There are some excellent resources that explain the complexities of the problems between Israel and her neighbors. This is but one...
This section of DiscoverTheNetworks examines how Israel came into existence, and explains why it is (contrary to the claims of much of the Arab world and the Arab lobby) a nation every bit as legitimate as any other in the world. In his November 30, 2007 article titled "Israel’s Right to the Land" (published by FrontPageMagazine.com), Sean Gannon provides the following analysis of this topic:
The view that the Middle East peace process ... is essentially a mechanism for the vindication of Palestinian rights over the West Bank and Gaza is widely held ... in Western Europe, where an awareness of Israel’s legitimate claims and entitlements has been a casualty of the predominantly left-wing media’s embrace of the Palestinian cause. Whereas Arab prerogatives are exhaustively documented, the Jewish right to this land is almost entirely ignored. The anniversaries this month of three of the founding documents of the modern Middle East present an opportunity to redress the balance and reassert the Israeli case. Read more....
See also: PALESTINE FACTS
Early History
World War I
The British Mandate
Israeli Independence
Israel 1948-1967
Israel 1967-1991
Israel 1991 to Present
Current Events
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
More from FrontPage Magazine
For months now, the Palestinian terror group Hamas has been shelling Israeli cities with little in the way of an assertive response. But this weekend, which capped a week when at least 300 Hamas-fired rockets and mortars pounded southern Israel, the Israeli government has at last decided to retaliate... Israel Strikes Back
In early 2005, the Israeli Knesset passed the Disengagement Plan Implementation Law, which was the legal expression of Ariel Sharon’s desire to give the Palestinians in Gaza precisely that which they wanted and demanded; an end to Israeli occupation. But, true to its Charter, that is not enough for Hamas. For only the destruction of Israel and the creation of a first-time Palestinian state “from the sea to the river” will suffice. What has led to the ongoing and massive Israeli precision airstrikes within Gaza against carefully vetted Hamas targets bares this fact to be as true as the sea is deep...The Lessons of Gaza
The core of the Arab-Israeli problem is Israel's "territorial addiction." So declares a December 3 Haaretz article by one Alex Sinclair...'Territorial Addiction' and Academic Debasement
Along with today's TV propaganda in which Hamas depicts itself as a victim, Hamas continues to portray itself as the heroic killer of Israelis... How Palestinian TV is Covering the War
In early 2005, the Israeli Knesset passed the Disengagement Plan Implementation Law, which was the legal expression of Ariel Sharon’s desire to give the Palestinians in Gaza precisely that which they wanted and demanded; an end to Israeli occupation. But, true to its Charter, that is not enough for Hamas. For only the destruction of Israel and the creation of a first-time Palestinian state “from the sea to the river” will suffice. What has led to the ongoing and massive Israeli precision airstrikes within Gaza against carefully vetted Hamas targets bares this fact to be as true as the sea is deep...The Lessons of Gaza
The core of the Arab-Israeli problem is Israel's "territorial addiction." So declares a December 3 Haaretz article by one Alex Sinclair...'Territorial Addiction' and Academic Debasement
Along with today's TV propaganda in which Hamas depicts itself as a victim, Hamas continues to portray itself as the heroic killer of Israelis... How Palestinian TV is Covering the War
Sunday, December 28, 2008
More headlines on the current conflict...
Once again, no surprises. It seems that the world looks the other way whenever Hamas or the PA attacks Israel and then retreats to hide among their own people (making it difficult to weed them out). But as soon as Israel defends herself the vocal critics find a stage.
UN condemns 'disproportionate' Israeli airstrikes in Gaza:
Mr Ban said he condemned excessive use of force which resulted in the killing and injuring of civilians.
The Security Council called for the restoration of calm to "open the way for finding a political solution to the problems existing in the context of the Palestinian-Israeli settlement".
The White House statement is notably more astute:
The White House however, put the main responsiblity for the violence on the Hamas government in Gaza.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that the US strongly condemned the repeated rocket attacks against Israel, and held Hamas responsible for breaking the ceasefire, which she said should be restored immediately.
The problem is that the UN han't got any solutions, and either has anyone else for that matter.
This includes JAVIER SOLANA who always seems to find voice at times such as this, yet lacks any answers:
'The current Israeli strikes are inflicting an unacceptable toll on Palestinian civilians and will only worsen the humanitarian crisis as well as complicate the search for a peaceful solution,' EU High Representative Javier Solana said in a statement.
'I call for an immediate cessation of military actions on both sides. The EU has repeatedly condemned rocket attacks against Israel,' the statement said.
Solana's comment came hours after the French government, which holds the EU's rotating presidency until the end of the year, condemned a series of rocket attacks on Israel launched from the Gaza Strip as an 'unjustifiable provocation' and the Israeli response as 'disproportionate.'
Déjà vu? It seems like only yesterday that the "powers" that be were striving to force the division of Jerusalem.
Thanks to Lori for the following news items:
Israel tanks mass near Gaza as jets again pound Hamas
IDF Releases Photos of Hamas Targets, Terror Training Facilities
IAF Destroys 40 Tunnels in 270 Seconds
IAF Warplanes Seen Flying Over Lebanon
UN condemns 'disproportionate' Israeli airstrikes in Gaza:
Mr Ban said he condemned excessive use of force which resulted in the killing and injuring of civilians.
The Security Council called for the restoration of calm to "open the way for finding a political solution to the problems existing in the context of the Palestinian-Israeli settlement".
The White House statement is notably more astute:
The White House however, put the main responsiblity for the violence on the Hamas government in Gaza.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that the US strongly condemned the repeated rocket attacks against Israel, and held Hamas responsible for breaking the ceasefire, which she said should be restored immediately.
The problem is that the UN han't got any solutions, and either has anyone else for that matter.
This includes JAVIER SOLANA who always seems to find voice at times such as this, yet lacks any answers:
'The current Israeli strikes are inflicting an unacceptable toll on Palestinian civilians and will only worsen the humanitarian crisis as well as complicate the search for a peaceful solution,' EU High Representative Javier Solana said in a statement.
'I call for an immediate cessation of military actions on both sides. The EU has repeatedly condemned rocket attacks against Israel,' the statement said.
Solana's comment came hours after the French government, which holds the EU's rotating presidency until the end of the year, condemned a series of rocket attacks on Israel launched from the Gaza Strip as an 'unjustifiable provocation' and the Israeli response as 'disproportionate.'
Déjà vu? It seems like only yesterday that the "powers" that be were striving to force the division of Jerusalem.
Thanks to Lori for the following news items:
Israel tanks mass near Gaza as jets again pound Hamas
IDF Releases Photos of Hamas Targets, Terror Training Facilities
IAF Destroys 40 Tunnels in 270 Seconds
IAF Warplanes Seen Flying Over Lebanon
Iranian Red Crescent vessel heads to Gaza
Syria, Turkey Break Off Talks with Israel Because of Gaza Op.
Pray for the inoccent Palestinians caught up in this war and pray for Israel.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Israel retaliates
Israel has finally retaliated. I only have time to post this Headline.
Let's wait and see how the media handles this one!
More....
The toothless UN demands 'immediate' halt to attacks
In a statement released Saturday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for an immediate halt to all violence in both Gaza and southern Israel.
"While recognizing Israel's security concerns regarding the continued firing of rockets from Gaza, Ban firmly reiterates Israel's obligation to uphold international humanitarian and human rights law and condemns excessive use of force leading to the killing and injuring of civilians. He condemns the ongoing rocket attacks by Palestinian militants and is deeply distressed that repeated calls on Hamas for these attacks to end have gone unheeded," the statement continued...
No surprise here...
Tibi protests Israeli 'war crime'
Let's wait and see how the media handles this one!
More....
The toothless UN demands 'immediate' halt to attacks
In a statement released Saturday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for an immediate halt to all violence in both Gaza and southern Israel.
"While recognizing Israel's security concerns regarding the continued firing of rockets from Gaza, Ban firmly reiterates Israel's obligation to uphold international humanitarian and human rights law and condemns excessive use of force leading to the killing and injuring of civilians. He condemns the ongoing rocket attacks by Palestinian militants and is deeply distressed that repeated calls on Hamas for these attacks to end have gone unheeded," the statement continued...
No surprise here...
Tibi protests Israeli 'war crime'
Friday, December 26, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
The Light of Hope in Darkness
From American Thinker:
By Bruce Walker
In the Mumbai Massacre terrorists particularly targeted Jews, focusing special attention of the Chabad house. The Holocaust denial in Iran and the proliferation of literary outrages like The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion or monstrous tracts like Mein Kampf, are sad proof that hatred of Jews is not limited to terrorists operating in India. The chic Leftists of Europe unite with terrorists in their reflexive hatred of Israel and unspoken anti-Semitism.
Grimly, not just anti-Semitism found violent expression in the generally placid India. This year alone, more than 100 Christians have been murdered in anti-Christian riots on the subcontinent. The ancient Christian community in Iraq is facing slow extermination. The defamation of Christian faith in elite salons has never been more gleeful than now.
As one pundit put it: "Never before in the history of the world have Jews been so universally persecuted; and never before has such persecution fallen, as it does today, upon Jews and Christians alike. It is a sign of the profound disturbances of our civilization" Indeed it is. But Jacques Maritain did not write those words today. He wrote them in 1943 in a book entitled Twilight of Civilization. Maritain was philosemitic and understood the importance of the Jewish people to a moral universe...
Read the article HERE.
By Bruce Walker
In the Mumbai Massacre terrorists particularly targeted Jews, focusing special attention of the Chabad house. The Holocaust denial in Iran and the proliferation of literary outrages like The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion or monstrous tracts like Mein Kampf, are sad proof that hatred of Jews is not limited to terrorists operating in India. The chic Leftists of Europe unite with terrorists in their reflexive hatred of Israel and unspoken anti-Semitism.
Grimly, not just anti-Semitism found violent expression in the generally placid India. This year alone, more than 100 Christians have been murdered in anti-Christian riots on the subcontinent. The ancient Christian community in Iraq is facing slow extermination. The defamation of Christian faith in elite salons has never been more gleeful than now.
As one pundit put it: "Never before in the history of the world have Jews been so universally persecuted; and never before has such persecution fallen, as it does today, upon Jews and Christians alike. It is a sign of the profound disturbances of our civilization" Indeed it is. But Jacques Maritain did not write those words today. He wrote them in 1943 in a book entitled Twilight of Civilization. Maritain was philosemitic and understood the importance of the Jewish people to a moral universe...
Read the article HERE.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Russia provides 10 MiG fighter jets to Lebanon for free
Thanks to the anonymous poster for this news tip.
Russia provides 10 MiG fighter jets to Lebanon for free:
Tony Halpin in Moscow
Russia gave Lebanon ten MiG fighter jets yesterday in a deal to boost defence cooperation.
The MiG29 Fulcrum fighters would be provided free to Lebanon under an agreement on military-technical assistance, the head of Russia’s defence cooperation service said. Mikhail Dmitryev said that the jets would come from Russia’s existing stock.
He said that Moscow was also in talks to supply Beirut with heavy armour, adding that supplies of such weaponry were “now possible after the situation in this nation has stabilised”.
He said: “We view the Lebanese army as the main guarantor of this nation’s stability, therefore the armed forces of this country must be strengthened.” The deal followed a meeting in Moscow between Anatoly Serdyukov, the Defence Minister, and Elias Murrhis, his Lebanese counterpart. Mr Serdyukov said that Russia had received a detailed list of armaments sought by Lebanon.
Read the ARTICLE.
Also....
Missing the Target
By P. David Hornik
FrontPageMagazine.com Friday, December 19, 2008
It was just a few days ago that Russia succeeded, along with its fellow Quartet member the United States, in getting the UN Security Council to pass a resolution on Middle East peace.
Yet by Thursday tensions had surfaced between Israel and Russia over a purportedly imminent Russian sale of an antiaircraft missile system to Iran. The system, the S-300, is one of the most advanced of its kind in the world and would seriously hinder an attempt to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities. Russia has already sold TOR-M1 surface-to-air missiles to the regime of the mullahs.
A report by Russia’s own RIA news agency claims Russia is now “fulfilling a contract” to deliver S-300 systems to Iran. One site, by no means to be dismissed, says Russia is already physically transferring the systems and it’s a done deal. Jerusalem, though, is interpreting the RIA report as pressure aimed at getting Israel to sell Russia 100 of Israel’s advanced Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).
Read it HERE.
Russia provides 10 MiG fighter jets to Lebanon for free:
Tony Halpin in Moscow
Russia gave Lebanon ten MiG fighter jets yesterday in a deal to boost defence cooperation.
The MiG29 Fulcrum fighters would be provided free to Lebanon under an agreement on military-technical assistance, the head of Russia’s defence cooperation service said. Mikhail Dmitryev said that the jets would come from Russia’s existing stock.
He said that Moscow was also in talks to supply Beirut with heavy armour, adding that supplies of such weaponry were “now possible after the situation in this nation has stabilised”.
He said: “We view the Lebanese army as the main guarantor of this nation’s stability, therefore the armed forces of this country must be strengthened.” The deal followed a meeting in Moscow between Anatoly Serdyukov, the Defence Minister, and Elias Murrhis, his Lebanese counterpart. Mr Serdyukov said that Russia had received a detailed list of armaments sought by Lebanon.
Read the ARTICLE.
Also....
Missing the Target
By P. David Hornik
FrontPageMagazine.com Friday, December 19, 2008
It was just a few days ago that Russia succeeded, along with its fellow Quartet member the United States, in getting the UN Security Council to pass a resolution on Middle East peace.
Yet by Thursday tensions had surfaced between Israel and Russia over a purportedly imminent Russian sale of an antiaircraft missile system to Iran. The system, the S-300, is one of the most advanced of its kind in the world and would seriously hinder an attempt to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities. Russia has already sold TOR-M1 surface-to-air missiles to the regime of the mullahs.
A report by Russia’s own RIA news agency claims Russia is now “fulfilling a contract” to deliver S-300 systems to Iran. One site, by no means to be dismissed, says Russia is already physically transferring the systems and it’s a done deal. Jerusalem, though, is interpreting the RIA report as pressure aimed at getting Israel to sell Russia 100 of Israel’s advanced Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).
Read it HERE.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
When Bibi Met Obama
By Dick Morris
FrontPageMagazine.com Wednesday, December 17, 2008
With the election of Barack Obama, the United States has moved dramatically to the left in its foreign policy at just the time that Israel, which seems likely to return Bibi Netanyahu to office in early February, is moving to the right. A collision is almost inevitable. Caroline Glick, the highly astute conservative columnist for the Jerusalem Post, writes that the “international community” believes that Obama “will move quickly to place massive pressure on the next Israeli government to withdraw from Judea, Samaria, Jerusalem and the Golan Heights in the interests of advancing a ‘peace process’ with the Palestinians and the Syrians.” She notes that “people who have been in close contact with Obama’s foreign policy transition team have privately acknowledged that the widespread belief that Obama will move swiftly to put the screws on Israel is fully justified. According to one source who has spent a great deal of time with the transition team since last month’s U.S. elections, Obama’s people are ‘scope-locked’ on Israel.”
Read the rest of the ARTICLE.
FrontPageMagazine.com Wednesday, December 17, 2008
With the election of Barack Obama, the United States has moved dramatically to the left in its foreign policy at just the time that Israel, which seems likely to return Bibi Netanyahu to office in early February, is moving to the right. A collision is almost inevitable. Caroline Glick, the highly astute conservative columnist for the Jerusalem Post, writes that the “international community” believes that Obama “will move quickly to place massive pressure on the next Israeli government to withdraw from Judea, Samaria, Jerusalem and the Golan Heights in the interests of advancing a ‘peace process’ with the Palestinians and the Syrians.” She notes that “people who have been in close contact with Obama’s foreign policy transition team have privately acknowledged that the widespread belief that Obama will move swiftly to put the screws on Israel is fully justified. According to one source who has spent a great deal of time with the transition team since last month’s U.S. elections, Obama’s people are ‘scope-locked’ on Israel.”
Read the rest of the ARTICLE.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Iran and Nuclear Weapons Capability
I recently read an article written by Professor Kaveh L Afrasiabi at Asia Times Online. Afrasiabi argues that Iran is nowhere near Nuclear Breakout Capability. He also contradicts a REPORT by the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS).
According to Afrasiabi:
By ignoring these issues completely, the respected nuclear experts seem unconvincing in their quasi-alarmist projections of Iran's near-term nuclear weapon capability - the same projections which are indirectly fueling the argument of the more hawkish experts for the military option.
According to Afrasiabi:
By ignoring these issues completely, the respected nuclear experts seem unconvincing in their quasi-alarmist projections of Iran's near-term nuclear weapon capability - the same projections which are indirectly fueling the argument of the more hawkish experts for the military option.
Their report serves as a half-cooked meal for new US policy-makers gearing up for action come next January. But it will surely give them indigestion, as it replicates the coercive approach that is centered on the theology of Iran's "nuclear intentions" and "capability".
“Quasi-alarmist projections”? Prof Afrasiabi may well wax eloquent in the comfort of his study as he critiques the ISIS report. Meanwhile, there are a number of other media reports that should give Israel pause for concern if Afrasiabi is, in fact, mistaken. Israel does not have the luxury of a second chance in the event of a mistake.
Some interesting headlines:
Covert marine operation uncovers Syria's return to plutonium production
Iran rejects Obama's carrot/stick policy
Iran says will not halt nuclear work despite U.S.
Iranian Pres Ahmadinejad circa August 2006
Thanks to Alesia for this one:
Iranian VP calls for Israel’s destruction
Some may be able to sleep tight at night, but Israel's defences cannot!
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
New post by Joel Rosenberg.
Joel Rosenberg has a new post on his WEBLOG.
U.S., Israel and the future:
3 webcasts from San Diego and Jerusalem
I encourage everyone who has a love for Israel and an interest in Middle East affairs to keep track of Joel's blog.
U.S., Israel and the future:
3 webcasts from San Diego and Jerusalem
I encourage everyone who has a love for Israel and an interest in Middle East affairs to keep track of Joel's blog.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Blaming Israel for Mumbai
"The idea that Israel is responsible for the ‘clash of civilizations’ is not unique. It is often pointed out whenever Osama Bin Laden references Israel, which he rarely does, in the context that Israel and the ‘Middle East Conflict’ are fanning the flames of terrorism worldwide. There was no shortgage of voices after the 7/7 London bombings that wanted to show that Israel and the ‘conflict’ had ‘radicalized’ those who carried out the attacks."
The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (Camera) also reported that a recent article in the London Times contained an anti-semitic remark that seemed totally out of context to the Mumbai tragedy:
London Times Coverage of Mumbai Events Includes Anti-Semitic Remark
"Jonathan Cook, a British journalist based in Nazareth, is the author of Israel and the Clash of Civilizations. He is a frequent contributer to the U.K’s Guardian and Observer as well as Le Monde and The Herald Tribune. In his book he argues that “from the early 1980s, it was Israeli policy to subdue the Palestinians, fragment Arab rivals, and foster ethnic and religious discord to maintain unchallengeable regional dominance.”"
Seth Frantzman of FrontPageMagazine.Com writes concerning the all-too common phenomenon of blaming Israel for Islamic attacks. The latest excuse to whip Israel is the Mumbai tragedy. You can read the article HERE.The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (Camera) also reported that a recent article in the London Times contained an anti-semitic remark that seemed totally out of context to the Mumbai tragedy:
London Times Coverage of Mumbai Events Includes Anti-Semitic Remark
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Blair Urges Council on Foreign Relations to Pressure Israel
by Baruch Gordon
IsraelNN.com) Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair called for United States President-elect Barack Obama to press hard for Israel to make further territorial concessions to the Palestinian Authority. Blair, speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on Wednesday, also praised Obama’s selections to lead his national security team, most notably former NATO commander General James L. Jones as National Security Advisor for the incoming administration. Jones was until recently the US special envoy for Middle East security and in that role has advocated sending a NATO force to impose a solution in Judea and Samaria. Read it HERE.
Also from Bible Prophecy Today:
"Tony Blair, the former British PM and now the special Peace Envoy to the Middle East for the Quartet, offered praise for President-elect Obama's selections to lead his National Security team and told him that the time is right for a fresh push for progress in the Middle East peace process..."
"If Tony Blair and the Obama team are successful, we will see the prophetic scenario that is called for in Bible prophecy come into better focus. The ancient, Jewish prophet Daniel wrote 2,500 years ago that a world leader from Europe, the area of the revived Roman Empire, indeed would bring peace to the Middle East, Daniel 9:27. Please do not misunderstand. I am not saying Tony Blair is that world leader spoken of in Bible prophecy as the Antichrist; however, I would say Tony Blair is doing everything Bible prophecy calls for.Tony Blair is a perfect prototype of that world leader and is setting the stage for Bible prophecy to be fulfilled."
IsraelNN.com) Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair called for United States President-elect Barack Obama to press hard for Israel to make further territorial concessions to the Palestinian Authority. Blair, speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on Wednesday, also praised Obama’s selections to lead his national security team, most notably former NATO commander General James L. Jones as National Security Advisor for the incoming administration. Jones was until recently the US special envoy for Middle East security and in that role has advocated sending a NATO force to impose a solution in Judea and Samaria. Read it HERE.
Also from Bible Prophecy Today:
"Tony Blair, the former British PM and now the special Peace Envoy to the Middle East for the Quartet, offered praise for President-elect Obama's selections to lead his National Security team and told him that the time is right for a fresh push for progress in the Middle East peace process..."
"If Tony Blair and the Obama team are successful, we will see the prophetic scenario that is called for in Bible prophecy come into better focus. The ancient, Jewish prophet Daniel wrote 2,500 years ago that a world leader from Europe, the area of the revived Roman Empire, indeed would bring peace to the Middle East, Daniel 9:27. Please do not misunderstand. I am not saying Tony Blair is that world leader spoken of in Bible prophecy as the Antichrist; however, I would say Tony Blair is doing everything Bible prophecy calls for.Tony Blair is a perfect prototype of that world leader and is setting the stage for Bible prophecy to be fulfilled."
Note: Personally, I don't see Tony Blair as that world leader. What is evident to me, though, is that the world is ready to accept a world leader, whoever he may turn out to be.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Rockets Fly, The UN Lies
Listen to most media reports and celebrity gushes and you would be inclined to believe that the UN was a paragon of virtue, that it was interested in peace and that it would never take unfair sides in a war.
During the 2006 Israel - Lebanon conflict, UNIFIL forces routinely relayed information to the Hezbollah forces as related HERE by Lori Lowenthal Marcus. This is only one of many reports detailing this incident.
UN prejudice against Israel is an ongoing phenomenon. Arlene Kushner outlines some of the UN’s inconsistencies when dealing with the Israeli – Palestinian issue. Read the article HERE.
During the 2006 Israel - Lebanon conflict, UNIFIL forces routinely relayed information to the Hezbollah forces as related HERE by Lori Lowenthal Marcus. This is only one of many reports detailing this incident.
UN prejudice against Israel is an ongoing phenomenon. Arlene Kushner outlines some of the UN’s inconsistencies when dealing with the Israeli – Palestinian issue. Read the article HERE.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
EU paper on solving Mideast conflict worries Israel
It never ceases to amaze me how the nations of this world presume to be telling Israel what to do. No other country would allow this. I wonder how France would respond to a call for it to give some of its territory to Germany or England...
EU paper on solving Mideast conflict worries Israel
By Barak Ravid
Israeli officials are deeply concerned over an internal European Union document outlining the EU's plans for advancing an Israeli-Palestinian deal in 2009. Inter alia, it calls for increased pressure on Israel to reopen Palestinian institutions in Jerusalem, including Orient House, which formerly served as the Palestinian Authority's headquarters in the city...
Read the rest of the article HERE
*****************************
Frankly, I'm a little (pleasantly) surprised at President Bush's comments to Olmert. Let's hope Olmert takes the comments to heart - for his own sake. I would not want to be in his shoes if he concedes territory to Syria. Remember Arial Sharon?
Bush Tells Olmert "Foolish to Give-Away Golan"
Dec. 1….(Israel Today) When US President George W. Bush met with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert last week he urged Olmert to reconsider his ill-conceived rush to surrender the Golan Heights to Syria. That according to diplomatic sources briefed on the White House meeting between the two outgoing leaders. The sources told Ha'aretz that Bush pointedly asked Olmert, "Why do you want to give Syrian President Bashar Assad the Golan for nothing?" Olmert reportedly responded that the surrender of the Golan would "not be for nothing. It's an exchange for a change in the region's strategic alignment." Bush then suggested that Olmert was foolish for taking Assad at his word, to which the Israeli leader had no reply. Israeli commentators believe Olmert is eager to score a major diplomatic victory before leaving office in February, and sees a hasty peace deal with Syria as the most viable option.
EU paper on solving Mideast conflict worries Israel
By Barak Ravid
Israeli officials are deeply concerned over an internal European Union document outlining the EU's plans for advancing an Israeli-Palestinian deal in 2009. Inter alia, it calls for increased pressure on Israel to reopen Palestinian institutions in Jerusalem, including Orient House, which formerly served as the Palestinian Authority's headquarters in the city...
Read the rest of the article HERE
*****************************
Frankly, I'm a little (pleasantly) surprised at President Bush's comments to Olmert. Let's hope Olmert takes the comments to heart - for his own sake. I would not want to be in his shoes if he concedes territory to Syria. Remember Arial Sharon?
Bush Tells Olmert "Foolish to Give-Away Golan"
Dec. 1….(Israel Today) When US President George W. Bush met with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert last week he urged Olmert to reconsider his ill-conceived rush to surrender the Golan Heights to Syria. That according to diplomatic sources briefed on the White House meeting between the two outgoing leaders. The sources told Ha'aretz that Bush pointedly asked Olmert, "Why do you want to give Syrian President Bashar Assad the Golan for nothing?" Olmert reportedly responded that the surrender of the Golan would "not be for nothing. It's an exchange for a change in the region's strategic alignment." Bush then suggested that Olmert was foolish for taking Assad at his word, to which the Israeli leader had no reply. Israeli commentators believe Olmert is eager to score a major diplomatic victory before leaving office in February, and sees a hasty peace deal with Syria as the most viable option.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Israel Must Resist the Coming Obama-Clinton Onslaught
By Seth Swirsky
Upon taking office, President Obama will push hard for the ridiculous (for Israel) “Saudi Peace Initiative”, which asks for Israel to give up land it won in the 1967 war, in return for peace with the Palestinians and other Arab neighbors yet to make peace with Israel.
Hilary Clinton was chosen to be Secretary of State NOT for how she will deal with France or (fill in the country) but for how to push the Saudi “plan” in order to make a Palestinian State.
But, the Palestinians do not want a state: they want Israel. The election of Bibi Netanyahu would be important because he would say “no” to the Saudi “plan”, which is just another euphemism for diminishing the size of the already minute Israel.
Israel gave back southern Lebanon, and in return, it got back a war (in 2006). Israel “gave back” Gaza and in return, it takes rockets on its cities daily.
Obama’s #1 priority upon taking office will be putting the Saudi plan into play, using the more-trusted Hillary Clinton to sell it. Bibi (again, if elected) MUST NOT be a buyer. The world, for the most part, doesn’t like Jews and that’s what Israel represents. Israel cannot, for the sake of good PR from the world, give away land that soldiers fought and died for in order to make Israel safer. It’s why Bibi will likely win: Israelis sense that Obama, with his worldwide popularity, is going to come knocking soon, asking –maybe demanding — more Israeli “concessions” for peace that Israel must resist.
The Palestinians should be the ones making concessions (taking out of their charter, their desire to end Israel’s existence, would be a great place to start!). President George W. Bush, had it correct when taking a hands off approach to the Arab-Israeli problem, as he realized that Israel doesn’t have a problem with Palestinians, but the other way around. He realized there is no ‘cycle of violence’, just Palestinians bent on killing innocent Israelis.
Watch out Israel: Obama’s coming with Hillary (and Bill) as his cover. Israel has seen that no peace with the Palestinians comes about when they give back swaths of land won in war.
Beware Obama-Clinton and their coming push to accept the Saudi “plan”: it’s a disaster for Israel and Bibi knows it.
Article from Political Mavens
Upon taking office, President Obama will push hard for the ridiculous (for Israel) “Saudi Peace Initiative”, which asks for Israel to give up land it won in the 1967 war, in return for peace with the Palestinians and other Arab neighbors yet to make peace with Israel.
Hilary Clinton was chosen to be Secretary of State NOT for how she will deal with France or (fill in the country) but for how to push the Saudi “plan” in order to make a Palestinian State.
But, the Palestinians do not want a state: they want Israel. The election of Bibi Netanyahu would be important because he would say “no” to the Saudi “plan”, which is just another euphemism for diminishing the size of the already minute Israel.
Israel gave back southern Lebanon, and in return, it got back a war (in 2006). Israel “gave back” Gaza and in return, it takes rockets on its cities daily.
Obama’s #1 priority upon taking office will be putting the Saudi plan into play, using the more-trusted Hillary Clinton to sell it. Bibi (again, if elected) MUST NOT be a buyer. The world, for the most part, doesn’t like Jews and that’s what Israel represents. Israel cannot, for the sake of good PR from the world, give away land that soldiers fought and died for in order to make Israel safer. It’s why Bibi will likely win: Israelis sense that Obama, with his worldwide popularity, is going to come knocking soon, asking –maybe demanding — more Israeli “concessions” for peace that Israel must resist.
The Palestinians should be the ones making concessions (taking out of their charter, their desire to end Israel’s existence, would be a great place to start!). President George W. Bush, had it correct when taking a hands off approach to the Arab-Israeli problem, as he realized that Israel doesn’t have a problem with Palestinians, but the other way around. He realized there is no ‘cycle of violence’, just Palestinians bent on killing innocent Israelis.
Watch out Israel: Obama’s coming with Hillary (and Bill) as his cover. Israel has seen that no peace with the Palestinians comes about when they give back swaths of land won in war.
Beware Obama-Clinton and their coming push to accept the Saudi “plan”: it’s a disaster for Israel and Bibi knows it.
Article from Political Mavens
Friday, November 21, 2008
Resurgent Center-Right in Israel
FrontPageMagazine.com Friday, November 21, 2008
With Israel’s parliamentary elections set for February 10, the latest polls show the Center-Right bloc well ahead of its Center-Left rival. In one, reported on Thursday, the lead stood at 64 Members of Knesset to 56, but in effect was much larger because the 56 included 11 MKs from Arab parties that stand no chance of being included in a governing coalition. The lead is also, likely, even larger in effect given that polls are reliably skewed to the Left.
This lead has opened up over the past three weeks as Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu, whose party is traditionally the largest (though not in the 2006 elections, when it flopped) on the Right, has showcased some high-profile new additions and particularly Benny Begin, Dan Meridor, and Moshe Yaalon.
Read the full article HERE
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Who is Rahm Emmanuel?
By John Perazzo
FrontPageMagazine.com Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Two days after defeating John McCain, Barack Obama made his first appointment as president-elect when he named 49-year-old Rahm Emanuel to be his chief of staff. Formerly an aide to Bill Clinton and currently the Democratic Representative for Illinois’ 5th congressional district, Emanuel has suddenly become a figure of great interest to the American public.
Read it HERE
****************
Durban II: An Early Test
By Joseph Klein
FrontPageMagazine.com Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Less than three months after Barack Obama will be sworn in as the next president of the United States, he will have to decide whether or not to participate in a replay of the ignominious hatefest known as the United Nations Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, held in Durban, South Africa in 2001. The follow-up to that conference, the Durban Review of the United Nations World Conference Against Racism, is scheduled to take place in Geneva, Switzerland during April of 2009 (“Durban II”).
Read it HERE
***********
Also:
Israel worried about possible German sub sale to Egypt
Obama to Abbas: I'll support peace talks
Al-Qaeda 'awakens' in Iraq
FrontPageMagazine.com Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Two days after defeating John McCain, Barack Obama made his first appointment as president-elect when he named 49-year-old Rahm Emanuel to be his chief of staff. Formerly an aide to Bill Clinton and currently the Democratic Representative for Illinois’ 5th congressional district, Emanuel has suddenly become a figure of great interest to the American public.
Read it HERE
****************
Durban II: An Early Test
By Joseph Klein
FrontPageMagazine.com Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Less than three months after Barack Obama will be sworn in as the next president of the United States, he will have to decide whether or not to participate in a replay of the ignominious hatefest known as the United Nations Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, held in Durban, South Africa in 2001. The follow-up to that conference, the Durban Review of the United Nations World Conference Against Racism, is scheduled to take place in Geneva, Switzerland during April of 2009 (“Durban II”).
Read it HERE
***********
Also:
Israel worried about possible German sub sale to Egypt
Obama to Abbas: I'll support peace talks
Al-Qaeda 'awakens' in Iraq
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
U.N. Masquerade
By Benny Avni
New York Post Tuesday, November 18, 2008
THE Saudi king won much praise last week for convening talks at the United Nations ostensibly meant to promote peace and "religious tolerance." He even snagged a private audience with President Bush.
But if you take a close look at King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al Saud's agenda, some of it is hardly praiseworthy. In fact, if he gets any traction at the UN (or anywhere else), it'll mark a giant step backward for both peace and tolerance.
Indeed, behind Abdullah's Kumbaya facade was a downright scary agenda: Essentially, he wants the world's moral blessing to restrict any and all speech about Islam, its adherents and regimes that promote them - except, of course, that which is approved by official censors. He also wants to throw the UN's moral weight behind punishments meted out to those who violate such restrictions, even if he doesn't say that explicitly.
Meanwhile, Abdullah failed to make even the slightest gesture toward softening his own regime's brutal intolerance of other religions and cultures. Some parley on "religious tolerance."
Consider one key draft resolution at the event. Introduced jointly by the Philippines and Pakistan, it openly seeks to limit press freedoms. Sure, as read by Philippine President Gloria Arroyo, the language pays lip service to the notion of freedom of expression.
But the document then goes on to emphasize the "special duties and responsibilities necessary for the respect of the rights or reputations of others, protection of national security or of public order, or of public health and morals."
Translation: Don't even think of publishing those Danish cartoons or anything even close to them. And forget about questioning authorities in places like, say, Riyadh.
Meanwhile, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, a dominant UN voting bloc, plans an additional resolution, to be voted on tomorrow in the General Assembly, that would openly frown on any speech that is considered defamatory toward religion.
But it's not like the censors - and, specifically, their efforts to establish Islam as a dominant, superior religious and political force - need encouragement.
Last month, an appellate court in Afghanistan sentenced a student, Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh, to 20 years in prison for distributing "blasphemous" material regarding the role of women in Islamic societies. Arrested a year earlier, Kambakhsh was accused of downloading material from the Internet and passing it to other students, according to a recent State Department report on international religious freedom.
Mohammad Shafeeq was cited in the same State Department report. He was sentenced to death in Pakistan in June for blasphemy after he allegedly defiled the Quran and used derogatory language to refer to the Prophet Mohammad. His arrest in 2006 was based on a complaint by local religious leaders.
Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, is among the worst of the bunch. In May, the Saudi government charged a lawyer and businessman, Ra'if Bedawi al-Shammary, with "setting up an electronic site that insults Islam." The prosecution asked for a five-year prison sentence and an $800,000 fine.
What exactly did Shammary do? His online writings detailed abuses by the religious police and questioned the government's interpretation of Islam. As a result of the charges against him and several physical threats, Shammary and his family were forced to flee the country.
Meanwhile, conference participants showed just how tolerant they were: Famously "moderate" Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad directly challenged Jewish sensibilities by suggesting that Jerusalem was not holy to Judaism.
King Abdullah insists that everyone refer to him as "The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques" - that is, the biggest of the big-cheese Muslims. To that title, he now hopes to add a new one: Brave King of the Muslim Moderates.
Indeed, some of his back-stabbing brothers at home, I'm told, are already sharpening their knives - labeling him a traitor for merely suggesting that a dialogue with other religions is possible. And pressure at home, his backers say, is limiting just how far Abdullah can go in reaching out to non-Muslims.
That might be believable, however, if the king took just one small step toward curbing Arab/Muslim hostility toward non-Muslims or easing restrictions on free expression. Seeking greater support for sanctions on speech is not exactly a sign of moderation.
In the end, the Saudi UN p.r. coup may end up encouraging repression and intolerance around the world.
Until he makes significant changes at home, let no one be fooled by his stunts.
New York Post Tuesday, November 18, 2008
THE Saudi king won much praise last week for convening talks at the United Nations ostensibly meant to promote peace and "religious tolerance." He even snagged a private audience with President Bush.
But if you take a close look at King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al Saud's agenda, some of it is hardly praiseworthy. In fact, if he gets any traction at the UN (or anywhere else), it'll mark a giant step backward for both peace and tolerance.
Indeed, behind Abdullah's Kumbaya facade was a downright scary agenda: Essentially, he wants the world's moral blessing to restrict any and all speech about Islam, its adherents and regimes that promote them - except, of course, that which is approved by official censors. He also wants to throw the UN's moral weight behind punishments meted out to those who violate such restrictions, even if he doesn't say that explicitly.
Meanwhile, Abdullah failed to make even the slightest gesture toward softening his own regime's brutal intolerance of other religions and cultures. Some parley on "religious tolerance."
Consider one key draft resolution at the event. Introduced jointly by the Philippines and Pakistan, it openly seeks to limit press freedoms. Sure, as read by Philippine President Gloria Arroyo, the language pays lip service to the notion of freedom of expression.
But the document then goes on to emphasize the "special duties and responsibilities necessary for the respect of the rights or reputations of others, protection of national security or of public order, or of public health and morals."
Translation: Don't even think of publishing those Danish cartoons or anything even close to them. And forget about questioning authorities in places like, say, Riyadh.
Meanwhile, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, a dominant UN voting bloc, plans an additional resolution, to be voted on tomorrow in the General Assembly, that would openly frown on any speech that is considered defamatory toward religion.
But it's not like the censors - and, specifically, their efforts to establish Islam as a dominant, superior religious and political force - need encouragement.
Last month, an appellate court in Afghanistan sentenced a student, Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh, to 20 years in prison for distributing "blasphemous" material regarding the role of women in Islamic societies. Arrested a year earlier, Kambakhsh was accused of downloading material from the Internet and passing it to other students, according to a recent State Department report on international religious freedom.
Mohammad Shafeeq was cited in the same State Department report. He was sentenced to death in Pakistan in June for blasphemy after he allegedly defiled the Quran and used derogatory language to refer to the Prophet Mohammad. His arrest in 2006 was based on a complaint by local religious leaders.
Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, is among the worst of the bunch. In May, the Saudi government charged a lawyer and businessman, Ra'if Bedawi al-Shammary, with "setting up an electronic site that insults Islam." The prosecution asked for a five-year prison sentence and an $800,000 fine.
What exactly did Shammary do? His online writings detailed abuses by the religious police and questioned the government's interpretation of Islam. As a result of the charges against him and several physical threats, Shammary and his family were forced to flee the country.
Meanwhile, conference participants showed just how tolerant they were: Famously "moderate" Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad directly challenged Jewish sensibilities by suggesting that Jerusalem was not holy to Judaism.
King Abdullah insists that everyone refer to him as "The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques" - that is, the biggest of the big-cheese Muslims. To that title, he now hopes to add a new one: Brave King of the Muslim Moderates.
Indeed, some of his back-stabbing brothers at home, I'm told, are already sharpening their knives - labeling him a traitor for merely suggesting that a dialogue with other religions is possible. And pressure at home, his backers say, is limiting just how far Abdullah can go in reaching out to non-Muslims.
That might be believable, however, if the king took just one small step toward curbing Arab/Muslim hostility toward non-Muslims or easing restrictions on free expression. Seeking greater support for sanctions on speech is not exactly a sign of moderation.
In the end, the Saudi UN p.r. coup may end up encouraging repression and intolerance around the world.
Until he makes significant changes at home, let no one be fooled by his stunts.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Saudi king to U.N. assembly: Time for peace-loving religious dialog
Yesterday, a two-day conference sponsored by Saudi Arabia opened at the United Nations in New York. Its aim: to promote dialog between the religions of the world and, in the process, to help "improve the image of Islam as a religion that favors dialog over violence." Addressing heads of state and other international delegates at the U.N. yesterday, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud delivered the keynote speech of the so-called Culture of Peace Conference to the U.N. General Assembly. The gathering is being "seen as part of the Saudi monarch's efforts to promote a more moderate brand of Islam in a kingdom that has been accused of breeding extremism" ever since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against the U.S. "By sponsoring interfaith events, King Abdullah may also be hoping to advance the debate over radicalism within the kingdom."
Read it HERE
Israel welcomes Saudi King's peace proposal
Read it HERE
Israel welcomes Saudi King's peace proposal
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Iran says new missile tested successfully
Iran has successfully test-fired a new generation of long range surface-to-surface missile using solid fuel, making them more accurate than its predecessors, the defense minister announced Wednesday.
Mostafa Mohammed Najjar said on state television that the Sajjil was a high-speed missile manufactured at the Iranian Aerospace department of the Defense Ministry. He said it had a range of about 1,200 miles.
At that range it could reach Greece and Bulgaria in southeastern Europe, as well as easily strike arch-foe Israel...
Read the full article HERE
****************************
Meanwhile, back in the US...."The Religious Left Celebrates":
Has the Millennium arrived? Maybe Barak Obama's election to the presidency is giving the Religious Left at least a foretaste of it. After stewing with anger across 8 years in the wilderness, liberal prelates are shouting Hosanna in expectation of spiritual enlightenment during the Obama reign.
"We at the National Council of Churches urge all Americans to come together to uphold you with our hands, our hearts and our prayers," the NCC's chief, Michael Kinnamon wrote his congratulatory letter to Obama. The NCC, previously the voice of America's premier religious denominations, once truly walked in the corridors of power. It has never fully accepted its transition from mainline to sideline in America's religious demographic. As recently as 1995, the NCC was invited to the White House to "pray" for President Clinton as he was resisting the new Republican Congress. No doubt, the NCC is praying that its White House visitation rights will soon be restored...
Read it HERE
Pres elect Obama will certainly be tested by the likes of Iran. Israel and the West are heading for interesting times.
Mostafa Mohammed Najjar said on state television that the Sajjil was a high-speed missile manufactured at the Iranian Aerospace department of the Defense Ministry. He said it had a range of about 1,200 miles.
At that range it could reach Greece and Bulgaria in southeastern Europe, as well as easily strike arch-foe Israel...
Read the full article HERE
****************************
Meanwhile, back in the US...."The Religious Left Celebrates":
Has the Millennium arrived? Maybe Barak Obama's election to the presidency is giving the Religious Left at least a foretaste of it. After stewing with anger across 8 years in the wilderness, liberal prelates are shouting Hosanna in expectation of spiritual enlightenment during the Obama reign.
"We at the National Council of Churches urge all Americans to come together to uphold you with our hands, our hearts and our prayers," the NCC's chief, Michael Kinnamon wrote his congratulatory letter to Obama. The NCC, previously the voice of America's premier religious denominations, once truly walked in the corridors of power. It has never fully accepted its transition from mainline to sideline in America's religious demographic. As recently as 1995, the NCC was invited to the White House to "pray" for President Clinton as he was resisting the new Republican Congress. No doubt, the NCC is praying that its White House visitation rights will soon be restored...
Read it HERE
Pres elect Obama will certainly be tested by the likes of Iran. Israel and the West are heading for interesting times.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Lessons of Kristallnacht
By Deborah Weiss
FrontPageMagazine.com | Monday, November 10, 2008
Read the article HERE
FrontPageMagazine.com | Monday, November 10, 2008
November 9, 2008 marked the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht. It was a night of terror which constituted the commencement of the Holocaust. It was a horrible night, but it was merely a foreshadow of the doom yet to come. This anniversary should not merely commemorate the horrible events that took place in 1938. Rather, it should serve as a warning that we must learn the lessons of history lest we repeat our mistakes; we must take our enemies’ words seriously, and we must not be complacent in the face of evil.
Read the article HERE
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Election 2008 - A New Day
An important contribution from Crossroad covering the future President of the most powerful nation in the world - Barack Hussein Obama.
Read it HERE
Read it HERE
A Must-See Pro-Israel Film
By Phyllis Chesler
The Jewish Press Thursday, November 06, 2008
An increasing number of Jews, including Israeli Jews, say Israel has no real leaders and that few Diaspora Jewish organizational heads will sacrifice their cushy positions for Israel - a country rendered repulsive by more than 40 years of lethal Saudi and Soros-funded propaganda and by the internal corruptions that plague all nations but are particularly dangerous to Jews when they behave this way in a Jewish state.
Read the article HERE
The Jewish Press Thursday, November 06, 2008
An increasing number of Jews, including Israeli Jews, say Israel has no real leaders and that few Diaspora Jewish organizational heads will sacrifice their cushy positions for Israel - a country rendered repulsive by more than 40 years of lethal Saudi and Soros-funded propaganda and by the internal corruptions that plague all nations but are particularly dangerous to Jews when they behave this way in a Jewish state.
Read the article HERE
Monday, November 3, 2008
Three new articles from FrontPage Mag plus a new King in Israel?
The feral antipathy towards Israel, the concerted bid to leverage it out of the community of nations, accounts for the obstinate reluctance on the part of Western academics, intellectuals, professionals, churchmen and journalists to examine the true history of the region, which would expose the Palestinian claim to plenary proprietorship as largely fraudulent while buttressing the Jewish and Israeli title to rightful occupancy. As Joan Peters has shown in her scrupulously researched seven-year study From Time Immemorial, examining census reports and internal memoranda during the British Mandate, perhaps a majority of the “original” Palestinian inhabitants were relative newcomers to the territory in question, having migrated into the Holy Land from the surrounding Arab countries, mainly from what was then known as Greater Syria (i.e., Syria and Lebanon) when still part of the Ottoman empire, and afterward during the post-Balfour period.
A Mid-East Fiction
One of the perks of being Israeli is that people in far-off places seem to take an interest in your problems. For instance, Queen’s University and York University of Canada are planning a conference for June 1, 2009, on “Israel/Palestine: Mapping Models of Statehood and Paths to Peace.” There’s already a website that’s issuing a call for papers and setting forth the “vision” of the conference.
Canada Conference Plans Israel’s Demise
When voters go to the polls on November 4th, they will choose not only a new presidential administration, but also the candidate's circles of influence. In the case of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, this includes Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said professor of Arab studies and director of the Middle East Institute of Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs.
Obama's Middle East Studies Mentors
And finally at Israel National News, a very interesting viewpoint from an historian:
Historian: Conditions Are Ripe for a King of Israel
A Mid-East Fiction
One of the perks of being Israeli is that people in far-off places seem to take an interest in your problems. For instance, Queen’s University and York University of Canada are planning a conference for June 1, 2009, on “Israel/Palestine: Mapping Models of Statehood and Paths to Peace.” There’s already a website that’s issuing a call for papers and setting forth the “vision” of the conference.
Canada Conference Plans Israel’s Demise
When voters go to the polls on November 4th, they will choose not only a new presidential administration, but also the candidate's circles of influence. In the case of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, this includes Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said professor of Arab studies and director of the Middle East Institute of Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs.
Obama's Middle East Studies Mentors
And finally at Israel National News, a very interesting viewpoint from an historian:
Historian: Conditions Are Ripe for a King of Israel
Friday, October 31, 2008
The End of the Special Relationship?
By Jonathan Rosenblum @ http://www.JewishWorldReview.com
For those inclined to see the workings of Divine Providence in human history, the special affinity of the American people for Israel provides a happy example. If Israel could have only one consistent ally in the world, it would surely have picked the world's (still) most powerful nation. Without the United States, Israel would be hard pressed to obtain the weapons needed to defend itself....
Senator Obama's most fervent support has come from the university campuses and cultural elites — where attitudes tend most to resemble those of Western Europeans and where scorn for those who "cling to guns or religion" runs rampant. The campuses also happen to be the redoubts of the greatest hostility to Israel....
Read the full article HERE
For those inclined to see the workings of Divine Providence in human history, the special affinity of the American people for Israel provides a happy example. If Israel could have only one consistent ally in the world, it would surely have picked the world's (still) most powerful nation. Without the United States, Israel would be hard pressed to obtain the weapons needed to defend itself....
Senator Obama's most fervent support has come from the university campuses and cultural elites — where attitudes tend most to resemble those of Western Europeans and where scorn for those who "cling to guns or religion" runs rampant. The campuses also happen to be the redoubts of the greatest hostility to Israel....
Read the full article HERE
Monday, October 27, 2008
World Government to Reign in "Fascist" America?
Another interesting article from FrontPage Mag written by Joseph Klein. Klein is right in sounding this warning and his observations are spot on...
Richard Falk, who justly earned his way into David Horowitz’s book The Professors as one of the “101 Most Dangerous Academics in America,” now lectures more august audiences at the United Nations. Appointed as the United Nations Human Rights Council to serve as its special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories in March, Falk has in a matter of months lived down to his opponents’ worst expectations. In addition to The Professors, Falk should be added to a list of the most biased anti-Israel UN human rights investigators, not an easy list to make at the UN. He believes Israel, and the United States, are guilty of Nazi-like barbarism, which the United Nations decries even as it dismisses investigations into North Korea and Cuba. Falk would abolish the alleged democratic atrocities by establishing a “world government” in which foreigners could overturn U.S. policies through “binding referenda.”
And:
He has a plan to make sure Nazism never breaks out again: allowing foreigners to veto the American voter.
Falk is a strong advocate for “world government” and “global law.” The United Nations General Assembly, in his view, does not have enough power to legislate and enforce its decisions. He suggests the possibility of forming a Global Parliament, either operating as a subsidiary organ of the UN General Assembly or taking some more autonomous character within the UN system.” He has recommended consideration of “allowing persons outside the United States to challenge policy affecting their wellbeing by way of binding referenda or even by casting votes in national elections held within the United States.”
Read the full article HERE
Richard Falk, who justly earned his way into David Horowitz’s book The Professors as one of the “101 Most Dangerous Academics in America,” now lectures more august audiences at the United Nations. Appointed as the United Nations Human Rights Council to serve as its special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories in March, Falk has in a matter of months lived down to his opponents’ worst expectations. In addition to The Professors, Falk should be added to a list of the most biased anti-Israel UN human rights investigators, not an easy list to make at the UN. He believes Israel, and the United States, are guilty of Nazi-like barbarism, which the United Nations decries even as it dismisses investigations into North Korea and Cuba. Falk would abolish the alleged democratic atrocities by establishing a “world government” in which foreigners could overturn U.S. policies through “binding referenda.”
And:
He has a plan to make sure Nazism never breaks out again: allowing foreigners to veto the American voter.
Falk is a strong advocate for “world government” and “global law.” The United Nations General Assembly, in his view, does not have enough power to legislate and enforce its decisions. He suggests the possibility of forming a Global Parliament, either operating as a subsidiary organ of the UN General Assembly or taking some more autonomous character within the UN system.” He has recommended consideration of “allowing persons outside the United States to challenge policy affecting their wellbeing by way of binding referenda or even by casting votes in national elections held within the United States.”
Read the full article HERE
Sunday, October 26, 2008
US Special Forces Launch Raid Inside Syria
Oct. 27….(Breitbart) US military helicopters launched an extremely rare attack Sunday on Syrian territory close to the border with Iraq, killing eight people in a strike the government in Damascus condemned as “serious aggression.” A US military official said the raid by Special Forces targeted the foreign fighter network that travels through Syria into Iraq. The Americans have been unable to shut the network down in the area because Syria was out of the military’s reach. “We are taking matters into our own hands,” the official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the political sensitivity of cross-border raids. The attack came just days after the commander of US forces in western Iraq said American troops were redoubling efforts to secure the Syrian border, which he called an “uncontrolled” gateway for fighters entering Iraq. A Syrian government statement said the helicopters attacked the Sukkariyeh Farm near the town of Abu Kamal, five miles inside the Syrian border. Four helicopters attacked a civilian building under construction shortly before sundown and fired on workers inside, the statement said. The government said civilians were among the dead, including four children. A resident of the nearby village of Hwijeh said some of the helicopters landed and troops exited the aircraft and fired on a building. He said the aircraft flew along the Euphrates River into the area of farms and several brick factories. The witness spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information, Syria’s Foreign Ministry said it summoned the charges d’affaires of the United States and Iraq to protest against the strike. “Syria condemns this aggression and holds the American forces responsible for this aggression and all its repercussions. Syria also calls on the Iraqi government to shoulder its responsibilities and launch and immediate investigation into this serious violation and prevent the use of Iraqi territory for aggression against Syria,” the government statement said. The area targeted is near the Iraqi border city of Qaim, which had been a major crossing point for fighters, weapons and money coming into Iraq to fuel the Sunni insurgency. Iraqi travelers making their way home across the border reported hearing many explosions, said Farhan al-Mahalawi, mayor of Qaim. On Thursday, US Maj. Gen. John Kelly said Iraq’s western borders with Saudi Arabia and Jordan were fairly tight as a result of good policing by security forces in those countries but that Syria was a “different story.” “The Syrian side is, I guess, uncontrolled by their side,” Kelly said. “We still have a certain level of foreign fighter movement.” He added that the US was helping construct a sand berm and ditches along the border. “There hasn’t been much, in the way of a physical barrier, along that border for years,” Kelly said. The foreign fighters network sends militants from North Africa and elsewhere in the Middle East to Syria, where elements of the Syrian military are in league with al-Qaida and loyalists of Saddam Hussein’s Baath party, the US military official said. He said that while American forces have had considerable success, with Iraqi help, in shutting down the “rat lines” in Iraq, and with foreign government help in North Africa, the Syrian node has been out of reach. “The one piece of the puzzle we have not been showing success on is the nexus in Syria,” the official said. The White House in August approved similar special forces raids from Afghanistan across the border of Pakistan to target al-Qaida and Taliban operatives. At least one has been carried out. The flow of foreign fighters into Iraq has been cut to an estimated 20 a month, a senior US military intelligence official told the Associated Press in July. That’s a 50 percent decline from six months ago, and just a fifth of the estimated 100 foreign fighters who were infiltrating Iraq a year ago, according to the official. Ninety percent of the foreign fighters enter through Syria, according to US intelligence. Foreigners are some of the most deadly fighters in Iraq, trained in bombmaking and with small-arms expertise and more likely to be willing suicide bombers than Iraqis. Foreign fighters toting cash have been al-Qaida in Iraq’s chief source of income. They contributed more than 70 percent of operating budgets in one sector in Iraq, according to documents captured in September 2007 on the Syrian border. Most of the fighters were conveyed through professional smuggling networks, according to the report. Iraqi insurgents seized Qaim in April 2005, forcing US Marines to recapture the town the following month in heavy fighting. The area became secure only after Sunni tribes in Anbar turned against al-Qaida in late 2006 and joined forces with the Americans
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
US Intelligence: Iran Will Have First Nuclear Bomb by February 2009
Oct. 22….(DEBKA) US intelligence’s amended estimate, that Iran will be ready to build its first bomb just one month after the next US president is sworn in, is disclosed by DEBKAfile’s Washington sources as having been relayed as a guideline to the Middle East teams of both presidential candidates, Senators John McCain and Barack Obama. The information prompted the assertion by Democratic vice presidential nominee Joseph Biden in Seattle Sunday, Oct. 19: “It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy.” McCain retorted Tuesday, Oct. 21: “America does not need a president that needs to be tested. I’ve been tested. I was aboard the Enterprise off the coast of Cuba. I’ve been there.”) DEBKAfile’s military sources cite the new US timeline: By late January, 2009, Iran will have accumulated enough low-grade enriched uranium (up to 5%) for its “break-out” to weapons grade (90%) material within a short time. For this, the Iranians have achieved the necessary technology. In February, they can move on to start building their first nuclear bomb. US intelligence believes Tehran has the personnel, plans and diagrams for a bomb and has been running experiments to this end for the past two years. The UN International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna last week asked Tehran to clarify recent complex experiments they conducted in detonating nuclear materials for a weapon, but received no answer. The same US evaluation adds that the Iranian leadership is holding off its go-ahead to start building the bomb until the last minute so as to ward off international pressure to stop at the red line. This development together with the galloping global economic crisis will force the incoming US president to go straight into decision-making without pause on Day One in the Oval Office. He will have to determine which urgent measures can serve best for keeping a nuclear bomb out of the Islamic republic’s hands, diplomatic or military, and how to proceed if those measures fail. His knowledge of the challenge colored Sen. Biden’s additional words in Seattle: “Remember I said it standing here if you don’t remember anything else I said. Watch, we’re gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy.” Israel’s political and military leaders also face a tough dilemma that can no longer be put off of whether to strike Iran’s nuclear installations militarily in the next three months between US presidencies before the last window closes, or take a chance on coordination with the next president. Waiting for the “international community” to do the job of stopping Iran, as urged by governments headed by Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert, and strongly advocated Tzipi Livni, foreign minister and would-be prime minister, has been a washout. Iran stands defiantly on the threshold of a nuclear weapon.
Syria's Choice
From FrontPage Magazine:
Syria's Choice
By Hassan MneimnehThe Weekly Standard Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Seven years after 9/11, Washington policymakers remain fundamentally confused about the nature of Islamist extremism, the ideas behind it and the states that manipulate it. In few places is this problem more obvious than in the U.S. relationship with the secular Assad regime in Syria.
After the most recent iteration of the on-again off-again Washington-Damascus relationship—a meeting between the Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice—Muallem described the meeting as a "positive beginning of a dialogue" while the state-controlled Syrian press heralded it as the United States coming to its senses and joining Syria in the fight against the common threat of radical Islamism. Never mind that some of those radical extremists threatening us are in the employ of the Assad regime and may well have been behind a recent bombing in Damascus that killed 17. Never mind, also, that the price that Syria is actively seeking for its promise of cooperation is the restoration of its influence on Lebanon—a dominion that it had to abandon in the aftermath of the Cedar Revolution of 2005.
Read the full article here.
Syria's Choice
By Hassan MneimnehThe Weekly Standard Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Seven years after 9/11, Washington policymakers remain fundamentally confused about the nature of Islamist extremism, the ideas behind it and the states that manipulate it. In few places is this problem more obvious than in the U.S. relationship with the secular Assad regime in Syria.
After the most recent iteration of the on-again off-again Washington-Damascus relationship—a meeting between the Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice—Muallem described the meeting as a "positive beginning of a dialogue" while the state-controlled Syrian press heralded it as the United States coming to its senses and joining Syria in the fight against the common threat of radical Islamism. Never mind that some of those radical extremists threatening us are in the employ of the Assad regime and may well have been behind a recent bombing in Damascus that killed 17. Never mind, also, that the price that Syria is actively seeking for its promise of cooperation is the restoration of its influence on Lebanon—a dominion that it had to abandon in the aftermath of the Cedar Revolution of 2005.
Read the full article here.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Friday, October 17, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Dire Consequences
By Dr. Earl Tilford
FrontPageMagazine.com
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Economic and political destabilization ranked high on al-Qaeda’s list of strategic objectives in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Washington, DC. In addition to killing nearly 3,000 innocent people, the attacks immediately inflicted over $80 billion dollars in damage, sent the airline industry into a tailspin, and forced the United States to undertake the economic burden of a long war. Nevertheless, al-Qaeda failed to seriously destabilize the American economic and political systems. The current economic crisis, however, could foster critical mass not only in the American and world economies but also put the world democracies in jeopardy.
Some experts maintain that a U.S. government economic relief package might lead to socialism. I am not an economist, so I will let that issue sit. However, as a historian I know what happened when the European and American economies collapsed in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The role of government expanded exponentially in Europe and the United States. The Soviet system, already well entrenched in socialist totalitarianism, saw Stalin tighten his grip with the doctrine of “socialism in one country,” which allowed him to dispense with political opposition real and imagined. German economic collapse contributed to the Nazi rise to power in 1933. The alternatives in the Spanish civil war were between a fascist dictatorship and a communist dictatorship. Dictatorships also proliferated across Eastern Europe. In the United States, the Franklin Roosevelt administration vastly expanded the role and power of government. In Asia, Japanese militarists gained control of the political process and then fed Japan’s burgeoning industrial age economy with imperialist lunges into China and Korea; the first steps toward the greatest conflagration in the history of mankind … so far … World War II ultimately resulted. That’s what happened the last time the world came to a situation resembling critical mass. Scores upon scores of millions of people died.
Could it happen again? Bourgeois democracy requires a vibrant capitalist system. Without it, the role of the individual shrinks as government expands. At the very least, the dimensions of the U.S. government economic intervention will foster a growth in bureaucracy to administer the multi-faceted programs necessary for implementation. Bureaucracies, once established, inevitably become self-serving and self-perpetuating. Will this lead to “socialism” as some conservative economic prognosticators suggest? Perhaps. But so is the possibility of dictatorship. If the American economy collapses, especially in wartime, there remains that possibility. And if that happens the American democratic era may be over. If the world economies collapse, totalitarianism will almost certainly return to Russia, which already is well along that path in any event. Fragile democracies in South America and Eastern Europe could crumble.
A global economic collapse will also increase the chance of global conflict. As economic systems shut down, so will the distribution systems for resources like petroleum and food. It is certainly within the realm of possibility that nations perceiving themselves in peril will, if they have the military capability, use force, just as Japan and Nazi Germany did in the mid-to-late 1930s. Every nation in the world needs access to food and water. Industrial nations—the world powers of North America, Europe, and Asia—need access to energy. When the world economy runs smoothly, reciprocal trade meets these needs. If the world economy collapses, the use of military force becomes a more likely alternative. And given the increasingly rapid rate at which world affairs move; the world could devolve to that point very quickly.
The United States is at the epicenter as the world edges toward critical mass. And the ship of state appears rudderless. The current crisis is as much one of leadership as economics. This is the time for statesmen to come to the fore. So far, political leaders, anxious to preserve and to advance partisan agendas, have engaged in behavior bordering on the infantile. Whether or not men and women of selfless character, statesmen devoted to the preservation of the nation and its precious but always fragile democracy will emerge, remains unclear. But it is clear that if our leadership fails at this critical juncture, the fate of our nation and the world lies in the balance. At this point of critical mass, while rife with politicians, we are impoverished for leadership.
Dr. Earl Tilford is Professor of History at Grove City College and enjoyed an extensive military career in the U.S. Air Force. He is former director of research at the U.S. Army's Strategic Studies Institute, where he worked on a project that looked at future terrorist threats. He also authored three books on the Vietnam War and co-edited one book on Operation Desert Storm.
FrontPageMagazine.com
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Economic and political destabilization ranked high on al-Qaeda’s list of strategic objectives in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Washington, DC. In addition to killing nearly 3,000 innocent people, the attacks immediately inflicted over $80 billion dollars in damage, sent the airline industry into a tailspin, and forced the United States to undertake the economic burden of a long war. Nevertheless, al-Qaeda failed to seriously destabilize the American economic and political systems. The current economic crisis, however, could foster critical mass not only in the American and world economies but also put the world democracies in jeopardy.
Some experts maintain that a U.S. government economic relief package might lead to socialism. I am not an economist, so I will let that issue sit. However, as a historian I know what happened when the European and American economies collapsed in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The role of government expanded exponentially in Europe and the United States. The Soviet system, already well entrenched in socialist totalitarianism, saw Stalin tighten his grip with the doctrine of “socialism in one country,” which allowed him to dispense with political opposition real and imagined. German economic collapse contributed to the Nazi rise to power in 1933. The alternatives in the Spanish civil war were between a fascist dictatorship and a communist dictatorship. Dictatorships also proliferated across Eastern Europe. In the United States, the Franklin Roosevelt administration vastly expanded the role and power of government. In Asia, Japanese militarists gained control of the political process and then fed Japan’s burgeoning industrial age economy with imperialist lunges into China and Korea; the first steps toward the greatest conflagration in the history of mankind … so far … World War II ultimately resulted. That’s what happened the last time the world came to a situation resembling critical mass. Scores upon scores of millions of people died.
Could it happen again? Bourgeois democracy requires a vibrant capitalist system. Without it, the role of the individual shrinks as government expands. At the very least, the dimensions of the U.S. government economic intervention will foster a growth in bureaucracy to administer the multi-faceted programs necessary for implementation. Bureaucracies, once established, inevitably become self-serving and self-perpetuating. Will this lead to “socialism” as some conservative economic prognosticators suggest? Perhaps. But so is the possibility of dictatorship. If the American economy collapses, especially in wartime, there remains that possibility. And if that happens the American democratic era may be over. If the world economies collapse, totalitarianism will almost certainly return to Russia, which already is well along that path in any event. Fragile democracies in South America and Eastern Europe could crumble.
A global economic collapse will also increase the chance of global conflict. As economic systems shut down, so will the distribution systems for resources like petroleum and food. It is certainly within the realm of possibility that nations perceiving themselves in peril will, if they have the military capability, use force, just as Japan and Nazi Germany did in the mid-to-late 1930s. Every nation in the world needs access to food and water. Industrial nations—the world powers of North America, Europe, and Asia—need access to energy. When the world economy runs smoothly, reciprocal trade meets these needs. If the world economy collapses, the use of military force becomes a more likely alternative. And given the increasingly rapid rate at which world affairs move; the world could devolve to that point very quickly.
The United States is at the epicenter as the world edges toward critical mass. And the ship of state appears rudderless. The current crisis is as much one of leadership as economics. This is the time for statesmen to come to the fore. So far, political leaders, anxious to preserve and to advance partisan agendas, have engaged in behavior bordering on the infantile. Whether or not men and women of selfless character, statesmen devoted to the preservation of the nation and its precious but always fragile democracy will emerge, remains unclear. But it is clear that if our leadership fails at this critical juncture, the fate of our nation and the world lies in the balance. At this point of critical mass, while rife with politicians, we are impoverished for leadership.
Dr. Earl Tilford is Professor of History at Grove City College and enjoyed an extensive military career in the U.S. Air Force. He is former director of research at the U.S. Army's Strategic Studies Institute, where he worked on a project that looked at future terrorist threats. He also authored three books on the Vietnam War and co-edited one book on Operation Desert Storm.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Sarkozy: “Arabic Is the Language of the Future”
From the desk of Tiberge on Tue, 2008-10-14 11:14
The French government is strongly advocating the teaching of Arabic language and civilization in French schools. Not surprising, considering the number of Arabs and Muslims in France, and the unctuous deference with which they are treated by officials, beginning notably with Nicolas Sarkozy, who cannot praise enough the splendor of Arabic contributions to the world.
The French National Assembly was the scene of a meeting earlier this month of the first Conference on the Teaching of Arabic Language and Culture, attended by a variety of interested parties. There was much wearisome blather about the need for "dialogue."
In his message to the participants, French President Nicolas Sarkozy called Arabic the "language of the future, of science and of modernity," and expressed the hope that "more French people share in the language that expresses great civilizational and spiritual values."
"We must invest in the Arabic language (because) to teach it symbolizes a moment of exchange, of openness and of tolerance, (and it) brings with it one of the oldest and most prestigious civilizations of the world. It is in France that we have the greatest number of persons of Arabic and Muslim origin. Islam is the second religion of France," Sarkozy reminded his listeners.
He proceeded to enumerate the various "advances in terms of diversity," the increase in Muslim sections of cemeteries, the training of imams and chaplains and the appointments of ministers of diverse backgrounds.
"France is a friend of Arabic countries. We are not seeking a clash between the East and West," he affirmed, emphasizing the strong presence of Arab leaders at the founding summit of the Union for the Mediterranean, last July 13. "The Mediterranean is where our common hopes were founded. Our common sea is where the principal challenges come together: durable development, security, education and peace," added the French president.
The French government is strongly advocating the teaching of Arabic language and civilization in French schools. Not surprising, considering the number of Arabs and Muslims in France, and the unctuous deference with which they are treated by officials, beginning notably with Nicolas Sarkozy, who cannot praise enough the splendor of Arabic contributions to the world.
The French National Assembly was the scene of a meeting earlier this month of the first Conference on the Teaching of Arabic Language and Culture, attended by a variety of interested parties. There was much wearisome blather about the need for "dialogue."
In his message to the participants, French President Nicolas Sarkozy called Arabic the "language of the future, of science and of modernity," and expressed the hope that "more French people share in the language that expresses great civilizational and spiritual values."
"We must invest in the Arabic language (because) to teach it symbolizes a moment of exchange, of openness and of tolerance, (and it) brings with it one of the oldest and most prestigious civilizations of the world. It is in France that we have the greatest number of persons of Arabic and Muslim origin. Islam is the second religion of France," Sarkozy reminded his listeners.
He proceeded to enumerate the various "advances in terms of diversity," the increase in Muslim sections of cemeteries, the training of imams and chaplains and the appointments of ministers of diverse backgrounds.
"France is a friend of Arabic countries. We are not seeking a clash between the East and West," he affirmed, emphasizing the strong presence of Arab leaders at the founding summit of the Union for the Mediterranean, last July 13. "The Mediterranean is where our common hopes were founded. Our common sea is where the principal challenges come together: durable development, security, education and peace," added the French president.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
March 1936 All Over Again
By Dr. Earl Tilford
FrontPageMagazine.com Friday, October 10, 2008
Near the conclusion of Tuesday night’s second presidential “town-hall” style debate, a questioner from the audience asked each candidate what he would do if Iran attacked Israel. Both candidates gave somewhat vague replies, focusing on the traditionally close relationship between the United States and Israel. In any event, if Iran ever attacks Israel, other than through its Lebanon-based surrogate Hezbollah, it will be with nuclear-tipped missiles, in which case Israel will be obliterated before the United States can respond.
The more pertinent question for the candidates is, “What will you do if and when Israel carries out a preemptive attack on Iranian nuclear facilities?” At that point both deterrence and appeasement will have failed.
Read the full article
FrontPageMagazine.com Friday, October 10, 2008
Near the conclusion of Tuesday night’s second presidential “town-hall” style debate, a questioner from the audience asked each candidate what he would do if Iran attacked Israel. Both candidates gave somewhat vague replies, focusing on the traditionally close relationship between the United States and Israel. In any event, if Iran ever attacks Israel, other than through its Lebanon-based surrogate Hezbollah, it will be with nuclear-tipped missiles, in which case Israel will be obliterated before the United States can respond.
The more pertinent question for the candidates is, “What will you do if and when Israel carries out a preemptive attack on Iranian nuclear facilities?” At that point both deterrence and appeasement will have failed.
Read the full article
Israel doesn't have much time to attack Iran
From American Thinker:
It was in October 2005 that the Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, first said that the "Zionist regime" must "be wiped off the face of the Earth." And it was in April 2006 that he called Israel a "fake regime" that "cannot logically continue to live."
In the years that have since passed, the man who favors a second Holocaust and denies the occurrence of the first one has repeated these genocidal statements almost daily. These are also the years in which Iran's nuclear weapons program has proceeded exponentially. It is a program that endangers the very existence of the Jewish state.
Thanks to David Ben Gurion, Israel's founding prime minister and first minister of defense, and President Shimon Peres, the last surviving member of the Israeli Old Guard, the Israel has a nuclear arsenal. Michael Karpin, the author of "The Bomb in the Basement," calls Israel's nuclear arsenal the "absolute deterrent." But the truth is that Israel can only deter Iran if Iran has the wisdom and the sanity to be deterred.
One often hears the argument that if Iran can live with an Israeli nuclear bomb, why can't Israel live with an Iranian bomb? The answer is that no Israeli leader threatens to eradicate Iran.
Since world public opinion will blame the Israelis for whatever they do preemptively to save themselves, they might as well do what's needed and what works. Israel must, with or without American help, strike first and strike successfully. It must take out not only Iran's nuclear weaponry, but its delivery systems and its command and control centers because it is always better for Jews to be alive and condemned, than dead and eulogized.
An Israeli attack upon Iran will be condemned by the Arabs, the Muslims, the anti-Semites, the anti-Zionists, the anti-Americans, the appeasers, the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, the Pope, the Quakers, and the postmodernist "war-can-never-be-an-option-in-the-twenty-first-century" crowd in academia and elsewhere.
But much of the criticism will be phony. In 1981, when Israel destroyed Saddam Hussein's French-built Osirak reactor, located 18 miles south of Baghdad, the Saudi students in my Middle East politics class at Temple University condemned Israel roundly. But the next day, they all came to my office and asked me to tell my secretary to leave. They then insisted that I close the door. Only when he was assured of complete privacy, did the leader of the group say to me: "Thank God that the Israelis bombed Iraq yesterday. For only God knows when that crazy Iraqi would have used a nuclear bomb against Saudi Arabia, with which he contests the leadership of the Arab world?"
When I asked him why he and his compatriots didn't say so in class, he answered: "We were afraid to. At the least, our fellowships from ARAMCO (the Arab-American Oil Company) would have been revoked. And at the most, we would have been ordered home to be imprisoned or killed."
At the news conference at which he announced Israel's destruction of the Iraqi reactor, the late Prime Minister Menachem Begin said that ‘'despite all the condemnations which were heaped on Israel for the last 24 hours, Israel has nothing to apologize for. In simple logic, we decided to act now, before it is too late. We shall defend our people with all the means at our disposal." He added that "Israel will not tolerate any nuclear weapons in the region."
Does Israel's present prime minister have the guts to emulate Menachem Begin, and to emulate him right now? Does the Israel Defense Force have the skill to do to Iran today what it did to Iraq a quarter of a century ago? Is Israel willing to use tactical nuclear weapons if it concludes that conventional weapons won't do the job? And does Israel realize that if Democratic Sen. Barak Obama wins the American presidency next month, it may never have the chance to take out its mortal foe?
There are uncertainties. But one thing is certain, however: Neither Israel's friends, nor my former Saudi students, nor Israel's other foes will ever publicly thank it for taking out the Mad Mullahs of Teheran.
Edward Bernard Glick is a professor emeritus of political science at Temple University and the author of "Between Israel and Death."
It was in October 2005 that the Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, first said that the "Zionist regime" must "be wiped off the face of the Earth." And it was in April 2006 that he called Israel a "fake regime" that "cannot logically continue to live."
In the years that have since passed, the man who favors a second Holocaust and denies the occurrence of the first one has repeated these genocidal statements almost daily. These are also the years in which Iran's nuclear weapons program has proceeded exponentially. It is a program that endangers the very existence of the Jewish state.
Thanks to David Ben Gurion, Israel's founding prime minister and first minister of defense, and President Shimon Peres, the last surviving member of the Israeli Old Guard, the Israel has a nuclear arsenal. Michael Karpin, the author of "The Bomb in the Basement," calls Israel's nuclear arsenal the "absolute deterrent." But the truth is that Israel can only deter Iran if Iran has the wisdom and the sanity to be deterred.
One often hears the argument that if Iran can live with an Israeli nuclear bomb, why can't Israel live with an Iranian bomb? The answer is that no Israeli leader threatens to eradicate Iran.
Since world public opinion will blame the Israelis for whatever they do preemptively to save themselves, they might as well do what's needed and what works. Israel must, with or without American help, strike first and strike successfully. It must take out not only Iran's nuclear weaponry, but its delivery systems and its command and control centers because it is always better for Jews to be alive and condemned, than dead and eulogized.
An Israeli attack upon Iran will be condemned by the Arabs, the Muslims, the anti-Semites, the anti-Zionists, the anti-Americans, the appeasers, the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, the Pope, the Quakers, and the postmodernist "war-can-never-be-an-option-in-the-twenty-first-century" crowd in academia and elsewhere.
But much of the criticism will be phony. In 1981, when Israel destroyed Saddam Hussein's French-built Osirak reactor, located 18 miles south of Baghdad, the Saudi students in my Middle East politics class at Temple University condemned Israel roundly. But the next day, they all came to my office and asked me to tell my secretary to leave. They then insisted that I close the door. Only when he was assured of complete privacy, did the leader of the group say to me: "Thank God that the Israelis bombed Iraq yesterday. For only God knows when that crazy Iraqi would have used a nuclear bomb against Saudi Arabia, with which he contests the leadership of the Arab world?"
When I asked him why he and his compatriots didn't say so in class, he answered: "We were afraid to. At the least, our fellowships from ARAMCO (the Arab-American Oil Company) would have been revoked. And at the most, we would have been ordered home to be imprisoned or killed."
At the news conference at which he announced Israel's destruction of the Iraqi reactor, the late Prime Minister Menachem Begin said that ‘'despite all the condemnations which were heaped on Israel for the last 24 hours, Israel has nothing to apologize for. In simple logic, we decided to act now, before it is too late. We shall defend our people with all the means at our disposal." He added that "Israel will not tolerate any nuclear weapons in the region."
Does Israel's present prime minister have the guts to emulate Menachem Begin, and to emulate him right now? Does the Israel Defense Force have the skill to do to Iran today what it did to Iraq a quarter of a century ago? Is Israel willing to use tactical nuclear weapons if it concludes that conventional weapons won't do the job? And does Israel realize that if Democratic Sen. Barak Obama wins the American presidency next month, it may never have the chance to take out its mortal foe?
There are uncertainties. But one thing is certain, however: Neither Israel's friends, nor my former Saudi students, nor Israel's other foes will ever publicly thank it for taking out the Mad Mullahs of Teheran.
Edward Bernard Glick is a professor emeritus of political science at Temple University and the author of "Between Israel and Death."
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