The Future of Israel

These are the young people who live in Eretz Israel.

Those who bless the children of Israel will be blessed.

UN: Gaza fading fast; Rice: It's Hamas' fault

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told a Paris gathering of nations committed to financially supporting the Palestinian cause on Monday that without an increase in international humanitarian aid, the impoverished Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip is headed for a crash.
Ban suggested that a further worsening of conditions in Gaza would result in even more Palestinian terrorism. As in previous statements by other international figures, the UN chief appeared to be blaming Israel's blockade of the coastal territory for security reasons for the dire situation.
But during her flight to join other world leaders at the donors conference in the French capital, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters traveling with her that Hamas alone is to blame for Gaza's appalling circumstances.
Hamas' anti-Israel policies and support for and practice of terrorism are the direct cause of the situation in Gaza, said Rice.

Israeli child wounded by Gaza rocket fire
A three-year-old Israeli child was lightly wounded on Sunday afternoon when a rocket fired by Palestinian terrorists operating out of the nearby Gaza Strip slammed into the side of his home in a southern Israel kibbutz.
The child's mother, who was sitting just several feet from her son at the time of the attacks, was treated for shock.
Another rocket hit a nearby community several hours later.
Residents of the area used the incident to again demand the government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert authorize the kind of broad ground invasion of Gaza that military experts say is the only way to curb the terrorist rocket fire.
A report released by the Israeli army on Sunday revealed that with recent improvements in Palestinian rocket technology, some 190,000 Israeli civilians now live under direct threat of artillery attacks from Gaza.
In other Gaza news, Israel's left-leaning Ha'aretz newspaper reported that the United States is weighing several options to help Egypt prevent the smuggling of weapons into Gaza via the Sinai Peninsula. Among the options being considered are the equipping of Egyptian border patrols with sophisticated tunnel detecting equipment and the digging of a deep canal along the border.
Washington began looking into the matter following years of complaints by Israel that Egypt was doing little to stop the flow of arms into Gaza, even after Hamas seized control of the coastal territory last June.
Israeli officials have pointed out that their forces exercised much greater control over the short Gaza-Sinai border prior to the 2005 Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and insist Egypt could easily do the same if it desired.

Israeli forces move into southern Gaza

The Israeli army launched a larger-than-usual incursion into southern Gaza on Tuesday as part of an ongoing effort to curb Palestinian rocket and mortar fire.
Army officials acknowledged the the inclusion of 10 tanks and armored bulldozers in the raid made it appear to be an escalation of Israel's war on Gaza's terrorist infrastructure, but stressed that the operation was a routine action and not the start of the full-scale land invasion of Gaza Defense Minister Ehud Barak threatened to launch if Gaza-based terrorists did not stop attacking southern Israel.
During the operation, six armed Palestinian terrorists were killed by tank fire and airborne missiles, and another 60 terror suspects were apprehended. Four Israeli soldiers were lightly wounded when a Palestinian anti-tank missile slammed into one of the Israeli vehicles.
In related news, the government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday rejected a Supreme Court petition filed by residents of the southern Israel town of Sderot demanding that the government fortify their homes against ongoing Palestinian rocket attacks.
The residents insisted the government is obligated to do everything in its power to defend its citizens, and noted that when Israel pulled its military forces out of Gaza in 2005, Mr. Olmert, who was the primary driving force behind the disengagement, adamantly declared that the first Palestinian rocket to be fired from a Jew-free Gaza would result in a crushing Israeli response. Thousands of rockets later, the government has yet to launch the promised retaliation.

Thanks to Israel Today

Middle East Peace Through Anxiety

LAST week’s multi-national summit meeting here was about many things, the least of which, perhaps, was the pursuit of Israeli-Palestinian peace. Behind the calls for the creation of a Palestinian state that would live serenely and stably alongside the Jewish state, beyond the vision of a Middle East at last absolved of its longest-running conflict, was the paramount question of power — who in the region wields it and who in the region wants it. Indeed, while Annapolis is unlikely to succeed in bridging the gaps between Israeli and Arab positions, it effectively drew lines in the sand between those nations siding with America and the West and those allied with Iran.
As a rule, international conferences have never served as effective frameworks in the search for Middle Eastern peace. The British held the first one, the St. James Conference, back in 1939, and failed to reconcile the warring Jews and Arabs of Palestine. The United Nations tried next at Lausanne in 1949 and met with similar results; Arab delegates refused to sit at the same table with the Israelis. The Geneva Conference, jointly sponsored by the United States and the Soviet Union but without the participation of the Syrians and the Palestinian Liberation Organization, convened in December 1973, and unraveled a few days later without a single sentence exchanged between Arab representatives and Israelis.
Far more pomp and optimism attended the Madrid Conference in 1991 where President George H. W. Bush, flush from his victory over Iraq, heralded a new era of Arab-Israeli understanding. Such empathy was notably absent, however, as Israeli and Arab leaders exploited the forum for trading accusations. Stymied, the comprehensive talks dissolved into separate Syrian-Israeli and Palestinian-Israeli tracks that led ultimately nowhere.
The Annapolis gathering, at least superficially, seemed different. Avoiding the rancorous rhetoric that poisoned previous gatherings, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel and Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader, ardently reiterated their commitment to achieving peace, even at great sacrifice. Present at the table were not only the Syrians and the Palestinians but also the Saudis — talking to, if not yet shaking hands with, their Israeli counterparts.
Nevertheless, the chances for any progress emerging from Annapolis seem at best remote. Peace treaties in the past were forged by strong statesmen — Menachem Begin of Israel and Anwar Sadat of Egypt, Israel’s Yitzhak Rabin and Jordan’s King Hussein.
But Mr. Olmert and Mr. Abbas are two of the region’s weakest leaders, unpopular among their own people and discredited by corruption charges. And President Bush, who, unlike his father, has not won a war in Iraq, is hardly perceived as muscular in Middle Eastern eyes. Indeed, Mr. Bush’s refusal to engage in direct mediation in the manner of Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, and his insistence that comprehensive talks be broken down into bilateral and multilateral tracks, à la Madrid, further diminishes any hope for breakthrough.
Yet, in spite of its glaring handicaps, Annapolis must be deemed a triumph — not of peacemaking, paradoxically, but of girding the region for conflict. Though no doubt sincere in their desire to neutralize the Arab-Israeli irritant in Middle Eastern affairs, participants in the conference were above all motivated by their fear of a radical and relentlessly aggressive Iran. This fear has deepened with the success of the Iranian proxies Hezbollah and Hamas in Lebanon and Gaza, as well as the expansion of Iranian influence westward into the Iraqi vacuum.
The inability of the international community either to entice or deter the Iranians from producing nuclear weapons adds urgency to the need to unite those countries threatened by those bombs. That, and not American fiat, brought 49 states and organizations to Annapolis; that, and not the yearning for an Israeli-Arab accord, impelled a Saudi prince to sit alongside an Israeli prime minister.
Not unexpectedly, the Iranians reacted ferociously to Annapolis. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad pronounced it a “failure” and the government-controlled press promised to “bring down Islamic wrath” on its participants. But such rage merely betrays the anxiety induced by Annapolis in Tehran. For the first time a coalition of Western and modern Arab leaders has coalesced and declared its commitment to resist “extremism” in the Middle East — a well-known euphemism for Iran.
What’s more, new efforts have begun to confront Iran outside of the United Nations and woo Syria from Iran’s orbit. An international conference may not be the ideal formula for attaining Israeli-Palestinian peace, but it can provide a powerful forum for expressing solidarity in the face of war.
Situated on the Naval Academy campus, not far from where the meeting’s delegates gathered, is America’s oldest war monument. Carved out of marble in 1806, the 30-foot-high column commemorates the Navy’s victory in America’s first war in the Middle East — against the pirates of Tripoli.
Today, 200 years later, the United States is again taking the lead in rallying opposition to another rogue state in the region. The Barbary Wars, as they were called, lasted a long time, flaring off and on from 1801 to 1815.
The struggle against Iran inaugurated at Annapolis is only just beginning.

Michael B. Oren

Arabs Say They Will Not Recognize Israel As A Jewish State

Surprisingly, something useful has emerged from the combination of the misconceived Annapolis meeting and a weak Israeli prime minister, Ehud ("Peace is achieved through concessions") Olmert. Breaking with his predecessors, Olmert has boldly demanded that his Palestinian bargaining partners accept Israel's permanent existence as a Jewish state, thereby evoking a revealing response.
Unless the Palestinians recognize Israel as "a Jewish state," Olmert announced on November 11, the Annapolis-related talks would not proceed. "I do not intend to compromise in any way over the issue of the Jewish state. This will be a condition for our recognition of a Palestinian state."
He confirmed these points a day later, describing the "recognition of Israel as a state for the Jewish people" as the "launching point for all negotiations. We won't have an argument with anyone in the world over the fact that Israel is a state of the Jewish people." The Palestinian leadership, he noted, must "want to make peace with Israel as a Jewish state."
Raising this topic has the virtue of finally focusing attention on what is the central topic in the Arab-Israeli conflict — Zionism, the Jewish nationalist movement, a topic that typically gets ignored in the hubbub of negotiations. Since nearly the birth of the state, these have focused on the intricacies of such subsidiary issues as borders, troop placements, armaments and arms control, sanctities, natural resources, residential rights, diplomatic representation, and foreign relations.
The Palestinian leadership responded quickly and unequivocally to Olmert's demand:
• The Higher Arab Monitoring Committee in Nazareth unanimously called on the Palestinian Authority not to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
• Salam Fayad, Palestinian Authority "prime minister": "Israel can define itself as it likes, but the Palestinians will not recognize it as a Jewish state."
• Yasser Abed Rabbo, secretary general of the Palestinian Liberation Organization's executive committee: "This issue is not on the table; it is raised for internal [Israeli] consumption."
• Ahmad Qurei, chief Palestinian negotiator: "This [demand] is absolutely refused."
• Saeb Erekat, head of the PLO Negotiations Department: "The Palestinians will never acknowledge Israel's Jewish identity. … There is no country in the world where religious and national identities are intertwined."
Erekat's generalization is both curious and revealing. Not only do 56 states and the PLO belong to the Organization of the Islamic Conference, but most of them, including the PLO, make the Shari'a (Islamic law) their main or only source of legislation. Saudi Arabia even requires that every subject be a Muslim.

Further, the religious-national nexus extends well beyond Muslim countries. Argentinean law, Jeff Jacoby of the Boston Globe points out, "mandates government support for the Roman Catholic faith. Queen Elizabeth II is the supreme governor of the Church of England. In the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, the constitution proclaims Buddhism the nation's 'spiritual heritage.' … 'The prevailing religion in Greece,' declares Section II of the Greek Constitution, 'is that of the Eastern Orthodox Church of Christ'."
So, why the mock-principled refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state? Perhaps because the PLO still intends to eliminate Israel as a Jewish state.
Note my use of the word "eliminate," not destroy. Yes, anti-Zionism has until now mainly taken a military form, from Gamal Abdel Nasser's "throw the Jews into the sea" to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's "Israel must be wiped off the map." But the power of the Israel Defense Forces has prodded anti-Zionism toward a more subtle approach of accepting an Israeli state but dismantling its Jewish character. Anti-Zionists consider several ways to achieve this:
Demography: Palestinians could overwhelm the Jewish population of Israel, a goal signaled by their demand for a "right of return" and by their so-called war of the womb.
Politics: Arabs citizens of Israel increasingly reject the country's Jewish nature and demand that it become a bi-national state.
Terror: The 100 Palestinian attacks a week during the period, September 2000-September 2005 sought to induce economic decline, emigration, and appeasement.
Isolation: All those United Nations resolutions, editorial condemnations, and campus aggressions are meant to wear down the Zionist spirit.
Arab recognition of Israel's Jewish nature must have top diplomatic priority. Until the Palestinians formally accept Zionism, then follow up by ceasing all their various strategies to eliminate Israel, negotiations should be halted and not restarted. Until then, there is nothing to talk about.

By Daniel Pipes

Will Bush and Rice do whatever necessary to secure a legacy?

Leaked document


The mood is dark in the IDF's General Staff ahead of next week's "peace" conference in Annapolis. As one senior officer directly involved in the negotiations with the Palestinians and the Americans said, "As bad as it might look from the outside, the truth is ten times worse. This is a nightmare. The Americans have never been so hostile."
Thursday a draft of the joint statement that Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are discussing ahead of the conference was leaked to the media. A reading of the document bears out the IDF's concerns.
The draft document shows that the Palestinians and the Israelis differ not only on every issue, but differ on the purpose of the document. It also shows that the US firmly backs the Palestinians against Israel.
The Palestinians are also trying to take away Israel's right to determine for itself whether to trust the Palestinians and continue making diplomatic and security concessions or not by making it the responsibility of outside actors to decide the pace of the concessions and whether or not the Palestinians should be trusted.
As the leaked draft document shows, the Americans have sided with the Palestinians against Israel. Specifically, the Americans have taken for themselves the sole right to judge whether or not the Palestinians and the Israelis are abiding by their commitments and whether and at what pace the negotiations will proceed.
But the Americans are have shown themselves to be unworthy of Israel's trust. By refusing to acknowledge Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party's direct involvement in terrorism and indeed the direct involvement of his official Fatah "security forces" in terrorism, the Americans have shown that their benchmarks for Palestinian compliance with their commitments to Israel are not necessarily based on the reality on the ground. Then too, the US demands for wide-ranging Israeli security concessions to the Palestinians even before the "peace" conference at Annapolis have shown that Israel's security is of little concern to the State Department.
If the administration has decided to embrace the Palestinians as a means of weakening Iran, its decision is wrong on three counts. First, given Iran's support for the Palestinians, empowering them against Israel simply advances Iran's interest. Second, the Annapolis conference has become a hostage of Iranian goodwill which is non-existent. And finally, even if it were formed, an anti-Iranian Arab coalition would be powerless to check Iran's power.
Even though the summit at Annapolis weakens the US's position vis-à-vis Iran, it might still make sense for the Bush and Rice to support Palestinian statehood if doing so enhanced public support for the administration. But the opposite is occurring. Bush and Rice's seeming obsession with Palestinian statehood is being criticized from all sides of the aisle.
So then there is no good excuse for the Bush administration's decision to embrace the Palestinians at Israel's expense. It all comes down to Bush and Rice not thinking through the consequences of their moves.
It is a singular tragedy that Israel's elected leaders are too weak to make them understand that by harming Israel, they are harming the United States and making fools of themselves.

By Caroline B. Glick

Israel rescues England

November 18, 2007
Yesterday, Israel defeated Russia in soccer 2-1 on a last minute goal, thus handling England a life-line in its quest to qualify for next year's European championship. Had Russia won the match in Tel Aviv, England would have been on life support. Had the match been a draw, England would have needed to defeat Croatia on Wednesday. But with Israel's win, England only needs a draw. That's particularly significant because England will be without its two starting center backs and its two starting forwards (including Wayne Rooney, who had been scoring in virtually every match for club and country until his latest injury).
Israel was lucky to win. Russia outplayed the Israelis for much of the match, and saw what would have been a go-ahead goal hit the post moments before Israel scored the winner. However, Israel played well throughout the qualifying tournament, including a draw against England.
Israel's performance represents another step in the rise of its soccer. This runs contrary to the trend of the past 25 to 30 years. During that period, as one would expect, large nations -- Mexico, the U.S., Japan, Australia -- have progressed significantly, and smaller ones -- Scotland, Belgium, Peru, and Austria -- have declined.
It's not clear why Israel has bucked this trend. I suspect it's because Israel has been unable to compete in Asia due to the hostility of the Arab countries and Iran. Forced to compete in Europe, where the opposition is vastly superior, Israeli soccer has improved dramatically. The downside is that it's much more difficult for Israel to qualify for the World Cup, something Israel has yet to accomplish.

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives2/2007/11/019048.php

Palestinian political movement launched

Hundreds of Palestinian business people and professionals, led by an influential billionaire, launched a new political movement Thursday, reflecting growing disillusionment with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party.
Fatah dominated Palestinian politics for decades, but failed to reform or clean up its corrupt image, even after a painful loss to Hamas in parliament elections two years ago.
Billionaire businessman Munib al-Masri, 73, inaugurated his "Palestine Forum" with meetings in Ramallah and Gaza, linked by video conference. Supporters said he would convert the new group into a political party and field candidates in the next Palestinian election. No date for an election has been set.
Fatah and Hamas have been locked in a bitter struggle since the 2006 election swept Fatah from power. In June, Hamas forces overran Gaza, prompting Abbas to dismiss the Hamas-led government and appoint his own, which, in effect, rules only the West Bank.
Recent polls have shown that about a third of the people have no faith in either party. Al-Masri said he plans to step into that breech, emphasizing the economy, education and welfare programs for the needy as well as reuniting the West Bank and Gaza.
"My concern about the fate of my people has driven me to form a national democratic body that cares about people," al-Masri told The Associated Press. "The situation is very difficult, the national cause is deteriorating and people are frustrated."
The U.S.-educated al-Masri runs an investment company that controls the telecommunications sector and has holdings in industry, agriculture, tourism and in banks. His leadership appeals to the West Bank's elite and middle class, trying to protect their investments and businesses in a chaotic political situation.
Since Abbas formed his new government, the West has resumed aid to his regime, but the situation remains critical, with overall unemployment of about 30 percent and more than half the people under the poverty line.
At the same time, Israel sealed the borders of Hamas-ruled Gaza, deepening poverty there. Hamas, which rejects the existence of Israel, is listed as a terror group by Israel, Europe and the United States. Fatah favors peace with Israel.
The 2006 election reflected frustration with Fatah for corruption, nepotism and ineffective rule as much as support for Hamas. Members of the Palestine Forum said if Fatah does not reform itself, the new group is poised to replace it.
Palestinian public opinion expert Jamil Rabah said that is a distinct possibility. The people "are closer to Fatah," supporting a peaceful solution to the conflict with Israel, so "if Fatah doesn't reform itself, people would see the Forum as an alternative."

By MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH

Rice Pressing Israel To Surrender Jerusalem

Jerusalem - As she visits the Middle East this week, USSecretary of State Condoleezza Rice is pressing Israeli and Palestinian leaders to commit to confidence-building measures and a timetable ahead of an upcoming US-sponsored peace conference in Annapolis, Md.
Israel has resisted a timetable, but Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in a major speech Sunday night that he is ready to begin accelerated peace talks – even on final-status issues such as Jerusalem.
Mr. Olmert's statement reiterated recent remarks by Israel's deputy prime minister indicating that Israel must be prepared to discuss giving up parts of Jerusalem – potentially dividing the city – in upcoming negotiations with the Palestinians.
"It is in Israel's interest that all the Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem receive international recognition and that Arab neighborhoods like Walajeh and Shuafat are transferred to the Palestinians," Haim Ramon, the vice premier, told cabinet members last month.
Whether intended as a trial balloon or as a genuine attempt to get Israelis accustomed to the idea of turning Arab neighborhoods over to Palestinian control, the message sent shock waves through both Israeli and Palestinian society.
Many Palestinian residents opposed
Those feeling skittish about the city's potential partition aren't just Israelis – who traditionally take the position that Jerusalem should be Israel's united capital – but also Palestinian Jerusalemites, who fear that their standard of living will fall if they come under the control of the Palestinian Authority (PA).
"I don't want to have any part in the PA. I want the health insurance, the schools, all the things we get by living here," says Ranya Mohammed as she does her afternoon shopping in Shuafat.
"I'll go and live in Israel before I'll stay here and live under the PA, even if it means taking an Israeli passport," says Mrs. Mohammed, whose husband earns a good living from doing business here. "I have seen their suffering in the PA. We have a lot of privileges I'm not ready to give up."

The Israeli newspaper Maariv reported that two veterans in Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking, Yossi Beilin and Yasser Abed Rabbo, have been meeting secretly and have reached a document agreeable to both sides that lays out possible solutions to the conflict. In it, Palestinians showed a willingness to be flexible on their historic claim to a "right of return" to houses that are now inside Israel proper, accepting instead a mixed solution that would include some refugees returning to the Palestinian state-to-be, some to Israel, and many other to be resettled in third countries. Israel's outlook showed a willingness to accept the concept to returning to the 1967 borders by doing land swaps, meaning that it would annex settlement blocks but give the Palestinians a tract of land of the same size elsewhere.
Neither side was willing to comment on the report.

From Debkafile: Al Qaeda declares Cyber Jihad on the West

In a special Internet announcement in Arabic, picked up DEBKAfile’s counter-terror sources, Osama bin Laden’s followers announced Monday, Oct. 29, the launching of Electronic Jihad. On Sunday, Nov. 11, al Qaeda’s electronic experts will start attacking Western, Jewish, Israeli, Muslim apostate and Shiite Web sites. On Day One, they will test their skills against 15 targeted sites expand the operation from day to day thereafter until hundreds of thousands of Islamist hackers are in action against untold numbers of anti-Muslim sites.
DEBKAfile’s counter-terror sources report that, shortly after the first announcement, some of al Qaeda’s own Web sites went blank, apparently crashed by the American intelligence computer experts tracking them.
The next day, Oct. 30, they were up again, claiming their Islamic fire walls were proof against infidel assault.
They also boasted an impenetrable e-mail network for volunteers wishing to join up with the cyber jihad to contact and receive instructions undetected by the security agencies in their respective countries.
Our sources say the instructions come in simple language and are organized in sections according to target. They offer would-be martyrs, who for one reason or another are unable to fight in the field, to fulfill their jihad obligations on the Net. These virtual martyrs are assured of the same thrill and sense of elation as a jihadi on the “battlefield.”
In effect, say DEBKAfile’s counter-terror experts, al Qaeda is retaliating against Western intelligence agencies’ tactics, which detect new terrorist sites and zap them as soon as they appear. Until now, the jihadists kept dodging the assault by throwing up dozens of new sites simultaneously. This kept the trackers busy and ensured that some of the sites survived, while empty pages were promptly replaced. But as al Qaeda’s cyber wizards got better at keeping its presence on the Net for longer periods, so too did Western counter-attackers at knocking them down. Now Bin Laden’s cyber legions are fighting back. The electronic war they have declared could cause considerable trouble on the world’s Internet.
October 30, 2007, 9:31 PM (GMT+02:00)
Symbol of al Qaeda's Cyber Warriors
In a special Internet announcement in Arabic, picked up DEBKAfile’s counter-terror sources, Osama bin Laden’s followers announced Monday, Oct. 29, the launching of Electronic Jihad. On Sunday, Nov. 11, al Qaeda’s electronic experts will start attacking Western, Jewish, Israeli, Muslim apostate and Shiite Web sites. On Day One, they will test their skills against 15 targeted sites expand the operation from day to day thereafter until hundreds of thousands of Islamist hackers are in action against untold numbers of anti-Muslim sites.
DEBKAfile’s counter-terror sources report that, shortly after the first announcement, some of al Qaeda’s own Web sites went blank, apparently crashed by the American intelligence computer experts tracking them.
The next day, Oct. 30, they were up again, claiming their Islamic fire walls were proof against infidel assault.
They also boasted an impenetrable e-mail network for volunteers wishing to join up with the cyber jihad to contact and receive instructions undetected by the security agencies in their respective countries.
Our sources say the instructions come in simple language and are organized in sections according to target. They offer would-be martyrs, who for one reason or another are unable to fight in the field, to fulfill their jihad obligations on the Net. These virtual martyrs are assured of the same thrill and sense of elation as a jihadi on the “battlefield.”
In effect, say DEBKAfile’s counter-terror experts, al Qaeda is retaliating against Western intelligence agencies’ tactics, which detect new terrorist sites and zap them as soon as they appear. Until now, the jihadists kept dodging the assault by throwing up dozens of new sites simultaneously. This kept the trackers busy and ensured that some of the sites survived, while empty pages were promptly replaced. But as al Qaeda’s cyber wizards got better at keeping its presence on the Net for longer periods, so too did Western counter-attackers at knocking them down. Now Bin Laden’s cyber legions are fighting back. The electronic war they have declared could cause considerable trouble on the world’s Internet.

Un-Holyland Foundation

Jewish World Review Oct. 25, 2007 / 13 Mar-Cheshvan 5768

A federal judge in Dallas declared a mistrial in the case of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) when a jury was unable to reach a verdict on 197 counts brought by the government that accused the Muslim charity of funding terrorism.
A hung jury, however, is not an acquittal and even if the Holy Land Foundation eventually is acquitted (the government has indicated it will retry the case) it doesn't necessarily mean the accused is innocent (think O.J. Simpson's murder trial).
Anyone in doubt about the game plan for infiltrating, undermining and attacking America from within our borders had better sober up. Our enemies know our ways and they are using them to gain a strategic advantage over us. From the rapid construction of mosques and Islamic schools across the country — many of which are financed by Saudi Arabia — to the use of front organizations as conduits to channel money to terrorist groups abroad, a "fifth column" has been opened in the United States. For those who are unfamiliar with the term "fifth column," it usually refers to a group of people who are assumed to have loyalties to countries other than their own, or who support some other nation in war efforts against the country they live in. We used to call such people traitors before the term was submerged in a wave of political correctness.
Despite the hung jury, a lot of useful information came out at the trial that people with terrorist intent would just as soon have remained hidden. Moving under the radar and hiding your real intentions is essential for fifth column members. Among the evidence revealed in court is the connection of Holy Land Foundation and a number of other Islamic groups, such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Islamic Society of North America and the Islamic Circle of North America, to the radical Muslim Brotherhood organization. Read a thoroughly researched and documented essay at Website http://www.nefafoundation.org/hlfdocs.html.
FREE SUBSCRIPTION TO INFLUENTIAL NEWSLETTER
Every weekday NewsAndOpinion.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". HUNDREDS of columnists and cartoonists regularly appear. Sign up for the daily update. It's free. Just click here.
The Holy Land Foundation is not an unfairly persecuted charity. While it exhibits some charitable work as window dressing, evidence presented at the trial show its connections with known terrorist groups.
Although scores of examples from the government's case show what we face, I offer just one found in a recent Nine/Eleven Finding Answers Foundation report: "On Aug. 16, 2007, a Miami jury convicted Adham Hassoun, Jose Padilla and Kifah Jayyousi of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists. A Department of Justice press release announcing the initial indictment against Hassoun, a Palestinian national living in Florida, stated, 'As part of the conspiracy, Hassoun allegedly wrote a series of checks over several years — from 1994 to late 2001 — to unindicted coconspirators and organizations, including the Holy Land Foundation and the Global Relief Foundation, to be used to support violent jihad.' Further, Raed Awad, HLF's Florida representative and fund raiser, served as the Imam at Jose Padilla's mosque.'"
There is much more, including this from the government's case: "HLF is also mentioned in The 9/11 Commission Report in connection with the investigation of Anwar Aulaqi, an Imam in San Diego and Falls Church who allegedly had a 'close relationship' with hijackers Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar. Investigators probing Aulaqi prior to 9/11 learned that he 'knew individuals from the Holy Land Foundation and others involved in raising money for the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.'"
That the government was unable to convince a jury of this is either the fault of the prosecutors or the blindness of the jurors. I suspect it is the latter. Americans are extremely reluctant to brand a class of people and put them in categories. Our enemies know this, so they trade on our sorry history of slavery and racism and wrap themselves in the image of civil rights workers seeking only the same freedoms everyone else enjoys.
In a related matter, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has recommended that an Islamic school in Northern Virginia that is supported by the Saudi government be closed until it can be determined whether the school promotes radical Islam. The commission has criticized what it calls a lack of religious freedom in Saudi society and the promotion of religious extremism in Saudi schools. Officials at the Islamic school in Northern Virginia say the textbooks used to teach hate, but no longer do. They refuse to provide the "new" textbooks for examination. Here's a deal: condition the approval of every Islamic school and mosque in the United States on the construction of Christian and Jewish schools and houses of worship in Muslim countries. That would stop them dead in their tracks because the freedoms we offer here, which they want to destroy, are not offered there in a religiously intolerant and politically totalitarian environment.
The government should retry the Holy Land Foundation case and hope for a better jury and a better outcome.

By Cal Thomas

Jews under 35 would not view the destruction of Israel as a tradgedy

In a disturbing report more than 50% of Jews under 35 would not view the destruction of Israel as a tradgedy, according to a recent study cited in an article in Jewish World Review .
according to Sociologists Stephen Cohen and Ari Kelman young Jews often feel alienation towards Israel.
Orthodox Jews hold a different view, those for whom their Judaism is important will remain connected to the fate of their fellow Jews in Israel.

Sociologists Stephen Cohen and Ari Kelman have now confirmed what everyone already knew: Young American Jews do not care very much about Israel. They are not just apathetic about Israel, that indifference is "giving way to downright alienation," write Cohen and Kelman.
More than half of Jews under 35 said that they would not view the destruction of Israel as a personal tragedy. The death and expulsion of millions is something they could live with. By those standards, they probably would not see the Holocaust as a "personal" tragedy either.
"These results are very upsetting," said Jewish Agency chairman Zev Bielski. He then proceeded to give an inane explanation for those numbers: the comfortable life of most American Jews.
Cohen and Kelman know better. And their answer is summed up in the demographic they did not interview for their study: Orthodox Jews. A survey of young Orthodox Jews would have yielded a diametrically opposed and highly embarrassing result.
Among younger Jews, those for whom their Judaism is important — primarily the Orthodox — will remain connected to the fate of their fellow Jews in Israel. Most Orthodox American youth will study in Israel after high school, some for many years. And almost all will visit Israel many times. Eretz Yisrael is not a mere abstraction for them, but the center of the spiritual life of the Jewish people.
Even an anti-Zionist Satmar chassid living in the secluded village of Monroe will intensify his prayers when Israel is at war and follow the action closely. Why? Because for him the name Jew means something.
The majority of young American Jews and the majority of young Israelis share in common a lack of interest in their Judaism. But that shared negativity provides little basis for a relationship. Shared gene pools won't do it either — that smacks of racism. And ethnic identity, it turns out, cannot be passed down, or survive the breakup of ethnically homogeneous neighborhoods.
What young Jews under 35 feel towards Israel goes beyond apathy to outright resentment. Israel complicates their social lives and muddies their political identity. Only 54% profess to be comfortable with the idea of a Jewish state at all. In Europe and on elite American campuses, internationalism and a world-without-borders are the rage. The Jews of Israel, with their stubborn insistence on protecting their nation-state, are, as always, out-of-sync.
Young American Jews do not wish to be tarred with their atavisms. On campus and where enlightened folk meet, Israel is scorned as a colonial oppressor. Who wants to be identified as a sympathizer with apartheid? Once Reform Judaism disavowed Zionism for fear of being thought disloyal to their host countries, and young American Jews today share similar fears of being out of step with their enlightened peers.
Molly Umberger, whose mother is program director of the leftist New Israel Fund (NIF), told the Jerusalem Post that she views both Israel and Palestinians as having made lots of mistakes and the situation as complicated, but generally "tries not to think about [ Israel]." (No wonder when Bruce Temkin, the director of the NIF, describes Israel as a "turn-off.") Daniel Alperin, 33, describes his interest in Israel as waning when he began to hear "the bad stuff" — probably about the time he entered college.
Already the trends lines were pointing in this direction forty years ago. In a 1965 Commentary symposium of younger Jewish intellectuals — the least religiously identified segment of American Jewry — only one expressed complete comfort with Israel's creation and pride in its accomplishments, and he eventually made aliyah. The rest expressed various degrees of discomfort with Israel's militarism (and this was before 1967 and the "occupation"). The only Jewish identity they acknowledged at all was that of the "Jew" as the perpetually alienated critic of those in power — not exactly one upon which to base a connection to other Jews. Now the rest of American Jewry is catching up to those once young intellectuals.
The implications of Cohen and Kelman's findings for American Jewry are great. The historic bargain linking American Jewry and Israel since the founding of the State is coming to an end. The terms of the deal were unspoken, but clear: Israel would provide American Jews with a sense of pride and identity as Jews, and they, in turn, would shower upon Israel their financial and political support. But Israel is no longer a source of pride for non-Orthodox Jews, and the identity it provides is not one which they wish to share.
But the survey signals something else as well: a declining understanding on the part of American Jews of Judaism in terms of a national identity that imposes obligations to one's co-nationals.. That is being replaced by a return to the self-definition of classic German Reform: German (or in this case American) nationals of the Mosaic persuasion.
Cohen and Kelman are wrong to argue that ethnic identity is being replaced by religious identity. For when young American Jews say that they view their Judaism as a religious not national identity, the religion they refer to is a pretty tepid affair. Precisely because it is so tepid does it fail to provide them a sense of connection to their fellow Jews, whether in America or abroad. It is a religion largely lacking connection to the Land of Israel, and even more importantly to the defining event in Jewish history the giving of Torah at Sinai. Absent the latter, there is no common mission to link the descendants of those who stood at Sinai.
The impact of the declining sense of responsibility to one's fellow Jews is being felt within American Jewry itself, not just in attitudes towards Israel. Already only 6% of giving by mega-Jewish foundations goes to remotely Jewish causes. It is hardly surprising, for instance, that non-Jewish spouses are not eager to contribute to Jewish causes. In time, funding the institutions of American Jewry will become ever more difficult. And the Orthodox will be left to donate to Israel.
The political implications for Israel are large as well. Fortunately, Professors Walt and Mearsheimer are wrong about an Israel Lobby comprised mostly of those with Jewish-sounding names. It is devout Christians, and not some nefarious Israel Lobby, which is the primary bulwark of American support for Israel today. That we have to rely on Christian support, rather than our fellow Jews, however, is a very mixed blessing indeed.
E

In the name of ‘promoting peace,’ Rice and her Israeli underlings could foment a new war

Thanks to Jewish World Review for this timely and insightful article.
It seems that the U.S. Administration is intent on selling out Israel for political benefit.
The respected writer Carolyn Glick tells the sad tale of betrayal and incompetence.


US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is moving boldly down the rabbit hole. This week, Rice is due back in the Middle East for meetings in Jerusalem and Ramallah. The purpose of her upcoming visit, like her previous ones, will be to pressure the Olmert government and the Fatah terror organization to reach "substantive agreements" that she'll be able to present to the world at her peace summit in Maryland next month.
It is far from clear what American interests Rice is advancing with her unswerving effort to reach a peace accord between Israel and Fatah. Indeed, Rice's efforts are detrimental to US interests in the region.
On Tuesday, 77 senators signed a letter to Rice regarding her plans for the summit. Among other things, the senators called on the Arab states, which Rice hopes will participate, to "recognize Israel's right to exist and not use such recognition as a bargaining chip for future Israeli concessions."
The senators' warning was well placed. Far from cooperating with the US, the Arab world is undercutting its policies. Not only are the Arabs - including Egypt and Jordan - distancing themselves from Israel; in a direct slap at the US, the Arabs are subverting the US's goal of isolating Hamas. Rather than blackball the jihadist movement, the Arab states led by Egypt and Saudi Arabia are devoting themselves to bringing about a rapprochement between Fatah and Hamas.
Unfortunately, due to Rice's missteps, the US today has little influence over the Arab states. Washington's primary diplomatic leverage over the Arabs stems from its ability to confer legitimacy on them. The US could have used this leverage if it had stated from the outset that it would only invite states to the Middle East conference that support the US's goals of isolating Hamas and accepting Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state.
But rather than condition their invitation, Rice and President George W. Bush made it clear from the outset that they want Arab states to participate in the summit. In so doing, the US turned the turned the tables on itself. Now it is the Arabs who by accepting or rejecting the US offer will confer legitimacy on Washington. Needless to say, in the interests of securing their participation, states like Saudi Arabia and Egypt will not be called to task for their sponsorship of Hamas or their hostility toward Israel.
So the US has been weakened just by organizing the conference. Yet, if there were any chance that the conference next month in Annapolis could yield real progress toward peace, then at least the Arabs' humiliation of Washington could be said to have been worth it.
Given that since the failed Camp David summit in 2000 the Palestinians have yet to make one substantive concession to Israel, it is clear that the only way the upcoming conference can succeed in advancing peace is if the Palestinians make some dramatic concession to Israel.
But there is absolutely no chance that the Palestinians will be forthcoming. Fatah Chairman Mahmoud Abbas led Fatah to electoral defeat to Hamas in 2006 and to surrender in Gaza in June. The only reason that Abbas remains in power in Judea and Samaria is because the IDF is maintaining security there.
The weak, ineffectual Abbas has no ability to agree to Israeli offers that Yasser Arafat rejected. In addition to Arafat's legacy, Abbas has Hamas to contend with. Any major concessions to Israel would imperil his rule - and his life.
Over the past week, Abbas announced his adherence to maximal Palestinian demands from Israel. These include the full transfer of sovereignty over the Temple Mount to the Palestinians; the complete surrender of Judea and Samaria to the Palestinians; and an Israeli acceptance of the so-called "right of return" that would force Israel to accept millions of foreign Arabs as immigrants within its truncated borders. Abbas's stances are a reflection of his inability to make any concessions for peace.
The failure of Rice's summit will directly benefit Hamas, which will be able to say that as it had warned, diplomacy is pointless. Understanding this, Abbas himself has let it be known that he is negotiating with Hamas. Then too, ahead of his meeting this past Wednesday with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Abbas dispatched his representatives to threaten Israel with war.
On Tuesday, Abbas confidante and representative in negotiations with Hamas Azzam al-Ahmed told reporters, "If we don't prepare well for the conference so that it will result in something positive, the repercussions will be more dangerous than what happened after the failure of Camp David."
Hamas is not the only actor that will be strengthened by the failure of the summit. Anti-American, jihadist forces throughout the Arab world will similarly benefit. Like Hamas, they will be able to say, "We told you so." America's humiliation will also weaken liberal democratic voices in the Arab world. With America perceived as weak and incompetent, they will feel compelled to join the anti-American bandwagon.

RICE IS dragging Israel with her in her madcap descent down the diplomatic rabbit hole - and not for the first time. Rice has a record of forcing Israel to sacrifice its security in the interest of her "peace" processes.
In November 2005, Rice coerced then-prime minister Ariel Sharon into accepting her agreement on the passages joining Gaza to Egypt and Israel. That agreement denied Israel the ability to prevent terrorists and arms from being smuggled into Gaza. This week's Egyptian agreement to allow some 90 Hamas terrorists - many of whom underwent military training in Iran and Syria - to enter Gaza was easily implemented in spite of Israeli objections in large part as a consequence of Rice's heavy-handed treatment of Israel.
So too, Rice forced Israel to agree to have US Lt.-Gen. Keith Dayton train and arm Fatah forces in Gaza. That disastrous plan led to the indirect US arming of Hamas when Fatah forces surrendered their weapons to Hamas without a fight in June. And of course, Rice was the architect of the cease-fire with Hizbullah last year that has enabled the Iranian terror group to rearm and to reassert its control over south Lebanon.

ALTHOUGH THE content of the talks is officially secret, various leaks make the depth of Israeli concessions clear. Israel is agreeing to transfer sovereignty over Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem to the Palestinians and to renounce its sovereignty over the Temple Mount; Olmert and his colleagues have agreed to surrender more than 90 percent of Judea and Samaria to the Palestinians while destroying most of the Israeli communities there; and Israel is agreeing to certain "symbolic" concessions regarding the so-called "right of return."
In short, Olmert is regurgitating former prime minister and current Defense Minister Ehud Barak's offers to Arafat at Camp David and Taba from seven years ago.
Many on the Left argue that since Israel offered these concessions in the past, the fact that the government is returning them to the bargaining table today is nothing to get excited about. This is untrue.
There is a huge difference between the situation in 2000 and today. Seven years ago, Barak's offer of territory was based on the expectation that in exchange for territory the Palestinians would eschew terror and live at peace with Israel. Today, after seven years of war that was largely directed by Fatah, after Hamas's takeover of Gaza and Iran's takeover of Hamas, this expectation is no longer realistic. By offering Barak's concessions for a second time, Olmert isn't simply offering land. He is sending the message that Israel neither expects nor demands that the Palestinian state live at peace with Israel.
Perhaps Israel's greatest diplomatic failure since 2000 has been its failure to disavow Barak's offers and remove them from the negotiating table. Once Arafat refused Barak's far-reaching concessions and chose instead to launch a war against the Jewish state, Israel had numerous opportunities to make clear these concession were no longer on offer.
Disavowing them is crucial not simply because they are diplomatically unwise. They are strategically suicidal.
As Israel's experience in south Lebanon and Gaza show clearly, areas that Israel vacates become terrorist enclaves. Given Abbas's embrace of terrorism and his political weakness, it is absolutely clear that an Israeli withdrawal from Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem will render these areas terror bases as well. Yet here the consequences will be far worse that those of previous withdrawals. An Israeli surrender of Judea, Samaria and parts of Jerusalem will divest Israel of the ability to defend itself.
Although theoretically attractive, it is impossible to partition Jerusalem between Arab and Jewish neighborhoods because there is no geographical distinction between Arab and Jewish neighborhoods. Beyond that, if Jerusalem is partitioned, the Arabs with Israeli ID cards will move to the Jewish neighborhoods and Arabs from Judea will flood the Arab neighborhoods. Far from strengthening the Jewish character of the Jewish half of the city, a partition will destroy Jewish Jerusalem. The Jews will flee, and the eternal capital of the Jewish people will be transformed into an Arab city.
As for Judea and Samaria, not only would their handover transform 250,000 Israelis into internal refugees, it would leave 80% of the citizens of the truncated Jewish state within mortar and rocket range of the Palestinian state. Moreover, an Israeli relinquishment of the areas will clear the way for Arab armies to enter the Jordan Valley unopposed. The path from there to the Mediterranean is a short and easy one.
Given all of this, it is manifestly clear that by succumbing to Rice's obsession with summitry, the Olmert government is playing with fire. It is committing Israel to negotiating positions that deny the country the ability to demand that the Palestinians come to terms with the Jewish state and live at peace with it. And it is rendering strategically suicidal seven-year old offers the starting point of all negotiations for years to come.
On Wednesday, the State Department announced that Rice's conference is being postponed until the end of November to give the parties sufficient time to "prepare the groundwork" to somehow ensure the summit's success. Also Wednesday, Olmert and Abbas reportedly agreed that the conference would be nothing more than the starting point for future negotiations.
It can only be hoped that these approaches will be combined. All negotiations should be postponed until after the summit, and the summit should be delayed for weeks, then months, then years. Otherwise, in the name of "promoting peace," Rice and her Israeli underlings will foment a new war.

By Caroline B. Glick

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/

Tehran's Nuclear Timeline

The Islamic Republic may be much closer to an atomic capability than originally thought, the French government has warned. Officials in Paris have told reporters that they believe Iran will have nearly 3,000 uranium enrichment centrifuges running by the end of this month. They base their assessments on a new analysis by the UN's atomic watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, which states that the Iranian regime is expected to have 18 separate centrifuge cascades - totaling nearly 3,000 centrifuges in all - operational by late October. (Associated Press, October 3, 2007)
[Note: The new IAEA finding is significant - and ominous. Nuclear experts say that 3,000 centrifuges represents a key atomic threshold, since that number spinning continuously for one year will generate enough highly-enriched uranium for one nuclear weapon. Based on these projections, and barring any technical glitches or other unforeseen eventualities, Iran will have enough fissile material to field a nuclear weapon by sometime next fall at the latest.]
American Foreign Policy Council, Washington, DC

Why So Many Arab "refugees"?

I often wonder what a place the world would have been had every Jew across the globe, from Rio to Toronto to Philadelphia to Paris and London, had waged a decades-long campaign of terror to avenge the genocide of six million of their co-religionists in the ovens, torture chambers and gas chambers of Auschwitz, Belsen, Treblinka, et al?
If every time a synagogue is attacked or a rabbi coming out of a service in North London is attacked young Jews decide to blow up a bus ?

Why is the immensely wealthy Arab world not capable of helping its own ?
Why should one Iraqi be living in squalor?
And where is the Arab League, or worldwide Muslim charities, when they should be helping get Iraq back into some semblance of order?
The overriding conclusion of the panel was that the sudden departure of coalition troops would create a disastrous scenario and chaos.
The Americans seem incapable of comprehending this and are bitter at the ingratitude shown by Iraq, including what is perceived as a lazy government constantly taking time off for leisure whilst the nation descends into a cauldron of violence.
Around the world the majority view is that Americans are not all that bright about things foreign.
In my view, the hard-working, forward-looking, compartmentalised American psyche simply cannot comprehend a nation of people descending into internecine turmoil and blowing each other, including children, to kingdom come after a tyrant has been toppled.
And before I am bombarded with emails about the bloody American Civil War, it must be noted that it was fought to free the slaves, a noble cause. Americans did not go out and blow each other up because of tribal religious fanaticism.
If the Iraqis, after the Americans leave, can put aside their hatred of the Jews, I think of the many contributions Israel could make to showing Iraqis how to pull a country together and develop wonderful symphony orchestras, art galleries, architectural projects, scientific institutions and other endeavours. If the survivors of the death camps could create magnificent agricultural achievements, including the award-winning Yarden wines, then why can the Iraqis not create a nation filled with creativity and dynamism as is found in tiny Israel?

IDF: Hamas now in full control of Gaza arms smuggling

The current border between Gaza is a mess, due to the fact that the town, Rafah, straddles the border - where 99% of the smuggling takes place.SO MOVE THE DEFACTO BORDER!! Occupy a 3km belt of Gaza in the nearly unpopulated zone North of Rafah (too wide for them to tunnel under), depopulate it completely relocating the small population North or South, and turn it into a fenced off HEAVILY FORTIFIED closed military zone (like Korean DMZ). Egypt can reassume full control of Rafah and the old Philadelphi route if they want. No Gazans live in airport district or in former settlements by coast. Easy to reclaim 3km wide empty areas as part of this new zone. Boot out the EU "monitors" and restrict anything entering/leaving Gaza except on condition of good behavior by whoever is in charge of this perennial cesspool. Don`t do this, and Gaza will turn into Mogadishu/Pyongyang/Pakistan "tribal area". Forget the mad Peres fantasy that "Palestinians" were ever going to turn it into a Hong Kong.

Hamas now has complete control over the smuggling routes from Egypt, having forced the clans that previously controlled these routes to take orders from it, say senior officers in the Israel Defense Forces. The officers said there has been a sharp increase in the quantity of explosives, including various types of rockets, smuggled into the Gaza Strip from Egypt over the last few weeks.

Islam, the Barbaric Religion

After it was determined that 9-11 was caused by Islamic terrorists, we were assured that they were fanatics. George Bush told us that Islam is a religion of peace. Islamics in our regions have called in to say how scandalized they were at the terrorists' actions, and how Islam is a great and wonderful religion. We are not supposed to say anything bad about Islam.



“There is no such thing as separation of the church and state, or between the state and morality, in Islam. The church IS the state IS morality.”


Since I'm about as Politically Correct as a Promise Keepers convention, I don't care. I don't listen to anyone except my own morality. If I'm the only one who's going to tell the truth about Islam, so be it.

The truth is that Islam is not a religion of peace. It was founded, built and maintained on the basis of open warfare - against other Muslims and against Christians. Its "prophet" Mohammed, a rich trader turned savage warrior, shed the blood of fellow Muslims who refused to follow his new religion. He and his savages conquered proud cultures such as Persia and Egypt and reduced them to slaves of Allah.

Mohammed first became magistrate of Medina (in 622 CE), where he and the followers of his new religion looted their countrymen and amassed a great fortune. In 10 years, his gang conquered the entire Arabian peninsula, and Mohammed died. The Quran is the story of his conquests - how Mohammed came to kill a great number of his fellows. In the next century, Islam conquered the land from North Africa to Spain, not to mention all that is called the Middle East.

It would have conquered Europe and plunged the world in a perpetual Dark Age, if it had not been for the Battle of Tours (732 CE). By the years 1000 CE, Islam once again threatened Europe, and forced all of Christendom to unite in what is now called the Crusades, a series of wars and jihads which would last 450 years. Finally the war machine of Islam was exhausted by the Crusades.

Mohammed was the analogy of a Hitler or a Mussolini, in the sense that he used nationalist pride to establish the tyrannical reign of his religion. By declaring Islam the only true religion, and all infidels as enemies of Islam, this unity became a force of war. And as the Quran says, he is the model for all Islamic believers : "Ye have indeed in the Messenger of Allah a beautiful pattern (of conduct) for any one whose hope is in Allah and the Final Day, and who engages much in the Praise of Allah." Quran 033.021

That is the history and model of the "religion of peace".

Are the teachings of the Quran and the sharia propitious to human rights ? In the Quran, as in most religions, rights belong first and foremost to Allah, since he owns everything : "But to Allah belong all things in the heavens and on earth: And He it is that Encompasseth all things." Quran 004.126

And man's role is to worship him. "I have only created Jinns and men, that they may serve Me." Quran 051.056. Allah has already chosen man's religion, it must be Islam : "This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion." Quran 005.003

The Quran states clearly that the right of the believer is to kill, in exchange of which he will go to Paradise : "Allah hath purchased of the believers their persons and their goods; for theirs (in return) is the garden (of Paradise): they fight in His cause, and slay and are slain: a promise binding on Him in truth, through the Law, the Gospel, and the Qur'an" Quran 009.111

This is the basis of the "religion of peace".

While in economical terms Islam does not exert direct control, in social terms it makes the Nazis look like angels. The politics of Islam is superpowered fascism.

Islam does not acknowledge the equality of all humans. There are three types of people : men, women and infidels.

Women are worth half a Muslim man. As proof, the Quran states that a woman may only receive half the inheritance due to a man, and her testimony in court is worth that of half a man. She may not hold most jobs, even in "liberal" Islamic countries. In Iran, the worth of a man's life is equal to the market value of 100 camels or 200 cows and that of a woman is equal to half of the man's, 50 camels or 100 cows. Women cannot vote.

Non-Muslims are worth nothing. A Muslim man may commit any crime against a non-Muslim with impunity, even murder.

Here are some of the verses that deal with these questions :

"Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has given the one more than the other, and because they support them from their means. Therefore the righteous women are devoutly obedient, and guard in absence what Allah would have them guard. As to those women on whose part ye fear disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish them, refuse to share their beds, beat them; but if they return to obedience, seek not against them Means: For Allah is Most High, great." Quran 004.034
"And say to the believing women that they should (...) not display their beauty and ornaments except what appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers, their husband's fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their women, or the slaves whom their right hands possess, or male servants free of physical needs, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex" Quran 024.031 (this verse is typically used to justify the ignominious enforcement of the hijab)

"Let his guardian dictate faithfully, and get two witnesses, out of your own men, and if there are not two men, then a man and two women" Quran 002.282

"Allah directs you as regards your Children's [inheritance]: to the male, a portion equal to that of two females: if only daughters, two or more, their share is two-thirds of the inheritance; if only one, her share is a half." Quran 004.011

Believers in Allah are the best people in the world : "Ye are the best of peoples, evolved for mankind, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, and believing in Allah." Quran 003.110

"If anyone desires a religion other than Islam, never will it be accepted of him;" Quran 003.085

"O ye who believe! take not for protectors your fathers and your brothers if they love infidelity above Faith: if any of you do so, they do wrong." Quran 009.023

"Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued." Quran 009.029 (Jizya : tribute)

"The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is: execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land: that is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy punishment is theirs in the Hereafter;" Quran 005.033

"They but wish that ye should reject Faith, as they do, and thus be on the same footing : But take not friends from their ranks until they flee in the way of Allah. But if they turn renegades, seize them and slay them wherever ye find them; and take no friends or helpers from their ranks;" Quran 004.089

There is no such thing as separation of the church and state, or between the state and morality, in Islam. The church IS the state IS morality.
This is the politics of the "religion of peace".

Islamic law - the Sharia (also spelled Shari'ah) - is based on the prevention of heresy and crime by killing independent thought. Here are a number of barbaric practices enforced by Islamic law, apart from those already discussed in the Quran verses above :

Adulterous couples are stoned to death, prostitutes are hanged in public, and women in the company of men who are not blood relatives are executed.
Rape victims are punished.
"Zina laws" prohibit adultery, prostitution, and rape. Punishment is execution or amputation of the hands. This is done to the victims as well.
Women cannot vote or get elected.
Husbands can beat up their wives at their heart's content.
Women cannot do anything outside of the house without the father or husband's consent.
Women cannot get custody of their children.
Women are banned from a number of fields of education.
Women must wear the hijab when outside of the house.
In more extremist countries like Iran, a woman arrested for wearing make-up is forced to clean up with cotton balls rolled in broken glass.
In Pakistan, insulting Mohammed is punished by death (Contempt of Prophet's Act)
Four countries add up to 90% of all executions in the world. Two of them are big and stupid (China, United States), and two of them are Islamic (Iran, Saudi Arabia). From 1981 to 1990, 9 girls under 13 were executed in Iran, the youngest being 10 years old (NOW).
It is my opinion that there is no religion more despicable, and which must be more opposed, than this "religion of peace". Its violent doctrines have destroyed the hopes of an entire region, and almost took over the world. Islamic traditions, like all other religious oppressions, must be rejected by any sane society.

by Francois Tremblay (e-mail: FTremblay@liberator.net)

A Divided Jerusalem?

Technorati Profile


A confidant of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday that his government would support a division of Jerusalem, which is reportedly a key component of an Israeli-Palestinian declaration to be made at a U.S.-sponsored Mideast peace conference next month.
As part of recent negotiations between the sides, Deputy Vice Prime Minister Haim Ramon has proposed turning over many of the Arab neighborhoods of east Jerusalem to the Palestinians. Ramon said the Palestinians could establish the capital of a future state in the sector of the city, which Israel captured from Jordan in the 1967 Mideast war.
In return, Israel would receive the recognition of the international community, including Arab states, of its sovereignty over Jewish neighborhoods and the existence of its capital there, Ramon said.
On Monday Ramon said even hawkish elements of Olmert's coalition, like Cabinet Minister Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu Party, would back such an Israeli concession. The centrist Labor Party would also support the proposal, Ramon said.
"There are two central parties that agree to this," Ramon told Army Radio. "The most important thing is to preserve the state of Israel Jewish and democratic."
Under his proposal, neighborhoods in east Jerusalem where about 170,000 Palestinians live would be transferred to Palestinian sovereignty, Ramon said.
But Israel would not transfer control of the Holy City and neighborhoods around it to the Palestinians, he said. He did not elaborate but media reports have said that he has proposed Israel relinquish some sovereignty in the area that contains the most contentious sites in the 60-year-conflict.



Vice Premier Haim Ramon's Jerusalem plan would damage Israel both on a national and a security level.
Hopefully, this idea to divide Jerusalem won't pass in any Israeli government.
In a few months Israel will be facing a Fatah-Hamas alliance so we must be realistic and responsible in our proposals to the Palestinians.



jew
Israel

This seems to be a good thing.

Christians have traditionally been one of the deadliest foes of Jews, but with the rise of radical

Islam, Christians are begining to rally behind Yisrael.

Men wearing shirts with the Star of David marched during a parade of international Christian Zionist groups in the city centre of Jerusalem on September 24, 2002. Some 7,000 mostly evangelical Christians from across the world flocked to the Holy Land this week to celebrate the Jewish festival of Sukkoth and to show support for Israel.

Let's hope this trend continues, and we can make common bonds with righteous Christians against the evil of Islam.

אני מנגנת-שיר לשלום- song for peace

A deeply moving song to which Shir adds her own emotional drive and force to wonderful effect!

אני מנגנת-אני גיטרה/בני אמדורסקי

אני מנגנת-זה מה שנשאר/שלמה ארצי-עיבוד שלי

This one Rocks!!!
By Shir

אני מנגנת-זה מה שנשאר/שלמה ארצי

This tune is a delight to hear!
Listen to the best of Israeli music from young Shir of Negev!

Garbage in Garbage Out From Iranian Dictator

As slimy and circuitous as ever, seeming more like Joseph Goebbels than the leader of Iran,
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has again denied U.S. accusations that Iran seeks to develop nuclear weapons, and is supplying weapons and training to insurgents in Iraq. Ahmadinejad made his comments Monday during a controversial visit to Columbia University in New York. The Iranian Dictator also faced numerous questions about civil rights in Iran and his earlier suggestions that the Holocaust never happened.
Ahmadinejad faced stinging words before he even spoke, from the very man who had invited him.
"Mr. President, you exhibit all the signs of a petty, cruel dictator," said Columbia University Preident Lee Bollinger during the introduction.
Critics are still angry at Mr. Ahmadinejad's suggestion that the Holocaust never happened.
Through a translator Monday, he defended his calls for more research on the topic by suggesting a link between the decades-old Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the Holocaust. "But then why don't we encourage more research on an historical event that has become the root, the cause of many heavy catastrophies in the region in this time and age?" asked the Iranian president. "Why shouldn't there be more research about the root causes? That was my first question. And my second question -- well, given, this historical event, if it is a reality, we need to still question if the Palestinian people should still be paying for it or not. After all, it happened in Europe. The Palestinian people had no role to play in it."
Mr. Ahmadinejad denied Bush administration claims that Iran is training and equipping insurgents in Iraq.
He also again rejected accusations that Iran is enriching uranium, to develop nuclear weapons. "Repeated reports by the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] explicitly say that there is no indication that Iran has deviated from the peaceful path of its nuclear program. We're all aware that Iran's nuclear issue is a political issue. It's not a legal issue," said Mr. Ahmadinejad.
On one topic, Mr. Ahmadinejad drew laughter from the audience. "In Iran, we don't have homosexuals like in your country. (laughter) We don't have that in our country. (boos) "
He also deflected questions about reports of the oppression of women and executions of reporters in Iran, accusing the media of distorting information.
Unfortunately, we cannot report that he was assasinated.

Death to Amadinejead

Amadinejead of Iran speaks like Hitler.
On the one hand he threatens the world, then he steps forward to deny his own lies.
The Iranian government is directly involved in killing and wounding American soldiers in Iraq.
Ahmadinejad has tested the patience of the rest of the world for a very long time and now may be time to call his bluff or to destroy his Nuclear and Islamic Caliphate ambitions.
The price to stop Ahmadinejad's madness is going to be high, if it does happen.
Senior American intelligence and defence officials believe President Bush and his inner circle are taking steps to place America on the path to war with Iran.
Pentagon planners have developed a list of up to 2,000 bombing targets in Iran, amid growing fears among serving officers that diplomatic efforts to slow Iran's nuclear weapons program are doomed to fail.
The sooner Iran is disarmed the safer it will be for the rest of the world.
Where are the Earl Krugels of yesteryear?
Why has no one even threatened to terminate this little Hitler?
Will we someday be asking this question after millions of innocents have died?

As soon as possible, by what ever means, kill Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his mad Mullahs, destroy their nuclear program and take out Iran’s military command and control. That’s the only way to stop these Iranian Jihadists, our other choice is to wait until we lose tens of thousands and have to kill hundreds of thousands of Iranian citizens...

Jack Wohl, "A Mitzvah, Yeah."

Jack Wohl was my friend.
Born in Germany in 1920, he attended school in Berlin until the rise of the nazis, whereupon the family moved to Hamburg and he attended Jewish School by day and sabatoged the German military, with the Macaabis, a Jewish Resistance Organization, by night.
One of the family photos that Jack managed to salvage from the desecrations and destruction wrought by the hun anti-Jews shows him as an incredibly beautiful young child of 5 or 6, smiling as his mother held him.
On the sidewalk, in the photo, was spray painted a large black swatztika.
As I viewed the photo, which I often did, when visiting with Jack at the rehab center where I worked as a Med Tech, and he was a patient, I couldn't help but
feel, viscerally, the agony that was about to be visited upon these noble and decent souls, of which they were so obviously unaware when the photo was taken.
Jack grew to young manhood with his equally dark and handsome brother, being affluent they dressed stylishly, they looked healthy and happy, but as the years passed, in the photos, I could see the change in their demeanor, from carefree youths, to fighters and survivors of a state turned killer.
Jack's family, in Berlin, prior to the Holocaust, were prominent in society and highly respected.
Jack's father was a surgeon, credited with developing, at the time, revolutionary techniques for saving his patients lives.
I would often sit at his father's desk while we talked, history emanating intensely from the finely crafted walnut roll top antique.
Jack became a wanted criminal due to his anti-Nazi exploits, but with the help of bribes, was finally able to escape, on a ship, from Germany.
"I watched my father from the ship as he got smaller and smaller in the distance.
I knew I would never see him again.
The German's murdered him.
They murdered everyone who stayed.
I didn't know this for years of course, and when I landed in New york and disembarked, I kissed the ground and said, 'Thank G-d for America.'"
Jack lived with his uncle Max Wohl on the lower eastside of New York.
"One time, after I first came to America, Uncle Max walked out of the bathroom, going to the bedroom, naked.
His wife and married daughter happened to be in the hall when he walked through, and his wife, Ilsa, caught him in the bedroom and said, " You pig! Aren't you ashamed of yourself, being naked in front of your daughter?'
and he said, "she's married allready, she's already seen it.' "
Eventually, Jack Wohl became the first licensed optometrist in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Jack didn't make a lot of money, however, as he spent most of his profits buying matierials to make glasses for the poor, and mainly, the local Navajo Indians.
Every night, for 50 years, Jack drove downtown and served meals, at the rescue mission, to the poor.
While Jack was with us at the rehab center, a Rabbi arrived, and Jack and I would go visit him and the other Jewish patients, most of whom were old and feeble.
I would say, "Jack let's go visiting, do a mitzvah."
And Jack would respond, in his charming way, offhandedly, "A mitzvah, yeah."
"one day, " Jack said, "I was at a restaruant with my wife, in Albuquerque, and a man came over to our table and said, Mr Wohl, I want to apologize for what the German's did to the Jews, I ask your forgiveness.
I told him I'd forgiven the Germans a long time ago.
He was the first, and only German, that ever did that."
"Jack, " I asked, "How could you forgive the Germans, after what they did?"
"Hate destroys you, Michael, you have to let it go." He said.
"You can't forget, but you can forgive."
Once I knocked on the door of Jack's room, "Come in", he said and in the gloom
he was watching tv, the history channel, it was a documentary about the Nazi crimes.
This was the only time he ever seemed distant.

"I was there." he said.
"I can tell when they are showing something as it happened, or not.
I was there.
I saw hitler.
My father operated on Goebbels. One night I was riding my bicycle and a group of brownshirts knocked me off the bike and beat me.
When my father was smuggling me out of Germany, storm troopers boarded our train
and took my father off.
He was gone for two hours.
When he came back his face was white.
I had never seen my father like this.
I noticed his gold watch was missing.
He'd bribed the stormtroopers to let us go."

Jack repayed the crimes of the holocaust by living a life of kindness and service to human beings.
To the least of mankind he offered his hand and his heart.
As I stood there watching Jack's sadness, his face reflected in the glow of the television replaying the crimes of the German nation, I put my hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently, "Hey Jack, let's go visit the Rabbi, do a mitzvah."
He smiled, "Yeah, a mitzvah."
Jack had character and charm.
He spoke very little about the Holocaust, but I pieced together his role from talks with his wife, his daughter and other members of his family and circle of friends.
He'd long since retired when I met him, but he kept a pouch of tools, tiny little screwdivers and pliers, so he could do minor, on the spot repairs of people's spectacles.
The Navajos, who loved him, called him "our Jewish Chief", and he had the plaque on his wall attesting to this.
He empathized with their struggles and treatment at the hands of the Europeans who were populating the area of New Mexico that was the Navajos homeland.
Jack Wohl, of Blessed Memory, has passed away.
He will always be in my hearts core, in my heart of hearts, forever.
He was a mensch.

Iranian Government Murders Female Child

Israel helps Abbas police raid village

Dozens of forces loyal to the Palestinian Authority Chief, in collaboration with Israeli troops, have raided the village of Huwwara.
Forces loyal to Mahmud Abbas raided the village located south of the northern West Bank city of Nablus on Friday night in an attempt to control the security situation there.
Director of Nablus police, Ahmad Sharqawi, said that the Palestinian authority police seized dozens of terrorists.
Witnesses have said the number of terrorists arrested exceeds one hundred.

Jewish network plans first online broadcast of Yom Kippur service

For the first time, Jews worldwide can celebrate Yom Kippur by streaming a Los Angeles service Friday via the Internet.
At 4:45 p.m. PDT, JewishTVNetwork.com will broadcast the Kol Nidre service from the Wilshire Boulevard Temple, the oldest synagogue in L.A.

"We're very excited," said Jay Sanderson, chief executive officer of JTN Productions of Sherman Oaks, owner of the online network. "Jews and non-Jews around the world will be able to hear and see the service - someone who's in a nursing home, someone who is in Topeka, Kans., who has no synagogue near them."
The 80-minute service will be available to anyone with broadband Internet access at www.jewishtvnetwork.com/. Many conservative and orthodox synagogues prohibit cameras during services in accordance with interpretations of Jewish law. But the reform Wilshire Boulevard Temple has consented to permit video cameras.
JTN Productions, a non-profit production company founded 26 years ago as the Jewish Television Network, launched its broadband Web channel last April to expand on the richness of Jewish traditions. It also hoped to stir dialogue between Jews and non-Jews by publishing an America's Top 50 Rabbi List.
Next year, the network hopes to stream Kol Nidre services from five synagogues from Paris to Jerusalem. "My goal in life is to make Jewish as big as possible and



as public as possible," said Sanderson, of Encino. "I want to push the envelope."

Israeli Raid Buys Time

There are reports from various sources today that Syria has been receiving nuclear equipment from North Korea.
The Israeli Air Force raid on the Syrian Agricultural Research building (the details of which are only now beginning to be reported) was a major blow to the hopes of the alliance between Syria and North Korea to create a new threat to both the life of Israel and peace in the world. But while we can cheer the bravery and skill of the Israeli pilots, commandos and planners who've apparently carried off this coup -- with the same daring and precision that characterized past triumphs, such as the 1981 destruction of Iraq's Osirak nuclear facility -- this should not distract us from the clear implications of a frightening reality.
Americans, who are so tired of the war in Iraq that they deplore the projection of force against Iran more than they fear Tehran's nuclear threats, must think about the implications of either Syria or Iran gaining such weaponry. The Israeli dash into Syria may have gained us all a little time, but the idea that this nightmare has been put to rest and that further action isn't needed is simply a delusion.

Wikipedia no-nothings

Recently I posted an opinion, bolstered by facts, about Islam.
Some left wing kooks on "wikipedia" were discussing it in their usual limp-wristed, all creeds and behaviours are equal, way that they do.
I had to laugh, but it's numbskulls like those on wikipedia that truly threaten our way of life.
They probably are blissfully unaware about the nature of Islam. They don't know that Over half of all convicted rapists in Denmark are Muslims even though Muslim immigrants constitute hardly five percent of the Danish population.
The situation is similar in other Scandinavian countries, too. France ,Britain,the Netherlands, and practically all European countries with large Muslim populations suffer at the hands of a small minority .
A significant portion of the immigrants has not only failed ,but consciously refused to assimilate to the western culture.
Some of them are even plotting its destruction, calling for jihad against the alleged transgressors against Islam.
Many more are aching to impose Sharia on their new home countries.Considering these facts, the rapid growth of the European Muslim population might alarm those natives who value their freedoms and stable societies. The number of Muslims residing in Europe doubled from eight to sixteen million over the last decade, and, according to a UN estimate, it is increasing at the rate of one million per year . Simple demographical calculations show that societies like France, Sweden and the Netherlands could undergo a profound Islamization in just two generations because of immigration and Muslims' exceptionally high birth-rates . Currently, Malmö, which is the third largest city in Sweden, is 20% Muslim. In Rotterdam, the Muslim percentage is estimated to be as high as 45%.
Why do you rarely learn about these concerns in the mainstream media? Why is it that most voices we hear urge us only to embrace multiculturalism without reservations? Why can't people be critical of other cultures without being labeled as right-wing bigots and racists?

Lacking answers to these questions, it might be hard to understand why a prestigious Canadian law school almost expelled a student who had written a somewhat impatient rebuttal to an appraisal of Sharia in a student magazine . Equally elusive would be the explanation for the statement given by a Norwegian professor regarding the rape statistics: instead of urging local Muslims to realize that females are not to blame for rapes - sometimes an odd notion to a Muslim man according to the professor - he advised women to take "their share of responsibility for these rapes." "Norwegian women must realize that we live in a multicultural society and adapt themselves to it," he lectured. The ladies ought to compromise on their freedom to dress attractively in the professor's view. Finnish politician Ben Zyskowicz may also have been bewildered about how easily one earns the label of a xenophobe in Finland. Expressing concern about Finland's refugee situation in June, 2002, Zyskowicz proposed that genuine refugees should be more carefully separated from the opportunists who only seek to exploit Finnish social security. Minister Eva Biaudet quickly condemned her colleague's statement: if not downright racist, it was "hostile" and "dangerously close" to the European far-right population.
Those fopish morons at wikipedia need to start reading something other than the leftist manifestos they are so besotted with.

IDF Soldier Murdered, Terrorist Killed

An Israeli soldier and one Palestinian terrorist have been killed early Tuesday during intense fire exchange in a refugee camp in the West Bank.
According to a spokeswoman of the Israeli military, the trooper was badly injured during clashes with terrorists in the Ein Beit Elma refugee camp. He received medical treatment immediately after the shootout, but unfortunately, his life couldn’t be saved.
Terrorists from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and Islamic Jihad said they are responsible for the soldier’s murder, claiming to have detonated an explosive device in the settlement.
In the fire exchange an 18-year-old PFLP thug was shot and killed by Israeli forces. Local sources said he tried to get past Israeli security troops and was shot by the troopers.
Israeli ground troops, including armored vehicles swept the camp located in the west of the northern city of Nablus. Military officials said the soldiers were engaged in a “search and arrest” operation for Palestinian terror squads present on a list elaborated by the Jerusalem government.
A statement released by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said troops were deployed to the West Bank Tuesday morning “to locate and arrest terrorists who were planning to infiltrate into Israel and execute terrorist attacks.” Reportedly, several weapons, ammunition and grenades were seized during the raid.
Tuesday’s incidents come just a few hours before United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was due to arrive in the Middle East on a three-day visit. Rice will meet with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.
This is her second trip to the region since Hamas ousted Fatah security forces in mid-June and took control over Gaza. Rice’s visit is aimed at preparing the framework for a regional peace summit due to take place in November.
Since the conference was announced in July by US President George W Bush, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met regularly in order to work out divergences standing in the way of a peace agreement.

About the Arabs

There are very few things that would make me happier than to see the Arabians as a happy, peaceful, joyous people, enjoying the gifts of life and family and everything else.
Because if they were happy and joyous and peaceful everyone would be better off.
The problem is getting through to Arabians who are nice even though they have been taught from infancy to hate.
They still believe the majority of the arabian and leftist propaganda, even if, one hopes, they are not as violent as their brethren.


I've never seen anyone with the level of indoctrination that most Arabians have, be swayed by facts and logic.
But, If we can show arabians the truth, maybe we can get them to join the rest of the human race.

If not, at least we can help those who've not made up their minds yet to be aware that the level of intentional atrocities, such as beheading innocent people, torturing and intentionally murdering children, encouraging children to blow themselves up while killing and maiming as many innocent bystanders as possible and the list goes on, that this behaviour is not noble, it's not moral,
it's criminal behaviour.
I don't hate arabians, but logic indicates that the type of activities we've been discussing, i.e., sawing the heads off of innocent civilians, turning children into human bombs , etc. require suppression.
Those we call "jihadists", commit crimes of great brutality, but we often see crowds of people in arabia cheering their heinous deeds.

So I believe there are Arabs that don’t hate Jews.
But the Arabs in power, all of them, and the vast majority of Arabians, according to most estimates do hate Jews.
Their motives are expressed as sometimes not even thinly veiled, sentiments consistent with deep, violent hatred of the Jewish people.
The Israeli gov't is a human institution, therefore Israelis make mistakes, they are no doubt in the wrong in some way at a given time, the question before us, however, is are the brutal actions of the popular, in the Arab world, criminal gangs throughout Arabia and the world, and whether it is ever justifiable to perform the atrocities they routinely perform.
The photograph of an Arabian identifying himself at a checkpoint,
next to a photograph of children blown to bits, shows what many Arabians believe is a quid pro quo,
i.e.., Arabians humiliated at checkpoints have the right to blow up a disco full of children.
It’s pretty well known, that if Palestinian “militants’ had practiced civil disobedience
Instead of murder as a redress for their grievances there would now be an Arab Palestine
State.
By now, if it had been a peaceful neighbor, it would be a state blessed by peace, prosperity, and new-found ties with it’s democratic neighbor.
It would probably be the most successful state in Arabia, because of it’s proximity to and interactions with Israel.
To paraphrase Golda Meier “The Arabs will only find peace when they learn to love their children more than they hate the Jews.”