Report: IAF strike in Syria also targeted radar station
Aviation Week reports Israel's September strike on Syria targeted radar
station near Syrian-Turkish border. US supplied strategic information
but was not actively involved, says magazine
News Agencies
The United States provided Israel with strategic information about
the Syrian air defense systems prior to the Israeli Air Force strike on
a suspected nuclear site in Syria, the US based Aviation Week & Space
Technology magazine reported Thursday.
According to aerospace industry officials quoted in the report, the US
was monitoring the electronic emissions coming from Syria during the
IAF strike.
Tensions
'IDF aircraft didn't attack' / Ronny Sofer
Syrian minister admits it's unclear whether Israeli planes did anything
more than intervene in Syrian airspace; nonethless, another minister
warns of 'response to Israeli aggression'
Full story
The strike, said Aviation Week, targeted not only the suspected nuclear
reactor being developed at Dayr az-Zawr, but also a Syrian radar
station located at Tall al-Abuad, near the Syrian-Turkish border.
The Israeli fighter jets, reported the magazine, flew over Syria
without alerting Syrian air defenses.
The radar site was apparently hit with both precision bombs and an
electronic signal, which allowed IAF jets to fly through Syrian
airspace undetected.
The report stressed that there was "no active US engagement other than
consulting on potential target vulnerabilities."
The analysts quoted in the magazine said they didn't believe that any
part of Syria's electrical grid was shut down, but did contend that
network penetration involved both remote air-to-ground electronic
attack as well as penetration through computer-to-computer links.
"Offensive and defensive network warfare is one of the most interesting
new areas," said Pinchas Buchris, director-general of the Israeli
Defense Ministry. "I can only say we're following this technology
closely. I doubted this field five years ago, but we did it. Now
everything's changed.
"You need this kind of capability," added Buchris. "You're not being
responsible if you're not dealing with it; and if you can have this
kind of capability, than the sky's the limit."
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
DAILY ALERT Wednesday, Presidents Conference:
DAILY ALERT Wednesday,
November 21, 2007
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To contact the Presidents Conference:
click here
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In-Depth Issues:
What Happened to Saddam's WMD? - Caroline Glick (Jerusalem Post)
Former federal prosecutor and the head of the non-governmental International Intelligence Summit, John Loftus, has released a report on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program, based on a private study of captured Iraqi documents.
As Loftus summarized, "Roughly one-quarter of Saddam's WMD was destroyed under UN pressure during the early to mid-1990s. Saddam sold approximately another quarter of his weapons stockpile to his Arab neighbors during the mid-to-late-1990s. The Russians insisted on removing another quarter in the last few months before the war."
"The last remaining WMD, the contents of Saddam's nuclear weapons labs, were still inside Iraq on the day when the coalition forces arrived in 2003. His nuclear weapons equipment was hidden in enormous underwater warehouses beneath the Euphrates River. Saddam's entire nuclear inventory was later stolen from these warehouses."
Loftus then cites Israeli sources who claim that the Iraqi nuclear program was transferred to Deir az Zour province in Syria. Israel reportedly destroyed a Syrian nuclear installation at Deir az Zour.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Israel Wants U.S. Security Coordinator Replaced - Herb Keinon and Yaakov Katz (Jerusalem Post)
Senior Israeli government sources said Sunday that Lt.-Gen. Keith Dayton, the U.S. security coordinator with the Palestinians, is ineffective and should be replaced.
Defense officials said that in June - when Hamas took over Gaza - Dayton had already proven that he had "failed" in his mission to strengthen the security forces loyal to Abbas.
"Fatah was overrun in Gaza within a matter of hours, despite having more men and weapons than Hamas," a senior defense official said. "Dayton was supposed to prevent that from happening."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NGO Calls to Investigate Torture by Palestinian Police in Gaza (Palestinian Center for Human Rights-Gaza)
A Fatah activist from Beit Hanoun, who was arrested on Nov. 13, stated: "A number of policemen... handcuffed me and covered my head with a sack. They... violently beat me using sticks, especially on my feet, for nearly half an hour. [At] Beit Hanoun Hospital... doctors asserted that I had sustained fractures to the feet."
An activist from Khan Yunis, who was arrested on Nov. 13, stated: "Policemen took me to the interrogation center. They handcuffed and blindfolded me. They then violently beat me."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
West Bank University Halts Classes over Infighting - Khaled Abu Toameh (Jerusalem Post)
The Bir Zeit University administration decided Tuesday to suspend studies following clashes on campus between supporters of Fatah and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
Students said four men from the PFLP attacked a Fatah student in the dorms, wounding him seriously. The assailants used charcoal to burn the student's face. They also hammered nails into the victim's feet.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Useful Reference:
Text: UN Security Council Resolution 242 (Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs)
Forty years ago, on November 22, 1967, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 242, which has provided the main agreed basis for all of Israel's peace agreements with Egypt, Jordan, and the PA.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Search
Key Links
Media Contacts
Back Issues
Fair Use
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Related Publications:
Israel Campus Beat
G-Alert (Hebrew)
News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
49 Parties Invited to Mideast Peace Talks Tuesday in Annapolis - Glenn Kessler
The State Department formally announced Tuesday that the U.S. has invited representatives of 49 countries and institutions - including Saudi Arabia and Syria - to sit down with Israelis and Palestinians in Annapolis on Tuesday in a conference designed to kick-start substantive peace talks in the region. The conference at the U.S. Naval Academy will be "a signal opportunity" to launch bilateral negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, Assistant Secretary C. David Welch said, after "a long period in which there have been no such negotiations."
The central goal is to persuade Saudi Arabia to send its foreign minister to Annapolis, the first time such a senior Saudi official would have joined in a gathering with Israelis. Bush weighed in with his own call to Saudi King Abdullah Tuesday. As a way to entice Saudi participation, diplomatic sources said, the formal invitation also drew on language from the 2003 Roadmap plan for peace that mentions an Arab League initiative promoted by Abdullah. That plan offers diplomatic relations with Israel if it withdraws to the 1967 borders and provides a "just solution" to the demands of Palestinian refugees. (Washington Post)
Russia Agrees to Provide Nuclear Know-How to Egypt
Russia has agreed to provide nuclear know-how and technical expertise to Egypt to help Cairo with plans to build civilian nuclear power stations to meet growing energy needs, Egyptian state media said on Tuesday. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said last month Egypt would build several nuclear power stations. (Reuters)
Tony Blair's Plan for Palestinian Jobs - Tim Butcher
Tony Blair has given the "green light" to initiatives designed to create thousands of jobs for Palestinians in his first major policy announcement as special envoy to the Middle East. In reality, the creation of two industrial zones in the West Bank, one at Jericho and the other near Hebron, were going ahead without the involvement of Blair's new committee, fully funded by Japan and Turkey. Industrial zones have been tried before several times. Millions of dollars in private investment were attracted to two zones in Gaza, but today the one at Erez lies in ruins and the other at Karni has been mothballed after local investors made huge losses. (Telegraph-UK)
News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
Israel Approves Provision of 25 Armored Vehicles to PA Security Forces - Hanan Greenberg
Prime Minister Olmert has approved the supply of 25 armored vehicles to the Palestinian security services in the West Bank as a goodwill gesture to Mahmoud Abbas ahead of the Annapolis peace conference. The Palestinians will also receive from Israel two million bullets supplied by Jordan. The Prime Minister's Office denied previous reports that Israel would supply 50 armored vehicles and 1,000 rifles to the Palestinians. (Ynet News)
Israel previously opposed supplying Abbas' forces with armored vehicles, in part because of concern that they might fall into the hands of Hamas or other violent groups. (AP/Ha'aretz)
See also Israel to Allow Gaza to Export Produce to Europe (Jerusalem Post)
Iran, Syria Stepping Up Support of Terrorists - Yaakov Katz
A day after Ido Zoldan, a young father, was gunned down in a Palestinian shooting attack near Kedumim, IDF officers warned Tuesday that Palestinian terrorist groups would continue trying to perpetrate terror attacks in an effort to derail peace talks ahead of the Annapolis meeting. Fatah's Aksa Martyrs Brigades took responsibility for the West Bank shooting attack, saying it was "a protest against the Annapolis conference." Defense officials said there was growing Iranian and Syrian involvement in motivating Hamas and Islamic Jihad to carry out terrorist attacks, including the transfer of funds and instructions. (Jerusalem Post)
Poll: Palestinians in Gaza Support Early Elections, Peace Settlement with Israel
According to a survey of Palestinians in Gaza conducted by Near East Consulting on Nov. 12-14: 77% support early legislative elections (Hamas supporters, 23% vs. Fatah supporters, 99%). If legislative elections were held next week, 54% of Gazans would vote for Fatah, 15% would vote for Hamas. 74% of Gazans support a peace settlement with Israel (Hamas supporters, 33% vs. Fatah supporters, 91%). However, 31% of Gazans believe that Hamas should maintain its position on the elimination of Israel. (Near East Consulting/IMRA)
Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis (Best of U.S., UK, and Israel):
Confidence Building after Annapolis - David Makovsky
The Annapolis launch of a "Roadmap Plus" strategy is likely to put domestic pressure on both Israelis and Palestinians as each side undertakes more obligations. As the parties take on this greater burden, Arab states need to reinforce the progress. For example, when Israel negotiates on core issues, the Arab states must also negotiate with Israel over normalization of relations, as suggested by the third phase of the roadmap. Also, Arab economic assistance to the Palestinians could buffer Abbas and Fayad against any Hamas countermeasures. "Roadmap Plus" obligations should not fall just on Israel; after Annapolis, Arab states could be crucial in protecting both parties from potential backlash. The writer is a senior fellow and director of the Project on the Middle East Peace Process at the Washington Institute. (Washington Institute for Near East Policy)
Level of Representation at Annapolis Offers Leverage to Arab Leaders - Zvi Bar'el
In addition to the question of which Arab states will attend the Annapolis meeting, everyone is waiting to hear about the level of the delegations the Arab states will send. Abbas will find it difficult to present a conciliatory stance if around the table he sees Arab ambassadors and not foreign ministers. This will not only be an insult - it will ensure that he does not diverge one iota from the historical principles of the Palestinian struggle and insist on discussing the conflict's core issues.
The U.S. and Israel are holding two sets of negotiations: one with Abbas, the guest of honor, and the other with the Arab leaders, in an effort to convince them to show up. As such, the Arab leaders are given the legitimacy to present their own preconditions for actually holding a meeting. (Ha'aretz)
Deepening China-Iran Ties Weaken Bid to Isolate Iran - Robin Wright
The rapidly growing relationship between Iran and China has begun to undermine international efforts to ensure that Iran cannot convert a peaceful energy program to develop a nuclear arsenal. At the UN, U.S. and European officials now worry more about a Chinese veto than about opposition from Russia. U.S. and European officials charged Friday that Beijing is deliberately stalling to protect its economic interests. China now gets at least 14% of its imported oil from Iran, making it China's largest supplier. Tehran in turn gets major arms systems from Beijing, including ballistic and cruise missiles and technical assistance for Tehran's indigenous missile program.
"We're presenting China with an untenable proposition," said Ilan Berman, vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council. "We're asking them to unilaterally divest from Iran and not offering them energy alternatives. This is not sustainable for policy-makers whose predominant priority is to maintain and expand their country's growth....It's not that we shouldn't ask them to scale back their relationship, but China has put a lot of its eggs in Iran's economic basket, and a sophisticated American strategy would provide alternatives." (Washington Post)
See also British Aid Mocks Sanctions Threat Against Iran - Jonathan Leake and Sarah Baxter
The British government faces a diplomatic row with America over disclosures that it has provided the Iranian regime with financial support worth about £290m while at the same time calling for sanctions. The money was offered by the Export Credits Guarantee Department to support British firms exporting to Iran, mainly to the country's petrochemical industry. (Sunday Times-UK)
Observations:
The Perils of Engagement - Jeff Robbins (Wall Street Journal)
If history is any guide, next week's meeting in Annapolis will yield unsatisfactory results, Israel will be blamed for failing to make the requisite concessions, and the Bush administration will be criticized for its "failure to engage." The problem is that all too often, those who blame the U.S. for failing to deliver Mideast peace are some of the world's most culpable enablers of Mideast violence - and those who are themselves actually responsible for erecting the fundamental roadblocks to a resolution of the conflict.
It was the Arab bloc, including the Palestinian leadership, that decided to reject the UN's 1947 partition of Palestine into two states, Arab and Jewish, living side by side. Instead it invaded the nascent Jewish state rather than coexist with it, spawning the conflict that has so burdened the world for the last 60 years.
We are also not responsible for the Arab world's choice not to create a Palestinian Arab state in East Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank from 1948 to 1967, when it easily could have done so - before there were any Jewish settlements there to serve as the public object of Arab grievance.
Nor can the U.S. government under President Clinton be criticized for failing to pursue Yasser Arafat with sufficient solicitude between 1993 and late 2000. The Clinton administration was, after all, the most ardent of suitors of the Palestinian leader - only to be forced to watch Arafat reject an independent Palestinian state in all of Gaza and virtually all of the West Bank.
It was the Palestinian leadership, not the U.S., that decided in the fall of 2000 that, rather than accept an independent Palestinian state, its wiser course was to launch a four-year bombing campaign against Israel's civilian population. The result was not merely over 1,100 Israeli civilians killed, but several thousand Palestinians dead, as well as a shattered Palestinian economy and the decision by Israel to begin construction of a security barrier in July 2002.
When Israel withdrew from all of Gaza in 2005, the Arab world had the opportunity for a fresh start there - to create a measure of hope for a population whose suffering long predated any Israeli presence. Instead, the Hamas-dominated Palestinian leadership opted to begin and then intensify an aggressive missile-launching campaign against Israeli civilian centers.
Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries, whose treasuries overflow with petrodollars, are in a position to invest heavily in Gaza, create economic opportunities for its destitute population, and dilute the toxin-filled atmosphere there. They have not done so. The Egyptians are in a position to act decisively to stop the flow of rockets, bombs and other arms from Egypt into Gaza, where they are used to attack Israeli civilians. They have not done so.
The writer was a U.S. Delegate to the UN Human Rights Commission during the Clinton administration.
November 21, 2007
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To contact the Presidents Conference:
click here
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In-Depth Issues:
What Happened to Saddam's WMD? - Caroline Glick (Jerusalem Post)
Former federal prosecutor and the head of the non-governmental International Intelligence Summit, John Loftus, has released a report on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program, based on a private study of captured Iraqi documents.
As Loftus summarized, "Roughly one-quarter of Saddam's WMD was destroyed under UN pressure during the early to mid-1990s. Saddam sold approximately another quarter of his weapons stockpile to his Arab neighbors during the mid-to-late-1990s. The Russians insisted on removing another quarter in the last few months before the war."
"The last remaining WMD, the contents of Saddam's nuclear weapons labs, were still inside Iraq on the day when the coalition forces arrived in 2003. His nuclear weapons equipment was hidden in enormous underwater warehouses beneath the Euphrates River. Saddam's entire nuclear inventory was later stolen from these warehouses."
Loftus then cites Israeli sources who claim that the Iraqi nuclear program was transferred to Deir az Zour province in Syria. Israel reportedly destroyed a Syrian nuclear installation at Deir az Zour.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Israel Wants U.S. Security Coordinator Replaced - Herb Keinon and Yaakov Katz (Jerusalem Post)
Senior Israeli government sources said Sunday that Lt.-Gen. Keith Dayton, the U.S. security coordinator with the Palestinians, is ineffective and should be replaced.
Defense officials said that in June - when Hamas took over Gaza - Dayton had already proven that he had "failed" in his mission to strengthen the security forces loyal to Abbas.
"Fatah was overrun in Gaza within a matter of hours, despite having more men and weapons than Hamas," a senior defense official said. "Dayton was supposed to prevent that from happening."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NGO Calls to Investigate Torture by Palestinian Police in Gaza (Palestinian Center for Human Rights-Gaza)
A Fatah activist from Beit Hanoun, who was arrested on Nov. 13, stated: "A number of policemen... handcuffed me and covered my head with a sack. They... violently beat me using sticks, especially on my feet, for nearly half an hour. [At] Beit Hanoun Hospital... doctors asserted that I had sustained fractures to the feet."
An activist from Khan Yunis, who was arrested on Nov. 13, stated: "Policemen took me to the interrogation center. They handcuffed and blindfolded me. They then violently beat me."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
West Bank University Halts Classes over Infighting - Khaled Abu Toameh (Jerusalem Post)
The Bir Zeit University administration decided Tuesday to suspend studies following clashes on campus between supporters of Fatah and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
Students said four men from the PFLP attacked a Fatah student in the dorms, wounding him seriously. The assailants used charcoal to burn the student's face. They also hammered nails into the victim's feet.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Useful Reference:
Text: UN Security Council Resolution 242 (Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs)
Forty years ago, on November 22, 1967, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 242, which has provided the main agreed basis for all of Israel's peace agreements with Egypt, Jordan, and the PA.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Search
Key Links
Media Contacts
Back Issues
Fair Use
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Related Publications:
Israel Campus Beat
G-Alert (Hebrew)
News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
49 Parties Invited to Mideast Peace Talks Tuesday in Annapolis - Glenn Kessler
The State Department formally announced Tuesday that the U.S. has invited representatives of 49 countries and institutions - including Saudi Arabia and Syria - to sit down with Israelis and Palestinians in Annapolis on Tuesday in a conference designed to kick-start substantive peace talks in the region. The conference at the U.S. Naval Academy will be "a signal opportunity" to launch bilateral negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, Assistant Secretary C. David Welch said, after "a long period in which there have been no such negotiations."
The central goal is to persuade Saudi Arabia to send its foreign minister to Annapolis, the first time such a senior Saudi official would have joined in a gathering with Israelis. Bush weighed in with his own call to Saudi King Abdullah Tuesday. As a way to entice Saudi participation, diplomatic sources said, the formal invitation also drew on language from the 2003 Roadmap plan for peace that mentions an Arab League initiative promoted by Abdullah. That plan offers diplomatic relations with Israel if it withdraws to the 1967 borders and provides a "just solution" to the demands of Palestinian refugees. (Washington Post)
Russia Agrees to Provide Nuclear Know-How to Egypt
Russia has agreed to provide nuclear know-how and technical expertise to Egypt to help Cairo with plans to build civilian nuclear power stations to meet growing energy needs, Egyptian state media said on Tuesday. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said last month Egypt would build several nuclear power stations. (Reuters)
Tony Blair's Plan for Palestinian Jobs - Tim Butcher
Tony Blair has given the "green light" to initiatives designed to create thousands of jobs for Palestinians in his first major policy announcement as special envoy to the Middle East. In reality, the creation of two industrial zones in the West Bank, one at Jericho and the other near Hebron, were going ahead without the involvement of Blair's new committee, fully funded by Japan and Turkey. Industrial zones have been tried before several times. Millions of dollars in private investment were attracted to two zones in Gaza, but today the one at Erez lies in ruins and the other at Karni has been mothballed after local investors made huge losses. (Telegraph-UK)
News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
Israel Approves Provision of 25 Armored Vehicles to PA Security Forces - Hanan Greenberg
Prime Minister Olmert has approved the supply of 25 armored vehicles to the Palestinian security services in the West Bank as a goodwill gesture to Mahmoud Abbas ahead of the Annapolis peace conference. The Palestinians will also receive from Israel two million bullets supplied by Jordan. The Prime Minister's Office denied previous reports that Israel would supply 50 armored vehicles and 1,000 rifles to the Palestinians. (Ynet News)
Israel previously opposed supplying Abbas' forces with armored vehicles, in part because of concern that they might fall into the hands of Hamas or other violent groups. (AP/Ha'aretz)
See also Israel to Allow Gaza to Export Produce to Europe (Jerusalem Post)
Iran, Syria Stepping Up Support of Terrorists - Yaakov Katz
A day after Ido Zoldan, a young father, was gunned down in a Palestinian shooting attack near Kedumim, IDF officers warned Tuesday that Palestinian terrorist groups would continue trying to perpetrate terror attacks in an effort to derail peace talks ahead of the Annapolis meeting. Fatah's Aksa Martyrs Brigades took responsibility for the West Bank shooting attack, saying it was "a protest against the Annapolis conference." Defense officials said there was growing Iranian and Syrian involvement in motivating Hamas and Islamic Jihad to carry out terrorist attacks, including the transfer of funds and instructions. (Jerusalem Post)
Poll: Palestinians in Gaza Support Early Elections, Peace Settlement with Israel
According to a survey of Palestinians in Gaza conducted by Near East Consulting on Nov. 12-14: 77% support early legislative elections (Hamas supporters, 23% vs. Fatah supporters, 99%). If legislative elections were held next week, 54% of Gazans would vote for Fatah, 15% would vote for Hamas. 74% of Gazans support a peace settlement with Israel (Hamas supporters, 33% vs. Fatah supporters, 91%). However, 31% of Gazans believe that Hamas should maintain its position on the elimination of Israel. (Near East Consulting/IMRA)
Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis (Best of U.S., UK, and Israel):
Confidence Building after Annapolis - David Makovsky
The Annapolis launch of a "Roadmap Plus" strategy is likely to put domestic pressure on both Israelis and Palestinians as each side undertakes more obligations. As the parties take on this greater burden, Arab states need to reinforce the progress. For example, when Israel negotiates on core issues, the Arab states must also negotiate with Israel over normalization of relations, as suggested by the third phase of the roadmap. Also, Arab economic assistance to the Palestinians could buffer Abbas and Fayad against any Hamas countermeasures. "Roadmap Plus" obligations should not fall just on Israel; after Annapolis, Arab states could be crucial in protecting both parties from potential backlash. The writer is a senior fellow and director of the Project on the Middle East Peace Process at the Washington Institute. (Washington Institute for Near East Policy)
Level of Representation at Annapolis Offers Leverage to Arab Leaders - Zvi Bar'el
In addition to the question of which Arab states will attend the Annapolis meeting, everyone is waiting to hear about the level of the delegations the Arab states will send. Abbas will find it difficult to present a conciliatory stance if around the table he sees Arab ambassadors and not foreign ministers. This will not only be an insult - it will ensure that he does not diverge one iota from the historical principles of the Palestinian struggle and insist on discussing the conflict's core issues.
The U.S. and Israel are holding two sets of negotiations: one with Abbas, the guest of honor, and the other with the Arab leaders, in an effort to convince them to show up. As such, the Arab leaders are given the legitimacy to present their own preconditions for actually holding a meeting. (Ha'aretz)
Deepening China-Iran Ties Weaken Bid to Isolate Iran - Robin Wright
The rapidly growing relationship between Iran and China has begun to undermine international efforts to ensure that Iran cannot convert a peaceful energy program to develop a nuclear arsenal. At the UN, U.S. and European officials now worry more about a Chinese veto than about opposition from Russia. U.S. and European officials charged Friday that Beijing is deliberately stalling to protect its economic interests. China now gets at least 14% of its imported oil from Iran, making it China's largest supplier. Tehran in turn gets major arms systems from Beijing, including ballistic and cruise missiles and technical assistance for Tehran's indigenous missile program.
"We're presenting China with an untenable proposition," said Ilan Berman, vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council. "We're asking them to unilaterally divest from Iran and not offering them energy alternatives. This is not sustainable for policy-makers whose predominant priority is to maintain and expand their country's growth....It's not that we shouldn't ask them to scale back their relationship, but China has put a lot of its eggs in Iran's economic basket, and a sophisticated American strategy would provide alternatives." (Washington Post)
See also British Aid Mocks Sanctions Threat Against Iran - Jonathan Leake and Sarah Baxter
The British government faces a diplomatic row with America over disclosures that it has provided the Iranian regime with financial support worth about £290m while at the same time calling for sanctions. The money was offered by the Export Credits Guarantee Department to support British firms exporting to Iran, mainly to the country's petrochemical industry. (Sunday Times-UK)
Observations:
The Perils of Engagement - Jeff Robbins (Wall Street Journal)
If history is any guide, next week's meeting in Annapolis will yield unsatisfactory results, Israel will be blamed for failing to make the requisite concessions, and the Bush administration will be criticized for its "failure to engage." The problem is that all too often, those who blame the U.S. for failing to deliver Mideast peace are some of the world's most culpable enablers of Mideast violence - and those who are themselves actually responsible for erecting the fundamental roadblocks to a resolution of the conflict.
It was the Arab bloc, including the Palestinian leadership, that decided to reject the UN's 1947 partition of Palestine into two states, Arab and Jewish, living side by side. Instead it invaded the nascent Jewish state rather than coexist with it, spawning the conflict that has so burdened the world for the last 60 years.
We are also not responsible for the Arab world's choice not to create a Palestinian Arab state in East Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank from 1948 to 1967, when it easily could have done so - before there were any Jewish settlements there to serve as the public object of Arab grievance.
Nor can the U.S. government under President Clinton be criticized for failing to pursue Yasser Arafat with sufficient solicitude between 1993 and late 2000. The Clinton administration was, after all, the most ardent of suitors of the Palestinian leader - only to be forced to watch Arafat reject an independent Palestinian state in all of Gaza and virtually all of the West Bank.
It was the Palestinian leadership, not the U.S., that decided in the fall of 2000 that, rather than accept an independent Palestinian state, its wiser course was to launch a four-year bombing campaign against Israel's civilian population. The result was not merely over 1,100 Israeli civilians killed, but several thousand Palestinians dead, as well as a shattered Palestinian economy and the decision by Israel to begin construction of a security barrier in July 2002.
When Israel withdrew from all of Gaza in 2005, the Arab world had the opportunity for a fresh start there - to create a measure of hope for a population whose suffering long predated any Israeli presence. Instead, the Hamas-dominated Palestinian leadership opted to begin and then intensify an aggressive missile-launching campaign against Israeli civilian centers.
Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries, whose treasuries overflow with petrodollars, are in a position to invest heavily in Gaza, create economic opportunities for its destitute population, and dilute the toxin-filled atmosphere there. They have not done so. The Egyptians are in a position to act decisively to stop the flow of rockets, bombs and other arms from Egypt into Gaza, where they are used to attack Israeli civilians. They have not done so.
The writer was a U.S. Delegate to the UN Human Rights Commission during the Clinton administration.
Selected items from Richard Baehr
2. China and Britain put mercantilism first, when it comes to Iran. And Ahmadinejad is not the only lranian who wants the great infidel destroyed.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/17/AR2007111701680.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article2890957.ece
http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1614.htm
3. This is almost funny. The US has invited 49 parties to the Annapolis summit, which may last a day or two. Can they get all the photos taken in that time? More important, does Ehud Olmert have the spine to resist pressure from the 47 (let us hope it is only 47) or 48 participating in the pile on? Then again, Olmert seems to be leading the concession charge himself. Jeff Robbins provides some history on Palestinian and Arab missed opportunities for peace. Of course if peace was never the goal, then there were no missed opportunities. Hillel Halkin and Frank Gaffney weigh in on the trap set for Israel.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/20/AR2007112000932.html
http://opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110010889
http://www.nysun.com/article/66755
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FrankJGaffneyJr/2007/11/20/staticidal_zealotry
6. Ralph Peters on what went right in Iraq. And the New York Times (!) publishes a second solid article on the improving situation in Iraq. What is going on? Did Pinch Sulzberger leave early for the Thanksgiving holiday?
http://www.nypost.com/seven/11212007/postopinion/opedcolumnists/iraq__what_went_right_407604.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/20/world/middleeast/20surge.html?ei=5065&en=7e7d43064c067b63&ex=1196226000&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print
8. An Israeli man ( a young father of two) was murdered in the West Bank two days ago in a terrorist hit. If Iran and Syia have their way, he will have lots of company soon. I am sure Syria will now behave responsibly since they have been invited to Annapolis. And Egypt has a funny way of showing their interest in peace- with calls to abrogate the 1979 agreement with Israel. Ehud Olmert has a solution to the West Bank violence - a "good will" gesture of 25 armored vehicles ,and 2 million bullets to be given to the PA.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1195546682609&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1611.htm
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3473864,00.html
9. New advances in womens' right in Saudi Arabia, our ally in the fight against terror (as their PR ads claim). A rape victim gets 200 lashes.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/11/20/saudi.rape.victim/index.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/17/AR2007111701680.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article2890957.ece
http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1614.htm
3. This is almost funny. The US has invited 49 parties to the Annapolis summit, which may last a day or two. Can they get all the photos taken in that time? More important, does Ehud Olmert have the spine to resist pressure from the 47 (let us hope it is only 47) or 48 participating in the pile on? Then again, Olmert seems to be leading the concession charge himself. Jeff Robbins provides some history on Palestinian and Arab missed opportunities for peace. Of course if peace was never the goal, then there were no missed opportunities. Hillel Halkin and Frank Gaffney weigh in on the trap set for Israel.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/20/AR2007112000932.html
http://opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110010889
http://www.nysun.com/article/66755
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FrankJGaffneyJr/2007/11/20/staticidal_zealotry
6. Ralph Peters on what went right in Iraq. And the New York Times (!) publishes a second solid article on the improving situation in Iraq. What is going on? Did Pinch Sulzberger leave early for the Thanksgiving holiday?
http://www.nypost.com/seven/11212007/postopinion/opedcolumnists/iraq__what_went_right_407604.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/20/world/middleeast/20surge.html?ei=5065&en=7e7d43064c067b63&ex=1196226000&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print
8. An Israeli man ( a young father of two) was murdered in the West Bank two days ago in a terrorist hit. If Iran and Syia have their way, he will have lots of company soon. I am sure Syria will now behave responsibly since they have been invited to Annapolis. And Egypt has a funny way of showing their interest in peace- with calls to abrogate the 1979 agreement with Israel. Ehud Olmert has a solution to the West Bank violence - a "good will" gesture of 25 armored vehicles ,and 2 million bullets to be given to the PA.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1195546682609&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1611.htm
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3473864,00.html
9. New advances in womens' right in Saudi Arabia, our ally in the fight against terror (as their PR ads claim). A rape victim gets 200 lashes.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/11/20/saudi.rape.victim/index.html
Between the West Bank and a Hard Place
Between the West Bank and a Hard Place
by Richard Baehr
inFocus
Fall 2007
After Hamas gunmen routed Fatah forces to seize control of Gaza in early June, Washington became convinced that propping up Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas offered the best hope for Israeli-Palestinian peace. While the West releases funds (U.S. and European primarily, plus funds held by Israel) to Abbas for use in the West Bank, now that Hamas is no longer part of his government, Israel is expected to improve the living conditions of West Bank Palestinians. Abbas and new Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, a man Washington sees as a genuine reformer, are also working to regain control of the West Bank's militias, and to change the PA's corrupt and ossified image among Palestinians.
The current strategy further aims to isolate Hamas in Gaza by limiting assistance to basic humanitarian aid. It is hoped that Hamas will stew in its own juices, and that, over time, Gazans will demand new leadership. In an ideal scenario, Gazans would seek a return to the PA.
In the Middle East, however, ideal scenarios rarely materialize. Several tough choices and potential roadblocks for America and Israel lie ahead.
Assessing Olmert's Mandate
Working with Abbas has been the strategy of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his Kadima party since Olmert assumed power in early 2006 (following Ariel Sharon's debilitating stroke). Indeed, this has been Israeli policy ever since Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasir Arafat died in November 2004. When Hamas won majority control of the PA legislature three weeks after Olmert became acting prime minister, that strategy was stymied; it was impossible to provide financial assistance to Abbas without also funding Hamas. With the Hamas-Fatah split, Israel can again attempt to work with Abbas.
Rather than inventing a new strategy, the United States is following Olmert's lead, shoring up Abbas, and preventing a Hamas takeover of the West Bank. Olmert's mandate, however, should be a red flag for Washington. The embattled prime minister suffers from abysmal approval ratings (3 percent, according to a June 2007 survey, which also indicated that Kadima would suffer a crushing defeat if new elections were held). There is significant risk that America and Europe are backing a prime minister who is well past his prime. This was the case when President Bill Clinton worked with Prime Minister Ehud Barak in 2000 and 2001 to secure a peace deal with Arafat, even as Barak's approval numbers plummeted and his defeat in the February 2001 election appeared certain (Barak subsequently won less than 38 percent of the votes in that election). Washington must avoid mistakes of the past.
Is Abbas Our Man?
While there is general agreement about the dangers of Hamas rule in Gaza, and the potential for even greater danger were Hamas to rule in the West Bank, many high-profile Israeli analysts, notably Caroline Glick of the Jerusalem Post, and Dore Gold, former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, doubt that Abbas is the answer. The loss of Gaza may be an indication that the PA is crumbling. Abbas does not have a solid grip on the West Bank, either. If he loses control, the IDF will be forced to intervene to prevent a Hamas takeover there, too.
Currently, Israel is allowing Abbas time to consolidate his rule, rather than reinforce its positions in the territories. The wisdom of this strategy—waiting for Abbas to succeed—remains to be seen. The longer Israel waits, the more difficult a military intervention could become.
There is also the question of whether American or Israeli support for Abbas would hurt him. In the perverse world of Palestinian politics, the more a leader cooperates with Israel and America, the less he is trusted on the Palestinian street. Thus, Washington and Jerusalem must mute their public support for Abbas, while privately providing him the tools to succeed.
Terror Finance Concerns
Critics charge that funds sent to bolster Abbas will almost certainly meet the same fate as the previous billions in foreign aid to the PA: stolen, or diverted to militias, such as the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a Fatah-linked terror organization. During the second intifada, the al-Aqsa Martyrs launched some of the bloodiest terror attacks against Israel. Notably, the group carried out a suicide bombing at Jerusalem's Moment Café, which killed 11 Israelis in March 2002.
Even as the West and Israel got behind Abbas in July, no less than 200 members of the al-Aqsa Martyrs announced they would continue "resistance to Israeli occupation." When these fighters were denied amnesty (Israel released some 179 other al-Aqsa Martyrs as a gesture of goodwill), they formed the new Yasir Arafat Brigade. Will Abbas and Fayyad fund this new squad? Prime Minister Salam Fayyad specifically endorsed the concept of continued "resistance" to Israeli occupation in late July. That terminology has always been understood among Palestinians to mean "violence."
Clearly, a more transparent record of aid expenditures is crucial. It would also ensure that the new PA does not behave as Arafat did with regard to supporting or condoning violence against Israel. Can the West demand these things while also propping up Abbas?
Can Abbas Change Long-Held Perceptions?
Arab-Israeli violence has continued for nearly 60 years because the Palestinians have always refused to accept the very existence of the state of Israel. Generations of Palestinians have been taught to despise Israel, and that hatred is deeply entrenched. While the exact percentage of West Bankers who feel this way is not known, 70 percent of all Palestinians polled in a recent Pew Global Attitudes Project survey (July 2007) said they approve of suicide bombing attacks against Israel. These views are reinforced by Palestinian Authority-funded imams in West Bank mosques who continue to preach hatred and war against Israel, and in the PA-controlled media.
Can Israel overlook this culture of hate — a culture Abbas cannot reverse overnight, even if he wanted to — in the interest of a stable regime in the West Bank? Israel can take little comfort in the fact that the culture of hate is far worse in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli Concessions
Israel has already released 256 Palestinian prisoners, and is considering other gestures of good will for Abbas. This could include removal of West Bank roadblocks, further prisoner releases, and providing weapons to the PA. These gestures could undermine Israeli security if Abbas fails to gain popular support or reform the PA. The IDF might later find it more difficult to retake certain military positions, in the event that Hamas attempts a West Bank takeover. On the other hand, if Israel does not ease some restrictions, West Bankers may challenge Abbas over his inability to get results.
Can Gaza Be Isolated?
Despite the recent Fatah-Hamas battle leading to the creation of two Palestinian proto-states, both West Bankers and Gazans still identify as Palestinian. According to a July 2007 survey by a Norwegian polling organization, no less than 85 percent of all Palestinians seek rapprochement between the two factions. Thus, the two-pronged Western strategy of isolating Hamas in Gaza while jumpstarting Israeli-Palestinian negotiations in the West Bank may run counter to popular Palestinian sentiment.
Looking forward, a contingency strategy will be necessary, should the Gaza isolation policy fail. What happens if Hamas manages to govern capably in Gaza, despite the aid freeze and border shut down? Successful governance by Hamas could persuade West Bankers in a future election that they are better off under Hamas rule than under the PA, especially if the PA is unable to successfully reform itself in the West Bank. Both Washington and Jerusalem must be prepared for this possibility.
Similarly, a plan must be in place for the eventuality that Hamas will not go quietly into the night in Gaza. Islamist movements do not relinquish power willingly. If there were new elections in both Gaza and the West Bank that both parties agreed to, and the PA won a decisive victory, it is highly unlikely that Hamas would cede military control of Gaza and disarm. Thus, even if Abbas manages a successful turnaround of the PA, Hamas will likely retain a strong military presence in Gaza, and perhaps a weaker presence in the West Bank. This will be an Israeli security concern, particularly if rocket fire from Gaza continues. Short of invasion, there is little Israel can do to neutralize this threat.
What Happens If Gaza Gets Worse?
Since the Israeli unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip in August 2005, Gaza has been awash in weapons smuggled from Egypt. Terrorists from various organizations, both Sunni and Shiite, are lining up to assist and train Hamas for violent confrontation with Israel. Numerous reports indicate that operatives from al-Qaeda, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and Hizbullah may have nestled in Gaza, or are training Hamas fighters outside of Gaza.
Can the influence of other rogue regimes and terrorist organizations make the tensions between Hamas-ruled Gaza and Israel any worse? Hamas does not hide the fact that it seeks the destruction of Israel, rather than negotiated peace in any form. By allowing additional terrorist elements into Gaza, Hamas has all but guaranteed future violence, perhaps at levels never before seen.
Regardless of which elements launch attacks against Israel—be they al-Qaeda, Hizbullah, or Hamas—Israeli reprisals against the Gaza Strip will almost certainly inspire sympathy in the West Bank and the rest of the Muslim world. At worst, this could lead to an outbreak of fresh violence in the West Bank, Gaza, and Lebanon, forcing Israel into a multi-front conflict. If either the U.S. or Israel launched strikes against Iranian nuclear sites, a similar multi-front conflict seems assured.
The Way Forward
The consensus following the Hamas victory in Gaza was that a new clarifying moment had arrived for Israel, the PA, and the West. In reality, the situation remains unclear and volatile. The choices will be difficult to navigate. Washington seeks to help foster peace in the region, but is still grasping for a way forward. Israel's current options must include a combination of caution and military readiness, along with help to the PA.
The Gaza crisis has put both Israel and the West between the West Bank and a hard place. Patience, wisdom, and deterrence will be necessary as Washington and Jerusalem venture forward.
Richard Baehr is co-founder and political director of The American Thinker, a web-based policy journal.
Rabbi Jonathan ginsburg
by Richard Baehr
inFocus
Fall 2007
After Hamas gunmen routed Fatah forces to seize control of Gaza in early June, Washington became convinced that propping up Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas offered the best hope for Israeli-Palestinian peace. While the West releases funds (U.S. and European primarily, plus funds held by Israel) to Abbas for use in the West Bank, now that Hamas is no longer part of his government, Israel is expected to improve the living conditions of West Bank Palestinians. Abbas and new Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, a man Washington sees as a genuine reformer, are also working to regain control of the West Bank's militias, and to change the PA's corrupt and ossified image among Palestinians.
The current strategy further aims to isolate Hamas in Gaza by limiting assistance to basic humanitarian aid. It is hoped that Hamas will stew in its own juices, and that, over time, Gazans will demand new leadership. In an ideal scenario, Gazans would seek a return to the PA.
In the Middle East, however, ideal scenarios rarely materialize. Several tough choices and potential roadblocks for America and Israel lie ahead.
Assessing Olmert's Mandate
Working with Abbas has been the strategy of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his Kadima party since Olmert assumed power in early 2006 (following Ariel Sharon's debilitating stroke). Indeed, this has been Israeli policy ever since Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasir Arafat died in November 2004. When Hamas won majority control of the PA legislature three weeks after Olmert became acting prime minister, that strategy was stymied; it was impossible to provide financial assistance to Abbas without also funding Hamas. With the Hamas-Fatah split, Israel can again attempt to work with Abbas.
Rather than inventing a new strategy, the United States is following Olmert's lead, shoring up Abbas, and preventing a Hamas takeover of the West Bank. Olmert's mandate, however, should be a red flag for Washington. The embattled prime minister suffers from abysmal approval ratings (3 percent, according to a June 2007 survey, which also indicated that Kadima would suffer a crushing defeat if new elections were held). There is significant risk that America and Europe are backing a prime minister who is well past his prime. This was the case when President Bill Clinton worked with Prime Minister Ehud Barak in 2000 and 2001 to secure a peace deal with Arafat, even as Barak's approval numbers plummeted and his defeat in the February 2001 election appeared certain (Barak subsequently won less than 38 percent of the votes in that election). Washington must avoid mistakes of the past.
Is Abbas Our Man?
While there is general agreement about the dangers of Hamas rule in Gaza, and the potential for even greater danger were Hamas to rule in the West Bank, many high-profile Israeli analysts, notably Caroline Glick of the Jerusalem Post, and Dore Gold, former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, doubt that Abbas is the answer. The loss of Gaza may be an indication that the PA is crumbling. Abbas does not have a solid grip on the West Bank, either. If he loses control, the IDF will be forced to intervene to prevent a Hamas takeover there, too.
Currently, Israel is allowing Abbas time to consolidate his rule, rather than reinforce its positions in the territories. The wisdom of this strategy—waiting for Abbas to succeed—remains to be seen. The longer Israel waits, the more difficult a military intervention could become.
There is also the question of whether American or Israeli support for Abbas would hurt him. In the perverse world of Palestinian politics, the more a leader cooperates with Israel and America, the less he is trusted on the Palestinian street. Thus, Washington and Jerusalem must mute their public support for Abbas, while privately providing him the tools to succeed.
Terror Finance Concerns
Critics charge that funds sent to bolster Abbas will almost certainly meet the same fate as the previous billions in foreign aid to the PA: stolen, or diverted to militias, such as the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a Fatah-linked terror organization. During the second intifada, the al-Aqsa Martyrs launched some of the bloodiest terror attacks against Israel. Notably, the group carried out a suicide bombing at Jerusalem's Moment Café, which killed 11 Israelis in March 2002.
Even as the West and Israel got behind Abbas in July, no less than 200 members of the al-Aqsa Martyrs announced they would continue "resistance to Israeli occupation." When these fighters were denied amnesty (Israel released some 179 other al-Aqsa Martyrs as a gesture of goodwill), they formed the new Yasir Arafat Brigade. Will Abbas and Fayyad fund this new squad? Prime Minister Salam Fayyad specifically endorsed the concept of continued "resistance" to Israeli occupation in late July. That terminology has always been understood among Palestinians to mean "violence."
Clearly, a more transparent record of aid expenditures is crucial. It would also ensure that the new PA does not behave as Arafat did with regard to supporting or condoning violence against Israel. Can the West demand these things while also propping up Abbas?
Can Abbas Change Long-Held Perceptions?
Arab-Israeli violence has continued for nearly 60 years because the Palestinians have always refused to accept the very existence of the state of Israel. Generations of Palestinians have been taught to despise Israel, and that hatred is deeply entrenched. While the exact percentage of West Bankers who feel this way is not known, 70 percent of all Palestinians polled in a recent Pew Global Attitudes Project survey (July 2007) said they approve of suicide bombing attacks against Israel. These views are reinforced by Palestinian Authority-funded imams in West Bank mosques who continue to preach hatred and war against Israel, and in the PA-controlled media.
Can Israel overlook this culture of hate — a culture Abbas cannot reverse overnight, even if he wanted to — in the interest of a stable regime in the West Bank? Israel can take little comfort in the fact that the culture of hate is far worse in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli Concessions
Israel has already released 256 Palestinian prisoners, and is considering other gestures of good will for Abbas. This could include removal of West Bank roadblocks, further prisoner releases, and providing weapons to the PA. These gestures could undermine Israeli security if Abbas fails to gain popular support or reform the PA. The IDF might later find it more difficult to retake certain military positions, in the event that Hamas attempts a West Bank takeover. On the other hand, if Israel does not ease some restrictions, West Bankers may challenge Abbas over his inability to get results.
Can Gaza Be Isolated?
Despite the recent Fatah-Hamas battle leading to the creation of two Palestinian proto-states, both West Bankers and Gazans still identify as Palestinian. According to a July 2007 survey by a Norwegian polling organization, no less than 85 percent of all Palestinians seek rapprochement between the two factions. Thus, the two-pronged Western strategy of isolating Hamas in Gaza while jumpstarting Israeli-Palestinian negotiations in the West Bank may run counter to popular Palestinian sentiment.
Looking forward, a contingency strategy will be necessary, should the Gaza isolation policy fail. What happens if Hamas manages to govern capably in Gaza, despite the aid freeze and border shut down? Successful governance by Hamas could persuade West Bankers in a future election that they are better off under Hamas rule than under the PA, especially if the PA is unable to successfully reform itself in the West Bank. Both Washington and Jerusalem must be prepared for this possibility.
Similarly, a plan must be in place for the eventuality that Hamas will not go quietly into the night in Gaza. Islamist movements do not relinquish power willingly. If there were new elections in both Gaza and the West Bank that both parties agreed to, and the PA won a decisive victory, it is highly unlikely that Hamas would cede military control of Gaza and disarm. Thus, even if Abbas manages a successful turnaround of the PA, Hamas will likely retain a strong military presence in Gaza, and perhaps a weaker presence in the West Bank. This will be an Israeli security concern, particularly if rocket fire from Gaza continues. Short of invasion, there is little Israel can do to neutralize this threat.
What Happens If Gaza Gets Worse?
Since the Israeli unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip in August 2005, Gaza has been awash in weapons smuggled from Egypt. Terrorists from various organizations, both Sunni and Shiite, are lining up to assist and train Hamas for violent confrontation with Israel. Numerous reports indicate that operatives from al-Qaeda, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and Hizbullah may have nestled in Gaza, or are training Hamas fighters outside of Gaza.
Can the influence of other rogue regimes and terrorist organizations make the tensions between Hamas-ruled Gaza and Israel any worse? Hamas does not hide the fact that it seeks the destruction of Israel, rather than negotiated peace in any form. By allowing additional terrorist elements into Gaza, Hamas has all but guaranteed future violence, perhaps at levels never before seen.
Regardless of which elements launch attacks against Israel—be they al-Qaeda, Hizbullah, or Hamas—Israeli reprisals against the Gaza Strip will almost certainly inspire sympathy in the West Bank and the rest of the Muslim world. At worst, this could lead to an outbreak of fresh violence in the West Bank, Gaza, and Lebanon, forcing Israel into a multi-front conflict. If either the U.S. or Israel launched strikes against Iranian nuclear sites, a similar multi-front conflict seems assured.
The Way Forward
The consensus following the Hamas victory in Gaza was that a new clarifying moment had arrived for Israel, the PA, and the West. In reality, the situation remains unclear and volatile. The choices will be difficult to navigate. Washington seeks to help foster peace in the region, but is still grasping for a way forward. Israel's current options must include a combination of caution and military readiness, along with help to the PA.
The Gaza crisis has put both Israel and the West between the West Bank and a hard place. Patience, wisdom, and deterrence will be necessary as Washington and Jerusalem venture forward.
Richard Baehr is co-founder and political director of The American Thinker, a web-based policy journal.
Rabbi Jonathan ginsburg
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Items from Richard Baehr
1. Olivier Guitta on Iran's Syrian plan. Caroline Glick sees some
connections between Iran, Syria and Iraq's WMDs. And the sometimes
controversial John Loftus also weighs in on what may have happened to
Saddam's WMDs.
http://www.metimes.com/International/2007/11/19/
analysis_irans_secret_syrian_plan/7451/
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?
cid=1195127544177&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
http://www.israpundit.com/2007/?p=6535
2. Danielle Pletka thinks Condi Rice is buying into diplomacy with
the devil (s). Caroline Glick says the Olmert government (let it
fall) is too.
http://www.aei.org/publications/pubID.27120,filter.all/pub_detail.asp
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?
cid=1195127516829&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
3. Egypt is not a moderate Arab state. It is part of the problem in
the region, not the solution. I guess trying to bribe them with $2
billion a year in foreign aid has been a bad bet (kind of like taking
the Bears and 5 and a half points yesterday)
http://www.www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?
GUID=05C1C31E-1F8B-4096-A41E-4C5F5EB64618
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?
GUID=56E2A983-895F-4A10-905D-5F3263C7A7D8
http://www.economist.com/world/africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10147681
4. Steve Emerson on the FBI mole case
http://www.analyst-network.com/article.php?art_id=1176
5. Even the New York Times is reporting that attacks in Iraq are way
down. Does this mean the surge is working? What would Frank Rich
say? How about better late (to get it right) than never (for both US
strategy and Times reporting).
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/19/world/middleeast/19iraq.html?
_r=2&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
6. Hugo Chavez' slapdown by King Juan Carlos of Spain is big news in
the Latin press. This is the way to treat a bully. And by the way,
Chavez now says Venezuela needs to have its own nuclear program (for
peaceful uses of course).
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/18/
AR2007111800945.html
7. Mark Silverberg on the end of the Bush doctrine
http://web.israelinsider.com/views/12365.htm
8. Hamas is looking to move up in class (as far as its military
capability.) I still do not see them as BCS material. Perhaps the
Fighting Illini are.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/124289
9. David Frum with a good summary of the Al Dura affair. Augean
Stables weighs in on same subject.
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=877a8d56-
eda5-4b86-96c6-9e1ab9a07880
http://www.theaugeanstables.com/2007/11/14/gambling-with-a-lie-
enderlin-pulls-a-rosemary-woods/
10. Lots of good stuff in the latest issue of Outpost, put out by
Ruth King and AFSI. In particular I liked the Moshe Sharon article
on the Arab negotiating style. Offer meeaningless promises (to be
broken every time) in return for real things. Israel has fallen for
this, as has Dennis Ross (repeatedly).
http://www.afsi.org/OUTPOST/2007/Outpost_2007_11.pdf
11. A few documentaries worth seeing:
http://www.godandcountry.tv/
http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/challenges.php?id=1385550
12. Are any of Paul Revere's descendants around? One if by land, two
if by sea. The British are coming. The British are coming. Or at
least they are leaving Britain. And the Dutch (50,000 to 100,000 a
year) are leaving Holland. In fact, the population transfer going on
in Europe is accelerating.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/global/main.jhtml?xml=/global/2007/11/16/
noindex/nemi116.xml
13. CAMERA has more on the Jews who left Arab lands after the 48 war.
Joan Peters devoted two chapters of her book " From Time Immemorial"
to this subject.
http://blog.camera.org/archives/2007/11/
jews_from_arab_lands_forced_to.html
14. Abbas calls for an overthrow of Hamas in Gaza. And who exactly
will do the job? Would not bet on this one happening soon. Tom
Bevan would not bet on the Patriots getting beaten anytime soon.
Has Tom Brady gotten that much better since he started dating Giselle
Bundchen?
http://voanews.com/english/2007-11-15-voa14.cfm
http://time-blog.com/real_clear_politics/2007/11/watching_greatness.html
Rabbi Jonathan Ginsburg
connections between Iran, Syria and Iraq's WMDs. And the sometimes
controversial John Loftus also weighs in on what may have happened to
Saddam's WMDs.
http://www.metimes.com/International/2007/11/19/
analysis_irans_secret_syrian_plan/7451/
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?
cid=1195127544177&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
http://www.israpundit.com/2007/?p=6535
2. Danielle Pletka thinks Condi Rice is buying into diplomacy with
the devil (s). Caroline Glick says the Olmert government (let it
fall) is too.
http://www.aei.org/publications/pubID.27120,filter.all/pub_detail.asp
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?
cid=1195127516829&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
3. Egypt is not a moderate Arab state. It is part of the problem in
the region, not the solution. I guess trying to bribe them with $2
billion a year in foreign aid has been a bad bet (kind of like taking
the Bears and 5 and a half points yesterday)
http://www.www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?
GUID=05C1C31E-1F8B-4096-A41E-4C5F5EB64618
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?
GUID=56E2A983-895F-4A10-905D-5F3263C7A7D8
http://www.economist.com/world/africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10147681
4. Steve Emerson on the FBI mole case
http://www.analyst-network.com/article.php?art_id=1176
5. Even the New York Times is reporting that attacks in Iraq are way
down. Does this mean the surge is working? What would Frank Rich
say? How about better late (to get it right) than never (for both US
strategy and Times reporting).
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/19/world/middleeast/19iraq.html?
_r=2&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
6. Hugo Chavez' slapdown by King Juan Carlos of Spain is big news in
the Latin press. This is the way to treat a bully. And by the way,
Chavez now says Venezuela needs to have its own nuclear program (for
peaceful uses of course).
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/18/
AR2007111800945.html
7. Mark Silverberg on the end of the Bush doctrine
http://web.israelinsider.com/views/12365.htm
8. Hamas is looking to move up in class (as far as its military
capability.) I still do not see them as BCS material. Perhaps the
Fighting Illini are.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/124289
9. David Frum with a good summary of the Al Dura affair. Augean
Stables weighs in on same subject.
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=877a8d56-
eda5-4b86-96c6-9e1ab9a07880
http://www.theaugeanstables.com/2007/11/14/gambling-with-a-lie-
enderlin-pulls-a-rosemary-woods/
10. Lots of good stuff in the latest issue of Outpost, put out by
Ruth King and AFSI. In particular I liked the Moshe Sharon article
on the Arab negotiating style. Offer meeaningless promises (to be
broken every time) in return for real things. Israel has fallen for
this, as has Dennis Ross (repeatedly).
http://www.afsi.org/OUTPOST/2007/Outpost_2007_11.pdf
11. A few documentaries worth seeing:
http://www.godandcountry.tv/
http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/challenges.php?id=1385550
12. Are any of Paul Revere's descendants around? One if by land, two
if by sea. The British are coming. The British are coming. Or at
least they are leaving Britain. And the Dutch (50,000 to 100,000 a
year) are leaving Holland. In fact, the population transfer going on
in Europe is accelerating.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/global/main.jhtml?xml=/global/2007/11/16/
noindex/nemi116.xml
13. CAMERA has more on the Jews who left Arab lands after the 48 war.
Joan Peters devoted two chapters of her book " From Time Immemorial"
to this subject.
http://blog.camera.org/archives/2007/11/
jews_from_arab_lands_forced_to.html
14. Abbas calls for an overthrow of Hamas in Gaza. And who exactly
will do the job? Would not bet on this one happening soon. Tom
Bevan would not bet on the Patriots getting beaten anytime soon.
Has Tom Brady gotten that much better since he started dating Giselle
Bundchen?
http://voanews.com/english/2007-11-15-voa14.cfm
http://time-blog.com/real_clear_politics/2007/11/watching_greatness.html
Rabbi Jonathan Ginsburg
Monday, November 19, 2007
Unicef funds terror training?
Tricked by UNICEF
>> Financing of Palestinian terrorism makes for one scary Halloween.
>>
>> By Dave Kopel
>>
>> Americans mostly know UNICEF through the "trick or treat for UNICEF"
>> campaigns. The "trick" is on the donors who think that UNICEF is all
>> about helping
>> poor children.
>>
>> UNICEF has been a major financier of Palestinian "summer camps"
which
>> encourage children to become suicide bombers. One such camp is named
>> for Wafa Idris,
>> a female suicide bomber.
>>
>> During the late 1990s, UNICEF served as a propaganda organ of the
>> Saddam Hussein regime. Relying solely on Iraqi government
statistics,
>> UNICEF and the
>> Saddam government co-authored a report asserting that over a million
>> children in Iraq died because of U.N. sanctions. A map on the first
>> page of the report
>> depicted Kuwait as a province of Iraq.
>>
>> UNICEF is the primary funder for the "Palestinian Youth Association
>> for Leadership and Rights Activation" (PYALARA), which UNICEF calls
>> "a major strategic
>> partner in Palestine." Materials produced by the group are
frequently
>> used in schools operated by UNICEF.
>>
>> PYALARA publishes a 16-page newspaper for young people, The Youth
>> Times (TYT). It is distributed at Palestinian universities,
colleges,
>> community centers,
>> and in the many U.N.-operated schools in Palestinian areas.
>>
>> The organization claims that its mission is "expanding awareness of
>> one's roots and identity, environment and culture, as well as of
>> other countries and
>> the world at large." Yet PYALARA's products follow the typical line
>> of terrorist propaganda, in which nothing is the fault of the
>> Palestinians, everything
>> is the fault of the Jews, and there is never any effort to consider
>> the merits of Israel's position on anything.
>>
>> For example, one PYALARA article was admiring a biography of the
>> recently-deceased terrorist Abu Ali Mustafa.
>>
>> Mustafa was the head of the terrorist group the Popular Front for
the
>> Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a branch of Yassir Arafat's
Palestine
>> Liberation
>> Organization (PLO). Mustafa met his demise at the hands of Israeli
>> forces in 2001. In the months before Mustafa's death, his terrorist
>> group had assassinated
>> an Israeli Cabinet Minister, set off three car bombs in Jerusalem,
>> and carried out many other terrorist attacks.
>>
>> Earlier, Mustafa and the PLFP had worked with the Japanese Red Army
>> (a Communist terrorist group) and slaughtered 24 people at Israel's
>> Ben Gurion International
>> Airport. In 1976, the PFLP hijacked an Air France flight. After
>> refueling in Libya, they flew to Entebbe, Uganda, which was, at the
>> time, ruled by the
>> insane, genocidal tyrant Idi Amin.
>>
>> The PFLP hijackers, assisted by Amin's army, demanded that five
>> nations release 53 named, convicted terrorists, or else the plane
and
>> its passengers would
>> be blown up.
>>
>> The Israeli Defense Forces carried out a daring raid on the Entebbe
>> airport, killing the hijackers and their Ugandan accomplices, and
>> rescuing all the
>> hostages. The IDF rescue planes touched down at Ben Gurion Airport
on
>> July 4, 1976.
>>
>> One of the few Israeli casualties in the rescue was Lt. Col. Yoni
>> Netanyahu, whose brother Benjamin would later become Prime Minister
>> of Israel.
>>
>> So what did the UNICEF-funded PYALARA have to tell young people
about
>> the terrorist mastermind Abu Ali Mustafa? That he was "a political
>> leader...whose
>> history prides his nationalistic activism." Mourning the death of
the
>> terrorist, the magazine whined "this is a human being who has a
>> family that awaits
>> his arrival every day." Sympathy would have been better directed to
>> the many innocents who were murdered at Mustafa's direction.
>>
>> Then, in a lie typical of the Palestinian propaganda press, the
>> PYALARA claimed "the Israelis could have turned to Abu Ali Mustafa
to
>> talk peace if peace
>> were what they truly wanted." In truth, Mustafa was always an
adamant
>> foe of negotiations, opposed even to Arafat's strategy of going
>> through the motions
>> of peace negotiations in order to distract attention from his
>> devotion for war.
>>
>> Shortly before becoming head of the PFLP, Mustafa was interviewed by
>> Al-Jazeera. He stated: "We believe the conflict and the struggle
>> against Israel is
>> a strategic [principle] that is not subordinated to any
>> consideration." Thus, "We believe the Palestinian people, both in
the
>> Diaspora and under occupation,
>> have the right to struggle using all means, including the armed
>> struggle, because we think the conflict is the constant, while the
>> means and tactics are
>> the variables."
>>
>> Not that UNICEF blames Israel for everything. Bianca Jagger, in her
>> official capacity as "UNICEF ambassador," has toured the Middle East
>> telling audiences
>> that the United States is the source of evil in the modern world.
>>
>> As for the actual needs of children, UNICEF is sometimes an obstacle
>> to progress. For example, UNICEF has been pressuring Guatemala to
>> stop allowing inter-country
>> adoptions. That is, UNICEF would prefer a child to languish in a
>> Guatemalan orphanage rather than be adopted by a loving family in
the
>> United States.
>>
>> UNICEF's focus on politics and political correctness has come at the
>> expense of saving the lives of the approximately ten million
children
>> under the age
>> of five who die each year from preventable causes.
>>
>> According to UNICEF, the major cause of child poverty in the world
is
>> the free market-even though countries with free markets have vastly
>> lower levels
>> of child poverty than do the kleptocratic, statist economies
extolled
>> by UNICEF.
>>
>> A 2003 report praised the North Korean dictatorship:
>>
>> the particular strength of the DPRK's policy framework lies in its
>> comprehensiveness, integration and consistency in addressing the
>> interests of children
>> and women. It has been aligned with the collective production
system.
>> The Government has proactively broadened and updated its laws and
>> policies on an
>> ongoing basis, also making an effort to harmonize with international
>> innovations and standards.
>>
>> Given UNICEF's affinity for the extreme left, it should be no
>> surprise that UNICEF helps fund the gun- prohibition lobby in
Brazil.
>>
>> The Executive Director of UNICEF is traditionally chosen by the
>> United States (although nominally appointed by the U.N.
>> Secretary-General). All of the
>> abuses described above took place during the tenure of Executive
>> Director Carol Bellamy, who was selected by President Clinton in
>> 1995. In May 2005, President
>> Bush chose former Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman as executive
>> director.
>>
>> While there is no reason to believe that Veneman shares Bellamy's
>> extreme Left agenda, it would be fair to say that she has a long way
>> to go to fix UNICEF.
>> The organization today stills promotes the Brazilian gun prohibition
>> lobby Viva Rio, and funds the pro-terrorist Palestinian Youth
>> Association for Leadership
>> and Rights Activation as one of its "partners" in what it calls "
>> occupied Palestinian territory." UNICEF also "partners" with the
>> Palestinian Red Crescent
>> Society, which uses ambulances to transport terrorists and their
>> weapons, and whose personnel have participated in suicide bombings.
>>
>>
>> UNICEF's executive board includes China (whose forced abortion
policy
>> is neither pro-life, nor pro-choice, nor pro-child) and Bhutan
(where
>> children are
>> among the many victims of the regime's human rights abuses). UNICEF
>> has doled out unaccountable money to the North Korean regime.
>>
>> Under Veneman, UNICEF is not as bad as it was under Bellamy, and
even
>> under Bellamy, the organization performed some good works. However,
>> most people who
>> give money to groups which help children would prefer that none of
>> their donations be used to finance terrorism, the destruction of
>> civil liberties, or
>> tyranny.
>>
>> The good-hearted children who "trick or treat for UNICEF" don't know
>> about UNICEF's sordid allies, of course. So instead of simply
>> rejecting the requests
>> of the children, gently explain that you don't want to give money to
>> UNICEF because dictatorships like China help run the organization,
>> and some of UNICEF's
>> money helps pro-terrorism groups. Then, put a dollar (or five, or
>> ten) in a bag of your own, and tell the children that because of
>> their trick-or-treating,
>> you will be giving more money to a different charity (which you can
>> name for them) which uses all of it money to help children. And if
>> your child's school
>> is contemplating a UNICEF fundraiser, politely encourage the
>> administration to pick a better charity.
>>
>> Dave Kopel is research director of the Independence Institute, in
>> Golden, Colorado.
Rabbi Jonathan Ginsburg
>> Financing of Palestinian terrorism makes for one scary Halloween.
>>
>> By Dave Kopel
>>
>> Americans mostly know UNICEF through the "trick or treat for UNICEF"
>> campaigns. The "trick" is on the donors who think that UNICEF is all
>> about helping
>> poor children.
>>
>> UNICEF has been a major financier of Palestinian "summer camps"
which
>> encourage children to become suicide bombers. One such camp is named
>> for Wafa Idris,
>> a female suicide bomber.
>>
>> During the late 1990s, UNICEF served as a propaganda organ of the
>> Saddam Hussein regime. Relying solely on Iraqi government
statistics,
>> UNICEF and the
>> Saddam government co-authored a report asserting that over a million
>> children in Iraq died because of U.N. sanctions. A map on the first
>> page of the report
>> depicted Kuwait as a province of Iraq.
>>
>> UNICEF is the primary funder for the "Palestinian Youth Association
>> for Leadership and Rights Activation" (PYALARA), which UNICEF calls
>> "a major strategic
>> partner in Palestine." Materials produced by the group are
frequently
>> used in schools operated by UNICEF.
>>
>> PYALARA publishes a 16-page newspaper for young people, The Youth
>> Times (TYT). It is distributed at Palestinian universities,
colleges,
>> community centers,
>> and in the many U.N.-operated schools in Palestinian areas.
>>
>> The organization claims that its mission is "expanding awareness of
>> one's roots and identity, environment and culture, as well as of
>> other countries and
>> the world at large." Yet PYALARA's products follow the typical line
>> of terrorist propaganda, in which nothing is the fault of the
>> Palestinians, everything
>> is the fault of the Jews, and there is never any effort to consider
>> the merits of Israel's position on anything.
>>
>> For example, one PYALARA article was admiring a biography of the
>> recently-deceased terrorist Abu Ali Mustafa.
>>
>> Mustafa was the head of the terrorist group the Popular Front for
the
>> Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a branch of Yassir Arafat's
Palestine
>> Liberation
>> Organization (PLO). Mustafa met his demise at the hands of Israeli
>> forces in 2001. In the months before Mustafa's death, his terrorist
>> group had assassinated
>> an Israeli Cabinet Minister, set off three car bombs in Jerusalem,
>> and carried out many other terrorist attacks.
>>
>> Earlier, Mustafa and the PLFP had worked with the Japanese Red Army
>> (a Communist terrorist group) and slaughtered 24 people at Israel's
>> Ben Gurion International
>> Airport. In 1976, the PFLP hijacked an Air France flight. After
>> refueling in Libya, they flew to Entebbe, Uganda, which was, at the
>> time, ruled by the
>> insane, genocidal tyrant Idi Amin.
>>
>> The PFLP hijackers, assisted by Amin's army, demanded that five
>> nations release 53 named, convicted terrorists, or else the plane
and
>> its passengers would
>> be blown up.
>>
>> The Israeli Defense Forces carried out a daring raid on the Entebbe
>> airport, killing the hijackers and their Ugandan accomplices, and
>> rescuing all the
>> hostages. The IDF rescue planes touched down at Ben Gurion Airport
on
>> July 4, 1976.
>>
>> One of the few Israeli casualties in the rescue was Lt. Col. Yoni
>> Netanyahu, whose brother Benjamin would later become Prime Minister
>> of Israel.
>>
>> So what did the UNICEF-funded PYALARA have to tell young people
about
>> the terrorist mastermind Abu Ali Mustafa? That he was "a political
>> leader...whose
>> history prides his nationalistic activism." Mourning the death of
the
>> terrorist, the magazine whined "this is a human being who has a
>> family that awaits
>> his arrival every day." Sympathy would have been better directed to
>> the many innocents who were murdered at Mustafa's direction.
>>
>> Then, in a lie typical of the Palestinian propaganda press, the
>> PYALARA claimed "the Israelis could have turned to Abu Ali Mustafa
to
>> talk peace if peace
>> were what they truly wanted." In truth, Mustafa was always an
adamant
>> foe of negotiations, opposed even to Arafat's strategy of going
>> through the motions
>> of peace negotiations in order to distract attention from his
>> devotion for war.
>>
>> Shortly before becoming head of the PFLP, Mustafa was interviewed by
>> Al-Jazeera. He stated: "We believe the conflict and the struggle
>> against Israel is
>> a strategic [principle] that is not subordinated to any
>> consideration." Thus, "We believe the Palestinian people, both in
the
>> Diaspora and under occupation,
>> have the right to struggle using all means, including the armed
>> struggle, because we think the conflict is the constant, while the
>> means and tactics are
>> the variables."
>>
>> Not that UNICEF blames Israel for everything. Bianca Jagger, in her
>> official capacity as "UNICEF ambassador," has toured the Middle East
>> telling audiences
>> that the United States is the source of evil in the modern world.
>>
>> As for the actual needs of children, UNICEF is sometimes an obstacle
>> to progress. For example, UNICEF has been pressuring Guatemala to
>> stop allowing inter-country
>> adoptions. That is, UNICEF would prefer a child to languish in a
>> Guatemalan orphanage rather than be adopted by a loving family in
the
>> United States.
>>
>> UNICEF's focus on politics and political correctness has come at the
>> expense of saving the lives of the approximately ten million
children
>> under the age
>> of five who die each year from preventable causes.
>>
>> According to UNICEF, the major cause of child poverty in the world
is
>> the free market-even though countries with free markets have vastly
>> lower levels
>> of child poverty than do the kleptocratic, statist economies
extolled
>> by UNICEF.
>>
>> A 2003 report praised the North Korean dictatorship:
>>
>> the particular strength of the DPRK's policy framework lies in its
>> comprehensiveness, integration and consistency in addressing the
>> interests of children
>> and women. It has been aligned with the collective production
system.
>> The Government has proactively broadened and updated its laws and
>> policies on an
>> ongoing basis, also making an effort to harmonize with international
>> innovations and standards.
>>
>> Given UNICEF's affinity for the extreme left, it should be no
>> surprise that UNICEF helps fund the gun- prohibition lobby in
Brazil.
>>
>> The Executive Director of UNICEF is traditionally chosen by the
>> United States (although nominally appointed by the U.N.
>> Secretary-General). All of the
>> abuses described above took place during the tenure of Executive
>> Director Carol Bellamy, who was selected by President Clinton in
>> 1995. In May 2005, President
>> Bush chose former Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman as executive
>> director.
>>
>> While there is no reason to believe that Veneman shares Bellamy's
>> extreme Left agenda, it would be fair to say that she has a long way
>> to go to fix UNICEF.
>> The organization today stills promotes the Brazilian gun prohibition
>> lobby Viva Rio, and funds the pro-terrorist Palestinian Youth
>> Association for Leadership
>> and Rights Activation as one of its "partners" in what it calls "
>> occupied Palestinian territory." UNICEF also "partners" with the
>> Palestinian Red Crescent
>> Society, which uses ambulances to transport terrorists and their
>> weapons, and whose personnel have participated in suicide bombings.
>>
>>
>> UNICEF's executive board includes China (whose forced abortion
policy
>> is neither pro-life, nor pro-choice, nor pro-child) and Bhutan
(where
>> children are
>> among the many victims of the regime's human rights abuses). UNICEF
>> has doled out unaccountable money to the North Korean regime.
>>
>> Under Veneman, UNICEF is not as bad as it was under Bellamy, and
even
>> under Bellamy, the organization performed some good works. However,
>> most people who
>> give money to groups which help children would prefer that none of
>> their donations be used to finance terrorism, the destruction of
>> civil liberties, or
>> tyranny.
>>
>> The good-hearted children who "trick or treat for UNICEF" don't know
>> about UNICEF's sordid allies, of course. So instead of simply
>> rejecting the requests
>> of the children, gently explain that you don't want to give money to
>> UNICEF because dictatorships like China help run the organization,
>> and some of UNICEF's
>> money helps pro-terrorism groups. Then, put a dollar (or five, or
>> ten) in a bag of your own, and tell the children that because of
>> their trick-or-treating,
>> you will be giving more money to a different charity (which you can
>> name for them) which uses all of it money to help children. And if
>> your child's school
>> is contemplating a UNICEF fundraiser, politely encourage the
>> administration to pick a better charity.
>>
>> Dave Kopel is research director of the Independence Institute, in
>> Golden, Colorado.
Rabbi Jonathan Ginsburg
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Abbas called for the overthrow of Gaza's Hamas rulers -
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called on Thursday for the overthrow of Gaza's Hamas rulers - his first explicit demand that they be ousted.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Photo: AP
"We have to bring down this bunch, which took over Gaza with armed force, and is abusing the sufferings and pains of our people," Abbas said in a speech.
Rabbi Jonmathan Ginsburg
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Photo: AP
"We have to bring down this bunch, which took over Gaza with armed force, and is abusing the sufferings and pains of our people," Abbas said in a speech.
Rabbi Jonmathan Ginsburg
Be scared of their new techniques
Governments struggle as militants refine Web tactics
By Alexandra Zawadil Fri Nov 16, 8:54 AM ET
VIENNA (Reuters) - Islamist militants are becoming more skilled at tailoring their message to specific audiences, including women and children, and Western societies are struggling to find a response.
That was the message from a meeting hosted by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) this week, attended by leading experts on Islamist radicalization.
"One of the most alarming trends we found on the Internet recently is what we call 'narrowcasting'," said Gabriel Weimann, professor of communications at the University of Haifa in Israel which monitors 5,800 militant Web sites.
Instead of 'broadcasting' -- trying to reach the biggest possible audience -- the approach is to slice the audience into segments and target each with specific tactics, he said.
"Terrorists are using the Internet to focus on children, very young children, to attract young people to the ideology and later to the way of terrorism.
"When they target children, they do everything any commercial advertiser would do. They use comic books, storytelling, graphics, movies, competitions, prize-winning and so on," Weimann added.
Western security officials have been voicing growing concern about militant 'grooming' of children on the Internet. Last week the head of Britain's MI5 spy service said individuals aged 15 and 16 had been implicated in terrorist-related activity.
WOMEN'S MANUAL
Weimann said al Qaeda was also targeting women, including via an online manual, presented in pink, which educates them in the roles of female suicide bomber or wife or mother to a jihadist 'martyr'.
Rabbi Jonathan Ginsburg
By Alexandra Zawadil Fri Nov 16, 8:54 AM ET
VIENNA (Reuters) - Islamist militants are becoming more skilled at tailoring their message to specific audiences, including women and children, and Western societies are struggling to find a response.
That was the message from a meeting hosted by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) this week, attended by leading experts on Islamist radicalization.
"One of the most alarming trends we found on the Internet recently is what we call 'narrowcasting'," said Gabriel Weimann, professor of communications at the University of Haifa in Israel which monitors 5,800 militant Web sites.
Instead of 'broadcasting' -- trying to reach the biggest possible audience -- the approach is to slice the audience into segments and target each with specific tactics, he said.
"Terrorists are using the Internet to focus on children, very young children, to attract young people to the ideology and later to the way of terrorism.
"When they target children, they do everything any commercial advertiser would do. They use comic books, storytelling, graphics, movies, competitions, prize-winning and so on," Weimann added.
Western security officials have been voicing growing concern about militant 'grooming' of children on the Internet. Last week the head of Britain's MI5 spy service said individuals aged 15 and 16 had been implicated in terrorist-related activity.
WOMEN'S MANUAL
Weimann said al Qaeda was also targeting women, including via an online manual, presented in pink, which educates them in the roles of female suicide bomber or wife or mother to a jihadist 'martyr'.
Rabbi Jonathan Ginsburg
Friday, November 16, 2007
Diplomacy won't stop Iran from going nuke
By Sophie Walker
Fri Nov 16, 2:11 PM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - China has dealt a blow to Western efforts to increase diplomatic pressure on Iran over its nuclear program by dropping out of a meeting to discuss tougher sanctions against Tehran.
ADVERTISEMENT
Russia, which like China opposes further U.N. sanctions against Iran, added fuel to the fire by announcing on Friday that the U.N. nuclear watchdog would soon start inspecting and sealing atomic fuel bound for an Iranian reactor.
The West fears Iran wants to develop atomic weapons but Iran denies this. Tehran says it wants only to generate electricity.
Rabbi Jonathan Ginsburg
Fri Nov 16, 2:11 PM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - China has dealt a blow to Western efforts to increase diplomatic pressure on Iran over its nuclear program by dropping out of a meeting to discuss tougher sanctions against Tehran.
ADVERTISEMENT
Russia, which like China opposes further U.N. sanctions against Iran, added fuel to the fire by announcing on Friday that the U.N. nuclear watchdog would soon start inspecting and sealing atomic fuel bound for an Iranian reactor.
The West fears Iran wants to develop atomic weapons but Iran denies this. Tehran says it wants only to generate electricity.
Rabbi Jonathan Ginsburg
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Israel trivia
This Week's Trivia:
1. How many seats are in the Knesset?
2. Name an operation that brought many Ethiopian Jews to Israel.
3. What song almost became the Israeli national anthem in 1967?
The answer to the first question is 120
The answer to the second question is the name of a man that helped bring Egyptian Hebrews to Israel a very long time ago (in the bible) solomon
The answer to the third question should be pretty easy. It is the current national anthem. Yerushalayim shel zahav by Shemer
1. How many seats are in the Knesset?
2. Name an operation that brought many Ethiopian Jews to Israel.
3. What song almost became the Israeli national anthem in 1967?
The answer to the first question is 120
The answer to the second question is the name of a man that helped bring Egyptian Hebrews to Israel a very long time ago (in the bible) solomon
The answer to the third question should be pretty easy. It is the current national anthem. Yerushalayim shel zahav by Shemer
Latest from Richard Baehr
1. Melanie Phillips on what the 27 minute tape played in a Paris
courtroom today revealed about the Mohammed Al Dura shooting. It was
staged. This French TV hoax, more than any other event, created the
second intifada which led to well over 1,000 dead Jewish Israelis.
What will the New York Times say about this tomorrow?
http://www.spectator.co.uk/melaniephillips/354621/the-al-durah-blood-
libel.thtml
2. A new study shows there is still great mobility in the American
economy. It is why people want to come here, if they are ambitious
and willing to work hard. Juan Williams describes the growing gap in
black America- between those who always choose to blame the "man"
for their fate, , and those who want to move ahead.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110010855
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/13/
AR2007111301831.html?hpid=opinionsbox1
3. Mitt Romney is ahead in Iowa and New Hampshire because he has run
over 14,000 TV spots in these states. Now Rudy Giuliani runs his
first. As a friend says: Game on. It helps to be able to lend your
campaign tens of millions as Romney has.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/11/13/romney-shattering-tv-
advertising-record/
http://time-blog.com/real_clear_politics/2007/11/rudy_hits_the_air.html
4. Jeff Jacoby asks if Israel is a Jewish state, and what it means
that the Palestinians won't accept this
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/
2007/11/14/is_israel_a_jewish_state/
5. John Stossel hears it from the global warming crusaders
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/11/
dont_look_to_government_to_coo.html
6. Ed Morrissey on the coming civil war in Gaza. A Palestinian human
rights group is unhappy with Hamas.
http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/015987.php
http://www.pchrgaza.ps/files/PressR/English/2007/160-2007.html
7. The Saudi king visits the pope and brings a gift- a sword.
Needless to say the Pope is not welcome in Mecca or Medina.
http://www.nysun.com/article/66106
8. The surge against Al Qaeda in Iraq is going well. This is a story
the New York Times prefers you did not know, especially when there
is so much juicy Bernie Kerik stuff to go around that can be used to
smear Rudy Giuliani..
http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2007/11/
targeting_al_qaeda_in_iraqs_ne.asp
Ed Lasky: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2007/11/
the_ny_times_attempted_smear_o.html
9. Islamophobia and anti-Semitism in Europe
http://www.opinionjournal.com/federation/feature/?id=110010859
10. Why is this man in the Israeli cabinet?
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/124246#replies
11. It seems teaching Jewish values has no place in Israeli public
schools
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/124239#replies
12. Another shocker: The Palestinians have not protected Jewish holy
paces in their territory.
http://www.jcpa.org/JCPA/Templates/ShowPage.asp?
DRIT=2&DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=111&FID=377&PID=0&IID=1923&TTL=The_Palestinia
n_Authority_and_the_Jewish_Holy_Sites_in_the_West_Bank:_Rachel’s_Tomb_as
_a_Test_Case
Rabbi Jonathan Ginsburg
courtroom today revealed about the Mohammed Al Dura shooting. It was
staged. This French TV hoax, more than any other event, created the
second intifada which led to well over 1,000 dead Jewish Israelis.
What will the New York Times say about this tomorrow?
http://www.spectator.co.uk/melaniephillips/354621/the-al-durah-blood-
libel.thtml
2. A new study shows there is still great mobility in the American
economy. It is why people want to come here, if they are ambitious
and willing to work hard. Juan Williams describes the growing gap in
black America- between those who always choose to blame the "man"
for their fate, , and those who want to move ahead.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110010855
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/13/
AR2007111301831.html?hpid=opinionsbox1
3. Mitt Romney is ahead in Iowa and New Hampshire because he has run
over 14,000 TV spots in these states. Now Rudy Giuliani runs his
first. As a friend says: Game on. It helps to be able to lend your
campaign tens of millions as Romney has.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/11/13/romney-shattering-tv-
advertising-record/
http://time-blog.com/real_clear_politics/2007/11/rudy_hits_the_air.html
4. Jeff Jacoby asks if Israel is a Jewish state, and what it means
that the Palestinians won't accept this
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/
2007/11/14/is_israel_a_jewish_state/
5. John Stossel hears it from the global warming crusaders
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/11/
dont_look_to_government_to_coo.html
6. Ed Morrissey on the coming civil war in Gaza. A Palestinian human
rights group is unhappy with Hamas.
http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/015987.php
http://www.pchrgaza.ps/files/PressR/English/2007/160-2007.html
7. The Saudi king visits the pope and brings a gift- a sword.
Needless to say the Pope is not welcome in Mecca or Medina.
http://www.nysun.com/article/66106
8. The surge against Al Qaeda in Iraq is going well. This is a story
the New York Times prefers you did not know, especially when there
is so much juicy Bernie Kerik stuff to go around that can be used to
smear Rudy Giuliani..
http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2007/11/
targeting_al_qaeda_in_iraqs_ne.asp
Ed Lasky: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2007/11/
the_ny_times_attempted_smear_o.html
9. Islamophobia and anti-Semitism in Europe
http://www.opinionjournal.com/federation/feature/?id=110010859
10. Why is this man in the Israeli cabinet?
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/124246#replies
11. It seems teaching Jewish values has no place in Israeli public
schools
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/124239#replies
12. Another shocker: The Palestinians have not protected Jewish holy
paces in their territory.
http://www.jcpa.org/JCPA/Templates/ShowPage.asp?
DRIT=2&DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=111&FID=377&PID=0&IID=1923&TTL=The_Palestinia
n_Authority_and_the_Jewish_Holy_Sites_in_the_West_Bank:_Rachel’s_Tomb_as
_a_Test_Case
Rabbi Jonathan Ginsburg
a reader responds to Cotton's piece
.
Rabbi Jonathan,
On Sunday my wife told me to read the Tribune article by Fite, saying that I may want to dispute him since he gave his email address. I didn't get around to reading the piece until today. But first I saw your comments on his article.
As to your response in points 1 and 2, and then 1 through 3, I agree with you completely. However, this was not a response to Fite's commentary in particular as he does not address these points at all, nor does he villify Israel in any clearly biased manner. I reread the article two times. It seems to me that he was motivated by a personal experience of being inconvenienced at a border check point, and extended that to Palestinian humiliation at checkpoints in general, which, in fact, he states as being his mission on this trip. In this sense, his comments may be biased or contrived. Even though it may not be Israel's fault directly, but rather an effective response to terrorist attacks, there can be no doubt that the checkpoint procedures do disrupt the lives of ordinary Palestinians. Yes, he does use the word 'occupation', which we Jews don't appreciate even though it is not untrue in many respects for many years in the past.
I decided to withhold my critical remarks for articles that are truly biased against Israel.
Did I miss the point here? I have no further knowledge of Rev. Fite's political motivation.
My response
Thanks for writing. The purpose of that article is to undermine support for Israel without any context. It is critical to continually point out the reason for the need for those checkpoints, lies in ther failure, over 60 years, of the Arabs and Palestinians to take the opportunity to live in peace and create a state. They had a chance in 47, 48-67, Barak/Clinton etc and all they did was fight, intifada etc. If they chose peace, there would be no checkpoints necessary. Cotton was completely out of context, clearly written to undermine Israel etc
Rabbi Jonathan Ginsburg
Rabbi Jonathan,
On Sunday my wife told me to read the Tribune article by Fite, saying that I may want to dispute him since he gave his email address. I didn't get around to reading the piece until today. But first I saw your comments on his article.
As to your response in points 1 and 2, and then 1 through 3, I agree with you completely. However, this was not a response to Fite's commentary in particular as he does not address these points at all, nor does he villify Israel in any clearly biased manner. I reread the article two times. It seems to me that he was motivated by a personal experience of being inconvenienced at a border check point, and extended that to Palestinian humiliation at checkpoints in general, which, in fact, he states as being his mission on this trip. In this sense, his comments may be biased or contrived. Even though it may not be Israel's fault directly, but rather an effective response to terrorist attacks, there can be no doubt that the checkpoint procedures do disrupt the lives of ordinary Palestinians. Yes, he does use the word 'occupation', which we Jews don't appreciate even though it is not untrue in many respects for many years in the past.
I decided to withhold my critical remarks for articles that are truly biased against Israel.
Did I miss the point here? I have no further knowledge of Rev. Fite's political motivation.
My response
Thanks for writing. The purpose of that article is to undermine support for Israel without any context. It is critical to continually point out the reason for the need for those checkpoints, lies in ther failure, over 60 years, of the Arabs and Palestinians to take the opportunity to live in peace and create a state. They had a chance in 47, 48-67, Barak/Clinton etc and all they did was fight, intifada etc. If they chose peace, there would be no checkpoints necessary. Cotton was completely out of context, clearly written to undermine Israel etc
Rabbi Jonathan Ginsburg
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Balfour, UN 1947 resolution, Declaration of Independence
BALFOUR DECLARATION (November 1917)
Foreign Office,
November 2nd, 1917.
Dear Lord Rothschild,
I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty's Government, the following
declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and
approved by, the Cabinet:
"His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home
for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this
object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and
religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status
enjoyed by Jews in any other country".
I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist
Federation.
Yours sincerely
Arthur James Balfour
UN General Assembly Resolution 181 (Partition Plan)
November 29, 1947
The General Assembly,
Having met in special session at the request of the mandatory Power to constitute and
instruct a Special Committee to prepare for the consideration of the question of the
future Government of Palestine at the second regular session;
Having constituted a Special Committee and instructed it to investigate all questions
and issues relevant to the problem of Palestine, and to prepare proposals for the
solution of the problem, and
Having received and examined the report of the Special Committee (document
A/364)(1) including a number of unanimous recommendations and a plan of partition
with economic union approved by the majority of the Special Committee,
Considers that the present situation in Palestine is one which is likely to impair the
general welfare and friendly relations among nations;
11
Takes note of the declaration by the mandatory Power that it plans to complete its
evacuation of Palestine by l August 1948;
Recommends to the United Kingdom, as the mandatory Power for Palestine, and to all
other Members of the United Nations the adoption and implementation, with regard to
the future Government of Palestine, of the Plan of Partition with Economic Union set out
below;
Requests that
a. The Security Council take the necessary measures as provided for in the plan for
its implementation;
b. The Security Council consider, if circumstances during the transitional period
require such consideration, whether the situation in Palestine constitutes a threat
to the peace. If it decides that such a threat exists, and in order to maintain
international peace and security, the Security Council should supplement the
authorization of the General Assembly by taking measures, under Articles 39 and
41 of the Charter, to empower the United Nations Commission, as provided in
this resolution, to exercise in Palestine the functions which are assigned to it by
this resolution;
c. The Security Council determine as a threat to the peace, breach of the peace or
act of aggression, in accordance with Article 39 of the Charter, any attempt to
alter by force the settlement envisaged by this resolution;
d. The Trusteeship Council be informed of the responsibilities envisaged for it in this
plan;
Calls upon the inhabitants of Palestine to take such steps as may be necessary on their
part to put this plan into effect;
Appeals to all Governments and all peoples to refrain from taking any action which
might hamper or delay the carrying out of these recommendations, and
Authorizes the Secretary-General to reimburse travel and subsistence expenses of the
members of the Commission referred to in Part 1, Section B, Paragraph I below, on
such basis and in such form as he may determine most appropriate in the
circumstances, and to provide the Commission with the necessary staff to assist in
carrying out the functions assigned to the Commission by the General Assembly.*
The General Assembly,
Authorizes the Secretary-General to draw from the Working Capital Fund a sum not to
exceed 2,000,000 dollars for the purposes set forth in the last paragraph of the
resolution on the future government of Palestine.
PLAN OF PARTITION WITH ECONOMIC UNION
Part I. - Future Constitution and Government of Palestine
12
1. The Mandate for Palestine shall terminate as soon as possible but in any case
not later than 1 August 1948.
2. The armed forces of the mandatory Power shall be progressively withdrawn from
Palestine, the withdrawal to be completed as soon as possible but in any case
not later than 1 August 1948.
The mandatory Power shall advise the Commission, as far in advance as
possible, of its intention to terminate the mandate and to evacuate each area.
The mandatory Power shall use its best endeavours to ensure that an area
situated in the territory of the Jewish State, including a seaport and hinterland
adequate to provide facilities for a substantial immigration, shall be evacuated at
the earliest possible date and in any event not later than 1 February 1948.
3. Independent Arab and Jewish States and the Special International Regime for
the City of Jerusalem, set forth in Part III of this Plan, shall come into existence in
Palestine two months after the evacuation of the armed forces of the mandatory
Power has been completed but in any case not later than 1 October 1948. The
boundaries of the Arab State, the Jewish State, and the City of Jerusalem shall
be as described in Parts II and III below.
4. The period between the adoption by the General Assembly of its
recommendation on the question of Palestine and the establishment of the
independence of the Arab and Jewish States shall be a transitional period.
Adopted at the 128th plenary meeting:
In favour: 33
Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Byelorussian S.S.R., Canada, Costa Rica,
Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, France, Guatemala, Haiti,
Iceland, Liberia, Luxemburg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama,
Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Sweden, Ukrainian S.S.R., Union of South Africa,
U.S.A., U.S.S.R., Uruguay, Venezuela.
Against: 13
Afghanistan, Cuba, Egypt, Greece, India, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia,
Syria, Turkey, Yemen.
Abstained: 10
Argentina, Chile, China, Colombia, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Honduras, Mexico, United
Kingdom, Yugoslavia.
A. TERMINATION OF MANDATE, PARTITION AND INDEPENDENCE
13
THE DECLARATION OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE STATE OF
ISRAEL (May 14, 1948)
Text:
ERETZ-ISRAEL [(Hebrew) - the Land of Israel, Palestine] was the birthplace of the Jewish
people. Here their spiritual, religious and political identity was shaped. Here they first
attained to statehood, created cultural values of national and universal significance and
gave to the world the eternal Book of Books.
After being forcibly exiled from their land, the people kept faith with it throughout their
Dispersion and never ceased to pray and hope for their return to it and for the
restoration in it of their political freedom.
Impelled by this historic and traditional attachment, Jews strove in every successive
generation to re-establish themselves in their ancient homeland. In recent decades they
returned in their masses. Pioneers, ma'pilim [(Hebrew) - immigrants coming to Eretz-Israel in
defiance of restrictive legislation] and defenders, they made deserts bloom, revived the
Hebrew language, built villages and towns, and created a thriving community controlling
its own economy and culture, loving peace but knowing how to defend itself, bringing
the blessings of progress to all the country's inhabitants, and aspiring towards
independent nationhood.
In the year 5657 (1897), at the summons of the spiritual father of the Jewish State,
Theodore Herzl, the First Zionist Congress convened and proclaimed the right of the
Jewish people to national rebirth in its own country.
This right was recognized in the Balfour Declaration of the 2nd November, 1917, and reaffirmed
in the Mandate of the League of Nations which, in particular, gave international
sanction to the historic connection between the Jewish people and Eretz-Israel and to
the right of the Jewish people to rebuild its National Home.
The catastrophe which recently befell the Jewish people - the massacre of millions of
Jews in Europe - was another clear demonstration of the urgency of solving the problem
of its homelessness by re-establishing in Eretz-Israel the Jewish State, which would
open the gates of the homeland wide to every Jew and confer upon the Jewish people
the status of a fully privileged member of the comity of nations.
Survivors of the Nazi holocaust in Europe, as well as Jews from other parts of the world,
continued to migrate to Eretz-Israel, undaunted by difficulties, restrictions and dangers,
and never ceased to assert their right to a life of dignity, freedom and honest toil in their
national homeland.
In the Second World War, the Jewish community of this country contributed its full share
to the struggle of the freedom- and peace-loving nations against the forces of Nazi
wickedness and, by the blood of its soldiers and its war effort, gained the right to be
reckoned among the peoples who founded the United Nations.
14
On the 29th November, 1947, the United Nations General Assembly passed a
resolution calling for the establishment of a Jewish State in Eretz-Israel; the General
Assembly required the inhabitants of Eretz-Israel to take such steps as were necessary
on their part for the implementation of that resolution. This recognition by the United
Nations of the right of the Jewish people to establish their State is irrevocable.
This right is the natural right of the Jewish people to be masters of their own fate, like all
other nations, in their own sovereign State.
ACCORDINGLY WE, MEMBERS OF THE PEOPLE'S COUNCIL, REPRESENTATIVES
OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF ERETZ-ISRAEL AND OF THE ZIONIST
MOVEMENT, ARE HERE ASSEMBLED ON THE DAY OF THE TERMINATION OF
THE BRITISH MANDATE OVER ERETZ-ISRAEL AND, BY VIRTUE OF OUR
NATURAL AND HISTORIC RIGHT AND ON THE STRENGTH OF THE RESOLUTION
OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY, HEREBY DECLARE THE
ESTABLISHMENT OF A JEWISH STATE IN ERETZ-ISRAEL, TO BE KNOWN AS THE
STATE OF ISRAEL.
WE DECLARE that, with effect from the moment of the termination of the Mandate
being tonight, the eve of Sabbath, the 6th Iyar, 5708 (15th May, 1948), until the
establishment of the elected, regular authorities of the State in accordance with the
Constitution which shall be adopted by the Elected Constituent Assembly not later than
the 1st October 1948, the People's Council shall act as a Provisional Council of State,
and its executive organ, the People's Administration, shall be the Provisional
Government of the Jewish State, to be called "Israel".
THE STATE OF ISRAEL will be open for Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of
the Exiles; it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its
inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets
of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants
irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience,
language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it
will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.
THE STATE OF ISRAEL is prepared to cooperate with the agencies and
representatives of the United Nations in implementing the resolution of the General
Assembly of the 29th November, 1947, and will take steps to bring about the economic
union of the whole of Eretz-Israel.
WE APPEAL to the United Nations to assist the Jewish people in the building-up of its
State and to receive the State of Israel into the comity of nations.
WE APPEAL - in the very midst of the onslaught launched against us now for months -
to the Arab inhabitants of the State of Israel to preserve peace and participate in the
upbuilding of the State on the basis of full and equal citizenship and due representation
in all its provisional and permanent institutions.
WE EXTEND our hand to all neighbouring states and their peoples in an offer of peace
and good neighbourliness, and appeal to them to establish bonds of cooperation and
15
mutual help with the sovereign Jewish people settled in its own land. The State of Israel
is prepared to do its share in a common effort for the advancement of the entire Middle
East.
WE APPEAL to the Jewish people throughout the Diaspora to rally round the Jews of
Eretz-Israel in the tasks of immigration and upbuilding and to stand by them in the great
struggle for the realization of the age-old dream - the redemption of Israel.
PLACING OUR TRUST IN THE "ROCK OF ISRAEL", WE AFFIX OUR SIGNATURES
TO THIS PROCLAMATION AT THIS SESSION OF THE PROVISIONAL COUNCIL OF
STATE, ON THE SOIL OF THE HOMELAND, IN THE CITY OF TEL-AVIV, ON THIS
SABBATH EVE, THE 5TH DAY OF IYAR, 5708 (14TH MAY,1948).
As leader of the Yishuv, David Ben-Gurion was the first person to sign. He was followed
by:
Daniel Auster, Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, Mordechai Bentov, Eliyahu Berligne, Fritz Bernstein,
Rachel Cohen-Kagan, Eliyahu Dobkin, Rabbi Yehuda Leib Hacohen Fishman, Rabbi
Wolf Gold, Meir Grabovsky, Dr Abraham Granovsky, Yitzhak Gruenbaum, Rabbi
Kalman Kahana, Eliezer Kaplan, Abraham Katznelson, Saadia Kobashi, Moshe
Kolodny, Rabbi Yitzhak Meir Levin, Meir David Loewenstein, Zvi Luria, Golda
Meyerson, Nahum Nir, David-Zvi Pinkas, Felix Rosenblueth, David Remez, Berl
Repetur, Zvi Segal, Mordechai Shatner, Ben-Zion Sternberg, Bechor-Shalom Sheetrit,
Haim-Moshe Shapira, Moshe Shertok, Herzl Vardi, Meir Vilner, Zerach Warhaftig and
Foreign Office,
November 2nd, 1917.
Dear Lord Rothschild,
I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty's Government, the following
declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and
approved by, the Cabinet:
"His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home
for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this
object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and
religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status
enjoyed by Jews in any other country".
I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist
Federation.
Yours sincerely
Arthur James Balfour
UN General Assembly Resolution 181 (Partition Plan)
November 29, 1947
The General Assembly,
Having met in special session at the request of the mandatory Power to constitute and
instruct a Special Committee to prepare for the consideration of the question of the
future Government of Palestine at the second regular session;
Having constituted a Special Committee and instructed it to investigate all questions
and issues relevant to the problem of Palestine, and to prepare proposals for the
solution of the problem, and
Having received and examined the report of the Special Committee (document
A/364)(1) including a number of unanimous recommendations and a plan of partition
with economic union approved by the majority of the Special Committee,
Considers that the present situation in Palestine is one which is likely to impair the
general welfare and friendly relations among nations;
11
Takes note of the declaration by the mandatory Power that it plans to complete its
evacuation of Palestine by l August 1948;
Recommends to the United Kingdom, as the mandatory Power for Palestine, and to all
other Members of the United Nations the adoption and implementation, with regard to
the future Government of Palestine, of the Plan of Partition with Economic Union set out
below;
Requests that
a. The Security Council take the necessary measures as provided for in the plan for
its implementation;
b. The Security Council consider, if circumstances during the transitional period
require such consideration, whether the situation in Palestine constitutes a threat
to the peace. If it decides that such a threat exists, and in order to maintain
international peace and security, the Security Council should supplement the
authorization of the General Assembly by taking measures, under Articles 39 and
41 of the Charter, to empower the United Nations Commission, as provided in
this resolution, to exercise in Palestine the functions which are assigned to it by
this resolution;
c. The Security Council determine as a threat to the peace, breach of the peace or
act of aggression, in accordance with Article 39 of the Charter, any attempt to
alter by force the settlement envisaged by this resolution;
d. The Trusteeship Council be informed of the responsibilities envisaged for it in this
plan;
Calls upon the inhabitants of Palestine to take such steps as may be necessary on their
part to put this plan into effect;
Appeals to all Governments and all peoples to refrain from taking any action which
might hamper or delay the carrying out of these recommendations, and
Authorizes the Secretary-General to reimburse travel and subsistence expenses of the
members of the Commission referred to in Part 1, Section B, Paragraph I below, on
such basis and in such form as he may determine most appropriate in the
circumstances, and to provide the Commission with the necessary staff to assist in
carrying out the functions assigned to the Commission by the General Assembly.*
The General Assembly,
Authorizes the Secretary-General to draw from the Working Capital Fund a sum not to
exceed 2,000,000 dollars for the purposes set forth in the last paragraph of the
resolution on the future government of Palestine.
PLAN OF PARTITION WITH ECONOMIC UNION
Part I. - Future Constitution and Government of Palestine
12
1. The Mandate for Palestine shall terminate as soon as possible but in any case
not later than 1 August 1948.
2. The armed forces of the mandatory Power shall be progressively withdrawn from
Palestine, the withdrawal to be completed as soon as possible but in any case
not later than 1 August 1948.
The mandatory Power shall advise the Commission, as far in advance as
possible, of its intention to terminate the mandate and to evacuate each area.
The mandatory Power shall use its best endeavours to ensure that an area
situated in the territory of the Jewish State, including a seaport and hinterland
adequate to provide facilities for a substantial immigration, shall be evacuated at
the earliest possible date and in any event not later than 1 February 1948.
3. Independent Arab and Jewish States and the Special International Regime for
the City of Jerusalem, set forth in Part III of this Plan, shall come into existence in
Palestine two months after the evacuation of the armed forces of the mandatory
Power has been completed but in any case not later than 1 October 1948. The
boundaries of the Arab State, the Jewish State, and the City of Jerusalem shall
be as described in Parts II and III below.
4. The period between the adoption by the General Assembly of its
recommendation on the question of Palestine and the establishment of the
independence of the Arab and Jewish States shall be a transitional period.
Adopted at the 128th plenary meeting:
In favour: 33
Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Byelorussian S.S.R., Canada, Costa Rica,
Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, France, Guatemala, Haiti,
Iceland, Liberia, Luxemburg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama,
Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Sweden, Ukrainian S.S.R., Union of South Africa,
U.S.A., U.S.S.R., Uruguay, Venezuela.
Against: 13
Afghanistan, Cuba, Egypt, Greece, India, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia,
Syria, Turkey, Yemen.
Abstained: 10
Argentina, Chile, China, Colombia, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Honduras, Mexico, United
Kingdom, Yugoslavia.
A. TERMINATION OF MANDATE, PARTITION AND INDEPENDENCE
13
THE DECLARATION OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE STATE OF
ISRAEL (May 14, 1948)
Text:
ERETZ-ISRAEL [(Hebrew) - the Land of Israel, Palestine] was the birthplace of the Jewish
people. Here their spiritual, religious and political identity was shaped. Here they first
attained to statehood, created cultural values of national and universal significance and
gave to the world the eternal Book of Books.
After being forcibly exiled from their land, the people kept faith with it throughout their
Dispersion and never ceased to pray and hope for their return to it and for the
restoration in it of their political freedom.
Impelled by this historic and traditional attachment, Jews strove in every successive
generation to re-establish themselves in their ancient homeland. In recent decades they
returned in their masses. Pioneers, ma'pilim [(Hebrew) - immigrants coming to Eretz-Israel in
defiance of restrictive legislation] and defenders, they made deserts bloom, revived the
Hebrew language, built villages and towns, and created a thriving community controlling
its own economy and culture, loving peace but knowing how to defend itself, bringing
the blessings of progress to all the country's inhabitants, and aspiring towards
independent nationhood.
In the year 5657 (1897), at the summons of the spiritual father of the Jewish State,
Theodore Herzl, the First Zionist Congress convened and proclaimed the right of the
Jewish people to national rebirth in its own country.
This right was recognized in the Balfour Declaration of the 2nd November, 1917, and reaffirmed
in the Mandate of the League of Nations which, in particular, gave international
sanction to the historic connection between the Jewish people and Eretz-Israel and to
the right of the Jewish people to rebuild its National Home.
The catastrophe which recently befell the Jewish people - the massacre of millions of
Jews in Europe - was another clear demonstration of the urgency of solving the problem
of its homelessness by re-establishing in Eretz-Israel the Jewish State, which would
open the gates of the homeland wide to every Jew and confer upon the Jewish people
the status of a fully privileged member of the comity of nations.
Survivors of the Nazi holocaust in Europe, as well as Jews from other parts of the world,
continued to migrate to Eretz-Israel, undaunted by difficulties, restrictions and dangers,
and never ceased to assert their right to a life of dignity, freedom and honest toil in their
national homeland.
In the Second World War, the Jewish community of this country contributed its full share
to the struggle of the freedom- and peace-loving nations against the forces of Nazi
wickedness and, by the blood of its soldiers and its war effort, gained the right to be
reckoned among the peoples who founded the United Nations.
14
On the 29th November, 1947, the United Nations General Assembly passed a
resolution calling for the establishment of a Jewish State in Eretz-Israel; the General
Assembly required the inhabitants of Eretz-Israel to take such steps as were necessary
on their part for the implementation of that resolution. This recognition by the United
Nations of the right of the Jewish people to establish their State is irrevocable.
This right is the natural right of the Jewish people to be masters of their own fate, like all
other nations, in their own sovereign State.
ACCORDINGLY WE, MEMBERS OF THE PEOPLE'S COUNCIL, REPRESENTATIVES
OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF ERETZ-ISRAEL AND OF THE ZIONIST
MOVEMENT, ARE HERE ASSEMBLED ON THE DAY OF THE TERMINATION OF
THE BRITISH MANDATE OVER ERETZ-ISRAEL AND, BY VIRTUE OF OUR
NATURAL AND HISTORIC RIGHT AND ON THE STRENGTH OF THE RESOLUTION
OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY, HEREBY DECLARE THE
ESTABLISHMENT OF A JEWISH STATE IN ERETZ-ISRAEL, TO BE KNOWN AS THE
STATE OF ISRAEL.
WE DECLARE that, with effect from the moment of the termination of the Mandate
being tonight, the eve of Sabbath, the 6th Iyar, 5708 (15th May, 1948), until the
establishment of the elected, regular authorities of the State in accordance with the
Constitution which shall be adopted by the Elected Constituent Assembly not later than
the 1st October 1948, the People's Council shall act as a Provisional Council of State,
and its executive organ, the People's Administration, shall be the Provisional
Government of the Jewish State, to be called "Israel".
THE STATE OF ISRAEL will be open for Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of
the Exiles; it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its
inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets
of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants
irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience,
language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it
will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.
THE STATE OF ISRAEL is prepared to cooperate with the agencies and
representatives of the United Nations in implementing the resolution of the General
Assembly of the 29th November, 1947, and will take steps to bring about the economic
union of the whole of Eretz-Israel.
WE APPEAL to the United Nations to assist the Jewish people in the building-up of its
State and to receive the State of Israel into the comity of nations.
WE APPEAL - in the very midst of the onslaught launched against us now for months -
to the Arab inhabitants of the State of Israel to preserve peace and participate in the
upbuilding of the State on the basis of full and equal citizenship and due representation
in all its provisional and permanent institutions.
WE EXTEND our hand to all neighbouring states and their peoples in an offer of peace
and good neighbourliness, and appeal to them to establish bonds of cooperation and
15
mutual help with the sovereign Jewish people settled in its own land. The State of Israel
is prepared to do its share in a common effort for the advancement of the entire Middle
East.
WE APPEAL to the Jewish people throughout the Diaspora to rally round the Jews of
Eretz-Israel in the tasks of immigration and upbuilding and to stand by them in the great
struggle for the realization of the age-old dream - the redemption of Israel.
PLACING OUR TRUST IN THE "ROCK OF ISRAEL", WE AFFIX OUR SIGNATURES
TO THIS PROCLAMATION AT THIS SESSION OF THE PROVISIONAL COUNCIL OF
STATE, ON THE SOIL OF THE HOMELAND, IN THE CITY OF TEL-AVIV, ON THIS
SABBATH EVE, THE 5TH DAY OF IYAR, 5708 (14TH MAY,1948).
As leader of the Yishuv, David Ben-Gurion was the first person to sign. He was followed
by:
Daniel Auster, Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, Mordechai Bentov, Eliyahu Berligne, Fritz Bernstein,
Rachel Cohen-Kagan, Eliyahu Dobkin, Rabbi Yehuda Leib Hacohen Fishman, Rabbi
Wolf Gold, Meir Grabovsky, Dr Abraham Granovsky, Yitzhak Gruenbaum, Rabbi
Kalman Kahana, Eliezer Kaplan, Abraham Katznelson, Saadia Kobashi, Moshe
Kolodny, Rabbi Yitzhak Meir Levin, Meir David Loewenstein, Zvi Luria, Golda
Meyerson, Nahum Nir, David-Zvi Pinkas, Felix Rosenblueth, David Remez, Berl
Repetur, Zvi Segal, Mordechai Shatner, Ben-Zion Sternberg, Bechor-Shalom Sheetrit,
Haim-Moshe Shapira, Moshe Shertok, Herzl Vardi, Meir Vilner, Zerach Warhaftig and
Wrong approach to peace
Wrong approach to peace
US, Israel ignore leading scholar’s insights about Muslim attitude to
peace deals
Yoram Ettinger
Policy makers in Israel and the United States are premising the
Annapolis Conference on foundations that have led to a series of bloody
collapses in Oslo, Cairo, Hebron, Wye, Sharm el-Sheikh, Camp David 2,
and the disengagement. They are formulating the conference on the
assumption that Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has adopted a
mentality of peace, thus granting yet another victory to the simplistic
world of delusions in the Mideast’s complex reality.
Professor Majid Khadduri, may he rest in peace, from Johns Hopkins
University in the US was the world’s leading authority on Arab
definitions of peace and war, and he noted that they view peace as a
tactical means for achieving their strategic objective – defeating the
enemy. Peace constitutes a temporary break in the ongoing war against
the enemy and/or infidel.
Khadduri’s book, War and Peace in the Law of Islam, clarifies the
meaning of the amazing 1,400-year sequence – since the 7th century - of
wars, terrorism, and the violent violation of agreements, alliances,
and conventions between Arabs, between Muslims, and between Arabs and
non-Arabs.
The insights in the book include the following: “If a catastrophe had
befallen the Muslims, (they) might come to terms with the
enemy…provided that the Muslims should resume the Jihad after the
expiration of the treaty…treaties must be of temporary duration, for in
Muslim legal theory the normal relations between Muslim and non-Muslim
territories are not peaceful, but warlike…If the (leader) entered a
treaty which he was incapable of fulfilling, the treaty was regarded as
void…the Prophet Muhammad has set the classic example by concluding a
(628 A.D.) treaty with the Makkans, known as the Hudayabiya Treaty
(whereby) a peace treaty with the enemy is a valid instrument if it
serves Muslim interests…the Prophet and his successors always reserved
their right to repudiate any treaty or arrangement which they
considered as harmful…Muslim authorities might come to terms with (the
enemy), provided it was only for a temporary period…a temporary peace
with the enemy is not inconsistent with Islam’s interests….”
Meanwhile, Mahmoud Abbas’ textbooks, religious clerics, newspapers, and
official TV and radio stations resonate with Khadduri’s theories day
and night while preaching for the “liberation” of Jerusalem, the
Galilee, Jaffa, Ashdod, and the Negev desert, the destruction of the
Jewish State, glorification of suicide bombers, and Jihad. The
Palestinian educational system, which promotes deep hatred, supports
the main conclusion from Professor Khadduri’s book: The
Palestinian-Israeli conflict is not over the size, but rather, is about
the existence of a Jewish State located in a region defined as an
“Islamic estate” by the Arabs.
‘No permanent compromise is permitted’
Khadduri adds that “Jihad, reflecting the normal war relations between
Arabs and non-Muslims” and says it was “a product of a warlike people.”
He says that while the “concept of Jihad underwent certain changes,
these changes did not imply abandonment of the Jihad duty, it only
meant the entry of the obligation into a period of suspension – it
assumed a dormant status, from which the (leader) may revive it at any
time he deems necessary…No (permanent) compromise is permitted with
those who fail to believe in God.”
The Annapolis conference is premised on the notion of “land for peace”
and the “two state solution,” which constitute a timeout that would
enable the Arab side to improve its positions in this constant war –
just a phase in realizing Jihad’s objectives.
The continued disregard to Khadduri’s theory, which predicted the
lessons of the last 14 years since Oslo, gives Israel’s enemies an
adrenaline boost, radicalizes Arab expectations and demands, pours oil
instead of water on the terror fire, inflames passions in the Middle
East, brings Israel closer to an all-out war under worse conditions,
adds friction points with the US, and minimizes the chances of peace.
This is not the way to prepare a peace conference!
Yoram Ettinger is an expert on Middle Eastern and American affairs and
a former envoy in the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C
Rabbi Jonathan Ginsburg
US, Israel ignore leading scholar’s insights about Muslim attitude to
peace deals
Yoram Ettinger
Policy makers in Israel and the United States are premising the
Annapolis Conference on foundations that have led to a series of bloody
collapses in Oslo, Cairo, Hebron, Wye, Sharm el-Sheikh, Camp David 2,
and the disengagement. They are formulating the conference on the
assumption that Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has adopted a
mentality of peace, thus granting yet another victory to the simplistic
world of delusions in the Mideast’s complex reality.
Professor Majid Khadduri, may he rest in peace, from Johns Hopkins
University in the US was the world’s leading authority on Arab
definitions of peace and war, and he noted that they view peace as a
tactical means for achieving their strategic objective – defeating the
enemy. Peace constitutes a temporary break in the ongoing war against
the enemy and/or infidel.
Khadduri’s book, War and Peace in the Law of Islam, clarifies the
meaning of the amazing 1,400-year sequence – since the 7th century - of
wars, terrorism, and the violent violation of agreements, alliances,
and conventions between Arabs, between Muslims, and between Arabs and
non-Arabs.
The insights in the book include the following: “If a catastrophe had
befallen the Muslims, (they) might come to terms with the
enemy…provided that the Muslims should resume the Jihad after the
expiration of the treaty…treaties must be of temporary duration, for in
Muslim legal theory the normal relations between Muslim and non-Muslim
territories are not peaceful, but warlike…If the (leader) entered a
treaty which he was incapable of fulfilling, the treaty was regarded as
void…the Prophet Muhammad has set the classic example by concluding a
(628 A.D.) treaty with the Makkans, known as the Hudayabiya Treaty
(whereby) a peace treaty with the enemy is a valid instrument if it
serves Muslim interests…the Prophet and his successors always reserved
their right to repudiate any treaty or arrangement which they
considered as harmful…Muslim authorities might come to terms with (the
enemy), provided it was only for a temporary period…a temporary peace
with the enemy is not inconsistent with Islam’s interests….”
Meanwhile, Mahmoud Abbas’ textbooks, religious clerics, newspapers, and
official TV and radio stations resonate with Khadduri’s theories day
and night while preaching for the “liberation” of Jerusalem, the
Galilee, Jaffa, Ashdod, and the Negev desert, the destruction of the
Jewish State, glorification of suicide bombers, and Jihad. The
Palestinian educational system, which promotes deep hatred, supports
the main conclusion from Professor Khadduri’s book: The
Palestinian-Israeli conflict is not over the size, but rather, is about
the existence of a Jewish State located in a region defined as an
“Islamic estate” by the Arabs.
‘No permanent compromise is permitted’
Khadduri adds that “Jihad, reflecting the normal war relations between
Arabs and non-Muslims” and says it was “a product of a warlike people.”
He says that while the “concept of Jihad underwent certain changes,
these changes did not imply abandonment of the Jihad duty, it only
meant the entry of the obligation into a period of suspension – it
assumed a dormant status, from which the (leader) may revive it at any
time he deems necessary…No (permanent) compromise is permitted with
those who fail to believe in God.”
The Annapolis conference is premised on the notion of “land for peace”
and the “two state solution,” which constitute a timeout that would
enable the Arab side to improve its positions in this constant war –
just a phase in realizing Jihad’s objectives.
The continued disregard to Khadduri’s theory, which predicted the
lessons of the last 14 years since Oslo, gives Israel’s enemies an
adrenaline boost, radicalizes Arab expectations and demands, pours oil
instead of water on the terror fire, inflames passions in the Middle
East, brings Israel closer to an all-out war under worse conditions,
adds friction points with the US, and minimizes the chances of peace.
This is not the way to prepare a peace conference!
Yoram Ettinger is an expert on Middle Eastern and American affairs and
a former envoy in the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C
Rabbi Jonathan Ginsburg
My pro israel videos on youtube.com
ISRAEL
Bond to Israel with Israel Bonds Jewu 266
Mearsheimer/Walt -shoddy and anti-semitic? Jewu 239
Zionism-The Jewish people's right to Israel Jewu 243
Travel with us to Israel JewU 138
Israel's 59th birthday Happy birthday
Palestinian Refugees "return" wrong
Israel: the greatest country
What can we personally do to help Israel
It's Not Israel's Fault
AIPAC Crucial for America and the World
Refuting Kristof's March 17 NYT piece on Israel
What's Wrong with Jimmy Carter's Book?
Shameful British Boycott
Key issue of the time:Iran Iran Iran JewU 212
Bond to Israel with Israel Bonds Jewu 266
Mearsheimer/Walt -shoddy and anti-semitic? Jewu 239
Zionism-The Jewish people's right to Israel Jewu 243
Travel with us to Israel JewU 138
Israel's 59th birthday Happy birthday
Palestinian Refugees "return" wrong
Israel: the greatest country
What can we personally do to help Israel
It's Not Israel's Fault
AIPAC Crucial for America and the World
Refuting Kristof's March 17 NYT piece on Israel
What's Wrong with Jimmy Carter's Book?
Shameful British Boycott
Key issue of the time:Iran Iran Iran JewU 212
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
From Disvestment watch site
Introduction to Divestment Watch
Let's face some facts: The purpose of the Divest-from-Israel campaign is to hurt Israel economically. It is being sponsored by Palestinian groups in the United States and around the world as a form of economic terrorism. The campaign itself was created by a consultant to the Palestinian Authority who was, in his own words, key in the negotiations for an independent Palestinian state. The goal of the campaign is to destroy Israel's economy while claiming to negotiate for peace in good faith, which obviously undermines the entire peace initiative.
In essence, the divest-from-Israel campaign is a direct function of the Palestinian Authority, and is therefore a part of the official Arab League boycott of Israel, of which the Palestinian Authority is signatory.
It stands, therefore, in violation of US laws that protect countries that are friendly to the US from foreign boycotts, which is exactly what the Palestinian-based divestment campaign is. A foreign boycott is a state sponsored boycott, and the Arab boycott of Israel certainly fits that bill because it is an official function of Arab League member states.
The US law forbidding participation in foreign boycotts was created to prevent private citizens from creating de-facto foreign policy, since that is the domain of Congress and the President. The divest-from-Israel campaign is a form of boycott, and therefore illegal boycott. The purpose of this website is to give people the information they need to properly combat this assault on democracy, the free market economy and US laws that protect our allies.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Divest-from-Israel campaigns have proliferated in the last two years, mostly on college campuses, but also in cities and towns, churches, businesses and non-profit organizations.
These movements have precedents, notably the illegal eight-decade Arab Boycott of Israel, the Zionism = Racism propaganda campaign that began in the mid-1970s with rise of Arab oil power, and worldwide calls to boycott the Jewish state since the outbreak of most recent violence in the Middle East.
Using the rhetoric (and claiming the mantle) of the anti-Apartheid movement of the 1980s, anti-Israel activists have tried to recruit universities, municipalities and other institutions to punish the Jewish state economically and to get these institutions to (wittingly or unwittingly) lend their name and reputations to further a propaganda agenda, singling out Israel as a racist, apartheid state alone in the world deserving economic sanction and separation from "decent" humankind.
The good news is that these movements have found little success. Not a single university has chosen to follow calls for divestment in companies doing business with the Jewish state, and the movement's first major foray into municipalities (the city of Somerville, MA) met with total failure.
Still, the goal of the divestment-from-Israel movement, and similar groups who use the vocabulary of human rights to attack the only democracy in the Middle East is to resurrect through endless attack the "Big Lie" buried a decade ago in the UN: that "Zionism equals racism."
Rabbi Jonathan Ginsburg
Let's face some facts: The purpose of the Divest-from-Israel campaign is to hurt Israel economically. It is being sponsored by Palestinian groups in the United States and around the world as a form of economic terrorism. The campaign itself was created by a consultant to the Palestinian Authority who was, in his own words, key in the negotiations for an independent Palestinian state. The goal of the campaign is to destroy Israel's economy while claiming to negotiate for peace in good faith, which obviously undermines the entire peace initiative.
In essence, the divest-from-Israel campaign is a direct function of the Palestinian Authority, and is therefore a part of the official Arab League boycott of Israel, of which the Palestinian Authority is signatory.
It stands, therefore, in violation of US laws that protect countries that are friendly to the US from foreign boycotts, which is exactly what the Palestinian-based divestment campaign is. A foreign boycott is a state sponsored boycott, and the Arab boycott of Israel certainly fits that bill because it is an official function of Arab League member states.
The US law forbidding participation in foreign boycotts was created to prevent private citizens from creating de-facto foreign policy, since that is the domain of Congress and the President. The divest-from-Israel campaign is a form of boycott, and therefore illegal boycott. The purpose of this website is to give people the information they need to properly combat this assault on democracy, the free market economy and US laws that protect our allies.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Divest-from-Israel campaigns have proliferated in the last two years, mostly on college campuses, but also in cities and towns, churches, businesses and non-profit organizations.
These movements have precedents, notably the illegal eight-decade Arab Boycott of Israel, the Zionism = Racism propaganda campaign that began in the mid-1970s with rise of Arab oil power, and worldwide calls to boycott the Jewish state since the outbreak of most recent violence in the Middle East.
Using the rhetoric (and claiming the mantle) of the anti-Apartheid movement of the 1980s, anti-Israel activists have tried to recruit universities, municipalities and other institutions to punish the Jewish state economically and to get these institutions to (wittingly or unwittingly) lend their name and reputations to further a propaganda agenda, singling out Israel as a racist, apartheid state alone in the world deserving economic sanction and separation from "decent" humankind.
The good news is that these movements have found little success. Not a single university has chosen to follow calls for divestment in companies doing business with the Jewish state, and the movement's first major foray into municipalities (the city of Somerville, MA) met with total failure.
Still, the goal of the divestment-from-Israel movement, and similar groups who use the vocabulary of human rights to attack the only democracy in the Middle East is to resurrect through endless attack the "Big Lie" buried a decade ago in the UN: that "Zionism equals racism."
Rabbi Jonathan Ginsburg
From Massada.org about Palestinians
WHO ARE THE PALESTINIANS?WHAT & WHERE is PALESTINE?
Please Note: The terms B.C. (Before Christ or Before the Christian Era) and A.D.("Anno Domini" Latin for "In the Year of Our Lord") have been replaced with B.C.E (Before the Common Era, or Christian, Era) and C.E. (the Common Era) so as to respect all visitors to this site. The terms are interchangeable and both are based upon the Gregorian Calendar.
These and other questions will be addressed more fully as you go through this website. However, there is a preliminary historical fact that must be established now. There has never been a civilization or a nation referred to as "Palestine" and the very notion of a "Palestinian Arab nation" having ancient attachments to the Holy Land going back to time immemorial is one of the biggest hoaxes ever perpetrated upon the world! There is not, nor has there ever been, a distinct "Palestinian" culture or language. Further, there has never been a Palestinian state governed BY Arab Palestinians in history, nor was there ever a serious Arab-Palestinian national movement until 1964... three years BEFORE the Arabs of "Palestine" lost the West Bank [Judea and Samaria] and Gaza as a result of the 1967 Six-Day War (which the Arabs started). Even the so-called leader of the "Palestinian" people, Yasser Arafat, is EGYPTIAN! In short, the so-called Arab "Palestinians" are a manufactured people...a people with no history and no authenticity... whose sole purpose for existence is to destroy the Jewish State!
Israel first became a nation in 1312 B.C.E., two thousand years before the rise of Islam! Seven hundred and twenty-six years later in 586 B.C.E. these first ancient Jews in the Land of Israel [Judea] were overrun and Israel's First Jewish Temple (on Jerusalem's Old City Temple Mount) was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, king of ancient Babylon. Many of the Jews were killed or expelled; however many were allowed to remain. These Jews along with their progeny and other Jews who would resettle over the next 500 years, rebuilt the Nation of Israel and also a Second Temple in Jerusalem upon the Temple Mount. Thus the claim that Jews suddenly appeared fifty years ago right after the Holocaust and drove out the Arabs is preposterous!
Then in 70 C.E. (nearly 2000 years ago), it was the Roman Empire's turn to march through ancient Israel and destroy the SECOND Jewish Temple, slaughtering or driving out much of its Jewish population. Many Jews left on their own because conditions for life were made unbearable in many respects... yet thousands upon thousands stayed and rebelled on for centuries in order to once again rebuild a Jewish Nation in this Holy Land.
Over 3250 years, various Peoples, Religions and Empires marched through Jerusalem, Israel's ancient capital. The region was successively ruled by the Hebrews [Jews], Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Maccabeans, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Egyptians, the Crusaders, Mamelukes, the Turks (who indifferently governed the backward, neglected territory from the 16th century until the British drove them out during World War I) and then once again by the Jews in 1948. None bothered, nor were they in the least bit inclined, to build a Nation of their own... EXCEPT the Jews!
It must be noted that in 636 C.E., when the Arabs marauders came to the land and uprooted even more of its Jews, they did not form any Arab nation there... and certainly not a "Palestinian" nation. They were simply "Arabs" who, as did others before them, moved into a geo-political area called "Palestine!" And remember this one fact... it was not the Jews who "usurped" (a favorite word from the Arab propagandists) the land from the Arabs. If anything, it was the Arabs in 636 C.E. who overran and stole it from the Jews!
No nation, other than the ancient nation of Israel and later again in 1948 with the rebirth of the 2nd Nation of Israel, has ever ruled as a sovereign national entity on this land. A mighty Jewish empire extended over this entire area before the Arabs --- and their Islam --- were even born! The Jewish People have one of the most legitimate Birth Certificates of any nations in the world. Every time there is an archaeological dig in Israel, it does nothing but support the fact that the Jewish People have had a presence there for well over 3,000 years. The national coins, the pottery, the cities, the ancient Hebrew texts... all support this claim. Yes, other peoples have passed through, but there is no mistaking the fact that Jews have always had a continual presence in that land for over 3,000 years. This predates and certain dwarfs any claims that other peoples in the regions may have. The ancient Philistines are extinct. Many other ancient peoples are extinct. They do not have the unbroken line to this date that the Jews have. And if you want to talk religion, fine. G-d GAVE the Land of Israel to the Jewish People. And G-d does nothing by accident!
ANCIENT MAPSThe Kingdom of David and Solomon - 1077 - 997 BCE Kingdom of Herod- 30 BCE to 70 CE Jewish Communities in the Land of Israel -7th-11th Centuries
"PALESTINE?"
The term "Palestine" came from the name that the conquering Roman Empire gave the ancient Land of Israel in an attempt to obliterate and de-legitimize the Jewish presence in the Holy Land. The name "Palestine" was invented in the year 135 C.E. Before it was known as Judea, which was the southern kingdom of ancient Israel. The Roman Procurator in charge of the Judean-Israel territories was so angry at the Jews for revolting that he called for his historians and asked them who were the worst enemies of the Jews in their past history. The scribes said, "the Philistines." Thus, the Procurator declared that Land of Israel would from then forward be called "Philistia" [further bastardized into "Palaistina"] to dishonor the Jews and obliterate their history. Hence the name "Palestine."
One more thing. Very often one hears the revisionists and propagandists finding ancient historical links between the "Philistines" ("Invaders" in Hebrew) and the Arab "Palestinians." There is no truth to this claim! The Philistines were one of a number of Sea Peoples who reached the eastern Mediterranean region approximately 1250-1100 B.C.E. They were actually an amalgamation of various ethnic groups, primarily of Aegean and south-east European origin [Greece, Crete and Western Turkey] and they died out over 2500 years ago! Those Philistines were not Arab... and neither was Goliath! The Arabs of "Palestine" are just that... Arabs! And these Arabs of "Palestine" have about as much historical roots to the ancient Philistines as Yasser Arafat has to the Eskimos!
The ancient, indigenous inhabitants of Palestine are long perished from the earth. Canaanites, Phoencians, and then Philistines, all were dominated by the Israelites before 1060 B.C.E. Most of these cultural identities dissolved completely by the neo-Babylonian age, or, the 6th century B.C.E. Arabs weren’t even in Palestine until the mid-7th century C.E., over a thousand years later, after Palestine’s 1,300-year Jewish history. Arabs later living in Palestine never developed themselves or the land, but remained nomadic and quasi-primitive.
Even the word "Palestine" has no meaning in Arabic - every word in Arabic has some meaning deriving from the Koran, but the word "Palestine" does not. Even the term "Palestinian people" is rather ironic since the letter "P" is non-existent in the Arab language. If anything, the name "Palestine" was associated with Jews. In the years leading up to the rebirth of Israel in 1948, those who spoke of "Palestinians" were nearly always referring to the region's Jewish residents. For example, the "Palestine Post" [forerunner of today's Jerusalem Post] newspaper and the Palestine Symphony Orchestra were all-Jewish. The "Palestine Brigade Regiment" was composed exclusively of Jewish volunteers in the British World War II Army. In fact, Arab leaders rejected the notion of a unique "Palestinian Arab" identity, insisting that Palestine was merely a part of "Greater Syria."
THE RETURN TO ZION A return through both time and space to their ancestral homeland
The Land of Israel was never devoid of Jews, although at times she numbered only in the tens of thousands. This was because the land was virtually uninhabitable when the Jews once again began their God-given right AND duty to return en masse to the land of their forefathers (the Zionist Movement) in the 1880s. The silly rhetoric about a massive Arab presence being overrun by "invading Jews" is quickly dispelled by Mark Twain, who visited the area in 1867. From his book, "The Innocents Abroad"... "A desolate country whose soil is rich enough, but is given over wholly to weeds... a silent mournful expanse.... a desolation.... we never saw a human being on the whole route.... hardly a tree or shrub anywhere. Even the olive tree and the cactus, those fast friends of a worthless soil, had almost deserted the country."
The Jews did not displace anyone, because very few of the people who were there actually owned the land. Most were absentee owners residing elsewhere. Another fact hardly mentioned by the "new historians" is that the arriving Jews never threw anyone off any land. All land was purchased legally from the original owners... whether they be from "Palestine" itself or elsewhere. Furthermore, top dollar was paid for this land which, in many cases, was uninhabited and hardly more than swamp land and rocky terrain. Only about 120,000 Arabs resided in an area that now comprises the State of Israel, Jordan and the so-called "West Bank" [Judea and Samaria] in between. By 1890, the number of Jews who had settled in Palestine reached 50,000 and, by 1907, numbered 100,000. In Jerusalem alone the Jews numbered more than 25,000, out of a total population in the city of only 40,000 Jews, Christians and Arabs. The Arabs did, however, constitute a majority over the sparsely populated countryside abutting Jerusalem.
1880'sFor more remarkable early photos of the Holy Land click Here
From 1888 until 1915 there were about six locust plagues that made the land nearly uninhabitable. In the 1915 locust plague alone some 40,000 people died and large numbers of Jews and Arabs left the land. Those that returned did not do so until about 1922 when the Zionist money to reclaim the land started coming in and a pipe line was laid. Then both Arabs and Jews started to come in in large numbers.
Palestine's early Jewish Zionists were idealistic pioneers who arrived in pre-state Israel with every intention of living in peace alongside their Arab neighbors and upgrading the quality of life for all of the land's inhabitants. These pre-Israel Zionists (and later, Israelis) had tried to develop peacefully for the dual benefit of Jews and Arabs in the land. But the Arab leadership always, starting in the earliest days, took the low road of insisting that the only solution was for the Jews to get out, even if that meant continued poverty and stagnation. When Arab demands were not met, they always resorted to violence.
The vast majority of Arabs came to the area after these early Zionist pioneers began draining the malaria-infested swamps (above photo) and plowing the land! In doing so, these Jews created the economic opportunities and medical availabilities which attracted Arabs from both surrounding territories and far-away lands! In fact, over 90% of the Arabs migrated there within the last one hundred years. Most of the Arabs in "Palestine" were interlopers and squatters originating from Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Iraq and other lands who simply took possession of pieces of land. So much for their unfounded claims that they have been there since "time immemorial!" These Arabs came from disorganized collections of tribes with a tradition of constantly terrorizing each other and trying to seize land from their neighbors. Many of them were social outcasts and criminals who could not find jobs in their own countries so they searched for their luck elsewhere. Unfortunately, those Arab immigrants imported into the Holy Land their age-old culture of terrorizing neighbors in order to seize land. In fact, today's Arab "Palestinians", let by Arafat and his PLO (sanitized to the PA, or Palestinian Authority...which is nothing more than A Network of Murderers Masquerading As Government!) are still nothing more than street thugs, bullies and 'Little Saddams' found elsewhere throughout most of the most Arab world.
Yet while the returning Jews were highly motivated to restore the land, the Arabs seethed with envy and hatred for they lacked both the leadership to inspire and motivate them for they were, in fact, historical strangers to this land! Unlike the Jews, those Arabs who immigrated there had no ancient attachments to or historical memories of this homeland ... this ancient Land of the JEWS!
The real problem facing those Arabs today is not the lack of a homeland. The historical root-cause of their problem and frustration is the fact that the countries they came from have not agreed to accept them back in. This is why so many of them live, up until today, in refugee camps, in neighboring Arab countries, lacking fundamental civil rights. In their frustration they feel that the only hope and choice they have is to try and steal someone else's country!
In Conclusion:
There was no "Arab Palestinian" history before the Arabs manufactured one shortly after 1948, and then especially after the June 1967 Arab-Israeli War! In an interview with the Dutch newspaper "Trau" (March 31, 1977), PLO executive committee member Zahir Muhsein said, "The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct 'Palestinian people' to oppose Zionism. It is also been a "conceptual" war for ownership of the term "Palestinian" which has been transferred over to the Arabs whereas, before 1967, "Palestine" has always been synonymous with Eretz Israel and the Land of Israel.
Archeological sites to this very day continue to yield artifacts with Hebrew writing, not some fictitious "Palestinian" or Arabic text! The so-called "Palestinian" Arabs were simply then, as they are now, Arabs no different culturally, historically or ethnically from other Arabs living in any of the 24 Arab countries from which they emigrated. The suggestion that the "Palestinians" are some sub-group of Arabs with their own unique identity is pure fiction! Great propaganda... but still pure fiction! And had not the Arabs continued to brainwash generation upon generation into believing this HISTORICAL HOGWASH about some ancient "Arab Palestinian" ties to the Holy Land, most could have gotten themselves a real life by now with much less bloodshed and suffering for everyone concerned!
Rabbi Jonathan Ginsburg
Please Note: The terms B.C. (Before Christ or Before the Christian Era) and A.D.("Anno Domini" Latin for "In the Year of Our Lord") have been replaced with B.C.E (Before the Common Era, or Christian, Era) and C.E. (the Common Era) so as to respect all visitors to this site. The terms are interchangeable and both are based upon the Gregorian Calendar.
These and other questions will be addressed more fully as you go through this website. However, there is a preliminary historical fact that must be established now. There has never been a civilization or a nation referred to as "Palestine" and the very notion of a "Palestinian Arab nation" having ancient attachments to the Holy Land going back to time immemorial is one of the biggest hoaxes ever perpetrated upon the world! There is not, nor has there ever been, a distinct "Palestinian" culture or language. Further, there has never been a Palestinian state governed BY Arab Palestinians in history, nor was there ever a serious Arab-Palestinian national movement until 1964... three years BEFORE the Arabs of "Palestine" lost the West Bank [Judea and Samaria] and Gaza as a result of the 1967 Six-Day War (which the Arabs started). Even the so-called leader of the "Palestinian" people, Yasser Arafat, is EGYPTIAN! In short, the so-called Arab "Palestinians" are a manufactured people...a people with no history and no authenticity... whose sole purpose for existence is to destroy the Jewish State!
Israel first became a nation in 1312 B.C.E., two thousand years before the rise of Islam! Seven hundred and twenty-six years later in 586 B.C.E. these first ancient Jews in the Land of Israel [Judea] were overrun and Israel's First Jewish Temple (on Jerusalem's Old City Temple Mount) was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, king of ancient Babylon. Many of the Jews were killed or expelled; however many were allowed to remain. These Jews along with their progeny and other Jews who would resettle over the next 500 years, rebuilt the Nation of Israel and also a Second Temple in Jerusalem upon the Temple Mount. Thus the claim that Jews suddenly appeared fifty years ago right after the Holocaust and drove out the Arabs is preposterous!
Then in 70 C.E. (nearly 2000 years ago), it was the Roman Empire's turn to march through ancient Israel and destroy the SECOND Jewish Temple, slaughtering or driving out much of its Jewish population. Many Jews left on their own because conditions for life were made unbearable in many respects... yet thousands upon thousands stayed and rebelled on for centuries in order to once again rebuild a Jewish Nation in this Holy Land.
Over 3250 years, various Peoples, Religions and Empires marched through Jerusalem, Israel's ancient capital. The region was successively ruled by the Hebrews [Jews], Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Maccabeans, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Egyptians, the Crusaders, Mamelukes, the Turks (who indifferently governed the backward, neglected territory from the 16th century until the British drove them out during World War I) and then once again by the Jews in 1948. None bothered, nor were they in the least bit inclined, to build a Nation of their own... EXCEPT the Jews!
It must be noted that in 636 C.E., when the Arabs marauders came to the land and uprooted even more of its Jews, they did not form any Arab nation there... and certainly not a "Palestinian" nation. They were simply "Arabs" who, as did others before them, moved into a geo-political area called "Palestine!" And remember this one fact... it was not the Jews who "usurped" (a favorite word from the Arab propagandists) the land from the Arabs. If anything, it was the Arabs in 636 C.E. who overran and stole it from the Jews!
No nation, other than the ancient nation of Israel and later again in 1948 with the rebirth of the 2nd Nation of Israel, has ever ruled as a sovereign national entity on this land. A mighty Jewish empire extended over this entire area before the Arabs --- and their Islam --- were even born! The Jewish People have one of the most legitimate Birth Certificates of any nations in the world. Every time there is an archaeological dig in Israel, it does nothing but support the fact that the Jewish People have had a presence there for well over 3,000 years. The national coins, the pottery, the cities, the ancient Hebrew texts... all support this claim. Yes, other peoples have passed through, but there is no mistaking the fact that Jews have always had a continual presence in that land for over 3,000 years. This predates and certain dwarfs any claims that other peoples in the regions may have. The ancient Philistines are extinct. Many other ancient peoples are extinct. They do not have the unbroken line to this date that the Jews have. And if you want to talk religion, fine. G-d GAVE the Land of Israel to the Jewish People. And G-d does nothing by accident!
ANCIENT MAPSThe Kingdom of David and Solomon - 1077 - 997 BCE Kingdom of Herod- 30 BCE to 70 CE Jewish Communities in the Land of Israel -7th-11th Centuries
"PALESTINE?"
The term "Palestine" came from the name that the conquering Roman Empire gave the ancient Land of Israel in an attempt to obliterate and de-legitimize the Jewish presence in the Holy Land. The name "Palestine" was invented in the year 135 C.E. Before it was known as Judea, which was the southern kingdom of ancient Israel. The Roman Procurator in charge of the Judean-Israel territories was so angry at the Jews for revolting that he called for his historians and asked them who were the worst enemies of the Jews in their past history. The scribes said, "the Philistines." Thus, the Procurator declared that Land of Israel would from then forward be called "Philistia" [further bastardized into "Palaistina"] to dishonor the Jews and obliterate their history. Hence the name "Palestine."
One more thing. Very often one hears the revisionists and propagandists finding ancient historical links between the "Philistines" ("Invaders" in Hebrew) and the Arab "Palestinians." There is no truth to this claim! The Philistines were one of a number of Sea Peoples who reached the eastern Mediterranean region approximately 1250-1100 B.C.E. They were actually an amalgamation of various ethnic groups, primarily of Aegean and south-east European origin [Greece, Crete and Western Turkey] and they died out over 2500 years ago! Those Philistines were not Arab... and neither was Goliath! The Arabs of "Palestine" are just that... Arabs! And these Arabs of "Palestine" have about as much historical roots to the ancient Philistines as Yasser Arafat has to the Eskimos!
The ancient, indigenous inhabitants of Palestine are long perished from the earth. Canaanites, Phoencians, and then Philistines, all were dominated by the Israelites before 1060 B.C.E. Most of these cultural identities dissolved completely by the neo-Babylonian age, or, the 6th century B.C.E. Arabs weren’t even in Palestine until the mid-7th century C.E., over a thousand years later, after Palestine’s 1,300-year Jewish history. Arabs later living in Palestine never developed themselves or the land, but remained nomadic and quasi-primitive.
Even the word "Palestine" has no meaning in Arabic - every word in Arabic has some meaning deriving from the Koran, but the word "Palestine" does not. Even the term "Palestinian people" is rather ironic since the letter "P" is non-existent in the Arab language. If anything, the name "Palestine" was associated with Jews. In the years leading up to the rebirth of Israel in 1948, those who spoke of "Palestinians" were nearly always referring to the region's Jewish residents. For example, the "Palestine Post" [forerunner of today's Jerusalem Post] newspaper and the Palestine Symphony Orchestra were all-Jewish. The "Palestine Brigade Regiment" was composed exclusively of Jewish volunteers in the British World War II Army. In fact, Arab leaders rejected the notion of a unique "Palestinian Arab" identity, insisting that Palestine was merely a part of "Greater Syria."
THE RETURN TO ZION A return through both time and space to their ancestral homeland
The Land of Israel was never devoid of Jews, although at times she numbered only in the tens of thousands. This was because the land was virtually uninhabitable when the Jews once again began their God-given right AND duty to return en masse to the land of their forefathers (the Zionist Movement) in the 1880s. The silly rhetoric about a massive Arab presence being overrun by "invading Jews" is quickly dispelled by Mark Twain, who visited the area in 1867. From his book, "The Innocents Abroad"... "A desolate country whose soil is rich enough, but is given over wholly to weeds... a silent mournful expanse.... a desolation.... we never saw a human being on the whole route.... hardly a tree or shrub anywhere. Even the olive tree and the cactus, those fast friends of a worthless soil, had almost deserted the country."
The Jews did not displace anyone, because very few of the people who were there actually owned the land. Most were absentee owners residing elsewhere. Another fact hardly mentioned by the "new historians" is that the arriving Jews never threw anyone off any land. All land was purchased legally from the original owners... whether they be from "Palestine" itself or elsewhere. Furthermore, top dollar was paid for this land which, in many cases, was uninhabited and hardly more than swamp land and rocky terrain. Only about 120,000 Arabs resided in an area that now comprises the State of Israel, Jordan and the so-called "West Bank" [Judea and Samaria] in between. By 1890, the number of Jews who had settled in Palestine reached 50,000 and, by 1907, numbered 100,000. In Jerusalem alone the Jews numbered more than 25,000, out of a total population in the city of only 40,000 Jews, Christians and Arabs. The Arabs did, however, constitute a majority over the sparsely populated countryside abutting Jerusalem.
1880'sFor more remarkable early photos of the Holy Land click Here
From 1888 until 1915 there were about six locust plagues that made the land nearly uninhabitable. In the 1915 locust plague alone some 40,000 people died and large numbers of Jews and Arabs left the land. Those that returned did not do so until about 1922 when the Zionist money to reclaim the land started coming in and a pipe line was laid. Then both Arabs and Jews started to come in in large numbers.
Palestine's early Jewish Zionists were idealistic pioneers who arrived in pre-state Israel with every intention of living in peace alongside their Arab neighbors and upgrading the quality of life for all of the land's inhabitants. These pre-Israel Zionists (and later, Israelis) had tried to develop peacefully for the dual benefit of Jews and Arabs in the land. But the Arab leadership always, starting in the earliest days, took the low road of insisting that the only solution was for the Jews to get out, even if that meant continued poverty and stagnation. When Arab demands were not met, they always resorted to violence.
The vast majority of Arabs came to the area after these early Zionist pioneers began draining the malaria-infested swamps (above photo) and plowing the land! In doing so, these Jews created the economic opportunities and medical availabilities which attracted Arabs from both surrounding territories and far-away lands! In fact, over 90% of the Arabs migrated there within the last one hundred years. Most of the Arabs in "Palestine" were interlopers and squatters originating from Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Iraq and other lands who simply took possession of pieces of land. So much for their unfounded claims that they have been there since "time immemorial!" These Arabs came from disorganized collections of tribes with a tradition of constantly terrorizing each other and trying to seize land from their neighbors. Many of them were social outcasts and criminals who could not find jobs in their own countries so they searched for their luck elsewhere. Unfortunately, those Arab immigrants imported into the Holy Land their age-old culture of terrorizing neighbors in order to seize land. In fact, today's Arab "Palestinians", let by Arafat and his PLO (sanitized to the PA, or Palestinian Authority...which is nothing more than A Network of Murderers Masquerading As Government!) are still nothing more than street thugs, bullies and 'Little Saddams' found elsewhere throughout most of the most Arab world.
Yet while the returning Jews were highly motivated to restore the land, the Arabs seethed with envy and hatred for they lacked both the leadership to inspire and motivate them for they were, in fact, historical strangers to this land! Unlike the Jews, those Arabs who immigrated there had no ancient attachments to or historical memories of this homeland ... this ancient Land of the JEWS!
The real problem facing those Arabs today is not the lack of a homeland. The historical root-cause of their problem and frustration is the fact that the countries they came from have not agreed to accept them back in. This is why so many of them live, up until today, in refugee camps, in neighboring Arab countries, lacking fundamental civil rights. In their frustration they feel that the only hope and choice they have is to try and steal someone else's country!
In Conclusion:
There was no "Arab Palestinian" history before the Arabs manufactured one shortly after 1948, and then especially after the June 1967 Arab-Israeli War! In an interview with the Dutch newspaper "Trau" (March 31, 1977), PLO executive committee member Zahir Muhsein said, "The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct 'Palestinian people' to oppose Zionism. It is also been a "conceptual" war for ownership of the term "Palestinian" which has been transferred over to the Arabs whereas, before 1967, "Palestine" has always been synonymous with Eretz Israel and the Land of Israel.
Archeological sites to this very day continue to yield artifacts with Hebrew writing, not some fictitious "Palestinian" or Arabic text! The so-called "Palestinian" Arabs were simply then, as they are now, Arabs no different culturally, historically or ethnically from other Arabs living in any of the 24 Arab countries from which they emigrated. The suggestion that the "Palestinians" are some sub-group of Arabs with their own unique identity is pure fiction! Great propaganda... but still pure fiction! And had not the Arabs continued to brainwash generation upon generation into believing this HISTORICAL HOGWASH about some ancient "Arab Palestinian" ties to the Holy Land, most could have gotten themselves a real life by now with much less bloodshed and suffering for everyone concerned!
Rabbi Jonathan Ginsburg
Latest from Richard Beahr
2. Jonathan Schanzer and Asif Romirowksi suggest that when an Israeli prime minister puts Jerusalem on the table, he is headed out of office. Given that 100 law enforcement officials swooped down to collect documents about Olmert's alleged corrupt activities the other day, he may be headed for jail.http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/11/ auctioning_jerusalem_foretells.html3. Is there a message in this collection of articles: Hamas say they will take over the West Bank if Israel leaves, the PA will not accept that Israel is a predominantly Jewish state (though the West Bank, like Gaza need to be Judenrein), most Palestinians will not give up the right of return, and a significant minority of Palestinians will never accept an end to the conflict with Israel. So why exactly is now the moment for a renewed peace process?http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL0995750http://www.jmcc.org/publicpoll/results/2007/no63.pdfRick Richman: http://www.nysun.com/article/66277http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/923076.html4. The real story about the Jewish refugees from several Arab countries following Israel's 1948-49 war of independence is slowly starting to come out , after 60 years, and 126 UN resolutions about the smaller number of Arab refugees from that war.http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/ 000/000/014/350mfxhx.asp
Rabbi Jonathan Gnsburg
Rabbi Jonathan Gnsburg
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Cotton's ridiculous piece in the Trib
Read this and I'll point out the obvious errors and distortions:
A glimpse at a life in line
For Palestinians, a tense daily grind
By Robert Cotton Fite, an Episcopal priest and clinical psychologist who lives in Wilmette
November 11, 2007
: Waiting in line at a West Bank border checkpoint, intimidated by the prison like atmosphere and frustrated by the Israeli soldier denying me passage back into Israel, I got my first real taste of what it's like most days for thousands of Palestinians. ..I don't yet understand how the Palestinian people endure the oppression of an occupation or what it feels like to be a Palestinian. I could always have returned to Zababdeh, called the American Consulate and gotten out. An ordinary Palestinian would have no such advocate, or even, perhaps, an Israeli friend like Harry. cotton.fite@sbcglobal.net
1. None of this ever needed to happen.
a. Nov 1947 the UN voted to partition Palestine to 2 nations, 1 Jewish 1 Arab. The jews agreed. The Arabs fought to exterminate the Jews.
b. Between 1948-1967 the Jordanians controlled the West Bank and Egypt Gaza. If they cared, they could have, on day 1, created Arab state there. It could now be 60 years old.
2. It need not be now this way. Every Israeli Prime Minister in a decade has tried to create an Arab state but The Palestinians continued to try and kill Israels in Intifada 1 and 2 and now daily missiles fired from Gaza. Hamas refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist, or renounce terror. If the Arabs would be interested in life, instead of death, there would be a State for Arabs there, a 22nd Arab state, asap. When Arabs smuggle weapons in ambulances, masquerading as women wearing full length Arab dress, etc, what can Israel do?
It is too bad the Palestinians are inconvenienced this way. Then don't elect terrorists who want to kill Jews as part of their basic platform.
A glimpse at a life in line
For Palestinians, a tense daily grind
By Robert Cotton Fite, an Episcopal priest and clinical psychologist who lives in Wilmette
November 11, 2007
: Waiting in line at a West Bank border checkpoint, intimidated by the prison like atmosphere and frustrated by the Israeli soldier denying me passage back into Israel, I got my first real taste of what it's like most days for thousands of Palestinians. ..I don't yet understand how the Palestinian people endure the oppression of an occupation or what it feels like to be a Palestinian. I could always have returned to Zababdeh, called the American Consulate and gotten out. An ordinary Palestinian would have no such advocate, or even, perhaps, an Israeli friend like Harry. cotton.fite@sbcglobal.net
1. None of this ever needed to happen.
a. Nov 1947 the UN voted to partition Palestine to 2 nations, 1 Jewish 1 Arab. The jews agreed. The Arabs fought to exterminate the Jews.
b. Between 1948-1967 the Jordanians controlled the West Bank and Egypt Gaza. If they cared, they could have, on day 1, created Arab state there. It could now be 60 years old.
2. It need not be now this way. Every Israeli Prime Minister in a decade has tried to create an Arab state but The Palestinians continued to try and kill Israels in Intifada 1 and 2 and now daily missiles fired from Gaza. Hamas refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist, or renounce terror. If the Arabs would be interested in life, instead of death, there would be a State for Arabs there, a 22nd Arab state, asap. When Arabs smuggle weapons in ambulances, masquerading as women wearing full length Arab dress, etc, what can Israel do?
It is too bad the Palestinians are inconvenienced this way. Then don't elect terrorists who want to kill Jews as part of their basic platform.
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