, NY Sun, 2/7, Op.-Ed.).

Academic freedom, factual knowledge, and keen judgment for students is the goal, not intellectual diversity, but neither should diversity be repressed, as legislators suspect it is.

WHAT ISRAEL DERIVED FROM LEBANON WAR

The IDF killed at least 500 Hizbullah men, more than the total for the past 20 years. That set Hizbullah back.

Israel developed during the brief war a system that within five minutes of rocket-launching, can destroy the rocket-launcher. It is an unprecedented achievement.

Much is made about Israel's failure to attain its objectives. Hizbullah failed to obtain some of its own. It said that there would be no international forces or Lebanese Army in southern Lebanon. Both are present there, now. As for Iran, it failed to ignite a wider war. It wasted $2 billion preparing for it.

Yaakov Amidror thinks that Israel showed the world it would fight hard and sooner. This did surprise the Arabs. He also thinks that Israelis concluded that retreat is a mistake and that Israel learned how to cope with this kind of war. Next time, Israel would fight better (IMRA, 1/17).

The setback is temporary. The next war, there will be new tactics on both sides. Gen. Amidror overlooks that.

The international and Lebanese Army are not stopping Hizbullah from rebuilding. Then what? Iran has the money to waste.

Israel also showed the world that it fights foolishly and gets put off by diplomats. It doesn't matter what Israelis concluded about the folly of retreat, their leftist leaders don't care. PM Olmert's main policy is retreat.

P.A. BLOW TO INDEPENDENT BROADCAST MEDIA

Started by the Fatah regime, the P.A. has imposed hefty, retroactive license fees on the independent broadcast media, whose advertising fees id declining from the war's blow to the economy (IMRA, 1/18). Government abuses licensing.

Richard Shulman is a veteran defender of Israel on several web-based forums. His comments and analyses appear often on Think-Israel. He provides cool information and right-on-target overviews. He distributes his essays by email. To subscribe, write him at richardshulman5@verizon.net

To Go To Top

BRANDEIS DONORS EXACT REVENGE FOR CARTER VISIT
Posted by Steven Plaut, February 16, 2007.

Today Brandeis, tomorrow Ben Gurion University and Tel Aviv University? This was written by Larry Cohler-Esses, Editor at Large.

Major givers reportedly withholding funds from school, sparking fierce free-speech debate on Massachusetts campus.

Major donors to Brandeis University have informed the school they will no longer give it money in retaliation for its decision last month to host former President Jimmy Carter, a strong critic of Israel.

The donors have notified the school in writing of their decisions -- and specified Carter as the reason, said Stuart Eizenstat, a former aide to Carter during his presidency and a current trustee of Brandeis, one of the nation's premier Jewish institutions of higher learning.

They are "more than a handful," he said. "So, this is a concern. There are evidently a fair number of donors who have indicated they will withhold contributions."

Brandeis history professor Jonathan Sarna, who maintains close ties with the administration, told The Jewish Week, "These were not people who send $5 to the university. These were major donors, and major potential donors.

"I hope they'll calm down and change their views," Sarna said.

Sarna indicated he knew the identity of at least one of the benefactors but declined to disclose it. He said only that those now determined to stop contributing include "some enormously wealthy individuals."

Eizenstat said his information came from discussions Tuesday with university administrators, who did not disclose to him who the donors in question were, or how much was involved.

Kevin Montgomery, a student member of the faculty-student committee that brought Carter to Brandeis, related that the school's senior vice president for communications, Lorna Miles, told him in a meeting the week before Carter's appearance that the school had, at that point, already lost $5 million in donations.

Asked to comment, Miles replied, "I have no idea what he's talking about."

Miles said that university President Jehuda Reinharz was out of the country and unavailable for comment. The school's fundraising director, Nancy Winship, was also unavailable, she said.

"I have not heard anything from donors," said Miles. "I don't know where Stuart's information is coming from. I don't think there is any there there, in your story."

The apparent donor crisis comes on the heels of a series of Israel-related free speech controversies on the Waltham, Mass., campus, of which Carter's January appearance is only the latest and most high-profile. Critics of Israel last year protested Reinharz's removal of an art exhibit from the school library containing anti-Israeli paintings -- denounced by some as crude propaganda -- by youths from Palestinian refugee camps.

The university got flack from the other side when it awarded an honorary doctorate in June to renowned playwright and frequent Israel critic Tony Kushner, who once referred to Israel's founding as "a mistake."

The run-up to Carter's appearance was also punctuated by acrimony when the former president declined an initial invitation to appear in a debate format with Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz. Instead, Dershowitz appeared only after Carter left the hall.

Yet, the school has also won notice for a course it offers on the Middle East conflict co-taught by Shai Feldman, a prominent Israeli strategic analyst, and Palestinian Khalil Shikaki, a leading West Bank demographer. It also conducts an exchange program with Al Quds University, a Palestinian school in East Jerusalem. The Brandeis student body of about 5,000 is about 50 percent Jewish but also contains a significant population of Muslims.

Nevertheless, the free-speech controversies seemed to pit Brandeis' commitment to maintaining its status as a top-tier, non-sectarian university -- with all the expectations of untrammeled discourse this brings -- against its determination to remain, in Reinharz's words, a school under "continuous sponsorship by the Jewish community."

The alleged action by some top donors has now sharpened the tensions between those two goals, intensified by the school's commitment to the ideals of its namesake. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, a founder of American Zionism and one of the judiciary's fiercest free speech defenders.

"The American Jewish community understands the visit by Carter to Brandeis to be reflecting a heksher" -- a stamp of approval -- "from the university," said Sarna, whose field is American Jewish history. "They see it as a statement that Brandeis certifies him as kosher.

"The faculty views it very differently," he said, "that Brandeis is a forum; that views are uttered in that forum, some of which we agree with and some of which we don't. But the faculty does not view his appearance as a heksher.

"It's that gap in perception that seems to require greater dialogue between the two entities so at least one understands the other," said Sarna.

But the Carter event may have instead opened the door to greater tensions. Emboldened by it, a group of left-wing students are now seeking to bring to campus Norman Finkelstein, a controversial Holocaust scholar who charges that Jewish leaders exploit the tragedy to fend off and silence criticism of Israel for its treatment of the Palestinians. He charges, too, that Jewish organizations have inflated the number of Holocaust survivors to inflate reparations payments.

A group of right-wing students has invited to campus Professor Daniel Pipes, an Arabist and policy analyst who writes often of the security threat he sees to the United States and Europe from Muslim immigrants. Pipes has also founded Campus Watch, a program that seeks to monitor what professors teach in class and publicize those it regards as extremists. This has provoked charges he is a McCarthyist, which he denies.

In a contentious meeting with faculty after the Carter event, Reinharz denounced Finkelstein and Pipes as "weapons of mass destruction," according to a report in The Justice, the Brandeis campus newspaper. His executive assistant, John Hose, explained, "These are people who tend to inflame passions, whose mission is not so much discussion and education as it is theatre, a show ... If you want serious discussion, there's lots of resources available for that already at Brandeis."

At the Feb. 5 meeting, Winship, the school's chief fundraiser, also alluded to the brewing problem with donors. The e-mails from them "kept coming and coming," The Justice quoted her as saying. "We're just trying to repair the damage. The Middle East is just this trigger of emotions for our alumni and for our friends. For the most part, the donors who come to us come through the Jewish door."

Reinharz sharply criticized the committee that brought Carter to campus for leaving the university with $95,000 in logistical and security costs, according to The Justice.

"Faculty members should not be allowed to invite whoever they want and leave Brandeis with a huge bill," Reinharz complained, according to the paper.

The school's budget for 2005, the latest year for which tax records are available, was $265.75 million against revenues of $310 million.

Members of the sponsoring committee protested that Reinharz had earlier assured them money would be no barrier to bringing the first U.S. president to Brandeis since Harry S Truman's 1957 commencement speech there.

"I think Jehuda [protested the cost] because he wanted to distance himself from Carter," said Montgomery, the student member of the Carter committee. "I feel this is Jehuda's attempt to appease the harsh donor critics."

The Brandeis president did not attend the Carter event, with his office making it known that Reinharz was out of town.

At the faculty meeting, Susan Lanser a professor of English, complained, "I know many, many faculty who do not feel they can speak freely about the Middle East" in public forums. And in an interview with The Jewish Week, Mary Baine Campbell, another English professor, spoke of "the chilling effect of knowing one speaks about things unwelcome by the administration in charge of working conditions and pay. They could be angels. I don't know. It's a slightly chilled atmosphere."

Lanser said the administration's warnings about donors had reinforced that sense. "I'm not saying that was the intent of the meeting," she said. "I think Brandeis is committed to open intellectual inquiry. But this issue gets complicated because of the strong feelings of some donors."

This vexed aftermath contrasted sharply with the widely praised tenor of the event itself. The university audience of almost 2,000 received Carter with notable civility and even gave him several standing ovations. At the same time, student questioners challenged him with tough and critical queries.

The focus of hostility toward Carter -- his new book on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict -- has led to no less than Anti-Defamation League leader Abraham Foxman charging him with "engaging in anti-Semitism." Many others have echoed this.

The protests start with the book's title, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid," implicitly comparing Israel's policies towards Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza to apartheid-era South Africa. The book itself contains gross factual errors, charge critics, and a lopsided bias that lays blame almost exclusively on Israel for the failure to resolve the conflict.

Critics object especially to Carter's claim that pro-Israel forces in the United States have a disproportionate and stifling impact on public debate of the issue -- denounced by Foxman as "the old canard and conspiracy theory of Jewish control of the media, Congress and the U.S. government."

At the event, Carter defended himself against such charges. Interviews with audience members suggested their ovations stemmed more from respect for Carter's former office and their acceptance of his basic integrity and good faith than agreement, necessarily, with his views.

"I think everyone was surprised at how well he was received," said Michael Berenbaum, a Holocaust scholar and historian unaffiliated with Brandeis. "That may be the most important part of the story. Instead of coming as partisans, they listened to Carter attentively, asked tough questions and gave him an audience. The Jewish community may have a more significant generation gap than they understand between what young people are prepared to hear and what older activists are prepared to hear."

Steven Plaut is an American-trained economist, a professor of business administration at Haifa University and author of "The Scout." He frequently comments -- both seriously and satirically -- on Israeli politics and the left wing academic community. His website address is http://www.stevenplaut.blogspot.com or write him by email at splaut@econ.haifa.ac.il

To Go To Top

A GOVERNMENT'S COUP D'ETAT
Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, February 15, 2007.

What to do when your own government plans a coup d'etat against its own people? There are many components to a coup of this nature. First, it can be euphemistically called deliberate "friendly fire". The difference is that typical friendly fire is when your own side or an ally mistakenly targets its own friends. When the friendly fire is intentional, it could be called treason by an unfriendly government.

The following outlines what is purported to be a plan by the Olmert government to duplicate what Sharon and Olmert did in Gaza. Here, with malice and certain self-serving interests, they attacked their own people, turning Gaza into an international Terror base, aimed at destroying Israel -- or so the Terrorists say themselves. It wasn't a mistake or an error in judgement but for argument's sake, let us give Sharon and Olmert a dubious benefit of the doubt.

Clearly, they were working in coordination with C. Rice and the U.S. State Department who had other national interests inconsistent with Israel's safety. The uprooting and eviction of 10,000 Jewish men, women and children from 25 communities in Gush Katif/Gaza and 4 from Northern Samaria was ruthlessly administered. As predicted by many (including us) Gaza became a local Terror Base (soon to go global) and now the site of burgeoning, bloody civil war between the Terrorist Hamas and the Terrorists Fatah. We are, of course, mindful of Saudi Arabia's effort to unify Fatah and Hamas so they can claim donor funds and turn their weapons solely against Israel.

Areas from Sderot to Ashkelon may have to be abandoned due to the increasing missile attack and the unwillingness of the Olmert, Peretz, Livni, Peres regime to unleash the army to drive back the Palestinian Muslim Arab Terrorists along with their missile launchers.

Now this same conglomerate looks to repeat the Gaza debacle only this time the coup is to be directed against the 250,000 Israelis in Judea and Samaria. This will also lead to the forced abandonment of the Golan Heights, the Jordan Valley and most probably, all of Jerusalem that Jordan controlled and desecrated for 19 years from 1948 to 1967.

It no longer matters if this is a repeat of the faulty judgment or a cabal, linked to foreign interests. This would include but, not be limited to the Arabist State Department serving the interests of Saudi Arabia and other Arab hostile States.

The Israeli Government seems to no longer represent the Israeli people but, rather caters to other nations and, no doubt, certain self-serving benefits, not limited to financial gain. This cannot be called anything else but High Treason. This government has literally abandoned the Jewish nation and the Jewish people. It no longer represents her citizens. In fact, like other dictatorships, namely Stalin's and Hitler's, it is at war with her own people, demanding both slavish obedience and tax revenue to pay for the coup d'etat.

The article by David Bedein in The Bulletin January 23, 2006 outlines some of the hidden details of the government's war against the Jewish nation and the Jewish people, both in Israel and world-wide. To read it, click here.

Emanuel Winston is a commentator and Middle East analyst. His articles appear often on Think-Israel and Gamla. He is a member of the Board of Directors and a research associate of the Freeman Center For Strategic Studies (http://www.freeman.org/online.htm). Contact him at gwinston@gwinston.interaccess.com

To Go To Top

HOW WE CAN KNOW THAT ISRAEL IS NOT APARTHEID
Posted by David Meir-Levi, February 15, 2007.

If you, or anyone you know, is unsure as to how we can know for sure that Israel is not an apartheid state, neither in the west bank nor in gaza nor in the pre-67 state, read Irshad Manji's article below. It's called "Modern Israel is a far cry from old South Africa" and it appeared in The Australian on February 9, 2007. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21194124-7583,00.html Irshad Manji is author of The Trouble with Islam Today: A Muslim's Call for Reform in Her Faith (Random House Australia).

IN the past year, a stream of thinkers across the West -- from Australian writer Antony Loewenstein to US academics John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt -- has punctured the usual parameters of debate about Israel. I, for one, welcome any effort to prevent ideas from calcifying into ideologies. As a Muslim refusenik, that's what I do by defying the conventional prejudices of my fellow Muslims. Why would I resent refuseniks of a different kind?

It's precisely because I embrace intellectual pluralism that I respectfully challenge Jimmy Carter's recent critique of Israel as an apartheid state. To be sure, I've long admired the former US president. In my book The Trouble with Islam Today I cite him as an example of how religion can be invoked to tap the best of humanity. In no small measure, it was Carter's appreciation of spiritual values that brought together Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian president Anwar Sadat, compelling these former foes to clasp hands over a peace deal.

Which is why Carter's new book disappoints so many of us who champion co-existence. Entitled Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, the book argues that Israel's conduct towards Palestinians mimics South Africa's long-time demonisation of blacks. Of course, certain Israeli politicians have spewed venom at Palestinians, as have some Arab leaders towards Jews, but Israel is far more complex -- and diverse -- than slogans about the occupation would suggest. In a state practising apartheid, would Arab Muslim legislators wield veto power over anything? At only 20per cent of the population, would Arabs even be eligible for election if they squirmed under the thumb of apartheid? Would an apartheid state extend voting rights to women and thepoor in local elections, which Israel didfor the first time in the history of Palestinian Arabs?

Would the vast majority of Arab Israeli citizens turn out to vote in national elections, as they've usually done? Would an apartheid state have several Arab political parties, as Israel does? In recent Israeli elections, two Arab parties found themselves disqualified for expressly supporting terrorism against the Jewish state. However, Israel's Supreme Court, exercising its independence, overturned both disqualifications. Under any system of apartheid, would the judiciary be free of political interference?

Would an apartheid state award its top literary prize to an Arab? Israel honoured Emile Habibi in 1986, before the intifada might have made such a choice politically shrewd. Would an apartheid state encourage Hebrew-speaking schoolchildren to learn Arabic? Would road signs throughout the land appear in both languages? Even my country, the proudly bilingual Canada, doesn't meet that standard.

Would an apartheid state be home to universities where Arabs and Jews mingle at will, or apartment blocks where they live side by side? Would an apartheid state bestow benefits and legal protections on Palestinians who live outside of Israel but work inside its borders? Would human rights organisations operate openly in an apartheid state? They do in Israel.

For that matter, military officials go public with their criticisms of government policies. In October 2003, the Israel Defence Forces' chief of staff told the press that road closures in the West Bank and Gaza were feeding Palestinian anger. Two weeks later, four former heads of the Shin Bet security service blasted the occupation and called on Ariel Sharon to withdraw troops unilaterally, which later happened in Gaza. Would an apartheid state stomach so much dissent from those mandated to protect the state?

Above all, would media debate the most basic building blocks of the nation? Would a Hebrew newspaper in an apartheid state run an article by an Arab Israeli about why the Zionist adventure has been a total failure? Would it run that article on Israel's independence day? Would an apartheid state ensure conditions for the freest Arabic press in the Middle East, a press so free that it can demonstrably abuse its liberties and keep on rolling? To this day, the East Jerusalem daily Al-Quds hasn't retracted an anti-Israel letter supposedly penned by Nelson Mandela but proven to have been written by an Arab living in The Netherlands.

Even the eminence grise of Palestinian nationalism, the late Edward Said, stated flat out that "Israel is not South Africa". How could it be when an Israeli publisher translated Said's seminal work, Orientalism, into Hebrew? I'll cap this point with a question that Said himself asked of Arabs: "Why don't we fight harder for freedom of opinions in our own societies, a freedom, no one needs to be told, that scarcely exists?"

I disagree: some people still need to be told that Arab "freedoms" don't compare to those of Israel. The people who need reminding are those who now push the South Africa analogy a step further by equating Israel with Nazi Germany. To them, Zionists are committing hate crimes under the totalitarian nightmare that they dub "Zio-Nazism" (like neo-Nazism).

When it comes to granting citizenship, Israel discriminates in the same way as an affirmative action policy, giving the edge to a specific minority that has faced genocidal injustice. Does this amount to Nazism? Spare me. As a Muslim, I could become a citizen of Israel without having to convert. After all, Israel was one of the few countries anywhere to grant shelter, then citizenship, to the Vietnamese boatpeople who sought political asylum in the late 1970s. I don't have to wonder how Syria compares on that score.

Now for the ultimate proof of Israel's flimsy credentials as a bunker of Hitlerian hate: It's the only country in the Middle East to which Arab Christians are voluntarily migrating. And they are also thriving there, notching much higher university attendance rates than the Arab Muslim citizens of Israel, and enjoying better overall health than Jews.

The Holy Land is gut-wrenching and complicated. As much as I applaud Israel's efforts to foster pluralism, I condemn its illegal Jewish settlements and less visible crimes such as the diversion of water away from Palestinian towns. These contradictions of the Israeli state should be exposed, discussed, even pilloried. And they are: openly as well as often. So there's little point in deciding whose camp is the paragon of vice or virtue. The better question might be: who's willing to hear what they don't want to hear? That's the test of whether a country is more than black or white.

David Meir-Levi is an American-born Israeli, currently living in Palo Alto. His expertise is in Near Eastern studies and the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. He is Director of Peace and Education at Israel Peace Initiative (www.ipi-usa.org). Contact him at david_meirlevi@hotmail.com

To Go To Top

HINDU JEWISH FRIENDSHIP
Posted by TS Girishkumar, February 15, 2007.

This is a mail from Merylin Peter (donagraziah@hotmail.com) of jerusalem. She makes efforts for a Hindu Jewish unity and related progamme. This letter sketches a resolution they took recently. They try to underline many cardinal points in Hindu Jewish friendship. Please see.

Dear All,

My last letter, containing information on Jewish weddings here, in Israel, has achieved some response. Bar mitzvahs, brit milas, other weddings... were shared with me, however, nothing beats the first wedding I ever planned and that was Bill and Eva's glat kosher Chinese-Jewsih nuptials. We had checked all out plans with Eva's rabbi who insisted that while it must be according to halacha, we had to take in consideration the feelings of Eva's parents and make it as easy as possible for them. This was to fulfill the commandment of Honor Thy Father and Thy Mother. Well, I blended as many of the different customs as I could although I put my foot down on sending the roast pig. Someone suggested I write a book... How to Make A Glat Kosher... but I felt there would be very little interest in it.

Our Purple prose for today is the results of a Jewish-Hindu leadership summit, the paper signed by Rabbi Yona Metzger the Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi of Israel. This item interested me as by some fluke (or the finger of G-d) I became aware of, and began to correspond with, Dr. G. in India and have been taught so much about Hinduism and India.

The participants affirmed that:

1. Their respective Traditions teach that there is One Supreme Being who is the Ultimate Reality, who has created this world in its blessed diversity and who has communicated Divine ways of action for humanity, for different peoples in different times and places.

At this time, and following the few paragraphs above, I would like to point out that there will be a talk by Peter Berton and Otto Schnepp on Thursday, February 22 at 4:00 at 10383 Bunche Hall (UCLA) on China and the Jews. This is something I would love to attend but unfortunately the commute is a bit much for me so if any of you go, please let me know.

2. The religious identities of both Jewish and Hindu communities are related to components of Faith, Scripture, Peoplehood, Culture, Land and Language.

Israelis have an obseesion with "the news". Even on our buses one hears the news broadcasts. On our satelite channels we get, CNN, Sky (Britain), France 24/English (this is a fairly new 24 hour news station started by Chirac (known by his female assistants and secretaries as "The 3 minute, including the shower after, Man" What a difference a culture makes, our "3 minute man" is up for rape charges) who wanted to compete with Britain and America, Fox Cable, Bloomberg, China Broadcasting, Al Jazeera/English and BBC. So it is not unusual for me to be browsing through the channels to see what is occuring, what each country thinks is important, etc.

3. Hindus and Jews seek to maintain their respective heritage and pass it on to the succeeding generations, while living in respectful relations with other communities.

Well, here I am "sufing" the airways and I hear the word, Israel...so obviously I stop. It is France 24 and a military commentator, a French military commentator, a French military commentator who comments (usually) on the most inept army in the world, stating where Israel went wrong in the 34 day "war" and what they should have done.

4. Neither seeks to proselytize, nor undermine or replace in any way, the religious identities of other faith communities. They expect other communities to respect their religious identities and commitments and condemn all activities that go against the sanctity of this mutual respect.

At one time Tzahal was one of the most respected armies in the world. It was powerful and our Arab countries were very caution when they went to war with us, because of its strength and commitment. Of course, that was before Ariel Sharon decided that the main enemy of Israel was the Jews living and working in Gush Katif and new recruits were trained not to defend against our Arab enemies but to offend against fellow Jews. Soldiers did not get the training they needed for the real world.

5. Both the HIndu and Jewish Traditions affirm the sanctity of life and aspire for a society in which all live in peace and harmony with one another. Accordingly they condemn all acts of violence in the name of any religion or against any religion.

Then, as Sharon placed a man who was 33 on the list from the Likud, as his vice chairman (and he in turn, when Sharon was "incapacitated" selected the head of the Labor union as not Minister of Social Welfare, but Minister of Defense) Sharon's confidante, and son, the "power behind the throne" placed his cronies in major positions in the army. These men had nothing to give and were promoted solely because of their friendship with Omri. The head of the army was thrown out because he disapproved of the travesty that was to be done in the Gaza Strip and was replaced with the head of the air force!

6. The Jewish and Hindu communities are committed to the ancient traditions of Judaism and Hindu dharma respectively and, have both, in their own ways, gone through the painful experiences of persecution, oppression and destruction. Therefore, they realize the need to educate the present and succeeding generations about their past, in order that they will make right efforts to promote religious harmony.

I must say that what the commentator had to say was something that we all know here and it is sad that it it pointed out by, of all people, the French. He (the correspondent) said that Israel, due to the fact that it's Chief of Staff was now from the air force, had become "Americanized" and relied on its air force, which in America's case had been proven wrong several times. This would not have been so bad if the ground forces knew what they were doing and had officers who could tell them what to do. And, the second thing was there were no contingency plans. When the CinC should have been sitting with his generals making any sort of plans, he was busy talking to the press and other media, with a time out to call his stock broker.

7. The representatives of the two faith communities recognize the need for understanding one another in terms of lifestyles, philosophy, religious symbols, culture, etc. They also recognize that they have to make themselves understood by other faith communities. They hope that through their bilateral initiatives, these needs would be met.

At this time I would like to share with you a site that I received from "The Truth Provider". www.globalincientmap.com/home.php On a map of the world one sees the current terrorist events and other suspicious activity. I just pointed my cursor at several of the "hot spots" that I was interested in and voila!

8. Because both traditions affirm the central importance of social responsibility for their societies and for the collective good of humanity, the participants pledged themselves to work together to help address the challenges of poverty, sickness and inequitable distribution of resources.

I thank G-d that I have lived long enough to begin to change my opinion about Amotz Asa El who writes the column(s) Middle Israel, for the Jerusalem Post. Either he is changing or I am. Both Abe and I can't believe that we, many times, agree with him! (As with that French military commentator.) Writing about the conviction of Haim Ramon, Olmert's confidante and Minister of Justice, he mentions that Ramon (who had stuck his tongue in to a young, female soldier's mouth, because he knew "she wanted it", to which she replied in astonishment, "He's 8 years older than my father!") he says: Until now, Israel has been led by three generations. First came the founding fathers, some of whom were visionaries on the scale of David ben-Gurion and Menachem Begin, and all of whom were as modest as Levi Eshkol and Shamir. Then came the generals, most of whom were narrow-minded and some of whom were corrupt, but none of whom could be accused of not having done something for this coutry. And then came the horse thieves. to them ...(the) original Zionist dreamers were romantic idiots who did not understand the meaning of life -- that power is not a means, but an end- just like they would reach tenderly for a girl's hand at dusk, instead of just grabbing her mouth and invading it.

9. The representatives of the two faith communties also agree to constitute a Standing Commitee on Hindu-Jewish Relations. Signed: Rabbi Yona Metger, Chief Rabbi of Israel, Swami Dayanand Saraswati, Hindu dharma Acharya Sabha

And with that, I too, shall sign off.

Lots of love

Contact Dr. Girishkumar at drgirishkumarts@yahoo.com

To Go To Top

TAKE TEACHING HATE OUT OF THE CLASSROOM! OUR SCHOOL SYSTEM IS NOT THE PLATFORM FOR PROPAGANDA
Posted by Ari Bussel, February 15, 2007.

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Beverly Hills! Almost a quarter of a century ago, when I attended Beverly Hills High School ("Beverly" in short), we learned "there is Beverly Hills and the rest of the World." Later, during the years in which I was very active in the City, I discovered we are really part of a greater design, and "the rest of the world" has great influence on our City (100,000 cars trips a day of through traffic, for instance). No city is separate than all others--we live in a community of neighborhoods and cities, in a region which acts as a melting pot of cultures, religions, languages, experiences.

Last week I attended a profession staff development workshop of UTLA. It purportedly focused on the Arab World, but was nothing less than a 16 hour intensive brainwashing session about the evils of the Zionist oppressor, the (Jewish) State of Israel.

An article by Betsy Schwarcz, a local teacher who attended a UTLA workshop, was published last week in both Israel Jewish Life and Muslim World Today.

My article, A Wakeup Call, appears this week, a (PDF) copy of which is attached hereto.

The text of my article follow.

In Friendship,
Ari Bussel

Last week, Israel Jewish Life published an article by Betsy Schwarcz titled "An Inappropriate Workshop." The article was a report from Saturday's eight hour session of a Salary Point Workshop given for teachers by UTLA (Union Teachers Los Angeles, utla.net). This was part of a 16-hour professional development workshop titled TEACHING ABOUT THE ARAB WORLD: MEETING THE STANDARDS ACROSS DISCIPLINES, K-12, presented by the American Friends Service Committee February 2-5, 2007.

Betsy concludes her article:

Most importantly the workshop did not accomplish what it was supposed to. First of all, the name workshop in itself means an interactive medium. All the professional development workshops I have participated in, engage the students in some practical manner. Often, the presenter speaks about their topic and while talking discusses how their ideas can be used in the classroom. Then the students are usually asked to get a partner and do an exercise relating to what they have just learned. The speaker then asks some students to share their thoughts about the exercise. The standards are always addressed. This "workshop" failed to do any of that. A more suitable title for the program would have been "Teaching Adults About the Arab World In A Very Pro-Palestinian, Anti-Israeli Way -- No Practical Use For Grades K-12."

A former Superintendent of the Beverly Hills Unified School District commented on Betsy Schwarz's article (IJL, 2/7/2007): "This is outrageous ... an appalling and inappropriate use of public money for a presentation, [which] as Betsy notes, has no relevance for the California standards. Who made the decision to give his guy a pulpit??

Nancy Krasne, a current candidate to the Beverly Hills City Council, remarked:

This is frightening. If this was part of a sponsored district program for credit towards a pay raise the credit can be knocked off by the raciest tone of this class. This WILL BE STOPPED!

Regretfully, the following public officials did not see fit to address in this form the issues raised in Betsy's article, but may be taking action in other venues:

1) Superintendent David Brewer, LAUSD
2) Marlene Canter, President, LAUSD
3) Tamar Galatzan, the Mayor's endorsed candidate in the Valley
4) Councilmembers Wendy Greuel and Jack Weiss
5) Mayor Villaraigosa.

I was present during both the Saturday and the Monday sessions of the workshop as an official observer for the Anti-Defamation League. DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed in this article are my own and do not represent the opinions of the Anti-Defamation League.

The Workshop was nothing but a platform for anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian propaganda. The "teaching tools and resources" presented were clearly ANTI, self-serving, truth-distorting, factually-incorrect and quite insensitive to history and to humanity. The Holocaust, for instance, is not a proprietary Jewish phenomenon. Many more Christians died during WWII than Jews. Making a joke about not being allowed to leave early since "the doors are locked, there are guard dogs outside, and we built a 25 feet wall," following a previous description of the Palestinian cities being surrounded with 25 feet walls and watchtowers every 200 meters, its population held in "an open air prison," its livelihood being taken away from it, its water being poisoned, etc., would leave a very vivid impression in anyone's mind. Such a joke would be universally considered insensitive and inappropriate, except at this Workshop. Anyone wandering the connection between the described "plight" of the Palestinians and the Holocaust, should refer to the usage of a new word: "ghettoization" (word taken from a handout).

Ghetto, Wall, Oppression--all were used against Israel in most sophisticated ways: Teaching teachers in Los Angeles about Palestinian farmers' plight, Palestinian embroidery as an expression of national identity, and the escape of Christians from Bethlehem because of Israel, emphasizing that Christian Palestinians and Muslim Palestinians live in harmony in the birthplace of Christ (nothing could be further from the truth).

Let us read, for instance, about (Arab) Women and Education. The material given reads, in part:

Over the past five decades, women have been active in the Palestinian resistance movement. Several hundred have been imprisoned, tortured, and killed by Israeli occupation forces since the uprising, "Intifada," in the Israeli occupied territories began in 1987.

One of the magazines distributed shows on its back cover an Israeli soldier aiming his rifle at a woman who is bowing and a child who looks straight into the soldier's eyes. The caption: An Israeli soldier on patrol in the West bank city of Hebron aims weapon toward a crowd of Palestinian shoppers on Jerusalem Day, Oct.20, 2006. Cover to cover, the magazine talks about Israel, Palestine, Oppressed Palestinians and Misery caused by or attributed to Israel in one form or another.

Hebron, if you wondered, is part of the Occupied Territories. A presenter who claims to have been born and raised here in the USA, stated she is an Arab, a Muslim, a Palestinian, a Woman -- from the Occupied Hebron. As an American who was born and raised here, I would first describe myself AN AMERICAN. The presenter, it seems, was not alone: Another presenter emigrated to the United States seven years ago from Nazareth, Israel, also told us she is from the Occupied Territories. All of Israel, it seems, is occupied. There is a sense of identity, magnetism to a fictitious land called "Palestine," from which all hatred emanates.

Thus, after the eight hours I attended, during which whatever happens in the Arab World is related to the evil occupation of Palestine by Israel (and if not than at the very least to America, who is connected by associated to Israel), after receiving material written by the likes of Noam Chomsky, after hearing, time and time again of the plight of Palestinian people (whether in Israel, Lebanon, or elsewhere), is there any doubt in anyone's mind that teachers attending the Workshop need to spring to action? They must educate (since what one hears in the news is misleading), they must show the right ways to the kids in their classroom, and they should support the Palestinian efforts to rid themselves of the ghettoization by the Israeli occupation.

Imagine a staff professional development workshop about Israel, or even a workshop about the Arab World which is given by an Israeli or a Jewish presenter, or yet another workshop about the plight of immigrants in California or about Gays and Lesbians (all aimed at teachers of students in K-12). Protestors will be in the building and outside. The media will be all over the place. In this case, it is Israel-bashing, a most honorable of pastime methods, definitely not "sexy enough" to be "newsworthy."

Without immediate, corrective action, we fail. Being accommodating, fair and respectful apparently does not work in the setting of this Workshop. As much as the presenters see themselves as Palestinians, a workshop about the Arab World disguising PROPAGANDA should NOT be allowed. Not in 2007. Not in 2008. Not at any time where the presentations are skewed and amount to a 16 hour brainwashing about OCCUPATION by ISRAEL and the PLIGHT OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE WORLD WIDE (as related to the occupation). I only wonder if there is any change between the previous presentations in 2005 and 2006 and the current one now that Israel is out of the Gaza Strip?!?

Probably none. Rachelle Marshall, a member of the Jewish International Peace Union, writes in a Special Report available in one of the magazines given out: Bush's Lies Can't Hide Middle East Realities:

The World Trade Center attacks gave Bush the chance to sell this agenda to Americans as essential to the "war on terrorism." [NOTE: in Saturday's presentation we learned that due to all the billions spent on the War on Terrorism and the War in Iraq, are schools and education are suffering. Imagine what could be done with all these billions of dollars right here at the classroom!] ... It was a claim no more real than the imminent "mushroom cloud" Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice once warned about. ... Israel's confiscation of more than $50 million a month in Palestinian revenue collections, and the cutoff of international aid funds, have forced schools to close and caused serious shortages of fuel, hospital equipment, and medical supplies. [NOTE: same figure mentioned on Saturday by the speaker: $600M last year alone = $50M / month.] ... Israel's oppression of the Palestinians, with full support from America, was a major cause of the anger among Arabs and Muslims. ... more than 120,000 people of Palestinian descent have been affected by laws that serve no other purpose than to reduce the Palestinian population and impoverish those who remain.

It goes on and on, within this article, and then article after article. The availability of these magazines and handouts is no coincidence. The same statements were repeated and incorporated in the presentations.

The Palestinian "crowd" is extremely sophisticated. A Thousand and One Arabian Nights. They create a reality of their own, which has no connection with the actual reality, and seem to believe that telling a lie enough times makes it into truth. The Christian Palestinians from Bethlehem, for instance, would be those to attest that the reason their population dwindled to 1.9% of the city inhabitants has nothing to do with Israel but with the Muslim Palestinians. They will attest to the fact they do not "live in harmony," unless one defines no more Christians living in the birthplace of Christ as a prerequisite for "harmony."

Meeting the Standards Across Disciplines, K-12: What standards? Which disciplines? If the purpose is to provide a seminar on Palestinian statehood, do that. Educators' training regarding TEACHING ABOUT THE ARAB WORLD should have two elements:
    a.) Teaching
    b.) Arab World.

The parts I attended should have been called Israel's Role in Causing the Plight of the Palestinian People. One should do the honorable thing and call things by their true name. A cow is a cow and not a pig. If one wants to teach about pigs and apes, let no stone hide the pigs and the apes -- call them by their name!

[Editor's Note: Nurit Greenger wrote:

WE MUST FLOOD THE OFFICES OF THE MAYOR, OUR SUPERVISORS, UTLA AND LAUSD PRESIDENTS with phone calls and letters protesting inclusion of Palestinian propaganda and anti-Israel rhetoric being taught to UTLA teachers for inservice credit. This is an outrageous use of our taxpayer money.

Antonio Villaraigosa: mayor@lacity.org
213/978-0600 (Phone)
213/978-0750 (Fax)

Superintendent David Brewer, LAUSD
Tel: 213-241-7000 Fax: 213-241-8442 superintendent@lausd.net

Marlene Canter, President, LAUSD
marlene.cater@lausd.net
phone: 213-241-7387
fax: 213-241-8453

For other Bd of Ed members, see
http://www.lausd.k12.ca.us/lausd/board/secretary/html/contact.html

A.J. Duffy: UTLA Pres.
fax:213-251-9891
utlapresident@utla.net

UTLA Profe Development classes:
http://www.utla.net/professional/salaryclasses.php

Council Jack Weiss:
Phone (310) 289-0353 ;Phone (310) 289-0353
Fax (310)289-0365
E-Mail councilmember.weiss@lacity.org
Fax (310)289-0365
Council Wendy Gruel:
councilmember.greuel@lacity.org
Phone: (213) 473-7002
Fax: (213) 680-7895

Eric Garcetti, Pres.
councilmember.garcetti@lacity.org]

Contact Ari Bussel at aribussel@hotmail.com

To Go To Top

CHRISTIANS DIVIDED & BEING CONQUERED
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, February 15, 2007.

ARCHEOLOGY VALIDATES POLITICAL CLAIM

Israeli archeologists have uncovered a Jewish ritual bath and the aqueduct that carried water between Solomon's pools and the Second Temple. It is in part of Jerusalem that the Left would cede to the Arabs (Arutz-7, 1/15).

Is an Israeli government that wants to cede its historical core to a people that strives to murder Israelis whatever territory they have, sane?

HIZBULLAH BOOBYTRAPS UNIFIL

UNIFIL discovered a large arms cache belonging to the supposedly disarmed Hizbullah, Hizbzullah boobytrapped the cache, so that if UNIFIL troops were not careful about handling it, the cache would explode and kill them (Arutz-7, 1/16).

IRANIAN DIPLOMACY

The government of Iran has asked S. Arabia to try to ease US-Iran "tensions." Iran has factions vying with the President of Iran. The President has stoked those tensions by threatening war. S. Arabia, however, has its own "tensions" with Iran, which seeks to dominate the region (IMRA, 1/16).

There are tensions produced by undiplomatic talk and tensions produced by undiplomatic conduct. The other faction wants to reduce the undiplomatic talk, so as to lower Western awareness of the Iranian menace.

We have fallen before for the notion of finding a friendly government faction in Iran. That mistaken notion led to the Iran-Contra scandal and to imagining that former President Khatami, billed as a moderate and reformer, would not continue Iran's nuclear development. He did continue it and he supported terrorism. He just spoke nicer. I prefer an Iranian leader who speaks roughly enough to alarm the West. There isn't enough tension to suit me. After all, we are not stopping Iran's nuclear drive.

CHRISTIANS SPLIT IN LEBANON

The same two Christian factions that fought each other years ago, are at it, again, though not yet with deadly effect. Some are aligned with the government of Lebanon, but others are with Hizbullah (IMRA, 1/24).

Since the Islamists are out to eradicate infidels. Christians should not align with Hizbullah. They need unity and the present, more tolerant regime.

Richard Shulman is a veteran defender of Israel on several web-based forums. His comments and analyses appear often on Think-Israel. He provides cool information and right-on-target overviews. He distributes his essays by email. To subscribe, write him at richardshulman5@verizon.net

To Go To Top

HILLEL DIRECTOR APOLOGIZES FOR ATTACK
Posted by Rachel Neuwirth, February 15, 2007.

This was written by Carolyn McGough, Bruin contributor. It appeared in the UCLA Daily Bruin
(www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/news/2007/feb/15/hillel_director_apologizes_attack/).

[Editor's note: to read more about the attack at click here.]

Rabbi Seidler-Feller takes responsibility for assaulting a journalist in 2003 with formal letter

Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller, director of Hillel at UCLA, has sent a written statement to freelance journalist Rachel Neuwirth apologizing for attacking her on campus in 2003.

The apology is part of a settlement in the lawsuit Neuwirth brought against Seidler-Feller in 2003 in response to the incident, said Neuwirth's attorney, Charles Fonorow. The case was recently settled after three years of litigation.

The incident took place more than three years ago in front of Royce Hall after a presentation by Harvard Law professor and author Alan Dershowitz.

Seidler-Feller attempted to apologize in 2003, but Neuwirth wanted a formal apology that would be released to the public, according Daily Bruin archives.

Seidler-Feller, who is on sabbatical until August and unavailable for comment, wrote to Neuwirth "I am deeply sorry that I hit, kicked and scratched you and called you a liar on October 21, 2003."

Neuwirth said she heard Seidler-Feller discuss an upcoming event featuring Sari Nusseibeh, president of Al Quds University in Jerusalem and Palestinian Authority Commissioner for Jerusalem.

Neuwirth said she approached Seidler-Feller, warning him against bringing Nusseibeh to campus because the university president had helped direct missile attacks into Israel during the first Persian Gulf War and had been caught by Israeli intelligence calling for troops to attack Israeli citizens.

Seidler-Feller confronted Neuwirth and kicked and grabbed her wrists, Neuwirth said.

Neuwirth admitted that at some point during the confrontation she called Seidler-Feller a "capo," which is a derogatory term used for Jews who were given lighter punishment if they worked inside death camps during the Holocaust.

But there has been speculation in the past over whether Neuwirth called Seidler-Feller a "capo" before or after the confrontation.

"'Capo' was said after I was attacked maliciously and verbally," Neuwirth said. "It was said more in the tone of 'you wimp.' I could have said 'you dirt bag.'"

Neuwirth asserted that her use of the word "capo" was not intended to be derogatory toward Jewish people. She defined it as anyone forced to work for the Nazis in concentration camps.

Besides an apology, the settlement also included monetary retribution that Fonorow called "substantial."

Fonorow and Neuwirth would not comment on the exact amount of the financial settlement.

In the apology, Seidler-Feller stated, "by taking these unprovoked actions, I have contradicted the pluralism, peace and tolerance about which I so often preach."

"I am accepting 100 percent responsibility for my actions on October 21, 2003. I had no right to do what I did," he wrote.

While Neuwirth said she accepted the apology, she believes it should have been made long ago.

Rachel Neuwirth is a Los Angeles-based analyst on the board of directors of the West Coast Region of the American Jewish Congress and the chairperson of the organization's Middle East committee. Contact her by email at rachterry@sbcglobal.net

To Go To Top

TO OLMERT, LIVNI ET AL
Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, February 15, 2007.

Dear Ehud & Cabinet:

I fear for your safety.

Having been instrumental in opening up Gaza for a Global Terror Base, I fear there are many Jews from all over the world who will not forgive or let bygones be bygones.

May I respectfully suggest that after you leave the bunker you are building at the entrance to Jerusalem, you make arrangements to leave the country. It would be better to select a country where you would be welcome -- like Argentina or Peru. Recall that Adolph Eichmann was able to hide for quite a while in Argentina.

I understand that there is quite a large colony of second generation Germans whose fathers fled there to avoid prosecution as war criminals. Given that you can claim you made the Jewish State vulnerable to attacks by Iran, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon Hebz'Allah, Hamas, you may be welcomed and maybe even honored.

I do not think it would be safe for you to immigrate as a war refugee to major nations such as America, England, France, etc. Those hunting you would find you too easily. Whereas in the remote reaches of South America, there will not be too many Jews whose relatives may have been killed in the coming wars against Israel. I know it is unfair to blame you, Livni, Peres, Beilin -- among others for making Israeli cities vulnerable to missile attacks.

Clearly, putting Israeli cities in range of missiles from Hamas in Gaza or Hezb'Allah in the North cannot all be laid at your doorstep. Just because you intend to put Judea and Samaria into the hands of the Arab Muslim Palestinians in a gesture of peace, you cannot be blamed for their placing missiles there.

That you trusted the judgment and commands of Rice and the U.S. State Department to divest the Land from the Jews to the Muslims is not your fault. Any saturation missile attack on Tel Aviv and the entire coastal area from the "west bank" cannot be blamed on you and Kadima.

But, people who lose their loved ones are not always reasonable in their allocations of blame. Better you make an arrangement to take yourselves and all those others who might be blamed for the fall of the Third Temple (so-to-speak) to a place where the hunters and displaced will be unlikely to search.

I am sure there are people who would be glad to host you and try to insure that Yael would not visit you with a tent peg.

However, although you and your cohorts are not concerned with the "Higher Authority" of G-d's Judgement, as many believe He judged Ariel Sharon. Moreover, there is no assurance I can offer that a Peoples' Court may be convened which will seek to judge you, your assembly or even those who serve now as Judges on the Israeli Supreme Court. But, since you yourself are a lawyer, knowledgeable in the ways of court proceedings, and such a history as the French Revolution, you can assess risk far better that I. Those arrangements are entirely in your hands.

Perhaps such preparations to find shelter in another country in a remote wilderness is all unnecessary. I understand that you have arranged Government funding for a deep bunker under your offices that will be nuclear resistant with a tunnel that leads directly to the Ben Gurion airport.

Obviously, you are planning ahead and may not need the aforementioned advice. However, just in case, there will be Jews who survive and wish to judge your regime, an escape tunned is certainly a wise option.

I understand that on Monday last you spoke to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, advising them that it your intention to surrender the entire Golan Heights to Syria on the understanding that this will buy everlasting peace with Syria.

As I recall, the Syrians are deeply committed to ending the existence of Israel and all of her people. Any Israeli soldiers who fell into their hands were tortured, murdered and even mutilated, given their rage was so great. Here again, I am uncertain how the survivors will greet your plans or those who will once again be under the Syrian guns in the low lands below the Heights.

Many will not understand your gesture of "peace" made in preparation for your taking leave of your office. I again congratulate you on your foresight on preparing a deep bunker and an escape route. If, per chance, Ben Gurion Airport is devastated before you can reach your aircraft, you may wish to have a stand-by ship for yourself, your family and those of your entourage who you wish to take to safety.

As I recall, the Catholic Church had developed what came to be known as the "rat-line" while the Red Cross provided passports and visas for high ranking Germans. The Church passed German war criminals from Church to Church. Being Jewish you could go from Shul to Shul.

They, of course, had considerable gold taken from the Jews so they would be welcomed in various countries. I mention this only because the plan worked and, no doubt, was worthy of repeating -- with modifications. In any case, I do not mean to imply that pure judgement and experimenting with the safety of the Jewish nation would necessarily qualify for the appellation of "war criminals".

Emanuel Winston is a commentator and Middle East analyst. His articles appear often on Think-Israel and Gamla. He is a member of the Board of Directors and a research associate of the Freeman Center For Strategic Studies (http://www.freeman.org/online.htm). Contact him at gwinston@gwinston.interaccess.com

To Go To Top

THE MEDDLESOME DIPLOMAT
Posted by Michael Devolin, February 15, 2007.

One might expect from a diplomat like Michael Bell, even a "Senior Scholar on International Diplomacy," the counsel to "guard the status quo." Whether the status quo be fair or the fruit of threats and aggressions, however, should not concern the diplomat. The diplomat, by virtue of definition, is not expected to take sides. Nor should he be expected to provide any sort of denouement to religious contentions between Islam and Judaism. What one does not expect from a diplomat like Michael Bell (unless, of course, you've heard him debate the issue on the CBC) is to read him labelling the Jew's religious aspirations as that of an extremist and those of his Muslim opponent as that of a benign advocate of "a delicate status quo."

I remember reading about Michael Bell being awarded the Alumni Award of Merit from the University of Waterloo. Upon receiving the award he remarked, "In Windsor we grew up with an acceptance of social flexibility and a realization of the need to treat others with dignity. This is a lesson that both sides need to learn in any movement toward a lasting peaceful resolution in the Middle East." Such moral relativism and unctuous denial of the truth of the historical reality of the Middle East is precisely the reason utopian conjurations such as the Jerusalem Project (which has already received $500,000 from the Foreign Affairs Department) will accomplish nothing and remain but a tool the violent and anti-Jewish forces within Islam will exploit in order to, according to their religious agenda, deracinate all presence of Judaism and Jews from the Middle East.

I am a Gentile. I am neither Jew nor Christian. Yet even I can see that all Canadian diplomats and ambassadors, most notably during the Liberal governments of Jean Chretien and Paul Martin, have refused to acknowledge that the presence of a Muslim mosque atop of the Jewish Temple Mount is the result of Islamic aggression and conquest of the region by Umar ibn al-Khattab in 637. This conquest and this history is the basis of the Muslim religious claim to not only the Temple Mount, but also to the entire City of Jerusalem (let's be honest and forthright here, Mr. Bell). Yet when the Jew makes his religious claim to the Temple Mount, a religious claim which long precedes the bloody interpolation of Islam into Jewish history, the Jew is accused of being an "extremist."

As a seasoned diplomat, Mr. Bell should have better manners than to decry the religious Jew for aspiring to actual Jewish history. He should know therefore that to refer to the religious Jew as "ultra-nationalist" as juxtaposed to his neutral definition of religious Muslims as mere "Haram guards" will be interpreted by many Jews of all sects as being slanderous and derogatory. But hey, if you're a recipient of the Alumni Award of Merit and you're the Paul Martin Sr. Chair of International Diplomacy, I guess you are allowed such latitude.

Contact Michael Devolin at devolin@reach.net

To Go To Top

AN ANECDOTE FROM YASHA H. CALL TO THE WHITE HOUSE ABOUT POLLARD
Posted by Justice For Jonathan Pollard, February 15, 2007.

i called the white house again today, and politely asked to "please pass a message on to President Bush to please free Jonathan Pollard."

the first operator patched me through to another operator on the comment line, who asked what state i called from, and i told her "North Carolina". then she asked what my comment was and again I said "Please Free Jonathan Pollard. His release is long overdue."

the operator said she would put me down as saying so and thanked me for my call.

i have called the white house many times over the past couple of decades with various comments or other matters, and i can tell you, i have not heart the operator thank me and not the message in such a hurried voice before. this tells me she is hearing a lot of calls, and probably similar messages from more people who care about you, Jonathan.

i hope the more we call, the more they will begin to realize there is an avalanche of love for Jonathan, and that your time to be free once more is at hand.

again, the more we call and nicely ask the President to release Jonathan, the more they must notice all of us calling.

personally, i look forward to calling The White House one day (ASAP Please, HaShem!) and Thanking the Presidnet For Releasing Jonathan Pollard!:)

sincerely,

Yasha H.

Contact Justice For Jonathan Pollard by email at justice4jp@gmail.com

To Go To Top

TO LOVE
Posted by Stephen Gill, February 14, 2007.

You are
the softness of the dulcet
that melts the mist in the air
stirs the soul of clouds
pushes down the rain showers
which kiss the dry lips of earth
in the imperishable harmony
that I cherish to drink
from the chalice of your peace.

You are
the wordless sonata
that moves the sharp white beams
of the moon
enriches the blood with food.
In creation
you are a balance.

You are
the luxuriance of the aroma
that runs
in the veins of the enchanted blossoms.
You flower
a fragrant feast around
caress
the flushed cheeks of the horizon
liberate the birds who fly
to receive the ruler retiring
in a strange ceremony.

You are
the beat that echoes
in the breast of the arc.
You muse
in the melody of the falls.

You are
manna on the barren mountain
of baffles
and nirvana
that helps in breaking fetters
of the relentless brutalities.

You are
the ever-growing thirst
that sages seek in every age.
Your abode
ocean's every drop.
You bind the earth and the sky
and rule to relieve
the rusting monotony.

Dr. Stephen Gill is Ansted Poet Laureate, in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada. Contact him at stephengill@cogecoca

To Go To Top

SKY' NEWS AND THE MUGRABI BRIDGE: RAMP INTIFADA VS STREAMING VIDEO
Posted by David Meir-Levi, February 14, 2007.

So even on-the-spot real-time streaming video of the excavations and repairs of the ramp to the mughrabi gate are not sufficient to quell the burning fears of the Muslim world that Israel is creating a danger for al-Aqsa...

...real-time live on TV facts, eye witness reports ... meaningless for the raging masses of Muslims world-wide, some of whom feel that it is just and appropriate to kill Jews in foreign lands because Israel is repairing a ramp and some Muslims, contrary to all evidence and on-site eye witness cameras, feel encroaches upon Muslim sovereignty over the Temple Mount.

This is just another sordid but elucidating example of the by now hackneyed truism: they do not want their state alongside of israel, they want their state instead of israel...and they will keep on finding excuses for terrorism, justifications for war, until they have succeeded in destroying the Jewish state... even if they must do it one jew at a time.

See a presentation of the Mugrabi Gat Project at http://www.honestly-concerned.org/Temporary/MUGRABI-ENG.pps Froom the Israel Antiquities Authority.

This below is from a contributor to Sky News (UK)(feb 14, 2007)

"... video cameras enabling on-line viewing of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) Mugrabi Gate Reconstruction Project are due to go on line tomorrow afternoon (Thursday), 15.2.07, on the IAA website:
http://www.antiquities.org.il/home_eng.asp.

The web site includes a video about the Project with an English explanation by IAA Director of Surveys and Excavations Dr. Gideon Avni and two articles under the heading "The Real Story Behind the Mugrabi Ramp." (Communicated by the Israel Antiquities Authority Spokeswoman)

David Meir-Levi is an American-born Israeli, currently living in Palo Alto. His expertise is in Near Eastern studies and the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. He is Director of Peace and Education at Israel Peace Initiative (www.ipi-usa.org). Contact him at david_meirlevi@hotmail.com

to go to top

THE END OF JUDICIAL TYRANNY IN ISRAEL?
Posted by Steven Plaut, February 14, 2007.

It pains me to tell you this, but Ehud Olmert has actually done something right. Possibly the very first correct thing he has done since becoming prime minister. And it is spectacularly correct!

Olmert has appointed Professor Daniel Friedmann as the new minister of justice. And Professor Friedmann is determined to blow the whistle on the long reign of judicial tyranny imposed on Israel by its anti-democratic judges and by advocates of judicial activism.

First, let's back up a bit. Israeli democracy has for many years been under massive assault by anti-democratic elitists promoting judicial tyranny. Under their doctrine of judicial activism, it is the proper role of unelected judges to trample, trump and override the decisions of the elected representatives of the Israeli people.

Led by previous chief justice Aharon Barak and now by current Chief Justice Dorit Beinisch, the advocates of judicial activism believe leftist judges should dictate to Israel's legislature what laws those lawmakers may or may not make. Accordingly, judges should be empowered simply to make up the law as they go along.

Bear in mind that judges in Israel cannot be removed from the bench through any process of impeachment or ballot referendum. Advocates of non-impeachable activist judges want them to dictate everything in the country, from micro-decisions made by the army to Israel's foreign policy because "absolutely everything should be subject to judicial review" (a favorite Barak slogan).

These people generally want the courts to impose a leftist political agenda on Israel, and that is what judicial activism judges often do. Barak infamously has stated that judges in Israel impose ideas favored by "enlightened opinion," which of course always means the secularist Left. The vast majority of Jewish Israelis hold "unenlightened opinions," according to such snooty elitists.

The Israeli Supreme Court has ordered the government to record homosexual "marriages" that were registered in other countries, and has granted spousal rights and privileges to homosexual couples. The court ruled that there is a constitutional right in Israel to be an importer of non-kosher foods (remarkable, given that Israel has no written constitution at all), but no such right to be an importer of kosher food.

The court has collaborated in the many assaults against free speech and free expression in Israel, assaults invariably directed against the Israeli Right. The court has refused to stop the persecution of anti-Oslo dissidents or to overturn Israel's ridiculous "anti-racism" law, which declares that expressing Kahanist points of view is a felony but cheering on suicide bombers or calling for Israel to be annihilated is protected speech.

A Supreme Court justice, Ayalla Procaccia, last year tossed female teenage settlers into prison for their criticism of government policy at a protest, declaring that the girls were guilty of expressing an unacceptable political opinion. "The message must be made clear that the law will be enforced, at times of calm or at times of crisis, for minors or adults," the judge declared.

Just a few weeks back, hopes for reining in judicial tyranny in Israel seemed bleaker than ever. Professor Ruth Gavison had been a contender for appointment to the Israeli Supreme Court. A longtime champion of civil rights, somewhat left of center and secularist, Gavison nevertheless is a ferocious opponent of judicial activism and would have worked against the activist judges on the bench.

That was enough to arouse the Left against her. In a campaign somewhat reminiscent of the malicious jihad in the U.S. against the nomination of Yale Professor Robert Bork to the Supreme Court, the Israeli Left mobilized its shock troops against the Gavison appointment and it was shot down.

Meanwhile, Dorit Beinisch took over as chief justice when her mentor Aharon Barak retired. Beinisch used the occasion of her accession to praise Barak's judicial activism and promised to conduct more of the same Like Barak, she believes the court is entitled to revoke and cancel laws passed by the Knesset, supposedly as part of "judicial review." Never mind that there is no constitutional basis in Israel for such judicial review.

The distinguished Robert Bork mentioned above is on record as declaring that Israel's Supreme Court is the very worst in the democratic world in terms of ignoring checks and balances and in its promotion of judicial activism. He wrote: "Israel must have the most activist, and from my point of view, the worst court in the Western world. They have developed an intrusive, pervasive constitutional law without really having a Constitution. Now that's hard to do, but they've managed it and they have managed to get themselves in a position where they, in effect, control the membership of their own court."

Tel Aviv law don Daniel Friedmann is both a man of principle and a man of conservative legal principles. Politically he is a centrist. He was one of the people who served on the Beijski Commission in the 1980's, set up after the bank share scandal of 1983. That commission recommended a program of critical economic reforms that the political hacks largely ignored.

Educated at the Hebrew University and Harvard, Friedmann strongly opposes judicial tyranny and is dead serious about reining it in. He wants to end the system under which the Israeli commission for appointing judges acts as a rubber stamp for candidates supported by the judges already on the Supreme Court. He wants to create a constitutional court that will strip the Supreme Court of its powers of judicial review of laws. He wants to change the system under which the chief justice of the Supreme Court is selected.

In short, he wants to appoint judges who will actually obey the law, an idea quite novel in Israel.

Professor Friedmann was one of those jurists who vehemently opposed the appointment of Beinisch as chief justice, repeatedly declaring his position that she is not competent or qualified to serve on the Supreme Court.

Beinisch had personally led an earlier successful campaign against the appointment of Professor Nili Cohen as a Supreme Court judge. Friedmann was the country's leading promoter of Cohen for the post and accused Beinisch of blocking the appointment for petty personal reasons. "It appears the justices are not immune to the possibility of misusing power, as the developments in the process of appointing judges has proven," he wrote.

All judges in Israel are appointed by a Judicial Selection Committee, which is currently made up of three Supreme Court justices, two ministers (including the minister of justice), two Knesset members, and two members of the Israel Bar Association. Once a judge is appointed, it is all but impossible to get him or her dismissed. Dismissals can take place when the chief justice leads the campaign against a judge -- and not always then.

In reality, the committee usually rubber stamps what the Supreme Court justices, who dominate it, want. Hence, appointment of judges in Israel effectively consists of unelected judges dictating which other unelected judges will sit on the bench.

Under Friedmann's proposals, the Judicial Selection Committee will be revamped. Only a single sitting judge will be a member. The others will be representatives of the public and the voters, and they will be in a position to flex their muscles against judicial abuse.

And the Israeli Left is simply hysterical about that. Israel's leftist Haaretz has been overflowing with outraged articles opposing Friedmann. One Haaretz writer compared the appointment of Friedmann to a hypothetical appointment of convicted traitor Tali Fahima as head of the Shin Bet intelligence service. (The comparison is amusing since Haaretz has long served as cheerleader for Fahima and would probably support her appointment as head of the Shin Bet if it were to take place.)

Meanwhile, the leftist apparatchik and godmother of the Oslo debacle, Yossi Beilin, had a public fit when he heard the news of Friedmann's appointment. Far-left Meretz Knesset member and Peace Now leader Avshalom Vilan raged in the press at the fact that an academic, not a political hack, was being appointed -- someone the Left would have difficult in bullying into political compliance.

A retired Supreme Court Justice and advocate of judicial activism, Mishael Cheshin, openly threatened Professor Friedmann with violence, promising to "cut off the arm of anyone who raises a hand against the court."

The Israeli law enforcement system has long been little more than the occupied territory of the Israeli Left. The attorney general does little to hide his political agenda when he makes decisions about investigations and indictments.

Friedmann's appointment upsets this cozy undemocratic arrangement and threatens to strip the Left of its unelected de facto domination by democratizing Israel's legal system. And that's the first piece of really good news in Israel in quite a while.

Steven Plaut is an American-trained economist, a professor of business administration at Haifa University and author of "The Scout." He frequently comments -- both seriously and satirically -- on Israeli politics and the left wing academic community. His website address is http://www.stevenplaut.blogspot.com or write him by email at splaut@econ.haifa.ac.il This appeared in the Jewish Press and is archived in
www.jewishpress.com/page.do/20684/ The_End_Of_Judicial_Tyranny_In_Israel%3F.html

To Go To Top

MIDDLE EAST LOGIC
Posted by Avodah, February 14, 2007.

This essay comes from the Middle East Logic website, run by Yoni Tidi (www.yonitheblogger.com/2007/02/middle_east_logic.html). Yoni wrote:

Mugrabi bridge built for attack on mosque, Salah says

Sheikh Ra'ed Salah accuses Israel of building synagogue near Temple Mount; says bridge to enable military attack on mosque. Israel is conquering al-Aqsa mosque by force, he says

This article was written by Roee Nahmias and appeared yesterday in Israel National News.

The Israeli works near the al-Aqsa Mosque are meant as a direct attack on the holy Muslim site, Sheikh Ra'ed Salah of the Islamic Movement stated Tuesday.

"The purpose of the excavations is to build a synagogue in the very location of the Al-Buraq Mosque, and the bridge is meant to enable military vehicles and trucks access to the mosque, for an attack on the Temple Mount," he said.

"Israel is conquering the al-Aqsa mosque by force," Salah charged, "and that is why it is our duty to emphasize that no Israeli institute has sovereignty over the al-Aqsa Mosque, or over holy Jerusalem. We stress that if the Israeli establishment moves one particle of the sacred mosque, this will be a crime."

Salah accused Israel of building the bridge with the intention of using it to shift military forces into the mosque. "They plan to build a massive bridge that will enable 300 soldiers to enter the mosque simultaneously, and I have a document to attest to that." he said.

"The bridge will be strong enough to hold the military vehicles of the Israeli occupation, and bulldozers and trucks. So I ask: does this not mean that the bridge is a prelude to an Israeli attack on al-Aqsa?" he added.

Sheikh Ra'ed Salah stated all of this today in Israel.

300 soldiers will be able to enter the al-Aqsa simultaneously, this is his biggest fear?

This is so Middle East on his part he is so worked up with conspiracy worries that he can't even use his own brain to figure something out.

Last Friday when Arabs rioted on the Temple Mount over 300 police officers entered the Temple Mount and if they had desired they could have seized the al-Asqa mosque. They could have held the mosque as long as Israel wanted to and we could even have placed exsplosives through out the mosque and turned it from an eye sore to a pile of ruble.

But Israel did not do so.

Welcome to the Middle East where the only logic one side can see is the logic of conspiracy theories and of turning their children into suicide bombers.

This is why their will never be and can never be peace in the Middle East. If only the culturally blind west and the stupid Israeli leadership can understand who we are dealing with.

Then the west and Israel can fight for our survival and should I say, victory.

Contact Avodah at Avoda15@yahoo.com

To Go To Top

WHY JEWISH CHILDREN CAN BE AN EXAMPLE TO THE WORLD
Posted by Simon McIlwaine, February 14, 2007.

The writer is Carol Gould, a documentary maker and writer. Her book 'Spitfire Girls' is about the women pilots of WWII. She is Editor of 'Current Viewpoint' and recently appeared on BBC Radio's 'Any Questions?' hosted by Jonathan Dimbleby. This comes from yesterday's http://www.currentviewpoint.com:80/ and is called "A View on Jewish Tradition."

Today the United Nations released a report compiled by UNICEF on the wellbeing of the world's children living in developed countries.

Reading the grim results that highlighted the bottom-end listing of British and American children, I was reminded of an incident several years ago at an interfaith retreat in Cambridge, England.

A delightful and enlightened group of scholars, clergy and ordinary folk had gathered at the university to spend a weekend discussing the relative values of Judaism and Christianity in our Hollywood-dominated and reality-TV saturated modern world.

No sooner had the first session started than an elderly Christian woman said 'I do think it is appalling that Jewish children are subjected to that ghastly Bar-mitzvah ritual, or whatever they call it.' I challenged her. She said 'Imagine subjecting little boys and girls to years of studying Hebrew and wasting their youthful energies to learn something for a one-day event!' I said this was a tradition going back centuries and she snapped, 'They should be playing sport!'

What a start for what was meant to be a congenial weekend of Jewish-Christian interplay and reflection. Immediately the Jews in the group had been put on the defensive about an aspect of Jewish life and tradition that unites the otherwise discordant Orthodox and Reform movements. Bar, and more recently Bat-mitzvah are central to the life of most Jewish families and to the spiritual and intellectual development of their children.

When the British toddler Jamie Bulger was brutally murdered by a pair of teenagers there was much gnashing of teeth and hand-wringing about the depths to which the youth of the nation had sunk since the end of World War II. Orthodox Chief Rabbi Dr Jonathan Sacks said on national television that if children observe the Ten Commandments they will never go astray. It seemed a naïve approach at the time, but the UNICEF results raise the question of societal morals and how they affect children.

Jewish family life is unique. Except for a small minority family is central to the traditions and eating together is an integral part of the process of maturity. In the huge majority of Jewish homes meals are times for lively discussion and interplay. Because alcohol has a minimal presence in the life of Jews meals are civilised and often thought-provoking affairs. I would wager that in Muslim, Hindu and Far Eastern homes this is true as well, because the elderly and one's parents are central to the life of the family.

Jews have been sitting down to Shabbat dinner for thousands of years. The Passover Seder has been an annual feature of life in even the most secular of Jewish homes for centuries, as is the Rosh Hashanah meal and the break of Fast on Yom Kippur. What Jewish child can forget the first time they found the 'Afikomen' on Passover night? Who has not decorated a Sukkah or carried a little baby scroll on Simchat Torah? Even my secular Jewish friends and family never forget to light Chanukah candles for the week of that inspiring, ancient festival, nor do they fail to light Yahrzeit candles in honour of the dead.

I remember having a furious row with a friend whilst on holiday, when it transpired that she and the others she had arranged for us to meet at the hotel spent the entire week imbibing in endless gallons of alcohol. When I complained to her that there was more to life than being drunk and swearing in public, she tore into me about my uptight nonsense. My mind moved to her daughter, who had already been suffering liver trouble from alcohol abuse, a grim reminder of the role-model pattern of the worst sort.

It would be foolish to assume that religious practice automatically keeps children away from drugs or that strong family tradition keeps them sober. Chabad, the Orthodox relief movement, has a DrugsLine and is collaborating with the London Muslim community to combat youth substance abuse. What I am proposing is that British parents re-establish the bonds that held families together and if religion is not part of their lives, pressure the government to provide better sports and arts facilities around the country.

Notwithstanding the hideous press Israel gets in the UK, Jewish children benefit from wonderful, character-building trips to the Holy Land where they work in punishing conditions as volunteers on kibbutzim, in soup kitchens ( yes, there are thousands of poor Jews in Israel) and old age communities. Israeli youngsters, male and female, all have to do army service.

There are many youth organisations that cater to every political viewpoint in the worldwide Jewish community. From Habomin Dror on the Left to Betar on the Right Jewish children are afforded the opportunity to belong to groups that raise money for charities and teach character-building. At Hillel House and Jewish Ys around the world young people can join B'nai 'B'rith Youth, Netzer, Chabad and other worthy organisations that keep them out of harm's way.

In the Diaspora ( Jewish communities outside Israel) Jewish children are encouraged to study for Confirmation after their bar or bat mitzvah. Again, this is a goal that builds self-confidence and the discipline to study. How many British children know a second language? Most Jewish children do, because they study Hebrew from the time they are ten or so.

In South Africa the two schools in which black children have been excelling are those funded and run by the Jewish community, the Mitzvah and MC Weiler. Rabbi Weiler was a Holocaust survivor who devoted his life to bettering the chances of black children in apartheid South Africa. Funds were raised for these schools through the tireless efforts of the Hadassah women.

The Muslim Public Affairs Council UK can rail and rant all it wants about 'Zionazis,' and British Respect Party activist Yvonne Ridley can fulminate about 'that vile little nation,' but it is Israeli charities like ORT and Hadassah that have provided invaluable educational aids to children around the world regardless of their faith. The late ex-Prime Minister of Israel, Golda Meir, wanted to see every child in Africa literate and productive with a career ahead of them. So much for the evils of 'Zionazis' condemned by the Muslim websites these days.

British children whose lives are less than pleasant, as described in the UNICEF report, seem to suffer from the evils of alcohol, drugs and delinquency. One of the elements that I believe has contributed to the decline of the wellbeing of children in the USA and UK is the absence of the mother. Women of my generation have put careers first; I do remember my resentment when my mother, a teacher, seemed more interested in the children in her class than in my own academic results.

Then there is the church. I was disappointed that UNICEF's findings put American children at the near-bottom of their league table. One of the aspects of American life that does not exist in Britain is the domination of organised religion. Pretty much everyone goes to church, and most Jews go to synagogue. Church activity has helped black children with careers in recent years. Christian Britain is secular and religion is treated with universal contempt by the media, alongside a worship of atheist gurus led by Dr Richard Dawkins. In both countries, one deeply religious and one relentlessly secular, it is regrettable that children are not experiencing wellbeing, according to UNICEF.

In the Jewish model the entire ethos in which the family evolves is a core factor in the success of Jewish children in society and their relative absence from the world of anti-social behaviour, alcohol and drug abuse and early-age sex and pregnancy. To bring pride to one's family and not to shame them is essential to Jewish life. To read, be well educated, to stay sober and dine with one's elders is almost a religion in itself.

I have had my share of verbal abuse for decades from people who hate Jews and Israel. Perhaps the wider community in Britain, greeted by this appalling result from UNICEF, might look to the Jewish community for guidance instead of wasting so much energy on boycotts of Israel and anti-Semitic epithets.

How sad that the rabbi of a central London synagogue, herself a convert from Christianity, recently told the congregation that she and her colleagues can no longer walk down a street in the West End wearing a skullcap without abuse from passersby, car drivers and diners in outdoor cafes.

Those shouting the abuse are more than likely the parents of the bottom-of the-league children in the UNICEF study. Perhaps instead of spewing venom at Jews they might like to start learning what makes good Jewish kids tick and why they lead decent lives.

The UNICEF result is a disgrace and should set British parents thinking. Visiting a synagogue and meeting Jewish parents might be a worthwhile start. Sending their children to Israel for a gap year would also be a valuable exercise, although the Israeli authorities would not tolerate the kind of rowdy drunkenness, violence and promiscuity in which British youth engage at home. This will never happen, because I know to my horror how much most British non-Jews hate Israel, a country for which only the ugliest comments are reserved at 'polite' dinner parties.

Learning from other communities is the only way British parents can pull their children out of the hell the UNICEF study has revealed. I would like to see the Jewish community reach out to non-Jews and I would also like to see the British Christian clergy find a way back into the soul of Britain, a country I see sinking into a secular morass of alcohol and vulgarity that can only bring down its children with it if something drastic is not done now.

Contact Simon McIlwaine by email at Simon.McIlwaine@ormerods.co.uk or go to www.anglicansforisrael

To Go To Top

PA ARABS PESSIMISTIC; ISRAEL WANTS NATO TROOPS IN GAZA; ISRAELIS SUPPOSED TO LET THEMSELVES BE ROBBED
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, February 14, 2007.

ISRAEL WANTS NATO TROOPS IN GAZA

Min. of Strategic Planning Lieberman predicts renewed major war with the P.A. He estimated that it would take 30,000 NATO troops to maintain there what Israel's war effort will have accomplished (IMRA, 1/13).

Presumably he means by "accomplished" a reduction in terrorist infrastructure. What makes him think that NATO, which prefers the Arabs to Israel, would try to tamp down the terrorists they have been subsidizing? UNIFIL did not keep Hizbullah from rearming for another round of warfare expected within a year of the prior round. How long does he think those troops would stay, after being attacked by terrorists? Israel needs a new Minister of Strategic Planning.

LEFTIST ANTI-ZIONISTS AT TEL AVIV U.

"...Leftist anti-Zionists on the faculty of Tel Aviv University... were planning an 'academic conference'" about imprisoned Arab terrorists being "'political prisoners', deserving of sympathy and support."

Ben Dror Yemini, deputy editor of Maariv points out that human rights organizations use the language of human rights to undermine Israel and freedom. "Progressives" pretend they are being understanding, when they rationalize the murderous behavior of terrorists. They abuse academic freedom to advocate this kind of hate-jihad just as do Holocaust deniers. The conference is a means of forwarding an antisemitic agenda. It is a form of insanity, a death wish (Prof. Steven Plault, 1/14), a hatred of their Jewish identity.

American Jews do not realize that many Israeli social sciences professors are anti-Zionists, prefer the enemy, and influence the government.

ISRAELIS SUPPOSED TO LET THEMSELVES BE ROBBED

Bedouin gangs in cooperation with terrorists from the Hebron hills are stealing agricultural equipment from Jewish-owned farms in the Negev. Police do not offer protection. The horse and tractor of Shai Dromi had been stolen in the past few months and several dogs of his were killed. Anticipating further theft, he slept in the barn. He awoke at 3 a.m., and found his dog poisoned and four thieves on his property. (One had been released from jail last month.) With his father's gun, he shot two in the legs. Although he administered first aid, one bled to death. The government charged him with murder, misuse of a weapon, and firing it in a built-up area. (His farm, "built up?") A Likud MK wants to make self-defense, by law, self-defense. (Arutz-7, 1/14). The US has some similar laws against shooting. It goes beyond preventing property owners from being excessively violent to protecting criminals.

Richard Shulman is a veteran defender of Israel on several web-based forums. His comments and analyses appear often on Think-Israel. He provides cool information and right-on-target overviews. He distributes his essays by email. To subscribe, write him at richardshulman5@verizon.net

To Go To Top

THE PALESTINIANS' BLIND EYE TO HISTORY
Posted by Daily Alert, February 14, 2007.

This was written by Michael Coren and it is appeared on the Media Net
(http://206.75.155.198/showfile.asp?Lang=E&URL=/archivenews/ 070213/NPT/070213c3.htm). Michael Coren is a writer and broadcaster.www.michaelcoren.com.

The Israel-Palestine conflict presented its contorted face to Canada with a steaming, hysterical anger last week. In Jerusalem a bus full of unsuspecting Canadian tourists was attacked by rock wielding Palestinian youths. No Canadians were seriously injured, yet the attack itself was ironic, in that Christian tourists from North America are vital to the local economy, and to the Palestinians in particular. But then irrational behaviour is nothing new in the Middle East. In this instance, however, it has reached new heights.

Palestinians and their Muslim comrades in other countries have turned to violence in the wake of Israel's construction work around the Temple Mount. They complain that the Israelis are rebuilding a ramp that connects to the Mount and that, in so doing, are damaging the foundations beneath the al-Aqsa Mosque. It's all part of a conspiracy, they claim, to destroy the Mosque and build a Jewish temple in its place.

It is almost impossible to convey the dramatic juxtapositions of clashing religions in Jerusalem. The last remaining icon of the ancient Jewish Temple, the Kotel, the Wailing Wall, is at the very epicentre of Judaism. It is also close to the spot where a series of Muslim shrines and Mosques have been built to commemorate the third holiest place in Islam. So Jewish and Muslim worshippers are just, well, a stone's throw from each other.

If the geography is intense, the history is equally so. The Israelites under King David conquered Jerusalem around 1000 BC and rebuilt and expanded the city. David's son Solomon built the great Jewish Temple and it stood for half a millennium until destroyed by the Babylonians.

It was rebuilt and remained in place until the Roman defeat of the Jewish uprising in 70 AD. Jerusalem later became a largely Christian city until Muslim forces arrived, very much as latecomers, in 638 AD. Shortly afterwards Caliph Umar asked the Christian Patriarch, Sophronius, to show him the exact spot of the Jewish Temple. It was here that the al-Aqsa Mosque would be built.

Not, however, according to the Palestinian leadership. There was no Temple, there was no case of Jesus overturning the tables of the money-changers, there were no Jews. "For 34 years the Israelis have dug tunnels around the Temple Mount," said Yasser Arafat in 2002. "They found not a single stone proving that the Temple of Solomon was there, because historically the Temple was not in Palestine." This is the mythology driving the stone-wielding Palestinians and it is propagated by others as well.

In 2001 the Higher Islamic Authority of Palestine stated, "The claims being made by the rulers of Israel and its rabbis about the alleged Temple are pure fabrications without any base or foundation." This nonsense has been repeated by the Mufti of Jerusalem and within universities and newspapers throughout the Arab world.

In spite of irrefutable evidence to the contrary, many in the Muslim world refuse to accept that the Jews have any historical claim to live in Israel and continue to deny that the Temple of Jewish, Christian and secular history ever existed. In other words, the world is flat if it suits one's political purposes.

So the fact that Israeli engineers are repairing a ramp close to a mosque is largely irrelevant. Especially when Israel's archaeologists are world-renowned for their expertise and sensitivity. Even the harshest critics of Israeli policy do not question the fairness of the excavations that have taken place in the Holy Land for 50 years.

Israel took possession all of Jerusalem in 1967, and for the first time in centuries the Jewish people had full access to their holy places. Under Jordanian control, Jewish shrines had been systematically desecrated. Even now the Islamic authorities on Temple Mount have a dreadful record of destroying ancient Jewish artifacts that they find.

Political dialogue and religious understanding can only come about when politics is not hyperbole, and religion is not used as a tool for lies and mythology. To deny Jewish history is to deny the Jewish state. To deny history is to deny truth. To deny truth is to invite disaster. Canadians had a first-hand glimpse of this ongoing Palestinian disaster last week.

The Daily Alert is prepared for the Conference of presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA). Contact them at daily@www.dailyalert.jcpa.org

To Go To Top

IRAN DEFIES WORLD OPINION, EXECUTES THREE INNOCENT AHWAZI ARABS
Posted by British Ahwazi Friendship Society, February 14, 2007.

The Iranian regime executed three Ahwazi Arabs this morning at a prison in Ahwaz.

The killing of Ghasem Salami (Salamat), 41 years old from Ahwaz City and married with 6 children, Majad Albughbish, 30 years old from Maashur (Mahshahr) and Abdolreza Sanawati (Zergani), 34 years old and married from Ahwaz City, will bring the number of executions of Ahwazi Arabs in the past two months to 10.

The Iranian regime has ignored international outcry over the executions. According to Iranian and international human rights activists, all 10 men were tried in secret courts with no access to lawyers on dubious charges and little evidence. This has prompted governments and politicians in Europe and UN officials to condemn the trials and executions.

Two weeks ago, the Presidency of the European Council -- currently held by the German government -- called on the Iranian regime to halt the executions of the three men to allow them a fair trial. It also condemned the execution of four Ahwazi men on 24 January. The statement was backed by all the governments of the European Union as well as Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, Ukraine and Moldova (click here to download the statement).

In the UK, 49 Members of Parliament signed an Early Day Motion condemning the execution of 10 men. The EDM -- backed by a broad spectrum of MPs -- noted the persecution of Ahwazi Arabs and backed complaints by human rights organisations over the nature of the trials and the use of torture to extract false confessions (click here to download the EDM).

UN condemnation

European condemnation of the Iranian regime follows serious allegations by three UN independent human rights experts that the trials of 10 Ahwazi men -- including seven who have been executed since early December -- were seriously flawed. Philip Alston (Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions), Leandro Despouy (Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers) and Manfred Nowak (Special Rapporteur on torture) urged the Iranian Government to "stop the imminent execution of seven men belonging to the Ahwazi Arab minority and grant them a fair and public hearing".

The experts state that the 10 men were not allowed to see the defendants prior to their trial, and were given access to the prosecution case only hours before the start of the trial. The lawyers were also intimidated by charges of "threatening national security" being brought against them. The convictions were reportedly based on confessions extorted under torture. "The only element of the cases of these men not shrouded in secrecy was the broadcast on public television of their so-called confessions", Mr. Nowak said.

The Iranian regime has ignored letters sent by the three special rapporteurs. The executions of three of the men were staged in December, with no regard for the strong concerns expressed on behalf of the UN Human Rights Council.

Iran is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and has a legal obligation to respect its provisions, which include the right to a fair and public hearing, the right not to be compelled to confess guilt, and the right to "adequate time and facilities for the preparation of ones defence" with the assistance of a lawyer of ones own choosing.

Condemnation inside Iran

Ahwazi Arab activists point out that the executions broke Islamic laws which forbid killing during the month of Moharam.

Iranian human rights activists, led by prisoners rights activist Emad Baghi, have also voiced their criticism of the conduct of the trials and the executions. In an interview this week with the Netherlands-based Radio Zamaneh, Baghi said the Iranian regime should admit that the executions were a mistake. He claimed the men "did nothing and did not take part in any explosion" and therefore the executions were against the law.

"They did not have access to lawyer," Baghi added. "They were kept in solitary confinement for months. They did not receive a fair trial. Only four [out of 40 alleged terrorists] were connected directly to the bombings and the rest are not connected."

Baghi said the root causes of unrest among Ahwazi Arabs are poverty and unequal distribution of wealth. He told Radio Zamaneh: "Government policies are wrong. The Arabs do not have good housing, healthy drinking water, electricity and live in poverty, although they live on top of oil reserves. They are also barred from working for the government."

British Ahwazi Friendship Society is a group of Iranian-Arab exiles, living in Great Britain. Contact them at their website: www.ahwaz.org.uk or by email at info@ahwaz.org.uk For latest news on Al-Ahwaz: http://www.ahwaz.org.uk/news.htm

[Editor's note: As one reliable UK source wrote: "They are the British branch of the Democratic Solidarity Party of Al-Ahwaz. They push a local autonomy scheme in Iran rather than outright separation. They are not for jihad against Britain and the rest of the West. In fact, they're often fairly pro-West. They're not much of threat here[UK], as far as we know: their beef is all about stuff in Iran, and they hate the mullahs.

" They're not part of the Islamic Reformist coalition (the Lejnat Al-Wefaq, mentioned in the article, was until 2005) and they're not the Iranian-Arab Ba'athists who worked for Saddam Hussein. They didn't have any direct hand in the riots and bombings in Khuzistan in the summer of 2005 -- the arrests and executions mentioned in the article may have as much to do with that as with winning elections. They have a project called the UNPO, the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization. It purports to be a UN for ethnic groups that don't have their own nation-state but to get in, you have to not have an armed wing."]

To Go To Top

HEARTBREAK-ISRAEL-EGYPT PEACE CRUMBLING
Posted by Janet Lehr, February 14, 2007.

Are we giving Egypt a 'pass'? Though in flagrante delicto on the phildelphi corridor, Egypt is little referenced in the Western press, and that may be a tragic error. For almost every dollar Israel has received in US foreign aid since the 1979 peace treaty with Egypt, Egypt received 90% of the same amount -- which they spent on ARMS, not for the welfare of their people. Egypt ranked as the third-largest purchaser of arms in the entire developing world, following only population giants China and India. It has the 10th-largest standing army in the world, well over twice the size of Israel's.

Feb. 13, 2007 A member of the Egyptian parliament, from the same party as Hosni Moubarak, has announced that dropping of just one atomic bomb could stop Israel from continuing to dig tunnels near the entrance to Mugrbi Gate and the Al Aqsa Mosque. (Guysen.Israël.News)

Below

1-3> Background to yesterday's heightened, inflammatory rhetoric -- The Israel-Egypt [Sadat-Begin] Peace Treaty of 1979

4> June 30, 2006 NY Sun Tearing up peace with Egypt

5> Daniel Pipes -- Time to recognize the failure of the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel

6> Brief Blog entry

1> Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel-Egypt_Peace_Treaty

Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty was signed in Washington, DC, United States, on March 26, 1979, following the Camp David Accords (1978). The main features of the treaty were the mutual recognition of each country by the other, the cessation of the state of war that had existed since the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and the withdrawal by Israel of its armed forces and civilians from the Sinai Peninsula which Israel had captured during the 1967 Six-Day War. The agreement also provided for the free passage of Israeli ships through the Suez Canal and recognition of the Strait of Tiran and the Gulf of Aqaba as international waterways.

· The agreement notably made Egypt the first Arab country to officially recognize Israel. Jordan would follow in 1994 with the Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace.

· The peace treaty was signed sixteen months after Egyptian President Anwar Sadat's visit to Israel in 1978 after intense negotiation. Even after the landmark Camp David agreements, there was no certainty that a treaty would be signed. Egypt was under intense pressure from Arab countries not to sign a separate peace treaty. Prime Minister of Israel Menahem Begin was refusing to allow any framework for realistic negotiations about Palestinian independence for autonomy.

· In a separate Israel-US Memorandum of Agreement, concluded on the same day, the United States spelled out its commitments to Israel in case the treaty is violated, the role of the UN and the future supply of military and economic aid to Israel. Egypt also subsequently received US military and financial aid.

· The treaty proposed a linkage between peace with Egypt and Palestinian autonomy that was never implemented in practice.

Importance:

· The agreement notably made Egypt the first Arab country to officially recognize Israel. Jordan would follow in 1994 with the Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace.

· The peace treaty was signed sixteen months after Egyptian President Anwar Sadat's visit to Israel in 1978 after intense negotiation. Even after the landmark Camp David agreements, there was no certainty that a treaty would be signed. Egypt was under intense pressure from Arab countries not to sign a separate peace treaty. Prime Minister of Israel Menahem Begin was refusing to allow any framework for realistic negotiations about Palestinian independence for autonomy.

· In a separate Israel-US Memorandum of Agreement, concluded on the same day, the United States spelled out its commitments to Israel in case the treaty is violated, the role of the UN and the future supply of military and economic aid to Israel. Egypt also subsequently received US military and financial aid. · The treaty proposed a linkage between peace with Egypt and Palestinian autonomy that was never implemented in practice.

2>What was the Israel-Egypt Peace Agreement of 1979?
www.palestinefacts.org/pf_1967to1991_egypt_israel_peace.php

The Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt in 1978 led to a negotiated peace between those two nations, signed in Washington DC on March 26, 1979, the first between Israel and any of its Arab neighbors. Israel had a consistent policy since its founding in 1948 that called for direct, one-to-one negotiations as the method of resolving disputes with the Arab countries, but until Sadat brought Egypt to the table no Arab country had been willing to even talk to Israel.

Sadat and Begin shared the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize for their historic agreements. However, the initiative was far from universally popular in other Arab countries or even Sadat's own country, Egypt. Other Arab nations, and especially the Palestinians, saw Egypt's agreement with Israel as a stab in the back, leaving them weaker and with less bargaining leverage against Israel. Without Egypt, the "united Arab front" had no credibility. Sadat became isolated in the Arab world and increasingly unpopular at home, conditions that finally led to his assassination in 1981.

The Israel-Egypt peace treaty was signed in Washington on March 26, 1979. It contains nine articles, a military annex, an annex dealing with the relation between the parties, agreed minutes interpreting the main articles of the treaty, among them Article 6, the withdrawal schedule, exchange of ambassadors, security arrangements and the agreement relating to the autonomy talks. The latter issue was contained in a letter addressed by President Sadat and Prime Minister Begin to President Carter.

In a separate Israel-US Memorandum of Agreement, dated the same day, the US spelled out its commitments to Israel in case the treaty is violated, the role of the UN and the future supply of military and economic aid to Israel.

The terms of the treaty required both countries to stop all hostile activity and demilitarize the Sinai. Israel withdrew to the pre-1967 border, giving up military bases, settlements, roads and other infrastructure as well as the Sinai oil fields. Israel, which had repeatedly been the target of shipping blockades, military assaults, and terrorist attacks staged from the Sinai, made far greater economic and strategic sacrifices in giving up Sinai than Egypt did in "normalizing" relations with Israel.

A permanent international border was established between the two countries. Furthermore, a process of normalization began, including exchange of diplomatic representatives and mutual agreements in the areas of trade, economy, tourism and mail.

Since the signing of the treaty, Egypt has stood by its commitments, even after President Sadat was assassinated by Muslim extremists. The Israel-Egypt peace pact was denounced by all other Arab states and no further progress was made toward an end the Israel-Arab conflict until the Madrid Conference in 1991.

In longer retrospect, the terms of the treaty can be seen to have set an unfortunate precedent. Egypt had been an aggressor against Israel four times and had lost four times. Israel was the country that had been attacked four times and had won four times. But under the peace treaty, Israel returned to the aggressor, Egypt, everything the aggressor had lost. This had never been done before in the long history of warfare between nations, and is very bad policy because it makes aggression a "no lose" bet for the aggressor country. The Israel-Egypt agreement set expectations for all the later peace negotiations between Israel and the Arab countries that have repeatedly tried to destroy it, not to mention the Palestinian Arabs, so they are all looking for the same style of "no lose" treaty.

3>Link to the Israel Government site with the FULL TEXT OF THE treaty:

http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace%20Process/Guide%20to%20the%20Peace %20Process/Israel-Egypt%20Peace%20Treaty

4>Tearing Up Peace With Egypt?
NY Sun June 30, 2006
http://www.shinesforall.com/archives/2006/06/tearing_up_peac.html

"An Israeli 'war on all fronts' drew a rare warning from Egypt on Thursday that the military escalation jeopardizes a peace treaty with Israel as the Arab League held an emergency session to discuss the crisis," Lebanon's Daily Star reports (via dailyalert.org)."

Mustafa al-Fekki, a senior member of President Hosni Mubarak's ruling party, was referring to the peace treaty Egypt signed with Israel in 1979. Some in Israel may wonder what Israel has really gained from peace with Egypt. It's a "cold peace," with minimum contact and trade between the two sides. Meantime Egypt gained huge military and other aid packages from America and Israel gave up oil deposits in the land she gave to Egypt.

5>Time To Recognize Failure Of Israel-Egypt Treaty
By Daniel Pipes
November 21, 2006
http://www.nysun.com/article/43906

Ninety-two percent of respondents in a recent poll of 1,000 Egyptians over the age of 18 called Israel an enemy state. In contrast, a meager 2% saw Israel as "a friend to Egypt."

These hostile sentiments express themselves in many ways, including a popular song titled "I Hate Israel," venomously anti-Semitic political cartoons, bizarre conspiracy theories, and terrorist attacks against visiting Israelis. Egypt's leading democracy movement, Kifaya, recently launched an initiative to collect a million signatures on a petition demanding the annulment of the March 1979 Egypt-Israel peace treaty.

Also, the Egyptian government has permitted large quantities of weapons to be smuggled into Gaza to use against Israeli border towns. An Israeli legislator specializing in Egypt-Israel relations, Yuval Steinitz, has estimated that fully 90% of PLO and Hamas explosives come from Egypt.

Cairo may have no apparent enemies, but the impoverished Egyptian state sinks massive resources into a military buildup. According to the Congressional Research Service, Egypt purchased $6.5 billion worth of foreign weapons in 2001-04, more than any other state in the Middle East. In contrast, the Israeli government bought only $4.4 billion worth during that period, and the Saudis $3.8 billion.

Egypt ranked as the third-largest purchaser of arms in the entire developing world, following only population giants China and India. It has the 10th-largest standing army in the world, well over twice the size of Israel's. 6>BLOG 'Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty is a Failure'
November 21, 2006
Posted by Daniel Freedman in NY Sun at November 21, 2006 6:45 AM

"The time has come to recognize the Egypt-Israel treaty -- usually portrayed as the glory and ornament of Arab-Israel diplomacy -- as the failure it has been, and to draw the appropriate lessons in order not to repeat its mistakes," Daniel Pipes writes in The New York Sun. He's not the first to see it as a failure, as we wrote in June:

Some in Israel may wonder what Israel has really gained from peace with Egypt. It's a "cold peace," with minimum contact and trade between the two sides. Meantime Egypt gained huge military and other aid packages from America and Israel gave up oil deposits in the land she gave to Egypt.

Janet Lehr is editor/publisher of a daily e-mail called "Israel Lives." She can be contacted at janetlehr@veredart.com

To Go To Top

DAR AL HARB, USA: BOSNIAN MOSLEM TAKES JIHAD TO UTAH MALL, KILLS 5 AMERICANS
Posted by David Nathan, February 13, 2007.

Bosnian Muslim goes on a killing spree in US mall

Police have identified the victims shot at Trolley Square on Monday, as well as the man believed to be the shooter.

Killed were Jeffrey Walker, 52; Vanessa Quinn, 29; Teresa Ellis, 29; Brad Frantz, 24; and Kirsten Hinckley, 15.

Hospitalized were Allen Walker, 16, son of Jeffrey Walker; Carolyn Tuft, 44; Shawn Munns, 34; and Stacy Hansen, 53.

The 18-year-old man who shot and killed at least five people Monday night has been identified as Sulejmen Talovic, a Bosnian refugee who lived in Salt Lake City.

Little additional information was released about Talovic.

The Bosnian community, which numbers about 3,000 in Utah, planned a news conference later this afternoon.

Talovic parked his car in the west parking lot and walked into the mall, encountering two people, whom he shot. Then he walked further into the mall and shot a woman, said Police Chief Chris Burbank.

He then walked to a gift shop and shot five people. He shot several other people before he was gunned down by an off-duty Ogden police officer assisted by four Salt Lake City police officers, Burbank said.

He had a backpack that carried numerous rounds of ammunition as well as a .38-caliber handgun, said the chief.

Police have no motive in the killing.

Police have no motive?!? That is laughable and plain stupid on the part of US authorites, but since they are getting their lessons from CAIR these types of events and lack of motive (especially when it comes to a Moslem) will become more regular...

Daniel Pipes has identified the problem, it is known as SUDDEN JIHAD SYNDROME:

In brief, Taheri-azar represents the ultimate Islamist nightmare: a seemingly well-adjusted Muslim whose religion inspires him, out of the blue, to murder non-Muslims. Taheri-azar acknowledged planning his jihad for over two years, or during his university sojourn. It's not hard to imagine how his ideas developed, given the coherence of Islamist ideology, its immense reach (including a Muslim Student Association at UNC), and its resonance among many Muslims.

Were Taheri-azar unique in his surreptitious adoption of radical Islam, one could ignore his case, but he fits into a widespread pattern of Muslims who lead quiet lives before turning to terrorism. Their number includes the 9/11 hijackers, the London transport bombers, and Maher Hawash, the Intel engineer arrested before he could join the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Mohammed Ali Alayed, the Saudi living in Houston fits, the pattern because he stabbed and murdered Ariel Sellouk, a Jewish man who was his one-time friend. So do some converts to Islam; who suspected Muriel Degauque, a 38-year-old Belgian woman, would turn up in Iraq as a suicide bomber throwing herself against an American military base?

This is what I have dubbed the Sudden Jihad Syndrome, whereby normal-appearing Muslims abruptly become violent. It has the awful but legitimate consequence of casting suspicion on all Muslims. Who knows whence the next jihadi? How can one be confident a law-abiding Muslim will not suddenly erupt in a homicidal rage? Yes, of course, their numbers are very small, but they are disproportionately much higher than among non-Muslims.

This syndrome helps explain the fear of Islam and mistrust of Muslims that polls have shown on the rise since 9/11.

The Muslim response of denouncing these views as bias, as the "new anti-Semitism," or "Islamophobia" is as baseless as accusing anti-Nazis of "Germanophobia" or anti-Communists of "Russophobia." Instead of presenting themselves as victims, Muslims should address this fear by developing a moderate, modern, and good-neighborly version of Islam that rejects radical Islam, jihad, and the subordination of "infidels."

Contact David Nathan at daveNathan@aol.com

To Go To Top

NOT WITH MY MONEY
Posted by Nurit Greenger, February 13, 2007.

Where Your Money Must Not Go!

One place it must NOT go is where the goals of developing Jewish communities, encouraging aliya, and promote Jewish continuity, with Israel as the linchpin are NOT preserved.

Mossawa (Advocacy center promoting equality for Arab citizens within the borders of Israel) is funded indirectly by the Jewish Agency. However Mossawa is committed to eliminating Jewish communities, encouraging aliya, and promote Jewish continuity, with Israel as the linchpin.

Watch to whom you are donation your hard earned dollars and if you do donate, watch what they do with it! When a mutual fund adviser does not follow an investment policy that accords with his or her clients' intentions, there is a breach of trust that can bring about a lawsuit.

It is time for Jewish donors who wish Israel to remain a Jewish state as well as a democracy to scrutinize the actions of their investment professionals and their investments.

Just remember: Jews established Israel with Jewish money to be a Jewish State, not multiculturalism state and a branch of Islam!

This was written by Lori Lowenthal Marcus, who is president of the Zionist Organization of America, Greater Philadelphia District. It appeared in the Jerusalem Post
(www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?apage=2&cid=1170359851104&pagename= JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull).

Some of the money mainstream Jewish donors think is being used to help preserve Israel as the Jewish homeland is actually being used to undermine Israel's existence as a Jewish state.

Most American and other Jews use Jewish Federations as a kind of mutual fund adviser, which makes decisions about and invests their donors' funds in programs they have vetted and determined to be in accordance with the donors' wishes. In turn, most Federations channel funds designated for Israel programs through the Jewish Agency for Israel.

(A very few, such as the Federation in Philadelphia, independently decide which programs in Israel to fund.) JAFI acts as a second-tier investment adviser for Israel programs.

Three of the principal goals of JAFI are to develop Jewish communities in the Galilee and the Negev, encourage aliya, and promote Jewish continuity, with Israel as the linchpin. All three of those goals, however, would be considered illegitimate colonizing enterprises by at least one of JAFI's grantees -- the Mossawa Center, an Arab-Israeli thank tank. Mossawa seems committed to eliminating every one of them.

Mossawa, which is funded indirectly by the Jewish Agency, disseminated a report declaring that Israel cannot be both a democracy and a Jewish state. According to that document, which represents the view of many Arab-Israeli elites, and of Arab local authorities -- as stated in a separate but nearly identical manifesto -- the Jewish state is inherently illegitimate. It must be recast as a bi-national state.

In addition to purging any identification with the Jewish people, Israel must also make reparation to, and elevate everything about, Palestinian Arabs who are Israeli citizens, their culture, history, language and nationalist desires.

Not sated by demanding such changes as de-judaizing the Israeli flag and national anthem, the document also calls for abolishing the Israel's Law of Return. At the same time, Israel must acknowledge and grant Israeli Arabs (and all their descendants) the "right of return" to the places from which they fled during the War of Independence in 1948.

AND WHO provides financial support to the institution from which the report issued? In addition to the usual suspects, there are some surprises.

The New Israel Fund is a non-profit organization which focuses on eliminating any special role for religion in either Israeli society or government. NIF grants reflect that orientation. One of the largest grants the NIF gave in the latest year for which information is available was to an organization it co-founded: the Mossawa Center.

An NIF document states that organization's belief that efforts should be expended to prevent efforts to "judaize the Galilee and Negev." In other words, there is no part of Israel the NIF thinks should be, or remain, officially "judaized." More than 33 percent of NIF grants go to programs that exclusively serve Arab Israelis, and fully 40 percent of Shatil, NIF's "empowerment center" money is used for assistance to Israel's Arab minority. Those programs actively promote the erasure of any special status for Jews in Israel.

But what about donors to Federations? It is unlikely that many consider the creation of Israel to have been a plot by the Jewish-Zionist elite to further a colonialist policy of "judaization" of Arab land through the "expulsion" of the Palestinian people, as it is described in the Arab Israelis' documents. Nor would many of those donors agree that the creation of the Jewish state was a nakba, or tragedy, that should be rectified through, minimally, the payment of compensation to Palestinian Arabs and the recognition that the Palestinians are "the indigenous people" of Israel; or that Arabic should be elevated to the status of FEDERATIONS, the Jewish Agency and the Joint Distribution Committee base their existence on Jewish support for Jews and, with respect to Israel, a Jewish state and the Jews who live there. Why would those organizations help undermine the birthright of Jews anywhere to become Israeli citizens, or to negate Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people?

Yet a perusal of a recent NIF Annual Report reveals large donations from both the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Joint.

In fact, the Jewish Agency is in the NIF highest-donor category, the one for those giving more than $100,000. The Joint shows up in the donor category of $25,000 to $50,000, as do the Jewish Federation of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and the Jewish Women's Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago.

There are several other Jewish Federations in the $10,000 to $24,999 category, including those from Durham-Chapel Hill, Greater Los Angeles, Greater Atlanta, Greater Houston and that of New Hampshire. The Jewish Women's Foundation of the Greater Palm Beaches appears in this donor category as well.

IN OTHER words, rather than steadfastly working to support the Jewish nature of Israel, the Jewish Agency and other mainstream Jewish organizations, seem to be unwittingly helping to fund those who are undermining it.

In the mutual fund business, when advisers do not follow an investment policy that accords with their clients' intentions, they can be sued for breach of trust. It is time for Jewish donors who wish Israel to remain a Jewish state -- and there is nothing inconsistent with it being a Jewish state and a democracy -- to scrutinize the actions of their investment professionals.

Contact Nurit Greenger by email at 4nuritg@ca.rr.com. Visit her blog:
http://ngthinker.typepad.com

To Go To Top

BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT JEHUDA] REINHARZ, ISRAEL AND ME
Posted by Dave Nathan, February 13, 2007.

The writer, Dr. Daniel Pipes, is a distinguished visiting professor at Pepperdine University and director of the Middle East Forum. This article is from www.danielpipes.org. The original article is available at: www.danielpipes.org/article/4275

In October 2006, the Brandeis Middle East Review and the Middle East Forum at Brandeis invited me to speak at the University, and I quickly accepted. The hosts and I selected the date April 23 and the topic ("The Islamization of Europe?"), and everything appeared settled.

But on Jan. 23, former President Jimmy Carter visited Brandeis, Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz quasi-debated him, and the ensuing contention prompted the University to establish a closed student-faculty committee to monitor speakers on the Middle East. (This committee comes on top of an already existing committee the provost created earlier in response to the "Voices of Palestine" exhibit in Spring 2006.) Oddly, although my talk was to deal with Europe, it was deemed to fall into the Middle East category and is now on hold, pending this new committee's approval.

That's bad enough. Worse was to read in the Justice on Feb. 6 these remarks by University President Jehuda Reinharz:

"I have a fear that these people [Norman Finkelstein and myself] who are being invited are weapons of mass destruction."

Then John Hose, Reinharz's executive assistant, further elaborated:

"These are people who tend to inflame passions, whose mission is not so much discussion and education as it is theater, a show. ... If [students] want theater then it's best to go to Spingold [theater]. ... But if you want serious discussion, there's lots of resources available for that already at Brandeis."

I strenuously object to being lumped in with Finkelstein in any fashion whatsoever. Finkelstein denies the Holocaust as a uniquely evil deed, equates Israel with the Nazis, compares persons he disagrees with to Nazis, justifies Hamas and excuses Muslim antisemitism. For good measure, he adds, "I do not think there is very much genuine grief among Jewish leaders about the Nazi holocaust," for they gained from what he calls "the Holocaust reparations racket." They "blackmailed Europe, got billions of dollars and then stuffed their pockets, bank accounts and organizations with the money." Yoking me to Finkelstein betrays Reinharz's profound moral confusion -- something especially regrettable in the case of the president of a major university whose moral judgment is in steady demand.

The statements by Reinharz and Hose also prompt several questions:

1. How am I, exactly, a weapon of mass destruction, Mr. Reinharz? And what do you mean by this phrase?

2. And Mr. Hose, have you taken a look at just who gets inflamed by my speeches? On Jan. 31, for example, it was a bunch of Islamist goons, and you can see them yourself on the three videos listed on my Web site, at "My Disrupted Talk at the University of California-Irvine." After preventing me from speaking, the leader of this group called for the state of Israel to be "wiped off the face of the earth." Your statement makes me wonder whose side you are on -- theirs or mine?

3. What, precisely, are those scholarly resources available at Brandeis? Might Hose be referring to the University's leading specialist on "contemporary Islamic thought and practice" (the title of her course), Prof. Natana DeLong-Bas (NEJS), an apologist for Al-Qaeda whose depraved thinking was exposed in several recent articles (including "Natana DeLong-Bas: American Professor, Wahhabi Apologist" and "Sympathy for the Devil at Brandeis," from frontpagemag.com)? Or is he referring to Khalil Shikaki, a Crown Center fellow who has been credibly accused of terrorist links and has a second-to-none record in getting it wrong in his chosen field of Palestinian public opinion?

Looking at the larger picture, Brandeis has incurred a sorry record when it comes to Israel in recent years -- staging that "Voices of Palestine" exhibit, hiring DeLong-Bas and Shikaki, granting an honorary degree to the anti-Zionist playwright Tony Kushner, appointing the muddled Prof. Shai Feldman (POL) to head the Crown Center, permitting an Islamist (Qumar-ul Huda) to serve as its Muslim chaplain and setting up the Brandeis-Al-Quds University study-abroad connection.

Over the decades, Brandeis has benefited substantially from the support of those concerned with Israel's security and welfare. Sadly, its record in this arena under Reinharz has strayed so badly that already a year ago the Zionist Organization of America called for "donors to reconsider their support for Brandeis." So long as he remains the University's president, that strikes me as sound advice.

Contact Dave Nathan at DaveNathan@aol.com

To Go To Top

CHRISTIANS ARE 'PIGS' & JEWS ARE 'APES'
Posted by The Reality Show, February 13, 2007.

"We do use books that call Jews 'apes' and Christians as 'pigs'," admits Dr. Sumaya Alyusuf, head of an Islamic school.

The principal of an Islamic school has admitted that it uses textbooks which describe Jews as 'apes' and Christians as 'pigs' and has refused to withdraw them.
www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id= 434506&in_page_id=1770

When I read that the principal of a school had admitted that it used textbooks that called Christians "pigs" and Jews "apes".
http://theaustralianindex.com/?page=search&searchterms=%22christians%22

Pupils aged five 'poisoned' at Islamic school that 'teaches hate' An Islamic school is poisoning the minds of pupils with lessons in hate, a former teacher claims.

Colin Cook, 57, says textbooks used by children as young as five at the King Fahad Academy in Acton describe Jews as "repugnant" and "apes" and Christians as "pigs".
www.onenewsnow.com/2007/02/pupils_aged_five_poisoned_at_i.php

A BRITISH Muslim school is teaching children that Jews are "repugnant apes" and Christians "pigs", a former teacher claims.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007060106,00.html

Christians still 'swine' and Jews 'apes' in Saudi schools. By Harry de Quetteville, Middle East Correspondent. Last Updated: 1:22am BST 25/06/2006 ...
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/06/25/wsaudi25.xml

NPR: Saudi Textbooks Still Teach Hate, Group Says It says that the textbooks instruct students that Christians and Jews are apes and pigs, and warns students not to greet, befriend, or respect non-believers (aka non Muslims) ...
www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5426633

Steven Stalinsky on Saudi Arabia & Textbooks on National Review Online A textbook for eighth graders explains why Jews and Christians were cursed by Allah and turned into apes and pigs. Quoting Surat Al-Maida, Verse 60.
www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-stalinsky020703.asp

The Swine are Christians and the Apes are Jews See the verses quoted above, which establish the apes and pigs reference and show that Allah's curse is on Jews and Christians.
www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=22578

American Congress For Truth Brigitte Gabriel Jews and Christians -- Cursed by Allah and Turned into Apes and Pigs- a textbook explains why Jews and Christians were cursed by Allah and turned into apes
www.americancongressfortruth.com/sign-our-petition.asp

American Thinker: Allah's special little apes and pigs... says that if the People of the Book (Jews and Christians, but he deals ... We have tolerated you for a long time -- you offspring of apes and pigs!
www.americanthinker.com/2005/01/allahs_special_little_apes_and.html

MEMRI TV. Some of us (Muslims) say: "May Allah curse the Jews and the Christians, the offspring of apes and pigs." Is this the language of progress? ...
www.memritv.org/Transcript.asp?P1=1363

Another verse linking Christians with apes and pigs is 3:61; according to the commentary on this verse, a deputation of Christians from Najran came to ...
www.memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Area=sr&ID=SR01102

Christians still 'swine' and Jews 'apes' in Saudi schools
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/06/25/ wsaudi25.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/06/25/ixnews.html

In Spain, during periods of friction between the various religious communities, the Muslims called the Jews "apes" and the Christians "pigs and dogs. ...
www.paktoday.com/wall2.htm

The Swine are Christians and the Apes ...See the verses quoted above, which establish the apes and pigs reference and show that Allah's curse is on Jews and Christians. ...
www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=22578

If you are a Jew or Christian you are a pig-descendent or an ape-descendent.
www.memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Area=sr&ID=SR01102

Ramadan in Saudi Arabia To punish them, Allah has turned them into apes and pigs." ... along with Allah" -- in other words, against Christians, Jews and pretty much everyone else.
www.worldnetdaily.com/news/printer-friendly.asp?ARTICLE_ID=35510

Teach Kids Peace -- Saudi Education: Hatred of Christians & Jews Jews and Christians -- Cursed by Allah and Turned into Apes and Pigs: A textbook for 8th grade ... To punish them, Allah has turned them into apes and pigs. ...
www.teachkidspeace.org/doc3516.php

CNN.com -- Transcripts "Jews and Christians cursed by Allah and turned into apes and pigs. ... To punish them, Allah had turned them into apes and pigs." ...
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0612/21/gb.01.html

Townhall.com::Stand up: Wafa Sultan is passing::By Mona Charen... Islam forbids them to offend the beliefs of others, and yet characterize Christians and Jews as "those who incur Allah's wrath" or as apes and pigs.
www.townhall.com/columnists/MonaCharen/2006/03/17/ stand_up_wafa_sultan_is_passing

ISLAMOFASCISM Is Evil and Real

Contact the Reality Show at http://lightonthings.blogspot.com

To Go To Top

TELLING FRIEND FROM FOE
Posted by Walter Soles, February 13, 2007.

This was written by Caroline Glick,and it appeared today in The Jerusalem Post

One of the most difficult things in life is to draw the line between friend and foe. Take the Palestinian terror groups.

Last week in Mecca, the Fatah terror group, which mixes the murder of Israelis with negotiations with Israelis, officially joined forces with the Hamas terror group, which murders Israelis while refusing to negotiate with us.

Although the agreement makes it clear that both are at war with Israel, on Sunday the Olmert government decided to reserve judgment on the terror unity deal. And Monday morning Vice Premier Shimon Peres warned that saying bad things about the Mecca deal would only weaken Fatah terror boss Mahmoud Abbas, whom we should strengthen because he likes to negotiate while killing.

Given how hard it is for Israel to identify its Arab foes, it is little wonder that identifying Jewish foes is a near-Herculean task.

Last month the American Jewish Committee took an important first step in this direction by publishing a paper by Prof. Alvin Rosenfeld from the University of Indiana entitled, "'Progressive' Jewish Thought and the New Anti-Semitism." Explaining the difference between criticism of Israel and demonization of the Jewish state, Rosenfeld wrote, "To call Israel a Nazi state... as is commonly done today, or to accuse it of fostering South African-style apartheid or engaging in ethnic cleansing or wholesale genocide goes well beyond legitimate criticism." Rosenfeld noted that these descriptors of Israel, which aim to single out Israel "as a political entity unworthy of secure and sovereign existence" are today "part of a standard discourse among 'progressive' American Jews, who seem to take for granted that the historical record shows Israel to be an aggressor state guilty of sins comparable to Hendrik Verwoerd's South Africa and Hitler's Germany."

HAVING described the phenomenon, Rosenfeld proceeded to identify prominent American Jews, including New York University Prof. Tony Judt, playwright Tony Kushner, Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen, Noam Chomsky, and Adrienne Rich as leading Jewish lights in the leftist assault on the Jewish people's right to self-determination in our homeland.

Rosenfeld's paper evoked strong reactions in the American Jewish community. A New York Times write-up of the controversy entitled, "Essay Linking Liberal Jews and Anti-Semitism Sparks a Furor," described how the same "progressive" Jews and their supporters are up in arms over being painted as anti-Semites. Judt opined that the point of the article was to silence them.

This of course, is pure nonsense. All the Jews in America couldn't silence Judt and his colleagues even if they wished to. As anti-Israel Jews, they will never lack prestigious forums from which to propagate their hatred for Israel.

Far from seeking to silence these hostile Jewish voices, Rosenfeld's essay simply serves to draw lines between friend and foe where such lines are important. The views of Kushner, Judt and Cohen are no less anti-Jewish than similar statements by non-Jews.

Rosenfeld's efforts, while important, are insufficient. The likes of Judt and Kushner use their professed Jewishness as a tool to advance the cause of Israel's denunciation. Others hide behind protestations of Zionism to undermine Israel's right to defend itself against enemies actively working toward its destruction.

CASE IN point is the Union of Progressive Zionists. The UPZ is the US campus representative of the Labor and Meretz parties as well as of Hashomer Hatzair and Habonim Dror. In its mission statement, the UPZ claims to be "a network of student activists organizing on campuses across North America for social justice and peace in Israel/Palestine. The UPZ was created to provide guidance, education and resources to students who seek to impart a progressive voice into the campus debate on Israel."

Mission statement in hand, the UPZ joined the Israel on Campus Coalition (ICC) -- a pro-Israel umbrella group established to build support for Israel and fight the rise in anti-Israel incitement on college campuses. Yet, while operating under the ICC umbrella, UPZ is actually promoting hostility toward Israel and so advancing the cause of those who maintain that Israel has no right to exist.

In recent months, under the aegis of the ICC, the UPZ has hosted members of the radical leftist Israeli organization "Breaking the Silence" on a number of college campuses. "Breaking the Silence" was established by former IDF soldiers for the declared purpose of "exposing" the "irreversible corruption" of Israeli society by the IDF's counterterror operations in Judea and Samaria.

Armed with photographs which purposely present a distorted image of IDF operations, soldiers and Israeli civilians in Judea and Samaria, the group works to demonize and criminalize the IDF and so undermine Israel's right to defend itself against the Palestinian jihad. That is, it seeks to advance an aim which is diametrically opposed to the goals of the ICC.

Ilan Benjamin, an Israeli chemistry professor at University of California at Santa Cruz, attended the UPZ-sponsored "Breaking the Silence" event on his campus. In a letter to the ICC Benjamin wrote, "the presentation was neither fair nor balanced, but was rather unabashedly anti-Israel." He continued, "There was almost no mention of why the Israeli army is inside Arab towns. [The program's speaker] dismissed the notion that security checkpoints prevent a large percentage of the suicide bombers... [S]tudents who attended the event did not get a crucial point of information necessary for a critical understanding of the conflict, namely, that Israel is in a state of war with a terrorist organization imbedded in civilian neighborhoods."

THE CONTRADICTION between the UPZ and "Breaking the Silence's" protestations of Zionism and the aim of their programming is so blatant that even the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles weighed in on the issue. In a report to the Foreign Ministry published in Yediot Aharonot, Ehud Danoch, the consul-general warned: "The willingness of Jewish communities to host these organizations and even sponsor them is unfortunate. This is a phenomenon that must not be ignored."

But the ICC has decided to ignore the phenomenon. Last month, the Zionist Organization of America, which is also an ICC member, requested that the ICC's Steering Committee expel the UPZ on the grounds that through its sponsorship of "Breaking the Silence" it contravened the ICC's explicit mission of defending Israel.

The Steering Committee, which includes representatives of the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, AIPAC, Aish HaTorah, the Jewish National Fund, Hillel, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, and the Shusterman Foundation, voted unanimously to reject ZOA's request. (Aish HaTorah later renounced its vote and joined ZOA in calling for UPZ's eviction from the Coalition.) In their decision, the member organizations argued that there is no "cause under the ICC's membership criteria to remove UPZ from the Coalition."

Although unjustifiable, the ICC's refusal to expel the UPZ is understandable. Obviously, it is hard to get beyond labels. The UPZ's self-definition as a Zionist group makes it even harder to attack than self-professed Jews who declare their anti-Zionism. This is the case despite the fact that the damage the actions of both groups cause to Israel's position in the world is more or less the same.

There is also UPZ's "progressiveness" to consider. Given that for four generations, American Jews tied their fortunes almost solely to the Left, expelling leftist groups from Jewish umbrella groups involves openly recognizing the painful fact that today the Left makes little place for the pro-Israel community in its ranks.

As Rosenfeld put it, "Because... the ideological package that informs progressive politics today links anti-Zionism to anti-capitalism, anti-imperialism, anti-globalization, anti-racism, etc., one is expected as a matter of course to be against Zionism." Or as he quotes political scientist Andrei Markovits, "If one is not at least a serious doubter of the legitimacy of the State of Israel... one runs the risk of being excluded from the entity called 'the left.'"

THE LEFT'S abandonment of Israel is compounded by the fact that the Palestinian jihad, which is rooted in a Palestinian rejection of the notion of coexisting with Israel, has rendered irrelevant the "progressive Zionist" goal of forcing Israel to withdraw its forces and citizens from Judea and Samaria in order to establish a Palestinian state in the areas, as well as in Gaza and eastern Jerusalem. Instead of accepting this paradigm-shattering truth, "progressive Zionists" have chosen the path of radicalization. Rather than calling on the Arabs to abandon jihad and accept Israel, they have turned to criminalizing Israel for defending itself from the jihadist forces bent on the wholesale slaughter of its citizens.

Like Israel, if American Jews are to have any chance of properly defending themselves, they must first openly identify the trends. As political loyalties and alliances shift, a small people like the Jews must be willing to distinguish friend from foe. This is true whether the friend or foe in question is an Arab or a Jew; a self-proclaimed progressive or a self-proclaimed conservative.

To Go To Top

ABANDONING LAND TO ARABS: FIRST STAGE OF NEXT WITHDRAWAL?
Posted by Hillel Fendel, February 13, 2007.

Some 50 Arabs & leftists arrived at the Talia farm near Beit Yatir in southern Judea and proceeded, for several hours, to uproot growths and bushes. Jewish farmers cry out: "We're losing our lands!"

The Arabs and far-left peace activists, after clearing the Jewish farm's land, then proceeded to plant olive tree saplings there.

The farm is located south of Hevron and just east of the farm belonging to Shai Dromi, currently under house arrest for shooting and killing a Bedouin thief a month ago.

"I've been planting there for over 11 years," Yaakov Talia, the owner of the farm, told Arutz-7 today, "but the army suddenly gave Arab claimants title to the land. Even the Civil Administration admits that the Arabs can't sufficiently prove it's theirs -- but the army gave it to them anyway. There is also other land nearby that is 100% mine -- I have contracts with the State and the Settlement Department -- and the Arabs and leftists came [today] into both these areas! They uprooted the zaatar and other protected bushes, and also the grains that I planted -- wheat, barley, clover and safflower. They then brought in hundreds of sheep to graze there, right in the areas I am in the middle of planting."

Yochanan Sharett, who runs a neighboring farm named Magen David, provided extra details:

"When the leftists and Arabs came, the police arrived -- but did nothing for three hours while waiting for the Civil Administration officials to come. Both the police and the Civil Administration knew about the planned provocation yesterday, but did nothing. Finally, the leftists and Arabs left merely because it started raining... The army came, and wanted to take some action, but received orders not to do anything. All this, even though the police know that there are concrete intelligence warnings against the lives of both Yaakov Talia and myself. The situation is very grave."

"Talia's farm received its authorization in 1995 from Yitzchak Rabin," Sharett said, "and mine was approved in 1999 by Ehud Barak. Only the left-wingers give these authorizations... It's not logical to assume that Rabin would approve a farm without giving it land! Yet still the Civil Administration takes away our land, saying that it's their decision to give the land to whomever they want until the Supreme Court rules on the matter -- whenever that is..."

"We had about ten quiet years here," Sharett continued, "but then, just this past December, Central Commander Gen. Ya'ir Naveh signed the orders giving some of these areas to the Arabs -- and since then, there have been at least 20 hostile Arab incidents against us. One time, eight Arabs surrounded me and tried to lynch me; the army finally came at the last minute, and managed to arrest only two of them. Another time, stocking-clad thieves tried to break into Talia -- and many other cases, all of which only started after the Arabs were given some land."

The main instigators of the campaign against Jewish land-owners in the area, Sharett says, are the Rabbis for Human Rights organization, headed by Reform Rabbi Arik Asherman, the Arab Ta'ayush organization, and some American far-left peace-activists.

"A Civil Administration official told me," Sharett said, "that this is essentially the first stage of the Convergence plan -- the giving up of Judea and Samaria to the Arabs. Three people in [the neighboring Jewish community of] Susia have been having problems [similar to ours] with their land, and there is a plan to annul all the army's land confiscation orders and give the land to Arabs. We're losing our lands! Yes, it's very important to bring more people here -- but it's even more important to make sure that we don't lose the lands that we already have!"

Hillel Fendel is News Editor of Arutz-Sheva (www.IsraelNationalNews.com).

To Go To Top

THE FATE OF JERUSALEM, SINAI OIL MONEY
Posted by Janet Lehr, February 13, 2007.

1>Scrap Olmert's plan to partition Jerusalem before he goes one step further.

Rather, if Israel were to extend the borders of the capital to include the Adumim bloc, the Etzion bloc, the Adam bloc, the Givon bloc, Mevasseret Zion and its satellite neighborhoods, the Tekoa area, Abu Dis and Bir Naballah and incorporate all these communities' Jewish and Arab residents into the city, Jerusalem's demographic balance would remain the same. The enlarged city would have 704,000 or 68% Jewish residents and 335,000 or 32% Arab residents.

2, 3> Founded in March 2002, Migron grew quickly, reaching 42 families after only a year and a half -- at which point the government abruptly clamped down on further growth. Over 200 people, including well over 100 children, now live there. The synagogue and two homes are in permanent structures, while most of the residents live in caravans (mobile homes without wheels). Six government ministries, the Civil Administration, the Electric Company, Mekorot Water Company and other official bodies have all taken part in establishing infrastructures for the community.

4>Jewish Oil Fields ( by Thomas Koch.) In 1978-80 Israel made criminal surrender of 23,000 square miles of Sinai real estate and Sinai oil fields. The Jewish oil fields have become the uplifting crown jewel of Saudi Arabia and Egypt. As the price has risen from then $10 to $100 and those Jewish oil revenues continue to flow daily and yearly to Hamas, Hezbollah, Fatah and sundry destructive groups through the secret subsidization agreement quietly written between Egypt and OPEC at the time of Camp David ploy. Now a Nazi-Swastika Hamas state has emerged in Gaza placed there by the White House and the Quartet! Egypt and Hamas are increasingly appearing as joint-partners in their Rafah-Ramalllah alliance for coming attacks with missiles and bullets.

1>Olmert's plan for Jerusalem
by Caroline Glick,
The Jerusalem Post
Jun. 15, 2006
http://www.aidrg.com/glick%20jerusalem.htm

During his tour this week of European capitals, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced that in addition to Judea and Samaria, he plans to transfer a number of neighborhoods in Jerusalem to Hamas. In his words, "Not all the Arab neighborhoods will be part of the city in the future."

Olmert claims that taking these Arab neighborhoods out of Jerusalem's municipal boundaries will strengthen the city. From a security perspective this makes no sense since transferring Tzur Baher, Jebl Mukaber and Isawiya to the Hamas-Fatah-Islamic Jihad-al-Qaida-Hizbullah-led Palestinian Authority will place all the remaining neighborhoods in the city within enemy rocket, mortar and even rifle range.

Olmert apparently thinks that partitioning the city will secure the Jewish majority of the city. Yet, taking these neighborhoods out of the city will actually endanger that majority.

Over the past few months, a team of American and Israeli researchers conducted a demographic study of Jerusalem and its environs. Last year the same researchers -- Bennett Zimmerman, Roberta Seid, Michael Weiss and Yoram Ettinger -- conducted the first independent study of the Palestinian population data published by the PA's Central Bureau of Statistics in 1997. Their study exposed that the PA had inflated the number of Palestinians in Judea, Samaria and Gaza by some 1.5 million or 50 percent. Olmert and his colleagues in Kadima and the Labor Party have justified their plan to surrender Judea and Samaria to Hamas on the basis of these inflated numbers which falsely project that by 2015 there will be more Arabs than Jews between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.

The team's research methods and their findings were reviewed by the leading American demographer Nicholas Eberstadt from the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, DC. At the Herzliya Conference in January, Eberstadt praised the team's research methods and stated that their conclusions were "not only plausible but quite persuasive."

Their study showed that today Jews comprise 59 percent of the overall population of the areas that include sovereign Israel, Judea and Samaria and Gaza and 67 percent of the population of Judea, Samaria and sovereign Israel. Far from becoming the minority by 2015, the group's projections show that in 2025, Jews will comprise between 56-71 percent of the overall population of Judea, Samaria and sovereign Israel. In other words, the team showed that there is no demographic threat to Israel's Jewish majority.

The team began examining the demographic situation in Jerusalem and its environs after Olmert first expressed his plan to partition the city as part of his unilateral retreat policy. The team noted at the outset that Olmert's claim -- that by placing Arab neighborhoods outside the municipal boundaries he would be reducing the Arab population of the capital by tens of thousands -- ignores the fact that Arabs can move. As legal residents of Jerusalem these Arabs are under no obligation to remain in the neighborhoods slotted for transfer to Hamas.

Indeed, since the government's intention to partition the city was made clear by the route of the security fence, thousands of Arabs with Jerusalem ID cards who had previously lived in Judea and in neighborhoods set to be placed outside the city's boundaries started converging on the city. Residents of Pisgat Ze'ev and Neveh Ya'acov relate that Arabs are moving into their neighborhoods in droves. This is also the case in the city's Arab neighborhoods not set for transfer to Hamas such as Beit Tzafafa, Wadi Joz and Abu Tor. Rather than reduce the number of Arabs in the city, Olmert's plan is just crowding the city's population into shrunken boundaries. At the same time, by giving up all the reserve open lands around the city, he is blocking all chance of municipal growth.

As Zimmerman and his team members note, in Jerusalem's current municipal boundaries, 487,000 Jews make up 68% of the population and 231,000 Arabs make up 32%. Fertility rates of the two populations are nearly identical, with a Jewish fertility rate of 3.8 and an Arab fertility rate of 4.1 per woman.

The team checked what would happen if, rather than partitioning the city, Israel were to expand the boundaries of the city. They found that if Israel were to extend the borders of the capital to include the Adumim bloc, the Etzion bloc, the Adam bloc, the Givon bloc, Mevasseret Zion and its satellite neighborhoods, the Tekoa area, Abu Dis and Bir Naballah and incorporate all these communities' Jewish and Arab residents into the city, Jerusalem's demographic balance would remain the same. The enlarged city would have 704,000 or 68% Jewish residents and 335,000 or 32% Arab residents.

The enlarged capital would have plenty of land reserves on which to build new housing for both its Jewish and Arab residents. Retaining Israeli control over the areas around Jerusalem's current boundaries would also protect Bethlehem's status as a Christian city while Olmert's plan, which places these areas under terrorist control, guarantees that Jesus's birth city will become a Muslim majority city with all the religious and political consequences that such a religious transformation would involve for the Christian world. The study shows that the number of Arabs that would be incorporated into the city if it were to expand its borders is smaller than the number of Arabs incorporated into the city with its unification in 1967. And it goes without saying that an enlarged Jerusalem would be safer than a partitioned city with its removed sections under terrorist control.

In light of the study's findings, and given the deterioration of Israel's national security situation in the wake of its retreat from Gaza last summer and the recent reports of al-Qaida cells operating in Jerusalem, it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that in configuring his retreat and partition plan for the country's capital city, Olmert did not consider its devastating repercussions on Jerusalem itself.

SO IF Olmert's planned retreat harms Jerusalem, what purpose does it serve? The sole goal that Olmert's partition plan advances is that of attempting to appease racist, anti-Jewish radical Islamic forces that claim that Jews have no rights in Jerusalem. Indeed, at its core, Olmert's plan internalizes this jihadist view by completely ignoring the security, municipal and demographic concerns of the city's Jews and non-jihadist Arabs.

This Israeli internalization of the jihadist view of Jews in Jerusalem also pervades the government's treatment of Jewish land purchases in eastern Jerusalem. Last week Ha'aretz reported that a month ago the State's Attorney, Eran Shendar, asked Police Inspector Yohanan Danino to undertake a covert investigation of Ateret Cohanim -- a non-profit organization that works to bypass the Palestinian Authority's policy of defining land sales to Jews as a capital offense for which dozens of Arabs have been murdered since 1994.

Shendar's instructions came after an Arab Jerusalemite named Muhammad Marageh, who in the past worked for Ateret Cohanim, offered to attempt to criminally implicate the organization in exchange for receiving state's witness protection and, perhaps, money from the state. The Ha'aretz report makes clear that Israel's chief prosecutor is so convinced that there is something wrong with willing Arab sellers selling land to willing Jewish buyers that apparently, without being presented with any evidence of wrongdoing, he ordered the police to begin a secret criminal investigation of the Jews.

This anti-Jewish view is similarly manifested in the police's indifference to the fates of Arab land sellers. On April 12, the eve of Pessah, Jerusalem resident Muhammad Abu Al Hawa was tortured and murdered in Jericho for the "crime" of selling a building in Abu Tor to Jews. The week before his murder Israel's Channel 10 led prime time news broadcasts, on two consecutive nights, with hysterical reports about the land sale. The reports were precipitated by a court order for the police to evict illegal squatters from the building to enable the legal owners to take possession of their property -- an eviction which Channel 10 filmed.

As I reported at the time, sources in Abu Tor stated that after the Channel 10 expos, it was only a question of time before Hawa was murdered. Those sources also said that far from protecting Hawa, the police were suspected of tipping off Channel 10's reporter on the scheduled eviction. This week, the spokesman for the police's Samaria and Judea District responsible for investigating Hawa's murder did not respond to repeated requests for information on the status of the investigation.

THE GOVERNMENT'S treatment of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate similarly exposes its internalization of the anti-Semitic view that Jews have no rights in eastern Jerusalem. Today there are two Patriarchs of the Greek Orthodox Church: the legal Patriarch Irineos and the illegal de facto Patriarch Theophilos. Last summer Ma'ariv reported that Irineos leased two hotels near the Old City's Jaffa Gate to Jews. The story caused an uproar in the Church, the PA and among Israeli Arabs. In its wake, Irineos was illegally ejected from his position and his life has been under constant threat.

The Church, together with Jordan's King Abdullah and PA President Mahmoud Abbas, selected Theophilos to replace him. Ahead of his appointment, Theophilos promised Abdullah that he would operate in accordance with Jordanian rather than Israeli law, meaning that he would uphold the Jordanian legal prohibition of conducting land deals with Jews. Attorneys and others involved in this issue claim that Theophilis also pledged to Abbas that he would cancel the lease agreement for the hotels at the Jaffa Gate.

In an interview with Al Quds newspaper on May 18, Theophilos said that he was unable today to fulfill his pledges because the Israeli government has yet to approve his appointment.

To force Israel's hand, Theophilos filed a petition with the Supreme Court demanding that the government approve his appointment. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the petition on July 19. The Jews involved in the Jaffa Gate lease agreement and in other land agreements with the Greek Orthodox Church, which owns vast landholdings in Jerusalem and throughout the country, are deeply concerned about the government's likely response to the petition. The government did nothing when Irineos was sacked although it is legally bound to protect him and his position. Indeed, Israel has allowed Theophilos to act as the de facto Patriarch.

The government's acceptance of the jihadist view that denies all Jewish rights to Jerusalem is nowhere more evident than on the Temple Mount, which since 1995 Israel has abandoned to the control of the PA's Mufti Ikrameh Sabri. Sabri preaches the "rights" of Arabs to eradicate the Jews whom he refers to as "pigs and monkeys." And with the backing of the Israeli government, he ensures that the police enforces his ban on Jewish and Christian worship on the Temple Mount.

Moreover, under the impotent eye of the government, for the past decade Sabri has overseen the commission of one of the most heinous archaeological crimes in human history. While denying the Judeo-Christian sanctity of the site, since the mid-1990s the Islamic Wakf on the Temple Mount has been systematically destroying Jewish and Christian relics hidden inside the mountain that date back to the time of Solomon's Temple, in an attempt to erase the historical record. Sabri and his colleagues further exploit their control of the Temple Mount to incite Muslims to attack Jews for imagined crimes relating to the so-called "Judaization" of Jerusalem.

In answer to reporters' queries, this week Olmert repeatedly stated that he would never give up the Temple Mount. But his statements are meaningless. You cannot give up what you already surrendered. No, Olmert is not giving up the Temple Mount. Olmert is giving up all of Jerusalem.

2>"High Court Deliberates Fate of 43 Families in MIGRON IN THE Heart of Israel"
By Hillel Fendel

The fate of the thriving community of Migron, just north of Jerusalem, is to be determined today by the Supreme Court. Residents fear that its fate will be like that of Amona.

Peace Now, the radical organization working tirelessly to destroy the Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria [Yesha], has petitioned Defense Minister Amir Peretz to order the expulsion of all 43 Jewish families living in Migron.

Peace Now claims that most of land on which Migron was built belongs to Arabs. Migron residents say that Peace Now worked hard to find the Arabs in question and convinced them to file the suit against the Jewish town.

One resident, Aviva W., told Arutz-7, "When we arrived here, it was clear that the land had no claimants and no one working on it... We are a continuation of the Zionist enterprise and the Zionist dream -- just like all the pioneers who came to the Land of Israel over the centuries, starting with the students of the Gaon of Vilna [early 19th century], and later the First Aliyah [1882-1903], and the Second Aliyah [1904 -- 1914], etc. -- there is no difference. If anything, we are more in the heart of the Land of Israel than Tel Aviv is. The only difference is political -- an arbitrary difference made based on what is convenient for different politicians at different times -- but we are doing the same thing that Land of Israel pioneers have done for generations."

The residents fear that the Supreme Court will issue a restraining order, meaning that the town will have to be dismantled -- but not immediately. "We are praying that this will not happen, of course," Aviva said, "but if so, it should be clear to all that this is exactly what happened at Amona, and we will be in grave danger of literally being thrown out of our homes and losing yet another Jewish town. The Supreme Court, after all, rules this country..."

It was exactly a year ago this month that hundreds of people -- mostly youths protesting the abandonment of the Land of Israel -- were injured while protesting the Supreme Court-ordered destruction of nine houses in Amona, just ten kilometers north of Migron. In that incident, as well, Peace Now had petitioned the government to destroy the homes, claiming that they were built on privately-owned, never-worked land.

Today's Supreme Court session takes place in the shadow of Defense Minister Amir Peretz's threat to his boss, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, to turn to the Attorney General if Olmert does not begin acting to remove unauthorized Jewish outposts throughout Judea and Samaria. Peretz did not include illegal Arab construction in his ultimatum.

Peretz has been accused of using the outposts to promote his political standing within the Labor Party. Just yesterday, at the weekly Cabinet meeting, Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman said that Peretz should stop acting as if he is running in party primaries and should start acting more like a Defense Minister.

The judges in the case are Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch, Ayala Procaccia -- neither of whom are known to greatly sympathize the Jewish enterprise in Yesha -- and Edmond Levy. In June 2005, Levy was the only justice on an 11-judge panel to vote that the Disengagement plan should be struck down.

Migron (mentioned in Samuel I 14,2 and Isaiah 10, 28) is located on a strategically important hill crest, overlooking the highway leading to Beit El, Ofrah, Shilo and the northern Shomron. It is located between Kokhav Yaakov, Psagot and Michmash, about a 12-minute drive north of Jerusalem.

Founded in March 2002, Migron grew quickly, reaching 42 families after only a year and a half -- at which point the government abruptly clamped down on further growth. Over 200 people, including well over 100 children, now live there. The synagogue and two homes are in permanent structures, while most of the residents live in caravans (mobile homes without wheels). Six government ministries, the Civil Administration, the Electric Company, Mekorot Water Company and other official bodies have all taken part in establishing infrastructures for the community.

3>"Supreme Court Postpones Migron-Destruction Decision"
By Hillel Fendel

Binyamin Regional Council head Pinchas Wallerstein was at the court session, and said it "wasn't easy." The Court said the sides should try for another two months to find a compromise

Though the anti-Yesha Peace Now organization had enlisted Arab land-owners to file suit against the very existence of the community of Migron, and though residents had braced for the worst [see next article], the Supreme Court decided to postpone its decision by two more months.

The State had said, several weeks ago, that it would try to reach a compromise with the residents over the coming weeks, but Defense Minister Peretz said yesterday that such efforts had come to a fruitless end.

Wallerstein said that Peace Now worked together with Defense Minister Amir Peretz for their common political goals: "The government's position, as explained by Defense Minister Peretz, is that there is no longer any need for time to find a compromise. Peretz apparently feels that the main thing is his bid to win his party's primaries three months from now -- even if it means that several dozen more families will be thrown out of their homes... He was advised to call off talks with us, because it would not look good for his primaries campaign if he comes to an agreement with us. It's very sad to see a man who puts his own personal interests ahead of those of the nation."

Wallerstein said that Migron's lawyer, Atty. Chanan Meltzer, "was just great, and the Court decided not to accept [Peretz's] position, and instead ordered another two months in which to find a compromise. Both sides will present their positions at that time; I assume that another hearing will be held in 3-5 months from now."

Wallerstein explained Migron's critical strategic importance, in that it overlooks the highway leading to many Jewish communities in the Shomron: "A few years ago, former Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer [of the Labor Party] agreed that this place must remain [settled by Jews]. Very sadly, Peace Now reminds me of other dark times in Jewish history when Jews would join up with their enemies against their own people..."

Arutz-7's Kobi Finkler asked Wallerstein, "The petition claims that 'No one, no matter how senior, had the right to approve the construction of Migron, nor can he guarantee that this community will stand where it was built and will never be evacuated.' How do you deal with such hard-hitting claims?"

"First of all, let's not get confused," Wallerstein responded. "There is no dispute that ex-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declared that Migron was a vital strategic place. He told us, the members of the Yesha Council, that he had informed the Americans that he insists that this place and three other outposts must remain, despite other previous commitments that might have been."

"In this spirit," Wallerstein continued, "the Defense Minister agreed that Migron would not be removed, and all Central Commanders since then have also demanded that this location remain as is. Furthermore, many different government offices have helped Migron with infrastructures, and it was even decided in the Defense Ministry to begin with planning the permanent community."

Wallerstein said that Peace Now "has another court suit coming up against the community of Haresha, and against a neighborhood in Eli, where Ro'i Klein lived."

[Lt.-Col. Ro'i Klein, 31, fell in battle during the recent war in Lebanon. The lieutenant-commander of Regiment 51 in the Golani Brigade, he was the highest-ranking officer at the time in the terrorist-trap village of Bint Jbeil. In the midst of a battle, he saw that Hizbullah terrorists had lobbed a grenade close to his soldiers. With the grenade's detonation imminent, his last act was to cry "Shma Yisrael" [Hear O Israel, G-d is One] and leap towards the grenade, thus blocking most of the fragmentation from hitting his troops.]

"Peace Now wants to expel Ro'i's family from its home," Wallerstein said.

Janet Lehr is editor/publisher of a daily e-mail called "Israel Lives." She can be contacted at janetlehr@veredart.com

To Go To Top

ISRAELI ARAB & THE LEFT; IDF NOTICES EGYPT
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, February 13, 2007.

ISRAELI ARAB & THE LEFT

As deputy speaker of Knesset, Ahmed Tibi represents all Israelis. He described the P.A. Arabs at war as "we," and the Israelis as "they." He urged Fatah to continue the "struggle" against Israel. This struggle is waged via terrorism.

His remarks were condemned by a Jewish leftist MK, Vilnai. MK Viilnai, however, still thinks that Israeli Arabs can be a bridge between the P.A. Arabs and Israeli Jews (IMRA, 1/13).

Tibi has identified with the country's enemies for years. What fools picked him to be deputy speaker? They elevated someone who is a bridge between Israeli Arabs and P.A. Arabs!

Since the Arabs vote largely for their radical parties, and Arab crowds cheer Tibi's speeches and call for martyrs (meaning terrorists), the Left is deaf and blind not to realize that Israeli Arabs are the internal enemy.

IDF NOTICES EGYPT

An unnamed IDF officer discussed Israeli concerns about Egypt. Usually, the government of Israel considers itself in a peaceful relationship with Egypt (although Egypt violates the peace agreement). The constant build-up of an unnecessary military by Egypt, and with US weapons that match (and over-match) Israel's, is starting to be noticed in Israel. (They are slow to acknowledge regional changes.) They don't worry about the Mubarak regime but about what may replace it. If the Muslim Brotherhood takes over, they may open a new front with Israel. The IDF is starting to consider how to counter that, although it has only a fraction of the standing Army that Egypt has (IMRA, 1/12).

Israel counted the Sinai and the Golan as buffers. Formerly, it could mobilize its reserves before its enemies could move their standing armies into Israel. That is no longer true. Israel put most of Yesha under control of an enemy that has enough troops to interfere with mobilization. The government wants to give the Golan to another enemy. Having given the Sinai to Egypt, Israel now also allows Egypt to control the border with Gaza, let arms and terrorists into Gaza, and move some military forces into Sinai. Egypt has acquired armored forces that can race across the Sinai faster than Israel can mobilize. And suppose Egypt starts to move more forces into the Sinai, in further violation of its peace agreement. Would Israel go to war over it? I think not. Then the vise would be closed. By giving up so much territory, Israel has lost strategic depth. By letting Syria and Hizbullah build up a rocket force, it has guaranteed heavy casualties. Perhaps Israel doesn't worry about Mubarak, but he has prepared the way militarily and by turning the country Islamist.

Richard Shulman is a veteran defender of Israel on several web-based forums. His comments and analyses appear often on Think-Israel. He provides cool information and right-on-target overviews. He distributes his essays by email. To subscribe, write him at richardshulman5@verizon.net

To Go To Top

MORE QUALIFIED THAN OBAMA
Posted by John Christian Ryter, February 13, 2007.

Barack Obama told the media last Friday (when he officially threw his hat in the ring) that he believed he was the most qualified candidate for the presidency. He thinks he is the least contaminated candidate because he had only been in national office for two years. He wanted the potential voters in Iowa to view his congressional inexperience as a plus. I thought about what Obama said and realized I was even more qualified than he was since I have absolutely no congressional experience. I immediately called my press secretary (i.e., wife) and asked her to issue a press release announcing my candidacy. I chose to make my announcement from the front stoop of my house where I previously campaigned for office in our HOA. Two elderly neighbors on their daily walk around the block paused long enough to listen to my proclamation. They shook their heads in bewilderment and continued. I think I heard the word, "Idiot!" Neither volunteered to post my presidential yard signs around the subdivision. I think there's a prohibition about crayon signs. Just as well I guess. A few minutes later a homeless man -- still half-drunk from last night's gallon jug of fine wine staggered by. It dawned on me this man could be our next president because not only did he have absolutely no experience of any type, nor was he beholden to any special interest groups. A completely honest man! Looking at the field of candidates the Democrats have launched fully a year before the campaign season officially begins, this guy already has my vote.

Jon Christian Ryter is author of "Whatever Happened To America? The Baffled Christian's Handbook Prince Albert: Prophet of Utopia,"
(www.jonchristianryter.com ).

To Go To Top

ARABS BETRAY AMERICA
Posted by Barnea, Nahum, February 13, 2007.

This was written by Nahum Barnea and it appeared yesterday in Ynet News
(www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3363977,00.html).

The bad news is that once again we are like rabbits caught in the headlights of a car. The really embarrassing news is that we are stuck there along with the United States.

By the time the agreement between Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas was signed in Mecca on Thursday, the American Administration had been betrayed three times: Once by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, then by Saudi king Abdullah, and finally by Abbas. These three American allies ignored Condoleezza Rice's pleas; they negotiated with Khaled Mashaal and bent her will in his favor.

The agreement constitutes a severe blow to Rice's reputation in Washington. Despite the White House's warnings, she has been investing much effort in a bid to strengthen and glorify Abbas. Next Monday, on February 19th, she was set to have been rewarded for her efforts in a festive summit under her auspices. The summit between Ehud Olmert and Abbas would have served as a first step towards commencing talks between the two sides. The agreement signed in Mecca has emptied the summit of content.

Too much to swallow

Currently Rice is debating whether to hold the summit or cancel it. Via diplomatic channels, Abbas promised to wait with the establishment of the Palestinian national unity government until after the summit. From Rice's point of view this is a small consolation. Abbas is actually seeking to remain under US patronage as if the agreement he signed with Hamas does not exist, and to cooperate with Hamas as if America, the Quartet and Israel do not exist. Rice is finding this a bit too much to swallow.

Abbas and his associates did not go to Mecca by choice, but rather, out of fear. The violent clashes between Fatah forces and Hamas threatened to escalate into a full blown civil war. Abbas is not cut out for this type of conflict. He feared that anarchy would turn the Palestinian Authority into a Middle Eastern model of Somalia. And perhaps, as Israeli sources argued, he also feared for his own life. Either way, he preferred temporary calm with Hamas over a long-term treaty with the Americans. The Saudis and the Egyptians followed suit.

The US Administration believed it could cultivate a Sunni coalition that would span from North America to Lebanon and would stand up against Iran's Shiite megalomania. The Mecca agreement, signed last week, will force the Americans to rethink the situation. Perhaps those who are proposing that the Administration regard the Arab-Israeli conflict as a lost cause and focus their attention on other parts of the world are right. Perhaps they are right in proposing that Hamas' terrorist traits be ignored. Alternately, perhaps those proposing that the US Administration encourage talks between Israel and Syria are right.

Rice's humiliation doesn't make it any easier for Olmert. Abbas was his last political hope; this hope is now further away if not dissipated. All he can do is try and convince the world to continue shunning the Palestinian government. This vision would have been good for former Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, but not for Ehud Olmert.

Olmert's table is empty; he is not initiating anything in the political arena, but rather, simply responds to the initiatives of others. In the social sphere he has made a few changes, but they have yet to be consolidated into a clear platform, a single draft, a statement that could enlist public support.

His fate and that of his cabinet are in the hands of others: The Winograd Commission, various investigators and the prosecution.

Any rabbit caught in the headlights of a car learns first-hand that the headlights are just the beginning. They are inevitably followed by the car's tires.

To Go To Top

RUINS DISCOVERED AT MUGHRABI SITE
Posted by Daily Alert, February 13, 2007.

This was written by Yaniv Salama-Scheer and it appeared today in the Jerusalem Post
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1170359844298&pagename= JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

As the controversy swirls around the construction of the new bridge leading to the Temple Mount at the Mughrabi Gate, archeologists have already uncovered finds from the medieval period and early Islamic era that shed new light on Jerusalem's history.

"We have dug three meters down and discovered massive walls which we believe are from the early Islamic Umayyad period," Jerusalem's chief archeologist Yuval Baruch said. "Because of its proximity to the Wohl Archeological Park, I personally hope to find the rest of the Umayyad palaces."

The archeological park currently has the only uncovered ruins of the Umayyad palaces which were destroyed in 749 CE by an earthquake. They were built in the eighth century as the seat for the Caliphate when visiting Jerusalem. The uncovered complex includes a harem for the caliph's wives, bathhouses, a kitchen, a dining area, and quarters for the caliph's family and servants. The palace also featured a bridge that allowed the caliphs direct access to the Aksa Mosque

Among the findings at the site currently being excavated for the rebuilding of the bridge to the Mughrabi Gate, the archeologists have found pipes belonging to a medieval water system, but for Baruch, "the most interesting find is that we have found the evidence which suggests that right under the Umayyad ruins are Byzantine ruins [135-638], and under these, we believe there are Herodian roads and other ruins from the Second Temple period."

"The main excavations of the Umayyad and Byzantine ruins at the Mugrabi area will begin in a couple of days, and if we are patient enough, in five or six months time we could find Second Temple period ruins" to add to what has already been discoved in the adjacent archelogical park, Baruch added.

The excavations in the archeological garden are taking place in three separate sites. There are two on the western side of the park and one site atop the bathhouses and ritual baths situated directly across Robinson's Arch, the bridge that connected the Temple complex to the markets. 4nd earth that line the steps descending down into the park from the road leading to the Dung Gate, but have already found pieces of pottery and other artifacts which have not been dated as of yet.

"We have uncovered pieces of Jerusalem's history," Baruch said, "but we are unsatisfied with the amount of archeological results in Jerusalem. We need to continue with our work so we can find out more of the history of these buildings which gives us more information."

Baruch also expressed concern that if the excavations stopped, the new ruins would be damaged if they are not immediately and properly salvaged.

The findings at the excavation site could pose a problem for the initial project to reinforce the Mugrabi bridge. The original plan would have seen pillars placed under the bridge for support.

Now, due to the findings, Baruch acknowledged that some re\planning might be necessary. "Before we know what exactly is in the area, no matter what we find and no matter which historical period it comes from, we will need to find a new spot for the pillars of the bridge," Baruch said.

According to city hall officials, the Jerusalem Municipality will submit new plans for the Mughrabi Gate bridge leading to the Temple Mount, but work is scheduled to continue at the site.

The Daily Alert is prepared for the Conference of presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA). Contact them at daily@www.dailyalert.jcpa.org

To Go To Top

BAR ILAN UNIVERSITY CIRCLES ITS WAGONS AROUND ITS BLOOD LIBELER
Posted by Steven Plaut, February 13, 2007.

1. Fast current events quiz? At which university is the world's most open "academic" endorser of anti-Semitic blood libels employed? Did you say Ben Gurion University? Did you say DePaul?

No, grasshopper.

The world's worst endorser of medieval blood libels against Jews is employed at Bar Ilan University. Yes, Israel's supposedly Orthodox Jewish university, created largely for observant Jews, not only employs Ariel Toaff, a pseudo-academic crank who claims Jews drank gentile blood on Passover in medieval Italy, but it is now circling the wagons in solidarity with the good "professor".

What is Bar Ilan going to do about it? Defend Toaff's "academic freedom"! He will not be fired. (He is scheduled to retire in the summer)

Now let us bear in mind that all over the world there are limits to "academic freedom", including in the bastions of democracy. Open Holocaust Deniers have been fired from several schools in Europe. The infamous quack Ward Churchill was removed from some of his positions at the University of Colorado for his "little Eichmanns" comments and endorsements of al-Qaeda. Some positions are simply indefensible as "academic inquiry", amounting to little more than inane stupidity and hate speech, automatically disqualifying someone from pretense to be a scholar. And all over the world crackpots such as Holocaust Deniers can be stripped of tenure and dismissed from university jobs. David Irving does not hold an academic post in the name of academic freedom, but rather until recently warmed a prison cot in Vienna.

And at Bar Ilan University? Medieval blood libels are business as usual!
See http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/825351.html

Indeed, the heads of Bar Ilan are defending their "Solidarity with the Blood Libeler" by claiming that, after all, they did not fire Prof. Hillel Weiss either. Weiss is an activist professor from the right who opposes Oslo. The only problem is that there is no comparison nor similarity between Weiss and Herr Toaff. Weiss is a serious academic who is indeed deserving of protection of academic freedom of speech even if he takes positions that some people may not like, while Toaff is a pseudo-academic crackpot who is now responsible for an explosion of anti-Semitic demonizing all over the world. The vile comparison of Weiss to Toaff by the heads of Bar Ilan University is roughly equivalent to defending free speech for Neo-Nazis David Irving and Ernst Zundel because after all the president of Bar Ilan also enjoys freedom of speech.

2. The Hillel houses from Chelm:
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/article.php3?id=6913
"The Jewish Academy of Chelm: Hillel in America"
by Lee Kaplan

Arabs aim to use Jewish facilities to propagandize

If you're having your coffee while reading this, you had better sit down.

The Hillel Foundation exists on campuses all across the United States. Its purpose, of course, is to provide a place on campus where Jewish students can mingle, socialize and, of course, do "Jewish" things. When it comes to Shabbat dinners, or Hebrew lessons, or Israeli folk dancing, Hillel is the place to be. But when it comes to politics, Hillel is the collegiate center of Chelm.

You see, Hillel runs by what they call a "big tent" that includes all points of view, sort of like academic freedom with blinders on.

When I pointed out to Hillel in Berkeley that a young woman heading their Israel Action Committee had actually been a leader among the Students for Justice in Palestine in Pennsylvania who openly advocated for the end of Israel, the Hillel director, instead of thanking me, demanded to know how I found that out

For years, I've warned Hillel leaders that groups like the ISM held seminars in US campuses where they discussed infiltrating Hillel with members of their Palestine Solidarity Movement. Their aim: to use Jewish facilities to propagandize and work against the existence of Israel and, frankly, to sucker the Jews into aiding the enemy. Hillel's reaction was to silence me whenever possible, not correct the problem.

I found it amusing once that Hillel's national headquarters sent out solicitations from donors asking for money so they could fight the ISM. Anyone who donated funds probably never knew they went for things like those described below.

It's not enough that Israel has to contend with the billions in Arab oil money seeking to poison the minds of future young Americans at our colleges with the lie that Israel, the only pluralistic society in the Middle East, is a rogue nation practicing apartheid worse than South Africa ever did and that it treats those poor, poor Palestinians worse than the Jews were treated by the Nazis in the Holocaust.

The Hillel at Berkeley is a prime example of Chelmite theory. On the UC Berkeley website can be found a permanently affixed video of an IDF "refuseniks" conference held with the co-sponsorship of Berkeley Hillel and the Students for Justice in Palestine. When I investigated these "refuseniks," alleged IDF veterans who refused to serve in the West Bank, they turned out to be radical Israeli expatriates who hadn't lived in Israel for over 20 years and never returned to Israel anyway for anything. But, as communists and anarchists in America, they were suddenly representative of the IDF thanks to Hillel's co-sponsorship.

When I pointed out to Hillel in Berkeley that a young woman heading their Israel Action Committee had actually been a leader among the Students for Justice in Palestine in Pennsylvania who openly advocated for the end of Israel, the Hillel director, instead of thanking me, demanded to know how I found that out. When I offered to work with him to prevent that from happening again, he stonewalled any contact with me.

On another occasion, my good friend Tovia Singer and I broadcast live from an event at Berkeley Hillel conducted by Brit T'zedek V'Shalom where the deportation of Jews from their homes in Judea and Samaria was openly advocated. There was considerable outrage from donors over this. But did Hillel change its policies on allowing groups into Hillel that advocate for things that hurt Jews? Nah.

Recently, I got back on Hillel's Israel Action Committee email list at Berkeley. The girl in charge of the IAC was sending out the usual wonderful programs about Israel including showing a film of a poor Palestinian who is "suffering under the occupation." When I notified the Hillel director this girl persists with this "occupation" garbage constantly, using the rhetoric of Israel's enemies, the Hillel director took immediate action: he removed me from the email list.

Last August, Hillel co-sponsored with the Students for Justice in Palestine at UC Berkeley a resolution through UC Berkeley student senate that called for "peace and the end of the Israeli occupation." The SJP at Berkeley started and promotes nationwide the divestment from and boycott of Israel. Mind you, the resolution -- put together by a Jewish kid in the SJP who tells the Arabs how they can hurt Israel and even lectured at SFSU to Arab students from Al-Awda, which openly advocates Israel's annihilation -- did not specify just the West Bank or Gaza. Any visitor to Chelm knows that the Arabs, including the leaders of Al-Awda, consider all of Israel "occupied."

Word is that the Hillel at the University of Michigan allows the Muslim Students Association on campus to use its facilities for meetings. The MSA, funded by Saudi Arabia, is also behind the national divestment movement. That "big tent" should be called the Tent of Chelm.

But what really got my dander up for this article was the latest from Hillel at CUNY, the City University of New York. Stop the ISM learned the ISM was planning another seminar and conference on campus for "Israel Apartheid Week." We started legal proceedings to stop the event as anti-Semitic and an attack on Jews, which it was. A week ago, the administration denied the event was taking place on campus, saying it required a reservation a month in advance. Then, just three days ago, it was announced.

Our attorney contacted the Hillel director at Hunter College at CUNY and asked her if some students would sign onto the lawsuit as plaintiffs. Her reaction was to refuse to cooperate with him; and she announced to the students within earshot that she "forbids" (really!) any students from cooperating. When some other CUNY students decided to protest the event peacefully and asked fellow students at Hillel to join them, the students in the IAC at Hillel said they would only protest by playing Israeli music outside the event and serving Israeli food. Yum.

You have to admire the Chelmites in Hillel. But the story gets better. The Arab students started their conference by screening a film that claimed IDF soldiers abuse Palestinian paraplegics and other disabled Arabs. There were five CUNY security guards present at this event that CUNY administrators claimed wasn't even taking place. When some other Jewish CUNY students wearing kippahs turned up to sit in on the event, it was the Hillel director who called for additional security backup, not the Arabs. A swarm of CUNY security guards, some shtarkers akin to the Russian police, showed up immediately as the Jewish students sat down inside.

One of the CUNY students asked the Arab panel at the conclusion of the film if they supported terrorism. They refused to answer. He asked a second time. Then the Hillel director told the security guards to throw the questioner out even though he was neither violent nor disruptive. Five guards didn't ask him to leave, they just grabbed him out of his chair and dragged him to the door, where they beat him severely. The student offered to walk out away peacefully, but when he reached the escalator outside, one guard pushed him down the steps and injured him enough for him to be taken to the hospital.

You're not supposed to ask Arabs who propagandize and promote terrorist groups on campus if they support terrorism in America. If you do, even the Chelmites from Hillel will call the goons in on you. 3. The Israel Bar Association has denounced retired Supreme Court "judicial activist" judge Mishael Cheshin for uttering threats of violence against the new Minister of Justice Prof. Daniel Friedmann. Friedmann means to rein in judicial tyranny in Israel and Chechin and his comrades in arms for "judicial activism" are upset by Friedmann.

Steven Plaut is an American-trained economist, a professor of business administration at Haifa University and author of "The Scout." He frequently comments -- both seriously and satirically -- on Israeli politics and the left wing academic community. His website address is http://www.stevenplaut.blogspot.com or write him by email at splaut@econ.haifa.ac.il

To Go To Top

OBSESSIVE OBSESSIONS AND DELUSIONAL DISTRACTIONS
Posted by Daryl Temkin, Ph.D., February 13, 2007.

Obsession is a word that now conjures up an association with an "R" rating. The perfume distinctly named "Obsession" reinforced this lust-oriented definition with a multi-million dollar seduction oriented advertising campaign. But "obsessions" have little to do with cardinal thoughts as much as they have to do with a serious psychological disorder.

More clearly defined, obsessions are "incessant thoughts and ideas which dominate the so-afflicted mind, and constantly return to the same few themes, scenarios and questions; its meticulous examination and re-examination of banal minutiae for hidden meanings that simply aren't there; and the thoughts are not fascinating but are maddeningly dull."

One might now have second thoughts about naming a perfume, "Obsession" if it refers to something which is "maddeningly dull". However, the term succeeded to become a "delusional distraction" which could transfer the obsessive image from a serious behavioral dysfunction to a commercially desirable thought pattern.

Then, more recently, the movie, "Obsession" appeared. When first advertised, many thought it would be an "R" rated movie and expected sizzling scenes and tantalizing moments -- only to discover that the movie was an exploration of the horrific violence-oriented vulgarities based in and supported by the religion of Islam. Islamic clerics do boast about "martyred men" being the recipients of 72 awaiting virgins, a type of "R" rated obsession, which is sadly obsessively believed among too many Islamic adherents and obsessively repeated by too many Islamic clerics.

But in this riveting film, the obsession is about a religion which is transfixed on dominating the world at any price. As much as Islam tries to be a religion, it constantly reverts to being a political mechanism for oppression, subjugation, and submission of its adherents as well as non-adherents. Oppression, subjugation, and submission are acts of political tyranny and are not meant to be descriptive of seductive hallucinations and delusions.

Real obsessions occur when a problem cannot be solved by a chosen approach and one continues to come back to retry the wrong path no matter how many times that path is proven wrong. An obsessive psychology client related that when trying to leave his home he had to come back to the front door up to 30 times in order to check and re-check that it was locked before he could finally start his car and leave. His obsession required him to continually think and believe that his front door was unlocked, and every time he checked, the door was locked; yet, he perceived it as unlocked, even when again checked and proven to be locked. The encouraging aspect of this client was that he was able to realize that he was living with an obsession.

It is one thing when the obsessive client is able to identity that the obsessive behavior as obsessive. It is quite another matter when obsessive behavior goes unrecognized and therefore never resolved.

With this in mind, let us view our current political crisis. I must surmise that choosing and re-choosing failed proposed solutions suggest that there is an obsessive behavior pattern which society is prone to accept -- hence the obsession is not only unrecognized but is thereby rendered off-limits to correctives.

How is it that the best scholars and political leaders can create and foster political solutions which are based on past failures and then promoted as the only viable solution? Now, keeping within the obsessive mode, let's try that again: It failed once, it failed again, and it has continued to fail every time it was tried. Perfect! Let's now try it again and call it a "viable solution".

One might think that a degree of refinement might be introduced to make the next experiment more productive. But no, all the givens remain the same on each trial. Why a different result is expected when the tested conditions remain the same is one of the strange dimensions shared and ignored by the leaders, known as the "best and the brightest".

Imagine a person discovers that the two week old carton of milk in the refrigerator is spoiled, and then returns the milk to the refrigerator hoping or expecting that if more days pass, the milk will become fresh. How does one explain that the refrigeration is not going to improve the condition of the milk? At what point will someone understand that the chosen solution is not related the solution of the presenting problem.

Once upon a time, there was the thought that if the world would just provide an additional Palestinian state, the Arabs would be appeased and the world could live at peace. This thought has become an obsessive policy which an unbelievable number of nations have signed onto. It doesn't seem to matter that multiple past attempts at this solution have repeatedly failed; the obsessive failed solution has to be right no matter how wrong it has always been.

The following is the flow chart of our obsessive political path:

America and others have the belief that they can educate the terrorist enemy and thereby reshape its thinking with logic and Western incentives. Therefore, large sums of money are offered to induce them to want what you want them to want. Then there is the belief that they will come to want what you want once they have more power and more weapons. This false assumption is supposed to increase their self esteem and then they will like you. Then there is the belief that they will become what you want them to become even though they tell you that they will never become what you want them to become, so you offer them more money. Or, you try to get them to become what you want them to become by showing them how wonderful their life will be once they do as you want them to do. But they tell you that they don't want your wonderful life. They don't want your life style, they done want your technology, they don't want your advancements, they don't even want your money. They only want your submission to their obsession. But your obsession is not to see, understand or comprehend their obsession.

You go as far as to believe that your obsession will win over their obsession. You don't want to believe that their obsession is rooted in hundreds of years of religious training and political beliefs connected to the religious training. You don't understand that your obsession is not religion based so you can't feel that you really have a right to impose your values on someone else -- but they have a religious doctrine which obligates them to impose their doctrines upon all believers and non-believers.

Your obsession is a belief that you know what all people want. Your obsession is that you think that all people want what you have. Your obsession is that you believe that all people want to be free. Your obsession is that you can't believe that certain people don't care about democracy. Certain people don't care about freedom. Certain people don't care about human rights. Certain people have been raised to believe that death is more important than life. As counter-intuitive as that sounds, there is a culture that is preparing its children to strive for death.

Our obsession is that we can't see beyond ourselves. Our obsession is that we think education is the solution to all mankind. Our obsession is that we have blinded ourselves to become invisible in this world and even invisible to ourselves. We can't see ourselves because, if we could, then our obsessions would become blatantly and overwhelmingly apparent.

Perhaps if we would stop and recognize our devastating obsessions, then we would stop thinking only about perfumes and sexuality and start thinking about what is really going on in our world.

It's time that we start being obsessive about the truth, obsessive about real evil, obsessive about real strivings for goodness, obsessive about life and begin to seriously realize that there are those who want our meaningful Western obsessions destroyed.

We also need to be obsessed about the shortness of available remaining time to refocus our obsessions and our recurring thoughts on what really matters and on how we will survive our enemies for generations to come.

Daryl Temkin, Ph.D. is the director of the Israel Education Institute which is devoted to teaching history and contemporary issues of Israel to Jews and Non-Jews. Contact him at DarylTemkin@Israel-Institute.com

To Go To Top

WHY DOES THE MEDIA ACCEPT A MUSLIM MYTH WITHOUT QUESTION?
Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, February 13, 2007.

Presently, the Mullahs are calling for another "intifada" claiming that the Jews are undermining the Al Aksa Mosque and the place where their myths believe Mohammed launched himself into the Seventh Heaven. Where did this story come from? Does it meet any known time-line?

Mohammed died in 632 C.E. During his lifetime an imaginative story floated by an unknown follower was circulated about Mohammed's midnight dream ride on a flying horse to "Al Aksa". Serious Islamic scholars were embarrassed by this crass imagination that made no sense -- as follows:

In the time it takes a clay water jar to tip and spill its first drop, Mohammed, in his mythical dream, flew from Mecca to the "the furthest place". In Arabic, "the furthest place" is "Al Aksa". At that time "Al Aksa" (or "furthest place") would be either a mosque in Medina or Allah's Courtyard in Paradise. There was no mosque, no "Al Aksa mosque, on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem in Mohammed's lifetime.

From 685-705 CE the Umayyad Caliph Abd-el Malik built the Dome of the Rock, also on the Temple Mount, Mount Moriah. (It is now called the "Golden Dome" after it was covered with gold by the King of Trans-Jordan.) Caliph Abd-el Malik, who lived in Damascus, wished to be viewed as Mohammed's heir and leader of Islam. He attempted to re-direct the Islamic religious/political compass away from Mecca towards Jerusalem and his sphere of religious/political power. The political thrust of all this was that al-Malik failed.

Islam as a religion and Muslims as a group continued to ignore Jerusalem as a non-entity and continued to bow in their worship toward Mecca. However, the myth was created among the (uneducated) Muslim/Arabs, that, by right of conquest, they owned the Temple of the Jews which existed as Solomon's Temple of the Jews for thousands of years before Mohammed and Islam. However, the myth took root among the Muslims -- as history was pushed aside.

That childish myth has become factual history, as the Arab/Muslims claimed the Jews' most holy religious site, built thousands of years before Christianity or the beginnings of Islam. But, the West oohs and aahs as the Mullahs babble about their non-existent history, harking back to the Philistines (a warlike tribe of Phoenicians who came to the sea coast of Eretz Yisrael) and other tribes long gone.

The "Al Aksa" mosque was not considered a true holy site of Islam until Saladin, the Kurdish warrior in the 12th Century needed an excuse to attack the Christian Crusaders who had taken Jerusalem. Saladin then claimed Mohammed's dream of "Al Aksa" was the mosque built on top of the Jewish Temple and, therefore, holy to Islam. But, their claims are accepted today as if they were not a backward, uncivilized culture but, an advanced society of great thinkers and, therefore, worthy of being taken seriously. The media was presented with the scholarly history of the Jewish Temple numerous times but, they prefer the "mythical" version created by the Muslim/Arabs. (1)

Sixty years after Mohammed's death, Caliph Abd el-Malik from Damascus did build the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount, over the site where the Jewish Temple stood in ancient times. It was later covered with gold leaf to become known as the Golden Dome. Caliph El-Malik's objective was to turn the political loyalty to Mohammed which was epi-centered in Mecca toward him as the next leader. Even the Media, always in a state of lazy denial must admit that every long dead visionary is followed by wannabe pretenders to the crown so he conveniently revises history toward himself and his new goals.

That ploy failed and the Dome of the Rock was NOT visited as a holy place as were Mecca and Medina. It eventually fell into ruins through neglect and lack of interest. Twenty years after El Malik built the Dome of the Rock, his son al-Waleed, built a nearby building and named it Al Aksa after the dream allocated to Mohammed. This story of how Mohammed was to travel to "Al Aksa", the farthest place is interesting. As the story goes, Mohammed mounted a giant white horse named el-Baraq, with great wings, the face and breasts of a woman and the tail of a peacock. Clearly, these were the fantasies of a zealous but ignorant follower of Mohammed anxious to expand the influence of the man whom he revered as his earthly deity. (2)

Flying horses, flying dragons and gods able to fly were a common myth centuries before Mohammed, often grafted onto new religions. The story continues that Mohammed, in his dream, flew to the farthest place (al Aksa). But, the mosque named "Al Aksa" was NOT built until 80 years after Mohammed's death. So even in such minds with maximum imagination, 80 years out of sync tells us, there was no "Al Aksa" to support the myth.

It wasn't until the 12th Century C.E. that the myth took a new turn. Salah a-Din, the great Kurdish warrior wanted an excuse to attack Jerusalem and drive the knights of the Christian Crusaders off of the Temple Mount and out of the Holy City. The Temple Mount has been Holy for three thousand years because it was chosen by G-d -- which is why the Jews built their two Temples there; the Christians later built churches there; the Muslims called it the Noble Sanctuary and built their two Mosques on top of the site of the Jewish Temples.

Since that time the Muslims have used the ready excuse of Al Aksa being attacked to gather forces and riot. This, of course, is happening right now as the Mullah and self-appointed leaders call for the Arab Muslim Palestinians to riot over the repair of the Mugrabi ramp.

Some will recall the years of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin al-Husseini, who spread the rumor that the Jews were going to attack Al Aksa mosque. That was in 1929 and started the riots that killed hundreds of Jews. The Grand Mufti, "Haj" Amin al-Husseini, was a close follower of Hitler during WW2, hoping to entice him to bring his Jew-killing mechanisms to Jerusalem. The only condition Husseini set for assisting the Nazis was that, after they won the war, they would murder all the Jews in Palestine. You would not be surprised that Yassir Arafat was a nephew of Uncle Haj Amin al-Husseini. Arafat was born in Cairo named Rahman Abdul Rauf al-Qudwa al-Husseini. Arafat took over the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) which was established in 1964 by Gamal Abdul Nasser. (3)

In 1929, the Arabs responded to Husseini's "rumor" and rioted in Jerusalem, Motza, Hebron, Safed, Jaffa and other areas -- all over what was then British Mandate Palestine. The Arabs murdered a total of 133 Jews, wounding more than 300 wherever they could find them. In Hebron 67-69 Jews were murdered, with 58 wounded and women were raped; in Safed 18-20 were murdered with 80 wounded. The British evacuated the Jewish survivors, leaving their homes and belongings to be taken and occupied by the Arabs from 1929 to 1967 when Hebron was liberated along with the east side of Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount. 1929 was not the only time Husseini initiated attacks against Jews. (4)

Reports today on CNN (February 12th) indicate that the Arabs have started to riot in Hebron because of the false accusations that the Jews are undermining the "Al Aksa" mosque in Jerusalem. (5)

The use of "Al Aksa" is an excellent spark to inflame the familiar joyful hysterical rage so very near the surface for Muslims. The story continues that Mohammed flew to a certain spot in the "farthest place" which they have now named "Al Aksa" mosque in Jerusalem. It was "supposedly" the rock where Abraham was to have sacrificed Isaac in the Akeda. The "winged horse" el Buraq landed and left a giant hoof print in the stone.

The myth continues: In his dream Mohammed flew on el-Buraq to the Seventh Heaven where he meets all the Jewish prophets, Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, Moses and even Jesus. The story teller says: They gave Mohammed the stamp of approval that he was to be the last and only prophet of G-d. Ostensibly, Mohammed absorbed the older religions of Judaism (The Root) and Christianity. He claimed descent from the prophets as the foundation for the new religion of Islam.

At that moment in his dream, he flies back to earth in an instant -- remember the drop of water at the beginning? Regrettably, the Media and even nations hesitate to question the basis of the myth of the midnight flight and the giant flying horse, el-Buraq. The Muslim people have accepted many myths and interpretations of the Koran as suits the needs and the imaginations of their Mullahs.

However, only since 1967 through the cleverness of Yassir Arafat, did they claim that Jerusalem is their third holiest city and give credence to another myth that of a non-people as a nation of history. Never before, whenever the Muslim conquerors had control did they establish a capital in Jerusalem. If you check out photos of the Temple Mount when the Muslims were in control, please note the grass growing up between the paving stones. (2) The crowds of Muslims weren't there until the leaders started to remake their PR that Jerusalem is their third holiest city.

Do false claims and rioting work? Regrettably, they do. Reports just in (February 12) indicate that the Mayor of Jerusalem, Uri Lupolianski, no doubt, in collaboration with Olmert, Livni and Peretz, has ordered the work stopped to repair the ramp to the Mugrabi Gate (although not the rescue excavation).

One can hear the oft-repeated insults hurled at Israeli leadership by the Arabs that they are merely cockroaches who scurry away when the lights come on. I suppose the answer is to call in the roach exterminator. Somehow I sense G-d and the great warriors of the past are hiding their heads in shame at the cowardice of today's so-called Jewish leaders.

The Arabs will not stop rioting despite the "concession" by the Mayor. The Arab Muslims will still cry "Foul" because of the excavations continuing outside the Temple Mount. The more Jewish leaders show their weakness, the more they encourage riots and terror. Know that Islam has engaged the Free West in a religious war which the un-Jews of Israel's government cannot grasp.

So be wary of Muslims bearing myths.

###

1. "A Tapestry of Deceit" by Emanuel A. Winston Gamla September 1, 2003
http://gamla.org.il/english/article/2003/sept/win1.htm

2. "False Claims Used to Conquer Jerusalem" by Emanuel A. Winston Jewish Press January 12, 2001

3. "The Blood Connection: Grand Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini -- Yassir Arafat"
http://www.masada2000.org/Arafat-Husseini.html

4. "1929 Palestine Riots" Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1929_Palestine_riots

5. "A Sephardic Perspective on Hebron" by International Sephardic Leadership Council January 20, 2006
http://www.sephardiccouncil.org/heb.html

Emanuel Winston is a commentator and Middle East analyst. His articles appear often on Think-Israel and Gamla. He is a member of the Board of Directors and a research associate of the Freeman Center For Strategic Studies (http://www.freeman.org/online.htm). Contact him at gwinston@gwinston.interaccess.com

To Go To Top

THE DANGER OF A 'CHOSEN' NATION
Posted by David Meir-Levi, February 12, 2007.

The article below appeared in today's USA Today (2.12.07). It is ''soft-core'' anti-Israel and anti-Jewish screed That makes it even more dangerous than ''hard-core'' hate-speech. It was written by Oliver "Buzz" Thomas and is called "The danger of a 'chosen' nation"

Lots of people read USA Today, and believe what they read.

Please take the time to read the article, and my critique IN CAPS. Then write a letter to USA Today. check the website at the bottom of the article for the correct address for letters.

They should get a thousand letters condeming this article. It was written by Oliver "Buzz" Thomas, a minister, lawyer and author of an upcoming book, 10 Things Your Minister Wants to Tell You (But Can't Because He Needs the Job.
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20070212/opledereligion58.art.htm

David ML

Israel holds a sacred place in the words of the Old Testament.

INTERESTING START. HE NEGLECTS TO MENTION THAT ISRAEL HOLDS A SACRED PLACE IN THE CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES (AKA NEW TESTAMENT) AS WELL. BUT BY STARTING THIS WAY, HE ALLUDES TO A SITUATION IN WHICH THERE IS SOME SORT OF ANTIPODALITY SUCH THAT THE CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES DO NOT HOLD ISRAEL IN THAT SAME SACRED PLACE.

THIS IS NOT TRUE.

SUPERCESSIONISM HAS BEEN REJECTED BY MUCH OF THE CHRISTIAN WORLD, AND HAS NO BASIS IN CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURE. IN FACT, THE OPPOSITE IS THE CASE.

CF., INTER ALIA: Romans, Chap. 11:16-32:

" For if the first fruits is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fairness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you."

THE 'ROOT' AND THE 'OLIVE TREE' IS ISRAEL. THE 'FIRST FRUIT' AND THE 'BRANCHES' ARE THE OFF-SHOOT RELIGION OF JUDAISM THAT PAUL PREACHED, KNOWN TODAY AS CHRISTIANITY.

AND CF BOOK OF REVELATIONS, AS HE QUOTES BELOW.

But does Christian doctrine give that country a free pass at the expense of peace in the Middle East?

THIS QUESTION CONFIRMS MY ASSERTION THAT HIS FIRST SENTENCE INSINUATES THAT ISRAEL'S NON-HOLY PLACE IN CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURE IS ANTIPODAL.

THE QUESTION IS BOTH LEADING, AND MIS-LEADING. IN LIGHT OF THE FIRST SENTENCE, IS SEEMS OBVIOUS THAT THE ANSWER IS 'NO'. BUT, WHY WOULD CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE GIVE ANY ONE OR ANY GROUP OR ANY RELIGION OR ANY COUNTRY A 'FREE PASS' AS THE EXPENSE OF THE MIDDLE EAST?

OBVIOUSLY IT WOULD NOT.

SO WHY WOULD ANY ONE, ANY DOCTRINE, GIVE A FREE PASS...AND WHY DOES ISRAEL NEED A FREE PASS. THE IMPLICATION THAT ISRAEL NEEDS A FREE PASS, AND THAT IT SEEMS TO BE DEMANDED OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE, SET THE TONE FOR HIS ESSAY.

BLAME ISRAEL, AND MAKE ISRAEL CULPABLE IN THE CONTEXT OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE.

THAT IS WHY HE CONNECTS 'FREE PASS' WITH CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE IN A JUXTUPOSITION THAT IMPLICATES ISRAEL AS THE PROBLEM IN THE SEARCH FOR PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST.

BOTTOM LINE, ALREADY ESTABLISHED IN HIS FIRST TWO SENTENCES...ISRAEL IS TO BLAME AND CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE SHOULD CONFRONT ISRAEL ON ITS CULPABILITY.

John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, was nobody's fool. Born before Darwin and the age of modern science, Wesley was prescient enough to temper church tradition and the teachings of Scripture with reason and experience. Twenty-first century Christians would be wise to do the same.

I say that because some of our religious doctrines may be getting us into trouble. Evangelical Christian Jimmy Carter reminds us of one such doctrine with the publication of his controversial new book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. It is the persistent notion (particularly among evangelicals) that because Israel was God's chosen nation in the Old Testament, America should turn a blind eye to her shortcomings today.

THIS IS A 'STRAW MAN' ARGUMENT. THERE IS NO DOCTRINE, ANYWHERE, IN ANY RELIGION, THAT I KNOW OF, WHICH ASSERTS THAT AMERICA SHOULD TURN A BLIND EYE TO ISRAEL'S SHORTCOMINGS. BUT, BY ASSERTING THAT THERE IS, HE CAN THEN ATTACK THIS CHIMERICAL DOCTRINE WHICH DOES NOT REALLY EXIST AND LAY WASTE TO IT, INTELLECTUALLY. HE CREATES THIS NON-EXISTENT DOCTRINE PRECISELY BECAUSE HE CAN DEMOLISH IT. THE FACT THAT HE MUST CREATE A NON-EXISTANT DOCTRINE IS A GOOD INDICATION THAT HE IS NOT ABLE TO ADDRESS THE REAL DOCTRINE: I.E., ISRAEL IS A COUNTRY WITH FLAWS, IT MAKES MISTAKES, BUT IN THE CURRENT CONFLICT IT IS FIGHTING FOR ITS SURVIVAL AGAINST A RELENTLESS TERROR ENEMY THAT SEEKS ITS UTTER DESTRUCTION AND GENOCIDE OF ITS JEWISH CITIZENS.

Many Americans fear that to be on the wrong side of Israel is to be on the wrong side of God, and nobody wants to do that.

MORE OF THE SAME. THERE IS NO MAINSTREAM LEADER, ANYWHERE, IN ANY COUNTRY, THAT I KNOW OF, WHO MAKES SUCH AN ASSERTION. HOW THEN, CAN "MANY AMERICANS" FEAR THAT?

THIS IS A SECOND 'STRAW MAN" ARGUMENT WHICH IS PRIMA FACIE RIDICULOUS, AND THUS CAN BE DEMOLISHED EASILY. HE MUST CREATE THIS FICTIONAL SITUATION, BECAUSE THE REAL SITUATION IS ONE THAT HE CANNOT DEBATE AND WIN: I.E., MANY AMERICANS RECOGNIZE THAT THE TERRORIST ARAB FORCES THAT SEEK ISRAEL'S DESTRUCTION AND THE GENOCIDE OF ITS JEWS ARE TRULY FORCES OF EVIL. THEY SEEK TO DO EVIL AGAINST JEWS...AND THEN, WHEN THEY ARE THROUGH WITH THE JEWS, THEY WILL TURN ON THE CHRISTIANS (AS THEY THEMSELVES HAVE SAID).

SETTING UP THESE STRAW-MAN ARGUMENTS IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF DEMAGOGUERY. YOU TAKE YOUR OPPONENT'S ARGUMENT TO AN IRRATIONAL, ILLOGICAL, UNSUPPORTABLE EXTREME, AND THEN YOU ATTACK THE EXTREME. BUT ALL THIS MEANS IS THAT YOU ARE NOT ABLE TO ATTACK THE ARGUMENT ITSELF.

Especially if Armageddon is looming. (Some Christians derive this deep-seated, though unwarranted, fear from the Book of Revelation, in which Christ and his heavenly army defeat the Antichrist and his Satanic forces on the Plain of Megiddo in northern Israel. Israel appears in the book symbolically as the home of God's people in the same way that Babylon appears as the representative of Rome and the enemies of God. Neither reference was meant to be taken literally.

NOTICE ANOTHER GOOD EXAMPLE OF DEMAGOGUERY. STATE OPINION AS THOUGH IT WERE FACT. MANY CHRISTIANS BELIEVE THAT THE REVELATIONS TEXT IS INDEED TO BE TAKEN LITERALLY. AND THAT ISRAEL WILL BE THE SCENE OF THE LAST GREAT BATTLE BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIIL, GOD AND SATAN, CHRIST AND ANTI-CHRIST. IT WOULD BE LEGITIMATE TO SAY "MANY CHRISTIANS TAKE THIS LITERALLY, AND MANY DO NOT"...BUT IF HE SAID THAT, HE COULD NO LONGER DIS-ASSOCIATE THE SACRED PLACE OF ISRAEL FROM CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURE.)

Christians, of course, lay claim to a new covenant with God. We believe it is one that supplants the old covenant and offers love and forgiveness to all people regardless of politics or national origin.

WHO IS "WE" IN THE "WE BELIEVE IT...SUPPLANTS THE OLD"?

CATHOLIC DOCTRINE DOES INDEED STILL ASSERT THAT SUPERCESSIONISM IS CORRECT, AND CHRISTIANITY IS THE "NEW ISRAEL". EVEN IN "NOSTRA AETATE" POPE JohN XXIII DID NOT GO SO FAR AS TO RESCIND THE CONCEPT OF 'NEW ISRAEL'.

BUT...MANY CHRISTIANS OUTSIDE THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, AND ESPECIALLY EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANS, SAY THE EXACT OPPOSITE.

PAUL'S "NEW ISRAEL", PER HIS LETTER TO THE GALATIANS, WAS AN ISRAEL THAT INCLUDED "OLD ISRAEL" AS ONE WITH OTHERS, DID NOT EXCLUDE IT.

CF. Gal 3:27-29

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."

AND THIS ASPECT OF PAUL'S THEOLOGY GROWS OUT OF ONE OF HIS PROOF-TEXTS: Matthew 25:31-46

" ... when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with him, then He will sit on David's throne. All nations will be gathered before Him and He will separate the sheep from the goats...putting the sheep on His right and the goats on His left...Then He will say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into eternal punishment; ...for you did not give me drink when I was thirsty nor food when I was hungry, nor clothes when I was naked nor visited me when I was sick or in prison, nor see Me as a stranger and invite Me in...to the extent that you did not do this for the least of My brethren then you did not do it for Me."

IT IS ON DAVID'S THRONE THAT JESUS SITS.

WHERE IS DAVID'S THRONE? JERUSALEM.

WHO ARE THE LEAST OF JESUS' BRETHREN? JEWS AND NON-JEWS AND MEN AND WOMEN AND SLAVE AND FREE AND GREEK AND JEW...PER GALATIANS.

MANY CHRISTIAN LEADERS TODAY REFER THEIR FLOCK BACK TO:

Gen 12:1-3

1 The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. 2 "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."

AND

Gen 17:7-8

I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.

IN ORDER TO SHOW THAT THE JEWS ARE GOD'S CHOSEN, ETERNALLY, EVERLASTING, FOR GENERATIONS TO COME. THE JEWS ARE THE "ROOT", AND CHRISTIANS ARE THE "BRANCH" (PER ROMANS).

THUS, SUPERCESIONISM IS PROSCRIBED BY PAUL.

OF COURSE, THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND SOME MAIN LINE CHURCHES DO STILL PREACH IT. BUT IT IS A DEBATED THEOLOGY.

In New Testament theology, the church is the new Israel. It is God's primary vehicle for mediating grace to the world. More important, it is the poor and downtrodden (the "least of these," as Jesus called them) who lay claim to the title of God's chosen people. See the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 25.

SEE MY COMMENTS ABOVE.

NOW HE IS PREACHING "LIBERATION THEOLOGY". THIS IS A NEW, MAIN LINE, ANTI-CATHOLIC, THEOLOGY THAT FOUND ITS ORIGINS IN SOUTH AMERICA WHERE NON-CATHOLIC CHRISTIANITY SUPPORTED THE COMMUNIST AND SOCIALIST REVOLUTIONARIES AGIANST THE CATHOLIC-SUPPORTED DICTATORS OF BANANA REPUBLICS. TODAY, THAT THEOLOGY HAS BEEN TRANSMOGRIFIED INTO A NEW INTERPRETATION WHICH TAKES ANY 'UNDERDOG' AS THE LEAST OF GOD'S CHOSEN...AND THUS THE ONES CLOSEST TO JESUS.

THUS, ONCE YOU ACCEPT THE ASSERTION THAT THE PALESTINANS ARE THE UNDERDOG, THEY ARE THE NEW ISRAEL, THE CHRISTIANITY OF JESUS' DAY. AND THE JEWS ARE THE ROMANS, AND ISRAEL'S PRIME MINISTER IS THE HEROD OR PONTIUS PILATUS.

OF COURSE, THIS IS VITIATED ONCE YOU PUT MATTHEW AND GALATIANS AND ROMANS TOGETHER...BECAUSE THE JEWS ARE PART OF THE PICTURE, AND CANNOT BE DIS-ASSOCIATED FROM CHRISTIANITY, REDEMPTION, SECOND COMING, AND THE ESCATOLOGY OF JESUS' RETURN. BUT THAT ASSOCIATION IS AN ANATHEMA TO OUR WRITER, SO HE IGNORES THAT PART OF SCRIPTURE WHICH CONTRADICTS HIS IDEOLOGY.

DON'T FORGET...THE DEVIL CAN QUOTE SCRIPTURE.

Carter, arguably America's finest example of Christian citizenship and our only president to enjoy major success in the Middle East, is nudging us away from our obsession with the Iraq war to a more global perspective on the conflict that threatens the entire region.

NO. ACTUALLY CARTER IS NOT DOING THAT.

THE WRITER HAS OBVIOUSLY IGNORED ALL OF THE DOZENS, SCORES, OF ARTICLES THAT HEAP CRITICISM AND CALUMNY ON CARTER FOR WRITING WHAT AMOUNTS TO A PIECE OF PRO-TERRORIST BLACK PROPAGANDA REPLETE WITH LIES ON EVERY PAGE, PLAGERISM, FALSIFICATION OF HARD EVIDENCE, AND JUST GOOD OLD FASHIONED ISRAEL-HATRED (THE NEW AVATAR FOR JEW-HATRED).

SO CARTER IS NOT "AMERICA'S FINEST EXAMPLE...".

ALSO, CARTER IS NOT NUDGING US AWAY FROM THE IRAQ WAR. HE IS LYING AND DISSIMULATING AND PLAGERIZING AND FORGING MAPS IN ORDER TO NUDGE US TOWARD THE DEMONIZATION OF ISRAEL AND THE ACCEPTANCE OF ISRAEL IN THE FORM THAT ARAB PROPAGANDA GIVES IT...TO BLAME FOR ALL THE ILLS OF THE MIDDLE EAST.

At the heart of the problem, of course, lies the dispute between Israel and the Palestinians who were displaced in the 1940s to make room for the new Jewish state.

FALSE. ANOTHER STRAW MAN ARGUMENT. 'DISPLACED TO MAKE ROOM" IS UNEQUIVOCAL. JEWS KICKED PALESTINIANS OUT SO THAT THE JEWS COULD HAVE THEIR STATE.

SEE THE ATTACHMENTS AND MY ESSAY ON THE PALESTINIAN REFUGEES IN MY BOOK "BIG LIES" FOR A FACTUALLY ACCURATE RECONSTRUCTION OF WHAT HAPPENED. BOTTOM LINE FOR US HERE NOW:

LESS THAN 10% OF THE TOTAL OF ARAB REFUGEES WERE FORCED OUT OF ANYWHERE ANY TIME BY ISRAEL. AND THAT 10% WERE FORCED OUT WITHOUT MASSACRE OR MASS MURDER, IN THE CONTEXT OF ISRAEL'S DEFENSE AGAINST A GENOCIDAL ENEMY. MANY ARABS CHOSE TO FLEE, AND THEIR OWN LEADERS DID NOT ALLOW THEM TO COME BACK.

HAD THE ARAB LEADERS CHOSEN PEACE AND ACCEPTANCE OF UNSC RESOLUTION 181 (11/29/1947), THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN TWO STATES, ONE FOR ISRAEL AND ONE FOR THE ARABS...AND NO REFUGEES.

MOREOVER, IN 1949, AT THE RHODES ARMISTICE CONFERENCE, ISRAEL OFFERED TO NEGOTIATE THE RETURN OF CONQUERED TERRITORY, IN EXCHANGE FOR PEACE. THE ARABS SAID NO, ESTABLISHED THEIR OWN CONTROL OVER THE LAND THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE PALESTINE (EGYPT IN THE GAZA STRIP AND JORDAN IN THE WEST BANK), AND DECLARED ETERNAL WAR ON ISRAEL.

HAD THE ARAB LEADERS CHOSEN PEACE AND NEGOTIATIONS, THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN TWO STATES, AND A READY AND QUICK SOLUTION TO THE DISPLACED PALESTINIANS.

Although some land was reserved for the Palestinians, Israel seized most of that during the Six-Day War of 1967.

FALSE AGAIN. ISRAEL DID NOT 'SEIZE' THAT LAND. IT CONQUERED THAT LAND IN ANOTHER DEFENSIVE WAR, AND THEN OFFERED TO GIVE IT BACK IN EXCHANGE FOR PEACE. THE ARABS REFUSED. SAME AS IN 1949. NO PEACE, NO NEGOTATIONS, NO RECOGNITION...ONLY ETERNAL WAR AGIANST ISRAEL.

Although most of Gaza has been returned, the majority of the West Bank is still under Israeli administration.

FALSE. 96% OF THE WEST BANK AND 100% OF THE GAZA STRIP IN UNDER THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY...NOT ISRAELI AUTHORITY.

BUT, EVEN IF IT WERE TRUE, SO WHAT? THAT IS IN KEEPING WITH INTERNATIONAL LAW, UN RESOLUTIONS 181, 194, 242, AND 338, AS WELL AS THE OSLO ACCORDS AND THE QUARTET'S ROAD MAP. HE MAKES IT SOUND LIKE A BAD THING, BY LINKING IT TO THE PREVIOUS DISCUSSION IN WHICH HE MADE ISRAEL'S VICTORIES IN DEFENSIVE WARS, AND SUBSEQUENT PLEAS FOR PEACE, SOUND LIKE AGGRESSION.

THAT IS ANOTHER TRICK OF THE DEMAGOGUE: LINKAGE, OR PROXIMITY. PLACE ONE INNOCUOUS FACT NEXT TO A STRING OF NEGATIVE ACCUSATIONS, AND THE LISTENER/READER THINKS THAT THEY ARE ALL NEGATIVE.

Carter suggests that until we resolve this land dispute, we stand little chance of creating a lasting peace. Even then, we will have a long and difficult struggle against the jihadists of radical Islam, but only then will we have a chance of attracting the moderate Arab support so critical to winning the war on terror.

YES, CARTER DOES SUGGEST THAT. SO DO WALT AND MEARSCHEIMER, AND SO DO BAKER AND HAMILTON. SO? A HOST OF OTHER EXPERTS SUGGEST THE OPPOSITE. IF YOU NEED BIBLIOGRAPHY ON WHY WALT-MEARSHEIMER AND BAKER-HAMILTON ARE WRONG, LET ME KNOW. IT IS STUFF THAT I SENT AROUND MONTHS AGO.

ALSO, IT IS NOT A 'LAND DISPUTE'. THE ARAB BELLIGERENTS TELL US SO IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS:

TELL ISRAEL: WE ARE NOT FIGHTING YOU BECAUSE WE WANT SOMETHING FROM YOU. WE ARE FIGHTING YOU BECAUSE WE WANT TO DESTROY YOU (ABBAS MUSSAWI: HEZBOLLAH)

WE WILL DESTROY ISRAEL EVEN IF WE MUST DO SO ONE JEW AT A TIME (SHEIKH AKHMED YASSIN -- HAMAS))

THERE IS NO PLACE FOR A JEWISH STATE IN MOSLEM LANDS (DR. ABDUL AZZIZ RANTISI -- HAMAS)

GOOD THAT THE JEWS ARE IN ISRAEL. SINCE THEY ARE ALL IN ONE PLACE, IT IS EASIER FOR US TO DESTROY THEM (HASSAN NUSR'ALLAH -- HEZBOLLAH).

SEE ATTACHEMENT #2 FOR LIST OF HATE-SPEECH AND GENOCIDE THREATS.

IT IS NOT A LAND DISPUTE. IT IS A WAR OF ELIMINATION AGIANST ISRAEL. THERE IS NO RESOLUTION BECAUSE THE ARAB SIDE IS NOT WILLING TO GIVE UP ITS DESIRE TO DESTROY THE JEWISH STATE AND GENOCIDE ITS JEWS.

So, how do we do it? First, by pressing Israel to withdraw from most of the West Bank. President Clinton nearly accomplished that by working with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. For reasons that will never be entirely clear, Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat blinked and failed to seize upon the best Israeli offer in years.

FALSE. IN FACT, THIS SUGGESTION IS INSANITY.

THE THUMBNAIL DEFINITION OF INSANITY IS DOING THE SAME THING OVER AND OVER, AND EXPECTING TO GET DIFFERENT RESULTS.

ISRAEL OFFERED TO RETURN CONQUERED TERRITORY IN 1949. ALL IT GOT WAS TERRORISM AND WARFARE.

ISRAEL UNILATERALLY AND UNCONDITIONALLY RETURNED CONQUERED TERRITORY (SINAI) IN 1956. ALL IT GOT WAS EGYPTIAN MISSILES AND TANKS AND MEN MASSED ON ITS BORDERS IN 1967.

ISRAEL OFFERED TO RETURN CONQUERED TERRITORY IN 1967. ALL IT GOT WAS TERRORISM AND WARFARE.

ISRAEL UNILATERALLY WITHDREW FROM LEBANON ON 5/24/2000. ALL IT GOT WAS THE CONTINUED HEZBOLLAH TERRORISM (WHOSE ORIGINAL JUSTIFICATION WAS TO DRIVE ISRAEL OUT OF LEBANON. BUT WHEN ISRAEL LEFT LEBANON, THE TERRORISM CONTINUED, DESPITE THE UN DEMAND THAT HEZBOLLAH DISARM SINCE ISRAEL HAD LEFT LEBANON).

ISRAEL WITHDREW FROM MOST OF THE WEST BANK AND GAZA STRIP PURSUANT TO THE OSLO ACCORDS, STARTING IN 9/1993. ARAFAT USED HIS NEW-FOUND FREEDOM TO START HIS TERROR WAR WHICH CULIMATED IN THE 2ND INTIFADA. MORE TERRORISM IN THE FIVE YEARS AFTER OSLO THAN IN THE 20 YEARS BEFORE OSLO.

ISRAEL WITHDREW UNILATERALLY AND UNCONDITIONALLY FROM THE GAZA STRIP IN 8/2005. ALL IT GOT WAS AN INTENSIFIED TERRORISM FROM HAMAS, WITH DAILY QASSAMS AND A SEEMINGLY ENDLESS STREAM OF ATTEMPTED SUICIDE BOMBERS ETC.

ISRAEL UNILATERALLY WITHDREW FROM LEBANON IN AUGUST, 2006 AFTER ITS COUNTER-ATTACK ON HEZBOLLAH; AND ALL IT GOT IN RETURN WAS A STRONGER AND MORE DETERMINED HEZBOLLAH NOW STOCKPILING MORE MISSILES AND MORE ROCKETS.

ALL THAT ISRAEL HAS EVER RECEIVED IN EXCHANGE FOR CONCESSIONS TO THE PLO OR FATAH OR HAMAS OR HEZBOLLAH IS MORE TERRORISM AND MORE WAR AND MORE DANGER.

THERE WAS PEACE BETWEEN ISRAEL AND EGYPT WHEN EGYPT AGREED TO SIT DOWN AND MAKE PEACE, WITH NEGOTIATIONS, WITH TREATY. SAME RE JORDAN.

BUT EVERY TIME THAT ISRAEL HAS MADE UNILATERAL CONCESSIONS (OFTEN UNDER PRESSURE FROM AMERICAN POLITICAL LEADERS WHO ESPOUSED OPINIONS SIMILAR TO THOSE EXPRESSED BY "BUZZ") THE TERRORISTS HAVE BEEN EMBOLDENED TO MORE TERROR.

TO SUGGEST, THEREFORE, THAT MORE CONCESSIONS WILL GENERATE A WILLINGNESS ON THE PART OF THE PALESTINIANS TO MAKE PEACE...IS PURE INSANITY...OR WILLFUL DISSIMULATION.

MOREOVER, WE DO INDEED KNOW WHY CAMP DAVID 2 FAILED. IT FAILED BECAUSE ARAFAT CHOSE WAR AND TERRORISM OVER PEACE. ACCORDING TO BANDAR BIN SULTAN (PRINCE OF ARABIA AND 25-YEAR AMBASSADOR TO THE USA) ARAFAT KNEW THAT HE WAS GETTING THE VERY BEST DEAL POSSIBLE. HE REJECTED IT BECAUSE HE THOUGHT HE COULD DO BETTER VIA WARFARE AND TERRORISM.

ARAFAT DID NOT "BLINK", OR "FAIL TO SEIZE"...HE MADE A CHOICE. WAR AND TERRORISM AND MASS MURDER...THAT WAS ARAFAT'S CHOICE. AND HE MADE THAT CHOICE CONTRARY TO THE ADVICE OF BANDAR BIN SULTAN.

The question for Americans is: How do we now reapply pressure to both sides?

NO. THAT IS NOT THE QUESTION. THERE IS NO NEED TO APPLY PRESSURE TO BOTH SIDES. ONE SIDE, ISRAEL, HAS BEEN NEGOTIATING, BEGGING, OFFERING UNILATERAL CONCESSIONS, FOR PEACE...AND HAS BEEN DOING SO FOR DECADES.

IT IS THE OTHER SIDE THAT NEEDS THE PRESSURE.

I visited the West Bank City of Ramallah shortly after Israel began building its so-called security fence separating Israel from the Palestinian territories. I had been invited by a group of prominent Israeli and Palestinian women (including several members of the Israeli legislature) who are part of the Global Peace Initiative of Women. Although I had ministered in the roughest parts of New Orleans, what I saw in Ramallah shocked me. It looked like Berlin after World War II. As I listened to the stories of the Palestinian women gathered at our hotel, the pro-Israel lens through which I had always viewed the Middle East grew clouded. There were stories of the houses and olive orchards that had been bulldozed to make room for the new wall and of the hundreds of checkpoints that kept law-abiding Palestinians from getting to their jobs or to and from school. I watched as a young Israeli soldier harassed an elderly man who was trying to get his donkey cart through one checkpoint. I wanted to throw up.

ALL PROBABLY TRUE. SEE MY FIRST ATTACHMENT. THE PALESTINIANS ARE INDEED OPPRESSED AND TERRORIZED AND POVERTY-STRICKEN AND HOPELESS, HELPLESS, HAPLESS, HOMELESS...BUT NOT BECAUSE OF ISRAEL. RATHER, BECAUSE OF THEIR CORRUPT AND PSYCHOTIC LEADERS WHO SEEK THE GENOCIDE OF JEWS RATHER THAN A PEACEFUL STATE CO-EXISTING ALONGISDE OF ISRAEL.

PRIOR TO ARAFAT'S "OSLO WAR", NONE OF THE ABOVE OBTAINED. THE ECONOMY OF THE WEST BANK WAS BOOMING, BLOOMING, UNDER ISRAELI SOVEREIGNTY FROM 1967 TO 1994. THE WORLD BANK AND UN OFFER SUBSTANTIVE EVIDENCE FOR PALESTINIAN PROSPERITY UNDER ISRAEL.

THE COLLAPSE WAS DUE TO ARAFAT'S KLEPTOCRACY AND THUGOCRACY, AND TO ISRAEL'S NEED FOR DEFENSIVE MEASURES AGAINST TERRORISM.

One story in particular stood out, probably because the young woman who told it reminded me of my own daughters. The woman, in her early 20s, had recently graduated from Birzeit University and moved to Ramallah to pursue a career in accounting. Days before my arrival, she had come home to find Israeli soldiers occupying her apartment building. They told her that a suspected terrorist lived in the building and she would not be allowed back inside. Despite her protestations and pleas (finally just to retrieve her personal effects and pictures of her dead father), the four-story building was destroyed. Her furniture, clothing, even her accounting license, were gone.

"I am young," she said, "and I will recover. But for my landlord and his eight children, this building was the only thing they had. Now, they have no choice but to go to the camps."

As I lay in my bed that night, I thought of those eight children and their parents now living in a tent. Even if the Israelis had caught the suspect, someday there very well may be eight young recruits to take his place. Like our ill-fated war in Iraq, Israeli policy seems to create more terrorists than it destroys.

FALSE. IT IS CLEAR FROM THE RESPONSES OF MANY PALESTINIANS THAT THE HOME DEMOLITION PROGRAM DISSUADED TERRORISTS, OR AT LEAST PROMPTED THEIR OWN PARENTS TO TURN THEM IN TO THE IDF BEFORE THEY CARRIED OUT THEIR MISSIONS OF MASS MURDER. THAT PROGRAM SAVED UN-NUMBERABLE LIVES.

We turned our former Nazi enemies into friends by helping rebuild their war-ravaged nation. Palestinian roads, hospitals and schools have been destroyed. Would we not be wise to try the same strategy with them?

BEEN THERE, DONE THAT. I HAVE AT LEAST A DOZEN ARTICLES ON THE PALESTINIAN ECONOMY BETWEEN 1967 AND 1994. ALL SHOW THE SAME THING. ISRAEL DID A MINI-MARSHALL PLAN FROM 1968 ONWARD. ALL WAS REVERSED BY ARAFAT ET AL.

LET ME KNOW IF YOU NEED THE REFERENCES.

The degradation of Palestinian territory is not the biggest challenge facing us. Neither is Israeli intransigence. Even such a fierce advocate for Israel's security as Ariel Sharon saw the folly of permanent occupation of Palestinian lands. Palestinian society itself is in shambles. It has no statesmen. No Mahatma Gandhi or Nelson Mandela. Steeped in a legacy of kickbacks and corruption, Arafat's Fatah Party is locked in a death struggle with Hamas over who will lead the Palestinian people. Hamas claims to have avoided the stain of corruption but is infected with the cancer of radical Islam -- an ideology as hate-filled and anti-Semitic as any on earth. The struggle between these two may be entirely beyond our control,

FALSE. IF THE USA AND EU AND RUSSIA WOULD COOPERATE, THEY COULD STARVE HAMAS OUT OF EXISTENCE. OTHER ARAB COUNTRIES SMUGGLE IN MONEY. BUT INTERNATIONAL PRESSURE EVEN LIMITED THOUGH IT IS, PRESSED A VARIETY OF ARAB BANKS TO NOT GIVE MONEY ON LOAN TO HAMAS...AND INSTEAD HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS WERE SMUGGLED IN, IN CASH.

IF THE USA AND UN AND EU AND RUSSIA WERE TO COOPERATE, THEY COULD INDEED STRANGLE HAMAS, AND CLEAR A PATH FOR MODERATES.

but Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and the institution of a mini-Marshall Plan in its wake are not. Both would strengthen the hand of more moderate elements in the Arab world and bolster our standing in the war on terror.

FALSE. PER ABOVE...INSANE AND IRRATIONAL.

If God is on anyone's side in this mess, he's on everyone's side. Yes, he is moved to compassion for the jittery Israeli soldier who fears the next person through his checkpoint may be wearing a bomb. But if the New Testament is correct, he is even more heartbroken by the callous treatment of the Palestinians.

COMPLETE NON-SEQUITOR. IF GOD IS ON EVERYONE'S SIDE, THEN THERE IS NO BASIS TO ASSERT THAT ONE'S SUFFERING IS WORSE THAN ANOTHER'S. RATHER, THE ISSUE IS CULPABILITY (ONE MUST PAY, OR ATONE, FOR ONE'S SINS, PER JEWISH SCRIPTURE; AND ONE MUST PAY, OR ATONE, OR CONFESS, FOR ONE'S SINS, PER CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURE -- IN THE ABSENCE OF THESE, ONE IS CULPABLE).

WHO IS CULPABLE FOR THE LACK OF PEACE? ONLY THE SIDE THAT REFUSES PEACE AND PERSISTS IN ITS GENOCIDAL GOALS.

SO, EVEN IF ONE COULD SECOND-GUESS GOD, IT SEEMS LIKELY THAT GOD'S HEARTBREAK WILL BE BECAUSE THE PALESTINANS DID NOT REPENT.

"In so much as you did it to the least of these," Jesus said, "you did it to me." The wretched poor, squatting in the rocks and refugee camps, are God's chosen people, too. It's time we follow John Wesley's advice and start viewing them as such.

David Meir-Levi is an American-born Israeli, currently living in Palo Alto. His expertise is in Near Eastern studies and the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. He is Director of Peace and Education at Israel Peace Initiative (www.ipi-usa.org). Contact him at david_meirlevi@hotmail.com

To Go To Top

FROM JEW-HATER TO A JEW-LOVER
Posted by American 1627, February 12, 2007.

This was written by Alamgir Hussain. It appeared today on the BC Politics Blogsite
(http://blogcritics.org/archives/2007/02/12/145606.php) Alamgir Hussain (PhD) is a co-author of Beyond Jihad -- Critical Voices from Inside (Academic Press, MD).

As a Muslim, you just grow up hating Jews. As soon as you start understanding things, you are brainwashed with how the Jews of Medina had insulted and fought with our beloved prophet. This starts at an early age when Muslim kids haven't grown old enough to know how to question. So, they never get to know the details. They just grow up with that hatred of the Jews ingrained in their heart and mind.

Although I personally grew up a believing Muslim with engaging myself nominally with the rituals and scriptures (which was the case with more than eighty percent of the young people during that time), I also grew up with that hatred against the Jews without ever meeting one, nor knowing the details of the circumstances that had lead to the conflict between the Jews and our Prophet. For the first time, however, I raised the question of why Muslims have to hate the Jews when I was a third-year undergraduate student, while discussing about some event that took place in Israel/Palestine with a few friends (more religious and knowledgeable in Islam). The answer I got was that the Jews fought and insulted the prophet and Allah says in the Koran that Jews are a cursed people who will never find a abode to live in peace (my recent investigation into Islam finds it absolutely true). That was a good enough a reason -- when Allah (the Creator) has said so, it does not require any further questioning and explanation. I didn't question it for another 15 years until the following experience that changed my life significantly.

Before I paid a visit to Bangladesh in early 2002, a few months after the parliamentary election, I was already saddened with what had happened to the Hindu minorities in the post election days. The Jamat-e-Islami aligned nationalist coalition, lead by Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which had trounced the Islamo-secularist incumbent Awamy League Govt., went on a rampage against the people aligned with the defeated party. The ever insecure Hindu community which traditionally votes for the secular parties had to bear brunt of this horrendous campaign most. Rapes (including gang-rapes), torture and humiliation (with incidence of striping and parading the Hindu women around the village) became widespread according to media reports. One investigative report by the most popular English newspaper, Daily Star, had cited they had interviewed nearly 1000 Hindu women and girls being raped and gang-raped in a single district. The age of the victims ranged from an 8 year-old minor to a 72 year-old grandmother.

When I arrived home, I had more to learn about. I learned how activists of the defeated party, even of the Muslim background, spent months in terror. Some of them, who did not have tribal muscle-power and got caught, were paraded around the locality with garland of shoes round their neck. A subsequent media outcry and international condemnations forced the government to crackdown on such violence and violations, after the barrage of defiant denials in the initial weeks.

This left a lasting mark on my mind which probably changed me forever. Instituting a government based on the Islamic ideals is the vision of the Jamat-i-Islami party. BNP is the slightly moderate Islamo-nationalist party, whose founding father changed the constitution of Bangladesh from secular (instituted by the founding father of defeated Awamy League in the 1970s) to an Islamist one in the 1980s. These two parties combined represent the Islamic face of Bangladesh. All these flagrant violations of human dignity and rights happened under their stewardship and patronage. Whether real Islam had anything to do with it or not; what struck me most is that so long as there are divisions between people, like Hindu-Muslim barriers, such things will continue to happen. Nothing is worth this, whatsoever the true Islam may represent.

Earlier, I knew how the Hindus had to move out of East Bengal and later Bangladesh in tens of millions to India because of the treatment they got at the hands of the majority Muslims. I myself had the experience of foiling a bid to kidnap a Hindu classmate (girl) to force her into marry a Muslim thug (who had dropped out of my class a few years earlier). I played a crucial role in foiling the bid by alerting the girl and her family and helping them escape to India. I considered my effort in this incident a great gesture of kindness to my classmate, without realizing for a long time how much distress and pain the whole thing might had have caused to the victim, who had to abandon their ancestral homes of centuries forever.

Although my outlook on life took a humanistic turn after this, never did I leave the fear of being burned by Allah in the fire of hell. I still thought there was probably something very worthwhile in Islam. Else why would so many people believe in it? Why were so many people converting to Islam? Why is it the fastest growing religion? And why are so many Westerners, including some famous ones like Cat Steven, also converting to Islam? But what ensued in the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) meeting in Kuala Lumpur in March 2003 changed my life once and for all.

Mahathir Muhammad was my greatest Islamic leader, whom I used to see as a model for the Muslim world's movement towards moderation, prosperity and development. Never did I realize that there is so much Islamic poison in the mind of this leader who is highly acclaimed in both East and the West. I was so disappointed with his OIC speech that I wrote a critique of it which was eventually picked by a professor from Rutgers University for a book (bookBeyond Jihad -- Critical Voices From Inside Islam) she was planning on political Islam. However, that Mahathir speech definitely changed my life and perspective of the world forever. I became much more sympathetic to the people of other religions (including the Jews) than I was before, which they definitely deserve, not less if not more. The terrible treatments doled out to the Hindus, Buddhists, Christians and Jews etc. in any Muslim-dominated country in the world on a daily basis even today would easily justify my sympathetic views of them by any standard of logic.

This also marked the commencement of my journey of finding out what is there in Islam that can fill the mind of 1.4 billion Muslims with such poisonous and cruel thoughts and utter degree of irrationality as reflected in Mahathir's speech. After studying Islam (Koran & prophet's biographies) to a great extent, what I found out now is that it all comes from the Koran and life of the prophet Muhammad and that the prejudices they perpetuate towards the Jews are totally undeserved.

Contact American 1627 by email at American1627@yahoo.com

To Go To Top

THE POLITICAL SCIENCE DEPT FROM HELL
Posted by Boris Celser, February 12, 2007.

Hebrew Univ.'s Avneri writes that Palestinian society is "lacking the basic ingredients of tolerance, legitimized pluralism and the understanding that differences are not to be decided by force and coercion." He then suggests a Saudi protectorate. But doesn't Saudi society lack exactly the same things? Yes, professor, a robust Saudi and Egyptian presence in Gaza will solve the Rafah problem, by moving the action a lot closer. Better give the Palis Audis, not Saudis. Savlanut! !!!!!Gee!!!!!

Contact Boris Celser by email at celser@telusplanet.net

To Go To Top

MOBILIZE NOW, SAVE THE WORLD
Posted by Nurit Greenger, February 12, 2007.

Given the worldwide anti Semitism situation, the Jewish world must now mobilize at the same very level as was demonstrated during the struggles to establish the State of Israel and freeing the soviet Jewry, the latter being the most potent model for the action required today.

Denying the Holocaust, denying Israel's right to exit, and threatening to annihilate Israel is a crime against humanity and great evil people, of clear mind must stop!

It takes ONE PERSON to change the world; so how difficult it would be for a nation to do just that?

If the Jewish world does not lead the way, who will?

The Iranian-led wave of terror will not stop until it is stopped; until we stop it! We MUST overcome our fear of parochialism and make the world a much better place. We must do all that is in our power and beyond to prevent a second Holocaust, and in the process save the world!

If There Is A Way, There Is A Will!

This was written by Natan Sharansky and it appeared today in the (www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1170359835461&pagename= JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull). Natan Sharansky is chairman of the Institute for Strategic Studies at the Shalem Center.

Just over three years ago, at the first-ever global forum on anti-Semitism organized by the State of Israel, the essential task was to define the beast -- the new anti-Semitism. Since then, as the fourth such global gathering meets this week, efforts to incorporate the "three-D" distinction between legitimate criticism of Israel and the new anti-Semitism -- demonization, double standards and delegitimization -- have become part of international documents and discourse.

These and other accomplishments, as important as they are, have been dwarfed by the quantum leap anti-Semitism itself has taken. It has leapfrogged from isolated attacks against Jews to incitement to genocide -- the actual elimination of the Jewish state.

This shift has come in the form of a pincer movement. On one side, we have the Iranian regime, which is denying the Holocaust and calling for Israel to be "wiped off the map" while racing to develop the physical means of doing so. On the other side, we have what is, in effect, international silence in response, coupled with growing willingness to discuss Israel's existence as a mistake, an anachronism, or a provocation.

We must recognize the fact that though sympathy for Iran's expressed goal of Israel's destruction is hardly mainstream, the idea of a world without Israel is more acceptable in polite company, the media and academia today than Hitler's expressed goal of a Europe without Jews was in 1939.

Given this situation, it should be clear that we are beyond the stage of definitions. The Jewish world now must mobilize at a level no less than during the struggles to establish the State of Israel and to free Soviet Jewry. It is this latter struggle that presents the most potent model for action today.

Though both sides of the genocidal pincer are in quite advanced stages of development, the Jewish world remains mired in pre-mobilization debates reminiscent of the early stages of the Soviet Jewry struggle in the 1960s. This may be hard to recall in light of the subsequent success, but back then a debate raged among Jews over whether a campaign to free Soviet Jewry was "too parochial," and whether being out front risked making it too much of a "Jewish issue."

BEFORE THESE internal debates were resolved the Soviet Jewry effort could not be regarded as a movement, capable of attracting allies and moving governments. Nor were such debates easily, or ever fully, put to rest.

As late as 1987, when the by then mature and powerful movement organized the largest-ever Soviet Jewry rally on Washington's mall to coincide with Mikhail Gorbachev's visit, some Jewish leaders wondered if the community could be mobilized, and if such a rally would be counterproductive. They warned that only a few thousand souls would brave the winter weather, and that the Jewish community would be considered "warmongers" who were spoiling the recent warming of US-Soviet relations.

In actuality, over 250,000 people came to a rally that was pivotal in opening the floodgates, not just to 10,000 or 20,000 Jews, which seemed like a dream at the time, but to a million Jews who came to Israel over the following decade.

Since it has been a while, a reminder is in order of what full mobilization looks like.

First, as Shlomo Avineri has recently proposed, Iranian officials should get the Soviet treatment. Just as no Soviet official, including sport and cultural delegations, could travel without being accosted by protests and hostile questions, so it should be with anyone representing the Iranian regime. As in the Soviet case, such protests will not themselves change Iranian behavior, but they are critical to creating a climate that will influence the policies of Western governments.

Second, an inventory of the governments and companies that provide Iran with refined oil, huge trade deals, and even military and nuclear assistance should be taken and public pressure be put on them to end their complicity with a regime that is racing to genocide.

Third, the pension funds of US states should be divested from all companies that trade with or invest in Iran. This divestment campaign must be pursued without apologies or hesitation.

Fourth, every country that is party to the Genocide Convention should be called upon to fulfill its obligation under that treaty and seek an indictment of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the charge of incitement to genocide, which is a "punishable offense" under Article III of that treaty.

Fifth, human rights groups, such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, which are heavily nourished by Jewish values, passion and funding, must stop squeezing both sides of the genocidal pincer. These groups must be challenged, on the one hand, to press for enforcement of the Genocide Treaty, to stand up for human rights in Iran, and to oppose and expose Iranian support for terrorism. On the other, they must stop perverting the sacred cause of human rights into a cudgel in Iran's hands against Israel. This happened just months ago when, during the Lebanon war, such groups all but ignored Hizbullah's terrorism from behind human shields and called Israel's self-defense a "war crime."

JUST AS the two sides of the pincer themselves are connected, so too must be the efforts to combat them. All the above steps concern the Iranian side of the pincer. But combating the other side, the denial of Israel's right to exist, is no less critical -- and more difficult, since at times they necessitate confronting, not a rogue regime, but our own cherished institutions. On this front:

First, universities that provide chairs for professors who campaign against Israel's right to exist should be boycotted. In a number of countries, denying the Holocaust is a criminal act. In the current context, denying Israel's right to exist lays the groundwork for a second holocaust even more directly than does denying history. Therefore, the promulgation of such an ideology should be fought even by societies that justifiably revere freedom of speech.

This may seem a hopelessly difficult task, but it is not. After 9/11, one woman, a student, took on Harvard University, which was ready to accept a $10 million "gift" from a Saudi sheikh. Harvard backed down, showing that moral clarity, unapologetically and passionately expressed, can change seemingly unassailable ideas.

We must stand for a basic principle: If denying the Holocaust can land a professor in jail, denying Israel should not land him tenure.

Second, support for Israel must be demonstrated. Two decades after the massive Soviet Jewry rally of 1987, we need to return to the Mall on Israel's Independence Day in May with two messages: Support Israel and Stop Iran. It is late, but not too late, to overcome those fears of being "too parochial" that the Soviet Jewry movement succeeded in dispelling more than 30 years ago.

The fight to support Israel and stop Iran now is, if anything, less "parochial" than the Soviet Jewry movement was then. Then, the Jewish world took on a global superpower, the Soviet Union, and confronted the reigning American foreign policy paradigm -- détente -- with a very different one: linkage of trade to human rights.

Then, we successfully argued that the freedom to emigrate was not just a Jewish concern, but a universal one, and we were more right than we knew. The Jackson-Vanik amendment and the Helsinki Accords were critical factors in triggering the internal collapse of the Soviet empire. This collapse not only freed millions of Jews, but all the peoples behind the Iron Curtain, and ended a half-century-old superpower stalemate that threatened the entire planet.

NOW THE WORLD stands at a no less fateful watershed. The world's most dangerous rogue regime is on the verge of obtaining the ultimate weapons of terror. Already, Iran's confidence that it will not be stopped has led to one war, last summer's war in Lebanon started by Hizbullah. Already, Iran is fueling conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Gaza -- and all this before the regime enjoys its own full, declared nuclear umbrella.

The moment before mobilization is always a lonely one, in which it seems that the obstacles to making a cause universal are insurmountable. Yet, as in the case of the Soviet Jewry movement, we are not alone. We are surrounded by potential allies who may not themselves know they are ready to join us until we create a movement for them to join.

Our leadership will give others the opportunity to act. If the Jewish world does not lead the way, who will? It is as true now as it was then; if we build it, they will come.

A decade after the wave of democracy that came with the fall of the Soviet Union, an Iranian-led wave of terror is rising that will not stop until it is stopped. Ultimately, we overcame our fear of parochialism to stand up for Soviet Jewry, and left the world a much better place for it. Now we must do the same to prevent a second holocaust, and in the process save the world.

Contact Nurit Greenger by email at 4nuritg@ca.rr.com. Visit her blog:
http://ngthinker.typepad.com

To Go To Top

MECCA AGREEMENT: THE SAUDI TAKEOVER OF PALESTINIAN ENTITY
Posted by David Bedein, February 12, 2007.

This appeared today in the Philadelphia Bulletin
(www.thebulletin.us/site/news.cfm?newsid=17840454&BRD=2737& PAG=461&dept_id=576361&rfi=6).

The "Mecca agreement" makes things difficult for Israel. Israel's battle to prevent world recognition of Hamas, an Islamic terror organization sworn to destroy the Jewish state, has ended in defeat, with the ratification of the Mecca Agreement.

An Israeli intelligence official briefed the Israeli cabinet yesterday and declared that Hamas was the "tactical victor" of the Mecca Agreement, having achieved its goals without having had to concede even one of its principles or tenets.

The Mecca Agreement does not mention nor recognize Israel, and will not keep any obligation or agreement that was signed by Arafat and guaranteed by the United States government. Territories were handed over to Arafat and his protégé Abbas in exchange for an agreement of Palestinian recognition of Israel and Palestinian cessation of terror, neither of which has taken place.

Hamas has achieved the backing of the greatest patron of the Arab world -- Saudi Arabia, the kingpin of the Arab League, whose charter has not changed since the inception of the Arab League in 1945 -- to destroy any semblance of Jewish sovereignty in the Middle East. The Arab League entered into an active state of war in 1948, and that state of war continues to this day.

The United States will be hard pressed to reject an internal Palestinian reconciliation agreement that was sponsored by the king of Saudi Arabia.

After all, Saudi Arabia remains the third-largest supplier of oil to the United States (14 percent). Saudi Arabia, and the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf which is subordinate to it, has $1 billion in foreign currency reserves, most of which are invested in U.S. bonds.

The Saudi Arabian government has announced that it intends to invest $650 billion in the next number of years in developing infrastructure in Saudi Arabia: oil and gas drill sites, power stations, ports, airports, communication networks, underwater pipes, desalination installations, refineries, schools and universities.

Each one of those enormous projects can either be open to American companies or closed to them.

And, finally: Saudi Arabia casts itself as the United States' main ally in the Middle East. It buys inordinate quantities of American weapons and is flooded with American advisers.

Now, with the support of what is known as the "Mecca agreement," and with the official sponsorship of the Saudi government, Hamas can celebrate their victory in Mecca, which has paved the way to having their terrorist organization recognized internationally as the elected democratic representative of the Palestinian people.

That achievement was delivered to Hamas by the Saudi leadership.

The new "Palestinian unity government" will serve as a type of camouflage netting for Hamas, with formal Saudi backing.

The Israeli government miscalculated when it based its approach toward Hamas on its blind faith in the economic and political boycott.

Only two weeks ago, this reporter heard Israel's 83-year-old Deputy Prime Minister, Shimon Peres, the architect of the 1993 Oslo Accord, declare that "only with economics can we make peace." Peres went on to say that if members of terrorist groups perceive economic incentives, they will cease to be terrorists.

Peres, not a religious man, has never understood the tenacity of a terrorist movement which is grounded in religion -- not only in prosperity.

David Bedein is Bureau Chief, Israel Resource News Agency. (http://Israelbehindthenews.com). Contact him by email at media@actcom.co.il

To Go To Top

BUSH SPEECH ON IRAQ; UNIFIL VS. HIZBULLAH
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, February 12, 2007.

WHAT DOES P.A. THINK OF ITS U.S. BENEFACTORS?

The P.A. names summer camps after terrorists who kill Israelis and Americans. The P.A. still pays homage to Saddam (IMRA, 1/11).

Why don't the US media ask the State Dept. whether it is wise militarily to subsidize Abbas, an ally of Saddam, who honors anti-American terrorists? All they seem to ask is couldn't the US press Israel more. But Israel is pro-US.

SECURITY COUNCIL ON IRAN

The Security Council passed a resolution reiterating the old, non-enforced demands that Iran stand down from its nuclear weapons development. The Council and the Intl. Atomic Energy Agency made those demands repeatedly. Iran ignores the deadlines for compliance. The last deadline was August 31.

Penalties are minor and the sanctions specify only a few individuals and companies and exempts the big Russian nuclear project in Iran. Not specified are dozens of companies and thousands of individuals involved.

Farcical sanctions have no chance of dissuading defiant Iran, now in the home stretch of nuclear weapons development (IMRA, 1/11).

PRES. BUSH'S 1/10 SPEECH ON IRAQ

He spelled out most of his plans and the rationale for them. He took responsibility for mistakes in US policy. He did not specify the detail of his plan to embed more US troops in the Iraqi Army. If too spread out, they would be subject to assassination.

In my opinion, it was a good speech. His opponents complain in vague generalities and not how their plan would unfold. Neither do they comment enough about the specifics of his plan. Their plans, basically to evacuate soon, would bring disaster, as Pres. Bush explained. If we don't fight the terrorists abroad, they will come here to fight us. Better keep the war offshore.

My concern is that the US government's execution is not as good as its plan.

UNIFIL VS. HIZBULLAH

IDF officers said that units from Italy, France, and Spain physically confronted Hizbullah, and kept Hizbullah from setting up border forts, again. But UNIFIL's commander threatened to shoot down IDF jets and said UNIFIL would not automatically open fire upon Hizbullah men moving to attack Israel (IMRA, 1/11).

Richard Shulman is a veteran defender of Israel on several web-based forums. His comments and analyses appear often on Think-Israel. He provides cool information and right-on-target overviews. He distributes his essays by email. To subscribe, write him at richardshulman5@verizon.net

To Go To Top

WHY HAMAS CAME OUT CLEAR WINNER FROM MECCA
Posted by Bryna Berch, February 12, 2007.

This was written by Khaled Abu Toameh and it appeared yesterday in the Jerusalem Post.

Hamas leaders have every reason to laugh all the way back from Mecca to Damascus and the Gaza Strip. The unity government agreement they signed with Fatah on Thursday, which has become known as the Mecca Accord, does not require Hamas to make any far-reaching concessions.

As one Hamas leader in Gaza City put it, "Fatah made 90 percent of the concessions, while Hamas made only 10%."

Moreover, the same deal reached in Mecca could have been struck several months ago, when Hamas and Fatah launched the unity talks.

Some senior Fatah officials who participated in the Mecca summit admitted over the weekend that it was their party, and not Hamas, that was forced to compromise on most of the sticking points.

The officials even went so far as to criticize the Saudis for exerting heavy pressure on Palestinian Authority Chairman and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas to abandon some of his previous conditions for forming a unity government.

"On Thursday evening, the Saudis told us that we [had] only two hours to sign an agreement and that they [wouldn't] accept any excuses," a top Fatah official told The Jerusalem Post. "It was a real threat that made President Abbas very nervous and forced him to accept almost all of Hamas's conditions."

A careful reading of the understandings between the two parties shows that Fatah has moved closer to Hamas, and not vice-versa. The Palestinians' general impression is that Abbas was forced to sign after all his US-backed attempts to weaken or topple the Hamas-led government failed.

Abbas is now likely to face trouble from within his Fatah party. Some "young guard" Fatah leaders are said to be disappointed with the "humiliating" deal which, in their view, turns Fatah into a "junior partner" in a Hamas-led government.

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas listens to Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal during their meeting in Mecca. (Photo: AP)

Why the agreement is perceived as a victory for Hamas:

1. Hamas will still head the new unity government. A better deal could have been achieved several weeks ago when Hamas expressed its readiness to cede control over the premiership in favor of an independent figure.

2. The disputed Interior Ministry, which is formally in charge of the Palestinian security forces, will also remain in the hands of Hamas. True, incumbent Interior Minister Said Siam will be removed from his job, but his successor -- according to the deal -- will be chosen by Hamas. In previous rounds of Fatah-Hamas negotiations, Hamas seemed willing to also cede control over this ministry.

3. Fatah will not have control over two key cabinet portfolios -- Foreign Affairs and Finance. These posts will be given to "independent" legislators Ziad Abu Amr and Salaam Fayad, who will work under Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh.

4. Hamas's 4,000-strong paramilitary Executive Force will be incorporated into the Palestinian security forces, which means that their salaries will be paid by the US and the European Union. This is the same force that was recently outlawed by Abbas and condemned by his aides as a "bunch of murderers and gangsters."

Prior to the Mecca Accord, Abbas's uncompromising position was that the Executive Force should be dismantled.

5. Abbas has been forced to accept Hamas's stance that the new unity government would be required to "respect," rather than "abide" by previous agreements between the PLO and Israel. This has been Hamas's position all along and is the main reason for the failure of the Damascus summit between Abbas and exiled Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal several weeks ago.

Hamas's major concern is that by committing itself to previous agreements with Israel, first and foremost the Oslo Accords, it would be seen as having recognized both Israel's right to exist and the two-state solution. The ambiguous wording of the Mecca Accord allows Hamas enough room to argue that it is only required to acknowledge the fact that the agreements with Israel are part of the reality on the ground.

6. To avoid alienating Hamas, the word "Israel" was not mentioned in the Mecca Accord or in public statements by Hamas, Fatah, and Saudi government officials. As Hamas spokesman Ismail Radwan explained over the weekend, "Hamas's position remains firm and unchanged: we will never recognize the legitimacy of the Zionist entity."

7. The agreement makes no reference to the future of the Middle East peace process or the need to halt attacks on Israel. Surprisingly, neither Abbas nor Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz referred to these issues in their public speeches.

While the accord explicitly emphasizes the need to end internecine fighting among the Palestinians, there is no call on Hamas and other radical groups to renounce violence, including suicide bombings and rocket attacks, as demanded by the Quartet.

8. The Mecca summit has enhanced Hamas's role as a major political force in the Middle East. The fact that Hamas leaders are put on equal footing with the heads of the Saudi royal family and the Palestinian Authority carries symbolic importance.

9. The agreement has effectively buried any chance of dismantling the Hamas-led government, at least in the next three years.

Abbas's threat to call early parliamentary and presidential elections has gone down the drain.

10. By signing the unity government deal, Hamas has also strengthened its standing among the Palestinians. From now on, no one can accuse Hamas of "monopolizing" power and refusing to share powers with other political factions. Hamas had been held responsible for instigating civil war in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Now, many Palestinians are praising the group for making painful "sacrifices" for the sake of national unity.

11. Hamas's status among the Palestinians is likely to be further strengthened once the Quartet and Israel officially reject the Mecca deal. Such a rejection will seriously embarrass Abbas and his Saudi hosts in the eyes of the Palestinian and Arab masses.

Hamas will then be able to argue that the world does not want to see unity and harmony among the Palestinians, because the true goal of the international community is to overthrow the democratically elected government and extract political concessions from the Palestinians.

12. According to Hamas officials, the new Hamas-led coalition will receive up to a billion dollars from Saudi Arabia. The officials hope that other oil-rich Arab and Islamic countries, as well as some European governments, will follow suit and pour millions of dollars on the new government, effectively ending the international sanctions.

13. Hamas returned from Mecca with a pledge from Abbas that the Fatah-dominated PLO would open its doors for the Islamic movement to join the organization. This will turn Hamas into the second largest faction in the PLO after Fatah, and Mashaal will become Abbas's deputy once a deal is finalized.

14. The agreement does not call for any changes in the Hamas-dominated Palestinian Legislative Council.

This means that the unity government will constantly be under the threat of losing in a no-confidence vote in parliament if Hamas does not approve its policies.

To Go To Top

IN TEL AVIV THEY CALLED HER 'A STINKING JEW'
Posted by Bryna Berch, February 12, 2007.

This was written by Yael Branovsky. It appeared today in Ynet News
(www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3363907,00.html).

Here is a phenomenon that none of the authorities in Israel want to deal with: Anti-Semitism by people who have come from the Soviet Union, and who use the word 'Jew' as a legitimate curse. Number of incidents is on the rise

"I was walking my dog in Tel Aviv. When I went to cross the street there was a drunk- looking man standing next to me. My dog got scared and started to bark at him. I apologized and continued walking. I suddenly felt someone push me and I fell on the floor. The drunken man pushed me to the ground, took the leash and started to choke the dog. He was screaming at me "Stinking Zhidovka! (A derogatory name for a Jew in Russian). You Jews destroyed Russia and disturb all the normal people living here". (Ella Shapira, a Russian immigrant)

Anti-Semitism? In Israel? Everyone is very worried about the rise of anti-Semitism around the world, yet recently there have been many headlines about anti-Semitic incidents here in Israel. Swastikas painted onto synagogues, desecration of headstones -- these are no longer the legacy of the Jew in exile. The latest serious incident occurred in Bat Yam, where a group of teenagers burned an Israeli flag and mezuzahs.

One place that keeps hearing about these types of incidents is the organization "Dmir Assistance in Absorption", the assistance center for victims of anti-Semitism.

"Everyone sweeps the issue of anti-Semitism in Israel under the rug" says Zalman Glichevsky, the president of the organization. "There is a leading skinhead website, and I discovered that they have a discussion group which includes Russian speakers from Israel". Glichevsky, who immigrated to Israel in the early nineties, began to investigate the matter. He put an ad in a newspaper for Russian speakers and appealed to anyone who had ever experienced anti-Semitism in Israel.


Swastika drawn in Petach Tikva synagogue (Photo: Ofer Amram)

Russian immigrants beating Jewish immigrants

"To my surprise", he tells, "I received hundreds of responses and I continue to receive them today. Over time I have collected a large archive of incidents. The police barely do anything, and in the majority of instances there is no report or publicity. Sometimes people call us to report an incident- but what can we do? We come, take some pictures, and put the report on our website".

Ella Shapira from Tel Aviv is a veteran immigrant who came to Israel in 1976 from Leningrad. In her hometown, she was not able to pursue a career or get accepted to a university because she was a Jew. She personally experienced anti-Semitism and hoped that she could forget this unpleasant experience upon her arrival in Israel.

However she can tell of the many hateful utterances she has heard in the Russian stores, in public parks, or just in the streets. One incident, in 2001, even became physical, when a drunken man attacked her and yelled Russian slurs at her. "I walked in the streets and cried. "To where have we come, if in the Jewish state they humiliate me because I am Jewish", she says.

Shapira is angered by the comprehensive disregard of the problem. "This is a subject that no one likes or is afraid to speak of. For the workers in the Jewish Agency, bringing new immigrants to Israel is a good business, many people profit from it. But they are bringing people who have no connection to Judaism, and some who have been brought up to hate it. I often encounter these situations. My outer appearance does not reveal my origins. Thus, a few weeks ago I went into a clothing store and the two saleswomen began to talk about me in Russian: 'Here is a dirty Jew, she is going to touch everything and make it dirty.' They were shocked when I answered them in Russian and explained to them that it is forbidden to speak that way".

"I once heard a group of kids next to a school, cursing each other with the words "stinking Jew". I decided that I had to approach them and find out why they had so much hatred towards Jews. They explained that until they came to Israel, they had no idea that they had any Jewish blood. Their parents and relatives, including those who had come to Israel- hated Jews...the word "Jew" in Russia was considered a bad word. Most of them were embarrassed to be Jews, hated it and learned from the Russians to hate Jews".

Zalman Glichevsky says that he has tried to raise awareness among politicians, but most of his petitions were unanswered. "They simply do not want to harm the image of Israel. They have invested a lot in the image of Israel as a refuge from anti-Semitism. If there is more anti-Semitism here than in some other countries, then what is the point of the state of Israel?" He also warns: "anti-Semites who live in Israel and want to harm Jews can do it very easily. If in Russia the neo-nazis walk around with knives, here they have access to real weapons because they serve in the IDF".

'What I have experienced here, I never experienced in the Soviet Union'

The story of B., who a few years ago conducted a "battle" against her anti-Semitic neighbor and did not receive any support from the authorities, is another example of the festering anti-Semitism under our feet. She arrived 17 years ago to a neighborhood in the south of the country, and suffered anti-Semitism from her Russian-speaking neighbors, who were not Jewish.

Her complaints to the authorities were not answered, the officials did not want to recognize the fact that anti-Semitism exists in Israel, they simply recommended that she "move and stop dealing with this matter".

Today she lives in the same apartment, but feels very disappointed that she was not able to find an answer to her problem. She says that in the past few years she has heard a lot of anti-Semitic messages, but she is no longer able to fight the battle, since she claims she did not receive appropriate support from the government.

"The person who harassed me has moved somewhere else, but there are thousands like her", says B. "This is a problem for the country where these people are given opportunity after opportunity. The police do not want to get involved and they (the anti-Semites) do not let us live. When I came to this country I was younger and I thought that this was a democratic country. Now I am sure that you cannot change anything...what I experienced here, I did not even experience in the Soviet Union...I hope that I will have the chance to escape from here. The only thing that is keeping me here is my children and grandchildren".

The web site of the Jewish Agency fervently keeps track of anti-Semitic incidents around the world. The president of Israel even congratulated the site for this activity. Zalman's organization decided to take advantage of President Katzav's involvement and a few years ago sent him a letter explaining that the problem of anti-Semitism also exists in Israel. He responded that he is aware of this problem, but the matter is not in his realm of treatment.

The Responses: The Police are dealing with it

The spokesman for the Ministry of Internal Security, Yehuda Maman, explained to Ynet "any instance of vandalism or harming government symbols is dealt with by the police. The Minister for Internal Security, Avi Dichter, is leading the minister's committee in a struggle against violence. His flagship project, which has been approved, by the minister's committee and the government is 'a city without violence'.

The project is being run in Eilat and will soon be expanded to ten other cities, including mixed cities and one Arab city. The struggle against violence, including harming state symbols, is not only the responsibility of law enforcement agencies; it begins with education at home, and formal and informal education. It begins with an understanding that these occurrences are unacceptable and that everything must be done to uproot them at the source. All of us as a society have to do more to eradicate this phenomenon".

Michal Chaim, a spokeswoman for the police, said "every instance of incitement and Anti-Semitic racism is examined by the Ministry of Justice and the police work according to their instructions, and in instances of damage- we open an investigation when they are referred to us".

To Go To Top

STRAIGHT TO THE MOON
Posted by Women in Green, February 12, 2007.

This was written by Sarah Honig and it appeared February 9, 2007 in the Jerusalem Post.

Israeli escapism knows no bounds. A thousand of our compatriots have actually purchased plots (obviously sight unseen) on the moon. The more this world's affairs frustrate and discourage, the more attractive it all looks out there -- a substitute reality to which folks can flee when this one becomes too dispiriting to contend with.

The fact that it's not a very practical alternative doesn't dim the allure. Self-delusion defies empirical yardsticks. That's why the single most unparalleled failure ever produced by Israeli politics -- before Ehud Olmert's ascent -- is back as the new great Jewish hope.

Yes, ex-prime minister Ehud Barak is mind-bogglingly attempting yet another grab for the national helm. The incontrovertible flunky who once already took us on a white-knuckle ride to the moon proposes to take us for yet another ride, and all too many among us -- from fair-weather political allies to fickle followers-of-fads and memory-impaired rank-and-filers -- are unbelievably lining up to buy tickets and boost his dodgy venture.

It's no coincidence that one of Barak's first moves as prime minister in 1999 was to announce, with one of his broadest self-satisfied grins, that he had revived Bill Clinton's solemn undertaking (a reward for expected Israeli territorial concessions?) to have NASA train a sabra space cadet and take him for a cosmic spin.

Thereby Barak was sure to put a proud lump in our collective throat and hopefully get us to overlook more earthly existential anxieties -- like buses which exploded everywhere around us on his watch.

After all, the Americans had already hosted a Saudi at the final frontier, so Barak was set to rectify the insufferable blow to our national ego, while publicly massaging his own. The Israeli-astronaut carrot was first solicited from Clinton by Barak's predecessor, the indefatigable visionary Shimon Peres, but it was left to Barak -- whose electoral campaign was unabashedly abetted by Clinton -- to wax triumphant about dispatching the ill-fated Ilan Ramon to Houston. The Trekkie-generation plebeians' role was to be awed by Barak launching us into a new era, just as he promised.

AND, TRUE to since-repudiated form, unrepentant Barak keeps promising again. What's most astounding is that the most ardent sponsor of Barak's return to the Defense Ministry is none other than Olmert, Barak's most serious competitor for the "most-incompetent premier" title.

Why is Barak so urgently needed as Israel's defense chief? Because of the mess Amir Peretz made of last summer's conflict in Lebanon (as if Olmert weren't every bit as culpable for the fiasco). But the original sin for the ignominy and damage to Israel's military deterrence cannot in all fairness be attributed to either Olmert or Peretz. The flop was triggered by our very own intergalactic hero himself, Barak Skywalker.

His midnight flight from Lebanon in May 2000 awarded Hizbullah its first claim to victory. The perception that terror can defeat "the Zionist entity" was primarily what scotched even Barak's egregious (if not obsequious) territorial generosity and ignited the October 2000 intifada.

Barak's reckless retreat emboldened Hizbullah to stockpile rockets with which to hold at least the entire northern third of Israel hostage. It began while Barak was in office, but rather than admit the danger, he pulled the wool over his increasingly vulnerable nation's eyes to enable him to boast about one single achievement -- extricating Israel from Lebanon's mire.

Fate left it to Olmert and Peretz to foot Barak's bill. The fact that they reentered Lebanon in the clumsiest and most vacillating manner imaginable doesn't reduce Barak's initial responsibility.

Worst of all is that Barak knew full well he was gambling with the nation's most vital security interests, and all for nothing but image enhancement. It was just another instance of his penchant for playing fast and loose with the truth and saying what his media cheerleading squad hankered to resonate.

For years said cheerleaders loudly amplified left-wing agitation to abandon the Lebanese front to Hizbullah's moderation and goodwill. Skewed press coverage made the Four Mothers' and Women in Black's cant trendily de rigueur.

Before he threw his hat in the ring, Barak was amazingly able to discern the folly of unilateral withdrawal. On TV (Popolitika, February 3, 1997) he branded all talk of such pullback as "grossly irresponsible. It'll strengthen Hizbullah, cause us more causalities and send more Israelis to their graves... Clearly, without an agreement -- one to which Syria acquiesces -- there are no terms and no withdrawal!"

How well we now know how undeniably right the 1997 Barak was. By the 1999 campaign, however, he vowed to "take the IDF out of Lebanon -- with or without a deal -- within a year." That was what his patron Clinton wanted to hear, what Clinton's spin-docs advised Barak to proclaim and what the court-journalists applauded.

This of course was only one of the messages which Barak disingenuously custom-designed for specific audiences that election season. He had loads of such messages, each as cynical as the next.

Indeed, as state comptroller Eliezer Goldberg later judged, Barak's was the most corrupt campaign to date, featuring what Goldberg called the "greatest political scam ever." He fined Labor a whopping NIS 13.8 million ($3.2 million) for an unprecedented network of bogus NGOs used to funnel cash illicitly into Barak's campaign coffers.

Barak never cooperated with the police but incredibly got away unscathed.

He now tells us he's a changed man. Though he had the prominent mole on his face removed, it would serve us to suspect any additional changes, and particularly distrust his renascent pledges to boldly beam us where no Israeli has gone before.

His assurances are better regarded as threats -- incomparably more menacing than Ralph Kramden's "bang, zoom, straight to the moon."

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

To Go To Top

BOWING TO THE ENEMY
Posted by Paula R. Stern, February 12, 2007.

This is archived at
http://www.paulasays.com/articles/on_my_mind/bowing_enemy.html

If we Jews learn only one lesson about our relations with other religions and nations from the Holocaust, it must be that there can be no future for the ghetto Jew. With our backs to the wall and the enemy at the gates, the ghetto was a haven, a place in which our only hope was to survive today. There was no tomorrow in the ghetto, no future beyond the moment.

As a nation, Israel is blessed not only to have survived yesterday, but to be given the opportunity to plan for and even create our tomorrows. Sometimes, a look back is all that is needed to help guide us to that future. We need to remember that those that emerged from the fires of Europe joined together with those who had lived here for generations, and the Jewish community in Palestine grew. After the establishment of Israel in 1948, this growing number was joined by hundreds of thousands of Jews from Arab countries who fled or were forced to leave their homes and possessions.

What is forgotten, too often, is that this massive ingathering strengthened a community of Jews who had managed to survive in an unbroken presence. This is the truth that Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would deny. There never was a time, in all the two thousand years between the Roman conquest and our reestablishing Israel that there wasn't a Jewish presence here in Israel. There never was a time that Jews throughout the world didn't turn daily to Israel in prayer and yearning. And, it was those daily prayers as much as the world's reaction to the Holocaust and as much as the Haganah victories that ensured the rebirth of Israel.

This is something we need to repeat again and again, each time the Arabs propagate their Big Lie that their claim to this land is older, deeper, or more just. If there is a mistruth in the Middle East today, it is about the history of the Palestinian people, not the Jews. It is they who are the newcomers here, they who did not exist a mere century ago. Their roots are shallow, their ties weak, and worst of all, their contributions to this land's development almost non-existent when held in comparison to what the Jewish people have brought to this land.

We built Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. We drained the swamps in the north and established the beautiful city of Haifa. We made the desert bloom and created an internationally known resort in Eilat. We have created, shaped, planted, invested, loved and cherished this land through the millennia -- only us. Only Israel, among all the nations of the world, can claim a great number of trees today than a century ago. It was Israel and the Jews who built hospitals with international reputations, where people from around the world come to seek our assistance.

That there is today a Palestinian people is undeniable and that they have rights, as all humans do, is also not something that we as a people can or should deny. But we do not have to let them attempt to birth their nation by denying ours. The ongoing destruction of Jewish facts underground on the Temple Mount is just one example among dozens of the Arab attempt to destroy and deny what is obvious and easily proven. Their goal is to deny our connection to the land but you only have to dig a little bit to uncover it. The ground does not hide, nor does it lie. And so, the Arabs will riot, lest we continue to uncover more proof amidst the digging below the Mughrabi ramp. That is the true reason the Arabs are rioting and protesting. It has nothing to do with the status quo.

Again and again, we allow the Palestinians to publish lies and mistruths and the world believes. When they claimed that we had killed a Palestinian family on a beach in Gaza, the world believed and the Israeli government tripped all over itself until days later it became clear that we were not responsible. When Mohammed al-Dura was murdered by Palestinians during a firefight with Israel (and all circumstances of his death suggest a massive manipulation of the facts), Israel apologized first and only then began an investigation which would show that only through the breaking of most of the laws of physics was it possible that Israelis were responsible.

German and French investigations concurred that Israeli soldiers were not responsible, and still, to this day, there are those who continue to lie about who really killed Mohammed al-Dura. In Jenin, during a military operation that cost the lives of 52 Palestinians (the vast majority armed and engaged in the battle), Palestinians immediately went into high gear to condemn the massacre of as many as 5,000 individuals. The UN condemned, Israel promised to investigate, and months later, quietly, the Palestinians confirmed what Israel had been saying all along. There never was a massacre in Jenin, just a battle between soldiers and armed terrorists hiding, as they often do, in a civilian neighborhood.

Amidst a massive and successful propaganda machine, the single message that we must deliver to the Palestinians and to the nations of the world is so very simple. We don't live in the ghetto anymore.

From 1948 to 1967, Jews were denied the right to pray at the Western Wall and on the Temple Mount. The world was silent to this ethnic and religious discrimination. The Vatican was silent to this religious atrocity. In 1967, Jordan chose to attack Israel in a show of solidarity with Egypt and Syria. In so doing, a third front was opened in the war, and Israel pushed the Jordanian army back beyond the Jordan River and claimed all of Jerusalem.

In a clear victory for the ghetto, the Temple Mount, the single most important and holy site in Judaism, was turned over to the Arabs, leaving us with security control only and opening the door to Arabs once again denying us our right to visit and pray in our holy places.

A few years ago, a ramp beside the Western Wall collapsed during winter rains. It is thought that a previous earthquake and repeated illegal construction by Arabs on the Temple Mount created the weakness that contributed to the collapse of the Rambam Gate (also known as the Mughrabi Gate). This gate was used by Arabs, Jews and tourists to allow access to the Temple Mount.

Realizing the area was unsafe and in danger of further collapse, Israel quickly constructed a temporary ramp to replace the one that had fallen. Now, years later, Israel is acting to build a more permanent structure, and the Arabs are once again rioting. They say we are changing the status quo and, of course, our leaders and the world are quick to believe the lies.

In the last few years, Palestinians have been digging below the Temple Mount, emptying the area known as Solomon's Stables to create yet another mosque. This is certainly a violation of the status quo the Palestinians are so bemoaning today. After closing the Temple Mount to Jewish visitors, another violation of the status quo, the area was eventually reopened with the stipulation that Jews be allowed to visit, but not pray. A Jew who closes his eyes and silently mumbles a prayer on the Temple Mount will be forcefully and efficiently dragged out of the area, less it insult the sensibilities of the Moslems. This too is a violation of the status quo.

It is they who created the collapse of the Southern Wall -- and it is the world and our government that has allowed ongoing illegal digging and destruction of archeological treasures proving Jewish claims to the Temple Mount.

Insult upon insult has been heaped upon our legitimate claims to the areas. It is the Arabs who build their mosques on top of our holiest sites, as they did in Hebron, in Jerusalem, in Nablus, and in countless other places. Amir Peretz, ever one to bow in the face of international pressure, has once again offered his backside to the world in his latest call to stop construction of the ramp. It is only the latest example of why this government must fall.

Until we rid ourselves of the ghetto mentality, until we show that we are worthy of this land and will do all to protect our right to live and pray in all areas, we are condemned to watch the world believe the lies of the Palestinians. So long as Peretz and Peres and Olmert bow to our enemies in weakness, our holiest places will be desecrated, our cities targeted with rockets and bombs, and our civilians endangered by a weak government and army.

How is it possible, I keep asking myself, that a nation as strong as this one can be lead by such incompetent and weak fools? Sadly, the answer lies in the ghetto mentality that plagues this government and our leaders.

Contact Paula Stern at writepnt@actcom.co.il

To Go To Top

JEWISH OIL FIELDS; TIME FOR JEWISH RIOTS; THREAT OF POST-ZIONISM
Posted by Steven Shamrak, February 11, 2007.

Jewish Oil Fields.
by Thomas Koch.

In 1978-80 Israel made criminal surrender of 23,000 square miles of Sinai real estate and Sinai oil fields. The Jewish oil fields have become the uplifting crown jewel of Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

As the price has risen from then $10 to $100 and those Jewish oil revenues continue to flow daily and yearly to Hamas, Hezbollah, Fatah and sundry destructive groups through the secret subsidization agreement quietly written between Egypt and OPEC at the time of Camp David ploy.

Now a Nazi-Swastika Hamas state has emerged in Gaza placed there by the White House and the Quartet! Egypt and Hamas are increasingly appearing as joint-partners in their Rafah-Ramalllah alliance for coming attacks with missiles and bullets.

Food for Thought.
by Steven Shamrak

Every year 200 million people migrate in the world. Every year 50 million displaced and resettled world-wide. Why is it such a problem to move several million Arabs from the Jewish land and achieve peace in the Middle East?

Honesty at Last. There is no correlation between efforts to promote negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians and the troubles in Iraq, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told the House Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday. "I don't wish to suggest that we think if we do that (resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict), we're going to get something for it in some other part of the diplomacy (Iraq)." However, the U.S. does plan to launch a fresh diplomatic initiative aimed at reinvigorating 'the peace process'. (Clearly, hypocrisy is still alive!)

What Is the Oslo War For? The Saudis notified the Bush administration before the Mecca reconciliation summit, that the Palestinian accord for a coalition government sponsored by Riyadh will not meet a key Middle East Quartet condition for its recognition: The new government will not accept past accords, including peace agreements the Palestinian Liberation Organization signed with Israel. (It is time to forgot about Oslo, Road Map and get rid of Arabs who are occupying Jewish Land and do not appreciate Israel's sincere moves for peace!) After summit in Mecca: t he new PA unity government will not recognize Israel's right to exist, will not renounce terrorism or violence and will not accept the already signed agreements! (Israel must respond by tearing those useless agreements too and by getting rid of our enemies once and for all!)

Another Delusional in the Government. Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said on Friday "Peace is, I believe, feasible and achievable." (There is only one area both terror groups, Fatah and Hamas, are in agreement -- Their desire to destroy Israel.)

Time for Jewish Riots! Israeli archaeologists complained, not for the first time, that more must be done to protect Jewish artefacts from construction work by the Muslim Waqf, which controls the Temple Mount. "The Waqf has acted terribly, taking thousands of tons of artefacts from the First Temple, the Second Temple, as well as Muslim artefacts, and throwing them away," said Dr. Eilat Mazar from Hebrew University. "They want to turn the whole of the Temple Mount into a mosque for Muslims only. They don't care about the artefacts or heritage on the site."

Improvement in Terror. Terrorist faction Islamic Jihad has announced that it has begun using a new, improved launcher to shoot rockets at Israelis. The new launcher can fire six rockets simultaneously, whereas earlier models could only shoot one at a time. The organization nearly doubled the twenty kilometres range of earlier models.

Saving Lives of the Enemies. Arab victims of bitter Gaza fighting between Fatah and Hamas loyalists are being given medical care at the hands of their traditional enemy -- Israel. A total of 10 people wounded in fighting have come to Israel for treatment.

Quote of the Week. "Be most careful not to make a treaty with the people who live in the land to which you are coming, since they can be a fatal trap to you. But you will destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves." -- Exodus 34:12,13 -- Please, read your Torah or Bible attentively.

Preparation for a War. Five Iranian weapons experts, including an Iranian general, were caught in a raid by Fatah in Gaza. One Iranian committed suicide during the operation. The PA government is setting up a new military infrastructure for a serious confrontation with Israel. It is digging combat tunnels, improving rocket performance and quantity, and collecting weapons, mainly antitank and antiaircraft missiles. The tunnels will allow mobility of underground movement to the expected points of battle. The fighters will be able to surface quickly, launch missiles or rockets and disappear at any spot.

Olmert: New Corruption Allegations. According to the allegations, Olmert allegedly used his influence while serving as trade and industry minister to ensure a government grant for 7,500,000 shekels (about 1.7 million US dollars) for a mushroom factory to a party member.

Endless Futility. Attorney General Menachem Mazuz decided to allow Knesset Member Azmi Bishara to appear on Hizbullah's Al-Manar TV station.

Compensation is Long Overdue. Moshe Saperstein was attacked in February 2002 by gunmen who sprayed his car with AK-47 rounds, wounding him in the hand. Saperstein, who has dual U.S. and Israeli citizenship, claimed that the PA and the PLO were complicit in the attack. A federal jury in Miami awarded $16 million to an American who claimed that Palestinian groups backed a terrorist attack in Israel in which he was injured. (It is time for Israeli government to award all victims of Arab terrorism and pay them compensation from withheld PA funds!)

Jewish Contribution to Humanity. Arthur Kornberg (March, 1918) is an American biochemist who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1959 for his discovery of "the mechanisms in the biological synthesis of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)"

Making the World Secure. An Israeli-developed system for identifying potential security threats has been adopted at Miami International Airport to help keep Super Bowl and other visitors to South Florida safe. System outlines a long list of behavioral cues that should draw the attention of everyone working at the airport.

University Burns. Security force members loyal to Fatah stormed the Hamas-aligned Islamic University, setting the library and other buildings on fire. At least 15 people were killed, including a 7-year-old boy. (Before 1967 there were no universities in Gaza, Judea and Smaria. Now Arabs started to destroy the education system so many naively thought would end Arab-Israel conflict.)

Leftists on Rampage. Arabs and leftists uprooted a Jewish orchard and went on to plant olive trees in a Jewish community on the Jewish "New Year of Trees", Tu B'Shvat. The destroyed orchard, consisted of apple, cherry, pomegranate, pear, carob and olive trees. One left-wing activist hit a security guard with his car.

Threat of Post-Zionism.
by Ezra HaLevi

Having outlined the threat of Iranian nuclear attack, and the greater threat of Iranian proliferation of nuclear weapons among Islamic terror groups, Prof. Aumann, of the Center for the Study of Rationality at Jerusalem's Hebrew University, shifted his focus midway to what he said poses an even more serious threat to the Jewish nation: post-Zionism.

"The name of the game in game theory is motivation, incentives. Earlier, we discussed the motivations of those standing on the opposite side. Motivating ourselves is the most important thing, and the thing we are losing the most. Without motivation, we will not endure. What are we doing here? Why are we here? What are we aspiring to here? We are here because we are Jewish, we are Zionist, because of our ancient bond to this land; we aspire to realize our 2,000-year-old hope of becoming a free nation in our land, the Land of Zion and Jerusalem. Without this profound understanding, we will not endure. We will simply no longer be here; post-Zionism will finish us off."

"Roadmaps, capitulation, gestures, disengagements, convergences, deportations, and so forth do not bring peace. On the contrary, they bring war, just as we saw last summer. These things send a clear signal to our 'cousins' [the Arabs -ed.] that we are tired, that we no longer have spiritual strength, that we have no time, that we are calling for a time-out. They only whet their appetites. It only encourages them to pressure us more, to demand more, and not to give up on anything..."

"...we must tell our 'cousins' that we are staying here. We are not moving. We have time; we have patience; we have stamina. Understand this and internalize it. And we must not simply say it to our cousins but feel it within ourselves..."

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

To Go To Top

IF I RAN FOR THE OFFICE OF PM
Posted by Yuval Zaliouk, February 11, 2007.

People often ask me what is my solution to the Middle East conflict. My response is always why must there be a solution? What is the hurry? Why should we show such eagerness if our enemies do not?

It is clear to me that genuine peace can only come on the day when all her enemies are convinced that Israel is forever indestructible.

Israel is facing many acute challenges that need urgent immediate attention, long before national energies and resources are spent on imaginary "peace now." Tenuous peace, particularly of the kind forced on Israel by outsiders, should never be a priority. On the contrary, as recent history has already proven, "peace plans" of this kind must be vigorously resisted by Israel as they can only lead to its ultimate annihilation.

Furthermore, of course Israel's security is of paramount importance, but the painful sacrifices are worth it only if its citizens know what they are fighting for and what values they are called upon to protect.

Israel's resolve and confidence have suffered serious blows since the critical mistake of the 1993 Oslo Accords. Before peace can be achieved, if at all, Israelis must first know who they are and what they are doing in the Land of Israel. They must repossess their values. This can only be achieved by reconnecting to Israel's Jewish and Zionist heritage.

Here are some of the main points I would offer as my platform had I ran for office. My promise to the voters would be never to compromise any of these points:

* Israel is the eternal homeland of the Jewish People wherever they are.
* The territory of Israel stretches from the Jordan River to the sea and from the Golan to the Red Sea and includes Judea and Samaria.
* Israel's 1949 Armistice Lines are null and void.
* The security fence will be torn down.
* The eternal Capital of Israel is Jerusalem.
* There is no room for another country within the above borders.
* Israel will not actively seek peace with its enemies until they recognize its existence within its borders.
* Jewish settlement of the entire Land of Israel is a top national priority and will be encouraged and financially supported.
* Hebrew is the official language of Israel.
* Israel grants full equality before the law to all its loyal citizens.
* Non Jewish citizens must accept the destiny of the Jewish State, its culture, traditions and beliefs.
* Just like Americans and citizens of all countries, only those who take a loyalty oath to the Jewish State of Israel and its principals, will be considered loyal citizens.
* All Knesset members must be loyal to Israel's values and aspirations.
* A Constitution based on the above principals must be introduced.
* The State of Israel will encourage and welcome non Jews who wish to become Jewish, emigrate to Israel and accept its destiny.
* Special official State conversion schools will be established for that purpose.
* Jewish education will become top priority. All public grade schools will be required to teach the Bible, Talmud, Jewish heritage, history and literature.
* General education, with emphasis on exact sciences, is also a top priority. Free education for all will be guaranteed from grade school through a university BA degree.
* Israel's economy is based on the principles of free market economy.
* Poverty is unacceptable. All those who are capable must work.
* Those below a certain level of income, the handicapped and the sick, are guaranteed full health insurance and livable income from the State.
* Crime will have zero tolerance. The police force will be increased and trained with the aim of eradicating crime.
* Corruption will also have zero tolerance and will be punished with the utmost severity.
* Israel will seek open cooperation and commerce with all countries of the world without exception.

There are many other issues worthy of attention, but for now I think my platform can ensure Israel's strength and security for generations to come. Is this not what we all wish for?

Yuval Zaliouk writes the Truth Provider columns. To subscribe, send an email to ynz@netvision.net.il

To Go To Top

A WORLD IN PAIN LOOKING FOR A SOLUTION -- A FINAL SOLUTION?
Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, February 11, 2007.

A soft world is looking for a soft solution --

Great civilizations have become extinct as they grew soft, decadent and unwilling to face adversaries. One indicator of a nation or civilization spiraling downwards is when they avoid confronting adversaries and instead pick soft targets on which to vent their frustrations.

Presently, we see Muslims ramping up their savagery across the globe. Millions have migrated to the Free West and are rising up with violence of all kinds as they achieve "critical mass". Their victims like Eurabia, the U.S. led by the pro-Arab State Department and the Arab nations themselves fear confronting global terror. Instead they pick the Jewish nation as a soft and convenient solution. While the Muslims in Iraq, Iran, Syria, Afghanistan, Lebanon (and soon Saudi Arabia) are savaging each other and their host countries to which they migrated, the West wants to somehow blame Israel for Muslims claims.

The Europeans chose the soft target analogy when Adolph Hitler was butchering his way across Europe, these nations chose the Jews as their problem and their "Final Solution". Instead of turning furiously against Hitler's Army and Gestapo, the Europeans' solution was avoidance. Instead, they attacked their Jewish citizens. As we now know, it did not save these nations from Hitler's conquest and subsequent brutality.

Today, the Muslims are rising up, becoming the Islamic Nazis of our times. Instead of facing the problem, the nations have once again engaged in avoidance and transferred their frustration with Islamic extremism against the Jewish nation. Will it save them from Islam's march to world conquest? Not likely. Will these complacent nations be spared "Shari'a law" (strict Muslim law), head chopping or slavery as "dhimmis" (second-class citizens) pledged by the Mullahs and Ayatollahs? I don't think so.

The nations are immersed in what is called the Stockholm syndrome, wherein the victims adopt the roles and purposes of their captors. The result is that the productive and advanced civilization embodied in the Jewish State of Israel is to be subordinated -- even destroyed because the primitive society of Muslims cannot bear the comparison. The self-suicide carried out by the Israeli government against the 10,000 Jewish men, women and children of Gush Katif/Gaza and the 4 Northern Samaria communities is a gross example of that behavior. Look what it caused.

Can you name one Muslim or Arab country that is not a backward society usually controlled by some sort of dictatorship? But, because of oil, advanced civilization such as America, Europe, Asia genuflect to primitive Arab/Muslim nations -- even honoring their blood cult religion.

The World is in Pain and, as before, they think that sacrificing to a blood cult and their moon god, Allah, will relieve the pressure. Instead, the deeper they bow and scrape, the faster the Islamic rage and savagery grows. Granted that the unwillingness of the Jewish State to disappear is part (but only part) of this rage. The Muslims, denials notwithstanding, hate the Free West, their Judeo-Christian ethic and the fact that, by comparison, Islam is a savage and primitive society. In the seventh century the advancing Islamic armies were stopped at Tours, France by Charles Martel in 732 C.E. and rolled back to their originating lands.

Now, with oil revenues and burgeoning populations, they wish to not only return to previously conquered lands as mandated in the Koran but, to expand across Europe, Russia, China and America. IF the West confronts this threat with the goal to win, it will not be with surgical strikes without so-called collateral damage.

The Free West so far wants to avoid facing this entire society so they segment the danger by such titles as radical Islamists or extremists or insurgents. The fact is that it is all one unified matrix of hate. From the toddlers, teens and adults, they are taught to hate and look forward to Paradise when they kill what they call all infidels: non-believers in Islam whether they be Jews, Christians or other.

Their Mosques, Madrassas (Islamic schools) are merely outreach camps to insure indoctrination of Muslims who have migrated into host countries. Even when they believe they are peaceful, if the Mullahs call peace an excess baggage, even then second, third and fourth generation Muslims will act on what they have shown as their hatred for such societies as England, France and the Netherlands.

What then is the solution? Not the "Final Solution", I hope. For the more hostile nations such as Iran and Syria, Afghanistan we should deal with them as Charles Martel did at Tours, driving them back to the lands from whence they came. The Free West should deport en masse.

all the Islamists up to the fourth generation to the lands where Islam and "Jihad" (Holy War for Islam) is practiced. If the war passions their leaders who have WMD, especially nuclear weapons in the hands of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and chemical warheads in Bashar Assad hands cannot be controlled, then West must eliminate Iran and Syria. They are the breeding grounds for the radical Muslims who are sent into the West to form "sleeper cells" until their service to violence for Islam is required for suicide Terror attacks.

We of the Free Western nations are in a War -- not of our choosing. This is War of Civilizations. We can make excuses for our unwillingness to act and defend ourselves or accept the results of being conquered in a Jihad (Holy War) for world domination by Islam.

Please forward this to your list, the Media, the Congress, the State Department -- and in Israel to the Knesset and the Hebrew Media.

Emanuel Winston is a commentator and Middle East analyst. His articles appear often on Think-Israel and Gamla. He is a member of the Board of Directors and a research associate of the Freeman Center For Strategic Studies (http://www.freeman.org/online.htm). Contact him at gwinston@gwinston.interaccess.com

To Go To Top

NONIE DARWISH, FOUNDER: ARABSFORISRAEL.COM CALLS FOR ALL JEWS TO UNITE
Posted by Janet Lehr, February 11, 2007.

This comes from Roz Roth (rozrothst@aol.com) who is with stand with us (www.standwithus.com).

Nonie Darwish spoke at the Lincoln Square Synagogue, February 8, 2007

The New York night was bitter cold, not so the crowd inside the Lincoln Square Synagogue. Lincoln Square, the Synagogue where Rabbi Riskin, founder of Efrat, delivered his sermons to SRO crowds, Shabbos after Shabbos, throughout the 1970's.

As Egypt was once the most powerful nation in the world, where people spoke Egyptian and worshiped Egyptian G-ds -- Egypt is now of minor importance. All Egyptians now speak Arabic, Islam is the religion of the State and its people, Copts and Christians are an imperiled minority and all dissent is strictly forbidden. So too will Israel loose her entire identity should Islam triumph, should a 'one state solution' become 'the' solution. Darwish spoke to a throng of Jews and non-Jews, she told her story and pleaded that Jews unite for their very survival.

Hope Winters in her strong, effective introduction of Nonie Darwish told the acutely attentive audience that each of us, that any one person, can effect change, and that is so. Great movements have been initiated by single figures; Gandhi and Martin Luther King, were perhaps the most remarkable, as they commanded non-violent armies to victory, peaceably. Hope noted the breadth of the culture of hate and the spread of Holocaust denial; hate against Jews, hate against Christians, hate against Americans in the World Trade Center, hate against Americans in the Pentagon, against Brits in London and the Spanish in Madrid, hate against poor souls in Darfur -- A culture of hate pervades the world. Yet, even in the safety of this meeting, the speaker did not utter the name of this curse threatening the world, Islam. Until we put a face on our enemy, a name on our enemy, we will not be able to fight our enemy; our enemy is Islam. Say it, believe it, ISLAM BREEDS HATE, ISLAM TEACHES THEIR CHILDREN HATE, ISLAM SEALS ITSELF OFF FROM VIEW, ISLAM SEALS ITSELF OFF FROM CRITICISM; say it or it will drown you.

Nonie Darwish stood before the microphone. Without notes she spoke of her youth in Egypt and Gaza, her typical Muslim training, her hatred of the people Islam hated, hatred of the people her parents hated, hatred of Jews, hatred of Christians, hatred of all infidels. Her father a military leader, died at the hands of the Israeli military. Nonie said she was trained in the Koran, trained to hate. There were no songs of love, only songs of hate. "I witnessed mutilation of girls, polygamy and oppression of Muslim women who are told from birth that they will go to Hell if they protest." "Songs of death and killing for Allah-and songs in praise of Jihad, for conquering the world," that is what I heard.

It is legal under Sha'aria law to beat your wife. The Iman tells you how and where to strike. The wife only says, "It is G-d's will." You are trying to liberate women who believe that even as she is being stoned, 'it is G-d's will'. Muslim women will say: "What did she do?" Western women say: "How could that be?" Sadly, when I say my stories on college campuses, they don't believe me. Speaking out against terrorism is everyone's job to do.

Recently Darwish was challenged at a lecture by a Muslim cleric, Jihad he said, means 'personal struggle', no said Darwish, never was she taught that, there is no such concept in the Koran, never had an Iman preached that, he would have been chastised. No Darwish said, Jihad is the Islamic conquest of the world over the bodies of infidels. Published on November 16, 2006, is Darwish's first book, "Now They Call Me Infidel: Why I renounced Jihad for America, Israel, and the War on Terror." To buy, compare prices. It reads as clearly and directly as she speaks. Wanting my local liberal bookstore to stock the work, I bought and gave out copies, hoping it will catch on.
(www3.addall.com/New/compare.cgi?dispCurr=USD&id=115316&isbn=1595230319& location=10000&thetime=20070210221158&author=&title=&state=AK)

Nonie Darwish lectures today on college campuses. She is upset about what is and what is not happening on North American campuses. The youth and many academics on prestigious college campuses stand up for aids awareness and against Darfur genocide, but not against Muslim abuse of children or Muslim abuse of human rights. In fact, they silence talk about Muslim abuse of women's rights. Never are the rapes by fathers and brothers of Muslim women spoken of, nor are the many stories told of Muslim women stoned for supposed adultery. In the name of tolerance and multiculturalism they are not talking about Islam on the college campus.

Tolerating intolerance is what Darwish had to say about her recent experience at Brown University. First invited to speak by Brown University Hillel women's study group, various students and student leaders thought it would upset the campus if Nonie spoke, so Brown Hillel, uninvited Darwish. Stand With Us [www.standwithus.com] went onto the blogs, Stand With Us not only trains student advocates, and provides them with the tools to create programs and banners, but it advocates directly. Within two and a half weeks, Brown University said, 'we'd be delighted if Nonie would speak.'

Nonie presented her story of how her view of Islam was radically changed when she was 30, on September 11, 2001. Before, I was an anti-Semite and blamed Israel for everything. I was just like every Muslim. Now I speak in my adopted homeland of what the daily life is of Muslim men, with their four wives, of children and of women living in a Muslim country. She was accused of being a hate monger. "Why don't you defend oppressed American women too?" "My subject is my culture". Instead of shock and horror as she spoke about what she had experienced living in Egypt and Gaza, she met challenges. "What are your degrees?" "What are your credentials?" Being a professional journalist and author with a college degree failed to silence their challenges. "It never does," Darwish said. Darwish fought back. "If Rosa Parks or Nelson Mandela walked onto a college campus, would they be asked what are your credentials?" They persisted, "What are your degrees?" "What are your credentials?" Credentials, degrees, credentials, degrees... Their well oiled attack machine brooked no interference, no dissent. Credentials, degrees, credentials, degrees... Nonie Darwish's credentials are as a child of Islam.

After every lecture, at least 2 or 3 Muslim women will come up to me and hug me. They will say, "You really opened our eyes." That is my greatest reward.

As Darwish continues to tell her story, fatwas and death threats grow in number, she said. Darwish paused for a moment and looked out at the audience. "Always, in a Synagogue I have a feeling of what is preached in this place -- the message of tolerance, love and compassion-" "I wish my people were here to know who the Jewish people are. "The Arab-Israel conflict is a symptom of a larger conflict. It is a proof of bondage v. freedom -- Muslim men are in a constant state of anger. Muslim's are 65% illiterate, they know what they hear in the Mosque and on TV, poverty is pervasive, the society is stagnant. The Arab-Israel conflict is the tip of the iceberg.

The University of Jihad is the oldest University in Islam. When I speak, I use the definition of Jihad found in their text book. Jihad: Holy war for world conquest. When I spoke at York University in Canada, a Muslim Chaplin asked, "What page number was the definition written on?" Lecturing on the American college campus, they want me to say, "jihad means, 'inner struggle', but that is not what is heard at Friday sermons at Mosques throughout the world, it is not what is written in Islam's newspapers, it is not uttered, ever, on Al Jezerrah or Al Minar, the international Muslim TV channels. The Muslim world hears only, reads only, sees only, 'Jihad is Holy war for world conquest'. My culture of origin is in a head on collision course with the rest of the world. Concepts of honor and pride only, come from Jihad. Belief in revenge and martyrdom, only can come from jihad. They filled our hearts with hatred of Israel. When you portray a people as pigs and monkeys, as monsters, it is honorable to kill that monster. It is time for us to start the road to progress and freedom by working with Israel.

When Gaza and the 'West Bank' were in Israel's hands, the Muslims didn't care about anything but killing Jews. Those who wanted a job had to join Hamas or Fatah. If they wanted peace with Israel, they were shot in the middle of the town square. "Why doesn't Western media pressure the Arabs and the palestineans for concessions?" "When are you going to ask them when they will stop the flow of money and arms to the Muslims?" Allah Akba means, "our G-d is greater than everyone else's, not G-d is great as the media repeats and repeats, completely distorting the truth."

"My personal journey was lived in the Middle East, in Egypt and in Gaza, during the wars between Egypt and Israel. Still, Israel thrived, which proves the spirit of Israel and the Jewish people. What I saw, as an Arab Muslim growing up is coming to us. It is creeping to us. "Why don't people expose the hypocritical Iman's who are denying the truth?" Don't mistake me, I love my culture. Teaching Islam in the spirit of tolerance, can only come from us. Muslims have to speak out.

Kids on college campuses are protecting not a religion, but an ideology. "What has happened to children's rights, to women's rights, I want to cry." This is the country that saved my life. But, Western cultures including Israel, are beginning to be scared. The church is scared. In Bethlehem a big picture of Arafat hangs in the Church of the Nativity vestry. All seem tired and demoralized.

Terrorism succeeds in making people hate one another. The same classic story is unfolding worldwide. In France, soon the Muslim minority will begin a separatist movement and seek a separatist state within France. In Canada and communities all over Europe and recently in a small town in Michigan, efforts have been made to have Muslim councils enforcing Sha'aria Law. Over a thousand years ago, Egypt, my Egypt, was the greatest nation in the world, it was the dominant military and intellectual power, Egyptians read, wrote and spoke Egyptian. Today Egyptians have no military power, intellectuals are suppressed, jailed -- Egyptians read and write and speak Arabic. Egyptian supremacy ended when they became scared, when they tired and when they became demoralized.

What was and what must be. Oil was the big factor in the rise of the Arab world. Their oil wealth was discovered at almost the same time as the date of the proclamation of the State of Israel. Today, the Arab world is in a big turmoil. Civil wars have already begun, wars are simmering between many countries. There is great danger for Israel. Israel must protect itself. Israel will survive only if Jews Unite / Strengthen their Defenses / end Iran's nuclear threat / Peace Treaties are traps to be avoided. To a man, everyone in the audience rose, it burst into applause and surged forward to thank, to congratulate, to question Nonie Darwish.

Janet Lehr is editor/publisher of a daily e-mail called "Israel Lives." She can be contacted at janetlehr@veredart.com

To Go To Top

HAMAS PROPERLY REPRESENTS THE PALESTINIANS
Posted by DawnTreader, February 11, 2007.

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is again playing dumb, publicly asserting that the Palestinians, who can't even keep from slaughtering themselves, are opposed to the policies of the violently anti-Israel Hamas terrorist organization.

This is really getting old.

Hamas DOES represent the wishes and interests of the general Palestinian Arab public, the same public that overwhelmingly voted the terror group into office just one year ago.

The "Palestinians" knew perfectly well what they were voting for, too. Whatever else Hamas does on the side, it is known first and foremost, even among the "Palestinians," as an organization dedicated to the utter destruction of Israel through violent means.

On the other side, the so-called "moderates" -- the PLO, Abbas, Fatah, etc -- are willing to negotiate right now only because they know they are not yet capable of physically destroying Israel. But in their hearts, what they also really want is for the Jewish state to disappear.

Israel needs to remember that those it now hails as peace-loving moderates (like Abbas his sidekick, Mohammed Dahlan) were just 15 years ago as openly engaged in the mass murder of Israeli Jews with the goal of annihilating the Jewish state as Hamas is today.

Destroying Israel was and remains their raison d'etre. Need proof? Look at just about any Palestinian Authority-approved grade school textbook.

There were plenty of other factions the Palestinian Arabs could have voted for last January, but just about all of them cast their ballots for Hamas and the PLO. The votes don't lie: the "Palestinians" want Israel gone.

Contact the poster at dawntreader3@yahoo.com

To Go To Top

MINORITY MY FOOT!
Posted by Michael Devolin, February 11, 2007.

I've been reading Haroon Siddiqui's column in the Toronto Star for years, more for the laughs than for anything I might have learned from his weekly dissemination of apologia in support of Islam (and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) and his exculpation of Muslims who carry out terrorist acts. His article 'India's Muslims deemed to be in dire straits' is one of the most blatent examples of the deviousness he exercises in blaming others for the sins of Islam.

Siddiqui declares that 150 million Indian Muslims are a "minority." Forgive me, but being a devoted red-neck from a small town in rural Canada, 150 million does not sound like any kind of a minority to me. Hey, I've rode the subway in Toronto, and as an Irish-Canadian who was born and raised in this country, I can tell Mr. Haroon a thing or two about being a minority. In my opinion, 150 million Muslims--no matter how huge the 'majority' amongst whom they live--is no minority! My point is, today it is estimated that there are 750,000 Muslims living in Canada. Yet, I find in the newspapers every day something about Muslims and Islam and how both are being mistreated by my country, which would indicate that even a mere 750,000 Muslims don't live up to the social science definition of a "minority." I can't imagine the complaints that most surely abound from the Muslim minority of 150 million in India! Talk about a squeaky wheel!

For a minority, Muslims sure have a way of making themselves heard. Maher Arar was born in Syria, became a Canadian citizen in 1991, yet when he finds himself in trouble he can phone the Prime Minister of Canada. As a low-income Canadian, I would have phoned our Prime Minister many times -- had I the freakin' number! How does a poor immigrant from Syria suddenly have a connection to the Prime Minister's office? Then Arar is awarded 11.5 million dollars for his troubles in his country of origin. (Which begs the question: Why are poor Canadian taxpayers punished for the sins of the Syrian government?) Arar initially filed a lawsuit for a mere 400 million (again, poor Canadian taxpayer's money!). On his website, Arar says that "Canadians have invested time, effort and money in this inquiry." Well, dahhh! This is tax money spent before the 11.5 million Arar received in settlement of his lawsuit against the Canadian government! He further states that we as Canadians must "make sure this investment pays off." Well, it's certainly paid off for Maher Arar, eh! If getting heard and getting rich is one of the perks of being a minority, please let all of Irish Canada now begin looking for the phone number for the Prime Minister's office!

India has suffered greatly from Islamic terrorism. I notice that only Islam's apologists, Siddiqui being one of their most mendacious, use the term "Islamophobia" when criticizing non-Muslims (in this case Indians) for not being entirely enthused about having Muslims living in their neighbourhoods. Siddiqui describes India's noble citizens as being prejudiced against Muslims. However, as the journalist K.N. Pandita points out, "Whatever the case, generally Muslim are involved in major terrorist acts, be it in USA, South Africa, South, Central or South East Asia. Reports coming from many European countries where there is a sizable population of emigrant Muslims like France, Belgium, UK and Germany, indicate involvement of Islamic clerics, Islamic seminaries and Islamic places of worship, congregations or shrines." Hey, if you can't trust a Muslim cleric, who can you trust? Siddiqui fails to mention that India's predominantly Muslim neighbour, Pakistan, has been, as noted by Ajai Sahni, "entirely committed to its founding ideology of Islamism and religious exclusion, and consequently, to undermining the integrity of the secular, democratic Indian nation state." Which is to say, India has been under the threat and attack of Islamic terrorism long before America's 9/11. For Siddiqui to use the terms "Islamophobia" and "9/11" in reference to the nation of India is a blatent obfuscation of yet another example of Islam's bloody and violent manifestations.

Lastly, Siddiqui recounts that a functionary of the Indian Prime Minster's High Level Committee criticizes the Indian media which "overplay the involvement of Muslims in violent activities and underplay the involvement of others." Racist, racist! Why would anyone suspect Muslims of being involved in "violent activities"? The truth be known, Islam has been bullying non-Muslims in India ever since Babar's invasion in 1527. In the year following this invasion, Babar's General Mir Baqi destroyed the Hindu temple in the city of Ayodhya, afterward erecting a mosque in its stead. (This was common practice of Muslim invaders: In Israel, in the city of Jerusalem, the al Aska Mosque and the Dome of the Rock were constructed atop of what was once the Jewish Temple of Solomon.) Small wonder therefore that Secularists, Hindus, and Christians of India feel uneasy in the proximity of a so-called Muslim "minority". If the Muslims of India truly are in dire straits, it's only because the aggressions of Islam, both past and present, have bequeathed such dire straits upon them.

Contact Michael Devolin at devolin@reach.net

To Go To Top

WHERE ARE THE ISRAELIS?
Posted by Dr. Steve Carol, February 11, 2007.

Dear Friends in Israel:

In reply to your just released letter: "Joint Statement by Mattot Arim, Professors for a Strong Israel and Women in Green: Jews Abroad, Do Not Remain Silent At This Time! "[ see below.] let me add my voice to those who have already written to you. There are those of us in the Diaspora, myself included, who have not "remained silent" and are very active in promoting Israel's case for a Jewish state in all of the Land of Israel, Judea, Samaria, Golan and even Gaza included! We have written articles (see many of my 60 articles -- copies of which have been forwarded to all of you -- and many of which are posted on our Middle East Radio Forum website www.middleeastradioforum.org) and broadcast a radio show (one of only two in the entire U.S.A.) dealing with these very points for over the past three years. We have helped educate many as to the real facts of the situation and swelled the ranks of those Jews and non-Jews REALLY concerned about Israel's current plight and indeed its very survival.

That said, we are dismayed and distressed that the people of Israel have acquiesced to the path being taken -- the "disasterous experiments" as you call them -- by the current government, indeed by all governments since 1993. This is a path that, we believe, if followed will lead to the termination of the third Jewish commonwealth. It took 1,875 years to re-establish a Jewish state. If it vanishes now, only God knows if and when another will ever reappear. To mention that should such an event take place, the status of Diaspora Jews would quickly take a turn for the worse.

The key issue is, however, where are the Israelis? Where are Israeli citizens out demonstrating en masse -- tens of thousands in every city -- banging pots and pans, shouting "The government must go"? Where is a nationwide strike to force the government to step down? Where are the massive calls for reforms to be made, for a sound policy voiced and for Israel to return to the image, status, and power it had at the conclusion of the Six Day War?

Today, Israel projects, not strength but weakness to the entire world and especially to its enemies, who like sharks smelling the blood in the water, are circling ever closer for the kill.

Excuses of U.S. "pressure" on Israel have been made and will be made again. But Israel itself is doing the work of the Arabists in the U.S. State Department. The U.S. need not pressure Israel anymore, when the Israeli government voluntarily takes the steps that will ensure the states demise.

The reality is that Israeli people themselves must exhibit the will to take harsh, perhaps unpleasant actions to correct its course. Israel should not commit politicide for the sake of "world opinion." It should not continually weaken itself with unilateral territorial retreats, such as from southern Lebanon in 2000, and Gaza in 2005. Israel's mortal foes have become more emboldened and demand even more. Now "Israeli" Arabs openly consort with the enemy, make demands for changes in the Israeli flag, anthem and structure calling for a bi-national state. Even Egypt, which has had a "cold war" -- not a "cold peace" with Israel for some 28 years, now demands Eilat and portions of the Western Negev, while Syria demands not only the Golan but the eastern shorefront of the Sea of Galilee (Lake Kinneret).

It is the people of Israel who must take the lead in reversing the present course. It is the Israelis themselves who must save their own nation. When the Israelis take such action, they will gain more backing from their supporters, more respect from those "disinterested" parties, and be feared by its enemies. That is the reality of the world. Unless and until this occurs, the relatively few voices supporting Israel will shrink to fewer still, as Israel vanishes. It is up to the Israelis to save their own nation. Taking the necessary steps to reverse course, show firmness, and determination will find many supporting the Jewish state.

Dr. Steve Carol is Prof. of History (retired) and Official Historian "Middle East Radio Forum" www.middleeastradioforum.org. He lives in Scottsdale, Arizona.

To Go To Top

THE KHUZESTAN GAMBIT
Posted by Michael Travis, February 11, 2007.

This was written by David Eshel and it appeared in Defense Update, the International Online Defense Magazine
(www.defense-update.com/newscast/0107/analysis/analysis-070107.htm).

Could the new naval build-up in Persian Gulf signal a new US strategy against Iran, one which differs completely, by taking a fresh approach in the troubled four-year-old quagmire in Iraq, which has already cost over 3,000 American lives? Military experts see in the new naval deployment evidence that President George W. Bush has already rejected the key Baker-Hamilton Iraq Study Group's recommendation to engage Iran for an exit strategy on Iraq. This indication is further strengthened, by President Bush's reshuffling of his military brass in Iraq and Central Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, US Army Admiral William Fallon, US NavyCommand. Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, who replaces General William Casey, is an Iraq veteran, who headed the effort to train Iraqi security forces, will take Casey's place as ground commander in Iraq. Admiral. William Fallon, a Navy veteran who to some may be an odd choice to oversee a ground conflict in a nearly landlocked country. But perhaps the new plan is based on a strong naval and air support for an offensive option, which has sofar been neglected, through protracted coalition-led counter insurgency warfare, which bogged down thousands of troops in a losing battle for Iraq.

Little attention has been paid to the potential role of ethnic minorities in the Iran crisis, particularly of the Iranian Arab minority, centered in the southwestern province of Khuzestan. Events in the oil-rich province bordering Iraq could serve as a harbinger of U.S.-British intentions in Iran, and expose Khuzestan as Iran's Achilles Heel. Recently, a series of bombings and ethnic clashes has begun to show that something is definitely happening in Khuzestan, which could be an early warning of things to come.

One look at the Iraq-Iran map could suffice to sustain such a theory. Khuzestan is a small part in south west of Iran which was once part of the great and independent government of Elam in ancient times. The province's military topography makes it ideal for an attack from the south-west.

An aerial map of the oil rich Kuzestan region, where some of the world's richest oil reserves. are located The large plains there, bordering with the Iraqi marshes and the mountain regions situated to its north and eastern part, being part of the Zagros mountain ranges, shield it from the interior. This already made Khuzestan the first objective for Saddam Hussein's assault on Iran in 1980.
 

Khuzestan has important advantages for the US from a military point of view. It has a long border with Iraq, and the terrain is flat, so an American military invasion could be mounted and carried out relatively swiftly. It is a short drive from Basra, the main city in southern Iraq, to Ahvaz, the Khuzestan capital. The US could carry out this kind of partial invasion in the name of "stabilizing" Iraq.

In fact, The reliable website Globalsecurity has even named such a strategic move the "Khuzestan Gambit" under which U.S. and British forces aiding an Arab uprising would turn Khuzestan into a de facto autonomous protectorate of "Arabistan" or "Ahwaz," in order to take control of the country's oil-dependent economy. Whether such a move could be implemented, remains to be carefully contemplated, taking into consideration that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC -- Pasdaran-e Inqilab) could be a hard nut to crack if they decide to stand up and fight. For one, some 16,238 hectares of minefields in Khuzestan are still spread over a vast sector of the region, bordering with Iraq. Only last May, Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Commander Major General Rahim-Safavi claimed that the forces of Islam "are fully prepared to defend the Islamic homeland, as Khuzestan Province has always been a target for foreign greed".

In fact, any American venture, should it come to be, could face a surprise, pre-emptive move by the Iranian Pasdaran, before it is implemented! Iran's primary target could be a long aspired annexation of southern Iraq and its oil wealth at Basra. The newly created so-called "Arvand Free Zone" is stretching 30km from Abadan along the Shatt Al-Arab to the land border between Basrah and Khuzestan. This is in two segments: an island and adjacent land measuring 30 square km and a strip of land north of Khorramshahr measuring 25 square km. literally within a stone's throw of Basrah. Now a large part of the Khuzestan-Basrah border is about to become an exclusive military zone, which will allow Iran to effectively annex Basra, in a relatively swift operation. The port city of Khorramshar was the scene of some of the most intense fighting during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-88). It is regarded as one of the Middle East's most strategic points. On February 1986, 30,000 Iranian troops crossed the Shatt Al-Arab in a surprise attack to invade and occupy Iraq's Al-Faw peninsula and create a bridgehead for further advances into southern Iraq, only to be held-up through US political intervention.

Not only for military and political reasons is Southern annexation imperative for Iran's economy. Contrary to most assessments, it is little known that Iran must have Basrah because of future energy shortages in Iran. A John Hopkins energy assessment, just released, indicates that a steep and irreversible near term decline in Iran's own oil production (50 per cent decline in five years) is underway!

Thus, it is of no surprise that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' elite Qods Force, based in Ahwaz City and the Revolutionary Guards Corps' (IRGC) Fajr Garrison deployed in Khuzestan, serves as the organisation's main headquarters, running the vast underground network in Iraq supporting Iran loyalists among the Arab Shiite insurgencies, which could already prepare the groundwork for a military operation into Iraq, when the timing is right. This could even happen sooner than expected.

According to predictions, President Bush has decided to escalate against Muqtada al Sadr by committing an additional 20,000 US troops to Iraq to break up his militia and apprehend him in Baghdad. For this offensive, the US Army has already shifted its main bulk of forces from the combat zone in Western Iraq to the Capital. (Defense -update Analysis -December 03, 2006: Western Iraq -- becoming Al Qaeda's Safe Haven?) But experts believe, that even if the new venture will succeed, Iraq will then fall into Iran's orbit. Iran could then take Basrah and southern Iraq, with Sadr's forces out of the way. By taking Basra, Iran would also control the US's main exit point from Iraq as the battle for Iraq focuses mainly on the Battle for Baghdad. It goes without saying, that the consequences to the Coalition would be catastrophic!

But on the other side of the hill matters are not that simple either. Much of the civil unrest seen in Iran over the past few months has occurred in Khuzestan, which was once an autonomous Arab emirate protected by the British and known as Arabistan or Al-Ahwaz. until it was over-run by Reza Pahlavi's forces in 1925. Here, Iranian Arabs have reacted to state terrorism with mass protests, which remain largely unreported in the Western news media. Indeed, for a short period in April 2005, the Iranian government even lost total control over large parts of Khuzestan in an Arab uprising. The riots became sparked by the leaking of a top secret memo written by former Vice-President Ali Abtahi which outlined a 10-year plan for the 'ethnic restructuring' of Khuzestan to reduce the Arab population from 70 per cent of the total population to less than a third.

In perhaps a last moment effort, to pacify the outrageous Khuzestanis, President Mahmoud President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his cabinet ministers arrived in the southwestern Khuzestan province last Tuesday on a four-day visit. In perhaps a last moment effort, to pacify the outrageous Khuzestanis, President Mahmoud President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his cabinet ministers arrived in the southwestern Khuzestan province last Tuesday on a four-day visit. Ethnic unrest is a problem throughout Iran and the regime traditionally attributes this to foreign agitation. Two former visits to Khuzestan were cancelled abruptly, when the president's motorcade was ambushed in the Province on 14 December 2005.

US new strategy evolving into an open conflict with Iran, would not only aim to stem its nuclear ambition, which at this stage could become of less than immediate concern, based on assumptions, that this would still take time to mature. But to prevent an Iraqi offensive into Basrah Province, should become top priority to US strategy in Iraq and the Gulf region, in order to, at least secure a safe "exit gate" for a planned and orderly withdrawal from Mesopotamia when this becomes due.

In any such contingencies, Khuzestan presents the the lynchpin of any western ground operation. According to Zolton Grossman in his provocative article published last year, "the first step taken by an invading force would be to occupy Iran's oil-rich Khuzestan Province, securing the sensitive Straits of Hormuz and cutting off the Iranian military's oil". With sufficient airpower deployed already in the region, the carrier groups can launch massive strikes supporting an even limited ground offensive. Of especial is the latest deployment of the USS Bataan Strike group carrying over 2,000 Marines of 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit. Equipped to insert forces ashore by helicopter, landing craft and amphibious vehicles. The Bataan is also equipped with helicopters and fast hovercraft capable of landing thousands of Marines on beaches and providing the landing with superb air cover support. The Bataan Strike Group is commanded by Capt. Donna Looney and includes Amphibious Squadron Two, Bataan, USS Shreveport (LPD 12), USS Oak Hill (LSD 51), USS Vella Gulf (CG 72), USS Nitze (DDG 94), USS Underwood (FFG 36), and USS Scranton (SSN 756).

No doubt the situation may well clear up by coming Wednesday, when US President George W Bush will offer some of his new strategic plans solving the Iraq fiasco.

Contact Michael Travis at michaelmgr@gmail.com

To Go To Top

AHMADINEJAD'S TOUR OF KHUZESTAN
Posted by Nasser Bani Assad, February 11, 2007.

This article is by Abu Mousa Zafrani, a member of the British Ahwazi Friendship Society, and it is on Iran's violent persecution of its Arab minority.

[Editor's note: The Arabs of Khuzestan, Iran, are primarily Shi'a Muslims. Many are nomads. Many others are urban, and mostly unskilled workers. They functioned autonomously until around 1925. They are now a minority in their own province, unable to publish local papers in Arabic or learn their Arabic dialect in the local schools. They are important politically because the Khuzestan province is rich in oil; they feel that the oil industry has not paid sufficient attention to the safety of the population. Currently, Iranian Arabs have been arrested and charged with complicity in several bombings. International groups have questioned whether their trials were fair.]

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's tour of the Arab majority province of Khuzestan was portrayed by the official media as an opportunity to listen to local people's concerns and problems. But he used his speech to a crowd of Bassij loyalists in the restive Ahwaz City as an opportunity to grandstand Iran's foreign policies -- the conflict with the UN Security Council and the destruction of Israel -- amid the country's growing international isolation.

During Ahmadinejad's speech in Ahwaz, one brave demonstrator held up a placard which read: "Inflation, unemployment, insecurity, drug addiction have desiccated the tree of the revolution." The protestor was reminding the President that the monarchist regime was overthrown on the issue of social justice, suggesting that his conflict with the UN Security Council has little relationship with the desire of the population to rid itself of poverty.

Ahmadinejad's Ahwaz lecture on Tuesday showed that the Iranian regime believes that it can convince the masses to forget their suffering and rally in to its defence in the face of supposed Western aggression. His strategy is to use the nuclear issue as a bargaining chip in international affairs while instilling fear in the Iranian population of foreign aggression to quash internal dissent.

Ahmadinejad told his followers: "The Iranian nation is wise and will stick to its nuclear work and is ready to defend it completely." Whether or not the nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes, the Ahwazi Arabs are convinced that they will be denied any benefits of the nuclear programme, just as the regime denies them a share in the revenues generated by the oil extracted from land that was confiscated from them.

No Ahwazi is prepared to defend the nuclear programme, which is not going to provide them with any material benefits. Many see the construction of nuclear plants on their land as just another industry that excludes them from employment. Some fear that the government's reckless attitude towards safety -- Khuzestan's oil pipelines are notoriously unsafe while industrial pollution in the province is causing birth defects and contributing to low life expectancy -- puts them at immediate risk of a Chernobyl-style disaster.

The nuclear programme involves the construction of Russian-designed nuclear power plants on their homeland -- a region that experiences frequent earthquakes, with tremours measuring 3.7 on the Richter scale reported just days ago.

Most Ahwazis question the need for expensive nuclear power stations when their homeland's oil resources are more than enough to cater for power needs. Rather than spend oil revenue on social development in Khuzestan, the Iranian regime is sinking it into an unnecessary nuclear programme that is leading to international isolation that benefits no-one.

Ahmadinejad's speech made no reference to growing unrest among local Ahwazi Arabs who face an aggressive campaign of land confiscation that many human rights observers have termed "ethnic cleansing". Nor did it address endemic poverty among Arabs, whose homeland contains more oil reserves than Kuwait and the UAE combined -- over 100 billion barrels. The response of the Ahmadinejad administration to those who have highlighted the suffering of Ahwazi Arabs is to ignore, silence, intimidate, arrest, torture and execute them.

In his Ahwaz lecture, Ahmadinejad insists that his priority is the humiliation of the West and that the British and Americans are responsible for all of humanity's problems. Are the British responsible for the 80 per cent child malnutrition rate in Khuzestan's Arab populated district of Dasht-e-Azadegan? Are the British driving Ahwazi Arabs off their farms into city slums and a life of unemployment and poverty and drug addiction? Are the British diverting Khuzestan's rivers, causing ecological devastation in the marshlands along the Shatt Al-Arab? Are the British jailing the young children of Ahwazi Arab opposition leaders to pressure them into confessing to crimes they did not commit? The suffering of the Ahwazi Arabs and other minorities in Iran has nothing to do with the British -- it is the responsibility of the regime itself.

The subtext of Ahmadinejad's Ahwaz speech was a demand that Ahwazi Arabs abandon all opposition activism for the sake of the nuclear programme. Or they will face serious consequences. It is no coincidence that three Ahwazi activists were sentenced to death on the eve of the President's visit to the provincial capital. He was sending a message -- put up and shut up, or you and your families will suffer.

The Lejnat Al-Wefaq -- a reformist Arab group that sought constitutional means to advance Arab minority rights -- was banned after its candidates won all but one seat on Ahwaz City Council in 2003. Its members were rounded up and imprisoned and last month a leading founding member, Ali Matouri Zadeh, was executed in Karoun Prison -- just a day after pro-Ahmadinejad candidates faced a severe drubbing in the local elections. His wife Fahima and baby daughter Salma, who was born in prison in March 2006, remain in prison. A further three Ahwazis were sentenced to death on Monday as a prelude to Ahmadinejad's visit.

Ahmadinejad has not even listened to calls from Khuzestan's elected representatives. The conservative-dominated Majlis (parliament) has voted down on three occasions proposals by Khuzestan's MPs for a modest 1.5 per cent of oil revenues to be redirected to assist poverty alleviation and employment generation in the province.

Ahmadinejad portrays Iran as a model for the Muslim world, but Ahwazi Arabs are comparing themselves to the lifestyles enjoyed by their Arab brothers on the other side of the Gulf. And they are thinking to themselves, is the loss of their dignity a price worth paying for Tehran's confrontation with the international community?

In his speech, Ahmadinejad said without any sense of irony that "rulers who stand against their nation ... will face similar fate" as Saddam Hussein. Last month, students staged demonstrations at Amir Kabir University of Technology while Ahmadinejad was lecturing to them. They chanted their verdict on his rule: "Death to the Dictator." And the whole of Iran was behind them, delivering an astounding defeat for Ahmadinejad at the recent elections to the Assembly of Experts. If Ahmadinejad continues down the path of international isolation, economic austerity and political authoritarianism, he will indeed meet the same fate as Saddam Hussein.

[Editor's note: As one reliable UK source wrote of the British Ahwazi Friendship Society: "They are the British branch of the Democratic Solidarity Party of Al-Ahwaz. They push a local autonomy scheme in Iran rather than outright separation. They are not for jihad against Britain and the rest of the West. In fact, they're often fairly pro-West. They're not much of threat here[UK], as far as we know: their beef is all about stuff in Iran, and they hate the mullahs.

"They're not part of the Islamic Reformist coalition (the Lejnat Al-Wefaq, mentioned in the article, was until 2005) and they're not the Iranian-Arab Ba'athists who worked for Saddam Hussein. They didn't have any direct hand in the riots and bombings in Khuzistan in the summer of 2005 -- the arrests and executions mentioned in the article may have as much to do with that as with winning elections.

[They have a project] called the UNPO, the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization. It purports to be a UN for ethnic groups that don't have their own nation-state but to get in, you have to not have an armed wing."

To Go To Top

JOINT STATEMENT BY MATOT ARIM, PSI AND WOMEN IN GREEN
Posted by Yoram Shifftan, February 11, 2007.

The disaster that was Oslo started when Simon Peres illegally sent Yossi Beilin to Arafat, promising him that labor would support a second Arab state in Palestine, if Israeli Arabs (who do not even do military service) would vote labor. Oslo II would not have passed in the Knesset without the Arab vote. And so it has proceeded at every stage. In the Israeli voting system, voters vote for the party, not for specific representatives. So, since Olso, a few corrupt leaders with the vote of some bribed Knesset members, have been able to work for the interests of the other side, against the Israeli consensus. In 1992, Israel itself revived a dying PLO, gave it weapons and a logistic base (e.g., many expensive army bases) in the heart of the nation, from which they could more easily kill Jews. Israel -- i.e., the band of corrupt leaders -- gave the PLO international respectability. Shimon Peres himself campaigned for large sums of money to be given to the PLO and PA (which often ended in terror and corruption). They gave the PA the physical platform and media facilities from which to perpetuate the conflict by horrific propaganda and educating the next generations to hate Jews. At the same time, they leaned on all the major Israeli media outlets so that they could hide this propaganda from the Israeli public. Fearful of disrupting the "Peace Accord" -- even though the Arabs blantantly used their new resources to develop terror skills and didn't work for peace -- they even went so thus far as to block Israel's previous MFA Hasbara (PR).

After 1992, Israeli diplomats and spokesmen on public TV and radios were not allowed to refute the lie that Israel was occupying Arab land. They were not allowed to invoke the relevent international law. They were not allowed to say that the Arabs were misinterpreting U.N. resolutions. They allowed the patriotic and productive settlers to be demonized. Worse, the Israeli leaders even began themselves to circulate the Arab lies; e.g., the Minister of Foreign Affairs himself repeated that Arab lie that pre-1967 Israel was 78% of "Palestine," whereas it is 78% of a fifth of Palestine -- the Arab state of Jordan is the other 4 fifths. These falsifications of objective historical and legal facts are the direct causes of loss of Jewish life and deterioration of Israel's image. Worst of all, these leaders developed a (false) sense of guilt and shame in the Israeli Jewish population. This has led to the loss of belief in the justice of the Jewish cause.

The introduction of regional election system and the discontinuation of Arab vote on the national level -- they don't do military service, so they should not vote -- will remedy the situation. Meantime, Jews around the world must make sure that the Olmert government is not allowed to do further harm to Israel. They must not be allowed to uproot more Jews from their homes as they did in Gaza. The Government expelled a cohesive group that was contributing strongly to the Israeli economy and turned them into welfare cases. They have been incapable of settling this group of 10,000 into a functional life -- and they may not have the money or the will to do so. And now they plan to turn hundreds of thousands of Jews from Samaria and Judea into refugees. Where will these Jews go? What will they do? And while Israel is in turmoil and concentrating on repairing the damage from this self-inflicted wound, will the Arabs stop trying to kill off Israel? Not bloody likely.

JEWS ABROAD, DO NOT REMAIN SILENT AT THIS TIME!

a. We would like to alert Jewish communities and Jewish leaders worldwide that the U.S. State Department and members of the Quartet, in conjunction with unpopular Israeli Prime Minister Olmert are, at this time, initiating a new political process to push forward the establishment of still another Islamic state, this time in Judea and Samaria. This alarming development has been reported in the past few weeks by leading newspapers such as the Washington Post and Boston Globe, and was corroborated by the Prime Minister's Statement to the Conference of Presidents on 6 February.

b. Israel's recent attempt to set up a Palestinian entity in the Gaza Strip, by expelling the Jews and handing over the land and resources to Gazan Arabs, has resulted in the degeneration of peaceful, Jewish Gush Katif into violent, chaotic, terror-ridden Gush Hamas. Since no one has any idea how to handle the Gaza fiasco, how to stop the steady flow of armaments into Palestininan Gaza or even how to bring a stop to the internal bloodshed, it is absolutely clear that that same disastrous experiment should not be repeated in Judea and Samaria.

c. It is also clear that the fall of Judea and Samaria will inevitably lead to the fall of the only Jewish state in the world. Judea and Samaria directly overlook Israel's population centers as well as Israel's major international airport. Whoever controls Judea and Samaria controls not only Israel's chief water resources, but also the skies of Israel, that no amount of security measures can guarantee. An additional Islam state can only spell disaster, not only to the future of Israel, but to the safety and security of the entire Western world. Rewarding terror begets more terror.

d. Consequently, we urge all Jews: Conservative, Orthodox and Reform; left and right; rabbis, leaders, lay persons and members of the Jewish press; and all friends of Israel wherever they may be, not to remain silent at this difficult time. It is incumbent upon all who hold Israel and her people dear to their hearts, to publicly intercede on Israel's behalf.

e. Israel needs your help now, to thwart this existential danger! Every Jew and every friend of Israel can be of immediate individual assistance by personally contacting their local leaders, Jewish organizations and media to express their deep concern about the Palestinian-state track, and to demand immediate action, particularly in the United States, to thwart this danger. Pressure from abroad will serve to strengthen the strong grass-roots movements in Israel that work around the clock against the creation of another terrorist state, this time in Judea and Samaria.

*Dr. Amy Rosenbluh, Chair, Professors for a Strong Israel (chug-psi@zahav.net.il)
*Ruth and Nadia Matar, Co-Chairs, Women in Green (nmatar@netvision.net.il)
*Susie Dym, Spokesperson, Mattot Arim mattot.arim@gmail.com)

Yoram Shifftan has written extensively on Hasbara and on Israel's legal right to Mandated Palestine. Many of these articles have appeared in Think-Israel.

To Go To Top

ISRAEL MUST KEEP ITS JEWISH IDENTITY
Posted by Lawrence Uniglicht, February 10, 2007.

One man, representing his large Muslim family, and another man, representing his not so large Jewish family, broke pita together under a tent. The temporary shelter swayed in the desert wind, tenuously affixed atop the shifting sands of a vast expanse covering a sizable portion of mankind's third rock from his life sustaining sun. "Lets make a deal," said the first man, who happens to be an Arab. "I'll give you, for now, one tiny tract, somewhat less than two tenths of one per cent the size this vast expanse for your small Jewish family, and I get to keep the rest for my large Muslim family, but there are certain conditions you must meet. For one, many of my Muslim brethren are all consumed by jihadist thoughts, and they may very well attempt to take back your tiny tract. If they succeed, that will be your problem, not mine. Furthermore, Muslim Arabs must be allowed to share your sliver of land, must be treated as equals, share power, and you must not attempt to bestow a Jewish identity on your only home in this desert. On the other hand, your Jewish brethren will be allowed to live on my family's land only at our discretion, they will in no way be treated as equals or share power, and we will forever bestow upon our land a Muslim identity. Got that!" Is this the grimmest of fairy tales or what?

A recent article on page A3 of the 02/08/2007 edition of the New York Times, by Isabel Kershner, headed 'Noted Arab Citizens Call on Israel to Shed Jewish Identity' suggests 'Fairy tales can come true. It can happen to you, if Israeli Jews are shlemiels at heart', at least in the minds of Arab citizens with tunnel vision and a self-serving agenda. That 'prominent' group of Arabs actually calls on Israel 'to stop defining itself as a Jewish state and become a 'consensual democracy for both Arabs and Jews.' Surely, such Arabs, adhering to a 'Future Vision' doctrine, today living a whole lot better, possessing a whole lot more freedom to express say controversial viewpoints, in Israel than in most any Muslim Middle East regime, in their quest for even more have enough chutzpah to throw dung at a wall hoping it will stick. Furthermore, even newly appointed government minister Ghaleb Majadele, who happens to be an Arab, per the article, says 'he, too, felt uncomfortable with national symbols like the flag, with a Star of David, and the anthem, which speaks of the "Jewish soul" yearning for Zion.' That's right; Israel for the first time appointed a Muslim Arab to that official position, albeit no Jew holds an analogous title anywhere in the Muslim world. Yet, that ungrateful Arab minister subtly bashes the tiny tolerant State he represents for flying the 'Magen David' or proudly singing 'Hatikvah'! If Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had any backbone, he would not so subtly tell Majadele to forthwith resign his post, look for comfort elsewhere, and if he or any other Arab legislator doesn't 'like them apples' they could all 'drop dead in a ditch'!

How indeed might 'prominent' Arabs and kindred spirits Muslims, as well as any non-Muslim supporters of such rhetoric, expect Israel to further bend over backwards when its own Jewish citizens have virtually no rights whatsoever in mostly all of the Jew disrespecting Muslim world, indeed 99.8 percent of the region they live in? How about breaking down those discriminatory barriers against Jews? Not for nothing, but how come the 'world class' New York Times doesn't persuade Ms. Kershner to make that point so readers at least get a general sense of facts on the ground in a Jew unfriendly region of the world, where the balance is so tilted toward Muslims it is beyond insulting to even propose that Israel give up its Jewish identity? Then again, why should that 'world class' media outlet have any class when it comes to Jewish Israel? Indeed, why should that news organization follow the less traveled politically incorrect path of being fair to Israel and blasting Middle East Muslims for so disrespecting Jews? Perhaps editors of that biased newspaper are too occupied slandering Israel for being occupiers of hapless Palestinian waifs, when in fact Israeli troops are more than occupied protecting Jewish citizens from their hostile Arab neighbors, but that's another story. Little doubt, if Israel even considers giving up its Jewish identity in an attempt to pacify critics and gain collective acceptance from Middle East Muslims, it is embracing a fairy tale with no happy ending.

Lawrence Uniglicht is a career civil servant, working for the Social Security Administration. He advocates for the State of Israel with an American perspective. He writes, "Advocating for the disrespected underdog has been my passion, no doubt Israel falls into that category." Contact him by email at luniglicht@snip.net

To Go To Top

GOT AN ANECDOTE ABOUT YOUR CALL TO THE WHITE HOUSE?
Posted by Justice For Jonathan Pollard, February 10, 2007.

"Just wanted to let you know, my wife called the White House comment line on Friday. She waited a bit and the operator came on and asked her what State she is calling from and she replied, "New Jersey." The operator asked her what message to relay to the President and she responded,"Free Jonathan Pollard! His release is long overdue!" "Yes," replied the operator, "Twenty-two years is a very long time!" Even the operator knew that enough is enough and it is time to let Pollard go!"

Got an anecdote to share about your daily call to the White House?
Please forward it to us a justice4jp@gmail.com
Let us know if we can reprint and if you want your email address to show.

REMEMBER, every single call to the White House is counted! Call every day, Monday through Friday, 9 am to 5 pm eastern standard time. (For Israeli readers, that's Monday to Friday from 4 pm to Midnight, but not Shabbat please!)

WHITE HOUSE TELEPHONE NUMBERS 1-202-456 -1111 or 1-202-456-1414

You don't have to be American to participate, just a mench!

Contact Justice For Jonathan Pollard by email at justice4jp@gmail.com

To Go To Top

WE ALL FUND THIS TORRENT OF SAUDI BIGOTRY
Posted by Daily Alert, February 9, 2007.

This was written by Johann Hari and it appeared yesterday in The Independent in the UK
(http://comment.independent.co.uk/columnists_a_l/ johann_hari/article2248747.ece). Contact Mr Hari at j.hari@independent.co.uk

Which glossy brand name has been the biggest winner on the planetary roulette wheel of globalisation? Most of us could reel off a dozen eligible mega-corporations: Apple, Coca-Cola, McDonald's, the Nike swoosh. They are all wrong. The check-in-your-chips champion of globalisation is in fact a puritanical desert-nomad from the sands of Arabia who died in 1792, and the evidence was there in this week's Islamic panic front pages.

In his 18th-century oasis, Mohamed ibn Abd al-Wahhab Wahhab had a dream. He dreamed of an Islam stripped down to a cold list of mechanical rules, strictly enforced, severely upheld. He ordered whippings and beheadings of Muslims to "purify" the faith. He smashed up and burned down the worship places of the softer, more mystical Muslims all around him. And -- his smartest move -- he cut a deal. He met the chief of the desert bandits who lived in the nearby long stretch of sand called Najd -- a man named Mohamed Saud -- and offered him his allegiance, in return for enforcing his severe, new brand of Islam. The Saud ruling family and the Wahhabi doctrine have been locked in a stiff waltz ever since.

More than two centuries later, oil was discovered under the territory of these bandits, and billions of dollars began to soak into the Kingdom. True to their ancestor's deal, the House of Saud used this black gold to promote the ideas of Wahhab, no longer merely on their own sands, but across the world.

By paying for thousands of schools, mosques and trained imams, they dispersed the ideas of one reactionary little preacher to every continent. It has been a corporate strategy that leaves Ronald McDonald looking like a puffing, obese slouch. Slowly, steadily, they are succeeding in eroding other, gentler forms of Islam. They are globalising Wahhabism -- and your petrol purchases are paying for it.

Which brings us to the swish, swanky classrooms of the King Fahd Academy in west London, in the year 2007. A Muslim teacher called Colin Cook has revealed that children there are taught, via Saudi textbooks, that Jews are "repugnant" and Christians are "pigs". Exercises for five-year olds include the charming exercise, "Mention some repugnant characteristics of Jews". Cook repeatedly heard children in the playground idolising Bin Laden. Challenged on Newsnight about whether she will stop using these racist books, the headteacher, Sumaya Alyusuf, said, "No... I cannot withdraw them. There are good chapters in the books."

Why are we surprised? The King Fahd Academy is not a freak. It is part of a deliberate globalised project, led by the House of Saud, that has been documented a hundred times. Azzedine Gaci, the head of the regional Muslim council, in Lyon, France, explains: "When Saudi Arabia gives you -- with one hand, with the other they give you a list of what you must say or not say." Here's some of the things you can say, taken from standard-issue Saudi textbooks. For 10-year-olds: "The whole world should convert to Islam and leave its false religions lest their fate will be hell." For 12-year-olds: "There is a Jew behind me -- come and kill him!"

And what can't you say? Anything about freedom for women, which is, the textbooks explain, "a continuation of the Crusades". A woman can only be taught to "enable her to be a successful housewife, an exemplary wife and a good mother". No need for maths or technology, shabibi, there's the kitchen. They are banned from any form of physical education, because it would be "obscene" for them to change their clothes outside the home. Besides, "they might become attracted to each other if they saw each other in leotards", in which case they would have to be killed.

These textbooks are not only being used in Riyadh and a few scattered outposts; let's look at two very different countries. In Sweden, almost every Islamic school is either funded by the Saudis or seeking out their cash, according to the investigative programme Kaliber. In Pakistan, there were 246 madrassas at the time of independence, in 1945. Today, there are 6,607 -- the majority using these Saudi textbooks provided for nada. Every time you fill up with a fresh tank of petrol, you are helping to buy some more.

Moderate Muslims have been warning for decades that allowing children to be indoctrinated with this poison in their formative years kneecaps any attempt to stimulate less literalist readings of the Koran later in life. But where is the counter-offensive, siding with these decent Muslims against this wall of bigotry? There are 120 Muslim faith schools in Britain, many of which would not be financially viable without Saudi support. The Government proposes to build more. And in the mosques? Nobody seems to know how many of Britain's imams are trained by the Saudis.

In the US, the figure is 80 per cent, and in France it is 70 per cent. There was a taster of the Saudi mullah-training in a recent Dispatches documentary, in which the visiting Riyadh-trained cleric, Abu Usamah, raved in a Birmingham mosque that Jews and Christians are his "enemies", and called gay people "perverted, filthy dogs who should be murdered". The Government talked for a while about setting up programmes to train British imams, but the energy seems to have leached away.

Indeed, the Government paints persistently the House of Saud as "moderate", and Tony Blair is so close to the Saudi princes he just cancelled a corruption investigation into their relationship with BAE Systems. (Don't ask about the love-in between the House of Saud and the House of Bush, where, according to the expert Craig Unger, the Sauds have given more than $1bn to Bush's business ventures). As we allow this Wahabbi rollout, other forms of Islam are being ironed away. Wahhab is being posthumously granted his wish: for millions of Muslims, his is becoming the One True Faith.

Our governments are not stopping this Wahabbi-Saudi hate machine for a simple reason: as The New York Times writer Thomas Friedman puts it, junkies don't talk back to their dealers. We are addicted to the Saudi oil supply: it lubricates our cars, our planes, our food supply routes. In the face of this hunger, talk of national security or democratic ideals soon sinks into an oily gloop. Until we have built up clean, green alternatives to Middle Eastern oil (and isn't global warming reason enough?), you and I will keep paying at the petrol pump for this propaganda.

It's another ironic victory for globalisation: democrats in London are paying for fanatics in Arabia to indoctrinate children in Pakistan, and a thousand other places, and -- yes -- right back at us, at the end of the District line.

The Daily Alert is prepared for the Conference of presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA). Contact them at daily@www.dailyalert.jcpa.org

To Go To Top

AS WE BUMBLE INTO WAR
Posted by Michael Travis, February 9, 2007.

This was written by Caroline Glick and it appeared yesterday in the Jerusalem Post
(www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1170359817126&pagename= JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull).

Today Israel's leaders claim that Saudi Arabia is our new best friend. The Wahhabis will protect us from Iran and its proxies they promise. It's difficult to see how this view jibes with reality.

Indeed today, in a manner eerily reminiscent of last spring, we are on the precipice of a new war and our leaders stubbornly reject truth for delusion. Unless they acknowledge reality soon, they will again bar the IDF from fighting effectively, again maneuver us into diplomatic isolation and so again lead Israel to defeat.

With this in mind, it is our duty today to take a hard look at reality.

As they did in the months that preceded the outbreak of their jihad in September 2000, for the past several months the Palestinians have been accelerating their preparations for war. On Monday Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) Director Yuval Diskin revealed some of those preparations.

Diskin said that in 2006, the Palestinians imported 30 tons of explosives into Gaza from Egypt. Hamas has dug 10 tunnels into the western Negev from which it will be able to launch attacks against the IDF or against civilians. The situation along the breached Gaza-Egypt border is even worse. Diskin referred to the weapons and personnel smuggling tunnels there as "one big rabbit warren."

As the Palestinians prepare themselves for battle, this week they invented their justification for attacking the Jews. Just as they did in September 2000, this week Palestinian and Israeli Arab leaders opened their propaganda campaign for war by falsely accusing Israel of conspiring to destroy the mosques on the Temple Mount.

Like its excavation by the Western Wall that has been going on quietly for the past several months, the Israel Antiquities Authority coordinated its salvage dig by the Mughrabi Gate of the Old City with the Islamic Wakf, the Jordanian government and all other relevant authorities before its archeologists began their work this week. Everyone understood that the excavation is being conducted 70 meters away from the Temple Mount and will in no way affect it.

But facts are irrelevant. The Arabs are not interested in the facts. They are interested in war. Sheikh Abdullah Nimer Darwish, the head of the southern branch of the Israeli Islamic movement, made this point clearly Thursday morning when he told Israel Radio that the war will likely begin when the heads of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas and Ismail Haniyeh, return from Mecca. It can be reasonably concluded from Darwish's statement that the Fatah-Hamas unity talks taking place in Mecca have more to do with coordinating the coming jihad than with dividing government ministries in their soon-to-be-formed, Saudi-sponsored terrorist unity government.

However the talks conclude, there is no doubt that the PA is gunning for war with Israel. Palestinian television, which Abbas and Fatah control, has been showing incendiary live and archival footage from the Temple Mount for the past three days. The images are interspersed with speeches by Palestinian and pan-Islamic leaders calling on the Muslim world to protect Al Aksa mosque.

As Israel's leaders praise the Saudis for their role in promoting the peace process, Al-Jazeera satellite network is broadcasting live calls to war to the entire Muslim world live from the Temple Mount. While Al-Jazeera reporters have been kicked out of Algeria, Iraq, Sudan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Jordan for calling for war against anyone who doesn't talk like Osama bin Laden, and even the PA closed its offices twice, the Israeli government apparently has no problem with Al-Jazeera reporters calling the Islamic world to launch a genocidal jihad against the Jewish state from the Temple Mount.

On the Lebanese front, the situation is also frighteningly familiar. Just as last summer the Palestinians and Hizbullah worked in close coordination, so the escalation of hostilities along the border with Lebanon this week shows that their coordination remains high. What is new in the current situation is the hostile role being played by the Lebanese military, and what this role tells us about the nature of the coming war.

Last summer many warned Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni that it would be unwise to allow the Lebanese military to deploy to the border. To the extent those forces participated in the last war, they did so on the side of Hizbullah. Lebanese units directed Hizbullah's missile attack against the INS Hanit. They were similarly involved in identifying targets in northern Israel for Hizbullah's rocket units. Forty percent of the soldiers and officers serving in the Lebanese army are Shi'ite and many of them owe their primary allegiance to Hizbullah.

In spite of these warnings, Olmert and Livni did not merely accept the Lebanese army's deployment along the border. They insisted on it. And Wednesday night, when the Lebanese military attacked IDF units operating within sovereign Israel, those who preached caution were proven right. By insisting that the Lebanese army deploy along the border, Olmert and Livni effectively enabled Hizbullah's reassertion of control over south Lebanon.

It should be recalled that the timing of last summer's war was anything but a coincidence. At the time, Iran ordered Hizbullah to attack Israel two days before the G-8 summit where the world leaders were poised to condemn Iran for refusing to cease its uranium enrichment activities, and a week before the International Atomic Energy Agency was scheduled to refer Iran's nuclear program to the UN Security Council.

So too, today, the escalation of enemy incitement and operations is anything but random. On February 21, IAEA inspectors are scheduled to report to the Security Council that in defiance of Resolution 1737 from two months ago, Iran has not ceased its uranium enrichment activities. In the wake of this report, the sanctions set out in the resolution are supposed to be firmly enforced.

On the Iraqi front, hostilities between the US and Iran escalate daily and signs abound that the much awaited US offensive in Baghdad is about to start. If successful, the offensive will seriously weaken Iranian proxy forces in that country and similarly weaken Iran's influence over the Iraqi government.

All in all, a two-front war against Israel would go a long way towards advancing Iran's interests today.

All of this naturally raises the question: What are Israel's leaders doing as our enemies prepare for war?

While demanding that Olmert order the IAA to stop its salvage dig at the Mughrabi Gate, Defense Minister Amir Peretz is preparing to renew his hostilities against his greatest foes -- the Israelis who live in Judea and Samaria. Last week Peretz ordered the IDF to draw up plans to destroy several Israeli communities in the areas. As to the Palestinians, Hizbullah and their state sponsors, Peretz has nothing constructive to say.

For her part, Livni continues to applaud her brilliance in negotiating the cease-fire agreement last summer under which Hizbullah has rearmed and reasserted its control over south Lebanon. Then too, Livni continues to act as the spokeswoman for the Fatah terror organization.

In her joint appearance with British Foreign Minister Margaret Beckett on Tuesday, Livni said that Israel and Fatah (which she refers to as the "moderates in the Palestinian Authority"), "are on the same side."

While repeating her vapid mantra distinguishing "moderates" from "extremists," Wednesday Livni claimed that the incitement surrounding the Temple Mount is being carried out by "irresponsible elements" which include "political groups within Israel and extremist elements outside Israel." As is her practice, Livni ignored the fact that her "moderate" friend Abbas stands at the center of those "extremists" inciting for war.

Finally we have Prime Minister Ehud Olmert himself. In his testimony last week before the Winograd Commission which he appointed to investigate last summer's war, Olmert continued to insist that Israel won. This being the case, we oughtn't be concerned about the defeated Hizbullah.

As to the Palestinians, Olmert is now busily preparing for his February 19 meeting with Abbas, the "moderate" terror master, and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. He continues to forbid the IDF from striking the burgeoning terror armies and armories in Gaza and refuses to acknowledge the known fact that Fatah is supported by Iran.

This week Olmert again tried to lull us into complacency about the ayatollahs' nuclear weapons program. Speaking to the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish American Organizations, Olmert enthused that we have ample time to deal with the threat and that anyway, the international community including China and Russia can be counted on to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons through diplomacy.

At this juncture it is worth recalling precisely what was wrong about the Olmert government's handling of the war last summer. While the Winograd Commission writes its report, the citizens of Israel should realize that regardless of what the members of the commission who Olmert appointed say, the war was not merely or mainly a military failure. The central cause of Israel's defeat was the incompetence of our political leaders. Specifically, Olmert and Peretz failed to act to ensure that the IDF achieved the goals they set for it.

Before ordering the IDF to war, Olmert held no discussions regarding the conditions on the ground, and so did not consider whether the war plans he approved were relevant to the achievement of his declared goals.

Olmert and Livni failed to grasp the diplomatic opportunities the war created. Had they been paying attention they would have seen a tangible willingness in Washington to consider a joint Israeli-American strike against the terror headquarters and training bases in Syria that serve not only the Palestinians and Hizbullah, but the insurgents warring against coalition forces in Iraq. The consequences that such a joint operation would have had on both Israeli-US relations and on Syrian-Iranian relations would have changed the face of the region in a dramatic and positive way.

Due to their ignorance of both military and diplomatic affairs, Olmert and colleagues barred the IDF from conquering south Lebanon and so denied the army the only means of achieving the goal of ending the missile attacks on northern Israel and destroying Hizbullah as a fighting force.

When Olmert's, Livni's and Peretz's incompetence last summer is compared to their current behavior, the unavoidable conclusion is that they have learned nothing from their experience and so remain incompetent to contend with the dangers we face today.

And so, as they bumble us into another war while speaking dreamily of their friends in Mecca, at least Olmert, Livni and Peretz cannot say that they weren't warned.

Contact Michael Travis at michaelmgr@gmail.com

To Go To Top

OUR SOPHOMORIC SENATE
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, February 9, 2007.

ARAB FAMILY REUNIFICATION IN ISRAEL

Israel's ban on Arab family reunification is about to expire. Should it be renewed? A security official said that reunification allowed 38 suicide bombers to enter (Arutz-7, 1/9).

Israelis used to imagine erroneously that their society civilized its Arabs. Actually, Israeli Arabs live largely in closed communities, never reconciled to living in a Jewish state, and have become more radicalized. Arab immigrants are likelier to be more radical. Some apply for reunification in order to commit terrorism. Let them reunify outside Israel. They have Arab states to do it in.

OUR SOPHOMORIC SENATE

By 12:9, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee resolved: "The primary objective of the US strategy in Iraq should be to have the Iraqi political leaders make the political compromises necessary to end the violence in Iraq."

Asks Michael Barone, "Compromises with whom? The Al Qaeda forces? What compromises would satisfy them? With the Baathist Sunnis? Ditto. With Sunni and Shiite militias?" (NY Sun, 1/29, Op.-Ed.)

The resolution was passed by Democrats. Every Democrat I know calls Pres. Bush "stupid." Isn't the Senate Foreign Relations Committee naïve? Such naivete leads to disaster.

The US Senate is no august body, bringing knowledge and wisdom to bear on complicated topics. It is shamefully ignorant.

NY TIMES, GIFT TO ANTISEMITES

The American Jewish Committee sponsored an essay accusing liberal or "progressive"! Jews of sharing the antisemites' verbal assault on the existence of Israel. The Times reported accusation and defense (Patricia Cohen, 1/31, E1).

The back-and-forth discussion was so generalized, that one does not know what the essay found wrong and whether the accused actually explained themselves satisfactorily. Instead, the liberals' generalizations sounded reasonable; they made some accusations of their own against their detractors. What poor reporting -- concealing more than it reveals! This is typical of the Times, which rarely lets a Jewish nationalist view be expressed in convincing detail. Perhaps the problem is poor writing, but the Times' typically poor writing almost invariably favors the anti-Zionist side. No matter how poor the writing, most readers swear by the paper. They should swear at it.

P.A. TERRORISTS WANT LONGER-RANGE ROCKETS

Some have traveled abroad, probably to Iran, to learn how to make rockets with longer ranges than the ones they have been firing at Israel. Israel is preparing for defense against longer-range ones (IMRA, 1/9). Its main defense has been to be lucky. Its mistake is in leaving the P.A. autonomy in which to make war and land to make it from.

Richard Shulman is a veteran defender of Israel on several web-based forums. His comments and analyses appear often on Think-Israel. He provides cool information and right-on-target overviews. He distributes his essays by email. To subscribe, write him at richardshulman5@verizon.net

To Go To Top

HYSTERIA OVER TEMPLE MOUNT
Posted by Simon McIlwaine, February 9, 2007.

This is by Michael Freund and it appeared yesterday in the Jerusalem Post
(www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1170359817554&pagename= JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull).

What is an offense? Must claims to an offense have any relationship to reality? Does the "offended" party have the right to respond in any way, including with violence?

These are questions that were, or should have been, asked with respect to the "cartoon riots," in which Muslims in many countries violently demonstrated against cartoons depicting Muhammad in a Danish newspaper. In the same vein, a German opera that depicted a number of religious figures was cancelled for fear that it might offend Muslim sensibilities.

Numerous smaller incidents of Western self-censorship with respect Muslim sensibilities abound, while Christian and Jewish societies continue to subject themselves and their religions to withering criticism, parody, and self-doubt.

Violence and bullying, in other words, has worked. The more violent the Muslim world becomes, the more likely the West is to see the side of the "offended" party and question its own actions.

The Muslim world's tactic of combining claims of offense, followed by intimidation through violence is not new to Israelis. We have been victims of it for years, and we are seeing it again right now.

In Gaza, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and elsewhere, Muslims are up in arms about what even a moderate like Jordan's King Abdullah called "a threat to the foundations of the Al Aksa mosque."

"What is happening is an aggression, we call on the Palestinian people to unite and protect Jerusalem," said Muhammad Hussein, the top Muslim cleric in Jerusalem. Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called for the Islamic world to "retaliate" and make Israel "regret" what it had done.

What is Israel doing that has sparked such violent threats? Some years ago, the pedestrian ramp leading up to Jerusalem's Temple Mount fell apart. Now municipal authorities plan to build a permanent ramp to maintain access to this holy site, and are conducting, as required by law, an archeological salvage dig to make sure no artifacts are destroyed in the process.

All of this is completely outside the Temple Mount platform, and bears no relation or threat to that structure, let alone to the Aksa mosque. Why would Israel dream of undermining the Temple Mount, which is Judaism's holiest site? The claim that Israel is doing so is patently absurd, as anyone familiar with the area can immediately see.

So how can the Muslim world be awash in violent threats based on an entirely fabricated pretext? Must there not be something to it?

The answer is that Muslim indignation is taken as self-justifying, and the more violent it is, the more the Western victims of it tend to question themselves.

The US State Department, instead of rejecting outright the claims that Israel was threatening a holy site and condemning Muslim extremists for incitement to violence, said it was seeking "clarification." "As always, we urge all parties to exercise great care when deciding whether and how to engage in any activity near sensitive religious sites," the spokesman said.

In other words, the State Department is at best agnostic on this "debate." If anything, its statement is directed against Israel, since who else is engaged in "activity near sensitive religious sites"?

This is scandalous, but perhaps less so than our own defense minister, Amir Peretz, who has written to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert asking that work on the site be immediately stopped. Why? Because security officials complained that this construction is causing foment in the Arab world at a sensitive time.

But why do these officials not think to ask why this foment is happening and how to prevent it from repeating on the flimsiest of pretexts? How many times will we and our allies capitulate to baseless violent intimidation?

What is going on now, of course, is a rerun of the violent riots of September 1996, over the opening of an additional exit to the then already existing Western Wall Tunnels, well outside the Temple Mount. Today this tunnel is a popular tourist attraction. It too had as much to do with the "foundations" of Al Aksa as does the reconstruction of the World Trade Center in New York.

Radical Islamist intimidation tactics will continue to multiply if the West, including Israel, does not show minimal respect for itself and the truth. Western condemnation of extremist threats should be swift, universal, and unequivocal. This time the victim happens to be Israel; next time it could be anywhere else.

Contact Simon McIlwaine by email at Simon.McIlwaine@ormerods.co.uk

To Go To Top

ISRAELIS TO AMERICAN JEWS: INVEST IN WEST BANK REAL ESTATE
Posted by Avodah, February 9, 2007.

This was written by Michal Lando and Tovah Lazaroff and it appeared in the Jerusalem Post
(http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1170359817633&pagename= JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull). Greer Faye Cashman and Shelly Paz contributed to this report.

Settlers have appealed to American Jews to save their communities by buying homes in the West Bank and renting them out to young families at affordable rates to help solidify Israel's hold on the area.

In a dramatic appeal that showed how the absence of government-assisted construction in the West Bank has stunted growth, settlers have warned American Jews that otherwise Judean and Samarian residents, particularly young couples, could leave.

Details are available at 1-866-278-5144.

They have asked United States Jews to financially fill in the gap left by the Israeli government, which at one time massively subsidized West Bank housing. Such help trickled to a slow stop this decade and finally dried out this year, settlers said.

On February 25 settlers will be in Teaneck, New Jersey hoping to entice ideological Americans to buy homes in places like Karnei Shomron, Eli, Otniel, Kiryat Arba and Shiloh.

"Almost all communities in Yesha (Judea and Samaria) are full, with no possibility of accepting new young couples or families," said the Amana Settlement Movement in a letter to potential American buyers.

"If we don't find a solution now, we will create our own population freeze, which may, in turn, begin a phenomenon unknown before in Yesha, that of families leaving our communities," warned Amana, which is the largest and oldest organization that develops land in Judea and Samaria.

Amana was not assuaged by the 5.2 percent Jewish population hike in the West Bank, which was almost three times as high as the 1.8% growth registered in the rest of the country in 2006. Most of that population hike reflects the population increases in three large cities and is not reflective of most of the communities in the area where growth is stagnant.

It's not just the current residents who are being dissuaded by the lack of available apartments, Amana executive director Alon Farbspein told The Jerusalem Post. "A lot of people want to live in Yesha and they have no place to go. We need to build more," said Farbspein.

Building lots are available within permissible construction areas in the West Bank, it's the funds that are absent, Farbspein said.

As evidence that legal construction exists in the territories in spite of the international condemnation against it, in 2005 the government published some 1,500 housing tenders for the West Bank. In addition 1,728 homes were constructed. But those constructed homes were private, said Emily Amrusi, the spokeswoman for the Council of Jewish Communities of Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip. What is absent is subsidized construction, she added.

While Amana welcomes American buyers in all legal West Bank settlements, in a move that highlights the ideological aspect of the campaign, Amana has promoted 10 small and mid-size settlements of which at least seven are outside the boundaries of the security fence. They are also outside of the settlement blocs which Israel assumes it will retain in a final-status agreement.

In a colorful ad which Amana has taken out in the Jewish media, including one that will be sent to members of www.JPost.com, it invites buyers to walk in Abraham's footsteps and to help nurture the Zionist dream.

"This would be an ideological investment," said Aliza Herbst, spokesperson for Pinchas Wallerstein, chairman of the Binyamin Regional Council. "It is geared towards people who believe it is important to have a strong presence in Judea and Samaria, answering the needs not only in terms of security, but also as far as young families go, this is what they can afford."

In light of the focus on illegal construction in the West Bank, Amana has promised that houses will be built on "government lands allocated by the settlement department of the World Zionist Organization," and that "proper building licenses" will be obtained.

The idea is that Americans would purchase the homes and rent them out to settlers, without having to deal with the hassles that accompany rental properties. Everything from property management to rent collection and transfer will be handled by Binyanei Bar Amana, a subsidiary housing organization of the Amana organization.

The project is being billed as an opportunity for American Jews to have a say in Israel's future. The Amana campaign reminds US Jews that they could leave their "thumbprint" on Israel's destiny.

"We are trying to help the settlements grow and prosper, and we see it as an investment in Israel's future," said Rabbi Pruzansky of Congregation Bnai Yeshurun. His Orthodox synagogue in New Jersey is hosting the February 25 event with Amana.

"We think it's good to remind Israelis and the Israeli government, that there are Jews in the world that believe God gave the land of Israel to the Jewish people. It's our job to ensure its survival, viability and prosperity and that's the primary motivation," Pruzansky said.

He added that he had spoken with a number of his congregants who had expressed interest, though some of the details of the project still needed to be worked out. One concern is whether Americans who buy homes would be compensated if the settlements were evacuated, Pruzansky said.

Houses will be sold starting at $93,000 and will be rented out at a minimum of $250 per month, though prices will vary. Amana has agreed to arrange financing, and provide guided tours of the communities in question. Should American buyers wish to sell their home, Amana will have the house vacated and made ready for sale.

The hope is to kill two birds with one stone: Americans who ideologically support the settlements can secure land in the territories by building more houses, and at the same time ensure that young families can continue to repopulate the settlements. In Karnei Shomron for example, said Amrusi, 100 couples married last year. In her home settlement of Talmon one third of the residents live in caravans or rented basements because there is no housing.

Dror Etkes of the non-governmental group Peace Now which monitors the territories said he was skeptical that Amana would get permits to build the homes even if it persuaded Americans to buy them. Unlike the picture presented by the settlers, it was his experience that people had a hard time getting rid of their homes in the territories.

"We know that in a few settlements they have trouble getting rid of houses. What I think is that they are trying to recruit money from outside, so they have more money, and better cash flow. They would like to have more available money to be used."

Etkes said that Shilo and Kiryat Arba, two of the settlements where Americans can choose to build, had empty houses.

So far Amana has enlisted New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who represents the 48th District, a largely Orthodox area of Brooklyn. Hikind, who was a follower of Rabbi Meir Kahane's Jewish Defense League, returned from Israel last week where he met with a range of Israeli intellectuals to discuss the role of American Jews in Israel, and plans to promote the project full force. To start, Hikind said he will be purchasing one of the houses together with a friend.

"Whenever I speak about the situation in Israel people always ask me what they can do," said Hikind. "I'm going to give them something to do, something very real to be proud of. It's like Israel Bonds, making a commitment to the land of Israel, not just in words, but also in action."

Hikind said he intends to do everything he can to "get the message out." Asked whether he was concerned about American Jews who are politically opposed to buying land in the settlements, Hikind said "there are enough people in the Jewish community who care deeply about the land of Israel and this is about investing in the land of Israel."

Contact Avodah at avodah15@aol.com

To Go To Top

SUING THE GOVERNMENT OF ISRAEL TO PROTECT ISRAELI SCHOOL CHILDREN
Posted by Noam Bedein, February 9, 2007.

The scene at the Jerusalem High Court of Justice on Thursday morning, February 8, 2007 was surreal.

Three members of the Sderot Parents Association had petitioned the Israel High Court of Justice to ask for a court order for the government of Israel to allocate funds to provide full protection for all 24 educational institutions in the city of Sderot.

Joining in the suit was the legal counsel of the Western Negev "Shaar HaNegev" Regional Council. At this point in time, following 1,300 missile attacks on Sderot and the western Negev since the Disengagement, the schools in the area remain only partially protected.

The Israeli civil defense command had decided to provide the proper protection for the first, second and third grades of the schools in Sderot and the other schools in the Western Negev, leaving other grades unprotected. As citizens of Sderot and the area kept up their demands for complete protection of the schools, the response from the central government in Jerusalem was consistent -- that the government would simply not provide the appropriate budget necessary for this purpose. Until now, this was explained by Israeli government officials in terms of budgetary considerations -- a normal reason for any bureaucracy that has not allocated funds for emergency considerations.

However, Israel does have The Basic Law, which guards the rights and dignity for all of its citizens, and which gives all citizens the right to sue the government in the Israeli citizens court -- the Israel High Court of Justice.

Experience has it in Israel that when a citizens group needs budget to protect a fundamental need, that citizen group simply sues in the Israel High Court of Justice and the government often orders the government to find a way to protect human rights, and to find the necessary funds for that purpose.

However, after the parents association of Sderot made their convincing case to the Israel High Court of Justice that their children deserved the right to full protection, Raanan Giladi, the young lawyer representing the government of Israel delivered a surprising response, stating that the Israeli government should NOT protect school children after third grade, since the Israel Civil Defense Command had determined that children had a fifteen second warning from the time the siren sounds until the missile hits for the children to run for cover in the safe areas of the school. An official of the Israel Civil Defense Command, Michel Levy, testified that they had tested trial runs and that they had determined that 15 seconds was enough time for the children to take cover. What Levy "forgot" to mention was that Israeli combat soldiers had run the fifteen seconds to safe spots in the schools, not 30 or 40 children who would have to scramble out of their chairs in their classrooms and run out the one classroom door in search of a safe spot. One of the Sderot parents, Alon Davidi, testified at the session that that he and his wife, as parents of five children in the Sderot schools, wanted to have minimal confidence that when he sent off his kids to school in the morning to classrooms that were safe, no matter how old his children were.

Judge Beinish, head of the Israel Supreme Court, presiding at this special session of the Israel High Court of Justice, stated that the government's argument was not convincing and asked how long would it take to provide a program to protect all of the schools. Giladi, the government attorney, asked for 45 days to provide a proposal in this regard -- and the parents association asked why this would take so long. Judge Beinish gave the two sides two weeks in which to meet and to discuss a formula for full protection of the schools, to which Israel Civil Defense official Mishel Levy responded once again that "full protection is not necessary- we are working on the concept of safe areas in the schools." Judge Beinish concluded the court hearing with an unusual appeal to the government of Israel -- to reconsider its policy of not providing full protection to the school children of Sderot and the Western Negev. Judge Beinish then asked that the Sderot parents association to use the next two weeks to provide the government with a precise list of what schools and what classrooms still need protection.

While the court was meeting in special session, Arabs fired three more missiles at populated areas of the western Negev, while the British Foreign Secretary, on a special visit to Israel, praised the Israeli government for its restraint in the wake of the 99 missile attacks on the Israeli population centers that have occurred since Israel declared a unilateral cease fire on November 26th, 2006.

Meanwhile, the Sderot Information Center for the Western Negev Ltd. arranged for two of the representatives of the parents association -- Batya Kedar and Chava Gad -- to be interviewed by the legal affairs correspondent of the Israel government Voice of Israel radio network, so that Kedar and Gad could take their message to the people of Israel. Kedar and Gad spoke as "mothers of children under fire", and asked that people throughout Israel and the Jewish world demand that the Israeli government provide minimum protection for their children under fire. Kedar and Gad told the radio that they will spend the better part of the next two weeks preparing a thorough comprehensive report that will document the minimal security needs for the schools of Sderot.

It will be instructive to see if the Israel Civil Service Command, which remains firm in its opposition to providing any further protection for the schools, will be overruled.

Everything now depends on the public pressure that will be brought to bear on the administration of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzippi Livni and Defense Minister Amir Peretz to protect the children of Sderot and the Western Negev, no matter what the cost will be to the budget of the government of Israel and to the ego of Israel Civil Service officer Michel Levy.

Noam Bedein is with Sderot Information Center for the Western Negev
(http://www.SderotMedia.com)

To Go To Top

!
JNF GUILTY IN JEWISH LAND LOSS TO ARABS
Posted by Arieh King, February 9, 2007.

Regarding Peqi'in i want to inform you that JNF bought the land with the money of The Jewish Agency.

The houses in Peqi'in were vacant since then and today the Jewish Agency are thinking to give to the Arab municipality the houses and this is for helping the state to get good relations with the Arab population in north Israel.

Besides that i am holding severel of documents belong to JNF that are pointing at the lands belong to JNF in north Yerushalaim and it is written that Arabs are using the land and Arab built a lot of building without a permit from JNF and without a permit from the Municipality of Yerushalaim.

If any body know about donors of JNF or Jewish Agency all around the world i will be very happy to talk with them or to take them to this areas.

I want also to ask you for a help to find ways to contact the Hebrew University donors all around the world. and why that?

At year 2004 the University sold to a Muslim company 'Housing council' 97 dunams in Yerushalaim. This was after I (Arieh King) gave them an offer to buy the 97 for 30,000$ per dunam! At 1985 Mr. Meir Ezrei (A Jewish business man), that is a partner in 50% of one of the plots belong to the HU offered HU to buy them out for more then 30,000$ and the HU refused. As i wrote above the HU sold the 97 dunams for 11,000$ for a dunam!!!!

Today the HU is offering 18 apartments at Givah Hatzorfatit (French Hill) and they are offering also to Muslims...

Now! Why am i writing to you all of that?

I am sure that not even one donor knew about what i am writing and i think all the donors must know what the HU is doing with the donation that is being given by Jews.

p.s: All the 97 dunams that i mentioned above were given as a donation by Dr. Nahum Honing that was 70 years ago one of the biggest of Gohel Yerushalaim (Reclaiming land person).

The letter below was written by Helen Freedman of Americans for a Safe Israel (AFSI). Contact her at ghfree@aol.com

Shabat Shalom.
Arieh King

In October of 2006, I put out a report entitled, "Generous Jews Deceived by Jewish National Fund/JNF." The response from JNF was largely an angry or silent one. There was no word from Mort Zuckerman or Ron Lauder regarding my questions and statements regarding the JNF giveaway or sale of Jewish land to Arabs. Avinoam Binder, Chief Israel Represntative for Keren Kayemeth L'Israel, or KKL, the Israeli branch of JNF, asked me to take him off my email list. Dr. Anita Jacobs, a uniquely dedicated woman, supplied me with information about the good deeds accomplished by JNF. I have no doubt that JNF is doing many good things throughout Israel, as it has been mandated to do. However, the egregious mismanagement of Jewish land matters cries out for attention.

The purpose of this update, four months later, is to share with you the report I received from Aryeh King, my source for JNF information, especially in Jerusalem, where he lives. Aryeh quotes from the JNF website: "Since the first land purchase in Erez Israel in the early 1900's for and on behalf of the Jewish People, KKL-JNF has served as the Jewish People's trustee of the land, initiating and charting development work to enable Jewish settlement from the border in the north to the edge of the desert and Arava in the south." This statement becomes a travesty when matched against the information King has gathered. Again and again, King tells us that, "I am sad to write to you that JNF is NOT guarding and watching the lands that were purchased a hundred years ago with Jewish money, with the express purpose of redeeming the holy land of Eretz Yisrael." Instead, in violation of its trust, JNF is giving or losing Jewish municipal properties to Arabs.

The situation in the north -- in the Galilee -- is described by King as out of control. Arabs are building illegally on JNF land, and JNF blames this on the fact that the Israel Land Authority/ILA is not guarding the land. This is disingenuous because 40% of the ILA Directors are connected to JNF. We also learn that the JNF turned over many buildings in the Galilee to the Jewish Agency a few years ago. The Jewish Agency now owes millions of shekels in back taxes which it failed to pay to the districts and the municipalities. In order to erase these debts, the Agency is offering the properties given to them by the JNF, which had remained undeveloped all these years.

King then goes on to describe the situation in Jerusalem. As reported previously, in northern Jerusalem, in the area of the Atarot Airport, the JNF owns more than thousands of dunams of land. King reports that there are hundreds of buildings that Arabs have built in this area, on JNF land, and nothing is being done to stop these violations. He appraises the land belonging to JNF in Atarot as being worth $35,000,000. This is Jewish money that was collected for the preservation of the State of the Jews in Israel. Why are JNF donors not made aware of this blatant giveaway of the land for which they worked so hard to raise money? And why is this abomination allowed to take place, without any outcry or interference?

Another agonizingly painful piece of information has to do with the JNF land on the WRONG side of the "security fence" snaking through Jerusalem. There are hundreds or thousands of dunams of JNF land that will be on the Arab side of the wall and will therefore be totally lost to the Jews. We haven't heard any protests from JNF to the Israeli government about this disaster. With all their connections with the ILA and Jewish Agency, one would think they would have some input in the decision making about the placement of the wall.

The tree planting program sponsored by JNF is paid for by Jews. Yet, Muslim Arabs are busy burning the forests, even if they personally benefit from them. They know that Jews will donate money to re-plant the forests, and this re-planting is NOT restricted to Jewish areas, but benefits everyone in the country.

We've also learned that gangs of Bedouin thieves are brazenly stealing cattle and equipment from Jewish farmers in the Negev. In the case of Shai Dromi, a farmer who resorted to sleeping in his sheep pen in order to apprehend the criminals, he was forced to defend himself by shooting at the feet of some of the invading Arabs. Dromi is now sitting in prison. Are the JNF developers of the Negev aware of this growing problem, and if so, what are they doing about it? The Arutz Sheva report of Feb. 7 that tells the Dromi story in detail, includes the following: "There is a struggle for the Negev that nobody will admit is underway. The Bedouin see themselves as the indigenous inhabitants of the land, and are often supported by human rights groups."

Aryeh King concludes that the JNF is doing almost nothing about the redemption of the Holy Land. He declares that JNF is NOT the address to which to give if one is interested in preserving Jewish land. He suggests that those wishing to donate to truly Zionist organizations dedicated to purchasing land in Israel for Jews, and guarding and protecting that land, should write to him at: kingshir@bezeqint.net.il.

Contact Arieh King at kingshir@bezeqint.net

To Go To Top

DEAL OR NO DEAL, MR. RIEGER?
Posted by Buddy Macy, February 9, 2007.

In NBC's hit television program Deal or No Deal, Howie Mandel explains that the job of the show's banker is to offer the contestant as little money as possible to make him or her go away. I just heard a report about UJC's meeting in Florida from a member of the Jewish media, and was disgusted to learn that Howard Rieger, President of UJC (United Jewish Communities -- the Jewish Federation network in North America) and his fellow Jewish leaders are treating the expellees from Gush Katif and northern Samaria as contestants on the aforementioned cash giveaway TV program. Apparently, UJC is set to raise $2,000,000 for trauma relief and low interest loans for the Jews who were expelled from their homes and communities in August 2005.

Trauma relief? Isn't that supposed to be provided RIGHT AFTER A TRAGIC INCIDENT? The PLANNED EXPULSIONS OCCURRED 18 MONTHS AGO. The expellees are now far from the trauma they first experienced in August of 2005...physical and emotional suffering have now become a part of their daily lives! In a recent report prepared by the Gush Katif Committee ( www.katifund.org), the organization entrusted to care for the victims of the mass expulsion, it stated that the estimated needs of the expellees are in excess of $50,000,000. Not one of the more than 8,800 expellees is living in permanent housing. It will probably take another three to four years before they move into their new homes. In the meantime, they are being forced to spend the sparse monies given to them by the Israeli Government on everyday living expenses. By the time the new structures are built, many of them will not have nearly enough funds left in which to purchase those homes. And, the 50% unemployment rate among the working age population brought on by the Disengagement's uprooting of the 1700 working families does not help matters!

I am most concerned about the child and youth populations of the former Gush Katif and northern Samaria residents. They are suffering from a myriad of social and psychological problems that were completely nonexistent before the expulsion. Some have developed extremely bad habits, including: drug and alcohol use, dropping out of school and exhibiting hostility towards their parents, teachers and other authority figures. Such behavior is understandable considering the dramatic changes imposed on them during the past year and a half. Everything possible must be done to break these habits, and to revive the spirit of these young Israelis.

While I am pleased that UJC is finally confronting the Jewish refugee problem in Israel, I am extremely disappointed and angered by the proposed dollar amount of its support. Two million dollars may sound like a substantial sum, but it represents less than 4% of what is needed. UJC raised well in excess of $350 million to help the victims of the war in the North. While the Israelis there certainly deserved financial assistance, they did have homes to which to return. The expellees do not have such a "luxury," and their needs are enormous. In addition, the Jewish refugees did suffer tremendously during the war this past year. Why doesn't UJC distribute a significant portion of the unallocated funds raised for the Israel Emergency Campaign to help the Jews who have been suffering for 18 months?

IF THE EXPULSIONS HAD TAKEN PLACE IN BUENOS AIRES, PARIS OR WARSAW, UJC WOULD HAVE RAISED 100's OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS FOR THE VICTIMS. IRONICALLY, AND TRAGICALLY SO, THE REFUGE FOR THE JEWISH PEOPLE HAS CAUSED THE HEROIC JEWS OF FAITH 18 MONTHS OF ADDITIONAL SUFFERING.

Mr. Rieger, those who truly support all Jews in need will not simply go away after learning of your latest offer. Howie -- NO DEAL!

Contact Buddy Macy by email at vegibud@verizon.net

To Go To Top

AUSTRALIANS ABANDONING FAILED MULTICULTURALISM CONCEPT
Posted by Nurit Greenger, February 9, 2007.

Australians are abandoning failed multiculturalism concept. The USA MUST copy Australia...when immigrating to Australia you must become a traditional Australian and when immigrating to the USA, you must become a traditional American.

In Australian reality, the ONLY ones to have stubbornly kept to their closed Muslim communities and came to be seen by most Australians as a problem in their midst are the Lebanese Muslims. Australia ended multiculturalism, renaming the Ministry for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs the Ministry for Immigration and Citizenship!

This is called "Australian Assimilation" and it was written by Keith Windschuttle. It appeared February 8, 2007 in the Wall Street Journal
(http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117088701601701420.html?mod= opinion_main_europe_asia). Mr. Windschuttle is a historian and the author of, most recently, The White Australia Policy (Macleay Press, 2004).

With a pen stroke, Australian Prime Minister John Howard recently ended a concept that has dominated Australian immigration policy for more than 30 years: multiculturalism. A nation of immigrants, Australia has long tussled with two competing ideas about how to integrate new citizens.

Traditionalists wanted immigrants to shed their past and adopt mainstream Australian values; multiculturalists wanted them to retain the cultural allegiances of their old countries intact. By renaming the Ministry for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs the Ministry for Immigration and Citizenship, the prime minister stamped his approval on the traditional approach.

This little change of title represented a big reversal for Australian immigration policy. Since the mid-1970s, all sides of the Australian political spectrum had endorsed multiculturalism and tried to persuade older Australians to accept the change with equanimity. The promise was that the policy would turn traditional Anglo-Australian monoculture into a more diverse, vibrant and socially pluralist society. Intellectuals thought it would end old Australia's reputation for racism and xenophobia.

Both conservative and social-democratic governments vied for the ethnic vote by pouring money into immigrant associations and funding national public radio and television networks devoted to the ethnic cause. Housing, welfare and education policies encouraged some immigrant groups to form close communities and send their children to ethnic and religious schools. The most conspicuous of these were Lebanese Muslims who almost all became concentrated in the suburbs of southwestern Sydney.

The philosophy has led Australia into trouble. For at least a decade now, the evidence has shown that instead of ethnic communities living happily within the diversity of social pluralism, multiculturalism bred ghettos characterized by high levels of unemployment, welfare dependency, welfare abuse, crime and violence.

The social engineers responsible should have been well aware of the likely outcome, especially for young men. Numerous studies of similar ethnic ghettos in North America and Europe show they produce much the same result, whatever the color or ethnicity of their inhabitants. Ghetto culture for young males is characterized by interpersonal violence, sexual irresponsibility, incomplete education, substandard speech, a hypersensitivity about being disrespected and a feckless attitude toward work.

For some time now, Australia's political parties have struggled to find common ground on multiculturalism. The Labor Party pursued it most enthusiastically, with one former Labor Minister, Barry Jones, admitting it became "a tremendously important element" in building up a long-term, non-English speaking political constituency for his party. The conservative Liberal-National coalition responded more to older Australian values that stressed national cohesion more than diversity.

The irony is that mainstream Australia was doing just fine integrating its various, diverse ethnic groups. One of the positive products of the original multicultural impetus has been the steady increase in the number of educated immigrants from south and East Asia. Today they account for about 40% of Australia's annual skilled immigrant intake. But the great majority have remained outside the socially engineered ghettoes of multicultural policy and have integrated into the Australian community. The upshot is that instead of harboring racist or ethnocentric attitudes to these newcomers, old Australians are working with, marrying and having children with them.

Studies by Monash University's Bob Birrell showed that by the end of the 1990s only a minority of second-generation marriages of persons of Asian descent in Australia were to someone from their parents' country. Only 6% of Australia's Indian community married within their ethnic group, as did only 16% of Australia's Chinese community. Without the help of intellectuals and multiculturalist policymakers, ordinary Australians have been rapidly creating a successful multiracial country.

This general trend toward assimilation is a point too often missed by defenders of multiculturalism on the left, who are still eager to find examples of old Australian xenophobia and racism in every corner. Witness the reaction to a series of beach riots between Anglo-Australian and Lebanese Muslim youths in late 2005. Left-wing intellectuals claimed confirmation for their racism thesis. Writing in the Age, the feminist historian Marilyn Lake compared the Anglo-Australians to "the lynch mobs in the American south." But a look at general assimilation trends points observers in a different direction. In reality, the so-called riots were minor adolescent turf clashes in which no one was killed or even seriously injured.

In fact, the only non-European immigrants who have posed serious problems as a group have been those who embraced multiculturalism most enthusiastically. Lebanese Muslims have stuck stubbornly to their own communities. A full 74% marry other Lebanese Muslims. This pattern fulfilled the community-building objective that Lebanese political and religious leaders worked for, but by isolating their constituents from the rest of Australia it produced more social problems than it solved.

What finally put paid to multiculturalism wasn't an academic debate about its philosophical underpinnings or some grand left-right struggle, but its practical outcomes. Coupled with the revival of Islamic jihad and fanned by some highly provocative misogynist statements by their religious leaders, the comparatively closed Muslim communities came to be seen by most Australians as a problem in their midst. The London tube bombings in July 2005 and the riots by Muslim youth across France in October and November of that year demonstrated outcomes that many critics of multiculturalism had predicted. With the central rationale disproved and its inherent drawbacks so visibly on show, the demise of government enthusiasm for multiculturalism was only a matter of time.

Contact Nurit Greenger by email at 4nuritg@ca.rr.com. Visit her blog:
http://ngthinker.typepad.com

To Go To Top

IS THERE A MUSLIM FIFTH COLUMN GROWING IN AMERICA AND EUROPE?
Posted by Michael Bussio, February 8, 2007.

In Europe anti-Semitism/Judophobia run rampant. Synagogues are torched, Jewish cemeteries are desecrated and medical personnel are attacked by Muslim traditionalists. In the United States Jew-hating is growing, especially on American university campuses. University professors and certain radio personalities preach moral equivalency. They actually believe that putting a bullet into the head of an eight year old child in Northern Israel is the same thing as knocking down the home of a terrorist. The United States, Israel and many western nations have been singled out as the enemy of humanity. And a campaign directed against the Jewish people has been fully underway for some time. In addition, a former American president has written a book that is laced with revisionist history and falsehoods aimed against the Jewish people. And it comes as no surprise to many to learn that Islam's ultimate goal appears to be a Muslim caliphate throughout the world where only Muslim law applies. The question then must be asked here in this country, do American Muslims intend to integrate or do they wish to remake the United States into a Muslim Sharia-driven land? By the way, if you want to know what that would be like, look no further than the former Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

Today, the instrument used by the Muslim community to bring about this world ruled by Islam, is the heinous act of terrorism. Murdering the old, the infirmed, the young, people of all races, religions, and creeds, is shouted for in the Mosques, and taught in a multitude of Islamic religion schools, known as Madrasas, all over the globe. In Bat Ye'or's outstanding book, Eurabia, she points out that the United Nations, over the last 50 years, has been transformed into an international anti-Semitic, anti-American tribunal. The U.N. presently seeks to deny Israel its own identity through a re-writing of history. Further, the body of the U.N. seems determined to isolate the Jewish State, while vilifying not only Israel, but the United States as well, as the generators of all wickedness in the world. And all the while the far left in the United States say we must find a peaceful way to cooperate with the radical Islamists, while conservatives say we must confront them.

It's a strange thing when the public, the politicians, the media, and the teleprompter readers have no problem recognizing the danger imposed by terrorism. When the country's governors and mayors are prepared or are preparing to meet the impending danger. But these same people are oblivious to the possibility of an even greater threat -- nonviolent fanatical Muslims. Author Raphael Israeli states in his well documented book, Islamikazes, "There is a vast silent portion of Muslims who sympathize, if not with militant Islam, then at least with its horrendous acts of terror, as the profuse statements and demonstration of jubilation among Muslims intellectuals, professionals, columnists, and the masses attested to in the aftermath of the September 11th." For example, in Daniel Pipes outstanding work, Militant Islam Reaches America, Siraj Wahhaj, a black convert to Islam openly calls for replacing the U.S. Government with a caliphate. Zaid Shakir, formally the Muslim chaplain at Yale University, stated that Muslims cannot accept the legitimacy of the secular system in the United States, for it is against the orders and ordainments of Allah. Ahmed Nawfal, a leader of the Jordanian Muslim Brethren who frequently speaks at American rallies, has denigrated the United States "as a country that has no doctrine and no ideology, no thought, no values and no ideals", then goes on to say that if "Islamists stand up with the ideology that we possess, it will be very easy for us to preside over the world once again." Muslims in London shout their intent to take over Great Britain and impose Muslim Sharia law there, and they demand the execution of Pope Benedict XVI. In the United States, CAIR [Council on American Islamic Relations] flaunts its intent to make America an Islamic country, with the flag of the caliphate flying over the White House. Then there is the 1989 book written by Siddiqi, an influential commentator on American Muslim issues. The book is entitled Methodology of Dawah Ilallah in American Perspective, better known in the West as The Need to Convert Americans to Islam. Siddiqi lays out a detailed justification and plan for Islamists take over of the United States.

In late 2002 back in Britain, Sheikh Muhammad bin Abdul Rahman al-Arifi, the Imam of the mosque of King Fahd Defense University wrote, "We will control the land of the Vatican; we will control Rome and introduce Islam to it."

The United States is not prepared, and for the most part unaware, and nearly blind to the Fifth Column that may lurk among them. Already the Fifth Columns, operating with brazen, contemptuous candor behind frontiers of intended victims all over Europe and the Untied States is in fact a reality.

As America and the West sleep at home, fanatical Muslims more loyal to the likes of Bin Laden, the Hezbollah terror army and Hamas, rather than their adopted countries, go about quietly imposing aspects of Islamic law. They obtain special sanctions for themselves by eliminating any criticisms of Islam, while bringing about special privileges for Muslims only. And all the while they clandestinely take away basic civil rights from women and non-Muslims.

Just how does this 21st Century Fifth Column work? For starters those citizens of various western nations including the United States, law abiding all, push forth their fanatical Islamic views by lobbying weak-kneed politicians, threatening the media, and various talking-heads. They do their best to secretly influence what is placed in the contents of school textbooks. In other words they use the host nation's basic freedoms to their advantage. For example, Bat Ye'or reveals in Eurabia, that "in Europe today the "European Cultural Foundation works hand in hand with the Muslim Arab world to promote and finance a network of an association of artists, writers, comedians, actors, film, theater and video producers, journalists, intergovernmental organizations and national cultural operatives such a museum curators and exhibition directors, in the service of its political design of cross-Mediterranean cultural cooperation. This cross cultural Euro-Arab fertilization was illustrated in Sweden at the Stockholm International forum, which was held January 17 to February 7, 2004. There a composition was exhibited honoring a female suicide killer who murdered 21 Israelis at a restaurant in Haifa. Her picture was posted in twenty-six subway stations throughout Stockholm -- evidently celebrating the murder of Israelis".

Has anyone noticed that these non-violent fanatical Muslims are being offered land at discount prices in order to build their schools where they will instruct their pupils in the wonderful world of hate; hate for the host country, and a denunciation of all religions except Islam. Land is being offered to them on the cheap so they can build their mosques, where Imams will spew their venom to their flock calling for war and terror to be brought to the homes of the infidels. Has anyone noticed where suddenly Hindus and Jews are banned from hearing criminal cases against Muslims? This is happening in Great Britain now. In New York State have you heard where certain types of prisoners are being allowed to avoid strip searches? One of my favorites is allowing students in public (i.e., tax-funded) schools to use empty classrooms for Muslim prayers in New Jersey. Where is the ACLU now?

In the United Kingdom polygamous marriages are being recognized for tax purposes.

At the university level, Muslim 'women-only' classes have been arranged, all at a taxpayer expense. There is a move on in Norway to convince the public at large that women must be blamed for being the victims of rape by Muslim men. And get this; there is a push to ban the use of piggybanks, that's right, piggybanks, the symbol of frugality. This is being done by two major British banks.

Furthermore, there are now established panels, councils, or advisory boards uniquely for Muslims only. There are events and neighborhoods that are now authorized for Muslims only. This next one takes the cake however, prohibiting families from sending pork or pork by-products or "Any matter containing religious materials contrary to Islamic faith" to U.S. military personnel serving in the Middle East.

But, the most threatening example of the Muslim 5th Column in host countries is how Islamic fanatics currently dominate the Muslim political scene in every Western society, without exception. They run the schools, control the mosques, publish the weeklies, manipulate the Internet sites, write columns and op-ed pieces, appear on talk shows and are given access to politicians. This is arguably all with one goal in mind, the Islamization of the host country.

Complicated and difficult though our times are, many in the United States, Canada, Israel, Europe, and the rest of the democratic global society are beginning to see the threat for what it really is -- a satanic adversary as dangerous as has ever been seen on the world stage, similar in scope, determination and madness as Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Russia or Mao's China, with the same goal in mind -- world conquest.

Michael Bussio is a former teacher of history. He has worked for INR at the US Department of State in Washington D.C., lived in Israel, and is the author of "Threat to America: A Citizen's Reference Handbook on International Terrorism" (To be published). Contact him at amblerfoley@earthlink.net

To Go To Top

ESTHER POLLARD'S DAILY CALL TO THE WHITE HOUSE
Posted by Justice For Jonathan Pollard, February 8, 2007.

Here is what Esther Pollard told the operator today to relay to the President:

"Free Jonathan Pollard and send him home to Israel. As a friend of Israel and a G-d fearing man it is incumbent upon the President to do so without any futher delay."

The operator responded that she would chalk up another one for Free Jonathan Pollard.

Have you made your daily phone call to the White House yet?

Every call is tallied by subject matter. Every time you say "Free Jonathan Pollard" it counts! Take a minute for Jonathan Pollard and call now!

Dial 202-456-1111 or 202-456-1414

You do not have to be an American to participate, just a mensch! Call now!

[Editor's Note: William Bletsch has provided us with a chronology and facts you can use in talking to your friends and family. Click here.

Contact Justice For Jonathan Pollard by email at justice4jp@gmail.com

To Go To Top

ARAB ISRAELIS CALL ON ISRAEL TO SHED JEWISH IDENTITY
Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, February 8, 2007.

In the New York Times of February 8th, Isabel Kershner writes a column entitled "Noted Arab Citizens Call on Israel to Shed Jewish Identity". (1)

Why am I not surprised, given the efforts of the radical so-called Jewish Left to de-Judaize the Jewish nation? Do such names as David Ben Gurion, Moshe Dayan, Ezer Weizman, Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, Ehud Barak, Yossi Beilin, Amran?? Mitzna, Ariel Sharon, Shulamit Aloni, Ehud Olmert -- among others who call themselves Israelis but, view themselves as Jews in name only.

There are now 18 Arab states and 2 Arab territories based upon the use of Arabic as their language. They cover 5 million square miles or 12.9 million square kilometers. In addition, for the 1.79 Billion Muslims in the world there approximately 59 Muslim States that have a population more than 50% Muslim. Several have a Muslim population of 100% or close to 100%, where there are virtually no Jews, Christians or other religions allowed (except perhaps a handful too old to leave). There is now only one Jewish State which the Muslims wish to conquer, absorb in a massive conversion or simply kill off the entire Jewish population. The Un-Jews (such as those listed above) have been (or are) anxious to shed their Jewish skin, much as a snake does as it morphs into a larger size.

The Muslims who proposed this concept enjoy the safety of living in Israel, with the benefits of employment, with Arab Members in the Knesset (Parliament) -- even on the Prime Minister's Cabinet, courts with Arab judges, participation in good health care, including equal treatment by doctors in all the major hospitals, their own schools, with access to Israel's seven major universities, freedom from serving in the IDF (Israel Defense Forces), freedom of speech and freedom of religion -- with their holy places protected. (All religious sites of all religions are protected.) This proposal, called "Future Vision of the Palestinian Arabs in Israel" was published in December under the auspices of the Committee of Arab Mayors in Israel.

As you can see, the Arab Muslims and Christians living in Israel enjoy the benefits of living in a democratic Israel and not under the control of Muslim and/or Arab dictatorships or monarchies. They are safer in Israel than in most Arab Muslim countries and not endangered by the Terror which embodies Fatah, Hamas, Hezb'Allah, etc. -- unless they happen to be riding a bus or dining at a restaurant with Jews when an Arab Muslim suicide bomber decides to blow up all the civilians he (or she) can reach.

Imagine any Muslim in Iran, Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia proposing that Jews not only enjoy the same rights as Muslims but, that the Muslim Arab character of the nation be modified to include Jews as a "consensual democracy". Before the words left their mouths or their pens, they would be arrested, tortured and probably hung in the streets if not beheaded.

The NYT writer, Isabel Kershner is a proto-typical NYT shill of the Left, spinning the article so that de-Judaizing the Jewish State is worthy of consideration because Israel is a democracy and her citizens have so many freedoms. Any attempt at balance is merely a crutch to support her spin as she tries to establish logic for the Jewish State to become Muslim.

For those who do not follow what is currently happening in terms of reducing the Jewish nation to a minuscule appendage of the Arabist State Department policy, this article is merely a fragment of a greater effort.

We observe Condoleezza Rice of the State Department coalescing with Tzipi Livni, Israel's Foreign Minister of the Olmert Kadima coalition meeting together to force as many as 250,000 Jews out of their homes, schools and jobs in Judea and Samaria, plus another 300,000 more -- from the Golan Heights, the Jordan Valley and all of so-called east Jerusalem that had been controlled by King Hussein of Jordan for 19 years. All of those areas of Israel have been put into play as negotiating chips by the Left Liberal Olmert cabal and pro-Arab State Department.

At the same time, Mahmoud Abbas (aka Abu Mazen) President of the Palestinian Authority and Ismail Haniya, the P.A.'s Prime Minister and leader of the militant Hamas are meeting in Mecca with Khaled Meshaal, head of Hamas from Damascus -- under the auspices of the Saudi King Abdullah. This summit is intended to unite Fatah and Hamas so instead of fighting each other, they plan to turn their weapons against Israel. Abbas has already stated publicly that their weapons should be turned toward the "occupier". (Note! Code word for Israel). The U.S. is supplying the weapons.

At the same time Iran and Syria are preparing for a major war against Israel, with the goal to erase the Jewish nation from the face of the earth -- as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad promises his Muslim world followers.

Coincidentally, the Olmert regime, in league with the Labor Left are negotiating to not only divest Israel of Judea and Samaria but also what they call east Jerusalem in which the Muslim Arabs include every part of Jerusalem not under the control of Jordan from 1948 to 1967. Of course, once Israel and Jerusalem are so carved into tiny pieces, the Jewish State of Israel will appear to be vulnerable for attack to her final elimination.

The U.S. State Department has also put the Golan Heights onto the negotiating table to lure Syria back to talking. Olmert and Rice are so busy subverting the Jews of the Golan so the Heights that protect Israel from above can revert to Syrian control. Underneath that sham veneer, the State Department expects Syria to lease back the Golan to the U.S. so America can build a Super Air and Ground Base from which to police and control the entire Middle East. Their excuse will be "to protect the oil-fields".

Simultaneously, Olmert, Livni, Rice, Baker and the E.U. will use NATO troops and equipment to occupy Judea, Samaria and the Golan with foreign troops. (Note! I wrote about this plan several years ago when the E.U. wanted a Rapid Deployment Force and, with U.S. approval, started to negotiate the use of NATO. I knew then that a first target would be Israel. With two of America's huge fleets on the scene, one off the Lebanese coast and the second off the Persian Gulf, they are poised to enter -- IF they deem it necessary.

At this time Iran and Syria have completely re-armed Hezb'Allah with more accurate and farther reaching Katyusha missiles in anticipation of a strike against Israel as early as this Spring or Summer.

At this time, Iran, with the assistance of Russia and China, is making rapid strides toward building nuclear weapons. Olmert and Peretz refuse to step down from office, having failed in all ways and, therefore, they have allowed our enemies to re-build but not our own IDF. Olmert and Peretz view their own continued employment more important than defending the Jewish nation.

At the same time, the Bush Administration has employed a "quiet" embargo on re-supplying Israel with munitions, spare parts, jet fuel, etc. so as to have a large club to swing over Israel's head as the State Department tries to force Israel to abandon Judea, Samaria, the Golan Heights, the Jordan Valley and Jerusalem.

So when you see the New York Times featuring an article by a rabid Leftist to abet de-Judaizing Israel because the Muslim Arabs want it, you can understand what is really happening. The nations want to believe that throwing a bone (that is, Israel) will halt the Muslims march of Terror world-wide toward a Global Caliphate of Islam with strict Muslim Sharia law dominating all. All the Rogue Terrorist states say they will continue but the West wants to try to sacrifice Israel first anyway.

I have mentioned only a few of the coordinated efforts to first reduce Israel into a bit of land, even smaller than she is now. Bush, Rice, Baker and company are making every effort to appease Saudi Arabia and, for their point of view, the sacrifice of the only Jewish State would be beneficial to their "cash flow". Besides, Israel will not be the first ally these active participants have betrayed.

###

1. "Noted Arab Citizens Call On Israel to Shed Jewish Identity" by Isabel Kershner, New York Times, February 8, 2007

Emanuel Winston is a commentator and Middle East analyst. His articles appear often on Think-Israel and Gamla. He is a member of the Board of Directors and a research associate of the Freeman Center For Strategic Studies (http://www.freeman.org/online.htm). Contact him at gwinston@gwinston.interaccess.com

To Go To Top

MY CRITIQUE OF MICHAEL LERNER'S OP-ED
Posted by David Meir-Levi, February 8, 2007.

Below is my critique of 'Rabbi' Michael Lerner's article "Highest Jewish Values sometimes conflict with Israeli Policy" in the San Jose Mercury News yesteday. Meanwhile, I encourage all and sundry to use it to write in your own critiques. Send them to letters@mercurynews.com or opinions@mercurynews.com

Michael Lerner's seven deadly flaws and his "Highest Jewish Values" op-ed

Rabbi Lerner's article (Op-Ed) in yesterday's San Jose Mercury News (Feb. 7, 2007, p. 14A) is flawed in the same ways that just about all of his writing about Israel and Judaism and the Middle East is flawed.

1. He cherry-picks his facts. He musters those that fit his thesis, but ignores or de-legitimizes those which do not. This is quite understandable. If he integrated all the facts in to his thesis, he would need to conclude that his thesis is flawed.

2. He mis-represents opinion for fact. Even when it is shared by many, an opinion is still an opinion; so when he bases conclusions on opinions, he is presenting conclusions that have no foundation...and are thus themselves merely opinions...usually his own.

3. He presents a pars pro toto (part for the whole) view of a situation. There are indeed some Jews who may deem as traitors those rabbis who support Palestinian terrorism...but, for better or for worse, these Jews are not the American Jewish religious or intellectual establishment, nor can it be shown (to my knowledge) that these Jews represent the majority of American Jews, or of Jews anywhere for that matter, including Israel. But his argument asserts that such attitudes are the norm (the 'toto') when in fact they are only a small part ("pars"). This is quite understandable. If he looked honestly at the broad and highly variegated and often appositional panoply of Jewish attitudes and behaviors in the USA vis a vis the Israel-Arab conflict, he would be forced to write that while there are some institutions that may reflect the bias that he asserts is universal, there are just as many, or more, who do not or who do the opposite...and then his complaint would lose its urgency.

4. He engages in hyperbole. Broadly exaggerating trends or dynamics, or the power of groups or subgroups. He speaks of the Jews as though they were of one mind, one opinion. He speaks of the Arabs, or Muslims, in the same way. He reduces the criticisms leveled against him to putative ad hominem attacks, as though all critique against him must lack substance...because, obviously, his opinion is correct, therefore the criticisms must be wrong.

5. He accuses his critics of not responding to the substance of his arguments. This is a great way to delegitimize any criticism: especially well-focused and legitimate and well-founded criticism. He, on the other hand, is well known among those who have written him with criticism (including myself) for being "far too busy" to respond in detail to the questions and critiques raised about his flawed scholarship, irresponsible assertions, baseless accusations, and good old fashioned errors of fact and data.

6. He blames the victim. He falls back on the now almost canonized canard that anyone criticizing Israel is automatically branded an anti-Semite; and therefore such good people as Jimmy Carter, Yassir Arafat, and himself are hampered in their ability to hold responsible debate. He does not notice that such an assertion is palpably false, since most Israelis criticize Israel as a matter of course; as do many non-Israeli Jews. And it is the Muslims who threaten to behead dissenters.

7. He lies.

With the above in mind, let's take a look at the article...paragraph by paragraph.

Par. 2: "When we point out that specific policies of...Israel are... weakening Israel's support around the world, and in conflict with the highest values of ... Torah... and... are racist..."

it is nice that he takes the time to point out these "facts". But notice that they are not facts. They are his opinions, and the opinions of some, many of whom are vitriolic Jew-haters with long histories of anti-Israel diatribe. And he studiously ignores the arguments posited by many (including myself) that the charges about racism and apartheid are false, and are the products of Arab anti-Israel propaganda.

The above is an example of flaw #2.

Then he asserts that he is confronted with an "Israel can do no wrong" group. More opinion as fact (#2) and an example of 'pars pro toto' (#3). I suppose that there are some people (Jews, Evangelical Christians) who think that Israel can do no wrong. But I have never heard that argument posited anywhere, by anyone, anytime, ever. No one I know or have heard or read has ever said that Israel can do no wrong. Such a lumping together of some unknown and undescribed adversarial group as "Israel can do no wrong" is a good example of hyperbole (#4).

Par. #3: He almost eulogizes Jimmy Carter, ignoring the mountain of criticism from highly respectable sources (Carter Center officers and directors, Alan Dershowitz, Ari Fleisher, myself) about Carter's book, and ignoring as well Carter's own history of anti-Israel invective and his support for Jew-hating Arab oil-sheikhs (not to mention Lerner's ignoring of the fact that hundreds of millions of dollars in Arab oil money have flowed in to Carter's own pocket and to the Carter Center). This is a good example of flaw #1. By ignoring the facts that don't fit his lionizing of Carter, he can lionize a failed president and bigoted peanut farmer, with impunity. And cf. also paragraph #6 for Carter's "...impeccable moral credentials". Only a liar (flaw #7) or an ignoramus could make such a statement about Carter.

Par. #4: "..the refusal of Israel to take any moral responsibility..." Hmm...if it were not for the fact that I sent Rabbi Lerner a copy of my book ("Big Lies"), I would need to assume that the man is just plain ignorant of the historical reality regarding the Arab refugee problem. But, since he has my book, I must conclude that he is not "just plain ignorant", he is actually "studiously ignorant" of the problem. He works very hard to not deal with the historical facts, on the basis of which it is the Arabs who must bear the onus of culpability for the creation and maintenance of the Arab refugee problem.

"...serious impediment to world peace". Hard to not laugh at this one. He has bought the Arab propaganda, not only uncritically, but enthusiastically. From slavery in Mauritania, to the death of hundreds of thousands with millions made homeless in an Algerian civil war, to Libyan oppression of its own, to Egypt vs. the Copts, to Saudi oppression of women and Shi'ites and religious apartheid, to Iraq's pre-Gulf-War mass murders, to Sudanese genocide of almost three million of its own since 1983, to the Iranian Basiji and other incredible violations of human rights...all self-correcting if only Israel would treat the Palestinians better.

Par. #6: "..silencing the debate...". Per my comments on paragraph #5, the opposite is the case. There is no need for security when Jew-hating Arab speakers rant and rave about Israel on campus...but Nonie Darwish or Brigitte Gabriel or Irshad Manji need half-an-army to protect them. Anti-Israel op-eds (not unlike his own) are de rigor in many American main-stream news papers. No Jew or other pro-Israel person threatens Hanan Ashrawi when she speaks. But Daniel Pipes cannot finish a sentence on a college campus without getting shouted down. No Jew or Jewish institution anywhere in the world issues fatwas condemning anti-Jewish or anti-Israel diatribalists to death; but Muslim leaders, regularly, do just that against anyone who says anything about Islam or Arabs or the Qur'an or Allah or Muhammad (PBUH) that the imams don't like.

No Jew or other pro-Israel person in all the world, or in all of world history, to my knowledge, ever rioted in the streets with placards condemning to death any dissenters...but that is exactly what happens in the Muslim world.

So...who is trying to silence debate?

This issue is a good example of flaws #'s 1, 3, and 6.

Further in paragraph #6, re refers again to the "...'Israel-can-do-no-wrong' voices in US politics". There are no such voices. There is no politician or advisor or analyst anywhere in the entire USA intellectual constellation, that I am aware of, who takes the position that Israel can do no wrong. But hyperbole works (flaw #4). Those ignorant of the facts are rightfully appalled that such voices confront and silence debate...except, they don't. Such voices do not exist.

Perhaps the single most striking characteristic of this op-ed piece is the degree to which it conforms to the almost standard Arab propaganda assertions:

Israel caused the refugee problem
Israel is the reason that the refugees remain refugees
Israel is racist, apartheid, oppressor, occupier
American Jewish establishment forces assert that Israel can do no wrong
Anyone who criticizes Israel is labeled an anti-Semite.

I wonder who is feeding him his script.

David Meir-Levi is an American-born Israeli, currently living in Palo Alto. His expertise is in Near Eastern studies and the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. He is Director of Peace and Education at Israel Peace Initiative (www.ipi-usa.org). Contact him at david_meirlevi@hotmail.com

To Go To Top

THE ANTI-ISRAEL LOBBY
Posted by Israel Academia Monitor, February 8, 2007.

This was written by Jonathan Spyer and it appeared in Haaretz
(www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/822761.html) Dr. Jonathan Spyer is a senior research fellow at the Global Research in International Affairs Center at the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya.

This week saw the launching of the Independent Jewish Voices initiative by a group of prominent left-of-center Jews in the U.K. The initiative intends, according to its founding statement, to "promote the expression of alternative Jewish voices." Its sponsors believe that "individuals and groups within all communities should feel free to express their views on any issue of public concern without incurring accusations of disloyalty." The signatories wish to contend that voices critical of Israel are receiving insufficient attention in British discussions of the Middle East. The claim is a strange one.

Do opponents of Israeli government policy in the U.K., Jewish or non-Jewish, truly feel that their arguments are not being heard? Is it really their contention that the British Jewish leadership is setting up "unwritten laws," which establish the boundaries of what may or may not be discussed? If the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the main U.K. Jewish communal body, is indeed attempting to create unwritten laws and to foster anxiety to silence opponents of Israeli policy, it is doing a remarkably poor job. The public debate on Israel in the U.K. affords willing space to the most extreme of anti-Israel positions.

If we take, as an example, contributors to the Guardian, which published the IJV's founding statement, Jews who have successfully found the courage to resist the Board of Deputies and its anxiety-inducing unwritten laws include Daphna Baram, who wrote in a recent op-ed that Israel is an "apartheid state"; Jacqueline Rose, whose book, as her Guardian interviewer reminded us, "draws tentative analogies between Israel's treatment of Palestinians and Nazi Germany's treatment of Jews," and Ilan Pappe, the Israeli academic who recently wrote in support of a boycott of Israeli academia.

These opinions fit comfortably into parts of the British debate, in which denial of the right of Israel to exist and allegations of conspiracy theory are accepted within the parameters of polite discussion. British-born Jew Tony Judt, for example, was able to promote his thesis advocating the dismantling of the Jewish state in the London Review of Books.

If one expands the search for a moment to include non-Jewish opponents of Israel, it may be recalled that Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer found a home at the same title for their claim that the Jewish lobby controls U.S. foreign policy. The supposedly objective BBC Middle East editor, Jeremy Bowen, considers Israel exclusively to blame for Palestinian internecine violence, according to a recent leaked memo. This is not to mention those open supporters of Palestinian suicide bombings who are regular fixtures in the British Middle East debate -- such as Dr. Azzam Tamimi.

The U.K. has seen a number of public initiatives toward the delegitimization of the Jewish state in recent years. These have included the attempted lecturers' boycott in 2005, a subsequent attempt at a similar boycott by architects and the demonstrations during last summer's war in Lebanon, featuring support for a Shi'ite Islamist organization with the slogan "We are all Hezbollah now." A number of Jewish organizations openly hostile to Israeli government policy already exist -- such as Jews for Justice for the Palestinians, and the Jewish Forum for Justice and Human Rights. Such is the climate of debate in the U.K. on Israel.

In the midst of all this, the initiators of Independent Jewish Voices believe that "an oppressive and unhealthy atmosphere" has emerged, as a result of the Board of Deputies stifling anti-Israel opinions.

The Board of Deputies represents mainstream Anglo-Jewish opinion regarding Israel. Britain's Jews, like Jewish communities throughout the world, are strongly pro-Israel. The large attendance at pro-Israel rallies held on two occasions in the last years is testament to this fact.

It is generally held in mainstream Jewish opinion that the Jewish state is currently passing through a moment of some danger. An aggressive, Islamist regime in Tehran is spreading Holocaust denial and openly calling for the destruction of Israel. This regime is currently seeking a nuclear capacity. It is also sponsoring proxy organizations such as Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which are engaged in murderous violence against Israelis.

A climate of opinion has emerged, in which a shocking increase in anti-Semitic violence in the U.K. in the last year receives less than the attention it deserves, because the perpetrators are mainly emerging from within Britain's Muslim communities.

In such a situation, unsurprisingly, individuals such as the Independent Jewish Voices initiators, who ignore these realities or who are in some cases sympathetic to the perpetrators, may find themselves treated in mainstream Jewish circles with less than the exquisite courtesy, which is undoubtedly their due.

But as we have seen, mainstream outlets in the U.K. welcoming the contributions of Jews (and non-Jews) hostile to Israel are proliferating. There are broad swathes of contemporary British opinion in which a breezy dismissal of all Israeli and Jewish concerns is very much the bon ton. There have, indeed, rarely been better days to be a Jewish opponent of Israel in Britain.

Contact Israel Academia Monitor at e-mail@israel-academia-monitor.com

To Go To Top

TWO TEMPLE MOUNT NEWS STORIES
Posted by Arutz Sheva Staff, February 8, 2007.

1. Arabs Increase Threats at Western Wall Plaza
By Ezra HaLevi

Defense Minister Peretz, in the face of Muslim violence, appealed to Prime Minister Olmert to halt the construction of the footpath at the Rambam Gate to the Temple Mount. Olmert turned him down.

Jews were blocked Thursday from reaching the Kotel (Western Wall) Prayer Plaza by the hundreds of Israeli-Arab protestors. Islamic clerics leading the demonstration as well as Arab politicians threatened an "Intifada worse than the previous one in 2000" if the Israel Antiquities Authority did not immediately halt the repair work and excavations at the site.

Spokesman Aryeh King, representing the Jewish associations in the eastern part of the capital, said that if the Jerusalem district police did not disperse the Arab mob, he would petition the High Court.

Peretz, in his letter -- which Olmert's office said was delivered to the press before it was delivered to Olmert -- quotes Defense Ministry official IDF General (res.) Amos Gilad, who claims the work damages relations with Arab and Muslim nations. The Labor Party Chairman wrote his own opinion that the construction would create friction with the Arab world instead of maintaining calm.

The Prime Minister's Office rejected Peretz's call. A statement was issued as follows:

"The restoration of the Mugrabi path after the place collapsed and was declared a dangerous structure was done in complete coordination with all parties, including foreign countries, relevant Muslim officials and international bodies. As has been explained, this work is being carried on outside the Temple Mount, and the repairs do not constitute any damage to the Mount or Islamic holy places.

"The work is being carried out by professionals and with complete transparency, entirely for the safety of visitors to the Mount. A thorough examination of the matter would reveal that nothing about the work underway will harm anyone, and there is no truth in the contentions against the work."

Collapse of the Mugrabin ramp (Israel Antiquities Authority)

A Foreign Ministry statement dismissed the criticism as an exploitation of the situation.

"The Temple Mount is the holiest site of the Jewish people," Foreign Minister Tzippi Livny said in a statement Wednesday. "The State of Israel will never do anything to harm the freedom of worship of members of all religions -- in Jerusalem or anywhere in Israel. There are irresponsible elements, who know full well that no harm is being caused here to any holy site, who are exploiting Israeli democracy to fan religious feelings for political gain. This is true of both political groups within Israel and extremist elements outside Israel."

Meanwhile, Muslims are escalating their threats and violence throughout the Middle East, including in Israel's own Knesset and among Israeli-Arab leaders. Arab Knesset Member Taleb El-Sana (Ra'am-Ta'al) called upon the Organization of the Islamic conference to meet on the issue of "Israeli damage to the Temple Mount." El-Sana echoes the Department of Arab and International Relations (DAIR) of the Palestinian Authority, which claimed Israel has begun "demolishing two rooms in [the] Al-Aqsa mosque...in line with the Israeli plans to demolish the entire holy shrine and build the alleged Soleiman [sic] temple in its place."

Israeli-Arab Sheikh Raad Salah, who heads the radical Islamic Movement, was arrested Wednesday for attacking policemen blocking his entry to the Western Wall Plaza. He has issued a call for an "Intifada" of Israel's Arabs and vowed he would return and address Thursday's protesters despite a 10-day restraining order he received before being released by police.

The leaders of Jordan, Syria and Iran, as well as Islamic chiefs in Egypt, have all condemned the work. "The world of Islam should show a serious reaction to the Zionist regime's insult to Al-Aksa Mosque," Iranian Islamic ruler Ayatollah Ali Khameini said on Wednesday. Khameini called on Muslim nations to attack Israel in response during a meeting with Islamic Jihad chief Ramadan Abdullah Shallah.

2. ´The Arabs Want the Overpass to Collapse, to Keep Jews Out´
By Hillel Fendel

MK Eldad: The Mughrabi Gate struggle is not over a bridge, but over the principle of Jewish presence. Knesset Member Aryeh Eldad (National Union) says that if the State of Israel is not able to carry out safety maintenance work at the Western Wall plaza, "it means that we are on a dangerous path towards disappearing from the political map of the Middle East."

Speaking with Arutz-7's Hebrew newsmagazine, Eldad said, "The struggle is over the preservation of the only Temple Mount gate left out of Wakf [Muslim Authority] hands and in Jewish hands."

"The Arabs actually want the Mughrabi Gate passway to collapse," Eldad said, "so that they will be able to close the only gate that is under Jewish control. That will end the era of Jewish visitation rights to the Temple Mount. They have been waiting for this for a long time, and that's why they don't want us to refurbish it."

The bridge in question leads from the plaza leading to the Western Wall up to the Temple Mount, and is considered a safety hazard in its current condition. Israel's Antiquities Authority is carrying out archaeological works there in anticipation of its refurbishing. Arabs around the country have taken advantage of the situation to accuse of Israel of trying to destroy the Temple Mount complex, and have called for a response sharper than the previous intifadas.

"It's true," Eldad said, "that the original sin was when the Jewish People, immediately after the Six Day War in 1967, ceded its hold on the Temple Mount in an unholy alliance between the Chief Rabbinate and Moshe Dayan -- each side for its own reasons -- but now the danger is that the Arab sovereignty on the Temple Mount will spill over to the Western Wall plaza, and from there to other places."

Then-Defense Minister Dayan, just days after Israel's liberation of the Old City, informed the Muslims running the Temple Mount that they could continue to run the mosques there -- and later went further by preventing Jewish prayer all over the Mount.

"It was evident that if we did not prevent Jews from praying in what was now a mosque compound," Dayan later wrote, "matters would get out of hand and lead to a religious clash... As an added precaution, I told the chief of staff to order the chief army chaplain to remove the branch office he had established in the building which adjoins the mosque compound."

Eldad said that the Arabs' objective is to acquire a "veto right" over what the State of Israel can do on its property, wherever the Arabs feel the area is a "sensitive and explosive holy Moslem site." He noted that the Arabs openly demand the rights of a national minority in a joint state. "Israel cannot allow itself to live under threats and blackmail every time it wants to do something necessary or in keeping with our national and historic rights."

Hillel Fendel is senior editor at Arutz Sheva. Ezra HaLevi is a writer for Arutz-Sheva.

To Go To Top

THE RELIGIOUS WAR IS BIGGER AND MORE COMPLEX THAN MOST AMERICANS CURRENTLY KNOW OR UNDERSTAND
Posted by Janet Lehr, February 8, 2007.

This was sent by Simone.

Have you ever thought -- Is Muslim-American really an oxymoron?

Can a devout Muslim be an American patriot and a loyal citizen?

I forwarded that question to a friend who worked in Saudi Arabia for 20 years.

The following is his forwarded reply:

"Theologically, no. Because his allegiance is to Allah, the moon god of Arabia.

Religiously, no. Because no other religion is accepted by his Allah except Islam (Quran, 2:256)

Scripturally, no Because his allegiance is to the five pillars of Islam and the Quran (Koran).

Geographically, no. Because his allegiance is to Mecca, to which he turns in prayer five times a day.

Socially, no. Because his allegiance to Islam forbids him to make friends with Christians or Jews.

Politically, no. Because he must submit to the mullah (spiritual leaders), who teach annihilation of Israel and destruction of America, the great Satan.

Domestically, no. Because he is instructed to marry four women and beat and scourge his wife when she disobeys him (Quran 4:34).

Intellectually, no. Because he cannot accept the American Constitution since it is based on Biblical principles and he believes the Bible to be corrupt.

Philosophically, no. Because Islam, Muhammad, and the Quran do not allow freedom of religion and expression. Democracy and Islam cannot co -- exist. Every Muslim government is either dictatorial or Autocratic.

Spiritually, no. Because when we declare "one nation under God," the Christian's God is loving and kind, while Allah is NEVER referred to as heavenly father, nor is he ever called love in the Quran's 99 excellent names."

Therefore after much study and deliberation... perhaps we should be very suspicious of ALL MUSLIMS in this country. They obviously cannot be both "good" Muslims and good Americans.

Janet Lehr is editor/publisher of a daily e-mail called "Israel Lives." She can be contacted at janetlehr@veredart.com

To Go To Top

ISRAEL HAD AN UNREMARKED COUP
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, February 8, 2007.

Israel's Foreign Min. Livni went to Japan unprepared to make Israel's case. Questioned by journalists there, she emphasized her goal of statehood for a properly behaved P.A., She did not criticize the P.A. much (though all factions in it support terrorism), nor Egypt (which also supports the war of attrition against Israel as by letting arms into Gaza for terrorists). She called Egypt and Abbas moderate (although Abbas has been fighting to destroy Israel all his life). She hardly explained why Israel's possession of nuclear weapons is necessary and reduces the chances of war rather than is a reckless proliferation as was Iranian nuclear development. About the failure of the withdrawal from Gaza, she said Israel has a right to defend itself if it wants to, implying that it has decided basically not to defend itself (IMRA, 1/17).

Asked about the lack of relationship with Egypt and Jordan, despite the peace treaties that called for trade and cultural exchanges, she said she hoped that would improve. The decades are passing, and the Arab enmity towards Israel is growing. Why can't she see that? The answer is she is blinded by her ideology. Her ideology pretends that almost all is well, and some negotiations could resolve a few little problems.

She exhibited no understanding of what the conflict was about, as if there were no conflict before Hamas took power and as if the conflict were territorial rather than jihadi and genocidal. Where was she when the Arabs vowed to exterminate the Jewish Israelis? She thinks there are moderates and that they want to live in peace and prosperity. When Abbas and Arafat ran the P.A., they did so for loot, power, and jihad. Where was she? Where is she when Abbas makes demands upon Israel that would destroy it? She proposes in behalf of the Arab enemy instead of their Israeli victims.

ISRAEL HAD A COUP

Israel is run by corrupt parasites. The government got the Knesset to pass a bill of special powers, without reading the bill. Those powers permit security agencies to put Israelis in concentration camps if they dispute government policies to remove Jews from Jewish territories. The removal would be to please the State Dept., which favors the Arabs. The government has jailed teenage girls merely for being near protestors. The police beat up protestors, as if following the rules of the Soviet Union. Further favoring the State Dept. and the Arabs, the government has intimidated its soldiers by threats of jail, so they are reluctant to fire weapons in self-defense. The people have no means of defense except to rise up en masse, but they don't realize the necessity to.

US Jewry is naïve about those events. It continues to support the anti-Zionist government, under the illusion that it is supporting Israel (Winston Mid East Analysis,

HIZBULLAH NOW

Hizbullah still is rearming, even while it struggles to take power in Lebanon via demonstrations. The UN does nothing to disarm Hizbullah. Syria is reducing its level of war readiness (IMRA, 1/9).

Will Hizbullah use its arms in Lebanon before it uses them against Israel?

Richard Shulman is a veteran defender of Israel on several web-based forums. His comments and analyses appear often on Think-Israel. He provides cool information and right-on-target overviews. He distributes his essays by email. To subscribe, write him at richardshulman5@verizon.net

To Go To Top

ARCHEOLOGISTS: WAQF DAMAGING TEMPLE MOUNT REMAINS
Posted by Avodah, February 8, 2007.

This was written by Yaakov Lappin and it appeared in Ynet News
(www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3362223,00.html).

[Editor's Note: One reader suggested:
Look at http://www.har-habayt.org/
Saul,
Eretz Yisrael]

Senior archeologist says Waqf wants to turn whole of Temple Mount into exclusive mosque for Muslims

As the structural work near the Temple Mount drew protests from around the Arab world, Israeli archeologists complained Wednesday that the government was not doing enough to protect Jewish artifacts from building work by the Muslim Waqf, which controls the Temple Mount.

"The Waqf has acted terribly, taking thousands of tons of artifacts from the First Temple, the Second Temple, as well as Muslim artifacts, and throwing them away," Dr Eilat Mazor, from the Hebrew University, told Ynetnews.

"They want to turn the whole of the Temple Mount into a mosque for Muslims only. They don't care about the artifacts or heritage on the site."

She added that there was a link between routine denials of the existence of the Jerusalem Temples by senior officials of the Palestinian Authority, and the way the Waqf was treating artifacts on the site.

"There is a total ignorance of history, and archeology. Artifacts showing ancient history are hidden," she added.

Mazar slammed the inaction of the Israeli government. "The authorities have failed to deal with this issue. The only ones paying attention are the police, and they are only interested in quiet, so they do nothing," she said.

Mazar said the recent uproar in the Muslim world over the construction work to secure the Mugrabi gate is part of a tactic of forcing the Israeli government to stay away from the site. "They have learned that the more noise the make, the more sweets they will get, like a small child," she said.

"Prayer by Muslims on the Temple Mount should continue as normal, and no one has any intentions of disrupting that. There is no connection between that and the accusations being made," she noted.

The most serious archeological damage to the Temple Mount "was done a few years ago when the Waqf excavated a huge pit for creating an approach to the underground mosque they constructed, in the so called Solomon's Stables compound," said Professor Amihai Mazar, of the Institute of Archeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Contact Avodah at avodah15@aol.com

To Go To Top

THE LETHAL AL-AQSA PLOT HOAX
Posted by Avodah, February 8, 2007.

This was written by Yaakov Lappin and it was published yesterday in Ynet News
(www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3361820,00.html)

A century-long campaign of unfounded claims of a Jewish 'plot' against the mosque continues unabated

As the Israel Antiquities Authority begins construction work at the Mugrabi Gate in Jerusalem in order to make the area structurally sound and safe for visitors, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has called on Muslims "to defend the al-Aqsa Mosque." Hamas has also charged Israel with "demolishing parts of the Aqsa mosque" on its website.

Although the works are not taking place on the Temple Mount, the Hamas website accused "the Israeli occupation government of conspiring to finally destroy the Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest Muslim shrine world-wide, and to install the alleged Third Temple on its ruins."

"The Aqsa Mosque is in real danger and needs Muslim support to defend and spare it the rancorous Israeli conspiracies", Palestinian Chief Justice Tayseer al-Tamimi declared, calling on Muslim masses to assemble to "protect" the site.

And the Head of the Islamic Movement in Israel, Sheikh Raed Salah, claims to have "documents and photos" proving that "the demolition of the pathway and the two rooms under the Buraq Mosque will expose both the Aqsa Mosque and Buraq Mosque inside Al-Haram Al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) to extreme danger as Israeli settlers will easily access both of them," the Hamas website added on Tuesday.

Calls have been issued for Palestinians to "unite their guns in defense of al-Aqsa," while the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades have threatened terrorist attacks if the work continue.

Certainly, small, far-Right fringe groups exist within Israel that have set their sights on the mosque, and on rebuilding the Temple using physical force -- but the State of Israel has devoted considerable resources of its security arms to keeping such extreme elements in check.

Why do Palestinian leaders continue to insist that the al-Aqsa mosque is "in danger?" The answer may lie in the shiny gold covering of the Dome of the Rock itself.

A history of false charges

Since the 1920s, Palestinian leaders have used the site as a rallying cry to wage war against the Jewish presence in Israel, and to try and gain support from Muslims abroad. The Palestinian prime minister today is continuing a 90-year tradition of incitement, which began with the Palestinian Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini.

Husseini, who is widely seen as the father of Palestinian nationalism, used the al-Nabi festival, which commemorates the defeat of the Crusaders, and conquest of Jerusalem by the Islamic general Sala'ah al-Din, to instigate anti-Jewish riots in April 1920, even before he became a mufti. His message was simple: Jews are the new Crusaders, and Islam must re-invade Jerusalem.

After being elected mufti (through dubious strong-arm tactics, according to some sources,) and becoming head of the Supreme Muslim Council, Haj Amin embarked on an ambitious project of restoring the al-Haram (Dome of the Rock) and the al-Sharif (al-Aqsa Mosque).

By doing so, Haj Amin hoped to draw the attention of millions of Muslims to the Palestinian cause, and to gain material and financial support so that he could fight the growing Zionist Jewish community in Israel.

Members of the Islamic Council traveled around Muslim countries in the 1920s to gain support, with one delegation to Mecca stating: "The Islamic Palestine Nation, which has been guarding al-Aqsa and (the) Holy Rock ever since 1300 years, declares to the Muslim world that the Holy Places are in great danger on account of the horrible Zionist aggressions."

Like clockwork

These missions resulted in a successful fund-raising drive, which led to the gold covering of the Dome of the Rock.

One British official in Mandatory Palestine noted at the time a "remarkable psychological change..." and a "stirring of a new feeling in the Muslims of this country" following the restoration.

Haj Amin also had photos with the Star of David superimposed on the Dome of the Rock distributed widely, in order to convince Muslims of a "Jewish plot" against the site.

In April 1929, Haj Amin helped stoke riots by issuing a Friday afternoon sermon at the al-Aqsa Mosque, reemphasizing the charge of a Jewish bid to take over the Islamic holy sites.

The incitement continued right through into the 1990s, when in 1997, Yasser Arafat declared: "I am ringing the bell of danger to warn against the Jewish plan to build the Temple of Solomon in the place where today stands Al Aqsa Mosque, after removing the mosque."

Similar incitement flooded the airwaves of the Palestinian Authority following Ariel Sharon's visit to the Temple Mount in September 2000, launching what has now become known as the al-Aqsa Intifada.

Like clockwork, warnings of an Israeli plot to destroy the mosque are issued by the Hamas government every few days, ensuring that the flames of unfounded paranoia and incitement against Israel remain lit.

Contact Avodah at avodah15@aol.com

To Go To Top

ARCHEOLOGIST: ANCIENT CISTERN PROVES LOCATION OF SECOND TEMPLE
Posted by Etgar Lefkovits, February 8, 2007.

This was written by Etgar Lefkovits (etgar_l@yahoo.com) and it appeared yesterday in the Jerusalem Post
(www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1170359807477&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull).

article: 113

An Israeli archeologist said Wednesday that he has pinpointed the exact location of the Second Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount.

The site identified by Hebrew University archeologist Prof. Joseph Patrich, based on the study of a large underground cistern on the Temple Mount and passages from the Mishna, places the Temple and its corresponding courtyards, chambers and gates in a more southeasterly and diagonal frame of reference compared to previous studies.

Patrich based his research, which is about to be published, on a study of a large underground cistern on the Temple Mount that was mapped by British engineer Sir Charles Wilson in 1866 on behalf of the Palestine Exploration Fund, along with passages from the Mishna.

The giant cistern, 4.5 meters wide and 54 meters long, lay near the southeastern corner of the upper platform of the Temple Mount. Examining the location and configuration of the cistern together with descriptions of the daily rite in the Temple and its surroundings found in the Mishna, Patrich said that this cistern is the only one found on the Temple Mount that can tie in with the ancient rabbinic text describing elements involved in the daily purification and sacrificial duties carried out by the priests on the altar in the Temple courtyard.

On this basis, he says, one can reconstruct the placement of a large basin that was used by the priests for their ritual washing, with the water being drawn by a waterwheel mechanism from the cistern.

After this purification, the priests ascended the nearby ramp to the sacrificial altar.

By thus locating the laver, the water wheel, the ramp and the altar, one can then finally map, again in coordination with the Mishna, the alignment of the Temple itself and its gates and chambers, he said.

These considerations led Patrich to place the Second Temple further to the east and south than earlier thought, and at a southeasterly angle relative to the eastern wall of the Temple Mount, and not perpendicular to it, as earlier assumed.

Patrich said that his research indicates that the rock over which the Dome of the Rock was built in the 7th century CE is actually outside the confines of the Temple.

The rock is believed to be the place at which the binding of Isaac took place, while Muslims consider it to be the spot from which Muhammad ascended to heaven.

The Temple Mount is Judaism's holiest site as the ancient compound where the two Jewish Temples stood, and is Islam's third holiest site after Mecca and Medina.

Contact Avodah at avodah15@aol.com

To Go To Top

NATIONS GATHER AGAINST ISRAEL; CHRISTIAN BELIEFS BECOME "HATE CRIME" FELONIES IN UNITED STATES
Posted by Michael Travis, February 7, 2007.

Below are 3 news items -- Sec-State Rice keeps pushing another terrorist state in ME; and in Canada, you can go to jail for protesting Islam. And more and more things are being defined as "hate" crimes."

"Rice summit will lead to Palestinian state?"
By Aaron Klein

Chief negotiator expects meetings this month to result in 'bold' moves

JERUSALEM -- The Palestinians are expecting a summit slated for later this month mediated by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to lead to final status negotiations and the establishment of a Palestinian state, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told WND in an interview today.

"I seriously believe Israel and the Palestinians will use the summit to move in the direction of final status negotiations and a solution, because I think we are realizing the only way to create peace is a Palestinian state," Erekat said.

Erekat was referring to a trilateral summit planned for Feb. 19 and announced yesterday by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. The talks will include Olmert, Rice and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Olmert described the summit as a "significant" bid to restart long stalled Israeli-Palestinian talks.

Israeli and Palestinian diplomatic sources told WND Olmert is expected to use the summit to offer Abbas far-reaching concessions.

Asked if he expects the summit to pave the way toward an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank, Erekat replied, "I don't want to create any expectations, but I will say I believe the summit will bring about bold and strategic initiatives in the direction of a Palestinian state."

The new momentum created by the summit comes after WND broke the story last month that, according to top European and Egyptian diplomatic sources, Israel has been conducting behind-the-scene negotiations to hand over most of the West Bank to Abbas' security forces.

The sources, who said they were directly involved in behind-the-scene negotiations, said one proposal being considered is for the EU and Jordan to supervise the transfer of the northern West Bank to Abbas' security forces, which reportedly are receiving aid, weapons and training from the U.S.

The sources said major changes in Israeli-Palestinian affairs are expected within a few weeks to two months.

According to an aide to EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, speaking on condition of anonymity, there will be a "historic political evolution and movement in negotiations in the next few weeks and few months, unseen since the Camp David peace talks in 2000."

During the Camp David talks, then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak offered then-Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat a state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and eastern sections of Jerusalem.

According to the diplomatic sources, still being debated in the purported West Bank negotiations is the role of Hamas, which leads the PA and maintains the majority of seats in the Palestinian parliament. Negotiations between Abbas and Hamas leaders for a national unity government have mostly fallen through.

So far, Hamas has refused to recognize Israel but recently offered a 10-year truce with the Jewish state. In a series of interviews last week, Hamas leaders told WND that during any 10-year truce period they would build a large Palestinian army and plan for the destruction of Israel.

Olmert yesterday said he would negotiate with a Palestinian government that includes the Hamas terror group as long as Hamas recognizes Israel.

Olmert's office denied the WND reports on negotiations to evacuate the West Bank.

"There were no negotiations regarding a West Bank withdrawal. This would go contrary to other things we have said in the recent past," said Olmert's spokesperson, Miri Eisin.

"Perhaps the officials talking to World Net Daily were referring to general expectations for movement in the Israeli-Palestinian arena," Eisin said.

But the European and Egyptian sources stood by their statements that Israel agreed in principal to transfer West Bank security control to Abbas.

Israeli leaders previously have denied reports of pending withdrawals only to later carry them out. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, elected in 2001 on a platform against unilateral withdrawal, at first denied media reports Israel was planning to evacuate the Gaza Strip but later announced his Gaza withdrawal plan.

Olmert was elected prime minister on the platform of carrying out a withdrawal from the West Bank, but after this summer's Lebanon war, he has stated a West Bank withdrawal would not occur.

Olmert in August called the policy of unilateral withdrawal a "failure" and said it was "no longer relevant." But he can argue handing the West Bank to Abbas in an agreement is not unilateral.

Contradicting Olmert, Israeli Interior Minister Roni Bar-On of Olmert's Kadima party said last summer, "The withdrawal plan is not dead, though its implementation has been postponed. The plan is now on the shelf or in the freezer, but when the time comes it will be accessed."

Olmert's party proposes handing West Bank to Europe

At Israel's prestigious Herzliya Conference last month, Knesset Member Shlomo Breznitz, reportedly a close confidante of Olmert, said the West Bank should be transferred temporarily to the Europeans and that most of the territory's Jewish communities should be evacuated.

"The only way to get out of the impasse is to transfer the territories, for a limited time, to an international mandate, that will run them until the establishment of a Palestinian state," said Breznitz at the conference.

The Herzliya Conference is attended by Israel's top leadership and regularly maps out the country's agenda for the coming year. In 2004, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced his plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip at the conference.

Breznitz told Israel's Maariv daily newspaper the West Bank should be transferred to the European community and not the U.S. because, he said, after the invasion of Iraq, America "lost its status as an honest broker in the view of the Palestinians and the Arab states."

Breznitz said his West Bank transfer proposal received a warm reception from European and Palestinian officials.

"I have reason to believe, and I don't want to expand on this, that the Palestinians will support the proposal. Ambassadors and diplomatic representatives from European countries who were shown the proposal also believe that without international help it will not be possible to resolve the conflict," said Breznitz.

According to the Israel Resource News Agency, Olmert regularly consults with Breznitz and is known to spend vacation time with the Breznitz family.

Israelis against West Bank withdrawal

Several recent public opinion polls showed the majority of Israelis now oppose a West Bank withdrawal. The leaders of Egypt and Jordan have expressed reservations about withdrawal plans, fearing terrorism can spill over into their respective countries.

Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000. It had occupied a small section of Lebanon's border with Israel following repeated attacks by Palestinian terrorists in the area. Since the withdrawal, Hezbollah has staged numerous attacks against Israel, including rocket bombardments of civilian population centers, raids against military outposts and ambushes and kidnappings of Israeli troops. Hezbollah built an arsenal in south Lebanon of more than 13,000 short- and medium-range rockets capable of hitting central sections of the Jewish state

Israel withdrew last August from the Gaza Strip. Since then, rockets have been fired almost daily into nearby Jewish communities, Hamas has been elected to power and both Israeli and Palestinian officials have stated al-Qaida has infiltrated the territory. Israel says the Palestinians have smuggled hundreds of tons of heavy weaponry into Gaza and are preparing for a large-scale confrontation.


"More U.S. weapons transferred to Palestinians
Last week's shipment was intercepted by Hamas terrorists"
From Wnd's Jerusalem Bureau
By Aaron Klein
February 6, 2007
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54118

TEL AVIV -- Just days after the Hamas terrorist group reportedly obtained an American arms shipment, the U.S. transferred more weapons to militias associated with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, WND has learned.

Palestinian and Israeli security sources said 10 trucks filled with U.S. weapons were transported Sunday night from Egypt through the Kerem Shalom crossing into Israel and from there delivered by an Israeli Defense Forces convoy to Fatah security officials in the Gaza Strip.

The American weapons shipment, the sources said, contained assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, more than 500,000 rounds of ammunition and bullet-proof vests.

Officials from Force 17, Abbas' security detail which also serves as de facto police units in Gaza, told WND the U.S. weapons were received Sunday night at the Ansar compound, a complex in northern Gaza housing headquarters of Fatah militias.

The U.S. weapons were provided to Abbas purportedly to bolster his Fatah forces against Hamas, according to defense sources. The two factions have engaged in nearly two months of deadly clashes after Abbas called for new Palestinian elections in a move widely seen as an attempt to dismantle the Hamas-led PA.

The latest American weapons transfer follows a botched transfer Thursday that was intercepted by an ambush during which Hamas says it obtained the U.S. weapons.

"We are in possession of American rocket-propelled grenades," a leader of Hamas' so-called military wing told WND Thursday. "This will prove to the Americans their conspiracy of toppling our government will be used against them."

Fatah spokesman Tawfiq Abu Khoussa told reporters the attacked convoy was carrying generators, tents and medical equipment, but senior Israeli and Palestinian defense officials, including security sources from Fatah, confirmed to WND Hamas obtained American weapons.

The U.S. has been reportedly providing Abbas' forces with aid and weapons the past few months.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice last month told reporters the U.S. is working with Fatah to create a unified Palestinian security force. The Bush administration reportedly will grant $86.4 million to strengthen the Fatah forces, including Force 17, Abbas' security detail, which also serves as de facto police units in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

WND reported the U.S. in recent weeks transferred 7,000 assault rifles and more than 1 million rounds of ammunition to Fatah militias.

The last confirmed American arms shipment to Fatah took place in May. At first, the shipment, consisting of 3,000 rifles, was denied by the U.S. and Israel, but Olmert in June admitted the transfer took place, telling reporters, "I needed to approve the shipment to help bolster Abbas."

At the time, Abu Yousuf, a Fatah militant from Abba's Force 17 security forces, told WND while some of the weapons may be used in confrontations against Hamas, the bulk of the American arms would be utilized to "hit the Zionists."

He said if there is a major conflict with Israel, U.S. weapons provided to Fatah may be shared with other "Palestinian resistance organizations."

"The first place of these U.S. weapons will be to defend the Palestinian national project, which is reflected by the foundation of the Palestinian Authority. If Hamas or any other group under the influence of Iran and Syria wants to make a coup de tat against our institution, these weapons are there to defend the PA," said Abu Yousuf.

"We don't want to go to civil war with Hamas, because this is what both the U.S. and Israel want. This is our last option. We hope our brothers in Hamas won't oblige us to find ourselves in confrontation," Abu Yousuf said.

But the Fatah militant said the new American weapons may also be used to target Israelis. He admitted previous American arms supplied to Fatah were used in "resistance operations" against the Jewish state.

"If Israel will deliver what it promised to Abu Mazen (Abbas), [meaning a] withdrawal from Palestinian lands, including east Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, remove all the checkpoints in the West Bank, release our prisoners, and find a clear solution for our refugees, we'll control our forces and the distribution of weapons.

"But if Israel doesn't deliver, and we find ourselves manipulated by Israel, we cannot guarantee members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and Force 17 will not use these weapons against Israel. Our goal is to change the occupation," said Abu Yousuf.

"Its unnatural to think these American weapons won't be used against the Israelis," he said.

Like some other Force 17 members, Abu Yousuf is openly also a member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.

All Brigades leaders are also members of Fatah. Abbas last June appointed senior Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades leader Mahmoud Damra as commander of Force 17. Damra, who was arrested by Israel in November, was on the Jewish state's most-wanted list of terrorists.

Abu Yousuf said the American weapons shipments may be shared with other Palestinian terror groups. He said that during large confrontations with Israel, such as the Jewish state's 2002 anti-terror raid in Jenin, Fatah distributed weapons to Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

"We don't look where this piece or that piece of weapon came from when fighting the Israelis," Abu Yousuf said.

He also pointed to what he said was Hamas' infiltration of some of Fatah's security forces as a possible mechanism Hamas can use to obtain Fatah's American-supplied weapons.

A senior Fatah security official, speaking last month to WND on condition his name be withheld, says Fatah has a "significant problem" of its militia members in Gaza joining Hamas.

Sources close to Hamas said the Fatah militants, including members of Force 17, worked with Hamas after receiving larger paychecks from the terror group.

"When they join Hamas, they bring along their new weapons," said a Hamas source.

During a WND interview last month, Hamas spokesman Abu Oubaida told WND his terror group will obtain any American weapons transferred to Fatah militias or purchased by Fatah using the incoming $86.4 million in U.S. aid.

"I am sure that like in the past, this $86 million from America will find its way to the Hamas resistance via the honorable persons in the Fatah security organizations, including in Force 17. I can confirm 100 percent that this money and purchased weapons will find its way to Hamas," said Abu Oubaida


"When grandmas go to jail for witnessing"
By Janet Folger
February 7, 2007
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54125

Arrested for sharing the Gospel? An expected outcome in North Korea, China or any Muslim country on the globe. But in Pennsylvania? Yep. Arlene Elshinnawy, a 75-year-old grandmother of three, and Lynda Beckman, a 70-year-old grandmother of 10 (along with nine others), were arrested for sharing their faith on the public sidewalk in Philadelphia, Pa., USA. They faced 47 years (the rest of their lives) in jail for spreading the Gospel because of a Pennsylvania "hate crimes" law that is nearly identical to H.R. 254 -- the "hate crimes" bill reintroduced in Congress and said to be on the "fast track" in the House Judiciary Committee. This is the same bill that previously passed both the House and Senate and was killed only because of Republican leadership opposition in conference -- something we no longer have.

Don't believe hate crimes will silence your freedom of speech and freedom of religion? Think again.

Pastors in Pennsylvania are now seeking liability insurance to protect themselves from being prosecuted under the "hate speech" law. That's right. They are reacting to Pennsylvania's addition of "sexual orientation" to the state's hate crimes laws. Of particular concern was the expansion of the definition of "harassment" to include "harassment by communication" -- which means one could be convicted based upon spoken words alone.

Their fear is a rational one. Hate crimes invariably lead to fines and jail time for those who "violate" them. Just ask Sweden's Pastor Ake Green. Green faced jail time for the content of his sermon. He read from Romans Chapter 1 -- something that is no longer legal in Sweden.

The "hate crimes" -- or more appropriately, "thought crimes" -- bill is the single most dangerous bill in America. Along with its companion, the "Employment Non-Discrimination Act," or ENDA -- "Thought Crimes for your Business" -- is expected to pass this session of Congress. Bow to the homosexual agenda -- endorse, embrace, subsidize and celebrate it -- or go out of business. That's what it did to the largest and most respected adoption agency in Boston, Catholic Charities, who, by refusing to place vulnerable orphans in homosexual homes, was forced to close its doors. England's about to get a dose of the same.

But you don't speak out about homosexuality, you say? Think you're safe? Think again. Here are just a few examples I've highlighted my book, "The Criminalization of Christianity," where you'll find a whole lot more.

Protest Islam? That's a hate crime!

Maybe it had something to do with Sept. 11. Maybe it had something to do with the beheadings. Maybe it had something to do with what is written in the Quran. But Canadian Pastor Mark Harding doesn't believe the Muslim religion is one of peace. So when his local high school started handing out copies of the Quran and announced a policy of setting aside a room for Muslim students to pray during school hours, Pastor Harding protested. Didn't think it was a good idea -- especially since Christian, Jewish and Buddhist kids weren't afforded the same opportunity.

After losing an appeal to Canada's Supreme Court Oct. 17, 2002, Harding was said to have "willfully promoted hatred" in violation of Canadian law that had just passed six months earlier. He was then forced to undergo two years probation and 340 hours of "community service" at the Islamic Society of North America in Mississauga, Ontario.

So, for the "crime" of handing out leaflets protesting a high school's pro-Muslim policy, Pastor Harding was ordered to do community service to further the very religion he morally opposed.

Harding, an evangelical Protestant, says his evangelism is motivated by love for the Muslim people (rather than hate). In fact, in a phone call used as "evidence" against him in the trial, Harding verbalizes that he loves them. He says he wants them to go to heaven. Yet he received more than 3,000 hate-filled calls -- many of them death threats. Some motioned by running their finger across their neck from ear to ear. Upon entering court for his trial, he required police protection from a large crowd of Muslims who were chanting, "Infidels, you will burn in hell." Of course, that speech is loving.

Harding said, "I had a call from someone who said they were from (Louis) Farrakhan's (Nation of Islam) group, and they were going to break my legs." Adding, "Another caller said he would rip out my testicles." Can't you just feel the love?

But instead of just "stuffing envelopes" to promote the Muslim faith, his punishment included Islam indoctrination under the direction of Mohammad Ashraf, the general secretary of the Islam center. Under penalty of going to jail, Harding was forced to undergo Islamic "re-education," which included reading a book called "Towards Understanding Islam," by Sayyid Abul A'la Maududi, which provided a description of one who does not follow Islam, referred to as an infidel or a "kafir":

"Such a man ... will spread confusion and disorder on the earth," the book says. "He will, without the least compunction, shed blood, violate other men's rights, be cruel to them, and create disorder and destruction in the world. His perverted thoughts and ambitions, his blurred vision and disturbed scale of values, and his evil-spelling activities would make life bitter for him and for all around him."

"It was obvious that he intended to make sure I understood that I was a kafir," said Harding, who was forbidden from voicing any objections or saying anything negative about Islam or its prophet, Muhammad.

Harding, who had been prevented from speaking publicly about his case under a gag order, told World Net Daily: "He said he was my supervisor, and if I didn't follow what he said, he would send me back to jail."

Harding, 49, has suffered four heart attacks since 1997 and is unable to work in his cabinet-making trade because of his poor health. Yet he must travel three-hours to the Islamic Society of North America to complete his sentence. His attorney has entered a plea based on humanitarian grounds, due to her client's poor health, to allow him to complete his sentence at an Islam Center closer to his home. Isn't that nice? Perhaps, if he's lucky, he can be indoctrinated closer to home.

And speaking of indoctrination, thanks to the city council in Hamtramck, that shrill siren from Muslim mosques is now blasted five times a day just outside of Detroit. Whether your child is sleeping or you're on an important call, for about 15 minutes every day it's going to sound like a tornado drill outside your suburban Detroit home or business beginning at 6 a.m. until 10 p.m. so the Muslims will know when to pray. But if you were to ring church bells -- which typically play music for two minutes once a week -- in a Muslim country, you could be shot.

California 'hate crimes' law -- pro-lifers automatic suspects

"Hate crimes" bill, SB 1234, was signed into law by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Sept. 22, 2004. SB 1234 creates a new hate-crime training requirement for law enforcement called "multimission criminal extremism." In addition to those categories already considered for special punishment under the term "hate crimes," the new multimission criminal extremism training adds "anti-reproductive-rights crimes."

That means if you are pro-life, you are an automatic suspect, and law enforcement is being specially trained on how to handle you. I wonder what that special "multimission criminal extremism" trains officers to look for. "Anti-reproductive-rights" T-shirts? Those who've passed "anti-reproductive rights" laws? Those who've debated the "anti-reproductive-rights" position? If I lived in California, I have a feeling my picture would be found at the local post office. If you think killing children is wrong, they're training people against you, too.

This law also expands "crimes" to include "speech" interpreted as "threats, intimidation and coercion." As long as a "victim" claims the speech makes them "feel" "intimidated," violators will be liable to penalties of $10,000-$25,000 and a year in jail.

"[And] any person who says they are 'fearful' because someone has said homosexuality is wrong could have the speaker arrested and jailed," according to James Hartline, California pro-family activist.

This will be used to criminalize expressions of biblical truth about homosexuality as "hate speech" and could very well target not just organizations who disagree with homosexuality, but Christian bookstores that carry books like "The Criminalization of Christianity" or another book already ruled to contain "intimidating" beliefs: the Bible.

I agree with James Hartline who was quoted saying: "This is the worst bill ever put before the California Legislature -- and that's saying a lot."

And now it's about to go federal: the "hate crimes" bill in Congress will pave the way for the very same thing. If you are for "hate crimes" legislation, you are also for the persecution of Christians. It's a package deal. There is no longer any doubt; that's exactly where it leads. Just ask Arlene Elshinnawy and Lynda Beckman.

If we are to stop this freight train aimed at our freedom from passing in Congress, we must work together and speak in a unified voice. Faith2Action and the Christian Interactive Network have reserved the website: www.StopHateCrimesNow.com that features Arlene and Lynda's stories in two 30-second television ads that you can help air. One hundred percent of donations will go toward airtime. With your help, we will place these commercials on cable news like Fox, CNN and MSNBC and earn additional media elsewhere. And if your organization is willing to link to www.StopHateCrimesNow.com, you will keep all your names and all new names generated. But most importantly, by sounding the alarm together, we have a chance of stopping it.

If the "hate crimes" bill or ENDA is passed by Congress, we are ready for Phase 2: sending veto pens to the president with individualized messages urging a veto.

One thing's for sure, if you value your freedom, you need to use it now. Yes, you have the right to remain silent, but if you use it very much longer, those are precisely the words you, your pastor, business owner or grandmother will hear before seeing the inside of a prison cell.

Janet L. Folger is president of Faith2Action and host of "Faith2Action with Janet Folger" and the "Faith2Action Commentary" currently heard in 70 markets.

Contact Michael Travis at michaelmgr@gmail.com

To Go To Top

YAHOO NEWS PHOTO -- MIDEAST CONFLICT MIS-REPRESENTED AGAIN
Posted by David Meir-Levi, February 7, 2007.

Study this photo and caption for a telling bit of mis-information in our media. This is from a February Yahoo News Photo
(http://news.yahoo.com/photo/070207/481/jrl14502071628).

The caption reads:
An Israeli soldier aims his rifle at Palestinian youths hurling stones during minor clashes in the West Bank city of Hebron, following a protest against Israeli excavations near the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2007. Palestinian leaders have harshly condemned the work, and Palestinians clashed with Israeli forces in Jerusalem and the West Bank on Tuesday, when preparatory excavations began. Israel says the project is needed to replace a centuries-old earthen ramp that partially collapsed in a snowstorm three years ago. It has promised the work would cause no harm to Islamic holy sites, but those assurances have not calmed Muslim passions over the project. (AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi)

Notice that, despite the sub-title/explanation, the soldier CANNOT be aiming his rifle at Palestinians (youth or otherwise)...because he is aiming it directly at the photographer...unless, of course, the photographer is standing right in the middle of the rioting Palestinian youths who are throwing stones at the soldiers as part of their staged and organized riots.

Hamas and Fatah leaders (recall: Fatah is supposedly under the leadership and authority of Mahmoud Abbas -- the moderate man of peace) have generated much recent incendiary rhetoric claiming once again that "el-Aqsa fi-hadda" (the El-Aqsa Mosque is in danger).

This was the rallying cry for the 2nd Intifada when Arafat generated a host of lies about fictional Israeli actions to undermine the foundations of the Temple Mount.

The reality was that Muslim excavations which masked Palestinian intent to destroy Jewish and Christian antiquities, undertaken illegally by the Waqf (Islamic foundation for the maintenance of holy sites), caused a weakening of the southern wall...but blaming it on Israel was easier than dealing with it.

Now it is the cry for another revival of the intifada.

This is standard procedure for the Palestinian terrorist groups. As Nathan Brown inadvertently discloses and documents in his book Palestinian Politics, whenever peace talks got too close to some sort of positive resolution, Arafat sparked new hostilities by perpetrating terror acts which torpedoed the peace talks.

He did the same thing when the Palestinian Legal Council (PLC) and/or the Palestinian Legislative Authority (PLA) pressed him too hard for democratic reform. He would spark some riot or terror attack, and then caustically condemn the PLA or PLC for pressing for progress on 'third rate issues" when "our kids are dying in the streets". That is how he maintained his "democracy of the gun" for 11 years.

It was no coincidence that he began the 2nd intifada just when he came under intense pressure from the PLA and PLC to hold elections at the end of his first term in office as "Ra'is" (president, chairman, lit. head) of the Palestinian Authority. He was elected for a 5-year term of office in January,1996, and was supposed to hold new elections before his first term expired, in January, 2001.

By September of 2000 he faced much agitation in his parliament and in the PLC and PLA because there was absolutely no plan for, no itent for the creation of, new elections.

Then Sharon saved him. Sharon's visit to the Temple Mount, authorized by the Palestinian Authority and Sari Nuseibeh, was the perfect excuse for the next great terror event that would defuse any pressure toward elections. And so he remained president for life...until 11.2004.

Now Abbas and Haniyeh are doing the same thing.

Re-starting the intifada by focusing on some new fabrication of "el-Aqsa fi-Hadda" will work just fine to defuse the Palestinian civil war and get both sides focused on killing Jews again...at least, that's the plan.

And, as was the case with Sharon on 9/28/2000, the Israeli repair of the ramp near (not on, not abutting, not touching, just near) the el-Aqsa mosque, provides the perfect excuse for more riots, more killings, more "martyrdom".

They don't want peace. They don't want their state. They want to destroy Israel, even if they must do it one Jew at a time.

And the photographer, with the misleading headline, helps them.

David Meir-Levi is an American-born Israeli, currently living in Palo Alto. His expertise is in Near Eastern studies and the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. He is Director of Peace and Education at Israel Peace Initiative (www.ipi-usa.org). Contact him at david_meirlevi@hotmail.com

To Go To Top

IT'S TIME TO FREE POLLARD: CALL THE WHITE HOUSE AT 1-202 456 1414
Posted by Justice For Jonathan Pollard, February 7, 2007.

Nationwide White House Call-In for Jonathan Pollard

White House Telephone Number 1-202-456-1414

A nationwide 60-day call-in to the White House campaign has begun and will continue through the Holiday of Pesach / Passover, the Holiday of Freedom, to call to the attention of President George W. Bush the continued unfair incarceration of Jonathan Pollard.

Organizers of the campaign remind the community that the White House counts and tallies all in-coming calls, so every single phone call makes a difference. The White House phone number is 1-202-456-1414. Callers are asked to call daily between the hours of 11-2 pm EST and to encourage their family members and friends to do the same. Callers are reminded to expect the lines to be busy and to keep calling until they get through.

The call-in drive is a nationwide initiative spearheaded by the National Council of Young Israel, with the participation of national and regional Jewish organizations, in conjunction with the Rabbi Leib Geliebter Memorial Foundation, and sponsored by Comprehensive Network, Inc. The senior Rabbinic leadership of Agudath Israel of America have recently reiterated their support and signed a declaration, once again adding their names to the list of Rabbis and community leaders calling upon all Jews to convey the message to President Bush that Mr. Pollard has served long enough and that the time has come to free him.

Jonathan Pollard is currently in his 22nd year of imprisonment, many of which were under very difficult conditions, for the crime of giving classified information to a friendly nation and ally, Israel. Others who committed similar or even more serious crimes have received more lenient sentences and treatment.

"The 22 year time period is significant," says Dr. Joseph Geliebter, Director of the Rabbi Leib Geliebter Memorial Foundation. "In Jewish Biblical tradition, 22 years was the period that Joseph was separated from his father, Jacob; the Talmud also indicates that during the 22 nd year of an unresolved matter there is Heavenly intervention (Tractate Kesubos, 42b; see commentary of Rashi)."

In reference to Pollard's life sentence, Federal Judge Stephen Williams of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia declared "...the government's breach of the plea agreement was a fundamental miscarriage of justice..."

[Editor's Note: William Bletsch has provided us with a chronology and facts you can use in talking to your friends and family. Click here.

When you call the White House, your call counts -- they tally all calls. The more often you call, the better our chances for freeing Jonathan.]

Contact Justice For Jonathan Pollard by email at justice4jp@gmail.com

To Go To Top

CRITIQUE OF PBS 'MOCKUMENTARY' ANTI-SEMITISM IN THE 21ST CENTURY: THE RESURGENCE
Posted by Gail Winston, February 7, 2007.

PBS (Public Broadcasting) aired what they called a Documentary: "Anti-Semitism in the 21st Century: The Resurgence" on January 8th, hosted by Judy Woodruff. It was written, produced and directed by Andrew Goldberg in association with Oregon Public Broadcasting. For some unknown reason Lee Green from CAMERA wrote what she called "a brief" mostly favorable description dated January 12th. On January 8th I had sent her this:

"I was appalled at this "Mock-umentary". It literally taught Anti-Semitism. It was too well-done by manipulators & spinners to answer. Each speaker needed rebuttal. It showed graphic hostile propaganda including the blood libels (graphically) which sent the anti-Jewish/Anti-Semitic/anti-Israel message into the brains of the watchers -- without the voice-over commentary. Plus "The Horseman Without a Horse" & "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion". They were actually teaching anti-Semitism by a direct memory input into the brains of the watchers.

They used material from Palestine Media Watch (by Itamar Marcus & Barbara Cook) but didn't give them credit. They only gave MEMRI credit. Both do a good job but to not credit Palestine Media Watch was a cardinal sin in lifting coverage without accreditation. Yes, they had Bernard Lewis and David Harris from American Jewish Committee but, the "talking heads" who made you listen were Rashid Kalidi and a few others, presenting the radical Islamists point of view because they were passionate and, therefore, convincing -- IF you didn't already know the truth.

They made the sensationalistic case for charging Israel with causing their own anti-Semitism/Anti-Israelism by "occupying" the "Arab's Land". No decent history about how, why, who, what the Land really is and to whom G-d gave it.

There is lots more to be developed from this story but first come current events -- that result from the taught anti-Semitism/Anti-Israelism in the world & especially in this country of the United States -- like the "Cutting Off Of Arms To Israel By The U.S.", the Iran Study Group by Baker III, the corrupt Israeli government and misleading people about the Gush Katif refugees, and more.

I wonder if the people who PBS listed as sponsoring this propaganda really knew what the psychological effects were and would be on their audience? I wonder who & how big their audience really was?

Will the DVD or VHS of this program live on -- forever -- in College, High School and City libraries across the world?

This was a real "snow-job". Did the Jews who watched it believe it as Israel was being smeared?

It wasn't good for the Jews and the techniques used were very good. That makes it worse.

To properly analyze and critique it would take a lot of time. I hope CAMERA takes another look at this PBS so-called documentary, rather than give it a pass."

The CAMERA critique follows: I don't think it is adequate.

All the best. Gail Winston

CAMERA E-Mail Team:
Review of PBS's "Anti-Semitism in the 21st Century: the Resurgence"

In Brief:

On January 8th, PBS premiered a documentary entitled "Anti-Semitism in the 21st Century: The Resurgence," written, produced and directed by Andrew Goldberg in association with Oregon Public Broadcasting. It was hosted by Judy Woodruff. Overall, the film was extremely informative, thoughtful and carefully balanced. Commendable efforts were made to include significant historical context, and while some lack of clarity on Israel's legitimacy in the face of opposing arguments was a shortcoming in the film, it was not a fatal flaw considering the abundance of otherwise useful and insightful information conveyed.

The documentary was a compelling look at trends in anti-Semitism, both past and present. The segments showing recent anti-Semitic TV shows, cartoons and speeches appearing in the Muslim world were likely an important eye-opener for many Americans unfamiliar with the vicious depictions and dehumanization of Jews there. The program excelled in showing how noxious and widespread anti-Semitism is in the Muslim world, as well as how satellite TV and the Internet have escalated the problem enormously.

The film presented a number of interesting pundits and experts who explored what role, if any, the creation of the State of Israel, and current Israeli actions, play in creating or exacerbating anti-Semitism. Whether resolving the Israel-Palestinian conflict would significantly reduce anti-Semitism was also discussed and it was done in a balanced way. While a great deal of time was spent discussing these Israel-related issues, only relatively brief mention, unfortunately, was given to the important question of how reform in the Muslim and Arab world might help reduce the scapegoating of Israel and the Jews.

In Detail:

The film explained how Muslim treatment of Jews changed from the historic discrimination meted out to all monotheistic non-Muslims (dhimmis) to outright anti-Semitism, where Jews are, according to Bernard Lewis, "judged by a different standard from that used to judge anyone else in the world, and...attributing to Jews and Judaism a quality of cosmic, satanic evil."

Bernard Lewis, Rashid Khalidi, and narrator Woodruff shared the view that anti-Semitism was an import brought by the Christian Europeans and later the Nazis. Bernard Lewis and Washington Post journalist David Ignatius comment that anti-Semitic ideas found fertile ground among the Muslims after they were defeated by the Jews in 1948-49 and even more so after the Israelis/Jews defeated them in 1967, which brought many Muslims under the rule of the Jews. This victory of "inferior" non-Muslims over "superior" Muslims conflicted with the Muslims' worldview, and fostered the anti-Semitic notion that the Jews won only because of some kind of satanic cosmic power. Such beliefs allowed the Muslims to hold onto their notion of themselves as the superior people favored by Allah.

The documentary was ambitious in attempting to include context regarding Jews' historical connection to the land of Israel. Narrator Judy Woodruff noted:

"...Jews began migrating back to the land they had been driven from in ancient times: Palestine. Although the region had had an Arab majority for centuries, there had always been Jews living there. From the late 1800s onward, Jews comprised the majority of Jerusalem's population. But the influx of so many newcomers to Palestine...provoked intense opposition from the local Arabs, many of whom did not accept the historical Jewish connection to the land. This led to some violent attacks on the burgeoning Jewish communities." An additional line about how Jews lived in their own sovereign kingdoms (Israel and Judah) in the land of Israel beginning around 1000 BCE would have been extremely helpful.

Also, this segment did not fully examine why Palestinian Arabs strongly objected to the increased number of Jews living in Palestine. Perspectives were given by historian Bernard Lewis and Hebrew University professor emeritus Zeev Sternhell. Lewis comments, "The Arabs felt themselves to be under attack. They felt themselves threatened, and they responded...with violence. and one has to distinguish between normal conflict, normal hostility, I would even say normal prejudice and persecution, and something that we would call anti-Semitism."

The film would have benefitted from a fuller explanation of what Lewis meant by "normal prejudice and persecution." More could have been said about the culture clash between traditional, patriarchal Muslims and secular, egalitarian minded Zionists. Or that at this juncture Muslims went from living under Ottoman rule, with an accepted position of enforced superiority over non-Muslims (Jews in this case), to living in a comparable status with the Jews under the British Mandate.

Sternhell follows Lewis and says, "The Arabs knew exactly what was happening here. They saw it happening. They saw the foundation of Tel Aviv. They saw the Jewish Quarters in Jerusalem and in Haifa. And Jews arriving, from their point of view, it was a struggle for their country. The Arab reactions was a refusal of Jewish presence. It was not anti-Semitism." Sternhell's remark about it being a "struggle for their country" was misleading. The land at that time was not the Arabs' sovereign "country."

Since it is common to hear pundits (e.g. Tony Judt and Rashid Khalidi) partially or wholly blame Israeli actions or Israel's existence for Muslim anger and the subsequent anti-Semitism, it was important for the film to explore this issue rigorously and provide a balanced discussion. The problem is that while this segment appeared to be "balanced," the two sides weren't actually debating the same issue. The "Israel is the problem" pundits (Rashid Khalidi and Hisham Ahmed) explained with great emotion why they believe Israel's existence is horribly unfair and an injustice to Palestinians, how the Palestinians have been "dispossessed," or how Israeli actions are wrong and brutal, etc, and that anti-Semitism is an unfortunate, terrible but understandable result.

The other side (Natan Sharansky and AJC's David Harris) basically argued that whether Israel is right or wrong, whether there are political disagreements between the Jews and Arabs, it's no excuse for anti-Semitism. While this is certainly true, their arguments didn't directly address the inflammatory claims of Rashid Khalidi and Hisham Ahmed against Israel.

Professor Dina Porat of Tel Aviv University and Natan Sharansky do include a few sentences about the need to respond to terror, but Porat then becomes very unclear (or is poorly edited) and meanders into "the chain of mutual killing."

The filmmaker commendably inserts some clarity here about the delegitimization of Israel with a voice over by Judy Woodruff: "And while some say that hatred of Israel is caused by Israel's occupation of the Golan Heights and West Bank and the conflict in Lebanon, others note that overt calls by Arab leaders for the destruction of the entire Jewish State were commonplace even before the occupation, which began in 1967...In some places, calls by leaders to destroy the entire nation of Israel exist to this day [clip of Iran's Ahmadinejad is then played]. Hamas also has language in its charter to this effect."

AJC's David Harris, columnist Mona Eltahawy, historian Bernard Lewis, Yigal Carmon (Exec. Dir. of MEMRI.org), ADL's Michael Ebstein, author Reza Aslan and Salameh Nematt (DC Bureau Chief for Al Hayat newspaper), Professor Dina Porat, along with narrator Judy Woodruff, all do an excellent job of informing the audience of how commonplace and ubiquitous anti-Semitism is in the Muslim and Arab world. Various anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, incidents, trends and TV series are explained, including blood libels, the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, 9/11 conspiracy theories, and hideously gruesome and inflammatory television series ("Al-Shatat, the Disaspora", and "Horseman Without a Horse" produced for Ramadan time slots)...

The film also includes numerous "man on the street" interviews with Muslims and Arabs who clearly believe all manner of anti-Semitic nonsense and are proud to spout the various conspiracy theories. And denials of anti-Semitism are also dutifully presented by Hassam Hamed, the Executive Director of Egyptian Television, Hala Sarhanthe, Senior Production Executive of "Horseman Without a Horse," as well Suheil Zakkar, the fact-checker for "Al-Shatat" and Dr. Imad Moustapha, Syrian ambassador to the U.S.

Columnist Mona Eltahawy did a remarkable job of explaining how Arab/Muslim leaders have often used anti-Semitism. Eltahawy explains, "The regimes in the region for years have used Israel as this kind of coat hanger, upon which they hang everything rather than allow people to concentrate on all their shortcomings and how they've failed their people by being undemocratic, by torturing people, by violating human rights on a massive scale."

Author Reza Aslan brought further insight, when he noted, "You can go anywhere in the Arab and Muslim world, and you will see emblazoned everywhere, in the schools, in the mosques, in all of the public places, this Palestinian intifada propaganda. The Palestinian cause has become the sole cause of the Arab and Muslim world. And intertwined in that propaganda is a clear cut anti-Israel sentiment. And, which is also, becomes an anti-Jewish sentiment, of course. And this is something that is encouraged by the authorities because in uniting their people against a faraway enemy, it becomes very simple for someone to simply deflect all questions about his authority, to deflect all the internal investigations about why the country is in such a state of corruption and an economic collapse by simply building up this unity that is created by talking about the Palestinian cause, a cause that in reality, these despots and tyrants have done nothing to further."

Tony Judt shares an interesting perspective on why he feels European Muslims feel incited to attack Jews there. However, when the topic is "how significant a threat" anti-Semitism is today, viewers are given a taste of Judt's unreliability (Recall that Judt has in various Op-eds, harshly denigrated the state of Israel as an "anachronism" that is "bad for the Jews," has leveled incendiary, false statements about Israeli policies and supports a one-state solution that would effectively dissolve the Jewish state). Here in the PBS broadcast, he says things certainly aren't as bad as in the 1930's, that "...There is no state anti-Semitism." After seeing numerous examples of state-sponsored anti-Semitic programs (Egypt, Syria), conferences (Iran), and speeches by Muslim leaders (Iran, Malaysia), Judt's absurd comment will likely leave viewers scratching their heads.

In summary, while the segment exploring Israel's relationship, if any, to resurgent anti-Semitism could have been more clear, Andrew Goldberg and PBS are to be commended for a very informative, fair and valuable documentary on the resurgence of anti-Semitism.

Gail Winston is founder of M.E.I.R, Mid East Information Resource. Contact her at gwinston@interaccess.com

To Go To Top

RIYADH TO WASHINGTON: A PALESTINIAN UNITY GOVERNMENT WILL NOT UPHOLD PREVIOUS AGREEMENTS WITH ISRAEL
Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, February 7, 2007.

Get out the fingerprint dusting kit to identify the collaborators in this new trick to Kosher the Hamas pig. They say you cannot Kosher an unclean animal. Well, look at the following report and analysis by DEBKAfile and understand what is being Kashered.

The Saudis, no doubt in collusion with the Arabist State Department and the European Union, tells us that "all prior agreements with Yassir Arafat's Fatah -- now under Mahmoud Abbas (aka Abu Mazen) made with Israel, in the name of all the Palestinian factions, will be made null and void. It's not that they ever had solid content or were meant to be kept but, now they are doing the Koran's Mandate of even throwing away the image of any effort to move toward recognition of the Jewish State. Therefore, in order to bring Hamas back into the family of Terrorist nations, Saudi Arabia says: "Let's dispense with all prior agreements so Arafat's Fatah, now under Mahmoud Abbas can unite with Hamas. Then the U.S., E.U., U.N., and Russia can be straight forward with funding the new Fatah/Hamas unity government and not have them sneak them donor money (taxpayers' free dollars and euros) to fund what will be a larger unity of a Terror State.

If you think that this was all a Saudi idea, you have better give it another "think". Some will recall the Tom Friedman/State Department hustle wherein the Saudis were prodded to offer the plan for Israel to retreat to the 1948 Armistice Lines, which were the cause of the 1967 Six Days War. If Israel withdrew to what Abba Eban called them: "Auschwitz Borders", then Israel would be recognized. Oh, Really? But, Israel would have been truncated to a vulnerable, indefensible size -- inviting attack by any combination of Arab states' coalition.

No one understood that the verbiage of "recognized" is only to say: "I see you," but I don't have to accept you" in order to tie up loose elements. In this nefarious plot, that is, Fatah's Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas' Ismail Haniya, the Palestinian Prime Minister and Khaled Mashaal, leader of the militant Hamas based in Damascus met with Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah in Mecca. It is expected that President Bush and the Europeans will buy into this trickery and the pretense that Hamas -- within a Unity Government is no longer a Terrorist Entity. What a nice, innocuous, seductive and meaningless phrase is "Unity Government". Does everyone fall for it?

Moreover, the plan will be to erase the decision by the West to withhold donor monies and pour billions of tax-payers' dollars and euros into the new Fatah-Hamas "Unity Government". This will allow them to increase their purchases of advanced weaponry in addition to those already being funneled into Gaza (plus Judea and Samaria) by both the Iranians and Egyptians.

Clearly, this plan has been in motion for some time, with the guiding hand of the U.S. State Department, working with the Saudis, Fatah and Hamas.

I wonder. How will Bush and the State Department explain to the American people and the Congress their role in colluding to arm an expanding Terrorist State in Gaza (later to be connected to Judea, Samaria, the Jordan Valley, the Golan Heights and Jerusalem)?

Worse yet is the collusion of the Olmert Government in subverting Israel's defensive capability which is nothing less that high treason. Here we see Israel's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni colluding with Rice and Abbas to divest Israel of territory absolutely vital to her defense against an implacable enemy. There's more to come as a push is undertaken to free Marwan Bargouti to replace Mahmoud Abbas by the U.S. and Israel's Left... It gets uglier.

What follows is a DEBKAfile exclusive from yesterday.

The Saudis notified the Bush administration ahead of the Mecca reconciliation summit Tuesday, Feb. 6, that the Palestinian accord for a coalition government sponsored by Riyadh will not meet a key Middle East Quartet condition for its recognition: The new government will not accept past accords, including peace agreements the Palestinian Liberation Organization signed with Israel. DEBKAfile's Washington sources report: The new Palestinian government initiated in Mecca will only "respect" past accords -- not accept them.

Nonetheless, the US and Europe were expected by Riyadh to lift the international embargo and economic siege imposed on the Hamas government.

In a separate missive to President George W. Bush and vice president Dick Cheney, Saudi King Abdullah stated that if the embargo is not lifted, Saudi Arabia will step in with all the funds the new Palestinian administration needs -- an approximate annual sum of $1 billion.

DEBKAfile's Middle East sources disclose that this promise from Abdullah to Palestinian Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal was the key element paving the way for the Palestinian reconciliation pact to be signed in Mecca Tuesday. The monarch also sent notes to Russian president Vladimir Putin, French president Jacques Chirac and British premier Tony Blair.

In a flurry of briefings to senior administration officials in Washington, Saudi diplomats are explaining the following:

Riyadh has achieved most US foreign policy goals, especially the effective removal of Hamas from high office. The new Palestinian government will be headed by a neutral figure in place of Ismail Haniya and the key portfolios will pass to Fatah or independents. Washington is therefore advised not to make an issue of the Palestinian coalition's non-recognition of Israel and past peace accords, or of the fact that Hamas will hold a majority in the new cabinet.

American officials have not so far reacted to the Saudi initiative.

They are waiting to see how the Mecca summit turns out and the application of the documents signed there by Meshaal and Mahmoud Abbas on the ground in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

The Saudi government is ready to go with a huge campaign to sell the Mecca accords in Europe and Israel. It will aim to persuade the European Union to remove its economic embargo against the Palestinian government, without waiting for Washington, while also stirring up domestic pressure in Israel for acceptance of the Mecca agreement and consent to start negotiations with Hamas. The Saudis hope this campaign in Israel will be more effective than the drive for talks with Syria.

The Saudi correspondence mentions no strings attached to its economic assistance; there is no mention of any break of Hamas ties with Iran, a stoppage of the flow of Iranian weapons and cash to the Gaza Strip, or the evacuation of Iranian and Hizballah officers. Hamas therefore stands to come away from Mecca in triumph, with a Saudi-endorsed majority in the new Palestinian government, an assured cash flow from Saudi Arabia as well as Iran, and nothing to stop the continuation of military aid from Tehran and Hizballah as their investment in Hamas preparations for war with Israel.

Shin Bet Director Yuval Diskin planned the rare news conference he held Monday, Feb. 5, as an eye-opener to the negative aspects for Israel of a Palestinian unity government under Saudi auspices. He stressed the depth of Iranian penetration of the Gaza Strip and the peril it posed to Israel's security. Diskin found it necessary to bring these warnings before the Israeli public after the nation's policy-makers refused to heed his wake-up call.

Emanuel Winston is a commentator and Middle East analyst. His articles appear often on Think-Israel and Gamla. He is a member of the Board of Directors and a research associate of the Freeman Center For Strategic Studies (http://www.freeman.org/online.htm). Contact him at gwinston@gwinston.interaccess.com

To Go To Top

I'M SO CONFUSED, WHO HAS THE BEST BLOOD, JEWS OR CHRISTIANS?
Posted by Michael Travis, February 7, 2007.

but...but...

Abu Omar Al-Baghdadi: 'We Find No [Blood] Sweeter Than That of the Byzantines [i.e. Christians]'

On February 3, 2007, Islamist websites posted a 23-minute audio recording by Emir Al-Muaminin (i.e. Commander of the Believers) Abu Omar Al-Baghdadi, whom Al-Qaeda has appointed "head of the Islamic State of Iraq." The recording, dated February 2, 2007 and titled, "Victory from Allah, Victory is Near," was issued by the Islamic State's media company Al-Furqan. In his address, Al-Baghdadi announces that the jihad arena will be extended beyond the boundaries of Baghdad. He also calls on Sunni youth to join the war against the "Crusader" forces, urges the mujahideen who have not yet done so to pledge allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq, and declares war on the "Persians," whom he characterizes as an enemy worse than the Christians.

The following are excerpts from his speech:

"We [hereby] inform the Sunnis of a [new] plan called the Plan of Honor, which is more comprehensive and more perfect [than the existing plan] and includes not only Baghdad but all parts of the Islamic State [of Iraq]... [This plan] will end with Bush announcing the failure of his [security] plan and signing an agreement of defeat... The goals of the plan are: to defend our people and our honor; to rout out the invaders and eradicate the remaining pockets and bases of heresy; to butcher the wounded Crusader tyrant and take advantage of the collapse of morale among [the Crusader] soldiers and commanders; to unite the ranks of the mujahideen and to strengthen the foundations of the Islamic State [of Iraq].

"Oh Muslim youths, remember the cut up bodies of the children, the voices of their bereaved [parents] and the anguished cries of the elderly. Let the volcano of your wrath burst forth. Burn the ground beneath the feet of the Jews and their helpers, eradicate their army, destroy their equipment, down their planes, ambush them in their homes, in the wadis and on the roads. Hide in the darkness of night and turn their morning into hell... We are not afraid of your coalitions...We have drunk blood [in the past], and we find no [blood] sweeter than that of the Byzantines [i.e. Christians]... Roast their flesh with car bombs, cut off their supply lines with [explosive] charges and tear out their hearts with sniper fire. Know that offense is the best [form of] defense, and be careful not to lay down your weapons before the war is over... We are not fighting out of nationalism, but with the aim of making Allah's word supreme.

"To the mujahideen who have not yet pledged allegiance to the Islamic State [of Iraq], I wish to say that they are our brothers and we defend them with our bodies and tongues and do not [mean to] accuse them of heresy or corruption. But we regard their tardiness in rising to the demand of the hour -- which is to unite, to adhere to the [way] of Allah and to join their brothers in the Islamic State [of Iraq] -- as defiance, especially now that the infidels have united their ranks...

"O Islamic nation, we now stand where the Prophet and his companions stood in the beginning of the Medina period [when the jihad began]. Our war with the Persians has [now] begun just like our war with the Byzantines, only the Persian rule is [even] more depraved and despicable than that of the Byzantines...

"Your brother,
"Abu Omar Al-Qurashi Al-Husseini Al-Baghdadi
"Muharram 14, 1428 [February 2, 2007]"


Contact Michael Travis at michaelmgr@gmail.com

To Go To Top

FROM MUSLIM HORDES TO ATOM BOMB
Posted by Fred Reifenberg, February 7, 2007.

It's rare that I find an analysis worth giving some thought to ... lately. This was written by Joshua Brilliant, UPI.

TEL AVIV, Israel (UPI) -- For the third time in its history, Islam is trying to bring 'the true faith' to the rest of the world. However, this time is particularly dangerous, according to one of the world`s leading authorities on Muslim history.

In a series of lectures at Israeli academic institutions, Princeton University Professor Bernard Lewis talked of the widespread Muslim-Shiite belief that time has come for a final global struggle between the forces of good and the forces of evil.

'The fact that some of the societies are acquiring, or will soon acquire ... weapons of destructive power beyond Hitler`s wildest dreams ... is something that we should be very concerned about,' he said. Muslim believers consider themselves 'the fortunate recipients of God`s final message to humanity and it is their duty not to keep is selfishly to themselves ... (but) to bring it to the rest of mankind,' Lewis noted. In their first attempt to do so, they emerged from the Arabian Peninsula and conquered vast territories from Iran across North Africa to Spain, Portugal and parts of Italy. Converts conquered Russian lands and established an Islamic regime in Eastern Europe. There are even reports of an Arab raid into Switzerland. But that attempt to conquer Europe failed, and the Crusaders recovered the Christian holy places in Jerusalem.

In the second round, the Ottoman Turks crossed southeastern Europe and reached Vienna. Twice they tried to capture it and failed. Western imperialism halted and reversed the Ottoman push.

The current, third invasion, is not done by armed conquest or with migrating hordes, but by a combination of migration, demography, 'self denigration and self abasement, totally apologetic,' Lewis said. Nevertheless, it arouses a fair and very alarming possibility that it could lead to a long, dreary race war between different communities in Europe. Signs of it are already visible in the form of neo-Fascist racist movements. If that 'is going to be the only response of Europe, apart from self-abasement, the outlook is grim,' he predicted.

Meanwhile, among Muslims there is a competition over who should lead their cause. This is one of the keys to understand the present situation, Lewis continued. On the one hand stand Osama bin Laden and his movement. He is a Saudi-Wahabi; in other words an ultra-conservative puritan Sunni-Muslim. The Saudi establishment considers him a rebel but they all belong to the same branch of Islam.

And then there are Muslim Shiites. They assumed a modern form and new vigor since the Iranian Islamic revolution of 1978.

Past friction, for example between the Ottoman Empire and Iran, was due to a rivalry over influence, not over religion. The current rivalry has acquired, 'a new acuteness ... It became more violent than in any time in the recorded history of Islam,' Lewis said. The Iranian revolution is resonating far and wide. It represents a major threat to the West but also to the Sunni establishment. It has led some Sunni leaders to re-evaluate the situation in the Middle East and their attitude towards Israel.

Those leaders may dislike Israel and disapprove of it. However, they consider an uninterrupted line from Shiite Iran, across Iraq to Syria and Lebanon, and the large and growing Shiite populations around the coast of Arabia, to be 'a truly major threat.' 'There are signs of ... a willingness on the part of many in the Sunni world to put aside their hostilities to Israelis ... in order to deal with the greater, more immediate and more intimate danger,' he said. 'We may see shifts in the policies of some Arab governments at least comparable with the great shift in Egyptian policy,' when President Anwar Sadat opted for peace with Israel. The leaders contemplating such a change are very cautious. One reason is that their populations have been indoctrinated with hatred of Israel for so long that it is difficult to change tunes.

There is another reason: Some uncertainty over how far they can trust the Israelis, Lewis said. During the summer`s war against the Shiite Hezbollah in Lebanon, many Sunni Muslim governments discreetly cheered the Israelis, hoping they would finish the job. Some of them could hardly conceal their disappointment that Israel failed to do so, he said.

Western-style anti-Semitism of the crudest type, meanwhile, is spreading and occupying a central role in many Muslim countries. One finds it in textbooks, schoolbooks, and in university doctoral dissertations, he noted. Lewis said Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad 'really believes ... (in) the apocalyptic message that he is bringing.' (Israeli experts noted that Ahmadinejad prepared a wide boulevard in Tehran for the return of the Mahdi who disappeared some 1,000 years ago.)

'Islam has a scenario for the end of time, a final global struggle between the forces of good, God, and his anointed, and the forces of evil,' Lewis argued. With such beliefs, the strategy that prevented a nuclear war between the West and the Communist blocs, during the Cold War era, may not apply.

'Mutually assured destruction, which kept the peace during the Cold War, though both sides had nuclear weapons ... doesn`t work. It is not a deterrent. It is an inducement[*],' Lewis said.

[*] COMMENT by Jim: There is always a deterrence. Cf: Vlad the Impaler. But MAD can no longer be directed at states, populations, or infrastructure. It must be applied to Islamic holy places, both sunni and shia. It must demonstrate the impotence, indifference, or incompetence of Allah. That is the meaning of religious war. To be even more effective, we should demonstrate a willingness and the ability to identify the muslim branch responsible for the atrocity and obliterate only ITS holy places, leaving the other's intact. We could even request a brief from the ulema of each sect, after the event, arguing why the other be held accountable. It should be understood that in the event of a hung jury, all sites will be obliterated. -jim

Nature's Street Cleaner (photo: freify)

Contact Fred Reifenberg at freify@netvision.net.il. The accompanying photo was not part of the original article.

To Go To Top

THE WANING OF THE AMERICAN WILL
Posted by Michael Travis, February 7 2007.

This was written by Caroline Glick and appeared February 5, 2007 in the Jerusalem Post
(www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1170359788084&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull).

Kenyan Foreign Minister Raphael Tuju is on a five-day visit in Israel this week and boy, does Israel have a lot to discuss with him. Unfortunately, it would seem that the Olmert government will fail to recognize this.

The most important question that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his colleagues should be broaching to their Kenyan guest is how his government is coping with the fact that Washington has apparently lost its will to fight the war against the global jihad.

Last week, under pressure from US Ambassador to Kenya Michael Ranneberger, Kenyan authorities released from prison Sheikh Sharif Ahmad, one of the leaders of the ousted al-Qaida-linked Islamic Courts Union (ICU) in Somalia.

In late December, with US backing and support, Ethiopian forces invaded Somalia with forces from the recognized Somali Transitional Federal Government, (TFG). The invasion came a month after the ICU declared jihad against Ethiopia and Kenya. ICU forces, which had set up a Taliban-style tyranny throughout the country, fled before the Ethiopian advance. In just six days, the ICU was overthrown and the recognized Somali government had retaken control over Mogadishu.

From the outset of the Ethiopian invasion, the Arab League and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) both demanded an immediate Ethiopian retreat.

This is not surprising because the ICU has been the beneficiary of generous support from Arab League and OIC member states Eritrea, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Sudan, Djibouti, Yemen and Libya. According to respected military analyst Bill Roggio, US intelligence officials maintain that the so-called Saudi "Golden Chain" of al-Qaida financiers have given $200 million to the ICU since last spring. The EU also demanded that Ethiopia withdraw its forces and that the TFG negotiate an accord with al-Qaida's front organization in the Horn of Africa. Today EU humanitarian aid commissioner Louis Michel has linked EU assistance to the TGF to its acceptance of ICU elements in its government.

THE US was the only country that backed Ethiopia, and with good reason. Shortly after Ethiopian forces took control of Mogadishu, US aircraft pursued fleeing al-Qaida terrorists in southern Somalia after intelligence reports indicated that among the fleeing ICU leaders were the masterminds of the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam.

Disturbingly, the US seems to have abandoned the fight. The State Department has joined the EU, the Arab League and the OIC in calling for "reconciliation" between the TFG and the ICU and supports the participation of "moderate" jihadists in the Somali government. Speaking to African journalists this week in Addis Ababa, US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer said, "I think the [ICU] was hijacked by the extremists from within. And there are members who want negotiation to participate in national reconciliation."

So it is that the US ambassador in Nairobi, Kenya, forced Kenyan authorities to release Sharif Ahmad from jail.. Commenting to the Kenyan media on his release, Prof. Ali Abdiweli, a US-based Somali professor with ties to the TFG said, "I am outraged by the behavior of [the US ambassador] to Kenya. More than 3,000 Somalis died because of Sheikh Sharif and the ICU.

"[Sharif] should be put on trial. Here we go again saying that he is moderate... This is nonsense, and there is no way that Sheikh Sharif will accept any secular government. Actually, the behavior of the ambassador will encourage the remnants of the Islamic Courts."

THE US policy of appeasing jihadists in the Horn of Africa is just one example of the recent turn that US policy has taken regarding the war against the global jihad. On every major front, and particularly in its dealings with Israel, Iraq and Iran, the Bush administration is implementing policies that undermine its allies, strengthen its enemies and consequently harm US national security interests.

While the administration and the new Democratic Congress argue over troop levels and funding for the US military in Iraq, as former CIA analyst Robert Baer wrote last week in Time magazine, Iran has effectively taken control of Basra, Iraq's port city and oil hub. The Iranian toman rather than the Iraqi dinar is the currency of trade in the city. The Shi'ite holy city of Najaf is also veering toward becoming a protectorate of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

Although he is far from alone, the central Iraqi leader enabling the Iranian takeover is Abdul Aziz al-Hakim. Hakim, who heads the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) spent the 20 years preceding the US-led invasion of Iraq in Iran. SCIRI's militia -- the Badr force -- has overt ties to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. Indeed, both the Badr militia and SCIRI were created in Iran in 1982 by the Revolutionary Guards.

SCIRI is the largest faction in the Iraqi parliament today, and Hakim is considered key to ensuring stability in Iraq. To this end, he was brought to Washington last December to meet with President George W. Bush.

But since Hakim is controlled by Iran, by attempting to appease him, the US is effectively attempting to collaborate with Iran in a manner that facilitates the Iranian takeover of Iraq. This move is opposed by US military commanders in the country who are tired of allowing the Iranians to kill US forces at will. Yet while they are reportedly demanding that the authority kill Iranian operatives in Iraq, their moves are being blocked by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her associates at the State Department and the CIA.

THIS CRITICAL dispute currently revolves around the issue of whether or not the White House will publicly reveal evidence of Iran's deep involvement in the war in Iraq generally, and attacks against US forces specifically. Rice and her colleagues argue for suppressing the information. Revealing the depth of Iranian operations against the US, they argue, will force the US to actually fight back.

That is, apparently, Rice and her associates would rather see Iran take control of Iraq, and so bring about the most humiliating defeat of US forces since the Vietnam War, than acknowledge that Iran is fighting the US and its allies.

This preference for appeasement and defeat in Africa and the Persian Gulf is even more apparent in the US dealings with the Palestinians. Ahead of his summit with Hamas terror masters Khaled Mashaal and Ismail Haniyeh today in Mecca, Fatah chief and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said, "We must unite the Hamas and Fatah blood in the struggle against Israel as we did at the beginning of the intifada. We want a political partnership with Hamas and we are not only optimistic, but also very serious about this. And that's why we're going to Mecca."

Fatah forces make no attempt to hide their involvement in terror attacks against Israel. They wear their Aksa Martyr Brigades T-shirts beneath their official uniforms. And yet, this week it was revealed that some $76.4 million of the $86.4 million that the US plans to give to Fatah will go to training 13,500 terror forces. That is, the US is now openly involved in training and equipping Palestinian terrorists who, as Abbas makes clear, are seeking to expand their operations to kill Israelis.

Furthermore, last month Rice signaled that the US is easing off its refusal to engage the Hamas terror group. Speaking to European reporters, Rice referred to the jihadist terror group as a "resistance movement."

IN MANY ways it makes sense that Bush has lost his will to fight. Since the September 11 attacks, the president has refused to acknowledge the true nature of the forces arrayed against the US and the rest of the free world. By insisting on referring to the war against Sunni and Shi'ite jihad as a war against terrorism, Bush refused to acknowledge the identity of America's enemies or the scope of their power and ambitions. Consequently, he has approved policies in Iraq, and indeed throughout the world, which are based on a denial of the nature of the enemy and so cannot possibly defeat its forces.

Now, frustrated with the seemingly intractable realities on the ground and in the political battlefield in Washington, Bush is attempting to establish a middle course between victory and surrender. Unfortunately, this course -- which involves handing over the fruits of military victories to jihadists and their state sponsors -- cannot help but ensure the defeat Bush rightly wishes to avoid.

Were Olmert and his colleagues in the government to recognize this state of affairs, perhaps they could join forces with governments - like the Kenyan government -- to persuade Bush of the dangers inherent in his embrace of this recipe for failure. Unfortunately, in light of the Olmert government's own failures to contend with the growing threats to Israel's security, it is difficult to imagine its members acting in such a constructive and prudent manner.

Contact Michael Travis at michaelmgr@gmail.com

To Go To Top

U.S. MOVING AHEAD WITH PLANS TO TRAIN PALESTINIAN SECURITY FORCES
Posted by Avodah, February 7, 2007.

This was written by Dion Nissenbaum and Warren P. Strobel and it appeared in the McLatchy Newspapers, online at http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/16629840.htm

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- The United States is planning to spend millions of dollars to train Palestinian security forces as part of a renewed effort to strengthen Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. American, Palestinian and Israeli officials said Monday that they're fine-tuning a proposal that would send thousands of Palestinian forces loyal to Abbas to neighboring Jordan and Egypt for advanced training.

The initiative is intended to provide Abbas with critical support in his political and military confrontation with the well-armed Hamas hard-liners who've controlled the Palestinian Authority since elections early last year. The militant Islamist Hamas and Abbas' Fatah faction have fought in the Gaza Strip in recent weeks.

But there's disagreement over whether to provide Abbas' forces with arms. Critics have charged that military aid could end up fueling, not containing, the street fighting, which has claimed more than 100 Palestinian lives in the last two months.

A senior Bush administration official said late last week that the $86 million in security assistance for the Palestinians that the White House is requesting from Congress would be confined to non-lethal items, such as training. But Brig. Gen. Majed Faraj, the head of military intelligence for the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, said, "If they want to train the forces but not equip them, then there's no point in training them."

Details of the attempt to strengthen Abbas emerged as the Palestinian Authority president prepared to meet with Hamas leaders this week in the Islamic holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The talks may be the best chance to negotiate a coalition government that's capable of ending the street warfare and the international isolation that's crippled the Hamas-led Palestinian government.

While both sides are expressing optimism about eventual agreement on a unity government, there's already deep skepticism about the chances of a new deal ending the battles.

For two months, Fatah and Hamas have been engaged in an on-again, off-again war of attrition based largely in the Gaza Strip. Along with daylong gun battles, the two sides have kidnapped and executed rivals, set up roadblocks to search for adversaries and even attacked top Palestinian leaders' homes. Israel and the United States are increasingly concerned about Iranian support for Hamas. Iran has pledged $250 million to help the Hamas-led government weather nearly a year of international isolation that was imposed because it refuses to renounce its goal of destroying Israel. Only a fraction of that money is believed to have arrived so far.

Israel and Fatah officials also claim, without proof so far, that Iran is supplying Hamas with advanced training and weaponry in the Gaza Strip. Those fears underlie the evolving plans to help Abbas train and equip his forces. This month, the White House asked Congress to release $86 million for Abbas; Israel already has freed $100 million of frozen Palestinian tax money. Early last week, the State Department told Congress how it intends to distribute the $86 million. Much of it would go toward uniforms and communications supplies. The training and equipping would be done by U.S. government contractors. If Congress doesn't object by mid-February, the plan will proceed, requiring only a final go-ahead from Israel. Israeli officials said that won't be a problem.

Officials and diplomats in Washington said $35.5 million would be used to equip 8,500 members of the Palestinian National Security Force; $15.5 million to train an initial unit of about 670 personnel to handle civil disturbances; $26 million to shore up Abbas' presidential guard; and $10 million to improve security at the Karni crossing between Israel and Gaza.

Pending final approval by the United States and Israel, Abbas could send thousands of troops to training centers in Jordan and Egypt, said Faraj, the Palestinian military intelligence chief. The current proposal would send four groups of 1,400 Palestinian security members for two months of training.

In Jordan, the troops are expected to go to a state-of-the-art training center near Amman that's used to train thousands of Iraqi police.

The facility would be used to train counterterrorism units; other troops would be sent to Egypt to learn how to handle urban warfare, said Brig. Gen. Sabri Tumezi, who handles international relations for Palestinian Preventative Security services, an intelligence and counterterrorism agency, in the West Bank.

Like Faraj, Tumezi said that the training would be largely useless unless Israel and the United States allow the Palestinian trainees to receive arms.

The two leaders said the issue could be resolved easily if the Israeli military returned large caches of weapons that it confiscated from the Palestinian Authority during the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising.

"We don't want anything we didn't already have," Tumezi said. "We just want what was already ours."

Israeli and American officials declined to comment on the record. But the

Israeli government has long argued that the West Bank and Gaza Strip are saturated with weapons and that the problem is that most of them are in the hands of unaccountable militant groups.

Nissenbaum reported from Ramallah, Strobel from Washington.

Contact Avodah at avodah15@aol.com

To Go To Top

ISRAELI MEDIA SELF-CRITICISM: "WE FANNED THE HYSTERIA"
Posted by Hillel Fendel, February 7, 2007.

Listing the media's sins: Television and print reporter Raviv Drucker spoke out at a journalists' gathering in Tel Aviv Tuesday night.

He spoke of the perceived need to fill airtime with frivolities, the failure to apologize, correct or encourage, and the binding dependence upon financial influences.

The event, with the participations of some 150 reporters, was sponsored by the Hebrew website Scoop -- for which most of the participants work.

Guest speaker Raviv Drucker, the diplomatic commentator for Channel Ten, listed what he felt were several faults of the Israeli media over the past few years. "We have not yet managed to overcome some internal problems," he said, "such as following up items publicized by competing news organs. We also have not yet learned to correct or to apologize. The competitiveness has slightly driven us out of our minds."

Drucker criticized the "obsessive need to fill the news shows' air time with non-stop items." He said that the need to "entertain makes us more cynical; the news becomes entertainment."

In 2005, shortly before the Disengagement/expulsion from Gush Katif and northern Shomron, Raviv Drucker co-authored a book entitled, "Boomerang: The Failure of Leadership in the Second Intifada." The book charged that the Disengagement plan was born because then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was sure that then-State Prosecutor Edna Arbel was on the way to indicting him. The book also claimed that decisions on the Disengagement plan were made by marginalizing military experts, and without the participation of the ministers and the Cabinet.

Criticisms of the press were heard for the way it largely ignored the allegations. Israel's Media Watch submitted a complaint charging that the Israel Broadcasting Authority's Channel 1 totally ignored it. MK Yitzchak Levy told Arutz-7 at the time that the Israeli press was "betraying its basic mission." He said, "The almost-absolute silence regarding the astonishing revelations by Raviv Drucker and Ofer Shelach leave no room to be surprised. Everything that does not fall into line with the Prime Minister's policy is apparently not worthy of being covered. It's as if it's nothing. Every squeak by some beginning singer is covered more widely than these scandalous revelations of the book Boomerang."

In his speech, Drucker even decried the lack of supervisory bodies over Israel's media: "Practically speaking, there are barely any watchdogs over the media to determine that you have done your work unfairly or irresponsibly."

The media lost an opportunity to encourage and strengthen the populace during last summer's war, Drucker charged: "During the war, we sinned by fanning the public hysteria... What the public wanted was some kind of massage to the national ego; it wanted all's-clear sirens. But during the war, we did not succeed in calming down the hysteria or in reducing the element of tension -- and sometimes we did the exact opposite."

Drucker attacked the media from yet another angle as well -- that of its dependency on rich money-men. "We have no trouble openly criticizing all the politicians," he said, "but it is very hard for us to seriously investigate Arkady Gaidamak or Nochi Dankner, for instance. Their financial involvement blocks the steps of every reporter, directly and indirectly."

Hillel Fendel is senior editor at Arutz-Sheva (www.Israel.NationalNews.com).

To Go To Top

GENDER EQUALITY IN THE MIDDLE EAST WILL REDUCE TERRORISM
Posted by Lawrence Uniglicht, February 7, 2007.

If the United States wishes to regain the moral high ground in the collective mind's eye of planetary nations, especially non-Muslim nations, it must alter its rhetoric making equality for females that superpower's number one priority. Period!!! Indeed, reducing the threat of terrorism would be a logical consequence of any gains in female rights, especially in those Islamic nations adhering to a strict sharia code and not coincidentally underwriting Wahhabi infected madrassas a/k/a human bomb factories, disseminating infidel despising propaganda much of which is directed at Israel and Jews in general, and holding the oil-addicted industrial world hostage by in effect demanding it not rock the boat too much or off go the fossil fuel spigots. Imagine women movers and shakers, calling the shots, in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Libya, Egypt, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and other kindred spirit nations. Might the focus of education shift in a secular progressive direction, might extremist elements be incarcerated or at least marginalized, might tolerance for all ethnicities increase, might both genders be given equal opportunities, might scientific and industrial research and development flourish thus diminish a self-defeating dependency on raw material revenues, and most importantly might the world indeed be a quantum leap safer? Furthermore, would the United States once again be viewed as a respected leader especially by European nations that have lost faith in their transatlantic partner? I say quite likely to all these things.

The New York Times editorial page, dated 02/07/2007, offers a short opinion piece by Maura J Casey 'Challenging the Mullahs, One Signature at a Time', that should be required reading for the Bush Administration and each member of America's Democratically controlled Congress. The article praises Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian lawyer and 2003 Nobel Peace Prize recipient, who 'enrages' misogynist Persian Mullahs, addicted to ruling their roost, with her 'relentless campaign against discrimination'. Her 'revolutionary' strategy of 'melding education, conscious-raising and peaceful protest', as well as arming women with petitions denouncing a voluminous array of gender discriminatory practices embodied in sharia law, spans more than a quarter century. Might President Bush consider extending a V.I.P. White House invitation to this incredibly intrepid soul, attempting to move mountains, adding heft to her challenging quest? What a contrast that would be to the Iranian madman AhMADinejad's recent disgusting Holocaust denial conference, whose invited guests included a wide assortment of anti-Semites, stupid people, and even a self-flagellating anti-Zionist Jew from New York!

Alas, we live in the real world where political considerations generally trump moral considerations. Saudi Arabia happens to be an essential ally of the Bush Administration in its 'war on terror', and is perhaps equally allied with other U.S. politicos and corporate string pullers as well. Ruffling the robes of a fiercely misogynist sharia spewing House of Saud, staunch defender of Uncle Sam's petrodollar, might make American political as well as business leaders a bit reluctant to overtly support the rights of perhaps half of all Middle East Muslims. Israel, on the other hand, does not bed down with Saudi rulers thus does not wake up with fleas. Prime Minister Olmert could at least publicly extol Ms. Ebadi, offer to support her struggle, indeed invite her to speak before the Israeli Knesset although Iranian despots would not likely let her accept (it is doubtful they would allow her to accept any American invitation as well), thus the tolerant Jewish democracy, committed to gender equality, would in effect openly align itself with all abused females, deprived of equal rights, within the Middle East Muslim world. Doing the right thing could bring global kudos to Israel, enhance the Jewish State's stature, and perhaps initiate a more aggressive response from other nations against the discriminatory treatment of females in the Muslim Middle East. It is definitely worth a try!

Lawrence Uniglicht is a career civil servant, working for the Social Security Administration. He advocates for the State of Israel with an American perspective. He writes, "Advocating for the disrespected underdog has been my passion, no doubt Israel falls into that category." Contact him by email at luniglicht@snip.net

To Go To Top

U.S. CONTROVERSY OVER CLUSTER BOMBS
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, February 7, 2007.
PERETZ' PROPOSAL

Israeli Defense Min. Peretz wants a plan that combines the Saudi plan and the Road Map. This would strengthen the "moderates" in the P.A. He (who doesn't make the decision) promises not to cede parts of Judea-Samaria "defined as Israeli regions."

His proposal involves: "Stabilizing the economic and security situation, general negotiation on a permanent solution and extension of Palestinian sovereignty, and specific negotiation regarding the details of the permanent solution." He also proposes negotiating peace with Syria, for a known price. ("Known price" hints at ceding the Golan Heights, Syria's invasion route.)

Dr. Aaron Lerner remarked that under this proposal, the Arabs "can prepare for war against Israel undisturbed as long as they don't shoot (too much?) and then enter final status talks without fulfilling their obligation to collect weapons, etc.." MK Ayalon remarked that plans to be implemented in phases don't work (IMRA, 1/8).

Ayalon observed correctly. The: (1) Arabs lack sincerity, and use what they get without giving what they promise; (2) Israelis never insist that one phase be fulfilled before the next is started; and (3) Phases are in the wrong order.

Wrong order? The plans expect Israel to make dangerous concessions to the Arab before they fulfill obligations to end terrorism. This gives the Arabs jihadists no incentive to end terrorism. After 13 years of Oslo, during which the Arabs never have fulfilled those obligations, this point is proved. Israeli leaders should make pro-Israel proposals, not figure out how to help their Arab enemies.

U.S. CONTROVERSY OVER ISRAELI CLUSTER-BOMBING

"Israel May Have Violated Arms Pact, U.S. Officials Say." The article quotes other US officials as believing Israel did not. The cluster bombs were older ones sold to Israel on condition it not drop them on "civilian areas." It used them in Lebanon where Hizbullah took over from civilians in order to launch rockets at Israeli civilian areas while hoping for immunity from reprisal by virtue of human shields or prompting criticism of Israel, as by US Defense officials, if Israel did try to silence the rocket crews. Civilians had evacuated from some of the areas.

The cluster bombs should self-destruct shortly after landing without striking a target. Self-destructed bomblets would post no problem to returning civilians. The US ordnance often failed to self-destruct, whereas ones manufactured by Israel are more reliable. The US is investigating (David S. Cloud & Greg Myre, NY Times, 1/28, A3).

Should purchasers be held accountable for defective weaponry?

Hostile government officials often leak false complaints about Israel, in order to promote arms embargoes. The Times never hints at this, for it, too, is anti-Zionist. Great is the Times and Defense Dept. anguish over casualties, often deserved, by Arab enemies of the US and Israel, trying to wreak casualties against innocent Israelis, for which the Times and Defense Dept. express little or no concern.

Richard Shulman is a veteran defender of Israel on several web-based forums. His comments and analyses appear often on Think-Israel. He provides cool information and right-on-target overviews. He distributes his essays by email. To subscribe, write him at richardshulman5@verizon.net

To Go To Top

YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE AMERICAN TO SPEAK OUT FOR JONATHAN POLLARD
Posted by Justice For Jonathan Pollard, February 7, 2007.

Anyone can call the White House to leave a comment for the President asking him to set Jonathan Pollard free!

Simply dial 1-202-456-1414 or 1-202-456-1111 every day from 9 am Eastern time to 5 pm, Monday to Friday. If asked what State you are calling for/from and you do not have a State, say 'North Carolina" (that's where Jonathan is.)

For Israeli readers, you can call from 4 pm to midnight daily, Monday through Friday (but not shabbat please!)

Call once a day! Call every day! Every call referencing release for Jonathan is counted by the White House and the numbers are relayed to the President. Every call is counted in Heaven to the merit of both Jonathan and the Jewish People. Call now!

Please spread this message. Every day call the the White House for Jonathan Pollard, and urge everyone you know to do so as well!

Dial Now! 1-202-456-1414 or 1-202-456-1111

Contact Justice For Jonathan Pollard by email at justice4jp@gmail.com

To Go To Top

THE END TO JUDICIAL TYRANNY IN ISRAEL?
Posted by Steven Plaut, February 7, 2007.

Well, it pains me to tell you this but Ehud Olmert has actually done something right. Possibly the very first correct thing he has done since becoming PM. And it is spectacularly correct!

He is appointing professor Daniel Friedman as Minister of Justice.

In some ways, this is one of the most important political decisions in recent Israeli history.

As you know, Israeli democracy has been under the massive assault by those promoting judicial tyranny. Under their doctrine of "judicial activism", it is the proper role of unelected judges to trump and override the decisions of the elected representatives of the Israeli people. Led by the previous Chief Justice Aharon Barak and now by the new Chief Justice, the advocates of judicial activism believe that leftist judges should be able to dictate to Israel's legislature what laws the law makers may make. They also believe that unelected judges should be able to dictate everything from micro-decisions by the army to Israel's foreign policy. And the advocates of judicial tyranny invariably want the courts to impose the leftist political agenda on the country, which the judicial advocacy judges often do.

Hebrew University law don Daniel Friedman is both a man of principles and a man of conservative legal principles. Politically he is a centrist. He was one of the people serving in the Beijski Commission, one of the most enlightened commissions ever to operate in Israel, set up after the bank scandal in 1983 and recommending critical economic reforms that the political hacks largely ignored. Educated in Israel and at Harvard, Friedman strongly opposes judicial tyranny and means to rein it in. He wants to end the system under which the commission for appointing judges acts as a rubber stamp for the judges already on the Supreme Court bench. He wants to create a constitutional court that will strip the Supreme Court of its powers of judicial review of laws. He wants to appoint judges who will actually obey the law, something quite novel in Israel. He wants to change the system under which the judge with the most seniority in the Supreme Court becomes Chief Justice.

And the Left is hysterical, still hoping to "Bork" him. Haaretz is overflowing with outraged articles. One writer compares the appointment of Friedman to a hypothetical appointment of traitor Tali Fahima as head of the Shin Bet. The comparison is amusing since Haaretz has long served as cheerleader for Fahima and would support her appointment as head of the Shin Bet if it were to take place. Yossi Beilin wet his nappies when he heard the news and denounced it. Haaretz legal columnist and cheerleader for judicial activism Zeev Segel has conniptions. The Haaretz editorial denounced the appointment as cheap vengeance by Olmert against the courts:
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/822765.html

This is the first piece of really good news in Israel in a long time!

2. I had this strange dream last night. In it, Shulamit Aloni heard that Suha Arafat was goin to land at the Orlando airport. So she jumps in her Volvo, drive 1000 miles wearing diapers so she will not need to use the bathroom, ambushes Suha and attacks her for stealing her man.

Of course it was only a dream.

Steven Plaut is an American-trained economist, a professor of business administration at Haifa University and author of "The Scout." He frequently comments -- both seriously and satirically -- on Israeli politics and the left wing academic community. His website address is http://www.stevenplaut.blogspot.com or write him by email at splaut@econ.haifa.ac.il

To Go To Top

THE BETRAYAL OF JONATHAN POLLARD
Posted by Fern Sidman, February 7, 2007.

We are living in dangerous times. The scourge of terrorism crouches outside our doorways as does the dramatic escalation of anti-Jewish and anti-Israel sentiment. A madman in Iran threatens Israel and the free world with his expanding nuclear arsenal, while ex-presidents write books excoriating Israel for attempting to defend herself. There is no question that it is open season on Jews, and that little strip of land in the Middle East called Israel. While the world remains silent in the face of blatant and overt Jew hatred, we can only draw a frightening parallel to Europe of 1938.

While we are concerned for our survival as Jews and for the future of Israel, we now turn our attentions to one person. One Jew, who was victimized by betrayal and deceit. As Jews, we are enjoined by our G-d and our Torah to value and cherish human life and to hold it sacrosanct for all eternity. We are commanded to join together in unity to fulfill the holy precept of redeeming the imprisoned. While the world may at times exert efforts for the collective good, while dismissing the individual, it is the obligation and duty of the Jew, even in dangerous times to save just one life. For each life is an entire world and it stands as a solitary reminder of our future as a people and a nation.

Today, the plight of Jewish prisoner, Jonathan Pollard compels us to take action and to review the facts of his case. It all began in 1983 when Jonathan Pollard was employed as a civilian American Naval intelligence analyst based in Washington, DC. Pollard discovered that information vital to Israel's security was being deliberately withheld by certain elements within the US national security establishment. Israel was legally entitled to this vital security information according to a 1983 Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries. The information being withheld from Israel included Syrian, Iraqi, Libyan and Iranian nuclear, chemical and biological warfare capabilities -- being developed for use against Israel. It also included information on ballistic missile development by these countries and information on planned terrorist attacks against Israeli civilian targets.

When Pollard questioned his superiors as to why this information was not being disclosed to Israel as had been promised he was told to mind his business. Subsequently, he learned that the objective of suppressing this information to Israel was to severely curtail Israel's ability to act independently in defense of her own enemies. Pollard did everything in his power to have the legal flow of information to Israel restored. When his efforts met no success, he began to give the information to Israel directly. Pollard was an ideologue, not a mercenary. The FBI concluded after nine months of polygraphing that Pollard acted for ideological reasons only, not for profit. This fact was recognized by the sentencing judge who declined to fine Pollard.

In 1985, Jonathan Pollard was arrested by the FBI. Pollard never had a trial. At the request of both the US and Israeli governments, he entered into a plea agreement, which spared both governments a long, difficult, expensive and potentially embarrassing trial. And this is where the betrayal began. Pollard fulfilled his end of the plea agreement, cooperating fully with the prosecution. Nevertheless, Pollard received a life sentence and a recommendation that he never be paroled -- in complete violation of the plea agreement he had reached with the government. Pollard was never indicted for harming the United States, nor was he indicted for compromising codes, agents or war plans and he was never charged with treason. He was indicted on only one charge which was one count of passing classified information to an ally without intent to harm the United States.

No one else in the history of the United States has ever received a life sentence for passing classified information to an ally -- only Jonathan Pollard. The median sentence for this offense is two to four years. Even agents who have committed far more serious offenses on behalf of hostile nations have not received such a harsh sentence.

Since 1995, within the context of the peace process, the US has repeatedly exploited the plight of Jonathan Pollard to extract heavy concessions from Israel. Despite express promises made by the United States to Israel, Pollard remains in jail. Although President Clinton promised late Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin that he would release Pollard as part of a Middle East peace settlement, Clinton refused to honor his promise after Rabin was assassinated. The Wye Plantation summit is a prime example of US exploitation of Jonathan Pollard. Both before and again during the Wye summit negotiations in the fall of 1998, President Clinton promised to release Jonathan Pollard. Pollard was the deal-maker at Wye which enabled the accords to be completed. At the last minute, as the Wye Accords signing ceremony was about to take place in Washington, Clinton reneged on Pollard's release, creating a storm of negative publicity for Israel.

The facts speak for themselves. Jonathan Pollard is a man betrayed by his country. Jonathan Pollard is man who has languished in the federal prison system for 22 years and is in failing health. It is incumbent upon each and every one of us, to raise high the banner of freedom for Jonathan Pollard. It is time to express our outrage and indignation at this travesty of justice. It is time to come together, to unite to save one life, one person, one Jew who has been scapegoated by the world.

The first and most important step that we can take is to beseech the Almighty G-d of Israel on behalf of Jonathan Pollard. We can storm the gates of Heaven with our heartfelt prayers for our brother, Jonathan. We can organize Tehillim groups in the name of Yohanatan ben Malka. We can shed our tears and ask G-d for mercy and compassion for Jonathan and for his speedy release. Above all, we must remain cognizant of the fact that it only through the hand of Hashem will we see true justice.

Additionally, we can also devote our time to participating in a wide variety of activities that will bring the spotlight on Jonathan Pollard's case. According to an Arutz Sheva news service report of February 6, 2007, it states, "American Jewish organizations have organized a massive nationwide campaign to call the White House every afternoon for the next two months and request/demand freedom for Pollard. The campaign is to last, if it does not succeed in attaining its goal beforehand, until after Passover, the holiday of freedom. The campaign, spearheaded by the National Council of Young Israel, is predicated on the fact that the White House tallies all incoming calls, "and so every single phone call makes a difference." A statement issued by Young Israel Executive Vice President Rabbi Pesach Lerner asks citizens concerned by Pollard's plight to "call daily between the hours of 11-2 pm EST, and encourage their family members and friends to do the same. Callers are reminded to expect the lines to be busy and to keep calling until they get through." The White House phone number is 1-202-456-1414."

Moreover, the report goes on to say that, "the Council of Torah Sages of Agudath Israel of America (the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah), Agudath Israel's Rabbinic Presidium, and nearly 100 members of its Conference of Synagogue Rabbis have issued a declaration calling on "all caring Jews... to convey the message to President Bush that Mr. Pollard has served long enough, and that the time has come to free him." Agudath Israel states that Pollard's plight "demands our urgent attention. [His] life sentence "a penalty far more severe than that imposed upon others who committed similar or even more serious crimes" is difficult to comprehend... At this time, it appears that all legal avenues through the judicial system have been shut off."

"Only the President of the United States, by granting Mr. Pollard executive clemency, can save him from spending the rest of his life behind bars," Agudath Israel pleads.

Other groups are planning worldwide simultaneous demonstrations and acts of civil disobedience on Thursday, February 8th. Before it is too late, get involved now. Contact your local synagogue and ask the Rabbi to speak of Jonathan's plight during his sermon. Work towards educating young people about Jonathan Pollard and assist in galvanizing them to participate in demonstrations. Make phone calls, write letters to your elected officials, but above all, do not be silent. We are taught that there are sins of commission and sins of omission in this world. Let us not be guilty of doing nothing, when we had every opportunity to do something significant and potent on behalf of a brother, on behalf of our brother Jonathan. In the merit of our actions and prayers may the Almighty G-d of Israel have mercy on Jonathan Pollard and upon His people, Israel.

Contact Fern Sidman at AriellaH@aol.com

To Go To Top

POLICE DETAIN STONE-THROWING PALESTINIAN PROTESTERS OF ARCHEOLOGICAL DIG AT MUGHRABI GATE OUTSIDE TEMPLE MOUNT
Posted by Gail Winston, February 6, 2007.

An eyewitness account at the Kotel (Western Wall) reported today, Tuesday, February 6th as follows:

"I was at the Kotel (Western Wall) today and saw a huge number of police, border police, etc. all around the Temple Mount's Mughrabi Gate. There were approximately 25 Arabs milling around inside the Exit Gate from the Western Wall and the archeological gardens. But, what was really a heads-up that something dramatic might happen was the quantity there of Media vans with their satellite dishes on top. It seemed as if there was one Media van per each Arab protester." (1)

It is easy to prod the Arab Muslims to pour into the street, enjoying the rage. The trick is to offer the Palestinian Arab Muslims something else to riot about besides Gaza. For the last month they have been killing each other in the Gaza Strip. We all remember the riots of 1929 when the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Amin al-Husseini, launched a rumor that the Jews were planning to attack the Al Aksa Mosque, located on top of the site of the Jewish Temple. The Grand Mufti, "Haj" Amin al-Husseini, was a close follower of Hitler during WW2, hoping to entice him to bring his Jew-killing mechanisms to Jerusalem.

The Arabs responded to Husseini's "rumor" in 1929 and rioted in Jerusalem, Motza, Hebron, Safed, Jaffa and other areas -- all over what was then British Mandate Palestine. The Arabs murdered a total of 133 Jews, wounding more than 300 wherever they could find them. (2) In Hebron 67-69 Jews were murdered, with 58 wounded and women were raped; in Safed 18-20 were murdered with 80 wounded. The British evacuated the Jewish survivors, leaving their homes and belongings to be taken and occupied by the Arabs from 1929 to 1967 when Hebron was liberated along with the east side of Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount. (3)

The Arab Muslim leaders have frequently called on the Palestinians to protest because they claim the Jews were excavating under the Temple Mount, undermining the Mosque. Not surprisingly, it was the Arabs, at the behest of the Muslim Wakf, who were excavating under the Temple Mount in Solomon's Stables, possibly weakening the ancient supporting walls.

Now the Antiquities Authority has begun salvage excavations to rescue ancient remains in the Archeological Park OUTSIDE the Temple Mount, in order to erect supporting pillars for a permanent Mugrabim Ramp, to be built for the benefit and safety of visitors. (5)

The trick this time is to accuse the Jews of destroying the crumbling ramps leading up to the plateau where the Al Aksa Mosque was built on top of Solomon's Temple site. The idea behind this accusation is to offer an alternate target to the Arab Muslim Palestinians of Fatah and Hamas, who are presently killing each other in Gaza.

The ramp (called the Mughrabi Ramp and Gate) is mostly a dirt and stone ramp that has been crumbling for years, especially since heavy snows and the February 2004 earthquake. The Israelis erected the scaffolding to hold back its collapse with a wooden bridge/platform to allow visitors access. Now the Israeli Antiquities Authority is carrying out a salvage and repair operation at the base before they sink concrete pillars for the permanent ramp. The Israeli archeologists will rescue any ancient remains that would be precious to Jews, Christians and/or Muslims.

Today, the Arab Muslim Palestinians in Gaza launched 4 Kassam rockets into Israel claiming they were to retaliate for the excavation work. (One landed on the fence of a sensitive infrastructure installation outside of Ashkelon.) (6)

But, the very visible scaffolding, erected a few years ago to protect the worshipers and visitors, has become a "Cause Celebre". As our "Eyewitness" above noted that every Media van was present, anticipating Arab rioting. On CNN Ben Wedeman reported, in a calm voice BUT, using stock inflammatory code words while delivering the story. CNN interspersed stock footage of Arab youth throwing large stones in Bethlehem at Israeli soldiers. Wedeman said: "The area is 'What Arabs call what the Muslims call Harem Al Sharif, the Holy Sanctuary and what Jews call the Temple Mount. Muslim authorities in Jerusalem claim the work could undermine what Muslims call Islam's third holiest site."

CNN quoted [Raed Salah], a leader of the Islamic movement in Israel saying: "It means Israel wants to ignite a religious war in the region...because this is where the prophet Mohammed walked. It concerns every Muslim, every Palestinian, every Arab."

Wedeman: "Hamas leader in Damascus, Haled Mishal said, 'Israel here is playing with fire.' Wedeman: "Given that the Palestinians are so pre-occupied with own problems, they may not actually be able to react to this. Within the last few months more Palestinians have been killed in factional fighting than in conflict with Israel. Renovations in Jerusalem have not lit any fires -YET. But, rocks have already begun to fly in Bethlehem where young Palestinians pelted an Israeli guard tower. Ben Wedeman, CNN (7)

Stoking up the easily provoked Palestinian Arab Muslims is clearly the intent so Hamas and Fatah leaders in Gaza can turn their rage toward the Israelis instead of each other. Clearly, the ghost of the Grand Mufti Amin al-Husseini is once again floating his rumors that the Jews are altering Al Aksa Mosque.

###

1. "Eyewitness Account" Kotel (Western Wall) Jerusalem, February 6, 2007

2. "What Happened During the Arab Riots of 1929?" Palestine Fact: British Mandate Arab Riots 1929 http://www.palestinefact.org/pf_mandate_riots_1929.php

3. "1929 Palestine Riots" Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/1929_Palestine_riots Feb. 6, 07

4. "Jerusalem police detain 11 stone-throwing Palestinian protesters against archeological dig at Mughrabi Gate outside Temple Mount, Feb. 6, 2007 DEBKAFILE

5. ISRAEL ANTIQUITIES AUTHORITY PRESS RELEASE February 6, 2007

6. "Jerusalem Arabs Riot, Kassams Fired, After Old City Excavations" by Hillel Fendel Arutz 7 (www.IsraelNationalNews.com) February 6, 2006

7. "Renovation on Ramp outside Harem al-Sharif/Temple Mount Enough to Send Jitters Across the Region, where Jitters are the Norm" Ben Wedeman CNN 11 am CST

Below there are two news items. The first is from today's DEBKAfile; the Second is a translation of a Press Release from Israel Antiquities.

1.) Jerusalem police detain 11 stone-throwing Palestinian protesters against archeological dig at Mughrabi Gate outside Temple Mount Tuesday DEBKAfile -- We start where the media stop February 6, 2007, 6:48 PM (GMT+02:00)

Extremist Israeli Islamic leader Sheik Raed Salah is barred from entering Temple Mount after calling for "third intifada" over Mughrabi Gate repairs.

Amid tight security, an archeological dig began outside Jerusalem's Moghrabi Gate Tuesday to prepare for the gate's reconstruction. Saudi and Jordanian monarchs join radical Muslim leaders' charge that al Aqsa mosque is threatened, although the dig started Tuesday is on the ground below and 60-70 meters distant from the [Temple] Mount where the mosque stands.

Director of the Antiquities Dept Jerusalem district Yuval Baruch reported that Muslim leaders had been informed well in advance of the excavation and were allowed to inspect the work. Any relics found -- Jewish, Muslim and Christian -- would be displayed.

The structure of the Moghrabi Gate and ramp were badly damaged four years ago by heavy snow and the February 2004 earthquake in Jerusalem. The dig will extend the archeological garden at the foot of the mount and clear the way for a new and safe Mughrebi Gate and bridge to be built on the site of the damaged one.

The Mughrabi Gate is the only point of access to the mount for non-Muslim pilgrims and visitors seeking to view the site of the two ancient Jewish temples. Arab and Muslim clergy do not recognize Jewish claims to Temple Mount as a historical and religious site. Official Israeli directives on access to the mount respect Muslim sensitivities and have left the summit of Temple Mount and its mosques under Muslim jurisdiction. (2)

2.) ISRAEL ANTIQUITIES AUTHORITY PRESS RELEASE: Translation February 6, 2007

The Antiquities Authority has begun salvage excavations in the Archeological Park, for the purpose of erecting supporting pillars for a permanent Mugrabim Ramp, to be built for the benefit and safety of visitors. The new ramp will replace the temporary wooden bridge which was established following the collapse of the old Mugrabim Ramp, which was declared a "hazardous structure". The salvage excavations are standardized archeological excavations which are carried out in declared archeological sites slated for construction and development. The purpose of the salvage excavations is to prevent and minimize damage which could be caused to ancient remains as a result of the construction.

The new Mugrabim Ramp, which will be built by the Jerusalem Municipality, will replace the temporary wooden bridge, which was built following the partial collapse of the old ramp and its declaration as a public hazard. The collapse of the old ramp was the result of natural disasters over the years, and it occurred shortly after the earthquake and snowstorms which struck Jerusalem in February 2004. In light of the real and imminent threat to visitors, whose entry into the Temple Mount was authorized only through the ramp, the Antiquities Authority immediately agreed to conduct continuous archeological inspections for the purpose of erecting the temporary bridge.

Once plans for the establishment of a permanent ramp were made known, the Antiquities Authority conditioned its construction on the implementation of salvage excavations, as required by the Israeli Antiquities Law. In accordance with this Law, any construction on declared antiquities sites, such as Jerusalem in general and the Old City in particular, must be carried out with the approval of the Antiquities Authority and must conform to its instructions.

The salvage excavations in the compound are directed by a team of archeologists and professionals, experts in their fields, using internationally accepted methods employed in excavations in similar areas, and in accordance with the nature and type of the artifacts exposed. The excavations will take place, as is customary, during the winter and under the cover of several hothouses. The removal of the remains of the old ramp will be carried out prior to the commencement of the archeological excavations, using a small mechanical tool (backhoe) and under tight inspection by archeologists.

Only once the excavations are completed will the exact location of the bridge pillars in the Archeological Park compound be determined. The construction of the pillars will be carried out in accordance with the instructions of the Antiquities Authority, while ensuring the preservation and protection of the monuments which will be exposed. The archeological excavations, which will last several months, will provide an opportunity to study the nature of the archeological remains in the site, and their contribution to studying Jerusalem's history is expected to be substantial.

The archeological remains which revealed will be preserved and incorporated in an Archeological Park which will be opened for the benefit of visitors from Israel and tourists from around the world. (5)

Gail Winston is founder of M.E.I.R., Mid East Information Resource

To Go To Top

ISRAEL'S OBLOMOV
Posted by Michael Travis, February 6, 2007.
This was written by Ruth King. It was published January 29, 2007 in Mideast Outpost
http://mideastoutpost.com/archives/000338.html

Last week, the Israeli press reported that Ehud Olmert took a few days off to have his lids surgically lifted to "improve his vision." Cosmetic surgery only permits Nancy Pelosi to see to the left, so there is scant hope that Israel's Prime Minister will be helped.

Under his befuddled stewardship, Israel's enemies have learned that those who fire rockets and kill Israeli civilians will be treated with "restraint"; that tunnels burrowed to bring advanced artillery to terrorists will be ignored; that agreements can be violated with impunity and only result in more phantom agreements; that big concessions will be followed by even bigger ones.

There is not a single self-respecting Jew who did not feel pride in Israel's military and its combination of proficiency, determination and discipline, but today the Arab world and Israel's detractors gloat over Hezbollah's victory over Israel in Lebanon.

In The Beirut Star (Dec. 30) Arab journalist Rami G. Khouri wrote an article with the stinging title "Israel's Dominance May Be Going Into Slow Reversal: "...[A]fter the United States had given Israel weeks of extra warfare to hit Hizbullah...Israel...failed to make the Arabs cough up the soldiers...Israel swallowed its words, put away its ultimatums and threats, and accepted cease-fires in both cases...Olmert met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, where it was announced that Israel would release $100 million of withheld Palestinian tax revenues and remove some checkpoints in the West Bank reversing his previous refusal to make such gestures or meet with the Palestinians before Shalit was released. Olmert met, talked and made concessions to the Palestinians, with Shalit and the captured soldiers still nowhere in sight."

That comes from an enemy but on January 2, 2007 Israel's Institute for National Security Studies, (formerly the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies), issued an equally scathing summation: "The Lebanon war eroded Israeli deterrence among Arabs and others in the Middle East... underscored the problematic and fluctuating nature of Israel's strategic environment, damaged Israel's deterrent image, and exposed weaknesses in the Israel Defense Forces and the decision-making process in Israel."

Even Jordan's spurious kinglet, in an interview in Japan on December 28th, mocked Israel, repeating several times that Israel is no longer as strong as had been thought and declaring: "More and more countries in the region will now believe that the only way to get Israel to listen is through force and not negotiations."

On the very day that the kinglet was deriding Israel, Olmert surprised the Israeli public by an unprecedented act...even by the high bar he had already set... when the flags of the State of Israel and the terrorist Palestinian Authority flew side-by-side at the official Prime Minister's Residence.

While the flag of Israel's enemies was fluttering and Olmert was kissing the posterior of Abbas, Israeli civilians in Sderot continued to be victims of daily and deadly rocket fire and have sued to withhold taxes because the government does nothing...absolutely zilch...to protect them. Well, really, Olmert has no time to visit Sderot...he's on his merry way to China to see a less controversial wall. He has no time to deal with Israel's enemies, other than to offer them wider swaths of Israel's heartland.

On January 4th, 2007, he finally noticed the victims of Sderot. His spokes-lackey Miri Eisin, assured journalists that the al-Aqsa Brigades members firing the deadly rockets from Gaza are not affiliated with Fatah and don't take orders from Olmert's pal Abbas. This does not square with the fact that the leader of Al Aqsa, Abu Ahmed told Aaron Klein of World Net Daily: "The al-Aqsa Brigades is the military wing of the Fatah and the President Abu Mazen (Abbas) is the chairman of the movement...All our activity is in accordance with the political line of Fatah, which consists of fighting the occupation until the creation of a Palestinian state. The rocket shooting is part of this vision."

What accounts for Olmert's behavior? Turpitude? Corruption? There is the questionable deal with American millionaire S. Daniel Abraham who had contributed large sums to his campaign and whose charities and goals mirror those of George Soros. Olmert sold his home to Abraham for $2.7 million, a sum way above market value, and arranged to lease the home for below market rates. In December 2006, Abraham was Olmert's liaison for a meeting with the Syrian ambassador in the United States.

Is it that he avoided military service, a fact that has never been examined by Israel's media? Even disabled people serve in Israel's citizen army.

Have his pacifist wife and his seditious children influenced him? One son avoided the draft altogether and lives in the United States. The other promoted a group that paid recruits to refuse service in the "occupied territories." The daughter serves as watchdog at check points to make sure that would be suicide bombers are not hassled entering Israel.

Could it be a form of Oblomovism? Oblomov was a character in Ivan Goncharov's novel of that name written in the 1840's. Oblomov is passive and inert while his financial advisers cheat him, servants steal from him and his friends betray him and steal his fiancé. As Goncharov describes him "All his anxiety resolved itself into a sigh and dissolved into apathy and drowsiness." Even before he became Prime Minister Olmert did say he was tired...really tired.

Now it transpires he has taken leave of reality altogether. On January 15 he rallied a meeting of his Kadima faction, telling them: "There has never been a more comfortable period for the State of Israel than the present period. We have to understand that reality is good and only the polls are not -- and thank God this is so." A tsunami of anti-Semitism is washing up over Europe; under Olmert's "leadership" Israel's fine army has suffered defeat at the hands of a terrorist militia; the Arab states, smelling blood, hover for the kill; the U.S. gears up to sell out Israel for the mere hope of dampening the chaos in Iraq -- and Olmert thinks Israel's condition has never been more "comfortable?" Will we next see Olmert riding naked in a chariot through the streets of Jerusalem inviting the public to admire his golden garments?

On February 14th, 1949 when the first parliament was convened in Jerusalem. Chaim Weizmann, the President of Israel, opened the ceremonies by reminding Israel's newly elected legislators of their mandate.

"No nation in the world has suffered as we have, but at last the vision of redemption has been fulfilled. It is our lot to bear the heavy burden of responsibility for filling the gap which has been created within the ranks of our people with the murder of the best of its sons, the bearers of its standard and the carriers of its culture. Remember that the eyes of the whole Jewish world are upon us, and that the yearning and prayers of past generations accompany us. May we all be worthy of this great moment and this immense responsibility."

Olmert remembers nothing of Jewish hopes or destiny. The Rorschach test for that imperiled people is if they recognize Olmert and everyone associated with his government as a national blot and drive them permanently out of public life.

Contact Michael Travis at michaelmgr@gmail.com

To Go To Top

VOTE NOW: SHOULD ISRAEL BE BANISHED FROM THE MIDDLE EAST?
Posted by Jerusalem Prayer Team, February 6, 2007.

According to an article in World Net Daily, "With heads bowed reverently, Democrats were led in prayer by a Muslim imam who essentially asked Allah to assist in converting the party members to Islam, according to a scholar and author... Robert Spencer, director of Jihad Watch and author of "The Truth about Muhammad..." Spencer "took note of the prayer given at the Democratic National Committee winter meeting by Husham Al-Husainy, imam of the Karbalaa Islamic Education Center, a Shiite mosque in Dearborn, Mich." The imam also asked Allah to "stop the oppression and occupation" in a veiled reference to Israel.

Do you support a U.S. Muslim Imam asking Allah to assist in converting U.S. leaders to Islam and ousting Israel from its rightful place in the Middle East?

VOTE YOUR OPINION NOW Click here.

Michael Evans is the author of "Beyond Iraq: The Next Move," and founder of Jerusalem Prayer Team, America's largest Christian coalition praying for the peace of Jerusalem. Contact them at www.JerusalemPrayerTeam.org. Address email inquiries to jpteam@sbcglobal.net

To Go To Top

JEWS DON'T BELONG IN JUDEA?
Posted by Israel Zwick, February 6, 2007.

"Jews, go away! You don't belong here. Go live somewhere else." One would expect statements like this to come from the most virulent antisemites: the white supremacists, the Ku Klux Klan, or Hamas and Hizbollah. But no, these statements didn't come from the traditional Jew-haters. They came from other Jews -- from Jews living in Israel, in Europe, and in the United States. Their names are well known among the "progressive intellectuals." They include: Jacqueline Rose, Michael Neumann, Tony Judt, Noam Chomsky, Gideon Levy, Uri Avnery, and Amira Hass. Their comments were directed at those evil, sinister, vicious "Jewish religious fundamentalists" who had the chutzpah to want to live in the environs of Gaza, Hebron, and Jerusalem. Their crime was to establish residence in, or close to, ancestral Jewish lands, which are now occupied by a high density of Palestinian Arabs.

"Get out of there. You're just causing more friction. You're impeding the peace process. You're endangering our soldiers. You're causing an economic burden on all of us. You're violating the human rights of the Palestinian people." Those are the diatribes being thrown against small groups of Jewish families whose only offense was to live in lands replete with Jewish culture and history. They were young, ambitious, and idealistic. They wanted only to walk in the shadows of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, Solomon, and the other Biblical heroes who serve as their role models. They wanted to build a life on small specks of land where they could wake up in the morning, gaze with wonder at the clear blue sky, and proclaim proudly, "Yesterday we were tormented and persecuted. Today we are free in our own land. This land is now ours, to develop, to nourish, and to cherish forever."

Then came that dreaded week in August, 2005 -- The Disengagement, or more aptly, The Expulsion. Up until the last moment, supporters of the Jewish communities in Gaza begged and pleaded with the government, "Please don't do it. There's no reason to evict small communities of peaceful, productive Jewish families. You can still rescind your decision." But it was to no avail. The evictions were quickly concluded with the military precision that Israel is renowned for. The disengagement not only shattered the lives of 1700 innocent Jewish families, it shattered the belief that Jews had finally achieved the status of other ethnic groups, to be able to live anywhere in freedom and dignity, without persecution. But, that couldn't be. The Jews had to leave so that the local Arabs could develop their economy, free of the "oppressive Israeli occupation." Gaza was going to become the "Dubai of the Mediterranean." Well, we know what happened to those plans.

Now that the precedent has been set, our group of Jewish "progressives" wants to repeat the process. "Why should a handful of Jews live in Hebron among 120,000 hostile Arabs? It only causes more religious friction. Why do Jews need to live near the Temple Mount? It's a major center for Muslim worship. Why do we need East Jerusalem, it's mostly Arab? Why do Jews need to live in the Judean Hills? It will only cause friction with the poor Palestinian olive growers." One Jewish writer was even critical of the Jews who were buying Arab homes in the Old City for above-market prices. After all, it isn't fair to the Arabs who can't afford those prices. Ostensibly, it would be fairer if Jews wouldn't be permitted to buy homes in Jerusalem's Old City.

What if a small group of Black Hebrews from Dimona wanted to settle in Hebron, and were told that they didn't have a right to live there? Would Jimmy Carter, James Baker, and Condoleeza Rice say that they should be evicted? What if the Jewish settlers from Judea got fed up with being tormented in Israel and bought a small parcel of land in Montana. Then the local ranchers told them, "We don't want your kind here." Would the "progressive" Jewish Americans support the ranchers and tell the Jews to live elsewhere to avoid causing friction? Most likely, the same Jews who are denying the rights of Jews to live in Hebron would support their right to live in Montana. Something similar to that actually happened in Billings, Montana in 1993. A small group of white supremacists were harassing and vandalizing the homes of Jews who displayed their Chanuka menorahs. This time, it was the Christians who came to the rescue by placing photos of menorahs in their windows to support their Jewish neighbors. Eventually, the hoodlums got the message that racism and bigotry are not welcome in Billings, Montana. Why aren't Jews doing that? Perhaps all Jews should be wearing orange to support the Jews of Gaza, Hebron, and Judea. Then perhaps the Arabs will get the message that intolerance, hatred, and violence are not welcome anywhere in the Holy Land.

Today, there is a peaceful, isolated, orthodox Jewish community living near Glacier National Park where Jews have no historical connection. So why shouldn't Jews be allowed to live in Hebron, Bethlehem, or even Iran? Because it might irritate the local Arabs who don't want them there? Jews have at least as much right to live among Muslims, as Muslims have to live among Jews and Christians.

Before our small Jewish community tears itself apart with sinas chinom -- baseless hatred -- towards our own community, we should recall the inspiring lyrics to the theme from the film Exodus. The words were written by a Gentile, Pat Boone, and recorded by the immortal Richard Tucker.

Play Exodus -- Richard Tucker

This land is mine
G-d gave this land to me,
This brave and ancient land to me.
And when the morning sun
Reveals the hills and plain
Then I see a land where children can run free.

So take may hand
And walk this land with me
And walk this golden land with me.
Though I am just a man
When you are by my side,
With the help of G-d,
I know I can be strong.

To make this land our home,
If I must fight, I'll fight
To make this land our own.
Until I die, this land is mine.

Contact Israel Zwick at israel.zwick@earthlink.net or go to his website: cnpublications.net This article is archived at
http://cnpublications.net/2007/02/06/jews-go-away/#more-413

To Go To Top

FREE POLLARD BY PESACH! KEEP CALLING THE WHITE HOUSE AT 1-202-456-1414
Posted by Naomi Regan, February 6, 2007.

Friends,

Young Israel is spearheading a national campaign to call attention to the continued unfair incarceration of Jonathan Pollard, now serving his 22nd year for giving classified information to a friend and ally of the U.S. It is a sentence that goes way beyond those given for similar crimes, and is in direct breach of the plea bargain agreed upon.

Please read the information below and be part of the call-in campaign to free Jonathan by Passover, the holiday of freedom.

Naomi

Nationwide White House Call-In for Jonathan Pollard

White House Telephone Number 1-202-456-1414

A nationwide 60-day call-in to the White House campaign has begun and will continue through the Holiday of Pesach / Passover, the Holiday of Freedom, to call to the attention of President George W. Bush the continued unfair incarceration of Jonathan Pollard.

Organizers of the campaign remind the community that the White House counts and tallies all in-coming calls, so every single phone call makes a difference. The White House phone number is 1-202-456-1414. Callers are asked to call daily between the hours of 11-2 pm EST and to encourage their family members and friends to do the same. Callers are reminded to expect the lines to be busy and to keep calling until they get through.

The call-in drive is a nationwide initiative spearheaded by the National Council of Young Israel, with the participation of national and regional Jewish organizations, in conjunction with the Rabbi Leib Geliebter Memorial Foundation, and sponsored by Comprehensive Network, Inc. The senior Rabbinic leadership of Agudath Israel of America have recently reiterated their support and signed a declaration, once again adding their names to the list of Rabbis and community leaders calling upon all Jews to convey the message to President Bush that Mr. Pollard has served long enough and that the time has come to free him.

Jonathan Pollard is currently in his 22nd year of imprisonment, many of which were under very difficult conditions, for the crime of giving classified information to a friendly nation and ally, Israel. Others who committed similar or even more serious crimes have received more lenient sentences and treatment.

"The 22 year time period is significant," says Dr. Joseph Geliebter, Director of the Rabbi Leib Geliebter Memorial Foundation. "In Jewish Biblical tradition, 22 years was the period that Joseph was separated from his father, Jacob; the Talmud also indicates that during the 22nd year of an unresolved matter there is Heavenly intervention (Tractate Kesubos, 42b; see commentary of Rashi)."

In reference to Pollard's life sentence, Federal Judge Stephen Williams of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia declared ".the government's breach of the plea agreement was a fundamental miscarriage of justice."

Rudolph Giuliani, former Mayor of New York City and a former federal prosecutor, has said that "given comparative sentences, [Jonathan Pollard's] sentence -- this I happen to know because I have seen the documents -- is way beyond the sentences served by other people that have been convicted of the same offense."

"Against all reason," says Rabbi Pesach Lerner, D.Adm., Executive Vice-President of the National Council of Young Israel, and one who has championed the Pollard cause, "all regular channels for Mr. Pollard to have his sentence reconsidered have failed. Despite the intensive efforts of Jonathan's outstanding pro-bono attorneys, all legal avenues of appeal have been stymied by a justice system, unwilling or unable to correct itself. Only the President of the United States, by granting Mr. Pollard executive clemency, can prevent Mr. Pollard from languishing in prison for the rest of his life. We need to convey the message to President Bush that Mr. Pollard has served an unusually long sentence and the time has come to free him."

According to James Woolsey, who reviewed the entire classified Pollard file as former director of the CIA under President Clinton, Pollard has served a long sentence and he favors releasing him. Woolsey said ".now that he has served 20 years of a prison sentence, my view is that a 20 year sentence is enough and I think the close relationship between the United States and Israel as fellow democracies is also a consideration."

Former U.S. Ambassador Dennis Ross, who for more than 12 years played the leading role in shaping U.S. involvement in the Middle East peace process, under the administrations of President George Bush and President Bill Clinton, has also publicly announced that Pollard's sentence is excessive and that he should be released, adding that "Pollard has been in jail for so long that whatever facts he might know would have little if any effect on national security today."

Dennis DeConcini, U.S. Senator (Arizona, retired) and former chairman of the Senate Select Intelligence Committee (responsible for overseeing Federal intelligence activities) agrees that Pollard should be released, and has written, "I am convinced that Mr. Pollard has expressed the appropriate remorse and served adequate time".

In a letter to the President, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations wrote, "...while they represent a broad spectrum of views, the fifty-four member organizations unanimously authorized us to communicate this appeal that you grant clemency to Mr. Pollard...Mr. Pollard has paid for his crime."

It is now the time to call upon the President to release Mr. Pollard. Every phone call is important. Everyone is encouraged to start calling the White House at 1-202-456-1414 and to call daily.

For additional information about the Jonathan Pollard cause, or to print out the campaign ad, please visit www.jonathanpollard.org

For additional information about the nationwide White House call-in campaign, please contact Rabbi Pesach Lerner, Executive Vice-President, National Council of Young Israel, at 212-929-1525 or freepollard@youngisrael.org Rabbi Pesach Lerner

Executive Vice President
National Council of Young Israel
111 John Street Suite 450
New York, NY 10038
212-929-1525 ext 115
Fax 212-727-9526
Cell 917-209-8204

[Editor's Note: William Bletsch has provided us with a chronology and facts you can use in talking to your friends and family. Click here.

When you call the White House, your call counts -- they tally all calls. The more often you call, the better our chances for freeing Jonathan.]

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.

To Go To Top

IS THE JEWISH AGENCY CARRYING OUT ITS MISSION?
Posted by Yrachmiel Elias, February 6, 2007.

From: Freedom@Netzahyisrael.org on behalf of Professor Ya'akov Peretz Golbert, Yrachmiel ben Menachem Mendel Elias, Shmuel Ha'kevii, and the combined informational services of: Netzah Yisrael Lo Yeshaqer, The New Jewish Agency, Radio Free Israel, The Jewish Overground: Http://netzahyisrael.org
http://www.thenewjewishagency.org
http://www.radiofreeisrael.com

TO THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL AT HOME AND IN EXILE:

We have been told, all our lives, that the JEWISH AGENCY FOR ISRAEL exists for the redemption of the eternal lands of the People of Israel and the reestablishment of the People of Israel in our eternal Promised Land. The JEWISH AGENCY FOR ISRAEL, on the Home page of its web site, states as its own fundamental mission, "aliyah, education and Israel." More specifically,

Aliyah: Bringing a substantial number of Jews to live in Israel and ensure their successful integration.

Jewish-Zionist Education: Connecting the next generation with Israel and Jewish peoplehood as a core part of Jewish identity.

Partnerships with Israel: Involving world Jewry with Israelis in shaping the future character of Israeli society.
http://www.jewishagency.org/JewishAgency/English/Home/About/Our+Mission

A group of Jews, returnees to the Land of our people, have perceived that the JEWISH AGENCY FOR ISRAEL has ceased to do what it was created to do and has even begun to undo it in ways that are inimical to the People of Israel, whom it was founded to serve. To name only a few:

Aliyah: The Law of Return, pursuant to which any Jew in the world has a right to come home to Eretz Yisrael and become a citizen, was amended to define as a "Jew" any person who has one Jewish grandparent. In case it were not enough that Israel has adopted, in essence, Hitler's definition of "Jew" (yimah shemo vezikhrono), it appears that those with so happenstance a tie to the Jewish people are the ones being recruited in the former Soviet Union and little effort is made to even verify that the documents showing the one Jewish grandparent are real and not forged. It seems equally little effort is made to recruit the Jews of Georgia, the Caucasus and Central Asia. We strongly suspect that the reason is that the overwhelming majority of those Jews are Edot Mizrah (Oriental Jews) and the overwhelming majority are Orthodox. The JEWISH AGENCY FOR ISRAEL seems to think that educated, cultured non-Jews who hate Judaism and the Jewish people are the ideal Israelis. Estimates are that up to two thirds of those brought from the former Soviet Union in the last ten years are not halakhically Jews and most of them have no connection to Judaism or the fate of the Jewish people. Many of them are Christians, anti-Semitism is rife among them and cells of neo-Nazis have been found among them, even in the IDF.

None of this has given the slightest pause to the JEWISH AGENCY FOR ISRAEL. On the contrary, the JEWISH AGENCY FOR ISRAEL has proudly linked on the home page of its website (http://www.jewishagency.org/JewishAgency/English/Home/) an interview with its Chairman, Zeev Bielsky, in Haaretz in which Bielsky advocates retaining the Law of Return, and opposing attempts to initiate a public discussion on restricting efforts to bring non-Jewish immigrants to Israel.

Jewish Settlement of the Land of Israel: The Jewish National Fund passed dozens of buildings to the Jewish Agency a few years ago, and because the Jewish Agency failed to pay taxes to the regional councils and to the municipalities, it owed millions of Shekels to the regional councils & to the municipalities. In order to pay the debts the Jewish Agency offered properties that the JNF had passed to them.

Parallel to this, about 3-4 years ago, the Saudi Arabian government was looking to purchase failed kibbutzim and the court decided that the kibbutzim could not sell to them, not because Saudi Arabia is an state officially at war with Israel, but because their lands belong to the JNF and those lands are available to Jews only.

Since then, the Supreme Court has rendered a decision that the Israel Lands Authority, which administers lands belonging to the JNF, cannot sell or rent lands to Jews only even though the lands belong to the JNF. The ILA, said the Supreme Court, is a state agency and cannot discriminate between citizens. The response of the JNF should have been to administer its own lands as the WAKF does, as every church does. Instead, its response was to post on its web site a call to support its protest against the decision. We wrote to the JNF suggesting that the relevant response would be to remove its lands from ILA administration. No answer. Even the call to join the protest has also been removed from the JNF web site. JNF lands will be sold to Arabs and the JNF will do nothing to prevent it.

If a government agency cannot discriminate between citizens in the distribution of non-governmental lands which it administers, it is doubly clear that the district councils and municipalities cannot discriminate between citizens in the distribution of municipal lands, which are state lands. Therefore, some or all of the lands which were formerly JNF lands, which were transferred to the JEWISH AGENCY FOR ISRAEL and surrendered to the regional councils and the municipalities in payment of debt which the JEWISH AGENCY FOR ISRAEL had allowed to accrue on its properties through neglect, will be sold to Arabs. Those lands were purchased with Jewish money at exorbitant rates for the purpose of establishing Jews on them and reestablishing and rebuilding the Jewish national home. Those lands have been lost to the Jews because of the neglect and indifference of the JEWISH AGENCY FOR ISRAEL.

Since that decision, Saudi Arabia has opened an interest section in Tel Aviv.

Distribution of money of the JEWISH AGENCY FOR ISRAEL to Arabs: The Jewish Agency for Israel is spending money raised from Jewish sources to develop the Arab sector, thus strengthening the Arab presence in the Land of Israel, and to promote binationalism rather than Israel as a Jewish state. The JEWISH AGENCY FOR ISRAEL is doing this with funds from sources that we view as unfriendly toward Jewish nationalism and Jewish sovereignty, such as the European Union, and in cooperation with groups, such as the Abraham Fund, which have as their goal the transformation of the Jewish national home to a state of its citizens which has a Jewish majority for the time being.

None of this is on the web site of the JEWISH AGENCY FOR ISRAEL, of course, not even with the spin that "coexistence" is in the interest of the Jewish people in Israel and therefore strengthens the hold of the Jewish people on the land. The Abraham Fund, however, states quite openly that the Abraham Fund works to create "what was once called coexistence, but we call equality, cooperation or a shared society," a state of its citizens which has a Jewish majority for the time being. The Abraham Fund does not look to the openly stated genocidal intentions of Arab leadership toward the Jews.

Education: Just one example of the idea of the JEWISH AGENCY FOR ISRAEL to "[connect] the next generation with Israel and Jewish peoplehood as a core part of Jewish identity", is the following, from the Jerusalem Post for January 11, 2007
(www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1167467705652&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull)

Bielski will visit the Language as a Cultural Bridge project, which seeks to "institutionalize spoken Arabic and Arab culture as a required subject in Jewish elementary schools," Popper told the Post. "Until today, [Jewish children] either study classical Arabic, which doesn't help them to speak with local Arabs, or don't learn Arabic at all," she said.

Another program Bielski will see first-hand is the Mirkam Encounters in the Galilee project, which was started in the wake of the summer's war with Hizbullah. Ten Jewish elementary schools and 10 Arab elementary schools in the mixed towns of Acre, Haifa and Ma'alot-Tarshiha, hold cultural and educational events together. The project is meant "to break the stereotypes we saw during the war," Popper said.

There are valid reasons why Israeli Jews should know the Arabic language and be familiar with Arabic culture. Those reasons, however, have nothing to do with "connecting the next generation with Israel and Jewish peoplehood as a core part of Jewish identity." Those reasons bear on the policy of government and are a legitimate subject of policy making. The JEWISH AGENCY FOR ISRAEL is not the government, however, and its role is not concerned with the Arab sector. The JEWISH AGENCY FOR ISRAEL was created for the Jews and its legitimate function is to be there for the Jews.

Furthermore, as state policy, those are goals and policies which one can agree with or disagree with and are the proper subject of the give and take of the political process. It is not legitimate for the JEWISH AGENCY FOR ISRAEL to use its wealth and reach to implement them on its own by stealth, by misleading solicitation of donations.

It is because we perceive that the JEWISH AGENCY FOR ISRAEL is not doing what it was founded to do and is, in fact, undoing it, that we have founded the NEW JEWISH AGENCY to pick up the flag and do what the JEWISH AGENCY FOR ISRAEL is supposed to do.

The JEWISH AGENCY FOR ISRAEL has served us with letters of demand that we cease and desist in the use of the name, claiming the exclusive right to the words "Jewish agency" and claiming that we are interfering with their performance of their function of bringing and settling Jews in Israel and, furthermore, that we are misleading people who think they are donating to the JEWISH AGENCY FOR ISRAEL into donating to THE NEW JEWISH AGENCY instead.

Curiously, it is the JEWISH AGENCY FOR ISRAEL that accuses us of the NEW JEWISH AGENCY of misleading and defrauding donors when we are doing nothing of the sort and it is apparent on the facts that that is precisely what they are doing.

We have refused to comply. The JEWISH AGENCY FOR ISRAEL threatens us with legal action and threatens one of the directors of The New Jewish Agency, Advocate Ya'akov Golbert, with disciplinary action before the Israel Bar for unspecified ethical infractions in the matter.

We ask you, the Jewish people, to help us defray what are bound to be crushing legal expenses in defense of our right to promote and assist in the aliyah of actual Jews and the redemption of Eretz Yisrael for the people of Israel and to do so under the name "THE NEW JEWISH AGENCY" for that is truly what we are. We seek to pick up the flag that the JEWISH AGENCY FOR ISRAEL has thrown to the ground. The JEWISH AGENCY FOR ISRAEL is an enormously wealthy institution and its directors will have no compunction whatever about using the legal system as an instrument of repression.

Please give generously. This is to rescue Eretz Yisrael. Donations can be made conveniently at http://www.thenewjewishagency.org. We have applied for exemption and we hope that eventually all donations will be deductible retroactively but they are not deductible at this time. Of course, we will notify all donors.

Contact Yrachmiel Elias at yrachi@zahav.net.il

To Go To Top

ISRAEL PREPARES NUCLEAR ATTACK
Posted by Richard Shulman, February 6, 2007.

A "MODERATE'S" IMMODERATE DEMAND

The Oslo accords signed by the PLO prohibited terrorism. This means that, whatever one would say about past terrorism and terrorists captured in the past, terrorists captured in the future would be deemed criminals not subject to release as further peace accords are signed.

Nevertheless, P.A. President Abbas demands that Israel release Arab terrorists captured since Oslo was signed. A terrorist could be murdering Israelis as he is meeting with the Prime Minister of Israel, but Abbas would demand the release of that terrorist. The demand seeks to legitimize terrorism, vitiate the peace accords, and entrench extremism. It means that to the Arabs, no agreement against terrorism is binding!

Against logic, the US and Israeli Establishment depict Abbas as a moderate (IMRA, 1/4/07), even as he tries to free extremists.

FATAH-HAMAS FIGHTING NOW IN JUDEA-SAMARIA, TOO

First they acquired more arms. Now they are fighting each other (IMRA, 1/6).

It was anticipated. So much for Arab autonomy!

BAHRAIN SNUBS ISRAEL

Bahrain offers citizenship to foreign athletes in the hope that they will earn prizes and prestige for Bahrain. One of those naturalized citizens, from Kenya, ran a race in Israel. Bahrain revoked his Bahraini citizenship, for doing so (IMRA, 1/6).

Most Arab states still do not recognize Israel.

ISRAEL PREPARING NUCLEAR ATTACK ON IRAN?

A British newspaper reported that Israel was preparing to attack Iran's nuclear facilities with small nuclear weapons. Emanuel Winston doubts it. He thinks that Israel's leadership is too cowardly to do so. Neither does he trust Britain. He thinks the story was planted by US masters of disinformation to arouse Iran to attack Israel, after which, the US could attack Iran without being blamed as much as Israel.

The danger, here, is that Iran may already have purchased nuclear bombs or materials from the black market or from Russia or Pakistan (Winston Mideast Analysis, 1/7).

Suppose the newspaper story were correct. By warning Iran, it would compromise the mission and enable Iran to bomb foreign cities, including American ones, and kill untold numbers of innocent people. Some things are better left unreported.

It took time for the West to realize that totalitarian regimes spread disinformation. Now some of us find that so do democratic regimes. The result is that the American people do not trust their own government. What a disadvantage that gives the West against out-and-out enemies such as the jihadists!

IDF REDUCED CASUALTIES

Recently, the IDF needed many troops to quell terrorism in the eastern P.A. (Judea-Samaria), and suffered some casualties. Although now there are more threats of terrorism, the IDF needs just a few troops to arrest terrorists, and suffers few casualties.

What made the difference? Before, there was a truce during which Israeli troops stayed out of P.A. cities and did not pluck activists out. The terrorists were enabled to build up their forces. When the Arabs violated the truce so unbearably that the Israeli leaders no longer could follow US orders to allow it, Israel sent troops back in. Naturally, they encountered more resistance (IMRA, 1/8) from the beefed up enemy forces.

Truces are dangerous. They are a trap for Israel. Israel must learn to disregard US orders designed to benefit the Arabs and harm Israel. None of the measures proposed by the US bring peace. They may be advocated in the name of peace or humanitarianism, but bring war. Do you think the State Dept. is unaware of this?

INSURGENTS BROADCASTING FROM EGYPT

A company answerable to the Egyptian government is broadcasting scenes of GIs being ambushed and assassinated in Iraq. The US has asked the government to prevent this. The government says the anti-American propaganda is just business.

The US stance seems to contradict its drive for freedom of the press. Egypt's tolerance for terrorist broadcasting seems to contradict its own imprisonment of terrorists (IMRA, 1/7).

I disagree. The purpose of the broadcasts is to show infidels' blood for the bloodthirsty Muslims to exult over, to see that the US is not invincible, and to join in the war. When the press is impressed into a war effort, the victims of that war have a right to demand that this press be repressed. Military censorship of war propaganda is common sense.

Egypt, like S. Arabia, promotes terrorism abroad but tries to stop it domestically.

FOREIGN AID TO THE P.A.

The P.A. gets the most subsidy from the US, but hates the US most! From 1994 to 2004, the US gave the P.A. $1.3 billion. The EU donated $1.1 billion. Japan gave $530 million. The US also donated the most to UNRWA, whose exclusive clients are the Palestinian Arabs. The subsidy works out to several times as much per capita as the Marshall Plan aid to Western Europeans. Europe used the aid to rebuild its economies.

With its own aid, the P.A. could have developed prosperity. Instead, it spent most on maintaining its people in a refugee status, on arms, and on corruption. Now its society is disintegrating. Donors should not have been free with their taxpayers' money without at least insisting that first the P.A. stop its war and terrorism (IMRA, 1/8 from Maariv). Aren't there needy countries that would use subsidy for peaceful development, instead? Note, the Arab states give little economic aid to the P.A., just jihad aid.

Richard Shulman is a veteran defender of Israel on several web-based forums. His comments and analyses appear often on Think-Israel. He provides cool information and right-on-target overviews. He distributes his essays by email. To subscribe, write him at richardshulman5@verizon.net

To Go To Top

ISRAEL SETS AN EXAMPLE OF FREEDOM AND TOLERANCE
Posted by Avodah, February 6, 2007.

This was written by Reda Mansour, who is Israeli consul general for the U.S. Southeast. It appeared in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

My grandfather, who lived to be more than 100 years old, used to say, "I've seen them all and there are none like the Jews." When Israel was established in 1948, for the first time, the homes in our small Druze town had electricity and running water and every child received a quality, free education. For the first time in his life, my grandfather, a retired factory worker, received a pension and had access to quality health care. He said that a society could be judged by the way it treats the elderly, sick and unemployed, and that Israel had proved itself both strong and compassionate.

That is the untold story of Israel, a nation that measures its strength not by its wealth or military prowess but by the vibrance of its civil society, where there are now more than 40,000 independent civic associations.

Arab-Israelis have a standard of living higher than any of their brethren living in the region. They are full citizens who can vote and be elected to public office. They have the right to worship, assemble and speak freely without fear of intimidation or oppression. The freest Arabs in the Middle East reside in the Jewish state of Israel. In my hometown, I have seen the fulfillment of the Israeli dream: young professionals of all faiths who have established successful careers in law, medicine, business and diplomacy. None of us would have had that opportunity were it not for the free and open society in which we live.

Today, our freedom is threatened by the vile ideology of hate spewed by Hamas, Hizbullah and other similar organizations. With the support of their backers in Tehran and Damascus, these extremists rain rockets down upon Israeli villages and send suicide bombers into our buses and markets.

The defense against this onslaught requires military action, but the solution to the complex issues that have brought us to this point is found in the strong bond that has developed between Arabs and Jews in Israel. If we peacefully co-exist in Haifa and Ussifiya, why not in Gaza, Beirut or the rest of the region? Today, we look to our borders wondering when our neighbors will embrace the dream of peace rather than the nightmare of war.

Contact Avodah by email at avodah15@aol.com

To Go To Top

BENEATH THE STREETS OF JERUSALEM
Posted by Avodah, February 6, 2007.

This is from yesterday's Ynet news (www.ynetnews.com).

[Editor's note: Go to http://www.har-habayt.org to see pictures of how the Arabs are systematically destroying Jewish artifacts from the Temple Mount.]

Second Temple era street discovered in City of David

Excavations conducted in site reveal 200 foot long commercial street; tools and remnants of food supplies used by the rebels described in Josephus Flavius' writing found beneath it David Hacohen

Excavations conducted recently in the City of David revealed a main commercial street dating back to King Herod's time (around 74 B.C.E.).

The street apparently served as a major route for ancient pilgrims on their way to the Temple.

Underneath the terraced street, researchers exposed sewage channels that are described in the writings of Roman Jewish historian Josephus Flavius. These channels were used by the city's residents and the last remaining rebels as a hiding place from the Roman army following the conquest of the city and the burning of the Temple.

"Fifth Avenue" of ancient Jerusalem (Photo: Vladimir Neyhin)

The section revealed is located at the low-end of the street, next to Pool of Shiloach, and was supposedly used to connect the water pool with the street. Archeologists estimate the street's length at close to 200 feet.

The excavation is still in its early stages, and the site will be open to visitors once the work in the area is completed in approximately three years.

The excavation is a joint project of the City of David Foundation, Israel's Tourism Ministry, the Municipality of Jerusalem and Israel Antiquities Authority.

Contact Avodah by email at avodah15@aol.com

To Go To Top

SOON TO BE AVAILABLE IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD -- MISSILES FROM GAZA AND THE WEST BANK
Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, February 6, 2007.

Those who argued and fought against the betrayal of the Jews in Gaza and the Shomron said that not only would Gaza become a safe area for missile attacks against Jews in Israel but that it was only a matter of time before Judea would also become a launching area for missiles as well.

The Gaza missiles are already hitting the Ashkelon electricity generation complex and causing damage. The damage is not great due to the limited range of the missiles and the payload they can carry. The same type of missiles, however, launched from closer range will be able to completely destroy the complex and knock out about a third or so of Israelis electrical capacity. This would not be a temporary blackout but a permanent loss that would cripple our economy and cause devastation to civilian and military morale. The range would also put the port of Ashdod and its chemical plants in danger as well. Then of course there is the minor problem of about 90% of Israel's population and military bases falling within the radius of these easily and cheaply made missiles.

This is called "Fatah Backs Rocket Building in Judea, Samaria." It is from today's Arutz Sheva -- (www.IsraelNationalNews.com)
(http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=121022).

(IsraelNN.com) The Fatah movement, headed by Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, is continuing to develop technology to fire rockets on Israeli cities from Judea and Samaria, Mideast Newsline reported.

"Iran has been financing the development of rockets, but the effort has been slower than expected," a security source said. Fatah operatives are being assisted by the Islamic Jihad, financed by Iran, and are consulting with Gaza-based terrorists on how to develop the weapons.

Last week, Israelis security agents arrested a Fatah terrorist who was supervising rocket production in Tulkarm, located several miles east of Netanya.

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.

To Go To Top

DISPROVING THE LAW OF DISPLACEMENT
Posted by Daryl Temkin, February 6, 2007.

Yes, there was a time when bathtubs were used for brewing moonshine, and there is a time of the year that some Jewish families use their bathtub for preparing Passover dishes, but, in general, a bathtub serves its usual bathing purpose. However, on occasion great creative innovations, ingenious ideas, and startling breakthroughs occur in the mundane moments while bathing, showering, or shaving. So it was a number of centuries ago when a man stepped into his water filled bathtub and recognized that the more he immersed, the more the water level would rise and could eventually overflow.

In that one bathing experience, although untold numbers of people had experienced this before, he recognized a fundamental law of physics -- it is now called the law of displacement. This law is a basic principle of physics that two solid objects cannot physically occupy the same space at the same time. Children and some adults often attempt to disprove this law of physics. This happens when a child works so hard to bang or jam a round peg into a square hole only to finally discover that it just won't work. In the adult world, this experiment is inadvertently conducted by reshaping an automobile fender upon meeting an uncooperative immovable object.

The laws of physics provide general aspects of information which allow one to predict outcomes, reactions, and consequences to intentional actions.

Imagine a university science student who mixes substances he knows are volatile by their physical nature and produced an explosive reaction. This student would be expelled for irresponsibly causing damage to the school's science laboratory and endangering the other students.

If the science student tried to claim that he decided that the volatile elements should be able to learn to mix and cohabit peacefully, the student would be considered "mentally challenged" or rather deranged. The science student would be further discredited if he tried to argue that just because the substances are characteristically explosive doesn't mean that when mixed that they would respond according to their inherent characteristics.

Similarly, imagine a zookeeper inspired by the words in the Book of Isaiah which speaks of a time when the lion and lamb will be able to dwell together in peace. He decides that he could achieve this outcome. This inspired zookeeper may have spent weeks, months, and even years contemplating and dreaming that this condition could be achieved by just working things out with the lion. In the mind of the zookeeper, it was evident that a trusting and good intentioned heart to heart talk with the lion, along with the offer of some major rewards for not devouring the lamb, is all that it would take for the two animals to live side by side in peaceful harmony. Unless the zoo is not concerned with loss of its flock of lambs, the zookeeper would have to be transferred to another position that didn't jeopardize animals.

Not long ago, two world famous Las Vegas performers thrilled and awed their audiences with their ability to defy the beastly killer instinct of their pet lions. After years of spellbinding magical performances, the world was stunned when the lion suddenly clawed, bit and went for the kill of its trainer. The brutality of the event was a tragedy but the animal is a lion and why should anyone expect that a lion, no matter how extensively trained and behavior-modified, would not at some moment return to its instinctive nature? In reality, every performance wherein the animal didn't behave according to its instincts was a miracle worthy of attracting a full house of ticket buyers. After many performances, people came to trust the miracle and to forget about the real characteristics of the animal.

Comparing people to animals is fervently acceptable in the legal category of "animal rights" and animal protection. But comparing human and animal personality may be seen as outlandish, bigoted, and hate-filled to many of the same people who may fanatically fight for every possible dimension of animal protection.

The point of this discussion is not to offend people's understanding of human and animal characteristics, nor is it to name-call certain humans with animalistic words. But it is only to recognize that there are truths that we uphold and take as obvious realities and there are other truths which are ignored and viewed blindly, in spite of their glaring reality.

The recent State of the Union speech by President George Bush focused on issues of Iraq and Iran. Then there was the sentence addressed to the Israeli-Arab conflict which stated the goal, "the establishment of a democratic Palestinian state living side-by-side with Israel in peace and security."

Upon hearing those words, the vision emerges of the child trying to force the round peg into the square hole, the zookeeper with good intentions placing the lion and the lamb together, the science student's explosion, and the view of the water splashing over the sides of the bathtub.

Attempting to disprove basic laws of physics rarely proves successful. Expecting two enemy states to suddenly harmoniously exist side by side in the same area, when the Arab state refuses to recognize the existence of the Jewish state, yet alone daily affirms its religious dictums to destroy the Jewish state, is not only a serious problem contradicting displacement theory but is also no different than the exploding science laboratory fiasco where the mixture of elements are a known guaranteed disaster.

Forcing a lion and a lamb to lie down together is not a problem for the lion, but it is a big problem for the lamb. No matter how many promises of peaceful behavior the lion should claim to commit, upon its first violation, the world will immediately excuse the lion for acting like a lion. All that the lamb can do is wait to be a victim, and the world will say, "Why should the lion be expected to be so perfect?"

Forcing the creation of a Palestinian state upon Israel is a serious problem which not only is asking a lamb to lay down next to a lion, but under the current conditions, it is tantamount to the attempt to disprove laws of nature, physics, and the historic record of human relations.

When bath water rises and threatens to spill over, it's true that many people will not notice that there is a lesson to be learned or a law of physics to be discovered. But for those who can see that the law of displacement has a meaning much deeper than just spilt water, the world suddenly looks much different and deserves a response which recognizes the physical realities that will not disappear just because someone has a fantasy dream and says it can be done.

Daryl Temkin, Ph.D. is the director of the Israel Education Institute which is devoted to teaching history and contemporary issues of Israel to Jews and Non-Jews. Contact him at DarylTemkin@Israel-Institute.com

To Go To Top

A GLOBAL JIHADI UMBRELLA FOR STRATEGY AND IDEOLOGY: THE COVENANT OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL OF JIHAD GROUPS
Posted by Reuven Erlich, February 5, 2007.

This was written by Reuvan Paz, Director and Editor of the Project for the Research of Islamist Movements (PRISM); Volume 5 (2007), Number 1 (January 2007).

Introduction

  • On January 14, 2007, one of the leading Jihadi-Salafi scholars, the Kuwaiti Sheikh Hamed bin Abdallah al-Ali, published a new and interesting document on his website t titled "The Covenant of the Supreme Council of Jihad Groups (Mithaq al-Majles al-A'la li-Fasael al-Jihad).[1] The document was immediately circulated in Jihadi forums and as expected received enthusiastic support. The document is the first of its kind since Osama bin Laden and his colleagues issued the declaration of the founding of the World Islamist Front against the Crusaders and the Jews in February 1998. That declaration had symbolized the formation of the organizational framework that had in fact formed Al-Qaeda or Qa'idat al-Jihad as a front. Although, Al-Qaeda has emerged in several forms ever since, it is perhaps best understood as a front organization.

  • Al-Qaeda has been compelled to mutate into an umbrella front for various local Jihadi-Salafi groups due to a number of developments. These include the fall of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan in December 2001, the U.S. occupation of Iraq in March-May 2003, and the subsequent emergence of the Sunni Jihadi insurgency there. Although the local Jihadi-Salafi groups have managed to carry out many terrorist attacks, all over the world, acting under a variety of local and global targets, they have been directed according to a rather unified strategy. That strategy has been directed by several elements:-

    • First, by the old 'core' leadership of Al-Qaeda, which directed the group through a variety of both known (e.g. the Internet and satellite communications) and unknown means (probably face-to-face meetings and messengers) means;

    • Second, by independent tactics and strategies that evolved in accordance with local conditions. Examples here include the Tawhid wal-Jihad, later renamed to Al-Qaeda in Iraq, of Zarqawi, the Algerian GSPC, the Arab battalion in Chechnya, groups in Indonesia, local independent groups in Europe, or Jihadi groups in Sinai/Egypt, Jordan, or Saudi Arabia.

    • Third, by attempts to coordinate and achieve a maximum of unity of strategy and ideology by the younger generation of Jihadi-Salafi clerics and scholars through the Internet. Dominant among these scholars were Saudis, as well as other Arab clerics who graduated from Saudi Islamic universities during the 1990s. In addition to the basic neo-Wahhabi Salafi doctrines they absorbed in Saudi Arabia, this class of scholars was influenced by the emergence of the Saudi reformist movement, which was partly a reaction to the U.S. presence in Arabia following the first Gulf war in 1991.

  • Since the formation of the front of Al-Qaeda, no attempts were made to establish any global organizational tools to unite the efforts under a certain command, but only attempts to found a unity of lines of thought. In two of their speeches, Osama Bin Laden (in 2003) and Ayman al-Zawahiri (in 2004) raised the idea of an Islamic Council for the decision-makers for the community in the traditional Islamic form -- Majlis al-Hall wal-'Aqd. Such a council has not been established yet, and it is doubtful whether it can be founded in the near future, given the present conditions of Al-Qaeda and its leadership. That said, local efforts have been made in Iraq. This included Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi and his Tawhid wal-Jihad's declaration of loyalty to Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda in 2004; the formation of Al-Qaeda in Iraq (aka Al-Qaeda in the Land of the Two Rivers) as a front organization of six local groups, the same year; public speeches by Ayman al-Zawahiri and other Jihadi scholars to influence and even moderate the policy of Zarqawi, until his killing in June 2006; and the foundation of the Islamic State in Iraq in September 2006. That state was designed to be dominated by Al-Qaeda, but the group was to be but one of several elements composing the state, which was to be ruled by Abu Omar al-Baghdadi al-Hashemi. In 2006, Several other groups declared their loyalty to Al-Qaeda -- the Algerian GSPC, part of the Egyptian Gama'at Islamiyyah, and unofficially, the Somalian Islamic Courts. The main motive of this strategy has been the principle of creating unity in the Muslim world. Hence, wherever and whenever an attack was taking place against Muslim lands and Muslims, or a conflict between Muslims and non-Muslims, all the Muslims should wage a Jihad.

  • 2006 has also witnessed a growing focus on the anti-Shi'a strategy, not only in the context of the Sunni Jihadi insurgency in Iraq. The victorious image of the Lebanese Hizballah in the war with Israel; the growing Iranian involvement in the Palestinian arena and with Hamas; and the way in which Saddam Hussein was executed, have all added to the growing anti-Shi'a sentiment as an integral and significant part of the global Jihad strategy.

Hamed al-Ali and his Call for the Foundation of a Global Jihadi Council

  • In 2005-2006, the Kuwaiti Sheikh Hamed al-Ali became the leading Jihadi-Salafi cleric of the younger generation of Jihadi scholars and Muftis. His growing prominence and popularity was aided by the fact that most of his colleagues were either killed or arrested, while several others changed their mind under heavy pressures by the Saudi government. As a result, few clerics today have a similar impact on the supporters of global Jihadi-Salafiyyah. Sheikh al-Ali also benefits from living in Kuwait, where he enjoys a relatively high degree of freedom of speech and activity, and complete freedom to use the Internet for his purposes. In 2006, he also became the most fruitful Jihadi scholar in the Arab world, as his articles and Fatwas were read and circulated immediately in all the Jihadi forums. While his organizational links to Al-Qaeda are unknown, his effect on the supporters of the Jihadi global front is immense. As a result, his writings became a leading torch for consolidating a globally accepted Jihadi doctrine.

  • The document he published on January 14, 2006, should be viewed as an attempt to consolidate a united strategy for global Jihad in the near future. Whether it is a result of a personal initiative, or in accordance with leading operatives such as Ayman Zawahiri or the commanders of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, his call should be viewed as a strategic document. It should be noted, however, that Al-Ali presents his document as if there had already been a meeting of Jihadi scholars and the document is the result of that meeting, which "discussed the conditions of the Islamic nation and the conspiracy against it by two enemies."

  • Whether his "Covenant of the Supreme Council of Jihad Groups," is a call to really form such a council, or is merely an attempt to sketch the outlines of a united strategy, what is clear is that the document is an official stamp marking the opening the anti-Iranian and anti-Shi'a front alongside the traditional anti-"Crusader-Jewish" one, which is assisted by Arab governments. Al-Ali's document is an attempt to draw the future strategy of fighting simultaneously in two fronts. What began in Iraq as the major strategy of Zarqawi and his Tawhid wal-Jihad followers has been approved by Al-Qaeda after his death and is now carried on by the new leadership of the Jihadi insurgency. With this document, that strategy obtains the clerical approval through Hamed al-Ali.

  • In order to focus on the innovative element in this strategy, Al-Ali places the Iranian-Shi'i threat as the first of the two: "The Safawi enemy that searches for the destruction of the Islamic civilization and slaughtering the Muslims under false religious banners." The second is naturally the Zionist-Crusader campaign. These two anti-Islamic campaigns receive the same priority and the nature of a personal obligation (Fardh 'Ayn), where each Muslim should participate in Jihad in the defense of the Muslims.

  • Another significant and new element in the document is the call for unity, albeit within a framework of organizational pluralism of the various Jihadi groups. Unity is achieved by concentrating the efforts in the framework of a united strategy, although not necessarily through a unity of the organizations. Moreover, there is a call for tolerance towards the other Islamist groups, and against any extreme excommunication of the other Muslims (Al-Ghuluw fi al-Takfir). The document also rejects the fighting against groups or individuals that do not obey a certain Jihadi group or vow its leadership. "We should understand that the nation, as well as it needs the Jihad, it also needs the wisdom of all its components and groups. The nation needs to tolerate legitimate disputes."

  • The Covenant is accompanied by a supplement, which the author opens by stating that there are only three projects in the Middle East: The Safawi-Iranian, the Zionist-Crusader, and the Islamic Jihad. Once again Al-Ali mentions the Iranian project first. The supplement focuses on the Jihad against the Western conspiracy, but, it also predicts a conflict over the dominance of the Middle East between the two enemies, which will lead to "a chaos in the region for some period, which will be in favor of the Jihad project that will expand all over the Muslim world like fire in the wood." Al-Ali continues, saying that "The most important mission of the Jihadi project today is to show long breathing in face of the enemy and stick to our path under its banner until victory. And if not now, we shall deliver our achievements to the next generations till the ultimate victory."

  • The Jihadi response to the Western campaign should include four elements: Jihad by violence, which is taking currently place; economic independence; contradicting the Western mindset by promoting the Islamist one; and the destruction of the "Zionist entity." "There is no importance at all in the speed of achieving the goals. The most important is the comprehension of the plan and in keeping the spirit of challenge."

Conclusion

  • The importance of Hamed al-Ali's document lies mainly in its attempt to draw the outlines of a unified Jihadi strategy -- one that pays no attention to the organizational structure of the various groups, nor to organizational unity. The strategy is called for in the face of a dual enemy campaign: an Iranian-Shi'i and a Western one. The emphasis on the organizational pluralism of the Jihadi project is an innovation, and is probably the result of the inability to unite all the Jihadi insurgent groups in Iraq. It is also likely emanates from the recognition that different conditions govern the realities in various parts of the Muslim world.

  • On one hand, this new approach may seem as a failure on the part of Al-Qaeda to establish a single unified Jihadi group, despite the declaration of an "Iraqi Islamist State" in the Sunni area of Baghdad and around it. The recognition of this legitimate pluralism is also reflected in the system of information, propaganda, and indoctrination campaign that the various Jihadi groups are waging in the Internet. In 2006, it seemed that a truce of sorts has developed between the various groups, and that a better cooperation in this field has replaced previous infighting. It also seems that unlike in the past, the different information systems -- Global Islamic Media Front (GIMF), Al-Sahab, Al-Furqan, Al-Fajr, Al-Boraq, and some others -- currently act in harmony with one another. Whether this is the result of deliberate planning or a compromise, reality shows that there is someone who attempts to include it into a strategy, in order to create some order in the Jihadi project.

  • In some way, Hamed al-Ali completes some of the policy guidelines of policy aired by Ayman al-Zawahiri in his audio or video tapes. It is unclear to which extent there exists actual contact between the two of them, but there are strong signs that global Jihad manages to put in place a procedure whereby new thinking is constantly produced, lessons are being learned, and new adaptations to policy or strategy are outlined. Al-Ali's clear opposition of to radical refutation of other Sunni Muslims resembles the writings of Zawahiri and the criticism of Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi of Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi in 2005. These thinkers do not appear to arrive at their conclusions as a result of mutual consultations or a hierarchy of institutions, but mainly by drawing a common logical strategy -- logical from their point of view, at least.

  • The notion of the Shi'i enemy as equal to the "Crusader-Jewish" one must also be noted, even though it is not a new development, but a result of the events in Iraq and the prospects of what Jihadi Salafis interpret as a withdrawal of the United States from Iraq in the near future. The conflict with Iran and the Shi'a has already been predicted in early 2003, in the writings of the late Sheikhs, the Saudi Yousef al-Uyeri and the Jordanian Abu Omar Seyf, two of the leading architects of the Jihadi strategy in Iraq. The enmity towards Iran and the Shi'a has only been demonized during the past three years. Hamed al-Ali came now and provided it with the stamp of the official strategy of global Jihad. Whether by his own initiative or in accordance with Al-Qaeda, by doing so he closes the door to any possible compromise with Iran or the Shi'i community in Iraq, unless future conditions will force them to do so.

  • There still remains the question of how Al-Qaeda or global Jihad in general is directed. We do not know the exact process of decision-making in Al-Qaeda, or if the call by Bin Laden to establish an "executive council" was responded. The discourse of Al-Ali's document hints to the possible existence of some form of this council.

[1] See on-line at:
www.h-alali.net/m_open.php?id=991da3ae-f492-1029-a701-0010dc91cf69

Reuven Erlich (Colonel, Ret.) is Director, Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, at the Israel Intelligence Heritage & Commemoration Center (IICC). Contact him at info@terrorism-info-org.il

To Go To Top

NCYI DISPLAY AD: NATIONWIDE WHITE HOUSE CALL -IN CAMPAIGN -- FOR REPRINTING, RECIRCULATING, REDISTRIBUTING
Posted by Justice For Jonathan Pollard

The website address for Justice for Jonathan Pollard is http://www.JonathanPollard.org. Contact them by email at justice4jp@gmail.com

To Go To Top

IDF: UNIFIL ENABLED HIZBULLAH TO PLANT BORDER BOMBS
Posted by Michael Travers, February 5, 2007.

This was written by Yaakov Katz and it appeared in the Jerusalem Post
(www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1170359786340&pagename= JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull).

p> Defense officials slammed UNIFIL and the Lebanese government Monday night claiming that their "slackness" was what enabled Hizbullah to plant five deadly explosive devices along the border between Israel and Lebanon. IDF officials said it was possible that the bombs were planted as part of a planned kidnapping attack similar to the July 12-abduction of reservists Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser that sparked the war this past summer.

Defense Minister Amir Peretz transmitted a harsh-worded message to UNIFIL command in Lebanon and urged the peacekeeping force to crack down on Hizbullah and prevent the guerrilla group from returning to the border and carrying out attacks against Israel. The northern command assessed that the bombs found on Monday, just north of Avivim and right along the Blue Line international border between Israel and Lebanon, were planted there only a few days ago by Hizbullah.

Soldiers from Engineering Battalion 630 under the command of Lt.-Col. Eran Pauker discovered one of the explosive devices during a routine patrol along the border. The bombs -- weighing between 15 to 20 kilograms each -- were made of high-grade explosives and were disguised as boulders to blend in with the rocky terrain.

"We are deployed well along the border and do all we can to prevent Hizbullah from even getting close to Israel," said Pauker. "Due to bad weather, however, it is possible for them to get close to the border without us or UNIFIL noticing."

The soldiers did not cross the border, but instead detonated them by shooting at them from a distance. IDF sources in the northern command described the incident as "an operational success," claiming that in the past it had sometimes taken the IDF months to discover Hizbullah bombs and bunkers along the border.

According to Pauker, the IDF was operating under the assumption that Hizbullah had succeeded in planting additional bombs along the Israeli-Lebanese border. He estimated that the stormy weather and fog served as cover for Hizbullah terrorists when planting the four bombs along the border several days ago.

While UNIFIL could do more to prevent Hizbullah from launching attacks against Israel, Pauker said that IDF units were well deployed along the border and were backed up by various electronic and technological devices that assisted in detecting border infiltrations.

Two weeks ago, IDF troops from Pauker's battalion, destroyed two Hizbullah bunkers that were discovered during searches of the area between the security fence and the Blue Line. The bunkers were used by Hizbullah during the war and were filled with supplies, food and tools.

Contact Michael Travis at michaelmgr@gmail.com

To Go To Top

THE 'TOLERANCE' OF ISLAM--WHY DO CHRISTIANS TOLERATE IT?
Posted by Michael Travis, February 5, 2007.

From the Gathering Storm website:
http://the-gathering-storm.blogspot.com/. Or contact them by email at gatheringstorm@mail.com

We hear it time and time again about the tolerance of Islam. Let's see how tolerant they were last week.

Pakistan Detains Christian Woman For "Insulting" Islam

Police took Martha Bibi into custody late Monday, January 22, in the town of Kot Nanak Singh in District Kasur, southeast of the city of Lahore, after the local Imam urged Muslims to attack the Christian family saying "Martha uttered derogatory words against the Holy Prophet Muhammad," said the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA) advocacy group.

"On hearing the continuous announcement [from the mosque] and voices of people outside who were gathered to attack her home, Martha's family left to hide in one of the neighboring houses," APMA said. However soon, "police came and arrested Martha Bibi." She was charged under section 295 C of Pakistan's controversial Blasphemy Law and could face the death penalty if convicted, APMA. In many cases Christians have however received long prison sentences. Bibi has denied the charges.

Here's some more tolerance.

Video: Anti-Christian Atrocities During The Anti-Pope Jihad ... In the midst of the Papal Jihad, a Nigerian Muslim accused his Christian tailor of blasphemy. Before the ensuring riots were over, sixteen churches had been burned to the ground in a mysteriously coordinated campaign.

Video is at http://www.israelated.com/node/7722

Contact Michael Travis at michaelmgr@gmail.com

To Go To Top

THE NUMBERS DON'T LIE
Posted by Michael Freund, February 5, 2007.

If there is anyone out there who still thinks that Israel's August 2005 withdrawal from Gaza was not a complete and utter failure, they should check out what the head of Israel's Shin Bet security service had to say today.

At a special briefing with the press, Yuval Diskin revealed some statistics that underline quite definitively just how disastrous the pullout has proven to be.

Take, for example, the number of Qassam rockets fired at the Jewish state. In 2005, Diskin noted, Palestinian terrorists launched 401 rockets against Israel. In 2006, by contrast, the number soared to 1,726 -- an increase of more than 300%

Likewise, said Diskin, the terrorists are believed to have smuggled an estimated 6 tons of explosives into Gaza in 2005, whereas in 2006, the quantity reached 28 tons. In addition, they snuck in some 14,000 assault rifles, versus 9,300 in 2005.

Hence, rather than bringing increased security to Israel and its citizens, the Gaza retreat has brought in its wake a sharp rise in Palestinian terror activities.

Indeed, the painful pullout and expulsion of thousands of Jews from their homes has not inspired any deeper Palestinian love for Israel, nor has it reduced the motivation of the terrorists to attack.

This is one case where the numbers, as they say, speak for themselves.

Michael Freund served as an adviser to former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. He is Founder and Chairman of Shavei Israel (www.shavei.org), which reaches out and assists "lost Jews" seeking to return to the Jewish people. This article appeared in Arutz-Sheva
(http://www.israelnationalnews.com/article.php3?id=6897).

To Go To Top

WILL ISRAEL BE ORDERED (SUCKERED) INTO GAZA BY RICE TO STOP THE FATAH-HAMAS FROM KILLING EACH OTHER?
Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, February 5, 2007.

Please recall when Israel went into Lebanon to stop Palestinian Arab Muslim Terrorists under Yassir Arafat from attacking Israel. Arafat had planned, trained and equipped his Terrorists in Lebanon (whom King Hussein had kicked out of Jordan) for continual suicide Terror attacks and a major assault from Lebanon. Ariel (Arik) Sharon led this attack called "Peace for Galilee" in June 1982. He led the IDF to defeat Arafat and his Palestinian Terrorists. The Israelis did stop much of the 12 year Lebanese Civil War set up by Yassir Arafat and his P.L.O. wherein 100,000 Lebanese Muslims and Christians killed each other.

Sharon drove Arafat and his P.L.O. Terrorists out of Lebanon into exile in Tunis. Recall too in 1993 that Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres with the secretly negotiated Oslo Accords resurrected Arafat and brought him and his Terrorists back out of exile in Tunis to the Gaza Strip from whence he began to have Israelis murdered, again.

In 1982 the Lebanese were grateful (at first) to be saved from Arafat's Palestinian Civil War and showered the Israeli troops with flowers. (Americans can relate to this because U.S. soldiers were similarly greeted in Iraq by deposing Saddam Hussein but, soon they wre attacked by a mix of different Terrorist groups, euphemistically called "insurgents.") An agreement was drafted between Israel and Lebanon but, neither Syria nor the U.S. State Department liked the idea of Israel making a separate peace without them.

So the deal was quashed and later Syria, with the approval of the U.S. State Department, became the occupier of Lebanon under what was called the Taif Agreement of November 5, 1989 amongst the Arab Muslim countries. Presumably, the State Department understood that Syria intended to be the permanent occupier and claimant of Lebanon as part of Greater Syria. Israel and Jordan have also been claimed by Syria under that rubric. Ask James Baker and his cadre about how Lebanon was to be surrendered to Syria.

By the way, I worked with an undercover photographer (who shall remain anonymous). He went into Lebanon in mid-October 1975 and photographed the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Amin Faisel Al Husseini (who the Israelis thought was then under house watch in Israel) was reviewing Syrian Saika troops in Tripoli, along with King Hussein and President of Syria, Hafez al Assad. The photos appeared FACE MAGAZINE's Volume 1, Number 2, December 30, 1975, laid out in a LIFE MAGAZINE format along with a full exposé by a currently well-known Israeli writer/editor. What our photographer uncovered was that at least 6,000 Syrian Saika troops were there in Lebanon several years before anyone else made "historical note" of their presence. (1) This story of collaboration between Syria, the P.L.O., King Hussein of Jordan is worth re-thinking.

The Gaza Strip is turning into the Lebanon of today. Israel has every reason to go back into the Gaza Strip to stop the hundreds of Kassam Rockets launched against Israeli civilians during this supposed "cease-fire". The Kassams now have a range of 15-16 Kilometers (to reach Ashkelon). However, now is not the time for the IDF to re-enter Gaza because Fatah and Hamas are at each other's throats -- not uncommon for the Muslim tribes at least for the past 1345 years.

While perhaps the State Department and C. Rice would probably like to see Israeli troops go into Gaza to separate Fatah and Hamas, in effect, saving Mahmoud Abbas (aka Abu Mazen) to prove that the White House/State Department paradigm that democratic elections lead to peace among Muslim countries

No one would thank Israel. This would give Fatah and Hamas the excuse to forget their battle with each other and they would join forces against Israel. They already are turning the money the donor countries are paying them ($86 million from America, $100 million from Israel, from the E.U. -- more millions into funding Terrorists. But, as we have noticed, money is fungible despite denials by the donor nations. Instead of using these funds for humanitarian relief for their citizens, they are buying and building weapons like Kassam Rockets. Fatah and Hamas leaders say publically that they should work together and turn their weapons against Israel.

This would make no difference to the pro-Arab State Department but Israel would have accelerated Terror attacks by Fatah and Hamas against Israeli cities. Even the arch-dove Shimon Peres said on FOX NEWS Sunday February 4th that Israel should not enter the Fatah-Hamas conflict.

Doubtlessly, in the very near future Fatah and Hamas will make some sort of accommodation and turn their hostility against Israel, because we've shown them that "Terror Pays". They kept killing our men, women and children and we kept giving them more "Land for Peace". How ridiculous.

At this moment it is preferable to allow these two Terrorist organizations to kill each other. If Israel attacks prematurely at the behest of Bush, Rice, the State Department and the Baker cabal, it would only give aid and comfort to those who have declared themselves to be our enemies.

###

1. "Eleven Hellish Days & Ten Sleepless Nights in Lebanon: One Man's Viewpoint of the Confusing Events in Beirut" by our anonymous photographer "FACES MAGAZINE" Volume 1, Number 2 December 30, 1975

######

Please review the following article by Amos Harel & Avi Issachararoff, Ha'aretz Correspondents. It's called "IDF Gearing Up For Large Military Operation In Gaza" and it appeared Feb.4, 2007 in Haaretz
(www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/821383.html).

The Israel Defense Forces has accelerated its planning of a possible extended military operation in Gaza. Top military sources said the escalation of internecine violence was liable to extend to anti-Israel violence. They said no operation was slated to take place immediately, but that IDF activity in Gaza -- similar to the 2002 Operation Defensive Shield in the West Bank -- may become necessary.

Foreign Ministry Director-General Aharon Abramovich said "there is no doubt we are in a difficult period." He said Israel was watching the violence and was concerned at continued weapons smuggling into Gaza as well as rocket fire into Israel despite a November 26 truce.

"It is very important to us to be able to achieve dialogue rather than a military confrontation with the Palestinians. This is what Israel and the international community aim for and I hope this is the line that triumphs," Abramovich said.

The IDF and Shin Bet security service are particularly concerned by the possibility that Hamas will resume suicide bombings or other attacks on Israel, possibly due to accusations that Israel is supporting Fatah, which it is not overtly doing.

Hamas is also accumulating large quantities of Qassam rockets, whose range, accuracy and strength have improved since Israel's withdrawal from Gaza in the summer of 2005. Hamas and Islamic Jihad are thought to have rockets with a range of 15 to 16 kilometers.

Twenty Palestinians were killed in clashes on Friday and Saturday, most of them affiliated with Fatah, and at least eight were wounded on Saturday. Ten Fatah and Hamas operatives were kidnapped in Gaza and the West Bank over the weekend. Fatah torched Islamic University buildings Friday, and Hamas torched buildings at the Fatah-affiliated Al-Quds Open University. Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Khaled Meshal, the head of Hamas' political bureau in Damascus, agreed Friday on an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, but it was not immediately implemented and the fighting continued over the weekend.

Abbas and Meshal are slated to meet in Mecca, Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to discuss the establishment of a national unity government. Senior officials in Hamas and Fatah said that despite the recent violence between the two groups, an agreement might be reached Tuesday that would leave Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in his post and would give three portfolios to members of neither organization. Fatah officials said they were worried that the violence would escalate if no agreement is reached Tuesday.

Israel currently has no plans to get involved in the fighting between Fatah and Hamas. The violence there has not yet negatively affected the security situation on the Gaza-Israel border, and there has even been a decrease in the number of Qassam rockets that Palestinians have fired at the Negev. Although Islamic Jihad is continuing to plan terror attacks against Israelis, Hamas and Fatah appear to be too occupied with their conflict to attack Israel.

Fatah and Hamas officials agreed in principle on Friday to renew the cease-fire reached the day before, and Haniyeh on Saturday called on all armed men to withdraw from the streets of Gaza. The Palestinian interior minister, a Hamas member, said the groups had agreed to get the gunmen off the streets, remove roadblocks and stop the incitement against each other. However, the roadblocks were not removed and the militants who had been abducted during the fighting were not returned immediately after the truce was renewed.

Fatah allegedly arrests Iranian experts Israeli security officials on Saturday were having difficulty ascertaining the credibility of Fatah allegations that the group had arrested seven Iranian terrorism experts who had been assisting Hamas.

Fatah said Thursday that it had arrested the Iranians during a raid of the Islamic University, a Hamas stronghold in Gaza City. Hamas has denied the allegation, and Fatah spokesmen would not confirm the report on Friday.

Israeli officials believe Fatah is making an effort to play down the story, either because the initial report was wrong, or because it is true and Fatah is concerned that the capture of the Iranians will get it entangled with the Iranian government.

Israeli security officials said Iranian experts, along with Hezbollah operatives and Palestinians who underwent terrorism training in Iran or Lebanon, have entered the Gaza Strip through Rafah in the last few months. Some arrived via underground tunnels, while others came in through the Gaza-Egypt border.

Emanuel Winston is a commentator and Middle East analyst. His articles appear often on Think-Israel and Gamla. He is a member of the Board of Directors and a research associate of the Freeman Center For Strategic Studies (http://www.freeman.org/online.htm). Contact him at gwinston@gwinston.interaccess.com

To Go To Top

AGUDATH ISRAEL RABBINIC BODIES ISSUE CALL ON BEHALF OF JONATHAN POLLARD
Posted by Agudath Israel Media Release, February 5, 2007.

The distinguished senior rabbis who comprise Agudath Israel of America's Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah (Council of Torah Sages), as well as the members of Agudath Israel's Rabbinic Presidium and close to 100 signatories from its Conference of Synagogue Rabbis have issued a declaration calling on "all caring Jews" to deliver "a message to President Bush" that Jonathan Pollard, the convicted American Jewish spy who has languished in prison for twenty-two years, "has served long enough, and that the time has come to free him."

The rabbinical statement comes after the United States Supreme Court denied an appeal by Mr. Pollard of a 2006 lower court decision that cut off what would seem to be the final judicial avenue that could have led to a reconsideration of his life sentence. It notes that that Mr. Pollard's "health [is] deteriorating because of his incarceration," and that his life sentence was "a penalty far more severe than that imposed upon others who committed similar or even more serious crimes."

"Only the President of the United States," the declaration continues, "by granting Mr. Pollard executive clemency, can save him from spending the rest of his life behind bars."

The following is the full text of the Agudath Israel rabbis' statement:

DECLARATION REGARDING JONATHAN POLLARD

The heart-wrenching plight of Jonathan Pollard, an American Jew who is serving a life sentence for spying for Israel and is currently in his 22nd year of captivity, demands our urgent attention.

Mr. Pollard's life sentence -- a penalty far more severe than that imposed upon others who committed similar or even more serious crimes -- is difficult to comprehend. His lawyers have made various efforts through the courts to have his sentence reconsidered, all to no avail. At this time, it appears that all legal avenues through the judicial system have been shut off. Only the President of the United States, by granting Mr. Pollard executive clemency, can save him from spending the rest of his life behind bars.

Already years ago, Gedolei Yisroel called upon all Jews to do whatever they possibly can to try to help Mr. Pollard gain his freedom. Now that his legal appeals have been exhausted, and with his health deteriorating because of his incarceration, we reiterate that call with a renewed sense of urgency.

We call upon all caring Jews who understand the importance of being nosei b'ol im chaveiro and the imperative of pidyon shvuyim to convey the message to President Bush that Mr. Pollard has served long enough, and that the time has come to free him.

May Hashem Yisborach, the ultimate Matir asurim, look down with favor upon our efforts and place in the heart of the President the resolve at long last to grant Yehonoson ben Malka his freedom.

As a follow-up to the rabbinic declaration, Agudath Israel is joining a number of Jewish organizations asking Americans who support the cause of Mr. Pollard's freedom to telephone the White House daily between the hours of 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM Eastern Standard Time until Passover with requests for the President's granting of clemency for the imprisoned Jew.

White House Telephone Number 1-202-456-1414

For Further Information, please contact Rabbi Avi Shafran, (212) 797-9000

To Go To Top

IRAN'S NUCLEAR WEAPONS: THE OPTIMISTIC SCENARIO
Posted by Barry Rubin, February 5, 2007.

A few years ago I ran a simulation game for a European military command. At the start, I gave the premise of the exercise as being that Iran had just obtained nuclear weapons. Then I asked the U.S. "leader" how his country would respond. He explained that he would first consult with America's European allies.

So I turned to the European "leader" and inquired what the European Union would do. Regardless of his personal opinion, he played his role accurately: "Nothing at all," he said.

In a real sense, that's the point. As unwilling as anyone is to act seriously now to stop Iran's drive for nuclear weapons--unless you define as "serious" a UN sanctions' plan after three years of Iranian stalling that merely interferes with the travel plans or bank accounts of the handful of people running the program--they'll do even less when it is too late.

And what will happen when it is too late? This isn't a matter just of Iran possibly firing atomic-tipped missiles at Israel or more extreme officials handing such weapons to terrorists. These are extremely dangerous outcomes that might or might not happen. What should be more compelling is what would definitely take place: a gigantic shift in the regional balance of power against Western interests and toward violence and instability.

The first and most obvious situation would be a big boost for Iran's campaign to be the leading power in the Persian Gulf or even in the whole region. For many countries and movements, having a patron with nuclear weapons will be incredibly attractive; for even more, having an enemy with them is too scary to resist.

Overnight, Iran will become the most attractive sponsor for political subversion and terrorism in the region. Saudi Arabia will still have money but all those oilfields could--in theory--disappear in a very bright flash if someone in Tehran decided to do so. Is this going to happen? Unlikely. But could the Saudis take that risk by angering Iran? The same applies to all the other small Persian Gulf Arab states. And if Iran has influence in Iraq now, what would it be like if Tehran had nukes?

There is a question that every Arab state would have to ask itself: Can the United States be depended on as a protector? Will America credibly be ready to use its own atomic bombs to counter those of Iran even if it involves killing large numbers of people and getting involved in a terrible, bloody war? The point is that it is not the use of nuclear weapons but a credible willingness to use them--enough to convince rather extremist Iranian leaders--that brings strategic credibility.

If you were a Saudi, Kuwaiti, or Emirati, what would be your choice--to feel secure with an American promise of help or to be safe by yielding to Iranian threats? Suppose, then, that Iran tells Bahrain not to house a U.S. base, or Iraq to kick out American forces, or the Saudis to set an oil price to Iran's liking. Aren't the Gulf Arabs going to yield to their demand? Clear hints are just as effective as rude threats. The nastier the one is who possesses the weapon, the more persuasive the warning.

Then there is the equation's other side. Consider that you are a revolutionary opposition group, Islamist or otherwise, looking for a backer. For such needs, there was Egypt in the 1950s and 1960s, Syria in the 1960s and 1970s, and Iraq in the 1980s and 1990s. In the twenty-first century, however, no one can compete with Iran, as Hizballah and Hamas have already decided.

There will also be long lines in front of the recruiting counters of radical and terrorist groups. They might be wrong in expecting Iran will provide their road to victory but that won't stop them from staging large numbers of ever more daring attacks, convinced that Tehran's superior form of TNT will protect them. Tens of thousands of people will die as a result of their enthusiasm for the cause. And a lot of them might be in Europe.

Do you think that anyone will make peace in the Arab-Israeli conflict if they assume--no matter how wrong they turn out to be--that Israel is going to be either erased by Iran's nuclear weapons or intimidated into massive unilateral concessions by them? Do you believe the West will dare act effectively on any regional crisis in the face of Iranian opposition? Would Turkey protest firmly about Iranian involvement in Kurdish or Islamist subversion at home?

This is only the beginning of the problems arising from Iranian possession of nuclear weapons: a bolder, extremist Iran; coercion of the local, relatively more moderate states; a boost for terrorist and revolutionary groups with an upsurge of violence, and intimidation of the West.

And that's the optimistic scenario, without anyone actually using weapons of mass destruction. Keep this in mind as the crisis unfolds.

Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and co-author of "Yasir Arafat: A Political Biography" and "Hating America: A History" (Oxford University Press, August 2006). Prof. Rubin's columns can now be read online at http://gloria.idc.ac.il/columns/column.html.

To Go To Top

REASON, SCIENCE AND PROGRESS: MODERN PRETEXTS FOR JUDEOPHOBIA, LEFT AND RIGHT
Posted by Eliyahu Green, February 5, 2007.

Here's a link to a summary in English of my recent article published in Hebrew in the latest issue of Nativ.
(www.acpr.org.il/NATIV/2007-1-contents.htm#Reason, %2520Science%2520and%2520Progress.

Today, throughout the world, the left is generally hostile to Israel, and often hostile to Jews and Judaism. Some commonly held themes, views and attitudes which reflect this -- including the Israeli left -- go back to the Middle Ages or even to the Christian Church Fathers in late antiquity. It may surprise some that the Church Fathers generally viewed the Jews in a paradoxical way. They saw the Jews as pioneers of civilization and rational thought, while simultaneously hating the Jews as alleged conspirators against Jesus (punished by loss of their Temple, their city, Jerusalem, and their homeland, Judea). The favorable view was held throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance by Jean Gerson, Marsilio Ficino, and others. In the late 1600s, Bossuet articulated both the favorable and hostile sides of the paradox. Meanwhile, medieval Christian theologians and philosophers believed that they had proven Christian dogmas, such as the virgin birth, the trinity, angels, purgatory, etc., by means of reason. Therefore, whoever did not accept these dogmas was unreasonable, incapable of or opposed to reason. This conclusion was applied to the Jews first of all.

Luther, who rebelled against the Catholic Church, expounded views of the Jews more hostile even than those of Catholic tradition. Subsequently, German Protestant theologians following Luther proved to their own satisfaction, that ancient Greek testimony as to Jewish influence on classical Greek philosophers was incorrect. This negative conclusion, canceling the favorable part of the Church Fathers' paradox, was adopted by Kant and Hegel, who were in turn major influences on shaping the views on Jews and Judaism held by modern Leftist and Liberal ideologies, such as Marxism. Further, Kant and Hegel saw the Orient as incapable of progress. Therefore, since Judaism was Oriental, it was incapable of progress. Indeed, they viewed Judaism as inferior, even within the Oriental sphere.

Voltaire viewed Jews much as did the two German philosophers. The view of these three and others, that ancient civilization did not have any roots in Judaism and had not undergone Jewish influence, paralleled the claim of the Church Father Marcion that Christianity had no roots in Judaism. Marcion was considered heretical by the bulk of Church Fathers. However, he was studied by Luther, Voltaire, etc. Kant, Voltaire and Hegel's denial of any ancient Jewish contribution to civilization supplied a paradigm followed not only by Marxists but by students of classical culture, archeologists, anthropologists, historians of antiquity, Nordic racists, German nationalists, and so on.

Utterances of certain Israeli leftists demonstrate that the values of reason, progress, and science -- at least as abstractions -- continue to be revered by the Israeli left, who believe Judaism and religious Jews are defective in these areas.

The Israeli left perpetrated the disastrous Oslo accords on the people, demonstrating that the left is far from rational or scientific itself. It made these accords paying no heed to Clausewitz' teachings about war and diplomacy, while it refused and refuses to realize that Israel's Arab-Muslim adversaries have their own unique culture and character which must be understood. Likewise the West -- which often reproaches Israel for alleged moral breaches, while overlooking Arab and Muslim crimes -- must be understood.

Contact Eliyahu Green at eil100@zahav.net.il

To Go To Top

THE WIT AND WISDOM OF RABBI MEIR KAHANE
Posted by David Ha'Ivri, February 5, 2007.

Rabbi Meir Kahane was known for his eloquent speeches and unique sense of humor. He seemed to have a comment--sagacious or humorous--on just about anything that mattered. This concise compendium offers his astute observations on subjects ranging from baseball to anti-Semitism.

Many of his pearls of wisdoms and jokes were told in spontaneous situations, where he was directly challenged or heckled. Many of his great lines were in the context of organized debates. It is here we really see his genius as he destroys his opponents in verbal repartee.

All his comments have a point, even as they make you smile. A few examples:

"It is better to have a strong Israel that is hated by the whole world, than an Auschwitz that is loved by it";

"A Jewish fist has to be attached to a Jewish head";

"I am not disappointed with the people who disagree with me. I am disappointed with the people who agree with me, but are too mired in their apathy and inability to escape their tiny lives."

The 223 page book is broken down into four segments focusing on a segment of his life, and is preceded by a detailed biography. The average length of each story is a page or shorter. Because of the style of the book, one need not read it straight through, as it can be picked up and put down easily.

Buy this Book

Contact David Ha'Ivri at haivri@hameir.org

To Go To Top

17 MONTHS LATER, NO ONE IS BUILDING FOR KATIF EVACUEES
Posted by Lee Caplan, February 5, 2007.

I would just like to add that the newspaper Haaretz in which this article appeared is extremely left wing, so if even it is lamenting over the situation with the refugees one can be certain that the situation is not good to say the least.

This was written by Nadav Shragai and it appeared January 21, 2007 in Haaretz
(www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/815628.html).

Former Gush Katif residents Shai and Iris Hamu and their four children have been living in a two-room rented apartment in Moshav Mavki'im, near Ashkelon, for a year and a half. Shai, who once had a successful farm, is unemployed. Iris' salary is not enough for the family's needs. At a certain point the couple realized that if they continued drawing on their compensation payments, they would not have enough money for their permanent home. They began building on their lot in Mavki'im, without a permit. A stop-work order was issued a few weeks ago, but they are continuing with the construction.

The Hamus, who lived in Pe'at Sadeh, are just two of the 11,000 people who were evacuated from Gush Katif in the Gaza Strip and from the northern West Bank in the summer of 2005. Although 17 months have passed since the evacuation, work has not begun on even a single house in the 21 sites designated for the evacuees' permanent residence.

Six months ago the last of the evacuees left the hotels and guesthouses where they were placed after the evacuation. The protest encampment of former Elei Sinai residents has been dismantled, but everyone is still in temporary accommodations.

Shai Hamu says the state should be ashamed for turning him into a criminal, and that he does not care. He is not alone. A neighbor, Yaakov Aberjil, began building his home without a permit, too, and was issued a stop-work order. Some of the double-wide trailer homes at Nitzan are now sporting illegally built additions. Avraham Ben-Hamu, a former resident of Bedolah with six children and four grandchildren, built two wooden structures next to his trailer home, one for a son's family and one for a daughter.

The temporary accommodations have apparently created two, opposite, behavior patterns. The more common one is to avoid spending on the trailer home in order to save toward the permanent house. The other one, which is becoming more popular, is to build illegally.

After unemployment, temporariness itself is the biggest enemy of the evacuees. The professionals who have been aiding the evacuees say it creates a feeling of alienation, reduces privacy and often leads to a dissolution of the family.

The story of Rahamim and Shosh Ben-Haim is just one example. Rahamim, 57, was among the founders of Neveh Dekalim and the first secretary of the community. He was the manager of a security-door factory with 100 employees, which had a 40-percent market share. His family is supposed to move from Nitzan to Givat Hazan (formerly Egoz), which is slated to house about 120 families. Ben-Haim was unable to find a suitable location for a new factory, and signed a two-year lease on a smaller building in the Ashkelon industrial zone. He now employs 70 workers. He says he is losing about NIS 1 million a month and is "holding on by the skin of my teeth."

The sequence of events at Givat Hazan amply illustrates the bureaucracy and official foot-dragging regarding the evacuees' permanent residences. The families originally wanted to settle in Egoz, but the site was vetoed out of environmental protection considerations. Givat Hazan was proposed as an alternative, but it is next to a firing range that the Israel Defense Forces is loath to relinquish. The families have been waiting for months for an answer, and the issue has reached as far as the Prime Minister's Bureau.

When the temporary housing is far from the permanent residence site, it makes it difficult for an evacuee who is lucky enough to find a job near the current home to make a long-term commitment.

Kobi and Yaffa Haddad, formerly of Rafiah Yam, attempted to avoid this trap by going directly to Bustan Hagalil rather than joining their neighbors in temporary accommodations in Nitzan. Kobi Haddad worked as a guard at communities in the area for two months and was laid off, while Yaffa was unable to find work in the north. A year or so later, the Haddads joined their former neighbors in Nitzan, where Kobi found a job.

K.N. and her family live in Nitzan and plan to settle in the north. She wants to build guest cabins and enter the hospitality industry. "I went up north to try to start a business there but soon realized it's impossible when you're not on your home turf, in your home. Until you are living there, you can't do anything."

Contact Lee Caplan at leescaplan@yahoo.com

To Go To Top

DOWN ON SHAI DROMI´S NEGEV RANCH
Posted by Ezra HaLevi, February 5, 2007.

Shai Dromi sits in jail awaiting trial for shooting a Bedouin intruder on his ranch. His family now struggles to take care of the Negev farm that has been robbed countless times in recent years.

Dromi moved out to the site of the ranch in 1987. Since then he has been repeatedly robbed, seen his home burned down, and suffered repeated losses at the hands of local Bedouins. The latest intrusion ended with Dromi shooting two thieves in the legs. One died, and Dromi has been imprisoned ever since without bail as his family struggles to keep the farm alive.

Mira Dromi, Shai's mother, who immigrated to Israel from the Bronx in 1950, was not surprised by the arrest. "When I was informed of what happened, I knew what would happen. But I was surprised at the rigor with which they tried to make a case of it. They said he is dangerous, when the real issue seems to be impotency of the government and its various arms in dealing with the reality here."

"In my mind this is an issue between law abiding people who are working very hard under difficult conditions just to make a living, opposite criminals of whatever kind," Mira says. "We have no issue with law-abiding people no matter who they are or from where they come." Indeed, a Bedouin man from the neighboring village of Hura still works at the ranch, grazing the sheep.

Living Among Strangers

The Dromi ranch is located just south of the Green Line, on the pre-1967 side of the Partition Fence that has been erected in the region, cordoning off the south Hevron Hills from the Negev desert. The ranch lies at the end of a long dirt road behind the small Be'er Sheva suburb of Meitar.

Getting there feels like driving to any of the handful of small farms in Judea and Samaria classified as unauthorized outposts by the Israeli government. Dromi's farm, however, is not only authorized, but is located in the area considered to be at the heart of the Israeli and global consensus.

In this desert, Bedouin tribal leaders used to call the shots. Interested in preserving their way of life and benefiting from the desire of the Jewish State to foster good relations with its Arab citizens, many Bedouins serve in the IDF and have benefited from the Jewish tourists' penchant for authentic desert hospitality.

But now a new guard has risen. Groups of young Bedouin men have formed organized crime rings, cruising nightly for agricultural equipment and livestock to steal from the dozens of Jewish farms and ranches.

"Everyone knows you can pay a certain amount to a certain Bedouin and receive 'protection,'" says Y., a farmhand who volunteers at the ranch in exchange for room and board. "But the amount is exorbitant and besides, why should someone pay for the police not to have to do their job."

Everyone on the ranch has stories of police unwillingness to go after the Bedouin crime rings. "I was working on another farm in the region, and they just pulled up in a car, casually got out, held a gun to a guy's head and just cleaned him out," Y. says. He asked that his name not be used because he fears that the tribe of the thief who was killed will come after him.

Other farmhands say that the man whom Shai shot, Khaled al-Atrash, had been shunned by his own tribe after he was suspected of stealing from another tribe member. He had been forced by his tribe members to swear that he did not commit the crime. It was decreed by the tribunal that if he was lying something terrible would happen to him within two weeks.

That was a few days before al-Atrash and his gang paid their last visit to Shai Dromi's farm.

They had stealing from the Jewish farmers down to a science. First, they threw poisoned meat to the guard dogs manning the perimeter, killing them within minutes. Then they cut the padlocked gate, and made off with generators, farm equipment and entire herds of livestock.

This was probably not al-Atrash's first visit to the Dromi Ranch either. Just months ago, an expensive tractor was stolen and the well-trained guard dogs were all killed. Since then, Dromi began sleeping out in a small room built into the sheep pen. Several meters away is an old bus, which serves as a residence for three of the volunteers.

Al-Atrash and his men were inside the sheep pen when Dromi awoke. He grabbed the old .22 caliber rifle his father had brought with him when he immigrated from the U.S. and ran outside. When the thieves stayed their ground and did not flee, Shai shot at the thieves' legs.

Dromi had no way of knowing whether the men were armed. A recent shooting attack in the region was carried out by a Bedouin man, and firearms are smuggled in great numbers through the lengthy Egyptian border -- particularly following the withdrawal from Gaza -- much of which is unsealed and unguarded.

The plague of crime is not only financially motivated, farmers say. The Bedouin simply do not want to see the settlement of the Negev by Jews -- a project that is embraced as a noble goal by Israeli and Jewish organizations around the world.

Many Jewish organizations have transferred funds to the Negev, which once went towards settlement building in Judea and Samaria. To that end, Vice Premier Shimon Peres's ministerial portfolio is responsible for development of the Negev, as well as the Galilee.

There is a struggle for the Negev that nobody will admit is underway. The Bedouin see themselves as the indigenous inhabitants of the land, and are often supported by human rights groups.

Police arrived as Shai was performing CPR on al-Atrash. Dromi was immediately arrested and has only been home to reenact the incident as required by Israel's police.

Dromi has now become a symbol to many. Hadas, his niece, who is taking care of Shai's infant and managing the house in his absence, says that there has been a flood of volunteers pitching in to ensure that the farm does not suffer financial loss in addition to the crippling blow to all its residents' morale.

Chaya Kurant is from Pardes Chana. She came to the Dromi Ranch just a week before the incident in order to volunteer. "I got more than I bargained for," she said. "But it is all the more important that I am here." She says that her faith in Israel's justice system has been badly shaken by the imprisonment of a man who was so obviously acting in defense of his family. "I don't understand why, before there has even been a trial, he is being kept in prison."

Others venture a guess. They say his incarceration is meant to be a deterrent for other Jewish farmers forced to swallow the stream of losses and bear the police inaction.

A Mother's Words

Shai's mother Mira came on Aliyah at the age of 17. Mira first settled in the Negev at Kibbutz Kvutzat Urim, together with a core-group of friends from the Labor Zionist HaBonim Dror youth movement.

The Dromi children were raised in Be'er Sheva, the Negev's largest city, where they stayed until Shai decided to apply for farmland in 1987.

"This area was designated as grazing land and made available for those slightly crazy individuals who were willing to forgo the comforts of urban living in order to establish a farm," Mira says. "Without electricity, without telephones, without decent roads and without any subsidies, [my son] came out here in order to live in harmony with nature."

Shai purchased a small herd of sheep, which he hoped to cultivate into a larger herd. "It is a slow painful process," Mira recalls, "where you forgo simple comforts in order to buy just one more sheep and one more sheep."

The entire herd was stolen several times over. "Three times Shai managed to get some or all of them back, usually on his own, without any help from the police -- but three times, he just lost everything," Mira recalls, with the sadness of a mother who has seen her child's dream crushed again and again.

"The last time it happened was six years ago," Mira recalls. "Shai was so happy that he had finally arrived at a good-sized herd -- 300 head -- which is the number at which it starts to be financially viable. The whole herd was stolen. I thought he would be broken, but he just started again."

Today, the herd totals 150 sheep. The heads of all the sheep are all striped blue. The mark, meant to help identify the sheep later in case of theft, renders them looking like punk bleaters.

Many times since then Shai prevented his sheep from being stolen again. He built a bedroom out in the middle of the sheep pen and would wake up upon hearing the creaking of a gate or the snap of a cut latch. "But other times you wake up in the morning and see they have cut through six-inch bars and stolen one of your horses," Mira says."One time, when Shai was away in Be'er Sheva for the night, they burned the house he was living in to a cinder, with everything that was in it. As far as I know, over all these years, I don't know of any arrest that has been made."

Just two weeks before Shai's arrest, thieves returned, killed Dromi's dogs and stole the ranch's only agricultural tractor. "This is the fifth time our dogs have been poisoned," Mira says. "The dogs, by the way, are generally our main line of defense, because we have no electric alarm system. Until now, we have had no electricity altogether."

The electricity now lighting up the usually candle-lit ranch at night comes from a generator brought by a man who has a farm in the Jordan Valley. "He just heard what happened, looked us up in the phone book and called to see what he could do to help," Mira says. "We have received many expressions of support from all walks. From kibbutzim, city dwellers, people from the Golan -- really all over."

Mira and her granddaughter Hadas both agree that the family is holding up quite well, considering the circumstances. "Shai is holding up well," she says. "He believes in himself. The most frustrating thing for him is that he is not involved, that nobody is running my shop (a clothing and gifts store in Be'er Sheva). We can't call him to consult where to put this tree, what to give that sheep."

Volunteers have been coming to the ranch to shoulder the responsibility of guard duty. "The police stationed someone at first, but now they cut it down and come by a couple times a night," Mira says. She says she is not worried about retribution for Shai's actions. "I am frequently told that the guys who broke in, according to their culture, got what was coming to them. That's more or less what they say."

The symbol that Shai has now become is not lost on his mother. At a time when so many members the government are under investigation for criminal activity and corruption, many people have their eyes on Shai Dromi. "What will be the fate of a man whose actions were so straightforwardly just in a world of unjust and corrupted considerations?" they ask. "For many, Shai's case is the litmus test of the Israeli justice system."

Shai's appeal of his continued pre-trial incarceration will take place on February 11. In the meantime, help is welcome by the family. The Hitachdut HaChaklaim B'Yisrael (The Israel Farmers Association) has opened an account to help pay Dromi's mounting legal expenses (Bank HaPoalim Branch 532, Account #249909) and volunteers are welcome to call Mira Dromi directly at 054-755-7920 (from abroad, replace the leading 0 with 972).

"It is good if people let us know what they can help us with," she says. "Are they skilled in some way, can they fix things, are they available to help with guard duty. Any help at all is so greatly appreciated by Shai and by us, his friends and family."

Asked about her feelings if her son is in fact convicted of manslaughter and sent to a long prison term, the veteran Israeli-by-choice says she would still refuse to lose hope in eventual justice. "It will still be my Israel, for better or for worse. But they would be missing the mark. When the victim has to pay the price, the criminals will soon be out to operate again."

Fax the Justice Ministry at: +972-2-646-7085
Fax the Attorney General: +972-2-646-6521 [Editor's note: Honenu Organization in USA has agreed to handle contribution to the defense fund -- Contributions are recognized by the US Tax Authorities (Tax ID: 30-0198003)

To contribute via website:
https://www.livessl.com/honenu/honenucredit.asp
in the box "My donation is for:" note "Shai Dromi Defense Fund"

Make checks out to Honenu with the notation "For Shai Dromi Defense Fund"
and send to:
Honenu
8204 Lefferts Blvd, Suite 381
Kew Gardens, NY 11415
Tel: 718-441-7300
Fax: 718-849-8423]

Ezra HaLevi writes for Arutz-Sheva, where this article appeared today.

To Go To Top

A PARODY ON BILLY JOEL'S "ALLENTOWN"
Posted by Shifra Shomron, February 5, 2007.

Well we're living in a Shantytown
And everyone is really feeling down
At SELA we're all killing time
Filling out forms
Standing in line

Well our fathers fought the Yom Kippur War
Then they settled on the Gaza Shore
Built a house and planted a tree
Life was good
For each family

And we're living in a Shantytown
And the restlessness is all around
And it's getting very hard to stay

Well we're waiting in a Shantytown
'Cause our houses have been smashed to the ground
'Cause of the promises the leaders * gave
If we kept calm
If we behaved

So our backs are against the wall
Since the leaders * never helped us at all
No they still don't know what is real
G-d and faith
And cold hard steel

And we're waiting in a Shantytown
Uprooted from our beloved ground
And the leaders * all remain away

We hope that there is a pretty good shot
Of one day getting back what our fathers got
And we'll swiftly return to that place
With a victory smile on our face

Well I'm living in a Shantytown
And it's hard to keep a good Jew down
But it's a struggle to get up today
And it's getting very hard to stay
And we're living in a Shantytown

* The reference here is to the Govt. leaders

Billy Joel Allentown lyrics

Well we're living here in Allentown
And they're closing all the factories down
Out in Bethlehem they're killing time
Filling out forms
Standing in line

Well our fathers fought the Second World War
Spent their weekends on the Jersey Shore
Met our mothers in the USO
Asked them to dance
Danced with them slow

And we're living here in Allentown
But the restlessness was handed down
And it's getting very hard to stay

Well we're waiting here in Allentown
For the Pennsylvania we never found
For the promises our teachers gave
If we worked hard
If we behaved

So the graduations hang on the wall
But they never really helped us at all
No they never taught us what was real
Iron and coke
And chromium steel

And we're waiting here in Allentown
But they've taken all the coal from the ground
And the union people crawled away

Every child had a pretty good shot
To get at least as far as their old man got
But something happened on the way to that place
They threw an American flag in our face

Well I'm living here in Allentown
And it's hard to keep a good man down
But I won't be getting up today
And it's getting very hard to stay
And we're living here in Allentown

Shifra Shomron is 19 years old. She and her family and friends were expelled from Gush Katif in August 2005 and now lives in temporary quarters in Nitzan Caravilla Site.

To Go To Top

RELIGIOUS WAR IN GAZA
Posted by Avodah, February 5, 2007.
This was written by Ronny Shaket and published in Ynet News
(http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3360655,00.html)

This war is becoming increasingly hard to stop. It apparently can't be halted by agreements, by meetings between Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Khaled Mashaal or by Saudi, Syrian or Egyptian intervention. Even the establishment of a national unity government is unlikely to halt the battles.

Israeli media is using the Arab term "falatan" (lack of security) -- a state of security lawlessness, a war of gangs and militias. This description is inaccurate. The war is being waged between Hamas and Fatah. The militias and other organizations, ranging from Islamic Jihad to the Popular Front, are not taking part. In fact, they are trying to mediate, reconcile, and end the infighting. The public at large is not participating in this war, it is staying at home.

Hamas embarked on this war with some 10,000 fighters -- 6,000 from among the ranks of what is known as the Executive Police Force founded by the Hamas government, and 4,000 armed members of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Martyrs' Brigades.

The gunmen are well trained and organized within a quasi military organization, and they are equipped with every means of warfare including sniper rifles, communications devices, flack jackets, night vision equipment, Kalashnikov rifles, hand grenades, RPGs and almost limitless munitions. This force is ready for battle, it has been training for the past two years, and is also ready to engage in a civil war.

Up against them are Fatah and Abbas loyalists along with the national security forces who together total some 60,000 gunmen. The majority lacks any formal military training and is fighting with light weapons while suffering from a lack of munitions and logistic means -- yet more importantly, they were not trained for warfare against Hamas.

Such a situation can be compared to civil defense forces fighting elite units. In the last few days of fighting Hamas dispatched 100 percent of its forces, while Fatah and its supporters dispatched no more than 10 percent of their combatants.

Although Fatah succeeded in the battle over the Islamic university, it was dealt a severe blow in other places. The majority of fatalities over the weekend came from the Fatah camp. Hamas had the upper hand in this weekend's battles.

This is just the beginning

The Palestinian infighting is no different than other civil wars. This is a war over values, over a way of life, and over the future identity of Palestinian society and state: It pits Fatah's secular democratic nationalism against Hamas' radical Islam.

Hamas is fighting passionately in the name of religion and is backed by the "fatwas"- religious edicts that defines Fatah members as heretics and justifies the killing of Muslims. Such a war took place in Algeria. Fatah sources are saying that the battles are aimed at preventing "Algerization" of the Territories.

Hamas treats Fatah as "mortadin," namely as those who abandoned the way of Islam after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. His successor, Caliph Abu Bakr, issued a religious edict that permits and encourages their killing.

Fatah members, on the other hand, regard themselves as true Muslims and view Hamas as 'khawaraj' -- a group that detached itself from the Islamic community, strictly adheres to religious laws, and defines those who do not follow its path as heretics punishable by death.

Fatah and Hamas both believe that the infighting in the Palestinian Authority has just begun. Therefore, Hamas is insisting on establishing a national unity government -- under its cover it will maintain its power and continue to instill the values of radical Islam among the population.

Hamas and Abbas want a unity government in order to reach a lull in the fighting for the purpose of strengthening their forces for the next round of battles, which will culminate in either a military victory or a victory at the polls.

A unity government is not likely to bridge the gaps, and the battles will inevitably be resumed. A decision will only be reached after a lot of blood has been shed and after the defeated party will disarm and accept the authority of the victor.

Contact Avodah by email at avodah15@aol.com

To Go To Top

WHAT ARE ISRAELI POLICE FOR?
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, February 5, 2007.

PRICE OF HALF-WAR

Lebanese Islamists bombarded northern Israel, during the recent war. Residents reported suffering from stress over the Army's failure to act as previously agreed, the disintegration of governmental support, and the lack of defense (IMRA, 1/3).

I read numerous NY Times articles commiserating with residents of Arab states and the P.A., but found none discussing this stress nor that of the Jews whom Israel expelled from Gaza. (Perhaps there were some on days that I was away, but there generally must be a malign neglect, by editorial policy). The lives of those Jews were ruined by the policy of withdrawal, advocated by the Times, but that newspaper of record and self-proclaimed apostle of humanitarianism downplays the ill consequences of its policy for the Jews, as it did of the Holocaust. In this case, Israeli Arabs also suffered.

Stress is one of the prices of that "half-war." I call it a "half-war," because Israel did not declare war, did not fight all-out, and did not stay long enough to accomplish its goals.

RUSSIA IS RELIABLE

Russia is completing on time its contracts to supply Iran and Syria with modern anti-aircraft systems (IMRA, 1/3/07).

WHAT ARE ISRAELI POLICE FOR?

Tzurif is an Arab town notorious for thievery and terrorism. Police tell Israelis who complain that they lack of forces to patrol the town and that it is too dangerous. (If it is too dangerous, then there is a serious lack of security that requires a major crackdown.)

Women in Green marched on the town as if to deal with the problem, itself. Actually, they planned to demonstrate outside the town. Police found the forces it needed -- to deal with the protestors. They sent 100 officers there, sought out the leader of Women in Green, and carried her off so that her head bumped on the pavement while they were beating her. Israelis realized the value of frequenting areas to discourage terrorists. (Arutz-7, 1/5). Beating while bumping is the Jewish state's specialty.

They could have arrested her, not that she necessarily committed a crime, without the violence, if they were civilized and not antisemitic.

FREEDOM OF THE PRESS

The Mayor of London invited Daniel Pipes to debate him about the clash of civilizations. The audience of 5,000 included representatives of150 media outlets. The debate, itself, reverberated on the Internet. At first, none of the media outlets reported the debate and its content, however important to the survival of our own civilization. Then some did. The Mayor did not offer the event any publicity afterwards (Pipes #744, 1/22).

Then the Mayor must have lost his case and the media must have practiced censorship. Where is the vaunted people's "right to know," a right cited by the media when it invades privacy or publishes the country's military secrets?

Richard Shulman is a veteran defender of Israel on several web-based forums. His comments and analyses appear often on Think-Israel. He provides cool information and right-on-target overviews. He distributes his essays by email. To subscribe, write him at richardshulman5@verizon.net

To Go To Top

REVIEW OF ISRAEL AND THE ENDTIMES
Posted by Ashirah Yosefah, February 4, 2007.

Eugene Narrett
Israel and the Endtimes: Writings on the Logic and Surface Turbulence of History
Order at: http://israelendtimes.com/blog/books-by-e-narrett/

Dr. Eugene Narrett's third book, Israel and the Endtimes: Writings on the Logic and Surface Turbulence of History, is a collection of decisive and succinctly-worded essays on the world events impacting the nation of Israel during the years 2001-2006, especially the years of the deportations, 2005-06. These essays examine the obvious and subtler trends and issues endangering the vitality and the very existence of the Jewish people and nation of Israel. Narrett then expands his commentary to address the nations that befriend and assail Israel and traces these conflicts back to their roots, some of which are firmly anchored in antiquity.

It is rare in today's world to find an individual possessing such penetrating vision into what the "powers that be" strive so hard to conceal. Eugene Narrett communicates his insights clearly and intelligently, with integrity and conviction. The author's impressive knowledge of world history, of Torah, of Tanach and the Zohar, as well as the great works of classical literature and mythology, turn his essays into compelling tapestries of revealed facts, insights and foresights that demand a response from the reader. The emotions stirred by an honest reading of Israel and the Endtimes are diverse: Astonishment, dismay, anger, sadness, trepidation, perhaps for some disbelief, while others will feel a growing sense of resolve, a need to respond to what the author lays bare on the pages of his book. The discerning eye will see unmistakable evidence of the faithfulness of the G-d of Israel to His Word and to His nation despite the disconcerting antics of man and governments.

It is clear that the sweep of Jewish history past and present continues to affect the entire world. The author demonstrates that therein we can find the source of much that modern civilizations and religions seek to claim as their own, even as they thrash about attempting to sever any identifiable connection with their Jewish root. Looking ahead to the future amidst the growing chaos of present, Narrett infuses a sense of hope for Israel by drawing upon the prophetic voices of her past, while simultaneously laying before us the stark and often shocking array of the political cards being dealt the beleaguered nation from within and without.

One might posit that the title Israel and the Endtimes is misleading. The scope of the author's writing is so broad that there is little of western civilization that has not been the focus of his thought, the target of his pen. Yet since its inception this small nation has been at the crosshairs of bow and rifle, edict and sanction, politics and religion. Israel has rarely been out of mind for the leaders of the nations of the world. This collection of essays reveals the reason for the nations' obsession and posits the outcomes of their fixations should they stay their present course.

At a time in world history when the cry of "peace, peace" is bandied about in both staterooms and streets, by politicians, activists, antagonists and even terrorists themselves, Eugene Narrett deftly reveals its hollow ring by setting a stage upon which one sees the "land for peace" players with greater clarity. As a result, the reader gains an understanding of why "peace," as it is presently sought, can never be and where true "peace" originates and how it must be attained.

From Hevron, the most ancient of Jewish settlements, to Gush Katif and Amona, the most shocking examples of client-state politics and societal injustice in Israel's short history as a re-born nation, Narrett's cutting commentary follows the events striking at the spiritual spine that has anchored the Jewish nation since antiquity. From Islam and Jihad to American and British politics and the War on Terror, the author's pen is unrelenting and precise. From Pharaoh to Greece and Persia to Rome, from deities of by-gone eras to modern-day gods and present-day policies, Eugene Narrett displays an almost clairvoyant discernment into the sources of conflict and the forces that have sustained these conflicts for centuries.

Reading Israel and the Endtimes is an education in and of itself, but it is also a call to action ... one cannot read it and remain unmoved or inert. Cutting through the media spin and dredging up for study that which the media disregards, Eugene Narrett presents a thought-provoking overview and analysis of a wide expanse of history as he has seen it unfold and resurface in the events of the past few years. For anyone interested in the Land of Israel and the Jewish people, this book is a must-read. Ashirah Yosefah is Founder and Director of Shuvoo, Jerusalem, Israel.

To Go To Top

GUESS WHERE INJURED PLO/FATAH TERRORISTS FROM GAZA HAVE BEEN HOSPITALISED IN THE LAST FEW WEEKS?
Posted by Sergio Tessio (HaDaR), February 4, 2007.

Considering that -- in spite of the billions of Euros and Dollars received by the PNA -- they have not been able to build a single hospital in Gaza, the PLO/Fatah terrorist assassins are being cured at Ashqelon Barzillai Hospital, at the expenses of the Israeli taxpayers.

The same government of evildoers who cannot find money for Israeli cancer patients, for schools and teachers and for starving Jewish children, has money to throw on terrorists, just to demonstrate the validity of the Torah saying: "Whoever has compassion for the cruel, will end up being cruel with the compassionate."

The Israeli government is showing what in Hebrew is called the idiots' compassion.

Contact Sergio Tessio (HaDaR) at HaDaR-Israel@verizon.net

To Go To Top

DENIAL IS AN UGLY THING. BUT IT'S URGENT THAT WE CONFRONT IT
Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, February 4, 2007.

This was written by Diana West and it appeared Feb. 2, 2007 in the Jewish World Review (www.jewishworldreview.com/). She made an excellent point about denial of unending Arab aggression. Regrettably, it isn't only America who dips her head in the sand but, also Israel. There is a phalanx of gushing girls and men who have elevated denial of Arab aggression to dizzying heights. We observe Israel's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni in lock-step with Condoleezza Rice, gushing like teen-age girls about the possibility of a two-state solution and how Israel must give up "Land for Peace" which, of course, never comes.

Tzipi Livni and Condoleezza Rice are merely political robots, wired to higher authorities. Despite prima facia evidence that Arab Muslims cannot be pacified, appeased or even forced to stand down their aggressive actions, those in charge are in a full state of Denial and are willing to risk everything and everyone to cover up bad decisions.

There are new bad decisions thrust upon Israel besides giving up "Land for Peace" so the Fatah/Hamas Terrorists will have new missile firing position in Judea and Samaria. We hear that it has been suggested by the U.S. State Department that Israel re-enter the Gaza Strip to stop Fatah and Hamas from killing each other. Then they could forget their differences and coalesce their forces to attack Israel. Even the Super-Dove Shimon Peres said on Fox News today (Sunday February 4th) that he is against such a move.

I've finally discovered what they call "linkage" between the war in Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But, instead of seeing any connection between what goes on inside Iraq and that fraudulent "peace process" by which the one party wanting "peace" (Israel) is gradually destroyed by the other party using "process" (the Palestinians) I see linkage in the overall American approach to the two war zones. Our strategy is identical. In both cases, it is based on a complete and willful suspension of disbelief. It ignores all evidence to ward off reality.

Take a recent report from Fox News explaining why the Bush administration this week postponed the release of a dossier linking Iran to murder and mayhem in Iraq.

"U.S. military officials say the decision to go public with the findings has been put on hold for several reasons, including concerns over the reaction from Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad -- as well as inevitable follow-up questions that would be raised over what the U.S. should do about it."

There's so much wrong with this picture it's hard to know where to start. Surely it is Mr. Ahmadinejad who should be concerned about the reaction from the world's sole superpower to findings of Iranian complicity in American combat deaths, and not vice versa. Incredibly, the administration doesn't appear to think so. This is deeply upsetting.

Equally upsetting is the news report's implied suggestion that "follow-up questions" about Iranian aggression are, in effect, more difficult to face than the aggression itself. It's as if the logical conclusion to such findings -- in all likelihood, the obvious inference that Iran is already waging war against us -- is to be avoided more than the war itself. Better to take the Iranian facts on the ground -- the bombings and kidnappings, the backstabbing and subversion, and the American casualties -- and just bury them. Otherwise, reality would ruin everything.

This same ostrich-like viewpoint drives administration policy on the Palestinian Authority, which hinges on the contra-factual belief that PA President Mahmoud Abbas is a "moderate." Indeed, the ostrich outlook helps explain President Bush's see-no-, speak-no-, hear-no-evil order this week to bestow an additional $86 million on Abbas. It's not just, for example, as Palestinian Media Watch has noted, that the PA municipality of Yaabid has recently named a school and its main street (newly paved by American taxpayer dollars) in honor of Saddam Hussein. Or that a city block in Jenin was named after a suicide-bomber who killed four Americans in Fallujah. Or that American funds built the PA's Salaf Khalef Sports Center, named for the head of the Black September terror group that was behind the murder of two American diplomats in Sudan and 11 Israeli athletes in Munich.

Mr. Bush's order came shortly after Abbas himself, in a speech marking the 42nd anniversary of co-founding the Fatah Party with terror kingpin Yasser Arafat, exhorted Palestinians to put "our internal fighting aside and raise our rifles only against Israeli occupation." In other words, not only was the "moderate" calling for violence against Israel -- a call quickly answered this week when the Fatah-linked Al Aqsa Martyr Brigades, acting with Islamic Jihad, sent a killer to self-detonate in an Israeli bakery -- he was also calling for reconciliation with forces of Hamas, the jihadist terror group. As if to underscore his message, Abbas went on to praise assassinated Hamas guru, Ahmed Yassin. He also invoked rankly anti-Semitic verses from the Koran (5:64) to claim that Jews are corrupting the world.

As Andrew C. McCarthy has written at National Review Online, such actions and behaviors merit "not one thin dime" from the U.S. Regarding this most recent outrage, it is true, as www.Worldnetdaily.com noted, that most media didn't report the full extent of Abbas' remarks. Indeed, the Associated Press' shamelessly sanitized account -- "Abbas calls for respect at Fatah rally" -- was mainstream typical. But if I, sitting deskside, could get the real skinny, certainly the U.S. government, with all of its resources, could do the same. In other words, being uninformed is no excuse. The terrible conclusion to draw is that the president, along with too many other political leaders, simply prefers to be uninformed.

Their world looks rosier that way. Which isn't at all to say it's a pretty sight. In fact, it's hideous in its own way, something I'd prefer not to look at. Denial is an ugly thing. But it's urgent that we confront it.

Emanuel Winston is a commentator and Middle East analyst. His articles appear often on Think-Israel and Gamla. He is a member of the Board of Directors and a research associate of the Freeman Center For Strategic Studies (http://www.freeman.org/online.htm). Contact him at gwinston@gwinston.interaccess.com

To Go To Top

COMMENTARY ABOUT JIM BAKER'S JEW-PROBLEM
Posted by Lademain, February 4, 2007.

We opine that Jim Baker has a virulent case of Jew-baiting coupled to a relentless yen for scapegoating Jews because he fears they have every moral reason to despise him.

The time has come to stop the outrageous antics of Baker and Hamilton.

We say this because we believe JIm Baker hopes he can get people to think that if all the Jews are wiped out of Israel, then "peace will come to the Middle East." We don't theeeeeenk so! We think Jim Baker serves a different devil.

We are the NON-evangelical Christians for Zion and we have this to say to Jim Baker and his cronies at the Saudi-financed Carter Center:

We believe Jim Baker knows that slaughtering all the Jews in the world will not bring the Islamic imperialists even one step closer to peace. We believe that a strong, powerful Israel is a barricade to the Islamic imperialist onslaught.

It is our further opinion that Baker hopes he can persuade frightened leftist Jews of Israel to abandon their lands and take refuge in caves so that he can call them cowards while helping the Saudi royals and their kin steal Jewish Palestine and destroy every trace of the Jews and the Hebrew peoples in the same manner as the Taliban, who dynamited the ancient Buddhist shrines in Afghanistan.

We believe Jim Baker and his toad, Hamilton, need to get the public to believe what they say about linking Israel to Iraq because their real pay-off is 1) obscuring their role in Bush's failure in Iraq, while 2) justifying the murder of millions of Jews because at bottom, Baker is a crass, loud, vulgar, greedy bigot who welcomes just such a slaughter. In which case, he is just like Yasser Arafat, the Egyptian terrorist who was appeased by the left-wing, Polish-born Jew, Shimon Peres, even as Arafat was industriously slaughtering Israeli Muslims and Jews.

We believe Baker doesn't give a fig about peace and probably never has. It is our further belief that he's a money-grubbing oil toady who will do anything to appease the oil lobby and the Islamic imperialists who control OPEC.

Why should any decent person believe Jim Baker? If you want to know just how indebted Jim Baker really is to the Saudi lobby, read: "House of Bush -- House of Saud"; author Craig Unger.

Nobody should believe that any recent American administration has been as good an ally to Israel as Israel has been to the United States.

Shame on the hoary old head of Jimmy Carter, the first X-POTUS to take heavy hand-outs, in the millions, from the Saudis. Carter helped the notorious muckraker, Hanan Ashwari, popularize the falacious, scandalous notion that the Arabs were driven out of "their lands" by the Jews. What filthy rubbish! And worse still, these horrible notables know their lies are rubbish.

The lands that were promised to the Jews as their homeland in 1917-1918 were always their homeland and known as such. Jerusalem belongs to the Jews. The Islamics have a lesser and more inferior claim to Mecca by comparison. Before the Brits and the French got their sticky hands on Jewish Palestine, the region belonged to the Ottoman Empire for 400 years. The Arabs and the Islamics NEVER owned Jewish Palestine, and THEY are the invading "occupiers"--not the Jews.

Contact Lademain by email at lademain@verizon.net

To Go To Top

MANKIND'S PERILOUS ILLOGIC
Posted by Lawrence Uniglicht, February 4, 2007.

Islamic militancy rears its ugly head in unstable Middle East venues such as genocidal Sudan, uncivil war torn Iraq, the failed state of Gaza, coup d'etat-in-progress Lebanon, misogyny plagued Afghanistan, and elsewhere. Machiavellian Islamic autocracies suppress and brainwash their masses in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Libya, Pakistan, and elsewhere. Indeed, violent, suppressive, exploitative, impoverished, misogynistic are but some of the unseemly characteristics befitting mostly all Islamic nations in varying degrees. Yet, the only truly democrat, tolerant, economically vibrant, technologically advanced, indeed net world contributor located in the dysfunctional Middle East, the State of Israel, bizarrely gets kicked around, as if it were a pariah, by non-Muslim first world movers and shakers, rather than extended deserved kudos. Hmmm! Could it be that no matter how much of a contributor the Jewish State is to say planetary technological progress, it can never trump those Islamic regimes that wrap their spindly fingers around fossil fuel faucets meting out the dinosaur age lifeblood of modern day energy addicted nations, thus such addicts will always spew self serving opinions, no matter how illogical and unfair they are, that satisfy those petrol pushers?

It is more than obvious, for one, that modern day out of control Hatfield and McCoy Hamas and Fatah movements are too busy shooting at each other to govern consequentially impoverished Arab citizens in the Gaza Strip, yet mostly all non-Muslim first world oil dependent leaders bizarrely refuse to concede Israel should never have ceded that land in the first place. Furthermore, those same non-Muslim leaders sadly refuse to assert what is more than obvious, based on empirical logic; no further Israeli land, justifiably secured by the victorious Jewish State in its 1967 war of survival i.e. Judea, Samaria, the Golan Heights and east Jerusalem, should be conceded to so-called Palestinian Arabs, unable to deal with the responsibilities inherent to sovereignty. Alas, pandering to neighborhood oil barons that despise Israel overrules empirical logic. No doubt, oil uber alas is the logo worn by non-Muslim bloviators, subtly and not so subtly condemning Israel for building security walls, manning check points, deploying military forces to protect peaceful citizens, in effect doing what any civil nation would do to insure the health and safety of its citizens had Dame Fortune likewise made it the vengeful target of homicidal/suicidal terrorists, both affiliated and non-affiliated with hostile regimes.

In a nutshell, the collective world's nuttiness, if it continues, manifesting in its misperception and mistreatment of one tiny civil kick-ass state, surviving and indeed prospering against all odds within a region of hostile Islamic regimes, many of which are almost wholly economically dependent, contrary to their long term interests, on the very liquid raw material that makes the world so nutty, will prove to be its downfall. You can't beat Mother Nature! The more mankind burns oil, the more atmospheric carbon he produces, the more temperatures rise within his one home in the universe, the more glacial Antarctica and Greenland melt, the more sea levels rise, the more nature devastates world seashore as well inland communities, the more panic those events precipitate, the more mankind's territorial instincts kick in, the more various tribes fight to control pieces of Earth's ever shrinking land mass, the more likely the ultimate Dr. Strangelove weapon launches, the more likely mankind plunges into an era of darkness, the less fossil fuel he burns, the less global temperatures rise over ensuing eons, but of course by that time the erstwhile human species is compressed into the very vicious viscous substance that proves to be the bane of its very existence. This is not a pretty picture, but one that today's thoughtful movers and shakers should seriously contemplate, hopefully concluding that respecting the State of Israel makes a whole lot more sense than further selling mankind's soul to those robed rogue pushers of the prehistoric substance that could very well lead to his demise. It's ultimately his choice!

Lawrence Uniglicht is a career civil servant, working for the Social Security Administration. He advocates for the State of Israel with an American perspective. He writes, "Advocating for the disrespected underdog has been my passion, no doubt Israel falls into that category." Contact him by email at luniglicht@snip.net

To Go To Top

THIS IS THE FUTURE THAT AWAITS EUROPE AND AMERICA
Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, February 4, 2007.

From today's Associated Press

20 face lashes for dancing in Saudi Arabia Judge sentences foreigners for partying, alcohol, unmarrieds mingling
(www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16978938/).

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- A Saudi Arabian judge sentenced 20 foreigners to receive lashes and spend several months in prison after convicting them of attending a party where alcohol was served and men and women danced, a newspaper reported Sunday.

The defendants were among 433 foreigners, including some 240 women, arrested by the kingdom's religious police for attending the party in Jiddah, the state-guided newspaper Okaz said. It did not identify the foreigners, give their nationalities or say when the party took place.

Judge Saud al-Boushi sentenced the 20 to prison terms of three to four months and ordered them to receive an unspecified number of lashes, the newspaper said. They have the right to appeal, it added.

The prosecutor general charged the 20 with "drinking, arranging for impudent party, mixed dancing and shooting a video for the party," Okaz said.

The paper said the rest of those arrested were awaiting trial.

Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islam under which it bans alcohol and meetings between unrelated men and women.

The religious police, a force resented by many Saudis for interfering in personal lives, enjoys wide powers. Its officers roam malls, markets, universities and other public places looking for such infractions as unrelated men and women mingling, men skipping Islam's five daily prayers and women with strands of hair showing from under their veil.

In May, the Interior Ministry restricted the powers of the religious police to just arresting suspects, because the police sometimes had held people incommunicado and insisted on taking part in ensuing investigations.

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.

To Go To Top

US INTELLIGENCE CHIEFS EVALUATED ROBUSTNESS OF OLMERT GOVERNMENT AFTER LEBANON WAR
Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, February 4, 2007.

DEBKAfile on September 6, 2006 reported that President George W. Bush sent State Department and military investigators to Israel to determine if Israel was still able to perform as a stable, military ally, given the debacle of the Lebanon Hezb'Allah failure. Bush needn't have sent such a team, given that everyone in Israel knew that Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Amir Peretz and the Chief of Staff Dan Halutz were miserable failures at leading or defending the nation. Israel still has a brave, powerful and willing army but, when you have gross incompetents raised up to their lowest level by her incredibly incompetent leadership, you lose wars.

That is not the whole story. For years, the U.S. State Department aided, abetted and led the foreign policy of a series of presidents. The State Department has insisted that the Israeli leadership display a Left-leaning foreign policy. So, those who rose to power and wished to stay there had better follow the doctrine of the likes of Rabin, Peres, Barak, Netanyahu, Sharon and finally Olmert -- because they followed the State Department's doctrine and "diktats".

Israel's last hope was Ariel Sharon and he, too, was finally beaten down to follow the weak path of a Leftist. There is not much to say about Olmert except to point out that he is the worst of the lot, crawling after Rice and following the lead of the Arabist State Department. Is it any wonder that, when the U.S. counted on Israel's army to defeat Hezb'Allah, they failed under the weak leadership of Olmert, Peretz, Halutz with Shimon Peres in the wings as "advisor"?

The U.S. got what it had nurtured: an Israeli army that is repeatedly ordered by her leaders to restrain herself and, therefore, slowly grows weaker. The young soldiers, sailors and air forces may be brave and strong, but when they are called upon to fight, the warrior strength and tenacity has been bred out those who give the orders to the soldiers. Taking a closer look, one finds many in the officers corps are placed there as PC (politically correct) and supportive of the Labor Left.

When the enemy constantly attacks with missiles and rockets against civilians and thus, warrants an aggressive response, up pops the likes of Rice who orders a weak and complacent Olmert to restrain the Army from responding forcefully. So the Army does not do as well as it might, and even the people no longer rely upon the Army to defend them. Keep in mind that, the young men and women who enter the army to serve come from the people. When their families no longer believe in the government, their children are likely to share their values.

There is enough blame to go around but, I blame the U.S. Arabist policies who undercut and subvert the will of the Israeli leadership and, through them, the Army to display weakness. They wanted a weak and complacent Israel so they could advance the cause of the Arab Muslim Palestinians to appease the Arab nations. Thus, the Israel they once relied upon to be there when called, was slowly whittled down by the Arabists in Washington.

The Israeli IDF (Israel Defense Forces) are still there, still strong (despite the weakness of their leaders) and still ready to fight as soon as her weak leaders are pushed out of power and replaced by leaders who are not fearful of the Arabist State Department and the growing threat of Arab terror.

###

"BUSH ORDERED HIS INTELLIGENCE CHIEFS TO EVALUATE THE ROBUSTNESS OF THE OLMERT GOVERNMENT AFTER THEIR SECOND LEBANON WAR: DEBKA-Net-Weekly revealed September 1" DEBKAfile September 6, 2006 9:52 AM

"DEBKAfile reports that their unfavorable findings have prompted urgent trips to Washington by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's top advisors this week.

In his directive for an updated National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Israel, the US president wanted to find out if the mismanaged Lebanon War was a curable hiccup or the symptom of a deeper malady.

He asked whether Israel is robust enough to continue to count as a strong and stable political and military force to serve the United States as a Middle East ally and a strategic mainstay in the region."

Emanuel Winston is a commentator and Middle East analyst. His articles appear often on Think-Israel and Gamla. He is a member of the Board of Directors and a research associate of the Freeman Center For Strategic Studies (http://www.freeman.org/online.htm). Contact him at gwinston@gwinston.interaccess.com

To Go To Top

THE DIPLOMACY OF GOLAN HEIGHTS
Posted by Kaustav Chakrabarti, February 4, 2007.

The recent speculation about Israeli-Syrian talks regarding the status of Golan Heights and the relations between the two countries have raised a quite a few eyebrows (including myself) in the international community.

The Heights were captured by Israel in the 1967 war and has ever since been the bone of contention between Israel and Syria. The acquisition of the Golan helped Israel to have a measure of security against an unfriendly neighbour that has refused to have anything to do with the Jewish state since 1948. The regime's support for various terrorist factions, is an indicator of such unfriendliness or willingness to come to terms with Israel. So there is no guarantee that the handover of the Golan would solve the ongoing tension between Israel and Syria, as the latter is bent upon discrediting Israel in every international gathering including the UNO. Moreover, as in the past (prior to 1967), the Heights could be a staging base for military actions against Israel.

The onus of peace is upon Syria. If it is serious about mending fences, it should (a) Stop supporting the terrorists (b)secure the release of kidnapped Israeli soldiers (c) denounce Iran's nuclear ambitions and denial of the Holocaust (d)Give guarantees of Druze self-determination (d) Recognize Israel If Syria comes to grips with the reality of Israel, and abides by with some of the conditions as mentioned above, then it would be a new determinant of peace in the Middle East.

Contact Kaustav Chakrabarti at kaustav12000@yahoo.co.in

To Go To Top

OLMERT CONSENTS TO MUSLIM PRAYER TOWER WHILE DENYING JEWISH PLANS FOR SYNAGOGUE
Posted by B'nai Elim, February 4, 2007.

This was written by Aaron Klein, World Net Daily's Jerusalem bureau chief. It appeared February 1, 2007 in World Net Daily
(http://wnd.com/news/printer-friendly.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54056).

Israel allows minaret over Temple Mount

JERUSALEM -- Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has given permission for Jordan to build a large minaret adjacent to a mosque on the Temple Mount to call Muslims to prayer at the holy site, WND has learned. The minaret will stand at a site on the Mount where Jewish groups here had petitioned to build a synagogue. A minaret is a tower usually attached to a mosque from which Muslims are called to the five Islamic daily prayers.

There are four minarets on the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism. The new minaret will be the largest one yet. It will be the first built on the Temple Mount in over 600 years and is slated to tower over the walls of Jerusalem's old city. It will reside next to the Al-Marwani Mosque, located at the site of Solomon's Stables.

Aryeh Eldad, a Knesset member from Israel's National Union party, last year drew up plans with Jewish groups to build a synagogue near the Marwani Mosque. The synagogue was to be built in accordance with rulings from several prominent rabbis, who said Jews can ascend the Mount at certain areas. A top leader of the Waqf -- the Islamic custodians of the Mount -- told WND Olmert's granting of permission to build the minaret in the synagogue's place "confirms 100-percent the Haram al-Sharif (Temple Mount) belongs to Muslims."

A top leader of the Waqf -- the Islamic custodians of the Mount -- told WND Olmert's granting of permission to build the minaret in the synagogue's place "confirms 100-percent the Haram al-Sharif (Temple Mount) belongs to Muslims."

"This proves Jewish conspiracies for a synagogue will never succeed and solidifies our presence here. It will make Muslims worldwide more secure that the Jews will never take over the Haram al-Sharif," the Waqf official said.

Sources in the Jordanian monarchy and the Waqf told WND Olmert earlier this month gave Jordan's King Abdullah official permission to build the minaret. The sources said the minaret will rise 130 feet above the ancient walls of Jerusalem.

A senior Olmert adviser today confirmed to WND the Israeli prime minister told Abdullah he will allow the minaret's construction.

The adviser said he could not speak on the record because Israel has been waiting for an "opportune time" to officially announce permission for the new minaret.

In October, King Abdullah announced plans to build the fifth minaret, although at the time the Jordanians reportedly did not have Israel's permission to commence construction. Abdullah said the minaret would bear the symbol of the Jordanian monarchy.

The Temple Mount's first minaret was constructed on the southwest corner in 1278; the second was built in 1297 by order of a Mameluke king; the third by a governor of Jerusalem in 1329; and the last in 1367.

Prominent Israeli archeologist Gabi Barkai of Tel Aviv University blasted the new minaret plans.

"I am against any change in the status quo on the Temple Mount. If the status quo is being changed, then it should not just be the addition of Muslim structures at the site," Barkai said.

Rabbi Chaim Rechman, director of the international department at Israel's Temple Institute, told WND Olmert's decision to allow the minaret "is repugnant to anyone who knows what it is to be a Jew."

"The decision and Israel's general attitude toward the Temple Mount is the manifestation of spiritual bankruptcy in the country's leadership. Olmert is turning his back on our Jewish heritage while the rest of the world looks at us with amazement at how we can be so insensitive to our own spiritual legacy."

Al Aqsa Mosque built by angels?

The Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism. For Muslims, it is Islam's third holiest site.

The First Jewish Temple was built by King Solomon in the 10th century B.C. It was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. The Second Temple was rebuilt in 515 B.C. after Jerusalem was freed from Babylonian captivity. That temple was destroyed by the Roman Empire in A.D. 70. Each temple stood for a period of about four centuries.

The Jewish Temple was the center of religious Jewish worship. It housed the Holy of Holies, which contained the Ark of the Covenant and was said to be the area upon which God's "presence" dwelt. The Al Aqsa Mosque now sits on the site.

The temple served as the primary location for the offering of sacrifices and was the main gathering place in Israel during Jewish holidays.

The Temple Mount compound has remained a focal point for Jewish services over the millennia. Prayers for a return to Jerusalem have been uttered by Jews since the Second Temple was destroyed, according to Jewish tradition. Jews worldwide pray facing toward the Western Wall, a portion of an outer courtyard of the Temple left intact.

The Al Aqsa Mosque was constructed around A.D. 709 to serve as a shrine near another shrine, the Dome of the Rock, which was built by an Islamic caliph. Al Aqsa was meant to mark the place where Muslims came to believe Muhammad, the founder of Islam, ascended to heaven.

Jerusalem is not mentioned in the Quran. Islamic tradition states Muhammad took a journey in a single night from "a sacred mosque" -- believed to be in Mecca in southern Saudi Arabia -- to "the farthest mosque," and from a rock there ascended to heaven. The farthest mosque later became associated with Jerusalem.

Most Waqf officials deny the Jewish temples ever existed in spite of what many call overwhelming archaeological evidence, including the discovery of Temple-era artifacts linked to worship, tunnels that snake under the Temple Mount and over 100 ritual immersion pools believed to have been used by Jewish priests to cleanse themselves before services. The cleansing process is detailed in the Torah.

According to the website of the Palestinian Authority's Office for Religious Affairs, the Temple Mount is Muslim property. The site claims the Western Wall, which it refers to as the Al-Boraq Wall, previously was a docking station for horses. It states Muhammed tied his horse, named Boraq, to the wall before ascending to heaven.

In an interview with WND, Kamal Hatib, vice-chairman of the Islamic Movement, which will take part in the podium installation ceremonies, claimed the Al-Aqsa Mosque was built by angels and that a Jewish Temple may have existed, but not in Jerusalem. The Movement, which works closely with the Waqf, is the Muslim group in Israel most identified with the Temple Mount.

"When the First Temple was built by Solomon -- God bless him -- Al Aqsa was already built. We don't believe that a prophet like Solomon would have built the Temple at a place where a mosque existed," said Hatib.

"And all the historical and archaeological facts deny any relation between the temples and the location of Al Aqsa," he continued. "We must know that Jerusalem was occupied and that people left many things, coins and other things everywhere. This does not mean in any way that there is a link between the people who left these things and the place where these things were left."

Al Aqsa official: Jewish temples existed

Last June, in a widely circulated WND interview, a former senior leader of the Waqf contradicted his colleagues, saying he has come to believe the first and second Jewish Temples existed and stood at the current location of the Al Aqsa Mosque.

The leader, who was dismissed from his Waqf position after he quietly made his beliefs known, said Al Aqsa custodians passed down stories for centuries from generation to generation indicating the mosque was built at the site of the former Jewish temples.

He said the Muslim world's widespread denial of the existence of the Jewish temples is political in nature and is not rooted in facts.

"Prophet Solomon built his famous Temple at the same place that later the Al Aqsa Mosque was built. It cannot be a coincidence that these different holy sites were built at the same place. The Jewish Temple Mount existed," said the former senior Waqf leader, speaking to WND from an apartment in an obscure alley in Jerusalem's Old City.

The former leader, who is well known to Al Aqsa scholars and Waqf officials, spoke on condition his name be withheld, claiming an on-the-record interview would endanger his life.

He told WND "true" Islamic tradition relates the Jewish temples once stood at the site of the Al Aqsa Mosque.

"[The existence of the Jewish Temple at the site is obvious] according to studies, researches and archaeological signs that we were also exposed to. But especially according to the history that passed from one generation to another -- we believe Al Aqsa was built on the same place were the Temple of the Jews -- the first monotheistic religion -- existed."

He cited samples of some stories he said were related orally by Islamic leaders:

"We learned that the Christians, especially those who believed that Jesus was crucified by the Jews, used to throw their garbage at the Temple Mount site. They used to throw the pieces of cotton and other material Christian women used in cleaning the blood of their monthly cycle. Doing so, they believed that they were humiliating, insulting and harming the Jews at their holiest site. This way they are hurting them like Jews hurt Christians when crucifying Jesus.

"It is known also that most of the first guards of Al Aqsa when it was built were Jews. The Muslims knew at that time that they could not find any more loyal and faithful than the Jews to guard the mosque and its compound. They knew that the Jews have a special relation with this place."

Temple Mount: No-prayer zone

Currently, even though the Jewish state controls Jerusalem, the Waqf serve as the custodians of the Temple Mount under a deal made with the Israeli government that restricts non-Muslim prayer at the site.

The Temple Mount was opened to the general public until September 2000, when the Palestinians started their intifada by throwing stones at Jewish worshipers after then-candidate for prime minister Ariel Sharon visited the area.

Following the onset of violence, the new Sharon government closed the Mount to non-Muslims, using checkpoints to control all pedestrian traffic for fear of further clashes with the Palestinians.

The Temple Mount was reopened to non-Muslims in August 2003. It still is open but only Sundays through Thursdays, 7:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m., and not on any Christian, Jewish or Muslim holidays or other days considered "sensitive" by the Waqf.

During "open" days, Jews and Christian are allowed to ascend the Mount, usually through organized tours and only if they conform first to a strict set of guidelines, which includes demands that they not pray or bring any "holy objects" to the site. Visitors are banned from entering any of the mosques without direct Waqf permission. Rules are enforced by Waqf agents, who watch tours closely and alert nearby Israeli police to any breaking of their guidelines.

Contact B'nai Elim by email at news@bnaielim.org

To Go To Top

NOT ONE THIN DIME FOR ABBAS
Posted by Andrew C. McCarthy, February 3, 2007.
When will the madness end? When will the Bush administration and Condoleezza Rice's State Department finally stop their deranged midwifery of the Palestinian terror state conceived by the Clinton administration amid the mood music of two Intifadas?

On Monday, a 21-year-old suicide bomber, Muhammad Faisal al-Siksik, self-detonated at a bakery in the coastal town of Eilat on the Red Sea. Three innocents were killed: the bakery's two Israeli owners and their Peruvian employee (whose family hails from Miami). Soon after came the claim of responsibility. The operation was carried out by the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, working in conjunction with Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

FATAH'S "MODERATE" CON JOB

The Aqsa Brigades are not just any group of terrorists. They are the most ruthless, accomplished terror wing of Fatah, the organization bequeathed to us by the late Yasser Arafat. The Bush administration delusionally regards Fatah and its leader, Mahmoud Abbas (also known as "Abu Mazen"), as the "moderate" Palestinian faction. There is nothing moderate about them. Yet, the administration appears determined to play this foolish game to its inevitable end because, like its starry-eyed predecessor, it is entranced by the holy grail of Israeli/Palestinian peace.

Peace, of course, would require two sides desirous of coexistence. We're one short. Palestinians do not seek to coexist with Israel. They seek to destroy Israel. But that may have to await their annihilation of each other, with Fatah and its fellow thug, Hamas, now locked in a struggle for control.

Hamas is proudly unyielding in its announced intention to vaporize the "Zionist entity." By contrast, Fatah is cagier but no less determined. In the Arafat style, it feints every now and again toward negotiation with Israel. There is, after all, a trough of Western billions for any Palestinian leadership willing to affect aspiration toward the Clinton/Bush nirvana: two states, Israel and "Palestine," living side-by-side in peace. Fatah needs those billions to keep its operatives loyal. Historically, it is a pervasively corrupt, creakily socialist outfit -- a former Soviet client averse to elementary economic development.

But the act is just that, an act. The Fatah constitution still calls for the "eradication of Zionist economic, political, military and cultural existence[,]" through an "armed revolution" which is to be the "decisive factor in the liberation fight and in uprooting the Zionist existence" -- a revolution that "will not cease unless the Zionist state is demolished and Palestine is completely liberated."

Consistent with this overarching plan, the U.S.-led "peace process" has been a 14-year sham -- hence, the intervening Intifada and related terror gambits. Fatah may occasionally say it will live with Israel, but it has demonstrated, repeatedly, that it will never agree to the commonsense requirements of coexistence: It not only demands land and Jerusalem as its national capital; it refuses to disarm terrorist militias and insists on a refugee "right of return" -- an influx of well over a million Palestinians that would effectively destroy the tiny Jewish state from within.

By our State Department's lights, this qualifies as "moderation" -- perhaps because Hamas's direct approach is bereft of diplomatic nicety, while the savvier Fatah seems willing to attrit Israel to death. (Such new gloss on the withering Bush Doctrine is also on display in Baghdad, where the administration now regularly consults with Abdul Azziz al-Hakim, or, as the White House describes him, "His Eminence," leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq -- a creation of Iran).

FATAH'S AQSA BRIGADES

The murderous Aqsa Brigades, however, put the lie to Fatah's charade rather embarrassingly. They were officially designated by the United States government as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 2002 after executing a series of atrocities conjoined to Arafat's orchestration of the second Intifada, which began in late 2000 and has never officially ended.

There is no question the Brigades are part and parcel of Fatah. Documents seized by the Israeli Defense Force established that Arafat was paying them directly. Moreover, in a 2004 interview with the Arabic daily, Asharq al-Awsat, Fatah's Ahmed Qurei, then Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority, proclaimed: "We have clearly declared that the Aqsa Martyrs Brigades are part of Fatah[.]... We are committed to them and Fatah bears full responsibility for the group." Qurei maintained that they "will not be dismantled," and that each of the Brigades' members had "the right to play a political role within the framework of Fatah."

The Brigades are brazen about their intentions. They have, for example, expressed their "[i]dentification with and overall support of the position and declaration of the Iranian President [Mahmoud Ahmadinejad], who called with all honesty to wipe Israel off the map of the world[,]" adding: "We stress our support of the Iranian president's position toward the fictitious Zionist state, which will disappear with the help of Allah."

This should come as no surprise since, like many terrorist organizations, the Brigades receive financing from Iran and training from Hezbollah, with whom they coordinate attacks. (In fact, the Jerusalem Post reported just a few days ago that Hezbollah has provided Palestinian terror groups with "high-grade explosives that have significantly improved the effectiveness of roadside improvised explosive devices (IED) used against [Israeli Defense Force] patrols.")

Of a piece with these alliances, the Brigades have recently taken to threatening the United States directly. Last May, while Abbas conferred with Russian strongman Vladimir Putin, the Brigades issued a warning that "[w]e won't remain idle in the face of the siege imposed on the Palestinian people by Israel, the U.S. and other countries[.]...We will strike at the economic and civilian interests of these countries, here and abroad."

Abbas keeps close ties to the Brigades. His wary confederation with Marwan Barghouti, a formative Brigades figure currently serving a life sentence in Israel for multiple murders, was essential to his 2004 election as Palestinian Authority president. The support of Barghouti and the Brigades remains key to Abbas's hold on Fatah's reins. Indeed, the German weekly Welt am Sonntag reported last March that Abbas has appointed another Aqsa heavyweight, Zakariya Zubeidi, to head the police force in Jenin -- only after personally witnessing a demonstration of the wild popularity Zubeidi and the Brigades enjoy in that West Bank cauldron (Hat tip to the Vital Perspective Blog).

Consequently, the revelations recently reported in the Israeli press by one "Abu Ahmed," a Fatah member and Aqsa Brigades leader, are alarming, albeit predictable. Ahmed explained that Abbas's claim to recognize Israel's right to exist was merely a "political calculation," and that the aims of Fatah and the Brigades remain one and the same: the ultimate destruction of Israel. "The base of our Fatah movement keeps dreaming of Tel Aviv, Haifa, Jaffa and Akko," he reportedly stated. "There is no change in our position. Abbas recognizes Israel because of pressure that the Zionists and the Americans are exercising on him. We understand this is part of his obligations and political calculations."

END THE MADNESS

Regrettably, the quixotic quest for Middle East peace has rendered Secretary Rice oblivious to Fatah's long-entrenched and quite current record of terror. In an October 11, 2006, speech at the inaugural gala for the latest "Task Force on Palestine," she asserted:

If peace and dignity are to prevail in the region, then it is absolutely essential for leaders to be able to show, for moderate leaders to show, that their ideas, and their principles, and their vision for the future can offer a better alternative than violence and terrorism. That is why President Bush asked me to travel last week to the Middle East -- to confer with moderate voices, with moderate Arab governments and with moderate leaders, to build a support for those people who are trying and who need our help more than ever now, leaders like ... most especially, of course, President Abbas in the Palestinian territories, from whom we have just heard.

It didn't take long for Abbas to make a mockery out of this gushing tribute. On January 11, 2007, addressing a throng of about 50,000 at Fatah's 42nd anniversary (after laying a wreath at the hallowed grave of the terror master, Arafat), the "moderate leader" railed: "[W]ith the will and determination of its sons, Fatah has and will continue. We will not give up our principles and we have said that rifles should be directed against the occupation... We have a legitimate right to direct our guns against Israeli occupation..."

Those "principles" were reaffirmed yet again on Monday. They snuffed out the lives of three ordinary civilians whose great contribution to the "occupation" was to toil at a bakery. It was, once more, the handiwork of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the savages who do Fatah's dirty work while America swoons.

Remarkably, the Bush administration has asked Congress to fork up $86 million in aid for Fatah's security forces -- forces in which many Brigades members now serve, and into which Fatah envisions someday folding the Brigades. That, evidently, is the "moderate" manner of "dismantling" terrorists: you simply mantle them to the regular police.

It is madness. Congress should give Abbas not one thin dime. Let's stop making fools of ourselves. Let's first hear Abbas unambiguously condemn the Aqsa Brigades and purge them from Fatah. Let's hear Abbas loudly assert that all suicide bombings and other attacks intentionally targeting civilians are unacceptable. Let's hear Abbas acknowledge that a peaceful settlement cannot realistically include a right of return.

How hard can that be for a "moderate"?

Andrew C. McCarthy directs the Center for Law & Counterterrorism at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

This was published January 31, 2007 in National Review Online,
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NjU2N2Q5NzJiYjRlOTA0MjNjOTc0NGU5OTY2NTdmYmQ The original article has live links to additional text material.

To Go To Top

ISRAEL'S DUAL JUDICIAL/LEGAL SYSTEM AND ROAD BLOCKING
Posted by Steven Plaut, February 3, 2007.

1. If anyone is still not sure that two judicial and legal systems operate in Israel, one for leftists and the other for the rest of us, then just consider this!

First, for many years, any anti-Oslo activist who intentionally blocked road traffic as a protest was arrested by the police, often beaten, and prosecuted. While there are many examples, the most famous is that involving Moshe Feiglin (see http://mideastoutpost.com/archives/000282.html). Feiglin headed an anti-Oslo protest group in the 1990s called "Zo Artzeinu", and today heads the Manhigut Yehudit group, which has tried to challenge the leadership within the Likud. Feiglin was not only arrested, but he was prosecuted under "sedition" charges by Israel's politicized Attorney General and he was convicted. That is the same attorney general who never gets around to prosecuting treasonous leftists or pro-genocide Arab politicians for "sedition" or "racism".

Those who are not anti-Oslo activists can block intersections all they want and never get prosecuted. The Histadrut crime family regularly does so, as do groups of leftists and even college students who object to being charged annual college tuition of 2500 dollars per year (not per course).

Over the past few days, anti-Israel "anarchists" (who should in fact be called "anarcho-fascists") have been repeatedly blocking highways and roads in the Tel Aviv area. They claim they are dumping into the roads scraps they tore off Israel's security fence near Modi'in. How many of these hooligans have been arrested and indicted for sedition?

Surely you jest!

In Israel only Zionist activists are prosecuted under anti-sedition laws, not leftist traitors and pro-terrorists.

About the latest "anarchist" vandalism and hooliganism, see this web page for the news story: http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/821331.html
"Activists in a left wing group that calls itself the "Anarchists Against the Fence" blocked a main Tel Aviv road using barbed wire taken from the West Bank separation fence.

"The activists placed the barbed wire, taken from the section of the fence near the village of Bil'in, at the corner of Rothschild and Bar Ilan streets in central Tel Aviv. On the barbed wire, the activists hung signs also taken from the fence, warning trespassers in Hebrew, English and Arabic that the fenced area is a closed military compound and anyone who tries to cross the fence or vandalize it in any way is putting their life at risk.

"According to the activists, blocking the traffic on a central road was designed to symbolize the limiting of motion the fence imposes on the Palestinian people every day. "The disruption that our roadblock created is nothing compared to the disruptions caused by the army's checkpoints, the apartheid roads, the settlements and the separation fence," they said."

Now in spite of my regular calls for the army to shoot leftists who sabotage the security fence, the Olmert regime continues to treat these violent hooligans with kid gloves, as sweet peace-loving scamps in need of a hug.

2. Yes, Iran Can Be Stopped
The Iranian regime can't live without its oil money.
by Daniel Doron
02/01/2007 11:15:00 AM

IRAN'S NUCLEAR PROJECT can probably be stopped by significantly cutting its oil income. A meaningful decline in this main source of Iran's income would force its leadership to choose between butter and guns. This is a critical choice; the ayatollahs cannot hope to maintain their hold on power if they cannot feed the tens of millions of destitute citizens now kept afloat with immense welfare outlays. As long as high oil prices and exports provide them with enough income to finance both their costly welfare program and their ambitious, expensive nuclear project, they can and will do both. If reduced means compel a choice, the survival instinct will force them to choose rice rather than enriched uranium.

So why has so little been done to reduce Iran's oil income? Military and diplomatic experts in the West have not yet considered the full extent of Iran's economic vulnerability. Like the Kremlinologists of yore, whose chief efforts were directed at avoiding a nuclear conflagration between the Soviet Union and the West, those dealing with Iran have become totally enmeshed in diplomatic moves to head off Tehran's nuclear ambitions, ignoring the less obvious but more crucial economic processes that underlie Iran's power. Very few Kremlinologist predicted the implosion of the powerful Soviet empire, an implosion that had far more to do with economics than with diplomatic efforts at containment. The same may be happening now with regards to Iran.

THE IRANIAN ECONOMY IS IN SHAMBLES. In an effort to please their lower-class supporters in the wake of the revolution, the ayatollahs slapped price controls on agricultural products. Within several years this resulted in the devastation of what was once a prosperous agricultural sector. Millions of farmers had to leave their farms and move to shanty towns near major urban centers. There they were fed by Islamic charities financed by the confiscated assets of the shah. Charity was allocated by family size. This encouraged higher birth rates and caused a population explosion, more than doubling Iran's population and putting further strain on its welfare system.

Mismanagement and corruption, which are endemic to dictatorial regimes, further increased inflation and unemployment, leaving millions of those inhabiting the politically volatile shanty towns barely able to keep their heads above water. Should a cut in oil income force the government to cut back on its welfare subsidies, it will risk a massive revolt--this time not by disgruntled students, who can be marginalized and brutally suppressed, but by the very Islamic masses that have been supporting the revolution as long as it secured their livelihood and lifted their morale with the promises of a victorious jihad.

If not for ever-higher income from oil, Iran's inefficient and corrupt economy would have collapsed long ago. But with Western complicity, the Iranians have cleverly managed to increase their income. By inflaming the Arab-Israeli conflict and supporting terrorism, they also foment tension that leads to higher oil prices. Their investment in Hezbollah, you might say, has really paid off.

EVEN A PARTIALLY SUCCESSFUL effort to reduce Iran's income from oil could have great impact, because there are already signs of breakdown in the Iranian economy. In a January 10 Jerusalem Post piece, "Ahmadinejad's Reign Threatened by Soaring Housing Prices," Meir Javedanfar, an independent analyst, is quoted to the effect that 800,000 new families are formed in Iran annually but only around 450,000 housing units are constructed. Prices of apartments in some parts of Tehran have increased by 3,000 percent since 1990. There were 2 million applicants for 30,000 housing loans offered by the government. "The main reason people voted for Ahmadinejad," Javedanfar concludes, "was because of internal problems such as corruption, inflation, housing and unemployment. ... Unless he confronts these issues, in the next elections his position would be in danger."

Recently, 150 lawmakers, at the core of the Iranian establishment, signed a letter criticizing Ahmadinejad "for policies that led to a surge in inflation." These lawmakers linked their criticism of economic policy to a misguided nuclear policy that may provoke serious international sanctions. A group of powerful businessmen, known as the Islamic Coalition Party has also called for moderation in the country's nuclear policies to prevent further damage to the economy

A Western-induced cut in oil income can greatly accelerate such political pressures. How could a cut in Iran's oil income be achieved? The U.S. government could of course try to use its enormous clout to bring pressure on firms that trade with Iran or facilitate its financial transactions. It could also put pressure on the Iranian currency. Admittedly such steps are complicated and may not be sufficient. But why not try?

Then there is the possibility of sanctions aimed directly at Iran's oil export industry. Both proponents and opponents of sanctions tend to warn how difficult and complicated a successful oil embargo would prove, since it would be resisted by some shippers, notably by the two nations that constantly strive to undermine Western interests, Russia and China.

But an embargo need not be perfect to achieve its goals, since it is sufficient to reduce Iran's oil income markedly, not cut it off entirely. This could be accomplished by blockading the few major Iranian loading facilities--a much simpler task than blocking ships on the high sea.

IF MORE STRINGENT economic sanctions fail to deter Iran's nuclear ambitions, one can always consider military steps, but more graduated and finely honed than are usually suggested. Opponents of military pressure on Iran claim that it would be futile because no military measures could give us confidence of successfully neutralizing the entire Iranian nuclear undertaking. Much of it, they explain, is buried underground and may be so thoroughly protected as to escape damage even from a nuclear strike.

But it is not really necessary to destroy the Iranian program down to the last centrifuge in order to effectively stop it. If serious damage can be inflicted on the electrical grid and on fuel depots and transmission facilities, such damage could effectively stop nuclear production. Even where independent electrical generation facilities are housed in underground silos, their fuel supply will eventually dry up. More important, plunging Teheran into darkness in a way that will not only cripple the government and its command and control centers but will make civilian life unbearable may be more than enough to return the Iranian leadership to its senses.

Iran seeks a nuclear capability for more reasons than fulfilling its dream of destroying Israel (they know Israel can retaliate, so even if they fervently wanted to destroy it, they might just continue to arm Arab terrorist proxies and have them bear the consequences, as they have done with Hezbollah). Iran needs an atomic weapon to one day take control of the flow and the price of oil, a strategic goal it has pursued since the days of the shah. Once it is in possession of an atomic weapon, it could control the Straits of Hormuz with impunity and dictate a constant, if gradual rise in the price of oil. No one will risk an atomic confrontation, let alone the threat of the Saudi oil fields being incinerated, to prevent a gradual rise in the price of oil.

The Iranians could then secure all the income they need to preserve--and even spread--their revolution. See what Arab petrodollars have done to the immune system of Europe, how they incapacitated it and made it impotent in dealing with growing Islamic radicalism in its midst. An Iranian-induced transfer of wealth caused by a steep rise in the price of oil will dwarf the already dramatic impact that Arab petrodollars have had on European politics and culture.

Pushing the hated West into economic decline will make it so weak politically and militarily that it will be in no position to resist when the time is ripe for the Iranian takeover of Saudi Arabia, its oil fields, and no less importantly in Tehran's eyes, Islam's holiest places. Shiite control of these Holy Places and of the Muslim jihad will finally bring the hated Sunnis, and especially the most hated Wahhabis, under Shiite domination, and fulfill another dream and strategic goal of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Shiite jihad will triumph "peacefully."

This is the strategic calculus we must weigh when assessing the risks and benefits of taking timely action to stop Iran from acquiring a nuclear capability.

Daniel Doron is president of the Israel Center for Social and Economic Progress, an independent pro-market policy think tank.

Steven Plaut is an American-trained economist, a professor of business administration at Haifa University and author of "The Scout." He frequently comments -- both seriously and satirically -- on Israeli politics and the left wing academic community. His website address is http://www.stevenplaut.blogspot.com or write him by email at splaut@econ.haifa.ac.il

To Go To Top

MAKING PEACE WITH MUSLIMS OR ARABS GENERALLY IS NOT POSSIBLE
Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, February 2, 2007.

I can state without a doubt or hesitation that it is not possible to make lasting peace with Muslims or Arabs. We have the pundits or Leftists who invariably speak of agreed preconditions which are irrelevant in a contract with Arab Muslims. Underlying all agreements is their Islamic right and religious obligation to simply abrogate any terms of such an agreement and simply act as if the clauses specifying their obligations never existed. q

The Pundits always speak of what should be done; what could be done; and then move on as if the "should" and "could" had actually occurred. What is even worse is that, within the Arab Muslim culture, each following ruler can declare whatever the preceding ruler has agreed to is either null and void or act as if it doesn't exist.

For example, Hosni Mubarak, President of Egypt, declared the Camp David Peace Accords as null and void at their 10 year anniversary -- which Islam orders him to do, according to Mohammed's example with the Hudaybiya Treaty of 628 C.E. (1) This wasn't noticed or reported by the either Media or the State Department.

Syria, for another example, has always been Israel's most active and dedicated enemy. It was the keeper of the primary, secondary and tertiary boycotts of Israel and all companies doing business with Israel -- representing all other Arab Muslim countries. Nothing in the hostile relationship precludes the doctrine of Hafez of Assad from being passed on to his son, Bashar Assad and to his son, etc. Nor can Israel presume that any temporary agreement reached about the Golan Heights will stay in place after he's gone.

Keep in mind that Assad represent only 10% of the population as Alawites. The remainder of the Syrians are mostly Sunnis with a small mixture of Shi'ites. Alawite generals and officers control the Army. Should there be a coup d'etat as almost happened when Hafez al Assad died and Bashar took power, the Sunnis would probably control Syria. Neither Alawites nor the Sunnis are friends to the Jewish State nor of each other. The Assads have poured their best arms into the city of Latakia, an Alawite city which is slated as the escape fort when the inevitable coup d'etat forces them out of power.

Any agreements Bashar undertook to gain control of the Golan would be considered null and void under new Sunni leadership. Israelis can forget skiing and snow-boarding on the Golan's Mt. Hermon slopes should they give up the Golan Heights. They would be better off cleaning out the bomb shelters and setting up their anti-missile missile batteries.

More importantly, the Olmert/Livni government under U.S. State Department control would evacuate Israel's observation posts immediately. Those areas would quickly revert to dominate missile launching sites with the Israelis complaining to the U.N. or U.S. that it is not fair that the agreements were being broken.

I am similarly reminded of the gestures of peace to transfer the Sinai Desert to Egypt's control, providing that it be de-militarized. The naive Prime Minister Menachem Begin and staff complained to the U.S. State Department when Egypt almost immediately broke their Camp David agreement and moved up SAM (Surface-to-Air Missiles) and mobile missile batteries. The State Department ignored Israel's complaints, even when shown aerial photographs, proving their claims.

Guarantees by the U.S. and especially the U.N. are worthless on the day they are signed. Israeli Leftists have always been skilled apologists for the Arab Muslims, no matter how egregious their blatant breaking of agreements. They snivel, whine and wring their hands, explaining why it was Israel who forced the Arabs to ignore and break all agreements.

Recall Oslo 1 and 2. Recall the surrender of Gush Katif in Gaza where the pre-conditions were that the Arab Muslim Palestinians would take over what the industrious Jews had built and live there in peace -- de-militarized.

On the day after the 10,000 Jewish men, women and children were forced by Sharon, Olmert and Halutz from their 25 communities in Gush Katif and Northern Samaria, the Muslim Arabs poured in and tore down or stole everything the Jews had so carefully nurtured. The mobs, followed by the mix of different organizations of terrorists who fought for the best piece of land -- with the choicest going the Arafat's officers.

The Israeli Leftists swallowed their spit and dropped into silence. Things, of course, got worse when the Palestinians started to fire volleys of Kassam Rockets into Israel by the hundreds. Here again the Leftists, now under Olmert, did nothing but tie the hands of its military so as to accommodate the Muslim Arab Palestinian Terrorists and the always-present pro-Arab State Department. But, even that horrific example did not stop Sharon's clone, Ehud Olmert, from issuing a proclamation that he was going to evacuate Judea and Samaria of all Jews as he advised Sharon to do in Gaza.

But, this shyster lawyer was going to draft an agreement with pre-conditions -- just as Rabin, Peres and Beilin did in Oslo. Now we are told that he has already been in negotiations with Bashar of Syria to give over the Golan Heights. Never did the Ghost of Arafat enjoy a better turn of events.

Hidden in plain sight are the ever present words of Islam's Koran and Mohammed's Hadith in all contracts with the infidel, namely, you can break any agreement at an earlier time of your choosing but, you must break it no later than 10 years. This refers to Mohammed's abrogation of the "Hudaybiya" peace Treaty for 10 years he made with a tribe of Jews, the Banu Qurayzah (also spelled Quarish and Koraish) in Medina.(2) But, Mohammed returned when he was stronger militarily 3 years later to slaughter the men, selling the women and children into slavery. Long trenches were dug down the main street of Medina where they threw the Jewish Qurayzah men, killed and beheaded them.(3) If you are reminded of Babi Yar and the Nazis, it was the same.

In the meantime, the scribblers of agreements are busy drafting useless pre-conditions into a document that will never be kept in fact or in spirit. Usually, there are many shadowy figures creeping in and out like earthworms after a rain. Here we find the ghost of Mohammed's Koran and "Hadith" (Oral Law). Also find the hidden hands of the Arabist State Department scribbling pre-conditions to lure the always naive Jews into thinking that words are actual things. What's even more disturbing is to hear Tzipi Livni mouthing the same failed conditions found in Oslo.

Often we find Jews who have assimilated while still masquerading as Jews. They enthusiastically assisted both the Arabs and the State Department to find the right words and phrases that naive Jews will say "yes" to. Leftists wallow in self righteousness in their effort to de-Judaize in order to be liked by the world as they betray their fellow Jews and the nation. Once they succeed at gnawing away the moral pillars based on Jewish ethics that support civilized society, that civilization collapses, then they are nowhere to be seen.

How these Jews gurgle with aberrant pride, thinking they have put one over on Jews who believe in the Land and their destiny. As for the State Department clerks in the bowels of "Foggy Bottom", they should know their numerous clauses will NOT be kept by the Arabs but, if it suckers the Jews into cooperative silence and appeases/pleases the Islamists, they could care less.

One can (almost) understand the motives of Jew-hating enemies ready to use any trick to subvert the Jewish nations. It's more difficult to understand Jew-hating Jews who collaborate with our enemies who will eventually kill them too. We saw that with the Judanratt Jews who collaborated with the Germans to round up other Jews for transport to the killing camps, only in the end, they too were herded onto the last cattle car to the smoke stacks.

Arab Muslims be they Iranians, Egyptians (both Muslim but not Arab), Iraqis and Syrians do NOT make binding contracts with "infidels" (non-Muslims). For that matter they do not even consider agreements with each other to be binding. It has been reported that they have broken some several hundred agreements with other Muslims just during the 20th Century.

The difference is that Muslims already know that either they or other Muslims can break any contract or agreement going into the negotiations. Neither the Free West (especially America) nor Israel ever seems to grasp this elemental paradigm of Muslim ethics based on Mohammed's Koranic teachings.

As for the Left Liberal Jewish self-appointed leaders, they are not unlike lemmings ready to jump off the cliff of life in order to be accepted in the non-Jewish world to which they aspire. When needed, they can put on a yarmulke (Kippa) and proclaim their Jewishness. Otherwise, off comes the pretense and they revert to being un-Jews, not only NOT proud of their Jewishness but trying very hard to escape it as they assimilate. To accomplish this goal, they will revert to being hostile to observant Jews who honor G-d's Gift of the Land of Israel and His Torah to the Jewish people for eternity.

[I do not include nor do I mean to offend my friends who are not so observant but who do honor their Jewishness and G-d given rights to sovereignty on the Land of Israel and their Jewish heritage.]

With respect to making a contract/agreement with Arab/Muslims. Ignore their false protestations that they seek only peace and are willing to live side-by-side with Jews (whom Muslims consider un-believers and infidels, i.e., all non-Muslims). At the first call of the Mullahs or Ayatollahs fatwas (Islamic orders), he too, like a cross-dresser will put on his Islamist face and kill you, if he can.

Some (like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) are more honest and will tell you and the world outright that he means to eliminate you for the sake of establishing a World Islamic Caliphate based on Sharia law to dominate the world with Islam. Believe him! "He says what he means; and he means what he says!"

You cannot make peace with a Muslim unless you abandon your own religion and people. A Muslim follows the maxim: "Kiss the hand of your enemy until you can cut it off!"

Nor can you trust the un-Jew, nominally described as a Leftist to protect you or the Jewish nation of Israel.

###

1. "Arafat Opts for the 'Hudaibiyah Treaty" Gamla June 27, 2002 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/708295/posts

2. "Whose Jerusalem? Whose Land? The Greatest Lie Ever Told About Jerusalem" by Emanuel Winston, http://christianactionforisrael.org/greatest_lie.html citing The Encyclopedia Judaica

3. "Anti-Semitism and Islam" by Timothy R. Furnish, www.FrontPageMagazine.com Feb. 2, 2007

Emanuel Winston is a commentator and Middle East analyst. His articles appear often on Think-Israel and Gamla. He is a member of the Board of Directors and a research associate of the Freeman Center For Strategic Studies (http://www.freeman.org/online.htm). Contact him at gwinston@gwinston.interaccess.com

To Go To Top

IS ISRAEL THE PROBLEM?
Posted by Avodah, February 2, 2007.

This an excerpt of an article that appeared in the February 2007 issue of Commentary Magazine
(www.commentarymagazine.com/cm/main/viewArticle.aip?id=10829)
It was written by Amir Taheri.

Amir Taheri, formerly the executive editor of Kayhan, Iran's largest daily newspaper, is the author of ten books and a frequent contributor to numerous publications in the Middle East and Europe. His work appears regularly in the New York Post.

Arab despots have long sought to divert their tyrannized subjects with dreams of driving the "Zionist enemy" into the sea. Each time Nasser of Egypt faced social and political unrest at home, he would assure his own people and the Arab "nation" at large that social and political reform had to wait until "the enemy" was dislodged from "our beloved Palestine." For others to embrace such retrograde and easily refuted notions bespeaks a truly dangerous ignorance of reality.

The greater Middle East consists of 22 states, sixteen of them Arab. All are remnants of various empires and none enjoy fully defined or internationally recognized borders. Every one of them is engaged in pressing irredentist claims of one kind or another against one or more of its neighbors, and most have entered into armed battle with each other as a consequence.

All told, in the past six decades, this region has witnessed no fewer than 22 full-scale wars over territory and resources, not one of them having anything to do with Israel and the Palestinians. And these international disputes are quite apart from the uninterrupted string of domestic clashes, military coups, acts of sectarian and ethnic vengeance, factional terrorism, and other internal conflicts that have characterized the greater Middle East.

The notion that all of these problems can be waved away by "solving" the Arab-Israeli conflict is thus at best a delusion, at worst a recipe for maintaining today's wider political, diplomatic, and social paralysis.

What is the reason behind the failure of the 1991 Madrid conference, the slow but steady death of the 1993 Oslo accords, the collapse of President Bill Clinton's final effort to negotiate a peace deal at Camp David in 2000, and the faltering history of President George W. Bush's "road map"? The reason is hardly the want of diplomatic efforts, especially on the part of the U.S.

With the exception of Israel and with the partial exception of Turkey, the entire Middle East lacks a culture of conflict resolution, let alone the necessary mechanisms of meaningful compromise. Such a culture can only be shaped through a process of democratization. Only democracies habitually resolve their conflicts through diplomacy rather than war, and only popular-based regimes possess the political strength and the moral will to build peace. Democratization remains the only credible strategy in and for the region, and the only hope for its suffering inhabitants.

Contact Avodah by email at Avodah15@aol.com

To Go To Top

THESE ARE FACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT JONATHAN POLLARD AND HIS IMPRISONMENT
Posted by Will Blesch, February 2, 2007.

This was posted today on my website 'A Zionist's Perspective' (http://willblesch.blogspot.com/).

As everyone probably knows, (at least those who are interested in Israeli/American relations), American Israeli and American Naval Civilian Intelligence Analyst Jonathan Pollard was convicted of being an Israeli spy in the United States and received a life sentence in 1986.

I have posted here facts concerning the Jonathan Pollard case for those who are ignorant of what actually went down.

1. Jonathan Pollard was a civilian American Naval intelligence analyst. In the mid 1980's (circa 1983-1984), Pollard discovered that information vital to Israel's security was being deliberately withheld by certain elements within the U.S. national security establishment.

2. Israel was legally entitled to this vital security information according to a 1983 Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries.

3. The information being withheld from Israel included Syrian, Iraqi, Libyan and Iranian nuclear, chemical, and biological warfare capabilities -- being developed for use against Israel. It also included information on ballistic missile development by these countries and information on planned terrorist attacks against Israeli civilian targets.

4. When Pollard discovered this suppression of information and asked his superiors about it, he was told to "mind his own business", and that "Jews get nervous talking about poison gas; they don't need to know."

He also learned that the objective of cutting off the flow of information to Israel was to severely curtail Israel's ability to act independently in defense of her own interests.

5. Pollard was painfully aware that Israeli lives were being put in jeopardy as a result of this undeclared intelligence embargo. He did everything he possibly could to stop this covert policy and to have the legal flow of information to Israel restored. When his efforts met no success, he began to give the information to Israel directly.

6. Jonathan Pollard was an ideologue, not a mercenary. The FBI concluded after nine months of polygraphing that Pollard acted for ideological reasons only, not for profit. This fact was recognized by the sentencing judge who declined to fine Pollard. (See the addendum for further details.)

Furthermore, on May 11, 1998, Israel formally acknowledged Jonathan Pollard had been a bona fide Israeli agent. This fact wiped out any remaining doubt about Jonathan Pollard's motives. Being an official agent is, by definition, the polar opposite of being a mercenary.

7. In 1985, his actions were discovered by the U.S. government. His instructions from Israel were to seek refuge in the Israeli embassy in Washington. When Pollard and his former wife sought refuge there, they were at first received and then summarily thrown out into the waiting arms of the FBI.

8. Jonathan Pollard never had a trial. At the request of both the U.S. and Israeli governments, he entered into a plea agreement, which spared both governments a long, difficult, expensive and potentially embarrassing trial.

9. Jonathan Pollard fulfilled his end of the plea agreement, cooperating fully with the prosecution.

10. Nevertheless, Pollard received a life sentence and a recommendation that he never be paroled -- in complete violation of the plea agreement he had reached with the government.

11. Jonathan Pollard was never indicted for harming the United States.

12. Jonathan Pollard was never indicted for compromising codes, agents, or war plans.

13. Jonathan Pollard was never charged with treason. [Legally, treason is a charge that is only applicable when one spies for an enemy state in time of war.]

14. Jonathan Pollard was indicted on only one charge: one count of passing classified information to an ally, without intent to harm the United States.

15. Prior to sentencing, then-Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger delivered a 46-page classified memorandum to the sentencing judge. Since then, neither Pollard nor any of his cleared attorneys have ever been allowed to access the memorandum to challenge the false charges it contains-a clear violation of Pollard's constitutional rights.

The day before sentencing, Weinberger delivered a four-page supplemental memorandum to the sentencing judge. In it, he falsely accused Pollard of treason. Also in the supplemental memorandum, Weinberger advocated a life sentence in clear violation of Pollard's plea agreement. The implication that follows from Weinberger's false characterization of Pollard's offense as "treason" is that the country Pollard served, Israel, is an enemy state.

16. Pollard was shown the supplemental Weinberger memorandum only once, just moments before sentencing -- hardly adequate time to prepare an appropriate defense to rebut the false accusations in it.

17. No one else in the history of the United States has ever received a life sentence for passing classified information to an ally -- only Jonathan Pollard. The median sentence for this offense is two to four years. Even agents who have committed far more serious offenses on behalf of hostile nations have not received such a harsh sentence.

18. Pollard's attorney never appealed from the life sentence. The time to file for such an appeal was within ten days of sentencing. Years later, with a different attorney, Pollard filed a habeas corpus challenge to the sentence.

The Court of Appeals, in a two-to-one decision, rejected the challenge, largely on procedural grounds.

The majority placed heavy emphasis on the failure to appeal from the life sentence in a timely manner, and on the resulting far heavier burden faced by Pollard in seeking to challenge the sentence via habeas corpus. [Note: "Habeas corpus" is a procedure by which an incarcerated person may bring a court challenge to the legality of his or her incarceration -- often long after the underlying case has been concluded.]

In a dissenting opinion, Court of Appeals Judge Stephen Williams called the case "a fundamental miscarriage of justice," and wrote that he would have ordered that Pollard's sentence be vacated.

19. In November 1995, Israel granted Jonathan Pollard Israeli citizenship. The official presentation took place in January of 1996. This publicly signaled to the U.S. Israel's willingness to accept full responsibility for Pollard.

20. U.S. government sources falsely accuse Pollard in the media of passing "rooms full of classified information" and "hundreds of thousands of documents" to Israel. This volume of information is an absurdity! Pollard would have needed to make numerous "drops" using a moving van to have transferred such a large volume of information. In actual fact, Jonathan Pollard made a grand total of eleven "drops" to the Israelis, using only a small briefcase to hold the documents.

21. The government used an insidious formula to exaggerate the volume of information that Jonathan Pollard passed to Israel. The formula was: if only one page or a single sentence of a document was passed to the Israelis, it was counted as if the whole document had been transmitted. Even referenced documents and sources were counted as having been transmitted in toto. Using this calculation, a single page could be counted as 50 hard-bound 500 page volumes!

22. There is no Mr. "X".

The CIA claim that another highly-placed spy in the U.S. had to exist in order to give Jonathan Pollard his highly specific tasking orders is a complete fabrication. To understand how Pollard was tasked by Israel to secure specific documents, see: Was there another U.S. spy tasking Pollard? -- Mr. 'X' Exposed.

23. On May 12, 1998, in the same statement in which the Government of Israel publicly acknowledged Jonathan Pollard as an Israeli agent, it accepted full responsibility for him, and indicated its commitment to securing his release and repatriation to Israel.

24. Jonathan Pollard has repeatedly expressed his remorse publicly and in private letters to the President and others. He regrets having broken the law, and is sorry he did not find a legal means to act upon his concerns for Israel. (See Remorse Page.)

25. Jonathan Pollard has been openly linked to the Middle East Peace Process since 1995.

The Israeli government recognized long ago that Jonathan's sentence was unjust, that the documents he delivered to Israel did not remotely cause the damage that the prosecution claimed but never proved. As a result of this recognition, various Israeli administrations have negotiated, as a matter of basic fairness, to secure Jonathan's release.

Since 1995, within the context of the peace process, the US has repeatedly exploited the plight of Jonathan Pollard to extract heavy concessions from Israel.

However despite express promises made by the United States to Israel, Jonathan Pollard remains in jail.

26. It was the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin who, in 1995, first began openly to negotiate for Jonathan's release as part of the peace process.

Although President Clinton promised Prime Minister Rabin that he would release Jonathan as part of a Middle East peace settlement, the President refused to honor his promise after Rabin was assassinated.

27. Rabin's successor, Prime Minister Shimon Peres, continued to link Jonathan to the peace process, and even went so far as to include a spy swap proposal as part of the deal for Pollard's release.

28. The Wye Plantation summit is a prime example of U.S. exploitation of Jonathan Pollard.

Both before and again during the Wye summit negotiations in the fall of 1998, President Clinton promised to release Jonathan Pollard. Pollard was the deal-maker at Wye which enabled the accords to be completed.

29. At the last minute, with the eyes of the world focused on the Wye Accords signing ceremony which was about to take place in Washington, Clinton reneged on Pollard's release, creating a storm of negative publicity for Israel.

30. How the Wye fiasco came about:

In September, 1998, just before the mid-term Congressional elections, President Clinton (who at the time was facing impeachment hearings and in need of a foreign policy PR victory) asked Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to attend a three-way summit with the Palestinians at Wye River, Maryland.

Clinton knew that a successful summit at Wye just before the Congressional elections would be good not only for his image, but would also reap great political benefits for the Democrats in their bid to regain control of Congress. As an inducement to Netanyahu, Clinton promised to release Jonathan Pollard within the context of the summit.

Understanding the value of Jonathan Pollard for his own re-election bid, and needing him as a sweetener to sell any kind of "peace" deal to the Israeli people, Netanyahu ignored the entreaties of Republican friends like Newt Gingrich and agreed to attend the summit. (Gingrich would later repay Netanyahu by leading the Republican charge of slander and lies against Jonathan Pollard.)

31. Once the Wye summit was underway, Clinton quickly "forgot" his promise to free Jonathan Pollard and there was little Netanyahu could do.

32. Talks at Wye broke down over the release of Palestinian murderers with Jewish blood on their hands and over Israel's request for the extradition of Ghazi Jabali, the chief of Police in Gaza who was wanted for his role in planning and executing terrorist attacks in Israel.

33. To break the stalemate, the Palestinians suggested Jonathan Pollard as the solution. They proposed that Pollard be sold to Netanyahu once again: the US would give Jonathan to Israel in return for Israel's freeing of hundreds of Palestinian terrorists and immunity for Ghazi Jabali. 34.

34. The US and Israel agreed to the Palestinian plan to swap Pollard for terrorists and murderers.

President Clinton personally worked out the details of the deal in a late-night private session with a Palestinian and an Israeli representative.

35. According to the deal, Prime Minister Netanyahu was to receive a side letter from President Clinton the next morning (one of approximately 30 side letters the Americans had promised) guaranteeing Pollard's release for November 11, 1998, one week after the US House elections.

The Pollard negotiation was the deal-maker at Wye which allowed the summit to be successfully wrapped up and a signing ceremony to be planned for the next morning in Washington, on Friday October 23, 1998.

36. Only hours before the signing ceremony, P.M. Netanyahu received all of the American side-letters that had been promised to him, except one -- the one guaranteeing the release of Jonathan Pollard.

Netanyahu threatened not to attend the signing ceremony unless he got the Pollard side letter. Clinton said, "Trust me." Netanyahu, knowing he was about to be double-crossed by Clinton over Pollard for the second time, refused.

Netanyahu demanded that in the absence of a side letter of guarantee, Pollard should be freed into his custody immediately, or no signing ceremony. Arik Sharon supported Netanyahu and they threatened to leave Wye without signing the accords.

37. In order to take the pressure off of President Clinton, CIA chief George Tenet quickly leaked the news of Pollard's imminent release to the media in a deliberate -- and ultimately successful -- attempt to torpedo the deal.

He sent emissaries to Capitol Hill to hold emergency meetings with leading Senators and Congressmen to enlist their support in publicly denouncing Pollard's release. Many lies were told by the CIA emissaries about Jonathan Pollard to convince the legislators to act swiftly and in unison. Believing the lies, the legislators complied and began an unprecedented series of public actions to prevent the release of Jonathan Pollard.

38. Meanwhile at Wye, under heavy pressure and still fearful that Netanyahu would not back down, Clinton quickly negotiated a private fall-back position with Netanyahu: Clinton would publicly promise to do a "speedy review"of the Pollard Case and he would use that review to free Pollard a few months later, parallel to the release of the 750 Palestinian terrorists who were part of the price Israel had agreed to pay for Pollard.

Under heavy public pressure and betrayed by his own Minister of Defense, Yitzhak Mordecai*, who closed ranks with Clinton, Netanyahu folded and accepted this private deal. The signing ceremony was held in Washington as scheduled. *(Mordecai himself is now on trial in Israel in 2001 for sexual assault.)

39. Netanyahu's capitulation at Wye, the public spectacle of his being brought to heel by the Americans, and the lopsided deal he brought home from Wye now that Pollard was no longer perceived to be a part of it, would shortly cost him his premiership.

40. After Wye, the White House falsely accused Netanyahu of having injected Pollard into the Wye summit at the last moment.

However, eye witnesses to the Pollard deal at Wye, including the Israeli and the Palestinian who had negotiated the deal with Clinton and the former Israeli Cabinet Secretary, all later contradicted the White House version of events and affirmed that President Clinton had committed himself to the release of Jonathan Pollard as an integral part of the Wye Accords.

Note: Prime Minister Netanyahu was the first prime minster of Israel to agree to free Palestinian terrorists with Jewish blood on their hands. That is the price the Americans demanded for Pollard at Wye. To this day, this represents a keen embarrassment for Netanyahu and his party, even more so since he did not receive Pollard but the Palestinian murders were released nonetheless. That is why no official source from the Netanyahu government ever wants to publicly admit to it. They keep the details to a minimum, but all concur that Pollard's freedom was bought and paid for by "concessions"at Wye.

41. When Netanyahu returned to Israel after Wye, he created a firestorm of publicity by releasing 200 Palestinian common criminals from Israeli prisons.

The Palestinians were outraged, and insisted that these common criminals were not the prisoners that they had bargained for at Wye. The Americans angrily protested. Netanyahu reminded the Americans that the Wye Accords do not specify exactly which prisoners Israel must release. Critics wondered if the Prime Minister had lost his mind to antagonize the Americans this way.

Only those close to Prime Minister Netanyahu understood that this was Netanyahu's private, pointed reminder to Bill Clinton that if he was thinking of double-crossing him yet a third time over Pollard, he should think again. No Pollard, no release for the Palestinian murderers and terrorists.

Unfortunately for Jonathan Pollard, Netanyahu's government fell before he was able to act on this.

42. In a meeting with Netanyahu right after his electoral defeat in the Spring of 1999, Jonathan Pollard's wife, Esther, received assurances from the former prime minister that the new prime minister, Ehud Barak, had been fully briefed about what had been agreed to at Wye and about the fall-back position; that is to say, Israel had yet to free the 750 terrorists with blood on their hands and was still supposed to receive Pollard home in a "parallel gesture" from President Clinton.

43. Not long after Barak took office, the 750 Palestinian murderers and terrorists walked out of prison as free men. Jonathan Pollard remained in his American jail cell.

44. In an attempt to justify Clinton's reneging at Wye, a story was leaked to the press that George Tenet, a Clinton appointee, had threatened to resign as head of the CIA if Pollard were released.

The story, though not logical, sounded plausible and it became popular to cite the opposition of the American Intelligence community as the reason Clinton did not honor his commitment at Wye to free Pollard.

This was soon exposed as the lame excuse it was when Clinton freed a group of unrepentant FALN terrorists in the fall of 1999, in an attempt to improve his wife's popularity with New York State's Hispanic community in her election bid for the Senate. (See Senate Race Page.)

To this day, the same lame excuse continues to be used to justify the unjustifiable failure of Clinton to honor his commitment.

45. In September of 1999, despite strenuous opposition from all of his government advisors and agencies, President Clinton freed 14 unrepentant Puerto Rican terrorists, members of the FALN, charged with bank robbery and various acts of terrorism, including over 130 bombings in the US, and the deaths of American police officers.

Clinton ignored a solid wall of opposition from the Justice, Intelligence and Defense departments and Congress, invoked his powers of executive clemency and set the FALN terrorists free. In doing so, he unequivocally put the lie to the notion that any government agency might tie his hands or influence his decision in matters of clemency. (See FALN Page and Clemency Page.)

46. More than two years elapsed after Wye. President Clinton did no review. Jonathan Pollard remained in prison while the US continued to extract Israeli concessions for his release. 47. Those who still believed the myth that it was the American Intelligence Community that was tying the hands of President Clinton, also clung to the belief he would finally honor his many promises to release Jonathan Pollard -- including the commitment he had made at Wye -- at the end of his term, when he could do so without fear of political reprisal.

48. Beginning in 1991 Rabbi Mordecai Eliyahu, the former Chief Rabbi of Israel, and Jonathan's rabbi, offered himself to the U.S. Justice Department as Jonathan's guarantor. The offer was ignored.

Rabbi Eliyahu repeated the same offer every year after that in private letters to President Clinton.

Every offer went unacknowledged until the fall of 2000, when Esther Pollard received a letter from the White House indicating that the President was aware of the former chief Rabbi's offer and that it would be part of the President's consideration in reaching a final decision on her husband's case.

49. President Clinton never kept his promises.

When he left office in January 2001, Jonathan Pollard was not included among those that to whom Clinton granted clemency:

* in spite of his repeated express commitments to Israel to free Pollard in return for numerous heavy concessions
* in spite of his commitment to free Pollard as an integral part if the Wye Accords
* in spite of the appeals of the Jewish community, and
* in spite of the gross injustices of the Pollard case which include:
o a grossly disproportionate sentence
o a broken plea agreement
o use of secret evidence
o a false charge of treason
o ineffective assistance of counsel
o ex parte communication between prosecutors and judge
o a lack of due process
o a sentencing procedure infected by false allegations and lies

On his last day in office, Clinton granted clemency to 140 people. Many who received executive clemency had been convicted of very serious offenses, including murder, robbery and drug dealing. Some of those pardoned had served no prison time at all before being pardoned. Among those pardoned were Clinton's brother, and a former head of the CIA. (See Clemency Page.)

50. In September of 2000, Jonathan Pollard's attorneys, Eliot Lauer and Jacques Semmelman, filed a motion in the US District Court of Columbia to vacate his sentence.

The motion, supported by documentation, presents a compelling and very disturbing picture of serious government misconduct that went unchecked by Mr. Pollard's then-counsel. As a result of that misconduct, and as a result of his attorney's ineffectiveness Jonathan Pollard was sentenced to life in prison on the basis of false allegations, and under circumstances that violated his plea agreement. (See Legal Doc: Declaration of Jonathan Jay Pollard In Support of Motion for Resentencing. See also Legal Doc: Memorandum of Law in Support of Jonathan Jay Pollard's § 2255 Motion for Resentencing.)

51. Since he was sentenced in 1987, none of Jonathan Pollard's security-cleared attorneys have been able to see the classified portions of the docket in order to challenge them in a court of law or to defend him in a clemency proceeding.

In September of 2000, Jonathan Pollard's attorneys filed a separate motion requesting that attorney Eliot Lauer be allowed access to the secret portions of the Pollard court docket. (See Legal Doc: Motion to Unseal the Pollard Record.)

52. On January 12, 2001, Chief Judge Norma Holloway Johnson denied the attorneys' request to allow Eliot Lauer access to the complete Pollard docket, upholding the government's claim that Lauer's seeing the secret portion of the record poses a risk to American national security.

Both Lauer and Semmelman hold TOP SECRET level security clearances, which they obtained from the Justice Department in order to be eligible to see their client's full record.

A motion for reconsideration was filed January 18, 2001. (See Legal Doc: Motion for Reconsideration of Court Order.)

53. Amicus briefs supporting Jonathan's new legal cases have been filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, as well as by top American legal authorities. (See Amici Briefs on the Court Case Page.)

54. Five Prime Ministers of Israel and three Presidents of Israel have requested Jonathan Pollard's release from the United States. Israel has pledged to be responsible for its agent who has served many years in prison under harsh conditions, and who has fully and repeatedly expressed his remorse. (See Remorse Page.)

Between close friends and strong allies, that ought to be enough.

55. On November 21, 2006, Jonathan Pollard entered the 22nd year of his life sentence, with no end in sight.

Now, on Thursday, February 8th 2007 there will be a world wide rally and protest to encourage the American government, and specifically George W. Bush to pardon Jonathan Pollard and allow him to leave the United States for Israel.

Will Blesch writes, "I am an independent film maker with dual American/Israeli citizenship.I am decidedly zionist in my leanings for sure."

To Go To Top

PAY ATTENTION, ISRAEL!
Posted by Lawrence Uniglicht, February 2, 2007.

Israel should closely follow the political metamorphosis of its most formidable ally America, comprehend that it could soon be dealing with a Democratic Congress as well as in a few short years perhaps a Democrat in the White House, and begin developing a strategy that will optimally promote its self interest. In any event, Israel knows it will be dealing with a very different Administration, be it Democrat or Republican. How about transforming the false perception that Israel occupies Palestinians, how about marketing the idea that Israel would indeed be the best caretaker of Judea, Samaria, the Golan Heights, and all of Jerusalem, noting the violent chaos afflicting the ceded territory of Gaza, suggesting that conquered lands belong to the victor as has always been the way of the world? Prescient arguments can and should be made suggesting the Road Map will not lead to Middle East peace. Furthermore, the logic of creating a nexus between the Israeli Palestinian conflict and almost every other Middle East substantive matter can easily be demonstrated as bogus, in fact a detrimental diversion from true root causes of say Sunni Shiite hostilities, exploitation of ordinary Muslim citizens by filthy rich robed rulers, and the funding as well as implementation of terrorist behavior. Fresh faces stewarding America need fresh and better ideas in crafting a Middle East agenda, will likely not be as inclined to break pita with the Jew despising House of Saud, and are apt to be persuaded by cogent logical arguments that bolster as well as stabilize the currently tenuous and perhaps untenable position of the State of Israel.

Hopefully, America will begin withdrawing from a planet-wide oil addiction pandemic currently shaping the policies of mostly all industrial nations. The more America transfers its energy needs to alternative sources, the more it conserves, the more America will favor Israel's vibrant democracy without inserting Middle East oil barons such as Saudi Arabia into its calculations, and the more America will realize that tiny Israel needs all land justifiably secured in 1967 for future expansion. Indeed, regimes that extort money and support from oil-addicted nations will not be calling the shots when the need for their vicious viscous substance diminishes sufficiently. Iran, for one, will no longer have the monetary resources to further develop nuclear infrastructure, truly a big deal for planetary security. Furthermore, reducing the rate of fossil fuel consumption is surely critical as our one home in the universe becomes ever more threatened by the consequential damaging effects of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Perhaps a joint effort between American and Israeli scientists can begin to lead the way in developing a cost effective highly efficient alternative energy source.

A grand strategy for the foreseeable future will indeed be essential for the beleaguered Jewish State, as a perilously evolving Middle East becomes engulfed in ominous darkening storm clouds, already precipitating over out of control Iraq. A newly led America, no doubt, seeking to extricate itself from the consequences of not-so-grand strategy, emboldening a Persian predator no longer stalemated by ever tyrannical Sadist Hussein and Taliban forces, could certainly use more than a little help from its friend Israel. After all what are friends for? Eventually, America's new leadership will reach a consensus, likely adopting Senator Joe Biden's prescient realization that Iraq can only be stabilized if split into three loosely connected tribal regions, Sunni, Shiite, and Kurdish, sharing all oil wealth. Israeli intelligence, versed in the nuances of divergent Muslim cultures, can provide essential input into the devilish details of crafting such a federation successfully, putting the ball back in play for a world class team dropping precipitously in the global kudo-ball standings. If point guard Israel sets up the plays for the world's Superpower Kahuna, allowing the big guy to finally slam-dunk over the over-stretched fossil fuel financed arms of jumping jihadists, hopefully running out of energy revenues as the per barrel price of their economic mainstay continues to shrink, a true partnership of necessity will emerge, the big guy will be back on top, and the underpaid little guy will receive a deserved renegotiated contract including Judea, Samaria, all of Jerusalem, the Golan Heights, and maybe even the opportunity to reacquire rights to a first class tourist attraction Gaza-by-the-Sea, presuming present residents relocate to a more appropriate Palestinian enclave in neighboring Jordan. Wouldn't that be lovely!

Lawrence Uniglicht is a career civil servant, working for the Social Security Administration. He advocates for the State of Israel with an American perspective. He writes, "Advocating for the disrespected underdog has been my passion, no doubt Israel falls into that category." Contact him by email at luniglicht@snip.net

To Go To Top

MAJOR JEWISH GROUPS ALLOW ANTI-ISRAEL JEWISH CAMPUS PROGRAMS TO REMAIN UNDER THEIR UMBRELLA
Posted by Janet Lehr, February 2, 2007.

This comes from Mort Klein, President of the Zionist Organization of America (www.zoa.org).

New York -- At a time when Israel bashing and anti-Semitism on college campuses are reaching new heights, nine major Jewish groups that comprise the Steering Committee of the Israel On Campus Coalition (ICC) have unanimously voted not to address campus programming sponsored by ICC members that criticizes Israel without regard to fact and context, and that may actually incite hatred of Israel among college students. The Committee also unanimously voted that there was no "cause under the ICC's membership criteria to remove [the Union of Progressive Zionists, an ICC group member] from the Coalition." The Jewish groups on the Steering Committee who cast these votes are the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, AIPAC, Aish HaTorah, the Jewish National Fund, Hillel, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, and the Shusterman Foundation.

The ICC is a pro-Israel umbrella group whose mission is to "foster support for Israel on campus," promote "Israel advocacy," and "counter the worrisome rise of anti-Israel activities on college campuses." In December 2006, the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), a member of the ICC, expressed concern that the Union of Progressive Zionists (UPZ), another ICC member, has been sponsoring a program on campuses that harshly and falsely criticizes Israel for human rights abuses against the Palestinian Arabs. The UPZ-sponsored program -- called "Breaking the Silence" -- omits historical facts, provides no balance or context, and promotes outright falsehoods about Israel. The ZOA acknowledged the UPZ's general right to promote this hateful program, but not as a member of the ICC, which was set up to build support for Israel and reduce anti-Israel intimidation and harassment on college campuses.

Examples identified by the American Jewish Congress from Breaking the Silence's Web site demonstrate how the program demonizes and incites hatred of Israel. Israel is condemned for its alleged "violence and law-flouting." The IDF is condemned for supposedly ordering its soldiers "to shoot to kill unarmed people without fear of reprimand." Allegedly, Israeli soldiers "who stick to morality are the exceptional," not the norm. And Jewish settlers purportedly "inflict the purest evil on their neighbors."

Ilan Benjamin, a Professor of Chemistry at the University of California at Santa Cruz, and an Israeli who served in the IDF, attended the program when it came to his campus. In a letter to the ICC, Professor Benjamin said that " the presentation was neither fair nor balanced, but was rather unabashedly anti-Israel." According to Professor Benjamin, "there was almost no mention of why the Israeli Army is inside Arab towns. [The program's speaker] dismissed the notion that security checkpoints prevent a large percentage of the suicide bombers, despite extensive data about this. ... [S]tudents who attended the event did not get a crucial point of information necessary for a critical understanding of the conflict, namely, that Israel is in a state of war with a terrorist organization imbedded in civilian neighborhoods."

Professor Benjamin recounted that "[d]uring the question period, some of us tried to raise issues which could bring a modicum of balance and accuracy to the discussion, but the speaker refused to answer these on the grounds that he did not come to discuss politics (?!)." To make matters worse, at the program's conclusion, the speaker "encouraged the audience to think what they could do to 'continue the resistance to "The Occupation" and bring the Israeli army to the international court of justice.'"

The program uses highly inflammatory photographs, including one of soldiers lounging near a young man who sits blindfolded and handcuffed. The program does not mention that Palestinian terrorists deliberately hide in civilian neighborhoods, providing a context for Israeli soldiers' presence there. There is no reference to the fact that blindfolds and handcuffs are used so that suspected terrorists will not be able to identify the military bases to which they are brought, for the protection of the Israeli soldiers who are serving in the area. The program does not mention that Palestinian terrorists have already murdered almost 2000 Israelis and maimed 15,000 more. There is no reference to the fact that Israeli soldiers do not deliberately target noncombatants, and that more than any other army in the world, the Israeli army' s policy is one of restraint, committed to taking every possible measure to prevent harm to civilians. The program does not address the Palestinian Arab society's culture of hatred against Jews and the State of Israel, which is promoted in its media, schools, camps and religious sermons.

Further evidence of the UPZ-sponsored program' s hostility toward Israel is that the program is frequently co-sponsored by such anti-Israel groups as Muslim Student Associations and Amnesty International. Based on the program' s hostility and its omissions and inaccuracies, the ZOA urged the ICC to investigate whether this program supports the ICC' s mission. If it does not, then the ZOA contended that the program should no longer be sponsored or promoted by the UPZ if it wishes to remain part of the ICC. As a member of the ICC, the UPZ is being given credibility as supportive of Israel, when the program it sponsors shows the opposite.

Other ICC members echoed the ZOA' s concerns. In a letter to the ICC, the American Jewish Congress noted that the UPZ-sponsored program " contradicts [the ICC' s] mission statement and ... does great harm to the cause of Israel." Instead of speaking the truth, the program " brings one-sided condemnation of Israel, ignores the larger context of terrorism and ... adds to the serious problem of anti-Israel prejudice on campuses." The AJ Congress asked that the ICC "remove the AJ Congress as an affiliate of the ICC." The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations also raised concerns about the UPZ's program. In a letter to the ICC, the Jewish National Fund expressed "deep concern and disappointment" about the UPZ's campus program, stating that "UPZ used poor judgment" and "stained the reputation of all of our Jewish organizational partners." StandWithUs voiced concerns, too, noting that the UPZ-sponsored program "distort[s] facts" with "anti-Israel rhetoric," and " unqualified moral denunciations of Israel." According to StandWithUs, it is "highly inappropriate for the ICC to be connected to a group that adds to the malicious accusations of alleged IDF abuses."

Despite all these concerns about the factual distortions and omissions of the UPZ's program, and about the anti-Israel climate such programming would encourage, the Steering Committee dodged the issues raised by the ZOA and echoed by fellow ICC members. According to a statement issued by the Steering Committee on January 22, 2007, the Committee unanimously voted not to "establish a mechanism to monitor campus programming of ICC member organizations," and not to "revisit the ICC membership criteria and founding mission statement." Also, UPZ could continue to sponsor this anti-Israel program and remain a part of the pro-Israel ICC.

Morton A. Klein, the ZOA's National President, expressed his surprise and disappointment in the Steering Committee's decision: "Our own campus professionals have attended this UPZ-sponsored program, and there is nothing pro-Israel about it. In fact, our Campus Coordinators brought three former IDF soldiers to the event at Columbia University. All of these soldiers served in elite units, and one of them is now a student at Columbia Law School. Other IDF soldiers were also present at the event. All of these soldiers in the audience vehemently disagreed with the UPZ-sponsored speaker and tried to counter his presentation by sharing their own personal experiences. They were not given the opportunity to provide context and balance to his one-sided presentation, thus leaving the audience with the feeling that Israel is a ruthless and oppressive abuser of human rights, when nothing could be further from the truth.

"I myself have spoken with dozens of officers and soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces, and know that the UPZ-sponsored program is promoting outright falsehoods. Like any democracy, Israel can make mistakes in seeking to protect its people from terrorists -- particularly when many terrorists deliberately hide in civilian neighborhoods. But in Israel, when mistakes are made, soldiers are called to account for them. This essential fact, among many others, is missing from the UPZ-sponsored program. The program does nothing to support the ICC mission of building support for Israel on our campuses. Instead, it incites hatred of Israel, and inflames the already-existing anti-Israel sentiment that is a serious problem on many campuses. The ICC Steering Committee should have taken the necessary steps to ensure that the ICC's mission is being fulfilled by its member groups. Part of the reason that the ICC was established in the first place was to fight against exactly this kind of anti-Israel propaganda promoted by Arab and other anti-Israel groups on campus. The Steering Committee took the easy way out and did nothing, which will not assist in promoting support for Israel on our campuses. In fact, the Steering Committee's failure to establish any criteria for monitoring the campus programming of ICC member groups, and its failure to review its criteria for membership in the ICC, will permit groups like the UPZ to demonize Israel on campus and yet still disingenuously identify themselves as ICC members advocating on campus for Israel.

"We were told that as long as they support Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state within secure and recognized borders, groups are welcome to be part of the ICC. This standard is hardly enough; it means that a group that meets this standard, but that also demonizes Israel through falsehoods, would be welcome as an ICC member.

"The American Jewish Committee, the ADL, AIPAC, Aish HaTorah, the Jewish National Fund, Hillel, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, and the Shusterman Foundation are the members of the Steering Committee who unanimously voted to accept programming by ICC member groups that contradicts the ICC's mission. They each owe the Jewish community an explanation for the basis of their votes. The United States Commission on Civil Rights, an independent bipartisan federal agency, recently recognized that anti-Semitism, including Israel-bashing, is a serious problem on our campuses. The Steering Committee's vote will unfortunately do nothing to stem the problem."

Janet Lehr is editor/publisher of a daily e-mail called "Israel Lives." She can be contacted at janetlehr@veredart.com

To Go To Top

INEQUALITY AND DISCRIMINATION IN HEBRON
Posted by Jewish Community of Hebron, February 2, 2007.

In contrast to the false, anti-Jewish, and anti-Israeli propaganda, here are the real facts:

* Hebron, a Jewish City

From the standpoint of some of the Israeli and international public, Hebron is an "Arab city." This view is occasioned by Hebron's location over the "Green Line," its current demographic situation (tens of thousands of Arabs alongside only around 1,000 Jews in the inner city, plus 7,000 or so in adjacent Kiryat Arba), and incessant propaganda by the Left. History, however, did not begin in 1967. No cultured person who has studied Bible and ancient and modern history can deny the facts: Hebron is the first Jewish city in history. It is the place where the Jewish national patriarchs lived and were buried. Their burial plot -- Ma'arat HaMachpela, the Tomb of the Patriarchs -- was the first Jewish property purchased in the Land of Israel, and one of the Jewish people's most impressive monuments was built atop it. Hebron is an object of yearning for Jews throughout the Diaspora and is numbered among the four holy cities (along with Jerusalem, Tiberias, and Safed). The Jewish community in Hebron existed for thousands of years until it was brutally displaced in 1929 -- after Arab marauders murdered, raped, and burned to death scores of Jews and dispossessed the community of properties that included hundreds of acres of real estate.

If the Jewish people has undeniable rights anywhere on earth, it is in Hebron. The Jewish community of Hebron today resides on a relatively small fraction of the Jewish property that had been plundered in the 1929 pogrom. This community constitutes the basis and the beginning of the return of Jews to the world's oldest Jewish city.

* Jews are allowed to enter only 3 percent of the municipal area.

The city limits of Hebron encompass eighteen square kilometers. Of this area, fifteen square kilometers are defined as H1, the area that was surrendered to the Palestinian Authority; this area is off-limits to Jews. Nearly all of the remaining area, H2, is open to unrestricted Arab traffic and presence. The presence of Jews is also forbidden in most of this area. In fact, Jews are allowed in only six tenths of a square kilometer, 3 percent of the municipal area!

Thousands of Arabs continue to live in the Israeli zone. The Palestinian Authority deliberately operates and is establishing institutions in this area for the express (written!) purpose of "strangling" the Jewish community by attracting masses of Arabs. Across from Beit Hadassah, for example, Cordoba School continues to operate even though most of its students come there from other parts of town. Next to Tel Rumeida and the Jewish cemetery, another school is under construction today -- not to meet any urban need but rather solely to crowd out the Jews in this area.

Due to long-term geo-economic processes (that have nothing to do with the Jewish community), the town's central business district has moved to the western side of town. The area where the Jews live has not been the central business district of Hebron for quite some time. On the west side, opulent multistory commercial and office buildings are being put up. Nevertheless, the Palestinian Authority has instructed merchants who have shops near the Jewish community to keep them going even though there is no economic justification for doing so. In contrast, Jews are not allowed to engage in any activity whatsoever in the areas that are off-limits to them, including access to properties that they own. For example, Jews are barred from Parcel 37 (adjacent to the cemetery), the street that runs past Beit Hadassah, the bottom floor of Beit Hadassah, and Jewish-owned houses deep in the "Palestinian" zone. A Jew who dares to enter these areas risks his or her life, not to mention arrest and prosecution for "violation of orders."

* Jewish traffic is confined to a minuscule area and to one street.

The Oslo War (beginning in September 2000) brought on a string of terror attacks and murders against the Jewish community of Hebron that claimed dozens of casualties, including some at short range within the community's cramped area. In response, the defense system was forced to restrict and inspect Arab traffic in the Israeli part of the city. The area where the Jews dwell -- only 3 percent of the town's territory, as stated -- is not totally off-limits to Arab movement; instead, vehicular traffic is restricted and pedestrians are checked (per the conventional Israeli practice at entrances to public places). Thousands of Arabs continue to live and circulate in the Israeli zone; the area totally forbidden to Arab movement adds up to only a few hundred meters. Importantly, over the years the defense system has attempted to ease the movement restrictions. These attempts, however, have repeatedly failed, as each leniency was exploited for provocations and attacks that claimed a toll in blood.

Concurrently, the movement of Jews in 97 percent of the town area, the part that was handed over to the Palestinian Authority under the 1997 "Hebron Accord," is totally forbidden even though the accord stipulates total freedom of movement. The prohibition was imposed after "Palestinian police" and terrorists threatened to murder any Jews who entered. The sweeping injunction includes revocation of the right to visit and worship at shrines such as Elonei Mamre and the Tomb of Otniel b. Kenaz, even though the Hebron Accord entitles Jews to free access and worship at these locations. Even within the Israeli zone (H2), Jews are denied access to various holy places such as the Tomb of Avner b. Ner and the kabbalistic yeshiva in the casbah.

The most significant difference between the movement restrictions imposed on Arabs in Hebron and those imposed on Jews is neither the size of the restricted area nor the motives for the restriction. The Israel High Court of Justice recently ruled that movement restrictions should be applied against the side that threatens violence and lawbreaking and not against the threatened side. "As a rule, the military commander should discharge his duty to defend the safety of the inhabitants ... in some other way and not by closing off the areas" (Justice Beinish). "The military commander should refrain from declaring areas off-limits ... for the purpose of protecting the inhabitants themselves" (Justice Rivlin). "The upholding of public order and the inhabitants' safety ... should be accomplished by taking appropriate measures against the factors that perpetrate riots and not by imposing further restrictions on the casualties of the violence" (Justice Joubran; all quotations are from Ruling 9593/04). The restrictions on Arab movement correspond to the rule established by the High Court of Justice because they are meant to prevent attacks, acts of violence, and lawbreaking by those whose movements have been restricted. In contrast, the restrictions imposed on Jews' movement clash with this basic rule: they were imposed on the casualties of the violence.

* The Jews are almost totally deprived of their property rights.

The Arabs of Hebron enjoy the natural and basic right of possession and ownership of real estate -- a right that is almost totally denied to the Jewish population.

The houses, shops, and lands that the Jews of Hebron left behind when they were banished from the city after the 1929 program were expropriated after the Jordanian occupation in 1948 by the Jordanian Administrator of Enemy Properties, even though these Jews had never been anyone's enemy and had been murdered and expelled for no reason whatsoever and in no context of belligerency. These properties have never been returned. The Government of Israel decided to let the injustice stand and to transfer the plundered properties from the Jordanian administrator to the Israeli one. In practice, this decision means the continued leasing of these properties to Arabs, who often treat them with contempt. To this day, for example, a building next to the Avraham Avinu quarter had once housed a kabbalistic yeshiva is being used as a cattle barn, until recently a flea market operated on the ruins of the Chabad synagogue, and so on. Even when the original owners of these properties submit official applications for possession or for the right to allow Jews to settle in them, they are answered in the negative. For example, the Government rescinded its decision to lease to Jews the dwelling units in the Hebron "marketplace," in disregard and repudiation of the request of the owners of the property.

Furthermore, Jews are being denied the natural right to purchase houses and enjoy the right of ownership that all human beings share. The withholding of this right from Jews only is a blatant act of racist discrimination. Jordanian and "Palestinian law" establishes the death penalty for any Arab who sells his home to a Jew, and this stricture has in fact been carried out. The State of Israel takes no action whatsoever against these racial laws.

To deny the Jews their right to possess real property, the Israel Civil Administration staff has been instructed to adopt a strict enforcement policy toward Jews and a lenient one toward Arabs. The planning and building laws are totally unenforced when it comes to Arabs, resulting in Arab illegal construction on a massive scale. Sometimes laws are even invented for the sole purpose of thwarting the purchase of property by Jews. An internal document written by a senior official at the military prosecutor's office, revealed in the press, states that in any legal dispute between Jews and Arabs over property, the Army, the Civil Administration, and the police are to side with the Arab party even when the latter's claim is groundless. This means that Jews will find it virtually impossible to register title to land. The directive is tantamount to racist discrimination against Jews, in contravention of the international law stating that no population group shall be given summary preference over another.

* While the Arabs build massively in Hebron, the right to build is almost totally denied to Jews.

Everyone in the world has the right to engage in construction and development in accordance with accepted local rules and regulations, irrespective of religion and race. The Palestinian Authority exploits this entitlement cynically by initiating wide-scale construction and development. On the western, Arab, side of Hebron, multistory buildings, malls, and high-tech buildings are going up on an immense scale, with funding from foreign governments and international organizations. On the "Israeli" side, too -- the H1 area -- a building, development, and housing project is moving ahead under the sponsorship of the "Palestinian government" (today, the Hamas government). The Palestinian Authority has declared Hebron a Class A Development Area: it has established a lavishly budgeted special office for the declared purpose of "strangling the Jewish community" by surrounding it with dense Arab building. Arabs who move into the Jewish area are exempted from taxes and municipal duties and receive free water, free electricity, and a monthly stipend of NIS 1000 in return for their participation in a project that is being carried out to "strangle the Jewish community." Other Arabs, who lawfully possess buildings near the Jewish community but are not interested in living in them, are forced to transfer their properties to the Palestinian Authority.

In contrast, the Jews of Hebron are virtually deprived of the right to build, even on property that is unquestionably Jewish-owned, including the core of the minuscule Jewish community area, and even when the plans comply with all regulations and professional requirements. In the past twenty years, building permits have been issued for only three buildings. Offspring of the Jewish community who marry and wish to live in their community cannot do so -- due to the racist Jews-only building restrictions. The Government of Israel, unlike the "Palestinian municipality," withholds building permits from Jews and busies itself with evicting Jews from lawfully purchased homes.

* Law enforcement -- zealous against Jews, lax against Arabs

There are two de facto levels of law enforcement in Hebron -- one for the Jewish population, another for the Arab population.

For the Jewish population, enforcement is applied zealously, anchored in tough procedures under guidelines from the State Attorney's Office. These procedures, which were secret until revealed in a 1997 investigation by a committee of the Hebron Jewish community, stirred fierce public criticism due to the odor of crude discrimination that they exuded. The "special procedures" were ostensibly amended in 1998, but the main sections that instructed police to apply excessive enforcement against Jews remained on the books and obligatory. The procedures require the police to invest unprecedented resources in personnel, funds, and motor vehicles. High-ranking officials at the State Attorney's Office watch closely for any violation of the law -- even the most trivial -- on the part of Jews. The direct results of this over-enforcement are the wholesale opening of investigation files for trifling offenses and inconsequential acts, and the submission of indictments and holding of trials that often end with acquittals or closure of files on technical grounds. The direct result is a grievous ongoing blow to the personal freedoms of the Jewish inhabitants of Hebron, coupled with cumulative damage in the form of files that besmirch the inhabitants with criminal records -- files that would not have been opened anywhere else in Israel.

For the Arab population, in contrast, the law is chronically under-enforced and applied for show. Usually, lawbreaking by Arabs is dealt with only if it reaches the level of terrorism. Thus, dozens of daily attacks by Arabs against the Jewish inhabitants of Hebron -- physical attacks, stone-throwing, sexual harassment, property damage, etc -- are ignored. This is the outcome of written procedures from the military prosecutor's office, exacerbated by a shortage of police personnel because nearly all such personnel are pledged to enforcing the law against the Jewish inhabitants. The direct result of this under-enforcement is the denial of the Jewish inhabitants' right to police protection against waylaying, harassment, and miscellaneous attacks.

* Activities of leftist organizations

Various international and anti-national organizations have targeted Hebron for hostile activities.

Most of these organizations are funded by anti-Israel foundations, enemy states, and European governments. They disseminate falsehoods and conduct propagandistic field trips, media shows, tendentious visits with VIPs, and sundry provocations in order to substantiate what they call "discrimination against the Arabs."

For example, the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a blatantly pro-Palestinian-Arab organization, floods Hebron with "anarchists" from all over the world to harass the security forces that are charged with protecting the Jews in the tiny Israeli zone. Organizations such as Ecumenical Escorters and the Christian Peacekeeping Team, among others, engage in constant provocations and incitement. Groups of antisemitic Christians encourage terrorism and endanger the lives of soldiers and civilians alike. Israeli leftist organizations such as B'tselem, Machsom Watch, Sons of Avraham, and Breaking the Silence love to tour the city with groups of Israelis, non-Israelis, and diplomats, inciting against the Jews of Hebron by giving false, warped presentations.

Especially grave is the fact that these organizations act in full cooperation with the observers of the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH), even though TIPH is supposed to be objective and to refrain from provocations. Furthermore, these organizations act with the cooperation of Palestinian disrupters of order and marauders to undermine the operations of the Israel Defence Forces.

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) recently joined the activities of the Left in Hebron, acting continually by legal means to breach and trample the Jewish citizens' rights to life and safety.

In fact, the activities at issue, cynically huddling under the umbrella of "human rights," are racist actions that aim to bring about the ethnic cleansing of Hebron and restore the situation there to that following the 1929 program -- a Hebron that is Judenrein.

* Jewish worshippers are confined to only one-fourth of the Tomb of the Patriarchs area.

The Tomb of the Patriarchs is the oldest Jewish-owned property in the Land of Israel and the burial place of the nation's patriarchs. The building atop the burial cave was constructed by the Jewish people during the Second Temple era, about two thousand years ago. For generations, it has been a magnet for Jews from all over the world. After the Muslim Mameluks occupied the Land of Israel, they forbade Jews and Christians to enter the building and required Jews to stand outside, next to the seventh step. This injunction lasted for 700 years, until the State of Israel struck it down.

However, Jews face grave discrimination at the Tomb of the Patriarchs today -- in the apportionment of floor space inside the shrine, forced separation, and the ability to develop and enhance the site.

Apportionment of floor space:

At first glance, the tomb appears to be divided between the worshipers of the two faiths. In fact, however, the area available to Jews is only one-fourth of that handed to the Muslims, and most of this area is an open courtyard exposed to cold, rain, and other ravages of weather.

Forced separation:

The ironclad rule of "separating" the adherents of the two faiths, established by the Shamgar Commission, is implemented only against Jews for all intents and purposes. Representatives of the Muslim Waqf and the muezzin are allowed to enter the Jewish area; the muezzin continues to cross the Jewish area and play raucous cries over the loudspeaker during the Jews' worship services. In contrast, Jews are unconditionally enjoined against entering the areas reserved for Muslim worship.

Permission to develop and enhance the site:

Jews are deprived of the basic right to enhance and improve their shrine because the Muslim Waqf is allowed to veto the Jews' enhancement and development plans. The Arabs, in contrast, are not limited in any way; lavish budgets are reserved for the halls allocated to them and are used relentlessly. Obviously, these plans are not presented for the approval of, or even for consultation with, the Jewish authorities in charge of the tomb. Consequently, the Isaac Hall, the main and largest hall in the building, is being enhanced with the help of mammoth investments in paint, decorations, and Muslim ritual objects, in total insensitivity to the Jewish nature of the place.

The Jewish community of Hebron demands:

STOP THE DISCRIMINATION!
* Assure the right of free and safe movement for Jews in all parts of Hebron.
* Assure the right of Jews to possess, purchase, and dwell in properties throughout Hebron.
* Stop the hostile and racist propaganda against the Jews of Hebron.
* Banish inciteful, antisemitic, racist, and anti-Israeli players from Hebron.
* End the discrimination in law enforcement and religious and civil rights.

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

To Go To Top

ISLAM VS. MEDICINE & CHRISTIANITY
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, February 2, 2007.

CONFLICT BETWEEN MUSLIMS & MODERN MEDICINE

The big problem in France is that Muslim husbands refuse to let their wives be treated by male doctors. In Turkey, the two doctors at some place of treatment were female. They refused to treat a youth who, as a result, lost a testacle.

Britain now requires visitors to hospital rooms to disinfect their hands by rubbing on a gel kept outside the room. Muslims refuse to comply, because the gel contains rubbing alcohol. Hospital staff fail to prohibit their entry, although they could bring disease to weakened patients (Daniel Pipes weblog #741).

The Muslim religious prohibition is against drinking alcohol, not using it as a disinfectant. Medicinal alcohol is not the kind one drinks. There is too much kowtowing to Muslim "sensibilities." As we see, they are unjustifiably over-sensitive for themselves. They usually are insensitive to others.

CONFLICT BETWEEN ISLAM & CHRISTIANITY

The Pope said that reciprocity should govern relations between the two faiths. In Cordoba, Spain, Muslims asked for permission to pray in a church that hundreds of years ago had been a mosque. Muslims bar Christians, however, from mosques that once had been churches (Op. Cit.) and Jews from holy sites that Muslims later claimed as their own.

Islam doesn't believe in reciprocity.

STATE DEPT. COMPLICIT IN MURDER OF U.S. AMBASSADORS

Arafat renamed some of his terrorist units, so that when they committed crimes, he would claim they didn't belong to him. One of his offshoots, Black September, which he said comprised dissidents, he ordered to murder US Ambassadors. They did.

The State Dept. intercepted a cable containing the order. The Dept. did not reveal this, although in recent years, it became known to those who care. The State Dept., however, kept the cable as secret as it could and denied Arafat's complicity or that he could be proved to have ordered the murder or controlled the executioners. The State Dept. did this to curry favor with certain Arabs. The State Dept. was lying to protect a murderer of its own officials, fellow Americans.

The major US media did not expose the cover-up. The cover-up was not only of Arafat but also of faulty US policy that considered him a peace partner. It kept Americans from knowing that Fatah has been targeting Americans for 33 years. (Had we been more aware, we might not have waited for 9/11 and might have understood the need to strike back at an evil axis. We also might not have armed Arafat and now Abbas. Maybe we really would have been thoroughly pro-Israel.) US policy was to base hopes for peace on Fatah.

Even now, the faulty policy continues! (IMRA, 1/3 from Carolne Glick.)

Richard Shulman is a veteran defender of Israel on several web-based forums. His comments and analyses appear often on Think-Israel. He provides cool information and right-on-target overviews. He distributes his essays by email. To subscribe, write him at richardshulman5@verizon.net

To Go To Top

THE MAN IN THE MIRROR
Posted by Justice for Jonathan Pollard, February 2, 2007.

This was written by David Holzel and posted February 2, 2007. It is called "The Jewish Angle." David Holzel, formerly managing editor of Moment Magazine 1998-99 and assistant editor of the Atlanta Jewish Times, 1993-1996, has been a Washington based free lance writer since 1997.

J4JP Note: Jonathan Pollard was arrested on November 21, 1985 and sentenced to Life on March 4, 1987. Pollard is currently serving his 22nd year of a life sentence. The 20th anniversary in the article below refers to the anniversary of sentencing

[Editor's note: There is a moving account on Anne Lieberman's website 'Boker Tov, Boulder!' (http://bokertov.typepad.com/btb/2007/02/shavua_tov_jona.html) about how hard it is to get involved in the Pollard case. And how necessary.]

Two decades into his life sentence, Jonathan Pollard casts a long shadow from his prison cell.

In March 1987, I was attending a gathering of Jewish journalists in New York City, when I happened to scan the front page of the New York Times. A headline noted that Jonathan Pollard was to be sentenced that day, and as I read the article, my sense of reality shifted. An American Jew, guilty of one count of passing classified material to Israel, was almost certainly about to receive a life sentence, and not a word of it had been mentioned at this gathering of Jewish newspaper editors and writers.

If there was a story for a Jewish journalist, this was it. It threw a glaring light onto the hyphenated identity of the American-Jew. It raised the question of how far an American Jew would be willing to go to help Israel, if it were in his power to render the Jewish state singular assistance. And it raised a mirror to those who dared to look at a reflection that asked: "We say we revere the martyrs who went to their death saying the Shema, rather than desecrate the name of God. Is that empty sentimentality, or do we truly believe in sticking our necks out for a just cause?"

For all that, not a word from my colleagues. And suddenly my conscience became a clock ticking down the minutes until Pollard was put away for life. All Jews are responsible for each other, we are fond of saying, but I could do nothing to stop that clock ticking down on an American Jew, just four years older than I, a Zionist who wanted to see Israel safe, and who, from his position as an analyst for the U.S. Navy, had passed military information to Israel that the U.S. had withheld.

It soon will be 20 years since that date -- March 4, 1987. Jonathan Pollard and I have grown from impetuous young men to something like middle age. We have never met or spoken. But since that day, he has been my shadow. Whenever I have looked for him he is there, in prison.
 

Considering the indifference of my employers, I am still baffled why they allowed me to write an editorial stridently sympathetic to Pollard. Then I was given the assignment of traveling to South Bend, Indiana, where the Pollard family lived. In a clubby Notre Dame dining room, I had lunch with Jonathan's father, Morris, a microbiologist at the university, and Jonathan's mother, Mollie.

That day they conveyed to me their grief at what happened to their son and their frustration over the shoddy legal representation Jonathan had received. Along with Jonathan's older sister Carol, Dr. and Mrs. Pollard were the main sources for my article. It was, I think, the first lengthy story about Pollard in the Jewish press.

In those days, when those who called themselves American Jewish leaders, and the organizations they led, were silent about Pollard, I learned that there were three types of Jews who vociferously were not -- Holocaust survivors, the Orthodox, and the crazies.

I've often wondered why. From experience, Holocaust survivors know that staying quiet and following the rules isn't always enough when it comes to preserving Jewish lives. Pollard's willingness to break the law because it could potentially save Jews was exactly what there wasn't enough of during the Holocaust.

Orthodox Jews are less burdened about what for others is a sense of dual loyalty between their American-ness and their love for Israel. Because their Jewishness is very much on display, many have to stick their necks out to exercise their freedom of religion. That Pollard stuck his neck out for Israel was something to be commended, not condemned.

The crazies, who never fit in anywhere because they can't or won't conform, have nothing to lose in speaking up for another marginal figure, Pollard.

I'm still not sure where I fit in. For years I was razzed by Jewish friends and colleagues for continuing to push the Pollard issue. I advocated dedicating an empty seat on the synagogue bimah to Pollard, to lighting a candle for Pollard. Similar symbolic acts were done for Soviet Jews. But apparently it is easier -- or less disconcerting -- to identify with the more abstract plight of Jews caught in a foreign dictatorship than it is to hold a place for someone a lot more like us who is serving a life sentence for aiding Israel.

Pollard embarrassed most American Jews. He broke the law to help Israel. Having to explain that to other Americans, let alone to the face in the mirror, was just too uncomfortable. Isn't America a good place for Jews? Isn't America good to Israel? So how could he have repaid America by passing its secrets to Israel and possibly ruin a good thing? Better he should stay where he is and we forget about him.

It's ironic that polls showed that few Americans realize that Pollard is a Jew. What is real is that Pollard received a sentence disproportionate to the crime he committed. As Edwin Black wrote:

"Pollard has by far received the longest sentence in U.S. history for spying for a friendly government. His life term rivals only those handed down to America's greatest traitors, such as Aldrich Ames, whose treachery killed American agents, and John Walker who revealed our nuclear submarine positions to the Soviets. In fact, at least one of Walker's family of accomplices has already been released after serving 15 years of a 25-year sentence."
 

So it was a surprise, and a relief, to meet two up-and-coming Federation machers in Atlanta, one an attorney and the other a real-estate developer, who were nudging the Jewish community there about Pollard. One of them even visited Pollard where he is being held, at the Federal prison in Butner, North Carolina.

For their trouble, these two men earned the not entirely complimentary nickname "The Pollard Twins." They were both participants in the Wexner program (www.wexnerfoundation.org/About/), a high-intensity program to teach up-and-coming Jewish leaders about Judaism. When the mitzvah of pidyon shvuyim -- rescuing captives -- was discussed, the two made the connection with Pollard.

Pollard does seem more like a captive than a prisoner. He remains chained by a secret -- by a 46-page classified memorandum that then-Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger submitted to federal Judge Aubrey Robinson. The public has never been allowed to see this memo, which reportedly outlines the damage Pollard did to American security and which, David Zwiebel (www.meforum.org/article/355) writes, "is widely cited as a major reason that the judge ultimately sentenced Pollard to life in prison for espionage."

The day before Pollard was sentenced, Weinberger submitted an additional memo to the court, in which he accused Pollard of treason.

The accusation was dramatic, but inaccurate. Pollard was not charged or convicted of treason. Worse, to this day the public has not been allowed to see and judge the secret information Weinberger supposedly presented. That we are expected to accept Pollard's life sentence without hearing a credible reason enlists us in what amounts to a witch hunt.

The witch hunt has had the intended chilling effect. Every judicial appeal, every attempt at clemency for Pollard has failed. And yet I cling to the belief that, whoever else Jonathan Pollard may be, he is a Jew who attempted to help Israel, an American who has been denied justice, and that his punishment far outweighs his crime. He has served his time.

Just as disappointing to me has been how the Israeli leadership turned its back on Pollard. While the Israeli public is sympathetic, those in power have distanced themselves.

When I interviewed Shimon Peres in February 1995, I asked him for his thoughts on Pollard. At the time of our interview, Peres was Israel's foreign minister. But he was prime minister when Pollard was passing documents to his Israeli contacts, in what an Israeli government investigation after Pollard's arrest cynically called "a rogue operation."

As I wrote of the exchange at the time, "Before I even finished my question, Mr. Peres, who until that point in the interview seemed half asleep, turned his head and glared at me... 'No, no, no,' he said. 'I shall answer some questions, not all of them.'"

As the 20th anniversary of Pollard's sentencing approaches, his shadow grows longer around me. He sits in prison with no release in sight. Yet the world has changed greatly in those two decades. The U.S.-Israel relationship, lauded for its closeness at the time, has grown even closer post-Sept. 11. The go-go '80s -- in which unrestrained entrepreneurship and a pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps approach to solving problems were encouraged, and an arms-for-hostages (www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/reagan/peopleevents/pande08.html) deal was carried out by White House operatives -- was the environment in which Pollard acted. (If you've forgotten or are not familiar with the zeitgeist of the 1980s, watch Oliver Stone's "Wall Street" or read Jay McInerney's "Bright Lights, Big City.")

Still, if in that time and in that place you had been in Pollard's position, what would you have done? Look into the mirror as you consider that question.

JUSTICE FOR JONATHAN POLLARD
Website: http://www.JonathanPollard.org
RSS: http://www.JonathanPollard.org/rss.htm

Contact Justice for Jonathan Pollard at justice4jp@gmail.com

To Go To Top

TERRORIST CELLS IN THE USA
Posted by Michael Travis, February 1, 2007.

This map is courtesy of Stewart Gable

Holly Deyo Notes: Terrorists are a very real and growing threat in America and to American interests around the world. It should be assumed these are not the only cell locations within the US and that they are subject to change.

Contact Michael Travis at michaelmgr@gmail.com

To Go To Top

US MAY BACK 40,000-MAN FATAH ARMY
Posted by Lee Caplan, February 1, 2007.
This article was written by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu.

The U.S. is quietly entrenching itself deeper in the sands of Gaza with a plan to back the entire Fatah-led security force. Hamas and some analysts warn the Americans will get stuck in a quagmire.

The Bush administration already has committed itself to provide $86 million to finance training and equipment for the personal "Presidential Guard" of Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. However, the U.S. is also now considering funding all of the PA security forces in order to counter the Hamas militia, Reuters News Agency reported Thursday. Israel, the PA and the U.S. government have not commented.

The security forces include at least 40,000 members, more than twice the number allowed by the Oslo Accords, and include many convicted terrorists whom Israel has freed. It also is common for Fatah security officers to simultaneously be members of Hamas and other terrorist organizations.

Extending aid to all of Abbas's forces and weeding out known terrorists could create havoc for the PA chairman, but officials maintain that a review process would ensure that the PA forces who receive American training have no ties to terrorist groups, Reuters added.

The rival Hamas terrorist organization, which comprises the majority of the PA legislature, as well as independent analysts have warned that the U.S. may be setting itself up to appear as an enemy and not a friend of Arabs in Judea, Samaria and Gaza.

Hamas media spokesman Ghazi Hamda charged that the American aid is aimed to promote conflict between Hamas and Fatah in order to allow the Bush administration and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to become the dominant force in the area.

A second Hamas spokesman, Ismail Radwan, was more blunt. "Whenever the United States sees that the Palestinians are about to achieve a unity agreement, it sends Condoleezza Rice to the region, or publicly announces sending weapons and money to Abbas, because it does not want unity among the Palestinians," he asserted.

Political analyst Bassem Zubeide of Ramallah's Bir Zeit University said, "Most Palestinians will think that the United States is getting heavily involved, and that will definitely weaken the Abbas point of view."

The U.S. has committed $86 million for the Presidential Guard and another $42 million to promote programs aimed at countering Hamas. The Americans maintain that its aid will not go for weapons but instead will be used for training and for uniforms, radios and other equipment. However, massive American aid to Egypt and Jordan has made it easier for those countries to ship rifles, with Israel's approval, to Abbas.

Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton, the special U.S. military envoy to the PA, claims that the training by American army officers is meant to build up the Presidential Guard and not for the purpose of fighting Hamas. However, the guard has been the main fighting force in the Fatah-Hamas force militia war that broke out two months ago.

Regardless of the source of the weapons, Hamas has vowed they will be used against Israel. "The more weapons the Americans give to Abbas, the more we will have to use against the Israelis when we go back to carrying out operations together," one Hamas leader predicted.

Abbas himself has urged fighting factions to stop warring with each other and to "aim their rifles at the occupation," the same phrase used by Islamic Jihad terrorists who took responsibility for this week's suicide bombing in Eilat.

American Secretary of State Rice remains optimistic. She recently said at a press conference, "I want everyone to know how much we admire the leadership of President Abbas. We have made a lot of progress because of [his] hard work."

Contact Lee Caplan at leescaplan@yahoo.com

To Go To Top

INTRODUCING THE TERRORISM AWARENESS PROJECT
Posted by David Meir-Levi, February 1, 2007.

I encourage all addressees to read the article below, and view the "Islamic Mein Kampf" video per the urls below. And then pass them on to everyone you know.

Our entire civilization faces a barbaric and brutal enemy, which, in the words of Osama bin Laden, offers us only two choices: convert or die (Osama and Zawahiri both have quipped on el-Jazeera that there will be no more dhimmitude in the next "thousand year Caliphate").

Our ability to face this threat is weakend by forces within our own society which minimize the danger, encourage us to believe that we can appease this enemy, deny that the danger exists, and even argue that we should blame ourselves for the Islamofascist terror attacks directed at us.

As George Orwell noted 65 years ago, "Pacifism is objectively pro-Fascist. This is elementary common sense. If you hamper the war effort of one side, you automatically help out that of the other." (Partisan Review, 1942). Minimizing or denying the Islamofascists terror threat is objectively pro-terrorist.

In Orwell's day, Nazi fascism was defeated only when it was so thoroughly beaten that German leaders agreed to unconditional surrender, and then those same German leaders agreed to outlaw the Nazi party, to judicial process for Nazi war criminals, executing the worst and jailing the rest, to disarming the Wehrmacht, and to making illegal the hate-speech and hate-teach and hate-preach which had facilitated the Nazi genocide. In Austria, even the denial of the Holocaust was made illegal.

Today we face an enemy far more dangerous than Nazi Germany, and an enemy which may now have, or soon acquire, WMDs. That enemy wants us dead, or Muslim...and they don't care how many they kill, or how many of their own may die.

It has been said that this is a new kind of war; and it may be new to us in the USA. But this is not a new kind of war. It is a war that victims of Islamofascist aggression have faced since the very beginnings of Islam more than 1300 years ago. Within the first 100 years after Mohammed began his conquest and slaughter in the name of Allah, Muslim armies destroyed four great civilizations, replacing their languages and cultures, and either obliterating or dhimmi-izing their religions. Byzantines, Copts, Berbers, Sassanians, Christians, Zoroastrians, Jews...all fell before the wrath of the Saracen...with millions slaughtered.

And, subsequently, in a combination of traditional warfare and terrorist warfare, Islam came to dominate much of the civilized world:

a.) Most of what we once called Soviet Central Asia is Moslem today because they faced this kind of war centuries ago ... and lost.

b.) Malaysia and Indonesia are majority Moslem countries run as Moslem societies with little tolerance for non-Moslems, because they too faced this type of aggression a century or so ago ... and lost.

c.) In western history, the conflicts were earlier and of the traditional war character. Charles Martel stopped the Islamic invasion of France at Poitiers, south of Paris, in 736, in a traditional battle of army against army...and as a result, France won and stayed a Christian nation. Spain lost ... and became Moslem for 800 years.

d.) A thousand years later, John Sobieski, king of Poland, led a three-nation army to stop the Moslem Ottoman armies at the gates of Vienna...and won... so Germany, and Austria, and much of eastern Europe stayed Christian... while Greece and the Balkans and Hungary and part of Rumania ... all lost; and came under Ottoman rule and suffered brutal anti-Christian repression until the late 19th century.

e.) India experienced a brutal conflict which displayed characteristics of both the traditional army vs. army together with the more amorphous and insidious terror conflict. For more than 200 years in the 11-12th centuries Moslem armies from Persia invaded, in wave after wave. Indian historians suggest that the total Hindu casualties were more than 100,000,000 (one hundred million!!).

Ultimately, much of India fell under Moslem rule, and only hundreds of years later liberated itself from what it looks back upon as a primitive, brutal repressive religious apartheid oppression; and liberation came only with the aid of the British in the 19th century.

This may be a new kind of war for us in the West, but it is not new in Muslim history. Unless we learn from the past, from the 1,300 years of the success of Muslim terrorism, our fate may end up like those of the Byzantines, Sassanians, Copts, Berbers, Spanish, and the central and far eastern countries that languish today under oppressive, tyrannical, terrorist Islamofascist rule.

What would the world have looked like if Nazi fascists had won?

What will the world look like if the Islamofascists win?

Our grandchildren may grow up in a state akin to that of the Taliban, unless we muster the courage and determination to defeat Islamofascism just as Nazism was defeated: such that their own post-defeat leaders agree to unconditional surrender, permanent cessation of all hostilities, outlawing terrorism, judicial process for terrorist leaders, outlawing hate speech and hate preach and hate teach, disarming the Islamofascist terrorist armies, dismantling all WMDs, and eschewing the all-too-numerous Qur'anic commands to conquer and kill and oppress the infidel.

The Terrorism Awareness Project will help us get a better idea of just how dire is the threat to our civilization, and how important it is for us to thoroughly and totally defeat it.

"Introducing the Terrorism Awareness Project"
By FrontPage Magazine
www.FrontPageMagazine.com
January 31, 2007

To view 'The Islamic Mein Kampf', go to:
http://www.terrorismawareness.org/
http://www.terrorismawareness.org/islamic-mein-kampf/
http://www.terrorismawareness.org/files/theislamicmeinkampt.pdf

The David Horowitz Freedom Center has launched the Terrorism Awareness Project to combat the complacency and ignorance about the intentions of the radical Islamists who declared a holy war on the United States and the West on September 11, 2001.

If one thing was clear in the aftermath of the attack, it was this: the terrorists would be back. But the alarms 9/11 set off were soon muted by complacency and self doubt. After overthrowing the Taliban, the U.S. soon returned to the illusion of peace and security and confusion of purpose that had marked the Clinton era, when the Jihad first began to strike against our America. Because of the campaign by the "anti-war" movement, our populace as a whole is ignorant of the threat, doesn't know the enemy, and is unaware of their true intent, capabilities and resolve. This is especially true of college students who face a daily barrage of anti-war and anti-American propaganda. The Terrorism Awareness Project is designed to make them aware of the threat of jihad and the struggle that lies ahead if this nation is to survive its assault.

The Freedom Center designed the Terrorism Awareness Project to put informative materials about the war on terror into the hands of millions of college students. The Project will identify campus coordinators at U.S. universities and colleges who want to make terrorism a priority at their schools. It will drop flash videos like The Islamic Mein Kampf directly into students' and faculty members' email boxes. It is placing a series of ads beginning with "What Americans Need to Know About Jihad" in all the leading college newspapers. It has prepared three pamphlets -- The Nazi Roots of Palestinian Nationalism; The Islamic Mein Kampf, and What Every American Needs To Know About Jihad -- which will be distributed throughout the university community. All three can be downloaded from the TAP website (www.terrorismawareness.org.)

The focal point for this campus campaign will be Terrorism Awareness Month. The Project's campus coordinators will distribute a Terrorism Awareness Guide which will provide a brief history of the jihad and a bibliography of crucial books on the objectives of radical Islam. There will be well publicized screenings of "Obsession" (a documentary on the Islamists' jihad recently featured on Fox News) and similar programs followed by panel discussions of experts on radical Islam such as Robert Spencer, Steven Emerson and Daniel Pipes. In addition to these public events, TAP chapter members will evaluate the Islamic or Mideast Studies departments of their campuses, analyze the bias of the reading materials and classroom discussions, and ask to present competing ideas in class. They will conduct an organized public relations campaign with their campus newspapers, including opeds and letters to the editor.

David Meir-Levi is an American-born Israeli, currently living in Palo Alto. His expertise is in Near Eastern studies and the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. He is Director of Peace and Education at Israel Peace Initiative (www.ipi-usa.org). Contact him at david_meirlevi@hotmail.com

To Go To Top

WHAT DID WE GAIN FROM THE GAZA RETREAT; AND AFTER AMONA -- HOMESH!
Posted by Elyakim Haetzni, February 1, 2007.
1.) Who's scared of American pressure?

So what do we have?

"Territories for peace?" The territories are still there, but peace is dead and buried, crushed under the corpses of the thousands of Oslo Peace Accord victims. Even the peace camp's number one hit, the grand word combination "true peace", is out of use.

"The demographic demon?" Buried deep under a mountain of lies and, among other things, 1.4 million Arabs that never existed, Jerusalem's Arabs counted twice, a forgotten Arab immigration.

Even the legend of magnificent Arab fertility is evaporating. Arab reproduction is on the decline, Jewish childbearing is on the rise. In total, the Jewish majority between the Jordan and the sea diminished only slightly compared to the 1967 numbers, 40 years ago.

"The economic demon?" The captains of the market and learned professors -- stating confidently that there is no hope and no point for the Israeli market without peace -- need much courage to show their faces in public; there is no peace, but there is terror, Qassam rockets are falling, and a bitter war took place, but, despite all these things, the Israeli economy is prospering!

"Settlements are an obstacle to peace?" This formula has been tested and failed in a cruel experiment perpetrated upon 10,000 human beings whose communities have been erased. The consequences are felt on the bones of the cities of Sederot, Ashqelon, and the kibbutzim (communal farms) and moshavim (cooperative agricultural communities of individual farms) of the western Negev. And the million residents of the north, who fled their homes under a rain of Katyusha rockets a short while after the expulsion of the residents of Gush Katif. The expulsion brought the war, with its 150 dead.

The settlements are indeed gone, but from their ruins the Katyusha rockets are being fired, and thus the experiment yielded an instructive finding: not the settlements were the obstacle to peace, but their ruins...

"The settlements -- a security burden?" What is the weight of the security burden of the broken Philadelphi Corridor infiltrated by tons of explosives, anti-tank and anti-air weapons, penetrated by Hezbollah and Al-Qaeda plus Syrian officers, building regular Hamas brigades? What is this burden compared to the burden of guarding Gush-Katif, enabling the IDF to hold the Philadelphi Corridor and to seal the Egyptian border? And what weighs more -- the burden of watching from the outside, round and around a terror state, or the old burden of the settlements, which gave the IDF a foothold within the Gaza strip?

"American pressure?" The deciding consideration in public opinion against the settlement enterprise is the convention that America cannot be resisted lest we be denied of its veto protection in the Security Council, lest our Air Force not receive spare parts, lest our economy collapse.
 

AND BEHOLD, salvation came, from the left of all places. It appears that it is possible, even necessary, to stand up to America; indeed that is what the media cries out today. The tribe elder A. B. Yehoshua and the guru Amos Oz both demand, together with the entire left, to tell America "no", even at the expense of vital American interests, and even if the president of the USA is personally offended. And all this in order that America not stand in our way as we retreat from the Golan, and because all the delicacies of Washington are insignificant compared with one taste of Damascus hummus.

"A lion roared", Assad "talks peace" -- and we shall not crawl to him on all fours, and damned be America?!

Therefore, lovers of the land of Israel, please take note that the last and greatest rationale to rob the land of Israel from us fell -- the threat of American pressure.

Note, file, and retrieve at the opportune moment this important "high permit", which we received from the heads of the left's "Court of Justice" and from all the stars of the hostile media: the demon of "American pressure" -- is dead!

Let lying lips be mute; as a matter of fact, there never was a rational argument against the right of Jews to live in the core of their motherland in the Land of Israel, and all the excuses came only to camouflage the impulses -- jealousy-hatred and an irresistible impulse to uproot those who, 'to their shame', took their place in pioneering settlement.

* * *

2.) And after Amona -- Homesh!

It can be said that the settlement enterprise that suffered a defeat in the Gaza strip and northern Samaria conducted a successful holding-defense battle in Amona -- and in Homesh, on the fourth candle of Hanukkah, went on counter-attack.

Success does not lie necessarily in the tactical victory on the ground, with the 1,000 young men and women who managed to reach the destroyed settlement despite the police and IDF blockades of all access roads. Kudos to the youth who walked for many hours, far from the main road, inside fields and between Arab houses, sometimes as individuals, sometimes in small groups, generally unarmed; equipped only with the secret weapon that erected the entire enterprise, faith and dedication. Nevertheless, the strategic turning point took place elsewhere; within the soul, in the change of consciousness. Until Amona, inclusively, the initiative was with the hostile government; in Homesh, the settlers took it back.

It cannot be concealed that the blow of the expulsion hurt the morale, the joy of creation, and the sense of security that the grand future of the settlement of Judea, Samaria and Gaza is still ahead. Two stand on the side of a mountain -- one is facing downwards, the other facing upwards. Both stand in the same place and at the same point in time, but still the greatest difference in the world lies between them; one is one the decline, the other on the ascent. For years Sharon pushed us upwards, but suddenly changed his preferences and mobilized all the forces -- military, police, General Security Service, Knesset, High Court of Justice, media apparatus, psychologists, and academy -- to turn us to face downwards, towards the decline, before he rolls us down to the abyss. Friend became enemy. In the face of this betrayal, one should not be surprised that a believing and trusting public went into a tailspin, and considerable time passed until it could recover and emerge out from the trauma.

In Homesh, the settler youth turned its face upwards again, to a mountaintop bearing a scar of destruction, bringing a renewed lift to the settlement momentum.

Hanukkah candles in Homesh brought with them a fresh wind of renewal instead of the despair of the summer of expulsion and the summer of war. Against an official agenda, dictated by failing politicians and a hostile media, of an Israel on the defensive and in continuous retreat, the settlement movement sent a thousand youth to set anew an agenda of restored Zionism, refusing to accept the consequences of the destruction of summer 2005 as a final deed.

This is the strategic success, and it took place inside the minds. However, without a further utilization of this success, it will only be temporary.

To return again and again to the destroyed settlements, not let the demand to rebuild them to drop from the national agenda, expand the existing settlements, erect new settlements, strengthen the numbers, fill a fourth hundred-thousand.

And get ready. Because the current calm is only an interlude.

To Go To Top

ISRAELIS FIND YET ANOTHER WAY TO SELF-DESTRUCT!
Posted by Jerome S. Kaufman, February 1, 2007.

This appeared yesterday in Arutz-Sheva (www.IsraelNationalNews.com).

Bedouins in the Negev and southern Hevron Hills in the Judean Desert have systematically taken over government land with the help of leftists, the European Union (EU) and misleading reporting.

In the Negev, Bedouins have erected thousands of illegal shanties, which the government calls "unauthorized communities" as opposed to "illegal Jewish settlements" in Judea and Samaria. The courts occasionally issue demolition orders, but most of the communities remain, and Bedouin leaders and government politicians often exhibit them as impoverished towns in need of water and electricity.

Drug trafficking is rampant, and the government's allowance for Bedouins to marry several women has caused a boom in the non-Jewish population that already is approaching 40 percent of the entire Negev.

The land grab in the southern Hevron Hills has focused on the method of temporarily dwelling in caves next to Jewish communities, trespassing in order to attract opposition and bringing left wing activists to photograph violence and alleged Jewish vandalism, often staged by the Arabs.

Israeli and foreign news agencies obligingly report that the Bedouins are trying to live on their homeland, which Jews have taken over, and the media do not question the source of vandalism, despite photographic proof that the Arabs have caused damage to orchards and chicken farms.

The latest land grabs are near the communities of Livneh, also called Shani, and on a Jewish farm near Beit Yatir and Susia. "Home sweet home for Suleiman Hawamdeh, a 73-year-old father of 10, is a deep cave in a barren West Bank hillside separated by a barbed-wire fence from a modern Jewish settlement," Reuters News Agency reported this week. The feature states that they first settled in the area more than 100 years ago and that when they gather wood from a nearby forest, they are required to take all of the branches that have fallen on the ground. Readers are informed that 70-year-old Yousef Kailil said his grandfather was among the first Palestinians to settle in the caves at the site of Quina Foq. Mohamed Rawashdeh, age 60, is quoted as saying, "I was born here and I will die here."

History shows that Arabs never held title to the land. During the Ottoman Empire, a local historical expert said, the leading families of the Hevron suburb of Yatta sat among themselves and divided up the lands arbitrarily. Virtually no one ever worked the land until Jews began developing the area in the early 1980s.

One of the first Arab squatters was the Rawashdeh family, which fled from Yatta after being threatened for alleged crimes. However, the same family member is quoted by Reuters as having been born at the Shani cave. Media routinely report that the Hevron Hills are "Palestinian land."

The Keren KaYemet (Jewish National Fund) operates the nearby Yatir forest and requires the Arabs to take all of the fallen branches to prevent them from committing acts of arson, as they frequently have done by setting fire to the dry wood on the ground.

Hevron Hills Regional Council official Ephraim Hebbs said that the Bedouins only inhabit the caves for about three months during the year when they herd their sheep in the area. "They never built in the area and we did," he says. The Reuters feature described the Arabs sleeping on floors while residents in the nearby community of Shani "live in red roof-topped homes, some with backyard swimming pools." However, there is only one community pool in the town and no others exist.

Moreover, it is customary for Bedouins to sleep on thick mats stuffed with wool from their sheep. Many Bedouins who have in recent years moved into houses still maintain the tradition, especially those of the previous generation.

Bedouins rarely roamed the hills until the late 1990s, when the government of Ehud Barak changed its policy of holding on to uninhabited areas that were in control of the Jordanian government before the Six-Day War in 1967.

Financed by the EU, the Palestinian Authority (PA) has paid many Arabs and Bedouins to move from the Hevron area and occupy the land.

A recent incident at the farm of Ya'akov Talia, a South African-born Jew, illustrates the obstacles in remaining in the area. He and his parents moved to the barren hilltop almost 15 years ago. Former security officer Henry Lee relates the reaction. "Someone from the American consulate called me and said their satellite identified a mobile home on the hill. He asked how Talia was receiving water and electricity. The issue eventually arrived on the desk of then President Ronald Reagan, who approved it."

However, Civil Lands Administration officials, in opposition to army and police advice, have backed Arab claims to the land. When Arabs tried to survey the hill several years ago, Talia called Lee, who in turn called the Civil Lands Administration. "It is not their plan, but what do you care if they survey it," an officer replied. Persistence has paid off. The Civil Lands Administration several weeks ago allowed several Arabs from the Hevron area to squat in a cave on the farm.

One of the favorite methods of the Arabs to attract sympathy is to trespass on Jewish communities on the Sabbath, when Jews are not allowed to travel, or cross the land during the week on the premise that it is a short cut to school.

They have used this method next to the community of the Maon Farm, attracting confrontations photographed by activists of the International Solidarity Movement, who often escort them.

However, one security officer said he received rabbinical permission to travel on the Sabbath and photograph trespassing and vandalism by Arabs. The rabbis decreed that allowing the Arab actions without an immediate response threatens the existence of the communities and lives of the residents.

Jerome S. Kaufman is National Secretary of the Zionist Organization of America and host of the Israel Commentary website (http://www.israel-commentary.org).

To Go To Top

CHRISTIANS AROUND THE GLOBE CONTRIBUTE TO GUSH KATIF EXPELLEES
Posted by Nurit Greenger, February 1, 2007.

CHRISTIANS contribute to Gush Katif -- something the Jewish Organizations in the US and elsewhere have not yet decided to get around to do. As a Jew, what is left for me to say? After all I am embarrassed the disengagement ever happened! Thank you, International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem (ICEJ).

This comes from IMRA (www.imra.org).

Icej Donates Playground For Children Evacuated From Gaza. Part Of an Over $200,000 Campaign To Assist Gaza Evacuees

(JERUSALEM, 1 FEBRUARY 2007) The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) dedicated a new playground in Nitzan today as part of its campaign to assist children of Jewish families evacuated from the Gaza Strip during the summer of 2005.

Following the Gaza disengagement, the Christian Embassy launched a drive to assist evicted Israeli families, with a special emphasis on helping children adjust to their new surroundings. Over $200,000 in donations were collected from Christians, and the Nitzan playground is one of several projects being funded by that campaign.

The $50,000 playground in Nitzan was jointly funded by the ICEJ ($30,000) and the Jewish Federation of Houston, Texas ($20,000).

Currently, some 450 evacuee families live in temporary housing in Nitzan, a new community between Ashdod and Ashkelon. Permanent homes will not be ready for at least another two years, and the children have been without basic recreational outlets. The Nitzan playground, which can be dismantled and transferred when the families move to their permanent homes, aims to bring a sense of normalcy to their lives.

A similar ICEJ-funded playground is presently under construction in the Shomron for children evacuated from four Jewish communities in northern Samaria.

"These courageous children have already experienced much trauma in their young lives," said Rev. Malcolm Hedding, ICEJ Executive Director. "We wanted to help ease their adjustment to new surroundings. They really deserve a special place for them just to be kids again."

"This playground is bringing a lot of joy and happiness to 1200 children in Nitzan," said Dror Vanunu, international coordinator for Gush Katif communities. "Unfortunately, many families are still suffering, and many parents are still unemployed. This place will bring relief to both children and parents, and we are thankful for the ICEJ's many contributions to rehabilitating their lives."

For more information:Dani Wassner, Ruder Finn Israel, 054-467-6961; dani@ruderfinn.co.il OR David Parsons, ICEJ 052-381-6214; david.parsons@icej.org

Contact Nurit Greenger by email at 4nuritg@ca.rr.com. Visit her blog:
http://ngthinker.typepad.com

To Go To Top

UK BARONESS: ISLAMIC EXTREMISM GREATEST THREAT TO WEST
Posted by Simon McIlwaine, February 1, 2007.

This article was written by Etgar Lefkovits and it appeared January 30, 2007 in the Jerusalem Post
(www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1167467850121&pagename= JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull).

Islamic extremism poses the greatest threat to the Western World, and endangers the very essence of democracy, a British baroness said Tuesday.

"The threat of a militant and totalitarian form of Islam poses the greatest threat to our cultures today, and Israel is standing at the front-lines of this struggle against militant Islam which would destroy the values of our societies," Baroness Caroline Cox said in an address at the House of Lords.

Cox, an outspoken supporter of Israel, was speaking in the Moses Room at the conclusion of the Jerusalem Summit Europe, which held its first meeting in London this week. Hundreds of evangelical Christians attended the summit, which was coordinated with the Knesset's Christian Allies Caucus.

The erudite baroness of Queensbury, who, together with John Marks, wrote The West, Islam and Islamism: Is ideological Islam compatible with liberal democracy?, told The Jerusalem Post that a recent public opinion poll reporting that 40 percent of Muslims youths in the UK wanted to live under Islamic law was indicative of a growing state of malaise that threatened to destroy Britain's society and core values.

"The sad thing is that growing in our midst there is a significant portion of youth who seem to believe in values that are absolutely antithetical to the spiritual, political and cultural values on which this nation has been based over the centuries," Cox said.

"Given their continuous embrace and manifest endorsement of terror activities, this represents not only a political threat but a physical threat which demonstrates their ruthlessness in their commitment to do everything they can to take over our society and to destroy our faith and freedom."

The meeting at the House of Lords, which was attended by several fellow peers and MPs as well as the chairman of the Christian Allies Caucus, MK Benny Elon (National Union-National Religious Party) and British Jewish and Evangelical leaders, included a slide show presentation of Palestinian media clips demonizing Israel and praising "martyrdom" presented by the head of Palestinian Media Watch, Itamar Marcus.

"Violent Islam is clearly the greatest problem mankind is facing today," said Lord Malcolm Pearson, a prominent Euro-skeptic who was presented with the Jerusalem Summit's' third Henry "Scoop" Jackson award by the Russian tycoon Michael Cherney, who has helped fund the summits, for his fight against the Soviet Communist regime.

"The dark shadow of the collective human spirit has moved from Soviet Communism to violent Islamism," Pearson said.

Christian and Jewish leaders at the meeting agreed the attitude of Muslim youth in the UK, as reflected in the poll, was indicative of a general problem in a politically-correct, complacent society that was guided by short-term political interest.

"It is a shame that one-third of our young people do not feel as strongly the need to uphold Christian laws that are the backbone of this nation," said Pamela Thomas, the national director of Bridges for Peace UK, an evangelical organization.

"The poll did not surprise us at all because of the education in the Madrasa system in the UK," said Andrew Balcombe, the chairman of the Zionist Federation of the UK and Ireland, referring to Islamic religious schools. "There is gender and creed apartheid which causes considerable political and social problems."

The speakers said the threat posed by Islamic extremism exceeded the menace of Soviet Communism, and was reminiscent of the threat of Nazi Germany during the period of appeasement.

"We feel ourselves living in the 1930s all over again," Cox said.

Contact Simon McIlwaine by email at Simon.McIlwaine@ormerods.co.uk

To Go To Top

DEFINITION OF ISLAMOFASCISM NOT AN INSULT
Posted by David Meir-Levi, February 1, 2007.

What Daniel Pipes refers to as "radical Islam" I call Islamofascism.

Notice that his definition of "Radical Islam" (...anti-modern, millenarian, misanthropic, misogynist, anti-Christian, anti-Semitic, triumphalist, jihadistic, terroristic, and suicidal) is very close to my definition of Islamofascism: jihadist, Imperialist, Supremacist, Totalitarian, Tyranical, Triumphalist, Terrorist Islam.

We differ on a few definitional points because some of his designated characteristics are NOT exclusive to radical Islam (aka Islamofascism), but rather are typical of normative Islam as it has been practiced throughout the Islamic world since Mohammed.

Mysogyny, anti-Christian, anti-Jewish (aka anti-Semitic)...all describe the majority of Muslim practices throughout Muslim history and across the entire Muslim world. There have been some brief and limited exceptions (Golden Age in Spain being the most famous), but these have been brief in time (a few decades or a century in the 1,379 years of Islam) and limited in geography (a few cities in Spain vs the vast span of the Muslim "Umma" from Spain and Mauritania in the West to Indonesia and Malaysia in the East).

Some apologists and defenders of Islam assert that such negative terminology is an insult to Islam.

The opposite is the case.

By defining "extremist Islam" or "radical Islam" or "Islamofascism" in very specific terms, we describe a very clear and important difference between these extremist versions of Islam and normative Islam.

This is very important. We must keep in mind that even though almost all terrorists are Muslim, not all Muslims are terrorists. By making this distinction we intentionally avoid painting all of Islam, all the world's Muslims, with the same black brush.

It is my assertion that the overwhelming majority of Muslims throughout the world and across the full 1,379 years of Muslim history have been, and are today, peace-loving, honest, sincere, law-abiding, civilized, honorable, nice, polite, helpful, friendly, hard-working, loyal, patriotic, productive citizens of their home-countries. They want little more than the opportunity to live a normal life in peace and security, raise crops and a family, get their kids off to a good start, retire in peace and security, and leave the world a little better off than they found it...same as most of us. Some minorities prefer to devote their lives to the barbarism and brutality that Dr. Pipes describes. They are a minority, but unfortunately, not a tiny minority. The State Department estimates that c. 10% of the Muslim "Umma" is supportive of, or participatory in, radical Islam.

With c. 1,400,000,000 Muslims in the world, that is about 140,000,000 people, or slightly less than half the total population of the USA ... a minority, but NOT a tiny minority.

So the terms "radical Islam" or "extremist Islam" or "Islamofascism" refer to that percentage which aspire to the ultimate victory of that Imperialist, Supremacist, Totalitarian, Tyranical, Triumphalist, Terrorist Islam ... and participates, or aids and abets, in the achieving of those aspirations via terrorist jihad.

The remainder of the world's Muslims do NOT fit in to that category, and as such, are not defined by these terms. Therefore, this remaining 90% is not being insulted by the negative terminology of the definition of the other 10%.

There do remain, however, two problems with this 90% of normative Muslims:

a.) given the recent world-wide outbreak of "sudden Jihad syndrome" (a term coined by Dr. Pipes to describe the phenomenon of peace-loving, honest, sincere, law-abiding, civilized, honorable, nice, polite, helpful, friendly, hard-working, loyal, patriotic, productive Muslims, who seem to suddenly go insane, for no apparent external reason, and attack non-Muslims in the USA, UK, EU, Jordan, and East Asia by means of shooting or stabbing or decapitation or arson or vehicular homicide), it is impossible to know for sure that those Muslims who appear to be peace-loving, honest, sincere, law-abiding, civilized, honorable, nice, polite, helpful, friendly, hard-working, loyal, patriotic, and productive, are in fact not Jihadists in disguise, or not wannabbee Jihadists waiting for an opportunity to strike a blow for Allah.

b.) the 90% of peace-loving, honest, sincere, law-abiding, civilized, honorable, nice, polite, helpful, friendly, hard-working, loyal, patriotic, productive Muslims are, with very very few exceptions ( which include those enumerated by Dr. Pipes below), completely silent regarding the evil deeds of the other 10%. Silence in the face of evil is complicity.

Complicity with evil is evil.

The article below is called "Radical Islam vs. Civilization" and was written by Daniel Pipes. It appeared today in Front Page Magazine (www.FrontPageMagazine.com). It is from a talk presented by Daniel Pipes on January 20, 2007, in London in a debate with the mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, as transcribed by the 910 Group with the help of others. I abbreviated it. Go to www.FrontPagemag.com for full text.

[...]

...world civilization exists of civilized elements in every culture banding together to protect ethics, liberty and mutual respect. The real clash is between them and the barbarians.

Now what do I mean by barbarians? ... ideological barbarians. This is what emerged in the French revolution in the late 18th century. And the great examples of ideological barbarism are fascism and Marxist Leninism -- they, in their course of their histories have killed tens of millions of people. But today it's a third, a third totalitarian movement, a third barbarian movement, namely that of radical Islam. It is an extremist utopian version of Islam. I am not speaking of Islam the religion, I am speaking of a very unusual and modern reading of Islam. It has inflicted misery (as I mentioned Algeria and Darfur, before), there is suicide terrorism, tyrannical and brutal governments, there is the oppression of women, and non-Muslims.

It threatens the whole world:. Morocco, Turkey, Palestinian Authority, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, you name it, Afghanistan, Tunisia, and not just the traditional Muslim world, but also Russia, France, Sweden, and I dare say, the United Kingdom.

The great question of our time is how to prevent this movement, akin to fascism and communism, from growing stronger.

[...]

Indeed, British-based terrorists have carried out operations in at least fifteen countries. Going from east to west, they include Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kenya, Tanzania, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iraq, Jordan, Israel, Algeria, Morocco, Russia, France, Spain, and the United States. I'll give you one example, from the United States: it was Richard Reid, the shoe bomber, who I am primarily thinking of, but there is also the British involvement in 9/11 and in the Millennium Plot that did not take place in Los Angeles.

In frustration, Egypt's President Husni Mubarak publicly denounced the UK for "protecting killers."

After the August 10th thwarted Heathrow airline mega-plot, of a few months ago, two American authors argued in The New Republic, that from an American point of view, "it can now be argued that the biggest threat to U.S. security emanates not from Iran or Iraq or Afghanistan -- but rather from Great Britain."

[...]

Let us focus on three aspects of it. The essence of radical Islam is the complete adherence to the Shari'a, to the law of Islam. And it is extending the Shari'a into areas that never existed before.

Second, it is based very deeply on a clash of civilizations ideology. It divides the world into two parts, the moral and the immoral, the good and the bad. Here is one quote from a British-based Islamist by the name of Abdullah el-Faisal, who was convicted and is now in jail. "There are two religions in the world today -- the right one and the wrong one. Islam versus the rest of the world." You don't get a more basic clash-of-civilization orientation than that. There is a hatred of the outside world, of the non-Muslim world, and the West in particular. There is the intent to reject as much as possible of outside influence.

The third feature is that this is totalitarian in nature. It turns Islam from a personal faith into an ideology, into an ism. It is the transformation of a personal faith into a system for ordering power and wealth. Radical Islam derives from Islam but is an anti-modern, millenarian, misanthropic, misogynist, anti-Christian, anti-Semitic, triumphalist, jihadistic, terroristic, and suicidal version of it. It is Islamic-flavored totalitarianism.

[...].

There is an attempt to take over states. There is the use of the state for coercive purposes, and an attempt to dominate all of life, every aspect of it. It is an aggression against neighbors, and finally it is a cosmic confrontation with the West. As Tony Blair put it in August of 2006, "We are fighting a war, but not just against terrorism but about how the world should govern itself in the early 21st century, about global values."

[...]

Why generally is the right alarmed, and the left much more sanguine? There are many differences, there are many reasons, but I'd like to focus on two.

One is a sense of shared opponents between the Islamists and those on the left. George Galloway explained in 2005, "the progressive movement around the world and the Muslims have the same enemies," which he then went on to indicate were Israel, the United States, and Great Britain.

And if you listen to the words that are spoken about, say, the United States, you can see that this is in fact the case. Howard Pinter has described America as "a country run by a bunch of criminal lunatics." [big applause and shouts] And Osama Bin Laden [stops ... ] I'll do what I can to get an applause line. [laughter] And, get ready for this one: Osama Bin Laden called the United States, "unjust, criminal, and tyrannical." [applause]

Noam Chomsky termed America "a leading terrorist state." And Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, a leading Pakistani political leader, called it the "biggest terrorist state." [scattered applause] Such common ground makes it tempting for those on the Left to make common cause with Islamists, and the symbol of this would be the [huge, anti-war in Iraq] demonstrations in Hyde Park, on the 16th of February 2003, called by a coalition of leftist and Islamist organizations.

At other times, the Left feels a kinship with Islamist attacks on the West, forgiving, understanding why these would happen. A couple of notorious quotes make this point. The German composer, Karlheinz Stockhausen termed the 9/11 attacks "the greatest work of art for the whole cosmos," while American novelist Norman Mailer, commented that "the people who did this were brilliant."

Such attitudes tempt the Left not to take seriously the Islamist threat to the West. With John Kerry, a former aspirant to the [U.S.] presidency, they dismiss terrorism as a mere "nuisance."

That is one reason; the bonds between the two camps.

The second is that on the Left one finds a tendency to focus on terrorism -- not on Islamism, not on radical Islam. Terrorism is blamed on such problems as Western colonialism of the past century, Western "neo-imperialism" of the present day, Western policies -- particularly in places like Iraq and the Palestinian Authority -- or from unemployment, poverty, desperation.

[...]

I would argue to you, ladies and gentlemen, it must be fought and must be defeated as in 1945 and 1991, [applause] as the German and the Soviet threats were defeated. Our goal must be, in this case, the emergence of Islam that is modern, moderate, democratic, humane, liberal, and good neighborly and that it is respectful of women, homosexuals, atheists, whoever else -- one that grants non-Muslims equal rights with Muslims.

[...]

I also propose standing with their counterparts in the west, with such individuals as Ayaan Hirsi Ali [applause], ... formerly a Dutch legislator and now in exile in the United States; with Irshad Manji, the Canadian author; [applause] with Wafa Sultan, the Syrian in exile in the United States who made her phenomenal appearance on Al-Jazeera. Individuals like Magdi Allam, an Egyptian who is now a leading Italian journalist; Naser Khader, a parliamentarian in Denmark; Salim Mansur, a professor and author in Canada, and Irfan Al-Alawi, here in Britain. [applause]

I hope that you and I, Mr. Mayor, can agree here and now to cooperate on such a program.

David Meir-Levi is an American-born Israeli, currently living in Palo Alto. His expertise is in Near Eastern studies and the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. He is Director of Peace and Education at Israel Peace Initiative (www.ipi-usa.org). Contact him at david_meirlevi@hotmail.com

To Go To Top

SUITCASE NUKES
Posted by Michael Travis, February 1, 2007.

This comes from the Euphoric Reality website
(http://euphoricreality.com/2007/01/28/suitcase-nukes).

Last night I appeared on a Fox News show called Heartland with John Kasich. I'd never seen the show before, but I was invited as a guest to participate in what was billed as an "investigative report" on the possibility of suitcase nukes in the hands of terrorists. The producers had seen this article of mine, crossposted at WAR. My part was to be about nuclear proliferation among terror groups. For two days prior to the show, I studiously prepared my facts and figures so that I could engage in an intelligent round-table discussion with John Kasich and another guest, Dean Barnett of Townhall.

What I didn't know at the time, was that it really wasn't "investigative" at all, but merely a chance for John Kasich to showcase his ill-considered and monumentally misinformed opinion that the existence of suitcase nukes is nothing more than an urban legend. It was clear that he thinks discussing the probability that terrorists have possession of nukes is nothing more than "scare-mongering". Dean Barnett concurred that suitcase nukes do not exist, but did nothing more than offer an opinion. There was no discussion of facts.

I was more nervous about being on TV than I've ever been, but this topic is so important that I was determined to do it justice. I was the lone dissenting voice, but I was eager for a chance to represent some facts to counter their opionions. Unfortunately, I wasn't given that chance, and I wasn't familiar enough with live television -- nor confident enough -- to grab the chance before it was too late. Unfortunately, when I did comment that suitcase nukes do indeed exist, and supported my statement with facts, I was interrupted by Kasich. The segment ended just as I thought we were getting started. I left the studio a little stunned that Kasich would attempt to broach the complex and incredibly critical subject of nuclear terrorism in as little as a few minutes. I honestly thought that more time and consideration would be given to this matter, and was extremely disappointed that Kasich treated it so cavalierly.

However, I still have a voice, and I thought I would share with you, our loyal readers, what I didn't get a chance to say last night on Heartland:

Suitcase nukes are the stuff of urban legends:

I would've said the same thing about rumors of a plot to fly several commercial airline jets into the WTC towers, the White House, the Pentagon, etc. Such a thing could never happen.

I might've even said the same thing about a Third World Islamic nation developing its own nuclear weapons arsenal in the wilds of Pakistan. Pffft -- how unlikely.

But if you want to know the truth about the threats we face, ask the boots on the ground, and you'll get the truth -- not the politically spun "Pshaw, there is no such thing." Ask any Special Forces soldier or inquire of the Air Force's Counter-Terrorism and Nuclear Proliferation teams. I did.

In the 1950 and 60s we developed a small nuke that could easily be carried in a backpack, and we trained teams of Special Forces to deploy them. It's not such a stretch to imagine that 40-50 years later, the technology has advanced since then. Take into consideration the laxity of accountability of nuclear material in the former Soviet Union states and the ready availability of plutonium and weapons grade enriched uranium on the black market. The recent HEU smuggling attempt in Georgia is a case in point. With a sufficient amount of fissile material -- for instance, 50 kg of highly enriched uranium, and quite possibly less, a highly destructive bomb could be constructed. In fact, in a 2006 report, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed 16 incidents of trafficking in highly enriched uranium or plutonium. In seven cases, the nuclear material was thought to originate in Russia or a former Soviet state. In other words, the material is readily available on the black market for a price.

So, do suitcase nukes exist?

Yes, they do -- we are far beyond the point of debating their existence, we are now debating their location and their ownership. Who has them and where? The fact that we don't know the answer to these questions in an age of global terrorism and rogue nations is a huge problem. We can't continue to evaluate terrorism's nuclear proliferation by Cold War standards. The rules changed on 9/11. That was our notice that from that day on, all weapons of terror, including nuclear weapons, could and would be used, against us. This is a fight to the death.

How have portable nukes gotten into the hands of terrorists?

Paul L. Williams, a counter-terrorism consultant tot the FBI, says bin Laden's search for nuclear weapons began in 1988 when he hired a team of five nuclear scientists from Turkmenistan. They were former employees at the atomic reactor in Iraq before it was destroyed by Israel. The team's project was the development of a nuclear reactor that could be used "to transform a very small amount of material that could be placed in a package smaller than a backpack."

"By 1990 bin Laden had hired hundreds of atomic scientists from the former Soviet Union for $2,000 a month -- an amount far greater that their wages in the former Soviet republics," Williams writes. "They worked in a highly sophisticated and well-fortified laboratory in Kandahar, Afghanistan."

Then again in 1998, Mamdouh Mahmud Salim was arrested in Munich and charged with acting as an al Qaeda agent to purchase highly enriched uranium from a German laboratory. That same year, according to Williams, bin Laden succeeded in buying 20 suitcase nukes from Chechen Mafia figures, including former KGB agents. The $30 million deal was partly cash and partly heroin with a street value of $700 million.

The fact that the Chechens possessed the nukes should be no surprise to any reporter or investigator. In 1995, the Chechens under Com. Shamail Basayev planted a radiological bomb in Izmailovsky Park near Moscow. The bomb was made of cesium-137, and, if detonated, would have killed thousands of Russians. This incident represented the first case of a nuke to be deployed as a weapon of terror. Later that same year, Dzokhar Dudayev, the leader of the Chechen Mafia, offered to sell his collection of nuclear weapons to the United States in exchange for U. S. recognition of Chechnya's independence. The Clinton Administration declined and so the weapons were sold to al Qaeda.

"After the devices were obtained, they were placed in the hands of Arab nuclear scientists who, federal sources say, 'were probably trained at American universities,'" says Williams.

Yossef Bodansky, author of Bin Laden: The Man Who Declared War on America and the U.S. Congress' top terrorism expert, concurs that bin Laden has already succeeded in purchasing suitcase nukes.

As well, twenty nuclear scientists and technicians from A.Q. Khan's research laboratories in Pakistan worked with al Qaeda on a regular basis to maintain and modify the weapons that had been purchased and to develop other weapons, including highly portable "bespoke nukes."

In 2000, British agents posed as recruits from a London mosque to infiltrate al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan. In Herat, they saw nuclear weapons being manufactured. Similarly, an al-Qaeda operative was near a checkpoint at Ramallah in Israel. In his rusty old Volkswagen van, Mossad discovered a bomb which turned out to be a highly sophisticated plutonium-implosion device with an explosive yield of 10 kilotons. For comparison, the bomb dropped on Hiroshima was 15 kilotons.

Why are terrorist nukes as important as rogue nuclear states?

Islamists may very well assume that they can launch suicide nuclear attacks against Western targets because 1) Allah will save them from retaliation, 2) that if he does not then their people will be "martyred", 3) that the Western leaders will be too vacillating to actually retaliate as the West will feel guilty to kill innocent women and children 4) a massive retaliation against one Muslim nation is an acceptable sacrifice as it will cause all of the rest of the Muslims to rise up and attack the West.

We need to develop a retaliatory response plan NOW. This is complicated by the fact that terrorism knows no borders. During the Cold War, the doctrine of MAD (mutual assured destruction) kept everyone's fingers off the trigger. Prior to the Gulf War, we warned Saddam that any use of WMDs would trigger a massive (read nuclear) response. Have the mullahs gotten a similar message that a suitcase bomb in D.C would result in mushroom clouds over Tehran, Damascus, Mecca and all other Islamic cities not currently occupied by the US Armed Forces? Would such a doctrine even deter Islamists? We need to answer these questions now, and not after a nuclear attack when we are in a dire crisis management mode.

Furthermore it is clear that many nations, such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Syria, sponsor Islamic terrorism through proxies (al Qaeda, Hezbollah, and Hamas), knowing that we have not yet formulated a ready response to the shifting targets of terrorism. They are keen to get portable nukes into the hands of small terror cells that are already embedded in the communities they will eventually target to destroy. The main target, after all, is the Great Satan -- America -- and the vast oceans between us and the Middle East cannot protect us from terror cells in our midst. Thus, portable nukes are far more advantageous to Islamist warfare than nuclear missiles.

Bin Laden is broke and can't afford to buy nukes, thus al Qaeda does not have them:

Far from it. OBL is the world's largest supplier of heroin -- his labs in Afghanistan produce about 5000 metric tons per year. He gets richer with every drug deal made on every street corner. Ironic, wouldn't you say -- that America's junkies are funding our worst enemy?

Why haven't they used nukes already?

There are three possible reasons I can think of:

1. First and foremost, the planning involved is enormous in scope. It requires not only development and (in some cases) rebuilding of the weapons but also forward deployment, site preparation and precise strategic coordination among scattered cells. We already know that Bin Laden is methodical, meticulous, and patient. After all, his favorite Islamic verse is "I will be patient until Patience is outworn by patience."

2. Bin Laden will not allow the attack to take place unless there is certainty of success. All of his resources (including the gains from his heroin labs in Afghanistan) have been spent on this operation.

3. Terrorist groups the world over are savvy at manipulating public opinion in the West. Bin Laden's ultimate goal is a global caliphate -- he wants to become a hero after such an audacious attack on the West, and he's not going to jeopardize that by preemptively striking without a clearly defined motive. As to motive, it's my opinion that he's waiting for the US to engage Iran. And that unfortunately, might be sooner than later considering our recent build-up in the Persian Gulf to confront a nuclear Iran.

Bottom line: Does it make any sense at all to ignore a gathering threat just because our enemy hasn't used nukes YET?

Nukes need maintenance, and al Qaeda's not advanced enough to maintain them:

Bin Laden can't sit on these weapons for years. They require constant maintenance. To that end he's hired Russian, Iraqi, and Pakistani scientists and technicians to maintain his nuclear arsenal. We already know that Pakistan's top nuclear scientist, Abdul Qadeer Khan, has sold sensitive equipment and nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea. Dr. Mahmood and Dr. Majeed, two of the leading officials at Khan's facility, confessed to CIA and ISI interrogators that they participated in al Qaeda's nuclear projects.

Note: at any given time, a tactical nuke exudes a temperature in excess of 100 degrees Fahrenheit. This means that they are prone to oxidation and rust. Moreover, the triggers that emit large quantities of neutrons at high speeds decay rapidly and have short half-lives -- most would become useless without maintenance in less than six months. The nuclear cores also are subject to decay and over the course of several years would fall below the critical mass threshold. Though the shells that encase the cores are the most durable parts of the weapons, they, too, are subject to contamination. The tritium used to compensate for the required amount of conventional explosives to compress the fissile core within the compact devices is less of an issue since it has a half-life of 12 years.

Taking into consideration the degradation schedule of nuclear cores and the rate of contamination of the weapons' components, I would expect an attack within the near future.

What do we need to do?

It's hard to win a war without realizing that you're in one.

We've always known that 9/11 was not the apex al Qaeda's intent -- that they had more far-reaching objectives and the patience to see them through. Our own leaders have sounded a warning. Vice President Cheney, on the campaign trail in 2004, warned that a nuclear attack by al-Qaeda appears imminent. Before leaving office, Attorney General John Ashcroft and Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge both voiced that belief that al-Qaeda's plan to nuke cities throughout the country soon might come to fruition. Warren Buffet, who establishes odds against cataclysmic events for major insurance companies, concluded that an imminent nuclear nightmare within the United States is "virtually a certainty." And Gen. Eugene Habiger, former Executive Chief of Strategic Weapons at the Pentagon, said that an event of nuclear mega-terrorism on U. S. soil is "not a matter of if, but when."

Muslim terrorists have proven time and time again that they have no qualms about escalating the violence. If you think that the War on Terror is about foiling the next shoe bomber, or nabbing box cutters at the airport, you are sorely mistaken.

We have to stop fighting the Holy War with a Cold War mentality; and stop radical Islam from using our constitutional rights to shield itself. We continue to ignore radical Islam in America at our peril because the demands of political correctness have made us so afraid of being branded racists that we force ourselves to be color blind, identity blind, and gender blind till we end up, quite simply, totally blind.

It's time we stopped allowing the whole of Islam's Holy War on America to be described by politicians, journalists, and others familiar with only a small part of it. Experts in the field of nuclear weaponry need to speak out instead of taking cover behind the Government's secrecy. In fact, as far as nuclear terrorism is concerned, I know only of one famous nuclear physicist who has dared to present his views openly: Dr. Sam Cohen, the inventor of the neutron bomb.

Americans should be informed, timely and precisely, about real and inevitable threats. It is vital that we minimize our vulnerabilities, specifically our borders and our ports. And lastly, every American needs to realize that we are at war, and every last one of us is a potential intelligence asset for counter-terrorism. Our military and law enforcement have done an outstanding job of protecting us since 9/11. But for this type of catastrophic threat, it's time for all of us to step up to the plate.

Contact Michael Travis at michaelmgr@gmail.com

To Go To Top

A REVIEW OF GROBMAN'S NATIONS UNITED: How The United Nations Undermines Israel And The West
Posted by Root and Branch Association, February 1, 2007.

Alex Grobman
Nations United: How the United Nations Undermines Israel and the West
Green Forest, Arkansas: Balfour Books, November 17, 2006
# ISBN-10: 0892216743
# ISBN-13: 978-0892216741 Sheikh Abdul Hadi Palazzi, Director of the Cultural Institute of the Italian Islamic Community, and Advisory Council Member, Jewish Legal Heritage Society says,

"Grobman's book is a valuable tool for all students on campuses where the Arab/Israeli debate needs to be de-fanged. Muslim and Arab students can learn the truth from this book and see how callously contemporary Arab dictators of the Muslim world have manipulated them and deformed Islam in order to promote their anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish agenda".

Dr. Alex Grobman is a historian with an MA and Ph.D. from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Dr. Grobman's publishing credits include Battling for Souls: The Vaad Hatzala Rescue Committee in Post War Europe [KTAV]. He is also co-author of Denying History: Who Says The Holocaust Never Happened? (University of California Press, 2000) He served as director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, is president of the Institute for Contemporary Jewish Life, a think tank dealing with historical and contemporary issues affecting the Jewish community, and is a contributing editor for Together, a publication of the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Thir Descendants. He is a member of the academic board of the David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies and a contributor to the Encyclopedia Judaica.

The review below was written by Dr. Sami Alrabaa, and is called "An Alien Limb on the Arab Body." It appeared in The Kuwait Times
(http://kuwaittimes.net/localnews.asp?dismode=article&artid=290102521) Contact Dr. Alrabaa at drsami@kuwaittimes.net

Israel is the "arch enemy" number one of Arabs and Muslims. Israel was founded by Zionists, acquired independence in 1948, and became a full-fledged member of the U.N. After Arabs, backed by the Soviet Union, lost two major wars against Israel in 1967 and 1973, they tried to defeat Israel, at least politically.

They submitted to the U.N. General Assembly a resolution in which Zionism was declared a "racist movement". The General Assembly of the U.N. adopted resolution 3379 on November 10, 1975 by a vote of 72 to 35, with 32 abstentions. This resolution determined that "Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination". The resolution was revoked by resolution 4686 on December 16, 1991, and since then "Zionism and racism" is referred to in debates about Zionism and Israel.

Resolution 3379 was adopted by a majority of two major blocs of totalitarian regimes; by Soviet-led and non-aligned states that depended on Arab oil and aid. Major world democracies voted against the resolution. By the way, the majority of the U.N. state members are ruled by repressive regimes, and condone discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities. The irony of it all is that some of these states are members of the U.N. Human Rights Council.

Arabs and Muslims still insist that Israel is a racist, decadent, expansionist, and illegal ensemble. They often refer to it as the "Zionist entity", established by racist Zionists.

Since the establishment of Israel over half a century ago, Arabs have been delaying, not to say paralyzing, development and cracking down on any opposition; all in the name of Arab Karama "dignity" and "struggling" to gain back Arab "stolen land" from Israel. As a matter of fact, they have been merely giving lip service to the Arab-Israeli conflict. They never actually mean what they say.

Arabs are renowned for being masters of rhetoric. While Arab and Muslim countries have remained poor and underdeveloped, Israel enjoys democracy, a vibrant cultural life, and a technologically and industrially advanced economy. In 2006, Israel was ranked 23rd out of 177 countries in the U.N. Human Development Index, the highest ranking in the Middle East and third highest in all of Asia.

But are Israel and Zionists really as racist as Arabs and Muslims say they are? Alex Grobman refutes this allegation in his book Nations United.

Here are some of his arguments: Arabic is an official language in Israel on par with Hebrew. In addition, it is as natural for an Arab to serve in public office in Israel, as it is as incongruous to think of a Jew serving in any public office in an Arab country. Over half a million Kurds are not allowed to speak their national language. Syrian Kurds are not even recognized by the Syrian regime as a minority.

Now, who is discriminatory?

Unlike the situation in most Arab states, all faith-followers; Muslims, Christians, Bahais, as well as others have the right to practice their religions the way they please. All these people as well as ethnic communities, including Druze and Bedouins have the right to exert their cultural heritage and all of them are citizens of the State of Israel and possess the same passports their fellow Jews have. By contrast, until recently, Syria refused to give its Kurdish citizens Syrian identity cards and passports.

Palestinians who live in the State of Israel enjoy some political and cultural freedom as well. They have their own parties and have the right to vote in Israeli national and local elections like all other Israelis. The current Israeli Parliament has four Palestinian members. Azmi Bshara is one of them. He and his fellow Arab M.P.s are free to travel to all Arab states, something that is inconceivable for all Arabs.

Arabs who visit Israel are persecuted, accused of being spies, tortured, and jailed. Some Arab countries do not even admit foreign nationals as tourists if their passports carry a visa for Israel. Now, one really wonders, who is racist? The Zionist Israelis, or Arabs? Arabs abuse the Palestinian refugee issues. They allege that Israel would not allow Palestinian refugees to return to their homes back in Palestine.

After the Oslo treaty between the P.L.O. and Israel in the mid 1990s, lots of Palestinians were allowed to return to Palestine including staunch enemies of Israel, Grobman says. Syria and other Arab countries turned down the offer and keep exploiting the refugee issues in the world arena, also in the U.N.

The Syrian regime does not permit its Druze citizens to visit their relatives and friends in the Golan Heights, which Israel occupied in the 1973 war, and vice versa. Almost everyday the Druze on both sides of the border stand with loudspeakers and talk to their relatives and friends. With this behavior the Syrian regime is violating one of the basic principles of human rights.

Besides, Arabs are not allowed to contact people living in Israel. They are not allowed to know the truth.

Grobman cites Professor Bernard Lewis who says,

"Arab fixation with Israel is the licensed grievance. In countries where people are becoming increasingly angry and frustrated at all the difficulties under which they live -- the poverty, unemployment, oppression -- having a grievance, which they can express freely, is an enormous psychological advantage...The Israeli-Arab conflict is the only political grievance that can be openly discussed".

A research study, which I conducted with my students on Arab school textbooks and media reports, shows that Arab schools and media teach and disseminate the vilest anti-Jewish hate. They demonize Israel and Zionists.

"For decades the Arabs have been obsessed by memories of past glories and prophecies of future greatness (without Israel)", Grobman says. "Israel, an alien limb in the heart of the Arab body" is hampering development in the Arab world. Defence is devouring national resources, Arabs claim.

Indeed, Arab textbooks and the media highlight historic clashes between Muslims and Jews and ignore good relations between the two peoples during old times in the Arabian Peninsula. By contrast, Israeli schools and media are more balanced towards Arabs. They simply warn of danger from hostile neighboring Arab countries, but they do not blatantly incite hatred against Arabs.

Arab governments have used Israel and Zionism as a monster to, "divert attention from their own critical domestic social and economic problems", Grobman says. Arab leaders are not much concerned with Israel occupying Arab land as much as they are concerned with Israel becoming a role model for democracy and development, which would eventually be conducive to put an end to totalitarian Arab regimes.

Political analysts believe that the Arab-Israeli conflict is primarily an Arab-regime problem. This conflict is benefiting the agenda of Arab regimes but absolutely not the legitimate aspirations of Arab masses. If Arabs were free to express their mind, they would resort to peaceful means to resolve the conflict.

On both sides of the conflict there are people who are interested in peace. Arab regimes are hindering peace because they are benefiting from keeping the flame of the "conflict" burning and burning. Having said all the above, it is laughable and ludicrous when Arab regimes and fellow totalitarian regimes at the U.N. General Assembly accuse Israel and Zionism of being racist and discriminatory.

These regimes are twisting facts on the ground. Grobman concludes by citing the late Egyptian President Anwar Al-Sadat who said, "The Arab-Israeli conflict shall not be resolved by military force but by peaceful means".

Sheikh Professor Abdul Hadi Palazzi can be contacted by email at islam.inst@alice.it

Write to the Jerusalem-based Root and Branch Association at rb@rb.org.il

To Go To Top

HEZBOLLAH IN LEBANON: "THEY HAD MACHINE GUNS WELDED IN WINDOWS"
Posted by Daily Alert, February 1, 2007.
This article is by Michel J. Totten and it appeared on his Middle East Journal website
(http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/001373.html).

I went to South Lebanon looking for Lebanese civilians who witnessed the July War between Israel and Hezbollah and who could, perhaps, clarify some controversial claims. Did Israel bomb indiscriminately? Did Hezbollah use human shields?

Some civilians did testify that Hezbollah used people in their village as human shields. And I found evidence that Israel at least sometimes struck with precision, if not at all times.

Lebanese civilians, though, weren't the only witnesses to the war. Hezbollah was there, too -- although I'm officially blacklisted with the organization and am denied access to interviews.

The Israeli Defense Forces also were there. I found a soldier who spent the entire war in and out of South Lebanon. He was willing to talk to me by phone even though our interview was illegal -- he's still in the army and is not supposed to talk to anyone in the media about what he did and what he saw. He did anyway, though, and he did not say what I thought he would say. The number of people killed in South Lebanon may be more heavily tilted toward Hezbollah fighters than most of us realized.

To preserve his anonymity I can only identify him as "an Israeli soldier in a long-range patrol unit." So I'll just call him Eli, which isn't his name. Our conversation by phone was recorded. Here is the transcript.

MJT: There is a controversy about whether or not Hezbollah was using the civilian population and infrastructure as shields, whether were hiding behind people and apartment buildings and the like.

Eli: Did they use populated areas to fire? It was clear that they did. Except Israel also dispersed flyers ordering all the civilian population of South Lebanon to leave. So it was in those villages after the, I don't remember the date, except anyone who was in those villages was probably helping Hezbollah fighters.

MJT: Where in Lebanon was your unit?

Eli: We went all around the West. Opposite Metulla there's all these villages called Hula, Abbasieh, Markaba, Jwayya. It was 15 kilometers in. So we would go in 15 kilometers, mark targets.

MJT: So you were marking targets yourself? What kind of targets were you marking? I was on the border at the end of the war, and I watched a lot of Israeli artillery being fired, but it was impossible to tell what you guys were shooting at.

Eli: I can't explain exactly what we use, but we use very advanced scopes and thermal scopes and stuff like that so you can see exactly what's going on in villages at night or during the day or whenever. We could see armed personnel walking around there, carrying big bags. So as long as they're armed they are targets for us to mark, for Air Force and artillery.

MJT: The reason I ask what kind of targets you were marking is because the majority of people inside Lebanon think the Israelis were firing at civilians deliberately.

Eli: If you ask me what should have been done in the villages in Lebanon during this war, I think Israel wasn't harsh enough. Now, I'm not right-wing, I'm not...I just think that if we are in a war...it's like, if you play with fire, people get burned. There's nothing you can do about it. These whole villages, they were empty, just filled with Hezbollah terrorists. They should have been totally wiped off the map. Except Israel left them standing. Many of our soldiers were killed because of that, so Israel wouldn't be blamed after the war for war crimes and destroying civilian houses.

When they say that Israeli artillery was aimed at civilian targets, I can tell you a bit about how the artillery works. If I find a target in the middle of a village, like one house that I see that there are armed people going in, and I will aim artillery, heavy artillery, on it. Not Air Force, not like pin-pointed targets. Artillery will dispense rounds 100 meters from that target also. It's not accurate. Anyway, even if a target is next to it, these houses were empty. No civilians were walking around South Lebanon. I know. I was in their villages. In their houses. Anyone who was there was definitely working for the Hezbollah or working as a Hezbollah fighter.

MJT: So you didn't see any women? It was mostly men and no children?

Eli: I never saw one woman or any children in Lebanon. I was going in and out for the whole time since the day when the soldiers were kidnapped. We flew from my unit straight to the north in helicopters, and since then we were there until a week after the cease-fire.

MJT: An article was recently published in the Washington Times, and it wasn't sourced very well, that said...Hezbollah is known for doing charity work in South Lebanon. One of the things that they had supposedly done, according to the article, was build houses for poor people with Katyusha rocket launchers embedded inside the center of the house, walled off on four sides in sealed rooms so the residents didn't even know they were there. And supposedly when the war started Hezbollah peeled off the roofs and fired rockets from inside the houses. Did you see anything like this?

Eli: I didn't see any Katyusha rockets being installed inside houses. But I've seen stuff...like we went toward this house, we were fired upon from inside the house. We went into the house. We cleared the house. Anyone who was in the house was neutralized. We went down to the basement. And also in the basement everything was neutralized. And we saw a periscope in the basement that was looking up toward the main road.

MJT: A periscope like something they use in a submarine?

Eli: Yeah, a periscope. You know, you can be underground and see above. It was a pipe that had mirrors that were reflecting up. And a small kind of detonator. Our team checked it out. There were 500 kilos of explosives under the road waiting for Israeli tanks. There were really ready. They built these houses for that purpose because they knew this was going to happen some day. They were just waiting for the tanks to roll in.

MJT: Do you have any idea when you found houses that were being used militarily if they were Hezbollah houses per se, or had they taken over other people's civilian houses?

Eli: I don't know.

MJT: You couldn't tell.

Eli: No. But they could take any house they wanted because the whole place was empty. Everyone left. When we were fighting we were fighting from house to house. They would just skip houses, they would go a different house. We would detonate one house, they would fire a few from another house, and skip to yet another house. They would go wherever they want, it was their area in South Lebanon. It's not like they thought about them as civilian houses.

MJT: What do you know about that went on in South Lebanon that has been under-reported in the media?

Eli: Not so much in South Lebanon, but in Israel. The way the Israeli army and the prime minister and the chief of staff, the chief of military staff, used the war and controlled the war, if you ask me, was wrong.

MJT: In what ways?

Eli: The chief of the military in Israel did not come from the army. He came from the Air Force. He used to be an Air Force Commander. He was not an army grunt. And the first three weeks of the war he tried to really win this war with air strikes, in the South and in the area in Beirut, what do you call it?

MJT: The dahiyeh.

Eli: Yeah, the dahiyeh. The dahiyeh area. He did not use the ground troops as well as he should have. He would send ground troops one kilometer in, they would stay for a few days, and walk out. Only during the last week of the war did the army take up the war. And every time we went in and went out, people got killed.

MJT: Do you think the air war was effective at all? Or should the war have been fought on the ground only?

Eli: Of course it should always be together, air and ground. You can't win one without the other. You have to place your air strikes exactly where you need them. Just dropping thousands of tons of bombs on that area in Beirut was useless if you ask me.

Because they couldn't get Nasrallah. He's planned this out for how many years? I mean, he knew where he was going to go and how to avoid Israeli intelligence in Lebanon. The bottom line is that they should have aimed more air strikes in the area of South Lebanon.

For the first few weeks they called it a mission. They didn't call it a war. The enemy was firing rockets from inside Lebanon. And Israel went out to stop that enemy. Which is...kind of like a war. It is war. In any war civilian houses get damaged and there's nothing you can to do stop it. When you play with fire, people get burned.

Israeli troops went into standing villages where they just were ambushed. Our unit was ambushed also once. And I know lots of other units who were ambushed. Standing villages were there. There could have been nothing, we could have rolled into rubble.

MJT: Hezbollah claims they tried to keep their fighters away from civilian areas, that they keep their fighters away from the towns and the villages and more out in the countryside. So, when you say that you were ambushed, were you inside one of the towns when this happened?

Eli: Yes. We were also ambushed in more open areas. They have these small bunkers, they built bunkers and caves and stuff in open areas. They were ready. They had machine guns welded in windows. They were welded in already. They were ready. They were ready for urban warfare. That's where they killed the most Israeli soldiers, in urban warfare.

In open warfare? They didn't have much of a chance. It's in urban warfare where they can skip house to house and leave very large amounts of explosives under asphalt where you can't even see it.

MJT: So you're saying that a lot of the damage done in South Lebanon towns was done by Hezbollah themselves, not all of it was by the Israeli Defense Forces?

Eli: I can tell you about the places I've been. Some of the places you've heard about, like Bint Jbail, I haven't been there. My unit didn't go there.

We got to one village one time and the information was that there weren't going to be very many armed Hezbollah. It was just going to be like a few helpers or spotters. So the whole village was going to be left standing and there was not going to be any problem.

As soon as we got around 500 meters from the village they started firing everything they had at us. From inside the village. So of course Israel retaliated with a few rounds of artillery, some war planes came down on the place. It wasn't really...a round of artillery won't bring a house down. It will make a big hole in it. And the airplane, unless it's a big bomb, it won't bring a house down. You know, maybe it will make it an unsafe house to live in. So you'll see big holes in walls, and some tank shells blew holes in walls. Except the only reason why those holes are there is because they were shooting from these villages. They were shooting from within mosques. They were firing Katyushas from behind mosques and stuff.

MJT: Were they also firing from churches?

Eli: I didn't see any churches. I wasn't in any Christian villages. Most of the Christian villages, the Israelis detoured around them because they thought they were probably anti-Hezbollah, that Hezbollah would not be in there. Except the Hezbollah, they often dressed up as Israeli soldiers.

MJT: Did you actually see this yourself? Hezbollah wearing Israeli uniforms?

Eli: Yes.

MJT: Really. How many Hezbollah soldiers did you see wearing Israeli uniforms?

Eli: Once they hit us with a few anti-tank missiles. And I saw straight away like six of them.

MJT: Was it just the one time that you saw this?

Eli: I'm not the only one who has seen this happen in Lebanon. There are lots of other people from lots of other units who have seen this. It's, it's guerilla warfare.

MJT: Where do you suppose they get the uniforms? Do they make them themselves? Or are they stealing them?

Eli: Well, all of them are probably stolen. When Israel left Lebanon in 2000 they left a ton of army supply stuff.

MJT: They claim that they have their own uniforms.

Eli: Yeah, they have like a kind of a dark khaki colored, like dark American colors. They have camouflage and stuff like that. But they're also wearing, they're people walking around towns, with weapons, who aren't wearing uniforms. They look like civilians. I mean, in every civilian house in Lebanon there is a shotgun. And that's not because they're against the IDF or because they're against Israel, it's that most people in the small villages, they're hunters. They hunt for food. But we also saw people walking around with AK-47s and hand guns and stuff. There are definitely Hezbollah people in, in civilian clothes.

MJT: So, okay, what's the most common appearance for a Hezbollah fighter in South Lebanon during a war? Do most wear civilian clothes? Hezbollah uniforms? Israeli uniforms?

Eli: It changes all the time.

MJT: Hezbollah claims they had some missiles from Iran, specifically the Zelzal missiles, and that they chose not to fire them. I wonder, do you know if they're lying about that, if the Israelis perhaps took the Zelzal missiles out at the beginning of the war and that they were unable to fire them?

Eli: The greatest bulk of the long-range missiles that they had were destroyed. By the Air Force. This is what I heard, but I don't really know, it's not what I do in the army.

MJT: Have you fought in the West Bank or Gaza?

Eli: Yes.

MJT: How much more skilled are Hezbollah than Hamas and Islamic Jihad?

Eli: Much more skilled. Much more skilled. You can't compare with fighting against Hezbollah and fighting against Palestinians. Hezbollah has had such a long time to get prepared for these attacks. And they were dug in. Everything was planned, and the weapons, the ammunition, everything was accurate, everything. And the mortar rounds they were all fixed, everything, all the mortars were already fixed on targets where they knew the Israelis were going to come through.

With the Palestinians, it's very amateur with the Palestinian freedom fighters or whatever they call themselves.

MJT: Alright. From where I was during the war, which was the Israeli side, it looked like the Israelis won every engagement with Hezbollah.

Eli: In the end, Israel won every engagement, this is true. Except the problem is winning an engagement against people who are fighting guerilla warfare. You will win, but you will sustain losses, heavy losses. With guerilla warfare you have one or two guys on a mountain hidden in small holes holding an anti-tank missile. And really at the end of the day he'll shoot the missile at a few soldiers. He'll maybe kill one or two, I don't know. Except you won't be able to find him afterwards. Unless you were looking in exactly the same direction when it was fired, you won't. That's the problem with guerilla warfare.

If there was a full-out war, you know, tanks against tanks, combat units against combat units, and everything done out in the open, Israel would definitely, totally defeat and win. Except the problem is guerilla warfare is extremely hard, it's, I don't know how to explain it except that it's stressful because it's not a real army, it's not an army, it's like cells. Fighting against cells that are operated by bigger cells, you don't know where they could be, it's not a big army.

MJT: Do you think it would be possible for Israel to defeat Hezbollah completely in a future war? If you killed every Hezbollah fighter they could always recruit more, but that aside, do you think you could eliminate all or most of them? Or would it just take too long because of the nature of the fighting?

Eli: The problem is, if you kill their combat units...which was possible, during the war the Israelis killed 700 to 800 Hezbollah fighters, which is a third of their whole combat fighters. Which is quite a lot of people.

MJT: It is, yeah.

Eli: Except killing them all...I've read MEMRI where there are Arab newspapers translated into English. It's on the Internet. You can read it. Hezbollah said they were bringing in 3,000 to 4,000 Somali fighters.

MJT: I remember reading that. Did you see anybody who looked Somali, like they were from Africa?

Eli: No.

MJT: A lot of Lebanese people think this is just Hezbollah propaganda, that it's not true. And I suspect they're right. Like you said, Hezbollah is a professional guerilla army, whereas Somali fighters are pretty amateurish, like Hamas or Islamic Jihad.

Eli: Hmm. You can't compare the Hezbollah fighter to the Israeli soldier. The Israeli soldier is much better trained. He's much more fit. Better weapons. And they're trained for much longer. Except fighting guerilla warfare is just much harder than fighting a regular war.

MJT: Right.

Eli: That's just it, at the end. And you asked me about getting rid of Hezbollah. Surely getting rid of all the Hezbollah fighters is not the solution. You have to get it from the root. And the root of the Hezbollah is, in the end, it's the road toward Syria, and from Syria toward Iran. They are the big funders and the people who give Hezbollah the ok. In the end.

MJT: It looks like it's an unresolvable problem without dealing with Syria and Iran in some way, somehow.

Eli: It's a matter of time. Because the way I see it, the way I look at the situation now in Lebanon, at the parliament there, that within a few months or a year, I don't know, the Hezbollah are getting stronger again. And they might push out the Lebanese government. They'll take over the government there. And they'll ask the UN peacekeepers to leave. And they will have to leave. And then we'll have it all over again.

Contact the Daily Alert at daily@www.dailyalert.jcpa.org

To Go To Top

ISRAEL'S SUPPOSED ADVANTAGES; BOYCOTT BOOMERANG
Posted by Richard H. Shulman, February 1, 2007.

DOES THE SECURITY FENCE PROVIDE SECURITY?

No, says journalist Hagai Huberman of Hazofeh. The roving patrols and checkpoints do. The fence, he says, is political, meant to hamstring Israeli territorial claims in a "final settlement." (IMRA, 12/30.

Usually observers attribute to the fence some success in stopping suicide bombing. Israeli troops in Arab areas do much of the work. The fence by itself does not suffice.

ADVANTAGES THE ARABS ASSUME ISRAEL HAS

The Israelis "control and colonize Arab lands, enjoy military superiority and total American support, and unilaterally define most diplomatic parameters of the conflict," states the Beirut Daily Star.

This is changing. The journalist cites Israeli bungling in its wars, its retreat from demands upon the captors of its troops, and Arab civilians finding the Israelis unwilling to fire upon them when they swarm to act as human shields for fugitives (IMRA, 12/31).

Total American support? The US keeps demanding that Israel remove checkpoints, give the P.A. money, release terrorists, and abandon territory. The US trains Abbas' terrorists.

Define the diplomacy? The UNO and most of the world make diplomatic demands and proposals on the Arab side.

Military superiority? It's always questionable, considering how vast are the Arab forces. Egypt now has a modern army.

Colonize Arab lands? The Arabs were the greatest colonizers of their time. They swarmed into Palestine, to partake in the prosperity that Zionism brought. The League of Nations recognized the Jewish people's historical ties to the Land of Israel, but Islam does not recognize infidel sovereignty in any area it once had conquered.

If the Israeli bungling is temporary, then its setbacks would not continue. Israel has to learn to let Arab civilians cede their immunity to attack when they act as human shields. Israelis have to learn to abandon false standards of humanitarianism, that fosters Islamic genocide. Israel should pursue national security, regardless of outside criticism based on prejudice.

Followers of Judaism would observe that when the Jewish people had self-confidence and faith in their God, they protected themselves, now they are suffering the usual divine retribution for faithlessness and disloyal behavior. It does seem that way.

FACTIONAL STRIFE IN P.A. SPREADS TO JUDEA-SAMARIA

Shootings, kidnappings, and arms stockpiling for greater conflict by Fatah and Hamas now occurs in Judea-Samaria (Arutz-7, 1/7).

POLICE BRUTALITY IN ISRAEL

In 2005, the government of Israel allowed an Arab family, some of whose members were terrorists, to move alongside a Jewish neighborhood in Hebron. Anticipating attacks, Jewish residents protested. A policeman ordered a 9-year-old Jewish boy down from a fence. The boy complied. For no reason, the cop bent the boy's fingers back, until he cried from pain. The boy was the son of dissident activist Noam Federman. (There's the motive! In punishing the father extra-legally, the cop punished an innocent boy.)

Another policeman is on trial for choking a Jewish teenager in Beersheba. The youngster was protesting against the expulsion of Jews from Gaza (Arutz-7, lost date).

SEN. SPECTOR TAKES ASSAD SERIOUSLY

Sen. Spector personally asked Assad to stop the arms smuggling to Hizbullah. The Senator reported back that Assad told him if he learned of any Syrian doing this, he would punish him (IMRA, 1/1).

Syria has been rearming Hizbullah with extensive shipments via truck. Assad was misleading the Senator. The question is why the Senator was so easily misled as to take Assad seriously. He does America and Israel a disservice. No wonder Spector is welcome in Damascus!

Americans think that Sen. Spector is pro-Israel. I think he is too foolish to be effective.

BOYCOTT BOOMERANG

Trying to treat Israel as if it were like S. Africa, some Palestinian Arabs petitioned for a boycott of Israeli films. They got some compliance, but not what they anticipated. It turns out that the Arabs and Israeli leftist film makers have Israeli passports. They were boycotted, too. In some cases, the Palestinian Arabs saw to it that certain Ieftists were boycotted, because they are Israeli. (So you see, the real racist/apartheidists are the Muslim Arabs.) Most Israeli films sent abroad are anti-"occupation." The magazine from which this complaint originated blames the Arabs' troubles on "occupation" and Israeli warfare. (The warfare is the fault of the Arabs, who start it. Since the anti-"occupation" films' premises are false and their facts usually are faulty, I no longer go to see Israeli films, I once found the best. Those films are anti-Zionist.)

In reaction to the unintended results, a petition for a more targeted boycott is in circulation. Question is, won't this be censorship of people's work on the basis of their views? (Not every film product is propaganda, either.)

Ironically, the Israeli government subsidizes all the films, including the ones that accuse if of being an occupation. IMRA questions whether Israel should be subsidizing enemy propaganda (IMRA, 1/3).

The answer is that Israel is not mentally geared for self-defense. It thinks it is being nice and making peace, whereas it isn't nice to help its would-be conquerors.

Richard Shulman is a veteran defender of Israel on several web-based forums. His comments and analyses appear often on Think-Israel. He provides cool information and right-on-target overviews. He distributes his essays by email. To subscribe, write him at richardshulman5@verizon.net

To Go To Top

MORE MUSLIM HUBRIS
Posted by Smooth Stone, February 1, 2007.

There is no other word than hubris to describe the behavior of people who insist on killing Jews in order to feed their manufactured man-god. From WND (http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54041).

The replacement tomorrow in the Al Aqsa Mosque of a podium transported with the coordination of Israeli security forces is "proof" the Temple Mount belongs only to Muslims and will never be returned to Jewish sovereignty, according to the leader of the Wafq -- the Muslim custodians of the Temple Mount. "This historic occasion proves that the extremist Jews will never achieve their goals of taking over the [Temple Mount.] It shows that we are much closer to liberating the Al Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem from Israeli occupation," said Waqf chief Adnan Husseini.

Muslims believe no real harm lies in conceding the Holy Jewish Temple Mount to Jews except for one very important motivating factor -- destroying the Holy Jewish Temple Mount promotes and expediates the Islamic goal to ethnically cleanse Jews from the Middle East. One goal of Islam is to destroy any trace or any artifacts of the Holy Jewish Temple Mount. This way, Islam declares supremacy over Judaism by invalidating claims to the historic Jewish presence of the Holy Jewish Temple Mount. Muslims have enjoyed destroying their enemies icons for hundreds of years. The Twin Towers and the Pentagon, were intentionally chosen because they were national symbols of the United States and the Western world. Jewish synagogues, cemeteries, schools and community centers are often targets of Islamo-rage. For decades, Muslims been busy destroying the archeological remains of the Holy Jewish Temple. Don't forget about the destruction of the Buddhist statutes in Bamiyan by the Muslim Taliban in Afghanistan. Muslims have desecrated the Holy Jewish Temple Mount just as they did Joseph's Tomb, the Tomb of the Matriarchs and the Church of the Nativity.

Anyone who supports the concession of the Holy Jewish Temple into the hands of Muslims violates the historical veracity of what is written in both the Torah and New Testaments, both books which precede the Koran by thousands of years. Conceding the Jewish Holy Temple Mount into the hands of Muslims will embolden Muslims to continue to try to subjugate the rest of the world.

Folks, read the writing on the wall, while we still have The Wall. Below are 25 archaeological articles, previously posted on Smooth Stone, contained in one simple link, which prove the Jewish presence in Israel predates Islam by thousands of years. Spread the truth.

Ma fish falastin,

Smooth

Contact Smooth Stone by email at one_smoothstone@yahoo.com

To Go To Top

LEFTIST GROUP SEEKS TO USE 'GOD TALK' TO LURE CHRISTIANS TO DEMOCRAT PARTY
Posted by Reverend Lou Sheldon, February 1, 2007.

February 1, 2007 -- A two-year-old public relations firm called "Common Good Strategies" is working behind the scenes to help Democrats convince Christians that they should vote for Democrats of "faith."

The PR firm is headed by Mara Vanderslice, a 1997 graduate of Earlham College. Vanderslice formerly worked as an intern for Jim Wallis' Sojourners organization, a far-leftist "Christian" group that is attempting to convince moderate or conservative Christians that Democrat policies are best for achieving "social justice."

Jim Wallis has been consulting with Democrat strategists for years to lure Christians away from the Republican Party. TVC's special report on Wallis reveals the consistent far left policies of the group -- which have been more in line with the old Soviet Union than with America.

While at Earlham, Vanderslice was a member of the Earlham Socialist Alliance, a group that supports the release of convicted cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal and embraces Marxist-Leninist political views.

In a feature on Vanderslice in the Earlham College Alumni Bulletin, Vanderslice notes she grew up in a spiritual but not religious and politically progressive home in Boulder, Colorado. She arrived at Earlham distrustful of Christianity but after taking Peace and Global Studies class and spending time in Bogota, Columbia, she became more committed to "strands" of Christianity that she found appealing.

Vanderslice has spoken at rallies held by the radical homosexual group ACT-UP and has been involved in protests against the World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Vanderslice became Howard Dean's faith advisor and later served as John Kerry's advisor on faith issues.

Her group, Common Good Strategies has worked with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Senator Bob Casey, Ohio Governor Ted Strickland; the Kansas Democrat Party and others. All of Vanderslice's clients won in 2006.

"Mara Vanderslice's attempt to convince Christians to vote for pro-abortion, pro-homosexual Democrats (who hide their real goals behind claims of 'faith') is working -- and the Republican Party should take note," said TVC Executive Director Andrea Lafferty. "Tragically, Vanderslice's brand of 'progressive' Christianity has more in common with Marxist-Leninist ideals than with orthodox Christianity. I pray that Christians will not be fooled in 2008 -- as many were in 2006. Because many evangelicals voted for liberals in 2006, we face a Congress that is openly hostile to biblical values."

TVC will be monitoring the activities of Vanderslice's organization and will publish future reports on where her PR firm gets its funding.

Contact Reverend Lou Sheldon at staff@traditionalvalues.org

To Go To Top

PASS THE LISTERINE
Posted by Steven Plaut, February 1, 2007.

1. There is an expression in Hebrew for a Freudian slip or verbal slip, "Kashal B'l'shon", literally "failure by tongue", although it sounds less dorky in Hebrew.

Red Haim Ramon, one of the worst demagogues in Israel, one of the initiators of the Oslo debacle, creator of Israel's "National Health Insurance Law", the guy who dragged Amir Peretz out of the gutter to make him chief Mafiosi of the Histadrut crime family, that very same Red Haim Ramon just had his political career ended once and for all by two women judges and one male judge. For failure by tongue. He was convicted of sticking his tongue into the mouth of a young lady who was not interested in its being there.

I would have much preferred that Ramon be convicted for his role in Olso rather than for his hanky panky. (Ramon was not married at the time of the incident, unlike the alleged incidents in which President Moshe Katsav was involved.)

Let us note that the same journalists rolling their eyes in horror over Ramon's dental exam of an unwilling young woman and over the behavior of Moshe Katsav are the very same people who preached for years that Bill Clinton's private behavior was irrelevant and should not interest the public nor media. And THAT really sticks in my throat!

Frankly, I would like to see what would happen if Haim Ramon stuck his tongue into Moshe Katsav's mouth, but I let me fantasies get ahead of me. Forgive my failure by tongue.

Ramon was such an evil person that I would have let him stick his tongue into MY mouth if that is what it would take to get him convicted.

Pass the Listerine...

Steven Plaut is an American-trained economist, a professor of business administration at Haifa University and author of "The Scout." He frequently comments -- both seriously and satirically -- on Israeli politics and the left wing academic community. His website address is http://www.stevenplaut.blogspot.com or write him by email at splaut@econ.haifa.ac.il

To Go To Top

 
Home Featured Stories Background Information News On The Web