The Palestinians . . . Millions of Gollums?

A thought occurred to me tonight. I'd like to throw it out there for comment, to those who have seen The Two Towers. Aren't the Palestinians and the Arab/Islamist world a lot like the psycho-evil Gollum personality? "Those tricksy Zionistses, they stole it from us. Tricksy, false! We'll poke out their eyeses. Or . . . we could have Saddam do it. Yes! That's it! We'll have Saddam do it. And then, when they're dead, we takes the precious."

[This is cross-posted at Ben Shapiro Online.]

The Pride, by Martin Peretz in The New Republic (registration is neccessary to view). It talks about Israel's tense relationship with Hezbollah and the controversey over Oriana Fallaci's The Rage and the Pride.

In the matter of Tom Paulin's opinions about Israel, why discuss their legitimacy when we can discuss their stupidity?
Tom Paulin's opinions about Israel

In the matter of Tom Paulin's opinions about Israel, why discuss their legitimacy when we can discuss their stupidity? Paulin is the distinguished poet who wrote in a poem called "Killed in Crossfire" in the London Observer on February 18, 2001, that

... another little Palestinian boy
In trainers jeans and a white teeshirt
Is gunned down by the Zionist SS
Whose initials we should
--but we don't--dumb goys
Clock in that weasel word
Crossfire.

and told Al-Ahram Weekly of Cairo in April that "I have never believed that Israel had the right to exist at all" and that the Jewish settlers in the occupied territories "should be shot dead. I think they are Nazis, racists, I feel nothing but hatred for them." When he was asked last winter to read his poetry at Harvard, these unlyrical exclamations returned to haunt the luft-menschen and -frauen who invited him, there was pressure to rescind the invitation, a controversy ensued, first principles were strewn all over Harvard Yard, the poet withdrew, and everybody was left with a sensation of victimhood, which is to say that a good time was had by all. I would not have disinvited the man and his problem. If hate speech should not be restricted, then it should not be restricted even when it is me that it hates. The American way must be to take offense so as to give offense, to suck it up and then go after the substance of it, so that none of the mistake and the insult is left morally or intellectually standing. It is not all that hard to humiliate a person who believes that Zionism is Nazism, to make him seem like a perfect idiot. To question Paulin's legitimacy, by contrast, makes him seem only like a hero, which no doubt confirms him in his own image of his lonely, valiant, dissenting, visiting-professor self.

The view that Zionism is Nazism--there is no other way to understand the phrase "Zionist SS"--is not different in kind from the view that the moon is cheese. It is not only spectacularly wrong, it is also spectacularly unintelligent. I will not offend myself (that would be self-hate speech!) by patiently explaining why the State of Israel is unlike the Third Reich, except to say that nothing that has befallen the Palestinians under Israel's control may responsibly be compared to what befell the Jews under Germany's control, and that a considerable number of the people who have toiled diligently to find peace and justice for the Palestinians, and a solution to this savage conflict, have been Israeli, some of them even Israeli prime ministers. There is no support for the Palestinian cause this side of decency that can justify the locution "Zionist SS." Paulin's expression does not reveal him to be quite the "reader of almost fanatical scrupulosity" that Edward Said has found him to be, at least as regards the "reading" of history and morality. As for the reading of literary texts, in some of his critical writings Paulin has prided himself on his loathing for T.S. Eliot's anti-Semitism, carrying his prosecutorial enthusiasm beyond hermeneutical plausibility. (Paulin is one of the most remorseless politicizers of poetical interpretation now at large: He reads Emily Dickinson for her "critique of mercantile values.") In his new book of poems, The Invasion Handbook, he has Eliot entertaining himself in a wordgame with a notorious anti-Semite that mischievously anticipates a place "far away to the east" whose name is a "rhyme for Ritz/no not Biarritz." This is unfair even to Eliot; but its indignation on behalf of the Jews is forever vitiated by "Zionist SS."

As for the Jewish settlers, I will not dignify Paulin's bloodlust with my own objections to their worldview: Even if they are wrong, he can go to hell. There is an old radical tradition that blesses writers who demand that people who fall within a particular political definition be "shot dead," that discovers conscience in an appetite for murder. Is there a significant distinction between being shot dead and being blown to bits? If, instead of remarking that the settlers should be shot dead, Paulin had remarked that they should be blown to bits, then his jihadism would have been even more plain. Anyway he told the Egyptian weekly that "I can understand how suicide bombers feel." I wonder if Paulin believes that there will be room for progressive writers in Sheik Yassin's Palestine. Pity the poet who is disinvited from there.

When I say that Paulin's hate speech hates me, I do not wish to melodramatize. I wish to suggest that Paulin may suffer from, how shall I say, an acute sensitivity to Jews. I find evidence of this condition in that odd and phonily self-lacerating epithet "dumb goys." The epithet is only half right. You would have to be dumb to see the SS in Israeli crossfire, but you would not have to be non-Jewish. There are many Jews who make the foolish analogy, and there are many non-Jews who denounce it. Paulin's phrase suggests that in his unlovely view the debate about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is essentially a debate between Jews and "goys." (A fanatical scrupulosity would have written "goyim.") He reifies me. I will not be reified.

There is also anecdotal evidence for Paulin's imbalance in this regard. In 1999, Nadeem Ahmed, a graduate student at Hertford College, Oxford, who was pursuing a master's degree in medieval Arabic philosophy, was asked to take exams in Arabic, along with two other students. He took the exams and he failed. Then he sued the university for racial discrimination. As it happens, Ahmed's "moral tutor" at Hertford was Tom Paulin, who rose to his student's defense and concurred in his student's analysis that he had been persecuted. And, as it happens, Ahmed's instructor was a man called Friedrich Zimmermann. When the university's lawyer asked Paulin at the trial in March why he had not taken his complaint to Zimmermann, Paulin weirdly explained that "I had heard on the grapevine that he was a very difficult person," and also remarked that Zimmermann had arranged a sabbatical in Israel "to get out of the way." Get it? The Jew harmed the Muslim and escaped to Israel. The university's lawyer showed that the sabbatical was planned long before the trial was scheduled. But Paulin's sinister insinuation lingers. I have no idea whether Nadeem Ahmed's exam was graded properly by Friedrich Zimmermann. But I do know that piety about oppression sometimes breeds fantasy. When you invent victims, you invent victimizers.

Pretty demagogic, huh I mean my suggestion that Paulin may not be mentally pure in his treatment of this question. Sinister insinuations, indeed. But what did the dumb goy expect? I cannot help myself. I am a smart Jew. I write for an organ of international Zionism. I think that Israel has a right to exist. I do not care to understand how suicide bombers feel. I am the man who stands between a good world and a bad world, though I would never stand between Tom Paulin and Harvard.

Petain’s heirs harass, John bull bullies

Two pieces, one next to the other, from the Jerusalem Post.

First to Petain’s heirs. The Jerusalem Post story reports:

The French consulates in Jerusalem and Haifa are refusing to recognize Jewish wedding ceremonies, including those performed in pre-1967 Israel, if the presiding rabbi happens to be a resident of Judea, Samaria, or the Gaza Strip, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

In one recent case, Martine D., a Frenchwoman who converted to Judaism and married an Israeli in a ceremony in Jerusalem, approached the French Consulate to apply for a livret de famille, an official document which records the status and details of one's family members.

Martine's request was turned down, she was told, because the rabbi who performed the ceremony lives in Gush Etzion.

Would you not think that a country in which synagogues are burnt and rabbis are stabbed would have better things on its mind than harass democratic Israel? Well, you’d be wrong. It’s the pettiness that is so appalling, Pierre!

As to John Bull, the blood of Sunday’s terror victims has not even dried and Britain is already bullying Israel about her decision not to allow a PA delegation to attend the conference that the Brits are plotting. Again, the Jerusalem Post:

Britain protests Israel's decision about London conference

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw expressed "great regret" about Israel's decision on Monday to prevent leading Palestinians from traveling to London for a British-sponsored conference on reforming the Palestinian Authority on January 24...
Straw seemed particularly displeased that he had not been told in advance of Israel's decision to prevent the Palestinians from traveling to London, noting that he had only learnt of the decision on a BBC news program...
He said the British government was seeking "further clarification," adding: "I very much hope the Israeli government will think again."

Together with all Israel's supporters, I hope that Israel stand up to the British bullies and sticks by the decision of the Israeli cabinet.

Contributed by Joseph Alexander Norland This piece is cross-posted on IsraPundit and Dawson Speaks.

In your dreams

Gwynne Dyer: Ageing Arafat his own worst enemy Op-ed piece in New Zealand Herald

You idiot.

Terrorism isn't about killing innocent people; that's just a means to an end. Terrorism is about goading a stronger opponent into behaving in ways that will benefit your cause.

That doesn't make it acceptable.

On Sunday, for the first time since November, a couple of Palestinian suicide-bombers got through and blew themselves up in central Tel Aviv. At least 23 people were killed, most of them foreign workers from Africa and Asia who came to Israel to do the low-wage jobs that were once filled by Palestinians.

With wearisome predictability, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's spokesman blamed Yasser Arafat: "This terrorist attack has earned the Palestinian Authority's stamp of approval. It is a direct result of persistent incitement coming out of the Palestinian Authority and its refusal to rein in the terrorists in its midst."

And here I thought that the continuation of the terror was "with wearisome predictability". Of course Arafat is responsible.

Sorry, could you run that by me again? You're talking about Yasser Arafat, the man whose whole career was dedicated to the goal of getting his people recognised as Palestinians (with rights to at least some of the land of what used to be called Palestine), rather than mere refugees with a right only to a tent and daily rations?

Wrong again. Arafat's career has been dedicated to destroying Israel. Look at his record; he doesn't give a damn about the Palestinians and when he started there were no people recognized as Palestinian. And if he really wanted rights to "some of the land of what used to be called Palestine", he would have accepted Barak's offer.

The man who then risked assassination by his own hard-liners by renouncing terrorism, signing the Oslo accords with Yitzhak Rabin, and then, after Mr Rabin was assassinated, waiting patiently while Binyamin Netanyahu stalled for three years on fulfilling the terms of the accords?

No. I am talking about the man who never renounced terrorism except when talking to the western media or when signing agreements. I am talking about the man who from the day Oslo was signed preceeded to violate the agreement by building a culture of hate and violence. I am talking about the man who considered Oslo as a phase leading to the destruction of Israel.

You reckon he sent the bombers?

You gotta believe it. Don't forget as the leader of the people, elected or otherwise, he is responsible. The only buck that stops with him is the one that ends up in his pocket.

Mr Sharon's spokesman doesn't really believe that Mr Arafat sent the bombers. He's just "on message" - the message being that we must discredit Mr Arafat because he's still the really dangerous Palestinian, the one who wants to make a deal. Mr Sharon isn't interested in making any deal that gives the Palestinians a viable country in what remains of their original territory because that would block his purpose of incorporating much of that land into Israel.

Your ignorance astounds me. That you would believe that Sharon, who has only been in power two years is responsible, whereas Arafat, the father of modern day terrorism, is well meaning and a lamb, is beyond belief.

So his goal is to paint all Palestinians who want to make a deal as unreasonable terrorists who have no interest in a deal.

Not quite. There may be Palestinians who want to make a deal but they are either mute or dead. Sharon is not accusing Palestinians in general,but Arafat and his followers as "unreasonable terrorists who have no interest in a permanent deal".

Mr Arafat is his own worst enemy, of course.

You assume that Arafat's actions work against the achievment of a state rather then work for the destruction of Israel which is his true objective.

He was a brilliant guerrilla/terrorist leader, cunning, long-sighted and staunch in adversity, but he is an inept negotiator and a dreadful administrator.

The reason everybody has all but given up on the Palestinian Authority is that Mr Arafat never graduated from being a guerrilla leader: he maintains control over his Administration by appointing three, or four, or five men to do the same job, setting them against one another so that only he can adjudicate the disputes.

When you finally get in to see him, five or six hours after the agreed time, you are likely to find him personally signing cheques for only a few hundred dollars: Mr Arafat is a bandit chieftain who never managed the transition to real power.

The last and greatest service he could have done for the Palestinian people would have been to die in the siege of Beirut 20 years ago, leaving it to a younger, better-educated generation of Palestinians to negotiate a land-and-peace agreement with a triumphant but still vulnerable Israel. Alas, he didnt.

You should make your living telling fairy tales or lies. But you're right to refer to him as a "terrorist", a person who "never graduated from being a guerilla leader" and a "bandit chieftan". And lastly I agree that "The last and greatest service he could have done for the Palestinian people would have been to die in the siege of Beirut 20 years ago".

Terrorism is never "blind"; it is politics by other means.

True. But that doesn't make it moral or acceptable. Terrorism is a crime against humanity regardless if it is for a cause.

Join Bloggers in Support of Israel (BISI) and IsraPundit

This is a revised re-post of our invitation to pro-Israel bloggers to join BISI (and its vehicle, IsraPundit); we post this invitation weekly on Tuesdays. This week we include answers to questions raised by bloggers who’ve contacted us recently.

First, a warm welcome to all the new article-contributors: you are enriching IsraPundit by adding new voices and new viewpoints.

IsraPundit provides a platform for anyone who wishes to post regularly or occasionally (or even rarely), provided only that the articles in question fall within the purview of “pro-Israel advocacy”, broadly defined. We do prefer articles that are short on adjectives and rhetoric, and long on nouns, facts and arguments. Let the facts do the convincing. News, views, analyses and reviews are all welcome.

There is no commitment whatsoever in joining BISI/IsraPundit, except for remaining within the limits of “pro-Israel advocacy”. In response to questions asked, I underscore that there are no charges, fees, etc. No traps, honestly.

Of course, you may also cross-post articles you post elsewhere: if you run your own blog site, then copying articles to IsraPundit takes but 5 extra minutes. Trust me, I cross-post all the time. If you use our standard attribution, “Contributed by [your name]; this article is cross-posted at [name of your site]”, then you may end up increasing the traffic to your site as a bonus.

Some of us (including myself) have closed our original sites and post on IsraPundit only; the advantage stems from the fact that one need not feel beholden to post continually. With time, many bloggers feel the pressure to post daily as overly burdensome (just check out how many blogs are being discontinued every week!) With IsraPundit, you post when you can spare the time, knowing that others ensure that the site is never without new material.

Above all else, the main advantage in joining BISI is the knowledge that you are supporting our sister-democracy, Israel, at a very tough time.

The technicalities of joining are as easy as sending me an e-mail - dt804@yahoo.ca - indicating willingness to join. I then send a "formal invitation" and you're on your way to posting. When you write to me, please enclose name, e-mail address, and the URL of your site. If you don't have a site, please send a sample article. If you have questions, send them to me.

I also invite all readers to send critical comments about the site: what do you like (if anything), what do you dislike ("everythging" is not a sufficient answer), what would you like the site to change? As we continue into our fourth month, and as we are confident that IsraPundit is here to stay, we are about to assess these points, and your feedback is most welcome. Don't hesitate to be harsh - our hide competes with that of a rhino. You can post your views as comments or e-mail them to me (dt804@yahoo.ca).

BISI is more than just IsraPundit, though currently the effort is concentrated on IsraPundit alone. We do intend to initiate a discussion about other aspects of support for Israel that we may undertake to help our sister-republic, but we can only move one step at a time. In particular, we'd like to engage in a dialogue with "neutrals" or foes; preaching to the converted is comfortable, but it does not further the cause. We’d also like to see more collaboration and co-ordination among web sites (bloggers and others) who support Israel.

We are still having difficulties with our archives, as you can see by checking out the right-hand column. If you are a member of BISI and you can lend a hand to fix this problem, please contact me.

Thank you for reading this post, and if you join - a double thank you.

A special thanks to Fred for suggesting this posting which has already brought IsraPundit several new article-contributors..

Joseph Alexander Norland, dt804@yahoo.ca

Rantburg.com has some anti-Palestinian links posted here and comments by readers. Commentary: Is indifference to the fate of the Palestinians growing?

Daniel Pipes argues that the Palestinians now realize that Intifada II a big mistake and he enumerates "evidence," but polls I have seen argue that the Palestinians (a majority of them) want to continue with suicide bombings. Pipes while showing devestation to Palestinian's lives does not consider the costs to Israel. You decide.To End the [Palestinian] Violence

News Report by Neil MacDonald on CBCTV The National, Monday January 6, 2003

Dear Mr. MacDonald,

I am happy to say that last night I think you almost got it right! With your closing comment when you indicated that "the efforts by the extremists meant to push the Israeli public even further to the right would perpetuate the bloodshed here" you stated exactly what the Arab extremists want. It goes back to their carefully thought out "Plan of Phases" adopted in 1974 at the 12th Session of the Palestinian National Council held in Cairo Egypt, where they envisioned a 3-step approach for the destruction for the State of Israel. As you probably know, after losing 3 wars which they initiated culminating in their terrible losses as a result of the Six Day War, the Arabs realized that they would have to find an alternative method for "liquidating Israel" which had always been their goal*.

One aspect of their "Plan of Phases" is to destroy Israel through world public opinion. By inflicting these horrific attacks in the heart of Israel, she has no alternative but to respond. Israel is caught in a dilemma. If she does nothing she is perceived as weak. If she retaliates with too much bloodshed (which is the goal of the terrorists) she is perceived as being the evil aggressor on the world stage of public opinion. By bombing the "empty metal workshops" Israel at least taking a stand, however "mild a punishment". However, by goading Israel with these attacks and "pushing her further to the right" as you indicate, the Arabs hope to enrage Israel into responding with a massive retaliatory attack in order to have the United Nations enter the fray and impose harsh consequences by reducing Israel into an ineffective indefensible diminished enterprise which will ultimately result in her demise - The Plan of Phases - or Doctrine of Stages if you prefer! THIS IS THEIR GOAL!

However, I take issue with you on a different point! It was "extremely relevant" that Palestinian officials be barred from attending the conference in London England. These officials ARE a major part of "the equation" together with the extremist groups in further developing their strategies in effecting the "Plan of Phases"! They are the brains behind much of the revisionism and they use these 'get-togethers' to further their plans. AS WELL, it was a political achievement to be invited by Tony Blair for ARABS ONLY - NO ISRAELIS ALLOWED! The Palestinians would have been receiving 'a reward' for their intransigence instead of having the ultimate consequence for their actions by not attending. Why should they participate in a major offense and then be allowed to carry on as if nothing happened? When your children act naughty do you still agree to take them out for ice cream?

And one other point! The 'Israeli army veteran' who was venting about destroying and massacring the Arabs after this horrendous attack was reacting in a normal fashion. For you to give him prime exposure merely heightens world opinion against Israel. People now will say "See the Israelis do hate the Arabs - they too want to massacre the Arabs - see there is equal violence and hate on each side"! This was not fair of CBC. There is a big difference between one person at the height of anxiety voicing his feelings and the actual committing of a heinous terrorist attack. There is a big difference between someone voicing anger and hate compared with the 'deliberate teaching of hate as part of a national public indoctrination plan'! You were negating the impact of the attack. You should have stopped at the end of his first sentence! You should have had someone saying, "Look what the Arab terrorists have done - sheer butchery - mangled bodies - look at this mass slaughter of human life - this is deliberate genocide!"

Yes Neil, you are on the right track but you have a long way to go! You are still playing into the Arab hands and spreading their propaganda.

You know Neil, you are paid by Canadians - Canada is against terrorism - the future well-being of your family rests on our Western Society being able to win the war against terrorism - perhaps it's time that you acknowledged that the 'men' who perpetrated and organized this attack are in reality, 'terrorists' and no other word is going to adequately define them. AND you are right, they are not interested in making "any kind of deal with Israel"! It's time for you to start eliminating the subtle unnecessary innuendoes against Israel!

Shirley Anne Haber

Now this is what I call a peace maker Achille Lauro hijack mastermind in Cairo for ceasefire talks

Do they serve bagels and lox in Mecca?A Muslim Trawls For Jewish Souls

Daniel Pipes gets blacklisted. Free speech (?) at American universities gives in to pressure groups Speech Down the Pipes

France strikes again

The country that has been the world's whore since the post-Napoleon Bonaparte era struck again this week when they decided not to recognize marriages conducted by Rabbis living in Judea and Samaria. No matter where the wedding is or was actually conducted, if the Rabbi is a resident of Judea and Samaria, the French reject the marriage.

In one recent case, Martine D., a Frenchwoman who converted to Judaism and married an Israeli in a ceremony in Jerusalem, approached the French Consulate to apply for a livret de famille, an official document which records the status and details of one's family members.

Martine's request was turned down, she was told, because the rabbi who performed the ceremony lives in Gush Etzion.

I've been to Gush Etzion, and it is a beautiful settlement surrounded by Arab villages who fire on them all the time. Apparently, according to the French, being targeted for murder disqualifies you from performing wedding ceremonies.

"The woman at the consulate told me that even though I was married in Jerusalem, the French government does not recognize it because the marriage certificate bears the signature and heading of a rabbi from Gush Etzion, which she said is occupied territory," Martine said.

First, it's liberated, not occupied. And second, I wonder whether France recognizes weddings performed by Syrians, who occupy Lebanon.

"They told me I must apply to the Ministry of the Interior in France to seek a special exemption. This is ridiculous. Why should it matter where the rabbi who oversaw the ceremony lives?"

A spokeswoman for the French Consulate confirmed that its policy is not to recognize marriage certificates issued by the Chief Rabbinate's local branches in Judea, Samaria, and the Gaza Strip.

They're also not too keen on Jewish weddings anywhere in the world. Which is why during World War II, the French started shipping Jews to the gas chambers before the Germans even asked.

"This is our policy and it is not new. France does not recognize such marriage certificates, because it is the location of the rabbinate issuing the certificate that matters."

Asked about the policy, Jerusalem Consul Jacques Yves Raimbault would say only that the woman in question should make an appointment to see him, and that he would review her file.

Something tells me that he won't recognize her marriage. Of course, recognition of marriage from France is in and of itself a ridiculous idea. The French are perhaps the most immoral people on earth. In any case, this should remind Jews to stay as far away from France as humanly possible.

Seems it is easy to be anti-American, but now much is changing because of immigration and its discontents. Europe migrates to the right

Editorial: Gwynne Dyer: Ageing Arafat his own worst enemy

Another summary of Israeli editorials:


This one is noteworthy mostly not only because it is truthful and unbiased, but because it appears in a Lebanese paper. There is hope.

Militantism, says this piece, is central to Islam and not a minor branch.There is No Militant Islam
found via Gabrielle Goldwater's Reports

Summary of Editorials from the Hebrew Press

Blair enters Israel ban row

But see: Dr. Steven Plaut, Univ. of Haifa Dr. Plaut, a professor of Economics and Business, derides the British attitudes and reveals the hypocrisy at work.

Emigration of French Jews to Israel increased drastically last year in the wake of a string of attacks on members of the community. French Jews leave home for Israel

The Logic of Israel's Targeted Killing

SOME ARABS HAVE THEIR OWN TIMETABLE FOR ISRAEL

President Bush and United Nations Secretary Kofi Annan may be pursuing their three-year timetable to establish a Palestinian state, but Hamas Sheik Ahmed Yassin has unveiled his personal 23-year schedule: Loosely translated, destroy Israel.

Yassin told Hamas supporters at a mass rally in Gaza City on Friday, Dec. 27, "Resistance will move forward, jihad will continue, and martyrdom operations will continue until the full liberation of Palestine. The Zionist entity will fall within the first quarter of this century."

He could very well have been talking about Israeli control of the territories...if you wish to stretch your imagination. I strongly doubt it.

Advocates on both sides of the Israeli crisis convey sharply different predictions as to whether an independent state existing beside Israel will be sufficient for the Palestinians.

Supporters of the Palestinians claim that they will be happy with their own state. Many Jews and other supporters of Israel contend that creation of a state will be one giant step toward driving all Jews into the sea.

I hope it is the former, but after the events of the last two years, I have too much difficulty believing that that will be the end of all serious hostilities.

Two facts are clear after following this crisis since violence erupted in late September 2000. First, a large number of Palestinians in Israel’s territories have made it clear that they want not only a state but also the destruction of Israel.

Likewise, a fair number of Palestinians are perfectly willing to live in peace with the Israelis, and some probably don‘t care whether they have their own state or live under Israeli rule, so long as they are treated fairly.

Unfortunately, it is impossible to quantify how many fit either category, which makes it all the harder to determine if the extremists can be controlled should a Palestinian state be established.

The zealots among them indoctrinate their children to hate Israel and train them to kill and to die if it will help kill infidels. Thousands of them danced in the streets after Sept. 11 attacks and following a suicide bombing at Hebrew University. Not only do they murder Israelis but also fellow Palestinians who might be considered collaborators – even when they can‘t prove it.

It’s obvious that peaceful Palestinians remain silent because they are terrorized by the fanatics.

Can anyone say with a straight face that fanatics like these will settle down if they get an independent state?

The likelihood is that a sizeable segment of the Palestinians won’t give it up. They might have far less support than they have now, but there will probably be enough extremists to cause Israel serious trouble.

Such a force is one of the most volatile factors in an extremely complicated situation which must be addressed to reach an accommodation. Anyone who denies this reality is, well, in denial - an attitude which benefits neither side.

Contributedf by BRUCE S. TICKER, Philadelphia, Brucetic@aol.com

Hamas criticizes PA for condemning Tel Aviv bombings

anti-West and anti-Israel

More riots in Bahrain, Gulf neighbors brace for trouble

RESPONSE FROM CANADIAN GOVERNMENT TO MY CRITICISM OF HIZBOLLAH NOT BEING A PROSCRIBED ORGANISATION


Dear Dr Bornstein,
Thank you for your e-mail of December 8, 2002. Please accept our apologies
for the delay in the response.
On December 10, 2002, the Canadian Government listed Hezbollah in its
entirety under the Canadian Criminal Code and the UN Suppression of
Terrorism Regulations. New information concerning Hezbollah, such as Sheikh
Nasrallah's November 29 speech, was a key factor in deciding to list
Hezbollah in its entirety.
Canada condemns in the strongest terms the horrific suicide bombings which
occurred in Tel Aviv on January 5. We offer our sincere condolences to the
victims and their families. After more than two years of bloodshed, the time
has come to regain the road to peace. We call on all parties to pursue
actions consistent with that goal.
In relation to your concerns regarding some Canadian campuses, they may
relate to a decision made by the Concordia University Student Union. We
suggest that you raise your concerns directly with the institution
concerned, keeping in mind that the decision by the Concordia Student Union
may now be before the courts. You may also find of interest the following
announcement by Concordia University about the decision
A . As well, we attach a
media clipping from the Globe and Mail which describes the events which lie
behind the decision (see below).
Mailing address:
Concordia University
1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd. W.
Montreal, Quebec H3G 1M8
Canada
Phone: 514.848.2424
a
ANNEX
Banned group taking campus union to court
By OLIVER MOORE
Globe and Mail Update
A Jewish student group banned from Concordia University is going to court to
have its status on campus reinstated and its funding restored.
Legal counsel for Concordia Hillel on Wednesday announced the details of
their case, which they say represents the first banning of a Jewish student
organization "since Austria in the '30s."
The group was banned by the Concordia Student Union (CSU) after a complaint
that pamphlets they were distributed included appeals for students to join
the Israel Defence Forces.
Canada's Foreign Enlistment Act makes it illegal for anyone in the country
to recruit or induce someone "to enlist or to accept any commission or
engagement in the armed forces of any foreign state or other armed forces
operating in that state." After voting 8-1 to ban Hillel, the CSU justified
the action by noting that it is legally liable for the actions of its
student clubs.
The CSU argues that the group broke federal law because it was recruiting
Canadians to join a foreign army, but Concordia Hillel co-president Noah
Joseph says that the pamphlets were just an excuse to crack down.
"It's very clear that that's a thinly veiled excuse," he told
globeandmail.com from Montreal. "We're basically their only political
opposition on campus, we're the only ones who oppose them in any of their
practices or policies and they've been looking for a way to get us out of
the way."
Concordia Hillel's lawyer said that the CSU had ignored a Monday deadline to
reinstate Hillel and that court documents are being prepared. A preliminary
hearing could be set as early as next, lawyer Michael Bergman told
globeandmail.com.
"The resolution banning the Hillel from Concordia is illegal, it is contrary
to the Charter of Human Rights, it is contrary to the Concordia Student
Union constitution and bylaws, it was adopted using an irregular and
improper procedure," he said.
"It is essentially a ban on the rights of Jewish students at Concordia to
the four fundamental freedoms: freedom of religion, freedom of speech,
freedom of association and freedom of assembly.
Representatives of the Concordia Student Union were not immediately
available for comment.
Mr. Joseph said that "only the courts" can solve the impasse, arguing that
"the CSU has continuously misbehaved and misused the power that it's granted
by the Ministry of Education."
Mr. Bergman said that only a public apology from the CSU could head off the
brewing legal battle.
"My client will not accept that, for the first time since World War Two, a
Jewish organization has been proscribed," he said. "The only possible way to
resolve this is through the unconditional withdrawal of the ban and an
appropriate apology, a recognition that what they did was wrong"
Concordia has been the site of several violent incidents between
pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli factions. Chaos broke out Sept. 9 when
former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was scheduled to appear and
campus security officials were forced to stop his speech from going ahead.
The university responded by imposing a moratorium on Middle East debate that
was only recently lifted.
Sincerely,
Inge Rumble
Public Affairs Officer/Agent, Relations Publiques
Canadian High Commission/Haut-commissariat du Canada
Commonwealth Ave
Canberra ACT 2600 Australia
Tel + 61 (0)2 6270 4022
Fax+ 61 (0)2 6270 4083
Mobile 0417 212 634
inge.rumble@dfait-maeci.gc.ca
www.canada.org.au

Why one should oppose a second Palestinian-Arab state in Judea, Samaria and Gaza - Part 16 of 23

This piece continues a series of which the first 15 parts were posted on September 8, 9, 11, 17, 20, 22, 23; October 7, 24, 28, 29; November 6, and 26; and December 5, and 13, 2002. (Alternatively, the previous articles may be found in the IsraPundit archives as follows: September 8, 9, 11, 17, 20, 22, 23; October 7, 24, 28, 29; and November 6 and 26; and December 5, and 13, 2002). The object of the series is to provide a database that is not only reliable and well-documented but also one for which documents are easily accessible, preferably from web resources. The term "second Palestinian-Arab state" is used in order to underscore that one Palestinian-Arab state already exists: it's called Jordan, and it is located in that part of Eastern Palestine that was originally to have been part of the Jewish National Home.


16. The Palestinian Arabs in Judea, Samaria and Gaza (“Yesha”) lack the elements that permit the development of an economically viable sovereign state.

Table of contents:
(16.1) Introduction and definition
(16.2) Review of selected elements of “economic viability” as they apply to the Palestinian Arabs
(16.3) The historical record
(16.4) Implications

(16.1) Introduction and definition

To discuss the question as to whether a sovereign Palestinian-Arab state in Judea, Samaria and Gaza ("Yesha") has the potential of economic viability, one has to bear heavily on economics and related fields such as demography. Not only does such a discussion require a great deal of specialized expertise, but as a literature search on this question indicates, any thorough discussion would extend over many volumes. Complicating the discussion further is the fact that one should consider several scenarios for a hypothetical Palestinian-Arab state, such as free-trade agreement with Israel, customs union with Israel, and various models of foreign investment.

The space available here, even for a long article, can only permit the highlighting of a few basic points, starting with a working definition of what we mean by “economically viable”. Next, we’ll examine such elements as the geographic, demographic and infrastructure bases for the hypothetical state, and their implications vis a vis economic viability. Finally, this article will review the record of the PA on matters economic, the point being that the past may be an indicator of what might transpire if indeed a sovereign Palestinian-Arab state is ever created.

The discussion assumes that the nightmare scenario of the Quartet is realised, and a sovereign Palestinian-Arab state is created in Yesha, possibly with overland links between Gaza and Judea/Samaria through Israel. Under these conditions, given the current economic state of the Palestinian Arabs in Yesha, is an economically-viable sovereign state possible?

As a working definition of “economic viability” we borrow a statement from Leila Farsakh, who wrote as follows in an MIT article on the question we are examining:

It is generally understood that an economy is viable if it is able to use its human, financial and physical resources to grow, sustain itself and increase the welfare of the inhabitants living within its area.

[Cited from MIT Electronic Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol 1, pp. 43-57.]

Some of the factors that should be considered include: Work force/labour pool - quality and availability; industrial base; raw materials and natural resources, including energy resources; agriculture; financial infrastructure; commerce and trade; education and literacy; bureaucratic professionalism (speed of decision making); science and technology; transportation and communications; political stability.

Since it is impossible to cover all these aspects in any depth, we will deal with only the few that seem to us the most pertinent. Note that the vital issue of water was discussed separately in Part 15 of this series (Israpundit or Dawson Speaks).


(16.2) Review of selected elements of “economic viability” as they apply to the Palestinian Arabs

The emphasis in the definition of economic viability, as given above, should be on the words “sustain itself”, for with an endless infusion of financial support and capital, even a basket case may be rendered “economic viable”. But experience shows that the Palestinian Arabs cannot rely on such fairytale support even if their Arab cousins are rolling in petro-dollars. The Arab countries have done precious little to resolve the poverty of their own people, so much so that Egypt now depends on an annual US grant of US$2 bil.

Therefore, one has to judge whether under real-life conditions it is possible for capital to flow into the hypothetical Palestinian so as to create an economy that can “sustain itself”.

To assess the economic viability of a sovereign Palestinian-Arab state in Yesha, let us begin with a very brief review of the area and its population.

Land-locked Judea and Samaria are the size of Delaware, while Gaza is twice the size of Washington DC with a 220 km coastline, but with no port to speak of in the west. The highlands of Judea and Samaria “are main recharge area for Israel's coastal aquifers”. The area has no mineral resources worthy of being mentioned and the industrial basis is virtually non-existent.

The Palestinian-Arab population of Judea and Samaria is 2.2 million, and that of Gaza, 1.2 million, for a total of 3.4 million. The growth rates are, respectively, 3.4 and 4.0 - an international record. These figures imply that just to keep the population from falling behind, the economy of Judea, Samaria and Gaza must grow by at least 3.6% annually. Making this goal virtually impossible is the child dependency ratio (population 0-14 / population 15-64 - a common socio-demographic indicator), which is 0.85 and 1.04, respectively. The latter figure means that Gaza has more children 0-14 than adults 15-64. By comparison, Israel’s child dependency ratio is 0.43. This socio-demographic indicator alone should flash red alert lights in the hallowed offices of the Quartet.

We turn now to other factors that affect economic viability, as listed in Section 16.1 above. Describing some elements of the infrastructure of the Palestinian Arabs in Yesha at the end of the 1990's, Prof. Karen Pfeifer (a professor of economics at Smith College) notes:

For every 13 kilowatts of electricity used by Palestinians, Israelis use 82. Palestinians have 3.1 phones for every 100 people; Israelis have 37. Palestinians have 80 meters of paved roads per 100 people; Israelis have 266. All Israeli households have indoor plumbing, as compared to 25% of Palestinians. Israeli electric power systems fail just 4% of the time, while Palestinian systems fail 30% of the time.

I should emphasize here that Prof Pfeifer wrote one of the usual academic anti-Israeli rants, dripping with vile accusations against Israel, and the data she quoted are designed to highlight how “bad” the Israelis are; we can nonetheless use her statistics to make the point that the Palestinian Arabs have no infrastructure to support economic viability.

Another vital element in the context of economic development concerns banking and the legislation that goes with it. Here is Pfeifer’s admission on this score:

After 1993, banks were again allowed to set up shop in WBG [West Bank and Gaza] and accept deposits. But few of these are locally owned, and, due to lack of deposit insurance and regulatory oversight, they have been unwilling to lend to finance new investment in productive activity in Palestine.

In an article published in 1996, way before Arafat’s Intifada destroyed the economy of the Palestinian Arabs entirely, Aaron Segal assessed the economic viability of a Palestinian-Arab state in an article published in the Middle East Forum. Segal’s assessment does not differ in tenor from that of Prof. Pfeifer but his analysis is much more detailed Here are selected passages:

An independent Palestine is not likely to enjoy economic growth greater than its very high rate of population increase (currently 3.7 percent yearly). Recent years have seen negative growth, negligible savings and investments, and massive deficits in balance of payments, trade, and the budget. Unemployment and underemployment rates are not just extremely high but are worsening as Israel replaces Palestinian day workers with labor from such countries as Romania and Thailand. The few potential growth sectors (tourism, domestic light industry, and agriculture for foodstuffs and exports) all suffer severe external and internal constraints owing to shortages of investment capital, human resources, and markets. Government institutions are a poor bet to operate the electric, postal, telephone, and other services.

As of late 1996, the future Palestine still lacks its own currency, central bank, and effective taxing authority; nor are these likely to emerge soon. The Palestinian Monetary Authority has no reserves and lacks the powers of a central bank. At present, for example, most tax income derives from transfers by the Israeli authorities. There is little likelihood for replacing tax transfers from Israel and declining remittances from Palestinian migrant workers with local tax sources.

Palestine would start out with minimal foreign-exchange reserves, revenue, or ability to borrow or to service debts. Most banks are branches of Israeli and Jordanian corporations, with limited lending capabilities, and are likely to remain that way. The independent state will depend for many years on grants and low-interest loans with extended grace periods. High political and economic risks render foreign direct investment and diaspora capital flows unlikely. Instead, diaspora and migrant-worker remittances will flow directly to households, where they will be used mostly for consumption, not investment. Changing the savings-investment ratio will be critical for the new state.

Inadequate physical infrastructure aggravates the acute lack of capital. Palestine will likely lack a fully operational international airport or commercial port, and have deficiencies in electricity, phones, potable water, and other services. Although some of these services are in the planning stage, implementation is weak. The lack of administrative capabilities to provide these and other services is a most serious problem; state-owned corporations probably cannot productively absorb increased capital flows.

Since September 1993, donors have pledged nearly $1.4 billion but the PA continues to be a major restraint on absorbing donor aid, for too much of it has gone to pay the salaries of a bloated and patronage-based civil service and police. In 1996, the Palestinian police numbers eighteen thousand and the civil service thirty thousand; moreover, with average monthly salaries of $475 and $530, respectively, these employees enjoy an income more than two times the Palestinian average.

Despite the use of aid for recurrent expenditures rather than investment, the PA itself is unable to expand most of the basic social services, such as health and education, for a growing population. The budget deficit combines with the constraints on borrowing to absorb most social-services expenditures in salaries and maintenance. Any expansion of educational and medical services has to compete with external aid for infrastructure. Donors are more and more inclined toward paying for projects rather than salaries. The United Nations Relief and Works Administration (UNRWA) continues to provide health and education services for the nearly 10 percent of Palestinians who remain in refugee camps. The major educational bottleneck is the lack of secondary, technical, and vocational institutions, leaving primary-school graduates with nowhere to go.
...
A lack of appropriate institutions presents another obstacle to economic growth. Few multinational corporations are present; local businesses consist primarily of small-scale firms with limited capital and technical capacity. Research and development is minimal, even in the seven universities of the West Bank and Gaza. The diaspora too is characterized by small-scale trading firms.

The growing gap in income and opportunity between the richer West Bank and poorer Gaza also creates problems. For 1992, the World Bank reported $1,150 in per capita income for the Gaza Strip and $2,500 for the West Bank. Unemployment and underemployment reaches 40 percent in Gaza versus a mere 20 percent in the West Bank. Gaza is over-urbanized, lacking in arable land and water, and ridden with infrastructure deficiencies. Lacking almost all other exports, Gaza for a decade or more must depend disproportionately on the earnings of migrant workers in Israel -- even as its workers are increasingly denied access to Israel, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and much of the Gulf. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has concluded about Gaza that "the prospects for a marked improvement in employment, the fiscal balance, private sector investment and real per capita consumption are limited." It and the World Bank recommend a strategy that "is outward-looking, led by the private sector, and able to promote sizable nondebt-creating private capital inflows for investment in productive, labor-intensive activities."

In all, Palestine is likely to be a highly dependent, slow-growth state unable to respond to the expectations of its inhabitants. The West Bank is likely to grow modestly while Gaza lags. If donor support falters, economic stagnation or even negative growth may result. It is difficult to develop a scenario in which sustained economic growth stays significantly ahead of population increase.

And all this was said before the Palestinian Arabs destroyed the weak economic basis they had by starting the Intifada of mid-2000. Bearing these facts in mind, one can appreciate the conclusion drawn by Neill Lochery (director of the Centre for Israeli Studies at University College in London) in his June, 2002 article:

Economically speaking, a Palestinian state is not viable either. There would be an over-reliance on international aid from Arab and European Union countries -- dangerous given that much of what was promised in the past never arrived. The business sector has not developed as was hoped back in 1993. The majority of successful Palestinian entrepreneurs live outside the boundaries of the proposed state and have shown little inclination to invest in the Palestinian Authority, preferring markets where there is a stronger chance of financial return. Put simply, they continue to invest in global markets for business and not nationalist reasons, and there is little sign this would change with the creation of a state. Consequently, many Palestinian families would become increasingly reliant on one or more members of the family working in Israel or in Kuwait. In these circumstances, it is difficult to see how a state could raise enough taxes to pay for even the most basic services for its citizens.

What one should emphasize here is that this situation cannot be remedied by some magic wand; if at all possible, it might take decades to reverse the current situation and trends. Until then, there is no point in talking about a sovereign Palestinian-Arab state, unless one is eager to see the immediate demise of Israel. To reinforces this point, the following Section 16.3 reviews of what Arafat and his henchmen have wrought over the last decade.


(16.3) The historical record

This Section reviews what the PA has achieved in economic terms since the 1993 Oslo agreements.

The Paris Economic Protocols, which constituted part of the 1995 Interim agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs, established the economic scope of the PA, allowing as follows (quoted from the foregoing MIT article by Leila Farsakh):

The Economic Protocol binds the WBGS [West Band and Gaza Strip] in a custom union with Israel, which allows for the free movement of capital and goods except for a list of agricultural goods to be phased out by the year 1998. Free movements of labor flows between the two economies are not guaranteed, but the economy of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip is allowed to trade directly with Arab and foreign countries for a limited list of goods. Moreover, the CU [customs union] gives the Palestinians the right to decide on their economic priorities, to determine the nature of their employment, industrial and agricultural policies, as well as to impose tax and to invest in areas under its control. It also gives the Palestinians limited leeway in monetary and trade policy... Israel, though, accepted to remit to the Palestinian economy VAT and custom taxes collected on goods specifically destined to the WBGS, something it never did before 1994...This mechanism consists basically of keeping the WBGS integrated with Israel through a custom union while at the same time giving the Palestinians the right to run their domestic affairs and time to improve their non-territorial economic base. It also gives the Palestinians the right to trade in limited goods and quantities with third countries, thereby allowing them to reduce their dependence on Israel. At the same time, by keeping the link to Israel, the CU enables the WBGS to benefit from trade with a neighboring strong economy.

Leila Frasakh is one of the many virulent anti-Israeli writers and quoting from her (and similar anti-Israeli writers) to corroborate our argument should at least obviate the accusation of quoting writers who are biassed in favour of Israel.

Clearly, the Economic Protocol enabled the PA to use the Oslo agreement to create a strong (if not viable) economy, but the reality shows that the PA preferred to use this framework for corrupted self-enrichment, for shackling the population to the PA and, ultimately, for the total destruction of the economy. Just as significant is the fact that the PA squandered the financial goodwill that the “international community” extended. In addition to what we have already quoted, Leila Farsakh documents:

Between 1994-1999, the international community pledged a total of $3.4billion for a total of 2.8 million Palestinians.

But none of this was utilized to create anything akin to a strong economy.

In 1996, three years into the reign of Arafat and his PA, Gerald Steinberg observed in an aricle entitled, The case against a Palestinian State:

After three years, we cannot find any evidence that the Palestinian leadership can create a viable economic foundation. The per capita GNP in Gaza is approximately $1000 and has declined under Palestinian control, while the very high jobless rate increased. The hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign aid that have already been transferred have disappeared without accountability, and without any significant new investment in infrastructure or job producing industry. As a result, many foreign donors have stopped providing funds, as there is no evidence that the money is being used for the purposes for which it was intended - namely to provide a foundation for economic development and stability in the areas under Palestinian control.

In reviewing the economic mess created by the PA, the standard Palestinian and Arab line of blaming Israel for all the ills in the universe has even less credibility than the Palestinian/Arab average. Here’s what transpired well before the Intifada, according to Leila Farsakh (remeber - this is the virulent anti-Israeli prof writing in an MIT publication):

[D]espite all expectations, the economic situation in the WBGS deteriorated. Just as alarming has been the fact that the two parts of the Palestinian economy, i.e. the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, have further disintegrated rather than integrated. To begin with, per capita income fell by 17% between 1994-1996, while the percentage of people living in poverty increased to 40% in the Gaza Strip and 11% in the West Bank in 1997. Unemployment soured [sic], reaching levels as high as 39% in Gaza in 1996 and 24% in the West Bank . Although it fell to less than 11% in WBGS in 2000, it remains today a major problem, particularly for the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip. While, on average 30,000 new domestic jobs were created per year between 1995-1999, this increase remains insufficient to absorb a rapidly growing population. The Palestinian labor force is presently growing at an annual rate of over 40,000 new persons and has, on average, 70,000-120,000 workers employed annually in Israel since 1995... The Palestinian economy also failed to rely on trade as a vehicle for growth. The actual size of exports fell by 30% between 1994-1996. At the same time, Israel has continued to absorb 96% of all the WBGS exports,

The one area where the Palestinian Arab economy showed growth is the public sector, reflecting Arafat’s attempts to have as many of his people as possible dependent on the PA for employment, thus securing their loyalty. Quoting Leila Farsakh again:

Still in 2000, the Public sector today absorbs more than 24% of all employed in the domestic economy in the Gaza Strip and around 15% of the labor force in West Bank. These jobs are not always productive, though, given that they are mainly concentrated in the police and security services...

[T]he large size of the public sector raises key questions around the economic survival of the public sector and the efficient use of resources. While the public sector eases unemployment in the short run, it also increases bureaucratic hassles and decreases service efficiency.

As to encouraging investment and fostering economic development, Leila Farsakh describes some of the steps taken by the PA - all of which, especially the PA’s “investment law”, amount to zero:

[T]he investment law has been criticized for being directed to foreign investors who will not come given the instability of the economic and political situation. It is also ill suited to encourage domestic investment of small and medium firms. Moreover, the PNA's policy of controlling trade licensing is giving rise to monopolistic practices that are counter-productive. Today, a limited class of PA-affiliated companies and individuals are monopolizing rent and benefits from trade links to Israel. The Palestinian Commercial Service Company (PCSC), fully owned by the PA, holds majority shares in the 34 major Palestinian companies. In 1999, the PCSC held assets totaling $345 million, the equivalent of eight percent of total GDP.

And then there is the corruption angle, to which even Prof Farsakh admits:

On the other hand, corruption scandals within the PNA reveal a loss of resources, whilst the failure of the judiciary to assert itself as a workable and independent system suggests that more needs to be done to improve performance in the Palestinian economy. Without a transparent and legally protected economic environment, investments will not flow nor be effective.

On this very topic, Gerald Steinberg elaborates in the article quoted avove:

Corruption is a major problem. For decades, the PLO has built up foreign currency reserves and created a major corporate empire. In 1993, the British National Criminal Intelligence Service estimated that the PLO had worldwide assets of $10 billion, with an annual income of up to $2 billion. With millions of Palestinians living in poverty, one would expect these assets to be used for national development rather than personal gain.

The Palestinian economy is managed, as one analyst reported, "out of Arafat's hip pocket," without separation of personal funds, party or state accounts. The Washington Post revealed that Arafat maintains a former wife, Yassin, in an opulent villa in Tunis. PLO sources report that "she received from him great wealth. The jewels she has would be enough to build all Gaza anew". Calls from the donor states and the IMF for a proper system of accountability have been ignored. Investment laws have not been enacted, and the bloated bureaucracy is maddening. As a result, foreign investment is close to zero. The surrounding Arab states, including Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are reluctant to contribute, and even under intense American pressure, account for less than 5 percent of total external aid and investment. Even Palestinian investors have stood on the sidelines. Plans for industrial parks and cooperative factories at the intersection of Israel and Gaza, that were expected to provided thousands of jobs to Palestinians, were dropped when Palestinian officials blocked Israeli participation and insisted that the import of materials await the construction of a port in Gaza (an economic mega project which is motivated by personal and political factors). Other mega projects, such as Arafat's reinforced command centre, built in the Saddam Hussein style, vast villas on the Gaza coast, an airport that may never open, and an airline that may never get off the ground, are attempts to buy prestige, not an improved standard of living.

Anyone who believes that the problems outlined above can be rectified one way or another, so as to render a Palestinian-Arab state economically viable, should note how entrenched and endemic the problem is. To corroborate this point we only need to quote from Edward Said, yet another one of the most virulent anti-Israeli writers in the US.

He [Arafat] has an enormous and unproductive bureaucracy. According to the World Bank, he employs in the bureaucracy about 80,000 people, which we don’t need at all. I mean, it’s totally unproductive. But if you add up the security forces and the bureaucracy and multiply them by seven or eight, which is the number of dependents of each person he employs, you’ll find that he, in effect, employs about 700,000 or 800,000 people. And that’s where his support comes from. People who are indebted to him...

(Quoted from p. 433 of:
Said, Edward W. Power Politics and Culture. New York: Pantheon Books, 2001.)

Or, from another opus magnum of Said’s:

A few weeks ago the Guardian's senior correspondent, David Hirst, a lifelong sympathizer with the Palestinian tragedy and a first-rate reporter who has devoted his life to living in and writing about the Arab world, wrote a devastating report entitled "Shameless in Gaza" in the Guardian on "the open corruption of the Palestinian Authority." He described the enormously ostentatious and expensive villas being built on the coast by Abu Mazen and Um Jihad, the company called "al-Bahr" which, true to its name (the sea), swallows up property and businesses for Mr. Arafat's interests, the nightclubs, the luxurious limousines, the commercial abuses of various high officials, all of them going on at a time of huge unemployment in Gaza, the protracted misery of the thousands of camp dwellers, the total paralysis of the Palestinian economy and the complete breakdown in any sort of advance in Palestinian rights.
...
The really serious theft is the system of monopolies operated by Arafat and his cronies, including his ministers, their children, wives, uncles, and aunts. There are now monopolies on wheat, cement, petroleum, wood, gravel, cigarettes, cars, gasoline, cattle feed, and a few other commodities; all these compel the ordinary citizen to pay inflated prices several times greater than the price under direct Israeli occupation. Thus a ton of cattle feed used to be ~zo dinars; it is now 3oo dinars. No one knows exactly how much money is made in this way, nor who gets it, or how it is spent. There are no laws for companies or investments, and consequently no requirement to register companies nor to hold bidding competitions and offer tenders.

(Quoted from p. 178-180 of: Edward W. Said. The end of the peace process. NY: Pantheon Books, 2000.

Arafat displayed one of the most amazing feats of economic mismanagement when he attended the Davos conference in January 2001. The conference was supposed to have been a demonstration of co-operation between Arafat and Peres, so as to encourage investors to send their capital flows towards Arafat’s Yesha. In an article entitled, Sharon, Arafat and Mao , 8 February 2001, Thomas Friedman describes what transpired:

Mr. Peres did extend the olive branch, as planned, but Mr. Arafat torched it. Reading in Arabic from a prepared text, Mr. Arafat denounced Israel for its "fascist military aggression" and "colonialist armed expansionism," and its policies of "murder, persecution, assassination,
destruction and devastation."

That was the end of Davos-generated investment for the PA. (The entire speech is available on the web at the Palestinian-Arab site, Palestine Affairs Council. It is a masterpiece of self-destruction.)

Summarizing the economic situation created by the PA, Gerald Steinberg opined:

Since the PNA was established in Gaza and Jericho in 1994, its performance has shown all the characteristics of a failed state, including corruption, economic failure, nepotism, intimidation, systematic police violence and torture.

(16.4) Implications

What are the implications of a non-viable sovereign Palestinian-Arab state? I would suggest that such a state is a danger to the region, and particularly to Israel, for at least two reasons. First, at any point such a state might fall prey to an extremist regime such as Iran’s, which will be only to happy to purchase the loyalty of the Palestinian-Arabs for an appropriate amount of petrodollars.

Second, such a state will harbour a substantial underclass of people liable to destabilize the Palestinian regime, which in turn will adopt irridentism for diverting the attention of the masses, and in this case, irridentist claims can only mean the destruction of Israel.

And this is what the Quartet in its infinite wisdom is attempting to achieve.

Neville Chamberlain's heirs are about to bring about Holocaust II, this time with US approval. Let us not sit idle while this happens!

Contributed by Joseph Alexander Norland. This piece is cross-posted on IsraPundit and Dawson Speaks.

Useless idiot

Here we have David Newman, a professor at the Ben Gurion University in Israel, writing an op-ed piece for the New York Times in which he (predictably) disses Israeli democracy for kicking two Arabs terrorists out of the Knesset. Let's analyze.

BEERSHEBA, Israel
Even amid conflict, Israelis have always applauded themselves for allowing anyone to run for office — including those who reject the very raison d'être of a Jewish state.

Which is why there has been consistent war with the Arabs for 50-odd years. Jews are tolerant even of those who wish to murder them.

Only rarely has a political party been banned from the elections, the most notable being Kach, the extreme rightist anti-Arab party founded by Meir Kahane.

But now, with a round of Knesset elections three weeks away, Israel has much less reason for pride. While Mr. Kahane's successor, Baruch Marzel, was allowed to run for office as the No. 2 candidate for another extreme rightist party, the two most prominent Arab legislators in the outgoing Knesset, Ahmed Tibi and Azmi Bishara, were barred by the Central Election Committee last week.

First Newman applaudes the ban on Rabbi Kahane, who had a legitimate perspective on the question of Israeli security and existence as a Jewish state. Now he says that it's a disgrace that Rabbi Kahane's successor is allowed to run, while terrorists like Tibi and Bishara are not.

The committee, composed of representatives of the parties that have Knesset seats and two neutral members (both of whom opposed the decision), described Mr. Tibi and Mr. Bishara as consistently expressing opposition to the existence of a Jewish state (as contrasted with a state of "all its citizens" in which everyone is equal, Jew or Arab). Under Israeli law, such opposition bars a person's candidacy. Mr. Bishara was also accused of supporting armed resistance in the occupied territories, an accusation he denied.

Whether or not he denies it, he does it. Arafat denies terrorism every day, but he's still a murderous monster.

Mr. Marzel, whose candidacy was in danger because of his association with the banned Kach, could run, the committee members decided, because he had assured them that he no longer held to the racist policies of Kach — even though he is often shown on television promoting "transfer," a code word for the expulsion of the Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza.

Here is Newman's real point -- he's unwilling to do what it takes to secure Jewish lives, so he wants Marzel banned. Not only is he a chicken, he's a slimebucket if he wants Tibi and Bishara, who support the slaughter of Israelis, to maintain their seats in Knesset.

The final decision on Mr. Tibi's and Mr. Bishara's candidacies now rests with the Supreme Court, which is scheduled to hear the candidates' appeals tomorrow. But even if the court overturns the ban, Israeli Arab voters' faith in the election system has been broken.

What a tragedy. Israeli Arabs, who overwhelmingly support the Palestinian Authority and the Intifada, aren't happy with Israeli democracy. If they don't get to elect leaders who want to bomb the hell out of Israel, then they'll be mad. Oh darn.

The message could not be clearer: if you are a Jewish extremist, you can go on the campaign trail. But if you belong to the Arab minority and do not openly toe the government line, you cannot be part of the election game.

"Do not openly toe the government line"? That's the understatement of the century. Bishara and Tibi fund terror, openly support terror, and claim that Hizbollah and Hamas terrorism are the first steps toward the "total liberation" of "Palestine." In the US, these people would be called traitors. In Israel, they're called Knesset members.

In the elections held for prime minister just two years ago, one factor in the defeat of Prime Minister Ehud Barak was the Arab minority's boycott of the polls.

That was the first time in Israeli history that Arabs didn't vote Labor. That's the real reason Labor opposes transfer -- if the Israeli Arabs were to go, Labor would lose its electoral majority power.

This was seen by most political commentators as a dangerous step toward voluntary disenfranchisement of 20 percent of the country.

Voluntary disenfranchisement? So they didn't want to vote because Barak was bombing Ramallah every so often and blowing up worthless buildings. This is a "dangerous step"?

Arab politicians have worked hard to convince their constituents that the way to achieve greater economic and social equality — and to realize the goal of a state for their Palestinian cousins — is by engaging in the political process.

This is truly unbelievable. Tibi and Bishara used the political process as a Trojan horse. They weren't pressing for Israeli democracy, but for the murder of Jews and the implementation of a "Palestine" from the river to the sea. These parties should have been made illegal a long time ago.

But such efforts may now have been in vain. With their two most outspoken representatives banned, Israeli Arabs are saying that once again, they will stay away from the polls.

Good, let them stay away from the polls forever. Because what will Newman say when the Arabs are a majority in Israel, and decide to vote in a Shari'a government?

Even if the Supreme Court allows Mr. Tibi and Mr. Bishara to run, Israeli Arabs will remain reluctant to vote, because the message of the election committee has been heard loud and clear in Arab towns and villages.

I weep for them.

Who can blame them? No Israeli prime minister has ever given leaders of the Arab parties significant positions of power. The argument used to justify the exclusion has been that cabinet discussions are too sensitive to include representatives with Palestinian sympathies.

Sounds like a pretty solid argument, considering that the Israeli Arabs in general hate the state of Israel.

The ban on Mr. Tibi and Mr. Bishara demonstrates that it is only a short step from excluding parties from the cabinet to excluding their representatives altogether. By not protesting this exclusion from government positions, we have paved the way for the more extreme antidemocracy measures last week. No matter the decision of the Supreme Court tomorrow, the damage to Israeli democracy has been done.

The decision of the Israeli government to ban Tibi and Bishara was a triumph. Tibi and Bishara are evil Islamofascists. They have no place in Israel, let alone in Knesset.

[Note: This post is cross-posted at Israpundit and Ben Shapiro Online.]

Victimological Accounting

Max Boot's latest, fine article for The Weekly Standard, which explores the various manipulations of the Palestinian cause, provides some revelatory economic analysis of the conflict:

More than 1.1 million Palestinians are jammed into 59 refugee camps whose support comes mainly from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency and other international bodies. As former U.S. ambassador to Morocco Marc Ginsberg points out, all the Arab states combined donate less than $7 million to UNRWA, just 2.4 percent of its $290 million budget. (Kuwait, Egypt, Libya, Oman, Qatar, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates collectively contribute a grand total of zero.) By contrast, the Great Satan forks over $110 million, or 38 percent of UNRWA's budget. The Arabs prefer to spend their money to support Palestinian suicide bombers."

This further delegitimizes the ubiquitous Funding Canard, which states that America disproportionately funds Israel in relation to other Middle Eastern states (e.g., Egypt's $2 billion per annum), and more pointedly the Palestinians themselves. (For a further rebuttal to the latter claim, click here.)

I wonder if Thomas Stauffer factored American funding of the UNRWA camps into his recent upping of the ante.

Crossposted at Fightin' with Grabes.

The British lion gets a punch in the nose: three cheers, Israel

It’s too good to be true but it’s still a joy to read.

Ha’Aretz has just reported:

Britain has suspended preparations for a conference on Palestinian Authority reforms that had been scheduled for January 13 and 14 in London. The cancellation apparently derives from an assessment that the chances of Israel approving the departure of PA officials to the event are next to nil...
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw... criticized Israel's decision not to allow the departure of Palestinian officials.

Three cheers, Israel! And as for Jack Straw, he is, after all the heir to Ernest Bevin, that other foreign minister from the Labour Party, is he not?

Contributed by Joseph Alexander Norland This piece is cross-posted on IsraPundit and Dawson Speaks.

If you have not read this before, read it. If you have, it bears re-reading - Oriana Fallaci on Antisemitism

[...]I have often had disagreements with the Israelis, ugly ones, and in the past I have defended the Palestinians a great deal. Maybe more than they deserved. But I stand with Israel, I stand with the Jews. I stand just as I stood as a young girl during the time when I fought with them, and when the Anna Marias were shot. I defend their right to exist, to defend themselves, to not let themselves be exterminated a second time. And disgusted by the antisemitism of many Italians, of many Europeans, I am ashamed of this shame that dishonors my Country and Europe. At best, it is not a community of States, but a pit of Pontius Pilates. And even if all the inhabitants of this planet were to think otherwise, I would continue to think so.

IDF arrests overnight 20 wanted terrorists in West Bank

DEBKA Headline
Amid exchanges of fire, large IDF force enters Central Gaza Strip refugee camps Deir el Balah and Moazi after Monday midnight

How the American military will use skills learned from Israelis to fight in Iraq
Road to Baghdad Goes Through Tel Aviv

More than one way to lose accreditation Israel closes three Palestinian universities

A C T I O N !

The following was e-mailed to me by Mike Diamond. Let's join in - it just takes a minute or two (your milage may vary, however).

Please sign the petition to support the following motion at ContreLeBoycott.

The primary content of the motion is printed below but you must go to the site to vote.

This deals with the entirely inappropriate boycotting by various universities in Europe of Israeli academics and universities.

AGAINST A SENSELESS BOYCOTT


The motion approved on December 16, 2002 by a vote by the Administrative Council of Pierre and Marie Curie University (University of Paris 6) on a matter which was not originally on the agenda and was discussed at the end of the session when only 33 members out of the 60 were still present, received 22 votes. This decision of the Administrative Council of Paris VI appeals to the European Union not to renew a framework agreement for university-level scientific exchanges with Israel and is both totally unwarranted and counter-productive for those who truly wish to work for peace.

Why should Israeli university faculty be excluded?
Are they responsible for the situation of their Palestinian colleagues?
Should we agree to ban faculty simply on the basis of their nationality?
Isn't stigmatizing them in the name of democracy and human rights adopting a manichean vision?
What state or democratic body -- recognized as such by the international community -- has ever raised doubts as to the democratic nature of the State of Israel?

All violations of human rights should always be denounced. Yet, to be legitimate, denunciations should apply to all sides in a conflict.

[Truncated; please see full text at the link given above].

Here's how Yasser Arafat combats terrorism:

Israel Radio reported this morning that Yasser Arafat's security forces moved swiftly in the Gaza Strip, arresting the Al Jazira Gaza correspondent who forwarded an announcement by Yasser Arafat's Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades (the illegal military wing of Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement) to his station taking credit for the Sunday Tel Aviv bombing that murdered 23.

...by arresting journalists who make him look bad.

"Children" being killed by Israel?

More and more the international media have been reporting on "boys" that are killed by the IDF, leading viewers to believe that Israeli soldiers are targeting children.

Nothing can be further from the truth. What is happening, is that Palestinian terrorist organizations are recruiting children from 8-15 to become suicide bombers and terrorists. Below are articles from the IDF spokesman and from Palestinian sources that reveal this to be the situation.

Where is/are U.N. organizations for the rights of children? Why aren't they taking these children from their parents and protecting them from death and exploitation?

Naomi Ragen



Criticism against sending Palestinian children to carry out terrorist attacks
IDF Spokesperson 6 January 2003


Three Palestinian children attempted to infiltrate the Israeli community Eli Sinai in the northern Gaza Strip, 1 Jan. 2003, in order to carry out a terrorist attack with knifes they had in their possession.

The three children, 14-year old Muhammad Dawas, 15-year old Tarek Dawas and 13-year old Jihad Abed, were identified by an IDF force which fired towards them and killed the three while preventing an additional terrorist attack against Israeli civilians.

This is not the first case in which terrorist organizations have dispatched Palestinian children to carry out terrorist attacks.

24 April 2002 - Three Palestinian children (Issmayeil Abu Nadi, Anwar Hamdona and Yusuf Zakut) were armed with knives and pipe bombs, when they attempted to infiltrate the Israeli community of Netzarim, located in the central Gaza Strip. An IDF force positioned in the community identified the attempted attack, and shot and killed the erpetrators.

30 December 2001 - Three children (Ahmed Banat, Muhammad Madhun, and Muhammad Labad) attempted to infiltrate the Israeli community of Dugit, in the northern Gaza Strip, in order to kill Israelis by stabbing them with their knives. An IDF force prevented the terrorist attack when they shot and killed them.

The phenomenon of Palestinian children being sent to carry out terrorist attacks has stirred a debate amongst Palestinians.

"The Fatah movement officially released an announcement on 2 Jan. 2003, against Palestinian terrorist organizations sending children to carry out terrorist attacks. In the announcement, the Fatah movement accuses, "the disrespect and the game with the fate [of the children], and the ease in which their blood [of the children] is used for the narrow party interests."

"Dr. Suna Abu Daka, head of the Psychology Department of the Islamic University in Gaza, stated in an interview with a journalist on 3 Jan. 2003, that, 'The [Palestinian] family must educate its children about the significance of suicide attacks, its importance, its significance and to explain to them when they are ready to be capable to carry out terrorist attacks. Moreover, it's the responsibility [of the Palestinian families] to protect their children until strong and they can have the capability to make decisions on their own [regarding perpetrating terrorist attacks].' She stressed that terrorist organizations play an important role in the subject."

It is important to note, that the deputy of Yassir Arafat in the PLO, Muhmud Abbas (Abu Mazen), claimed in an interview with the Jordanian newspaper A-Rai on 20 June 2002, that Palestinian terrorist organizations give children five Israeli Shekels (NIS) in order to hurl explosive devices towards IDF soldiers. As a result, 40 Palestinian hildren have become amputees.

Sources:
(1) IDF
(2) IslamOnLine

Sharia law 'Gang rape' victim faces jail on adultery charges


A businesswoman who accused three men of gang rape has been arrested in Dubai and faces trial on charges of adultery.

Touria Tiouli, 39, from Limoges, in France, has had her passport confiscated and cannot leave Dubai after being charged under the emirate's Sharia law.

This declares any sexual relationship outside marriage to be illegal.

Mme Tiouli was on a business trip last October when, she alleges, she was raped by three men who offered her a lift home from a nightclub.

She reported the attack immediately to the Dubai police, who after investigating her claim arrested her rather than those she accused.
[more]
The WSJ Opinion Journal notes that at least she will not be stoned to death.

Just in case you're still confused about their real goals...

Just in case you're still confused about the goals of Hamas, Fatah, PFLP, Islamic Jihad, Al Aqsa, Hezbollah, and every Islamic nation (including Canada) that funds their operations under the guise of charitable works:

ARABIC NEWS: Two Palestinian operations in Tel Aviv result in killing 23 Israelis, wounding 80

Two Palestinians yesterday carried out two operations near a coach station in the downtown of Tel Aviv that resulted in killing 23 Israeli settlers and wounding other 80, seven of them in a critical health condition.

Let's look at that one sentence closely, shall we? We've heard time and time again that Hamas, et al., all want the "occupied" territories freed from Israel. When it comes to their "operations' they consider settlers to be legitimate military targets.

In this article, the Arabic News reports the victims as "settlers." The attack took place in Tel Aviv in the State of Israel proper.

Do the math.

It becomes patently obvious that this cheering piece of Islamic press garbage considers Israel to be nothing more than one gigantic settlement, and they want nothing less than every single Israeli dead and cleared out through "operations" like these. It's not just the terrorist proper who want Israel destroyed, but a lot of the so-called moderate institutions like the Arabic/Islamic media. Anybody who tells you otherwise is just providing cover for their true intentions, either as part of the "operations" or as a useful idiot appeaser.

Print that article and keep it handy. If you find yourself faced with such individuals who act as apologists, pull it out and help them do the math, too.

The West must get ready to rumble.

The Really Big Picture

One cannot begin to address the question of borders separating Israel from the state in waiting or for that matter whether the creation of a second Palestinian state is a good or workable idea, without first deciding whether such a state will be used as a stepping stone to the destruction of Israel. Slowly but surely the word is getting out that that is what this conflict is all about. No solution is a solution unless it is crafted to effectively ensure Israel’s survival.

Unfortunately the US has not yet come to grips with this issue. Other goals seem to have got in the way such as getting the SC support for an invasion of Iraq, or keeping the Arabs in a coalition of countries opposing Iraq or Al-Queda terrorism, or showing the World that the US is even handed or is not fighting Islam etc.

In serving these ends, the security of the state of Israel is being sacrificed. Israel is being asked to commit suicide by travelling down The Road Map. They should refuse to have anything to do with it. So should the US.

But the survival of Israel is not the really big picture. The survival of the West is. And The West regardless of whether they like Israel or not, must decide whether sacrificing Israel will hasten its own destruction. Israel’s retreat from Lebanon may have solved a small problem, the threat to the lives of its soldiers, but it led to bigger problems, the treat to the existence of Israel.

There is a war being waged by Islam to conquer the West whether the West is willing to recognize it or not. This is made patently clear in a series of excerpts adapted by Robert Locke from Dr. Serge Trifkovic’s new book The Sword of the Prophet: A Politically- incorrect Guide to Islam.

According to the official publication produced twenty years ago, the Islamic Movement is,

“an organized struggle to change the existing society into an Islamic society based on the Koran and the Sunna and make Islam, which is a code for entire life, supreme and dominant, especially in the socio-political spheres… the ultimate objective of the Islamic movement shall not be realized unless the struggle is made by locals. For it is only they who have the power to change the society into an Islamic society.”

Since then, jihad has never had it so good. The Moslem population of the world has been exploding, not only in Asia and Africa but also in Europe and the United States. Unlike the Western democracies, China, Japan and India, all of which try to control the birth rate in order to raise living standards, most Muslim countries regard demography as a political weapon. They will gladly export their surplus population to Europe and America, aware that the bigger the diaspora, the greater the political influence it will exert, and the more concessions the Islamic world will be able to extort from the West.

Maintaining the loyalty of the dispersed Muslim diaspora has been a top priority. For that reason, Islamic religious instruction in the newly-planted Muslim communities on both sides of the Atlantic has been carried out by immigrant imams who have a clear agenda aimed at inculcating their Western-born wards with disdain and even hatred for their surroundings

That is the agenda. All events must be considered as furthering that agenda including the attempts to destroy Israel which is part of a broader attempt to get the US out of the Islamic world, the fostering of Wahabbism by the Saudis throughout the world, the constant incitement of their followers to hate and kill the Jews, Christians and infidels, and the demonization of Israel and America. Make no mistake; they are out to get us. And what is the West doing about it. Less than nothing. In fact they are abetting the enemy. Here is a case in point.

“UK mosques prey to terror” warned a recent headline in the London Times, and the article explained that this was partly due to the British Home Office routinely approving priority entry into the country to Muslim clerics from countries such as Pakistan who speak no English and don’t want to control extremists who took over their mosques. The British security services, like the government, have long been in a state of denial regarding the Islamist threat. There has been no serious effort to develop and enhance intelligence coverage and analysis capability; nor was the recruitment of Arabic speakers made a priority. Time and again the British courts have interpreted the criminal, asylum, and terrorism laws in the manner damaging to the security of the Realm and favourable to the Islamic underground. British police have repeatedly ignored warnings that the recruiting agents for extremist groups prey on mosques, universities and community centres. There are now over three hundred after-hours schools run by militant groups all over Britain in which the children are indoctrinated, Taliban style.

Sound familiar. And more.

“Our own legal framework stops us from dealing with extremist religion,” concludes a Pakistani-born British Anglican who grew up as a Muslim. Historically, Islam has never learned to live as a minority and cannot reconstruct itself in Western societies:

“My own feeling is that what will happen in the British society - I am waiting to see whether it will happen in the U.S. - is Muslim societies will emerge within Western countries where they will develop their own patterns of social sharia [Islamic law]. In Britain today, where Islam controls the inner cities, we have major social exclusion and the development of sharia. We have had churches burned, Christians attacked and a mission centre destroyed. The media has deliberately kept everything off the air.”

By allowing a vast and so far utterly unsupervised subculture of intrinsically hostile non-Western immigrants to emerge within their societies, the developed nations have permitted the emergence of an alternative social and political structure in their midst in which terrorists can operate virtually undetected. By seeking to appease it by granting it special privileges, the host countries only prompt laughter at our stupidity and demands for more. Examples abound.

“The Turks in Berlin constitute a social problem without a solution. There are entire sections of the city closed in on themselves that support a parallel and hostile culture, with no kind of symbiosis with the German culture. And the Magrebins have done the same thing in Marseilles [France]. The very opposite of integration, their objective is to organize society according to the Koran. Islam is a way of life that annuls any separation between the religious, civil and political reality.”

This situation is repeating itself all over Europe. In fact about one third of all babies born now in Europe are Moslem. This means that in two generations over half the population of Europe will be Moslem. The US will follow thereafter. At any rate the US is already beginning to lose its most natural ally, the EU, which is snuggling up to the Arabs rather then the US.

To win this battle of civilizations the US has to be more resolved at home and abroad. They must defeat Iraq and then proceed to undermine the Mullahs in Iran and then to let the air out of the Wahabbi tires. All influences of Wahabbism in the madrassahs and the mosques must be banned all over the world. The US must continue the fight against terrorism and those countries that support it. And finally they must support Israel in this fight and allow Israel to do what must be done to end the terror once and for all. They should not allow Israel to make another retreat, as they themselves should not retreat.

At home they should do whatever is necessary to avoid the fate of Europe; namely restrict Moslem immigration, make the Moslem societies conform to our values, foster the melting pot rather than the multicultural model and require the FBI to protect America from the threat of Islamisation. In a few word, identify Islam as the enemy and act accordingly.

Kill Jews, get your own country

by Jackie Mason & Raoul Felder

How does the value of an Israeli life become so cheap, that we accept the idea that we have to sacrifice hundreds of lives on a yearly basis in order to exist in the state of Israel?

Not many years ago, when one Israeli life was innocently lost, Israelis were shocked and there was a sudden hush in the atmosphere and wonderment in our voices. Why is it that now we think of it as an unavoidable sacrifice, as if there are certain questions for which there are just no answers? Why was the loss of an Israeli life so inconceivable before and so acceptable now?

Democracy 101

About a month ago, on December 6, 2002, an article entitled Conversation on the beach was posted on the web by Solly Ganor, an article which was subsequently reproduced by IMRA together with an introduction.

The article described a conversation Solly Ganor had with an Arab student, in which Solly Ganor criticised Islam. What happened subsequently, according to Ganor is this:

Then he gave me a fierce look and said: "If you had said in any Arab country about Islam, what you have just said to me, you would be a dead man!"

"I am sure I would. And if you had said in any Arab country denouncing their corrupt regimes the way you are denouncing Israel, you would be a dead man too. Yet, here you are, studying at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, allowing yourself openly to speak of subversion and treason against the State of Israel, without any fear of being arrested, let alone being killed for it. Doesn't it say something to you?"

"Yes, it says that you are weak, and that weakness will be your undoing," he said seriously.

Reading this brief interchange brought to my mind Pericles’ “Funeral Oration”, in which he presented democracy’s credo. The 2,400-year old words of Pericles are as alive today as they were when the Funeral Oration was given (winter of 431 BC), and they provide the best answer to the Islamic student who was Ganor’s interlocutor. Here are two passages from Pericles’ Oration [bold font added]:

Our constitution does not copy the laws of neighbouring states; we are rather a pattern to others than imitators ourselves. Its administration favours the many instead of the few; this is why it is called a democracy. If we look to the laws, they afford equal justice to all in their private differences; if no social standing, advancement in public life falls to reputation for capacity, class considerations not being allowed to interfere with merit; nor again does poverty bar the way, if a man is able to serve the state, he is not hindered by the obscurity of his condition. The freedom which we enjoy in our government extends also to our ordinary life. There, far from exercising a jealous surveillance over each other, we do not feel called upon to be angry with our neighbour for doing what he likes, or even to indulge in those injurious looks which cannot fail to be offensive, although they inflict no positive penalty. But all this ease in our private relations does not make us lawless as citizens. Against this fear is our chief safeguard, teaching us to obey the magistrates and the laws, particularly such as regard the protection of the injured, whether they are actually on the statute book, or belong to that code which, although unwritten, yet cannot be broken without acknowledged disgrace.

"Further, we provide plenty of means for the mind to refresh itself from business. We celebrate games and sacrifices all the year round, and the elegance of our private establishments forms a daily source of pleasure and helps to banish the spleen; while the magnitude of our city draws the produce of the world into our harbour, so that to the Athenian the fruits of other countries are as familiar a luxury as those of his own.

It is quite amazing how many elements of contemporary democracy Pericles cramped into two passages: from majority rule, through individual and economic freedom, to equality under the law - all are underscored. What a decisive answer to the Arab student who deems freedom to reflect weakness!

And yet, there is another lesson that flows from this contrast. Pericles’ Oration was given to honour the dead of the first battles of the Peloponnesian War (431 BC), at the end of which Athens was vanquished (404 BC). Democracy alone is no foolproof shield. If we want to see the demise of the anti-democratic spirit that the Arab student represents, we must stand by Israel with all our might.

Note: The complete text of Pericles’ Funeral Oration may be found on several web sites, such as the sites of the Constitution Society, Washington State University, and Temple University.

Contributed by Joseph Alexander Norland This piece is cross-posted on IsraPundit and Dawson Speaks.

SALMAN RUSHDIE
Yes, This Is About Islam

It Ain't Over Even When It's Over

Activism matters - what it takes to nail things down

For some time now, since September 11, 2001, I have been concerned that many of the acts of violence perpetrated by various Jihadi groups were all linked together in one design of anti-Israeli, anti-US, anti-Western expression by these Islamist organizations, most of which are led by fiery Imams cursing Israel and the West to the heavens and calling for Allah to rain down fiery wrath and shake the ground beneath our feet.

Canada banned Hamas and several other organizations, but although the military wing of Hizb'Allah had been banned, Canada still allowed this organization to collect monies for its charitable wing.

Like many other Canadians, I had written several time to the Prime Minister asking him to discontinue giving Hizb'Allah charitable status in Canada and ban them outright. Finally, an article appeared on the Israeli Defence Force website giving a translation of statements by Sheik Hassan Nasrollah of Hizb'Allah's, and showing two photos of the publication, el-Intikad, in which these statements appeared on November 15, 2002, in Arabic.

Some of Nasrollah’s statements that were available on the web have been taken down by Hizb'Allah in the wake of Canada's banning of Hizb'Allah's charitable wing and the controversy over the Sheik's remarks but there is still a Google snapshot of some remarks from that publication in Arabic (more on this point, below).

Nasrollah’s comment also appeared on his personal website under the date of November 15, 2002 (again, see more on this point below).

Additionally, on November 29, 2002, the Sheik was quoted in an article entitled "Hizbolah urges more Palestinian suicide attacks" posted by Reuters Alert Net. In this article, Reuters said that Hizb'Allah's leader Hassan Nasrollah urged Palestinians on Friday, Nov. 29, 2002 "to ignore international criticism of suicide attacks and keep up armed struggle against Israel as the best way to liberate their land." [The link no longer gives the relevant article but a reproduction of the page is kept on file].

Furthermore, on December 4, 2002, Paul Martin ran an article in the Washington Times [again, the link no longer exists but the page has been kept on file] in which he stated that in addition to Nasarallah’s speech of November 29,

[E]arlier in the week, at a rally in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, Sheik Nasrollah issued a far more ominous threat.

"Martyrdom operations - suicide bombings - should be exported outside Palestine," he said.

"I encourage Palestinians to take suicide bombings worldwide. Don't be shy about it," he added.

Upon reading of the Sheik's statements I sent another letter to Prime Minister Jean Chretien in which I included the above links to the IDF website with its translation and photos of the Sheik's speech, and in which I demanded that the Government of Canada finally include Hizb'Allah with Hamas and other banned organizations whose military arms were carrying out suicide bombing missions. In light of the fact that Human Rights Watch had also now classified suicide bombings as 'murder' and despite protestations that Hizb'Allah supported charitable work and hospitals, I and other Canadians were not happy having this organization solicit funds inside Canada, fund which could be funnelled either way; and, as someone pointed out, even Hitler was kind to his mother.

On December 9, 2002 I received a reply from the Prime Minister's office stating that the PM had carefully read my remarks and had passed my letter on to the Solictor-General, Wayne Easter. I received no response from Wayne Easter's office but later that week, on Dec. 12, 2002, Mr. Easter made an announcement that the Government of Canada has decided to ban the charitable wing of Hizb'Allah from continuing to operate in Canada.

Let me say here that I in no way flatter myself that my letter alone did the trick; it was the cumulative efforts of many people across Canada, some Jewish, many like myself of Celtic and other backgrounds, all asking for the same thing, that violent organizations which bring terror and suffering to the lives of others around the world, no matter what good works they profess to do, be barred from operating in Canada, and their members from whatever branch or wing, be banned from Canada's shores.

In the end, the Prime Minister listened to us, though Mr. Easter, the Solicitor-General made it clear that Hizb'Allah was being banned for reasons other than just the speech by its leader Sheik Hassan Nasrollah.

Subsequent to Canada banning the charitable arm of Hizb'Allah, there was the expected outcry from this organization, crying "Foul" and protesting that the Sheik had never made the remarks attributed to him in a number of publications (see links above, including the Sheik's own website). The CBC's reporter, Neil Macdonald claimed to have spent three days in the Middle East trying to track down the source of the remarks, though why he should have gone so far afield is a mystery, since he need only have plugged in his laptop and dialled them up as the rest of us did.

The author of the original Washington Times article, Paul Martin [see above], came in for a pasting by The Toronto Star's media critic, Antonia Zerbisias in her article "Curious silence greets discredited Hezbollah tale" [this link too no longer exist but the page has been retained on file].

Ms. Zerbisias asserted that Paul Martin had been discredited, presumably by Neil Macdonald of the CBC, who never found the quotes and thus assumed the remarks were never made. Ms. Zerbisias descrited the Washington Times as a publication "controlled by the Unification Church known as the 'Moonies'", a remark meant to discredit the newspaper which ran Mr. Martin's article. She added that Paul Martin had not responded with a rebuttal and thus Ms. Zerbisias found this 'curious silence' evidence that the original article as well as Mr. Martin and his newspaper, The Washington Times, were in error. Ms. Zerbsias offered no other proof of her claim.

I have no idea why the fact that the Unification Church owns The Washington Times is a reason to disbelieve an article which appears in a publication which competes favourably with other Washington news sources, such as the Washington Post, anymore than I believe that a woman who witnessed a murder while working as a prostitute was blind, but apparently Ms. Zerbisias does.

On the same day, Dec. 16, 2002, that the weblog Little Green Footballs (LGF) was discussing this issue in a thread entitled "Support for Terrorists", I emailed Ms. Zerbisias and sent her the link to the IDF translation of Sheik Nasrollah's remarks. She replied to me that they didn’t offer proof that her article was in error. I replied offering her the Googled snapshot of Hizb'Allah's publication, al-Intiqad, showing Nasrollah's remarks, and the dated site from Sheik Hassan Nasrollah's OWN WEBSITE, where his text appears in Arabic (see link above); a friend who reads Arabic had kindly sent it to me. I further invited her to join the posters on the LGF thread where we discussing the Sheik's remarks. Ms. Zerbisias did join the posters on the weblog that day and you can read her remarks on the LGF link given above.

Additionally, I had occasion that day to exchange emails with her Ombudsman at The Toronto Star (The Star) who informed me, as she had done, very succinctly that "there would be no alteration or retraction of her article".

Later that evening there was one last hysterical response to me personally on my website from Antonia Zerbisias in which she denounced the LGF posters, calling them juvenile and 'poo-poo-heads' and telling me she'd 'had it with me and with this subject' and stating that when I had 'proof' (what was it I'd offered her?) that’s when we'd 'sit down and talk'.

And there the matter rested until the week of December 23, 2002.

During Christmas week, Paul Martin, author of the original article for The Washington Times which quoted Sheik Hassan Nasrollah's speeches, issued a statement through his Calgary law firm Chipeur Advocates, that he was suing the CBC, and their reporter, Neil Macdonald, as well as The Toronto Star and their media critic, Antonia Zerbisias, for defamation of character and for creating a dangerous climate for his work in the Middle East through their repudiation of his article in the Washington Times. The statement about the lawsuite has also been reported in the media: see, for example, report by canoe.com.

I have offered my personal correspondence with Antonia Zerbisias and her Ombudsman, as well as the links which were proffered to her and her responses, to Gerald Chipeur of Chipeur Advocates for the use of their client Paul Martin.

Mr. Martin's fortunes do not concern me so much as the veracity of the fact that Sheik Nasrollah said what he is alleged to have said; I am also concerned that Canada stand by its decision to ban this organization whose evil in promoting suicide bombing and other bombings is not mitigated by specious claims of 'charitable and other good works'.

Indeed, on Thursday, December 26, 2002, the Jordan Times published an article entitled, "Lebanon asks Canada to withdraw blacklisting of Hizbollah" .

The very thing I was fearing was coming to pass. Hizb'Allah wanted Canada to withdraw its blacklisting. In another LGF thread on December 27, 2002, discussing this development, Charles Johnson noted: "From the furious attempts by Hizb'Allah and their allies to spin this issue fast enough to confuse the Chretien administration, it's clear the Canadian connection must have been very important to their long-term plans."

I couldn't agree more, which is why it's vital to convince the Chretien government that it made the right decision in blacklisting Hizb'Allah, and that it must remain firm in that decision.

I am hoping to obtain a firm translation of the Arabic on Sheik Hassan Nasrollah's website before Hizb'Allah destroys it, as they have been very busy taking down webpages since this controversy began [see links above].

If there are any readers in the blogosphere who can help translate this material from the Arabic, please contact Joseph Alexander Norland at dt804@yahoo.ca with your name, e-mail address and the translations.

Also, we await the outcome of Mr. Martin's lawsuit which may not be for many months yet.

In this climate of war, there are no longer any national boundaries. We are fighting the same war in Canada as is being fought in Israel, and against the same enemies; the same war is being fought in England and France as is being fought in New York City. The war is a war of ideologies and of radical extremist Muslims against everyone else. If you are not an Islamist, you are the enemy to these radicals. They see even moderate secular Muslims as the enemy.

We must all fight in our own way; there is no alternative. It is not enough to protest against these Islamists in conversation or to express disapproval of their violent behaviour verbally. We must get busy pushing our politicians to act in order to deny these violent men access to our countries, to our charity contributions system, and to anything else which provides oxygen for their evil designs. Every little bit counts - every day!

Make the effort - even when you're tired. The future of your country and your children's children depends on it!

Contributed by Elizabeth Coote, ElizabethCoote2@interactive.rogers.com

In case you missed it...

IM4Israel is a site dedicated to helping the Israeli businessperson and entrepreneur while raising funds for organizations that help victims of terror. The site shows a list of associated vendors together with links which describe their products.

A portion of each purchase made through im4israel.org goes to the terror victims: Two great ways to help Israel simultaneously.

Additionally, the aesthetics of the webpage alone warrant a visit to the site.

Contributed by Joseph Alexander Norland This piece is cross-posted on IsraPundit and Dawson Speaks.

Dishonest Reporting 'Award' for 2002

Arafat makes arrest in bombing: reporter who linked it to Arafat's Fatah
found through Gabrielle Goldwater's Reports

"I hope that my story will shed light on the truth in the Middle East to every American, especially to those who subscribe to the erroneous idea that US policy in that region must have caused Islamic and Arab hatred of the West." The Daughter of an Arab Warrior Tells Her Tale

Summary of Editorials from the Hebrew Press

Payback time begins Israel clamps down on Palestinians after suicide bombers kill 22

see too:Israel's response to Tel Aviv terror won't interfere with U.S. plans for Iraq

7 articles Back-To-Back Blasts Rock Tel Aviv
Summary:
Israeli forces were on the move Thursday in the Gaza Strip, three teen - age Palestinian boys were laid to rest after an attempted attack on settlements, and an Israeli couple awoke to find a terrorist in their Northern Israel home. Polls showed support continuing to slip away from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Likud Party ahead of Jan. 28 elections, and police said Friday that charges were being considered against several Likud activists in a widening corruption scandal. Israel Twin homicide bombings in downtown Tel Aviv killed at least 23 bystanders on Sunday, the first such attack since November. Two Palestinian suicide bombers set off back - to - back blasts Sunday in a central Tel Aviv area crowded with foreign workers, killing 23 bystanders and wounding more than 100 in the bloodiest attack in six months.

Idiotarian Antidote

I've become accustomed to bitterly alchemizing the ongoing atrocities in Israel into lessons for Idiotarians. It is just occuring to me that the recent large-scale bombing in Israel, which took place in a specifically non-Jewish immigrant neighborhood, cannot be assumed to have accidentally targeted its gentile payload. There is no reason to think that any of the established Islamofascist groups, in this case the al-Aqsa Brigades, would casually depart this glaringly from its normally scheduled modus operandi.

You can be sure that 95% of the western media will gloss over the meaning of this tremendously important fact. This is partly due to the red herring that persists among liberal media outfits, which at this stage has assumed Hitchcockian proportions: that the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is actually about the occupied territories. If the New York Times, and the hordes of wingless drones who sup at it, could momentarily disabuse themselves of this assumption, they might read the latest terror act in the way it was intended. It is a clear statement that not only Jews, but any infidel interlopers in Palestine, are lethally unwelcome.

And so, the next time an Idiotarian approaches you, his nose soiled from rooting for root causes, and suggests that dismantling the settlements will put an end to Palestinian terrorism, introduce him to Anthony Tinubu, an illegal Nigerian immigrant who survived the blast and rendered this analysis of the situation, worthy of Robert Fisk:

"Look at that man, he is from China or somewhere. We are not Jews. I love Israel but I do not want to die because of what the Jews are doing to the Arabs. That is nothing to do with us."

They can then debate policy until the next bomb-laden donkey waddles by.

Cross-posted at Fightin' with Grabes.

Reactions to the latest bombings in Israel

It seems that the Palestinians have just about exhausted the sympathy of all but the most unredeemable pacifist terror apologists.

Spoons has the run-down.

Den Beste is advocating that they all be killed. No, seriously, the name of his html file for his post on this subject is Killemall.shtml. Here's a quote (Spoons, I'm sorry for plagiarizing your post, but this is too good to pass on):

[I]ncreasingly I'm finding myself feeling as if the world would be better off if someone went in and shot every damned one of them and piled the lot in an unmarked grave. After reading about yet another Palestinian atrocity, I find myself thinking, "Fuck it. Nuke Ramallah. Then nuke Nablus. And if that doesn't help, bulldoze Gaza. And once that's done, put all fifty surviving Palestinians on a freighter, tow it out to sea, and let them become someone else's problem."

UPDATE: Den Beste responds, saying that he does not advocate the killing of all Palestinians. I didn't mean to imply that he did, and a reading of his entire post shows that he doesn't. Since most people probably will not read his entire post (they tend to get rather lengthy), and since he obviously does not want people to get the impression that he's advocating mass murder, I felt that that point needs clarifying. I thought it was clearer that this excerpt was of over-blown rhetoric, meant to convey a state of feeling, not an actual policy recommendation. However, the excerpt is valid, and the name of his file remains Killemall.shtml. If he really wants to make sure no false interpretations are made, maybe he should consider changing that name. While my views are probably to the right of Den Beste's, although I am no-where near advocating mass killings, I would never so name a post, because it doesn't accurately represent my views, and also because of the erroneous impressions it may cause


Lileks is not too happy either.

Syndicated columnist Ben Shapiro, who I am now honored to have as a fellow IsraPundit contributor, continues to advocate transfer, but now he sounds moderate, comparatively.

And, of course, Spoons chimes in with his view:

I say kill 'em all. Now.

UPDATE II: Spoons updates his post with further elaborations. For all of you hot-heads out there, Spoons also does not advocate this as an actual policy measure, but rather he is simply conveying his extreme feelings in reaction to yesterday's disgusting mass murder of Israelis.

Cross-posted at BIUblog.

An update on the attacks, in the form of some excepts from the (anti-Israel biased? so they say) New York Times, with some comments of my own.

Israeli helicopters fired at least nine missiles at targets in Gaza City in an apparent military response to the first suicide attacks in Israel for six weeks. There were no early reports of casualties.

The Jersualem Post says it was a weapons factory. Fair game, I say.

A Palestinian militant group claimed responsibility for the Tel Aviv bombings, which the Palestinian Authority denounced as a ``terrorist'' attack.

Well that's good and nice for the PA. But they're not calling the shots, so it hardly matters.

It came three weeks before a general election at which security concerns will be paramount for many Israeli voters.

And Ariel Sharon just gained a few votes.

The Palestinian militant group Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the military wing of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction, claimed responsibility. It named the bombers as Boraq Abdel Rahman Halfa and Saber al-Nouri from Nablus and said they carried out the attack in retaliation for demolitions of homes.

Now this is something I never understood. Why are Palestinian homes valued higher than Israeli life? Why are the destruction of buildings "war crimes", while the slaughter of Israelis "martyrdom operations." Someone should inform the Palestinians that they are war crimes.

Poor foreign workers -- mainly east European, African, Thai and Chinese -- predominate in the targeted neighborhood. Police issued broadcast assurances to illegal immigrants saying they would not be arrested if they sought hospital treatment.

So they didn't even target just Israelis. Now the Chinese, Euorpean and Africans are "Zionist Opressors" too!

He [Erekat] accused Sharon's government of stepping up military operations to sabotage talks in Cairo between Palestinian militant factions on a possible cease-fire.

Talks which were a joke to begin with.

Letter to the editor of The Australian Jewish news

The ongoing murder war.

There is no other term for the tactics of those Arabs calling themselves "Palestinian" than "murder bombing". The deliberate and premeditated murder
of civilians in a heavily populated centre is nothing but. To apply the term "suicide bomber" implies a central wish on the part of the perpetrator to
commit suicide which is simply not the case. Greater than 70% of the Arab population supports these cowardly attacks.

Given that the population has been systematically brainwashing it's children in the culture of death being a "holy" act, it is quite clear that no amount
of negotiation or so-called "peace process" will ever bear fruit unless there is a fundamental change in the psyche of the population as a whole and
the radical Islamic fundamentalists in particular - not only in Israel but in the rest of the world as well. Not a likely prospect any time soon.

Therefore, and most unfortunately and regrettably, the only solution is to deal with the here and now. There is no point rehashing history and how the
situation arrived at this point. In light of the systematic brainwashing, the Arab settlers in Eretz Israel cannot be regarded as "innocent civilians
or bystanders". It is clear that the enormous restraint shown to date by the Israeli government and people cannot continue. This is death by a thousand
cuts inflicted by the foreign policy needs of the United States.

The attack in Tel Aviv on Sunday was by any measure the equal in terms of it's horror of the World Trade centre. After only ONE attack the United
States took down the government of another sovereign state, and is planning similar action against another. Why should the rules be different when a
country has suffered 15000 PLUS attacks of a similar nature?

Unfortunately, the only solution now is total separation on a permanent basis behind logical defensible borders. A satellite photograph of the
Middle East clearly shows where this border should be - the Jordan river. The Arab settlers, having followed the returning Jews to their homeland in
search of prosperity have quite simply done this to themselves - G-D knows, every opportunity has been offered them to achieve their dream. They can
settle back in the countries from whence they or their fathers came.

Dr David Bornstein

Israel and Jews are not the only ones being targeted

The Tamil Tigers for a Tamil EElam (LTTE) claim the dubious honour af having "invented" the (murder bomb) suicide belt..
I have received the following message from a Sri Lankan colleague who has given me great support in my endeavours to get the Australian government to bring on a debate at the UN to have murder bombing declared a crime against humanity. It is a quote from a Sri Lankan newspaper newspaper.

----- Original Message -----
From: Senaka Weeraratna
To: Buddhist-News@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sunday, January 05, 2003 7:10 PM
Subject: [BNC] Sri Lanka to act against anti-Buddhist film

Sunday Times http://www.sundaytimes.lk/

January 5, 2003

News

Lanka to act against anti-Buddhist film

From Neville de Silva in London

Sri Lanka is to officially protest to the British Government this week against the intended public screening of a pro-LTTE film that denigrates
the Buddha and seriously offends the sensibilities of Buddhists.

Since the film titled "In the name of Buddha" is an undignified assault on Buddhism and is damaging to Buddhists worldwide, the Sri Lanka High
Commission in London is likely to brief the UK-based diplomatic missions of other Buddhist countries such as Thailand, Japan and Myanmar on the nature
of this film which falsifies the underlying causes of the Sri Lankan conflict and portrays it as a war launched by Buddhism against the Tamils
who are adherents of other religions.

The High Commission is also likely to apprise Indian diplomats here about the film which pointedly accuses and depicts the Sikh soldiers in the
Indian Peace Keeping Force as murderers, rapists and looters.

The film also offends the Jewish survivors of the Nazi concentration camps, comparing the atrocities they suffered with those of the Tamils who sought
refugee in the West.

High Commissioner Faiz Mustapha who returns to London tomorrow has sought meetings with Dr Kim Howell, the minister in charge of tourism, films and
broadcasting and K.Gibbias, head of the Department of Culture, Media and Sports. Sri Lankan diplomats here are also due to meet Robin Duval, the
director of the British Board of Classification which categorises films before public screening.

The written protests to the British Government and briefings to relevant diplomatic missions are understood to be broadly structured on the
observations made by this newspaper with regard to the thematic and visual content of the film.

In London the offending film was shown to a select audience on December 19. It was a preview for the media and members of BAFTA-the British film
industry. I was the only London-based journalist from Sri Lanka's mainstream media present at the poorly-attended preview at the Warner Village cinema at London's West End.

Following the preview, I raised the issue with the High Commission here and asked what steps it hoped to take to bring to official notice this travesty
of truth which was being touted by the producers' public relations people as a clarion call for non-violence based on the teachings of the Buddha and
Mahatma Gandhi.

Subsequently High Commissioner Faiz Mustapha who had left for Colombo a day earlier was briefed from London on the initiative taken by this
correspondent to seek an official government position on what it expected to do.

One problem with regard to films is that there is no relevant body like the Press Complaints Commission before which the public can seek redress.

However, there is a possibility that Sri Lanka might raise the issue with the Home Office. Under the British Anti-Terrorist Act 2000, it is an
offence to support, fund, be a member of or even display symbols of a proscribed organisation. The "freedom fighters" shown in the film are
readily identifiable as the LTTE.

At the preview I asked the public relations person present why an image of the Buddha was at the centre of a Tamil cemetery and why the film had the
title it did.

She claimed that the Sri Lankan soldiers were Buddhists, implying that they were engaged in war in the name of Buddhism.

I asked her whether if any British soldiers were to go to war against Iraq that would amount to a Christian crusade against Islamic Iraq. Or was it an
attack by the British state and the soldiers were fighting in the name of the state? I was met with silence.

Ven. Bogoda Seelawimala of the London Buddhist Vihare told The Sunday Times that such attempts to turn the public against Buddhists will not succeed.

"When we monks bless people and tie pirith nool, it is to protect them against harm and evil. When we do the same for soldiers it is to protect
them from the evil and violence sown by terrorism. That is not to encourage violence which is totally against the Buddha's teachings.

~All it takes for the Dhamma to disappear is for Buddhists to do nothing~

U.S. Senator Arlen Specter says Arafat should step down:

Speaking to reporters at the US Embassy in Cairo, Specter also said PA Chairman Yasser Arafat must step down from power as evidence exists that he supports terrorism.

Specter, a Republican from Pennsylvania, said if reforms occur, "I think the international donor community could put up a great deal of money to rebuild the Palestinian Authority and to compensate Israel for Israel's losses."

While saying the PA has to decide for itself what form of government it wants, Specter said "I think Arafat has to step aside." The Bush administration has shunned Arafat, denouncing him as a non-leader for failing to end suicide bombings and shooting attacks.

The Definitive Proof # 3897

Israel's supporters (which, by definition, excludes the various peaceniks) have contended for years that the PA, the PLO and the other variations on the theme have but one objective: the destruction of Israel. To the many proofs offered to substantiate this statement, today's Jerusalem Post brings yet another proof.
In an interview to a Nazareth weekly, Farouk Kaddoumi (described as "the only senior PLO leader to remain in Tunis following the signing of the Oslo Accords") stated the following:

Asked if there was any difference between his positions and those of Hamas, which calls for the elimination of Israel and the establishment of an Islamic state in all of Palestine, the veteran PLO official said: "We were never different from Hamas. Hamas is a national movement. Strategically, there is no difference between us."

Not that this latest, unequivocal statement will change the mind of Powell, Blair and other appeasers...

Contributed by Joseph Alexander Norland This piece is cross-posted on IsraPundit and Dawson Speaks.

If you can stomach it. I hope the Leftists and Peace Now crazies view this. Photos and videos of the carnage from Arab mass murderers, via IDF

The Liberal Betrayal of the Jews

"If I am not for Myself...
The Liberal Betrayal of the Jews"

By Ruth R. Wisse

For over a century, Jews have been identified with liberalism. Not only have they been a driving force behind the spread of liberal politics; they have also been steadfastly loyal to a doctrine that promised them both safety and political acceptance. Recent evidence suggests that their commitment has not waned. But while Jews continue to stand up for other groups and "vote their conscience," contends Ruth Wisse, the liberal commitment to the Jews is not nearly so strong. Whenever Jews have been attacked -- from the trial of Captain Dreyfus to the sustained military and political war against Israel -- liberals have been slow to defend Jewish rights and have preferred instead to hold the Jews responsible for the persistence of their enemies.

We are all disgusted, crying, angry, stunned. But beginning with the title of this Arab news release, notice how the double suicide bombing is treated , with Egypt blaming Israel for it. And Egypt is a country that has signed a peace accord with Israel. This trash news release shows what total shits Israel must deal with. 20 Dead, 100 Wounded in Double Resistance Attack in Tel Aviv

The worst attacks of all are the ones that come after a lull, when things seem like they're just starting to cool off. I'm sure you know by now, but at least 22 have been murdered at a bus stop in Tel Aviv.

Suicide bombers strike at the oddest times, it seems. One of the groups that initially claimed responsibility, Islamic Jihad, is right now engaed in (evidently farcial) 'cease-fire' talks in Egypt. And of course, coming just 23 days before the election, this can only help Ariel Sharon's chances. The Israeli right is, obviously, stepping up their calls for Arafat's explusion, and other hard measures. (Arafat is of limited use anyway.) I wonder if militant groups really have the best interests of the Palestinians in mind, or know what constitutes the best interests of the Palestinians.

There is some good news from Israel today: Jordanian engineers have begun to repair damage to the south wall of the Temple Mount, ending a two-year dispute between the Israeli government and the Waqf. There were serious fears it would collapse, which would no doubt plunge the region into catastrophe. (Which would, no doubt, have been blamed on Israel.).

(Crossposted here.)

Three Groups Lay Claim to Latest Bombing

JENIN, West Bank, Jan 5 (AFP) - Three Palestinian groups on Sunday claimed a double suicide bombing in downtown Tel Aviv during the evening rush hour that left at least 19 fatal victims.

The radical Palestinian group Islamic Jihad said it had sent in two suicide bombers, in a telephone call to AFP in the northern West Bank town of Jenin. The caller said the group would later issue an official statement.

But Islamic Jihad leader Ramadan Shallah, speaking on Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television, stopped short of claiming responsibility while hailing the operation.

"So far we have no information to confirm or deny the responsibility of the Jerusalem Brigades (Islamic Jihad's armed wing) for this operation," he said. "So far no official statement has been published by the Jerusalem Brigades claiming this operation," he said, adding that he considered the attack a "heroic operation".

Shortly afterwards, an anonymous caller claiming to represent the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the larger Islamic group Hamas, telephoned AFP in Jerusalem and claimed the attack. "We declare responsibility for the attack in Tel Aviv. We promise the Israeli occupation army more attacks in the next month," said the caller, speaking in English.

But in Gaza City, senior Hamas figure Abdel Aziz Rantissi was unable to confirm his organization's involvement. "Knowing who was behind the operation does not interest us," he said. "What is important is that the Palestinian people will pursue its resistance whatever the magnitude of the enemy's terrorism."

Two hours later, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed offshoot of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, also claimed the attack in a statement faxed to AFP in Gaza City, giving the names of the two alleged bombers. "Two of our bombers succeeded in passing the Zionist checkpoints and reaching Tel Aviv to carry out the double suicide bombings," the statemenmt said. It named the bombers as Buraq Khalifa and Tamir al-Nuri, both from the northern West Bank city of Nablus, whose Balata refugee camp is a bastion for the hardline secular group. "We will continue our resistance. We have done our duty to avenge the Zionist massacres and the destruction of the martyrs' homes," it said in reference to Israel's policy of demolishing the homes of militants.

Rival groups often lay claim to the same attack after bombings.

Governments in glass houses should not throw stones

On January 4, 2002, Reuters carried the following news story under the heading, Israeli Bulldozers Raze Buildings in Southern Gaza:

GAZA (Reuters) - Israeli bulldozers destroyed at least two buildings in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday, despite U.S. concerns that a recent spate of house demolitions could fuel the conflict with the Palestinians...
The United States, Israel's guardian ally, on Friday joined a chorus of international criticism at Israel's policy of home demolitions which have been denounced as "collective punishment" by Palestinians and human rights groups...
"We recognize Israel's need to take legitimate anti-terrorist action," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said on Friday.
"However, steps such as displacement of people through the demolition of homes and property exacerbate the humanitarian situation, and undermine trust and confidence."

In view of this heart-wrenching burst of sympathy for the victims of “demolition of homes and property”, it would only be appropriate to remind Uncle Sam of one of many chapters in his own history.

Flash back to March-June, 1999. Here, without commentary, are some quotations of what transpired in that period, courtesy of Uncle Sam, John Bull and 17 others; all the quotations are from the Telegraph and they are given in chronological order:

Tuesday 13 April 1999
At least 10 people were killed and 16 others injured when the missile hit a train in south-eastern Serbia, Yugoslav officials said. Nato admitted that there was a train "on or near the bridge" at the time of an air strike.

Friday 16 April 1999
NATO admitted yesterday that its aircraft caused civilian deaths by bombing at least one refugee column in Kosovo, and said it was urgently investigating reports of an attack on a second column.
Yugoslav news agencies claimed that up to 64 people were killed and scores injured in the incident...

Saturday 24 April 1999
TONY BLAIR yesterday staunchly defended Nato's attack on a Serb state-run television station, calling it "entirely justified".
The strike, in the early hours of Friday, was followed later in the day by a cruise missile attack on power transformers in Belgrade, knocking out electricity to some homes
...
Serb television was still broadcasting last night as Nato planners weighed another strike against the country's broadcasting system in the knowledge that more civilian casualties would be almost inevitable.
...
By yesterday evening 10 bodies had been found in the wreckage of the devastated television headquarters in the heart of Belgrade. Among the dead was a so-far unidentified television technician found trapped but still alive under a giant concrete beam. Doctors were forced to amputate both legs to free him but he later died in hospital.

Tuesday 27 April 1999
NATO forces have destroyed the last remaining bridge over the Danube in Yugoslavia's second city, effectively isolating it and its massive oil storage depot from the rest of the country.

Thursday 29 April 1999
THE tiny Yugoslav republic of Montenegro came under an intense bombardment yesterday in the first attack on Serbia's junior partner for 10 days.
Explosions were clearly heard in Podgorica, the Montenegrin capital, as two waves of attacks were launched on the city's suburbs and an area near the Golubovci airfield, five miles from the centre.

Saturday 8 May 1999
A NATO cluster bomb attack on an outdoor market and hospital complex in the southern Serbian city of Nis killed at least 15 civilians and injured 70 others, Yugoslav officials said yesterday.
...
Western journalists operating under Yugoslav restrictions reported scenes of devastation. Cars were destroyed, walls pockmarked with shrapnel, and windows and roofs smashed.

Saturday 15 May 1999
DOZENS of bodies lay scattered in fields around the Kosovan village of Korisa yesterday after what appeared to be the bloodiest blunder of Nato's seven-week air campaign against Yugoslavia.

Friday 21 May 1999

Bomb hits hospital and envoys' homes

NATO refused to confirm yesterday that one of its bombs had hit a hospital in Belgrade killing three people as well as damaging the nearby Swedish, Spanish and Norwegian ambassadors' residencies...

Reporters who visited the remains of the Dr Dragisa Misovic hospital in Belgrade's wealthy Dedinje area said the neurological ward had been worst hit and the gynaecological and maternity sections nearby were also damaged. The Yugoslav claims of three dead and the two injured mothers could not be confirmed but Leposava Milicevic, the Serbian Health Minister, told a news conference that the body of a hospital guard was one of the dead and she predicted more bodies would be dug out of the debris.

Sunday 23 May 1999
NATO yesterday admitted hitting a Kosovo Liberation Army base in one of the worst blunders of the two-month bombing campaign. Even more embarrassingly, the rebels claimed to have been providing regular intelligence to Nato from the base.

Monday 7 June 1999
THE Yugoslav economy has been smashed by Nato bombardment to the kind of primitive conditions that existed at the end of the Second World War, according to official figures released in Belgrade.
...
At the latest count, Nato aircraft had destroyed at least 50 bridges, six trunk roads, and five civilian airports. Belgrade says 20 hospitals, 30 health centres, 190 educational institutions, and 12 railway lines have been badly damaged.

And here is another one that the Telegraph must have missed, but the Washington Post did not:

May 27, 1999, Thursday

Wag this . . .
NATO bombs destroy a Chinese embassy, knock out windows at 11 ambassadorial homes, hit a hospital, killing four and injuring two women in labor, and blow 87 Kosovar refugees to smithereens as they wend their way toward Albania . . .

On May 6, 1999, in the middle of the bombing campaign, Prof Mandel of Toronto filed a complaint against NATO on behalf of himself and 16 prominent jurists. His complaint specified the results of NATO’s war against Serbia up to that point, from which the following passages have been extracted:

...AND WHEREAS NATO has carried out between 5,000 and 10,000 bombing missions over the territories of the former Yugoslavia since March 24, 1999;
AND WHEREAS instances of this nature include the 12 April bombing of a train travelling from Belgrade to Ristovac as it crossed the bridge spanning the Yuzhna Morava river at the Grdelica gorge, killing at least 10 passengers and wounding 16; the 15 April bombing of a refugee convoy in four separate locations along a 12 mile stretch of the road that runs from Prizren to Djakovica, killing approximately 74 people; the 23 April bombing of Serbian Television editorial offices, killing approximately 15 people; the 27 April bombing of a residential district in Surdulica, killing 16 people including 12 children; and the May 1 bombing of a bus on the Luzan bridge in Kosovo killing at least 34 people including 15 children; ...

AND WHEREAS there is ample evidence in the public statements of NATO leaders that these attacks on civilian targets are part of a deliberate attempt to terrorize the population to turn it against its leadership; ...

AND WHEREAS the NATO bombings have also made use of weapons banned by international convention, including cruise missiles utilizing depleted uranium highly toxic to human beings; ...

Respectfully submitted, this 6th day of May, 1999

Tune in for an account of Uncle Sam in Panama, 1989, next time the State Department attacks Israel's efforts to defend herself.

Based on previous experience, I know in advance what the State Department will respond when confronted with this record, together with the suggestion that perhaps it should be the last to attack Israel. The answer will be, “Oh, that’s an entirely a different situation”. You bet it is! Israel is constantly attacked by Palestinian-Arab terrorists, but NATO was not threatened by Serbia for even one micro-second. Israel is fighting for its life, NATO had no such concern. Israel has been under attack since its inception, NATO has never come under attack, and definitely not by Serbia. You bet, “that’s an entirely a different situation”.

The point I’d like to stress is that those of us who are still under the illusion that the US government is Israel’s friend should better think again. The only friends Israel seems to have are average citizens like the readers of IsraPundit/Dawson Speaks.

Finally, since the State Department consists no doubt of God-fearing people, let me end with a quotation that should be very familiar to that congregation of piety:

Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

Doesn’t this passage read as if the writer had the State Department in mind?

Contributed by Joseph Alexander Norland This piece is cross-posted on IsraPundit and Dawson Speaks.

Death toll rises to 19

Arutz Sheva is now reporting that the number of dead is is 19, not counting the two terrorists (who, by the way, should never be counted in the death total). And it's no wonder that this bombing has created this kind of carnage -- the Palestinian murderers were carrying bags with 22-33 lbs of explosives. I think Amish Tech Support says it all in his post concerning the attacks.

Addtional info on earlier bombing postings.DEBKAfile Headlines

19:25 IST: Death toll rises to 17 in double Palestinian suicide bombing Sunday night on two crowded street corners near old Central Bus Terminal in South Tel Aviv.

Seven of at least 50 injured in very serious condition. Jihad Islami`s Damascus HQ takes responsibility for dual terror attacks, the first of 2003.

Extra-large bombs contained ball bearings and sharp metal fragments, making injuries more severe.

Israeli political sources note: Jihad Islami-Damascus is represented at Egyptian-sponsored Palestinian conference in Cairo - supposedly to discuss cessation of terror. Arafat held ultimately responsible as he gives green light to terrorist activity.

The only solution is transfer

The death toll from the simultaneous suicide bombings in Tel Aviv has now risen to 15-17. With the elections coming up, you'd figure that the Palestinians would get wise and halt their murder until the elections to help boost Labor's chances. But with Ariel Sharon acting more like Ehud Barak than the Ariel Sharon of the 1970s and 1980s, the Palestinians figure that they can get away with anything, even under a Sharon-led Likud government.

The only hope for an end to violence is that the Israeli populace becomes so polarized that they start voting Moledet, or pushing Likud far-right. Why? Because the only solution to this problem is transfer of Palestinians from Judea and Samaria, and Israeli Arabs from Israel proper. For a more complete discussion of the morality and politics of transfer, read this, this, and this. They're well worth the time (you can also check my archives for more material on the subject).

Islam is Peace


Police: At least 10 killed in Tel Aviv Attack

I know, I know...

It's not fair to characterize all of the great religion Islam because of a few fanatics who have hijacked the religion. And Jihad doesn't mean terrorism, it's really an internal struggle within the true believer to bring him to greater spiritual heights, and peacefull awareness.

Well, guess what? The group that perpetrated today's mass murder is named, coincidentally, Islamic Jihad. Or, in other words, Peace Peace. Go figure.

At the head of the curve...

Europe migrates to the right so says Peter Robinson of the Hoover institute.

But there's a bigger story afoot on the continent, one that makes clear that European voters, if not the governing elite, recognize that something resembling a clash of cultures is underway between the Muslim and Western worlds. The flashpoint is Muslim immigration. ...conservative governments have come to power in a number of countries, including Spain, Italy, France, Austria and the Netherlands. The shift will continue for years to come.

"Muslim immigration of a very considerable size has meant that the liberal traditions and liberal political values of some of these countries have come under attack," says O'Sullivan. As a result, many voters "have switched to the right because they're worried that Muslim immigration is transforming their societies in illiberal ways as well as in more obvious cultural ones." Hitchens saw this illiberal spirit during mass demonstrations in Britain by young Pakistanis who not only wanted to burn The Satanic Verses, but who "wanted to burn the author, Salman Rushdie, too."

Crime has soared in places with heavy immigration, including Paris, Madrid, Stockholm and Amsterdam. According to the Statistical Assessment Service, London now has almost as many murders per capita as New York, half again as many rapes, twice as many assaults on auto thefts and four times as many burglaries. Indeed, London is far more dangerous than New York City. Much of this crime is blamed on Muslim immigrants, as is the massive increase in rape in Norway and crime spikes in Scandinavia and France.

Not surprisingly, Muslim immigration is also tied to the resurgence of European anti-Semitism, as seen in synagogue burnings and attacks on Jewish citizens. In this case, the anti-Jewish feelings are linked to Israel's policies regarding the Palestinians. Whatever the cause, the revival of Europe's old and discredited hatred is yet another source of friction across the continent.
.
Where is this all leading? A decade from now, says Hitchens, the center will be politically "much to the right" of where it now stands. O'Sullivan offers a much more troubling scenario. If these trends continue, he warns, widespread upheaval may result in conflicts that spiral out of control. We have seen that happen before, which is why O'Sullivan hopes for an increasingly close relationship between the United States and Europe: "You can predict that Europe in the future will have internal convulsions, and if America is there to make sure they're settled peaceably, we can all sleep more soundly in our beds."

I for one don't know how America can help Europe deal with its internal problems. America still can't deal with its own, largely because America is not yet willing to recognize that it is a problem.

Trashes political correctness as stupid and naive when it comes to understanding Islam: Politics in religious garb.
see too: CAIR

If you believe that a Palestinian State will be demilitarized don't hold your breath

Shmual Katz writes in the JPost that for Sharon to have uttered the words Palestinian State, even with limitations, was an egregious blunder.

Most weighty of the envisaged limitations is, of course, that the Palestinian state would be demilitarized. This notion is the purest nonsense.

Israel were to reach the nadir of political inanity of actually helping to establish a state for the Palestinian Arabs, the Arabs would reject with all vigor the idea that their state would be hobbled by a denial of major armaments. No less emphatic would be the hostile reaction of a large segment of the European and other nations. Even friends, appalled and distressed, would find themselves bound, albeit reluctantly, to deplore such a limitation of sovereignty. They would find it intolerable.

For the Arabs the military issue is doubly critical. First because the very idea of demilitarization would be regarded as a blow to their honor; second, because a sovereign state has never been the ultimate purpose of Arab policy.

The purpose is the destruction of Israel. A state could represent only the penultimate "phase" in the policy of phases. It could be the staging ground with a large and variegated arsenal for the "final phase." That is the original Arab game plan. MORE

Til now I have taken some comfort in these limitaitions and in the expectations that the road map would take a detour through all the conditions of the Bush vision speech of June. But no such luck. MENL reports that

The United States has rejected virtually all of Israel's reservations regarding an international plan for the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Now I am really worried. The only hope is this rejections is the child of the State Department and that the White House has yet to weigh in. But what the heck do I know.

Israel says Palestinian tried to attack ambassador in Germany

Israel has charged a Palestinian man from the West Bank with trying to assassinate Israel's ambassador to Germany, the army spokesman said Sunday.

The Palestinian, Alam Koka, 21, turned to a Lebanese woman living in Germany and Palestinian militant groups with the plan, but no one agreed to cooperate with him, according to the indictment presented last week.

Koka, a resident of the West Bank city of Nablus, made contact with the Lebanese woman through the Internet in August and asked her to take pictures of the Israeli embassy in Berlin, but she refused, the army alleged.

The army did not say when Koka was arrested.

The suspect also asked the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, a militia linked to Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, and gunmen from the Islamic Jihad group to help him carry out the attack. Both militias refused, saying they did not want to carry a large operation outside the region, the indictment said.

Koka joined the Al Aqsa militia a year ago, and planned several attacks, including bombing a Jerusalem nightclub and poisoning the water of an Israeli community, the charge sheet said. These attacks were never carried out, though Koka was involved in shootings on army vehicles in Nablus that injured no one, the prosecutor said.

The Al Aqsa Brigades and other militias have been responsible for dozens of attacks on Israelis during the more than 27 months of fighting.

Terrific answer via letter to the American State Department's announcement regartding (see post below) Israeli demolition of buildings. Those who know history will recall the anti-semitism of the State Department during the Nazi era. This piece via Gabrielle Goldwater's Reports

Border police arrest 1,300 Palestinian entering Israel without permits

Over the weekend, border policemen caught 1,300 Palestinians entering Israeli without permits, Israel Radio reports. The men were caught on the seam line and the Jerusalem border.

The Palestinians were questioned and released back into the territories, the radio said.

In addition, seven employers of illegal Palestinian workers and 18 people who illegally transport the Palestinians to Israel were arrested. According to the radio, 13 of the 18 eighteen drivers' have had their licenses confiscated for one month.

Israel arrests three armed Palestinians from Egypt

Three armed Palestinian men have been arrested by Israeli troops in the southern Gaza Strip. The men were reportedly heavily armed with automatic rifles and trying to enter Rafah from neighboring Egypt. Seven other Palestinians wanted by Israel were also arrested in two West Bank towns. Since June, the Israeli army has detained thousands of Palestinians for questioning. An Israeli human rights group said last week that more than 1,000 Palestinians were being held in so-called administrative detention, which allows suspects to be held indefinitely without charge or trial.

Amid Criticism, Israel Destroys 2 Gaza Buildings

GAZA CITY -- Israeli bulldozers destroyed at least two buildings in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday, despite growing concern in the U.S. and elsewhere that a spate of house demolitions is only fueling the conflict with the Palestinians.

Palestinian witnesses said military bulldozers knocked down three large houses in the Rafah refugee camp, near the Egyptian border.

The army said it had demolished two abandoned buildings used by Palestinian gunmen to fire rockets and grenades at troops patrolling the border. Three Israelis were wounded in a rocket attack in the area Tuesday, the army said.

The United States on Friday joined a chorus of international criticism against Israel's policy of home demolitions, which have been denounced by Palestinians and human rights groups as "collective punishment."

"We recognize Israel's need to take legitimate anti-terrorist action," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. "However, steps such as displacement of people through the demolition of homes and property exacerbate the humanitarian situation, and undermine trust and confidence."

Meanwhile Saturday, five soldiers and one Palestinian were wounded in the West Bank in a gunfight. The army said the five were fired upon while patrolling in Jenin. They returned fire, injuring one attacker.

But a Jenin resident disputed the army account. Omar Khalili said soldiers broke into his apartment at 3 a.m. and herded his family into a bedroom. While there, the troops were attacked by Palestinian gunmen.

The soldiers returned fire, and a bullet fragment struck a neighbor in the hand, he said. The neighbor was treated at a clinic and released.

THE AL QAEDA LINK TO PALESTINIAN TERROR GROUPS

Predictions
Expect no good news from Middle East

EYE ON THE GULF:
U.S. expects Iraq to hit Israel hard

DEBKAfile Military Analysis Arrow anti-missile test in “difficult conditions”

The Traitors at Peace Now

I don't think that all peace activists in Israel are traitors. Some are truly naive, silly, or ignorant. But then there are those who want to tear down the Jewish State. Peace Now is a movement made up of such people. They don't just want peace, they want Israel to execute itself in pursuit of peace. Today was just another example in a long line of Peace Now anti-Israeli activity. They protested outside PM Sharon's residence because of the recent decision by the Knesset Central Election Committee to bar Arab MKs Tibi and Bishara from running for office, as well as Bishara's Barad party (the link above may require registration to Jerusalem Post website).

These Peace Now people are psycho to protest for this terrorist-loving duo. Bishara visited Syria last year and proclaimed support for the terrorist group Hizbollah -- in May 2000, after the IDF pulled out of Lebanon, he told a group of Arab Israelis that "Hizbollah has won, and for the first time … we have known the taste of victory." Bishara also told the terrorist group Hamas that he was using his Knesset seat "to further his struggle against the state of Israel." Tibi, who runs on the slate of the Hadash Party, has been connected to terrorist activity, and described Palestinian terrorism against Israeli soldiers in Jenin as "an act of noble heroism."

Yet Peace Now is out there protesting that Tibi and Bishara should not be put on trial for treason or banned from Knesset, and that furthermore, they should be allowed to sit in Knesset if elected by their Israeli Arab friends. Peace Now supports terrorists and terrorist supporters. Not only should Sharon and the Israeli government ban Bishara and Tibi from Knesset, they should expel them from Israel -- and tell them to take their friends at Peace Now with them.

Exploiting the Palestinians by Max Boot. Everyone's doing it.

For Middle Eastern states, championing the Palestinian cause is even more vital because doing so provides an important pillar of legitimacy for their manifestly illegitimate governments. Naturally the Arab states' interest is in preserving "the struggle," not in succoring the Palestinian people who (along with the Israelis) are its chief victims. There are almost 4 million Palestinians and most live in conditions of unrelieved squalor; large swaths of the West Bank and Gaza Strip make the South Bronx look like Club Med by comparison. The only Arab state that has granted citizenship to Palestinians is Jordan; the others prefer to keep them as an unassimilated, militant minority.

More than 1.1 million Palestinians are jammed into 59 refugee camps whose support comes mainly from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency and other international bodies. As former U.S. ambassador to Morocco Marc Ginsberg points out, all the Arab states combined donate less than $7 million to UNRWA, just 2.4 percent of its $290 million budget. (Kuwait, Egypt, Libya, Oman, Qatar, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates collectively contribute a grand total of zero.) By contrast, the Great Satan forks over $110 million, or 38 percent of UNRWA's budget. The Arabs prefer to spend their money to support Palestinian suicide bombers. Saddam Hussein alone has paid an estimated $20 million over the past two years to "martyrs'" families. The Saudis held a telethon to raise millions more. The Arab League as a whole contributes $55 million a month to Arafat's tyrannical Palestinian Authority, which keeps the suicide bombings coming.

DEBKA File Al Qaeda prepares bio-terror for US and Israel

PC. Good or bad

How does one reconcile offensive speech with freedom of speech. Should we not be able to make offensive remarks. There is no law against it but in Canada we have laws dealing with hate speech which comes into play when such speech incites violence like."kill the Jews". When Arabs call Jews "sons of pigs" and these remarks are printed in America without recrimation, why can't people in America make equally offensive remarks about Arabs. Can anyone enlighten me.

In an article by Art Moore in WND we are told about the tarring and feathering of columnist Cotterall.

Cotterell was suspended for one week without pay, beginning today, for writing to a Muslim: "Except for Jordan and Egypt, no Arab nation has a peace treaty with Israel. They've had 54 years to get over it. They choose not to. OK, they can squat around the camel-dung fire and grumble about it, or they can put their bottoms in the air five times a day and pray for deliverance; that's their business. … And I don't give a damn if Israel kills a few in collateral damage while defending itself. So be it."

What do you think? And this remark was not in his column but in an e-mail.

Miller, his editor said, those views "absolutely do not represent the views and sensitivities of this newspaper. Worse, they run counter to many of the values we hold dearest, among them tolerance, diversity and inclusiveness." and again expressed remorse to his readers and "members of the Islamic faith everywhere" for "the intemperate e-mail comments of political writer/columnist Bill Cotterell."

Get that, "in an e-mail".

To my mind it is natural and useful to stigmatize an enemy (think of the Japs and the Nazis) if only we would name them. Fat chance.

Please note that the remarks referred to Arabs and the apology referred to members of the Islamic faith. Very interesting.

DOES ARAB VIOLENCE PAY OFF?
by Carl Alpert

"Ever since the Yom Kippur War, almost 30 years ago, everything that the Arabs have gained has come about as a result of their use of force. They point to the Yom Kippur War itself, Egypt's surprise attack, which ended with the surrender of the entire Sinai, even the last of Israel's holdings, Yamit.

The first Intifada gained for them the Oslo agreement, the safe ensconcing of Arafat in the West Bank, the establishment and arming (by Israel) of the Palestine Authority, and the withdrawal of Israel from major West Bank cities and most of Gaza.

It was the repeated violence of the Hizbullah that brought about Israel's hasty withdrawal from Lebanon.

More recently, Dr. Abdel Aziz Rantisi, a Hamas leader, observed that the bloody and painful terrorist attack on a bus in Jerusalem was what motivated Amram Mitzna, head of the Labor Party, to declare thereafter that he is prepared to withdraw unilaterally from the Gaza Strip. In other words, it appears to them that everything they have gained, and Israel's capitulation, has always come about after intense terrorist violence."

Caustic comments about Israel's leaders and universities

The Jewish Press interview of Steven Plaut is entitled No Holds Barred: A Frank Conversation With Steven Plaut

A professor at the Graduate School of Business of Haifa University, Plaut brings a sharply analytical mind to any subject about which he writes, and one thing he doesn`t believe in is pulling his punches. He was as combative as we expected him to be during our recent interview.

JEWISH PRESS: You seem to have emerged in the past few years as one of the most prolific writers around on Jewish subjects.

Plaut: Until Oslo, I kept a fairly low profile in the Israeli media, took no public stands on Right vs Left in Israel, and restricted myself to publishing articles about economic policy in Israel and abroad.

Oslo broke the camel`s back. From that moment on, I have devoted myself to doing everything in my power -- mainly through Op-Ed writing and Internet agitating -- to help stop Oslo and rescue Israel from the mega-stupidity of its own leaders. I have also long been trying to protest and analyze Jewish self-obliteration through assimilationism in America. I regard Jewish political liberalism as the main avenue of Jewish assimilation in America.

What`s your assessment of Prime Minister Sharon`s performance?

They say that a people deserves the leaders it gets, but in the case of Israel such an assertion would border on being an anti-Semitic libel. Israel has produced a long stream of incompetent demagogues and cowardly lemming-like leaders, divorced from reality and pursuing national self-obliteration.

Sharon is marginally better than Netanyahu, Barak, Peres, and Rabin. But this is not the Sharon of 1973 or 1982. It is a tired, timid, and exhausted Sharon, unwilling to take the heat for pursuing a serious Israeli defense. Like his predecessors, he seems to think that Palestinian terrorism must be allowed to continue until the Palestinians feel they have reached catharsis and just get tired of murdering Jews.

It is true that Sharon has launched numerous half-hearted reprisal campaigns against the Palestinian savages, unlike the four prime ministers who immediately preceded him. But those reprisals consist of the Arik Sharon Hokey-Pokey: "You put your ground troops in, you take your ground troops out, and you move `em all about." Then you pull them out again until the next atrocity.

Where did Bibi Netanyahu go wrong?

By trying to be Shimon Peres II. Netanyahu was elected in 1996 for the sole purpose of ending Oslo. Upon his election, however, he turned about 180 degrees and pursued Oslo with all the same delusional vigor as Peres and Rabin before him. True, he scowled when hobnobbing with Arafat, in contrast to Peres`s idiotic grins, but in fact he was simply pursuing Oslo -- albeit Oslo Lite. He abandoned Hebron to the terrorists. He responded to Arafat`s launching of the Tunnel Pogroms by turning the other cheek. He continued the face-to-face meetings with Arafat even as Arafat was mass murdering Jews. He signed the Wye appeasements, making him the Wye`s Man of Chelm.

Netanyahu lost to Barak in 1999 for the same reason that New Coke failed -- why have a pale imitation of an Oslo appeaser when you can elect the real thing?

Netanyahu tried to make a comeback and challenge Sharon this fall in the Likud primaries by posturing to the right of Sharon. But his wager that Israeli voters had forgotten his track record from 1996-99 proved incorrect.

You`ve written quite negatively of Shimon Peres and Yossi Beilin.

I believe they should be indicted and prosecuted for a thousand counts of second-degree murder. Depraved indifference to human life and reckless endangerment are bases for charges of second-degree murder. First-degree murder -- the actual pulling of triggers or detonating of bombs -- is of course a worse crime, but second-degree murder is still murder.

What about Yitzhak Rabin?

It has become difficult to speak with any objectivity about Rabin because of the tragic ending of his life. But in reality, Rabin was a total disaster as prime minister and bears a lot of the blame for turning Israel into the Valley of the Shadow of Death. His policies were foolish and deadly. I like to think that had Rabin lived, he soon would have realized the foolishness of Oslo, reversed it, and tossed Peres and Beilin into a dungeon. But of course we will never know what he would have done.

How does one even try to explain the Oslo Debacle inflicted on Israel by its own leaders?

A facetious answer would be that Rabin and Peres had an ingenious master plan. You see, they figured out that much of anti-Semitism is based on the common stereotype of Jews being smarter than other people, and they figured that they could end anti-Semitism once and for all by proving how false this stereotype is.

And how do you explain the fact that the PLO and Syria did not take Israel up on its offers of complete capitulation under Ehud Barak?

There are two explanations: a religious-mystical explanation and a rational-scientific explanation. The religious-mystical explanation holds that Arafat and the senior Assad were simply stupid and so believed that by holding out for ever greater Israeli concessions, American pressure would deliver an unlimited and open-ended set of Israeli surrenders. The rational-scientific explanation is that the Almighty hardened their hearts, much like He did with Pharaoh, and He did so in His infinite mercy in order to save Israel from the stupidity of its own leaders.

Are there any up-and-coming Israeli politicians you find intriguing?

Of the current party leaders in Israel, I do not see many with any vision of how to rescue the country nor any sense of what needs to be done to end the war.

The Labor and Meretz parties are composed entirely of Oslo leftists, who differ only slightly from the anti-Zionist communist party. Amram Mitzna is not only preaching a policy of unilateral self-dismemberment, but is also one of the biggest liars Israeli politics has ever produced. Ideologically he is qualified to be mayor of Jenin, and his record as mayor of Haifa would be enough to certify him to be the prime minister of Zimbabwe.

The Shinui party is not interested in anything besides bashing the Orthodox and exhibiting contempt toward Judaism. The religious parties are far more interested in getting their shares of the budgetary fiscal pork than they are in rescuing Israel from the Oslo debacle. I like Efi Eitam, the new head of the National Religious Party, but most of the rest of his party slate consists of ``centrists`` who have not made up their minds yet whether appeasing the Palestinian terrorists or fighting them is the answer.

The only concern of the other religious parties regarding the danger that Mitzna will order a unilateral capitulation to the Arabs is that the eviction of the Yesha settlers not take place, G-d forbid, on Shabbat.

There are some small parties to the right of the Likud with better positions regarding Oslo, but they are divided and too small to have much impact. And even they do not speak in unambiguous terms about what really needs to be done.

Finally, there are the Arab nationalist Stalinist and fascist parties, which would like nothing better than seeing the Jews of Israel herded into concentration camps. There are almost no Jews who vote for the communists other than some of my colleagues on the faculties of the universities. All of the Arab student organizations on campus are associated with these parties.

Given your political views, you must be feel like a real outsider at Haifa university.

Haifa University is one of the two worst bastions in Israel for leftist academic extremism, the other being Ben-Gurion University. The other universities are only slightly less awful in terms of the prevalence of leftist radicalism and anti-Zionism among the faculty members. Haifa University hosts some of the worst tenured traitors in Israel, people who devote every waking moment to promoting anti-Israel embargoes by anti-Semites overseas, to spreading anti-Israel lies and propaganda, to rationalizing Palestinian atrocities. A few even write for Islamist fundamentalist and neo-Nazi websites and journals. Of course, not all faculty members are extremists or even leftists, but there is a strong leftist domination.

Israeli universities have all adopted pro-Arab preferences and quotas in admissions in the name of ``affirmative action,`` and for all intents and purposes Arab students (and sometimes faculty) are admitted with almost no standards at all. Haifa University has the country`s largest Arab student body, and the Arab students have been radicalized by Oslo.They prance about campus with T-shirts and posters with portraits of Nasser and Che Guevera. There are frequent rallies of Arab students and Jewish faculty leftists waving PLO flags and screaming anti-Israel and anti-Jewish slogans, including slogans supporting violence.

PA officials stealing aid, own documents show

Such good friends Saudis gave Al Qaida $500 million and never stopped giving

Five news articles - Israel News Roundup

Summary:

A leading Israeli human rights group, B' Tselem, called for the immediate release of Palestinian detainees who were being held even though they were not charged with specific offences.

Polls showed support continuing to slip away from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Likud Party ahead of Jan. 28 elections, and police said Friday that charges were being considered against several Likud activists in a widening corruption scandal.

Israeli forces were on the move Thursday in the Gaza Strip, Three teen-age Palestinian boys were laid to rest after an attempted attack on settlements, and an Israeli couple awoke to find a terrorist in their Northern Israel home.

In the case brought by eight reserve soldiers, the high court avoided making a landmark ruling on the legality of Israel's 35-year occupation of the territories.

Arafat welcomes cease-fire, but...

Planned Otniel Murder Attack - And Under Arrest

The IDF continues to spare no effort in finding and bringing to justice all those involved in the murderous attack on the Otniel yeshiva last week. A Duvdevan undercover unit abducted Iman Kapisha, head of the Islamic Jihad in Dura, as he was driving on a Hevron street yesterday afternoon. Kapisha planned the attack, in which four yeshiva students were murdered, and was responsible for dispatching the terrorists to perpetrate the crime. He was taken to a General Security Service installation for interrogation
[more]

A rather long but must -read article from The New York Review of Books: The Suicide Bombers

What ultimately is being killed by the suicide bombers is any chance for a Palestinian state.

Rabbi stabbed inside Paris synagogue

Lost trust and tension between Israel and U.N.

Vancouver Israel Action Committee!

W E L C O M E to the Vancouver Israel Action Committee!
Our mission is to help educate both the Jewish and non-Jewish communities about Israel, to defend Israel against misinformation and slander, and to reassure Israel that we stand with her.

Boycott the Brits

Jerusalem Post reports:

British embargo may ground Israel's fleet of Phantom jets, officials say

Israel may have to ground its fleet of 140 F-4 Phantom fighter-bombers because Britain has blocked sales of critical spare parts, Israeli officials said Friday.
...
The Phantom, which has been in Israeli service since 1969, is a U.S.-built jet, but uses parts manufactured by Britain's Martin-Baker Aircraft Co. Ltd in the pilots' ejection seats.

To me, this hostile act by Britain is nothing short of fratricide, since Britain is supposed to be a democracy. The fact is, our sister-republic, Israel, is imperiled because of Albion, while the Arab dictatorships around have no difficulty using their petrodollars (or, in the case of Egypt - US aid dollars) to acquire any hardware they wish .

As individuals, there is little we can do to reverse the British decision, but the least we can do is boycott the British entity and all its exports to our continent. After all, they have no problem boycotting Israel, do they?

Contributed by Joseph Alexander Norland This piece is cross-posted on IsraPundit and Dawson Speaks.

Canada's CBC gets a dressing down in spades

Norman Spector, Canada's former ambassador to Israel and the Palestinian Authority, served as chief of staff to Brian Mulroney calls on Tony Burman of CBC to account for CBC's media bias and distortions, especially, CBC's unwillingness to use the term "Terrorist" to describe a person blowing up babies and women and children in suicide attacks or drive by shootings.

I am writing in reply to your letter of Dec. 24, concerning the CBC's Mideast coverage. Many Canadians are still struggling to comprehend how Chief David Ahenakew could have spoken approvingly of Hitler and the Holocaust. Their understanding has not been helped by the media, who've largely failed to explain the context -- a speech in which he had just blamed Jews for the Second World War and, by "killing Arabs," an eventual third one.

I believe your Mideast coverage encourages demented views such as these. I understand this is a serious charge, and am prepared to debate in a mutually agreed forum if you disagree.

Let me be specific. Our government's decision to name Hezbollah a "terrorist" organization was inevitable, once the UN certified Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon was "complete," and the United States added them to its "A-team." Yet, your reporter claims it was an "intensely political decision" because these pioneers of suicide attacks can be viewed as a "national liberation movement." Another -- apparently infected with the same conspiracy virus as Ahenakew -- referred darkly to a "Jewish lobby" using "pressure tactics" (a press conference and a lawsuit, standard fare in Ottawa). Shame on the CBC.

Shame on you, personally, for resorting to similarly crude stereotypes to dismiss critics. In newspapers available daily in Toronto, you'll find articles by Jews who share your view of the Mideast conflict, and by non-Jews who believe you are hopeless apologists for the Palestinians. Relying on the CBC ombudsman to certify your coverage is akin to Jean Chretien citing Howard Wilson to defend his Shawinigan shenanigans.

By 2001, even beat reporters drawing paycheques from the public broadcaster began ridiculing that position. Having observed PMO-CBC relations from a front-row seat, I appreciate these reporters must sometimes walk on eggshells -- especially with nothing but perpetual Liberal government on the horizon.

How empowering it must be for a journalist to be far away from the powerful people who today vote your budget and tomorrow might offer you a job. Freed from incessant demands for fairness, free to pursue a political agenda other than the government's.

The CBC's consistently negative presentation of Israel -- a country where minefields are not just a bureaucratic problem, and that has its few good points along with the bad -- is, in part, a consequence of sending reporters who lack Hebrew.

Even a senior reporter like Neil Macdonald, in my experience though understandably not yours, normally lags behind news freely available on radio and the Internet. And, the linguistic gap perhaps explains why -- despite the expense of maintaining a foreign bureau -- he rarely reports on Israel's medical, cultural, scientific and technological achievements.

Your correspondent deserves praise, on the other hand, for studying Arabic, which is not easy to acquire. It's curious, therefore, that Macdonald has not reported more frequently from Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Syria -- in carrying out his self-described mandate of "holding what's going on up to the mirror of Canadian values." Nor have we heard much about Syria's de facto occupation of Lebanon.

The toxicity of this double standard on democracy and human rights is compounded by the frequent omission of context from his reports. Recently, Macdonald presented a Hamas spokesperson who vowed to continue attacks "as long as there is occupation." Believe me, and despite how it may look to you and other senior managers in Toronto, this guy is no Nelson Mandela. The New York Times routinely explains hat "occupation" means elimination of the Jewish state; had your correspondent done likewise, and noted the widespread public support beyond Hamas for "liberating all of Palestine," Ahenakew would understand why Israel s "killing Arabs."

The CBC's sins of commission are also noxious in minds of this ilk, judging from the volume of e-mails I receive that refer to "Judeo-Nazis," the "Israeli SS" perpetrating a Holocaust and Ariel Sharon -- of whom I'm no fan -- as another Hitler.

Describing a recent shooting of Israelis, for example, Macdonald appropriately notes the long history of violence in Hebron; in an aside, he mentions the horrific 1994 murder of 29 Arabs by Dr. Baruch Goldstein. He could also have reasonably alluded to the brutal slaughter of Jews in 1921, 1929 and 1936 by determined opponents of the establishment of any Jewish state, of whatever size.

But these enormities don't fit CBC's prejudices -- of Jews as "settlers" having no business being in Hebron, and of the conflict being about "armed Palestinians battling the Israeli occupation." It would also suggest that, while an independent state is necessary for peace, it might not be sufficient -- as President Bill Clinton learned at Camp David.

Still, and though it is a criminal offence under anti-terror laws for anyone to assist Hamas (punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment), you argue that viewers should be allowed to make up their own minds. We're talking about blowing up teenagers at discos, mind you -- "crimes against humanity," according to Human Rights Watch. Presumably your open-mindedness extends to young viewers -- potential recruits like Omar Khadr or a Canadian John Walker Lindh. Fortunately, that's not CBC's approach to rape, armed robbery and other lesser crimes -- or even toward legal, though harmful substances like tobacco.

Aside from being irresponsible and amoral, your failure to call Hamas a terrorist organization betrays another double standard. When the blood on the sidewalk is Israeli it's one thing, when American it's another. It was an error, you say, for the CBC initially to call the Sept. 11 attacks "terrorism." A fortuitous error, I'd say, considering the likely reaction at the border had you referred to al-Qaeda as a "national liberation movement."

Yet, I'll withdraw the allegation, as you demand, if you'll provide examples where David Halton spouts that Orwellian line, even now after emotions have cooled. Nor do viewers find him regularly challenging from Washington the appropriateness of calling the 9/11 Saudi hijackers "terrorists" -- as you regularly do regarding their Hamas brethren. As journalists, you should be ashamed for covering up their ideological kinship by censoring bin Laden's messages.

Ironically, it's in the name of professional standards that you reject the word "terrorism." You insist the CBC must not adopt the terminology of either side. Say what? We must be watching different channels, if not in different languages. Because, while I sometimes agree with your terminological choices, it's clear that the CBC, like the Tower of Pisa, always leans in one direction.

Your reporters do not leave viewers to decide whether curfews are self-defence measures; they unambiguously refer to "collective punishment," the Palestinian term and a crime under the Geneva conventions. You call Israel's targeted killings, though not the recent U.S. one in Yemen, "assassinations" -- a word used by Palestinian spokespersons but not normally conferred by CBC on any mass murderers, other than, it appears, those who send bombers to blow up babies in Jerusalem pizzerias. Your correspondents refer to the "occupation" and to the West Bank and Gaza as "occupied Palestinian land," not as disputed territory. And they call Israeli communities "settlements" and their residents "settlers."

Interestingly, you never mention that even these Israelis -- as do Palestinians -- have a stronger claim than my neighbours who've settled on aboriginal lands in British Columbia. Fortunately, your reporters don't bring home the thinly veiled code they use to "explain" why Israeli school-kids are blown up by Hamas "militants" -- which is what your reporters in Montreal normally call political party activists, not murderers.

No wonder some viewers may be wondering why Israel is killing Arabs. Unless they've read a recent report by Human Rights Watch that appears to have escaped Macdonald's attention. It states unambiguously that nothing -- not settlements, not occupation -- justifies Hamas's "crimes against humanity." They've also concluded that Yasser Arafat is "politically responsible," and I'm still waiting for a Newsworld program to balance last year's one-hour indictment of Ariel Sharon as a war criminal.

I also challenge you to produce in writing the longstanding "policy" you claim to be implementing. Even your less-than-independent ombudsman says, "There is nothing in CBC's journalism policy that prevents the public broadcaster's journalists from calling a spade a spade or a terror attack a terror attack."

Innocent Canadians were incinerated in the Twin Towers and in Bali. Today -- young and old, at home and abroad -- we are all considered legitimate targets by al-Qaeda. In my book that's terrorism, and I'm frankly appalled that the guy calling the shots at Canada's national broadcasting service believes it's an error to call these murderers what they are.

Its as bad as he says it is.

Go to Google Glossary
Type in "Zionism"
The first entry that comes up: "Related phrases: Zionism=Racism"
It's not a pretty sight.

Tallahassee Democrat reporter suspended for e-mail criticizing Arabs

US police forces are choosing Israeli technologies to improve law enforcement capabilities

More on the story

The Use of Force

Restraint causes more loss of life than it is worth

I have been having a discussion with a number of pro Israel friends who were concerned that Israel be beyond reproach in their handling of the Palestinians. They wanted Israel to do the “right” thing and that presumably meant limiting collateral damage and telling the truth. I do not know if it went so far as to be against targeted killings. But you get the idea. They wanted this both in order to gain World respect and their own self-respect. And they certainly didn’t want Israel to descend to the level of the Palestinians.

Yes it would be nice, but… Taken to its ultimate conclusion, this is the position of the Left who in general rail against all the methods used to fight terror both in Israel and the US. You know the stuff where there is an inordinate concern, in my opinion, for the rights of the individual at the cost of the collective i.e. defence. They want terror to be treated a matter of law enforcement rather than a matter of war.

I am sure my friends would reject my analysis and argue that they wouldn’t go that far but still wanted Israel to take the high ground. One cannot look at this problem as a case of black and white or moral or immoral. There is a sliding scale here and everyone takes a position on where on the scale they feel comfortable. I for one would argue that there is justification in moving more to the Right and not being overly concerned with being right.

Society has developed laws for crimes against the state and special laws for enemy combatants in times of war. The State can lawfully kill people in times of war. But where there is a paucity of laws is for times like now where it’s neither war nor peace. It is in between. The Israel Supreme Court has recognized the need to define what amount of force is permitted under these circumstances and setting these new norms is a work in progress. Nevertheless Israel must act in advance of the Courts determination. Many would argue that our present situation is really a war so all the rules of war apply. So the question of whether an action is moral or not depends on one’s classification of the conflict. Also the courts don’t operate in a vacuum. It is one thing for them to be critical of targeted killings when Israel alone is resorting to it and it is another thing entirely if the whole world is doing it or even just the US. Once the US and Australia started using wartime norms for fighting terror it became more acceptable for Israel do so. I ask you, is this a question of morality or not? Morality is not absolute. Even the most basic of the commandments, “Thou shalt not kill.” is only a principle that society deviates from when they think it appropriate.

Intrinsic to maintaining law and order in civil society is the respect that the majority of citizens have for that law and order. When that respect is lost you have chaos and anarchy. Let’s take a simple example of the stone throwers. The more Israel tolerates it the more the Palestinians will do it and the more the Palestinians will move from stones to rocks to bombs. In order for Israel to maintain respect for law and order the more they have to instil fear in the Palestinians. The more stone throwers that are killed the less the people will throw stones. If you allow the Palestinians to become encouraged or emboldened the more force will be needed to quell the violence. You can reach a point of almost no return where the Palestinians don’t care if they get killed as long as they take a few Israelis down with them.

You will recall that shortly after the intifadah was started everyone condemned Israel for using “excessive force” but no one defined just what that was. It usually means more force than necessary. The proper interpretation includes necessary to put an end to the violence and to protect the lives of those being attacked. There is no duty to retreat or to tolerate the lawlessness or the violence but there is a duty to maintain law and order and to protect the lives of those being attacked. It is obvious that far from using excessive force, Israel is using insufficient force.

Thus the “right” thing becomes the wrong thing. More force, lethal or otherwise, at the beginning, would mean less force later on. Had Israel reacted with much more force at the beginning of the intifadah, it would have ended with much less loss of lives. When Israel suppressed the riots of its own Arab citizens two years ago killing many, it ended the rioting. Every country knows that ruthlessness is necessary to end uprisings and insurrections.

I am not recommending that Israel kill 20,000 as the Syrians did in Hama or 10,000 as the Jordanians did on Black September or 2000 as the Chinese did at Tianneman Square or 250,000 as the Americans did in Nagasaki to impose their authority. But I am saying that we cannot shrink from the use of force in maintaining law and order. The people who argue for the high ground in order to feel morally superior, should recognize the damage it can cause.

We must install fear in the hearts and minds of the Palestinians. The more we show a willingness to cause collateral damage, the less collateral damage there will be in the long run. The more we restrain ourselves, the more we embolden them. The more we show a willingness to compromise, the more we will be expected to compromise. We are our undoing. We should stop fucking with our minds and our will. As Nike says, ”just do it.”.

An anti-Muslim rant. You decide. MR. BUSH AND BLAIR .... STOP TELLING US POLITICAL CORRECT NONSENSE .... TELL THE TRUTH .... !!!!!!

found through gabrielle goldwater's reports

A group advocating deportation of Arab terrorists gets into a dispute with international relief and aid organization.
Deport

While US praises Syria, Arms from Iraq (via Syria) caused blast at Hezbollah base.

Daniel Pipes doesn't care. Here's what CAIR doesn't say about me - or its record.

Lawmakers' ouster raises questions about Arabs' role in Israel

Israel Bristles at Poison Tips on Hamas Web Site

US Army Online Interactive Free PC Multiplayer SIM game

America's Army game.

Learn about the online Game. Check out the Army's new interactive PC game. Its free!

Press Release from the Ayn Rand Institute

Jan. 2, 2003

THE PBS WHITEWASH OF ISLAM

IRVINE, CA--The recent well-publicized PBS special “Muhammad” was a total whitewash of Islam, according to Edwin A. Locke, senior writer at the Ayn Rand Institute.

“The documentary,” focusing on the life of Muhammad, noted Locke “presented him as a wise, self-effacing, illiterate mystic who preached nothing but tolerance, benevolence and peace toward non-Muslims. But the simple fact is the Koran, dictated by Muhammad to his followers, is filled with exhortations to violence against non-believers, such as, ‘I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore cut off their heads and cut off every fingertip of them.’ Here are others, ‘Fight and kill the Pagans wherever you find them;’ ‘Those who reject our signs, we shall soon cast into the fire;’ ‘But as for those who disbelieve, garments of fire will be cut out for them; boiling fluid will be poured down on their heads;’ ‘As to the deviators, they are fuel of hell.’”

“Following Muhammad’s death,” Locke noted, “his followers launched attacks on nonbelievers in many countries, slaughtering untold numbers. And throughout the centuries the Koran’s rhetoric has incited many of the prophet’s followers to murderous violence against “infidels.” Although not all Muslims are violent, the terrorists among them are acting consistently with exhortations from the Koran. And like all mystical cults based on blind faith, the Muslim religion does not recognize reason as a means of gaining knowledge or of persuading others of one’s viewpoint. Thus, they believe, the men of reason must be subdued by force or destroyed entirely.

“Until the Muslim world is secularized, as was the Christian world, it is a danger to all who do not agree with its ideas.”

Straight from the horse’s mouth

On Monday, December 23, 2002, I posted an article concerning the Ahenakew affair on IsraPundit and Dawson Speaks. I noted that Ahenakew’s anti-Semitic, anti-Israeli comments were met with a storm of denunciation and I specifically quoted the letter of protest sent to the Canadian PM by the president of the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW), Basil Hargrove. Comments e-mailed to me subsequently asked whether I was implying that the Canadian left was less anti-Israel than the “standard” left, since I specifically selected Hargrove’s letter from among hundreds of similar protests.

This query gives me an opportunity to set the record straight. On the whole, the left in Canada is no better than the “standard” left, when it comes to voicing anti-Israel propaganda. As a former union member myself, I state this fact with pain, but it is a fact nonetheless. Take the simple example of the Hargrove letter which I quoted: it refers to Ahenakew’s anti-Semitic comments, but says not a word about Ahenakew’s attack on Israel. A much more explicit proof are Hargrove’s words at a CAW Convention, Toronto, May 7-10, 2002. The following is cited verbatim from the official CAW site, straight from the horse’s mouth, as it were:

Then there is the crisis in the Middle East that is in our lives almost daily. We have the Israeli government of Ariel Sharon invading cities in the West Bank and Gaza. This is the third most powerful military power in the world killing innocent men, women, and children. We have the Palestinian suicide bombers, some of whom have been women, killing innocent men, women, and children of the Jewish faith. Sharon claims that destroying the Palestinian infrastructure, including buildings that house the ministry of health and the ministry of education, is somehow the only way to stop Palestinian suicide bombers. The Israeli people are absolutely entitled to peace and security within their borders and to live free from the threat of suicide attackers from any of their Arab neighbours, including the Palestinians. Likewise, surely the Palestinian people are absolutely entitled to be free of the Israeli occupation of their land as defined by the United Nations resolutions. A withdrawal of the occupying forces from the West Bank and Gaza is an absolute must if a solution is to be negotiated. An immediate halt to the expansion of the Israeli settlements in the occupied territories is an absolute must, as is the eventual withdrawal of the Israeli settlers to the pre-1967 borders. The Palestinian Liberation Organization and all other Arab states must recognize the right of the state of Israel to exist within secure borders. Equally, the Israeli government must recognize the right of the Palestinian people to a state of their own. One that is not occupied by Israeli military forces.

Military in the occupied lands, the killing of Palestinians, and the destruction of property will not bring peace and security to the people of Israel. Suicide bombings of innocent Israelis will not win the Palestinians their right to a state of their own. In my humble opinion, both will only intensify the hatred. The rights and desires of the majority of Israelis and Palestinians can only happen through respect for the rights of others, through negotiation and through compromise. My statement today is not about being pro-Palestinian or pro-Israeli: it is a statement for justice, freedom, respect, and for a peaceful resolve to the problems of the Middle East. We all have an obligation to do what we can to end the killing.

Moral equivalence at its worst.

I don’t wish to skew the picture to the other side either. There are still left among the Canadian left some who can see straight, a notable example being Dennis McDermott, the former president of the Canadian Labour Congress
(CLC). On June 25, just one day after Bush’s infamous speech in which he explicitly advocated a sovereign state for the Palestinian Arabs, Dennis McDermott published the following article in the Ottawa Citizen, pp. A17-18. Unfortunately, I was unable to locate the article on the Web and, therefore, what follows is a scanned version from the newspaper proper. I’m reproducing the article in its entirety because it encapsulated most of the relevant pro-Israel arguments in a simple yet forceful way.

I love the Canadian labour movement with a deep and abiding passion, so what I am about to say does not come easy.

Anti-Semitism is a very latent disease. It can lie dormant and well-concealed for long periods of time. Given a convenient pretext, it can suddenly erupt, spewing its malicious pent-up venom in all directions.

The pretext now is that the nation of Israel is the aggressor. So out come the poison pens of the resolution writers. Come down on Israel like a ton of bricks and, by association, Jewish people everywhere. Make ridiculous accusations and parallels, describe Israeli policies as being everything from genocide to apartheid. Then on the last line of the resolution, to justify your neutrality and lack of bias, put in a whimper like, "please stop the suicide bombings."

Never mind the suicide bombings. What about the snipers? What about the legions of trained, terrorist commandos who kill and maim innocent Israeli citizens every day? What about the collective, armed might of neighbouring Arab states?

What about the Islamic fundamentalists who danced in the streets on Sept. 11 and who have been in a declared state of war with Israel since 1948? What about the Jew-hating Arab allies who contribute billions of dollars to Arab terrorists and provide training facilities for terrorists? I'm talking Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria and so on.

I am sad because this sick, bigoted mentality is seeping into Canadian labour. I cannot understand why freedom loving Canadians would be drawn to admire the terrorist demagogue, Yasser Ararat. It is completely beyond my comprehension to see intelligent, progressive, Canadian trade unionists expressing affinity with a proven, corrupt, immoral, autocratic leader, totally lacking integrity.

We are treated to the spectacle of Israeli military might versus Arab freedom fighters armed only with stones. Well, that was a pretty powerful stone that blew a hole in the U.S. destroyer in Aden, killing 17 and injuring 38 more. Was the PLO armed with mere stones when it massacred the Israeli athletes at the Olympic Games in Munich in 1972? Something more than stones was used in the truck bomb attack in Beirut that killed large numbers of U. S. servicemen.

Without going into chronological detail, uncontradicted evidence shows that Arab terrorists have killed and maimed thousands of human beings through hijackings, kidnappings and atrocities over a period of many years throughout the world. Arabs have executed hundreds of their own brethren suspected of co11aborating with Israel. In each case, lethal firearms and other weaponry were the instmments, not stones.

For too long we have been treated to the mythical spectacle of Arab youth spontaneously reacting to Israeli brutality by throwing pebbles. In fact, the Arab youth are an integral part of a tightly organized terrorist group, active participants in carefully orchestrated events designed to attract international sympathy skilfully contrived, diversionary tactics to steer world attention from the main issues.

There is much ado about the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and the Golan Heights.

Israel won those territories fair and square in defensive responses to Arab attacks. As the highly regarded diplomat Abba Eban once said, “The Arabs have never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity”.

If the Palestinians had agreed to the Peel commission in 1937, they would now possess 80 per cent of the land that then constituted Palestine.

If they had agreed to the 1947 United Nations partition plan, they would now be celebrating more than 50 years of a state made up of half of the then-Palestine, including the old city of Jerusalem. They have demonstrated over and over again that they want it all, and the ongoing objective is the ultimate destruction of the Jewish state.

Why does a tiny nation like Israel with just a few million population, about the size of the Greater Toronto Area, need such a military presence? Do the Israelis relish appropriating a disproportionate amount of their gross national product to the maintenance of military-alert armed forces, depending on the conscription of Israeli citizens, both male and female?

Israel is a nation under siege. Do the Jewish people, regardless of geographical location, have a history of belligerent, aggressive, military action? Some six million mostly docile victims of the Holocaust dispel that notion.

I submit it is time for all of us to face reality. Since 1948, a beleaguered Israel has been compelled to fight for its right to exist. The courageous Zionist pioneers endured the blatant blockades during the years of the British mandate.

Following the creation of the state of Israel by the United Nations, it surived the invasion of the combined, hostile Arab states. Surrounded by agressive Arab hostility and daily murderous attacks, Israelis somehow forged a nation and changed the face of the arid desert into a fertile and promised land.

Their history of courage and determination is unparalleled. Israel opened its boundaries to millions of Jews around the world, an example of humanitarianism unmatched anywhere. They created a model democracy, a democracy in the true sense of the word. A system that embraces economic and social democracy as well as political.

For a newly created nation, Israel produced legendary leaders such as David Ben-Gurion, Golda Meir and Yitzhak Rabin. Israel demonstrated its loyalty to its citizens by the incredible, daring rescue of its kidnapped people at Entebbe, Uganda, which left the world breathless.

Israel is not perfect, nor should it be expected to be any more than any other nation. With all of its shortcomings, Israel still stands as the only genuine democracy in the Middle East. It shines as a beacon of light in the midst of Middle East totalitarian darknes.

This article, so passionately written, raises a significant question for all pro-Israel advocates: how do we tap into this fountain of support withing the desert of leftist hostility? Or, more generally, how do we harness the goodwill and clear thinking of Israel’s supporters within the general population in North America and Europe? We should really give this issue intensive consideration even as we keep preaching to the converted.

Contributed by Joseph Alexander Norland This piece is cross-posted on IsraPundit and Dawson Speaks.

Jews are an Endangered Species

Are Jews a race?

Let freedom ring Saudi mobile camera ban reviewed. If you can't stop them, phone 'em.

Astronaut’s flight will highlight growth of Israel’s space program

Al Capone would be right at home.
PA officials stealing aid, own documents show.

Arabs may ask Iraqi leader to stand down

In Our Name

Pledge of Support

We believe that as citizens of the United States, it is our responsibility to resist those who wish to destroy our country.

In our name, wage war against those who would destroy us. There will be no more deaths of Americans in senseless acts of terrorism against innocent people.

In our name, invade countries who harbor terrorists. Countries where freedom is at the whim of a murderous tyrant. Countries that would smite us from the face of the earth given the opportunity to do so.

In our names, defend the freedoms which allow the protestor to protest your actions. Defend these freedoms forcefully; the only appropriate way to defend freedom against those who would take it from us.

By our hands we will supply aid to any country wishing to free itself from the chains of a tyrannical government. That aid may come in the form of money, arms, or food.

By our actions, we will not allow fear of reprisal to persuade us away from doing what is right.

By our hearts, we will not allow moral relativism to preclude identifying those who are evil as such.

By our will, and in our name.

We pledge support.

We pledge allegiance with those whose tyrannical governments repress them.

We pledge alliance with those living in countries overrun by warlords and terrorists.

We pledge support for women who are treated as property and not as people.

We pledge to defend freedom in whatever way it is so manifested throughout all the nations of the world.

A world of peace and freedom is possible.

And it is not achieved by standing idly by and hoping for it.

We encourage the protection of peace

The fostering of freedom

and the return of dignity to the oppressed

In Our Name.

An Israeli debating team wins the Annual European Debating Championship in Stuttgart, Germany.

Just in case someone is confused:

In Tal's discussion section an attempt is being made to compare the situation in South Lebanon, per Hezbullah activity there, with that in the "territories". Some seem to think the fact that Hezbullah does not use suicide bombers to attack Israeli civilians, and only targets Israeli soldiers (inside Lebanon before the Barak withdrawal, as well as in Northern Israel after that), is an indication of their long-term goals being different from those of the Palestinian terror organizations.

This could not be farther from the truth. The reason that IDF was in Lebanon all this years to begin with, were the almost daily attacks on the civilian population in Northern Israel (by Fatah at that time), before Israel finally invaded Lebanon. The long-term goal is the same: to drive Jews out of Israel. The tactics are different, as to be expected, since the situation in these three areas are different. Accordingly, the tactics the IDF uses in all those areas are different as well.

Some seem to think that because of these differences, these are two separate wars, and have to be considered separately. It may be so from a purely military point of view. But all military actions have always to be motivated by political considerations. This, I think, was the mistake made by Barak when he pulled out of Lebanon. He was thinking like a general, not a politician and a head of state. This move, if considered in purely military terms. may have made a lot of sense. Of course, it was also motivated by short-term politics, i.e. the Israeli public that was not willing to take any more losses in Lebanon. But I, and many others, have no doubt that we are witnessing the long- term effects of that move now in WB and Gaza, as well as throughout the Arab world.

What we have is two, or maybe three fronts (if WB an Gaza are viewed separately) of the same war. And that war, in turn, is part of a larger war that has been going on maybe since the the attack on the U.S. Marines barracks in Beirut in 1983, and that hopefully will take a major turn in a month or so.

As if we already didn't know:
The Risks to Israel of a Palestinian State.

"Liberals" Promote Segregation and Jew-Free Neighborhoods to bring Peace

Israel is the one place "Liberals" Promote Segregation but even worse the actual removal of a minority and what the german nazis called for "Judenrien" (Jewish free) neighborhoods or all-arab areas.

As if the 22 arab countries aren't all already Jew free since 1948 when all Jews in all arab countries were expelled and turned into over 600,000 refugees and did that bring peace?

This innovative call for Jew free neighborhoods to bring peace from terrorists by American liberals is clearly breakthrough thinking that will be recorded in the annals of history as the highpoint in western 'liberal' thinking.

So a 23rd arab non-democratic country within the only democratic country in the region, Israel, without any Jews like the rest of them will bring peace?

I always thought concession to arab terrorists of their blackmail and extortion would bring peace well at least now the great thinkers of the time have validated this insanity as something more than appeasing 35 years of sick murder of civilians all over the world beginning 20 years (hardly a generation) after the holocaust.

When Bush comes to Shove

The big questions for 2003

Will Hussein fight to the death or take a walk. I prefer the former.

Will Hussein use WMD? Samson brought the house down, why wouldn’t Hussein?

Will Bush back the New Road Map or his vision speech of June 25. My money is on the latter.

What is Sharon up to? I don’t believe that the painful concessions he speaks of come anywhere near the concessions offered by Barak.

Will Israel destroy Hezbolahstan otherwise known as Southern Lebanon when the Iraq war begins. I am counting on it. Just as Bush Sr. should have finished the job in ’91, this Bush will not stop before finishing the job. This includes allowing Israel to destroy Hezbollah, neutering Syria and working for regime change in Iran.

Will the US bring Saudi Arabia to heel? This includes causing them to end the incitement, end the financial support for terrorism, end the financial support for Wahabism. The Saudis are due for a reckoning.

What will China, S. Korea, Russia and Japan do about N. Korea. It is up to them. The US will only help.

NYTimes Protest

The New York Times Versus Israel

For those who haven't yet joined the campaign to bring fairness and balance to the Times Mideast coverage to not forget to cancel your NYTimes subscription, to not purchase their paper, and to tell other to do the same.

I'M SO GLAD I CANCELLED MY NY TIMES SUBSCRIPTION
AN OPEN LETTER ABOUT THE BIAS OF THE NY TIMES.

NYsun is a great pro-Israel alternative.

Children are not Weapons

There are some good people who are trying to do something about the child death cult of arab terrorists besides accepting their blackmail and extortion.

Operation S.I.C.K - Stop Inciting Children to Kill

Children are not Weapons

"Operation S.I.C.K. (Stop Inciting Children to Kill) is an independent network of students combatting the exploitation of children for armed conflict. We condemn any political group that recruits and incites children to hate and kill for political purposes, and view it as a flagrant violation of their basic human rights.

The root of terrorism is the teaching of hate. Every day millions of children are incited to hatred and violence. Until the human rights tragedy of child incitement is addressed, we will all be its victims. Every day that the UN and major governments ignore this human rights tragedy, another generation of Palestinian suicide bombers, Tamil and Sudanese child soldiers, Afghan and Saudi terrorists are being educated to hate. Operation SICK calls on you to act now while we can still make a difference."

U.S. Asks Israel to Halt China Arms Sales

Many a truth is said in jest

A story is told of a Jewish man who was riding on the subway reading a Middle East Arabic newspaper. A friend of his, who happened to be riding in the same subway car, noticed this strange phenomenon.

Very upset, he approached the newspaper reader:

"Moshe, have you lost your mind? Why are you reading an Arabic newspaper?"

Moshe replied:

"I used to read the Jewish newspaper, but what did I find? Jews being persecuted worldwide , Israel being attacked, Jews disappearing through assimilation and intermarriage, Jews living in poverty. So I switched to the Arabic newspaper.

Now what do I find? Jews own all the banks, Jews control the media, Jews are all rich and powerful, Jews rule the world. The news is so much better!".

OF MORALITY AND CHICKENHAWKS

The New York Times' editorial board has some wishes for the new year in the realm of public policy, one of which is:

Given a magic lamp, we might wish for stable, responsible democratic regimes in Iraq and North Korea for the new year. But for an idea that's doable, our foreign policy choice is dismantling Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Just as terrorism is the greatest Palestinian obstacle to Middle East peace, so the settlements established in territories captured in the 1967 war are the greatest Israeli obstacle. They deprive the Palestinians of valuable land and water and deny them geographical continuity. They are hard for Israel to defend against Palestinian attack, and they make it impossible to establish a clear, secure Israeli border.

For all these reasons, the United States — which has lately ignored the issue — should press Israel to start reducing a settler population that's doubled in the last decade to 200,000 (without counting 200,000 in East Jerusalem). Israel's cooperation would show that it is serious about a two-state solution and, if matched by reciprocal concessions on the Palestinian side, would strengthen the prospects for a durable agreement.

Forget about the nonsense of 200,000 settlers in "East Jerusalem". I can't conceive of a reasonable argument for advocating the evacuation of Jews that live in Jerusalem neighborhoods, contiguous with the rest of the city, solely because they extend a little over the 1967 border. And the same people who advocate, as a moral issue, the evacuation of such Jews fromt heir homes and neighborhoods, are the first ones to scream bloody murder when it is suggested that Palestinian terrorists, forget about the cvilian population- terrorists, be exiled. But the mass expulsion of Jews from their homes is a tenable, even moral position in their eyes. Always has been, and, unfortunately, it seems, always will be.

Note the arguments in this article about focusing on the Israelis instead of the terrorists in Iraq, North Korea, and Ramallah. Behold the magnificance and subtleties of the left's great non-simplistic morality. The Times' argument is thus: we can't fight the great evils, because they're pretty powerfull. So lets pick on the Jews, that's always been fairly easy. That's towering morality for you. Thank heavens the Times editors haven't succumbed to moral simplism, you know, the kind that actually advocates acting upon your convictions. The kind that doesn't advocate picking on the righteous side of a conflict (Israel) because the murderous, immoral side (Arafat, Hamas, et al) are too powerfull to deal with. The kind that is actually capable of distinguishing, in its simplicity, between perpetrator and victim, and doesn't issue a blanket condemnation of all violence, no matter its impetus, because it lacks a moral framework for evaluating different behaviors. God save us from our moral "sophisticates", and those that refuse to confront evil because it's too strong. And we're the chickenhawks. Well, at least we're willing to stand up for our beliefs, to protect ourselves from agressors. At least we aren't just chickens.

cross posted at BIUblog

Five articles on Israeli minister fired in vote-buying scandal

Summary:
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon fired his deputy infrastructure minister Tuesday in a move aimed at quieting a vote - buying scandal that has rocked his Likud party. The panel, which is dominated by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's right - wing allies, ruled early Wednesday to ban Azmi Bishara and his Balad party from the election. JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon fired a deputy Cabinet minister yesterday as a mushrooming vote - buying scandal threatened his expected landslide re - election this month. The issue came to a head Sunday when Blumenthal, the highest - ranking Likud leader to be investigated, was questioned about her campaign by police, and she invoked her legal right to remain silent. The possibility of an election boycott by Israel's Arab minority grew stronger Wednesday after a parliamentary committee banned an Arab party and its leader from running in the Jan. 28 vote.

Editorials From the Hebrew Press

Pro-marijuana party, and host of other groups, hoping to get into Israel's Knesset

Let freedom ring. Lebanon blocks TV criticism of Saudi Arabia

Israeli troops raid refugee camps

HORSEMAN WITHOUT A BRAIN
MEMRI has a multipart analysis of Arab reaction to Horeseman Without A Horse on their website. (I link to part three, parts one and two are accessable from the main page.) Some authors criticize it, others praise it, and yet others are intent on proving the validity of the Protocols. From an aimless, longwinded editorial by Syrian ambassador to Oman Dr. Riyadh Na'san Agha:

"The Americans were interested in the Protocols. It reminded them of the speech to Congress by their president, Benjamin Franklin, in which he said: "Gentlemen, a great danger threatens the United States. This danger is the Jews. Everywhere they act to bring down morality. Throughout their long history, they have remained isolated, cut off from the nations among which they lived. They have not integrated into the cultures, but acted always to incite financial crises and strangle the economies [of these nations], as happened in Portugal and Spain. If they are not expelled from the U.S. in accordance with the constitution, within a hundred years they will come to this land in great numbers, and will take us over and destroy us."

Trying to pull himself out of a trap, Dr. Agha falls into two others. The first problem should be glaringly obvious: Benjamin Franklin was never POTUS. Secondly, he never said that.

Ahmad Dahbour, director of the Palestinian Information Ministry, takes an even harder stance than Agha. For him, the Protocol aren't damning enough (or maybe he's pissed that they're not damning at all, being a forgery):

"…The Protocols of the Elders of Zion are a stupid pamphlet full of nonsense, that depicts an international conference of the [forces of] evil, led by yellow-faced people capable of grasping the world in their hands… like a boiled egg and squashing it. The conflict with the Zionist enterprise is graver and more dangerous than these nonsensical words. If we do not present Zionism as it is - a nationalistic, racist European movement that emerged at the periphery of the old colonialism and imperialism - we will make ourselves easy prey…"

Ouch. Reform the PA, please.

One of the more interesting views comes from Saudi writer Daoud Shirian. His argument attacks those who use freedom of expression to defend Horeseman:

…Our position as Egyptians and Arabs, in defense of the series, appears weak, because it is based on the right of [freedom of] expression.  In Egypt itself, a [government] warning was sent yesterday to the Dream satellite channel [which is broadcasting the series], in the matter of a political program [in which veteran journalist Hasanayn Heikal discussed the question of who President Mubarak's successor will be]. In many Arab countries, newspapers, offices of satellite channels, and news agencies are being shut down.  Therefore, basing our [arguments] on the principles of freedom of expression... does not serve our interests… As long as the Arab media remain 'official,' America and other [nations] will continue to interfere in its affairs and violate their sovereignty.

He's writing for a London-based newspaper, of course.

(Crossposted here.)

Making strides

Amnon Rubinstein discusses the narrowing educational gap between Jewish and Arab Israelis, noting that there is no longer a significant gap between Jews and Christian Arabs, and that Muslim Arabs - especially girls - have made up much of the difference that existed during the mandate. Rubinstein states that it is "incumbent upon us to eliminate the educational gap between Jews and Arabs completely," which will require concessions from both sides - "affirmative action and a change in approach by the Arab local authorities." Nevertheless, the difference in educational achievement between Muslims and non-Muslims is now less in Israel than in Europe - something that might give pause to Europeans who criticize Israel's treatment of its Muslim minority.

Crossposted from The Head Heeb

We could all use a laugh at Arafat's expense.
Some of it you might want to hide from the kids.

Israeli troops kill suicide bomber near Nablus

Israeli Troops Kill 3 Palestinians in Gaza

Heroes in our Midst

This is an article from Naomi Ragen which is uplifting in its portrayal of the heroes of a country under constant attack.

I once lived in what shall remain an unnamed city in the Western world, in which one of the most prominent organizations was called: Parents of Murdered Children. In this place, the kidnapping and molestation and murder of children was endemic, so much so that I wouldn't let my children go out of the house alone. Ever.

In this city, a woman's car once broke down on the highway. Within ten minutes, a car picked her up, and she was subsequently raped and murdered. And I wondered: What kind of people live in this place that within a ten minute period a rapist-murderer would be passing by?

And now I live in a place where all around me, every minute of the day, in every part of this land, there is a hidden saint and hero.

I want to start with the latest story, the story of Noam in Otniel. Otniel is a yeshiva in which boys add two years to their regular army service so that they can continue their religious studies. My son went there. And his friends. And the son of one of my neighbors, a remarkable young man, the kind that regularly visits a family because they lost one of their sons in the army. And now he visits them, and comforts them, every week. People he didn't know.

Last weekend in Otniel, the boys went home for Shabbat, and the yeshiva was open to visitors. Friday night. The white tablecloths. A hundred boys wearing knitted skullcaps just returned from Sabbath prayers. They formed a circle and danced, waiting for the first course of the Sabbath meal to be served. In the kitchen, Gabriel,17, Tvika, 18, Yehuda 20, and Noam 23, were getting the first course on to the serving plates.

Outside, two terrorists, members of the Islamic Jihad organization, cut the useless wire fence around the yeshiva, and entered the kitchen wearing IDF army uniforms and toting M 16's, 12 rounds of ammunition, and ten hand grenades. They started shooting immediately. Under fire, Noam Apfter ran towards the door separating the kitchen from the dining room where a hundred unsuspecting young boys were welcoming the Sabbath. Wounded, with his last strength, he locked both locks and threw the key away. He locked himself in with the terrorists, and locked them out from harming his fellow students.

Noam Apfter paid for this act of heroism with his life. He, and the other three boys were murdered by the terrorists.

Now, I don't know if I can explain this to you, those of you who have never been in a terrorist attack. Faced with such harm, every single fibre of your being screams to open the door and escape. To think of others in such a situation is remarkable. To deliberately lock yourself in with terrorists to save others, is beyond my capacity to understand. It takes a large soul, and more courage than is given to any human being.

These are the people I live amongst:

Shlomo Harel: who pushed a suicide bomber to the ground when he tried to explode himself in a Jerusalem coffee shop, pinning his arms to the floor.

Mikhail Sarkisov, 31, a new immigrant from Turkmenistan, living in a trailer with no bathroom or refrigerator, who as a guard on Tel Aviv's beachfront Cafe Tayelet, armed with a fake pistol, threw himself bodily on a suicide bomber to prevent him from detonating, saving dozens of lives.

Rami Mahmoud Mahameed, 17, a young Arab Israeli, who asked a suicide bomber waiting at a bus stop for his cell phone, and calmly called the police, who prevented the bomber from boarding a bus, but not from exploding. Rami was badly injured.

Eli Federman, who, guarding a Tel Aviv disco, faced the speeding car of a suicide bomber heading straight for him, and the club, and coolly fired, blowing up the car before it could enter.

Bus driver Baruch Neuman, who got off the bus to check a passenger who had fallen trying to board the bus from the back, only to find he was wired. He and another passenger held the bomber's hands down until the rest of the bus passengers could flee to safety.

Others who paid for their heroism with their lives include Yossef Twitto, head of the response team in Itamar, who ran to save a family whose home had been entered by terrorists, terrorists who killed three sisters and brothers, wounded another two, before killing Yossef Twitto.

Mordechai Tomer, 19, who stopped a car from going into downtown Jerusalem and was blown up.
Tamir Matan, who helped stop a suicide bomber in a gas station from entering a busy cafeteria. He and two young soldiers who helped him, were blown up.

This is the face of Israel. These are the people I live amongst. I live among them humbly, knowing that in any place, or time, in a random ten minute period, there are heroes cruising around, ready to give their precious lives for mine.

This is our human landscape, what the land of Israel, its values, its education, its mothers and fathers, have produced. This land, and its people.

Red Sea Shipping and Ports as WMD Targets

Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon informed the Knesset foreign affairs and security committee on Monday, October 28, that Iraq has airplanes capable of delivering biological and chemical weapons over Israel. The official “there’s nothing to worry about” campaign run from Jerusalem until now is gradually making way for a more realistic assessment.

Saddam Hussein’s retaliation tactic was generally presumed by most military experts to be based on sending a hail of missiles fitted with chemical, biological - or even nuclear - warheads against main cities in Israel and the Gulf region, as well as such oil targets as Kuwait’s oilfields and Saudi oil depots at Ras al Tanura.

However, according to DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s military and intelligence sources, the Iraqi ruler and his generals have a surprise up their sleeve.

They do not mean to exhaust Iraq’s sparse missile supply on hitting Riyadh or Tel Aviv or even oil targets. Instead, they plan to wait until the Americans start invading Iraq from Kuwait in the south and from Jordan in the West, and then strike hard with unconventional weapons delivered from the air over the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba ports of Eilat and Agaba.
[more]

Kramer on MESA

President Beinin’s Farewell Address

On November 24, Professor Joel Beinin, Stanford University historian, delivered his presidential address to an audience of 800 members of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) at their annual conference. On the face of it, it’s a tedious read. Beinin belongs to the far-left, blame-America-first, Zionism-is-colonialism school, and much of his address just rehashes its key dogmas: we’re hated in the Middle East for what we do, not what we are; our civil liberties have gone down the tube since 9/11; Ariel Sharon should be put on trial for Sabra and Shatila (and may have had someone killed to keep himself out of a Belgian court), etcetera. This is followed by a none-too-accurate sketch of the history of Middle Eastern studies in America, and expressions of indignation over “scurrilous attacks that have been leveled against MESA collectively and several of our members individually.”

...

But Beinin’s speech is more interesting than its agitprop style would suggest...

In support of Israel

Israel is always being accused of acting contrary to international law with respects to the settlements, the occupation and the right of return.

As I understand the law,

a) the occupation is legal having been authorized by Sec Council Res 242
b) the settlements are legal, there being no law against building settlements on disputed territory and there being no commitment by Israel not to do so.
c) there is no legally recognized right of return, there being only a Resolution of the General Assembly that the refugees should be allowed to return. This is a recommendation not a right.

Israel is doing a bad job of making this clear. I know what the problem is. The international community both governments and media, knowingly promote the notion of illegality in order to stigmatize Israel and its actions. There are those who make the allegations of illegality knowing it to be false and those who really believe it to be so. I am sure this is not news to you.

Whoever speaks for Israel should always make the case for legality before discussing any of these issues. They should always challenge an interviewer, reporter or panellist as soon as either in any way makes any mention of illegality. Their current efforts are woefully inadequate in this regard. A spokesperson for the Palestinians never says 'settlement" or "occupation" with out using the adjective "illegal" in conjunction with such words.

Our spokespersons might take another lead from the Palestinian notebook, namely, always characterize Israeli actions with respect to fighting terror as being legal even if the law is moot. They should be categorical on the matter of legality.

Administration's policies don't match the president's rhetoric.
Democracy for Muslims--Sort Of

If what is said is proven fact, I would deport this guy to Syria, or, better, Iraq.
MK Ahmad Tibi to appeal disqualification from Knesset race

Good News to Start Off 2003

Too much of the news from Israel is gloomy, so for New Year’s Day, it would be a nice change, perhaps, to look on the bright side . Following are three news stories in that vein; all were published around Christmas Day, 2002.

(1) A scientific achievement to benefit mankind

The first story comes from Reuters, via the health/science pages of the Times of India. The story is entitled, Israeli doctors grow human kidneys in mice and reports as follws:

Israeli scientists said on Monday they had successfully grown human kidneys in mice, in a breakthrough that might one day help save thousands of patients waiting for transplants.

Tens of thousands of patients worldwide, including 50,000 in the US alone, need a new kidney. Many die before a suitable donor is found. The researchers, led by Dr Yair Reisner of the Weizmann Institute of Science, said they had transplanted stem cells from human and pig fetuses into mice.

On December 10, 2002, I posted an article under the heading, Boycott Israel - Miss Out on Talent. Here is yet another example to underscore this point.

(2) Israeli scientist wins US award for ecological research

The second story comes from Israel 21C, a web site that brings many a news story about Israel’s achievements in science-related fields. The piece about the ecological research award reads in part as follows:

A Tel Aviv University professor who pioneered the use of bacteria to clean up oil pollution in oil tankers, pipelines and on beaches has been named the winner of the prestigious annual Proctor and Gamble Award for Applied and Environmental Microbiology awarded by the American Society of Microbiology.

Professor Eugene Rosenberg of the George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences at Tel Aviv University for his research on the ecology of microorganisms. Rosenberg pioneered (together with Professors David Gutnick and Eliora Ron) the use of bacteria to clean up oil pollution in oil tankers, pipelines and on beaches. The Tel Aviv team developed the principles and technology for treatment of oil pollution in the environment, using microorganisms and bioemulsifiers.
...
This is the second time that an Israeli scientist has won this Proctor and Gamble award. The prize was awarded to Prof. Moshe Shilo of the Hebrew University in 1978.

... Not that Bin Laden would be impressed.

(3) Agriculture R&D

As I noted in a previous article posted on Dawson Speaks and IIsrapundit, Israel prides herself on her achievements in agronomy and agriculture. In this vein, a recent article in Globus reported on an agridcultural R&D agreement between Israel and Texas:

Israel and Texas signed an agricultural R&D cooperation agreement last week. The US-Israel Binational Agricultural R&D Fund (BARD) brokered the three-year $500,000 a year agreement. Each project must have a representative from both Israel and Texas.

Israel and Texas will each contribute $250,000 a year to finance the agreement. It is believed the annual budget will finance 2-3 agricultural research projects a year. A scientific committee, composed of representatives from both states, will select suitable projects. Large parts of Texas are arid, and many projects will probably be devoted to irrigation.

...While the EU-niks engage in anti-Israel boycotts.

Contributed by Joseph Alexander Norland This piece is cross-posted on IsraPundit and Dawson Speaks.

Summary of editorials from the Hebrew press

Too bizarre to ignore. Israeli-Arab porn video enrages community.

A documentary that is not a documentary. Using the law of democracy to propagandize and get rid of democracy. `Jenin Jenin' filmmaker to ask Israeli Supreme Court to overturn censorship