By Simon Fischler
Living in Israel is amazing.
I moved to Israel from New York almost eleven years ago and I could never imagine moving back to the States.
My three children were born here and although they also hold American citizenship they are Israeli to the core.
When I see all the horrible things being said about my adopted country, it pains me no end. This open, democratic nation has achieved so much with so little, in such a small amount of time, against the worst odds any nation in this world has faced.
You see, Israel truly is an open democracy. I can actually speak for this because I have lived in two of the most open democracies that still exist on this planet: Israel and the United States of America. Interestingly, many of the people out there who condemn Israel have never set foot in this country. All their information is given to them from jaded, hostile and one-sided sources.
Sadly, some very close friends of mine have come to doubt Israel. I have done my best to give them facts, undeniable facts. In some cases this has helped; in others, it has not.
This country is not perfect; that I know. We have many problems that still need to be fixed -- from education to government corruption. Is there a country, especially a democratic one, not facing these problems?
Most difficult of all, though, is the fact that we Israelis have been forced to fight for our country from its birth. So many of our young have been lost. No matter what, we must continually be ready to fight. If we are not, it could be nothing less than what happened in the Shoah.
On countless occasions we have reached our hands out in peace, but our enemies have refused us each and every time. Sadly, I am only too sure that someday my children will have to continue the fight to protect our nation.
Believe me when I say I want peace for my children more than anything. I also know that the majority of Israelis would be willing to make painful compromises if there ever was a genuine partner for peace.
Unfortunately I see no partner for peace. There is no one on the Palestinian side willing to make the compromises needed and to recognize Israel for what she truly is, the Jewish democratic nation state. Apparently all the Palestinians know how to do is deny Israel’s right to exist while simultaneously making demands she recognize their national aspirations.
Truly, the only way for anyone to see the folly in denying that Israel is an open democracy is to get on a plane and come see this beautiful country up close and personal, as they say.
Please, if you get the chance, come visit our country before you judge her; if you do you will see how wrong all those who condemn Israel truly are. There will also be an open door at our house waiting for you.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Sunday, December 26, 2010
A FEW MORE THOUGHTS
By Simon Fischler
Anti-Semitism is possibly the oldest form of Racism this world knows.
From the time of the ancient Greco-Roman world until today almost every generation in the line of humankind has hated the Jews.
Anti-Semites will tell you that they must be right about the Jews; after all so many people for so many generations have hated and attempted to destroy the Hebrew, Israelite and Jewish Nation.
On the other hand, White Europeans and Arab Semites used to think Black Africans were sub-human and therefore it was acceptable to sell them like animals. Remember, a majority of people also used to think the world was flat.
My point is simple: anti-Semitism has been around since humans have been writing their own history. It’s an insidious disease infecting much of the human race, although concentrated in Europe, the American South (with pockets in the West and Midwest), all majority-Arab/Muslim countries (including those on the African continent) and Muslim Asia.
The acute irony – no, tragedy – is that anti-Semitism is almost completely a product of the two religions which have developed from Judaism, and are, in effect, its children: Christianity and Islam.
Sadly, after an all-too-brief period of being politically incorrect, anti-Semitism is on a rapid rise the world over. This ugly monster is alive and thriving again in Europe, where less then a century ago SIX MILLION JEWS were killed in the Shoah.
White Europe has always had a problem with the Jewish Nation. The ancient Greeks and Romans created what we know as anti-Semitism today, because we stubborn Jews refused their sophisticated cultures. To them we were a backwards people, believing in this ridiculous one G-d. we were to be laughed at and despised for our ignorance.
Today’s anti-Semitism has taken a new form and its main target is the Jewish Nation State, Israel.
The anti-Semites of the world spent many hundreds of years killing or dispersing or trying to force us Jews to assimilate or convert us Jews, in order to destroy or squelch the nation of Israel. Now they have decided that this reincarnated nation of Israel no longer deserves to be a nation. How funny is that?
And despite all the genetic tests and DNA tests that point to the fact Jews are a distinct people who share similar genetics, still anti-Semites would take that away from us, ignoring the truths of history.
Fact: The Jewish Nation and Jewish Law governed over the land of Israel long before there were Arabs here, before Mohammad was born and before anything called Islam existed.
Fact: the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron was built by the JEWISH King Herod, and is the only fully intact Herodian structure.
Fact: what is called the Al Aksa Mosque was built on the TEMPLE MOUNT, an act of desecration carried out by Colonialist Arab Muslims.
Littered all over the Land of Israel are archaeological sites of HEBREW, ISRAELITE and JEWISH history.
The JEWISH province of JUDEA (Where the name JEW comes from), with its capital of JERUSALEM (Note, Jerusalem is a Hebrew word) was a prominent Roman client state until the final revolt and destruction of the Temple -- long before anyone was called a Palestinian!
Yet somehow the Jewish Nation does not deserve to have self-determination in its historical homeland? That type of thinking only lives in the mind of an ANTI-SEMITE.
Names are a truly important part of a nation. Example, Arabs originally come from the Arabian peninsula, hence the name Arab. The same goes for the Jewish Nation, the name Jew comes from Judea. The Jewish people have always lived in the land of Israel. This was the birthplace of our nation and for much of history we have been a majority in our land.
The name Palestine is very new if one looks at history. On top of that, the name Palestine is a COLONIALIST EUROPEAN name! That is right, the name comes from the Romans and was given to the Jewish province of Judea after the Romans sacked Jerusalem.
The groups and organizations attempting to destroy Israel (and that is exactly what they are attempting) have also taken up a new banner: the complete delegitimization of Israel through the most heinous lies.
It is without a doubt diplomatic terrorism akin to that of the Nazi party in the early thirties. The ringleaders in this new form of terrorism are the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (B.D.S) and the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), two groups claiming to fight for human rights, while espousing the most virulent forms of racism and anti-Semitism. A perfect example of this is the call of both Movements for the outright destruction of Israel and the denial of the Jewish nation’s right to govern itself in its native land.
Movements like BDS and the ISM say Israel has no right to exist as a democratic Jewish nation state. They then continue to demand a Palestinian Arab, Islamic state. This is the must denigrating and racist policy. It is policies like this, ones that say our race is better than yours and more deserving than yours that were the corner stone of Apartheid South Africa.
After calling for anti-Semitic, racist and genocidal policies towards Israel, these organizations then blatantly lie when they accuse Israel of being a racist, Apartheid state. They completely ignore the fact that Israeli Arabs enjoy equal rights in Israel; they overlook the fact that there are thirteen Arab members in the Knesset.
This quote from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas given yesterday in Ramallah sums up the Palestinian Leadership and all the organizations standing against Israel today: “We have frankly said, and always will say, if there is an independent Palestinian State with Jerusalem as its capital, we won’t agree to the presence of one Israeli in it,”
I'm sorry, but is this not an outright declaration of discrimination? Is this not what made APARTHEID what it was in South Africa? Of course it was.
Anti-Semitism is alive and thriving today Jew Hating is as popular today as it was in Europe in the early twentieth century. The only thing standing in the way of those who hate Israel and in the way of another Holocaust is Israel.
It is high time that Jews around the world realize this. And for any self-hating Jew or any Jew who thinks that secularism or outright denial will save his or her skin should the Jew-haters of the world succeed in destroying Israel, he or she had better look to the past and think again.:
Anti-Semitism is possibly the oldest form of Racism this world knows.
From the time of the ancient Greco-Roman world until today almost every generation in the line of humankind has hated the Jews.
Anti-Semites will tell you that they must be right about the Jews; after all so many people for so many generations have hated and attempted to destroy the Hebrew, Israelite and Jewish Nation.
On the other hand, White Europeans and Arab Semites used to think Black Africans were sub-human and therefore it was acceptable to sell them like animals. Remember, a majority of people also used to think the world was flat.
My point is simple: anti-Semitism has been around since humans have been writing their own history. It’s an insidious disease infecting much of the human race, although concentrated in Europe, the American South (with pockets in the West and Midwest), all majority-Arab/Muslim countries (including those on the African continent) and Muslim Asia.
The acute irony – no, tragedy – is that anti-Semitism is almost completely a product of the two religions which have developed from Judaism, and are, in effect, its children: Christianity and Islam.
Sadly, after an all-too-brief period of being politically incorrect, anti-Semitism is on a rapid rise the world over. This ugly monster is alive and thriving again in Europe, where less then a century ago SIX MILLION JEWS were killed in the Shoah.
White Europe has always had a problem with the Jewish Nation. The ancient Greeks and Romans created what we know as anti-Semitism today, because we stubborn Jews refused their sophisticated cultures. To them we were a backwards people, believing in this ridiculous one G-d. we were to be laughed at and despised for our ignorance.
Today’s anti-Semitism has taken a new form and its main target is the Jewish Nation State, Israel.
The anti-Semites of the world spent many hundreds of years killing or dispersing or trying to force us Jews to assimilate or convert us Jews, in order to destroy or squelch the nation of Israel. Now they have decided that this reincarnated nation of Israel no longer deserves to be a nation. How funny is that?
And despite all the genetic tests and DNA tests that point to the fact Jews are a distinct people who share similar genetics, still anti-Semites would take that away from us, ignoring the truths of history.
Fact: The Jewish Nation and Jewish Law governed over the land of Israel long before there were Arabs here, before Mohammad was born and before anything called Islam existed.
Fact: the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron was built by the JEWISH King Herod, and is the only fully intact Herodian structure.
Fact: what is called the Al Aksa Mosque was built on the TEMPLE MOUNT, an act of desecration carried out by Colonialist Arab Muslims.
Littered all over the Land of Israel are archaeological sites of HEBREW, ISRAELITE and JEWISH history.
The JEWISH province of JUDEA (Where the name JEW comes from), with its capital of JERUSALEM (Note, Jerusalem is a Hebrew word) was a prominent Roman client state until the final revolt and destruction of the Temple -- long before anyone was called a Palestinian!
Yet somehow the Jewish Nation does not deserve to have self-determination in its historical homeland? That type of thinking only lives in the mind of an ANTI-SEMITE.
Names are a truly important part of a nation. Example, Arabs originally come from the Arabian peninsula, hence the name Arab. The same goes for the Jewish Nation, the name Jew comes from Judea. The Jewish people have always lived in the land of Israel. This was the birthplace of our nation and for much of history we have been a majority in our land.
The name Palestine is very new if one looks at history. On top of that, the name Palestine is a COLONIALIST EUROPEAN name! That is right, the name comes from the Romans and was given to the Jewish province of Judea after the Romans sacked Jerusalem.
The groups and organizations attempting to destroy Israel (and that is exactly what they are attempting) have also taken up a new banner: the complete delegitimization of Israel through the most heinous lies.
It is without a doubt diplomatic terrorism akin to that of the Nazi party in the early thirties. The ringleaders in this new form of terrorism are the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (B.D.S) and the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), two groups claiming to fight for human rights, while espousing the most virulent forms of racism and anti-Semitism. A perfect example of this is the call of both Movements for the outright destruction of Israel and the denial of the Jewish nation’s right to govern itself in its native land.
Movements like BDS and the ISM say Israel has no right to exist as a democratic Jewish nation state. They then continue to demand a Palestinian Arab, Islamic state. This is the must denigrating and racist policy. It is policies like this, ones that say our race is better than yours and more deserving than yours that were the corner stone of Apartheid South Africa.
After calling for anti-Semitic, racist and genocidal policies towards Israel, these organizations then blatantly lie when they accuse Israel of being a racist, Apartheid state. They completely ignore the fact that Israeli Arabs enjoy equal rights in Israel; they overlook the fact that there are thirteen Arab members in the Knesset.
This quote from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas given yesterday in Ramallah sums up the Palestinian Leadership and all the organizations standing against Israel today: “We have frankly said, and always will say, if there is an independent Palestinian State with Jerusalem as its capital, we won’t agree to the presence of one Israeli in it,”
I'm sorry, but is this not an outright declaration of discrimination? Is this not what made APARTHEID what it was in South Africa? Of course it was.
Anti-Semitism is alive and thriving today Jew Hating is as popular today as it was in Europe in the early twentieth century. The only thing standing in the way of those who hate Israel and in the way of another Holocaust is Israel.
It is high time that Jews around the world realize this. And for any self-hating Jew or any Jew who thinks that secularism or outright denial will save his or her skin should the Jew-haters of the world succeed in destroying Israel, he or she had better look to the past and think again.:
Saturday, December 25, 2010
IS IT PLAIN STUPIDITY OR IS IT ABJECT JEW-HATING?
By Schmoel Yitzhak
There is a simple arithmetical equation to explain Middle East politics.
Israel gives an inch and the Arabs take a mile.
It happens over and over again and yet the judgmental world X-raying Israel seems blind to the obvious.
The evolving situation in Gaza is a good starting point for the explanation.
In 1967, Israel won a war started by the Arabs and did so whenever the assaults were repeated. As a result, Israelis settled in Gaza establishing industry, producing fruits and vegetables, making the land better.
Palestinians demonized the move and harassed the settlements at every turn. Finally, in a moment of soft-headed senility or a sagacious concession to peace -- YOU take your pick -- Prime Minister Ariel Sharon chose to vacate all Jewish habitation in the Strip.
This was a difficult decision because Jews in Gaza did not want to leave and they had every reason to fight the eviction process. But Sharon was convinced that the forced exit would produce long-range peace. And who could quarrel with the PM's thinking. The end of 2005 saw 21 settlements dismantled and 8,000 Israelis uprooted.
Here he was showing the Arabs that he will unilaterally give up some of the most advanced cultivation of a hitherto arid land with no questions asked. A rational person would assume that such a gesture would receive a reciprocal glad hand and some sort of entente cordiale could be established between the conflicting parties.
Sharon's glad hand earned him an eventual slap in the face. For starters, the Palestinians systematically destroyed everything Jewish, from the hothouses to the synagogues. The Arabs preferred scorched earth to cultivation.
That in itself could be tolerated. After all, it was peace that the Israelis sought.
So, here's what the Sharon gesture ultimately earned in return: for eight years Hamas has fired from Gaza thousands of missiles, mortars and rockets on nearby Israeli cities. This was WAR in no uncertain terms; except that the United Nations did not think so. Not a single UN resolution was passed condemning the assaults. Not one.
When Israel retaliated it was condemned by the UN Human Rights Council. As one commentator noted, "By these twisted standards, the UN Human Rights Council would have dragged Roosevelt and Churchill to the dock as criminals."
Now imagine if thousands of rockets were fired by a hostile Canada at the United States. Or that an irate Mexico sent barrage after barrage into Texas. For how many minutes would Uncle Sam tolerate that?
Maybe five -- and then the counterattacks would begin.
Israel's response was patience, patience and more patience -- until it finally ran out and Operation Cast Lead was launched. It was done with precision so that a minimum of damage was done to the civilian population.
Of course it was impossible to avoid civilian casualties among the Arabs because Hamas was firing missiles from homes and schools. Mosques were weapons depots. Ambulances were used to move explosives.
Eventually a truce was declared and the assumption was that, once and for all, missile attacks on Israel would be over and some sort of calm would be restored; not for a day, not for a month but for a long, long time.
But since the Palestinians remain dedicated to the extermination of Israel, it was inevitable that the attacks would be resumed and they were.
No surprise there. For 62 years the Arabs have sidestepped a permanent peace yet Jew-hating throughout the world keeps increasing.
In Malmo, Sweden, Jews have emigrated because of constant harassment by the growing Muslim population.
In Seattle, Washington, buses are carrying posters condemning Israel for Operation Cast Lead as if there was no reason for Israel to retaliate against the aggression.
In Washington, D.C. there is a president who badly treated Israel's prime minister, There is a chief executive who has yet to visit the only democracy in the Middle East. Barack Obama's policies have encouraged isolation of Israel, no more no less.
The Gaza pullout earned no gains for Israel. The way Arabs think, it proved that Israel has gone soft, if not just plain loco.
Israel must fight back on all fronts because the threats are growing.
Bibi's government needs more friends like American publisher Rupert Murdoch; someone who knows the score and won't bow to the left-wing philosophy of politically correct.
"The world of 2010 is not the world of the 1930s," says Murdoch. "The threats Jews face today are different. But these threats are real. These threats are soaked in the ugly language familiar to anyone old enough to remember World War II.
"And these threats cannot be addressed until we see them for what they are: part of an ongoing war against the Jews."
That war not only is being launched in Gaza, Iran, Lebanon and Syria but in the Unites States as well.
Anti-Israel billboards on Seattle buses say it all.
"This," adds Murdoch, "is the soft war that seeks to isolate Israel by delegitimizing it."
Israel must win this war and cannot give an inch because that kind of concession invites even more missile barrages!
There is a simple arithmetical equation to explain Middle East politics.
Israel gives an inch and the Arabs take a mile.
It happens over and over again and yet the judgmental world X-raying Israel seems blind to the obvious.
The evolving situation in Gaza is a good starting point for the explanation.
In 1967, Israel won a war started by the Arabs and did so whenever the assaults were repeated. As a result, Israelis settled in Gaza establishing industry, producing fruits and vegetables, making the land better.
Palestinians demonized the move and harassed the settlements at every turn. Finally, in a moment of soft-headed senility or a sagacious concession to peace -- YOU take your pick -- Prime Minister Ariel Sharon chose to vacate all Jewish habitation in the Strip.
This was a difficult decision because Jews in Gaza did not want to leave and they had every reason to fight the eviction process. But Sharon was convinced that the forced exit would produce long-range peace. And who could quarrel with the PM's thinking. The end of 2005 saw 21 settlements dismantled and 8,000 Israelis uprooted.
Here he was showing the Arabs that he will unilaterally give up some of the most advanced cultivation of a hitherto arid land with no questions asked. A rational person would assume that such a gesture would receive a reciprocal glad hand and some sort of entente cordiale could be established between the conflicting parties.
Sharon's glad hand earned him an eventual slap in the face. For starters, the Palestinians systematically destroyed everything Jewish, from the hothouses to the synagogues. The Arabs preferred scorched earth to cultivation.
That in itself could be tolerated. After all, it was peace that the Israelis sought.
So, here's what the Sharon gesture ultimately earned in return: for eight years Hamas has fired from Gaza thousands of missiles, mortars and rockets on nearby Israeli cities. This was WAR in no uncertain terms; except that the United Nations did not think so. Not a single UN resolution was passed condemning the assaults. Not one.
When Israel retaliated it was condemned by the UN Human Rights Council. As one commentator noted, "By these twisted standards, the UN Human Rights Council would have dragged Roosevelt and Churchill to the dock as criminals."
Now imagine if thousands of rockets were fired by a hostile Canada at the United States. Or that an irate Mexico sent barrage after barrage into Texas. For how many minutes would Uncle Sam tolerate that?
Maybe five -- and then the counterattacks would begin.
Israel's response was patience, patience and more patience -- until it finally ran out and Operation Cast Lead was launched. It was done with precision so that a minimum of damage was done to the civilian population.
Of course it was impossible to avoid civilian casualties among the Arabs because Hamas was firing missiles from homes and schools. Mosques were weapons depots. Ambulances were used to move explosives.
Eventually a truce was declared and the assumption was that, once and for all, missile attacks on Israel would be over and some sort of calm would be restored; not for a day, not for a month but for a long, long time.
But since the Palestinians remain dedicated to the extermination of Israel, it was inevitable that the attacks would be resumed and they were.
No surprise there. For 62 years the Arabs have sidestepped a permanent peace yet Jew-hating throughout the world keeps increasing.
In Malmo, Sweden, Jews have emigrated because of constant harassment by the growing Muslim population.
In Seattle, Washington, buses are carrying posters condemning Israel for Operation Cast Lead as if there was no reason for Israel to retaliate against the aggression.
In Washington, D.C. there is a president who badly treated Israel's prime minister, There is a chief executive who has yet to visit the only democracy in the Middle East. Barack Obama's policies have encouraged isolation of Israel, no more no less.
The Gaza pullout earned no gains for Israel. The way Arabs think, it proved that Israel has gone soft, if not just plain loco.
Israel must fight back on all fronts because the threats are growing.
Bibi's government needs more friends like American publisher Rupert Murdoch; someone who knows the score and won't bow to the left-wing philosophy of politically correct.
"The world of 2010 is not the world of the 1930s," says Murdoch. "The threats Jews face today are different. But these threats are real. These threats are soaked in the ugly language familiar to anyone old enough to remember World War II.
"And these threats cannot be addressed until we see them for what they are: part of an ongoing war against the Jews."
That war not only is being launched in Gaza, Iran, Lebanon and Syria but in the Unites States as well.
Anti-Israel billboards on Seattle buses say it all.
"This," adds Murdoch, "is the soft war that seeks to isolate Israel by delegitimizing it."
Israel must win this war and cannot give an inch because that kind of concession invites even more missile barrages!
Friday, December 24, 2010
JUST A FEW THOUGHTS GOING THROUGH MY HEAD
By Simon Fischler
Top Palestinian Authority negotiator Saeb Erekat has taken time off from proclaiming that “No Jew will live in the future Palestinian State” to tell the press that the PA is afraid of a new Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip.
Well, Saeb might very well be right about a new offensive happening, due to the increased amount of rockets being shot into southern Israel.
In the last week Israel has endured forty-four rockets from the Gaza Strip. Try to imagine Mexico shooting forty-four rockets into Texas or Arizona on weekly basis!
One of these rockets badly hurt a teenager when it fell next to the pre-school she was walking past. Make no mistake: the rocket was fired intentionally in the early morning, when Israelis are taking their children to school.
What does that sound like to you? Maybe like intentionally targeting civilians, which is a CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY.
But I guess it does not count, because the rockets are being fired against Israelis and we are just not human enough for the world to care.
Here is the problem and where Mr. Erekat could be right. Had that rocket killed the teenage girl, or landed on the pre-school, killing innocent children, be sure that OPERATION CAST LEAD II would already have been underway.
Basically the terrorist organization running the Gaza Strip, HAMAS, is flaunting International Law on a daily and weekly basis.
They are not only intentionally targeting innocent civilians in Israel, they are also hiding behind the civilians they claim to protect, Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip.
That is a DOUBLE WHAMMY in the crimes against humanity department. But the world is quiet.
Is that not ironic? Seriously, where is Annie Lennox now? Why isn’t she protesting against the cruel actions being carried out by the rulers of the Gaza Strip?
Why isn’t UN Leader Ban Ki-moon demanding Hamas stop all rocket fire? Or, for that matter, why isn’t another GOLDSTONE REPORT being created to document the rocket attacks against Israel.
Why? Because this sick world is being run by ARAB OIL money! Those running the UN and its supposed Human Rights Watch are some of the worst PERPETRATORS of crimes against humanity, but because they have OIL they are untouchable.
By the way shouldn’t the American Government and other governments in the free world be deeply scared of the fact that Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri is about to totally give into the threats made by Hezbollah and cancel the UN Special Tribunal for Lebanon?
After all, it was the Lebanese government with American and French backing that demanded the UN conduct a fair and honest trial after the Assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri.
Hezbollah is threatening to stage a COUP in Lebanon if the tribunal isn’t tossed into the dust bin of history.
Why?
Hezbollah will do just about anything to stop this tribunal, because they know well enough that the tribunal will indict many of its top militants. How do they know this and why is Hezbollah so afraid? Because, indeed, it was Hezbollah that assassinated Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri.
Does that mean the world should let Hezbollah get away with murder? Of course not!
For that matter, how can Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri stick a knife so far into the back of the dreams his father had for Lebanon: freeing Lebanon from the hands of Iran and Hezbollah?
He claims he is doing this for the benefit of the people of Lebanon. I really do not see how succumbing to Hezbollah’s (that is, Iran’s) militant threats and selling out the dream of the majority of Lebanon, is for the benefit of Lebanon.
Again, this dream he is about to abandon and destroy is the same one his father started and the same dream that got him and Fouad Siniora before him elected.
It is all the same game being played out by the Arab Governments time and time again.
The Palestinians continue their racist policies towards Israel (such as refusing to recognize Israel as the Jewish Nation State), while demanding Israel recognize Palestinian aspirations. They continue to shoot rockets into Israel from the Gaza Strip while crying wolf to the world. In Lebanon the leadership continues to appease a hostile organization that pays no attention to what the people of Lebanon want.
All of this means is one thing: WAR is sure to come again!
Israel will be ready and the deaths the next war brings will be the fault of the World Organizations that still refuse to hold the Arab Governments responsible for their actions.
But who will be blamed? I think we all know.
Top Palestinian Authority negotiator Saeb Erekat has taken time off from proclaiming that “No Jew will live in the future Palestinian State” to tell the press that the PA is afraid of a new Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip.
Well, Saeb might very well be right about a new offensive happening, due to the increased amount of rockets being shot into southern Israel.
In the last week Israel has endured forty-four rockets from the Gaza Strip. Try to imagine Mexico shooting forty-four rockets into Texas or Arizona on weekly basis!
One of these rockets badly hurt a teenager when it fell next to the pre-school she was walking past. Make no mistake: the rocket was fired intentionally in the early morning, when Israelis are taking their children to school.
What does that sound like to you? Maybe like intentionally targeting civilians, which is a CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY.
But I guess it does not count, because the rockets are being fired against Israelis and we are just not human enough for the world to care.
Here is the problem and where Mr. Erekat could be right. Had that rocket killed the teenage girl, or landed on the pre-school, killing innocent children, be sure that OPERATION CAST LEAD II would already have been underway.
Basically the terrorist organization running the Gaza Strip, HAMAS, is flaunting International Law on a daily and weekly basis.
They are not only intentionally targeting innocent civilians in Israel, they are also hiding behind the civilians they claim to protect, Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip.
That is a DOUBLE WHAMMY in the crimes against humanity department. But the world is quiet.
Is that not ironic? Seriously, where is Annie Lennox now? Why isn’t she protesting against the cruel actions being carried out by the rulers of the Gaza Strip?
Why isn’t UN Leader Ban Ki-moon demanding Hamas stop all rocket fire? Or, for that matter, why isn’t another GOLDSTONE REPORT being created to document the rocket attacks against Israel.
Why? Because this sick world is being run by ARAB OIL money! Those running the UN and its supposed Human Rights Watch are some of the worst PERPETRATORS of crimes against humanity, but because they have OIL they are untouchable.
By the way shouldn’t the American Government and other governments in the free world be deeply scared of the fact that Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri is about to totally give into the threats made by Hezbollah and cancel the UN Special Tribunal for Lebanon?
After all, it was the Lebanese government with American and French backing that demanded the UN conduct a fair and honest trial after the Assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri.
Hezbollah is threatening to stage a COUP in Lebanon if the tribunal isn’t tossed into the dust bin of history.
Why?
Hezbollah will do just about anything to stop this tribunal, because they know well enough that the tribunal will indict many of its top militants. How do they know this and why is Hezbollah so afraid? Because, indeed, it was Hezbollah that assassinated Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri.
Does that mean the world should let Hezbollah get away with murder? Of course not!
For that matter, how can Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri stick a knife so far into the back of the dreams his father had for Lebanon: freeing Lebanon from the hands of Iran and Hezbollah?
He claims he is doing this for the benefit of the people of Lebanon. I really do not see how succumbing to Hezbollah’s (that is, Iran’s) militant threats and selling out the dream of the majority of Lebanon, is for the benefit of Lebanon.
Again, this dream he is about to abandon and destroy is the same one his father started and the same dream that got him and Fouad Siniora before him elected.
It is all the same game being played out by the Arab Governments time and time again.
The Palestinians continue their racist policies towards Israel (such as refusing to recognize Israel as the Jewish Nation State), while demanding Israel recognize Palestinian aspirations. They continue to shoot rockets into Israel from the Gaza Strip while crying wolf to the world. In Lebanon the leadership continues to appease a hostile organization that pays no attention to what the people of Lebanon want.
All of this means is one thing: WAR is sure to come again!
Israel will be ready and the deaths the next war brings will be the fault of the World Organizations that still refuse to hold the Arab Governments responsible for their actions.
But who will be blamed? I think we all know.
Monday, December 20, 2010
PEACE ON EARTH, GOODWILL TO MEN -- IS THAT A JOKE, OR WHAT?
By Schmoel Yitzhak
When American children are between the ages of two and five, they are led to believe that, yes, there IS a Santa Claus and, if they behave, jolly, old St.Nicholas will bring them gifts for Christmas.
There's even an evergreen hit tune that goes with the myth:
"YOU'D BETTER WATCH OUT, YOU'D BETTER NOT CRY; YOU'D BETTER NOT POUT, I'M TELLING YOU WHY -- SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN."
Santa -- alias Kris Kringle -- annually makes his first appearance at Thanksgiving Day parades and in large department stores thereafter. Most kids believe in him until, well, sooner or later they wise up to the facts and the hopes of seeing St. Nick come down the chimney disappear like smoke rings in the air.
Thus, the Santa Claus fantasy can easily be transformed to the world political stage, especially in the Middle East, where the annual dream of "Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Men" is so much fantasy that one can only react to it in two ways; 1. The thought of Israeli-Arab peace is a joke; 2. The thought of Israeli-Arab peace is a BIG joke; more like black humor.
At a certain point during the Christmas season, growing kids grow cynical about the Santa ruse and who can blame them?
Ditto for those who have any expectations of an Arab-Israeli negotiating breakthrough. We've been burned one time -- make that a dozen -- too many.
Were there any hope for a better result, it would have to come from the only realistic broker available and that would be Uncle Sam.
Unfortunately, the Uncle Sam who once considered himself the Number One Pal of Israel has turned into a political chameleon, a reptile capable of changing its color. Only now he's a viper.
Dr. Mike Evans of the Jerusalem Prayer Team has articulated this point as well as anyone on the Middle East news beat.
"The Obama Administration," says Dr. Evans, "continues to treat Israel as an enemy instead of an ally. The U.S. has failed to enforce a promise from Syria not to provide advance weapons to Hezbullah for use against Israel.
"America has stood by while Iran has used ambulances -- in direct violation of the Geneva Conventions -- to smuggle missiles and other weapons to their terrorist proxies."
What's so irksome about all this is that leaked secret documents make it abundantly clear that the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi have pleaded with Uncle Sam to take action against the Iranians. The point is clear; that unless Obama, Inc. takes REALISTIC, MILITARY action against Iran, the radical mullahs of Tehran will gain control of nuclear weapons. Any UN sanctions will have the power of Santa's bottom-of-the-bag gifts.
Even more revealing among the secret messages is that the aforementioned Arab nations quietly SUPPORT ISRAEL AGAINST IRAN but have been fearful to do so in public.
Sadly, when it comes to taking meaningful action in the Middle East, fear has so engulfed America's Chief Executive that the most he can summon in anger is demanding a halt in Israeli settlement construction; as if that will make a smidgen of difference among the militant Arabs.
One wonders whether Obama, Hilary Clinton and her State Department cohorts are cognizant of simple facts when it comes to hammering out a settlement.
Perhaps if either -- or all -- of them checked out the analysis of Jonathan Rosenblum, they might alter their we-make-our-decisions-with-Arab-blinders-on stance.
Founder of Jewish Media Resources, Rosenblum sees things clearly and sees them whole.
"Since Oslo," Rosenblum explains, "the Palestinians have refused every Israeli offer while 'pocketing' the latest Israeli concessions as the starting point for the next round of negotiations."
Most recently, we saw this scenario unfold when Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to a lengthy moratorium on "settlement" construction in return for Mahmound Abbas agreeing to negotiations.
Well, we all know what happened. Abbas did nothing and then came back with yet another demand.
Can Israel expect any help from Obama? Not a chance. Guarantees from American presidents such as George W. Bush are tossed in the garbage by Obama, including Bush's landmark letter pledging full support of Israel.
Rosenblum: "The Obama administration has made clear that it does not view the Bush letter as binding upon it."
"Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men."
Arabs hatred of Israel (Jews) will subside via treaties.
Sorry.
Santa Claus isn't coming to Bethlehem, Tel Aviv nor Jerusalem this Christmas!
When American children are between the ages of two and five, they are led to believe that, yes, there IS a Santa Claus and, if they behave, jolly, old St.Nicholas will bring them gifts for Christmas.
There's even an evergreen hit tune that goes with the myth:
"YOU'D BETTER WATCH OUT, YOU'D BETTER NOT CRY; YOU'D BETTER NOT POUT, I'M TELLING YOU WHY -- SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN."
Santa -- alias Kris Kringle -- annually makes his first appearance at Thanksgiving Day parades and in large department stores thereafter. Most kids believe in him until, well, sooner or later they wise up to the facts and the hopes of seeing St. Nick come down the chimney disappear like smoke rings in the air.
Thus, the Santa Claus fantasy can easily be transformed to the world political stage, especially in the Middle East, where the annual dream of "Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Men" is so much fantasy that one can only react to it in two ways; 1. The thought of Israeli-Arab peace is a joke; 2. The thought of Israeli-Arab peace is a BIG joke; more like black humor.
At a certain point during the Christmas season, growing kids grow cynical about the Santa ruse and who can blame them?
Ditto for those who have any expectations of an Arab-Israeli negotiating breakthrough. We've been burned one time -- make that a dozen -- too many.
Were there any hope for a better result, it would have to come from the only realistic broker available and that would be Uncle Sam.
Unfortunately, the Uncle Sam who once considered himself the Number One Pal of Israel has turned into a political chameleon, a reptile capable of changing its color. Only now he's a viper.
Dr. Mike Evans of the Jerusalem Prayer Team has articulated this point as well as anyone on the Middle East news beat.
"The Obama Administration," says Dr. Evans, "continues to treat Israel as an enemy instead of an ally. The U.S. has failed to enforce a promise from Syria not to provide advance weapons to Hezbullah for use against Israel.
"America has stood by while Iran has used ambulances -- in direct violation of the Geneva Conventions -- to smuggle missiles and other weapons to their terrorist proxies."
What's so irksome about all this is that leaked secret documents make it abundantly clear that the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi have pleaded with Uncle Sam to take action against the Iranians. The point is clear; that unless Obama, Inc. takes REALISTIC, MILITARY action against Iran, the radical mullahs of Tehran will gain control of nuclear weapons. Any UN sanctions will have the power of Santa's bottom-of-the-bag gifts.
Even more revealing among the secret messages is that the aforementioned Arab nations quietly SUPPORT ISRAEL AGAINST IRAN but have been fearful to do so in public.
Sadly, when it comes to taking meaningful action in the Middle East, fear has so engulfed America's Chief Executive that the most he can summon in anger is demanding a halt in Israeli settlement construction; as if that will make a smidgen of difference among the militant Arabs.
One wonders whether Obama, Hilary Clinton and her State Department cohorts are cognizant of simple facts when it comes to hammering out a settlement.
Perhaps if either -- or all -- of them checked out the analysis of Jonathan Rosenblum, they might alter their we-make-our-decisions-with-Arab-blinders-on stance.
Founder of Jewish Media Resources, Rosenblum sees things clearly and sees them whole.
"Since Oslo," Rosenblum explains, "the Palestinians have refused every Israeli offer while 'pocketing' the latest Israeli concessions as the starting point for the next round of negotiations."
Most recently, we saw this scenario unfold when Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to a lengthy moratorium on "settlement" construction in return for Mahmound Abbas agreeing to negotiations.
Well, we all know what happened. Abbas did nothing and then came back with yet another demand.
Can Israel expect any help from Obama? Not a chance. Guarantees from American presidents such as George W. Bush are tossed in the garbage by Obama, including Bush's landmark letter pledging full support of Israel.
Rosenblum: "The Obama administration has made clear that it does not view the Bush letter as binding upon it."
"Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men."
Arabs hatred of Israel (Jews) will subside via treaties.
Sorry.
Santa Claus isn't coming to Bethlehem, Tel Aviv nor Jerusalem this Christmas!
Saturday, December 18, 2010
SURE THERE'LL BE PEACE -- WHEN THE ARABS STOP HATING ISRAEL, NOT A MOMENT SOONER
By Schmoel Yitzhak
It is astonishing how deceptive the so-called wise media members have been when analyzing Middle East politics.
Deceptive is one description of the mis-information regularly dispensed.
Illusions fits just as well.
Webster's Dictionary defines illusions thusly: "an erroneous interpretation."
A prime illusion is that the Arabs want peace with Israel.
Hatred generated by Hamas, Hizbullah and Iran is so patently obvious as to not even bear discussion. But this detestation of the Jews -- Israel -- runs far deeper and is infinitely more widespread than that generated by those hideous groups. There are others who masquerade as proponents of peace in the Arab world.
One who has clarified this point is Harold Rhode who served in the Pentagon's Office of Net Assessment. Currently he is a Senior Advisor at the Hudson Institute in New York.
"The Saudis (Wahhabis) have lots of money," explains Rhode, "and they are using it to propagate their hatred of the West and Israel."
What's curious about that statement -- true as it is -- reverts to American policy. Uncle Sam views the Saudis (Wahhabis) as allies. Yet, it has been clear for decades that, as Rhode explains, "Wahhabism is fanatical and for Islam is the equivalent of the Ku Klux Klan brand of Christianity."
How can one even suggest that Israeli-Arab peace can be attained if so-called "moderates" such as the Saudis want to bring down Israel as fervently as the fanatics in Gaza and Lebanon?
How can columnists such as Thomas Friedman continually bash Israel for building homes when it has been abundantly apparent for decades that whether "settlements" rise or not, Arab hostility will not abate.
Another observer who understands the folly of Friedman and his pathetically misguided ilk is Barry Rubin, editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs.
"For the Palestinian Authority and its governing body, Fatah," asserts Rubin, "the goal is the transformation of all of the land into a Palestinian, Arab and Muslim state. For Hamas, it is the transformation of all of the land into an Islamic Palestinian state that is also Arab."
One would think -- here we have another illusion -- that supposedly bright individuals such as Hilary Clinton and (ahem!) Barack Obama would see these things as clearly as other Middle East analysts do but the American leaders are hellbent on appeasing the Arabs at any cost and continue to do so while getting slapped around in return.
Why would the president consistently send emissaries to Jerusalem and Ramallah when the missions are automatically doomed to failure?
This is a point that was clearly enunciated by Richard Holbrooke, the distinguished American ambassador who recently passed away. Former Ambassador to the United Nations, Holbrooke examined the Arab-Israeli peace prospects and put it this way:
"One over-riding reason that the current process cannot be called a 'peace process' is the simple fact that there is no one to negotiate with, since the Palestinian Authority is at war with itself.
"Israel's most dangerous enemies, Hamas and Hizbullah, seek the destruction of the Jewish State. They are not party to any of the agreements. Furthermore, they are backed by the single most dangerous nation in the entire region, perhaps even in the world: Iran.
"Hamas and Hizbullah will not negotiate and their backers in other countries, Iran and Syria, will not force them to the table."
I recall columnist Friedman once making a big deal out of a visit to Saudi Arabia where he allegedly won a Saudi promise of an Arab-Israeli peace pact. Later a Saudi-backed proposal was adopted at a Beirut Summit in March 2002 and, here again, an illusion was created that it was conciliatory to Israel.
Far from it.
"The press often reported that Saudi Arabia offered recognition to Israel for the first time in its proposal," noted Holbrooke. "However, the word recognition is (was) not used but rather the term 'normal relations' -- there may be a difference in meaning.
"More significant, what this proposal really does (did) is to lay out as a precondition for the negotiation the very thing being negotiated; this is a fundamental flaw, along with the fact that the Saudis are not willing to participate in the negotiations themselves."
Sound familiar.
Time and again, Mahmoud Abbas sets forth pre-condition after pre-condition in an effort to sidestep the direct negotiations agreed to by Benjamin Netanyahu.
Abbas is too weak to hammer out an agreement even if he wanted to; which he doesn't. And anyone who believes that the Arabs seriously want to achieve a permanent, lasting peace with Israel is, well, suffering from illusions.
"These problems cannot be waved away by good intentions," Rubin concludes, "or clever peace plans. They will prevent an end to the conflict for decades until Palestinian leadership and ideology changes."
And, pray, have no illusions; Palestinian leadership and ideology is not about to change!
It is astonishing how deceptive the so-called wise media members have been when analyzing Middle East politics.
Deceptive is one description of the mis-information regularly dispensed.
Illusions fits just as well.
Webster's Dictionary defines illusions thusly: "an erroneous interpretation."
A prime illusion is that the Arabs want peace with Israel.
Hatred generated by Hamas, Hizbullah and Iran is so patently obvious as to not even bear discussion. But this detestation of the Jews -- Israel -- runs far deeper and is infinitely more widespread than that generated by those hideous groups. There are others who masquerade as proponents of peace in the Arab world.
One who has clarified this point is Harold Rhode who served in the Pentagon's Office of Net Assessment. Currently he is a Senior Advisor at the Hudson Institute in New York.
"The Saudis (Wahhabis) have lots of money," explains Rhode, "and they are using it to propagate their hatred of the West and Israel."
What's curious about that statement -- true as it is -- reverts to American policy. Uncle Sam views the Saudis (Wahhabis) as allies. Yet, it has been clear for decades that, as Rhode explains, "Wahhabism is fanatical and for Islam is the equivalent of the Ku Klux Klan brand of Christianity."
How can one even suggest that Israeli-Arab peace can be attained if so-called "moderates" such as the Saudis want to bring down Israel as fervently as the fanatics in Gaza and Lebanon?
How can columnists such as Thomas Friedman continually bash Israel for building homes when it has been abundantly apparent for decades that whether "settlements" rise or not, Arab hostility will not abate.
Another observer who understands the folly of Friedman and his pathetically misguided ilk is Barry Rubin, editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs.
"For the Palestinian Authority and its governing body, Fatah," asserts Rubin, "the goal is the transformation of all of the land into a Palestinian, Arab and Muslim state. For Hamas, it is the transformation of all of the land into an Islamic Palestinian state that is also Arab."
One would think -- here we have another illusion -- that supposedly bright individuals such as Hilary Clinton and (ahem!) Barack Obama would see these things as clearly as other Middle East analysts do but the American leaders are hellbent on appeasing the Arabs at any cost and continue to do so while getting slapped around in return.
Why would the president consistently send emissaries to Jerusalem and Ramallah when the missions are automatically doomed to failure?
This is a point that was clearly enunciated by Richard Holbrooke, the distinguished American ambassador who recently passed away. Former Ambassador to the United Nations, Holbrooke examined the Arab-Israeli peace prospects and put it this way:
"One over-riding reason that the current process cannot be called a 'peace process' is the simple fact that there is no one to negotiate with, since the Palestinian Authority is at war with itself.
"Israel's most dangerous enemies, Hamas and Hizbullah, seek the destruction of the Jewish State. They are not party to any of the agreements. Furthermore, they are backed by the single most dangerous nation in the entire region, perhaps even in the world: Iran.
"Hamas and Hizbullah will not negotiate and their backers in other countries, Iran and Syria, will not force them to the table."
I recall columnist Friedman once making a big deal out of a visit to Saudi Arabia where he allegedly won a Saudi promise of an Arab-Israeli peace pact. Later a Saudi-backed proposal was adopted at a Beirut Summit in March 2002 and, here again, an illusion was created that it was conciliatory to Israel.
Far from it.
"The press often reported that Saudi Arabia offered recognition to Israel for the first time in its proposal," noted Holbrooke. "However, the word recognition is (was) not used but rather the term 'normal relations' -- there may be a difference in meaning.
"More significant, what this proposal really does (did) is to lay out as a precondition for the negotiation the very thing being negotiated; this is a fundamental flaw, along with the fact that the Saudis are not willing to participate in the negotiations themselves."
Sound familiar.
Time and again, Mahmoud Abbas sets forth pre-condition after pre-condition in an effort to sidestep the direct negotiations agreed to by Benjamin Netanyahu.
Abbas is too weak to hammer out an agreement even if he wanted to; which he doesn't. And anyone who believes that the Arabs seriously want to achieve a permanent, lasting peace with Israel is, well, suffering from illusions.
"These problems cannot be waved away by good intentions," Rubin concludes, "or clever peace plans. They will prevent an end to the conflict for decades until Palestinian leadership and ideology changes."
And, pray, have no illusions; Palestinian leadership and ideology is not about to change!
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
WHO'S LIVING IN NEGOTIATING DREAMLAND -- U.S. OR US?
By Schmoel Yitzhak
While he was alive and thriving, Ariel Sharon once examined Arab intransigence and declared that a genuine peace pact with Israel and the Palestinians was no sooner than twenty years away.
Based on the unrealistic events of the past few days, I would say unequivocally that Sharon was right on the mark with his pessimistic assessment of yesteryear.
Really, what manner of deal can be negotiated?
Start with the fact that Barack Obama thinks so much of the State of Israel that he has yet to set foot in the Middle East's only democracy.
That statement alone should end any hope that a realistic deal can some day be hammered out by his administration.
What in Heaven's name is Uncle Sam's Chief Executive waiting for; and don't tell me a written invitation.
So, instead he deputizes his lackey Mitchell who will coax some kind of concession out of Benjamin Netanyahu but that, too, will be useless.
Why?
Any deal with Israel is predicated on two points: 1. That the Arabs acknowledge Israel as The Jewish State; 2. There will be absolutely, positively no "right of return" granted to the Palestinians.
And if you want a third point; there will be no return to the 1967 borders.
If Mitchell can figure a way around those issues, I would like to know how but even if he does possess those magical powers, we're back to Square Two; and that happens to be the terrorists who rule Gaza.
Oh, yeah, there's a Square Three, Hezbollah. Which is another way of saying those terrorists who, for all intents and purposes, dominate Lebanese and Gaza politics must also want peace with the Jews. But they do not.
There is simply no point in negotiating "peace" -- as if that feat were possible -- with Mahmoud Abbas & Company if such a pact does not include Hamas. And as we all know, Hamas is about as interested in normal relations with Israel as a crocodile is with bringing a frog home as a peaceful guest. Ditto for Hezbollah.
Guys. Lackey Mitchell. Secretary of Sloth -- alias Hilary Clinton -- you folks either don't get it or don't want to get it.
If there is to be "peace," it must include the good intentions of Hezbollah, Hamas and any of the other bloodthirsty outfits who are nothing more than the octopus Iran's tentacles attempting to strangle Israel.
Obama, Clinton and the other Washington bumbling braintrusters have been missing the diplomatic boat ever since the Republicans left office. (And make no mistake, George W. Bush's gal, Condi Rice, was no bargain for Israel either. John Bolton WAS.)
The only answer then as now is for America to -- hopefully with a few allies -- militarily wipe out the Iranian atomic facilities. But badly-gone-soft Uncle Sam has no stomach for that.
Obama continually offers carrots with no sticks and that just inspires the Muslims to more and more aggression.
As for Mitchell, he will be welcomed in Jerusalem as always.
Bibi will move right to the core issues and maybe -- more likely not -- Abbas will come to the table once and for all.
Mahmoud The Not Magnificent will resume his demand for a settlement-building freeze and Bibi, rightfully, will say no.
Abbas will walk away and Mitchell will return to Washington. Obama will then find a way -- he always does -- to rip Israel and we'll be back to Square One once more.
That, my good friends, is reality.
If Mitchell hasn't figured that out now, he never will.
Ariel Sharon could have told him that a long time ago.
While he was alive and thriving, Ariel Sharon once examined Arab intransigence and declared that a genuine peace pact with Israel and the Palestinians was no sooner than twenty years away.
Based on the unrealistic events of the past few days, I would say unequivocally that Sharon was right on the mark with his pessimistic assessment of yesteryear.
Really, what manner of deal can be negotiated?
Start with the fact that Barack Obama thinks so much of the State of Israel that he has yet to set foot in the Middle East's only democracy.
That statement alone should end any hope that a realistic deal can some day be hammered out by his administration.
What in Heaven's name is Uncle Sam's Chief Executive waiting for; and don't tell me a written invitation.
So, instead he deputizes his lackey Mitchell who will coax some kind of concession out of Benjamin Netanyahu but that, too, will be useless.
Why?
Any deal with Israel is predicated on two points: 1. That the Arabs acknowledge Israel as The Jewish State; 2. There will be absolutely, positively no "right of return" granted to the Palestinians.
And if you want a third point; there will be no return to the 1967 borders.
If Mitchell can figure a way around those issues, I would like to know how but even if he does possess those magical powers, we're back to Square Two; and that happens to be the terrorists who rule Gaza.
Oh, yeah, there's a Square Three, Hezbollah. Which is another way of saying those terrorists who, for all intents and purposes, dominate Lebanese and Gaza politics must also want peace with the Jews. But they do not.
There is simply no point in negotiating "peace" -- as if that feat were possible -- with Mahmoud Abbas & Company if such a pact does not include Hamas. And as we all know, Hamas is about as interested in normal relations with Israel as a crocodile is with bringing a frog home as a peaceful guest. Ditto for Hezbollah.
Guys. Lackey Mitchell. Secretary of Sloth -- alias Hilary Clinton -- you folks either don't get it or don't want to get it.
If there is to be "peace," it must include the good intentions of Hezbollah, Hamas and any of the other bloodthirsty outfits who are nothing more than the octopus Iran's tentacles attempting to strangle Israel.
Obama, Clinton and the other Washington bumbling braintrusters have been missing the diplomatic boat ever since the Republicans left office. (And make no mistake, George W. Bush's gal, Condi Rice, was no bargain for Israel either. John Bolton WAS.)
The only answer then as now is for America to -- hopefully with a few allies -- militarily wipe out the Iranian atomic facilities. But badly-gone-soft Uncle Sam has no stomach for that.
Obama continually offers carrots with no sticks and that just inspires the Muslims to more and more aggression.
As for Mitchell, he will be welcomed in Jerusalem as always.
Bibi will move right to the core issues and maybe -- more likely not -- Abbas will come to the table once and for all.
Mahmoud The Not Magnificent will resume his demand for a settlement-building freeze and Bibi, rightfully, will say no.
Abbas will walk away and Mitchell will return to Washington. Obama will then find a way -- he always does -- to rip Israel and we'll be back to Square One once more.
That, my good friends, is reality.
If Mitchell hasn't figured that out now, he never will.
Ariel Sharon could have told him that a long time ago.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
WHERE TO NOW?
By Simon Fischler
With the utter failure of Obama’s Near-East diplomacy vis-a-vis the Israeli-Palestinian conflict one must truly wonder where their administration intends to go now.
From the beginning of his presidency Barack Obama shot himself in the foot by making Israeli settlements more of an issue than they really are. He, of course, did this to appease the Palestinians, something that never works.
Now President Obama and Company have tossed the settlement issue out the window. They have also achieved some small gains by getting the Egyptians, Jordanians and now the Syrians to all admit that settlement building should not hold up direct negotiations.
The question is: how can the international community help Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas climb down from the tree he climbed when he demanded a halt to settlement building?
Of course it does not help when the European community comes out and points the finger at Israel for the breakdown in negotiations.
The EU forgets that Israel gave a ten month freeze in settlement building that was intentionally wasted by the Palestinian Leadership.
The Europeans claim Israel is flaunting International Law, disregarding the fact that Israel made it very clear she will pull up all settlements that will not be in the agreed upon borders of Israel.
The Europeans also turn a blind eye towards the Palestinians’ constant incitement against Israel, ongoing acts of terror and rocket launching. In the ROAD MAP FOR PEACE, all three of these Palestinian obligations needed to be met before Israel stopped settlement building.
Making the situation even more ludicrous is the fact that it is impossible for the Palestinian Authority to stop rocket launching, which originates from Gaza and which they do not govern! This fact immediately calls into question whether Israel can even sign an agreement with PA president Mahmoud Abbas.
If the Obama Administration and the European Union really want to move things forward, they must start making the same demands of the Palestinians that they have made of Israel.
It would be wise for the Americans to rein in their EU friends; stop them from condemning Israel every second of the day and use their Arab allies to create an atmosphere where President Abbas and his minions can return to negotiations.
Hmmmmm, and that intelligent a move ought to happen just about the time ancient Queen Elizabeth abdicates and lets her almost-ancient son Charles take over!
With the utter failure of Obama’s Near-East diplomacy vis-a-vis the Israeli-Palestinian conflict one must truly wonder where their administration intends to go now.
From the beginning of his presidency Barack Obama shot himself in the foot by making Israeli settlements more of an issue than they really are. He, of course, did this to appease the Palestinians, something that never works.
Now President Obama and Company have tossed the settlement issue out the window. They have also achieved some small gains by getting the Egyptians, Jordanians and now the Syrians to all admit that settlement building should not hold up direct negotiations.
The question is: how can the international community help Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas climb down from the tree he climbed when he demanded a halt to settlement building?
Of course it does not help when the European community comes out and points the finger at Israel for the breakdown in negotiations.
The EU forgets that Israel gave a ten month freeze in settlement building that was intentionally wasted by the Palestinian Leadership.
The Europeans claim Israel is flaunting International Law, disregarding the fact that Israel made it very clear she will pull up all settlements that will not be in the agreed upon borders of Israel.
The Europeans also turn a blind eye towards the Palestinians’ constant incitement against Israel, ongoing acts of terror and rocket launching. In the ROAD MAP FOR PEACE, all three of these Palestinian obligations needed to be met before Israel stopped settlement building.
Making the situation even more ludicrous is the fact that it is impossible for the Palestinian Authority to stop rocket launching, which originates from Gaza and which they do not govern! This fact immediately calls into question whether Israel can even sign an agreement with PA president Mahmoud Abbas.
If the Obama Administration and the European Union really want to move things forward, they must start making the same demands of the Palestinians that they have made of Israel.
It would be wise for the Americans to rein in their EU friends; stop them from condemning Israel every second of the day and use their Arab allies to create an atmosphere where President Abbas and his minions can return to negotiations.
Hmmmmm, and that intelligent a move ought to happen just about the time ancient Queen Elizabeth abdicates and lets her almost-ancient son Charles take over!
Thursday, December 9, 2010
ABOUT LIES AND MORTARS SHELLS THAT KILL
By Schmoel Yitzhak
When it comes to out and out perfidy and hypocrisy nothing can match the respective actions of the United Nations and the Obama administration in terms of downright venal treatment of Israel.
For starters, just about anyone who knows anything about Middle Eastern politics knew from the get-go that Washington's most recent attempts to jump-start "peace talks" was doomed from the very beginning.
The reasoning was simple: 1. Benjamin Netanyahu had already agreed to a settlement construction freeze and honored it from beginning to end. It was designed to lure the Arabs back to the negotiation table and did nothing of the kind; 2. Once the freeze had ended, Israel's prime minister was free to flash a green light to a construction renewal and he did; 3. In a desperate attempt to lure Mahmoud Abbas back to peace talks, Barack Obama offered a thinly-veiled bribe -- warplanes and UN support -- for yet another construction freeze to Bibi who wisely said, in Hebrew, of course: "Thanks, but no thanks!"
This, eventually, led to acknowledgement by America's State Department that the latest American-sponsored mediation attempts had failed. There also was the promise that Uncle Sam was working on new ways to bring the rival groups together.
Unfortunately Obama couldn't leave well enough alone. The White House -- via the State Department -- then added its own version of yet another slap at Israel.
State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley declared that his country does not and will not accept Israel's continued West Bank "settlement" activity.
"The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements," said Crowley, "and we will continue to express that position."
Oh, really.
The United States was built on Native American land and continues to build on land expropriated from the Native Americans. I've never heard Bibi suggest to Hilary Clinton nor her State Department Arabist cohorts that Israel does not accept the legitimacy of continued American settlements on what once was Native American land.
When will Obama and companions get it into their heads that it happens to be the Arabs who are not only intransigent but continually belligerent and hostile toward Israel. Not yesterday, not last year but forever. Yet not a peep about this is heard from Crowley, Clinton nor Obama.
Not a peep about Arab exultation over the horrific fire that gutted Northern Israel. The Palestinians cheered the blazes until the Arabs were hoarse.
Nor have we heard any State Department reprimands over the latest attacks emanating from Gaza. Apparently, the White House believes that mortars fired at Israelis are manufactured by Toys 'R Us.
Over and over again, mortar shells and rockets continue to be lobbed into Israel forcing residents to stay in shelters for their safety. This is warfare being launched by the Arabs and ignored by the United States and the United Nations as well.
You would think that UN Secretary-General Ban K-moon would take note of the fact that Arabs in Gaza incessantly wage war on Israel. In the most recent mortar attack a piece of shrapnel struck the head of security in one of the kibbutzim in the Eshkol regional council. The shrapnel hit the victim in the neck and he was airlifted to Soroka hospital in Be'er Sheva.
Instead, the UN leader parrots the Obama line about settlements rather than deal with life-and-death episodes constantly being provoked by the Arabs.
Let's not forget that one Israeli government after another endorsed settlement construction and the Netanyahu administration merely is continuing this policy.
It does so because there never has been one iota of reciprocity on the Arab side when it comes to seeking an agreement.
Always, it comes down to the bottom line: Bibi endorsed a two-state solution; an Arab Palestine and Israel as the Jewish state.
Abbas and his henchmen say nix to that; thus building continues in the West Bank.
Really, it's a simple equation; they want an Arab Palestine but they don't want to accept a Jewish state.
How come we never hear acknowledgment of that fact from Crowley, Clinton and their godfather the duplicitous Obama?
Answer: Because their idea of a fair shake in the Middle East is to tilt on the side of the Jew-haters.
When it comes to out and out perfidy and hypocrisy nothing can match the respective actions of the United Nations and the Obama administration in terms of downright venal treatment of Israel.
For starters, just about anyone who knows anything about Middle Eastern politics knew from the get-go that Washington's most recent attempts to jump-start "peace talks" was doomed from the very beginning.
The reasoning was simple: 1. Benjamin Netanyahu had already agreed to a settlement construction freeze and honored it from beginning to end. It was designed to lure the Arabs back to the negotiation table and did nothing of the kind; 2. Once the freeze had ended, Israel's prime minister was free to flash a green light to a construction renewal and he did; 3. In a desperate attempt to lure Mahmoud Abbas back to peace talks, Barack Obama offered a thinly-veiled bribe -- warplanes and UN support -- for yet another construction freeze to Bibi who wisely said, in Hebrew, of course: "Thanks, but no thanks!"
This, eventually, led to acknowledgement by America's State Department that the latest American-sponsored mediation attempts had failed. There also was the promise that Uncle Sam was working on new ways to bring the rival groups together.
Unfortunately Obama couldn't leave well enough alone. The White House -- via the State Department -- then added its own version of yet another slap at Israel.
State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley declared that his country does not and will not accept Israel's continued West Bank "settlement" activity.
"The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements," said Crowley, "and we will continue to express that position."
Oh, really.
The United States was built on Native American land and continues to build on land expropriated from the Native Americans. I've never heard Bibi suggest to Hilary Clinton nor her State Department Arabist cohorts that Israel does not accept the legitimacy of continued American settlements on what once was Native American land.
When will Obama and companions get it into their heads that it happens to be the Arabs who are not only intransigent but continually belligerent and hostile toward Israel. Not yesterday, not last year but forever. Yet not a peep about this is heard from Crowley, Clinton nor Obama.
Not a peep about Arab exultation over the horrific fire that gutted Northern Israel. The Palestinians cheered the blazes until the Arabs were hoarse.
Nor have we heard any State Department reprimands over the latest attacks emanating from Gaza. Apparently, the White House believes that mortars fired at Israelis are manufactured by Toys 'R Us.
Over and over again, mortar shells and rockets continue to be lobbed into Israel forcing residents to stay in shelters for their safety. This is warfare being launched by the Arabs and ignored by the United States and the United Nations as well.
You would think that UN Secretary-General Ban K-moon would take note of the fact that Arabs in Gaza incessantly wage war on Israel. In the most recent mortar attack a piece of shrapnel struck the head of security in one of the kibbutzim in the Eshkol regional council. The shrapnel hit the victim in the neck and he was airlifted to Soroka hospital in Be'er Sheva.
Instead, the UN leader parrots the Obama line about settlements rather than deal with life-and-death episodes constantly being provoked by the Arabs.
Let's not forget that one Israeli government after another endorsed settlement construction and the Netanyahu administration merely is continuing this policy.
It does so because there never has been one iota of reciprocity on the Arab side when it comes to seeking an agreement.
Always, it comes down to the bottom line: Bibi endorsed a two-state solution; an Arab Palestine and Israel as the Jewish state.
Abbas and his henchmen say nix to that; thus building continues in the West Bank.
Really, it's a simple equation; they want an Arab Palestine but they don't want to accept a Jewish state.
How come we never hear acknowledgment of that fact from Crowley, Clinton and their godfather the duplicitous Obama?
Answer: Because their idea of a fair shake in the Middle East is to tilt on the side of the Jew-haters.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
WHEN WILL THE NEW YORK TIMES GET IT -- AND OTHER THOUGHTS
By Schmoel Yitzhak
Every once in a while -- in weak moment -- I enjoy a momentary fantasy that the New York Times will live up to its claim to be the "newspaper of record."
As far as I'm concerned, for the past decade, at least, it has been the newspaper of agenda; and when it comes to covering the Middle East, it's tilt as an anti-Israel broadsheet is blatantly evident by the month.
Sometimes this is reflected in the slanted writing of its Jerusalem-based reporters; at other times it is the manner in which it simply ignores stories that would embellish the image of Israel.
Most recently this prejudice against the Middle East's only democracy was evident in The Times' error of omission when printing a significant story would have been a blow to the Arab cause.
The key here was an admission by Hamas Interior Minister Fathi Hamad that Hamas and its assorted cohorts in Gaza suffered the deaths of up to 700 of its soldiers in the Cast Lead (Israeli) invasion.
What's important to remember right here and now is that the United Nations' fallacious Goldstone Report claimed that civilian deaths in Gaza were much higher in number than those of the Hamas fighters.
As the Committee For Accuracy In Middle East Reporting In America (CAMERA) duly notes, "That (Goldstone) document indicated Israel had DELIBERATELY targeted non-combatants.
"The public, however, is unlikely to know that Hamas itself has now, in effect, refuted Goldstone, because Fathi Hamad's remarks have been largely ignored by major news organizations, including the New York Times."
If Hamas has gone public stating that its military wing -- not civilians, mind you -- suffered about 700 deaths, it refutes the Goldstone Report.
"These figures," CAMERA points out, "closely match the Israeli estimate of 709 combatant fatalities and indicate that combatants comprised around half of the Palestinian fatalities between December 27, 2008 and January 18, 2009, far more than the 17 percent claimed by Palestinian groups."
Why, then, wouldn't The Times -- nor the UN for that matter -- update and correct The Goldstone Report?
In terms of the newspaper, it simply is following its anti-Israel agenda.
Historically speaking, this is nothing new in terms of Times' reaction to many threats to Jews over the years. After all the Times literally buried news stories about the Nazi extermination camps 'way back in its news sections and -- worse yet -- with insignificant, short stories.
Thus, it is absolutely no surprise that the Times has been silent about the Hamas revelation.
CAMERA correctly asserts, "The Times should run a front page follow-up on this new key information, i.e., that according to the Hamas disclosure, Israel's and Hamas tally of fighters was almost exactly the same, which substantially debunks the central thesis of Goldstone's allegations."
Is such an event likely to happen? We're talking about the agenda-rife Times so don't count on it!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FRIENDS OF ISRAEL STILL EXIST IN ENGLAND:
Just when you think that Great Britain has, in fact, become an outpost of the Islamic Empire, someone in England stands up to support Israel.
The following is an excerpt from a speech given in the House of Commons by member Andrew Roberts.
"The state of Israel has packed more history into her 62 years on the planet than many other nations have in six hundred. There are many surprising things about this tiny, feisty, brave nation the size of Wales, but the most astonishing is that she has survived at all.
"The very day after the new state was established, she was invaded by the armies of now fewer than five Arab countries, and she has been struggling for her right to life ever since.
"No people in history have needed the right to self-defense and legitimacy more than the Jews of Israel, and that is what we friends of Israel demand today."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AND, YES, ISRAEL HAS FRIENDS IN JAPAN:
Ripping the Arab anti-Israel mantra to shreds, Yashiko Sagamori, a Japanese journalist, offers some pungent points about the Middle East. To wit:
"The truth should be obvious to everyone who wants to know it. Arab countries have never abandoned the dream of destroying Israel; they still cherish it today.
"Having time and again failed to achieve their evil goal with military means, they decided to fight Israel by proxy. For that purpose, they created a terrorist organization, cynically called it "the Palestinian people" and installed it in Gaza, Judea and Samaria.
"How else can you explain the refusal by Jordan and Egypt to unconditionally accept back the "West Bank" and Gaza, respectively."
Truer words never were spoken!
Every once in a while -- in weak moment -- I enjoy a momentary fantasy that the New York Times will live up to its claim to be the "newspaper of record."
As far as I'm concerned, for the past decade, at least, it has been the newspaper of agenda; and when it comes to covering the Middle East, it's tilt as an anti-Israel broadsheet is blatantly evident by the month.
Sometimes this is reflected in the slanted writing of its Jerusalem-based reporters; at other times it is the manner in which it simply ignores stories that would embellish the image of Israel.
Most recently this prejudice against the Middle East's only democracy was evident in The Times' error of omission when printing a significant story would have been a blow to the Arab cause.
The key here was an admission by Hamas Interior Minister Fathi Hamad that Hamas and its assorted cohorts in Gaza suffered the deaths of up to 700 of its soldiers in the Cast Lead (Israeli) invasion.
What's important to remember right here and now is that the United Nations' fallacious Goldstone Report claimed that civilian deaths in Gaza were much higher in number than those of the Hamas fighters.
As the Committee For Accuracy In Middle East Reporting In America (CAMERA) duly notes, "That (Goldstone) document indicated Israel had DELIBERATELY targeted non-combatants.
"The public, however, is unlikely to know that Hamas itself has now, in effect, refuted Goldstone, because Fathi Hamad's remarks have been largely ignored by major news organizations, including the New York Times."
If Hamas has gone public stating that its military wing -- not civilians, mind you -- suffered about 700 deaths, it refutes the Goldstone Report.
"These figures," CAMERA points out, "closely match the Israeli estimate of 709 combatant fatalities and indicate that combatants comprised around half of the Palestinian fatalities between December 27, 2008 and January 18, 2009, far more than the 17 percent claimed by Palestinian groups."
Why, then, wouldn't The Times -- nor the UN for that matter -- update and correct The Goldstone Report?
In terms of the newspaper, it simply is following its anti-Israel agenda.
Historically speaking, this is nothing new in terms of Times' reaction to many threats to Jews over the years. After all the Times literally buried news stories about the Nazi extermination camps 'way back in its news sections and -- worse yet -- with insignificant, short stories.
Thus, it is absolutely no surprise that the Times has been silent about the Hamas revelation.
CAMERA correctly asserts, "The Times should run a front page follow-up on this new key information, i.e., that according to the Hamas disclosure, Israel's and Hamas tally of fighters was almost exactly the same, which substantially debunks the central thesis of Goldstone's allegations."
Is such an event likely to happen? We're talking about the agenda-rife Times so don't count on it!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FRIENDS OF ISRAEL STILL EXIST IN ENGLAND:
Just when you think that Great Britain has, in fact, become an outpost of the Islamic Empire, someone in England stands up to support Israel.
The following is an excerpt from a speech given in the House of Commons by member Andrew Roberts.
"The state of Israel has packed more history into her 62 years on the planet than many other nations have in six hundred. There are many surprising things about this tiny, feisty, brave nation the size of Wales, but the most astonishing is that she has survived at all.
"The very day after the new state was established, she was invaded by the armies of now fewer than five Arab countries, and she has been struggling for her right to life ever since.
"No people in history have needed the right to self-defense and legitimacy more than the Jews of Israel, and that is what we friends of Israel demand today."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AND, YES, ISRAEL HAS FRIENDS IN JAPAN:
Ripping the Arab anti-Israel mantra to shreds, Yashiko Sagamori, a Japanese journalist, offers some pungent points about the Middle East. To wit:
"The truth should be obvious to everyone who wants to know it. Arab countries have never abandoned the dream of destroying Israel; they still cherish it today.
"Having time and again failed to achieve their evil goal with military means, they decided to fight Israel by proxy. For that purpose, they created a terrorist organization, cynically called it "the Palestinian people" and installed it in Gaza, Judea and Samaria.
"How else can you explain the refusal by Jordan and Egypt to unconditionally accept back the "West Bank" and Gaza, respectively."
Truer words never were spoken!
Monday, November 29, 2010
IT’S NOW OR NEVER
By Simon Fischler
It is now or never for the Obama administration to carry out a one hundred and eighty degree turn and save American Foreign policy.
The best place to do this? The Middle-East of course.
America and Israel would both love to see Syria break free from her relationship with Iran and Hezbollah. The chance for America to achieve this and win Syria over has finally appeared.
Syrian President Basher al-Assad did not take it lightly when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared that Southern Lebanon was Iran’s border with Israel.
Syria has always viewed Lebanon as nothing more than a breakaway province, much like how China views Taiwan.
There is no doubt that Iran and her president overstepped the boundaries of what is acceptable for the Syrian regime when they declared Lebanon essentially Iranian!
Hezbollah has also crossed the line in the eyes of the Syrian regime.
Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah raised the ire of the Syrian regime when he put all of his cards down with Iran. He simply disregarded the fact that he could not survive without the arms transported and given to him by Assad’s regime.
Now the Americans have an opportunity finally to bring Syria over to the West’s camp.
The question is: has President Obama learned that appeasement does not work in Middle-Eastern diplomacy?
President Obama needs to give Syria a carrot while still brandishing a big stick over her head -- it’s the only way things get done here in the Middle-East.
The Special Tribunal for Lebanon is both a carrot and BIG stick for America to use with Syria, since it is now obvious that Hezbollah orchestrated and executed the assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri.
Hezbollah is sweating right now. Nashrallah and company are doing everything they can to try and foil the UN’s completion of the Tribunal; even threatening civil war, something that scares all Lebanese.
Why?
When the UN indicts leading Hezbollah personal, it will be proven that Hezbollah does not have Lebanon’s interest at heart and is nothing more than Iranian agent. For an organization that constantly claims to be defending Lebanon, being responsible for assassinating the Lebanese Prime Minister will destroy all vestiges of their credibility.
Syria obviously gave Hezbollah the okay for the assassination, but that makes no difference now. America needs to guarantee President Assad that Syria will not be made responsible for the execution of Prime Minister Hariri.
America should also recognize Syria’s role as protectorate of Lebanon and not make her move to the American camp conditional on reforms inside Syria.
Syria must in turn do what is both necessary and beneficial to her: divorcing Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas, while toning down her rhetoric directed at Israel.
This is it for the Obama administration. If they fail here, their foreign policy will be doomed. It is now or never for the US administration to take the initiative and make this work.
It is now or never for the Obama administration to carry out a one hundred and eighty degree turn and save American Foreign policy.
The best place to do this? The Middle-East of course.
America and Israel would both love to see Syria break free from her relationship with Iran and Hezbollah. The chance for America to achieve this and win Syria over has finally appeared.
Syrian President Basher al-Assad did not take it lightly when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared that Southern Lebanon was Iran’s border with Israel.
Syria has always viewed Lebanon as nothing more than a breakaway province, much like how China views Taiwan.
There is no doubt that Iran and her president overstepped the boundaries of what is acceptable for the Syrian regime when they declared Lebanon essentially Iranian!
Hezbollah has also crossed the line in the eyes of the Syrian regime.
Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah raised the ire of the Syrian regime when he put all of his cards down with Iran. He simply disregarded the fact that he could not survive without the arms transported and given to him by Assad’s regime.
Now the Americans have an opportunity finally to bring Syria over to the West’s camp.
The question is: has President Obama learned that appeasement does not work in Middle-Eastern diplomacy?
President Obama needs to give Syria a carrot while still brandishing a big stick over her head -- it’s the only way things get done here in the Middle-East.
The Special Tribunal for Lebanon is both a carrot and BIG stick for America to use with Syria, since it is now obvious that Hezbollah orchestrated and executed the assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri.
Hezbollah is sweating right now. Nashrallah and company are doing everything they can to try and foil the UN’s completion of the Tribunal; even threatening civil war, something that scares all Lebanese.
Why?
When the UN indicts leading Hezbollah personal, it will be proven that Hezbollah does not have Lebanon’s interest at heart and is nothing more than Iranian agent. For an organization that constantly claims to be defending Lebanon, being responsible for assassinating the Lebanese Prime Minister will destroy all vestiges of their credibility.
Syria obviously gave Hezbollah the okay for the assassination, but that makes no difference now. America needs to guarantee President Assad that Syria will not be made responsible for the execution of Prime Minister Hariri.
America should also recognize Syria’s role as protectorate of Lebanon and not make her move to the American camp conditional on reforms inside Syria.
Syria must in turn do what is both necessary and beneficial to her: divorcing Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas, while toning down her rhetoric directed at Israel.
This is it for the Obama administration. If they fail here, their foreign policy will be doomed. It is now or never for the US administration to take the initiative and make this work.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
DOES OBAMA READ WHAT THE PALESTINIANS SAY?
By Schmoel Yitzhak
Ever since Barack Obama took over as America's chief executive he has relentlessly pressured Israel to make concessions in the hope that his administration could be credited with forging a landmark Middle East peace pact.
Bill Clinton did likewise and fell heavily on his face. His wife is likely to do likewise.
The latest round of America's anti-Israel hostility began, unfortunately, with Obama's Cairo speech which, for all intents and purposes, signaled to the Arabs that Uncle Sam will do anything it can to court Islam short of moving the White House to Tehran.
The Chief Executive's overwhelming Muslim tilt betrayed many anti-Israeli moves too numerous to mention here. Suffice to say that one of the most egregios was Obama's impudent snub of Benjamin Netanyahu when Israel's leader made his first official visit to Washington.
Only after it appeared that Obama's Democratic colleagues faced humiliating defeat in the November elections did the two-faced president try to make nice to Bibi. But anyone who knows anything about the president's bi-polar style realized -- and many wrote as much -- that he would show his true colors after the election and return to his policy of abusing Israel.
Not surprisingly, this has happened -- in spades.
The bribe is a good example of Obama perfidy. America offers Israel a package of the latest in jet fighter-bombers and support in the United Nations for another freeze in "settlement" construction. The bribe is absurd on all counts:
1. There WAS a long-term Israeli settlement-building freeze designed to coerce the Palestinians back to the conference table.
2. The freeze went on and on and ON, ad nauseum, with absolutely no reciprocity from Mahmound Abbas.
3. Obama did nothing -- as in ABSOLUTELY NOTHING -- to reprimand the Arabs for their intransigence. Obama treated Abbas as if the PA leader was being the soul of cooperation.
4. The American election is concluded; the Democrats get whomped and the President -- not needing Jewish votes for a while -- resumes his Israel-spanking.
What has the Chief Executive accomplished by his bias in favor of Abbas?
He has encouraged the Palestinians to utter the most heinous comments while making such outrageous demands as to render any further peace parlay meaningless. And here's what I mean:
* ISRAEL AS A JEWISH STATE: The United States has recognized Israel as a Jewish state since the nation's inception in 1948. That was how the country was founded and why it exists. Yet at the recently-concluded Fatah Revolutionary Council in Ramallah, the Palestinians emphatically rejected the concept of Israel as a Jewish state.
This produced not a peep out of Obama; nor was there any mention of America reducing heavy financial support of Abbas, Inc. Not a peep about the possibility that such inflammatory talk could scuttle peace negotiations. Nothing. Everyone who's anyone in American government knows that Israel never -- ever -- would relinquish its birthright as the Jewish state. Yet the PA blithely says no to Israel as Jewish and expects Bibi to bow to such a ridiculous assertion.
"It's clear," says one Israeli official, "that their refusal to recognize the Jewish state's legitimacy is the true obstacle to peace and reconciliation."
But there's more to it than that.
The Fatah Revolutionary Council did not stop there. It rejected the idea of land swaps as part of a permanent peace pact and, furthermore, once again tread on thin ice by bringing up another negotiating no-no. To wit:
* RETURN OF REFUGEES: Arab propagandists know full well that any refugee-return campaign is an instant deal-breaker. It's not only out of the question, it's out of the realm of possibility because that -- as much as any Palestinian plank -- would ensure the destruction of Israel as a Jewish state. Obama knows this. His Secretary of State knows it and his policy-makers know it.
That said, Obama should quickly denounce the Revolutionary Council in no uncertain terms. Instead he merely encourages the Palestinians by his taciturn reaction which the Arabs interpret as tacit approval.
* HOSTILE BEHAVIOR: The Arabs want peace? Who's kidding whom? Palestinians kids are taught almost from birth to hate Israel. The instruction intensifies in school, on television via the newspapers. You can hear it in the dialogue and comments emanating from Ramallah.
Israel is referred to as the "so-called Jewish state." Israelis who live in the West Bank are characterized as "illegal settler gangs." Peaceful words are as rare as icebergs in Nablus.
Why then doesn't Uncle Sam's commander-in-chief recognize that ongoing hostility so pervasive throughout the PA, an organization that only is "moderate" relative to the Hamas leaders in Gaza?
Doesn't Hilary Rodham Clinton understand that -- based on statements made by the Revolutionary Council -- that a return to the conference table would be a waste of everybody's time.
Better still, how about Obama and Clinton redirecting their focus away from another settlement freeze while zeroing in on the relentless, public hostility maintained by the Arabs toward America's foremost ally in the Middle East?
That would make sense except that the president and his secretary of state seem hellbent on ignoring the endless venom spewed by the PA and Abbas' flunkies on the Revolutionary Council.
And as long as Obama-Clinton retain that astigmatic look, the Arabs will increase their intransigence, braking any peace possibilities for decades.
Ever since Barack Obama took over as America's chief executive he has relentlessly pressured Israel to make concessions in the hope that his administration could be credited with forging a landmark Middle East peace pact.
Bill Clinton did likewise and fell heavily on his face. His wife is likely to do likewise.
The latest round of America's anti-Israel hostility began, unfortunately, with Obama's Cairo speech which, for all intents and purposes, signaled to the Arabs that Uncle Sam will do anything it can to court Islam short of moving the White House to Tehran.
The Chief Executive's overwhelming Muslim tilt betrayed many anti-Israeli moves too numerous to mention here. Suffice to say that one of the most egregios was Obama's impudent snub of Benjamin Netanyahu when Israel's leader made his first official visit to Washington.
Only after it appeared that Obama's Democratic colleagues faced humiliating defeat in the November elections did the two-faced president try to make nice to Bibi. But anyone who knows anything about the president's bi-polar style realized -- and many wrote as much -- that he would show his true colors after the election and return to his policy of abusing Israel.
Not surprisingly, this has happened -- in spades.
The bribe is a good example of Obama perfidy. America offers Israel a package of the latest in jet fighter-bombers and support in the United Nations for another freeze in "settlement" construction. The bribe is absurd on all counts:
1. There WAS a long-term Israeli settlement-building freeze designed to coerce the Palestinians back to the conference table.
2. The freeze went on and on and ON, ad nauseum, with absolutely no reciprocity from Mahmound Abbas.
3. Obama did nothing -- as in ABSOLUTELY NOTHING -- to reprimand the Arabs for their intransigence. Obama treated Abbas as if the PA leader was being the soul of cooperation.
4. The American election is concluded; the Democrats get whomped and the President -- not needing Jewish votes for a while -- resumes his Israel-spanking.
What has the Chief Executive accomplished by his bias in favor of Abbas?
He has encouraged the Palestinians to utter the most heinous comments while making such outrageous demands as to render any further peace parlay meaningless. And here's what I mean:
* ISRAEL AS A JEWISH STATE: The United States has recognized Israel as a Jewish state since the nation's inception in 1948. That was how the country was founded and why it exists. Yet at the recently-concluded Fatah Revolutionary Council in Ramallah, the Palestinians emphatically rejected the concept of Israel as a Jewish state.
This produced not a peep out of Obama; nor was there any mention of America reducing heavy financial support of Abbas, Inc. Not a peep about the possibility that such inflammatory talk could scuttle peace negotiations. Nothing. Everyone who's anyone in American government knows that Israel never -- ever -- would relinquish its birthright as the Jewish state. Yet the PA blithely says no to Israel as Jewish and expects Bibi to bow to such a ridiculous assertion.
"It's clear," says one Israeli official, "that their refusal to recognize the Jewish state's legitimacy is the true obstacle to peace and reconciliation."
But there's more to it than that.
The Fatah Revolutionary Council did not stop there. It rejected the idea of land swaps as part of a permanent peace pact and, furthermore, once again tread on thin ice by bringing up another negotiating no-no. To wit:
* RETURN OF REFUGEES: Arab propagandists know full well that any refugee-return campaign is an instant deal-breaker. It's not only out of the question, it's out of the realm of possibility because that -- as much as any Palestinian plank -- would ensure the destruction of Israel as a Jewish state. Obama knows this. His Secretary of State knows it and his policy-makers know it.
That said, Obama should quickly denounce the Revolutionary Council in no uncertain terms. Instead he merely encourages the Palestinians by his taciturn reaction which the Arabs interpret as tacit approval.
* HOSTILE BEHAVIOR: The Arabs want peace? Who's kidding whom? Palestinians kids are taught almost from birth to hate Israel. The instruction intensifies in school, on television via the newspapers. You can hear it in the dialogue and comments emanating from Ramallah.
Israel is referred to as the "so-called Jewish state." Israelis who live in the West Bank are characterized as "illegal settler gangs." Peaceful words are as rare as icebergs in Nablus.
Why then doesn't Uncle Sam's commander-in-chief recognize that ongoing hostility so pervasive throughout the PA, an organization that only is "moderate" relative to the Hamas leaders in Gaza?
Doesn't Hilary Rodham Clinton understand that -- based on statements made by the Revolutionary Council -- that a return to the conference table would be a waste of everybody's time.
Better still, how about Obama and Clinton redirecting their focus away from another settlement freeze while zeroing in on the relentless, public hostility maintained by the Arabs toward America's foremost ally in the Middle East?
That would make sense except that the president and his secretary of state seem hellbent on ignoring the endless venom spewed by the PA and Abbas' flunkies on the Revolutionary Council.
And as long as Obama-Clinton retain that astigmatic look, the Arabs will increase their intransigence, braking any peace possibilities for decades.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
SAVE RABIN’S WORK-
By Simon Fischler
Dear President Clinton,
I am writing this to you in response to your opinion article “Finish Rabin’s Work” printed in the New York Times this November.
Mr. President you claim that Rabin was a close friend of yours and you also claim that you miss him on a daily basis.
Mr. President do you think Rabin would have continued to negotiate with people who demand recognition of their nation yet refuse to recognize the Jewish Nations right to Statehood?
NO WAY. Rabin would have walked out on Arafat at Camp David and Taba and he would have told Mahmoud Abbas to forget Statehood if the Palestinians refused to recognize Israel as the Jewish Nation State.
That was Rabin.
Rabin was not a politician, nor a diplomat. Rabin was a STATESMAN and sacrificed his life to protect the nation he loved so much. He sacrificed his Life for PEACE while Arafat and the “Supposed Moderate” Palestinians continued to use terrorism.
This is no longer a theory: Mahmoud Zahar of Hamas confirmed it in September, when he admitted to the Press that Arafat had okayed HAMAS’ terrorist attacks on Israel.
That also confirms that Arafat had okayed attacks by HAMAS throughout all the Oslo Period -- even when Rabin was alive and negotiating with him. This totally contradicts your theory of peace in three years if Rabin had not been assassinated. Arafat never wanted peace and you know that!
If you loved Rabin as much as you claim to, you would be doing all you can to protect the truth of his work.
If you really loved Rabin and wanted his work to be finished, you would call out those who caused the destruction of his work and cause: The Palestinian Leadership.
If you loved Rabin, you would demand the Palestinians recognize Israel as the Jewish Nation State.
If you loved Rabin, you would be the first to castigate those who lie and call Israel an apartheid state.
If you truly loved Rabin as you claim, you would demand the PA halt all incitement against Israel and the Jewish Nation; something that is nowhere near happening.
If you truly loved Rabin, which is loving Israel -- because Rabin truly was Israel at the end of his life, you would have been the first to call out the PA yesterday when they released a policy paper claiming the Western Wall has nothing to do with the JEWS.
President Clinton you know more than anyone that the settlements are not the issue, and you rob Rabin of his TRUTH when you let your wife and her boss point the finger at Israel because of settlements.
Lastly, you negate that claimed love, when you fail to call out Abbas and/or his underlings every time they proudly yell to the world that they will never recognize Israel as the Jewish Nation. This is the treachery that has been Palestinian policy since the beginning of the Oslo agreements: Abbas and his underlings have no intention of truly recognizing Israel’s right to exist. When I say Israel’s right to exist, you know exactly what that means: the JEWISH DEMOCRATIC nation state.
President Clinton, I am Simon Fischler, a liberal Democrat who voted for you as president. I also voted for Al Gore and Barack Obama. I am also Simon Fischler, an Israeli citizen who has voted for the peace camp in every Israeli election since 2001. Tell the truth, Mr. Clinton: if people who love peace truly want it for Israel and the Palestinians, it is time the Palestinian Leadership be brought to the court of peace and pay up for the treachery they have committed against the Israeli and Palestinian people!
Mr. President, if you truly loved Rabin, start telling the TRUTH ABOUT THE PALESTINIAN LEADERSHIP’S ACTIVE STANCE AGAINST PEACE.
Dear President Clinton,
I am writing this to you in response to your opinion article “Finish Rabin’s Work” printed in the New York Times this November.
Mr. President you claim that Rabin was a close friend of yours and you also claim that you miss him on a daily basis.
Mr. President do you think Rabin would have continued to negotiate with people who demand recognition of their nation yet refuse to recognize the Jewish Nations right to Statehood?
NO WAY. Rabin would have walked out on Arafat at Camp David and Taba and he would have told Mahmoud Abbas to forget Statehood if the Palestinians refused to recognize Israel as the Jewish Nation State.
That was Rabin.
Rabin was not a politician, nor a diplomat. Rabin was a STATESMAN and sacrificed his life to protect the nation he loved so much. He sacrificed his Life for PEACE while Arafat and the “Supposed Moderate” Palestinians continued to use terrorism.
This is no longer a theory: Mahmoud Zahar of Hamas confirmed it in September, when he admitted to the Press that Arafat had okayed HAMAS’ terrorist attacks on Israel.
That also confirms that Arafat had okayed attacks by HAMAS throughout all the Oslo Period -- even when Rabin was alive and negotiating with him. This totally contradicts your theory of peace in three years if Rabin had not been assassinated. Arafat never wanted peace and you know that!
If you loved Rabin as much as you claim to, you would be doing all you can to protect the truth of his work.
If you really loved Rabin and wanted his work to be finished, you would call out those who caused the destruction of his work and cause: The Palestinian Leadership.
If you loved Rabin, you would demand the Palestinians recognize Israel as the Jewish Nation State.
If you loved Rabin, you would be the first to castigate those who lie and call Israel an apartheid state.
If you truly loved Rabin as you claim, you would demand the PA halt all incitement against Israel and the Jewish Nation; something that is nowhere near happening.
If you truly loved Rabin, which is loving Israel -- because Rabin truly was Israel at the end of his life, you would have been the first to call out the PA yesterday when they released a policy paper claiming the Western Wall has nothing to do with the JEWS.
President Clinton you know more than anyone that the settlements are not the issue, and you rob Rabin of his TRUTH when you let your wife and her boss point the finger at Israel because of settlements.
Lastly, you negate that claimed love, when you fail to call out Abbas and/or his underlings every time they proudly yell to the world that they will never recognize Israel as the Jewish Nation. This is the treachery that has been Palestinian policy since the beginning of the Oslo agreements: Abbas and his underlings have no intention of truly recognizing Israel’s right to exist. When I say Israel’s right to exist, you know exactly what that means: the JEWISH DEMOCRATIC nation state.
President Clinton, I am Simon Fischler, a liberal Democrat who voted for you as president. I also voted for Al Gore and Barack Obama. I am also Simon Fischler, an Israeli citizen who has voted for the peace camp in every Israeli election since 2001. Tell the truth, Mr. Clinton: if people who love peace truly want it for Israel and the Palestinians, it is time the Palestinian Leadership be brought to the court of peace and pay up for the treachery they have committed against the Israeli and Palestinian people!
Mr. President, if you truly loved Rabin, start telling the TRUTH ABOUT THE PALESTINIAN LEADERSHIP’S ACTIVE STANCE AGAINST PEACE.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
HOW DARE YOU MR. KURTZER?
By Simon Fischler
Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel Kurtzer alleges the Obama administration is rewarding Israel’s “bad behavior” by offering up security and political guarantees for another settlement freeze.
Is it not interesting that Mr. Kurtzer seems to brush aside the ten-month settlement freeze that the Palestinians totally wasted? Does he forget that never before have settlements stopped peace negotiations?
In fact, why does Mr. Kurtzer, an observant Jew, think it is Israel that is behaving badly in this situation? How much does he expect Israel to give without getting anything in return?
How far does he believe the Americans have the right to endanger the Jewish State for Obama’s political image?
What have the Palestinians given the Obama administration? Nothing at all. In fact, the PA has done nothing but up their anti-Semitic, anti-Israel rhetoric. Why should the American administration or American diplomats ask more of Israel?
Just yesterday the PA made it their official policy that the Western Wall has no connection to the Jewish Nation and is a Muslim holy site. Not a word was said by the Obama administration to counter this heinous PA rhetoric.
This American administration’s foreign policy has been nothing more than a joke that at times appears to be run by the Keystone Kops.
Obama and his cadre have literally put Israel’s political safety in jeopardy. Yes Israel is strong militarily, but never before has she appeared so alone – diplomatically -- in the world.
This is all due to borderline self-destructive American diplomacy that could have only been contrived by someone not in the game long enough to understand how important Israel is for America’s safety, or is being advised by a cadre that is basically anti-Israel.
Mr. Kurtzer would do well to remember that appeasing the DICTATORIAL, FASCIST, RACIST, CHAUVINIST and ANTI-SEMiTIC Arab and Muslim regimes was usually left to the great states of Europe, now the E.U.; not America.
It was America that always stood up for Israel, because that meant standing up for justice, freedom and democracy, no matter how hard it was diplomatically. It meant not selling out.
It has never been easy do the right thing; standing up for Israel has always been the right thing; that is why so many great American presidents, and some who weren’t so great, have done it.
Mr. Kutrzer would also do well to remember that going the way of Thomas Friedman may be the easy way to go vis-a-vis Israel. It will surely buy you more readership today. But it is not the right, just way.
Mr. Kurtzer, Israel has offered up peace too many times and been rejected by the Palestinians too many times. This delicate (yes, she is delicate, despite appearances) nation has shown time and again that she is willing to pay the heavy price of peace. We have removed settlements in the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza strip. We have brought our nation to the brink of civil war to offer the Palestinians peace. And it is we who are behaving badly? You should be embarrassed for even writing such nonsense.
The Palestinians consistently have shown that they do not want peace, that they are liars and still seek nothing more than the destruction of the Jewish Nation.
By being either totally ignorant of, or disrespecting of history, Obama has shown no difficulty in appeasing and bribing the Arab and Muslim world at the expense of both Israel and America. You, Mr. Kurtzer, on the other hand, know the history better than anyone, and have no excuse for writing the drivel that was in the Washington Post this week.
You were here as the U.S. Ambassador to Israel from 2001 to 2005. You know more than anyone what Israel was willing to give up when Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak offered Yasser Arafat peace in 2000. You also know what Israel gave up for America when she carried out the Unilateral Disengagement of the Gaza Strip in August 2005.
How dare you accuse Israel of bad behavior, of not respecting America. It is America and this American administration that has behaved badly to its loyal partner Israel. It is America, this American administration and people like you who are selling out truth, dignity and the ideals of liberal democracies to the Oil Chiefs of Arabia.
Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel Kurtzer alleges the Obama administration is rewarding Israel’s “bad behavior” by offering up security and political guarantees for another settlement freeze.
Is it not interesting that Mr. Kurtzer seems to brush aside the ten-month settlement freeze that the Palestinians totally wasted? Does he forget that never before have settlements stopped peace negotiations?
In fact, why does Mr. Kurtzer, an observant Jew, think it is Israel that is behaving badly in this situation? How much does he expect Israel to give without getting anything in return?
How far does he believe the Americans have the right to endanger the Jewish State for Obama’s political image?
What have the Palestinians given the Obama administration? Nothing at all. In fact, the PA has done nothing but up their anti-Semitic, anti-Israel rhetoric. Why should the American administration or American diplomats ask more of Israel?
Just yesterday the PA made it their official policy that the Western Wall has no connection to the Jewish Nation and is a Muslim holy site. Not a word was said by the Obama administration to counter this heinous PA rhetoric.
This American administration’s foreign policy has been nothing more than a joke that at times appears to be run by the Keystone Kops.
Obama and his cadre have literally put Israel’s political safety in jeopardy. Yes Israel is strong militarily, but never before has she appeared so alone – diplomatically -- in the world.
This is all due to borderline self-destructive American diplomacy that could have only been contrived by someone not in the game long enough to understand how important Israel is for America’s safety, or is being advised by a cadre that is basically anti-Israel.
Mr. Kurtzer would do well to remember that appeasing the DICTATORIAL, FASCIST, RACIST, CHAUVINIST and ANTI-SEMiTIC Arab and Muslim regimes was usually left to the great states of Europe, now the E.U.; not America.
It was America that always stood up for Israel, because that meant standing up for justice, freedom and democracy, no matter how hard it was diplomatically. It meant not selling out.
It has never been easy do the right thing; standing up for Israel has always been the right thing; that is why so many great American presidents, and some who weren’t so great, have done it.
Mr. Kutrzer would also do well to remember that going the way of Thomas Friedman may be the easy way to go vis-a-vis Israel. It will surely buy you more readership today. But it is not the right, just way.
Mr. Kurtzer, Israel has offered up peace too many times and been rejected by the Palestinians too many times. This delicate (yes, she is delicate, despite appearances) nation has shown time and again that she is willing to pay the heavy price of peace. We have removed settlements in the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza strip. We have brought our nation to the brink of civil war to offer the Palestinians peace. And it is we who are behaving badly? You should be embarrassed for even writing such nonsense.
The Palestinians consistently have shown that they do not want peace, that they are liars and still seek nothing more than the destruction of the Jewish Nation.
By being either totally ignorant of, or disrespecting of history, Obama has shown no difficulty in appeasing and bribing the Arab and Muslim world at the expense of both Israel and America. You, Mr. Kurtzer, on the other hand, know the history better than anyone, and have no excuse for writing the drivel that was in the Washington Post this week.
You were here as the U.S. Ambassador to Israel from 2001 to 2005. You know more than anyone what Israel was willing to give up when Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak offered Yasser Arafat peace in 2000. You also know what Israel gave up for America when she carried out the Unilateral Disengagement of the Gaza Strip in August 2005.
How dare you accuse Israel of bad behavior, of not respecting America. It is America and this American administration that has behaved badly to its loyal partner Israel. It is America, this American administration and people like you who are selling out truth, dignity and the ideals of liberal democracies to the Oil Chiefs of Arabia.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
BIBI: BACK-BURNER ITEMS THAT SHOULD BE MOVED UP FRONT
By Schmoel Yitzhak
If -- and I emphasize IF -- Israel trails in the propaganda game with the Arabs, there's still time for a comeback.
For that to happen, it's necessary to pinpoint flaws in Jerusalem's strategy.
Since the "settlement" issue is at the forefront of diplomatic discussion -- thanks to the perverted Obama thinking -- we must zero in on that subject.
To begin with Israel propagandists -- call them what you will if that term is disturbing -- must go on the offensive.
And what better issue than a demand that if talks are to begin, the Arabs MUST accept Israel's existence. Period. That is an imperative.
The fact that the so-called "moderate" countries such as Saudi Arabia have endlessly refused to acknowledge the only democracy in the Middle East should be a starting point with American peacemakers.
But most of all with Israeli's opinion-makers.
"Okay," Benjamin Netanyahu, "should tell the American president, "if you want us to negotiate in good faith, then we MUST have good faith returned from the other side. And our definition of "good faith" begins with the Palestinians first delivering a forthright declaration of the reality of Israel. If they cannot do that, what's the point of talking?"
Bibi's propaganda machine should finger-point at a major discrepancy in previous talks focusing on who can live where. Assuming -- and only ASSUMING -- that a two-state solution is even possible, it would be a one-sided deal. That is, Arabs will still be allowed to live in Israel but Jews will not be permitted in a Palestinian state.
Thus, the Prime Minister should fiercely attack that issue by simply stating, "What's fair about that?"
if the Palestinians truly want a two-state solution then it must be along equitable lines. If Arabs remain in Israel, Jews must be allowed to stay in a Palestinian state. Call it tit for tat; call it even-Steven. I call it what's right is right.
So far, Israel has fallen behind in the public relations (same as propaganda) game because it has not played verbal hardball when such a move was necessary.
Exhibit A: Israel withdrew from twenty-five settlements in Gaza and Samaria in 2005 on the assumption that there would be a reciprocal gesture of goodwill from the other side.
Alas, that "goodwill" came in the form of thousands of rocket attacks including the Hamas annexation of Gaza.
This is an issue which has not nearly been sufficiently dramatized by the Netanyahu government.
It falls under the category of endless Arab duplicity. That brand of lying has been evident for decades and was most evident when Yasir Arafat -- as McGill University historian Gil Troy points out -- "led his people away from the Oslo negotiations back toward terror in 2000."
Much, much more emphasis should be placed by Israeli propagandists on the obvious facts that support their case.
Exhibits B,C,D, and E start with the Arabs rejecting the UN partition compromise in November l947; the all-out-Arab (six armies) attack against the new state in May 1948; creation of a hostile PLO in 1964 and the 1967 attempt at Israel's annihilation launched by Egypt's Nasser before all the cats joined in.
The "settlement" issue propagated by Obama and his sidekick, Hilary (Rotten) Clinton is small potatoes compared with the major points of contention mentioned above. However, the Arab propaganda machine has employed it to great advantage.
"Emphasizing the 'settlements' circumvents negotiation," adds Troy. "It's caving in to Palestinian land claims and mindlessly embracing their one-sided narrative."
Thus, it must be changed by the Israelis to a two-sided narrative and there's plenty of historic ammunition on Bibi's side.
Ah, but if only he would use it forcefully -- and often!
If -- and I emphasize IF -- Israel trails in the propaganda game with the Arabs, there's still time for a comeback.
For that to happen, it's necessary to pinpoint flaws in Jerusalem's strategy.
Since the "settlement" issue is at the forefront of diplomatic discussion -- thanks to the perverted Obama thinking -- we must zero in on that subject.
To begin with Israel propagandists -- call them what you will if that term is disturbing -- must go on the offensive.
And what better issue than a demand that if talks are to begin, the Arabs MUST accept Israel's existence. Period. That is an imperative.
The fact that the so-called "moderate" countries such as Saudi Arabia have endlessly refused to acknowledge the only democracy in the Middle East should be a starting point with American peacemakers.
But most of all with Israeli's opinion-makers.
"Okay," Benjamin Netanyahu, "should tell the American president, "if you want us to negotiate in good faith, then we MUST have good faith returned from the other side. And our definition of "good faith" begins with the Palestinians first delivering a forthright declaration of the reality of Israel. If they cannot do that, what's the point of talking?"
Bibi's propaganda machine should finger-point at a major discrepancy in previous talks focusing on who can live where. Assuming -- and only ASSUMING -- that a two-state solution is even possible, it would be a one-sided deal. That is, Arabs will still be allowed to live in Israel but Jews will not be permitted in a Palestinian state.
Thus, the Prime Minister should fiercely attack that issue by simply stating, "What's fair about that?"
if the Palestinians truly want a two-state solution then it must be along equitable lines. If Arabs remain in Israel, Jews must be allowed to stay in a Palestinian state. Call it tit for tat; call it even-Steven. I call it what's right is right.
So far, Israel has fallen behind in the public relations (same as propaganda) game because it has not played verbal hardball when such a move was necessary.
Exhibit A: Israel withdrew from twenty-five settlements in Gaza and Samaria in 2005 on the assumption that there would be a reciprocal gesture of goodwill from the other side.
Alas, that "goodwill" came in the form of thousands of rocket attacks including the Hamas annexation of Gaza.
This is an issue which has not nearly been sufficiently dramatized by the Netanyahu government.
It falls under the category of endless Arab duplicity. That brand of lying has been evident for decades and was most evident when Yasir Arafat -- as McGill University historian Gil Troy points out -- "led his people away from the Oslo negotiations back toward terror in 2000."
Much, much more emphasis should be placed by Israeli propagandists on the obvious facts that support their case.
Exhibits B,C,D, and E start with the Arabs rejecting the UN partition compromise in November l947; the all-out-Arab (six armies) attack against the new state in May 1948; creation of a hostile PLO in 1964 and the 1967 attempt at Israel's annihilation launched by Egypt's Nasser before all the cats joined in.
The "settlement" issue propagated by Obama and his sidekick, Hilary (Rotten) Clinton is small potatoes compared with the major points of contention mentioned above. However, the Arab propaganda machine has employed it to great advantage.
"Emphasizing the 'settlements' circumvents negotiation," adds Troy. "It's caving in to Palestinian land claims and mindlessly embracing their one-sided narrative."
Thus, it must be changed by the Israelis to a two-sided narrative and there's plenty of historic ammunition on Bibi's side.
Ah, but if only he would use it forcefully -- and often!
Monday, November 22, 2010
ARABS OFFER EXCUSES AS OFTEN AS THEY EXHALE
By Schmoel Yitzhak
One of the all-time, right-on statements of the past century belonged to one Israel's most eloquent statesmen, Abba Eban.
After observing yet another rejection of peace by Israel's enemies, Eban asserted that the Arabs, "Never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity."
That commentary was true many decades ago and every ten years since.
It precisely is the point today as the Palestinians have placed yet another obstacle on the road to peace.
Responding to an Israeli project to improve the Kotel (Western Wall), the Arabs immediately -- as if by reflex -- delivered their traditional hue and cry.
A Palestinian Authority spokesman declared that "This move is preventing us from reaching a solution."
Oh, really!
The PA has an endless list of Israeli "moves" that supposedly are halting a "peace" accord with the Jewish state.
My point is not that we should be surprised at the Arab response but rather than it underlines an undeniable point; that there is absolutely no -- ABSOLUTELY NO -- sincerity among the Mahmoud Abbas' gang when it comes to forging a lasting peace with Israel.
What was true when Abba Eban uttered his deathless assertion is vividly true today. Consider the following:
The proposed renovation of Kotel grounds will help accommodate eight-million visitors to The Wall. And it so happens that The Kotel is the most visited site in all of the State of Israel.
Please, -- PLEASE! -- do not forget that the Western Wall is part and parcel of Israel; and always will be. So, what do we hear from the other side. Get this:
"Israel does not have permission to make changes in the occupied territories," said PA spokesman Ghassan Hatib, "especially in Jerusalem."
Well, if that comment doesn't represent the height of chutzpuh, I don't know what does. We have to get "permission" from them. Next will be permission to breathe.
Jerusalem is Israel and the Kotel is the very centerpiece of the only democracy in the Middle East.
"The Western Wall is the Jewish people's most important heritage site," asserted Benjamin Netanyahu.
Which explains why the government is spending 85 million new Israeli shekels on the Kotel development project.
But, I digress.
The Arab reaction is so typically -- so disgustingly -- hostile that one wonders what manner of objection they next will raise over an Israeli building project or, for that matter, just about anything done by Israelis between Metulla and Eilat.
Does Abbas, Inc. genuinely want peace?
Not when they protest so commendable a program as the Kotel renovation.
After all the Kotel project once again presents the Palestinians with an opportunity.
Yessiree, Bob -- another opportunity to miss an opportunity.
Otherwise known as PEACE!
One of the all-time, right-on statements of the past century belonged to one Israel's most eloquent statesmen, Abba Eban.
After observing yet another rejection of peace by Israel's enemies, Eban asserted that the Arabs, "Never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity."
That commentary was true many decades ago and every ten years since.
It precisely is the point today as the Palestinians have placed yet another obstacle on the road to peace.
Responding to an Israeli project to improve the Kotel (Western Wall), the Arabs immediately -- as if by reflex -- delivered their traditional hue and cry.
A Palestinian Authority spokesman declared that "This move is preventing us from reaching a solution."
Oh, really!
The PA has an endless list of Israeli "moves" that supposedly are halting a "peace" accord with the Jewish state.
My point is not that we should be surprised at the Arab response but rather than it underlines an undeniable point; that there is absolutely no -- ABSOLUTELY NO -- sincerity among the Mahmoud Abbas' gang when it comes to forging a lasting peace with Israel.
What was true when Abba Eban uttered his deathless assertion is vividly true today. Consider the following:
The proposed renovation of Kotel grounds will help accommodate eight-million visitors to The Wall. And it so happens that The Kotel is the most visited site in all of the State of Israel.
Please, -- PLEASE! -- do not forget that the Western Wall is part and parcel of Israel; and always will be. So, what do we hear from the other side. Get this:
"Israel does not have permission to make changes in the occupied territories," said PA spokesman Ghassan Hatib, "especially in Jerusalem."
Well, if that comment doesn't represent the height of chutzpuh, I don't know what does. We have to get "permission" from them. Next will be permission to breathe.
Jerusalem is Israel and the Kotel is the very centerpiece of the only democracy in the Middle East.
"The Western Wall is the Jewish people's most important heritage site," asserted Benjamin Netanyahu.
Which explains why the government is spending 85 million new Israeli shekels on the Kotel development project.
But, I digress.
The Arab reaction is so typically -- so disgustingly -- hostile that one wonders what manner of objection they next will raise over an Israeli building project or, for that matter, just about anything done by Israelis between Metulla and Eilat.
Does Abbas, Inc. genuinely want peace?
Not when they protest so commendable a program as the Kotel renovation.
After all the Kotel project once again presents the Palestinians with an opportunity.
Yessiree, Bob -- another opportunity to miss an opportunity.
Otherwise known as PEACE!
Friday, November 19, 2010
OBAMA, CLINTON -- TURN YOUR ATTENTION TOWARD THE REAL PROBLEM -- GAZA
By Schmoel Yitzhak
Every day -- in every way -- it seems as if American foreign policy toward Israel is guided by a flock of ostriches in gray flannel suits and, in the case of a Secretary of State, lady's pants.
Led by its increasingly disreputable president, the United States continues to construct mountains out of molehills in Judea and Samaria.
In this case, the molehills happen to be apartments and homes legitimately being built to accommodate Israelis whose prime target in life, apart from making a living, is to live in peace.
None of the new construction -- effectively mis-named "settlements" -- is outfitted with either mortars or rocket-launchers but no doubt will include safety rooms to protect the inhabitants from missiles of death.
Yet Barack Obama and his absurdly misguided sidekick, Hilary Rodham Clinton, continue to regard these simple habitations as something akin to nuclear facilities. That is, nuclear facilities such as the ones being constructed in Iran and to which Uncle Sam is doing nothing other than delivering useless hot air; otherwise known as passive threats which merely make the Iranian leaders chuckle.
Instead of forcefully bribing Benjamin Netanyahu into yet another construction moratorium, the Obama-Clinton axis of deception should focus on genuine warfare that is being conducted daily against Israel.
Hello, Mister President! That's daily -- as in every day -- and now, as we speak. War, as in exploding shells and weapons of destruction, if accurately aimed.
Specifically, I am talking about the endless mortar and rocket barrages being hurled at the Negev, Ashkelon and other points adjoining Gaza by the Hamas terrorists and their evil affiliates from the other side of what supposedly was to be an armistice line established after Operation Cast Lead.
The most recent assaults included mortar shells which contained white phosphorus and which could have inflicted horrific casualties had they landed among the civilian population.
Unlike the Israeli housing projects to which the White House so vociferously objects, the rockets and mortars were not bought at TOYS OR US. They are not playthings like popguns.
If a mortar explodes among Israeli citizens, the victims do not walk away smiling; in fact, they will be lucky simply to walk away and tell the tale.
Yet, somehow the continued war being waged by Hamas is ignored by the American government as if the episodes have jumped out of Grimm's Fairy Tales rather than the mouths of mortars and rocket projectiles.
All of which brings me to the utter absurdity of the projected peace talks and Bibi's apparent insistence on going along with them as if some tangible good miraculously somehow will be bestowed on Israel.
Mind you, the endless barrage from Gaza is tied into my point; why negotiate with Mahmoud Abbas and his Palestinian Authority when the more threatening enemies are actively attacking from Gaza?
Here, let's turn theory into reality:
Imagine that -- somehow, somewhere in the future -- a treaty is hammered out between Bibi and Abbas, Inc. Apart from the fact that the Arabs never could -- and never will -- be trusted, what would be the point of a pact if Hamas continues to wage war against Israel from Gaza?
Nothing about Hamas' actions since its overthrow of the PLO suggests that it ever will accept the existence of Israel.
Thus, a peace pact with the Abbas gang will only "solve" one-half of the aggressive problem while ignoring the MAJOR aggressors in the South.
This is not fiction. These are not the words of an eternal pessimist; they are nothing more than an acknowledgement of facts on the ground and missiles in the air.
Missiles hurt and kill.
New homes merely provide shelter and warmth -- a couple of elements Israel never seems to get from Obama.
Come to think of it, Bibi do well for himself and his policy-making if he journeyed to the little zoo in Nes Ziona. There he would find a flock of genuine, live ostriches who -- with their own heads-in-the-sand ways -- are accomplishing more for peace than Barack and Hilary whose heads are somewhere in the clouds!
Every day -- in every way -- it seems as if American foreign policy toward Israel is guided by a flock of ostriches in gray flannel suits and, in the case of a Secretary of State, lady's pants.
Led by its increasingly disreputable president, the United States continues to construct mountains out of molehills in Judea and Samaria.
In this case, the molehills happen to be apartments and homes legitimately being built to accommodate Israelis whose prime target in life, apart from making a living, is to live in peace.
None of the new construction -- effectively mis-named "settlements" -- is outfitted with either mortars or rocket-launchers but no doubt will include safety rooms to protect the inhabitants from missiles of death.
Yet Barack Obama and his absurdly misguided sidekick, Hilary Rodham Clinton, continue to regard these simple habitations as something akin to nuclear facilities. That is, nuclear facilities such as the ones being constructed in Iran and to which Uncle Sam is doing nothing other than delivering useless hot air; otherwise known as passive threats which merely make the Iranian leaders chuckle.
Instead of forcefully bribing Benjamin Netanyahu into yet another construction moratorium, the Obama-Clinton axis of deception should focus on genuine warfare that is being conducted daily against Israel.
Hello, Mister President! That's daily -- as in every day -- and now, as we speak. War, as in exploding shells and weapons of destruction, if accurately aimed.
Specifically, I am talking about the endless mortar and rocket barrages being hurled at the Negev, Ashkelon and other points adjoining Gaza by the Hamas terrorists and their evil affiliates from the other side of what supposedly was to be an armistice line established after Operation Cast Lead.
The most recent assaults included mortar shells which contained white phosphorus and which could have inflicted horrific casualties had they landed among the civilian population.
Unlike the Israeli housing projects to which the White House so vociferously objects, the rockets and mortars were not bought at TOYS OR US. They are not playthings like popguns.
If a mortar explodes among Israeli citizens, the victims do not walk away smiling; in fact, they will be lucky simply to walk away and tell the tale.
Yet, somehow the continued war being waged by Hamas is ignored by the American government as if the episodes have jumped out of Grimm's Fairy Tales rather than the mouths of mortars and rocket projectiles.
All of which brings me to the utter absurdity of the projected peace talks and Bibi's apparent insistence on going along with them as if some tangible good miraculously somehow will be bestowed on Israel.
Mind you, the endless barrage from Gaza is tied into my point; why negotiate with Mahmoud Abbas and his Palestinian Authority when the more threatening enemies are actively attacking from Gaza?
Here, let's turn theory into reality:
Imagine that -- somehow, somewhere in the future -- a treaty is hammered out between Bibi and Abbas, Inc. Apart from the fact that the Arabs never could -- and never will -- be trusted, what would be the point of a pact if Hamas continues to wage war against Israel from Gaza?
Nothing about Hamas' actions since its overthrow of the PLO suggests that it ever will accept the existence of Israel.
Thus, a peace pact with the Abbas gang will only "solve" one-half of the aggressive problem while ignoring the MAJOR aggressors in the South.
This is not fiction. These are not the words of an eternal pessimist; they are nothing more than an acknowledgement of facts on the ground and missiles in the air.
Missiles hurt and kill.
New homes merely provide shelter and warmth -- a couple of elements Israel never seems to get from Obama.
Come to think of it, Bibi do well for himself and his policy-making if he journeyed to the little zoo in Nes Ziona. There he would find a flock of genuine, live ostriches who -- with their own heads-in-the-sand ways -- are accomplishing more for peace than Barack and Hilary whose heads are somewhere in the clouds!
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
HOW TO DO IT
By Simon Fischler
For the last ten years I have made Israel my home; for the last two years I have made fighting for Israel on the internet my life.
After making Aliyah to Israel I hoped to be given the chance to serve in my new country’s army. Sadly, because of my medical situation (I’m the recipient of heart transplantation) I was denied that ability. So I decided instead, that if I could not defend my country in the army, I would do it online.
The last two years have been an eye-opening experience.
The amount of animosity directed towards Israel and those who defend her make fighting for her a daunting task. The amount of hate mail I receive is simply astonishing and an amazing example of how sick those who stand against Israel truly are.
For those who wish to get involved in the defense of Israel, there are tips I would like to share with you.
When writing in defense of Israel, it is imperative to know the facts and to do your reading. Those who defend the Palestinians often blatantly lie and almost never present genuine facts. For them it is almost a necessity to do this, since most of the facts stack up against them.
We must never stoop to this level. Those who wish to defend Israel have such a plethora of historical facts defending our side of this argument, making it hugely important to use them and their sources.
This is a war; it makes no difference that we are fighting on a different type of battlefield. When writing about our country we must move from the defensive to the offensive. Like the IDF of old, we need to grab the initiative and pre-empt organizations like BDS and their brethren. We need to hit them hard and often with facts.
Another great tactic if you happen to live in Israel like myself is describing daily experiences. This is one of the best ways to disprove the lie of Apartheid. Just describing a trip to the local Makalut (mini-market) automatically tosses apartheid out the window.
More than anything we must stop being so diplomatic in our defense of Israel. We must not be afraid to “out” these haters.
Those who hate Israel attack her with downright lies.
They lie and use tactics similar to the worst propagandists in history.
When Omar Barghouti the founder of B.D.S says that Israel is an Apartheid State he is doing nothing more than deceiving those who are ignorant to the situation.
Omar would never talk about the fact that Israeli Arabs enjoy all the freedoms of the state.
He would never mention that there are 14 Arab members of the Knesset. He will never tell you that Israeli Arabs are allowed anywhere and everywhere in Israel. In apartheid South Africa or in the Segregated South this simply was not true. Anyone who does a little bit of research would know that in the former South Africa or the southern states in the US blacks were separated from Whites. The black Africans and African Americans were denied everything. Here in many cases Israeli Arabs enjoy greater freedoms than Israeli Jews. They do not have to serve on the Army, they are all living on government subsidies and rarely pay the land taxes we Israeli Jews do.
Omar Barghouti also want tell you that Israeli Arabs enjoy greater freedoms than any other Arabs the world over; especially greater freedoms than Arabs living in Arab states.
In fact Omar Barghouti and B.D.S are the people preaching Apartheid and possibly even genocide.
Mr. Barghouti and his friends at B.D.S openly call for the destruction of Israel. It is Mr. Barghouti who in fact fights for a racist and anti-Semitic policy when he calls for the destruction of the Jewish Nation. It is the people of B.D.S who openly want to deny the Jewish Nation their right to self-determination.
If you want to write in defense of Israel then you must be ready to call these liars on their fabrications. You must be able to hit back at someone like Omar Barghouti.
Should we stoop to his level? NO, but we should not be afraid of calling these people and the organizations they represent what they truly are: RACISTS AND ANTI-SEMITES.
If you really want to help Israel, be ready to use this supposedly forbidden word “ANTI-SEMITE.” That’s what we are fighting and the second those who want to defend our nation realize it, the faster we can attain the upper hand.
That is where we are today: those who advocate the destruction of Israel and who delegitimize her are anti-Semites and they need to be called anti-Semites. Those who call Israel an apartheid state, even if it is through ignorance are anti-Semites and again, they must be called out on this. Diplomacy can no longer hold us back as these charlatans attempt to deny the Jewish Nation its right to self-determination.
We must also work hard to create an umbrella organization for the defense of Israel on the Internet and in the media. The faster we create an umbrella group representing all those who back and love Israel on Facebook and Twitter and other internet sites, the faster we can gain the power to truly fight poisonous groups like BDS.
For the last ten years I have made Israel my home; for the last two years I have made fighting for Israel on the internet my life.
After making Aliyah to Israel I hoped to be given the chance to serve in my new country’s army. Sadly, because of my medical situation (I’m the recipient of heart transplantation) I was denied that ability. So I decided instead, that if I could not defend my country in the army, I would do it online.
The last two years have been an eye-opening experience.
The amount of animosity directed towards Israel and those who defend her make fighting for her a daunting task. The amount of hate mail I receive is simply astonishing and an amazing example of how sick those who stand against Israel truly are.
For those who wish to get involved in the defense of Israel, there are tips I would like to share with you.
When writing in defense of Israel, it is imperative to know the facts and to do your reading. Those who defend the Palestinians often blatantly lie and almost never present genuine facts. For them it is almost a necessity to do this, since most of the facts stack up against them.
We must never stoop to this level. Those who wish to defend Israel have such a plethora of historical facts defending our side of this argument, making it hugely important to use them and their sources.
This is a war; it makes no difference that we are fighting on a different type of battlefield. When writing about our country we must move from the defensive to the offensive. Like the IDF of old, we need to grab the initiative and pre-empt organizations like BDS and their brethren. We need to hit them hard and often with facts.
Another great tactic if you happen to live in Israel like myself is describing daily experiences. This is one of the best ways to disprove the lie of Apartheid. Just describing a trip to the local Makalut (mini-market) automatically tosses apartheid out the window.
More than anything we must stop being so diplomatic in our defense of Israel. We must not be afraid to “out” these haters.
Those who hate Israel attack her with downright lies.
They lie and use tactics similar to the worst propagandists in history.
When Omar Barghouti the founder of B.D.S says that Israel is an Apartheid State he is doing nothing more than deceiving those who are ignorant to the situation.
Omar would never talk about the fact that Israeli Arabs enjoy all the freedoms of the state.
He would never mention that there are 14 Arab members of the Knesset. He will never tell you that Israeli Arabs are allowed anywhere and everywhere in Israel. In apartheid South Africa or in the Segregated South this simply was not true. Anyone who does a little bit of research would know that in the former South Africa or the southern states in the US blacks were separated from Whites. The black Africans and African Americans were denied everything. Here in many cases Israeli Arabs enjoy greater freedoms than Israeli Jews. They do not have to serve on the Army, they are all living on government subsidies and rarely pay the land taxes we Israeli Jews do.
Omar Barghouti also want tell you that Israeli Arabs enjoy greater freedoms than any other Arabs the world over; especially greater freedoms than Arabs living in Arab states.
In fact Omar Barghouti and B.D.S are the people preaching Apartheid and possibly even genocide.
Mr. Barghouti and his friends at B.D.S openly call for the destruction of Israel. It is Mr. Barghouti who in fact fights for a racist and anti-Semitic policy when he calls for the destruction of the Jewish Nation. It is the people of B.D.S who openly want to deny the Jewish Nation their right to self-determination.
If you want to write in defense of Israel then you must be ready to call these liars on their fabrications. You must be able to hit back at someone like Omar Barghouti.
Should we stoop to his level? NO, but we should not be afraid of calling these people and the organizations they represent what they truly are: RACISTS AND ANTI-SEMITES.
If you really want to help Israel, be ready to use this supposedly forbidden word “ANTI-SEMITE.” That’s what we are fighting and the second those who want to defend our nation realize it, the faster we can attain the upper hand.
That is where we are today: those who advocate the destruction of Israel and who delegitimize her are anti-Semites and they need to be called anti-Semites. Those who call Israel an apartheid state, even if it is through ignorance are anti-Semites and again, they must be called out on this. Diplomacy can no longer hold us back as these charlatans attempt to deny the Jewish Nation its right to self-determination.
We must also work hard to create an umbrella organization for the defense of Israel on the Internet and in the media. The faster we create an umbrella group representing all those who back and love Israel on Facebook and Twitter and other internet sites, the faster we can gain the power to truly fight poisonous groups like BDS.
Monday, November 15, 2010
IS IT WORTH THE AMERICAN BRIBE TO AGREE TO ANOTHER FREEZE?
By Schmoel Yitzhak
The latest attempt by the Barack Administration to con Israel into yet another freeze on "settlement" construction is a bribe; no more, no less.
One of the most significant aspects of this latest American attempt at "mediation" is that it is patently one-sided.
To begin with, the American State Department is creating an illusion that the breakdown in the latest round of negotiations is Israel's fault.
The ill-logic goes like this: if only Israel will halt construction, the Arabs then will return to the discussion table.
But Israel DID halt the building -- FOR NINE MONTHS -- and got nothing but Palestinian intransigence.
It was then that Mahmoud Abbas came up with his latest gimmick; if Israel resumes building after the agreed-upon moratorium, he would refuse to talk further.
Most important at this juncture is understanding that Israel fulfilled its end of the bargain and had a nine-month freeze which was its part of the bargain.
So, why should there be another? Why not start making demands of the Arabs. Why not?
Because Obama has been patently one-sided since the beginning of his presidency and has displayed no inclination -- Democratic election defeat or not -- to change his Middle East policy.
Why should America bribe Israel with needed, state of the art armament if Benjamin Netanyahu's government supposedly is Uncle Sam's primary ally in the Middle East?
There should not be any hesitation about dispatching the arms and other carrots being "offered" in this latest round of non-negotiations. Send them without a bribe.
Yet all signs suggest that Bibi already has made a firm commitment -- via the other Arabist, Hilary Rodham Clinton -- to the White House and only a major Likud uprising will prevent Israel's leader from capitulating to this latest round of American arm-twisting.
By caving, Bibi once again will be setting a dangerous precedent, especially after previously promising that the moratorium was over and done with and construction could -- and should -- continue.
Once the Arabs realize that their pressure forces the Obama bribers into pushing Israel into yet another corner, they will continue to rev up yet more pressure until Bibi's bargaining position will be irredeemable.
When it comes to America's role as a peacemaker it's patently obvious that deals involving Israel are not deals at all if the Palestinians object.
And a deal had been crafted, then accepted by Israel. Nine months of a moratorium and that was to be that.
It all reminds me of a Dorothy Parker comment about Los Angeles. The American humorist-author once said of Tinseltown, USA, that "There's no there there!"
Placed in a contemporary Middle East context, one could say that when Obama makes a deal with Israel and Bibi fulfills his end of the pact there's still no deal there!
The latest attempt by the Barack Administration to con Israel into yet another freeze on "settlement" construction is a bribe; no more, no less.
One of the most significant aspects of this latest American attempt at "mediation" is that it is patently one-sided.
To begin with, the American State Department is creating an illusion that the breakdown in the latest round of negotiations is Israel's fault.
The ill-logic goes like this: if only Israel will halt construction, the Arabs then will return to the discussion table.
But Israel DID halt the building -- FOR NINE MONTHS -- and got nothing but Palestinian intransigence.
It was then that Mahmoud Abbas came up with his latest gimmick; if Israel resumes building after the agreed-upon moratorium, he would refuse to talk further.
Most important at this juncture is understanding that Israel fulfilled its end of the bargain and had a nine-month freeze which was its part of the bargain.
So, why should there be another? Why not start making demands of the Arabs. Why not?
Because Obama has been patently one-sided since the beginning of his presidency and has displayed no inclination -- Democratic election defeat or not -- to change his Middle East policy.
Why should America bribe Israel with needed, state of the art armament if Benjamin Netanyahu's government supposedly is Uncle Sam's primary ally in the Middle East?
There should not be any hesitation about dispatching the arms and other carrots being "offered" in this latest round of non-negotiations. Send them without a bribe.
Yet all signs suggest that Bibi already has made a firm commitment -- via the other Arabist, Hilary Rodham Clinton -- to the White House and only a major Likud uprising will prevent Israel's leader from capitulating to this latest round of American arm-twisting.
By caving, Bibi once again will be setting a dangerous precedent, especially after previously promising that the moratorium was over and done with and construction could -- and should -- continue.
Once the Arabs realize that their pressure forces the Obama bribers into pushing Israel into yet another corner, they will continue to rev up yet more pressure until Bibi's bargaining position will be irredeemable.
When it comes to America's role as a peacemaker it's patently obvious that deals involving Israel are not deals at all if the Palestinians object.
And a deal had been crafted, then accepted by Israel. Nine months of a moratorium and that was to be that.
It all reminds me of a Dorothy Parker comment about Los Angeles. The American humorist-author once said of Tinseltown, USA, that "There's no there there!"
Placed in a contemporary Middle East context, one could say that when Obama makes a deal with Israel and Bibi fulfills his end of the pact there's still no deal there!
Friday, November 12, 2010
TRUE ISRAEL 3-
BY SIMON FISCHLER
Today was like most days for me here in Israel, a blessing.
Plenty of my native born Israeli family members and friends think I am crazy for choosing to live in Israel. I always tell them that they are crazy for not seeing the greatness of our country.
After dropping Odel (my oldest child) off at school and leaving Ariel (my second child) in preschool, I load Avigail (our youngest) into our jeep and head off to meet my wife Lilach in the town of Nes Ziona.
We live in Rehovot, a city of about 112,000 people. Nez Ziona, where my wife was born is the town next door. Getting to Nes Ziona from Rehovot is an amazing example of an Israel most people don’t get to hear about or see.
After heading out of our development, Avigail and I pass a newly-started archeological dig where a centuries-old Israelite fort is being excavated.
While digging out the basement for a proposed High-tech office building, the construction company, much to their chagrin, came upon this piece of ancient Jewish history. That’s how it is here: around every corner there is a little Indiana Jones!
After passing the dig we take a left into the fields and dunes that separate Rehovot and Nez Ziona.
The fields and dunes we cross were once part of Moshav Galia. For those of you who do not know what a Moshav is, it’s “Kibbutz Lite” -- not complete socialism, but about half way.
Passing through the fields is like passing through Israeli history.
Many of the old Moshav farm structures built in the nineteenth century are still standing; a testament to Israeli perseverence. The scenery in the fields is beautiful, rolling Mediterranean hills, eucalyptus trees, the dry heat and sun.
As my jeep maneuvers through the sand, Avigail and I sing songs.
Just before we leave the fields and arrive in Nes Ziona, Avigail and I are treated to another one of Israel’s unique surprises. Our local Bedouin friend is moving his sheep into the fields. What a sight. I wave hello and Avigail blurts out “baaaaaaa.”
Israel truly is a country existing simultaneously in the ancient past and the High-tech future; half First World and half Third World.
After making it through the fields we return to the First World of Nes Ziona; a small and beautiful city.
We meet up with Lilach at our local coffee shop and sit down for coffee and breakfast.
Even in Nes Ziona, a relatively small city by Israeli standards, one can really see the diversity of Israeli society: black, white, Jewish, Arab, Druze; all free to do as they please.
After finishing our food and drink, Lilach and I let Avigail lose in the playground. This is Avigail at her best: she quickly makes new friends and is already terrorizing some boys. When Avigail is finished commanding playtime we all jump into the Jeep, return through the fields, heading home for a little rest and relaxation before Ariel and Odel finish up and come home.
This, by the way, IS ISRAEL! Not what you see on TV. Not the lies being brought to you by CNN and the BBC. This is the Israel that movements like BDS want to hide from you. Their lies of apartheid and racism in Israel are just that, LIES. This is my nation, my children’s nation and we will not let them demonize it,
THIS IS ISRAEL.
Today was like most days for me here in Israel, a blessing.
Plenty of my native born Israeli family members and friends think I am crazy for choosing to live in Israel. I always tell them that they are crazy for not seeing the greatness of our country.
After dropping Odel (my oldest child) off at school and leaving Ariel (my second child) in preschool, I load Avigail (our youngest) into our jeep and head off to meet my wife Lilach in the town of Nes Ziona.
We live in Rehovot, a city of about 112,000 people. Nez Ziona, where my wife was born is the town next door. Getting to Nes Ziona from Rehovot is an amazing example of an Israel most people don’t get to hear about or see.
After heading out of our development, Avigail and I pass a newly-started archeological dig where a centuries-old Israelite fort is being excavated.
While digging out the basement for a proposed High-tech office building, the construction company, much to their chagrin, came upon this piece of ancient Jewish history. That’s how it is here: around every corner there is a little Indiana Jones!
After passing the dig we take a left into the fields and dunes that separate Rehovot and Nez Ziona.
The fields and dunes we cross were once part of Moshav Galia. For those of you who do not know what a Moshav is, it’s “Kibbutz Lite” -- not complete socialism, but about half way.
Passing through the fields is like passing through Israeli history.
Many of the old Moshav farm structures built in the nineteenth century are still standing; a testament to Israeli perseverence. The scenery in the fields is beautiful, rolling Mediterranean hills, eucalyptus trees, the dry heat and sun.
As my jeep maneuvers through the sand, Avigail and I sing songs.
Just before we leave the fields and arrive in Nes Ziona, Avigail and I are treated to another one of Israel’s unique surprises. Our local Bedouin friend is moving his sheep into the fields. What a sight. I wave hello and Avigail blurts out “baaaaaaa.”
Israel truly is a country existing simultaneously in the ancient past and the High-tech future; half First World and half Third World.
After making it through the fields we return to the First World of Nes Ziona; a small and beautiful city.
We meet up with Lilach at our local coffee shop and sit down for coffee and breakfast.
Even in Nes Ziona, a relatively small city by Israeli standards, one can really see the diversity of Israeli society: black, white, Jewish, Arab, Druze; all free to do as they please.
After finishing our food and drink, Lilach and I let Avigail lose in the playground. This is Avigail at her best: she quickly makes new friends and is already terrorizing some boys. When Avigail is finished commanding playtime we all jump into the Jeep, return through the fields, heading home for a little rest and relaxation before Ariel and Odel finish up and come home.
This, by the way, IS ISRAEL! Not what you see on TV. Not the lies being brought to you by CNN and the BBC. This is the Israel that movements like BDS want to hide from you. Their lies of apartheid and racism in Israel are just that, LIES. This is my nation, my children’s nation and we will not let them demonize it,
THIS IS ISRAEL.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
OBAMA -- THE DISHONEST BROKER
By Schmoel Yitzhak
One of the most efficient ways to advance the alleged Peace Process would be for Barack Obama to keep his mouth shut.
When he does open it on behalf of resuming talks, the message is pure, unadulterated bunkum.
The American president pretends to be an honest broker of reconciliation but once his words are emitted, it becomes apparent that he's about as honest as Yasser Arafat on one of the latter's lying binges.
Obama's insincerity is betrayed once more with his commentary that Israel's plan to erect 1,300 new homes in East Jerusalem is "unhelpful" to peace negotiations.
Hold it, man.
Has Uncle Sam's chief executive developed a convenient case of amnesia?
Wasn't it Obama who prevailed on Benjamin Netanyahu -- against Bibi's will -- to institute a nine-month moratorium on "settlement" construction?
Israel's leader complied on the grounds that it would persuade the Arabs to seriously negotiate some sort of lasting peace between the two sides.
Netanyahu complied and then waited and waited and waited for some sign of cooperation from the Palestinian side.
Months went by and not once did Obama stand forth to blast the Palestinians for their intransigence.
Only at the very end -- forced by the Democrats fearing a terrible loss at the polls -- did the Arabs make an effort and then, of course, it was an plan filled with pre-conditions that never could be met.
Thus, the lengthy moratorium ended and that signaled a green light for Israel to resume construction; which it did.
Why the Democratic administration should object to new construction in East Jerusalem defies credulity.
East Jerusalem -- despite what the Arabs might like -- is not judenrein -- but rather an integral part of Israel's capital; that same capital that Obama once promised to recognize by moving the American Embassy there but never has done so.
Truer words never were spoken when Bibi shot back that "Jerusalem isn't a settlement." Nor does he see any connection between the "Peace Process" and the building and planning policy in Jerusalem.
Can anyone imagine Netanyahu telling Obama that there should be a moratorium on building in Washington, D.C. Why that's beyond ridiculous; and so are demands that Israel should not build in its capital.
That the European Union has joined the dissonant Obama chorus on this matter should hardly surprise. When was the last time the EU took a fair-minded approach to Israel?
Should we be surprised?
Hardly.
When the Arabs do nothing for nine months of the moratorium and nothing is said to condemn them, we should not be in a state of wonderment at Obama's latest bit of perfidy.
The American president has learned nothing about the massive rebuff he received from his own electorate and obviously has learned zilch about fairness in this one-sided "Peace Process."
Perhaps if Obama declared a moratorium on personal comments about Israeli-Arab affairs some real negotiating eventually might take place.
Nowadays, when the American president talks, he's favoring the Arabs and does nothing but become a dishonest broker.
One of the most efficient ways to advance the alleged Peace Process would be for Barack Obama to keep his mouth shut.
When he does open it on behalf of resuming talks, the message is pure, unadulterated bunkum.
The American president pretends to be an honest broker of reconciliation but once his words are emitted, it becomes apparent that he's about as honest as Yasser Arafat on one of the latter's lying binges.
Obama's insincerity is betrayed once more with his commentary that Israel's plan to erect 1,300 new homes in East Jerusalem is "unhelpful" to peace negotiations.
Hold it, man.
Has Uncle Sam's chief executive developed a convenient case of amnesia?
Wasn't it Obama who prevailed on Benjamin Netanyahu -- against Bibi's will -- to institute a nine-month moratorium on "settlement" construction?
Israel's leader complied on the grounds that it would persuade the Arabs to seriously negotiate some sort of lasting peace between the two sides.
Netanyahu complied and then waited and waited and waited for some sign of cooperation from the Palestinian side.
Months went by and not once did Obama stand forth to blast the Palestinians for their intransigence.
Only at the very end -- forced by the Democrats fearing a terrible loss at the polls -- did the Arabs make an effort and then, of course, it was an plan filled with pre-conditions that never could be met.
Thus, the lengthy moratorium ended and that signaled a green light for Israel to resume construction; which it did.
Why the Democratic administration should object to new construction in East Jerusalem defies credulity.
East Jerusalem -- despite what the Arabs might like -- is not judenrein -- but rather an integral part of Israel's capital; that same capital that Obama once promised to recognize by moving the American Embassy there but never has done so.
Truer words never were spoken when Bibi shot back that "Jerusalem isn't a settlement." Nor does he see any connection between the "Peace Process" and the building and planning policy in Jerusalem.
Can anyone imagine Netanyahu telling Obama that there should be a moratorium on building in Washington, D.C. Why that's beyond ridiculous; and so are demands that Israel should not build in its capital.
That the European Union has joined the dissonant Obama chorus on this matter should hardly surprise. When was the last time the EU took a fair-minded approach to Israel?
Should we be surprised?
Hardly.
When the Arabs do nothing for nine months of the moratorium and nothing is said to condemn them, we should not be in a state of wonderment at Obama's latest bit of perfidy.
The American president has learned nothing about the massive rebuff he received from his own electorate and obviously has learned zilch about fairness in this one-sided "Peace Process."
Perhaps if Obama declared a moratorium on personal comments about Israeli-Arab affairs some real negotiating eventually might take place.
Nowadays, when the American president talks, he's favoring the Arabs and does nothing but become a dishonest broker.
Monday, November 8, 2010
B.D.S= BAMBOOZLE, DECEIVE, SLANDER
By THE JUDEAN LEOPARD
B.D.S, IT IS SO EASY TO UNDRESS...YOUR LYRICAL LIES
WHAT YOU SEEK IS THE DEMISE OF THE JEWISH NATION
COMPLETE ANNIHILATION FOR THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL
WITHOUT HESITATION YOU SPEAK WITH AN IMPERIALIST TONGUE
COLONIZATION IS YOUR DESTINATION
FIGHTING FOR DEMOCRATIZATION AND FREEDOM ISRAEL WILL NOT BEND
SLANDER US WITH YOUR LIES IT IS YOU WHO EPITOMIZE APARTHEID
ARABISM IS NOTHING MORE THAN FASCISM...IDENTICAL TO NAZISM
OMAR BARGHOUGHTI, VOCAL GARBAGE AND RACISM IS HIS SPECIALTY
ANTI-SEMITISM IS HIS PHD
BELIEVE NOT THE LIES OF THOSE WHO DEVISE THE DESTRUCTION OF THE JEWISH NATION
ISRAEL WILL RISE TO THE OCCASION AND FIGHT THOSE WHO WISH TO STRIP OUR NATION OF ITS FREEDOM TO SELF-DETERMINATION.
B.D.S, IT IS SO EASY TO UNDRESS...YOUR LYRICAL LIES
WHAT YOU SEEK IS THE DEMISE OF THE JEWISH NATION
COMPLETE ANNIHILATION FOR THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL
WITHOUT HESITATION YOU SPEAK WITH AN IMPERIALIST TONGUE
COLONIZATION IS YOUR DESTINATION
FIGHTING FOR DEMOCRATIZATION AND FREEDOM ISRAEL WILL NOT BEND
SLANDER US WITH YOUR LIES IT IS YOU WHO EPITOMIZE APARTHEID
ARABISM IS NOTHING MORE THAN FASCISM...IDENTICAL TO NAZISM
OMAR BARGHOUGHTI, VOCAL GARBAGE AND RACISM IS HIS SPECIALTY
ANTI-SEMITISM IS HIS PHD
BELIEVE NOT THE LIES OF THOSE WHO DEVISE THE DESTRUCTION OF THE JEWISH NATION
ISRAEL WILL RISE TO THE OCCASION AND FIGHT THOSE WHO WISH TO STRIP OUR NATION OF ITS FREEDOM TO SELF-DETERMINATION.
Friday, November 5, 2010
ASK NOT …
For one to truly grasp what a democracy is, it is essential for that person to have been raised in a liberal, democratic country.
Israel is such a liberal democracy, despite the fact that she is often called many other names having nothing to do with democracy!
Not only is Israel a democracy for her Jewish citizens, but for all those lucky enough to be born Israeli. In fact Israel’s democratic values at times do damage to her security.
Very simply, if Israel were not the liberal, democratic nation she is, there would not be an Israeli Arab in the country. Or at least Israeli Arabs would suffer the same consequences other minority groups like the Chechens and Kurds have been dealt when behaving in a treacherous manner.
Israel’s Arab population is afforded political freedom, religious freedom and equal justice under Israeli law. Like all minorities, Israeli Arabs do suffer disadvantages. These disadvantages have been greatly reduced and today Israel’s Arab population is without a doubt the freest of any significant Arab population in any nation.
One just needs to look at the “great” liberal democracy called the French Republic, where wearing a head scarf has been banned in public. Something like this would never fly in Israel.
However, a segment of Israel’s Arab sector is behaving in treacherous fashion. Sheikh Raed Salah is the main orchestrator, attempting to push Israeli Arabs against their state. To put it starkly, Salah is a racist and an anti-Semite, who probably could, and should, be locked up for treason. Israel -- as she did to the Kach movement lead by Meir Kahane -- should ban the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement, which is behind Sheikh Reed Salah.
Israel must guarantee her Arab citizens their freedoms and rights. But, just as Israel must fulfill her end of the bargain, so must Israel’s Arab citizens. As of now that just is not happening.
Nor does this Israeli Arab dissent in any way resemble the Civil Rights movement of African Americans starting in the mid-twentieth century. Blacks, in the South mostly, were literally segregated from the white population, unable to sit among whites on a bus or at a lunch counter; forced to use separate water fountains, bathrooms, hotels, motels, restaurants.
I must make several visits a year to Belinson Hospital and every time I have been there in the cardiac section, there have been Arab nurses and physicians, and virtually half of the patients are Arab. Last week I had dinner at a very chic, popular Arab-owned and operated restaurant down on the Tel Aviv waterfront. Perhaps the greatest indignity an Arab has had to suffer in Israel in the last decade was when Hezbollah bombed Haifa and destroyed an Arab woman’s apartment during the last Israeli-Lebanese conflict in July, 2006.
So let’s get real for a moment: Israel’s Arab citizens who are fighting are NOT fighting for equality. Many are actively fighting for the destruction of the country that has afforded them more rights than their brethren in other countries could ever hope to have.
On one hand they still make claims for greater freedom and equality in what they themselves call Israeli democracy. On the other hand they continuously and actively call for Israel’s destruction.
The second someone like Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman talks about a population exchange, Israeli Arabs SHRIEK foul play.
Why?
Not because they will lose their houses. When Lieberman talks of an exchange, he means giving the Palestinians Israeli Arab towns in exchange for Israeli settlements over the Green Line. They cry foul play because Israeli Arabs know more than anyone else Israel grants them the freedoms of the most open and liberal democracy. They also know living under Palestinian rule would be disastrous for them.
There is much talk about the growing hostility from Israel’s Jewish citizens towards her Arab citizens. That saddens me, yet can one truly fault them? How many times can you hear your fellow citizen call for the destruction of your country and remain passive about it? Can we be blamed for losing our patience with our Arab co-patriots? Israeli Arabs do not serve in the IDF, WE the Jews fight for their safety. It is their supposed brethren that lob rockets at their towns intentionally during Israel’s conflicts. For them to side with their countries enemies in light of all that their nation does for them; something is very wrong with that.
In reality it should be the Israeli Arabs who are on the front line of defense for Israel in this nauseating anti-Israel campaign.
Instead of fighting for the country that has granted them so much freedom -- a hell of a lot more freedom than any other Arab state grants their citizens -- Israel’s Arab citizens spit on the country whenever they can.
With Israel’s Arabs it gets down to what John F. Kennedy said, “Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country.”
Until Israel’s Arabs learn to live by this creed and demand that their leaders recognize it there will be problems between the two peoples, and it’s all completely unnecessary.
Israel is such a liberal democracy, despite the fact that she is often called many other names having nothing to do with democracy!
Not only is Israel a democracy for her Jewish citizens, but for all those lucky enough to be born Israeli. In fact Israel’s democratic values at times do damage to her security.
Very simply, if Israel were not the liberal, democratic nation she is, there would not be an Israeli Arab in the country. Or at least Israeli Arabs would suffer the same consequences other minority groups like the Chechens and Kurds have been dealt when behaving in a treacherous manner.
Israel’s Arab population is afforded political freedom, religious freedom and equal justice under Israeli law. Like all minorities, Israeli Arabs do suffer disadvantages. These disadvantages have been greatly reduced and today Israel’s Arab population is without a doubt the freest of any significant Arab population in any nation.
One just needs to look at the “great” liberal democracy called the French Republic, where wearing a head scarf has been banned in public. Something like this would never fly in Israel.
However, a segment of Israel’s Arab sector is behaving in treacherous fashion. Sheikh Raed Salah is the main orchestrator, attempting to push Israeli Arabs against their state. To put it starkly, Salah is a racist and an anti-Semite, who probably could, and should, be locked up for treason. Israel -- as she did to the Kach movement lead by Meir Kahane -- should ban the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement, which is behind Sheikh Reed Salah.
Israel must guarantee her Arab citizens their freedoms and rights. But, just as Israel must fulfill her end of the bargain, so must Israel’s Arab citizens. As of now that just is not happening.
Nor does this Israeli Arab dissent in any way resemble the Civil Rights movement of African Americans starting in the mid-twentieth century. Blacks, in the South mostly, were literally segregated from the white population, unable to sit among whites on a bus or at a lunch counter; forced to use separate water fountains, bathrooms, hotels, motels, restaurants.
I must make several visits a year to Belinson Hospital and every time I have been there in the cardiac section, there have been Arab nurses and physicians, and virtually half of the patients are Arab. Last week I had dinner at a very chic, popular Arab-owned and operated restaurant down on the Tel Aviv waterfront. Perhaps the greatest indignity an Arab has had to suffer in Israel in the last decade was when Hezbollah bombed Haifa and destroyed an Arab woman’s apartment during the last Israeli-Lebanese conflict in July, 2006.
So let’s get real for a moment: Israel’s Arab citizens who are fighting are NOT fighting for equality. Many are actively fighting for the destruction of the country that has afforded them more rights than their brethren in other countries could ever hope to have.
On one hand they still make claims for greater freedom and equality in what they themselves call Israeli democracy. On the other hand they continuously and actively call for Israel’s destruction.
The second someone like Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman talks about a population exchange, Israeli Arabs SHRIEK foul play.
Why?
Not because they will lose their houses. When Lieberman talks of an exchange, he means giving the Palestinians Israeli Arab towns in exchange for Israeli settlements over the Green Line. They cry foul play because Israeli Arabs know more than anyone else Israel grants them the freedoms of the most open and liberal democracy. They also know living under Palestinian rule would be disastrous for them.
There is much talk about the growing hostility from Israel’s Jewish citizens towards her Arab citizens. That saddens me, yet can one truly fault them? How many times can you hear your fellow citizen call for the destruction of your country and remain passive about it? Can we be blamed for losing our patience with our Arab co-patriots? Israeli Arabs do not serve in the IDF, WE the Jews fight for their safety. It is their supposed brethren that lob rockets at their towns intentionally during Israel’s conflicts. For them to side with their countries enemies in light of all that their nation does for them; something is very wrong with that.
In reality it should be the Israeli Arabs who are on the front line of defense for Israel in this nauseating anti-Israel campaign.
Instead of fighting for the country that has granted them so much freedom -- a hell of a lot more freedom than any other Arab state grants their citizens -- Israel’s Arab citizens spit on the country whenever they can.
With Israel’s Arabs it gets down to what John F. Kennedy said, “Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country.”
Until Israel’s Arabs learn to live by this creed and demand that their leaders recognize it there will be problems between the two peoples, and it’s all completely unnecessary.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
OBAMA DEFEATED BUT WILL JEWISH VOTERS EVER LEARN ABOUT ENEMIES?
By Schmoel Yitzhak
President Obama has been resoundingly defeated but it is uncertain whether this will, in truth, benefit Israel.
Superficially, it should simply because Uncle Sam's Commander-in-Chief -- in title only, not practice -- has inflicted more damage on America's staunchest Middle East ally than any president in memory with the possible exception of Jimmy Carter.
It should follow that the overwhelming rejection of Obama and his policies should help Benjamin Netanyahu and his constituency because nothing could be worse than an executive who deliberately humiliated the Prime Minister on his initial -- and pivotal -- visit to Washington.
Make absolutely no mistake: the current White House is no friend of Israel.
In America, Obama is a clear-cut loser; not only at the polls but in the eyes of insightful political analysts such as the Wall Street Journal's Dorothy Rabinowitz.
"It will be a long time before Americans ever again decide that the leadership of the nation should go to a legislator of negligible experience," said Rabinowitz.
"His voting record as state and U.S. senator consisted largely of 'present' and an election platform based on glowing promises of transcendence."
In other words, the man is a phony and the election proved that Americans, by and large, could see through the leader I view as an empty suit.
If there is one surprise about the American electoral outcome it appears -- depending on which poll you believe -- that more Jews still support Obama than those who reject him.
Logically, this is patently absurd when one considers his background and Middle Eastern (pro-Arab) policies.
Perhaps the Jewish-American affection for him is based on the fact that Jewish voters are genetically Democrat and find it impossible to switch sides no matter how damaging key Democrats have been to Israel.
On the other hand, Republican lawmakers led by Congressman Eric Cantor have been outspoken in their support of Bibi & Co. and no doubt will continue to do so in the years ahead.
Fortunately, a precious few of the Democrats who survived, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, still are considered pro-Israel.
In fact, AIPAC, America's largest pro-Israel lobby group, lauded the returns with this statement: "Many of the strongest friends and supporters of the U.S.-Israel relationship were re-elected."
But let's not carried away.
American policy still will be dictated by the president and, after two years, it has been amply demonstrated that the only time he ever does Israel a favor is when he believes it will support his political needs. He thought he could court the Jewish vote by some nicey-nice moves toward Israel in the past month but it was a case of too little, too late.
Even though as a group Jews supported the Democrats, this support reached its LOWEST LEVEL in years.
Those familiar with the evil side of Obama's persona fear that he soon will take revenge on Israel any way he can.
"Obama," concluded Rabinowitz, "is who he is: a man of deep-dyed ideological inclinations, with a persona to match. And that isn't going away.
"The election had everything to do with the man in the White House about whom Americans have lost their illusions. Illusions matter. Their loss is irrecoverable."
What matters now is what Israel can recover from Obama's loss.
Only time will tell.
President Obama has been resoundingly defeated but it is uncertain whether this will, in truth, benefit Israel.
Superficially, it should simply because Uncle Sam's Commander-in-Chief -- in title only, not practice -- has inflicted more damage on America's staunchest Middle East ally than any president in memory with the possible exception of Jimmy Carter.
It should follow that the overwhelming rejection of Obama and his policies should help Benjamin Netanyahu and his constituency because nothing could be worse than an executive who deliberately humiliated the Prime Minister on his initial -- and pivotal -- visit to Washington.
Make absolutely no mistake: the current White House is no friend of Israel.
In America, Obama is a clear-cut loser; not only at the polls but in the eyes of insightful political analysts such as the Wall Street Journal's Dorothy Rabinowitz.
"It will be a long time before Americans ever again decide that the leadership of the nation should go to a legislator of negligible experience," said Rabinowitz.
"His voting record as state and U.S. senator consisted largely of 'present' and an election platform based on glowing promises of transcendence."
In other words, the man is a phony and the election proved that Americans, by and large, could see through the leader I view as an empty suit.
If there is one surprise about the American electoral outcome it appears -- depending on which poll you believe -- that more Jews still support Obama than those who reject him.
Logically, this is patently absurd when one considers his background and Middle Eastern (pro-Arab) policies.
Perhaps the Jewish-American affection for him is based on the fact that Jewish voters are genetically Democrat and find it impossible to switch sides no matter how damaging key Democrats have been to Israel.
On the other hand, Republican lawmakers led by Congressman Eric Cantor have been outspoken in their support of Bibi & Co. and no doubt will continue to do so in the years ahead.
Fortunately, a precious few of the Democrats who survived, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, still are considered pro-Israel.
In fact, AIPAC, America's largest pro-Israel lobby group, lauded the returns with this statement: "Many of the strongest friends and supporters of the U.S.-Israel relationship were re-elected."
But let's not carried away.
American policy still will be dictated by the president and, after two years, it has been amply demonstrated that the only time he ever does Israel a favor is when he believes it will support his political needs. He thought he could court the Jewish vote by some nicey-nice moves toward Israel in the past month but it was a case of too little, too late.
Even though as a group Jews supported the Democrats, this support reached its LOWEST LEVEL in years.
Those familiar with the evil side of Obama's persona fear that he soon will take revenge on Israel any way he can.
"Obama," concluded Rabinowitz, "is who he is: a man of deep-dyed ideological inclinations, with a persona to match. And that isn't going away.
"The election had everything to do with the man in the White House about whom Americans have lost their illusions. Illusions matter. Their loss is irrecoverable."
What matters now is what Israel can recover from Obama's loss.
Only time will tell.
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