A RARE LOOK AT SECRETIVE BROTHERHOOD IN AMERICA Posted by Tsila, January 31, 2006.

This article was written by Noreen S. Ahmed-Ullah, Sam Roe and Laurie Cohen, Tribune staff reporters and was published September 19, 2004 (www.chicagotribune.com/news/specials/chi- 0409190261sep19,1,3910166.story?page=7&coll=chi-newsspecials-hed). Tribune foreign correspondent Evan Osnos, staff reporter Stephen Franklin and Hossam el-Hamalawy contributed to this report. [Editor's note: The Yusif Qaradawi discussed below is the same Yusif Qaradawi who founded Islam Online.net, which said about the furious reaction of Muslims to some Danish cartoons of Mohammad -- to view them click here. -- that "... while it is unreasonable to expect Europeans to overlook the cultural experiences of several centuries, it is equally unreasonable to expect one billion Muslims to take it for granted that free speech affords others a right to ridicule their religion, while staunchly protecting another religion from the same treatment." I wonder if the Muslim trashing of Joseph's tomb and their eradicating Jewish archeological finds from the Temple Mount are examples of the Muslim regard for other people's religion. (Note that the quote from Islam Online comes from Jeff Morley's column on world opinions on the topic of the day -- blogs.washingtonpost.com/worldopinionroundup/2006/01/ cartoons_that_o.html.]   A group aiming to create Islamic states worldwide has established roots here, in large part under the guidance of Egypt-born Ahmed Elkadi Over the last 40 years, small groups of devout Muslim men have gathered in homes in U.S. cities to pray, memorize the Koran and discuss events of the day. But they also addressed their ultimate goal, one so controversial that it is a key reason they have operated in secrecy: to create Muslim states overseas and, they hope, someday in America as well. These men are part of an underground U.S. chapter of the international Muslim Brotherhood, the world's most influential Islamic fundamentalist group and an organization with a violent past in the Middle East. But fearing persecution, they rarely identify themselves as Brotherhood members and have operated largely behind the scenes, unbeknown even to many Muslims. Still, the U.S. Brotherhood has had a significant and ongoing impact on Islam in America, helping establish mosques, Islamic schools, summer youth camps and prominent Muslim organizations. It is a major factor, Islamic scholars say, in why many Muslim institutions in the nation have become more conservative in recent decades. Leading the U.S. Brotherhood during much of this period was Ahmed Elkadi, an Egyptian-born surgeon and a former personal physician to Saudi Arabia's King Faisal. He headed the group from 1984 to 1994 but abruptly lost his leadership position. Now he is discussing his life and the U.S. Brotherhood for the first time. His story, combined with details from documents and interviews, offers an unprecedented look at the Brotherhood in America: how the group recruited members, how it cloaked itself in secrecy and how it alienated many moderate Muslims. Indeed, because of its hard-line beliefs, the U.S. Brotherhood has been an increasingly divisive force within Islam in America, fueling the often bitter struggle between moderate and conservative Muslims. Many Muslims believe that the Brotherhood is a noble international movement that supports the true teachings of Islam and unwaveringly defends Muslims who have come under attack around the world, from Chechens to Palestinians to Iraqis. But others view it as an extreme organization that breeds intolerance and militancy. "They have this idea that Muslims come first, not that humans come first," says Mustafa Saied, 32, a Floridian who left the U.S. Brotherhood in 1998. While separation of church and state is a bedrock principle of American democracy, the international Brotherhood preaches that religion and politics cannot be separated and that governments eventually should be Islamic. The group also champions martyrdom and jihad, or holy war, as a means of self-defense and has provided the philosophical underpinnings for Muslim militants worldwide. Many moderate Muslims in America are uncomfortable with the views preached at mosques influenced by the Brotherhood, scholars say. Those experts point to a 2001 study sponsored by four Muslim advocacy and religious groups that found that only a third of U.S. Muslims attend mosques. In suburban Bridgeview, Ill., some moderates say they quit attending the Mosque Foundation because the leadership became too conservative and dominated by Brotherhood members. Documents obtained by the Tribune and translated from Arabic show that the U.S. Brotherhood has been careful to obscure its beliefs from outsiders. One document tells leaders to be cautious when screening potential recruits. If the recruit asks whether the leader is a Brotherhood member, the leader should respond, "You may deduce the answer to that with your own intelligence." Islamic state a long-term goal Brotherhood members emphasize that they follow the laws of the nations in which they operate. They stress that they do not believe in overthrowing the U.S. government, but rather that they want as many people as possible to convert to Islam so that one day--perhaps generations from now--a majority of Americans will support a society governed by Islamic law. Muslims make up less than 3 percent of the U.S. population, but estimates of their number vary widely from 2 million to 7 million. Federal authorities say they have scrutinized the U.S. Brotherhood for years. Agents currently are investigating whether people with ties to the group have raised and laundered money to finance terrorism abroad. No terrorism-related charges have been filed. Former leader Elkadi, who has been questioned at length by federal authorities about the inner workings of the Brotherhood, says the group has served Muslims in the United States well. He personally helped establish an Islamic community in the Florida Panhandle, with a mosque, school and health clinic. And though he eventually lost it all--even his medical license--some Muslims still view him as a great Islamic leader. "Islam is for everyone," he says. "It's good for America, good for Muslims too. . . . It's good knowledge, and good knowledge should be available to everyone." Mohammed Mahdi Akef, head of the international Muslim Brotherhood, based in Egypt, lauds Elkadi and the activities of the U.S. Brotherhood. "They have succeeded in saving the younger generations from melting into the American lifestyle without faith," he says. "They have saved their children." Once one of America's most influential Muslims, Elkadi now spends most of his days in front of the TV in his two-bedroom condominium in Sterling, Va., across the Potomac River from Washington. Earlier this year he was diagnosed with a neurological disorder that affects motor skills, speech and memory. He often has difficulty expressing himself and seldom speaks more than two sentences at a time. Sometimes, he says, he smiles for no reason other than to try to remain cheerful. But on many days his memory is clear, and his statements about the major events of the U.S. Brotherhood have been confirmed by others associated with the group. Elkadi, a 64-year-old with a closely trimmed white beard, says he is willing to speak about the Brotherhood because he believes he has nothing to hide. Both he and his wife, Iman, 60, say they have devoted much of their lives to the Brotherhood, and Elkadi says the reason for that is simple: "It's genetic." Both of their fathers were early Brotherhood leaders in Egypt, where the group began in 1928 as an opposition movement to the British-backed Egyptian monarchy. Its founder and leader was schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna, who advocated a return to fundamental Islam as a way to reform Muslim societies and expel Western troops. The Brotherhood slogan became "Allah is our goal; the Messenger is our model; the Koran is our constitution; jihad is our means; and martyrdom in the way of Allah is our aspiration." When Egypt imprisoned and executed some Muslim Brothers in the 1950s, many members fled the country and helped spread the philosophy throughout the Arab world. The group's ideological voice became philosopher Sayyid Qutb, who abhorred Western values and believed the Koran justified violence to overthrow un-Islamic governments. Over time, the Brotherhood gained notoriety for repeatedly attempting to overthrow the Egyptian and Syrian governments and for spawning violent groups, including the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Palestinian group Hamas. Today the Brotherhood remains based in Egypt, where it officially is banned but is tolerated. The group has renounced violence and now largely organizes political protests, runs professional unions and operates charities, providing social services that the government does not. Brotherhood supporters hold 15 of the 445 seats in the Egyptian parliament. And while Brotherhood activities vary from country to country, and chapters are officially independent, international leaders in Egypt say that all chapters are united in their beliefs and that the Egyptian office gives them advice. In recent months Akef, the international Brotherhood leader, repeatedly has praised Palestinian and Iraqi suicide bombers, called for the destruction of Israel and asserted that the United States has no proof that Al Qaeda was to blame for the Sept. 11 attacks. Iman Elkadi's father, Mahmoud Abu Saud, was particularly involved in the Brotherhood's beginnings in Egypt and remains well-known in the Arab world. An accomplished economist, he is widely regarded as a pioneer in Islamic banking, which requires that interest not be charged for loans. He also was jailed repeatedly for his Brotherhood activities. "My grandfather would tell me that if my dad didn't come home for dinner, he would send someone to check the jails," Iman Elkadi recalls. The Elkadi and Abu Saud families were linked in marriage in 1963 after Ahmed Elkadi, then a 22-year-old preparing to go into the Egyptian military, ran into his future father-in-law at a mutual friend's office. When the young Elkadi learned that Abu Saud had an unmarried daughter, he inquired about her. The father, familiar with the young man's family and its devotion to the Brotherhood, invited him to their home. Soon after, the families arranged for Ahmed and Iman to marry. The wedding was held in Cairo, in a grandparent's garden. Only relatives were invited, though others were keenly interested: Soon afterward, Egyptian intelligence officials called the couple in for questioning. Iman Elkadi says, "They asked my husband, `Couldn't you find anybody else to marry except Mahmoud Abu Saud's daughter?'" A mission in U.S. The Elkadis arrived in the United States in 1967, settling in the small Louisiana city of Monroe, where Ahmed Elkadi continued his medical training at a local hospital. By then the Muslim Brotherhood already was operating in the United States, though secretly. A U.S. chapter of the Brotherhood, documents and interviews show, was formed in the early 1960s after hundreds of young Muslims came to the U.S. to study, particularly at large Midwestern universities, such as Illinois, Indiana and Michigan. Some belonged to the Brotherhood in their homelands and wanted to spread its ideology here. But to protect themselves and their relatives back home from possible persecution, they publicly called themselves the Cultural Society and not the Brotherhood. Many young Muslim professionals joined, including Elkadi. One of his daughters, Mona, recalls that when she was a teen, she often fielded phone calls from women who did not know that their husbands were in the Brotherhood and wondered where they were on a given night. She says the husbands "put the fear of God in me about keeping this a secret. I'd get lectures from some of the men about how I was going to expose them." Not anyone could join the Brotherhood. The group had a carefully detailed strategy on how to find and evaluate potential members, according to a Brotherhood instructional booklet for recruiters. Leaders would scout mosques, Islamic classes and Muslim organizations for those with orthodox religious beliefs consistent with Brotherhood views, the booklet says. The leaders then would invite them to join a small prayer group, or usra, Arabic for "family." The prayer groups were a defining feature of the Brotherhood and one created by al-Banna in Egypt. But leaders initially would not reveal the purpose of the prayer groups, and recruits were asked not to tell anyone about the meetings. If recruits asked about a particular meeting to which they were not invited, they should respond, "Make it a habit not to meddle in that which does not concern you." Leaders were told that during prayer meetings they should focus on fundamentals, including "the primary goal of the Brotherhood: setting up the rule of God upon the Earth." After assessing the recruits' "commitment, loyalty and obedience" to Brotherhood ideals, the leaders would invite suitable candidates to join. New members, according to the booklet, would be told that they now were part of the worldwide Brotherhood and that membership "is not a personal honor but a charge to sacrifice all that one has for the sake of raising the banner of Islam." Mustafa Saied, the Floridian who left the Brotherhood six years ago, recalls how he was recruited in 1994 while a junior at the University of Tennessee. After Saied attended numerous prayer sessions, a fellow Muslim student took him to a quiet corner of a campus cafeteria and asked him to join. "It was a dream, because that's what you're conditioned to do--to really love the Ikhwan," Saied says, using the Arabic term for Brothers or Brotherhood. After he joined, he learned the names of other local members. "I was shocked," he says. "These people had really hid the fact that they were Brotherhood." He says he found out that the U.S. Brotherhood had a plan for achieving Islamic rule in America: It would convert Americans to Islam and elect like-minded Muslims to political office. "They're very smart. Everyone else is gullible," Saied says. "If the Brotherhood puts up somebody for an election, Muslims would vote for him not knowing he was with the Brotherhood." Saied says he left the group after several years because he disliked its anti-American sentiments and its support for violence in the Middle East. "With the extreme element," he says, "you never know when that ticking time bomb will go off." By the 1970s, Elkadi had moved to Missouri and, he says, become treasurer of the U.S. Brotherhood, collecting money from members from across the country. His wife was the unofficial bookkeeper, tracking who was behind on dues. Members were required to pay 3 percent of their income per year, with the money going to travel, books and annual conferences, the Elkadis say. The conferences were held under the Cultural Society name, usually in large hotels and always on Memorial Day weekend. They were invitation-only, with word spread through the prayer groups. Some years, up to 1,000 people attended; every other year, elections were held. While the U.S. Brotherhood was influential from its beginning--in 1963 it helped establish the Muslim Students Association, one of the first national Islamic groups in the U.S.--Elkadi thought the group could expand its reach. And when he was elected president in 1984, he vowed to do just that. Executing his strategy Elkadi had a strategy to make America more Islamic that reflected a long-standing Brotherhood belief: First you change the person, then the family, then the community, then the nation. By 1990, U.S. Brotherhood members had made headway on that plan by helping establish many mosques and Islamic organizations. Some of those efforts were backed financially by the ultraconservative Saudi Arabian government, which shared some of the Brotherhood's fundamentalist goals. Elkadi himself helped create several noted Islamic organizations, including the Muslim Youth of North America, which attempted to draw thousands of high school students to Islam by sponsoring soccer teams, providing scholarships and offering a line of clothing. He served as president of the North American Islamic Trust, a group that helped build and preserve mosques. Some of those organizations eventually would distance themselves from the Brotherhood. The Islamic Society of North America, the umbrella group for the Muslim Youth of North America and the Muslim Students Association, says Brotherhood members helped form those groups but that their overall influence has been limited. Groups that the Brotherhood helped form printed Islamic books, many of which were distributed at mosques and on college campuses. They included Sayyid Qutb's "In the Shade of the Koran" and "Milestones," which urge jihad, martyrdom and the creation of Islamic states. Scholars came to view his writings as manifestos for Islamic militants. "These books had questionable paradigms, especially a dichotomous division between `us' and `them,'" says Umar Faruq Abdallah, a noted Islamic scholar who heads a Muslim educational group in suburban Chicago. "It was very harmful. It helped to create a countercultural attitude in our community." Inamul Haq, professor of religion at Benedictine University in Lisle, Ill., says the U.S. Brotherhood pushed Islam in a conservative direction. "They were in a position to define American Islam. Since they were well-connected in the Middle East, they were able to bring money to build various institutions." Without the Brotherhood, he says, "We would have seen a more American Islamic culture rather than a foreign community living in the United States." In his own community, Elkadi practiced what he preached. After moving to Panama City, Fla., in 1979, he borrowed $2.4 million from a Luxembourg bank managed by his father-in-law, Abu Saud, the early Brotherhood leader, and built a large Islamic medical center just outside of town, real estate records show. Called the Akbar Clinic, the two-story brick building had a surgery center, an emergency room and dental, psychiatry, nutrition and acupuncture services. Inside the clinic, Elkadi set up a small mosque and an Islamic school. The school occupied several rooms on the second floor until the students became too loud and classes had to be moved to a trailer on clinic grounds. In many eyes, Elkadi was a true Muslim leader. "Everyone flocked to him whenever there was a problem," says Aly Shaaban, a Muslim leader in Panama City. "He was a father figure. He had this magnetism. You see his face and you just want to kiss his face." A life's work in ruins But things were beginning to unravel for Elkadi. By 1995 he had lost virtually everything he had worked for: his clinic, the school, his medical license and the presidency of the U.S. Brotherhood. First to go was the clinic. Elkadi had fallen behind on the bills, and by 1988 creditors had won thousands of dollars in judgments against him. To prevent a sheriff's sale, the Islamic bank in Luxembourg took over the property, and eventually it was sold to a drug rehabilitation clinic. But Elkadi faced an even more serious professional problem: Florida regulators started disciplinary action against him for performing unnecessary surgeries at a Panama City hospital and for doing major operations, including a mastectomy, at his clinic without proper precautions, such as an adequate blood supply. Regulators determined that Elkadi had performed unneeded stomach surgery on nine patients. The Florida Board of Medicine concluded that Elkadi "exhibited a total lack of judgment" and was "not a competent physician." The board revoked his license in 1992. At the time, Elkadi adamantly denied the allegations and accused Florida regulators of being "grossly unfair," according to filings with the state. By the mid-1990s, his problems deepened. Not only was he forced to close his now-overcrowded and dilapidated school because of financial difficulties, he learned that Brotherhood leaders wanted him out as president. It remains unclear why he lost his position. Current and former Brotherhood members say they do not know or that Elkadi simply was voted out of office. Elkadi and his wife say he was removed because he was not conservative enough. They say he had been pushing for women and other Islamic groups to be more involved in the Brotherhood, and some members did not like that. "For some members, it's a very ingrown type of mentality," Iman Elkadi says. "You work only among Muslims, don't contact non-Muslims, so that your work is limited to a small circle." She says the Elkadis believed that "the message of Islam is for everybody." Elkadi's daughter says he took this and other rejections hard. Elkadi now says he is not angry about his ouster and still loves the organization and its members. "They are good people because they follow Islam," he says. A change of face In recent years, the U.S. Brotherhood operated under the name Muslim American Society, according to documents and interviews. One of the nation's major Islamic groups, it was incorporated in Illinois in 1993 after a contentious debate among Brotherhood members. Some wanted the Brotherhood to remain underground, while others thought a more public face would make the group more influential. Members from across the country drove to regional meeting sites to discuss the issue. Former member Mustafa Saied recalls how he gathered with 40 others at a Days Inn on the Alabama-Tennessee border. Many members, he says, preferred secrecy, particularly in case U.S. authorities cracked down on Hamas supporters, including many Brotherhood members. "They were looking at doomsday scenarios," he says. When the leaders voted, it was decided that Brotherhood members would call themselves the Muslim American Society, or MAS, according to documents and interviews. They agreed not to refer to themselves as the Brotherhood but to be more publicly active. They eventually created a Web site and for the first time invited the public to some conferences, which also were used to raise money. The incorporation papers would list Elkadi--just months away from his ouster--as a director. Elkadi and Mohammed Mahdi Akef, a Brotherhood leader in Egypt and now the international head, had pushed for more openness. In fact, Akef says he helped found MAS by lobbying for the change during trips to the U.S. "We have a religion, message, morals and principals that we want to carry to the people as God ordered us," he says. "So why should we work in secrecy?" But U.S. members would remain guarded about their identity and beliefs. An undated internal memo instructed MAS leaders on how to deal with inquiries about the new organization. If asked, "Are you the Muslim Brothers?" leaders should respond that they are an independent group called the Muslim American Society. "It is a self-explanatory name that does not need further explanation." And if the topic of terrorism were raised, leaders were told to say that they were against terrorism but that jihad was among a Muslim's "divine legal rights" to be used to defend himself and his people and to spread Islam. But MAS leaders say those documents and others obtained by the Tribune are either outdated or do not accurately reflect the views of the group's leaders. MAS describes itself as a "charitable, religious, social, cultural and educational not-for-profit organization." It has headquarters in Alexandria, Va., and 53 chapters nationwide, including one in Bridgeview, across the street from the mosque there. Shaker Elsayed, a top MAS official, says the organization was founded by Brotherhood members but has evolved to include Muslims from various backgrounds and ideologies. "Ikhwan [Brotherhood] members founded MAS, but MAS went way beyond that point of conception," he says. Now, he says, his group has no connection with the Brotherhood and disagrees with the international organization on many issues. But he says that MAS, like the Brotherhood, believes in the teachings of Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna, which are "the closest reflection of how Islam should be in this life." "I understand that some of our members may say, `Yes, we are Ikhwan,'" Elsayed says. But, he says, MAS is not administered from Egypt. He adds, "We are not your typical Ikhwan." MAS says it has about 10,000 members and that any Muslim can join by paying $10 a month in dues. But to be an "active" member--the highest membership class--one must complete five years of Muslim community service and education, which includes studying writings by Brotherhood ideologues al-Banna and Qutb. There are about 1,500 active members, including many women. Elsayed says about 45 percent of those members belong to the Brotherhood. MAS' precise connection to the Brotherhood is a sensitive issue, says Mohamed Habib, a high-ranking Brotherhood official in Cairo. "I don't want to say MAS is an Ikhwan entity," he says. "This causes some security inconveniences for them in a post-Sept. 11 world." Preserving Muslim identity Elsayed says MAS does not believe in creating an Islamic state in America but supports the establishment of Islamic governments in Muslim lands. The group's goal in the United States, he says, "is to serve and develop the Muslim community and help Muslims to be the best citizens they can be of this country." That includes preserving the Muslim identity, particularly among youths. MAS collected $2.8 million in dues and donations in 2003--more than 10 times the amount in 1997, according to Internal Revenue Service filings. Spending often is aimed at schools, teachers and children, the filings show. The group has conducted teacher training programs, issued curriculum guides and established youth centers. It also set up Islamic American University, largely a correspondence school with an office in suburban Detroit, to train teachers and preachers. Until 18 months ago, the university's chairman was Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a prominent cleric in Qatar and a spiritual figure of the Brotherhood who has angered many in the West by praising suicide bombers in Israel and Iraq. The U.S. government has barred him from entering the country since late 1999. He says that action was taken after he praised Palestinian militants. In the Chicago area, MAS has sponsored summer camps for teenagers. Shahzeen Karim, 19, says a camp in Bridgeview inspired her to resume covering her hair in the Islamic tradition. "We were praying five times a day," Karim says. "It was like a proper Islamic environment. It brought me back to Islam." At a summer camp last year in Wisconsin run by the Chicago chapter of MAS, teens received a 2-inch-thick packet of material that included a discussion of the Brotherhood's philosophy and detailed instructions on how to win converts. Part of the Chicago chapter's Web site is devoted to teens. It includes reading materials that say Muslims have a duty to help form Islamic governments worldwide and should be prepared to take up arms to do so. One passage states that "until the nations of the world have functionally Islamic governments, every individual who is careless or lazy in working for Islam is sinful." Another one says that Western secularism and materialism are evil and that Muslims should "pursue this evil force to its own lands" and "invade its Western heartland." In suburban Rosemont, Ill., several thousand people attended MAS' annual conference in 2002 at the village's convention center. One speaker said, "We may all feel emotionally attached to the goal of an Islamic state" in America, but it would have to wait because of the modest Muslim population. "We mustn't cross hurdles we can't jump yet." Federal authorities say they are scrutinizing the Brotherhood but acknowledge that they have been slow to understand the group. In 2002, customs agents stopped Elkadi at Washington Dulles International Airport and questioned him for four hours. They wanted to know who was in the Brotherhood, where it gets its money and how the Elkadis invested their money. A month later, agents came to Elkadi's home with similar questions. He recalls that he answered every one. Elkadi remains highly regarded in some Muslim circles. An article in 2000 in the MAS magazine praised him as a great Muslim in the ranks of al-Banna and Qutb. He and his wife say they hope the Brotherhood succeeds. After all, they say, everyone in the Brotherhood agrees on the main issue. "Everyone's goal is the same--to educate everyone about Islam and to follow the teachings of Islam with the hope of establishing an Islamic state," Iman Elkadi says. "Who knows whether it will happen or not, but we still have to strive for it." Brotherhood has grown in influence The Muslim Brotherhood, founded in Egypt more than seven decades ago, is among the most powerful political forces in the Islamic world today. 1928: The Muslim Brotherhood is formed in Egypt by Hassan al-Banna to promote a return to fundamental Islamic beliefs and practices and to fight Western colonialism in the Islamic world. Late 1930s: The Brotherhood starts forming affiliated chapters in Palestine, Lebanon and Syria. 1948: The Brotherhood is implicated in the assassination of Egyptian Prime Minister Mahmud Nuqrashi, who had banned the group. Al-Banna denies involvement. 1949: The Egyptian government retaliates for Nuqrashi's assassination by killing al-Banna. 1954: A Brotherhood member tries to assassinate Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser and fails. Nasser executes several of the group's leaders and incarcerates thousands of its followers. 1962: The Cultural Society is created as the first Brotherhood organization in the United States. Society members help establish numerous Islamic organizations, mosques and schools. 1966: Sayyid Qutb, a Brotherhood ideologue who urged Muslims to take up arms against non-Islamic governments, is executed by Nasser's regime. 1982: In Hamah, Syria, at least 10,000 people are killed by government troops suppressing an uprising by the Brotherhood. 1993: The Muslim American Society, initially based in Illinois and now in Virginia, is created to be a more public face of the Brotherhood in the U.S. 2001: The U.S. names Brotherhood member Youssef Nada and his Swissbased investment network, allegedly established with backing from the Brotherhood, as terrorist financiers. Nada denies any terrorist links. 2002: Tens of thousands of Brotherhood supporters fill the streets of Cairo during a funeral for group leader Mustafa Mashhour on Nov. 15. 2003: U.S. authorities investigating alleged terrorism funding describe Virginia businessman Soliman Biheiri as the Brotherhood's "financial toehold" in the U.S. Biheiri denies any terrorist links. 2004: The Egyptian government rounds up dozens of Brotherhood supporters, freezes members' assets and ousts one of its backers from parliament. Contact Tsila at tsilagroup@yahoo.com To Go To Top

A SAD STATE OF AFFAIRS OR WHAT NEXT? Posted by Walter Bingham, January 31, 2006.

The result of the election for the leadership in the Palestinian Authority's administered areas brought into sharp focus the defence of Israel as a priority that requires to be addressed urgently. The victory of Hamas should serve as a wake-up call for those who are currently conducting the political affairs of this country and the question arises, whether the present defence Minister Shaul Mofaz if fit to hold this important position in the face of the lies which he has repeatedly uttered recently on a number of important matters. In mid December, just two days after he said that he would not do so, Shaul Mofaz joined the Kadima Party and his resignation from Likud came just a few days after he said that politicians who switch from Party to Party:"... show a lack of stability and a lack of leadership" and after he criticised Kadima by saying:"...I don't think Kadima will show the proper determination to stand up for Israel's critical needs". And the defence of Israel is in the hands of this man. According to a report on Israel National News, Mofaz gave orders against actions such as buttressing towns adjacent to Gaza following the expulsion, so as not to lead to a perception that the disengagement might worsen Israeli security, which the former Chief of Staff predicted and which has indeed materialised. And the defence of Israel is in the hands of this man. There's more. MK's, Members of Knesset from across the political spectrum accused Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz of deceiving a Knesset agreement regarding a purported agreement between Israel and the P.A. the Palestinian Authority to run the Rafiah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, a border notorious for weapons and drug smuggling. At a session of the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, no less, Chairman Yuval Steinitz accused Defence Minister Mofaz, who has deserted Likud for Kadima, of lying to the committee in regard of the purported agreement to operate the Rafiah crossing. Mofaz told the Committee, that Israel had worked out a written agreement with the Palestinian Authority on operating the terminal. That agreement, brokered by the United States was reportedly designed to protect Israel's security interests at the terminal, without actually having an Israeli presence there. Now it appears that no such agreement has been signed. "The Rafiah agreement never existed" said the Chairman. "This is the most serious case ever of deception of the Knesset" he said. And the defence of Israel is in the hands of this man. In any other democratic country, such a liar would have been booted out long ago from a senior ministerial post; in fact from any government position. Anywhere else, a man of character would have resigned, but apparently not in Israel where integrity and honesty and sticking to the election promises are not in our current politicians' vocabulary. It is high time, for a change in the electoral system to bring about a representative parliamentary democracy, where prospective parliamentary candidates stand in a constituency for election by the people of that constituency and if they don't perform according to their election promises, they are out next time. Their job in the Knesset should depend on what they do - and not whom they know. The Knesset that was just dissolved, 'though known as the 16th, was in fact the 30th parliament since the founding of the State of Israel 60 years ago. That averages at 2 years per Parliament. Such a transient body is only the custodian of the country's landmass and wealth - for the period of its short tenure. It is in my view therefore a criminal act to dispose of any land, against the express wishes of a large percentage of the population if not the majority, - quite apart from the Torah perspective. I am certain, that former Prime Minister Sharon believed he was doing the best for the country; after all he was a brave soldier too. But his judgement was seriously clouded. We now know why; - and those reasons were kept from the people. A policy based on the promises of Mahmoud Abbas, the founder of Fatah, and the right hand of Arafat could only be instituted by a person whose capacity to reason clearly is affected, even if only slightly. Furthermore, the almost total submission to American pressure to serve her own purposes and not those of the sovereign State of Israel would have been resisted by anyone with pure and not corrupt intentions. As for the acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, it seems that he has few ideas of his own and is continuing the dangerous policies of Sharon. Yet, as I already said, any government is only a transient body for a short period of time, an acting caretaker of the affairs of our country, and therefore not entitled to dispose of tracts of our holy land. Its task is to manage it. But there are two more reasons why Ehud Olmert is acting totally undemocratically and against all principles of morality. Firstly, he became a temporary 1st Minister after and not before a General Election has been called, which does not allow him to change the country's status quo in the interim. Secondly, and more importantly, the party that he now represents has no legal right to govern, since it was not the one chosen by the people at the last General Election. It was Likud that was elected and during the latter part of Likud's term of office the party reconstituted itself at the whim of the Prime Minister to emerge in a totally different form as Kadima. It emerged after that metamorphosis - with different policies from those for which Likud was elected and it took power by what can only be described as a bloodless coup. A dirty trick; creeping in through the back door. The way I read it, as Olmert and those who changed to Kadima left Likud, then it should be Binyamin Nethanyahu the senior Likud member who should lead the interim government. But then logic, morals, a code of ethics and principled beliefs are not the hallmark of turncoats like those who change parties for the sake of gaining a better chance of a ministerial post. The policy of appeasement, which this government under Sharon and now Olmert are pursuing is leading to disaster. To hand over more territories and force more of our kith and Kin out of their homes to make a present to the Palestinian Arabs for having perpetrated terrorism against our population, that policy will invite more of the same because, - and forgive me for repeating what has been said a hundred times before, because such action will only be interpreted as a success for terrorism. I am old enough to remember when in 1939 the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain returned from a meeting in Munich with the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. At the foot of the steps of his airplane he waved a piece of paper, bearing Hitler's signature and he declared proudly: 'Peace in our Time'. When Hitler was challenged for wanting to occupy the Sudetenland, a part of Czechoslovakia, he promised that if he is given it - he has no more territorial demands. He got it and soon afterwards took the rest of Czechoslovakia followed by the same false promises. Then he marched into Poland. The world was prepared to sacrifice the area of the Saar adjacent to France, Austria and Czechoslovakia, thinking they gave land for peace, despite the fact that it was not their land to give. Neither is it anybody's right today, to want Israel to trade its soil to placate the Muslim world - in the mistaken belief that if the Israeli Palestinian conflict is solved, terrorism in the world will vanish. Do they not realise, that this conflict is only an excuse not the raison d'etre for world terrorism. The people of Israel are not prepared to be the sacrificial lamb for the glory of any World leader. We shall stand steadfastly together to prevent this disastrous plan of setting Jew against his brother and sister. It may well be, that the government is under serious pressure from the US and certainly from the European Union, but we are a sovereign power, autonomous and well capable to withstand the foreign leaders, who each seek to outdo the other - to go down in history as having brought peace to the Middle East. Where were they when Israel faced attacking Arab nations on three occasions? Did they send us help? And the one time when they did, in 1956, the Americans - sneezed and the British and French caught a cold. Today's actions against Israel by the European leaders are driven by their necessity to placate the Cocoo they have themselves invited into their nest. It is their desperate attempt to prevent a hostile takeover of their countries, - for it has been predicted that in less than 100 years time, Europe will be largely Muslim. On the one hand, I fear what sort of plan Olmert is hatching next, but on the other, I believe that a man who is weak enough to reverse his sincerely held and publicly declared conviction - within a year or two under foreign pressure, can be made to change again under the pressure of his own people. We in Israel must be vigilant and prevent a man-made erosion of our land. Fellow Jews and our Christian friends, in the Diaspora, G-d fearing or secular, must make their voices heard and impress on this and the next Governments, that Israel can't, - won't - and never will surrender its soil to anyone. One can fool some of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all of the time. Walter Bingham is a veteran journalist and broadcaster from London who made aliyah and now lives in Jerusalem. His weekly radio programme, Walter's World, can be heard on Israel National Radio.com. Contact him by email at walter@IsraelNationalNews.com To Go To Top

OLMERT AND LIVNI -- RUNNING FOR COVER Posted by Avraham Weissman, January 31, 2006.

Dear Friends The following charges (read the article below by Emanuel Winston) have been and are still being made - against Ariel Sharon and the inheritors of his policies - Ehud Olmert and the Kadima Party, its associates and allies. I know that at least - some of what has been reported below has also been reported by Israeli intelligence and Israeli news sources, for example that tons of new improved weapons, including longer range rockets have been brought into the Gaza Strip from Egypt, placing large areas of Israel within their range. There is also no doubt that the Hamas win throughout Palestinian Authority controlled areas is also a result of the retreat from the Gaza Strip ordered by Ariel Sharon and his associates in the LIkud Party and their allies in the Labor Party. - It is certainly a very serious (but was also a foreseeable) development. Democracy works when people are educated to respect their fellow human beings and their rights - including those that differ with them! It doesn't work when those who go to the polls have been educated to believe in "jihad" or holy war and violence against those who differ with their religious beliefs and customs, and who believe that their religion has the innate right to force itself on all others, and that they -- and only they -- have sovereignty rights in all of the Middle East. The US and Europe are and will continue to be the "big losers" in this latest development in so called Arab "Palestine," not just Israel. The US "make nice" policy toward the Palestinians and other jihadi Arabs has failed as "appeasement" of crime and criminal activity always does. How they empathized with the so callled "poor and suffering" Palestinian refugees, whose suffering were caused by Moslem Arabs themselves - and the Arab World in general.. US policy has too long been controlled by a policy of naive "expedience" (read "short term good" for some - at the price of "long term harm" toward freedom and free societies, ) expedience - toward Arab - Muslim "oil" power. Now there are those in the "free world" that are calling for US disengagement from Iraq and the Mid East - who are advocating the same thing "Chamberlain" advocated toward Adolph Hitler and Nazi Germany in the 1930's. If they win, freedom and the free world will lose even more and the existential threat to the free world will grow! "Eternal vigilance" is only the initial "down payment" for living in freedom, the full price includes the willingness to defend it with all it takes! I hope the leadership in the free world learns from this latest development and reacts appropriately and soon, before oil power and its ensuing pollution damage the natural environment and the free world irreparably. This was written by Emanuel A. Winston. Emanuel A. Winston is member of the Advisory Board and a research associate of the Freeman Center For Strategic Studies.   Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has appointed Tzipi Livni as Foreign Minister. Olmert has assigned her the task of issuing cover-up statistics for "Kadima" on the Gaza/Hamas blunder. Livni issued a statement to the effect that "Israel (Sharon) opened the door of peace by abandoning Gaza and the Muslim Arab Palestinians slammed it shut." Perhaps, since Livni is not experienced in propaganda and disinformation, the pro-Arab State Department speech writers gave her a hand. After Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was incapacitated with a major stroke, Tzipi Livni and Ehud Olmert had to scramble to make the Gush Katif/Gaza withdrawal look like a wise decision, and that it wasn't their fault or that of their new Party "Kadima" that the Palestinians' election voted an overwhelming landslide for Hamas (the most violent of the Palestinian Terrorist organizations). Hamas got 74 seats, Fatah got 45 out of 132 seats. First, Olmert played a strong role in advising Sharon to abandon Gaza. Next, Sharon was advised repeatedly by Generals at the top of his Military and Intelligence staffs that leaving Gaza was a bad move and the Muslim Terrorists from all over the world would use the area as a staging base for attacks against Israel and the West. It became common knowledge on the streets of Israel that Sharon needed a substantial diversion from the Attorney General's numerous charges against him and his sons for illegal financial deals. So many illegal activities were surfacing, including a major exposé of a $3 million loan uncovered by the police that Sharon and all around him grew increasingly panicked. The sensationalistic drama of the Gaza withdrawal was a necessary diversion, merely for him to stay in office in order to keep his sons out of jail. Everything predicted by Sharon's military advisors and the different Intelligence Services has come true. Now Olmert and Livni, heirs to the Sharon cover-up and monumental blunders, needed to change the world's perception of history and their role in the blunders. As Gaza fills up with all the Muslim Arab Terrorist organizations, there is not even the pretense by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (nom de guerre Abu Mazen) that his Fatah can maintain control. Now Hamas will achieve full control of the Arab Muslim Palestinian government and put Hamas operatives on the payroll. These operatives have been well trained and armed - for Terror, not for Government. That may be short-lived, given that Abu Mazen has spent Fatah (his inner Terror organization) and the PA into bankruptcy. He paid out all the incoming monies from Israel (who still 'pay' the PA millions of dollars a month) America and Europe - the donor countries, to his own Police 'cum' Terrorists, lest they turn on him. As a result of Hamas winning a huge majority, the Fatah Police cum Terrorists have indeed turned against him as was seen on TV internationally when they rioted in Gaza and elsewhere after the election. Sharon's gamble didn't pay off as the area of Gaza has now become, as predicted, a mini-Terrorist state, armed to the teeth. Mountains of arms and terrorists flowed into Gaza from where they were stocked in the Egyptian Sinai Desert within days of Sharon evicting 10,000 Jewish men, women and children. This is the legacy of Sharon to the country and to Kadima, his one man party. Now that he is incapacitated (perhaps dead but kept alive on life support systems in a 'coma'), his whole house of cards has collapsed. Tzipi Livni, as Foreign Minister, under orders from Ehud Olmert, is now as busy as a cat trying to cover up its dropping on a tin roof. It just can't be hidden but, they are trying anyway. When Ehud Olmert, at the behest of the U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, allowed Hamas to be on the ballot, he displayed his weakness as a leader - in addition to his lack of knowledge of what was boiling over in the Palestinian communities.Being uninformed and wobbly on decision making, indicates both he and his Kadima Party are totally without substance. As is said, all the chickens have yet to come back to roost in Gaza. What Tzipi Livni is trying to cover up is the strength of the combined forces of the Muslim Terrorists now uniting under Hamas radical leadership. The Israeli people have yet to grasp what Sharon's "Disengagement" Plan has done to them. While Hamas has won and angered Fatah loyalists, they will soon coalesce into one mightier force. The Hamas leadership, speaking from Iran and Syria, has already proposed that the Hamas forces will be 'folded' into the Fatah forces to create one cohesive Army of Terrorists. All will operate under the umbrella of Islamic Jihad. Believe it, the sum will be greater than the sum of its parts. The Charters of both the Fatah (PLO) and Hamas will be merged into one document of purpose. Hamas has a Charter pledged to the destruction of the Jewish State of Israel. Fatah has its Charter which was never (I repeat: NEVER) been cancelled - which also pledges the destruction of Israel. And Fatah has its own fighting force called the Al-Aq'sa Martyrs Brigades. (Note! Both of the Charters are similar and can be read over the Internet.) The weapons, both in volume and quality, poured into Gaza in unimaginable tonnage when Sharon surrendered by retreating the soldiers and the Land made green by the 9,000 settlers. Here we find the assistance of President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt who acted the enabler to supply weapons and explosive material which came from Iran and Syria and were stored in the Sinai Desert under Egypt's protection. The low-tech Kassem Rockets made in Gaza with a 5 kilometer range are being replaced with missiles of 17-27 kilometer range (11-16 miles) - which can reach most of Israel's dense population centers up to Tel Aviv. The vacuum created by Sharon by evacuating 500-600 Jews from the four communities in the Samarian mountains, also gives the Terrorists free access to battle bases and munitions storage depots from which to attack the center and north of the country. Even as the Hamas Palestinians pledge to destroy Israel as per the terms of their Charter, Olmert (Kadima), Amir Peretz (Labor) are promising more unilateral withdrawals from Judea and Samaria with Hebron on the immediate list and dividing Jerusalem - in effect, repeating the blunders of Oslo and Gaza. Israel will be truncated to an indefensible sliver - no longer a military asset to America - with her people put at great risk. Meanwhile, as Tzipi Livni is trying to cover up the Gaza abandonment and Hamas election blunders, Sec. Rice is doing the same thing in Washington. Here the coverup of a naive blunder is the belief that one can introduce American-style Democracy into Muslim Theocracies of the Arab/Muslim culture. President George W. Bush with the now incapacitated Sharon, unleashed the collective power of Global Terror in Gaza. The Terrorists simply voted themselves into power. Therefore, IF they voted, it is a democracy. Right?! In Egypt, at the insistence of Bush and Rice, the vote brought the Islamic Brotherhood, one of the oldest Islamic Terrorist Organizations one step closer to controlling Egypt and converting it into an Islamic-driven nation run by radical theocrats, holding the largest arsenal which was supplied by America with the gift of more than $60 Billion in annual aid over the years since Camp David. These American tax-payers' dollars bought those weapons, the best in America's high tech. America even assisted in developing Egyptian factories to build some of those most powerful weapons. To wit, then Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger gave Egypt a "turn-key" factory to produce America's top Heavy Battle Tank, the M1A1 Abrams. America supplied the parts, the money and the technicians to put them together. Try to imagine how much that money would do for America in jobs and money resources IF it was spent in American manufacturing. Who can forget the peanut farmer Jimmy Carter who with delusions of democracy dancing in his head, brought the Ayatollah Khomeini out of his exile in France back to Iran, toppling the Shah of Iran and losing the tons of weapons America had supplied to the Shah in his good days? Let us not forget Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres who brought Yassir Arafat and his Terrorists back from Tunisia, where they lived in ignominy, where they had been driven during the 1982 War in Lebanon - forgotten until Rabin, Peres and President Clinton resurrected Arafat, the Master Islamic Terrorist of our times. In all three cases, stupidity doesn't even begin to describe the results of not understanding the sub-culture of the Islam and Arabic civilization. No question that there will soon be a very massive war aimed at the Judeo-Christian civilization in the Free West. The only question is: Will the fighting start along the outer edges of Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley or will it be as Olmert and Peres have predetermined it, fighting with our backs to the Sea, shooting from the windows of the Shalom and Arieli Towers in Tel Aviv? It is a bad time for Israel to have naive Leftist leaders whose first methods of defense is retreat. Where are the strong leaders who make Israel's strength into our best deterrent? Contact Avraham Weissman at avna@bezeqint.net. To Go To Top

HAMAS VICTORY IS GOOD NEWS Posted by Deb Kotz, January 31, 2006.

I like Jacoby's column very much, but I'm still a pessimist at heart when it comes to the Mideast peace process. I'm afraid the world will accept Hamas after the shock of the election wears off, under the delusion that there's no other option. I say this because we all thought that the world would finally wake up when Arafat walked away from Barak's offer of more than 90% of the land. Instead, the world continued to blame Israel for the Palestinian plight and found justification for the PA terrorist war that followed. I hope, I hope, I hope to be proven wrong. I hope the world FINALLY sees the Palestinians for who they are: hell bent on the destruction of Israel and the Jewish people and completely unfit, at this point in time, to establish a democratic nation. I'd like to go back to being an optimist. Pessimism isn't in my nature. Jeff Jacoby is a columnist for the Boston Globe. Contact him at jacoby@globe.com This article appeared January 29, 2006 at www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/ 2006/01/08/bringing_faith_into_contempt/ WESTERN reactions to the outcome of the Palestinian election last week came in two varieties: highly negative and decidedly undecided. In the first category was Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who moaned that the Hamas defeat of Fatah was a "very, very, very bad result." In New York, the Anti-Defamation League pronounced the results "a tremendous setback." Others insisted that the significance of the election couldn't be known until Hamas decides whether or not to abandon its foremost objective: the liquidation of Israel. In the words of FBI Director Robert Mueller, "Hamas has a choice to make." It was a line echoed everywhere, from the British Foreign Office to the New York Times editorial page. Well, put me in a third camp: I think the sweeping Hamas victory is by far the best result that could have been hoped for. I say that not because Hamas is anything other than a blood-drenched terrorist group, but because its lopsided win is an unambiguous reality check into the nature of Palestinian society. And if there is one thing that the West badly needs, it is more realism and less delusion about the Palestinians. Some of that delusion was on display at the White House on Thursday, when President Bush painted the Palestinian election as a "healthy" exercise in civic reform: "Obviously, people were not happy with the status quo," Bush explained. "The people are demanding honest government. The people want services. They want to be able to raise their children in an environment in which they can get a decent education and they can find healthcare. And so the elections should open the eyes of the old guard there in the Palestinian territories. ... There's something healthy about a system that does that." Spare us, Mr. President. If a slate of neo-Nazi skinheads swept to power in a European election, would you say that the voters were seeking "honest government" and "services"? Palestinians are not stupid, and it insults their intelligence to pretend that when they vote to empower a genocidal organization with a platform straight out of "Mein Kampf," what they're really after is better healthcare. Islamist extremism isn't needed to fix Palestinian hospitals any more than fascism was needed to make Italian trains run on time in the 1920s. If Palestinians turned out en masse to elect a party that unapologetically stands for hatred and mass murder, it's a safe bet that hatred and mass murder had something to do with the turnout. By the same token, Hamas's new duties are not going to turn it into a moderate group of diligent civil servants. When violent Islamists win political power, their brutality and zealotry do not diminish. (See Khomeini, Ayatollah and Taliban, Afghan). The notion that Hamas now has "a choice to make" is just another example of the delusional thinking that is so pervasive when it comes to the Palestinian Authority. In his remarks on Thursday, Bush went on to say that he didn't "see how you can be a partner in peace if you advocate the destruction of a country as part of your platform" or "if your party has got an armed wing" and that Hamas is therefore "a party with which we will not deal." If that means that the Bush administration will shun the new Hamas government as it once shunned Yasser Arafat, well and good. But why was Mahmoud Abbas treated any differently? Like Hamas, Fatah -- the PLO faction Abbas and Arafat co-founded 45 years ago -- advocates Israel's destruction in its basic charter. Like Hamas, Fatah has an "armed wing" -- the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades -- that is guilty of horrific terror attacks. Fatah's emblem shows crossed rifles against a map of "Palestine" that depicts all of Israel; on the Hamas emblem, the map is the same, but the crossed weapons are swords. The only important difference between the ousted Fatah party and the incoming Hamas leadership is that for PR purposes the former sometimes pretended to accept Israel's right to exist, while the latter is openly and unabashedly committed to Israel's elimination. Yet that is why the Hamas landslide is good news. It will now be much harder to wish away the unpleasant fact that after a dozen years of PLO misrule, Palestinian society is deeply dysfunctional, steeped in hatred and violence. All but the willfully blind can now see that the Palestinian Authority is no "partner in peace." Until it is decisively defeated and thoroughly detoxified, the Palestinian people will never enjoy the blessings of liberty and decent governance. Ironically, the ascendancy of Hamas may have brought that day a little closer. Deb Kotz is an active member of the Brandeis Chapter of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) and maintains an email list to distribute articles of interest to the local community. She can be reached at DebKotz@aol.com To Go To Top

HEBRON, POLLARD AND JEWISH ANTI-SEMITISM Posted by Women in Green, January 31, 2006.

This was written by Moshe Feiglin. Jews have a peculiar habit of attempting to escape their Divine mission. The Jew tries to imitate the non-Jews, to blur his identity and to flee the entire burden of being Jewish. But then anti-Semitism comes and brings the mirror close up to his face. No costume will help. You are a Jew. This creates a strange chain reaction. Non-Jews hate Israel because it is the state of the Jews. Israel refuses to recognize the fact that it did not mange to escape its Judaism. Instead of negating anti-Semitism, it simply joins in the fray in a futile attempt to deflect the hatred down the line to the religious Jews and the settlers. Last week in Israel we witnessed two blatant anti-Semitism issues that were entirely homegrown. In a virulent attack on Hebron's Jewish community, Israel's politicians and media unleashed the anti-Semitic specter against the firmly Jewish community reclaiming its heritage and property rights in the second-holiest city to Judaism. Tens of thousands of illegally built Arab homes do not threaten the "rule of law" in Israel. But when Jews with sidelocks and beards return to Jewish property in Hebron that was robbed from them after Arabs murdered the Jews there in 1929, it "threatens the very foundations of the State". Anti-Semitism has been a potent political weapon for centuries. If you want to prove that you are a strong leader, batter the Jews. Olmert learned this lesson well. Zero tolerance for the settlers! We'll teach them who is boss here! Batter the Jews and transform yourself into the beloved father figure, just like Sharon. Jumping on the anti-Semitic bandwagon, Police Chief Karadi prepared the public for the eventuality that the police will shoot at the settlers. The anti-Semitic winds are blowing harder in Israel than anywhere else in the world. A Prisoner of Zion in America? Jonathon Pollard has been in a cruel American prison for 21 years. Israel recruited him to spy in the US and to access vital information that our "great friend" chose to withhold from us. Among other things, this information pertained to plans to destroy Israel. It is possible that Pollard saved us all from evaporating in an Iraqi atomic mushroom cloud. The US was hostile enough to Israel to warrant Israel's activating a spy there to retrieve information vital to its survival. But the US is not hostile enough for the Israeli Supreme Court to recognize that after 21 years in prison, Jonathon Pollard is a Prisoner of Zion. Pollard made a naive decision. He sacrificed his liberty for his brothers in Israel in a country that just happens to be the ultimate Israeli dream. If we recognize the fact that Pollard is a Prisoner of Zion, we will be accusing America of being an enemy of sorts. We can do that with the USSR without getting confused. But if we even hint that America is adversarial toward Israel, what will we be left with? If America is our enemy, then who are we? Jews? So, the anti-Semitic reasoning goes, let Pollard rot another 20 years in prison and leave us alone... In Moshe Feilgin's new book, "The War of Dreams," he writes: "Two people fled from the FBI to the security of the Israeli embassy. One of them was an Israeli -- Brigadier General Aviem Selah, a high-ranking officer in the Israeli Air Force and Pollard's handler. The second was a Jew -- Jonathon Pollard. The Americans demanded that both be turned over to them. Israel extricated the Israeli despite heavy American pressure. But it threw the Jew outside the embassy gates. That is the whole story. Pollard is in jail because he is a Jew." Israel prefers that Pollard remain in jail because he holds us before an impossible mirror image. When push came to shove, a Jew saved Israel from the Americans. Only an Israeli can understand the destructive significance of this fact to the universal Western consciousness that the Israelis attempt to create for themselves. The last thing that the anti-Jewish Jews need is for Pollard to get to Israel and to start to talk. He must be swept under the rug -- deep inside the walls of the North Carolina penitentiary. 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

DRY UP THE FUNDING Posted by Lawrence Uniglicht, January 31, 2006.

There is no one or cadre of nations that formally declares war on the civilized world through state sponsored acts of sadistic terrorism, yet several Islamic fundamentalist regimes such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Sudan substantially finance fanatics worldwide who perform such acts. Hence, such underwriters of homicidal/suicidal behavior that now imperil the health and safety of planetary populations must forthwith be put out of business despite the industrial world's obsessive desire to avail itself of the vicious viscous black gold reservoirs they possess. A Faustian covenant written in blood that allows these despotic criminals to prevail as long as their spindly talons loosen about fossil fuel faucets, continuously satisfying the energy needs of Earthly addicts, must be declared null and void. Organized armies of extorted aggrieved nations including but not limited to the U.S., Israel, Britain, and Spain, whose citizens having born the consequences of heinous barbaric homicidal acts, are ever justified in invading and confiscating the properties above and below ground of criminal governments as just compensation for such suffering. Furthermore, all monetary assets of such crime-controlled entities located outside their boundaries should be frozen without delay. Abetting criminally extreme acts including crimes against humanity can no longer be tolerated. Severing the primary sources of funding ever needed by perpetrators of destruction will no doubt impact heavily on their ability to function. Hand wringing pundits who for one denounce Israel yet unceasingly have slathered praise over poor bereaved presumably occupied Palestinian waifs will angrily oppose such a logical initiative. Of course ivory tower observers, impaired by skewed thinking, have not likely born proximate witness to deranged mesmerized Muslim militants shrouded in explosives. Such neophytes to the real world deserve no serious response, not comprehending the potential devastation wrought by but one crazed blown-to-bits-cadaver-in-progress strapped to a nuke. Dry up the monetary life-blood of these creeps now before metaphorical and actual human life-blood flows more copiously then all the black poison gurgling beneath the swollen buttocks of robed grim reapers raping the planet of its dignity and sanity. 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

ARAB "OUTREACH"STUDIES GUIDE OMITS ISRAEL HISTORY Posted by Avodah 15, January 31, 2006.

This was written by Ted Siefer and appeared in The Jewish Advocate (http://www.thejewishadvocate.com/this_weeks_issue/news/?content_id=812) January 30, 2006. A Harvard-affiliated center in Cambridge that provides seminars on the Middle East to Massachusetts public school teachers and students recommends materials that promote a stridently anti-Israel point of view, an Advocate investigation revealed this week Among the materials used by Harvard's Middle East Studies Outreach Center is the Arab World Studies Notebook, a 500-page binder of curriculum materials produced by the Middle East Policy Council and Arab World and Islamic Resources. MEPC receives direct funding from the government of Saudi Arabia, and AWAIR receives funding from Aramco, the Saudi state oil company. Critics of the notebook, including the American Jewish Committee, charge that it is riddled with inaccuracies and falsehoods. The notebook "appears largely designed to advance the anti-Israel and propagandistic view of the Notebook's sponsors," AJC said in a statement last year. Some of the problematic passages in the book cited by the notebook's critics include: In a chapter on American policy in the Middle East, one of the book's contributors writes: "The questions of Jewish lobbying and its impact on Truman's decision with regard to American recognition [of Israel in 1948] -- and indeed the whole question of defining American interests and concerns -- is well worth exploring." In a chapter called "The Question of Palestine," the book asserts that before the start of the 1948 war, "armed Jewish groups had driven much of the Palestinian population from their homes, thus capturing most of the Palestinians' land through acts of sheer terror and intimidation." In the section on Arab culture, one chapter is devoted to Jerusalem, described as an "Arab city" surrounded by high rises "built for Israeli settlers to strengthen Israeli control over the holy city." Israel is missing from a map of the Middle East; a map of Palestine encompasses the pre-1948 boundaries. Harvard's outreach center has used the notebook in department of education-sponsored teacher training institutes. The center is one of 18 Middle East centers around the country that receive federal funding under title VI of the 1958 Higher Education Act; each center receives about $500,000 a year, according to a report by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in 2005. The department of education stopped contracting with the Harvard center after 2002; however, the center still recommends the notebook as a resource for teachers and it is used in seminars it conducts in Massachusetts schools. Center director Barbara Petzen told the Advocate that the notebook is one of a "multitude" of sources it uses in teaching about the Middle East, and that it is not used in teaching about the Arab-Israeli conflict. But, Petzen stressed, almost any material on the Arab-Israeli conflict is bound to anger one side or the other. "As with any conflict in history, as historians our job is to look at multiple perspectives. I'm not an activist; I'm trying to understand the place we are at and how we got there," she said. Sandra Stotsky, a former commissioner with the Massachusetts department of education, wrote about the notebook and teacher training institutes put on by faculty from the Harvard center in a 2003 report titled "Stealth Curriculum: Manipulating America's History Teachers." For her, the lack of scholarly rigor in the notebook goes beyond a "slanted" version of the Arab-Israeli conflict. "This is not just a Jewish issue," Stotsky said. "It's a Christian and an American issue," she said, stressing that the notebook's editor, Audrey Shabbas, has also been taken to task by members of the Algonquin Indian tribe over a passage from the materials that claims Arabs had arrived in North America before Europeans and intermarried with members of the tribe. Shabbas, whom the Harvard center's Web site describes as a "respected educator," taught a teacher-education course on Islamic art at the center last year. Stotsky said that it's not hard to understand the allure of the notebook, which only costs $15 when schools also participate in a free workshop, funded by the MEPC. On its Web site, the council claims to have given workshops in 175 cities in 43 states. "Teachers figure, 'We've got to have professional development, this is a free workshop, so let's bring in Audrey Shabbas and the Arab Studies Notebook. There's no problem with it because it's clearly been vetted by Islamic scholars,'" Stotsky said. Another local organization that specializes in providing curricular materials and training to history and social studies teachers is Primary Source, a Watertown-based nonprofit that has put on workshops in more than 30 school districts around the state. Primary Source's Middle East studies program is closely linked to the Harvard center. It lists Barbara Petzen as a faculty member, and this fall the two organizations put on a series of adult education seminars together, including one titled "Palestine." The Arab Studies notebook is one of the resources available in the center's library of resources. Primary Source's Middle East studies program coordinator did not return calls for comment. Contact the poster at avodah15@aol.com To Go To Top

TU BSHVAT IS COMING. PLANT A FRUIT TREE IN ISRAEL Posted by Manhigut Yehudit, January 31, 2006.

Show your love for Israel on Tu B'Shvat (February 13th) by planting a fruit tree! From the comfort of your computer, join with thousands of Israelis as they plant fruit trees on this traditional day. Zo Artzeinu --"This is our Land" -- is once again spearheading its annual drive to plant fruit trees all across YESHA (Judea and Samaria) -- 7,000 fruit trees already planted! Order by clicking here. Connect to the Land Provide a livelihood for the Jewish families who work the fields Perform a mitzvah; "When you enter the Land, you shall plant all types of food trees" (Leviticus 19:23) Personalized, full color certificate mailed to all participants! Click here to plant. It's that simple. We can run a program for your school or organization! Many Yeshivot already participate. Call (516) 295-3222 Click here to watch a short video clip on tree planting in the Holy Land of Israel. Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish Leadership) is a group of people inside the Likud party who want to see Israel adopt a more Jewish character. Moshe Feiglin, its cofounder, has emphatically said he does not want a theocracy, but he does want a State based on Jewish values. The Manhigut Yehudit website address is http://www.manhigut.org. To Go To Top

PA FISCAL CRISIS DUE TO TERRORISM AND ARAFAT Posted by David Meir-Levi, January 31, 2006.

Here is a letter that I sent to a bunch of newspapers. The one below to the Wall Street Journal compliements the author for noting in the article that the crisis is due to PA mishandling. So I can add the issues of terrorism and Arafat's graft. The same letter can be sent to newspapers that do not put this bit of info (PA has only itself to blame), but then you need an opening like " XXX's article omits a very important fact from the treatment of this issue:...." I encourage all of you to write to your local and national newspapers. they should get thousands of letters on this issue, especially if their article did NOT mention the graft and corruption and arafat's greed and the terrorism. david ml To the Editors, (238 words) Special thanks to Karby Leggett for "Hamas faces Crisis if Funding dries up" (WSJ, 1/31/06). The Palestinian people are in desperate need of foreign aid. BUT? The Palestinian Authority (PA) payroll is bloated, with 170,000 employees: an average of one government worker to every 18 Palestinians! The PA gave raises of up to 40% to its employees last year, prompted in part by armed terrorist employees shooting up government offices to punctuate their demands! The finance minister notes that there will be a very serious crisis if wages are not paid. Certainly! Because the terrorist employees will then shoot up more offices, and maybe shoot some officials. Most damning, from 1994 to 2004 Arab countries poured over $5,000,000,000 into the PA. The EU gave half of its total foreign aid to the PA every year. The USA gave c. $400,000,000 per year, but gave over $900,000,000 in 2005. Over the past decade, about 20% (c. $3,000,000,000!) went to Arafat's private accounts. Most of the rest went to fund his terror war against Israel. Almost none reached the Palestinian people. The PA's fiscal crisis is entirely of its own making. Last year Secretary Rice used the metaphor of the USA "birthing" the Palestinian State. Now we, its parents, don't like its behavior. What does the responsible parent do when the wastrel child behaves badly, squanders his allowance, and then comes whining for more? 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

PARODY TRUE TO LIFE Posted by Richard H. Shulman, January 31, 2006.

First we had eulogies for Sharon, for committing treason, which they called adherence to the Road Map for peace. Now the NY Times feeds its readers a ridiculous slant on the Hamas victory. I was about to speculate that it would not be long before the same people who got thousands of Jews wounded in the name of a phony peace process with Fatah, would find an excuse for doing the same with Hamas. Lo and behold, that same day, January 27, an Op-Ed essay proposed just that. Too bad! The Hamas victory would have been a blessing, if it were deemed unacceptable. Alas, the West will deal with the devil! Let us start with the 1/27 editorial. It called the Hamas victory a "step backward." As usual, it partly faulted Israel. It blamed Israeli "hardliners" for not having strengthened Abbas' political party by making concessions. How unfair, false, and misleading! First, it calls "hardliners" Israelis who retain some safety measures against the terrorism that Abbas supported. Second, Israel did make concessions, though often under US pressure. It did: (1) Shut down many checkpoints; (2) Withhold most retaliation and certainly did not methodically dismantle P.A. terrorism; (3) Continue paying funds into P.A. coffers; and (4) Allow thousands of P.A. residents to work in Israel. Thus the claim is false. Problem with the Times is that it is so biased against Israel, that in its eyes, Israel can never do enough for the Arabs and the Arabs never have to do anything for Israel. The Times is filled with excuses for the criminal Arabs and with recrimination for the excusable Israelis. The result of Israelis' restraint has been their murder by Arabs. It therefore is unfair and callous of the Times to expect one-sided Israeli concessions to Arabs who have broken all their peace agreements. The Times' continued faith in the redemption of those genocidal Arabs isn't so much unintelligent as part of its record of anti-Zionist bias. How misleading to claim the election is a step backwards, a blow to the "peace process." There is no peace process. There is a process of continual Israeli concessions to the Arabs, engaged in jihad against the Jews. Fatah is about as evil that way as Hamas. The Op-Ed, one of whose authors is from Harvard, rationalizes that Hamas fielded professionals as candidates and is "disciplined, pragmatic and surprisingly flexible." Although its charter and campaign demand the destruction of Israel, its campaign manifesto did not. It does not reject "useful" negotiations with Israel. Besides, this is the will of P.A. voters, democratic. Therefore, the West should deal with a Hamas government. Cutting off aid to it might bankrupt it, "further destabilizing the region." Qualities of political skill are not positive in a genocidal Party. Sure Hamas might negotiate, if it thought it could gain eventual domination. Islamists destabilize, so bankrupting them would help stabilize the region. Diminishing the Arab presence and increasing the Israeli presence in the Territories would reduce the force of jihad. That would be the Western goal, if the West could cease its appeasement and antisemitism. Richard Shulman is a veteran defender of Israel on several web-based forums. His comments and analyses appear often on Think-Israel. He provides cool information and right-on-target overviews. He distributes his essays by email. To subscribe, write him at richardshulman5@aol.com. To Go To Top

TIFERET, ASAF, AND YISRAEL HY"D Posted by Shifra Shomron, January 31, 2006.

The names "Tiferet, Asaf, Yisrael HY"D" jump boldly out of a large sign fastened to a prefab shul here in the Nitzan Caravilla site. The thick white letters stare down at me from the depths of their engravement. I didn't even have to think twice. After all, Tiferet Tretner, Asaf Tzafira and Yisrael Lutati are not only engraved in a cold metal sign high up on a prefab shul in temporary Nitzan; they are also engraved deeply in our beating hearts. How can I forget those three vibrant youths severed from our midst so cruelly? Tiferet was killed by a mortar that smashed through the roof of the house; its sharp shrapnel pieces piercing her soft flesh. It was on the eve of Yom Kippur, the holy day when G-d puts the seal on our verdicts, and our government had once again committed the unforgivable sin of standing idly by their brothers' blood. Asaf was shot to death by the Arab workers near the hothouses of Rafiah Yam. In the midst of all the vegetation, a budding Jewish sapling was hewn down. Yisrael was a soldier, "killed in the line of duty". What a blank description that is of a handsome young man shot while protecting a Jewish community from enemy infiltration! We, the Gush Katif family, honored our fallen -- our heroes! Our youth built a wooden shul in their names. And they planted beautiful flowers around it. And they made a path that led from Neve Dekalim to the 'Tiferet Yisrael' shul. And these wonderful Gush Katif youths found themselves, for the first time in their young lives, confronting Jewish soldiers. Staying up all night -- so that the army wouldn't destroy this 'illegal outpost'. It was a rude awakening for the Gush Katif youth who had spent the winter baking cakes and serving soup to the soldiers. Yes, a rude awakening. And also a taste of what they would have to digest in the summer. Did we digest it? It was forced down our throats. And once again a shul carries the names of Tiferet, Asaf and Yisrael. Tiferet means glory. Asaf means gathered. Yisrael means the Jewish nation. May Hashem return the glory that has been gathered from the Jewish nation. And may their blood be avenged. Shifra Shomron is a young writer who was among the Jews expelled from Gaza. She now lives with her familly in temporary quarters. To Go To Top

EU BOLSTERS SYRIA; HAARETZ EXPOSED; SAUDIS TOWARDS EUROPEANS Posted by Richard H. Shulman, January 31, 2006.

EXPULSIONS CONTINUE S. Arabia and the P.A. are subsidizing a rash of illegal Arab building. They hope to influence the Israeli Supreme Court to move the security fence so as to allot more land to the Arabs, lest the fence inconvenience them. (This would reward Arab illegality.) Meanwhile, the government of Israel is demolishing what it calls "illegal" outposts by Jews. The outposts are houses on land bought by Jews before the State was established. They lie in what supposedly is one of the major settlement blocs that Sharon claimed he would preserve by virtue of abandoning other areas. Israeli Police and troops are treating non-violent Israeli opponents with their usual brutality against Jews (Arutz-7, 1/11). Israel has a statist notion of illegality that serves partisan purposes and not Jewish ethics. Sharon's Cabinet now is whittling away at the areas he only pretended to be preserving by sacrificing other areas. Israelis never should have believed him, but Israeli politicians and US Presidents find them gullible. E.U. POLICY TOWARD SYRIA Syria main trading partner is the E.U., which subsidizes it. The E.U. has not declared Hizbullah a terrorist organization (Sen. Bill Frist, NY Sun, 1/26, Op. Ed.). Most of my friends are critical of Pres. Bush, and urge him to coordinate his policy with W. Europe. W. Europe does not understand the Islamist menace. Unfortunately, Bush seems to be altering his policy to match Europe's. ELECTION OBSERVERS The EU sent hundreds of election observers to the P.A.. It declared its continued support for the P.A., because Abbas pledged peace (IMRA, 1/21). What is the point of assuring that the P.A. did not interfere in its election? Whoever won, the result is intolerance and war. How dangerous is the EU's pretense that because Abbas, who lauds terrorism, pledged peace, he isn't making war! Bet it wished he defrauded the election. AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE ON EVANGELISTS "Rabbi David Rosen, Israeli-based director of the American Jewish Committee's Inter-religious Affairs Department (and a founder of Rabbis for Human Rights) told Israel Radio that the Christian Evangelists were bad basically because they oppose Israeli withdrawals." (IMRA, 1/11). "Inter-religious?" He condemns a powerful pro-Israeli sect over a political difference. WHAT KIND OF A NEWSPAPER IS HAARETZ? "Israel's leftist daily Haaretz is in fact not a newspaper at all, but rather a propaganda advocacy sheet. It is the main Palestinian (pro-Arab) newspaper published in Hebrew. Its editorial positions resemble those of Israel's communist party in all matters except economics. (A bit strangely and inconsistently, it tends to be pro-market.) It reprints anti-Israel articles from all over the globe. It seeks out ways to bash Israel and delegitimize it. It has a 6% market share in Israel." "Haaretz's anti-Israel pieces are picked up all over the world, and international media like to proclaim it the 'Israeli New York Times'. Given the bias against Israel in both newspapers, there is something to the comparison but not what the people making the comparison have in mind." "The very worst Haaretz writers are Amira Hass, Gideon Levy, and Akiva Eldar, who have yet to hear about a mass murder of Jews about which they wish to express disapproval. The first two are openly on record favoring the dismantlement of Israel altogether as a Jewish state. Hass has been convicted in court of fabricating false libels against Israeli settlers. Hass, who does not speak Arabic, lives in Ramallah and is in the eyes of herself an expert on Palestinians and what they think, although (she) has never heard a single Palestinian cheer suicide bombings." "All three of these write anti-Israel columns for the pro-terror leftwing neo-Nazi web magazine Counterpunch." "Once every two weeks Haaretz allows a token non-leftist point of view to be expressed in the paper, roughly at the rate of one non-leftist article for every 150 anti-Israel leftist pieces. This is the Haaretz notion of pluralism." (essay by Prof. Stephen Plaut, 1/12). THE CLUE TO BUSH'S POLICY TOWARDS ISRAEL The main formulator of US policy towards Israel, and a key advisor to Pres. Bush, is the pro-Arab Under-Secretary Nicholas Burns. Sec. Burns thinks that all the problems of the Mideast derive from the Arab-Israel conflict. He is responsible for the US adoption of the EU policy of dialogue with Iran instead of striving for regime-change there and in Syria, of waiving sanctions against Muslim countries for human rights violations, of currying favor with the Arabs by pressuring Israel (Winston Mid East Analysis, 1/12). The Arabist State Dept. almost always prevails, to the detriment of the US. It is turning Bush into a Kerry. It must be cleaned out. SAUDIS TOWARD EUROPEANS Saudi TV frequently features Islamic law professor Sheikh Abd Al-Aziz Fawzan Al-Fawzan. He advised Muslims they are obliged to hate Christians (IMRA, 1/11). Contrast the Islamic way with this story from Brooklyn. A very poor Irish family lived near some Hasidim. The Catholic woman used to assist them on the Sabbath. One Christmas was particularly bleak for the Irish family, having no means to celebrate. The Hasidic family came over with gifts, so that the Christian neighbors could celebrate their most important religious holiday. Richard Shulman is a veteran defender of Israel on several web-based forums. His comments and analyses appear often on Think-Israel. He provides cool information and right-on-target overviews. He distributes his essays by email. To subscribe, write him at richardshulman5@aol.com. To Go To Top

NEVER MISS THAT OPPORTUNITY....TO MISS THE OPPORTUNITY Posted by Arlene Peck, January 31, 2006.

I recall an old song that goes "What Can I say, after I say I'm sorry". Well, folks, I have been humming that tune a lot of late but it keeps coming out, "except I told you so!" For more years than I care to remember, I have been writing endless columns about the 'Big Lie' and the fact that what is trumpeted loudly, in every quarter, as 'the plight of the Poor Palestinians' was, in fact, a travesty caused by their own Arab brothers. I seem to recall I have also said once or twice that Israel is the prime candidate to take the fall. Frankly, I am neither unhappy nor even surprised at the state of affairs we have arrived at with the Hamas election victory. It's also no surprise to see these dysfunctional, macho savages, parading around Gaza, firing their guns aimlessly and pointlessly into the air, or at anyone unfortunate enough to cross their paths. Who can be surprised, seeing them begin the entirely predictable pattern of destroying themselves from within? The old adage concerning them, "The Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity", could not be more true. You can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear! For years, I have been told that Palestinians are an educated people. Pardon me if I remain unconvinced. Intelligent and articulate people of good will do not rampage through the streets, rioting and shouting, "Jihad, Jihad!", and "Death to Jews". I have been to Gaza a few times. If it were in the hands of anyone with a little sense, or an IQ higher than an eggplant, something could be made of it; something resembling an economic lifeline, like the most beautiful of resorts, for just one example. The sea and beachfront areas are superb. Except, even then, all the Palestinians excelled at was throwing stones at passing cars, burning tires and, oh yes, smoking that laughing water out of funny looking vases. But, when given the opportunity to demonstrate their sense of civic duty and pride, what do they do? How do they go about rectifying all those years of corruption Arafat and company blessed them with? Why, they vote in a known and violent terrorist organization, a group of people who, from their inception, embraced hatred, death and destruction as their only way of life. Their nursery schools and kindergartens, even their version of Sesame Street, carefully teaches their children, systematically, how to embrace death, so that, when they are old enough to grow up and murder innocent Jews, they can become martyrs. Having looked into Palestinian "schooling", I know this is the highest aspiration a child of this misfit and evil culture can aspire to. Their parents "harvest" children so that they can grow up and blow up. Now that some of them have grown up and come into political power, what happens now? Let's not beat about the bush! The future of Palestine has been laid out in its past. There is no hope coming from that quarter! For years, I have been making the point, wherever I can, that our government and the general population, just don't "get it". President Bush expounds endlessly about how these people just need "the vote". Democracy will bring out their true nature and there will be a miracle. Yeah, right! Well, they got it! - And now that the Palestinian Terrorist Party has won the elections, are they happy campers? I wonder if the Hollywood crowd which surrounds me, with their secular, leftist and very politically correct lifestyles, where a 'hug' and a crusade in the name of 'social justice' fixes every ill, are actually watching the debacle unfolding nightly on our televisions? Would it ever occur to them that this wanton, wholesale destruction was inevitable? And, this time, they can't even blame Israel. Hell, most of them couldn't even find Israel on the map. The level of some people's incomprehension - or is it duplicity?- is breathtaking, condoning and accepting the utterly evil premise of organisations like Hamas, something that even the worst anti-Semites in our State Dept and the United Nations have difficulty doing. Hamas is an international terrorist organization, a militant offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, which in itself is another terrorist organization that calls for the total destruction of the State of Israel. There, that's simple, isn't it? It gets even easier when descriptions of Hamas, like this, are common currency: "Hamas militantly opposes all peace proposals that include a two-state solution and escalates its terrorist activities when peace negotiations make headway. Hamas denies the right of any Arab country or even of all the world's Kings and presidents to give up even a part of Palestine." So much for the planned hug-in the United States, the European Union and the United Nations have been attempting to foist onto the Jewish state, these past few years! Ah, no thanks guys, democratically speaking, we'll pass, thanks all the same! Hamas is not a newly emergent 'solution'. It is not a democratic party. It has simply usurped the democratic process for its own ends. They have been feverishly working, the past decade or so, towards TWO goals only, the total Islamization of Palestinian society and the total destruction of Israel. This is not a political party that has come into power, nor are they interested in political solutions. Neither do they harbour intentions compatible with any westernised understanding of democratic process. In short, using the word democracy in association with Hamas is a joke! Palestine, under Hamas, is a religious "nation", which lives for and by hatred, mass casualty suicide bomb attacks, and the murder of as many Israelis as they can manage. They have no other agenda. No Economic Policy was promoted pre-election. The entire 'dialogue', if you can call it that, was about power. That is all that interests Hamas. Their philosophy will make Iran look like a pussycat, when they implement their changes. The Sharia law, which is going to be enforced, will prohibit normal male/female interaction; music is going to be banned. G-d help you if you are homosexual, as they especially like to behead them. I cannot yet shake the memory of 'honour killings' brothers or fathers perpetrated on daughters they suspect of dishonouring them. This is about to become the norm, under Hamas, even the law of the land. They have managed to murder or chase out most of the Christian minority, but those who are still left may find themselves paying the dhimmi tax, yet another benefit for "unbelievers" in Islam. What right will we have to criticize them over these coming human rights abuses, when we endorse the authority that will bring all this about? None. In addition, that will be another "I told you so", far too late. 'Missing The Opportunity ' might not be confined solely to Palestinians, after all. Yet, despite all of this, despite the fact they have proudly declared themselves the enemies of Jews, of America and of civilized values, the Palestinians have declared with their 'votes' that they want no peace. Aid? That's another story. Jimmy Carter, who was the worst governor of my home state of Georgia before he inflicted himself upon the world stage, obviously believes that they are going to need our help. Lovely. This is a group of people who have wasted billions and billions of American taxpayers' money. Yet Carter has never changed his tune. He still hasn't found a terror group active against the Jewish state that he couldn't love! Unbelievably, he is on record, declaring, "We must continue funding PA President Mahmud Abbas." Ummm, why? It is sad when the senile cannot be stopped from shooting off their mouths. And, that goes for Peres also. It is going to turn interesting now. Bush is also on record, warning of a cut in funding. Yet, rumour has it that the State Department, with President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, have found a way to approve funds to funnel American tax dollars into the Palestinian pockets. In the past, despite the will of Congress, they funnelled money through International Charities and Non-Governmental Organizations located in Gaza, Judea and Samaria. Shame some of that money couldn't find it way into Israel for the benefit of the victims of Arab terrorism. Several things about all this amaze me, not the least being that, once again, it is the "usual suspects" who are expected to kick the can: the USA, the European Union and the United Nations. What is it that makes them feel responsible? I don't, not for a long time. Probably because I added up the amounts given to Arafat over the years, and wasn't surprised to be told it was approaching 20 billion dollars. Maybe Suha Arafat could go to the secret vaults and take out some of the billions she is reported to have stashed away in her Paris shopping bag. I am also amazed that the Arabs, who have all the money in the world, especially now that oil is again at high levels, don't do anything to help their "Arab brothers", but sit back smugly, happy that the burden of aid falls on everyone else, except them! Amazing, that Saudi sheiks have seemingly unlimited funds to set up "Muslim Chairs" at American Universities, and are buying American real estate at the speed of light, but are too cash-strapped to help build the schools and hospitals 'Palestine' is going to need. And need them they will, because, if it were up to me, I'd make sure that Israel turned off the water, electricity, medical options, etc., and make sure they didn't get one damn thing more from her good heart. Hamas made no promises or statements to the Palestinian people about financial management and responsibility, so surely the responsibility is on us to exercise some! They are already pleading that they are on the edge of bankruptcy and cannot 'function' without more international funds. Since they have no export except terrorism, no infrastructure, and no industry to speak of, they're not going to be able to meet the payrolls of their 130,000 PA employees, mostly terrorists of one kind or another, let alone promote a better fiscal future for their 'nation'. Good! Maybe they might notice that their leadership is a present day Nazi party and the rest of the world might think twice about funding another Reich. Or Caliphate. It's already come back to bite them in the tush in Paris and a dozen other countries which once befriended them. And, let there be no mistake about it. Now that fanatical Islamic fundamentalists have won so overwhelmingly in Iraq, by their curious use of the "democracy vote?, and Palestinians have sold their soul to the world's primary terrorist group, we are all on the road to hell. Hamas has won convincingly in Gaza, on the West Bank and in many other locales in the so-called Palestine Authority. Now they have their hands out, demanding aid from the world to build their new state, and all their friends are waiting in the wings, expectantly. I have no doubt that their savage cohorts in Morocco, Iran, Tunisia, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, etc., are waiting with bated breath to see how the lunatic left feels about pushing through aid and congratulations, because they are now "one of us" in democracy. This is a terrorist state in the making. This is high stakes blackmail. Pay us, or we will continue to murder. It's that simple. It's that obvious. Palestine has always had all the elements of a terrorist state, only lacking in validation. Now that validation has come. Nothing will change because of this vote, but the character of that "nation" will now come increasingly to the forefront. These people cannot be negotiated with. Aid cannot, must not, be forthcoming and the only thing that can be done to them is to make certain of their destruction in the name of civilized society. That, folks, is something they understand. Hugs don't work with this group of 1.4 billion people. Power, yes, that they can comprehend and they must - now! Arlene Peck is an internationally syndicated columnist and television talk show hostess. She can be reached at: bestredhead@earthlink.net and www.arlenepeck.com To Go To Top

THROW THEM OUT Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, January 31, 2006.

Why are the people in the area allowing these saboteurs [the Yesha Council] to speak for them? Unless the residents clearly and unequivocally denounce them as outsiders who do not represent the people of the area in any way, these lackeys of the Junta will once again destroy any chance of success. Earlier we heard all sorts of grandiose rhetoric about Maccabees and not allowing their home to be destroyed. Now we are hearing the usual claptrap of the saboteurs about how THEY are trying to reach a compromise but the Junta isn't interested. So of course this means that the people whose home are about to be destroy must capitulate. Right? Does this all sound familiar? Isn't this what they did in Gush Katif? If the fact that the Junta is unwilling to abandon its venomous hatred of Jews is a reason for loyal Jews to capitulate seems a non sequitur to you, welcome back to reality. This comes from today's Arutz Sheva - IsraelNationalNews.com - http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=97637 and is called "Yesha Council: No Compromise, But Not Because We Don't Want One." (IsraelNN.com) The self-declared leadership of the struggle for Amona and the Yesha Council announced Tuesday afternoon that no agreement had been reached with the governmern regarding the permanent houses slated for demolition in the next 24 hours. "We would be happy if the other side was interested in arriving at a compromise, which is completely within its power to reach," a statement from the Yesha Council stated. "[Acting Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert wants a struggle and will receive one." Members of the council met with Olmert Monday evening in an attempt to reach a compromise with the new prime minister, who took office following Ariel Sharon's second stroke and the coma which followed. "We are repeating our call for all who care about the Land of Israel and who the State of Israel is dear to them to come, en masse, to Amona using any possible way." 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 STATE DEPARTMENT AND POLITICIZED NGOS Posted by Dov Rabinowitz, January 31, 2006.

NGO Monitor is urging the US State Department to stop relying on politicized NGOs for its annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. NGO Monitor's detailed reports on these NGOs show that they promote a political agenda -- including efforts to impose academic boycotts, and divestment -- at the expense of accurate analysis. NGO Monitor analyses of the NGOs quoted in previous editions of the "Israel and the Occupied Territories" section of the report show that these NGOs display a consistent anti-Israel political bias. The State Department report refers to its NGO sources as "reputable international organizations" and "credible NGOs." However, according to NGO Monitor, these NGOs have no independent research capabilities, provide insufficient documentation for independent verification, accept anecdotal claims from politically motivated groups or individuals, and discriminate between sources based on political agendas. In a letter to Paula Dobriansky, Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs, NGO Monitor urged the State Department to refrain from repeating unverified allegations of politicized NGOs in future reports. The next report is scheduled for publication within the month. "Many of these NGOs are active participants in incitement," said Professor Gerald Steinberg, Editor of NGO Monitor. "They demonize Israel through false allegations of human rights abuses and selective citations of international law." Highly politicized NGOs found in the State Department Report include the Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, B'tselem, Adalah, Christian Peacemaker Teams, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch. For the text of the NGO Monitor letter to the State department go to: http://www.ngo-monitor.org/ Dov Rabinowitz is Communications Director of NGO Monitor. Contact him at communications@ngo-monitor.org To Go To Top

END THE OCCUPATION! Posted by Steven Plaut, January 31, 2006.

Iran is openly calling for Israel to be destroyed, claiming that Israel is an alien "colony" that "occupies" land that belongs to the Palestinians. And when was the last time that the lands of Israel formed a Palestinian Arab state? Well, never. On the other hand, there is another country under the illegal occupation of a foreign entity. I am referring of course to Iran. Iran is under the illegal temporary occupation of Iranians but it clearly should be restored to its legitimate Mongolian rulers! After all, if "Palestine" is eternally Arab because some Arab armies conquered it in the Dark Ages, why should not Iran remain permanently Mongolian after the Mongolians conquered it in the Dark Ages? Just to refresh your memory, the younger brother of Kublai Khan, Hulaku, captured Bagdad, on 5 Feb., 1258; and the Khalif, Al-Mustansir Billah, surrendered to the Mongol chief on 10 February. Hulaku was thus the founder of the dynasty of the Ilkhans of Iran, which included the following princes: Hulaku, until 1265; Abaka (1265-81); Nikudar Ahmed (1281-84); Argh.n (1284-91); Gaikhatu (1291.); Ba.du (1295); Ghazan Mahmud (1295-1304); Ghivas eddin Oljaitu Khudabendeh Mohammed (1304-16); Abusa.d Bahadur (1316-35); Mo.zz ed-dunia we'd-din Arpa (1335-36); Musa (1336); Mohammed (1336-38); Toogha Timur (1338-39); Izz ed-din Djehan-Timur (1339); Satibeg (1339); Suleimen (1339-44); Adil Anushirwan (1344-53). They were all destroyed by Timur (Tamerlane) or his successors. So after we in the West bomb the bejeebers out of the Iranian nuclear facilities, let us destroy the Iranian colonialist state and restore Iran to its legitimate rulers!Oljaitu 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. Contact him by email at splaut@econ.haifa.ac.il To Go To Top

STRIP THE STRIPES? Posted by Batya Medad, January 31, 2006.

Things are getting stranger and stranger, or is the truth just coming closer to the surface? The Arab terrorist Hamas Party leader announced: The several conditions Zahar named included a demand that Israel change its flag. "Israel must remove the two blue stripes from its national flag," said Zahar. "The stripes on the flag are symbols of occupation. They signify Israel's borders stretching from the Euphrates River to the Nile River." Now, most of us just thought that they were like the stripes on the " Tallit."[1] (Thanks, Judith) This makes me wonder. The American flag has lots of stripes, actually thirteen to represent the original thirteen colonies/states. Six are white, and seven are red. Now, just to take this further according to Hamas leadership. The Israeli flag has only two blue stripes. If the stripes connote or symbolize "occupation," then America with 650% more stripes than Israel must be considered six and a half times more an occupier, or imperialist nation, than little Israel. And if we want to talk symbols, let's look at the colors. The Israeli flag is sky blue and white, while the American one has a dark, midnight blue and bright red with white. Israeli stripes are blue, the color symbolizing freedom, vigilance, perseverance, justice, prosperity, peace, and/or patriotism. But the American flag has red stripes, the color of war and violence. Let's put this all together according to the statement of Hamas leader, Zahar, just a little logic, please. Israel's flag, with a dominance of blue on white symbolizes a peaceful, just country, and that's even when if finds itself as an "occupier." While the United States has a flag with seven bright red stripes, which symbolize a violently aggressive imperialist society. I didn't say it; I just took Zahar's demand a little further... Batya Medad lives in Shiloh. She can be reached by email at Shilohmuse@yahoo.com or visit her website http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/ or go to http://www.shilo.org.il This is archived at shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2006/01/ strip-stripes.html To Go To Top

AN OPEN LETTER TO EACH MEMBER OF THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT AND MEDIA: THE WORLD IS WATCHING Posted by Paul Rotenberg, January 31, 2006.

An Open Letter to Each Member of the Israeli Government and Media As we in the Diaspora are listening closely to the difficult political decisions of how Israel will respond to the Hamas political victory, we are puzzled and troubled by the inexplicable priorities of the Israeli government. By your actions the Jewish families who are residing in the Avraham Avinu neighbourhood market of Hebron and nine families in the Amona neighbourhood on the edge of Ofra seem to be your most dangerous military threat. In the context of geopolitics, we are alarmed that the Israeli government is planning to deploy thousands of soldiers and police to Hebron and Amona. You are determined to evict these Jews families from their legally owned land. The families in Hebron live on land owned by the Jewish community of Hebron for over one hundred years before the massacre of 1929 and re-inhabited in 1975. The nine families of Amona also have legal deeds to their land and the government itself encouraged the residents to build their homes in Amona, and connected them to the electric and water infrastructures. They have been there since August 1995. Ten years ago when Arab-initiated violence in Hebron was at its high, the Israeli army decided to remove the Arabs squatters from the marketplace. Commander-in-Chief of the IDF, Maj. Gen. Ehud Barak supported this action. Several years later after 10-month-old Shalhevet Pass was shot to death by terrorists, the Jewish inhabitants of Hebron decided to re-inhabit the empty market that the Jewish community of Hebron owned outright, and began renovating the stores, turning them into livable apartments. The Jewish communities of Hebron and Amona have rigidly adhered to the rules, rules of property ownership, and applied for permits for their construction. May I bring to your attention that over 40,000 of the 120,000 Arabs who live in and around Hebron are squatters. There are thousands more in the Judean and Samarian Hills. They erected their homes with no legal purchase, no consent of the government, and aren't even required to pay property taxes. Nevertheless, they have remained in their illegally built homes with no consequences. There are to date, more than 7,380 court-ordered eviction notices against illegal Palestinian homes in Judea and Samaria (West Bank), but the Israeli government has never acted on them. In East Jerusalem alone, there are over 20,000 Arab buildings illegally constructed, and instead of moving to remove these structures acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has discussed, with the PA, legalizing that construction. This is an unacceptable double standard. Why are Jews who legally own their property and homes not allowed to stay while Arabs who have no title to land left alone? The Israeli government seems to have lost sight of its mandate. Do you, the government ministers, intend to expel the 100,000 plus illegal Arab residents of structures that have been built in your midst? We have heard that some of the Jewish property owners have no title to their land. In fact, these lands have all been legally bought and legally inhabited. We know that the plans were submitted and a good portion of the work that has been completed, has been finished with the help of the Israeli government and army. Only the last stages of the permits were withheld so that, on a technicality, the government can now say they are illegal. The residents have made every effort to fulfill all legalities. We turn to you to uphold the truth and to leave these residents where they are by finishing the last stage of permits so that they may live in peace and stability, in their homes, within the land of Israel. Paul Rotenberg Toronto, Canada Contact Paul Rotenberg by email at pdr@rogers.com To Go To Top

KIBBUTZ MEMBERS IN SUPPORT OF SETTLERS Posted by Women in Green, January 30, 2006.

This is a news item from www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3207626,00.html Kibbutz member: "These are pioneers of Hebron, just like the Kibbutz movement had pioneers; there's no difference between us" -- Miri Chason, YNet On the eve of plans to carry out the evacuation of the Amona outposts and settlers from the Hebron market, a surprising show of support has emerged for the embattled settlers: Kibbutz members and moshav residents, usually identified with the Left's wish to leave the territories, have aligned themselves with Hebron settlers slated for evacuation. They have organized a conference of support, to be held in Hebron on Tuesday. "At a time when they are trying to expel Jews from their legal land, there are 700,000 Jews and Arabs in the country who live in illegal homes and nobody cares. Why are they singling out the wonderful pioneers who live in Hebron." This sentence was said not by a right-wing person or senior official in Yesha, but by Tzafrir Ronen, one of the organizers of the conference of support and identification with the settlers by Kibbutz members, under the banner: The working communities and citizens of Israel are with the community of Hebron." "These are pioneers of Hebron just like the Kibbutz movement had pioneers," said Ronen. "There's no difference between us." Meanwhile, IDF Central Command Chief Yair Naveh signed restraining orders against 21 right-wing activists following suspicions that they will attempt to harm security forces and Palestinians during the course of the evacuation of the Amona outpost and the Hebron market. The IDF and police are preparing to carry out the clearance this week. They are expected to work along similar lines to the way the disengagement from Gaza was implemented. 'We won't abandon pioneers of Jewish Hebron' "These are wonderful people who are loyal to the country, but the media has turned them into animals," Ronen added. "The people who set up Kiryat-Arba and Gush Katif were members of the Labor party. The same is true of the settlements of the Jordan Valley, and communities in the Golan Heights. The youths don't know this, and they are ensuring that the youths remain ignorant of this. The first group of pioneers in Netzarim, for example, was from the Hashomer Hatzair (Zionist left-wing youth movement). I myself have seen how the police create provocation and the media just takes pictures. There's no way around it -- the media is political," he said. Organizers of the conference have announced that officers, academics, and religious leaders from various kibbutzim and moshav communities will attend. "We won't leave our friends, the pioneers of Jewish Hebron, alone against the malicious war launched against them," an advertisement for the conference said. "We'll strengthen them and be with them during the difficult hour because their struggle is our struggle." 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

PROPOSED LEGISLATION REGAARDING THE TRANSFER OF FUNDS TO THE HAMAS-LED PA Posted by Buddy Macy, January 30, 2006.

To All Americans Against Terrorism: I urge you to support the drafting of the following proposed legislation: A new bill is being formulated in the U.S. Congress, in the wake of Hamas' election victory, that will make the transfer of funds to the Palestinians, both directly and indirectly, much more difficult. Should the proposed bill become law, it will enable the U.S. to place the Palestinians on a list of terror-supporting countries, resulting in severe sanctions on trade with the PA and major restrictions regarding the transfer of funds to it. Since the first reports of the Hamas victory surfaced in the U.S., senior Congressional members have expressed unequivocal views on the subject of the transfer of funds to the Palestinian Authority. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican from Florida and Chairwoman of the Congressional Subcommittee on the Middle East, is leading the legislation effort in an attempt to make it more difficult for the Bush administration to offer aid to the Palestinians, and, to make it easier to isolate a Hamas-led government. Ros-Lehtinen said the U.S. must ensure that American taxpayers' funds are not transferred directly or indirectly to those who have carried out terror attacks. Republican Eric Cantor said the Palestinians would not receive a penny. Senators from both parties said during television appearances, that aid to the Palestinians must cease. The proposed bill is also intended to demand the closing of consulates and to reduce diplomatic contacts with the Palestinians; and, to prevent the entry of Hamas leaders into the United States. In accordance with current law, the U.S. cannot transfer funds directly to the PA without the President's signature, for reasons of "American national security." Thank you, in advance, for writing and speaking out in favor of the drafting of this vital piece of anti-terrorism legislation. Most sincerely, Buddy Macy Contact Buddy Macy by email at vegibud@aol.com To Go To Top

DOUMANI'S "BLAME ISRAEL FIRST/LAST/ALWAYS" BACKFIRES Posted by David Meir-Levi, January 30, 2006.

Beshara Doumani's "Israel can blame itself for Hamas' win" (SJMN, 1/30/06) is a ludicrous attempt to reverse reality. But in the face of the undeniable evidence of that realty....it fails. Doumani is right that Israelis have said: "we have no partner for peace". But not because it was ever "...an ironclad...Israeli policy". Rather, because every attempt by Israel, the UN, the UK, and the USA to create a Palestinian state alongside of Israel (15 such attempts since 1937) has been met by Arab violence, terrorism, murder, and war. For the past 70 years destroying Israel has been far more important to Palestinian leadership than creating a Palestinian state. No state alongside of Israel....only instead of Israel. His assertion that "...the Israeli government...engineered the failure of the peace process..." is so outre that it is risible. On the very same day that he signed the Oslo Accords, Arafat publicly announced his intentions, in Arabic to his followers, to ignore his Oslo commitments and start his jihad. Within weeks he was overseeing and coordinating the terror war that he would later ratchet up to the 2nd Intifada. And Israel, desperately trying to keep the peace process going, at first registered its complaints to Arafat. Then, when it became clear that Arafat was orchestrating the violence, Israel complained to the UN and to the USA while the terrorists launched as many as 24 terror attacks daily. Only after 9 years of post-Oslo terrorism, almost 20,000 terror attacks, more than 1,000 dead and thousands more injured or maimed for life, did Israel RE-occupy the West Bank to stop the terrorists. As for "...the daily life of Palestinians ...deteriorated to almost subhuman levels...": Professor Doumani should be aware of the World Bank statistics that show the West Bank and Gaza Strip enjoying an average annual GDP of 13% between 1967 and 1993. Roads, electricity, sewerage, water sources, water purification, telephones, television, radio, 7 new universities, modern medical facilities....all were brought up to 20th century standards for the Palestinians by Israel. During Israel's 27-year rule, the Arab population tripled, infant mortality plummeted, tourism sky-rocketed. And Arafat torched it all when he took over in 1994. By 2003 the West Bank GDP was literally one-tenth of what it was in 1994. The galactic venality of his graft and corruption, the embezzlement of billions to his personal accounts, and the siphoning off of c. 80% of foreign aid to fund his terror war....these are what reduced the Palestinians' lives to brutal, grinding poverty. Factual errors of such magnitude regarding the Arab-Israel conflict indicate that either professor Doumani is abysmally ignorant (but wait!! He is a History professor), or he simply hopes that your readers are. 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

JEWS TO BE EVICTED FROM AMONA TOMORROW Posted by Lee Caplan, January 30, 2006.

Photo Essay: Inside Amona, In the Shadow of Destruction The community of Amona, built with help from the World Zionist Organization and Israeli government, is seeking to prevent the destruction of nine new homes built there. Arutz-7 offers a look inside. http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=97567 "Olmert Rejects Call to Postpone Amona Eviction" Jan 30, '06/1 Shevat 5766 (IsraelNN.com) Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday rejected a request from Yesha leaders seeking a two-month delay in the planne! d eviction of residents from Amona. Mr. Olmert stated he would not grant any extension and plans to implement the eviction on Tuesday night after receiving a green light from the Supreme Court on Monday, which rejected a petition seeking a restraining order to block the eviction. 'IDF Prevents Buses From Reaching Amonazzzz' Jan 30,'06/1 Shevat 5766 (IsraelNN.com) Tens of buses carrying Amona supporters have been stopped at checkpoints entering Samaria. The military is not permitting non-residents into the area, seeking to prevent opponents to the eviction to reach Amona. Many travelers got off of buses earlier, attempting to reach Amona on foot. Urgent Action Alert on this coming Tuesday's Amona Expulsion. Please know the Facts: There are 20,000 Arab buildings in East Jerusalem illegally constructed without permits, and Olmert has discussed with the PA legalizing that construction. There are more than 30,444 illegal buildings in which Arabs are squatting in Israel. There are more than 7,380 court-ordered eviction notices against Illegal Palestinian homes in Judea and Samaria ( West Bank ), but the Israeli government has never acted on them and has no plans to. Yet, this Tuesday, the Olmert interim unelected government is going to send hundreds of IDF troops and Police to evict Jewish families in the Israeli-controlled area of Amona, for no reason whatsoever. This Tuesday, tens of thousands of armed Hamas and Fatah terrorist murderers will be free as usual to roam Hebron and the West Bank shooting automatic rifles into the air. EXPULSION ORDERED BY OLMERT On Tuesday, Jewish citizens will once again be expelled from their homes in the State of Israel, for no logical reason whatsoever, by the Radical unelected Leftists running the government like their personal property- Olmert, Weisglass, Peres, Beilin, Omri, Mazuz, Mofaz, etc, at the behest of Peace Now, ISM, the EU, the Quartet, Hamas, the PA, the UN, for secret deals that only they know about and that only they benefit from. The forces will be deployed in three rings: the first ring will be made up of 1,500 policemen trained to deal with violent protests and will also include mounted forces. The second rings will consist of several hundred Border Policemen and the third ring will be made up of four infantry regiments. Policemen will be responsible for direct conformation with the settlers, while the IDF will close off the area to incoming protesters. Security Minister Shaul Mofaz has declared that a policy of "zero tolerance" would be employed against settler violence, and IDF officers said that in this evacuation, they will "demonstrate only determination, without sensitivity." Settlers are planning a major solidarity conference Tuesday against the evacuation. Politicians, rabbis and academics are among those expected to attend the gathering. Representatives of five parties - Eli Yishai (Shas), Zevulun Orlev (NRP), Avigdor Lieberman (Yisrael Beiteinu), Zvi Hendel (National Union), and Meir Porush (Agudath Israel) - sent a letter to Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert over the weekend urging him to postpone the evacuation of Amona and Hebron until after the elections, in line with the general principle that major, non-urgent decisions should not be made prior to an election. Phone &fax numbers: President Moshe Katsav; Tel: 972-2-6707211 Fax: 972-2-5610037 State Comptroller's office: tel: 972-2-666-5000 fax: 972-2-666-5204 and fax the department responsible for the police: 972-2-530-9999 Prime Min spokesman: Assaf Sharif 972-2-5666920 (dir.) fax: 972-2-5669245 cell: 972-50-7724881 Olmert's spokeswoman: Chaya Peri tel 972-2-666-2301 fax 972-2-666-44-00 Defense Min. spokesman Eli Kamir tel. 972-3-6975546 fax: 972-3-6916940 cell: 972-50-6298005 Foreign Affairs Mark Regev tel. 972-2-5303343/555 972-2-5303408 (fax) cell 972-50-6203264 Justice Min spokesman: Shai Ben-Maor (Adviser) 972-2-6285438 (fax) cell: 972-50-6247138 Ministry of internal police tel 972-2-5308500 fax 972-2-530-80-39 Chief of Police, Mr Aharonishky: tel 972-2-5308100 fax 972-2-5308118 Hebron police: (those directly responsible for brutalizing Deli landau) tel 972-2-9969-444 or 972-2-9969-473/86/96/62 Shalom Court (address faxes to Judge Eilata Sziskind who put Deli under house arrest at her parents, away from her children, BEFORE TRIAL even started!!! fax 972-2-624-34-24 Prosecutor's office fax 972-2-646-700-1 Justice ministry fax 972-5602246 Chief Rabbinate: Rabbi Shlomo Amar fax 972-2-537-1305 Rabbi Yonah Metzger fax 972-2-5377872 The Rishon Lezion Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu Shlita fax 972-2-653-6842 In addition copy and paste onto an email to these press and Knesset members: wolf@cnn.com; ombud@globe.com; suggestions@lauraingraham.com; atc@npr.org; jdvorkin@npr.org; countdown@msnbc.com; opinion@msnbc.com; beltway@foxnews.com; foxreport@foxnews.com; oreilly@foxnews.com; info@creators.com; comments@foxnews.com; foxnewsonline@foxnews.com; askfox@foxinc.com; viewerservices@foxnews.com; hannity@foxnews.com; special@foxnews.com; afterhours@foxnews.com; colmes@foxnews.com; atlarge@foxnews.com; bullsandbears@foxnews.com; cash@foxnews.com; friends@foxnews.com; feedback@foxnews.com; newswatch@foxnews.com; lateedition@cnn.com; cjr@columbia.edu; onthemedia@wnyc.org; newswatch@foxnews.com; reliable@cnn.com; abramsreport@msnbc.com; kurtzh@washpost.com; hardball@msnbc.com; joe@msnbc.com; letter@globe.com; editors@interactive.wsj.com; nightline@abcnews.com; al-alwada-news@yahoogroups.com; jsmith@globe.com; kwadington@suntimes.com; alipinski@tribune.com; cmcmahon@tribune.com; dclifton@plaind.com; cnn@cnn.com; cjr@columbia.edu; editorial@jewishledger.com; mconnolly@newstimes.com; rush@eibnet.com; letters@star-telegram.com; comments@foxnews.com; special@foxnews.com; bret@jpost.com; caroline@jpost.com; letters@courant.com; cbglick@zahav.net.il; john.carroll@latimes.com; marjorie.miller@latimes.com; worldnews@herald.com; cday@middletownpress.com; editor@newbritainherald.com; letters@nhregister.com; editor@theday.com; editors@newsweek.com; atc@npr.org; bdrake@npr.org; newsdesk@nysun.com; editor@nysun.com; jgershman@nysun.com; crosett@nysun.com; elake@nysun.com; bavni@nysun.com; foreign@nytimes.com; public@nytimes.com; editor@orlandosentinel.com; editor@phillynews.com; foreign@phillynews.com; nragen@netmedia.net.il; janetlehr@mindspring.com; msill@newsobserver.com; oquarles@newsobserver.com; letters@sun-sentinel.com; david.smith@uniontrib.com; readerrep@sfchronicle.com; eletters@starledger.com; editor@think-israel.org; james_kelly@timemagazine.com; etinsley@usatoday.com; letters@usnews.com; foreign@washpost.com; westhartfordnews@ctcentral.com; onthemedia@wnyc.org; alankeyes@renewamerica.us; alison.sharman@bbc.co.uk; vaadharabbonim@yahoo.com; americanredcross@processrequest.com; amnestyis@amnesty.org; ai-news@amnesty.org; admin-us@aiusa.org; info@prescon.org; mailing@norpac.net; andrew.steele@bbc.co.uk; barry.langridge@bbc.co.uk; public.info@consilium.eu.int; christopher.patten@cec.eu.int; info@cre.gov.uk; sg-plaintes@cec.eu.int; letters@haaretz.co.il; maariv@newmail.net; editor@maariv.co.il; releases@jewishpress.com; focus@yetioth.co.il; hannity@foxnews.com; Speakout@foxnews.com; Viewerservices@foxnews.com; live@foxnews.com; mac@haaretz.co.il; mail@thelikud.org; editlett@jewishaz.com; editor@reuters.com; media@actcom.co.il; yvaknin@knesset.gov.il; nzeev@knesset.gov.il; eyishay@knesset.gov.il; egavrieli@knesset.gov.il; ggamliel@knesset.gov.il; mgafni@knesset.gov.il; gezra@knesset.gov.il; gerdan@knesset.gov.il; meitan@knesset.gov.il; zaevb@knesset.gov.il; efye@knesset.gov.il; yedri@knesset.gov.il; yedelstein@knesset.gov.il; ndahan@knesset.gov.il; izchakec@knesset.gov.il; amncohen@knesset.gov.il; eaflalo@knesset.gov.il; uria@knesset.gov.il; ravraham@knesset.gov.il; dazulay@knesset.gov.il; rbaron@knesset.gov.il; slomob@knesset.gov.il; nblumentl@knesset.gov.il; dbenlulu@knesset.gov.il; belon@knesset.gov.il; gfinkelshtein@knesset.gov.il; mgorlovski@knesset.gov.il; ysteinitz@knesset.gov.il; davidt@knesset.gov.il; sshalom@knesset.gov.il; nslomianski@knesset.gov.il; avrahamsh@knesset.gov.il; oritn@knesset.gov.il; ylitzman@knesset.gov.il; hkatz@knesset.gov.il; akara@knesset.gov.il; iherzog@knesset.gov.il; ndahan@knesset.gov.il; izchakec@knesset.gov.il; rbrison@knesset.gov.il; avilan@knesset.gov.il; mnahari@knesset.gov.il; yhazan@knesset.gov.il; eichler@knesset.gov.il; egavrieli@knesset.gov.il; zhanegbi@knesset.gov.il; yiskatz@knesset.gov.il; llivnat@knesset.gov.il; dnaveh@knesset.gov.il; bnetanyahoo@knesset.gov.il; ndoron@knesset.gov.il; iyasinov@knesset.gov.il; vbrailovsky@knesset.gov.il; ulandau@knesset.gov.il; natan@aliya.org.il; uria@KNESSET.GOV.IL; sar@moag.gov.il; pm_eng@pmo.gov.il; mkatsav@knesset.gov.il; sar@mof.gov.il; sar@mfa.gov.il; sar@molsa.gov.il; sar@moch.gov.il; sar@tourism.gov.il; sar@mops.gov.il; minister@most.gov.il; sar@moag.gov.il; sar@moia.gov.il; sar@education.gov.il; sar@mot.gov.il; sar@mod.gov.il; sar@matat.health.gov.il; sars@int.gov.il; marens@knesset.gov.il Contact Lee Caplan by email at leescaplan@yahoo.com To Go To Top

HAMAS DEMANDS ALL, CEDES NOTHING Posted by David Meir-Levi, January 30, 2006.

Josef Federman's "Israel says Hamas still off-limits" (SF Chron, 1.30.06) gives a summary of the current post-election impasse, but misses a few important aspects of this tired dynamic. Israel will not negotiate with Hamas until Hamas abandons its commitment to Israel's destruction. Hamas will not stop its terrorism against Israel until Israel withdraws to the '49 armistice lines, releases 7000 terrorists in Israeli prisons, stops pre-emptive prevention of terror attacks, and bisects itself to make a geographic link between the Gaza Strip and West Bank. So, Hamas refuses even a symbolic and tentative concession (agree to no more war) which could be easily reversed, but demands from Israel very concrete and costly and difficult concessions which are not easily reversed and which would greatly enhance Hamas' ability to fulfill the core goal of its Charter: the destruction of Israel and the genocide of its Jews...a Charter which it refuses to amend. Why would any country agree to help its enemies destroy it? 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

AZ-ZAHAR TELLS IT LIKE IT IS: NO RECOGNITION, NO NEGOTIATIONS, NO PEACE Posted by David Meir-Levi, January 30, 2006.

This recent CNN interview with Hamas' top official in the Gaza Strip, Mahmoud ez-Zahar, gives us some helpful insight into what Hamas will do with its new-found power and why Israel is right to refuse negotiations until Hamas revises its Covenant, agrees to stop terrorism, and agrees to recognize Israel and negotiate a peaceful resolution: a.) Hamas' demands are still of the traditional Arafat/PLO/Arat states' genre: The Arab sides offer symbolic and tentative concessions (which are easily reversed) in exchange for Israel's very concrete and costly and difficult concessions which are not easily reversed and may be impossible to reverse. Thus, in this scenario below, Hamas will countenance the POSSIBILITY of a LONG-TERM TRUCE (not make peace, not make a truce of indefinite extention, but only ackowledge the possibility of a truce, and one with a time limit: one year? five years? ten years? so what happens after the time is up? and what has Hamas done during this time of truce to improve its military position?). But, it will consider this possible truce only if israel is ready to actually WITHDRAW to the pre-67 borders (NB!!: he does not say that Hamas will make a truce, only that it is possible that hamas will do so). b.) All agreements must be made in the absence of negotiations. Israel must simply agree to do what the Arabs demand, and hope that the Arabs will do what they say they will do. Ez-Zahar rejects any possibilty of negotiations. So Israel must simply accept the Hamas demand, no discussion, and retreat to the pre-67 borders, dismantle all communities (c. 200,000 people), recreate the "Auschwitz borders", ...and then hope that Hamas will keep its word and consider the possibility of a truce (not peace).....and then hope that Hamas decides that the possibility is reality, and that the truce turns into peace in some magical way. c.) Hamas makes demands to which it knows that Israel will not agree: Release of prisoners has been a constant monotone demand since Israel first began imprisoning Hamas leaders. Hamas knows that decapitation works....but only once you have c. 15%-25%of leaders out of commission (dead or in jail). Because of Israel's successful decapitation of Hamas, Hamas as a fighting force was on the ropes until last week's election, in large part due to the inaccessibility of its jailed leaders. Israel cannot consider the release of these prisoners because they will immediately re-enter the Hamas ranks and swell them and retake their places in the leadership cadre....thus making Hamas a far more formidable military force. In the absence of a peace treaty and actionable evidence that Hamas wants a peaceful resolution to the conflict, Israel would be committing suicide if it released Hamas prisonerse. Same with "stop the aggression". It is almost standard procedure that terror groups attack Israel even as committees from both sides meet to discuss ways of creating a meeting of higher level committees which will discuss ways of starting a peace talk (or a truce talk) process with still higher level leaders. So what does "stop the aggression" mean? Would any nation allow its enemy to continue perpetrating lethal attacks during negotiations? And Hamas is refusing to negotiate. So what this demand really means is that Israel should do nothing to stop terrorist attacks while Hamas mulls over the possibility of a truce....and since Hamas and other terror groups have perpetrated 1990 terror attacks in 2005 during a so-called 'truce', it is not reasonable to assume that Hamas will maintain its side of the truce, or that Hamas will refrain from outsourcing terror attacks to terror groups not covered in the truce ("islamic jihad did it. not hamas. we have no control over them"). And note too the demand to bisect Israel with geogrpahic connections between the west bank and gaza strip. So Israel should agree to be bisected? Recall the fuss made about ma'aleh adumim which (incorrectly) pro-Arab spokespersons said would bisect the west bank. If the West Bank cannot be bisected (which it would not be, anyway, by Ma'aleh adumim), then why can Israel be bisected? CONCLUSION It should be patently obvious that Hamas' offer is not an offer for a resolution of the conflict. It is a ploy to gain diplomatic ground ("See, western countries and especially the USA!! We are offering a truce and Israel is rejecting it!"). Hamas knows that Israel will not go along with the charade; but it counts on the participation of the UN, EU, and some forces in the UK and USA to support it and say "So, Israel, what have you done to reciprocate Hamas' offer?" ADDENDUM: HOMOPHOBIA Note also ez-Zahar's uninhibited homophobia in "... secular system allows homosexuality, allows corruption, allows the spread of the loss of natural immunity like AIDS,". He is indirectly telling the world what a Hamas Islamic state will look like....no room for western-style human rights (inter alia, freedom of sexual preference). David ml YNet. Internet news (Israel). 1/30/06 "Hamas: Ceasefire for return to 1967 border" Top Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar tells CNN "long-term truce" possible if Israel withdraws to pre-1967 borders, releases Palestinian prisoners; as to possibility Hamas would renounce terror, Zahar says, "Israel is killing people and children and removing our agricultural system - this is terrorism" -- Yitzhak Benhorin WASHINGTON - Top Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar told CNN that a "long-term hudna or long-term truce" is possible. He would not commit to negotiating with Israel and would not say whether recognizing Israel's existence is a long-term possibility. The conditions included Israel's retreating to its pre-1967 borders and releasing Palestinian prisoners. Zahar told CNN if Israel "is ready to give us the national demand to withdraw from the occupied area (in) '67; to release our detainees; to stop their aggression; to make geographic link between Gaza Strip and West Bank, at that time, with assurance from other sides, we are going to accept to establish our independent state at that time, and give us one or two, 10, 15 years time in order to see what is the real intention of Israel after that." "We can accept to establish our independent state on the area occupied (in) '67," he said. Israel took control of the West Bank and Gaza in the Six-Day War of 1967. Key conditions could allow Palestinians to give a "long-term hudna or long-term truce," and "after that, let time heal," he said. But when asked about Hamas' call for Israel's destruction, Zahar would not say whether that remains the goal. "We are not speaking about the future, we are speaking now," he said. Zahar argued that Israel has no true intention of accepting a Palestinian state, despite international agreements including the Road Map for Middle East peace. 'We are not taking money from Iran' Until Israel says what its final borders will be, Hamas will not say whether it will ever recognize Israel, Zahar said. "If Israel is ready to tell the people what is the official border, after that we are going to answer this question." Asked by CNN whether Hamas would renounce terrorism, Zahar argued the definition of terrorism is unfair. Israel is "killing people and children and removing our agricultural system -- this is terrorism," he said. "When the Americans (are) attacking the Arabic and Islamic world whether in Afghanistan and Iraq and they are playing a dirty game in Lebanon, this is terrorism." "Negotiation is not our aim. Negotiation is a method," he said. Zahar said the government will use international donations to do reconstruction and build needed institutions. "We are looking for this money, but this money should not be conditioned," he said. Zahar added, "We are not taking money from Iran," denying suggestions by Israeli and U.S. officials that there are growing ties between Hamas and Tehran. Iran's president has called for Israel's destruction. According to CNN, news reports have said Hamas plans to establish separate schools for boys and girls in the Palestinian territories and implement stricter Islamic law. 'We're going to review all of our assistance programs' When asked whether he plans a theocracy instead of a secular government, Zahar responded, "Do you think the secular system is ... serving any nation?" A secular system "allows homosexuality, allows corruption, allows the spread of the loss of natural immunity like AIDS," he said. "We are here living under Islamic control. Nothing will change ... If you are going to give a hint that Islamic society will be against the modern life, I think it's incorrect." Defense Minster Shaul Mofaz said Sunday the principle according to which Israel will not hold talks with Hamas as a terror group will be maintained, stating that only the annulment of the charter calling for Israel's destruction, recognition of Israel's right to exist, the disarmament of all terror groups and the recognition of all the agreements reached with Israel so far would pave the way for dialogue. "The chances that Hamas will carry out all of these conditions in the near future seem quite slim." "We are not intervening in what goes on in the Palestinian Authority; we have already seen tension between Hamas and Fatah, which can be referred to as an 'aftershock' from the election results. 'No help for government that wants to destroy our friend' U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is expected to meet E.U. foreign ministers in London on Monday in an effort to formulate a unified position on a Palestinian government consisting of Hamas members, said, "The United States is not prepared to fund an organization that advocates the destruction of Israel, that advocates violence." Should Hamas acts against Israel, Mofaz threatened to "use all the means available to us (against the group), including targeted killings," adding that the activity against Islamic Jihad would continue, especially in light of the fact that intelligence information indicates the organization is planning suicide attacks against Israel. "We're going to review all of our assistance programs, but the bedrock principle here is we can't have funding for an organization that holds those views just because it is in government," Rice added. United States provided a total of USD 403 million in aid to the Palestinian Authority in 2005, according to U.S. officials. International Support [Merkel: Hamas must recognize Israel / Ronny Sofer: German leader lands in Israel, says Europe would not fund Hamas-controlled PA unless group renounces violence, recognizes Israel; visit marks first time Acting PM Olmert hosts leader of major western country] President George Bush said Sunday that the United States will not give aid to a government led by a violent Hamas party. "We won't give help to a government that wants to destroy our friend and ally," Bush told CBS News. "I don't see how you can be a partner in peace if you don't give up violent intentions," Bush said. Hanan Greenberg contributed to the report. 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 HAMAS ELECTORAL VICTORY Posted by David Bedein, January 30, 2006.

OPEN ENDORSEMENT OF MURDER During their successful election campaign, Hamas leaders who mow sit in jail for murder were allowed by Israeli security officials to meet with the media. In their interviews, Hamas leaders openly said that they expect to be free very soon, that they expect to resume their "operations", that they have no regrets for their actions, and that their purpose is to overthrow the State of Israel and to replace it with an "Islamic State of Palestine". These Hamas leaders spoke calmly, with self-confidence, and were pleased to pose for the cameras after each interview. CULMINATING HISTORY OF PLO-HAMAS COOPERATION And now Hamas has won the elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council, following an 18 year process of official cooperation between Hamas and the PLO's Fateh organization, which had been the dominant party in the nascent Palestinian Authority. Hamas, founded in 1987, and the PLO, founded in 1964, operate with the same funding source: Saudi Arabia, one of the Arab nations that had attacked Israel in 1948 to destroy the news Jewish state. Saudi Arabia has never signed a peace treaty (like Jordan and Egypt) and has never even signed an armistice (like Syria and Lebanon) The PLO nurtured Hamas for leadership in a Palestinian state -- something that any reporter would know by covering the PLO cooperation with Hamas's popular movement which was conducted in the open, yet hardly reported. When Israeli Prime Minister Rabin, Israeli Foreign Minister Peres and PLO leader Yassir Arafat all got a joint Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo in December 1994, I asked Rabin and Peres if Arafat would crush Hamas and cancel the PLO covenant calling for Israel's destruction. Peres and Rabin held their own press conference and assured the media that they had ironclad commitment from Arafat to crush Hamas and to cancel the PLO covenant which calls for Israel's gradual destruction. However, when I asked Arafat the same questions, he laughed at the idea that he was supposed to "crush the Hamas" and instead described Hamas as "my brothers" and denied any assurance that he would cancel the PLO covenant. 250 news agencies heard Arafat's answer. Not one reported it. Four months later, in April, 1995, after intense negotiations between the PLO and Hamas, Arafat committed himself to licensing and distributing weapons for the Hamas. At the time, the Voice of Israel Radio had reported that Arafat was "confiscating the weapons" from the Hamas, as did the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Yet on May 9th, 1995, The PA held a ceremony in which it formally distributed weapons to Hamas in an event was reported on the Voice of Palestine radio, and picked up by the New York Times. Yet the story was relegated to the back pages of Israeli newspapers and, to this day, most people to this day do not know that Hamas is armed by the Palestinian Authority. In December, 1995. the PA and Hamas reached a cooperative agreement in Cairo to absorb Hamas into the framework of the Palestinian Authority, after which the PA ceded the all important position of "minister of communications" to an Hamas official. However, the PLO--HAMAS Cairo agreement was carried out in the weeks that followed the assassination of Rabin, and the impact on public opinion was not really felt. The Cairo Agreement was also relegated to the back pages of the media. After the breakdown of Israeli-Palestinian Camp David negotiations in the summer of 2000, two key PLO members and officials of the PA -- Muhammad Dahlan and Marwan Barghouti -- established a "joint military command" with the Hamas -- in a cooperative agreement to carry out murder activities in a coordinated fashion, with no pretense of a "good cop" for the Fatah and "bad cop" for the Hamas. And on the last day of last week's election campaign, one of the founders of the Fateh, PA foreign minister Nabil Shaath, promised that he would "never disarm the Hamas". PA STATE CONSTITUTION: COMPATIBLE WITH HAMAS Meanwhile, the PA state constitution, adopted by the Palestinian Legislative Council, a full three years before the Hamas electoral victory this week, mandates that a future Palestinian State will be based on Sharia Islamic law, modeled on Saudi Arabia and Iran, in which there is no juridical status for Jews. Our agency obtained the official POA constitution from the Vatican's Ambassador, Archbishop Pietro Sambi, after he presented it to a US congressional delegation in May l, 2003. Yet the Israeli government and the US government vehemently denied that such a constitution exists, yet PA spokespeople acknowledged its veracity, without any hesitancy. In other words, the PA constitution is quite compatible with the Hamas Charter. ABBAS'S POST ELECTIONS SPEECH: EXUDING CONFIDENCE Meanwhile, as reported in 48, an online new service of the PA, "PA President Mahmoud Abbas declared on Thursday that he would begin the necessary consultations to form the new Palestinian government as soon as the new PLC is inaugurated". In his words, "Dear sisters and brothers. [...] Today, I received the official results of our PLC elections that were conducted with transparency and honesty... I congratulate our people for this great democratic achievement That is a great example that the whole world respects. I shall start immediately the necessary consultations to begin the formation of the new Palestinian government as soon as the new PLC is inaugurated." What most people have missed is that the Palestinian State constitution mandates that security services remain in the hands of the PA President, while matters of social services and education are in the hands of the PA legislative body, now in the hands of the Hamas. That means that Hamas will be able to change the curriculum in schools: by adding formal Islamic studies and emphasizing even more rejection of Israel than now exists in the Palestinian school system. The current Palestinian school books, translated at www.edume.org, already teach non-recognition of Israel and no connection of the Jews to the land of Israel. Now these schools will get an Islamic stamp of hatred. FAULTY INTELLIGENCE Director of Military Intelligence Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin instructed the director of his control department to examine military intelligence assessments concerning the results of the Palestinian parliament elections and the landslide victory won by Hamas. On October 27th. 2005, I met with senior Israeli intelligence officials to ask them why they thought that the Abbas regime was moving Palestinian society in a moderate direction. Their answer was that they simply "relied on Abbas", and that official PA incitement had lessened. When I pointed out to them that the virulent anti-semitism had continued in the PA media and PA school books, and that Moslem clerics employed by the PA media continued to preach hatred of Israel on official PA TV, the response of senior Israeli intelligence officials was that this was not what they considered to be "incitement", and that their definition of incitement was only when and if the PA media called directly for murder of Jews. MOFAZ'S STRANGE ASSURANCE Meanwhile, only hours after the Israeli government decision of January 29th to institute a boycott of the Palestinian Authority if Hamas would take part in the PA government, Israel Minister of Defence Shaul Mofaz told the Israeli media that "the Hamas is presently acting with total responsibility." At the moment of Mofaz's statement that Hamas was behaving with "total responsibility," journalists Dr. Michael Widlanski and Dr. Aaron Lerner asked Hamas spokesman Musheer al-Masri if the Hamas charter calling for Israel's destruction would be changed. The answer that they received, on tape, was that "The Hamas charter will never be changed." Mofaz was asked how the Hamas statement jives with his statement that "Hamas is presently acting with total responsibility." Mofaz would not comment. PA WITH HAMAS LEGISLATURE WILL MANAGE ON THEIR OWN At the same time, Palestine Monetary Authority Governor, George T'Abed, responded to threats from the US, Israel and the EU that they might stop funding by issuing press statement that -- Israel could block the transfer of funds to the PA from Iran or other Arab countries via the banking system in the West Bank and Gaza Strip." Saudi Arabia also announced that it would contribute its part to increasing its funds to the PA, if the US, Israel and the EU would withdraw funds to the Hamas-dominated PA. The conclusion: The Palestinian Authority, having elected the Hamas as the dominant factor in its legislative council, will be able to go it alone, without funding from Israel or from the west. David Bedein is bureau chief of the Israel Resource News Agency (www.IsrtaelBehindTheNews.com) in Jerusalem. To Go To Top

REMEMBER WHAT I AM TELLING YOU TODAY Posted by Nurit Greenger, January 30, 2006.

In "Transit Premier" Mr. Ehud Olmert and Israel's leadership: Dear Madams/Sirs, Now that Hamas in the Palestinians ruling party and leadership, you MUST stop allocating and dividing Israel to area A (completely under the control of Palestinian Authority and their thugs) and area B (under the security control of the Israeli army). If you do so, Jews of Jerusalem and other parts of the country are going to have to move. And so, this is how we turn Jerusalem and other growing community into a Hamas stronghold. Now, you are making a big show of force on nine families in Hebron living in JEWISH OWNED PROPERTY THAT WAS EXPROPRIATED by the Arabs during the massacres in Hebron. And so the perfidy begins, with, as usual, no one to even understand how it is happening. It creeps along slowly, and gently, without much fanfare. Remember what I am telling you today, because in the future, don't say you didn't know about it. We are very tired of fighting the people who are running Israel into the ground. We are tired of one wrong decision following another at a disastrous pace and no one ever paying the price for it. Now that everything that opponents of the disengagement said has come true, where are those responsible for this? I'll tell you where. They are making the decisions for the next disaster in the making. What I'm wondering though, is how many bad decisions can we make and still survive?! Interesting question?! Mr. Olmert, you have no vision, the Israeli "leadership" has no vision, you are skating in the direction Mr. Sharon pulled you, without the sense to reevaluate and go back. Stop it or Israel will be NO MORE! Though residing outside Israel, our heart is there each day of the week and we want to help to make things RIGHT for all JEWS. Contact Nurit Greenger at aloritusa@hotmail.com To Go To Top

HEBRON AND AMONA Posted by Ethel Shwartz Bock, January 30, 2006.

STOP THE DISGUSTING, DISGRACEFUL AND UNLAWFUL ACTIONS AGAINST THE JEWS OF HEBRON AND AMONA. I am a New York Jew who loves Israel passionately and find the actions of Olmert and his ilk as anti-semitic and anti-Israel as any actions taken by Palestinian terrorists. These politicians have joined forces with Hamas and Fatah against the Jewish people. Contact Ethel S. Bock at esbock@worldnet.att.net To Go To Top

THREATENED EVICTION OF JEWISH FAMILIES FROM JEWISH-OWNED LAND IN HEBRON Posted by Robin Stone Einbinder, January 30, 2006.

I am an American lawyer, a conservative, a Jew, and a frequent visitor to the City of Hebron whenever my family is able to visit Israel. I am appalled by the proposed intentions of the Israeli Defense Forces to evict nine peaceful, law abiding Jewish families from their homes in JEWISH OWNED PROPERTY, which they occupy with the FULL CONSENT OF THE LEGAL OWNERS OF THE PROPERTY. The Israeli government speaks of maintaining Jerusalem, but forgets, or chooses to ignore, that Hebron is also one of the four holiest cities in Judaism and one which the Bible expressly states was purchased by our forefather, Abraham. I am especially disturbed since this action is being taken by an unelected caretaker government headed by Acting PM Olmert. The Supreme Court of Israel has ACKNOWLEDGED that the property at issue is Jewish-owned, notwithstanding false media claims to the contrary, and I understand that the legal owners would gladly execute leases to the residents if the government would permit them to do so. Surely, some compromise to keep these families in their homes should be possible. The proposed evictions are especially difficult to understand given estimates of approximately 20,000 illegal Arab buildings in the eastern section of Jerusalem, more than 30,000 illegal Arab buildings throughout Israel, and MORE THAN 7,000 COURT-ORDERED EVICTION NOTICES AGAINST ILLEGAL ARAB BUILDINGS IN JUDEA AND SAMARIA (the so-called West Bank), which have NEVER been carried out. What purpose is accomplished by evicting nine peaceful families from their homes? Israel has not even found homes for those they evicted last summer from Gaza. Must more Jews become homeless? The eviction of families from Gaza did not bring peace or any benefits. To the contrary, the eviction was clearly viewed as weakness by the local Arab population, which promptly voted for Hamas, an avowed terrorist organization, to become its government and continue its path of "resistance," i.e., murder and terrorism, with the clearly stated goal of destroying Israel. The eviction of families from Jewish-owned land in Hebron will send a similarly incorrect message and encourage further terrorism. Indeed, evicting Jews from Hebron will indicate that unlike the Arab population, which closely adheres to the Koran, the Jewish community speaks of its Bible but ignores the truths contained therein. If Israel evacuates Hebron, which our forefather purchased, and to which the Jewish people have, among others, both a historical and a legal claim (based on thousands of years of continuous residence in this holy city, except when barred by the British from entering, etc.), then what claim can Israel make to any other city or section of the country? The people of Hebron have endured a campaign of intentional demonization as well as numerous terrorist attacks, and they deserve our praise and admiration. The families living in these homes (converted shops) are harming no one and neither evicted Arab families nor interfered with their livelihoods. All moral people of truth and good will should protest and object to the proposed eviction of these families. Contact Robin Stone Einbinder by email at kareinlaw@yahoo.com To Go To Top

APPLY LESSON FROM ISRAEL TO BUSH; REASON ARABS FAVORED HAMAS; SHARON'S LEGACY; DEADLY NAIVETE Posted by Richard H. Shulman, January 30, 2006.

LEARN FROM ISRAEL TO WATCH BUSH A current American controversy is whether Pres. Bush exceeded his powers and acted illegally in spying on Americans without court authorization. Some newspapers report each side's assertions but not the facts. Few of us know enough to offer a definitive opinion. I can state a principle to use in evaluating this issue. The Bush Administration claims it has authority for such spying on the basis of a Congressional mandate to defend the country from terrorism. Members of Congress point out that the means the Administration used violates legal restrictions. Logically it is clear that specific restrictions modify general mandates for defense. Otherwise, the specific restrictions would be meaningless. Therefore, the President's argument is poor. An instructive lesson about the abuse of power comes from Israel. Emergency measures authorized against terrorism are being applied to peaceable Jewish patriots. These include administrative detention and keeping people incarcerated until their trials, months later. Often these people are indicted for minor matters, such as attempting to "harm" police by throwing raw eggs at them or by scratching them. Actually, the police are savagely beating them for standing in the way of surrendering territory to the Arabs, who use such territory for making war on Israel. In this case, the government is not defending the country from terrorism but conducting it. It lays the country open to terrorist attack and undermines Jewish title to the country, itself. Thus a law supposed to be applied to only one element gets applied to others. While the police beat up Jews for petty or fabricated charges, Arabs are rioting in the north of Israel. The Arabs threw rocks at police and civilians. No arrests reported and certainly no beatings. Why do Israeli police beat Jews and not Arabs (not that they should beat up either)? Afraid of the Arabs, or fascistic and antagonistic towards Jews? A separate issue is the resentment one is entitled to feel at President Bush's having lied to the people by denying he had ordered the spying. His deceit bolsters critics who accuse this Administration of dissembling as a general policy and of a tendency towards fascism.. I don't believe the accusations that Bush lied about the need for the war in Iraq, but he does lie about environmental matters. REASON FOR FAVORING HAMAS P.A. voters express bitterness over P.A. corruption and not working in Israel. They are taking it out on the regime by favoring Hamas. Hamas, however, would keep up the war and keep Israeli jobs out of reach. The US is trying, with only partial success, to pressure Israel to let the P.A. Arabs come in and work (and help finance the war on Israel). Neither the US, nor Israel, nor the P.A. acts in behalf of its own people. Hamas wouldn't, either. It is aggressive; war is not in the people's interest. SAUDI SERMON AGAINST U.S. A Saudi imam told his audience that excesses by a few souls is the pretext for a campaign defaming Islam. He did not specify the US but implied it in language clear to Muslims. He also made the perennially but never realized accusation that Israel seeks to destroy al-Aqsa mosque. "While the Imam's sermon repeated the insistence that only a very few Muslims are involved in terrorism, much of the Muslim public favors such activity and denunciation is rare, except when committed against home countries. Furthermore, it is standard that ultimate causal blame is assigned to non-Muslim forces." (IMRA, 1/11.) Bush praised Islam more than deserved. A Saudi doctoral dissertation gained public notice recently. It accuses a couple of hundred modern Arab intellectuals of heresy. The Islamic punishment for heresy is death. Threats, too, are a form of terrorism. Not so few are involved in terrorism, when one considers the armies at war, the infrastructure of terrorist missions, and the support mechanism, including subsidizers, schools, media, and contributors to terrorist fronts posing as charities. WHEN ACCUSERS FALL SILENT The Left has been accusing settlers of chopping down olive trees belonging to Arabs. No settler has been convicted (though the leftist prosecutors would dearly love to do so.) There is no evidence for the accusation. Most settlers are religious, and cherish trees. Other explanations about the trees have been have been proved, including Arab destruction of trees for insurance compensation. Arabs cut down trees in Israel for fuel, thanks to the high price of oil, or they set forest fires in Israel. The media and the accusers ignores this true vandalism in favor of false allegations against Jews. The environmentalists and humanitarians also ignore the Arab cutting down of Jews (Prof. Steven Plaut, 1/11). So much antisemitic hypocrisy by "progressives"! ISRAELI GOVERNMENT COMPENSATION The Sharon regime did not offer the successful farmers who pioneered agriculture in Gaza, and whom it expelled from Gaza, land or funds sufficient to replace their farms. Thousands of middle-aged people without other working skills are ruined (David Bedein of Israel News Resource Agency, 1/10). The government had promised to take care of the people it was giving no choice but to abandon their businesses and property. If the government instead had admitted that it was going to ruin them, would its plan have passed? Such is Sharon's legacy. DEADLY NAIVETE IN ISRAEL & U.S. Some Israeli intellectuals suggest: (1) Israel can induce Iran not to develop nuclear weapons, by dismantling its own; or (2) Israel can live with a nuclear-armed Iran, just as the US did with the nuclear-armed Soviets (Prof. Steven Plaut, 1/10). Pres. Bush endorsed a Russian plan to let Iran partially enrich uranium and then sell it to Russia. During the months needed for negotiating the plan in detail, Iran could pursue its clandestine weapons development. The plan would enable Iran to gain nuclear knowhow afterwards. The plan is not economical, and the produce is inferior to what Russia produces, so there is some question whether Russia will buy it (NY Times, 1/27, A3). The basic fallacy of the Israelis' suggestions is their assumption that Iran is reasonable. Iran is fanatical. Its rulers' faith glorifies death and destruction, including self-destruction. Its President observed that Iran is so big that it can survive an Israeli nuclear retaliation, so it plans to wipe Israel out when it can. During Iran's war with Iraq, Iran sacrificed its own children to test for mine fields and masses of its own troops to charge into machinegun fire. Israel had better take his threat seriously. These intellectuals should study jihad, rather than make uninformed suggestions. The Soviets, although totalitarian, too, were cautious. Besides, they could not survive a retaliation by the US, with its thousands of a-bombs and numerous means of launching them. No, Israel cannot live with a nuclear-armed Iran. There is a question whether Europe or the US can. They are being threatened, too. This threat is more as a deterrent against other Iranian aggression. I think that, too, is unacceptable. The fanatics governing Iran would not be impressed by Israeli unilateral disarmament. (Israel's unilateral abandonment of Gaza won little friendship from the P.A..) Rather, it would encourage Iran and the Arabs, whose forces are greater than Israel's, to attack Israel with whatever it has, including weapons of mass-destruction. The Arabs are striving for nuclear weapons. They would love nothing better than for their hitherto strong prey voluntarily to give up its chief deterrent to being overrun. Why call ignorant morons "intellectuals" and authorize them to guide college youth? As for Bush, he should know better than to trust Russia to monitor its chief customer, Iran. The deal is called face-saving for him, because he can pretend there's no need to bomb Iran. But it's just a pretense. Wonder if Russia would like Iran to bomb the US. WHY LAMENT THE PASSING OF FATAH RULE? Abbas let Hamas set up its own TV station in the P.A. (IMRA, 1/10). It's not just that he can't disarm Hamas, it's that he cooperates with Hamas. Richard Shulman is a veteran defender of Israel on several web-based forums. His comments and analyses appear often on Think-Israel. He provides cool information and right-on-target overviews. He distributes his essays by email. To subscribe, write him at richardshulman5@aol.com. To Go To Top

NO TO THE HEBRON EXPULSIONS Posted by Erik Boet, January 30, 2006.

NO, to rewarding terrorists, NO, to negotiating with terrorists, NO, to appeasing terrorists,fraud NO, to giving away hard obtained land that was Jewish anyway (paid for twice!), NO, to pleasing an anti-semitic world, NO, to the destruction in Israel, --even if it's 'only' piece by pece, NO, to the costs of the result this operation, --more human lives-- NO, to disbelieving God's promises, NO, to the devil's peace, NO, to the roadmap for Israel's annihilation, NO, to consenting with the killing of Jews, NO, to 'forbidden for Jews', NO, to tyrannie, may God grant you the prudence to choose for your own blessing, the people of Israel and eventually that of the world. Erik Boet, (Christian) The Netherlands Contact Erik Boet at e.r.boet@planet.nl To Go To Top

HANDING JERUSALEM TO HAMAS Posted by Naomi Ragen, January 30, 2006.

I have an Arab village a five minute walk across a wadi from my home, which is a ten minute drive from the heart of Jerusalem. This village is called Beit Iksa. During the Six Day War, the villagers fled. Moshe Dayan begged them to come back, and promised no harm would come to them. They did. It is now situated between two Jewish neighborhoods, Ramot and Mevasseret, that have about 50,000 or more Jews living in each one. It is also near one of Jerusalem's major highways, the number one road. While it was well known that villagers were involved in hundreds of break-ins and thefts in both Ramot and Mevasseret, our police did nothing. During the Intifada, villagers regularly walk across the wadi and up the steps past my home to work in construction jobs in Ramot and elsewhere. This, even after terrorists were found with suicide belts in Ramot, and admitted they were planning to blow up a synagogue and a public bus. The police never checked these workers. No one ever stops them, despite repeated phone calls and warnings. During the Oslo days, when we were marking villages as area A (completely under the control of Palestinian Authority and their thugs) and area B (under the security control of the Israeli army), Beit Iksa became a "B". Yesterday, a newspaper article in Haaretz revealed the security fence around Jerusalem is slated to be between Ramot and Beit Iksa. What this means, is that instead of fencing off Beit Iksa from terrorist infiltrations, they have made Ramot (and probably Mevasseret) the new border with the Hamas, now slated to move into Beit Iksa. In a tour of the area yesterday, Benjamin Netanyahu said it was outrageous. When he entered Beit Iksa, there were already armed Palestinian guards waiting for him there. Ehud Olmert, who is now making the decisions, even though no one elected him to be the head of the government after his failed stint as the corrupt Jerusalem Mayor, said clearly yesterday: "We are not changing the fence." And so, area B, now becomes Area A, without discussion or protest, and two peaceful communities of thousands of Jews are now sitting with Hamas on their doorstep. And for those of you who have hopes that our good relations with Beit Iksa will prevent this, I have some other news: In the elections, Beit Iksa voted one-hundred percent for Hamas. Please understand what I am telling you. If Mr.. Olmert gets in, we Jews of Jerusalem are going to have to move. And so the perfidy begins, with no one to even understand how it is happening. It creeps along slowly, and gently,without much fanfare. Remember what I am telling you today, because in the future, don't say you didn't know about it. I am going to make an effort to organize my community against this. But I'm just one person, and frankly I'm tired. I'm tired of fighting the people who are running this country into the ground. I'm tired of one wrong decision following another at a disastrous pace and no one ever paying the price for it. Now that everything that opponents of the disengagement said has come true, where are those responsible? I'll tell you. They are making the decisions for the next disaster in the making. What I'm wondering though, is how many bad decisions can we make and still survive. Interesting question. For those of you outside the country, if you'd like to discuss this with the Israeli government, such as it is, I have no doubt you can Google some addresses. I wish I had the heart to do it for you, but you know what, I just don't feel up to it today. And so, this is how we turn Jerusalem into a Hamas stronghold, Naomi 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

THE JAR OF LIFE Posted by Aish HaTorah, January 30, 2006.

Click here to see Aish.com's new 90 second movie. You'll be glad you did. Aish HaTorah is a non-profit, apolitical network of Jewish educational centers, with 25 branches on 5 continents. Aish provides opportunities for Jews of all backgrounds to discover the beauty and meaning of their heritage in an atmosphere of open inquiry and mutual respect. To Go To Top

A POTENTIAL HUMAN RIGHTS DISASTER IN HEBRON AND AMONA, ISRAEL Posted by Buddy Macy, January 30, 2006.

Dear People of Conscience: Please speak out against the imminent physical removal of nine Jewish families from Jewish-owned property in the Israeli-controlled area of Hebron. On Tuesday, thousands of police and Israeli Defense Forces will move in on the tiny community in Hebron, to expel the Jewish families from their homes. Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is intent on carrying out the expulsions (as a political weapon), even though t he Supreme Court of Israel has acknowledged that the buildings in question are Jewish-owned property (contrary to false reports in the media that they are "Palestinian" shops.) The Jewish leadership in Hebron tried to obtain leases for new tenants from the Israeli government, as a compromise, but the Olmert government rejected this plan, and it refuses to grant leases to any Jews on this Jewish-owned property in Israeli-controlled Hebron. Last August, Ariel Sharon expelled 9000 Jews from Gaza and northern Samaria. The U.S. Government was a major supporter of the "disengagement." This has proven to be a horrendous mistake, as it has caused misery amongst the Jewish children, adults and elderly forced to leave, and it has given Hamas tremendous confidence in its publicly announced quest to destroy the Jewish State. The withdrawals from Gaza and northern Samaria were viewed by the Palestinian people as a demonstration of significant weakness by the Israeli Government and military, and were the main reason for Hamas' victory in last week's elections. As the expulsions take place on Tuesday, tens of thousands of armed Hamas and Fatah terrorists will continue to call for the destruction of Israel. There is still time to prevent this devastation. Let the world know that Israeli citizens have the right to live on Jewish-owned land, and that terrorism will not defeat democracy and a civilized society. HEBRON EXPULSION ORDERED BY OLMERT This Tuesday, the tiny Jewish property in Hebron will be cleared of all Jewish citizens, for no logical reason, whatsoever. The forces will be deployed in three rings: the first ring will be made up of 1,500 policemen trained to deal with violent protests, and it will also include mounted forces. The second rings will consist of several hundred Border Policemen, and the third ring will be made up of four infantry regiments. Policemen will be responsible for direct conformation with the settlers, while the IDF will close off the area to incoming protesters. The IDF issued a warrant Sunday declaring the Jewish section of Hebron a closed military area, and Jews who are not residents of the area will not be allowed entrance. Security Minister Shaul Mofaz has declared that a policy of "zero tolerance" would be employed against settler violence, and IDF officers said that in this evacuation, they will "demonstrate only determination, without sensitivity." This represents a potential human rights disaster. Settlers are planning a major solidarity conference Tuesday against the evacuation. Politicians, rabbis and academics are among those expected to attend the gathering. The religious Jewish Chabad Movement is embarking on an "uncompromising struggle to prevent the expulsion of the Jews of Hebron." Chabad representatives paid a solidarity visit to Hebron Sunday. Representatives of five Israeli political parties - Eli Yishai (Shas), Zevulun Orlev (NRP), Avigdor Lieberman (Yisrael Beiteinu), Zvi Hendel (National Union), and Meir Porush (Agudath Israel) - sent a letter to Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert over the weekend urging him to postpone the evacuation of Amona and Hebron until after the elections, in line with the general principle that major, non-urgent decisions should not be made prior to an election. In your capacity as one whose voice is listened to and respected by a large group of people, please speak out and write about the terrible injustice that is about to take place. Hopefully, the volume of our collective voices will prevent the needless suffering of more innocent Israeli citizens. Thank you so much for your consideration of this extremely serious, human rights matter. Most sincerely, Buddy Macy Contact Buddy May by email at vegibud@aol.com To Go To Top

ROTARIANS ARE ENEMIES OF HUMANITY -- SO SAYS HAMAS! Posted by David Meir-Levi, January 29, 2006.

It seems odd that no journalist or editor, in any of the plethora of articles about Hamas since the recent Palestinian elections, has seen fit to educate readers as to the content of the "Hamas Covenant": the founding document and defining guide of what the State Department calls "the A Team of terrorists". The prologue insists that "Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it". "Others before it?" Well, yes. Let's recall that for 1,300 years, from Spain to India, Islamic warriors ruthlessly destroyed four civilizations, killing tens of millions and enslaving millions more, obliterating their cultures, languages, and religions, replacing them with Islam -- at the point of a sword. Then the Covenant Introduction states: "Our struggle against the Jews is very great and very serious." Notice that the enemy is JEWS, not Israelis; and note below, section 7. In section 6 we learn that "The Islamic Resistance Movement... strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine". Not much room for Israel there. In section 7 we learn that Mohammed has said: "The Day of Judgment will not come until Moslems fight the Jews, killing the Jews. When the Jews will hide behind stones and trees, the stones and trees will say 'O Moslems... there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him'" (related by al-Bukhari and Moslem: the two most accurate and reliable of the four main compilations of Mohammed's extra-Qur'anic teachings). So now we must understand that Hamas' goal is not just the conquest of "Palestine". Hamas also has an end-of-days scenario that requires the destruction of all Jews everywhere (remember the Introduction!). So Hamas is now the only democratically elected political power in the world whose foundation agenda includes the genocide of the world's Jews, and whose sole defining paradigm is terrorism. In section 11 we learn that "... the same goes for any land the Moslems have conquered by force." This is important. Spain, Greece, Sicily, Albania, Hungary, part of Rumania, the Balkan states... these countries too are all in Hamas' cross-hairs. I wonder how these countries feel about coming under Moslem rule again. In section 13 we learn that "There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors." So how is Israel supposed to negotiate with Hamas? And just in case the authors of this document might have left anyone out, they tell us that Freemasons and Rotary Clubs are also numbered among the enemy: "...(the Zionists) lackeys...are infiltrated through Zionist organizations under various names and shapes, such as Freemasons, Rotary Clubs, espionage groups and others...The day Islam is in control of guiding the affairs of life, these organizations, hostile to humanity and Islam, will be obliterated." Rotarians, did you know that you are hostile to humanity and Islam? Well, now you have been warned! 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

PREPARE! Posted by Lawrence Uniglicht, January 29, 2006.

A worldwide addiction to processed prehistoric carbon atoms as the energy generator of choice imperils the long-term well being of Israel. Alas, if push comes to shove, the oil-bereft beleaguered Jewish democracy's best interests will be trumped by the proclivities of its sworn Arab and Persian enemies whose spindly talons grip the fossil fuel faucets affixed to the vicious viscous stuff that directly or indirectly energizes most Earthly mechanisms. The threat of global warming does not move the true movers and shakers of this planet, in fact policy decisions are made to scuttle compelling scientific data and dire consequential pronouncements. Big oil and its politico sycophants rule, concerned only with profit oriented bottom lines, not at all concerned with any planetary bottom line. Israel, of course, does not rate a sympathetic blip on such a radar screen whose best interests would likely be the butt of some anti-Semitic joke in any OPEC influenced corporate boardroom. What then does the mistreated stepchild of nations do? Prepare! When the natural forces of this mistreated third stone from its sun push, Israel's peril will be no greater than those oblivious first, second, or third world collective populations who naively allow corporate and political predators to blithely ravage their one home in the universe. Already buried within a less than desirable desiccated region of the world, Israel has perhaps less to lose than say the continent of Europe, blessed with a relatively warm climate with respect to global latitude, wholly dependent on Dame Fortune's continuing smile manifest in the 'Atlantic Conveyor' flow a/k/a the 'Atlantic meridional overturning current', the Atlantic Ocean's heretofore perpetual heating channel between the tropics and cold northern waters. Alas, the journal Nature's recently published data suggests a weakening of this current by approximately 30 percent between 1957 and 2004, a direct result of glacier melt from global warming. Egad, does this imply Europe's half billion or so dwellers will need to adjust to comparably sized Canada's hearty climate, comfortably sustaining roughly 33 million souls? This could make the invasion of fundamentalist Islam a comparable walk in the park. No doubt, other ill prepared regions of our imperiled planet will feel the heat (or perhaps cold) in a few decades or so, and not be able to get out of their metaphorical kitchens. By then the lion's share of fossil fuel reserves will have truly gone the way of the dinosaur; having done in Earth's climate while fueling houses, industries, and S.U.V.s of a thoughtless species; concurrently creating a staggering planet wide energy/economic crisis. Israeli scientists and planners, funded by prescient leaders, have little time to waste amidst the background noise created by hostile neighbors who have no clue. A cheap efficient energy alternative, for one, will be needed to replace dwindling oil supplies. Most importantly, strategies must be developed to cope with the worldwide adverse impacts of global warming. Israel could very well be a beacon in a sea of darkness, wrought by mankind's disregard for his only home in the universe. It would be wise to prepare for that role now. 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

HAMAS ELECTION CARTOONS Posted by Simon Pilczer, January 29, 2006.

The first was created by Mike Luckovich, Atlantic Journal-Constitution; the second by D.T. Devareaux; the third by Cox and Forkum (www.coxandforkum.com). Contact Simon Pilczer at pilczer@aol.com To Go To Top

THEN AND NOW: TWO NOTES ON THE MANDATE Posted by Professor Eugene Narrett, January 29, 2006.

Events in the Middle East during the past 50 years and more, events centering on Israel show that although America fought a war of Independence against Great Britain, and succeeded in establishing an accountable, dignified Constitutional Republic, in the Modern Era America's diplomatic establishment and then its media, and then its people (through taxation and its armed forces) have been co-opted by the British establishment and serve the interests it has pursued since 1919 -20. In this regard America and Americans are NOT free and independent: we are dis-informed dependents used by the British elites to accomplish their goals of world dominion. We have examined this subject often (e.g. "Endtime Curiosities," I & II). Today let us look briefly at two passages in Samuel Katz's invaluable study, Battleground (3rd edition, 1983, re-printed 2002, Taylor books) that emphasize the strangling continuity of Mandate policies and attitudes Consider this first person account of a soldier in a batalion guarding against an Arab uprising aided, abetted, even ignited by the soldier's own leaders: "At night, when we are guiding the line against the Arabs who come to blow it up, we often see them at work but are forbidden to fire at them. We may only fire into the air and they, upon hearing the [rifles'] report, mae their escape. But do you think we can give chase? Why, we must instead go on our hands and knees and fine every]spent cartridge-case which must be handed in or woe betide us." (chapter 3, page 74, "The Origin of the Dispute"). Some readers may already have recognized the similarity, the near identity to the situation of IDF soldiers since the Oslo process began: forbidden to fire at the would-be murderers of their people and families, and the destroyers of their state. Instead, for every warning shot [!] they fire, being forced to retrieve the spent cartridges so their compliance with the surrender policy can be monitored and they can be disciplined if necessary. IDF soldiers have been threatened, dispirited and de-sensitized this way since the days of Labor's havlaga (against Arabs) in the 1930s and in the suicidally flaccid response to Arab violence since. It is not only America, from the elites to the grunts, who servilely follow British policy, but Israel to, from the willing, high-placed 'buttons' to the poor grunts in the field who often pay with life or limb for the "restraint" of their masters. But when it comes to expelling or ghettoizing Jews the pent-up frustration and ferocity are unleashed..... just as they were against Jabotinsky & his original Haganah in the 1920s and against Etzel and Lehi in the 1940s and subsequently against Begin, until, and even after he toed the "Palestinian people" line at Camp David. The remarks of the British soldier cited above were first printed in the London Journal, New Statesman and Nation, September 20, 1936. Item two is the pan-Arab dream hatched in Whitehall (place of the British Foreign Ministry), or more specifically, in the Cairo offices of Britain's diplomatic establishment that eventually won control for its agenda of the entire Ministry and British media outlets and British government policy. That geo-strategic grand plan was for a nominally independent Arab world functionally dependent on Britain and its allies for money, technology, food, strategic direction and apologias. Thus Britain chopped up the Ottoman Empire's holdings in the Middle East into numerous quasi independent Arab led nations (filled for millennia with non-Arab peoples) that could be held together by one obsession only: hatred of Jews and of the idea of an independent Jewish state. "The Palestine" [sic] issue was the instrument to bring about such a policy... it became an understood fact of British policy that the Arab states [it had created] had a right to intervene in the affairs of Palestine." Thus, Britiain "invited the Arab rulers to the 'Round Table Conference' of 1939 where they refused to meet the Jewish leaders, an attitude enshrined in the White Paper that immediately followed," the White Paper ofo 1939 being a British government executive decision to severely restrict Jewish emigration (15,000/year maximum) and that number only if the Arabs agreed: they did not. And thus Britain's policy was a major cause of the near - extinction of European Jewry as it earlier had been in severing the Gilead, etc ["Transjordan"] from the Jewish State and in creating a Pan - Arab bloc unified by a British-enflamed hatred of Jews. Thus the Arab League, "first mentioned by Anthony Eden in 1941 and created in 1945" became and remains the public sign of all efforts to destroy the Jewish state by a combination of diplomatic schemes, media vilification, and the relentless, Western-supplied and financed Arab war of attrition against Israel (Battleground, 78-9). Today, with the invaluable help of American pressure, threats and suasion, Britain again nears its goal, a unified semi-dependent, but volatile Islamic state stretching from Mosul and Basra to the Mediterranean. If their Arab tools had been pliable, in 1937 they would have had this done. The fact that their tool turns in their hand and wounds them so often (eg. the pro-Nazi coup in "Iraq" in 1940; and 7/07/05) and yet they have never discarded it shows how intensely they are committed to their anti-Jewish geo-strategic goal. The fact that America's diplomatic establishment has been committed, with slightly varying degrees of fervor or hesitation to this goal since the Evian conference of 1938, indicates the forces arrayed against Jewish Israel. But the Anglo-American powers pushing this end game do not have solid backing from their publics for it, especially not in America. If Israel had governments that cared about Jews and Jewish land, the scheme would halt or at least suffer major impairments and delays. However, the opposite is the case. Historical review thus makes clear that Israel must have regime change if it is to extricate itself from the lethal game long being played against it. To Go To Top

HISTORICAL FACTS ON ISRAEL-PALESTINE ISSUE Posted by Iran Political Club, January 29, 2006.

This is archived as http://iranpoliticsclub.net/club/viewtopic.php?t=559 Comrades: History has been often twisted & obscured. Pro Palestinian Rights (So Called) Activists, have been feeding stories with no historical values to the public. Amazingly, public often grasps these stories & believes them, simply because not many people are historians nor familiar with historical facts. Now, I would like to talk about my stands, yet with historical evidence. I am a man of science & history. Logical reasoning is my game & I do not fall for hypes which influences the emotional feelings of the public! Let's do a historical analysis & take a journey to the roots of the problem & let me respond to all, about my stands & why do I take this stand on this issue. Let's for once & for all, get this situation sorted out in IPC & beyond, can we? Specifically for the Liberal Faction of IPC who believes that Israelis occupied Palestine & kicked them out of their lands into exile & they are wondering how come I take sides with Israel, even though I am an Atheist, yet both Palestinians & Israelis are religious fanatics (so said) & believe that the land is their God given right! Let me clarify this once & for all. First, Palestine was never ever an independent nation since the beginning of history! This is not fiction, this is a fact. There was never ever an independent nation called Palestine which was made up of Palestinian Arabs residing in the region of what we call Israel now. Therefore, Israel could have never taken over the land which has never actually belonged to Palestinians & kick them out of their own land! Furthermore, Israeli's according to historical facts have been creating an independent Jewish Nation since 1000 - 923 BC which was The Kingdom of David. Let's go back in history since the beginning & check out what has been happening in the land of Israel or Palestine from beginning until now: History of Israel-Palestine: 3000-1468 BC: Canaanites Palestine is known as "Land of Canaan" settled by the Canaanites, mainly along the coastline. 1468-1200 BC: Egyptian Control Egypt conquers the Canaanites in 1468 BC at the battle of Armageddon in Magiddo. Egyptian control of Canaan continues until 1200 BC. 1200-975 BC: The Philistines (Cretian Greeks) The Sea People, thought to have come from the island of Crete, attack Canaan under the Egyptians and destroy Canaanite cities. A large number of the Sea People (later known as the Philistines) settle in Palestine and rebuild the coastal towns of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashqal, Ekron, and Gath. 1000-923 BC: The Kingdom of David David becomes king of the Jews. He unites the Israelites, builds a strong army and captures Jerusalem from the Jebusites (Canaanites in origin). 923-722 BC: The Southern Kingdom of Judea, The Northern Kingdom of Israel The Canaanite Phoenicians lose major parts of their land to the Israelites. At this time, the kingdom of Judah was poor and cut off from trade with the kingdom of Israel to the North, by Trans-Jordan to the East, by the Philistines to the West and by the desert to the South. 925-700 BC: The Phoenicians Building their naval trade sea power in Mediterranean, also controlled the present land called Israel. 700-612 BC: The Assyrian Empire The Assyrians defeat and destroy Samaria leading to the collapse of the kingdom of Israel. 586-539 BC: Babylonian Empire The Babylonians, from Iraq, invade the Assyrian City of Neynava, defeating the Assyrians. Babylonian King Nebuchadnezar II conquers the Philistines and Phoenicians and appoints a puppet king, Zedekiah, in Jerusalem. They destroy Jerusalem and burn down Solomon's Temple. So basically by this time, Jewish Kingdoms of Israel & Judea had been destroyed by Assyrian & Babylonian Empires. 539-332 BC: Persian Empire The Persian forces invade and destroy Babylonian power, occupying the areas under Babylonian control. Free Babylon from Tyranny but leave them to pray to their religion & Gods. Persians freed Jews from slavery & relocated them back to Jerusalem. Cyrus The Great declared the first Human Rights document in the world called The Cyrus Cylinder. Cyrus freed over 42,000 Jews from Slavery of Babylon. 332-63 BC: Macedonian Greeks Soon after crushing the revolt in Palestine, the Persian army was attacked by Macedonian Greeks under the leadership of Alexander the Great Drunken Homosexual Pervert. 63 BC-636 AD: Roman Empire The Roman general, Pompeii the Great, invades Palestine. After civil war, the emperor Caesar maintains control over the districts of Judea, Samaria and Galilee. 636-1260 AD: The Arabo_Islamic Empire Palestine becomes an integral part of the Arab world. 1099-1291 AD: The Crusaders The Crusaders, for five weeks, surround and attack the city wall of Jerusalem, and later spread their control over the entire area of Palestine. 1187-1253 AD: The Ayubid Arabs At the famous battle of Hitin in 1187 AD, Salah el Din al Ayubi defeats the Crusader army in Palestine. 1253-1516 AD: The Mamluks The Turkish Mamluks expel the last of the Crusaders from Palestine in 1291. 1516-1918: The Ottoman Turks Rule The Ottoman army invades Palestine after decimating the Mamluk cavalry. The Turks rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem. Ottomans ruled the whole or most of the Near East @ times, from North Africa to Middle East during this era. 1831-1840: The Egyptian Rule Egypt invades Palestine in 1831, lifting Palestine out of its depression. 1917-1948: The British Mandate/Protectorate After World War I, Great Britain defeat Turkish Ottoman troops and enter Palestine. British occupation continues until Britain loses control over the situation and leaves. In this era, Palestine was basically under Anglo control of the region or known as a Protectorate of UK. 1948: The creation of the State of Israel During and after the 1948 war, 800,000 Palestinians were forced to flee their homes and villages. 418 villages were depopulated and demolished. High price of creating a Jewish State but somebody had to pay it! 1967-1993: Israeli occupation of Gaza, West Bank, Golan Heights, and Sinai Israel occupies the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza Strip, Sinai, and Golan Heights during the war of 1967. 1993-present: Israeli occupation and the Palestinian National Authority This time is characterized by the signing of the Declaration of Principles which established limited Palestinian self-rule. Settlement building and expansion continues despite the peace process. Arafat did not accept the best offer that he would have ever receive from Israel. Arafat betrayed Palestine by not accepting this agreement (Oslo Agreement). Second, So as you see there was never ever an independent Palestinian nation in the history of the world! But there was a Jewish independent nation as far back as 1000-923 BC: The Kingdom of David! So as far as who had the right to the deed first, it is obvious that Jews had it. Not many people know this fact, simply because not many people are historians! Huge Palestinian propaganda going on & on about how the land was theirs & the Jewish oppressors took their land & kicked them out & bla bla bla......will not let the public opinion to actually study the history & think for themselves, but they follow Palestinian Arab propaganda & they take it for granted that it is the undisputed fact! If Arabs made to move from the land after 1948, so were Jews that been mass murdered & forced to be moved from a variety of Arab lands from Mecca all the way to Jerusalem & Palestine, throughout the history & since the very first episode in which Muhammad The Prophet personally massacred them in Mecca (Early Islamic Massacre of Jewish Tribes)! Third, Have in mind that on 925-700 BC: The Phoenicians control, had occurred. The Phoenicians even though not Palestinians, yet back then occupied the land, colonized it & add it to their territory. They were basically from the land that we call Lebanon today. So if by a slim chance, Arabs want to consider Phoenicians as fellow Arab Hemites & ancestors to present Palestinians, then still we must have in mind that they appeared about 925 BC to take absolute control & way after the Jews which have appeared in 1000 BC! Fourth, Israelis practically settled in the land just like they been doing for thousands of years, just like Palestinians been doing the same thing. Fifth, Now this is crucial & very important, so please pay attention, during Barak's time, Palestinians & Arafat could get the best deal possible from Israel. Israeli Government had put an offer on the table to give about: 95% of the absolute control of the West Bank & Gaza Strip & 1/2 of Jerusalem to Palestinian New Government so they can create their own country for the first time in the history of the world. Corrupted thief Arafat & his lap dog spokes woman, that ugly Arab woman Dr. Hannan Ashrawi did not accept this! It is like, you give them a toe, they want a foot you give them a foot, they want the whole leg! He wanted a better deal! Well, now, Arafat & Ashrawi can chew on Sharon's Schlong! The poor Palestinian people are victims of Arafat's Greed, Corruption & Treason! So eventually Israel said the fandango with them! And now the situation is where it is today! Groups like Hamas do not even want the existence of government of Israel, they want to throw the Jews in Mediterranean Sea! Sixth, Now let's pay attention here about my stand: This is not true that I take sides here behind the Jews & against the Arabs! This is also not true here that I take sides with Zionists against Palestinians! But I simply support Israel against Palestinian Terrorist Groups. Why? 1. Except these 24 years of IRI, Israel was & is the natural ally to Iran. Israel & Iran are two major non Arab powers of the region drowned in the sea of Arabs in the Near East. It is only logical for them to have close ties to survive. 2. There are about 100,000 Persians living in Israel as citizens, residents, visitors, etc. Persian Jews are a major economical factor in Israel, a link between our two culture. 3. Cyrus freed over 42,000 Jews from slavery of Babylon. Cyrus has been called the Great Rescuer & savior of The Jews. This is in history, in Bible, in Torat & every other historical document. 4. Every known Palestinian political group as of now, including PLO, Hamas, Jihad, etc. are Terrorist Organizations receiving finance, military training, support from Islamic Republic of Iran. 5. Palestinian Guerillas/PLO have been a great factor in: a) training Iranian Islamic Guerillas in Palestine & pre 1979 b) directly participating in Islamic Revolution of Iran @ 1979 c) indirectly supporting the Islamic Revolution of Iran @ 1979 6. Arafat personally danced in the victory party of Imam Khomeini in Tehran, kissed his hands & cheered. 7. Since 1979, until this day, there has been a great number of Palestinian Pasdars (Revolutionary Guards) working as Mercenaries in Iran & their numbers are getting larger every year, specially in times of riots by Iranian Students/Freedom Fighters to overthrow the Islamic Regime. These Mercenaries come handy to crush all freedom movements in Iran. Many of Iranian Pasdars have been refusing to open fire on Iranian people or crack Iranian people's heads, but Palestinian PLO or Lebanese Hezbollah members of Sepahe Pasdaran gladly do these tasks. Iranian Mullahs can absolutely rely on Palestinian Pasdars & Foreign Legion of Sepah Pasdaran to crack Iranian Stuent's & Freedom Fighter's Heads. 8. PLO has been officially having close ties with IRI. The Islamic Regime has a yearly salary for Arafat & PLO & every other Palestinian Group in Palestine to support Terrorism. 9. Arafat has no intention of creating a peaceful Palestinian nation to co exist with Israel as it's neighbor. Arafat & other Palestinian Leaders love to create yet another terrorist nation next to Israel, just like Syria, Libya or Ex Baathi Iraq (Saddom Era). 10. Until there is not a legal, elected democratic government system elected by Palestinians as their leaders & until they give their word of honor to create a peaceful nation in West Bank/Gaza next to Israel, then Israel must continue retaliating with extreme measures against the Arabo_Muslim Terrorists of Palestinian kind! 11. Arabo-Muslim Terrorism is the present enemy of civilization & civilized world. Palestinian Groups like PLO, Al Jihad (both Egyptian & Palestinian branch), Al Hamas, Hezbollah of Lebanon & others are nothing but little miserable terrorist groups as tentacles of the Mother Octopus Terrorist Bank "Islamic Republic of Iran". By all means I support the destruction of IRI & all it's satellites from Bosnia to Palestinian Puppet Terrorist Organizations. 12. State of Israel is the only Democracy in the Near East. 13. All of my reasons to take side here are political, for world's security, for civilized World, for Benefits of Iran & Persians, & on logical bases. I am an Atheist & do not care for Judaism or Zionism. However, I strongly believe that Islam is not just another religion, yet it is a dangerous political ideology. 14. We are @ war here with Global Terrorism & Palestinian Muslim Terrorist Groups are part of the problem just like Al Qaeda. Conclusion: Clear as a whistle it is! I am a Freedom Fighter to free Iran from IRI but my higher duty is that I am a Freedom Fighter fighting against global Tyranny of Islamic Terrorism to save the Civilized World! Do you need any other reasons that why I support the state of Israel & why I take a stand against all Palestinian Terrorist Groups?! I believe by now I have responded to many questions on my stands coming from outside of IPC & even inside of IPC or from Comrades such as Queen, Zen James, & others. Now I have a question for you guys: Give me one good reason that I should not take Israel's side in this conflict & take the side of Palestinian Terrorist Groups on this issue?! I hope I clarified myself. Fighting for The Civilized World against Nomadic Barbarianism, AX Contact The Iran Political Club at IranPoliticsClub@aol.com. "Iran Politics Club supports the fight to establish Freedom, Secularism, Federalism, Human Rights and Democracy in Iran." To Go To Top

THE MISSING CHAPTERS FROM THE BOOK OF JOSHUA Posted by Steven Plaut, January 29, 2006.

We have discovered that there were actually several chapters in the Biblical book of Joshua that were lost for millennia and only recently rediscovered. We bring them to you here for the first time: And after conquering many of the lands of the Canaanites, Joshua came to speak with the Lord and said unto him, Oh Lord we seem to be having failure to communicate with the Children of Israel." And the Lord asked, "Tell Me, My son, what seems to be the problem?" And Joshua said to the Lord, "Well things were going just fine at first. We were kicking Canaanite butt right and left and they were everywhere in flight. Victory was in sight. But then the Israelites sent a delegation to them with a proposal for a change in plans. 'We wish to reach a compromise with the Canaanites,' they told me. "Yep, I know it is hard to believe, but these Children of Israel demanded that we stop the campaign to conquer our promised land and instead seek a compromise by splitting the Land of Israel fifty-fifty with the savages. Never mind that THEY aleady own all the land from the Atlantic to Central Asia! The Israelite dimwits are demanding that we offer the Canaanites half of the country, including the territories holding most of the holy sites and shrines from the period of the Patriarchs." "You are not just yanking My chain here, Joshua?" asks the Lord. "I am serious, oh Lord. But it gets worse! These people are suggesting that we let the Canaanites organize their own militias and army, right here in Jericho, Shechem and Hebron. They claim these militias will be used to suppress Canaanite radicals and terrorists. They then want the Levites to collect a tithe of 10% of the income and property of the Israelites and hand it over to the Canaanites. They claim they want to try to swap land for peace with the pagans. And they even want to let the Canaanites set up altars of their own in Jerusalem after we conquer it!" "Now hold on to your heifers here, Joshua! I thought we had an understanding? "I thought Moses had made it clear to these people that their job is to impose their sovereignty over the entire area I promised them! They have no right to 'compromise' with My Land. They have no permission or mandate to trade My land for peace. "Their job is to exercise the military option and to achieve unchallenged victory. The only compromise they are authorized to offer the Canaanites is to demand their unconditional surrender and maybe allow them to hold commuting day jobs as cutters of wood and drawers of water." "Hey, I am on Your side, your Lordness," answers Joshua. "But what can I do? The tribesmen claim we held an election and the 'peace camp' won." "We will see about that," says the Lord. "If these stiff-necked dingbats refuse to see reason, if they refuse to take the initiative and impose their sovereignty over the entire territories and lands that have been granted by Me to them, then We will have to take measures that leave them with no choice but to declare war on the savages! We will have to create the conditions under which they have no choice but to attack the Canaanites, to use military force, and to achieve victory." "You're the Boss," says Joshua. "You show the way!" And the days pass and the Canaanites begin to snipe at the passing Israelites with blowguns and crossbows. "Ah, You clever One," says Joshua to the Lord. Surely, this will bring them to their senses. Surely now they will realize there can be no territorial compromise with the pagans and that the only way to deal with them is through military initiative and conquest." But lo, more days go by and the tribal chiefs simply expand their dialogue and talks with the Canaanite terrorist leaders. "It is not working, oh Lord," says Joshua. "We will see about THAT," responds the Almighty. In the coming days the Canaanites escalate their conflict. They start sending epistle bombs, consisting of parchment wrapped around explosives, to homes of the Israelites. They invade several villages of Israelites and burn down their homes. They fire catapults randomly into Israelite civilian homes. "Any progress yet, Joshua?", asks the Lord. "Alas," answers Joshua, "they are responding to these new atrocities by demanding that we turn over even more territory to the savages and give them more chariots and weapons, as well. "Time to turn up the heat some more," says the Lord. "This will surely put the fight into them and fire in their bellies." In the coming days the Canaanites send out gangs of assassins to roam the roads and fields of the Israelites and to murder them. "But," Joshua explains, "EVEN THIS is not producing the needed change. The Israelites suggest that we just give up their our flags and psalms, and instead adopt those that are less offensive to Canaanite sensitivities. They want to teach Canaanite poetry and philosophy in their schools. Israelite universities teach about the tragedy that has befallen the Canaanites from the Israelite migration across the Jordan, and several teachers in Israelite universities erect Canaanite flags and banners with images of Baal and Moloch on them." "You don't seriously mean to tell Me that the morons are still trying to make peace with the murdering barbarians?" the Lord asks Joshua. "Maybe You should have given them some more common sense and IQ points back at Mount Sinai instead of so many commandments?" suggests Joshua. "No more Mister Nice Guy," answers the Almighty. The Canaanites escalate further. They place large bombs aboard the public transit chariots of the Israelites. They murder Israelite children. They blow up Israelite universities and nightclubs. They murder Israelites engaged in the Passover sacrifice. They scream that they will annihilate all the Israelites. They demand that pagan armies from all over the world come join in the campaign of annihilation. They dress up their own people, including their children, with explosives beneath their cloaks and place camel bombs in the Israelite marketplaces. The campaign of atrocities makes the Plagues against Egypt seem like children's games. The carnage continues, all as part of the Divine program to force the Israelites to take up arms, to impose their will on the savages, to defeat them militarily and to exercise sovereignty. The lands of Israel became the Valley of the Shadow of Death. The Divine re-education of the Israelites proceeds with no rest. "They will be goaded into military victory over the Canaanites or My name is not Oh You Know What," comes a voice from the sky. "There is no alternative," declares the voice from the sky to Joshua. "I was hoping I would not have to do THIS. But these dullards give Me no choice. Since nothing else will work, I will eliminate all choice for them. The Canaanite heathens will hold an election and I will ensure that the Amalekite Hamasniks win the election, and then the morons will stop with the games and realize that they just have no choice! That they have to stop make-pretend peace process games and - instead - take up their weapons and GO TO WAR!. I regret I had to use this, but what choice did they leave Me?" Months go by and turn into years. The carnage toll skyrockets. Not a single family of Israelites remains untouched. And when things could not possibly go on even a single day longer, the Israelite tribe leaders at last come up with a plan of action and present it to Joshua. "Ok, Son of Nun," they tell Joshua, "we give up. We are ready to do what must be done. "We have decided on a unilateral cease-fire combined with goodwill measures towards the Canaanites, plus an offer to recognize an independent Amalekite Hamas Canaanite state with Mount Moriah as its Capital, plus talks at the White Pyramid overseas, and in the meantime we will allow the Canaanites to operate their diplomatic altars in Jerusalem, while we disarm ourselves further to show we seek peace and we will issue an apology for any Canaanites that might have been killed by our troops while shooting back at attacking Amalekite hordes." 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. Contact him by email at splaut@econ.haifa.ac.il To Go To Top

THE COVENANT OF THE HAMAS: MAIN POINTS Posted by IsrAlert, January 29, 2006.

This is from www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/1980_1989/ THE+COVENANT+OF+THE+HAMAS+-+MAIN+POINTS+-+18-Aug-8.htm The Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement was issued on August 18, 1988. The Islamic Resistance Movement, also known as the HAMAS, is an extremist fundamentalist Islamic organization operating in the territories under Israeli control. Its Covenant is a comprehensive manifesto comprised of 36 separate articles, all of which promote the basic HAMAS goal of destroying the State of Israel through Jihad (Islamic Holy War). The following are excerpts of the HAMAS Covenant: Goals of the HAMAS: "The Islamic Resistance Movement is a distinguished Palestinian movement, whose allegiance is to Allah, and whose way of life is Islam. It strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine." (Article 6) On the destruction of Israel: "Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it." (Preamble) The exclusive Moslem nature of the area: "The land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf [Holy Possession] consecrated for future Moslem generations until Judgment Day. No one can renounce it or any part, or abandon it or any part of it." (Article 11) "Palestine is an Islamic land... Since this is the case, the Liberation of Palestine is an individual duty for every Moslem wherever he may be." (Article 13) The call to jihad: "The day the enemies usurp part of Moslem land, Jihad becomes the individual duty of every Moslem. In the face of the Jews' usurpation, it is compulsory that the banner of Jihad be raised." (Article 15) "Ranks will close, fighters joining other fighters, and masses everywhere in the Islamic world will come forward in response to the call of duty, loudly proclaiming: 'Hail to Jihad!'. This cry will reach the heavens and will go on being resounded until liberation is achieved, the invaders vanquished and Allah's victory comes about." (Article 33) Rejection of a negotiated peace settlement: "[Peace] initiatives, and so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences are in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement... Those conferences are no more than a means to appoint the infidels as arbitrators in the lands of Islam... There is no solution for the Palestinian problem except by Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are but a waste of time, an exercise in futility." (Article 13) Condemnation of the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty: "Egypt was, to a great extent, removed from the circle of struggle [against Zionism] through the treacherous Camp David Agreement. The Zionists are trying to draw other Arab countries into similar agreements in order to bring them outside the circle of struggle. ...Leaving the circle of struggle against Zionism is high treason, and cursed be he who perpetrates such an act." (Article 32) Anti-Semitic incitement: The Day of Judgment will not come about until Moslems fight Jews and kill them. Then, the Jews will hide behind rocks and trees, and the rocks and trees will cry out: 'O Moslem, there is a Jew hiding behind me, come and kill him." (Article 7) "The enemies have been scheming for a long time ... and have accumulated huge and influential material wealth. With their money, they took control of the world media... With their money they stirred revolutions in various parts of the globe... They stood behind the French Revolution, the Communist Revolution and most of the revolutions we hear about... With their money they formed secret organizations - such as the Freemasons, Rotary Clubs and the Lions - which are spreading around the world, in order to destroy societies and carry out Zionist interests... They stood behind World War I ... and formed the League of Nations through which they could rule the world. They were behind World War II, through which they made huge financial gains... There is no war going on anywhere without them having their finger in it." (Article 22) "Zionism scheming has no end, and after Palestine, they will covet expansion from the Nile to the Euphrates River. When they have finished digesting the area on which they have laid their hand, they will look forward to more expansion. Their scheme has been laid out in the 'Protocols of the Elders of Zion'." (Article 32) "The HAMAS regards itself the spearhead and the vanguard of the circle of struggle against World Zionism... Islamic groups all over the Arab world should also do the same, since they are best equipped for their future role in the fight against the warmongering Jews." (Article 32) Harv Weiner, a businessman in Dallas, Texas, is the founder and moderator of Isralert. To subscribe to IsrAlert, send an email to isralert@aol.com To Go To Top

HAMAS PLEDGES TO FORM ARMY, PROMISES TO CONTINUE TERROR ATTACKS Posted by Hillel Fendel, January 29, 2006.

The Hamas terrorist group, days after winning a landslide victory in the PA elections, is calling for the creation of an army even larger than the current 60,000-man force. "We will form an army like every other country," Hamas chief Khaled Meshal said Saturday at a press conference in Syria. "This army will defend our people against aggression." Explaining what he meant by defending against aggression, Meshal said that Hamas would continue to carry out attacks on Israeli civilians. "Our presence in the legislature will strengthen the resistance," he said. Hamas, which popularized the tactic of suicide bombing to the Middle East, won 76 of the 132 seats last week in elections to the Palestinian Authority (PA) parliament. Meshal said that Hamas would honor commitments made by the PA to Israel, provided that those commitments "serve Palestinian interests." Meshal had been asked about the possibility of ammending the Hamas charter, which calls for the annihilation of the Jewish state and its replacement with a state run according to Islamic law. The Hamas spokesman also expressed what is being lauded in the world media as a hint of moderation. "We are realistic and we know things are done gradually," Meshal said. "Being against the occupation does not mean that I can eliminate Israel in mere seconds." He invited Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah group to join a Hamas-led government. "We believe it is in everybody's interest to ride the Hamas train, because this train will reach its destination," he said. "We extend our hand to everyone. We need each other." Meanwhile, hundreds of Fatah members marched in Ramallah on the grave of Fatah- founder Yasser Arafat, protesting the group's poor showing under Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen). Abbas's security prevented the armed group from reaching the Fatah chairman's office. Earlier Saturday, armed Fatah members took over the parliament buildings in Judea and Gaza, shooting in the air. Cars and tires were also burned outside the building in Gaza. Some demanded the resignation of Fatah politicians, while Al Aksa Brigades terrorists declared publicly that they would kill Fatah members who joined a Hamas government. Attacks between the two terrorist groups spiked over the weekend. Hamas and Fatah terrorists exchanged fire in Gaza Saturday morning after two Fatah members working as PA police officers were wounded by a Hamas attack in Khan Younis. Another attack took place on Friday night. An earlier brawl injured three Friday afternoon. Amid international threats to cut aid to a Hamas-led PA, Hamas leader Ismael Haniyeh said that alternative funding would be found. "This aid must not be a sword held over the heads of the Palestinian people and will not be allowed to blackmail our people, Hamas and the resistance." Haniyeh made his statement after the US threatened to eliminate the funds it gives each year to the PA. Meshal attacked international governments for criticizing the democratic choice of the Arabs of the PA. "The world should respect the results of democracy," Meshal said. "If you want to punish the Palestinian people for practicing democracy then the Americans should be punished for choosing President Bush." Meanwhile, Shimon Peres said Friday that Israel would engage in talks with Hamas if the party "abandoned terrorism." It is unclear whether statements to that effect or a temporary cease-fire would suffice. "Israel will have to see where [Hamas] are going," Peres told the BBC, "back to the road of violence and terror, or ahead to the route of peace. They didn't take yet a decision. They weren't prepared for this victory." Oslo architect and Meretz Party leader Yossi Beilin told Israel Radio that Israel was to blame for the Hamas victory. "Israel played a large role in weakening the Palestinian Authority and strengthening Hamas," Beilin said. "The unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, not as a part of an agreement with Abu Mazen, greatly strengthened Hamas," he said. This was written by Hillel Fendel and appeared in today's Arutz-Sheva (www.IsraelNationalNews.com). To Go To Top

OVER 300,000 AT FUNERAL OF WORLD'S SENIOR KABBALIST RABBI Posted by Mordechai Ben-Mordechai, January 29, 2006.

This was written by Hillel Fendel and appeared in today's Arutz-Sheva (www.IsraelNationalNews.com). Rabbi Yitzchak Kaduri, known as the "Senior Kabbalist Elder," passed away last night in Jerusalem. Over 300,000 people participated in his funeral. Rabbi Kaduri, who commemorated his 105th birthday several months ago, had been in serious condition for the last two weeks in Bikur Cholim Hospital, where he was cared for by his personal physician. Police closed off Jerusalem streets for the Sunday afternoon funeral, which became one of the largest ever in a city known for large funerals. The funeral began at noon at Yeshivat Nachalat Yitzchak, in the Bucharim neighborhood, between Geulah and Shmuel HaNavi. Rabbis Ovadiah Yosef and Mordechai Eliyahu eulogized him, as did President Moshe Katzav. Rabbi Kaduri was buried in the Mt. Menuchot cemetery. Students of the righteous rabbi say that the blessing of the Ben Ish Chai (considered the leading rabbi of Sephardic Jewry, d. 1904) and that of the Lubavitcher Rebbe - both of whom blessed him that he might live to see the Final Redeemer - came true. The rabbi's closest followers say that Rabbi Kaduri told them he met the Messiah on Cheshvan 9, 5764 (Nov. 4, 2003). He reportedly said that the Messiah is not promoting himself, and that a study of his [Rabbi Kaduri's] words in recent months would provide hints of his identity. "He is not saying, 'I am the Mashiach, give me the leadership.' Rather the nation is pushing him to lead them, after they find [in my words] signs showing that he has the status of Mashiach." So said Rabbi Kaduri to one of his close relatives. Rabbi Kaduri was also quoted of late as saying that the imminent arrival of the Mashiach will "save Jerusalem from Islam and Christianity that wish to take Jerusalem from the Jewish Nation - but they will not succeed, and they will fight each other." This past Yom Kippur, shortly after Hurricane Katrina, Rabbi Kaduri said, "Jews must come to the land of Israel to receive our righteous Mashiach, who has begun his influence and will reveal himself in the future." Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef, spiritual leader of much of Sephardic Jewry in Israel today, announced, "We are in mourning over the Elder of the Kabbalists, a remnant of the Great Assembly, Rabbi Yitzchak Kaduri." Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger expressed his great sorrow "over the taking of the great righteous Rabbi Yitzchak Kaduri, of blessed memory. He was a great and humble tzaddik [righteous person]. In his greatness, he dedicated his days and nights to blessing Jews, to pray for Israel, and he felt the pain of those who turned to him for all their troubles. Rabbis from around the country and the world admired him and asked for his blessing." A statement released by President Moshe Katzav's office said the president "is pained by the death of the important and accomplished rabbi whose reputation is world-renowned. Rabbi Kaduri, one of the great rabbis of the Jewish People, was noted for his love of Israel and in his second-to-none expertise in Kabbalah, contributed to Jewish unity, and was a source of inspiration for the Jewish People in Israel and around the world." Rabbi Kaduri came to the Holy Land in 1923, where he learned in Yeshivat Porat Yosef in Jerusalem. He studied Kabbalah under the tutelage of Rabbi Ephraim Cohen and Rabbi Salman Eliyahu (father of former Sephardic Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu). Rabbi Kaduri's son said there were only 60 Kabbalists in the Holy Land at the time, and that only one who prayed for 15 years with "Rashash intentions" was accorded that status. When the Old City of Jerusalem was captured by the Jordanians in 1948, the Yeshiva was evacuated to the Bucharim Quarter. Rabbi Kaduri studied Kabbalah there until 1970, when such study was stopped in Yeshivat Porat Yosef. He also studied for many years in Yeshivat Beit El on Rashi St. in Jerusalem, and then moved with his students to found a new institution called Yeshivat Nachalat Yitzchak. Rabbi Kaduri engaged in bookbinding. He perused all the books he bound, including many old manuscripts which he "photographed" in his memory. Graced with a phenomenal memory, he was said to have known the entire Babylonian Talmud by heart. "In one instance," a source close to him relates, "in disagreement with a leading Halakhic authority of today, Rabbi Kaduri smiled in his inimitable manner, lifted his hand to the bookshelf and immediately opened to the right page, proving his point. The [other] rabbi was astonished at his familiarity with the [non-Kabbalistic] sources." Mordechai Ben-Menachem is at Ben-Gurion University. He can be reached by email at quality@computer.org To Go To Top

DANIEL PINNER FOUND GUILTY Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, January 29, 2006.

The Israeli UnJustice system in action. And the Kangaroos keep hopping. Daniel Pinner, who shot in the air when attacked by a rock-throwing Arab mob, was found guilty by the Be'er Sheva District Court of causing willful and malicious injury. He faces a 3-year sentence. Pinner, who made Aliyah from England and lives in Kfar Tapuach, has been in prison for over seven months. He was arrested on June 22 for allegedly firing at and injuring an Arab on the Gush Katif beach. Pinner has maintained that he shot in the air in self-defense when a mob of some 50 Arabs threw rocks at him; Arab witnesses and participants admitted in court that they were throwing rocks. Pinner, 38, an unmarried teacher and licensed electrician, was in Gush Katif at the time to volunteer his services in the refurbishing of the Palm Beach Hotel for new families. Four days after the incident, he was arrested at home, with the police first claiming that he had shot an Arab in the chest, and then later in the leg. Even after months in jail, Pinner did not lose his sense of humor, describing his court hearings in the following manner: "...It was Wednesday 28 September, and I was up for the second hearing of my trial... Justice was proceeding at its usual sedate, calm pace, undisturbed by such concepts as presumption of innocence, factual evidence, or the right to a speedy trial. The hearing itself was comparatively brief - about an hour or so, in which two police officers in charge of the interrogation testified that: ... yes, they found a spent cartridge from my Uzi; no, they had not bothered to check the range or angle of fire to see if that could possibly have been the bullet which allegedly hit Nasser Wafi; no, they had not been able to run an identity parade to ask the Arab eye-witnesses if I was the shooter; no, they could not explain why it was impossible to do an identity parade; no, they could not explain why the police did not think of photographing me in order to run a photographic identity parade." Atty. Baruch Ben-Yosef expressed disgust at the ruling, saying it "simply ignored all of our legal claims, such as the expert who said that it was impossible to ascertain whether the wound was even caused by a bullet... The judge believed the Arab witnesses, despite the discrepancies in their testimony." The ruling was handed down Sunday morning by Justice Rachel Barkai of the Be'er Sheva District Court. Ben-Yosef believes there are strong grounds to appeal to the Supreme Court, and Pinner is likely to do so. In the meanwhile, however, sentencing hearings are currently scheduled for March 8. A probation report must also be prepared for this purpose. He faces a possible three-year prison sentence. This is the article that Daniel Pinner wrote in Arutz-Sheva January 23, 2006. It is archived at www.israelnationalnews.com/article.php3?id=5959. It is called "How to Be a Menace to Society." Daniel Pinner is a veteran immigrant from England, a teacher and an electrician by profession; a Torah scholar who has been active in causes promoting Eretz Israel and Torat Israel. His website address is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DanielPinner/ Very well, I confess: when about 50 Arabs attacked me with rocks, I fired a few warning shots in the air, in order to cover my retreat. I saw my life was in clear and present danger, and in pure instinctive self-defense, I fired those shots. Many people (in particular, judges and other assorted intellectuals whose lives center around the genteel suburbs of north Tel Aviv, Ramat Hasharon and Tzahala) will argue that rocks are not dangerous to life. Other people who have seen rock-throwing Arabs, can testify that rocks are dangerous to life. Unfortunately, those who know this fact can no longer testify. Come to that, the court itself recognizes that rocks are dangerous to life. As I write these lines, my friend Shimshon Cytryn is under house arrest, and faces a charge of attempted murder -- for allegedly throwing a rock at an Arab. Apparently, a rock thrown by an Arab is harmless, while a rock thrown by a Jew is lethal. In my case, I was accused of shooting an Arab named Nasser Wafi, who alleged that he was hit in the thigh by my bullet. In addition to the testimony of Nasser Wafi, several Arab "eye-witnesses" disposed of almost everything alleged by the government: how many people were holding firearms; how many shots were fired; what the alleged shooter looked like; what time Nasser Wafi was shot; the range at which he was shot; which leg he was wounded in. However, the only thing these witnesses all agreed upon was that before any shots were fired, they (the Arabs) were throwing rocks at Jews. But I digress. The Court decreed, months ago, that I would be held in jail until the end of proceedings (to date, 6 1/2 months). When I appealed this decision, Her Honour Sarah Dovrat decided: "The actions of the respondent [Daniel Pinner] are dangerous, regardless of the political background [i.e. the Disengagement]. A person who carries a weapon and uses it, testifies to the menace inherent in him, and is not a result of political tension.... Under these circumstances, the end of the Disengagement does not neutralize the respondent's menace." (Decision of the Be'er Sheva District Court, Case # B.Sh. 021515/03, given on 24th Tishrei 5766 - 27th October 2005) If Her Honour happens to read this essay, I want her to know that I never imagined that by defending my life, and carefully not endangering the life of anyone else (not even the Arabs who would have happily taken my life), I thereby became a menace to society. I have legally held a firearm for about five years, and have used it precisely once -- when I judged my life to be in danger. Even the prosecution did not claim that I am a serial shooter, or that I would be likely to shoot for no reason. Through my lawyer, Baruch Ben-Yosef, I appealed the 24th Tishrei decision to the Supreme Court. We lost. Then, as the case for the prosecution grew steadily weaker, we made another attempt to get house arrest. The same court, the same judge, a different date; the same decision: "The circumstances have not changed in any way, nor has any new fact been shown me, which can neutralize the respondent's menace." (Decision of the Be'er Sheva District Court, Case # B.Sh. 021515/03, given on 7th Kislev 5766 - 8th December 2005) I have a couple of questions for Her Honour, Sarah Dovrat: If the Court eventually acquits me, then should I nevertheless be held in jail indefinitely as a "menace to society"? And if the Court convicts me, then should I be held in jail for the rest of my life, on the grounds that even after serving time, I might still be a "menace to society"? On Monday, 4th Kislev (5th December 2005), a suicide terrorist detonated himself in a shopping mall in Netanya. Five Israelis were murdered, dozens injured. In a radio interview, a security guard stated that even though he recognized the suicide terrorist for what he was, he chose not to shoot for fear of what would happen to him if he did. Countless other security guards have made identical comments; they know that if they shoot terrorists, then they -- the security guards -- are likely to be arrested and held for months in jail, even if they are eventually acquitted. It is simply less hassle to shout a warning, let the terrorist detonate and hope that as few Jews as possible will be killed. So, my final question to Her Honour Sarah Dovrat is: Which one of us (you or me) is the real menace to society? Addendum, January 30, 2006, from Dina Moskowitz: Daniel's bills and expenses still go on, while he has no capacity to earn money to pay them. He needs your help now more than ever. There are utility bills to pay on his home in Tapuach, the care and feeding of his dog, the rent on his house, phone cards so that he can call people from jail, and other outstanding bills on personal expenses. Once again, due to the fact that Daniel is facing a lengthy time in incarceration, I am appealing to the generosity of your heart and soul to bring Daniel peace of mind and hope that when he is finally released, he has something to go back to. Daniel has temporarily lost his physical freedom due to a thoroughly corrupy legal system - but let's make sure he doesn't lose what he has in his life outside of jail! Your support - which Daniel has been so grateful for up to now, and for which he thanks all donors from the bottom of his heart - is more vital than ever. Help ease the burden of his family and friends who have been shouldering the load now for the 7 months since Daniel has been incarcerated. For all of those living outside of Israel: Please send checks made out in my name - Dina Moskowitz - in any foreign currency, to my address: P.O. Box 6355, Jerusalem 91062. I will then turn the currency into shekels and deposit the money into Daniel's post office bank account. 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

SO WHAT'S THE FUSS ALL ABOUT? Posted by Gerald A. Honigman, January 29, 2006.

In December 2005, I wrote that Hamas needed to be on the slate for the recent Palestinian Arab elections. In "Time To Put Up Or Shut Up" (http://www.muslimworldtoday.com/shutup.htm), I emphasized that there was basically no difference between Abbas' Fatah and the Hamas/Islamic Jihad crew. The former was simply more willing to sing a tune more acceptable to a much too willingly gullible West to gain its support. Blown buses bring bad press and such, so let's destroy Israel but by 'more acceptable' means became the strategy...at least some times. What the West--the American State Department included--likes to ignore is that the terror and attempts at terror continued, and Fatah's own affiliates and members were often the perpetrators. The Fatah "good cops"--terrorists through and through--now blame Hamas' victory in the polls on Israel. If Israel, after all, didn't hold the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority responsible for the continuing terror under its watch and simply allowed Jews to be maimed and killed by Arabs with no retaliation, Fatah's Abbas, & Co. would be stronger today. I believe that Prime Minister Golda Meir, of blessed memory, once said something to the effect that it's not what Gentiles think but what the Jews will do that ultimately will determine Israel's fate. She was right. Nothing's changed for Israel of substance with Hamas' victory. If anything, things are better off now than before. Israel was slowly but surely being shrunk back to its suicidal, 1949, U.N.-imposed, 9-mile wide, armistice line existence while Fatah's well known destruction in phases scenario was playing out to perfection with the help of even Israel's closest friends. Indeed, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was the latest leading the pack, squeezing Israel to forsake such things as even the safety of its main airport while America itself claimed the right to act thousands of miles away from home for its own national security interests. The promise of 1967's U.N. Security Council Resolution 242 to replace the absurd 1949 armistice lines with secure and recognized borders was being sacrificed by those dedicated to the birth of the Arabs' 22nd state...regardless of what effects it would have on the sole, microscopic state of the Jews. My main argument in that earlier article mentioned above was that with the Fatah wolf in sheep's clothing PA in power, terror by Hamas and such could be blamed on the other guy, the "bad cops." But, with the people themselves being able to choose in an election whom they wanted to call the shots (both figuratively and literally), terror would gain--via the people themselves--an official address that could not be denied afterwards. Indeed, the Arab voters have now willingly become the accomplices of the next atrocities. So, the next bus, restaurant, shopping mall, or whatever/whomever that gets blown up by Arabs from Arab-controlled territory will have been victimized as a matter of the official policy of a democratically-elected Hamas-run state which openly calls for the death of Israel and the murder of its citizens. What happens next is up to Israel. What would any other country do under such circumstances? The United States' own Powell Doctrine calls for the use of massive force against its enemies. The time of Israel limiting its options to mere targeted killings is fast drawing to a close. Hamas must at last be held accountable as it's never been before. President Bush has said that those who harbor terrorists will share in their fate. Israel must get itself leaders who will know how to draw the line and do so in a way in which Israel's security needs can be best addressed--regardless of the pressures that will be brought to bear on it. While Israel can be expected to give up still more of the disputed territories for the sake of true peace (not a hudna), a meaningful territorial compromise must be worked out. Again, this was built into the final draft of Resolution 242 by its architects in the aftermath of the 1967 Six Day War. A reading of Eugene Rostow, one of those architects, is essential for this subject. Lately, Benjamin Netanyahu has been saying the right things in this regard, but only time will tell. Not only have the Arabs of would-be "Palestine" (the second, not first, Arab state to be formed within the original 1920 borders the Palestine Mandate--Jordan emerging on 80% of the entire territory after 1922) harbored terrorists, they've repeatedly elected them--starting with Arafat and his successor close associates dressed in suits, Abbas, Qurei', and so forth. The PA/ PLO's Charter calling for Israel's destruction was never really amended--despite all the claims otherwise. Hamas and Fatah's goals remain one and the same. And now the Arab Street has spoken, once again, and brought an organization to power which is at least honest about its murderous intentions towards both Jews and the Jew of the Nations. When the next Jew is murdered, Arabs won't be able to claim any disconnection. Arab voters decided on this course of action collectively themselves. So, Israel is actually now left in a potentially better position than it was before. No reasonable nation can tell another that it can't defend itself from murderous neighbors whose official policy is the destruction of its state as well as its citizens. While the double standard has been used repeatedly against Israel before in these regards, it now becomes much harder to apply it with these new circumstances. While Abbas' official policy--despite the whitewashing of the American State Department and others--was also the destruction of a Jewish Israel, and his fellow "moderates" repeatedly called all dealings with the Jews merely a Trojan Horse, he could hide behind talk of a hudna (temporary ceasefire) and the facade constructed for him by others allowing him--with Condi and others tightening the screws--to sweet talk unilateral concessions out of the Jews. With Hamas now elected, the facade is gone, the curtains are lifted, and the Arabs must--at long last--be held accountable. After the next act of barbarism occurs, Israel must issue an ultimatum...the same way other countries would do. When that ultimatum is predictably ignored and the United Nations predictably does nothing--or blames the Jews themselves--Israel must unleash massive retaliation...not the tit-for-tat variety. Using expensive missiles and such to take out one terrorist is not cost effective. Taking out fifty to a hundred at a time makes the point much better. They have their rallying places. Israel needs to pay them some visits when the time comes. There is no talking with a neighbor which openly admits that your death is its goal and acts accordingly. What would America--3,000 miles wide--do with such a neighbor? Or anyone else? The war that must be fought will be better fought sooner rather than later. Later, Hamas' buddy, Iran, may have nukes. As American bombers have targeted terror strongholds in Iraq and Afghanistan, Hamasstan must get at least this and more. And when the Arab's launch their next revenge attacks, Israel must strike back each time exponentially harder than before. If peace ever comes between Arabs--who elected a government dedicated to Israel's destruction--and Jews, it won't be because of any "acceptance" on the part of the Arabs. The latter are convinced that, despite the presence of scores of millions of non-Arabs in the region, only Arabs have political rights in what they see as purely Arab patrimony. Just ask the Copts, Kurds, Berbers, Black African Sudanese, Assyrians, one half of Israel's Jews whose families fled the Dar ul-Islam, and so forth if you have any doubts about this. If peace ever comes, it will be because the Arabs realized the terrible price their attempts at Israel's destruction caused them. That's what brought the late president of Egypt, Anwar Sadat, to Jerusalem three decades ago. I wish there was another way, but I seriously doubt it. Taking out a like number of murderers for innocent Jews slaughtered won't do the trick. There comes a time when the body of the snake must be addressed along with its head. Arab civilians who die in Israel's retaliation will die because their elected Hamas heroes hide behind and among them. Furthermore, those civilians will be virtual accomplices to the terror masters themselves...i.e. not exactly "innocent," and not the same as the Jewish kid coming home from school on the bus that gets blown apart. As always, Israel must make clear its desire to be a good neighbor. Countries around the world have benefited tremendously via their association with Israel. But Israel must also make unmistakably clear that it will no longer allow Arabs to dictate how the game will be played. And it must be willing to take a cut in American aid and such if it comes to that. If Hamasstan does as is expected, Israel must fight to win--despite demands from elsewhere that it still fight with one hand virtually tied behind its back. Israel won't make any new enemies that it doesn't already have. But it will eliminate many others that already exist. Only afterwards, when the dust settles (as in other wars elsewhere), will there then be a chance for some kind of peace. 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

DRIVERS WOUNDED, WIVES TAKEN AS HOSTAGE Posted by SMCCDI, January 29, 2006.

This is archived as daneshjoo.org/publishers/currentnews/article_3630.shtml, January 28, 2006. Tens of Tehran's Collective Bus drivers, technicians and workers have been wounded by brutal militiamen who have attacked the strikers gathered in some of the terminals. The strikers were refusing to allow Bassij para-military members to take the wheels of their vehicles. Wives of at least 3 strikers have been arrested at their homes and brought to an unknown destination in order to be use as tool of pressure against their husbands. Threats have been made about their fate if the strike doesn't come to an end and that the drivers and other employees of Tehran's Collective Bus Company don't start work on Sunday morning. But despite all repressive methods used by the Islamic republic regime, many of the employees have stayed home by forcing the Islamic regime to deploy its plain clothes security agents in the streets of the Capital and behind the wheels of the buses. The un-experienced appointed drivers have a hard time to insure the service and many users are refusing to take the buses in sign of solidarity with the strikers. Many workers, students and governmental employees, such as teachers, are using the transport problem for not showing up at their works or classes. Tracts have been distributed in the Capital by underground social or workers groups declaring solidarity with the strikers. Many cab drivers have put their head lights on and are using their horns in show of solidarity and many residents are showing the 'V' (Victory) sign. The move is very noticeable in the Enghelab and Azadi squares. Militiamen are looking very worry and are arresting the residents. The strike has created serious problems in the transport despite the fact that hundreds of regular drivers and the Greater Tehran's Collective Bus employees have been arrested or threatened. Many of the arrests took place, yesterday evening, at the homes of those suspected to be part of the strike and the Islamic judiciary is intending to trial many of them for conspiracy. False charges, such as, "Drug trafficking", "Having Prohibited Arms" or "Endangering the National Security" are expected to be use against the arrested employees. Threats have been made against the family members of many employees and militiamen have been deployed in the terminals in order to control the situation. The Islamic regime has also transferred many militiamen of the Bassij Force's logistic to fill the shifts of the arrested employees. The regime's leadership was hoping to limit the impact of the action by resorting to its usual repressive actions. The Greater Tehran has appreciatively 12 millions of inhabitants and many Tehranis, who are using this cheaper way of transportation, are supportive of the strikers. The move is expected to plunge the Iranian Capital into a relative chaos, as it did during the last two collective actions. Users showed, on December 23, 2005, an extreme sign of patience and their support of the strikers. Many refused to take the buses which were drove by militiamen and the domino effect created more complication for the regime, as, many governmental or industrial employees didn't show up at their posts or works while being able to justify their absenteeism. The same trend was followed on January 7, 2006, when hundreds of drivers made a symbolic action on a very symbolic day, resulting in fear among all factions of the Islamic regime. Hardliners and Islamist 'reformists'. Partial strikes were made and most drivers put their head lights, in the middle of the day, for showing their exasperation. The move coincided with the anniversary the "Iranian Emancipation Law" adopted by the former Iranian regime, in 1935, and banned by the Islamic republic in 1979. Of course, this action had fewer echoes as the so-called "reformist" faction of the regime and most ultra Marxist groups preferred to pass it under silence. Never less many Tehranis, especially among females, were seen considering the bus drivers' move as a hidden support for the message of modernism, equality and secularism of the banned law. Many were seen showing the "V" (Victory) sign (well known in Iran) to each other and to the maverick drivers. The today's move is putting more pressure on the Islamic republic regime, at a time that it's facing more international pressure. The strike, if extended due to the free world's support, might lead to the apparition of a worker movement, such as, the 1980's Solidarnosc (meaning Solidarity and which was the independent Polish Shipyards' Workers Union formed in Gdansk and lead by Lech Walesa) which was able to rally other cities drivers and various economic sectors behind it and to create the possibility of radical political changes. Most National-Secularist groups, such as, the SMCCDI and the INSP (Iran's National-Secular Party) are supportive of the strikers and in general of any clean and clear move for a genuine democratic and secularist change in Iran. The two movements' members and supporters have been asked to help the families of the drivers. The expression of this support and calls on the population to protect the strikers have been made, at several occasion, on the waves of abroad based Iranian radio and satellite TV networks broadcasting for Iran. The strikers' move and legitimate aspirations are not only limited to internal Iranian debate and in this line, several western workers' unions, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and influent politicians, such as, the U.S. Senator Rick Santorum have already declared their support of the "Tehran Collective Bus drivers". In a letter dated, January 6, 2006, Santorum requested from the U.S. Secretary of State to intervene on behalf of the arrested Tehran's Bus drivers and the repressed Iranian People. Slamming the Islamic regime for the persistent human rights abuses and the brutal attack of the strikers, the Pennsylvanian Senator stated in part of his letter: "I ask that you and other senior leaders of the US Government make a concerted effort to reach out to groups of individuals, such as unions and students, to let them know the People of America stand with them in their fight for greater freedoms and liberties". Without doubt, the continuation of such public declarations and a real financial support for the strikers can plunge the Islamic regime into an abyss from which it can not escape. The result would no more lead to just obtaining some greater freedoms or liberties, but to a total liberation of Iran due to a secular and democratic revolution without any need to any kind of military intervention. The trend has become so noticeable, as especially the absolute majority of Iranians have well taken their distances from the regime's "reformists from within" and some of their docile so-called student associations, such as, the "Office of Consolidation Unity" (OCU). Contact SMCCDI, The Student Movement for Democracy in Iran, at peyk@daneshjoo.org. Or go to their website: http://www.daneshjoo.org/ To Go To Top

COMMENTS FROM BANGLADESH BLITZ Posted by Salah Choudhury, January 29, 2006.

Dear Friends: Greetings! Don't you think that voice of Bangladeshi press is rather very much biased towards mega-terrorist organizations like Hamas? This is the world where we are living in and still continuing our battle against the radicals through our voice as well through Blitz. Very steadily, Blitz has already become number one periodicals in Bangladesh. You must have read the editorial comments in Dhaka's English press, by now. We can only tell you, the voice of vernacular press are even worst. Unfortunately, our media here are busy in spreading the message of hatred instead of spreading the message of peace, which Blitz is certainly continuing to do, with all our commitments and courage. In past four months, we did not get even a single inch advertisement, just because of our unique editorial policy; but it is not the matter which would stop us at all. We shall continue our battle against radicals, extremists and against the culture of hatred, without looking into any other issues, except that of our mission and commitment. Although in our Blitz project, we are alone, but in our mission and the message Blitz is publishing, we have all of you with us, giving us the opportunity to be a GREAT TEAM. Please coninue reading Blitz and let us always be blessed with your suggestions, opinion, criticism or your write ups. Shalom Uvracha... The writer is a journalist, columnist, author, and editor of "Weekly Blitz". Email him at salahuddinshoaibchoudhury@yahoo.com To Go To Top

PLEASE CALL TO SAVE JEWISH HEBRON Posted by Marlene Young, January 28, 2006.

Urgent Action Alert on Tuesday's Hebron Expulsion Please know the Facts: There are 20,000 Arab buildings in East Jerusalem illegally constructed without permits, and Olmert has discussed with the PA legalizing that construction. There are more than 30,444 illegal buildings in which Arabs are squatting in Israel. There are more than 7,380 court-ordered eviction notices against Illegal Palestinian homes in Judea and Samaria (West Bank), but the Israeli government has never acted on them and has no plans to. Yet, this Tuesday, the Olmert interim unelected government is going to send hundreds of IDF troops and Police to evict 9 Jewish families from Jewish-owned property in the Israeli-controlled area of Hebron, for no reason whatsoever. The High Court of Israel has acknowledged that this is Jewish-owned property, despite false reports in the media that these are "Palestinian" shops. The Jewish leadership in Hebron tried to obtain leases for new tenants from the Israeli government as a compromise, but the Olmert government rejected the compromise, and refuses to grant any leases to any Jews on this Jewish-owned property in Israeli-controlled Hebron. This Tuesday, tens of thousands of armed Hamas and Fatah terrorist murderers will be free as usual to roam Hebron and the West Bank shooting automatic rifles into the air. On Tuesday, this tiny Jewish property will be cleared of all Jewish citizens, for no logical reason whatsoever, by the Radical unelected Leftists running the government like their personal property- Olmert, Weisglass, Peres, Beilin, Omri, Mazuz, Mofaz, etc, at the behest of Peace Now, ISM, the EU, the Quartet, Hamas, the PA, the UN, for secret deals that only they know about and that only they benefit from. The forces will be deployed in three rings: the first ring will be made up of 1,500 policemen trained to deal with violent protests and will also include mounted forces. The second rings will consist of several hundred Border Policemen and the third ring will be made up of four infantry regiments. Policemen will be responsible for direct conformation with the settlers, while the IDF will close off the area to incoming protesters. The IDF issued a warrant Sunday declaring the Jewish section of Hebron a closed military area, and Jews who are not residents of the area won't be allowed entrance. Security Minister Shaul Mofaz has declared that a policy of "zero tolerance" would be employed against settler violence, and IDF officers said that in this evacuation, they will "demonstrate only determination, without sensitivity." Settlers are planning a major solidarity conference Tuesday against the evacuation. Politicians, rabbis and academics are among those expected to attend the gathering. The Chabad Movement, at an annual conference for Chabad emissaries in Zichron Ya'akov on Saturday, also decided to embark on an "uncompromising struggle to prevent the expulsion of the Jews of Hebron." Chabad representatives will pay a solidarity visit to Hebron Sunday. Representatives of five parties - Eli Yishai (Shas), Zevulun Orlev (NRP), Avigdor Lieberman (Yisrael Beiteinu), Zvi Hendel (National Union), and Meir Porush (Agudath Israel) - sent a letter to Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert over the weekend urging him to postpone the evacuation of Amona and Hebron until after the elections, in line with the general principle that major, non-urgent decisions should not be made prior to an election. Phone & fax numbers: President Moshe Katsav; Tel: 972-2-6707211 Fax: 972-2-5610037 State Comptroller's office: tel: 972-2-666-5000 fax: 972-2-666-5204 and fax the department responsible for the police: 972-2-530-9999 Prime Min spokesman: Assaf Sharif 972-2-5666920 (dir.) fax: 972-2-5669245 cell: 972-50-7724881 Olmert's spokeswoman: Chaya Peri tel 972-2-666-2301 fax 972-2-666-44-00 Defense Min. spokesman Eli Kamir tel. 972-3-6975546 fax: 972-3-6916940 cell: 972-50-6298005 Foreign Affairs Mark Regev tel. 972-2-5303343/555 972-2-5303408 (fax) cell 972-50-6203264 Justice Min spokesman: Shai Ben-Maor (Adviser) 972-2-6285438 (fax) cell: 972-50-6247138 Ministry of internal police tel 972-2-5308500 fax 972-2-530-80-39 Chief of Police, Mr Aharonishky: tel 972-2-5308100 fax 972-2-5308118 Hebron police: (those directly responsible for brutalizing Deli landau) tel 972-2-9969-444 or 972-2-9969-473/86/96/62 Shalom Court (address faxes to Judge Eilata Sziskind who put Deli under house arrest at her parents, away from her children, BEFORE TRIAL even started!!! fax 972-2-624-34-24 Prosecutor's office fax 972-2-646-700-1 Justice ministry fax 972-5602246 Chief Rabbinate: Rabbi Shlomo Amar fax 972-2-537-1305 Rabbi Yonah Metzger fax 972-2-5377872 The Rishon Lezion Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu Shlita fax 972-2-653-6842 Phone and Fax numbers from Women in Green. Sources: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/675859.html http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/676051.html Contact Marlene Young at marleneyoung1@yahoo.com To Go To Top

CHURCHILL AND OLMERT Posted by Ken Heller, January 28, 2006.

This comes from David Hornik and from Naomi Ragen. "We shall not flag nor fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France and on the seas and oceans; we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air. We shall defend our island whatever the cost may be; we shall fight on beaches, landing grounds, in fields, in streets and on the hills. We shall never surrender and even if, which I do not for the moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, will carry on the struggle until in God's good time the New World with all its power and might, sets forth to the liberation and rescue of the Old." -- Winston Churchill, June 4, 1940, speech before the House of Commons "We are tired of fighting, we are tired of being courageous, we are tired of winning, we are tired of defeating our enemies, we want that we will be able to live in an entirely different environment of relations with our enemies." -- Ehud Olmert, June 9, 2005, speech to Israel Policy Forum in New York. Ken Heller is a pro-Israel activist and a member of the Philadelphia Chapter of Americans For A Safe Israel. He can be reached at kayjayphilly@yahoo.com To Go To Top

THE 1944 SAISON - THE 2006 SAISON Posted by Nadia Matar, January 28, 2006.

Now it's official. After the statements by Olmert last week and by Inspector-General Karadi this week [Editor's note: see below], 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 IZL [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 CID (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, the people, and the 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, the State Attorney's Office, the High Court of Justice, and the 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 USSR was the first attempt to block the demographic revolution of the Jewish camp. But, a miracle occurred, the majority of those from the USSR, 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 PLO and Hamas would only use these weapons against the settlers 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 PLO and the Hamas couldn't restrain themselves, and instead of heeding the advice of the 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 settlements 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's really losing it. The years pass, but they haven't 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 like 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 don't 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 settlements 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 settlements 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 can't 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 last week 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 IZL] 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 IZL 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 settlements. "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 Kasam 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 settlers 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 settlers 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 Yaakov Shavit wrote in his book The Hunting Season: "In practice, the organized public opinion turned the IZL into a group that was isolated, shunned, and mercilessly persecuted". The IZL 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 IZL. Actually, the opposite is the case. The British eventually left Israel, thanks to the activities of the IZL 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. 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

PLEASE LET ME KNOW YOUR OPINION Posted by Salah Choudhury, January 28, 2006.

HAMAS got massive mandate in Palestinian election, which leaves a dangerous sign to world peace. Many of the political analysts and experts on Middle East are terming this victory as emergence of the mega terrorist organization as the legal entity in Palestine now, which will probably use state machinery in PA for its ugly and cruel anti-humanity actions. We in Blitz are also closely monitoring the Palestine issue and are extremely worried to know that HAMAS now emerges as an elected force in the troubled territory of Palestine. As we all know, for decades, Palestine Authority had been one of the world's most corrupt entity, now with the mega terrorist HAMAS in power, possibly Palestine will now emerge as one of the most potential threats to the Global peace. There is mixed reaction in the Muslim world on the victory of the mega terrorist organization in Palestinian election. It also proves that, people of Palestine might have now opted for putting a dangerous organization like HAMAS in power to show its nasty fangs to Israel and the world. We want to publish comments and op-eds from the valued contributors and readers of Blitz on this issue. ! Please send us your write ups (minimum 500 words) in MS Word Format at the earliest convenience and oblige. Please cover any or all of the following points: 1. General view on HAMAS 2. Terrorist activities and strength of this organization 3. Death of innocent people in the hands of HAMAS men 4. Why Palestinians voted for HAMAS 5. Threat to the Middle East Peace and World Peace 6. What should be the reaction of international community Editorial: "US-ISRAEL-UK axis re-defining democracy" Bangladesh Today The Hamas has won victory in the Palestinian parliamentary elections. Immediately following the announcement of the result, Israel has said it will not deal with a Palestinian Authority which includes the Hamas. US president Bush has already declared he would not deal with the Hamas. UK Foreign Secretary, as expected, echoed more or less the same stuff. Who are the US, UK, and ISRAEL to determine the future of Palestine? Where is the United Nations? If it has died, why is it not wrapped up in a coffin and laid to eternal rest? The world does not need to carry on with a carcass. The verdict of the people is the litmus test of democrac! y. If the people of Palestine have chosen the Hamas to lead them, who are others to declare their acceptance or refusal of that verdict? Anyone wishing to deal with matters relating to Palestine, must now speak with the Hamas. The electoral victory of a nation does not require ratification or endorsement from anybody except its' own people. Will nations of the world await the approval of these fascistic democracies before they announce their election results? We expect the entire world to accept the peoples' mandate in the Palestinian election and ask the UN to play its' role or declare 'de jure' ( which is the actual 'de facto' reality ) that USA has supplanted the UN. The writer is a journalist, columnist, author, and editor of "Weekly Blitz". Email him at salahuddinshoaibchoudhury@yahoo.com To Go To Top

HAMAS KICKS ABBAS' BUTT. WHAT'S IN IT FOR ISRAEL Posted by Lawrence Uniglicht, January 27, 2006.

Erstwhile U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson once suggested he would rather have then F.B.I. Director J. Edgar Hoover in his tent urinating out then outside his tent urinating in. After a perhaps stunning so-called Palestinian election upset, the radical Islamic Israel/Jew/Infidel despising Hamas has been swept by popular demand into the "big tent" (some might say circus tent), however, unlike Johnson Arafat understudy Abbas and his "gang that couldn't govern straight" Fatah has been for all intents swept outside that tent not unlike the leavings of the circus animals they resembled in the eyes of their population of angry able-bodied unemployed Muslim men and bitter women. Most importantly, how might this affect Israel? No doubt, Hamas did not exactly expect to win this election, thus become directly responsible for the lack of jobs, broken infrastructure, and every pressing needs of its chaotic constituency. Furthermore, might the fulminating fanatics realize the camel's share of such constituents voted to boot out Arafat's legacy of corruption and incompetence, not exactly a resounding endorsement for Hamas' brand of fundamentalist Islam including a sharia code that is down right nasty to the rights of females? Israel, if it presciently plays the hand perhaps serendipitously dealt, can rightly refuse to deal with a cadre obsessed with the Jewish state's destruction, thus not stupidly cede further land justifiably secured in 1967 as a consequence of vanquishing Arabs likewise obsessed with the Jewish state's destruction. Indeed, in lieu of a U.S. brokered Road Map strewn with the metaphorical road kill of Israel's future generations; in effect less land, less security, still no peace; now a wiser Knesset can justifiably order a higher wider wall between Israel and the soon-to-be dysfunctional terrorist enclave of Gaza and other Hamas infected Islamic ghettos, maintain sovereignty over all the rest of its land, without very many boulders cast from self-righteous popinjays worldwide. In fact, now that former Palestinian potentate Prime Manipulator Ahmad Queria is unemployed, Israel can let bygones be bygones hiring his family's cement company to build the security wall, putting a few extra shekels into his pocket. Wouldn't that be a magnanimous gesture? 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

THOUGHTS ON 1937 AND ENEMIES OF THE JEWS Posted by Professor Eugene Narrett, January 27, 2006.

Middle brows whose brains are filled with the congealant of Newspeak (see Orwell's "1984," chapters 1-6, passim) are flustered by the predictable victory of Hamas, yet another of Hashem's acts of grace and honesty for His people, the Jews, and the world. Those whose brains are de/formed by attention to the mass media (the NYTimes and CNN are worse than comic books), "liberal" people who believe that there cannot be peace unless Jews are expelled from Israel, etc., are like a herd without their bell cow, like a dog whose master has forgotten the commands. Their code is messed up: the pod people are screaming! But it ain't no 'scream' for us humans. 1. As many observers of the matzav have indicated many times, the silver lining of the black cloud of Ishmael is that mostly they refuse to behave as anything other than Jew-hating, homicidal maniacs, thieves and rapists. Their 'religion' is a cult of sex and violence, a rather colorless form of death worship and world domination that makes them perfect objects of Hollywood's perverse love and sanitizing. "Rape, murder, it's just a [script] away," re-tooled for soccer-moms, hunks, geeks & babes. 2. Hamas asserted its claim as one of the leading groups in global jihad by reiterating its intention of wiping Israel off the map. Of course, its leaders, per instructions of the Koran, will agree to "negotiate" periodically when it suits their ultimate goal. This already has been seized upon by the mucky mucks in Foggy Bottom and picked up by media from Al Jazeera II (CNN) to FOX. Their Israeli puppets would go along but they've got an election coming up also, and while the Jewish people are numbed by decades of socialist betrayals, newspeak, and grief, they still know a hawk from a handsaw... mostly. 2a. The danger is that refusal to negotiate with Hamas, conditioned upon its refusal to recognize "Israel's right to exist" will be blathered about till an 'asset' like Olmert or Mufaz is elected. Then the next stage of processing-Israel-in-the-blender-of-diplomacy will ensue. The inheritance of the Jewish people will fill up further with violence and desolation; the Jew-hating Israelis of Herzliya, Caesarea, Ramat HaSharon, etc, will increase their death grip on the nation. These and the Kangaroo Court that gives the "color of law" to the desturction of Israel are the main enemy of the Jewish people in their land. They are the reason the "piece by piece process" was able to get traction and still proceeds its horrible way, grinding and crushing. Jews need to remember the words of Shimon Peress after his defeat in 1996 when he severed his camp explicitly from the Jewish people saying "we -- Israelis" lost and "they, the Jews won." If only that had been true. An example of this hatred, this sinat hinam is playing out in Hebron, indeed, has been playing out in Hebron, Jerusalem, and the entire land since June 14, 1967 when the goyishe leaders of Israel openly took on the role of Esau and "spurned their birthright." And spent the rest of their time afflicting all Jews who sought to claim and nurture it. Afflicting the Jews of Hebron is a special pass time for them for they sense the centrality of its Jewish root. 2b. The Histadrut - Labor and its affiliates have been waging war on Jews, on Jewish national integrity, pride and survival almost continuously since the late 1920s, and very emphatically since the "hunting season" of the 1940s. The anti-Jewish left's collaboration with the anti-Jewish powers of the world had an early climax with the sinking of the Altalena in June 1948. And hence Jerusalem remain divided to this day, and the Temple Mount not sovereign for and accessible to Jews. (The fullest account in English of the matter of the Altalena is in Samuel Katz's "Days of Rage," 1968, appoximately pages 196-252). Read it, and keep the implications in mind). Here's a contemporary correlative: with the land filled with Hamas, with Arab missiles and rockets falling for six years INSIDE the pre-June 1967 borders of Israel (that's called war, fellas), the political Generals, uniformed representatives of Shimon Peress and his alien pals, busy themselves with destroying a guard dog training program that gives life-saving protection to some Jews in the Jewish heartland and with declaring war, including threats of live ammo against Jews living in the tiny amount of Hebron where the Israeli government allows Jews to live (and the Jews had to fight, and work, and bleed for every inch of it, again). 3. The enemies within empower the enemies without. Labor - Kadima - Likud are the real Trojan Horse. In their churning belly are the death-to-Jewish Israel process and its agents. With Bibi already anointed by "conservative," ostensibly pro-West (sometimes this includes Israel) American insiders, look for the Likud to continue what Begin and Sharon began, a horrific example being displayed last August. Unless Hamas, true to itself, sounds an alarm too loud to be ignored, the talking hairstyles and opinion-shapers will have their new mantra and wo/man in place soon. "This way to the gas, ladies and gentlemen." Except this time it will be a major bombing, perhaps 'accidental' collateral damage from America 'protecting' Israel whose rulers refused to pre-empt the clear and present danger to their people. 4. Get a map of the partition plan proposed in 1937 by the Peel Commission on "Palestine" (a copy is on page 258 in chapter 10 of the 3rd and re-printed edition of Samuel Katz's "Battleground"). There you will see the Jewish state toward which the Anglo-American elites have been marching, with the Arabs they fund in the role of heavies, since 1922 and the creation of "Transjordan." Notice, right in the middle, the separate section, "British Mandate, Jerusalem" which in recent decades has been termed the "cor separatum," the heart cut out of Judah and ruled by internationalist forces. At its widest, around Jerusalem, about 5 miles across, the steadily narrowing corridor reaches the sea at Jaffa-Tel Aviv. (Herzliya's been left inside, so it can destroy, the tiny Jewish state in the Galilee and around the Kinneret. That's what Israel is heading for if it doesn't effect regime change that recognizes Hamas, Fatah, Egypt, Syria, and their handlers for what they are:mortal enemies of the Jewish people. The IDF, what's left of it, will become an appendage of the international armed force that will 'manage the peace' and freedom process west of the Jordan; manage, too, it's long-planned integration with Iraq. The pieces are in place in plain view... Of course it won't last or even hold up; it's not meant to. It's meant to destroy what's been built of a Jewish state and to alienate Jews once more from their holiest sites and entire inheritance. The gods of this world cannot abide competition when it comes to authority and to determining right and wrong, what is required and forbidden. Review the Peel partition map, look at a map (available from Carta) of Yesha including the partition (ghetto) fences, and for alternative perspective on the issue, consult Joel 3, Zechariah 12 - 14, Ezekiel 37-8, or just use your mind a bit. Do you want another terror state where Israel is, or would you prefer a genuine Jewish state, making the entire Promised Land flourish and exporting good produce and good news throughout the world? If you're in America, contact your congressman and let them know you're very angry and worried about what the Bush regime is doing to Israel. As for the Israeli regime, it's Humpty - Dumpty: let's just hope it doesn't take the whole state, and all Jews, down with it. A great fall is coming. 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. To Go To Top

BAKSHEESH; ISRAEL SUPPORTS NEGOTIATIONS WITH HAMAS; STAYING POWER Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, January 27, 2006.

BAKSHEESH In English "Baksheesh" translates into "bribery". In the Arab world it is simply the way of life. The Hamas leaders accurately claim that Fatah was riddled with corruptions which meant that all those receiving donor money from America and Europe were feeding at the public trough of Baksheesh. But, Hamas was not given space to feed on the Free West's donor monies also. Now it is their turn to gorge on the monies that come in from America, Europe, UNRWA (UN) and whatever they can squeeze out of the very rich Arab oil countries. Actually, the Arab oil money is also the income from the West for the oil to which we are addicted. (Note! The Rich Arab countries always pledge but rarely deliver because, having their own system of Baksheesh, they know where the money is really going - into the personal pockets of the Muslim Arab Terrorist leaders.) They depend upon the donor countries of the West to keep shoveling out the dollars (courtesy of their own tax-payers) in the $Billions to the Muslim Arab Palestinian Mafias and they don't have to. While Hamas was currying favor with the Palestinian Muslim Arabs by providing services which Fatah was not, they won the hearts and minds of the people. In addition, they were simultaneously carrying out the Jihad against Israel with suicide/homicide bombings, launching Kassam and Katyusha rockets (while claiming a "pretend" or "ersatz" cease-fire or truce which has lasted a year according to the International Media). Since Hamas, like Arafat, talks truce while continuing Terror and the Media parrot the claim of a cease fire - knowing it is false. I just heard former President Jimmy Carter hold forth on how we must continue funding PA President Mahmoud Abbas (nom de guerre) Abu Mazen, Fatah and the Palestinians. Having already wasted $Billions of America tax-payers' money, I wonder what goes through the mind of the peanut farmer who, when he was in office, literally put Ayatollah Khomeini into power in Iran. Clearly, Carter is still part of the "Baksheesh" crowd who never found a Terror group he couldn't find a reason not to fund. Let us see if the State Department, with President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice find a way to approve funds to funnel American tax-dollars into the Palestinian pockets. It has been reported that, due to Congressional cut-offs, the Bush-Rice team is working its way around the will of Congress by funneling money through International Charities and NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) located in Gaza, Judea and Samaria. Gee. If you can't trust your President and the pro-Arab American State Department to honor the will of the American People, who can you trust? ISRAEL SUPPORTS NEGOTIATIONS WITH HAMAS We are told that 50% of the Israeli people support negotiation with the major Terrorist organization in the Palestinian Authority: Hamas. Would these be the same 50% who also supported Oslo 1 and then Oslo 2 - even as they not only failed but also led to a substantial killing of Jews. I am never too surprised or impressed with the abject stupidity of Leftist Jews, bleating for "peace" even as the Muslim Palestinians cheer every successful Terrorist act within Israel. The furor is escalating in Gaza and other areas controlled by the Fatah PA, courtesy of the Clinton-Rabin Oslo 1 and 2. The Fatah realize that they are going to lose their padded jobs and perks as they are replaced by Hamas. They may get around to lynching Abu Mazen whom they blame for losing the January 25th elections to Hamas in a landslide or tsunami - as the New York Times reported. Clearly, the fraud, corruption and "baksheesh" managed by Fatah will now be replaced by the fraud, corruption and "baksheesh" of Hamas. Actually, Fatah and Hamas should get along quite well, given the terms in each of their Charters as virtually the same, namely, erasing the Jewish State from the map. STAYING POWER For years I have followed a tactic used by Muslim Jihadists to hold off defeat. No doubt, there is an Arabic word for the tactic, like Hudna (temporary truce) which allows the Jihadists to rebuild their military forces and attaack again. There are other such tactics embodied in Arabic such as the phrases "Dar Islam" (house or world controlled by Islamic law) and "Dar al Harb" (house or world of war - those areas NOT controlled by Islam and therefore subjected to attack by Jihad - the sword - until victory.) Presently, we observe that Hamas, a Muslim Terrorist organization, needs a period of silence in order to consolidate their hold on the Palestinian Government before they can continue their pledge to destroy Israel. They are looking to the Leftists of Israel to plead for peace by giving up more territory. Olmert of the "Kadima" Party and Amir Peretz of the Labor Party seems ready to accommodate Hamas. Pledging a Hudna is SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) and it always works because its victims have No Staying Power. It is perfectly understandable that civilized nations and their people always yearn for the elusive "peace". But, when your enemy proves intractable, as are the Muslims, there is no choice. The Muslims all declare that they intend to wipe Israel off the map - as they have in the school textbooks, TV logos, symbols on uniforms, stationary, etc. They always seem to have their picture taken with visiting Western VIPs in front of the Golden Dome which sits on top of the Jewish Temple Mount. When you are finished counting the years of aggression, when you have totaled up the dead Jews from this aggression, when you see every gesture you offer used as their opportunity to the so-called "peace partner" to continue their killing - then you must cease further gestures of any kind. If you do NOT, you then fit the homiliy: "Dumb is curable, but stupid is forever". In Israel, a segment of the population loosely referred to as "the Left" or the "Left-Liberal" who fit another axiomatic condition known as the Lemmings: referring to those small rodents who, for inexplicable reasons, choose to hurl themselves over a cliff and thereby to die en masse. Here we find such titles as: Labor Zionists, Shalom Achshav (Peace Now), Gush Shalom etc., where they gather under one banner in preparation to hurl themselves (and regrettably all other Jews) over the cliff - like Lemmings. While the fanatical Jihadists send their young to commit ritual suicide - at least in their delusions, they believe they will get something out of their sacrifice. Not so with the Leftists. They are prepared to commit suicide for absolutely nothing although some believe the world will hate them less. Presently, we see Acting PM Ehud Olmert and his Kadima Lemmings, saying that their response to Terror is to withdraw from territory so the Terrorists can fill the vacuum and to be even closer to Israel's population centers. Clearly, in the minds of the Kadimites that will teach the Terrorists 'cum' Muslim Palestinians a severe lesson. Not to be outdone by the "Kadimites", the leaders of the Labor Party, Amir Peretz pledges to even outdo the "Kadimites" by abandoning even more and more Jewish Land. Not to be left behind, Binyamin (Bibi) Netanyahu (now head of the Likud Party) picks up the Sharon mantra that he, too, will make "painful concessions". In the meantime, the Hamas - linked to all other Terror groups, plainly say that they will help the "Kadimites", the Laborites and the Likudniks to fulfill their desire to commit national suicide. Where is the Nuremberg Tribunal and those hanging platforms just when they are needed most? In closing, CNN and FOX NEWS both show Fatah rioting in Gaza, the violent men shocked and furious that they have lost the election. Primarily, they have lost their cash flow. Let us next watch a build-up to a Civil War as they fight over the donor monies. In the meantime, President Bush is trying to explain why his push for Democracy in Arab lands has turned out to be the greatest gift he could have ever given to Terrorist groups, driven by Islamic dreams of world conquest. 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

IS DEMOCRACY THE ANSWER TO ISLAMIST TERRORISM? Posted by Avodah 15, January 27, 2006.

This was written by Anton LaGuardia and appeared in UK Telegraph (www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml;jsessionid= CTVP1RB03TFFVQFIQMFCFGGAVCBQYIV0?xml=/opinion/2006/01/27/ do2702.xml&sSheet=/opinion/2006/01/27/ixop.html). For the past two years, America has pursued the idea that democracy is the answer to Islamist terrorism. Now the Palestinian people have spoken clearly - and they have voted for the terrorists. Other elections have yielded worrying results: the Muslim Brotherhood, the forebear of all radical Sunni movements, did well in Egypt and would have done much better had it not been for the government's crude suppression; a Shia Islamist group with strong ties to Iran is in the driving seat in Iraq; and, in Iran, a radical president with an alarmingly apocalyptic tone has placed his country on a collision course with the West over its nuclear program. If the Syrian regime collapses, it may well be replaced by Islamist radicals. In Saudi Arabia, the alternative to the House of Saud is not Western liberalism but something more akin to the Taliban. Arab leaders - and not a few Europeans - will be muttering to the Americans: "We told you so. Allowing the ordinary Muslims to vote freely is a bad idea." Yet this would be the wrong lesson to draw. The popularity of political Islam reflects the bankruptcy of the political order that has gone before. When the state fails, as it has done across the Middle East since the end of the colonial era, then Muslims instinctively turn to the mosque. Palestinian leaders have turned weakness into a diplomatic art-form, telling Israel and the West they needed more concessions in order to have the authority to take on Hamas. With the terrorists in office, there should be no such ambiguity. When the suicide bombs go off, the address for protests will be the office of the Palestinian prime minister. Contact Avodah 15 at avodah15aol.com To Go To Top

"ARMED WING" MISCONCEPTION; WHAT DOES THE STATE DEPT THINK IT'S DOING?; SHARON'S JUDGMENT Posted by Richard H. Shulman, January 27, 2006.

THE "ARMED WING" MISCONCEPTION The NY Times reported that Hamas refuses to give up its "armed wing." The assumption is that terrorist organizations have two, separate wings and purposes, one military, the other civilian. This is a misconception. The purpose of Hamas is jihad. That is military and religious, there being no separation of the two in Islam. Its civilian services support jihad by providing terrorist families with insurance and by gaining popular support for its totalitarian program. It is difficult to believe that the Times does not know this. I think that the paper deliberately is misleading readers. It wants them to believe, contrary to experience, that peace can be negotiated with a non-military wing of a terrorist organization. Through negotiations, Israel can be divested of territory, in accordance with the Times decades-old anti-Zionism. Years ago, I explained the source of that anti-Zionism as the Jewish owners' answer to their fear of being accused of dual loyalty. If they opposed Jewish sovereignty, they thought, gentiles would not accuse them of singular loyalty to their Jewish people. In recent years, however, the family converted to Christianity. The original motivation for its anti-Zionism is gone, but the policy has become embedded in the paper's solidarity with the State Dept.. Pity. WHAT DOES THE STATE DEPT. THINK IT'S DOING? The State Dept demands that the P.A. election go forward. It insists that Israel permit Arabs who live in eastern Jerusalem to vote in this election. Has that election some value? No, it is a contest between two groups of terrorists over who should conduct the war on Israel and who is in charge of the budget. Why the US insistence? First, the State Dept. has no compunction against interfering in the sovereign affairs of Israel, which cannot hit back at State. Second, the vote is part of a pretense that an election, any election with competing parties, reflects US support for democracy. The election, however, does not produce a free press, minority and female rights, non-conformist parties, or any other feature of democracy. Third, letting Arabs in eastern Jerusalem vote in the P.A. elections is another nail in the coffin of Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem. In its eagerness to deflate Israeli sovereignty, the State Dept. strengthens anti-American terrorism. The State Dept. is an adjunct for anti-Americanism. ISRAEL VS. POLLARD The editor of Globes wrote an impassioned and ethical rebuke to the government of Israel for, in effect, murdering Jonathan Pollard. As everybody knows by now, the government admitted that Pollard was its agent. Nevertheless, the government helps keep him in a life sentence, in effect, condemning him to death in prison. It does so by opposing in court his petition for recognition as a "prisoner of Zion." He had sought to protect the Jewish state as much as anyone else imprisoned for protecting the Jewish state. Chief Justice Shamgar easily could have ruled that way instead of the reverse. Opposing him in court undermines Israel's efforts to get the US to release him, for if Israel won't recognize him, why should the US? (IMRA, 1/20.) It was a decent article but exhibited surprising ignorance about Israel's stance towards Pollard. The government, i.e., the Cabinet, conspicuously has done nothing to attain Pollard's release under clemency. It claims to have, but the prisoner's wife refuted those claims. When PM Sharon visits Pres. Bush, carrying a petition for clemency from the Knesset, but does not present it to him, Bush realizes that Sharon does not want Pollard out. The editor should have criticized the government for this implied condemnation. Why has Sharon acted this way? Is he appeasing the US? Perhaps. Probably more important is his complicity in the spying and in the abandoning of Pollard. He would not want Pollard free to inform Israelis of Sharon's guilt. THE QUESTION ABOUT SHARON'S JUDGMENT Sharon reversed his policy, when he turned on the settlers with vicious and deceitful tactics that aided the Arabs. The earlier theories to explain this inconsistency were pressure by the US and by leftist Israeli prosecutors. Another reason may have operated in tandem with those earlier ones. It is Alzheimer's disease. In explaining the use of certain medicine, Sharon's doctors mentioned an earlier onset of that mental disease. They did not state how serious it became. This diagnosis raises further questions. Did his entourage keep this news from the public, rather than incline him to resign? Did the US exploit Sharon's failing judgment to foist its policy, harmful to Israel, upon Israel (Winston Mideast Analysis, 1/11) What rights does the public have in such cases? Has it a right to know? DEMOCRACY THWARTED IN ISRAEL The Central Committee helps run Likud. Many Committee members sympathize with Sharon's Party, but have not resigned from Likud. They continue to wield influence in their rival, Likud (IMRA, 1/11). We know politics isn't always fair, but this is too much. Richard Shulman is a veteran defender of Israel on several web-based forums. His comments and analyses appear often on Think-Israel. He provides cool information and right-on-target overviews. He distributes his essays by email. To subscribe, write him at richardshulman5@aol.com. To Go To Top

THE HAMAS VICTORY:COMPLETING THE PROCESS OF PLO/HAMAS COOPERATION Posted by David Bedein, January 27, 2006.

Over the past month, our news agency has been facilitating a documentary film on the subject of the Hamas, in which our colleagues interviewed Hamas leaders who serve prison sentences prison for dispatching people to commit acts of murder, in which their victims -- men, women and children of all ages -- were killed in cold blood in shopping centers, schools, coffee shops, open air markets, or in their living room at home. Each of these Hamas leaders openly said that they expect to be free very soon, that they expect to resume their "operations", that they have no regrets for their actions, and that their purpose is to overthrow the State of Israel and to replace it with an "Islamic State of Palestine". These Hamas leaders spoke calmly, with self-confidence, and were pleased to pose for the cameras after each interview. And now these very Hamas leaders have won the elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council, to complete an 18 year process of cooperation between the Hamas and the PLO, which had been the dominant party in the nascent Palestinian Authority. The Hamas, founded in 1987, and the PLO, founded much earlier, in 1964, work with the same funding source: Saudi Arabia, one of the Arab nations that had attacked Israel in 1948 to destroy the news Jewish state. Saudi Arabia has never signed a peace treaty (like Jordan and Egypt) and has never even signed an armistice (like Syria and Lebanon) Meanwhile, the PLO has nurtured the Hamas for leadership in a Palestinian state. As the Oslo process gathered momentum, the PLO cooperation with the Hamas's popular movement was conducted in the open, yet hardly reported. When Israeli Prime Minister Rabin, Israeli Foreign Minister Peres and PLO leader Yassir Arafat all got a joint Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo in December 1994, I asked Rabin and Peres if Arafat would crush the Hamas and cancel the PLO covenant calling for Israel's destruction. Peres and Rabin held their own press conference and assured the media that they had ironclad commitment from Arafat to crush the Hamas and to cancel the PLO covenant which calls for Israel's gradual destruction. However, when I asked Arafat the same questions, he laughed at the idea that he was supposed to "crush the Hamas" and instead described the Hamas as "my brothers" and denied any assurance that he would cancel the PLO covenant. 250 news agencies heard Arafat's answer. Not one reported it. Four months later, in April, 1995, after intense negotiations between the PLO and the Hamas, Arafat committed himself to licensing and distributing weapons for the Hamas. At the time, the Voice of Israel Radio had reported that Arafat was "confiscating the weapons" from the Hamas, as did the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Yet on May 9th, 1995, The PA held a ceremony in which it formally distributed weapons to Hamas in an event was reported on the Voice of Palestine radio, and picked up by the New York Times. Yet the story was relegated to the back pages of Israeli newspapers and, to this day, most people to this day that the Hamas is armed by the Palestinian Authority. In December, 1995. the PA and the Hamas reached a cooperative agreement in Cairo to absorb the Hamas into the framework of the Palestinian Authority, after which the PA ceded the all important position of "minister of communications" to a Hamas official. However, the PLO-HAMAS Cairo agreement was carried out in the weeks that followed the assassination of Rabin, and the impact on public opinion was not really felt. The Cairo Agreement was also relegated to the back pages of the media. After the breakdown of Israeli-Palestinian Camp David negotiations in the summer of 2000, two key PLO members and officials of the PA -- Muhammad Dahlan and Marwan Bargouhti -- established a "joint military command:" with the Hamas -- in a cooperative agreement to carry out murder activities in a coordinated fashion, with no pretense of "good cop" for the Fateh and "bad cop" for the Hamas. And over this past week, on the last day of the PA political campaign, one of the founders of the PLO, PA foreign minister Nabil Shaath made a solid campaign promise that he would "never disarm the Hamas." Meanwhile, the PA state constitution, adopted by the Palestinian Legislative Council, a full three years before the Hamas electoral victory this week, mandates that a future Palestinian State will be based on Sharia Islamic law, modeled on Saudi Arabia and Iran, in which there is no juridical status for Jews. In other words, the PA constitution is quite compatible with the Hamas Charter, and the cooperation between the PLO and the Hamas will continue unabated. On the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the first entity since the Third Reich has been established to sanction the cold blooded murder of Jews. David Bedein is bureau chief of the Israel Resource News Agency (www.IsrtaelBehindTheNews.com) in Jerusalem. To Go To Top

ISRAELI POLICY PAYS OF AT LAST -- WITH A HAMAS NAZI STATE Posted by Steven Plaut, January 27, 2006.

There is something smugly satisfying when watching the end of a long dramatic movie, when all of the strands come together, where the audience can at long last see how all the seemingly unrelated pieces lead logically to the single ending, where all the suspense and mystery have been resolved. The emergence of a Hamas nazi state in the suburbs of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv is the inevitable and predetermined result of the past 14 years of the Oslo "Peace Process". There is a single unbreakable strand that leads from the secret illegal Oslo "negotiations" of a handful of Israeli leftist pseudo-academics in the late 1980s, through the Peres-Rabin initiative in 1992, through the 1993 White House ceremony announcing the first Oslo Accord (with Arafat dressed in military fatigues), to the emergence of the Hamas nazi state today with the overwhelming majority vote in the Palestinian "election". Everything that the Israeli political establishment did over the past 13 years led directly and unwaveringly to the Hamas nazi state. The Labor Party and the Likud are equally to blame. The campaign of national self-abasement; the demonization of the anti-Oslo dissidents; the anti-speech McCarthyism after the Rabin assassination by Yigal Amir; the self-recruitment by the Israeli media -- under the near-hegemony of the Far Left -- on behalf of endless appeasement of the Palestinians, the Peace Now campaigns; the Tel Aviv "peace" rallies with their numbers inflated manifold by the media; the conversion of the Israeli universities into Petri dishes of Post-Zionism; the propaganda and indoctrination in the public school curriculum; the "We have a Partner in Negotiations" campaign; the make-pretend cooperation with the Palestinian Authority; the suppression of much of the news of the daily atrocities by the PLO and its affiliates; the campaign to get international recognition of the PLO; the Israeli funding of the Palestinian Authority; the arms sent by Israel to the PLO; the campaign to grant the PLO representation and legitimacy in international forums; the turning of a blind eye when Israel was flooded with international "solidarity" protester thugs assisting the terrorists and attacking Israeli soldiers and police; the persecution of Jewish settlers when they defended themselves; the fabrication of the "settlers vandalizing trees" and "settlers attacking Palestinians" canards; the turning a blind eye to the open treason of some Israeli Arab politicians; the turning of a blind eye to the enormous growth in Islamofascism among Israeli Arabs; the insistence by the Israeli political elite that the nazi propaganda coming out of the Palestinian Authority was "just talk" and "letting off steam"; the "controlled carnage" agreements with the Hizbollah and the PLO; the release of hundreds of murderers to appease the Hizbollah after it murdered three captive Israeli officers; the turning of the other cheek when hundreds of Kassams landed; the refusal to retaliate when Jerusalem neighborhoods were targets of PLO gunfire; the cowardly abandonment of Sderot to the shelling and rockets; the "Really Really Hard" empty threats after each PLO atrocity; the hectoring of the public by the politicians about how "we really need to make painful sacrifices"; the acquiescence to a policy of "Israel makes peace while the Palestinians continue to make war"; the promotion of the doctrine that peace can best be achieved by pretending that war does not exist; the lecturing of Israelis by their leaders about how they are selfish and unwilling to share; the campaign to purge all symbols of Judaism from the state and all Jewish content from the school curriculum; the promotion by Israeli leftist leaders and professors of "Naqba Day, in which Israel mourns its own creation; the continued employment of traitors and anti-Semites as university faculty members; the celebration of leftist "army service refusers" and mutineers as moral heroes; the refusal to prosecute Arab and Jewish extremists for treason; the indictment and investigation of Rabbis; the expulsion of the heroes of Gush Katif, and the ethnic cleansing of the Jews of Gaza; the labeling of all anti-Oslo dissidents as "inciters"; the campaign to accuse all anti-Oslo dissidents of collective guilt in the death of Rabin; the abandonment of any attempt to stop the smuggling of explosives into Gaza from Egypt; the countless make-pretend "projects of cooperation" with the Palestinian Authority; ignoring the open endorsements of suicide bombing and terrorism by Israeli Arab and Jewish extremists; the failure to indict Yossi Beilin and Ami Ayalon for their "initiatives"; the proposals to purge the Israeli flag of the Star of David and to expunge references to Jewish yearnings from the national anthem; the Israeli offers to abandon half of Jerusalem. At the end of the film Casablanca, all the strands come to their denouement, their inevitable end. Will the emergence of the Hamas nazi state in the suburbs of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem at last wake Israelis up? If so, then -- like Bogie walking off with Claude Rains -- we will at last have the start of a beautiful friendship. 2. Over the past few days Barry Chamish, the inventor of the world's most infantile conspians for a Safe Israel are backing him and endorsing his "theories". This claim is as truthful as everything else Chamish writes. In fact, Chamish's followers behave exactly like a cult and a handful of Chamishites infiltrated a chat list nominally associated with the AFSI on Yahoo as moles. The list was hijacked by the Chamishites, who posted endorsements of Chamish's "theories", even including his "theories" about UFOs. Cults commonly infiltrate chat lists as moles -- it is a common tactic of the LaRouchians and Newmanites, to name but two. The Chamishite cult seems to have a few dozen members. The AFSI has now purged all the Chamishite moles from its list and issued a statement denouncing Chamish and Chamishism. Chamish has invented brain-numbing theories about how Israel is crawling with giant space aliens, how Natan Sharansky is a KGB spy, how Shimon Peres gave Ofra Haza AIDS to silence her and how Peres knocked down JFK Jr's plane and murdered a US Congressman, how the head of the Bank of Israel is a spy, and how the publishers of Foreign Affairs magazine really knocked down the WTC on 911 by planting bombs inside. Chamish is now an official columnist on the neonazi Holocaust Denier web site RENSE.com, which promotes the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and runs numerous Holocaust Denial articles, such as "Auschwitz is a Myth", in addition to the familiar conspiracism nonsense. Chamish chooses to publish his conspiracist trash with RENSE.com, and also with several other neonazi web sites, including that run by the Adelaide Institute Nazis in Australia (they have run over 40 Chamish articles). Chamish's main detective techniques in uncovering conspiracies seem to be the decoder ring and disappearing ink he got from the back of a comic book. Chamish is on record as saying that Labor Zionist leaders planned the Holocaust. Chamish's "theory" of the Rabin assassination is as truthful and credible as all the other Chamish fabrications. The AFSI has unambiguously denounced Chamish and the Chamish cult. 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. Contact him by email at splaut@econ.haifa.ac.il To Go To Top

HAMASTAN: WHAT TO DO NOW? Posted by Dovid Ben Chaim, January 26, 2006.

The "Palestinians" have spoken: they want a Islamist government that will destroy Israel. Smart people, decent people, honest people must now seize this clarifying moment to begin thinking and formulating a way to ensure a new proposition enters the MAINSTREAM for serious consideration. To wit: After 60 years on the table, quite obviously the "two-state" solution has proved to be a dead-end and a chimera. Israel and her true friends now need to reconsider the idea of a "one-state" solution; Israeli sovereignty from the Jordan to the Sea, with the status of Arabs living therein determined by the will of the Israeli people. Anyone willing to look history in the eye knows there is simply no other way, no other alternative. Everything else means succumbing to more illusions, delaying the inevitable and needlessly killing more Jews (and others) in the process. Contact the author at dovidbenchaim@myway.com To Go To Top

ISRAELI INTELLIGENCE FAILURE ON HAMAS' ELECTION WIN Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, January 26, 2006.

Reminiscent of the infamous failure of Israel Intelligence to anticipate the Yom Kippur War in September 1973 and the fumbling of decisions by the Golda Meir Government, the Israeli Intelligence fumbled again on Hamas on January 26th. It is known that Israeli Intelligence assured Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that Fatah, under President Mahmoud Abbas (nom de guerre) Abu Mazen would win the elections. As is now apparent, Hamas won in a landslide and, therefore, controls the Palestinian Government (such as it is). The question arises, why with all the on-ground Humint (Human Intelligence) scattered throughout Gaza and the cities controlled by the Palestinian Authority, did Israeli Intelligence miss the assessment by such a wide margin? Several answers come to mind: First, the Israel Intelligence has become so politicized that their level of competence has dropped to a very low level. Second: Because the agencies have been so loaded with PCs (Politically-Correct Leftists) that realistic assessments are no longer possible. So, the information given to Olmert was consistent with what Olmert wanted to hear. Keep in mind that, in terms of Intelligence Operations or the Military, Olmert is not the brightest bulb. Olmert made the decision not to interfere with Hamas and its electioneering. Presumably, if we look a little past Olmert, we would see the ever present Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice giving instructions. The Intelligence failure was dramatic -- given the results. Apparently, on the streets of Gaza City, Nablus, Ram'Allah, Bethlehem, Jenin, Qalqilya and Jericho the Muslim Arab people were not hiding their tilt to Hamas. So, how could Israeli Intelligence miss by so wide a margin? As for Olmert and his Kadima crowd, none of them are too swift in being able to make probing assessments of incoming Intelligence. Raw intelligence is like an onion. You must peel it back, layer by layer, until you think you have arrived at the correct level of evaluation. Olmert and his crew are just not capable. Without Arik Sharon's military experience, Ehud Olmert is merely an empty shell. Clearly, there should be an inquiry by the Intelligence and Defense arm of the Knesset. Something is dreadfully wrong with the various Intelligence services. If they have been emasculated by the politicians and loaded with political appointments, then they desperately need a shakeout or a shakeup. I would add that goes for the military which has far too many officers who owe their appointments to the political establishment. If ever there was a need for such an inquiry, it is now. There was such an inquiry regarding the Yom Kippur Intelligence failure and heads did roll. It is time for another inquiry before -- not after -- the next war. 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

ISRAEL, JEWS AND THE PRESS Posted by David Meir-Levi, January 26, 2006.

This comes from the Fred On Everything (FOE) blog. Years back, when I was writing a military column for Universal Press Syndicate, I heard of a book on women in the armed services called The Kinder, Gentler Military (the title as it turned out was ironic) by Stephanie Gutmann, a Jewish woman out of Manhattan. The latter didn't sound like a recommendation. I expected a feminist tirade. However my friend Catherine Aspy spoke well of it. Kate had graduated from Harvard in 1992 and, setting a historic record for wild improbability, enlisted in the US Army. She knew the military. She had seen what Gutmann was writing about, and liked the book. So I read it. To my surprise, Gutmann knew what she was talking about. She wasn't political, just reportorial, and described perfectly the fraud and double standards used to make women look successful in the army. Much of it would be hard to credit, except that I had seen it from outside as Kate had from the inside. In the course of events I met Steph a couple of times, chatted on the phone, and lost contact with her. The book got few and bad reviews because it was not what the media wanted to hear. It was a fine book. (Amazon has it.) A couple of months ago, I ran across a blurb about another book that she recently wrote, The Other War, described as arguing that Israel takes an unfair beating in the press, which is skilfully manipulared by the Palestinians. If Alan Dershowitz had written it, I'd have dismissed it as propaganda -- but then, I have read Dershowitz. Instead I ordered the book. The subject interested me for various reasons, one being an odd contradiction I had noticed. I get considerable mail from the anti-Jewish backchannels on the net telling me that the Jews control the American media. Often these are accompanied by lists, usually accurate enough, of important positions in the media held by Jews. My correspondents then assert that because of this control we hear only good things about Israel. Well and good -- except that for perhaps fifteen years I had never heard anything good about Israel from the media. The Israelis were always deliberately shooting little Palestinian children, bulldozing houses from sheer vindictiveness, reducing Palestinians to poverty, murdering Palestinian leaders, torturing all within reach, and intimidating the press. The Palestinians were noble freedom fighters, just like Davy Crockett, or hapless victims. Hmmm, I wondered. If Jews control the press and only tell us good things about Israel, how come I never hear anything from the press about Israel except bad things? I was also interested because I'd had considerable if scattered experience in Israel, and indeed cut my journalistic baby-teeth there. In 1967 on recuperative leave from Bethesda Naval Hospital I had gone to Europe with a shot-up squid off of PBRs in Asia, gotten bored, and gone to Israel. We hippied about, had the usual adventures, got mortared in Eilat. (The hippies didn't understand why we were suddenly on the floor. We knew what "ka-chung" meant.) In '73 I went to Israel as a greenhorn war correspondent for the Fredericksburg, Virginia, Free-Lance Star. I was pig-ignorant of the news racket, looked like Mehitabel the Cat's degenerate brother, and must have astonished the Israelis, but my credentials checked out and the info people were pretty decent. I got to the Golan, the Sinai, and so on. I was there for the doings of the early 80s. Anyway, Stephanie's book arrived. In it she makes a (well documented, example-filled) case that the mainstream media are relentlessly hostile to Israel. Yes, I know. This is so contrary to what we are told daily that to doubt it feels a bit like doubting gravitation. And don't important papers and networks all agree? When you are told something often enough you begin to believe that you know it. And since I hadn't been to Israel in twenty-five years, I couldn't speak from recent personal experience. But something stank. The news from the region was too pat, too homogeneous. Her description of the behavior of the press in Israel, with which she is intimately familiar, was exactly what I had seen in countless other places -- ignorant, herd-like, egomaniacal, adversarial; unremmittingly partisan, moralizing, all snottily in agreement, with much clawing over each other to make a name. Of this I knew a great deal. With today's media, taking sides instead of reporting is usual. Most of us I think know this from daily observation. For example, if whites murder a black for reasons of racial hostility, it is news for weeks, but should the crime go in the other direction, the story will be downplayed and then suppressed. One is as bad as the other -- but that is not how it is reported. Should a man suggest that men are better than women at mathematics, the press will not regard it as a question to be investigated but as a crime to be punished. "Political correctness" is nothing but herdwired advocacy journalism. If the press couldn't get anything else right, I thought, why should I trust them on Israel? I have seen endless inaccuracy and untruthfulness. I was in Phnom Penh for the final siege. The papers in the States spoke of "barrages" of rockets "pounding" the city. Actually, there were scattered rockets, six or eight a day, and probably not one reporter in fifty knew what "barrage" meant. When Americans were reading about the "starving" city, I was stepping over pigs, quite chubby, tied on sidewalks. One of the newsweeklies, I forget which, ran a cover of Cambodians running in terror with the city in flames behind. I was there. No flames. It was a file photo from who knows when. For years in Washington I covered the military in the company of reporters for allegedly meritorious publications -- the Washington Post, the New York Times, the networks. There was the same preachy witless partisanship. Everyone has heard about the $600 toilet seat and the $17 dollar bolts bought by the Pentagon, no? I covered these stories. They were nonsense. The reporters easily could have determined that they were nonsense. In those days the entire press corps (the pack effect) insisted that American weapons didn't work, were too complex, broke constantly. Not even close. On and on. When a woman I know to be a fine reporter tells me that the press in Israel behaves exactly as I have know it to behave everywhere else, I'm inclined to take her seriously. My objection to the behavior of the press in general, and I think hers to its behavior in Israel, is not to its political positions but to dishonest reporting. The view that, say, Israel should get out of the West Bank is a political one, legitimate in a column. The Palestinians are part of the story too and should be covered fairly. But sloppy reporting according to a heavily-agendaed double standard is just lousy journalism. When Guttman writes about reporters hanging around the press bar in Jerusalem and writing I-was-there stories when they weren't, or about photographers looking for the Pulitzer photo without knowing or caring what was going on, or about craftedly dishonest writing to support a political position, she is describing something I have seen over and over elsewhere. It's just how the business works. A curious fact, though she doesn't mention it, is that many of the reporters she cites as most hostile to Israel are Jewish. For example, Ted Koppel. I assume that Suzanne Goldenberg and Rick Kaplan are Jewish, though I grant that they may be Chinese Protestants with Jewish names. She cites the New York Times, Jewish owned, as particularly hostile. Jews whom I know say the same thing: It isn't caricature anti-Semites but the liberal press. Explain it as you will, but I have noticed the same thing. It doesn't add up to Israeli control of the press. If the Middle East interests you, I recommend The Other War. Judge it as you will. But read it. To Go To Top

HAMAS HIRES SPIN DOCTOR Posted by Israel Resource News Agency, January 26, 2006.

This was written by Chris McGreal, Middle East Correspondent, and it appeared January 21, 2006 in the Guardian. Hamas is paying a spin doctor $180,000 to persuade Europeans and Americans that it is not a group of religious fanatics who relish suicide bombings and hate Jews. The organisation, also known as the Islamic Resistance Movement, has hired a media consultant, Nashat Aqtash, to improve its image at home and abroad because it expects to emerge from next week's Palestinian general election as a major political force, and wants recognition and acceptance by the US and EU. "Hamas has an image problem. The Israelis were able to create a very bad image of the Palestinians in general and particularly Muslims and Hamas. My contract is to project the right image," said Mr Aqtash, who also teaches media at Birzeit University in Ramallah. "We don't need the international community to accept Hamas ideology, we need it to accept the facts on the ground. We are not killing people because we love to kill. People view Hamas as loving sending people to die. We don't love death, we like life." Mr Aqtash, who describes himself as opposed to violence and "believing in the Gandhi route", has advised Hamas leaders to change their image by explaining that they do not hate Israelis because they are Jews. And he is attempting to persuade influential foreigners that Hamas is essentially a peaceful organisation that was forced to fight, but is now committed to pressing its cause through politics, not violence. "Hamas does not believe in terrorism or killing civilians. But Ariel Sharon pressed buttons to make people angry. Sometimes we are innocent enough to react in a way that the Israelis use the reaction against us," he said. Next week Mr Aqtash says he will address the former US president Jimmy Carter and former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt, and other prominent foreigners monitoring the election. But he admits he and his small team working from an office in Ramallah have their work cut out. Hamas is responsible for scores of suicide bombings, killing and maiming hundreds of civilians (many of them children), although not for yesterday's attack in Tel Aviv. Hamas's founding charter calls for the destruction of Israel and it wants to impose an Islamic state on all Palestinian territory. Mr Aqtash, who says he is not a member of Hamas and does not know where it got the money to pay him but frequently refers to the group as "we", says he has told the leadership it has to change its rhetoric. He says Hamas has not helped itself by celebrating suicide bombings; he advises against celebration. And he has told Hamas leaders not to talk about destroying Israel. "Abdel Aziz Rantisi [the former Hamas leader killed by Israel two years ago] was on television saying things that foreigners cannot accept, like we will remove Israel from the map. He should have talked about Palestinian suffering. He should have said we need this occupation ended. Foreigners will accept this," he said. Mr Aqtash has also advised Hamas leaders to emphasise that they are not anti-semitic or against Israelis because they are Jews. Hamas has taken the message on board. In an interview earlier this week, Muhammad Abu Tir, who is second on the Hamas election list, twice (and unprompted) offered an assurance that he is not a Jew hater. "Loving others is part of our religion. We are not against Jews as Jews, we are against oppression," he said. Mr Aqtash also told Mr Abu Tir to rid himself of a red beard, coloured by henna, because it makes people laugh. The PR man wriggles away from questions about whether Hamas has more than an image problem when it sends bombers on buses and into cafes. "I'm personally against killing. All civilians should not be killed. Killing Israeli civilians is not accepted by the international community. They think it is a terrorist act," he said. "But Sharon was responsible for killing civilians too. During this intifada Hamas killed a thousand Israelis, some of them civilians, some of them soldiers. But the Israelis killed 4,000 Palestinians. It's a war. The Israelis use F16s; Hamas uses people. Anyway, Hamas hasn't sent a suicide bomber in a year." Hamas is also attempting to soften its image at home with the launch of a television station in Gaza that includes a children's show presented by "Uncle Hazim" and men in furry animal suits. [Editor's note: see below.] The station, named Al Aqsa Television after Islam's third holiest site, says it intends to put across the group's message "but without getting into the tanks, the guns, the killing and the blood". It will instead focus on religious readings, discussion programmes and a talent show. Mr Aqtash, however, is not entirely confident in his powers of persuasion. "How did I do?" he asked as the interview ended. "Did I make you think differently about Hamas?" Helpful hints The advice Nashat Aqtash gave to Hamas: Say you are not against Israelis as Jews Don't talk about destroying Israel Do talk about Palestinian suffering Don't celebrate killing people Change beard colour (if red) The Israel Resource News Agency (http://Israelbehindthenews.com), is based in Jerusalem. David Bedein is Bureau Chief. To Go To Top

SODOM AND GOMORRAH Posted by David Wilder, January 26, 2006.

In 1983 Deli Landau, then 19 years old, left London to live in Israel. A few years later she married Menachem, and for over twenty years the couple has lived in Hebron. Menachem is the principal of the Kiryat Arba Religious Junior High School for boys. Deli, in her words, specializes in mops and diapers, while taking care of her eleven children. She is also a professional medic who frequently journeys in Hebron's ambulance to Jerusalem, accompanying, among others, women on their way to give birth. She also cares very much for where she lives, for her land and for her people. Not a bashful woman, Deli makes her opinion known, not only with words, but also with actions. Last week, on her way into Kiryat Arba from Hebron, was stopped at the gate by a police officer, who asked her if she was from Hebron. When she responded positively, he demanded to see her ID card. Her response: "if you only demand IDs of Hebron residents, your motives are political." With that she put her foot on the gas and drove into Kiryat Arba. Moments later a police van pulled up behind her and, speaking through a loud speaker, yelled at her to stop. She suddenly heard the policeman screaming that she had tried to run him down. An officer, peering into her car, demanded that several others hand over their Israeli IDs. When they refused, they were arrested. Deli was ordered to follow the police to the local police headquarters. There she was charged with attacking a police officer, (as opposed to attempting to run him down). However, the primary charge against Deli Landau revolves around the issuance of expulsion orders to Hebron residents of the Mitzpe Shalhevet neighborhood a couple of weeks ago. Two uniformed officers of the Israeli "Civil Administration" arrived in the neighborhood at about 10:00 in the morning, accompanied by dozens of police, the riot squad, soldiers, and journalists. When the expulsion forces met, face to face with Hebron residents and supporters, a volcano erupted. During the ensuing fracas, Deli, whose apartment borders the homes of the endangered Mitzpe Shalhevet apartments, stood on a porch and poured a pitcher of water onto people standing under her, in the road. Her goal was several police, but her aim was off, and the water splashed a few yeshiva students who got in the way. As a result of her attempt to waste water on Israeli expulsion forces, Deli was charged with attacking police officers and rioting. Last week, following her arrest, Deli and her 15 month old son spent the night at the Neve Tirza woman's prison. The next day, during a court hearing, the judge agreed to allow her to spend Shabbat at her parent's home in Jerusalem, under house arrest, until a second hearing. The prosecutor's office was demanding that she be remanded in prison until conclusion of all proceedings against her. This morning, at the Jerusalem Shalom Court, judge Ilta Ziskind rendered the following decision: * Deli must remain in house arrest at her parent's home in Jerusalem, until conclusion of expulsion from the Mitzpe Shalhevet neighborhood. * Following conclusion of the expulsion, the police will be notified and Deli will be allowed to return to her home in Hebron. * Deli is forbidden from being anywhere else in Judea and Samaria for a year. * She must deposit 5,000 shekels cash and sign a bail bond for another 20,000 shekels, which will be collected should she violate the court decision, or not appear at trial. During the hearing, the 'honorable judge' lectured Deli: 'As the mother of eleven children, you should be more responsible and refrain from rioting and attacking police. Your children are liable to learn from you actions, and this is one of the reasons you must not be allowed home, to prevent your children from learning from your deeds.' What can we determine from this court decision? 1. The judge has already decided that there will be an expulsion in Hebron. (I asked Deli what will happen if, for some reason, the 'expulsion' is delayed or postponed. Her response: "Wow -- I'll really be stuck." 2. Judges know better than mothers how to educate their children 3. Israeli courts may punish citizens, despite the fact that they haven't been tried or convicted. (Exile from all of Judea and Samaria for a year!) (I asked Deli if she was allowed to enter Kiryat Arba, to go to the doctor, post office, grocery store, etc. She didn't know). 4. Most importantly: pouring water on a policeman is a horrific crime, to be equated with 'physically attacking police.' Deli isn't the first person to lately be so oppressed by Israeli 'justice.' A 15 year old Hebron youth was 'distanced from Hebron (where his family lives) for two months. He is under 'yeshiva arrest,' i.e., he cannot leave the yeshiva where he studies, except for Shabbat, when he is allowed home. Why? What did he do? The police have a photograph of a male with his face covered by a stocking hat, whose jacket is similar to the Hebron boy's jacket. So, of course, that is proof enough to determine final identification and justify preemptive punishment and exile from his home. Other examples: A 15 year old girl, with no criminal record, was charged with rioting, disturbing a policeman who was fulfilling his duty, and entering a 'closed military zone' because she attempted to leave Kiryat Arba to Hebron, despite a military order declaring the area a 'closed military zone.' She was not charged with any violent activity, but the prosecution demanded that she be held in prison until conclusion of all proceedings against her. The court ruled that she be held in house arrest until conclusion of the expulsion from Mitzpe Shalhevet. Only then will she be allowed to return to her studies at the Kiryat Arba religious girls High School. A 15 year old girl, without any past criminal record, was arrested because of 'unbecoming behavior' (chuztpa). She resisted arrest and scratched an army officer. The same officer provided 'an eyewitness account' that he had seen her rioting several days earlier. As a result of this single witness, the judge ordered that the girl be held until conclusion of all proceedings against her. She is incarcerated in the Russian compound in Jerusalem, in very harsh conditions. A 16 year old boy, from a family of terror victims, was arrested when a policeman argued that he could identify him as having 'pushed police' with his head covered by a stocking hat. As a result of this testimony, the boy has been in jail for over a week and the prosecution is demanding that he be remanded until conclusion of all proceedings against him. Attorney Naftali Wertzberger noted the following trends presently utilized by the Israeli prosecution and courts: * Demands to imprison until conclusion of proceedings, even when dealing with minors, breast-feeding mothers, and people without any criminal record. * Usage of 'house-arrest' punishment on minors, causing them to miss school 'until conclusion of the expulsion from the 'shuk' in Hebron.' * Very frequent visits by police to 'check' those under house arrest -- up to 5 to 6 times a day. * Demands to deposit 5,000 shekels cash to the court. In addition, it has been learned that the director of special tasks in the prosecutor's office, Attorney Shi Nitzan, is taking a personal interest in the present cases, is following them and has issued instructions forbidding police prosecutors from reaching any kind of agreement or compromise with the 'suspects.' Any such agreement must have his personal stamp of approval. Tomorrow Deli Landau's attorney will file an appeal with the Jerusalem municipal appeals court. However, no one has any illusions as to the outcome of the case. It is quite clear that prosecutor's office and the courts have joined together, not to seek justice, but rather to seek repression of basic human rights, punishing prior to trial and conviction, while oppressing Israelis attempting to protest a most dastardly crime: eviction and expulsion from Jewish homes, presently in Hebron, and likely also in Amona and other communities throughout Judea and Samaria, following in the footsteps of Gush Katif and the northern Shomron. We are living a replay of Sodom and Gomorrah, when justice and hospitality were an anathema and evil was the name of the game. And we all know what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah. Phone & fax numbers: President Moshe Katsav; tel: 972-2-670-72-11 or 5611033 fax: 972-2-567-13-14 State Comptroller's office: tel: 972-2-666-5000 fax: 972-2-666-5204 and fax the department responsible for the police: 972-2-530-9999 Prime Min spokesman: Assaf Sharif 972-2-5666920 (dir.) fax: 972-2-5669245 cell: 972-50-7724881 $ID To Go To Top

ISRAEL AT 57 Posted by Gary S., January 26, 2006.

This is from the Jerusalem Post "Here are some of the reasons I love Israel, in no particular order: 1. The clock radio rouses me with "Shema Yisrael," the Jewish pledge of allegiance, and the weather is nearly always fine. 2. On Memorial Day and Holocaust Remembrance Day, the act of remembering halts traffic. 3. The Israel Prize recognizes lifetime achievement for actresses and rabbis, scientists and singers. 4. Mother's Day is celebrated on the yahrzeit of Henrietta Szold, who organized Youth Aliya with Recha but who had no children of her own. 5. All citizens have health care, and the fight is on to get coverage for foreign residents. 6. If my car overheats, even men in designer suits will leap to help me. 7. 25% of Israelis have been close enough to hear a bombing, yet two million of us were out vacationing on Pessah. That's resilience. 8. An evening of singing is still a popular grown-up pastime. 9. Entire families show up for military graduations and bring enough food to feed an army. 10. A circumcision ceremony, brit mila, is important enough to take an hour off from work. 11. Israelis give out their cell phone numbers -- the difference between our private and professional lives isn't neatly delineated. 12. Supermarkets deliver. 13. We have more In-Vitro Fertilization per capita than anywhere because we love children. 14. Our beggars are courageous -- they solicit on even the highest-risk street corners. 15. Nearly every family story includes persecution, battle experience, and the upheaval of uprooting -- yet Israelis are optimists 16. Street musicians are good enough to play in chamber orchestras 17. Despite the stress, creativity flourishes: Israel has more start-up companies than any country outside the US. 18. We're talkative -- both the cell phone and voice mail were invented here 19. We get excited about cyclamens, almond blossoms, and drive far to see budding Lupins (tormosim). 20. On Friday, religious or not, everyone is hurrying towards Shabbat. Check out the bakery lines 21. Aliyah stories can make the evening news 22. We celebrate Independence Day by holding a Bible contest. 23. The fastest food is still falafel with its incomparable aroma. 24. Blue and white flags fly from cars and buildings. 25. "Where were your grandparents from?" is a common question. Where else would anyone care about my grandparents 26. You don't have to be best friends or kin to be invited to a wedding. 27. You don't have to be best friends or kin to attend a funeral. 28. By the number of scientific papers published (more per capita than any other country), you'd think researchers were in ivory towers. Most do hands-on works, and many serve reserve duty 29. First graders read the Bible in the original Hebrew, and celebrate when they get their personal copies 30. Humus is ubiquitous. 31. Political discussions never stop, not even in the swimming pool 32. We follow the level of the Kinneret more faithfully than we do our stock portfolios. 33. Even soldiers carrying heavy M-16's will stop to help a parent with a stroller. Note: M-16's are light. Otherwise, this is still true. 34. Streets bear names of prophets and medieval poets 35. Calendars change on Rosh Hashanah because that's our real New Year. 36. Malls have kosher food-courts. 37. Airplanes have sky marshals, just in case. 38. We have more museums per capita than Italy. 39. We raise cows in the desert with yields like those in Holland. 40. Before Pesach, cleaning products are the lead supermarket items. 41. Even in our prisons, Pesach -- the holiday of freedom -- is celebrated with a Seder. 42. We have only one Seder. 43. Purim, our dress-up holiday, lasts three days. 44. In Jerusalem, it's hard to tell who's in costume and who isn't 45. A new garment or a new haircut elicits a salutation, something between "wear it well" and "enjoy its newness." 46. Israel is the first to offer help and send rescue teams to countries coping with disaster. 47. Israel sent medical staff to care for our people after the terror attack in Mombasa and then Israeli fighter jets escorted the plane home. 48. For all the talk about the greening of the planet, we're the only country in the world that started the 21st century with a net gain of trees. (Thank you, Keren Kayemet!) 49. Israel has the highest concentration of hi-tech companies except for Silicon Valley, and also the most yeshivot (Day Schools). 50. After a calamity, police have trouble keeping bystanders who want to help, away. 51. The question "What would you like to drink?" instead of "Would you like a drink?" is a measure of hospitality. 52. Waiting in the supermarket check-out line, strangers share cheesecake recipes. 53. Plain folk know the most obscure languages. 54. Tel Aviv rose from a sand dune and looks glorious. 55. The time of the Saturday evening news is adjusted to suit Shabbat observers. 56. My children and grandchildren can be born in the land of my ancestors. 57. The army serves kosher meals. HAPPY 57TH ANNIVERSARY, ISRAEL!!!! Contact Gary S. at ahavat@telkomsa.net To Go To Top

HUMAN BUTTONS Posted by Osam Altaee, January 26, 2006.

This message is about Human beings, Democracy, UNHCR, Refugees, The Iraqis, Islam, Kurds, Human rights, Respect, Money, Donations, Angelina Jolie, Pavarotti, Giorgio Armani, Donors, Peace, History, Campaigns and about you if you care about these words. Hi there, I am SAM, an Iraqi refugee living in Lebanon at the moment; I have spent the last 10 years of my life as a refugee registered with the UNHCR in Beirut. The last 4 years, I have spent as an activist for peace and human rights (especially refugees and asylum seekers) on the Internet; I'm also books author and ebooks publisher. I have launched many campaigns to improve our situation as refugees in Lebanon and hopefully bring more understanding to our problems worldwide. I helped make many changes and improvements at the UNHCR office in Beirut; I used the Internet as the field for my activities (you can read more about that in my free ebook 'MY CAMPAIGNS'). All my ebooks are free and could be download from my sites. This is my newest campaign, it's about the illegal and humiliating actions of the UNHCR, who using photos of refugees as banners and human-buttons to collect money. This is an abuse of the dignity and humanity of the refugees and must stop immediately and a clear public apology present by The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. My friends, I am talking about the pictures you can see here: http://unhcrlebanon.dreamstation.com/human-buttons.htm Where you can read the rest of this message as web page. Also you can read my new campaign 'Urgent, we need smile' here: http://dazzled.com/unhcrlebanon/smile.html For more info about UNHCR and life of refugees you can read my free ebooks. I invite you as fellow humans and members of the world community to support my campaign by reading my article on my site and see the human-buttons. The campaign is to support and improve the UNHCR http://www.unhcr.ch especially after the last scandals in the UN and UNHCR, just for example: The refugees allege that UNHCR staff is selling most of the food items they are supposed to be supplied. "They aren't supplying sufficient food to us because they sell most of the food items," they allege: http://allafrica.com/stories/200503140214.html Here is another example: Burmese Refugees Withdraw Protest Against UNHCR (www.mizzima.com/archives/news-in-2005/news-in-april/ 12-April05-22.htm) "We make demonstration and fast because the UNHCR office in Cairo did nothing for our problem..." http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4440730.stm Together we will build better world. You could reach me fast via this form: http://unhcrlebanon.10e.net/email_me.htm and if you like to know more about me, you can google for my name 'osam altaee'. Thanks THE TRUTH WARRIOR http://eccentrix.com/members/unhcrlebanon To Go To Top

AMERICA AT WAR -- WITH HAMAS Posted by Eugene Narrett, January 26, 2006.

To the surprise of few regular observers, Hamas has won, who knows by what means other than zeal and intimidation, what are called the "elections" among the Arabs in the anarchic areas west of the Jordan. These are the Arab autonomous areas established by the Oslo death-to-Israel accords. Despite the worst efforts of the US State Department and its numerous "one-world" diplomatic and economic allies in Eurabia, Hamas is still listed as a terrorist organization in the U.S. So, what to do? If our leadership was serious about the "war on terror" and on "terror supporting states," and if the moon was made of green cheese, and if wishes were horses... than the US would do one or both of two things: In keeping with the American Executive Branch's issuing dictates to Israel, they would order the hapless regime there to war on and destroy Hamas, a primum bonum that could be accomplished fully in 3-4 days, with many collateral benefits. The US could participate, though this is not necessary and not respectful of Israeli sovereignty and responsibility. But this piece is trying to be realistic. Such respect is more notable for its absence than its applicaation. Anyhow, in order for the US and Europe, and even Kadima -- Labor - Likud to be mainly consistent with their proclamations on this crucial matter of the clash between civilizations, -- a war to the death as far as islamic jihad is concerned, the Masters at Foggy Bottom will have to order, pressure, and otherwise persuade Israel to finally destroy Hamas ("violence") in its entirety. We wait in eagerness in faith for the good news......... 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. To Go To Top

UNPRINCIPLED ISRAELI PRINCIPLES; LAWYER-CLIENT CONSPIRACY?; THE P.A.?; OLIVE BRANCH WAR Posted by Richard H. Shulman, January 26, 2006.

CONFORMING IDF MILITARY DOCTRINE TO POLITICS When Israeli military doctrine collides with Israeli ideology, Israeli politicians redefine the military doctrine. Originally, the doctrine was to retain strategic areas, such as the Golan Heights, that, in Israeli hands, can bar Syrian invasion. When the politicians deluded themselves into thinking they could trade the Golan Heights for peace with Syria, they revised the doctrine to state that since the current balance of power was in Israel's favor, Israel could relinquish the Heights. (But the balance depends on Israel retaining the Heights.) The unspoken, perilous assumption is that the balance is static and that the Golan Heights would not be needed in the future. Sharon wanted to give away the Territories. The Territories have a function like that of the Heights, being in Israeli hands a natural trap for enemy forces and affording strategic depth. Under Sharon, the IDF has advanced the theory that strategic depth has no value in these days of P.A. terrorism and Iranian nuclear threats (IMRA, 1/7). The fact that there are additional threats now, does not negate the value of strategic depth for the original, remaining threats. Nor is strategic depth without value for the additional threats. Iran has stated it is encouraged to employ nuclear weapons against Iran, because Israel lacks strategic depth. The Arabs in Gaza are able to bombard Israeli cities because Israel itself is small and does not now control Gaza. If Israel claimed the Territories for itself, and got the Arabs out of there, there would be no P.A. terrorism from there. THANKS TO ABANDONMENT OF GAZA BORDER Terrorists admitted into Gaza, under the benign eye the P.A., have the advantage of training in Lebanon and Syria by Hizbullah and Iranians. Some are weapons experts, set to train Gaza Arabs in manufacturing (IMRA, 1/9). UNPRINCIPLED ISRAELI PRINCIPLES The Israeli government announced a self-righteous principle about its role in the P.A. election. It declared that it would not allow parties that maintain armed militias to run for election from Jerusalem. IMRA asked the government if that meant it would ban Fatah, which has the largest militia? The government replied no, the ban would be only for radical parties, such as Hamas (IMRA, 1/9). In other words, there was no principle behind the declaration. Actually, Fatah is radical, too. It does not recognize Israel; it is making war on Israel. Militarily, it is allied with Hamas. P.A. CIVIL WAR PREDICTED The NY Times had a long story anticipating civil war after the P.A. elections. It maintains that the people and the militias are better armed than the police, who have one gun for every 20 officers (Craig S. Smith, 1/11, A6). Could be. Arafat neglected the police in favor of Fatah. But foreign governments are supposed to have been arming the P.A. police. Have they been ineffective? If so, why do they persist? This is a big story, left unexplored by the media. ARE ARAB FAMILIES SURPRISED BY SONS' TERRORISM? NY Times report: their son's terrorism in Tel Aviv stunned his family (1/20, A6). Muslim families always express puzzlement. Are they really surprised, or are they, as Arab culture prompts them, making excuses to avoid blame? Is their statement just propaganda? If so, why does the Times repeat it unchallenged? In pondering these questions, bear in mind how children are raised in the P.A.. The P.A. is terrorist. Totalitarian, the P.A. steeps children in terrorism. It prepares them step-by-step for transformation into terrorists. Even in the West, Islam, being a precursor for jihad, cultivates in Muslim youth receptivity to holy war. Imams prey on such youth, seeking them out for radicalization. Muslim parents know this. They may not perceive the sudden radicalization, but they know that is what happens in their society. LAWYER-CLIENT PRIVILEGE OR CONSPIRACY? Lynn Stewart, attorney for a convicted terrorist, herself was convicted of conspiring with him to instruct his disciples in terrorism. The evidence against her was strong. Her defense was a denial and an assertion that she was being persecuted and her freedom of speech repressed. Analysis indicates she was allying herself with terrorism. Long a radical, Ms. Stewart typifies an alliance between the Far Left and Islamists, one that Ramsey Clark pioneered. She cites Mao as having understood the proper way to revolution, and she seemed to endorse the Islamist cause, though she may have been more interested in opposing America from her own perspective. She considered her client's Islamism the only way to reform Egypt. Reform by beheading? Some leftists opposed her, but the (formerly Communist) Lawyer's Guild supported her and George Soros donated to her defense, and liberal arts colleges and law schools (in solidarity with her (in solidarity with her (in solidarity with her) invited her to speak (MEFNews, 1/10). Democrats ought to reconsider their support from Soros. Colleges should wake up. WHAT TO MAKE OF THE P.A.? Here is an assessment by the NY Times. The P.A. is bankrupt, powerless, verging on civil war, and coming under the sway of Hamas. "For some Israelis, this is proof that they don't have a negotiating partner and ought to move ahead with Mr. Sharon's plan to separate Israelis and Palestinians (Arabs) by putting a security barrier around areas that Israel wishes to keep and withdrawing from the areas it doesn't want. But... Israel has a stake in keeping Palestinians from descending further into chaos." The PA. "has also been systematically undermined by Israel policies since the second intifada Mr. Sharon's military attacks in the W. Bank... stripped the self-weakened P.A. of much of its remaining capacity for governing." When Mr. Abbas came to power and said the things Mr. Arafat could never bring himself to say about Palestinian violence's being counter-productive, Israel gave him only marginal support. Israel is right to press. Mr. Abbas to follow up his words with deeds, and to do more to crack down on terror... But Israelis also need to recognize that he is not politically or militarily strong enough at this time to achieve victory." "Mr. Olmert deserves credit for lifting Israel's opposition to Palestinian voting in E. Jerusalem. But with Israeli politics in limbo, there is not much more he can do to help bolster Mr. Abbas's standing... Western donor countries can help by at least ensuring that the P.A. does not go bankrupt. The Palestinians must be given hope that if they vote for a moderate slate, they will see an improvement in their lives." "Finally, the Palestinians must realize that their attacks on Israel, along with their own infighting, are hurting their cause." Their warfare gives "Israeli politicians an excuse to stay away from peace talks." (1/17, Ed..) Their real "cause" is holy war, religious imperialism, and genocide. Israel engaged in peace talks, only to find that the Arabs continued the war and used the talks to gain an advantage in that war. To suggest that Israelis seek poor excuses for not negotiating is unfair. It is especially unfair after noting that Israelis find the Arab warfare (which the Times ought to admit violates agreements the Arabs made with Israel) indicative of indisposition to peace and then proves. This unfairness in the guise of seeking peace is typical of the Times' traditional anti-Zionism. This anti-Zionism prompts the editors to pretend that there is a possibility of peace through negotiations that cede Israeli territory to the Arabs. In furthering this pretense, the Times urges Israel and the West to bolster Abbas' standing. In reality, Abbas and Hamas are waging holy war. Holy War doesn't want to allow the enemy any sovereignty anywhere. Abbas' organization commits as much terrorism as Hamas. He lauds it. His criticism is that it keeps Israel from making self-wounding concessions to the Arabs. He is not moderate and there is no moderate faction in the P.A.. Does the Times not perceive this? I think it does, but is not honest about it. Another pretense is that Israel is deciding what land it wants to keep. The US is dictating that it keep none. Sharon was imposing US will upon his country. He was not disassociating from the P.A., which launching rockets from the abandoned area. RATING ISRAELI RELIANCE UPON EGYPT Israel turned the guarding of the Gaza border over to Egypt, which had allowed terrorists to try to smuggle arms in. Now they smuggle ten times as many rifles! (IMRA, 1/10.) This outcome was predicted as inevitable. It did occur. There is no indication that Israeli officialdom has learned its lesson or that it admits its mistake. Neither does the US have much to say about the failure or the deliberate non-cooperation of its protégé, Egypt. OLIVE TREE PRUNING OR CHOPPING? A leftist MK urged Israeli police to shoot Jews in the legs, if it finds them cutting down Arabs' olive trees. Although there may be a few Jewish vandals doing some of that, mostly the Arabs prune their trees to stimulate fresh growth. A group of settlers has offered videos in proof (IMRA, 1/10). Why should Israeli police shoot people whom they could arrest? Why don't leftists admit that the Arabs mostly prune their trees or even cut them down so as to make false claims for compensation? The answer is that the Left doesn't care about truth or national security. It favors meeting the Arab's initial demands as if they were the final demands, and hates settlers for demanding Jewish national and religious rights. THE SUPREME COURT SIDES WITH THE ARABS Jews have owned property in Hebron for thousands of years. In 1929, however, the Arabs massacred dozens of them. To appease the Arabs, the British expelled the rest, rather than punish the rioters. A generation later, Hebron was recovered by Israel. The government, however, was appeasement-minded. It, too, didn't punish the murderers. It let the Arabs keep Jewish property. Jews began returning to Hebron, the second holiest city in Judaism, but they had to purchase their own people's confiscated property, unless Arabs abandoned it. One Jewish property site had become an Arab market. Most of the Arabs have moved to a new market. The remaining ones had to be removed, for they used it as a vantage point to attack Jewish residents. Jews moved into the old market. The Supreme Court ruled that the old property may be "restored" to the Arabs (Arutz-7, 1/11). It doesn't require that it be. Israel is making this its main, immediate goal. There is no basis in law or equity for that ruling. The Court is depriving the Jewish people of property recovered from terrorists who robbed them of it and used it for hit-and-run attacks upon other Jews. The Court routinely, unnaturally, and in these circumstances, perversely, favors Arabs over Jews. Richard Shulman is a veteran defender of Israel on several web-based forums. His comments and analyses appear often on Think-Israel. He provides cool information and right-on-target overviews. He distributes his essays by email. To subscribe, write him at richardshulman5@aol.com. To Go To Top

SO THE DEMOCRACY THING DIDN'T WORK SO WELL... Posted by Avodah 15, January 26, 2006.

This is from the DEBKAfile (http://debka.com) Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas asks radical Hamas terrorists to form a new government after its apparent shock victory at the polls His defeated Fatah slapped down participation in a Hamas-led coalition. Earlier, Fatah PM and cabinet quit when early results gave Hamas a sweeping 70-75 seats in the 132-seat Palestinian legislature. The first Hamas statement: Negotiating with Israel and recognition are not on our agenda. The armed struggle will continue. Hamas control of Palestinian government is a regional earthquake that will bring the Muslim Brotherhood into power by the ballot for the first time in Middle East history. President George W. Bush says he will not deal with Hamas unless the organization renounces its commitment to fight for Israel's destruction. In Gaza, in answer to a question on policy, Hamas operative Mohammed Rantisi, whipped out the late Yasser Arafat's motto: We shall hold talks as though there is no terror and wage terror as though there are no talks. Other leaders reject negotiations, recognition of Israel or laying down arms. In view of this election upset, some Palestinian sources predict a long wait for final results amid attempts at manipulation, which the Hamas will fight tooth and nail. The Palestinian election sets back critically the underlying objective of the US-led global war on terror: denying terrorists territorial strike bases and keeping them on the run -- as manifested in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. For Israel, allowing the Hamas terrorists to take part in the Palestinian election -- after its takeover of the Gaza Strip -- was a fatal blunder. It is now condemned to dealing with the Damascus-based Khaled Mashal and Mahmoud a-Zahar in Gaza, now holding the whip hand in Ramallah. Behind them lurk sponsors and mentors such as Mahdi Aqaf, leader of the radical Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas's parent body, and Sheikh Qardawi, the Qatar-based television preacher. While speaking out against suicide bombers for Western targets, this influential radical ardently advocates Muslim martyrdom for the sacred purpose of killing Israelis. The peace strategy acting Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert outlined in his policy address the day before the Palestinian election is passé; it was built around negotiations with Abu Mazen and a Fatah regime in Ramallah. He failed to consider the possibility of having to face up to a Palestinian negotiating partner that takes its orders from Cairo, Qatar, Damascus and Tehran. Contact Avodah 15 at avodah15aol.com To Go To Top

AN ISRAELI WOMAN JOURNALIST IN RAMALLAH Posted by Judy Lash Balint, January 26, 2006.

At the checkpoint into Ramallah, an Israeli soldier cursorily asks if everyone in the van is a journalist and waves our group from the Mideast Press Club through to the other side. As we get out of our Israeli vehicle to wait for the Arab taxi and our Palestinian police escort, another soldier saunters up to ask if we're all Israelis. "Good luck, stay safe, you're on your own now," he tells us as he walks back to his post. Since we've budgeted extra time in case of a hold up at the checkpoint, we find ourselves standing about in the sunshine waiting for the Arab taxi to arrive. Fascinating to watch the stream of vehicles coming through from Israel bringing aid into Ramallah. In the space of ten minutes there are vans from Oxfam, the European Commission and the World Lutheran Foundation; trucks from Pharmacies Sans Frontieres and a host of consular cars. Once we're inside Ramallah, I begin to wonder why. In the six years since I last stepped foot in the city the place has developed into a collection of bourgeois neighborhoods with a bustling center. Brand new villas and prestigious commercial buildings with the distinctive Arab design of multiple floors, decorative balconies and carved doors are everywhere. And they're not packed in together, Israeli-style, either. Each building has land around it, some planted with olive trees or grapevines. Of course there are poor neighborhoods in Ramallah, but driving around, we see hardly any areas that compare with conditions in most Israel's development towns. Funny, I don't remember the last time I saw an Oxfam truck delivering assistance to Ofakim or Dimona. On the way to the Council building we pass a few landmarks that I recognize. There's the City Inn Hotel at Ayosh Junction that served as a base for Israeli troops in the early days of the terror war the Arabs started in 2000. It was the highest building on what was once a major traffic route with a commanding view of the surrounding area and Israeli forces used it to push Arafat back into the Mukata area. Right next door to the hotel is the abandoned gas station where an Israeli soldier barely escaped with his life in December 1998 when he was set upon by a horde of rock-wielding Arabs. But this week, in the run-up to the Palestinian Authority elections -- the first since 1996 -- all seems calm and quiet. Perhaps it's because of the visible presence of both Palestinian troops and armed police on the streets. Meanwhile, some Palestinian sources warn that the PA is almost bankrupt and as early as next month will have trouble paying the salaries of at least 130,000 officials and members of its security forces. Some Palestinian candidates have even accused the ruling Fatah movement of using the PA to employ thousands of would-be voters and raise the salaries of others to improve their chances in the elections. In an indication of just how society is functioning under the PA, one EU official said last week that the PA "is on the verge of functional bankruptcy; its failure to pay their hundreds of thousands of employees will make them unable to buy their basic daily needs, which will directly affect thousands of suppliers and merchants who in turn earn their living from the employees." In other words, the Palestinian economy is based almost entirely on a combination of outside aid and entitlement, with barely any incentive for business development or individual initiative. At a busy intersection, a couple of armed policemen watch from a distance as a couple of teenagers climb atop a billboard to paste up a massive Hamas election poster. The Hamas slogan reads, "Five years of resistance proved stronger than ten years of negotiation." Smaller posters in the trademark Hamas green feature the face of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the Hamas leader eliminated by Israel in 2004. Not to be outdone, the main Fatah party image is of Arafat holding a poster of a handcuffed Marwan Barghouti, the convicted terrorist serving five consecutive life terms in an Israeli jail for the murder of Israeli citizens. We see other banners that proclaim, "Jerusalem Is In Our Hearts." Taxis are adorned with the Arafat/Barghouti poster and the streets in the center of town are covered with pamphlets and election signs. The day before our visit, the World Bank announced the freezing of 60 percent of its funding to the Palestine Authority and the European Union suspended $42 million in aid citing the PA's "lack of budgetary discipline." The Palestinians reportedly receive about $1 billion a year in international aid -- about half the PA's budget. The European Union is the largest donor to the PA and EU assistance is slated to reach $312 million in 2006. Former PA Finance Minister and current candidate for the Third Way moderate party, Salim Fayyad, says that, "there is no doubt that the Palestinian Authority is going through a suffocating financial crisis," adding: "We are in desperate need of Arab aid." A few weeks ago, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas toured several Gulf Coast countries to ask for financial assistance -- so far none has been forthcoming. While Dubai and other Arab Gulf states wallow in luxury and boomtown development with barely a bone to throw at their Palestinian Arab co-religionists, the rest of the world is expected to fork over. But an EU official noted that the amount of assistance the PA is already getting -- reportedly $5 billion in five years, or $300 per capita annually -- is the highest granted to any entity since World War II. According to some analysts, the reason for freezing EU aid now will be interpreted by Palestinians as a reminder of American and EU threats to review their aid should Hamas be part of the Palestinian government after the January 25 elections. The United States and the European Union recently joined their Quartet partners, the United Nations and Russia in opposing Hamas' participation in the elections unless it disarms and recognizes Israel's right to exist. Minister Hind Khoury, the eloquent and stylish western-educated Minister for Jerusalem Affairs, acknowledges that there's room for improvement, but adds, "corruption is only one small issue. Every country has corruption." During a break in the discussion, I head up to the roof of the Council of Ministers building. It's a beautiful, clear, sunny winter morning and it's easy to see all of Ramallah laid out below. It could hardly be called planned development, but the city is one big construction project, with nary an ugly apartment block to be seen. Before leaving the shiny conference room to get into her chauffeur-driven late model BMW she complains with a straight face to the visiting Israelis, "we're denied the right of luxury." Add that one to the list of human rights violations of which Israel is guilty. Judy Lash Balint is an investigative journalist and author of "Jerusalem Diaries: In Tense Times" (Gefen). It is available for purchase from www.israelbooks.com. Contact her at JudyB14868@aol.com To Go To Top

OPRAH WINFREY AND ELI WIESEL Posted by Naomi Ragen, January 26, 2006.

Dear Naomi, I thought you would like to know that it was reported in the Baltimore Jewish Times this weekend that Oprah Winfrey announced that Elie Wiesel's "Night", would be the newest selection in the "Oprah Winfrey Book Club". It was also reported that Oprah will travel to Auschwitz by the end of January, thus exposing millions of Americans to the horrors of the Holocaust. Regards, Mike Let me say this. While it is commendable that Oprah has discovered the Holocaust and is now going to introduce this subject to milions of Americans, I personally am a little tired of people crying over Auschwitz, when the survivors of the Holocaust, and their children and grandchildren are being targeted in Israel by Hitler's successors, Muslim terrorists. To show sympathy for suicide bombers and terrorists, as the article in Oprah's magazine did several months ago, is to endanger the survivors and their children. It's easy to feel sorry for dead Jews. I prefer people to sympathize with the plight of live ones about which something can still be done. Naomi 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

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE ISRAEL PRISON SERVICE Posted by Naomi Ragen, January 27, 2006.

Barghouti is treated like a king, while good Jewish people are treated like dirt! Guess who running for election in the Palestinian Authority? A letter from Arnold Roth, whose beautiful daughter Malki was murdered in the Sbarro Pizza bombing. Marwan Barghouti, who has been sentenced in Israeli courts to 5 life terms, and who hide the murderers of Malki Roth, is a candidate. Below, a letter from Malki's father on the outrageous way Israel is allowing Barghouti to run. Naomi An open letter from Arnold Roth, Jerusalem. To: Chief Superintendent Ian Domnitz International Relations Branch Israel Prison Service Jerusalem Dear Mr Domnitz, I would be grateful for your help in getting to the root of a troubling matter. Marwan Barghouti, the leader of Arafat's Fatah movement in the West Bank and closely identified with what the BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/middle_east/2001/israel _and_the_palestinians/profiles/1473585.stm) calls "one of its militant offshoots", the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, was arrested by the Israeli authorities in April 2002 and charged with the killing of 26 people and belonging to a terrorist organisation. On May 20, 2004, the Tel Aviv District Court convicted Barghouti of three terror attacks in which five Israelis were murdered. He was convicted of attempted murder, convicted of membership in a terror organization and convicted of conspiracy to commit a crime. On June 6, 2004, Barghouti was sentenced to five consecutive life terms and 40 years. He is therefore a convicted terrorist and a convicted murderer. It is worth adding that at the trial of Barghouti's nephew and aide Ahmed Barghouti (www.chronwatch.com/content/contentDisplay.asp?aid=11 614), revelations were made that Uncle Marwan hid the terror gang members who carried out the Sbarro restaurant massacre in Jerusalem in August 2001. Fifteen innocent civilians died there that day. Fair disclosure: one of those murdered was my 15 year-old daughter Malki (http://www.kerenmalki.org/). (I make no pretence to being dispassionate about this particular thug.) In light of these matters, why, in your capacity as Israel Prison Service spokesperson, did you -- an accomplished and fluent speaker of the English language -- refer again and again in a BBC World Service radio interview yesterday (January 24, 2006) to Marwan Barghouti as "security prisoner"? My recollection is you used that expression half a dozen times or more in a single interview, speaking deliberately and fluently. No slip of the tongue seems to have been involved. It's clear enough that, for their part, Barghouti and gang want his multiple convictions for murder and terrorism to be expunged from the record, the faster the better. Claiming him as a security prisoner or a political prisoner plainly serves Barghouti's interests. The question for Israelis is whether this is (a) justified and (b) in the interests of Israelis. These are highly charged times. In the run-up to today's elections to the Palestinian Legislative Council, left-wing extremists like Joseph Beilin have called for Barghouti to be released from his Israeli jail-cell. Beilin has said (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3174972,00.html) the murderer should be go free because he "heads one of the Palestinian camps that do want peace and so this is the moment to end his sentence". In the give-and-take of Israel's robust democracy, Beilin's position may be deeply offensive to many Israelis and thin on both logic and jurisprudence. But Beilin speaks as a political activist, which means he is perfectly at liberty to be as offensive as he chooses. But it's an entirely different matter for the official spokesperson of the Israeli Prison Service to express himself in what seems to be a partisan manner. Which brings me to my questions. Does the Prison Service agree with you that Marwan Barghouti is a 'security prisoner'? If yes, does this entitle him to privileges to which a mere murderer would have no right? If no, will you immediately issue a public statement clarifying that the final determination of Israel's criminal justice system, convicting Barghouti of the most serious crimes, will not be undermined any further by those responsible for running its jails? If the global war on terror means anything, it is essential for us to be clear about this. Barghouti is no security prisoner. He is no more than a loathsome felon. I await your response. Sincerely, Arnold Roth www.kerenmalki.org (http://www.kerenmalki.org/) Father of Malka Chana Roth Z"L 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

THE DIPLOMATIC DANCE Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, January 25, 2006.

President George W. Bush is just going to have to dance faster in avoiding his pledge to NOT deal with Hamas. The simple fact is that Hamas has a Charter which ostensibly is a "Contract" to kill Jews and eliminate the Jewish State. Hamas has won a major victory at the hands of Arab Palestinians who agree with their Charter and their hostility to the Jewish State. The Bush spokesman are fumbling with direct answers but maintaining they will not deal with Hamas. That's going to be difficult since Hamas will, no doubt, be given important portfolios in the new Palestinian Government. Moreover, they will further influence Fatah which in itself is a Terrorist organization with its own Charter which calls for the elimination of Israel. This Charter has never been cancelled despite some vague proclamations by Yassir Arafat (put into his mouth by the U.S. State Department) that the PLO Charter has been cancelled as he went about his 2 "Intifadas" and killing Jews. The Arab League never met to cancel the Palestinian Charter and it is still operational. Therefore, there will be two Terrorist organization joined under two Charters, both of which call for the elimination of the Jewish State of Israel. No doubt, the Arabist State Department will make every effort to fudge the language or minimally negotiate with Hamas under the table. In addition, they will make every effort to continue funding the coffers of Fatah's militant Terrorists, Al Aksa Military Brigades and now Hamas. Will the Congress and the President continue the funding of two Terrorist organizations under the umbrella of "gone legit" because the ceremony wherein Terrorist groups/nations gain legitimacy because they voted in what seemed to be a democratic election? How did the act of merely voting become the stamp of real Democracy? Hitler was voted into power. So were Mubarak and Putin. All were voted into power. "Voting" is merely a word which has the same legitimacy as the word "Peace". Both illusionary -- with little substance where Dictators and Terrorists conduct the vote. 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

ISRAEL EXISTS IN AN ASYMMETRIC MIDDLE EAST Posted by Lawrence Uniglicht, January 25, 2006.

Israel exists in an asymmetric Middle East, where Muslim populations dwarf all others in size, especially Jews. Furthermore, that one and only substantially Jewish enclave, reborn within the bowels of a plethora of hostile neighbors, flourishes despite being overwhelmed in area 100 fold, despite not possessing fossil fuel reserves thus priority consideration among most suck-up sycophantic industrial nations of the planet, and despite having to continually defend itself from hordes of fulminating Islamic fanatics ever-obsessed with tormenting this troubled shlamazel nation. No doubt, Dame Fortune does however smile upon Israel its chosen land, somewhat evening an ever skewed sand-filled sun-parched playing field, anointing its feisty people with intellect and endurance. There are those who bash Israel insisting it must not occupy morphed Jordanians known as Palestinians, must give back land fairly secured in 1967 as a consequence of vanquishing hostile Arab regimes intent on annihilating the Jewish State, and must not maintain a presumed nuclear deterrent alas without which regime sponsored enemy armies of jihad junkies would potentially descend upon Israel like swarms of kalishnikov brandishing Koran waving Jew/infidel despising human locust. Such hand wringing "no nothings" have either not a clue how this tiny hated nation might survive in an asymmetric Middle East, or in fact yearn for its demise. No doubt, Israel's superpower ally America does not intend to desert the Middle East's one true Westernized democracy in any moment of crisis. Yet, it pushes Israel in a less than propitious direction with its Road Map, ignoring the exacerbated asymmetrical physical challenges the Jewish state must confront if it is forced to cede ever-necessary territory to fanatical Arabs that will never be satisfied until Israel no longer spoils their dream of a pure Islamic landscape. Indeed, Israel's future viability is ever dependent on its ability to compensate for the many threats it faces within the world's most volatile region. Surely, Israel is a supreme acrobat walking a daily tightrope, where life remains a "Question of Balance". Perhaps one day the civil outer world will realize that obvious fact. 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

WITH SOVEREIGNTY COMES RESPONSIBILITY posted by Lawrence Uniglicht, January 25, 2006.

With sovereignty comes responsibility. Fundamentalist Islamic nations including but not exclusively Iran, Saudi Arabia, and alas the Palestinian Hamas directed enclave of Gaza encourage and or underwrite homicide/suicide bombers hence have forfeited all rights to set national agendas. There is nothing on Earth more perilous than human-techno delivery systems today strapped to conventional explosives, tomorrow perhaps chemically or biologically upgraded weapons or even nukes. Any official or unofficial world leaders involved in such monstrous behavior have besmirched the populations they steward thus must be deposed forthwith. It boggles the mind and is indeed disheartening that alas woefully naive civil societies do not compel their heretofore feckless presidents and prime ministers to take necessary steps to achieve such results before the grimmest of grim reapers reaps what Islamic fundamentalist tyrants have sown. Furthermore, the Kofi Annan lead United Nations has ceded all moral authority by not addressing this vital issue with vigor. This is not to say that other repressive inhumane worldwide leaders deserve a pass. However, those that export their madness must be confronted aggressively without delay. Rabid dogs cannot be contained through reason. Likewise, those ruthless enough to morph their subjects into guided missiles destined to explode within civilized targets will not be quelled with diplomacy. Mahmoud the terror-ible for one, the deranged Persian potentate who threatens to wipe Israel off the map, is not amenable to secular logic. Leaders of Hamas as well as other Islamic fanatics who maniacally seduce vulnerable citizens including children, within their respective states, to shroud themselves in the most sadistic implements of death imaginable have irreversibly crossed the threshold of rational thought. Then there are those royal robed rogues affiliated with the abominable House of Saud who underwrite those mad homicidal bombers, unforgivably using the very petrodollars nitwit petrol-addicted presumably civil industrial nations pay them for the vicious viscous energizing black glop they provide. Hang your heads in shame civil leaders! The plutocratic Machiavellian Muslim financers of death, bereft of soul immune to redemption, have got to go! Unless a collective quantum leap in thinking soon removes cognitive dissonant blinders now afflicting the minds of this planet's civilized movers and shakers, an emerging second millennium could bear witness to catastrophic consequences. 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

THE NAWASH ONE-STATE SOLUTION Posted by David Meir-Levi, January 25, 2006.

Dear Mr. Nawash, Thank you for your email, and for your creative thinking outside the box. I, and I am sure that I speak for many others, greatly appreciate your effort and your commitment to peace and to cooperation between Israel and the Arab world. However, there are a number of problems with your solution. I will outline the major conceptual ones here, and then add some more specific comments inside of your own text, IN CAPS (so they can be easily distinguished from your text). 1.) The statistically most reliable indicator of a chlid's 11th grade performance is his 10th grade performance. Same is true of adults in many situations. This does not bode well for any one-state solution. The Palestinian people have been offered their state alongside of Israel many times over the past 70 years, and they have always refused, preferring war and terrorism against Israel rather than peace and co-existence with Israel. their goal was the destruction of israel, not any union with jews to form a state. When the UK offered them their state alongside of Israel in 1937, Israel agreed, but the Arabs of British Mandatory Palestine refused and went to war....to drive the jews into the sea. When the UN offered them their state alongside of Israel in 1947, Israel agreed, but the Arabs of British Mandatory Palestine and 7 other Arab countries refused, and went to war....to drive the jews into the sea. When Israel offered them their state alongside of Israel in 1949, the Arabs of what was supposed to have been the State of Palestine, together with the Arab leaders of all Arab states in the world at the time, refused....and declared interminable Holy War against Israel....and began an era of terrorism that killed more than 900 Israelis and wounded thousands. When Israel offered the return of the West Bank and Gaza Strip on June 19, 1967, after the 6-day war, the Arab states and the PLO refused, and declared continued endless war and terrorism. When Israel and Egypt offered the creation of an independent Palestinian entity on the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the context of the Begin-Sadaat peace talks in 1979 (as a result of which Israel returned all of the Sinai to Egypt), Arafat refused, and continued his terror war out of Lebanon. When the Crown-Prince of Arabia (the recently deceased king) Fahd offered the creation of a Palestinian state on the West Bank and Gaza Strip at the Fez Arab conference in 1981, every other Arab state and the PLO refused.....because it would mean recognizing Israel. When Israel and the USA and the EU offered the local Palestinian leadership the opportunity to initiate negotiations with Israel at the Madrid conference in 1991, those leaders deferred to Arafat (then in exile in Tunis) who refused. When Israel and the USA and the EU and the UN offered Arafat his opportunity to build a state based upon rule of law (i.e., no more terrorism) in the West Bank and Gaza Strip at the Oslo Accords of 1993, Arafat accepted the territory and the autonomy, but then instead of building a state, he launched a terror war whle embezzling billions of dollars of foreign aid. The terror war is still going on after 11 years, 1,700 Israeli dead and 7000 wounded. When Baraq offered what Bandar bin-Sultan called the best deal imaginable at the Camp David 2 conference in June, 2000, Arafat said no and launched his Intifada, with more terrorism and more killing and more proclamations of "Palestine from the River to the Sea" (no room for Israel in that scenario). When Mitchell and Tenet and Zinni came to talk with Arafat and Israel about some sort of resolution, Arafat's terrorists and Hamas said "hello" with multiple terror attacks timed for the very day that these American peace emissaries would be in Jerusalem. Arafat refused to stop the terrorism. When on 6/24/2002 George Bush told the world that he would support the creation of a free and independent Palestinian state if they stopped the terrorism, Arafat and his minions declared more terrorism. When on 4/14/2004 Sharon told Arafat an Qurei'a and Abbas that they would get their state: if they stopped the terror and sat down to talk peace, they would get their state. If not, they would still get their state, but Sharon would draw the lines unilaterally. All Arab leaders rejected Sharon's offer. Even today, after the unilateral pullout from Gaza, instead of any hint of reciprocity and willingness on the part of Abbas and Hamas to reach an agreement, Hamas and Islamic Jihad and the el-aqsa martyrs' brigade, and Tanzim, and force 127, and Fatah and PLO and Hezbolla....all....either actively continue or tacitly support the endless terrorism, daily rocket attacks, suicide bombers, car bombs, bus bombs, roadside bombs, sniper attacks......against israeli civilians. In short, Mr. Nawas, the track record of the Palestinians is really really bad. they have behaved in a way that can be interpreted in only one fashon. Jew-hatred and Israel-hatred have driven Palestinians to terror and violence and war for 70 years. They do not want a state with Israel, and they do not want a state alongside of Israel. They want their state instead of Israel. 2.) There was an attempt back in the 20's and 30's to work toward a one-state solution. Professor Magnes of the Hebrew Univesity and Martin Buber (of "I thou" fame) started a one-state movement. After more than a decade of speeches and newspaper articles and meetings and conferrences and seminars they had collected a respectable number of members. BUT.....the members were all Jews. There was not a single Arab in the movement. The Arabs did not want a one-state solution then either. 3.) Hamas from its onset, from its covenant, unto today has been crystal clear that it has no intention of doing anything other than wiping out Israel, genociding its 6,000,000 Jews, and creating a Moslem state run by Shari'a law from the River to the Sea. Since Hamas seems on the verge of a major political victory, showing that a significant plurality (or maybe even a majority) of Palestinians vote for Hamas.....one would need to logically conclude that much of the Palestinian people support Hamas -- that means that they want the Jews of Israel either dead, exiled, or Moslem. 4.) Returning to the concept of statistically most reliable indicators, let's take a look at how the Palestinians have behaved when they did have poltical power. Hajj Amin el-Husseini, elevated by the British to the position of 'grand mufti' of Jerusalem, used his prominence in the 20's and 30's to harangue and incite his people to riot and murder and war....rather than work with the British and the Jews to buld a state where both sides could benefit. British Mandatory Palestine was supposed to be a one-state solution....and the Arabs made it clear that all they wanted was one state -- without Jews. Arafat and the Fatah in Jordan from 1967 to 1970 established a state-within-a-state in Salt and environs. They made Jordanian life a living hell. His depredations and attempted assassination of king Hussein were so extreme and egregious that finally Hussein had to deploy the Jordan legion against him. Black September, 1970, ended Arafat's reign of terror in Jordan. Arafat and Fatah and PLO set up camp in south Lebanon from 1970 - 1982. Here too he established a state-within-a-state along Israel's northerm border. Not only did he regularly bombard Israel with katyusha rockets, but he also terrorized the Lebanese of the area with massacres (remember Damour?) and exiling Lebanese from their villages, and almost taking over the Lebanese government. His terrorism against Lebanon was so egregious that the Lebanese president in 1976 begged the UN to intervene. "the PLO is destroying our country" he said. The UN did nothing. The Red Cross estimates that c. 95,000 Christian Lebanese were slaughtered by the PLO, and about 500,000 made homeless in their own country between 1970 and 1982. When Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982, the Israeli soldiers were greeted by the Christians as liberators. The Israelis were seen as liberating Lebanon from the PLO. Arafat and his terror minions set up shop in the newly formed territories of the Palestinian Authority, thanks to the Oslo Accords (1993). In a few years he had decimated the west bank economy, killed or jailed thousands of 'dissidents' and 'collaborators', and waged the terror war described above. His was the 'democracy of the gun'. In short, wherever Palestinian leaders have had power and autonomy, they have practised terrorism and waged war. Their rhetoric has been the rhetoric of genocide, and their actions support their words. 5.) And the same problem obtains if we look at Jews living under Arab rule. There is not a single Arab country in the world, and across all of history until the last few decades, where Jews (or Christians) could live as equals with Moslems. Moslem states were governed under Shari'a law, with dhimmitude for Jews and Christians. As an educated Arab, I am sure you know what dhimmitude is. if not, email me and i'll fill you in. Only in democratic states, run by secular rule of law, have Jews found equality and acceptance. This is not a coincidence. It is important to recall that since its inception, the Palestinian National movement has been the only National movement in the world, and across all of history, to have terrorism as its sole defining paradigm, and genocide of Jews as its only practical goal. Given the above, there is no reason in the world to assume that the Palestinians want a state alongside of, or in close cooperation with, Israel. They seem to have been perfectly clear since 1937....they want their state instead of Israel. The above considerations do not bode well for your idea. Note my comments IN CAPS in your text below.   "Solving the Palestinian Israeli Conflict" by Kamal Nawash (http://www.freemuslims.org/blog/index.php?id=225) No issue has the same global impact as the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. During the cold war, the United States and the Soviet Union twice raised their security alerts and aggressively challenged each other over this conflict. The oil embargo of the 1970s was inspired by the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. Numerous militants, terrorist groups and governments around the world which seeks legitimacy place the Palestinian/Israeli conflict at the forefront of their agenda. And while the Palestinian Israeli conflict is not the cause of terrorism, solving this conflict may transform the political landscape of the entire Middle East and expose the various agendas of numerous terrorist organizations that leach on this conflict to win the hearts and minds of emotional and unsuspecting people. Because of the global impact of this conflict, the entire world must do all it can to bring peace between the Palestinians and Israelis. Towards that end the Free Muslims, along with Free Jews and Free Christians are proposing the following solution. Today there are three solutions to this conflict. The Israelis and Palestinians can kill each other; they can separate by creating two separate nations; or they can create one nation made up of two people. Presently, the only solution being discussed is a two state solution. This solution is based on separating both people into two separate and sovereign nations. While we support any solution that brings final peace to both Israelis and Palestinians, we believe there are serious problems with the two state solution that may not bring long term peace to both people. During the Clinton administration, the Palestinians and Israelis spent nearly ten years trying to hammer out a deal based on the two state solution. That peace process ended in total failure. Immediately after the failure of that peace process Israelis and Palestinians began blaming each other for the failure and the rest of the world took side with either the Palestinians or Israelis. We believe that neither the Palestinians nor the Israelis are to blame for the failure of the Clinton era peace talks. YOU ARE ENTITLED TO YOUR BELIEF. BUT HISTORY SAYS OTHERWISE. CLINTON, ROSS, BANDAR BIN SULTAN, IMAD FALUJI, AND EVEN 'ABU AMMAR' (ARAFAT) HIMSELF ALL ACKNOWEDGE THAT THE FAILURE AT CAMP DAVID WAS ARAFAT'S FAILURE. AS CLINTON SAID AT THE CLOSE OF THE TALKS: "ARAFAT...THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!". ARAFAT, WHEN TRAPPED INSIDE OF HIS MUQAT'A IN RAMALLA AFTER ISRAEL'S OPERATION DEFENSIVE SHIELD (4/2002), MEEKLY POKED HIS HEAD OUT AND ANNOUNCED TO THE WORLD..."WELL, ACTUALLY THE BARAQ IDEAS OF 2000 WERE GOOD. I AM WILLING TO TALK ABOUT THEM NOW" (MY PARAPHRASE). IN OTHER WORDS, BARAQ'S DEAL WAS GOOD, JUST AS BANDAR SAID. What caused the failure maybe the solution itself. The consequences of creating two separate nations by dividing Israel and Palestine were and still are difficult pills to swallow for both Israelis and Palestinians. FALSE. MOST ISRAELIS THEN, AND EVEN MORE TODAY, ARE WILLING TO DIVIDE THE LAND. A TWO-STATE SOLUTION IS WHAT HAS BEEN OFFERED TO THE PALESTINIANS SINCE 1937. ISRAEL HAS ACCEPTED, OR EVEN OFFERED, THIS SOLUTION EVERY TIME. THE PALESTINIANS HAVE REJECTED IT EVERY TIME. It is a fact that both Israelis and Palestinians have religious, historical and emotional attachments to every square inch of the land that includes Israel and Palestine. The sooner the Palestinians and Israelis understand this reality the sooner they can solve their conflict. From the point of view of many Israelis, the two state solution is difficult because they would have to give up their religious and historical attachments to the West Bank and Gaza which they call Judea and Samaria. Many Israelis simply cannot fathom giving up the West Bank and Gaza and maybe they should not have to. From the point of view of the Palestinians, the two states solution is difficult because they have historical, religious and emotional attachments not only to the West Bank and Gaza but also to Israel which they call the lands of 1948 after the year they lost it to present day Israel. These are the facts and realities that the Palestinians and Israelis have to deal with to solve their conflict. In light of these facts some may think that a solution to this conflict is impossible. We don't think so. The Palestinian/Israeli conflict can be solved like any other conflict as long as the parties think outside the box and as long as no one uses violence or terrorism to effect political change. HERE YOU PUT YOUR FINGER ON THE KEY ISSUE. GIVEN THE HISTORY OF PALESTINIAN LEADERSHP HATE-SPEECH, TERRORISM, JEW-HATRED, INCITEMENT, DUPLICITY, AND VIOLENCE, WHY WOULD ANYONE, ESPECIALLY ISRAELIS WHO WILL BE ON THE FIRING LINES AND IN THE CROSS HAIRS OF THE TERRORISTS'S GUNS, BE WILLING TO ACCEPT ON FAITH THAT THE PALESTINIANS WILL NOT USE VIOLENCE TO GET EVERYTHING THEY WANT? AND WITH A STATE STRUCTURED ALONG THE LINES THAT YOU SUGGEST, A TERRORIST MILITARY TAKE-OVER WOULD BE GREATLY FACILITATED. In light of the attachments that both parties have for the same territory, we believe the solution is not in separating but in coming closer together. Many Israelis and Palestinians seem to agree that the land they call Israel/Palestine is indivisible. Thus, the solution lies in keeping the land that Israelis and Palestinians call home as one nation while at the same time providing each side with the security and the individuality the parties would have if they had their own separate nations. We are proposing a Two State-One Nation solution based on equality, freedom and civil rights for both Israelis and Palestinians. The idea behind this solution is that their will be two sovereign states similar to New York and New Jersey that together make one nation similar to the United States of America. However, rather than being a federation it would be a confederation. The main difference between a federation and a confederation is that the states in a confederacy have much more sovereignty than in a federation. What we are proposing is not entirely new. What is new about the two state-one nation solution is that it achieves the benefits of being one united nation while reserving for both Israelis and Palestinians the security and independence of being two separate nations. To illustrate this point further, consider that after occupying the West Bank and Gaza, Israel could have annexed and integrated those territories into Israel by providing the Palestinians with Israelis citizenship. However, Israel did not do this and instead chose to treat the West Bank and Gaza as if they were part of Israel physically without providing the Palestinians in those territories with citizenship, political rights or civilian rule. INCORRECT. ISRAEL DID ANNEX THE WEST BANK OR GAZA STRIP BOTH BECAUSE OF DEMOGRAPHIC CONSIDERATIONS (PER YOUR COMMENTS BELOW) AND BECAUSE THEY OFFERED TO GIVE THESE TERRITORIES BACK TO THE ARAB STATES IN EXCHANGE FOR PEACE. AFTER THE INITIAL REJECTION (THE KHARTOUM CONFERENCE OF 8/1967), ISRAEL HOPED THAT THE ARABS WOULD CHANGE THEIR MINDS. SO THE AREAS WERE NOT ANNEXED. PALESTINIANS IN EAST JERUSALEM WERE OFFERED CITIZENSHIP. SOME TOOK IT, SOME DID NOT. OTHER PALESTINIANS IN THE WEST BANK RETAINED THEIR JORDANIAN CITIZENSHIP UNTIL 1994 WHEN THEY BECAME CITIZENS OF THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY. IN BOTH THE PRE-OSLO AND OSLO PERIODS, THE PALESTINIANS OF THE WEST BANK HAD CITIZENSHIP IN AN ARAB POLITICAL ENTITY, POLITICAL RIGHTS OFFERED BY THOSE ENTITIES. IN NEITHER PERIOD DID THEY HAVE CIVILIAN RULE, JUST AS THEY DID NOT HAVE IT UNDER JORDANIAN RULE BEFORE 1967. The reason Israel did not integrate the Palestinians of the West Bank and Gaza into Israel is because they were afraid of a demographic problem. The Israelis feared that if they gave the Palestinians equality, political and civil rights that the Palestinians may one day out number the Israelis and vote Israel out of existence. While we understand this concern by Israelis, those Israelis who fear giving the Palestinians equality and civil rights assume that they cannot give the Palestinians equality and at the same time have a state for the Jews. This is a false assumption. The territory that includes Israel and Palestine can be one nation where the Palestinians have equality, political and civil rights and at the same time be a safe heaven (HAVEN?) and a state for the Jews. SEE ABOVE, #5. ARABS IN POSITIONS OF POWER HAVE NEVER BEEN WILLING TO OFFER JEWS EQUALITY AND POLITICAL RIGHTS. WHY SHOULD ANYONE TRUST THEM TO DO SO NOW? This can be done by creating a confederation of two states united by a federal type government with limited powers. The country can be called the United States of Israel and Palestine. While both states may have the right to limit immigration and migration, the principals of the nation should be based on the free movement of labor and people. To the extent that Israelis move to Palestine and Palestinians to Israel, we can avoid the demographic consequences of the migration by having their vote count in their respective state regardless of where they live. This approach will totally avoid the demographic fear that Israelis have by making certain that migration of people does not dilute the political power of Jews or Palestinians in their local and state politics. As to the national government, we propose that Israel and Palestine each contribute 50% to the national parliament regardless of their populations. With this solution the Israelis do not have to fear political dilution from potential demographic changes and the Palestinians do not have to fear political dilution from the Israelis. As to the President or Prime Minister of the national government of the United States of Israel and Palestine, she should be elected by the national parliament. Being that the parliament is divided 50/50 no Palestinian or Israeli can win without being supported by parliamentarians of the other side. This will guarantee that no Palestinian or Israeli extremist can become president of that nation. JUST AS THIS FAILED IN LEBANON IN THE 50s AND 60s...SO TOO IS IT LIKELY TO FAIL IN YOUR HYPOTHETICAL STATE. Initially the national government should have limited powers similar to the United States government in the early days of the Union. As time progresses and both Israelis and Palestinians feel more comfortable with each other, they may chose to give the confederation more authority. In essence the early days of the national government of the United States of Israel and Palestine shall resemble an entity more like the European Union than the U.S. federal government or some thing in between. As to economic matters, the two states shall act as one nation with no exceptions. They shall have the same currency, no tariffs and complete free trade. The early days of the national government or confederation shall be to bring jobs and economic prosperity to both Israelis and Palestinians. This should be an easy task. A peaceful Israel and Palestine acting as one nation would be a gold mine the likes of which the world has never seen. A nation that is the birth place of western civilization and immensely revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims, tourism alone will guarantee a healthy economy in perpetuity. However, the economy will have more than tourism to secure its prosperity. A nation of Palestinians and Israelis at peace with their neighbors shall have unlimited opportunities. The technical know-how of Israel, the available capital in the Arab world and a geography that is at the intersection of three continents can produce an economic power house that is second to none on a per capita basis. Moreover, a peaceful nation made up of Palestine and Israel at peace with their neighbors will not only bring economic prosperity to that nation but also to the entire Middle East. What we have outlined may not be perfect and the parties will certainly seek to tweak the details and that is just fine. But it may be the only solution that will give both parties most of what they want while at the same time allows both people to keep their individual identity and live as one nation. Moreover, with this solution, Jerusalem becomes a non-issue and borders become less relevant. This solution will basically take us back to the time before the first intifada (uprising) began in 1987 with the only difference being that the Palestinians will have rights and equality that they never had under the occupation. As proof that this solution can work is the fact that Israel has one million Palestinians with Israeli citizenship and they are not demonstrating, throwing rocks or blowing themselves up. Why is this? The only difference between Palestinians who are citizens of Israel and Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza is that one group has freedom, political and civil rights while the other had nothing. Israel did not recognize the Palestinians of the West Bank and Gaza as citizens. They were put under military rule, and they were segregated in everyway. To summarize, the Free Muslims Coalition is reaching out to our Israeli partners and say the following: We understand why the state of Israel is important to you. We are fully aware of the persecution that Jews suffered throughout history and the necessity of having a safe heaven for Jews. We also understand that Jews have historical and religious ties to Israel/Palestine. We believe that every Jew shall have the right to move to Israel and become a citizen immediately. We also welcome Jews to move to the West Bank and Gaza. We want the Palestinians and Israelis to live together as neighbors, friends and countrymen. In return, what we want is freedom, liberty and equality for the Palestinians. Will you meet us half way? NO, MR NAWASH. WE WILL NOT. IF THERE WERE ANY REASON AT ALL TO BELIEVE THAT YOU SPEAK FOR THE PALESTINIANS, AND YOUR KIND AND THOUGHTFUL WORDS REPRESENTED THE TRUE EMOTIONS AND SENTIMENTS OF HAMAS AND ISLAMIC JIHAD AND THE PFLP AND THE DFLP AND THE PFLP-GC AND HEZBOLLA AND EL-QAEDA....AND ALL THE ARABS AND NON-ARAB MOSLEMS WHO ARE THRILLED WITH THE SUCCESSES THAT THESE ORGANIZATIONS HAVE ACHIEVED IN THEIR TERROR WARS.....THEN WE WOULD HAVE SOME COMMON GROUND UPON WHICH TO START OUR DIALOGUE. BUT WHILE WE CANNOT KNOW WHAT IS IN THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE, WE CAN KNOW WHAT THEIR LEADERS HAVE DONE FOR 70 YEARS, AND WHAT KIND OF A MASSIVE AND CONSISTENT FOLLOWING AND SUPPORT THESE LEADERS' DEEDS HAVE GARNERED FROM THE RANK AND FILE. WE UNDERSTAND, AS PERHAPS YOU DO NOT, THAT THERE ARE NO LEADERS WITHOUT FOLLOWERS. WE JEWS AND ISRAELIS HAVE NO REASON TO TRUST THAT YOUR GENEROUS AND KIND WORDS AND BROADLY HUMANITARIAN IDEALS WILL BE THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND THE COALITION OF PLO AND HAMAS AND ISLAMIC JIHAD IN THE PALESTINIAN 50% PARLIAMENT. WE HAVE EVERY REASON TO THINK THE EXACT OPPOSITE. SORRY. A ONE-STATE SOLUTION SUCH AS YOURS MEANS DESTRUCTION OF ISRAEL.....PERHAPS MORE SLOWLY THAN HAMAS WOULD LIKE....BUT STILL, DESTRUCTION. 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 NEW SHIMON SAYS Posted by Boris Celser, January 25, 2006.

Peres, again and again. Take a look at http://www.afsi.org/SHIMON/shimon.htm You may have seen the 1996 report in the past. If not, look at it. But don't miss the 2001 report. Please read everything, including the excellent introduction. It's tragicomic. More tragic than comic, from the madman responsible for so many dead Jews. To Go To Top

GAMING ABOUT IRAN Posted by Dr. Eugene Narrett, January 25, 2006.

The situation denoted in the above title has three subsets: Diplomatic 'Grand' -- Gaming which includes lots of blather, denial, and waiting [the waiting game] for the hammer to drop on you know who; War Gaming which should already be completed and ready to apply -- no more games; and last but not least, the BLAME GAME. Let's start with the last game first because it really is both the first and last game of the 'world community,' of Edom and Ishmael. Israel will be blamed and will suffer most, whether this means in terms of absorbing a first or other strike, or from increased diplomatic pressure (blame) to withdraw from more and yet more of the tiny amounts of Jewish land already settled by Jews. Israel will be blamed, first by the diplomats and the mass media, nearly all of which they by now control, for being intransigent, for irritating muslims, "criticized and condemned just for being alive" as a great jongleur wrote and sang. Sadly, more and more 'ordinary people' in the world will be affected and even persuaded but the relentless barrage of "blame Israel" pseudo history coming from diplomatic and media channels. Short of thorough regime change that responds pro-actively, with courage and pride to the dangers faced by Israel, even when /if Iran is taken down, Israel will be pushed off the cliff known as "the Road Map." When it crashes on the bottom of the gulch, none of Judaism's holiest sites will remain under Jewish control. (Even now, only two do, mostly, and one of them, the most ancient, is being pushed hard). As to the GRAND GAME (a.k.a. diplomacy): the fact that the American Executive Branch is yet again engaging in "ententes," consultations, multi-lateral contacts, etc, with France, Germany, even dragging the so called "United Nations" (united only against Israel) into the run-up to D-day with Iran shows one of two things. 1) this is a multi-faceted and strategically clever ruse to distract the enemies (within and without) about America's true intentions and plans, 2) it demonstrates that President George Dubya Bush and his inner circle are under enormous pressure from, and greatly constrained in their actions (as alll post WW II Presidents have been) by the State Department and National Security Council that tell the President what they want him to know and that work relentlessly for a world government; from other power centers in the media and overseas, powers that include manipulating America'[s economy, that State and NSC can apply on him to do their will, not his own. That's right: it is not only Israel that experiences intense pressures from its enemies within and without. The American president and pro-American forces, the constitutional republic that has blessed the world, are under relentless pressures from within and without to "hurry up with the destruction and clean up" of American constitutionalism and government accountability to the governed. This phrase did not apply only to the Jews of Gush Katif; they were just the most visible 'canary in the mine' a role now taken by the Jews of Hebron and Israel in general. That leaves us with what should be first and last, one and only: the WAR GAME which is also the only genuine PEACE & SECURITY plan. Like the others, the War Game requires contingency planning. More than them, for it truly is concerned with survival of the culture involved, it requires changes in the way the games are played. For example, the West should stop supplying jihadist nations with food and technology. Indeed, since Russia and China (and perhaps france and germany) probably would continue to supply it, America can and should impose an embargo. It might not be complete, but it would have a major impact. There are other sources of oil in the world; without food or technology from America, Canada, Australia, and Europe, the land of jihad will starve and plunge back into the dark ages which are their natural habitat. End of Jihad; end of most terrorism and slave-taking; end of war: we win. As to the active part of the war, America in concert with its only true ally, Israel, should decide the most effective means to destroy Iran's nuclear and war-making capabilities and do so before they used against American targets or against the Jews. As Frank Gaffney has pointed out, again, Iran or any nation could cripple communications and America's electric grid, thus gravely affecting the entire world's communications and commerce, by a high-altitude nuclear explosion. As for Israel, its a holocaust waiting to happen so long as the Iranian regime, its puppet Hezbollah, and its pals in Hamas and other Jihad groups are in the field. The Shulchan Aruch codifies the common sense survival principle that a stitch in time saves nine, that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure; that if others are gathering to attack you, "kill them first." As for the oil in Mesopotamia, it belongs to the western nations that found it, built and deployed the technology to extract, ship, and refine it. The locals should be satisfied with a tenth and with all the blood America's spilled to rid them of a maniacal tyrant, the usual form of government in Mesopotamia for 3900 years.. So that's a review of the games. With energy independence and swift pre-emption of declared enemies, America, Israel and the world can get on not with the game but with the reality of life good and abundant. 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. To Go To Top

SHARON SAVED LABOR, KEPT ISRAEL IN PAIN Posted by Dr. Eugene Narrett, January 25, 2006.

The above title is also a chapter title in my book Israel Awakened: A Chonicle of the Oslo War (2001). The "awakened" in the title refers to the people of Israel that voted with a great majority for the man expected to respond with massive military might to the Arabs and decisively crush the Oslo War and Eurabian desires to destroy Israel. Many of the early chapters in the book discuss news from Israel early in 2001 that Sharon, having won the vote, was to the amazement of some, apparently engaged in damage control and retrieval of status of the totally discredited Labor Party, In this he largely succeeded, at least in maintaining their strangelehold on the nation and its continuing crises. He did, as a corollary, and as some anonymous Likudniks feared that spring, succeed in painting his own party into a corner. I wrote, as Prof. Eidelberg does today, that Sharon had made himself into the surrogate PM of Labor, with Ben Eliezer and Peress as his "inner cabinet" decisors. The results are present today: the blob of Kadima, ruling without a mandate from anyone to impose the "Road Map" ghettoization of Jews in Israel, all Jews, whatever sides of the various maze of fences into which the ghetto is being divided. So now there is an expel- the-Jews government that pretty much let's Arabs build where they wish. The book, Israel Awakened will interest some as an analysis and predictor of the problems visible then and to the fact that Israelis must awake to the need for a radically different government, court system, and set of leaders. Without substantive regime change, the prospects for the Jewish people in the land of Israel look bleak. 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. To Go To Top

ARIEL SHARON ON THE CENTRAL IMPORTANCE OF HEBRON Posted by Dr. Menachem Kovacs, January 25, 2006.

Dear Friend, In the campaign to save the Mitzpeh Shalhevet (Shuk) area of Hebron, the following important quote from Ariel Sharon appears on P. 58 in the current (January 23 - 30) issue of the New Yorker Magazine titled "The General" by Ari Shavit of Ha'aretz "Ben-Gurion called Hebron Jerusalem's elder sister. If we were a normal nation, when a visitor arrived here we would take him not to Yad VaShem but, rather, to Hebron. We'd take him to the place where our roots are. No other people has a monument like the Tomb of the Patriarchs, where Abraham and Sarah are buried. And Isaac and Rebecca. And Jacob and Leah. There isn't anything like it. Therefore, under any agreement Jews will live in Hebron." "We put too much stress on the security issues," he went on. "That was a mistake. My mistake, too. The element of the cradle of the Jewish people is critucal for us to be able to live here. Indeed, there is a constant questioning of our right. We have to talk about the continuum of Jewish life that has been here. Even in order to live in Tel Aviv, we need a root in Hebron." Please use these powerful quotes in the campaign to save the Shuk and indeed Eretz Yisrael. Rabbi Menachem Kovacs is Director of the Jewish Roots Center of Baltimore, an education and research center on Torah and social science topics. He is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Montgomery College in Maryland. To Go To Top

PALESTINIANS' VOTE WILL NOT BRING THEM FREEDOM Posted by Dr. Yaron Brook, January 25, 2006.

Whichever group of dictators wins the Palestinian elections, be it the secular Fatah or the theocratic Hamas, Palestinians will soon discover that voting alone will not bring them freedom, but enslavement under some mob-approved despot. What Palestinians need is not elections; they need a total cultural reversal--from a society that worships violence and suicide bombers to one that values life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Dr. Yaron Brook is President of the Ayn Rand Institute (http://www.aynrand.org/) in Irvine, CA. The Institute promotes the ideas of Ayn Rand--best-selling author of Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead and originator of the philosophy of Objectivism. To Go To Top

RACHEL CORRIE: NEVER AGAIN Posted by Shaul and Aviva Ceder, January 25, 2006.

This article was written by Bill Levinson. Contact him at lel815@yahoo.com. It was posted on Israpundit (http://www.israpundit.com) January 23, 2006. Justice for peace activist Rachel Corrie will come when her family looks Tom Dale, Joe Smith, and the other International Solidarity Movement activists who were present at her death in their eyes and demands, "Give Rachel back to us, you manipulative liars." Meanwhile, we can get at least a little justice by assuring the shutdown of the Palestine Solidarity Movement conference at Georgetown University in mid-February and, more importantly, make sure Rachel Corrie is the last idealistic college student to become a "martyr" for Palestine. The Corrie family currently blames Israel and Caterpillar Corporation for their daughter's death in bulldozer to which her own misguided actions contributed. Rachel knelt in front of a bulldozer that was demolishing arms smuggling tunnels (the ISM told her and the media that they were protecting Palestinian houses) in an attempt to get it to stop. She unfortunately did not realize that the driver could not see her and the ISM's own alleged photograph shows quite clearly that the bulldozer blade would easily obstruct the driver's view of a kneeling person. (The picture actually looks like a photomanipulated fraud, which speaks for itself of ISM/PSM's character and integrity but, if we accept it as truth, it proves that the driver could not have seen a kneeling person in front of the blade.) Suppose that a group of men in their twenties encourage a young woman with more idealism than good sense (as was probably characteristic of most of us at that age) to stand in the middle of a superhighway, where she is then struck and killed by a Chevrolet. Boycotting or suing Caterpillar over Rachel Corrie's death makes as much sense as suing General Motors in the case I just described. While the Chevy's driver certainly has an obligation to avoid hitting even a reckless pedestrian-- if he sees her-- the pedestrian's own conduct is of course the primary contributor to the accident and plenty can also be said of the "friends" who encouraged her to play chicken with moving automobiles. The testimony of the ISM members involved shows almost a callous disregard for the life and safety of a young woman who considered them her friends and trusted them. Per "Making of a Martyr" by Sandra Jordan, Guardian Newspapers, The activists said the driver saw Corrie. 'As the mound grew higher she climbed up, getting to eye level with the driver. He saw her in her fluorescent orange jacket. But he kept on going,' Smith said. A traumatised Smith raised his camera and took photographs: Rachel standing in front of the bulldozer; then her bloodied body being pulled from the freshly turned soil; being cradled in the arms of her friends. 'If only they'd had a video camera,' one Palestinian journalist lamented. 'A film of the Israelis killing an American in cold blood would have ended the intifada.' Pay very close attention to the second paragraph. When Smith saw Rachel standing in front of a bulldozer that was clearly not going to stop, his first priority was not to yell a warning or to try to pull her out of the way, but to raise his camera and take pictures-- none of which seem to have been published anywhere on the Internet. The Palestinian journalist's first reaction was to wish the ISM activists had had a videocamera, as opposed to wishing that one had pulled Rachel out of the slowly-moving bulldozer's path. Her British friend and fellow activist, Tom Dale, 18, from Lichfield in Staffordshire, said he saw her die. First, he said, there was fear on her face as she realised that her defiant gesture was going wrong. Joe Smith, 21, who went to college with Corrie, said that, although they acknowledged the danger, they saw death as a 'small, unlikely, potential risk'. Dale testified that he was standing only ten meters away, a distance that an able-bodied adult male ought to be able to cover in less than three seconds, that the bulldozer was moving "slowly," and that he could see the fear on her face. Yet neither he nor any other ISM member even claims to have tried to pull her out of the bulldozer's path. Is "coward" a word that might fit each one of them, perchance? That is what a pusillanimous yellow coward does: he encourages a young woman to perform a very dangerous action, and then he stands there with his arms at his side or reaches for a camera when something goes wrong. Don't worry, it gets even worse. ISM director George Rishmawi and a Hamas terrorist state openly a motive for wanting Rachel to be killed. Recently, the Director of the Solidarity Movement, George Rishmawi, explained to the San Francisco Chronicle that the recruitment of American student volunteers is useful to the Palestinian Movement because "if some of these foreign volunteers get shot or even killed, then the international media will sit up and take notice." A Hamas terrorist said openly that Rachel was worth more dead than alive. "'Her death serves me more than it served her,' said one activist at a Hamas funeral yesterday. '...Her death will bring more attention than the other 2,000 martyrs.'" Making of a Martyr by Sandra Jordan, Guardian Newspapers When you are more useful to your friends dead than you are alive, it is time to find new friends-- quickly. It is too bad that Rachel Corrie did not live long enough to realize this but what we can do in her memory is to make sure she is the last American college student the Palestine Solidarity Movement will EVER stand in front of a bulldozer. Here is what you can do to help. The ISM/PSM's advocacy and facilitation of terroristic violence is well known and we can make our views clear to the administration of Georgetown University as well as The Hoya, Georgetown's student newspaper. Don't let ISM/PSM recruit more "martyrs" at Georgetown University. One Rachel Corrie was one too many; let us make sure there is never another. Contact Shaul and Aviva Ceder at ceder@netvision.net.il To Go To Top

DORE GOLD: HAMAS IS WORLD-JIHAD MOTIVATED Posted by Hillel Fendel, January 25, 2006.

Dr. Dore Gold, Israel's former ambassador to the UN, says that if Israel does not get the message out about Hamas' connections and identification with world jihad, no one will. Dr. Gold, the President of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, appeared on Arutz-7's Hebrew newsmagazine this afternoon. Host Amatzia HaEitan asked him whether the expected ascent of Hamas following the Palestinian Authority elections will hurt the PA in the international arena. Gold responded: "There will be a great struggle of media spins and public relations in the coming days. Hamas and its parent organization, the Islamic Brotherhood, are viewed differently in various Middle Eastern countries. In Jordan, the Brotherhood is legal, while in Eygpt, it's outlawed. The question is whether Hamas will be perceived as part of the world jihad -- or as an organization that can become moderate... "Israel's position helps mold the world's reaction; the Americans and Europeans first read what is written on the Israeli sites, and then they make their decision. The world certainly won't be more stringent than Israel." The Hamas terror organization is committed to the destruction of Israel, and has murdered hundreds of Israelis over the past five years. "It is important to say," Dr. Gold emphasized, "that Hamas is an organization that identifies with the goals of world jihad. [Hamas leader] Mahmoud A-Zahar has said that Hamas victories are supposed to strengthen the mujahidin i [Islamic terrorists] in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Hamas sheikhs provide inspiration for Al-Qaeda... "Israel [can affect] world considerations, depending on what information it publicizes... For instance, one Israeli site, intelligence.org, shows important information on Hamas, such as the fact that Hamas sees itself as connected with Osama Bin-Laden and the rebels in Chechnya; the world must know this." Q. "How then must Israel relate to a situation in which Hamas becomes an integral part of the Palestinian Authority? We see that Israel continues to give in in this area." Gold: "Israel has already dealt with a similar question in the past, and there are strict standards [for contacts with terror organizations]. Even though we allowed the PLO and Arafat in the past to be part of the diplomatic process without giving up terrorism, the standards still exist. The charters calling for Israel's destruction must be changed, and they must give up and condemn the use of terrorism. I don't see Hamas fulfilling these conditions, but Israel must insist on it. Otherwise, there will be those who will try to explain to us that Hamas can become more moderate." Gold provided a specific example of the tendency to see potential moderation in Hamas: "In late September 2005, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice appeared in Princeton University and tried to compare Hamas to the IRA in northern Ireland. She said that just like the IRA became more moderate after entering the political process, the same could happen with Hamas. "In my opinion, this comparison is not at all accurate, since the IRA wanted only to banish the British from Ireland, and did not want to destroy London -- while Hamas has a clear agenda for an Islamic contiguity from Egypt to Iraq... Recent statements by Hamas leaders show that it has not given up its principle goal of destroying the State of Israel." Gold told CNN of Israeli concern that if Hamas gains power, it could "form the basis for a militant Islamic threat against Israel that we have never known before... It simply doesn't work when you have a committed ideological movement like Hamas, which in addition has religious motivation. They can't be tamed by garbage collection." Hillel Fendel is Senior News Editor at Arutz-Sheva. To Go To Top

HELP THE REFUGEES FROM CANADA; ARAB PROPAGANDA AND THE NYTIMES Posted by Steven Plaut, January 25, 2006.

Well, the Canadian elections are over and the new Prime Minister is Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper. Harper has downright neoconservative views. He is a free-market economist by training. He opposes gay marriage and abortions. He also wants to enhance Canada's missile shield, move beyond the Kyoto debate, and provide $5 billion more to overhaul Canada's military. University of Toronto political scientist Nelson Wiseman said Harper's victory would provide "symbolic support" for the Bush administration. Now I know what you are thinking, and that is that the time has come for the United States to grant asylum to all those Canadian leftists who will now seek to escape Right-wing Canada and migrate to a more enlightened liberal country. Since Canada was so hospitable in taking in the American moonbats after the last electoral victory by George W. Bush, can the United States now be any less sensitive in assisting and taking in the tired, the poor, the humble Canadian yuppies yearning to be free? So here is what I propose. According to informed sources, the election of Harper as PM has prompted the exodus among left-leaning Canadians who fear they'll soon be required to hunt, pray, and agree with Bill O'Reilly. The flood of Canadian liberals sneaking across the border into the USA will intensify over the next few weeks. This is already sparking calls in the House Judiciary Committee for increased INS patrols to stop the illegal immigration. The Minutemen are enjoying unprecedented support and getting lots of new recruits. Canadian border farmers say its not uncommon to see dozens of Toronto sociology professors, animal rights activists, and New Socialists crossing their fields at night seeking the US border fence. "I went out to milk the cows the other day, and there was a Vancouver film producer huddled in the barn," said Manitoba farmer Red Greenfield, whose acreage borders North Dakota. The producer was cold, exhausted and hungry. "He asked me if I could spare a latte and some free-range chicken. When I said I didn't have any, he left. Didn't even get a chance to show him my screenplay, eh?" In an effort to stop the illegal aliens, Greenfield erected higher fences but the Canadian liberals scaled them. So he tried installing speakers that blare Rush Limbaugh across the fields. "Not real effective," he said. The liberals still got through, and Rush annoyed the cows so much they wouldn't give milk." Officials are particularly concerned about smugglers who meet liberals near the Canadian border, pack them into Volvo turbo station wagons, drive them across the US border, and then leave them to fend for themselves. "A lot of these people are not prepared for rugged conditions," an INS border patrolman in Tacoma told us. "I found one carload without a drop of drinking water. They did have a nice little Napa Valley cabernet, though." Some Canadian liberals have taken to posing as senior citizens on bus trips headed to USA where they can cut the queues and get medical care unavailable to Canadians. After catching a half-dozen young vegans disguised in powdered wigs, INS authorities began stopping buses and quizzing the supposed Canadian senior-citizen passengers coming into the US to play bingo. "If they can't identify the accordion player on The Lawrence Welk Show, we get suspicious about their age," an official said. Canadian liberals have complained that out migration is creating an organic-broccoli surplus and no one is renting all the good Susan Sarandon movies. "I feel sorry for Canadian liberals, but the California economy just can't support them," a Berkeley resident said. "How many art-history majors does one country need?" 2. "Arab Propaganda and the New York Times" by Sharon Lapkin The New York Times published a photograph of a young Pakistani boy recently standing with an old man next to an ancient, unfired artillery shell. It placed a caption under it that read: "Pakistani men with the remains of a missile fired at a house in the Bajur tribal zone near the Afghan border." A short time later, the newspaper changed the caption to: "Correction: A picture caption on Saturday with an article about a U.S. airstrike on a village in Pakistan misidentified an unexploded ordinance. It was not the remains of a missile fired at a house." The photograph -- it appears -- was a fake. A propaganda stunt set up by the Pakastanis to fool the Western media. It worked. And, when Danish Muslim leaders recently toured the Islamic world with a 43-page report protesting 12 cartoons published by the newspaper Iyllands-Posten last October, they inserted an extra three into the Report for good measure. The Brussells Journal reported that the extra cartoons depicted Mohamed as a pedophile and a pigsnout, with a third, portraying a praying Muslim being raped by a dog. Akhmad Akkari, spokesperson for the Muslim organizations involved in the tour, told The Brussels Journal that the three extra cartoons had been added to "give an insight in how hateful the atmosphere in Denmark is towards Muslims. The truth -- it appears -- was considered insufficient by the 21 Danish Muslim organizations protesting the publication of pictures of their prophet, Mohamed. The propensity to manufacture propaganda in the Arab world is traditionally accepted as a method to safeguard honor and status and to avoid shame. It is not, as David Pryce-Jones explained in The Closed Circle: An Interpretation of the Arabs, a matter of morality or malice. "If honor so demands," he said, "lies and cheating may become absolute imperatives." In fact, exploiting every possibility for converting shame to honor is considered a noble skill. Shia practice recognizes this predicament and permits taqyia, or "precautionary dissimulation" where Muslims can lie and cheat with religious sanctity." Back in 2002, Palestinian media reported that Israel had committed the "massacre of the 21st century." The refugee camp in Jenin, it claimed, was the burial ground of "hundreds of martyrs." The Weekly Standard reported that Palestinian UN representative, Nasser al-Kidwa told CNN: There's almost a massacre now taking place in Jenin. Helicopter gun ships are throwing missiles at one square kilometer packed with almost 15,000 people in a refugee camp. ...Just look at the TV and watch, watch what the -- what the Israel forces are doing... This is a war crime, clear war crime, witnessed by the whole world, preventing ambulances, preventing people from being buried. I mean this is an all-out assault against the whole population. After the United Nations called emergency meetings and the world's press published first-hand accounts of Israeli atrocities -- they reluctantly discovered that the whole thing was an elaborate hoax. Arafat had called for "a million martyrs to march to Jerusalem" and inventing a massacre had provided a world stage for his propaganda machine. But, truth was the real massacre as the West climbed upon Arafat's stage and danced his mountebank waltz. When the Hollywood Foreign Press Association celebrated the morally repugnant subject of suicide bombing and rewarded its adaptation to a Hollywood template by presenting Paradise Now with a Golden Globe, the truth was in jeopardy again. Studded with historical inaccuracies and romanticized terrorists, the film attempts to normalize everyday mass murder by portraying murderers as misunderstood victims who kill innocents to create justice The film's producers couldn't have known when they inserted historical inaccuracies into the script that the Hollywood entertainment industry would grant them "precautionary dissimulation" and then put gold in their pockets to reward them for their dishonesty. And when the wannabe suicide bomber, Khaled, announced in the film that "the Palestinians have exhausted every political means" to achieving "a two-state solution", the Hollywood Foreign Press Association forgot about 1937, 1947, 1967 and 2001, when the Jews accepted the partition of Palestine/Israel, but the Arabs rejected a two-state compromise. They chose instead, to adhere to the film's representation where their newfound favourite actors could safely remain victims. Hollywood gave Golden Globe winner, Hany Abu-Assad, the world stage and several million people to listen to his claim that the award was "a recognition that the Palestinians deserve their liberty and equality unconditionally." They didn't ask him why they'd already knocked it back four times and Hollywood didn't appear concerned with the real historical details. So, while it is clear that Arabs exercise taqyia to promote honor and prestige, it is unclear why the West is continually drawn into this charade. Recognizing trickery and deciphering propaganda have become essential modern day skills in the interpretation of Arab behaviour. David Pryce-Jones noted that for Arabs "Information control, which may or may not include lying, is the only effective strategy for arbitrating between honor and shame..." 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. Contact him by email at splaut@econ.haifa.ac.il To Go To Top

GHETTOS THEN & NOW; HEBRON AND THE 'HABIRU' Posted by Professor Eugene Narrett, January 24, 2006.

Studying a wonderful discussion of archaeology and history, James Long's, "The Riddle of the Exodus" is a bracing way to buttress the foundations of Israel's place in the world (and the way this long-established place is buried by political, media and educational institutions). Among the many 19th century archaeological finds that should definitively show the historicity and grandeur of Israel are the El Amarna letters discovered in the 1880s. These approximately 400 inscribed clay tablets from the era of Pharaoh Amenophis III and his son disclose many facts relevant to the history of Israel, not least, "Hebron, land of the Hebrews" as Joseph the righteous termed it in parsha Mikeitz (see my earlier essay, "Hebron land of the Hebrews" for Ramban's discussion of the sources for the term). In several of the tablets, an Egyptian garrison commander/ trespasser in the southern Judean hills area wrote to the Pharaoh complaining about and demanding assistance against "the warlike tribe of Habiru." Israel's always been tough when fighting its foreign foes. Several of the letters, interestingly, seem to be from King Shaul to Pharaoh, hopefully not inviting a piece process. Now Hebron is besieged by a warlike tribe led by servants of the Pharaoh who makes his/her seats above the river named "river" (Potomac). The Land of the Hebrews needs another true king and patriarch to claim and settle its own.... Another interesting find in this paginated trove is an inscription in the tomb of Unas, last Pharaoh of the 5th Dynasty who when young may have heard the following prophecy from an elderly Joseph: "Unas will judge with Him-Whose-Name-is Hidden on the day of the slaying of the eldest." And so it came to pass, as we will be studying during these next few weeks when the deeds of the fathers form the pattern for their sons. Ghettos: during his discussion of evidence in Egyptian inscriptions complementing the Torah's listing of place names in and around Goshen, Long adduces several sources indicating that the Egyptians lured the Hebrews to building projects in the name of Egypt's own national defense, then left the Jews to wall themselves in, thus "creating the first concentration camps" and the first ghettos in history. This is precisely the method of the Saudi-American 'map' for the "security fence" for which Jews are paying dearly in money, pride, deterrence and genuine defensibility, defacing and alienating their inheritance. Cherished and essential parts of the entirely foundational heartland of Israel are being pinched inside walls and double walls behind which Jews killers will take cover and shoot. The frantic zig zags of the wall itself show it to be indefensible and perhaps not meant to be seriously defended. These "security fences" at Pi-thoum and Rameses are suicidal traps, the flip side of the aggression threatened against Hebron, Amona, and scores of other Jewish towns and farms. The Chief of Staff, who oversaw the deportation of the Jews of Gush Gatif, admits that Israel is beset with terrorism on all sides, that it is increasing (no kidding) but the police and army's wrath remains focused on Jews while Hamas and Fatach vie openly to lead the extinction of Israel. It's time to leave Egypt and apply the force on the enemies of the Jews. Note: Also see David Rohl's Pharaoh's and Kings and Miriam Lichtman's Ancient Egyptian Literature. 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. To Go To Top

WHO IS THE OCCUPIER?; ILLEGAL ARAB BUILDINGS; A DIALOGUE ON REVOLUTION Posted by Steven Shamrak, January 24, 2006.

Quote of the Week: "I wish and pray that the Jewish people fully regain, and retain, their holy land, and may truth and justice always prevail. I firmly believe that when Israel was strongly defending itself against attacks, the nation was respected. But when appeasement, withdrawals, disengagement etc started, the country suffered more attacks, and continues to face problems. Unite, be strong, defend aggressively, and win." -- by Yatindra Bhatnagar (Message from an Indian friend of Jewish people.) Who is the occupier? It has become very common and 'trendy' to say and write that Israel is an occupier of Arab land. Unfortunately, true Zionists got tired of challenging this baseless Arab and anti-Israel propaganda rhetoric. Therefore, even many Jews start to believe in this lie! I prefer to rely on facts not emotional or politicly motivated fantasies. I would say, and historical facts do support it, that Arabs are occupiers of Jewish land. As part of Palestine mandate: Trans-Jordan, Golans, Judea, Samaria and Gaza were allocated for creation of the Jewish state. British government was appointed as a custodian of the mandate. After Jews started to return to their homeland in 1880's and created agriculture and industries in the desolated land of Palestine, economic migration of Arabs followed. Later, with the British help and facilitation, the politicly motivated migration of Arabs/Muslims to Jewish land was encouraged. Jews were not allowed to live in Trans-Jordan, but Arabs were allowed to move and live on the West Bank of river Jordan. In 1922 British illegally separated Trans-Jordan from mandate in exchange for control of Sinai and gave Golan Heights to France. The League of Nations, which was controlled by UK and France, rubberstamped the 'deal'. So, I would like to ask you now -- Who is the real occupier? We must stop believing in the lies of enemies of Jewish people! We must set our own goals and regain the rightful ownership of the Jewish land! Jewish people and Israel have all spiritual, historical, moral and legal rights to the all Jewish land! We must ignore the 'legal' illegality imposed on Jews by, generally, anti-Semitic and oil dependent International community. War on Israel -- Sadly, the New Beginning. - Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al-Qaeda's leader in Iraq, said in an audio tape on the Internet that rockets had been fired at Israel from Lebanon last month "on the instructions" of Osama bin Laden. - Arab weapons experts who have undergone training in Lebanon, Syria, and possibly Iran have recently infiltrated the Gaza Strip. - Sources in the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) said that there has been a significant increase in attempts by Iran to infiltrate Israel and link up with Arab Palestinian terror groups. Food for Thought "U.S. supports PA's demand for free passages through Israel, but there is no dilemma with absence of "free passages" for Jews: Jews are risking their lives daily in Israel -- shopping, taking a bus to work or school" 1967 borders is a Temporary solution. Ismail Haniya, the top candidate on the Hamas list for the PA parliamentary elections, said Sunday that Hamas supports only as a temporary solution the establishment of a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders and with Jerusalem as its capital. He emphasized that there is no chance that Hamas would voluntarily disarm as long as Israel exists. (At the same time Israel's zealous new foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, is pushing ahead her Kadima Party's agenda of giving away the Jewish ancestral lands to the enemy.) Soup Kitchen Reality. The number of Israelis living under the poverty line has risen to an unprecedented 1.6 million, including 738,000 children and youths. President Moshe Katsav stated, "the reliance on soup kitchens and charitable institutions is a catastrophe and the state may not shun its responsibility." (Israeli leaders are not interested in the future of the Jews. The photo opportunities and fat pockets are their priority! Billions are wasted on the fake Peace process: The Partition wall and the Deportation!) "Every single one of us has the power to make changes. Just as a small drop of water can make an indentation in a rock, each of our (small as they may be) efforts, can make great changes." -- Chaya, a subscriber of my letter. Gov't Silent about Illegal Arab Buildings. There are massive unauthorized Arab building projects, which are going on all over Gush Etzion, the 'settlement bloc' just south of Jerusalem that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon repeatedly claimed would remain in Jewish hands. (As the Israeli government declares "war" on unauthorized Jewish communities, Arabs' illegal buildings, funded by the PA, are unhindered.) U.S. Backing Down from Opposition to Hamas. Bush Administration officials have made clear, over the past weeks, their displeasure with Hamas and its participation in the election, but always stopped short of demanding that the PA ban Hamas from taking part. (The meaningless posturing was so predictable. And, as an obedient puppy, Israel will follow.) Jews to be banned from Israeli highway? In what some here regard as a sign Israel (Kadima) is contemplating a future large-scale withdrawal from the West Bank, the military is reportedly debating closing to Jewish traffic the main highway that stretches across the territory, forcing Jewish motorists to use more dangerous routes. Comments on Comments: "The Muslim Brothers do not recognise Israel... 70 million Egyptians, 300m citizens in the Arab world and 1.5 billion Muslims across the world do not recognise Israel," -- Mohammed Mehdi Akef, leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood. -- It is time for Jews to recognize their own rights and aspirations! No one else will. Threatens to Cut UN Funds. US Ambassador John Bolton filed a complaint with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan about the organization's use of a map that replaces all of Israel with 'Palestine.' "It was entirely inappropriate for this map to be used," Bolton wrote. "It can be misconstrued to suggest that the United Nations tacitly supports the abolition of the state of Israel." (Almost a third of all UN resolutions are dedicated to and against Israel, the country with less than 0.1% of the world population! The UN -- Useless Nothing -- has not changed a bit!) "A Dialogue on Revolution." by Prof. Paul Eidelberg. American: You Israelis never cease to amaze me. Since Oslo you have suffered more than 10,000 casualties -- Jewish men, women, and children killed, wounded and maimed for life. Yet you do nothing. If this were not bad enough, your government plans to expel countless Jews from their homes in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza and turn this land over to your enemies. Why haven't you people rebelled and thrown the rascals out? Israeli: Just a minute. We like to believe Israel is a democracy; so if the public is not happy with the government's policies, we need only wait for the next election and change the prime minister or party in power. American: But don't you see it makes no difference which party or party leader is in power: you are still retreating toward your indefensible 1949 borders. Americans would never tolerate this state of affairs. Certain Mexican nationalists are now making territorial claims on Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California -- once Mexican territory. If the American government yielded any part of this land to Mexico, rest assured there'd be a revolution. Israeli: But you forget we are Jews, and for a Jew to shed the life of another Jew is simply out of the question. Look at what happened after Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated. This was a national trauma from which we are still suffering. American: Trauma? Tens of thousands of Jewish children are suffering the trauma of suicide bombings. But let me go back to my Mexican example. Suppose year after year a few hundred square kilometers of the increasingly Mexicanized southwest were returned to Mexico, and that thousands of Anglo-Saxon Americans were expelled from their homes each month. We Americans would be up in arms, animated by the revolutionary zeal of those who signed our Declaration of Independence. Let me quote a few passages from that document: The bottom line -- The Withdrawal end plan is creating two states on one land. A dozen of unrealistic conditions he had mentioned. He even admitted that most likely it will fail. Still, he vigorously promoted this stupidity. So, much for ideologically motivated experts! (Toss the Jews to "the sea" is still the goal of our enemies! The Iranian president clearly reiterated it recently.) Steven Shamrak was born in the former Soviet Union (USSR) and participated in the Moscow Zionist "refusenik" movement. He publishes 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@gmail.com To Go To Top

BARGHOUTI -- JUST BEFORE THE ELECTION Posted by David Bedein, January 24, 2006.

On this page last week, Yossi Beilin posited that convicted murderer Marwan Barghouti is the one Palestinian leader ready and able to fight Hamas ("Free Marwan Barghouti To Counter Power of Hamas," December 2). Barghouti, however, would seem an unlikely candidate to take on that militant Islamist group. On January 22, 1995, after Hamas massacred 19 Israelis at a bus stop in Beit Lid -- a village near the coastal city of Netanya located within the 1967 lines -- Barghouti declared on the Saudi-owned MBC television network that "we cannot condemn such an attack, since this is an area that we have not yet liberated." The video clip of that statement is readily available at our office at the Beit Agron Press Center in Jerusalem. It was also Barghouti who from 1995 until his imprisonment in 2002 and even since he was incarcerated who has been hammering out cooperative agreements in Cairo between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, according to the semi-official Egyptian daily Al Ahram. And according to Israeli intelligence sources and in the indictment issued against him, it was Barghouti who, upon the outbreak of the second intifada in 2000, became the head of a joint coordinating body of all Palestinian organizations in the West Bank -- including Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Fatah-affiliated Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, all three of which are listed by both the American and Israeli governments as terrorist groups. As for Beilin's argument that Barghouti was only "indirectly" responsible for the murder of innocent people, it is surprising that a former Israeli justice minister only saw fit to mention in passing that Barghouti was convicted of the first degree murder in May 2002 of the cold-blooded murder of five civilians -- in cases where the Israeli Justice Ministry provided incontrovertible documentation that Barghouti made direct payments to commission killers to commit wanton acts of murder. The Marwan Barghouti who Beilin suggest should be released from prison so he can lead the Palestinian people is responsible for the murders of: Salim Barakat, 33, from the Druze village of Yarka in the Galilee, who survived by his wife, daughter, parents and seven brothers and sisters; Eli Dahan, 53, of Lod, who is survived by his mother Sarah, wife, Ilana, two daughters, two sons and three grandchildren; Yosef Habi, 52, of Herzliya, who is survived by his wife, son and daughter; Father Georgios Tsibouktzakis, 34, a Greek Orthodox monk from St. George's Monastery in Wadi Kelt near Jericho; and Yoela Chen, 45, of Givat Ze'ev, who is survived by her husband and two children. Nor are they Barghouti's only victims. At his trial, people who were maimed as a result of Barghouti-sponsored attacks appeared as witnesses to the pain he caused them, pain they will experience for the rest of their lives. Chicago-born Alan Bauer and his seven-year-old son Jonathon were among those witnesses. They were five minutes from their home in Jerusalem when a Barghouti-funded suicide bomber blew himself up three feet away from them on March 21, 2002. Two arteries in Bauer's arm were severed. A screw went all the way through little Jonathon's head. To this day, Jonathan walks with a limp. According to the court protocols, Barghouti proudly admitted that he directed terrorist attacks in which scores of Israelis were killed and revealed how he directly allocated funds needed by terrorist cells to operate and purchase necessary weapons, and stated that Yasser Arafat personally authorized this funding for Tanzim activities, knowing that this money would be used to finance murderous attacks. Furthermore, protocols of interrogations of P.A. officials before the trial showed how the process worked: Names of Tanzim killers were submitted to Barghouti, who would routinely take them to Arafat for approval. Why, Beilin implicitly asks, should Barghouti be kept in jail? The law would seem to be clear on this point: There is more than a slight possibility of recidivism -- of Barghouti choosing to not abandon the path of violence if he were to be set free. He has shown no remorse for his commitment to liberate all of Palestine, nor has he revealed any second thoughts about his efforts to unite all Palestinian factions for that purpose. The question for Yossi Beilin, who seems to ignore Barghouti's direct responsibility for his indiscriminate murder of Israeli citizens, is how he would feel if Barghouti had bragged in an open court of law that he had murdered a member of Beilin's family in the course of one of his terrorist actions "to liberate Palestine." Beilin is correct in writing that peace treaties are made between enemies, after the war has been concluded. Beilin is misguided in believing that Barghouti has shown any signs of leading a movement to stop the Palestinian militants' war against the State of Israel. David Bedein is bureau chief of the Israel Resource News Agency in Jerusalem. To Go To Top

WILL THE FENCE KEEP GUSH ETZION SECURE? Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, January 24, 2006.

When you hear absolute unqualified guarantees about Land, not (I repeat) NOT TO BE TRANSFERRED previously from Sharon, then Olmert or later Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz -- be assured that's exactly what they are planning. Sharon had stated plainly that the Gush Etzion Bloc will never be transferred or abandoned to the Arab Muslim Palestinians. The well-planned tactic was to use the Sharon Fence/Wall under the guise of protecting Jewish citizens to divide and conquer. If one bothers to track the route of this Ghettoizing Wall in the Gush area, one can see it's meant to divide this area into small segments. When the time comes, Sharon intended -- under the rubric of the now infamous Road Map, to once again send in troops to evacuate each separated piece more easily. This scurrilous plan will, no doubt, be now implemented by the "Kadima Jumpers". Similar to what the Czars and Stalin managed to accomplish with the shtetle Jews in small villages. They generally call this a pogrom. The absurd fence follows a twisty route often bringing the Fence/Wall and the Muslim Arab Palestinian Terrorists behind it within a few meters of Jewish homes. This, of course, is an accommodation of Chief Justice Aharon Barak of the radical Left Supreme Court. Working hand-in-hand with then Ariel Sharon, Ehud Olmert, Shimon Peres which allows every few acres of what Arabs claim is their field to be a guide for the Fence. Clearly, notwithstanding the prior denials of Sharon, Olmert, Peres, it seems that Sharon was ready to move on dissecting the nation to accommodate a Road Map which was a dream/nightmare put together by the State Department, James Baker III, the European Union and put into the mouth of President Bush. Sharon put together a crowd of amoral people under the slogan of "Kadima" (Forward) born without conscience with little connection to being Jews and little love for the Land. Nothing is as important as maintaining power, generating money for themselves and those followers who would sell themselves to keep the seats of power. Trustfully, the people of Gush Etzion Bloc will not fall for the propaganda that Sharon (now Olmert) will not sell out Gush Eztion and with it the rest of Judea and Samaria. Hopefully, one day the people of Israel will tire of corruption with both major political parties and form a Peoples' Court to bring Justice to a nation buried in corruption. In the meantime a new Council should be formed to handle the affairs of Gush Etzion. The old YESHA (Yehuda, Shomron and Aza) administration while, no doubt, well-meaning is clearly too soft, too accommodating to protect the area from a government whose promises mean absolutely nothing when the Jewish State has to stand up against a predatory world. Those predators are the Arab Muslim world, the Quartet which included the anti-Semitic E.U. (European Union, anti-Israel U.N. (United Nations) and anti-Jewish Russia. Please make it a rule that whatever and whenever the left-overs of the Sharon Mafia make a commitment, assume the reverse is their intent. Good people go to sleep without plots and conspiracies on their minds while the corrupt wait until you are fast asleep to begin plotting. Only the following morning do decent people discover the political mafia have stolen their homes and made common cause with the enemy. I refer you to the article below which was in the Jerusalem Post October 13, 2005 by Caroline Glick who toured the Fence route and saw what Sharon was up to! Our suggestion: CHANGE THE FENCE ROUTE TO SECURE ALL OF GUSH ETZION! When the Sharon government decided to expel all Jews from Gaza, their communities' physical isolation and the fact that they were fenced-in and thus geographically limited, eased the work of the evacuation forces both during the planning and implementation of their mass expulsion. Today for residents of Judea and Samaria as well as for those on the Left who seek their uprooting, the successful expulsion of Gazan Jews has raised a number of questions regarding the government's plans for erecting the security fence around communities in the areas. On the one hand, residents of settlements not included in the fence route contend with the fact that from the perspective of the political Left -- including the Sharon-Peres government and the Supreme Court -- Israel is less than likely to demand the inclusion of their communities within the borders of sovereign Israel in any future peace deal with the Palestinians. For those whose communities are included in the fence route, the question becomes what the route of the planned fence says about the government's intention to enable their growth and prosperity and to guarantee their security. When addressing non-leftist audiences, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon loudly extols his commitment to the preservation of what he refers to as "settlement blocs" in Judea and Samaria. Sharon ostentatiously points to the letter he received from US President George W. Bush in April 2004 where the subject of Israel's final borders is vaguely discussed. The letter is presented as a sort of trophy meant to prove Sharon's Zionist bona fides to the majority of Israelis who categorically reject the return to Israel's indefensible frontiers along the 1949 armistice lines. Yet beyond his evocations of non-existent American guarantees and vague declarations of fealty to Israel's right to our ancestral lands in Judea and Samaria, Sharon has never specifically delineated what he means when he refers to settlement blocs. Given Sharon's silence on the subject, the best way to test his intentions is to visit the proposed route of the security fence in Gush Etzion -- one of the settlement blocs that Sharon insists will always remain part of Israel. Work on the security fence around Gush Etzion, located just south of Jerusalem, is scheduled to begin immediately after the High Holy Days. Three disturbing conclusions arise from a survey of the proposed route. First, in spite of Sharon's protestations to the contrary, the route of the fence shows that he has no intention of preserving the entire settlement bloc. Many of the communities inside of the Gush Etzion Regional Council -- like Karmei Tzur in the south and Nokdim and Tekoa in the east -- are excluded from the fence route. Aside from that, the route gives priority to Arab property rights over both Jewish property rights and the security needs of the 50,000 Israelis who live in the area. The following examples illustrate this disturbing truth. The community of Bat Ayin does not have a security fence. Distinct from the other communities in Gush Etzion, Bat Ayin was conceived and developed along the view that its best guarantee of security and prosperity is for its land to be settled sparsely along the wide expanse of the Judean hills rather than densely and in a limited geographical area. This view has enabled the community to grow and secure itself rather well. Yet, the route of the security fence will artificially wreck Bat Ayin's ability to protect itself. The planned route places the fence no more than a couple of dozen meters outside the houses of the community's residents on the incline separating their homes from the wadi below. The route excludes the hilltop immediately across the valley from Bat Ayin and so puts the homes of the residents within assault rifle range of terrorists. Fenced into their community, the residents will have no ability to deter attackers or to pursue those who shoot from outside the fence. Aside from that, the land that is set to be placed on "the Arab side" of the fence includes 400 dunams of privately owned Jewish land bought for Gush Etzion by the JNF in the early 1940s. As well, thousands of dunams of state land, cultivated by the JNF, is set to be transferred to "the Arab side." The effective mass seizure of these lands is justified by the government as a way of ensuring that the residents of the small Arab village of Jabah (which is controlled by Hamas), will be able to cultivate a few dozen dunams of olive groves. Today Gush Etzion is connected to sovereign Israel by Route 367 which connects it to the center of the country, and by Highway 60 which connects it to Jerusalem. Route 367 today runs south of Jabah. The plans for the security fence involve investing some NIS 100 million in order to move Route 367 to Jabah's north. This is to be accomplished in order to connect Jabah to the Arab village Beit Tzurif (which is also controlled by Hamas), and to leave both villages out of the fence route. The new road will be located on a narrow mountain ridge beneath Jabah and all motorists traveling along the road will immediately be exposed targets for any terrorist wishing to shoot a Jew from the village. As to Highway 60, across from the northern entrance to Efrat is a hilltop that controls the highway. The route of the security fence is set to transfer control over the top of this hill to the Palestinians. As a result, anyone entering Efrat from Highway 60 will be exposed to attack. Last month Gush Etzion's Regional Council sent a letter to the Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria laying out the residents' concerns regarding the proposed route of the fence. The response they received in a letter dated September 20 from the Civil Administration's legal adviser was as revealing as it was alarming. "The goal of the security fence is to prevent penetration into these communities, and is not being designed to prevent shooting at the communities," the legal adviser noted. But the sad truth is that the current route does not simply prevent shooting attacks, it invites them. When residents of Kibbutz Kfar Etzion -- the original community in Gush Etzion, which was built in the 1930s, destroyed by the Jordanian Legion in the War of Independence and then rebuilt in 1967 -- were given the details of the proposed route of the fence, they published a declaration on September 24 where they stated, "The proposed route of the separation fence around the communities of Gush Etzion is a terrible solution that harms both Jews and Arabs. As a result we are relinquishing it and ask to substitute it with alternative security methods that are being planned for communities in Judea and Samaria." Following Kfar Etzion's declaration, the heads of the regional and local councils of Gush Etzion, Beitar Illit and Efrat met this week and published their own statement. There they announced they are "demanding that the Minister of Defense not conduct any work on the route of the security fence until the debate between the area residents and the security establishment has been completed." In addition to the government's approved fence route, the ultra-leftist Council for Peace and Security, which is financed by the European Union and the New Israel Fund and headed by Major Gen. (res.) Danny Rothschild, has its own proposed route for the security fence around Gush Etzion. The council's route is relevant because on several occasions in the past, the council has petitioned the Supreme Court and demanded changes in the government's route. Its past petitions have been warmly received by the politicized court that has adopted its routes in spite the IDF's strenuous assertions that they endanger Israel's security. The court has defended its decisions by adopting the council's view that Palestinian property rights should be given priority over Israel's security and Jewish property rights. In the council's proposed route, the security fence would surround Efrat on the east and west effectively turning it into a ghetto. Indeed, the route would ghettoize all the Jewish communities in the region and connect them to one another by narrow corridors, transferring all the outlying areas to Arab control. In spite of the vast differences in geography and topography, the council's route would effectively transform Gush Etzion, on the southern border of Jerusalem, into a second Gush Katif -- fenced-in communities with no ability to expand. Shaul Goldstein, the head of the Gush Etzion Regional Council, believes that the residents must try to cooperate with the IDF and the government in an effort to change the proposed route of the fence. In his view, if Gush Etzion follows the line set out by residents of Kfar Etzion and rejects the fence completely, the result will be to dry up industry, investment and tourism in the region. Goldstein also fears that in the absence of the fence, prospective new residents will opt not to move to the area and current residents will opt to move away out of fear that the area will be uprooted in the future. At the same time, Goldstein believes that if the government does not change the proposed route of the fence, Gush Etzion will have no choice other than to reject the fence in its entirety because of the security threats that emanate from the current route. In such a scenario, the residents of Gush Etzion will be forced to fight a political battle against the widespread assumption that all areas not located within the route of the fence will eventually be transferred -- Judenrein -- to Palestinian control. Whatever happens in the coming weeks and months, the dispute over Gush Etzion's fence will have long-term significance for the future of Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria as well as in east Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. As the battle unfolds three things will become clear. First, the Sharon-Peres government's attitude towards the fence route will clarify what the government's actual intentions are in terms of preserving and enabling the security and prosperity for Sharon's so-called "settlement blocs" in Judea and Samaria. Second, the IDF's stance regarding the fence route and its willingness, as the statutory body responsible for ensuring Israel's security, to stand up to the Supreme Court in defense of Israel's right to defensible borders (which necessarily must be beyond the indefensible 1949 armistice lines), will establish a precedent for the long-term dispute over all Israeli claims to sovereignty in Judea and Samaria. Finally, in the wake of the complete failure of the leadership of the Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza to prevent the destruction of the communities in Gaza and northern Samaria this summer, the political strength of these leaders vis-a-vis the government and state on the one hand and the public on the other is again about to be tested. No matter how the battle pans out, its results will form the basis for all future battles regarding Israel's sovereign borders. 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

HAMAS THE WAY THE LA TIMES WISHES IT WERE Posted by David Meir-Levi, January 24, 2006.

To the Editors, Ken Ellingwood's "Hamas shows a New face" (LA Times, 1.24.06) makes two statements that reflect more of his (and perhaps his informants') desire to live in the world the way he wishes it were, than any real-world assessment of the situation in the Middle East: 1.) "...Some moderates in the group have suggested that Hamas might one day negotiate with Israel, a possibility raised again Monday by senior Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar, who said talks could be held through a third party." Odd that today (Tuesday) in a televized debate with Mohammed Dahlan (on Lebanese television, taped by MEMRI) Mr. az-Zahar again declared in no uncertain terms "...."We consider Israel to be an enemy, not an ally. Israel is not a partner, and we will not maintain security cooperation with it....We will not cooperate with it economically or in any other way....We will not negotiate with Israel." To the interviewer's question: "How do you intend to improve the situation, if you don't intend to negotiate with Israel?", Mr. az-Zahar had no answer. What should we believe? What they say to us in English or what they say to each other in Arabic? 2.) "In seeking to hold legislative seats and weapons at the same time, Hamas could come to resemble Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group that has a parliamentary presence and a militia along the border with Israel. But many analysts say that by joining mainstream Palestinian politics, Hamas is bound to moderate its views, and already has to some degree." More wishful thinking. Membership in the UN did not moderate the PLO. Quite the opposite, it emboldened the PLO and enhanced the PLO's ability to function as a terrorist organization thanks to the legitimacy that UN membership gave it. Politicization of the PLO when the Oslo Accords morphed it into the PA (Palestinian Authority) did not moderate Arafat or the various PLO terror factions. Quite the opposite, it emboldened Arafat and Fatah and the PLO, and gave them the freedom to function unencumbered by Israeli oversight. Only because of that politicization and legitimation could Arafat mount and launch his post-Oslo terrror war. Politicization of Hezbollah in Lebanon has not moderated it. Quite the opposite, as Ellington notes in the section quoted above, it has further emboldened it and given it the platform it needs to run its terrorist agenda at the same time that it gains power via its political agenda. Why then would anyone think that politicizing Hamas will moderate it? Especially when its leaders tell their constituents the exact opposite! David Meir-Levi "Hamas Shows a New Face in Campaign" By Ken Ellingwood, Times Staff Writer January 24, 2006 The Los Angeles Times (www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/ la-fg-hamas24jan24,0,3993402.story?track=tothtml,0,5608332.story? track=tothtml) GAZA CITY -- The masked fighters, with their weatherworn Kalashnikovs, didn't appear at this Hamas rally. No effigies were torched. And the climax wasn't a fiery call for Israel's destruction, but a lighthearted skit about how to vote. The militant Islamic group displayed the keen organization and grass-roots appeal that have made it a surprisingly formidable contender in its first run in a Palestinian parliamentary election. One speaker made sure to call out the name of each of the area's residents imprisoned by Israel. A group of boys paraded about carrying the green Hamas flag and a giant number 6 -- the ballot designation of the Hamas slate -- as a recorded song blared, "We want to work for Hamas 24 hours!" "Ha-ah-MAS!" roared the crowd of about 500 men and boys seated on tidy rows of plastic chairs on the mud-caked street. The group best known for its military wing's suicide bombings and other attacks against Israelis has emerged as the strongest challenger to the dominant Fatah movement once run by Yasser Arafat. Hamas is expected to capture a significant share of the parliament's 132 seats, if not win outright, in Wednesday's vote. Israel has said it will not negotiate with Hamas, and the U.S. Congress and European Union officials have threatened to withhold funding for the Palestinians if Hamas joins the government without disavowing violence. The United States classifies Hamas as a terrorist organization and refuses to have dealings with the group. The electoral venture marks a new stage for Hamas, which has won the loyalty of many Palestinians through its network of charities and schools, its militant stance toward Israel and a reputation of relative honesty that contrasts sharply with Fatah's corruption-tainted record. Hamas was founded in December 1987, at the beginning of the first Palestinian uprising, by Sheik Ahmed Yassin, whom Israel assassinated in 2004. The group refused to take part in past Palestinian elections but is now seeking a public endorsement, while remaining vague about specific policies it would pursue if it wins. Raji Sourani, director of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights in Gaza City, said Hamas' goal could be summed up in one word: legitimacy. "Hamas needs that legitimacy by its own people. The way is through the ballot box," Sourani said. "Ultimately, any democrat knows that if you are elected, then you are legitimate." In search of votes, Hamas has tempered some of its rhetoric, even though leaders say they have no plans to disarm or to recognize Israel after the elections. The group has been noncommittal about whether it would helm government ministries -- in effect, joining the Palestinian Authority after years of rejecting it as an outgrowth of unacceptable peace agreements with Israel. Hamas leaders say they want to improve relations with foreign governments, including the United States. Some moderates in the group have suggested that Hamas might one day negotiate with Israel, a possibility raised again Monday by senior Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar, who said talks could be held through a third party. In seeking to hold legislative seats and weapons at the same time, Hamas could come to resemble Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group that has a parliamentary presence and a militia along the border with Israel. But many analysts say that by joining mainstream Palestinian politics, Hamas is bound to moderate its views, and already has to some degree. Hamas operates with strict discipline, and its fighters have largely adhered to a nearly yearlong cease-fire with Israel. Despite its relative inexperience, the group has also proved politically canny and pragmatic. Its campaign manifesto does not talk of destroying Israel, as its founding charter does, and calls by some of its leaders for creating a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital sound a lot like Fatah's stance. Although Hamas supports establishing an Islamic state, candidates have avoided taking stands on cultural and moral issues, such as banning alcohol, that might alienate secular Palestinian voters already wary of the group. Hamas may give voters a way to vent anger over years of mismanagement and graft under Fatah, which has run the government since the Palestinian Authority's creation in 1994. "People are really, really happy that there is going to be a strong opposition," said Daoud Kuttab, a Palestinian commentator who directs the Institute of Modern Media at Al Quds University in the West Bank city of Ramallah. "People think and feel that Hamas will keep Fatah a bit more honest and accountable than they were before." The Hamas slate is called "Change and Reform." Its candidates ran under the same name during municipal elections last year that put Hamas in control of some of the largest Palestinian communities, often in alliance with independents and Christians. In those elections and in the current campaign, Hamas has chosen candidates from a variety of backgrounds -- business executives, professors, physicians and engineers -- who are well regarded in their communities. Its national slate of 59 candidates includes 13 women. Hamas recently launched a TV station in the Gaza Strip that has provided a showcase for the group's candidates in time for the election. But a longer-term goal for the station is to improve the group's image, activists say. 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 NEBICH LINE Posted by Batya Medad, January 24, 2006.

A couple of hours ago, on my way home from work, I heard a radio "interview." The "Galei Tzahal" reporter was interrogating the head of the Amona neighborhood of Ofra. She was more aggressive than the toughest TV cop trying to get a confession out of a serial child molester. "Your settlement's illegal, right!" "Prove that you're not breaking the law!" "Can you show that every piece of land there is 100% legally yours, above board?!" ...and similar accusations and demands. The poor guy just didn't have the answers. He spoke very calmly and politely, pointing out that... "...the forty families in Amona are simple law-abiding citizens, professionals, businessmen and civil servants. The neighborhood is ten years old. It has been supported and recognized by all of the government bodies including Bezek (phones), Mekorot (water) and the electric company. Nothing was ever done without approval." She didn't listen and kept hounding at him, accusing them of breaking the law. Then he tried a different tack. "You know, we're part of the national religious sector. Just a few months ago we suffered a major trauma. We're still licking our wounds. It's not nice to hit us when we're down." "So, will it be OK to remove you in a few months?" "We're going to the Supreme Court to argue our case. Just give us more time. Olmert shouldn't be threatening us right before elections. It's bad timing." "So, he should remove you after the elections?" ad nauseum I'm not exaggerating. I found it embarrassing. I found it depressing. He must have had been coached by Moetzet YESHA. * Where is the vision? * Where is the confidence? * Where are the historical and national importance of settling our Land? Nebich! Why don't we have leaders? Our people are rudderless. Even in Judea and Samaria people in power have no idea why we're here. And they have no idea how to defend themselves. Why are we constantly on the defensive? I feel so powerless, not against my enemies, but against my friends, the public officials who should be leading us, helping us, defending us. But they seem to be our greatest problems. G-d willing, very, very soon, Geula Shleimah, Bimhairah Biyameinu! -- Complete Redemption, Quickly in Our Time Batya Medad lives in Shiloh. She can be reached by email at Shilohmuse@yahoo.com or visit her website http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/ or go to http://www.shilo.org.il This is archived at shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2006/01/ nebich-line.html To Go To Top

FORMER IDF CHIEF YAALON: GAZA NOW HAMASTAN, AL-QAEDASTAN Posted by Avodah 15, January 24, 2006.

This news item is by Ronny Sofer and it appeared in Ynet News, www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3205056,00.html. "As long as there is no acceptance of our right to exist, the Israeli leadership should assume any determined border will be challenged by violent acts, unless there is deterrence. The more vulnerable we appear, the bigger the temptation is to attack us." -- Former IDF Chief Yaalon. Former IDF Chief of Staff Moshe Yaalon told the Herzliya Conference on Israel's National Security on Monday that Gaza has turned into "Hamastan, Hizballahstan, and al-Qaedastan" following Israel's withdrawal from the area last summer. "The Arabs' refusal to recognize Israel is the source of all the violence directed against it from the dawn of Zionism to this day," he added. "As long as this does not change, Israel will be prone to violence." "The 1967 borders do not provide an answer to the threat of rocket and suicide bombing attacks, nor do they provide an answer to the threat of conventional attacks." Yaalon said the Palestinian Authority has breached every agreement with Israel. "The Palestinians do not recognize our right to live within the 1967 borders. Their decision to wage war in September 2000 was aimed at dodging the need to recognize Israel as a sovereign state." "All of these are warning signs ahead of determining the country?s permanent borders -- either by way of agreement or unilaterally. As long as there is no acceptance of our right to exist, the Israeli leadership should assume any determined border will be challenged by violent acts, unless there is deterrence. The more vulnerable we appear, the bigger the temptation is to attack us." Contact Avodah 15 at avodah15@aol.com To Go To Top

PARTICIPATE IN THE FEBRUARY 1 RALLIES AGAINST ISLAMO-FASCISM Posted by SMCCDI, January 24, 2006.

Dear Iranians, Dear Americans, Dear Iranian-Americans, Dear Freedom Lovers, Most Middle-Easterners and Iranians have been long among the first victims of Islamo-Fachism. Iranians for their part have shown their deep rejection of the Islamic republic regime, at many occasions, by boycotting successive sham elections or by demonstrating, striking or some even resorting to violence at the price of their lives and due to total exasperation. Iranians in their vast majority have turned their backs to the totality of the theocratic regime and the degree of popular rejection is to the point that even some absconded former officials, living now in exile, are not trusted by the masses. No one, except a few demagogues located mainly abroad, can claim anymore that the Islamic republic regime has any kind of popularity or legitimacy. The main reasons that this antiquated system of governance is still standing in power is due to the use of force, a lack of real commitment from the world to support Iranians for the choice of a clean and clear secular political frame, and the lack of a trusted unified opposition abroad. Americans and Europeans who were standing idle in front of the rise of Islamo-faschism have started to realize its real dangers and threats posed to the world. This awareness of the western world came to fruition as a result of an increase of the Islamist terrorism in the world, beginning with the tragedy of September 11, 2000, and attacks made in Bali, Madrid, London and elsewhere. Europeans who were known for their apathy due to closing their eyes and making deals with tyrannical and terrorist regime's, such as the Islamic republic, are now suddenly waking up and understanding Mao-Tse-Toung's maybe only valid claim that "Colonial Powers would sell the cord which can be use to hang themselves". The latest comments made by Jacques Chirac, the French President, on the "readiness of France to use any type of conventional or non-conventional arms against states sponsoring terrorism" can be qualified as an example of such sudden awakening and as part of its roots. It should be noted that Chirac himself was involved, in early 90s, in freeing terrorists in exchange for the Islamic Republic's juicy oil and industrial contracts. His new stance can be qualified as a positive step while Iranians will always remember how Chirac's Administration freed the Islamist terrorists who were involved in the murder of the late Dr. Shahpoor Bakhtiar and several other dissidents. The US for its part has been a relatively more trusted ally of the Iranian people and less involved in deal-making with the Islamic Republic. However, lobbyist groups and infamous apologists of the clerical regime (such as Hooshang Amir-Ahmadi and Mehranguiz Kar of the self called "American Iranian Council" (AIC), Titra Parsi of the self proclaimed "National Iranian American Council" (NIAC), and the worst of all, Shirin Ebadi who is the opportunist Noble Peace Prize recipient) are looking to legitimize the Islamic regime by calling for the establishment of relations between Washington and Tehran. Helped by some so-called American Liberal circles and part of the media, they're intending to resume what was left of their immoral agenda with the victory of the Bush Administration in 2000. The possibility of sanctions against the regime has even boosted their activities and forced them to show their true intentions of trying to save the Islamic Republic. It's in reaction to such an immoral and illegitimate agenda that we must all mobilize as it is this agenda which is trying to put a lid on the real aspiration of Iranians for total democratic regime change in Iran and an end to the life of the Islamic regime via the careful use of the current open window of international attention. We must use any possible occasion to echo the outcry of Iranian people and all those rejecting Islamo-Faschism by calling for an end of theocratic rule in Iran!!! Any option, other than military, must be supported and used for freeing Iran and Iranians from the yoke of tyranny and terror! In that line we must participate in any American or European groups' actions which are targeting the root of our misery, no matter what other internal or additional agenda these groups might have!! Our agenda is clear!!! We want an end to the totality of the Islamic regime by staying on our principle that such a change should be only for bringing down the Islamic Republic regime by the hands of Iranians only and without endorsing any military action!!! This can be achieved by boycotting the Islamic regime's oil, by freezing Iran's assets and those of the regime's leaders which were looted on the back of Iranians, and by helping genuine and trusted Iranian opponents (not the usual mistrusted old horses and opportunists) to step in and create a unified, trusted platform that can respond to the aspirations of this huge mass which is the younger generation of Iran. Dear Iranians, Dear Americans, Dear Iranian-Americans, Dear Freedom Lovers, The time has come that we must move forward and use all our power and every open window of opportunity while staying true to our principles! A group named "United American Committee" (UAC) has scheduled a major and nationwide rally in the USA. http://www.unitedamericancommittee.org/ The major motif of the action is to "Protest against Islamo-Facshism" and it is to take place on "February 1, 2006", in some major American cities. The group's charter is stating that UAC's goal is "to promote awareness of threats which face America from within its very own borders, primarily focusing on Islamic extremism in America." It is adding that the movement is intended "to promote citizen involvement in national security issues, and to awaken Washington on the issue of Islamic extremism." While the UAC's stated goal might seem to some as having the purpose of an internal American debate or some right-wing agenda, in reality, no one can claim that Islamo-Faschism is not a real threat and source of tyranny and terror. That's why we're calling on each of you to seize the occasion and participate in some of the following UAC's demonstrations of "February 1st" that we do co-sponsor hereby. These co-sponsored rallies, where we'll be also present, are as follows: 1) CALIFORNIA: Los Angeles, In front of the federal Building, located at 11000 Wilshire Boulevard; Time: 4:30 PM to 6:00 PM 2) NEW YORK: New York City, at the World Trade Center -- Ground Zero; Time: 1:00 PM 3) TEXAS: -- Dallas (Addison), at the Intersection of Beltline and Addison; Time: 4:30PM -- Houston, at the Tranquility Park located between Walker and Rusk Sts; Time: 12:00 PM Remember that your participation would't mean the acceptance of any group's total agenda, but it would be a clear show of support for the call to oppose Islamo-faschism and the Iranians' aspiration for the peaceful liberation of Iran!! In that line, the SMCCDI, the INSP (Iran's National Secular Party), and the "Alliance of Iranians" (Texas) are participating in some of the February 1st rallies against Islamo-Faschism. Our members and supporters will also be carrying placards stating "End the Islamic Republic in Iran!", "No to Theocracy, Yes to Secular Democracy!", "Democratic Regime Change in Iran!", "Respect Iran's Territorial Integrity", "Down with Islamo-Faschism". We will also carry Iran's only legitimate flag which is the "Lion & Sun", which has been banned by the clerical regime!! http://daneshjoo.org/article/publish/article_2376.shtml May it be raised again on the Damavand pick, in all Iran's current provinces and on all the Iranian islands of the eternal Persian Gulf! We're looking to shake the hand of each of you, on February 1st, and are calling on those in Europe to seize the occasion and organize the same type of action in the cities of their residence!! Please spread this message and ask your friends, relatives and co-workers to participate as well! United we stand! Divided we fall! Contact SMCCDI, The Student Movement for Democracy in Iran, at peyk@daneshjoo.org. Or go to their website: http://www.daneshjoo.org/ To Go To Top

PRIVATIZED DIPLOMACY? OSAMA'S PEN PAL Posted by Steven Plaut, January 24, 2006.

1. Psychiatric Theories of the Conspiracism Mental Illness: http://antiprotester.blogspot.com/2006/01/psychiatric-theories-of-conspiracism.html (Conspiracist Mantra: roses are red violets are blue i'm schizophrenic and so am i) 2. Over the past two decades, Israel's Left has been preaching the merits of "private diplomatic initiatives". This meant the early illegal leftist courtship of the PLO leading up to the first Oslo "Accord", and later the private diplomatic initiatives by Yossi Beilin and his friends, the "Geneva Misunderstandings", and the parallel initiative by Ami Ayalon. Meanwhile, in recent years, an annual conference on Israeli strategy, called the Herzliya Conference, has been held, featuring leading strategic thinkers, mainly NOT of the Far Left. It debates Israel's choices and strategic policies. But because the Herzliya Conference is NOT a leftist propaganda bash, the Left has just launched a juhad against it and "privatized diplomacy". You see, the Left considers privatazation a curse word, something that all civilized people understand must be suppressed at all cost, like Bird Flu. The campaign against "Privatized Diplomacy" is being run by the same Haaretz daily that has always cheered the Beilin and Ayalon attempts to conduct a privatized Munich capitulation. And the leading jihadnik against "privatized diplomcy" is the Bimbo in Chief of the Labor Party. In her address to the Herzliya Conference, to which she was invited, Labor candidate for Knesset Shelly Yachimovitch attacked the essence of the symposium, saying it subverted democracy by giving political leverage to the wealthy businessmen who fund it. See http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArtVty.jhtml?sw=shelly&itemNo=673808 Haaretz runs other letters and pieces attacking teh conference as well. 3."Osama's Pen Pal" by Daniel Pipes FrontPageMagazine.com, January 24, 2006 William Blum, a Washington, D.C. writer, responded delightedly last Thursday on learning that Osama bin Laden had cited his book in an audiotape. Blum called the mention of Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower "almost as good as being an Oprah book," a reference to the popular American television host whose endorsement routinely makes a book a bestseller. Asked if he was queasy about bin Laden's urging listeners to read his book, Blum replied: "I'm not repulsed, and I'm not going to pretend I am." Quite the contrary, he said: "I'm glad.It's good publicity for my book." And, indeed, it was: Thanks to bin Laden's promotion, Rogue State ascended from 205,763 to 26 on Amazon.com's ranking of most-ordered books. Blum explained his response by saying he found bin Laden no worse than the U.S. government: "I would not say that bin Laden has been any less moral than Washington has been." He even refused to distance himself from bin Laden's views: "If he shares with me a deep dislike for certain aspects of U.S. foreign policy, then I'm not going to spurn any endorsement of the book by him. I think it's good that he shares those views." Blum describes his life mission as "slowing down the American Empire -- injuring the beast." Not surprisingly, Noam Chomsky, Oliver Stone, Gore Vidal, and their ilk have lavished praise on his work. What attracted bin Laden to Blum? This passage (which actually comes from another of Blum's books, titled Freeing the World to Death: Essays on the American Empire). "If I were the [U.S.] president, I could stop terrorist attacks against the United States in a few days. Permanently. I would first apologize -- very publicly and very sincerely -- to all the widows and orphans, the impoverished and the tortured, and all the many millions of other victims of American imperialism." Until his sudden catapult into the public eye, Blum, 72, had lived the quiet life of a second-string America-hater. The child of Polish Jewish immigrants, he grew up in Brooklyn, studied accounting in college, and, as an anti-Communist with aspirations to become a foreign service officer, he went to work at a computer-related position in the U.S. Department of State in the mid-1960s. The Vietnam War radicalized him, and he resigned from State in 1967 to pursue a career of far-Left advocacy and sabotage. (He claims to have revealed the names and addresses of over two hundred CIA operatives.) For nearly forty years, Blum has written op-eds, after articles, after books pursuing his hobbyhorse to prove the alleged evil of the U.S. government officials, whom he has compared to "chainsaw baby killers." He goes so far as to state the existence of an American-sponsored "holocaust" since 1945 that has caused the death of a few million people and condemned many more millions to "lives of misery and torture." David Horowitz, a foremost analyst of the Left, sums up this line of thought in his excellent study, Unholy Alliance: Radical Islam and the American Left (Regnery): for Blum, "America is worse than Nazi Germany." Horowitz also notes that "there is no discernible difference" between Blum's view of the U.S. role in the Cold War and the crudest Communist caricature manufactured in the Kremlin. Although Blum was childishly delighted by his sudden celebrity and riches, his comrades on the far-Left reacted more warily to bin Laden's endorsement, aware how it reveals that, as Cliff Kincaid of Accuracy in Media puts it, "bin Laden is counting on a [leftist] fifth column in the U.S. to undermine the war on terrorism and hand him a victory on the battlefield." Such exposure so worries some on the far-Left that they have gone so far as to portray the bin Laden audiotape to be "an obvious fake. concocted by neo-conservatives in the U.S. government." But elaborate conspiracy theories cannot undo the fact that the Islamist-leftist alliance, burgeoning for years, has now reached the point that the far-Left constitutes al-Qaeda's new mujahideen. After having failed to mount a massive terrorist operation in the United States in over four years, bin Laden's early but very public Valentine to the far-Left suggests that he sees it as a critical ally. And he is entirely correct to do so. 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. Contact him by email at splaut@econ.haifa.ac.il To Go To Top

ALL HAIL GRANDCHILDREN #10 AND #11 Posted by Moshe Saperstein, January 24, 2006.

[Editor's note: Things are looking up. We haven't heard from Moshe for far too long.] This morning at 8:45 Dafna called from Shaare Tzedek to say "Today's the day!" Dafna was due to give birth a week from today. A week ago Thursday she was brought to Shaare Tzedek complaining of sharp pains. Various infections were considered and discarded. After the weekend, feeling slightly better, she was sent home. This past Thursday the pains increased and she returned to the hospital. More tests showing nothing amiss. After much consideration, an x-ray. Turns out she has a broken rib. It is rare, but not unknown, that when the mother-to-be is very slender and she is carrying more than one, one of the feotii/feotuses/footsies kicks or butts sufficiently hard within the limited space to break a rib. That's what happened here. On Sunday, yesterday, it was decided she would remain in the hospital until she gave birth. In the afternoon we arranged for a tv set to be set up over her bed. Both she and I are movie fanatics and when we get together and movies are the subject, the air sizzles. Yesterday we took turns destroying "Bruce Almighty" and "Groundhog Day", and I, who haven't watched television since the expulsion, was looking forward to a whole week of watching and kvetching. Alas, "twas not to be." Before calling us to say that the doctor had decided the grand opening was imminent, Dafna called her husband Chanan. She wanted Chanan in the operating/delivery room, and Shaarei Tzedek was one of the few places that had agreed. But today is Chanan's day at the Wingate Institute north of Tel Aviv where he, an accomplished horseman and trainer, is taking a course on teaching horseback riding. On getting the call Chanan, who was in the middle of a test, yelled "My wife is giving birth!" and left for Jerusalem. Dafna was very upset. She wanted Chanan with her but he was an hour away, and the doctor was insisting they get cracking immediately. "So your husband isn't here," said the doctor, "so your mother can be in the room with you." Gorgeous Grandma Rachel, ever game, immediately said "Of course I'll do it" but she turned white. As to the look on Dafna's face, I haven't the words to describe it. But we got lucky. The operating room was occupied -- probably some woman getting a lube job -- and just as they were starting to wheel Dafna in, Chanan, in true cowboy hero fashion, came charging in. To Rachel's very great relief. They put a hospital gown on him then I noticed he was still wearing these huge spurs. Which he removed and gave me for safekeeping. We went outside to wait and it wasn't long before our daughter-in-law Efrat, the Shaarei Tzedek ultrasound technician who has been monitoring Dafna every week, called to say the babies are out and all is well. "From their crying they'll both be opera singers" she said. She told us where to wait to see the infants being wheeled out to their incubators. As we waited the anesthetist came out. "Mazal tov!" he said heartily. "Twins. A girl and a boy." We were stunned. "She's supposed to be having two girls," I said. "Well," he replied, walking away. "what do I know?" Our confusion didn't last long. Efrat came out, confirming the birth of two girls. While Dafna was taken down to the recovery room we got to see the babies. Because they were delivered by caesarian the faces don't have the crunched look most newborn have. They are simply gorgeous. The larger of the two weighed 2.6 kilos, the smaller 1.7. For months now Dafna and Chanan have been considering different names. Tiffany and Brittney were longtime favorites. Then, to satisfy their French sefardi neighbors, Chantal and Georgette were considered. Dafna, who shares my perverse humor, even suggested Kwaneesha and Moeesha. In any case, the names chosen made two old men very happy. The smaller is Ida, after Chanan's grandmother, which brought tears to Chanan's father's eyes. The larger, Alma, because they like the name, but I am delighted as Alma was Gustave Mahler's wife. Through all of this, the months of pain and waiting, Dafna has maintained an exhausted radiance, something only people who are beautiful and know they are beautiful can carry off. "Now" as Chanan says, "the fun begins." Moshe 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 and his wife Rachel lived in Neve Dekalim, Gush Katif, Gaza. They are now in temporary residence in a hotel in Jerusalem, still waiting for their next temporary home -- a trailer -- to be made habitable. To Go To Top

PARSHAS VAAIRA -- ANOTHER LESSON OR TWO Posted by Avodah 15, January 24, 2006.

This comes from winston@torah.org Moshe told it to the Children of Israel, but they did not listen to Moshe because their spirit was broken, and because of the hardness of their work. (Shemos 6:9) I apologize for staying with the concept of anti-Semitism a while longer. Understandably, it is not a popular topic for us Jews. We are at a critical point in history: anti-Semitism is on the rise, so many Jews seem to be oblivious, and the past speaks for itself. Now that it is late in history, and for believers in Tanach, the War of Gog and Magog looms on the horizon. One of the greatest dangers a Jew faces is denial. If you were to input Jewish history into a computer and ask it, "Are Jews vulnerable anywhere they live in the world?", the output data would read "Yes." After all, everywhere Jews have gone, anti-Semitism has followed us. And, everywhere we went, we always thought that we would be spared "over here" of the effects of what we knew was happening "over there." Today, "over there" is Eretz Yisroel, and "over here" is as far as one can get from the Middle-East. If there is going to be a major conflict directly involving the Jews, perhaps even against them, G-d forbid, then it is likely, many people living in the Diaspora reason, to be staged in and around Eretz Yisroel. Therefore, logic would dictate that safety lies in lands distant from the Holy Land where a Jew can hunker down until the worst is over. True, the War of Gog and Magog may affect every Jew in the world, but it's got to affect the Israeli Jews the most, the prevailing wisdom assumes. An answer to this question comes from an unlikely source: Noach's Flood. Where did the Flood take place, on low ground where floods always occur, or on high ground? It took place up in the mountains. Indeed, that was one of the reasons why Noach had such a tough time selling the idea of teshuvah to his generation. "What?" they mocked Noach, "A flood up here in the mountains? Huh! Unlikely." So the water came up to them. It rose fifteen amos above the highest mountain, the gematria of Yud-Heh, to make it clear that it was G-d, not Nature doing it. "At least 3.5 million Americans are of Arab descent. Arab Americans live in all 50 states, but two thirds reside in 10 states; one third of the total live in California, New York, and Michigan. About 94% live in metropolitan areas. Los Angeles, Detroit, New York/New Jersey, Chicago and Washington, D.C., are the top five metro areas of Arab American concentration." "But," you will tell me, "there are three HUNDRED million Arabs surrounding tiny Eretz Yisroel. Surely, if we're talking about an Islamic threat, there is a much greater one to Jews living on Jewish soil!" In terms of sheer numbers, you'd be right. But, which would you prefer, to stand in front of a weaponless bully, or a small bandit carrying a gun? Towards the end of World War II, just as the tide of the war was finally turning against the Germans, Rommel and his troops were poised to enter Eretz Yisroel from the south (via Egypt), in a coordinated attack with the Arab world from the east. European Jewry, at the time, was being decimated, and the Jewish Agency in Israel had already begun the process of shipping all documentation outside the country. In the meantime, Rabbi Kahanaman laid the foundation cornerstone of the planned new Ponovez Yeshivah in B'nei Brak. Onlookers were shocked. "Does the rabbi not know of the imminent attack of the Nazis -- Arabs?", the venerable rabbi was asked. "Is it not futile to raise that which will shortly be destroyed?" Without skipping a beat, Rabbi Kahanaman answered, "The Holy One, Blessed be He, will not allow the enemy to enter His holy land." Amazingly, he had been right. Rommel was called back to Germany, the Afrika Corps were defeated by the British at the eleventh hour, and the Arab world was left hanging. Ponovez Yeshivah went up, and remains to be a centerpiece of Torah learning in Eretz Yisroel. Let's face it: 350,000,000 Arabs surround Eretz Yisroel, and something is keeping them at bay. It is not world pressure, and is certainly not the Israeli army, as talented as they may be. Only G-d can do that, and continues to do that, because Eretz Yisroel is His favorite land and gift to the Jewish people, unlike America, Canada, England, or South Africa. Deny denial, and wonder aloud if the "flood waters" aren't, in fact, rising to places that we hope are safe. Contact Avodah 15 at avodah15@aol.com To Go To Top

A TRIBUTE TO ARCHBISHOP PIETRO SAMBI, REASSIGNED FROM JERUSALEM TO WASHINGTON Posted by David Bedein, January 24, 2006.

This week, a special farewell ceremony was held in Jerusalem for Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the Pope's ambassador in Israel, formally known as the Papal Nuncio. Archbishop Pietro Sambi has been reassigned as the Papal Nuncio to the USA, and he will be based in Washington. I know this man. During his tenure in Jerusalem, since 1998, the Papal Nuncio proved his sensitivity to anti-semitism. Archbishop Pietro Sambi is open to reviewing information that comes to his attention and is not afraid to take a stand which may make him enemies in some circles. During the summer of 2000, our news agency purchased five sets of the new Palestinian Authority school books from the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Education. This was the first time that the PA issued their own school books. the content of the books would indicate their disposition towards peace and reconciliation with Israel. I personally travelled every day for the better part of a week during August 2000 to purchase the books, and met with PA Deputy Minister Naim Abu Humous, who asked that the books get wide publicity. I assured him of such. When Arabic speaking colleagues took a first glance at the books, they were shocked to see that the books represented a new tool of indoctrination for war against Israel. The translations of the books are now posted at ww.edume.org I brought a set of the books to the Dr. Shlomo Ben Ami, the Israel Minister of Foreign Affairs and showed him the books, and the new maps that deleted Israel for every PA school child to see. He shrugged his shoulders. It was if he was looking at the Manhattan telephone book. As I left the minister's his office, Archbishop Pietro Sambi called me on my cell phone with a request: Could I bring the PA school books to him immediately. -- "the Pope wants to see them". The honorary chairman of the ADL in Israel, Mr. Jack Padwa, had informed the Archbishop that I had purchased these books Having never received a Papal request on my cell phone before, I took a taxi to the Archbishop's office on the Mount of Olives and delivered the books to the archbishop -- the set that the Israel Minister of Foreign Affairs did not want to look at. Archbishop Sambi brought the books with him to Rome, and initiated a study of the PA textbooks, which the Vatican determined to be anti-semitic in nature. And at the recommendation of Archbishop Sambi, the Italian government pulled its money out of the Palestinian Ministry of Education's PA text book project. Archbishop Sambi later told me with his wry sense of humor that before calling my cell phone, he had called my home and my office where my children and my secretary thought that this was a prank, and that I could not possibly have been receiving a personal call from the Vatican's ambassador. This was not the only time that Archbishop Sambi stuck his neck out to attack PA antisemitism. I covered a talk given by the Vatican ambassador for an American congressional delegation, during which he excoriated the US officials for US AID funding of the Palestinian State constitution, which the Archbishop described as denying any juridical status to Judaism, anywhere in Palestine, which he viewed as an "outrage". The status of Christianity is not much better in their new constitution, according to the Archbishop. And over the past few years, the archbishop has let his voice be heard concerning the persecution of Christians in the PA. Archbishop Sambi often asked to be briefed concerning reports of official anti-semitism from the PA media, and from the PA mosques, and he expressed his displeasure of such with Arafat and now with Abbas -- this, at a time when Israel's official anti-incitement committee in the Israel Foreign Ministry has not met for a year. And when the PA spokespeople announced in August that they would burn the synagogues in Gush Katif, Archbishop Sambi personally intervened. After all, Archbishop Sambi noted, if the Moslem authorities had guarded the ancient synagogue in the center of Gaza from desecration, why could they not do so again with the Jewish holy sites that would now be abandoned. However, his voice was not heard. Archbishop Pietro Sambi now flies to Washington, to the nation that sponsors the Middle East peace process. This man will convey a formula of middle east peace to Washington that will transcend any ceremony on any White House lawn. David Bedein is Bureau Chief of the Israel Resource News Agency, which is based in Jerusalem. To Go To Top

THE PA AND THE UN ARE ALLOWING HAMAS TO FACILITATE A TV STATION IN GAZA Posted by David Bedein, January 24, 2006.

Almost every media outlet covered the Palestinian elections this week in terms of the rivalry between the Hamas Islamic terror organization and the Fateh, which is also defined by Israeli and American law as a terrorist organization, even if both nations have placed a waiver on the enforcement of the law against the Fateh, ever since the genesis of the Oslo process. Yet ever since last year's ascension of Mahmoud Abbas to the helm of both the Palestinian Authority, as its president, and to the leadership of the Fateh, as its chairman, both the PA and the Fateh have allowed Hamas to expand its media in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with in far greater latitude given to Hamas than was ever given by Yassir Arafat On January 8, 2006. on the day that marked exactly one year since the election of Abbas as PA president, the PA allowed Hamas to launch its new television station in the Gaza Strip. That television station is called Al Aqsa and now broadcasts from Gaza. The Hamas TV station is land-based and broadcasts from the Gaza Strip with the frequency UHF62. Palestinian news agencies report that it is located in one of the mosques in the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UINRWA) Jabaliya refugee camp,located in the northern Gaza Strip. At the entrance to the UNRWA Jabiliya refugee camp, there is a sign; WELCOME TO NAJID. Most people do not know that Najid is the Arab village which stood in what is now the city of Sderot, which is under constant artillery bombardment from Gaza -- in a war that is portrayed by UNRWA camp residents as an integral part of their struggle for the "right of return" to the Arab villages that they left during and after the 1948 war. Another media initiative launched from a media center in the UNRWA camp in Jabailyia is the "right of return" campaign, pioneered under a web site known as www.PalestineRemembered.com, which is designed to allow Palestinian refugee and their descendents to locate the precise location of their village, in order to ease the process of their "return" to their village. Over the past year, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas also allowed Hamas to operate a radio station, also termed Al Aqsa. The new Hamas TV station broadcasts news, commentary and religious programming. Under Abbas's rule, Hamas has also expanded its print media. The movement's weekly Al Risala announced that it would begin publishing twice a week. Al Risala has been regarded as the leading opposition publication in the PA territories and over the last few weeks has been used to promote Hamas candidates for Palestinian Legislative Elections, scheduled on January 25. A source in Israeli intelligence observed that "Hamas places great importance on its war to capture the hearts and minds of the Palestinian people and other target audiences in the Middle East and all over the globe". What is most newsworthy, from a pan-Arab global point of view, is that Hamas's entire communications network is directed by the organization's leadership in Damascus. Until this election campaign, Hamas lacked a television station. The Hamas TV station is modeled on Al-Manar TV, the Hezbollah TV station in Lebanon. A senior Hamas operative stated that it would aspire to the same standards as Al-Manar TV and like Al-Manar, to disseminate Hamas's messages to the Palestinian people and the world at large (AP from Gaza, January 9). To operate the station a staff of photographers, technicians, show hosts and commentators was assembled (most of whom are Hamas members or supporters). Some of the staff received professional training abroad, chiefly in Egypt and at Qatar-based Al-Jazeera TV. Al-Aqsa TV intends to employ women once a women's department has been established. The plan is for experimental programs to be broadcast for a period of between one and three months. At first there will be only a limited number of broadcasts and they will include news, programs about social issues, health and Islam. In coordination with the PA, Hamas also plans eventually to launch a satellite station which will be able to reach target audiences all over the globe. According to a PA publication (Al-Hayat, January 9) the Hamas station might broadcast from a communications center located in Dubai. Hamas's radio and TV stations operate under the aegis of a company called Al-Ribat Communications and Artistic Production. Chairman of the board of directors is Ahmad Muhammad Fathi Hamad, a senior Hamas operative in the Gaza Strip. Fathi Ahmad Muhammad Hamad, head of Al-Ribat Communications and Artistic Productions, which operates Al-Aqsa TV, is a Hamas candidate for the Palestinian Legislative council. Hamad has been involved in terrorist operations and during the 1990s was imprisoned by both the Israelis and the Palestinian Authority. In a speech given during a Hamas parade after Israel disengaged from the Gaza Strip and broadcast by Radio Al-Aqsa (August 26, 2005), he said: "... we of Hamas emphasize by means of the Izzedine al-Qassam Battalions that we will continue the jihad until Palestine has been liberated [sic], from the [Jordan] river to the [Mediterranean] sea. Nothing will stop us, [for] we used the Qassams to liberate Gaza. When the rockets undermine the Jewish entity no one will be able to stand in our way..." The fact that Hamas operates such a "media operation" in a UN facility should be cause for concern among UN member states ... especially since Hamas controls the UNRWA trade workers union in the UNRWA camps. David Bedein is Bureau Chief of the Israel Resource News Agency, which is based in Jerusalem. To Go To Top

MORE CONCESSIONS PROMISED Posted by Unity Coalition for Israel, Januuary 24, 2006.

Chris Meyers is with Unity Coalition for Israel. This was written by Chris Meyers of Unity Coalition for Israel. In fact, the Palestinian charter still calls for the annihilation of the state of Israel, something that was supposed to have been removed from their charter when Netanyahu was Prime Minister of Israel. Why doesn't the press or the State Department talk about this? It seems a simple enough concession for the Palestinians to make, yet they haven't done it. Why? Because they still want to wipe Israel off the map. Why does the world continue to ignore this very plain and obvious fact? It shouldn't be too difficult to understand that it would be an incredibly stupid move on the part of Israel to make concessions to a group of people whose express purpose is the destruction of Israel and it?s people. Yet the media and world leaders continue to pressure Israel to make more concessions, demanding she give up more land and make herself even more vulnerable to terrorist attack. How can we claim to be fighting a war against terror and at the same time push for the creation of a state controlled by terrorists? It doesn't make any sense. If we are really to fight a war against terror, we are obligated to support those on the front lines of that war. Israel is in the forefront of this war, sandwiched in the heart of arguably the worst terrorist activity on the planet. The Palestinians are the same people who jubilantly celebrated the attacks on September 11th. Why then do we push to give them a state of their own? Are we trying to lose this war? It sure looks like it. One must remember the purpose of terrorism. The terrorists only want to wear us down, because they know that if break our resolve, the people will be willing to give up their freedom in exchange for the promise of peace and safety. It is time for us to take a stand before the terrorists are able to easily blow themselves up in our restaurants and bus stations. We must support the Israelis and not pressure them to make concessions. Otherwise, the country will not survive and the terrorists will set their sights on the United States. The full force of our global terrorist enemy will once again reach our shores. Who We Are: Unity Coalition for Israel Founded in 1991, we are the largest worldwide coalition of Jewish and Christian organizations, with more than 200 groups representing millions of people dedicated to Israel. Though we have many different backgrounds, we have one common goal: A Safe and Secure Israel. Israel is not just a Jewish issue. Millions of Christians resolutely endorse the principle of peace with security for the state of Israel. Because we work closely together and speak with a united voice, our message is being heard! To Go To Top

CORRECTING ROSENBERG'S NY TIMES OPINION COLUMN Posted by David Meir-Levi, January 23, 2006.

Dear Christian leaders. Churches for Middle East Peace has issued a bulletin about the elections in the West Bank and Gaza. It is entitled "Elections and Jerusalem." The text is available at www.cmep.org/Alerts/2006Jan20.htm on the web. Below are my commentary and corrections to Mr. Rosenberg's letter. I urge all of you to circulate the letter and my comments. It is tragic that there is so much mis-information current in Christian circles about the Arab-Israel conflict. More mis-information does a terrible disservice to your constituency. Note that my comments are in caps. david meir-levi The House is wrestling with leadership issues and still in recess while the Senate is focused on the Alito hearings. Meanwhile, the President prepares for the State of the Union address on February 2. He is sure to comment on the results of the January 25th Palestinian legislative elections with an eye to the March 28 elections in Israel. Among the many commentaries on the Israeli and Palestinian elections, I bring your attention to the following by M.J. Rosenberg, who spoke at the 2005 Ecumenical Advocacy Days conference. As you know, CMEP has recently been advocating in support of the political rights of Palestinians in East Jerusalem as part of our broad and longstanding focus on Jerusalem-related issues. "What if Hamas Wins?' IPF Friday M.J. Rosenberg's Weekly Opinion Column Washington, DC, January 20, 2006 Issue #258 According to comprehensive polls of the Palestinian and Israeli populations, the two peoples are moving closer on the key issues that have divided them in the past. If the polls translate into votes in the January 25 Palestinian election and the March 28 Israeli election, progress toward resolution of the conflict would seem to be inevitable. Unfortunately, only the Israeli electorate appears likely to vote in accordance with the polls' findings. Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Kadima party holds a commanding lead (he actually is running more strongly than Prime Minister Ariel Sharon did in earlier polls). And Olmert is running as a centrist, ready for compromise with the Palestinian Authority and for confrontation with the settlers in the illegal outposts and their fanatical brethren in Hebron. (These clowns are now not only attacking the IDF but calling for an ultra-Orthodox settler state called Judea.) Former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, campaigning as the settlers' champion and opponent of the diplomatic process, is running very poorly. It is on the Palestinian side where the attitudes reflected in the polls seem not to be translating into votes. Hamas continues to gain strength in the legislative elections (the Presidential election took place last year and President Mahmoud Abbas remains in the office no matter what the result this month) while Abbas's Fatah continues to lose it. It is even possible that Hamas will win the election, an eventuality that few would have considered a few months ago. What's going on? The Israeli situation is easier to assess. According to a poll conducted in December by the Harry S Truman Research Center at the Hebrew University 64 per cent of Israelis support the so-called Clinton parameters for a settlement. The Clinton parameters, presented by President Bill Clinton to Israeli and Palestinian negotiators at the White House in December 2000 and at Israel Policy Forum a few days later include the following. For the Palestinians: * Control over a sovereign, contiguous, viable state (94-96% of the West Bank) recognized by the international community. * Sovereignty over Al Haram al-Sharif (the Temple Mount) in Jerusalem. * Control over the Arab sections of Jerusalem, which would serve as the capital of a Palestinian state. * A comprehensive settlement plan for refugees that offered them several options: return to the new state of Palestine; return to the state of Israel (with restrictions); resettlement in a third country; and/or compensation. For the Israelis: * The right for 80 percent of the West Bank settlers, most of whom live near the 1967 borders, to stay put. * Control over the Jewish sections of Jerusalem, which would be internationally recognized as the capital of Israel. * Control over and access to Jewish holy sites in Jerusalem, including sections of the Temple Mount. As noted above, 64% of Israelis support those terms. It is therefore not surprising that Kadima is running so strongly in the pre-election polls. Israelis have given up on the idea of Greater Israel, and are resigned to a West Bank/Gaza Palestinian state and the dismantling of settlements. Barring some unforeseen event, they appear ready to vote accordingly. A significant new poll of Palestinian attitudes points in the same direction. The poll, conducted by Palestinian pollster Dr. Khalil Shikaki for the United States Institute of Peace's Project on Arab-Israeli Futures, finds that "for the first time since the start of the peace process, a majority of Palestinians support a compromise settlement that is acceptable to a majority of Israelis." According to the USIP-sponsored poll "a majority of Palestinians are willing to accept the two-state solution by which 'Palestinians recognize Israel as the state of the Jewish people' and Palestine [the West Bank and Gaza] 'as the state of the Palestinian people.' In June 2003, 52 percent supported and 46 percent opposed this formula, and by September 2005 support rose to 63 percent and opposition dropped to 35 percent." The USIP poll goes behind the numbers to uncover the variables which affect the percentages of Palestinians supporting accommodation with Israel as opposed to violence. Tracking support for accommodation over the years, the poll finds that Palestinians shift toward moderation at times of hope and toward violence when they feel hopeless. "The Netanyahu period witnessed serious deterioration in the peace process, with little implementation of existing agreements on Israeli redeployment of forces out of Palestinian territories. The opening in September 1996 of a tunnel along parts of the Western Wall of al-Haram al-Sharif (Temple Mount), which was followed by several days of Palestinian-Israeli armed confrontations, heightened threat perceptions, raised questions about the value of diplomacy, and increased Palestinian support for violence." THE WRITER MAKES AN UNDERSTANDABLE ERROR IN THIS PARAGRAPH. THERE NEVER WAS A 'PEACE PROCESS', AND THE 'TUNNEL INTIFADA WAS ENGINEERED BY ARAFAT TO STAVE OFF HIS OWN PNC (PALESTINIAN NATIONAL COUNCIL) PRESSURE TO IMPLEMENT DEMOCRATIC REFORM SHORTLY AFTER HIS ELECTION TO OFFICE OF 'RAIS' IN JANUARY OF 1996. ONE MUST CAREFULLY STUDY THE SEQUENCE OF ADVANCES IN NEGOTIATIONS AND SUBSEQUENT (SOMETIMES ALMOST IMMEDIATE) OUTBREAKS OF TERROR ATTACKS TO FIND THE PATTERN. IT BECOMES CLEAR THAT ARAFAT USED TERROR ATTACKS AS A WAY TO GET OUT FROM UNDER THE PRESSURE FROM EITHER: A.) THE ISRAELIS AND AMERICANS AS THEY WERE PUSHING HIM TO MAKE CONCESSIONS IN RECIPROCITY TO ISRAELI CONCESSIONS, OR D.) FROM HIS OWN PEOPLE (PNC, OR PLC -- PALESTINIAN LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL) AS THEY WERE PUSHING HIM TO RELINQUISH SOME POWER TO THE REPRESENTATIVE ORGANIZATIONS AND BE MORE TRANSPARENT IN FISCAL POLICY AND DECONSTRUCT THE COMPLEX SET OF TERRROR FIGHTING GROUPS HE CREATED. ONE MUST CAREFULLY READ THE DETAILED STUDY OF MODERN PALESTINIAN POLITICAL HISTORY BY PROFESSOR NATHAN BROWN, PALESTINIAN POLITICS, AND TRACK THE SEQUENCE OF EVENTS THROUGH TEXT AND COPIOUS FOOTNOTES, TO GET THE PATTERN. AS BECAME OBVIOUS FROM THE 24,000 DOCUMENTS THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT TOOK FROM ARAFAT'S MUQATA (COMPOUND/BASE OF OPERATIONS) IN RAMALLAH, ARAFAT HAD BEEN WORKING TOGETHER WITH HAMAS AND A DOZEN OTHER TERROR GROUPS TO MAINTAIN A CONSTANT TERROR WAR AGAINST ISRAEL FROM THE FALL OF 1993 (EVEN BEFORE THE INK WAS DRY ON THE OSLO ACCORDS PAPERS)....EVEN AS HE TALKED ABOUT PEACE AND HAGGLED AND WIGGLED AND MANEUVERED WITH ISRAEL AND THE UN AND THE USA AND THE EU PRETENDING TO BE INTERESTED IN RESOLVING THE PROBLEMS. IT IS CLEAR THAT THE TUNNEL INTIFADA OF 1996 WAS THE WAY THAT HE GOT OUT FROM UNDER THE PNC AND PLC PRESSURE ON HIM TO END WHAT HE CALLED THE 'DEMOCRACY OF THE GUN' AND IMPLEMENT THE DEMOCRATIC REFORMS THAT OSLO DEMANDED, WHEN 9 MONTHS AFTER HIS ELECTION TO OFFICE HE WAS STILL RUNNING THE COUNTRY AS HIS PERSONAL FIEFDOM AND USING BILLIONS OF DOLLARS INTENDED FOR THE PALESTINIAN ECONOMY TO FUND HIS TERROR GROUPS. HIS REPLY TO THE PRESSURE WAS "WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU, DON'T YOU SEE THAT OUR PEOPLE ARE DYING IN THE STREETS. I CAN'T WORRY ABOUT REFORMS NOW. I HAVE A WAR TO FIGHT." THE SAME IS TRUE OF THE 2ND INTIFADA IN 9/2000. HIS FIVE YEAR TERM OF OFFICE WAS ABOUT TO END (1/2001) AND HE HAD NO INTENTION OF ORGANIZING ELECTIONS, SO 9/2000 WAS THE PERFECT TIME TO PULL ANOTHER MASSIVE TERROR ACTION TO DEFUSE THE PRESSURE FROM CLINTON TO MAKE CONCESSIONS TO BARAQ, AND FROM HIS OWN PNC AND PLC TO START PLANNING ELECTIONS. BOTH PLOYS WORKED. BOTTOM LINE: THE TUNNEL INTIFADA AND ITS VIOLENCE HAD ALMOST NOTHING TO DO WITH NETANYAHU. "The failure of the Camp David summit and the eruption of the second intifada were followed by an increase in support for violence. This increase is correlated with greater threat perception on the part of Palestinians. The Israeli use of military force, including tanks, helicopter gun ships, and F-16 bombers, against Palestinians inside populated areas, the Israeli imposition of collective punishment measures (such as closures, checkpoints, and restrictions on movement), the continued buildup of Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, and the building of the separation barrier of concrete walls and barbed-wire fences inside the West Bank are examples of threats the Palestinians had to endure during the years of the second intifada. The anger generated by these measures led people to demand revenge and to support all types of violence against Israelis, including suicide attacks against civilians inside Israel," the USIP reports. THIS IS INCORRECT. THE CORRELATIONS ARE FALSE. PER ABOVE, THE 2ND INTIFADA WAS PLANNED BY ARAFAT AND HIS MINIONS AS A WAY TO DEFUSE PRESSURE FOR ELECTIONS AND TO TELL CLINTON AND BARAQ VERY GRAPHICALLY TO "GO TO HELL" (QUOTE FROM ARAFAT'S SPEECH IN GAZA AFTER HIS RETURN FROM CAMP DAVID 2). THE BUILD UP OF ISRAELI PRESSURE ON THE POPULATION WAS A FUNCTION SOLELY OF ISRAEL'S NEED TO STOP THE TERROR ATTACKS. THE WRITER ALSO FAILS TO NOTE (AND INDEED MAY NOT BE AWARE) THAT THERE WAS MUCH HATRED TOWARD ARAFAT AND THE PLO/PA WHICH BEGAN TO SURFACE IN THE MID 1990'S AS THE KLEPTOCRACY AND THUGOCRACY OF THE PLO/PA BECAME TRANSPARENT, AND AS ARAFAT SQUANDERED EACH AND EVERY OPPORTUNITY FOR PEACE AND FOR A PALESTINIAN STATE. In other words, the idea that Palestinians can be beaten into submission is precisely wrong and not just morally. The more painful and onerous the occupation feels, the more Palestinians move toward support for terrorism and opposition to the kind of approach represented by Mahmoud Abbas and others like him. THIS IS A FALSE STATEMENT. ISRAEL HAS NEVER TRIED TO 'BEAT INTO SUBMISSION' THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE. ISRAEL'S 'MINI MARSHALL PLAN' OF THE LATE 1960'S TO THE 1980'S SHOWS THE EXACT OPPOSITE. I'VE MENTIONED THE MINI MARSHALL PLAN IN PREVIOUS EMAILS. IF YOU NEED A REMINDER, LET ME KNOW. EVEN AFTER THE INTIFADA BEGAN, ISRAEL CONTINUED TO WORK WITH THE PALESETINIAN PEOPLE AND ASSIST THEM IN MEDICAL AND ENGINEERING AND COMERCIAL PROJECTS. NOT WELL PUBLICIZED IN THE WESTERN MEDIA WAS ONE HORRIFIC TERROR ATTACK ON AN ISRAELI MEDICAL CLINIC IN THE WEST BANK, STAFFED BY ARABIC SPEAKING ISRAELI DOCTORS AND NURSES. ALMOST ALL OF THE VICTIMS WERE THE PALESTINIANS (MANY PREGNANT WOMEN) WHO WERE FREQUENTING THE CLINIC BECAUSE IT GAVE SUPERIOR MEDICAL CARE. THE MESSAGE FROM ISLAMIC JIHAS WAS: DON'T SOCIALIZE WITH THE ISRAELIS. ISRAEL DID, HOWEVER, BEAT INTO SUBMISSION BOTH THE FATAH AND HAMAS TERROR GANGS. ISRAEL'S POLICY OF DECAPITATION WORKED. IT DID NOT HELP TO TAKE OUT ONE OR TWO LEADERS. BUT ONCE ~25% OF THE LEADERS WERE DEAD OR IN JAIL, THE TERROR GROUPS LOST THEIR POWER AND RETREATED INTO HIDING AND PERPETRATED FAR FAR FEWER TERROR ATTACKS. TODAY C 7,000 HAMAS TERRORISTS ARE IN ISRAELI JAILS, AND HAMAS HAS PULLED OFF ALMOST NO SUCCESSFUL TERROR ATTACKS OTHER THAN QASSAM ROCKETS. THIS LACK OF SUCCESS OF NOT BEAUSE OF NO ATTEMPTS. THERE HAVE BEEN MANY. BUT WITH MAJOR PLANNERS AND LEADERS AND STRATEGISTS DEAD OR IN JAIL, THE ISRAELI ARMY HAS HAD A MUCH EASIER TIME STOPPING THE ATTACKS BEFORE THEY REACH THEIR TARGETS. THAT IS ONE OF THE REASONS WHY HAMAS IS INTERESTED IN ENTERING PLO/PA POLITICS....FRONTAL ASSAULT DID NOT WORK....FURTHER TERRORISM IS HARD....SO MOVE TO THE POLITICAL ARENA. The current high-levels of support for the two-state solution is primarily a product of the cease-fire and reduction in overall violence that has taken hold since the death of Yasir Arafat. ALSO FALSE. THE REDUCTION IN VIOLENCE IS NOT BECAUSE OF THE CEASE FIRE. SEE THE PARAGRAPH ABOVE, AND NOTE TOO THAT THERE HAVE BEEN ALMOST 2000 ATTACKS OVER THE 2005 YEAR. ALMOST 3/DAY. ALMOST ALL HAVE FAILED BECAUSE THE IDF HAS BEEN SUCCESSFUL IN CATCHING THE TERRORISTS BEFORE THEY REACH THEIR TARGETS. The only fly in this ointment is the strong possibility that Hamas will run strongly in next week's election. If Palestinians support accommodation with Israel, why would they vote for a party that doesn't? The answer is that a vote for Hamas is not necessarily a vote for Hamas's stance on Israel. Virtually every observer of the Palestinian scene and the polls as well, show that Hamas's main appeal is its apparent incorruptibility. Most Palestinians view the Palestinian Authority (and the Fatah party which controls it) as hopeless corrupt, inefficient and dominated by cronyism. Arafat is gone but the kind of governance he represented is thriving. Mahmoud Abbas has simply not been able to clean house. INCORRECT. HAMAS HAS MADE NO ATTEMPT TO CONCEAL ITS CONTINUED COMMITTMENT TO DESTORY ISRAEL. IT HAS MADE A FEW COMMENTS LATELY ABOUT PERHAPS CONSIDERING THE POSSIBILITY OF SOME SORT OF TRUCE FOR UP TO TEN YEARS. NOT EXACTLY PEACE...BY ANY MEASURE. BUT EVEN THE MOST ILLITERATE OF PALESTINIAN FELLAH KNOWS FULL WELL THAT HAMAS INTENDS TO DESTORY ISRAEL AND GENOCIDE ITS JEWS. WHEN THEY VOTE FOR HAMAS THEY VOTE FOR CONTINUED JIHAD AGAINST ISRAEL. Hamas promises that it will. It plays down its views on peacemaking. TRUE. IT PROMISES THAT IT WILL CLEAN HOUSE. IT PROMISES TO CONTINUE THE WAR AGAINST ISRAEL. AND IT ALSO PROMISES TO CREATE AN EXTREMIST ISLAMIC STATE IN THE WEST BANK (THERE ALREADY IS ONE IN GAZA) SUCH THAT ALL CHRISTIANS IN THE WEST BANK WILL BE DHIMMI (IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT IS, LET ME KNOW). THAT'S WHY CHRISTIANS ARE FLEEING THE WEST BANK TO THE SAFETY AND FREEDOM OF ISRAEL. Today's Economist writes; "What makes Hamas's appeal so great is that it does not just rest on its past performance -- social programs leading the intifada's violence against Israel, and a reputation for honesty -- but on a canny, forward-looking campaign...It stresses domestic issues: education, welfare, law and order. The thornier questions of whether to continue its lull in attacks on Israel, declared last year, and what stance it might take on possible peace talks, are in the background." It will be important to bear this point in mind as the votes come in next week. A Hamas triumph would be a sow's ear, one that only the truly naïve would even try to call a silk purse. But it may not mean that Palestinians are giving up on the two-state idea. The Shikaki poll shows that the very opposite is the case which means that Hamas will have no mandate to reignite the intifada. We may not like the results of the Palestinian election but if they are designated "free and fair" by the US National Democratic Institute and the other international observers, we will have to figure out some way to come to terms with them. And here's the good news. A Hamas in power will itself have to come to terms with a Palestinian populace that supports its social programs and lack of corruption but opposes its stance on Israel. THIS IS A BRIGHT-EYED AND BUSHY-TAILED ANALYSIS. A PROGNOSIS WORTHY OF THE MOST OPTIMISTIC. BUT...IT DOES NOT HOLD UP TO HISTORICAL ANALYSIS. JUST AS ARAFAT DID NOT NEED TO COME TO TERMS WITH A POPULATION THAT BY AND LARGE WANTED PEACE AND A STATE; AND INSTEAD IMPLEMENTED HIS 'DEMOCRACY OF THE GUN' TO TERRORIZE THE POPULACE (SOME ESTIMATES CONTEND THAT HE KILLED MORE PALESTINIANS THAN DID ISRAEL)....SO TOO A HAMAS TERRORIST GOVERNMENT BENT ON IMPLEMENTING ALLAH'S SHARI'A (ISLAMIC RELIGIOUS JURISPRUDENCE) ON ALL PALESTINIANS NO MATTER WHAT THEIR RELIGIONI, AND POSSESSED OF C 12,000 ARMED TERRORISTS WHOM THEY CAN DEPLOY THROGHOUT THE WEST BANK....MEANS QUITE SIMPLEY THAT THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE IS LARGELY IRRELEVANT. HAMAS COMING TO TERMS WITH PALESTINIAN POPULAR DEMANDS MEANS MORE TERROR AGAINST PALESTINIANS, WHICH WILL PROBABLY BE AS SUCCESSFUL AS IT WAS WHEN ARAFAT WAS IN POWER. That is why the diplomatic process will survive next Wednesday's Palestinian election (and certainly Israel's on March 28). Public opinion matters in democracies which is why a democratic Palestinian election is a step in the right direction even if we don't like the guys who win. THIS MAY BE TRUE. THAT IS WHY ISRAEL HAS PROMISED TO NEGOTIATE WITH THE NEXT GOVERNMENT, AS LONG AS IT STOPS THE TERRORISM, STOPS THE INCITEMENT, AND AGREES TO NEGOTIATE PEACEFULLY. HAMAS HAS REFUSED ALL OF THESE DEMANDS. 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

NO NEUTRAL GROUND IN WORLD WAR IV Posted by David Meir-Levi, January 23, 2006.

Dear Mr. President, In case Mr. Zuckerman's editorial failed to reach your desk, I'm enclosing it below. Do you remember your courageous and visionary doctrine formulated after September 11, 2001? Either they are with us, or against us. There is no middle ground. You got a lot of flack for that, because usually there is a middle ground. Some people, some states, can usually be sincerely neutral or uninvolved. But you are right....no middle ground, not in World War 4. The stakes are too high. In bin-Laden's 2002 letter to the West, he told us his three demands: 1. The West must accept Islam. If all the Christians and Jews of Europe and the Americas either become Moslem or submit to dhimmitude under the religious totalitarianism of the new Islamic Caliphate (which he is in the process of creating, with its capitol in Baghdad), then he will cease his war. First and foremost, his war is a war against what he calls "global unbelief". So perhaps we could end this war by mass conversion to Islam. Of course, that would mean the end of Western Civilization as we know it, and a return to a culture akin to the 8th century Early Middle Ages. 2. The West, and especially the USA, must cease aggression against Moslems and Islam. If the West were engaged in an aggressive war against Moslems, this might make sense. But since our war is with terrorists, almost all of whom are Moslems, and these mostly Moslem terrorists launched their war against us in November of 1979, and we refrained from a counter-attack until their terrorism was too brutal to ignore, it is difficult to see just what Osama has in mind when he talks about the West's war against Islam. In fact, our belated counter-attack has been accompanied by numerous disclaimers, some from you personally, to the effect that we in the USA do NOT see Islam as an enemy, nor are we out to get Moslems. In fact, in Gulf War 1, we saved two traditional Moslem states from the aggression of another Moslem state. In the Balkans we saved Moslems from European Christians. In Afghanistan and Iraq we freed Moslems from the totalitarian control of other Moslems and set them up to create Moslem democracies. And in addition to that, the USA alone has given billions and billions of foreign aid dollars to Moslem states (some of which now provide support for the Moslem terrorists who are attacking us); and the USA single handedly saved millions of Egyptian Moslems from starvation in the 1950's (thanks to Eisenhower's free transfer of tons of American grain to a starving Egypt). Our war is not with Islam. We simply want the terror attacks to cease. The fact is that almost all terrorists in the world today are Moslems; so our counter-attack does indeed look like a war against Moslems. But that is much more Osama's doing than ours. So, if we could get him to enunciate more clearly just what our aggression has been (and let's recall in this context that Moslem attacks against us began 22 years before 9/11/2001, and our invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq were after 9/11/2001), then maybe we could end this war.....by pulling back our troops from wherever he says we should. Of course, that would then give him complete freedom to launch even more attacks, be victorious in this war, and end our civilization as we know it. 3. There must be an equality of suffering. Bin-Laden estimates that the West, and primarily the USA, killed c. 4,000,000 Moslems over the past decade or so. Between Afghanistan, Iraq, USA support for Israel, the sanctions against Iraq prior to Gulf War 2.....all add up to about 4,000,000. So he says that he will not be satisfied until he has killed 4,000,000 of us. 9/11 was only the very first and smallest initial salvo in his war against the "global unbelief" of the vast non-Moslem world. Now this calculus is a bit odd. Aside from the arithmetic itself (there is no way to validate his 4,000,000 number, and they do seem awefully high), Osama ignores the obvious fact that during the 2nd half of the 20th century Moslem leaders have killed far more Moslems than anyone else anywhere in the world and across all of history. Between the PLO vs. Druze and Lebanese Shi'ites (c. 250,000); the post-Numeiri government in Khartoum vs. the black African Moslems of southern Sudan and Darfur (c. 2,000,000); Sadam Hussein's wars against the Kurds (c. 200,000), the Iranians (c. 400,000), his own casualties in the war against Iran (c. 450,000), and his own Shi'ite citizens (c. 250,000); the Saudi royal family's aggression against its own Shi'ite citizens (c. 400,000), Egypt's wars against Yemen (c. 100,000), and Algeria's Moslem government war against their own extremist Moslem citizens (c. 200,000).....we are getting pretty close to that same 4,000,000 dead Moslems. But these dead Moslems do not concern Osama. The aggressors were not 'kufar'. But even beyond the oddness of Osama's calculations, just how are we to deal with this last demand? Could we negotiate him down to only 2,000,000? You know, like, each side split the difference and both go away happy? Or maybe if he saw that we were really serious about negotiating a peaceful and mutually acceptable end to the conflict, he would settle for only one million? Would that be an OK way to resolve the conflict and make Osama happy? In short, as Commander in Chief of the USA's Armed Forces, you are leading the free world in a fight for its very existence against a massive terrorist force, probably in possession of WMDs, with whom there is no rational way to negotiate, whose demands are tantamount to a strategy of deceit to more effectively advance his victory over us, and whose vision of victory is "Islam uber alles". So....given these stakes and the character of this war, there is no middle ground. Every nation that helps the terrorists drives a nail in our coffin. Every nation that remains neutral undermines our global efforts to put an end to the terrorist threat. That is why Russia is a threat to us, because it provides Iran with nuclear capabilities. Iran is a threat to us because it itself seeks to engage Israel and the West in a nuclear war, and because it arms and trains and funds and deploys Hezbollah and Hamas. And Hezbollah and Hamas are a threat to us because, in addition to waging a relentless and brutal terror war against our only ally in the Middle East, both they and other terrorist groups have declared that their war is against America too. Therefore, you cannot remain silent as Russia aids Iran. You cannot stand idly by as Iran funds and deploys Hezbollah. You cannot ignore the depravity of the EU supporting Hamas. And you cannot compromise Israel's ability to defend itself in its defensive war against the same terrorist forces that threaten us and all of Western Civilization. David Meir-Levi "Moscow's Mad Gamble" Mortimer B. Zuckerman U.S. News and World Report Iran today is the mother of Islamic terrorism. Tehran openly provides funding, training, and weapons to the world's worst terrorists, including Hezbollah, Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and it has a cozy relationship with al-Qaeda. It has given sanctuary to major al-Qaeda terrorists, including senior military commander Saif al-Adel, three of Osama bin Laden's sons, and al-Qaeda spokesman Suleiman Abu Ghaith. It supports many of the barbaric terrorists in Iraq who are murdering innocent civilians, flooding Iraq with money and fighters. It is infiltrating troublemakers into Afghanistan, supporting terrorism against Turkey, sustaining Syria, and had a hand in the Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia. Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is a revolutionary firebrand who has directly threatened the West. In his own words, "We are in the process of an historical war between the World of Arrogance [i.e., the West] and the Islamic world." He casts himself as Hitler reincarnated, calling for Israel to be "wiped off the map." Who can think that Iran poses no threat to world peace? History tells us that when madmen call for genocide, they usually mean it. And Russia has made the threat more real. It sold the nuclear power plant at Bushehr to Iran and contracted to sell even more to bring cash into its nuclear industry. Russia provided critical assistance in the development of Iran's Shihab missile, which has an ever expanding delivery range and can carry a warhead designed for a nuclear charge. Within a very few years, in all likelihood, Iran will be able to launch nuclear missiles. We must urgently find a way to persuade Moscow to reinforce the civilized world rather than subvert it. 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

ALLAH FORBID PEACE WITH ISRAEL Posted by Lawrence Uniglicht, January 23, 2006.

The surreal stench of unemployed angry able-bodied men, scarred by putrefying poverty, wafts over dysfunctional Jew-bereft slum-ridden chaotic Gaza morphed to a Palestinian enclave, replete with dysfunctional denizens branded by the scarlet R, signifying a self-esteem debilitating chronic refugee status deemed proper by a hand-wringing apologetic world. Oy Vay! Now, those "got rocks" European Union and USA benefactors are wavering, less inclined to hand out hand outs, euphemistically called foreign aid, to so-called Palestinians in Gaza as well as Judea and Sumeria, as those fulminating Jew/infidel despising boys from Hamas brandish kalishnakovs and missiles, salivate to rule the impoverished Islamic roost, yearn to evict Arafat understudy Abbas the feckless smoothie and overseer of corruption from his political pulpit, perhaps faster than one "God is great" utterance after the "voice of the people" speaks on election day. Meanwhile, where are the robed rogue rulers of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, The Emirates, Dubai, Kuwait, Qatar, and erstwhile Persia, weighed down by bloated bank accounts, compliments of fossil fuel addicted industrial nations ever-willing to cash in their children's futures for $60 plus barrels of the prehistoric black glop possessed by these well-heeled chic sheik extortionists? Might a few such desert tycoons dole out a dinar or two to those hapless ever-needy kindred spirit Jew/infidel despising Palestinian waifs, now that crusader E.U. and Uncle Satan threaten to tighten their purse strings over a case of the Hamas blues? Of course not! Why should these filthy rich Muslims buy their brethren bootstraps, Allah forbid the so-called Palestinians pull themselves out of the murk and mire of their own creation, stop tossing mortar shells and their own exploding bodies at the Israelis, and begin traveling the road of a mench; then Israel would no longer be a shlamazel diversion occupying the mesmerized muddled minds of the robed rogues' own exploited subjects. Egad, if employed so-called Palestinians were at peace with Israel, too busy to spew or fight while earning their own dinars; thus providing lamb, falafel, and perhaps imported Calvin Klein apparel for their families; how indeed might the Middle Eastern upper crust point to Israel as the bane of Arab existence, hence vent their own hovel dwelling hoi polloi's seething frustration and rancor? Quite a conundrum without the perceived Jewish occupier to occupy the darkest thoughts of the Muslim masses! Surely, it makes no sense for Arabs and Persians of means to distribute some wealth for say start up businesses in Gaza, they would only be sealing their own fate on the home front. Now, purchasing arms for Hamas to stir up trouble, that is an entirely different matter. 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

MEMORIES FROM FASSOUTA Posted by Rachel Kapen, January 23, 2006.

When I read recently of the regrettable spy story* of a resident of the Arab-Catholic village of Fassouta situated in Upper Galilee near the Lebanese border, I inevitably was reminded of my visit in the village some 20 years ago. I first met Nawal and her elderly father a year prior to the visit when both participated in a delegation of Arab-Catholics from the Galilee who came to Rome to meet the Pope at the Vatican in commemoration of the Holy Year. We happen to stay in the same hotel. For my husband and I Rome was the last leg of an Italian journey which began in an international sleep conference in the city of Bologna. Actually it was Nawal who first approached me after hearing me speak in Hebrew with my husband, Shelly. She asked me if I was from Israel and when I responded that indeed I am an Israeli living in the United States she introduced herself as an Israeli-Arab from the village of Fassouta in Upper Galilee, not quite sure what my attitude would be, However, when I smiled and extended my hand in friendship, she smiled as well and asked to please come to the lobby later in the evening to I can meet the other people in the delegation, including the bishop. I did as Nawal requested and came down to meet the other members of the delegation, including her elderly father, the bishop and the village priest -- the latter were speaking Hebrew who were extremely excited after the meeting with the Pope and Nawal was proud to show me the picture taken with him and a banner saying that this is a delegation from the Holy Land. Later in the evening we invited Nawal and her father to join us in a café in elegant Via Veneto where we talked about our children -- we discovered that we both have 4 -- and our land which we both love. At the end of the most interesting meeting, Nawal translated for us her father's kind invitation to visit them in their village the next time in Israel and I promised to do just that. As fate had it, I managed to keep my promise the following summer. Nawal, her brother Shuki, then the mayor of the village, and her husband, picked me up on Friday morning from my mother's apartment in Bat Yam, south of Tel Aviv. The four of us sat in the car, Nawal and I in the back, Her brother, an extremely handsome man, and her husband in front. All the while the radio played Arab music but the conversation was mostly in Hebrew un deference to me. On the way we made a few stops, among them at the home of family friends in the City of Haifa who, despite the fact that they were up to their ears in preparation for a bar mitzvah, talked us into sitting down to eat some of the delicacies, something hard to resist. I was much taken by the affection between the Arab and the Jewish families, something not unusual in Haifa yet almost unheard of in Tel Aviv where I was born and raised. The second stop was at the Naharia Hospital where the mayor visited some of the village people who were hospitalized there at the time and after another short stop at the home of another mayor from a Jewish village, we headed to their home way up in Upper Galilee. I failed to mention that the reason that Nawal wanted me to come this particular Shabbat was that there was a wedding and she thought that this would be of interest to me and of course she was right. The wedding started on Friday night and continued all through the following day with a huge outside hafla (party in Arabic) till the wee hours of the morning. Nawal sitting, her father next to me with two entertainers from Nazareth. On Sunday, early in the morning I left my very kind hosts despite their pleadings that I should stay longer. I'd promised my elderly and worried mother that I will return Sunday morning and didn't want to worry her. All during the visit my hosts and all the other villagers whom I met treated me with the warmth and friendship which are etched in my memory till this very day and I wonder if after the two intifadas and reading about the extremism which took hold in the Israeli Arab sector this friendship towards Israeli Jews is still there. I hope that the deplorable spying incident is an aberration and doesn't reflect on a change in attitude as the current mayor said. * [Editor's Note: December 12, 2005: Jeries Jeries, 57, the former head of Fassouta village council in the Galilee, was arrested on suspicion of spying for Iran. The prosecution office reported Jirias had been in contact on a number of occasions with Hani Abdullah Mitwally, an Iranian intelligence agent known for his efforts to recruit Israeli and Palestinian agents on behalf of Tehran. According to the report, Mitwally is believed to have put Jirias in touch with Iranian intelligence officials, who instructed Jeries to get involved in politics in order to gather information on Israeli society and government.] Contact Rachel Kapen by email at skapen285466mi@comcast.net To Go To Top

THE INVASION AND THE STRUGGLE FOR HEBRON Posted by Shlomo Wollins, January 23, 2006.

This is the second time this year that I am criminally refusing the military order that all evacuate Chevron who are not residents, and by great divine providence, I have for the last three days been living in one of the shuk apartment loft homes that is subject to a forceful evacuation order that commenced Jan. 15th at midnite and extends to Feb. 15th. There is simply no way to describe in words the faith and strength one acquires when you actively resist injustice and defend your people, with all your energy, skills, and body. I go to sleep each night, knowing full well that the army could without notice break down your door, and forcefully drag you out, and arrest you... Go to my site (http://www.IsraelReporter.com) for Stream videos of the History of Hebron and the Threats to the Hebron Community. Photos are also available. Proof Of Jewish Ownership Of Chevron Shuk & Shuk Property Timeline These are uncontested documents that establish legal ownership of the Chevron shuk property from 1807. Israeli courts have recently confirmed the legal validity of these contracts, a fact which has been duly ignored by the forceful expulsion order for the Jewish residents of the shuk by February 15th, although widely-expected to be completed by January 31st. Below left is the original contract and below right is the letter in modern Hebrew (click either picture for a larger version). Below the pictures we present a history of the Chevron shuk that details the purchase for the Jewish community and events that have transpired in the last few years culminating in the expulsion orders and announced intention to use 1,500 officers/soldiers and any necessary violence (up to and including live ammunition against children protestors) to expel the families. Background: The Shalhavet Neighborhood In 1807, Haim Bajaio purchased on behalf of the Hebron Jewish community, a five-dunam plot of land adjacent to the centuries-old Jewish Quarter, for 1,200 grushim. The deal was witnessed and signed by no fewer than 22 Hebron Arab notables. This property served Hebron's Jews and later accommodated the home and synagogue of its chief rabbi, Eliahu Manni. Following the Jordanian takeover of Hebron in 1948, the entire Jewish Quarter -- founded by Spanish-Jewish exiles in 1540 -- was razed to the ground. Among the structures destroyed was the ancient Avraham Aveinu Synagogue. In the early 1960s, an Arab fruit and vegetable market was constructed on the property bought by the Hebron community in 1807. Following the liberation of Hebron during the 1967 Six Day War, these structures continued to function, having been rented to the Hebron Arab municipality by the Israeli government. The property contracts for these buildings expired in the 1990s, and the site was gradually closed over a period of several years, due to security concerns. The market was finally shut down following an attempted terrorist attack: Arabs placed a booby-trapped teddy bear in a plastic bag in the market near the entrance to the Jewish neighborhood, hoping a Jewish child, finding it, would play with it and be killed in the ensuing explosion. Despite numerous requests by our community to rent the structures, the site had been left vacant. On March 26, 2001, an Arab sniper shot and killed 10-month-old Shalhevet Pass. Following the murder, Hebron children began utilizing the abandoned Arab market place as a place to play and take cover during shooting attacks from the overlooking Abu Sneneh Hills. Over a period of time, the Hebron community invested tens of thousands of dollars to convert the former fruit and vegetable stalls into livable apartments. Presently, the former market, renamed the Mitzpe Shalhevet neighborhood, houses Hebron families and a Torah study hall opened in Shalhevet's memory. Mitzpe Shalhevet is presently on the brink of obliteration, not by Arabs, but by the government. Four years ago, in response to an Arab demand to reopen the market, the Attorney-General's office notified the Supreme Court that: (1) the Arabs no longer had any legal rights to the market and (2) that Israeli "trespassers" should be evicted from the site. The Supreme Court, however, never ruled that the former market's Jewish population should be expelled from their homes. Following issuance of an eviction order, Hebron's Jewish community appealed to the courts, claiming private Jewish ownership of the property. An appeals committee of three judges ruled 2-1 that the land did legally belong to a private Jewish organization, but that the buildings legally fell within the jurisdiction of the Israeli government. Concurrently, two of the three judges ruled that the optimal solution to the problem was to lease the structures to Hebron's Jewish community. The defense minister delayed executing the eviction order for over two years, due to security issues and other concerns. However, recently, following the successful expulsion of Jews from Gush Katif and northern Samaria, the Attorney-General's Office has exerted tremendous pressure on Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz to execute the eviction orders and remove Hebron's families from the Mitzpe Shalhevet neighborhood, under the impression that the Supreme Court ruled that the structures must be evacuated. Shlomo Wollins is publisher of www.IsraelReporter.com He was one of the first to come to Gush Katif when it was threatened and he stayed to the end. Contact him at shlomo@israelreporter.com To Go To Top

SOME IDEAS FOR NEW HOLLYWOOD SENSITIZING FILMS Posted by Steven Plaut, January 23, 2006.

Stevie Spielberg, the fella who has yet to make a movie for grownups, has now made a movie showing the human side of Palestinian mass murdering terrorists, so that viewers can maintain a neutral unemotional impartiality when it comes to Islamofascist terrorists and their victims. Meanwhile, the Hollywood Left out on the Left Coast has decided to grant a Golden Globe award to a film celebrating suicide bombers. The film, Paradise Now, depicts 48 hours in the lives of two young terrorists recruited to kill innocent Jews in Tel Aviv by blowing themselves up for the glory of Islam. Paradise Now portrays what terrorists have to endure to prepare for a bombing: getting military haircuts, eating a last meal, videotaping their last words, and strapping their bodies with explosives. The film also presents the terrorists' emotional anguish brought on in part by lingering doubts about the reward promised to martyrs in the afterlife. The main characters blame Israel..s presence in Judea and Samaria and Shechem, the area..s largest city, for their motivation to carry out the attack. Daniel Pipes, a commentator on Middle East affairs, called the movie "propagandistic," saying it "whitewashes Palestinian suicide bombing." Here are Debbie Schlussel's comments on this filth. Now, since the Hollywankers are celebrating terrorism and calling for neutral impartiality when it comes to terrorists and their victims, we have several ideas for new ideas for new films that can be screened as part of the Hollywood sensitizing campaign. Stevie Spielberg is invited to produce some : 1. A film on the human side and the emotional struggles of the Klansmen who lynched civil rights workers and black folks in the 60s in Mississippi. 2. A film on the emotional traumas and secret dreams of a better world among white slave holders as they whip slaves, where the fictional slave is named Kunta Kinte, who gets horse whipped to death while his sister is raped. 3. A film on the joys of mistreating and vivisectioning live animals in a college lab in which new cosmetics are being tested by sensitive lab technicians who respect their mothers while gulping down uncooked meat. 4. A film about the enlightening experiences of troubled motor cycle gangsters who beat up transgendered persons with chains and lead pipes, but always recycle. 5. A film about heroic police agents who infiltrate and beat striking farm workers in the Central Valley, with a fictional scene in which the cops kick John Steinbeck's ass. 6. A film about the sensitive idealistic teams of police rounding up Japanese civilians in California after Pearl Harbor and shipping them off to internment camps. 7. The education and dreams of abortion clinic bombers. 8. The sensitive side of group rapists. 9. Heroic Rush Limbaugh listeners who read sensitive books and write poetry, but then buy automatic weapons and shoot up an antiwar demonstration before going to church. 10. The joys of species extinction -- our heroes are airplane pilots who spray chemicals in the rain forest to annihilate butterflies, and then goes on a crusade to annihilate whales from all the seas. Post your ideas for other movie scripts! 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. Contact him by email at splaut@econ.haifa.ac.il To Go To Top

NOTHING'S SACRED Posted by Women in Green, January 23, 2006.

This article was written by Sarah Honig, and it appeared in The Jerusalem Post Jan. 19, 2006. Surprised by Olmert's green light for PLO/Hamas politicking in Jerusalem? Nobody should be. Whenever caving in is an option, our higher-ups won't resist the path of least resistance. If Israel is pressured to yield, its honchos will dutifully oblige. This is true no matter what's at stake -- from Israel's most basic existential interests to "mere" matters of principle that are significant symbolically but aren't actual catalysts for international coercion - like the recent deal rescuing Magen David Adom from lowly observer status vis-a-vis the International Red Cross/Red Crescent Federation. The MDA deal -- precisely because it wasn't geopolitically momentous -- constituted no less than a pivotal touchstone case, again lamentably accentuating that critical flaw which disturbingly warps the Jewish mind. Even clinical psychology's sharpest diagnostic tools cannot explain why Jews -- no matter how wronged -- feel it's they who bear the onus to make amends and make concessions in order to win some measure of seeming acceptance from outright enemies, or from the friends of outright enemies. Only Jews must pay and forfeit that which to all others is natural and inalienable. Jewish head cases need atone for overcoming dastardly attacks and thwarting their own mass-murder or ethnic cleansing. They're driven to hand over territory to implacable assailants in the hope of dampening their would-be annihilators' genocidal zeal. No other nation -- especially one so aggressed against -- has ever voluntarily ceded strategic assets to still-viable or undefeated foes. Anything that is ours which could be perceived as meaningful or hallowed to Jews, is a candidate for disparagement -- from homeland to creed, culture or history. Nothing is sacred -- providing of course it's Jewish. Jews alone have no right to anything inviolable. THAT'S WHY Israel heartily endorsed the Red Cross's novel ploy for ending its 56-year boycott of the Star of David: pretending it doesn't exist and replacing it with a "neutral" red diamond shape euphemistically named a "crystal." Within it, the red star may feature unofficially, yet from the federation's perspective that offensive Jewish symbol will be invisible. Without the objectionable outward manifestation, at least overseas, of the Jewish emblem, MDA can luxuriate in long-coveted formal affiliation. How truly emblematic. This was the face-saving solution to which Israel's government and MDA agreed. But it only saves the federation's face, allowing it to escape eminently deserved accusations of anti-Jewish bias while doing nothing to actually remove said bias. This very arrangement, though, spits at the Jewish face. To welcome a facade that facilitates the ongoing rejection of the venerable old Jewish symbol is obsequiousness we hoped had forever disappeared from the Jewish psyche. We'd be better off without whatever benefits Red Cross membership accrues rather than gain membership under shameful conditions. We managed quite nicely outside the Red Cross. We could carry on as well without it. When Israel first applied for membership in 1949 it was instructed to adopt either the cross or Muslim crescent to qualify for admission. An incomparably more vulnerable and impoverished newborn Israel mustered the pluck to insist that the Jewish state's first-aid services wouldn't operate under emblems historically or currently inimical to Jews. Yesteryear's beleaguered Jewish state, literally fighting for its life, likewise had willpower and resolve to make Jerusalem its capital. Today's Israel, stronger and thriving, vacillates on Jerusalem and collaborates in the categorization of the Jewish star as a pariah symbol which must be camouflaged or imprisoned within an ignominious "crystal." It'd be no indignity were the cross and crescent similarly confined, but Christians and Muslims are entitled to their own symbols. Only Jews -- monotheism's progenitors -- aren't. Until 1980's advent of Iran's ayatollah regime, the Red Cross even found no fault with the shah's Red Lion and Sun. Israel needs its head examined for colluding to demote its emblem to second-best (or tainted) status in its fawning quest to be counted among the nations nearly six decades after winning independence. There's no ignominy in not belonging to a federation that accords full membership to such benefactors of humanity as North Korea, Iran, Syria and Sudan. The Red Cross is the last outfit by which Israel should be humiliated, or for which Jews should sacrifice the minutest token of self-respect. This after all is the organization that steadfastly remained aloof to Jewish bloodletting throughout the Holocaust. International Committee of the Red Cross Archives director George Willemin delivered WWII documents to Yad Vashem in 1997 and declared: "The ICRC admits that it kept silent... this is the heart of its moral failure." Swiss historian Jean-Claude Favez argues in his book A Mission Impossible? that had the Red Cross decried the extermination of Jews, the Allies couldn't as easily have rejected repeated anguished entreaties to bomb rail tracks leading to the death camps. Primarily, he maintains, the Red Cross served Swiss policy. Switzerland grew fat while Jews perished. Already prior to WWII, Switzerland proposed the Nazis stamp German Jews' passports with glaring red Js so they could be more expeditiously denied asylum. The newfangled "crystal" -- the latest made-in-Switzerland Jew-segregating symbol -- embodies continuing ostracism. Adding insult to injury, it underscores the fact that Jewish identity remains non grata. It blatantly betrays animus. In 2000 ICRC then-president Cornelio Sommaruga exclaimed: "if we accept the Shield of David, why not the swastika?" Israeli officialdom's meek acquiescence to the disgraceful substitution and its alacrity to broker deals at any cost -- even jeopardizing Jerusalem -- isn't pragmatism. Compromise without honor isn't necessarily prudent. It merely broadcasts to the world that we have no pride, that we're sick in the head. 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

AHMADINEJAD -- LIAR, HYPOCRITE AND/OR ARABS' STOOGE? Posted by Gerald A. Honigman, January 22, 2006.

Upon the death of Islam's Prophet, Muhammad, in the early 7th century C.E., the armies of his caliphal successors burst out of the Arabian Peninsula and spread out in all directions. Over the next centuries--and continuing to this very day--Arab colonialism and imperial conquests would either directly or indirectly forcibly Arabize millions of native non-Arab peoples. As just a few examples of this lingering ordeal, in Syria, Kurdish children are currently forced to sing songs praising their "Arab" identity; millions of Black Africans (not only Sudanese) have been killed, enslaved, and so forth in the name of the Arab nation; prominent Copts in Egypt have advised Israel to consent to the same Arabization they have been forced to undergo in order to "be accepted"; Berbers have been slaughtered for asserting their own cultural identity; etc. and so forth. Get the picture? But before we leave this thought, keep one other key example in mind... Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has recently called on Europe to make a place for Israel's Jews. He, like Arab and other Iranian leaders, calls for Israel's destruction and actively participates--via supplying arms and support to Arab terror organizations and states--in trying to accomplish this even before Iran becomes nuclear. It seems that the Iranians--who at least partially jumped on the Arab bandwagon centuries ago--have also bought into the Arab delusion...at least when it fits their own needs. So, Ahmadinejad simply ignores one half of Israel's 6 million Jews who know nothing of "Europe" as a home. They are from Jewish refugee families who fled what Arabs refer to as "purely Arab patrimony" where, despite Arab claims of tolerance, they were commonly known as kilab yahud--Jew dogs--and treated as such. Over a million more of these Jews who fled Arab murder and subjugation live in France, the Americas, and elsewhere as well. Iran itself, Muslim but not Arab, was the home of over 6,000 Jews who now live in New York. Thousands of other Iranian Jews fled elsewhere. Iran's Jewish community dates back over 2,500 years--at least since the days when Cyrus liberated them from Babylonian captivity. The Jewish holiday of Purim, recorded in the Bible's Book of Esther, is about this allegedly "European" Jewish community. Iran supported Judaea's fight for independence against Rome, and on the eve of the Arab conquest itself in the 7th century C.E., an army of tens of thousands of Jews was recorded to have allied themselves to Persian armies fighting the hated Byzantines. Today, with Jews intimidated, tried as spies for Israel, and the like, there are only some 20,000 Jews remaining in Iran itself. Most of the 100,000 present earlier last century are now in Israel. Indeed, Israel's president, Moshe Katsav, was born in Iran. Lots more could be elaborated upon here on this subject. Suffice it to say that Ahmadinejad and Iran have simply used the Arab (and others') ploy of denial to further their own national interests. So, he sees no Jews native to the region in his midst. They're all simply European transplants. The Tunisian Jewish professor, the Sorbonne's Albert Memmi, is an important source for all of this. His book, Jews and Arabs, is must reading for anyone wanting to get a sense of balance here. But I've jumped ahead a bit, so let's return now to how this lie has been perpetuated... In the wake of their own imperial conquests and colonialism of the region, the very definition of "Arab" appears to have been deliberately muddied so to allow for the Arabs to claim the whole region as "purely Arab patrimony." So, the children of Arab fathers, all Arabic speakers, and any who simply wish for convenience sake--i.e. among other things, to escape taxation and subjugation--to identify as such are as "Arab" as the Arabs who conquered and colonized them in the first place from the Arabian Peninsula. We thus currently speak of twenty-one "Arab " states--where this identity is professed in constitutions and so forth--allowing Arabs to live their lie and delusion. The 22nd (and second, not first, within the original borders of the Palestinian Mandate as Great Britain received it on April 25, 1920...Jordan emerging on some 80% of it after 1922) expects to be born soon...and on the ashes of the Jews' sole, microscopic state--not as its neighbor. Before the age of nationalism, where one empire after the other (including the Arabs' own caliphal varieties) absorbed numerous different peoples, this had an imperfect unifying effect. So, with Islam as its main unifying and driving force, Arabs could get non-Arabs like the great Kurdish leader, Salah al-Din, to jump on their bandwagon in furthering the Dar ul-Islam. Recall that these are the people whom Arabs would later massacre, gas, culturally subjugate, and so forth--now, fellow Muslims, mind you--for daring to assert their own identities and demand rights as such. Before Saddam's gassings in "Arab" Iraq, the Kurdish nationalist, Ismet Cherif Vanly, wrote The Syrian (Arab) 'Mein Kampf' Against The Kurds (Amsterdam 1968). The title of the book says it all. With the 19th century reawakening of dormant ethnic/national identities accompanying the beginning of the collapse of major empires, Arabs saw themselves as sole heirs to most of a region ruled largely by the Turks for the previous five centuries. While diplomats would soon speak of Arabia for the Arabians, Judea for the Jews, Armenia for Armenians, and Kurdistan for Kurds, in Arab eyes, there could be no division of "their" pie. There was no justice in the region other than Arab. And in relation to our discussion about Iran and Israel, it had all started this way... The Arabian general, Khaled ibn al-Walid, conquered the land of Israel in 634 C.E. from the Byzantines, and not long afterwards, Abu Musa al-Ash'ari led the invasion of Iran from Basra via its current, oil-rich, southwestern Khuzestan province. By Roman times, the land of Israel had been renamed Judaea. After the first major revolt of the Jews for independence against their mighty conquerors, Rome issued Iudaea Capta coins, found in museums all over the world today. After the second revolt in 133-135 C.E., Hadrian got fed up with the Jews' persistence (and Roman losses) and tried to stamp out their hopes for freedom once and for all. He renamed the land itself after the Jews' historic enemies, the Aegean or eastern Mediterranean, non-Semitic Philistines--Syria Palaestina. Like vultures wanting their share of the kill, some neighboring Arabs joined the Romans in their assault on the Jews. Arabs like to claim that they were the aboriginals in the land. In reality, while the coastal region was sometimes identified by the Greeks with Philistine invaders, there was no country or nation known as "Palestine"...ever. The land was known as Judaea and its inhabitants were Judaeans... Jews. Tacitus and Dio Cassius were famous Roman historians who wrote extensively about Judaea's attempt to remain free. They lived and wrote during, or not long after, the two major revolts of the Jews mentioned above and make no mention of the land being called "Palestine" or its people "Palestinians." And as can be seen below, they knew the differences between Jews and Arabs as well. Listen to this quote from Vol. II, Book V, The Works of Tacitus: Titus was appointed by his father to complete the subjugation of Judaea... he commanded three legions in Judaea itself... To these he added the twelfth from Syria and the third and twenty-second from Alexandria... amongst his allies were a band of Arabs, formidable in themselves and harboring towards the Jews the bitter animosity usually subsisting between neighboring nations. So much for Arab "aboriginals"...And remember that it was Ahmadinejad's Iran which was the chief ally of the Jews in their fight for freedom against Rome. Back to the future... As we have seen, along with the Arab colonialization of Judaea/"Palestine" (along with many other places), Arabs spread into Iran as well. For Arabs, imperialism and colonialism are only nasty when they themselves aren't doing such things. While Khuzestan traded back and forth between Arab and Iranian rule, it became basically linked to Iran despite repeated Arab invasions over the centuries from southern Iraq. But, despite this link, Khuzestan, according to the Encyclopedia Iranica (p.216), became "extensively Arabized" to the point that in Safavid times (16th-18th centuries C.E.) the province was known as Arabistan. The Arabs have long remembered this, and Iraqi Arabs under Saddam's banner launched the long Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s that was largely fought over this oil-rich and strategically important area. Earlier, to deal with this problem, Iran ruthlessly suppressed any manifestations of Arab nationalism. By the early 20th century, a proposal had been put forward to even outlaw the Arabic language. Now think about this a minute... Like in Iran, Arabs entered the land of Israel/Judaea/Palestine as settlers, imperial conquerors, and colonizers. While this fact of life is true for others as well, Arabs only see in others what they themselves have truly perfected as they conquered and forcibly Arabized over six million square miles of mostly other, non-Arab peoples' lands. As for their claim to "Palestine," when the United Nations Relief Works Agency--UNRWA--was set up to assist Arab refugees (after a half dozen Arab states invaded a nascent Israel in 1948 to nip it in the bud and their attempt backfired), the very word refugee had to be redefined to assist those allegedly "native" people. So many Arabs were recent arrivals themselves into the Palestinian Mandate that UNRWA had to adjust the very definition of "refugee" from its prior meaning of persons normally and traditionally resident to those who lived in the Mandate for a minimum of only two years prior to 1948. Earlier, the League of Nations Permanent Mandates Commission documented scores of thousands of Arabs pouring into the land from surrounding countries to take advantage of the economic development going on because of the influx of Jewish capital. Many more entered under cover of darkness and were simply never recorded. And many others had entered just a bit earlier than that with the conquests of Egypt's Muhammad Ali and Ibrahim Pasha in the latter 19th century. Arab settlers and colonizers... Now, we're all familiar with the Arab take on this, but how do Iranians like Ahmadinejad see the picture? Well, at any hint of unrest in Khuzestan/Arabistan, Iran is quick to act in its own national interests--as it should. So, for example, when Khuzestani Arabs of the Nahda (Renaissance) movement bombed Iranian targets not long ago in Ahwaz and elsewhere, Iran arrested thousands of Arabs and set out to "fix" the problem by any means necessary. While this is still going on as I write, keep in mind that Iranians are doing likewise to Kurds, Baluchis, and others as well who dare to assert their own political rights. Thousands have been killed as a result over the years in the name of Iranian nationalism. So, this all begs the question... Why, in Ahmadinejad's eyes, is Israel supposed to consent to national suicide so Arab colonizers can have their 22nd state and second one in Palestine at the expense of the Jews' one, but Arabistan should not gain independence from Iran as well? What's good for the goose is good for the gander...no? Moving on to another related issue, with Iran's continuously blatant threats to Israel's very existence, t he reality is that Iran is indeed playing with fire in its baiting of the Jews. Ahmadinejad & Co. may calculate that Iran can absorb what might be coming and which they are indeed asking for by threatening the Jew of the Nations. But all peoples must take such threats seriously. And, in light of frequent past experiences over the millennia(Iran's and other Holocaust-deniers notwithstanding), especially Jews. A few words of advice, however... If Israel is forced to act, this cannot be done half way. Tit for tat won't work. The location of the Iranian nuclear facilities and its massive armed forces are just part of the problem. Iran's Hizbullah proxies in southern Lebanon--armed to the teeth with tens of thousands of rockets and such courtesy of Iran and Syria--must be hit massively and simultaneously a la June 5th, 1967 when Israel took out multiple Arab air forces and such. The murderous, rejectionist leadership must be targeted there as well. If this is not done, at the very least all of northern Israel will pay an unacceptable price. None of this should be taken lightly...and it isn't, I'm sure. One could hope that saner minds in Iran will take control of the situation. Not that long ago, after all, during the days of the late Shah, Jews had it much better. This was true for much of Iran's history after the spread of Islam...ups and downs, often according to whether the mullahs or the shahs were calling the shots. While Israel's close relationship with the Pahlavis may have complicated matters (but why shouldn't Israel had sought friends in the region...the Shah was no more despotic than anything the Arabs or Iran's own mullahs have to offer?), there still might be hope for a better tomorrow considering the Jews' millennial relationship with the Iranian people. Yet Israel can't simply wait for "hope" to materialize into something better. In the meantime, while Ahmadinejad and others try to cover their own rejectionist hatred with lame excuses, please remember them for the liars, hypocrites, and/or Arab stooges that they are. And when you hear Iranians speak of "Palestine," answer them with Arabistan. 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

JEWS, GO AWAY Posted by Israel Zwick, January 22, 2006.

"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. They 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 -- The Disengagement. 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. Now that the precedent has been set, the process is being repeated. "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 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 Kofi Annan, Condoleeza Rice, and Jesse Jackson 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 liberal 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. 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. 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 my 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 To Go To Top

THE ORIGINS OF THE GREAT WAR OF 2007 -- AND HOW IT COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED Posted by IsrAlert, January 22, 2006.

This was written by Niall Ferguson and appeared in The Telegraph, January 15, 2006. This is from http://www.mideasttruth.com. Niall Ferguson is Laurence A. Tisch Professor of History at Harvard University www.niallferguson.org Are we living through the origins of the next world war? Certainly, it is easy to imagine how a future historian might deal with the next phase of events in the Middle East: With every passing year after the turn of the century, the instability of the Gulf region grew. By the beginning of 2006, nearly all the combustible ingredients for a conflict -- far bigger in its scale and scope than the wars of 1991 or 2003 -- were in place. The first underlying cause of the war was the increase in the region's relative importance as a source of petroleum. On the one hand, the rest of the world's oil reserves were being rapidly exhausted. On the other, the breakneck growth of the Asian economies had caused a huge surge in global demand for energy. It is hard to believe today, but for most of the 1990s the price of oil had averaged less than $20 a barrel. A second precondition of war was demographic. While European fertility had fallen below the natural replacement rate in the 1970s, the decline in the Islamic world had been much slower. By the late 1990s the fertility rate in the eight Muslim countries to the south and east of the European Union was two and half times higher than the European figure. This tendency was especially pronounced in Iran, where the social conservatism of the 1979 Revolution -- which had lowered the age of marriage and prohibited contraception -- combined with the high mortality of the Iran-Iraq War and the subsequent baby boom to produce, by the first decade of the new century, a quite extraordinary surplus of young men. More than two fifths of the population of Iran in 1995 had been aged 14 or younger. This was the generation that was ready to fight in 2007. This not only gave Islamic societies a youthful energy that contrasted markedly with the slothful senescence of Europe. It also signified a profound shift in the balance of world population. In 1950, there had three times as many people in Britain as in Iran. By 1995, the population of Iran had overtaken that of Britain and was forecast to be 50 per cent higher by 2050. Yet people in the West struggled to grasp the implications of this shift. Subliminally, they still thought of the Middle East as a region they could lord it over, as they had in the mid-20th century. The third and perhaps most important precondition for war was cultural. Since 1979, not just Iran but the greater part of the Muslim world had been swept by a wave of religious fervour, the very opposite of the process of secularisation that was emptying Europe's churches. Although few countries followed Iran down the road to full-blown theocracy, there was a transformation in politics everywhere. From Morocco to Pakistan, the feudal dynasties or military strongmen who had dominated Islamic politics since the 1950s came under intense pressure from religious radicals. The ideological cocktail that produced 'Islamism' was as potent as either of the extreme ideologies the West had produced in the previous century, communism and fascism. Islamism was anti-Western, anti-capitalist and anti-Semitic. A seminal moment was the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's intemperate attack on Israel in December 2005, when he called the Holocaust a 'myth'. The state of Israel was a 'disgraceful blot', he had previously declared, to be wiped 'off the map'. Prior to 2007, the Islamists had seen no alternative but to wage war against their enemies by means of terrorism. >From the Gaza to Manhattan, the hero of 2001 was the suicide bomber. Yet Ahmadinejad, a veteran of the Iran-Iraq War, craved a more serious weapon than strapped-on explosives. His decision to accelerate Iran's nuclear weapons programme was intended to give Iran the kind of power North Korea already wielded in East Asia: the power to defy the United States; the power to obliterate America's closest regional ally. Under different circumstances, it would not have been difficult to thwart Ahmadinejad's ambitions. The Israelis had shown themselves capable of pre-emptive air strikes against Iraq's nuclear facilities in 1981. Similar strikes against Iran's were urged on President Bush by neo-conservative commentators throughout 2006. The United States, they argued, was perfectly placed to carry out such strikes. It had the bases in neighbouring Iraq and Afghanistan. It had the intelligence proving Iran's contravention of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. But the President was advised by his Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, to opt instead for diplomacy. Not just European opinion but American opinion was strongly opposed to an attack on Iran. The invasion of Iraq in 2003 had been discredited by the failure to find the weapons of mass destruction Saddam Hussein had supposedly possessed and by the failure of the US-led coalition to quell a bloody insurgency. Americans did not want to increase their military commitments overseas; they wanted to reduce them. Europeans did not want to hear that Iran was about to build its own WMD. Even if Ahmad-inejad had broadcast a nuclear test live on CNN, liberals would have said it was a CIA con-trick. So history repeated itself. As in the 1930s, an anti-Semitic demagogue broke his country's treaty obligations and armed for war. Having first tried appeasement, offering the Iranians economic incentives to desist, the West appealed to international agencies -- the International Atomic Energy Agency and the United Nations Security Council. Thanks to China's veto, however, the UN produced nothing but empty resolutions and ineffectual sanctions, like the exclusion of Iran from the 2006 World Cup finals. Only one man might have stiffened President Bush's resolve in the crisis: not Tony Blair, he had wrecked his domestic credibility over Iraq and was in any case on the point of retirement -- Ariel Sharon. Yet he had been struck down by a stroke as the Iranian crisis came to a head. With Israel leaderless, Ahmadinejad had a free hand. As in the 1930s, too, the West fell back on wishful thinking. Perhaps, some said, Ahmadinejad was only sabre-rattling because his domestic position was so weak. Perhaps his political rivals in the Iranian clergy were on the point of getting rid of him. In that case, the last thing the West should do was to take a tough line; that would only bolster Ahmadinejad by inflaming Iranian popular feeling. So in Washington and in London people crossed their fingers, hoping for the deus ex machina of a home-grown regime change in Teheran. This gave the Iranians all the time they needed to produce weapons-grade enriched uranium at Natanz. The dream of nuclear non-proliferation, already interrupted by Israel, Pakistan and India, was definitively shattered. Now Teheran had a nuclear missile pointed at Tel-Aviv. And the new Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu had a missile pointed right back at Teheran. The optimists argued that the Cuban Missile Crisis would replay itself in the Middle East. Both sides would threaten war -- and then both sides would blink. That was Secretary Rice's hope -- indeed, her prayer -- as she shuttled between the capitals. But it was not to be. The devastating nuclear exchange of August 2007 represented not only the failure of diplomacy, it marked the end of the oil age. Some even said it marked the twilight of the West. Certainly, that was one way of interpreting the subsequent spread of the conflict as Iraq's Shi'ite population overran the remaining American bases in their country and the Chinese threatened to intervene on the side of Teheran. Yet the historian is bound to ask whether or not the true significance of the 2007-2011 war was to vindicate the Bush administration's original principle of pre-emption. For, if that principle had been adhered to in 2006, Iran's nuclear bid might have been thwarted at minimal cost. And the Great Gulf War might never have happened. Harv Weiner, a businessman in Dallas, Texas, is the founder and moderator of Isralert. To subscribe to IsrAlert, send an email to isralert@aol.com To Go To Top

WHAT NEXT? Posted by Batya Medad, January 22, 2006.

What next? There was a time when we thought of our politicians as leaders, as moral and patriotic standard bearers. Now, gevalt, is about the nicest I can think of. I was never one for cursing. A shockingly large percentage of Israeli Knesset Members are criminals, and I'm not referring to the "founding fathers" who were considered "rebels" and "terrorists" by the British sixty years ago. I'm referring to bribery and all sorts of financial crimes. Of course the really big ones seem immune from punishment, but many societies seem to think that there are different laws for the powerful. Today while riding home to Shiloh from Jerusalem I was amazed at the fantastically gorgeous, enormous mansions being built by the Arabs. They're allowed to expand their settlements without anybody showing concern or threatening them with expulsion. There are no UN resolutions or statements by Bush and Rice calling them obstacles to peace. They can build and plant to their hearts' desire, and not only doesn't anyone think it's bad, they're encouraged. People come from all over the world, even Jews, to help them. Today I spoke to an old friend who said that a Jewish relative of theirs came to help the Arabs pick olives, to make up for the "crimes" the Israelis have done. Duh? What crimes? We're the victims here! A short distance from the Arab mansions we passed Givat Asaf, a small Jewish community of young Jewish families living in old decrepit caravans, mobile homes. They're at the junction that leads to Beit El. It's the spot where Asaf Hershkowitz, of Ofra, was murdered by Arab terrorists, just a couple of months after the terrorists murdered his father nearby. This is one of the neighborhoods being threatened by Sharon and now Olmert, even though the land isn't owned by Arabs. The only land owners in the area are Jewish. It has finally been revealed that anti-Disengagement demonstrators did not throw acid onto the police. Here we are a half a year later, and really do you think that the police and the media will apologize for depicting the young, teenage demonstrators as willfully injuring and endangering the big burly police? Israel's recent Nobel Prize winner for Economics, Prof. Yisrael Aumann of Hebrew University, spoke at the opening of the 6th Annual Herzliya Conference, calling the treatment of the Disengagement evictees, "a national disgrace." He spoke well, but I'm afraid to hear what great announcement Olmert is planning. I can't forget that Sharon announced his Disengagement Plan to expel thousands of peaceful Jews from their homes in Gush Katif and Northern Samaria two years ago at the 4th Herzliya Conference. Olmert seems to be in a hyper rush to make his mark and mutilate our Land as fast as he can. We failed in our attempt to stop Disengagement, and now more and more Jews, thousands more are in danger. Olmert is planning on making our main road Judenrein. That's the road we take to Jerusalem. That's the road to Ofra, where my daughter lives with her husband and children. That's the road I travel to get to work. That is the central access road for most people in Shiloh, Eli, Maale Levona, Shvut Rachel and many in the Shomron. Our basic civil rights are in danger. If he, G-d forbid, succeeds in closing the road: * we will not be able to get to work * we will not be able to visit family and friends * we will be deprived of our regular commercial and cultural connections Where are all the "peace loving" "human rights" activists? Batya Medad lives in Shiloh. She can be reached by email at Shilohmuse@yahoo.com or visit her website http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/ or go to http://www.shilo.org.il This is archived at shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2006/01/ what-next.html To Go To Top

WHY SHOULDN'T JEWS LIVE IN HEBRON? Posted by Juday Tzoref, January 22, 2006.

This was written in response to an email from David Frankenthal of Join the Boycott (jointheboycott@mailcity.com) entitled "Why shouldn't Jews live in Hebron?", which said: Friends, The LA Times doesn't think Jews ("settlers") belong in Hebron! (Editorial 1/20/06, p. B12). http://www.unitedjerusalem.org/index2.asp?id=689858 If you want to do something to help Hebron, please write to the LA Times or your local anti-Israel media (NY Times, Washington Post, NPR etc.) and ask them the simple question -- why shouldn't Jews live in Hebron? There is only one reason. Racism. Thanks and best wishes. David. Blaming LA Times -- The Easy Way Out/ Who else but the State of Israel -- which transmits the international message that Jews are uprootable, displaceable and relocateable -- is to be blamed for such stances as that expressed in LA Times. Where is the righteous American Jewry, that supported the so-called Disengagement which is just a cheap euphemism for a pilot project to experiment the ethnic cleansing of Jews... successful as it turned out to be, beyond all expectations... so, why not more... Hebron for instance, and more and everywhere... final solution for the sake of "peace"... a Judenrein Palestine (once the episode of the State of Israel). Time and again we manifest the convenient inclination to blame others for our own misdoings. If Israel brandishes a professed intention to adopt the systematic policy of ethnically cleanse its Jewish citizens, why should LA Times be more saint than the Jews themselves... Dr. Judah (Yehuda) Tzoref is a scientist, trained at the Technion in Haifa and Oxford University in England. His expertise is in physics and energy engineering. He is a grass-roots activist on behalf of Israel. He lives in Rehovot. To Go To Top

GUSH KATIF'S OFFICIAL WEBSITE IN THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE Posted by Moti Sender, January 22, 2006.

Dear friends, Five months have now passed since we were forced against our will to abandon our homes, greenhouses, businesses, landscapes and synagogues in our beloved Gush Katif. Everything is gone, except for our faith and our hope in a better future; these give us the strength to persevere and plan for a new life. More than half of the refugees from Gush Katif now live in temporary housing estates around the country; many others are still in hotels, in kibbutzim and in tent camps, with no housing solution in sight. Gush Katif used to be a cohesive community; everyone knew everyone else, we studied at the same schools, grew the same crops, knew good and bad times together. Now suddenly all this is gone; we are scattered and dispersed in all parts of Israel. Is there any meaning any more to our website? We have given a lot of thought to this question. Some people told us: "Listen, Gush Katif is gone now; there's no need for a website any more." But after a lot of consideration, and professional consultation, we realized that it was important to maintain a site that would provide a virtual meeting place for the communities of Gush Katif in the past, present and future, a site that would commemorate and document the stories and pictures of Gush Katif. This site is special because here at katif.net we provide everyone with the chance to log in whenever he or she wants, and say what they want; this is not a site that tries to do something in their stead. The new site already operates in Hebrew, and we would like very much to launch an English counterpart as well. The costs of maintaining the site are considerable. That is why together with you we operate our shop, GKOS (Gush Katif Online Store). All the revenues from the store go towards the maintenance and further development of katif.net. In the past week we introduced new products which we are certain will interest you and your friends everywhere. Remember, shopping at GKOS helps us continue operating our site. We invite you to look into the following links: 1. Be partners of katif.net: http://www.katif.net/~shop/index.php?cPath=37 -- here you can make a contribution so that katif.net will be able to continue its work, and so that we will be able to provide an English-language version of the site. 2. Breathtaking photo albums: http://www.katif.net/~shop/index.php?cPath=41 -- here you can purchase beautiful photo albums, a memento of everyday life at Gush Katif. It is an appropriate item for both children and adults, and for all who wish to know what Gush Katif was like. 3. Magnificent posters: http://www.katif.net/~shop/index.php?cPath=41 -- here you can see and purchase a number of different posters with unique pictures of Gush Katif. 4. New mementos from Gush Katif: http://www.katif.net/~shop/index.php?cPath=44 -- this URL provides entrance to our shop, where you can find, among other items, new mementos from post-expulsion Gush Katif: pendants, pins, medallions, in different materials: pure silver, silver plate and copper plate. 5. The Lights of Katif: http://www.katif.net/~shop/index.php?cPath=45 -- here you can watch and purchase a special edition of The Lights of Katif, a series of Sabbath and Hanukkah candle-lighting ceremonies. We invite you to enter our Gush Katif internet shop GKOS (http://shop.katif.net) from time to time to see what's new, what you already purchased and what you don't have yet, when you last contributed to the site. Or maybe today is the right time to begin? Sincerely yours, Moti Sender, katif.net Contact Moti Sender at mailing@katif.net or go to the website: http://www.katif.net To Go To Top

UNCLE HAZIM Posted by Lawrence Uniglicht, January 22, 2006.

Uncle Hazim, soon to be that Hamas host with the most, ala a maniacal Islamic Captain Kangaroo, is about to launch a kiddie television show in the Gaza strip intended to mesmerize Muslim children, priming them to someday launch missiles at Israel, or for those at the head of their class to don de rigueur explosive belts morphing in due course themselves to flesh and blood martyring missiles. Uncle Hazim a/k/a Hazim Sharawi, a quiet unassuming young man with that sick sanguinary agenda, will prance around his stage with warm and fuzzy costumed men wearing larger-than-life animal suits sans kalishnikovs reciting twisted Koranic verse, thus titillating while indoctrinating his next generation of Islamic netherworld terrorists, someday unlike their erstwhile nurturing fantasy friends proud owners of kalishnikovs, to torment neighboring Israel and all civilized infidel states on our unstable third stone from its sun. Indeed, parents of these vulnerable youngsters, tuned into this charismatic creep, can watch their soon-to-be dysfunctional darlings absorb the basics of Jew/infidel despising militant martyr-driven Palestinian politics like sadomasochistic sponges; thus morph into future jihad junkies rather than perhaps doctors, scientists, lawyers, engineers, or teachers; and be ever so proud of their deviant child-rearing judgment allowing the creation of yet another lost generation of muddled Muslim souls. There is something especially insidious inherent to this strategy of seduction, targeting innocents that never really have a chance to see the secular world in unbiased terms. Such child abuse meted out by teaching aids consisting of perceived soft cuddly creatures savages futures perhaps more efficiently than glorified tanks and mortar shells, more readily seducing gullible parents into allowing their children's malleable minds to partake of the metaphorical magic mushrooms potentially expanding into an ominous nuclear mushroom cloud as a consequence of one such child one day being strapped to a nuke. How might Gaza evolve into a worthy civil society when its future citizens are so weaned on hatred and violence? Gush Katif's erstwhile state of the art century twenty-one hydroponic greenhouses alas no longer grace this barbarically transformed Mediterranean enclave, likely to soon be replaced by state of the art homicidal/suicidal weapon caches reminiscent in philosophy of the dark ages. No doubt, the contemptible warped and fuzzy Arab Captain Kangaroo with Koran will play no small part in crafting this mutation of a nation, an abomination to the evolving scientific secular spirit of intelligent mankind. His Frankenstein creation of a Muslim monster in the clever guise of pooh bears and birds that pray will metastasize through the bowels of an exponentially expanding fulminating fundamentalist Islam preying on wide-eyed boys and girls. Could there be anything more harmful and shameful? 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

KARADI'S COOKOO BEHAVIOR CONTINUES Posted by Voice of Judea, January 22, 2006.

This was written by Mosh Kleinman If Israel's Chief of police Moshe Karadi's comments about exploring the option to use live fire to evict Jews from Hebron was not enough to gain him condemnation across the political spectrum of the religious and right wing leaders in Israel, his new decision to extend the closure of a Jerusalem Interent Cafe' because the owners are right wing Jewish "terrorists" is sure to turn him into one of the more hated Israeli police chief's ever. Karadi justified his unprecedented action on what he called suspicion that the store housed activities on behalf of the Gedud HaIvri, a volunteer group that offers security for Israel by raising special defense dogs that help detect Arab terrorists. Karadi explained in his letter to Naftali Worzberger, the attorney for the Gedud HaIvri, that he considers the Gedud HaIvri to be a terrorist organ and that his proof is the fact that he found Kahane writings, pictures and books among the material confiscated from the store. He also sited the fact that some workers in the store are believed to have been active in the outlawed Kahane Chai group. Yekutiel Ben Yakov, Director of the Jewish Legion, who also worked part time in the store said that Karadee needs to be committed and not necessarily to a cause, however, there is a sense of logic; albeit twisted logic, that could explain his insane behavior. It stands to reason that a man who considers shooting at Jews in Hebron and who is part of a system that gives weapons to Arab terrorists, would fight against law-abiding Jewish defenders who contribute to Israeli security. What would Karadi like me to do? If I am not allowed to raise dogs for Israel's security and if I am not allowed to work in a private internet cafe', what am I allowed to do?" Subscribe to Voice of Judea emails by sending an email request to jsid@dorsai.org To Go To Top

DETECTION SYSTEM FOR IDENTIFYING EVIL Posted by Gary S., January 22, 2006.

This article was written by Andrew Klavan January 14, 2006 and it appeared in the Los Angeles Times (www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oe-klavan14jan14,1,9258) January 15, 2006. THERE IS ONE good thing about anti-Semitism: It lets you know who the bad guys are. Right, left, black, white, freak or straight, the minute someone starts rattling on about the evil Jews, you know your train just pulled into Slimeball Station. All bigotry is wrong, of course, but there's something about this particular form of prejudice that is weirdly reliable as a sign of deeper wickedness. Perhaps it's because the Jews contributed so much to humanity's moral code that to hate them as a race is to despise the restraints of morality itself Whatever the reason, true, virulent anti-Semitism is such a good indicator of the presence of evil that I'm tempted to believe that when God made the Jews his chosen people, this is what he chose them for: to be a sort of Villainy Early Detection System for everyone else. Unfortunately, in his infinite love for his creation, I suspect the Big Guy may have overestimated our intelligence. Maybe he thought that after Hitler we'd just, you know, like, get it. Instead, we still see apparently intelligent people appeasing, making excuses for and even embracing the sorts of stinkers who ought to set off the Big Alarm. That's why I think the system could use more bells and whistles -- a loud honking noise perhaps, or even closed captioning for the morally impaired. Thus, when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the Holocaust is a "myth" or that Israel "must be wiped off the map," you would hear a loud honk and words would appear in the air below his face: "Hello. I am an evil madman. Please stop negotiating with me now and proceed to cripple my nuclear capability by any means necessary." Or how about when Venezuelan leader -- and anti-American Iran ally -- Hugo Chavez warns that "descendants of those who crucified Christ S have grabbed all the world's riches for themselves"? Honk. His subtitle: "Hi. I know you lefties are still enamored of the idea of socialism -- fine. But personally, I'm a jerk and a friend of tyranny. " Now, I understand the situation in the Middle East is morally and politically complex, as is the situation in South America. I know that honorable people can hold conflicting opinions about the issues in these places. But when the entrenched misery of an area nearly as large as the United States is consistently blamed on 5 million people in a country the size of a shoebox, or when the ills of the world are loaded onto less than 1% of its population, I begin to become suspicious. If it were only a matter of hating Jews, we could say: "Feel free, hate everyone, knock yourself out." The trouble is the suffering, the slaughter of innocents and indeed the destruction of entire nations that seems inevitably to follow when anti-Semitism is allowed to spread beyond the cesspool of the mind that contains it. History is too full of lowlifes who thought all their problems would be solved if they could just kill enough Jews for us not to realize that their Final Solutions aren't final and are no solution. They are often the first, and sometimes the last, road sign pointing the way to an earthly hell. So here's a plan. The next time you express an opinion on what's wrong with the world, take a look around to see who's nodding in agreement. If it's some clown who thinks the Jewish state should be pushed into the sea, or that the Jews killed Christ or are conspiring to subvert the world economy or the government or the media, I beg you to consider that you might be wrong. There is no shame in changing your opinion. Falling into step with wicked fools -- that's shameful, and it's dangerous too. God gave you an early detection system. Use it. Contact Gary S. at ahavat@telkomsa.net To Go To Top

CAPITULATION TO VIOLENCE Posted by Professor Eugene Narrett, January 22, 2006.

"If there is one thing worse than the use of violence it is capitulation to violence," Israel's Chief of Police, Moshe Karadi reportedly asserted today in Herzliya. Mr. Karadi is right but of course, like his employers, his application of this sound principle is totally perverse. Everyday Israel capitulates to a greater or lesser degree to Arab violence and threats of violencce. Everyday thousands of illegally built Arab structures in Yesha stand unthreatened while Jews, Israeli citizens are beaten, incarcerated without charges, and their houses razed. with a few very brief glorious exceptions, Israel's policy since its inception has been capitualation to Islamic violence and the threats of violence. Nearly every response is belated and partial, and the Islamic violence resumes quickly. It has been the policy of the Histadrut and its political arm, Labor and its affilliates and offshoots (including the post-Camp David Likud) to capitulate to Arab violence and the threats of violence, including threats of violence from Europe and Washington DC. There are many reasons why all officials involved in these repeated, obsessive, recidivist capitulations to violence should resign and be charged and treated the way Karadi and his button-pushers want to treat the Jews of Hebron. If there is anything that distinguishes communists and leftists (p.c.) generally these past 160 years it is their enormous, monstrous hypocrisy. They are the most violent, hate-filled, intolerant pack of destroyers a culture can produce. The Jews of Israel must "spit them out" or be spit out by them. We hear so much about "incitement" and laws against "incitement" in Israel, and about Jews being incarcerated for it or for suspicions of it, etc. Moshe Karadi and Olmert, like others before them, are blatantly guilty of blatant, homicidal incitement against the Jews of Yesha and Hebron. Where are all the lawyers in Israel? Israel, which to its shame has the highest per capita rate of lawyers in the world. Where are they to sue these officials and their media mouthpieces guilty of homicidal incitement against Jews? The Jews of Hebron are the apple orchard of Israel, the garlands of the chariot and throne here below. The entire Jewish people owes them debts of identity, memory, personhood, prayer, and land. Attorneys, media, citizens must rise to defend them and to make the inciters against them defend themselves. 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. To Go To Top

ENDTIME CURIOSITIES AND COMPLEXITIES, II: TEXTS, PERSONALITIES, EVENTS, SCHEMES Posted by Professor Eugene Narrett, January 22, 2006.

ENDTIME CURIOSITIES & COMPLEXITIES, II: Texts, Personalites, Events, Schemes... 22 January 2006, 22 -28 Tevet 5766, E. Narrett "It will be on that day that Hashem will thresh from the surging Euphrates to the brook of Egypt and gather in all His scattered ones. And a great shofar will be sounded; and those who are servants in Happy Land, and those who contaiminated from the land of bondage shall come to celebrate before Hashem on His holy mountain..." (Isaiah 28, Haftara parsha Va'eira, Exodus 6:3 -- 9) We are come to a momentous season, a time when the keywords of existence unlock and interpret events rushing toward us at accelerating speeds. Public events and the speech that 'describes' them spin mists that hide their layers of design. Holy texts in season penetrate the veils. Lies are being exposed to be broken... The foremost Kabbalist in Israel, Rav Yitzhak Kaduri, about the age of Joseph the righteous when his neshama ascended, has gone to hospital saying, "the redemption is coming." The neshama of the righteous pull the nefesh and ruach to the spice meadows and, gathering a crown from the King, descend with their healing fragrance to the depths of Hebron where the throne and chariot are completed and the camp of Israel united. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and their spouses, Adam and Eve and David, whose 70 years, a part of Adam's portion, a tenth of them, a shemittah cycle is in Hebron, are established, calling in the covenant obligations God promised His beloved Jewish people. For "the holy kingdom could not be fully established without attaching itself to the patriarchs in Hebron" (Zohar, Va'eira, 31a-b). And in these days the servants of Edom and of the perverse masters that make Happy Land ("Eretz Ashur") so sad are attempting to destroy the garden of redemption by uprooting His Community, the "cup of consolations" from Hebron. Below, we will talk of events as the world speaks, for there are many complexities, to our eyes, of the playing out the last few spaces on the board; many ways for us to reach the end. Who is Pharaoh today? Who is being broken in ten great strokes, and will be annihilated after the end, in the postscript to history, since the deeds of the fathers are a pattern to the sons? Who is master of that mighty nation that retricts and contaminates the Jewish people? They who are the "handiwork" of Yah, "the people I have created to declare My praise," He states. Upon those who have scattered, discarded and contaminated Israel, and who are restricting and staining them now, the Zohar states that Yah God will hurl upon them the Arav, the confusion, horde of beasts and disorder from which creation was called by Yah's tapestry of Hebrew speech (Genesis 1). Fighting oveor God's covenanted land, Greece and Persia, the winged goat and the bear created a vaccuum into which, for the first time in history, the Arav swept. Their disorder, their entropy can go no further. The vermin, the epidemic, and the utter confusion will be cast, measure for measure upon those who worshipped "hybrid and perverse" beasts, and humans with beast-heads, as the Egptians did. As the Zohar indicates, this is the Vatican that through organizations as seemingly disparate as the "Paving the Way" foundation, headed by a "Jewish -- Catholic" doctor, clawing at Mt. Zion. It will be for Rome as for ancient Egypt. "The same punishment is destined to be meted out by the Holy One, blessed be He, to Rome, the great Metropolis," to Europe as it is written, "Who is this coming from Edom His garments sullied with blood...a great slaughter in the land of Batzrah" (Zohar 30b -- 31a, 32a; cf. Isaiah 63 -4). Events are rushing toward them...... Those who control the major media of the world, those who set the parameters of permissible 'debate' and forge its mind-cramping vocabulary of lies have decided to inform the public that there is a danger of Nuclear Armageddon from Iran, known from ancient until recent times as Persia, "the Bear." Iran has been developing its ballistic missiles, the Shuhab series (now in its third, intercontinental stage) and warhead technology for at least ten years ith assistance from Russia and others via North Korea. Its nuclear technology is courtesy of Russia, Germany and France. For several years it has had missiles than can blanket Israel, and has rarely ceased insisting it will the "apple of God's eye." Now its Shuhab III can reach central Europe and steadily, quickly the world is being alerted that there is a serious threat that even the UN and the leftist parties will have to acknowledge. The crisis, having been created, is now going to be solved, the power think, in their way. This remains to be seen. In-fighting among the interlocking interests in "the West" may protract the outcome into the spring, until the Bear strikes first. It is written that "in the end of days, Edom will attack Ishmael, Ishmael will enflame Persia, and Persia will attack the entire world. Israel will run back and forth, crying, 'where shall I go? What shall I do.'" That certainly sounds like Labor-Kadima-Likud that colludes with "those that say, 'come, let us blot them out from nationhood, that Israel's name not be remembered anymore." And with the name and memory of Israel, the Name, nature and knowledge of Yah God, Hashem, the Master and Maker of the universe they mean to blot out and replace with their "other gods." We will see. In Mesopotamia, in the British-minted state of 'Iraq' (b. 1923, a vassal of the house of Saud -Arabi, the horde) there are complexites and confusion, schemes within schemes. It is not only that making of Mesopotomia's disparate groups a single nation there, much less one capable of "democracy," is a thing of smoke and mirrors, a deceit and delusion. It is that: the British Foreign Ministry, which began dominating the British media in the 1930s and then integrated itself with the American State Department and American media has succeeded, it would appear, in having American governments and American soldiers prop up and discipline its rogue Arab puppet state in Mesopotamia, securing not only the oil from Mosul and Basra, but its control of the middle east, and thus of world commerce and most importantly, ideologies. And making, they fact, "Iraq" a settled fact. But the non-war conflict, operation 'democracy in Iraq' [sic] also serves as fly paper, drawing the plague of Arob into the area, murdering each other, lamentably, at a sad cost in American lives and in establishing in blood the fiction of a nation of "Iraq." (Note that the Islamic world recognizes no such nation; there are only dar al Islam, dar al sulh [nations that buy temporary truce by concessions and tribute]; and dar al Harb, the realm of war). But this bloody and sad police action does keep many hostiles pre-occupied and far from certain shores, which in many ways, for many people is a blessing, even if it is a nasty way of buying time. In the belated crisis regarding the ballistic missiles and nuclear capability of Persia, and the messianic, apocalypse-minded leaders there, "Iraq's" a-historical, imposed boundaries will dissolve in blood and storm. Ahmedenijab sees himself as the 12th Shi'ite Imam whose return, expected since 941 CE will usher in global war and the global rule of Shi'a Islam. Ahmedenijab has made speeches asserting that only Shi'ites are human. So an attack on his regime will free the Islamic world, especially the Saudi -- Wahhabis of their main rival and enemy. Those who frame the issue as one of Iran v. Israel are low and middlebrows of the usual blame-the-Jews crowd. There is a strong case that regime change in Iran and a taking down of its military capabilities helps Saudi -- Wahhabi near and long term goals and interests as much or more than those of Israel. Certainly there is precedent for the house of Bush working extensively with that of Saud, but this matter should not be personalized. The State Department and Foreign Ministry of Britain are the main players here; their agenda is only inflected, not changed by the pez dispenser at the top of the ticket, though some dispensers (e.g. Bush Senior) do help cook the pez.... So powers in the uttermost west are buying time in order to, 1) apply pressure to their Israeli puppets to uproot the alternative and ultimate source of sanctity, authority, wisdom and power; 2) marshal at least tepid support from their own 'opposition' and from Edom in order to minimize damage to their interests and their control of the pez; 3) continuing to keep the Arav from surging over the world too much; 4) fine tuning the assessment of how much damage will be tolerated and who will suffer it; 5) doing Israel a "favor" while continuing to destroy the Jewish content of the state, and perhaps the state itself. Thanks. These schemes are not pretty; allies and friends get help only on the terms of the powers. Remember our (and Israel's) ally the Shah of Iran? How the French unleashed Khomeini from Paris into Persia and how the sick Shah was bundled on an American plane that flew around and around and around until he died? At the roof of the world there are no pretty schemes and no allies, except perhaps Britain, is safe from Gog's designs. Another interesting distraction in the media weather has been talk about the impossibility of Israel's air force reaching Iran and doing for the world what it did in 1981 at Osirak. We hear about the logisitical differences: many widely diffused sites, the far greater distances; we hear of supposed American refusal to allow Israeli overflight of Mesopotamia. But after all, given the heart of the Jonathan Pollard case, the withholding from Israel by a few highly placed officials of American intelligence on "Iraqi" and Libyan weapons of mass destruction targeting Israel, this potential refusal is only too possible. These scenarios overlook some facts: Israel might be persuaded, even ordered to strike, or assist in a strike, even while the official word shuts it out, as it has been shut out of direct participation in both of the Anglo-American wars in Mesopotamia (1991; 2003 -- ongoing). While it is difficult to imagine a near-term scenario, save one, in which Israel does not lose its pariah status, there is one truth not mentioned publicly: Israel has about a half dozen nuclear submarines that could be positioned to accomplish most or all of the destruction of Iran's missiles (America has many more). American, British, and Israeli air power, if allowed, could finish the job and then the Anglo-American establishment would proceed to the next step of their crisis creation -- crisis management game. From a Jewish perspective, the fact that we are at this point, although fitting the historical and millenarian perspectives, is preposterous. The Shulchan Aruch of Rav Yosef Karo makes very clear that when an enemy or enemies gather to attack Israel, even the edge of its outermost boundaries, it is mandatory upon Jews to "kill them first." But the galut and the hellenists still rule in Israel. Thus the nightmare, the sorrow and the pity drag on. Israel is at or very near to its nadir, that is clear, with black-shirted police beating women and children in Hebron next to the cave of the patriarchs, and preparing for more of this horor throughout Judea and Samaria. This also may well be the "dar al sulh" tribute paid by Washington to Saud; it also is the burying of that other Authority the new world order intends at all costs to supplant, but gradually, so as still to be profitable, like turning Mt. Zion into a center for Catholic tourism, Truly, the nations are drunk, and not with wine... With Israel at its nadir, the time is ripe for a decisive reversal. There are many many signs of degeneracy, vicious scheming, and radical reversal near at hand. We have been taught since Hashem made the covenant of the parts with Avraham, since Moshe taught us in parsha Tochacha (Deuteronomy 28), since the song, "Ha'Azinu" he sang to Israel on the last full day of his life (Deut. 32) that "redemption and the Moshiach will not come till everyone despairs" from what they see. We are told that the end of days, "will be a generation of perverts; children will not respect parents, wives will not respect husbands, the wise man will be esteemed a fool, the virtuous will be scorned and exiled while scoffers and sluts will be adored." And so "today we praise wanton sinners," as Malachi said. All this we see: the shadow rulers of America relentlessly betray and undermine Israel, empower and often apologize for global jihad, and the plagues of immorality and the deification of the state proceed. The Europeans demand the division of Jerusalem and Eurabia demands that EU troops police the Jewish heartland. The day of judgment seems to be at hand. Jews are taught that the deeds of the fathers (the earliest generations of the Jews) are a pattern for their descendants. It was about 3320 years ago that ten of the twelve scouts that Moshe sent to spy out the Promised Land returned, on Tisha B'Av with "evil reports" claiming that the Jewish people could not conquer it (Numbers 14). Instead of entering Israel directly after completing the Ark and its Tabernacle a year after the revelation at Sinai; instead of the month of Av, the month of the Father, being the triumph it should have been, that generation had to wander another 38 years and 8 months, till its entire military host died out because of its disengagement from its heritage. In June 1967, following the miracle victory of that June, the Labor leaders of Israel repeated this betrayal, refusing to follow up and secure Israel's promised boundaries and instead, as in a nightmare, in a trance, offering to give away the heartland for which Jews had fought, worked, bled, and yearned for millenia. Thus has followed 38 years of "[Jewish] land for [worthless American and Eurabian promises of] peace" schemes. This February, around Tu B'Shvat, the New Year of Trees, it will be 38 years and 8 months since that horrible repetition of the sin of the spies. Is Israel ready to become itself? Is it ready to shine, to rise up like a lion and conquer with joy? To make the entire land blossom and "dwell secure, solitary in the likeness of Jacob: even its heavens will drip with dew." For it is a people that shall dwell apart, an example and light to the nations, not be counted among them. The Torah portions that Israel is studying and singing from now until the latter part of February are those that deal with Pharaoh's defiance of the Holy One, blessed be He, and the steady and devastating revelation of His sovereignty and His relation to Israel, His "first born son" (Exodus 4:22). This week the world is reminded that the Master and Maker of all worlds is "the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. This is My Name forever," He states, "and this is My rememberance through all generations!" In the following weeks we will read of the hammer blows it took for Pharaoh, Egypt, and, in a foretaste, Babylon, Happy Land (Ashur), and Edom to learn this lesson. Portions Vayeira, Bo, Beshallach, this last in which is described the Holy One's splitting of the Sea, Pharaoh's furious pursuit of Israel into it and the destruction of Egypt, the pattern for Edom, as the Zohar states (above). That following monday, February 13, is Tu B'Shevat, the 15th of Shevat, the month alluding to the tribes -- branches of Israel, and to the tithes that Israel takes from its literal branches to bring before the King Hashem in Jerusalem. The apple orchards will be in full blossom, and the lioness will gather her cubs. The high holy ones will raise their arms in supplication, and Hashem will thresh from the surging Euphrates to the river of Egypt... "Nations are in turmoil; kingdoms totter. He has raised His voice, the earth dissolves... a fortress for Israel is the God of Jacob, selah!" And on the last folio page of the Zohar's commentary on Torah portion Va'eira, it speaks of these battles and this glorious reversal, joy of all on earth who have eyes to see. "Ishmael is destined to rule over the land for a long time, so long as it is empty..." And so they did, until the land became "astonishing bare and desolate," just as the Eternal One had said through Moshe. "And they will prevent Israel from returning to their land until their [Ishmael's] merit is exhausted," as it was by the end of the 19th century CE. And so it came to pass... And more: "and the sons of Ishmael will fight mighty battles in the world, and the sons of Edom will gather against them and make war on them on land and on sea, some close to Jerusalem" as we see in our days, bringing indelible sins on themselves by dividing up the land the Almighty raised His hand in a covenant to give forever to the Jewish people. "Fear not, My servant Jacob, and Israel, My chosen One, for I have fashioned you: I clasp your right hand..." The Zohar continues on this week's portion as we approach the crippling of the bear and a radical tikkun of the world: "but the Holy Land will not be delivered to the sons of Edom. Then a nation from the furthest ends of the earth will rise against WICKED ROME and many nations will gather there and fall into the hands of that people," who else is this but America whose foundational principles and inspiration were drawn from the scriptures and history of the Jewish people. "Then all the sons of Edom will congregate against her from all the ends of the earth" as is stated by Ezekiel, Zechariah, Daniel and other of the great prophets: "it will come in the end of days that all the nations of the world will gather against Jerusalem..." And then "the Holy One will rise against them as it says: "A slaughter in Batzrah and a great slaughter in the land of Edom. He will take hold of the ends of the earth that the wicked will be shaken out of it (Job 38:13). He will wipe out the children of Ishmael from the Holy Land and crush all the powers and principalities of the nations and only one power will remain above to rule over the nations, namely the divine power representing Israel," joy of all the world. And the Ancient of Days will give victory to the high holy ones [Israel] and their kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, as He promised. And "then I will turn the peoples to a pure language [Hebrew] that they may call upon the name of the Lord to serve Him with one consent" and "on that day, the Hashem will be One, and His Name, One" (Zohar 32a, citing Haggai 3, Daniel 7, Zephaniah, Zechariah 14). With Jews being beaten by Israeli thugs in Hebron, amidst the very fragance of Eden that grieves and supplicates and calls forth redemption from above, the darkness approaches dawn. In every Jew embracing Hebron, David and Caleb live. The schemes of the powers have many complexities and goals, but Yah Who sits above holds them in derision. The iron rod is descending and the only real and beautiful world order is about to be established. Amen. 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. To Go To Top

ANTI-SEMITISM'S PRESENTABLE COUSIN Posted by Gary S., January 21, 2006.

This was written by George Jonas and appeared yesterday in the Canada National Post (www.canada.com/nationalpost/columnists/story.html? id=b5af97b7-2ae0-49d0-9992-d255eb3dbdfd A few months ago, UCLA Professor Judea Pearl suggested an interesting formula to fight racism on campus. Instead of regarding anti-Zionism as a flimsy cover for anti-Semitism, as we usually do, we should go further and view anti-Zionism itself as racist. "Framing anti-Zionism as racism is precisely the weapon that our students need for survival on campus," he argued on the pages of The Jewish Journal Of Greater Los Angeles. Dr. Pearl, whose academic field is artificial intelligence, is the father of Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter abducted and murdered by terrorists in Pakistan. It happened four years ago, almost to the day. Last night, I talked with the late foreign correspondent's father on the phone. Like his son, Dr. Pearl believes in dialogue. He runs the Daniel Pearl Foundation with the aim of carrying on his son's legacy, defined as "using music and words to help people better understand one another." This may sound a bit like the credo of a bleeding-heart liberal, but only until one realizes that for Dr. Pearl "dialogue" isn't a code word for displaying the white flag. For the UCLA scholar, "dialogue" means words of firm purpose, fighting words if necessary, not words as substitute for surrender. "Anti-Zionism is racism" is more than a neat reversal of the infamous (and eventually rescinded) United Nations formula of "Zionism is racism." To quip that one opposes anti-Semitism because it may lead to anti-Zionism would merely be clever, akin to saying that Baptists oppose sex because it may lead to dancing. But Dr. Pearl is offering a thesis, not a bon mot. As he explains it, "Anti-Zionism earns its racist character from denying the Jewish people what it grants to other collectives (e.g. Spanish, Palestinians), namely, the right to nationhood and self-determination." Dr. Pearl's words ring familiar. They echo words I heard more than 60 years ago, inside a Jewish ghetto in Nazi-occupied Budapest, during heated debates between my Zionist uncle and my non-Zionist father. The year was 1944. Israel did not yet exist. European Jews were facing Hitler's "final solution," that is, extermination. A homeland for Jews seemed like a lifeboat for people drowning at sea. Yet my father opposed Zionism. A liberal internationalist, he considered any form of nationalism a disease, including Jewish nationalism. This outraged my Zionist uncle. "Explain to me why," he demanded. "Why isn't it a disease for Frenchmen to live together in a country called France? Why isn't it a disease for the Dutch to live together in a country called Holland? And if it's not a disease for them, why is it a disease for Jews to live together in a country called Israel?" My father, of course, considered nationalism a disease for the French and the Dutch no less than for the Jews -- or, if not exactly a disease, an outmoded form of social organization that would soon be as obsolete as the horse and buggy. He saw no reason for Jews to start building, through Zionism, a type of edifice for themselves that was about to be abandoned by everybody else. As we now know, my father turned out to be wrong in this view, or at least premature. Nation-states are thriving in the 21st century -- and they're also considered to be legitimate forms of social organizations for groups to aspire to, attain, or preserve. All groups, that is, except the Jews, according to anti- or post-Zionists. Which is why Dr. Pearl has a point. Anti-Zionism, whatever it may have been 60 years ago, does have a racist tinge today. The current climate considers all national aspirations legitimate, except that of the Jews. This being so, one is tempted to agree with Dr. Pearl that anti-Zionism is worse than anti-Semitism. First, it's more dire in its potential consequences. "As a form of racism," Pearl writes, "it targets the most vulnerable part of the Jewish people, namely, the people of Israel, who rely on the sovereignty of their state for physical safety, national identity and personal dignity." Next, anti-Zionism may have a greater chance of acculturation than anti-Semitism. "While people of conscience reject anti-Semitism, anti-Zionist rhetoric has become a mark of academic sophistication and social acceptance in Europe and in some U.S. campuses," Pearl observes. Indeed, people who would feel traumatized if accused of anti-Semitism, might shrug off a charge of anti-Zionism, or even embrace it with pride. UCLA's professor of artificial intelligence offers his formula as anti-Zionism=racism. To me it seems to compute. Contact Gary S. at ahavat@telkomsa.net To Go To Top

U.S. HOLOCAUST MUSEUM COMES UNDER FIRE FOR FAILING TO ADDRESS ARAB ANTI-SEMITISM Posted by Unity Coalition for Israel, January 20, 2006.

This was written by Meghan Clyne and appeared yesterday in The New York Sun. WASHINGTON -- Amid pledges from Iran to "wipe Israel off the map" and to hold a conference examining whether the Nazi murder of 6 million Jews is a "myth," America's Holocaust Museum is under fire for its silence about Arab assistance to the Nazis during World War II, and about the intensifying hatred of Jews in the Arab Middle East today. Leading the charge is Holocaust Museum Watch, a national organization formed 18 months ago to spur the museum toward meaningful acknowledgment of Arab anti-Semitism. A forum at the National Synagogue here last night -- headlined by Rep. Eliot Engel, a Democrat of New York; the author of "IBM and the Holocaust," Edwin Black; the president of the Amcha Coalition for Jewish Concerns, Rabbi Avi Weiss, and other Jewish leaders -- marked Holocaust Museum Watch's inaugural public event. In particular, Holocaust Museum Watch charges that the federally chartered and federally funded United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is failing to meet the obligations set forth in its government-approved founding documents. The congressional legislation that approved the museum in 1980 was based on a 1979 report issued by the President's Commission on the Holocaust, established by President Carter and chaired by Elie Wiesel. Among other responsibilities, the commission tasked the museum with maintaining a Committee on Conscience, charged with monitoring potential genocidal situations and issuing an "'institutional scream' to alert the conscience of the world and spark public outcry" at the earliest signs of genocidal intent. But while calls for destroying the Jewish state have been the mainstay of the Arab Middle East for decades, critics say, the Holocaust Museum has not issued any "institutional scream," or even included exhibits or materials about Arab anti-Semitism in the museum's facilities. It has also declined repeated requests to hold conferences or events addressing the issue. "There is anti-Semitism emanating from parts of the Muslim world, and this is not a problem which should escape the concern of the Holocaust Museum," Mr. Engel said in a statement to The New York Sun. "I think it is time that the museum consider intensifying its focus on this continuing concern." "It's unbelievable," the rabbi of the National Synagogue, Shmuel Herzfeld, told the Sun yesterday. "They won't talk about Egypt, about Syria, about Saudi Arabia -- it's like the big elephant in the room." Arab anti-Semitism, the rabbi added, is a widely recognized phenomenon; earlier this week, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld likened remarks by President Ahmadinejad of Iran to the early writings of Hitler. The museum's leaders, Rabbi Herzfeld said, "are the last ones in the world to admit that there's such a thing as Arab anti-Semitism." Rabbi Herzfeld and other critics argued that the museum's silence on Arab anti-Semitism was likely the result of its political burdens. Two-thirds of the museum's operating budget is taxpayer-funded, and its leaders are presidential appointees. This has, in the past, placed museum officials in tricky spots regarding the Arab-Israeli conflict, and Rabbi Weiss cited as an example the Clinton administration's insistence that the former head of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Yasser Arafat, be given a guided personal tour of the museum. The then-director of the museum, Walter Reich, refused and promptly was fired. "They are not talking about the major issues because they upset certain political niceties in Washington," Rabbi Herzfeld said. "That's fine if you're the State Department, but if you're tasked with preserving the memory of the Shoah, and you deal with it in a callous political fashion, that's deeply offensive." According to Rabbi Weiss, the museum, which has had more than 22.8 million visitors since it opened in 1993, is also failing in its instructional capacity. "Everyone looks to the museum for direction relative to Shoah memory," the rabbi said. Their silence on Arab anti-Semitism, he said, "has contributed to it now moving to a next step, and that is the step of Arab leadership denying the Shoah openly." A spokesman for the museum, Arthur Berger, declined to comment on specific criticisms from Holocaust Museum Watch, and stressed: "We are principally a historical and educational institution on the history of the Holocaust. Our mandate is 1933 to 1945." Moreover, Mr. Berger said, the museum's Web site highlights a statement denouncing Mr. Ahmadinejad's remarks, and links to organizations, including the Middle East Media Research Institute, that monitor Arab anti-Semitism. Mr. Berger said he was not aware of any exhibits or conferences addressing Arab anti-Semitism as an independent issue. "We are not able to do everything that is even in our mandate," Mr. Berger said. "We don't have the staff, and we don't have the money for it." The museum's operating budget for fiscal year 2006 is $66.6 million, $42.6 million of which is provided through federal appropriations. To the founder and one of the board members of Holocaust Museum Watch, Carol Greenwald, the museum's failure to comply with its mandate represents an unacceptable lack of accountability for taxpayer dollars. Ms. Greenwald, a financial-investment analyst who sits on the boards of several pro-Israel organizations, was also critical of the museum's contents. One example of misplaced focus, Ms. Greenwald said, is a video documentary about Christianity's role in the Holocaust, addressing historic episodes such as anti-Semitic violence after medieval passion plays and the writings of Martin Luther. "Given that they don't have any hesitation about having a movie like that," Ms. Greenwald said, "they should have a movie or an exhibit that talks about the role extremist Islam is playing in spreading religious and racial hatred." The museum's unresponsiveness to such criticism, Ms. Greenwald, drove her to establish Holocaust Museum Watch. Her inability to get the museum to include some mention of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin el-Husseini, who conspired with Hitler to liquidate the Jewish population of British Palestine, was particularly irksome, Ms. Greenwald said. Last night's forum, she added, is just a first step toward bringing accountability and a renewed sense of focus to the museum. "I'm not going away," she pledged. "We're not going away." The Unity Coalition for Israel (http://www.israelunitycoalition.org) is "the largest worldwide coalition of Jewish and Christian organizations, with more than 200 groups representing millions of people dedicated to Israel. Though we have many different backgrounds, we have one common goal: A Safe and Secure Israel." "Israel is not just a Jewish issue. Millions of Christians resolutely endorse the principle of peace with security for the state of Israel. Because we work closely together and speak with a united voice, our message is being heard!" To Go To Top

FORMER GAZA FAMILY DETERMINED TO REBUILD THEIR LIVES Posted by Bryna Berch, January 20, 2006.

Anita Tucker is one remarkable lady. Tough, resilent, and strongly determined to thrive in Israel and make Israel thrive. Now why can't any of the political parties nominate her for Prime Minister? This was written by Jerry D. Barach and it appeared in the Cleveland Jewish News (CJN). (www.clevelandjewishnews.com/articles/2006/01/19/news/ israel/nfamily0120.txt). Jerry D. Barach, former editor of the CJN, made aliyah with his family 26 years ago. Jerusalem: After all that Anita and Stuart Tucker, formerly of Netzer Hazani in Gush Katif, Gaza have been through for the past several months, one would think their spirits would be broken and they would be ready to call it quits. Yes, they do have plenty of criticism and bitter feelings about how they and others like them have been treated by the government, both during, and especially after, last summer's disengagement from Gaza and northern Samaria. But in the lectures given by Anita, who has long served as a popular, if unofficial, spokesperson for the Gush Katif population n and in conversation with Stuart, one also gets a feeling of a strong determination to carry on and to rebuild. One might even call it a kind of defiance against the odds or just plain old Israeli chutzpah. The Tuckers lost their home and their town and also a profitable greenhouse vegetable-farming operation in Netzer Hazani. Moreover, neither of them is at an age where starting over is easy even for those who haven't been displaced. Stuart is 63, and Anita has just turned 60. A pleasant, soft-spoken man, Stuart was born in Cleveland. He grew up there and in Cleveland Heights. He graduated from The Hebrew Academy and from Telshe Yeshiva High School before going on to earn a master's degree and rabbinical ordination at Yeshiva University in New York. He and Anita, a New Yorker, wed in the U.S. and came on aliyah in 1969. In 1976, they became one of the first couples to settle in Gush Katif, then consisting only of barren sand dunes. Warned that nothing could grow there, these "city folk" defied the odds and, like dozens of others, developed a "going" greenhouse business, growing various kinds of vegetables, some of them organic, for the local market and for export. Stuart, whose degree was in biology, found work teaching in his field. Later, he taught English until his recent retirement. Over the years, the couple raised five childen, all born in Israel, and they have 12 grandchildren. Two of their sons were also farmers in Gush Katif. "I had a home; I had a big, successful business, a little piece of the land of Israel and all that was stolen from me," says Anita. But what couldn't be stolen, according to both Anita and Stuart, was their spirit. Netzer Hazani, like many of the 22 communities that existed in Gush Katif, is making an effort, at least in part, to stay together and rebuild. Although currently divided into two separate temporary residential arrangements n one at a religious kibbutz northeast of Ashkelon and the other in the Golan Heights, about 60 of the original 80 Netzer Hazani families are hoping to start over on agricultural land in a central location in Israel. "We've passed the stages of trauma and post-trauma, and we're now in the stage of rebuilding," says Stuart. But in saying that, he reminds his listener that there are still hundreds of former Gush Katif families living in hotels and in other conditions that are not conducive to the resumption of normal life. Not only lack of proper housing, but also unemployment is a very serious problem, aggravated by the slow rate of financial compensation promised to the evacuees. Helping the people from Gush Katif keep afloat have been "so many wonderful people," says Anita. "There have been endless examples of people who care, in Israel and abroad, Jews and Christians." Most worrisome for both the Tuckers is the long-term impact of the disengagement on the young people who were disillusioned by the process. "Our youth were educated to love the land of Israel," she says, "and in the end, they were really angry." "It was very hard for the youth to see their parents forced out of their homes," adds Stuart. "Our main goal has to be to rebuild," says Anita. "In order to do that, we have to be strong." Despite being at a stage of life when most people start to think of retirement, she does not rule out going back into farming again, perhaps with one or more of her sons. "We have to take control of our lives, to keep our heads up high. We do not want to be charity cases. We want to be givers, not takers," she states firmly. Stuart speaks about possible development of a broad-based investment fund for the future, when actual resettlement efforts are more concrete. Another possibility is exploring rural tourism, a field that has burgeoned in Israel in the last 10 to 15 years. Rural tourism attracts city families who want to get away to a verdant setting for a few days. Currently, the Tuckers are on a trip to the U.S., where the affable and well-spoken Anita is appearing before various audiences in a number of cities in order to tell the "tale of Gush Katif." Among their stops is Cleveland, where there will be no public appearances, but where Stuart will be able to visit his few remaining relatives and some acquaintances and to personally thank The Hebrew Academy, where the children raised funds for assistance to the people of Gush Katif. To Go To Top

MR PRESIDENT, THANKS FOR SUPPORTING ISRAEL, BUT WHY THE DOUBLE STANDARD? Posted by David Meir-Levi, January 20, 2006.

Dear Mr. President, You seem to have a double standard about Israel and the Middle East vs. the West's war against Terrorist Islam. By inviting Ehud Olmert to Washington ahead of the general elections, you made it clear that you want to see him form the next Israeli government. By pressuring Israel to allow Arab residents of its capital city to vote in the Palestinian elections next week --- notwithstanding Hamas's participation in the elections and a Fatah slate dominated by terrorists and led by convicted murderer Marwan Barghouti --- you made it clear that you support maximalist Palestinian territorial demands regarding Jerusalem and back a Palestinian proto-state governed dominated by active terrorist gropups. Thus, no matter how the Palestinian elections turn out, you will have assisted Palestinian terrorist leadership to establish operational bases on the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip. So I must ask you, what American interest is served by the exacerbation of the Arab-Israeli conflict and the establishment of operational bases for international terrorism in the Middle East? Is appeasement of terrorists (PA or Hamas) really the best way to advance the US interest of ending the Arab world's conflict with Israel? What recent history has shown is that the opposite is the case. As the rise of Hamas and the fragmentation of Fatah into warring terrorist gangs in the wake of Israel's retreat from Gaza and northern Samaria --- like the enhanced popularity of Hizbullah in Lebanon since the Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon in May 2000 --- shows, Israeli appeasement of Palestinians and other Arab terror groups strengthens the Arab view that it is possible to destroy Israel. Thus the US policy of supporting Israeli appeasement and pressuring for further Israeli land handovers to the Palestinians stands in complete contradiction to your own courageously stated policy for waging the US-led war on international terrorism, which --- in every place except Israel --- works to deny bases to terrorists and undermine regimes that sponsor and support terrorism." Can you please give immediate thought to this self-contradictory and potentially lethal double standard, and take the steps necessary to support Israel in its fight against terrorism just as you are fighting terrorism against our own homeland. 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

SAVE HEVRON Posted by Lee Caplan, January 20, 2006.

This message comes from Rabbi Danny Cohen of Hebron, who urges you to join the worldwide fax campaign now underway to save the Jewish community of Hevron. With Hevron in headline news, I have been getting a lot of calls from concerned individuals all over the world who want to know is happening in Hevron and what they can do to help. The situation in Hevron is very tense. The current struggle involves two strips of homes which are literally across the street from Avraham Avinu neighborhood, where I live with my family. The area in question is owned by Jews who were forced to abandon their property in 1929 when Jews were massacred and the survivors were forcibly expelled by the British. Arabs stole the land and built a market place on it. In 1967, when Hevron was liberated, the land was not given back to the rightful owners; instead the Arabs were allowed to continue using it. Today only a very small percentage of the Jewish owned land in Hevron has been resettled by Jews. The Rebbe cried about this, "they kill and then they inherit!" In the last ten years the army evacuated this Arab market for security reasons, but still did not grant permission for the rightful owners to reclaim their property. In 2001, Arab snipers murdered 10 month old Shalhevet in her carriage in the playground of Avraham Avinu. In response to that terrorist attack, the Jewish community in Hevron settled the property. The legal owners "Kollelot HaSefaradim Eretz Yisroel" endorsed this action. Young Jewish families with support from abroad began to renovate the shabby, dilapidated storefronts of the market and with their own hands, created lovely living quarters for themselves. The absurdity of the matter is that both the government and the courts recognize that the homes are on Jewish property. Furthermore, throughout Hevron you can see Arabs building grand structures, all without permits and still no penalty from the government. Only Jews renovating the inside of existing structures on Jewish property are harassed and are prevented from getting proper permits. The residents of Hevron are known to be uncompromising and strong. The entire Jewish world benefits because of it. Thanks to these committed Yidden Baalei Mesirus Nefesh, we have access to Maaras HaMachpela, and to the resting place of Rebbitzen Menucha Rochel. The Lubavitcher Rebbe spoke many times about how important it is to have settlements in Yehuda and Shomron. Of all the settlements, Hevron is seen as the pinnacle of strength. When Hevron holds onto its property, the other settlers are encouraged that it can be done. If Hevron would fall, G-d forbid -- even one neighborhood in Hevron -- the other settlements could be discouraged. We cannot let that happen. Escalating the events that occurred in the past week, hundreds of youth came to protest in Hevron. These youth were in Gush Katif and are still hurting from witnessing its destruction. Besides the fact that the "riots" were blown out of proportion in the media I personally may not agree with everything that went on this week in Hevron, but I still think it is important for history to know, that in one city in Eretz Yisroel, when they came to expel Jews from their land, the Jews went crazy. There is a convenient and quick way that you all can help. The leaders of Hevron think this campaign will be effective and make a change for the better. In the past year, Chabad of Hevron has had two incidents at the Tziun of Rebbitzin Menucha Rochel which were resolved thanks to dozens of faxes sent to the right places. Being that this situation goes beyond our local authorities, we need hundreds, even thousands of faxes, from as many places as possible, Stationery coming in from all over the globe is very influential in Ertez Yisroel. The evacuation decree threatening Hevron is not a government decision. It is an order from the Justice Department and therefore it can be changed Bederech Hateva! Your role is to have local leaders, rabbis, organizations, businessmen, and of course yourselves write a short letter in your words and fax it in! This is something that can be done from abroad and without the interference of expenses. PLEASE FAX THE PRIME MINISTER, THE PRESIDENT, THE MINISTER OF DEFENSE (NUMBERS BELOW) AND THE EMBASSY CLOSEST TO YOU. Faxes on stationary of an organization are most effective. We need faxes from as many locations as possible, as well as many faxes from each location. Unique wording is more effective than a pre-written form letter. You can use Hebrew or English or the language of your country. A brief, clear message is what is needed. Let them know that you expect the conflict in Hevron to be settled peacefully to the benefit of Klal Yisroel. We want cooperation not confrontation. Jews all over the world depend on the community of Hevron as the guardians of the holy Jewish site of Maaras HaMachpela which is undisputedly a Jewish site. They are the guarantee that what happened at Kever Yosef will not happen to the Kever of Avraham, Yitzchok and Yaakov, Sara, Rivka, Leah and Menucha Rochel. Let them know you find it despicable that Jews living on Jewish owned land in the Jewish homeland are subjected to being expelled by Jewish soldiers. Here are the fax numbers you will need: President Moshe Katzav: 02-5631932 Prime Minister Ehud Olmert: 02-6705361 02-5664838 02-5638693 Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz: 972-36976218 Please send me a copy of your faxes, my fax number is 972-29605770 Contact Lee Caplan at leescaplan@yahoo.com To Go To Top

THE SELF DESTRUCT DOUBLE STANDARD Posted by Yoram Ettinger, January 20, 2006.

Over 1,000 illegal houses are built annually -- by Jerusalem Arabs -- since 1997. Only 30-40 are demolished by the authorities. About 10,000 illegal houses are built, annually, by "Green Line" Arabs in the Galilee, Negev, "Triangle", Lod and Ramleh. About 100 are demolished. Since 1967, there has been more Arab residential (largely illegal) construction in Jerusalem than Jewish construction in the capital of the Jewish State. But, Israel is enforcing the law in an iron-fist manner when it comes to a few scores of Jewish houses throughout Judea & Samaria and Hebron (built on a Jewish-registered property, which was ravaged by Arabs in 1929). Legal and governance impotence have characterized Israel 's battle against illegal Arab construction, which threatens Israel 's sovereignty and the rule of law in Jerusalem and all over the country. Palestinian documents, found at the PLO's "Orient House", highlight illegal construction as a key instrument in the campaign to erode the Jewish character of Jerusalem. According to the documents, the Palestinian Authority (PA) has enticed illegal construction in Jerusalem 's Arab neighborhoods of Shoafat, Beit Haninah and A-Zaim, in order to prevent continuity between the Jewish neighborhoods of French Hill and Pisgat Ze'ev, and to avert the unification of Jerusalem and Ma'aleh Adoumim. Illegal construction is raging along Highway 443, the critical road from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, with the aim to transform it into an Arab road, threatening the security of Jewish transportation. While a 1999 Palestinian document anticipated that Israel was determined "to demolish 400-500 illegal houses in Beit Haninah and Shoafat", a 2000 document notified the PA that "no need to worry", since Israel would only demolish a few houses, and illegal construction could proceed with full speed ahead. But, Israel is determined to enforce the law in an iron-fist manner when it comes to a few scores of Jewish houses in Hebron and throughout Judea & Samaria. Illegal Arab construction has become a norm, led by the Palestinian Authority (many PA officials reside in illegal homes), bankrolled by Saudi petrodollars and observed by the wide-closed eyes of Israel. Illegal construction has become an effective means to challenge Jewish sovereignty over Jerusalem, to undermine major infrastructure and housing projects in the Negev and Galilee, to limit the freedom/security of Jewish movement along major transportation arteries, to facilitate terrorism and to exacerbate crime. For instance, illegal construction in the Jerusalem Arab neighborhood of Silwan has been a platform for intensified terrorism and felony. Forging real estate titles has proliferated in the Arab sector, robbing state-owned land as well as privately owned Arab land, fueling extortion, protection, gang-wars and the importation of illegal Arab residents from Hebron and other towns to Jerusalem -- a fertile ground for terrorism. But, Israel is determined to enforce the law in an iron-fist manner when it comes to scores of Jewish houses in Hebron and throughout Judea & Samaria. Legal and administrative proceedings, to uproot the imminent and present danger of illegal construction, have been extremely cumbersome. In fact, they have encouraged disregard and violation of the law. For example, a demolition order may be attained only if a construction permit cannot be obtained -- by the offender - retroactively! A demolition order would be authorized by the courts only if the illegal structure were built on a state-owned-land zoned for public purposes, for road construction, for a "green area", etc. A demolition permit for an occupied/populated house would be issued if construction were completed less than 30 days before filing complaint (less than 60 days for unoccupied house). In addition, the ultra permissive appeal process, available for construction offenders, has transformed the law into a "Swiss Cheese". Apparently, concern for civil rights of criminals, who deliberately violate the law and undermine Israel 's national security -- rather than the battle against the plague of illegal Arab construction -- has preoccupied the concern of Israel 's judiciary. But, Israel is determined to enforce the law in an iron-fist manner when it comes to scores of Jewish houses in Hebron and throughout Judea & Samaria. 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

IRAN -- SUPPORT HOPE FIGHTERS WITHIN & WITHOUT Posted by SMCCDI, January 19, 2006.

This was written by J. Grant Swank, Jr. and appeared today in The MichNews. It is archived at www.michnews.com/artman/publish/article_11338.shtml Since 1979, Iran has declared war on the USA. It's not a recent comeupon. Iran's goal has always been Islam world rule, particularly overtaking the USA. Iranian Islamic fanatics never give up. At present, Iran is run by a maniacal demonic messiah forerunner. He and scores of other Allah loyalists believe that when chaos envelopes the world, then Islam's messiah will appear. He as president of the legalistic killing cult will help usher in that reign. Therefore, the egocentric, eccentric president listens to no one but the Koran's Allah. No UN Security Council. No European / American delegation. No one but Islam's deity. And that deity is laced in blood, murder and maiming. Further, that chaos could involve dropping bombs here and there-particularly America and Israel, hence the build up of nuclear power in Iran. Iran then will make and drop the bomb. It is in the will of Allah. Chaos must come to the planet. Only then can the messiah appear. Allah's will does not change, no matter the diplomatic discussions offered Iran. Iran goes to a higher power-Allah's declarations in the "holy book." Iranian murder cultic leadership does not care at all about the UN, sanctions, or board room dialogue. Further, Iran is fourth in oil producers. Iran threatens that if free world leaders push Iran over the patience line, Iran will cut off the oil. Prices will soar through the free world roof. Consequently, the rest of the world politic is wrestling with a murdering cult, not a politic. That is not realized by most free country leaders. They still think they are dealing with a politic, hence UN Security Council, sanctions, talks, etc. Not so, as well as not so in New Iraq. Likewise there the Islamic hellish theology will rule from Parliament to the grassroots; indeed New Iraq could develop into another Iran. Is there any hope? Yes. It is the God of the Bible. He has intervened to rescue His planet before-both in biblical literature and in the secular history books. He can do that again any time He so wisely desires. "The battle is the Lord's," the Bible states. Consequently, believers must intercede constantly to heaven's throne on behalf of the planet's safety and freedom's existence. Yes, hope also is in mobilizing the freedom fighters within Iran and those in exile. There are those who are waiting desperately for the free world to realize their existence. Take for instance the "Student Movement Coordination Committee for Democracy in Iran". (Visit this site: STUDENT MOVEMENT COORDINATION COMMITTEE FOR DEMOCRACY IN IRAN (SMCCDI): www.daneshjoo.org ) The purpose of that organization is set forth as follows: "It's to note that the members of our Movement consist of students inside and outside of Iran, as well as Iranian professionals who share the students' vision of a free, independent, democratic, secular and industrialized Iran. "Although we have differing views for a post-theocracy Iran, we are united based on our shared beliefs in nonviolent resistance, secularism, peace, democracy and free markets. "We believe the common objectives that unite those of us who oppose the theocracy are far greater than what divides us. Yet, we have allowed our differences to dictate our actions, permitting the theocracy to take advantage of our lack of unity. "We need to come together and unite behind a set of principles and ideals, not an individual. No more individual worship. That time has long faded. How many times must we set up ourselves for disappointment by putting all of our hopes behind an individual? "We need to look forward to the future and create a better life for our children, not waste time placing blame for past mistakes or constantly criticizing one another. "We need a tangible, constructive and positive action plan. Let us unite behind implementing peace, democracy, free markets and a bill of rights in Iran, while trusting the Iranian people to decide as to which government or individual suits them best." There are other organizations such as Regime Change in Iran. Its web site provides a daily briefing on Iranian happenings. The site also provides blogs for "a real democracy in Iran." (Visit: REGIME CHANGE IN IRAN: www.regimechangeiran.com ) In order to get out the message of freedom fighters within and outside of Iran, "A Few Simple Shots" movie will premiere this week. It is a "first look into the untold stories of Iranian political prisoners," according to the producers. The promoters state: "Three years in the making, acclaimed Iranian Director Joseph Akrami presents a documentary on the untold stories of Iranian political prisoners. "A FEW SIMPLE SHOTS takes the audience on a behind the scenes look of the corrupt Iranian government with stories told from past political prisoners, United Nations Officials and human rights organizers. "Through his movie, Akrami presents a world of unfair and restrictive laws that is oppressing a nation that is left with no voice. The movie will be shown to a select audience at the Wehlstetter Conference Center, Twelfth Floor, AEI, 1150 Seventeenth Street, NW, Washington DC on Friday, January 20 at 7 PM. Registration is at 4:45 PM. Discussants will hold forth at 5 PM, featuring Joseph Akrami, Independent filmmaker. Guests will include Nina Shea, Center for Religious Freedom. Email: VRodman@aei.org or phone 202-862-4871. Yes, there is hope. But it is limited. However, with God there is no limitation. Contact SMCCDI, The Student Movement for Democracy in Iran, at peyk@daneshjoo.org. Or go to their website: http://www.daneshjoo.org/ To Go To Top

THE ROLLING COUP D'TAT OF ISRAEL Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, January 19, 2006.

Some 'coups' are over in days, even hours, while others take years. The plotters of any 'coup d'etat' seek to overthrow their current government in either a bloody coup or a bloodless coup -- depending on their motives and their means. Israel has been suffering a 'rolling coup d'etat' for years since the 1993 Oslo Accords and no one seems to notice or care. The roll-out of this 'coup' started out merely as an arrangement between the political leaders of the Left, using the (IDF) Israel Defense Force as the incubator with the graduates, the high ranking officers who, in retirement, were to become leading contenders for political office. Outstanding candidates were Moshe Dayan, Ezer Weizman, Yitzhak Rabin, Ehud Barak, Amram Mitzna, and many, many others -- whom, you may notice, were all representatives of the Leftist ideology. The one maverick, Ariel Sharon came last, at least as Prime Minister but, in the end, he adopted (or at least demonstrated) his deeper philosophy of the Left. What began as a clever scheme to use the excellent and admired (IDF) Israel Defense Forces as a conduit to put Leftist politicians into the highest office of Israeli Government proved so successful that the next step of co-opting the Army, was irresistible. What followed was the process whereby the Military and Police Forces were slowly, politically subverted at the officer level so that when the propitious time arrived, the ruling levels of Generals and other officers would respond as ordered and eliminate any semblance of bi-partisan civilian control. Only the Left would hold power and the 'rolling coup d'etat' would be finalized. That process is almost complete -- although slightly set back by the incapacity of Ariel Sharon but, it is moving forward under current Interim PM Ehud Olmert. As for lower ranking troops who object or refuse to go along, they face military justice meted out by Leftist officers of the Court. In closing the loop, civilians who protest governmental excess are pursued on orders from a Leftist-dominated government, using the power of a Leftist-dominated Army, Police, Media and Judicial system. Always present was the supporting media who, like the aforementioned, were the propaganda arm of the Left to insure the public was kept in a sea of disinformation. Controlling how the public thinks is a vital part of gaining and keeping power. Control of the military through the officer echelon is always the method of choice in a bloodless 'coup d'etat' when a supposedly benevolent dictatorship is to be established. The quiet 'coup' changed radically when Sharon decided to adopt an apparent strategy and abandon Gush Katif/Gaza and use the Army/Police to forcibly remove 10,000 men, women and children civilian settlers with a massive 50,000 force of arms. Now the years of cultivating highest echelon of the officer corps was put into action and, for the first time, against Jewish civilians. There were, of course, officers -- not in the inner circle but they would follow whatever orders came from the top echelon, although some did refuse as a matter of principal. As the 'coup' moved through Gaza, only then the flaws in that blunder started to show. The Muslim Arab Terrorists moved in (as predicted by the former top Heads of the Army and Intelligence). They either cooperated with each other or fought for their piece of the street. When they were not doing that, they were firing missiles at Israeli cities. Even the Israeli 'coup' leaders couldn't tolerate that so there were some limited assassinations of Terrorists and targeting of some of their Arab Muslim leaders and launchers. However, they primarily fired at empty fields and empty buildings in a gesture to pacify angry Israeli citizens. Sharon did NOT admit the blunder and the Leftist Media protected him -- even as the 'Judenrein' Gaza District began to fill up with the most dedicated Global Terrorist organizations. Then, just when the next phase of the 'coup' was supposed to get under way, stroke one and then stroke two put Sharon out of the equation. Sharon was to roll out the 'Kadima' Party and according to plan, literally take over control of the nation well beyond their authority as elected officials. Once in power, the forced evacuation was to proceed in Judea and Samaria -- starting with Hebron, one of the four ancient holy Jewish cities. This was in synch with the Bush plan to 'pacify' the Middle East by creating a Muslim Arab Palestinian State which has proved dysfunctional in the extreme. With Sharon in a vegetative state, Olmert was pushed into a power position to carry forward the planned evacuation of Judea and Samaria, giving up the Jordan Valley, the Golan Heights and dividing Israel's Eternal Capital, Jerusalem. He, along with the Generals and Peres, chose to start the first fires in Hebron as a safe and politically acceptable target. This would accomplish a number of things. First, Olmert could act as a military man which, of course, he never was. Then, he could unleash into Hebron first the Yassam thugs who were so carefully selected for their psychological profile as cruel, dispassionate, aggressors usually weeded out of authority as police in normal democratic countries. But, here in Israel they are to be used as Shock troops against the civilian population. The 'coup' was now well on its way, using Hevron as the match and then going on to the rest of the Judean and Samarian cities, towns, and villages. They had no fear of a civil war because they had subverted the chain of command at the officers' level so they had their own private army. The foot soldiers thought they were still under normal command -- not knowing that the Army now belonged to the movers and shakers of the Left. The carefully recruited and nurtured Leftist officers were in positions of control and so, the 'coup' was virtually bloodless, except for the civilians who would be killed, either by the Army for resisting or by the Muslim Arab Terrorists, now up close and personal in those areas forcibly vacated by the Left. This then is the "Rolling Coup D'etat", planned and carried out by the Left. 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

RALLY AGAINST ISLAMOFASCISM FEBRUARY 1, 2006 Posted by AFSI, January 19, 2006.

Dear Friends, ASI wants to invite all AFSI members and friends to join with Jesse Petrilla and United American Committee in their upcoming national rally against Islofascism. The rally has received media attention in places such as Frontpagemag.com. Jesse has extended his personal invitation to all of AFSI's members (see below). Greetings to the members of Americans For a Safe Israel. We stand with you in your message of keeping the world safe from a global threat of terrorism. I invite you to attend local rallies on February 1st in the first National Rally Against Islamofascism Day sponsored by the United American Committee. There are 17 Rally locations nationwide on Feb. 1st, with the main East Coast rally at Ground Zero in New York, and the main West Coast rally being in front of the Federal Building in Los Angeles at 11000 Wilshire Boulevard. Please see the below press release for more information and rally locations and times. Thank you very much, Jesse Petrilla United American Committee Founder & Chair http://www.UnitedAmericanCommittee.org jesse@unitedamericancommittee.org PRESS RELEASE: UAC Rally Against Islamofascism Strides Forward Los Angeles, CA (UACWIRE) January 17, 2006 -- The United American Committee announced today that with only two weeks remaining before the National Rally Against Islamofascism Day (R.A.I.D.) to be held on February 1st that many more groups have added their support to the event that is to be held at various locations worldwide. At various hours during the day on February 1st, and at different locations across America, a consortium of Christian, Jewish and Muslim groups will all join the United American Committee in sending a clear message across the nation against extremism and terrorism by showing their support for the U.S. military, our Coast Guard and Border Patrol, the FBI, Homeland Security and all other government agencies that protect us in the War on Terror. In addition, the rallies will also be to oppose Saudi Arabian influence in our government and at our universities at this time when the Saudis are actively involved in funding terrorism and furthering extremist ideologies. The UAC goal is to show a united front of the majority of Americans to tell congress to take action. Attendees also hope to call attention and cite their opposition to political groups in the United States that claim to represent mainstream American Muslims yet support militant Islam by lending tacit support to terrorism under the guise of being "civil rights" groups. The UAC's position is that such groups need to do more to actively denounce terrorism in support of our government and to cooperate with law enforcement. New affiliates of the UAC are forming as far away as Canada, Germany and Australia that will also participate in the event. The primary locations and times for the R.A.I.D. rally across the US (also available at www.unitedamricancommittee.org ) are scheduled as follows: ARKANSAS: -- Harrison, AR. Town Square at 10Am. Contact Ron arkansas@unitedamericancommittee.org CALIFORNIA: Southern CA: -- West Los Angeles, In front of the federal Building (MAIN WEST COAST RALLY) 11000 Wilshire Boulevard, Time: 5:00 PM -- Los Angeles -- San Fernando Valley Corner of Victory Blvd. & Topanga Cyn. Blvd., Time 4:00 PM -- Malibu, California Corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Webb Way. downtown near the entrance of the Ralphs Shopping Center, Time 4:00 PM Contact Bruce: brucekentmalibu@charter.net Northern CA: -- Auburn, CA Grass Valley HWY (HWY 49) & Elm Ave. Park in Grocery Outlet/Rite Aid Parking Lot, Time: 1:00 PM -- Hayward, CA Mission and Jackson/Foothill in front of flag display east of the intersection. 3pm Contact: mhdennis1@comcast.net -- Modesto, CA street corners of Standiford and Sisk, Time: 12:00 Noon Contact Greg: j802@sbcglobal.net please use the word 'Rally' in the subject line of the e-mail FLORIDA: -- Orlando Intersection of State Road 436th (Semoran Blvd.) & Aloma Ave. Winter Park, FL Time 4:30-6:00 Contact florida@unitedamericancommittee.org - Tampa/Clearwater Courtney Campbell causeway boat ramp Time: 7:00 am With flags Contact: kaosktrl@gmail.com GEORGIA: -- Gwinnett county (HWY 124 and Hamilton Mill Parkway) Time TBA: Contact Brad georgia@unitedamericancommittee.org MASSACHUSETTS: -- Boston At the Capitol Steps/Boston Common Time: 12:00 Noon MISSOURI: -- Columbia, MO One block south of Broadway on Providence Road in front of Bloomers Florists from 4:15 TO 5:45p. Contact Tom: ltw03y@hotmail.com - Jefferson City, MO South side of Capitol building, across High Street from Federal Courthouse and Post Office from 12 noon to 1pm. Contact Tom: ltw03y@hotmail.com NEW YORK: -- New York City (MAIN EAST COAST RALLY) World Trade Center -- Ground Zero, Time: 1 PM TEXAS: -- Dallas Intersection of Beltline and Addison in Addison, TX. Time: 4:00PM UTAH: -- Salt Lake City west side of the Salt Lake City library right by the intersection. The address is 210 East. 400 South. Time: 1-2:30 p.m Attendees are encouraged to dress in red, white and blue and bring American flags and yellow ribbons to cheer on US troops. What is Islamo-fascism? Fascism in definition is (from Webster's dictionary) is "A political philosophy, movement, or regime that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition." Militant Islamic extremists wish for Islam to be an all encompassing lifestyle and governmental law, which fits quite well with Webster's definition of fascism, and is therefore...Islamofascism, a growing threat against democracy and the American way of life. The UAC seeks to send a strong message against totalitarian ideals being imported to our shores. As a unifying force among all Americans of all ethnic and religious backgrounds, The United American Committee seeks to awaken Americans to oppose increasing support at home by groups that lobby and promote Isalmo-fascism not only overseas but here at home in our libraries, our schools and in the media. UAC asks all those willing to attend to invite as many fellow Americans to join them as possible to show support for America and our troops and to help wake up America to the present danger. To Go To Top

DURING THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY "TRUCE" WITH ISRAEL Posted by Jerome S. Kaufman, January 19, 2006.

This was written by Margot Dudkevitch and it appeared in the Jewish Press, January 6, 2005. JERUSALEM -- As Islamic Jihad, the Popular Resistance Committee and Fatah's Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigade announced an end to their self-declared truce of January 2005 under which they pledged to refrain from attacking Israeli targets, an annual summary of terror activities for 2005 released by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) on Sunday revealed that a total of 2,990 terror attacks were launched against Israeli targets in 2005. The attacks occurred after the truce was announced, the report stated. According to the report, motivation among all the terror groups to attack Israel remains high, with the number of monthly terror alerts averaging 57. There was a significant increase in Kassam rocket attacks on Israel, with 377 recorded, compared with 309 in the previous year. At the same time there was a decrease in mortar shelling with 848 launched in 2005 compared with 1231 in 2004. There was a drastic drop in terror attacks launched from the Gaza Strip last year, with 1,205 attacks carried out in 2005 compared with 2,637 in 2004. With the IDF pullout from the Gaza Strip in September 2005 -- and especially after Israeli troops no longer maintained a presence on the Philadelphi corridor between Egypt and Rafah -- terror groups succeeded in smuggling vast quantities of explosives and weaponry into Gaza from Egypt, the report noted. The 200 anti-tank grenades, 350 anti-tank rockets, and a number of antiaircraft missiles were among the arms smuggled from Egypt to terror groups in Gaza during September 12-18 alone. Terror groups operating in the Gaza Strip continued to strengthen their capabilities in preparation for the renewal of violence. Despite assurances by Palestinian security personnel that they were preventing the smuggling of weapons into Gaza, many instances members of the Palestinian security forces received bribes in order to "turn a blind eye," the Security Agency said. Jerome S. Kaufman is National Secretary of the Zionist Organization of America. and host the Israel Commentary website (http://www.israel-commentary.org). To Go To Top

EHUD OLMERT'S POLITICAL MOTIVES FOR HIS ATTACK AGAINST JEWISH HEBRON Posted by Emanuel A. Winston, January 19, 2006.

Interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, with malice and political savvy, understood that provoking a small war with the observant Jews of Hebron would buy him secular and Leftist votes in the coming elections scheduled for March 28th. Olmert, always the quintessential politician, chooses every move as to what it will do for him first. The selection of Hebron by Olmert was not capricious. He choose what he considered a a "weakened Jewish city" to make his first entry into combat, by posing as a decisive, military minded PM. Olmert never served as a soldier in the IDF but as a PR staff person. As they say in America, he had to "make his bones" to prove he could be a Commander-in-Chief of the embattled Jewish State. Hebron has been weakened by giving control of 80% to the Palestinian Authority. And, the political Leftists do NOT value this Holy Jewish city because they are trying to rid themselves of their 'Jewishness'. They are following David Ben Gurion's pattern to de-Judaize the Jewish State. That Olmert sent (as reported) 500-1000 hardened combat troops and Yassam, special forces riot police against teen-age girls and boys throwing eggs, confirmed the fact that Olmert is not only weak but also a fool. By attacking the Jews of Hebron, Olmert wanted to establish his credentials beyond his advisory role (out of sight) to Sharon on forcing the Jews out of Gush Katif/Gaza. Olmert needed what in business is called 'borrowed equity' -- namely, attaching your own name to something already popular and thereby borrowing popularity as if it were your own. No judicial order has ever been handed down forcing an expulsion of Jews from their homes in Hebron. As reported by David Wilder of Hebron, "Most people don't realize this, but the fact is that the initiative to throw out families [from their homes] came from Attorney General Menachem Mazuz and the government, and NOT from the Supreme Court. How can people be thrown out without an opportunity to have their day in court?" asked Wilder. (1) Ariel Sharon's attack against the 10,000 Jews of Gush Katif/Gaza and Northern Samaria settlements was immensely popular with the secularists of the Left who viscerally hated settlers and observant Jews, blaming them for Muslim Arab Palestinian Terror. They never let facts get in their way in their desperate need to blame someone, anyone for the unremitting Terror attacks by the Muslim Arab Palestinians. Did they notice that the suicide bombing of January 19th at the old Tel Aviv Bus Station was in Tel Aviv? Olmert had to be more than a shadow advisor and a trial balloonist to Sharon. He craved his own piece of Sharon's popularity as a person who was now wholly known as a Leftist committed to the Oslo/Gush Katif abandonment doctrine. He wanted voters from the entire Left of center to swing in behind him. He then proceeded to use what Carl Jung, the famous psychiatrist, described as "blaming the victim for what you, the aggressor, plan to do to them, thereby justifying your attacks". So with malice aforethought, acting PM Ehud Olmert sent a large number (500-1000) Yassamnikim (special forces Police) to force evacuation and initiate provocations for the Media to spread the canard that Jews are violent, illegal, etc. The attack against the observant Jews who choose to live in Hebron near the burial Cave of the Patriarchs (Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah) was a crass but clever move, worthy of a twisty politician. Like Sharon, Olmert employed the special attack squads called "Yassam" to create a front page conflict. The original mandate for the Yassam goon squad, was started under Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres. They were specially profiled men and women who, under normal circumstances, would be considered undesirable for law enforcement positions, given certain pathological flaws. Their profiles included personalities which gravitate toward positions of authority, often as compensation for their own feelings of inadequacy. In normal, non-dictatorial nations such aberrant personalities are weeded out before they are able to attack the public. Even in America, some slip through and sometimes they are caught on video surveillance cameras, savagely beating a victim. But, when they are deliberately selected for their lack of pity or a streak of cruelty, one ends up with a police or army squad of aberrant personalities, anxiously awaiting an opportunity to be turned loose -- even on their own people. Keep in mind that it takes leaders who share this pathologically cruel streak to plan and develop a corps of savage police. The Rabin-Peres corps of Yassam eventually morphed into the Sharon Yassam and are now the Olmert Yassam. These squads of sick, twisted personalities are rapidly poisoning the Israeli Police Force and Army who see the Yassam forces beating the protesting civilians on orders from the PM and protected by the Leftist Courts. Attacking the observant Jews of Hebron to remove them from proximity to the Tomb of the Patriarchs (Ma'arat HaMachpelah) is consistent with a doctrine of the Left since the time of David Ben Gurion. The objective was to remove every holy site around which observant Jews rallied, thus giving them cohesive political strength. We saw Moshe Dayan, with Ben Gurion's approval immediately giving up the keys to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem to the Arab Muslim Waqf after its re-capture in June 1967. Joseph's Tomb was similarly abandoned, even leaving one wounded Israeli soldier there to bleed to death rather than sending in troops to re-capture the Tomb in Schechem (Nablus). The Muslim Arab Palestinians desecrated and burned down the Jewish holy tomb immediately. Rachel's Tomb is certainly at risk for the same reasons. We observed then PM Binyamin Netanyahu foolishly give up 80% of Hebron and control over significant parts of the Tomb of the Patriarchs both to please Washington and to continue with the Israeli Leftists' policy of abandoning Jewish holy sites, lest the observant Jews hold a rallying point of inspiration. Observant Jews were not to be allowed to gather under the flag of their Jewishness and thereby to become more of a political power than they already are. Olmert's attack plan against Hebron on this week of January 15th was a continuation of Sharon's doctrine to de-Judaize the nation and gain politically from the Left's approval. Olmert/Kadima needs to consolidate a voters' base by drawing from the Left, although they are calling themselves a 'centrist' party. Divesting Israel of territory, uses the misleading word: "Disengagement" which, as demonstrated in the Gush Katif/Gaza fiasco, actually brings the enemy closer to Israel's main population centers. (Note! Please see the article entitled "Why are the Words: "Separation" & "Disengagement" Misnomers'" dated January 17, 2006). The attack by Olmert using Yassam against the Jews of Hebron, even with the attendant orders to use live ammunition and tear gas against Jewish children and women, is Olmert at this ugliest. We always expected the dictators of the Muslim Arab nations to use secret police and cruel troops to keep their own people under control via fear of beatings, imprisonment and worse. We always expected the courts of the Arab Muslim Palestinians to reflect their government's dictatorial policies of suppression. Olmert, using his temporary position as PM has ordered Chief of Staff Gen. Dan Halutz through Defense Minister (Gen. Ret.) Shaul Mofaz to draw up plans to attack and evacuate what he calls "unauthorized outposts" in Judea and Samaria (West Bank). Gen. Halutz, like other Generals of the Left (Rabin, Barak, Mitzna, et al) stated that the State was "paying the price for her former indulgence and tolerance of the settlers and settlements established by prior (all prior) governments both Left and Right."(2) Halutz should be summarily fired for exposing his personal bias against the settlers, the settlements and the political Right. Such a politically biased General cannot serve the nation IF he hates part of the people. ORDERS TO SHOOT JEWS I am certain that the American Congress and all religious communities will be appalled that PM Olmert has unleashed the Israeli Police and Army to use live fire and tear gas (as reported) on Jewish youngsters defying his orders to start the purge of Jews from their homes on Jewish owned land in Hebron. As mentioned earlier, one can only be reminded of Moshe Dayan who anxiously gave away the Holy of Holies when the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) liberated the Temple of Solomon ruins in Jerusalem in June 1967. Besides load their weapons with live ammunition capable of shooting Jews, will PM Olmert and DM Shaul Mofaz take bulldozers to demolish the Cave of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs, the Ma'arat HaMachpelah so as to totally remove the lure of another holy place which might serve as a rallying point for all Jews who believe in the word of G-d? We are just beginning to see the ugliness of Ehud Olmert and the 'Kadima' Party that President Bush is so anxious to fund and support. Is this then the continuation of the Bush mission to incrementally slice up parts of Israel -- with the eager assistance of the Left who wish to de-Judaize Israel? Slowly, first at the behest of Sharon, the Army and Police -- once the pride of the Jewish people -- have been turned into street thugs and Jew haters. And the Media is helping. They cast the Jews who have been living peacefully in Hebron as 'illegal', the teenagers as 'violent' for coming to defend their own brethren when Olmert ordered the Police and Army to evacuate the Jews from their homes. The Arabs are stoning the Jews but, the media calls the Jews violent. Then the Police and Army attack and beat the men and women, girls and boys. The riots in Hebron are the result of provocation and use of unreasonable force by the soldiers and police officers. But, the Leftist media and Knesset members call the peaceful Jewish settlers in Hebron "hooligans". The male soldiers and police are man-handling the girls which is forbidden by Jewish law...but, these police and soldiers are being taught NOT to believe in and NOT to follow Jewish law. Is this then the legacy of Ariel Sharon -- to be carried forward by Ehud Olmert -- urged on by Bush and Rice? The world has always long remembered Stalin's KGB, Hitler's Gestapo, Iran's Islamo-fascist secret police, the East German Stasi......etc. Who would have ever thought that the Jewish State would recruit the lowest level of people to perform their jobs as Police and Army like the lowest of street thugs and promised shooters of Jews? If you are a Jew or a Christian please contact your Congressmen and the President. Protest that this administration is benignly accepting, if not provoking a wildness on the part of the Israeli authorities so their re-partition can pick up speed. Ask as many people as possible to call today on behalf of whatever media they read and see. Ask for Police Foreign Press Spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld 05-062-7580; FAX: 02-530-9666 and reach Justice Minister Advisor: Shai Ben-Maor (Advisor) FAX: 02-628-5438; Beeper:03-610-666 #21205; Cell:050-624-7138. Demand a comment on the statement from the Shai (Shomron and Yehudah) Division of Police which says they stand ready to "take the Jews out of Hevron" (as quoted on Ynet and on Israel National News). Ask tough questions -- Don't give opinions. Follow up by e-mail and FAX. Call back for a response. The Government of Israel respects and fears one thing: the Media. Send us any and all the responses to gwinston@interaccess.com and to David Bedein at media@actcom.co.il who is organizing a "Rapid Media Response Team". Acting PM Ehud Olmert can stop on a dime IF he received one call from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to cease and desist uprooting, evicting, evacuating and destroying the homes and lives of Jewish men, women and children. We did NOT think that a people, loosely called Jewish, would rise up in Israel to reflect a similar Muslim dictatorship who viscerally hated the observant Jewish people. They have indeed grasped power and now have their hands on the throat of the State. Note! Please see a follow-on article entitled: "The Rolling coup d'etat of Israel" (see above). ### 1. "Hevron: Expulsion Pushed Off, Arrests Continue" by Hillel Fendel & "Acting PM Olmert: War Against Unauthorized Jewish Communities" by Ezra HaLevi Arutz7 www.IsraelNationalNews Jan.19, 2006 2. "Interim PM Ehud Olmert orders Defense Minister Mofaz to draw up a detailed plan for the evacuation of unauthorized West Bank outposts" DEBKAfile Jan. 18, 2006 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). To Go To Top

ABBAS GROUP RESPONSIBLE FOR TEL AVIV BOMBING Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, January 19, 2006.

This was written by Aaron Klein of World Net Daily's Jerusalem Bureau. It is archived at www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=48415 TEL AVIV -- The suicide bombing that wounded at least 22 here in Tel Aviv today was coordinated by the military wing of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, despite a claim of responsibility by another group, WorldNetDaily has learned. The Abbas-linked group warned more bombings will be carried out in Israel within the next 60 days ahead of the country's March 28 elections. Suicide bomber Sami Antar, 20, a resident of the Balata refugee camp in Nablus, blew himself up in a small restaurant in the southern section of the city near the main Tel Aviv bus station. Most of the injured were diners eating outdoors at the shop's sidewalk seating area. Rescue workers collect body parts at site of suicide bombing in Tel Aviv today (Photo: WND) Security officials on the scene told WND the bomber exploded his suicide belt in the bathroom and may have been preparing the device for an attack at another location when it detonated prematurely. The street outside the restaurant at the time of the explosion was crowded with shoppers and commuters. The front end of the shop was completely blown out. Neighboring stores were left largely intact. Body parts, believed to be from the suicide bomber, were being collected along with debris by rescue workers at the scene. The wounded were evacuated to area hospitals. Two injured reportedly are in critical condition. Islamic Jihad took responsibility for the blast. Jihad spokesman Khaled Al-Batch, speaking on his cell phone from the Gaza Strip, told WND "this attack was revenge for Israeli aggression against our people and for recent operations in Jenin. The Israeli enemy now sees we are easily able to infiltrate their cities and kill their people." Islamic Jihad has claimed responsibility for each of the six suicide bombings in Israel since a truce was signed between Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon last February. Today's attack was the first suicide attack in Tel Aviv since the bombing of a seafront nightclub carried out in February, two weeks after the truce was signed. Chief PA negotiator Saeb Erekat told WND he condemns today's blast, calling it an act of "sabotage" against Palestinian legislative elections scheduled for next week. "This bombing was carried out by the enemies of peace to sabotage the elections and the attempt to return the region back to the peace process," said Erekat. But senior terror leaders from the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the declared military wing of Abbas' Fatah party, told WND they largely were responsible for coordinating the attack. Abu Jihad, the Al Asqa chief for the northern West Bank told WND in an exclusive interview to be released in full tomorrow, "We were behind this attack. We coordinate often with Islamic Jihad. In today's case, Al Aqsa supplied the bomber with a martyrdom belt and we backed it in many other ways I can't speak of." Al Aqsa is the most active Palestinian terror group in the Balata camp. "Islamic Jihad is not very active like we are [in Balata]," Abu Jihad said. Other senior members of the Al Aqsa cell stating they were involved in today's attack previously told WND during in-person interviews they regularly receive funding from the Syrian and Iran-backed Hezbollah militia. The Al Aqsa leaders, some speaking on condition their names be withheld, warned their group, along with Islamic Jihad, will attempt more suicide bombings in the next few weeks ahead of Israeli elections. Islamic Jihad's Al-Batch did not deny Abbas' group was involved in today's bombing. "Yes, we do work with other groups. Whichever resistance organization the attacker came from doesn't matter. It only matters that the Palestinian resistance was able to carry out a successful operation today in Tel Aviv," Al-Batch told WND. Any Al Aqsa involvement in Thursday's attack would be a significant embarrassment for Abbas, who is facing elections next week and has pledged to fight terrorism and disarm the various Palestinian terror groups. Al Aqsa leaders previously have admitted they were involved in attacks claimed by other groups. Abu Carmel, a West Bank Al Aqsa leader, told WND last month: "We coordinate and collaborate [with Islamic Jihad] very often. It is true that we have excellent relations with our brothers in the Islamic Jihad. We felicitate our brothers in their heroic attacks, and we promise not to leave them alone in the campaign that Israel is leading against them." 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

CAL THOMAS NEEDS YOUR HELP. FREE SPEECH NEEDS YOUR HELP Posted by David Meir-Levi, January 19, 2006.

Remember al-walid bin-tallal and his now legendary phone call to Rupert Murdoch? (if you don't, just email me and i'll refresh your memory). Now we have CAIR trying to intimidate a major newspaper and a major news commentator. CAIR has routinely pressured radio and tv stations about news relating to Islam, Arab terrorism, and Israesl. CAIR was successful getting Michael Graham fired (if you don't know about this stuff, email me). Now they are working on Cal Thomas. And Norm Finkelstein still believes that old anti-semitic canard that the Jews run the media! Cal Thomas alerts us to the danger of the infiltratrion of Moslem jihadists into our western society, and notes the NAZI characteristics of Terrorist Islam. Help Cal Thomas. Stop CAIR. Take action as suggested below. These are two articles. The first was written by Binyamin L. Jolkovsky, Editor-in-Chief of the Jewish World Review (jwr_editor_in_chief@jewishworldreview.com). The second is by Cal Thomas and was published in www.JewishWorldReview.com. 1. Binyamin L. Jolkovsky, "Cair On The Attack -- Again!" A source close to the Sun-Sentinel in Florida has informed us that a "controversial" Islamic group -- The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) -- is trying to get one of the most pro-Israel columnists writing today, Cal Thomas, booted from the paper's editorial page. At the very least -- and I'm NOT making this up! -- they want Cal moved to the religion page, we're told. In other words, A BELIEVING CHRISTIAN WHO TAKES STRONG MORAL STANDS doesn't deserve to have a loud voice in South Florida's fastest-growing major daily newspaper. KINGSLEY GUY is the editorial page editor. A phone call -- which given today's rates should be only a few cents -- will likely have a stronger impact. He can be reached at (954) 356-4616 We also have an e-mail form at: http://jewishworldreview.com/0106/thomas011706.php3 In either case, PLEASE BE POLITE! Rudeness accomplishes NOTHING! PS: PLEASE post and forward this note to as many folks as you can! 2. Cal Thomas, "Infiltration by the book. Beginning with the Revolutionary War when British agents and sympathizers attempted to derail independence, there have been people who have tried to infiltrate the United States for the purpose of undermining and destroying it. In modern times, communism and fascism have sent agents among us, but we discovered their plans and defeated them here and abroad. Now comes what may be the greatest threat: radical Islam, whose "agents" may have established a base more solid and more dangerous than anything we've encountered before. The good news is they speak openly of their intentions. The bad news is that many of us are not taking them seriously. Last week at the beginning of the London trial of radical imam Abu Hamza al-Masri, evidence was presented detailing how he encouraged his followers at the Finsbury Park mosque to kill non-Muslims. In lectures, recordings and writings, the imam said Adolf Hitler had been sent into the world to punish the Jews. Repeatedly, said the prosecutor, Abu Hamza told his followers they must fight for Allah and such fighting involves a religious mandate to murder Jews, kuffars (nonbelievers in Islam) and "apostates," such as leaders of Arab nations like Egypt. Abu Hamza has pleaded innocent to all 15 charges, including nine counts of solicitation of murder, four counts of using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behavior intended to incite racial hatred and two counts related to the possession of offensive sound recordings and possession of a copy of the Encyclopedia of the Afghani Jihad. The talks and written materials are not only about war. Abu Hamza also delivers diatribes about Britain's licensing laws, the use of additives in food, adultery, the role of women and the "evils" of democracy. Abu Hamza repeatedly defines "jihad" as an avenue for establishing a caliphate, or Islamic state, which would be governed by the most radical interpretation of Sharian religious law. Prosecutors introduced as evidence a 10-volume "blueprint for terrorism" they say was discovered in Abu Hamza's house. Among the targets for "causing disturbance but not loss of life" are Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty. Chapter headings include "The need to study the principles of war," and "The duty of assassination and kidnap." Other subheadings offer advice on reconnaissance, infiltration, ambush and how to manufacture explosive devices, open locks and train assassins. One section details plans to hit buildings with large populations, including museums, ports and archaeological sites and to attack VIPs. David Perry, prosecuting counsel, told the court, "This is a manual, a blueprint for terrorism." Perry said the document's "execution section" recommends that Islamic agents be sent to any country intended as a target at least 10 years before jihad begins. This was the profile of terrorists depicted in last season's "24" series on Fox. In this fictional story, terrorist cells were established in a middle-class American neighborhood where they remained dormant and appeared peaceful until a signal was given to conduct mayhem. On one tape, Abu Hamza discusses the killing of tourists in Egypt in November 1997, describing them as satanic. He says the tourist industry should be "Islamicised" and added that while children should not be deliberately killed, their killing is permitted if they are in the target area. Suicide bombings are "martyrdom," he says. They are permitted "if the only way to hurt the enemies of Islam is by taking your own life." Among the many problems with this twisted religiosity is that the West does not know how many share it. Instead, political leaders repeat the bromide that Islam is a "peaceful religion" and radicals are trying to hijack it. Are we being infiltrated by people who, on the outside, pretend to be peaceful and tolerant, but inside wish to undermine and overthrow our government? One clue may be found on a Canadian Muslim Web page (http://muslim- canada.org/muslimstats.html). In a discussion on Muslim population statistics, which includes a chart projecting that the world Muslim population will outgrow the Christian population by 2025, it is noted that Islam is growing nearly 3 percent per year, faster than the total growth in world population. While the ratio of older to younger people is weighted to the older in the West, the reverse is true among Muslims. In what some might consider an ominous conclusion, the Canadian-Islamic Web page states, "An aging population tends to be introspective and sluggish, whereas a young population is more likely to be vibrant and energetic. This may or may not bode well for many countries and that will depend on whether their political structure is fragile or not." We have been warned. 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

SHOULD PAT ROBERTSON HAVE APOLOGIZED? Posted by Ruth Matar, January 19, 2006.

Dear Friends, I was devastated when Pat Robertson apologized to the Israeli Government and the Sharon family for quoting the Bible, Joel 3:2. Robertson suggested on his television show "The 700 Club" that Ariel Sharon's stroke was due to going against the word of G-d when he pulled the Jews out of the Land of Israel, to wit: from Gaza. I do, however, realize the enormous pressure put upon Pat Robertson. The whole news media world, both conservative and liberal, went completely nuts. Even the White House, got into the act. The presidential spokesman for President Bush, Trent Duffy said: "Those comments are wholly inappropriate and offensive, and really don't have a place in this or any other debate." Basically, President Bush was stating through his spokesman that the Bible should not be considered when discussing Gaza, or any other issue. CNN went as far as having a poll over Robertson's statement. Before asking their viewers to vote concerning Robertson's comments, CNN Show Biz Tonight ran video clips of the reactions of prominent people who disagreed with Robertson, including the President. Then the anchor of Show Biz Tonight, A.J. Hammer, said of Robertson, "Shame on him!" The CNN Poll was as follows: Pat Robertson: Should he apologize for saying G-d is punishing Ariel Sharon? YES -- 88% -- 6242 votes NO -- 12% -- 877 votes Total: 7119 votes According to the CNN Poll, at least 88% of the people surveyed took time out to deny that G-d was punishing Ariel Sharon. On the contrary, I do believe that many people think the expulsion of the Jews from Gaza is a direct violation of the Bible. My gut reaction to the CNN Poll was that it was not at all representative of public opinion, and I therefore decided to do my own polling. Unfortunately, I don't have worldwide Television Stations and all the other financial resources of CNN, but I do, I believe, have an intelligent group of readers of my weekly Letter from Jerusalem. My questions in the Opinion Poll, as set forth in last week's Letter from Jerusalem (January 12, 2006) "Does the Bible Have Relevance In Our Day?" were as follows: 1. Is Pat Robertson justified in quoting Joel 3:2, in connection with Sharon dividing G-d's Land? 2. Is Pat Robertson's behavior outrageous and inappropriate? 3. Should the Bible be part of political discussions? 4. Is the Bible relevant to political discussions? 5. Other? The number of e-mail replies was gratifyingly overwhelming. The responses are still coming in. I spent all day yesterday tabulating them. As many of my correspondents combined questions 1 and 4, I did the same in my tabulation. Also, many of my correspondents combined 2 and 3. I likewise combined these answers. After many hours of reading your letters (I very much appreciate that many of you wrote long analytical answers) I am able to give you the following results: 341 replies supported Robertson and the relevance of the Bible, though some of these correspondents apologized for expressing their true feelings as long as Sharon was lying comatose. 16 replies were anti-Robertson, (some virulently so!) Often these letters stated that the Bible is not relevant for political discussions in these modern times. Quite a few of my readers asked me how I personally feel about the Robertson controversy. They asked if I find it in my heart to pray for Sharon. I answered, in all honesty, that I could not! I pray for the innocent Jews who were forcibly dragged out of their homes, who lost everything, their farms, their businesses and their way of making a living for their families. I pray that G-d console the families of those who died of heart attacks after the violent expulsion. I pray for the families in Hebron, and Judea and Samaria, who unfortunately may face the same fate as the Gush Katif people. Ehud Olmert, the heir apparent of Sharon, plans to continue the former prime minister's policies. Olmert wishes to make the Holy City of Hebron and the rest of Judea and Samaria, judenrein, all for a non-existent "peace"! I pray that G-d finds us worthy of His performing still another miracle -- saving the Land of Israel and the Jewish People. Finally, I don't think that Pat Robertson should have apologized. So many people wrote me of their admiration for Pat Robertson, who was unafraid to "say it like it is", even in this age of political correctness. The depth and breadth of the abuse that Robertson has received for having quoted Scripture, and for condemning that which the Bible condemns, goes to show how far and wide contempt for G-d's Word is prevalent in today's world. With Blessings and Love for Israel, Ruth Matar P.S. Please pass this article on to Pat Robertson, President Bush, your Senator and your Congressman. 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

GAZA BORDER UNGUARDED; THOMAS FRIEDMAN'S CHARACTER Posted by Richard H. Shulman, January 19, 2006.

WHAT MONITORING AT GAZA BORDER? The P.A. has let dozens of wanted terrorists through. European monitors may ask the P.A. to bar certain individuals, but may not delay their entry for more than six hours. Then the P.A. has the power to admit them. Israel may ask the P.A. to bar certain individuals (with the same futility), but has not. However, the P.A. delays transmission of the videos of entrants. By the time Israel gets the videos, the terrorists have come in (IMRA, 1/1/06). Monitoring without guarding. What a farce the border arrangement is! It was negotiated by the much lauded, "Mr. Security," Sharon, and the much respected Sec. of State Rice. Why lauded and why respected cannot be explained rationally by the results of their policies. Why did Sharon agree to the farce? Because he is a puppet of the US. Israelis are getting killed by the arms that farce enabled terrorists to smuggle in. SEC. RICE'S FAILED VISION Now that Sharon is in the hospital, Sec. Rice called his successor to assert, "the US supports the two-state vision of two states living side-by-side in peace and security." (NY Sun, 1/11, p.4.) Why? The Arabs aren't entitled to it -- Israel is entitled to the territory. The Arabs don't deserve it -- they are aggressors. The US doesn't gain from it -- these Arabs hate the US. There can't be security for Israel -- Arabs get the strategic highlands and depth Israel needs for secure borders. The vision of peace by giving statehood to genocidal fanatics, whose Covenants pledge that they would use any territory they get from Israel, to make war for conquering Israel, is ludicrous. This "vision," which Pres. Bush share, is ludicrous not so much because it is naïve, which it is, but because it is pro-Arab while the US is at war with Arabs of the same ideology as the ones in the P.A. The US should favor Israel retaining those provinces of its homeland, and getting the Arabs out of them. Then there would be more security for Israel, less of a chance for war, and a victory against jihad. BASIS FOR KADIMA PARTY POPULARITY Polls show that most Israelis preferred Sharon as Prime Minister to his rivals, but overwhelmingly oppose his policy of unilateral withdrawal. Dr. Aaron Lerner reconciles that seeming self-contradiction. His explanation: they anticipate that Sharon could handle an emergency better than the others (IMRA, 1/5). Sharon fans among US journalists described the popular support for Sharon as support for his withdrawal policies. If Dr. Lerner is right, the journalists were dissembling. EUROPEAN DONORS FREEZE AID TO P.A. The P.A. did not make the economic reforms that the EU demanded as a condition for aid. Chief reform was to rein in the P.A. budget. The P.A. keeps hiring people for an already bloated bureaucracy. The aid is wasted. The EU has frozen it (IMRA, 1/5). P.A. gunmen besiege P.A. offices, demanding that they be hired. That wastes aid. Why doesn?t the EU withhold economic aid until the P.A. ends its aggression against Israel and its incitement against Christians and the West? Imagine if the P.A. utilized the aid to build an income-producing economy that could finance more terrorism perhaps extended to Europe! THOMAS FRIEDMAN?S CHARACTER Mr. Friedman wrote an Op-Ed piece, ?Wanted: An Arab Sharon.? He seeks an Arab leader who would reverse Arab bellicosity, the way Sharon reversed his own policies towards the Arabs. Fair enough. The title turned out to be as a hook for denigrating Sharon?s earlier phase, with epithets such as ?brutal? and ?hard line? and for denouncing his policies, such as making war in Lebanon (in defense against terrorist attacks that Friedman does not mention). There was little about the search for an Arab Sharon and why it was needed (NY Times, 1/11). Many Friedman articles are excuses for diatribes against Israeli assertion of national security rights against Arab aggression, which aggression he hardly acknowledges. For all his cleverness and being forward-looking, he does not appear to understand the nature of the Arab-Israel conflict. He depicts it as a matter of Israeli withdrawal, but it is jihad. Friedman was an anti-Zionist campus radical. He still is virulently anti-Zionist. EVALUATING THE WITHDRAWAL, BASED ON EXPERIENCE "The abandoned Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip are the closest points from which the PLO can fire rockets at Negev towns. The Israeli heavy artillery has been moved to prevent the PLO and its HAMAS affiliates from entering those abandoned settlements in order to set up and fire rockets at the Negev. If Israel's whole purpose is to make it hard for the PLO and Hamas to move into the areas of the abandoned Gaza Jewish settlements to shoot rockets, then WHY THE HELL DID ISRAEL EXPEL THE JEWISH SETTLERS IN THE FIRST PLACE?" (Prof. Steven Plaut, 1/5). Yes, the stated purpose was a lie. The real purpose was anti-Zionist and an illusion of land-for-peace. SAUDIS PLAN MILITARY INDUSTRY They want to be independent of foreign suppliers (IMRA, 1/4/06). The US is losing its biggest income producing industries. THE RULES OF SHARON'S PARTY: Under His Thumb The Rules of the Kadima Party leave it up to the Party head, i.e., Ariel Sharon, to nominate all the candidates for Knesset. The Executive Committee may meet only if the Party head, i.e., Sharon, is present (IMRA, 1/6). Did he tie it up? OUTPOURING OF GRIEF BY JOURNALISTS Journalists write of an outpouring of grief for Sharon and prayers for his full recovery. They say that dozens of people are praying for him at the Western Wall. Dozens are not hundreds or thousands. The photographs show few people grieving. It is a non-event (Barry Chamish, 1/11). Must politicians spin everything? Richard Shulman is a veteran defender of Israel on several web-based forums. His comments and analyses appear often on Think-Israel. He provides cool information and right-on-target overviews. He distributes his essays by email. To subscribe, write him at richardshulman5@aol.com. To Go To Top

A THANK YOU FROM GUSH KATIF EXPELLEES Posted by Sara Shomron, January 19, 2006.

There was a knock on the door a few minutes ago. Yoram -- from Efrat introduced himself as the representative of an anonymous donor from the U.S. The donor, in memory of Golda bat Rachel and Nachum, generously wanted to financially help the expellees from Gush Katif who have lost their communities, homes, and in many cases employment. How does one explain such tzedaka? The vacuum left by the Israeli government's cruel expulsion has been, at least partially, filled by tremendous thoughtfulness of private individuals and organizations. This is one positive aspect to the "Disengagement Plan" and the complete story has yet to be told. Here in Nitzan, religious and non-religious volunteers from L'maan Achinu and Lev Echad have cleaned "caravillas" for newcomers, created activities for children and youth and organized seminars on finding employment. Rav Yehoshua -- and his wife, from the Golan, helped set up religious services before synagogues existed in Nitzan. Youth from Ulpanas and Yeshivas continue to help with babysitting, washing floors, and tutoring. The One Israel Fund which is supported by thousands of anonymous donors gave scholarships for continuing education for university students from Gush Katif. Then there's Anna -- from Short Hills, NJ who is raising money as a Bat Mitzva project towards supplying the Nitzan community center with needed equipment. This is but a small fraction of precious individuals and organizations helping victims of the government's expulsion from Gush Katif and the Northern Shomron. These efforts are a true Kiddush HaShem. Perhaps the "Disengagement Plan" was part of a test or trial from Hakodesh Baruch Hu -- not so much how the evil decree was fought but rather how Am Yisrael responded after the fact. Am Yisrael Chai! By Yossi and Sara Layah Shomron Nitzan Caravilla site To Go To Top

TZIPPY Posted by Nadia Matar, January 19, 2006.

A short time ago -- around 2:15 p.m. -- Hebron policemen came to Tzippi Shlissel, resident of Mitzpe Shalhevet in Hevron, daughther of Rabbi Ra'anan HY"D, who was murdered by an Arab terrorist. The policemen asked to see Tzippi's I.D. Tzippi said she did not have her I.D. on her. The policemen beat her up brutally, arrested her and took her to the Hebron police station -- without permitting her to take along her two month old nursing baby. Luckily a neighbor was witness to the brutal police attack and took care of the baby. Tzippy Shlissel went to court on Wednesday, January 18, in Bet Shemesh, to ask the court not to kick her out of her home -- it seems that the authorities felt she needed to be punished for thinking she can bother the courts. This Bolshevik persecution of Jews is UNACCEPTABLE. Every day the situation gets worse. We MUST protest: Please call and demand they IMMEDIATELY RELEASE TZIPPY SHLISSEL You can speak in English. Keep this list of phone numbers -- no doubt we will need them again. The following numbers are a good start. Remember: They plan on doing to us what they do to the Hebron residents -- if they do not see that we get upset, they will feel free to continue their abuse and persecution. Phone calls from friends of Israel abroad will be very influential too -- to call from abroad dial 972 and then the number below without the zero please spread this message to other lists Hebron Police : Telephone: 02-996-9444 02-996-9473/86/96/62 Chaya Peri -- Olmert's spokeswoman : Telephone: 02-666-2301 Fax: 02-666-4400 Cell Phone: 050-623-0333 Beeper: 03-6106666 #24404 Ministry of internal police : Telephone: 02-530-8500 02-530-9980 Fax: 02-530-8039 Mafkal Aharonishky : Telephone: 02-530-8100 Fax: 02-530-8118 Shabbat Shalom from Liberated 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

CIVIL WAR AS A PR STUNT Posted by Aryeh Zelasko, January 19, 2006.

Olmert (pronounced all-merde) has never been known as the sharpest tool in the political shed. So it is not at all beyond the realm of possibility that he actually believes that fermenting a civil war that will inevitably lead to counter attacks on Government forces and institutions is a perfectly legitimate gimmick. Historically, cretins like Olmert (pronounced all-merde) are what usually follow the unplanned demise of dictators. Dictators maintain power first and foremost by neutralizing anyone who has the capacity to challenge them. As a result they are always surrounded by third rate flunkeys. When the Great and Fearless Leader is suddenly removed from the picture, it is initially one of these flunkeys that takes over. Eventually another Great and Fearless Leader replaces the flunkey but that can take a bit of time especially when you have to go through the charade of elections. This article is called "Right-wing politicians slam acting prime minister over plans to remove all West Bank outposts" and was written by Efrat Weiss, and appeared in YNET, 18 January 2006," www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3202522,00.html It can be obtained from IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis) (email: imra@netvision.net.il, mail: POB 982 Kfar Sava). It is archived at http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=28211 Note that text in [] is an IMRA gloss. [IMRA: Some wonder if Mr. Olmert's media advisors have suggested that he make up the gap in his stature regarding security matters by showing that he is strong against settlers. Ater all, he can thump on the desk as the cameras roll and demand action against settlers and be confident that Israeli security forces can "deliver the [photographable] goods" -- something he cannot do with regard to stopping Palestinian rockets. He can even be photographed studying maps of outposts being uprooted with IDF officers. The move against settlers also serves to reassure retreat supporters that he won't have any problems uprooting settlements in the next round of retreats after the elections.] "Rightists: Olmert stirring up civil war" [If you can't fight Kassams, fight Jews.] Right-wing politicians on Wednesday questioned acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's drive to evict Jewish settlers from a Hebron neighborhood, accusing the former Jerusalem mayor of political maneuvering ahead of the March 28 general elections. "Olmert is instigating a civil war. There is room for a legal compromise but the acting prime minister prefers to ignore it in order to be the Left's leader in the upcoming elections," MK Arieh Eldad of the National Union said. Olmert ordered the Israel Defense Forces and the Israel Police to prepare for the evacuation of an illegal Jewish enclave in Hebron's old market and the demolition of illegal homes in the West Bank outpost of Amona. Security forces were also given the green light to draft a plan for the evacuation of all illegal outposts set up by settlers in the West Bank. "We suggest Olmert learn about the complicated subject of outposts before he launches his attack and decides on a war," representatives of the Yesha Council said. Yehsa accused Olmert's advisors of conspiring against the settlers by giving the acting prime minister false facts about West Bank outposts. Right-wing activist Baruch Marzel said: "We need to evacuate Olmert from government. He is a provocateur and an inciter seeking to spill Jewish blood in Hebron. The public will do a good job should it decide to overthrow him as soon as possible." Notional Union MK Zvi Hendel said Olmert is being handled by media advisors like a puppet and has been recently manipulated to show firmness. 'Preparing for tough struggle' The High Court of Justice ruled Wednesday that orders to demolish the Amona homes will go into effect in a week. Two months ago Peace Now successfully petitioned the High Court to have Amona settlers evacuated. The settlers plan to appeal the ruling in the coming week before the IDF goes ahead with the demolitions. As the settlers brace for a confrontation, the government seems determined to go ahead with the evacuations. "This reality of breaching the law and defying the State might permeate the Green Line and hit Israel proper," Olmert warned, adding that public employees who took part in violence against security forces ought to be punished. 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