THINK-ISRAEL BLOG-EDSOpinions And Editorials By Our Readers |
PRESIDENT PERES, YOU ARE FIREDPosted by Nurit Greenger, January 01, 2013 |
When you do a bad job you deserve to let go and thus President Shimon Peres I fire you. In Israel the president does not get involved in politics, but President Shimon Peres does get involved and his politics are destructive. Peres is destroying Israel with his former USA president Jimmy Carter style lies. Had he been honest, instead of the corrupt, deceptive and egotistic he is, he would have been, first and foremost, apologizing for concocting the Oslo Accords, mind you, behind the nations' back, that has caused his nation so many "victims of peace" deaths. Then he would be saying that now he knows what a tragedy the Oslo Accord has been and is, because he now understands the Palestinian Authority represents an Islamic jihad ideology agenda according to which it has been operating all along. And finally, he would be calling the entire Osloid-2-state idea off, saying: there will be no Palestinian state on our land and thus I call for this mistaken idea to be immediately removed from Israel's political agenda. Many times I wonder if Mr. Peres knows the truth and he is saying what he I saying because he is a self hating Jew; or, if he knows the truth he is saying what he is saying because he knows he was instrumental in making one of the worst mistakes in Israel's short history and does not want to be caught and have fingers pointing at him from all directions. I really do not know what motivates someone of Peres position to be so destructive to his homeland, which means destructive to the Jewish people over whom he presides. I kind of understand the hard core, Jewish Left hate-Israel ideology, because their ideology is based on hating themselves as Jews which they willingly adopt. But Peres is one of the state of Israel founders and so I don't get his constant nonsensical babbling that is opposed to Israel's interests. Nevertheless, it does not matter what I do not get; it matters what I do get, that Peres is destructive to Israel, in a way worse than Jimmy Carter and not too far behind Barack Obama. A truth teller president must replace Peres and the sooner the better. The president of a country should be telling the truth, not Leftist fables. Had Israel have a fine tuned, true telling, President, some of the pressure constantly put on Prime Minister Netanyahu by international forces would be lifted. Today, Diaspora Minister Yuli Edelstein said that Peres' comments hurt Israel's public diplomacy efforts; "We spit blood trying to counter the Palestinian propaganda, and Peres takes our efforts backwards," the minister grumbled. What President Peres keeps on saying is that the Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas-Abu Mazen is a partner to peace and that is right out lie. Surely Peres knows that the history of the Palestinian Authority's chairman Abu Mazen is ingrained in anti-Semitism and terror. He is a graduate of Moscow University where his Ph.D. thesis was: Holocaust Denial; he managed the logistics of the Munich Massacre in which eleven Israeli athletes were murdered in 1972 and same Abu Mazen is one of the engineers and supporters of contemporary Palestinian hate education, which has become a production line for terrorists with no end in sight. So the question to Peres is: is that what you call a peace partner? Edelstein was right when he told Arutz Sheva
It is rather shocking that Israelis have elected for president the architect of the disastrous Oslo Accords when the destructiveness of these agreements were already apparent. Honoring Peres with the president post was in fact an insult to every victim of terror and their families. It is becoming clearer by the day that Israelis have woken up from the Oslo Accords strike, by Peres et al, that kept them in a state of concussion for twenty years. The Oslo Genie lie is out of the bottle and even Peres cannot put her back in with his twisted words of deception. The Israelis are tired of these lies which they no longer prepare to buy. I think that Israelis are ready for a truth teller as a president, not one who minces words, a real honest to goodness truth teller. However, liberals do not apologize for their wrongs and since Peres is a liberal and the architect of the Oslo Accords, he will not admit his awful mistake. In Israel the president does not get involved in politics but it appears that Peres thinks he is above the law; time to show him he is not and send him home for an early retirement, in January 2013. Contact Nurit Greenger by email at nurit.nuritg@gmail.com. Visit her blog:
|
TO RABBI ROSOVE OF TEMPLE ISRAEL, HOLLYWOODPosted by Mendel Siegel, January 01, 2013 |
BACKGROUND: Rabbi John L. Rosove, the Senior Rabbi of Temple Israel of Hollywood wrote an article in Times of Israel defending his decision to subscribe to a letter by 400 US rabbis and cantors, claiming that by building in E1, Israel will cut off the north and south of the West Bank and effectively block the establishment of a contiguous Palestinian state. They see the building of E1 as a dagger aimed at the heart of a two-state solution. This article below is Maurice Ostroff's response to Rabbi Rosove. It is archived at http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/an-open-letter-to-rabbi-rosove-of-temple-israel-hollywood/ |
Dear Rabbi, I read with extreme sadness, your article in Times of Israel titled "An honorable tradition: rabbis dissent on E1 settlement plans for the sake of Israel" Sadness, because your subscribing to the letter by 400 American rabbis and cantors protesting E1 building plans contradicts the letter and spirit of your stated mission "to build Jewish community and draw Jews and their families closer to God, the Torah, Jewish tradition, the Jewish people, and the State of Israel as a Jewish national home". Since you state that you regard social justice and high ethical practices as essential core Jewish religious values I assume Sir, that the erroneous statements that you and your fellow letter writers publicized widely, were not made with intent to mislead but rather as a result of misinformation to which you have been exposed in the media. Your claim that building in E1 would cut off the north and south of the West Bank and effectively block the establishment of a contiguous Palestinian state is dangerously misleading. At a glance at a readily available Google map shows immediately that a wide area remains between the eastern border of Maale Adumin, the Dead Sea and Jericho comparable with Israels 15km waist between Tulkarm on the West Bank and Netanya. For more detailed information please refer to my letter to the NY Times. Your dramatic statement that you see the building of E1 as a dagger aimed at the heart of a two-state solution is therefore seen to be completely unjustified and irresponsibly harmful. On December 16, the NY Times published the following correction which should convince you of the fact that your public statements about E1 are false.
You say that you and your fellow signers believe you have a Jewish and moral obligation to speak out now because decisions such as this are endangering the basic principles on which Israel was established, but Sir, I trust you will agree that while you are entitled to your opinions you do not have the right to misrepresent facts. I agree with your belief in a two state solution with two states living side by side in peace like the USA and Canada. But as a Machalnik who served as a volunteer from abroad in the 1948 war of Independence, I am conscious of minimum security considerations as was our late revered Yitzhak Rabin. I remind you that contrary to the current call for returning to indefensible 1967 lines, President Obama in a video message to the November 8, 2009 Rabin Rally in Tel Aviv urged us to follow in the footsteps of Yitzchak Rabin. And this is what Rabin z'l said in his last speech to the Knesset a few weeks before the tragic assassination
As Rabin intended to retain Ma'aleh Adumim, it would be beyond reason to envisage that he intended to leave it disconnected from Jerusalem by leaving E1 vacant. In fact in October 1994 Rabin expanded Maale Adumim to include E1 and he provided the mayor of Maale Adumim Benny Kashriel with annexation documents. Your claim that any Jewish leader who criticizes the Israeli government is immediately targeted as a fifth columnist is an exaggeration. And here I paraphrase your quote from the Babylonian Talmud (Shabbat 54b) that all who can protest against something wrong and do not protest, are held accountable. When Rabbis, J Street and others publicly offer ill-considered and potentially dangerous advice to Israel based on misconceptions and distorted information, concerned citizens are duty bound to protest as I am doing now. Rabbi Rosove, I assume you are familiar with the social sciences law of unintended consequences. Let us assume that as a result of pressure by well meaning but misinformed Rabbis, the US government forces Israel to accept a Palestinian state with inadequate security considerations in regard to borders. I ask, in all sincerity, on what you base your confidence that Hamas will not soon assume control of the new state (as appears very likely) and launch missiles at aircraft landing at nearby Ben Gurion airport and that your well meant efforts will not result in more Israeli and Palestinian deaths as happened after evacuation of Gaza? You state that the lack of a two-state solution is a threat to Israels existence and I ask you to consider that a hastily designed solution without adequate security guarantees poses a much greater existential danger. In the circumstances I plead with you to please examine all relevant factors before publicizing opinions that affect us all and with respect I suggest you view this video clip and recommend it to your congregation. In the spirit of your stated mission "to build Jewish community and draw Jews and their families closer to God, the Torah, Jewish tradition, the Jewish people, and the State of Israel as a Jewish national home," I earnestly seek your support in ensuring the survival of Israel by protesting the current popular but uninformed call for returning to indefensible 1967 lines rather than to defensible borders as called for in resolution 242. I will be grateful if you will kindly distribute this letter to the other 399 signatories. Moreover, I trust you will accept that truth and recanting of erroneous statements are fundamental to the justice and ethics to which you subscribe and that in the same manner as the New York Times corrected their misstatements you will not only have the courage to publicly correct your erroneous statements in the light of the above information, but that you will also recommend that your fellow signatories do the same. Sincerely, Maurice Ostroff Contact Mendel Siegel at mendelofjerusalem2@yahoo.com |
RESPONSE TO ISI LEIBLER'S "HABAIT HAYEHUDI RELIGIOUS ZIONISM AT THE CROSSROADS"Posted by Israel Commentary, January 01, 2013 |
Dear Mr. Leibler, Your latest commentary on Habait Hayehudi and Naftali Bennett simply reflects the same kind of wishful thinking dealing with the Arabs, the United States and the rest of the world that you have exhibited many times before. There was never any chance of obtaining real peace with the Arabs or of satisfying the rest of the world who, in their heart of hearts, resent Israel's success. As to the United States, if you take away the State Department and the Obama administration — the rest of the country and the Congress are overwhelmingly on the side of Israel. If the whole discussion, starting with Israel's Six Day War, G-d given victory of 1967, had proceeded from a position of strength, understanding that the land obtained was supposed to have been Jewish in the first place, Israel would never be in this difficult position. The Shimon Peres of the world along with the Chaim Weitzmanns the Abba Ebans the Benjamin Netanyahus, the Ehud Baraks and you have never truly understood Jewish political and biblical rights to the entire land and delude themselves as to the motivation of the rest of the world. You grossly overrate yourselves as to the Jew's ability to somehow, with proper obeisance and cleverness, woo these people to our essential position. This is a concept I believe is naive nonsense and wishful thinking with no history of success in the last 3000 years. You and I have had this discussion before, You don't truly appreciate the crucial importance of Judea and Samaria to a strong enduring, growing, safe Israel and never will. The gargantuan self destructive failure of giving up Gaza and the retreat from the Lebanese Security Zone has somehow never penetrated your innate prejudice against the religious or your considerable brain, I am sorry to say. And, may Hashem help us. He is the only one upon whom we can rest any hope and faith. The Bible admonishes us very clearly, to never trust our leaders, and current events and your current article are obvious proof of this irrefutable truth. Happy New Year, Jerome S. Kaufman, Publisher/Editor Israel Commentary Contact Israel Commentary at http://www.israel-commentary.org |
DID HE HAVE TO DO THAT?Posted by Arlene Kushner, January 01, 2013 |
Well, it's New Year's Day. Knowing both how busy I am (it's a "regular" day here), and how likely it is that many will be away from the computer for New Year's Day, I was not going to write. But my prime minister's recent statement motivated (compelled?) me to do so. First, let me wish everyone a happy secular new year. It is never the wrong time for wishes for blessing and good things. ~~~~~~~~~~ And to the subject at hand: There has been a good deal of political discussion here of late regarding a Palestinian state -- whether there is a commitment to one, whether it would good, whether we should support one, etc. Minister of Education Gideon Sa'ar (Likud) said recently that a Palestinian state has never been part of the Likud platform. Sa'ar is a big vote-getter and a good guy in Likud. ~~~~~~~~~~ Then the political newcomer who is fourth on the Likud list and sure to be in the next government, Yair Shamir -- son of former prime minster Yitzhak Shamir, wrote an op-ed about "Why I oppose a Palestinian state": "...we must remove the idea of a Palestinian state in our area from the Israeli agenda immediately, if not sooner." I regret that he spoke only in security terms, about what damage such a state would bring in its wake, and not about our rights to Judea and Samaria, but OK. He is opposed. And it was important that Shamir referred back to Yitzhak Rabin, who signed on to the Oslo Accords. Many people imagine -- this myth has been refined over time -- that Rabin was solidly for a Palestinian state. But he was not. Shortly before his death, Rabin spoke of what he envisioned with Oslo, which was an autonomy short of a full state. In his article, Shamir presented evidence of Rabin's opinion on the matter. http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/why-i-oppose-a-palestinian-state/ ~~~~~~~~~~ MK Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) ventured the opinion at Hebrew University yesterday that when Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke about a Palestinian state in his 2009 Bar Ilan talk, it was "a tactical speech for the world...Netanyahu made the speech in response to accusations from the Arab world and to expose Mahmoud Abbas, who refuses to recognize the Jewish state." Going good. Her implication is that he wasn't really devoted to that concept. ~~~~~~~~~~ Of course, we also saw that President Shimon Peres made a statement about "peace" being a top priority, and referred to Abbas as a "partner for peace." But this is Peres, who, at 89, is not about to change. He's one of those "head in an alternate reality" people and I sense that he really believes what he is saying. Anyway, there were a number of responses to him. Because I always enjoy a laugh, I rather liked the irritated reaction of PA negotiator Saeb Erekat, who observed that, "He's meddling in Palestinian politics and deciding who can and who can't be a party to talks." Peres should take a hint from this, but he won't. ~~~~~~~~~~ The most solid response to the president came from Habayit Hayehudi head Naftali Bennett, who declared, "enough already" with "peace process" talk. The Oslo Accords, he reminded Peres, "brought us more than 1,600 murdered Israelis [via terrorist attacks]." "Enough, already. The President of the country is supposed to represent all of the country, not just a part of it. "Mr. President, it is clear that your intentions were good, but that does not make any difference. The time has come for some soul searching. Perhaps giving land to our enemies does not work?" ~~~~~~~~~~ All of this said and done, a spokesman for the Likud-Beitenu joint list declared, in response to what has been going on, that Prime Minister Netanyahu stands by his support for a Palestinian state under the conditions described in his 2009 Bar Ilan talk. Of course, then there were all the qualifiers: a Palestinian state will be possible when the Palestinians recognize Israel as the state of the Jewish people, will agree to the end of conflict, and will make appropriate arrangements regarding Israel's security requirements (which includes demilitarization). But it is with regard to this that I ask if the prime minister really really needed to do it. ~~~~~~~~~~ Qualifiers aside, I see it as a huge mistake. There are those now claiming that Hotovely was wrong -- that he is really supportive in principle of the idea of a Palestinian state and that his Bar Ilan speech was not simply tactical. I am not sure that is correct. Much that Netanyahu does is "tactical." He "plays" various situations for various purposes. And I suspect the statement about his standing by his support is also tactical. He has taken a tougher stance of late, saying that we will build in Jerusalem no matter what the world says, and so on and so on. But he's not ready to take that additional step. He has, I would guess, sufficiently incurred the wrath of the world with the announcements about planning to build in E1 or establishing new neighborhoods in Jerusalem past the Green Line, so that he does not wish to push it further. ~~~~~~~~~~ Netanyahu knows full well that there is not a snowball's chance in hell that Abbas will come to the table and seriously negotiate that two state solution. Thus, there is absolutely no risk to him on that score. It's a throw-away offer, meant, I believe, to show the world, still, that the PLO is at fault and he is willing. If hell froze over and Abbas did come to the table, would Netanyahu negotiate a Palestinian state? I cannot see into his heart. But I believe if everything were equal he would rather do without it. He's not Livni, nor Olmert -- he's not pining to rectify the terrible "wrong" we have done in "occupying" "Palestinian land." ~~~~~~~~~~ But even if this is just tactical. It's a terrible tactic. To me it smacks of groveling: See, see, how I am willing? He might have said something like: "I meant it when, over three years ago, I offered a Palestinian state, with appropriate conditions. And I was the one -- the only Israeli prime minister ever -- who froze building in communities in Judea and Samaria for 10 months, because this is what Mr. Abbas wanted. "And what have we gotten for it? The PA still teaches its children that jihad is good and that Israel belongs to them. It still venerates terrorists. Venerates terrorists? It's talking about a unity government with the terrorist Hamas. In fact, Hamas is gaining strength in Judea and Samaria and intends to topple the PA there, as it did in Gaza. While, at the same time, the PA security forces have reduced security cooperation with Israel. And as if this were not enough, Mr. Abbas acted unilaterally in a fashion prohibited by the Oslo Accords when he went to the UN. "The PA, which is awash in corruption and as a result is falling apart fiscally, has done everything but build a state-in-the-making in positive ways and genuinely prepare its people for peace. "I do not wish to kid myself or to delude my people. There is no reason to entertain thoughts of a Palestinian state." ~~~~~~~~~~ In truth, he comes so very close to this. Today, Netanyahu said: "Everyone knows that Hamas could take over the Palestinian Authority. It could happen after an agreement, it could happen before an agreement, like it happened in Gaza. Therefore, as opposed to the voices that I have heard recently urging me to run forward, make concessions, [and] withdraw, I think that the diplomatic process must be managed responsibly and sagaciously and not in undue haste." So, he demonstrates clearly what is not viable -- but insists on referring to a "diplomatic process" as if there were one. There isn't. ~~~~~~~~~~ I mentioned above prominent members of Likud, such as Shamir and Sa'ar, who are against a Palestinian state. And there are others. MK Ze'ev Elkin, Coalition Chair, for example, and Minister of Public Diplomacy Yuli Edelstein. More good guys. Quite simply, a good number of the people in the Likud faction are unhappy with their leader right now. Tonight I spoke with someone who works within the party (not in an elected position) and he indicated precisely this to me. And so this situation must play itself out. Because what we're seeing is that the party of Naftali Bennett is gaining in the polls at the expense of Likud. The Israeli electorate is moving right: A poll just released by Israeli Channel Two Television indicates that 70% of Israelis (and this includes Arabs) do not think it's possible "to reach a solution to the dispute with the Palestinians in the near future." While a poll announced by Israel Hayom yesterday indicates that "about 83 percent of Israelis believe pulling back to the pre-1967 armistice lines will not bring an end to the conflict nor a peace accord with the Palestinians." Contact Arlene Kushner at akushner18@gmail.com and visit her website: www.ArlenefromIsrael.info |
THE ADMINISTRATION PROBABLY WON'T DO A THING UNTIL AFTER AMERICANS ARE MURDERED.Posted by Sergio Hadar Tezza, January 01, 2013 |
The article below was written by Mary Chastain who is a
journalist at Breibart News. She is also a writer, an editor and
currently works at Breitbart News Network. This article appeared
January 01, 2013 at Breitbart News and is archived at
|
In November, Breitbart News reported Hezbollah's growing influence in South America. The terrorist organization is now expanding to the north, teaming up with dangerous Mexican drug cartels and engaging in weapon trafficking in and out of Mexico. These weapons may include guns from gun-walking operations by the US government. Operation Fast and Furious was an ATF gun-walking scheme that placed over 2,000 guns into the hands of Mexican drug cartels. These guns are linked to the deaths of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry and 300+ Mexican citizens. They have been found at crime scenes across the US and South America. Hundreds of guns are still missing. Another gun-walking operation out of Dallas, TX is linked to the death of ICE Agent Jaime Zapata. The ATF did not track the guns or make any effort to intercept them. No one knows where the missing guns are now, but if someone follows the tracks it is easy to posit where they may have landed. The House Committee on Homeland Security went detailed how Venezuela and Iran managed to skate around sanctions placed against them, making it easy for Venezuela to ship anything like weapons or money or drugs to Iran. For example, last month the UN placed sanctions on two Iran firms because they were caught supplying weapons to Syria. Hezbollah is also teaching the drug cartels how to build elaborate tunnels under the US-Mexico border. The tunnels are almost identical to the ones the terrorists built under the Gaza-Egypt border. Cartels are able to smuggle drugs, humans, and weapons into the US with these tunnels. More guns from gun-walking operations could easily find their way back to America. The enemy is on the door step. Will 2013 finally be the year President Barack Obama, Attorney General Eric Holder, and Department of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano stop claiming the border is as secure as ever? Sergio Tessa can be reached at Hadar-Israel@verizon.net. |
GANG RAPE IS PART OF ISLAMIC JIHAD; UNITY DID NOT LAST LONG; CONFLICTS AND FATALITIES IN TRUE PROSPECTIVEPosted by Steven Shamrak, January 01, 2013 |
Gang Rape is Part of Islamic Jihad
Wherever in the Western world you find large groups of Muslims, you also find a correspondingly large amount of gang rape with Muslims the perpetrators and native white girls the victims. Reports about "Asian" rape gangs appear almost every day in the British press, yet almost all media outlets and politicians are strangely reluctant to discuss the fact that most of these vile crimes are committed by Muslim immigrants and their descendants. After the reporting of the Muslim gang rape epidemic in Australia, it fell to Sydney-based Sheik Taj Din al-Hilali, Australia's senior Muslim cleric, to state what has since become painfully obvious to those who truly understand the sheer horror of Muslim attitudes toward non-Muslim women: "If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside on the street, or in the garden or in the park, or in the backyard without a cover, and the cats come and eat it... whose fault is it, the cats or the uncovered meat? The uncovered meat is the problem... if she was in her room, in her home, in her hijab, no problem would have occurred." Food for Thought by Steven Shamrak The United States carried out 333 drone strikes in Afghanistan in 2012. Israel was pressured to stop retaliating to 800 rockets fired from Gaza just 8 days after the operation " Pillar of Defense" began. What a hypocritical and anti-Semitic world we are still living in! Turkey Lifts Veto on NATO Cooperation with Israel
Turkey, a member of the NATO, has agreed to lift its veto on non-military cooperation between the alliance and Israel. Ankara cut ties with the Jewish state in May of 2010, after Israeli naval commandos boarded the Mavi Marmara flotilla, filled with pro-Palestinian terrorist activists. (It is time for Israel to impose a 'veto' on Turkey and other international prostitutes!) Please Quit, We Can't Wait Yisrael Beiteinu head Avigdor Lieberman, until recently the Foreign Minister, reacted with joy on Friday as PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas threatened to quit and disband the Palestinian Authority if Israel does not renew talks after January poll. Abbas has refused to negotiate in absence of several Israeli concessions, including a complete freeze on construction east of the 1949 armistice line. Hamas Preparing for West Bank Takeover
Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal instructed the terror group's sleeper cells in the West Bank to prepare themselves for armed struggle to take control of the West Bank, Judea and Samaria. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had been warned by Israeli intelligence services of Hamas's possible usurpation of power. School Security in Israel
Americans could learn a lot from the Jewish state. In Israel threats of terrorist strikes in crowded locations including schools, takes an all-of-the-above approach to safety in the classroom. Fences, metal detectors and armed private guards are part of a strategy overseen by the country's national police. And the idea of armed teachers in the classroom, which stirred much controversy in the wake of the US attack, has long been in practice in Israel, though a minority carry weapons today. (Armed guards at restaurants, stations, shops, and shops are an ugly reality, imposed on Israel by the 'peace process'.) Unity did not Last Long
The positive atmosphere that prevailed between Fatah and Hamas following Operation Pillar of Defence and the UN vote in favor of upgrading the Palestinians' status appeared to have ended on Thursday, as the two rival parties resumed their verbal attacks on each other. The new crisis erupted after Fatah announced the cancellation of celebrations in the Gaza Strip that were scheduled for the end of this month to mark the 48th anniversary of its founding. No International Condemnation or Pressure on the US?
The statistics, published by the U.S. Air Force and published by Wired's Danger Room blog, show that there were 333 drone strikes in Afghanistan in 2012 alone, up from 294 in the previous year and 278 in 2010. (As soon as Israel started operation against Hamas in response to over 800 rockets fired from Gaza in 2012 the international bigots exerted pressure on Israel to end it after just 8 days. They are the same Islamic terrorists, different international attitude!) Steven Shamrak was born in the former Soviet Union (USSR) and participated in the Moscow Zionist "refusenik" movement and currently lives in Melbourne, Australia. He publishes internet editorial letters on the Arab-Israeli conflict. He can be reached by email at StevenShamrak.e@gmail.com |
SPOTLIGHT ON IRAN - THE SAFE WAY TO HEAVEN WITH A FLIGHT TICKET: REACTIONS TO BAN ON FLIGHTS DURING PRAYER TIMESPosted by Terrorism Information Center, January 02, 2013 |
A new directive that prohibits planes from taking off during prayer times has prompted ridicule throughout social networks. Ali Taheri, spokesman for the Majles Culture Committee, announced last week that, in accordance with the committee's decision, flights will not be allowed to take off during the prayer call. It comes as no surprise that the report on the take-off ban at prayer time has drawn ridicule from Iranian social network users and bloggers affiliated with regime opponents. They have taken issue with the timing of the new directive, just when the Iranian aviation industry is gripped by a severe crisis, and made satirical posts in response to the new restrictions. A new directive that prohibits planes from taking off during prayer times has prompted ridicule throughout social networks. Ali Taheri, spokesman for the Majles Culture Committee, announced last week that, in accordance with the committee's decision, flights will not be allowed to take off during the Azan call to prayer, particularly during the call to morning prayers. Flights will be authorized to take off at least half an hour after the prayer call. He noted that the directive was forwarded to the Iran Civil Aviation Organization. Taheri reported that the committee also decided to step up the enforcement of the Islamic dress code on planes and in airports (Mehr, December 26).
In another post, the same blogger wrote that, while developed countries in the world focus on improving flight quality and safety, the authorities of Iran work on banning flights during prayer times. This, according to the blogger, is a reflection of Iran's decline under the current regime. If Iran was once much more advanced than its neighbors—the Arab Persian Gulf states—in the field of aviation and had the airline with the most advanced planes in the world, it has now fallen behind other countries in this field while the Persian Gulf states have made impressive progress (http://zareh-bin.blogspot.ca, December 26). Another blogger took issue with the fact that the authorities
of Iran have prohibited planes from flying during prayer times
just when the Iranian aviation industry is gripped by a severe
economic crisis due to the effect of the sanctions. If Iran's
national airline was one of the world's leading airlines three
decades ago, it is now on the brink of bankruptcy. In a country
where no new planes are purchased and the ones that there are date
back to the time of the Shah, the authorities impose restrictions
on flights during prayer times. Every hour of flight means money,
the blogger said, and this is doubly true in a country plagued by
aircraft shortage
Yet another blogger posted a satirical weblog entry with a
so-called report saying that top conservative cleric Ayatollah
Nouri Hamadani has found a creative solution to the problem of
flights during prayer times. According to the "report", the top
cleric thanked the Majles members for the directive they issued,
but argued that their plan is detrimental to the economy and is a
waste of passengers' time. He said that the pilots need to be told
that, when the time comes to pray, they should park the plane in
the appropriate spot in the sky—that is, where the clouds are
relatively firm—and then call the passengers to prayer. The top
cleric said that the plan was developed with input from top
clerics in the religious centers in Qom and Najaf, and that there
will soon be a prayer leader assigned to each flight so that this
important divine commandment can be fulfilled whatever the
conditions. This will make it possible to avoid waste of time and
money, allowing flights to reach their destinations on time
This is not the first time that the Iranian authorities have brought up the need to adapt flight schedules to prayer times. In November 2008 Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei stressed the importance of the obligation of prayer in Islam and expressed his discontent with the lack of mosques and prayer chambers in Iran. Among other things, he said that flight schedules need to be adapted to prayer times so that passengers can pray before they board their flight. Khamenei stressed that, on flights whose schedule cannot be adapted to prayer times, some space inside the planes themselves must be allocated to prayer. In the wake of the Supreme Leader's remarks, Iran's Civil Aviation Organization announced that flight schedules would be adapted to the Islamic prayer times. Hossein Khanlari, chairman of the Civil Aviation Organization, reported that, following the Supreme Leader's decree, a directive on the issue was forwarded to all airlines in Iran, and that flight schedules would be adapted to prayer times to allow travelers to perform their prayers at the airport at the appropriate times throughout the day. The directive also stated that, on long flights, the airlines would be required to set aside a special place for prayer on the planes themselves (Farda, November 20, 2008). Contact Terrorism Center at newsleter@terrorism-info.org.il |
A HUGE SUCCESS BUT NOT OUT OF THE WOODSPosted by David Hornik, January 02, 2013 |
Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics has released its population data for 2012, the year that just ended. As usual, the trends are favorable. The total Israeli population rose to just under eight million, while the Jewish population—for the first time—rose to just over six million. Naturally, the number has a certain resonance. Aside from the grim association, it has a special positive ring to it as well. At the time Israel gained independence in May 1948, its Jewish population stood at about 600,000, meaning that as of the end of 2012 it had grown tenfold. By most accounts the Israeli Jewish population also surpassed the American Jewish population in recent years. The comparison, though, is misleading, since American Jewry is undergoing high intermarriage and assimilation rates while in Israel intermarriage is negligible and, with the Israeli Jewish culture dominant, there is nothing to which to assimilate. The year's end has brought other good news as well. The recent one-week skirmish with Hamas not only unveiled awesome Israeli defensive (Iron Dome) but also offensive capabilities, including revolutionary intelligence and drone innovations. Hamas celebrated a "victory" in which its 1500 rockets managed to kill six Israelis while Hamas's side suffered about 180 fatalities, the considerable majority of them combatants. The war, of course, was hardly enough to tame the wild Middle East, but rational actors observing it would realize that taking on Israel is a risky proposition. Israelis have also heard in recent weeks that: Israeli students have improved substantially on standardized tests and now rank seventh in the world in math; 2012 saw the country's lowest total for traffic deaths in 50 years, population growth and all; and illegal immigration from Africa through the Sinai—which only last spring seemed a menacing problem—has been almost stopped by the building of a border fence. And this just in: Israel's economy came in best in the West for 2012, its 3.3 percent growth rate outpacing all other Western countries. With such achievements, the incumbent government of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is expected to win big in Israel's elections three weeks from now, and the center-left opposition is reduced to proclaiming that its patron saint, Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas, is the real deliverer of Israel. The picture at the start of 2013, then, appears to vindicate the claim of Zionism—a movement originating in 19th-century Europe—that the Jewish people in the modern era needed their own state to thrive. It is, though, already a truism that another major claim of Zionism—that creating such a state would be the solution to anti-Semitism—has not been borne out. The inaccuracy of that contention was again illustrated on New Year's Day 2013 when Dr. Essam el-Erian, an Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood official, predicted that "Israel will be destroyed within a decade." As he elaborated:
It was, at least, a novel account of the crafty objectives that really drove Zionism. El-Arian, it should be noted, is a senior adviser to Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, whose rapidly progressing Islamist takeover of the country has been characterized by some, including the Obama administration, as a flowering of democracy. Meanwhile Washington Post columnist Jim Hoagland quotes a French diplomat who told him that "Iran has responded to the toughening of sanctions by speeding up its work on a bomb, not slowing it down.... We now have only a relatively few months to act before Iran's nuclear effort becomes irreversible." The diplomat told Hoagland that the West should make Tehran a final offer and, if rejected, the only remaining alternative would be "an American-led military strike to destroy Iran's nuclear capability at some point in 2013." Whether or not Obama has any such intention is a matter of speculation; his former adviser Dennis Ross insists that he does, while John Bolton dismisses the possibility. For Israel the issue is one of continuing to thrive or facing a sworn genocidal enemy with nuclear weapons. The overarching question for 2013 is whether Israel will have to resolve that issue by itself. P. David Hornik is a freelance writer and translator living in
Beersheva and author of the book Choosing Life in Israel. Contact
him at hornikd@actcom.co.il. The article appeared January 02, 2013
on Frontpage Mag and is archived at
|
NEVER, EVER FORGET - ONE FLIGHT FOR US A FLIGHT OVER AUSCHWITZPosted by Nurit Greenger, January 02, 2013 |
One flight for us a flight over Auschwitz -The video presentation is in Hebrew with some interviews in English; watch with someone who speaks Hebrew. Every Jews must watch this and share with other Jews. The opposite of love is not hate, it is apathy. The opposite of education is not ignorance, it is apathy. America did not do what it should have done. We need to tell the truth; at the beginning Hitler did not want to exterminate the Jews; he simply did not want them. But he then found out that NO ONE wanted the Jews, for sure not the United States, the great power that on its flag is etched superior values such as the freedom of the human beings. The USA did not want to save Jews. It did not have this human spark to do something enormous to at least minimize the killing. The president, Roosevelt, and the top bureaucrats in the State Department were aware of these moods and thus they made basic considerations that rescuing Jews will not score they any points with the American public. Hitler wanted to have a Judenrein (clean of Jews) Germany, a Europe clean of Jews, bit after the July 1938 Évian Conference he realized that NO ONE wanted the Jews and so came about the Final Solution, to kill all the Jews. I once said that after Nazi Germany, Britain has the most Jewish blood on her hands. I now say that after Nazi Germany Britain and the USA President Roosevelt - have the most Jewish blood on their hands Remember, no one in the world will have Israel's back but Israel. In WWII the United States could have saved millions of Jews but did not because there was no place to settle the saved Jews; NO ONE wanted them. So remember Israel is the ONLY safe haven for every Jew. The following video are a must watch for those who understand Hebrew. Why a must? It teaches us that when the time comes, the only people who will do anything to help save Jews are the Jews of Israel themselves. In 1943 the Allies knew they are winning the war. But Hitler kept on murdering Jews, in fact increased the murdering of Jews industry to 12,000 Jews killed each day. In London, Washington, Vatican and United Nations' halls they kept their mouths shut and Hitler understood that it is all right and he can go on with his murderous industry brining Jews alive in Auschwitz. By end of 1943 the sin of the world's leaders turned from terrible apathy to criminal inaction. The excuses of 'we are pouring blood in a difficult war and are unable to help. From now on this argumentdoes not hold. You cannot launder history We, Jews, owe much to the Allies for their war against fascism. But, in this magnificent victory there is a dark stain that we, Jews, must never, ever, forget. A formation of three Israeli air force F-15 planes took off from Radom air force base in Poland, and flew over the concentration extermination camp Auschwitz -Birkenau, and saluted the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust. The formation pilots carried with them witness-names pages of Jews murdered 60 years ago almost at the same time the formation flight took place - On September 4th, 1943, names the crewsearched in the Hall of Names at Yad Vashem before the flight to Poland. In the communication system betweenthe planes that was heard on the ground, the formation-mission commander, Brigadier General Amir Eshel today the IAF commander, said: "We, the pilots of the [Israeli] air force in the skies of the atrocities' camp, we rose from the ashes of the millions of victims, are carrying their silent cry, salute their heroism and promise to be theshield for the Jewish people and the land of Israel." From below, a "Witnesses in Uniform" mission, made of 180officers and commanders from regular and reserve ranks, led by Gen. Ido Nehushtan, commander of the Air Group, watched. Contact Nurit Greenger by email at nurit.nuritg@gmail.com. Visit her blog: http://ngthinker.typepad.com |
IRAN DEATH SQUADS IN U.S.Posted by Act for America, January 02, 2013 |
The article below was written by Reza Kahlili who is author of
the award-winning book "A Time to Betray." He served in CIA
Directorate of Operations, as a spy in the Iranian Revolutionary
Guard, counterterrorism expert; and currently serves on the Task Force
on National and Homeland Security, an advisory board to Congress,
and on the advisory board of the Foundation for Democracy in Iran
(FDI). He regularly appears in national and international media as
an expert on Iran and counterterrorism in the Middle East. The
article appeard December 11, 2012 in the WND Weekly Magazine and
is archived at
|
Iran has infiltrated a team of Quds Force terrorist leaders into the United States to attack from within in 2013, according to a source. The source within the office of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of the Islamic regime, said the team is to create instability in America through terrorism should the U.S. fail to accept the regime's illicit nuclear program, increase sanctions, confront Iran militarily or intervene in the Syrian civil war. Members of the team, no more than 10 Quds Force officers, each lead cells totaling about 50 terrorists already in the U.S. The source is risking his life not only to reveal the terror operation but to warn that Iran is pursuing its nuclear bomb program around the clock from several secret sites. Details of the terror plot, meant to disrupt the West, have been passed on to U.S. officials, who are taking countermeasures. The source said the team members, unlike the alleged Iranian operative Manssor Arbabsiar, who was arrested in a plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington, D.C. in 2011, are highly trained and sophisticated. The team leaders are all senior Revolutionary Guard officers who were recruited for this specific mission nine years ago on the recommendation of the Quds Force commander, Qassem Soleimani, and with the approval of security advisers to Khamenei. Some of these individuals held high-level posts before joining the mission. One served as the security officer in the supreme leader's office, another was a member of the special forces for intelligence and security in charge of protecting regime officials, two were in charge of security of ground and air transportation, another was a commander of recruiting assets, and others had experience in security and intelligence. Most of the team members have been in America for a year; a few were successfully placed here about five years ago. The families of the team members are financially supported by the regime, but team members are financially supported through various means as they do not maintain any contact with Iran. Two wealthy Iranian businessmen in Iran with ties in Europe are used to finance the team; one routinely travels to the U.S. One well-established Iranian businessman in America who often travels to Iran was approached by the Quds Force for his collaboration in return for incentives in Iran. He acts as the sponsor of the team, transfers cash to team members, hosts meetings at his residence and passes on information from the regime to the team. He also takes care of any legal issues, leases, contracts and such. Information and pictures of potential targets have been submitted for Khamenei's approval, the source added. They include high-voltage towers to create blackouts, cell towers, water supplies, public transportation and various other buildings belonging to the Defense Department and military. The source said the planned attacks could be greater than what happened on 9/11 and that in the last phase of the attack, al-Qaida operatives will also be involved. After Osama bin Laden's death, Khamenei has taken a greater role in leadership on the collaboration with al-Qaida, and according to the source, four top al-Qaida commanders visit Khamenei every two months. The plan is that if by next six months America does not accept Iran's nuclear program and either increases sanctions or a military confrontation occurs, the assets have been ordered to carry out their mission. The regime feels it must act by then because current sanctions, which have already had a serious effect on Iran's economy, could spark civilian rioting. As reported in the Washington Times on Oct. 5, a secret memo by the regime's Intelligence Ministry warned that deteriorating economic conditions from international sanctions had greatly increased the possibility of an uprising and urged them to take appropriate action. The United States has set a March deadline for Iran to comply with International Atomic Energy Agency demands on its nuclear program or face much harsher measures. The regime believes, the source said, that if the U.S. fails to accept Iran's nuclear program, Israel will be much more likely to attack its nuclear facilities and military installations. Previously an exclusive report in WND revealed that terror cells of the Islamic regime were on high alert to attack targets in America. Gen. Massoud Jazayeri, deputy head of Iran's armed forces, stated that, "In the face of any attack, we will have a crushing response. In that case, we will not only act in the boundaries of the Middle East and the Persian Gulf, no place in America will be safe from our attacks." Iranian officials also see the possible overthrow of Syrian President Bashar Assad as a red line, and with the looming confrontation over their nuclear program, they have taken several measures, one of which is to retaliate against Israel through several fronts and in coordination with their proxies, such as Hezbollah. As reported in WND, 170 ballistic missiles have been pre-targeted on Tel Aviv alone, some with biological warheads. And an attack on America from within would create economic havoc on the fragile U.S. economy. The source warned that the IAEA has no idea that the Islamic regime is actively working on its nuclear bomb program at secret sites, that it has even enriched uranium to over 90 percent weaponization grade and that with the help of North Korea, it is working on a plutonium bomb. The assumption that Iran is far from accomplishing its goals is a hoax, the source warned. The regime next year will make operational intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching the U.S. Armed with nuclear weapons, it would be too late for the world, he said. Contact Act of America at actforamerica@donationnet.net |
OREN ON HONESTYPosted by Tabitha Korol, January 02, 2013 |
Israel's Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren's Op-ed of November 28 concerned the Islamic jihad against Israel, fought on many fronts, not the least of which are false narratives for Palestinian propaganda and outside pressure demanding equal casualties. Not so oddly, the Left never suggests that Israel return an equal number of rockets and missiles. Hamas, a recognized terrorist organization, uses its youth to throw stones at civilians and cars, employs rockets and missiles to terrorize Israeli citizens, and engages mainstream media to portray Israel as the aggressor. Unable to win militarily, Hamas is aided by the media's depicting Israel as the invader to delegitimize her internationally. Islam breeds a contempt of women, recognized by their treatment in Muslim societies, including female genital mutilation; prohibiting their public appearance unaccompanied by a male escort and forced enshrouding under threat of rape; forbidding their driving cars, attending schools, working; condoning their honor killings by male family members; forced marriages, and more. These beleaguered women and children are also used by terrorists as human shields during rocket attacks on Israel, to increase the number of citizens killed and blame Israel's retaliatory strikes. Thus can mainstream media "attest" that Israel has done more damage and killed more people. Hamas can turn world opinion by claiming the higher body count, and boost the Palestinian accusation of war crimes against "innocent civilians," because journalists never report the millions of dollars Israel spends in early-warning systems and bunkers to protect her citizens from frequent attacks. Granted, Israel's media coverage is second only to England's because her democracy is transparent, whereas the authoritarian Arab regimes strictly control the press corps, what they see and write, and whether they'll travel safely. So, in complete dishonesty, journalists fail to report that Gaza fired more than 2,256 rockets into Israel from January through November, 2012, and exceeded 13,000 since the beginning of the century, and nurture the enmity for the State of Israel. Because written media and television emphasize visuals over substance, as Amb. Oren proved, news agents eagerly print a story with photos that are often staged, inaccurate, obtained from other conflicts, or are of deaths caused by the Palestinians' own rockets but the pictures are effective. Mass media often uses terminology to turn the truth on its head, even as they know that Islamists represent a malevolent society. Under the harsh laws of Sharia, Muslims choose to continue their hostilities against women and homosexuals, and incite to murder Jews and Christians alike, worldwide, in the name of jihad, global conquest. The media will not inform that the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) is known to call the Gazans or drop leaflets announcing a forthcoming retaliatory effort to warn the civilians to leave the premises or be treated and counted among the obliging combatants. The New York Times and the Post have led the way in implementing enlarged photographs of civilian Palestinians' suffering to play on Western opinions, never showing their sons of all ages dressed in their radical face coverings and belts of explosives, rallying in reverence of death and martyrdom. By contrast, they more often show Israeli soldiers while avoiding photos of heinous crimes perpetrated against Jewish families, housing destroyed by missiles, children trembling in fear of the next attack and having fifteen seconds to reach a safe bunker. PBS has all too often produced hour-long programming of seriously distorted pro-Palestinian misinformation, hosted by Islamists Christianne Amanpour, Lourdes Garcia-Navarro, Bob Simon, et al. Reuters has frequently been called to task for supplying the wrong photos for articles. When discovered and held accountable, a perfunctory correction is quickly replaced by another story, another hour of slander, another deceitful photo. While the media applies the Islamic disproportionality tactic for Israelis, Arabs are held to a different standard. Israel's expulsion of four Palestinians earned far more headlines than Kuwait's deportation of hundreds of thousands, or 2459 barbaric attacks against five religions in 22 countries during 2012, or burning churches and parishioners, or President Assad's slaughter of more than 60,000 Syrian citizens, imprisonment and torture of 37,000. Journalists have taken to calling Gaza the most densely populated area on earth to give false purpose to Palestinian "unrest," when, in fact, Tel Aviv has twice the population. There is no longer any semblance of honor, respect for their craft, their reputation, or for the people they are supposed to serve My praise goes to Amb. Michael Oren for attempting to enlighten us. We must challenge the media, recognize these Islamic war strategies, and understand that America is no longer even a "stone's throw" away from indoctrinational warfare. It is here. Tabitha Korol, who began her political writing with letters
to the editor after her retirement, earned an award from CAMERA
(Committee on Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America) "in
recognition of outstanding letter-writing in 2009 to promote fair
and factual reporting about Israel." She was cited as one of
America's modern-day, articulate, patriotic women in Frederick
William Dame's Three American Fur Hat/Fighters for Freedom. Her
essays have appeared on RightTruth, RenewAmerica, NewMediaJournal,
JewishIndy, Israel's Arutz Sheva, and others. She revised a book of
Holocaust survivors' accounts for publication, and proofreads/edits
for a monthly city newsletter. She can be contact at unsospiro@sbcglobal.net.
|
THE LAST SUMMARY "THE FUTURE OF ISRAEL"-VERY INTERESTING.....HOPE IT'S ALL TRUEPosted by Fred Reifenberg, January 03, 2013 |
a) Gas - Israel's recent discovery of mega gas fields titled Tamar and Leviathan are located off the Israeli coast from Haifa. These massive discoveries will soon transform Israel as they will adequately look after Israel's domestic needs forever and thereafter to supply foreign markets. A number of countries are pursuing involvement in these finds. Among them are Russia, China, Europe and South Korea. Putin was in Israel two months ago pursuing a contractual relationship with Israel on its gas development projects. Nothing has been signed yet. Tamar is due to come online sometime in 2013 and Leviathan to follow in early 2014. Additional target areas are being explored all the way down the Mediterranean coast of Israel. The likelihood is that a pipeline from the gas discovery area will be built to Cyprus and on to Greece. This will help Greece with some of its financial troubles. It is expected there will be a plant built to liquify the gas at the Greek end of the underwater pipeline. b) Oil - geologists have recently completed a large mapping of most of southern Israel and preliminary findings indicate there are vast amounts of oil trapped in rock layers under about 15% of the State of Israel. This shale oil is technically difficult to extract but Israel and the companies involved are becoming very familiar with the methodology to extract this oil called 'fracking'. Retired Canadian experts in this system are now resident in Israel working on this huge project. The World Energy Council and Israel Energy Initiatives have completed a detailed study and presented it to the government on their estimates of Israel's shale oil potential. They estimate that Israel's shale reserves could contain as much as 250 billion barrels of potentially recoverable oil. This would be putting Israel on a par with Saudi Arabia in terms of its oil reserves! Israeli planners believe that if the gas and oil finds reach the levels that the potential indicates, Israel's current group of allies, trading partners and opponents could drastically change. Israel's geo-political standing in the world will also change. It's amazing what friends can be made when you have oil and gas to export! MED-RED RAILWAY - China is in very serious negotiation (contracts have been exchanged) - the Chinese will build and finance most of a high speed railway from Eilat to Ashdod. This would allow tankers and freighters to avoid the Suez Canal as well as cut the time frame from canal usage in half, by using the railway. This is a huge development for Israel as it will open up the Negev, which was always the dream of David Ben Gurion. It would not be surprising that a major announcement on this development with all its details, should be expected by mid 2013. CHINESE INVESTMENT IN ISRAEL The Chinese Government, while they are negotiating the Med-Red Railway, have made it clear to Israel that they have a multi-billion dollar fund that they would put to use, to fund Israeli hi-tech start-ups and companies needing mezzanine financing. The Israeli Government is very amenable to this opportunity, and the Chinese have already agreed to the stringent conditions that Israel wants to apply on any of the investments. Look for an announcement on this in 2013. You should be aware that the Israeli Government and various Agrarian companies are extremely busy today in China - assisting the Chinese with their need to get much more production out of their land, while following the Israeli system of water economy. Further, the Chinese are learning every possible method Israel has on how to maximize milk production, and other elements necessary for the Chinese to raise the level of feeding their huge population. This relationship is being very well received by the Chinese and its government. ALIYAH - Numerous European countries are seeing their Jewish populations diminishing because of a resurgence of anti-semitism and violence against their Jewish communities. Islam is on the march in many of the European countries. In particular, sizable numbers of French, British and smaller numbers of Jews from other EU countries, have left or are in the process of going to Israel. The Jewish Agency for Israel is planning for a significant aliyah to continue as well as increase over time with Jews leaving Ukraine and Russia. Again the planning of the Jewish Agency indicates that Ben Gurions dream of large communities in the Negev is now nearer to realization than ever before. Hi-tech companies are being offered significant inducements by the government to establish their campuses and their R&D facilities in communities being formed in the Negev. Currently the hi-tech campuses are extremely crowded in an area south of Tel Aviv. Bear in mind that nothing is far in Israel. EMP (Electromagnetic impulses) The magnitude of this enormous devastating project is hard to fathom. Whoever develops this will have a commanding position facing any adversary. EMP could cripple a country by shutting down its electronics. It uses non-lethal gamma energy to react with the magnetic field and produces a powerful shock wave that can devastate any power grid and communications system. Try as I did, I could not get anyone to make any kind of comment regarding Israel's involvement. All I got were small, relatively short smiles. CONCLUSION The problems of Iran and the Palestinian State and a horrible neighbourhood need to be dealt with Israeli resolve. Assuming all of the things described previously like oil, gas, Chinese investment, Med-Red Railway, as well as things still to be developed, the future for Israel is extremely bright. The IDF, the IAF, the MOSSAD, the SHIN-BET, the AMAN, are amongst the best of their kind in the world and will do their utmost to safeguard the State of Israel and the Jewish people wherever they are to be found. FINAL THOUGHT This is the last of my report covering nine subjects that I spent over 26 hours discussing with special friends in Israel. I hope you have found it interesting and informative. It was not easy condensing all of the material I had into suitable e-mail form. Thanks for reading these. Contact Fred Reifenberg by email at freify@netvision.net.il Go to to see more of his graphic art. |
THE WAVE OF VIOLENCE IN JUDEA AND SAMARIA CONTINUESPosted by Terrorism Information Center, January 03, 2013 |
This past week as well Palestinians continued to attack IDF soldiers, a manifestation of the trend towards an increase in violence in Judea and Samaria since Operation Pillar of Defense, and especially since the UN status of the PA was upgraded. There has been an increase in the number of stones and Molotov cocktails thrown, as well as attempts to attack Israeli security force personnel. Some of the more glaring incidents were the following (Ynet): On December 27 a homemade bomb was thrown at Israeli security forces near the Tomb of Rachel (Bethlehem). The explosive device fell in territory under Palestinian control. There were no casualties and no damage was reported. Dozens of Palestinians also threw stones at the Tomb precinct. On December 27 stones were thrown at the vehicle of an Israeli security officer near the Horasha outpost (northwest of Ramallah). IDF soldiers responded by employing riot control equipment. On December 27 Palestinian rioters threw stones at IDF forces in the region of Izhar (south of Nablus) and near the Esh Kodesh outpost. IDF soldiers dispersed them with riot control equipment. On December 29 a Palestinian in the village of Beit Umar (southern Judea) threw a large stone during a demonstration, wounding an IDF officer in the head. The officer was evacuated to a hospital for medical treatment. The Palestinian who threw the stone was later detained. Contact Terrorism Information Center at newsleter@terrorism-info.org.il |
CONFERENCE ON SOVEREIGNTYPosted by Arlene Kushner, January 03, 2013 |
This past Tuesday, here in Jerusalem, the Women in Green -- joined now by some other groups -- sponsored their third annual conference: Application of Israeli Sovereignty over Judea and Samaria. The turnout was incredible. Not only did it exceed numbers for the previous two conferences by a good deal, planners had to move the venue because registration was so robust. And even in that larger venue the hall was packed. This provides strong evidence for what I have been saying -- that the Israeli populace is moving right, and is, indeed, weary with notions of a "two-state solution." What I would like to do here is provide an overview and then touch on highlights. ~~~~~~~~~~ If there was an over-arching message delivered by speakers (many, not all) it is that sovereignty is something that has to be approached in stages. It is simply not realistic to imagine that the Israeli government is going to get up one fine morning and declare all of Judea and Samaria annexed and fully part of Israel. What is important, first of all, is the stimulation of public discourse on the issues. People just do not understand, do not have solid information. It falls to those of use who do understand, and do wish to promote sovereignty, to create the atmosphere for dialogue. And that dialogue must be advanced rationally, via the sharing of facts, and not emotions. ~~~~~~~~~~ And then, there are measures that might be taken to move the process along. Speakers differ on exactly what those measures should be: application of civil law to all of the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria; annexation of area C; etc.. ~~~~~~~~~~ Yuli Edelstein (Likud), Minister of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs, suggested that without initiatives such as the current conference, the issue would not arise on the government's agenda. Edelstein warned that application of sovereignty would not automatically resolve international challenges couched in legal language. But sovereignty would send the world a message, none-the-less. It is easier to face the international community when we are united by a consensus, he observed. The problem now, however, is that the government sends an ambivalent message instead of stating clearly that we have rights over our land. He sees several scenarios being pushed: The far left is ideological and sees the need to relinquish land to the Arabs for ethical reasons. The pragmatic left concedes that we have rights to the land, but says that in the current international climate we have no choice but to concede it. An optimistic scenario to the right of these positions says that we must approach the situation in stages, and this is what he supports. To the right of this are groups not content with stages and pushing for immediate sovereignty as an expression of our rights. ~~~~~~~~~~ Yari Levin (Likud), Chair of the Knesset House Committee, warned that we must not confuse historical merit in terms of our claim to the land, which is solid, with a legislative process, that is going to take time. What we can do, says Levin, is apply Israeli law to all those Jews living in Judea and Samaria, put in place laws that permit Jewish development in Judea and Samaria, and pass other constructive legislation that will apply to all of Judea and Samaria. (As to laws that permit Jewish development in Judea and Samaria, there is a great deal to say --- I have already touched upon this in several contexts but expect to be revisiting it in greater detail with regard to the Levy Report. The bias against Jewish development is currently horrendous.) Levin is adamant in his opinion that there should be no singling out of major settlement blocs. Any legislation put in place must apply to all Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. Following this, there should be an attempt to apply full Israeli law to all of Judea and Samaria. But now we must advance plans by building another school and another house. ~~~~~~~~~~ Moshe Feiglin heads the Jewish Leadership faction in Likud and is currently on Likud's list. Feiglin made an extremely important point, and one we cannot afford to lose sight of: We have to pay attention to places where we are supposed to already have sovereignty, but are losing it. This is true in communities such as Lod, where there are neighborhoods that Arabs have taken over. And it is particularly true on Har Habayit -- the Temple Mount. The attorney general has said that Israeli law applies on the Mount, and the High Court has said Jews have a right to pray there. But the police have determined that Jewish praying on the Mount will foment Arab violence and thus have forbidden it. Earlier on the day of the conference, Feiglin went up on the Mount, as he regularly does, bowed down and began to pray, and was promptly arrested by the policeman who had been following him. Every time I write about this sort of incident, I find myself ashamed to the core. This is not how a Jewish government should be managing matters on the site that is the holiest to the Jewish people simply in order to appease or avoid confrontation with Arabs. And, indeed, perhaps we need to raise our voices and promote activism on this issue before we talk about annexing Judea and Samaria. It's all of a piece, of course. A government that does not have the courage to protect sovereignty on the Mount is not going to promote legislation for sovereignty in Judea and Samaria. ~~~~~~~~~~ Adv. Alan Baker, an international lawyer, former Israeli ambassador to Canada, and a member of the Edmund Levy Committee, which issued the Levy Report, spoke about that report. What he had to say was exceedingly important. His presentation touches upon so much however, that I want to return to examine it in greater detail on another day. The mandate of the three-person Levy Committee was to examine the status of Judea and Samaria and to recommend ways to deal with the land. This was with regard to considering the highly ambiguous situation that pertains there, not with an eye to legalizing illegal construction. An important point must be made, however: Former prime minister Sharon had mandated Talia Sasson with examining the situation in Judea and Samaria, as well. Her report was never formally adopted by an Israeli government. But she made a list of outposts that had been constructed without full authorization -- they were "unauthorized" -- and changed the term to "illegal" (which is not the same thing). The concept of "illegal outposts" was then adopted by the international community. For a long time, there was a freeze on construction that prevented the issuance of permits. There was no possibility of continuing construction with full authorization (with all proper signatures). Construction done in this manner was termed "illegal." The over-riding question is whether Israel has rights in Judea and Samaria on the ground. Is Israeli presence there "illegal"? The committee examined the idea that public lands -- not privately owned -- in Judea and Samaria were automatically Arab and rejected this approach. Ottoman, Jordanian, Israeli and international law were considered in depth. We do not have "occupation" in the sense implied by international law because we did not move onto the land of a legal sovereign. Our situation is sui generis, which means one of a kind -- without precedent or basis in international law. The committee rejected completely application of the Fourth Geneva Convention. We are the indigenous people in this region. After examining the legal history, the committee concluded that the Jewish people has well established rights that cannot be negated or denied. We are talking here about San Remo, the Balfour Declaration and more. These declarations are treaty statements. Instead of apologizing, we should state our rights. People simply don't know. The land is not Palestinian -- there is no document that gives the Arabs the right to the land. What we are dealing with is "disputed" land, not "occupied Palestinian territory." The committee hopes the next government will relate seriously to the Levy Report. More to follow, including on the Levy recommendations. ~~~~~~~~~~ Ze'ev Elkin (Likud), Chair of the Coalition and Chair of the Knesset Eretz Yisrael Committee, alluded to two historical periods here in Israel since 1967. From 1967 until 1992 or 1993, the trend was preserving the status quo in Judea and Samaria. Communities were built there, and there was an assumption that matters would unfold on their own as facts were established on the ground. From 1992 [with the advent of Oslo] until the present, there has been a back-stepping. We are in a state of confusion now and he hopes this second period is coming to an end. He believes (there is not consensus on this yet) that what Abbas did at the UN has brought the Oslo period to a finish. Israel postponed the discourse on sovereignty and now we need a new approach. We must apply sovereignty to the maximum possible at any given moment. Slowly we can change the public discourse. ~~~~~~~~~~ Dr. Moti Kedar, Middle East expert and lecturer at Bar Ilan University, was asked to speak on the Arab reaction to sovereignty. But, asked Kedar, did Arabs ever agree to sovereignty over Tel Aviv or Haifa? Have Egypt and Jordan -- both of which have peace treaties with Israel -- ever recognized Israel as the state of the Jewish people? Kedar said that we urgently require an international television station that broadcasts in English and Arabic and that simply tells the truth. People have access to CNN and a host of other stations biased against Israel, while Israel is simply missing from that broadcast discussion. He further observed that the courts should have nothing to do with determination of borders. This is a political issue, for the Knesset. The courts should be involved strictly with legal issues, which he believes calls for a change in Basic Law. Kedar, an expert on Muslim/Arab culture, said that only those who are victors can secure their place in the Middle East. Those who seek peace are seen as vanquished and get kicked. ~~~~~~~~~~ Caroline Glick, columnist, senior editor at the Jerusalem Post and senior fellow for Middle Eastern Affairs for the Center for Security Policy, was one of four persons on a panel that discussed the issue of the status of Arabs after the application of sovereignty over Judea and Samaria. People are afraid of the demographic issue, she said -- the fear that if we incorporate Judea and Samaria into Israel fully we will be demographically overwhelmed. Birthrates are shifting, however, and the public needs to be educated on this. She sees a population 2/3 Jewish and 1/3 Arab. The precedents that exist on this issue were with Jerusalem and the Golan, and there were no problems encountered in either of these areas. Every Arab would be given the opportunity to request citizenship, provided he or she met the criteria established by the Ministry of the Interior -- with regard to renouncing terrorism and accepting Israel as a Jewish state. Glick says we are now entering a period that is historically revolutionary. To proceed the issue must happen in the context of a larger change in the Israeli public, and changes in the Israeli legal system will be required. People are tired of the way things currently operate, specifically with regard to the High Court (B'gatz). She noted the fact that Habayit Hayehudi is expected to be part of the next coalition (from her mouth to Heaven!) and it is advocating annexation of Area C. This represents a huge change. ~~~~~~~~~~ Other participants on the panel included MK Arieh Eldad, Adv. Elyakim Haetzni, and Dr. Martin Sherman. You can see the entire conference dubbed in English here (skip the first five minutes, as that is a film of last years conference): http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/163781#.UOPd8eQz2qo In a few days Women in Green will be providing links to each speaker separately, in English and Hebrew. Contact Arlene Kushner at akushner18@gmail.com and visit her website: www.ArlenefromIsrael.info |
ILLEGAL ARAB HOUSING IN THE JORDAN VALLEYPosted by Richard H. Shulman, January 03, 2013 |
The Jordan Valley (a vital component of strategic borders for Israel) is located in the Territories, mostly in a closed military zone. That zone is closed for use military training and as a firing range. Nevertheless, a number of Arab families have plunked down on that land and build houses illegally. Israel has demolished some of those houses, be not all. In anticipation of new military exercises in the Jordan Valley, the IDF ordered about a hundred Arab families to evacuate. But the IDF informed them that when the exercises are done, they may move back in to their illegal dwellings (IMRA, 1/4/13). You realize that not only is the Arab construction there illegal, but the land built upon probably was stolen, too. The IDF has declared certain areas closed military zones for political reasons, to keep Jews out, not for military reasons. Yet the Left, which often urges mutiny in troops patrolling the West Bank (the anti-Zionist nickname for Judea-Samaria), and the government get upset when some troops refuse orders, also given for political reasons, to evacuate Jews. The argument against Jews is that military orders must be obeyed, but the arguers urge that military orders not be obeyed in defending the country against the Arabs. What does that tell you about Israeli treatment of Palestinian Arabs? And About Israel being the state of the Jews Compare the attitude of the government and the media and universities when a Jew buys some property and has proof of having done so, but some Arab squatters refuse to move out. The attitude is hysterical. Demands are made that the Jew be kept out or if already in be forced out. The Supreme Court usually issues an evacuation order. And leftists declare that the ruling vindicates the rule of law. But when a hundreds times as many Arabs build illegally, really illegally as compared to the mostly false allegations against Jews, the government, the media, and the universities do not complain until the rare government action to dispossess. What does that tell you abut the rule of law by Israel? Since the Jordan Valley must be kept by Israel in order to have a safe border, should Israel be allowing Arabs to infiltrate it? Richard Shulman is a veteran defender of Israel on several web-based forums. His comments and analyses appear often on Think-Israel. He provides cool information and right-on-target overviews. He distributes his essays by email. To subscribe, write him at richardshulman5@aol.com. |
OBAMA'S TAX EVADERS OF THE YEARPosted by FSM, January 03, 2013 |
The article below was written by Michelle Malkin, who is
Contributing Editor at FSM and the author of Culture of Corruption: Obama
and his Team of Tax Cheats, Crooks & Cronies (Regnery 2009). Her
e-mail address is malkinblog@gmail.com. This article appeared on
January 3, 2013 in Family Security Matters and is
archived at
|
President Obama will kick off the new year the same way that he kicked off the old year: by demanding that the wealthy pay their "fair share" in taxes. But while millions of small-business owners, struggling entrepreneurs, inventors and investors brace for a double whammy of fiscal cliff tax hikes and new Obamacare taxes, the class-warrior in chief's richest pals are getting a pass. It's a Golden Pass for liberal millionaires and billionaires who support higher Obama taxes for everyone but themselves. Meet the Democratic tax evaders of the year. -- Google. The left-wing Internet giant provided Silicon Valley's biggest campaign finance boost to Obama, with individual employee donations supporting the tax-hiking candidate by a ratio of more than 31-to-1. Google rank-and-file workers pitched in some $800,000 to Obama. Google's CEO Eric Schmidt, Google cofounder Sergey Brin, Chief Legal Officer and Senior Vice President David Drummond, and Google Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist Vint Cerf are all vocal Obama supporters and top donors. In December, Google's Netherlands subsidiary disclosed in a tax filing that it had shifted nearly $10 billion in revenues to a Bermuda shell company. That's "almost double the total from three years before," according to Bloomberg News. In response to criticism, Google defended the scheme as a legal response to government incentives. "It's called capitalism," Schmidt snarked defiantly. Wonder what all of Obama's operatives and media lapdogs who bashed evil, selfish Republican offshore tax havens have to say about that? Cue crickets chirping. -- The Washington Post. Speaking of media lapdogs, this newspaper sanctimoniously supported Obama for president and singled out his support for "revenue (tax) increases." Its endorsement editorial castigated Mitt Romney for embracing an America "in which an ever-greater share of the nation's wealth resides with the nation's wealthy, at a time when inequality already is growing." The privileged wealthy barons at The Washington Post, however, increased that inequality at the end of the year when they joined a growing number of companies who are giving 2013 dividends in 2012 to protect investors from paying higher Obama taxes on dividend income. It's "proof positive," my friend and guest-blogger Doug Powers noted, "that no matter what happens in the negotiations, the country is definitely going off the irony cliff." Bonus irony: The $70 million year-end dividend payment will be a windfall for other "higher taxes for thee, but not for me" Obama supporters, including donor Warren Buffett's firm Berkshire Hathaway. According to The Associated Press, "Berkshire is its largest shareholder, with an estimated 1.7 million shares, which means it could get a roughly $17 million dividend payment." -- Costco. The mega-retailer's co-founder, Jim Sinegal, is a lifelong Democrat and top Obama fundraiser. He crusaded aggressively for Obamacare and sent out a campaign dispatch defending his candidate from criticism over his "you didn't build that remarks." But while Sinegal purported to speak for beleaguered small-business owners, his company was availing itself of rarified tax avoidance strategies. Like The Washington Post, the Costco board of directors voted to pay special $7 per share year-end dividends to avoid higher taxes. In addition, Costco will borrow $3.5 billion to finance the payout, according to The Wall Street Journal. Higher taxes, more debt. They built that. -- Facebook. The social networking giant's founder, Mark Zuckerberg, told Obama in 2011 at a town hall forum that he was "cool" with paying higher taxes. But neither Zuckerberg nor his many Facebook execs are actually down with following through. Co-founder Eduardo Saverin renounced his American citizenship in a blindingly obvious bid to evade nearly $70 million in taxes. In addition, Zuckerberg and a half-dozen Facebook insiders are all skirting hefty estate and gift taxes on their family Facebook shares held in annuity trusts. According to Bloomberg News, the legal maneuver is called a "grantor-retained annuity trust, or GRAT," and the total Facebook tax avoidance sum adds up to at least $200 million. A "cool" $200 million, that is. -- George Lucas. The billionaire Star Wars director called Obama a "hero" and parroted his candidate's capitalism-bashing rhetoric in a January 2012 interview with PBS dinosaur Charlie Rose. "I do not believe that the rich should be able to buy the government," Lucas lectured. He does, however, believe in shirking higher taxes the one-percenter way. In October, Lucas sold his film company to Disney for a whopping $4 billion in cash and stock to evade anticipated capital gains tax increases and Obamacare Medicare surtaxes on investment income. -- Andre "Dr. Dre" Young. Forbes magazine named this California gangsta rapper-turned-music industry mogul the highest-paid musician in the world in 2012. He raked in an estimated $100 million, mostly from sales of his Beats headphone company, along with concert revenue. Dre's music electronics company was co-founded with Jimmy Iovine, who also founded Dre's parent record label, Interscope Records. Interscope was funded by "progressive" billionaire Ted Field, heir to the Marshall Field retail empire and one of the nation's biggest Democratic Party donors. Dre boosted the careers of prominent Obama hip-hop cheerleaders Eminem and 50 Cent. But overseas, he's rolling like a Romney supporter. The rap mogul is now using a County Cork, Ireland, tax haven to protect his global headphones empire subsidiaries and avoid high U.S. corporate tax rates. The Irish Examiner newspaper explained that the elaborate structuring "allows for money to be (channeled) between the separate companies in the form of royalty payments or (license) fees to artificially but legitimately reduce profits as a means of reducing tax liabilities." To paraphrase Dre and his Obama-endorsing rap partner Snoop Dogg: Ain't nuthin' but an E thang. Elitism. Exemptions. Evasion. Contact Family Security Matters (FSM) at info@ familysecuritymatters.org |
TRICKING THE GENERAL--OR, WHEN NORMAN WASN'T STORMIN'...Posted by Gerald A. Honigman, January 04, 2013 |
A good man and American, General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, passed away this past December 27th. G_d rest his soul. When the Syrian Assads' twin butcher to the east, Iraq's Saddam Hussein, grabbed that giant oil well also known as Kuwait, he had crossed a line that was indeed taboo. Previously killing hundreds of thousands (some claim millions) of human beings was one thing--especially if they were non-Arab Kurds a la gassed babies in Halabja, the Al-Anfal Campaign, and such. But hijacking one of the world's most important sources of oil--now that was a crime that simply could not be forgiven or overlooked, especially since key leaders in the West (including the then current American President) had direct links to that black gold themselves. I will never forget the venom which spewed out of the mouths of folks like President Reagan's Chief of Staff, James Baker III, and Vice-President George H.W. Bush when Israel destroyed Saddam's nuclear facility at Osirik just a decade before Stormin' Norman commanded 1991's Operation Desert Storm (http://www.airforce-magazine.com/MagazineArchive/Documents/2002/August%202002/0802osirik.pdf). Reagan, himself, reportedly reacted to the news by saying, "Well, boys will be boys." Bush the First would later also be known for such things as taking Israel to task for building in "occupied territory" (East Jerusalem--where the Jews' age-old Temple Mount and such are located) and then demanding that it keep its hands tied behind its back while being sucker punched by Saddam's Scuds during Desert Storm--Jews being punished for America's attempts to save some Arab oil fat cat derrieres from other Arabs' aggression. Who knew at the time whether or not Saddam would be tipping
those forty or so missiles targeting Israeli cities with
biological or chemical warheads? As for the Patriot missile
batteries America placed inside Israel allegedly as a trade for
keeping the Jews from nailing Saddam like he needed to be nailed,
most agree that they were virtually useless
It made no nevermind. After all, what was more important, Gentiles gassing Jews again or that allegedly "indispensable" aid we got from the Saudis and Egyptians. And yes--I know about that Arab cover argument too. Baker would become even more famous for such actions and comments as "F#*k the Jews, they don't vote for us anyway." Among other things, his law firm has represented Saudi Arabs against American 9/11 victims, his partner was Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, and so forth. Indeed, Baker is a specialist supreme at milking the Arab oil teat while at the same time speaking about the Jews' alleged love for money. I think of such things now because of the non-stop news coming out of the region affecting all parties involved. Sadly, I can't recall General Schwarzkopf without cringing at how his boss and the latter's close buddy, whom he appointed as Secretary of State (the Bush I and Baker team, once again), encouraged the Kurds in the north and the Shi'a Arabs in the south to revolt against Saddam, but then stood by and allowed them both to be mercilessly slaughtered while our own forces were just a few virtual stones' throws away from the action. True, later on, due to the scale of the carnage and suffering, we were embarrassed by our European allies into setting up a no-fly zone (one which, to the State Department's dismay, allowed for the evolution of a semi-autonomous KRG in Iraq and perhaps something even more yet to come), but we did so only very reluctantly and after tens of thousands of people were massacred and even more displaced. Unlike Arabs, Kurdish refugees did not have almost two dozen other states to flee to--for whatever reason and regardless of who was to blame. Recall that Bush I allowed Saddam to not only remain in power (indeed, had supplied weapons to him earlier as a counter to the Iranian mullahs) but to also keep the bulk of his elite Republican Guard forces intact so not to anger our alleged Arab "allies" and petro-despot buddies too much. After all, it would not look good to have some Arabs suffer a humiliating defeat (primarily at the hands of "Infidels"), regardless of what they were doing to others--including other Arabs. So, Norman wasn't allowed to go stormin'--however that nickname was allegedly earned. And while the General went along with these decisions from above (what other choice did he really have?), he knew better himself. It bothered him until the day he died--especially since we had to do a replay in 2003. When America concluded its ceasefire with Saddam, amongst the other tragic mistakes (however much some folks try to cover for them and which resulted in our having to go to war to finally oust Saddam later anyway) was one which allowed him to use non-fixed wing aircraft against Iraq's own residents. And he did so horrendously. I will never forget the news conference or interview--I forget which it was--that I watched in which Schwarzkopf complained about how he was duped. This occurred after Saddam had unleashed hell on the Kurds and Shi'a after the ceasefire and American withdrawal, when our forces were right over the border in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. This was nothing less than an American disgrace--and one engineered by the same Arabists at the State Department who are now supporting Islamists just about everywhere else in the region and undermining more democratic, inclusive forces begging for assistance. Like the Syrian Democratic Coalition in Syria, for instance. Worse yet, they had done this to the Kurds years before as well. Later, the General defended the American position by simply saying that the Kurds had been battling the Iraqi regime for years and would continue to do so regardless of what America did or said. "Yes, we are disappointed that that has happened. But it does not affect the accomplishment of our mission one way or another." Stormin' Norman had no control over those who make American foreign policy. He was just their faithful servant. But those folks have largely been in bed with Sunni Arab oil potentates for some three quarters of a century now. It has been rare indeed when an American leader could/would operate at least somewhat independently of their enormous influence. American officials have had oil tankers named for them; scores of millions (probably more) of Arab petro-dollars have come to former Presidents' libraries, foundations, and such; and folks like James Baker III, Cap Weinberger, the Dulles Boys, and a zillion others have moved through the revolving doors of government and petro-businesses. Together, this influence has made the relative "power" of Israel's much talked about supporters at AIPAC look like that coming out of a BB gun. Having been deeply engaged in Kurdish and other Middle Eastern issues on academic, professional, and/or personal levels for well over forty years now, I can say that we have, quite possibly, finally arrived at the dawn of a new momentous era in history. Change is in the wind--unlike I have ever seen before. The much-touted Arab Spring has sprung in some very nasty ways--as at least some of us feared all along. Secular despots have simply been replaced by theocratic, even less tolerant ones. And the plight of scores of millions of non-Arab peoples like Kurds, Copts, Assyrians, Imazighen/"Berbers," Jews, and so forth--has become even more dangerous as a result. Many, many thousands have already fled abroad. Again, perhaps as the collective poster child for all of this, some forty million Kurds are still struggling for the same human and political rights in (at least) one federated or independent state that Arabs demand for themselves in almost two dozen others. It is for this reason that I devoted a good portion of my own book to the Kurdish cause (http://q4j-middle-east.com), and it is no accident that the book's Foreword was mostly written by the President of the Kurdistan National Assembly of Syria, Sherkoh Abbas. Given this change, current events in both Iraqi and Syrian Kurdistan are both worrisome and encouraging. The recent power vacuum, for instance, in Syria, with Assad being preoccupied with events elsewhere in the country, has allowed Kurds more freedom than they have ever known to date, at least in modern times. But they are caught in the middle between Sunni Arab Islamist forces (and Turkish supporters) and those of Shi'a Arab Alawis (and their Lebanese Hizbullah and Iranian supporters). In the end, however, no matter who comes out on top, almost all Arabs--regardless of stripe--will see the hopes of Kurds as they do that of the Jews and have called the birth of a potential "Kurdistan" another Israel. Arabs may kill Arabs and certainly do--but all agree that Kurds, Assyrians, Copts, "Berbers," and whomever else should remain the ruled while Arabs alone will be the rulers. And in case you haven't noticed, that's also the Arab-Israeli conflict in a nutshell. Add to these bloody, historical events in Syria the amazing, ongoing economic and political development of the KRG region in Iraq, the potential for conflict with Arabs there over the heartland of Kurdistan's oil, complications which arise due to the involvement of both Iran and Turkey, and the balancing act Kurds must engage in to mollify all parties involved. Keep in mind that such recent developments also have impacts on tens of millions of Kurds in those above non-Arab nations. Over one half of Iran consists of non-Iranian minorities suppressed to one degree or another. Millions of Kurds are among those folks--some being hung of late, many others slaughtered earlier. And according to the Turk's own stats, over 22 million (!!!) of its own citizens are Kurds, aka "Mountain Turks" (http://www.rudaw.net/english/kurds/5220.html). The relative good news discussed here is somewhat offset by the potential (if not necessarily likely) response in the long term of those in the majority who still want to suppress such progress--be they Turks, Arabs, or Iranians. Not long ago there were joint meetings between the three over how to handle their common Kurdish "headache." The question is, will the world stand by, yet again, and simply watch another slaughter? My guess, unfortunately, is yes. After all, Arabs are slaughtering Arabs daily in Iraq and Syria as well. Nevertheless, the plight of Kurds and all of these other long-oppressed peoples must finally be taken seriously-- and if that means having to redraw some post-World War I maps, then so be it. There was/is nothing sacred in at least most of those regional internal and/or external imperial lines to begin with. And despite Arab claims to the contrary, the whole region is not just "purely Arab patrimony." The creation of a more inclusive, tolerant, post-Assad Syria which allows for autonomous federated Alawi, Kurdish, Assyrian, Sunni, Druze, and possibly other states is light years ahead of what the American State Department-supported Arab Islamist opposition forces have in mind. For them, look at the Muslim Brotherhood's Egypt as the model. Ask some twelve million native, non-Arab/pre-Arab conquest Copts what they think of that idea. Again, it's long past due that we demand something better than the virtual bed partnership which has existed between the Foggy Folks and the Sunni Arab oil potentates over the good part of the past century. The policies of State towards a reborn Israel (fighting President Truman over its very resurrection) and the struggles of the Kurds have been virtually the same--and for many of the same reasons. General Schwartzkopf's disappointing response to the Arabs' repeated slaughter of Kurds would not have been necessary if the cause of this much used and abused people, promised independence after World War I, but then sacrificed via a collusion of British petroleum politics and Arab nationalism, had not been abandoned. My own heavily-documented doctoral studies detailed this travesty in depth over three decades ago. We continue to witness the tragic consequences of all of this today. There is still no "roadmap" for Kurdistan nor a "Quartet" demanding it. While some of the players have changed a bit over the past century in the new age of nationalism erupting in the region, the Kurds (along with the Imazighen/"Berbers" of North Africa) have remained the area's most numerous, stateless victims. On this issue, the Arabs are thus largely correct--the Kurds of today are the oppressed, often slaughtered, stateless Jews of yesterday. Recall that over half of Israel's Jewish population (and another million Jews who fled elsewhere) are from refugee families from the so-called "Arab"/Muslim world. Given all the above, it is time for all good people and nations to come forward and, as the Arabs and their supporters continuously act to create a 22nd state of their own, force the issue at a non-stop pace. The cause of scores of millions of truly stateless Kurds must finally continuously make it into the front pages, op-eds, and editorials of the mainstream media; onto course syllabi and required reading lists in academia; and into the halls of the United Nations and other world bodies the same way the demand for the creation of that additional Arab state does. And we must press forward despite the relentless opposition that such endeavors will receive from members of the Arab League, the Turks, Iranians, and others elsewhere--like those right here in the American State Department who still insist that Kurds remain tied to those who habitually subjugate and massacre them. Gerald Honigman is a Florida educator who has done extensive doctoral work in Middle East studies, has lectured on numerous university and other platforms. He has debated many of the best Arab and pro-Arab academics in public debates and on television. Mr. Honigman is widely published in academic journals, magazines, newspapers and other publications. Contact him at honigman6@msn.com |
PREDICTABLE DEVELOPMENTS IN SYRIA & EGYPTPosted by Economic Warfare Institute/American Center for Democracy, January 04, 2013 |
The article below was written by Ken Jensen who is associate director of the American Center for Democracy for its Economic Warfare Institute. Contact him at Economic Warfare Institute/American Center for Democracy at http://econwarfare.org |
Today and tomorrow, we turn back to the Middle East with a collection of articles that are a bit out of the mainstream news but important. Today's offerings are on Syria and Egypt SYRIA POUND FLOATS ON REBEL FUNDS J. Millard Burr has sent us an interesting Reuters piece that provides, as he says, an excellent example of economic warfare. The article's lede tells most of the story: "In Syria's eastern town of Deir al-Zor, a rebel commander flush with cash was swapping his dollars for Syrian pounds to pay fighters battling President Bashar al-Assad's forces. "Money changers said that influx of foreign currency earlier this month helped push the pound's black market rate in the impoverished town up by at least 10 percent. "Hundreds of kilometers away in Damascus, panicked Syrians bracing for more violence sold pounds for dollars, driving the pound, which has lost half its value since the anti-Assad uprising erupted in March last year, the other way. "The events at opposite ends of the country illustrate the contrasting pressures on a currency whose sharp decline has been cushioned by factors including central bank intervention, flows of cash from Assad's friends and foes abroad, and even long term hopes for a wave of foreign investment if Assad were to fall." The point of the Reuters story is that external cash flows to the rebels is party responsible for the Syrian pound's resilience. According to a Syrian banker, "'All the money sent to the opposition comes in foreign currency and this is supplying the market with dollars and keeping the pound afloat.'" However, the picture is more complicated than this. Read the piece and see what I mean. JIHAD MAKDISSI DEFECTS The Guardian UK has confirmed that the Syrian government's former spokesman, Jihad Makdissi, has defected and is in Washington cooperating with intelligence officials. The piece included today says that "Makdissi is the most senior member of the regime to defect since Syria's prime minister, Riyad Hijab, fled with his family to Jordan in August. While not a member of the inner sanctum, Makdissi was central to shaping the regime's message and privy to many of its most sensitive communications." GEN. VALLELY MEETS WITH OPPOSITION We've come across an odd little piece by one Scott Winchell on standupamericaus.org that reports that in July U.S. Major General Paul Vallely (Ret.) and a team from an organization called "SUA" (otherwise, not identified) met with, what the article calls, "the Syrian opposition on the ground." This is to distinguish it from the Syrian National Council (at the time). The piece seems to dub the Sunni opposition as the "real one," and disassociates it from al Qaeda. If anyone can tell us more about Vallely and this ground, I'm sure we'd all be most appreciative. AUSSIES TO SYRIA Our regular correspondent Ganesh Sahathevan in Sydney has sent us a piece from The Australian that indicates that more than 100 (largely Sunni) Australians have joined the civil war in Syria. Australian security agencies fear that these men would be "hardened with combat skills and training" and bring jihad back home to Australia. The piece also says that "The concerns come amid fears that hundreds of thousands of dollars a month are leaving Australia, bound for the conflict zone, with some flowing to rebel jihadists." JABHAT AL-NURSA'S PLANS Writing for Digital Journal, Katerina Nikolas illuminates an interview with the head of Syria's Jabhat Al Nusra, considered by many to be the most powerful opposition group fighting in the country now. Sheikh Abu Ahmed, its military commander, makes it clear that the group will push for a radical Islamist regime to replace Assad. The piece also notes that there are still some 1.8 million Christians in Syria. SYRIA ON TRACK TO ISLAMISM Fred Gedrich has sent us a Washington Times piece he's written on the political direction of things in Syria. Although he sees an eventual Sunni victory over the Assad regime, he believes that Washington may be able to help effect a regime of religious legal equality that isn't a threat to its neighbors. How that might happen, he doesn't say. EGYPT SOCIALIST CONSTITUTION It can be argued that the roots of contemporary Islamism lie as much in the legacy of socialism as they do in the writings of Sayyid Qutb. In the Middle East, Islamism in a sense grew out of the failure of socialism. In Europe, the Left, having run out of causes, turned to the championing of immigrants and Islamists took immediate advantage, adapting to the basic dispositions of the Left and taking over. But like nationalism, socialism didn't die out to be wholly replaced in the Middle East by whatever economic system advocates of Shari'a could dream up. In fact, Shari'a finance itself owes a great deal to socialism. Accordingly, I'm pleased to see that someone has noticed this. Bill Frezza, writing for Forbes, has produced a piece on the socialist tenets in Egypt's new constitution. And he lays them all out there for us to see. A full recipe for Egyptian economic disaster. Very useful, no? MB STILL SECRETIVE, DEFENSIVE Earlier in December, the Financial Times' Borzou Daragahi did a piece on the Muslim Brotherhood that reinforces one's sense that it is a proto- or crypto- or already-full-totalitarian party. That's useful, but hardly unique. Daragahi, however, does call our attention to something that can be used against those who still argue that "Egyptian democracy" will change the Brothers into classical liberals. Daragahi points out that, in power, the Brotherhood has become more secretive and "top-down" than ever. Considering that before the creation of the Freedom and Justice Party the Egyptian MB was run by seven individuals and that discipline in the ranks was strictly enforced, what the author says indicates that the challenges to the Brotherhood since taking power have only pushed it further in the totalitarian direction. We know that totalitarian parties can implode, especially when their economic programs fail, but will that happen in Egypt? The Telegraph UK's Robert Spencer, ostensibly writing about the Egyptian constitutional vote and the attitudes of the non-MB man on the street, produced a piece that points to the fundamental political problem of invoking Shari'a as a constitutional "inspiration" or informing principle. He reminds us that the old constitution obliged the Mubarak regime to follow the principles of Shari'a. The Mubarak regime was noted for turning "the Islamist tap" on and off at will, according to its short-term interests. Almost anything of an oppositional sort could be judged in violation of the spirit of Shari'a. Nothing has changed under the new constitutional draft that changes circumstances that have obtained (since 1937, in fact). Shari'a in Egypt is, as it was with Mubarak, "also simply a means of state repression." ITEM 1a: Katerina Nikolas: Jabhat Al-Nursa's plans for a new Syria under sharia http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/339685 Dec 23, 2012 Jabhat Al Nusra has emerged as the most powerful fighting group amidst the Syrian rebel opposition. The Islamist group has outlined its plans to impose sharia law once President Assad is ousted. Sheikh Abu Ahmed, military commander of Jabhat Al Nusra, spoke with a reporter from the National. The Salafist leader said: "Our first goal is to get rid of Assad. Then we want a state where the Quran is the only source of law. Sharia is the right path for all humanity - all other laws make people unhappy." His vision of Syria under sharia is sure to make the populace happy, with alcohol, tobacco, cinema and immoral television shows banned. Ahmed claimed the people "will get used to it eventually." Al Qaeda has endorsed Al Nursa as the purest Islamic group in Syria. Abu Ahmed also said the minority groups including Christians and Alawites will have nothing to fear under sharia law. However, Christians in Syria are alarmed, fearing their religious freedoms will be abolished, Persecution.Org reported. Syria's new Greek Orthodox leader, Youhanna al-Yaziji, has appealed for the 1.8 million Christians to stay in Syria. Naharnet reported the Patriarch said "We Christians are here in the country and we will stay here. We believe that Christ is always present in this region, which is where Christianity was born." ITEM 2a: Fred Gedrich: Syria on track to become Islamic
state. Shariah law threatens democracy, stability
Wednesday, January 2, 2013 The conflict raging in Syria for 20-plus months to oust Bashar Assad from power has evolved into a sectarian battle for Middle East supremacy by two ancient enemies: Sunni and Shiite Muslims. Sunni rebels appear poised for victory. It's vitally important for the Obama administration to discourage a new Syrian government from supplanting the secular dictatorship with a more dangerous regime based on Islamic law. Another Islamic state in the Middle East could threaten regional residents with more religious tyranny, perpetual war with neighbors and another caliphate. Syria's Sunni Muslims, who comprise nearly 75 percent of the country's 22.5 million people, sparked the uprising by demanding more freedom and a greater role in government from Mr. Assad's oppressive minority Alawite regime. Mr. Assad responded with a brutal military crackdown. Demonstrations spread and escalated into full-fledged war involving other countries and foreign fighters, mostly along religious lines. This almost exclusively Muslim-on-Muslim conflict has claimed 60,000 civilian and warring-faction lives and displaced an estimated 2.5 million people. At stake is a historically prized, diversely populated and strategically important land. Syria's rich history dates back 4,500 years. Its population includes Muslims, Alawites, Kurds, Christians, Druze, Turkmen and Palestinians. Moreover, it borders Israel, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and the Mediterranean Sea. Since 1971, it has been ruled by the Assad family's Baathist dictatorship, Hafez and then his son Bashar. Here are some particulars about the main warring parties: Alawites (members of a Shiite Muslim offshoot) represent about 12 percent of the population, yet occupy most of Mr. Assad's top military and government posts. They are also Mr. Assad's most trusted, best-armed and best-trained military components and serve as shabiha paramilitary (irregular) enforcers against his enemies. Iran's Shiite regime is Mr. Assad's most important ally in the Middle East. It supplies Mr. Assad's security forces with arms, ammunition, missiles, fighters and trainers mostly via the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds force. Iran's most lethal terrorist proxy, Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah, also has joined the fight on Mr. Assad's side. The loss of the Syrian alliance will be a devastating setback for Iran's regional ambitions, especially because it serves as a strategic gateway for this non-Arab state to other Arab countries, Palestinian refugee camps, the West Bank, Gaza, Syrian seaports and Israel's border. Sunni Muslim rebels (about 100 local militias filled with many Syrian military defectors) form the opposition's core and operate under various non-unified umbrellas such as the Free Syrian Army and National Coalition of Revolution and Opposition Forces. Opposition forces also include transnational Sunni Muslim Brotherhood and Salafi units, as well as al Qaeda affiliates. Arms are supplied openly to rebel units by Middle Eastern states such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey that promote Sunni interests and, to varying degrees, interests of Sunni Islamists. Muslims consider the dominion of Islam - with a man serving as temporal or spiritual successor to the Prophet Muhammad - as the central pillar of their global-domination political program. Sunnis and Shiites disagree sharply on which of them, and who, should lead. They agree that the prime basis of governance and administration of justice should be Islamic (Shariah) law as enunciated in the Koran and traditions of Muhammad, and further elaborated by classical Muslim legists. Many Westerners, including President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, argue that the Arab Spring is bringing democratic transition to Arab world countries such as Egypt, Libya and Tunisia. After elections, however, the democratic model envisioned by many of them with similar political rights and civil liberties as free-world nations instead are progressing toward intolerant Shariah-based models. Therein lies a major problem and danger. Shariah is incompatible with democratic theory. As implemented and practiced by many Muslims, it totally subordinates women and mandates many other human rights violations, such as relegating non-Muslim minorities to a much lower legal status than Muslims and dispensing cruel and unusual punishment. It also rejects freedom of speech and conscience and mandates aggressive jihad until the world is brought under Islamic hegemony. Americans will welcome the fall of the Assad dictatorship and with it the end of the Syrian-Iranian alliance. The U.S.-designated terrorist state duo and their terrorist proxies are responsible for a three-decade Middle East rampage of mayhem and death that also took many American lives. However, U.S. and regional security will not be enhanced if a Sunni Islamic state with caliphate aspirations rises from the ashes of the Assad regime's ruins. Ideas abound on what the United States could best do to facilitate a more peaceful Syria and Greater Middle East when Mr. Assad falls. One bold action Mr. Obama could take is to publicly urge new Syrian leaders to install a government that promotes gender, ethnic and religious legal equality, outlaws cruel and unusual punishment and isn't a threat to neighbors. Fred Gedrich, who served in the departments of State and Defense, is a foreign policy and national security analyst. ITEM 3a: Scott Winchell: MG Vallely meets with Syrian Opposition Leaders http://www.standupamericaus.org/breaking-news/mg-vallely-meets-with-syrian-opposition-leaders/ July 2, 2012 Does anyone really know what is going on in Syria? Who are the combatants? Who is supporting the regime, both internally and externally? Who is supporting the opponents of the regime of Bashar al-Assad? Where is aid actually going and why? With so much conflicting information, it's very hard for anyone, including our own intelligence and diplomatic services to understand the composition of the 'freedom fighters', their needs, and the forces they face, internally and externally. One thing we do know, there are parties here in the US and in other capitols that have the ear of the administrations and have vested interests in the region. However, these are not the interests of the people on the ground actually fighting. The Syrian National Council (SNC) has a PR firm working for them, but not for the true freedom fighters. A man named Ausma Monajed speaks and lobbies for the SNC, but who lobbies for the people on the ground? Due to the fact that these questions, ones the State Department, the White House, the Armed Services Committee, and others cannot or will not answer, MG Paul E. Vallely, US Army (ret.) and his team accepted an invitation to go on a fact finding mission to the region to see this first hand, and they just returned on Friday, June 30. With the team's long and robust relationship in the Middle East, they met with key leaders of Syrian opposition forces at the border of Turkey and Syria, and toured the area. SUA was able to glean much information on the Syrian struggle from the team, including the political situation in Turkey and in the entire region. It is with this type of information that SUA ensures that policy makers listen, they will prevent taking the wrong path diplomatically, and committing the same mistakes seen in Libya and Egypt. It is also apparent now, that the opposition forces certainly have a voice now, heretofore deprived of them in the halls of power. That voice is MG Vallely. They asked the General to accompany them to Turkey to see and hear firsthand, to meet with those without voices, and to offer guidance in achieving aid for the people. Once in Antakya, Turkey they were interviewed by Turkish, and other regional media outlets as the first private team to come to the region to research and evaluate the situation inside Syria. They also visited a refugee camp in Hatay Province near Antakya. A tour was arranged to bring the team to the border (See Video #1) to talk with the leaders of the freedom fighters and determine what they needed, and what the facts were regarding the struggle; to learn just who is who inside the opposition forces. Now they are trusted friends. Leaders from Homs and Idlib came across the border that day specifically to meet the General and his team at their own peril. There were also leaders from other locations inside the battle zones of Syria among the more than 40 leaders who attended, including the Mayor. These leaders were predominantly from the Syrian Liberation Army (SLA) and the Free Syrian Army (FSA). There is a distinction, one the world seems to overlook. SUA asks why? More on this later. Initially, they openly expressed amazement that this man, a retired general would risk so much to come and see them; to listen to them, as a private citizen of the USA. They were very adamant about this point because he was the first private American to come see them, and they expressed a great distrust of Americans prior. They were quickly endeared and ready to talk for hours, and they did. A meeting area was set up, and Vallely and Qdemati answered their questions and spoke of what most of America thinks. They also listened, a new thing for these leaders: to be listened too. (See Video #2 below) They described their plight and their plans for an emerging Syria, one without Assad and his thugs in charge any longer. They also described that the Sunnis are united, and al Qaeda is not helping them. They know there is much misinformation out in the public, and they are incensed that their message is not being heard, or even cultivated. It is also clear to them, that others are getting credit for their deeds, yet they get no help. They know they do not have those kinds of connections in DC and the UN. They do know at this time though; that they must work together for the time being to erase the current regime, then tackle their permanent future despite their differences. They are deeply saddened, that no one is consulting them about their future, as if they are children in need of direction from other world leaders and the UN. The world is ignoring the 20 million Sunnis of Syria. Kofi Annan is not respected, nor liked. They distrust the UN and its leadership. The Sunnis described the carnage and attacks as an attempt at 'ethnic cleansing' mainly in the Lattakia province in the Kurdish mountains where the regime forces are clearing 12 Sunni villages. They are systematically being expunged from their ancestral homes in a most heinous fashion by Shiites and their allies (Including Alawites who are Shiia). They explained that soon, when times of last resort arrive, they know chemical weapons will be used and they know where they are. The problem is, they possess almost no defensive equipment for such an eventuality, and are woefully deficient in medicines, food, and other logistics just to survive. They described a need for securing pathways for humanitarian aid to be provided along the Turkish border. To this end, MG Vallely gave them a tactical plan on how to establish and secure these pathways with the aid of the Turks and other supporters. They asked Vallely to spread the word, to be their voice in America. A confidence and trust developed, one that opened a line of communication, and the dialogue now continues. Vallely pledged to continue to spread their voice, now for world leaders to actually listen. In addition to the insight on Syria, MG Vallely and his team evaluated the political climate in Turkey as well. They spoke with the common people in their homes. What they heard was not a surprise, but it validated previous inquiries. MG Vallely has constituted a detailed report and pledged to bring their voices to leadership in the US, to offset that of the powerful Middle Eastern interests, like those who have worked for, and have the ear of the White House. More on this to follow as well. ITEM 4a: Suleiman Al-Khalidi (Reuters): Syria's war-battered
pound floats on rebel funds
AMMAN | Sun Dec 23, 2012 8:02am EST (Reuters) - In Syria's eastern town of Deir al-Zor, a rebel commander flush with cash was swapping his dollars for Syrian pounds to pay fighters battling President Bashar al-Assad's forces. Money changers said that influx of foreign currency earlier this month helped push the pound's black market rate in the impoverished town up by at least 10 percent. Hundreds of kilometers away in Damascus, panicked Syrians bracing for more violence sold pounds for dollars, driving the pound, which has lost half its value since the anti-Assad uprising erupted in March last year, the other way. The events at opposite ends of the country illustrate the contrasting pressures on a currency whose sharp decline has been cushioned by factors including central bank intervention, flows of cash from Assad's friends and foes abroad, and even long term hopes for a wave of foreign investment if Assad were to fall. By comparison, Iran, Assad's staunchest regional ally, has seen its own currency fall more sharply than Syria's, losing about two-thirds of its value since June 2011 because of Western sanctions imposed over Tehran's disputed nuclear program. Damascus-based currency dealer Abdullah Abu Saloum, who also has an office in Deir al-Zor, said the rebel fighter's cash was one of many anomalies affecting Syria's foreign exchange market. "There was a large quantity of dollars that were offered for sale at an attractive price," he said, adding ruefully that he was not able to capitalize on the opportunity because the ongoing violence, which has killed more than 40,000 people, prevented him transferring pounds from Damascus to Deir al-Zor. "When problems grow, people decide to buy dollars, not sell dollars, but this is what Syria's conflict is producing -- all types of distortions and contradictions." The pound is trading at 94 to the dollar on the black market compared to 48 before the uprising - a steep fall but less calamitous than might be expected given the devastating loss of state revenues and long term damage wrought by the conflict. TIPPING POINT It hit a record low of 105 to the dollar earlier this year before recovering slightly, even allowing the central bank to recoup some losses from its heavy intervention by buying back dollars as they eased slightly, bankers say. A banker in a Damascus-based subsidiary of a regional bank said cash flows to the Deir al-Zor rebel commander and his comrades were partly responsible for the pound's resilience. "All the money sent to the opposition comes in foreign currency and this is supplying the market with dollars and keeping the pound afloat," he said. Assad's foreign backers have also helped. "The only logical explanation why the regime is able to defend the pound ... is the aid it is primarily getting from Iran," said Samir Seifan, a prominent Syrian economist living abroad, adding that Russia and Iraq were also providing support. Iraq's Shi'ite government has "opened its trade, helping the country get foreign currency", he said. Baghdad has given preferential access to Syrian exports since the crisis, making it Syria's main trading partner as Gulf and Turkish flows dry up. CENTRAL BANK MOVES At one stage last year, Syria's central bank supplied dollars relatively freely to stabilize the exchange rate; bankers estimated it spent an average $500 million every month. It also sought to manage a multi-tier exchange regime as part of its efforts to stem the decline - including one for importers buying raw materials and another set daily by the Central Bank to cover other financial transactions. But the intervention came at a price. Syrian officials say Central Bank reserves stood at around $18 billion before the crisis, and regional bankers say those reserves have diminished by at least a half to around $8 billion. As the crisis deepens, authorities' ability to maintain the pound's relative stability is being strained, with signs that the central bank is less able to intervene effectively, several exchange dealers contacted by telephone from Damascus said. "The Central Bank is no longer pumping dollars. The supply is low and the demand is high from the black market, so the dollar has gone up," Wael Halawani, a money changer in the main Seven Lakes business area in central Damascus said. In the last month alone, as the conflict reached the edge of Assad's power base in Damascus, the pound shed 15 percent. Bankers said the absence of central bank response was notable. To conserve scarce foreign reserves, the monetary authorities have also stopped selling up to $5,000 to Syrians at preferential rates for personal use, undermining a key hallmark of the multi-tier exchange rate regime. They had already halved the entitlement from $10,000, and also priced the exchange rate for personal use closer to the black market rate, said one exchange dealer. Even importers, who are supposed to have priority access to foreign currency at around 77 pounds to the dollar, said they were finding it hard to get hold of dollars. Last month the Central Bank sought to give the state-run Commercial Bank of Syria exclusive rights on foreign exchange after complaints that currency dealers were exploiting the discounted import rate to sell on to the black market. "They would take dollars and not channel them to real importers. We would go to a leading exchange dealer who would say 'Dollars in such quantities are not available', and in fact they would have taken $3 million and hoarded it," said a prominent importer of foodstuffs. But bankers say the move to curb currency dealerships just put more pressure on the pound at a time when central bank intervention had fallen sharply from around $15 million a day. "For almost a month they have been injecting no more than $1 million a day and this is not helping the pound," said a banker. The cumulative impact of reduced intervention and a move away from the multi-tier exchange rage could bring Syria closer to allowing its official rate to fall to the prevailing market rates and may amount to a recognition that reserves could no longer be run down rapidly to defend the currency, bankers said. But rebel funds are taking over in large parts of Syria. "As long as there are large infusions of dollars coming to the rebels there will not be a total collapse of the Syrian currency and only if it dries up then we will see a free fall of the currency and we will see increasing dollarization of the economy," said Samir Aita, a prominent Syrian economist who before the uprising was involved in economic decisionmaking. Some businessmen see a gleam of hope if the conflict can be brought to a close, either by a political deal or a military victory by the rebels who are backed by wealthy Gulf Arab states. Many expatriate Syrian businessmen who transferred their wealth abroad during 40 years of rule by Assad and his father, late President Hafez al-Assad, would be likely to repatriate some of their savings. Syria, often cut off from international finance over the last four decades, could also attract significant international inflows of money. "The important thing is, what solution is on the horizon?" a Damascus investor said. "There will be reconstruction and if one of the solutions is that someone like Qatar says 'we will pick up the bill and inject investments' then the pound will rise." "One of the extreme scenarios is that if Qatar wants to gain the good will of Syrians then you will see the dollar go down to 40 pounds," said the investor who gave his first name as Wasim and has wide investments in the hotel and banking sectors. ITEM 5a: Martin Chulov (Guardian UK): Senior
Syrian official in US and co-operating with intelligence
agencies. Guardian understands that US intelligence
officials helped Jihad Makdissi to flee, though details of
journey are unknown
Monday 24 December 2012 12.57 EST The Syrian government's former spokesman, Jihad Makdissi, is co-operating with US intelligence officials who helped him flee to Washington almost one month ago, the Guardian understands. Makdissi became one of the most prominent regime defectors in late November when he left Beirut after first crossing from Syria. The Guardian reported at the time that he had fled for the US, possibly in return for asylum. This has now been confirmed. The latest development comes after almost a month of debriefings, which have helped intelligence officials build a picture of decision-making in the inner sanctum of the embattled regime. Syrian officials have denied that Makdissi has defected, saying he had instead taken three months of administrative leave. However, at the time of his departure, Hezbollah's television network in Beirut - not known to be out of step with the regime line - announced that the spokesman's views had strayed from official positions and that he had been fired. The state department did not respond immediately to requests for comment, and the CIA was unwilling to discuss the story. Makdissi is the most senior member of the regime to defect since Syria's prime minister, Riyad Hijab, fled with his family to Jordan in August. While not a member of the inner sanctum, Makdissi was central to shaping the regime's message and privy to many of its most sensitive communications. Makdissi, a former senior diplomat at the Syrian embassy in London, worked closely with foreign minister, Walid al-Mouallem and information minister, Adnan Mahmoud, whom he dealt with regularly as security steadily decayed over the past 18 months. Despite the worsening situation, the Syrian security establishment has remained largely intact and committed to defeating the armed insurrection that aims to topple it. Key decision makers in Syria are largely drawn from the Alawite sect, to which Bashar al-Assad belongs. Intelligence officials in states that are hostile to the regime are not known to have close links to the inner sanctum. Until recently, debriefings of Hijab and former general, Manaf Tlass, both Sunni Muslims, have been instrumental in shaping western views of how decisions are taken in Syria and the influence of foreign stakeholders. Details of Makdissi's journey to the US are not yet known, although Britain has previously denied that he arrived in the UK after fleeing Beirut. Lebanese officials had previously suggested he was either staying with his family in a Christian area near Beirut or had been captured and returned to Syria. ITEM 6a: Paul Maley, Cameron Stewart: Australians Rush
to Join Way in Syria
AUSTRALIAN security agencies believe more than 100 Australians have joined the civil war in Syria, sparking fears the conflict could produce a wave of home-grown jihadists hardened with combat skills and training. The concerns come amid fears that hundreds of thousands of dollars a month are leaving Australia, bound for the conflict zone, with some flowing to rebel jihadists. The Australian Federal Police's deputy commissioner in charge of national security, Peter Drennan, confirmed the Syrian conflict had resulted in a spike in the number of Australians travelling overseas to fight. "For several years we have seen individuals who plan to, or (do), travel overseas to train and fight as terrorists," Mr Drennan told The Weekend Australian. "These have been relatively few, but even one is a concern. With increased areas of conflict in the Middle East and North Africa, we have seen an increase in the numbers, albeit still low, of Australians travelling overseas to be involved in these conflicts. The most recent conflict attracting Australians is Syria." "These individuals then return with training in the use of weapons and explosives and experience fighting in armed conflict," Mr Drennan said. "The individuals could well use these skills and knowledge for terrorism in Australia." There are concerns the war, which has pitted Syria's Sunni majority against the minority Alawite regime of Bashar al-Assad, could stoke religious divisions in the migrant heartlands of Melbourne and Sydney. The Weekend Australian has been told security officials put the number of Australians suspected to have travelled to the Syrian and northern Lebanon theatres at "more than 100". Officials suspect they may be participating in the conflict in a variety of roles, including as combatants. The passage of Australians to Syria is part of a general Islamification of the Syrian opposition movement, which has seen thousands of foreign fighters pour across Syria's northern, southern and eastern borders to participate in the fighting. Syria's main opposition group is the Free Syrian Army, a secular armed fighting force for the Syrian Opposition Coalition, which has been officially recognised by Australia, France, the US and Britain. Fighting alongside the FSA, which has sought to distance itself from the extremist groups, are a range of Islamist factions. They include conservative, but mainstream, Salafist groups as well as hardcore jihadists with international links. One of those groups, Jabhat al-Nusra, was recently listed as a terrorist organisation by the US due to its links with al-Qa'ida in Iraq. US officials credit al-Nusra with more than 600 attacks across Syria, including the summary execution of prisoners. In a sign of how prominent the Islamists have become in the Syrian opposition, al-Nusra boasts about 7000 fighters and has become one of the most effective military brigades in the fight against the Assad regime. Aside from the risk of injury or death, Mr Drennan said Australians who travelled to foreign hotspots risked being prosecuted in Australia for terrorism or foreign incursion offences carrying penalties of between seven and 20 years' jail. Australian officials say the Syrian uprising represents the first time al-Qa'ida has played a frontline fighting role in the Arab Spring, which began in December 2010. They believe Australians have been drawn to the conflict mainly for two reasons: sectarian loyalty with their fellow Sunnis or the desire to wage jihad. The latter reason is of most concern to counter terrorism officials. Mindful of the precedent set in Afghanistan during the 1980s, when the struggle against Soviet occupation produced a generation of well-trained, highly radical jihadists who would later wage war against the West, officials worry the Syrian cause could produce a crop of Islamists with combat skills and training. They stress the problem is not yet on the same scale as the Soviet jihad nor are there indications any of the returned Australians have evinced a desire to attack targets in Australia. They add that community leaders in Sydney and Melbourne have been quick to recognise the threat to social cohesion that the conflict poses and for the most part have been effective in quelling sectarian tensions. Most of those known to have travelled to Syria are Lebanese dual nationals who enter Syria via northern Lebanon. However, other dual nationals are suspected to have travelled to the conflict zone. Although separated by a line on the map, the territory around southern Syria and northern Lebanon forms a single cultural community. Many of Australia's Sunni Lebanese citizens have family in northern Lebanon which, like Syria, has been wracked by periodic outbursts of sectarian fighting since the uprising began 21 months ago. Two Australians are known to have been killed in Syria, apparently while taking part in the fighting. Sydney sheik Mustapha al-Majzoub was killed in a rocket attack in August. His supporters said he was conducting humanitarian work, but counter-terrorism officials contacted by The Weekend Australian confirmed he was a known extremist. In October, Melbourne kickboxer Roger Abbas was killed, according to his family, after he was caught in crossfire while carrying out humanitarian work. Abbas had posted on a Facebook tribute page set up to honour al-Majzoub. ITEM 7a: Borzou Daragahi (Financial Times): In power, Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood remains secretive, defensive, critics say http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/in-power-egypts-muslim-brotherhood-remains-secretive-defensive-critics-say/2012/12/10/31234f22-42fa-11e2-8061-253bccfc7532_story.html CAIRO - For years, Mohamed el-Gebba bristled under the dictates of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, the secretive and hierarchical organization he had embraced as a teenager, only to be told by his elders that it could not emerge as either a real political party or a bona fide charity under the rule of Hosni Mubarak. But even after Mubarak was overthrown in last year's revolution, Gebba said, he found that the Brotherhood refused to open up and that, in many ways, it became less transparent once it began to acquire real political power. Protests in Egypt. A decree issued by Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi giving the military temporary authority to arrest civilians and protect "vital facilities of the state" took effect Monday, as a standoff continued over a Dec. 15 referendum on a controversial draft constitution and more protests were called for Tuesday. "You have seven people who are all the time managing the Muslim Brotherhood," said Gebba, who broke with the group last year after 12 years as a member. "Now they think they can manage Egypt in the same way." The downfall of Mubarak's regime raised hopes that the Brotherhood would abandon decades of opacity to embrace the pro-democracy spirit of the Arab spring revolts. But as President Mohamed Morsi, a former leader of the group, attempts to push through a constitution roundly rejected by liberals, leftists, Christians and secularists, critics say the Brotherhood's autocratic tendencies have come to the fore. "The Muslim Brotherhood needs to understand that democracy is not just a way to gain power but an end in itself," Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, a former Brotherhood leader who broke with the group last year to pursue a presidential run, told an audience at the University of Chicago last month. On Monday, Aboul Fotouh urged his supporters to vote against the constitution in Saturday's referendum. Most liberal groups have called for a boycott of the plebiscite. After a week of unrest in which seven people have died and hundreds have been injured, Morsi on Monday gave the Egyptian army, against which the Brotherhood struggled for decades, powers of arrest over civilians and the authority to oversee Saturday's constitutional referendum. In part, as even critics of the Brotherhood acknowledge, the withering attack on the organization by liberals, the private media, former supporters of Mubarak and the powerful judiciary has only entrenched the group's leadership. "Now what's happening is the opposition is putting pressure on them in a way that makes them less democratic," said Ibrahim Zafarani, a former member of the Brotherhood who now leads a small moderate Islamist party. "That forces them to close in on themselves and become more defensive." Upon his election, Morsi resigned from leadership positions in the Brotherhood and vowed to be a president to all Egyptians. But as Egypt's crisis has deepened, the lines delineating the Brotherhood organization, its political arm, the Freedom and Justice party, and the presidency have blurred. "For better or worse the Brotherhood has become more intertwined with Morsi," said Shadi Hamid, of the Brookings Doha Center, a think-tank. "In his more autonomous months as president, Mr. Morsi said he was independent of the Brotherhood. But now is a time to close ranks." Last Wednesday, Brotherhood loyalists, wearing motorcycle helmets and wielding clubs, marched in formation towards a protest at the presidential palace in an attempt to crush Morsi's opponents physically. Gebba said even though the Brotherhood leadership severely frowns upon the use of violence or weapons, the militants "must have had the permission" of those higher up to take such a visible step in defence of the presidency. The Freedom and Justice party stated it was forced to take to the streets, "in partnership with a number of national and popular parties, groups and movements," in order "to protect the legality and legitimacy of the elected Egyptian president and popular will." To defend Morsi, and perhaps bolster his sometimes choppy rhetoric on the political stump, both Muhammad Badie, the famously reclusive supreme guide of the Brotherhood, and its powerful number two, Khairat el-Shater, appeared live in rare, lengthy press conferences on Saturday. "How can I rule Egypt when I cannot even protect my own office," Badie said, denouncing allegations that the Brotherhood's leaders control Morsi and referring to a series of attacks on the group's offices. Regardless of the ability of Morsi and his allies to run Egypt, the president appears for now to be largely consulting his most fervent loyalists. Token liberal and Christian advisers have all abandoned him, and most opposition leaders have refused to meet him until he delays the constitutional referendum. The impression that Morsi is listening almost exclusively to his Islamist political base was reinforced by his surprise decision on Sunday to announce the imposition of new taxes on everything from mobile phone calls and beer to fertilizer, only to rescind the decision 12 hours later following public criticism by the Freedom and Justice party. Critics of the Brotherhood point out that under Mubarak, the Brotherhood exhibited a high degree of pragmatism in order to survive as an organization, and say that staying in power remains Morsi's preoccupation. "The Brotherhood wants power more than money or ideology," charged Gebba. "To achieve that, they will make a deal with evil." ITEM 8a: Richard Spencer: Egypt constitutional vote:
'Things are definitely worse than under the old regime'
As Egyptians vote on whether to adopt the new constitution, Richard Spencer talks to those promoting the new rules - and those fearful of what is to come. Cairo 3:14PM GMT 22 Dec 2012 When Alber Saber's mother called police to protect him from a mob baying for his blood, something odd happened: they arrested him. They then threw him in prison, encouraged his cellmates to attack him, and finally took him to court where he was jailed for three months. Mr Saber's alleged offence was all the more significant in light of the new constitution - being voted on by millions of Egyptians on Saturday - that is at the heart of Egypt's political crisis. The mob in his Cairo suburb accused him of atheism and disrespect of the Prophet Mohammed, and demanded he be killed; a neighbour had alleged he had posted to his Facebook page the now notorious Islam-mocking video that triggered protests across the world in September. His mother, Kariman Ghali, cries frequently as she describes visiting him in prison the day after the mob surrounded their apartment block. "He had blood all over his T-shirt," said Mrs Ghali, who claims her son was put in a wing reserved for dangerous inmates. "The policeman told the prisoners, 'This guy insulted the Prophet, I want to see what you can do with him.' Someone stabbed him with a razor." He was then taken to another cell where the inmates were urged to see if they could outdo the first set. Some 250,000 police and soldiers were deployed across Egypt on Saturday to protect voting in the second half of the referendum on the draft constitution, which was drawn up by an Islamist-dominated panel from which Christians and liberals had withdrawn in protest. Among the many charges levelled against the constitution by both human rights groups, secular and liberal activists, and the Coptic Christian minority, is that its defence of basic freedoms is heavily curtailed when i t comes to religion and politics. Specifically, it will forbid any law that would permit anything deemed insulting either of people or of religion, the Prophet Mohammed or the other figures considered by Islam to be God's messengers. Such a clause could clearly have a chilling effect on free thinking and speech. Demonstrations continued right to the eve of Saturday's vote, which was expected to lead to a clear but not convincing victory both for the constitution - drafted by an overwhelmingly Islamist assembly - and for President Mohammed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood backers, who have pushed it through. In the first phase of voting in the split referendum last weekend, 57 per cent backed the document, albeit with a low turnout, and a similar result was expected on Saturday. Yet many are alarmed that it will further enshrine an intolerance that is already on the rise. "Things are definitely worse than under the old regime," said Gamal Eid, of the Arabic Human Rights Initiative. "It is because of the Islamists having power - their sense that they have won." That is only part of the story. Despite regular descriptions of ex-President Hosni Mubarak's old dictatorship as "secular", it too made Egypt a country constitutionally obliged to follow the "principles of Sharia". The laws it promulgated were wide enough and flexible enough to turn the Islamist tap on and off at will, according to the Mubarak's regime's short-term interests. Blasphemy laws have been in place since 1937, and can be used to defend Christianity as well as Islam. But in practice the law was deployed regularly, both as a sop to the Muslim Brotherhood and also simply as a means of state repression. Nevertheless, Mr Eid says there is a sense that religion can now be invoked to pursue any manner of grievances, in a way designed to emphasise a conservative vision of society. In one case he has taken up, an 18-year-old girl from a provincial village was arrested for blasphemy after a row with her mother and brother, who had discovered she had met a boyfriend after going away to university. It was the girl who had complained to the police first, alleging that her mother and brother had beaten her, but when questioned, the mother claimed the girl had cursed her and cursed her religion. That was enough for the police to switch the focus of their attention. Until the start of the referendum campaign, it appeared that this tightening of personal freedoms was at least going to be kept within a legal framework. Events since have brought this into question. A lot changed on the night of December 5. During the afternoon, a group of Muslim Brotherhood supporters swept down on a tent encampment outside the presidential palace, occupied by anti-Morsi protesters, and tore them down. The counter-demonstration that evening was violent and bloody, with both sides hurling stones at each other, and the Muslim Brotherhood claiming that several of its members were shot dead. But also disturbing was the role earlier of what appeared to be a Muslim Brotherhood militia who seized protesters off the streets and took them for their own "interrogation" before handing them over to police. "After they caught me they dragged me away and started threatening me," said Walid al-Ganzouri, no youthful stone-thrower but a 35-year-old, British educated engineer. "They said they were going to kill me, and started beating me up." Along with scores of others, he was eventually handed over, bruised and with cuts to his head, to the prosecution service, which released them for lack of evidence. This did not stop Mr Morsi, during a late-night address, saying that "evidence from confessions" obtained from some of those seized showed they were plotting against the government. This talk of a coup has been used to heighten the atmosphere in ways that stretch beyond the politics of the constitution itself. A preacher linked to the Brotherhood, Safwat Hegazi, for example, was not disavowed by the movement after he threatened in a speech to "splash Christians with blood" if they tried to join in attempts to bring Mr Morsi down. Gehad el-Haddad, a senior Brotherhood adviser, told The Sunday Telegraph that he accepted that there had been "inflammatory language" on all sides. But he said the Brotherhood's supporters had been forced to act against the protesters because the police had refused to do so. It is true that the loyalty of the police has been in doubt since their leaders were arrested after last year's overthrow of Mr Mubarak. Some of those opposed to Mr Morsi, and the constitution, are undoubtedly prominent Christians. But a "no" vote of at least 43 per cent in last week's part of the referendum vote suggests that opposition also runs deep among many Muslims. Mr Saber is of Christian origin too, something that lends extra concern to his case. But his mother claimed that was less relevant than the active positions he took. She says he was really seized because he had posted a photo on his Facebook page of a banner in Tahrir Square accusing the Brotherhood of having hijacked last year's revolution. His jail sentence was imposed for atheism despite no evidence being found of his ever having posted the video. Last weekend, he was released on bail pending an appeal. "The verdict was an absolute inquisition," Mrs Ghali said. "They didn't listen to the lawyers' defence." She is now joining the protests outside the palace. "This is not only for my son's case - but also for all our sons' futures." ITEM 9a: Bill Frezza: Forget Sharia, The New Egyptian
Constitution Enshrines Socialism
12/19/2012 @ 9:48AM Thousands of Egyptian demonstrators march through the streets of Cairo to protest against Egypt's Islamist President Mohamed Morsi's power grab, on November 23, 2012. Egypt's Islamist President Mohamed Morsi has assumed temporary sweeping powers that supporters say will cut back a turbulent and seemingly endless transition to democracy, but outraged critics say he has now become a dictator. (Image credit: AFP/Getty Images via @daylife) It isn't every day that the world gets to watch the birth of a new constitutional democracy. As the political drama in the land of the Pharaohs unfolds, the Western commentariat seems totally focused on the extent to which Egypt's new constitution will be informed by Sharia law. Alas, nary a peep can be heard about a far greater threat to Egypt's freedom and prosperity. The drafters of the new Egyptian constitution are blessed with having the history of two centuries of constitutional democracies to study. Evidence abounds on what works and what doesn't, of which economic policies lead to rapid growth and which to stagnation and bankruptcy. Yet with all this information at their fingertips, the Egyptian people appear set to go to the polls to endorse ... socialism. Let's peel back the draft Egyptian constitution and count the ways in which it paves the road to ruin. PART I: Chapter Three: Economic Principles Article 14 National economy shall be organized in accordance with a comprehensive, constant development plan, ensuring the increase of national income, enhancement of standard of living, elimination of poverty and unemployment, increase of work opportunities, and increase of production. The development plan shall establish social justice and solidarity, ensure equitable distribution, protect consumer rights, and safeguard the rights of workers, dividing development costs between capital and labor and sharing the revenues justly. Wages shall be linked to production, bridging income gaps and establishing a minimum wage that would guarantee decent living standards for all citizens, and a maximum wage in civil service positions with exemptions regulated by law. Bang, right out of the blocks-a centrally planned economy. No doubt this will be managed by just and wise bureaucrats, appointed on their merits and without regard to connections, and magically immune to graft-given how corruption is so rare in Egypt's political culture. How could central planners possibly fail with all the tools the constitution puts at their disposal, like wage and price controls, unconstrained income redistribution, and centralized allocation of capital? Article 15 Agriculture is an essential asset of the national economy. The State shall protect and increase farmland, work on the development of crop and plant varieties, develop and protect animal breeds and fisheries, achieve food security, provide the requirements of agricultural production, its good management and marketing, and support agricultural industries. The law regulates the use of land, in such a way as to achieve social justice, and protect farmers and agricultural laborer from exploitation. A centralized farm policy, no doubt based on its long track record of success in other democracies. I wonder how long it will be before the Egyptians build their first cheese cave? Article 17 Industry is an essential asset of the national economy. The State shall protect strategic industries, support industrial development, and import new technologies and their applications. Long live protectionism! And whose businesses do you think will be declared "strategic," earning the right to be shielded from competition? Only your lobbyist-or uncle ensconced in a government ministry-knows for sure. Article 18 The natural resources of the State belong to the people, who have a right to their revenues. The State is committed to preserving such resources for future generations and putting them to good use. Communal ownership of all natural resources. No private investment or development here! Prospectors be gone, Allah forbid that the one large Arab country not awash in oil might encourage entrepreneurs to search for shale gas deposits. Article 27 Workers shall have a share of the management and profits of enterprises. They shall be committed in turn to the development of production, to protecting its means and to the implementation of plans in their production units, in accordance with the law. Workers shall be represented on the boards of directors of public sector units within the limit of 50 percent of the number of members of these boards. The law shall guarantee for small farmers and small craftsmen 80 percent of membership on the boards of directors of agricultural and industrial cooperatives. A lesson in corporate governance straight from the Jimmy Hoffa School of Management. This will surely attract multinational companies to rush in and set up lots of cooperatives, well-known engines of progress. Article 28 Saving is encouraged and protected by the State. The State shall also safeguard insurance and pension funds, in accordance with legal regulations. The new government isn't even functioning yet and it's already being set up for TARP on the Nile. Chapter Three: Economic and social rights Article 58 High-quality education is a right guaranteed by the State for every citizen. It is free throughout its stages in all government institutions, obligatory in the primary stage, and the State shall work to extend obligation to other stages. Yes, high quality and free because wishing it so will make a great education fall like manna from heaven. All educational institutions, public and private, local and otherwise shall abide by the State educational plans and goals, and realize the link between education and the needs of society and production. Don't forget central planning of all curricula, including private schools and universities. That should contribute to progress and diversity. Article 59 The State shall guarantee the freedom of scientific and literary research. The autonomy of universities, scientific and linguistic academies, and research centers shall be safeguarded; the State shall provide them with a sufficient percentage of the national revenue. Because nothing ensures the "independence" of scholars and scientists like putting them on the government dole. Article 62 Healthcare is a right of every citizen, and the State shall allocate a sufficient percentage of the national revenue. The State shall provide healthcare services and health insurance in accordance with just and high standards, to be free of charge for those who are unable to pay. All health facilities shall provide various forms of medical treatment to every citizen in cases of emergency or life danger. The State shall supervise all health facilities, inspect them for quality of services, and monitor all materials, products and means of health-related publicity. Legislation to regulate such supervision shall be drafted. Obamacare, meet Morsicare. Top quality for all, of course. But it doesn't stop there. Get a load of the parade of goodies to be provided by the new government. Egypt's new founding fathers must be wealthy indeed to make all these promises. Article 63 The State guarantees for every worker the right to fair pay, vacation, retirement and social security, healthcare, protection against occupational hazards, and the application of occupational safety conditions in the workplace, as prescribed by law. Article 65 The State shall provide social insurance services. All citizens unable to support themselves and their families in cases of incapacity, unemployment and old age have the right to social insurance guaranteeing a minimum sustenance. Article 66 The State shall provide an adequate pension for small-scale farmers, agricultural workers, casual workers, and all who do not have access to the social insurance system. All are subject to law regulations. Do you think Egypt will adopt the successful Chilean private pension model for its Social Security system? Nah. If you are going to establish a Ponzi scheme the salad days are right at the outset! No doubt all of the money collected from Egyptians' payroll taxes will be safely invested in a trust fund. Maybe Al Gore can lend them his lock box. Article 67 Adequate housing, clean water and healthy food are given rights. The state adopts a national housing plan, its basis in social justice, the promotion of independent initiatives and housing cooperatives, and the regulation of the use of national territory for the purposes of construction, in accordance with public interest and with the rights of future generations. What good is democracy if it doesn't guarantee a roof over your head? I hear the executives that used to run Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are looking for work; perhaps they can land a good gig showing the Egyptians how it's done. Article 71 The State shall provide care for children and youth; shall support their development spiritually, morally, culturally, educationally, physically, psychologically, socially and economically; and shall empower them for active political participation. I guess no constitution these days is complete without a promise of free day care, with a wee bit of political indoctrination. What the people of Egypt need is neither sharia nor socialism but free enterprise, which doesn't even merit a passing mention in the draft constitution. If rich countries like those in Europe and the U.S. are running out of other people's money pursuing redistributionist central planning, how is a basket-case economy like Egypt's supposed to pay for similar schemes? What entrepreneur in his right mind would not book the first flight out after this constitution passes seeking a better life where he can keep what he earns? (Not that there are many countries like that left.) If you want proof that human beings are incapable of learning from history, the new Egyptian constitution is exhibit A. Contact Economic Warfare Institute/American Center for Democracy at ehrenfeld@acdemocracy.org |
DRIVE TO ANNEX JUDEA AND SAMARIA FULL STEAM AHEADPosted by Ted Belman, January 04, 2013 |
The article below was written by Hillel Fendel who is former
Senior News Editor for Israel National News. He is a resident of Beit
El and author of One Thing I Ask on the siddur (Jewish prayer
book). This article appeared January 3, 2013 on
Israpundit website and is archived at
|
As of this week, it's no longer just another fringe campaign: the drive to apply Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria all or parts thereof is now a bona-fide, full-blown national drive, with the support of government ministers, Knesset Members and candidates, academics, and members of the media. This became abundantly clear on Tuesday night in Jerusalem, when more than 1000 people crowded into a 900-seat Jerusalem hall after the original location was abruptly changed for the Third Annual Conference on the Application of Israeli Sovereignty over Judea and Samaria (Yesha). Organized by Women in Green, and co-sponsored by the Jewish Press (JewishPress.com), the conference dealt with specific and practical methods by which to actually get the sovereignty ball moving and thus prevent the formation of a Palestinian state. Talk of a two-state solution, while widely prevalent, is largely irrelevant. It was Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's speech at Bar Ilan University in 2009 that gave the concept new life, and it specifically emphasized that Israel would agree only to a demilitarized Arab state in parts of Judea and Samaria. This being an arrangement that both Fatah and Hamas have categorically turned down, an agreed-upon two-state solution can basically be dismissed. What will take its place? What will ensure that active and passive preparations on the ground for such an eventuality do not continue? The answer, according to an increasing portion of the Israeli public, is Israeli sovereignty — at least in part of the areas in question. At the conference, Women in Green co-chair Yehudit Katzover presented the results of a new survey, in which 73.2% of right-wing voters (some 56% of the population)-not including residents of Yesha or hareidimsupport sovereignty. The conference speakers essentially addressed three major issues: 1) How to bring about the desired sovereignty; 2) what will be the status of the Arabs living in Judea and Samaria; and 3) whether to push for full sovereignty over all of Yesha or to work gradually. The Slow but Sure Approach Three Likud members Cabinet Minister Yuli Edelstein, MK Ze'ev Elkin, who is widely expected to be named a Cabinet minister following the upcoming elections, and MK Yariv Levine supported what Elkin called the "salami approach." We must learn from the Palestinians, he said, "take what we can now, and discuss the rest later." He said that we are "hopefully" now entering a new era in terms of Judea and Samaria: "For the first 25 years after the Six Day War, the 'status quo approach' reigned; beautiful Jewish communities were built, but the status of the areas did not change. Since 1993, we began a period of withdrawals Oslo, then the Disengagement, etc. and it is now clear to most that this has brought us less security, and increased demands from the PA... We must now begin to take proactive steps to improve our situation, and begin to apply sovereignty, or aspects thereof, on whatever areas we can at any given moment. It will not be easy, but it is necessary." The "This Is our Land" Approach Others demanded full sovereignty now; coincidentally or not, they are not currently in the governing coalition. MK Aryeh Eldad said that Israeli law must be immediately imposed on all of Yesha, and Likud Knesset candidate Moshe Feiglin called upon the Israeli public to internalize the idea that "This Is our Land" the name of the grass-roots movement he founded 20 years ago and that sovereignty is the only solution. Popular thinker Caroline Glick echoed her position of the last conference, saying then that sovereignty, whether complete or partial, will cost us the same in terms of international opposition, "so why pay full price for half a job?" Former MK Elyakim HaEtzni added that Arab autonomy leading to statehood is catastrophic, but that autonomy under the framework of full Israeli sovereignty in Yesha is the desirable way to go. Rabbi Eli Ben-Dahan, running for Knesset on the Jewish Home ticket, quoted the Y'hi khvodparagraph in the Morning Prayers, in which the verse citing God's choice of the Land of Israel precedes His choice of the people of Israel. And regarding the Arab minority living in our midst, he said that Yehoshua Bin Nun dealt with the same issue by simply insisting that they rid themselves of idol-worship and recognize Jewish control over the land. "This must be our clear red line," Rabbi Ben-Dahan emphasized: "the recognition that there can be no foreign rule in Eretz Yisrael." Caroline Glick also cited Yehoshua Bin Nun, and said that his demand to forego all idol-worship has a parallel today: "They must agree to stop all terrorism." Citizenship or Expulsion? The issue of Yesha Arabs under Israeli sovereignty was thoroughly explored in an hour-long panel discussion concluding the conference. Glick took the most extreme approach: "All of them should be offered the right to apply to the Interior Ministry for citizenship. Based on past experience in Jerusalem and the Golan [which have both been annexed - HF], we know that most of the Arabs will not apply. And even if they would all become citizens, the Jewish population in Israel would still retain a two-third majority, buttressed by growing birth and Aliyah rates. Nothing is simple, but we need not fear taking the bold steps that are necessary; we have come to inherit our land!" Dr. Martin Sherman, founder of the Israel Institute for Strategic Studies, former Tel Aviv University lecturer, and former ministerial adviser to Yitzhak Shamir's government said there is no choice but to compensate the Arab residents and have them take up residence elsewhere. "Ultimately, there can be only one sovereignty between the Jordan and the Mediterranean and we'd better make sure it's ours, not theirs." Dr. Sherman elaborated that Arab self-rule won't work, because they have no loyalty to the Israeli government overseeing the autonomy, and that granting full rights would also fail because "two peoples who do not share basic nationalist cultures can simply not live together over time." Therefore, he concluded, "the only option that remains is compensation/evacuation," a solution first proposed by the late Rabbi Meir Kahane, whose name was not mentioned at the conference. Wanted: Israeli TV Dr. Mordechai Kedar of Bar Ilan University, who was asked to speak on the expected Arab reaction to Israeli sovereignty, said, "They haven't accepted the results of the War of Independence, do we expect them to accept the results of the Six Day War?" Both the Arab world and the international community, Dr. Kedar predicted, can be expected to react moderately to strongly to a declaration of Israeli sovereignty. Part of the solution, he suggested, lies in launching an Israeli satellite TV channel for the general worldwide public. "It would not cost more than $15 million a year," he assessed. Co-chairs Nadia Matar and Yehudit Katzover, as well as other speakers, emphasized that the recent report submitted by the Justice Edmond Levy committee, outlining the legal foundation for Jewish settlement in Yesha, must be adopted: "It must take its proper place in open governmental discourse, and action must be taken in accordance with it." MK Eldad, in a not-subtle dig at the Jewish Home party, demanded that all future coalition partners resign from the next Netanyahu government if the Levi Report is not legislated into law within three months. The Day Will Come! All the speakers agreed on two things: a Palestinian state would be catastrophic for the State of Israel and must be avoided at all costs, and the very fact of the conference and its success is a great step forward towards applying Jewish sovereignty over all of Israel. In the inspiring words of an unusually uplifting Latma musical skit produced especially for the Conference, "The day will come it must come when only truth will be spoken, and all the world will say, without apology: This is Israel's land Israel's!" Ted Belman is a retired lawyer and the Editor of Israpundit. He made aliya from Canada last year and now lives in Jerusalem, Israel. Contact him at tedbel@rogers.com |
WAPO EDITORIAL: SETTLEMENTS ARE NOT OBSTACLE TO PEACEPosted by Ted Belman, January 04, 2013 |
The article below was written by the Washington Post Editorial
Board. It appeared in Israpundit on January 3, 2013 and is
archived at
|
FACING AN election in which his most dangerous competition is from the far right, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has adopted a familiar tactic: a flurry of announcements of new construction in Jewish settlements in Jerusalem and the West Bank. The predictable result has been a storm of denunciations by the United States and every other member of the U.N. Security Council, along with dire predictions that the new building would "make a negotiated two-state solution ... very difficult to achieve," as British Foreign Secretary William Hague put it. The criticism is appropriate, in the sense that such unilateral action by Israel, like the unilateral Palestinian initiative to seek statehood recognition in November from the U.N. General Assembly, serves to complicate the negotiations that are the only realistic route to a Middle East peace. But the reaction is also counter-productive because it reinforces two mistaken but widely held notions: that the settlements are the principal obstacle to a deal and that further construction will make a Palestinian state impossible. Twenty-five years ago, Israel's government openly aimed at building West Bank settlements that would block a Palestinian state. But that policy changed following the 1993 Oslo accords. Mr. Netanyahu's government, like several before it, has limited building almost entirely to areas that both sides expect Israel to annex through territorial swaps in an eventual settlement. For example, the Jerusalem neighborhoods where new construction was announced last month were conceded to Israel by Palestinian negotiators in 2008. Overall, the vast majority of the nearly 500,000 settlers in Jerusalem and the West Bank live in areas close to Israel's 1967 borders. Data compiled by the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace show that more than 80 percent of them could be included in Israel if the country annexed just more than 4 percent of the West Bank — less than the 5 percent proposed by President Bill Clinton 12 years ago. Diplomats were most concerned by Mr. Netanyahu's decision to allow planning and zoning — but not yet construction — in a four-mile strip of territory known as E-1 that lies between Jerusalem and Ma'ale Adumim, a settlement with a population of more than 40,000. Palestinians claim that Israeli annexation of the land would cut off their would-be capital in East Jerusalem from the West Bank and block a key north-south route between West Bank towns. Israel wants the land for similar reasons, to prevent Ma'ale Adumim — which will almost certainly be annexed to Israel in any peace deal — from being isolated. Both sides insist that the other can make do with a road corridor. This is a difficult issue that should be settled at the negotiating table, not by fiat. But Mr. Netanyahu's zoning approval is hardly the "almost fatal blow" to a two-state solution that U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon described. The exaggerated rhetoric is offensive at a time when the Security Council is refusing to take action to stop the slaughter of tens of thousands of civilians — including many Palestinians — by the Syrian regime. But it is also harmful, because it puts pressure on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to make a "freeze" on the construction a condition for beginning peace talks. Mr. Abbas had hinted that he would finally drop that demand, which has prevented negotiations for most of the past four years, after the General Assembly's statehood vote. If Security Council members are really interested in progress toward Palestinian statehood, they will press Mr. Abbas to stop using settlements as an excuse for intransigence — and cool their own overheated rhetoric. Ted Belman is a retired lawyer and the Editor of Israpundit. He made aliya from Canada last year and now lives in Jerusalem, Israel. Contact him at tedbel@rogers.com |
THE MEDIA AND MEPosted by Zvi November, January 04, 2013 |
Whenever I turn on my Israeli radio I suffer (justifiably) an attack of paranoia. Last Tuesday, January 1, 2013 I attended a conference in Jerusalem dedicated to the proposition that Israel should and must extend its sovereignty to Judea and Samaria including our side of the Jordan River valley. The justification for such an initiative is overwhelming. Judea and Samaria is the historic heartland of the Jewish people. The Arab claim to this ancient homeland is baseless since there never ever was an autonomous Arab state in these territories. Israeli control over Judea, Samaria and the Jordan valley is absolutely essential for the country's defense. Transferring this "West Bank" to Arab rule would invariably result in a belligerent Hamas bastion that will threaten Israel more seriously than is now the case with the terrorist base in Gaza. Given the great increase in radical Islamic jihad fervor all over the Arab world (paying particular attention to the unstable situation in Jordan today), it would be sheer idiocy to relinquish control over these strategic hills. About 500,000 Jews live over the 'green line' (the pre-1967 cease-fire lines NEVER recognized as a border). This figure includes east Jerusalem neighborhoods. Demographers who rely on Palestinian statistics and improbable projections exaggerate the number of Palestinian Arabs in the "territories". There are other estimates of the Arab population that lead to the conclusion that the annexation of Judea and Samaria and granting Israeli citizenship to 1.5 million Arabs would be acceptable and not seriously endanger the overall Jewish majority. Such a dramatic move would undoubtedly arouse strong condemnations from the international community but Israel has weathered adverse reactions in the past when it unified Jerusalem and integrated the Golan Heights into Israel. All of the above was pretty much ignored by the mainstream media that is not interested in honestly debating the merits of annexation. However, they pounced on Moshe Feiglin who is now on the ruling Likud party's list of candidates for the Knesset (elections will be held on Jan. 22). Feiglin suggested that Israel should pay substantial sums of money to Arab families willing to relocate to Arab countries where their language, culture and religion dominate the public sphere or to liberal European countries that are sympathetic to Palestinians. The media's reaction to this idea was one of revulsion. The very same reporters who supported the forcible expulsion/disengagement of Jews from Gaza and northern Samaria in 2005 are the same pundits who refuse to contemplate paid Arab relocation programs. [By the way, large numbers of Arabs regularly move from one Arab country to another.] And these are the very same commentators who claim to be dedicated to Israel as a 'Jewish and democratic' country. They assert that the only way to maintain a solid Jewish majority is by surrendering Judea and Samaria to the Palestinian Authority (that demands the removal of Jewish residents and re-division of Jerusalem) because we have to avoid absorbing large numbers of unfriendly Arabs. More to the point, Israel's media mandarins are obsessed with the unworkable 'two-state' solution that would greatly diminish Israel's chances of survival. These folks are not really bothered by creating a truly dangerous situation. They are addicted to a "peace process" based on the enemy's narrative, indifference to Jewish/Israeli rights to Judea and Samaria and a naïve reliance on the international community. These media mandarins dominate public discourse in Israel. Their "enlightenment" is frightening and causes paranoia in suspicious people like me. Contact Zvi November at tsvinov@gmail.com |
HILLARY CLINTON DOESN'T DESERVE AMERICANS' ADMIRATIONPosted by Dr. History, January 04, 2013 |
The article below was written by Diana West who is the author of American Betrayal: The Secret Assault on Our Nation's Character (St. Martin's Press, 2013), and The Death of the Grown-Up: How America's Arrested Development Is Bringing Down Western Civilization (St. Martin's Press, 2007). Her weekly newspaper column is syndicated by Universal Uclick. West also serves as Washington Correspondent for the European weekly newspaper Dispatch International. West is one of 19 co-authors (including Frank Gaffney, Andrew C. McCarthy and James Woolsey) of Shariah: The Threat to America, a 2010 publication of the Center for Security Policy. Visit her blog at dianawest.net. |
Americans, Gallup tells us, admire Hillary Clinton more than any other woman in the world -- again. This latest accolade marks the 17th time Gallup has found Clinton to be the Most Admired Woman (MAW?) since she became first lady nearly 20 years ago. Only Eleanor Roosevelt (13 MAWs) comes close. Only Mother Teresa (1995 and 1996) and Laura Bush (2001) have interrupted Clinton's winning streak, and even then, Clinton came in second. And therein lies America's cosmic flaw. A country that could time and again embrace Hillary Clinton as its MAW has lost its mind or its memory or both. Does the phrase "congenital liar" tinkle any bells? I know such non-admirable sentiments are thought to be in the worst of taste, if not also banishable offenses. Still, as conjured by the late New York Times columnist William Safire in 1996, the phrase described the then-first lady for her shameless prevarications. These included what sure looked like bribery ("cattle futures"), defrauding taxpayers ("Whitewater"), obstructing justice -- or, rather, "finding" her Rose Law Firm billing records (under subpoena for two years) just days after the statute of limitations ran out -- among other corrupt behaviors that must have slightly suppressed Hillary-admiration that same year. The phrase remains apt. "I remember landing under sniper fire," Clinton declared on the presidential campaign trail in 2008, describing a 1996 trip to Bosnia. "There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down (chuckles) to get into the vehicles to get to our base." It was a vivid but debunkable whopper, as CBS footage of the event proved. In reality, Clinton, accompanied by daughter Chelsea, made her ceremonial way into Bosnia through a warm throng marked by smiling faces and a kiss from a local girl -- not bullets. Admirable? On a more nationally significant level, Clinton recently supported President Obama's Big Lie that a movie trailer of "Innocence of Muslims" on YouTube "resulted" (her word) in the September attack on the U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya -- a concerted falsehood for which neither Clinton nor Obama nor former CIA Director David Petraeus has yet answered. Even several days after intelligence agencies determined that a planned assault, not a video-driven protest, had taken place, Clinton went so far as to promise a grieving Charles Woods, father of slain former SEAL Tyrone Woods, that "we" were going to have the video maker "arrested and prosecuted." Why was Clinton still perpetuating the false narrative that the exercise of free speech under the First Amendment, not Islamic jihad, had resulted in the attack? Was that admirable? Clinton has lately let it be known that she will voluntarily testify about Benghazi following her hospitalization for a blood clot, but I seriously doubt whether mere House members will risk asking this crucial question of the Most Admired Woman in America, especially now that she has risen from her sickbed. If they don't, they're not admirable, either. Meanwhile, the video maker, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, was indeed arrested and swiftly prosecuted, and is now serving one year in jail for "parole violations." His incarceration, however, is better understood as punishment for violating the Islamic ban on free speech about Islam. To be sure, one year is nothing compared to the death penalty an Egyptian court recently slapped on Nakoula and other Americans associated with the movie in absentia -- and without a peep of protest from the Obama administration, including Clinton. The fact is, Hillary Clinton has worked assiduously with the Islamic bloc nations, known as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), to promote Islamically correct speech codes through the so-called Istanbul Process. The goal of this process -- and the goal of transnational Islam -- is to implement Shariah speech codes via U.N. Human Rights Council Resolution 16/18, which seeks to criminalize "defamation" -- free speech -- about Islam. In leading this drive against free speech, Hillary Clinton is actually leading a drive against the First Amendment. Most Americans don't know about the Istanbul Process, let alone how Islamic speech codes are unconstitutional, but it is this policy against free speech that may stand as Clinton's enduring legacy as secretary of state. It is of a piece with having presided over, first, the shredding of U.S. alliances with Egypt's Hosni Mubarak and Libya's Moammar Gadhafi and then supporting jihadist factions and organizations, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, now implementing Islamic law across the Middle East. This, of course, is President Obama's policy, but Hillary Clinton has been an active team player. Another aspect of this same foreign policy Clinton has spearheaded is the launch of the Global Counterterrorism Forum. The forum's roster of 29 nations plus the European Union is stunning for its exclusion of Israel, a leading counterterrorism force as much as it is a leading terrorism victim. But not so, according to Islamic definitions. Knowingly or not, as a leader of this forum, one-third of whose members come from the Islamic bloc, Clinton has accepted the Arab League and OIC definitions of terrorism, which both deny the existence of Israeli victims (sometimes U.S. soldiers) and legitimize the terrorism of Hamas, a wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, and Hezbollah. How could this be? What influences have led Clinton to formulate or follow such policies? We don't know, although it is hard not to wonder about the input of top Clinton aide Huma Abedin, a young woman with well-established familial and personal ties to Muslim Brotherhood figures and front groups (including a "charity" linked to al-Qaida and a group banned in Israel for ties to Hamas). Indeed, what may be most astounding and mysterious about Clinton's whole public tenure is how Abedin ever received the security clearance necessary to work so closely with the secretary of state. Even broaching such a simple if burning national security question, as Rep. Michele Bachmann and others discovered last summer, is also a banishable offense. After all, Hillary Clinton is our MAW! That's life. But it isn't admirable. Contact Dr. History at drhistory@cox.net |
EGYPTIAN MAGAZINE BOASTS THAT MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD HAS INFILTRATED OBAMA ADMINISTRATIONPosted by Medicine Hat, January 04, 2013 |
The article below was written by Robert Spencer who is the
director of Jihad Watch, a program of the David Horowitz Freedom
Center, and the author of thirteen books. Spencer has led seminars on Islam and jihad for the United States Central Command, United States Army Command and General Staff College, the U.S. Army's Asymmetric Warfare Group, the FBI, the Joint Terrorism Task Force, and the U.S. intelligence community.
Spencer is the Vice President of the American Freedom Defense
Initiative (AFDI). He is a weekly columnist for PJ Media and
FrontPage Magazine, and in addition to his books, has written many
hundreds of articles about jihad and Islamic terrorism. This
article appeared January 3, 2013 on Jihad Watch and is
archived at
|
Horrors! The reach of Islamophobic fearmongering is even greater than we thought! Now even Egyptian magazines are succumbing to its fiendish lure! Those of us who have warned about Muslim Brotherhood influence and infiltration in Washington, and were smeared and vilified as "bigots" and "Islamophobes" by the Muslim Brotherhood's propaganda minions in the U.S., are vindicated yet again. "Egyptian Magazine: Muslim Brotherhood Infiltrates Obama Administration," by John Rossomando for IPT, January 3 (thanks to David):
Alikhan is a founder of the World Islamic Organization, which the magazine identifies as a Brotherhood "subsidiary." It suggests that Alikhan was responsible for the "file of Islamic states" in the White House and that he provides the direct link between the Obama administration and the Arab Spring revolutions of 2011. Elibiary, who has endorsed the ideas of radical Muslim Brotherhood luminary Sayyid Qutb, may have leaked secret materials contained in Department of Homeland Security databases, according to the magazine. He, however, denies having any connection with the Brotherhood. Elibiary also played a role in defining the Obama administration's counterterrorism strategy, and the magazine asserts that Elibiary wrote the speech Obama gave when he told former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to leave power but offers no source or evidence for the claim. According to Rose El-Youssef, Rashad Hussain maintained close ties with people and groups that it says comprise the Muslim Brotherhood network in America. This includes his participation in the June 2002 annual conference of the American Muslim Council, formerly headed by convicted terrorist financier Abdurahman Alamoudi. He also participated in the organizing committee of the Critical Islamic Reflection along with important figures of the American Muslim Brotherhood such as Jamal Barzinji, Hisham al-Talib and Yaqub Mirza. Regarding al-Marayati, who has been among the most influential Muslim American leaders in recent years, the magazine draws connections between MPAC in the international Muslim Brotherhood infrastructure. Magid heads ISNA, which was founded by Brotherhood members, was appointed by Obama in 2011 as an adviser to the Department of Homeland Security. The magazine says that has also given speeches and conferences on American Middle East policy at the State Department and offered advice to the FBI.
Rose El-Youssef says Patel maintains a close relationship with Hani Ramadan, the grandson of Brotherhood founder Hasan al-Banna, and is a member of the Muslim Students Association, which it identifies as "a large Brotherhood organization." Contact Medicine Hat at pswc@shaw.ca |
SYRIAN REBELS: "WE WANT A REGIME THAT APPLIES SHARIA LAW"Posted by Medicine Hat, January 04, 2013 |
The article below was written by Robert Spencer who is the
director of Jihad Watch, a program of the David Horowitz Freedom
Center, and the author of thirteen books. Spencer has led seminars on Islam and jihad for the United States Central Command, United States Army Command and General Staff College, the U.S. Army's Asymmetric Warfare Group, the FBI, the Joint Terrorism Task Force, and the U.S. intelligence community.
Spencer is the Vice President of the American Freedom Defense
Initiative (AFDI). He is a weekly columnist for PJ Media and
FrontPage Magazine, and in addition to his books, has written many
hundreds of articles about jihad and Islamic terrorism. This
article appeared January 3, 2013 and is archived at
|
What's happening is a reaction to Assad saying Syria was a secular state." There is an analysis of the cause of the Syria uprisings that has never been discussed in any depth in the mainstream media. "After Assad, is strict Islamic rule ahead for Syria?," by Tom A. Peter for USA Today, January 3 (thanks to AINA): ALEPPO, Syria The voice of Islamist groups is growing louder in Syria as a number of Syrians in the battleground province of Aleppo are expressing increasing interest in establishing a government that leans toward a strict Islamic state.... The U.S. State Department implicitly recognized the growing influence of extremist groups in Syria last month when it designated as a terrorist group Jabhat al-Nusra, which is fighting the Assad regime in Syria. The State Department said the group's ties with the group al-Qaeda in Iraq were among the main reasons for its decision. While many in Syria look upon Jabhat al-Nusra with trepidation, it has won support among many Syrians who see it as both an effective military organization and a generous humanitarian group. "Through aid, Jabhat al-Nusra can enlarge its base of public support more and more," said Abu Ali, a Syrian involved in relief efforts in Aleppo. "Many people are starting to support them because of the aid." Among its ranks are Syrians and foreign fighters who have battle experience in Iraq and elsewhere, according to the State Department. Jabhat al-Nusra receives considerable funding from Persian Gulf states such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia, according to several news reports. The funding has allowed Jabhat al-Nusra to increase operations in Syria at a time when moderate groups simply lack the resources, rebel commanders say.... "If it continues like it is now, groups like Jabhat al-Nusra will have a lot of influence after the Assad government falls," said Abdul Rahman, an opposition military commander in Aleppo who considers himself a moderate. Even some Syrians who want an Islamic state in a post-Assad Syria view groups such as Jabhat al-Nusra as extreme. One former member, Abu Osama, said he left the group after it tried to get him to sign an oath pledging to fight with the group anywhere in the world. Now fighting with the rebel Free Syrian Army, Abu said some fighters with Jabhat al-Nusra consider Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, an infidel because he has not enforced sharia "" strict Islamic law "" in Egypt. The group, which forbids tobacco use, has also been known to pull cigarettes out of the mouths of smokers going through their checkpoints. Not everyone thinks Jabhat al-Nusra will have significant influence in a post-Assad Syria. "These groups are no more scary to us and the general population than fringe groups in the U.S. like the skinheads," said Abu Ahmad, executive officer of the Free Lawyers Association in Aleppo, which opposes Assad's regime. After 40 years of the Assad family's harsh rule, Syrians simply want a government that is the opposite of what they've known, Ahmad said. "What's happening is a reaction to Assad saying Syria was a secular state," Ahmad said. Few Syrians interviewed in Aleppo believe that a brand of Islam like that practiced by Jabhat al-Nusra can survive in Syria. Even so, any regime that succeeds Assad is likely to be Islamic in nature, some Syrians say. "We want a regime that applies sharia law, but that is fair and just," said Abu Mohammad, a Free Syrian Army commander in Aleppo and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. "Many Muslims believe that if we apply the true Islam, we can use it to get rid of corruption and problems like bribery," he said. Contact Medicine Hat at pswc@shaw.ca |
CANADA: JIHADISTS "RADICALIZING" PEACEFUL MUSLIMS AT MOSQUES AND "LARGE NUMBER OF VENUES"Posted by Medicine Hat, January 04, 2013 |
The article below was written by Robert Spencer who is the
director of Jihad Watch, a program of the David Horowitz Freedom
Center, and the author of thirteen books. Spencer has led seminars on Islam and jihad for the United States Central Command, United States Army Command and General Staff College, the U.S. Army's Asymmetric Warfare Group, the FBI, the Joint Terrorism Task Force, and the U.S. intelligence community.
Spencer is the Vice President of the American Freedom Defense
Initiative (AFDI). He is a weekly columnist for PJ Media and
FrontPage Magazine, and in addition to his books, has written many
hundreds of articles about jihad and Islamic terrorism. This
article appeared January 3, 2013 and is archived at
|
This report apparently focuses on where Muslims are "radicalized," rather than on the much more important question of how — probably because investigating the latter would take Canadian authorities straight into the Qur'an and Sunnah, which is the one place they don't want to go. Jihadists make recruits among peaceful Muslims by claiming that they are the exponents of authentic Islam, and making their case from core Islamic texts. The "moderates" have never mounted any effective rejoinder to this appeal. But to admit this would be to contradict central elements of Canadian immigration policy and the entire multiculturalist enterprise. And so we get this report on where, but never ever discuss the really important questions. "Islamist extremists radicalizing Canadians at "Ëœa large number of venues," secret report reveals," by Stewart Bell in the National Post, January 3 (thanks to Twostellas): "Islamist extremists are now radicalizing Canadians at "a large number of venues," according to a secret intelligence report released to the National Post under the Access to Information Act. While mosques with hardline imams are often singled out for spreading violent Islamist ideology, the study found that radicalization has been taking place at a much longer list of locales. "Radicalization is not limited to religious centres," says the Canadian Security Intelligence Service report, titled Venues of Sunni Islamist Radicalization in Canada. The heavily censored report identifies the role of prisons, the Internet and foreign travel in turning some Canadians into extremists who wage or support violence. But it also points a finger at the family home. "Parents have radicalized children," reads the Intelligence Assessment, "husbands have radicalized wives (and some wives have radicalized or supported their husbands) "¦ and siblings have radicalized each other," it says.... Since al-Qaeda's attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, an increasing number of Canadians have become lured into Islamist extremism, an intolerant, anti-democratic and virulently anti-Western worldview that preaches that violence against non-Muslims is a religious duty and a path to paradise. Why, where would "Islamist extremists" get that crazy idea? Surely not from the Qur'an! "What they call jihad." Of course. As everyone knows, the only accepted and genuine meaning of jihad involves getting in your exercise and taking the kids to school. Contact Medicine Hat at pswc@shaw.ca |
A NEW ONEPosted by Fred Reifenberg, January 04, 2013 |
Contact Fred Reifenberg by email at freify@netvision.net.il Go to to see more of his graphic art. |
ISLAMIC BIAS IN TEXAS SCHOOLSPosted by Act of America, January 04, 2013 |
The article below was written by John Griffing who is a frequent contributor to American Thinker and is published across an array of conservative media, both in the realm of commentary and research. This article appeared January 3, 2013 in the Minority Report and is archived at http://www.theminorityreportblog.com/2013/01/04/islamic-bias-in-texas-schools/ |
In the 70 percent of Texas public schools where a private curriculum has been installed, students are learning the "fact" that "Allah is the Almighty God," charge critics of a new online curriculum that already is facing condemnation for its secrecy and restrictions on oversight. The program, called CSCOPE, is a private venture operating under the umbrella of the Texas Education Service Center Curriculum Collaborative, whose incorporation documents state its independence from the State Board of Education of the Texas Education Agency. Other reports previously have raised alarm over the curriculum's depiction of the Boston Tea Party as a terrorist act on par with the 9/11 attack. According to documentation that has leaked out, the program describes the Boston Tea Party this way: "A local militia, believed to be a terrorist organization, attacked the property of private citizens today at our nation's busiest port. Although no one was injured in the attack, a large quantity of merchandise, considered to be valuable to its owners and loathsome to the perpetrators, was destroyed. The terrorists, dressed in disguise and apparently intoxicated, were able to escape into the night with the help of local citizens who harbor these fugitives and conceal their identities from the authorities. It is believed that the terrorist attack was a response to the policies enacted by the occupying country's government. Even stronger policies are anticipated by the local citizens." There also have been reports that the curriculum contrary to recent Supreme Court rulings says the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the right to bear arms, is limited to state-run organizations. "The collective right's advocates believed that the Second Amendment did not apply to individuals; rather it recognized the right of a state to arm its militia. It recognized limited individual rights only when it was exercised by members of a functioning, organized militia while actively participating in the militia's activities." Now come concerns about what critics describe as a definitively pro-Islam bias. The critics say the studies border on proselytizing. In one scenario, students are asked to study the tenets of Islam, and critics say the materials provided exceed impartial review of another faith, extending into requirements of conversion and moral imperatives. A computer presentation utilized as part of a study of Islam includes information on how to convert, as well as verses denigrating other faiths. According to excerpts, under the heading, "Who Is Allah?," students are told: "Allah is the Almighty God." "Allah alone is the Creator. He alone deserves our devout love and worship." [EDITOR'S NOTE: WHEN RELIGIONS LIKE CHRISTIANITY ARE DISCUSSED IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS, THE WORDING IS TYPICALLY SOMETHING LIKE "CHRISTIANS BELIEVE THAT JESUS IS THE MESSIAH." NOTE THE SUBTLE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THIS WORDING AND HOW ALLAH IS PRESENTED, NOT AS A BELIEF, BUT AS FACT.] Muhammad is described as having become "disillusioned with the corruption in the city and the growing gap between the urban dwellers and the Bedouins (nomadic herders)." But there is no mention of his documented sex activities with a child or his penchant for beheading entire indigenous people groups. CSCOPE's geography curriculum also is being scrutinized. A high school question on a geography test asks, "Which of the following has been a benefit of globalization?" Possible answers are as follows: a) pandemics, b) increased standard of living, c) loss of local culture, and finally, d) widespread environmental impacts. The only "correct" answer accepted in the context of the test is "an increased standard of living." WND recently reported the Texas State Board of Education was hearing concerns expressed by parents. The debate carries national significance because of the influence Texas has on textbook and curriculum publishers as the only state that adopts uniform standards. CSCOPE advocates say that the volume of information to which students now have access outside the classroom necessitates the move away from textbooks. "If they're sitting in a classroom with a textbook, that's not the world anymore," said Anne Poplin, Education Service Center Region 9 executive director. "We're moving to Bring Your Own Devices. It's a disadvantage (for children) not to have access to their devices. It's not a textbook-driven environment. If it is, they're behind," Poplin said. An estimated 70 percent of Texas schools already are involved in the program. But one of the concerns is that state law requires textbooks to be reviewed by the board of education, and parents are allowed to have access, since CSCOPE is considered a private venture it operates independently of state or local school board oversight. The state attorney general's office has ruled that CSCOPE is a government organization subject to requirements of transparency, but because of loopholes in the Texas Public Information Act and Senate Bill 6, passed in 2011, CSCOPE has thus far been able to keep its content from public review. Even parents are denied access. Kimberly Thomas, a teacher in the Lubbock school district, calls CSCOPE a "joke," identifying a ninth-grade lesson that asks students to circle capital letters in a sentence. Her department was rated exemplary by the state prior to the installation of CSCOPE. As Thomas notes, CSCOPE "forces our own department to undo the proven, successful curriculum we have developed that gave us an exemplary rating." Just days ago, Thomas Ratliff, a member of the state board and supporter of CSCOPE, said CSCOPE was "supplemental" and that textbooks still are being used. "CSCOPE is not designed to eliminate textbooks or other instructional materials. It is designed to complement them for the benefit of the teacher and the student," he wrote in a prepared statement. CSCOPE employees, on the other hand, claim the software is designed to replace textbooks and, indeed, has in many Texas school districts. Addressing the issue of the program's secrecy, Ratliff slammed critics who say they want government to be "run like a business" but then get upset when that happens. But critics argue private schools, the closest thing to a school being run like a business, still make instructional materials available to parents, something that CSCOPE refuses to do. The "parent portal" provided on the public portion of CSCOPE's website has not allayed critics' concerns. Some of the lessons leaked to the public have contained wide disparities from the summary pages viewable in the public section of CSCOPE's website. Ratliff defends this dichotomy by saying that, like iTunes or any other "business," some things must be placed behind a "pay wall" as part of a business plan. Ratliff claims that CSCOPE is created by "teachers, for teachers." But teachers must sign a gag order when required to use CSCOPE in their classrooms. Complicating the issue is the fact that school districts usually purchase CSCOPE with state tax dollars. While Ratliff calls the curriculum "instructional material" he said state oversight wouldn't help, and "I would much rather have 7,000 locally elected school board members decide what content is best for their students, not the 15-member SBOE. Allowing CSCOPE to be developed and implemented at the local level is the 'local control' Texans say we want. Injecting SBOE oversight into this would shift us into a 'controlling the locals' approach." Critics say that's not the way the system is set up, and CSCOPE actually ends local input since it prevents, on penalty of copyright litigation, distribution of its content to parents. A vocal critic has been Texas State Rep. Debbie Riddle, a Republican. "I did pretty well with textbooks. Benjamin Franklin did pretty well with textbooks. Are they going to say reading books is not effective? Should we all stop reading our Bibles? "Call me old-fashioned, but there is something about the feel, smell, holding a book; there is a lot to be said for holding a hard copy," she said. Separately but in a related issue, Attorney General Greg Abbott has released an opinion that is being quoted by critics as disqualifying Ratliff from the state board because of his connections to companies doing business with schools in Texas. Contact Act of America at https://www.actforamerica.org |
CHRISTIAN TRAGEDY THAT NEEDS TO BE KNOWN BY ALL. WARNING GRAPHIC PICTUREPosted by Donald Hank, January 05, 2013 |
This (see picture below) is the 'religion' that the West supports in the Middle East. Mubarak, who was friendly to Christians in Egypt, was told he had to leave. Obama and the rest of the Western leaders insisted on this. Ghadaffi, another Christian friendly leader, was also told to leave and when he fought the jihadists, he was brought down by NATO. Hillary cackled with laughter when she heard of his brutal torture and death at the hands of his--and our--enemies. You see, our enemies are now our 'leaders.' Since the Arab Spring, hailed as a glorious democratic grass roots movement, Christians in these countries are being forced to leave for fear of being murdered. Now your Western 'leaders' are coming after Assad, the last Christian-friendly leader left in the region. And you are supposed to believe he will be replaced by people who, to quote candidate Romney, 'share our values.' But Al Qaeda and other like groups are emerging as the new leaders in Syria. How can America lift her head with pride knowing that our tax money and our military are supporting the ideology that burned the Christians whose charred remains are shown below? The nation that wept over the horrors of Hitler's gas chambers is turning a blind eye to the savage murders of people who truly share our values and our faith. BTW, I was able to verify this story by going to the Spanish language site where the original text appears (see below this commentary). Nigerian Christians have had their churches burned by the local Muslims for many years so this is nothing new. It just happens to be perhaps the first time a photo of the charred remains has been sent to the public. But note that Facebook banned it on their social media and the world msm will remain as silent as the sphinx as long as they can. Their silence is consent. They are complicit in murder. This is the way all totalitarianism starts, with the full support of sold-out media. But this time, it is worldwide. The conditions for Armageddon--the very one mentioned in the Bible--are coming together like never before in world history. There is no longer a city on a hill to look to for help. Our only hope is in God, where it should have been in the first place. WARNING!!! GRAPHIC PICTURE Donald Hank has been the owner/operator of the Christian news and views site Laigle's Forum (http://laiglesforum.com). His straightforward and common-sense articles on politics, economics, science, government and culture have been published in WorldNetDaily, Canada Free Press, Christian Worldview Network, Etherzone, FedUpUSA, American Daily Herald, Renew America, Desert Conservative and Midia Sem Mascara. His extensive language background leads him to believe that the founders meant what they said in the Constitution, God meant what He said in the Scriptures and the grassroots are the true authorities on natural language, word definitions and the government that is best for them. He is also the founder of Lancaster-York Non-Custodial Parents, a volunteer organization that provided Christian counseling for non-custodial parents. Contact him at zoilandon@msn.com |
AL JAZEERA'S TV CHANNEL IN THE U.S.Posted by Richard H. Shulman, January 05, 2013 |
Al Gore sold his failing cable channel to Al Jazeera, owned by Qatar. Time Warner and other companies that carry cable channels refuse to carry Al Jazeera's, as is their privilege. The New York Times editorial urges the companies to carry it, because it is "an important news source." "Many American policy makers and cable companies have had doubts about the impartiality of Al Jazeera...", and question Mr. Gore's wisdom in selling out to Qatar. Qatar works with the U.S. on some matters "but has issues and agendas that are sometimes at odds with U.S. interests. Recently, for instance, Qatar, along with other Arab nations, is believed to have provided arms and other assistance to terrorist organizations operating in Syria." The question is whether the station is independent of the Emir. Instead of pre-empting the station by cutting off its outlets, the cable companies should give it a chance to prove itself it can bring an important international outlook to American broadcasting. The editors think that Al Jazeera distinguished itself by its reporting on the "Arab spring." A prize for good reporting was cited. Let the people make up their own minds! (1/4/13.) Mr. Gore reportedly expressed pride in having sold his station to Al Jazeera. The Wall St. Journal noted that he hastened to complete the sale before tax increases took effect. Praise and prizes by themselves mean nothing in this tendentious era of advocacy journalism and ideological awards such as the Nobel Peace Prize. How much weight should one gives to a recommendation by a newspaper that is biased in favor of Islam against Israel and that runs as an adjunct of the Democratic Party? Al Jazeera is a jihadist propaganda outlet controlled by a jihadist Emir. What is the value of the Times endorsement about Al Jazeera reporting on the "Arab Spring," when the Times' own reporting under-estimated Islamist strength and the Times still doesn't realize that Turkey, Egypt, and Gaza have turned so Islamist that their dictatorial imperialism threatens our own country? Some of the misguided reporting may have been in sympathy that led it to funnel Ghadafi's arms to Islamists in Syria and to let Islamists triumph over our ambassador in Benghazi. The Times coyly describes news about Islamists as if it doesn't know what is news, it merely repeats what some people say. That is mendacious, not reporting. Give Al Jazeera a chance, the editorial urges. Imagine if during WWII and the Cold War, the Times urged that Nazi-owned and Communist-owned newspapers be given a chance to wage propaganda war against us in support of their hot and cold wars against us! Al Jazeera may well pull its punches, in order to get accepted. That is the kind of stealth jihad that Islamists practice. Al Jazeera does not have an "international" view but a jihadist view. "International" and un-American viewpoints are found in the Times. Unfortunately, the Times makes some of those views its own and camouflages its intent. Times readers I know have no understanding of the spread and menace of international jihad, of the jihadist cause of the Arab-Israel conflict, of how our economy works, and of federal curbing of our freedom. Most of the U.S. media resembles the Times. Bringing in Al Jazeera to our ill-informed country would add to the problem As for Al Gore, his pride in his sale makes one wonder what kind of a President he would have made for our country. In office, would he have been as good for jihad as he is out of office? 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. |
DEMOCRATIC ISLAMISTS?Posted by Richard H. Shulman, January 05, 2013 |
As protests mount in Egypt over the Muslim Brotherhood coup d'etat, Islamist defenders of the new dictator claim they are there to defend democracy. President Morsi was democratically elected, they assert. That snap election without democratic institutions having had time to develop, and which elected a regime that is crushing institutions that were becoming democratic does not make Egypt democratic. Many Westerners make too much not only of democratic elections, but also of democracy. Suppose the people, as in Europe and among U.S. democrats, insist that the government keep spending until the country is pushed into a debt-ridden depression? Is that good? Suppose a country votes Islamists into power, so they can repress non-Islamists. Not only is that not good, it is not democratic. Repression of minority rights is not democratic. The U.S. long has subsidized Egypt's military. Now that military is controlled by Islamists. Islamists are raising a cry to repudiate the treaty with Israel and to re-occupy the Sinai. At this time, Pres. Obama has increased U.S. subsidy of Egypt, lest the government collapse. I think that collapse of Islamist regimes is a desirable goal, rather than our President's paving the way for them and building them up. If they collapse, they can do less damage and their people will feel less positive toward jihad and less contemptible of Western society. Just as we don't have the funds for all the military spending we might like, neither have we all the funds for foreign aid that our leaders propose. We have to be smart (and patriotic) about spending on military and diplomacy. The conventional wisdom is to keep subsidizing the Egyptian military under the theory that it would not make war lest it lose those funds. That theory has serious flaws. The U.S. has not penalized Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the P.A., or Jordan for violating agreements with the U.S. on which those subsidies are based. Egypt has absorbed enough arms to acquit itself well in a war with Israel. Jihadists there want war. Arab governments do not always embark upon war rationally but can get carried away by war fever. It is true that the new dictator is intent upon monopolizing power and preserving his economy, but Islamists care less about national welfare than about advancement of Islam. 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. |
CONGRESS REDUCES P.A. FUNDING FOR VIOLATING OSLO?Posted by Richard H. Shulman, January 05, 2013 |
In one of the bi-partisan measures that Congress supposedly doesn't take, legislators from both parties were getting behind a bill to reduce funding for the P.A. and to close its office in D.C., because it violated its Oslo peace accords with Israel. Oslo II Article 31.7 states, "Neither side shall initiate or take any step that will change the status of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip pending the outcome of the permanent status negotiations". [The U.S. media complain that Jewish construction in certain parts of Israel and of the Territories violates that Article, which they don't quote. It does not violate Oslo. It does not change the status of the Territories. Suppose it did. Then so would Muslim construction. But the media do not complain about Muslim construction. (Neither do they complain about P.A. violations of Oslo.) This inconsistency reveals that the complaints about Israel are just anti-Zionism with a phony excuse. Phony excuses by the New York Times and the State Dept., which know the excuses are false, should cost their credibility. Sen. Graham observed that if the P.A. uses its new UN status to file a complaint against Israel in the International Criminal Court, as it admitted planning to do, then its goal is to marginalize the Jewish state rather than make peace with it. [Ironically, the P.A. commits many war crimes, Israel does not. The P.A. also mischaracterizes UN resolutions as giving it certain rights.] Sen. Barasso said the way to peace is by negotiation. [Negotiation cannot bring peace, because the Islamist goal, and the theme of P.A. education and media is bigotry and conquest, not peace. That is why the P.A. pledged peace but refuses territorial offers and makes war.] The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) explains that the P.A. has been violating Oslo accords by not disbanding and arresting terrorists but glorifying them, without losing a U.S. subsidy (ZOA, 12/5/12). Obama increased the subsidy. I didn't realize that the U.S. can afford billions of dollars for Radical Islam. But if President Obama thinks that is good for America, Inshallah. 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. |
EU VS. DEMOCRACYPosted by Richard H. Shulman, January 05, 2013 |
The EU spends tens of millions of Euros financing foreign organizations that advocate political policies. NGO Monitor finds that the EU subsidies for foreign NGOs are clandestine. NGO Monitor petitioned the European Court of Justice to provide documents that would shed light on what goes on. The Court ruled that the EU failure to provide the requested documents in a timely manner is equivalent to refusing to provide them. But the Court also ruled that the EU action is proper. [This is like the Obama administration declaring that the fee for not carrying medical insurance is a penalty and not a tax, and that the fee also is a tax and not a penalty.] Those NGOs contradict declared European foreign policy; the activities include BDS (boycotts, divestment, sanctions), "one state" proposals, anti-normalization with Israel campaigns, and abusing the courts through frivolous 'war crimes' cases. Not only do these activities contradict European policies, but they promote conflict and violence." The EU effort appears to have "been unethically seeking to manipulate Israeli democracy by funding political advocacy NGOs such as Adalah, Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, Mossawa, Machsom Watch, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, and Public Committee Against Torture in Israel." Perhaps that explains EU secrecy about its spending. NGO Monitor concluded from the one non-censored document about a funding meeting that the EU plan to support manipulation of Israeli voting is explicit and concerted. NGO Monitor spent a decade tracing the funding. When the EU finally sent Israel documents, all the relevant information was edited out, as if involving national security and proprietary interests. The Court found that the EU had censored the meaningful data. But the Court held no hearing on the petition, denied NGO Monitor an opportunity to make its case in court, and took no evidence, but upheld the denial. NGO Monitor is left to expose and shame those governments. NGO
Monitor will shame them for curbing democracy and human rights
that they purport to advance (IMRA, 12/31 from NGO Monitor
What hypocrisy! Europe pretends to be liberal and humane, but subsidizes illiberal and inhumane anti-Zionists. EU tax euros at work. The NGOs pretend to be liberal, humane, and peace loving. But they really subvert a really liberal country in behalf of benighted Islamists, who want war. 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. |
ARABS ATTACK JEWISH RIGHTS AND SITES ON JERUSALEM HEIGHTSPosted by Richard H. Shulman, January 05, 2013 |
Israel has allowed the Islamic Waqf to set the rules for access to the Temple Mount and to behavior on it. The government enforces the Muslim rules. Police discriminate against visitors who appear to be Jews. Jews must wait separately, until escorted under police and Waqf scrutiny. Prominent scholars and rabbis are banned indefinitely and without explanation. If a Jew soundlessly moves his lips, he is suspected of making Jewish prayer, which is forbidden by the Waqf. [He is escorted off the Mount.] The Zionist Organization of America reported in detail on such discrimination. It finds Israelis increasingly opposed to this Islamic takeover of the Mount. And ZOA has been working with Israeli legislators to rectify matters. MK Arieyeh Eldad has drafted a bill to allow Jews and Christians opportunities to pray on the Mount. Muslims retort with invective (Jeff Daube, ZOA Report, Fall 2012, p.26). The government of the supposedly Jewish state proudly asserts that Israel has freedom of religion. That freedom is partly myth. In various ways, the State is hostile to Judaism and Jews. On some issues, such as property rights, the State is anti-Zionist. On the Temple Mount, there is an element of Muslim extortion, threatening riots if Jews get equal rights. When Muslims riot in Israel and get hurt when police try to stop the riots, most of the media blame the police and exonerate the rioters. That's the meaning of "living side-by-side" with Muslim Arabs who consider themselves superior beings and entitled to repress other religions. ZOA is trying to rebalance matters. ZOA is genuinely pro-Israel, preferring to foster Jewish rights to pretending Israel is not denying some of those rights. MOUNT OF OLIVES The ancient Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives is about 3,000 years old. For many years, Muslims have been desecrating its tombstones and attacking Jews on it. Israeli police have not patrolled it regularly. However, this violence is organized and systematic. Emplaced cameras caught some hired vandals in the act. They arrested the vandals, but the government imposed very light sentences. ZOA leaders testified about this at the Knesset. Some members of Knesset visited the Mount several times. They declared security and police accountability a priority. ZOA has been working with police, the municipality, and the Prime Minister's office to implement those priorities. Vandalism has been reduced, though not ended. It must be difficult for Americans, one of the more tolerant peoples now, to understand the relentless Arab Muslim violence against other religions, innocent people, and differing national heritages. Perhaps if Americans took more interest in relevant history, they would be less naïve against the Islamic menace to Western civilization and realize that the U.S. is as much a target of jihad as is Israel. Israel is our breakwater against jihad. Some of my friends hear only the Arab side. Interestingly, antisemites complain that all people hear is the Israeli side. Ironically, the Israeli government half goes along with the Arab side and certainly makes little effort and to even less effect to counter Muslim propaganda and advance the Jewish national interest. Israeli governments may be called right wing, but they prefer "quiet" to defending Jews in Jerusalem and against terrorists in Gaza and Lebanon. They shrink away from foreign criticism, as if its Muslim-appeasing foreign critics and foreign anti-Zionists will respond receptively to Israeli bending over backwards in attempting to show Israeli decency. One of Israel's major critics is the traditionally anti-Zionist State Dept. in that country called an ally of Israel. When Israel defends itself, U.S. officials may threaten what they call a close or "special" relationship with Israel. It is special in expecting the sovereign Jewish state to stick closely to hostile State Dept. positions. Some closeness! 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. |
'NOT A SINGLE JEW WILL BE LEFT ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH'Posted by Midenise, January 06, 2013 |
The article below was written by an Egyptian Muslim cleric. It
appeared January 03, 2013 in WND World and is archived
at
|
A Muslim cleric from Egypt is forecasting an end times annihilation of every Jew on the face of the Earth and says that will be the ultimate victory for Islam. In a recent broadcast on Al-NAS Television in Egypt, cleric Mahmoud al-Masri pontificated on his belief about the future of the nation of Israel and the Jewish people. "The final annihilation [of the Jews] will come at the time of the Mahdi, or shortly before the Mahdi appears. Then the Muslims will regain the Al-Aqsa mosque, if they do not manage to spread Islam throughout the land," he said. "A small group of Jews will remain, but not the Jews living in Palestine. A group of Jews from Isfahan will survive, and they will follow the Antichrist, but eventually, they will also be killed, along with the Antichrist," he continued. "Ultimately, not a single Jew will be left on the face of the Earth. Victory is coming, Allah willing." The Mahdi is believed by some sects in Islam to be the 12th imam, an end times figure who will arise to lead Muslims on a worldwide rampage in which all "enemies" of the belief are eliminated. Some Christians believe the Mahdi is the same as the biblical Antichrist, the personification of evil. Former terrorist turned Christian Walid Shoebat noted the report, and said, "As the West attempts to split hairs when determining if Islamists with this view are part of al-Qaida or not, the words of Islamists like this fall on deaf ears. His idea of victory is for the Earth to be uninhabited by a single Jew." Shoebat has posted online the video that was assembled by the Middle East Media Research Institute, which monitors and publicizes statements from media outlets in the Middle East. Shoebat continued, "Note that this guy is rooting for the Syrian rebels." Al-Masri has positioned his comments in the context of Islam rooting for the "rebels" in Syria, who have engaged in a civil war with one of their own, Muslim President Bashar al-Assad. Estimates are that more than 40,000 Syrians have died as a result of the rebels, who include terror-linked Muslims, fighting against al-Assad, who is trying to remain in power. "We must all make an effort for the sake of our country, because if Egypt rises and the Syrian revolution prevails I swear that this will be the end of Israel, Allah willing," he said. "The Zionist entity has become nervous about us for a simple reason: They cannot forget the utter defeat they suffered in the 1973 war. If some of the superpowers had not intervened to stop that war if President Sadat had been allowed to continue it would have been the end of Israel. They stopped the war, but if it had continued, Israel would have been finished off. It would have been erased from the face of the Earth. But Allah decreed otherwise." He continued, "Allah willing, Israel will be annihilated, because the Prophet Muhammad said so. Don't believe it because I said so. Believe it because I say that the Prophet Muhammad said so: 'Judgment Day will not come before the Muslims fight the Jews and kill them.'" Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also repeatedly has made statements about the annihilation of the Jews and the removal of Israel from the face of the Earth. WND previously reported that a Pew Research poll said two-thirds of a billion Muslims expect the Mahdi the last Islamic imam they believe will come and rule the world to arrive in their lifetimes. Those results affirmed the warnings from author Joel Richardson, whose book, "Mideast Beast," is a sequel to his New York Times bestselling 2009 "The Islamic Antichrist." In a column written in WND, Richardson noted that he has been criticized repeatedly for believing many Muslims have a faith in the coming Mahdi, especially that there are a significant number who believe that will happen soon. The survey by Pew Research at that time noted that in the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia, "half or more Muslims believe they will live to see the return of the Mahdi. This expectation is most widespread in Afghanistan (83 percent), Iraq (72 percent), Tunisia (67 percent) and Malaysia (62 percent). The survey said that belief drops to about four-in-10 across Central Asia, except for Turkey, where 68 percent expect to witness his return. It drops slightly further across southern and eastern Europe. "In some countries with sizable Sunni and Shi'a populations, views on the Mahdi's return differ by sect. In Iraq, for example, Shi'as are more likely than Sunnis to expect the Mahdi to return in their lifetime, by an 88 percent to 55 percent margin. In Azerbaijan, the difference between the two groups is also large (25 percentage points)," the report said. "Differences between Shi'as and Sunnis on this issue may reflect the more central role that the Mahdi's return plays in Shi'a Islam." The result? An estimated 672 million Muslims expect to witness the Mahdi's return. Richardson has reported that one of the recent surface-to-surface missiles launched by Iran was inscribed "Ya Mahdi" the equivalent of "Go Mahdi." He notes that while many believe the Antichrist will come from a revived Roman Empire, which many have assumed is associated with the Roman Catholic Church and the European Union, he doesn't believe that is the case. "The Bible abounds with proofs that the Antichrist's empire will consist only of nations that are, today, Islamic," Richardson explained. "Despite the numerous prevailing arguments for the emergence of a revived European Roman empire as the Antichrist's power base, the specific nations the Bible identifies as comprising his empire are today all Muslim." Richardson believes the key error of many previous prophecy scholars involves the misinterpretation of a prediction by Daniel to Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel describes the rise and fall of empires of the future, leading to the end times. Western Christians have viewed one of those empires as Rome, when, claims Richardson, Rome never actually conquered Babylon and was thus disqualified as a possibility. It had to be another empire that rose and fell and rose again that would lead to rule of this "man of sin," described in the Bible. That empire, he says, is the Islamic Empire, which did conquer Babylon and, in fact, rules over it even today. Contact Midenise at midenise@zahav.net.il |
NATIONAL GOALSPosted by Dr. Sanford Aranoff, January 06, 2013 |
A cancer patient visits a doctor, who advises a treatment plan that will defeat the cancer. The statistics of the success of this plan are such that out of 100 similar patients with this treatment, 80 will survive and live normal lives. All our decisions must be based upon statistics, for all reality is based upon statistics. There is no absolute truth. The patient then goes to another doctor to get a second opinion, something we must all do. The doctor advises a treatment that will degrade the cancer. The statistics are that out of 100 similar patients with this treatment, 10 will survive and live normal lives. It is suicidal for the patient to opt for the treatment to degrade the cancer. Cancer must be defeated and not degraded, for it can flare up and become fatal. The first doctor's name is retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who presented a war goal to the White House to defeat the Taliban. The other doctor is President Barack Obama, who advised to degrade the Taliban. The White House plan is suicidal to the United States, for the Taliban can attract more converts spreading their dangerous evil. We Americans must stop discussing politics and numbers of people who support various issues. We must cease doing suicidal acts. We know many Americans are suicidal, people who take guns killing many other innocent people before killing themselves. It seems that our national leadership is also suicidal. We must do what we can to defeat our leaders and save our country. Contact Sanford Aranoff at aranoff@analysis-knowledge.com |
INDIA SEARCHING SOLUTIONS TO END GENDER CRIMEPosted by Reportsny, January 06, 2013 |
December 16, 2012. 9.30 P:M. A 23 year old woman, a para-medical student, accompanied by a 28 year old male friend, boarded a bus in New Delhi at Munirka where the driver misguided them that it was going to Dwarka, the destination of the girl and her male friend. They did not know that the bus was not running on regular duty. There were six people, including the driver, on board. They were not passengers but a gang of friends, from among the bus employees. Encouraged by the law and order breakdown in India, particularly in Delhi, the gang misbehaved with the girl. The male friend objected. The lustful gang brutally attacked him.. When the woman jumped into the fray to protect her friend, they hit her with an iron rod, dragged her to the back seat and gang raped her. All this happened in the moving bus which passed through many police check posts. Finally, the criminals bared both of them and dumped them on the roadside, with girl unconscious and in dying stage. Delhi youth, especially the students, rose in almost-revolt. The government was scared. It ensured special medical attention to keep her alive. The Indian Cabinet, on December 26, in a meeting chaired by the Prime Minister, took the decision to make special arrangements to airlift the girl to Mount Elizibeth Hospital in Singapore. But on December 29th, she succumbed to her injuries. With her death, she leaves behind a question: Can India correct itself societally? Will India remain engaged only in economic debate or think of its deteriorating law and order, also? The painful tale of the Delhi Bus gang rape as narrated by the victim's male friend is a clue to the solution to reverse and perhaps halt the rising crime in India. The 28 years old boy laments that he could have saved the gang raped victim, had the passers-by been sympathetic and law-supporting citizens. His narration as it appears in an IANS news shows the paradox, the Indians are a victim to. They let the victims suffer for fear of being identified as witnesses. But later, rose in an almost-revolt when the social media gave them a call and they became unidentifiable. Here is what he says. "We were lying in the cold night for 20 minutes. We had no clothes. Many cars and auto-rickshaws came and passed by us but no one stopped to offer us help even though I was crying for help,"...He further says that three Police Control Room vans came and left as they were unsure of the jurisdiction of the crime. And finally when a police van came, none of the 20 persons standing there came to his aid to lift the seriously injured and unconscious girl into the van. The boy's tale is a painful stricture on the situation in hospitals. He says that they had no clothes but in the severe cold night of December, "In the hospital, no one even thought of giving us a quilt." The question is: will another stringent law prevent such tragedies and protect the weaker people from the criminally oriented villains who mostly work in gangs? No body can tell in advance. The politicians, the activists and even the media shout hoarse, only to fall silent when people forget the events. But I think that before the nation busies itself with unending debates and discussion on the type of legislation, it shall make certain rules and apply them in letter and spirit. I offer a few as preventive measures. 1st: Police response: shall be standardized. Any information to the police control room, by the victim or a watcher, who identifies himself/herself, shall be followed up within 5 minutes. Any officer on duty who fails to respond for 5 times shall be demoted and a ten time response-failure shall result in dismissal. There shall be an internal audit and a CAG type audit to determine the results. 2nd: Watchers' Response. Any watcher, or a passer-by, walker, rickshaw puller or vehicle, shall stop there and then to report the matter to the police control room. (No excuse, everyone seems to own or have access to a cell phone). In case, it is proved that a watcher did not respond by making a help-call or other possible means, shall be punished with fines and even prison. After having done their duty, watchers shall have the freedom to become witnesses or not to become. However, those who join street demonstrations shall have the moral courage to help the law in getting the guilty punished. 3rd: Medical aid or emergency response: The hospital and nursing centers are notorious for giving special attention to the rich and mighty, even at the cost of sufferers who deserve priority. A hospital or nursing center ignoring the needs and medical attention to the victims of rape with life-threatening symptoms shall run the risk of losing its license. The hospitals shall have arrangements with other facilities to transfer patients and material in time of need. 4th: Prosecutional Response: In high-profile cases like the Delhi bus gang rape, everybody from a journalist to the home minister becomes pro-active. But have you ever heard them talking if a poor woman is raped in a village, where the police does not register a complaint and openly sides with the criminal. The time has come when the prosecutional rules be framed, standardized and strictly followed. Instant filing of the complaint, appointing a 2-man investigation team(preferably with one lady-officer) within 24 hours, completion and reporting back of investigation within a week, resulting in the arrest of the criminal and filing the charge sheet within six months to begin the judicial battle shall be the prosecutional rules. There shall be proper audit of each case and the chief of the related police station shall be held responsible and punished for not adhering to these rules. A Lesson, unforgettable: The justice depends on two factors-quantum of punishment and the adherence to rules that ensure justice. Which is more important in curbing crime? At a time when everybody seems to be demanding a stringent law, we are conveniently forgetting that a criminal can be exposed to justice only by following four types of rules, suggested above. A judge will order death penalty only if prosecutors prove beyond doubt that the person standing in the criminal box is really a rapist. How to succeed: Only by following the rules and by severe punishment, including loss of job/position, to the persons who are paid for that. The Supreme Court lawyer, Ram Jethmalani advocates "Some heads must role" and I completely follow his views on this front. To halt and reverse the ugly forces of crime, we shall create a parallel system of support to the victims. Governments have miserably failed. Introduce the following two ingredients to comfort the victims and weaker sections. 1st: Parallel Help-Units: Some NGOs shall come up to substitute police help and first aid helps. Any such NGO with proof of owning medical vans, ambulances and the full-time or part time availability of doctors shall be given licenses without fuss and shall be rewarded by the local government with per-person aid provided. 2nd: Parallel Prosecution units: Some NGOs of women-lawyers shall come up to provide free legal aid to the victims of rape. If a victim chooses to go to such an NGO, the lawyer thus provided shall be complimentary to the prosecution lawyer. The woman-lawyer shall become a part of judicial battle to see that the police and its prosecutor is not diluting or weakening the case of the victim. Nobody can ever deny that the criminals use money power, muscle power and political power to use police against the victim, rather than the criminal. The NGO shall be given a pre-fixed fee for every case, thus handled, by the state government and a special reward of at least five lakhs to the woman-lawyer who wins the conviction. This is the only way to morally boost and embolden the victims of rape. They will, thus, face any financial difficulties, nor will they have any fear of police, which mostly fails to be helpful. 3rd: Gang breaking-units: The police commissioners will have to form gang-breaking units within student bodies and labor unions. Their job description shall be to watch and monitor individuals and groups engage in anti-social activities. They are in fact the breeding grounds of lawlessness and terrorism. They shall report exclusively to a Special officer on duty in the office of the police commissioner and shall no contacts with anyone else in the police department. The commissioner shall pass on their un-named reports to his /her assistants for verification and action. Thus, a data base of gangs in the commissioner's office shall enable the police to nip the evil in the bud. 4th: PARLIAMENTARY ACTION COMMITTEES: Nation would be very grateful to its politicians if they, instead of fighting only power battles and on legislations that serve their political agenda, watch the state of affairs of the nation and correct them. This is possible only if along with the standing committees, they form Action Committees also. The job of Action Committees shall be to prepare reports, and data bases on their allotted area. If they find that their department, ministries and commissions are not following the law or are facing hurdles, they shall discuss ways and means to reach the desired goals. They shall amend, propose and make rules compatible with the nation's requirements. Parliamentarians cannot be ignorant of the fact that the rules affect the national life more than the law.(Ranjit Singh) Contact Reportsny at reportsny@aol.com |
CHUCK HAGEL AND THE 3D-TEST OF ANTI-SEMITISMPosted by Laura, January 06, 2013 |
The article below was written by Ari Lieberman who is an attorney and former
prosecutor who has authored numerous articles and publications on
matters concerning the Middle East and is an authority
on geo-political and military developments affecting the region.
The article appeared December 19, 2012 in the American Thinker
and is archived at
|
Two career politicians are all but certain to be nominated for top cabinet posts within the Obama administration -- John Kerry for secretary of state and Chuck Hagel for secretary of defense. While Kerry's record on Israel is troubling at best, Obama's man for secretary of defense is downright hostile. What's more, a deeper look at Hagel's record reveals a deep-seeded hatred of Israel far beyond the norm for ordinary run-of-the-mill Israel critics. I hate to use the term "anti-Semitic" because its overuse results in dilution of its negative connotation. The term "anti-Semite" should be used sparingly and with extreme caution, and only when one is absolutely certain that the recipient of the pejorative is indeed an anti-Semite. I have come to the reluctant conclusion that not only does Hagel harbor animus toward Israel, but he displays anti-Semitic tendencies. Anti-Semitism has morphed throughout the years, and only the most boorish cling to the old-school style. We see this type of xenophobia prevalent in the Arab and Muslim world. When the Islamo-fascist dictator of Egypt, Mohammed Morsi, concurs with an anti-Semitic screed that calls for the destruction of the "yahuds" -- that's old-school anti-Semitism. Similarly, when government-controlled Arab and Iranian media spew forth claims that Jews use the blood of non-Jewish children in ritualistic fashion to prepare matzoth for Passover, that too is classic anti-Semitism and very easy to identify. But today's anti-Semitism has taken a more insidious form; it masks itself as legitimate criticism of Israel, with the purported aim of advancing "human rights." Famed humanitarian and Soviet dissident Nathan Sharansky recognized the problem and postulated a test -- which he termed the 3D-test -- to distinguish between "legitimate" criticism of Israel and veiled anti-Semitism masquerading as such. While Hagel doesn't fit as neatly into Sharansky's 3D-test as, say, someone like Alison Weir, the notorious chief of a hate-mongering organization, his past actions and veiled references to Jewish influences in Washington make him come pretty darn close. With the possible exception of former KKK member Robert Byrd of West Virginia, Chuck Hagel is arguably the most hostile anti-Israel U.S. senator ever to serve. His record features a laundry list of anti-Israel actions that include his failure to sign a bipartisan letter to the European Union to add Hezb'allah to its list of terrorist organizations. He was one of only a handful of senators who refused to sign the letter. Prior to September 11, 2001 Hezb'allah was responsible for more American deaths than all other terrorist organizations combined. It was also responsible for targeting and destroying Jewish centers in Argentina, resulting in countless of civilian deaths, for no reason other than its lust for the murder of Jews. Chuck Hagel currently serves as chairman of the Atlantic Council, a foreign policy blog. On December 11, 2012, the Atlantic Council published a front-page article entitled "Israel's Apartheid Policy." Of all the anti-Semitic canards and libelous statements about Israel, perhaps none is more egregious than labeling Israel an "Apartheid state." The article notes that Israel maintains separate roads for Arabs and Jews and implies that this situation has existed since the Six-Day War, which is utter rubbish. Prior to the Oslo War (also known as the Second Intifada), Jews and Arabs were freely able to utilize the same roads. It was only after Arafat unleashed his wave of homicide bombers and drive-by shooters that security concerns dictated curtailment of terrorist movement. The Palestinians have only themselves to blame for their predicament. Violence entails consequences, and no responsible nation can allow its citizens -- women and children -- to fall prey to violence of the most horrific sort. Moreover, the article neglects to note that Israeli courts, at the request of Arab-affiliated organizations, periodically review the security situation and allow for the loosening of restrictions as the situation warrants. The article also repeats the lie that planned Israeli construction in the E-1 section near Jerusalem would sever land links among Ramallah, Bethlehem, and Jerusalem. Even the New York Times, with its lengthy history of anti-Israel bias, acknowledged (belatedly) that this was simply not the case. It seems highly unlikely that Hagel, as chairman of the Atlantic Council, was unaware of this article's intended publication, and this is especially true in light of its timing. The likelihood is that Hagel either agrees with this vitriol or wishes to perpetuate it even if he doesn't believe it. It's bad any way you look at it. But what is perhaps most disconcerting is Hagel's 2006 pejorative reference to the so-called "Jewish lobby," conjuring up the old anti-Semitic canard -- very popular in the Arab world and among Nazi conspiracists -- of rich, powerful Jews pulling the strings of Washington. Images of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion come to mind, and perhaps this is what Hagel wanted his audience to absorb. Sorry, Chuck, but there is no "Jewish lobby." There is an organization called AIPAC, composed of American citizens, Jews and non-Jews alike, who believe that close cooperation between the U.S. and Israel is advantageous to both countries. These citizens hold the opinion that at a time when chaos, mayhem, and fanaticism grip the Muslim world -- for reasons having nothing to do with Israel -- it is important now more than ever to recognize Israel's strategic importance and its underlying moral similarities with our nation. But someone like Hagel, who views matters through the narrow prism of Jew and non-Jew, sees only the "Jewish lobby." His reference to the "Jewish lobby" is demonstrative of his myopic outlook that precludes any possibility that many non-Jews are supportive of Israel for a plethora of reasons, including but not limited to shared values and strategic interests. In fact, a recent Pew research poll confirms that Americans are overwhelmingly supportive of Israel, and this poll is consistent with past polls that revealed similar results. I could be wrong, of course, but I believe that Chuck Hagel meets the criteria as set forth in Sharansky's formulation. If he is nominated and confirmed, U.S.-Israeli relations will likely spiral, and that will be bad for both countries. Contact Laura at le187@yahoo.com |
BRUTAL ISLAMIST THREATS ARE NOT JUST TALKPosted by Richard H. Shulman, January 06, 2013 |
The major Western media does not often publish Muslim threats and even less often evaluates them. Readers have little on which to base an assessment of those threats. Apparently, when Westerners hear brutal and primitive Muslim threats, they don't believe them or they don't take them seriously. But they are serious. Dr. Abdullah Badr, professor of Islamic exegesis, told his Egyptian audience that whoever speaks against Islam and enactment of Islamic law will not be tolerated. He said in the rough Islamist manner, such as that they are "dogs," that their tongues will be cut out. Westerners probably don't think Radical Muslims primitive and brutal enough to mean it. Nevertheless, they mean it. In November, Salafis ib Suez beat a grocery store work and tried to cut off his hand for not letting one of them use the bathroom. (He had not insulted Islam.) The clerk's brother called the gang names, so they tried to cut off his tongue, but people helped him escape. The gang had murdered an Egyptian man for walking in public with his fiancée, in May 2011. Also in May, 2011, "unknown assailants" cut the tongue out of a poet in Yemen, whose poem praised the ruler who opposed the Islamist uprising. That deed emulates the prophet of Islam, who saw to the assassination of poets who offended him. In April, 2011, a muezzin in Bahrain was beaten, tortured as with boiling oil, and had his tongue cut out, to the Islamic war cry, "Allahu Akbar!" In Australia, a Muslim broke into the apartment of a non-Muslim woman "he was formally involved with," smashed her eye socket with a bottle, cut her face and severed her tongue. He was sentenced to 8 ½ years in jail. To Muslims, the tongue can expose Islam. As 13th century Sheikh Ibn Taymiyya put it, "Waging war verbally against Islam may be worse than waging war physically." As Dr. Badr put it, he'd rather see the whole world in flames than Islam insulted (Raymond Ibrahim, Gatestone Institute, 12/12/12 http://www.meforum.org/3387/militant-muslims-cutting-out-tongues ). Now what was that about expecting Iran to make decisions about whether to use nuclear weapons on the basis of what we would consider rational thinking? No wonder Islamic movements seek to curb free speech in the West, however factual and logical! We had better take seriously the dictatorships' attempts to get UN control over the Internet. We also had better disband or enervate the UN, before it gains control over other areas, as it is trying to do over marine resources and international taxation. The 8 ½ year sentence against the Australian Muslim seems like a penalty conceived under normal law. The tongue-remover, however, is more like a fanatical war criminal. For jihadists, special laws are needed, because their ideology is too strong for a jail sentence to deter or reform or even punish. It is as if we have identifiable SS or Soviet secret police in the U.S., waiting for a signal or circumstance to attack. Some Westerners think they might escape Islamist fury by giving in to them or even converting. But most of the examples we cited were assaults on Muslims. Islamists find an urge to commit violence against almost anyone, nobody being pure enough for their particular gang. 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. |
THE TURKISH SHOW TRIAL IN ABSENTIA OF FOUR SENIOR ISRAELIS INVOLVED IN THE EVENTS ABOARD THE MAVI MARMARA IS EXPECTED TO BE RENEWED IN FEBRUARY 2013.Posted by Terrorism Information Center, January 06, 2013 |
1.The Turkish Islamist media recently spread the false claim initiated by the IHH that Turkish Jews fought alongside IDF soldiers aboard the Mavi Marmara. Yenisafak, an Islamist newspaper affiliated with the Turkish government published an op-ed column on December 13 entitled "Are there murderers in our midst?" Three days later Hüseyin Oruç, deputy IHH president, interviewed by the small Islamist Kanal A TV station, made the false claim that five of the IDF soldiers who belonged to force that took control of the Mavi Marmara were Turkish citizens. He also said that the IHH demanded that the Turkish government and the Turkish intelligence service (MIT) locate the five Jews and bring them to trial. 2. The IHH, which organized the Mavi Marmara flotilla and whose operatives were the main force in fighting the IDF, has turned the show trial in Istanbul into an anti-Israeli hate campaign, which the Turkish government has so far done nothing to prevent. The campaign, whose objective is to turn the trial into an indictment of Israel and its policies, included a mass demonstration in front of the courthouse on the opening day of the trial, where demonstrators carried signs equating Israel ("Zionism") with Nazi Germany and Hitler. Later on, the campaign also integrated anti-Semitic incitement against the Turkish Jewish community. 3. IHH and its president, Bülent Yildirim, have a long history of anti-Semitic incitement and hate propaganda, usually focused on making political capital from The Protocols of the Elders of Zion myth that the "Zionists" [i.e., the Jews] rule the world, especially the United States (See Appendix C). This time, however, the IHH and the Islamist Turkish media directed their anti-Semitic hate propaganda inward towards the country's small Jewish population, which had no connection or involvement whatsoever with the Mavi Marmara affair. 4. Attacking Turkey's Jews with anti-Semitic hate propaganda and incitement was the direction taken by IHH leader Bülent Yildirim. Interviewed by the Islamist newspaper Sabah Gazetisi several months before the opening of the show trial, he claimed that there were Turkish-speaking Israelis aboard the Mavi Marmara (Sabah Gazetisi, May 26, 2012). The remark made by deputy IHH president Hüseyin Oruç about "five Turkish-speaking suspects" among the IDF soldiers was intended, in out assessment, to reinforce and give credibility to Bülent Yildirim's accusations, using the classic anti-Semitic allegation that Jews have dual loyalty. 5. Following a protest by the American-based Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the Turkish ministry of the interior issued a statement intended to moderate the damage to its image. It again took the familiar Turkish government stand that for centuries Turkey has provided a safe haven for the Jews and that it regards anti-Semitism and racism as a crime against humanity (See Appendix A). In out assessment, however, it is doubtful whether the statement indicates the Turkish administration's intention to take vigorous action to keep the show trial in Istanbul from becoming a stage for anti-Israeli, anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic incitement and hate propaganda (the distinctions between which are lost on Bülent Yildirim and other anti-Semitic figures). NOTE:
There are appendices available at
Contact Terrorism Information Center at newsleter@terrorism-info.org.il |
SURE NOT DULLPosted by Arlene Kushner, January 06, 2013 |
Some months ago I wrote a number of times about a little boy named Zakkai, in the US, who was undergoing severe medical problems. I learned about his situation from his grandmother, whom I know -- who had written and asked for prayers: He had an extensive tumor growing up his spine and into his thoracic area. At first it was thought be a rare form of malignancy and then was declared benign. This was cause for celebration, but he certainly wasn't home free. Non-cancerous, rapid growing tumors can do extensive damage. Zakkai underwent two serious surgeries to remove the tumor. The surgeries, in spite of minor hitches, were considered successful, and he then received follow-up treatments -- physical therapy because of damaged muscle, etc. A scan indicated that there were two small spots on the spine and it was not clear at first what they were. Now, with the latest scan it is clear: the two lesions on his spine were tumor-tissue and are now growing, rapidly. The doctors have not yet determined what to do. But we can do starting immediately is pray for this brave and happy little boy, who is now a little over two: Rephael Zakkai Avraham ben Yakira Avigael ~~~~~~~~~~ We are now deep into the throes of an election campaign, which is just a bit more then three weeks away. I am not going to write about all of the inter-party goings on, which often have something of a "madhouse" tone about them and frequently make me very weary. All this said, however, this is potentially a very significant election, with shifting alliances, new people coming to the fore, and a chance for some real changes. PM Binyamin Netanyahu and his fellow Likud members are clearly nervous and handling themselves badly. Finally they have begun to aim their criticism at the center-left after a very unfortunate bout of attacking Habayit Hayehudi, their natural coalition partner. ~~~~~~~~~~ The issue of coalition formation is critical in a variety of ways. There is, of course, the obvious: How the coalition shapes up -- whether, for example, a victorious Netanyahu will include center/left parties instead of Habayit Hayehudi-- will have an effect on who controls key ministries and what gov't policy will be. But there is more: After the elections, the president meets with all of the parties and asks for recommendations as to which faction's head should be asked to form the coalition. Usually, the head of the party with the most mandates (and that will almost certainly be Likud) is asked, but this is not a given. If the center-left parties say they will consider being included in a Likud coalition, then they presumably will recommend Netanyahu to form that coalition. But what they -- notably Shelly Yachimovich of Labor and Tzipi Livni of the Tzipi Livni party -- are saying now is that they will band together in refusal to join the coalition, making it more difficult (but hardly impossible) for him to form a coalition. Peres might be "inspired" to ask someone else. Peres would be delighted to encourage a left wing coalition. (See more below.) This is well understood and a tad worrisome. Yet another aspect of the left/center declarations of refusal to join a Likud coalition (for today, anyway -- except for Lapid of Yesh Atid, who says he might), however, is that Netanyahu might be asked to form the coalition and then actually have no choice but to include Habayit Hayehudi in order to make the requisite number of mandates. Which would be great and precisely as it should be Are you confused yet? I'll track this more clearly as the factors sort themselves out. ~~~~~~~~~~ PM Netanyahu (Likud) has been accused (not without reason) of waffling on what he stands for. That is more or less his MO. And so today Avigdor Lieberman (head of Yisrael Beitenu and former foreign minister) came forward with a clarification. Remember that Likud and Yisrael Beitenu are running together on a joint list. Lieberman says that Yisrael Beitenu is for the formation of a Palestinian state, and that a Likud-Yisrael Beitenu government will base its policy on Netanyahu's Bar Ilan speech. Well...that's pretty clear. Voters who will not vote left have a choice, most significantly, between this and Naftali Bennett's position as head of Habayit Hayehudi, which is solidly against a Palestinian state. (There is also the small, strongly nationalist Otzma l'Yisrael -- Strength to Israel party.) Bennett recommends annexing area C, and offering citizenship to the small number of Palestinian Arabs who live there. Habayit Hayehudi is in a merged list with National Union, which most certainly is not for a Palestinian state. ~~~~~~~~~~ I see media reports that refer to Bennett as "radical right," "extreme." I see this as a joke. It's an attempt to render what he is saying in defense of our rights as not legitimate. (Anything that rejects that "two state solution" is represented as not legitimate.) In truth, Bennett's position is moderate. He advocates expelling no one from his or her home -- including no Arabs. Those Arabs in the area he recommends annexing would stay where they are and be given full rights. Beware of politically-inspired labels. ~~~~~~~~~~ There were rumors that Lieberman said his party would break apart from Likud and form a separate faction after the elections, which he is now denying -- although there are suggestions that this was understood when the lists were merged. That would leave Likud further weakened. ~~~~~~~~~~ One other political observation here: President Shimon Peres has been making political statements of a sort that are simply inappropriate for a man in his position. The presidency is not a political office. He recently said that PA putative president Mahmoud Abbas was a partner for peace, and then found himself in the position of having to defend this because of severe criticism. Yoel Marcus, in a piece -- "President Peres - resign" -- he wrote in Haaretz on Friday, provides us with a quote from Peres on the subject: "'The role of our diplomacy has always been to stretch out a hand to anyone willing to talk,' said Peres. He added: 'I've known Abu Mazen...[Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas] for 30 years, he's open and ready for rapprochement.'" http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/president-peres-resign.premium-1.491860 And here I thank David Bedein for calling this to my attention: Thirty years is ten years before Oslo. How did Peres happen to be acquainted with this PLO leader and protégé of terrorist Yasser Arafat back then? ~~~~~~~~~~ As to that "peace partner" Peres has been referring to, we should heed the statement of IDF Ezion Sector Commander Colonel Yaniv Alaluf. Alaluf, one of Central Command's top ranking officers, said after a training session (emphasis added): "We're no longer on the verge of a third intifada it's already here. We anticipate many more [clashes] from now on. We may not be facing thousands of demonstrators storming border fences with AK-47s, but that doesn't diminish the seriousness of the situation. "The process lead by Abu Mazen [Abbas] is over, replaced by the attitude promoted by Hamas. Abu Mazen is trying to survive the Arab Spring and he understands that the path of negotiations with Israel is over. "The question is what will follow? We may see regional anarchy... "The third intifada won't be like the second one, which surprised us. We're ahead of the game now and terror won't be able to slither up to central Israel because we're better prepared." http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4328957,00.html ~~~~~~~~~~ I want to turn here (with thanks to Reisa S.) to a new documentary -- "Jihad in America: The Deception" --from The Investigative Project on Terrorism, founded and run by Steve Emerson. Emerson reliably documents the threat in America from Islamists. Before 9/11 he had made predictions about an imminent major terrorist attack and was written off as an alarmist kook. After 9/11, he was sought all over as a commentator in the know. It is prudent now to learn what he has to say. His concern is not "just" the fact that Islamist groups such as Muslim Brotherhood and al-Qaeda seek world domination and imposition of sharia (Muslim) law, it is the fact that these groups masterfully disguise their intentions from the general public and are accepted as moderates within the halls of American power. Here you can see a video interview of Emerson, with a discussion of the documentary and accompanying text: http://www.investigativeproject.org/3873/fox-news-showcases-emerson-new-documentary-jihad In the course of the interview, Emerson speaks of Siraj Wahhaj who "is a major imam from Brooklyn who... was the first Muslim to open the invocation in Congress in 1991, but in fact is a very, very radical militant Muslim cleric who has called for jihad, he has supported terrorism. In fact he was an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing case. And believe it or not, despite all that has come out including his unindicted status, to this very day he is still being invited to and paid for by US government agencies to speak at counterterrorism conferences." (Emphasis added) None of this should be dismissed or taken lightly. The DVD documentary can be ordered via Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Jihad-America-The-Grand-Deception/dp/B009S93GQE ~~~~~~~~~~ As to the good news, there is some: The Jewish community of Rachelim in Samaria, which had been built with full support from the Housing Ministry but was referred to as "illegal" for lack of one Defense Ministry signature, has now been fully authorized. Please see here for the full story of how this was accomplished http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/163898 "Rachelim was built in 1998 in memory of two Rachels both murdered by Palestinian Authority terrorists. Rachel Druck, 35, was murdered in a shooting attack on a bus in 1991 as she and her son traveled from Shilo to Tel Aviv. Rachel Weiss, 26, was burned alive in 1988 as she desperately tried to save her three young children, who were trapped in the flames after a terrorist hurled a firebomb at a bus." ~~~~~~~~~~ And then there is the weather. Last night and today there was heavy rain in the north, causing flooding. By tomorrow the rain is expected to move to the center of the country, and last most of the week. The level of the Kinneret is going up, perhaps about to reach better levels than it has in 20 years. All together a great blessing for us. ~~~~~~~~~~ Contact Arlene Kushner at akushner18@gmail.com and visit her website: www.ArlenefromIsrael.info |
OH DEAR, THE LEFT IS SUDDENLY UPSET ABOUT ACADEMIC PARTISANSHIP!Posted by Steven Plaut, January 06, 2013 |
1. A demonstration of the remarkable success of Naftali Bennett and his party is apparent in the vicious attack ads and dirty tricks being used by Netanyahu and the Likud against them. The Likud has joined forces with the radical Left in trying to demonize Bennett and his team, because they all find Bennett's success so alarming. Nevertheless, the tactic of the Likud over the past week in trying to paint Bennett as "anti-women" is the finest illustration of the lack of integrity and decency in the Likud and the extent to which it feels threatened by Bennett's growing juggernaut. Last week the Likud, probably under direct orders by Bibi, placed attack ads in all the Israeli media accusing Bennett of having "woman haters" on his party slate. Likud statements accused Bennett of hostility to women. The accusations were entirely based on the fact that one member of the Bennett (Jewish Home Party) slate, Rabbi Eli Ben Dahan who is number four on the list of candidates, had called for the elimination of the Knesset Committee on the Status of Women. What further proof is required?, scream the Likud hacks. Well, first of all, eliminating the Knesset Committee on the status of women would not be such a bad idea. Its main activities in the past have been in pressing for dumbing down standards, promoting the implementation of gender quotas, "affirmative action" and nature double standards, gender preferences, and other silly ideas that harm women and create the general suspicion that any woman who is successful must have made it up the slippery pole because of such discrimination. Ask why many black families in the US refuse to send their children to a black dentist and you will understand the point. But that is just MY reason for thinking the committee should be shut down. So what is Rabbi Ben Dahan's reason and what did he really say? Well, it turns out, and you would know this only if you read Makor Rishon, that the actual quote by Rabbi Ben Dahan was to call for the elimination of the Knesset Committee on Women because he wanted to merge it together with the Knesset Committee on the Welfare of Children, claiming that the merged committee would be far more powerful and effective and influential! Yes, the guy who the Likud claims is the epitome of male chauvinism in Bennett's slate simply called for making the efforts of the Committee on Women MORE effective!! The Likud showed its lack of integrity and willingness to engage in sleaze and distortion in order to make a few fleeting political points, and counted on no one ever checking to see what Ben Dahan had REALLY said! But that is what he really said! The other interesting point being that Bennett has three times as many women in the senior positions on his party slate than the Likud has. 2. The editorial today in Haaretz, the Palestinian newspaper published in Hebrew, is a broadside attack on the decision by the government to allow the Shalem Center to operate its own college. The college would NOT be funded by the taxpayer. You can read the editorial here: http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/under-academic-robes-1.492107 Let me explain. The Shalem Center is a Jerusalem-based think tank run by a team headed by Dr. Yoram Hazony, who is politically close to Bibi Netanyahu. Hazony has served as a close advisor for Bibi in the past. In the 1990s Hazony sought to set up a policy think tank roughly based upon the role models of the Heritage Institute or the American Enterprise Institute in the US, and initially it was thought that it would deal mainly with domestic Israeli social and economic policies. At that point I was loosely associated with it and wrote a few policy papers for the Center. For a variety of reasons, within a few years the Center changed its focus and decided to devote its energies to philosophical and religious discourse regarding the mission and nature of Israel, including things like Religion-State relations, but even more so - the threat and evil of "Post-Zionism." Since my "comparative advantage" was in the economic policy issues, I had little of value to offer this refocused Shalem Center and played no further role in it, other than privately enjoying its publications. For the past few years, Hazony and his Center have been proposing to open a "college" that would teach mainly things like philosophy, Jewish thought, and maybe political science, and it would be from a decidedly Zionist and liberal (in the good sense of the word) perspective. A few days ago the government agreed to grant accreditation to the new College. Among the people involved in its establishment are world-class intellectuals Martin Kramer and Menachem Kellner (the latter being an expert on Maimonides and Jewish Thought, well left of center and a friend of mine). Haaretz is aghast. Here is a citation from its editorial: 'According to the subtitle of this mission statement, "Shalem College is a historic opportunity to create visionary leaders for the Jewish state and people." This makes it clear that academics at the institution will be subordinate to higher purposes with a distinct ideological identity. Constant skepticism, a key academic principle since Medieval times, is not mentioned. 'After last week's announcement Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar, who chairs the Council for Higher Education, called it "another step toward rehabilitating the humanities." In effect, the accreditation was a narrow partisan measure concealed in the robes of officialdom. It would have been better for Sa'ar and the council to find ways to increase undergraduate enrollment at Israeli universities, particularly in the humanities, than to encourage private, donor-supported institutions with a political agenda.' ***Subordinating academic activity to partisanship and ideology, you say? Skepticim is needed in academia? Hmmm..... First let us note that Israel has plenty of one-sided partisan ideological "academic institutions" already, and the Haaretz editors have never objected to any of them. Even if we do not count the non-accredited "Socio-Economic College" run by the Israeli (Stalinist) Communist Party, which engages in Marxist indoctrination, the Beit Berl College, which IS accredited, is only slightly less partisan and conscripted. We posted a few days ago the story about a mandatory course at Beit Berl in Anti-Zionism and Demonization of Israel, which is forced upon students by a fanatical pro-terror communist woman lecturer there. The Bezalel College has behaved in only a slightly less extreme manner of partisan self-conscription. But that does not even scratch the surface. There are scores of departments in the mainstream Israeli universities in which it is prohibited to express a pro-Israel or Zionist opinion. Haaretz has long been the main (in fact the only) journalistic defender of the abomination at Ben Gurion "University" calling itself the Department of Politics, a university unit in which Israel bashing and anti-Zionist indoctrination are its main activities. An international panel of experts called for shutting down that department altogether, because of its extremist ideological biases, its total lack of pluralism, and its abysmally low level of academic quality. None of that prevented Haaretz from championing the department and demanding that it be preserved in the name of "academic freedom." Some skepticism! All or almost all the departments in Israel of political science, sociology, law, linguistics, education, and - of course - women's studies are monolithic uniformly-pure bastions of far-leftist anti-Israel indoctrination. They are the occupied territories of the Tenured Far Left. ohilosophy departments are just as bad. The history department at Tel Aviv University is for all intents and purposes a branch of the Israeli communist party. Haaretz has never expressed any discomfort with any of THAT! 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. Write him at splaut@gmail.com His website address is
|
FEMALE SUICIDE BOMBERSPosted by Richard H. Shulman, January 06, 2013 |
In the Middle East Forum, Daniel Pipes review's Anat Berko's The Smarter Bomb: Women and Children as Suicide Bombers (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2012. 212 pp., $42 ISBN: 978-1-4422-1952-6 https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781442219540 ). In many years of interviewing imprisoned terrorists, Ms. Berko has gotten them to discuss themselves. Apparently, these women dream of endless sex in paradise (just as the men do). Terrorism emerges from romance. Many of them have sexual relations with their dispatchers right before their missions. Many Palestinian Arab women have such miserable, abused home lives, that they pretend to be attacking, in order to be imprisoned and taken away from home and forced marriages and abuse. Some prefer death in order to end a life of misery,. They also find that by violence, the sexual dishonor they may have been accused of gets excused. In jail, they find that Jews take better care of them than do Arabs. When they leave prison, they find Arab men less interested in them, fearing they will have learned to be independent-minded. Fortunately, women, being less ideological, are not as effective in terrorism as men. But they do raise less suspicion 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. |
SOWING HATRED FOR ISRAEL AND JEWS AMONG JAPAN'S INTELLIGENTSIAPosted by Marcia Leal, January 06, 2013 |
The article below was written by Bruce W. Davidson who teaches
at Hokusei Gakuen University in Sapporo, Japan. The article
appeared January 06, 2013 in the American Thinker and is
archived at
|
In contrast to the American presidential election, the recent election in Japan displayed better sense among Japan's electorate, a majority of whom voted the incumbent leftists out of office. However, Japan continues to be afflicted by widespread leftist ideology among academics and the mass media. One of its unfortunate fruits is pervasive anti-Israel and anti-Semitic sentiment in Japan. One prominent advocate of anti-Semitism in Japan is the photojournalist Ryuichi Hirokawa. I first encountered his work in the early 1990s, when I discovered that my women's junior college students were making use of his books to write research papers in a class I was teaching there about the Arab-Israeli conflict. I had been baffled to read papers from the mild-mannered Japanese young women in my class condemning Israel and calling for the destruction of the Jewish state as the only solution to the conflict. Investigating their references turned up the name of Hirokawa, a radical leftist with close ties to academia in Japan. Hirokawa's view of events in the Middle East is much the same as that of Noam Chomsky and other Israel-bashing academics in the US and Europe. In brief, this is the thesis that Israel is the root of all Middle Eastern evil, since it represents an outpost of Western imperialism. According to this view, the origins of the Palestinian problem can be traced solely to a ruthless and unprovoked expulsion of Palestinians from their villages when Israel became a state. This view also entails the necessity of the elimination of the state of Israel, which will then presumably turn the Middle East into a haven of peace and harmony. Sol Stearn appropriately dubs this narrative about the origin of the conflict "The Palestinian Big Lie." Unfortunately, thanks to the efforts of Hirokawa and others, the Big Lie has become the conventional wisdom in Japanese academia and the mass media. Among Hirokawa's publications in Japanese are collections of photographs like Children of a Stolen Land: Documentary Photographs of Palestine, which uses children to pull at the heartstrings of readers and inflame them against Israel. The title says it all about the book's outlook on who is responsible for all their suffering. Hirokawa has also collaborated with academics to produce works such as the two-volume Yudayajin (The Jews). The second volume, named Merchants of Diamonds and Death: Israel's Global Strategy, spins a web of intrigue implicating Jews in economic and military oppression all over the world, extending from Africa to the Middle East and involving Israel, South Africa, and Taiwan. This leftist conspiracy-mongering resembles the mentality of people like the movie director Oliver Stone. Their Marxist interpretation of historical events is increasingly irrelevant to a Middle East where violence often springs from militant Islam, not class conflict, yet this leftist vitriol continues to find an audience among Japan's intellectual elite. Academics who have joined Hirokawa in his mission to demonize Israel include Tokyo University's Yuzo Itagaki, who helped to establish an office for the PLO. Ignoring the difference between scholarship and political advocacy, scholars such as Itagaki equate Zionism with Nazism and make Israel morally equivalent to the Third Reich. America's support for Israel they explain away as Jewish financial dominance of US politics. As Goodman and Miyazawa point out in their book Jews in the Japanese Mind, their anti-Semitic ideas come directly from Soviet and Arab propagandists. Hirokawa is still very active and influential. In 2009 he produced a documentary film series available on DVD named Nakba: Palestine 1948. Nakba is the Arabic word many Arabs use to label the establishment of the state of Israel and means "catastrophe." The DVDs focus almost exclusively on the suffering of the Palestinian refugees, with the intention of evoking pity and outrage on their behalf against Israel. Two copies of the series, a bound set of 30 disks, stand on a shelf in my university library's DVD collection. I pointed out to library staff that this DVD series is pure, unadulterated political propaganda, with little or no scholarly or educational merit, but it remains in place. Outside Japan, Hirokawa's work has been featured in the British press and elsewhere, such as one online site named "My Hero Project" that lionizes him. Ideas can be deadly. Hirokawa has been pushing some poisonous ones for over four decades now. People like him and his fellow-travelers in leftist academia in Japan have molded public perceptions of the Arab-Israeli conflict in lamentable ways. Like their European and American counterparts, it is not an overstatement to say that the Japanese intelligentsia has been an accessory to terrorist violence in the Middle East. Sometimes the influence has been more direct: In 1972, acting on belief of the Palestinian terror group named the PFLP, three Japanese Red Army terrorists murdered 24 and injured another 76 in an attack on Lod Airport in Israel in an incident now known as the Lod Massacre. They were acting out of the same kind of leftist revolutionary idealism that Hirokawa espouses. Needless to say, academic institutions and journalists have a responsibility to help people beware of dishonest and destructive propaganda, not aim it at them. Contact Marcia Leal at marcia.leal.eejh @gmail.com |
WELL?Posted by Yoram Fisher, January 07, 2013 |
Well? REPUBLICANS And DEMOCRATS We read all the jokes and forward the good ones but I just wonder who will pass this one on. How about you sending it on and back to me if you got the guts to do so. I am and just wonder how many I will get back? AND very happy to be of the 1%. Someone please tell me what the HELL's wrong with All the people that run this country!!!!!! Both Democrats and Republicans We're "broke" And can't help Our own Seniors, Veterans, Orphans, Homeless, Etc.,???????????In the last years we have provided direct cash aid to Hamas - 351 M, Libya 1.45 B, Egypt - 397 M, Mexico - 622 M, Russia - 380 M, Haiti - 1.4 B, Jordan - 463 M, Kenya - 816 M, Sudan - 870 M, Nigeria - 456 M, Uganda - 451 M, Congo - 359 M, Ethiopia - 981 M, Pakistan - 2 B, South Africa - 566 M, Senegal - 698 M, Mozambique - 404 M, Zambia - 331 M, Kazakhstan - 304 M, Iraq - 1.08 B, Tanzania - 554 M, With literally Billions of Dollars and they still hate us!!!! Our retired seniors Living on a 'fixed income' Receive no aid Nor do they get any breaks while our government And religious organizations pour Hundreds of Billions Of $$$$$$'s and Tons of Food To Foreign Countries! We have Hundreds of adoptable Children who are shoved aside To make room for The adoption of Foreign orphans. AMERICA: a country where we have Homeless without shelter, children going to bed hungry, elderly going without needed medication and mentally ill without treatment -etc. YET....................... They have A 'Benefit' For the people of Haiti on 12 TV stations, Ships and planes lining up with food, water, tents clothes, bedding, doctors and medical supplies. Imagine if The *GOVERNMENT* Gave 'US' the same support they give to other countries. Sad isn't it? 99% of people won't have the guts to forward this. I'm one of the 1% -- I Just Did = Contact Yoram Fisher lives on Kibbutz Kfar Blum Doar Na Galil Elyon. Contact him by email at yoramski@yahoo.com |
SHILO FIND MAY SHOW IT WAS SACKED BY PHILISTINESPosted by Arutz Sheva, January 07, 2013 |
The article below was written by Gil Ronen who is Veteran journalist and an INN newswriter, who previously served on IDF radio. He currently hosts the 'News, Views & Call-In Show' |
A new archeological find at ancient Shilo fits in with the Biblical narrative regarding the war at Even Ha'ezer, and could confirm scholars' conjectures as to how Shilo was destroyed. The First Book of Samuel does not say when and how Shilo, which served as the Israelite capital for 369 years, was destroyed. The latest archeological find at the Shilo site a broken vase and remains of ashes from a fire indicate large scale destruction. The remains are from the same period in which the War of Even Ha'ezer against the Philistines was waged. Israel suffered a crushing defeat in that war, which is believed to have been waged near present-day Afek. The two sons of Eli the High Priest were killed, and Eli himself died upon hearing the news. Worst of all, the Holy Ark, which the Israelites had brought to the battleground, was taken by the Philistines. Archeologists and scholars now have more evidence to back the assumption that after defeating the Israelites at Even Ha'ezer, the Philistines advanced upon Shilo and sacked it. Other Biblical passages, in Psalms and Jeremiah, confirm that Shilo was destroyed by Phlistines. Contact Arutz Sheva at news@israelnationalnews.com |
THE FRENCH ANTI-ISRAELI ORGANIZATION EUROPALESTINE SENT A DELEGATION TO THE GAZA STRIPPosted by Terrorism Information Center, January 07, 2013 |
1. EuroPalestine is an anti-Israeli French organization headed by Olivia Zemor, a far-left Jewish-French activist. The organization participates in the campaign to delegitimize Israel and in the anti-Israeli BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanction) campaign. 2. EuroPalestine spearheaded three unsuccessful attempts to send thousands of activists to Israel on three occasions, twice through Ben-Gurion international airport (April 2010 and July 2011) and once over the Allenby Bridge (August 2012). All three events were intended as provocation, fodder for the media and to embarrass Israel. However, they did not receive the coverage the organizers hoped for and the event at the Allenby Bridge completely failed to attract media attention. 3. EuroPalestine recently sent a delegation of close to 100 activists to the Gaza Strip. On arrival they were received by members of the de-facto Hamas administration. They went to the border fence to hold a small low-profile display. They promised to promote Hamas' political agenda and propaganda in French discourse and in French and international legal forums. They were accompanied by members of other networks connected with the campaign to delegitimize Israel, among them nine activists from an anti-Israeli network called Freedom Flotilla Italia, involved in the Gaza Strip flotilla campaigns. Network activists met in the Gaza Strip with operatives of the terrorist organization Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and other terrorist organizations. 3. EuroPalestine recently sent a delegation of close to 100 activists to the Gaza Strip. On arrival they were received by members of the de-facto Hamas administration. They went to the border fence to hold a small low-profile display. They promised to promote Hamas' political agenda and propaganda in French discourse and in French and international legal forums. They were accompanied by members of other networks connected with the campaign to delegitimize Israel, among them nine activists from an anti-Israeli network called Freedom Flotilla Italia, involved in the Gaza Strip flotilla campaigns. Network activists met in the Gaza Strip with operatives of the terrorist organization Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and other terrorist organizations. The EuroPalestine Delegation's Visit to the Gaza Strip 4. A delegation of activists organized by EuroPalestine's "Welcome to Palestine" campaign entered the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing on December 27, 2012. According to the members of the delegation (who aimed their arrival to coincide with the fourth anniversary of Operation Cast Lead) they came to "break the illegal siege of the Gaza Strip." The visit lasted five days. Before their departure for the Gaza Strip they campaigned in a number of cities in France, primarily to collect donations and contributions for the Gazans. As part of the campaign dozens of letters were sent to French President Hollande demanding the imposition of sanctions against Israel (EuroPalestine website, December 17, 2012). 5. The delegation was headed by Olivia Zemor, a far left Jewish French activist who is president of EuroPalestine (See Appendix C). Arriving in the Gaza Strip she said that she was very emotional and happy because it was the first time a EuroPalestine delegation had succeeded in entering the Palestinian territories (Press TV, December 27, 2012). [Note: The three previous attempts, two through Ben-Gurion international airport and one over the Allenby bridge, failed). 6. Most of the members of the delegation (an estimated 60%) were French, but there were also members from Belgium, the United States, Ireland, and 25 activists from Egypt. They brought medicines, foodstuffs (mainly candy) and French textbooks. They were the guests of Nabil Abu Shamala, director of planning and policy in the ministry of agriculture of the de-facto Hamas administration. At a press conference held on the eve of the visit he said that he regarded such visits as having great public relations, legal and political importance. He said that these kinds of solidarity activists served as "pressure groups" within their own countries and were a direct means of transmitting information about the situation in the Gaza Strip (Qudsnet website, December 28, 2012; Al-Aqsa TV December 30, 2012). 7. According to Olivia Zemor, the objective of the visit was to send the international community the message that the Israeli "siege" of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank was illegal and had to be lifted. (Note: The Palmer Committee, appointed by the UN secretary general after the violent confrontation aboard the Mavi Marmara, determined that Israel's security closure of the Gaza Strip was a "legitimate security measure" and was motivated by purely security concerns.) She also said she was willing to act in France on behalf of the Gazan fishermen and for the rights of the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails (Interviewed by Hamas' Al-Aqsa TV, December 31, 2012). In addition, members of the delegation said they were planning to document the suffering of the Gazans and to present their findings to legal groups in France and the rest of the world (Shihab website, December 31, 2012). 8. In Cairo the delegation was joined by nine activists from the Freedom Flotilla Italia network. During their stay in the Gaza Strip they met with senior figures of the PFLP and representatives of the other terrorist organizations. Freedom Flotilla Italia is an Italian network involved in the campaign of dispatching flotillas to the Gaza Strip, currently enlisting contributions for a project called Gaza's Ark. The goal of the project is to build a boat and sail it from the Gaza Strip loaded with goods as a way of defying the Israeli "siege." In addition, the network is planning to construct a park in Italy and name it for Italian journalist and ISM activist Vittorio Arrigoni, abducted and murdered by a Salafist-jihadi network in the Gaza Strip on April 15, 2011. Visiting the Gaza Strip and Creating a Display near the Security Fence 9. During their stay in the Gaza Strip the activists were taken on guided visits organized by Hamas. They visited the Al-Shifaa hospital and various sites in the Gaza Strip hit by the IDF during Operation Pillar of Defense. They repeated the Hamas propaganda mantra that the destruction indicated "Israel's desire to damage the civilian infrastructure," particularly criticizing the IDF hit on the Gaza stadium (Europalestine website, December 28, 2012). (Note: The IDF struck weapons stockpiled in the stadium, which served as a launching pad for rockets fired into Israel.) The activists also visited the Islamic University (a Hamas stronghold), the port of Gaza and the monument erected for the Mavi Marmara flotilla (Al-Aqsa TV, December 30, 2012). 10. On the afternoon of December 31, members of the EuroPalestine delegation, including the members of the Italian network, gathered near the Israeli border security fence (apparently in the central or northern Gaza Strip). They later claimed they had seen the damage done by the IDF and expressed solidarity with local farmers and residents living near the fence. They held a low-key display against the so-called "the occupation forces" and used it for a photo-op near the fence (Shihab News Agency and the Freedom Flotilla Italia websites, December 31, 2012). Contact Terrorism Information Center at newsleter@terrorism-info.org.il |
THE $922 MILLION DOLLAR BDS FAILPosted by Dusty, January 07, 2013 |
There are going to be a whole lot of thirsty BDS'ers down in San Diego, as tap water is added to the boycott list. IDE Americas Inc., a subsidiary of Israel's IDE Technologies Ltd, will design a desalinization plant in San Diego - the largest of its kind in western hemisphere. From the Jerusalem Post:
Israel is at the forefront of water-saving technology, and Israeli technology is helping to save a thirsty world. Contact Dusty at zioniststreetwarriors@yahoo.com |
ONLY ONE WAY FORWARD TAKE MILITARY AGAINST IRAN NOW EVERYTHING ELSE IS A DISTRACTIONPosted by Stanley Zir, January 07, 2013 |
Accept it, Obama is not going to stop Iran, and Congress lacks the will and stomach to stop him, they give lip service to proposals that lack the teeth to overcome Obama's agenda, (Authorizing War Against Iran and Preparing the Military Action) non binding of course). The People" must hold their feet to the fire. This is the house our founders built, they built it for us, and Obama and Congress are burning it to the ground. The greatest threat the world has ever faced is from a nuclear armed Iran, still the GOP continues to battle Obama's draconian domestic polices on the home front, oblivious to this reality. The call to protect our Constitution from enemies both foreign and domestic should have been issued when Iran started their march to create a nuclear terrorist state, but it fell on deaf ears. Meanwhile Iran moved forward unimpeded while America's world leadership was being diminished, The scope, size and damage of Obama's foreign policy, leveled against America, Israel and the free world, is now reaching critical mass. While we were distracted by Obamacare and the rise of his entitlement society the transfer of world leadership to rogue enterprises was being accomplished. Our opportunity to avert a cataclysmic occurrence is about to vanish. Yet, they say I am preaching to the choir when I say we must destroy Iran's nuclear sites now, there is no choir, only a moratorium on attacking Iran from those who protest the loudest against Obama's foreign policy towards Israel. Why isn't this the Jewish' s people's top priority. Americans of Jewish descent, more than other citizens, must rise up in one voice and demand Obama take immediate action to protect both American and Israeli citizens from the threat that an Iranian Nuclear Terrorist State would pose It is time to put to rest Obama's "Let them eat cake" agenda. Where the hell does he get the nerve to talk to the American people in such a manner? We didn't elect a monarch. Be assured every petty dictator hates to be upstaged, and Obama is no different, when we rise up in mass and declare that Obama cannot protect America from the Iranian nuclear threat, this is the key to making Obama take action. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad must not be given the opportunity to accomplish his unequivocally-announced and pursued goal. Now is the time to make the final push to eliminate the Iranian threat. Will you stand with me? We must overcome Obama's Shari compliant foreign policy, or we will lose our independence. Call Congress, the time for effective sanctions has long past. Stop playing Russian roulette with American and Israeli lives, demand America destroys Iran Nuclear Terrorist War Machine, Now, everything else is a diversion. Be assured, for those who honor and protect and defend the Covenant, and the Constitution of the United States of America, victory is guaranteed. The campaign, "The Hate Stops with Us, Six Million Voices Must be Heard, details will be forthcoming. Never Forget Never Again is Now, Contact Stanley Zir at neveragainsnow@live.com |
ISRAEL SHOULD ANNEX JEWISH LAND; INTIFADA WAS PLANNED SABOTAGE OF THE CAMP DAVID; FORGOTTEN JEWISH REFUGEESPosted by Steven Shamrak, January 07, 2013 |
Israel Should Annex Jewish Land http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Israel-should-annex-settlements-over-UN-bid Likud Minister Erdan called for the "immediate annexation of the Jewish population" in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) in response to the Palestinian Authority's attempt to upgrade its status at the United Nations on November 29. When asked if he was concerned that annexing the settlements would anger the United States, Erdan responded that as long as the PA was going against American wishes at the UN, Israel should sit idly by without acting. "We don't always see eye-to-eye with the US," he said. European and Arab foreign ministers failed to jointly endorse the unilateral Palestinian statehood bid at the United Nations during a meeting in Cairo, calling instead for a negotiated two-state solution. But when it came to talking about obstacles to the peace process, the European and Arab ministers blamed only the West Bank settlements and Israel's security barrier. (Annexing settlements is good first step, but this half-way measure will not bring peace to Israel and will not change Arabs' intention to destroy Israel. All Jewish land must be freed from occupation by terror-infested population and reunited Eretz-Israel!) Food for Thought by Steven Shamrak It's amazing how many Jews wrote to me that they agree with almost all my views - some up to 99%. I often ask them why not 100%? I understand that it is difficult to break frame of fake political correctness imposed on us and fully adopt ideas that are right for one's own people. It seems selfish, but must Jews be the only altruistic nation in the world? Intifada was Planned Sabotage of the Camp David http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Suha-Arafat-admits-husband-premeditated-Intifada Yasser Arafat's widow, Suha, admitted that the late Palestinian leader planned the second intifada immediately after the failure of the Camp David, because he refused to negotiate. He said to her "I am going to start an intifada. They want me to betray the Palestinian cause. They want me to give up on our principles, and I will not do so." Her comments run contrary to claims that former prime minister Ariel Sharon's infamous visit to the Temple Mount triggered the intifada, which international media was eagerly propagated. (It is not a revelation, but it is nice to see conformation of what we new for a while. This interview, not surprisingly, has not been shown by international media bigots! Arafat's widow used this interview, most likely, as a part of her extortion/blackmail campaign from PA. Information of Arafat's AIDS related death is a main card!) Rise of Muslim Propaganda in the US http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2013/01/2013132255769130.html The Arab television network Al Jazeera said it has acquired Current TV, the US network started by former US Vice President Al Gore. Al Jazeera's coverage will soon be available in more than 40 million US households, up from 4.7 million prior to the deal. (No 'screaming' is heard from usual idiots - Just imagine if it was an Israeli company! For several decade by now Arab countries waging 'media war' - changing opinion of the enemy population using propaganda - without any opposition from the US government!) Friend of Obama Predicts - Israel will Cease to Exist http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/163789#.VKxv5j8wuC0 Deputy head of the Muslim Brotherhood's political arm in Egypt, the Freedom and Justice Party, announced Tuesday that Israel would cease to exist by the end of the decade. Essam el-Erian, who serves an advisor to Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi, had attempted to dispel a recent controversy over comments he made in an interview last week, in which he invited Egyptian born Jews to return to the country, by saying "There will be no such thing as Israel. Instead there will be Palestine which will be home to Jews, Muslims and Druze and all the people who were there from the start." (Notice - no room for Jews!) Another Farcical Arab Outrage http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/163812#.VKxwKz8wuC0 A bag of yellow peppers labeled "made in Israel" was discovered on the shelves of one of the country's largest supermarkets. Enraged shopper contacted local authorities who then contacted the Lebanese Army to investigate the perturbing event. Military intelligence and police officers quickly arrived at the scene to discover 13 similar bags containing yellow peppers with the word "Israel" printed on the sale tag. (This is a gross violation. They must call emergency session of UN Security council!) Will Lapid Keep his Promise? Yair Lapid, head of the Yesh Atid (Future) party, announced that his party would not join a nationalist government headed by Likud - Yisrael Beytenu. (Let hope that he and his traitorous kind will not be invited to govern Israel any more!) UAE Busted Egypt Brotherhood Cell http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/01/201311151324112664.html Security forces from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have arrested more than 10 people belonging to the leadership of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood. Members of the group held "secret meetings" across the country and "recruited Egyptian expats in the UAE to join their ranks". According to report they also set up companies and collected "large amounts of money which they sent illegally to the mother organisation in Egypt" and also gathered secret defence information on the UAE. (US is still 'friend' with Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and subsidizing Egypt's militarization) Quote(s) of the Week: "Any rocket attack mandates a wide-scale ground invasion of Gaza& Such an operation shouldnt be restricted by any means, it should see (the IDF) take full control of Gaza. We have no other choice - the world needs to know that." - Avigdor Lieberman, former Foreign Minister of Israel - Once again, just empty words of a Israeli polititian! Why do goverments of Israel are not able to behave as representative of a sovereign nation? Forgotten Jewish Refugees. It is estimated that almost 900,000 Jews were forced from their homes in Arab and Muslim countries in the course of the 20th century. Even the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has twice affirmed that Jews who fled the persecution of Arab countries were indeed refugees in every legal sense of the word. It is estimated that Jews were robbed of more than $100 billion in personal and communal assets by Arab and Muslim governments. The Israeli governments ignored and refuse to use those facts to neutralize fictitious claims of the Arab propaganda war machine against Israel. As a result, unfortunately, the world only knows about so-called Arab refugees and their well-advertised fictitious claim on Jewish land. Based on population poll information at the time (conducted by Ottoman empire and British later - not Arab anti-Israel propaganda) around 460,000 Arabs left currently controlled land by Israel, during the war of Independence in 1948. They were ordered to leave by Arab political and religious leaders. The plan was to expose Jews, who were facing the might of Arab armies, to complete their annihilation. It would make it easier to kill every Jew, without bothering about identification of Arabs. Another genocide of Jewish people was planned! When Israel won the War of Independence, the number of so-called Arab refugees almost doubled over night by the end of 1948, after the UN announced that they are entitled to refugee status and international assistance! For several more years after the war, the world was still betting that the tiny Jewish state would disappear. International anti-Semites were hoping that Arabs would finish what they started in Europe! Since then the Arab Palestinians have been 'milking' the international community for almost 60 years. This is the longest running UN 'humanitarian' program, designed to perpetuate Middle East conflict and keep the international anti-Semitic flame running. It has been assisting the mob of professional refugees in their 3rd or even 4th generation. World War-II in Europe created almost 50 million refugees. Many of them received assistance and/or had been resettled. Now they and their children are living productive and independent lives in their own countries or somewhere else! This approach has never been applied to Arabs who left Jewish land. They are still not absorbed by the Arab countries, from where most of them had originally come since 1880's. The United Nations has never respected the state of Israel as an independent and equal state, not according to the record of the adopted resolutions, nor by attitude. The need of Jewish people to live in peace in their independent state, on the land of their ancestors is completely ignored! Jews must realise this international hypocrisy, and start to be creators of their own destiny! Steven Shamrak was born in the former Soviet Union (USSR) and participated in the Moscow Zionist "refusenik" movement and currently lives in Melbourne, Australia. He publishes internet editorial letters on the Arab-Israeli conflict. He can be reached by email at StevenShamrak.e@gmail.com |
NETANYAHU ASSESSEDPosted by Richard H. Shulman, January 07, 2013 |
Alexander Joffe of the Middle East Forum assesses PM Netanyahu differently from the way I do. Since he makes a good case for his view, I share it with you. Mr. Joffe expects Netanyahu to win re-election handily, there apparently being no strong opposition, and the people are satisfied with Israel's stability compared with their imploding neighbors. The Israeli Left, the Obama administration, most European leaders, and many U.S. Jews will not be pleased. The Palestinian Arabs resent him particularly, as they did Ariel Sharon, because those Israelis share the Arab strategy of steadfastness. Palestinian Arabs believe their cause to be good and their methods to be just. They also believe that Israel is not a legitimate nor a durable state. They expect it to fall apart or shrink away. Hence they are stubborn. Hence they are ruthless, violent, and duplicitous. P.A. leaders mobilize their society to endure. They indoctrinate children via family, education, and media, then encourage terrorism and other "resistance." The P.A. plans for the long range, but they do not plan for financial independence. Here is how Netanyahu emulates their tactic of steadfastness and expressions of legitimacy for the Jewish state. His policies and statements emphasize legitimacy, necessity, and permanence. He describes Jewish history, in which the Holy Land is a Jewish right and an Israeli symbol. "Addressing the United Nations in September, Netanyahu highlighted his core message for all, especially Israelis: "Three thousand years ago, King David reigned over the Jewish state in our eternal capital, Jerusalem. I say that to all those who proclaim that the Jewish state has no roots in our region, and that it will soon disappear." Such rhetoric compliments a long-term strategy of strengthening Israeli control over core areas, especially Jerusalem and its suburbs." Israeli construction in the Territories continues, though slower. Israel has reduced terrorist pressure by the security fences. Israel's economy and foreign relations keep improving, despite hostile rhetoric from Europe and elsewhere." The U.S. government dislikes this prime minister not caving in to it, not compromising, and having strategic cunning. He keeps talking about Israel's security requirements in its strategic environment and explaining Jewish history [and therefore Israel's rights there], while making conciliatory remarks about negotiating with the P.A., which refuses to negotiate. If the P.A. did try to make an agreement that Israel could accept, it would drop such demands as flooding Israel with Arabs. Then Hamas would oppose the P.A.. Hence, the P.A. is boxed in. This upsets the Obama administration, still thinking it has an understanding with "moderate" Islamists. And Netanyahu may rule Israel and the Palestinian Arabs for some time (Alexander H. Joffe, Project Syndicate, 1/2/13 http://www.meforum.org/3424/netanyahu-palestinian ). Netanyahu does have a supposedly right-wing opposition that polls indicate would get sufficient votes to keep Netanyahu from leftist policies. That's the party of Bennett. Here is what an Israeli source of mine reports about Bennett: "Bennett flip flops depending on who interviews him. He, too, favors what amounts to P.A. independence. Area A and B [full Arab autonomy now and P.A. civil rule and IDF military rule now, Resp.]go to the Arabs for autonomy which is a step away from Palestinian State. Area C [full Israeli rule would go] to the Jews and Arabs living inside can get citizenship." "First he said that he won't throw Jews or Arabs out of their homes. So, he considers them equal by saying that. As if the land is also theirs. [But the Arabs stole much of their land or built on it illegally, and they settle on land in a pattern so as to gain control.] He said he will not give troops orders to evacuate people from houses. Three days later, he said he would follow orders to throw Jews out. [What he said may be more subtle than that.]" "Bennett is a self-man millionaire who came out of nowhere and bought a party. A new face on the scene. So was Obama. A new face is not always the savior. He has money to spend on the campaign, which gets votes. Now if he goes together with Likud as he wants to do, he has to vote their way. As you read, settlements are being dismantled by Likud before elections. Can you imagine after elections what will be?" Ariel Sharon was not steadfast. He withdrew from Gaza and half of Samaria. The Muslims may believe their cause and methods just, but by our standards they are imperialistic and barbaric. P.A. failure to plan for financial dependence means it intends to keep over-hiring and then begging for foreign aid so it won't have to lay off people. That makes the P.A. more of a racket than a state. Do people who favor a "2-state solution" have any idea what is required of a state? They know it violates international law, refuses to make peace, and does not control its territory. Netanyahu always took a nationalist line of rhetoric and an appeasement-minded line of action. He withdrew the IDF from most of Hebron. When he was asked about the contradiction before, he rationalized. I had criticized him for not making Israel's case, but he seems to be making it more, recently. An improvement in Israel's foreign relations is debatable. Antisemitism has increased. Pres. Obama is hostile to Israel. The EU subsidizes subversive organizations in Israel and the Territories. I think that Netanyahu weakens Israeli control over Jerusalem and the Territories. He lets the Waqf destroy ancient Jewish artifacts during illegal excavation, he helps them bar observant Jews, he lets the P.A. perform governmental functions in eastern Jerusalem, he lets Arabs get preference over Jews in property disputes in which Arabs are squatters, and he lets police side with the Arabs who attack Jews and their fields in Judea-Samaria. Although the P.A. plans for the long run, PM Netanyahu does not. He should be using time to let the P.A. economy fail, instead of helping to keep it going. He does not treat the P.A. as an enemy. Even in his propaganda about Jewish rights, he talks about an eventual Arab state when he should be disabusing other countries of their naïve belief that the Palestinian Arabs will make peace in the foreseeable future. He is treading water, leading his country nowhere. 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. |