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<p><h1><font color="#FFFFFF">Le Live Marseille, commentaire sur : think-israel</font></h1></p>
<p><h4><font color="#FFFFFF">résumé :</font> <font color="#FFFFFF"> - [ Traduire cette page ]My friend Kevin Rooney made a gorgeous point the other day: Just reverse the numbers. ...... victories with a lot of help from Moshe Dayan who gave the keys ...</font></font></h4></p>
<p><h5><font color="#FFFFFF"> think-israel home featured stories june 2004 blog-eds list background information news on the web
think-israel blog-eds
opinions and editorials by our readers what it's really about posted by yocheved golani, june 30, 2004. defenseless passengers on an air france plane, a boac aircraft, a japanese
jumbo jet, klm, lufthansa, pan am, sabena, twa and other airliners were
not "occupying" the planes conveying them to innocuous destination when
islamic terrorists kidnapped, terrorized and slaughtered them throughout
the 1960s and 1970s. the civilian victims scattered across the countryside
of lockerbie, scotland in 1988 had not "occupied" pan am 103, either. vacationing christian, puerto rican tourists weren't "occupying" ben
gurion airport on may 20, 1972 when pro-islamic terrorists ambushed and
sprayed them with bullets upon arrival. sleeping israeli athletes invited to 1972's peace-promoting competitions
in munich were not "occupying" the olympic village when arab radicals
besieged and murdered them, disrupting the games promoting international
friendship and trust. unarmed children at ma'alot weren't "occupying" their school the day arab
terrorists forced them to jump to their deaths from the building during
interrupted celebrations of 1974's israel independence day. elderly dora bloch and her fellow travelers were not "occupying" athens
airport in 1976 when arab terrorists hijacked a planeload of passengers to
uganda, resulting in dora's murder and the rescue of her terrorized former
companions. wheelchair-bound tourist leon klinghoffer was not "occupying"
the italian ship achille lauro when fundamentalist terrorists humiliated,
then drowned the man by throwing him overboard, on october 7, 1985. teen hikers yosef ish-ran and koby mandell of biblical tekoa did not seek
to "occupy" the cave they were dragged to in 2001, and where their captors
bludgeoned them to a terrifying death, then smeared their blood on the
walls. the employees of various faiths and ethnic backgrounds who reported for
work that day weren't "occupying" new york's twin towers when they were
shocked, burned, smothered, blasted and shattered to death by arab
terrorists on september 11, 2001 daniel pearl was not "occupying" pakistan when he researched the links
between richard reed and bin laden before he was betrayed and beheaded for
being a jew and therefore an "enemy" of islam in 2002. entrepreneur
nicholas berg was not "occupying" iraq when arab terrorists slowly,
agonizingly, carved his jewish head off his neck for public intimidation
in 2004. the american businessmen murdered in saudi arabia were minding
their own business when they were doing business with muslim colleagues. so why are they all dead? is it truly because the jews of israel
will not cede land to the rabble that, prevented by their compatriots
from returning to their native countries in 1948, now fraudulently
claims to be palestinians? no. there are two glaring contradictions to
the specious argument. one: in 1948, arab leaders wouldn't permit
arabs unwilling to live among jews to live in any arab state. the
artificially created refugees were used and abused by their own
brethren as violent political pawns against a nascent israel. two:
sharon promised in june 2004 to "evacuate" disputed land before 2005.
within hours of that announcement, arafat and hamas respectively swore
to annihilate and kidnap/murder military and civilian jews. clearly
the problem is not about "giving back" land which never legitimately
belonged to arabs anyway. the chaos, murder and mayhem are not about the merits or demerits of
democracy, the west, or christianity, or international law. it's not
about the jews "controlling" the very same "media" which incongruously
condemns judaism, its practices and the knesset. it's not about israel
inside or outside red, green, yellow or blue lines. it's not about the
israeli right, or jewish settlers (they'd be called "citizens" in any
other society that inherited, purchased, won and/or annexed land). it's
not about present-day israel versus the borders of ancient israel nor
about the alleged occupation of arab lands. it is about armed insanity, the calculated manipulation of public opinion
via propaganda, coercion and attacks against unarmed civilians and their
political leaders. and the scale of horror stands to rise now that iran
has saluted the world with nuclear arms. a mutual and implacable enemy is closing in on jews, israel, their
supporters and all non-muslims. that same enemy makes global headlines as
it strikes increasing numbers of far-flung, far-fetched targets. it's the
same enemy that sends journalists, essential personnel in freedom-loving
societies, home in coffins and into the headlines (see reporters without
borders at http://www.rsf.fr/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=20). it's not about the best place to be a reporter. it's about the worst
places for access to the truth, where individual freedoms such as yours
are routinely denied, and about the existence of a centuries-old
opposition to non-muslim social structures. it's about the antipathy of the murderous culture, of which the abu sayyaf
is a member, that stole missionaries like martin and gracia burnham from
civilization, altering their lives and those of many of their colleagues,
forever. it's about a heartless social system that steals property,
pillaging and maiming females, children, the elderly and anyone else
caught in the merciless trap of savages preying on the defenseless. it's about a people that cannot appreciate the noble intentions and
efforts that non-muslims made to rebuild an iraq nearly bereft of all
necessary resources. it is about an alleged spirituality that shuns
kindness, takes no prisoners, brooks no negotiations, accepts no limits,
respects no property lines, and preaches murder and mayhem. it's about
warped minds preying on the physically unprepared, hoping that they are
also mentally vulnerable. it's about koran-thumping barbarians who value death above life and live
in opposition to peace-loving societies. islam seeks to place its claws
and poison into any target of opportunity, wherever it may be and whenever
an opportunity is available. it's about bloodthirsty monsters abusing an
unrwa (united nations relief and works agency for palestine refugees)
ambulance to transport terrorists (a technique used with civilian and
specially commissioned emergency medical vehicles in the past) and to
steal the body parts of slain israeli soldiers in may 2004. the numbers of arabs residing within european union nations gives
rise to the question, "how many of them are functioning as enemies of
their host countries?" the eu monitoring system on racism and
xenophobia declined to release its damning 2004 report regarding
manifestations of islamic antipathy within the eu to date. holland
tops the list at www.jihadwatch.org. spain, which has "occupied" its
real estate for centuries, cowered and ran from the enemy after it
stung a railroad. israel's government, an eu wannabe, is retreating in
fear (mitzpeh yitzhar was dismantled in may 2004 and much more land is
similarly endangered), fomenting a civil war between its patriotic
citizens and those willing to shed their jewish identities. as the
coalition forces indicate their willingness to withdraw from iraq,
they've also served notice that intimidation works, especially with
sarin. yocheved golani can be reached at www.yochevedgolani.com
or www.ygolani.com. to go to top tyranny of the majority posted by itamar weisbrod, june 30, 2004. in a weekend interview with the jerusalem post, shimon peres was
asked what would happen if his labour party decided to join the
government, and several of their ministers did not want to. he
answered, "they are members of the party, and have to accept its
authority. they can't sit inside and outside of the party, and that is
not acceptable to me. if they take part in the debate, they have to
accept the results of the debate. every party has a minority, but in a
democracy the majority decides. they are not above democracy." while
in this instance he may be correct about the necessity of party unity,
his answer does reflect his overall attitude towards democracy. in other parts of the interview, peres expressed his opinion in
favour of expelling the jews from gaza and handing over the assets to
our enemies. he views the government decision to uproot the jews there
as moral and democratic, and shuns opposition to this belief by
stating that people of a minority opinion "aren't above democracy".
peres, a man who was not raised in a truly democratic and free
society, and who has strong links to former communist and socialist
regimes, does not surprise me when he expresses his total lack of
understanding of a liberal democracy. one of the less commonly known aspects of the flaws of democracy is
the tyranny of the majority. john stuart mill, in his essay "on
liberty" speaks of the tyranny of the majority and says, "like other
tyrannies, the tyranny of the majority was at first, and is still
vulgarly, held in dread, chiefly as operating through acts of the
public authorities. but reflecting persons perceived that when
society is itself the tyrant- society collectively, over the
separate individuals who compose it- its means of tyrannizing are
not restricted to the acts which it may do by the hands of its
political functionaries. society can and does execute its own mandates: and if it issues
wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with
it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable
than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually
upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape,
penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving
the soul itself." mill's essay "on liberty" is known to be the philosophic cornerstone
of democratic morality and present a search for the true balance
between the rights of the individual and power of the state.
indeed this situation we face now in israel is sadly one that falls
under tyranny of the majority. despite the results of likud
internal elections on the disengagement plan, we in the opposition
to disengagement should not kid ourselves and realize that a
majority of israelis would be in favour of expelling jews from
gaza. despite the fact that the likud referendum on disengagement
was illiberal in essence, polls have shown that the slim majority of
opinion in israel is contrary to the referendums results. this does
not mean however, that the israeli government has the right to expel
jews from their homes just because the majority of israelis want his
to happen. this is not how a liberal democracy behaves. can you imagine if a majority of citizens in the us decided they
wanted to reintroduce slavery? and what if a referendum was held on
the issue and it won? the shimon peres' of america (in this
hypothetical situation) would say that this is what the people want,
and "in a democracy the majority decides. they aren't above
democracy." mill points out this that is a total abuse of democracy and we must
be aware of it to fight against it. firstly, sharon's choice to
ignore the illiberal referendum that he called for, and lost, and
his firing of two cabinet ministers to ensure a majority, definitely
falls under what mill describes as "chiefly operating through acts
of the public authorities." sharon and other pro-disengagement mk's
are falsely labeling their acts of pushing through their own agendas
as "democratic" and misleading the young country into believing this
is how a liberal democracy works. "society can and does execute its
own mandates: and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or
any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it
practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of
political oppression?" mill is pointing out that yes, on most issues in a liberal
democracy, the majority decides. however, if the issue that is to be
decided upon can be infringing on the rights of a minority, or
discriminate against a minority opinion because of its ethnic or
religious identity, the majority has no mandate to decide on this
issue. there is a fine line between what a majority can decide upon in
a liberal democracy, and what is not up for discussion. that is why in
most democratic countries there is a constitution in order to protect
minorities and ensure them their basic rights, even if the majority
does not respect them. when mill points out just how evil tyranny of the majority is, one
of the reasons given was that it is because "it leaves fewer means
of escape." to paraphrase what golda meir was quoted saying about
sharon, "if sharon does not get his way in knesset, he would line up
tanks and surround the knesset until he did." indeed this is true
of sharon and of tyranny. what are we to do to escape this tyranny
of the majority on the settlers of gaza? like a traitor, who acts
falsely in the name of the people in order to gain a better angle in
which to commit his actions, the tyranny of disengagement is being
bulldozed through the knesset and the driving force behind it is
telling the public that what they are doing is democratic and good
for the country. they have also waged a propaganda war against the
gaza settlers, with peres being quoted as saying, "everyone wants
peace except the right-wing extremists" and new leftist slogans
like "the majority has decided: leave gaza and start talking." peres' comments are dismissive of his opposition to the point where
he lies about what the other side wants. no one on the right wing
denies the fact that left wingers want peace. we all know that how to
achieve it is the point of contradiction. right wingers want peace
just as much, maybe more, than shimon peres does, but they have a
different opinion of how to attain it properly. however, peres is
dismissive of this fact and chooses to attempt to trick the public
into believing that only people agreeing with him truly want peace. i think no matter what your opinion is on how to achieve peace in
the arab/israeli conflict, it is never justifiable in a liberal
democracy and of course in a jewish state, to create war between
brothers. demonizing the settlers will only create more of a rift in
an already splintered jewish people, and concealing these illiberal
acts and passing them off as democratic will surely, as mill said,
"penetrate much more deeply into the details of life, and enslave the
soul itself." itamar weisbrod is with magshimey herut. to go to top former member of knesset kleiner in u.s. to promote alternative plan posted by jerome s. kaufman, june 30, 2004. this was written by naomi klass mauer and appeared in the "jewish
press", february 13, 2004. it is just as pertinent today. nothing much
changes politically in israel, except sometimes it is worse than other
times. it is also painfully unfortunate that the only person that truly
makes sense could not get enough votes in the last election to obtain
even one seat in the knesset. former israeli knessent member michael kleiner was on a mission in
the united states to, in his words, help save israel from itself. as
kleiner puts it, "it is time to call upon our friends, american jewry,
to save israel, because sharon's plan will bring israel to what abba
eban once termed 'auschwitz' borders" kleiner was elected to the knesset in 1982 as a member of the likud
party under then prime minister menachem begin. he left the likud
after the 1998 wye agreement, as a matter of principle, together with
benny begin and former prime minister yitzchak shamiir. they formed
the herut faction which, together with the moledet and tekuma parties
became the national union party. eventually kleiner also left that
party and remained in the knesset as herut's sole representative. in
the 2001 election he fell a few thousand votes short of the two
knesset seats that a new law stipulated as prerequisite for knesset
membership. "the way i see it," kleiner said during a visit to the jewish
press, "the government is channeled into a dead end situation because
of demographics, and they think that running away is the only way. it
is something like having an illness and amputating limb after limb
until eventually there is nothing left to remove, which is what they
did in lebanon. demographics are a serious problem but there is
another way to tackle it." jewish press: it almost seems that no one in the government
knows what to do? kleiner: that is the worst part. the religious party and the
national union stay in the government, so the population thinks that
either this is not so terrible, or that there is no other solution. do you have an alternative plan? the herut party has a radical solution. it is a three-part plan. the first part is to encourage emigration to arab countries by
families who want emigrate. the money being spent on the fence, which
in the end will not be able to prevent terrorism anyway, could be put
into a fund and given to families for relocating. according to a
recent item, on the arutz-7 news service, a poll revealed that 37
percent of arabs would emigrate to other countries if! they were paid
to do so. more than 150,000 have already left. they were the wealthy
ones. now, if 37 percent admit that they would leave, you can imagine
that the number is much larger - but the others are afraid to openly
say so. why do you think that the wall will not be useful in preventing
terrorism? most of the recent terrorist acts have been cornmitted by
terrorists who were driven past the security checkppints. others have
climbed over the wall, and as we see in gaza, it is possible to dig
underneath. of course, the wall will not block katyushas. that is why
i say that encouraging families to move to another country is a much
better idea in the long run. what is the second part of your plan? the knesset should pass a law that every israeli has to pledge
allegiance to a jewish state. israel was created as a jewish state and
there is no reason that we should not have this pledge of allegiance,
similar to other countries. it would be very difficult for any citizen
who did not want to recite this. if you do not pledge allegiance to
israel as a jewish state, you cannot be a citizen. one could remain a
resident, but they would not be entitled to the benefits of
citizenship, as residents. and part three? a symbolic proposal that the prime minister that the prime minister
of israel must be jewish. when i tried to present this in the knesset,
i was told that it was racist. in the united states, they have a law
that the president must be american-born no one considers this racist
or against, any other country. israel was created to be a jewish state
and it stands to reason that the prime minister should be a jew. there
is nothing racist about this. to whom are you presenting this program here in the united states? i want to tell you a piece of history that you might not be
familiar with. in 1942 a group of zionist american jews met in the
biltmore hotel in new york city to influence the direction of the jews
in israel. they forced the jewish leadership in israel to acknowledge
that they needed an army and could not just rely on the briish army
plus a few guards around each yishuv. the concept of the haganah was
born from that meeting, which eventually became the israel defense
forces when the state was declared. i am here to promote these three bills via american jewry. it is
time once again for those american jews who care deeply about the
state of israel to help the derailed zionist movement. israel seems incapable, at the present time, of stating her case
before the world. we have totally lost in the field of public
relations. i do not blame president bush for pushing peace plans mind
and a palestinian state. i blame sharon. what you're saying is, why should an american president and
congress be more pro israel than the israelis themselves? exactly. and it is pathetic how little of history people really
know, in 1920 the league of nations gave britain authority to create a
homeland for the jews. they would never have approved of israel for
the jews if another people had staked claims of ownership over that
land. of course, i believe that the other side of the jordan river
belongs to israel also. after all, jordan represents three quarters of
historic eretz yisrael, as well as three fourths of the mandate given
to the british to create israel. in 1922 the british took away that three fourths of the land and
gave it to the hashemite family, who created the country of
transjordan, ostensibly for the arabs of palestine. in 1948 jordan
took over the west bank. interestingly, only britain and pakistan
recognized this occupation, and in 1988 king hussein relinquished it.
how many people do you think realize that we are now talking about
splitting a big part of the last remaining one-fourth of all the land
that was mandated to be a country for the jews? that point should be emphasized over and over again to the public. that is what we are trying to do. we have reactivated the herut
movement here and all over the world. we are attracting young people
in the us. and as far away as the ukraine and hungary who believe in
the ideology of zionism and aliyah. we want to start a grassroots
movement here to support our bills. there are so many people who are
pro-israel and zionistic. we should all be united. can sharon's government survive if it continues along its current
course? that is why we have to work hard and act quickly. i would like to
bring my program to every home in israel. i know that i would have a
lot of support among the people, if i could do that. however, i cannot
afford to send it to every home. yossi beilin was able to do that with
his geneva plan because it was paid for with european money. but with
the help of good jews who care deeply about israel we shall succeed. jerome s. kaufman hosts israel commentary website: http://www.israel-commentary.org. to go to top kassam rockets and the wall in israel posted by ariel natan pasko, june 30, 2004. the date june 28th 2004 will go down in history for two different
but interrelated reasons. while the world focused on how america
turned over "sovereignty" to the iraqis - and it was reported in
israel too - the really big story that most of the media missed
(except in israel) was, that kassam rockets fired from gaza finally
killed two people in israel. the oslo war that yasser arafat started
in september 2000 has moved to the next level. three-year-old afik zahavi and 50-year-old mordechai yosepov were
killed and at least 20 other people were injured - including
youngsters - when a kassam rocket hit next to a nursery school in
sderot. at last count, arabs from gaza have fired almost 4,200 rockets or mortars on jewish towns in gush katif-gaza alone. they have fired over 300 kassam rockets since the start of the oslo war, with over 70 striking sderot. after killing people in sderot, kassams were fired at the town again the next day, injuring three more people. sderot, by the way, is a town of over 20,000 people, situated in the western negev in pre-1967 israel, about 8 kilometers from gaza. it is not in so-called "occupied territory". israeli security officials believe that israeli prime minister sharon's sycamore ranch home, which is located close to sderot and about 10 kilometers from gaza, is the real target of many of the kassam rockets, which are unguided and frequently inaccurate. the kassam rockets fired into sderot - that killed the two people - were the "nasser-3" type, a recently improved version. although it has no guidance system, it is a weapon of terror, and as we can see can be deadly. the kassam weighs 30 kilograms (66 lbs), has a range of 6-7 kilometers (3.7-4.3 miles) that could be extended, and carries a 10-kilogram warhead. it is made more deadly by the shrapnel packed into it, which includes nuts and bolts as well as metallic balls, the same ingredients used by suicide bombers in their bomb belts. israeli army officials stated that the improved 1.5 meter (yard) long 90mm rocket, carries powerful tnt - not homemade explosives - as was the case in the past, this gives it a more powerful and deadly explosion on impact. some senior security officials are talking about the eventual deployment of the "nautilus system" in the gaza-negev area. officially known as the mobile tactical high energy laser, it's a high-energy laser defense system jointly developed by the us and israel. it's meant to destroy incoming katyusha rockets from southern lebanon into northern israel. but, it won't be ready until 2007. after the recent attacks on sderot, national union party leader and former government minister, avigdor lieberman warned, "if the [gaza] disengagement plan is carried out, kassam rocket attacks will be the lot of cities from ashkelon to ofakim [also inside israel], and will become a daily occurrence." lieberman, who was forced out of the government recently by sharon, when he objected to the disengagement plan, called on the government to reconsider. residents of sderot have also rejected the prime minister’s plan to withdraw from gaza. they - like lieberman - say that the abandonment of gaza is a move that will make such rocket attacks a regular occurrence not just in sderot but also across the western negev and the ashkelon area. about the west bank security fence - the "wall" - that israel is slowly but surely building, i wrote back in august 2003, (the wall in my heart): "...if hamas, islamic jihad, and the other terror groups can't access pre-1967 israel anymore - if the security fence is that good - then their motivation to improve their missile technology will grow exponentially. remember, that as many times as israeli politicians point out the "impenetrability" of the gaza security fence and how it's prevented terror attacks originating from gaza, they never mention the growth of kassam missile technology and the increasing vulnerability of negev towns, on the "right side" of the fence, from gaza. they've even shot kassams at ashkelon. although no kassams have yet been fired in judea and samaria (the west bank), you can be sure that if suicide bombers are kept out by the security fence, they'll start. jerusalem and tel-aviv will then be within range. imagine more accurate missiles - maybe even eventually with chemical or biological warheads - suicide-bombers will be child's play in comparison." till now, kassam rockets have caused few injuries and only minor damage, but much fear. we have now seen the first deaths from the "palestinian's" ultimate terror weapon. the israeli government waited - as usual - until some serious problem - two deaths - developed. but now post-june 28th, the israeli government needs to take swift, firm, and consistent action in the palestinian authority areas that are used to launch the rockets, against the terror groups throughout gaza that make and use them, and against the pa itself. disengagement is a suicide plan. sharon should have learned from the 1973 yom kippur war, the debacle called the "bar-lev line," that passive defense with walls, fences, sensors, lasers, won't work. if israel doesn't succeed in stopping the use of kassams as a tactical weapon of terror, it will most likely be faced with them as a strategic weapon, possibly even of mass destruction. the world should have focused more on what happened june 28th in
israel, and they should have learned the lesson being taught. if the
islamic fanatics of gaza prove that simple rocketry can become a
strategic weapon, how long will it take al-qaeda and others to do the
same in iraq and throughout the world? or will al-qaeda provide hamas
with wmd materiel? instead, after attending the nato meeting held in turkey, the next
day, american president george bush speaking at istanbul's galatasary
university focused on the early transfer of power in iraq and the need
for democratic reform in the middle east. "terrorist murderers" are
preventing a palestinian state from emerging, bush said, grouping
"palestinian" terrorists with extremists from around the world,
including those in iraq and iran. "we see it in the holy land, where
terrorist murderers are setting back the good cause of the palestinian
people, who deserve a reformed, peaceful, and democratic state of
their own," bush said. bush and other western leaders continue to perpetuate the mistaken
idea that somehow if we just got rid of the "bad guys," those
"terrorist murderers," "palestine" would become a peaceful haven of
co-existence with israel. sharon, though not that confused, still
hasn't exhibited the will to end the game. wanting to withdraw behind
a strategically defensible wall, into his new hi-tech ghetto, sharon
still speaks of disengagement from gaza and the west bank. according
to sharon, that includes expelling jews from their homes and
withdrawing the israeli army from all of gaza and areas of northern
samaria. how pray tell is that going to stop the "palestinians" from
shooting rockets into israel? yet, after these latest attacks, defense minister shaul mofaz
admitted "the initial solution is to take over the areas from which
the terrorists launch the rockets...we will stay in the beit hanoun
and jabalya refugee camp areas in northern gaza as long as is
necessary." mofaz continued, "i am sure that after this takeover, the
ability to launch kassams will be diminished." in regards to the more
than 300 molds israeli army operations have destroyed in their
continuing activities against kassam factories in gaza, mofaz added,
"we will carry out further operations to damage the infrastructure for
manufacturing the rockets and continue operations necessary to prevent
the carrying out of the shootings." the current military activity in northern gaza shouldn't be seen as
one fixed operation but rather as a change in the israeli army's
method of operations involving ongoing periodic incursions into the
area from which the rockets are fired, according to army sources. they
expect to continue operating in the northern gaza strip on and off for
the next few months. when asked how the israeli army will deal with the kassam threat after disengaging from gaza, mofaz replied that a different reality would be created after the withdrawal. "the chances that terror will diminish after the disengagement exist. however, the idf will retain its freedom of movement," he said. that doesn't sound like disengagement... so why does prime minister sharon continue to mislead israelis and
the world into accepting the expulsion of jews from gaza, it won't
lead to true separation anyways? as long as any israeli military presence continues in gaza, the
terror groups will continue justifying their attacks on israel, as
"fighting the occupation". and if israel removes it's troops
completely, they are likely to "create" some new reason to continue
shooting rockets. hizbollah has done the same in lebanon - refusing to
accept the un recognized israeli withdrawal from south lebanon -
hizbollah continues to use the "sheba farms" as a justification to
attack israel whenever it wants to. then again, if israeli troops leave gaza and parts of judea and
samaria (the west bank) never to return, how will they prevent
increasingly deadly rocket attacks on israeli population centers,
possibly in the future, with nuclear, chemical or biological warheads? will the date june 28th one day be seen as the turning point? will
israelis eventually see it as their 9/11? ariel natan pasko is an independent analyst and consultant. he has a
master's degree in international relations and policy analysis. his
articles appear regularly on numerous news/views and think-tank
websites, in newspapers, and can be read at:
www.geocities.com/ariel_natan_pasko to go to top alice of wonderland in the middle east posted by barry rubin, june 30, 2004. the middle east has given new evidence that it is the real-life
equivalent of the "alice in wonderland" universe. consider these
developments, both serious and farcical: --a few months ago, france, britain, and germany proudly announced
their agreement with iran that would allegedly stop tehran from developing
nuclear weapons. they would help iran build nuclear energy for peaceful
purposes in exchange for iran stopping its program. why iran would need
nuclear power plants when that process has been discredited elsewhere in
the world (italy is closing down all its reactors; the chernobyl meltdown
of a reactor was a major catastrophe) and it has huge oil and gas reserves
is, of course, an interesting question to ask. one french parliamentarian announced that the deal proved the
european policy of compromise was superior to the american strategy of
confrontation. now iran has announced it will resume building
equipment making it possible to develop nuclear weapons in a way that
openly breaks the agreement. (what it is doing secretly no doubt goes
well beyond this.) will europe now spring into action to fight against
iran's plans? --the death toll in iraq continues to rise as insurgents prove three
things. first, they are quite willing to wreck the country in order to
seize power. second, while they complain about the u.s. occupation, they
seem determined to make sure it is harder to end. third, while they claim
to want an independent iraq, they are doing everything possible to
sabotage the creation of such an entity. readers are free to draw
parallels to other, similar situations in the region. --former president bill clinton's autobiography completely bears out
the account of camp david and the collapse of the peace process put
forward by this writer and others. yasir arafat's refusal to make peace
was the cause of the problem. foolish or dishonest people will no doubt
continue to promulgate the idea that this failure was israel's fault but
they have no interest in the evidence anyway. clinton did, however, criticize former prime minister ehud barak for
not accepting a syrian offer that if he accepted damascus's view of where
the border should be it would consider revising the precise line of
demarcation. syria was demanding territory on the sea of galilee,
something it never possessed legally in the post-1948 border, which would
have let it claim half the lake and endangered israel strategically. there
is a problem, borne out by israel's experience, in agreeing in principle
to a dangerous demand with the implication that some compromise would be
made later. barak was right to reject this proposition. --most of the world believes that the palestinians are fighting only
because they want an end to israel's presence in the west bank and gaza
strip as well as a state of their own. unfortunately, this is not true or
the conflict would have been ended long ago (and certainly in the year
2000). now still another poll shows the sad truth. according to surveys
taken by the jerusalem media and communication center, whose head is a
minister in arafat's cabinet, 45 percent of palestinians believe that the
intifada's goal is to wipe israel off the map, while 42 percent see the
immediate goal as only forcing israel out of the west bank and gaza strip
(which does not restrict there being a second round to get the rest).
sixty-five percent favor continued violence against all israeli targets. meanwhile, a poll by bir zeit university's development studies
program shows that 54 percent doubt that a palestinian state could
co-exist with israel even if there was a comprehensive peace treaty, while
38 percent favor coexistence. sixty-one percent advocates continued armed
struggle even if israel pulls out of all gaza. apologists argue that the poll's timing--at a time of relatively high
violence--explain these results but the outcome is consistent with earlier
surveys. they also claim that if israel shows it wants peace the numbers
would change dramatically. but why should this happen if palestinians
continue to be told by their leaders, preachers, activists, and media that
all-out struggle is necessary and that total victory is both possible and
the only proper patriotic and muslim policy? if israel withdraws from all
the gaza strip and dismantles all the jewish settlements there will this
spark some change of heart on the palestinian side? --the day after my column appeared last week pointing to the bbc's
strong anti-israel bias, i turned on my radio and got a shock, albeit
not from static electricity. a bbc official being interviewed insisted
that the network was tough on israel. he concluded, "we are not
pro-israel. we are not anti-palestinian." was this some kind of bbc
admission of bias? alas, it was a defense against demands for even more anti-israel
bias! a left-wing media center claimed that the british media was
slanted in israel's favor. for years, researchers with well-documented
cases about anti-israel bias in the british media have been ignored,
ridiculed, and kept out of the media. now the radio programs and
newspaper columns are thrown open to those insisting that the media is
pro-israel with no equal time for the other side. what better proof
could there be of the real bias and misrepresentation going on? all of this is happening at a time when it is clear that the
intifada has failed to win a victory--this is true since the
palestinian leadership opposes the israeli withdrawal from gaza even
while claiming it as a victory--and that of violence and extremist
demands has failed. yet there is no sign, and will be none as long as
arafat lives, of any change in this losing strategy. professor barry rubin is director of the global research in
international affairs center (gloria) and editor of middle east review
of international affairs (meria). to go to top congressman: egypt preparing for war with israel posted by jerusalem newswire editorial staff, june 30, 2004. egypt's military buildup in preparation for a future war with
israel can and must be halted by cutting off us aid to cairo,
congressman tom lantos said this week. lantos, the ranking democrat in the house international relations
committee, plans to introduce legislation that would phase out the
$1.3 billion egypt receives annually in us military aid, middle east
newsline reported tuesday. the senior california representative noted that while egypt has no
serious external threats to its sovereignty, cairo continues to add
weaponry and additional units to its massive war machine. past egyptian buildups have always resulted in invasion and
attempted annihilation of the jewish state. the 1979 camp david peace
accord notwithstanding, statements made by egyptian officials and
state-controlled media indicate cairo still views israel as an enemy. "egyptian military exercises are ominously geared toward an israeli
enemy that doesn't obviously exist," lantos said. hostile peace egypt's state-controlled media regularly demonizes the jewish state
in newspaper editorials and anti-semitic television programs, despite
being one of only two arab states to have signed peace treaty with
israel. that incitement has led to several us congress debates over the
past few years regarding the prudence of providing egypt with advanced
arms and the funds to purchase them. additionally, israeli military sources have reported that egyptian
war games consistently feature the idf as the enemy force. israelis have taken advantage of their 25 years of "peace" with
egypt to visit that nation en masse and take in its culture. during
that same period, egyptian tourism to the jewish state has been
virtually nonexistent. clear-headed lantos while american administrations traditionally ignore geopolitical
realities in deference to diplomatic sensibilities, lantos this week
chose to buck that trend and called cairo out on its unnecessary
military buildup. "i intend to support the egyptian people by introducing legislation
to phase out military assistance for egypt over the next three years,"
middle east newsline quoted the congressman as saying. lantos pointed out that egypt recently supplemented its navy with
11 new battle units, in addition to other weapons procurements. and
this despite the fact cairo has no serious external threats to its
sovereignty. the clear target of this military buildup is israel, lantos said. "egyptian military exercises are ominously geared toward an israeli
enemy that doesn't obviously exist," he explained. "this is a policy
choice" of the mubarak regime. lantos' bill would see the $1.3 billion in annual us military aid
converted to economic assistance. steinitz told you so. most israelis have long chosen to overlook cairo's continued
hostility towards the jewish state, but one lawmaker has made warning
his nation of the unchanged egyptian threat the cornerstone of his
political career. likud mk yuval steinitz has on numerous occasions cautioned his
government against relying on egypt to assist israel in creating a
region free from muslim terrorism. steinitz, the current chairman of the knesset foreign affairs and
defense committee, has been joined by senior military officials in
recognizing cairo's policy of perpetuating a situation where the
israelis and "palestinians" continue to bleed each other, while
massing an overwhelming military force aimed at one day conquering the
holy land. in 1948, 1967 and 1973, egypt together with other arab nations
attempted to eradicate the sovereign jewish state. "jerusalem newswire is a gentile-run newsgathering and
dissemination service based out of jerusalem, israel, that exists to
provide users with the top daily news stories culled from a wide
variety of internet sources." their website address is
http://www.jnewswire.com. this article is archived at
http://www.jnewswire.com/library/article.php?articleid=262 to go to top pa denies voting rights to refugees for political purposes posted by itamar marcus and barbara crook, june 30, 2004. a striking decision by the palestinian authority (pa) will deprive
palestinian occupants of refugee camps of their basic democratic right
to vote in the upcoming local elections. this is another step in the
long history of arab leaders abusing camp residents as pawns for
political gain. since israel's creation the arab world has actively prevented a
humanitarian solution for arab refugees who left israel during
israel's war of independence. for example, lebanon still prohibits
camp residents from owning homes or businesses outside the camps,
condemning them to perpetual economic and social hardship. according to the pa leadership this denial of the right to vote is
being done to highlight the "unique status" of the refugee camps. the following statement in the pa daily by the supreme national
committee for the protection of the right of return also reiterates
the pa policy of preventing the integration of the refugee camps into
urban housing units, calling it a "danger". "the supreme national committee for the protection of the right of return - announced yesterday that it opposes the participation of the refugee camps in the local elections that are expected to take place in the palestinian territories. the committee justified its objection as protecting the unique status of the refugee camps in gaza and the west bank, considering them testimony to the crime that the occupation state made against our nation for 56 years. the committee warned of the dangers of integrating the refugee camps into the urban housing units..." - al-hayat al-jadida, june 29, 2004 itamar marcus is director of pmw -palestinian media watch - (http://www.pmw.org.il). barbara crook, a writer and university lecturer based in ottawa, canada, is pmw's north american representative. to go to top china- syria- libya - north korea: missiles and nukes posted by emanuel a. winston, june 30, 2004. it was reported that bashar assad, the young president of syria
went to china to secure massive funding for a free trade port at
latakiya to supposedly market chinese merchandise in the middle east.
[this part of the report came from debkafile, june 28th.] latakiya is
a city in syria on the mediterranean coast with alawite muslims as the
controlling population. with the readers indulgence i will offer some thoughts. several years ago i wrote some articles about latakiya when
bashar's father hafez was alive, although very ill. i pointed out that
the assads along with the small but ruling clique of generals were the
alawites, a minority muslim group, ruling the majority sunni muslims
of syria. lakatiya was not unlike saddam hussein's takrit, a home base.
latakiya received the best military equipment out of what the soviets
sold to syria. it was to be the city fortress for the alawite ruling
minority, should they have to escape if the government in damascus
fell. why would bashar be anxious to build up latakiya as a major port in
his father's get-away redoubt fortress? is bashar expecting a sunni
'coup d'etat' where he and his alawite generals would need to find
safety. bashar and his generals, like his father before him, kept the
sunnis under their thumbs. like saddam suppressed the shi'ite muslim
majority to insure they would not be able to rise up and overthrow his
minority rule. perhaps it was only a trade deal with china that bashar sought but,
given the rule of the assads and the hatred they engendered, i wonder. with the defeat of saddam's army and saddam's capture, the
dictators of the arab muslim nations are feeling more than uneasy.
regrettably, what will replace them may be far more dangerous than
mere tyrannical dictators. if you haven't noticed, all the arab and
muslim nations are ruled in a dictatorial manner with the populations
kept quiet by the threat of force. islam, as demonstrated in afghanistan with the taliban rule, is a
cruel and deadly religious rule. it is a toss up as to whether it is
better for muslims to have a dictatorial government or a religious
islamic rule under rigid islamic shari'a law. it is a lose-lose
choice. which brings us back to bashar assad and his visit to china. he
apparently left china abruptly when the chinese refused his demand for
massive funding to build up latakiya in exchange for assad's economic
cooperation. latakiya was to be a sales/distributing port for chinese
products to then be distributed throughout the middle east. i would 'guess' that the products he expected to sell were not
chinese toasters. it would be more likely that bashar was soliciting
various missiles and other military products which are manufactured in
china. as a relevant aside, i recall that it was caspar weinberger, then
secretary of defense, who set up egypt to manufacture and distribute
american m1a1 abrams battle tank without congressional authorization
and which would by-pass congressional overview. international investigators are presently examining whether syria
acquired nuclear technology and expertise through the black market
network operated by the pakistani head scientist abdul qadeer khan,
according to a u.s. official and western diplomats. khan and some
associates visited syria in the late 1990s and later held clandestine
meeting with syrian nuclear officials in iran. it is unknown if syria
has or had centrifuges which would have come from khan's network. the
ring was exposed this year after libya turned over pakistani-supplied
centrifuge components and related documents when moammar gaddafi
[supposedly] abandoned his nuclear weapons program. syria maintains
one of the mid east's largest arsenals of ballistic missiles,
developed in cooperation with china, north korea and other countries.
analysts also believe that syria possesses chemical and biological
weapons. (2) latakiya would also, no doubt, be a port for missiles from north
korea. was all this 'just' a matter of business or is bashar assad looking
into the future with the fall of his government and an escape into the
alawite city, latakiya - like tikrit. by the way, a relevant aside: john loftus, attorney, nazi
prosecutor for the justice department, commentator on fox news, author
of several books, said in october 2003 at the first jerusalem summit
held in the king david hotel that saddam's wmd (weapons of mass
destruction) would be found buried in syria. (michael evans was there
also.) i am guessing it will in time for an october 2004 surprise,
before the november presidential elections. as you read this, please keep in mind that syria has been under the
quiet protection of the u.s. state department and specific presidents,
namely george herbert walker bush, sr. and his secretary of state
james baker. i have been pondering this strange relationship for over
20 years. why were our highest political executives so tied up with
first the father, hafez al assad and now bashar? why are saddam's wmds
in syria? ### 1. "assad cut short beijing trip when chinese officials refused
massive funding," debkafile, june 28, 2004 [debka.com] 2. "syrian link to pakistan nuke sales investigated," by douglas
frantz, chicago tribune, june 25, 2004 also "black market
nuclear probe focuses on syria," by douglas frantz in istanbul, los
angles times and imra-owner@imra.org.il. 3. "saddam's wmds are in syria," by michael d. evans,
worldnetdaily.com june 29, 2004. michael d. evans wrote "beyond iraq:
the next move," an amazon #2 and a nyt best-seller. there is mounting evidence that at least some of saddam hussein's
missing weapons of mass destruction are in syria, smuggled there by
the iraqi dictator for safekeeping before the beginning of the war.
part of the stockpile the coalition forces have so far failed to find
in iraq was probably destroyed; part is likely still hidden. but a
massively lethal amount of iraq's chemical and biological weapons is
stored alongside syria's own stockpiles of wmds. perhaps more worrisome, there are indications these weapons are not
under the control of syrian president bashar assad. rather, in a
potentially catastrophic palace intrigue, his sister, bushra, and her
husband, gen. assaf shawkat, the no. 2 in syria's military
intelligence organization, the mukhabarat, are said to have made the
storage arrangements with saddam as part of a bid for power. on jan. 5, 2004, nizar nayouf, a syrian journalist who recently
defected to france, said in a letter to the dutch newspaper de
telegraaf that chemical and biological weapons were smuggled from iraq
into syria before the war began, when saddam realized he would be
attacked by the u.s. nayouf claimed to know three sites where iraq's
wmds are kept: in tunnels under the town of al-baida in northern
syria, part of an underground factory built by north korea for
producing a syrian version of the scud missile; in the village of tal
snan, adjacent to a syrian air force base; and in sjinsjar, on the
border with lebanon. speaking to the british television station itn on jan. 9, nayouf
quoted a syrian military intelligence official as confirming the three
sites. nayouf's claims had in fact been substantiated by the u.s.
intelligence community two months before. in a briefing to defense
reporters on oct. 30, 2003, officials of the national imagery and
mapping agency in washington released an assessment that iraqi weapons
of mass destruction were transferred to syria in the weeks before the
war began. the officials said the assessment was based on satellite images of
convoys of iraqi trucks that poured into syria in february and march
2003. according to middle east newsline, quoted by worldtribune.com,
most of the intelligence community concluded that at least some of
iraq's wmds, along with iraqi scientists and technicians, was smuggled
to syria. nima chief james clapper, a retired air force general and a leading
member of the u.s. intelligence community, told reporters he linked
the disappearance of iraqi wmds with the large number of iraqi trucks
that crossed into syria before and during the u.s. invasion. the
assessment was that these trucks contained missiles and wmd components
banned by the united nations security council. "i think personally that the [iraqi] senior leadership saw what was
coming and i think they went to some extraordinary lengths to dispose
of the evidence," clapper said. he said he is certain that components
connected to iraq's biological, chemical, and nuclear programs were
sent to syria in the weeks prior to and during the war. david kay, the recently resigned head of an american wmd search
team in iraq, confirmed that part of saddam's weapons was hidden in
syria, britain's sunday telegraph reported on jan. 25, 2004. kay said
he had uncovered conclusive evidence shortly before last year's u.s.
invasion. "we are not talking about a large stockpile of weapons, but we know
from some of the interrogations of former iraqi officials that a lot
of material went to syria before the war, including some components of
saddam's wmd program," kay said. gal luft, a former analyst for the washington institute for near east policy, confirmed iraqi wmds are hidden in syria, but not by the regime. "certain individuals are taking money and hiding weapons," he told
upi on feb. 7, 2003, but this is "not government-sanctioned." judith
yaphe, a former senior cia middle east analyst, agreed, suggesting the
wmd smuggling operation is "palace intrigue." she said in the same upi
report that bashar assad's sister, bushra, "is the brains. she's much
smarter and more effective than bashar, and she was disappointed at
being passed over and not seeing her husband elevated." dr. dany shoham of bar-ilan university's begin-sadat center for
strategic studies is a former lieutenant colonel in the idf
intelligence corps who specializes in weapons of mass destruction,
particularly bio-chemical warfare. he says it is "likely" at least
some of saddam's wmds were hidden in syria before the war. "i'd say there are three possibilities: that these weapons were
destroyed by the iraqis before the war; that they were hidden in iraq;
and that they were smuggled out," shoham said. in all probability,
some were destroyed, some are still hidden, but some lethal amount was
smuggled to syria for safekeeping. "syria is the no. 1 candidate," shoham continued, "because of its
long, common border with iraq, because a number of iraqi bio-warfare
scientists fled to syria before the war, and because syrian president
bashar assad had a much closer relationship with saddam than his late
father, hafez." "what is strange," said shoham, "is that, since saddam was captured
- and even before - the americans did not relate to the syrian option.
it is as if the u.s. doesn't want to reveal the fact that iraqi wmds
are hidden there. it could be that the u.s. cannot yet confirm this -
but another possibility is that the bush administration knows the
answer and has decided it is not yet time to reveal it. for whatever
reason, it may still be too classified. if there is some political
bias involved, the u.s. presidential election campaign might account
for it." if syria is indeed safeguarding at least some of saddam's wmds, now
that saddam is history and iraq has started along the road to
democracy, what is likely to happen to these weapons? "it is not likely that syria will share them with hezbollah in
lebanon," said shoham. "it is in syria's interest to maintain the
current relative quiet" along lebanon's border with israel, he said,
noting the tension in syria's relationship with the u.s., which is
about to impose sanctions on damascus due to its support of terrorism. "the syria-iran interface is very strong and active," he noted. "on
the other hand, it is well to keep in mind that syria has its own
large arsenal of wmds." assuming the u.s. did detect the smuggling, why didn't it stop it?
the bush administration certainly received advance warning. in
december 2002, israeli prime minister ariel sharon announced on
television that saddam had hidden chemical and biological weapons of
mass destruction in syria. "we believe, and i say it has not been completely verified, that
weapons he [saddam] wants to hide - chemical and biological weapons -
have been smuggled into syria," sharon said on israel's channel 2. a senior israeli intelligence official said afterward the iraqi
wmds included mobile biological facilities mounted in trailer trucks,
as well as chemical munitions. he said the u.s. had examined evidence
provided by israel. "we have solid evidence," the official said. "this
is not a hunch or speculation." israel's warning was repeated some three months later. on march 31,
2003, a senior israel defense forces intelligence officer,
intelligence research department head brig. gen. yossi kuperwasser,
told the knesset foreign affairs and defense committee that iraqi
chemical and biological weapons are probably hidden in syria, israel
radio reported. according to the center for nonproliferation studies, syria has the
largest and most advanced chemical warfare capability in the middle
east, including chemical warheads for scud ballistic missiles and
cruise missiles, chemical gravity bombs for delivery by aircraft, and
chemical warheads for artillery shells. it has an estimated cw
stockpile in the hundreds of tons, including sarin, vx and mustard
gas. it appears syria is not about to transfer wmds to hezbollah in
lebanon, since it is not in its interest to invite massive israeli
retaliation for a wmd attack. according to dr. boaz ganor, head of
israel's international policy institute for counterterrorism, syria
cultivates other terrorist groups that are committed to israel's
destruction, such as hamas and islamic jihad. "but in the present constellation, when world focus is on syria, it
would not be rational for damascus to transfer wmds to these groups
and invite a massive u.s. response," he said. the white house has maintained it lacks hard evidence to back
nayouf's reports of iraqi wmds smuggled to syria. "i want to be very clear: we don't, at this point, have any
indications that i would consider credible and firm that that has
taken place. but we will tie down every lead," national security
adviser condoleezza rice told reporters in washington on jan. 10,
2004. another former israeli intelligence official said washington's
unwillingness to believe the israeli reports is basically political,
having to do with the president's re-election campaign: "the bush
administration does not want to confront the syrians, even though they
are bad news and working all along ith saddam," he said. perhaps the bush administration feels constrained during a
re-election campaign about taking on another despot possessing wmds,
while it still has forces on the ground in iraq. but the same
justification that powered regime change in iraq still exists - it has
just moved to the dictatorship next door. emanuel winston is a commentator and middle east analyst. his articles appear often on think-israel and gamla he is a member of the board of directors and a research associate of the freeman center for strategic studies (http://www.freeman.org/online.htm). to go to top us founding fathers and repatriation posted by ruth matar, june 30, 2004. dear friends, last week's letter from jerusalem generated a lot of interest. i
received literally hundreds of emails from you, my "cyberspace
friends". i myself find the founding fathers a fascinating subject,
and i appreciate the additional information provided in your emails. thank you gilbert simons for sharing the following information as
to what the founding fathers thought about "repatriation" or the
"right of return": (they apparently faced the same situation we face
in israel today. arabs were encouraged to flee by the attacking arab
countries in the 1948 war of independence. they were promised that
they would come back as soon as the jews were defeated, and that they
would inherit all jewish property. now, they portray themselves as
unjustly displaced refugees and want to return with their children,
grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, who were born in arab
countries and have never even set foot in israel.) "during the american revolution, many colonists who remained loyal
to the crown fled to canada. in the peace negotiations, the british
pressed the united states to permit the loyalists to return and to
reclaim their property. but the u.s. congress was adamant. "on oct. 18, 1782, congress instructed john adams, the u.s.
minister plenipotentiary in the peace negotiations: 'that with respect
to those persons who have either abandoned or been banished from any
of the united states since the commencement of the war, he is to make
no stipulations whatsoever for their readmittance; and as to an
equivalent for their property, he may attend to propositions on that
subject only on reciprocal stipulation that great britain will make
full compensation for all the wanton destruction which the subjects of
that nation have committed on the property of the citizens of the
united states.' "on november 26, 1782, four days before the preliminary treaty,
benjamin franklin wrote richard oswald, the british negotiator: 'your
ministers require that we should receive again into our bosom those
who have been our bitterest enemies and restore their properties who
have destroyed ours; and while the wounds they have given us are still
bleeding!'" thanks also to lynn who pointed out that hebrew almost became the
official language of the united states! also, thanks to all the financial wizards who figured out today's
value of $638,000, which the u.s. government never repaid to hayim
salomon. the value of $638,000 today differs, depending on what
interest rates are used, but it seems to be either in the billions or
in the trillions! boggles the mind, doesn't it? many americans feel that we are between "a rock and a hard place".
we agree with the policies of president george w. bush with regard to
most issues, except for his plan to divide the holy land, and to carve
out a palestinian state from land promised by hashem to the jewish
people. most americans are also appalled at president bush's support
for ariel sharon's plan to expel 8,000 jews from their homes in
biblical gaza. (this plan, which does not have the support of the israeli knesset,
the israeli people, or even sharon's likud party, has already
emboldened the arab terrorists in gaza, who are now daily shooting
rockets into southern israel. on monday, the israeli town of sderot
was hit by four kassam rockets. amongst others, a four year old little
boy was killed entering his kindergarten, and his mother, who brought
him there, lies mortally wounded in the hospital.) on the other hand, we do not agree with john kerry's stand on any
of the important issues. as a matter of fact, many people are not able
to figure out what his positions are, he flip flops so often! his past
record does not show that he is a great friend of israel! most of us agree with the direction of president george w. bush,
with the exception of one very important issue, his stand on the
promised land. he apparently has been led to believe that dividing the
holy land and carving out a palestinian state, from the land promised
by the almighty to the jewish people, will bring peace to the middle
east. however, a large part of his constituency believes that this
would be a reward for terror, and, in addition, that expelling jews
from their homes in biblical gaza, is diametrically opposed to the
word of g-d, and the principles of american democracy. it is interesting to note that belief in the judeo-christian bible
does not enter as a factor in political discussions of the media, at
least not on fox tv, which i watch daily with great interest. this is
difficult to explain, since evangelical christians account for about a
quarter of american voters, according to a university of akron survey
taken after the 2000 election. hence, it is very important that bible
believing christians and jews use their power! the november 2004
presidential election has great importance for the fulfillment of
g-d's word, as set forth in the bible. what to do? many of the emails i received suggest that the solution may be to pray
for president bush and his advisors, so that they will realize that
the saudi sponsored road map is not only dangerous for israel, but is
in effect politically counterproductive for united states interests as
well. it is not possible to fight worldwide terror and insist that we
will not fight those who are responsible for much of this terror! we
must face the fact that the "foreign fighters" who kill american
soldiers in iraq, are in effect members of hamas, hizbollah and
islamic jihad, the very same terrorist groups who have killed more
than 1,400 israeli civilians and maimed thousands. prayer is important, but in addition, a different sort of prayer is
also necessary. hashem needs to see that we are worthy of his
miracles. my good friend, rabbi benny elon, always used to say to me:
"ruth, it is not enough to pray with your mouth, you must pray with
your feet as well!" in other words: "pray and act!" (rabbi benny elon
was until recently israel's minister of tourism, until ariel sharon
fired him for not agreeing with the plan to expel jews from their
homes in biblical gaza, judea, and samaria. rabbi benny elon is
currently in the united states, working together with christian
organizations against sharon's disengagement plan.) at this point, it looks like its going to be a very close election.
the other day i watched fox news. it had a panel discussion on the
campaigns of john kerry and george w. bush, respectively. it seems
that since march 12, when kerry became the official democratic
candidate, he has been outdoing bush 2 to 1 in small donations -
meaning $100 or less. the democrats are using this fact for their
propaganda that kerry is the grassroots candidate for the average
american, whereas bush is the candidate of the rich, the "fat cats".
we need to remind president bush that there is a large constituency
out there to whom the fate of the holy land is very important, just as
important as the economy, the price of oil, the price of medical care,
social security, etc. ruth and nadia matar established women for israel's tomorrow
(women in green), an activist group of women based in jerusalem. their
website address is http://www.womeningreen.org to go to top with peace partners like egypt, who needs enemies? posted by stephen m. asbel, june 30, 2004. the idf, as expected, is making a major push into gaza to attempt to
prevent more missile attacks such as the ones in which terrorists
murdered little afik zahavi and his grandfather, mordechai yosefov.
however, does this really get at the root of this security problem. it
is well and good to go into gaza and destroy missiles, factories and
the terrorists who launch them. this type of operation may be the
equivalent of yanking dandelions out of the ground. the top may be
gone but the root remains and the weed will grow back. these weapons
are coming into gaza from somewhere. the somewhere is egypt, a state
with which israel supposedly has a treaty of peace. egypt is doing
nothing to stop these weapons from reaching the border and, i am told,
at least some of this weaponry, is probably coming from egyptian
stocks. given this situation, one might wonder whether the peace
treaty with egypt is even worth the paper on which it is written. stephen m. asbel is an attorney outside philadelphia, pennsylvania and
he is the author of the yeshayah 62:1 israel news and views weblog
which can be viewed at http://www.bermanlaw.com/weblogs/sma2 to go to top what the jews of europe should do posted by ben ronn, june 30, 2004. it took a non jewish, international businessman and a friend to
respond to a circulated article about the continued danger and
physical abuse that the jews living in eu to day are been subjectd to
on a daily basis. his message was: "don't whine! create vigilantee
groups and go after the perpetrators with venom equal to theirs and
than some." the jews in israel undestand that approach. the survivors
of the holocast and their decendents who live in israel understand
that approach. it is time the jews who chose to live outside of israel
learn that if they will not help themselves their future will be the
same as that of the other 5 million jews. i would like to see some attempt by organizations such as yours to get
this message across to the jews, wherever they reside, under the
heading of "never again!" ben ronn can be reached at his website: http://www.roteva.com to go to top the jewish political chronicle and gaza posted by richard h. shulman, june 30, 2004. the current editor of the "jewish political chronicle" has an
interesting way of introducing each edition of about 50 pages of
articles. he divides it into the several main themes of the period. he
initiates them with an editorial that neatly ties them together and
defends his theses. i think his is the type of brilliance too circumscribed by
tendentiousness to grasp the situation properly. the sparks fly, but
the metal is insufficiently forged. one such spark in the may-june issue is the observation that israel
treated gaza as if temporarily held and only for military security. he
is right. for the most part, the same observation applies to
judea-samaria. in his tendentiousness, that is, in his amenability to
surrender parts of the jewish homeland because there are more arabs in
them and he doesn't know how to get them out or perhaps want to or
perhaps think israel could, he fails to note that security needs
against the arabs are not temporary and that the area belongs to the
jewish people. he spares israel's leadership from what should be
scathing criticism for having let this come to pass. shame on those
whom he cites for calling the patriots who oppose
appeasement/surrender, "far right," as if something were wrong with
them rather than the "realists" whose oslo got hundreds murdered? he misses the point altogether, in taking president bush's initial
assurance to pm sharon about there not being an arab "right of return"
and about letting israel retain settlement blocs. this assurance, he
asserts, now is us policy. "? the us that is now duty bound by highly
visible and public written and verbal presidential commitments." it
most certainly is not bound! nor does the us take its actual
commitments to israel seriously when put to the test. by now an editor
should see through bush's great initial speeches that lead nowhere but
lead people on. pres. bush's statement to pm sharon made no assurances. it just mildly verified the reasonableness of sharon's contentions about arab "return" and settlement retention. hardly was the statement made, when us diplomats assured the arabs that no promise was made to sharon. indeed, the state dept. then ratcheted up demands for more withdrawal than sharon had indicated, citing the revised road map that calls for a total withdrawal, except for some inconvenient rock or tree here or there. it is a fuller withdrawal than required by security council resolution 242 when and if the arabs turn to peace, which they did not. the map is phony. why believe politicians such as bush and sharon? people believe
them, or claim to, because they prefer to. why do bush and sharon toy
with us this way? they want to get the jewish state to surrender
without resistance. that is clear about bush and probable about
sharon. in sharon's case, there may be elements of conceit and
blackmail, not all duplicity. editor david schimmel goes on to suggest that israel not focus on
whether to abandon gaza. it should work on getting the arab terrorist
infrastructure demolished and the arabs "in abject defeat" and on
defining "jewish population centers" in judea-gaza so as to retain
more of them. he makes a good point for a fall-back position. although
it sounds tough, however, it really is a cover for weakness. if israel
withdrew, the arabs would proclaim victory. that is how the arabs
behave, heedless of casualties along the way. in the long run, they
would be right. demolishing p.a. forces before leaving would not
accomplish much, either. the quartet and egypt are planning to
refurbish the p.a. security forces. considering the traditional
military hostility of egypt and britain to israel, that refurbishment
would make a stronger terrorist infrastructure. a more valid point is the theme that the us must realize it is in a
world war that will take time to win and should not be fragmented by
partisan politics. why shouldn't israel, too? he considers that in
this world, the un is a necessary evil. i understand the "evil" part
but not the "necessary" part. evil is not necessary. the un acts as a
legitimizer for evils such as terrorism and antisemitism. it
constrains countries, such as the us, that might resist them, and
provides excuses for other countries not to resist. the excuse is to
leave it to the un, which leaves victims to their fates. richard shulman is a veteran defender of israel on several web-based
forums. he provides cool information and right-on-target overviews. he
distributes his essays by email. to subscribe, write him at
ricshulman@aol.com. to go to top the judgment on the separation fence posted by gabriella goldwaer, june 30, 2004. who needs the hague (icj) court judgment ... when israel's own courts are against their own citizens - against her security - against preventing murder and mayhem ... who needs enemies with such supreme court judgment ... is it that the worst enemy in israel is the one we cannot see properly.. ? our very own jewish brethren who become so called judges ...? which eventually destroy their own country ... ? their own race ...? in the meantime. ism and it's pack followers (terrorist supporters) go free... yossi belein and his lot with their eu and other funding smile and
keep filling their pockets, and most likely will become once more
knesset members. [penal code 97 to > 100 will just be on paper only]
what a joy indeed. what follows is an abstract of the judgment regarding the separation
fence [hcj 2056/04] - from the court administration spokesperson's
office see imra (www.imra.org.il) for full text: text supreme court judgement
regarding the security fence (1 of 3)
www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=21369 text supreme court judgement regarding the security fence (2 of 3)
www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=21370 text supreme court judgement regarding the security fence (3 of 3)
www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=21371 ] this petition was submitted by several palestinian villages and their
inhabitants. it attacks the legality of orders issued by the israel defense
forces (idf) commander in the west bank. the orders were to take possession of plots of land for the purpose of erecting a separation fence. the path of the portion of the fence discussed in the petition is approximately forty
kilometers long and located west and northwest of jerusalem (starting in the
west at maccabim and beit sira villages, going through har adar, beit
sourik, and bidu villages, and ending at giv'at ze'ev township and beit daku
village). the petition attacked the legality of eight separate orders, each referring to several kilometers of the fence and together comprising the entire forty kilometers at issue. the supreme court delivered today (june 30, 2004) a judgment concerning the
challenged portion of the fence. the judgment was written by president (chief justice) a. barak;
vice-president e. mazza and justice m. cheshin concurred. the court divided its discussion into two parts, each addressing a separate question. the first question concerns the legal authority of the idf commander to build a fence in the west bank. the second question concerns the proportionality of the fence's path (i.e., assuming that the
idf commander has the authority to build the fence, does the fence's path
reflect a proper balance of security considerations and humanitarian considerations). petitioners and respondents did not deal with the question of authority exhaustively. the court found that this complex question was not adequately
developed by the parties and, in its own discussion, referred only to
the arguments that the parties did bring. the court ruled that, were
the reasons for building the fence political, then the fence would
violate public international law. but the court rejected petitioners' claim that the reasons for building the fence were political. the court accepted respondents' claim that the fence was built for
reasons of national security. those reasons could justify taking
possession of plots of land in the west bank. even with the authority to build the fence, the idf commander still
has a legal duty to balance properly between security considerations
and humanitarian ones. this duty relates to the second question, the question of
proportionality, to which the court devoted the bulk of its
discussion. the court held that the legal duty of proportionality is
found in both israeli administrative law and public international law. the court accepted the idf commander's position regarding the security
aims of the fence, rejecting the contrary position of the council for
peace and security (a private organization composed of retired
military commanders that submitted a brief on the appropriate security
aims, and hence the proper path, of the fence). the court did so because the idf commander is accountable to the
general public, while the council is not. the court ruled, however, that the idf commander did not exercise his
discretion proportionately. although he took account of the grave security considerations at
stake, he did not take adequate account of the fence's infringement on
the lives of 35,000 local inhabitants. building the fence requires seizing thousands of dunams of land. the fence's current path would separate landowners from tens of
thousands of dunams of land, and the planned regime of authorizations
to access that land would not substantially reduce the harm. the fence's current path would generally burden the entire way of life
in petitioners' villages. both petitioners and the council offered
alternative paths. respondents claimed that those paths would exact substantial costs in
terms of national security. the court held that this reduction in
security must be endured for the sake of humanitarian considerations.
the additional margin of security achieved by the current path of the
fence is not equal to the current path's additional infringement on
the local inhabitants' rights and interests. the current balance between security considerations and humanitarian
considerations is disproportionate. the court ruled that the idf
commander should reduce the infringement upon the local inhabitants,
even if it cannot be totally avoided, by altering the path of the
fence in most areas complained of in the petition. given this reasoning, the court accepted the petition with regard to
six of the orders (order no. 104/03, 103/03, 84/03 (the western part),
108/03, 109/03, 110/03 (the part concerning beit daku village)). those
orders are void due to disproportionality. the petition was denied with regard to one order (order no. 105/03)
concerning the western part of the path. the last order (107/03),
concerning har adar village, was returned to respondents for further
consideration in light of the principles developed in the judgment. gabrielle goldwater is an internet correspondent and commentator; see
http://goldwater.mideastreality.com/. to go to top toddler or 'brutal occupier'? posted by bruce s. ticker, june 30, 2004. infuriating is too weak a word to describe my feelings when i learned of the deaths of afik zahavi and mordechai yosopov. that reaction has been a near-daily state of being since september
2000, but monday's level of infuriating rates an "orange alert," as
homeland security chief tom ridge would put it. terrorists murdered a 4-year-old boy and a 49-year-old grandfather of five who were going about their business in sederot, two miles from northeast gaza. afik was being dropped off at his nursery school and mordechai was helping his daughter take his grandchild to the school. a qassam missile fired across the border exploded near the child and the man. mordechai was apparently killed on impact and afik died on his way to a hospital. his mother, ruth, was hospitalized in serious condition. these poor, oppressed palestinians (hamas claimed responsibility) certainly knew what they were doing. they had lobbed 200 to 350 rockets over the border into sederot and environs since this cruel and stupid war began in september 2000, and fortunately nobody had been hurt. this was not about settlements, not that that even justifies such killings. anyone who claims now that all palestinians want is nothing more than their own state is kidding themselves. not every palestinian is so vicious and certainly the palestinians have legitimate concerns which need to be addressed. however, enough of them form a dangerous core segment with the single-minded goal of killing every jew in israel until they can seize control of all the land. many apologists for the terrorists insist that they cannot dictate
how the palestinians "resist" israel's "brutal occupation." the
publisher of crisis israel has personally heard this excuse. yeah, afik zahavi and mordechai yosopov were brutal occupiers. it gets even more infuriating, in the other direction, when you read sederot mayor eli moyal's eye-opening disclosure to a new york times reporter. he said he had been appealing to the government for years for an ambulance fully equipped to handle major trauma, among other emergency measures. many residents wondered if afik's life might have been saved had such an ambulance been available. the israeli government, which has plenty of money for settlements, bypass roads and ultra-orthodox religious education programs, has had plenty of time to think about sederot's request for an ambulance. they know very well that sederot's proximity to gaza makes this city of 24,000 one of the most vulnerable communities in israel proper. too late for two of sederot's citizens who were buried on monday. contact bruce ticker at his website: http://www.crisisisrael.com to go to top pm sharon comes to sderot posted by harvey tannenbaum, june 30, 2004. ariel sharon came to sderot. he said, "kassam rockets will not return
to sderot ever again, when we're through with our current idf
actions." (direct quote of sharon to sderot leaders at 4pm, june 29,
2004.) two minutes later 3 kassam rockets were fired and fell very close
to the prime minister with his mouth open in dismay. the shabak and secret service ran him out of there like a bat in
hell. too bad those guards could not have saved the life of afiki zahavi,
the 4 year old miracle baby murdered yesterday instead of wasting time
with an old pm who has sold out his country for a casino and wants to
transfer jews out of their homes onto trucks to holding camps. harvey tannenbaum can be reached at protexia@netvision.net.il to go to top the kinder-transport of israel posted by ariel natan pasko, june 30, 2004. the transports came roaring up the road, kicking up dust as they
rocked from side to side. the jews had been baking all morning,
waiting out in the scorching june sun. they were rounded up early by
the soldiers and told to line up in an orderly fashion. but how long
could that last? babies were crying, and little children were running
this way and that, playing, while frightened mothers kept one eye on
their kids and another on the soldiers guarding them. the trucks pulled up to the crowd and stopped. several soldiers got
out and walked over to the huddled, frightened group of mothers and
children. the soldiers barked orders to all the children, to get back
in line by their mothers. the crying grew louder. the commanding
officer walked over to the group and ordered them to take out their id
cards. "this is the last check before leaving," he said. "we wouldn't want
to leave anybody behind..." somewhere in europe in 1944? no, this is gaza, in 2005... ever since israeli prime minister ariel sharon annunciated his
policy of turning gaza into a "judenrein zone," they knew it was
coming to this. most of the people had left much earlier. the men were
either taken off to jail, or had left for work or shopping and then
not let back into their towns. most of the women left peacefully after
their men-folk were expelled, but some hardcores stayed. this was the last group of jews in gaza, and commander x - all the
soldiers involved in the expulsions covered their faces and were
called x - due to threats of reprisals. not from the "settlers" i
might add, but from their supporters throughout the land. the rabbis had already called on soldiers not to participate in
these evil deeds. hundreds of religious soldiers - those first called
into action - were already languishing away in military prisons. the
army wanted to ferret out those most likely to disobey, so they at
first, sent in only religious soldiers. they told the soldiers and
"settlers" that this way they have nothing to fear. no beatings, no
violence; they would be taken out by their own kind. but when the
soldiers refused to carry out the "operation," they were hauled off to
prison and replaced by club wielding anti-religious secularists,
multi-generational leftists, and their arab helpmates. it didn't take long - only a few weeks - to empty most of the
towns, after they had turned the water and electricity off, blockaded
those left inside, stopped the food shipments and bus service, and
started dropping teargas and sleeping gas on them. but these were the hardcores; settler women driven with messianic
zeal, and ferocious motherly love for their young, frightened by the
prospects of the future unknown. huddled together and cowered, they
didn't look so threatening when commander x was barking orders at
them, now. pm sharon was keeping his promise to the nation, and to the
americans. he said he wouldn't let sentimentalism get in the way of
the roadmap and he kept his word. he proclaimed early on, that
"painful concessions" would be necessary to keep the agreement with
the palestinians, and moving jews out of parts of their historic
homeland would happen. yasser arafat was probably rolling in his grave
with joy. sharon was a man of his word, and even when hamas started rocket
attacks on his farm in the negev, near gaza, sharon didn't veer from
his plan. he earned every kilo of his nickname, "the bulldozer". he
bulldozed the very towns and cities that once in his youth he helped
to plan-out and build. "we all must make sacrifices," he would remind
the nation, even as he sifted through the rubble of his ranch house.
"i intend to bring security and peace to this troubled land," he would
bellow, always thinking, always planning. sharon was the true father of the settlements, and he was the true
father of the "peace" that would come, with their destruction. ariel natan pasko is an independent analyst and consultant. he has a
master's degree in international relations & policy analysis. his
articles appear regularly on numerous news/views and think-tank
websites, in newspapers, and can be read at:
www.geocities.com/ariel_natan_pasko to go to top it's all about jews posted by yashiko sagamori, june 30, 2004. i have an older friend, a russian immigrant, who grew up in a
jewish family that was unobservant almost to the point of atheism, but
keenly aware of their jewishness, mostly due to the anti-semitism
permeating everything around them. as a very young child, my friend
learned that jews were a tiny, insignificant, completely unnecessary
bunch of misfits that could be credited with absolutely nothing of
value for humankind, while being directly responsible for countless
unspecified troubles they had caused. television was unavailable in
the region where my friend's family lived at the time, but the walls
of their tiny apartment were lined with bookshelves densely packed
with volumes collected by at least two generations. my friend became a
ravenous reader. when he was 8, a distant relative who had converted
to christianity gave him a bible. recalling his unsupervised attempts
to navigate it, he told me how surprised he was to discover that it
was all about jews. if our civilization still exists 2,000 years from today, jews will
be still around even then, and, obviously, where there are jews, there
are child prodigies. if such a jewish child prodigy with a knack for
ancient history reads about our times, she is bound to experience the
same surprise, because today, just like it was in biblical times, it
is still all about jews. probably, no collection of historic evidence
makes the exceptional importance of jews to the humankind as obvious
as the annals of the united nations. compare, for example, two ancient nations, china and israel. about
a quarter of the world's population are chinese. china is occupying
tibet and is waiting for an opportunity to gobble up taiwan. its
systematic, daily human rights violations have by far surpassed the
atrocities committed by nazi germany and the soviet union combined,
which is quite an extraordinary achievement. it is the only country in
the world that routinely executes thousands of convicts every year in
order to harvest their organs for sale. jews, on the other hand, barely amount to one quarter of one
percent of the world's population. the number of jews in israel is
just about one one-thousandth of all people on earth. for more than
half of its long history, israel was banished from its homeland. in
the last 2,000 years, it never committed or even contemplated an act
of aggression. it never occupied even a square inch of foreign land
illegally. whatever territory it has gained by force was won in
defensive wars, which, according to international law, makes the
winner legally entitled to keep it - unless the winner is israel, of
course. obeying its special status according to this rule, israel has
voluntarily ceded most of its gained territories to its enemies,
hoping to assuage their hostility; as we know, that didn't work.
needless to say, israel has never attempted to force its enemies to
compensate it for the terrible losses inflicted on its people by the
ongoing arab aggression. nevertheless, un resolutions depict israel as
the source of all evil on earth, while china looks as innocent of any
digression and as disinterested in world domination as the yanomami
indians of the amazon rain forest. china is not the only member of the un granted blank immunity from
any criticism. a few days ago, the saudi police killed four men they
said were responsible for the murder of paul johnson. unlike president
bush, i have no close personal ties with the saudi rulers, so i hope
you find my doubts understandable. to the best of my knowledge, the
word of the saudi government is the only indication of the dead men's
involvement in the beheading of the american hostage. the saudis
themselves offered at least two different versions of the events that
had led to the shootout. so, let me suggest the possibility that by
killing four randomly selected people the saudis have closed a
potentially embarrassing case and demonstrated what unbelievably
terrific allies they are in our war in terror. that's how you kill two
birds with four bullets. having said that, i am sure the victims
weren't really picked randomly. why lose such a brilliant opportunity
to eliminate someone who is capable of causing damage, for example, by
disclosing ties between the royal family and terrorists? after all,
there must be a reason why the fbi has never been allowed to freely
interrogate those arrested for the khobar towers explosion 8 years ago
or, for that matter, any other terrorist suspect in saudi custody. in any case, the killing of the four clearly qualifies as
extrajudicial. but have you heard anyone refer to it as such? of
course, not. the term extrajudicial is used exclusively to describe
israel's execution of known (in stark contrast to the saudi case)
terrorists. evidently, in the eyes of the united nations and the vast
majority of its members, killers of jews deserve special leniency. neither saudi arabia, nor other muslim countries, nor cuba, nor
north korea, nor most of the other habitual human rights abusers have
been seriously, consistently criticized for their violations. it's
perfectly understandable: how can a country violate something that
does not exist within its jurisdiction? it's harder to understand why
countries like that, that don't even have words in their vocabularies
for the concept of human rights have been sitting on the un human
rights commission. it is obvious that the un policy is not designed to
promote human rights where they are most brazenly oppressed. instead,
it is used to harass those few countries that protect the rights of
their citizens without waiting for the un to show them the way.
luckily, i am a citizen of one of those countries, so i don't need to
worry about the un-sponsored perversions of my rights. there is a
problem however: recently, the un decided to address the problem of
anti-semitism. it's all about jews, remember? don't take me wrong. i hate anti-semitism as much as the next jew.
but i know three things if i know anything at all. first, as surely as death will exist as long as there is life,
anti-semitism will survive on this planet until the day it becomes
judenrein. if world war ii didn't eliminate it, we have no choice but
to conclude that this plague is incurable, and only a truly final
solution of the jewish problem may cleanse the humankind of it. as
usual, a few jews are bound to fall through the cracks and survive,
but impatient historians, without waiting for them to become extinct,
will offer incontrovertible evidence that jews have never existed,
that they were a myth, and, therefore, the genocide was a myth as
well. i'm curious though whom they will begin to exterminate next.
someone is definitely in for a nasty surprize. second, the simplest, most efficient way for the un to make a
substantial dent in anti-semitism would be to call in all its people -
both the staff and foreign representatives, seal all the exits and set
the building on fire. alternatively, kofi annan could contact his
friends in the arab world and ask them to slam the next highjacked
airliner into the un headquarters in new york city. i know it sounds
cruel and cynical, but not as cruel and cynical as the un, which, as a
universally recognized international body, is in a unique position to
effectively discredit and discourage anti-semitism. instead, it has
been the leading force promoting it, and so, without the un, jews
could've breathed a bit easier. third, it doesn't take a genius to figure out why the un, famous
for its anti-israeli policy, decided to address the problem of
anti-semitism it helped create. it is pursuing the same two goals as
the recent european conference devoted to the same eternal topic. the
short-term goal is to be able to respond to accusations of
anti-semitism, "you must be kidding! haven't we strongly denounced it
at our recent conference?" the long-term goal is to redefine
anti-semitism in such a way that it won't include anti-zionism. that
will help them present the destruction of israel and the new holocaust
that will inevitably accompany it as positive developments. not so
long ago, plenty of people in the united states refused to consider
themselves racists; they had nothing against "niggers" as long as
those "niggers" knew their place. today, most people have nothing
against jews; they hate zionists instead, because zionism, according
to the un, is racism, and racism is as bad as nazism, and nazis must
be exterminated. so, don't be surprised if the un creates a committee
to monitor the progress of anti-semitism (or anti-anti-semitism) in
the world and, following its own example with the human rights,
assigns syrians, iranians and ukrainians to run it. by the way, contrary to what you may have heard, in the soviet
union, where my immigrant friend was born, there was no anti-semitism
whatsoever. in pleasant unison with the un stance on universal human
rights, its constitution declared all soviet citizens perfectly equal
regardless of their ethnicity, religion, sex, and other petty
distinctions that still existed between individuals, despite all the
efforts of the communist party and soviet government. actually, the
soviet union went one step further than the un: its criminal code
specifically recognized anti-semitism as a crime punishable by a labor
camp term. nice, isn't it? makes you wonder why jews kept running from
the soviet union instead of desperately trying to get in. here's a
story that may give you a hint. when my friend was 8 days old, his father, over vigorous objections
of his mother and both grandmothers, but with somewhat uncertain
support of the only surviving grandfather (the other one was killed in
the great patriotic war), without inviting anyone, even close
relatives and friends, brought home an elderly man in a wrinkled black
suit who, amidst the general discomfort of all present, performed an
abbreviated rite of bris, accepted a meager payment, and was escorted
to the taxi cab waiting outside. despite all the conspiratorial
precautions, a neighbor reported the incident to the authorities. as a
result, my friend first met his father a couple of years after he
began perusing the russian orthodox bible, because his father had
spent the ten years following the bris on the wrong side of the ural
mountains cutting trees in the taiga, where the communist party had
decided to build yet another happy city of the future. his crime? you
see, anti-semitism wasn't the only unusual article in the soviet
criminal code. zionism was also a crime in the good old ussr. my
friend's father was found guilty of zionism for doing something
jewish, probably, for the very first time in his whole life. soviet
muslims, who circumcised their sons openly, could do so unmolested. it's nice to know what serves the un as a source of its justice and
wisdom. yashiko sagamori is a new york-based information technology
consultant. to read other articles by the author, go to
http://www.middleeastfacts.com/yashiko/ or email ysagamori@hotmail.com
this article was written for the forwerts. to go to top dump sharon now posted by michael freund, june 30, 2004. this is an article of mine from the jerusalem post about recent
palestinian rocket attacks into israel and the need to hold ariel
sharon accountable for his failure to stem palestinian terror.
it's entitled "eliminate the menance" and is archived at
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/satellite?pagename=jpost/jparticle/
showfull&cid=1088486384069&p=1006953079865 this past monday yet another jewish family was destroyed, joining
the dreaded list of those who have fallen victim to our enemy's thirst
for blood and our leadership's indifference. mordechai yosefov, 49, and three-year-old, afik zahavi, were killed
outside a kindergarten when palestinian terrorists in gaza launched
kassam rockets into the southern israeli city of sderot. zahavi's mother, miriam, was seriously injured in the attack, and
is struggling to recover in a local hospital. she and her husband made aliya from the former soviet union,
undoubtedly seeking a better life, one free of anti-semitism and full
of opportunity. in an instant that dream was shattered. instead of watching her beloved child participate in his end-of-the
year celebration, miriam saw what no parent should ever have to see:
her young son die before her eyes. and little afik's classmates, who heard the rocket's explosion
outside their school, are now confronting issues no four- or five-year
old should ever have to tackle, such as why someone they have never
met would possibly want to do them harm. the state has dispatched specially trained psychologists to tend to
the children, and i don't envy their task. try explaining to a group
of 20 kindergarten children how and why such a thing could happen. but those kids, like the rest of us, deserve an answer, and it is
time we stopped pretending that we don't know what it is. afik and yosefov and the more than 1,000 other innocent israelis
who have been killed in terror attacks in the past four years, all
died because palestinians bent on our destruction have tossed aside
diplomacy, preferring to use violence as the means of achieving their
goals. we must never, ever forget that this conflict was imposed upon us
against our will, and that israel did everything it possibly could to
bring about a peaceful resolution of the middle east dispute. but
there is another reason why so many jewish men, women and children
have been ruthlessly slaughtered, and why the killing has not come to
an end. that answer has a name, and it is ariel sharon. for all his talk and bluster about fighting terror, the fact is
that sharon failed to take a strategic decision to eliminate the
menace of palestinian terror once and for all, essentially subjecting
the israeli populace to a protracted, and needless war of attrition. monday's attack was hardly the first time palestinian terrorists
have fired rockets at israeli communities. indeed, over 4,160 missiles
and mortar shells have been launched by palestinians against jews in
gush katif in the 45 months since the violence began in september
2000. that averages out to the palestinians firing three rockets per
day, every day, for a three-and-a-half year period against gaza's
jews. that palestinian terrorists can still carry out such assaults, in
broad daylight no less, demonstrates the extent to which sharon's
tactics and strategy have proven to be a clear and unequivocal
failure. for, rather than reasserting complete military control over the
territories, dismantling the palestinian authority and uprooting the
terrorist infrastructure, sharon has chosen to project weakness,
signaling his intention to withdraw, as though hiding from the problem
will somehow make it go away. in so doing, sharon has abdicated his primary responsibility as
prime minister, which is to protect and defend the safety and
well-being of israel and its citizens. simply put, by failing to crush the terror, sharon has allowed it to fester. and by choosing to reward it with withdrawal, he is seemingly encouraging the terrorists to intensify their attacks. in recent years sharon had ample opportunity, and justification, for reversing the disaster brought on by the oslo accords. he could easily have made a convincing case to the public about the need to retain judea, samaria and gaza, and to stand firm in the local manifestation of the global war on terror. sure, there would have been protests, and even outrage, but had sharon deployed the idf to wage a long-term and relentless battle against terror, had he quelled the rocket attacks and suicide bombings with an unyielding counter-terror campaign, he could at least have claimed that he had done all in his power to protect jewish life and limb from those who seek to destroy it. instead, guided by complacency and shortsightedness, sharon has brought israel to a new low. three years after he assumed power, even jewish children attending kindergarten can no longer feel safe. for that alone sharon should be toppled, using all the legal and democratic tools at our disposal. his disastrous handling of israel's security cannot, and should not, be forgotten. now, more than ever, ariel sharon has got to go. the writer served as deputy director of communications and policy
planning under former prime minister binyamin netanyahu. to go to top the crouching lion posted by isralert, june 29, 2004. this article was written by yanki tauber, and appeared today at
http://chabad.org/article.asp?aid=143835 for more torah study and inspiring articles, please visit:
http://www.chabad.org/magazine he crouches and lies like a lion, like a lioness; who will dare rouse
him? (from balaam's blessings, numbers 24:9) it's always nice to receive a compliment from a friend or a loved
one. but praise that we truly savor is praise that comes from an
adversary. when a rival at work, a business competitor or an outright
enemy says something like, "i must say, you guys have something
there!" -- that's the kind of vindication we relish most of all. little wonder, then, that we jews have such a warm place in our
heart reserved for balaam's blessings. as the torah tells it (in
numbers 22-24), the prophet and sorcerer balaam, an archenemy of the
people of israel, was summoned by king balak of moab (an even bigger
enemy) to curse the israelites. but when balaam opened his mouth to
curse, blessings came out instead. he tried three times, each time
with the same result. and then he finished off with a prophecy
describing the triumph of israel in the "end of days." and what beautiful blessings they are! the verses uttered by balaam
are amongst the most delicious poetry in the bible. balaam's blessings
include the mah tovu ("how goodly are your tents o jacob, your
dwellings, o israel...") -- a verse we love so much that, three
hundred sixty-five days a year we start our morning prayers with it.
they include the most explicit reference in the chumash (the five
books of moses) to moshiach, the jewish leader who will bring about
the full and ultimate redemption. and they include the verse we cited
at the beginning of this article ("he crouches and lies like a lion,
like a lioness; who will dare rouse him?") which, as the lubavitcher
rebbe explains, is a most powerful and meaningful description of the
jewish people in the state of galut -- a state in which we've found
ourselves for much of our history. * * * * every once in a while an item makes an appearance in the
newspapers. the details differ somewhat (a tiger raised in a brooklyn
apartment, a trained circus lion "losing it" in the ring), but the
basic story is the same: a large cat, of the sort that rightly belongs
in the savannah or the steppes, raised and supposedly "trained" as a
pet or performer, "suddenly" sheds its domesticated persona
and...well, you don't want to be in its way when that happens. interestingly, the talmud (the repository of torah law compiled
1500 years ago) and the shulchan aruch (the "code of jewish law" put
to writing about 1000 years after that) includes a law that all
would-be lion "trainers" should take to heart: according to torah law,
there's no such thing as a "domesticated" lion. other animals can be
"owned", and be legally classified as such. so if your ox or goat goes
berserk and inflicts damage, there are numerous stipulations as to
when, and to what extent, you are liable, reflecting the extent to
which you are expected to anticipate your animal's behavior under the
given circumstances. no such qualifiers have any legal standing in the
case of a wild cat. a lion remains, by nature, a free creature, and
never accepts the yoke of ownership or "domestication" -- no matter
how many years these states have been imposed upon it. this, says the rebbe, is the deeper significance of balaam's
metaphor of the crouching lion applied to the people of israel. for
much of our history we have been in a state of galut -- exiled from
our homeland, enslaved by other nations, subjected to alien cultures,
"trained" to perform in accordance with the dictates of what "the
world" expects and desires from us. at times, the subjugation may seem
quite real, at least to the cursory perception of the circus audience.
but it is never real. the lion may crouch or lie in seeming docility,
but it has not been conquered. it remains free. if it is docile, it is
docile by choice, not by nature. it remains free, and is never more
than an instant removed from the seemingly "sudden" assertion of its
innate freedom. in the words of rabbi sholom dovber of lubavitch (words quoted by
his son, rabbi yosef yitzchak, as the latter stood on the platform of
the leningrad train station on a summer day in 1927, moments before
boarding the train that would take him into the exile decreed upon him
by the communist rulers of the land for his work to preserve and
strengthen jewish faith): "we did not depart from the land of israel of our own free will, nor
will we return to there by virtue of our own capabilities. g-d, our
father and king, has sent us into exile, and it is he who will redeem
us and gather in the dispersed of israel from the four corners of the
earth, and cause us to be led back firmly and proudly by moshiach, our
righteous redeemer -- may this occur speedily, in our times. "this, however, all the nations of the world must know: only our
bodies were sent into exile and subjugated to alien rule; our souls,
however, were not given over into captivity and foreign rule. we must
therefore proclaim openly and before all, that any matter affecting
the jewish religion, torah, and its mitzvot and customs is not subject
to the coercion of others. no one can impose his belief upon us, nor
coerce us to conduct ourselves contrary to our beliefs..." isralert, a jewish advocacy network, is hosted by harv weiner. to
subscribe to isralert, send an email to isralert@aol.com to go to top let israel do iran posted by irwin n. graulich, june 29, 2004. george bush can do the world a big favor. let israel do iran! or should ariel sharon simply wait for disaster, culminating in
beautiful obituaries at the un and sanctions placed on the tehran
regime? the supreme leader of iran, ayatollah ali khameni has officially
declared war on israel through his use of serious verbal threats and
direct funding for the hezbollah/hamas terrorist organizations. the reticence of democracies to declare preemptive wars unless they have
been seriously attacked, plays well into the hands of al qaeda
operatives and the saddams of the world (no linkage). waiting for a
september 11th style event to occur, or a nation like kuwait to be raped
and pillaged, is a mistake of immense proportions. unfortunately, it was an american president who was instrumental in
resisting military action, thereby cultivating this terrorist monster.
jimmy carter, peanut farmer extraordinaire and most likely the worst
president in american history, allowed iran to fall into evil hands
after the american embassy takeover and kidnappings of 1979. thus
president carter became the greatest contributor to 9/11 sans osama bin
laden. after amputating the first leg of the "axis of evil" in iraq (the baathe
party), gangrene has spread throughout the second leg, conveniently
located right next door. with almost 150,000 troops ready, willing and
able to "operate," the scalpel should be passed to israel, whose
particular specialty has been excising military enemy cancers in the
region. the secret to the enduring palestinian situation is that they are not a
state, and thus cannot be dealt with in the appropriate, harsh manner.
once they become a duly recognized member of the un, they would
certainly go the way of egypt, syria and jordan on the battlefield,
should the situation warrant it. arafat understood this quite well,
which is the primary reason he rejected barak's offer outright. the messy aftermath in iraq will not follow an israeli victory over
iran. the iranian populace has a particular warmth for western
democracy. in addition, the 1967 and 1973 wars clearly showed that
humiliation by a tiny jewish state is a vital part of a true victory.
otherwise, abu ghraib-type propaganda will be used to cloud the
situation. the iranian army can easily defeat eight british soldiers with pistols
in a small boat that veers off course. what a great islamic triumph,
capturing non combative soldiers, blindfolding them and creating a false
international incident for arab/muslim media consumption. let's see what
those tough iranians do when jews show up with f-16's. iran is a terrorist organization with a flag and an example of virtually
everything that could possibly be wrong with a government--totalitarian,
autocratic, religious, fundamentalist and a tyranny over its populace.
why would a religious leadership express such hatred for israel and
america, while announcing that they would "happily be willing to
exchange the nuclear deaths of 100 million muslims for the 5 million
jews in israel?" under the koran, once a place has instituted muslim sovereignty, which
the jewish state had experienced for a brief time in history, it can
never lose muslim sovereignty. muslim hatred is based solely upon the
reality of strong and successful christians/jews, a fact of life which
disturbs and humiliates islam. allah cannot possibly permit the infidels
to succeed over religious muslims. iranian fundamentalists have severe
jew and christian hang-ups, which reinforce the idea that american and
israeli power somehow invalidates islam. the rhetoric of a "nuclear free middle east" simply means a middle east
free of israel. the recent diatribes by iranian foreign minister kamal
kharrazi about israel's nuclear weapons are living proof that his
country clearly understands that one wrong step against israel and
tehran could glow in the dark for many years to come. today, the battle for western civilization is largely being fought in
the middle east. the world is divided into three groups. those who would
like israel destroyed. those who support nations (directly or
indirectly), that want israel destroyed. and the united states of
america. prime minister sharon must announce immediately that israel "does not
need a permission slip from anyone...except the united states." israel's
previous victories coupled with the american experience in afghanistan
and iraq are part of a developing new strategy. if all these valuable
lessons are employed militarily, change throughout the middle east is
imminent. the only serious problem remaining will be, "what the heck to do with
europe and scandinavia?" irwin n. graulich is a motivational speaker on morality,
ethics, religion and politics. he is also president and ceo of a marketing, branding and communications company in new york city. he can
be reached at irwin.graulich@verizon.net to go to top militant islam posted by bruce tuchman, june 29, 2004. this was sent me by a friend who lives in florida. this past friday evening phyllis and i attended services at temple
bethel in palm beach. we went there specifically to listen to a lecture
by dr. khaleel mohammed. dr. mohammed is a professor of islamic studies
at the university of san diego. he received his ph.d. at the university
of riyadh in saudi arabia and is an imam schooled in the wahabi-sunni
tradition of islam. the title of the lecture was "can militant islam
coexist with the state of israel?" what we heard was blood chilling,
but not at all surprising. his opening statement was, "the people of the united states worry about
osama. he is nothing but a tiny offshoot of the problem. the main
problem is (and i quote) "every single mosque in the usa espouses from
the pulpit that every single jew (not just israel) in the world must be
annihilated. no! ifs ands or buts!! and these mosques don't even consider
themselves militant. trading land for peace. a big joke! the koran states (as he quoted) that
any treaty between a muslim and a non-muslim nation is not binding and
is meant to be broken once the muslim nation becomes stronger than the
non-muslim nation with whom the treaty was made. so all the treaties
with israel to be made in the future will eventually (and must) be
broken once the muslim nation feels it is strong enough. it took 200
years for the crusaders to be vanquished and driven from the holy land.
israel is a mere 50 years old. islam has patience. dr. m. has received
numerous death threats and is constantly booed and driven off the pulpit
in the many mosques that he lectures in because he espouses peaceful
co-existence with israel. the frightening aspect of this is that there a huge 5th column right
here in the usa bruce tuchman is with the new york coalition against terrorism
(http://www.nycat.org/). to subscribe, send an email to
nycat@nycat.org to go to top un's nuclear chief: israel should disarm, iran 'not a concern' posted by lewis lipkin, june 29, 2004. this is a news item from today's arutz-7 (http://www.israelnn.com). the head of the united nations nuclear watchdog agency, mohamed el
baradei has suggested that israel get rid of its nuclear weapons. at
the same time, el baradei insists that iran's documented pursuit of
nuclear capabilities are "not a concern." el baradei, who is scheduled to visit israel next month, told reporters that israel should take steps to disarm in order to reduce frustration in the region about "what is seen to be a widespread imbalance". "we need... to rid the middle east of all weapons of mass
destruction," el baradei told reuters. "israel agrees with that, but
they say it has to be... after peace agreements. my proposal is that
maybe we need to start to have a parallel dialogue on security at the
same time when we're working on the peace process." el baradei said that he would like to see israel, along with other middle east countries, open up their nuclear facilities to inspections by the un's international atomic energy agency. in a speech today (tuesday), the same el baradei who called for a
"nuclear-free middle-east" took a different tone - this time dealing
with iran's nuclear program. el baradei told reporters that he was
unconcerned by russia's construction of a nuclear reactor in iran,
brushing aside us allegations that the facility could be used to
develop nuclear weapons. america, which says iran is part of an "axis of evil" seeking
nuclear weapons to terrorize the free world, has strongly criticized
russia for pushing ahead with construction of the $800 million reactor
near the iranian port of bushehr. the american government has said
that iran could use moscow's atomic know-how to develop nuclear
weapons. el-baradei has adopted the iranian claim, announcing today
that, "bushehr is a project to produce nuclear energy," and should not
be the "center of international concern." recent satellite photos have led many to claim iran is attempting
to mislead the un agency, hiding the fact that it has been trying to
develop weapons of mass destruction. according to a report in the new
yorker magazine about the nuclear weapons black market, the idf's
elite intelligence unit known as unit 8200 broke a "sophisticated
iranian code" a number of years ago permitting the monitoring of
communications between iran and pakistan regarding iran's nuclear
program. to go to top a human chain from jerusalem to gush katif posted by dror vanunu, june 29, 2004. the hof aza regional council, along with the settlers committee headquarters decided to commence the second stage of the struggle for gush katif. according to this plan we intend to strengthen and broaden the campaign that was so successful during the earlier stage during which residents went from house to house, city by city and explained the historical, biblical, economic, agricultural, security and political importance of the katif region. the central goal is to advance public relations of the region and to bring about popular support. in addition to giving attention to each and every israeli city and town, and having events in support of gush katif, we are planning a number of big projects. a human chain from jerusalem to gush katif: on sunday, the seventh of av, july 25th, 2004 at five in the afternoon, on the eve of tisha b'av, the anniversary of the day when the first and the second temples were destroyed and on which, during the ages many terrible tragedies befell the jewish people, we are planning a human chain which is to stretch from the western wall to gush katif. at one end shall be shmuel cahane, who founded kfar darom in 1946 as one of the eleven negev settlements and at the other end will be a girl from gush katif who will insert a note into the wall. this chain is an unambiguous statement that we are not prepared to bring about an additional destruction and the expulsion of jews from their land. gush katif is the gate and the defensive wall of jerusalem and as such no government in israel has the right to uproot it. in order to bring about this human continuum, we need 150,000 people. you can be a part of this chain. individuals and groups interested in participating are invited to contact me. an additional expression of the prime minister's complete disconnection from our values and our roots is the decision (if his disengagement plan is passed) to complete the withdrawal by the 14th of august 2005. the prime minister and his cronies apparently did not take the trouble to peruse the hebrew calendar, which would have revealed the fact that this date is tisha b'av 5764. will sharon join the "honor roll" of those who bring about destruction on the ninth of av? the gush katif music festival: on the 15th of av (august 2nd and 3rd, 2004) we are planning a big song festival for the eighteenth year running, with the participation of the best performers of hebrew and hassidic music. this year, more than ever, we will turn this event into a massive display of support for gush katif with tens of thousands of participants. additional details will follow. signature of the majority: we plan to gather the signatures of around two million people demanding that the government of israel completely abandon the program to expel the settlements of the katif region. this project is supposed to be completed by the beginning of the winter session of the k'nesset. for the purpose of this operation, we have acquired dozens of signing booths to be set up all over israel. we are beginning this campaign without resources as these were all
invested in the earlier campaign. today, more than ever, we understand
that we do not have the right not to act with the greatest strength of
purpose in the fight for the whole of the land of israel. we shall be
the first to jump in, as was the biblical nachshon and, g-d willing,
we believe that many will help and join in with us. dror vanunu is spokeman for the gush katif community in gaza.
he can be reached at gkatif@netvision.net.il to contribute to the campaign to save the gush katif community from
expulsion from their homes, you can send donations to americans for a
safe israel/afsi; 1623 third ave., suite 205, new york, n.y. 10128;
tel: 212-828-2424; fax: 212-828-1717; afsi@rcn.com; www.afsi.org. to go to top urgent action alert for the residents of gaza, judea and samaria posted by unity coalition for israel, june 29, 2004. click here to send the following message of encouragement and
support to the residents in the communities of gaza, judea and
samaria. your message will automatically go to the mayors of twenty
communities, to president bush, prime minister sharon, their cabinet
members, and leaders of our congress and the knesset. as we celebrate independence day, july 4, 2004, we are mindful that we are privileged to live in our judeo-christian society, with our many guaranteed rights and privileges. we live under our constitution within a governmental system that
must be responsive to our wishes. among our rights of "life, liberty
and the pursuit of happiness" is our ability to speak our own minds
without fear. today, we are exercising our freedom of speech by
sending our encouragement and support to the residents in the
communities of gaza, judea and samaria. we are perplexed at prime minister sharon as he ignores the will of
his party who voted against the disengagement plan in the recent likud
referendum. we also question the political influence and pressure
brought to bear on the cabinet members (two of whom were dismissed to
change the vote), the knesset and president bush. in addition to these
acts intended to circumvent the will of his party, we question the
wisdom of the jewish agency in agreeing to spend charitable monies to
transfer jews from their homes. we respectfully submit these concerns to the officials of the israeli government and our own government and speak for fellow zionists around the world, both christian and jewish. all of us have a tremendous stake in the future of israel. we salute the 8,000 residents, modern day pioneers of the land of israel, who risk their lives on a daily basis against the terrorist onslaught of the jihadists. their unwavering commitment to israel assures that israel will remain the one foothold of democracy within the volatile middle east. as we celebrate our many blessing on this independence day, we express our appreciation and concern for the safety of the communities in gaza, judea and samaria and over our cherished holy sites. our hearts and prayers are with them and all of israel. the national unity coalition is "the largest worldwide
coalition of jewish and christian organizations, with more than 200
groups representing millions of people dedicated to israel. though we
have many different backgrounds, we have one common goal: a safe and
secure israel." "israel is not just a jewish issue. millions of christians
resolutely endorse the principle of peace with security for the state
of israel. because we work closely together and speak with a united
voice, our message is being heard!" to go to top 'i love you, my dear boy. i will see you everywhere' posted by jerusalem newswire editorial service, june 29, 2004. these are two stories about the death of a young child murdered by
terrorists in s'derot. the first was published yesterday on our website: http://www.jnewswire.com. the second was published today by the international christian embassy jerusalem (icej).
the first is archived at
http://www.jnewswire.com/library/article.php?articleid=260; the second
is archived at
http://www.icej.org/cgi-local/view.cgi?type=
headline&artid=2004/06/29/569038634 june 28, 2004 jerusalem - an angered and distraught father monday lamented the
senseless death of his child as a result of the lack of security
provided for israel's jews by the government of prime minister ariel
sharon. standing by the grave of his murdered four-year-old son monday
evening, yitzhak ohayon whispered through his tears, "i love you, my
dear boy. i will see you everywhere." afik zahavi's young life was mercilessly cut short earlier in the
day when a kassam rocket fired by "palestinian" terrorists slammed
into the sidewalk outside his kindergarten in the negev town of
sderot. a 49-year-old grandfather was also killed. zahavi's mother was unable to attend the funeral as she fought for her own life at beersheva's soroka medical center. distraught father just hours after his son's murder at the hands of palestinian arab rocket crews monday, ohayon spoke to reporters about the death of his beloved child. "we were supposed to go to his end-of-year party in kindergarten
tomorrow... and now instead we'll be going to his funeral," he said. "i waited 15 years for this child... i cannot grasp this disaster,"
ma'ariv quoted him as saying. angered by the lack of security for israel's jews, ohayon laid the
blame for his son's untimely demise at the doorstep of the sharon
government. "the prime minister has a bodyguard. the president has a bodyguard.
but who guards our children? they are our future, but who's watching
over them? no one. that's my message to the prime minister," cried the
distraught father. ohayon said he didn't want to go into the whole issue of sharon's
gaza retreat plan, "but i just want to tell our government to take
action." emotional graveside standing over his child's fresh grave monday evening, an
overwhelmed ohayon whispered through his tears, "i love you, my dear
boy. i will see you everywhere." though the funeral had ended, ohayon refused to leave afik's graveside. the child's mother was unable to attend the funeral as she battled
for her own life at beersheva's soroka medical center. muslim barbarism taking credit for the murder, the islamic hamas terrorist
organization issued a statement monday saying that "with the help of
allah, two zionists were killed and a number of zionist settlers were
injured." june 29, 2004 "a father's farewell: sderot buries its victims from kassam barrage" filled with angst and confusion, yitzhak ohayon embraced the
lifeless body of his three-year old "miracle child," afik zahavi, at
his funeral in sderot monday afternoon, just hours after a palestinian
rocket killed the son he had waited so long to have. yitzhak and his wife, ruth zahavi, were a middle-aged israeli
couple that had tried for 15 years to have a child. they finally opted
for in-vitro fertilization and young afik was their "miracle". afik was walking with his mother, ruth zahavi, to nursery school
yesterday morning when hamas terrorists in northeast gaza launched a
barrage of advanced kassam rockets at sderot. both were severely
injured when one of the missiles landed just outside the kindergarten. within moments, neighbors rushed to the scene to aid the wounded
and found the mother and child lying next to each other, life draining
from their bodies. afiki's backpack, along with candies he was
bringing to his final day of nursery school, were scattered about
drenched in blood. after providing the name of her child to a
neighbor, the mother passed out. afik also lost consciousness before
paramedics arrived. both were rushed to hospital in be'er sheva, where the boy was
pronounced dead and his mother endured over ten hours of surgery and
remains in critical condition. days earlier, yitzhak had beamed as only a father can when his boy
handed him an invite to the end-of-the-year party at the kindergarten,
planned for 11:00 am yesterday morning. but instead of heading to the
school, yitzhak was now speeding to the hospital, tense from sketchy
reports of a rocket strike near his son's nursery. "i waited 15 years for this child," he told waiting media after
learning of his son's death. "i cannot grasp this disaster." hours later, yitzhak leaned over his son's body and said a painful
farewell. "just tell me good night," he pleaded. as friends and
relatives led the father away sobbing, he said, "i just wanted him to
tell me "good night, daddy?" the mother, her critical condition somewhat stabilized today, has
still not been told of her son's funeral. in her absence stood
hundreds of family members and friends who came to mourn the death of
innocence. standing over the child wrapped in burial shrouds, mayor eli moyal
expressed grief and anger. "what can i tell you, little boy?" he said.
"you didn't know anything about war or peace. you were pure, but we
have neighbors, little boy, who are animals, murderers that kill
little children. we will not forget, we will not forgive." sderot has endured over 70 kassam rocket attacks in the past three
years, but until monday no one had died. one rabbi speaking at the funeral of the other victim of monday's
attack, 49-year-old russian immigrant yosefov ohayon, lamented, "each
time a home was hit and not a person, we said, 'it's a miracle; god is
watching over us.' but today, what can we say? we are praying that you
continue to work miracles and to bring us peace." on tuesday, sderot was struck by six more kassam rockets, now being
built with a longer range and more lethal payload than in the past.
one israeli man was moderately wounded in today's strikes. several
landed during a visit by israeli prime minister ariel sharon, who owns
the sycamore ranch just outside the town. "jerusalem newswire is a gentile-run newsgathering and dissemination
service based out of jerusalem, israel, that exists to provide users
with the top daily news stories culled from a wide variety of internet
sources." their website address is http://www.jnewswire.com. "in 1980, christian supporters of israel established the international
christian embassy jerusalem as a practical expression of the desire of
believers throughout the world to bless and comfort zion."
their email address is icej@icej.org to go to
top hezbollah profiting from african diamonds posted by eliezar edwards, june 29, 2004. this was written by edward harris, associated press writer and
appeared today in the washington times (www.washingtontimes.com). koidu, sierra leone (ap) -- lebanon's hezbollah guerrilla movement is siphoning profits from west africa's diamond trade, in part by threatening lebanese diamond merchants, u.s. diplomats charge. the allegations, supported by independent analysts, describe more pervasive, organized and coercive hezbollah profiteering from west africa's diamond trade than most u.s. officials have previously acknowledged. "one thing that's incontrovertible is the financing of hezbollah. it's not even an open secret; there is no secret," said larry andre, deputy chief of mission for the u.s. embassy in diamond-rich sierra leone. "there's a lot of social pressure and extortionate pressure brought to bear: 'you had better support our cause, or we'll visit your people back home,"' andre told the associated press, citing interviews by embassy staff with lebanese merchants. more than 100,000 lebanese live in west africa, where they have made up the core of the merchant class for over a century and have long handled much of the diamond business. many lebanese retain strong business, cultural and family ties to their homeland. lebanon-based hezbollah fought a guerrilla war against israeli troops in south lebanon over almost two decades, until the israelis pulled out in 2000. today the border is tense but mostly quiet; hezbollah remains armed and hostile to israel. the movement is also known for the bombings of the u.s. marine barracks in beirut in 1983 and of the u.s. embassy annex in beirut in 1984 - earning it a slot on the u.s. state department's list of terror groups. until the sept. 11 attacks, hezbollah was estimated to have killed more americans than any other terror group. in recent years, hezbollah is alleged to have funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars to the palestinians' al aqsa martyrs brigades, funding attacks that have killed civilians in israel. hezbollah also has political and charity wings and funds the building of schools, clinics and mosques. its social programs help win the group support among lebanese at home and abroad, as does its reputation among many lebanese as a defender of arabs against israel. most lebanese do not believe hezbollah is dangerous. only 6,000 lebanese are thought to remain in sierra leone after this country's 1991-2002 war for control of the eastern diamond fields surrounding koidu, west africa's richest-known deposits. west africa's so-called blood diamonds helped buy arms and fighters in insurgencies that roiled the region in the 1990s. with the end of fighting and the advent of an industry-backed certificate of origin program, sierra leone estimates its legal exports of diamonds have soared from $1.4 million in 1999 to $76 million last year. the u.s. embassy in sierra leone says between $70 million to $100 million worth of rough gems still are smuggled out of the country each year. it's due largely to the illegal trade that hezbollah can extract cash by threats, beatings and destruction of property, analysts say. victims, many of whom may have business dealings they do not want exposed, have little legal recourse. "they're (hezbollah) asking for contributions and they're going to
use the culture card and the nationality card," says joseph melrose,
former u.s. ambassador to sierra leone. "will they use threats? sure." the amount of money is huge: in december 2003, an airliner that crashed off benin had a courier on board carrying $2 million in hezbollah-bound funds, diplomats and news reports said. in lebanon, a hezbollah official refused any comment when contacted by the associated press. one of sierra leone's top diamond exporters denied any ties to hezbollah. "this is a lie. there's never been any connection between these
people and hezbollah," said kassim basma, who was born in sierra leone
to a lebanese family. "for me, i couldn't support them. for what? to
cause myself problems?" matthew levitt of the washington institute for near east policy says stepped up enforcement in south america drove some hezbollah activists to west africa. as a result, the group's illegal fund-raising efforts in the region - including protection rackets and threats - may be on the rise, said levitt, a former fbi agent. "as we crack down on one part of the world, things will crop up elsewhere," he said. in koidu, indigenous sierra leoneans make up only about 35 of the roughly 200 legal diamond buyers, said prince saquee, chairman of the diamond dealers association. most of the rest are lebanese, he said. among koidu's burned-out, bullet-pocked buildings, hundreds of diamond buyers run heavily guarded storefronts with signs emblazoned with enormous, glittering cut diamonds. many in the state department and officials at u.s. embassies in west africa have long played down any west africa conduits to hezbollah, saying any contributions to hezbollah appeared to be voluntary donations by individuals. alex yearsley, of london-based global witness, alleges that the cia and fbi long had tried to publicly minimize links between conflict diamonds and islamic militant groups, including al-qaida. the u.s. security agents feared exposure of their own longtime links with charles taylor, the ousted liberian leader who played a main role in west africa's insurgencies and blood diamond trade, yearsley said. taylor received cia payments until january 2001, yearsley claimed in a telephone interview. diplomats and some independent experts have questioned some of global witness's allegations about links between west africa diamonds, al-qaida and hezbollah, saying they are short on proof. the fate of west africa's diamonds ultimately bridges faiths and rivalries: sold by the lebanese merchants, many of the gems are brokered via jewish or israeli traders in antwerp, belgium, and tel aviv, ending up in the united states. "to us, we don't see christian or muslim or jew," said basma. "we're businessmen." to go to top israel's wayward prime ministers posted by lori lowenthal marcus, june 29, 2004. this article was written by
daniel pipes (www.danielpipes.org), director of the middle east
forum and author of "miniatures" (transaction publishers).
it appeared today in front page magazine (http://frontpagemag.com/articles/readarticle.asp?id=14004). one point: pipes suggest israel will continue to be plagued by
prime ministerial spinelessness "until israelis elect a modest prime
minister." forget about modesty, i hope israel will elect a pm who
will maintain his/her spine and do what needs to be done. we all know
what that is, as does pipes. forget about mentioning it. just do it. two patterns have shaped israel's history since 1992 and go far to
explain israel's predicament today. first, every elected prime
minister has broken his word on how he would deal with the arabs.
second, each one of them has adopted an unexpectedly concessionary
approach. here is one example of deception from each of the four prime ministers: * yitzhak rabin promised the israeli public
immediately after winning office in june 1992 that "with the plo as an
organization, i will not negotiate." a year later, however, he did
precisely that. rabin defended dealing with yasir arafat by saying he
had found no other palestinians to do business with, so to "advance
peace and find a solution," he had to turn to the plo. * binyamin netanyahu promised before his election in
1996 that under his leadership, israel "will never descend from the
golan." in 1998, however, as i established in the new republic and
bill clinton just confirmed in his memoirs, netanyahu changed his mind
and planned to offer damascus the entire golan in return for a peace
treaty. * ehud barak flat-out promised during his may
1999 campaign a "jerusalem, united and under our rule forever,
period." in july 2000, however, at the camp david ii summit, he
offered much of eastern jerusalem to the palestinian authority. * ariel sharon won a landslide victory in january
2003 over his labor opponent, amram mitzna, who called for "evacuating
the settlements from gaza." sharon ridiculed this approach, saying
that it "would bring the terrorism centers closer to [israel's]
population centers." in december 2003, however, sharon adopted
mitzna's unilateral withdrawal idea. prime ministers sometimes complain about other ones breaking their
word. netanyahu, for example, pointed out in august 1995 that rabin
had "promised in his election campaign not to talk with the plo, not
to give up territory during this term of office, and not to establish
a palestinian state. he is breaking all these promises one by one." of
course, when he got to office, netanyahu also broke his promises "one
by one." what prompts each of israel's recent prime ministers to renege on his
resolute intentions and instead adopt a policy of unilateral
concessions? in some cases, it is a matter of expediency, notably for netanyahu,
who believed his reelection chances improved via a deal with the
syrian government. in other cases, there are elements of duplicity -
specifically, hiding planned concessions knowing their unpopularity
with the voters. yossi beilin, one of barak's ministers, admitted
during the camp david ii summit that he and others in the government
had earlier concealed their willingness to divide jerusalem. "we
didn't speak about this in the election campaign, because we knew that
the public would not like it." but expediency and duplicity are just part of the story. in addition,
sincere aspirations inspire israeli prime ministers to abandon strong
policies for weak ones. here we leave the political domain and enter
the psychological one. being prime minister of israel, a country
surrounded by enemies, is a weighty one. it is only too easy for the
officeholder, having been elected leader of his people, immodestly to
believe that he has a special talent to resolve his country's great,
abiding, and potentially fatal problem, that of arab hostility. not for this great man is it enough to plug away at the dull, slow,
expensive, and passive policy of deterrence, hoping some distant day
to win arab acceptance. his impatience invariably leads in the same
direction - to move things faster, to develop solutions, and to "take
chances for peace." if the prime minister's initiative succeeds, he wins international
acclaim and enters the jewish history books. if it fails - well, it
was worth the try and his successors can clean up the mess. grandiosity and egoism, ultimately, explain the prime ministerial
pattern of going soft. this brings to mind how, for centuries, french
kings and presidents have bequeathed grand construction projects in
paris as their personal mark on history. in like spirit, israeli prime
ministers have since 1992 dreamed of bequeathing a grand diplomatic
project. the problem is, these are undemocratic impulses that betray the
electorate, undermine faith in government, and erode israel's
position. these negative trends will continue until israelis elect a
modest prime minister. lori lowenthal marcus is president, zionist organization of america
greater philadelphia district (eastern pa, southern nj, del.). contact
her at http://www.zoaphilly.org. to go to top secretary-general's easy way out posted by richard h. shulman, june 29, 2004. secretary-general annan does the easy part well. with elie wiesel
at his side, he preaches against antisemitism in new york. "it is
harder to send an arabic-speaking special advisor to express such
sentiments to a meeting of, say, the organization of islamic states." "as it happens, mr. annan did send mr. brahimi last week to the oic
meeting in istanbul, where he carried a speech that stressed that
israel should 'refrain from further violations of international law'
and end its 'use of violence'" against arabs." "over the past several
decades, the un has fashioned itself into perhaps the foremost global
platform for antisemitism," said columbia u. law professor anne
bayefsky." (benny avni, ny sun, 6/21, p.7.) the arabs initiate the
violence. annan was asked whether the arab campaign to kill off and drive the
blacks out of the darfur region of sudan and let them starve to death
is genocide or ethnic cleansing. he replied, "there are massive
violations of international humanitarian law, but i am not ready to
describe it as genocide or ethnic cleansing yet." the us estimates
that 300,000 more of those people will die soon unless emergency
relief is sped to them. the attacks are so massive and coordinated as to be nothing else!
so reports not only human rights watch but un experts about a "reign
of terror." "for a un that couldn't describe saddam hussein as the
mass-murderer he was, for a un that took no action to stop last
decade's rwanda genocide and bosnia ethnic cleansing, perhaps mr.
annan's moral relativism should not be surprising." (ny sun, 6/21,
ed..) in condoning islamic terrorism in sudan and in israel, the un
violates international law. murdering their countrymen to make a point while americans and iraqis struggle to restore electricity, other
iraqis struggle to wreck it and them. this unpatriotic reaction by
fanatics shows the futility of attempting to win them over by
appeasement. there is some question whether the non-fanatics can be
won over. in a last attempt at appeasement and pretense at a political
success in foreign policy, pres. bush is sacrificing israel to the
anti-zionist state dept. and s. arabia, in behalf of arafat's arabs.
the resulting "agreement" for israeli surrender of yesha is presented
as a step towards peace. actually, advancing that key phase of plo
jihad, and depriving israel of secure borders, is a step towards
widening the war. pres. bush should be working to bolster israel, the only advanced
and pro-western country in the mid-east (winston mid east analysis,
6/14, e-mail). instead he is bolstering jihad, which also is being
waged against the us. now isn't that short-sighted! some foreign
policy success! spying on settlements british and egyptian (and soviet) intelligence built arafat up in
the first place. britain shaped p.a. diplomacy and public relations.
british military intelligence helped provoke the 1987 intifada (and
the 1920 pogrom). now it conducts surveillance of israeli settlements.
allied to british military intelligence are the p.a. troops' egyptian
trainers, also intelligence experts. arafat and king abdullah resent egyptian influence. to help counter
it, jordan's king is offering high p.a. officials free mortgages to
buy villas in amman. (the arabs of western palestine are being
jockeyed over by other arabs, as they were in 1947.) when israel radio reported that british intelligence officials in
jenin were monitoring jewish settlements, it did not discuss whether
this was clandestine or was authorized and by whom. britain's prime
minister gave pres. bush and other diplomats a secret intelligence
report (winston mid east analysis, 6/14, e-mail). paid by finland, peace now spied on yesha jewry, advised the p.a.,
and terrorists utilized that intelligence to kill jews. us diplomats
spy on yesha jewry, too. if israel were self-respecting, it would
expel or jail the spies. richard shulman is a veteran defender of israel on several web-based
forums. he provides cool information and right-on-target overviews. he
distributes his essays by email. to subscribe, write him at
ricshulman@aol.com. to go to top they are only following orders; taking orders from arafat posted by steven plaut, june 29, 2004. "taking orders from arafat" appeared today on front page magazine (http://frontpagemag.com/articles/readarticle.asp?id=14006). 1. "they are only following orders" if there were any longer any doubt as to the inability of the "security wall" to protect israeli children from palestinian terror and fascism, yesterday removed it. after some 300 attacks on israel by the plo using kassam rockets, none of which previously killed anyone, yesterday's attack murdered a four year old toddler in the negev town of sderot and the child's grandfather. such is the reward for israel having exercised "restraint" and
turning the other cheek after each of the previous 300 rocket attacks.
thus goeth the ridiculous leftist canon holding that the plo will
reach some sort of emotional catharsis by firing rockets at israel for
a while and then cooling down to make peace. so much for the view that
israel can just build a wall and then forget about them, without
utilizing military control of the ground on the other side of the
fence. i have argued for years that israel should massively retaliate for
each and every attempted murder by the plo as if the murder actually
"succeeded". my government thinks that would be insensitive and offend
the politically correct folks. so what is my government offering instead? more talk about the rrh
doctrine. rrh stands for "realy really hard". after each atrocity, my
government threatens that if the attacks do not stop, israel will
respond "really really hard". apparently my government wants to defeat
the terrorists by making them laugh themselves to death. so how is the government responding to yesterday's double murder?
by threatening a rrh retaliation soon. get ready for a new attack on
an empty plo building at night. 2. "taking orders from yassir" in recent days, the pro-terror far-leftists and self-proclaimed "anarchists" from the ism, or international solidarity movement, have been making both increased trouble and headlines here in israel. they have repeatedly attacked israeli police and soldiers, using violence, as part of their campaign to show their support for the violent palestinian terrorists. they attempt to vandalize and sabotage israel's security fence, to show their opposition to all attempts by israel to protect its children from mass murderers and suicide bombers. israelis have long been at a loss to explain the reluctance of their government to send these western pro-terror "peace activists" packing or to imprison them. in the past, some pro-terror "activists" have gone so far as to hide wanted terrorists in their offices and to hide arms used by them. this week, in an uncharacteristic decision but hopefully one showing a new direction, the tel aviv district court ordered american leftist activist ken o'keefe deported for trying to enter the gaza strip illegally. o'keefe was caught trying to cross the separation fence into the gaza strip near the settlement of dugit after arriving in israel three weeks ago, and after having signed a statement pledging not to enter the gaza strip. district court judge sarah gadot determined, based on intelligence reports, that o'keefe was a security risk and had violated military orders by infiltrating an area controlled by the army, after he had been warned against it and stated his intention to retry. the judge also determined that o'keefe had ignored a sign in english indicating the location of the border. o'keefe claimed that the border was not a recognized international frontier and the sign was misleading. in other words, he was of the rather common opinion that leftists should be exempt from obeying the law. o'keefe claims he had organized hundreds of americans and citizens of other western countries to act as "human shields" in iraq. o'keefe said he had come to israel at the beginning of the 2003 iraq war to advance "peace" (or at least the leftist interpretation of the term) between israelis and palestinians. his attorney, yael barda from the far-left anti-zionist organization gush shalom, claimed that although her client was eccentric, he was not a security risk. but the true face of these "caring peace lovers", in the middle east to support the terrorists, was unmasked this week in a different development. according to a news story in the israeli leftist daily haaretz this week, it was revealed that the "international solidarity protesters" and the rest of the far-leftist demonstrators, in town trying to sabotage israel's security fence, are taking their orders and directions directly from yassir arafat. they met with arafat this week in his terrorist headquarters in ramallah to hear his orders and instructions for them regarding how they should run their "peace" protests against israel's security fence. arafat ordered them to escalate the violence of their demonstrations, especially at two locations, near jerusalem and near the jewish town of ariel, and to escalate the level of the protests just before the "world court" in the hague is to meet to discuss israel's fence. in sum, the terrorist arafat is dictating tactics and timing to the western peace poseurs and solidarity-meisters for the islamic revolution. on the other hand, this week witnessed one of the most successful anti-terror actions by israel to date, and it was one that will have a greater impact on the terror and on the pro-terror leftists than the construction of the security wall itself. israel carried out a sort of godfather-movie set of hits on the number-one leaders of all three major terrorist organizations in nablus. not only were the three terrorist dons all killed in a single day, but so were seven other terrorists with them; several were also in leadership positions. the peace-loving and caring left of course will be outraged and will escalate its violent protests against israeli self-defense. after all, how dare israel assassinate the palestinian terrorists instead of capitulating to them? protesters scuffle with an israeli soldier during a demonstration against the construction of the israeli security barrier, near the west bank village of iskaka, june 17, 2004. part wall and part fence, the barrier, if completed, will run for 640km (397 miles) through the west bank. israel hopes the barrier will prevent suicide bombings. reuters/ammar awad. arab protester punches soldier during a demonstration against the construction of the israeli security barrier. "peace protester" kicks soldier's knee during a protest against the construction of the israeli security barrier. arab "peace protester" kicks soldier who refuses to use his gun. arab protesters attack soldiers while european ism members push attackers forward. arab peace protestors attack soldiers trying to protect civilians. foreign ism activist arrested by israeli police during a protest in the west bank village iskaka against the construction of israel's separation barrier. steven plaut is an american-trained economist, a professor of
business administration at haifa university and author of "the
scout." he frequently comments - both seriously and satirically -
on israeli politics and the left wing academic community. his website
address is http://www.stevenplaut.blogspot.com. to go to top "stop the genocide and free the slaves" demonstration at sudanese embassy posted by keith roderick, june 29, 2004. washington, d.c. - today, christian solidarity international (csi), together with sudan campaign partners, marched on the sudanese embassy in washington d.c., protesting against state-sponsored genocide and slavery. two sudan campaign members, former congressman rev. walter fauntroy and radio talk show host joe madison, were arrested by secret service agents protesting through non-violent civil disobedience. wrapping yellow "crime scene" police tape around the entrance madison declared the embassy a crime scene, noting that the racist government of sudan is guilty of genocide and slavery against black sudanese. the sudan campaign demonstration was timed to coincide with
secretary of state colin powell's visit to western sudan where
government-sponsored ethnic cleansing raids have resulted within the
past twelve months in the displacement of over one million black
africans, the death of tens of thousands and the enslavement of
others. the genocide process in sudan has progressed in tandem with a
u.s. supported peace initiative directed by the newly appointed u.s.
ambassador to the united nations, former sen. john danforth. in
october 2002, president george w. bush and both houses of congress,
including sen. john kerry, identified the government of sudan as a
perpetrator of acts of "genocide". but since then, the u.s. government
has taken no further punitive measures against khartoum. u.s.
government officials have warned that hundred of thousands may die in
the coming months. csi and sudan campaign partners urged the united states to work
closely with sudan's oppressed democratic opposition to restore
respect for human rights; mobilize international forces to guarantee
the safe return of survivors of ethnic cleansing; and to stand in the
vanguard of efforts to suspend the government of sudan's membership of
the united nations. csi's executive director, dr. john eibner, issued call to action, stating: "i commend the many people of good will throughout this county, people of every race and religion who are not prepared to stand idly by when the lives of fellow human beings are destroyed en mass by the evil forces of genocide and slavery. let us all join together to stop the genocide and free the slaves!" the rev. walter fauntroy, declared, "enough is enough!" he said, "it is our hope and expectation that the action we take today will spur people of conscience to come to this place everyday, week and month, for however long it takes until the killing stops." other speakers included nina shea, freedom house director for the center for religious freedom, faith mcdonnell, institute on religion and democracy, rabbi david saperstein, director of the religious action center for reformed judaism, and dr. charles jacobs, president of the american anti-slavery group. csi washington representative, the rev. dr. keith roderick concluded the demonstration, calling for the international community to stop sweeping the crimes of the sudanese government under the rug. "lies and denial cannot protect the sudanese government any longer from its complicity with evil." you can contact keith roderick at 202 498
8644 or keith.roderick@csi-usa.org to go to top sub-sharan africa blooms with israel's cooperation posted by isralert, june 28, 2004. this was written by nahun finkelstein, june 20, 2004, and is archived on
http://www.israel21c.com/bin/en.jsp?enpage=homepage one wouldn't necessarily imagine a jewish israeli professor and a moslem african vegetable farmer striking up a friendship. but prof. dov pasternak, from ben-gurion university of the negev has formed a unique partnership and a special personal relationship with issaka dandakoye from niamey, niger. for the past five years, pasternak has been busy in niger - in the sub-saharan area of africa called the sahel - developing a horticultural production system called the african market garden (amg) for farmers with small parcels of land. known throughout the land affectionately as 'professor dov', the former head of the university's institute for agriculture and biology developed the system, based mainly on vegetables, with a few fruit trees placed in the field. it is irrigated with a gravity (low-pressure) drip irrigation system, with field size is limited to about 500 square meters. when 'professor dov' was looking for farmers to experiment with the amg, he approached dandakoya, a 4th generation vegetable farmer in the area. dandakoya volunteered to set one up in one of his fields, and was duly impressed with the results. as a result of that experiment, at the end of april, pasternak and dandakoya inaugurated a four-acre amg vegetable farm in the presence of the general secretary of the ministry of agricultural development of niger featuring the first farmer operated pressurized drip irrigation system in niger, and probably in all of west africa. the inauguration provided dramatic proof of the success of a three-year campaign to demonstrate the amg concept in one of the poorest countries in the beleaguered continent faced with grinding poverty and lack of food security. pasternak sees the amg as a way a way of optimizing the use of scarce arable land through the production of high-valued crops, such as vegetables and fruit, with high efficiency, thereby providing the farmer and his family with a steady source of income. from the beginning, yitzhak apt of mashav, the foreign ministry's center for international co-operation, grasped the significance of the concept and threw the ministry's weight behind the project. the amg is based on drip irrigation, which israeli farmers developed in the early years of the state, when it was faced with the challenge of feeding the flood of impoverished immigrants from its arid lands, and scarce water resources. in drip irrigation, water is directed to the crop through tubes laid along the rows in which the crop grows. orifices that pierce the tubes at intervals along their length deliver a continous, drop-by-drop, flow of water directly to the roots of the plants. the efficiency of water use is about 50% higher than by other methods of irrigation. if fertilizers are added to the water, they too are used more efficiently and more effectively because they are delivered directly to the roots of the plant. the variant of drip irrigation used in the amgs, gravity drip irrigation, is adapted to the primitive conditions found in much of africa - no electricity, no pumps, technically unsophisticated farmers. the design of the system was carried out in the light of a wide experience of drip irrigation and the deep knowledge of the requirements of the particular crops. the water flows under gravity from a simple tank standing one meter (40 inches) above the level of the field, and fitted with a filter and a tap. the tank is designed to deliver the exact amount of water that the crop loses by evaporation, and the flow rate of the water is controlled to prevent its leaching nutrients from the soil. the operating procedure is simple. the farmer cleans the filter every day, fills the tank using buckets, and opens the tap. this takes very much less time than the traditional method of bucket irrigation, thus freeing the farmer for other tasks. in order to maintain the condition of the soil and supply nutrients to he plants, he top-dresses the soil with manure and mixed fertilizers before planting. the world bank provided the funds for a two-year demonstration of the amg in niger. a number of the ngo's that were active in the country were recruited to guide the selection of farmers, and to act as liaisons between them and the israeli technologists. 850 amg units were set up, 200 hundred of them on one-eighth-acre lots, and 700 on one-twentieth of an acre. a variety of vegetables, melons, and some fruit was planted. according to pasternak, 80 percent of the original amg's are still operating a year after the end of the two-year demonstration period. he pointed out that the yield and the quality of the produce of the amg's is markedly higher, and the revenue at least four times that given by traditional farming methods - a single farmer working a one-eighth acre lot can earn $4,000 per annum in a country where the per capita gdp is $800. usaid is sponsoring the introduction of the system in neighboring bukina fasso and ghana. a total of 400 of the one-eighth-acre amgs will be installed. the training of the ngo agents and the first group of farmers started at towards the end of this month. at the other end of the continent, mashav, and the south african ngo, ikamva labantu have introduced amgs in a depressed, semi-arid region near the town of cradock. 140 members of the masizakhe farmers association work separate eighth-acre amgs, and collaborate in marketing the surplus produce. the early results are impressive. alex goniwe, one of the association's leaders told israel21c, "we are very, very happy with it. we are planting vegetables throughout the year, instead of once. before, we struggled with the water. this help from the israeli embassy has really put us forward. we are doing well." he is confident that the amgs will be profitable, but also expects that they will contribute to the solution of the community's severe social problems. aids sufferers have been allocated two plots and disabled youth another two. in order to encourage the youth to return to agriculture, plots have been set aside in which pupils of the local school can work. encouraged by the promise of the cradock project, ikamva labantu is planning to set up similar enterprises in other parts of the country. the guiding spirits behind israel's efforts to improve agricultural practice in africa, pasternak and apt, agree that the introduction of amg's only represents the first stage of the work that requires to be done. the next stage is to introduce fruit trees and optimal varieties of the traditional crops. to this end, ipalc has set up an experimental station in niger with the aim of selecting the strains of vegetables and fruit best adapted to the climate and soil conditions of the region. a similar function will be performed in south africa by the israeli agronomist who is responsible for the technical management of what promises to be a large enterprise. yitzhak apt put the amg potential in a broader context. "subsistence farming, on which 45% of africa's rural population depends, is less sustainable than it once was. because of population pressure, farmers can no longer allow their land to recover its fertility by lying fallow for several years between crops." gravity drip irrigation, with the judicious application of fertilizers, allows the available arable land to support more people. abt believes that the technology will also alleviate another of africa's growing problems, the exodus of rural people to the cities. by revitalizing the rural areas it will lessen the need to seek work elsewhere; if it is adopted in the peri-urban areas, will help increase the food security of the growing urban populations, and provide employment for some of the migrants. isralert, a jewish advocacy network, is hosted by harv weiner. to
subscribe to isralert, send an email to isralert@aol.com to go to top symptom or disease posted by dr. asher eder, june 28, 2004. recently, arafat said in a speech addressed to the world,
"terrorism is a symptom, not a disease". that is to say, he defends
terrorism as a means of curing the disease. in the ideology and
propaganda of the jihad fanatics, israel and the jewish people are
depicted as the disease, even as an embodiment of the "cosmic evil" of
which the earth should be purged. already in 1943, mufti amin el-husseini, ally and friend of nazi
germany, said in a broadcast from radio berlin: "kill the jews
wherever you find them -- this is pleasing to allah"; and called upon
the muslim world to wage a jihad against the jews. (note: amin
el-husseini issued this call several years before the establishment of
the state of israel. that is, israel's establishment in 1948 and the
refugee problem resulting from the arabs' war against israel are the
result of arab enmity, not the cause]. arafat's statement quoted above, that "terrorism is a symptom, not a
disease", describes precisely the situation. the jihadists'
anti-jewish, anti-israel, anti-zionist stance is an awful disease,
sheer madness, a sickness of soul, that goads them into actions
perceived in the civilized world as terror. jihadists present this
insanity of theirs as pleasing to allah, as the crowning glory of
islam; they promise their suicide bombers (with their minced bodies!)
unlimited sex with 70 (or 72) virgins in paradise, ill-using their
victims' death (of jews; and since september 11 also of others) as a
kind of entrance ticket to this paradise. arafat serves as the figurehead for that jihad. this assumed name
sustains this drive, is in fact a campaign slogan, a nom de guerre,
adopted by him for that purpose. "oslo" did not change the wolf into a lamb -- on the contrary. as
feisal al-husseini (a close relative of the above mentioned amin
el-husseini) said shortly before he (feisal) died: "in oslo we did not
get everything we wanted, but at least we succeeded in getting arafat
into israel's house as trojan horse...first we accept what they [=
israel] give us, and the rest we will take". this was not merely the private opinion of that israel-hater. from the
very first day of "implementing" the oslo agreements, arafat
transgressed and violated them as follows: a) acquiring far more weapons than conceded by the agreement; b) building up an armed force much bigger than conceded; c) introducing into the p.a. territories a malicious anti-jewish and anti-israel curriculum and propaganda unparalleled so far; d) "de-judaizing" the temple mount; e) dubbing the armed uproar as "al-aqsa intifada", a term
which exposes more clearly than anything else the jihad-against-israel
core of this struggle, in which the palestinian arabs and their
sufferings are simply exploited to that end. this may raise the question: is islam as such anti-jewish,
anti-israel, anti-zion? in other words: are we, and the rest of the
world, engaged in a basically religious confrontation in which only
one side can be right before the almighty? a confrontation in which,
consequently, one of the two opponents would have to vanish? while the jihadists claim just that, it is not so, at least
not according to the qur'an and tannach (jewish bible).
the jihadists' hatred and hostility are a willful
mis-interpretation of these scriptures, forged for their ends. their
armed struggle against israel is a crime against islam and -- from the
legal point of view -- a crime by all standards against international
law. from the psychological point of view, it is a terrible disease,
terrorism being its symptom. arafat, however inadvertently, described the situation correctly. shavua tov from liberated yerushaliyim, dr. asher eder is the jewish co-founder and co-chairman, islam-israel
fellowship, root & branch association, ltd. he is author of "the star
of david: an ancient symbol of integration" (rubin mass, jerusalem,
1987) to go to
top the national religious party (nrp) saved the sharon government today posted by aryeh zelasko, june 28, 2004. the sharon dictatorship almost fell today. it was rescued from defeat
by the notoriously repugnant politicians of the party that represents
israel's government clerics. as is the rule in all matters of national
importance, private monetary considerations always take priority over
any other consideration. after all why are all these parties created
and sustained if not for the short term benefit of their members. the
fact that the nation just might sink into anarchy, revolution, civil
war or any other such minor issues can not distract one from the prime
directive: grab as much as you can as fast as you can and then run. this news item was in today's arutz-7
(http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=64787). government survives 3 additional no-confidence votes (israelnn.com) the national religious party saved the sharon
government from defeat today by not voting against the coalition in
three no-confidence motions today. the motions were voted on in the
plenum, presented by the opposition parties. nrp supported the government after the cabinet approved an
agreement pertaining to pension plans of employees of religious
councils. funds aimed at rehabilitating the fiscally ailing councils
were already released by the treasury today. nrp members either voted
along with the government or abstained, permitting sharon to emerge
victoriously from the votes, although by a slight margin. the votes
were defeated by 55-54, 54-52, and 53-44. in an act of profound timing, the prime minister during the weekly cabinet meeting on sunday announced the transfer of nis 26 million for religious councils had been approved. aryeh zelasko lives in beitar illit, south of jerusalem. he is
director of sales and marketing of israel visit
(www.israelvisit.co.il) which provides information and an internet
buying facility for american visitors to israel. to go to top the ninth of av and the gaza debacle posted by bob martin, june 28, 2004. the ninth of av and the gaza debacle steven plaut (splaut@econ.haifa.ac.il) wrote: "the ninth day of the month of av in the jewish religious calendar, or "tisha b'av", is the day of serial tragedy in jewish history. "the date from which no jews will be permitted to enter the gaza strip
for any reason has been set at august 14, 2005. august 14, 2005 is the ninth day of av." even if they change the date for cosmetic purposes, the fact that
they chose it in the first place tells us from whom they get their
inspiration. will jews sit by and argue while jews are removed
from their homes? reform, reconstruction, and conservative "jews" certainly will do
this. although they'll be glued to cnn or fox for the latest reports
and casualty figures. way too many "jews" are exactly like the people in a currently
running commercial (i saw it on lou dobb's moneyline) who watch a
person choking to death as they all discuss the proper way to perform
the heimlich maneuver. a person not in their group gets up from his
table and performs the life-saving maneuver. and they all go back to
their dinner, probably of oysters and pork. we have to look to similar situations in history - like the
bar-kokhba revolt in 132 c.e. - to understand what we each need to do
right now. see
(http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/judaism/revolt1.html). this was distributed by communaute-juive-france. to go to top you're probably waiting for the right to take to the streets
against you posted by leah wolf, june 28, 2004. dear prime minister sharon, after so many years out on the streets fighting the rabin-peres
disaster which brought about the oslo war, we find ourselves now
having to take to the streets against your judenrein policies. you,
arik sharon. who would have believed? interesting, that you totally ignore all principals of democracy,
you ignore the decisions of your own party and you don't even bother
trying to explain how expelling jews from their homes and livelihood
that they've built up over 3 generations of sweat and blood and tears,
could possibly be good for anyone in israel!!! history will remember you for your immoral destruction of yamit and
for your attempt to expel jews from israel. that's the sad truth. your
friends in the extreme left may dominate the political and certainly
the judicial scene in israel today but they don't have a monopoly on
writing history books. too sad and too bad. a young grandfather is buried with his toddler
grandson in sderot today, a small taste of what's to come with your
new policy, and all you can say is that you're going to plow forward
with your evacuation plans of the jews of gush katif. we haven't heard
such inane responses since the left was in power, determined to give
arafat more and more as he murdered more and more of our jews. hashem hoshia hamelech yaanenu beyom korenu!! leah wolf lives in metar, israel. contact her by email at
ldwolf@netvision.net.il to go to top whosoever blesses them: the intifada and its defenders posted by unity coalition for israel, june 28, 2004. this is a humorous satire on the arab-israeli conflict by larry miller
and appeared in the weekly standard of los angeles
(ttp://www.weeklystandard.com/weekly/weekly.asp). larry miller is a
contributing humorist to the daily standard and a writer, actor, and
comedian living in los angeles. i was watching greta van facelift on fox the other night, and she
and her guests made me talk back to the tv. shout back, actually.
nothing witty or trenchant, you understand, just something like, "oh,
come on!" now, to be honest, it was late, and i was downstairs alone,
and i was a little, what's the word ... loaded, yes, that's the
word. i was a little shined up. a little spiffed and a little miffed,
and i shouted something and angrily turned off the remote. i don't
know exactly how angrily a remote can be turned off, but as angrily as
you can push a pfennig-sized piece of round plastic, that's how
angrily i did it. then i walked back to the bar, made myself
one-for-the-stairs (as opposed to one-for-the-road) and read some p.g.
wodehouse to restore my cheery nature. but back to the
freshly-tightened greta. her guests were (insert indistinguishable arab name), from hamas,
and their attorney, stanley cohen. no, that's not a joke. would that
it were. stanley cohen, the attorney for hamas. check that
handle again: stanley cohen. i mean, if you tried to make up a
better name than that, you couldn't do it. let's give it a shot,
though, shall we? irving lefkowitz. nah, too obvious. lew fishman. no,
no, sounds like a carpet salesman. isaac bashevis singer? now i'm
reaching. nope, you just can't beat good ol' stan cohen. yes, stanley
cohen, folks, a hard-left, righteously indignant true-believer, an
honors graduate from the william kunstler school of
just-not-getting-it-and-never-will, who had flown all the way from new
york to sit next to his wonderful client over there in not the
land of milk and honey. stanley cohen. a man who, if he listened very
carefully, would no doubt hear voices in the next room planning to
blow the eyes out of more of his nieces and nephews. stanley cohen,
and even typing that name right now and remembering this horrible man
damning his own people again and again and again, i crack a nervous
smile, because they're my people, too, and, god help me, if i didn't
laugh, i think i might cry. oddly enough, out of the three of them, the homunculus from hamas
didn't bother me at all. i mean, if you think about it, why should he
bother any american? we know exactly who he is and, in a way, we
should be grateful for that. because if we're only willing to absorb
their own words--nevermind their demonic deeds--he and his brethren
have a perfectly uncomplicated point of view and agenda, and their
clarity should give us our own clarity, and wouldn't that be
refreshing? you want us dead? well, now, isn't that a funny
coincidence. guess what we want? my point is, if american tv calls up and wants to put these
philanthropists on, who could blame them for saying, "sure!" i can
just see them bursting out laughing and slapping each other on the
back. ("they're going to put us on fox tv! i told you terror works!
and i'll bet their green room beats the snot out of al jazeera. i
mean, please, how many olives can you eat?") if we're stupid enough to
do that, i don't blame them for taking us up on it. all they have to
do is take a few minutes away from packing rusty nails around the c4,
pick one of their guys who looks, relatively, the least like a vicious
scumbag, borrow a suit, and send him forth to smile for the cameras.
with stanley cohen. but let's leave the newly-stretched greta for a moment, as well as our
friends stanley and ishmael (no joke, his real name). a brief overview
of the situation is always valuable, so as a service to all americans
who still don't get it, i now offer you the story of the middle east
in just a few paragraphs, which is all you really need. don't thank
me. i'm a giver. here we go: the palestinians want their own country. there's just one thing about
that: there are no palestinians. it's a made up word. israel was
called palestine for two thousand years. like "wiccan," "palestinian"
sounds ancient but is really a modern invention. before the israelis
won the land in war, gaza was owned by egypt, and there were no
"palestinians" then, and the west bank was owned by jordan, and there
were no "palestinians" then. as soon as the jews took over and started
growing oranges as big as basketballs, what do you know, say hello to
the "palestinians," weeping for their deep bond with their lost "land"
and "nation." so for the sake of honesty, let's not use the word
"palestinian" any more to describe these delightful folks, who dance
for joy at our deaths until someone points out they're being taped.
instead, let's call them what they are: "other arabs from the same
general area who are in deep denial about never being able to
accomplish anything in life and would rather wrap themselves in the
seductive melodrama of eternal struggle and death." i know that's a
bit unwieldy to expect to see on cnn. how about this, then: "adjacent
jew-haters." okay, so the adjacent jew-haters want their own country. oops, just
one more thing. no, they don't. they could've had their own country
any time in the last thirty years, especially two years ago at camp
david. but if you have your own country, you have to have traffic
lights and garbage trucks and chambers of commerce, and, worse, you
actually have to figure out some way to make a living. that's no fun.
no, they want what all the other jew-haters in the region want:
israel. they also want a big pile of dead jews, of course--that's
where the real fun is--but mostly they want israel. why? for one
thing, trying to destroy israel--or "the zionist entity" as their
textbooks call it--for the last fifty years has allowed the rulers of
arab countries to divert the attention of their own people away from
the fact that they're the blue-ribbon most illiterate, poorest, and
tribally backward on god's earth, and if you've ever been around god's
earth, you know that's really saying something. it makes me roll my
eyes every time one of our pundits waxes poetic about the great
history and culture of the muslim mideast. unless i'm missing
something, the arabs haven't given anything to the world since
algebra, and, by the way, thanks a hell of a lot for that one. chew this around and spit it out: five hundred million arabs; five
million jews. think of all the arab countries as a football field, and
israel as a pack of matches sitting in the middle of it. and now these
same folks swear that if israel gives them half of that pack of
matches, everyone will be pals. really? wow, what neat news. hey, but
what about the string of wars to obliterate the tiny country and the
constant din of rabid blood oaths to drive every jew into the sea? oh,
that? we were just kidding. my friend kevin rooney made a gorgeous point the other day: just
reverse the numbers. imagine five hundred million jews and five
million arabs. i was stunned at the simple brilliance of it. can
anyone picture the jews strapping belts of razor blades and dynamite
to themselves? of course not. or marshalling every fiber and force at
their disposal for generations to drive a tiny arab state into the
sea? nonsense. or dancing for joy at the murder of innocents?
impossible. or spreading and believing horrible lies about the arabs
baking their bread with the blood of children? disgusting. no, as you
know, left to themselves in a world of peace, the worst jews would
ever do to people is debate them to death. mr. bush, god bless him, is walking a tightrope. i understand that
with vital operations coming up against iraq and others, it's in our
interest, as americans, to try to stabilize our arab allies as much as
possible, and, after all, that can't be much harder than stabilizing a
roomful of supermodels who've just had their drugs taken away.
however, in any big-picture strategy, there's always a danger of
losing moral weight. we've already lost some. after september 11 our
president told us and the world he was going to root out all
terrorists and the countries that supported them. beautiful. then the
israelis, after months and months of having the equivalent of an
oklahoma city every week (and then every day) start to do the same
thing we did, and we tell them to show restraint. if america were
being attacked with an oklahoma city every day, we would all very
shortly be screaming for the administration to just be done with it
and kill everything south of the mediterranean and east of the jordan.
(hey, wait a minute, that's actually not such a bad id ... uh, that
is, what a horrible thought, yeah, horrible.) there's bad news on the losing moral weight front, and the signs are
out there. last week, the day after secretary powell left on his
mission (whatever that was), the los angeles times ran its lead
editorial in one hundred percent support of the trip and the pressure
he and president bush were putting on israel. here's a good rule of
thumb: if the los angeles times thinks you're doing a great job,
everything you're doing is wrong, stupid and mortally dangerous. if
they think everything you're doing is wrong, stupid and mortally
dangerous, you're doing a great job, and, in fact, your chances are
probably very good for getting on the fast track for sainthood. so, now, back to greta. you know what made me mad enough to shout?
you might not even think it was that big a thing. after the show she said to these guys, "thank you, gentlemen, for
being my guests." "gentlemen." "guests." "my guests." that's what it's
come to with these non-judgmental hosts and hostesses. nice, huh?
"thank you, mr. stalin, sir, for being so gracious in giving us your
valuable time." "my eternal gratitude, chairman mao, for taking
precious moments away from your splendid five-year plan and visiting
with us in this most convivial way." and i winced, and grunted, and shouted. oh, yeah, and made that drink. i mean, please, folks. in 1941, did reporters feel it was their duty
to give equal time to hitler and hirohito? would stanley cohen have
represented them? ok, stanley probably would have, but would any
american have stood still while he told us about it? the national unity coalition is "the largest worldwide
coalition of jewish and christian organizations, with more than 200
groups representing millions of people dedicated to israel. though we
have many different backgrounds, we have one common goal: a safe and
secure israel." "israel is not just a jewish issue. millions of christians
resolutely endorse the principle of peace with security for the state
of israel. because we work closely together and speak with a united
voice, our message is being heard!" to go to top the jewish girl goes to church in china posted by marion d.s. dreyfus, june 28, 2004. there are 16 cheerful people here for the month from iowa city. i will try to be as uninflected and lacking in irony as i see these people, mixed sexes, about 22 to 30 years old, are. though practicing christianity is somewhat dicey here, and is largely forbidden, there are two types of church attendance. there are the legal churches, of which the one i attended this past sunday was one example, and the illegal underground churches. these are the ones likely to fall under government disapproval and not infrequent official displeasure. i asked to attend church with the iowans, for several reasons. not least was that i was quite curious about church here, as i know many christians have come under severe restrictions for their beliefs, or rather, for their evangelical zeal, i believe. i tried hard not to have any religion, and thought i was just one
of the many people "trying out" the day, as it were. but as i walked
to the third floor meeting room in the nondescript pre-war grey
building that seemed to be the church - one of eight in wuhan, i am
told - one of the kind and friendly group, jane, asked if my father
was still a rabbi. busted! i thought. who told you my father was a rabbi? i asked, unabashedly
embarrassed that i was obviously now a non-christian as far as these
sincere people were concerned. you did, replied jane with just the slightest surprise. inside the building, in long rooms filled with people assembled for prayer and song, were at least five such old-style (communist) lecture halls saved from boredom, at least in our case on the third floor, by christmas tree ornaments spaced out on wreaths of evergreen sprigging looped along the top of the wall, and several gold characters that seemed unfamiliar to me, but always centred with a clear but ornamental cross, also in gold. though we arrived before 9 am, the room was filled side to side and back to front with chinese. the room was about 25-people wide and about 50-people deep. we were privileged to have the front row of seats saved for us. even so, after we sat down in a long sideways stitchery of people, the stools in front of us filled up, and the room kept saturating and supersaturating with more late entries, who sat on the sides, and filled any of the aisles that had been there before. if this were new jersey or maine, the fire laws would have mandated a second or third room for the overflow. when i sat down, a severe woman in traditional high-necked frog-closing silk blouse in grey was intoning in one long high-pitched tone something from the prayer book or whatever was in front of her on the lectern. our entry made no dent in her hard and penetrating recitation in a monotonous pitch. she was soon replaced by a pleasant looking younger man - perhaps 45 or so - who led the assembled sonorously in hymns, although they were entirely composed of the notes of the scale, sol-fa-mi mi re, do re sol fa, etc. i was surprised the songs seemed to be a phonology or sounds that were makeshift alternatives to the expected chinese opera singsong. i was an observer, so i sat quietly and tried not to become involved in the melodies - which was my inclination. when the chinese next to me took out a small camera and snapped the stage, i mentally gave her shoulder a clap and took out my small and inexpensive modern throwaway. i thought it might be rude, but if others are doing it, at least i am not the only one being so. a three-tier robed choir sang pleasantly, and then they left the small stage, with someone coming up to move the benches they had stood on. andy, tall, quite animated, with long and rangy arms, sandy short
hair and a blue-eyed guilelessness and demeanor, was introduced, along
with his diminutive and excellent translator (from a local medical
college; she had translated for him the previous time they had visited
wuhan at the invitation of the university's president). i was
interested to hear that his sermon was the real thing: no
shilly-shallying with contemporary notions of pandering to the public,
or presumed chit chatty introductory remarks. after thanking all of us
for coming, and his translator, he thanked the pastor of this church,
pastor gao, a determined-looking woman in her middle years whose
recitation of prayers was clear and earnest, even something of`a model
for serious mandarin students, as each word was carefully phrased and
intoned, and the emotion was clear and unmistakable. the next 25 minutes or so were interesting to me, as i am of course
the scion of generations of rabbis, and thus the genetic template for
speeches and sermons from the cradle up. the term might be assayed:
fire and brimstone. if one is not of jesus, one had to become so. one
could not sit on being just a good person. one had to be "fruitful."
one had to alert the millions of unfamiliar chinese that jesus was the
answer. when he raised his arms, long and tapered and considerably
longer than most arms i have lately seen, one could see there was not
the slightest affectation here. he was uninflected with irony or
sarcasm or that cynicism that informs so much of all conversation in
the metropolitan area. he was utterly, humourlessly sincere. we all
had to so our part for bringing jesus to the masses who know him not.
we must be "fruitful." the prayer part following featured lit page neon signs. i could not
give up my usual habit of turning them left to right, and was
perplexed with myself as the page numbers grew smaller rather than
larger. each time i recalled that this was chinese, not hebrew, and
the woman next to me whispered "it is 359, see?" and then i was
reverse course and find the page, but as it was all-chinese, and in
some sort of formal order, i looked at it like an anthropologist
rather than like a reader. after a half-hour of prayers in strong chinese, with the throng behind me melodious and familiar with the prayer routine, three of the iowans got up to sing and play guitar with the old standards, of which i recognized one, "amazing grace." matt played a creditable guitar, katey sang in clear free soprano, and wes accompanied her. there was a short piano to our far left, and though i could se only a crescent cap of black hair, the pianist was good - not too loud or assertive, but lively and always ahead of the game just a tiny beat. my last time in church like this was in istanbul, turkey, where the
assembly was underground, and the congregation was taut with anxiety,
and the room stultified with a lack of fresh air. i almost fainted
from the stale air, in fact. here, there was lots of light and eight
ceiling fans as well as the large refrigerator-type a/c they favor
here in classrooms and businesses. so the air moved and it was not
unpleasant. when andy began to speak in earnest, behind me one row, a women began to wheeze uncontrollably, her head rolled back and she lost control of her posture and limbs. i did not know if it was epilepsy or something else - possession? southern baptist 'revelation'? - but she was led away downstairs by concerned people. hardly a soul beyond the third row knew there had been a disturbance. andy did not waver once from his impassioned words on the stage. ahead of me, on the stool a hand's reach from my right hand, a new arrival. it was brandi, one of my best english students, who seems since their advent three weeks ago to be a satellite to these iowa evangelicals. she stayed after the end and went to a second service after eating lunch with the group. as soon as i tapped her on the shoulder to say hi, she whispered, "what are you doing here: you?re jewish!" to which i smiled and said, "i was interested. but what about you,
have you forgotten, you're not christian, either!?" she laughed as she
realized the irony in her asking me such a question. i left as soon as the service concluded, as i had work to do. there
were many smiles and the idea of "love-bombing" came briefly to mind.
i was treated with warmth and sweetness, without anyone inquiring as
to my reason for being there. i can see why there is a swell of
joiners: andy cited the figure of "ten thousand new souls finding
their way to jesus every day" in china. the only jew in the chinese christian throng, i caught a taxi back to my little rural laird the heavy skies were leaden and began to let big discretionary drops down on us, a soft suggestion to encourage the leaving to open their everpresent umbrellas. marion d. s. dreyfus is a journalist, a film critic and an intrepid
traveler. she is currently in wuchan, china, where she teaches at the
university and does a radio talk show. her address is: marion d. s.
dreyfus, reception centre 8301, huazhong university of science &
technology, english department, wuchang branch, nanhu, wuchan, wuhan
430064, p r china. to go to top jews admit to hiding heads in sand posted by richard h. shulman, june 28, 2004. witnesses in yesha saw a bullet change course and strike a jew in yesha. that was during the time when israel announced development of a guided bullet. a high proportion of jewish yesha leaders, especially rabbis, have been killed by snipers, rather than the more pedestrian type of terrorists. some families are attacked twice. this does not seem random. barry chamish's book exhibits gets a lot of reaction. lately, he found a common reluctance by israelis to read about how their government is getting some yesha jews killed, in order to demoralize the rest into leaving. there is no documentary evidence for this. however, the nature of some attacks, follow-up attacks on relatives, leftist statements of hatred against yesha jewry, official policy to oust it, official persecution of yesha jewry, and past use of devious and brutal means against dissenters, and collaboration with enemies make a strong case. some relatives of the slain prefer feeling that their love ones were martyred by the enemy than betrayed by their government. others worry that if they read the book and become convinced of its validity, they would feel ashamed. chamish replies that it is the government that should be ashamed, since it is the guilty party (chamish, e-mail, about 6/12). i recently lost my dearest relative to illness. since mistreatment
may have been a factor, i tried to get to the bottom of it, regardless
of what the truth would lie. i didn't succeed, but i sympathize with
chamish, who tries to uncover the truth. these relatives don't. their
preference for illusion may be allowing a terrible scandal to go on
until it engulfs the whole country. how comforting would that be? my ordeal has brought me to identify more with other people's problems. i can't save my wife, but i can help others. otherwise, why save myself? same for grieving and embattled israelis. s. arabia explains native terrorism a saudi leader denied the responsibility for religious education in s. arabia for warping the terrorists now striking the desert kingdom from within. "islam is a religion of love and tolerance." (but the government is restricting mosque preaching, as if recognizing that indoctrination and agitation do cause terrorism.) he averred that the government is reforming (in recognition that its corruption or undemocratic nature, etc. also aroused antagonism). what does he say prompts indigenous terrorism? the war in afghanistan, the palestine problem, and the "presence of extremism." (imra, 6/12.) the connection is unclear to me. mentioning the "presence of extremism" begs the question. how did extremism become present among younger saudis? indoctrination? egypt sets up clerical police egypt approved of islamic clerics inspecting book sales for matter they deem anti-sunni. they can report violations but not make arrests (imra, 6/13). are sex police, a la s. arabia, next? egypt may supervise the gaza airport (imra, 6/11 from jer. times.) what is sharon thinking! does he want egypt involved in order to expedite arms smuggling? why turkey souring on israel believing that iraq will become unstable, israel has sent military and intelligence operatives to kurdish parts of iraq. the kurdish militia would be bolstered sufficiently to block shiite militias from moving through. israel denies the report. turkey, iran, and syria also have large kurdish minorities. those countries do not want the kurds to become independent anywhere, lest the independent kurdistan engender kudish demands for secession in neighboring states. the report includes a lebanese claim that israel is training the kurds to fight in other countries and to monitor iranian nuclear facilities (david hafetz, ny sun, 6/21, p.6). that is just what turkey, iran, and syria would most fear. this story, as much as the islamist ideology of turkey's ruling party, could explain turkey's recent tilt towards the arabs. is the story true? wrong question. i think the right question is how much of the story is true. we do not know. mr. hirsh has been unreliable in the past; he is anti-israel. i suspect that he grafted onto the stem a more sinister interpretation and implications of extra-territorial operations. the kurds must be worried about being left in the lurch, as they have been by iran, israel, and the us. what p.a. security forces would egypt & quartet regroup? arafat's fatah complains of intenational pressure to reduce terrorism and a shortage of funds to increase it. fatah's aksa brigades asserts that arafat no longer gives it money, so it may forego his patronage. arafat has invited the brigades into the salaried p.a. security forces (imra, 6/13 from khaled abu toameh, jer post, 6/12 from seymour hirsh). such are the forces that the quartet and egypt would be training and arming to take over from israel in gaza and parts (or all) of judea-samaria. the official line is that the training would be to prevent terrorism. only a half-wit would believe that. apparently most people are half-wits, for most accept the western rationale. it would be like merging the ss into the invading german army and commissioning that army to protect civilians from persecution. not likely! poor brigades! so much diverted to graft and other terrorism, that there isn't enough for all the evil it can devise. satan could not top the concerted effort by governments to donate funds to the murderous p.a., as if that were a solemn duty rather than to smash the p.a.. evacuation plan accelerating the evacuation plan has begun, although the cabinet was supposed to have approved only in principle. a timetable for expulsion of jews was released. the final day jews may be in gaza is the anniversary of the destruction of both holy temples. government-funded building has ceased. soldiers are being withdrawn from roadblocks and main roads (arutz-7, 6/13). if this were a sincere plan for the protection of israelis, the
civilians would be removed before the soldiers. the removal first of
the soldiers and roadblocks confirms the conspiracy theorists barry
chamish and emanuel winston. they posit that not only is the entire
scheme a suicidal appeasement of the us and of the arabs, but the
means being used facilitate terrorism so as to weaken jewish
resistance. certainly removal of the troops lets terrorists get at the
"settlers," just as chamish and winston predicted. to better
understand sharon, heed chamish and winston. richard shulman is a veteran defender of israel on several web-based
forums. he provides cool information and right-on-target overviews. he
distributes his essays by email. to subscribe, write him at
ricshulman@aol.com. to go to top a dialogue on revolution posted by prof. paul eidelberg, june 28, 2004. this was written by professor paul eidelberg and is archived on the
freeman center for strategic studies
(http://www.freeman.org/online.htm). professor eidelberg teaches at
bar illan university in israel and is the director of the foundation
for constitutional democracy. american: you israelis never cease to amaze me. since
oslo you have suffered more than 10,000 casualties - jewish men,
women, and children killed, wounded and maimed for life. yet you do
nothing. if this were not bad enough, your government plans to uproot
countless jews from their homes in judea, samaria, and gaza and turn
this land over to your enemies! why haven't you people rebelled and
thrown the rascals out? israeli: just a minute. we like to believe that israel
is a democracy; so if the public is not happy with the government's
policies, we need only wait for the next election and change the prime
minister or party in power. american: but don't you see it makes no difference which party
or party leader is in power: you are still retreating toward your
indefensible 1949 borders. americans would never tolerate this state
of affairs. certain mexican nationalists are now making territorial
claims on texas, new mexico, arizona, and california - once mexican
territory. if the american government yielded any part of this land to
mexico, rest assured there'd be a revolution. israeli: but you forget that we are jews, and for a jew to shed
the life of another jew - inevitable in a revolution - is simply out of
the question. look at what happened after yitzhak rabin was
assassinated. this was a national trauma from which we are still
suffering. american: well, let me tell you there are still americans in the south
who have not gotten over the civil war, which saw families divided and
involved in fratricidal conflict. but let me pursue my mexican
example. suppose year after year a few hundred square kilometers of
the increasingly hispanic southwest were returned to mexico, and that
thousands of anglo-saxon americans were expelled from their homes each
month. we americans would be up in arms, animated by the revolutionary
zeal of those who signed our declaration of independence. let me quote
a few passages from that document: we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable
rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness. - that to secure these rights, governments are instituted
among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the
governed. - that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of
these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and
to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles
and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most
likely to effect their safety and happiness. prudence, indeed, will
dictate that governments long established should not be changed for
light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown,
that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable,
than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are
accustomed. but when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing
invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under
absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off
such government, and provide new guards for their future security. american (continued): perhaps some will say that these immortal words
do not justify a revolution in israel. it seems to me, however, that
your government's almost four-year failure to put an end to the murder
of jews by arab terrorists may well be deemed a "long train of
abuses." and the same may be said if your government uproots hundreds
and perhaps thousands of jews from their homes every month in
pursuance of the sharon disengagement plan. besides, your prime
minister's firing of cabinet ministers who oppose withdrawal from
judea, samaria, and gaza, and his ordering all cabinet ministers to be
present in israel to vote in support of his plan smacks of
dictatorship. all his talk about democracy and peaceful coexistence
with the palestinians deceives only children. what do you say to this? israeli: look, all that you say about revolution may be true when
applied to america and perhaps other countries. as concerns israel,
however, you have to bear one obvious and one less obvious thing in
mind. since the government obviously controls the army, the police,
and of course the intelligence services, your proposed revolution
would be nipped in the bud. less obvious is this: even if ten thousand
or more jews were to march on the knesset and had the wherewithal to
withstand water-canons and tear gas, this would only lead to a civil
war. so all your talk about revolution is futile. we jews are a
long-suffering people. indeed, to endure suffering is part of our
nature. we have had inept and wicked rulers before. nevertheless, we
have survived, and we shall survive those who now betray us in the
deceitful names of "peace" and "democracy." american: but how many jews must perish before you cease being
long-suffering and take your future into your own hands instead of
behaving like sheep led to the slaughter? don't you realize that,
sooner or later, the palestinians will obtain biological or chemical
weapons of mass destruction? don't you see that your government's
policy of self-restraint vis-a-vis arab terrorists means that your
political leaders are willing to tolerate the loss of considerable
number of jews, and that this cheapening of jewish life can only make
the arabs more determined to annihilate you? israeli: you speak as if we are threatened by another holocaust! american: that's right, but this time you will have no one but yourselves to blame for such a catastrophe. isralert, a jewish advocacy network, is hosted by harv weiner. to
subscribe to isralert, send an email to isralert@aol.com to go to top the ingrates posted by judy lash balint, june 28, 2004. this appeared today on frontpagemagazine.com
(http://www.frontpagemag.com/articles/readarticle.asp?id=13977). before his downfall, saddam hussein delivered on a pledge to donate
$25,000 to 100 arab families from the jenin refugee camp whose homes
had been destroyed during israel's campaign to roust out terrorists
there in 2002. the united arab emirates red crescent authority contributed another $29 million to the rebuilding effort in a fit of generosity. some 435 apartments were being rebuilt under the auspices of the
british government department for international development, but the
project ground to a screeching halt last week after the british team
fled jenin when arab gunmen armed with m-16 rifles fired on their
headquarters. the gunmen were apparently voicing their protest at the
small size of the new quarters in the "refugee camp." according to the times of london, the three-man team of technical experts called it quits after months of threats and intimidation culminated in the madcap shooting spree. paul wolstenholme, project manager, neil johnston, construction
manager and mike luffingham, design manager, expressed dismay at the
violent response from the refugees. the men had been overseeing an
unprecedented building effort, in which some of the replacement
multi-storey homes featured italian marble kitchen counters, spanish
tiles, belgian windows and japanese refrigerators, courtesy of the
iraqi dictator. "you wouldn't believe how good the properties are, the
finishing is fantastic," said johnston. several houses are built on two levels, with three rooms and a
kitchen on each level, to accommodate the clan-style living
arrangements of most refugee camp residents. many of those who had
received saddam hussein's payments added balconies and fancy outside
lighting. the whole thing was beginning to make a mockery out of the
appellation "refugee camp." where else in the world do refugees live
in digs costing $135 per meter? indeed, several camp residents (among
the only people in the world who claim 3rd or 4th generation refugee
status) had begun to mumble about how difficult it would be to
continue to attract world sympathy for their plight under the new
conditions. "we've lost the right of return," a member of the camp's
governing committee told a reporter from the israeli haaretz
newspaper. but the fuse was lit when one powerful clan allegedly bullied
contractors into expanding their building at the expense of the
neighbors. in a microcosm of wider arab negotiating techniques, the
aggrieved party decided to shoot it out rather than talk it out. the brits had enough when the bullets started to fly. "i have come
to help these innocent individuals who lost their houses through no
fault of their own - and what do i get but harassment, threats, and not
one word of thanks," said one unidentified british worker. just one week before, a jordanian security team ran for their lives
after al aksa martyrs brigade gunmen in the camp threatened its
members. according to the jerusalem post, the ugly little incident
started when al aksa thugs objected to the jordanians arriving without
prior coordination with yasser arafat. the goings-on in jenin's refugee camp provide a window into the
havoc that passes for international policy on arab refugees. unrwa,
the un agency charged with carrying out humanitarian efforts for the
arabs displaced by wars more than half a century ago, has fallen into
serious disrepute for perpetuating the misery of its charges. [see
unrwa, a report by pearl herman. www.israelbehindthenews.com] the international community pays little attention to the
ridiculousness of the claims of many so-called arab refugees who find
themselves living just a few miles from the villages they inhabited in
1948. men like jamal nashrati, who maintains his two wives and 11
children in one of the new apartments in the jenin camp. poor jamal is
still pining for "his" village of zarin, located exactly 12.5 miles
from jenin. nashrati wasn't even born there - his parents are from
zarin. no other people displaced a few miles by wars that occurred decades
ago, and now re-housed for free in dwellings that would be the envy of
many a citizen of the arab world, would have the chutzpa to lay claim
to the "refugee" title, nor to the millions in foreign aid being
poured into their part of the world. almost a million jews who fled or were forced out of arab countries
in the 1940s and 50s gratefully lived for years in tents and tenements
with no foreign subvention whatsoever. they went on to become
productive citizens, the backbone of israeli society, with scarcely a
look back at the towns and villages they left behind so long ago. ask
an israeli jew of libyan or moroccan origin if he considers himself a
refugee and he'll refer you to the closest psychiatrist. like almost every arab leader, the gunmen of jenin have succeeded
in perpetuating the misery of their brethren. but perhaps they have also accomplished a service by exposing the
hypocrisy of a community of self-defined refugees living a little
uncomfortably with their italian marble. jerusalem diaries: in tense times by judy lash balint (gefen) is available for purchase from www.israelbooks.com to go to top a time to speak: june edition posted by patricia berlyn, june 28, 2004. a time to speak (ecclesiastes 3:7) - is a message that appears once a
month. each message is on a theme that relates to israel and the
middle east past and present. readers of these messages may circulate
issues or post them on websites, or use quotes from the material if
so, please cite the source and do not make changes in the wording. this is vol. iv:6 (no. 42)
june 2004 - sivan-tammuz 5764 complimentary subscriptions to the -email edition are available by request to speak@actcom.co.il dramatis personnae: webster: "dramatis personnae --the characters or actors in a drama" in the drama of israel there are many players and would-be players.
too many of those have cast themselves in the wrong roles. for
example, the quartet wants to be playwright with its roadmap. director
of israel's fate, and scene-mover to rearrange the map of the land of
israel. [issues 23, 28, 29] one instrument in the quartet is the united nations, personified in
secretary-general kofi annan. he asks, in his ever-dulcet tones, "can
the whole world be wrong and only israel right?" he responds to
himself, "i don't think so." among other things that kofi annan does not think: 1] that there is anything untoward, much less illegal, when a bloc
of un member states pursues the destruction of another member state,
to the applause of most of the audience 2] that there is anything amiss when un troops in lebanon abet
terrorists who infiltrate israel, abduct and murder israeli soldiers,
and mr. annan himself suppresses the evidence 3] that unrwa errs when it permits its "refugee camps" to be bases for recruiting and training terrorists, and allows terrorists use of its facilities and even its ambulances [issue 17, 31] 4] that unrwa director peter hansen and special middle east envoy terje roed-larsen misuse their office when they spread lies and slanders about israel in order to promote their own particular aversions 5] that the un squanders funds when it spends millions of dollars to print and disseminate anti-israel propaganda and hold "palestine" festivals 6] that notice should be taken of un personnel's peculation with billions of dollars entrusted to it for the iraq oil-for-food program. 7] that the security council is remiss in its duty when it formally declares that it will ignore the genocidal horrors that the government of the sudan inflicts on its own subjects. 8] that it is incongruous for the government of the sudan to be
elected as a member of the un's body for the protection of human
rights 9} that he himself ought to respond when the pygmy people of africa
appeal for his protection from cannibal neighbors who are slaughtering
them as livestock 9] that it is bizarre for him to preside over a conference on
anti-semitism held at the global epicenter of anti-semitism, and opine
that "jews everywhere must feel that the un is their home". * * * * * * * the icrc [international committee of the red cross], based in
switzerland, is a principal player among professional humanitarians.
it bestows official recognition and membership status on organizations
comparable to the red cross that use other emblems, such as the muslim
red crescent, persian red lion, and russian red star. since 1949, it has denied this recognition to israel's magen david adom [red shield of david]. this denial is more than a refusal of status and equality. it is a refusal of protection. hospitals, ambulances and medical workers identified with a red cross, red crescent, red lion or red star are under the safeguard of "international humanitarian law" and attacks on them are deemed criminal. hospitals, ambulances, and medical workers identified with a red shield of david have no safeguard. thus the icrc shelters plo ambulances, that are often used to transport terrorists, but not magen david adom ambulances that rush to help the victims of terrorism. senior officials of the icrc bring forth one excuse after another for this anomaly. the season's reasons for rejecting israel were set forth by francois bugnion, director for international law. 1] there might not be "a consensus in favor" of the magen david
adom among the almost 200 members of the icrc. [comment: the membership includes states dedicated to or complaisant about the destruction of israel and the murder of jews.] 2] the plo would have to give its approval, though it is not a member. [comment: why should emergency medical care for the victims of plo terrorism require the approval of the perpetrator?] 3] the icrc was addressing the subject in 2000, but dropped it
because violence broke out in the region. m. bugnion reports that
"some number" of member governments feel that because of that violence
"the time was not right to discuss this issue". [comment: the violence is caused by the oslo war, waged by the plo against israelis. of course, "some number" of governments would oppose anything that facilitates medical care for the casualties.] * * * * * * * "if the reputation builds that the saudis take care of their
friends when they leave office, you'd be surprised how much better
friends you have who are just coming into office." -- prince bandar
bin-sultan, saudi ambassador to the united states some bit players still strutting and fretting are three score
former u.s. state department diplomats, especially those who served in
arab capitals, many of them now on arab payrolls. in june 2004 they
published an open letter to president george w. bush, admonishing him
for his "unqualified support" of israel. in their view, this blunder
is "costing our country its credibility, prestige and friends ..."
but they offer a chance of salvation: "our hope is that both political
parties will take heed and listen to the voices of experienced
diplomats." at almost the same time, a similar letter was addressed to the prime minister of great britain by alumni of his always judeophobic foreign office. the signer of this epistle also draw a good part of their incomes from petrodollars. the former foggy bottomfeeders interpret as "unqualified support" for israel a current policy that: 1] excludes israel from a place the international war on terror 2] insists on carving a plo state out of the heart of the land of israel 3] endorses a plot by israel's own prime minister to abandon strategically vital areas to plo rule, after rendering them judenrein 4] refuses to honor a pledge to place the u.s. embassy to israel in jerusalem, as repeatedly mandated by the u.s. congress 5] subjects israelis and american jews alike to the snappish commands of condoleeza rice 6] takes yasser arafat under its protection to the signatories and their british counterparts, the sinful folly of their governments is not openly accommodating arab demands for the death of israel. in their former careers they achieved policy failures costly to their own countries and to the middle east. but they achieved success in providing for themselves by way of arab petro-dollars. [issue 12, 25] the experience of these diplomats is examined in "the arabists and the anti-zionists," by joel mowbray, who regularly reports on the u.s. department of state. from frontpagemagazine, 5 may 2004: "reflecting the perverse logic that has guided the u.s. state department for decades, sixty former diplomats have written an open letter to president bush denouncing the current administration's "unabashed support" for the sole democracy in the middle east: israel. "the hyperbolic screed, released this week, is chock-full of gross overstatements and pure myth. "yet far more important -- and what the media will almost surely overlook -- is the stench of bias emanating from almost all of the signers, particularly from the man who organized the effort, former ambassador andrew killgore, who served in qatar from 1977-1980. "the two-page letter follows the same basic script that has been used by the u.s. foreign service more or less since israel achieved its independence in 1948: the israeli-palestinian conflict is at the core of the problems in the middle east. [...] "[m]any of them have made their golden years truly 'golden' indeed, courtesy of the deep pockets of the arab nations in which they formerly were stationed. killgore, the moving force behind the letter, is co-founder and
publisher of the journal washington report on middle east
affairs, that denounces tolerance for the mere existence of
israel. * * * * * * * a person who finances a theatrical production is known as an "angel". the european union has been an angel for israelis undermining their own countries. [issue 12, 26, 35] it subsidizes yossi beilin to funnel their funding of the plo, and switzerland financed the show put on for his pernicious "geneva accords". (perhaps the swiss deemed this an appropriate use for the money they confiscated from the bank accounts of jews who died in the holocaust.) the eu also provided funds for the four mothers, the women who purloined the affectionate title for israel's biblical matriarchs. their agitation against israel holding a terror-barrier security zone at the lebanese border did much to precipitate the ignominious flight that endangers israel's population and encourages its enemies. a chief of hezbollah expects more of the same kind of help: "we have great patience in our war with the jews. for just as
their "four mothers" [movement] came and got them out of lebanon, soon
a few thousand of them will come to their public squares and demand
that they leave the occupied territories [sic]. in the end, we will
win." other israeli circles of similar ilk also enjoy foreign subsidies. >from "jewish spies against israel," by david bedein, israel resource review, 16 may 2004: "this week, the israeli 'peace now' organization revealed that it has been conducting aerial surveillance of israeli jewish communities in judea, jerusalem and samaria in order to determine the extent of settlement expansion. at the same time, the israeli knesset parliamentary interior committee held a special session to discuss foreign government funding of israeli leftwing movements. "documents shared with the knesset interior committee confirmed that the peace now organization received a budget in the amount of 50,000 euros from the government of finland to conduct intelligence activities in jewish communities in judea, samaria, the golan, gaza and jerusalem. "the knesset committee examined a peace now grant application to the government of finland that indicated how peace now intended to use the grant. this included regular bi-monthly ground surveys to be conducted with the purpose of documenting the numbers of empty houses in settlements and ongoing construction in settlements. this work engages tens of volunteers, who travel around the west bank in cars (armored if possible) tracking developments. [...] "despite its insistence that it is an "educational foundation" that seeks to serve the israeli public, it is obvious that peace now is far from being an indigenous israeli organization, functioning instead as an agent for foreign governments. in fact, it indicated in the finnish grant request that it also received $100,000 from the americans and 150,000 euros from 'european foundations' for its 'settlement watch project'. "a spokesperson for peace now stated that the 'european foundations' mentioned in their grant request to the finnish government were actually funds from the european union. in other words, peace now receives the bulk of its funding from other foreign european governments, few of which have been favorable to israel's plight in the war on terror. "the israel penal code for espionage was distributed to knesset interior committees, and clause 3 defines 'photography of sensitive areas of israel for any foreign power' as an act of espionage, punishable by ten years imprisonment if convicted. [...]" "apart from the matter of funding, the major problem is that peace now documents sensitive information that can be used to jeopardize not only israel's public, but also its military. the peace now settlement expansion maps include military installations and the maps are featured in all plo offices. israeli army bases have been attacked and israeli soldiers killed. these are the sons and daughters of israel drafted to protect the country against a dangerous and heinous enemy. "thus, peace now is not engaged in a simple matter of documenting settlements; rather, the organization provides information that can easily used against israel. in these cases, every bit of information counts. everything is relevant when it comes to protecting the people of israel. "for instance, in late may 2002, a settlement watch group organized by the "christian peace makers team" reported to its e-mail list that it had successfully photographed the fence surrounding the carmei tzur settlement. the cpt proudly reported that it had shown several breaches in the fence. the next day, the csm met with the fateh (arafat's mainstream terror group) in bethlehem. two days later, late at night, armed members of the fateh infiltrated the carmei tzur settlement at the precise breach that the cpt had photographed. the fateh used that breach to murder a civilian couple in their bed. the wife was eight months pregnant. "the decision will now rest with israel's legal system whether and how to enforce the espionage clauses of the israel penal code for those organizations who choose to photograph the most sensitive landscapes of israel on the payroll and at the behest of foreign governments." thus peace now is not only an agent of foreign interests, it is an accomplice to murder. it is not clear how the taxpayers of finland benefit from being its angel. * * * * * * * there is a saying that "nations get the governments they deserve". this is not true for israel. for too many years past, the civilians and the soldiers of israel have lived and died under governments not worthy of its citizens. at the moment, the heads of the three major parties are: 1] prime minister ariel sharon of thelikud party in office, sharon has betrayed virtually every principle he declared and every promise he made when out of office and/or campaigning for office. [issue 37, 39, 40]. he has sown contention and distrust, and imposed senseless new stresses on a nation and people already burdened with massive stress. when his own party opposed his ill-considered plan for disengagement [that is, unilaterial surrender] he concocted a divisive and costly referendum meant to prove support for him. the vote came out 60-40 percent against him. in response, he ignores the results of his own referendum and goes on with the plan so resoundingly rejected. he could not rally the required majority approval from the cabinet, whose members are not appointed by him but elected leaders of their various parties with the right to decide their own votes. so he fired cabinet ministers for the sole offense of planning to vote against his plan -- a tactic abhorrent by any standard of political decency. 2] leader of the opposition shimon peres of the labor party in the early days of peres's political career, moshe sharett expressed his distress at the thought that peres might ever reach real power. golda meir despised him. yitzhak rabin described him a perpetual schemer. peres managed to become prime minister several times without ever winning an election. he has also held various other portfolios, among them the foreign ministry. it was as foreign minister that he was the arch-perpetrator of the accursed oslo accords, that he managed to foist on a nation that did not want them. the most dire predictions of the disasters to come in the wake of those accords proved all too prescient, but peres still insists that "oslo" was the right thing to do and will yet prevail. he does not at the moment hold any ministry, but wanders around the united states and other countries to tell the world that israel has no moral rights in judea, samaria, gaza and the golan. sharon does not dispute him on this. 3] minister of justice yosef "tommy" lapid, head of the shinui
[change] party.
lapid is a former journalist and television personality who got public attention as a raucous vulgarian. he launched his political career on a campaign of contempt for and ridicule of all who clings to any shred of judaism, in observance, tradition, or culture. his expressed aspiration for israeli society is that everyone should eat pork on shabbat. wynken, blynken and nod among senior cabinet members are mr. foreign minister sylvan shalom, mr. finance minister binyamin netanyahu, and madam education minister limor livnat. netanyahu and livnat did not like the quartet's roadmap. they would
not vote to approve it. they would not vote to reject it. they
courageously abstained on this fateful decision, and so helped it to
pass. netanyahu did make his abstention conditional on attaching 14
points of his own devising. it is not clear what the 14 points were,
but they were in any case pointless since condoleeza rice had ruled
the terms of the roadmap to be "non-negotiable". the 14 points,
whatever they were, have not been heard of since. on sharon's disengagement plot, shalom as well as netanyahu and
livnat first said "no". then they said "maybe". then they said "yes,
but ... " then they said they would vote for it but not campaign for
it. first they declared that the referendum vote is binding. then they
backed sharon in overturning it. the sad irony is that those abroad who sincerely believe themselves
friends of israel -- as indeed they are -- suppose that supporting the
plots of its incumbent officeholders is the same as supporting israel
and its best interests. it is not. * * * * * * * and the lord spoke to moses saying "send men to scout the land of
canaan, which i am giving to the israelite people. ... at the end of forty days they returned from scouting the land ...
and they made their report ... they spread calumnies among the israelites about the land they had
scouted, saying "the country that we traversed and scouted is one that
devours its settlers... and we looked like grasshoppers to
ourselves." -- numbers 13:1, 25, 32-33 of the twelve scouts, only joshua and caleb dissented from this
majority report. only they lived to enter the promised land. and
today, too, not all scouts -- not even all politicians -- are
grasshoppers. there are still some who have not given way to moral and
intellectual collapse. there are still some who will stand against
what they know is wrong, even if it means losing their posts and
perquisites. natan sharansky stood by his conscience at the cost of nine years
in a cell in the soviet gulag. he is now a minister in the government
of israel. his explanation of his vote on sharon's plan is set forth
in sharansky equates withdrawal with the sin of the spies," israel
national news (arutz sheva), 31 may 2004: "the government of israel is poised to make a historic and
unprecedented decision, ... to dismantle and destroy flowering
jewish communities, not as the result of a comprehensive peace
agreement, but rather out of despair and fear. "this is possibly the first time this has happened in our history
since the sin of the spies ... so it doesn't matter if it's made a
week later or a week earlier; it must not be made at all! ... "[because] there is no one to talk to on the other side, and
because some of the ministers feel that the nation can't just keep on
going like this from terror attack to terror attack, they therefore
seek a 'wonder solution' with these so dangerous ramifications." "[it is] very strange, that after this referendum -- a festival of
democracy, many called it, in which the voters were allowed to make
their own decision and weren't forced to follow their leader -- and
then the leader ignores the results! he [sharon] says that he is
responsible not just for one party, but for the entire nation -- but
if that's so, then he must first of all be responsible that the
democratic character of the jewish state be maintained. instead, this
is a blow both to the jewish nature and the democratic character at
once. "it's important that we, those who object to this plan, talk all
the time about the ideology -- our history, the large picture, the
running away from terrorism, etc. i tried today to do this, i even
quoted the first rashi [arutz sheva comment: 11th-century biblical
commentator, whose explanation to the first verse in the torah
emphasizes the divine bonds between the land of israel and the people
of israel] -- i felt that this was important, for one thing, because
since the departure of elyakim rubenstein [the former attorney-general
who generally participated in cabinet meetings], we haven't had people
reading from the [religious] sources, so i tried to do this [...]" * * * * * * * the ninth day of the month of av in the hebrew calendar has from ancient times been a day of mourning and fasting. on that date in 587 bce, the babylonians destroyed jerusalem, burnt the first temple, and took the jews into exile. on that date in 70 ce, the romans destroyed jerusalem, burnt the second temple, and drove the jews into exile. on that date in 1492 ce, the jews were expelled from spain where they had dwelt for 1000 years. sharon's plan to bestow gaza on terrorists and egyptians dates the
completion of forcible removal of jews form their homes to 25 august
2005, that will fall on the ninth of av. to go to top figuring out u.s. policy on israel posted by richard h. shulman, june 28, 2004. friends of israel are supposed to be reassured about the us
attitude towards israel when the us president meets cordially with
israel's prime minister and refers to the historical ties between the
two countries. that boilerplate diplomatic language does not reassure
me. all the more so it does not, for it reminds me of the historical
injuries the state dept. inflicted on israel, such as insistence upon
ceasefires when israel was defeating the arab aggressors, calls for
israeli pullbacks, arming the arabs, condoning terrorism against
israel, and double standards towards the jewish state. other people are reassured each time congress authorizes financial
aid to israel. people ought to notice that the arabs get as much aid,
primarily used to prepare for war on israel. the us threatens to
withhold aid unless israel offers the arabs concessions that would
have the effect of facilitating that war. the us is superficially friendly towards israel and devastatingly
demanding upon it. commentators react to individual us press releases about the arabs
and about israel. i compare us statements made to the arabs and to
israel. their pattern contradicts the commentators' conclusions from
the individual releases. analyzing the treatment of the two sides
together provides a more reliable context. basically, the us makes firm demands upon israel and vague ones
upon the arabs. of the two sides, one side breaks its agreements,
incites its people to violence against the other, organizes terrorism,
and lacks constructive purpose. the other side keeps its agreements
until it concludes the other side is not cooperating at all, urges its
people to tolerance, sometimes fights back against terrorism, and has
positive purposes. as you can guess, the first side is the arab's, the
second is israel's. if the us were either objective in its alleged anti-terrorism or sincere in its professions of alliance with israel, it would condemn the arabs and sympathize with israel. generally, the us does the opposite. it condemns israeli policy and action, but includes some face-saving expression about understanding israel's need for security. the us never quite understands israel's need for security enough to endorse its anti-terrorism measures for long. these measures are much like those the us institutes in iraq. in response to israeli security measures, the us lectures israel
that its security fence would prejudge borders, its checkpoints make
life hard on the arabs, etc.. all the us concern is about the arabs,
and none about the innocent israelis' hardships. the us may suggest
that the arabs "try harder" to repress terrorism, but that is pro
forma, too soft to be meaningful. since the p.a. incites, finances,
and manages most terrorism, such us statements may be seen as phony. therefore, the import of the us pressure on israel, its
micro-managing of israeli settlements, and its threats to review its
supposedly solid relationship with israel unless israel does what it
wants, shows not mere hostility, but a plan to force israel out of the
territories, to be replaced there by a terrorist state. (even a
non-terrorist arab state would become a confrontation state, and
israel would be deprived of its core historical homeland and strategic
borders. israel should prejudge its borders, to make sure they are
secure! certainly the arabs do not deserve still another state.) oh, not really a terrorist state, the us would reply -- the road map
calls for an end to arab terrorism. that call is a mere formality. it
is not backed up by a plan for implementation. all the planning for
implementation is for the real us goal: israeli withdrawal and
appeasement of the arabs. the call does not state that ending
terrorism is a prerequisite for israeli withdrawal, nor how long the
arab steps should take, nor what would measure their success. neither
do they allow for any israeli control to ensure that the
anti-terrorism ever is done. the map stacks the deck against israel.
do not be deceived by bush's original speech and plan, no longer in
effect. richard shulman is a veteran defender of israel on several web-based
forums. he provides cool information and right-on-target overviews. he
distributes his essays by email. to subscribe, write him at
ricshulman@aol.com. to go to top a letter to my sons on the world situation posted by isralert, june 28, 2004. this was written by a retired attorney, to his sons, on may 19, 2004. isralert@aol.com source: subscriber posey mcmillan, fort worth, tx dear tom, kevin, kirby and ted, as your father, i believe i owe it to you to share some thoughts on
the present world situation. we have over the years discussed a lot of
important things, like going to college, jobs and so forth. but this
really takes precedence over any of those discussions. i hope this
might give you a longer term perspective that fewer and fewer of my
generation are left to speak to. to be sure you understand that this
is not politically flavored, i will tell you that since franklin
roosevelt, who led us through pre and wwii (1933 - 1945) up to and
including our present president, i have, without exception, supported
our presidents on all matters of international conflict. this would
include just naming a few in addition to president roosevelt - wwii:
president truman - korean war 1950; president kennedy - bay of pigs
(1961); president kennedy - vietnam (1961) [1]; eight presidents (five
republicans & four democrats) during the cold war (1945 - 1991);
president clinton's strikes on bosnia (1995) and on iraq (1998). so be
sure you read this as completely non-political or otherwise you will
miss the point. [2] our country is now facing the most serious threat to its existence, as we know it, that we have faced in your lifetime and mine (which includes wwii). the deadly seriousness is greatly compounded by the fact that there are very few of us who think we can possibly lose this war and even fewer who realize what losing really means. first, let's examine a few basics: 1. when did the threat to us start? many will say september 11th, 2001. the answer as far as the us is
concerned is 1979, 22 years prior to september 2001, with the
following attacks on us: iran embassy hostages, 1979; beirut, lebanon
embassy 1983; beirut, lebanon marine barracks 1983; lockerbie,
scotland pan-am flight to new york 1988; first new york world trade
center attack 1993; dhahran, saudi arabia khobar towers military
complex 1996; nairobi, kenya us embassy 1998; dar es salaam, tanzania
us embassy 1998; aden, yemen uss cole 2000; new york world trade
center 2001; pentagon 2001. (during the period from 1981 to 2001 there
were 7,581attacks worldwide). [3] 2. why were we attacked?
envy of our position, our success, and our freedoms. the attacks happened during the administrations of presidents carter, reagan, bush 1, clinton and bush 2. we cannot fault either the republicans or democrats as there were no provocations by any of the presidents or their immediate predecessors, presidents ford or carter. 4. who were the attackers?
in each case, the attacks on the us were carried out by muslims. 5. what is the muslim population of the world?
25% 6. isn't the muslim religion peaceful? hopefully, but that is really not material. there is no doubt that
the predominately christian population of germany was peaceful, but
under the dictatorial leadership of hitler that made no difference.
you either went along with the administration or you were eliminated.
there were 5 to 6 million christians killed by the nazis for political
reasons (including 7,000 polish priests). (see
http://www.nazis.testimony.co.uk/7-a.htm). thus, almost the same
number of christians were killed by the nazis, as the 6 million
holocaust jews who were killed by them, and we seldom heard of
anything other than the jewish atrocities. although hitler kept the
world focused on the jews, he had no hesitancy about killing anyone
who got in his way of exterminating the jews or of taking over the
world - german, christian or any others. same with the muslim
terrorists. they focus the world on the us, but kill all in the way -
their own people or the spanish, french or anyone else. ... the point
here is that just like the peaceful germans were of no protection to
anyone from the nazis, no matter how many peaceful muslims there may
be, they are no protection for us from the terrorist muslim leaders
and what they are fanatically bent on doing - by their own
pronouncements - killing all of us infidels. i don't blame the
peaceful muslims. what would you do if the choice was shut up or die? 7. so who are we at war with? there is no way we can honestly respond that it is anyone other
than the muslim terrorists. trying to be politically correct and avoid
verbalizing this conclusion can well be fatal. there is no way to win
if you don't clearly recognize and articulate who you are fighting. so with that background, now to the two major questions: a. can we lose this war? b. what does losing really mean? if we are to win, we must clearly answer these two pivotal questions. we can definitely lose this war, and as anomalous as it may sound,
the major reason we can lose is that so many of us simply do not
fathom the answer to the second question - what does losing mean? it
would appear that a great many of us think that losing the war means
hanging our heads, bringing the troops home and going on about our
business, like post vietnam. this is as far from the truth as one can
get. what losing really means is:
we would no longer be the premier country in the world. the attacks will not subside, but rather will steadily increase. remember, they want us dead, not just quiet. if they had just wanted us quiet, they would not have produced an increasing series of attacks against us over the past 18 years. the plan was clearly to terrorist attack us until we were neutered and submissive to them. we would of course have no future support from other nations for fear of reprisals and for the reason that they would see we are impotent and cannot help them. they will pick off the other non-muslim nations, one at a time. it will be increasingly easier for them. they already hold spain hostage. it doesn't matter whether it was right or wrong for spain to withdraw its troops from iraq. spain did it because the muslimists bombed their train and told them to withdraw the troops. anything else they want spain to do, will be done. spain is finished. the next will probably be france. our one hope on france is that they might see the light and realize that if we don't win, they are finished too, in that they can't resist the muslimists without us. however, it may already be too late for france. france is already 20% muslim and fading fast. see the attached article on the french condition by tom segel. [4] if we lose the war, our production, income, exports and way of life
will all vanish as we know it. after losing, who would trade or deal
with us if they were threatened by the muslims. if we can't stop the
muslims, how could anyone else? the muslims fully know what is riding
on this war and therefore are completely committed to winning at any
cost. we better know it too and be likewise committed to winning at
any cost. why do i go on at such lengths about the results of losing? simple.
until we recognize the costs of losing, we cannot unite and really put
100% of our thoughts and efforts into winning. and it is going to take
that 100% effort to win. so, how can we lose the war? again, the answer is simple. we can
lose the war by imploding. that is, defeating ourselves by refusing to
recognize the enemy and their purpose and really digging in and
lending full support to the war effort. if we are united, there is no
way that we can lose. if we continue to be divided, there is no way
that we can win. let me give you a few examples of how we simply don't comprehend the life and death seriousness of this situation. - president bush selects norman mineta as secretary of
transportation. although all of the terrorist attacks were committed
by muslim men between 17 and 40 years of age, secretary mineta refuses
to allow profiling. does that sound like we are taking this thing
seriously? this is war. for the duration we are going to have to give
up some of the civil rights we have become accustomed to. we had
better be prepared to lose some of our civil rights temporarily or we
will most certainly lose all of them permanently. and don't worry that it is a slippery slope. we gave up plenty of civil rights during wwii and immediately restored them after the victory and in fact added many more since then. do i blame president bush or president clinton before him? no, i blame us for blithely assuming we can maintain all of our political correctness and all of our civil rights during this conflict and have a clean, lawful, honorable war. none of those words apply to war. get them out of your head. - some have gone so far in their criticism of the war and/or the administration that it almost seems they would literally like to see us lose. i hasten to add that this isn't because they are disloyal. it is because they just don't recognize what losing means. nevertheless, that conduct gives the impression to the enemy that we are divided and weakening, it concerns our friends, and it does great damage to our cause. - of more recent vintage, the uproar fueled by the politicians and media regarding the treatment of some prisoners of war perhaps exemplifies best what i am saying. we have recently had an issue involving the treatment of a few muslim prisoners of war by a small group of our military police. these are the type prisoners who just a few months ago were throwing their own people off buildings, cutting off their hands, cutting out their tongues and otherwise murdering their own people just for disagreeing with saddam hussein. and just a few years ago these same type prisoners chemically killed 400,000 of their own people for the same reason. they are also the same type enemy fighters who recently were burning americans and dragging their charred corpses through the streets of iraq. and still more recently the same type enemy that was and is providing videos to all news sources internationally, of the beheading of an american prisoner they held. compare this with some of our press and politicians who for several days have thought and talked about nothing else but the "humiliating" of some muslim prisoners - not burning them, not dragging their charred corpses through the streets, not beheading them, but "humiliating" them. can this be for real? the politicians and pundits have even talked of impeachment of the secretary of defense. if this doesn't show the complete lack of comprehension and understanding of the seriousness of the enemy we are fighting, the life and death struggle we are in and the disastrous results of losing this war, nothing can. to bring our country to a virtual political standstill over this prisoner issue makes us look like nero playing his fiddle as rome burned - totally oblivious to what is going on in the real world. neither we, nor any other country, can survive this internal strife. again i say, this does not mean that some of our politicians or media people are disloyal. it simply means that they absolutely oblivious to the magnitude of the situation we are in and into which the muslim ists have been pushing us for many years. remember, the muslimists stated goal is to kill all infidels. that translates into all non-muslims - not just in the united states, but throughout the world. we are the last bastion of defense. - we have been criticized for many years as being 'arrogant'. that charge is valid in at least one respect. we are arrogant in that we believe that we are so good, powerful and smart, that we can win the hearts and minds of all those who attack us, and that with both hands tied behind our back, we can defeat anything bad in the world. we can't. if we don't recognize this, our nation as we know it will not survive, and no other free country in the world will survive if we are defeated. and finally, name any muslim countries throughout the world that allow freedom of speech, freedom of thought, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, equal rights for anyone - let alone everyone, equal status or any status for women, or that have been productive in one single way that contributes to the good of the world. this has been a long way of saying that we must be united on this war or we will be equated in the history books to the self-inflicted fall of the roman empire. if, that is, the muslim leaders will allow history books to be written or read. if we don't win this war right now, keep a close eye on how the muslims take over france in the next 5 years or less. they will continue to increase the muslim population of france and continue to encroach little by little on the established french traditions. the french will be fighting among themselves over what should or should not be done, which will continue to weaken them and keep them from any united resolve. doesn't that sound eerily familiar? democracies don't have their freedoms taken away from them by some external military force. instead, they give their freedoms away, politically correct piece by politically correct piece. and they are giving those freedoms away to those who have shown, worldwide, that they abhor freedom and will not apply it to you or even to themselves, once they are in power. they have universally shown that when they have taken over, they then start brutally killing each other over who will be the few who control the masses. will we ever stop hearing from the politically correct, about the "peaceful muslims"? i close on a hopeful note, by repeating what i said above. if we are united, there is no way that we can lose. i believe that after the election, the factions in our country will begin to focus on the critical situation we are in and will unite to save our country. it is your future we are talking about. do whatever you can to preserve it. love, dad [1] by the way on vietnam, the emotions are still so high
that it is really not possible to discuss it. however, i think
president kennedy was correct. he felt there was a communist threat
from china, russia and north vietnam to take over that whole area.
also remember that we were in a 'cold war' with russia. i frankly
think kennedy's plan worked and kept that total communist control out,
but try telling that to anyone now. it just isn't politically correct
to say so. historians will answer this after cool headed research,
when the people closest to it are all gone. [2] as you know, i support president bush and will vote for him.
however, if senator kerry is elected, i will fully support him on all
matters of international conflict, just as i have supported all
presidents in the past. [3] source for statistics in par. 1 is http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/a0001454.html [4] "the french-muslim connection", by thomas d. segel, may 4, 2004 there are more than one billion muslims in the world. the largest
muslim population, totaling 180 million, is in indonesia. it is
followed by 125 million in pakistan, bangladesh with 109 million and
india with 84 million. the remainder is spread through 100 countries,
including an estimated 5 million muslims in france. though the figure 5 million may not seem large when viewed next to the populations of countries such as indonesia, it still represents almost twenty percent of the people in france. what it has done to this western nation is negatively impact it so severely that it may soon lose its european identity. in fact, if the birth rate continues as projected, france will have a muslim majority in less than 25 years. according to the international limits to growth organization writer brenda walker, "france should be seen as a cautionary tale of immigration run amok, and how quickly things can get out of control. muslim immigration to france is a post-war phenomenon for the most part. just a few decades of high immigration of a group with high fertility has put france in the unenviable position of being the european nation thought most likely to be the first to introduce sharia (islamic) law. the constant appeasement attitude of officials has also been seen to embolden the muslim population into making strong demands on the country. as they grow in numbers most french muslims feel they can impose the will of islam on the entire country. there is also the threat of violence, which is always a concern by french leaders. they have already seen an increase in crime and violence against women among the arab immigrants. starting in the year 2000, following the intifada uprising, france started to experience an escalation of crimes against its jewish citizens. six synagogues were burned down in less than three weeks. the perpetrators were muslims. by 2002 france was experiencing 12 anti-semitic incidents daily. the muslim population had grown 10 times larger than the country's jewish community and by sheer numbers had placed themselves in a position where anti-semitism seemed to no longer be a concern of those in government. today french muslims outnumber all non-catholic ethnic and religious factions in the country combined, including protestants and jews. also frightening to the french government is the lack of assimilation into national identity by these immigrants. decades of immigration have produced a large class of young men who claim islam, not france, as their identity and consider crime as an acceptable life style. as france became more and more concerned about the attitudes of its muslims, more forms of appeasement were offered. the muslim brotherhood, which is an outlaw organization in egypt was given official status and allowed to preach its message of hate. one of the botherhood's basic themes is "it is a duty to kill in the name of allah." france also decided to make muslims more mainstream by giving them a national council. what was thought would be a voice of muslim moderation became instead the voice of radical islam. by the time the united states was seeking united nations resolutions on iraq the french-muslim connection was so strong that as a country they preferred an iraqi victory and strongly rejected the united states position. there are many who feel that france lives in such fear of a violent uprising by its muslim population that it can never take a strong western position on anything. there are writers such as guy milierre who have remarked, "france behaves more and more as if she does not belong to the west any more and as though she is the leader of the third world." if this fear of its own population does not seem possible to the reader, consider this:
ten arab men were convicted of raping a teenage girl. the arab families left the court shouting revenge. eight days later the court was burned to the ground and the girl along with her family had to flee for their lives. more than 23,000 french prison inmates are muslim, this is more than six times the proportion of muslims to the overall french population. from marseille to paris synagogues have been destroyed, jewish men, women and children have been attacked, and schools and school buses of jews have been stoned. even with the strong anti-semitic violence so openly displayed, few officials speak out and fewer members of the media report the incidents. with all of this as a background al qaeda is rapidly recruiting new members. in france the terrorist organization, according to best estimates, has created military style units of between 35 and 45 thousand men. isralert, a jewish advocacy network, is hosted by harv weiner. to
subscribe to isralert, send an email to isralert@aol.com to go to top praying for freedom of religion in the holy land! posted by ruth and nadia matar, june 28, 2004. the rebuilding of the third temple on mount moriah seems to be a long way off. first we must prevent the arabs from controlling the temple mount, which is no easy feat. at present they are not permitting jews or christians to pray at this holy site. in the present atmosphere of dependence on arab oil, there are few who would dare bring about a change in the present status. certainly, not the present jewish government, which is extremely wary of being criticized by the un and the other nations who are pushing the saudi road map. still, the almighty is a potent force on our side, and miracles in israel can happen, and usually do. prayer is therefore our most important recourse. on tisha b'av we mourn the loss of the first and second temples which occurred on this tragic day. for the walk around the walls of the old city of holy jerusalem, we expect, as usual, a huge turnout for this major spiritual event. you are reminded that you can be present in spirit by sponsoring someone to walk in your behalf at $25. for each walker. such donation will help pay for the large costs involved in holding this spiritual event. these costs include ambulances which are to be available because of the security situation. these ambulance are required by the police before they issue a permit. there are, of course, the usual huge expenditures for the advertising of this event - by putting up color posters throughout the country, and advertising the event on radio, television and in the newspapers. women in green shall be observing, for the tenth consecutive year, this ancient custom of walking around the walled city of holy jerusalem. however, we shall be insisting on our right, and the right of everyone, to pray on the temple mount. after all, mount moriah where the first and second temples were located, is where the third temple will eventually be built. it is the holiest site of the jewish people, the very people who have been miraculously restored to their ancient homeland by the will of the almighty. ruth and nadia matar established women for israel's tomorrow
(women in green), an activist group of women based in jerusalem. their
website address is http://www.womeningreen.org to go to top israel is mourning the passing of its most loved songwriter, naomi shemer posted by judy lash balint, june 28, 2004. this essay was written by leiah elbaum, who lives in modi'in she can be reached at leiah@elbaum.org naomi shemer - the author of anthems such as "jerusalem of gold",
"tomorrow", "lu yehi" and "al kol eleh" - seemed a legendary figure,
the unofficial chronicler of a nation's moods, fears and hopes. her music, her words have accompanied me my entire life, from the
children's songs my mother taught me, to the patriotic and memorial
songs i sang in my school choir, to the jaunty hit playing on the
radio when my future husband first talked about marriage. on hearing the news of her death, her songs flooded my mind. over
twenty years ago, "emtza hatammuz" foresaw her own death: it's sad to die in the middle of tammuz just when the peaches are plentiful when all the fruit is laughing in its basket and upon your summer and your harvest, hoorays have fallen. it's sad to die in the middle of tammuz but in the middle of tammuz i shall die towards the orphaned fruit-gardens hooray after hooray will surely fall and upon your summer - and your harvest - and upon all - it's sad to die in the middle of tammuz. (excerpted from naomi shemer, "emtza hatammuz", 1979 - my free
translation) just as she predicted, naomi shemer died a few days ago on the seventh
day of the hebrew month of tammuz, just as the orchards and markets
are overflowing with the juiciest summer produce - peaches, plums and
nectarines smiling invitingly from their baskets. for me the bittersweet heartbreak in that song typifies shemer.
throughout her work, her passion for life, her desire to grab it with
both hands, is clearly apparent. yet throughout, she seemed unafraid
of death, even her own death, only rueful that she would miss life. she wrote the most optimistic, uplifting, sad songs i know of. even
her most mournful lyrics usually contain a kernel of hope, of
consolation, of continuation, even after the worst tragedy of all. looking back it is striking how many of her most well known songs
touch on her own mortality. in the early days of her career, back in
the 1950s, she had a hit with the semi-autobiographical song "noa": noa was born in a field between stones and grass noa washed her face in the dew and plucked a daisy from the field... noa wandered far from the grass, from the stones the dew wiped away from her curls a hundred daisies watched after her... noa is there in the field between stones and grass the dew sings her a final song and the daisies of the field with their beautiful petals weep for her... (excerpted from naomi shemer "noa", 1958 - my rough translation) to me it seemed that she was simply someone who was comfortable with
the natural cycle of the world. just as she was inspired by the
landscape and by nature, so she could accept that each life had its
end, part of that simple, eternal way of the world, and this is where
her optimism came from. perhaps encapsulting her view of life and her understanding of her
legacy, is "to sing is like to be the jordan": to sing is like to be the jordan: you start up top in the north young, chilled, bubbling and cheeky you hear birds in the thickets and each one of them is a bird of paradise because to sing is like to be the jordan your days rush like the jordan like it you flow south on the banks wild grasses grow but onwards-onwards-onwards flow your waters
for your days
rush like the jordan your end is to perish like the jordan to be gathered slowly into the dead sea in the lowest place on earth but at the peaks of the snowy mountains in a jubilant tumult after you your songs are trickling on for to sing is like to be the jordan (naomi shemer "lashir zeh kmo lihiyot yarden", 1972 - my free translation) shemer was born and grew up in kibbutz kvutzat kinneret, on the shore
of the sea of galilee. from the kibbutz you look over the lake and see
the towering golan heights and snow capped mount hermon, and nearby
the river jordan flows south from the lake, down through the jordan
rift valley. the region features in many of her songs, most famously
in 1963's "the eucalyptus grove". it was a landscape she felt at one with, one which shaped her love of
the land of israel, her closeness to nature, but also her view of the
world, her feeling that life was stronger than everything, that just
as the seasons constantly renewed, so even after we are gone, our
legacy, our mark on the world, will continually renew itself and feed
new life. this closeness to the natural cycles of the land of israel, coupled
with her deep knowledge of the bible, its text also steeped in natural
imagery, is part of what made her work so israeli, so uniquely part of
this country and so closely tied both to ancient israel and to the
modern state. in part this is why she touched such a chord among israelis, becoming
our unofficial "national songwriter". in her prolific career she wrote
just about every type of song: bright nonsense songs for army
entertainment troupes and musicals, simple children's songs, patriotic
epics, translations of french chansons and yiddish ballads and acres
of whimsical love songs. but the lyrics which most touched the nation
were usually these bittersweet, optimistic songs about living in this
often unpredictable part of the world. the refrain of "emtza tammuz", "and upon your summer and your harvest,
hoorays have fallen", comes from isaiah 16. yet it blends seamlessly
with the modern hebrew imagery, just as she herself, a secular tel
avivian from a kibbutz, was nevertheless equally at home with the
bible and the teachings of rabbi nahman of breslav or reb
menahem-mendl of kotsk. for me her crowning glory was the way in which she used hebrew
language. the most able poetic translator, let alone my poor attempts,
cannot do justice in trying to convey her work to the english reader.
a member of the academy of the hebrew language, she was one of our
nation's most capable wordsmiths, her words strong enough, deep
enough, to stand as poetry in their own right, even devoid of the
beautifully stirring melodies she composed for them. i saw her live in concert many times. as a child my mother took me to
several of her one woman performances. just she and her piano looked
very small on a huge stage, yet filled the entire auditorium with the
most vibrant energy. a few years ago, despite her ill health, she went on tour again,
accompanied by three other performers. this time she was clearly
weaker, remaining seated, letting her companions sing many of the
numbers. yet still, when she spoke, when she sang, you felt
invigorated by her bright enthusiasm, her passion for life, her frank
straightforwardness, that humorous twinkle with which she faced
illness and death. i cannot but help thinking of her with joy, of her tremendous joie de
vivre, someone who knew how to live. in 1988 the state of israel
celebrated its fortieth anniversary, but the first intifada was at its
height. a mood of national depression cast a damper over the
festivities. shemer responded with the following song: my celebration went out to perform in the streets barefoot at high-noon they caught her, the guards who wander the town. why do you dance and why does your voice rejoice? better that you should sing protest songs that's what goes these days that's what goes my celebration replied - i will dance and sing until my soul departs because my joy is my protest and that is the real protest (excerpted from naomi shemer, "al rosh simhati", 1988, my free
translation) may her memory be blessed. jerusalem diaries: in tense times by judy lash balint (gefen) is available for purchase from www.israelbooks.com to go to top 3-year old child and a grandfather murdered at kindergarten this morning posted by wendy sutherland, june 27, 2004. (1) is an update today from israel government press office.
(2.) is a commentary on this morning's terror attack
by jack golbert, lawyer, jerusalem, israel. (1.) update: "2 dead in sderot kassam rocket attack" (gpo 2) update: israel tv ch2 reporting that second person, a
3-year-old child (previously reported to be in serious condition), has
been murdered by kassam rocket that fell on neveh eshkol neighborhood
in sderot (adjacent to kindergarten), earlier this morning. current
figures: 2 dead, at least 7 wounded. (comm by gpo) (2) "commentary on this morning's terror attack"
by jack golbert, lawyer, jerusalem, israel during that long-ago episode which israelis agreed to call by the
nice name of "intifadah," back in 1988 and the years following, when
arabs called "palestinians" were pelting our cars with
grapefruit-sized stones as we passed on the highway, the government
gave us plastic film for our car windows and then when that didn't
work, plastic windows that would certainly repel at least the first
stone. the infantry put similar protection on its own vehicles. we
thought that if they ever used live fire, it would become an ordinary
infantry problem and israel would deal with it in an ordinary infantry
way. that is to say, the infantry would go into the civilian areas
where the live fire originated and search from house to house, room to
room, looking for guns and gunmen and hit each stone floor tile, every
block in every wall looking for hollow places where ammunition,
explosives and other contraband might be hidden. the infantry would
flush out the terrorists and their accomplices and disband their
organization. instead, the government built by-pass roads and put up
concrete barriers to the bullets to keep civilians farther from
trouble, then better barriers to hide behind. when the terrorists (whom the media call "militants") started to fire
mortars and rockets at us, the government bombed empty workshops, as if
those are irreplaceable and noted that, in any case, they fell
harmlessly far from their targets or near their targets but no one was
injured. nothing to worry about. they are just home-made rockets. lo and behold, the arabs who call themselves "palestinians" have a
learning curve and both their rockets and their aim are getting better.
today, a home-made kassem rocket hit its chosen target; a nursery school
full of dangerous 3-year-old zionists. it killed one of them and the
grandfather of another. the government is already pursuing a solution,
however. it is preparing to retreat from the gaza strip from whence this
rocket and many others were fired. but this nursery school was not in one of the hated zionist
"settlements." it was in sederot, on the respectable side of the "green
line." what do the terrorists, whom the media call "militants", have to
do to prove that such distinctions mean nothing? for the arabs who call
themselves "palestinians," all jews are zionists and all of israel is
occupied territory and all israelis are "settlers." even the
3-year-olds. does ariel sharon believe we can run away from the problem? he assuredly
does not. do the members of his cabinet believe that, if israel does
indeed leave the gaza strip, the terrorists will abandon terrorism and
stop firing rockets at israelis? if they do, then either they suffer
from insane delusions or else they are terminally stupid. they certainly know that israel cannot run away from the problem.
running away only allows the terrorists to set up bases deeper inside
our territory, closer to our cities in a larger area, more difficult to
control. they are preparing to dismantle the homes, farms, businesses
and lives of jews in gush katif for personal reasons of their own:
either they are bribed or blackmailed or both. or they are evil and
intend evil to the jewish nation. there is no other possibility. "they offer healing offhand for the wounds of my
poor people, saying, 'all is well, all is well,' when nothing is well.
they have acted shamefully; they have done abhorrent things - yet they
do not feel shame, they cannot be made to blush. assuredly, they shall
fall among the falling, they shall stumble at the time of their doom -
said hashem." (yirmeyahu 8:11-12) < to go to top democratic because it's jewish posted by moshe feiglin, june 27, 2004. the motto, "a jewish and democratic state", has become meaningless.
aharon barak, with an abundance of tortuous explanations, has drained
its jewish aspect of significance and has in fact declared that what
(in his opinion) is democratic is jewish. the haredim and the national religious jews who are trying to face
the issue are going wrong in the opposite direction. they are giving
up democracy (as it were) in favor of judaism. in other words, they
are accepting the interpretation of the head of the supreme court and
are in fact saying that if democracy means the end of judaism, they
want no part of it. give us a king, who will enforce the wishes of the
almighty. belief-based people who adopt this approach are falling into the
trap twice. the first time, because they are abandoning the most basic
principle in judaism - freedom. the second time, because they are
giving up the sole brake that can halt israel's current slide into
violent totalitarianism, a process that we are now witnessing. to be a jew is to be a free man. the jewish people brought the
message of liberty to the entire world. all human progress from
slavery to a flesh and body king, towards human liberty, starting with
the english magna charta, continuing with the american constitution,
and ending with the french revolution - judaism formed the source of
inspiration for them all, as they publicly declared. the division of authority, the recognition that the king is not the
source of authority but the representative of the sovereignty, and
that he is subject to constant criticism by the parallel institutions
of clarifications and direction (sanhedrin, kehuna), and that all of
them - the king, the institutions, and the people, are equally subject
to the same rules, are the fundamental elements of the modern free
regime, or in other words, the foundations of democracy. however, the term democracy has been made meaningless by the
extremist left that has compared the democratic method to its values.
aharon barak's test of a "civilized person" is an outstanding example
of the way in which the concept of democracy is distorted. it is not
surprising that many people currently tend to throw out the baby with
the bathwater. the term democracy may well have become so distorted
that it can it can no longer be used, just as happened to the term
"israeli" in its original meaning. it may well be preferable to return
to the term "liberty", but it would be a grave error to abandon the
real values forming the basis of the term. it is not easy to understand the meaning of democracy. hundreds of
definitions have been given, and all kinds of people (including mass
murderers) have drawn legitimacy from the term for their own needs.
(examples are the people's democracy of china, or the democratic
elections held by arafat's murder gangs.) however, before trying to
understand why the belief-based public is the sole chance for
democracy in israel, or, if you wish, why israel can be democratic
only as a jewish state, and why, if it abandons its jewish character,
it inevitably acquires totalitarian characteristics, let us examine
israeli reality. it is difficult to call the first days of the state of israel
democracy. ben-gurion's regime after the establishment of the state
was very centralized, the opposition was persecuted with the aid of
close cooperation between the defense establishment and the ruling
party, and great courage and an independent income were required to
oppose the regime. let us therefore focus on the four decades that have elapsed since
the six day war (in which the herut party first entered eshkol's unity
government). it can be said that during this period israel began
really progressing towards a regime based on the fundamentals of
democracy. since 1967 we have been relatively democratic. however, it is easy to point to two occasions during this period in
which israeli democracy retreated towards dictatorship in the guise of
democracy. the separation fence between a free state and a totalitarian one
has no color, nor can it be felt. it can only be discovered using the
sense of smell. and just like any stench, those lying inside it don't
feel it. there have been numerous examples in the 20th century of free
societies that crossed the fence without noticing it, and continued to
believe that they were free and advanced, even when the atmosphere of
freedom was replaced by the stench of dictatorship. as we have said, this fence has been crossed twice since the six day war. the first person to lie on it was yitzhak rabin, and the second, ariel sharon, is doing so now. these leaders were not the first to wish to hand over parts of the
country to the enemy, to destroy entire settlements and drive out
their residents. the first to do so was menahem begin, to his
everlasting ignominy. but begin didn't do this terrible deed while
crossing the fence. he possessed public legitimacy for his action. the
majority of the nation, hypnotized by sadat's visit to jerusalem,
supported him. begin didn't change the rules of the game and fit them
to his needs, but acted in accordance with them. his opponents were
opposed to the retreat, but not to begin. they could not contest begin's legitimacy as the elected democratic
prime minister. rabin and sharon crossed the fence quite blatantly. the hypnotizing
spell of the first camp david conference had faded away, and the
public had already developed the intellectual antibodies needed to
understand what it was really getting. in order to overcome the basic
jewish values, the fundamental loyalty to eretz israel, and jewish
identity, that again played a key role in the public consciousness,
rabin at that time, and sharon now, had to cross the fence separating
democracy and dictatorship, between those people whom rabin
discounted, and his voters, whom he had promised there would be no
talks with the plo. his government was a minority one, and he achieved
the majority necessary for these fateful steps by bribing people such
as segev and goldfarb. in this way, with a fragile coalition, a leader
of a free state initiated a major national decision that split the
nation over fundamental issues. broad popular protest was suppressed
with great violence, and the media, as in every dictatorship,
supported the regime. only in this way could the oslo process, whose
results are well known, be sold to israeli society. the current situation is far more serious. the intensity of the
controversy is unchanged, but the hopes planted at the time of the
oslo process no longer exist. but the fence crossed by sharon has
exactly the same smell. there is no argument about the nature of the majority achieved by
sharon. he lost in the referendum and doesn't deny this. as long as he
has the support of the left, he is not obligated to observe any rules,
not even those he himself fixed. he no longer attempts to bribe his
ministers, but fires them. the human rights of those planned to be
evicted no longer exist. now, just as then, the media have been
recruited to support the regime. "we shall not only evict you and
destroy your homes" (in the name of the new democracy), "we shall also
fix the rules governing how you will be permitted to resist, what
language you may use, and perhaps even the thoughts you will be
permitted to think? if you don't obey, you will be responsible for a
civil war?" not only the media but the courts and the public prosecutor's
department have been recruited. the idea of trying to halt this
madness through an appeal to the high court of justice, based on the
law, "the dignity and freedom of man", is just ridiculous. israeli totalitarianism is now advancing, and all the media are in a
count-down to the day when thousands of citizens will be called on to
pack up their belongings and move to a new place, and every morning on
the state radio arieh golan comes up with a new idea for implementing
the new democracy, such as a unit of sharpshooters deployed on the
roofs and equipped with live ammunition. in such a state of affairs it
will not be surprising if at some stage they start hanging people from
the lamp posts, naturally in the name of the law for dignity and
freedom of man, and in order to protect the values of civilized
persons. this sounds far-fetched? how many arab collaborators were hanged on the lamp posts as a
sacrifice for the oslo process? not only the left looked aside, but
also the right. the high court of justice did not intervene, but
accepted rabin's declaration that "this is a political issue and not a
judicial one". during the rabin era the emperor thought he was dressed and
attempted to persuade the nation of this. at least there was some kind
of plan, and an attempt was made to create the impression of
democracy. however, sharon now knows that he is naked, but doesn't
care. "the referendum was morally but not legally binding." all this
in the name of the "rule of law". and i am the law. this is a time to keep one's distance from the lamp posts. without noticing it, we have fallen into a situation of
dictatorship whose stench is already making itself felt. let us now try and understand what democracy is, and why only a
jewish state can be democratic. the most important feature of democracy is the subservience of both
the ruler and the ruled to the same set of rules. this has been
clearly violated by both rabin and sharon. there are several viewpoints of democracy and i shall only address
two of them: the liberal and the community approaches. the liberal tradition supports a single fundamental criterion, a
universal standpoint that does not recognize a different culture,
tradition, or values. it believes in the values of equality and
freedom of the individual, where the state is intended to serve the
individual only. the state has no purpose and does not represent the
values of its society. the second viewpoint is the community one, according to which a
person needs recognition by society in order to achieve self
awareness, and in this way express his opinion regarding the issues of
morality and values. consequently the community plays a decisive role,
and through it the individual identifies with his country. the
community and the state are assigned an important role in the
realization of the values and identities of the citizens. according to this interpretation, democracy is a method of
government permitting the expression of the basic values of the
society. every society whose basic values are those of freedom can and
must be democratic, but it must fit the lid to the pot, and adopt its
form of democracy to its nature and its unique values. those who
understand democracy using this approach can also understand that the
first democratic approach described, as adopted in israel, must
inevitably lead to dictatorship. the dispute regarding eretz israel is not about territory or
security. the issue of national identity currently finds expression
through eretz israel. those who wish to abandon parts of the country
in fact want to sever the links with their jewish identity. "the jews defeated the israelis", explained shimon peres in an
interview for ha'aretz after he lost to netanyahu. the argument is
between those holding on to their jewish identity and those who wish
to disengage from it and replace it with a new israeli one. the process of disengagement is one of enforcing the new identity
on the vast majority of the nation. consequently it must inevitably
lead to a dictatorship, as is actually happening. only if israel lives
in harmony with its jewish identity, and tries to serve this identity
instead of fighting it, will it also be really democratic. manhigut yehudit (jewish leadership) is a group of people inside
the likud party who want to see israel adopt a more jewish character.
moshe feiglin, its cofounder, has emphatically said he does not want a
theocracy, but he does want a state based on jewish values. the
manhigut yehudit website address is http://www.manhigut.org. to go to top planning to divide the spoils amd continue the war posted by bryna berch, june 27, 2004. this is a news item from today's arutz-7 (http://www.israelnn.com) even as the hamas terrorist organization last week vowed to continue attacks against israel after the gaza withdrawal is completed, other arabs in the palestinian authority are discussing how best to divide the spoils of israeli retreat. hamas spokesman sa'id siam said in an interview over the weekend that his organization "would agree to any solution in stages, but without recognizing the zionist presence on palestinian soil." on the practical level, former pa official and terrorist leader muhammad dahlan called on the "the authority and the palestinian forces" to "make the gaza experience an example that will repeat itself in the west bank." in a conference entitled "after the withdrawal from gaza", sponsored last week by the pa-based women's affairs group, pa economics expert omar sha'aban presented his conclusions as to what steps the pa should take to maximize the economic potential inherent in the communities to be evacuated of jews. in sha'aban's view, the homes in the jewish communities should be demolished, but the public buildings and agricultural lands should be preserved, in order to encourage gazan development. in addition, the economist recommended maintaining the tourist sites developed by the jews, but against letting them fall into private hands in the pa. sha'aban expressed his opinion that the jewish communities could serve as an engine of employment for local pa arabs. also speaking at the conference, muhammad dahlan expressed his objection to sha'aban's suggestion regarding the demolishing of the jews' homes in gush katif. he feels that the homes should also be used for arab needs. dahlan criticized the pa for not seriously debating the issue. meanwhile, nigel roberts, who represents the world bank in the palestinian authority, said on friday of the jews' houses in gaza, "we do not think it makes sense to see these assets transferred to a third party, they should go to the pa." to go to top honest reporting mission roundup posted by honest reporting, june 27, 2004. the first-ever honestreporting leadership mission to israel ended
yesterday. it was a fantastic and inspiring week of interactive
learning, with participants spanning the globe from australia to
brazil and throughout the u.s. some highlights: * at the opening dinner in a scenic courtyard in the old city
of jerusalem, former cabinet minister avigdor lieberman gave a
briefing to mission participants. lieberman brought a newsworthy
perspective, having been dismissed from his cabinet post just two
weeks earlier for opposing the gaza disengagement plan. * at the new and impressive building of the israeli foreign
ministry, the hr mission had a unique opportunity to query a panel of
three top journalists - greg myre of the ny times, david gilbert of
cbs news, and jamil hamad of time magazine - regarding their coverage
of the mideast conflict. regarding the (non-)use of the term 'terrorist', myre said that in
principle the times is open to using the term, but with no official
policy, there are alot of 'grey areas' that crop up. gilbert emphasized the distinction between journalism and the news
business: 'i would like to be practicing more pure journalism, but
we're in the news business, and that means advertisers come into
play.' gilbert indicated that his reports must be compelling to keep
viewers tuned in, and that this necessarily affects coverage of the
mideast conflict. * caroline glick, columnist and deputy managing editor of the jerusalem post, and the only israeli reporter embedded with u.s. troops in iraq, delivered a powerful talk on israel and the west's confrontation with radical islam. 'we have to make it clear,' said glick, 'through honestreporting
and continual letter-writing, who the enemy is and what is really
happening with the islamist threat against israel, the u.s. and the
west. just as they used jetliners to destroy the twin towers, they
will use the media to destroy our will. we cannot let that happen.' * the hr mission chartered a small plane and enjoyed a breathtaking
aerial view of israel's sights - tel aviv, the security fence, and the
sea of gallilee. in northern israel, the group visited an army base
and toured the syrian border. idf officer elliot chodoff brought the
group to key sites of the 1967 and 1973 wars, and illustrated israel's
diligent intelligence atop the golan heights: 'when the syrian army so
much as sneezes in damascus, the idf goes on alert.' * the hr mission visited rachel's tomb in bethlehem, and met with
sherri mandel, whose 13-year-old son kobi was murdered by
palestinian terrorists in 2001. while in gush etzion, the group
delivered cakes to over 150 hungry and appreciative idf soldiers! * in a riveting expose to the hr mission, one arab journalist (who
requested anonymity) explained how palestinian 'fixers' typically
accompany foreign journalists to the west bank and gaza, but since the
'fixers' are themselves loyal to the anti-israel cause, the
information they convey is badly skewed. he gave the example of a
foreign journalist interviewing an arab source in ramallah: when the
source was critical of israel, the palestinian 'fixer' translated
word-for-word for the benefit of the journalist, but when the source
was critical of the pa, the palestinian 'fixer' said, 'oh, he's now
talking about the weather.' * israeli cabinet minister natan sharansky addressed the growing problem of antisemitism in western democracies, which is often disguised as anti-israel opinion in media sources. daniel pipes, who accompanied the hr mission throughout the week, explained that while israel is scapegoated for terror, the radical islamic groups that actually perpetrate the attacks grow in numbers and influence - without appropriate media attention. in all, the hr mission was a fantastic success, combining first-class
accomodations with brainstorming sessions on how to increase the
impact of honestreporting worldwide. mission participants undertook to
launch local and regional activism projects, and as one los angeles
resident said, 'with all this first-hand information about what's
happening in israel, i now have the confidence to combat the
disinformation so prevalent in my community.' we've already begun planning next years' honestreporting leadership
mission - if you'd like to receive updates as that date appr honest reporting monitors the media for inaccuracy and unfairness
in how they report the news about israel. ther website address is
http://www.honestreporting.com. you can help support their research
online or by sending contributions to: honestreporting, 400 south lake
drive, lakewood, nj 08701-3167. to go to top dear president bush: you have lost your way! posted by david ben-ariel, june 27, 2004. dear president bush: you have lost your way! it's such a tragedy because you could've
become a hero in our british-israelite history, judged as a great
leader with character and conviction, yet you've chosen to ignore your
conscience (to the peril of all) and have become drunk with delusions
of a peace without biblical foundation! now you shamefully follow the march of folly with such comrades as
neville chamberlain instead of winston churchill! your misguided
roadmap hurls the middle east down the highway to hell and invites eu
road rage (to ditch america and drive their stake into the heart of
israel and occupy jerusalem!) fasten your seatbelt! eu turbulence is
just ahead! (isa. 28:18). president bush, commander-in-chief of manasseh, leader of the "lost tribes" and head of joseph: may you wholeheartedly repent of your accursed involvement with lying peace treaties (signed with blood) that will soon be littered (with many lives) along the way and encourage israel to know president ronald reagan's "peace through strength" and rabbi meir kahane's biblical solution to liberate the arab-occupied territories, annex them and expel all who refuse to live in peace within the promised land of israel (not ishmael). after all is said and done, and you kneel before our common creator and face our jewish lord and savior - as a professing christian, you know the holy land is given to the jews (as custodians for all 12 tribes) and that the god of israel cannot be mocked and doesn't renege on his promises. why would you reward ungodly terrorists by erasing our forefather
israel's name off the map to supplant it with "palestine" (ps. 83)?
why would you dare to dismantle the temple (jerusalem) and dismember
our mother (jewish homeland) to divide israel's inheritance among
bastards, whose illegitimate claims don't hold water? (joel 3:2, jer.
2:13). who are you to tempt the lord your god? don't you know that the
nations are soon to be judged for defiling the holy land with their
unholy presence as "peacekeepers" and unnecessary meddling as
mediators? does god need the bloody un to impose their will on his
city or the german-jesuits to stamp the middle east with their
merovingian mark? may the god of your fathers bless you to make a u-turn and burn
with his zeal (untouchable to hostile men or nations) and shine with
the light of his word, filled with his spirit of joy (knowing god's
anointing is upon you and that the faithful are praying for you!). david ben-ariel is author of
"beyond babylon: europe's rise and fall." his
website address is http://www.benariel.com to go to top if not totally justified, at least understood posted by david wilder, june 27, 2004. shalom. "stamp out islam!" - there, bet that got your attention. if i were to leave it at that, i would more than likely be arrested, indicted, and probably convicted of racism, incitement and other such palatable crimes. but the phrase that begins this commentary is not mine. i'm quoting someone else. ok, you say to yourselves, he's only repeating what his next door
neighbor screamed, last night, or what one of the kids down the road
chants five times daily. right? wrong. i'm not citing either one of them. i'm only quoting a graffiti sign
in a rural new jersey, usa neighborhood. according to a cnn-associated
press internet report
(http://www.cnn.com/2004/us/06/26/beheading.backlash.ap/index.html):
in lutz, florida, "kill the arabs" was written on the walls of a
mosque at the islamic community center, whose windows were smashed. in
union city, new jersey, liquor and beer bottles were hurled at a
mosque. in ballwin, missouri a swastika with the word "die" was
painted on the wall of a mosque. near houston, texas, dead fish were
dumped at the entrance to a mosque. in orland park, near chicago,
community residents opposed a mosque's building application. let's take a look at some other figures. according to an afp article, several weeks ago united states f.b.i. director robert mueller told a congressional committee that there have been 532 attacks against muslims, sikhs, and arabs in the us since the 9/11 attacks in 2001. some 200 people have been criminally charged. in the hutchinson report dated october, 2001, the author writes, "the see-no-evil approach of many police agencies to hate violence is also glaringly evident in the wildly erratic way that state and federal officials respond to hate violence," referring to hate crimes against muslims following the world trade center attacks. the muslim american society, in an article called, "hate crimes linger long after september 11", it is written, "the largest number of complaints came from maryland, virginia, new york, ohio, michigan, florida, texas and california; home to some of the largest muslim communities." other articles easily accessible via internet searches quickly
reveal deep suspicions about islam and arabs throughout the world:
australia, south korea, and africa, just to name a few. on sunday
morning a south korean journalist contacted me, asking permission to
film a feature about hebron's jewish community, saying to me, "we too
have been hit with terrorism," relating, of course, to the barbaric
beheading of a south korean citizen by islamic fanatics only a few
days ago. in other words, there are other places in the world besides israel
where anti-arab, anti-islam feelings run high. what am i getting at? over the past few weeks, world media has been flooded with newspaper and internet articles dealing with a photo exhibition, showing in tel aviv. in the words of ha'aretz newspaper, from june 27, 2004, "during 14 months of service in hebron, yehuda shaul could not bear the moral erosion he saw in himself and his comrades. now the ultra-orthodox 21 year-old has organized an exhibit of soldier's photographs to bring the reality of the territories home." the cnn headline cries, "soldiers' photo exhibit strikes nerve,"
and describes "captured in the photos is a young palestinian boy who
was blindfolded and handcuffed for eight hours after he was caught
throwing stones. also pictured are palestinian men left by the side of
the road for hours at a time. and displayed on the wall are car keys
confiscated from palestinian drivers caught breaking curfew." prominently mentioned in other articles, are graffiti comments,
scrawled on hebron shops and walls, "arabs to the gas chambers" and
"arabs are sand niggers." every once in a while a reporter remembers to call us and ask for a
reaction. a point should be made clear. the hebron community, both the
leadership and the residents, neither condone acts that should not be
executed, nor words that should not be said or written. however, if
examined closely, there is most always a reason behind the actions. first, concerning alleged wrongdoings by hebron children. i am
frequently asked about graffiti appearing on hebron shops and walls.
most of the drawings are jewish stars, and remembrances of shalhavet
and others who have been murdered. so what? if you were a child who
lived in a neighborhood where your next door neighbor had been shot,
or stabbed, or your best friend's father or another family member had
been killed or wounded in a terrorist attack, what would you do? and
how would you react when the terror continued and continued and
continued, and the government did literally nothing to stop it. so it
was in hebron, where we were shot at day and night, for two years.
occasionally someone writes expressions that are uncalled for. my
friend and colleague, noam arnon, was once arrested because he was
spray-painting over such graffiti. he was suspected of writing it
himself. on the other hand, we know for a fact that certain provocative
graffiti was written by outsiders, native english-speakers, whose goal
was not to express their real feelings about arabs, rather to muddy
hebron's name. we have gone so far as to bring official complaints to
the israeli police about certain individuals whose identities were
known to us. the police, to the best of my knowledge, ignored these
complaints. none of the kids in hebron know what a "sand nigger" is,
and i, who grew up in the united states, had never heard the phrase
before. concerning the charges made by these soldiers against their
friends: such deeds should be considered as almost treasonous. anyone
with knowledge of illegal activities should turn to the proper
authorities. to publicly advertise such actions calls the purposes of
the photographers into question. please note that the force behind
this exhibit, yehuda shaul, says in the ha'aretz article, "i was
right-wing, even far right... something inside me started to crack... i
discovered [yeshayahu] leibowitz and [aviezer] ravitzky." leibowitz is considered by many orthodox jews to be an apostate.
ravitzky is a leader of an israeli left wing organization. concerning the pictures and actions themselves: remember,
terrorists look just like everyone else - they have two eyes, two
ears, a nose and a mouth. usually they don't wear a sign around their
necks declaring: i am a terrorist. the soldiers in hebron, most of who
are not yet 21 years old, have a very difficult task: protecting
hebron's jews, watching out for their own safety and weeding out
terrorists who plan attacks in such places as tel aviv and jerusalem. these soldiers also know that some of their comrades are no longer
among the living because they were not suspicious enough. they know
that 12, 14 and 15 year-old arabs participate in terror attacks. only
two weeks ago a fourteen year-old was discovered attempting to talk a
12 year old into becoming a suicide bomber. such a terrible reality
sometimes demands drastic measures. and there is a very fine line
between permissible drastic measures and unacceptable such actions. i
wonder, for instance, what the people in lutz, florida, would say
about yehuda shaul and his friends. one other point of interest. i have, in my possession, a framed
certificate of gratitude from yehuda shaul's company which says, "to
anat cohen and her family, we thank you for making our stay in hebron
more pleasurable, and we wish continuing living in hebron, with
delight and security." i have no doubt that the photo exhibition in tel aviv is nothing
more that a left-wing ploy, aimed at convincing the general public
that israel has no place in yesha. the soldiers who put it together
don't care about morals or ethics. if they did, they would not have
publicly betrayed their friends in uniform. they are politicizing
their army service, in order to further their own political beliefs.
there is no excuse for such a betrayal. not to be misunderstood. there are acts which are not totally
justifiable. however, most of them, under the circumstances, can and
should, be understood. with blessings from hebron. david wilder is spokesman of the jewish community of hebron.
you can contribute directly to the jewish community of
hebron, pob10, kiryat arba-hebron 90100, hebron@hebron.org.il,
972-2-9965333 or write to the hebron fund, 1760 ocean ave., brooklyn,
ny 11230, hebronfund@aol.com to go to top accountability acts ignore results posted by evelyn hayes, june 27, 2004. accords, handshakes and accountability acts ignore results and the
world is getting worse because they are all worse than the "medina
handshake" that attempted a peace accord of the jewish king of properous
jewish medina with mohammed who had the pacifists beheaded. as peaceful, comfortable democracies face world jihad to reverse
the crusades and murder all infidels, they sign accords with the
weaker terrorists and let them get stronger, going from accord to
fraud to the frightful. oslo was based on the premise that the
intifada of stones was a major problem so it gave the terrorist
infrastructure credibility and weapons to police themselves. from
stones, israel suffered snipers, suicide bombers, katyushkas as well
as more enemies. from acknowledging arafat the egyptian as statesman
of the pa the pm of the state of israel is fighting increased
anti-semitism, planning to bulldoze his re-settlers and make them
refugees again. from negotiatimg itself, israel suffers world discrimination. from
negotiating victory, israel has lost world approval and the world is
also suffering suicide war, slavery and beheading. the results of accountability acts are that unaccountabilty is the
message no matter the signature because it's logically too much for
the outlaws to obey the laws so how can they be held to signatures?
losing one's lead by losing one's head is starting a new world
disorder - beheading those who are heedless of the magnitude of crimes
brewed by leaving rot in a paper wrapping. evelyn hayes is author of "the eleventh plague, twins, because
their hearts were softened to accept the unacceptable" and "the
twelfth plague, generations, because the lion wears stripes." to go to top rabbis versus professors of philosophy posted by isralert, june 27, 2004. this was written by professor paul eidelberg and is archived on the
maccabean online of the freeman center for strategic studies
(http://www.freeman.org/online.htm). the rabbinical council of judea, samaria, and gaza was slammed for
its recent statement that the uprooting of jewish settlements is
against jewish law and that no one, including soldiers, should be
involved in such an action. as reported in the jerusalem post on june
25, council secretary rabbi mordechai rabinowitz declared "that the
policy of destroying jewish settlements in the land of israel has no
basis in democracy and is in conflict with basic and essential human
rights." the rabbinical council was denounced by assa kasher, a tel-aviv
university professor of philosophy. kasher accused the rabbis of
having failed to "learn the lessons of their similar behavior leading
up to [the assassination of yitzhak rabin]." this remark is tantamount
to accusing the rabbis of responsibility for the rabin assassination.
ever since that event, the left has repeatedly employed such slander
to intimidate the religious community. one would expect higher
standards from a professor of philosophy. but then, it is was none
other than assa kasher who, having been commissioned by the late prime
minister rabin to revise the idf code of ethics, deleted the words
"judaism," "zionism," and "eretz yisrael" from that document! the rabbinical council was also assaulted by former professor of
philosophy yuval steinitz, now chairman of the knesset foreign affairs
and defense committee. mr. steinitz is reported as having said that
the rabbinical council has come perilously close to calling on people
to break the law. "israel," he explained, "is a democratic country.
there is a great deal of room for protest, demonstrations, and
articles expressing opinions. there is no room for insurrection or
violating legal orders of the government, even if they are contrary to
your principles ..." but since the rabbis contend that it is contrary to democracy and
basic human rights to uproot jews from their homes, surely mr.
steinitz should address himself to this contention. he does not.
notice that in mentioning various aspects of dissent permissible in a
democracy, he omits civil disobedience. perhaps he regards civil
disobedience a form of insurrection. this is far from the american
conception of democracy. at issue here is the power of the state
versus the rights of citizens. american democracy involves limitations on the power of the state.
this is clearly evident in the american constitution, especially its
bill of rights. no such limitations will be found in fascist regimes.
in such regimes the state is the highest authority. strange as it may
seem, this is the case of israel, where the law reads: "no act of
legislation shall diminish the rights of the state, or impose upon it
any obligation, unless explicitly stated." the state of israel,
contrary to judaism, does not recognize a higher law. although an order of the government may be legal, having been
sanctioned by a majority of the knesset, this does not make it just.
majorities can be as tyrannical as minorities. this is why the
american founding fathers established a constitutional system of
checks and balances to prevent majority tyranny. no such system exists
in israel, and this is why knesset speaker rueben rivlin recently
declared that israel is governed not by the rule of law but by a "gang
of law." but wait! uprooting jews from their homes actually constitutes a
clear violation of israel's basic law: freedom and human dignity. the
sharon disengagement plan therefore tramples on a basic law of the
state! the rabbis are right, and steinitz is wrong! he is wrong on
philosophical grounds as well. as a secularist, steinitz identifies israel as a democracy. this
word does not appear in israel's declaration of independence. to the
contrary, that document repeatedly refers to israel as a jewish state.
this is israel's raison d'etre - its sole justification. the term
"democracy" did not enter into the language of israeli law until the
1980s, and then only because "zionism" had ceased to provide israel's
anemic elites with respectability and legitimacy. in any event, since israel today is defined as a jewish and
democratic state, any candid observer will admit that there are basic
contradictions between these two appellations. (for example, given the
burgeoning arab birthrate, the democratic principle of one adult/one
vote promises to transform israel eventually into an islamic state.)
accordingly, as concerns the issue of evicting jews from their homes,
mr. steinitz has no logical or philosophical grounds for choosing to
consider this issue solely in democratic terms - which is not to admit
that he has an adequate understanding of democracy. and so the rabbis have a much stronger case than our two professors of
philosophy. although the rabbis gloss over the contradictions between
democracy and judaism, they quite rightly see that both forbid the
violation of human rights projected by the sharon government's
decision to uproot jewish communities. isralert, a jewish advocacy network, is hosted by harv weiner. to
subscribe to isralert, send an email to isralert@aol.com to go to top less support for withdrawal and arabs than thought: analyzing the numbers posted by eliezar edwards, june 27, 2004. this was an arutz-7 (http://www.israelnn.com) news item on june 23, 2004. a study carried out by the university of haifa's national security
research center is sending shockwaves through israel, as political
views traditionally relegated to the margins of the political spectrum
appear to be nearing a level of public consensus. for one thing, the study shows that israeli jews are not very
pleased with the presence of a hostile or potentially-hostile arab
minority in its midst: a full 63.7% believe in what is known as
transfer, and said that the government should encourage the emigration
of israeli-arabs from israel. 55.3% believe the israeli-arab
population constitutes a threat to israel's security, while 45.3% even
favor eliminating israeli-arab rights to be elected to the knesset and
to participate in elections. a fairly clear consensus was also found among israeli jews on two
other issues: foreign workers and targeted assassinations. 72.1% want
to see restrictions on the entry of foreign workers into israel, with
54.2% saying that the country's economy is suffering because of the
jobs taken by foreign workers. widespread support of israel's counter-terror methods was recorded.
nearly 80% of jews support israel's policy of killing terrorist
leaders; even 11.6% of israeli-arabs support this policy. contrary to popular perception that the overwhelming majority is in
favor of ceding territory, 44.1% of jews - and 21% of arabs, including
druze - are against handing over any part of yesha (judea, samaria and
gaza) even in the theoretical framework of a comprehensive peace
agreement. a bit less, 39.8%, are against the dismantling of even one
jewish community under a peace arrangement. surprisingly, 22.4% of
arabs agree with them. almost half - 47.7% - say that israel must object to the
establishment of a palestinian state as a pre-condition for a peace
arrangement. one out of seven israeli-arabs feels the same. in what is possibly the most surprising finding of all, dr. daphna
kanati, who co-directed the study, said that if national elections
were held today, close to 30% of the public would support a kach-like
party - outlawed for its extreme right-wing views. she said that this
figure had not yet been publicly released. she herself, however, told
israel national radios eli stutz and yishai fleisher that the most
surprising statistic for her was the high percentage of jews - over
two-thirds - who support transfer. dr. kanati said that the purpose of the study was to study
right-wing extremism, at which a point a discussion evolved as to what
defined extremism: "its funny," fleisher said, "you keep using the
word 'extremism,' yet your figures show that 60% of israeli jews are
interested in the arabs leaving the country." dr. kanati: "are you basically saying that if the majority supports
something that we would have defined as extremism, then it becomes
normal!?" stutz: "yes!" dr. kanati did not agree, saying that extremism is defined
according to international standards of democracy. stutz commented
that this would not be accurate, as calls for transferring a
population must be judged according to varying conditions in a
country: "for instance, it could well be that the majority of germans
would not have called for the transfer of nazis, while those who would
have wanted to transfer them would have been called, by your
definition, extremists." the study, carried out last month, surveyed 1,016 israelis through
telephone interviews, and "as opposed to other surveys, this one shows
the 'real israel,'" dr. kanati said. "researchers went to great
lengths to sample segments of the population usually glossed over by
pollsters due to the difficulty in eliciting responses from them.
these include the proportionate numbers from the hareidi-religious
community who are usually wary of unsolicited telephone pollsters; new
immigrants from russia who are hard-pressed to answer lengthy
telephone questions in hebrew - we had russian speakers speak with
them; and residents of yesha, who have a general distrust of the press
and academia following unpleasant experiences involving the use of
statistics to manipulate public opinion." the simple fact that we released results differentiating between
jewish and arab responses is a step that many fail to take," said dr.
kanati, "but it is crucial when trying to examine the true consensus
within a segment of society. some of the statistics seemed to contradict each other. for
instance, half of the jews polled expressed "support for a withdrawal
from yesha." yet, another question found that 40% feel that "not even
one settlement must be dismantled" - meaning that 60% would agree to
demolishing at least one. dr. kanati admitted that the phrasing of the
question affects the answer - and also added that, "in general, poll
questions about withdrawals cannot be relied upon too much, because
they are, by their nature, inexact. the question cannot specify how
much of a withdrawal, for instance, or from which areas and under
which conditions. in addition, the answers can change based upon
whether there was recently a terror attack, and the like." to go to top more american than zionist posted by bryna berch, june 27, 2004. this was written by caroline glick, deputy managing editor of the jerusalem post. it appeared june 13, 2004 in the jerusalem post. it is archived at http://www.jpost.com/servlet/satellite?pagename=jpost/ jparticle/showfull&cid=1087536228093&p=1006953079897. boy, that lady can write! and she is always right on the mark. this week was the first time that the palestinian authority
publicly acknowledged its responsibility for the aksa martyr brigades
terrorist group which is designated as a foreign terrorist
organization by the us state department. in an attempt to solve an employment dispute between the pa and the
aksa brigades, the central committee of fatah, which is to the pa what
the politburo was to the communist party of the soviet union, met to
discuss the difficulties of terrorists who have recently been laid off
by the pa. pa prime minister ahmed qurei, who is touted as the great
white hope for palestinian reform by the bush administration,
announced at the meeting that the needs of the terror group were
receiving the full attention of the palestinian leadership. in his
view, the most important thing was to protect terrorists wanted by
israel for attacks against israeli citizens from the long arm of the
idf. that is, in qurei's view, the most urgent goal is to provide a
safe haven for terrorists. in the coming weeks, us envoys david satterfield and william burns
are scheduled to arrive in the area in yet another attempt to jump
start negotiations between israel and the pa based on the so-called
road map. the idea now being touted is to reduce the existing twelve
palestinian militias into three and to have them come under the
control of qurei or pa security boss muhammed dahlan. but who will be
in these newly "reformed" militias? on sunday night, qurei and his
colleagues agreed that the terrorists from the al aksa martyrs
brigades would be asked to join. also this week, qurei met in gaza with hamas terror chiefs mahmoud
zahar and ismail haniyeh. their talks, aimed at reaching a
rapprochement between the pa and hamas, centered on hamas's conditions
for joining qurei's cabinet. hamas demands the health and education
ministries and, if it receives them, it will allow its terrorists to
also join the "reformed" pa militias. in an interview with the jerusalem post, dahlan said that hamas and
islamic jihad terrorists were welcome to join the pa security forces.
mahmoud abbas, the much heralded former prime minister said that if it
were up to him, he would have brought hamas and islamic jihad
terrorists into the pa security forces. hamas and islamic jihad are
also designated as foreign terror organizations by the us state
department. this week also, outgoing cia director george tenet met in cairo
with egyptian dictator hosni mubarak to discuss egypt's involvement in
the gaza strip in the event that israel follows through with its
planned unilateral withdrawal from the area. egypt, which is receiving
plaudits from washington for its willingness to lend a hand in
ensuring order in gaza in the aftermath of the proposed withdrawal,
has made clear through word and deed that it views putting hamas and
islamic jihad terrorists on the payroll of the "reformed" pa militias
as is its central goal. in sharp contrast, this week, egyptian security forces rounded up
members of the egyptian muslim brotherhood. the men were accused of
having undergone terror training in the pa areas which, egyptian
officials allege, they were planning to use in order to carry out
terror attacks in egypt, iraq and chechnya. that is, today, even as
the idf is deployed in gaza, and as the pa is in charge of all the
militias, the area is being used as a training ground for global
terrorism. for their part, egyptian officials have made clear time and again
that in the event of an israeli withdrawal from gaza, egypt will have
no interest in curbing palestinian terror groups operating in the area
against israel. according to ha'aretz, a senior egyptian official has
stated bluntly, "we will not be the policemen for the palestinians in
the gaza strip." this is not surprising given that moderate egypt is
in actuality one of the prime state sponsors of palestinian terrorist
groups. not only has it enabled weapons smuggling from egypt to gaza,
according to mk yuval steinitz, chairman of the knesset's foreign
affairs and security committee, "egypt is the logistical support base
for hamas." in the event of an israeli withdrawal from gaza, egypt can
be counted on not to curb the power of palestinian terrorists but to
enhance it. it will demand that israel end the naval blockade of the
gaza coastline and it will further insist that the gaza airport,
closed since the start of the war, be reopened. according to military
analyst ze'ev schiff, the reason for this is that egypt has an
interest in palestinian terrorism against israel because egypt has an
interest in a weak israel. speaking to the issue of what will likely occur in gaza as a result
of an idf pullout, no less an authority than the architect of the
pullout plan himself, national security advisor giora eiland, inferred
to a washington audience recently that if the lebanon model holds,
gaza will become a haven for terrorists and a strategic threat to
israel as a result of the accumulation of sophisticated arsenals that
can be used to take out vital infrastructures and conduct mass murder.
eiland also explained that if the lebanon model were to hold, the
introduction of foreign forces to the area would not ease the violence
but would more likely act as cover for terrorists as they take action
against israel. one can reasonably ask if all of this is the case, what is israel's
problem? why is the israeli government acting so irrationally? but in
truth, given the actions of prime minister ariel sharon, running
roughshod over his government ministers, mks, party members, and
political support base, the fact that the israeli government under
sharon has ceased to base its policies on the national interest of
israel must, sadly, be taken as a given for now. in the meantime, there remains one government that seems to still
recognize the need to stop terror funding and to prevent the provision
of safe haven for terrorist organizations. this government sits in
washington, dc. since the sept. 11 attacks, the bush administration
has gone on the offensive from karachi to kansas city in stemming
funding to terrorist organizations. it has invaded two countries and
sent its military to spots around the globe to prevent the
entrenchment of terror groups and to disrupt their activities. yet the
bush administration is still funding groups that support, abet,
produce and finance palestinian terrorist organizations. the us
government supports sharon's half-baked plan that will render the gaza
strip a terror training base to which jihadis from all over the world
will gravitate for training and from which they will emerge, ready to
kill on demand. it has been argued that the bush administration cannot be more
zionist than the israeli government. but this is a false argument. in
curbing its support for the pa and in ending its support for the
transfer of gaza to the control of egyptian supported terrorists, the
us will not be acting in israel's interest. it will be advancing its
own national security interests. the sad and terrible thing about
sharon's policy spasms is that by continuing to allow the pa to
operate and by calling for an israeli retreat when the war is still
ongoing and the enemy mutates by the day, sharon is not merely harming
the interests of his own country, he is harming the interests of the
us in winning the war on global terror. palestinian media watch this week submitted a report to members of
the us congress and the senate in which it stated example after
example of how us financial assistance to the pa is being used to
advance terrorism. the us provides financial assistance to palestinian
municipalities whose leaders instruct their citizens in jihad and
inculcate them to hate and work towards the destruction of israel and
america. usaid funds palestinian universities even as these universities
allow hamas and islamic jihad to operate openly on their campuses
espousing their genocidal ideologies and recruiting students into
active involvement in terror attacks. according to the pmw report,
seven students studying at usaid funded universities have carried out
suicide bombings that have murdered hundreds of israelis. usaid assists the palestinians in spite of the fact that
palestinian ngos have refused to sign a form committing themselves not
to aid terrorist organizations and in spite of the fact that the pa's
legislative council issued a condemnation of the us for requiring aid
recipients to prevent the transfer of us taxpayer dollars to terrorist
organizations. aside from reconsidering its refusal to see the pa as it sees every
other terrorist organization and regime in the world, the us has to
ask the question how its support for palestinian statehood squares
with its commitment to overthrow regimes that support terrorism. the
palestinians themselves say every single day that their "reformed"
security forces will simply be more overtly steeped in terror after
their reconstitution than they have been to date. this week the pa
admitted what the international community has been denying in the face
of overwhelming proof for the past three years. it admitted that the
aksa martyr brigades is not "loosely affiliated with fatah." the aksa
martyr brigades are fatah and a branch in the pa itself. and it wasn't arafat who made the announcement. it was qurei, the
"reform" prime minister and it was dahlan the "reform" security boss
who made it clear that hamas and islamic jihad are also welcome to
join the pa. so given this, how can the us possibly have a policy of
support for palestinian statehood when it is abundantly clear that
such a state would be a terror stronghold no better than afghanistan
under the taliban? before the sept. 11 attacks, washington could be excused for
following jerusalem's lead when israel's government insisted that
transferring territory to terrorists would enhance security. but in
the post-sept. 11 world, it should be clear to washington that
continuing to cultivate terrorists will not only not advance us
interests, it will cost innocent human lives. to go to top those peaceful love birds: the far left and arafat. haaretz sings their praises posted by steven plaut, june 27, 2004. according to a news story in haaretz today - but, interestingly,
not on their english web site - it is revealed that the "solidarity
international protesters" and the rest of the far-leftist
demonstrators trying to sabotage israel's security fence to make it
easier for the plo to murder jewish children, are taking their orders
and directions directly from yassir arafat. yes, they met with arafat
yesterday to hear his orders regarding how they should run their
"peace" protests against israel's security fence. arafat is dictating
tactics and timing. yesterday he told them to escalate the sabotage
and violence of their protests. what this means is that the "ism" international solidarity
movement to which arch-bimbo rachel corrie belonged before becoming
pancaked, (its name should really be "i support murderers") is nothing
more than an appendage of the plo, and the same is true of the israeli
local home-grown "peace groups" attacking the wall. meanwhile, yesterday saw one of the most successful anti-terror
actions by israel to date, and it was one that will have a greater
impact on the terror and on the pro-terror leftists than the
construction of the wall itself. yesterday israel carried out a sort of st. valentine's day hit on
the number one leaders of all three major terrorist organizations in
nablus. not only were the three terrorist dons all killed in a single
day, but so were seven other terrorists with them, several of these
also being terrorist leaders
(http://www.jpost.com/servlet/satellite?pagename=
jpost/jparticle/showfull&cid=1088143074422). the peace-loving and caring left of course will be outraged and
will escalate its violent protests against israeli self-defense. after
all, how dare israel assassinate the mass murdering palestinian nazis
instead of capitulating to them? a squeaky clean arafat emerges from a ha'aretz rehab. this is an article entitled "haaretz sanitizes his ugliness" and
written by efraim inbar, who is a professor of political studies at
bar-ilan university and director of its begin-sadat (besa) center for
strategic studies. it appeared in the jerusalem post, jun. 26, 2004
(http://www.jpost.com/servlet/satellite?pagename=jpost/
jparticle/showfull&cid=1088231179041). haaretz has adopted an uncharacteristic dose of "religiosity" by
becoming the vehicle for a pathetic attempt by the israeli radical
left to politically resurrect yasser arafat. the newspaper claims that arafat was not the instigator of the
september 2000 intifada but has consistently searched for a two-state
solution in his quest for peaceful coexistence. haaretz also
published an interview with the palestinian leader which refrained
from posing difficult questions. arafat was allowed to portray himself
as a man of peace. israeli messianic doves have repeatedly saved arafat from oblivion.
yossi beilin and the crowd around him saved arafat in 1993 at a time
when the plo was weak due to its strategic blunder of supporting
saddam hussein in the 1991 gulf war. the group, isolated in tunis, was
on the verge of bankruptcy. but beilin et al persuaded yitzhak rabin - against his better judgment - to enter into a deal with the plo, which brought arafat to the white house, allowed the plo to regain its dwindling international status, and gave it a territorial foothold in the territories. these same doves never stopped advocating - as if out of religious conviction - increasingly larger israeli concessions and a policy of turning a blind eye to the palestinian violations of the oslo agreements. the failure of arafat to honor his pledge to rabin and desist from terrorist activities was invariably explained away. the plo chief's repeated calls for jihad were belittled as insignificant rhetoric. early israeli casualties resulting from palestinian terrorism were seen as "sacrifices for peace." but peace did not come. it took the majority of israelis more than a decade and over 1,000 dead to realize the murderous nature of the palestinian national movement. the swing in public opinion to a more realistic assessment of the conflict is the reason for the recent attempt by the radical left to rewrite history. the late-1990s evaluation by israeli intelligence of arafat's intentions on final status issues does not in fact matter very much. there was no dispute within the israeli intelligence community that arafat had no intention of keeping his promise to stop employing violence. israeli intelligence supplied information months in advance about palestinian preparations for armed conflict. intelligence specialists thought hostilities could be anticipated around september 2000. in this respect israeli intelligence functioned well and provided the idf with a strategic warning. the army consequently trained for the expected low-intensity conflict and took several measures to contain palestinian violence. any attempt to rehabilitate arafat's credibility runs against his
record of behavior after september 2000. his speeches unequivocally
laud the suicide-bombers and armed struggle; he was personally
involved in funding terrorist cells; he consistently rejected numerous
attempts to implement a cease-fire; and he has continuously opposed
any reform in the security sector that might have reduced the
violence. in arafat's recent interview with haaretz he continued to demand
the "right of return" and refused to accept any historical jewish
claim over the holiest place to jews - the temple mount. it requires an incredible amount of self-delusion, or hutzpa, to try today to sell the israeli public the story that arafat remains the right partner for peace. the intellectual arrogance of messianic doves and their condescending
attitude toward the rest of us assumes we all are limitlessly
gullible. another reason for the timing of the campaign to revive arafat is
sharon's success in marginalizing him. the common wisdom in washington
and other important capitals - including arab ones - is that arafat is
an obstacle to peace, and ways need to be devised to neutralize his
negative influence. radical doves understand that only israel can
provide a "kosher certificate" to arafat that might grant him
persona-grata status in the international arena. similarly to the early 1990s, it is israeli leftists obsessed with
the palestinian issue who are trying to bail arafat out from a
difficult predicament. it is clear that arafat's war, a colossal
miscalculation that brought the palestinians in the territories a
great deal of suffering, has ended in failure. there is no palestinian state in sight. much of the infrastructure
for such a state has been destroyed in the "armed struggle," leaving
palestinian society fragmented and run by thugs and local warlords. in
addition, the international community increasingly views the
palestinians as unable to govern themselves. in contrast, israeli society has shown greater resilience than
expected in the protracted conflict. the idf has successfully overcome
international constraints on its freedom of military action against
targets in palestinian-ruled territories, thus denying the enemy safe
sanctuaries. only the israeli radical left is misguided enough to try to
resuscitate arafat. while it definitely deserves him, it is the rest
of us who will pay dearly if this foolish exercise is even marginally
successful. as for the peaceful palestinians, amira hass writes in ha'aretz
(june 24, 2004) that in two polls, the palestinians support fighting
israel until it is destroyed. two palestinian public opinion polls published in the beginning of
the week confirm that most palestinians support fighting israel until
it is destroyed. according to a jerusalem media and communication centre (jmcc)
poll, 63.6% either strongly or partially oppose ceasing all types of
"militant activity" inside israel. jmcc also found that 45.5% believe that the final aim of the
intifada is to "free all palestinian land" (including israel). a poll by the bir zeit university's development studies program
found that 54% doubt the possibility of israeli-palestinian
coexistence in the framework of a peace agreement, and 61% support
continuing the "armed struggle" following an israeli withdrawal from
gaza. the strong support for "militant activity," disregarding the facts on the ground, reveals a political weakness camouflaged by hopeless "military" dreams. steven plaut is an american-trained economist, a professor of
business administration at haifa university and author of "the
scout." he frequently comments - both seriously and satirically -
on israeli politics and the left wing academic community. his website
address is http://www.stevenplaut.blogspot.com. to go to top see what they do, not what they say! posted by americanchinhigh, june 27, 2004. just like the egyptian born mass murderer, the butcher arafat
(http://www.geocities.com/arabracismplusjihad/butcherarafat), uses the
"palestinians" as a "homeland" myth-card, so do the foreigners in iraq
such as jordanian arab muslim: zarquaui or saudi arabian muslim: bin
laden in afghanistan. of course they are not for 'love' for their
"brothers" they kill their own too, just palestinian arab muslims do.
see palestinians killing palestinians at
http://www.eretzyisroel.org/~jkatz/crime.html. conclusion, they're in it for the "love" & "joy" (the same "joy"
and dance to 9/11 crime) of cold blood murder, cutting humans into
pieces (especially the civilians') period. still having it both ways, denying 9-11 crime and celebrating it.
much like "moderate" s. arabian blaming the british and "zionists" for
the bombing, just before they killed ... the arab terrorists
responsible... to go to top a quiet sabbath posted by judy lash balint, june 27, 2004. this was written by naomi ragen. she can be contacted at her website http://www.naomiragen.com "can i come over for shabbat?" my daughter asked. her husband had
been called up for reserve duty. again.
" of course. but didn't he just do reserve duty?" i asked her.
"yes, and they promised they wouldn't call him back this year. but
they did anyway. this is something special..." i was happy to say yes. what could be better than having my three
grandkids and my daughter spend the weekend? i was just sorry my dear
son-in-law couldn't join us too. my five year-old granddaughter
missed her father terribly. she even kissed the chair around the
sabbath table he usually sits in. the two boys, ten and eight, were
busy with their latest dungeons and dragons game, regaling their
eighteen year-old favorite uncle, who will be going into the army
at the end of the summer, with their plans for including him in their
magic wars. the phone rang right before we lit sabbath candles. my daughter spoke
to her husband briefly, then let my granddaughter speak to her daddy. "where is he? it's not dangerous, is it?" i asked her. my daughter
shrugged.
"he never tells me. but i hope not..." i thought of my son-in-law, modest, quiet, studious, a financial
consultant with a large bank. he had a wife and three kids, but he
was still being called up every time the army needed him. and he
never complained. he just went. the day passed peacefully, a cool wind blowing through jerusalem,
making it pleasant to walk to synagogue and play in the parks. we ate
ice-cream, and the kids chased each other around. we took long naps,
and short walks, until the sun sank over the hills, and the street
lamps came on. my husband took out the candle and wine and spices for
the ceremony marking the end of the sabbath and the beginning of the
new week. and when the sabbath had ended my daughter picked up the phone to call
her husband. it was a short call. "he said he can't talk right now." "did he say where he is? she paused. "he's in nablus." i held my breath. all week long, the army had targeted nablus, the
center of training and deployment of suicide bombers in the last few
months. soldiers were going house to house searching for terrorists. "put on the news!" we learned that as we were sitting around the sabbath table, the
israeli army had found the secret weapons slick beneath the houses in
the casbah in nablus. they had blown it up. and in so doing, they had found the hideout of
all the leaders of hamas, islamic jihad, and the al aksa martyrs
brigade ( who were- it turns out- all hiding out together, so much
for propaganda about rivalries, etc.) all the bomb belts, all the
enormous weapons they had stored up to kill our children blew up in
their faces. ten terrorists. one of the dead was responsible for the
death of 23 israelis in neve shaanan in tel aviv; another
for the death of two israelis in kfar saba. just last week they had
sent a suicide bomber to jerusalem on orders from hizbollah, a bomber
who was intercepted. they had even terrorized fellow palestinians in
nablus as well. over our quiet shabbat, fathers and brothers and sons had risked their
lives to deliver what palestinians themselves are calling a "fatal
blow" to the terrorist infrastructure that has cost so many innocent
lives. when my daughter arrived home, she called me. her husband had called
her back. he was out of nablus. he'd be coming home in a few days. and if i know him, he won't tell us a thing about how he spent his
reserve duty. but this time, unlike all the other times, we'll know, and hopefully,
so will you when you open your newspapers and television sets and
hear the inevitable ugly spin that will be put on this heroic
achievement of the modest, quiet, wonderful men and women of the idf. god bless them all. jerusalem diaries: in tense times by judy lash balint (gefen) is available for purchase from www.israelbooks.com to go to top the holy land book review posted by beth goodtree, june 25, 2004. although i rarely write book reviews, this book is too good not to
review and recommend. the holy land is a fast and humorous read with
a much deeper message. it clearly delineates the truths surrounding
the entire israeli-arab conflict. it also shows the convoluted
dealings and propaganda surrounding this issue in the bright light of
reality. hopefully this book, if given enough publicity, will be adopted by
the college youth who have been so brainwashed to be anti-israel. the holy land, by robert zubrin, is geopolitical satire at its best
and most instructive. on the surface a light, humorous fictional read,
the holy land nevertheless presents current global situations in such
a clear light that one wonders why our current world crises are so
difficult to understand. in a parody of real world events, the main premise of the holy
land pits a vast evil, aggressive and corrupt religious regime against
a minority group of people who are the only survivors of a different
and peaceful religion. these survivors are called the minervans and
originated on earth 20,000 years ago. they ended up being hunted
almost to extinction by the evil central galactic empire. however, the
liberal western galactic empire defeated the centrals in a war, and in
the process saved what was left of the minervans and resettled them on
earth, specifically their aboriginal home of kennewick, washington. the minervans are an enlightened and peaceful people, who want
nothing more than to live their lives quietly and rationally. they
purchase property from the kennewickians and establish their own
enclave. they offer the government of america advanced methods of
agriculture, medicine and the like and are turned down flatly. the
american government, which is controlled by religious fanatics,
suddenly declares that kennewick, washington is one of the holiest
sites in all of 'christendom' and demands the minervans' extermination
because they are 'pagans.' the american government also rounds up all former kennewickians who
sold their properties to the minervans and started productive lives
elsewhere. these they put into refugee camps on the outskirts of new
minervapolis, deny them any basic necessities and bring in the
galactic media to witness the misery ostensibly caused by the
minervans. the us rulers then decide to make as many children as possible holy
martyrs in the war against the minervans. they follow this up by
launching a campaign of terrorism and destruction across the galaxy. meanwhile, the various galactic empires have ignored the situation until they realized that america is a vast reservoir of an important resource called 'helicity,' used to power starships. although they are fully aware of the american role in sponsoring galactic terrorism and want to stop it, the western galactic empire is prevented from doing so by their own political correctness, their feckless allies (including the de-fanged but still violently anti-minervan central galactics), and their dependence upon us helicity. although the holy land makes the evil religious regime sponsoring
the terrorist attacks on civilization 'christians' from america, it is
very obvious that this is not the group being referred to and why the
author chose to do it. in this case, the term 'christian' is really a
pseudonym for a middle east religious faction with which sadly, we all
too familiar. but by placing these people in the familiar garb of
small town americans, author zubrin strips them of their exotic
foreign costumes and reveals their true nature. the plot is carried by a relationship between a beautiful minervan
priestess named aurora and her study subject, a captured earthling
soldier named hamilton. it is through their adventures that we see the
events in the holy land unfold. the situations arising from this book closely mimic those we are
witnessing now in the middle east. however, the holy land takes
the convoluted actions and dealings of the arab-israeli conflict,
presents them in a non-threatening and humorous light and makes it
easy to understand the machinations and irrationalities surrounding
these events. the holy land gives an entertaining look at the truths
surrounding a heart-wrenching situation. this book is a must-read for
all college students and others who think they understand the facts
surrounding the middle east. it is sure to become a cult classic and
the definitive easy-read of the israeli-arab and american-arab
conflicts. the holy land is published by polaris books (isbn
0974144304), and is available on amazon.com for us $14.95. beth goodtree is an award-winning writer, with a background in
advertising. she writes political commentary and the occasional humor
and science articles. to go to top bush and arafat: compromised by terrorism posted by kitty carr, june 25, 2004. during one of the presidential debates on oct. 11, 2000, bush
answered this question: q: what is the u.s. role in the mideast conflict? bush: [i] call on chairman arafat to have his people pull back to
make the peace...i want everybody to know, israel's going to be our
friend. i'm going to stand by israel. credibility is formed by being
strong with your friends and resolute in your determination. [to] be
able to say to the saddam husseins of the world or the iranians, don't
dare threaten our friends. it's also important to keep strong ties in
the middle east because of the energy crisis we're in. (source:
presidential debate at wake forest university oct 11, 2000) it is clear now that he meant everybody but "chairman" arafat. the
fact that he is protecting and funding liver lips arafat, the world's
most monstrous terrorist is astonishing. the fact that he treats
arafat as if he's a normal human being is insane. over 978 jews have
been killed by palestinian violence and terrorism in over 20,000
attacks since september 2000, but that's not enough proof that arafat
is a terrorist! according to bush he's simply "compromised by
terrorism." that's what he said after israel seized the karine-a on
january 3, 2002. the seizure of the karine-a appeared to be a clear
indication that arafat not only was unwilling to end the violence, he
was importing arms to escalate the war against israel to everyone but
the bush administration. soon after the karine-a affair, on april 1, 2002, a reporter asked bush a question - mr. president, under your doctrine, a terrorist or someone who aids a terrorist is the equivalent of a terrorist. so what's keeping chairman arafat -- what's keeping you from labeling chairman arafat a terrorist? the president: chairman arafat has agreed to a peace process. he's agreed to the tenet plan. he's agreed to the mitchell plan. he has negotiated with parties as to how to achieve peace. and, of course, our hope is that he accepts the tenet plan. that's what general zinni is in the middle east doing, working to get this tenet agreement in place, which is a series of concrete steps to reduce the violence in the middle east. yet on june 24, 2002, bush announced that "today palestinian authorities [arafat] are encouraging, not opposing, terrorism," and encouraged the palestinians to elect new leaders, blah, blah, blah. on april 29, 2003, abu mazen, aka moumoud abbas (also a terrorist)
was overwhelmingly elected by arafat to succeed him. the next suicide
attempt occurred the next day, and before july 25, 2003, thirty-four
israelis were murdered. what's so special about july 25? check bush's
to-do list of that day: (1) caution israel to excercize restraint. (2)
transfer $20 million to the palestinian authority. the cash transfer
(which is against the law) ensured that terror summer could continue
unabated. from the capture of the karine-a on april 1, 2002 to bush's cash transfer to the pa on july 25, 2003, there were 158 israelis murdered in palestinian terrorist attacks. the next terrorist attack occurred the next day, july 26, 2003. from then until may 29, 2004 389 israelis have been murdered. the arabist state department, when it wasn't "threatening" to withhold
loans to israel, gave $120 million to the pa through the usaid/wbg in
2003 for "in-kind assistance" and another $129 million went to the
u.n. relief and works agency for palestine refugees in the near east.
(palestinian terror activists in the pa areas, who were arrested and
interrogated by israeli security forces during 2002, admitted that
unrwa facilities, equipment and vehicles were used for assisting in
carrying out terror attacks and here's the video to prove it.) now let
me find the list of us assistance to the palestinians that is 'offset'
because of terrorism - oh, that's right! there isn't one! speaking of unrwa: if you go to the unrwa website, you will see how proud they are of
having fed, clothed, sheltered, educated and cared for the palestinian
refugees of 1948... and their children... and their grandchildren. the
number of people unrwa cares for has gone from 600,000 in 1948 to
nearly four million today. now, i understand that the prime impulse of
bureaucracies, especially welfare bureaucracies, is the consolidation
and expansion of their turf, and a steady increase in the number of
their "clients"; but this is ridiculous. the good people of hong kong
should go down on their knees every night and thank god that there was
no unrwa in the colony in 1949. so, come to think of it, should the
german and east european refugees who flooded into western europe
after wwii. (i have seen the number 14 million somewhere - the sudeten
germans alone numbered three million. where are the festering camps?
where are the suicide bombers?) the bush administration and kofi annan insanely bleat about
land-for-peace, as though the palestinians, aka generic arabs, want
only the end of "occupation" and their beloved homeland back. bzzzt!
wrong again. kofi annan says "everybody knows" the answer is land-for-peace.
this is a lie! according to ruth matar of israelnationalnews.com - may
19, 2004: proof positive that the palestinian jihad against israel is not about territory: in 1964, the year the plo was founded, article 24 of its charter stated, "this organization does not exercise any territorial sovereignty over the west bank in the hashemite kingdom of jordan and the gaza strip..." the 1964 version of the plo charter. most people are only aware of the 1968 version, which was changed
following the six day war to reflect the palestinians' sudden eternal
attachment to these areas. the "road map" is essentially a saudi arabian plan to drive the
jews out of israel. before 1967, when jordan occupied judea and
samaria and egypt occupied gaza, the plo was not interested in
sovereignty over these areas. their present passionate attachment to
this land is so that the infidel jews should not live thereon. this
attitude, of course, is encouraged and financed by all the arab states
as part of the general jihad against the judeo-christian world. if the palestinians used suicide bombings and other forms of terror
just because the land of israel and especially jerusalem is so sacred
to them, what about the 82 israelis murdered in 56 terrorist attacks
before the palestininans suffered their humiliating defeat during the
six day war? to go to top yeshiva students targeted by arab kidnappers posted by isralert, june 25, 2004. this is a news item from today's arutz-7 (http://www.israelnn.com). several yeshiva students, learning at the mir yeshiva in jerusalem,
found themselves targeted in what apparently was an attempted
kidnapping by arabs from the galilee. rabbi shmuel eliyahu, the chief
rabbi of tzfat (safed), told arutz-7 that the incident proves the
danger from local hostile arabs to be greater than originally thought. the incident, as reported in the weekly b'sha'ah tovah magazine,
took place several days ago, when a group of yeshiva (seminary)
students from america studying in jerusalem made their way to the
galilee to visit the holy sites in the region. upon returning very
late at night to their car, which they had parked in tzfat, they
discovered that two of their tires had been slashed. due to the late
hour, there was nowhere nearby for the students to obtain replacement
tires, so they began making their way on foot to a gas station at the
exit to the city. an arab worker at the station told the young americans, "i have a
friend who can replace the tire for you for 50 shekels." but the
"friend" was in carmiel, the students were told, so they would have to
wait. after returning to their car, within half-an-hour a truck pulled up
and three arabs - who appeared to be drunk, according to one of the
yeshiva students - got out, saying they were the "flat-tire experts".
they claimed that their garage was located in the nearby village of
akrabeh and they insisted that only one of the yeshiva students
accompany them there. according to the complaint later filed with tzfat police, the arabs
agreed that two of the students would accompany them and yisrael weiss
and shimon rotter got into the bed of the truck, along with one of the
arabs. when they arrived in akrabeh, the arabs tried to convince one
of the students to come into an apartment building while the other
waited in the truck. "they began trying to convince us that nothing will happen to us,"
reported one of the students, "but on the other hand, threatening us
that if we didn't listen to them, we wouldn't get out of there alive." when the students refused to be separated and tried to exit the
vehicle, the driver took off at high speed, while his accomplice tried
to prevent their escape. the two yeshiva students were able to
overpower the single would-be kidnapper who was with them in the back
of the truck and jumped into the darkness. the students ran from akrabeh until they reached the edge of tzfat,
where an arab well-known for his friendly relations with the jews of
tzfat stopped for them, went to akrabeh and returned with a
replacement tire. he requested that the students not file a complaint
with the police, as it would negatively impact relations with akrabeh,
generally known to be peaceful in its relations with the jews. however, on the advice of rabbis in tzfat, the students did file a
complaint. one of the concerns motivating the students and rabbis to
publicize the incident is that many of the yeshiva students from
overseas are unaware of the dangers in visiting holy sites in hostile
arab villages such as kafr kana or mashhad. local tzfat activists and
leaders have also expressed their concern over arab terrorists taking
advantage of the ignorance and innocence of foreign tourists for
purposes of kidnapping, as apparently almost occurred in the case
reported in b'sha'ah tovah. isralert, a jewish advocacy network, is hosted by harv weiner. to
subscribe to isralert, send an email to isralert@aol.com to go to top why do governments persist in failed policies? posted by richard h. shulman, june 25, 2004. certain policies fail throughout history, but are repeated and
continued. why? to know that a policy has failed before, one has to know history.
not enough people do. it strikes me that educated people are not as
versed in important branches of learning as in former times. history,
in particular, is neglected. some politicians not only do not know
much history, but brag that they don't need to. at least that is
shimon peres' rationale for some of the statements he makes that are
shocking in their criminal negligence. what do politicians do when their current policies are failing?
they persist. they keep on until the next election stops them. they
are afraid to admit an error. when a politician admits an error, he is
not forgiven. if he changes his mind, he is accused of inconstancy or
of violating his campaign pledges. many politicians break their
campaign promises, but when they do so for cause, they are mocked. that was the charitable explanation. people such as peres and beilin
persist apparently because they are beholden to foreign blackmailers
or paymasters. some of their supporters don't even realize the
failure, they are so wedded to warped ideology. richard shulman is a veteran defender of israel on several web-based
forums. he provides cool information and right-on-target overviews. he
distributes his essays by email. to subscribe, write him at
ricshulman@aol.com. to go to top detached from reality posted by women in green, june 25, 2004. this was written by gerald m. steinberg, who is the director of the
program on conflict management at bar-ilan university.
it appeared in the jerusalem post, june 13, 2004. the disastrous outcome of the oslo process - seven years of false peace negotiations that yasser arafat exploited to prepare a terror campaign - can be blamed on many factors. it was driven by the personal ambitions and naive optimism of yossi beilin, shimon peres and the labor party, aided and abetted by eager european mediators and officials in the clinton administration. journalists who forgot that their job was to report the news, and not to become cheerleaders for political programs, also deserve some of the dubious credit. but let's not forget some of my fellow academics who gave the process legitimacy, maintained the facade of peace long after the failure of oslo became clear, and, even worse, continue today as if nothing has changed. this week, tel aviv university is hosting a conference on "track-two diplomacy," but instead of offering a much-needed re-examination of this approach, packed the program with its architects. the meetings in oslo began under the cover of a track-two academic dialogue, such as had been conducted for many years by prof. herbert kelman, a well-meaning social psychologist who runs harvard university's middle east seminar. these meetings included generally like-minded israeli and arab academics who exchanged pleasantries and negotiated the agreements that professors of peace studies eagerly sought. these seminars, and the illusion of "ripeness," helped create the foundations for the oslo process. underpinning it all was the notion that israelis and palestinians understood each other's desires, perspectives, fears and vulnerabilities. but over a decade after the establishment of the palestinian authority, and four years after the process imploded into bitter warfare, we know that these assumptions were incorrect. the expectation that most palestinians, like most israelis, were prepared to make pragmatic compromises to end the conflict on the basis of a two-state solution was disastrously wrong. indeed, the evidence clearly shows that when such dialogues go from the carefully controlled environment of the psychology lab to the world of politics and interests, the results are very different. this is true not only for palestinian-israeli hostilities, but also other bitter ethnic conflicts - the former yugoslavia, rwanda, northern ireland, armenia, azerbaijan, sri lanka, indonesia, etc. time after time, handshakes and personal rapport did not translate into grand agreements. instead, high hopes not grounded in the reality of interests, in an environment of opposing concepts of historic justice, generally ended in disaster. when confronted with stark evidence of suicide bombing and palestinian incitement, academics should be the first to rethink the theoretical starting points. however, like everyone else, we suffer from cognitive dissonance; when presented with evidence contrary to our beliefs even academics will try to rationalize disturbing data to reinforce their existing worldview. as a result, academics like kelman and joseph montville, and their israeli partners, such as ron pundak, who heads the peres center for peace, cling to the old oslo mythology. despite four years of unimaginable terror, their simplistic ideology based on viewing the palestinians as victims confronting an all-powerful israel remains dominant. their peace dialogues succeeded because they were limited to a small group of israeli participants from the self-declared peace camp, partnered with palestinians who tended to be aligned with arafat's fatah organization. these palestinian leaders met relatively few israelis who opposed giving up on jewish historic links to jerusalem or accepting palestinian refugees claims. when these views turned out to reflect those of the majority of israelis - who reported to their military units to fight terror, voted twice for prime minister ariel sharon, and now demand unilateral separation - palestinians appeared to be taken by surprise. and at the same time, the israelis involved in the one-sided dialogues were unprepared for the depth of palestinian rejectionism and the degree to which historic positions on the legitimacy of jewish sovereignty, jerusalem, and refugee claims remained dominant. four year after these myths violently exploded, influential academics continue to write articles and run meetings extolling the virtues of dialogue and heart-to-heart discussions. in a recent op-ed published in the boston globe, kelman promoted the geneva accords and declared that "unilateral steps would have disastrous consequences." in addition to their refusal to recognize the failures of oslo, the idea that the same palestinian and israeli leaders can be trusted to try again is absurd and detached from reality. after decades of narrow arab-israeli dialogues, summer coexistence camps, and summit meetings, it is time for the teachers and researchers in the field of peace studies to confront reality: the quasi-religious belief in "mutually enhancing cooperation" and "reconciliation" is not only wrong; it is also dangerous. it prevents recognition of the situation on the ground and is readily exploited for war and terror, as we have seen. it is clear that the techniques developed by social psychologists for family therapy cannot cope with deep political and religious hatreds, irreconcilable interests and the strategy of terrorism. but this does not mean that there is no hope for stability and conflict management. indeed, a political (rather than psychological) framework based on limiting friction while enhancing deterrence can greatly reduce levels of violence while creating an environment for stability. although far from the idyllic peace that diplomats and social psychologists imagine, the conflict management approach has the benefit of being realistic, while not contributing to increased terrorism and violence. the time for the academics from harvard, as well as from israeli universities, to face this reality is long overdue. ruth and nadia matar established women for israel's tomorrow
(women in green), an activist group of women based in jerusalem. their
website address is http://www.womeningreen.org to go to top army told not to use israeli bullets in iraq posted by steven plaut, june 25, 2004. this is a reuter's news item, june 24, 2004, and appeared on http://news.myway.com/top/article/id/411289%7ctop%7c06-24-2004::18:06%7creuters.html washington (reuters) - israeli-made bullets bought by the u.s. army to plug a shortfall should be used for training only, not to fight muslim guerrillas in iraq and afghanistan, u.s. lawmakers told army generals on thursday. since the army has other stockpiled ammunition, "by no means, under any circumstances should a round (from israel) be utilized," said rep. neil abercrombie of hawaii, the top democrat on a house of representatives armed services subcommittee with jurisdiction over land forces. the army contracted with israel military industries ltd. in december for $70 million in small-caliber ammunition. the israeli firm was one of only two worldwide that could meet u.s.
technical specifications and delivery needs, said the army's program
executive officer for ammunition. the other was east alton,
illinois-based winchester ammunition, which also received a $70
million contract. although the army should not have to worry about "political correctness," abercrombie was making a valid point about the propaganda pitfalls of using israeli rounds in the u.s.-declared war on terror, said rep. curt weldon, the pennsylvania republican who chairs the subcommittee on tactical air and land forces. "there's a sensitivity that i think all of us recognize," weldon told the army witnesses, including maj. gen. buford blount, who led the u.s. third infantry division that captured baghdad in april 2003. als, now the army's assistant deputy chief of staff, said the army had sufficient small caliber ammunition -- 5.56mm, 7.62mm and .50 caliber -- to conduct current operations in iraq, afghanistan and elsewhere. but taken together with training needs, the united states had strained its production facilities, he testified. "to fight a major combat operation in another theater will require the army to impose restrictions on training expenditures and to focus current inventory and new production on combat operations," blount said. as a result, he said the army hoped to stretch u.s. supplies to supplement the capacity of the government-owned lake city plant in independence, missouri, that currently makes more than 90 percent of u.s. small caliber ammunition. the lake city factory, operated by alliant techsystems inc., has nearly quadrupled its production in the past four years. this year, it will produce more than 1.2 billion rounds, karen davies, president of the atk arm that runs it, told the panel. lake city provided more than 2 billion rounds a year during world war ii and vietnam, she said. the army's needs will grow to about 1.5 billion to 1.7 billion rounds a year in coming years, blount said. "in the near-term, balancing training requirements with current operational needs is a manageable risk-mitigation strategy," he said. the army does not want to repeat its history of building capacity during wartime "only to dismantle it in peacetime," blount added. steven plaut is an american-trained economist, a professor of
business administration at haifa university and author of "the
scout." he frequently comments - both seriously and satirically -
on israeli politics and the left wing academic community. his website
address is http://www.stevenplaut.blogspot.com. to go to top saudi arabia - beheading capital of the world posted by aryeh zelasko, june 25, 2004. this was written by mike evans and appeared on the world net daily
website
(http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?article_id=39130).
michael d. evans is the author of "beyond iraq: the next move," an
amazon no. 2 and a new york times best-seller, and founder of
america's largest christian coalition praying for the peace of
jerusalem, jerusalem prayer team.org. evans' "the american prophecies"
will be released by time warner in early august. the execution-style murder of paul johnson has been condemned by
the organization of the islamic conference. the oic chief, abd
al-wahid bilqaziz, labeled mr. johnson's death as a "barbaric act,"
and went on to reassure the world in general and the american public
in particular that "islam recommends the protection of foreigners -
and prohibits the killing of innocent people." how magnanimous of mr.
bilqaziz! apparently in an attempt to assuage world outrage, saudi security
launched a search for the body of the beheaded american. why has that
outrage not extended to the hundreds, perhaps thousands, who have been
beheaded and tossed into unmarked graves over the past 30 years? according to amnesty international, more than half of those
beheaded between 1990 and 1999 were foreign nationals, and some were
christian missionaries. why has the saudi government not returned
those bodies to their loved ones for proper burial? in saudi arabia, heads roll for sodomy, armed robbery, murder, and
for being a christian. some christians were beheaded after having been
falsely accused of drugs or other crimes reportedly as benign as
leading a bible study or offering prayers. saudis that convert to
christianity, or "desert islam," are subject to the death penalty, as
well. those condemned to death are taken to a public square blindfolded
after midday prayers, hands tied behind their backs and forced to
kneel facing mecca. the police clear the square of all traffic and lay
a blue plastic sheet 16-feet square on the ground. the executioner
swings the sword two or three times before jabbing the poor soul in
the back to force him to raise his head. more than 100 people have
been beheaded in saudi since 9-11, and the vast majority were not
members of al-qaida! we are told that the militants and extremists who committed the
horrendous murder of paul johnson have been killed. why are murderers,
who have no regard for the sanctity of human life, called "militants"?
why not label them exactly as what they are: terrorists? and, if these
so-called militants and extremists are going to be hunted down and
killed or arrested, what awaits the entire house of saud? i, too, am outraged, not only by the beheading of paul johnson, but
by the saudi pr-machine that has hypocritically expressed its disgust
over this barbarism. it is, indeed, the theater of the absurd and a
festival of hypocrisy. in 1991 during the persian gulf war, i preached the gospel in the
center of dhahran. u.s. military police grabbed me and screamed, "are
you nuts? they will cut your head off, you fool!" days later, i shared
christ with gen. khalid. he looked at me and asked, "are you trying to
convert me? we cut off heads for that." any thinking person knows that the house of saud is the principal
financier of the terrorists on whom president bush has declared war.
they export more than oil. about 25 percent of all those in the prison
camp at guantanamo bay, cuba, are saudi nationals. no country in the
world has spent more to export bigotry and hatred than saudi arabia. islam is portrayed as a religion of tolerance. how ignorant can we
be? women cannot drive cars in saudi arabia, girls are still
circumcised, political parties and trade unions are outlawed, the
church and state are one in saudi arabia. do not hold your breath
while searching for a christian church or jewish synagogue in that
country; you will suffocate. television is censored to the degree that
if mickey mouse gives minnie mouse a peck on the cheek, poor mickey
will be banished from the kingdom! several years ago, i interviewed a u.s. aramco employee. he told me
he was tortured for having a video of "the love boat" in his suitcase.
he was accused of possessing pornography. while in jail, he feared he
might be beheaded. the holy grail of understanding is that there is nothing tolerant
about saudi arabia. shariah (islamic law) shows no tolerance. no, it
is no coincidence that 15 of the 19 terrorists who attacked america on
9-11 were saudi arabian. all were wahhabists, as is the taliban, and
the majority of the population of saudi. if democracy were to come to
tolerant saudi arabia, osama bin laden would be elected in a
landslide. we have been assured that saddam hussein was not involved in 9-11;
on the other hand, we know with certainty that saudi nationals were.
for the house of saud to try to distance itself from islamic
fundamentalism would be tantamount to osama trying to distance himself
from terrorism. the same can be said of al-qaida. the general muslim population
thinks the evil empire of communism was not defeated by ronald reagan
and the crusaders, but rather, it was osama bin laden and islam that
caused the soviet house of cards to crumble in afghanistan. they also
believe there is just one "evil empire" in the world, and that iraq
will be to america what afghanistan was to the soviets. to go to top the jewish agency must not contribute to p.m. sharon's reward-for-terrorism expulsion plan posted by afsi, june 24, 2004. "prime minister ariel sharon cannot get money from the knesset
where he has no majority, so he has turned to the jewish agency to
fund his reward- for -terrorism expulsion plan from gaza," declares
herbert zweibon, chairman of americans for a safe israel. at a meeting june 23 of the jewish agency and world zionist
organization leaders, the question was raised as to the legality of
the plan for the jewish agency to finance the re-settling of jews. a
blatant attempt was made to avoid the appearance of support for
expulsion by removing language relating to gaza. zweibon tells us,
"the facts are obvious. the jewish agency is making a foolish attempt
to remove itself from an immoral act, but the end result is the same." afsi's chairman concludes, "when world jewry began contributing to
the jewish agency, they believed they were helping to settle jews
throughout israel. for the agency to use these funds to facilitate the
forcible expulsion of 8,000 jews from their homes, schools,
synagogues, farms and businesses in gush katif/gaza, and move them
into relocation settlements in the negev and galilee, is totally
contrary to the intentions of the majority of contributors to the
agency, and is thoroughly reprehensible. americans for a safe israel
calls for a halt to all contributions to the jewish agency, until
there is a clear statement from sallai meridor, chairman in jerusalem,
and carol salomon, ujc head in new york, that the agency has refused
to be party to sharon's defiance of the will of the majority of the
jewish people both in israel and in america." contact information for the jewish agency : the jewish agency: elibir@jazo.org.il sallie meridor: sallaim@jazo.org.il; tel: 972-2-620-2080; fax: 972-2-625-2352 carol salomon, ujc head: casuja@aol.com; tel: 212-339-6001; fax: 212-318-6155 ny main jewish agency office: tel: 212-339-6063/68/72; fax: 212-832-1597; 212-318-6145 americans for a safe israel/afsi is a pro-active pro-israel advocacy
group. afsi may be contacted by mail at 1623 third ave., suite 205,
new york, n.y. 10128, tel: 212-828-2424; fax: 212-828-1717; by email
at afsi@rcn.com; or by accessing its website: www. afsi.org. helen
freedman is executive director. to go to top usual rules don't apply to terrorist posted by bruce s. ticker, june 24, 2004. this was written by edward prather and appeared in http://www.crisisisrael.com all societies who accept the rule of law and a democratic or republican form of government (lower case letters in both of those) also accept what seem to many who do not have this form of government to be contradictions. these manifest themselves in many forms - most of them being small and usually resulting in some comedian pointing out the irony and the audience getting a laugh out of it. contradictions such as freedom of speech, but obviously not freedom to libel, and freedom to assemble, but obviously not to block access to a hospital, are two examples of some of the more serious potential abuses and how the rule of law has come in and tried to patch up that which is not in the interest of society as a whole. protecting the rights of the individual while weighing the effects that those rights might have on society is what makes for good public policy debate. when the smoke finally clears though, it is obvious that both sides of the debate still want to move society in a positive direction - they might just not agree on what method would be the best to get them there. a major idea behind the rule of law is equal protection and application, and while we can shake our heads at many individual examples of this idea failing to be practiced at one time or another, it is still an idea very much worth striving to achieve. what happens when a group of people enter the picture who do not
have any desire to be part of that society, and in fact wish to
destroy it in one form or another - including by employing criminal
and probably violent means? some "enlightened" types wish to grant them the same protections
and applications as any ordinary person would have, and while this
might seem noble and wonderful it helps undermine the very
institutions that they wish to destroy and because of this fact these
noble people do the work for those who wish to see that society
eradicated. most common criminals are still willful members of society who
simply find no use for certain behavior or laws and as such ignore
them in order to gain what they want. while this is destructive to society, in most cases, simply
removing them from the population also removes the threat they pose to
the harmony in that society since they will no longer have the ability
to rob, rape, or murder members of the society as a whole. the modern terrorist who is determined to destroy a culture, nation
or an idea (such as the rules of law or equal application) will not be
deterred by the threat of, nor rehabilitated from a stay in, prison. this person tends not to care for their own life and is quite
willing and sometimes eager to die in an attempt to advance their
cause. this eliminates a show of force (i.e. threats of imprisonment,
armed guards and police) from being as effective as it might be
against people who are willful members of a society and simply do not
agree with policy - certainly not to the extent they'd die for it. when these terrorists are caught there are members of society who
still wish to grant all the rights and privileges to them as if they
were simply accused of car theft. we all know that laws can have loopholes and most of us get tired
of hearing about people getting off due to technicalities or obscure
laws and precedents, yet it seems that we fail to realize that those
forms of manipulation against the rule of law's equal protection and
application are trivial compared to the rights many wish to extend to
terrorists. it is important for any society to hold equal application as a high
standard for everyone who, even despite a criminal past, wishes to
integrate into the community. it is even more important to give adequate care for the
preservation of that society from those forces who wish to destroy it.
terrorists have no care for freedom of speech, and this can be seen in
their own nations, so to grant them such a right and to protect it
while they find ways to destroy the very society granting them such
rights is a suicide pact against the rule of law. as steven plaut points out in his june 17th piece "win one for the
yasser," the idea that laws are being manipulated to make it appear
that israel is a caring nation only make it a careless nation when it
comes to protecting the rights of citizens who wish that society no
harm. caring for those who wish you harm is no more logical than giving
the keys to someone who wishes to break into your home. imagine the
fun a comedian would have with that. societies must protect themselves, whether is be the united states,
israel, or anywhere else, and while both of our societies respect the
rule of law and hold equal application in high regard, we must also
not put our own people at risk for the sake of attempting to attain
something that is not within reach as long as the bombs are exploding. to go to top muslim kids play decapitation games posted by aryeh zelasko, june 24, 2004. as your neighborhood anthropologist about the significance of the
games children play. enjoy the movie. this is from jihad watch
(http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/002331.php ) little green footballs -lgf
(http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog) - has posted a horrifying
link to a scandinavian muslim bulletin board
(http://www.sindbad.se/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=1301) on which someone
has posted ("look how cute!") a video
(http://homepage.mac.com/cfj/.movies/muslim-kids-play-beheading.avi)
of muslim kids reenacting the nick berg decapitation video. if anyone has any doubts about what we are up against in the war on
terror, see this video. it isn't bloody. it's just sickening. what
will become of these children who are being brought up to glorify
murder and violence? to go to top afsi questions tom delay posted by herbert zweibon, june 24, 2004. dear mr. majority leader delay, as chairman of americans for a safe israel/afsi, i am writing to you to register my surprise and distress at your apparent about-face in regard to israel's well being and security. you have sponsored house congressional resolution 460, "regarding
the security of israel and the principles of peace in the middle
east." you, along with mr. hoyer, mr. hyde, and mr. lantos, have
submitted the concurrent resolution which was referred to the
committee on international relations. excerpts from the resolution speak about a "final status agreement
[that] will only be achieved on the basis of mutually agreed changes
that reflect these realities" of major israeli population centers that
make it unrealistic to return to the armistice lines of 1949, but
definitely include the president's "vision of two states, israel and
palestine, living side-by-side in peace and security." it is
envisioned that it is in this state of "palestine" there will be a
"settling of palestinian refugees." all of this is based on another vision of the peaceable kingdom
when all arab states will "oppose terrorism, support the emergence of
a peaceful and democratic palestine, and state clearly that they will
live in peace with israel." none of these peaceful "visions" address the issue that there has
been no let-up in terrorist actions against israel, and yet the united
states continues to pressure israel to make concessions that simply
reward the terrorists and punish israel's jewish citizens. congressman delay, how does your support for hr 460 fit in with
your positions of the past few years? may 3, 2002 - afsi applauded you when you declared, "there is no
moral equivalence between a democratic government defending its
citizens and a calculated strategy of death waged by terrorist
organizations... the attacks directed against them [israel] are attacks
against liberty and all free people must recognize that israel's fight
is our fight? every man and woman in israel should know that america
is with them." october 11, 12, 2002 - in washington, at the christian coalition
rally, you joined afsi in declaring, "no palestinian state." august 16, 2000 - during the camp david talks you wrote, "if the
palestinians are truly committed to the peace process, they must
unequivocally respect the autonomy and security that israel has
struggled to maintain over the years." i'm sure you are well aware
that the pa covenant has never been changed, and continues to refuse
to recognize israel's right to exist. in light of the above, we hope you will take another look at the
plan for a pa state wrenched from israel's biblical inheritance and
return to your former stance in opposition to the creation of another
arab terrorist state in the middle east. herbert zweibon is chairman, americans for a safe israel (afsi). to go to top subtle anti-semitism and subtle self-effacement posted by evelyn hayes, june 24, 2004. from invasion to inquisition to expulsion to holocaust to durban, it is a majority against one.
from attention to compulsive attention to discrimination to incrimination it is 190 to 1 at the un.
from shamed to blamed to renamed victim to victimizer, refugee to refugee maker, murdered to murderer,
the perversion of words is a diversion of semantics.
from settler as the scapegoat to terrorist as meriting occupation,
in every which way it is expulsion again,
the exodus to reverse the exodus,
disengaging from the self is disengagement without merit and profit; it is the victim as victimizer victimizing himself....
disengagement from gaza is disengagement from truth, accepting the untruths to become accepted
only to be completely rejected, subjected, denied, further vilified, tried and tied, packed away in shame
with more pain, more amputations, more denunciations, with no legs to stand on and hands taking itself apart.
yad mordechai is a country club; how will it labor what gaza jews labor with love and produce. and the jews welcome the freedom to be dependent on being like every other nation
if they can make gifts to mankind and be appreciated like invention of the a-bomb, dismantlement of israel.... appreciation now ignores before and thereafter, disaster after disaster, ignores pride in self to be able to walk beside their destroyer by minimization of might. samson like all other men, powerless and blind did finally see that being like them, with them and for them meant to end himself and to accept everyone else with their evil as a way of life and he ended both before such an end. joining those who don't see eye to eye, going blind, still alone, the only place to look is inside, into memory and to prophesize with the ruler of reality: their measurements don't fit. anti-semistism is effacement, eradiction, a final dissolution of a people who cannot die. subtle effacement dries bones, but our bones are all the bones that keep jews awake and make us cry, shout, weep and repeat, never again! yet anti-semitism and self disengagement are one, to erase the jews from the face of the earth as well as all they're worth, from there to there and out of everywhere until there is joseph again, the real jew who engages himself with all that he is meant to be for all who need to be created better for betterment. disengaging from good to appease evil is a false premise for peace; is the biggest lie, a tool of the doomed who see through the eyes of their destroyers, smiling, satisfied that they can see the jew as the enemy does and can be the enemies' tools. too. sharon's disengagement plan has astonished the enemy; has put the wool into all eyes, the jew is praised for planning on razing himself and the quartet is marvelling at how inventive the abused can be in their own cruelty to themselves. who needs hamas anymore? sharon is israel's bulldozer. unsatified with winning incomplete victories with a lot of help from moshe dayan who gave the keys
away to those who gave them back to the jews, sharon will show the way to complete defeat. watch out world; israel's defeat will give pan-jihad recognition to cause more dhimmi people to do geneva coups and empty all the chicken coups of cowards and frauds. watch out world, the settler by definition will not let israel succumb to self-effacement by those so doped by anti-semitism that they too are against zion, israel and the mission of avraham, to settle, no longer sojourn, to settle, no longer wander, to be a free people in their own land, in hashem's estate willed to them, the jews, the real jews and them alone. evelyn hayes is author of "the eleventh plague, twins, because
their hearts were softened to accept the unacceptable" and "the
twelfth plague, generations, because the lion wears stripes." to go to top madonna: or winning for the gipper posted by marion d.s. dreyfus, june 24, 2004. wuhan series something i have mulled upon of late, as soon as i heard of
madonna's reincarnation as hadassah. she remakes herself every
prezzy cycle or so. now it is 'our' turn. for those around me in china, 'kabbalah' means nothing. torah means
nothing. and most attachments to judaism's divinity and spirituality
are all, likewise, cheerfully unplumbed and untrendoid. it is not as
lenny bruce once opined, "if you live in manhattan, you're jewish,
even if you're not. if you live in butte, you're gentile, even if
you're jewish." how much is that the case here: in wuhan, china, where
you're not even gentile if you're jewish there. atheists all, you're
also not buddhist, not shinto, not baha'i --so you have a nice
haimische spectrum of spectacule what-you're-nots. the diff is that here, we yidd'n are admired and respected without
saying a word beyond the fact that we are, simply, vestigial people of
the book. (former jewish glories in harbin, kai'phong and elsewhere
here don't count, as the memory about such things is localized and,
after 100 years, misty, with the velocity of everything else the past
century has wrought on the long-suffering chinese.) take me, for instance. as the only self-identified jew for miles, i enjoy the fruits of
people's curiosity, their admiration, and their expectation. i taught
at a second college for the past semester, in addition to the branch
of huazhong university in which my mainstay courses were presented.
although i asked for a document or something written to acknowledge
that i was also a 'professor' at wen hua, i was merely given the
benison of a sleek mercedes and a driver every week to pick me up,
drive me the 40 minutes to the other university, and then the same
car, alternate driver back at night, often accompanied by one, two or
three others who hitch on my dime. try as i might, i could not get any administrator to document my
sojourn at the second place. nor, though i was being paid at a 'high
rate,' compared to all those around in the immediate vicinity --and
indeed wuhan proper, about four times the going rate-- i was sent back
and forth between colleges for who in fact would be the dispenser of
funds for my hired lectures at school two. after retail ado, i was
repeatedly assured i'd be paid but, and there lies the worm of
passive-aggression, at the end of term. came the last class, and payment was to have been forked or
chopsticked over, but it was delayed. no reason proffered. "next
week," i was told. twice. my grades were already in, and there was no
more driver, no sleek black air conditioned mercedes. no way to get
easily to the school. two weeks later, though, at the huazhong business office of the
foreign affairs office, i was handed a deracinated chubby-snug brown
paper bag a few ml larger than the bills lodged inside. ta-daahh!: your pay. like a mafia hit-moll, there was just cash, in the form of y100
notes. fresh and red. as are all payment monies, all nice and crisp.
carmella soprano i ain't, so i looked in vain for a piece of paper, a
receipt, a little writ of issue or tissue to say what the money was.
niente. (i'm not sure of the word in mandarin.) i counted up the total, and was perplexed at the two weeks'
shortfall from what i had expected. why, i asked, am i missing so
much? oh, heh heh, the administratrix replied with a typical and infuriating, mirthless condescension giggle, that's taxes! but, i rejoindered, if i work there only one day a week, and the sum of four days' work per month is necessarily smaller than that needed to be taxed at the usual 5% rate, why am i being given this advanced pre-chomped wad of insufficient funds? oh... that cruella de ville half-smothered snarkle again...
that? is more taxes. instead of the normal rate, i was being taxed at an advanced 20% on my total --as if they were the money earned for only one month. i listened, mentally drumming my fingers on the medulla oblongata
of the person explaining that he 'had fought furiously' on my behalf,
knowing, he said, that i would have 'a complaint' once i saw two
weeks' earnings pfft! from the brown baggie pay packet. the result was that his ire was inadequate to the envelope thereof.
the money stayed gone from my pocket, no doubt cunningly attached to
the inside fabric or the appurtenances of someone else, perhaps. we tell no tales, we 100 yuan notes without accompanying
receipts or documentation. i graciously thanked el furioso, and repaired to the multitasking
headaches of moving, changing jobs, getting visas and returning
computers and other equipment whence it came a year ago. nevertheless, i did not leave it at that. despite my hectic schedule, and my upbringing as a (relatively) nice jewish etcetera, given the name and number of the key big to approach in these circumstances by a good friend, i called the commissioner of education in this province. first shock was: he answered his phone. second was that he speaks a fairly terrific english, really supple smooth, expressive, easy to understand and fluent. everything i wish for my best students. could i jot down the core issues and send it in an email? i
carefully wrote down and repeated, several times his email address. i
sent a letter with all the details. i waited for one, two, three days.
finally, i called up the excellent gentleman and asked if he had done
anything on 'my issues.' in fact, as a short-termer now, i wondered whether it might not be smarter to have shiwei roil the waters after i hit hong kong en route to my next job, at the first school of the nation, in bucolic but legendarily distant hangzhou, zhejiang province. well, no. he had not gotten my first, explicatory email. he had transposed the "re" in jeffrey to "er," even though we repeated it a few times, thus i apparently sent a puzzled stranger my assessment of issues to be investigated. with the right e-ddress, i sent him a double. in new york, the bureaucracy would have clanked into s-l-o-ow gear,
i think. in a month, voila, not much would transpire, but a mailing
would arrive in my postbox telling me apologies, not our jurisdiction,
sorry, la di dah please change and write to so-and-so, instead. but here, good mr. shiwei had already written a note alerting me to his investigation, and had called the fao admin. i'd get a bulletin as soon as he knew anything. i worked all night on grading papers and putting all grades into
percentages of people making 90 to 100, 80 to 89, and so on. i was
going to rest an hour or two, my ritual of 'sleep.' comes a call from the fao translator and all-around do-it-it woman. can i come in right now to discuss an important subject? (undressed, yawning, and a mess? noo-o, not really.) what's
it about? mr. shiwei was on their case. as shiwei's bailiwick is to license
schools for their foreign expat teachers, a call from such a person is
not a bureaucrat's idyll. the fao head was quite upset. he was being
held up as responsible for our not obtaining visas to stay in the
country - though it was not his fault, really, that the officious
security apparatchik ratchit of the police security bureau felt she
was above saying ok to any such trivial volk as myself and colleagues
all due to expire soon in visa-extension terms. he explained (correctly) that they had ferried us downtown to get
the visa with all we needed. not their fault we were denied a tourist
visa: who woulda thunk they'd say no to a bunch of educated people
seeking to spend money and stay in hotels and eat food for the
pleasure of touring around this big gdp-obsessed country? gey
veis. i merely responded cordially now. would i be kind enough to accept
more money of the original? (y'think?) well, i would definitely
consider it. they would return 10% of my 'taxed' total to me. no-- that's the image i was projecting. what i actually said: of
course. of course i would be delighted. to accept more of my own money
back. and the myth of the invincible jew, hadassah or madonna or marion,
triumphs. for a fleet moment or two. amid all the global calumny and
unpleasantness. on the wire. in the local office for expat profs at
the mercy of laocoon local legalities and arcana. how sweeter than nectar is the sensation of being vindicated, paid in almost-full (they are still keeping double the usual rate), and having them dance attendance on us, for a change. we have been shocked and unnerved by the unknowable arcade twists and turns of so many events and circumstances since arriving last year. how thrillingly... shakespearian?... to take center stage and mould
activity and justice to my will for a change, for a long-delayed
change. because, should i lift voice a wee whack more to mr. shiwei, the
school here might be censured. that censure might take the form of
forbidding further expats from being licensed to teach here. as
schools have already laid out gobs of yuan for the importation of
spanking new college grads, dewy with post-exam relief and getting on
a plane away from the 'rents, that would mean the forfeiture of not
only the monies needed for documenting these newbies, but also a
debilitating fall from grace of the college, should there be a sudden
cessation of native speakers that all the student body dotes on and
becomes starry-eyed over. no more rangy, lanky blue-eyed midwesterners
to set those cardiac pumps a-flutterin' for the 20-year-olds set on
their own leo dicaprio in the big apo over the pacific. i won one, let's just say, for the gipper. not i alone, but all
expats who have been fiddled or clem-kadiddled can now hold up their
heads if initially hoodwinked. the embarrassment, the 'lose-face
factor,' will keep future administration implacables on the straight
and narrow for at least the time remaining before the '08 olympics. around my name, an aureole of subdued voice and hushed attention:
that jew didn't take no for an answer, even though outnumbered 1.3
billion to one. she got her shekels, her manna, her yuan all right.
stuck to her guns. won her case. and in 15 years, when the reputed 40 million chinese males wake up and find they have no mates in their age cohort, because of short-sighted preference for males, routine infanticide and adoptions to the west, they'll rue the day they let us go. they won't have us to kick around any longer. actually, that won't be true. we wander the earth, and are to be found unexpectedly expected anywhere the doors are open for business, pleasure or midground. i can't wait, she said, rubbing her palms together with relish or
at least pickle, to ask the next school for a day off to fly to the
beijing kehillah or chabad to celebrate tisha b'av or
shushan purim with her excellent co-religionists. so yeah, madonna, go for it. britmey, be our guest. demi, assume the semi or hemi, (or double whemmi). adopt holy names. vest yourself in scripture. i don't even have to wear a red thread around my wrist to get what's coming. i got the stuff it takes. and here, i don't require alternate-side-of-the-street parking to strut our calendaria. a bicycle will do handily. re: esther (f/k/a madonna) 23 june 2004 department of not so fast. today, the professor called me. would i do him a favor and
accompany him downtown to the police security bureau? he was being
questioned about my issue on the taxes from the school. he had never
been called before the police before, not for a possible infraction. why do you need me, i asked. they don't believe me, he said. being a gracious sort, i complied. despite the huge time take. i
asked that because of the waste of hours going to and from hasnkou,
could i deliver the grades on saturday instead of friday? yes, yes, he
agreed instantaneously. when i got into the van a few hours later, the fact that allan, our translator, was with professor chen alerted me tat something was up that had not been overtly stated, let alone delineated. i found out why he was along for the hour's ride. when i arrived at the too-well-known psb, i was directed to a
certain chair. ornery as usual, and aware of nlp (neuro-linguistic
programming) elements in location of seats vis-a-vis one's
interlocutors, i selected another one. twice. professor chen was led
into another room. i was left alone with allan and an officer in
severe pewter grayand black uniform. she wore no makeup. she was all
business. i could tell she knew english quite well, but couldn't
imagine her having fun while learning it. she had a 3"x3" white
plaster on her left elbow. i saw that though they had told me i would just sit there, that was not the case. the woman said, twice, we hope you will tell us the truth. then followed an hour or two of redundant questioning. the upshot of which was that i was guilty of teaching. oh my. teaching at a non-credentialed-for-foreigners school. she read me the relevant sections of the law. i could be fined y1000. i could be expelled from the country, have my visa rescinded. be forbidden to work anywhere in the country. lose my job privileges. (what exactly are those, pray?) did i know i was illegally teaching? (no, i answered truthfully: i
did as i was directed to do. my school sent me to teach somewhere as
part of my job - and i went there.) everything i said in answer to her vanilla questioning was
converted into chinese characters. four pages of single-spaced remarks
and answers. then allan was given the sheets, to translate them back
to me. then i signed each sheet on the rule at the bottom, wrote
"everything here is the truth," on the end of the four pages of
interrogation, and they placed my index finger in red sealing ink and
i placed the fingerprint on top of every one of my five signatures.
one page had two signatures. she gave me a tissue to wipe off the ink. professor chen stayed in his chamber about half an hour longer than my questioning. i asked allan if they were beating him. allan raised his eyebrows in mirth andlaughed shortly. no, he replied. while she questioned me, the officer went over and over my passport, scrutinizin g every page. i wanted to snatch it away from her. don't do that! i wanted to yell. of course, i realized a dozen times:this is a legal document. of course she will not give it to me. it is a legal entity on its own. as we were departing, she said they will consider my case and let me know the results, according to chinese law. the results. according to chinese law! i shook her cold,clammy hand, a fish shake, as i left. no reason not to be civil, though actually the proceedings were more kafkaesque than i'd had any reason to expect. i am the fall guy for others doing the wrong thing! i should have
no part in this. although ignorance of the law is no excuse in the us,
how can i be held liable for the grand crime of teaching young
children english at an educational institute that my school has told
me to attend and work at? i had not given anyone the finger - i had forgotten who told me
about the job. i had not know who paid me - this school or that. so i
implicated no one. though i fancy myself a tough cookie, the several hours in the wooden straight-backed chair had done its non-subtle job on me. i was unnerved and slightly angry. dope dealers. prostitutes. shake-down artists. delinquents with knives. knowing perverts. men who transmit illness via unclean needles. sars vectors. and me, the teacher of young adults who should know better than to tgeach at a non-credentialed school. hiss. boo. get 'er, everyone! but in the knowledge that i leave here next tuesday, perhaps i shall escape the peculiar justice here in wuhan, which deprives honoured guests of their visas to spend money, and jumps on people for having the temerity to spend a few hours instructing 20-year-olds in the arcane of grammar, literature, poetry and comprehension. marion d. s. dreyfus is a journalist, a film critic and an intrepid
traveler. she is currently in wuchan, china, where she teaches at the
university and does a radio talk show. her address is: marion d. s.
dreyfus, reception centre 8301, huazhong university of science &
technology, english department, wuchang branch, nanhu, wuchan, wuhan
430064, p r china. to go to top the jewish agency: yes to transfer; no to disengagement posted by mikimia and herb sunshine, june 24, 2004. gentlemen: congratulations, or is it consolations? in the middle of the road, one gets hit by cars from both
directions. the left doesn't love you because you don't support
transfer of jews, but the right has problems with you because you will
build homes for the evacuees. remember a compromise is a decision in which both sides give up
what they want in exchange for what they don't. who's content? when you insufficiently understand something, why not stay out of
it? with love of israel, herbert b. sunshine this letter was occasioned by the following news item. jewish agency executive decision concerning settlement following the government's decision concerning the disengagement
plan and the request by prime minister ariel sharon to the jewish
agency to assist in developing the negev and the periphery, with
government funding, the jewish agency executive today held extensive
deliberations on this matter. the jewish agency executive decided to involve itself in planning,
at this stage, and if the need arises in the future, also in building
new communities and expanding existing communities in the negev,
galilee and gilboa funded by the government of israel. it was decided that the director general of the jewish agency
major general (res.) giora romm, will coordinate the establishment of
the needed apparatus and its operation. similarly it was decided that the jewish agency will not be
involved in any other activities related to the government's decision
on the issue of disengagement. during the deliberations the participants highlighted the jewish
agency's contribution to settlement in israel over the 75 years since
its establishment during which more than 1,000 communities have been
established throughout the country. furthermore the jewish agency's
role in the area of settlement after the peace treaty with egypt was
noted. the jewish agency executive comprises representatives of the
zionist political parties in israel and the diaspora, jewish
communities in the diaspora within the framework of the united jewish
communities (ujc) - the federations of north america and keren hayesod
- united israel appeal and israeli public figures. sallai meridor
serves as chairman of the jewish agency executive and carole solomon
as chairperson of the jewish agency board of governors. for further information contact: michael jankelowitz liaison to foreign press the jewish agency for israel cell: 051-601706 e-mail: michaelj@jazo.org.il herbert b. sunshine is a retired professor of law (u.s.), now
living with his wife, mikimia, in jerusalem. to go to top israeli government acts pro-arab posted by richard h. shulman, june 24, 2004. hobbling the army, encouraging rioters the israeli army promulgated a new regulation, permitting its
soldiers to open fire at stone-throwers without having to consult
distant, higher-level commanders. (the army usually also issues
strictures against abuse of a new rule. the news brief did not mention
any.) state prosecutor edna arbel overturned the regulation. she claimed
that the rule would allow soldiers to open fire without just cause,
and was inhumane. she is aware that stone-throwing has injured and
killed people (mepf, 2/6 from miriam gardner of american yated
neeman.) investigative journalist yoav yitzchak has revealed instances of
apparent corruption by arbel (op. cit. except 2/13). her tenure was
marked by undeserved prosecutions of right-wingers and failure to
prosecute left-wingers. does she ever see the humanity of unprotected
israeli soldiers? israeli army self-defeatism at an idf ethics committee meeting with civilian experts, it was the israeli general who said that israeli soldiers must die to save the lives of enemy civilians. that was the behind sending foot soldiers into jenin. there, 23 soldiers were killed. they would have been spared if the terrorist concentration were bombed from the air. it took four years of p.a. arms smuggling before the army responded with tougher measures (op. cit.). what is the point in having military advantage? the government cares less about its soldiers' lives than about what foreign critics might say. the us is in the same fix. the arabs fight to win; the jews fight to look good to unappeasable critics. whatever israel does is an excuse for critics to vent spleen. the idf should contest and reject unfair criticism. it needs psycho-therapy rather than masochistic ethicists. israel asks eu subsidy israel will ask european countries to subsidize its gaza withdrawal (ibid.). israel should not withdraw but offer to help defend europe from its coming islamist uprising. fence facts after the security fence was erected in northern israel, terrorist incidents there fell from 600 per year to zero. theft of vehicles and farm equipment is sharply down, too. the arabs cannot smuggle stolen goods back to the p.a. through the fence. illegal residency is less now, too. israeli citizens feel more secure. their real estate values reflect it. it isn't just the fence. most tkulkarm terrorists have been killed, captured, or are in hiding (ibid.). northern israelis shouldn't feel too secure. hizbullah has rockets trained on them. israeli police work with arab thieves police cars converged on yitzhar, in yesha, bringing an arab. the arab
pointed to sheep that jewish residents say were bought by them or born
there. without court order or evidence, the police encouraged the arab
to lead the sheep away. police did not let the jews explain their
side. the jews protested forcibly, and the arab abandoned the sheep.
led by a particular trouble-making officer, the police arrested five
jews and beat anyone who came near (ibid.), even if no violence were
offered. many jews are angry at the "settlers," but they should
sympathize with these fellow jews trying to earn an honest living
while the arabs try to steal it and get the anti-zionist israeli
police to facilitate the theft and commit brutality. how "democratic" israel deals with dissent on the right the government dropped its charges against noam federman in a case
of terrorism. he also has been let out of prison after more than half
a year under administrative detention on secret charges for something
else. on the basis of secret evidence, however, the judge ruled that
he may continue to be held under house arrest (arutz-7, 6/11). since the evidence is secret, federman cannot present an informed
defense. how do the judges know that the evidence is valid? after all,
the government has arrested federman dozens of times, but has been
overturned those dozens of times, with a very few exceptions for minor
nuisance charges of the kind that are not levied against someone
except for spite. the prosecution may be seen as a persecution. the
police, prosecution, and most of the judges belong to a mutually
reinforcing and self-appointed system sharing the far left views that
federman agitates against. the government has engaged in many false
arrests of other people for political reasons. it fabricates or hides
evidence. special and formerly secret rules encourage harassing
prosecution of yesha jews. that means using the system of justice for
political purposes. the prosecution has been keeping federman under arrest, unable to
work but forced to spend on legal matters, for half his adult life, on
charges that do not stand up. richard shulman is a veteran defender of israel on several web-based
forums. he provides cool information and right-on-target overviews. he
distributes his essays by email. to subscribe, write him at
ricshulman@aol.com. to go to top appetite versus starvation...some eternal truths posted by gerald a. honigman, june 24, 2004. arabs have spent decades trying to convince the world that they are both the old and the new jews. arafat & co. have claimed that jesus, peter, and their comrades were actually arabs--"palestinians" to be exact--not jews. it seems that planes were not the only things that arafat's crew decided to hijack. too bad that besides the jews themselves, their roman conquerors also left a clear record of the land belonging to the jews and also made a distinction between jews and arabs as well. tacitus and dio cassius were roman historians who wrote
extensively about judaea's attempt to remain free. they wrote during,
or not long after, the two major revolts of the jews for independence
in 66-73 c.e. and 133-135 c.e. and make no mention of this land being
arab, of it being called "palestine," or its people "palestinians." on
the contrary, they detailed the difference between native jews and
arabs from surrounding lands who joined the massive roman assault on
their jewish neighbors. listen to this quote from vol. ii, book v,
the works of tacitus: "...titus was appointed by his father to complete the subjugation
of judaea... he commanded three legions in judaea itself... to these
he added the twelfth from syria and the third and twenty-second from
alexandria... amongst his allies were a band of arabs, formidable in
themselves and harboring towards the jews the bitter animosity usually
subsisting between neighboring nations..." after the 1st revolt, rome issued thousands of judaea capta coins
which can be seen in museums all over the world today. notice,
please...judaea capta...not " palaestina capta." additionally, to
celebrate this victory, the arch of titus was erected illustrating
legionnaires carrying away the spoils of the jewish temple in
jerusalem. it stands tall in rome to this very day. arafat, of course,
denies that such a temple ever existed. when, some sixty years later, hadrian decided to further desecrate
the site of the temple, it was the grandchildren's turn to take on
their mighty conquerors. the result of the struggle of this tiny nation for its freedom was, perhaps, as predictable as that which would have occurred had lithuania taken on the soviet union during its heyday of power. listen next to this next quote from dio cassius: "...580,000 men were slain, nearly the whole of judaea made
desolate. many romans, moreover, perished in this war (the bar kochba
revolt). therefore hadrian, in writing to the senate, did not employ
the opening phrase commonly affected by the emperors, ' i and the
legions are in health.' " the emperor was so enraged at the jews' determination that, in the words of the esteemed modern historian, bernard lewis, "hadrian made a determined attempt to stamp out the embers not only of the revolt but also of jewish nationhood and statehood... obliterating its jewish identity." wishing to end, once and for all, jewish hopes, hadrian renamed
the land itself from judaea to "syria palaestina" -- palestine --
after the jews' historic enemies, the philistines, a non-semitic sea
people from the eastern mediterranean or aegean area. sorry
yasser...trying to hijack the latter's identity, as you have tried to
do with that of the jews, won't work either. the reality, of course, is that the vast majority of arabs did not
enter the land of israel/judaea/palestine until almost seven centuries
after the fall of jewish jerusalem--during the beginning of the arabs'
own imperial conquest, forced arabization, and settlement of much of
the region. imperialism is evidently only nasty when non-arabs so
indulge. ditto for settlement and such. most so-called "native
palestinians" came into the land only recently themselves, beginning
with tens of thousands of egyptian troops who stayed after the
invasion of muhammad ali's army in the 19th century, and ballooning
after jewish capital began to develop the land soon afterwards. the
records of the permanent mandates commission of the league of nations
and other evidence document arabs flooding into palestine after 1920.
it is believed that many others entered under cover of darkness and
were simply never recorded. while the story of the arabs' attempt at establishing themselves as the "aboriginals" of the land could be developed further, i'll let it rest for now. so much for their attempt at becoming the old jews. let's next turn to the arab attempt to become the new jews... after judaea's fight for freedom against rome and the conversion
of the latter to christianity, forced conversions, being branded the
deicide people, inquisitions, demonization, dehumanization, ghettos,
blood libels, massacres, expulsions, and existence as perpetual
stranger in someone else's land became the plight of the stateless,
"wandering jew." estimates have placed the number of jews murdered as a result of
these experiences, prior to the holocaust, in both the
christian west and in the muslim east, in the millions. arabs have tried to convince the world that the plight of their
refugees is somehow the equivalent of that of the millennial
experience of the jews as referred to above. it has worked to a great
extent with a world largely--and willingly-- deaf, dumb, and blind to
the obvious differences. let's turn the clock back some seventy years to hear how one great
jewish leader explained these differences in his evidence submitted to
the palestine royal commission in london in 1937: "three generations of jewish thinkers...have come to the conclusion that the cause of our suffering is the very fact of the diaspora, the bedrock fact that we are everywhere a minority...whenever i hear a zionist...accused of asking too much...i really cannot understand it...yes we do want a state; every nation on earth...they all have states of their own...the normal condition of a people. yet, when we, the most abnormal of peoples, and therefore the most unfortunate, ask for only the same...then it is called too much...we have got to save millions, many millions. i do not know whether it is a question of one third...half...or a quarter." "i have the profoundest feeling for the arab case, in so far as that case is not exaggerated...i have also shown to you...that...there is no question of ousting the arabs. on the contrary, the idea is that palestine on both sides of the jordan should hold the arabs...and...jews. what i do not deny is that in that process the arabs of palestine will become...a minority...what i do deny is that that is a hardship." "it is not a hardship on any race, any nation possessing so many national states now and so many more national states in the future. one fraction, one branch...and not a big one, will have to live in someone else's state: well, that is the case with all the mightiest nations of the world...that is only normal and there is no "hardship" attached to that. so when we hear the arab claim confronted with the jewish claim, i fully understand that any minority would prefer to be a majority." "it is quite understandable that the arabs...would also prefer palestine to be the arab state no. 4, no. 5. or no. 6...but when the arab claim is confronted with our jewish demand to be saved, it is like the claims of appetite versus...starvation." the presenter of this evidence was ze'ev vladimir jabotinsky, patron saint of israel's modern likud party. and, as can be seen above, unlike too many other zionist thinkers, he was a realist regarding what could and what could not be expected in the jews' relationships with arabs. as jabotinsky correctly forecasted, arabs made out quite well after the break up of the turks' empire at the end of world war i. to date, they have almost two dozen states. and most of those were conquered and forcibly arabized from non-arab peoples. appetite, indeed, mr. jabotinsky...and at everyone else's expense. arabs declared the region to be purely arab patrimony, frequently outlawed others' languages and cultures, and killed anyone who stood in their way...millions to date. in failing repeated attempts to destroy militarily the sole, miniscule state the jews managed to get as a refuge, arabs next set out to defeat israel on the battlefield of ideas. arabs transformed themselves into the new jews. along these lines, israel's very attempts to survive amid repeated arab assaults on its life were then twisted to be equated with the nazis' treatment of the jews. arabs became david to israel's goliath, despite the fact that there are some 300 million of them on over six million square miles of territory compared to five million jews in a state that one needs a magnifying glass to locate on a map of the world. and then there are those who make the argument, "if jews can have a state, why not palestinians?" while i won't get into argument over whether a distinct
palestinian arab nationalism exists today, it certainly did not exist
before the rise of modern political zionism a little over a century
ago. in fact, the former arose to negate the latter. virtually all the
writings of politically conscious arabs on the eve of the collapse of
the ottoman turkish empire spoke of a greater syrian arab or pan arab
identity. and there never was an arab country, state, or nation of
"palestine." the "palestinians" were the jews. as in jabotinsky's day, this conflict has never been about jews
wanting to deny arabs their just rights. but it has been about arabs
not allowing any one else--kurds, jews, berbers, black african
sudanese, or others--even a tiny sliver of the very same rights so
fervently demanded for themselves. in the war of ideas, the arabs realized that the very identity of the conflict would have to also undergo a change. in the attempt to create their 22nd or 23rd state, arabs came to realize that it would make for better public relations to speak in terms of creating a state for "stateless palestinians" rather than calling for yet an additional arab state at the expense of the one of the jews. hocus pocus: conquering arabs, with some two dozen states,
were next transformed into the likes of previously starving, stateless
jews. here's how zuheir mohsein, official with the plo's military wing and executive council, explained this strategy in his interview with the dutch newspaper, trouw, on 3/31/77: "there are no differences between jordanians, palestinians, syrians,
etc...it is only for political reasons that we now carefully underline
palestinian identity....this serves only a tactical purpose...a new
tool in the continuing battle against israel." despite the passage of time, these basic truths do not change. the arab-jewish (arab-kurdish, arab-berber, arab-black african
sudanese, and so forth) conflict is still all about jabotinsky's
appetite versus starvation...a conquering, subjugating arab appetite
which denies any one else their own share of justice in the region. by rejecting repeated compromises over the 20% of the mandate of
palestine left after they had already received the lion's share of it
in 1922 with the creation of purely arab transjordan (some 80% of the
whole), the arabs created the impasse we are still living with today.
they invaded a reborn israel in 1948, creating two refugee crises in
the process: arabs who fled israel and a like number of jews who fled
"arab "/ muslim lands. but, unlike arabs, jews didn't have other
multiple states of their own to potentially choose from. what's even more depressing is that, in many crucial ways, nothing
has really changed for well over a half century, as a look at arab
websites, textbooks, maps, television programs, and such illustrates.
israel simply does not (or should not) exist. and the most that will
be offered to it will be a temporary respite, a hudna, like that the
prophet of islam, muhammad, allowed his enemies until he could muster
the strength to deal them the final blow...arafat's so-called "peace
of the quraysh." even the arabs' own moderates have admitted to this,
calling all such moves for "peace" a trojan horse. so, once again...the basic truths of this struggle do not change.
they are eternal. and the arab-jewish conflict is still all about appetite versus
starvation. gerald a. honigman is a florida educator who
has created and conducted counter-arab propaganda programs for college
youth, has lectured on numerous campuses and other platforms, and has
publicly debated many arab spokesmen. his articles and op-eds have
been published in newspapers, magazines, academic journals and
websites around the world. to go to top rabbis won't cooperate with sharon's plan to expel gaza jews posted by aryeh zelasko, june 24, 2004. the most effective way for this group to show their sincerity and
set an example for resistance to these and other evil decrees of the
sharon dictatorship would be to resign their government jobs. every
one of them is an employee of the government of israel. i find it
difficult to take seriously people who question the legitimacy of a
system but take money from it. how can you in fact label the government as in rebellion against
the torah and even in violation of the laws of the state of israel and
be employed by them? even worse is the fact that all these rabbis are
employed directly by either sharon or lapid. if anyone is looking for a powerful, effective and totally legal
way to rapidly bring down this dictatorship and prevent a horrible
tragedy then there is no better way than massive resignation from all
sectors of the government. i do not mean a "warning strike" or civil
disobedience or, especially not, protest rallies. i mean a clear
statement that you will no longer have anything to do with this evil.
resign, quit, go home. show that jewish lives and the honor of the
jewish people means more to you than your nice, safe pay check! this was a news item in arutz-7 and is archived at
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=64563 the yesha rabbis council convened last night to discuss the
impending withdrawal and expulsion from the jewish communities of gush
katif. the council represents the rabbis of judea, samaria and gaza
(yesha). the rabbis raised various ideas, including prayer and fasting,
protest vigils, hunger strikes, civil disobedience, and more. they
plan to turn to the hareidi sector and ask for its cooperation,
continue the house-to-house efforts that were so successful prior to
the likud referendum, and possibly to recommend prayers that the
government should be toppled before it can carry out its plans. the rabbis ruled that no one is permitted to take part or aid in
the uprooting of jewish towns - but did not say straight out that
soldiers must refuse orders to do so. the question of refusal appears
to be moot in any event, as the government has ordered the formation
of a special unit of 2,000 soldiers to carry out the expulsion - and
that will comprise soldiers whose political opinions will not stand in
the way of carrying out this mission. the rabbis further called upon residents of the towns slated for
demolition - 21 communities in gaza and four in northern shomron - not
to enter into negotiations regarding "pitzui tmurat pinui" -
compensation in exchange for evacuation. the rabbis who convened last night in maaleh adumim were: council
chairman rabbi dov lior of kiryat arba; beit el's rabbi zalman
melamed; rabbi elyakim levanon of elon moreh; maaleh adumim yeshiva
hesder head rabbi mordechai rabinowitz; council secretary rabbi daniel
shilo of kedumim; and rabbi david dudkevitz of yitzhar. mk uri ariel
(national union) briefed the rabbis on the situation at present. rabbi shilo said, "the very idea of uprooting towns and giving away
land is deeply shocking, and we call upon the residents not to
cooperate with any enticement that might be offered them. we must
disengage from the disengagement and from the idea of making peace
with enemies who do not want peace with us. we must rather concentrate
on peace amongst ourselves, and to let the army deal with terrorism." aryeh zelasko lives in beitar illit, south of jerusalem. he is
director of sales and marketing of israel visit
(www.israelvisit.co.il) which provides information and an internet
buying facility for american visitors to israel. to go to top machsom watch or witch? posted by women in green, june 24, 2004. this was written by hodayah karish-hazoni and appeared in mekor
rishon, a hebrew weekly (features section), june 18, 2004, pp. 14-15. (the women of "machsomwatch" present themselves as advocates of
human rights of the arabs who undergo a [security] check at idf
checkpoints. lately, women in green have been visiting these
checkpoints claiming that the soldiers at these outposts are subject
to abuse by the women of machsomwatch. the mekor rishon reporter
visited these checkpoints to find out what was going on there. below
is found an english translation of the article originally written in
hebrew.) what is most striking is the look in the soldiers' eyes. when they
see the group of women leaving the car and approaching them, their
look is very apprehensive, their eyes are alarmed. when they identify
the intent of the women civilians, the look changes, and a small smile
peeks out from their eyes. this is the picture reflected in the faces
of dozens of soldiers whom i met one morning last week at different
checkpoints around jerusalem. the palestinians, by the way, respond in
the opposite manner: when the group of women approaches the
checkpoint, a broad smile spreads over their faces, but when they
understand who it is that's approaching - it vanishes. the group of
women are women in green, under the leadership of nadia matar, on a
"routine" tour of checkpoints to encourage and support the soldiers. seven in the morning, the bethlehem checkpoint the southern
entrance to jerusalem. six women gather - nadia, anita, gemma, tsippi,
leah, and zahavah, carrying bottles of cold drinks and cakes, israeli
flags, and large signs with the message: "idf soldiers, thank you."
they also have another, and important, item: a small "zekhuton," a
list of rights that was drawn up by nadia matar and adv. yoram
sheftel, that specifies for soldiers stationed at checkpoints their
rights as regards the women of machsomwatch. machsomwatch, for anyone
who missed its extensive exposure in the media, is an all-women
organization, whose goal is the stationing of volunteer "supervisors"
at idf behavior in order to protect the human rights of the
palestinians who pass through the checkpoints. and here, seven in the
morning at the bethlehem checkpoint, and the "leftists," as nadia
matar calls them, are still nowhere to be seen. the young border
patrol soldiers stand and check those entering. one of them is skilled
at locating those who attempt to bypass the checkpoint and sneak past
on side paths. a., the first woman bedouin serving in the idf, also is
at the screening post. "it's hard work," she says, "we're standing
here from 5 in the morning, an eight-hour watch." do the women of machsomwatch come here? a. doesn't answer. a border
patrol policeman standing nearby smiles sadly: "they come every day.
my name stars with them. "what does that mean? silence. he already
folds, too alarmed to explain. another soldier volunteers an
explanation: "they ask why the palestinians are standing for so long,
they threaten to file complaints, they don't talk nicely. we try to
ignore them, but it's difficult when they push themselves into the
middle. obviously, when they are around, the examination of those
passing through is less thorough." nine a.m., the kalandia checkpoint, northern jerusalem. it's a
madhouse. dozens of arab vehicles and hundreds of people. the
composition of the women in green group changes a bit. zahavah left to
teach english. leah went to babysit her grandchildren. they are joined
by bernice, the mother of dinah horowitz, who was murdered together
with her husband eli in their home in kiryat arba. nadia matar marches
first, resolute. "shalom, dear soldiers," she says, and once again
their eyes light up, they take a soft drink bottle, a cookie, and the
zekhuton. there's no need to explain to the soldiers here who is
machsomwatch. they glance at the zekhuton, and their frustration
bursts forth, by itself. "they drive us crazy," one of them relates.
"a few days ago, the arabs started throwing at us rocks, objects,
whatever you want. i raise my weapon, and she stands in front of me,
between me and the throwers, and she says: 'shoot me if you want.' go
on to that checkpoint," he adds, "the soldiers there will be happy to
see you." at the forward checkpoint stands a soldier with the innocent face
of a child. "they come every day," he says. "i saw that they give the
arabs money, but mainly - they encourage them to complain against us,
and the arabs lie to them freely. one arab pushed me, so i pushed
back. he ran to one of them and complained that i beat him. you're
lying, i said to him, but he only smiled and went away. she took down
my personal details. i don't know what she'll do with this." nadia
matar asks him why he didn't take the personal details of that woman,
and when he replies that he asked but she refused to identify herself,
nadia quickly makes a telephone call to adv. yoram sheftel, but she
doesn't succeed in getting him. "come a lot," he asks. ten in the morning, the a-ram checkpoint, the sun has already begun
to blaze away, and everyone's sweating. "you missed the leftists," the
border patrol soldiers say, "they were here at 7:30." o. has been
stationed at the checkpoint since january. he tells that two days
after the broadcast of the pegishat laylah [night encounter]
[television] program in which koby meidan interviewed lia nirgad, a
machsomwatch activist who recently published a book on her checkpoint
experiences, "she came here to the checkpoint. i asked her: do you
really believe that the outposts aren't effective, like you said on
television? she said that she is aware of the fact that the
checkpoints prevent some of the terror attacks. i go crazy from this:
what? preventing some of the attacks is unnecessary? on television she
said they [the machsomwatch women] intervene only if they are asked,
but this is incorrect. they come and start talking with detainees and
with prisoners - asking why this is this way and not that. a few weeks
ago we discovered an illegal. we brought him up to the watchtower, so
that he and the other detainees would not match their stories. he sat
there in the watchtower on a chair, and waited like a king, while i
stand here like a dog. but she came with her demands: 'why did you
bring him up there?'" nadia asks why the soldiers don't file complaints against these
nitpickers, for disturbing them in the fulfillment of their duties.
"it's bureaucracy," o. answers, "that would cause us to lose manpower.
who will stand here at the checkpoint while someone goes to file a
complaint? we protect them [the machsomwatch women], and they hate
us." nirgad's book lists occasions when she fluently curses soldiers.
according to her, one has to fight with them, for they can be compared
with soldiers in nazi germany of the 1930s. ten-thirty a.m., on the way to the shuafat checkpoint. we stop on
the way at a small store that we come across, "yossi's minimarket," to
buy more refreshments. there were more soldiers at the kalandia
checkpoint than we had anticipated, and the refreshments ran out.
yossi, the owner of the grocery store, beams at nadia, "i saw you last
night on television. i wanted to kiss you." at the shuafat checkpoint one of the women in green asks a border
patrol soldier if there is any stone throwing here. instinctively, he
looks at his watch. "every day, at one o'clock, when the arab children
leave school, we get hit," he says. according to the testimony of the
soldiers, [the women of] machsomwatch come every saturday with cold
drinks for the arabs waiting at the outpost. it's eleven o'clock. today's round of the checkpoints has ended,
without our seeing the women "checkpointers" in action, but we
couldn't miss the feelings of the soldiers towards them. "it all began during operation defensive shield," nadia matar
relates. "we began going to the checkpoints to support the soldiers,
to give out cookies and drinks. in the last year and a half we began
seeing those women of the extreme left. we thought about ignoring
them, just as we ignore the leftist demonstrations of women in black.
but then we began hearing more and more stories from soldiers about
their distress, and we reached the conclusion that they need
additional assistance, and not just cold cola. i drew up a list of rights entitled 'dear soldier - know your
rights,' in which these women are exposed for masquerading as
objective observers who are primarily interested in the civil rights
of the arabs, while they actually are veteran extreme left activists
who are hostile to the state of israel. "thanks to us, we spell out
the soldiers' rights to them, including the right to lodge a complaint
against anyone who bothers, curses, insults, or threatens them, based
on the laws against insulting a public servant and disturbing a public
servant in the fulfillment of his duties. it is important for us to
show the soldiers that the majority of the people is with them, that
these troublesome women who harass them are a small minority that does
not reflect the view of the majority, and that the great majority of
us appreciate and applaud the hard work that they do. our goal is not
only to improve how the soldiers feel, but to help them to immediately
remove these women. since the official bodies are totally unaware of the severity of the problem, we sent a letter detailing how greatly these women harass the soldiers and interfere with the work of security checks. we attached to the letter a transcript of an interview on idf radio with avi ohayon, the father of corporal kfir ohayon, who was killed at the erez checkpoint in april this year." in the interview, avi ohayon tells that, a few days before he was killed, the late kfir demanded that one of the arabs passing through the checkpoint raise his shirt for the check, and he refused. after kfir aimed his weapon at him and took him for a security check, the father recalls, "some woman, some israeli woman who saw this, went and complained to his commanding officer. she said that she would make a commotion about this, that she would complain to the police investigators. then his officers came to kfir, his commanding officers, and they told him that he shouldn't have done that. my son lost his self-confidence. he called me at twelve-thirty at night. he told me, 'father, i don't know what to do any longer. i can't sleep any longer, i have fears. fears that i'll be put up on a complaint, and that they'll put me in jail.'" according to the bereaved father, he is certain that this complaint influenced his son's conduct at the erez checkpoint on the day that he was killed. "we will take care of ourselves with the terrorists," he said in the interview, "but in the end we ourselves kill our soldiers." nadia matar sent the letter to some 300 public figures and bodies
involved in security more than two months ago, but she received only a
single response - from the samaria and judea district of the police -
that stated that the material had been sent along to the district's
legal advisor. every official body that we address," she says,
"including the idf spokesman, states that this is supervision of a
humanitarian nature that does not pose a problem. in fact, however,
this activity isn't so innocent. women such as ronni yager, adi
kuntsman (who is also active in lesbian organizations), and yehudit
keshet are veteran leftist activists, with well-defined political
goals, and not merciful do-gooders who are mainly concerned with human
rights. it seems that the official bodies are unaware of the suffering
that this organization causes soldiers, and the severe interference
with their work, interference that could cost lives. "we thought of
perhaps appealing to the high court of justice on this matter, but we
fear that the court, as well, will be deceived by this seeming humane
activity; accordingly, we decided to write orderly reports of the
misdeeds of the troublesome checkpoint women. perhaps if we collect
all of these stories, someone in the security establishment will
understand what a problem they cause, and will forbid them from
approaching the checkpoints. someone already suggested to us that we
get into physical encounters with them, thereby forcing the army to
get fed up with the entire mess and remove both us and them from the
checkpoints. but it is not our way to physically attack, and we would
be sorry for the soldiers who would lose our encouragement and the
good word from us because of them." where does the money for your activity come from - the gasoline,the
telephones, the refreshments? "this really comes to a lot of money. we
drive to the checkpoints at least once a week in a large group, and
many women also go during the course of the week, either by themselves
or with a friend, and the expenses are heavy. we receive some
contributions from good jews abroad, ten dollars here, twenty there,
but not on the order of magnitude of machsomwatch, that apparently is
supported by the european union." the spokeswoman of machsomwatch, adi dagan, confirms that the
organization received funds from the new israel fund, and also from
"peace organizations" abroad. in response to the question, to whom do
they give over the personal details of the soldiers that they take,
she answers: "soldiers are not obligated to give their personal
details, and so we almost never possess such details. border patrol
policemen, on the other hand, are required to give over personal
details. they also wear tags with their names. if we want to file a
complaint against a soldier, we turn to his commanding officers, to
the battalion commander or to whoever is in charge in that sector. if
we don't have the personal details of the soldier, we supply details
such as day and hour and the details of the incident, and the idf
locates him." dagan denies that any women in the organization use
harsh language, curse soldiers,and call them "nazis." she claims that
all its members treat soldiers "with full respect." and what about the testimony by soldiers that machsomwatch women
give money to arabs? this is not policy, we aren't an organization
that distributes money. if a woman decides on her own, this is a
personal decision, and this happens. it also happened that i gave
money to a palestinian who did not have the means to return home, but
this was the personal money of a private person." the impression is
received that ronni yager, yehudit keshet, and adi kuntsman are
political women, whose political goals are not necessarily humane.
"the names that you mentioned are those of the organization's
founders, who at present are no longer active in it. the organization
is definitely political, and the common factor shared by all its
members is opposition to the occupation, opposition to the policy of
the checkpoints, the closures, and limitations on movement. our goal
is totally political." noon, the checkpoints of samaria in the samaria area, at the various checkpoints around
shechem, the soldiers' stories already sound familiar. "they [machsomwatch women] talk to us in very sharp language," attests y., an officer who serves in the region, "and they curse 'you nazis.' they intervene in a conversation between a soldier and someone being checked, they give the arabs cold drinks, and they ask them if they have any complaints. they photograph us, and write down the names of the soldiers, and i say explicitly that there are checkpoints in which the soldiers conducted the examinations in an insufficiently thorough manner because these women stood there and badgered them." hannah gofer, a resident of kedumim, tells that machsomwatch women
come to the samaria area in a bulletproof vehicle, with an arab
driver. gofer is more assertive than the women in green [in the
jerusalem area], and she does not have a problem with confronting
them, in order "to toss them out." by chance, she recently saw an
automobile with two of their activists at a checkpoint close to avnei
hafetz. "i called out through a loudspeaker for them to get out," she
attests. "a border patrol policeman who stood there made a sign with
his finger on his neck, and told me: 'they drink our blood.' just
imagine that in some way we were inconveniencing soldiers in the
performance of their work. the entire country would cry out against
us. but as regards these humanists, who aid the enemy during time of
war, not only does nobody interfere; to the contrary: they are awarded
prizes for guarding human rights." y., a senior officer who serves in samaria, says that "in the large
picture, their goals are good, although a small core of the
organization's women act in an improper fashion to the soldiers." he
admits that due to his standing he isn't stationed at the checkpoints
himself, and therefore he was surprised to hear that machsomwatch
women customarily write down the personal details of soldiers. as far
as he is concerned, "the soldiers are not supposed to talk to them at
all, and if they take down personal details, the soldiers' company
commander has to stop this. they are supposed to speak only with army
people from the rank of company commander and up, and not with the
simple soldier." the statement by y. appears to concur with the claim
by nadia matar that the command level has no idea of the interference
caused in the field by the women of machsomwatch. ruth and nadia matar established women for israel's tomorrow
(women in green), an activist group of women based in jerusalem. their
website address is http://www.womeningreen.org to go to top the world sees retreat from gaza as the beginning of the end posted by yoram shifftn, june 24, 2004. some 3 days ago, on the english edition of maariv
(http://www.maarivintl.com), the journalist uri dan who has been for
years sharon's right-hand man, appealed to sharon to explain to the
nation why it is necessary to sacrifice this part, gaza, for the sake of the
rest. but already 3 weeks ago the acting israeli ambassador in london
was told by the interviewer in a bbc radio program that now,
since israel has agreed to retreat from gaza and the north shomron,
israel should also retreat from the rest of the territories since by
retreating from this part you are admitting the illegality of the
whole settlements enterprise. the guardian for its part hopes that this retreat will initiate the
"momentum" for uprooting the other settlements, and of course even
colin powell, tony blair and others emphasize that this is only a good
beginning. so it is in reality the inverse of sacrificing a part for
the sake of the rest. ehud olmert twice on the prestigious bbc tv hardtalk program said
that the intention is to continue later with a further major retreat
from the west bank, but on israel radio he says the opposite: that
the idea is to save the other settlements by this retreat. it seems as
this is their version of the arab "victory by phases" doctrine. dr. yoram shifftan has published articles on israeli hasbara, in
publications such as ha'aretz, ma'ariv, hatzofeh, hamodia, ha'uma and
and think-israel. to go to top mistrial, israeli style posted by judy lash balint, june 24, 2004. a poor bedouin israeli army soldier is standing trial for manslaughter
in the death of an upper middle class british international solidarity
movement volunteer. who should really be in the dock? a 20-year-old israeli army private in handcuffs is led into a
military court on a base near ashkelon. some eighty supporters are
there to greet him, waving israeli flags and carrying signs reading:
save our soldiers; free the soldier, prosecute the ism and no human
shields in war zones. the soldier, son of a poor bedouin family from the north of israel,
is accused of manslaughter in the death last year of british
international solidarity movement (ism) agitator, tom hurndall. hurndall, privileged product of a british public school, was shot in rafah in april 2003 as he was making his way to the front lines of the area where the israeli army was operating to uncover and destroy tunnels used to convey arms and ammunition from egypt into israel. israeli army officials told the associated press that an initial
investigation, based on soldiers' accounts, indicated a palestinian
fired on a watchtower and the soldiers returned fire, hitting someone
believed to be the gunman. hurndall deliberately put himself in the
area of known military operations, and took a bullet intended for a
terrorist. the idf noted: "it is important to keep in mind the danger
posed by the illegal, irresponsible, and dangerous behavior of the ism
group that led to the tragic death and sad results." hurndall was well aware of the risks inherent in his activity in
rafah. in one diary entry he wrote: "a few hundred meters away there
are army snipers, and each one of us can appear in a sniper's
telescopic sight. it is possible to say with certainty that they are
watching us, and my life is in the hands of an israeli marksman or
settler. i know that i will probably never know what hit me, but that
is part of my role - to be as exposed as possible.? we'll never know why hurndall viewed his exposure as a crucial
factor in bringing about peace in the middle east, but this upper
middle class lad from north london first tried his hand at being a
human shield in iraq, before arriving in israel. hurndall had joined a
group of international volunteers who wanted to put themselves in
front of iraqi schools and hospitals, but when they arrived, it soon
became apparent that sites would be selected by iraqi government
officials. after two weeks of heated discussion, the shields were
given a list of seven sites and an ultimatum to "start shielding or
start leaving." hurndall left, passed through jordan where he heard
about the activities of the ism, and entered israel on a tourist visa. it's worth noting here that a number of ismers seem to be the
well-educated offspring of well-to-do parents. hurndall attended
winchester college, one of england's most venerable and prestigious
boarding schools. tuition at the 600-year-old school is around 19,000 bp
per year. tom's father, anthony hurndall is a well-known london
property lawyer. mother jocelyn, who says she is proud of her son, is
head of a learning support unit. fellow ism volunteer, radhika
sainath, a us citizen arrested three times for her violation of
israeli law during her repeated entries into israel between 2002-2003,
is the daughter of two orange county, ca physicians who plans on
attending graduate school at the ivy league columbia university in new
york. in hurndall's case, the resources and prominence of his family enabled them to hire a high profile british attorney to realize their efforts to prosecute an israeli soldier for the death of their son. they chose imran khan, a controversial high-powered lawyer who tried to prevent then israeli chief of staff shaul mofaz from entering britain for an official visit in 2002 because of "war crimes." khan and the hurndalls ran an effective public campaign that led to british pressure on israel to finger an israeli soldier for the unfortunate death of young tom. hurndall had control over his fate and went with full awareness into a battle zone. tragically, he paid the price. the young bedouin soldier arrested in january 2004 after hurndall's demise in a london hospital was serving his country and tried to do his part to smash terrorism. now he too is paying the price of the ism's unconscionable efforts to put themselves in the way and encourage their volunteers to violate closed military zones. the accused has spent the last six months in jail. his family is so poverty stricken that they have been able to afford the bus fare to visit him only once during his incarceration. so far, his legal representation has been court-assigned, although nitsana darshan-leitner of the shurat hadin law center has offered to assist the family. in court the other day, the accused, a stocky, dark young man dressed in a plain military green uniform, sat silently as his defense attorney addressed the court. his eyes didn't engage anyone in the room--neither the witness nor the dozens who had come to support him seemed to be of interest. the three-judge panel in the small, wood-paneled courtroom listened intently as an israeli military interrogator answered questions about the interrogation and confession extracted from the accused. how could the court take this written six page confession
seriously, asked the attorney, when the defendant neither reads nor
writes hebrew? why did interrogators have the defendant sign the
confession at night, at the end of more than nine hours of
interrogation when he was tired and hungry, after he had allegedly
stated: give me a cup of coffee and a cigarette and i'll sign
anything. neil wiggan, political office for the british embassy was present in court with a hebrew-english interpreter. he took a few notes, but spent most of the time catching up on his reading. "the soldier is being scapegoated by the prosecution to appease the
british foreign office," charged shurat hadin attorney leitner. worse than that, noted shimon, one of the supporters who had bussed
down from jerusalem. "it's the wrong entity on trial here. it's the
ism who should be sitting there accused, not this soldier who was
doing his best to defend us from terrorist evil." anyone wishing to help support the family of the accused may send tax deductible contributions to: please make your tax- deductible check payable in the us to: pef - israel endowment fund and mail to:
shurat hadin, soldier defense fund c/o pef - israel endowment fund 317 madison avenue, suite 607 new york, new york 10017 (telephone: 212-591-0073) to donate outside the united states or in israel, please make your check payable to: shurat hadin - israel law center and mail to: shurat hadin, soldier defense fund, 11 havatikim st. petach tikva, 49389 israel (telephone: 972-8-973-3336) "jerusalem diaries: in tense
times" by judy lash balint (gefen) is available for purchase from
www.israelbooks.com to go to top will the west survive? posted by isralert, june 23, 2004. this was written by walter williams, june 23, 2004 / 4 tamuz, 5764
and appeared in the jewish world review
(http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0604/williams_2004_06_23.php3) the muslim world is at war with western civilization. we have the
military might to thwart them. the question is: do we have the
intelligence to recognize the attack and the will to defend ourselves
from annihilation? their intent is clear, but let's refresh our
memories with a bit of history. at the 1972 olympic games in munich, several athletes were
massacred. in 1979, the u.s. embassy in tehran was taken over and 52
hostages held for more than a year. in 1983, u.s. marine barracks in
beirut were blown up, killing 241 u.s. soldiers. in 1988, pan am
flight 103 was bombed, killing 270 people. in 1993, there was the
first bombing of the world trade center, and in 2001, it was reduced
to rubble, killing more than 3,000 americans. in 1998, u.s. embassies
in kenya and tanzania were bombed, resulting in more than 200 dead and
4,000 injured. who are the people responsible for these and other
wanton murders of innocents, including the recent barbaric beheading
of two innocent men? they were all muslims. you say, "williams, you can't make an indictment of a whole people
and their religion!" i'm not, and let me clearly state: by no means
are all muslims murderers. but on the other hand, i've never heard
broad muslim condemnation of their fellow muslims' murderous acts
committed in the name of their god. if anything, there has been
jubilation and dancing in the streets in the wake of muslim attacks on
westerners. contrast their response to the widespread western
condemnation of the, mild by comparison, behavior of a few coalition
forces in iraq's abu ghraib prison. muslim atrocities, and the collective muslim response to those
atrocities, might be better understood knowing their belief system as
spelled out by a few, among many, passages from the quran: "fight
those who do not believe in allah" (surat at-taubah 9:29). "i will
instill terror into the hearts of the unbelievers, smite ye above
their necks and smite all their finger tips of them" (quran 8:12).
"the unbelievers among the people of the book and the pagans shall
burn forever in the fire of hell. they are the vilest of all
creatures" (quran 98:1-8). "fight against those who believe not in
allah, and those who acknowledge not the religion of truth (islam),
until they are subdued" (surat at-taubah 9:29). phil lucas, editor of the panama city, fla., news herald, in his
april 4, 2004, editorial "up against fanaticism," asks, "can anybody
name three ongoing world conflicts in which muslims are not involved?"
lucas says, "they can't get along with their neighbors on much of the
planet: france, chechnya, bosnia, indonesia, spain, morocco, india,
tunisia, somalia, etc., etc., etc." my colleague dr. thomas sowell
observes, "those in the islamic world have for centuries been taught
to regard themselves as far superior to the 'infidels' of the west,
while everything they see with their own eyes now tells them
otherwise." he adds, "nowhere have whole peoples seen their situation
reversed more visibly or more painfully than the peoples of the
islamic world." sowell adds that few people, once at the top of
civilization, accept their reversals of fortune gracefully. moreover,
they don't blame themselves for their plight. for the muslim world,
it's the west who's to blame. history never repeats itself exactly, but we might benefit from the knowledge of factors leading to the decline of past great civilizations. rome was one of those advanced civilizations. rome was so caught up in "bread and circuses" and moral decline that it couldn't manage to defend itself from invading barbaric hordes who ultimately plunged europe into the dark ages. the sooner we recognize the west is in a war for survival, the more likely we'll be able to escape the fate that befell the roman empire. isralert, a jewish advocacy network, is hosted by harv weiner. to
subscribe to isralert, send an email to isralert@aol.com to go to top sharon looks to his left to salvage government posted by sergio tezza (hadar), june 23, 2004. no surprise for those with memory. sharon promised clearly and repeatedly, before and after the elections
(he was even booed for it by his own party after the elections!) that
his goal was a national unity government to make it possible to exile
jews from their homes. those who did not want to hear did not hear. the responsibility of all those who made sharon's rule possible,
and shinui's presence in the government acceptable (that includes nrp
and national union, that allowed the sale of chamets on pesach, the
mass desecration of shabbath with unrestricted business opening on
shabbath, the legalised sale of pork, the continuous introduction of
goyim and even missionaries in israel, etc. just to serve their own
partisan interests - from us contacts (benny elon) to money for nrp
yeshivas) is a permanent badge of dishonour and a stain in jewish
history for which we'll cry for more generations. meantime, sharon and his goons (including his family) will keep on
drinking tea and making millions of $$$ on jewish blood with their old
friend peres, with the help of beilin's friend and attorney general of
choice mazuz and their judicial dictators in the supreme court (who
play the old "good cop - bad cop" game) and their armed wings of the
police special units and shabbak. oylem goylem. the masses are asses. this was written june 16 by avraham shmuel lewin, jp israel correspondent
(http://www.thejewishpress.com/news_article.asp?article=3817) tel aviv - prime minister ariel sharon said monday that he might have no choice but to form a national unity government with the left. "it doesn't seem that i will get far with the present coalition," sharon said monday night following a no-confidence motion that was narrowly defeated thanks to the labor party's safety net. the knesset defeated the motion in a 37-22 vote, with 31 members refraining from voting. the labor, yahad and one nation parties abstained. following the vote, sharon lambasted minister uzi landau and deputy
minister michael ratzon for defying his instructions by leaving the
knesset plenum during the vote over the disengagement plan. likud
ministers and knesset members convinced sharon that firing the two, as
he was inclined to do, would likely increase the split in the already
divided party. likud minister tzipi livni and mk michael eitan were
among those urging restraint. landau and ratzon preferred to risk sharon's wrath by skipping the vote rather than support the government's position on evacuating jews from the gaza strip and parts of judea and samaria. sharon had told the cabinet members sunday to attend all knesset votes. "i expect you to be present at knesset votes, no-confidence votes and other votes on any issue," sharon said. "i will not accept a situation where members of the cabinet are absent, or deputy ministers express themselves or work against the decision." speaking before the vote, ratzon said, "i'm not frightened by threats and scare tactics." at the meeting before the vote several mks proposed voting against the government on the issue of the withdrawal, but it was decided that relations with sharon should not be worsened and that the rebels within likud would therefore abstain. several mks expressed dismay with ministers tzachi hanegbi, dan naveh and yisrael katz, who had opposed the disengagement plan but were now remaining mum. meanwhile, half the national religious party faction - party chairman effi eitam and mks yitzhak levy and nissan slomiansky - voted against the government on the anti-disengagement motion. the other three nrp faction members - minister zevulun orlev and mks shaul yahalom and gila finkelstein - refrained from voting. after the vote the prime minister said the 12 dissenters were forcing him to invite labor to join the coalition which, he said, could not continue to function with so few supporters. had sharon dismissed the dissenters, he would have found himself with only 43 coalition mks supporting him - 28 from likud and 15 from shinui. faced with few options, sharon will apparently merely try to keep his collapsing coalition in place until the summer session concludes on august 4. during the debate, mk benny elon (national union), who was fired as housing minister before the cabinet vote on disengagement, blamed sharon for betraying the likud movement, its constitution and its members - who voted to defeat the pullout plan in a may 2 party referendum. elon quoted from a section of the likud constitution, saying that the jewish people have an eternal right to the land of israel. he said sharon was threatening his ministers to keep them from opposing his evacuation plan. "we have no confidence in the prime minister's nationalist motivations; we have no confidence in the government's responsibility and courage,"
elon said. this was the first time the national union party, which resigned from the government last week, has filed a no-confidence motion. yahad leader yossi beilin stirred dissent in his leftist party by urging labor to pull the safety net out from under the government and let it fall. beilin has advocated toppling the sharon government despite its stated intention of evacuating the gaza strip and four settlements in samaria. mk ran cohen, also of yahad, argued that the government should be supported as long as it makes a serious effort at carrying out the disengagement plan. -- be`ahavath israel mr tezzo lives in qiryath arba-hebron to go to top not much time left to decide posted by unity coalition for israel, june 23, 2004. this was written by elyakim haetzni and appeared in arutz-7 (http://www.israelnn.com) june 16, 2004. today is the 16th of june. the government decision that left the
people of israel nine months to temper the evil decree was on the
sixth of june. that means that the period of grace has already been
shortened by ten days. what have we done in that time to save
ourselves from catastrophe? the catastrophe of which i speak will not only affect the
settlements. the dictator is preparing a national disaster that may
well endanger the continued existence of the entire state. for a year and a half, ariel sharon refrained from reacting to
yasser arafat's terror war. even after the massacre at the
dolphinarium, even after the assassination of minister rehavam
("gandhi") ze'evi, he continued to argue that "restraint is strength",
in order to avoid inciting the world powers to send international
observers here. that was because he justifiably saw the involvement of
such observers as foreign interference, as a constraint on freedom of
action, as delimiting national sovereignty - and also as an excuse for
worsening relations with the world, as always happened every time
international observers set foot here. and yet, all of a sudden, there
appear british spies from mi6 in the gaza strip and northern samaria,
to "observe" the settlements and to train the new palestinian army.
wanted terrorists in jenin kicked them out, but sharon invited them
in. in samaria, jordanian officers are also operating, in parallel
with the egyptian military intervention in gaza. the government decision was on the sixth of june, the anniversary
of the start of the six day war. precisely on that day, sharon forced
through the decision that will reverse all of the gains made in that
war by, among other things, returning the egyptians to gaza, the
jordanians to samaria and the erasure of jewish settlement. with egyptian units in gaza, the hands of the idf will be tied.
every targeted killing could spark a war. the explosion of the apc on
the philadelphi route was the writing on the wall, written in the
blood of five soldiers: an improved "cobra" rpg, made in egypt, did
the deadly deed. itai asher wrote in maariv, on june 11, that the idf
is not currently destroying smuggling tunnels because there is no
alternate armored vehicle for transporting explosives. that report is
so fantastical, it is almost incomprehensible. for years, egypt has been responsible for providing arms and
equipment for the terror war, more so than syria is guilty of arming
the hizbullah. would anyone consider it possible that the prime
minister would invite the syrian army to the golan heights... in order
to cease the arming of the hizbullah? it would be thought the act of
a madman. sharon's decision to insinuate into gaza the egyptian army
is crazier still, because the egyptian army is several times more
dangerous than the syrian. after the withdrawal-retreat, all manner of missile and katyusha
will flow across the border controlled, on both sides, by egypt. the
missiles will turn life throughout the negev and the south into a
living hell. what the oslo criminals brought upon the people of israel
by bringing the palestinian terrorist groups from tunis will pale in
comparison with the results of bringing the egyptian army and the
missiles from egypt deep into our land. in the near range of the missiles will be the ashkelon power plant
and the dimona nuclear reactor, according to experts quoted in the
media. and all of the foregoing is being done unilaterally. that is, the
egyptians and palestinians owe us nothing, not even on paper. what do
the minister of defense, the idf chief of staff, members of the
general staff and government ministers have to say about this? some of
them are simply silent and some are running along with the rest of the
herd. the defense minister even reported to the government with great
satisfaction that egypt is being very helpful with the disengagement,
even agreeing to convene a joint committee to ease our exit. thus the
death row convict thanks his executioner: "he is very helpful." the dictatorship of sharon not only forebodes the end of the
settlements, god forbid, but also poses a threat to the security of
israel. like the golem of prague when it got out of control, he
tramples everything underfoot. everything has been overturned:
suddenly, he is a friend to kofi annan, is enthralled by the arabs,
and praises javier solana, the european whose hatred for us drips from
him. as in the case of shabtai zvi, suddenly what was forbidden is
permitted, the fast of tisha b'av becomes a feast. at the cabinet meeting, sharon ordered the ministers and deputy
ministers opposed to the gaza retreat, as a dictator would, not to
absent themselves from the knesset and to vote only in favor of the
policy. he also forbade them from opening their mouths in public
against what he calls the "disengagement". and whosoever rebels will
be removed. in the meantime, the compensation-for-evacuation committees are
already meeting, and the jangle of money is already being sounded in
the direction of the settlers, in an effort to seduce them. according
to the press, down-payments will already be made as early as august.
facts on the ground are being finalized: europe, the un and america
are declaring their commitment; the egyptians, jordanians and british
are already on the ground; finance minister binyamin netanyahu will
soon distribute cash; and still, zevulun orlev, nissan slomiansky and
sha'ul yahalom (national religious party) do not see, do not hear and
do not know. they don't even ask the question, "and if the government
decides not to uproot the settlements, how will it get the down
payments back?" they know that we know that it is all, as the kids
say, "bs." in such a situation, it is forbidden that a single day pass without
demonstrations and vigils across from the homes and offices of our
leaders. and not a single day should pass without us also turning to
the soldiers, who are already undergoing psychological conditioning
and brainwashing to prepare them for the atrocity they intend to send
them to carry out. yet we have not decided to address them, verbally
and in writing, to ask them not to obey. and we have not yet gone to
the clerks - in the ministries of finance, security, justice - who are
already working on the preparations for the atrocity of expulsion and
uprooting, devastation, pushing, pulling, beating and aggression
against men, women and children, along with the destruction of their
places of residence. we have not yet turned to them at their homes and
offices to say, "don't do it. don't obey. delay, obstruct, disrupt -
have a heart and a conscience. don't take part in this national crime,
which is also a crime against humanity, and about which rabbi
mordechai eliyahu, rishon lezion and former chief rabbi, said, '...it
is the torah opinion that no man has the right, not the prime
minister, and not the government itself, to uproot a jewish community
in the land of israel; all the more so can it be obviously inferred
that no part of the land of israel can be transferred to a foreign
entity.'" the people of gush katif and northern samaria, the judea, samaria
and gaza council, the settlers and all land of israel loyalists have
arrived at a fork in the road, and it is time to decide which way they
are headed. it is one thing to say that sharon's actions are mistaken,
dangerous, irresponsible and even lawless. a government decision
within those parameters, if it was passed through proper legal
channels, must still be accepted and obeyed, even by the affected
citizen and most certainly by the people in uniform. however, it is
another matter entirely to say that sharon's actions are forbidden and
patently illegal, because he is violating the most basic human rights
according to morality as accepted in the west, and because they are
forbidden according to the torah in the view of rabbis such as rabbis
eliyahu, avraham shapira, shlomo aviner, tau, melamed, lior and many,
many others. to make it more tangible for ourselves, let's imagine that sharon
would pass through a government decision to do to 22 arab villages
what he is plotting to do to jewish villages. in such a case, he would
be accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity, and if he would
dare set foot outside the country, he'd be seated in the dock
alongside the yugoslavian slobodan milosevic. can it be imagined that we, jews in israel, would decide that
exactly such an act, if done to us, is legal, permissible and kosher? all the organization of the opposition to transfer - the
statements, messages and methods - change the minute the government is
accused of a patently illegal act, which it is forbidden to obey
orders to carry out. even less than that will be enough. even an act
that is legal, but patently immoral, is recognized in western
democracies as falling under the rubric of "polite refusal":
non-violent resistance, disobedience and the willingness to suffer the
consequences. thus the blacks in america achieved their equal rights. we have yet to hear the settler leaders declaring openly and
fearlessly that they thusly relate to the dictates of sharon, and
calling on the public to act accordingly. as long as our leadership refuses to call the thing what it is -
patently illegal and immoral, which should not be obeyed, all the
protests will be just in order to fulfill a perceived obligation,
round two of the evacuation of yamit in the sinai. there is not much
time left to decide and to determine a course of action accordingly -
just nine months less ten days. i propose to readers to demand a clear answer from our leaders:
against the conspiracy of destruction - which not by coincidence is
meant to begin exactly on the day of tisha b'av - what do you plan, a
demonstration or a real struggle? the national unity coalition is "the largest worldwide
coalition of jewish and christian organizations, with more than 200
groups representing millions of people dedicated to israel. though we
have many different backgrounds, we have one common goal: a safe and
secure israel." "israel is not just a jewish issue. millions of christians
resolutely endorse the principle of peace with security for the state
of israel. because we work closely together and speak with a united
voice, our message is being heard!" to go to top return me to an island posted by arlene peck, june 23, 2004. i have recently returned from a 'speaking tour' to portland, maine. while there i had a chance to spend a few days visiting cousins on a little island that is only accessible by ferryboat. the people on peaks island were totally different from those here on the west coast. the children look like children instead of baby bimbett britney speers clones. their world was innocent. these people don't even watch television and that is wonderful. they talk, take walks, ride bikes, read, play games, and life was utopia. for the better part of two weeks i didn't know what was happening in the world, and folks, i think i much prefer it. i returned to marina del rey, ca. turned on the television and life was back to usual. every station, every page in the l.a. times were about the latest horrorific attack by muslims. i wanted to go back to the old days when all we had to worry about was whether britney wore implants or who ja'lo was going to marry next. who would have thought that we would become desensitized by
sub-humans who routinely chop off heads of hostages? i "get it", and i
think a lot of you readers do as well. we are fighting an enemy that
is not only violent, but one which is part of a seventh century
mentality. land has nothing to do with the issue. never has. the enemy
hate us because ... just because. yet, after my visit to the nice people of maine and speaking with many, i see how lovely people like those just can't comprehend the vicious, barbarism of islamic fundamentalism. our culture is so different that we are a different species. the people with whom i spoke truly believe that people should 'be nice' and everything can be solved by negotiation. maybe give them a hug or two. many told me, "surely you don't believe all muslims to be like
that?" no, not all, but i wonder! out of two billion of them, can
anyone out there name me one million man/woman marches protesting the
idea of 'suicide' bombs, or cutting off heads? no? well then, how
about giving me the names of fifty of these nice muslims who are
protesting the evil of their culture? have any of you seen protests by
that many? maybe you know of a mosque or two that have come out
publicly stating that their muslim brothers are dysfunctional and what
is happening is just wrong? you don't, because they just don't exist. walid shoebat, who was once a terrorist and now speaks out for
israel, and journalist and speaker joseph farah are few and far
between. out of two billion muslims where is the outcry from their own
culture that what they are doing is savage and they have a stone age
mentality? normal people do not consider their women with less
consideration than their farm animals. chopping off heads and various
body parts is beyond dysfunctional. hell, i've been to gaza a few
times and these morons have designated "days of rage." they probably
have special holidays of "blowing up" when they are not sitting around
smoking "happy water" and burning tires. i've had it with politically correct people; even those in maine, who try to see a situation with "fairness", only opt for disappointment. dealing with this kind of enemy is as simple as them vs. us. i can't hear one more time there can be a peaceful co-existence and mutual cooperation and tolerance when this is a culture that teach their children to hate and glorify death. it's very simple. you do not negotiate with an alligator. nor do you legitimize them by inviting them to diplomatic conferences and promising them anything that's in our state dept's mind at that moment. our government would let israel be the sacrificial lamb in a heartbeat, and what's scares me is how israel's leaders don't seem to have a problem with that. arafat could have been taken care of long ago but it didn't happen because bush demanded that sharon not touch or harm him. israel should have walked away the same as arafat when president
bush pushed his roadmap to hell on the jewish state. we should also be
questioning why israel is the only party which is expected to produce
specific hard results for some fictitious peace. it is o.k. to single
out israel for 'ethnic cleansing' and sharon seems to be going along
with dividing and carving up the land of israel. no matter how much
they or we as americans give up for that matter, it will never be
enough. i understand the political reasons for bush. he's been in bed
with the saudi family the better part of his life. but sharon? why are we so hesitant to acknowledge that the last seven times we
americans went into war it was in defense of the muslims? we have
forgotten, along with the arabs, how we saved their butts in bosnia,
kosovo, gulf wars 1 & 2, kuwait, and saudi arabia. they now want
apologies for our humiliating them? fine. but where have the marches
and vocal apologies been for 9/11 when all the murderers on that
fateful day were islamic arabs? we even flew the saudi family out when
no other planes were flying out the day after. but, hey, they've got
their own problems now that their own homegrown terrorists are turning
inward on them. couldn't happen to a nicer group. for years israel tried to tell the world about the saudi's culpability in promoting and funding terrorism. nobody cared. now, however, since united states soldiers are being murdered and mutilated on a daily basis, also by the hands of our 'good friends' the saudis, the tone of the state dept. and talking heads has changed. i think i began to lose my compassion the first time after seeing our own people being killed, mutilated, and having their burnt bodies being dragged through the streets amongst the joyous crowd dancing and passing out candy. i know for sure i lost my patience while watching my tax dollars continue to be sent into the bottomless pit of 'aid' to countries and organizations like the pa that are never going to reach their intended goal anyway. i've never thought president bush to be the sharpest knife in the
drawer. but he knows that the saudis and pakistan have been behind
the terrorism and they have been funding it for decades. they fund,
breed, and raise these global islamic jihadists and have been getting
away with it for decades. bush gets away with pressuring israel at
every turn to "show restraint." i lost my patience watching television
and seeing bush riding the saudi prince around his ranch in a golf
cart while giving photo-ops and calling this terrorist culture
peaceful and great. hey, i once had compassion and i still do. i'm sorry for those masses to whom we support financially and wonder why it's acceptable for the obscenely wealthy arabs to accept our aid, and force their people to live in squalor and 'refugee camps' for their own public relations. and i'm truly sorry that they feel they have to blame the usa for anything that angers them. i wish i was a virgin again like those good people in maine and bury
my head in the sand and no longer face the reality of what i see. life
is ever so much nicer that way arlene peck is an internationally syndicated columnist and
television talk show hostess. she can be reached at:
bestredhead@earthlink.net and www.arlenepeck.com to go to top the sacred muslim practice of beheading posted by isralert, june 23, 2004. this was written by andrew g. bostom, may 13, 2004, and appeared on the front page magazine website (authors.asp?id=1056frontpagemagazine.com) reactions to the grotesque jihadist decapitation of yet another
"infidel jew," mr. berg,
(http://www.jta.org/page_view_story.asp?strwebhead
=was+berg+targeted+as+a+jew%3f&intcategoryid=5) make clear that our
intelligentsia are either dangerously uninformed, or simply unwilling
to come to terms with this ugly reality: such murders are consistent
with sacred jihad practices, as well as islamic attitudes towards all
non-muslim infidels, in particular, jews, which date back to the 7th
century, and the prophet muhammad's own example. according to muhammad's sacralized biography by ibn ishaq, muhammad
himself sanctioned the massacre of the qurayza, a vanquished jewish
tribe. he appointed an "arbiter" who soon rendered this concise
verdict: the men were to be put to death, the women and children sold
into slavery, the spoils to be divided among the muslims. muhammad
ratified this judgment stating that it was a decree of god pronounced
from above the seven heavens. thus some 600 to 900 men from the
qurayza were lead on muhammad's order to the market of medina.
trenches were dug and the men were beheaded, and their decapitated
corpses buried in the trenches while muhammad watched in attendance.
women and children were sold into slavery, a number of them being
distributed as gifts among muhammad's companions, and muhammad chose
one of the qurayza women (rayhana) for himself. the qurayza's property
and other possessions (including weapons) were also divided up as
additional "booty" among the muslims, to support further jihad
campaigns. the classical muslim jurist al-mawardi (a shafi'ite jurist, d.
1058) from baghdad was a seminal, prolific scholar who lived during
the so-called islamic "golden age" of the abbasid-baghdadian
caliphate. he wrote the following, based on widely accepted
interpretations of the qur'an and sunna (i.e., the recorded words and
deeds of muhammad), regarding infidel prisoners of jihad campaigns: "as for the captives, the amir [ruler] has the choice of taking the
most beneficial action of four possibilities: the first to put them to
death by cutting their necks; the second, to enslave them and apply
the laws of slavery regarding their sale and manumission; the third,
to ransom them in exchange for goods or prisoners; and fourth, to show
favor to them and pardon them. allah, may he be exalted, says, 'when
you encounter those [infidels] who deny [the truth=islam] then strike
[their] necks' (qur'an sura 47, verse 4)"....abu'l-hasan al-mawardi,
al-ahkam as-sultaniyyah." [the laws of islamic governance, trans. by
dr. asadullah yate, (london), ta-ha publishers ltd., 1996, p. 192.
emphasis added.] indeed such odious "rules" were iterated by all four classical schools
of islamic jurisprudence, across the vast muslim empire. for
centuries, from the iberian peninsula to the indian subcontinent,
jihad campaigns waged by muslim armies against infidel jews,
christians, zoroastrians, buddhists and hindus, were punctuated by
massacres, including mass throat slittings and beheadings. during the
period of "enlightened" muslim rule, the christians of iberian toledo,
who had first submitted to their arab muslim invaders in 711 or 712,
revolted in 713. in the harsh muslim reprisal that ensued, toledo was
pillaged, and all the christian notables had their throats cut. on the indian subcontinent, babur (1483-1530), the founder of the
mughal empire, who is revered as a paragon of muslim tolerance by
modern revisionist historians, recorded the following in his
autobiographical "baburnama," about infidel prisoners of a jihad
campaign: "those who were brought in alive [having surrendered] were
ordered beheaded, after which a tower of skulls was erected in the
camp." [the baburnama -memoirs of babur, prince and emperor,
translated and edited by wheeler m. thacktson, oxford university
press,1996, p. 188. emphasis added.] recent jihad-inspired decapitations of infidels by muslims have
occurred across the globe- christians in indonesia, the philippines,
and nigeria; hindu priests and "unveiled" hindu women in kashmir; wall
street journal reporter, and jew, daniel pearl. we should not be
surprised that these contemporary paroxysms of jihad violence are
accompanied by ritualized beheadings. such gruesome acts are in fact sanctioned by core islamic sacred
texts, and classical muslim jurisprudence. empty claims that jihad
decapitations are somehow "alien to true islam,"
(http://www.frontpagemag.com/articles/readarticle.asp?id=13350) however
well-intentioned, undermine serious efforts to reform and desacralize
islamic doctrine. this process will only begin with frank discussion,
both between non-muslims and muslims, and within the muslim community. please also see: http://www.tellthechildrenthetruth.com/timeline-2.htm for a fascinating timeline of jihad, 1915 - 2003, including amin
al husseini's collaboration with hitler,arafat's close ties with
husseini, roots of the intifada, al queda, sudanese murders, algerian
radicalism, and the international front for jihad against america and
israel. isralert, a jewish advocacy network, is hosted by harv weiner. to
subscribe to isralert, send an email to isralert@aol.com to go to top bad laws posted by yashiko sagamori, june 23, 2004. bad laws are meant to be violated. no decent driver observes the speed limit if it is unreasonably low. every normal american kid starts drinking years before reaching the legal drinking age, because it is unreasonably high. when you need a weapon for protection from an imminent danger, an unlicensed gun may be your safest option, since by the time you can obtain one legally it may be too late. and if you are a terrorist, you must consider the geneva conventions proof that allah loves you, because, without them, you would've been hunted down like a rabid dog long before you had a chance to inflict so much suffering on your victims. the media nowadays is full of pictures of iraqis running around
with ak-47's or rpg launchers. when such a warrior comes home, he
sticks his weapon under the bed or hides it in the hole next to the
outhouse and instantly becomes an innocent civilian. how? simple. he
is a civilian because he is unarmed and not wearing a uniform; he is
innocent, because, by definition, any civilian is presumed innocent
until proven guilty. convenient, isn't it? how many times has a presumably innocent civilian walked into a
crowd of jews and proven himself guilty beyond a reasonable doubt by
blowing himself up, along with everyone around him? we always
suspected he was a terrorist, but could do nothing until we knew for
sure. now we know for sure. but how can we punish him now that he is
forever beyond our reach? eternally virile and carefree as a regularly
fed rabbit, he has taken permanent residence in the big muslim brothel
in the sky, his delicate needs attended by 72 heavenly virgins. talk
about dying to get laid. meanwhile, down below, it's business as
usual: we bury our dead; arabs shamelessly celebrate the murder. the
idf will raze the house where the terrorist's family lives. hamas,
using humanitarian assistance funds collected from all over the world,
including the united states, will promptly and generously reimburse
them for the loss. what can we do to stop it? during the 1980's, when kidnapping westerners was the favorite
national pastime in lebanon, soviets were conspicuously absent from
the list of targets. it might be, conceivably, because so many arab
terrorists had been brainwashed, trained, armed, and financed by the
soviet union. on the other hand, jihad is jihad, and one infidel is as
bad as the next one. so, why the immunity? i heard a story that might
or might not be true. a rogue group had made the mistake of kidnapping
a soviet. soon, an old man related to one of the kidnappers came to
see them. he was carrying a small package. he told them that a few
members of their families, including himself and a little boy, had
been taken by the soviets. they killed them all, except for the boy,
in front of the old man, and then let him go so he could deliver the
package, which contained the boy's little finger. after that, soviets
could walk around beirut with as little fear as if it were adjacent to
red square. as i said, i don't know if the story is true, but some
versions of it mention arabs shining the shoes of their hostage before
driving him back to the soviet embassy. here's a true story that also involves russians. nine years ago, on june 14, 1995, a gang of 162 chechens on three trucks raided the southern russian town of budyonnovsk located not far from the border with chechnya. for several hours, the trucks kept roaming the streets mowing down everyone who happened to be in the way. after that, the chechens crowded 1,800 people inside the local hospital designed to accommodate 250 and kept them hostage for 6 days. the russian authorities reacted with their usual murderous incompetence. at the end, the terrorists, without a single casualty on their side, negotiated a safe passage to chechnya and departed, leaving behind 143 people killed and more than 400 wounded. some of them were later captured and sentenced to various prison terms. the leader of the raid is still at large. imagine a slightly modified scenario. imagine that the russians had
established an air-tight cordon around the hospital precluding any
possibility of even a single terrorist escaping, and informed the
hostage takers that (a) every single one of them was going to be
executed immediately upon surrender, (b) for every harmed hostage, the
russian army would execute several terrorist accomplices, and (c)
whenever the terrorists had anything to communicate, they were to send
out a hostage with the message. if the russians made good on their
promise, chances are, that would have been the very last time chechens
would have ever contemplated taking hostages. but where would the russians have gotten so many terrorist
accomplices on such a short notice? the hint comes from a rather
unexpected source. thomas l. friedman, the staff anti-semite at the new york times,
attempted to convince his readers that surrender to terrorists would
earn israel a moral advantage over them; i wonder what he would
recommend to a rape victim. he wrote in his column that appeared in
the june 13 issue of the newspaper: "there is no total victory to be
had by israel over hezbollah or the palestinians, without total
genocide." this short statement contains so many layers of falsehood that it's hard to decide where to start. first of all, hezbollah is a terrorist organization. its eradication would not qualify as genocide. second, there are no "palestinians". the libelous, anti-semitic
misnomer "palestinian people" refers to another terrorist
organization. its eradication would qualify as genocide no more than
the eradication of hezbollah or, let's say, al qaeda. third, i strongly object to the assumption that, upon hearing the
word genocide, i am supposed to cry, "oh, anything but that!" and
willingly allow my enemies to slaughter me, my family, and the rest of
my people, even if, from mr. friedman's perspective, it would earn me
a tremendous moral advantage over those who, just in modern times,
have been trying to commit genocide against us ever since hitler had
nearly succeeded. has it occurred to him that, even before almost half
of my people died in the holocaust, the 2,000 years of relentless
persecution at the hands of everyone had earned us an inexhaustible
supply of moral advantage over the rest of the world, from mohandas
gandhi to the pope? when attacked, we must defend ourselves, and there
is no reason why we should feel guilty about winning. after all, we
are the only people on earth who have never committed an act of
aggression against anyone in the last two millennia. most importantly, under all those libelous layers, mr. friedman's
statement unintentionally contains a scintilla of truth. his words
literally mean that every single shiite in lebanon and every single
arab in israel are ready to sacrifice their lives for the cause of the
extermination of jews. golda meir expressed it more succinctly when
she said that there would be no peace as long as arabs hate us more
than they love their own children. but what happened to the mythical
moderate muslims? where is the peaceful majority of arabs whose dreams
and aspirations are no different from yours, mine, or mr. friedman's?
poor mr. friedman has accidentally almost told the truth; will he be
forgiven his terrible slip of the tongue? the truth is that terrorists do not live in a vacuum. they do not
attack from outer space. they do not act alone. in chechnya, in
israel, in saudi arabia they operate from within a tight network of
tribes, clans, extended families, and complicated alliances.
weapon-smuggling tunnels, bomb factories, and even arafat's mukata are
not the most important parts of the terrorist infrastructure in
israel. the infrastructure of terror begins at the local mosque with
its five daily calls for jihad; at school where muslim children
receive their first lessons in murderous hatred of the "infidel"; at
the local grocery store, whose walls are decorated with posters of
murderers glorified as heroic martyrs; at home where mom and dad are
dreaming of "martyrdom" for their children. the mullahs, the teachers,
the grocers, the parents are all terrorist accomplices. villagers, who
do not report that a terrorist is spending a night in the area, are
his accomplices. children surrounding an arab sniper to protect him
with their bodies while he is unhurriedly selecting his target are his
accomplices. they all have blood on their hands; they are all guilty
of mass murder. if you drop a bomb on a place that the big
international brothel on the east river qualifies as a "refugee camp"
in gaza, judea, or samaria, every single casualty will be either a
terrorist or an accomplice. (am i suggesting carpet-bombing terror-infested areas of israel?
not if there is another way for israel to achieve peace for its people
with less losses on their side.) the geneva conventions leave a country forced to defend itself
against terrorism only one option: individual criminal prosecution of
those personally responsible for the atrocities. in many cases,
however, the murderers kill themselves along with the victims. when
the murder does not involve suicide, as was the case with the three
americans blown up in gaza, apprehending them is usually impossible.
in rare cases when they do get prosecuted, even the heaviest possible
punishment does not serve as a deterrent for those who follow in their
footsteps. paul johnson was beheaded by saudi terrorists on june 18. what will
the us government do in response? it has already done everything that
was in its power: it promised to punish those responsible. we all know
that it is nothing but an empty threat. the saudis killed a few people
and announced those were the culprits. go check. but terrorism is not a crime; it's warfare that, by its very
definition, constitutes a violation of geneva conventions. thus, these
conventions act like gun control laws in many states, where they
prevent law-abiding citizens from obtaining firearms but can do
nothing, even in theory, to prevent the spread of illegal guns. it's time we start treating terrorists and their accomplices the
way we treat enemy soldiers. you don't punish the enemy soldier for
doing whatever soldiers do. instead, you kill him at the very first
opportunity, hopefully, before he has a chance to harm anyone on your
side. immediately, a tricky question comes up: they kill civilians; if we
begin killing civilians, how are we different from them? but our
enemies are not civilians; they are terrorists disguised as civilians.
civilians do not kill anyone, do not rip apart dead bodies, do not
blow themselves up in discotheques and restaurants. if this is not convincing enough, let me use a parable to show you
the answer. imagine that you are witnessing a gun fight between two
strangers. both are dark-haired white males in their late twenties or
early thirties. both are wearing jeans, t-shirts, and sneakers. they
use identical weapons. they display comparable combat skills. you
don't know which of them started the fight. as far as you can tell,
any one of them could claim self-defense. what is the difference
between the two? you won't know until i tell you that one of them is
an undercover cop trying to apprehend the other, who had escaped from
custody after being arrested for the murder of an octogenarian lady
who had tried to prevent him from sodomizing her quadriplegic husband.
only then can you choose sides according to your own ideas of right
and wrong. you see, it's not what you do or how you do it, it's what you're
trying to achieve by doing it. i've left the most obvious question for the very end. only two
countries in the entire world are trying to fight terrorism today:
israel and the united states. it's perfectly clear that neither of
them is going to do it right in the foreseeable future. then why i
even talk about it? because even if no one is going to do the right
thing today, someone should nevertheless spell it out, so we will know
that we do not have to be defenseless against evil. yashiko sagamori is a new york-based information technology
consultant. to read other articles by the author, go to
http://www.middleeastfacts.com/yashiko/ or email ysagamori@hotmail.com
this article was written for the forwerts. to go to top slavery of children and women in persian gulf countries posted by freedom news, june 23, 2004. this was written by morteza aminmansour of seattle, washington. it
appeared in the "persian journal" june 20, 2004
(http://www.iranian.ws/iran_news/publish/article_2675.shtml). the uae was one of the 19 countries in the world that the united
states blacklisted for human trafficking. the trafficking as a modern
form of slavery leaves no land untouched.. with camel racing heavily patronized by the oil rich rulers, who have least respect in the legislature, thousands of small children from indian sun continent face a black and future. women migrated from azerbaijan, iran, kazakhstan, ukraine, india and eastern europe have reported being lured with fraudulent promises of lucrative opportunities, legitimate jobs and then forced into sexual exploitation. women who dared resist encountered harsh punishment from their employers, including physical assault. their status as illegal migrants made the women particularly vulnerable to attacks by customers and traffickers alike. uae has joined the growing global criminal activity of sex trafficking. exact number of victims is impossible to obtain, but according to an official source in uae, there has been increase in the number of teen-age girls in prostitution (forced to work from iran and other countries). the magnitude of the statistic conveys how rapidly this form of abuse has grown. the popular destinations for victims of the sex slave trade are the arab countries in the persian gulf (uae, kuwait, oman, qatar). traffickers target girls between 13 and 17 to send to arab countries. the number of iranian women and girls who are deported from persian gulf countries indicates the magnitude of the trade. a measure of islamic fundamentalists success in controlling the society is the depth and totality with which they suppress the freedom and rights of women. the islamic fundamentalists in iran have for example expended tremendous amounts of time and efforts controlling, harassing, and punishing women and girls in the name of islam. in tehran, there are an estimated 84,000 women and girls in prostitution, many of them are on the streets, others are in the 250 brothels that reportedly operate in the city. the trade is also international. thousands of iranian women and girls have been sold into sexual slavery abroad. the sex slave trade is one of the most profitable activities in iran today. iranian governments officials are involved in buying, selling and sexually abusing women and girls. one factor contributing to the increase in prostitution and the sex slave trade is the number of female teens who are running away from home. in tehran alone there are an estimated 25,000 street children, most of them girls. many of the girls come from impoverished rural areas. some addicted parents sell their children to support their habits...a number of prostitution and slavery rings operating from tehran that has sold girls and women to britain, france, and germany. in iranian province of khorasan, local police report that girls are being sold to pakistani men as they have passed and enforced humiliating and sadistic rules and punishments of women and girls, enslaving them in a system of segregation. many mullahs and officials are involved in the sexual exploitation and trade of women and girls. women who are arrested for prostitution say they must have sex with the arresting officer. there are reports of police locating young women for sex for the wealthy and powerful mullahs. some may think a thriving sex trade in a theocracy with clerics possibly acting as pimps is a contradiction in a country founded and ruled by islamic fundamentalists. i would like to define the slavery as work done without any
compensation under the threat of violence. the modern-day of slavery are forced labor, forced prostitution.
slavery is technically illegal everywhere but they are estimated 27
million enslaved worldwide than ever before, while the moral argument
against slavery has been won, the practical struggle to end slavery is
by no means over. camel racing in the persian gulf(uae), for example
is known to be slave work only by human rights experts or locals.
until poverty is overcome, some forms of slavery will always exist.
some argue that slave labor built up western capitalist development. one of the fastest growing means by which children are enslaved today is trafficking. girls as young as six are trafficked to work as maids in uae and saudi arabia. men and women and children live and work as slaves or in slave-like conditions. the sexual enslavement of children is part of the generation exploitation of children in impoverished parts of the world. literatures : 1-slavery by harry rosenberg 2-modern-day slavery 3-sex slavery new face of oppression of women in iran by sepehrrad and hughes. to go to top the 9/11 commission under assault posted by emanuel a. winston, june 23, 2004. one would think that the warren commission, investigating president
john f. kennedy's assassination had been re-commissioned. in
government there are things that must be kept hidden lest the people
lose faith in the ability of the government to govern - or so they
tell us! i will not go into what william safire has already spoken about in
the new york times, on june 21st. nor will i cover the repressed film
of michael moore who speaks about some of the saudi/bin laden family
being spirited out of america just after 9/11 by our american
government and the state department. let us instead speculate why the 9/11 commission artfully avoided
questioning the role of the u.s. state department in the 9/11 attack.
the big question being asked by the commission about the culpability
the cia and fbi is important but, the questioning of secretary of
state colin powell was very superficial. there was no probing of the
actual role of the u.s. state department in the events that led up to
9/11. clearly, the state department has been denied full recognition for
their role in 9/11 and before. while they, no doubt, were involved in
transferring the saudis out of america immediately after 9/11, there
was much more. the state department has been acting as a "shadow
government" for many years. linked with the oil companies and other
related industries, the state department was the internal
representative of the arabs, particularly the saudi royal family. it
seems that the u.s. state department should have registered as
"foreign agents" who lobby for saudi interests - as required by law. the state department was always the gatekeeper of arab muslims
allowed to enter america. their ambassadors in 22 arab and muslim
states acted as enablers and the conduits for passports, visas, travel
permits allowing any arab muslim entry into america. it really never
mattered whether the arab nations had demonstrated its hostility to
u.s. interests, they had a friend in the state department. many of
these ambassadors and mid-level administrators immediately went to
work for these same arab/muslim governments after they left the state
department. they may have been called 'advisors' but they were
actually lobbyists in washington for foreign governments. while the cia and fbi have been attacked for dereliction, there is
the small matter of interference by the state department.
investigations by our american intelligence agencies of arabs and
muslims was not a good career move because agents undertaking such
missions would be slapped down - courtesy of state department
influence. years of political restraint of our american intelligence
agencies by the state department has produced a doctrine that closed
the door on aggressive investigation of any arab, muslim individual,
group, organization, etc. known arab and muslim terrorists were squired about washington as
if they were welcome, high ranking official members of the arab/muslim
nations. i once tried to get the a.e.i. (american enterprise institute)
through a symposium of middle east experts which i funded, to conclude
with a book about the perfidy of the state department. needless to
say, the book was never produced - despite promises to do so. that
international conference in 1998 even proved that there was not oil
shortage but actually an oil glut and that the arab/muslim nations
could not use the oil weapon ever again. but, that too was overlooked,
overrun, overcome, in the interests of the state department pumping
for the arab oil nations. few organizations were willing to undertake
the task of facing down the very powerful state department. after all,
washington is a small nation unto itself and one doesn't want to get
into trouble with the power brokers. the 9/11 commission limited itself to questioning the sec. of state
colin powell, who was a safe witness - given his very slick ability to
deflect probing questions. for example: the u.s. state department
issued a misleading report for 2003 telling americans that there were
approximately half the number of terror attacks that actually
occurred. state reported 307 killed - which has now been revised to
625 killed. according to the first state report: 1,593 people were
wounded while the actual number now revealed is 3,646. the number of
attacks (according to state) was 190 - while the actual number was
208. powell describes this report as an 'honest' mistake although, given
that most of these attacks were initiated by muslim extremists, the
impression is that state continues in its role of the arabist and
protector. in another glaring manipulation of the facts, state was to issue a
yearly report on the palestinian authority's compliance ordered by
oslo and president bush's 'road map'. item #one in oslo and the 'road
map' was that the arab muslim palestinians cease terror attack.
state's annual report whitewashed the p.a.'s lack of compliance in the
cessation and promotion of terror attacks in order facilitate the
release of congressional funds to yassir arafat. each year since 1994,
the u.s. state department compiled a fictitious report, indicating
that arafat had complied with the requirement for the arab muslim
palestinians to reduce terror. the state department report was always
a total fabrication, given that arafat's arab muslim palestinians had
exponentially increased terror since oslo and since the 'road map'.
the u.s. congress knowingly accepted this fabricated report and gave
more and more millions of american tax-payers' dollars to arafat (who
kept almost all of it for himself and his cronies). the question is: exactly how close is the u.s. state department to
the arab muslim terrorists wherein state acts as a willing and
complicit co-conspirator to suppress the facts of muslim-enacted
terror? this collaboration by state has definitely contributed to
global terrorism, including 9/11 and 3/11 by giving the arab muslim
terrorists a 'carte blanche' to enter america and europe, to conspire
without observation, to terrorize without punishment. the 9/11 commission really never probed the state department staff
and their multiple roles in allowing into america all those arab
muslim sleeper cells or the loading up of american universities with
muslim 'islamists' who just happens to sign up for courses in nuclear
physics, chemistry and biology - as well as ersatz flying lessons. it will take some courageous maverick reporters or movie makers to
expose the deep state department roles, pre-9/11 and after. the 9/11
commission, while uncovering some of the facts of 9/11, are artfully
avoiding other facts. perhaps they have all been told that exposing
the state department would undermine american confidence in state or
disturb our european 'sometimes' friends. when the cia blacked out
virtually 50% of the yet-to-be released 9/11 report, be assured that
the u.s. state department held one of the indelible black markers. what might happen if the 'onion' of state is peeled back, layer by
layer. will we find that the state department is a nation unto itself.
that they are closer to the saudis and the multi-nationals than to
americans. after 9/11 they were still handing out visas to saudis -
despite the fact that 15 out 19 of the 9/11 hijacking bombers were
saudis (the other 4 were egyptians). would we discover through a grand jury that the state department allowed in not only the 9/11 murderers but also "sleeper" muslim terrorists who will strike the next 9/11? there are lots of questions that were never asked by the 9/11
commission. the biggest one is "why is the commission protecting and
shielding the state department?" "so, ladies and gentlemen of the 9/11 commission, the congress and
all those investigative reporters...isn't it time you started doing
your job...all of it?" emanuel winston is a commentator and middle east analyst. his articles appear often on think-israel and gamla he is a member of the board of directors and a research associate of the freeman center for strategic studies (http://www.freeman.org/online.htm). to go to top throwing stones: we're dealing with our prison abuses. is the arab world? posted by freedom news, june 23, 2004. this was written by steven stalinsky and appeared
today in national review online (http://www.nationalreview.com).
steven stalinsky is executive director of the middle east media
research institute. the original article contains dynamic links to additional material. responding to the abu ghraib controversy, several arab journalists
have noted that the actions of a handful of americans pale in
comparison to what occurs daily inside arab prisons. this has led to
articles in the arab media calling on arab leaders to end human-rights
violations within their own prisons. egyptian president hosni mubarak described abu ghraib as "abhorrent
and sickening, and against all human values and human rights." but as
yusri fatyan wrote in the egyptian paper al arabi on may 23: "frankly,
what happens in egypt doesn't differ much from what happens in iraq's
prisons... so that we don't get a surprise when foreign organizations
start talking about some of our police stations, like helwan, al
sahel, bilqas, and others." another egyptian journalist, muhamad ali
al farra, wrote in the islamist paper al shab: "some arab rulers have
practiced torture on people which no one would believe, and even
finishing with tortured bodies by burning them in acid, so how could
such rulers condemn torture of iraqi prisoners? who is going to throw
stones at others when his own house is made of glass?" saleh bin humaid, chairman of the saudi shoura council, called the
abu ghraib abuses "hideous scenes of human-rights violations." this,
despite the fact that saudi prisoners have almost no legal rights, and
that their punishments are based on islamic law - including the
severing of fingers and hands for stealing, and beheadings for
drug-dealing. syrian minister for expatriate affairs buthayna shaban, who recently
returned from a trip to the u.s., wrote in al-sharq al-awsat on
february 18, 2004: "the pictures that one lone soldier managed to
smuggle out of the abu ghraib prison aroused revulsion and
condemnation in the world, because of the extent of the contempt for
human dignity and fundamental human rights - particularly on the part
of the forces that claimed [they had crossed] the oceans to rescue the
iraqi people from the inhumane actions [by the saddam regime] and to
bring freedom and democracy... it is the american administration's
supercilious view of the arabs and muslims, particularly after the
events of september 11, and the racist campaign against islam and the
muslims in europe... that leads to crimes of this kind." ahmad jarallah, editor-in-chief of the kuwaiti daily al-siyassa and
noted critic of the syrian regime, responded in an editorial: "dr.
buthayna shaban, who is 'revolted'... should be the last to express
her revulsion - because the kinds of torture carried out in the
prisons of the regime of which she is a part and in whose services she
acts are too numerous to count. no atrocity surpasses the kinds of
torment and torture [in the syrian regime]... we have gone overboard
in our talk of the abu ghraib torture scandal... none has dared
acknowledge that the u.s. behaved properly in uncovering [this]
scandal, for having sufficient courage to apologize. it could have
remained silent, or denied it - as is the custom of some arab regimes
that torture, assassinate, bury alive, rip out fingernails, and
dissolve [people] in pits of acid, and appear before the world like
innocent children with angels' wings." other arab journalists have recognized that u.s. actions in iraq
are not based on any sinister plans and that, while the u.s. has made
mistakes, it has done more for iraqis than any arab state. on the
liberal arabic website elaph.com, syrian columnist hayan nayouf wrote:
"after the scandal of the torture of iraqi prisoners by american and
british soldiers, the arab media handled this affair in a way arousing
ridicule, proving that the arab media and intellectuals possess
everything but objectivity, transparency, and disclosure of the truth
and the facts... the american president, the president of the most
powerful country in the world... apologized for the deeds of the
american soldiers, and all the americans also apologized for this
shameful deed. and then the arab intellectuals came, with their
mocking, idiotic, and illogical media, and ridiculed this apology. the
question arises whether saddam or any other arab leader [ever]
apologized. did saddam apologize to the iraqi people for burying a
million iraqis in the ground, for expelling millions of iraqis, for
murdering innocents in his prisons, for his crimes in neighboring
countries, for invading kuwait, and for murdering the kuwaiti
prisoners?" since the fall of saddam's regime, much has been revealed about
what transpired within his prisons. the treatment of prisoners went
far beyond the terrible incidents of humiliation and the beatings that
occurred at the hands of americans in abu ghraib. iraqi human-rights
activist ibrahim al idrissi, the president of the association for free
prisoners, an iraqi ngo, has documented the execution of 147,000
political prisoners under saddam's regime. idrissi recounted one
incident in which a woman was raped by twelve men, and then had her
unborn child cut from her stomach. he told lebanon's the daily star on
may 24 that u.s. abuse in iraqi prisons was a "joke" compared to what
was endured under saddam's regime. to go to top a time for peace, and a time for war posted by bernard j. shapiro, june 23, 2004. unfortunately, i am forced to revise and reissue this article. it was written originally during the early days of the oslo appeasement and was the cover editorial in the august 1995 issue of the maccabean.] we find all the expressions of horror at the recent rabbi's ruling
concerning a soldier's obligation to avoid abandoning army bases and
settlements to terrorists, to be hypocritical, self-serving, and
unfortunate. the israeli government is in rebellion against everything
that israel, zionism, and judaism are all about. they are the ones
causing the rift in the body politic and they will be totally
responsible for any resulting violence. we must pray that this does
not happen. when will the nationalist camp realize that we are "at war already"
with the plo supported tyranny that rules israel? at what point will
israelis realize that the civil war they fear, is already taking place
and they are losing? why don't members of the nationalist camp
understand that force is being used by only one side and that is the
government. the monopoly on power must be broken or there is no hope. under the nazis, the jews of warsaw numbered over 500,000. they
were depleted with regular deportations aided by judenrats (jewish
leaders). the revolt in warsaw began when the jewish population was
down to 50,000 (or 90% murdered). at what point is it ok to rebel?
when is civil disobedience ok? when is civil war a better course than
suicide? all throughout history there have been rebels and loyalists.
history is usually written by the victors but truly there is seldom a
universally accepted moral standard as to what is a proper rebellion
and what is not. we can say with absolute certainty, however, that the
jewish return to zion and our struggle today for eretz yisrael are
more righteous than any other struggle for national liberation in the
history of the world. conditions in israel have passed the period where civil
disobedience would be effective. a massive outpouring of israelis
prepared to get arrested in civil disobedience would have stopped the
oslo suicide pact years ago. now, it appears that only force of arms
may save the country. the government plan to begin the ethnic
cleansing of jews from gaza and northern samaria is in full swing.
plans are being drawn up in great detail. soldiers are being recruited
for this evil task from volunteers with no jewish, moral or zionist
sensibilities. jews will have a choice: being massacred or abandoning
their homes of three decades for some compensation. their ability to
defend themselves will have been thwarted by the government in
collusion with the terrorists. the terrorists and their supporters,
the egyptians, will take over their homes and set up a safe haven for
the training and dispatch of terror the world over. israel will be
subject to increasing attack, but will not be able to respond as per
israeli pm ariel sharon's agreement with egypt and the us. the jews of gaza and the rest of yesha must not be passive pawns in
the political surrender of their homes. they must fight the arabs,
where necessary, to maintain their travel, water, and land rights.
when the israeli government retreats, leaving them behind plo battle
lines, they must be prepared to go on the offensive militarily to
secure safe contiguous areas of jewish control. the defeatist israeli
leaders, who have surrendered our jewish rights to eretz yisrael,
should be told that there are still proud jews in yesha who will give
up neither their inheritance from abraham nor their right of
self-defense. exercising one's right to self-defense is a moral imperative. there
is a lot of hypocritical talk coming from the government about the
danger of jew fighting jew. these warnings are coming from the likes
of the left who delighted in shooting zionist (betar) teenagers
swimming to shore after they forces sank the altalena in 1948.
these same hypocrites are putting the jews of israel in life
threatening peril. they care nothing about jewish lives! should the jews of yesha be forced into military combat -- most
likely against arabs, but, g-d forbid, perhaps also against jews and
we must pray that this does not happen -- they would be fully
justified. they will be fighting for the security of israel and the
future destiny of the jewish people. these brave jews would be
continuing the long tradition of hebrew warriors, including joshua,
david, the maccabees and bar kochba, who fought against all odds to
save their people and their country. the glorious hebrew warriors who defeated five arab armies in 1948,
three in 1967, two in 1973 and the plo and syria in 1982 must not
surrender their jewish homeland to an evil terrorist, who delights in
killing jewish babies. the brave heroes of zion must not limit
themselves to passive civil disobedience. freedom sometimes needs to
be secured through the barrel of a gun. if it is considered patriotic
to die fighting arabs for israel's survival, then it is just as
patriotic to fight against jews who would lead israel to destruction.
while such internal jewish fighting would be dreadful, it is a
consequence of the government's disregard for the security and well
being of its citizens. at this great time of trial and apocalyptic
threat, the safeguarding of the future of the jewish people's right to
eretz yisrael must take precedence. may the almighty watchman of israel protect his people from the
dangerous policies of sharon. may he liberate his people from cruel
tyranny and restore zionist rule to jerusalem. bernard j. shapiro is the executive director of the freeman center
for strategic studies (http://www.freeman.org) and editor of its
monthly internet magazine, the maccabean online
(http://www.freeman.org/online.htm) and its daily email broadcast, the
freemanlist. to go to top the shaky basis of zionist discussion posted by richard h. shulman, june 23, 2004. a good friend and fellow jew grew passionate against israeli retention of the administered territories. he based his points upon logic, and his logic is sharp, that follows from the kind of misinformation that the "new york times" disseminates. that is to say, half the facts and most of the legal and historical underpinning of the issue were missing from his repertoire. he was left with a mistaken notion of strategic considerations bearing on the survival of his own people. as a decent and sincerely intellectual person, he had the maturity to acknowledge that his sense of justice might be swayed by unawareness of the provisions and background of the palestine mandate and the strategic elements of the territories and the impossibility of coming to terms with the jihadists. he did not express awareness, if i recall correctly, that the news and views spun out of the "times," and advocacy journalism in general, pursue an anti-zionist agenda. he does realize that he has an average access to news on this issue, whereas i have studied this and follow it daily. not many people would say, as did he, that he would think over the strategic elements i posed and would review the mandate if i sent him a copy. as boyhood friends, we each trust the other's integrity. neither is concerned with proving himself right but with reaching the most sensible conclusion for both. like most people, my friend thought that the uno established the state of israel and its boundaries. the general assembly partition plan had no force of law. it merely proposed what i will show was unfair to the jewish people. israel, like the us, established itself. israel defended that independence from genocidal insurgency and invasion, no thanks to the uno or to the us, both of which were complaisant about letting a second holocaust happen. the legal basis for the jewish state's establishment was the mandate, which the league of nations' successor, the united nations organization, incorporated into its charter. the mandate did not confer any rights upon the jews -- it recognized the jewish people's pre-existing rights to its homeland. but it had the force of international law. the uno partition plan carved the proposed jewish portion into three, tiny, non-viable economically, and indefensible militarily "bantustans." intentional or witless, it was a prescription for the war that followed and the annihilation of the jews that sec. of state marshall anticipated. instead, israel came intp possession of more of its homeland. international law allows victorious victims of aggression to retain captured enemy territory if needed to prevent renewed aggression. this law was fulfilled after wwii. only in the case of israel is it ignored. he is indignant about israel controlling land outside the uno plan. i take umbrage over the uno attempt to curtail jewish rights and over the great powers leaving the jewish people such a small part of its homeland as to tempt repeated arab aggression. (more on that, later.) when israel declared independence while besieged by the arabs, it
knew better than to bother declaring boundaries that war and
subsequent negotiation would set. deeming proper now the borders
proposed by the general assembly then, would mean dispossessing
millions of israelis and enabling the arabs finally to exterminate
them in those bantustans. would he prefer that the palestinians of
1947 (what the jews then were called), whose declaration of
independence he resents, although such a declaration was precisely
what the uno had proposed, not have defended themselves and been wiped
out then? why does he suppose the arabs have a right to a state based on a
uno suggestion that the arabs forfeited by rejecting it? surely it is
not fair that the arabs may make repeated war to see if they can
conquer the whole, and when they lose their wars of aggression, claim
statehood and territory on the basis of the very plan they rejected. early on, the uno became the font of evil and corruption that we know
it as, today. it defers action, or defers to ruthless dictators, while
innocent people are murdered by the million. then it may intervene,
often venally and ineffectively. one should not put credence in it or
accept judgments by it. it is thoroughly political and biased. it is
not a united nations, which is why i resumed calling it an
organization, uno. my friend thought the "settlers" have no rights to the area because
the partition plan did not include it in the area to which it would
restrict the jews. therefore, settlers were engendering casualties for
the israeli army. when he reads the mandate, he will see that it calls
for "close settlement on the land by the jews, including state land
and waste land?" (what are called "settlements" only when jews build
communities but not when arabs come in and build houses are entirely
on state land, waste land, and purchased land, with some of the roads
connecting them resulting from the normal exercise of eminent domain.)
he also will see that the area for the jewish homeland, defined from
biblical maps, included the territories, jordan, and israel. (there
isn't room here for the full historical background, absent from our
contemporaries' memories and vocabulary, that give the jewish people
the primary legal, historical, and religious claim to the area.) after the mandate was offered to britain, britain started reneging.
first, what the published mandate doesn't show is that britain deleted
the golan heights from the area to be included. the golan's ancient
city of gamla played a role like that of massada under roman siege.
soon britain also excluded what eventually became jordan not from the
mandate but "temporarily" from jewish national development. the arabs
consider themselves one nation. for public relations, however, they
fabricated the notion of palestinian nationality. since the
palestinian arabs already have a state, jordan, why set up another for
their terrorists? so much for the argument that jews are living in judea, samaria,
and gaza (a.k.a. yesha) illegally. if one is concerned with
illegality, one should refer to the wholesale theft of land in yesha
and in israel. then there is the extensive arab illegal building,
non-payment of taxes, rioting, and illegal immigration. when there are
actual and massive arab illegalities, people nevertheless are
indoctrinated to focus on the non-existent illegality of jews dwelling
in their own homeland in a territory set aside for just such
territorial development. it is not politically correct to hold the arabs to civilized norms. neither is it popular to deem the arabs, however intolerant and violent, as other than victims, nor to deem their actual victims, the jewish state and the "settles" as other than intolerant and violent. political correctness contradicts its humane pretension. if one knows the brief history of the territories, one would
realize how over-emphasized the green line is and that jewish
residents there are not "occupiers." when the arabs rejected the uno
partition plan in favor of forcibly dispossessing all the jews from
the whole mandate, they nullified the plan. the arabs made it clear
that the war would determine israel's boundaries and whether there
would be an israel to have boundaries. the green line is the 1949
armistice line. it has no legal status as a border! jordan attacked israel gratuitously in 1967. it and egypt lost in that war and the territories outside the green line. since the territories previously had been seized by egypt and jordan in illegal aggression in 1948, they were not arab territory then; their legal status remained that of the unallocated portion of the mandate. under the mandate, israel has the best claim. israel incorporated some of that area into the expanding precincts of jerusalem, as do many cities in the us with their unincorporated hinterland. since the territories were not part of a state, they cannot be "occupied." neither does the geneva convention apply. besides, the provisions of the geneva convention about population movement were intended to prevent an occupying power from displacing a native population. not only are most of the arabs there are of relatively recent immigrant families, jewish settlement has not displaced the arabs. concerned with the defense of israel, my friend resents the
presence of jewish communities in yesha diverts troops needed for the
defense of israel. good intent, but false premise. why so? a. the israeli army has cut down on the draft. it doesn't
want more troops. if israel wanted to spare troops in yesha, let it
smash the p.a. aggressors and win the war, disarm the arabs, and save
more money by not subsidizing the arabs and by recovering in court
compensation for their theft and terrorism. b. defense must be mounted against internal and external attack. it
may be waged offensively and defensively. "internal" defense is
against the western palestinian arabs in yesha and israel. external
defense is against invasion from the countries around. external
defense requires israeli retention of the bulk of yesha, according to
the definitive study by the us joint chiefs of staff. to sum it up and
then some, the territories furnish israel with: (1) straight borders
only half as long as without them and much easier to defend; (2)
natural tank traps due to mountain passes and the african rift
depression; (3) observation points enabling greater warning and some
time to mobilize, mobilization of israeli reserves being israel's
chief defense tool against the arabs who maintain almost full
peacetime armies; (4) a third of israel's water supply, without which
it could not survive; and (5) the historical and religious core of the
jewish homeland, indispensable to israeli morale and the basis for
settling in israel, itself, even in this secularist age. one may add
that relinquishing the territories as a result of terrorism, even if
the surrender is called the result of negotiation, would encourage the
jihadists and islamists to redouble their efforts. that would reduce
security for israelis. one simply cannot let go of the tiger's tail. a relief map and knowledge of the terrain would make these points clear. think of point (1), that without yesha, israel's external boundaries would double. proponents of abandonment of yesha have tried to justify their position as one of retreating to a more compact area to defend. their position stands the strategic situation on its head. internal defense also requires control over yesha. the presence of
the jewish communities enables the israeli army to be present and to
have places to more around under cover. when the israeli army is
present in yesha, it intercepts most terrorists. when it withdraws,
the arabs resume their build-up of terrorism, and israeli casualties
mount. right now, the jewish communities and inspection of arab
traffic keep the arabs from moving up to the green line cities of
israel. without the israeli presence in the territories, the arabs
would move up and threaten all those cities along the whole length of
the green line! in that sense, the jewish communities, against which
many terrorist attacks are mounted, anyway, act as a breakwater. we
jews should thank the brave jewish settlers who, in risking their
lives, preserve those of residents of official israel. (many of them
serve in the army, too.) true, casualties have been reduced where the fence was built. naturally, terrorists would prefer to attack where they don't face the difficulties of the fence. when the fence is completed, however, they would continue climbing over, digging under, and firing rockets over it. israeli abandonment of its legal and historic claims would lead to arab sovereignty. sovereignty, whatever word games israeli leaders might play with its definition, confers the legal right to import heavy weapons and foreign armies. the cannon waiting in the sinai would be moved opposite the cities of israel and would be fired at them. since the arab goal is to destroy israel, if israel withdrew from the
territories, the arabs would attack israel more directly and from a
stronger position. there can be no defense against cannon emplaced all
along the green line. israel would suffer tremendous casualties, and
would have to go to war. withdrawal would multiply, not reduce,
israeli casualties. isn't there a solution? my friend starts with the concept that the
arab-israel conflict should be resolved by compromise. that premise
makes him a good chap in the context of american society. we
compromise and we resolve. the arabs don't resolve, they conquer. they
don't compromise, they accept concessions made by the other side as if
engaged in a mutual compromise. they proceed to demand new concessions
on pain of more violence. this is the nature of the jihadist enemy
that it behooves american discussants to understand. by not understanding the nature of jihad, an american approves of policies that harm not only israel but civilization, itself. jihad is a war on civilization. the arab fanatics want to take over the world. that should not be difficult to understand for those of us who lived through the axis and communist efforts to take over the world. understanding it becomes difficult when the president, who vows to defeat terrorism, denies the religious motivation for it. back to the matter of compromise. there already have been compromises. they solved nothing. the first compromise was that the wwi victors and the peace treaties divided the turkish empire into turkey; about 99% of the middle east outside of iran into arab countries and mandates; and the 1% that represented the jewish homeland into the palestine mandate. between british incompetence and its sabotaging of world order in favor of imperial interests, the arabs were not moved out of palestine, although millions of people elsewhere were moved. these population exchanges, some of which also occurred after wwii, were done both humanely and inhumanely. on the whole, they prevented much more serious wars of ethnic strife. leaving the arabs in among the jews in meant bellicose claims could arise. they did occur. britain soon imposed a second "compromise," although the arab
representatives at the main peace conference had agreed to the
palestine mandate for a "jewish national home," known to be a
euphemism for eventual statehood. read the mandate and see that the
provisions for developing that statehood were embedded. britain weaned
away the transjordanian provinces, eventually to become independent as
jordan. that area was more than three-fourths of the mandate! the jews
got less than one-fourth! to the arabs, "compromise" seems to mean
that each time the jewish portion is shrunk in behalf of the arabs,
but many arabs, such as the million now in israel, remain among the
jews to (multiply and) demand another partition. as i imply, that second compromise was not enough for the arabs. britain had given away to the arabs the transjordanian provinces with hardly any arabs, but left for the jews an area with more arabs than jews. although the mandate called for jewish immigration, the british illegally curbed jewish immigration, especially during the holocaust when such immigration would have saved lives. the british let arabs immigrate, to prosper from the industry that jews developed and the arabs did not. talk about fairness! my friend finds that israel has two alternatives to the status quo: (1) relinquish the territories and maintain the jewish nature of israel; or (2) annex the territories, but the jews would become a minority. if only life were that simple! choice (1), relinquishing the territories, would buy only a few years, because of the growing arab minority in israel. it is no solution to leave that fifth column inside israel. choice (2), annexing yesha in one fell swoop, would indeed be self-defeating. but there are other alternatives. in earlier articles, i listed graduated steps to discourage the arab presence. each step which makes the next ones seem more acceptable to people who otherwise would object. among these steps are enforcement of the law against the arabs' illegal immigration, wholesale theft of land and illegal building, non-payment of taxes; barring arabs from the territories from working in israel and jewish communities in yesha; annexing vacant portions of yesha, which most of it is; ending college and job admissions and tuition that discriminate in favor of the arabs; banning arab parties that promote terrorism and not just jewish parties that want to transfer the arabs non-violently; de-commissioning arabic as a national language; and not releasing terrorists. the arabs mostly would leave for want of economic opportunity. some could be helped financially to leave. this would take time but would solve the problem with the palestinian arabs. as for the other arabs, israel has to await their becoming civilized or at least tolerant. richard shulman is a veteran defender of israel on several web-based
forums. he provides cool information and right-on-target overviews. he
distributes his essays by email. to subscribe, write him at
ricshulman@aol.com. to go to top no joke! posted by judy lash balint, june 23, 2004. this comes from batya medad, who lives in shilo. she can be contacted at
shilohmuse@yahoo.com or at
http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/ there's a well-known joke that you've most probably heard
about the jewish tourist from new york, who, when in china, found a
synagogue to pray in. imagine his surprise when he looked around, and
noticed that it was filled with chinese men. just before he was about
to ask if he was in the right place one of the chinese came up to him
and asked: "what are you doing here?" "i need to pray in a synagogue," the tourist answered. "why a synagogue?" the local man asked. "i'm jewish," he answered. the chinese men all stared at him in surprise, and one finally
said: "funny, you don't look jewish." i thought of that joke when i was at a wedding last week. it was a
regular religious wedding in jerusalem. the men wore kippot, mostly
crocheted; the women were in dresses with sleeves, and the married
ones wore hats. the difference was that the chattan, kallah (bride,
groom) and most of the guests looked like peruvian indians. half a millenium after their ancestors fled the spanish inquisition,
their "pinteleh yid," the spark of judaism is burning brightly in
peru. clans of peruvians are discovering the source of "secret family
customs." they are no longer afraid to be jewish. hundreds of years
after fleeing spain and hiding their true religion, entire families of
three and even four generations are rejoining the jewish religion and
then making aliya to israel. over ten years ago, when the chattan's family made shiloh its home, i
asked his father, in a combination of hebrew and my remnant of high
school spanish, why they wanted to live in shiloh. binyamin explained that for many years he had taught his community
bible and felt that in shiloh he needed to live. they bought a home
and added rooms. binyamin's wife's parents moved in with them, and
then four generations lived here in shiloh until the eldest couple
passed away were buried in our cemetery. binyamin and ruth's eldest child, a daughter, met a young moshavnik,
the younger brother of a neighbor, married him and now have children. they also bought a home in shiloh. the youngest generation has their
mother's coloring and features with their fair-skinned and light-eyed
father's curly hair. the wedding music was jewish-israeli with a latin beat, as only our
neighbor, yehuda glantz, can play. as we all danced, celebrating
with the young couple, i looked around and saw such wonderful people. there was the warm-hearted, welcoming family from alon shvut that had
adopted the kallah, whose family is still in peru. a dvar torah
(torah lesson/speech) was given in spanish by my bible teacher, who is
from majorca and discovered his jewish roots when still a child. i can only admire all of those who have the courage to publicly
embrace the religion their ancestors hid. and to think that despite
their fears, they had passed on just enough knowledge that they were
"different" for their descendents to be able to discover their secret
five centuries later. this is so different from the voluntary
assimilation in recent centuries. at the wedding, i felt that i was dancing as part of a miraculous
performance in praise of g-d. our hands of different colors
symbolized the chain of judaism that connects us all to those exiled
after the destruction of the holy temple, that connects us to bnei
yisrael that entered the holy land with joshua, that connects us to
those who fled egypt with moshe and those who entered egypt with
yaakov and those who were born from yitzchak, avraham and sarah's only
child. we are one people, and we will not be destroyed. we survived the nazi
holocaust, the pogroms, the inquisition, haman, the greeks, the
philistines, amalek. and with the help of g-d, we will survive our
new enemies, even those among us. "jerusalem diaries: in tense
times" by judy lash balint (gefen) is available for purchase from
www.israelbooks.com to go to top stalinist indoctrination at tel aviv university posted by steven plaut, june 23, 2004. 1. it is conservatively estimated that communism directly caused about 100 million deaths in the twentieth century. these of course include the millions starved to death by communist forced collectivization of agriculture, by the intentional famines in the ukraine and in china, and by the massive shortages and upheavals and repressions, not to mention the gulags and mass murders. in china, massive cannibalism was produced by communist food shortages, where families swapped children so parents would not be forced to eat their own children. a disproportionate number of those killed by communism were jews. jews were always subjected to special venom and animosity by communists, and the fact that some of the communist leaders and "thinkers" were jews or ex-jews does not change anything, in fact it probably explains the anti-semitism that has always characterized both communism and some forms of anti-communism. communists today lead the movement for a second holocaust of jews. they seek the annihilation of israel and its population. the communist countries have always been allied with arab fascism and aggression and today support islamist terror. all of which might have been regarded by most people as more than a sufficient reason why a college of communist indoctrination should not operate within the auspices of tel aviv university. but they would be wrong. today is the inauguration ceremony of the opening of the college of communist indoctrination at tel aviv university. really. the official name of the "college" is the "socioeconomic college", and it operates on the tel aviv university campus, although evidently not with direct funding by the israeli taxpayer, at least not yet. the comrades will, however, be using the university facilities paid for by israeli taxpayers. the initiator of the college of communist indoctrination is madame gulag, tamar gozansky, who was until recently the stalinist rent-a-jew sitting in the knesset as representative for the hadash stalinist party in the israeli parliament. hadash is an old-left anti-israel arab-national communist party, one that never quite got around to renouncing stalinism. mademe gulag has been unemployed, as are most people under communism, ever since her own party got tired of her hogging one of its parliament seats. so she and her fellow commissar, a lawyer named aviv wasserman, came up with the idea. they decided they were sick and tired of the "capitalist hegemony in israeli academia" (in their words see haaretz july 23, 04), and you can see right away how someone who had spent the last few decades in some other galaxy might not be aware of the far-leftist hegemony that actually operates in israeli academia. students in this new re-education gulag center to open at tel aviv university will be indoctrinated in the "theories" of marxism that were totally debunked more than 160 years ago. they will learn the communist party's principles and its correct thinking about class struggle and other "social issues". the "college" will be administered by a newspaper journalist named efraim davidi. its "degree" will not be recognized at first as a bona fide academic degree, although it might be enough to get you a job in a cuban torture facility. the "faculty" at the "college" will consist of the usual israeli far-leftist tenured radicals, including a marxist economist from ben-gurion university, the extremist "post zionist" moshe zuckerman from tel aviv university, the stalinist dov hanin who was supposed to replace madame gulag as the hadash party rent-a-jew but the party decided to do without further jewish reps, some arab non-academics whose academic credentials are that they are anti-israel, and others. they do not get paid, i guess as there way of showing what happens to employees under communist regimes. if you think that israeli taxpayer money should not be spent on providing infrastructure for stalinist indoctrination, please write to minister limor livnat at minister limor livnat ministry of education minister's office kiryat ben gurion,
jerusalem fax 972-2-6753726 email: llivnat@knesset.gov.il if you want to tell the heads of tel aviv university what you think of this new "college" on their campus, contact: president of tel aviv u: prof. itamar rabinovich his fax and email are
fax 03-6422379 itamarr@tauex.tau.ac.il here is a list of other university officers (you will need to look up their addresses if you want to contact): http://www.tau.ac.il/officers-eng.html you may want to let any donors to tau know about what is going on! 2. it has been a while since we told you about the haifa municipal museum. under comrade-mayor amram mitzna's junta, the museum took off in a far-left direction. it had an exhibit in which a work of "art" was a portrait showing a yeshiva student being hanged from a gallows. had the portrait been of, say, a leftist politician being hanged, the artist in question would be rotting in jail for incitement to murder as we speak. other manifestations of the mapplethorpianism of israeli art were also on display. but mitzna is off warming a back bench in the knesset. we got mitzna out of city hall but did not get mitznaism out of the haifa municipal museum. you may recall how a few months back a fanatic ex-israeli
anti-semitic leftist living in sweden produced a work of "art" showing
the woman mass murder who blew up the haifa maxim restaurant as a pure
snow white? celebrating her act of barbarism, which murdered 23
people, including many children and three generations of two families?
the israeli ambassador vandalized the "art" to the horrors of the
artsy-phartsy crowd. well, now the haifa municipal museum ran its own analogue to snow white the pure murderer of jewish children. a bimbo "artist" named deganit brest produced a work of "art" centered around a fine handsome smiling face of the peace partner suicide bomber who murdered all the children a few years back waiting to enter the tel aviv dolphinarium for a dance party. twenty one people were murdered, most high school kids, many recent immigrants from the ex-soviet workers paradise that tel aviv university is now trying to recreate. the museum saw nothing at all wrong with the "art" celebrating the nazi murderer of children. the public however was nonplussed and now the museum is thinking of taking down the atrocity. brest is outraged of course, as are the usual far leftists. maybe a new portrait of the suffering of my hero adolf hitler, or maybe eichmann the misunderstood, will replace it. if you would like to tell the haifa muni reps what you think of this, go to http://www.haifa.muni.il/hebrew/contactushome.htm (you will see hebrew fonts or gibberish, but hit the first two "envelope icons" to set up a page to contact them, and then hit send. also, try http://www.haifa.muni.il/english/default.htm steven plaut is an american-trained economist, a professor of
business administration at haifa university and author of "the
scout." he frequently comments - both seriously and satirically -
on israeli politics and the left wing academic community. his website
address is http://www.stevenplaut.blogspot.com. to go to top one small step: is the u.n. finally ready to get serious about anti-semitism? posted by anne bayefsky, june 23, 2004. this was a speech given yesterday at the u.n. at a conference on
confronting anti-semitism: education for tolerance and understanding,
sponsored by the united nations department of information. i appreciate the opportunity to speak to you at this first u.n.
conference on anti-semitism, which is being convened six decades after
the organization's creation. my thanks to the u.n. organizers and in
particular shashi tharoor [the undersecretary-general for
communications and public information] for their initiative and to the
secretary-general for his willingness to engage. this meeting occurs at a point when the relationship between jews and
the united nations is at an all-time low. the u.n. took root in the
ashes of the jewish people, and according to its charter was to flower
on the strength of a commitment to tolerance and equality for all men
and women and of nations large and small. today, however, the u.n.
provides a platform for those who cast the victims of the nazis as the
nazi counterparts of the 21st century. the u.n. has become the leading
global purveyor of anti-semitism--intolerance and inequality against
the jewish people and its state. not only have many of the u.n. members most responsible for this
state of affairs rendered their own countries judenrein, they have
succeeded in almost entirely expunging concern about jew-hatred from
the u.n. docket. from 1965, when anti-semitism was deliberately
excluded from a treaty on racial discrimination, to last fall, when a
proposal for a general assembly resolution on anti-semitism was
withdrawn after ireland capitulated to arab and muslim opposition,
mention of anti-semitism has continually ground the wheels of u.n.-led
multilateralism to a halt. there has never been a u.n. resolution specifically on
anti-semitism or a single report to a u.n. body dedicated to
discrimination against jews, in contrast to annual resolutions and
reports focusing on the defamation of islam and discrimination against
muslims and arabs. instead there was durban--the 2001 u.n. world
conference "against racism," which was a breeding ground and global
soapbox for anti-semites. when it was over u.n. officials and member
states turned the durban declaration into the centerpiece of the
u.n.'s antiracism agenda--allowing durban follow-up resolutions to
become a continuing battlefield over u.n. concern with anti-semitism. not atypical is the public dialogue in the u.n.'s top human rights
body--the commission on human rights--where this past april the
pakistani ambassador, speaking on behalf of the 56 members of the
organization of the islamic conference, unashamedly disputed that
anti-semitism was about jews. for jews, however, ignorance is not an option. anti-semitism is
about intolerance and discrimination directed at jews--both
individually and collectively. it concerns both individual human
rights and the group right to self-determination--realized in the
state of israel. what does discrimination against the jewish state mean? it means
refusing to admit only israel to the vital negotiating sessions of
regional groups held daily during u.n. commission on human rights
meetings. it means devoting six of the 10 emergency sessions ever held
by the general assembly to israel. it means transforming the 10th
emergency session into a permanent tribunal--which has now been
reconvened 12 times since 1997. by contrast, no emergency session was
ever held on the rwandan genocide, estimated to have killed a million
people, or the ethnic cleansing of tens of thousands in the former
yugoslavia, or the death of millions over the past two decades of
atrocities in sudan. that's discrimination. the record of the secretariat is more of the same. in november
2003, secretary-general kofi annan issued a report on israel's
security fence, detailing the purported harm to palestinians without
describing one terrorist act against israelis which preceded the
fence's construction. recently, the secretary-general strongly
condemned israel for destroying homes in southern gaza without
mentioning the arms-smuggling tunnels operating beneath them. when
israel successfully targeted hamas terrorist abdel aziz rantissi with
no civilian casualties, the secretary-general denounced israel for an
"extrajudicial" killing. but when faced with the 2004 report of the
u.n. special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions detailing the
murder of more than 3,000 brazilian civilians shot at close range by
police, mr. annan chose silence. that's discrimination at the u.n., the language of human rights is hijacked not only to
discriminate but to demonize the jewish target. more than one quarter
of the resolutions condemning a state's human rights violations
adopted by the commission over 40 years have been directed at israel.
but there has never been a single resolution about the decades-long
repression of the civil and political rights of 1.3 billion people in
china, or the million female migrant workers in saudi arabia kept as
virtual slaves, or the virulent racism which has brought 600,000
people to the brink of starvation in zimbabwe. every year, u.n. bodies
are required to produce at least 25 reports on alleged human rights
violations by israel, but not one on an iranian criminal justice
system which mandates punishments like crucifixion, stoning and
cross-amputation of right hand and left foot. this is not legitimate
critique of states with equal or worse human rights records. it is
demonization of the jewish state. as israelis are demonized at the u.n., so palestinians and their
cause are deified. every year the u.n. marks nov. 29 as the
international day of solidarity with the palestinian people--the day
the u.n. partitioned the british palestine mandate and which arabs
often style as the onset of al nakba or the "catastrophe" of the
creation of the state of israel. in 2002, the anniversary of the vote
that survivors of the concentration camps celebrated, was described by
secretary-general annan as "a day of mourning and a day of grief." in 2003 the representatives of over 100 member states stood along
with the secretary-general, before a map predating the state of
israel, for a moment of silence "for all those who had given their
lives for the palestinian people"--which would include suicide
bombers. similarly, u.n. rapporteur john dugard has described
palestinian terrorists as "tough" and their efforts as characterized
by "determination, daring, and success." a commission resolution for
the past three years has legitimized the palestinian use of "all
available means including armed struggle"--an absolution for terrorist
methods which would never be applied to the self-determination claims
of chechens or basques. although palestinian self-determination is equally justified, the
connection between demonizing israelis and sanctifying palestinians
makes it clear that the core issue is not the stated cause of
palestinian suffering. for there are no u.n. resolutions deploring the
practice of encouraging palestinian children to glorify and emulate
suicide bombers, or the use of the palestinian population as human
shields, or the refusal by the vast majority of arab states to
integrate palestinian refugees into their societies and to offer them
the benefits of citizenship. palestinians are lionized at the u.n.
because they are the perceived antidote to what u.n. envoy lakhdar
brahimi called the great poison of the middle east--the existence and
resilience of the jewish state. of course, anti-semitism takes other forms at the u.n. over the
past decade at the commission, syria announced that yeshivas train
rabbis to instill racist hatred in their pupils. palestinian
representatives claimed that israelis can happily celebrate religious
holidays like yom kippur only by shedding palestinian blood, and
accused israel of injecting 300 palestinian children with hiv-positive
blood. u.n.-led anti-semitism moves from the demonization of jews to the
disqualification of jewish victimhood: refusing to recognize jewish
suffering by virtue of their ethnic and national identity. in 2003 a
general assembly resolution concerned with the welfare of israeli
children failed (though one on palestinian children passed handily)
because it proved impossible to gain enough support for the word
israeli appearing before the word children. the mandate of the u.n.
special rapporteur on the "palestinian territories", set over a decade
ago, is to investigate only "israel's violations of ...
international law" and not to consider human-rights violations by
palestinians in israel. it follows in u.n. logic that nonvictims aren't really supposed to
fight back. one after another concrete israeli response to terrorism
is denounced by the secretary-general and member states as illegal.
but killing members of the command-and-control structure of a
terrorist organization, when there is no disproportionate use of
force, and arrest is impossible, is not illegal. homes used by
terrorists in the midst of combat are legitimate military targets. a
nonviolent, temporary separation of parties to a conflict on disputed
territory by a security fence, which is sensitive to minimizing
hardships, is a legitimate response to israel's international legal
obligations to protect its citizens from crimes against humanity. in
effect, the u.n. moves to pin the arms of jewish targets behind their
backs while the terrorists take aim. the u.n.'s preferred imagery for this phenomenon is of a cycle of violence. it is claimed that the cycle must be broken--every time israelis raises a hand. but just as the symbol of the cycle is chosen because it has no beginning, it is devastating to the cause of peace because it denies the possibility of an end. the nuremberg tribunal taught us that crimes are not committed by abstract entities. the perpetrators of anti-semitism today are the preachers in
mosques who exhort their followers to blow up jews. they are the
authors of palestinian authority textbooks that teach a new generation
to hate jews and admire their killers. they are the television
producers and official benefactors in authoritarian regimes like syria
or egypt who manufacture and distribute programming that depicts jews
as bloodthirsty world conspirators. listen, however, to the words of the secretary-general in response
to two suicide bombings which took place in jerusalem this year,
killing 19 and wounding 110: "once again, violence and terror have
claimed innocent lives in the middle east. once again, i condemn those
who resort to such methods." "the secretary general condemns the
suicide bombing sunday in jerusalem. the deliberate targeting of
civilians is a heinous crime and cannot be justified by any cause."
refusing to name the perpetrators, mr. secretary-general, teflon
terrorism, is a green light to strike again. perhaps more than any other, the big lie that fuels anti-semitism
today is the u.n.-promoted claim that the root cause of the
arab-israeli conflict is the occupation of palestinian land. according
to u.n. revisionism, the occupation materialized in a vacuum. in
reality, israel occupies land taken in a war which was forced upon it
by neighbors who sought to destroy it. it is a state of occupation
which israelis themselves have repeatedly sought to end through
negotiations over permanent borders. it is a state in which any abuses
are closely monitored by israel's independent judiciary. but
ultimately, it is a situation which is the responsibility of the
rejectionists of jewish self-determination among palestinians and
their arab and muslim brethren--who have rendered the palestinian
civilian population hostage to their violent and anti-semitic
ambitions. there are those who would still deny the existence of anti-semitism
at the u.n. by pointing to a range of motivations in u.n. corridors
including commercial interests, regional politics, preventing scrutiny
of human rights violations closer to home, or enhancement of
individual careers. u.n. actors and supporters remain almost uniformly
in denial of the nature of the pathogen coursing through these halls.
they ignore the infection and applaud the host, forgetting that the
cancer which kills the organism will take with it both the good and
the bad. the relative distribution of naivete, cowardice, opportunism,
and anti-semitism, however, matters little to noam and matan ohayon,
ages 4 and 5, shot to death through their mother's body in their home
in northern israel while she tried to shield them from a gunman of
yasser arafat's al-aqsa martyrs brigades. the terrible consequences of
these combined motivations mobilized and empowered within u.n.
chambers are the same. the inability of the u.n. to confront the corruption of its agenda
dooms this organization's success as an essential agent of equality or
dignity or democratization. this conference may serve as a turning point. we will only know if
concrete changes occur hereafter: a general assembly resolution on
anti-semitism adopted, an annual report on anti-semitism forthcoming,
a focal point on anti-semitism created, a rapporteur on anti-semitism
appointed. but i challenge the secretary-general and his organization to go
further--if they are serious about eradicating anti-semitism: ** start putting a name to the terrorists that kill jews because
they are jews. ** start condemning human-rights violators wherever they
dwell--even if they live in riyadh or damascus. ** stop condemning the jewish people for fighting back against
their killers. ** and the next time someone asks you or your colleagues to stand
for a moment of silence to honor those who would destroy the state of
israel, say no. only then will the message be heard from these chambers that the u.n.
will not tolerate anti-semitism or its consequences against jews and
the jewish people, whether its victims live in tehran, paris or
jerusalem. ms. bayefsky is a senior fellow at the hudson institute and an
adjunct professor at columbia university law school. to go to top undeclared ww3 posted by emanuel a. winston, june 22, 2004. this speech by the former president of weizmann institute of science,
haim harari, is a lesson that the politicians and the media would do
well to learn. i doubt that they will either read or absorb the
lessons in this insiteful analysis of terror and what it means to what
we call civilization. this is not a trite 'sound byte' for the media
to toss of with a a one liner. harari is not the average person
speaking his mind but, it's rather like listening to the thoughts of an
einstein. most journalists and politicians do not have time for deep
thinkers who have matured over the years into wise men with vision. in
fact, they simply do not want to know and pursue ignorance as the
safest course. well, perhaps a few will take the time to read and
absorb. it was given to the international advisory board of a large
multi-national corporation, april, 2004. it's very well worth reading. "as you know, i usually provide the scientific and technological
"entertainment" in our meetings, but, on this occasion, our chairman
suggested that i present my own personal view on events in the part of
the world from which i come. i have never been and i will never be a
government official and i have no privileged information. my
perspective is entirely based on what i see, on what i read and on the
fact that my family has lived in this region for almost 200 years. you
may regard my views as those of the proverbial taxi driver, which you
are supposed to question, when you visit a country. i could have shared with you some fascinating facts and some personal
thoughts about the israeli-arab conflict. however, i will touch upon
it only in passing. i prefer to devote most of my remarks to the
broader picture of the region and its place in world events. i refer
to the entire area between pakistan and morocco, which is
predominantly arab, predominantly moslem, but includes many non-arab
and also significant non-moslem minorities. why do i put aside israel and its own immediate neighborhood? because
israel and any problems related to it, in spite of what you might read
or hear in the world media, is not the central issue, and has never
been the central issue in the upheaval in the region. yes, there is a
100 year-old israeli-arab conflict, but it is not where the main show
is. the millions who died in the iran-iraq war had nothing to do with
israel. the mass murder happening right now in sudan, where the arab
moslem regime is massacring its black christian citizens, has
nothing to do with israel. the frequent reports from algeria about the
murders of hundreds of civilian in one village or another by other
algerians have nothing to do with israel. saddam hussein did not
invade kuwait, endangered saudi arabia and butchered his own people
because of israel. egypt did not use poison gas against yemen in the
60's because of israel. assad the father did not kill tens of
thousands of his own citizens in one week in el hamma in syria because
of israel. the taliban control of afghanistan and the civil war there
had nothing to do with israel. the libyan blowing up of the pan-am
flight had nothing to do with israel, and i could go on and on and on. the root of the trouble is that this entire moslem region is
totally dysfunctional, by any standard of the word, and would have
been so even if israel would have joined the arab league and an
independent palestine would have existed for 100 years. the 22 member
countries of the arab league, from mauritania to the gulf states, have
a total population of 300 millions, larger than the us and almost as
large as the eu before its expansion. they have a land area larger
than either the us or all of europe. these 22 countries, with all
their oil and natural resources, have a combined gdp smaller than that
of netherlands plus belgium and equal to half of the gdp of california
alone. within this meager gdp, the gaps between rich and poor are
beyond belief and too many of the rich made their money not by
succeeding in business, but by being corrupt rulers. the social status
of women is far below what it was in the western world 150 years ago.
human rights are below any reasonable standard, in spite of the
grotesque fact that libya was elected chair of the un human rights
commission. according to a report prepared by a committee of arab
intellectuals and published under the auspices of the u.n., the
number of books translated by the entire arab world is much smaller
than what little greece alone translates. the total number of
scientific publications of 300 million arabs is less than that of 6
million israelis. birth rates in the region are very high, increasing
the poverty, the social gaps and the cultural decline. and all of this
is happening in a region, which only 30 years ago, was believed to be
the next wealthy part of the world, and in a moslem area, which
developed, at some point in history, one of the most advanced cultures
in the world. it is fair to say that this creates an unprecedented breeding
ground for cruel dictators, terror networks, fanaticism, incitement,
suicide murders and general decline. it is also a fact that almost
everybody in the region blames this situation on the united states, on
israel, on western civilization, on judaism and christianity, on
anyone and anything, except themselves. do i say all of this with the satisfaction of someone discussing
the failings of his enemies? on the contrary, i firmly believe that
the world would have been a much better place and my own neighborhood
would have been much more pleasant and peaceful, if things were
different. i should also say a word about the millions of decent, honest, good
people who are either devout moslems or are not very religious but
grew up in moslem families. they are double victims of an outside
world, which now develops islamophobia and of their own environment,
which breaks their heart by being totally dysfunctional. the problem
is that the vast silent majority of these moslems are not part of the
terror and of the incitement but they also do not stand up against it.
they become accomplices, by omission, and this applies to political
leaders, intellectuals, business people and many others. many of them
can certainly tell right from wrong, but are afraid to express their
views. the events of the last few years have amplified four issues, which
have always existed, but have never been as rampant as in the present
upheaval in the region. these are the four main pillars of the current
world conflict, or perhaps we should already refer to it as "the
undeclared world war iii". i have no better name for the present
situation. a few more years may pass before everybody acknowledges
that it is a world war, but we are already well into it. the first
element is the suicide murder. suicide murders are not new invention
but they have been made popular, if i may use this expression, only
lately. even after september 11, it seems that most of the western
world does not yet understand this weapon. it is a very potent
psychological weapon. its real direct impact is relatively minor. the
total number of casualties from hundreds of suicide murders within
israel in the last three years is much smaller than those due to car
accidents. september 11 was quantitatively much less lethal than many
earthquakes. more people die from aids in one day in africa than all
the russians who died in the hands of chechnya-based moslem suicide
murderers since that conflict started. saddam killed every month more
people than all those who died from suicide murders since the
coalition occupation of iraq. so what is all the fuss about suicide killings? it creates
headlines. it is spectacular. it is frightening. it is a very cruel
death with bodies dismembered and horrible severe lifelong injuries to
many of the wounded. it is always shown on television in great detail.
one such murder, with the help of hysterical media coverage, can
destroy the tourism industry of a country for quite a while, as it did
in bali and in turkey. but the real fear comes from the undisputed fact that no defense
and no preventive measures can succeed against a determined suicide
murderer. this has not yet penetrated the thinking of the western
world. the u.s. and europe are constantly improving their defense
against the last murder, not the next one. we may arrange for the best
airport security in the world. but if you want to murder by suicide,
you do not have to board a plane in order to explode yourself and kill
many people. who could stop a suicide murder in the midst of the
crowded line waiting to be checked by the airport metal detector? how
about the lines to the check-in counters in a busy travel period? put
a metal detector in front of every train station in spain and the
terrorists will get the buses. protect the buses and they will explode
in movie theaters, concert halls, supermarkets, shopping malls,
schools and hospitals. put guards in front of every concert hall and
there will always be a line of people to be checked by the guards and
this line will be the target, not to speak of killing the guards
themselves. you can somewhat reduce your vulnerability by preventive
and defensive measures and by strict border controls but not eliminate
it and definitely not in the war in a defensive way. and it is a war! what is behind the suicide murders? money, power and cold-blooded
murderous incitement, nothing else. it has nothing to do with true
fanatic religious beliefs. no moslem preacher has ever blown himself
up. no son of an arab politician or religious leader has ever blown
himself. no relative of anyone influential has done it. wouldn't you
expect some of the religious leaders to do it themselves, or to talk
their sons into doing it, if this is truly a supreme act of religious
fervor? aren't they interested in the benefits of going to heaven?
instead, they send outcast women, navve children, retarded people and
young incited hotheads. they promise them the delights, mostly sexual,
of the next world, and pay their amilies handsomely after the
supreme act is performed and enough innocent people are dead. suicide murders also have nothing to do with poverty and despair.
the poorest region in the world, by far, is africa. it never happens
there. there are numerous desperate people in the world, in different
cultures, countries and continents. desperation does not provide
anyone with explosives, reconnaissance and transportation. there was
certainly more despair in saddam's iraq then in paul bremmer's iraq,
and no one exploded himself. a suicide murder is simply a horrible,
vicious weapon of cruel, inhuman, cynical, well-funded terrorists,
with no regard to human life, including the life of their fellow
countrymen, but with very high regard to their own affluent well-being
and their hunger for power. the only way to fight this new "popular" weapon is identical to the only way in which you fight organized crime or pirates on the high seas: the offensive way. like in the case of organized crime, it is crucial that the forces on the offensive be united and it is crucial to reach the top of the crime pyramid. you cannot eliminate organized crime by arresting the little drug dealer in the street corner. you must go after the head of the "family". if part of the public supports it, others tolerate it, many are
afraid of it and some try to explain it away by poverty or by a
miserable childhood, organized crime will thrive and so will
terrorism. the united states understands this now, after september 11.
russia is beginning to understand it. turkey nderstands it well. i am
very much afraid that most of europe still does not understand it.
unfortunately, it seems that europe will understand it only after
suicide murders will arrive in europe in a big way. in my humble
opinion, this will definitely happen. the spanish trains and the
istanbul bombings are only the beginning. the unity of the civilized
world in fighting this horror is absolutely indispensable. until
europe wakes up, this unity will not be achieved. the second ingredient is words, more precisely lies. words can be lethal. they kill people. it is often said that politicians, diplomats and perhaps also lawyers and business people must sometimes lie, as part of their professional life. but the norms of politics and diplomacy are childish, in comparison with the level of incitement and total absolute deliberate fabrications, which have reached new heights in the region we are talking about. an incredible number of people in the arab world believe that september 11 never happened, or was an american provocation or, even better, a jewish plot. you all remember the iraqi minister of information, mr. mouhamad
said al-sahaf and his press conferences when the us forces were
already inside baghdad. disinformation at time of war is an accepted
tactic. but to stand, day after day, and to make such preposterous
statements, known to everybody to be lies, without even being
ridiculed in your newspapers from giving him equal time. it also does
not prevent the western press from giving credence, every day, even
now, to similar liars. after all, if you want to be an anti-semite,
there are subtle ways of doing it. you do not have to claim that the
holocaust never happened and that the jewish temple in jerusalem never
existed. but millions of moslems are told by their leaders that this
is the case. when these same leaders make other statements, the
western media report them as if they could be true. it is a daily
occurrence that the same people, who finance, arm and dispatch suicide
murderers, condemn the act in english in front of western tv cameras,
talking to a world audience, which even partly believes them. it is a
daily routine to hear the same leader making opposite statements in
arabic to his people and in english to the rest of the world.
incitement by arab tv, accompanied by horror pictures of mutilated
bodies, has become a powerful weapon of those who lie, distort and
want to destroy. world does not notice it because its own tv sets are
mostly tuned to soap operas and game shows. i recommend to you, even
though most of you do not understand arabic, to watch al jazeera, from
time to time. you will not believe your own eyes. but words also work in other ways, more subtle. a demonstration in
berlin, carrying banners supporting saddam's regime and featuring
three-year old babies dressed as suicide murderers, is defined by the
press and by political leaders as a "peace demonstration". you may
support or oppose the iraq war, but to refer to fans of saddam, arafat
or bin laden as peace activists is a bit too much. a woman walks into
an israeli restaurant in mid-day, eats, observes families with old
people and children eating their lunch in the adjacent tables and pays
the bill. she then blows herself up, killing 20 people, including many
children, with heads and arms rolling around in the restaurant. she is
called "martyr" by several arab leaders and "activist" by the european
press. dignitaries condemn the act but visit her bereaved family and
the money flows. there is a new game in town: the actual murderer is called "the military wing", the one who pays him, equips him and sends him is now called "the political wing" and the head of the operation is called the "spiritual leader". there are numerous other examples of such orwellian nomenclature, used every day not only by terror chiefs but also by western media. these words are much more dangerous than many people realize. they provide an emotional infrastructure for atrocities. it was joseph goebbels who said that if you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it. he is now being outperformed by his successors. the third aspect is money. huge amounts of money, which could have
solved many social problems in this dysfunctional part of the world,
are channeled into three concentric spheres supporting death and
murder. in the inner circle are the terrorists themselves. the money
funds their travel, explosives, ideouts and permanent search for soft
vulnerable targets. they are surrounded by a second wider circle of
direct supporters, planners, commanders, preachers, all of whom make a
living, usually a very comfortable living, by serving as terror
infrastructure. finally, we find the third circle of so-called
religious, educational and welfare organizations, which actually do
some good, feed the hungry and provide some schooling, but brainwash a
new generation with hatred, lies and ignorance. this circle operates
mostly through mosques, madrassas and other religious establishments
but also through inciting electronic and printed media. it is this
circle that makes sure that women remain inferior, that democracy is
unthinkable and that exposure to the outside world is minimal. it is
also that circle that leads the way in blaming everybody outside the
moslem world, for the miseries of the region. figuratively speaking, this outer circle is the guardian, which makes sure that the people look and listen inwards to the inner circle of terror and incitement, rather than to the world outside. some parts of this same outer circle actually operate as a result of fear from, or blackmail by, the inner circles. the horrifying added factor is the high birth rate. half of the population of the arab world is under the age of 20, the most receptive age to incitement, guaranteeing two more generations of blind hatred. of the three circles described above, the inner circles are primarily financed by terrorist states like iran and syria, until recently also by iraq and libya and earlier also by some of the communist regimes. these states, as well as the palestinian authority, are the safe havens of the wholesale murder vendors. the outer circle is largely financed by saudi arabia, but also by donations from certain moslem communities in the united states and europe and, to a smaller extent, by donations of european governments to various ngo's and by certain united nations organizations, whose goals may be noble, but they are infested and exploited by agents of the outer circle. the saudi regime, of course, will be the next victim of major terror, when the inner circle will explode into the outer circle. the saudis are beginning to understand it, but they fight the inner circles, while still financing the infrastructure at the outer circle. some of the leaders of these various circles live very comfortably on
their loot. you meet their children in the best private schools in
europe, not in the training camps of suicide murderers. the jihad
"soldiers" join packaged death tours to iraq and other hot spots,
while some of their leaders ski in switzerland. mrs. arafat, who lives
in paris with her daughter, receives tens of thousands dollars per
month from the allegedly bankrupt palestinian authority while a
typical local ringleader of the al-aksa brigade, reporting to arafat,
receives only a cash payment of a couple of hundred dollars, for
performing murders at the retail level. the fourth element of the current world conflict is the total breaking
of all laws. the civilized world believes in democracy, the rule of
law, including international law, human rights, free speech and free
press, among other liberties. there are navve old-fashioned habits
such as respecting religious sites and symbols, not using ambulances
and hospitals for acts of war, avoiding the mutilation of dead bodies
and not using children as human shields or human bombs. never in
history, not even in the nazi period, was there such total disregard
of all of the above as we observe now. every student of political
science debates how you prevent an anti-democratic force from winning
a democratic election and abolishing democracy. other aspects of a
civilized society must also have limitations. can a policeman open
fire on someone trying to kill him? can a government listen to phone
conversations of terrorists and drug dealers? does free speech
protects you when you shout "fire" in a crowded theater? should there
be death penalty, for deliberate multiple murders? these are the
old-fashioned dilemmas. but now we have an entire new set. do you raid a mosque, which serves as a terrorist ammunition storage?
do you return fire, if you are attacked from a hospital? do you storm
a church taken over by terrorists who took the priests hostages? do
you search every ambulance after a few suicide murderers use
ambulances to reach their targets? do you strip every woman because
one pretended to be pregnant and carried a suicide bomb on her belly?
do you shoot back at someone trying to kill you, standing deliberately
behind a group of children? do you raid terrorist headquarters, hidden
in a mental hospital? do you shoot an arch-murderer who deliberately
moves from one location to another, always surrounded by children? all
of these happen daily in iraq and in the palestinian areas. what do
you do? well, you do not want to face the dilemma. but it cannot be
avoided. suppose, for the sake of discussion, that someone would openly stay
in a well-known address in teheran, hosted by the iranian government
and financed by it, executing one atrocity after another in spain or
in france, killing hundreds of innocent people, accepting
responsibility for the crimes, promising in public tv interviews to do
more of the same, while the government of iran issues public
condemnations of his acts but continues to host him, invite him to
official functions and treat him as a great dignitary. i leave it to
you as homework to figure out what spain or france would have done, in
such a situation. the problem is that the civilized world is still having illusions
about the rule of law in a totally lawless environment. it is trying
to play ice hockey by sending a ballerina ice-skater into the rink or
to knock out a heavyweight boxer by a chess player. in the same way
that no country has a law against cannibals eating its prime minister,
because such an act is unthinkable, international law does not address
killers shooting from hospitals, mosques and ambulances, while being
protected by their government or society. international law does not
know how to handle someone who sends children to throw stones, stands
behind them and shoots with immunity and cannot be arrested because he
is sheltered by a government. international law does not know how to deal with a leader of
murderers who is royally and comfortably hosted by a country, which
pretends to condemn his acts or just claims to be too weak to arrest
him. the amazing thing is that all of these crooks demand protection
under international law and define all those who attack them as war
criminals, with some western media repeating the allegations. the good
news is that all of this is temporary, because the evolution of
international law has always adapted itself to reality. the punishment
for suicide murder should be death or arrest before the murder, not
during and not after. after every world war, the rules of
international law have changed and the same will happen after the
present one. but during the twilight zone, a lot of harm can be done. the picture i described here is not pretty. what can we do about
it? in the short run, only fight and win. in the long run - only
educate the next generation and open it to the world. the inner
circles can and must be destroyed by force. the outer circle cannot be
eliminated by force. here we need financial starvation of the
organizing elite, more power to women, more education, counter
propaganda, boycott whenever feasible and access to western media,
internet and the international scene. above all, we need a total
absolute unity and determination of the civilized world against all
three circles of evil. allow me, for a moment, to depart from my alleged role as a taxi
driver and return to science. when you have a malignant tumor, you may
remove the tumor itself surgically. you may also starve it by
preventing new blood from reaching it from other parts of the body,
thereby preventing new "supplies" from expanding the tumor. if you
want to be sure, it is best to do both. but before you fight and win,
by force or otherwise, you have to realize that you are in a war, and
this may take europe a few more years. in order to win, it is
necessary to first eliminate the terrorist regimes, so that no
government in the world will serve as a safe haven for these people. i
do not want to comment here on whether the american-led attack on iraq
was justified from the point of view of weapons of mass destruction or
any other pre-war argument, but i can look at the post-war map of
western asia. now that afghanistan, iraq and libya are out, two and a
half terrorist states remain: iran, syria and lebanon, the latter
being a syrian colony. perhaps sudan should be added to the list. as a
result of the conquest of afghanistan and iraq, both iran and syria
are now totally surrounded by territories unfriendly to them. iran is
encircled by afghanistan, by the gulf states, iraq and the moslem
republics of the former soviet union. syria is surrounded by turkey,
iraq, jordan and israel. this is a significant strategic change and it
applies strong pressure on the terrorist countries. it is not
surprising that iran is so active in trying to incite a shiite
uprising in iraq. i do not know if the american plan was actually to encircle both iran and syria, but that is the resulting situation. in my humble opinion, the number one danger to the world today is
iran and its regime. it definitely has ambitions to rule vast areas
and to expand in all directions. it has an ideology, which claims
supremacy over western culture. it is ruthless. it has proven that it
can execute elaborate terrorist acts without leaving too many traces,
using iranian embassies. it is clearly trying to develop nuclear
weapons. its so-called moderates and conservatives play their own
virtuoso version of the "good-cop versus bad-cop" game. iran sponsors
syrian terrorism, it is certainly behind much of the action in iraq,
it is fully funding the hezb'allah and, through it, the palestinian
hamas and islamic jihad, it performed acts of terror at least in
europe and in south america and probably also in uzbekhistan and saudi
arabia and it truly leads a multi-national terror consortium, which
includes, as minor players, syria, lebanon and certain shiite elements
in iraq. nevertheless, most european countries still trade with iran,
try to appease it and refuse to read the clear signals. in order to win the war it is also necessary to dry the financial
resources of the terror conglomerate. it is pointless to try to
understand the subtle differences between the sunni terror of al qaeda
and hamas and the shiite terror of hezb'allah, sadr and other iranian
inspired enterprises. when it serves their business needs, all of them
collaborate beautifully. it is crucial to stop saudi and other financial support of the
outer circle, which is the fertile breeding ground of terror. it is
important to monitor all donations from the western world to islamic
organizations, to monitor the finances of international relief
organizations and to react with forceful economic measures to any
small sign of financial aid to any of the three circles of terrorism.
it is also important to act decisively against the campaign of lies
and fabrications and to monitor those western media who collaborate
with it out of naivety, financial interests or ignorance. above all, never surrender to terror. no one will ever know whether
the recent elections in spain would have yielded a different result,
if not for the train bombings a few days earlier. but it really does
not matter. what matters is that the terrorists believe that they
caused the result and that they won by driving spain out of iraq. the
spanish story will surely end up being extremely costly to other
european countries, including france, who is now expelling inciting
preachers and forbidding veils and including others who sent troops to
iraq. in the long run, spain itself will pay even more. is the solution a democratic arab world? if by democracy we mean
free elections but also free press, free speech, a functioning
judicial system, civil liberties, equality to women, free
international travel, exposure to international media and ideas, laws
against racial incitement and against defamation, and avoidance of
lawless behavior regarding hospitals, places of worship and children,
then yes, democracy is the solution. if democracy is just free
elections, it is likely that the most fanatic regime will be elected,
the one whose incitement and fabrications are the most inflammatory.
we have seen it already in algeria and, to a certain extent, in
turkey. it will happen again, if the ground is not prepared very
carefully. on the other hand, a certain transition democracy, as in
jordan, may be a better temporary solution, paving the way for the
real thing, perhaps in the same way that an immediate sudden democracy
did not work in russia and would not have worked in china. i have no doubt that the civilized world will prevail. but the longer
it takes us to understand the new landscape of this war, the more
costly and painful the victory will be. europe, more than any other
region, is the key. its understandable recoil from wars, following the
horrors of world war ii, may cost thousands of additional innocent
lives, before the tide will turn." emanuel winston is a commentator and middle east analyst. his articles appear often on think-israel and gamla he is a member of the board of directors and a research associate of the freeman center for strategic studies (http://www.freeman.org/online.htm). to go to top why the calm in israel? posted by jinsa, june 22, 2004. this is jinsa report #419. it is archived at
www.jinsa.org/articles/view.html?documentid=2578 stories from the major press plus a note from an israeli source provide food for thought. it has been just over three months since palestinian suicide bombers last struck inside israel - the longest such lull in more than three years. almost everyone has a theory... the barrier israel is erecting in the west bank, israel's effort to smash the infrastructure of militant groups such as hamas, or the eddying currents of palestinian internal politics. senior israeli security officials cite the juxtaposition of good intelligence and good luck. the letup in attacks, they say, is not for any lack of trying on the militants' part. "all it takes is for one to get through," a senior security official said last week. (la times) idf chief of staff lt. gen. moshe ya'alon has defended the destruction of terrorists' houses, saying that neighbors and family members of would-be palestinian suicide bombers often come forward with information to prevent pending attacks, in an effort to spare their homes... ya'alon also reported on over 70 terror attacks in the last week: seven shootings on the highways; 32 shootings attacks on security forces; 12 mortar attacks in the gaza strip; five rocket attacks; and 19 mine and anti-tank attacks on forces in the philadelphia corridor on the border with egypt. (jerusalem post) according to a report to a knesset committee, "there has been a drop of 75 percent in the number of suicide attacks (actual and thwarted) compared to the first half of 2003 (which itself was considerably better than 2002). between january and today there have been 4 successful suicide attacks, the last one on march 14. during the same period, 58 attempts have been thwarted, so it's not as if the terrorists have completely stopped trying... in recent weeks, in light of the dramatically reduced level of terrorist attacks, the idf has dismantled more than 60 of the roadblocks scattered throughout the west bank." so, israel has no additions for now to the grim terror statistics. terrorists are still trying (including a double father/daughter suicide bombing group caught before they could detonate themselves), but less often and with greater risk that their own people will turn them in. the palestinian public receives the benefit of fewer roadblocks and a somewhat more normal life despite their lousy civil and religious leadership. punditry says palestinian grievances have to be resolved for terrorism against israel to end. the jinsa flag and general officers trip heard a different view: palestinians, not just terrorists, have to see that terrorism will not accomplish illegitimate goals (the destruction israel) and there comes a point where israel will judge its own safety to be more important than even legitimate palestinian concerns (removing roadblocks). so israel has engaged in a combination of aggressive attacks on terrorists and the terrorist infrastructure in the territories, even at the cost of dislocating parts of the civilian population that harbored (willingly or unwillingly) the terrorists. and as the idf is successful in doing what the pa won?t do, israel provides benefits to the palestinian civilian population. so far, so good. but as long as the good guys have to succeed every time and the bad guys only a few times, no one should be complacent. the jinsa reports are published by the jewish institute for national
security affairs (http://www.jinsa.org). to subscribe, email jinsareports-www@lists.jinsa.org to go to top a desire to be fooled posted by emanuel a. winston, june 22, 2004. israel's prime minister ariel (arik) sharon, like shimon peres, is
a master of deceit. however, his mental slaves in his cabinet are
willing partners in his deceptions because they want to be fooled. to
face the pain of reality is simply too much for these exceptionally
weak personalities. they want to worship, even to be beaten so they
can demonstrate their obedience and awe of a dictatorial master.
dictators are natural bullies who rule through fear. we all have watched those "yes" men who surround a fierce dictator with a certain degree of self-deprecating pleasure. dictators all have their simpering worshipers. saddam had dozens who hung on his every word and none dared to challenge. we saw the genuflectors to hitler's madness. industrialists, the judiciary, generals all worshiped this savage. the more he killed, the greater this awe. all dictators gather around them their "yes" men, the toadies who rollover in whining delight, when their master deigns to give them a look of approval or scratch their bellies like a submissive rolled-over dog. but, these second-in-command compensate by themselves become bullies and pass their frustration sense of inferiority down the chain of command. this is common phenomenon in government, business, the military all the way down to the school-yard bully who, because of size, terrorizes the younger and smaller around him. this is also a syndrome in industry because when the boss is a tyrant, everybody below acts the same way. a good example is to observe sharon then tommy lapid and ehud olmert. each has become a small dictator, with little dictators under them. the lowest victim on this descending ladder of victimization is the people. someone has to become the final receptacle of the tyranny and victimizations raining down and it is always the people. sharon has his underlings who desperately craved being under the umbrella of a dictator they fear and whose approval they need. those in sharon's cabinet who fell into line already knew that the military had recommended that withdrawal from gaza/gush katif would surely increase terrorism and provide a full scale base for international terrorists. but, they discarded that counsel because it didn't match the great dictator's plan. so, they sniveled and whined and offered their excuses for their embarrassing weaknesses. they hated those of the cabinet who voted against sharon because it raised a comparison between their weaknesses and the strength of the others. risk avoidance has been brought to the highest possible state-of-the-art among israeli politicians given that, if they are wrong, their very own family may be slaughtered. the israeli public at large also practice denial believing in leaders who have time and again failed them. those who surround dictators are equally to blame for the catastrophes, certain that they will not be dragged from office and made to pay the ultimate price. they just bury their mistakes as if nothing ever happened. perhaps you have noticed that high level crooks in government never (or rarely) go to trial or to jail. politicians may leave a trail of lies and dead bodies but, they never see the inside of a courtroom - let alone bars to their freedom. they are able to practice "plausible deniability" or excuse and pardon their cohorts - or they have enough inside information on those who might 'squeal' to prevent the truth from emerging. as for the public at large - they carry their share of the blame but they have an excuse. the israeli public gets a steady diet of biased news and disinformation from their three hebrew newspapers, each of whom are considered left liberal to radical left liberal. we cannot expect israelis to be an informed electorate when their three main newspapers and two tv stations have one line which is left liberal and reflects a leftist doctrine established by labor since before the state was born in 1948. the only one nationalistic competing radio news station, arutz sheva (7), was driven out of business by sharon shortly before he began his dictatorial campaign to eliminate the jewish presence in gaza/gush katif and very likely the areas of judea and samaria, with the golan heights and half of jerusalem to follow. then when israel is reduced from a mini-state to a minnow state, the sharks of the arab muslims in the middle east will gobble up the rest of her - just as they promise. we should believe what they say, or else we are merely racists. israel suffers from the same news blackout one finds in egypt through al ahram or in russia, when pravda was the only news the dictatorial government let through. in every nation ruled by dictators, the media reflects the opinion of the boss. in israel, the great dictator does not need to threaten the media to stay in line because israel's media is an eager volunteer to spin the news without urging. the media, like sharon's cabinet, wants to be fooled. they do not want the facts because then they would be required to make a real decision. they do not want to know that a prime minister is twisted or crooked. they do not want to know that their prime minister, who is following the labor left's planning is cutting deals with foreign governments to the detriment of the jewish state of israel. they just don't want to know and, if you start to tell them, they
take the posture of the three monkeys" "see no evil; hear no evil;
speak no evil" ... except they do speak evil. israel, except for the pioneering settlers, has put herself on an automatic pilot of denial and destruction. instead of dragging the government (all) out of office, closing down a runaway supreme court - most await sharon's next lie and argue its merits as if it had merit. if the people do not rise up to rid themselves of a growing, dangerously self-destructive dictatorial regime, israel will end up either disappearing or merely being assimilated as another middle east nation under the thumb of a corrupt dictator. this just in [june 22, 2pm cdt]: the south korean kim sun il, who was kidnaped by terrorists in iraq has been beheaded. the video from al jezeera tv confirms this grizzly act, along with the message that south korean troops supporting the american coalition are to get out of iraq. the same message was given for paul johnson, jr.'s beheading. this was also the message for the beheadings of daniel pearl, the jewish journalist from the wall st. journal and nicholas berg, the jew from philadelphia who had gone to iraq to help reconstruct their cell-phone towers. the message for israel's cabinet, voters and sharon should be as follows: when you abandon gaza/gush katif, removing 8,000 men, women and children and the israeli defense forces, the same 'jihadists' in iraq, from around the muslim world, will move into this vacuum. kidnapings and beheadings will soon follow, with the same message that: israel must be vacated to the sea. this is what sharon and his cabinet will be bringing to israel as he draws israel's borders closer and closer to israel's heartland. emanuel winston is a commentator and middle east analyst. his articles appear often on think-israel and gamla he is a member of the board of directors and a research associate of the freeman center for strategic studies (http://www.freeman.org/online.htm). to go to top keys to destruction posted by unity coalition for israel, june 22, 2004. this was a jerusalem post editorial on jun 17, 2004. what palestinians and their fellow-travelers call the "right of
return" - a term in which the media tend lazily to acquiesce - is
broadly understood by israelis for what it is: the destruction of the
state of israel. there is no need to add the words, "as a jewish state": no state
named israel can ever be anything other than a jewish state. or would
the binational state of yasser arafat's and meron benvenisti's fantasy
- with an arab majority in the knesset and an arab prime minister -
continue to call itself "israel"? this is the key thing, because the choice for israel is not between
"israel as a jewish state" and "israel as a state of all its
citizens." the choice is between israel as a jewish state and
palestine. or rather, it is between israel as a jewish state that
respects minority rights and palestine as an islamic state that
suppresses christians and murders jews. a "state of all its citizens"
may seem like a more perfect democracy than what we have now. in fact,
it is a more vulnerable one. such a state may remain a de facto jewish
state for as long as a jewish majority endures, but that majority is
unlikely to long endure in a state that formally abandons the one
thing that makes it uniquely attractive to jews. in this issue of up front, arieh o'sullivan looks at the story of
palestinian refugees from three angles: what remains of the villages
they left behind in the lachish district in 1948; where they are now,
and what israel is (or is not) to do about them. what makes the story
of lachish uniquely intriguing is that the jewish settlements were
generally built alongside abandoned arab villages, and not, as is
usually the case in history, atop them. so why forbid palestinians from returning, if that return need not
displace anyone? there's room enough. what is so wrong with a state of
all its citizens? most israelis, of course, know exactly what's wrong with it. yet it
is very difficult actually to say it. to rodney king's great question,
why can't we all get along? we answer: because we never have, because
we never will. to the follow-up, well, why is that? we say: because
we're different, because they're different, because because. all this
smacks of something ugly: xenophobia, paranoia, racism. certainly, it
seems unbecoming of israel's liberal democratic aspirations. one of the ironies of the israeli-palestinian conflict is that it
is the palestinians who, in their rhetoric, speak the language of
liberal idealism, of why can't we all get along? it is left to israeli
to strike the doleful notes of tragic realism, which perhaps is why we
fare so poorly in the international perceptions of the conflict. yet
both in practice and intent, the opposite is true: palestinian
nationalism has always been monstrously illiberal while jewish
nationalism has generally been quite liberal. there is no question that israelis need to come up with some better
rhetoric to explain just why those refugees should not come back. we
need it for international consumption, for hasbara. even more,
however, we need it for ourselves. we need to know that israeli
liberalism exists as a function of jewish nationalism, not in tension
with it, and that without the jewish nationalism that brings us
together in a common language, a common experience, a common set of
core beliefs, there could be no possibility of participatory democracy
or individual liberty. there is nothing to be ashamed of in this view. with it, we should be
able to look our liberal critics abroad squarely in the eye, as well
as the elderly arab gentleman tapping softly on the front door. the national unity coalition is "the largest worldwide
coalition of jewish and christian organizations, with more than 200
groups representing millions of people dedicated to israel. though we
have many different backgrounds, we have one common goal: a safe and
secure israel." "israel is not just a jewish issue. millions of christians
resolutely endorse the principle of peace with security for the state
of israel. because we work closely together and speak with a united
voice, our message is being heard!" to go to top a dangerous enemy: federman's wife indicted posted by aryeh zelasko, june 22, 2004. this is a news item from today's arutz-7 (http://www.israelnn.com) noam federman of hevron is still under house arrest - permitted
outside his home for only an hour each day to participate in morning
prayers - and now his family has been "blessed" with another trouble:
his wife elisheva has been indicted on three charges related to her
refusal to leave an evacuated outpost last year. "this story, of which
my role is only a very tiny part, is truly one of the cruelest i have
heard," elisheva told arutz-7 today. the story began 17 months ago when nati ozeri, father of five, was
brutally murdered by palestinian terrorists who infiltrated the area
of hilltop 26, where the family lived alone, outside kiryat arba. as
soon as the weeklong "shiva" mourning period ended, the widow livnat
ozeri and her children returned to live on the hilltop. two months
later, without prior warning, idf forces surprised the family in the
middle of the night and forcibly evicted them from the area. army
bulldozers then destroyed the three small buildings on the strategic
hill, thus erasing all signs of jewish presence there. livnat said the
next morning, "my children will now forever remember the traumatic
murder of their father during shabbat dinner, and the second attack on
our home by our own government. they have 'murdered us and inherited
us.'" livnat's father sha'ul nir said, "to wake up five orphans in the
middle of the night, and put them into police wagons as they're
rubbing their eyes, with giant bulldozers around their home, only two
months after they lost their father - and then to destroy their home
with [much of] the contents inside - there are no words to describe
this other than pre-meditated evil." livnat ozeri later said that the soldiers broke down the door, did
not speak or produce a warrant, and began searching: "[the police]
told me that i had to enter the car immediately. i told them that i
could not leave the children alone in the house. they forcibly pushed
me into the police car. and then the soldiers went to bring the
children from their beds.... 11 years old and younger - and there is
no need to explain the trauma that a child experiences when his father
has recently been murdered, and strangers take him out of his bed to a
police car in the middle of the night.... [a]lmost midnight, in the
freezing hebron cold, with my five children - dressed in pajamas,
without socks, without shoes, without a coat, and without a sweater.
they forbade me to bring warm clothing or blankets for my children. we
began to drive. i asked them where they were taking us. 'you will know
later on, we have a long drive,' they replied...." they were dropped
off in the middle of a jerusalem street at 3 am near her parents'
home. later that day, many hevron residents arrived at the site and were
shocked at what they saw. "the state of israel came, in the middle of
a cold night, and took out from their home the widow and orphans of a
murdered terrorist victim," mrs. federman said. "we simply could not
stand by and do nothing in the face of this terrible crime. we came to
the site, and were very shaken by the destruction on the hilltop. we -
three other women from hevron and i - found an old car that for some
reason the army had not taken, and while people were standing around,
with the army trying to evict them, we went into the car, with our
babies, for protection from the freezing rain. when the police came
and told us to leave, we told them that we were not leaving in protest
of this terrible crime; we demanded that the widow and orphans be
allowed to return and rebuild their home and their lives." finally, several hours later, the police forcefully removed them
from the car and into a police wagon. "suddenly we found ourselves
accused of a crime, as if we had done something wrong - when in truth,
the real criminal was the state of israel... this was a year ago, and
now we have actually been served with indictment papers, charging us
of three crimes: refusal to adhere to a lawful order, interfering with
a policeman in the line of duty, and negligence in caring for minors
(in that we kept our babies in a cold car for several hours).
ironically, these are precisely the crimes with which we think that
the state should be charged: they unlawfully destroyed three buildings
on hilltop 26, when in fact the demolition orders only referred to one
roof of one building; they were the ones who showed 'negligence in
caring for minors' by throwing them out into the cold in the middle of
the night; and third - they were the ones who used force while we were
exercising our lawful right to protest. is it reasonable that anyone
who carries out a protest might, from now on, find himself behind
bars?" asked if she plans to defend herself in court with the above
reasoning, elisheva said, "i don't know what will work in court and
what won't; i know the truth. i know that the state carried out a
crime, and that we did the minimum required of us to protest this
terrible crime." the first court hearing is scheduled for sunday, july 4. aryeh zelasko lives in beitar illit, south of jerusalem. he is
director of sales and marketing of israel visit
(www.israelvisit.co.il) which provides information and an internet
buying facility for american visitors to israel. to go to top so we're hated posted by menachem kovacs, june 22, 2004. this was written by dennis prager and appeared today in jewish world review (http://www.jewishworldreview.com). there are many ways to philosophically divide americans. liberal-conservative and religious-secular are two obvious ways. but there is another, no less significant, division: those who are ashamed of america for being hated and those who wear this hatred as a badge of honor. i am in the latter group. i understand such hatred. i am a jew, a member of the most
consistently and deeply hated people in world history. as such, and as
coauthor of "why the jews? the reason for antisemitism" (click here to
purchase. sales help fund jwr.), i have devoted decades to thinking
about jew-hatred. there are basically two possible ways to look at anti-semitism. one is that anti-semites are essentially decent folks and jews have usually been so bad that they have merited anti-semitic hatred. the second is that the jews have generally been a decent people who antagonized many of the morally worst people of their time and place. anti-semites would, of course, choose the first explanation. others
would acknowledge that those who have hated the jews have usually been
the vilest of their generation. whether roman torturers, crusaders who
massacred jewish communities on their way to the holy land, nazis or
communists - they all hated jews. the monsters of the 20th century,
the nazis, made jew-hatred the centerpiece of their ideology. and the
monsters of our young century, militant muslims, have done the same. why have the jews, always among the weakest and smallest of
peoples, attracted the hatred of the most evil people? because of what
the jews represented. the civility of the jews' lives and the values
the jews brought into the world - especially ethical monotheism, i.e.,
a standard of right and wrong based on a moral and judging g-d - made
them loathsome in the eyes of those who led particularly uncivil lives
and who celebrated moral chaos and cruelty. turning to hatred of america, the same questions and answers apply. either america is evil and hatred of it is merited, or america is a decent country and the haters are evil. the correct explanation is so obvious that only one who already hates america or who is simply morally confused would choose the first. to assess the veracity of this, all one need do is compare america
- a country that has liberated more people from tyranny than any
other, and which has been a place of refuge, tolerance and opportunity
for more people from more backgrounds than any other in history - with
those who hate america. militant muslims hate america. these people include the taliban of
afghanistan, al qaeda and other muslim terrorists, the islamic regimes
of iran and sudan, members of hamas and the many palestinians and
other muslims who support it. now, what types of people are these, and
what societies have they made or seek to make? to call the taliban primitive is to insult the many primitive
peoples who were light years more civilized than these totalitarians
who forbade girls to get an education and prohibited women from such
innocent activities as going to the zoo. they murdered anyone who
loved liberty, beheaded any muslim who converted to another religion,
and blew up some of the most priceless sculptures of the ancient world
because those works of art were of a different religion. is it a good
or bad reflection on america that the taliban hated this country? al qaeda and other muslim terrorists seek to impose taliban-like
regimes on everyone in the world, beginning with the muslim world.
they routinely slaughter innocent people - literally slaughter, as
cutting off the heads of their human sacrifices is their preferred
method of murder. they are monsters in human form. is it a good or bad
reflection on america that al qaeda and other muslim terrorists hate
this country? the islamic regime of iran has taken one of the brightest nations
on earth back into the darkest past of human civilization. their great
ally is the genocidal regime of north korea. is it a good or bad
reflection on america that the islamists in iran hate this country? the arab islamic regime in sudan has killed about one million
non-arab, non-muslim blacks in the south of its country. rape and
enslavement of these blacks is routine. is it a good or bad reflection
on america that the sudanese regime hates this country? hamas and its many supporters among palestinians have developed a
new theology of cruelty and death - that a muslim boy who blows
himself up while maiming and murdering as many innocent jews as
possible goes to heaven where he is then sexually serviced by dozens
of virgins. in the annals of the history of religion, no analogous
theology of cruelty and vulgarity has ever been devised. is it a good
or bad reflection on america that hamas and its palestinian supporters
hate this country? one more point. when you look at the roster of the america-haters
and realize that none of them hates france or sweden, this assessment
of america-hatred is rendered even more obvious. america, largely
alone, calls these groups and regimes what they are - evil. america,
largely alone, wages war against them. america, largely alone (with
israel), prevents them from assuming far more power. as i said to my synagogue on the sabbath after 9-11, "i stand
before you as a proud member of the world's two most hated peoples -
americans and jews." to go to top items: sharon's plan; turkey; pollard posted by richard h. shulman, june 22, 2004. the legality of cabinet voting an israeli law professor explained that sharon was not elected
prime minister. rather, he formed a government coalition, of which he
is part. he has no right to dismiss ministers except for cause. he
violated their right to tenure. the professor's assertion was kept out
of the news (imra, 6/6). israeli leaders bluster while retreating pm sharon secured a cabinet vote to abandon parts of yesha, and
then warned the p.a., "we will never break." imra noted the
contradiction (imra, 6/5). sharon has broken ranks with his people. he has deceived them so
well that many do not realize it. the media supports his policy by
focusing not on its disastrous potential but on polls, usually
misleading, and based on the media blackout, that purport to show the
people agree with sharon. whether the people agree or not, he is
betraying them. he knows the answers to the disturbing questions he
and the media do not ask about the strategic disadvantages of his
plan. what the cabinet voted for the vote did not restrict decisions to sharon's committee that he
selected to rubberstamp his decisions. neither did the cabinet fix a
target date for abandonment, it just proposed one. decisions on which
communities to evacuate would be made individually, not in blocs
(imra, 6/6). those minor reservations would not impede an authoritarian prime
minister such as sharon. what pres. bush supports pres. bush's recent remarks about ending the (non-existent)
"occupation" indicates reneging on prior policy, as written into the
security council resolution, that israeli withdrawal need not be
complete. how can jews "occupy" the land promised to them (by the
league and un mandate, if not by god)? how can a bible-believing
christian president suppose the jews can occupy a fictional country,
"palestine," inhabited by a fictional people, the "palestinians?" pres. bush keeps touting democracy in the middle east, although pm
sharon acts dictatorial (imra, 6/9). so does arafat, whom bush
subsidizes. sharon acts dictatorial at the state dept behest. it does not care
about democracy. with george bush, religion gives way to politics, and politics
gives way to economics. his economics outlook is short-term. look
beyond the short term, and shudder. turkey's advice on how to fight terrorism the foreign minister of turkey suggests that the "international
community" should combat terrorism but israel should not assassinate
terrorists (imra, 6/7). that's a good one! a direct victim of terrorism should not defend
itself by seeking out terrorists. instead, it should depend on
countries that prefer the terrorists to it. that is a prescription for
terrorism. turkey's islamist government leans more towards terrorism
than it shrinks from its sad experience with it. as for "international
community," that is a euphemism for self-serving prejudice against the
jewish state and inaction about other international problems. sharon's real abandonment plan israel has a plan to cut off services to the jews of gaza, jam
their communications equipment, and forcibly expel and jail those whom
they can't buy out. the details are hair-raising. thus sharon, who has
refrained from an all-out assault against the terrorists, plans one
against the jews of yesha. he is either demented or a traitor without
conscience or ethics. likud ministers netanyahu, livnat, and shalom endorsed the plan.
they rationalized that it only is a plan. however, as a result of
their approval, all the details of an expulsion are being worked out
and this summer money will be offered to buy out the settlers, with a
cut-off date for their acceptance (winston mid east analysis, 6/10,
e-mail). the three ministers are being dangerously egotistical in supposing
that with everything set except the signal to proceed, they can
outmaneuver that clever and unscrupulous steamroller named sharon at
the last minute and then express indignation against the plan that
they failed to express sufficiently and convincingly up to now. in israel, those who belong in jail maneuver into jail those who
don't belong in it. arms awaiting smuggling "a very large quantity of arms, including anti-aircraft missiles
and katyusha rockets are in the sinai desert for eventual introduction
to the gaza strip." (imra, 6/9.) one may suppose that israel would inform egypt where the depot is,
if egypt would prevent their use against israelis. but israel
generally applauds egypt for helping curb p.a. violence. actually,
egypt promotes that violence, and the violence helps sharon achieve
his policy of expelling jews. will the left admit its error? the left had argued that israel should not bother with the arms
smuggling tunnels, for they don't matter. then the ship carrying heavy
artillery and missiles to be smuggled into the p.a. was captured en
route to egypt (prof. steven plaut, e-mail) and was claimed as egypt's
by its president. that ship proves that the tunnels do matter, that egypt is the
enemy of israel, and that israel would be foolish both to let egypt
get involved in security for gaza and to leave gaza. will the left
admit that? if not, the incident also proves that the left is
reckless. why do the p.a. militias oppose sharon's plan? although pm sharon wants to abandon much (or all) of yesha to the
arabs, the private p.a. militias oppose it. they complain that it
calls for a suspension of their armed struggle. interestingly, the
fatah militia, which arafat runs and arms, rejected the plan, while
the p.a., which arafat runs and arms, approved the plan (imra, 6/19). none of my sources noted the contradiction in that. do the militias really oppose the plan? it is difficult to know
what the arabs really think. what they think may not be what they say.
they usually complain, so as to seem entitled to something. surely the militias know that although the plan calls for
suspension of armed struggle, it provides no means to end the armed
struggle. they must know that the road map, which calls for ending the
armed struggle has no practical steps for ending it. a case parallel to pollard's pollard was a us citizen and naval intelligence analyst. so was mr. kim. pollard spied for a us ally, israel. kim spied for us ally s. korea, where he was born. the documents pollard copied were about the arab threat to israel. the documents kim copied were about the n. korean threat to s. korea. neither set of documents was about the us. so far, the cases were parallel. now they diverge. pollard has
expressed remorse. kim and the government of s. korea thought he did
nothing wrong, since s. korea is an ally. pollard was sentenced for life without the possibility of parole
(and was given cruel and unusual treatment). kim was sentenced for
nine years and was released after seven. photographed in the act, kim pled guilty. he claimed his sentence
was harsh because he was foreign-born. (no justification for the claim
was offered in the news brief.) the s. korean ambassador visited its
agent, kim, every month. the israeli ambassadors never visited pollard
during his 19 years of captivity to date. although the s. korean government showed its solidarity with kim,
koreans think their government did not try to help him. although
israel expressed by neglect its lack of solidarity with pollard,
koreans think the government of israel helped pollard. (but kim is out
and pollard is in.) antisemites also think the government of israel --
which did not protest the lack of medical treatment for the ailing
pollard, did not visit him, gave no support for his wife, and lied
that it was pursuing the case -- over-aggressively strives for his
release (imra). legitimate criticism of israel over this would be for its lack of
solidarity with its agent who is punished by the us in inverse
proportion to the crime and as cruelly as the iraqi prisoners about
whom a legitimate fuss is being made. unrwa complains about p.a. education declining the war has increased palestinian arab resort to unrwa facilities, of
which the us pays 25% and the arabs pay almost nothing. unrwa
complains of insufficient funds for education and health in its camps
for arab refugees. it warns that most of the residents are youths,
liable to become terrorists if not educated. imra questions the
sincerity of that warning, since unrwa textbooks encourage hatred and
it allows its housing for them to be used for terrorist activities. so many youths? not mentioned is the high birth rate that the p.a.
encourages, whereas egypt and jordan publicly strive to reduce birth
rates. of all the refugee programs, only unrwa tries to maximize the
number of refugees in its care and its program excludes their
resettlement outside of israel (imra, 6/9 from jordan times). that is
a political or religious, not a humanitarian goal. results of israeli closure of erez industrial zone although the erez industrial zone has come under frequent terrorist
attack, min. olmert claims or admits he has closed it in coordination
with pm sharon's supposedly suspended plan to remove jews from yesha.
one result will be to end the jobs of thousands of p.a. arabs and
hundreds of israelis. the government wants the companies in the zone
to relocate to israel. their factories, however, would have to pay
higher wages in israel than they can afford against competition
(arutz-7, 6/9). richard shulman is a veteran defender of israel on several web-based
forums. he provides cool information and right-on-target overviews. he
distributes his essays by email. to subscribe, write him at
ricshulman@aol.com. to go to top is the jewish agency entitled to use its funds to help pm sharon ethnically cleanse jews? posted by ruth and nadia matar, june 22, 2004. according to the jerusalem post of monday june 21st 2004, pm ariel
sharon has asked the jewish agency to support his unilateral
disengagement plan and use its funds to help "relocate" settlers from
biblical gaza and samaria to the negev and the galilee. according to
that same article, the agency has agreed. the jewish agency has let itself be convinced by sharon that this
plan will "provide security, give a boost to the economy and improve
israel's diplomatic standing." this of course is the same
pie-in-the-sky reasoning which brought us the oslo disaster with more
than a thousand jews murdered and thousands more maimed for life. the jewish agency writes in its website that it is "committed to
assuring the future of the jewish people with a strong israel at its
center: through immigration to israel, jewish zionistic education and
partnership with and for israel". these by-laws certainly do not empower the jewish agency to assist
a temporary israeli minority government to destroy jewish communities,
to transfer jews from their homes and to hand over our land to the
arab enemy as a reward for terror - especially when sharon's plan is
not supported either by sharon's own likud party, or by a majority in
the knesset or by the majority of israelis. women in green call upon all to join in a demonstration asking the
jewish agency to refuse to assist in the unlawful transfer and ethnic
cleansing of jews. when: wednesday, june 23, 2004 at 10:30 am where: jerusalem, outside the inbal hotel (formerly the laromme) in addition, we call upon all, to bombard the jewish agency offices in israel and in the states with faxes, phone calls and e-mails protesting this outrage. the jewish agency main email: elibir@jazo.org.il sallai meridor, chairman sallaim@jazo.org.il tel: 972-2-620-20-80
fax: 972-2-625-23-52 carol salomon, ujc head casuja@aol.com tel: 212 339 6001 fax: 212
318 6155 new york main jewish agency office tel: 212-339-6063/6068/6072 fax:
212 832 1597, 212 318 6145 ruth and nadia matar established women for israel's tomorrow
(women in green), an activist group of women based in jerusalem. their
website address is http://www.womeningreen.org to go to top judas sheep posted by ya'akov golbert, june 22, 2004. here's an image i picked up growing up in rural america: predators
are attracted by the smell of blood. herbivores are repelled by it and
instinctively flee from it. how do slaughterhouses get the livestock
out of the boxcars and into the slaughterhouse redolent with the smell
of blood? in the case of sheep, they have what is called a "judas
sheep": a ram; a young, strong, dominant one, which has lived in the
slaughterhouse long enough to have grown comfortable with the smell.
they bring him down the ramp into the boxcar and then back up the ramp
into the slaughterhouse. and the sheep, being sheep, follow. in the
end, of course, the judas sheep is also slaughtered. the 30,000 university-educated, assimilated jewish intellectuals,
who were recruited by the nazis as the judenrat, were clearly the
judas sheep in the ghettos and the concentration camps. but one of the
most troubling motifs of the shoah is the jewish leadership of
hungary. they knew everything by early 1944. until late summer when
the nazis overthrew the government of horthy and installed the salasi
government, jews could still have gotten out and gone to shanghai or
made preparations to hide or resist. many of them could have saved
themselves. people had heard the rumors of the death camps and the
mass extermination of jews but they trusted their leaders. "surely
they would know," they thought. "and surely, if it were true, they
would warn us so that we could flee or make preparations to save
ourselves." but they did nothing. they said nothing. the jewish
leaders of hungary served as a sort of advance judas sheep, convincing
the people that what was in store for them was somehow normal or at
least endurable. and the leaders went to their deaths with the rest of
the jews of hungary. isn't that what our leaders have done to us until now? all the
politicians, all the journalists, including the jewish media
(especially including the jewish media), all of president clinton's
court jews and court ex-jews and non-jews with "jewish heritage," and
now all of president bush's and all the other people who keep mumbling
about advancing the "peace process" which clearly has something quite
the opposite of peace as its objective, have mesmerized the jews. they
have mesmerized us to the point that not even benny begin and his
"right wing" party dared to be the messengers bearing the evil truth. now, something new has happened. the sheep did not follow the judas
sheep. they talked it out among themselves and they voted 60% to 40%
to remain in the car and not go into the slaughter house. i do not
know what slaughterhouse workers in america do in such a case. i
suppose they go into the car armed with electric cattle prods, whips,
sticks and perhaps dogs and they drive the sheep out and up the ramp
into the slaughterhouse. i suppose that because the judenrat did not operate in the death
camps, redolent with the smell of blood. there, it was the domain of
the capo, whip in hand, who achieved compliance with the will of his
nazi masters in order to gain a brief reprieve on his own death
sentence. i suppose it also because that is essentially what the israeli
government is about to do. having gotten cabinet approval by crude,
dictatorial measures, the government is recruiting "special forces"
for the job, joining the turkish and ukrainian mercenaries who have
already been brought in by the ministry of "defense" plus the
multi-arab forces called "egyptian" and "jordanian" who also have
already been brought into the territories. can we assume they will be
anything other than psychopath squads? if the evacuation of the
"outpost" at yitzhar is the prototype, then it will conform to this
description. sharon and his cohorts are obviously desperate to deliver
the results their masters demand. they act as if their lives depend on
it. there is no benefit in sitting around waiting for the axe to fall.
it has always been true that only god can save us, but now it's
obvious. still, god has a way of saving us only when we act ourselves.
i do not hear a prophet saying "hashem will fight for you". we, the
jewish people, have to do it ourselves and we have to act to save
ourselves. and we have to act such as to deserve hashem's help. professor ya'akov golbert is cofounder of the netzahyisroel organization (http://www.netzahyisrael.org/index.htm). to go to top politics: arab league, iran and palestinian authority posted by barry rubin, june 22, 2004. a foreign colleague just told me that he intends to switch his
focus away from studying the middle east because that subject is "too
depressing." another expresses dismay that nothing every changes. but even as the champion of what another colleague has called
"pessimistic realism," i don't mean to suggest that everything stays
static. it is just that the changes are less dramatic, not so inevitably
upbeat, or inevitably based on western expectations as is expected let's take three brief case studies of changes happening now. 1. democratization: the arab regime and u.s. strategies on this issue
have become apparent recently. many arab governments are trying to fool
the west by pretending that they, too, are eager for reform. egypt, for
example, sponsored the alexandria declaration in march (text,
). despite cairo's
intentions, this document could be a basis for future action by democracy
advocates. in may, the arab league meeting in tunis produced a communique more
vaguely worded and clearly intended as a response to u.s.-sponsored
efforts to press for change (text,
().
arab officials hailed the statement; reformist forces criticized it.
again, though, it at least puts reform on the agenda, legitimizing
discussion of such issues. meanwhile, european officials stated that they were already doing
exactly what was needed to promote reform in the arab world, which meant
talking about it occasionally while conducting some training programs but
without any political or military pressure. yet the gap in the western
alliance was closed as the united states watered down its position on the
issue to one of verbal urging and small-scale assistance programs. the arab reformers themselves seem to be lowering their own
expectations. in saudi arabia, they are closing ranks behind the regime
there. while urging reform as the best way to fight islamist extremism,
they have no doubt that they prefer the kingdom of the saudis to the rule
of usama bin ladin. in short, reform and democratization are at the center of debate but
any action on this front is going to be extremely limited. this is very
much a long-term battle whose outcome is far from certain. 2. iran's nuclear weapons. recently, i spoke to some of the most
sophisticated experts on weapons of mass destruction in the world. they
told me that after a recent trip to tehran, they were convinced that iran
would not push ahead trying to obtain nuclear weapons. my response was
that of course they were going to do so and nobody was going to stop them. within hours, an international atomic energy agency report seemed to
indicate that going nuclear was iran's goal. (text,
). the iranian government has
responded to criticisms by threatening retaliation if anyone doubted their
word or tried to block their getting nuclear weapons. at least the
europeans criticized iran's attempted bullying. but is anyone going to do
anything material on this issue? doubtful. 3. palestinian politics. we seem to be witnessing the
unraveling of the palestinian movement. while there are no end of
suckers--or outright liars--who want us to forget all experience and
observation in order to pretend that yasir arafat is going to make a
compromise peace with israel, the palestinian leader is changing
nothing. but his strategy of extreme militancy combined with passive
leadership is leading toward a crack-up. the most amusing aspect of recent developments is that after years of
denying responsibility for the al-aqsa brigades, fatah's terrorist front
group (very similar to the black september organization of the 1970s in
this respect), arafat has now gotten into a public dispute with its
leaders on whether he can continue to afford paying their salaries. (key question that journalists never ask: if arafat is so opposed to
terrorism can he give any examples of fatah members who have been punished
or expelled for carrying out such attacks? answer: no) there are currently four major challenges that palestinian leaders
are trying to pretend out of existence: 1. since arafat is not providing leadership, the most militant
elements of fatah are moving toward a strategic alliance with hamas which
would further reinforce the palestinian leadership's refusal (or
"inability" if you prefer) to make peace. 2. the intifada is at least temporarily defeated. palestinian groups
still try to stage attacks but are increasingly being blocked, especially
from succeeding, especially inside israel. rather than reconsider this
strategy, however, the leaders intend to continue the violence because it
yields international and local public relations' benefits and is seen as
forcing israel to withdraw from the gaza strip. 3. an israeli withdrawal from gaza would create the need for a real
and functioning palestinian administration there. but despite egyptian
efforts, it seems doubtful whether arafat can or will create such an
entity. this is partly due to his view that anarchy favors him alongside a
determination to continue the war against israel. naturally, the
palestinians themselves will suffer the most and, equally naturally, most
of the world will blame israel for this situation. 4. arafat's coming demise, for which no preparations are being made
or successors being prepared. meanwhile, real massacres and ethnic cleansing are being carried out
by arab muslims in the sudan with no international interest or un
intervention. (see, for example,
). the united states is fighting terrorists in iraq with unfortunate
inevitable side-effects (attack on al-qaeda's purported headquarters led
to civilian casualties and destruction of homes) showing that israeli
efforts are far more limited and careful than credited. a poll taken by
the u.s. authorities in baghdad shows that 78 percent believe the cause of
terror attacks in iraq are u.s. efforts to steal the country's oil, while
54 percent claim that all americans are just like those who abused
prisoners at abu ghraib. and the bbc has now made triple the number of documentaries on
israel--virtually all hostile--than on any other country in the world.
(see, for example, ). but have no fear. the bbc
just hired ibrahim helal, editor-in-chief of the radical al-jazira
television station, to advise it on how to balance its middle east
coverage and to train bbc journalists on "understanding the middle east
better." oh, yes, there is plenty of change but often not in the direction one
might prefer. *if you want to know about european policy and coverage of israel in
the middle east, you should definitely subscribe to tom gross' list.
write to him at: . professor barry rubin is director of the global research in
international affairs center (gloria) and editor of middle east review
of international affairs (meria). to go to top he is no longer my prime minister posted by moshe feiglin, june 22, 2004. in the final analysis, what is democracy if not the subservience of
the government and the citizens to the same rules of the game? it is
true that it is customary for leaders to bend the rules, and this is
even acceptable up to a certain limit. but when a leader makes a
fundamental change to the game, and has no intention of subjecting
himself to the same rules that he demands from his nation, he is no
longer playing in the democratic arena. he is still a leader, but not one who can continue to enjoy the
legitimacy of a democratic prime minister. he is forcing himself upon
me by violence, and consequently i do not accept his leadership, but
merely fear the enforcement agencies obeying his orders. the likud must rapidly dismiss sharon, and replace him by a member of
the party obligated to accept its decisions and institutions, and to
honor israeli democracy. this must be done inside the party
institutions, and in the knesset, in cooperation with all the
nationalist and religious mks. this is essential not merely to save
the likud that sharon is trampling underfoot. it must be done in order
to prevent the state of israel from sliding into total chaos. sharon has already created a culture of totalitarian government that
can only be changed by his dismissal. the debate no longer centers
around security, territorial, or even ideological issues. we are
actually talking about our ability to run this country on a basis of
agreement and not of violence. when arieh golan (a member of uri
avneri's gush shalom) declares on kol israel, without a trace of
hesitation, that citizens who refuse to accept compensation will be
evicted from their homes within a few months, and all because of such
a gangster-type political hi-jacking, this means that we have been
enslaved by a dangerous and violent gang. this is the same type of government culture that was created here in
order to hasten the country on the slippery path of death of oslo. at
that time rabin passed a decision in the knesset by bribing mks
goldfarb and segev. sharon is now using a far simpler method - he
fires ministers instead of bribing them. what is the real difference between this approach and that of the
mafia, that forces owners of businesses to sell them to the don,
according to the rules they make? the mafia wants to create the
impression of legitimacy. why bother to pass a decision in the likud
central committee, in a referendum, in the government? so that arieh
golan can make this horrifying broadcast. i now realize that sharon is no longer my prime minister. everything
now depends on the likud. if the likud members, the central committee
members, and above all, the likud mks, won't get up and throw out this
dangerous person, there will not longer be any meaning to this party.
the likud will cease to exist, and a terrible danger will threaten the
very existence of the state of israel. manhigut yehudit (jewish leadership) is a group of people inside
the likud party who want to see israel adopt a more jewish character.
moshe feiglin, its cofounder, has emphatically said he does not want a
theocracy, but he does want a state based on jewish values. the
manhigut yehudit website address is http://www.manhigut.org. to go to top the lustick files: a guide to intellectual fools posted by ellen w. horowitz, june 22, 2004. "we must understand that even the views of the most intelligent people
cannot be trusted when their personal desires block the truth. not
only does their intelligence not keep them from erring, but they use
their intelligence to mislead others into accepting their foolish
conclusions as if they were based on the most rigorous logic." (rabbi
eliyahu e. dessler, strive for truth, parashat korach) ----- he is no nutty professor nor an absentminded one - dr. strangelove
is more like it. professor of political science, ian lustick, is a us
intelligence strategist and director of the university of
pennsylvania's solomon asch center. and he possesses that rare kind of
genius that could get us all killed. i'll spare you excessive background info., but suffice to say that
he's a product of brandeis and berkeley universities and he's done
those institutions proud. his field of expertise is israel-bashing, which is nothing unusual
in and of itself (especially for a liberal jew who sits on the board
of tikkun), but lustick's opinions are lauded by the academic world,
politicians and the intelligence community. he advises presidents and
consults and lectures for the department of state, nsc (national
security counsel), nsa (national security agency), cia and plo. he's received and continues to receive significant grants for
research from dozens of institutions and foundations including, the
united states institute for peace, the ford foundation, the charles
revson foundation, the national science foundation, the carnegie
corporation, and national endowment for the humanities he's written several books and scores of published articles. some
of them have offbeat, irreverent titles like yerushalayim, al-quds, and the wizard of oz the fetish of jerusalem: a hegemonic analysis not exactly, mr. president: speaking truth, sort of, to power theory negotiating truth: the holocaust and, lehavdel, al-nakba guru that he is, lustick comes up with some novel little ideas and
about big world problems like, "i supported the war [in afghanistan] but i warned that we needed a goldilocks outcome and we didn't get it." (1) "i think about terrorism in terms of popcorn," he says. "you can't
tell which kernels are popcorn and which are not, but you assume
you'll always have some kernels that are going to pop." (2) the above statements may be indicative of the problem. lustick is
so removed from reality that he reduces the concept of terrorism and
war to something as innocuous as popcorn and fairy tales, yet the
powers-that-be eat it up. they watch the show from their ivory towers
and from behind computer simulators, while the rest of us bleed. he's currently developing computerized terror games based on the
popular sims model. popular science ran a large spread on the project
and asked the question: can computer games be devised to model the
thinking and predict the actions of allies, enemies and even
terrorists? some in the u.s. government think so. are they playing
god? (3) ok., the professor can play with words and maneuver pixels, but he
can also manipulate photographic images for his purposes. for a visual overview on his worldview go to his personal online
photo album from israel at
http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people2/lustick/photos/ this is where his truly ominous personality and plans becomes
apparent. lustick's photos are hardly pulizer prize winning material
and they are a bit dull, but the below captions which appear under the
photos reveal a disturbed man with and definite agenda: redemption movement poster on lavatory pipe in jerusalem viciarn satire of money-grubbing haredim... east jerusalem "slave market" palestinian women sewing clothes in west bank sweatshop... so, if you're wondering how we got to this recent low point in jewish history, take a look at the opinions of the venerated professor. when ian speaks, people listen (but i still can't figure out why)... on arafat: when asked in a tikkun magazine interview if he trusted arafat, this was lustick's response: "do i trust yasser arafat? of course not. why should i? why should
anyone trust a politician - whether shimon peres, ariel sharon, bill
clinton, richard nixon, lyndon johnson, benjamin netanyahu, george w.
bush, or yasser arafat? whether we agree with them or not, politicians
aren't for trusting. they are for getting done what can be done to
make really horrible problems into plain old lousy problems." (4) notice how lustick completely disregards arafat's history as a
terrorist and neatly transforms him into not just another politician,
but into a full-fledged head of state. on terrorism: the following is taken from a book review by joshua
sinai, ph.d which appear in homelanddefense.org: lustick dismisses the concept of terrorism as a valid conceptual
term. instead, he embraces what he terms an "extensive," as opposed to
an "intensive," definition of terrorism that is not bound by any
limiting "conditions." this, he claims, enables one to classify
activities as "terrorist" if they encompass any violent "actions and
threats" by governmental militaries and even "tax collectors" as well
as insurgents. (5) the reviewer goes on to fault lustick with "intellectual
obfuscation." lustick's obscuring of the term terrorism back in 1995 may shed
some light on the international media's reluctance to use the "t" word
and their opting for terms like militants, gunmen, insurgents, etc. according to the professor's logic, hamas is to terrorism as the internal revenue service is to hamas. on moral equivalency: lustick's brand of moral equivalency has spread like the plague. in a 1995 interview he said, '....there must be elections including hamas if hamas will participate, just as tsomet and likud are allowed to participate in israeli elections, although they do not endorse the peace process." (6) one wonders if the late prime minister yitzchak rabin was
influenced by the professor's logic when he lumped right-wing
protesters opposing oslo together with hamas and referred to them as
"enemies of peace." lustick manages to blur the lines in a fairly recent interview when
he addressed the issue of the iraq war: "this is not a war on
fanatics. this is a war of fanatics - our fanatics." (7) ever wonder where those accusations about jews, like wolfowitz,
abrams and perle, being the cause of america's involvement in iraq
come from? on the peace process: in 1995 lustick said, "rabin has got
to do things that will create the kind of political capital arafat
needs...the most obvious thing that rabin could do is to say that
there will be a palestinian state ... there must be an end to closure
of jerusalem and an end to the thickening as well as the expansion of
settlements. there must be an end to subsidization of settlements ..."
(8) on settlers: "only if they [israeli governments] are ready for a
showdown with the settlers can real progress toward peace with the
palestinians be made." (9) the liberal prophet of peace clearly relishes, encourages and perhaps even incites civil strife (war?) between jews in israel. on jerusalem: the idea of "united jerusalem" is in fact a
"carefully cultivated fetish." (10) (you don't think olmert's been
reading this stuff, do you?) on daniel pipes: "[pipes] takes views that no responsible academic
would ever articulate. he's so far outside the pale of mainstream
scholarship, yet the networks need people to give this view because
it's a popular view. a reasonable position they can get anywhere. what
they're looking for is an unreasonable position." (11) very few representing a "right-wing point of view are willing to debate someone as knowledgeable as i am." (12) (please note that daniel pipes sits on the board of the u.s. institute for peace, which funds and promotes a good portion of lustick's work) on oslo: "and in 1989, i was called by the first president bush to
the white house for a closed discussion, 'what should we do about
this?' and for an hour and a half i got to talk to the president and
his top advisors, and helped, i think, to convince them to give the
kind of speech that james baker gave to aipac [the american israel
public affairs committee], which led to the loan guarantees
suspension, which led to the victory of the rabin government, i
believe -- rabin over shamir in the 1992 elections, and then led to
oslo." (13) lustick credits himself with having had a part in the downfall of
the shamir government which led to the creation of oslo. at this dire
hour any individual with audacity to pat himself on the back for
promoting an american intrusion into an allied sovereign country's
democratic process and for initiating the oslo catastrophe is either
out-of-touch with reality or a bit "touched." and what about academic integrity and ethical research? lustick
recently remarked that, "you cannot make a contribution to policy and
to a moral commitment without systematic, scientific, organized
investigation of history and politics." (14) impressive comment, but
professor lustick has been promoting the same loaded agenda since
1969. he's so bent on proving himself the prophet that he's incapable
of conducting research with integrity. which leaves is with the question: can a world renowned expert and
professor of an outstanding american university represent history or
the institutions he's affiliated with when he is so obsessed and
narrow focused? he has by-passed a cardinal rule of academic research. after
exhaustive investigation into an issue, if one proves themselves wrong
it is commendable. professor gil-white (a former colleague of
lustick's) and joan peters (bestselling author, from time immemorial)
are two examples of academics who had the honesty and integrity to
correct their positions -the mark of true scholarship. how dangerous is ian lustick? well, this is purely speculative but
... a well documented article which appeared on arutz 7 by lori
lowenthal marcus, a lawyer and the president of the zionist
organization of america, greater philadelphia district, reported the
following: the jewish telegraphic agency exposed the ford foundation as the
source of multi-millions of dollars provided to non-governmental
organizations that launched the foulest attacks on israel and jewry in
recent history. those ngos relentlessly excoriated israel as an
apartheid, genocidal, colonialist monster during the 2001 united
nations world conference against racism in durban, south africa.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/article.php3?id=3510 between 1996 -1998 ian lustick was the director of ford foundation
workshops on the problematics of states and identities. one has to
wonder... references: (1) http://www.campus-watch.org/article/id/616 (2) http://www.upenn.edu/researchatpenn/article.php?115&soc (3) http://www.popsci.com/popsci/computers/ article/0,12543,592948,00..html (4) http://tikkun.org/magazine/index.cfm/action/tikkun/ issue/tik0207/article/020711g.html (5) http://www.homelanddefense.org/ journal/bookreviews/newterror.htm (6) http://www.wrmea.com/backissues/0495/9504072.htm (7) http://www.townhall.com/columnists/brentbozell/printbb20030312.shtml (8) http://www.wrmea.com/backissues/0495/9504072.htm (9) http:/ www.sas.upenn.edu/penncip/lustick/preface.html (10) http://www.jqf-jerusalem.org/1999/jqf6/dixon3.html (11) http://www.danielpipes.org/article/434 (12) http://www.danielpipes.org/article/100 (13) http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people2/lustick/lustick-con5.html (14) http://www.israelnationalnews.com/article.php3?id=3510 ellen horowitz lives in the golan heights, israel with her husband and six children. she is a painter, columnist for israelnationalnews,com and co-founder of helpingisrael.com. she can be contacted through her website http://www.artfromzion.com to go to top linkage is key posted by d. haimson, june 21, 2004. this was an editorial today in the jerusalem post (http://www.jpost.com/). the fact that the united nations held its first-ever conference on
anti-semitism yesterday is receiving some attention as a man-bites-dog
story. that it is considered noteworthy for the un to oppose
anti-semitism is itself a fair measure of the problem. we welcome this
conference as, perhaps, a small step toward the giant leaps necessary
for the un to address the problem and its own contribution to it. less than three years ago, in durban, south africa, the un held a
conference on "racism, xenophobia, and related intolerance" that
propagated exactly these crimes against jews and israel. explaining
why the us felt compelled to walk out of the conference, secretary of
state colin powell said, "i know that you do not combat racism by
conferences that produce declarations containing hateful language,
some of which is a throwback to the days of 'zionism equals racism';
or supports the idea that we have made too much of the holocaust; or
suggests that apartheid exists in israel; or that singles out only one
country in the world - israel - for censure and abuse." the durban conference was a vivid example of how hatred and
delegitimization of israel, unacceptable in its own right, naturally
spills over into anti-semitism itself. not surprisingly, the campaign
to deligitimize israel is accompanied by attempts to deny not only
acts of anti-semitism, but the entire category. the arab world, at durban and since, has tried both to quash
condemnations of anti-semitism and to claim that this euphemism for
jew-hatred actually includes arabs as victims as well. the united nations, if it is serious about combating anti-semitism,
must take a number of steps. it must pass a resolution condemning
anti-semitism, despite arab opposition. it must define anti-semitism,
like other forms of hatred, bigotry, and intolerance, as a violation
of human rights, rather than as a derivative of the arab-israeli
conflict. it must stop applying a gross double standard against
israel, such as when the un human rights commission spends more time
and resolutions attacking israel than any other nation. finally, it
must stop turning a blind eye to the open, government-propagated
anti-semitism that is prevalent in the arab world. on saturday, in a televised statement taped by nbc news, saudi
arabia's crown prince abdullah said, speaking of the wave of terrorism
that has hit his country, "zionism is behind it. it has become clear
now it is not 100 percent, but 95 percent that the zionist hands are
behind what happened." blood libels against jews and israel are routinely spread in the
tightly-controlled media and education systems of the arab world,
including in ostensibly "moderate, pro-western" countries like saudi
arabia and egypt. not only was a dramatization of the protocols of the
elders of zion broadcast on egyptian television, but a
government-owned publisher has issued a new edition of the protocols.
the same publisher issued the jews' crimes against the monotheistic
religions in 2002, which includes this introduction: "there are tens of books published in arabic and foreign languages
that described broadly the history of the jews, the sons of israel or
zionism. it is worth mentioning that most of them ignored, or omitted
on purpose, any reference to the severe crimes that this race of
people did, whether against themselves, against their prophets or
against other nations and people " it is obviously not realistic to expect that the un, having been
transformed by the arab bloc into an anti-semitic tool, would turn
around and censure the arabs on precisely these grounds. what is to be
hoped is that recent explorations of this subject in berlin and
washington will result in the imposing of concrete consequences on
nations that foment anti-semitism. in april, the organization for security and cooperation in europe
issued the berlin declaration, calling for a series of measures to
combat anti-semitism and disassociating it from the arab-israeli
conflict. this month, minister natan sharansky testified before the us
congress on the need to link us relations with arab states to their
treatment of dissidents and to whether they combat anti-semitism -
similar to the linkage successfully imposed by the helsinki process
and the jackson-vanik amendment on the soviet bloc. linkage is the key. jew-hatred, like any crime, can only be fought
by imposing consequences against the individuals and states that
commit it. mr. haimson sends out links to some excellent articles about israel
and its neighbors. to sign up, send an email to dhaimson@w3-4u.net to go to top fiction displaces facts in palestine posted by unity coalition for israel, june 21, 2004. this was written by ahron bregman, author of "israel's wars: a history
since 1947" and "a history of israel" and co-author of "the fifty
years' war: israel and the arabs." i am an israeli but i also regard myself as a palestinian - a jewish
palestinian. my father was born and raised in palestine as was his father,
grandfather, great grandfather and so on for many generations. in fact
the bregmans have lived on this land - first palestine then israel -
since around 1754. but then, there is nothing unique about this
because other jewish families as well have lived in palestine for
decades, mainly in jerusalem, tiberias, safed and hebron among other
places. but arab and palestinian propaganda would not accept that. "the
jews never lived in ancient israel," claimed the respected arab
historian jarid al-kidwa in a television program broadcast on
palestinian authority television in june 1997. he went even further to
say that "all the events surrounding kings saul, david and rehoboam
occurred in yemen, and no hebrew remnants were found in israel, for a
very simple reason - because they were never here." not lagging much behind, the mufti of jerusalem, sheikh ikrama
sabri, said, "the western wall is not a jewish holy site... the
al-buraq wall (the western wall) and its plaza are a muslim religious
property and...the wall is part of the al aqsa mosque. the jews have
no relation to it." as regards the tomb of the patriarchs in hebron,
yasser arafat claimed that jews have no rights there either, for
abraham, who is buried there, was not, according to arafat, a jew. as
the palestinian leader put it in a 1996 interview in the jerusalem
report, "abraham was neither jewish nor a hebrew, but was simply an
iraqi. the jews have no right to claim part of the tomb of the
patriarchs in hebron, abraham's resting place, as a synagogue. rather,
the whole building should be a mosque." and the tomb of rachel? well,
according to palestinian authority officials, "rachel's tomb in
bethlehem is the traditional tomb of the cushite servant of mohammed." mixing facts and fiction and rewriting the history of the holy land
is part of the palestinians' struggle against israel and part of their
negotiating tactics. in fact, quite recently, during the july 2000
camp david summit, arafat, who during the summit failed to put on the
table a single constructive plan for peace, did come up with an
interesting suggestion. u.s. envoy dennis ross, who was present when
arafat spoke, explained that arafat "did offer one new idea, which was
that the temple didn't stand in jerusalem but in nablus." but arab and palestinian propaganda does not stop there, for it
goes on to challenge not only jewish and israeli rights to the ancient
parts of palestine but also to the more modern parts of it. thus, in
school textbooks and other publications it is often claimed that the
land of modern israel was in fact "stolen" from the arabs and that the
palestinians were effectively "robbed" by the jews. this, of course,
is nonsense. in my book "israel's war: a history since 1947," i put it
this way: "the jews did not...'rob' the arabs or 'steal' their land,
but rather they bought it from them. as for the arab aristocracy of
landowners who had sold the land to the jews, they did so voluntarily
and with open eyes." although palestinians have legitimate grievances, there is
absolutely no historical basis to their claims - some of which are
utterly ridiculous - that palestine is exclusively theirs and that the
jews "stole" their land. for the truth is that jews have always lived
in palestine - as indeed did my family - and jewish settlers did not,
as it is often claimed by arabs, seize land, but rather they bought
it. critics and foes of israel should recollect that the state of
israel was established by the jews on jewish and legitimately
purchased land. and it was blessed by the united nations and
recognized by nations of the world, most notably the united states. the national unity coalition is "the largest worldwide
coalition of jewish and christian organizations, with more than 200
groups representing millions of people dedicated to israel. though we
have many different backgrounds, we have one common goal: a safe and
secure israel." "israel is not just a jewish issue. millions of christians
resolutely endorse the principle of peace with security for the state
of israel. because we work closely together and speak with a united
voice, our message is being heard!" to go to top how wen-jing became 'shalva': chinese jewish descendant returns to judaism posted by michael freund, june 21, 2004. for the first time, a descendant of the once-vibrant jewish
community of kaifeng, china, has undergone conversion in israel and
formally returned to judaism. this past sunday, jin wen-jing, an 18-year-old student at the yemin
orde youth village, went before a haifa conversion court under the
auspices of the chief rabbinate. after administering an oral examination aimed at assessing her
commitment to judaism as well as her knowledge of jewish law and
tradition, the three rabbis comprising the beit din informed wen-jing
that they had decided to accept her as a jew. speaking in fluent hebrew, wen-jing was quick to express her joy,
and relief, at the court's decision. "i was very nervous, but now i am
very happy," she said. "this has always been my family's dream - to
return to our roots." wen-jing arrived in israel four years ago with her parents. her
father, jin guang-yuan, who now goes by the name shlomo, is a direct
descendant of the jewish community that existed for nearly a thousand
years in the city of kaifeng, which lies north of beijing, on the
south bank of the yellow river. at its peak, during the ming dynasty, kaifeng jewry numbered about
5,000 people. but widespread intermarriage and assimilation, as well
as the death of the community's last rabbi, brought about its demise
by the middle of the 19th century. scholars say there are still hundreds of people in kaifeng who
cling to their identity as descendants of the town's jewish community. wen-jing's father still carries with him a copy of his internal
chinese identification card, which lists his nationality as "youtai,"
or jew. he and his wife hope to follow in their daughter's footsteps
and undergo conversion soon. since her arrival in israel, wen-jing has been studying at yemin
orde under the guidance of the youth village's director, dr. chaim
peri, as well rabbi zev rubens, an educator who oversees the school's
conversion program, both of whom accompanied her to the beit din. she has decided to adopt the name shalva (serenity), which is the
hebrew translation of her chinese given name. currently in the midst
of her matriculation exams, wen-jing will shortly enter the national
service (sherut leumi) program for religious girls, and will perform
her national service at shaarei zedek hospital in jerusalem. why did she decide to convert? "g-d chose the jewish people to be his nation, and i wanted to be a
part of it," said wen-jing, smiling. "g-d has performed many miracles for israel," she said, adding,
"the fact that i have come here from china, and made it all the way
here, back to my people - that too is a miracle." the writer served as deputy director of communications & policy planning under former prime minister binyamin netanyahu. to go to top the ny times and ha'aretz should realize america and israel have enemies that want us dead posted by morris j. amitay, june 21, 2004. when it comes to iraq you can count on the new york times -
and media fellow travelers - to always find a cloud in the silver
lining. having editorially and reporting-wise campaigned against
deposing saddam in the first place, the times and the
washington post only grudgingly - if at all - report on any
positive developments in iraq. so it came as a shock to see a positive
times story on page one no less (admittedly it was on a saturday - the
least read day of the week) about a successful sewage treatment
project in baghdad. this literal example of muckraking was definitely
an exception to their usual doom and gloom stories. i don't, however, recall seeing a word about the growing value of the iraqi dinar, or the fact that instead of an outflow of refugees, there has been an influx of iraqis returning to their homeland. yet every insurgent attack is meticulously described, and every american casualty is reported on in detail. what particularly galls is that every statement by a disaffected or unhappy iraqi is given tear jerk treatment, and dubious reports by "eye-witnesses" are treated uncritically as gospel. but it is not only the media's peace at any price crowd in our own
country which manages to get the story wrong. self-imposed blinders
are also worn by some misguided journalists in israel - particularly
those writing for ha'aretz. touted as israel's "leading daily", its
actual circulation is only a fraction of that of yediot aharonot and
also much smaller than ma'ariv's. but it is a principal source of
political wisdom for israel's leftist elite who rely on the skewed
analyses of the likes of columnist akiva eldar. eldar's observations
about the washington scene in particular, are often laughable. so when
eldar and a colleague recently sat down for dinner with yasir arafat
it is not surprising that they gave new meaning to a "softball"
interview. but their own display of good intentions only elicited the
same double talk and outrageous statements by the object of their
supplications. the point here is that both the new york times and ha'aretz
in their commentaries still refuse to acknowledge the reality of their
own nation's enemies and the nature of the threats both countries
face. the united states is in an ideological war against radical islam
which seeks no less than world domination. israel faces both the
forces of radical islam and closer to home a wily terrorist whose
ultimate goal is the destruction of the jewish state, in stages, only
because it is necessary. in both cases negotiation and engagement are a fruitless exercise.
the al-qaeda barbarians who behead american hostages and arafat who
encourages suicide bombers are really on the same moral plane. only
arafat has learned that he can convince the gullible he is more
reasonable by making promises which he does not keep, but still permit
him to pocket israel's concessions. p.t. barnum's dictum that there
are suckers born every day surely applies here. whether they are
greedy frenchmen seeking lucrative deals in iran, or peace now
adherents in israel still faithful to oslo, they are simply too
self-absorbed in their own fantasy worlds to admit that they are still
courting those who want them to disappear. in israel, those belonging
to the so-called "peace camp" keep blaming themselves for being hated
so fiercely by the palestinians. they look for the "root causes"
behind the enmity. they solemnly state that the use of military force
never solves anything. and they desperately seek "engagement" with
sworn enemies in the hope that their own displays of goodwill and
magnanimity can overcome hatred and hostility. fat chance. but hope springs eternal whether it be in the breast of 80-year old
shimon peres, or in the hearts and minds of faculty members at our
leading universities who blame "the occupation" in iraq and in
"palestine" for islamic hatred and terrorism. fortunately, in both israel and the united states there are still
majorities who despite the media's mangled messages have the good
sense to realize that there are those in this world who want them dead
simply because of who they are. should such realization, however, fail
to lead to resolute and effective action to defeat our enemies, it is
no exaggeration to predict a bleak future for our civilization. it is
too bad that the incentive that might be needed for more resolute
action is another attack more deadly than 9/11. then, even our head in
the sand media might be unable to rationalize or ignore it. morrie amitay is a former executive director of aipac and founder
of the pro-israel washington pac (www.washingtonpac.com). to go to top mubarak's egypt - undermining u.s. interests posted by isralert, june 21, 2004. according to israel's military intelligence, a large quantity of
anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles is awaiting in sinai -
compliments of egypt - to be smuggled into gaza-based palestinian
terrorists. however, rather than punish egypt for its destructive
role, the proposed disengagement plan would boost egypt's stature,
ignoring egypt's anti-us track record, as detailed in the enclosed
162nd issue of "straight from the jerusalem cloakroom"
(www.acpr.org.il). this was written by yoram ettinger. he write the "straight from the
jerusalem cloakroom" issues. israel's disengagement plan promotes egyptian, and undermines u.s. interests. it rewards the largest terrorist base in the world (pa/plo-controlled gaza and 40% of judea & samaria), with its operatives in iraq and afghanistan. it promotes egypt's role, in defiance of egypt's systematic anti-us record: 1. official egyptian anti-u.s. incitement has characterized egypt's controlled-media: "baghdad is raped [by the us] in daylight and no one intervenes...we thought that the walls of baghdad would resemble swords, chopping the neck of the [us] invader... [according the us], occupation is liberation, cluster bombs are a remedy, unprecedented bloodbath are building a new iraq... this is a confirmation of the theory: killing for the sake of
killing, occupation for the sake of occupation" (government-owned daily, al jumhuriyah's editor in chief, whose appointment was approved by mubarak, april, 9, 2003). 2. official egyptian anti-semitism reinforced by a recent edition of the classic soviet "elders of zion", published by the official weekly, akhbar al yom (ha'aretz, january 4, 2004), consistent with egypt's anti-semitic and anti-israel school curriculum. equally-alarming have been egypt's systematic
persecution of its 9 million coptic minority, and the shameful human rights record of the military clique ruling egypt since 1952. 3. the islamization of egypt has been accelerated by mubarak, in
contrast with sadat's attempts to westernize egypt. since 1981, he has
concluded a "protection" pact with radical muslim elements (in egypt
and later on with hamas in gaza!), accelerating their penetration into
egypt's civil service, clergy, education and military, in order to
secure his regime. mubarak has created a fertile recruiting ground for
bin-laden and other chief anti-us islamic terrorists, producing
bin-laden's chief lieutenant, ayman al-zawahiri, sheikh rakhman of the
1993 twin tower terrorism and majority of the 9/11 terrorists. mubarak
facilitated series of understandings between the pa and hamas. 4. islamic penetration has been facilitated by mubarak's failed economic policy, which has sacrificed "butter" at the expense of "guns" (compliment of us military aid). israel has been marked as the leading target for egypt's unprecedented military procurement. 5. egypt's support of palestinian terrorism: anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles await in sinai - compliments of egypt - to be smuggled into gaza-based palestinian terrorists (col. zoaretz, israel's commander of the gaza front, kol israel, june 9, 2004). "egyptian manufactured anti-tank rpg missiles are employed by palestinian terrorists" (israel's deputy chief of
military intelligence, knesset testimony, june 7, 2004). while supposedly aiming to reduce terrorism, once in gaza, egypt would fulfill for the pa/hamas the role played by syria for hizballah. it would protract palestinian terrorism and bolster its infrastructure (to be activated according to egypt's timing), while bleeding israelis and palestinians on the altar of egyptian interests. a note: the karin-a ship, carrying military hardware for palestinian terrorists, was apprehended on its way from iran to egypt. 6. achille lauro's abul abbas escaped us extradition, when flown (2003) from his cairo's safe haven to baghdad. in december 1985, mubarak allowed abul abbas to escape us justice, flying from cairo to rome. 7. egypt is a larger military threat than syria. it obstructs israel's ties with arab and african countries and in the un (general eiland, the very dovish national security advisor to pm sharon, forward, june 11, 2004). 8. egypt - a traditional contender for arab leadership - will not
act as a policeman against anti-israel or anti-us islamic/palestinian
terrorists. egypt has not tolerated anti-egyptian terrorism, and has
therefore, always, subordinated its ties with the us to its internal
security considerations (such as placating radical islamic elements).
egypt has, also, subordinated its ties with the us to its strategic
ties with north korea (long-range ballistic missiles!), iran (close
strategic ties), saddam (intimate contacts until the 1991 war and
until the 2003 war) and libya (violating us embargo). 9. wishful-thinking was costly, producing unprecedented terrorism,
when israel and the us believed (oslo 1993) that combating terrorism
could be subcontracted (to the plo/pa). it would be costlier if both
were to repeat - rather than learn from - the mistake, ignoring
egypt's track record, and subcontracting war on gaza-based pa-harbored
terrorism to cairo. it would constrain israel's war on terrorism,
would exacerbate israel-egypt relations, would inflame regional
instability, and could drag the u.s. - unnecessarily - into the
ensuing quagmire. isralert, a jewish advocacy network, is hosted by harv weiner. to
subscribe to isralert, send an email to isralert@aol.com to go to top sanz rebbe to david hatuel: there will be expansion in katif posted by gush katif, june 21, 2004. this is a news item from arutz-7 (http://www.israelnn.com) on jun 17, 2004. (israelnn.com) the "sanzer rebbe", leader of the large sanz
hassidic sect, rabbi tzvi elimelech halberstam, told david hatuel
today that, with god's help, there will be no withdrawal from gush
katif, rather there will be expansion. the rebbe made the comments when he was asked by hatuel whether a
community in gaza should construct a permanent or temporary ark in the
synagogue for the torah scrolls. the rebbe replied that they should
build a temporary ark, but not to prepare for withdrawal, but because
they will have to move it to a bigger synagogue when the community
expands. in april, the sanzer rebbe told a delegation from the judea,
samaria and gaza council that the prime minister's "disengagement"
plan is part of efforts to uproot judaism. david hatuel, whose wife, their unborn son and all their four
daughters were murdered by arab terrorists, requested the meeting with
the sanzer rebbe. the rebbe's late father, the klausenberger-sanz
rebbe, rabbi yekutiel halberstam, lost his entire family as well, his
wife and 11 children, in the holocaust. after world war ii, he made
aliyah and rebuilt both his own family and sanz hassidism anew, as
well as founding laniado hospital in netanya. to go to top israel's intifada victory posted by israela goldstein, june 21, 2004. this was written by charles krauthammer, who is always interesting.
it appeared in the washington post, june 18. it is archived at
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/a50910-2004jun17.html while no one was looking, something historic happened in the middle east. the palestinian intifada is over, and the palestinians have lost. for israel, the victory is bitter. the past four years of terrorism
have killed almost 1,000 israelis and maimed thousands of others. but
israel has won strategically. the intent of the intifada was to
demoralize israel, destroy its economy, bring it to its knees, and
thus force it to withdraw and surrender to palestinian demands, just
as israel withdrew in defeat from southern lebanon in may 2000. that did not happen. israel's economy was certainly wounded, but it
is growing again. tourism had dwindled to almost nothing at the height
of the intifada, but tourists are returning. and the israelis were
never demoralized. they kept living their lives, the young people in
particular returning to cafes and discos and buses just hours after a
horrific bombing. israelis turned out to be a lot tougher and braver
than the palestinians had imagined. the end of the intifada does not mean the end of terrorism. there was terrorism before the intifada and there will be terrorism to come. what has happened, however, is an end to systematic, regular, debilitating, unstoppable terror -- terror as a reliable weapon. at the height of the intifada, there were nine suicide attacks in israel killing 85 israelis in just one month (march 2002). in the past three months there have been none. the overall level of violence has been reduced by more than 70
percent. how did israel do it? by ignoring its critics and launching a
two-pronged campaign of self-defense. first, israel targeted terrorist leaders -- attacks so
hypocritically denounced by westerners who, at the same time, cheer
the hunt for, and demand the head of, osama bin laden. the top echelon
of hamas and other terrorist groups has been either arrested, killed
or driven underground. the others are now so afraid of israeli
precision and intelligence -- the last hamas operative to be killed by
missile was riding a motorcycle -- that they are forced to devote much
of their time and energy to self-protection and concealment. second, the fence. only about a quarter of the separation fence has been built, but its effect is unmistakable. the northern part is already complete, and attacks in northern israel have dwindled to almost nothing. this success does not just save innocent lives; it changes the strategic equation of the whole conflict. yasser arafat started the intifada in september 2000, just weeks after he had rejected, at camp david, israel's offer of withdrawal, settlement evacuation, sharing of jerusalem and establishment of a palestinian state. arafat wanted all that, of course, but without having to make peace and recognize a jewish state. hence the terror campaign -- to force israel to give it all up unilaterally. arafat failed, spectacularly. the violence did not bring israel to its knees. instead, it created chaos, lawlessness and economic disaster in the palestinian areas. the palestinians know the ruin that arafat has brought, and they are beginning to protest it. he promised them blood and victory; he delivered on the blood. even more important, they have lost their place at the table. israel is now defining a new equilibrium that will reign for years to come -- the separation fence is unilaterally drawing the line that separates israelis and palestinians. the palestinians were offered the chance to negotiate that frontier at camp david and chose war instead. now they are paying the price. it stands to reason. it is the height of absurdity to launch a terrorist war against israel, then demand the right to determine the nature and route of the barrier built to prevent that very terrorism. these new strategic realities are not just creating a new equilibrium, they are creating the first hope for peace since arafat officially tore up the oslo accords four years ago. once israel has withdrawn from gaza and has completed the fence, terrorism as a strategic option will be effectively dead. the only way for the palestinians to achieve statehood and dignity, and to determine the contours of their own state, will be to negotiate a final peace based on genuine coexistence with a jewish state. it could be a year, five years or a generation until the palestinians
come to that realization. the pity is that so many, arab and israeli,
will have had to die before then. to go to top the best and worst of people posted by emanuel a. winston, june 20, 2004. it's interesting to watch the left liberal jews treat the
pioneering nationalistic jews much the same as the anti-semitic world
has treated jews for centuries. the pioneering settlers are surely a
cut above the average city dweller and their detractors. there is
something about idealistic pioneers that makes them clean, even noble
which, of course, they would deny with some embarrassment. that same
image irritates their enemies including jewish leftists who suffer in
comparison. the pioneering jews are very much like america's early settlers who tamed the land at great risk to themselves. they crossed difficult terrain, fought off indians and built a nation. they have always been must admired for their courage and perseverance. for a time, israeli pioneers were similarly admired for facing howling arab muslim mobs. tilling the land and sacrificing the comforts enjoyed by those living in cities like tel aviv. the settlers were always front-line soldiers with many of israel's best officers coming from these idealistic strong people. they really believed in the land and most believe in a higher power than the politicians who scrambled for power, cars and other perks. when the motley arabs, having attacked and lost in 6 wars - decided on terror - both the terrorists and the left liberal jews blamed the once admired pioneering settlers. yassir arafat was excellent in his propaganda, telling all he would
cease his terror attacks if 'only' those pioneering settlers would
move out of his way. the jewish leftists soon became his greatest
press agents, echoing arafat's propaganda. years later, they found out
that the left's plan of oslo only produced at least 1500 dead israelis
since it was signed - with hundreds of thousands wounded, many maimed
for life. after the abject failure of oslo - as judged by its horrific body
count", finally, the left liberals paused for a moment and, in fear,
they drifted politically right and elected by a landslide what was to
be their great hope: arik sharon. but, sharon turned out to be the
sharon of yamit and caved in to the demands of arafat, president
george bush, the u.s. state department and the europeans. he became a put together creature, composed of parts from peres, beilin like the fictional golem or frankenstein. like these monsters, sharon also went out of control and betrayed the pioneering settlers. this was mr. settler himself who pushed for expanding settlements and new areas to be civilized. then he was our jewish junk yard dog, fiercely loyal to the settlers and they were loyal to him. they worked fiercely to accomplish all he set out for them to do. too bad. then sharon's real quisling character emerged, first at
yamit and now, as he prepares his conscience-less police squad called
yatom. they act like thugs when they they have to evacuate their
jewish brothers and sisters from their homes. as sharon betrays the settlers, he also betrays himself - demonstrating that he has a price for a traitor and the nation. the pioneering settlers are the best of the of our breed and they are hated for their obvious superiority. they have principles which many israelis simply no longer understand. with the exception of a handful in sharon's cabinet and the knesset, most are greedy and self-serving which is why they hate the pioneers. they see the comparison and cannot stand it. they must tear it all down under the rubric of chasing a peace that will never come, at least not from the arabs. like the leftist jews, the arab muslims also hate the pioneers as they see the fields that the jews can bring to life while they remain backward with only hate as their life's product. the europeans have joined the arabs because they too hate to see a thriving jewish state and pioneering jews outperforming both arabs and europeans. one can understand the age old jew-hatred taught by islam and christianity because they believe the jews stand in the way of their claims to be g-d's rightful heirs. the jews infuriate both because they do not contest these claims, they simply ignore them. jews quietly say, we are glad you found g-d and, if you wish to take over the responsibility of the covenant, go find g-d and present your claim. speak to him as did abraham and moses. climb the mountain and get a new commandment or torah for we will not object or stand in your way. g-d makes these choices - not us. but, it's not only the arabs and european christians (except for those many christian friends of israel) who hate the jews but, it's also the non-jewish jews who wish to overcome the attachment of real jews for both their ancient homeland and their g-d. these non-jewish jews hate the observant jews, particularly those pioneers who make non-jewish jews look small and weak. these healthy people (psychologically and mentally) embarrass the jews of tel aviv who find trivial pleasure in smoky cafes and pursuing a pleasurable life, believing in nothing spiritual but themselves and perhaps not even that. we jews have layers of people who hate us not only because we
continue to exist - but we are productive. 'tanach' (the bible) tells
us that our worst enemies shall come from within and this is coming
true. israel's prime minister is prepared to savage the jewish
pioneering settlers, fulfilling that prophecy. he has even pushed up
the 'deadline' of jewish expulsion from gaza to december 2004 (last
week it was said to be september 2005). sharon is the present enemy
from within, whom g-d knew would arise to betray the jewish people. i pray that hashem deals with him as he did with korach who
challenged moses? leadership of the jews just rescued from egypt.
korach and those who stood with him against moshe were swallowed up in
the earth. gaza has always been the egyptian entry point of attack
into israel. the more things change - the more they stay the same. emanuel winston is a commentator and middle east analyst. his articles appear often on think-israel and gamla he is a member of the board of directors and a research associate of the freeman center for strategic studies (http://www.freeman.org/online.htm). to go to top during a system update, email files were lost. if you
send in a blog between june 15-21, and it isn't posted, we apologize. redefining counterterrorism: the terrorist leader as ceo posted by isralert, june 16, 2004. this was written by buce hoffman, director of rand's washington office
and acting director of the rand center for middle east public policy.
he is among the world's foremost authorities on terrorism. the article is archived at
_http://rand.org/publications/randreview/issues/spring2004/ceo.html killing osama bin laden will not quash the terrorist threat from al
qaeda, because the group sees the war it started as an epic struggle
lasting years if not decades. the group has shown itself to have a
deeper"bench" than was previously thought and to have some form
of"corporate succession" plan. in fact, the closest organizational
relative to al qaeda is perhaps a private multinational corporation.
and bin laden himself is perhaps best viewed as a terrorist ceo. he has applied business administration and modern management techniques learned both at the university and in the family's construction business to the running of a transnational terrorist organization. he obtained a degree in economics and public administration in 1981 from saudi arabia's prestigious king abdul aziz university. he then cut his teeth in the family business, honing the management and organizational skills that later enabled him to transform al qaeda into the world's preeminent terrorist movement. he has implemented for al qaeda the same type of effective organizational framework adopted by many corporate executives throughout much of the industrialized world over the past decade. just as large, multinational business conglomerates moved during the 1990s to flatter, networked structures, bin laden did the same with al qaeda. he defined a flexible strategy for the group that functions at multiple levels, using both top-down and bottom-up approaches. on the one hand, he has functioned like the president or ceo of a large multinational corporation by defining specific goals, issuing orders, and ensuring their implementation. this function applies mostly to the al qaeda"spectaculars"-those high-visibility, usually high-value, and high-casualty operations like 9/11, the attack on the uss cole, and the 1998 east africa embassy bombings. on the other hand, he has operated as a venture capitalist by soliciting ideas from below, by encouraging creative approaches and out-of-the-box thinking, and by providing funding to those proposals he finds promising. several attacks by groups affiliated with al qaeda attest to this approach. the attacks include those staged by jemaah islamiyah in bali in october 2002 and jakarta in august 2003; by al-assiriyat al-moustaqim in morocco in may 2003; and by the islamic great eastern raiders front in turkey in november 2003. al qaeda deliberately has no single, set modus operandi-which makes the group all the more resilient and formidable. instead, bin laden built a movement that actively encourages subsidiary groups fighting under the corporate banner to mix and match approaches, employing different tactics and varying means of attack and operational styles in a number of locales. even in the post 9/11 era, when al qaeda has been relentlessly tracked, harassed, and weakened, the corporate succession plan seems to have functioned. the group appears to retain at least some depth in numbers as evidenced by its replenishment abilities to produce successor echelons for the mid-level operational commanders who have been killed or captured. the u.s. congress has put the number of persons trained at al qaeda camps in afghanistan, sudan, and yemen at some 70,000-120,000 worldwide. even if this figure is grossly exaggerated, the potential pool of even a few thousand well-trained and battle-hardened fighters ensures a sufficiently deep well of expertise from which to continue to draw. in terms of al qaeda's finances, sufficient monetary reserves likely still exist. according to one estimate, some $130 million of identifiable al qaeda assets have been seized or frozen to date. given that bin laden amassed a war chest of as yet undetermined dimensions, ample funds may still be at the disposal of his minions. at one point, bin laden was reputed to own or control some 80 companies around the world. in sudan alone, he owned the country's most profitable businesses, including construction, manufacturing, currency trading, import-export, and agricultural enterprises. not only did many of these regularly turn a profit, but the profit was then funneled to al qaeda cells that operated largely as self-sufficient, self-reliant terrorist entities in the countries within which they operated. al qaeda's resiliency and longevity are predicated not on the total number of jihadists that it might have trained in the past but on its continued ability to recruit, to mobilize, and to animate both actual and would-be fighters, supporters, and sympathizers. it is significant that, despite the punishment meted out to al qaeda over the past 30 months, it remains a potent terrorist threat and destabilizing force in world affairs. underpinning al qaeda's worldwide operations is bin laden's vision, self-perpetuating mythology, and skilled acumen at effective communications. his message is simple. according to his propaganda, the united states is a hegemonic, status quo power that opposes change and props up corrupt and reprobate regimes that would not exist but for american backing. there is no doubt that the united states and other governments have made significant progress in the war against global terrorism in recent months. airports and planes are far better protected. likely targets are surrounded by new barriers and other security measures. many terrorists are in prison or in graves as a result of counterterrorism work by the united states and its allies. but all that al qaeda needs is one new successful attack. governments appear to be only as good as their last failure. no matter how many attacks are prevented, no matter how many people are not killed daily by terrorists, what is remembered is the small number of attacks that succeed. the epic battle launched by bin laden is not over. if anything, because of what al qaeda sees as america's global war on islam (in afghanistan and iraq) and as america's commitment to ensuring the longevity of morally bankrupt regimes (in egypt, saudi arabia, the persian gulf, pakistan, uzbekistan, and elsewhere), al qaeda's commitment and sense of purpose today are arguably greater than ever. the group's stock has evidently not plummeted among its investors. these factors point to a long struggle ahead in the war against al qaeda's brand of corporate terrorism. isralert, a jewish advocacy network, is hosted by harv weiner. to
subscribe to isralert, send an email to isralert@aol.com to go to top saudi prince: 'zionism is behind everything' posted by bob martin, june 16, 2004. saudi arabia's crown prince has blamed 'zionists' for a weekend
terror attack. while his comments seemed designed for a domestic
audience, they could damage relations with washington. this was written by michael isikoff and mark hosenball; and it
appeared in http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4901881/ only days after the state department praised saudi arabia
for its "aggressive" and "unprecedented" campaign to hunt
down terrorists, crown prince abdullah - the country's de
facto ruler - has startled bush administration officials by
blaming "zionists" and "followers of satan" for recent
terrorist acts in the kingdom. "we can be certain that zionism is behind everything,"
abdullah told a gathering of leading government officials
and academics in jeddah as he talked about the weekend
attack on oil workers, which killed six people, including
two americans. "i don't say 100 percent, but 95 percent." the comments were cited by stunned bush administration
officials and other mideast watchers today as an ominous
sign of possible new tensions in the u.s.-saudi alliance. although some top saudi officials, notably interior
minister prince nayef, have in the past made similar
remarks, crown prince abdullah has never before appeared to
blame his country's internal troubles on the israelis - a
position that is anathema to washington. the u.s. ambassador to saudi arabia, james c. oberwetter,
plans to meet wednesday with saudi foreign minister prince
saud al-faisal to seek "clarification" of abdullah's
comments, a state department official told newsweek late
tuesday. "we've seen these remarks and, if the crown prince in fact
made them, we would strongly disagree with such an
assertion and consider it unhelpful," the official said,
adding that the state department planned to withhold
further comment until after the meeting. yet the normally smooth and pro-western saud may not prove
the most receptive audience for oberwetter's visit. the saudi foreign minister seemed to echo his brother's
remarks in his comments today, telling reporters in jeddah
that last saturday's attack on oil workers in the
industrial city of yanbu - which have jolted the oil
industry - had fed into "a zionist campaign" to shake the
saudi monarchy, according to a reuters report. in an apparent attempt to provide some evidence for his
comments, saud claimed that one of two saudis who had been
linked to the attack were believed to be followers of two
well-known london-based saudi dissidents, saad al-fagih and
mohammed al-masari, who, according to the saudi foreign
minister, are being financed by israel. no evidence of such links has ever been made public. "this shows how desperate and hopeless they are," fagih
told newsweek in a telephone interview from london. "this
is like saying george bush is sponsoring bin laden." some former mideast diplomats today seemed flabbergasted by
the remarks by the two saudi leaders and at a loss to
explain them. "it doesn"t make sense to me," said chas
freeman, a former u.s. ambassador to saudi arabia during
the first bush administration. "i just can't understand
it." but others suggested the remarks may be part of a
calculated effort to placate a domestic saudi constituency up in arms over recent developments in the region,
including president george w. bush's endorsement of israeli
prime minister ariel sharon's announced, unilateral
withdrawal from some palestinian territories and even the
new disclosures over the humiliating treatment of iraqi
prisoners by u.s. interrogators - a story that is dominating
news coverage throughout the mideast. "it's terribly disappointing that they [the saudi rulers]
resort to this kind of stuff," says edward walker, a former
veteran u.s. diplomat and now president of the middle east
institute, a washington-based group that has received
funding from saudi arabia. "they know damn well what"s
happening." but walker added that the saudi rulers "don't feel they owe
this country or this administration much of anything these
days. they were terribly disappointed in the 100 percent
support of sharon... maybe this is their way of making their
disappointment clear. it's also a way to blunt the edge of
public opinion which is very much opposed to what we are
doing... we have a horrible situation in the region." this is hardly the first time that saudi leaders have upset
u.s. officials with controversial remarks in the war on
terrorism. it took saudi officials months to publicly
acknowledge that 15 of the 19 hijackers involved in the
september 11 terror attacks in the united states were saudi
citizens and, when they finally did so, in february 2002,
they still appeared to blame others. prince nayef, the
saudi interior minister, who is in charge of internal
security, insisted that the hijackers were a small minority
who had been "taken advantage of" and that there was no al
qaeda presence in the kingdom. as recently as december
2002, nayef claimed that "jews" were behind the september
11 attacks - a comment that drew strong protests from the
u.s. state department. for crown prince abdullah to now engage in the same
rhetoric creates awkward new dilemmas. the u.s.-saudi
relationship has been under persistent political attack in
the united states, especially from leading members of
congress who blame the saudis for failing to crack down on
terrorist financing in their country and promoting
religious extremism. one such member, democratic sen.
charles schumer of new york, today suggested that
abdullah's comments were evidence that the saudi regime
may be disconnected from reality. "if the saudis are going
to continue to deny reality and live in a dream world, then
their regime will be short-lived," schumer told newsweek. ironically, the bush administration attempted to quell such
criticism by issuing a new report last week that lavishly
praised the saudis for a renewed effort to crackdown on
terrorism in the wake of last may's deadly bombing at a
housing compound in riyadh. "i would cite saudi arabia as
an excellent example of a nation increasingly focusing its
political will to fight terrorism," u.s. amb. cofer black,
the state department's coordinator for counterterrorism, said in a statement accompanying the department's release
of its annual "patterns of global terrorism" report. stating that riyadh bombings and other attacks had "served
to strengthen saudi resolve," black praised the saudis for
a number of initiatives that included arresting more than
600 suspects and working more closely with u.s. officials
on antiterror financing and money-laundering initiatives.
black also complimented the saudis for initiating an
ideological campaign against islamic terrorist
organizations that included statements by senior saudi
officials espousing "a consistent message of moderation and
toleration." "terror watch: * a legal defeat for bush" justice department lawyers, said to be pessimistic about winning
upcoming supreme court cases on enemy combatants and guantanamo
prisoners, are now scrambling to bring a case against alleged 'dirty
bomber' jose padilla. * are latest warnings justified? not everyone thought john
ashcroft's warning was justified. as is often the case with controversial comments by saudi
rulers, u.s. officials were a bit at a loss as to how to
respond to them. one official noted that there were
different translations of the crown prince's comments and
that some saudi newspapers had deleted abdullah's
references to "zionists," using instead the less
inflammatory word "foreigners." the country's leading
english-language newspaper, arab news, which is widely read
in the west, did not carry any account of abdullah's
remarks. an account in the arab language al-riyadh newspaper,
translated for newsweek and running on sunday under the
headline: "our country is targeted, zionist hands behind
what's happening," states that abdullah expressed anger to a
group of visitors over the saturday attack in yanbu. in the
attack, a group of saudi militants sprayed gunfire in the
offices of a houston-based oil contractor, killing two
americans and four others and injuring 25 people. "our country is targeted," the story quotes abdullah as
saying. "you know who is behind all of this. it is zionism.
this is clear now." the saudi ruler went on to say that the real perpetrators
"have tricked some of our sons and they deceived them." the
saudi militants who committed the attacks on the oil
workers had been "misguided by foreigners... they allied
themselves with satan and the followers of satan and the
followers of colonialism." the attack - the latest in a spate of terrorist incidents in
the kingdom - was particularly alarming because it threatens
to cause further disruptions in world oil markets. the u.s.
embassy has redoubled its efforts to warn american workers
in the country to leave and that exodus alone could
threaten saudi oil production. oil industry expert philip verleger, a fellow at the
institute for international economics, said that the
incident in yanbu was especially worrisome because the
saudis have repeatedly assured american contacts that
security in that oilfield complex is very tight. what is
troubling, verleger said, is not that incidents in the
saudi oil fields will stop the production of saudi crude,
but rather that such incidents will cause both foreign and
saudi engineers and skilled workers to leave the region or
the kingdom. even more potentially damaging, verleger says, would be for
terrorists to somehow shut down, either through a direct
attack or by intimidating operating personnel, a number of
oil refineries in saudi arabia which produce special
gasoline blends formulated for the american market.
although those refineries have not been attacked and are
still believed to be operating normally, they are fragile,
heavily automated plants which could be hobbled by a loss
of a relatively small number of personnel, or,
alternatively, by a serious terror attack. if terrorists succeed by one stratagem or another in taking
down some of the saudi-based refineries, verleger said, "it
is really, really frightening." a shutdown or big attack on
one of the refineries could produce a quick rise in u.s.
retail gasoline prices of 50 cents to $1 per gallon,
verleger told newsweek. if crude production is ultimately
curbed by the flight of personnel or a direct attack,
verleger says, the world price of crude could soar to $60
to $70 per barrel unless the united states and other
oil-consuming countries dipped into their strategic
petroleum reserves to help stabilize the market. editor's note: a u.s. official said wednesday, after u.s.
ambassador oberwetter's meeting with prince saud, "it
wasn't a particularly productive exchange." the official
said that saud referred to the evidence tying one of the
yanbu attackers to saudi dissident fagih. the saudi foreign
minister claimed that fagih, whose radio broadcasts from
london have become a major irritant to the monarchy, was
receving "funding from people in contact with extremist
zionist elements." the u.s. official said: "we don't have
any evidence that would confirm these charges." to go to top questions and answers posted by yashiko sagamori, june 16, 2004. in the beginning, there were only truth and lies. such bucolic
simplicity lasted for thousands of years, until the industrial
revolution gave birth to statistics. soon afterwards, karl marx, in
his das kapital, brilliantly demonstrated how heavy volumes of
meticulously collected figures can lead oppressed masses to perfectly
absurd conclusions. thanks to the unstoppable progress, we now have
yet another category of untruth, the opinion polls. in order to better to understand why poll results must be interpreted with utmost caution, let us consider a purely imaginary poll that, in theory, could be conducted in the soviet union in 1937: "whom would you prefer as the supreme leader of the soviet union and its communist party: (a) i. v. stalin? (b) s. m. kirov? (c) l. d. trotsky? (d) none of the above?" observe how clearly the question is worded. if a citizen attempted to avoid a direct answer citing the lack of understanding on his or her part, the officer conducting the poll would have no doubt that the suspect was feigning stupidity. fortunately, soviet sociologists of that era were well equipped to deal with this kind of dirty trick, effectively guaranteeing that the interrogation would never fail to produce results suitable to the investigators. approximately one year ago, soon after president bush declared,
somewhat prematurely, our victory in iraq, nicholas d. kristof, one of
the most far left columnists for one of the most far left newspapers,
the new york times, tried to conduct his own improvised opinion poll
in baghdad. he was seeking proof that iraqis hated bush and considered
the americans "invaders" rather than "liberators". when he asked a
random passerby what he thought of the united states, the answer was,
i would say, astonishing. the passerby suggested molding a
larger-than-life likeness of barbara bush out of pure gold and
erecting it at the crossroads in the center of the iraqi capital. "why?" a stunned mr. kristof asked. "because she gave life to our precious, heroic liberator, may allah forever bless her ancestors and descendants," explained the suspect. let's pay our due respect to mr. kristof who had counted on a very different response, but nevertheless honestly reported the bizarre incident in his column. furthermore, he publicly expressed doubts in his understanding of the situation. as we know today, his initial understanding was more or less correct. at that time, no one, at least on our side, knew that the war in iraq hadn't really started yet. iraqis hate us today even more than they did when saddam was in power. then, they were burning flags and effigies; today, they burn american soldiers and their armed vehicles. mr. kristof's mishap reminded me of a russian wedding i attended not long before that. a beautifully organized celebration was supervised by a distant relative of the bride, the tamada (tah-mah-dah). i was told later that tamada was not a relation, but rather an honorary title, something like the emcee. every now and then, he would tactfully but firmly intervene in the accelerating chaos of the gathering before it had a chance to spin out of control, delivering witty toasts that assured that every person present would, even if for a brief moment, become the center of everyone's flattering attention. by the time it was my turn, my rudimentary russian vocabulary had deteriorated, which was unimportant since people around me kept asking me the same simple question: "do you respect us?" according to a russian drinking custom, the affirmative response to it is both mandatory and non-verbal; i was expected to raise my glass and down its contents. so it was no surprise that when the tamada addressed me with his toast, it sounded to me as if he was speaking some unknown dialect. as i learned the next day, he was actually speaking with an exaggerated georgian (as in tbilisi, georgia, not atlanta, ga) accent. they repeated his talking points in english; everything he said was highly flattering, but ranged from shameless exaggeration to outright misrepresentation. that's why, while reading about mr. kristof's experiment in baghdad, i couldn't shake off an impression that his subject was speaking with a georgian accent, like the tamada at the russian wedding. in recent years, numerous opinion polls were conducted among members of the arab terrorist organization known as the "palestinian people". sometimes these polls produce truly bizarre results. thus, one recent poll favored israeli-style democracy as the preferred form of government for the future "palestinian state". unfortunately, the taliban was not listed among the available options, so we will never know if, given a choice, they would've opted for that, most natural for muslims, form of government. nevertheless, arab terrorists explicitly preferred israeli democracy to its french and even american varieties. optimists among us happily announced that the results of that poll debunked the myth of israeli "apartheid". ever a pessimist, i think we should ask whether the question was even understood; after all, democracy is as idiosyncratic to arabs as female circumcision is to us. results of another, practically simultaneous, poll conducted within the same group confirmed my suspicions. this time, terrorists were asked, who they would like to have for a leader; arafat won in a landslide. the idea of an israeli-style democracy led by arafat reminded me of the fundamental law of organic chemistry: if you mix one pound of strawberry jam with one pound of feces, the result will be two pounds of feces. although the outcome does not depend on the quality of the strawberry jam used in the experiment, in this particular case it may have played a role. i suspect that, along with virginal arab ignorance of anything related to democracy, recent actions of the israeli government and, especially, prime minister sharon played a role in their choice. even considering the ever tightening pressure on israel from every government, including the us, from every international organization, and from assorted, but well organized anti-semites around the globe, also including the us, future historians will be unable to explain certain actions by israeli leaders without using the term treason. both the dead, but still unburied oslo accords and the israeli decision not to use the historic precedent of chechoslovakia, which transferred the sudeten germans back to germany, but to emulate stalin's eviction of the crimean tartars from crimea belong to that category. after sharon facilitated the free discussion of surrender by shamelessly firing two of the cabinet members who were opposed to the withdrawal, the expression israeli democracy sounds to me as if it is being pronounced with a heavy accent, not even georgian, but arab. i am afraid that this time, rather than blaming poor arabs for the obvious confusion regarding the form of government they are never going to have, we should blame rich jews instead. it's often difficult for a dilettante like me to avoid getting lost in the political intricacies not only of israel but even of my own country. the new york times helps a lot. for instance, whenever they praise george w. bush, which, thank goodness, doesn't happen too often, it invariably means that our president has committed some monstrous turpitude. the un reaction can be similarly used as a litmus test vis-a-vis actions of the israeli government. several days ago, for example, kofi annan announced the un support for israel's withdrawal from gaza. as an advance payment, israel was rewarded with the vice-chairmanship of some un subcommittee. i won't be surprised to learn that governments of various countries, following the example of newspapers preparing obituaries for still alive celebrities, are already secretly contracting the services of leading architects to build tasteful, elegant memorials of the next holocaust in their respective capitals. life goes on. in anticipation of the apparently inevitable surrender of gaza, it's interesting to know that its non-terrorist population constitutes just 8,000 people. this handful of jews, however, produces 70% of all israeli organic vegetables and generates $60 million in annual exports. they have 20 various schools, not including childcare centers. if jews do not themselves destroy everything they have built there, arabs will do it as soon as the rightful owners of the land are forced to leave. after that, nothing will grow in gaza but terrorism. interestingly, no one has so far managed to explain how those 8,000 jews threaten peace more than the six decades of pan-arab war against israel. if you are hoping that, in the eyes of the world, this may serve as an argument in defense of the jews, take a careful look at south africa. under apartheid, it was one of the most prosperous countries in the world, where "colored" people enjoyed much higher standards of living than anywhere else on that continent. apartheid was bad, no question about it, but what replaced it is simply ruining a formerly thriving country. crime and aids are rampant, but the main concern of the government is the remnants of control the whites still exercise over the rapidly deteriorating economy. it remains to be seen if white south africans are going to be hunted down like white zimbabwean farmers. it is perfectly clear however that, under the pressure of the world, one evil was replaced with another, probably, a much worse one, but since victims of the latter do not belong to a protected subcategory of the human race, the world rests happily. jews most certainly do not constitute a protected subspecies, so the destruction of israel and the demise of its population will be inevitably, and mistakenly, perceived by the world as the triumph of good over evil. but what will replace the unprecedented cruelty of israeli
occupation of israel's own land? what the united states is trying to
achieve there is as simple as a nursery rhyme and as impractical as
perpetual motion. having come to the conclusion that arafat will not
cooperate, bush and powell are looking for a replacement who will. so
far, their labors have produced no fruit, which is good, because
history teaches us that such an approach inevitably ends in one of the
two possible ways: in the iranian version, the well-behaved puppet
gets thrown out by the locals; in the iraqi version, the puppet goes
out of control and has to be removed by means of military
intervention. either way, it is a disaster of our own making. eventually, however, arabs will follow ancient egyptians, europe will follow ancient greece, and the united states will follow ancient rome. new superpowers will rise and fall, and only two things will remain unchanged: jews, as always, will remain a light unto nations, and the nations, as always, will hate them for that. therefore, no major changes can be anticipated for the foreseeable future, and we can continue to happily play "questions and answers". yashiko sagamori is a new york-based information technology
consultant. to read other articles by the author, go to
http://www.middleeastfacts.com/yashiko/ or email ysagamori@hotmail.com to go to top more "new journalism" at the newspaper for thinking israelis posted by steven plaut, june 16, 2004. haaretz, the main palestinian newspaper published in hebrew, all
this week has been promoting it phony media hot air balloon about how
supposedly intelligence officers manipulated sharon and his people
into thinking that arafat and his stormtroopers were not interested in
peace. according to the new journalism prevalent at haaretz these
days, 1400 murdered israelis are not a sign of anything, anti-semitic
nazi propaganda roadcast daily by the plo does not tell you anything.
haaretz insists, galaxies of evidence notwithstanding, that arafat is
still as devoted to peace as peres and rabin convinced themselves he
was back in 1993, and the only reason things have gone haywire is that
a senior intelligence officer dared to state the truth. and how does
haaretz know? because two other senior intelligence officers from the
left gave interviews to al-ard, er i mean to haaretz, and they said
so. today the haaretz spin doctors for palestinian liberation have a
follow up "scoop". they interview yet another lefty, this time one
mati steinberg. steinberg is a purported "expert" on palestinians, at
least that is what haaretz columnist danny rubenstein thinks.
rubenstein also considers himself an expert on palestinians. i do not
know anyone else who agrees. steinberg might once have served as
consultant for the intelligence service head during the mind-numbingly
stupid administration of haj amin ehud barak, the gent who once said
that if he had been born a palestinian he would have become a
terrorist. the fact that steinberg could have been such a consultant
may go far in explaining the singular inability of the intelligence
services to tell summer from winter and day from night in those days
(and these today). the fact of the matter is that the intelligence
services found out about the plo what every israeli barber and
gardener knew, only years after the former knew. haaretz scratches up steinberg as someone giving artillery support
to the haaretz fable that "inaccurate" intelligence assessments by
officers dissenting from the holy canon of far leftist evaluation of
arafat were the ones responsible for the inability to strike a deal
with arafat. the whole interview is at
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/439571.html he is also a source
for the previous pseudo-scoop at haaretz
(http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/shart.jhtml?itemno=437895&contrassid=1
) if steinberg is such an expert, how come a web search did not turn
up a single reference to anything he ever published about anything? steven plaut is an american-trained economist, a professor of
business administration at haifa university and author of "the
scout." he frequently comments - both seriously and satirically -
on israeli politics and the left wing academic community. his website
address is http://www.stevenplaut.blogspot.com. to go to top from the desk of the secretary-general posted by david frankfurter, june 16, 2004. from the desk of the secretary general to: mr s. tharoor - under-secretary-general for communications and
public information from: k. annan dear shashi, congratulations on your press release last month, entitled "arab
journalists urged to give full picture of un's work in region."
(http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?newsid=10727&cr=middle&cr1=east)
you are so right. the un can't do anything right in the eyes of those
ungrateful arab journalists. it's about time that you set the record
straight. we really shouldn't have to after we were so careful during the
last iraqi regime to do everything we could to stall the american
push. i know that those journalists claim that it is the least we
could do. you have to make them understand that there is only so much
that those food stamps and oil vouchers can buy, you know! we delayed
the bush invasion by at least 10 minutes out of the goodness of our
own hearts. why can't they at least say thank you? it's not just iraq. we've done pretty well in sudan, too. i know
that we have slapped the arab militias over the wrist in public. but,
look we had to say something - and we have been very careful not to
interfere in their murders, rapes, slave trading in men, women and
children, burning whole villages down with the people inside. look
ethnic cleansing is a sensitive business, and we are pretty busy
helping yasser create a judenrein palestine. it's unfair of them to
expect us to actively help get rid of those animists and christians.
all we can do is get out of the way and let them get on with the job.
with libya in charge of human rights at the un, we should be able to
let the arabs complete their ethnic cleansing for at least another few
years. speaking about palestine - be fair. we haven't once criticised
egypt for breaking its peace treaty and allowing its border to be used
for smuggling arms from iran and the hizbullah to gaza. it is true
that we condemned the gangland-style shooting of that pregnant
jew-woman and four children caught in their seat belts. but we had no
choice. using a video camera to document the kill made sense at the
time. they needed to have something to show the kids on tv. it really
is understandable. after all, those politicians, imams, games and mtv
shows encouraging the kids to go and become martyrs become pretty
boring with out some real snuff movies to brighten the afternoon. but
when those terrorists were silly enough to leave the video camera
behind, it became a bit hard to make excuses in public. we had to say
something. while we are talking about the kids - don't forget that it's our
ramallah teachers' academy that trains the teachers in the best
methods of indoctrinating the kids that tel aviv is really palestinian
and that shaheeda is the way to go. and its the summer camps and
soccer teams funded by our unesco that are named after suicide bombers
so that the kids really get the message. look i know that we took down
the incitement posters in the lebanese unrwa schools - but you've
gotta understand. the donors were going to switch the money tap off.
don't worry - we're not changing the books that deny any jewish
history or rights in the middle east. the teachers can say what they
like - no-one will hear or know except just us. we've worked really hard to keep syria's wmd and support for terror
off the agenda - we even put syria on the security council. i know we
couldn't talk america out of helping its jew-friend israel. but we
helped convince europe to overlook syria's support for the hizbullah,
fatah and hamas. and that what matters - after all 80% of syria's
foreign trade is with europe, and with the new trade agreements and
the economic support we helped broker, bashir should have plenty of
time to finish his wmd program - especially with all those bits he
borrowed from sadaam. let me know if you need any more help convincing those journalists.
if there are any really tough nuts to crack, just let me know. most of
the country leaders will take care of them for us next time they visit
their homes. keep up the good work. sincerely, kofi to subscribe to frankfurter's 'letter from israel', email him at
david.frankfurter@iname.com. to go to top the saudi invoice posted by irwin n. graulich, june 16, 2004. they produced osama bin laden and gave birth to al qaeda. fifteen
of the nineteen 9/11 hijackers came from there. they have invested
tens of billions of dollars trying to spread radical islam worldwide.
their flag is the only one on earth with a sword on it. they banned
pokeman from their country because one of the cards had a symbol that
appeared to look like a star of david. guess who? our friends, the
saudis! their history is not a good one. since the mid-eighteenth century, when
tribal leader muhammad al saud joined forces with religious fanatic
muhammad abin abd al-wahhab, their combined military and religious
aggression proved quite loathsome. in 1932, when saudi arabia became a
duly recognized state, their battles and mini-civil wars continued in
true middle ages fashion. and then came those big american oil companies with all their promises.
the americans delivered on their contracts and brought the country
riches beyond belief. unfortunately, the saudis did not deliver on their
own promises. no gratitude for bringing them into modernity and changing
their lifestyle from desert nomads into 21st century technological
marvels, with all the blessings that follow. it seems that the saudi
culture does not permit appreciation for non-muslims, since that would
be a form of self-humiliation. eventually, they nationalized the oil industry and threw out their
american partners, proving once again that islam and honesty are not
related. yet there was no retaliation by the american government on
behalf of this outright thievery. big mistake, because the ultimate
result can be traced almost directly to 9/11! the saudi flag says it all. besides the weapon illustration, it has a
family name on it and a motto that reads, "there is no god other than
allah." perhaps that is why they do not permit a one inch cross to be
seen around the neck of any visitor. heaven forbid a christian bible.
during the first gulf war, they did not allow american soldiers, who
were there to protect them, to have christmas trees visible. imagine,
santa claus being a big threat. when george bush sr. did not even question this ridiculous regulation
placed on our brave military force, he lost the election. american
people are quite savvy. it was not the economy stupid. it was the
christmas trees and the principles they represented. saudi arabian evil has continued unchecked for decades. they were one of
only two countries to recognize the taliban and give them legitimacy.
they continue to blame israel, zionism and jews for almost every problem
and terrorist incident, from 9/11 to the recent killings in yanbu port. saudi arabia is simply a terrorist network with a seat at the un.
according to crown prince abdullah, the islamic terrorism is "all a
zionist conspiracy." go figure that one out. perhaps it is because
throughout the kingdom they do not ever think in terms of right and
wrong; only in terms of arab and non-arab; muslim and non-muslim. how
sad and pathetic a people. since america had stopped israel from retaliating severely with the
palestinians, bin laden believed that this continuous negotiation
strategy would endure with the taliban and al qaeda. based on the
world's response to palestinian terrorism against israel, never allowing
the idf to fight back with significant force or kill arafat, bin laden
assumed a similar response to 9/11. there was virtual certainty that an
oslo-type peace process would play out with the americans, ultimately
resulting in a us military exodus from saudi "occupation," similar to
the soviet departure from afghanistan. this towering event would then
place the 6' 4" figure into a leadership position in his birthplace. saudi polling today shows that osama is a recognized hero to over 50% of
the population, who also believe that the mossad was responsible for
bringing down the wtc towers. the saudis do not even realize it, but
they actually have a secondary religion besides islam. it is an
amazingly strong faith in anti-israel, anti-jewish, anti-zionist hatred,
which has now manifested itself into a similar anti-americanism. this blind belief system of extreme abhorrence for judeo-christian
values only proves that we are better, more decent, stronger and
successful, while they are crude, backwards and weak. the reason for
their animosity is simple. they realize quite clearly that we are
superior morally, as well as in virtually every other desirable human
trait. saudi arabia and the entire islamic world finally understand that
they can never defeat us with military force and their influence is a
non-issue in the world, as long as america is around. they know we
have created an amazingly moral and wonderful society, and that god
has truly blessed us. the facts are right there in front of them;
every time they turn on the tv, go on the internet, read a magazine or
go to a movie, our superiority is in their face. how humiliating! it is time for the bush administration to stop issuing warnings to
americans and start issuing warnings to saudi arabia. diplomacy can go
only so far, as neville chamberlain ultimately found out. destroying al
qaeda is not enough. we must demolish the factories of hatred which are
the saudi sponsored mosques in the west about which dr. khaleel
mohammed, professor of islamic studies at the university of san diego
keeps warning us. over 100 saudi arabian intellectuals recently wrote, "we consider the us
and the current american administration the nurturer of international
terrorism with distinction, and it, along with israel, form the axis of
evil and terrorism in the world." so how does one respond to such a despicable nation? first send them a
"serious bill" for what they owe us, latest estimates being $24
trillion, net 30 days. if we are not paid in full for all our troubles
and the problems they have caused, we should simply listen to the words
of laurent murawiec, the noted scholar at the hudson institute who
testified before the defense policy board in washington dc--"after iraq,
let's do saudi arabia." however, we must learn the lessons of iraq and allow the military to
fight both the battles and the war, with full force at all times. in
iraq, the soldiers won every battle hands down, yet the politicians seem
to be losing the war. we cannot let that happen again. let the
politicians get the american companies their oil fields back. that alone
is their expertise. and if that invoice is not paid in the allotted time, well then,
"open wide and say ahhh, crown prince. we have a tongue depressor
coming your way!" irwin n. graulich is a motivational speaker on morality,
ethics, religion and politics. he is also president and ceo of a marketing, branding and communications company in new york
city. he can be reached at irwin.graulich@verizon.net.
this article appeared in michigan news (http://michnews.com). to go to top the "palestinian refugees" already got their "right of return" posted by steven plaut, june 16, 2004. try to imagine what the world would be like if israel had granted
the "palestinian refugees" who fled from israel in 1948-49 the right
to return to israel. not to the west bank. not to the gaza strip. but
to israel within its pre-1967 borders. imagine a situation in which israel agreed to allow tens of
thousands of arabs who fled from the battle zones of the israeli war
of independence the possibility of returning to israel, in many cases
to the very homes they had abandoned during the fighting. imagine how
the same world, currently obsessed upon achieving a "right of return"
for "palestinian refugees" were forced to acknowledge that israel had
already granted the possibility for tens of thousands of these
refugees to return to israel, in many cases decades ago. what would
the world then have left to bash israel about? what would the
anti-semites have left to scream about, or the crowd claiming to be
"anti-zionists but not anti-semites", who only enjoy seeing "zionist"
children mass murdered, or the self-hating leftist jewish
anti-semites? well, hold on to your streimel. cause i have a whopper of a
revelation to make to you. israel did grant the "palestinian refugees"
the right to return to israel! let us back up a bit. in 1947-48, the un proposed partitioning
"palestine" into a jewish and an arab state of approximately equal
sizes. the jews accepted the plan, and the arabs rejected it. when the
british mandate over "palestine" was ended under the un decision, the
arab states attacked the newborn state of israel, tried to annihilate
it and its population, and at the same time gobbled up most of the
territory that the un had allotted to become a palestinian arab state.
the territory that became israel had never been a palestinian arab
state, ever. most of the arabs in "palestine" had migrated in from
neighboring arab countries after the 19th century start of the zionist
jewish immigration, taking advantage of the influx of capital, the
availability of jobs and of services, like hospitals. in other words,
the arabs of "palestine" in 1948, exactly like the jews, were by and
large people from families who had been in the country for three
generations or less. during the fighting in the 1948-49 war, thousands of arabs living
in the territory that became israel fled. the main reason they fled
was that they understandably wanted to put some distance between their
families and the battle zones. at the same time, they were ordered by
the arab political leadership to leave the territory of israel. why
take my word on this? listen to arab sources: "the arab states encouraged the palestine arabs to leave their
homes temporarily in order to be out of the way of the arab invasion
armies." - falastin (jordanian newspaper), february 19, 1949 "the arab governments told us: get out so that we can get in. so we
got out, but they did not get in." - from the jordan daily ad difaa,
september 6, 1954 ""the arab armies entered palestine to protect the palestinians
from the zionist tyranny but, instead, they abandoned them, forced
them to emigrate and to leave their homeland" (emphasis added), abu
mazen, erstwhile "prime minister" of the palestinian authority, in
"what we have learned and what we should do", published in falastin el
thawra, the official journal of the plo, of beirut, in march 1976. (there are scores of other arab sources confirming this) so how many arabs fled? the number has become enormously distorted over time by the bash-israel lobby and by arab propagandists and their apologists, who usually claim between 500,000 and a million. a more realistic estimate is between 300,000 and 450,000, based in part on arab and unrwa sources themselves (http://www.eretzyisroel.org/~samuel/refugees.html ). most of these refugees ended up in some of the twenty-two sovereign arab states, including those arab countries from which they had migrated into "palestine" in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the first place. in other words, the "refugees" went back to their earlier homelands in lebanon, syria, and jordan. it was a sort of "right of return." at the same time, the arab states carried out a near-total ethnic cleansing of around a million jews, who had been living there since biblical days and in many cases before these states had arab populations (http://www.ajds.org.au/mendes_refugees.htm ). the jews from arab countries left behind far more property than did the palestinian arab refugees (http://jewishrefugees.org/justiceforjews.htm). most of these jewish refugees were resettled in israel in the years immediately after world war ii, there were more than
50 million refugees: poles, germans, indians, pakistanis, hungarians,
chinese, japanese, koreans, etc. etc. they were all long ago resettled
and forgotten, all except for the "palestinian refugees". how come? because for decades, the arab aggressor states found it convenient
to utilize the "refugees" as a political and military weapon against
israel, not only of propaganda and spin, but of terrorism
(http://www.eretzyisroel.org/~peters/resettlement.html ).
"palestinians" inside arab states were trained as terrorists and sent
out to murder. at the same time, there was enormous incentive for the
arab locals in the countries into which the refugees had entered to
pretend also to be "palestinian refugees"
(http://www.frontpagemag.com/articles/readarticle.asp?id=8650 ). after
all, the un and other agencies were handing out free food and perqs to
anyone pretending to be a refugee from "palestine". (for further
information and documentation, see
http://arabterrorism.tripod.com/faq/refugees.html ) unlike all those many millions of other people considered refugees
in the late 1940s, the "palestinians" were the only ones for whom the
"right of return" to their previous homes was considered an
entitlement. the reason was not a selective affection for
palestinians, but a selective hostility towards israel and jews. those
demanding the wholesale "return" to israel of palestinian "refugees",
including the countless thousands of non-palestinians pretending to be
palestinian refugees, had one goal in mind, the eradication of israel. israel would have been insane to allow itself to be inundated with
real and make-pretend palestinian "refugees", this in a tiny sliver of
land the size of maryland, at the same time that the 22 arab states
have territory-galore stretching from the atlantic ocean all the way
to central asia! the palestinian arabs and their sponsors had tried to
annihilate israel and failed. just like the infant united states,
which refused to allow any of the tens of thousands of tory loyalists
expelled by the patriots to "return" to the united states after the
war of independence, israel was entirely in its rights to refuse to
allow the "return" of masses of "palestinians", whose migration was
being demanded by those seeking to liquidate israel via a demographic
flooding. there is just one little caveat though. israel did let the palestinian refugees return!! tens of thousands
of them were quietly allowed to return to israel, in many cases to
their original homes, once the fighting in 1949 subsided. many
continue to be admitted today within the framework of "family
reunification" agreements. from 1948 until 2001, israel allowed about 184,000 "palestinian
refugees" or their families to "return" to israel proper (jerusalem
post, january 2, 2001; see also ha'aretz 28 december 2000). these are
in addition to about 57,000 palestinians from jordan illegally in
israel, towards whom the authorities are turning a blind eye
(ha'aretz, 4 april 2001 ). not the west bank, not gaza, but israel
inside its pre-1967 "green line" borders! in the camp david ii
meetings in 2000, israeli leftist prime minister ehud barak rather
insanely offered to allow another 150,000 "refugees" to enter israel
as part of a peace accord. the plo's response was to launch pogroms
and four years of atrocities, because the number was finite. (see also
http://www.eretzyisroel.org/~jkatz/immigration-oslo.html ) the demand for a "right of return" by palestinians to israel is no
doubt the most absurd political demand floating anywhere around the
planet. there is already an arab state in two thirds of mandatory
palestine, named jordan, and most of its population is palestinian
arab. the oslo accords and israel's camp david ii offer would have
created a second arab state in palestine, in the west bank and gaza,
as part of a comprehensive peace settlement. any "palestinian" from
anywhere could have moved to "palestine" or to jordan, within the
framework of such a peace, the same way any jew who wishes to may
immigrate to israel, or any armenian may immigrate to armenia, and
greeks from the greek diaspora are automatically welcomed in greece. the plo and the islamofascist states backing it demand that in
addition to establishing a second arab state in palestine within the
framework of any peace settlement, israel itself must also be
converted into a third arab palestinian state, via unlimited massive
immigration of people claiming to be palestinians. benjamin franklin,
who opposed granting even a dime in compensation to the tory refugees
expelled from the united states during the war of independence, would
be splitting his sides laughing. but the most orwellistic absurdity of all is that israel long ago
did grant the right to "return" to israel itself to tens of thousands
of "palestinian refugees". did this earn israel the world's gratitude
for its uniquely generous gesture? did the world denounce the arab
fascist states who ignored this generosity and continued to seek
israel's destruction militarily and the genocide of its population? do
today's bleeding hearts and recreational compassion posturers,
pretending to feel uncontrollable pain and caring for palestinian
refugees, even know about the limited "right of return" granted by
israel over the past decades? hindus have never been returned to pakistan, moslems from pakistan
have not been returned to india, ethnic germans were not returned to
their pre-war homes in czechoslovakia, poland, russia or romania,
japanese have not been returned to manchuria, greeks have not been
returned to anatolia, jews have not been compensated for the billions
they left behind when ethnic cleansing of jews in moslem countries
took place, and tory loyalists were never returned to new england. but
tens of thousands of "palestinian refugees" were granted by israel
what none of these others received. it is time to say enough is enough. the only remaining reasonable plan regarding those still claiming to be "palestinian refugees" is simply - foggedaboutit. steven plaut is an american-trained economist, a professor of
business administration at haifa university and author of "the
scout." he frequently comments - both seriously and satirically -
on israeli politics and the left wing academic community. his website
address is http://www.stevenplaut.blogspot.com. to go to top npr's neal conan's terrible 'subject' posted by american chin high, june 16, 2004. on june 13 neal conan had the "palestinian" arab
propagandists "activist" whining about the "poor" palestinians.
basically he didn't say anything but repeated 12 times the word
"occupation,'" "palestinian-land," again and again. he blamed
"palestinian" shortcomings not on their guilty vicious leaders,
parents or hate-teachers, but, well of course that old boring song,
you know. when a caller by the name of veronica tried to talk some sense
about arab leaders' guilt he -- of course -- turned the incriminating
ball gain on the good will gestures initiators -- the always good-guy:
the israelis, when she finally nailed the real problem in the middle
east, which is violence and terrorism, the not-at-all -'gentle-man'
moderator neal conan interrupted her by saying 'oh the question is for
another program'... how is the real issue of "palestinian'-initated bloodshed and
bloodshed-education and all resources to it 'not" the subject? unless
bashing suffering victim israel is really your 'subject'? of course
the other day you'll have the israeli side answer in your "even
handed" blah. don't you dare use the word "nation" for your ugly lying machine. don't you dare, neal! to go to top muslim goodwill posted by richard h. shulman, june 15, 2004. to go to top items: why sharon won't be prosecuted; arafat's time has passed posted by steven plaut, june 15, 2004. israel has a long tradition of having a dual judicial system. there
is one system that is a set of rules for courts, police and
prosecution and that operates for leftists, and another for everyone
else. that, for example, is the reason why bibi netanyahu and his wife
were investigated aggressively and persecuted on suspicion of taking
some ashtrays and trinkets from the prime minister's residence in
jerusalem when netanyahu had to crate things away in a hurry after
losing the election. the sleaze of ehud barak's campaign finance would
be an embarrassment even in a third world country, but the prosecutors
just never got around to investigating any of that. and then there is
the deafening silence by the prosecution regarding the even worse set
of slime that characterized amram mitzna's ties with his building
contractor friends. when it comes to mitzna sleaze, not a creature has
ever been moving in the prosecutorial house, not even a mouse. but, as i said, the reason is very simple. it's the dual justice
system, again. that is why a jewish fellow who made a t-shirt with a
slogan the left thought was insensitive got prosecuted, but the worst
leftists, openly endorsing destruction of israel and supporting
terrorist atrocities, or arab nationalists making little effort to
hide their support for genocide, just never seem to get investigated
or prosecuted. actually they get tenured and promoted. free speech
absolutism holds for leftist incitement and anti-semitism, but
denunciation of the left is a form of libel. now all of this is well known, but the sudden decision by the
attorney general not to prosecute ariel sharon for his own election
finance sleaze just does not seem to fit into the pattern of the dual
justice system. it comes just hours after the same dual system passed
a court ruling that israelis must not vote in favor of local municipal
laws outlawing sale of pork. the same court never ruled that it is a
free constitutional right to import kosher food! do not imagine the decision not to prosecute sharon has anything
to do with the fact that the current attorney general is himself a
sharon appointment. that would show your unfamiliarity with israeli
politics. in israel the likud always appoints leftists to public
positions and spends its time in office doing its best to help the
labor party get elected. the current attorney general is a leftist. no
exception. so how come the dual justice apparatchiks and nomenklatura are not
prosecuting sharon and his kin? was it because sharon's sleaze was
nickel and dime stuff compared with the filth of the barak and mitzna
campaigns? is it because the attorney general thinks sharon's penny
ante improprieties can wait till he finishes his term of office before
being investigated? no, grasshopper. the explanation is quite simple. the left made sharon an offer he
could not refuse. sharon will implement the left's political agenda,
including implementing the mitzna plan for the gaza strip, the same
plan rejected in a landslide by the israeli voter. and in exchange the
left will lay off sharon and his family, the left's pocket attorney
general will dismiss the charges, the left's supreme court justices
will sit by the sidelines in uncharacteristic humility, and the labor
party and maybe meretz will back sharon in the parliament when the
handful of men and women of principle and conscience in the likud and
in its coalition partners abandon sharon and vote against his
appeasing the plo, er i meant the israeli left. "the end of 'arafat': even if he lives, the idea of him must die." reflecting the views of israel's cabinet, vice prime minister ehud
olmert said publicly over the weekend that "killing" yasser arafat was
"one of the options." secretary of state colin powell of course had to
say that exiling or executing arafat would incite arab rage, that it
would be most unhelpful to the peace process, etc., etc. the truth is that yasser arafat's moment in history has ended. the
world would do well to think hard about how it came to pass, after so
many years and so much talk and blood, that the era of arafat arrived
at this endpoint--with israel saying that it may be worth the trouble
simply to kill him. how far we've come from the rose garden in 1993. it is a fine irony that mr. powell spoke of the need to soldier on
with yasser arafat while the secretary himself was standing in baghdad
for the first time. mr. powell is in baghdad because president bush
concluded after september 11, and after the political failure of the
first gulf war, that the years of western self-delusion about the
nature of global terror must be brought to an end. similarly, the
delusions about arafat also must now end. "arafat" should enter history not merely as the name of one autocratic man, but as the name we assign to an entire western phenomenon of false thinking. "arafat," we now see, has come to represent the act of self-delusion on a massive, international scale. "arafat" is about refusing to believe that an adversary is simply irredeemable. most importantly at this particular moment, "arafat" is about allowing barbarism, or its techniques, to challenge the political tenets of civilized life. for years the western nations that emerged from world war ii and the
cold war have been playing with fire by pretending that their world
and the alternative world of "arafat" could somehow coexist. more than
anything, this impossible notion reflected political and moral
fatigue. thus in the 1990s, the world came very close to letting
"arafat," this time in the person of slobodan milosevic, achieve its
logical end on european soil, again. but the united states intervened
and milosevic is on trial for crimes against civilized humanity.
george w. bush's decision to go to war against the regime of saddam
hussein was the opposite of "arafat" thinking; it was a decision to
refute "arafat." if you look at the nobel prizes' own biography of
yasser arafat, you find this remarkable sentence toward the end: "like
other arab regimes in the area, however, arafat's governing style
tended to be more dictatorial than democratic." that is to say, arafat
by his own choice of governance--dictatorship over democracy--bears
individual responsibility for the legacy he leaves. that legacy includes: the contemporary crime of hijacking and blowing
up civilian-filled airliners; the attempted destabilization of jordan
and israel and the successful destruction of lebanon as a formerly
sovereign nation; and decades of violated international agreements,
culminating in the collapse of oslo. last year, in a perfect storm of
bad faith, arafat was caught paying for the shipment of arms from iran
to the palestinian territories aboard the karine a. across these years, the west, mainly the european nations,
accomplished the post-world war ii feat of pretending that crime is
not crime, so long as the motives and politics for the crimes are
moralized. the u.s. and israel participated as well in the pretense,
bringing arafat out of exile in tunis. the world has learned since
that this apologetics (and much direct funding) has made possible any
crime, culminating in the anti-moral act known as suicide bombers.
arafat most recently threw over mahmoud abbas, and the fatigued west
barely sighed in complaint. this past september 3, in an article published in the palestinian
daily newspaper al-ayyam, the palestinian writer tawfiq abu bakr
wrote: "it is difficult to find a greater and more deeply rooted
culture of self-deception than that in our arab and palestinian
arena." but we in the west fomented that culture of self-deception, by
perpetuating the conceit that yasser arafat--"arafat"--was the
singular vessel of peace for the palestinians. he manifestly is not. the israelis are in the best position to know what to do at this
point, though no option--seclusion, exile, trial or killing him--is
particularly attractive. but israel has to live (or die) with arafat.
the u.s. for its part, rather than sustain the arafat conceit as it is
doing now, should say it is no longer going to be associated with
arafat and what he stands for. as for the palestinians and arabs, the
president of the united states has said many times that he supports a
palestinian state. now they too have to decide whether the moment has
arrived to get past "arafat." for those who will scream that this is more "unilateralism," we would
say that for some 30 years there were crucial breakpoints, most
recently the oslo concessions and the abbas opening, where credible
pressure on arafat from important players in the west and middle east
might have avoided arriving at where we are now. it never came. not
once. where yasser arafat spends the rest of his life is not important. what matters is for the world to recognize that it is time to get rid of "arafat." steven plaut is an american-trained economist, a professor of
business administration at haifa university and author of "the
scout." he frequently comments - both seriously and satirically -
on israeli politics and the left wing academic community. his website
address is http://www.stevenplaut.blogspot.com. to go to top gov't planning to move entire settlements to negev posted by aryeh zelasko, june 15, 2004. this is a total snow job. even if sharon and his gang ever
intended to pay full compensation, there is no money in israel to pay
that sort of a bill and no one else will pay it. what they intend to do is set up gulag style transit camps in the
negev. there will be only the most minimal of facilities and those
living there will be give some sort of limit stipend for a few months.
housing will be recycled caravans and there will be a few slop down
asphalt roads. and that is all. the hope is that since a high percentage of the gush katif jews are
not native born israelis that they "will go back to where they came
from" and maybe take some of the sabras with them. the "israelis" want
the jews out of all of israel and are simply starting with what they
see as the easiest group to attack. this article is by herb keinon and it appeared jun3 13, 2004 in the
jerusalem post. settlers evacuated from the gaza strip will obviously have the right
to choose where to live, senior government officials said sunday - but
if they decide to relocate as complete communities, the goal is to
build these new settlements in the western negev near the gaza strip. according to the officials, who are closely involved with the
steering committee drawing up plans for implementation of the
disengagement plan, there is as yet no final decision on how many new
communities will be built; it will depend on the number of people who
want to relocate as a group. in the meantime, the officials said, planning is going ahead on
"more than one" such settlement relocation. the decision to build the
new communities in the western negev is new, since up to this time
there was talk - in addition to building the settlements in the negev
- to also building them in the galilee or within consensus areas in
the west bank. the officials said it is important for the steering committee to have
some kind of an idea, relatively early, of how many people want to
relocate as integral communities, so that construction can begin in
order to absorb them by the end of 2005. paradoxically, the officials said the committee is not interested
in a flood of people wanting to move out of the settlements to be
evacuated immediately, since the government has not yet voted on the
actual evacuation of settlements, and is not interested in "putting
the horse before the cart." the officials said the goal is to ensure that all the planning for
evacuation at this stage is "reversible," in case the government does
not approve the actual evacuation. the idea of offering advances on compensation to people who indicate
they will voluntarily leave their homes is important for those
involved in agriculture, the officials said. for instance, those with
hot houses in gush katif may already want to start constructing them
elsewhere in order not to miss a growing season next year. the officials said the criteria for compensation payments, and for
advances on compensation, has not yet been worked out. the first
meeting of the committee dealing with evacuation, compensation, and
alternative settlements is to take place tuesday. according to the officials, the committee will draw up criteria for
compensation, which will then need to be approved by the security
cabinet, be formulated into legislation, brought to the
interministerial committee on legislation, and then brought to the
knesset. this process, the officials said, will take months, with the
goal being that legislation will be ready by october. the officials said the committee, in drawing up details of the
implementation of the plan, is looking both at the evacuation of yamit
and northern sinai settlements in 1982, and the withdrawal from
lebanon in 2000, for precedents. neither are perfect models, however, since the idf did not have to
deal with palestinian terrorists trying to disrupt matters while
pulling the settlers from yamit in 1982, and the idf did not have to
deal with the evacuation of israeli civilians while pulling out of
lebanon in 2000. one of the main lessons learned from yamit, the
senior officials said, is the need to set up one centralized
administration to handle the compensation negotiations - based on
clear-cut criteria - with the settlers. during the yamit period, the settlers conducted separate
negotiations with different ministries - the agriculture ministry, the
industry and trade ministry, and the interior ministry - with each
ministry often not knowing what the other was offering. the
administration, which is to be set up in july, is to solve this
problem. the officials said negotiations with international organizations, such as
the world bank and unrwa, are to begin in a couple of weeks regarding the
final dispensation of infrastructure in the areas to be evacuated. the international community will be called upon to help rebuild the
gaza strip, the officials said, and the money raised will go to
rehabilitating the area, not for the resettlement of the evacuated
jews. http://65.54.184.250/cgi-bin/linkrd?_lang=
en&lah=cbd85b372be1fa6f46c8e5c2d57286c9&lat= 1087236993&hm___action=
http%3a%2f%2fwww%2ejpost%2ecom%2fservlet%2fsatellite%
3fpagename%3djpost%2fjparticle%2fprinter%26cid%
3d1087025357360%26p%3d1078027574097 aryeh zelasko lives in beitar illit, south of jerusalem. he is
director of sales and marketing of israel visit
(www.israelvisit.co.il) which provides information and an internet
buying facility for american visitors to israel. to go to top analysis of the political events and the future of the likud posted by manhigut yehudit, june 15, 2004. the approval in principle by the government of the
disengagement plan, the firing of the ichud leumi ministers, and the
developments in the mafdal (nrp), have created a new reality in the
israeli political scene. it seems that the old structure is crumbling,
but a new one has not yet been created. there is great confusion in
the likud and the mafdal. we are witnessing an important process of clarification in both the
nationalist and belief-based publics. in which direction will this
public go? will it retain its values, or adopt the pragmatic approach
tending inevitably to the left? the support for the disengagement plan by netanyahu and shalom
leaves the likud without leadership. the likud ministers who did not
vote in a way corresponding to the opinions of the rank-and-file party
members, as expressed in the referendum, have in fact detached
themselves from the party. this doesn't worry sharon, since he has
already taken a strategic decision to trample the likud underfoot on
the way to achieving his objectives. he no longer needs this party, he
understands that he won't be a candidate again, and he knows that the
left writes both the criminal charges in israel and the history books. however, for the other ministers and mks in the likud, the stance
adopted contrary to the wishes of the party members means gradual
detachment from the likud. this won't happen all at once. small
politicians tend to rely on the short memory of the public, and it
sometimes seems that they are right. but we have here an accumulated
awareness that is making the likudniks reject those who aspire to
being the coming party leadership. in fact the members of the ruling party have been left without proper
leadership to represent them. against the background of the widening
gap between the leadership of the likud and its members, manhigut
yehudit is increasing its strength. our strength is far less than that
recently described in the media, but is far greater than we expected
to reach at this stage. we are still far from being regarded by most
likudniks as a real alternative to the existing leadership, but
reality is advancing at an amazing speed. the stronger we become while
standing for our principles, and the more the old reality collapses
inside and outside the party, the closer becomes the day in which
manhigut yehudit will not only be able to propose itself as an
alternative, but will also receive the support of a large majority. when we regard recent events we can feel satisfaction from one
simple fact: everything is advancing according to plan, and even
faster than we expected. recruitment and the delaying tactics of the likud party machine: a belief-based body that does not withdraw into the world of the
yeshivot and the settlements, but wishes to lead and influence
affairs, is something totally new on the israeli scene. as long as
manhigut yehudit developed its ideology on the pages of lechatchila,
no-one was frightened by it and its public exposure was also limited.
even when the movement entered politics through the likud, it
encountered mainly an attitude of scorn and contempt. however, from
the moment manhigut yehudit began to register successes, it aroused
great fear amongst the leadership of the likud and the israeli left.
the fear was caused by the fact that manhigut yehudit has ideological
motivation and does not receive support from the leadership of the
party but from its rank-and-file members. generally the political
machine uses bribery in such cases. it was clear to the politicians
that the price of 130 center members would be very high. we were
offered many jobs in the hope that we could be bought in this way
(with the taxpayer's money, of course). when they failed to do so, or,
in other words, to neutralize us, ariel sharon adopted a diametrically
opposed method. as described by ben caspit in ma'ariv, sharon ordered
the director-general of the party to stop accepting membership forms
for manhigut yehudit. this tactic was accompanied by a media spin
intended to legitimize the step, that was in contravention of the law. the likud party machine is incapable of halting the recruiting
process, but it can and will employ bureaucratic delaying tactics. sharon's outburst regarding the subject of recruiting emphasizes
the importance of this recruiting. we are continuing to recruit new
members, but it will take longer for the forms to be entered into the
likud computer. whatever happens, even if the membership forms are
delayed for some time, great importance should be attached to the
subject of recruiting. in the end everyone will enter and join the
ranks of the likud. the attitude to the media: the fear in the likud is natural, but it exists only amongst those who
regard us as political enemies. on the eve of the elections for the
center, limor livnat invited us to her office with great warmth. only
when she failed to receive our support did she suddenly become an
"ideological" opponent. most people in the party welcomed the new,
refreshing, ideological body in the party. the more a likud member is
loyal to the basic values of the national camp, the greater is his
support for manhigut yehudit. it is easy to see, based on the results
of the referendum and on the ideological votes in the likud center,
where the likud really stands in its attitude to the manhigut yehudit
faction. however, the party machine is controlled by the sharon
family, and this is the source of the obstacles placed in our path. not only does the administration take steps to delay the entry of
the forms, but we have a growing suspicion that the likud court is
also controlled by the sharon family. in the session in which it was
decided to expel ohad kamin from the party, none of the judges
bothered to ask ohad the basic question: "what did you mean in your
article?" it was clear that the result was pre-determined. in order to
see how ludicrous the whole affair was, we are publicizing a demand to
expel moshe feiglin from the party. the demand has been submitted by a
former employee of the party machine, and it only remains to guess who
persuaded her to do so. this demand is ludicrous, to say the least,
but the court (that isn't usually in a hurry to deal with really
serious issues) demands a rapid response. in contrast to the natural fear by sharon and his supporters, that
of the media is ideological. the media has been forced to give
increasing exposure to manhigut yehudit because it is a "hot" issue.
however, the media are doing their best to slander the movement, to
deny its legitimacy, and to make the public fear it. for many years we have tried to circulate our message to the broad
public but, apart from the readers of lechatchila, we have not been
very successful. suddenly great curiosity has arisen about us, and we
are exploiting the opportunity to the best of our ability. however,
there is a problem the media do not wish to propagate our message but
to distort it, and make people afraid of us. an excellent example of
this is rino tzror's film on channel 10, as well as numerous press
interviews. because of the new situation we are considering giving live
interviews only. our accumulated experience indicates that despite the
hostile surroundings, in this type of media we generally succeed in
leading the debate and presenting our message. our aim: to perfect the world in the kingdom of the almighty. manhigut yehudit manhigut yehudit (jewish leadership) is a group of people inside
the likud party who want to see israel adopt a more jewish character.
moshe feiglin, its cofounder, has emphatically said he does not want a
theocracy, but he does want a state based on jewish values. the
manhigut yehudit website address is http://www.manhigut.org. to go to top to strengthen the soldiers at the idf checkpoints posted by ruth and nadia matar, june 15, 2004. our campaign to protect the soldiers against the harassment of the
women of the extreme leftist group machsomwatch, is growing. different
crews go to the roadblocks at different times, sometimes actually
encountering the women of the left, sometimes hearing from the
soldiers about the harm those leftist women do in exciting the arab
populace against the work of our soldiers. our purpose is to type a
report of the soldier's testimonies and hand it out to the army, with
the hope that this will convince the army to stop those machsomwatch
radical ladies from interfering with the important work of our
soldier's in protecting the jewish people from arab terror. just a few examples of what those leftist women do at the
checkpoints: last week, at the kalandya checkpoint, the soldiers told
us that arabs had started throwing rocks at the soldiers, threatening
their safety. the soldiers were getting ready to shoot teargas
canisters at the rioters- the leftist women of machsomwatch put
themselves in front of the soldiers and said: "you will have to shoot
us first" and thus protected, with their bodies, the arabs who were
trying to harm our soldiers. another soldier told us how the machsomwatch women incite the arabs
to complain against the soldiers- after such instigation, an arab
woman pointed her finger at a soldier and said "that soldier hit me in
the face"- when it was an absolute lie. a complaint was filed against
the soldier and now he will have to prove his innocence. if the court
will believe the arab liar, the soldier will have a stain against him
even in his civilian life. unfortunately, army courts bend over
backwards to believe arab lies and distortions. at a-ram, a druze soldier told us that those leftist women, when
they come, see his badge and his name and tell him: oh - you are a
druze! we will not talk to you. you are worse than jewish soldiers.
you collaborate with the jews against your own brothers." we could give you many such reports of the soldiers. join us and
hear and see for yourself. for those abroad - contribute to this
campaign - by sending a donation to women in green to help do more for
our idf soldiers, and protect them from unjustified abuse. ruth and nadia matar established women for israel's tomorrow
(women in green), an activist group of women based in jerusalem. their
website address is http://www.womeningreen.org to go to top you must listen to this posted by ellen horowitz, june 15, 2004. "is there still a need for the state of israel". richard ben cramer, who has written a new hit book highly critical
of israel called 'how israel lost: the four questions' (book
prominently displayed on book shelf displays) was on npr yesterday. i have no words (which is unusual for me)!! but at the same time, i
don't believe anybody can be silent now. the full interview can and must be heard by all thinking, feeling
jews at: http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfid=1956117 [editor's note: a review of cramer's book posted by paul comstock
is presented in the next blog.] to read more about the fifth column (jeffrey goldberg, richard ben
kramer, ian lustick and others, you can go to the following recent
articles) jack engelhard - "anti-semites, we don't need you anymore" jun 14,
2004 http://israelnn.com/article.php3?id=3801 bret stephens - "the smug american" june 11, 2004
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/satellite?pagename=jpost/
jparticle/showfull&cid=1086934148827 andrea levin - "the goldberg manipulations" june 7, 2004
http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_article=714&x_context=2 (see also on this blog-ed page, below.) i also wrote on the issue?:
"the good, the bad and the ugly" june 13, 2004
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/article.php3?id=3794 (see also on this blog-ed page, below.) "the price of arrogance" february 23, 2004
http://www.israelnn.com/article.php3?id=3374 ellen horowitz lives in the golan heights, israel with her husband
and six children. she is a painter, columnist for
israelnationalnews,com and co-founder of helpingisrael.com. she can be
contacted through her website http://www.artfromzion.com to go to top a review of cramer's "how israel lost posted by paul comstock this is a california literary review (clr) review of "how israel lost:
the four questions" by richard ben cramer, simon and schuster, 307 pp.
the review is archived at
http://calitreview.com/reviews/how_israel_lost.htm it was written by kelly hartog is a writer based in los angeles who
was a journalist for the jerusalem post in israel from 1993-2004. she
survived a suicide bombing in 2002. clr rating: 2 stars losing the plot there's an old saying among the jews that goes something along the
lines of: we don't need others to destroy us, because we're pretty
good destroying ourselves. in other words, the red flags were already
up when richard ben cramer a "self-confessed proud jew and pro-israel
supporter" came along and wrote how israel lost - the four questions.
this statement is cramer's way of warning his reading public that he's
going to upset his fellow jews but that he has every right to, because
he is a jew. now, that's not to say that no jew has the right to
criticize his people's policies - particularly when it comes to israel
and the middle east conflict. let's face it the "give me two jews and
i'll show you three opinions" is nowhere more prevalent than in
israel. still, to quote a yiddish idiom, it takes an enormous amount of
chutzpah (loosely translated - arrogance), to title a book how israel
lost. lost what exactly? the plot? richard cramer's respect? according
to cramer it's how israel lost control of "the narrative that is her
lifeline," only it doesn't mention that in the title. the subheading is "the four questions" a clear reference to the
four questions asked at the jewish passover seder. of course, if
you're not jewish, you're not going to understand this reference. and
therein lies the rub. this book is clearly aimed at jews and in
particular israeli jews - who despite cramer's middle east reporting
credentials (he won the pulitzer prize for work in the region for the
philadelphia inquirer between 1977 and 1984) - know a little more
about the situation than he does. cramer was in the middle east during the 1978 historic peace accord
between israel and egypt when israel handed over the sinai desert. and
despite cramer's quick jaunts to the region following the outbreak of
the latest intifada beginning september 28, 2000, he seems to be still
stuck in the late 70s mindset, making assumptions that peace with the
palestinians is as simple as peace with the egyptians. this is the core premise of cramer's book. that ultimately, the
problem lies with israel - that if the country would just end its
occupation and withdraw to the 1967 borders, all would be well. now
why write such a book? it's hardly a new argument. and it's still a
na've one. cramer appears to be trying to cash in on his jewish street
cred to put forward this well-worn argument. but he fails, and he
fails miserably. there's no doubt that many will find cramer's conversational,
irreverent writing style accessible. but the middle east problems are
not easy ones to solve. cramer stops short of putting a black and
yellow cover on the book and calling it "the israeli-palestinian
conflict for dummies", but by encapsulating his ideas in flippant off
the cuff throwaway sentences he attempts to bury highly-charged
controversial statements and make the whole problem appear "solvable." in one instance he talks about the israeli government policy of
"targeted killings" - the assassination of terrorists. he speaks of
the israeli defense force (idf) saying: "it wasn't killing at all. the
new idea was these guys weren't actually people, but ?ticking bombs?
about to blow up and kill more jews. they must be defused!" such flippant quips undermine the seriousness of the entire
terrorist infrastructure. cramer says there is "no public proof" that
these men are terrorists. but he should know, israel has plenty of
public proof and routinely lists the names of these men who have
masterminded scores of suicide bombings within israel - right down to
the date, and time of the attack, the number of people they have
killed and the names of the victims. this, too is something that is sorely lacking in cramer's book. he
goes to great pains to list the numbers of palestinians killed in the
current conflict - but nowhere are israeli numbers mentioned. he cites
one specific incident - the killing in 2002 salah shehadeh, the head
of the terrorist organization hamas's military wing. a bomb was
dropped on shehadeh's house killing him and 15 members of his family
and extended family. cramer carefully lists the names and ages of
those killed but chooses not to point out hamas's clear cut policy of
hiding out its terrorists in family homes - risking the lives of their
own loved ones and using them as shields. but perhaps the most damning example of cramer's bias is in his
statements about the battle at the jenin refugee camp in march 2002.
he writes: "half-a-camp was mowed under by the israelis in retaliation
for the passover suicide bomb of 2002." well, that double suicide
bombing was certainly a turning point in israel's retaliation policy
(which until that point had been not to retaliate). but in march of
2002, nearly 100 israelis were killed in suicide bombings around the
country, and hundreds more wounded. israel finally said: "enough". in
addition, "half a camp" was certainly not "mowed under". while israel
could easily have dropped a bomb on the entire jenin camp, it did not.
instead, the army sent in soldiers on a house to house search, hand to
hand combat, in homes that had been booby trapped by palestinian
terrorists. as a result 23 israeli soldiers were killed by palestinian
snipers, and 56 armed palestinians were killed. cramer's statements
merely add fuel to the myth that has been perpetuated that a
"massacre" occurred in jenin - something that even the united nations
(hardly a supporter of israel) admits never occurred. in another example, right at the beginning of the book, cramer
talks about the properties of "absentee arabs who ran away or were
chased away in israel's birth-war of 1948." what he fails to mention
is that "birth war" was started by the arabs who refused to accept the
united nations partition plan. cramer also claims that israel embarked
on a program of "settlements, expropriation, assassinations," thereby
forcing the arabs to retaliate, and that this is where arab violence
against israel stems from. he fails to mention the massacres inflicted
on jews by the arabs that began over 20 years before the modern state
of israel was established. to his credit, though, cramer attempts to write this book by
interviewing men and women on the street; palestinians and israelis.
and it's good that he's talking to the "little people" and not the
political players. however, his choice of people is odd. quoting
members of gush shalom - the left-wing israel peace organization is
not quoting the voice of the israeli people today. once upon a time
gush shalom had a strong following. until the camp david peace talks
in 2000 with then left-wing prime minister ehud barak - the majority
of israelis were behind the initiative. but once arafat rejected the
2000 peace plan, the tide quickly changed. today, the majority of
israelis who were in favor of the oslo accords, are no longer
supporters of gush shalom. in addition, the majority of palestinians
who once supported the oslo accords now support suicide bombings. cramer also pays a visit to smadar haran, a woman whose husband and
four-year-old daughter were killed in horrific circumstances in 1979
when terrorists came from lebanon and grabbed smadar's husband and
shot him in front of his daughter. they then smashed her daughter
einat's head against a rock and killed her. smadar ended up smothering
her other baby to death to keep the baby quiet so the terrorists
wouldn't find her. almost thirty years later, smadar tells cramer she
is not a victim and doesn't want to be a victim. but why seek out smadar haran to comment on today's conflict? why
does he not interview frimet and arnold roth (whose 15-year-old
daughter was killed in 2001 by a suicide bomber in a pizza parlor).
why not interview sherri mandel, whose 14-year-old son, kobi, along
with his best friend yosi-ish-ran were killed when their heads were
smashed in a cave by palestinian terrorists? why not shalhevet pass's
parents. shalhevet - 10 months old, was assassinated by a palestinian
sniper who blew a hole in her head from a rooftop while her mother was
sitting with her in a park. surely these are the people to talk to
about the current conflict? i could go on. there are endless examples. cramer talks about
"stone throwing" by palestinians - presumably harmless, until you see
those stones up close. they're rocks. big, heavy, rocks. they're
weapons. two years ago, a seven month old baby was killed when a
palestinian threw a "stone" through a car window. perhaps though, cramer's greatest disservice is not in what he
writes, but in what he leaves out. that unlike peace with egypt, or
even jordan, there can be no peace with the palestinians while there
is no negotiating partner. palestinians continue to be ruled by hamas
- a terror organization - that puts food in their bellies, clothes on
their backs, and provides medical treatment. why? because their leader
- yasser arafat - has siphoned off the money meant for his people.
hamas approaches families offering them food, shelter, clothing, in
exchange for their children's education, whom they then teach to hate
and kill jews - and to blow themselves up to achieve it. there is not
a single palestinian school textbook that shows that the state of
israel exists. until palestinian children are taught that the state of
israel has a right to exist alongside a palestinian state, they will
grow up indoctrinated with the belief that the aims of the palestinian
people is to wipe israelis off the face of the earth. or as golda meir
(israel's former prime minister) once stated, "peace will come when
the arabs will love their children more than they hate us." as a jew, cramer is clearly upset. upset with israel for "losing
face" in the eyes of the rest of the world. a petulant child who has
lost faith in his own people. he wants israel to return to its halcyon
days when everyone loved the country in 1967. but what israelis have
learned that cramer hasn't - is that the defense of its people in the
midst of a bloody war is far more important than being seen as popular
or likeable in the eyes of the rest of the world or a self confessed
pro-israeli jew who lives safely in the diaspora. paul comstock is editor of clr. its website address is http://calitreview.com. to go to top report on christian aid and amnesty internation, june, 2004 posted by ngo monitor organization, june 15, 2004. this is a report on christian aid and amnesty international.
information on other aid groups can be found on our website:
www.ngo-monitor.org. or contact distribution@ngo-monitor.org. christian aid organizational data * founded in the 1950s and based in london. * goals: "to further charitable purposes, which relieve or combat malnutrition, hunger, disease, sickness or distress throughout the world. to further charitable purposes which advance or assist such other charitable work as may be carried on by or with the support or approval of the british council of churches." * income in 2002/2003 exceeded £58.5 million (approximately $90
million) and of this, 40 million ($60 million) came from private
donations, gifts and legacies. most of the remainder came from
government sources, including £5 million pound ($7 million) from the
uk government department for international development (dfid). church
of england, uk baptists, methodist churches, and the russian orthodox
churches are major partners and sponsors of christian aid. findings * christian aid's extensive involvement in anti-israel propaganda campaigns undermine its claims to be a charitable and humanitarian organization; * these campaigns systematically ignore the complexity and sensitivity of the arab-israeli conflict, and distort the causes of poverty in the middle east, thus contradicting the claims of being a neutral humanitarian organization. * christian aid not only contributes funds, but also legitimacy and logistical support to several partner organizations with a strong ideological agenda. christian aid's name is used to raise funds for political groups such as law and pchr that promote extremist anti-israel political agendas, exacerbating the conflict and, as many analysts have noted, is the modern version of anti-semitism. * christian aid's rhetoric displays a deep hostility towards
israel, blaming it for palestinian suffering, while failing to mention
the leading role of the palestinian leadership in promoting terror,
violence, and rejection of israel's legitimacy. examples: christian aid's propaganda film "peace under siege" * in october 2003, christian aid released a fundraising film entitled 'peace under siege' claiming to depict the "roots of palestinian poverty." in practice, the 20-minute documentary consisted of a vehement and highly inaccurate attack on israel. although christian aid has undertaken important projects in the west bank, it is clear from the footage in the film that christian aid also, and perhaps primarily, maintains the political objective of delegitimizing the state of israel. (christian aid's political campaign continues: "peace under siege" - ngo monitor oct. 2003) "fact-finding missions" * christian aid takes british politicians on "fact-finding missions" to the palestinian territories presenting a one-sided view of the situation in the west bank and gaza strip without any adequate chance for an official israeli response. the results were highlighted by the virulently anti-israel comments in the media of mps oona king and jenny tonge upon their return from a christian aid mission. tonge said of suicide bombers: "if i had to live in that situation - and i say that advisedly - i might just consider becoming one myself." * a christian aid visit of three irish politicians, described in a press release of 30 january 2004 ("international action needed to break middle east cycle of violence"), which included accompanying volunteers for physicians for human rights-israel to tulkarm as well as the israeli security fence around qalqilya, failed to include any reports on meetings with official or unofficial representatives of israel. * similarly, a press release of 28 may 2004, quoting british
mps on a visit to the region, stated that it was part of a programme
"to enable politicians to see for themselves the everyday experiences
of both palestinians and israelis." there was no reference to any
activities regarding israeli viewpoints. * christian aid sponsored two visits to the region by artist john keane which culminated in the opening in london of an exhibition of strongly anti-israeli paintings. amoral equivalence between victims and perpetrators * the press release of 30 january stated: "ten israelis
were killed and more than 50 injured yesterday when a suicide bomber
struck close to ariel sharon's residence in jerusalem. hours before,
eight palestinians were killed during an israeli incursion into a
suburb of gaza city." while the israeli civilians were killed in a
deliberate act of terrorism, christian aid fails to provide any
context to the israeli military operation that led to the deaths of
the palestinians. similarly, christian aid continues to draw an amoral
equivalence between palestinian terrorism and israel countermeasures,
terming them a "constant cycle of violence." christian aid's partner organizations * examples of christian aid's partner organizations include the palestinian ngos law, and the palestinian center for human rights (pchr) and the east jerusalem ymca. law and pchr played prominent roles in the infamous demonization of israel that took place at durban in september 2001. in december 2003, the ford foundation pledged to immediately halt funding for law. in addition, law has been under investigation for financial irregularities leading to a freeze in foreign donations after $3.63 million was found to have been misused. according to reports, the eu investigated on suspicions that law, amongst others, passed money received from the eu, to terrorist organizations such as fatah and hamas. (law is listed as a christian aid partner organization in a letter to eu foreign ministers) * as shown in ngo monitor analyses, a number of christian aid's partner organizations demonstrate a clear anti-israel political agenda. these include: adalah, physicians for human rights - israel and the union of palestinian medical relief committees. palestine monitor was found to be so overtly politicized that christian aid has stated that it is no longer a partner organization. political opposition to israeli policy (gaza disengagement) * christian aid's emphasis on political activity, rather
than humanitarian assistance, is also illustrated in its opposition to
the israeli government's policies ("'disengagement plan' is another
blow to middle east peace"). as previously analyzed by ngo monitor, a
press release of 16 april 2004 expressed opposition to prime minister
ariel sharon's gaza disengagement initiative, describing us president
bush's endorsement of the plan as "another blow... dealt to the people of
the middle east". (israel's disengagement plan - ngos rush to reject
gaza withdrawal - ngo monitor may 2004) * having expressed its opposition to the gaza withdrawal plan, christian aid then issued an 18 may press release in the wake of israeli military operations in the gaza strip, stating: "israel said it would intensify its military operations in gaza hours after a peace rally on 15 may in tel aviv demanding that prime minister ariel sharon fulfil his plans to withdraw fully from the occupied territory." * on 28 may 2004, christian aid released a parliamentary briefing
paper "a road to nowhere?", calling on israel to abandon its
unilateral disengagement policy, stating that the plan "undermines
international law" and that the uk and us were also "in danger of
breaching international law" by endorsing the plan. once again,
christian aid demonstrated its core political agenda, pursued under
the facade of humanitarian assistance. christian aid campaigns against the security fence * in a feature on its website (why the israeli 'barrier' is wrong), christian aid briefly acknowledged that "it is important to recognize israel's legitimate fears about terrorism, and its need to take steps to protect its citizens." however, this piece continues "our experience on the ground tells us that the barrier is not the way to achieve security and peace for either people." the security fence is condemned on humanitarian grounds while failing to address the palestinian terrorism that led to the need for the barrier, which is described as "the latest in a series of policies introduced by the israeli government since it began its occupation of palestinian land in 1967," and claiming "these measures have impoverished the palestinian population". such demonization of israel reflects blatant bias that is grossly inconsistent with claims to be a charitable organization. related articles: israel's disengagement plan
ngos rush to reject gaza withdrawal - ngo monitor may 2004 christian aid's political campaign continues: "peace under siege" - ngo monitor oct. 2003 christian aid's (uk) principles compromised by anti-israel ideology -
ngo monitor may 2003 amnesty international amnesty international has released its 2004 annual report,
including a section covering events from january - december 2003 in
israel and the palestinian territories. as in the past, this report is
extremely simplistic, reflecting a strong political and ideological
framework which undermines the credibility of this organization's
claims to be focused on human rights. the israeli/palestinian section is very similar to previous versions, including a heavy emphasis on comparative death counts, and the stark assertion that mostly unarmed palestinians were "killed by the israeli army in random and reckless shooting, shelling and bombings or as a result of excessive use of force." following its standard pattern, amnesty fails to present the evidence or methodology used in this analysis, or to define "excessive use of force" in the context of defending against mass terrorism. the authors quote the figure of 600 palestinian dead as a result of the aforementioned, and another 90 as a result of "extrajudicial executions", an emotionally laden phrase that erases the prevention of mass terror attacks through such targeted attacks. while laconically noting that "others were killed in armed clashes with israeli soldiers", amnesty's report fails to address the extent of armed palestinians and terrorists that were killed. as a result, the responsibility of palestinian terrorism for the conflict situation is strongly understated and hidden, as is the defensive context to the idf's activities. likewise, amnesty mentions the cases of three members of the international solidarity movement killed as a result of idf activities. the report, however, places the responsibility solely on the idf while failing to provide any context regarding this blatantly pro-palestinian extremist organization, whose members engaged in actions which directly or indirectly contributed to their deaths in high-risk combat zones. the report also included a very brief section dealing with
palestinian terrorist attacks against israeli civilians. while citing
the death statistics on both sides (another example of amoral
equivalence), no such clear data appears in a section devoted to
"attacks by israeli settlers on palestinians in the occupied
territories", which states, without offering concrete evidence, that
"israeli settlers... repeatedly attacked palestinians and their
property." the report cites two examples - the same number used to
illustrate the far higher number of israelis murdered in palestinian
terror attacks. thus, the basis for amnesty's emphasis and details in
the coverage and condemnation of israeli defensive actions, in
comparison to the coverage of the impact of palestinian terror,
appears to be entirely political and ideological. furthermore, on the topic of "destruction of palestinian property",
amnesty states that incidents of destruction were carried out by the
israeli military as "a form of collective punishment... in the wake of
attacks carried out by palestinian groups." despite examples of
incidents occurring in the midst of operations against palestinian
terrorists and smuggling tunnels, the report fails to consider the
wider context of israeli activities to defend civilians against the
terrorist campaign. similarly, amnesty repeats the unsupported claim
that restrictions on the movement of palestinians, including the
construction of israel's security barrier, are the primary reason for
the increase in poverty and unemployment in the territories. the
report fails to address widespread palestinian corruption, or the link
between these restrictions and the need to prevent terrorism. the
claim that "closures and restrictions on movement were routinely
increased in reprisal for attacks by palestinian armed groups" fails
to note the clear evidence that the israeli security policy has saved
many lives. in summary, amnesty's 2004 annual report presents a very distorted
image of israel's army as a vengeful entity, failing to recognize the
context behind anti-terror activities designed to prevent the
deliberate targeting of israeli civilians by palestinian terrorists.
unintentional civilian deaths as a result of idf operations are
treated in the same manner as the palestinian terror attacks
responsible for the deliberate and brutal murder of israelis, thus
repeated the all too common amoral equivalence between victim and
perpetrator. once again, amnesty's report dealing with this region is
more of a political and ideological document, which is couched in the
rhetoric of human rights and international law, but without the
substance. the ngo monitor organization (www.ngo-monitor.org) promotes
critical debate and accountability of human rights ngos in the arab
israeli conflict. the monitor is produced by the jerusalem center for public
affairs/institute of contemporary affairs founded jointly with the
wechsler family foundation. to go to top israeli government, kosher only on the outside posted by ariel natan pasko, june 14, 2004. the israeli supreme court today, in contradiction to thousands of
years of jewish tradition, and israeli law, overturned the 1956 law of
authority, which granted city governments special authority to enact
regulations banning the sale of pork products within their
municipality. many cities in israel have such a ban, and at issue was
a petition to the court, to remove the banning power from
municipalities. the nine-judge panel voted unanimously to allow the sale of pork
and instructed municipalities to enact new regulations conforming to
guidelines set down by the court. the guidelines include, taking the
character of individual neighborhoods into account when enacting
restrictions on sales of non-kosher meat. the guidelines allow pork to
be sold in neighborhoods where the overwhelming majority of the
population wants to buy pork, or are indifferent to its sale, i.e.
where there are few religious or traditional jews. in mixed
neighborhoods, the city will be allowed to decide for itself. "the supreme court has driven a nail into the coffin of jewish
identity in the state of israel," haredi (ultra-orthodox) opposition
shas party leader eli yishai said in reaction to the court's decision. united torah judaism mk rabbi meir porush also haredi and in the
opposition, decried the supreme court’s decision. porush
questioned the motives of the justices, who give the appearance of
working to destroy the jewish character of the nation, he stated. but from the national religious party (a more modern orthodox party
in the government), mk shaul yahalom said the decision was
"reasonable," given the "well-known views of the judges." he said his
party would have preferred to ban the sale of pork entirely. he also
welcomed the decision of the judges not to cancel the jurisdiction of
cities to implement local ordinances. in contrast, shinui party leader and justice minister yosef lapid
said the decision is "good news," he said shinui is not "pro-pork" but
wants citizens to have the freedom to buy "what they want, wherever
they want." throughout jewish history, kashrut observance, i.e. jewish dietary
laws (as seen in leviticus ch. 11 and elsewhere), has been a hallmark
of jewish life. historically, if you asked most non-jews about jews
and judaism, the things they would know most about were the sabbath,
passover and matzot (those funny dry crackers), yom kippur - the day
of atonement, and that jews keep kosher, they don't eat pork. after their conquest and occupation of judea, the syrian greek
hellenists (c. 168 bce) attempted to "break" the jews. they set up an
idol and began offering pigs to their pagan deity, in the holy temple
in jerusalem. when they began to spread their heresy among the jews,
they started in a small town called modiin. they set up an alter in
the town square and instigated some weak jew to offer a pig up as a
sacrifice in plain public view. public acceptance was meant to imply
that the jews were repudiating the torah and their covenant with the
g-d of their fathers. but in a clear example of the "law of unintended
consequences," it sparked a national revolt instead, when a priest by
the name of matityahu took a sword, stabbed the turncoat jew and
syrian greek officials, and declared, "whoever is zealous for the
torah and is steadfast in the covenant, let him follow me." the revolt
spread, and ultimately was successful, leading to a liberation of the
judean homeland from occupation. the jews cleaned-up the holy
temple in jerusalem and re-lit the menorah. the oil burned
miraculously eight days (the hanukah story), and hanukah is celebrated
till this day, throughout the jewish world, as a holiday celebrating
the liberation of the jews and judaism from pagan culture. why is the pig so detested in jewish tradition? if you look closely at chapter 11 of leviticus, in the torah,
dealing with dietary laws, you'll find the defining characteristics of
kosher land animals - mammals - they must "chew their cud" and they
must have "split hoofs". several animals are given as examples that
chew their cud but don't have split hoofs. the pig is given as the
example of that which has spit hoofs, but does not chew its cud. the
torah clearly says just following the pig example, "don't eat their
meat..." and in temple times "don't touch their carcasses..." because
you will become ritually impure (and unable to attend services at the
holy temple in jerusalem). so, it's very clear that jewish law forbids eating pig... the pig has even entered the popular culture of jews as the symbol
of hypocrisy. because, it looks kosher on the outside - you can see it
has split hoofs - yet it is "treif" i.e. not kosher on the inside,
because it doesn't chew its cud. in yiddish (one of the thirty-some
judeo-vernacular languages that jews created in their 1,900-year-exile
from their homeland), a "chazzer fissel" or pig's foot was what one
called a hypocrite. and so, the most beautiful thing just happened, the g-d of israel
made his manifest will clear for all to see. usually one fumbles
around, good intensions, good behaviors, but you're never really sure
if you're doing the right thing. then once in a while, comes a blessed
moment, g-d's message is as clear as day. this court decision comes at a time when the israeli government is
attempting to carry out an ethnic cleansing campaign against part of
its own jewish population. ariel sharon, current prime minister and
the "father of the settlement movement," who for years encouraged jews
to "take to the hilltops" and set up "outposts," has agreed in the
roadmap to "painful concessions," which includes dismantling those
very same outposts. those so-called outposts are actually new
neighborhoods - only extensions of existing towns - within the legal
boundaries of the town limits. and now, with his "gaza disengagement plan," sharon is determined
to evacuate, expel, ethnically cleanse, jews from their legally lived
in homes, from their legally lived in towns, from historically jewish
gaza, a part of the biblically promised "land of israel". sharon
looked kosher all these years to many on the right in israel; retired
general and war hero, supporter of settlement activity, tough on
terror, his opposition to oslo. yet, in the end, he's willing to give
away a part of the land of israel, without any quid-pro-quo from the
"palestinians". he's willing to allow gaza to become a terror state
launching pad to wipe out the rest of israel (the security fences
won't stop hamas missiles). and he's going far further than any
left-wing politician who supported oslo. "chazzer fissel" indeed... the man who so epitomized security concerns, is now in negotiations with the labor party, to bring them into the government. those are the same people who brought the tragedy of the oslo agreement - about a thousand israelis killed in the last three years of warfare alone - to the jewish state. sitting with sharon's likud party, in the israeli coalition
government is the shinui party, a party ostensibly middle-class and
secular, who wrap themselves in the flag of israeli democracy. but, of
course, that didn't stop them from running the most overtly racist
campaign in israel's political history, against the haredim, i.e.
ultra-orthodox jews, during the last elections. they even called them
"parasites," something worthy of the nazis, and something that should
not be tolerated in a jewish state. with sharon's recent firing of the two national union ministers
over the disengagement plan, and the national religious party also on
the verge of leaving the coalition, sharon's men have been scrounging
around for additional coalition partners, to join the now minority
government. teetering on the verge of collapse, sharon's government
has even contemplated reaching out to the ultra-orthodox parties. but the shinui party, according to mk yigal yasinov, would never
sit with haredim in the coalition, not today and not ever. asked if he
didn't feel his position was racist, yasinov claimed that haredim
"just worry about money for yeshivot [rabbinical seminaries] and their
institutions, and are involved in graft and illegal activities,"
therefore his position was justified, he said. in fact, it's shinui's partner in the coalition, prime minister ariel sharon who for over a year has been implicated in a bribery scandal along with his son. more "chazzer fissel"... i just want to mention in passing, that the national union party -
supposedly "ultra-nationalist" - waited until sharon fired it's two
ministers from the government, rather than resign over the
disengagement plan earlier. to their credit nrp leaders, former
minister effie eitam and deputy minister rabbi yitzhak levi resigned
their positions in the coalition when it became clear that sharon was
no longer the "patron of the settlements," but their intended
destroyer. but, the national religious party still hangs on, and the
leader of the party's left-wing, minister zevulun orlev, wants to
continue being part of the government. he was just appointed by
sharon, to the security-political cabinet, replacing eitam. then there is moshe feiglin and his manhigut yehudit (jewish
leadership) faction within sharon's ruling likud party itself. he has
been encouraging the national-religious public to join likud and "take
over" from within, "trojan horse" style. although they only make up
5-10% of likud members - by his own admittance on a radio interview
recently - they have been successful till now, of exerting
disproportionate power within the likud. feiglin didn't create the
"disengagement plan crisis" in likud - that fell into his lap - but it
gave him and manhigut a platform to flex its muscles in the ensuing
referendum, in which they "defeated" the sharon forces. but, bottom
line, sharon is still carrying through with his ethnic cleansing plan,
and all the likud ministers voted for it in the cabinet. how long will the feiglinites attempt to kosher the likud? interestingly, the supreme court's "pig decision" came in response
to a three-year-old suit filed by likud mk marina solodkin (originally
part of the russian-immigrant yisrael b'aliyah party before they
merged with likud), challenging the laws against public sale of pork.
it wasn't someone from the ultra-secularist shinui party, or the
secular labor party, or the ultra-leftist yahad party, but from within
the likud itself. in many ways, this is a sort of replay of the 1986 "pork bill" scandal within the leading "ultra-nationalist" party of the time, tehiya - a mixed party of religious and secular elements - when retired general and ultra-nationalist - but avowedly secular - raphael eitan voted with the sponsors of the bill to allow the raising of pigs in israel (for medical purposes, so they said). that led to his eventual withdrawal from tehiya, and the transformation of his tzomet movement into an ultra-nationalist and anti-religious party. tehiya itself later fell apart, but tzomet was elected to the 1992 knesset on an ultra-nationalist and anti-peace process platform. yet, it was tzomet's gonen segev and alex goldfarb who abandoned the party platform and joined rabin and labor in 1995. segev, "sold his seat" for a volvo - the car perk for government ministers - a seat in the cabinet, and was the 61st vote that allowed rabin to pass the oslo ii agreement in the knesset. today segev is on trial for trying to import 30,00 ecstasy tablets into israel. why do i remind you of all this? because, i believe manhigut yehudit will hit a glass ceiling. likud
is a secular, centrist party on the israeli political landscape, not
the pro-settler, religiously oriented one feiglin wants to turn it
into. already there have been many criticisms of feiglin and the
manhigut faction from within the likud, calling it an "alien implant".
the mostly secular members and politicos in likud will do all they can
to block feiglin and manhigut from rising to power within the party.
there have already been attempts to kick him out. we already see the
lack of adherence to "jewish values" and the lack of faith toward the
land of israel on the part of many "old-time likud" members. if the feiglinites get too close to a take-over, and they can't be
stopped, then i think the "likudniks," i.e. the secularists and
moderates, will bolt the party to join some other grouping. there are
already rumors that sharon has been negotiating with labor's shimon
peres to form a centrist "national unity" party, out of labor and
likud elements. if that happened, then feiglin and manhigut would be
left holding a whittled down settler party called "likud". that's not
much of a change on the political landscape. that's why i say; the israeli government is kosher only on the
outside... p.s. with everything i've said, i don't want my words misconstrued
to imply that i'm against the state of israel. jewish political
independence in the land of israel, i.e. the state of israel, is an
important mitzvah from the torah. in fact, all of judaism presumes
that jews live in their own homeland as an independent polity. but,
governments, administrations, and their policies come and go. the
state of israel is holy. it is supposed to be used to further the
cause of g-d in this world. but, those in power can misuse its
institutions, and this must be stopped. ariel natan pasko is an independent analyst and consultant. he has
a master's degree in international relations & policy analysis. his
articles appear regularly on numerous news/views and think-tank
websites, in newspapers, and can be read at:
www.geocities.com/ariel_natan_pasko to go to top a one term president posted by emanuel a. winston, june 14, 2004. president george w. bush, like his father, george herbert walker
bush who, during his presidency cursed the jewish nation and thus
sentenced himself to became a one term president. i've heard many
pro-israel jews claim that this president bush is "one of the best
friends israel has". i agree, he smiles pleasantly when he delivers
his orders for israel to dismantle and follow his road map to
perdition. somewhere near the start of this george bush presidency, i saw
similar traits as his father exhibited and i forecast then that he
would likely be a one term president. recent polls indicate that bush ranges between neck-and-neck with
john kerry while other polls show him several points behind. i do not
look forward to a kerry presidency and i had hoped that the younger
bush would continue on - insofar as he pledges to fight global
terrorism. regrettably, bush fell back into the old mode of his father
by attempting to appease saudi arabia and the other arab muslim oil
nations by initiating the dismemberment of the jewish state of israel. but, bush introduced his road map in his june 2002 speech - which
was dangerously revised by the arabist u.s. state department, together
with the anti-israel u.n., the anti-semitic european union and russia
(whose history is red with jewish pogroms). since the quartet
re-invented the road map, with no object from bush, the pressure from
the white house and the state department has increased exponentially.
the need for a political win in the middle east to offset the losses
in iraq become more important than preserving the jewish state of
israel. the weak leadership in israel started to bend and finally broke
under the unending threats from the bush administration to
re-partition the tiny jewish state of israel on its way to extinction.
the pro-arab u.s. state department has been working toward this goal
ever since the land of israel was partitioned by the u.n. in 1947
(against the strenuous objections by the state department). the day
israel falls (g-d forbid), be assured that champagne will literally
flow down the halls of the state department. bush, following his father's lead in practice, allowed state to
unleash its anti-israel dogs to attack the jewish state with every
tool and propaganda mechanism in its large inventory. washington has
long known that neither israel nor the u.s. could pacify the arab
muslim palestinian terrorists or the supporting arab muslim nations. if they did not really know before 9/11, followed by the american
and allies attack against the taliban in afghanistan and then in iraq
against the monster, saddam hussein - they must certain know it now.
there is no pacification of islamist/jihadists - no matter what you
offer them by way of appeasement, including the deaths and wounding of
americans fighting to save them from tyranny and even the sacrifice of
israel. america learned that the 56+ years the muslim terrorists have been
fighting israel was not just a single aberration of islam's hostility
to jews. now they've learned that also includes the christian west.
they experience it daily in iraq as muslims from all over the arab
world came through syria to join iraqis in killing american soldiers -
daily. they are also killing, bombing, ambushing the civilian
construction workers who are trying to restore electricity, water,
security and other civil services to the iraqi people. the headlines today (june 14th) read: "in race to give power to
iraqis, electricity lags: u.s. falls short of goal for reviving
output." this outrageous story appears the same day 13 civilian
construction workers (including one american, one brit, 2 french) were
car-bombed to death. (1) this was the day after 13 iraqis, including 4
iraqi police officers were blown up in separate car bombs in bagdad. american good-will attempts to appease them through winning their
hearts and minds by providing these services simply do not work to
prevent their muslim terror attacks against "the great satan" (their
name for america). now the bush administration is desperately trying
to find a way out and, like his father, is perfectly willing to offer
up israel as a sacrifice. the muslims call israel "the little satan." knowing all this about arabs, muslims, radical muslims, islamists,
jihadists - bush has turned on israel as his own political solution -
using force against her weak leadership to create a false win of the
bush plan to democratize the middle east. so, he took the only
democracy and advanced civilization in the middle east - the only
country in world who votes with america consistently in the u.n. and
begins to force her dissolution. he was determined to create what he
knows will inevitably be an international terror state for the arab
muslim palestinians which would show the hostile arab nations that he
was their friend and collaborator. he was going to not only shrink
israel beyond her present vulnerable, minuscule size but, would insure
that the only productive people in the middle east (the jews) were
forced from their ancient homeland. thus began a landslide of threats to the weak government of
israel's prime minister ariel (arik) sharon. the threats were credible
since israel relies upon her "friend and ally" for spare parts, trade
and hopefully a vote against the corrupt united nations as a voice of
reason against the always hostile europeans so closely allied with the
oil-bearing arab/muslim nations. with all that in mind, i repeat the oft-stated injunction of hashem
(g-d): "i will bless those who bless you; and curse those who curse
you." the bush dynasty has cursed the jewish nation and allied themselves
with israel's most dedicated arab and muslim enemies. i ignore the
self-serving gestures, smiles and nice speeches used for political
cover to persuade his christian right coalition and jews that bush is
a friend of the jewish people and nation. it's not what they say (or
how nicely they say it) but, it's what they do! i do recall the
reported phone conversation between the elder bush and king abdullah
of saudi arabia wherein bush assured the saudi king, "...not to worry.
my son will take care of you." and so he has.) presently, bush and sharon are ethnically cleansing the land that
g-d promised to the jewish people. may they and theirs be cursed to
wander homeless as they have cursed the jews. let no man raise their
hand against these consummately dangerous people, for they are 'tamei'
(unclean). we do not know how they and the nations who are gathering against
israel (as predicted) will be punished. they are now in before the
universal court and will be judged. i only regret that the punishment
must be shared by good people who stand near them. we read now in the
torah about the traitor, korach, who challenged moses and g-d, himself
in the desert - only to have the earth open its mouth and swallow
korach and all who stood near him. a universal ruling is long over-due
for the nations and the peoples who have cursed the jews and the
jewish nation. at the end of 'shacharit' (jewish morning prayers) there is a
closing line of thought: "do not fear the sudden terror, nor the
destruction of the wicked. contrive a scheme but, it will be foiled.
conspire a plot but it will not materialize, for g-d is with us." in righteous anger, i have often reminded hashem of the nations and the leaders who have savaged the jewish people and his promise of just retribution. i've spoken to him about the capitols of germany, france, iran, egypt, libya, iraq.... i've spoken to him about the kings, prime ministers, dictators and presidents - all of whom deserve to be eliminated in a plague or, at least, to suffer great pain on this earth. i even included the non-jewish jews who are betraying the jewish people. perhaps g-d is listening and will keep his promise of cursing all those who curse his anointed people. ### 1. "in race to give power to iraqis, electricity lags: u.s. falls
short of goal for reviving output" by james glanz, new york times, june
14, 2004 emanuel winston is a commentator and middle east analyst. his articles appear often on think-israel and gamla he is a member of the board of directors and a research associate of the freeman center for strategic studies (http://www.freeman.org/online.htm). to go to top p.a. arabs, unhappy with apartment size, fire at builders posted by mordechai ben-menachem, june 14, 2004. this was a news item in today's arutz-7. terrorists in the palestinian authority-controlled town of jenin,
in northern shomron (samaria), opened fire at and inside the local
united nations office, in protest of the small size of the apartments
being built for them. the un relief and works agency (unrwa) is in the
process of building the new houses to replace the slums damaged during
the idf's anti-terror operation defensive shield in 2002. the
operation is being funded by a $27 million contribution from the
persian gulf emirates, although the houses are much fancier and sturdier than the old
houses, they are 15% smaller, in order to make room for wider streets.
at least nine new streets, each about seven meters wide, have replaced
the narrow alleyways of the camp. much of the original damage to homes
in the jenin slums was caused by idf tanks forced to squeeze through
small alleyways, and by booby-trap bombs planted by terrorists. unrwa's spokesman in judea and samaria said that five arab gunmen
approached unwra offices and fired at the building last week before
entering the offices and firing shots into the rooms. this was the
third such attack on un offices and crew in jenin camp in the past
half year. complaints dealt not only with the size of the housing, but
also with the slow speed and accusations that senior palestinian
authority officials had stolen some of the financial donations to the
camp. one of the gunmen complained that the 180-square-meter (1,900
square feet) apartment he had been given - much larger than the
typical israeli apartment - was too small for his wife and him. "when
we have children, this apartment will be too small," he reportedly
told the un staff. the unrwa clerks, contractors and planners have halted all
construction until their security can be guaranteed. note: i live in a 73 metre apartment [mbm] mordechai ben-menachem is at ben gurion university. he can be
reached by email at quality@computer.org to go to top taking stock in stockholm posted by barry rubin, june 14, 2004. stockholm, sweden: there are few better places to contemplate
current european antagonism toward israel than in sweden. let's start
with a brief recital of factors shaping swedish attitudes: --on one hand is an explicit double standard. israel is expected to
act better than the palestinians or arabs, an attitude benefiting the
latter groups but rooted in an implicit racism toward them. --on the other hand, israel's enemies are romanticized as
revolutionaries, creating a second double standard in which their deeds
are justified as being in the service of a higher cause. --enjoying high living standards and believing themselves to be
highly humanitarian people, swedes salve their consciences by expressing
sympathy for a distant underdog even as it mistreats third world
immigrants at home. --after many centuries of peace, swedish political culture assumes
there can only be a conflict if both sides provoke one. in this sense,
israel is equally at fault. but being stronger it is held to be the main
guilty party. --swedish anti-americanism means israel's being a u.s. ally counts
strongly against it. --with sweden perennially dominated by the social democratic party,
hegemonic leftism creates sympathy for the side considered radical and
rebels. --the intellectual, cultural, media-dominating class (as elsewhere)
is especially predisposed to the above characteristics. thus, anti-israel
factors are highest in the sector shaping the rest of society's views.. --about five percent of the population are muslim immigrants. this
new sector's direct influence, alongside swedish attempts to appease or
sympathize with them, furthers anti-israel sentiments. there are just two points, which should not be underestimated, that
counter these diverse factors. first, a feeling of guilt toward the jewish
people. sweden was neutral during world war two, protecting itself from
invasion by selling nazi germany the iron ore it needed for weapons. while
sweden shielded its own small jewish population, it turned over some
jewish refugees to the third reich. swedes, like other europeans, insist their attitude toward israel is
not antisemitic. this may be true if one only means direct, conscious
hatred of jews. but antisemitism is central in terms of misunderstanding
jews in a way that makes them easily demonized as inscrutable people whose
fears and motives are incomprehensible. thus, the most extraordinary
things may be said and believed about them. again, though, sweden understands it is possible to go too far and
that is a restraining factor. it is careful to say that israel has the
right to exist and defend itself. the second factor is a collection of countervailing influences.
sweden remembers past sympathy with an israel seen as socialist and as a
fellow small country. there is some awareness that its enemies are
reactionary, authoritarian, and use terrorism. non-leftist forces like
christian democrats and liberals are also less hostile. even the current government has become somewhat milder in its
antagonism, partly due to the new foreign minister laila freivalds who
just visited israel, where she nonetheless claimed that israel's response
to terrorism violated international law. at home, she may have expressed herself more bluntly. during a recent
high school lecture, a muslim immigrant student asked freivalds whether
israel treated the palestinians as nazis did the jews. at best, freivalds
equivocated; at worst, a jewish student in the audience claims her reply
and remarks made to him afterward made it clear her answer was "yes." the
foreign minister denies his account. how she obtained her job is both ironic and revealing. freivalds'
predecessor, anna lind, was a 1960s'-style leftist who, for example,
blasted the united states for daring to suggest that yasir arafat might be
a terrorist. lind was murdered last september by a muslim immigrant bitter
about his family's mistreatment in sweden. while sweden was at one time generous in admitting refugees and still
gives them large welfare payments, it also keeps them at arms' length.
immigrants are not readily admitted into swedish society, suffer numerous
indignities, and have trouble finding jobs. anger is building and while
the small proportions of muslims will shield sweden from the troubles
facing france, islamist sentiments and even terrorist cells are becoming
evident. also troubling is the extent to which sweden is ready to compromise
its high-minded principles for the sake of siding against israel. this
includes suppression of an official report concluding aid should stop to
the palestinian movement because it was misusing the funds. the situation is also worsening for the small jewish community,
supposedly under the government's vigorous protection. one young man has
been assaulted four times by muslim immigrants who saw his star of david
necklace. when my colleague remarked to a jewish student about hers, she
quickly hid it under her collar. this is where sweden's policy and media reporting is leading on
middle east issues: distortions of reality, breaking democratic
principles, and siding with extremist, anti-democratic forces. knowing
this to be true gives rise to a small voice of conscience which may be the
only hope for changing the situation. professor barry rubin is director of the global research in
international affairs center (gloria) and editor of middle east review
of international affairs (meria). to go to top arab struggle to dominate; jews don't fight back posted by richard h. shulman, june 14, 2004. jews no longer can afford to acquire property in jerusalem unaided.
ultra-orthodox jerusalemites who marry and set up new households would
prefer to remain. instead must settle outside. secular israelis are
streaming out of the city, tilting it towards an arab majority. how can the arabs afford to stay? they build illegally, unhindered
by the authorities. the arabs evade license fees (and probably taxes)
and cut corners (and may usurp other people's land). (they also get
outside subsidy for the purpose of getting them a majority with which
to take over.) why does the government, whether dominated by labor or likud,
condone the arab illegality? the ultra-orthodox suspect that the
government won't build public housing for jews, because they don't
want the ultra-orthodox to get it. they would rather let the arabs
take over jerusalem, (mepf, 6/7 from miriam gardner of american yated
neeman, 6/3) which would mean severing it from israel. to these
secularists, jerusalem means little. labor has offered to give away parts of jerusalem, as if only their
views count. this selfish thinking overlooks the impetus that an arab
acquisition of jerusalem would give to jihad to kill them! as israel
shrinks, so do its defenses. there may be other factors. law enforcement against the arabs, in
these cowardly societies called democracies, is not politically
correct. the left, the outside media, democracies, and purportedly
humanitarian organizations would protest. ironically, illegal arab
building violates building codes meant to protect the inhabitants from
dangerous conditions. i would let israel's vicious critics, but uphold
the law or make a new one barring arabs. arab defendant's claims in order not to be deported, an arab in dallas denied being a
fundraiser for the holy land foundation, which was declared a
terrorist organization. he claimed to be a mere technician, unaware of
those larger issues. he still made that claim after the prosecution
presented checks made out to him and his name on fundraising
literature. his lawyer said that any low-level functionary would do the same.
he is just picked on for being an arab and a muslim (mepf 5/23 from
miriam gardner of american yated neeman, 5/21). every arab terrorist claims he is being picked on for being an
arab, as if no arabs commit terrorism, but the evidence is against the
accused. sometimes the evidence that the government can present
without jeopardizing other cases is insufficient to convict, but
rarely are they found innocent. discrimination against them is
minimal. claiming it is like liberal and black claims when of
non-existent discrimination, made to cow opposition. the immediate cry
of discrimination against arabs, without any evidence offered to
sustain it, not only is demagoguery, but is a terrorist tactic. we should disregard such claims and examine the facts of the case.
low-level functionaries and technicians are not named on fundraising
literature. names that draw donations are mentioned. richard shulman is a veteran defender of israel on several web-based
forums. he provides cool information and right-on-target overviews. he
distributes his essays by email. to subscribe, write him at
ricshulman@aol.com. to go to top israeli settlements come under....mi-6 surveillance posted by emanuel a. winston, june 14, 2004. please read the following report slowly & carefully. note britain's
mi-6 (military intelligence - 6) involved in surveillance of israeli
settlements & earlier involvement in provoking the first arab muslim
'intifada' (arab riots) in dec. 1987. there are many nations & foreign
interests conspiring against israel - including her own government
working in tandem with our "best" friends! this is a debkafile special report. debkafile - "we start where the media stop" at
http://www.debka.com/article_print.php?aid=862 june 13, 2004, the israeli government is getting ready to offer
down payments to voluntary evacuees from 21 gaza settlements and four
west bank locations that israeli prime minister ariel sharon plans to
remove by the end of 2005. this move is designed to stimulate
departures and jump the gun on two major delaying factors: the cabinet
only approved the israeli prime minister ariel sharon's disengagement
outline; voting on settlement removals is not due until march 2005 and
then it will be piecemeal. secondly, compensation to departing
settlers entails long and tiresome legislation, whereas down payments
do not. broad hints that the first comers will get the best deal have
been thrown out already. the bargaining is clearly about to begin. a second middle east party has also hit on the notion of
financially rewarding people willing to change address. debkafile's
palestinian and jordanian sources reveal that jordan's king abdullah
is offering non-returnable "mortgages" - cash on the nail - to high
palestinian officials willing to purchase and move to luxury villas in
amman. the king is hoping to shut the west bank door to the egyptians,
whose arrival is described as imminent under a putative proposal
agreed by egyptian president hosni mubarak, sharon and british prime
minister tony blair (about which more later). the amman villas come
with a proviso: purchasers must list their new addresses on their
calling cards. their dual residency is intended to provide jordan with
a foothold at palestinian authority headquarters in ramallah and
represent the king's interests on the west bank. according to our sources, several palestinians have taken abdullah
up on his offer; two are prominent: yasser abd rabo, palestinian
co-signatory of the geneva accords and jibril rajoub, yasser arafat's
own national security adviser, evoking a nasty letter from arafat to
the palace in amman announcing that he would not stand for jordanian
officers and agents running around palestinian territory. the west
bank is not the gaza strip! he declared. both are anxious to stall momentum on the mubarak-blair-sharon project, on which white house national security adviser condoleezza rice has been briefed, for egypt to send 150 instructors to jericho to set up a new training academy for intelligence and special operations officers. these instructors are to double as the nucleus of the projected egyptian military intelligence presence which will work in harness with british secret service mi-6 agents to supervise the reorganization (called "reforms" in the middle east road map) and operation of palestinian security and intelligence bodies. abdullah and arafat share in interest in sabotaging this jericho project, but are too far apart on everything else to collaborate. the prime minister's office in jerusalem has not shared the ins and
outs of this proposal with outsiders including cabinet ministers. in
important respects it is an offshoot of president george w. bush's
limited gains from the europeans and the united nations on iraq;
jocular encounters and amiable speeches have so far yielded no offers
of troops or authority to fly nato or un flags over the us-led
multinational force. even the president's resuscitation of the virtually moribund middle
east quartet elicited a tepid response. britain, which already has
troops in iraq, was the only european power prepared to jump back into
the palestinian-israel conflict, in its own inimitable fashion and for
its own reasons. tony blair believes fervently that restoring britain to arab favors
as a lead player in the middle east is the key to britain's revival as
a political and economic power. however, he suffers from five
handicaps: 1. gone are the glory days of formidable british fighting
strength. 2. investment capital is in short supply. 3. the british
public has no taste for foreign adventure. blair's military
involvement in iraq is unpopular and eroding his own and his labor
party's electoral standing. labor came third and last in local council
elections last week, trailing the opposition conservatives and lib
dems. 4. behind the grandiloquent rhetoric lauding the close us-uk
pact, washington is clearly delimiting british expansionist
aspirations - especially in iraq. british military presence and
influence are carefully winnowed down to a narrow - albeit
strategically important - strip of the south between the iraqi-iranian
border cities of basra and al amara, outside the southern oil fields
and with scarcely a toehold in most other cities including baghdad. 5.
parts of the blair government cling fondly to britain's former
pretensions as the great friend of the muslim arab world, forgetting
they were unceremoniously pushed out of the middle east half a century
ago and not always remembered with affection. 6. mi-6, the operational arm of british expansion, historically
opted for the middle east camp opposed to israel and cultivated a
special relationship with yasser arafat going back decades. strictly speaking, egyptian intelligence invented the palestinian
national leader and used his services between the 1960s and well into
the 1990s. even today, the egyptian official assigned to keeping tabs
on him is intelligence minister general omar suleiman. it is less well
known that during those decades, british intelligence ran a covert
operation to build him up as a world figure. london saw in him a
vehicle for planting british influence deep inside the arab-muslim
orbit (which is why he was never received in islamic revolutionary
tehran) and an instrument for keeping israeli intelligence in check
and limiting its influence in washington. these ties were somewhat loosened after the 1993 oslo peace accord,
when he relocated from tunis to gaza and ramallah. but they were never
abandoned. the british have performed two key services for the palestinian cause: a. they sponsored the concept of palestinian statehood as a means of reducing the jewish state to what london considered its natural dimensions, sitting behind arafat's shoulder and lobbying the international case for a palestinian state year after year until it was taken up by president bush. few israelis are aware of the pivotal role parts of mi-6 through the british foreign office played over the years in developing and shaping palestinian diplomatic and pr strategy, helping to make the palestinian cause far more resonant internationally than the israeli case - even when arafat openly espoused and practiced terrorism. b. they instigated the first palestinian uprising against israel in
1987; it was not provoked by arafat then still in tunis or even the
plo leadership, but mi-6 agents operating in the rafah refugee camp of
the southern gaza strip. the trigger was a road accident in which an
israeli army truck ran over a group of palestinian children. the local
protest raised spread quickly and was presented opportunistically to
the media as a "popular uprising." again in 2004, british "activists" are working hard to win arab "hearts and minds." now "volunteers" are sent over to shield rafah residents against israeli military operations and support palestinian protests against israel's anti-terror barrier. but, despite these five obstacles, blair's chances of making progress towards his goal are a lot better now than they were in 1987. for one thing, president bush owes him a big favor for standing alongside the united states in iraq. mi-6 agents may therefore swarm over the west bank under fairly lax control from washington. for another, the british path is paradoxically eased by the israeli
prime minister's office's spin campaign around sharon's disengagement
plan and the israeli media's readiness to buy uncorroborated reports
presenting egypt and european governments as eager to accept a role in
the plan's execution and lavishly fund its costs. the uk is thus
granted an opportunity to depict its agents' presence in the west bank
as laying the groundwork for the egyptian military and intelligence
personnel supposedly coming to supervise the reorganization and
operation of "reformed" palestinian security bodies. this is far from the truth. egypt has not yet decided finally to get involved in sharon's disengagement scheme. the coordination between london and cairo is flimsy at best, resting only on the initiative of muhammed rashid, a private palestinian kurdish individual, who commutes regularly between the two capitals, the while pushing hard for his london-based business partner, former gaza strongman muhammed dahlan, to make a comeback. furthermore, arafat's promises to streamline his security apparatus are trumpeted far and wide without awkward questions on implementation. last thursday, june 10, israelis were afforded a rare glimpse in
the sky of venus passing the sun; on the ground, they saw the mi-6
in action. israeli radio announced dryly that a group of british
intelligence officers had visited jenin and carried out surveillance
of israeli settlements. no one asked whether the group was on a
cowboy spying mission or had received authorization. and if
authorized, by whom? the israeli government is after all the competent
security jurisdiction in the territory. that was not the end of the matter. debkafile's washington sources report that shortly after the incident was discovered, the british premier handed the us president at the georgia g-8 summit a secret intelligence report that was a clear signpost to where the blair government is heading. the report claims the palestinians have made a good start on
cracking down on terrorists - except that they are severely hindered
by - the idf. israel's shin beit and its troops - and their unremitting
efforts day and night, year after year, to keep palestinian suicidal
terrorists at bay - rate no mention in the mi-6 report except as an
obstacle to palestinian good intentions. the london report, our sources learn, was handed to other leaders attending the summit. a copy was even addressed to ariel sharon and another to yasser arafat. this development raises some interesting questions about the game developing around the israeli prime minister's disengagement plan - to be the subject of the second part of this debkafile special report. emanuel winston is a commentator and middle east analyst. his articles appear often on think-israel and gamla he is a member of the board of directors and a research associate of the freeman center for strategic studies (http://www.freeman.org/online.htm). to go to top theory & reality: tested in yesha posted by richard h. shulman, june 14, 2004. by gesture and by glare, the arabs express their opinion that jews don't belong in kalandia. these same arabs roam freely in israeli malls or jewish yesha towns such as maale adumim. a resident of a jewish town tried to shoo away arab children (who had no reason for being in it), but found them unafraid. they know that if touched by one jew, another would report it. having raised their own children to be tolerant and humane, they assume that arab children are similar. actually, arabs are raised to hate jews as sub-human and to kill them. terrorists use children for suicide bombing. older arab children or arab workers might kidnap jewish children playing in the streets. it would be prudent to prevent this result of the arabs' collective war mentality. the jews of ostentatious humane impulses think that evil is an individual matter rather than the predominant ideology in arab society. these seemingly decent jews are obsessed with appearing to critics as decent. these critics have mercenary motives or an evil ideology. they deem the jews irredeemably bad, and simultaneously are indulgent about the demonstrably bad arabs. some would sacrifice israel for the sake of arms sales and appeasing the arabs over their use of the arms. does bending over backward to appear decent impress israel's
critics? no. the criticism remains unfriendly, unfair, and unceasing.
credit for the self-sacrificing appearance of decency is infrequent,
fickle, and false. experience would disabuse emotionally normal people
of this craving for gentile approval. unfortunately, those jews are
"other-directed." is bending-over backwards decent? ironically, no! it is not ethical to risk lives merely for approval from people whose own views are not ethical. nor is it ethical to soften one's blows against the evil arabs. evil is not something to compromise with. unless fully uprooted, it grows back like the mold in my bathroom tile grouting, and is more noxious. back in kalandia, a terrorist was caught trying to get through the checkpoint. later, arabs started a riot nearby, disrupting work at the atarot airstrip. israeli soldiers fired a warning shot. this shot, said to have killed an arab in a wheelchair, is being investigated. the idf is likely to conclude that the soldiers should restrain their firing, rather than to aim better. the idf too often risks its soldiers' lives and therefore fails to protect israeli civilians rather than that of arab rioters whose unwarranted confrontation of armed troops absolves israel of responsibility. the government might feel less restrained if it called this a war. then more people would understand the need for forceful defense. the usual critics still would denounce israel. israel ought to retort that its critics find the same forcefulness appropriate when defending their own troops, and that israel resents a double standard used against the jewish state. the checkpoint watch women had come earlier. a five-year-old arab claimed that a certain soldier hit him. the soldiers later told women in green that he never even had seen that boy, much less struck him. the checkpoint women ask the troops military questions. spying? they serve inadvertently to divert the troops attention from looking out for terrorists. women in green found that the soldiers still were not informed about
their rights against disrupters. its lawyer advised the troops to
identify and photograph the checkpoint women. some women refuse to
identify themselves. perhaps those are the foreigners among them, who
come to disrupt. a normal country would deport them (a former
associate, 6/8, e-mail). richard shulman is a veteran defender of israel on several web-based
forums. he provides cool information and right-on-target overviews. he
distributes his essays by email. to subscribe, write him at
ricshulman@aol.com. to go to top the sheikh's press pass posted by honest reportng, june 14, 2004. when a large new islamic center opened its doors in london on june
11, sheikh abdur-rahman al-sudais, imam and preacher of the grand
mosque in mecca, flew in to deliver an inaugural speech. under the headline, 'saudi imam urges british muslims to promote
peace,' associated press reports this al-sudais statement from the
event: the history of islam is the best testament to how different
communities can live together in peace and harmony... muslims should
exemplify the true image of islam in their interaction with other
communities and dispel any misconceptions in some parts of the media. bbc also spoke glowingly of al-sudais as the 'world's most
celebrated imam' who delivered a kindly talk promoting 'community
cohesion' between muslims and their neighbors (text, video). while al-sudais' london call for peaceful co-existence is certainly
laudable, bbc and ap failed to inform readers of the 'second face'
that al-sudais presents to non-western audiences. for example, memri
documents al-sudais' talks in november 2002, when he beseeched allah to annihilate the jews. he also urged the
arabs to give up peace initiatives with [jews] because they are "the
scum of the human race, the rats of the world, the violators of pacts
and agreements, the murderers of the prophets, and the offspring of
apes and pigs... these are the jews, an ongoing continuum of deceit,
obstinacy, licentiousness, evil, and corruption..." due to such statements, canadian authorities reportedly denied
al-sudais' request to enter canada just last month. arab media expert steven stalinsky documents that al-sudais' hateful talks are not limited to jew-baiting. al-sudais believes that [christian] "worshippers of the cross" and
"idol-worshipping hindus" ... should be fought. al-sudayyis has been
consistent in calling for jihad in kashmir and chechnya, for jerusalem
to be liberated, and for the "occupiers in iraq" to also be fought. he
often claims that islam is superior to western culture. given the saudi imam's well-documented history of jihadist
incitement, news reports welcoming his call for 'peace and harmony' in
london should have at least made reference to the vitriolic
anti-semitic and anti-western ideology that he regularly promotes from
mecca - the very heart of world islam. imagine if david duke were to speak in london on 'peace and
harmony' - would ap and bbc even consider omitting duke's white
supremacist views from their coverage of his speech? comments to associated press: feedback@ap.org comments to bbc: newsonline@bbc.co.uk honest reporting monitors the media for inaccuracy and unfairness
in how they report the news about israel. ther website address is
http://www.honestreporting.com. you can help support their research
online or by sending contributions to: honestreporting, 400 south lake
drive, lakewood, nj 08701-3167. to go to top clarification posted by ruth and nadia matar, june 14, 2004. women in green wants to clarify that nadia's article re the disengagement of jews from europe was a satire based on what ariel sharon plans to do to the jews in gush katif and northern samaria. ariel sharon has announced that "at the end of 2005 there will no
longer be any jews in the gaza strip and northern samaria". in fact,
august 14, 2005 has been set as the last day of the existence of jews
in gush katif. it also happens to be the ninth of av, the day of the
destruction of the first and second temples and the expulsion of the
jews from spain in 1492. sharon also announced that from now till august 14, 2005, those jews can leave voluntarily, but after 2005 they will be removed by force. the entire area will be given over to the arab enemy. disgracefully, the world has welcomed sharon's remarks concerning the ethnic cleansing of jews, and their deportation from gush katif and samaria and the destruction of thousands of jewish homes, synagogues, jewish businesses, etc., with calm and indifference instead of with shock and horror. in her article, nadia used the same exact terminology that sharon
used against the jews of gush katif but attributed it, satirically, to
eu leaders re the jews of europe. as expected, this was felt to be
shocking ... some readers even believing the article was true and
asking to receive some more info re the imminent expulsion of jews
from europe. even though nadia's article was a satire, women in green would like to
warn that if, g-d forbid sharon's plan for the deportation of the jews
from gaza and samaria will be implemented, the scenario of nadia's
article will become more and more likely. therefore, it is of utmost
importance to fight sharon's plan and prevent it from being
implemented. the best way to do so is to bring down sharon and send
him back home to his farm where he will be able to continue to raise
his sheep. the people of israel will not accept being sharon's sheep
to be slaughtered by him or anyone else. ruth and nadia matar established women for israel's tomorrow
(women in green), an activist group of women based in jerusalem. their
website address is http://www.womeningreen.org to go to top removing shame from my house posted by emanuel a. winston, june 13, 2004. over the years i had a modest personal and warm relationship with
arik sharon, ehud olmert, bibi netanyahu - among others. i first met sharon in the sinai during the 1973 yom kippur war
after he had driven the egyptians out of the sinai and across the suez
canal after the yom kippur sneak attack. i valued that friendship and
had his photo that i had taken at the suez canal on a wall in my
house. i admired him like no other and waited for the day when he
would become prime minister. that day came and the arik i knew and
respected vanished - to be replaced by an arrogant dictator. similarly, i had a good personal relationship with ehud olmert and
bibi netanyahu. with regret, i must remove these personal photos from
my walls because i know it's like having something unholy and evil
looking back at you. "evil", in this context, means anyone who would willingly and
actively endanger the jewish people and israel by dismembering the
jewish state. inclinaton. most of israel's rabbis and
military/intelligence experts agree that giving the arab muslims
control over the gaza and and part of judea and samaria will only
invite in more arab muslim terrorists from all over the world,
creating a site for an international terrorist state. the dangers to
the rest of israel (and by extension, world jewry) are patently
obvious to all who are not captivated by foreign interests. sharon and olmert have shown themselves to be in the grip of such
evil that just having their faces in one's home is like having an idol
in your house. as for bibi, he is merely a weak disappointment. a brilliant voice
without integrity is not a whole person. all the israeli officials need to do is "just say no!" photos of menahem begin, yitzhak shamir and moshe arens remain
because any mistakes they may have made did not include turning on the
jewish people as have sharon and olmert. an israeli withdrawal from
gaza will not stop terrorism - at least according to mahmoud a-zaher
of hamas, the likely secret leader of hamas after the assassination of
abdel rantisi who has stated forthrightly that hamas will continue to
launch terror attacks, irrespective of any withdrawal from gaza: "we
will not stop our attacks until the "occupation" [sic] is ended." the
occupation he refers to is all of israel - which sharon understands
but ignores. david ben gurion was a far more effective thinker and leader of the
jewish people in their creation of jewish state. he said: "no jew has
the right to yield the rights of the jewish people in israel. no jew
has the authority to do so. no jewish body has the authority to do so.
not even the entire jewish people alive today has the right to yield
any part of israel. it is the right of the jewish people over the
generations, a right that under no conditions, can be cancelled. even
if jews during specific period proclaim they are relinquishing that
right, they have neither the power nor the authority to deny it to
future generations. no concession of this type is binding or obligates
the jewish people. our right to the country - the entire country -
exists as an eternal right and we shall not yield this historic right
until its full and complete redemption is realized." by david ben gurion at the zionist congress in basel, switzerland in 1937 sharon and olmert, along with a gaggle of 'yes' men and women have
made their place in history. it is a place generally reserved for the
most dedicated enemies of the jewish people. since i would not
consider having the faces of shimon peres, yassir arafat, adolph
hitler, pope pius or those of the jewish judenrat in my home, with
regret, i cannot have sharon or olmert reminding me of what they have
become. they are to me as the walking dead. whatever they once were is
no longer relevant. whatever dybbuk (evil spirit) has entered their minds now has full
control of what they are and what they do. when faust sold his soul to
the devil, it was for riches. gifting your soul to the devil merely to
garner approval from a thankless world indicates an emptiness of
spirit. i wonder how long before we learn the price of sharon's
faustian bargain that he asked for - or was offered. arik sharon has pledged to drive the last jew from gaza by
september 15, 2005. most israelis are too smart for this. i think that sharon and his
gang will be gone before then! as i remove any signs of the old sharon
from my walls, may the israeli people remove this new and evil sharon
from the office of israel's prime minister. i cannot help but think that, with the callous disregard arik
sharon and/or shimon peres have shown for those pioneer settlers,
there will be civil unrest. people of spirit cannot long live under a
tyrannical rule. sharon and his 'yes' men and women are no longer
welcome in many homes of former friends. while pictures of these people come off the wall, no doubt, they
will start going up in the home of shalom achshav (peace now). even
kofi annan called to congratulate sharon personally. that should say
it all! emanuel winston is a commentator and middle east analyst. his articles appear often on think-israel and gamla he is a member of the board of directors and a research associate of the freeman center for strategic studies (http://www.freeman.org/online.htm). to go to top the new york times covers (and covers up for) child bombers posted by alex safian, june 13, 2004. why do palestinian children become human bombs, willingly strapping
on suicide belts and slipping into israel to kill as many jews as
possible? that's the key question which the new york times has once
again failed to answer, this time in an otherwise informative story by
greg myre ("israel says children enlist children as suicide bombers",
june 13, 2004). while myre pulls no punches when it comes to telling readers how
palestinian children are now recruiting their classmates and cousins
to become suicide bombers, he shies away from telling readers why
palestinian kids have taken up this grisly task. in myre's rendition the child recruitment is a mystery -- he
reports only that "some palestinian leaders have condemned the use of
teenagers, and opposition to the practice is widespread among ordinary
palestinians ..." could the palestinian kids have been indoctrinated
in their schools? myre casts doubt on this, reporting at face value
the claims of one palestinian school official that he tries to keep
politics out of the classroom, "this place is for education and we
don't want to talk about politics." unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth. far from
being opposed to child suicide bombers, palestinian society and
palestinian leaders revel in child "martyrdom," and the palestinian
media does all it can to encourage a cult of death among children. the
paramount palestinian leader, yasir arafat, for example, stated in an
interview on palestinian tv that: ... this child who is grasping the stone, facing the tank, is it
not the greatest message to the world when that hero becomes a shahid
[martyr]? we are proud of them ... (patv, jan. 15, 2002 cited in ask
for death, palestinian media watch.) while arafat's words certainly carry weight among palestinian
children, perhaps the most effective recruitment tool has been music
videos which are broadcast for hours on end by official palestinian
television (there is no independent television under arafat's rule).
the videos are a call to call to death and martyrdom for palestinian
children, promising the glories and pleasures of heaven to the young
"warriors for allah": how sweet is the fragrance of the shahids, how sweet is the scent
of the earth, its thirst quenched by the gush of blood flowing from
the youthful body. (itamar marcus in the jerusalem post, january 29,
2004) another music video also aimed at children and broadcast repeatedly
told young viewers that: oh, young ones: shake the earth, raise the stones. you will not be saved, o zionist, from the volcano of my country's
stones. you are the target of my eyes, i will even willingly fall as a
shahid [martyr for allah]. allahu akbar [god is great]! oh, young ones! (itimar marcus in the
jerusalem post, june 2, 2004) yet another music video shown repeatedly on palestinian tv centered
on a palestinian child who had been killed at the start of the present
violence in october 2000. a young actor portrays the child in
paradise, flying a kite and running on the beach, and encouraging
other palestinian children to follow him in martyrdom, "i am waving to
you not in parting, but to say, 'follow me.' " (itimar marcus in the
national post, april 8, 2004) as for the claim that palestinian parents oppose such suicide
bombings, news reports, including in the times, indicate the opposite.
for example, a few months ago myre's colleague james bennet reported
that "many palestinian parents have praised their sons and daughters
for carrying out suicide attacks, hailing them as heroes and martyrs."
(new york times, march 25, 2004) avoiding this ugly reality will only help to perpetuate it. write a
letter for publication so that other times readers will not be misled
by mrye's critical omissions. to send a letter for publication write
to : letters@nytimes.com this is the article by greg myre. it is called "israel says children
enlist children as suicide bombers." nablus, west bank - when teenage suicide bombers began emerging
from nablus last fall, israeli and palestinian leaders expressed
concern that palestinian factions were cynically exploiting the
youths. in november, a 16-year-old from nablus blew himself up near israeli
soldiers in the west bank, killing no one else. another 16-year-old
carried out a nearly identical action in january, with the same
result. in march, hussam abdo, 16, was captured on videotape when he
was confronted and arrested by israeli troops at a checkpoint with a
bomb belt cinched under his red sweater. in early may, israel arrested
two nablus residents, ages 18 and 19, who are accused of planning a
bombing. not all the cases are directly linked, but israel says that it also
has arrested a teenager it accuses of recruiting several youths in
nablus to become bombers. he is nasser awartani. nasser, 15, a good student with no previous record of trouble, is
one of four youths from the same 10th-grade class who are in israeli
custody, suspected of links to attacks emanating from nablus. "in his interrogation, nasser admitted recruiting and attempting to
recruit suicide bombers," says a report of his questioning, conducted
by israel's shin bet security service. the report was made available
in response to a request from the new york times. nasser's family members say they do not believe the accusations. "in this atmosphere, all mothers are worried that something could
happen to their sons," said nasser's mother, iklas abu saud, who is
divorced and uses her maiden name. "i tried to keep an eye on him at
all times, and didn't want him mixing with armed people. i can't
believe he would do something like this." as the israeli-palestinian conflict grinds on, with many
palestinian militants now arrested or dead, the ranks are increasingly
filled by eager youths, some in their middle to late teens. some palestinian leaders have condemned the use of teenagers, and
opposition to the practice is widespread among ordinary palestinians,
but it is not clear that the practice has stopped. palestinian
factions say that women and youths are more able than men to slip past
israeli security checks. the number of young bombers coming out of nablus has raised
questions about their recruitment. israel says nasser's case shows
that the factions have used teenagers to lure other teenagers. "a 16-year-old can be very effective using peer pressure on another
16-year-old," said an israeli lieutenant colonel stationed in the
nablus area who has been involved in investigating several of the
incidents. "these kids believe they are going to become heroes by becoming
bombers," said the colonel, who declined to speak for attribution
because of army regulations. "i see them as scared children who don't
grasp what they are doing." according to the shin bet report, nasser joined al aksa martyrs
brigades last year. he also had links to the popular front for the
liberation of palestine, the report said. initially, nasser's role was limited to such activities as putting
up the "martyr posters" that are produced when palestinians are
killed. but last october, two students in nasser's class at the abdel
hamid assayeh school asked him if he wanted to be a suicide bomber,
the report said. nasser refused, but he agreed to recruit potential bombers, the
report said, adding that his first choice was his friend and relative
sabih abu saud, a 16-year-old who lived nearby. the mothers of nasser and sabih are cousins, and the two boys had
known each other and played together all their lives. shortly before
sabih's attack, the boys went to a photo studio and posed together,
arms around each other's shoulder. according to the shin bet report, nasser introduced sabih to al
aksa leaders, and sabih left to carry out his bombing on nov. 3. the
teenage bombers generally have been ineffective, and sabih never made
it out of the west bank, blowing himself up as soldiers were closing
in on him. the parents said the boys' friendship was evidence that nasser
would not have led sabih toward becoming a bomber. in addition, they
said, sabih was a year older and was the big brother in the
relationship. it was unrealistic that the younger boy could have
exerted so much influence on the older one, the parents said. the israelis tore down the abu saud family home in retaliation for
sabih's bombing. still, the two palestinian families remain on good
terms. "i don't believe that nasser recruited sabih," said sabih's mother,
nawal abu saud, who wears a gold locket with her son's picture inside
around her neck. "sabih didn't need to be recruited by anyone. he did
this based on the suffering he saw." nasser's mother married and divorced as a teenager. nasser is the
elder of her two sons, and together they have lived with her parents
in a middle-class nablus neighborhood. she said her son was a good
student, though he began to withdraw and his grades slipped after the
palestinian uprising began in september 2000. when nasser asked her permission to take karate lessons, she
refused because it would have required him to go to downtown nablus,
where she feared he might find trouble. "i didn't want him to stray from the neighborhood," she said. still, one of the city's main hospitals was near nasser's school,
and when there was violence, nasser and other students would often
visit to see the palestinians who had been killed or wounded. "nasser would come home and say, 'today i saw someone who lost his
hand,' " his mother said. "and then he would cry." to keep tabs on him, she made him carry a cellphone. but shin bet
said nasser used the phone to contact al aksa leaders in nablus and
update them on his recruiting efforts. nasser approached several additional teenagers, and in at least
three more instances, introduced youths to al aksa leaders for talks
about potential bombings, the report said. one case involved hussam abdo, the 16-year-old captured on
videotape and in photographs on march 24 as he reached an israeli
checkpoint on the edge of nablus. after hussam was stopped and removed
his bomb belt, he was seized by israeli soldiers and interrogated. the next morning, at 3 a.m., israeli troops arrived at the second
floor apartment where nasser lived, handcuffed and blindfolded him and
took him away. he has been in a juvenile prison since, his mother
said. three of nasser's classmates also have been arrested in the last
six months. the military, which has detained thousands of palestinians
in recent years, did not reply to an inquiry seeking information of
the status of those youths. "none of the four had any problems here," said an official at the
abdel hamid assayeh school, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "we
were quite surprised to hear about the charges." the school official said he tried to keep politics out of the
classroom, but that often proved impossible. "this place is for education, and we don't want to talk about
politics," he said. "but these kids live politics every day." alex safian is associate director, committee for accuracy in middle
east reporting in america (camera). its website address is
http://www.cameral.org. to go to top thomas l. friedman, anti-semite posted by yashiko sagamori, june 13, 2004. imagine the outrage if the new york times published an op-ed
article that would contain the following paragraph: yes, the race relations in the united states are still
tense, but very few african-americans have been lynched here in four
years. that's my idea of racial harmony. there is no total victory to
be had by the american blacks over racism in the united states,
without total eradication of the kkk. there is, though, the
possibility of long periods without cross burnings and lynchings, with
the african american community holding the moral and strategic high
ground, so it can lead its life. i didn't write the paragraph above. thomas l. friedman did. i only
replaced a few nouns in what he wrote in his column in the new york
times on sunday, june 13, 2004. here it is, the way it was
printed: yes, the israel-lebanon border is still tense, but very few
israelis have been killed there in four years. that's my idea of
peace. there is no total victory to be had by israel over hezbollah or
the palestinians, without total genocide. there is, though, the
possibility of long cease-fires, with israel holding the moral and
strategic high ground, so it can lead its life. it's not difficult to figure out why the new york times
decided to hire a jew to promote its consistently anti-semitic views.
it's hard to imagine though how mr. friedman manages to look at his
reflection in the mirror without vomiting. lots of practice, i guess. yashiko sagamori is a new york-based information technology
consultant. to read other articles by the author, go to
http://www.middleeastfacts.com/yashiko/ or email ysagamori@hotmail.com to go to top gaza's underground economy posted by david frankfurter, june 13, 2004. "operation rainbow", the israeli army's recent incursion into the gaza town of rafah, was accorded intensive coverage by the world media. the actions of both sides were exposed - and judged in the courts of world opinion. for example, in flagrant breach of the geneva conventions, palestinian combatants were transported in unrwa ambulances. in another incident, an israeli tank missile overshot its target, killing both palestinian combatants and civilians. gaza's extensive underground tunnels, used by the palestinians for gunrunning, were also exposed. the bbc among others published a full pictorial exposure on its website. evidently, since the palestinians declared war on israel in september 2000, they have constructed dozens of these subterranean networks. romantic legends surround resistance movements. such tunnels are pictured as being hand-dug by idealistic freedom fighters - in this case to supply arms to the heroic palestinian resistance. in fact, the real picture is far from romantic. there are even ramifications concerning eu and british government aid for the palestinians. these tunnels originate on the egyptian side of the border and exit in the back streets and congested civilian neighborhoods of gaza. guns, anti-tank and sagger missiles are not the only items transported. drugs, precious metals and electrical goods are also brought under the border. women, destined to be victimised by a lucrative sex trade, are also smuggled via egypt. the operators, traders and middlemen all make significant profits - a profit margin that is apparently significant enough to distract the egyptian border police. how are these tunnels dug? with professional earth-moving
equipment. the tunnels are extensively engineered - installed with
electricity, telephone communication, airshafts, and recently even
with proper lifts. they average about 500 metres in length. how many are there? the number is difficult to confirm, as the
tunnels often connect to each other. israel has exposed around 100 of
them to date. what are the costs of such complex, extensive engineering? sources
put the cost at up to $1,000 per metre - or up to $500,000 per tunnel. part of the economic overhead includes hiding the tunnel's exit. every
gaza family knows that allowing their home to hide a tunnel is a
high-risk business. and so, the owners receive "rent" of $1,000 per
month for the use of their home. should the tunnel be discovered and
the house destroyed, the family is promised compensation by the
palestinian authority. this includes a brand new home in the up-market
neighbourhood of tel sultan. the economics of the whole enterprise extends beyond the "host family" holding the tunnel franchise. as more tunnels are uncovered, the value of the smuggled goods has risen. bullets, which used to cost $1, now cost five times that price. one might suppose that the prices of other smuggled wares have risen according to the same scale. a more sinister role is played by the palestinian authority (pa), headed by chairman arafat. this is the only body in the region with the logistical might to manage such a comprehensive enterprise. and it has been repeatedly caught in arms smuggling, a clear contravention of the oslo accords and other agreements. the pa also has the financial resources to devote to these schemes. from the eu alone, it has received 4 billion euro ($4.9b) over the past decade, in addition to donations from individual countries - including the british government. and here is the catch. uk charities operating in the area repeatedly
claim that the average palestinian is forced to live on $2 a day. the
uk government is about to announce a full package of financial support
for "palestine", including a further £26m ($47m) in 2004. the abject poverty of the average palestinian contrasts sharply with the vast quantity of monies donated to the palestinian cause. the contrast may be explained by an independent imf report on financial mismanagement in the pa. also, the eu reported in march 2004 of clear evidence of the diversion of aid money to fund terror. even former palestinian ministers and bankers are complaining of corruption amongst the top leadership. the diversion of funds to terror is a compound crime. it is an abuse of trust. taxpayers across britain and europe are seeing their hard-earned money go not to the palestinian people, but to pay for - among other things - complex underground smuggling operations. the efforts of britain and the eu should be channeled towards aiding the palestinian people, and guiding the region to peace, rather than escalating warfare. david frankfurter is a writer on economic affairs in the middle
east and a regular contributor. he sends "letters from
israel" emails to subscribers. email him at
david.frankfurter@iname.com or go to
www.livejournal.com/users/dfrankfurter/ to go to top gush katif needs your help posted by ken heller, june 13, 2004. ladies and gentlemen: "disengagement".."uprooting"..."resettlement"..."transfer"..."deportation"..."expulsion" whatever you call it, mr. sharon's plan to make gaza and, for the
time being, parts of shomron "judenrein" (jew free) are abominable,
horrifying displays of perfidy. he is acting as a traitor to am
yisrael because he is a traitor to his people! he is eliminating
democracy and human rights....of his own people to appease foreign
governments and terror organizations. did it matter that his own party
rejected his plan? not a bit. he will simply continue to do the
bidding of george bush, colin powell, condeleeza rice, the un, the eu,
russia as well as the terror organizations, one of which just
yesterday, hamas, said that they will continue its terror activity
against israel regardless of whether sharon's plan is implemented. if you would have told me four years ago that mr. sharon would
indeed become mr. mitzna (the man he ran against for prime minister)
and implement miztna's plan of disengagement of the jews in gaza, i
would have said, in my apparent naivete, that you were nuts. but
indeed that is what happened. it is incredible that this has been
allowed to happen. it is terribly sad. it indeed is a crisis! a friend of mine, anita tucker, living in netzer hazani within gush
katif has said that "too many people in israel and the united states
have apparently become anesthetized by the situation in which
democracy has been totally trampled and sharon's mafia has taken
charge". she added in her letter, "the people of gush katif have
decided to stand tall and proud against sharon and his power mania
effort to murder our souls and spirits by the method of divide and
rule". we must stand "tall and proud" with the people of gush katif and
help stop sharon's madness. a good way to put pressure on the powers to be is by phoning,
faxing and emailing them telling them that sharon's insanity must stop
now before he adds irreparable harm and disaster to the people of
yesha and all of israel....because that is what his plan would do. of course, try to focus on the ministers and their assistants. you can't possibly call them all but do the best you can. i understand that faxes work better than emails. please click here to retrieve the numbers for
israeli government ministers and thank you very much for your genuine care and concern for the people of gush katif. if you would also want to help by sending a financial assistance,
please make your check out to: "friends of gush katif", in
care of ken heller, 11213 jeanes street, philadelphia, pa. 19116 your help is desperately needed. thank you! ken heller ken heller is a pro-israel activist and heads the philadelphia
chapter of americans for a safe israel (afsi). he can be reached at
kjhnha@aol.com. to go to top the punditry of amnesiacs posted by gerald a. honigman, june 13, 2004. in light of repeated acts of megabarbarism deliberately directed against israeli innocents (many proudly claimed by arafat's own al-aqsa affiliate), it's time to take a closer look at some of the underlying issues which have frequently been ignored. consider the following, for starters... pick your paper...as diverse as the washington post or the daytona beach (florida) news-journal. chances are pretty good that editors and columnists are ready to give advice or offer condemnation on the matter. and this just reflects the american press. it is often far worse elsewhere. the post's richard cohen, the new york times' nicholas kristof, and many of their colleagues elsewhere don't like prime minister ariel sharon very much, especially those settlements he has frequently insisted upon. the news-journal's editorialist pierre tristam--one of the point men for the paper's own slant--writes such objective essays as "barbarism under israel's boot." kristof compares sharon to arafat. in a piece which appeared in the news-journal on may 27, 2004, he blamed sharon for "knocking the legs out from under the palestinian moderates." the fact that the arabs responded to camp david and taba 2000, in which they were offered everything but the kitchen sink and responded by starting the bloody intifada instead, "of course" had nothing to do with hurting the so-called peace camps on both sides of the conflict for those of kristof's persuasion. having their own bully pulpits, more often than not, attempts by the public at meaningful response to such "truths" are then suppressed. and those few snippets that are permitted usually appear in the paper long after the original extensive editorial and op-ed attacks, skewed news reporting, and the like have had a chance to be digested and absorbed as "fact" by readers. while living in the safety and comfort of their own homes and
having to travel farther to work than the width of israel by its
pre-'67, 1949 u.n.-imposed armistice lines, such folks as these in the
media, academia, and--alas--too often in our own state department seem
to prefer a breed of jew that bares his neck much easier. but, then
again, most of them complained about former prime minister ehud barak
as well, even though, had arabs agreed to have a state alongside
israel instead of in place of it under his watch, virtually all of
those settlements would have been history by now. not to mention the
fact that when sharon himself earlier believed that israel had a true
partner for peace, he dismantled settlements in sinai for menachem
begin in order to achieve "peace" with egypt...something totally
ignored by the richard cohens, thomas friedmans, nicholas kristofs,
and molly moores of the media world. it's also worth noting that it is
from "peaceful" egypt, recipient of over sixty billion dollars in
american top of the line armaments and aid, that those tunnels
originate from which supply hamas, islamic jihad, & co. with
explosives and such to carry out a terror campaign against jews... so
much for what kind of faith israel can place in alleged "peace"
agreements with dictatorial arab regimes. as of april 2004, sharon had gotten into political trouble in
israel for declaring, in the absence of another arab partner for
peace, that he would dismantle settlements in the strategically
important gaza strip and west bank anyway. many saw this as simply a
unilateral reward for terrorism...thereby only encouraging more of it.
true to form, there was no gratitude shown by arabs for these
concessions...just more one-sided demands. their post-'67 destruction
in phases scenario was playing out nicely. nevertheless, the media
largely kept up its attacks upon sharon anyway. so, all of this begs the question: why is there seldom an attempt,
in the name of fair journalism, to determine why those jews are so
adamant on the issues of territory and settlements? as a concession to the so-called "roadmap," it had earlier been
reported that arafat and his former holocaust-denying prime minister,
mahmoud abbas were seeking to limit arab disembowelment and
incineration of jews to "just" the west bank and gaza. they would thus
supposedly be able to show the world that they were only against
"occupation and settlers," not israel itself.. a mere look, however,
at the material in their own websites, textbooks, etc. soon explains
what "occupied" territory really means...tel aviv as well as hebron.
and this is even more so for the hamas crew. after its war to oust
saddam from iraq, the united states banned the baath party in iraq.
regardless of one's thoughts about this, hamas openly declares that no
israel, regardless of size, has a right to even exist...so what should
a much more vulnerable israel insist upon? for those without a grasp of history, both recent and a bit
farther back, this ploy focusing on occupation and settlements will
work. and it will do so for those who simply like to believe that
israel is the devil incarnate as well. unfortunately, it also seems to
work with a media afflicted too often with a severe case of amnesia
when it comes to such issues. the reality is that this proposed
gesture by arafat was just another staged fiction for, at best, a
naive west. just who is a settler in the middle east, and how is that word
defined? of course, arabs, cohen, kristof, & co. point to jews. so, unless the "west bank" is ethnically cleansed of the jewish presence, as the fiction goes, there will be no chance for peace. much, if not most, of the press constantly supports this position. countless editorials and columns have appeared spouting such wisdom. consider the november 16, 2002 ap report by nasser shiyoukhi. listen to his description of the situation in hebron: "the muslims here are among the most devout and the jewish settlers among the most radical." notice the adjectives. unlike the arabs, the jews -- who know that
they are risking their lives living among hostile arabs but do so
anyway for deep religious conviction and faith --were not described as
"devout," a positive concept, but were labeled, instead, as being
"radical," with negative connotations. yet the tomb of the patriarchs
was sacred to jews for over two thousand years before the prophet of
islam ever lived and before the vast majority of arabs ever knew that
the hebrew patriarch, abraham, even existed. the same folks who claim
that there was no temple of solomon in jerusalem (arafat calls it
buraq's mount in honor of muhammad's winged horse who supposedly took
him on a flight to the holy site) deny any jewish connections to
hebron as well. now for a dose of reality... there's very good evidence that arafat was born in cairo, egypt. scores of thousands of other arabs came from egypt earlier in the 19th century with muhammad ali's armies and, like arafat a bit later, settled in palestine. during the mandatory period after world war i, the league of
nations permanent mandates commission recorded additional scores of
thousands of egyptian, syrian, and other arabs entering into palestine
and settling there. hamas' patron saint, sheikh izzedin al-qassam, for
whom its militant wing (the folks who blow up the teen clubs,
pizzerias, buses, etc.) was named, was from aleppo, syria. he too
settled in palestine. it is estimated that for each one of these
people who were recorded, many others crossed the border under cover
of darkness to enter into one of the few areas in the region where any
economic development was going on because of the influx of jewish
capital. these folks later became known as "native palestinians." while this is not to say that there were not native arabs also living in palestine, it is to say that many, if not most, of these folks were also newcomers-- settlers--themselves. many of the villages set up in the west bank and elsewhere were settlements established by arab settlers. and there were jews whose families never left israel / judaea / palestine as well over the centuries, despite the tragedies of the roman wars, forced conversions of the byzantines, the diaspora, crusades, etc. so, why is it acceptable to cohen, kristof, friedman, tristam,
and--at best--their fellow amnesiacs for arabs from the surrounding
lands to settle in palestine, but not for israel's jews, half of whom
were refugees themselves from arab/muslim lands? they're the other
side of the refugee coin nobody talks about. jews owned land and lived in judea / samaria until they were massacred by arabs in the 1920s. those lands weren't known as the "west bank" until british imperialism made its presence there in the 20th century and purely arab transjordan -- created itself in 1922 from 80% of the mandate for palestine britain received on april 25, 1920 -- annexed the "west bank" of the jordan river after the 1948 fighting. saying jews have no rights in places like hebron is like claiming
that if china conquers the vatican, then catholics will no longer have
rights there. again, the world would not know of the significance of
places like hebron if not for the holy scriptures of the jews. if one
million arabs can live as citizens without fear in israel, then why is
it that arabs insist that lands where both peoples have historical
ties must be made judenrein? un resolution #242 emerged in the aftermath of the six day war. it did not call for israel to return to those suicidal, pre-'67 armistice lines. among other things, those lines had made israel a mere 9-miles wide, a constant temptation to its enemies.. notice, please, that the vast majority of the settlements are built on strategic high ground areas designed to provide precisely what israel is entitled to under resolution #242... a slightly increased buffer from those who would destroy it. furthermore, any eventual israeli withdrawal was to be linked to the establishment of "secure and recognized borders" to replace those fragile lines. many of those now demanding israel to forsake this have conquered nations and acquired territories hundreds or thousands of miles away from home in the name of their own national security interests. legal experts such as william o'brien, eugene rostow, and others have repeatedly stated that the non-apportioned areas (the west bank in particular) of the palestinian mandate were open to settlement by all residents of the mandate, not just arabs. that arabs disagree is not a shock. they don't believe jews have rights in any part of israel. keep in mind that most of the almost two dozen so-called "arab" states were themselves conquered and forcibly arabized from non-arab peoples like berbers, copts, kurds, jews, black africans, and others as well. lastly, at camp david 2000 and taba, barak's israel offered to end the occupation. 97% of the territories, half of jerusalem, a $33 billion fund, and other concessions. were offered to arafat in a contiguous state, not disconnected cantons, as arab spin doctors now claim. ambassador dennis ross was there as u.s. chief negotiator and confirmed all of this. i'll take his word over arafat's. so much for occupation being the cause of the problem. unfortunately, the predominant arab "vision of peace" still has no room for a permanent israel. some have made a tactical decision to play the game to win as much concessions diplomatically from israel as possible...making their end goal that much easier to achieve. arafat and others speak of the "peace of the quraysh." the quraysh were a pagan tribe with whom the muslim prophet, muhammad, made a temporary peace with until he gained enough strength to deal the final blow. even the plo's late model moderate, faisal al-husseini, called for a purely arab palestine "from the river to the sea." if one is really interested in seeing what arab thinking is in these regards, all that is required is an online visit to the palestinian authority websites, or a look at its textbooks, maps, insignias and such. there is no israel present. and these are the "good cops." go to the hamas site and then understand why the sole, miniscule state of the jews cannot be expected to commit national suicide so that arabs can obtain their 22nd or 23rd state - and second one in palestine. gerald a. honigman is a florida educator who
has created and conducted counter-arab propaganda programs for college
youth, has lectured on numerous campuses and other platforms, and has
publicly debated many arab spokesmen. his articles and op-eds have
been published in newspapers, magazines, academic journals and
websites around the world. to go to top arbel's legacy: israel's politicized justice system posted by aryeh zelasko, june 13, 2004. this was written by ben chorin. israel's state prosecutor's office consistently decides whether to
pursue charges against politicians based on their political views.
this is not conjecture; it is backed by overwhelming evidence. the
most far-reaching consequence of this policy is its deterrent effect.
politicians know that if they behave according to the political
preferences of the prosecutor's office, they have a better chance of
not being charged with a crime. every politician knows that there is
an open file waiting for a misstep and that such files can be kept
open for many years. they also know that if they pursue the "right"
(that is, the left's) policies, any file can be made to disappear.
(i'll even go out on a limb and make a prediction here. attorney
general mazuz will find a way to keep sharon on the hook as long as
possible. he will neither indict him nor close the cases against him.
just watch.) i could list two dozen examples of the above phenomenon with little
effort. but i'll mention here only five of the most egregious ones,
each of which has had significant political consequences: 1. for the first example, i'll simply quote my friend jonathan
rosenblum: "arbel was accused, together with former attorney-general
michael ben yair, of bringing an indictment against then-justice
minister yaakov neeman which they knew could not hold up in court.
their goal: to force the resignation of neeman, an outspoken critic of
the government legal system. (see "bad faith and shoddy goods,"
http://www.jewishmediaresources.com/article/709/ "the police were not allowed to enter a written recommendation
concerning neeman's prosecution into his file because prosecutors knew
that the recommendation would be negative. worse, the police were not
allowed to interrogate the only relevant witness in the case, despite
his pleas that they do so, because that testimony would have fully
cleared neeman. "though neeman was fully exonerated by the court, which had harsh
words of criticism of the prosecution, he was never reinstated as
justice minister. thus those who "fabricated a case against an
innocent person and obstructed justice in order to pursue a purely
political and ideological agenda," in the words of ma'ariv editor
amnon dankner, succeeded in their goal of removing neeman. "if there is an answer to the charges concerning the neeman prosecution, we have yet to hear it." 2. the second example is the failure to prosecute anyone in the
yossi ginosar affair, a tale of corruption so deep it could have kept
an army of journalists busy for years. instead it died inside of a
week. in short, ginosar was a secret agent and friend of all the labor
party makhers, who made millions in partnerships with muhammad rashid,
a major plo makher. rashid and ginosar were partners in palestinian
cement and casino businesses. they were also involved in laundering
hundreds of millions of dollars for the palestinian authority -- money
which remains unaccounted for to this day and has very likely been
used to finance terror operations. (steve cohen, now an advisor to
colin powell, was also reportedly involved in this scheme.) ginosar
also served as a senior advisor to rabin, peres and barak before and
during camp david. these negotiations concerned sensitive security and
financial issues and ginosar's conflict of interest could not be more
blatant. consequently, then attorney general elyakim rubenstein ruled
that ginosar could not serve in israel's delegation to camp david. as
part of massive efforts by barak to include ginosar, affidavits were
presented denying any conflict of interests. these blatantly false
affidavits were reportedly signed by danny yatom. despite solid
testimony by ginosar's assistant, ozrad lev, no charges were ever
brought against ginosar (now deceased) for corruption, nor against
yatom for perjury. incredibly, the case was closed due to "lack of
public interest". (an important sidebar to this story: two other people deeply
involved in the palestinian casino business are dov weissglas
(http://israelbehindthenews.com/archives/may-16-04.htm#conflictofinterest),
sharon's right-hand man in the hitnatkut fiasco, and martin schlaff
("weisglass pushed sharon to reopen jericho casino",
http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=20734) the man reportedly behind
the cyril kern affair.) 3. ehud barak's cronies, tal zilberstein and buzhy herzog, set up a
network of fake charitable organizations to funnel money illegally to
the barak/labor campaign. the state comptroller, eliezer goldberg, who
investigated the matter, called it a "trampling of the law" and fined
the party an unprecedented 3.2 million dollars. among other
violations, the "charitable" organizations were used to launder
illegal foreign contributions and to funnel to the campaign estate
money, under herzog's control, intended for charity. under questioning
both herzog and zilberstein "pleaded the fifth". the investigation was
allowed to fizzle and no charges were ever brought against any of the
major players. 4. by contrast, after his defeat against barak, bibi netanyahu was hounded by the police and press for moving gifts he received as pm from one warehouse to another, supposedly some sort of technical violation. (his labor predecessors reportedly took hundreds of gifts home and in at least one case such gifts were auctioned off; none of them were even investigated.) when attorney general, elyakim rubenstein declined to bring charges, arbel let it be known far and wide that she dissented from his view and wanted charges brought. a few days ago, the supreme court, of which both arbel and rubenstein are now members, decided on the murkiest of grounds that the justice department is obligated to publicize arbel's decision, despite it's being an internal justice department document. [jp note: this was just before netanyahu hid behind the proffered fig leaf and changed his position to support sharon's abandonment of gaza. surprise: the arbel report has not been published, as "required".] 5. arbel authorized moshe mizrachi, head of the israel police
international investigations division, to wiretap the phones of
avigdor lieberman and other right-wing politicians as part of an
alleged criminal investigation. as it turns out, mizrachi taped
conversations clearly unrelated to the investigation, including
intimate conversations between family members and friends, and
conversations between public personalities (including past and present
state presidents) not suspected of any crimes. in addition, mizrachi
transcribed these conversations and placed them in a safe, presumably
for use as the need and opportunity would arise. these charges were
confirmed and documented in detailed reports by both rubenstein and
state comptroller eliezer goldberg (http://wwwhttp://www.nfc.co.il/archive/001-d-45337-00.html
?tag=1-22-28&au=true.nfc.co.il). arbel used her office to hamper
these investigations from their inception. finally, when rubenstein
recommended removing mizrachi from his post, arbel, in violation of
all protocol, publicized a dissenting view, sharply critical of
rubenstein. the case against mizrachi could not be more compelling,
arbel is herself implicated in these crimes and hence suffers from
clear conflict of interest, and, in any case, had no authority to
publicly dissent from the attorney general's ruling. that she did so
without any fear of public criticism (indeed, the press dutifully
supported her) is sorry testimony to the state of israel's justice
system. to make matters worse, it is now reported that the chief of
police has decided to reject rubenstein's recommendation and will not
remove mizrachi from his post. arbel's second victory over rubenstein
(and over common sense and decency) this week. aryeh zelasko lives in beitar illit, south of jerusalem. he is
director of sales and marketing of israel visit
(www.israelvisit.co.il) which provides information and an internet
buying facility for american visitors to israel. to go to top look how happy they look! posted by anita tucker, june 13, 2004. arik sharon and ehud olmert look happy as they plan the eviction of
thousands of wonderful, honest, hard-working jews from their homes,
many of whom have lived in and build from sand dunes over 3
generations!! they're happy that they've removed arutz 7 from our radios. they're happy that jonathan pollard still languishes in a us
prison. (remember what a good buddy president bush is to sharon!) what else are they happy about? may hashem save us from their evil intentions. be'ezrat hashem... anita tucker lives in netzer hazani in gush katif. she is one of
the many who are slated to be driven from their homes in sharon's
expulsion of the jews from gaza. to go to top at the end of 2005 there will no longer be any jews in europe posted by nadia matar, june 13, 2004. this is a satire - i want to make clear what sharon want to do in gaza. in june 2004 the european union convened all its members to discuss
the question of anti-semitism in europe. violent incidents against
european jews had greatly increased during recent months - firebombs
thrown at jewish schools, the desecration of graves, jews wearing
kippot being attacked on the streets, and the like - mainly by
muslims. the european union resolved to put an end to the phenomenon. after
lengthy deliberations, a press conference was held in which the
chairman of the european union announced a dramatic program that would
constitute a final solution to the problem of anti-semitism. the name
of the program: "disengagement from europe." "we have resolved to
defend the jews," the chairman of the european union proclaimed, "and
to immediately stop the violence against them. to this end, we have
formed a program that will disengage the jews from europe. the jews
will be evacuated to other locations. so as not to interfere with the
demographic balance in the middle east between israel and the
palestinians, we will do everything so that european jews will not
immigrate to israel. we shall rather promote the transfer of jews to
desolate regions in the world, such as the sahara desert." "details concerning the exact location where the jews will be
relocated will shortly be specified, but one thing is certain," the
chairman continued: "at the end of 2005 there will no longer be any
jews in europe." and thus there will no longer be any anti-semitism in
europe, and the jews will no longer be attacked." "the interior ministries of each european state will prepare the
lists of jews, the number of people in each family, and their
addresses. beginning now until the end of 2005 the jews will be able
to leave of their own free will and receive set compensation for their
businesses and homes. the jewish property will be transferred to the
muslim community in europe, in the hope that this growing community
will assimilate in its surroundings and aspire to peaceful coexistence
with its neighbors, the indigenous europeans." "the forceful deportation of those jews who refuse to leave of
their own free will shall begin in september 2005. for this sensitive
mission we have chosen elite units of the german army, because of the
considerable experience they have amassed in previous years." the "disengagement from europe" plan was approvingly accepted by
the un, that announced that it would do all in its power to facilitate
the plan and its implementation. the united states announced that it
officially opposed the expulsion of jews from europe, but would remain
a member of the united nations in order to try and change the
resolution. "who knows," the american president opined, "perhaps by
the end of 2005 we will be able to ensure that only the jews of france
and belgium will be expelled, and not all the jews of europe. this
compromise would constitute proof of the importance in remaining a
member of the united nations in order to exert influence "from
within." the israeli government issued a strong condemnation of the "disengagement from europe" program, and charged the european union with hypocrisy and deception. the israeli announcement stated: "the european union is masquerading as the initiator of programs for the defense of europe's jews, but the truth is that this is an anti-semitic plan for the forced deportation and ethnic cleansing of european jewry - a plan that is meant to appease the muslim community in europe, that is growing by terrifying dimensions and threatens to take control of all europe. we call upon the western world to immediately abandon this plan, so as not to give a victory to violence." the chairman of the european union responded to the israeli announcement with surprise, and stated: "it is actually the israeli announcement that is hypocritical. we in europe are merely applying the exact program that ariel sharon is about to carry out in israel, in order to provide an answer to arab terror. if a jewish prime minister in israel can evacuate jews from the holy land, then we certainly can do so in europe." ruth and nadia matar established women for israel's tomorrow
(women in green), an activist group of women based in jerusalem. their
website address is http://www.womeningreen.org to go to top state of judea - foundation council posted by judah tzoref, june 12, 2004. israel is the only country in the world where jews are deprived of their basic human rights on the grounds of being jews. the very fact that israel has become an arena for a public debate on uprooting of jewish communities, just for the blame of being jewish, is a living proof of her moral bankruptcy. in such dismal days, it is imperative to remember that uprooting and expulsion of jews are appalling symbols of persecution during ages of tragic jewish exile. the "disengagement" plan, which contradicts the very ideal underlying the establishment of israel, started out as a sole whim of the prime minister and eventually gathered a sweeping public momentum energized by the powerful outlets of the leading media. every normal nation would ardently defy such plan as the "disengagement", that amounts to nothing but a pointless concession of national assets and vital resources. against the collapse of the state leadership, civil powers are rising around the country with a view to healing the nation of ongoing maladies that undermine its survivability. the present political fix demands the consolidation of the national powers around the urgent mission of saving yesha (judea, samaria and gaza strip), that is the most vulnerable organ in the body of israel. the establishment of the state of judea, that will embrace yesha autonomies, is the most effective move to foil the creation of an arab terrorist state on the ruins of yesha communities. the foundation council of the state of judea is currently being appointed from among the wide public. the state of judea is destined to apply her sovereignty on those yesha settlements where israeli security forces are withdrawn (if and when). at the outset, the foundation council will design the practical outline for the establishment of the jewish state in yesha, that will require operational coordination with israel from the preparatory stage of israeli pullout. the foundation council will demand an ordered delivery of all idf facilities, slated for evacuation, to the authorities of the new jewish state, as well as the proper delivery of water, electricity and communication systems in all territories of israeli withdrawal. it will be additionally required that arms be provided to the state of judea in sufficient quantity for her defense against terrorism, that originated and evolved to ominous scale as a result of the heavy armament provided by israel to the palestinian authority according to commitments of the oslo agreement. to go to top david ha'ivri's legal defense fund posted by ken heller, june 12, 2004. dear friends: i just received this email urging help with the solicitation of funds
for david ha'ivri. please read both the note from my friend, herb from
jerusalem and ha'ivri's piece. these are the addresses both in the states and in israel to where
donations can be sent. donations to the legal fund for david ha'ivri can be sent to: hameir l'david, p.o. box 960121, 143 doughty blvd., inwood ny 11096, usa or hameir l'david, p.o. box 4005, ariel, 44837, israel or via paypal paypal@hameir.org also please be kind enough to send this to your friends and family
members for the purpose of having them help out also. thank you very much! ken heller (1.) letter from herb in israel ken: this is worth publicizing. david ha'ivri needs financial help as
part of the police plan is to break him. i was supposed to testify at
the trial along with paul eidelberg as experts on "free speech". no
english testimony was permitted. israel plays hardball. sharon means
every word he says against jews; his opinion of arabs is variable. you
can get a list of knesset e-mails from women in green. don't let your
place of residence obstruct your feedom to criticize - the quartet
doesn't live here either. spoke to your friend from philly, referred
him to feige kahane for a tour, but had no time to meet him. with love of eretz and with fear for its future. herb beware of policemen bearing gifts - conclusion of ha'ivri trial on wednesday, june 9th, david ha'ivri's trial for printing t shirts
with the slogan "no arabs - no terror" came to an end. while he was
acquitted of the principal charge - incitement to racism - he was
convicted of obstructing justice. after admitting on record that
obstruction of justice rarely merits a serious sentence, judge amnon
cohen said that ha'ivri is an exception and sentenced him to four
months imprisonment which could be converted to community service -
eight hours a day for four months - as well as a 5,000 shekel fine or
thirty additional days of jail, and a six-month suspended jail
sentence. but just how did ha'ivri obstruct justice? at a demonstration two years ago police confiscated a number of the
"no arabs - no terror" shirts. they received a faxed request, with
ha'ivri signature, to return the shirts, and they complied. ha'ivri
told interrogators that his signature was forged, and the court
agrees. so what did ha'ivri do to warrant four months of a full-time
job with no pay, as well as a large fine? he accepted the shirts that
the police gave him even though he wasn't the one who faxed the
request. in other words, ha'ivri was punished for a mistake made by
the police. ha'ivri's harsh sentence should serve as a warning to all of us not
to accept a gift from a policeman. if you do, be prepared to work a
full-time job for free for several months. interestingly enough, three
months ago the police raided ha'ivri's home and offices in an
operation they coined the "trojan horse". david ha'ivri commented: "i'm proud to be chosen by the authorities
as the 'enemy', because it proves that they consider us the obstacle
to their national suicide policies. all this only encourages me more
to continue spreading the torah truth as rabbi kahane taught it." we turn to our readers and supporters to help us defray the legal
costs and harsh fine that has been imposed. in addition, david
ha'ivri's four month public service severely hinders his ability to
operate. help us continue spreading the truth without losing a beat. to sign the petition to stop the harassment of jewish patriots in
israel, please click here;
http://www.petitiononline.com/haivri/petition.html ken heller is a pro-israel activist and heads the philadelphia
chapter of americans for a safe israel (afsi). he can be reached at
kjhnha@aol.com. to go to top on the evolution of the suicide/homicide bomber posted by gerald a. honigman, june 12, 2004. while the year 2004 has brought other issues back to the front burner that also demanded immediate attention (the future of the gaza strip and the rest of the disputed territories as just a few examples), it's worth rethinking another all-too-real fact of life that had driven events over recent past years, especially since the onset of the era of the so-called oslo "peace, " and still very much with us. i'm speaking, of course, about the arab suicide/homicide bomber. unfortunately, we have heard too much about suicide/homicide
bombers in the middle east, and when israel pursues the deliberate
murderers of its innocents, this then becomes the next excuse for
arabs to kill more innocents. of course, the way many --if not
most--arabs see all of this, there are really no israeli "innocents."
they're all simply jews who have stolen "purely arab" land. that's the
way it's taught in their textbooks, preached in their mosques, and
inbred elsewhere as well. after the september 11, 2001 tragedy, when nineteen arabs (mostly
saudis) hijacked civilian aircraft and flew them as guided missiles
into the twin towers of the world trade center and the pentagon,
killing some three thousand americans and others as well, the
situation has become even more of a concern. officials believe that
it's just a matter of time before the united states, itself, once
again becomes victimized this way. the arab suicide / homicide bomber
has also since made his (or her) debut in other places as
well--notably in the fight for the future of iraq. young children have
also been utilized as living bombs. there is no doubt that this is a horrendous human tragedy. but
while arabs and their supporters place the blame for this on israel,
the truth is actually far more depressing. like in many other places, there are conflicting historical and political claims over the land contested between arabs and jews. there are hundreds, if not thousands, of scholarly books written about the connection of the jews to the land of israel. the very name jew, itself, comes from the later name of the land, judaea, which in turn was named for the hebrew tribe of judah--one of jacob's sons. judaean equals jew. early muslim arab historians recorded this in their works, as does the qur'an itself, the holy book of islam. similarly, there are many books which deal with the imperial arab conquest, settlement, and incorporation of the land of israel / judaea / palestine--and much of the rest of entire region as well--into the two earlier arab caliphates based in damascus and baghdad. imperialism is evidently only a nasty word when non-arabs so indulge in it. suffice it to state, therefore, that a quest for relative justice demanded some sort of compromise over the land in question. unfortunately, that was too much to ask... arabs saw themselves as the only legitimate heirs to a defeated ottoman turkish empire which had replaced the arabs (and others) as imperial rulers and had ruled most of the region for some four centuries prior to the end of world war i. after the allied defeat of the turks, arabs subsequently treated
the region as "purely arab patrimony" and acted accordingly. despite
the presence of scores of millions of non-arab berbers, kurds, jews,
black africans, copts, semitic but non-arab lebanese, and others as
well, arabs saw these as purely arab lands. as just a few of many other examples of what next transpired, both
berber and kurdish languages and cultures were periodically
"outlawed," churches of the copts were burned down, black africans in
the sudan and kurds in syria and iraq were massacred, and more jews
fled "arab" lands than arabs who fled israel...the other side of that
famous refugee problem that few folks ever talk about. those who
resisted this forced arabization process were simply killed, turned
into refugees, and the like...millions over the decades, and
continuing to this very day. returning to our main topic, the arab rejectionist response to the
question of a compromise with the jews over the question of israel /
palestine falls into this same pattern. arabs rejected any solution
which would grant jews any rights at all. they attacked a miniscule,
reborn israel in 1948...and thus the continuing problem regarding arab
refugees. but it didn't have to be this way... hundreds of millions of people became refugees in the course of
the last violent century (not to mention the millions before then).
many were displaced between the two world wars. scores of millions
were uprooted in the 1947 partition of the indian subcontinent into
hindu india and muslim pakistan. many more examples exist, like that
involving turks and greeks; but, as is already hinted to above, one
truly stands out in light of the current turmoil in the middle east:
the one half of israel's five million jews whose families fled
arab/muslim lands around the same time arabs fled in the opposite
direction because of the invasion of israel by five arab states upon
its rebirth in 1948. this does not include another million of these
sephardim who fled to other lands in the diaspora, notably france and
the americas. greater new york city alone now has tens of thousands of
syrian jews. they were known as kelbi yahudi --"jew dogs"--in those
"arab" lands...so much for what arabs like to claim was their alleged
tolerance of "their jews" before the rise of modern political zionism.
again, how dare anyone else but arabs demand a sliver of national
dignity in the region! at virtually the same time that the partition of the indian subcontinent was taking place, the arabs rejected a similar plan that would have created a second state for themselves in historic palestine. jordan had already emerged on some 80% of the original territory of the mandate issued to great britain in the wake of the paris peace conference on april 25, 1920. colonial secretary churchill had separated all of palestine east of the jordan river and handed it over to britain's hashemite arab allies in the creation of transjordan in 1922. listen to what sabri jiryis, a prominent palestinian arab researcher at the institute for palestinian studies in beirut, had to say about all of this in the lebanese newspaper, al-nahar, on may 15, 1975: "while it is estimated that 700,000 arabs fled the 1948
war...against this...arabs caused the expulsion of just as many jews
from arab states...whose properties were taken over...a population and
property exchange occurred and each side must bear the consequences.? much more evidence for this exists in books written by arab kings, officials, and others as well. so, why is it that over a half century later, arabs-- who have
received billions of dollars in aid from the united nations, the
european union, america, oil revenues, other international funds, and
elsewhere as well--still have not relieved the plight of their own
refugees...a problem which, by their own rejectionist attitudes, they
largely created themselves? they have, after all, almost two dozen
states on some six million square miles of territory--lands that
belonged mostly, as we have already discussed, to other non-arab
peoples before they were conquered in the name of the arab nation.
jews absorbed their own refugees into a sole, tiny state roughly the
size of new jersey. the answer to the above question can perhaps best be illustrated by arab actions. some years back, with the status of the disputed territories israel found itself in control of in the aftermath of the 1967 war still unresolved, israel offered to knock down the dilapidated refugee camps and replace them with new housing and better living conditions. it's worth remembering that egypt and jordan occupied these territories from 1948 to 1967 and not only did nothing about this problem but never discussed the creation of that additional palestinian arab state here either. so, how did the arabs respond to that israeli offer? they demanded that israel do nothing to remedy life in the camps. again, why? it's really not hard to understand... quite simply, and as it has been known for decades, arabs have used their own refugees as pawns in their perpetual war to delegitimize israel. for them, there is no justice nor suffering besides their own. arabs don't want the refugee problem solved--not as long as it means that a viable israel will still exist on the morrow. that's why they tacked on the "right of return" of millions of real or alleged arab refugees to the so-called saudi peace plan a few years back and arafat walked away from an offer to get some 97% of the disputed territories, half of jerusalem, and other major israeli concessions as well at camp david 2000 and taba. the result of both arafat's and the "moderate" saudis' so-called
"peace plans" still envisions israel's jews being overwhelmed so that
a second arab state will replace israel, not live side by side with
it. this should come as no surprise since all palestinian (and many
other) arab maps, school books, web sites, and the like omit israel as
well. this is also why talk about creating a "provisional palestinian
arab state" under these circumstances is scary. faisal al-husseini,
the late showcase moderate of the plo, said that while he'd accept any
land diplomacy would yield, a purely arab palestine from the river to
the sea was the real goal...the same old "destruction of israel in
stages" strategy dominant since after the "one fell swoop" alternative
collapsed as a result of its failure in the 1967 six day war. thus, tragically, this conflict still really has no end in sight. and the horrendous human costs specifically associated with suicide/homicide bombings for both sides has been created and sustained by the arabs themselves. reasonable compromises have been repeatedly offered--and rejected--to end the arab-israeli conflict...certainly more than anything arabs have ever offered to the numerous native, non-arab peoples they have conquered and forcibly arabized in carving out most of the almost two dozen states they now call their own. gerald a. honigman is a florida educator who
has created and conducted counter-arab propaganda programs for college
youth, has lectured on numerous campuses and other platforms, and has
publicly debated many arab spokesmen. his articles and op-eds have
been published in newspapers, magazines, academic journals and
websites around the world. to go to top urgent attention from yassir posted by isralert, june 11, 2004. this is a spoof by jonathan kaye, a writer who lives in san jose,
california. he can be reached at info@kaye.org from; abu amr (abd al-rahman abd al-bauf arafat al-qud al-husseini) tel ; 972 (0) 50557385e mail;yassir@pa.org.pa attn: sir, greetings, with due respect, trust and humility, i use this medium to write this letter to you irrespective of the fact that you do not know me but please do consider this letter as a request from an old and confused man in dire need of assistance. let me formerly introduce myself, i am abu amr aka yasser da man, president and leader of the peaceful and loving people of palestine. i got your contact courtesy of a business publication in my earnest search for a reliable and trustworthy individual who can render me assistance. during the war waged against my oppressed people by the supporters and cohorts of the jews to claim all the arab owned farms in our country, i found myself leading these farmers as they burn our homes and olive trees and drive us from this land. in the course of the nakba in my beloved country, the zionist invader attacked and destroyed my splendid towns and cities, my fields and vineyards. he remove my language and song and all my history and make lies about the jews who claim palestine belongs to them, but the world and even the united nations say that this land is palestine and that it was promised by the almighty god to ibrahimi and ishmel as a home forever for the great palestinian people. after the death of of my many warriors martyred at the brutal hands of the isreali in his cafes and shopping malls, i manage to escape to my secret hideout in ramallah, palestine where i fear that any time the isreali tank or plane will come and kill me. prior to this untimely predicament, i managed to bury two big trunk boxes containing nine-hundred-and-forty-eight million dollars (us$948,000,000.00) cash, bonds, important documents of property title and other valuables, which is now deposited in a security and brokerage firm in paris france where my poor destitute wife suha must beg for a crumbs of bread and live on the streets at the mercy of the zionist thugs who rule france and show her no mercy. at the moment, i am in a dilemma on how to move this money to your country for proper investments. i then spoke to my friend osama who put me in touch with his banker mohammed jamal khalifa and he assured me that the safest way to move this money is for you to come to my secret hideout in ramallah and open an investment account in your name where the money will be deposited for onward transfer to your account in your country. in recognition of your personal executive powers and investment opportunities that abound in your country, i decide to solicit for your assistance in moving this money to your country pending my future arrival for investments. i have resolved to compensate you adequately if you can assist me by coming or the purpose of this transaction. i have in mind to establish a good business and friendly relationship with you in the near future if you are able to help us. please let me receive your approval or reply through my poor wife suha and my starving daughter zahwa email:
{ suha.arafat@creditswissbank.com.} feel free to ask questions you may consider relevant.if you will not be able to assist us, be kind and notify me so that i can look for a suitable alternative. accept my warm compliments, as i earnestly await your urgent response. best regards:abu amr (abd al-rahman abd al-bauf arafat al-qud al-husseini) isralert, a jewish advocacy network, is hosted by harv weiner. to
subscribe to isralert, send an email to isralert@aol.com to go to top the absence of strategy in israel's disengagement posted by isralert, june 11, 2004. this is a special soref symposium report on security, peace, and
israel's strategy of disengagement by maj. gen. (ret.) giora eiland.
it is archived as peacewatch, number 456, the washington institute for
near east policy
(www.washingtoninstitute.org/peacewatch/peacewatch2004/456.htm), may
13, 2004. what do the palestinians (sic) want? the natural answer to this question is "a palestinian state."
indeed, during the oslo process, israel operated under this very
premise. over the past three and a half years, however, considerable
doubts have arisen about whether this is what the palestinians really
want. of course, the leaders of hamas explicitly state that the only
solution to the israeli-palestinian conflict is the complete
destruction of israel. from their point of view, the palestinians need
not make any hasty decisions. after all, hamas argues, a careful
reading of historical, political, religious, and demographic
developments indicates that the state of israel will collapse by the
year 2027. israelis believe that yasir arafat shares these same views,
although his method of fulfilling them may be more sophisticated.
basically, arafat's policy is to avoid reaching a peace agreement with
israel. this policy is based on four pillars: first, promoting a
diplomatic "peace process" because the process itself is something
that most everyone supports; second, retaining the terrorism option;
third, sustaining the notion that palestinian victimhood is so
terrible that it requires the attention of the entire international
community; and fourth, biding time until palestinians constitute a
large majority in the historic land of palestine. if all of these
efforts are pursued simultaneously, then -- in arafat's view -- the
state of israel will not survive. for arafat and hamas, the end result
will be the same: the collapse of israel. is the occupation the main cause of the arab-israeli conflict? the general assumption, of course, is that when occupation ends, all
problems between the arab states and israel will vanish. in fact, the lebanon precedent suggests that arab animosity toward israel will not be resolved by ending the occupation. in may 2000, israel withdrew all its forces from lebanon and deployed them to israeli territory, behind the precise line demarcated by un experts. moreover, the un security council (unsc) -- not normally known as a pro-israel institution -- officially certified that israel had fulfilled the requirements in unsc resolution 425. according to that resolution, the lebanese government was supposed to assume responsibility for security along the international border. instead, it permitted hizballah to take up positions along that border. the result today is that israelis can open their windows and see hizballah military positions just a few dozen meters from their homes. this is not a hypothetical problem; at least seventeen israelis, half of them civilians, have been killed by hizballah since the israeli evacuation of lebanon. and hizballah has succeeded in transforming itself into an organization with substantial military capacity, including around 12,000 rockets of various sorts in reach
of approximately half of israel. this situation -- developed by a lebanese organization after israel was certified to have ended its occupation of lebanese territory -- poses a real military threat to the existence of the state. is there any reason to believe that the situation will differ in
the west bank and gaza after an israeli withdrawal? will hamas not
follow in hizballah's path? will the palestinian authority behave
differently than the government of lebanon? evidently, israel's
"occupation" is not the only root of the middle east conflict. what role for 'international forces'? israel recognizes that international involvement in support of a possible disengagement plan is not only possible, but also desirable. in many areas, especially economic and humanitarian affairs, israel welcomes the involvement of the european union and others. but in some quarters, there is an assumption that the best way to resolve a conflict or build trust between the two sides is to deploy an international military force as a buffer. again, the lebanon precedent questions the wisdom of this approach. a un force -- the united nations interim force in lebanon (unifil) -- has been deployed along the international border for more than twenty years. at no point -- either before or since israel's withdrawal -- has that force declared any intention to fight hizballah or take steps to prevent hizballah from attacking israel. although unifil's official mandate is to restore
security and peace along the border, it has done nothing in support of this mandate; in some circumstances, whether wittingly or unwittingly, the force has even given certain cover to activities against israel. based on this experience, why should israel be confident that an international force deployed between israelis and palestinians would be any more effective? what does the arab world want? a common refrain from arab leaders and thinkers is, "we arabs look forward to profound political, social, and cultural reforms taking hold in our societies but, unfortunately, this process cannot take place as long as the israeli-palestinian conflict persists. so, this problem needs to be resolved before we can tackle our internal problems." can one seriously conclude that the extreme poverty in egypt, the
utter lack of human rights in saudi arabia, or the many other
fundamental problems holding back development in arab societies are
the result of the israeli-palestinian conflict? much more likely, the
israeli-palestinian conflict provides an easy excuse not to address
these problems and to divert pressure from within those societies onto
an outside problem. to what extent is a 'two-state solution' the proper formula for
resolving the arab-israeli conflict? this is a sensitive question, especially since the idea of a
"two-state solution" has now become widely accepted as the pathway for
resolving the conflict between israelis and palestinians. but given
demographic trends, is it actually realistic to believe that there is
adequate space between the jordan river and the mediterranean sea for
two, independent, viable states? for example, the area of the gaza strip is 365 square kilometers;
it contains today a population of about 1.3 million palestinians. that
figure will double in one generation. is it possible to imagine that,
when 2.5 million palestinians live in gaza in the year 2025, they will
be able and willing to focus their national energies -- economically,
culturally, and so on -- within this limited space? perhaps it is
neither wise nor just to premise the solution to the
israeli-palestinian conflict on this assumption. are peace agreements always the best solution? the legacy of the quarter-century-old peace agreement with egypt is instructive. on the positive side, israel has no claims against egypt and vice versa, which is important and very positive; both sides sought to maximize their interests, which is what negotiations are all about. but there have been some problems, too. 1) israel had an expectation that egypt would serve as a bridge between israel and the rest of the arab world. clearly, this expectation has not been fulfilled. 2) a key goal of peace agreements is to reduce military threats. over the past twenty-five years -- and thanks to massive u.s. military support -- egypt has managed to develop armed forces that are, in many respects, of more concern to israel than are the forces of syria, a country that has not signed a peace treaty with israel. 3) for the treaty with egypt, israel withdrew from 100 percent of the sinai peninsula. as a precedent to other possible agreements, this creates difficulties. theoretically, israel may be forced to move to the pre-1967 lines in the west bank, but no one should consider those boundaries to be "secure borders." 4) in retrospect, perhaps the most damaging aspect of the israeli-egyptian peace treaty is what that agreement did not resolve: the palestinian issue. in considering future peace agreements, israel must keep these lessons in mind. isralert, a jewish advocacy network, is hosted by harv weiner. to
subscribe to isralert, send an email to isralert@aol.com to go to top sheikh palazzi at university of california/santa barbara posted by root and branch association, june 11, 2004. this was written by mrs. nonie darwish, march 8, 2004. her website
address is www.noniedarwish.com sheikh professor abdul hadi palazzi, director, cultural institute
of the italian islamic community, was a guest speaker at the
university of california in santa barbara [thursday, march 4, 2004].
the event was open to the public. i attended the event and had the
pleasure of discussing with the professor many topics concerning islam
today. in his speech, the professor opposed terrorism and the suicide/homicide murder of civilians, which he considers as an aberration of islam. one would think that moslems, who believe in islam as a religion of peace, would be appreciative of this kind of message. however, a group of moslem students from the u.c.s.b. campus were trying to disrupt the event during the question and answer period. they criticized him for not starting his speech by saying "in the name of allah and his prophet mohamed". they obviously do not differentiate between speaking to moslems in a mosque and speaking in other non-religious venues. two men who identified themselves as afghani used the opportunity of being given a microphone for questions to give their own speech against the sheikh whose only message was standing against terrorism. when they were asked to only ask questions they refused claiming freedom of speech and would not leave the microphone. a female moslem student expressed her support to terrorism by
questioning; if not terrorism, what would palestinians then do against
the oppression? some of the students came in with moslem rosaries in
their hands and clothing that usually is worn when attending a mosque.
they were loud, rude, "in your face" and obviously did not want to ask
questions, but just be disrespectful of the professor. they yelled "we cannot live with zionism" and told the professor "you are finished, man!" their leader ended up
the heated argument by calling on the moslem students to leave the hall and as they did they were yelling insults against the sheikh. on the other hand, the other students who were in shock, many of whom were jewish, were extremely respectful and were going out of their way to be polite to the moslem students. i could not help but ask myself a few questions. why did these
kids choose the u.s. for their education? they obviously have no
respect for our system and the way our culture channels dissent.
foreign students who come here for an education especially after 9/11
should know better than to use oppressive tactics of dissent familiar
to many in the west bank and gaza against israel. they should not
equate themselves to the sixties student grassroots movement by
american students against the american war in vietnam. much of the unruly behavior by moslem students on u.s. campuses is done by foreign students who are here on student visas. the vietnam student uprising against the u.s. government's war in vietnam was done by american students on american soil and not by foreign students. the ones who spoke on foreign soils did not criticize the foreign governments that provided them with a forum to speak. the foreign students are guests of this nation to get an education. they are addressing an old moslem/palestinian cultural problem which has caused unprecedented terror in america, the nation they are getting an education in. if these students are naturalized citizens, i think they should show more loyalty to the u.s.a., the country they chose over the arab world to call home. the bottom line is that the students who attacked sheikh palazzi did not impress me as being in the u.s. for the purpose of higher education. expectations in the moslem world are often contradictory and hypocritical. moslems, especially in the arab world, do not reciprocate much of their demands from the west, simply because in their eyes we are the infidels. they demand with passion tolerance for moslems in the west while their religious leaders in mosques call on the murder of infidels and placing fatwa on arabs who disagree. they demand freedoms to build mosques in europe and america, but prohibit building churches and synagogues in moslem countries even by native middle eastern christians and jews. they jail and kill missionaries and anyone who dares to hold a bible in front of a moslem in the arab world, while they freely preach islam and extremism to our citizens, even to our most vulnerable and angry prison population. they demand bending our rules to cover their face for a driver
license photo, while prohibiting women from driving at all in
countries such as saudi arabia. they fight discrimination against
islam in western christian countries while they sympathies with
terrorists who want to destroy the non-moslems, america and israel.
they showed no outrage at their moslem brothers who destroyed the
buddha statues in afghanistan and who desecrated jewish monuments in
israel but are outraged by ethnic profiling after 9/11. they prohibit christians and jews from desecrating moslem land by
simply existing on it, while moslems are living, respected and
protected in non-moslem countries. moslems were demonstrating all over
the arab world against france's decision to prohibit wearing any
religious symbols, including islamic hijab while the same
demonstrators prohibit jews and christians from wearing a cross or the
star of david. these are the same moslems who say that the west is interfering in
moslem internal affairs and freedoms within their own moslem
countries. they are also the same people who allow only islam to be
taught in arab public schools that gives no respect to christian arab
children. they fight for civil rights only in the west and accept
oppression, injustice, corruption and brutality from their leaders.
only america is fair game and it is not because they are brave, to the
contrary it is because they are cowards. they are too scared to face the arab internal causes of
oppression, violence and instability and instead they find it easier
to attack american and israeli democracies. when moslem palestinians
rise against the jordanian king or chechnians rise against the soviet
union they are crushed and killed by the thousands without hardly any
criticism of these oppressive regimes. however, the simple humiliation
of a checkpoint to a palestinian suspected of terror would make
international news. there is something very wrong in this picture and many arabs don't
see it. many of these moslem student come here with an agenda and
instead of using the u.s. freedoms to learn about the american system
and befriend and get to know a jewish student, they end up bringing
the west bank and arab culture of intolerance and hate right here to
our campuses. the equal opportunity, civil rights and non-profiling
they demand from the west and is given to them by our democracy, has
to be reciprocated. the arrogance of having two sets of rules has to
end. they can't have it both ways. the naive american has to wake up.
moslem students who demonstrated against sheikh palazzi's presentation
could have learned a lot from his message of tolerance and
anti-terrorism and instead they shut their eyes and ears and acted
like they were entitled to unruly behavior. many u.s. politicians keep
saying that islam is a religion of peace and instead of trying to
confirm this view, they rejected the courageous message of peace and
tolerance by the moslem sheikh. the world is hungry to see the humane and tolerant side of islam
and moslems never miss an opportunity to prove otherwise. it is up to
moslems who love islam and the koran to elevate it from being
associated with terror and hate. .sheikh professor abdul hadi palazzi is with the italian muslim association, and is muslim co-chair of islam-israel fellowship of the root & branch association, ltd. the root and branch association is based in jerusalem. "it is an all-volunteer, non-member organization founded by torah-observant jews, promotes cooperation between the state of israel and other nations, and between b'nai israel (children of israel) and b'nai noach (children of noah) in israel and abroad, to build a better world based on the universal noahide covenant and laws as commanded by the g-d of israel in the bible and jewish tradition." its website address is http://www.rb.org.il. to go to top conversations with a terrorist posted by joe kaufman, june 10, 2004. little did i know when muslim convert randall "ismail" royer started
e-mailing me that he would soon be sentenced to 20 years in prison for
waging jihad against america. as a columnist for frontpage magazine who gravitates toward
controversial subjects, i get my share of responses, sometimes from
unexpected quarters. in april of 2003, i received an e-mail from
someone calling himself "ismail royer." at the time, i didn't realize
the importance of this correspondence: i had just been contacted by a
terrorist. background randall todd "ismail" royer, a native of st. louis, converted to
islam at the age of 19, at the impetus of an acquaintance and a
"singing bird." he began attending mosque and, in 1994, took a
position with the council on american-islamic relations (cair), a
self-proclaimed islamic civil rights group. cair, at the time, was an
upstart created by three leaders from the extremist islamic
association for palestine (iap). it was in this same year (1994) that royer quit college to enlist
with the bosnian army, which was actively recruiting foreign muslim
fighters from around the globe to help battle the serbs. he says,
about the members of his unit, that they were "the most beautiful
people i've ever met in my life." these "beautiful people" included leaders from the lashka-e-taiba, a violent terrorist group headquartered in pakistan, with operations in numerous other countries, particularly india. it was his actions relating to this organization that led ismail royer to receive 20 years behind bars. according to the u.s. department of justice, in january 2004 royer
pleaded guilty to charges of a violent nature, including "aiding and
abetting the carrying of an explosive during the commission of a
felony." in his plea agreement, royer admitted to helping
co-defendants masaud khan, yong ki kwon, muhammed aatique and khwaja
mahmoud hasan in gaining entry to a terrorist camp in pakistan
operated by lashkar-e-taiba, where they received weapons training.
royer also admitted to helping co-defendant ibrahim ahmed al-hamdi
gain entrance to the lashkar-e-taiba camp, where al-hamdi received
training in the use of a rocket-propelled grenade, training he would
use to carry out the islamist assault on india. royer's actions took place on sept. 16, 2001, just days after 9/11.
"three other individuals attending that meeting -- yong kwon, muhammed
aatique, and khwaja hasan (all of whom pled guilty) -- stated that
they went to the lashkar-e-taiba camp to obtain combat training for
the purpose engaging in violent jihad in afghanistan against the
american troops that they expected would soon invade that country,"
justice department officials said. for his role in the worldwide islamist jihad, royer received 20 years in prison. but before all this, he read my articles and wanted my attention.... revelation while i didn't know exactly with whom i was conversing with - his name meant nothing to me - i did know about the organization he belonged to. the e-mail address royer was using to write to me was "communications@masnet.org." i had found myself on the site masnet.org before. it was (and is) the homepage of the muslim american society (mas). it turns out royer was then the communications director of mas. considering the find (or rather him finding me), i couldn't pass up the journalistic and "counter-terrorist" opportunity to ask a few questions. e-mail subject #1 - muslim american society (mas) i began by asking his background with radical islam. kaufman: "how did you get involved in mas?" royer: "i applied for the job!" kaufman: "are you concerned at all with groups it affiliates with?" royer: "such as...?" royer was either ignorant of the fact that the organization he was
working for had major radical connections or he was just playing
stupid. being that he would soon be convicted of acting as the
ringleader of an al-qaeda affiliated group, one would presume that he
knew precisely what the muslim american society represented. the mas holds its annual conventions in conjunction with the
islamic circle of north america (icna). as reported in the january 30,
2004, edition of the new york daily news, the icna "is under fbi
investigation for terror ties." also, according to the report, both
the mas and icna "have held conferences featuring speakers accused of
terror ties and have published material supporting suicide bombings
against israel." one of these published works, a series of fatawa (religious
edicts) found in the march 2002 edition of the mas's the american
muslim, calls suicide bombing against israelis "justifiable." the
piece, entitled "questions about palestine," states, "martyr
operations are not suicide and should not be deemed as unjustifiable
means of endangering one's life... in martyr operations, the muslim
sacrifices his own life for the sake of performing a religious duty,
which is jihad against the enemy... martyr operations are totally
different from the forbidden suicide." and an article in the july 4, 2003, edition of the american
muslim, entitled "reaching the roots of terrorism," justified
terrorist attacks, including suicide bombings, as "a reaction to
injustice." the mas, which has been named as being part of the dallas/fort
worth terrorist network, was founded via individuals associated with
the islamic society of north america (isna). in a news report put out by indianapolis's wthr 13,
counter-terrorism expert, steven emerson, is quoted as saying, "isna
has sponsored extremists, racists, people who call for jihad
against the united states." and the report itself stated, "we found
about a dozen charities, organizations or individuals under federal
scrutiny for possible ties to terrorism that are linked in some way to
isna - ties sources tell us have also placed isna under the federal
microscope. isna has provided convention booth space and helped raise
money for a number of islamic charities later linked to terrorism by
the federal government..." e-mail subject #2 - muslim brotherhood (mb) the topic of conversation between kaufman and royer shifted to the egyptian muslim brotherhood after sheikh mustafa mashour was assassinated. royer either was truly naive as to the nature of the brotherhood or was a gifted manipulator of the truth. kaufman: "do you condemn the egyptian muslim brotherhood,
which your organization says it mourns the death of its leader?" the press release on the mas website read, "mas mourns loss of sheikh mustafa mashhour: supreme guide of muslim brotherhood pioneered balanced islamic activism." royer: "i'm not sure why i would condemn the muslim brotherhood. they're not on any list of terrorists, and the group is so broad and decentralized that to object to the actions or ideas of what one loosely-related individual or group does is not neccessarily [sic.] to object to what another group or individual does." kaufman: "the fact that you don't condemn the muslim brotherhood, a group that has been responsible for the murders of leaders in the egyptian government, is a very telling sign. and of course it would account for you not being aware of groups in your organization (mas) that you should be concerned about." royer: "i think you're confusing the mb with gamaat al-islamiyya." the muslim brotherhood, may have been thought of by royer to be a
kindhearted, peace-loving organization, but the reality was something
totally different. and my so-called "confusion" of the brotherhood
with gamaat al-islamiyya (a.k.a. egyptian islamic jihad) was no
confusion at all. with this in mind, i presented ismail royer with the
following from the united states council on foreign relations,
terrorism: questions & answers: the basic sentiment of today's muslim extremists has flourished in
the islamic world for decades. it can be traced at least to the
founding of the muslim brotherhood, a political force that began in
egypt in 1928 with the goal of restoring islamic laws and values in
the face of growing western influence... the muslim brotherhood in egypt
and the wahhabi radicals in saudi arabia both arose out of an islamic
religious movement called the salafiyya, which believes that the
practice of islam has become corrupted and must be reformed to reflect
the seventh-century form of islam practiced at the time of the prophet
muhammad. this brash interpretation of islam would eventually
influence a new generation of violent, radical muslim groups,
including the taliban, al-qaeda, and egyptian islamic jihad - the last
of which assassinated egyptian president anwar al-sadat in 1981. kaufman: "did you read what i sent you about muslim
brotherhood? what do you think about that? do you shrug that off as
nothing?" royer: "i did read it. the fact is that there are many views
on the muslim brotherhood. and it's misleading to present that as
"the" view of cfr, which comprises scholars of many different stripes
and opinions... the group (muslim brotherhood) isn't perfect; you'll find
extremist republicans as well. the fact that they've retained their
moderation under an oppressive middle eastern regime like that of
mubarak strikes me as quite impressive." if this were not the view of the council on foreign relations
(cfr), then why would the group include the content of the passage i
quoted to royer so prominently on its website? in addition, saying that the muslim brotherhood "isn't perfect" --
when considering all of the terrorist organizations the brotherhood
has spawned, including all the ones previously mentioned in addition
to hamas and palestinian islamic jihad -- is a reckless
understatement. and lastly, royer's compliment of the muslim brotherhood ("quite impressive") -- in association with his denouncement of egyptian president hosni mubarak, who has had his life threatened on numerous occassions, including a failed assassination attempt in 1995 by those associated with the brotherhood -- is appalling and shows a total lack of respect for human life and well-being. e-mail subject #3 - council on american-islamic relations (cair) in the course of our contact, ismail royer, apparently having
knowledge of my past criticisms of the organization, voluntarily
brought up the council on american-islamic relations (cair). royer: "your complaints about cair are disenguous." [sic.] kaufman: "my complaints about cair are genuine, because i am
using fact. do you support cair? are you a member of cair?" royer: "i worked at cair in 1994, and then from 1997 to 2001." kaufman: "while you worked there, did you know of cair's
affiliation with the islamic association for palestine? and for that
matter, hamas? do you support those groups?" royer: "iap isn't a 'terrorist group,' regardless of the
claims of steven emerson. cair has no affiliation with hamas, unless
one wants to use emerson's tenuous claims. no, i don't 'support'
hamas, whatever that means. as for iap, if they're trying to get out a
palestinian point of view, then more power to them, but i find find
[sic.] them rather nationalist for my taste." the so-called "tenuous claims" that royer has accused steven emerson of making have been confirmed by numerous other credible sources. that said, cair's ties to hamas are many. previously mentioned, cair was formed by three individuals from the
islamic association for palestine or iap. as stated in congressional
testimony: "the first manifestation of hamas' presence in the united
states was the creation of the islamic association for palestine for
north america in 1981. founded by hamas leader mousa abu marzook, iap
has served as a hamas support organization in the united states by
publishing hamas communiques, distributing hamas recruitment videos
and hosting conferences raising monetary and popular support for
hamas." at cair's inception, in june of 1994, the group received $5,000
from the holy land foundation for relief and development (hlf) to open
up a headquarters in washington, d.c., cair executive director nihad
awad, who has professed his support for hamas, called the $5,000 a
"modest donation." the hlf, whose chairman, ghassan elashi, was also a
founding board member of cair's texas chapter, was shut down by the
united states for financing hamas. the fbi called hlf "hamas" largest
fundraising entity in the u.s." indictment just short of two months following the e-mails, royer and ten of
his colleagues were indicted, charged with "conspiring with a foreign
terrorist group to engage in jihadist combat in foreign nations
friendly to the united states." that foreign group was lashkar-e-taiba
(let), a team of kashmiri separatists that regularly commit acts of
terror against indians. and the indictment read that the conspirators
had "an intent to serve in armed hostility against the united states." the eleven became known as the "virginia jihad network," and a
number of convictions (including royer's) resulted. of course, ismail royer's e-mails to me didn't let on to anything
as sinister as this. however, they did say something about the man.
they painted a picture of a man who was in severe denial about the
true nature of radical islamist organizations. he was, in other words,
the perfect recruit for islamist terrorism; royer's resume, which
included a job as a researcher for the extremist american muslim
council (amc), made him a ideal candidate to take the next step from
radical islam to the world of terror. conclusion in a may 12, 2003, piece he had written in defense of sami al-arian (entitled "al arian case: misplaced priorities"), royer stated, "law enforcement should at least keep tabs on people suspected of being responsible for violence overseas." the irony of this statement is apparent, since at the time of its publication, royer was in fact being watched by law enforcement for the exact same reason. but just as in the e-mails he had sent to me, randall todd "ismail"
royer was creating an illusion. on one side was his "perfect" life as
a well-doer in the cause of allah, while on the other was a twisted
terrorist reality. unfortunately for him, even he can't deny cold
prison walls. because of his work, many more credulous american
muslims may one day follow him to prison...or an early grave. joe kaufman, "the cair-terror connection"
http://www.frontpagemag.com/articles/readarticle.asp?id=13175,
april 29, 2004. "either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists." this was the line from president george w. bush's september 20, 2001 address to a joint session of congress and the american people that set the "bush doctrine" in motion. in the speech, this line made reference to foreign nations that harbored and/or supported terrorists. however, within the "war on terrorism," the line actually had a much broader meaning -- specifically towards those individuals and groups that supported the enemy right from our own shores. according to justice department u.s. code title 18, part 1, chapter 113b, section 2339a: "whoever provides material support or resources or conceals or
disguises the nature, location, source, or ownership of material
support or resources, knowing or intending that they are to be used in
preparation for, or in carrying out [terrorist acts], or in
preparation for, or in carrying out, the concealment or an escape from
the commission of any such violation, or attempts or conspires to do
such an act, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than
15 years, or both, and, if the death of any person results, shall be
imprisoned for any term of years or for life." one group in particular, cair or the council on american-islamic
relations, an entity masquerading as a "civil rights" organization,
has called into question its own support for nefarious causes. the
following will prove that, in late 2001, cair appeared to be in
violation of united states law, as in regards to the providing of
material support to terrorists. in september of 2001, just following the worst terrorist attack ever suffered in modern history, cair placed on its website, under a picture of the world trade center in flames, a plea for donations. it read, "donate to the ny/dc emergency relief fund." yet, when people clicked on the link, it did not take them to any ny/dc emergency relief fund. no, it took them straight to the website of the holy land foundation for relief and development, an islamic "charity" that was soon to be shut down by the united states for "raising millions of dollars annually for hamas." the fact that cair was toying with the emotions of persons wanting
to give money to a fund that cair disguised as one related to the 9/11
attacks is despicable... the fact that cair was asking people to donate
to an organization that was raising millions for a terrorist
organization that regularly sends suicide squads to murder innocent
people is criminal. later that month, on september 25, 2001, cair changed the link to explicitly ask persons to "donate through the holy land foundation." and in addition, cair added a new link to its site, soliciting persons to "donate through the global relief foundation." the global relief foundation, like the holy land foundation, was soon to be shut down by the u.s. government on terrorism related charges. as stated by the treasury department, "the global relief foundation has connections to, has provided support for, and has provided assistance to usama bin ladin, the al-qaeda network, and other known terrorist groups." at the time of the holy land foundation's closure, on december 4, 2001, cair immediately took the holy land foundation link off of its site. and less than a week after the global relief foundation's december 14, 2001 closure, cair removed that group's link as well. the question we now have to ask is, "did cair know that these
organizations existed as terrorist related entities, prior to cair
removing the links?" or, considering cair's connection to both
offending organizations, the more appropriate question would be, "how
did they not know?" mousa abu marzook - grandfather of cair the holy land foundation for relief and development was founded by
hamas leader mousa abu marzook, a man who was deported by the united
states to jordan in 1997. marzook, who may very well be, today, second
in command of hamas, also founded, in 1981, cair's parent
organization, the islamic association for palestine. this is important, when considering the previous questions asked, but - but - there is a much bigger connection to cair, with respect to the holy land foundation. ghassan elashi - cair board member the chairman of the holy land foundation, before the group's
closure, was ghassan elashi. elashi, in december of 2002, was charged
with "selling computers and computer parts to libya and syria, both
designated state sponsors of terrorism." besides the holy land foundation, ghassan elashi was also involved
with cair. in fact, elashi was one of the founding board members of
cair's texas chapter. what this means is that cair didn't just stick a
link to the holy land foundation on its website, but instead, cair was
directly linked to the holy land foundation itself! rabih haddad - cair fundraiser rabih haddad was a co-founder of the global relief foundation. before being deported by the united states to lebanon in july of 2003, haddad had held various positions with global relief, including that of executive director and public relations director. and like ghassan elashi, haddad was also active in cair. according to the quaker organization, the group that runs the large charitable foundation, the american friends service committee, haddad had served as a fundraiser for cair. just as in the previous case, this shows that the global relief
foundation was not only a link on the cair website, but that cair
was directly involved in the organization. considering this evidence, it would be somewhat difficult for cair
to deny any knowledge of the two pseudo-charities' nefarious
involvements -- involvements that directly led to the murders of
innocents abroad. this includes the december 2, 2001 suicide bombing
of a bus in haifa, israel, murdering 15 and wounding 40 others... and
the suicide bombing in an entertainment area in jerusalem, which took
the lives of 11 young people, just a day earlier. both incidents occurred, while cair was soliciting funds for the
terrorist charities on its site. if cair was indeed involved, under
the justice department code stated earlier, it could result in life
imprisonment for all implicated. but while it's hard for cair to run away from its connections to the holy land foundation and the global relief foundation, because of the connections, it's easy to understand why cair tried vigorously to defend and protect the groups. cair called the closure of the holy land foundation "unjust" and
"disturbing." and cair described the closure of the global relief
foundation as the racial profiling of an organization that "had
established a track record of effective relief work." if cair wasn't involved in the conspiracy, why would it go out of its way to defend terror related organizations? any group that claims to value human rights would run as far away from these organizations as possible. but cair did not. the reason seems clear. now, it's time for the united states government to investigate this matter. joe kaufman is the chairman of americans against hate. you can visit
the group's website, at www.americansagainsthate.com. and you can view
all of joe's archived articles, at www.joe4rep.com. this article appeared in front page magazine june 8 and is archived at
http://www.frontpagemag.com/articles/readarticle.asp?id=13684. the
original article has links to additional material. to go to top gush katif plans to stand strong posted by ken heller, june 10, 2004. anita tucker is a friend of mine living in netzer hazani in gush
katif. you can see by her letter that the frustration among those
living there is growing. please jot her a line of support. her email address is: atucker@isdn.net.il if you would also want to help by sending a financial assistance,
please make your check out to: "friends of gush katif", in care of
ken heller, 11213 jeanes street, philadelphia, pa. 19116 thank you and shabbat shalom! ken dear ken thanks for writing. there are very few people that are still
communicating with us. too many people in israel and u.s. have
apparently become anesthetized by the situation in which democracy has
been totally trampled and sharon's mafia has taken charge! sharon's mafia is trying to spread fear and confusion among the
people in gush katif. the last few nights we have had meeting after
meeting and the people in gush katif have decided to stand tall and
proud against sharon and his power mania effort to murder our souls
and spirits by the methods of"divide and rule". we have lots of
experience with the arabs who tried to murder our bodies and even
after they succeeded in a few cases we then showed our best spirits of
unity and stood up tall and continued giving support to the families
of the fallen and to each other. we will make every effort to continue
now as they attempt to murder our honor and spirit by trying to sell
our souls for money. this is not the only tactic the sharon mafia is using. they are
beginning to put security pressure on us as well and are now partially
removing soldiers from roadblocks and from the main roads. the last
few evenings the al batar missile attacks on netzer hazani by arabs
from nearby school buildings in khan hunis have been allowed to be
renewed (these are a new more dangerous and exact anti-tank missile).
the army apparently requested to clean out these schools that are
serving as bases for missile launchers--but sharon has denied the idf
approval for this death preventing action. miraculously god is with us
and no one has been hurt. sharon's actions on using security as a tool for coercing gush
katif to fold to his demands will, unfortunately, shortly boomerang
into all of israel. the idf officers here are warning us that weapons
smuggling from egypt this week is on a huge uprise and there are, as
well, enormous store slicks of arms waiting along the egyptian border
to flow into the area via the tunnels in rafah -- some will be used
against israel and some will reach europe for the islamic terrorists
there. sharon has given the green light to islamic terror via his
determination to break the inhabitants of gush katif, even if it means
endangering our lives and of the lives of the people of israel. we continue to pray for gods help and will do our utmost to
watchover and keep this privilege we have been given of turning a
barren desert in eretz israel into a blooming oasis. our strength is
coming also from the youth and children of gush katif whose love of
their home and their homeland is invincible. we pray that the anesthesia that sharon has injected into to the
people of israel will wear off in time to save eretz yisrael and save
themselves and the future of world jewry. in those weeks that we went out to the cities to speak to the
people in order to win the likud referendum we discovered that the
huge majority of the people we spoke to do not agree with sharon -they
simply have been numbed into inaction by sharon's coercion tactics. may god have mercy on us all. we will, god willing, do our best! we hope that am yisrael will help by yelling loudly and clearly
--sharon stop this destruction of eretz yisrael and am yisrael! we
will not allow you to go on with this power crazy insanity! besorot tovot, anita this was a news item in today's arutz-7: yet another emergency meeting will be held in gush katif on sunday,
in light of the apparent onset of the withdrawal/expulsion process. on
the agenda will be the reports of the beginning of negotiations for
financial compensation and other indications that the withdrawal is
being implemented. promotional literature for the mass gathering states, "secretly,
while bypassing the will of the likud party membership, without a
cabinet decision, the government apparatuses are beginning to try to
start rolling the wheel of destruction of our towns. we will not sit
with our hands folded." katif communities council member rabbi kobi bornstein of n'vei
dekalim, the largest community in jewish gaza, says that the council
plans a series of actions designed to arouse public opinion against
the disengagement plan. "the government is planning to carry out this
plan in an undemocratic fashion," he said. "the cabinet decision was
made in a stuttering manner, and does not call for what we see the
government actually doing. the government is actually bypassing
itself... sharon is acting like a thief in the night." "the israeli public is stronger than its leadership," bornstein
said, "and does not allow its leaders to act wrongly. prime ministers
in israel have fallen time after time because of mistakes like this.
the current prime minister, too, will see that he made a big mistake,
because the public will arise and make its voice heard... we know that
he will wage psychological war against us, and we're ready." among the planned activities, most of which are still secret, is a
plan to create a "live chain" of tens or hundreds of thousands of
people from gush katif to jerusalem on the day before tisha b'av, the
jewish people's national day of mourning (july 27). the residents also
plan to visit israeli citizens in their homes around the country, and
explain to them on a one-to-one level the importance of remaining in
gaza. some 94% of the residents of gush katif have signed a petition
stating that they "refuse to be bribed" by the government's offer of
compensation to leave their homes. "the last few nights, we have had meeting after meeting," writes
long-time gush katif resident anita tucker, "and the people in gush
katif have decided to stand tall and proud against sharon and his
power-mania effort to murder our souls and spirit by the method of
'divide and conquer.' we have lots of experience with the arabs who
tried to murder our bodies, and even after they succeeded in a few
cases, we then displayed our best spirit of unity and stood up tall
and continued giving support to the families of the fallen and to each
other. we will make every effort to continue now as they attempt to
murder our honor and spirit by trying to buy our souls for money... "we continue to pray for g-d's help, and will do our utmost to
retain this privilege that we've been given of turning a barren desert
in the land of israel into a blooming oasis. our strength also stems
from the youth and children of gush katif, whose love of their home
and their homeland is invincible." ken heller is a pro-israel activist and heads the philadelphia
chapter of americans for a safe israel (afsi). he can be reached at
kjhnha@aol.com. to go to top items: a deadly ceasefire coming? questions for sharon and bush/ posted by richard h. shulman, june 10, 2004. media coverage not for news but for views some israeli journalists admitted the imbalance in their profession's extraordinary full attendance at a rally to abandon yesha. they covered it during prime time television and extensively. by contrast, they aired no speeches made at a year 2000 rally against abandoning the golan. the israeli recipient of a cannes film festival award holds israel "responsible for the slavery of a million 'palestinians.'" she got friendly coverage. (her meaning is not clear from this snippet. israel did bring arafat into power in most of yesha, where he did oppress his people. israel thought it was promoting peace but got war.) by contrast, only one journalist reported at that time that the p.a. opened its armories in gaza to hamas (imra, 5/30), a crucial fact. imra shows that the israeli (and other) media emphasizes news or anti-israel slander, and de-emphasizes news favorable to israel. what does that tell you about israeli journalism's state of health and the journalists' emotional state? if p.a. arabs go hungry, why? the p.a. claims that arabs in gaza do not have enough food supplies.
why might that be? arab terrorists use the same karmi crossing as do
food trucks. the terrorists have attacked arab workers at the
crossing, so as to discourage their employment with israeli companies.
the p.a. police do not stop these attacks. therefore, israel has to
inspect everything and everyone passing through. this takes time and
delays food trucks (imra, 6/1). the more unemployed the arabs are, the less food they can afford. the nerve of the arabs to complain about israeli counter-measures to arab criminality! they mix up cause and effect. egypt offers space to the west the government offered to allow nato and us equipment to be
pre-positioned in case of emergency or for regional exercises (imra,
6/1). what is missing from the report? statement of the price! that valuable offer has drawbacks. since egypt sympathizes with arab regimes that the us may have to fight, leaving us equipment under egyptian supervision might delay its availability. another possibility is that egypt, especially if its regime is overthrown, may itself have to be fought. it would seize the stores, to be wielded by its huge, us-trained army. israel should have kept the sinai, and made the offer, without extending any risk to the west. people assume that a brake on runaway arab hostility would be the old need for replacement parts from the us. that assumption gets less tenable as egypt, jordan, and iran develop their own military industries. a deadly ceasefire coming pm sharon may be agreeing to a ceasefire with the p.a.. his purpose would be to claim that the conflict has calmed down and he can proceed with his abandonment plan (op. cit.). being temporary, a ceasefire would not facilitate peace, which
jihadists do not make. arab military doctrine is to seek ceasefires
when on the run, so they could rearm, regroup, and terminate the
ceasefires. the abandonment plan, itself, would put those jihadists
into a stronger position for resuming combat. any student of strategy
knows that. ariel sharon was a master of strategy. why is he putting
his mastery at the service of the arabs and of the us? his appeasement
amounts to collaboration. questions of sharon & bush miles of undeveloped sand dunes are available to the gazan arabs. instead, they are waiting for their terrorism to bring them the houses, farms, factories, and other businesses that the jews built. their terrorism is armed by smuggling from egypt into gaza. although israel knew that egypt assisted the smuggling into gaza, it kept that information from the public until now. (israel thus conspired to maintain the illusion that it made peace with egypt and therefore could make peace with other arabs, such as arafat's). egyptian police would have sufficed to block the smuggling. now, despite knowing of egypt's complicity in it, pm sharon is asking egypt to move heavier forces up to the border, praising egypt for its stated readiness to use those troops to block smuggling. more likely, in the absence of idf patrols in gaza, egypt would build tunnels for rapid invasion through gaza! (there is no excuse for sharon's enabling egypt to invade, as its army has been training to do for years, with free us equipment and advisors.) sharon's anti-israel policy raises these questions: 1. how long has sharon been conspiring with egypt and the state
dept. to break the camp david accords and allow egypt to re-militarize
the sinai? 2. is he responding to threats from the us ambassador? if so, what are they? why don't we americans know whether the state dept. acts ethically and in our national interest. 3. is he sacrificing gaza (etc.) so pres. bush can call that progress, to balance against problems with iraq? what does sharon plan to do with the billions worth of israeli investment there? 4. does he accept bush's promise of financial aid, the way pres. clinton's promise was accepted by israel but not by congressional appropriators? 5. isn't bush worried that gaza will become a base for super-terrorists? how large an army will sharon let egypt make for the p.a.? the bigger the p.a. army, the worse the next war. 6. has sharon made secret pipeline deals with egypt, as bribes for his unpatriotic invitation to it? 7. who will profit from the casino to be built on land vacated in gaza? (since there is vacant enough land on the part the p.a. already controls, this new casino must be the price of a bribe.) 8. or is this appeasement of egypt and the p.a. the price of the leftist attorney general, whom sharon recently appointed, for dropping the investigation into the greek island affair? 9. did sharon make a deal with russia to ship oil across israel, rather than around africa? 10. is sharon planning to withdraw military support from jewish communities in yesha, so the people there must flee (without compensation) from the terrorists, who are better armed? 11. sharon wants jordanian troops in, reportedly to harass the jews out. 12. or is sharon planning a pre-emptive withdrawal to circumvent ordinary democratic opposition? sharon forbids commanders to tell the cabinet what is wrong with the abandonment plan and fired ministers who disagree with it. 13. why did pres. bush levy minor sanctions against syria for letting terrorists at us troops in iraq? what has bush not told the american people? is the silence by bush and sharon a form of lying? (winston mid east analysis, 5/30 & 6/2, e-mail). why don't mass-media journalists raise the critical issues that mr. winston does? richard shulman is a veteran defender of israel on several web-based
forums. he provides cool information and right-on-target overviews. he
distributes his essays by email. to subscribe, write him at
ricshulman@aol.com. to go to top mistrial, israeli style posted by judy lash balint, june 10, 2004. a poor bedouin israeli army soldier is standing trial for manslaughter
in the death of an upper middle class british international solidarity
movement volunteer. who should really be in the dock? a 20-year-old israeli army private in handcuffs is led into a military
court on a base near ashkelon. some eighty supporters are there to
greet him, waving israeli flags and carrying signs reading: save our
soldiers; free the soldier, prosecute the ism and no human shields in
war zones. the soldier, son of a poor bedouin family from the north of israel, is
accused of manslaughter in the death last year of british
international solidarity movement (ism) agitator, tom hurndall. hurndall, privileged product of a british public school, was shot
in rafah in april 2003 as he was making his way to the front lines of
the area where the israeli army was operating to uncover and destroy
tunnels used to convey arms and ammunition from egypt into israel. israeli army officials told the associated press that an initial
investigation, based on soldiers' accounts, indicated a palestinian
fired on a watchtower and the soldiers returned fire, hitting someone
believed to be the gunman. hurndall deliberately put himself in the
area of known military operations, and took a bullet intended for a
terrorist. the idfnoted, "it is important to keep in mind the danger
posed by the illegal, irresponsible, and dangerous behavior of the ism
group that led to the tragic death and sad results." hurndall was well aware of the risks inherent in his activity in
rafah. in one diary entry he wrote: "a few hundred meters away there
are army snipers, and each one of us can appear in a sniper's
telescopic sight. it is possible to say with certainty that they are
watching us, and my life is in the hands of an israeli marksman or
settler. i know that i will probably never know what hit me, but that
is part of my role - to be as exposed as possible." we'll never know why hurndall viewed his exposure as a crucial
factor in bringing about peace in the middle east, but this upper
middle class lad from north london first tried his hand at being a
human shield in iraq, before arriving in israel. hurndall had joined a
group of international volunteers who wanted to put themselves in
front of iraqi schools and hospitals, but when they arrived, it soon
became apparent that sites would be selected by iraqi government
officials. after two weeks of heated discussion, the shields were
given a list of seven sites and an ultimatum to "start shielding or
start leaving." hurndall left, passed through jordan where he heard
about the activities of the ism, and entered israel on a tourist visa. it's worth noting here that a number of ismers seem to be the
well-educated offspring of well-to-do parents. hurndall attended
winchester college, one of england's most venerable and prestigious
boarding schools. tuition at the 600-year-old school is around $30,000
per year. tom's father, anthony hurndall is a well-known london
property lawyer. mother jocelyn, who says she is proud of her son, is
head of a learning support unit. fellow ism volunteer, radhika
sainath, a us citizen arrested three times for her violation of
israeli law during her repeated entries into israel between 2002-2003,
now plans on attending columbia university graduate school, and is the
daughter of two orange county, ca physicians. in hurndall's case, the resources and prominence of his family
enabled them to hire a high profile british attorney to realize their
efforts to prosecute an israeli soldier for the death of their son.
they chose imran khan, a controversial high-powered lawyer who tried
to prevent then israeli chief of staff shaul mofaz from entering
britain for an official visit in 2002 because of "war crimes." khan and the hurndalls ran an effective public campaign that led to
british pressure on israel to finger an israeli soldier for the
unfortunate death of young tom. hurndall had control over his fate and went with full awareness
into a battle zone. tragically, he paid the price. the young bedouin
soldier arrested in january 2004 after hurndall's demise in a london
hospital was serving his country and tried to do his part to smash
terrorism. now he too is paying the price of the ism's unconscionable
efforts to put themselves in the way and encourage their volunteers to
violate closed military zones. the accused has spent the last six
months in jail. his family is so poverty stricken that they have been
able to afford the bus fare to visit him only once during his
incarceration. so far, his legal representation has been
court-assigned, although nitsana darshan-leitner of the shurat hadin
law center has offered to assist the family. in court the other day, the accused, a stocky, dark young man
dressed in a plain military green uniform, sat silently as his defense
attorney addressed the court. his eyes didn't engage anyone in the
room--neither the witness nor the dozens who had come to support him
seemed to be of interest. the three-judge panel in the small, wood-paneled courtroom listened
intently as a military interrogator answered questions about the
interrogation and confession extracted from the accused. how could the court take this written six page confession
seriously, asked the attorney, when the defendant neither reads nor
writes hebrew? why did interrogators have the defendant sign the
confession at night, at the end of more than 9 hours of interrogation
when he was tired and hungry, after he had allegedly stated: give me a
cup of coffee and a cigarette and i'll sign anything. neil wiggan, political office for the british embassy was present
in court with a hebrew-english interpreter. he took a few notes, but
spent most of the time catching up on his reading. "the soldier is being scapegoated by the prosecution to appease the
british foreign office," charged shurat hadin attorney leitner. worse than that, noted shimon, one of the supporters who had bussed
down from jerusalem. "it's the wrong entity on trial here. it's the
ism who should be sitting there accused, not this soldier who was
doing his best to defend us from terrorist evil." "jerusalem diaries: in tense
times" by judy lash balint (gefen) is available for purchase from
www.israelbooks.com to go to top rules of war enable terror posted by yuval zaliouk, june 10, 2004. it has been clear since arafat and his terrorist gangs started to
employ their murderous tactics against civilians back in the 1970s,
that most rules of law devised by the civilized world to alleviate the
horrors of war, lost their relevance. israel has since been at the forefront of the most despicable
warfare ever invented, a war deliberately aimed at non combatants. as
long as jews were the victims, most of the world preferred to shut
eyes and remain silent. it took 9/11 to wake it up from its deep
slumber. israel has been fighting with one, if not two, hands tied behind its back. terror which break all civilized rules cannot be fought with civility. had the world allowed israel to fight correctly, the intifadah would not have lasted more than a few weeks and many lives would have been saved on both sides. america, correctly, decided to fight terror with all her might, until the discovery of the "abuses" at abu ghreib. let me tell you one thing, friends: after saddam, if you were a law abiding citizen, going on your daily routines, you would not end up in abu ghreib prison. 36 million iraqis were not "abused" in abu ghreib! liberal-left people say they protect human rights. we, normal people, prefer to protect humans. the innocent kind. alan dershowitz, the famous harvard law professor, is suggesting to
modify the rules of law. here is how. the geneva conventions are so outdated and are written so broadly
that they have become a sword used by terrorists to kill civilians,
rather than a shield to protect civilians from terrorists. these
international laws have become part of the problem, rather than part
of the solution. following world war ii, in which millions of civilians were killed
by armed forces, the international community strengthened the laws
designed to distinguish between legitimate military targets and
off-limit noncombatants. the line in those days was clear: the
military wore uniforms, were part of a nation's organized armed
forces, and generally lived in military bases outside of population
centers. noncombatants, on the other hand, wore civilian clothing and
lived mostly in areas distant from the battlefields. the war by terrorists against democracies has changed all this.
terrorists who do not care about the laws of warfare target innocent
noncombatants. indeed, their goal is to maximize the number of deaths
and injuries among the most vulnerable civilians, such as children,
women and the elderly. they employ suicide bombers who cannot be
deterred by the threat of death or imprisonment because they are
brainwashed to believe that their reward awaits them in another world.
they have no "return address." the terrorist leaders - who do not wear military uniforms -
deliberately hide among noncombatants. they have also used ambulances,
women pretending to be sick or pregnant, and even children as carriers
of lethal explosives. by employing these tactics, terrorists put the democracies to
difficult choices: either allow those who plan and coordinate
terrorist attacks to escape justice and continue their victimization
of civilians, or attack them in their enclaves, thereby risking death
or injury to the civilians they are using as human shields. whenever a civilian is accidentally killed or an ambulance is held
up at a checkpoint, the terrorist leaders, and those who support them,
have exploited the post-world war ii laws of warfare to condemn the
democracies for violating the letter of the law. some human rights
groups, international organizations and churches have joined this
chorus of condemnation, equating the deliberate targeting of innocent
civilians by terrorists with the unintended consequences of trying to
combat terrorism - unintended by the democracies, but quite
specifically intended, indeed provoked by, the terrorists. this only
encourages more terrorism, since the terrorists receive a double
benefit from their actions. first they benefit from killing "enemy"
civilians. second, they benefit from the condemnation heaped on their
enemies. human rights are thus being used to promote human wrongs. the time has come to revisit the laws of war and to make them
relevant to new realities. if their ultimate purpose was to serve as a
shield to protect innocent civilians, they are failing miserably,
since they are being used as a sword by terrorists who target such
innocent civilians. several changes should be considered: first, democracies must be legally empowered to attack terrorists
who hide among civilians, so long as proportional force is employed.
civilians who are killed while being used as human shields by
terrorists must be deemed the victims of the terrorists who have
chosen to hide among them, rather than those of the democracies who
may have fired the fatal shot. second, a new category of prisoner should be recognized for
captured terrorists and those who support them. they are not
"prisoners of war," neither are they "ordinary criminals." they are
suspected terrorists who operate outside the laws of war, and a new
status should be designated for them - a status that affords them
certain humanitarian rights, but does not treat them as traditional
combatants. third, the law must come to realize that the traditional sharp line
between combatants and civilians has been replaced by a continuum of
civilian-ness. at the innocent end are those who do not support
terrorism in any way. in the middle are those who applaud the
terrorism, encourage it, but do not actively facilitate it. at the
guilty end are those who help finance it, who make martyrs of the
suicide bombers, who help the terrorists hide among them, and who fail
to report imminent attacks of which they are aware. the law should
recognize this continuum in dealing with those who are complicit, to
some degree, in terrorism. fourth, the treaties against all forms of torture must begin to
recognize differences in degree among varying forms of rough
interrogation, ranging from trickery and humiliation, on the one hand,
to lethal torture on the other. they must also recognize that any
country faced with a ticking-time-bomb terrorist would resort to some
forms of interrogation that are today prohibited by the treaty. international law must recognize that democracies have been forced
by the tactics of terrorists to make difficult decisions regarding
life and death. the old black-and-white distinctions must be replaced
by new categories, rules and approaches that strike the proper balance
between preserving human rights and preventing human wrongs. for the
law to work, it must be realistic and it must adapt to changing needs. yuval zaliouk write the truth provider essays. to subscribe, send
an email to ynz@netvision.net.il to go to top when and how to end terrorism posted by richard h. shulman, june 10, 2004. former house speaker newt gingrich warned that it may take more
than half a century to defeat terrorism. he knows the task is
difficult, but he does not understand terrorism. we don't have much time to defeat terrorism. any month now,
terrorists may develop or acquire weapons of mass-destruction. perhaps
they already have them, and are planning when and where to launch
them. then they will strike. when they do, the damage to us may be
enormous. it may reduce our resistance. we cannot afford to wait for
that to happen. we have to muster the resources now to overthrow all
the terrorist regimes. we also must pursue all the terrorist
organizations and rogue state scientists. whereas mr. gingrich treats the current struggle like a long-term
cold war, it really should be a briefer one, like wwii. the ussr
restrained itself; terrorists do not. we need a president who recognizes the threat, leads the country
against it, and demands the resources to conduct it. the incumbent's
speeches allude to the threat, but he does not lead the country to the
full realization or call for sufficient resources. his opponent
suggests diplomacy with fanatics and pooling of resources with our
foes. that cannot work. the gop campaign should challenge sen. kerry,
who boasts of approval by foreign leaders, to get those leaders to
pool their resources with the us. he thus would help his country and
accrue electoral credit for his success. i think he would fail.
foreign leaders probably like his policies for their inability to
change the status quo. pres. bush actually is mounting a long-term effort against terrorism. he therefore embraces gingrich's fallacious sense of timing. the bush initiative would try to spread democracy and literacy among the arabs. he, too, seeks financial help from our stingy former allies turned adversaries, to subsidize 100,000 teachers to reduce illiteracy among the muslims. half the arabs already reject the program. the muslim states wouldn't need our money for such a program, if
they didn't spend theirs preparing for war on each other, on israel,
and on us. since so many arabs would not be reached by a program their
governments, such as egypt, reject, the program would not prevent some
terrorists from attacking us fairly soon with weapons of
mass-destruction. a proper education would undercut the terrorism-promoting madrassas
in some countries. it would not do so in s. arabia, which has
sufficient funds but whose curriculum is islamist. s. arabia is not
the only muslim country whose government schools indoctrinate in
intolerance and violence. unrwa schools in the p.a., run by the uno, a
quarter of whose expenses are paid by the us, is another extreme
example. the us arms both the p.a. and egypt. rather than promoting literacy in the muslim world, the west would be better advised to bar muslims from science classes in the west, where they learn the basis for developing weapons of mass-destruction. on the other hand, universities could argue that what the arabs don't make, france, n. korea, russia, or china would sell them. the notion that democracy would eliminate terrorism, if indeed
democracy could be grafted into the muslim states, is unproved. there
is no reason to anticipate that indoctrinated people free to choose
their leadership would select for tolerance. nor is the supposed democracies' record that exemplary. the us and
eu support palestinian arab terrorism. the government of israel
accedes to some p.a. terrorist demands. to those ends, these
governments work in secret and even silence some critics. who will
purify the democracy that the us, eu, and israel are supposed to have?
the arabs, who ordinarily pounce on western self-contradictions,
ignore that one. richard shulman is a veteran defender of israel on several web-based
forums. he provides cool information and right-on-target overviews. he
distributes his essays by email. to subscribe, write him at
ricshulman@aol.com. to go to top un addresses palestinian refugees and doesn't let israel attend posted by elias yrachmiel, june 10, 2004. in view of the recent unbelievable acts of deceit, submission,
dessertion and treason against am yisrael by prime minister sharon and
the haverai knesset, we at netzah yisrael lo yeshaqer ask you to
consider and act on the information provided by david bedein, bureau
chief, israel resource behind the news. please forward this and then
go immediately to the following hyperlink to add your name to the
growing list of those that know the only way to cure the disease is to
cut it out! this article was written by david bedein, bureau chief, israel resource
news agency. this week, with funding from the swiss government, unrwa, the un
agency that is charged with handling refugee camps from the 1948 war,
launched an international conference on what should have been a clear,
innocuous and professional agenda: addressing the humanitarian needs
of the palestinian arab refugees. 67 nations, 34 relief organizations, the palestinian authority and
the plo were invited to attend the conference, held at the un's plush
international conference center in geneva yet israel was not invited to attend. nor was any israeli reporter
invited to cover the event. unrwa spokespeople said that they would
only recognize reporters with credentials from either the un or from
switzerland. i covered the conference anyway, since it would have been difficult
for the un to turn down press credentials which had been certified by
a dues-paying un member nation. a young egyptian clerk looked at the
jerusalem credentials and looked up at me and stamped my press pass,
quietly saying that "you know that we are at peace with you". according to the unrwa spokesman: israel was not invited to this conference because israel is not a contributing nation to unrwa. yet until a few years ago, israel provided more than $750,000 dollars per annum to unrwa and exceeded the contribution of many of the arab countries. so why not invite israel to attend as an observer or a discussant?
to that. unrwa and the swiss government had no answer. after all, the plo, which sent a senior delegation to the
conference, can hardly considered to be a donor to unrwa, even though
it would have been logical for unrwa to ask that the plo dip into
assets which are worth anywhere from two to nine billion dollars,
depending on which financial expert you ask. yet unrwa never asks for
any contribution from the plo even though israel was not invited to attend the unrwa conference,
the spokesman of the israel foreign ministry reported that the swiss
government had assured israel that the atmosphere of the conference
would be devoid of any message against israel, indeed, the unrwa web site had proclaimed that the conference would be devoid of politics and not discuss the "right of return". however, the unrwa conference, from its opening moment, was held in an atmosphere of invective against israel. as conference participants entered the hall, they were greeted by more than a hundred life size pictures of palestinian arab refugees who have suffered at the hands of israel. pictures in the exhibit were interwoven of arabs fleeing their
homes in 1948, arabs dwelling in tents and shacks, and portraits of
arab women and children facing israeli police and the israeli army,
which would lead any participant at the conference to come to the
visceral conclusion the total picture palestinian refugee reality is
oppression at the hands of israel. and from the pictures in the hall,
you would think that these refugees still live in tents. in the central open conference room as the participants walked in, unrwa screened short movies, all funded by the swiss government, and played them consecutively throughout the conference, designed to show different aspects of unrwa's services. you could not miss the invective against israel in some of the films. "hoda's story" showed the medical treatment that unrwa provides for an eleven year old girl who had been shot in the head, by the idf while she was sitting in her classroom in khan yunis. hoda is blinded as a result, and shown going through medical treatment at unrwa health facilities. the film focuses on the children in hoda's school mates who discuss their fear that the idf will kill more children and that hoda's fate may be their fate at the hands of the idf. the film clearly hints that the idf intentionally shoots children. no mention of the fact that her school was caught in cross fire between the idf and the palestinian armed forces. had israel been invited to attend the conference, israel could have shared its publicly available intelligence reports on how the palestinian armed forces use unrwa offices, unrwa medical clinics and even unrwa schools as a base of operations. a discussion would have ensued between unrwa spokespeople and israeli spokespeople as to the extent to which the palestinian armed forces use unrwa facilities as their base of operation. yet israel was not afforded the right to respond to baseless allegations that it has a policy of killing children. for its part, israel could have been afforded the chance to distribute the recent publications on the palestinian authority's incitement of school children, and the recent booklets that tell the story of 113 israeli school children who were murdered in cold blood by palestinian terrorists. another movie screened by unrwa showed the massive $27 million unrwa project to repair demolished homes in jenin.a noble undertaking in itself, as the film shows careful and diligent coordination with the rival camp committees to accomplish the goal. yet laced throughout the film is blame and hatred of israel, with films showing the tanks that knocked down houses in jenin in april 2002. the film shows a crying woman complains how the israelis had simply destroyed the home that she had built, brick by brick, over a period of 20 years. the visceral reaction that any conference participant who saw this film would be deep anger and resentment of israel for what it did in jenin. the film does not mention how fateh spokesman had referred to the unwra camp in jenin as "the suicide capital". no mention of how some of these homes had been used by snipers to kill 23 idf troops. no mention of how the palestinian armed forces had taken refuge in these homes. had israel been invited to attend the conference, israelis would have shown their footage of the unrwa camp in jenin. instead, conference participants were left with the impression that israel destroys homes with no reason given. indeed, the commissioner general of unrwa, peter hansen, held a press conference at the conference in which he complained that israel had increased home demolitions from 65 a month in 2002 to more than 140 a month during this calendar year. hansen could provide no explanation for the demolitions, and no one was there from israel to say why. hansen could only say that he wonders if israel will now demolish the new houses that unrwa has built. meanwhile, hansen has never recanted his statement from april 2002 that israel had conducted a massacre of "hundreds" of people in jenin at the time. the arab death toll at the time was 56, most of whom were armed. since the swiss government paid for the movies, the spokesman of the swiss government present at the showing was asked for comment on the one-sided nature of these films. his response was to shrug his shoulders and take no responsibility for their content. meanwhile, one of the films screened by unrwa would have been appreciated by israel, had an israeli representative been present to comment. that was the film of the rehabilitation of the unrwa camp in nesirat. located in northern syria. the film showed how the syrian government had cooperated with unrwa to relocate people who had been in the stench of an overcrowded camp since 1950 into a much healthier facility in northern syria, in a program financed with the help of the us and canada. this would have been israel's opportunity to share the approved policy of the government of israel which calls for the rehabilitation of unrwa camps and their transformation into decent and humanitarian living conditions. that policy had been adopted by the israeli government in 1983 and rejected by the un in 1985, because of the un commitment to not interfere with the "inalienable right of return" for palestinian arab refugees to go back to their homes from 1948. although unrwa declared that the conference would not deal with the "right of return", unrwa allowed the plo refugee affairs department to put up a table in which it distributed its materials to promote the "right of return". the plo distributed precise maps of where and how the unrwa camp residents could take back their homes from 1948. asked about the fact that the hamas terrorist organization had taken over the teacher's union and workers council of unrwa, hansen did not deny it, but went on to say that only one unrwa employee had ever been arrested for terror activity. hansen went on to say that unrwa could not discriminate against the religious affiliation of his staffers. invoking a new understanding of civil rights and religious liberty, with hamas recognized as a religious denomination. it is therefore not hard to imagine what message hamas teachers are conveying in an unrwa classroom. perhaps that it is for that reason that the unrwa schools, as a matter of course, hold celebrations and marches in honor of hamas suicide bombers. had israel been invited, israel could have provided films of rallies for hamas inside the unrwa schools. the conference on the humanitarian needs of the palestinian refugees concluded with a unanimous resolution which called on all nations to protect arab refugees and to protect unrwa personnel, and to ensure the safe passage of unrwa personnel to and from the unrwa camps. the conclusions of the conference appear on the web site of unrwa. as conference was indeed concluding, a news report blipped on the computers of the reporters that residents of an unrwa camp in gaza had fired mortar shells into the israeli city of shderot, located in the negev. the unrwa shells had hit a factory and injured five people. no resolution dealt with the question of who is supposed to protect the people of shderot from the armed personnel who fire mortars from the unrwa camps. at the end of the conference, u.s. state dep't personnel emerged from the briefings. perhaps this would provide a breath of fresh air for israel, since the us often stands by israel at the un. u.s. state department people were asked about the fact that israel was excluded from this crucial un conference. however, u.s. officials indicated that they had concurred in the decision to exclude israel, a member in good standing in the un since 1949, from these discussions. to go to top a personal appeal for the united jerusalem foundation posted by richard haar, june 10, 2004. i richard haar as a devoted israel advocate, zionist activist and
founder of the united jerusalem foundation appeal to you for your
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appreciation for all that we do and have done over the past 4 years. presents a multitude of news reports while examining and responding to anti-israel media bias and inaccuracy which permeates the 'free press.' each day brings up to 100 headlines from dozens of daily publications and wire services. if you are an israel news buff, writer or educator, united jerusalem has something major for you! more importantly our searchable |israel-news today| archival data base
is equipped to compose and send |letters to the editor| *in truth
united jerusalem calls all those of good will to battle bias.
|sign-up| now in order to utilize our proprietary letters platform and
view our 'watchmen' letter's on the comments board. 'on your walls, o jerusalem, i have appointed watchmen'. (isaiah
62:6) israel's reality as presented by the so called 'free press' is
deeply flawed, routinely misleading and must be dealt with seriously,
diligently and continuously. unitedjerusalem.org allows us to do just
that. today the largest and most prolific news services continuously
embed bias and falsehood in their reporting on israel and it's having
a cumulative negative effect on the publics perception and attitudes
about israel and the jewish people. become a watchman help us battle
anti-israel media bias and inaccuracy. shalom richard haar. internet: https://www.unitedjerusalem.org/donation.asp? charityid=2#charity mail: the united jerusalem foundation box 26 new york, n.y. 10021 richard haar is executive director the united jerusalem foundation. to go to top the good, the bad and the ugly posted by ellen w. horowitz, june 10, 2004. last thursday morning, i was sitting at breakfast with my husband
at a certain 5 star hotel in jerusalem (i'm entitled to this rare
occasion, ok!). we had the dining room all to ourselves, and in walks
mk and then-cabinet minister benny elon -he was alone. so, i whispered
to my husband, "tell him in that great tel aviv accent of yours to
quit the government now!" my husband rolled his eyes and replied, "i refuse to invade the
privacy or disrupt the meal of a public figure - you taught me that!" and so i ate my scambled eggs in silence, but every once in a while
i threw a cold stare in the minister's direction. 24 hours later, benny was on the lam and doing all he could to
avoid being served a dismissal notice from pm sharon. it was both
somewhat amusing and so very embarrassing. but all in all, i'm glad i
voted for the national union. thank you, avigdor lieberman, for taking
the lead. it seems that it took a former resident of the soviet union
to see what a farce israeli democracy really is. but what can you
expect from a state built by and primarily populated with a people who
were either indoctrinated by eastern european bolshevism or victims of
arab tyrannies? it should also be taken into consideration that
western-style democracy is not an inherently jewish concept. i was thinking about how america and much of diaspora jewry has
always justified israel's existence because "it's the only democratic
presence in the middle east." well, what will be the justification now
- that we make the best felalfel? so, it seems the fledgling state has lost its political and
national direction. but we are going to get it back. don't fret, as
recent developments are ultimately for the good. it seems that seeds of truth - as opposed to "seeds of peace" - are
starting to sprout. (real peace can only be built on a foundation of
truth, but the peace camp is ever-so anxious to skip-over that basic
premise). sharon's plans to evacuate gaza were overwhelmingly defeated in a
very democratic referendum. this was no small minority vote, as the
israeli left and international commentators will have you believe. the
largest and most popular political party in israel overwhelmingly
defeated the plans of the country's leadership (who just happen to be
a members of that same party). these are the facts and the will of the
people cannot be taken lightly. it's hebrew book week and the new release, "the covenant", by
religious, right wing author noami ragen just unseated a.b. yehoshua's
book as number one on the national best seller list. another
indication that the people of this nation are thirsty for the truth. aside from little deviations here and there, for the last 27 years
the people of israel have consistently voted to the right. even those
few labor victories have been ensured only by placing purported
hawkish generals at the top of the ticket. had the media and pollsters
been correct in their reading of public opinion, people like peres,
beilin and burg would have been leading this country long ago. the assassination of the legendary labor prime minister should
have, theoretically, shifted public opinion to the far left. instead,
we elected benjamin netanyahu. so much for pollsters and media
pundits. they are perpetually off the mark and yet, like idiots, we
still tune in. now, listen and learn - this is an essential point that must be understood. we didn't elect bibi back in 1996 to bring about national
reconciliation or to continue the peace process, or even to integrate
israel into the new global economy. the simple truth is that we, the public, desperately wanted to rid
ourselves of oslo. we elected the seemingly potent figure with the
golden tongue to stand up in front of the world and to verbally and
physically rip the oslo accords to shreds. at the time, that's all we
required of him. instead, the media sliced through bibi and the
wounded hero handed us wye. so much for form and style. for a brief time we watched the ludicrous, boyish antics of
clinton, arafat and our little general (barak) at camp david. when the
mischievous game got out of hand and the blood started gushing, israel
ran into the arms of a big, grown-up man. ariel sharon was not brought to power for his charm, diplomatic
skills or talent as a tactician. we simply wanted the old bulldozer to
push through all political roadblocks and to uproot and bury
terrorism. instead, we got the roadmap, free passes for bus bombers and a
disgraceful dictator who unabashedly proclaims his intentions to rip
jews from their land. we israelis have neither the time nor luxury to ponder our position
on today's demented geopolitical chessboard. we're not so
"sophisticated" or "intellectually" astute. the new world order is
chaos and that doesn't interest most of us. we just want to live on
the land that g-d gave to us, pure and simple. how very primitive and
elementary of us - but then again, the truth is rather unpretentious. and if the very basic truth be known, our current political system,
leaders and local media are corrupt and bad. the rot runs so deep,
that i doubt if unassisted human endeavors can rectify the damage. the
foundations that the modern state of israel were built on appear to be
corroded beyond repair. the good news is that the spirit of israel is alive and well and
the people are strong and healthy. so, i believe we are in for a great
change. i said great change, not another shift. the political
pingponging between the right and left of this country has gone beyond
overtime and somebody needs to call the game, and turn the table over. it won't be easy, changes never are. there will have to be
something of an earthquake to set things on the right path. israel as a nation needs to simultaneously separate and consolidate
herself. there are elements in and among us and diaspora jewry which
we need to disconnect from. i am not referring to people with
differing political and religious opinions and views - as that's what
makes the world go round. i am suggesting that we expose and isolate
those jews who have clearly betrayed their own people and are actively
working to bring about the destruction of the land, people, torah and
state of israel. which brings me to the ugly... jeffrey goldberg of the very posh new yorker wrote a
self-hating, self-defeating, obsessive compulsive piece of trash
entitled, among the settlers: will they destroy israel? through much of the article, goldberg relies on erroneous polls,
deceptive interviews and the demographic scare tactics of the
left-wing, but what's particularly sickening is that a
disproportionate share of the piece is spent on describing the
physical attributes of rabbis, settler leaders and right-wing
activists. a sampling follows: "her fingernails were chewed and dirty." "he is a heavyset man who smokes bad cigars and has perhaps the
most profane mouth in orthodox judaism." "for many years, he has been the face of the settlement movement,
which is no favor; his head is small, but his eyes are bulbous and his
teeth outsized. his voice is deep, and his beard seems constructed of
iron shavings. i said hello. he grunted a reply." (by the way, when i read a portion of the last quote to my
daughter, she was sure it was in reference to arafat). it's funny that while the piece is peppered with other numerous
personalities, including prime ministers, members of knesset,
generals and arab terrorist leaders, degrading descriptions do not
preface nor follow their names. i've seen your picture on the internet, jeffrey, and it's nothing
to write home about either. for the record, i bite my nails, am more
than overweight and have a stutter. but i am a proud jew. another far more sinister member of our tribe who appears to be
oh-so-suave and debonair is ian lustick. the pride of the left and
professor from the university of pennsylvania likes to play dangerous
games, literally. popular science has a five page spread on the
professor's new virtual terror game. he's a man who loves to pin the label of false messianism on the
israeli settlers. but in truth, it's lustick, the control freak, who
likes to play g-d. israel and those who support her are mere pawns on
lustick's political chessboard. i wrote about the prominent professor last february in, "the price
of arrogance," http://www.israelnn.com/article.php3?id=3374 at that
time, thanks to lustick, the academic fate of pro-israel professor and
columnist francesco gil-white was hanging by a thread. lustick was
also actively encouraging the fbi and irs to investigate the
philanthropic, albeit zionist activities of dr. irving moskowitz. a
few months later, it appears that gil-white has lost his job and
moskowitz is under investigation. but lustick should be the object for investigation, as he spends a
lot of united states public and private sector funds on promoting
palestinian arab endeavors to destroy zionism and israel. passia, the propaganda mouthpiece for the plo has invited lustick
to speak in jerusalem/al quds (sic) on june 16th. the topic: the
future of the settlements in a two-state or one-state solution. passia receives over 1 million dollars annually in u.s government
aid and is registered as a legitimate charity with the ministry of
interior of the state of israel now that's ugly, (and confusing) isn't
it? two exceptional investigative reports about passia's activities
were written by david bedein of the israel resource news agency and
columnist judy lash balint, and can be seen at
http://www.frontpagemag.com/articles/readarticle.asp?id=10535
http://www.emunah.org/magazine_comments.php?id=p32_0_4_0_c in an oh-so civilized email exchange, ian lustick invited me to
meet with him, but i'm afraid that i'll have to decline. welcome to israel, professor. i don't have the time nor desire to
engage in any dialogue with you (i'm too busy trying to pick up the
pieces from the mess that people like you have created), but i will
find the time to write about you. i intend to make your stay here as
uncomfortable as possible. once israel rids herself of the murky influence of the ugly among
us, we will then be able to clearly decipher the good from the bad.
when that happens, we will all see a lot clearer and, g-d willing,
make the right choices. ellen horowitz lives in the golan heights, israel with her husband
and six children. she is a painter, columnist for
israelnationalnews,com and co-founder of helpingisrael.com. she can be
contacted through her website http://www.artfromzion.com to go to top "shrei gevalt" posted by emanuel a. winston, june 10, 2004. "shrei gevalt": a loose interpretation is to "cry out with force!" ** before ww2 some jews were more attuned to their gentile neighbors and ramped up days of inspired rage. they seemed more aware of the varying levels of hostility and they acted accordingly. in germany, some jews were alarmed at the popularity of adolph hitler, his anti-semitic speeches, the declaration of his nuremberg regulations restricting all civil rights of jews and the attacks of his brown shirt thugs. they knew that this was the incarnation of extreme danger. these jews tried to warn the jewish community to leave. most ignored the warnings, even to the point where those who "shrei-ed gevalt" were castigated as alarmists. those jews, in deep denial, proclaimed that they merely wished to iive in peace and the threat was exaggerated. those who ignored the warnings of the more prescient jews whose
antennae picked up the signals of hatred and imminent hostile action
more clearly than others, were slaughtered. germany was the catalyst
but the european nations that were invaded by hitler soon and
energetically joined hitler's killing machine. attacking jews was not new to any of the european christian nations
but germany's concerted planning and the thrust of the genocide to
"ethnically cleanse" the world of all jews gave new impetus to what
can only be called 'church-taught' hatred. that sickness was not limited to the axis but, even the allies displayed an astonishing bias when it came to even considering the rescue of the jews from the nazi holocaust. clearly, many nations stand condemned for their participation of attempting to wipe out the whole race/religion of jews and there is a price yet to be paid. perhaps the angels wept but, not a tear from the 'civilized' race of men! it is now 2004 - a new millennium and a new century. for quite a while those jews who have sensitive antennae to coming danger have been "shrei-ing gevalt". as in the 1930s and 40s the smell of pogroms in the air is so strong you can taste it. again the jews sometimes called leftists, socialists, pacifists not only ignore the shouted warnings but have joined with friends of our enemies and even with our enemies themselves hoping it is all a passing phase. most of those who follow the leading 'deniers' of danger are merely unaware jews in denial who want to live in peace and are willing to ignore the daily killings and pledges by arab muslims to utterly destroy the jewish nation of israel and the jews around the world. burbling about 'peace' usually never bought 'peace' but it did encourage our enemies to accelerate their pace of cruelty and plans of attack. then there are the non-jewish jews, our so-called leaders, the appeasers who indicate that they do not want a nation that is jewish and are perfectly willing to risk the elimination of the jewish people and the jewish state to impose their defeatist ideology on all the jewish people. like the judenraat who collaborated with hitler. today's judenrat still believe the the arabs will let them live after the jewish 'nakba' (catastrophe). they have themselves rushed to the gates of the city and country to open them to the hordes of screaming arab muslims who shout for their blood. you might ask, how can any thinking jew ignore all prior pledges of arab muslims to kill jews which have been carried out in a daily ritual slaughter? how can they so willingly open the gates to the barbarians who dance with the body parts of jews even using a blown off jewish head as a soccer ball. with specificity, i name shimon peres, yossi beilin, yossi sarid, ehud barak and now arik sharon as jews who are blind and willing to sacrifice their own people to the knives of the arab muslims in order to achieve popularity (or at least acceptance) in the world. all, of course, had their court sycophants - all the way down to the uneducated fools who pour into the streets with the slogans of "peace now" - even as the arabs clamor for lives. there are a small host of us who critically observed each of the wars, tabulating the constant terror, the arab muslim and european nations who knowingly fund the terrorist organizations globally. the nations of the west ignore arab muslim aggression because of their need and greed for oil. we watch such global organizations at the united nations, the european union as they adopt the cause of radical islam - insofar as the security and sovereignty of the jewish state of israel is concerned. we watch all these things ramp up and we "shrei gevalt". others, now dead, tried to warn their jews when hitler's brown shirts were first attacking jews on the streets of berlin and breaking the windows of jewish shops on 'kristallnacht' (night of the broken glass) november 9-10, 1938. the nuremberg laws restricting jewish civil rights were already enacted by 1935 stripping all jews of their basic civil rights but, still the jews dithered and milled around like confused cattle. we tried to warn the jews of france as the french turned in their own jewish citizens over to the gestapo and vichy french government collaborators who were aiding the incoming german nazis. a few escaped but, most remained confident that hitler's killing machine was merely a 'temporary aberration'. the jews of germany, france and elsewhere could not bring themselves to believe that civilized nations would simply murder them because they were jews. now we clearly see the intentions of the arab muslim killing machine. they write, they broadcast, they proclaim their intentions in plain language to eliminate the jewish people and the jewish state. their map of another arab muslim state called "palestine" covers the entire map of israel. since the signing of the oslo accords on the white house lawn september 13, 1993, more than 1500 jews have been murdered (and more than 45 americans), tens of thousands have been wounded - crippled until they die. when they can, they deliberately mutilate the dead jewish bodies - just as they are doing in iraq. the mutilation is their expression of rage and demonstrate what they eventually hope to do to all jews. the nations, including our friends, have stood by, virtually mute, except for the money they supply to the terrorist organizations of the arab muslims. how can anyone be blind to their intentions? you, as a jew, may not want to know, to see, to believe. you may wish to believe that your dream to live in peace with the arab muslims in the jewish state of israel is possible, is coming soon - if only we give them a little more land. oh, really! how short-sighted! it's much better to know, to see and therefore, to strengthen yourselves against the coming and continuing onslaught. then, we might just survive - barely. but, psychiatrists and students of aberrant behavior view the jews as a society in deep denial in spite of the frequency when the arabs try to kill them. do you think that we like to write these horrible prognoses for our future? no! we'd much rather not. so, wake up already and prepare to protect your families! let's get on with the business of girding our loins for the battles that the muslim arabs promise us. us - those jews in israel and around the world and the rest of the non-muslims in the free west. we "shrei gevalt" and it is past time for jews to perk up your ears now! there will be no mercy, no pity and, as before,, don't expect any nation to come to our rescue. the arab muslim killing machine is backed by, funded and protected by the same nations who assisted hitler's genocide. the jews of europe were decimated! that means that only 1 in 10 of the jews who lived in europe before hitler survived. the survivors fled the anti-semitism of the europeans that remained after ww2. many came to israel. now, the survivors must face this cruelty again. but, this time it should be different. the jews have their own state, a fantastic army. this time they can meet that virulent midnight 'knock on their door' with a gun in hand. too bad that the same weak leaders, the 'judenrat' of israel and america tell the jewish people: "we must pacify the arab muslim palestinians and the arab muslim states' killing machine". foreign government leaders press israel to give up defensible land in the vain hope that the arab muslims will cease their terror attacks globally. why should they? it's working! these leaders of the west already know that there will be no pacification of the arab muslims now attacking jews - just as there is no pacifying the arab muslims attacking american soldiers in iraq. have you not wondered why the so-called arab muslim palestinians and other arab muslims dance with joy when there is a successful murderous attack against israelis or americans in iraq? 9/11 was a joy for the arab muslims in tehran, bagdad, damascus, the palestinian authority and even in cairo, egypt. but, sacrificing israel for the brief extra time it may give the west to plug the holes in their defenses is a necessary cost for the majority. jewish victims or victims-to-be may not see it that way, although israel's weak leadership seems to find the price acceptable. so, let me, among others, try once more to "shrei gevalt". the arabs are closing in on all of us. the leaders of israel, including the left, have shown a special incompetence in protecting the jewish nation. both must be removed from power because they ignore the future, erase the past as if inconsequential and continue to believe in appeasement - just as when neville chamberlain agreed to appeasing hitler by giving him the sudetenland of czechoslovakia. later chamberlain said on his deathbed: "it would have been ok if only hitler hadn't lied to me." foreign nations have only oil interests to consider and, therefore, israel is expendable in their doctrine where the few can be sacrificed for the many. the nations are, indeed, gathering and israel must be ready to push over the pillars of an uncivilized world as did samson. jews, you have no place to escape to except israel - because none of the nations will take you in. each for their own reasons - be it oil, religious hatred - they all want israel gone from this planet. it is past time to say "no!" and, when that knock-on-the-door comes at midnight, open it and shoot the marauder. we are instructed by g-d to take a life when a killer comes to take ours. we are not instructed to give up our homes or our lives in a vain effort to de-program arab killers cheered on by anti-semitism. it's way past time to "shrei gevalt!" to all jews because the alternatives is to wake up dead. ### ** in yiddush the correct spelling is gewalt, but it is pronounced
with the 'v'. emanuel winston is a commentator and middle east analyst. his articles appear often on think-israel and gamla he is a member of the board of directors and a research associate of the freeman center for strategic studies (http://www.freeman.org/online.htm). to go to top what's flying up north posted by honest reporting, june 10, 2004. as israel's northern region was targeted in the past few days,
media coverage failed to present essential context to inform readers
of ongoing arab aggression against israel. here's a review of what
occurred: 1) on june 7, a lebanon-based
palestinian group (popular front for the liberation of palestine)
fired a number of rockets toward israel. one nearly hit an israeli
naval vessel patrolling in israeli territorial waters. 2) in retaliation hours later, the israeli air force struck a pflp
base just south of beirut. 3) the following day (june 8), in a new provocation, hezbollah
fired 20 rockets and mortars at idf positions on har dov. 4) in retaliation that day, the idf returned fire against hezbollah. yet here's how the june 8 associated press report began: hezbollah guerrillas and israeli troops fired rockets and shells at each other across the south lebanon border tuesday, a day after the deepest israeli airstrike into lebanon in four years. note that the israeli airstrike raises readers' concern ('deepest
in four years') and is mentioned in a long-term historical context,
but the pflp rocket attack that immediately preceded the israeli
airstrike and instigated this entire round of violence is omitted. ap
only gets around to mentioning the instigating attack - the pflp
rocket strike - in the 10th paragraph of this report. ap thereby misleads the typical reader by skirting past what is perhaps the dominant narrative of the entire mideast conflict - arab rejection of, and aggression against, israel. indeed, this week's provocations from lebanon were in blatant violation of the lebanese-israeli border (the 'blue line') that the united nations defined following israel's withdrawal from southern lebanon in may 2000. since then, despite israeli commitment to the blue line, hezbollah and palestinian groups in lebanon have killed six israeli civilians and eleven idf soldiers through an ongoing barrage of unprovoked attacks: - 105 anti-aircraft attacks - 42 anti-tank missile attacks - 5 katyusha rocket attacks - 7 shooting attacks - 10 explosive device attacks - 14 infiltration attempts by failing to put this week's violence in proper context,
associated press extends an all-too-familiar pattern of 'tit-for-tat,
cycle of violence' coverage - emphasizing the latest israeli strike,
while downplaying the fact that israel was merely responding to
unprovoked violence. comments to ap: feedback@ap.org the northern threat immediate and forceful idf response to these hezbollah and pflp
attacks are absolutely essential for israeli security. here's a map
that explains why - the relevant item is the range of katyusha
missiles: over a million israeli civilians live within range of ketusha
rockets fired from southern lebanon. if the idf would not respond to
the terrorist fire, the entire northern israeli populace would become
regular targets. news stories don't convey the israeli vulnerability illustrated by
this map. yet you have no idea what's really flying in this story if
you don't understand this map's implications for israeli security. so as the lebanese-based terrorists threaten to heat up the
northern region once again, honestreporting encourages subscribers to
use these background points to respond to misrepresentations in your
local media. or better yet, take the initiative to draft an op-ed for
publication in your local paper. honest reporting monitors the media for inaccuracy and unfairness
in how they report the news about israel. ther website address is
http://www.honestreporting.com. you can help support their research
online or by sending contributions to: honestreporting, 400 south lake
drive, lakewood, nj 08701-3167. to go to top the saddamization of israel posted by david wilder, june 10, 2004. well, noam's back home. finally, at last, after almost nine months of lockup, originally in the same wing with shech obaid and mustepha dirani. after a prolonged hunger strike that has left him underweight. after legal battles which climaxed when the state dropped all charges against him in the "bat ayin" case. noam was suspected and indicted for masterminding a "jewish terrorist gang," accusations backed up by zilch evidence, as proven by the fact that the indictment was voided. municipal court judge david heshin had little choice but to release federman following a supreme court ruling paving the way for noam's release. yet the shabak - the "jewish section" of the israeli intelligence organization, is still not convinced. judge heshin annulled the 2nd six month administrative detention order which was to have kept noam in prison until, at least rosh hashana - over three months from now. however, as noam walked out the ashkelon penitentiary early this morning, he was handed another administrative order, this too signed by central command general moshe kaplinsky, with the blessings of defense minister shaul mufaz. this time noam won't have to serve his time behind bars - at least he's home. but free he's not. he must now comply with the rules and regulations of his freshly bestowed administrative house arrest orders. he is restricted to the four walls of his apartment, in the avraham avinu neighborhood in hebron. he may leave to pray, once a day, every morning, at ma'arat hamachpela, with a police escort. he is also being allowed a one-week vacation in northern israel, with daily visits to the nearest police station in the area. not good. one administrative order replacing another. but, at least he's home, with his wife, family and friends. the simcha - the joy at his homecoming earlier today in hebron, was tangible. everyone joined in welcoming noam back home, including singing, dancing, and, or course, media interviews. the reporters were ready and waiting, with microphones bared like swords, or perhaps better described as fish hooks, waiting to see what they might catch. nine months of incarceration have not dulled noam federman's tongue or senses. in a radio interview he granted last night, he said, "prison hasn't broken me. not a day passed by when i stopped smiling." this morning federman expressed himself clearly. "my release isn't the end of our struggle. there are others still in jail who we want to see back home, here in hebron." he was referring to itzik pass, father of slain infant shalhevet, and his brother-in-law matti shvu, who were convicted of illegally acquiring and possessing explosives - 8 "explosive bricks," discovered in their car. they are presently serving a two year jail sentence in the ramla prison. federman verbally attacked prime minister ariel sharon, calling him a dictator and comparing him to saddam hussein, saying that sharon's place, like saddam's is behind bars. he vowed to continue fighting the planned expulsion of jews from gaza. when asked whether he didn't fear being returned to his now-empty jail cell, federman laughed, saying, "jail doesn't scare me - you see me here today, after being in jail, if they put me back then again, they will have to release me. i will not stop the struggle to keep eretz yisrael in our hands." noam federman is described by almost all media outlets as a "leader of the extreme jewish right." in the past he was a compatriot of murdered rabbi meir kahane, and spokesman of the now-outlawed kach movement. many times his views and expressions are minimized, as his, and his alone. i can agree with the first half of that statement, but not the second. because today, noam's views are not his alone. the foundation of his opinion rests upon the pillars of am yisrael, eretz yisrael and torat yisrael - the people, land and torah of israel. there may be disagreements concerning the "how," how to accomplish our mission and reach our goal. but today, there are tens and hundreds of thousands of israelis who too, must be maligned as belonging to the "extreme right," because we are all worried about the same thing - and we really do have what to be worried about. let's play true and false: the israeli cabinet didn't really decide to uproot communities and expel their residents. the expulsion will not begin until a second vote is taken, in another nine months. what do you say? if you answer true, you're mistaken, on both counts. this morning our beloved media reported, (truthfully it seems), that negotiators have already begun speaking with gush katif residents, promising them substantial compensation if they leave their homes of their own free will. according to reports prepared by the israeli version of the national security council, the first exorcizing will commence, not next march, rather in two months, in august. at that time families will be able to "voluntarily" leave gush katif, with promises of a big bank account, at some time in the future. according arutz 7, the 2nd stage of expulsion will continue from november 2004 thru july 2005. all the suckers convinced to abandon their houses and land "of their own free will" will get paid on the spot. that's what's called instant gratification. the final stage, when jews are to be literally dragged from their homes, is due to start in september, 2005. already by the middle of august all gush katif will be declared off-limits to anyone and everyone not living there. by the end of september gush katif is scheduled to be judenrein. g-d forbid. to reiterate, because i've said it before, and so have many others, wiser than me, we must realize, this is only the beginning. many other communities throughout judea and samaria are on the chopping block. gush katif is only the appetizer. earlier this week it was revealed that former jerusalem mayor ehud olmert, once the champion of a united jerusalem (now sharon's trumpet), announced intentions to transfer a number of "arab cities" in east jerusalem to the pa. it's really so simple: you begin with kfar darom and finish with jerusalem. it's a straightforward equation. ariel sharon and his gang have plans, that if implemented, will result in a cataclysm impossible to conjure up, even in our wildest nightmares. others, like noam federman, fearless, facing up to truth and acting accordingly, are needed, to try and stop this madness. i think that all the latter know the rules, are aware of the "red lines." the problem is that the former know no "red lines" - everything is permissible. this week the israeli press gave notification that snipers, with "live ammunition" were stationed at the expulsion and destruction of mitzpe yitzhar. their targets were not arabs. such snipers, we are promised, will continue to be activated at future evictions. add that on to administrative detention, and other sharon-planned goodies, and we really do begin to look like a watered-down version of saddam's kingdom. with blessings from hebron. david wilder is spokesman for the jewish community
of hebron. you can contribute directly to the jewish community of
hebron, pob10, kiryat arba-hebron 90100, hebron@hebron.org.il,
972-2-9965333 or write to the hebron fund, 1760 ocean ave., brooklyn,
ny 11230, hebronfund@aol.com to go to top the jews must get rid of sharon before sharon gets rid of the jews posted by aryeh zelasko, june 10, 2004. the great tragedy of sharon is that at a certain level he still
believes all of this. to understand what happened to him one needs to
know that after selling billions of dollars of weapons captured in
lebanon (and receiving a hefty commission for the sales) sharon fell
deeply in love with money. when the americans or anyone else wiggle a
multi-billion dollar deal in front of him he reacts exactly as we
would expect an hormone driven teenaged boy to react to a scantily
clad women. his rational facilities are short circuited and all he
sees is the money. nothing will help him and nothing will change his
mind. sharon and his crime syndicate must be removed from power. if
they are not, the result will be enormous bloodshed in israel. one of the most dangerous men for the survival of israel as a democratic jewish state is one of its erstwhile jewish heroes, ariel sharon. after many attacks by the arab terrorists against the jews in gaza during the current oslo war, sharon decided on a brutal assault of his own -- but against his own people, the jews: "i have given an order to plan for the evacuation of 17 settlements
in the gaza strip," sharon said in an interview with the israeli
ha'aretz newspaper. "it is my intention to carry out an evacuation -
sorry, a relocation - of settlements," he said. "i am working on the
assumption that in the future there will be no jews in gaza." if this happened anywhere else in the world, were any government to
declare its intention to expel jews, and only jews, from their homes,
this will be denounced as rampant anti-semitism and racism. and all
this is to take place not in a country like nazi germany, but in the
land promised by g-d as an everlasting inheritance to the jews. ariel sharon is caving in to arab terror and joining forces to
realize the fondest dreams of the arabs, namely to drive the jewish
people out of their promised land, so miraculously regained by a
miracle of biblical proportions. ironically, sharon's initial focus is
on gaza, which the bible tells us was apportioned to the tribe of
judah, (joshua 15:47 and judges 1:18) as part of its eternal
patrimony. make no mistake about this! sharon's planned transfer of gaza's
jews is just the beginning of the dismantling of israel. in today's
jerusalem post, we read that olmert, sharon's vice premier, is
announcing a plan for the division of jerusalem as well. by the way,
four jewish communities
