Samih Chahine
RAMADIN, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – Palestinians desperate for work in Israel will go to extremes to sneak past the West Bank barrier, but now they face a new hurdle -- army attack dogs sent to sniff them out.
Workers say the use of dogs to hunt down anyone trying to enter Israel illegally is a new phenomenon which has only been occurring for about two months. But it is a development which has quickly spread fear and anger among the worker population living in the south Hebron Hills, one of the poorest areas in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The Israeli army readily admits to using dogs in its operations in the West Bank, but says they are only brought in as a way of protecting the sprawling separation barrier from Palestinian vandals looking to create openings which would allow "terrorists" to infiltrate Israel.
"In order to prevent damage to the security fence, the IDF (army) uses a number of different measures, including the canine unit and its trained dogs, while taking appropriate precautionary measures to avoid unnecessary injury," the army said in a statement sent to AFP.
It said troops had been working with dogs in Ramadin on the southern tip of the West Bank where the barrier had been purposely damaged "to permit the passage of terrorists into Israel" but argued that the use of dogs "limits bodily injuries and obviates the use of other measures."
But Palestinian labourers tell a different story.
On May 1, which is celebrated as International Workers Day, two labourers were moderately wounded after being attacked near Ramadin.
"We were trying to cross into Israel at about 4:00 am when suddenly we saw a group of soldiers and dogs," said Munir Hushia, a 35-year-old father of six.
"They shouted at us to stop, then the dogs attacked, injuring some of us while others managed to get away," he told AFP, saying he was bitten on the hand and on other parts of his body.
Three weeks earlier, army dogs had attacked Alaa Adel al-Huarin, 22, at the same spot, breaking his hand. He had to undergo surgery in order to save his finger from being amputated.
"At about 5:00 am I got to the border to try and get through a hole in the fence when all of a sudden a dog attacked me and tried to savage my hand. When I managed to get my hand away, it bit my backside," he said.
"The soldiers were just looking on without trying to help me or trying to stop the dog," Huarin told AFP.
After doctors operated on his hand, he went to the Israeli police station in Kiryat Arba settlement to file a complaint. But instead of helping, they arrested him on suspicion of illegally entering Israel, he says.
Mohammed Abu Qaeud, 20, was also injured by a military dog in an incident which he claims was filmed by one of the soldiers on his mobile phone.
"It was about 6:00 am and I was several metres (yards) away from the wall when a dog savagely attacked me and bit my arms and my chest," he told AFP.
"I felt indescribable pain and tried to get rid of the dog but I couldn't because it was very fierce. I cried and begged the soldiers to help me but they didn't move until he finished filming."
After the attack, the soldiers took him and his friend to a nearby army camp where they interrogated them until the afternoon, he says. "Only afterwards could I go to hospital where they kept me in overnight."
Israeli human rights group B'Tselem is sceptical about the army's claim that the dogs are targeting militants bent on infiltrating the Jewish state, citing three cases in which dogs were set on unarmed Palestinians trying to cross into Israel to find casual work.
In one case, they stopped the worker then released him on the spot, B'Tselem's Sarit Michaeli told AFP, saying it would not have been the case if he was a suspected militant.
"In the two cases that we know of, where the Palestinians were actually arrested, the arrests were not under suspicion of terrorism -- they were because of suspected unlawful entry into Israel," she said.
"The Israeli military knows full well that the vast majority of people who enter are labourers and not terrorists.
"If they indeed are terrorists, they should arrest them and question them and bring them to trial rather than set dogs on them, which is completely unacceptable," she added.
B'Tselem has sent a formal letter of complaint to the army, quoting testimony from labourers alleging that in some cases the dogs did not respond to orders to stop, forcing soldiers to use an electric-shock device to calm the animals.
For the three unemployed Palestinian workers, they say they have little choice but to keep running the risks of crossing the fence because they have no other way of making money.
"This is my livelihood," says Qaeud. "I don't have a job here and the Israelis do not give us work permits.
"I don't have any other source of income, so as the sole breadwinner of the family, what else can I do?"
Comment: The dogs are effective tools for stopping illegal entry to our country. The story does not mention how many work permits are given, every day nor did it fact check the 3 stories in this piece indicating that they could not obtain a work permit. Let us be perfectly candid, a long standing tactic is for the Palestinians to misrepresent the truth as they know it will maek it into a news story and they know reporters will not verify the information.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Historical facts: Syria terrorism and war crimes - not pretty
Lebanese Forces
During the upheavals in the MidEast that started recently with demonstrations in Egypt, several statements were made by top members of the Obama administration.
Vice-President Biden refuted the notion that Mubarak was a dictator. Not what Egyptians seem to feel as they demonstrated for greater freedom but may find themselves controlled by an extremist government including the Muslim Brotherhood which is a well-organized religious and political group.
President Obama agrees that The Muslim Brotherhood should be one of the parties elected to the new Egyptian government. When the President delivered his speech in Cairo in 2009 , special invitations were extended to members of this organization.
Hamas, designated as a terrorist group by the U.S., is the Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza.
In Jan., 2011, the Muslim Students Association, in its final conference meeting this year at UCLA in Los Angeles,CA , asked the attendees to 'pledge to die in order to establish Islam in the U.S. and the world'. This was covered in The Beverly Hills Courier- not given broad publicity.
Of importance is the fact that the MSA and the Muslim Students Union that threaten Jewish students on American university campuses are funded by the Muslim Brotherhood; the danger is out in the open! Where is there strong reaction to this danger?!
Why is the American President who took an oath to protect the United States of America supporting a religious and political group whose purpose is the destruction of the U. S. and the creation of a worldwide caliphate?!
Sec'y of State Hillary Clinton called Syrian President Assad a 'reformer'. One must wonder who provided her with such deceptive information!
The following link provides additional proof that there is little understanding of the thinking process of M.E. dictators who ruthlessly maintain their power Western patience using cajoling, persuasion, incentives, etc. are signs of weakness in the eyes of those leaders. How pitiful that those who represent the U.S. are 'in the dark' about today's adversaries whose goal is the destruction of Western civilization and replacement with a worldwide caliphate including sharia law for all! Unless the lessons are quickly learned the future of the free world is in grave jeopardy.
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/05/16/michael-goodwin-wheres-tough-love-syria-hillary
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In recent weeks news reports about the uprising in Syria have revealed the harsh methods being used to suppress the rebels; hundreds have been killed by government forces. That information puts to rest the Clinton opinion that Assad is a 'reformer'; on the contrary, it is an addendum to the historical facts provided below.
Please forward the complete message.
cg
Subj: Historical Fact: Syria terrorism and war crimes .
http://www.lebaneseforces.com/blastfromthepast005.asp
Historical Fact: Syria terrorism and war crimes
At the beginning of January 1976
In Damour and Jieh, two Christian towns south of Beirut, the Palestinians and Syrians went so far as to cut the fingers of Christian children to ensure that they never would be able to pull a gun's trigger. In Damour, at least 300 inhabitants were killed and their churches profaned.
May 31, 1976
The Syrians invaded Lebanon and established their rule. The invaders pillaged the towns and villages they went through and humiliated the Lebanese population. The Syrians shelled all the regions under Muslim domination. There must have been over 500 victims, mostly civilians.
March 16, 1977
the Syrians murdered Mr. Kamal Joumblatt, they sent Druze to attack Christian villages. The result: At least 1000 people were massacred. The village of Deir Dourit was erased, with 273 dead.
February 7, 1978
hostilities started between the Lebanese Army and the Arab Force of Dissuasion, the FAD, with its Syrian majority and under the command of the Lebanese lieutenant Sami Khatib, as a result of the installation of a Syrian barrage near the Fayadieh Barracks, the seat of the Lebanese military commander of Mount Lebanon. The Syrian soldiers insisted on controlling all Lebanese military vehicles entering the Fayadieh Barracks. They shelled the residential quarters with Stalin Organs and opened fire on the barracks with MBT guns.
Mention must be made that as of that period, Sami Khatib is one of the best Syrian agents in Lebanon. He is responsible for the incarceration of thousands of Lebanese and the disappearance of hundreds of others following their torture.
June 27, 1978
Elements from the "special Syrian forces" dragged out of their beds 30 young men from the villages of Kaa and Ras_Baalbeck and executed them without any form of trial. The man who headed and completed this job was none other than the Syrian officer Ali Dib.
July 1, 1978
The civilian population of East Beirut and its suburbs were shelled by Syrian artillery and started with the residential quarters of East Beirut. The private militia of Rifaat Assad, brother of the Syrian President, circled the free regions around Beirut. The shelling lasted five days and five nights. Heavy caliber shells were used, from heavy cannon to Kaytusha rockets and including all kinds of mortars (up to 240 mm), rockets and missiles. According to some obbservers, all sorts of weapon were used, except for aerial bombing. Sixty civilians were killed and over 300 injured.
Beginning 1979
The Syrians bombed East Beirut and the adjoining Christian regions. 82, 120 and 160 mm shells fell on the targeted sectors.
August 1979
The Syrians shell the villages of Niha, Deir Bella and Douma in North Lebanon.
February 24, 1980
Mr. Selim Laouzi, owner and director of the al Hawadess revue, was kidnapped by the Syrians on the road to the Beirut airport. The mutilated and decomposed body of the journalist was found in the Aramoun forest ten days after his abduction. He was shot twice in the head after having been tortured horribly: the ribs on his right side had been crushed by repeated blows with a bar and his right arm was lacerated to the bone, from his armpit to his elbow.
July 23, 1980
Riad Taha, president of the press, was killed at Chourane (Raouchþ) by the Syrians. His car had been sprayed with bullets. Taha was hit by seven bullets in his face, the back of his head and his breast. September 4, 1981, Louis Delamarre, the French Ambassador to Lebanon was murdered by the Syrians in West Beirut. France remained indifferent to this murder.
March 1981
The towns of Zahlþ in the Bekaa and East Beirut were shelled. In Lebanon, even the Red Cross was a target for the Syrians. Sister [Nun] Marie Sophie Zoghbi was one of the Red Cross ambulance drivers since the beginning of the war. She had forced her way through the front to the south of the town of Zahlþ on the Saadnayel road. Alone at the wheel of her ambulance, she'd gone to fetch the dying in Zahlþ. The Syrians shot the vehicle, killing her on the spot. The town's hospital was eradicated by thousands of shells which fell on it during one night. Water, food, and medicines grew rarer and the corpses of some of the wounded who'd died under the shelters couldn't be evacuated. In all, the fighting had left some two hundred dead and five hundred wounded in Beirut alone. The Palestinians, too, had participated actively in the Zahlþ shelling. The Palestinian military commander was Ahmad Ismail.
February 1982
In the Syrian city of Hama, an insurrection by the Moslem Brothers was suppressed with rare brutality in modern history. The Alawite army isolated the city, cutting off any contact with the outside, and opened a ground and aerial bombing. According to Amnesty International, the Syrian military had placed rubber pipes at the entrance of buildings where insurgents were said to be hiding and pumped in poison gas. It is claimed that there were some 30,000 dead in Hama. The Alawite army attacked the entire population, both Christians and Moslems.
April 3, 1982
The murder of Yacov Barsimentov, third secretary at the Israeli Embassy in Paris. The murder was claimed by the Lebanese Revolutionary Armed Fractions (FARL), a small terrorist group created and manipulated by the Syrians.
April 22, 1982
A booby trapped car exploded Rue Marbeuf in Paris. Two Syrian diplomats were expelled, and the French Ambassador recalled for consultation.
May 24, 1982
A Syrian attack against the French Embassy in Lebanon. At eight AM on a Monday morning, Anna Comidis, secretary at the commercial service of the French Embassy in Beirut entered the gate of the compound at the wheel of her Renault R12. The car exploded at that very moment. Anna Comidis' body was shredded to pieces. Ten additional people were killed and over twenty were injured. The explosion, estimated as some fifty kilograms of inflammable fuel, was operated from a distance at the moment the car was entering the grounds of the embassy.
September 14, 1982
Syria murders the Lebanese elected president, Bechir Gemayel. The Syrians used Habib Chartouni as an assassin. The murder was perpetrated at the military HQ of the Phalangists in Achrafieh. Habib Chartouni had belonged to the pro-Syrian party the PSNS, since 1977, and was recruited by Assaad Hardane, head of the pro-Syrian party in Lebanon. Elie Hobeika, head of the Phalangist security had recruited Habib Chartouni. Hobeika acted in accordance with the Syrians. Ali Douba, chief of the Syrian intelligence services supplied Chartouni with the explosives. Chartouni received half a million Lebanese pounds (700,000 FF at the time). Twenty six people were killed in addition to Bechir Gemayel in that explosion. The Syrian consider Chartouni a hero, and they liberated him in October 1990 when they invaded the two Metn. Elias Hraoui, second post Taif president, announced ironically, following the liberation of Chartouni, that inquiry would be opened to find Gemayel's murderers.
December 1982
The Syrians destroy the town of Tripoli in Northern Lebanon. The fighting between the Sunnites of Tripoli and the Syrians started at the beginning of December. The Baal Mohsen quarter was held by the Syrians and their allies while the Bab Tebbanne quarter was controlled by the anti-Syrian Lebanese militia. The Syrians formed a militia loyal to them, the Arab Democratic Party, whose general secretary was Nassib Khatib, though directed by the Alawite Ali Eid. The fighting lasted three years. Tripoli had become a second Beirut.
September 1983
Over 110 villages or Christian quarters in the Chouf were ethnically cleansed of their Christian inhabitants: Throats were slit, bodies hacked apart with axes, many were burned alive over fire red, iron bars. Syrian soldiers and members of the Druze community of Lebanon took part in these massacres. Likewise, on November 8, 1982, Israeli Druze officers allowed the Lebanese Druze to massacre the Christian population in certain villages such as Kfarnabrakh, at the foot of the cedars of Mount Barouk.
Walid Joumblatt, the leader of the Lebanese Druze, gave the order to massacre the Chouf Christians.
September 1983
a commando of Khomeinist Iranians emerged from its Baalbeck hideout, arrived at Rayak in the Bekaa, and after praying at the mosque exploded a residential building inhabited by Christians, leaving behind dead and wounded. The Syrians present on the premises prevented the Lebanese Civil Defense from removing debris burying two screaming survivors.
Assayed Ahmad Al Fihri, appointed by Khomeiny to head the Hezbollah in the Middle East, is responsible for this massacre at Rayak. The Iranian ambassador in Syria, Ali Akbar Montachami, and the military attachþ, Colonel Haromi Zadem, had been placed at Al Fihri's service.
October 23, 1983
250 American soldiers and 70 French soldiers were killed at their HQs in West Beirut. Lebanese and Iranian Islamists supported by Syrian logistics headed the operation. According to certain military sources, both buildings had been packed full of dynamite, which explains the high number of casualties. France and the USA remained indifferent to these massacres. In the wake of this, the soldiers of both countries were repatriated because Beirut had turned into a dangerous city, even for the mightiest fighters of all times.
1983-1984
the Syrians shelled and lay siege to the city of Tripoli in Northern Lebanon. The overt objective was to evict the PLO Palestinians. The Syrian army had mobilized militants from Tripoli to take part in that job. According to the evidence of former Lebanese militiamen who participated in the battle on Tripoli on the side of the Syrians, the latter shelled residential zones inhabited by Lebanese civilians and where no Palestinians ever dwelled. The Lebanese militiamen who refused to take part in the destruction of their city were systematically arrested, tortured, and then executed.
February 1984
Occupation of West Beirut by Amal, the pro-Syrian Shi'ite militia. On February 6, 1984, Amal supported by Syrian troupes, attacked the Lebanese army stationed in West Beirut. The fighting left at least one hundred dead and over 400 injured. Nabih Berri, Head of Amal, and Ghazi Kanaan, commander of the Syrian forces in Lebanon, are responsible for this slaughter.
March 1985
Exodus of tens of thousands of Christians from Iklim El_Kharroub and the eastern part of Saida. The Palestinians and Lebanese Druze laid siege to, pillaged and burned over twenty Christian villages. Walid Joumblatt, Yasser Arafat and Syrian officers, planned these massacres.
January 1986
Cancellation of the tri_partite agreement by a war between Amine Gemayel's phalangists and Samir Geagea's Lebanese Forces which opposed the agreement on the one hand, and Elie Hobeika's partisans on the other hand. Hobeika found refuge among his Syrian friends.
Following the failure of the tri-partite agreement, car bombs started to appear in Beirut and its eastern suburb:
- On Tuesday, March 21, 1986, 11 hours 35, a car bomb exploded in Furn_El_Chebback (East Beirut), leaving 30 dead and at least 132 injured.
- On May 20, 1986, the French Prime Minister Chirac announced that he was in favor of strengthening ties between France and Syria. He added that a solution for Lebanon could only be found together with Syria.
- On May 21, 1986, a car bomb exploded in the Christian sector, leaving 7 dead and over 100 injured.
- On July 29, 1986, a Mercedes exploded on the Wadih Nahim Street in Ein el Remmaneh, a Beirut suburb, with 31 dead and 128 injured.
- On July 30, 1986, a booby trapped Mercedes exploded in Barbir, West Beirut. The result: 22 dead and 163 - injured. Syria and Elie Hobeika instigated these terrorist cases.
September 17, 1986
an explosion took place in the Rue de Rennes in Paris, in front of the doors of the Tati store. Three women and two men were killed, and over 52 were injured.
The French Secret Services accused Colonel Ghazi Kanaan of acting as the terrorist chief. Colonel Kanaan manipulated the killers within a framework of operations determined jointly by Iran and Lybbia under the aegis of Damascus. The operation having concluded successfully, Colonel Kanaan was promoted to the rank of General.
September 1986
Colonel Christian Gouttiþre, French military attachþ in Lebanon was killed near the French embassy in Mar Takla, in the region of East Beirut. In Damascus, far more rapidly than was their custom, the Syrians hastened to condemn the murder of the French military attachþ.
1987
The provocation of the Druze-Shi'ite inter-faith war and the occupation of West Beirut. Since the beginning of 1987, the tension between Joumblatt and Berri was reaching its apex. For over a year, the two rival militias shared everything in West Beirut, thefts, racketeering and crimes. This tension culminated in the most violent fighting ever seen in West Beirut. These fights, well orchestrated by the Syrians, lasted for a long time, with neither of the two militias managing to gain the upper hand. The Syrians entered West Beirut in February 1987. The Lebanese Prime Minister Salim Hoss and other political and Moslem religious leaders approved the Syrian decision, preferring an Arab army to the Lebanese Army. Hafez el Assad later got rid of the Sunnite Mufti Hassan Khaled on the day the Mufti requested the Syrians to leave Lebanon. The Syrian secret services placed 200 kgs of explosives under his car.
On May 8, 1988
An inter-Shi'ite war is provoked between Amal and Hezbollah. The fighting lasted three weeks, in the course of which the Amal militia, financed and manipulated by Damascus, collapsed before the rival militia. This war enabled the Syrians to deploy their forces in the southern Shi'ite suburb of Beirut, having done so a year before in the western suburb.
March 1989
The Syrians shell the eastern regions of Beirut. At the end of February 1989, the Lebanese Prime Minister, General Michel Aoun, decides to close all the illegal ports in Lebanon that allow for drug traffic. The Syrian response was rapid: A shelling of the regions controlled by the Lebanese army, with an average of 6000 shells per day. The Syrian forces used for this fight totaled about 20,000 men who were under the command of Generals Gazi Kanaan and Ali Hammoud.
The Syrians killed the Spanish ambassador to Lebanon.
In their wild shelling of the Lebanese population, the Syrian hit the residence of Mr. Pedro Manuel de Aristegui, Spanish Ambassador to Lebanon. A shell exploded and destroyed the building where the diplomat's residence was located, killing the ambassador, his father-in-law, his sister-in-law, and the Lebanese writer Toufic Youssef Aouad. Despite the confirmation that the 240 mm shell had come from the Syrian lines, the official circles in Madrid refused to accuse the Syrians.
November 22, 1989
It was 13 hours 50 in Beirut, when the armored Mercedes of Renþ Moawad, accompanied by Syrian soldiers was blown into pieces. Two hundred kilos of TNT had exploded under his car. In addition to Moawad, 17 Syrian soldiers perished as well. It is to be noted that Renþ Moawad's wife never submitted any complaint against the Syrians. Worse still, she continues to this day to collaborate with the Syrians, her husband's murderers.
October 13, 1990
in Beirut, the Syrian Air Force begins to bomb the free regions. The bombing lasted until 14.00 hours, five hours after the surrender of the Lebanese Prime Minister.
October 13, 1990
The Syrians liquidated the Sayah family in the village of Bsous.
Coletter Sayah, aged 18, awoke one morning to the noise of Syrian airplanes. The Sayah family hastened to take shelter in a ground floor room. Shortly before 8 AM, Colette heard the first bursts of an automatic and the rumble of tanks in the village streets. Outside, men were shouting: "Out! Out! You dogs, you!" One by one, the members of the Sayah family left their shelter. In the street, in the house, there were many tens of Syrian soldiers. They took away Colette, her mother and her aunts into an adjoining building under construction. They'd barely arrived there when they heard a series of shots.
The Syrians had just killed all the men of the family. The father and a cousin with a bullet in their heads, one of the brothers was shot through his heart. Another brother was still breathing. Colette asked them to call an ambulance, but the Syrians preferred that the boy die. He will die in his sister's arms. Emile and Joseph, the two uncles, were executed in a staircase. The corpses will lie in the middle of the road until evening, surrounded by a humming cloud of flies and bees.
The Hraoui government announced that there had been no massacres.
The massacre of Dahr al Wahch.
The people of the village of Dahr al_Wahch saw Syrian soldiers push a column of Lebanese prisoners who were walking in their shorts towards some unknown destination. A nun, a nurse at the governmental hospital of Baabda, saw the arrival of corpses and of the Red Cross ambulances. "I counted between 75 and 80, she explained. Most of them had a bullet in the back of their heads or in their mouth. The corpses still carried the mark of cords around their wrists." The rigidity of the corpses fixed their crossed arms behind their backs. They were naked, wearing only shorts. Some ten of them had their eyes gouged out, another ten had an arm or leg cut off. All had been shot in their heads. There can be no doubt about their execution.
The Hraoui government announced that there had been no massacres.
Torture "made in Syria"
All the world organizations that struggle to defend the Rights of Man have published documents about torture in Syria. The following is a document published in Geneva in May 1984 by the "Swiss Association for the Defense of the Liberties of Political Prisoners in Syria." This document, entitled "The Rights of Man in Syria" refers to the treatments reserved for political prisoners held by the Damascus secret services.
The prisoner is stripped naked.
His whole body is shaved.
Cigarette butts are extinguished over the more sensitive places of his body
They burn his scalp.
They pull out his nails.
They tie his genitals with a nylon thread that they secure to a nail on the wall after transfixing the prisoner to a ring fixed on the opposite wall. Then, one of the tormentors strikes the taut nylon thread repeatedly with a stick.
They flog the soles of a prisoner's feet with lashes of a whip, a cane, or a plastic pipe, a minimum of two hundred lashes a time.
Then, stretch out the prisoner inside a container of cold water.
They invert the prisoner into a car's tireês rim and then strike him all over (the process: they insert a leg into the middle of the tire, followed by the head and the arms in such a manner that the prisoner is bent over and immobilized in the form of a U inside the tire's circle).
They hang the prisoner by his feet with his head down.
They force the prisoner to remain standing during several days while preventing him from sitting down or falling asleep by ordering him to raise his arms fully stretched and very straight.
They force the prisoner to stand for long periods of time on one foot, administering blows each time he lowers his raised foot.
They force the prisoners to run while carrying heavy loads and sustaining blows until utterly exhausted or in a faint.
Pour all of a sudden boiling water over the prisoners.
They force the prisoner to sit on a stake.
They force the prisoner to sit on the neck of a bottle.
They subject the prisoner to electric shock by using an alternative electric current and tying the wires to the more sensitive parts of the body, especially to the genitals.
They force pump water or air into the prisoner.
They force sexual intercourse with the prisoner.
They tear out chunks of the prisoner's flesh from various parts of his body with the help of pliers.
They rope the prisoner to a car and drive it full speed until death occurs or till the victims' bodies are torn apart and then the victimês bodies are desecrated by gouging an eye or cutting an ear, the tongue, the fingers and in some cases the genitals, and by sticking them into the victim's mouth.
They force the prisoner to run around a large room surrounded by torturers who strike him with diverse instruments of torture .
Force the prisoner to drink his own urine.
They throw the prisoner into a basin of electrified water.
They tie the prisoner's genitals to prevent him from urinating after forcing him to drink diuretic liquids.
Taken from lebaneseforces.org
During the upheavals in the MidEast that started recently with demonstrations in Egypt, several statements were made by top members of the Obama administration.
Vice-President Biden refuted the notion that Mubarak was a dictator. Not what Egyptians seem to feel as they demonstrated for greater freedom but may find themselves controlled by an extremist government including the Muslim Brotherhood which is a well-organized religious and political group.
President Obama agrees that The Muslim Brotherhood should be one of the parties elected to the new Egyptian government. When the President delivered his speech in Cairo in 2009 , special invitations were extended to members of this organization.
Hamas, designated as a terrorist group by the U.S., is the Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza.
In Jan., 2011, the Muslim Students Association, in its final conference meeting this year at UCLA in Los Angeles,CA , asked the attendees to 'pledge to die in order to establish Islam in the U.S. and the world'. This was covered in The Beverly Hills Courier- not given broad publicity.
Of importance is the fact that the MSA and the Muslim Students Union that threaten Jewish students on American university campuses are funded by the Muslim Brotherhood; the danger is out in the open! Where is there strong reaction to this danger?!
Why is the American President who took an oath to protect the United States of America supporting a religious and political group whose purpose is the destruction of the U. S. and the creation of a worldwide caliphate?!
Sec'y of State Hillary Clinton called Syrian President Assad a 'reformer'. One must wonder who provided her with such deceptive information!
The following link provides additional proof that there is little understanding of the thinking process of M.E. dictators who ruthlessly maintain their power Western patience using cajoling, persuasion, incentives, etc. are signs of weakness in the eyes of those leaders. How pitiful that those who represent the U.S. are 'in the dark' about today's adversaries whose goal is the destruction of Western civilization and replacement with a worldwide caliphate including sharia law for all! Unless the lessons are quickly learned the future of the free world is in grave jeopardy.
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/05/16/michael-goodwin-wheres-tough-love-syria-hillary
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In recent weeks news reports about the uprising in Syria have revealed the harsh methods being used to suppress the rebels; hundreds have been killed by government forces. That information puts to rest the Clinton opinion that Assad is a 'reformer'; on the contrary, it is an addendum to the historical facts provided below.
Please forward the complete message.
cg
Subj: Historical Fact: Syria terrorism and war crimes .
http://www.lebaneseforces.com/blastfromthepast005.asp
Historical Fact: Syria terrorism and war crimes
At the beginning of January 1976
In Damour and Jieh, two Christian towns south of Beirut, the Palestinians and Syrians went so far as to cut the fingers of Christian children to ensure that they never would be able to pull a gun's trigger. In Damour, at least 300 inhabitants were killed and their churches profaned.
May 31, 1976
The Syrians invaded Lebanon and established their rule. The invaders pillaged the towns and villages they went through and humiliated the Lebanese population. The Syrians shelled all the regions under Muslim domination. There must have been over 500 victims, mostly civilians.
March 16, 1977
the Syrians murdered Mr. Kamal Joumblatt, they sent Druze to attack Christian villages. The result: At least 1000 people were massacred. The village of Deir Dourit was erased, with 273 dead.
February 7, 1978
hostilities started between the Lebanese Army and the Arab Force of Dissuasion, the FAD, with its Syrian majority and under the command of the Lebanese lieutenant Sami Khatib, as a result of the installation of a Syrian barrage near the Fayadieh Barracks, the seat of the Lebanese military commander of Mount Lebanon. The Syrian soldiers insisted on controlling all Lebanese military vehicles entering the Fayadieh Barracks. They shelled the residential quarters with Stalin Organs and opened fire on the barracks with MBT guns.
Mention must be made that as of that period, Sami Khatib is one of the best Syrian agents in Lebanon. He is responsible for the incarceration of thousands of Lebanese and the disappearance of hundreds of others following their torture.
June 27, 1978
Elements from the "special Syrian forces" dragged out of their beds 30 young men from the villages of Kaa and Ras_Baalbeck and executed them without any form of trial. The man who headed and completed this job was none other than the Syrian officer Ali Dib.
July 1, 1978
The civilian population of East Beirut and its suburbs were shelled by Syrian artillery and started with the residential quarters of East Beirut. The private militia of Rifaat Assad, brother of the Syrian President, circled the free regions around Beirut. The shelling lasted five days and five nights. Heavy caliber shells were used, from heavy cannon to Kaytusha rockets and including all kinds of mortars (up to 240 mm), rockets and missiles. According to some obbservers, all sorts of weapon were used, except for aerial bombing. Sixty civilians were killed and over 300 injured.
Beginning 1979
The Syrians bombed East Beirut and the adjoining Christian regions. 82, 120 and 160 mm shells fell on the targeted sectors.
August 1979
The Syrians shell the villages of Niha, Deir Bella and Douma in North Lebanon.
February 24, 1980
Mr. Selim Laouzi, owner and director of the al Hawadess revue, was kidnapped by the Syrians on the road to the Beirut airport. The mutilated and decomposed body of the journalist was found in the Aramoun forest ten days after his abduction. He was shot twice in the head after having been tortured horribly: the ribs on his right side had been crushed by repeated blows with a bar and his right arm was lacerated to the bone, from his armpit to his elbow.
July 23, 1980
Riad Taha, president of the press, was killed at Chourane (Raouchþ) by the Syrians. His car had been sprayed with bullets. Taha was hit by seven bullets in his face, the back of his head and his breast. September 4, 1981, Louis Delamarre, the French Ambassador to Lebanon was murdered by the Syrians in West Beirut. France remained indifferent to this murder.
March 1981
The towns of Zahlþ in the Bekaa and East Beirut were shelled. In Lebanon, even the Red Cross was a target for the Syrians. Sister [Nun] Marie Sophie Zoghbi was one of the Red Cross ambulance drivers since the beginning of the war. She had forced her way through the front to the south of the town of Zahlþ on the Saadnayel road. Alone at the wheel of her ambulance, she'd gone to fetch the dying in Zahlþ. The Syrians shot the vehicle, killing her on the spot. The town's hospital was eradicated by thousands of shells which fell on it during one night. Water, food, and medicines grew rarer and the corpses of some of the wounded who'd died under the shelters couldn't be evacuated. In all, the fighting had left some two hundred dead and five hundred wounded in Beirut alone. The Palestinians, too, had participated actively in the Zahlþ shelling. The Palestinian military commander was Ahmad Ismail.
February 1982
In the Syrian city of Hama, an insurrection by the Moslem Brothers was suppressed with rare brutality in modern history. The Alawite army isolated the city, cutting off any contact with the outside, and opened a ground and aerial bombing. According to Amnesty International, the Syrian military had placed rubber pipes at the entrance of buildings where insurgents were said to be hiding and pumped in poison gas. It is claimed that there were some 30,000 dead in Hama. The Alawite army attacked the entire population, both Christians and Moslems.
April 3, 1982
The murder of Yacov Barsimentov, third secretary at the Israeli Embassy in Paris. The murder was claimed by the Lebanese Revolutionary Armed Fractions (FARL), a small terrorist group created and manipulated by the Syrians.
April 22, 1982
A booby trapped car exploded Rue Marbeuf in Paris. Two Syrian diplomats were expelled, and the French Ambassador recalled for consultation.
May 24, 1982
A Syrian attack against the French Embassy in Lebanon. At eight AM on a Monday morning, Anna Comidis, secretary at the commercial service of the French Embassy in Beirut entered the gate of the compound at the wheel of her Renault R12. The car exploded at that very moment. Anna Comidis' body was shredded to pieces. Ten additional people were killed and over twenty were injured. The explosion, estimated as some fifty kilograms of inflammable fuel, was operated from a distance at the moment the car was entering the grounds of the embassy.
September 14, 1982
Syria murders the Lebanese elected president, Bechir Gemayel. The Syrians used Habib Chartouni as an assassin. The murder was perpetrated at the military HQ of the Phalangists in Achrafieh. Habib Chartouni had belonged to the pro-Syrian party the PSNS, since 1977, and was recruited by Assaad Hardane, head of the pro-Syrian party in Lebanon. Elie Hobeika, head of the Phalangist security had recruited Habib Chartouni. Hobeika acted in accordance with the Syrians. Ali Douba, chief of the Syrian intelligence services supplied Chartouni with the explosives. Chartouni received half a million Lebanese pounds (700,000 FF at the time). Twenty six people were killed in addition to Bechir Gemayel in that explosion. The Syrian consider Chartouni a hero, and they liberated him in October 1990 when they invaded the two Metn. Elias Hraoui, second post Taif president, announced ironically, following the liberation of Chartouni, that inquiry would be opened to find Gemayel's murderers.
December 1982
The Syrians destroy the town of Tripoli in Northern Lebanon. The fighting between the Sunnites of Tripoli and the Syrians started at the beginning of December. The Baal Mohsen quarter was held by the Syrians and their allies while the Bab Tebbanne quarter was controlled by the anti-Syrian Lebanese militia. The Syrians formed a militia loyal to them, the Arab Democratic Party, whose general secretary was Nassib Khatib, though directed by the Alawite Ali Eid. The fighting lasted three years. Tripoli had become a second Beirut.
September 1983
Over 110 villages or Christian quarters in the Chouf were ethnically cleansed of their Christian inhabitants: Throats were slit, bodies hacked apart with axes, many were burned alive over fire red, iron bars. Syrian soldiers and members of the Druze community of Lebanon took part in these massacres. Likewise, on November 8, 1982, Israeli Druze officers allowed the Lebanese Druze to massacre the Christian population in certain villages such as Kfarnabrakh, at the foot of the cedars of Mount Barouk.
Walid Joumblatt, the leader of the Lebanese Druze, gave the order to massacre the Chouf Christians.
September 1983
a commando of Khomeinist Iranians emerged from its Baalbeck hideout, arrived at Rayak in the Bekaa, and after praying at the mosque exploded a residential building inhabited by Christians, leaving behind dead and wounded. The Syrians present on the premises prevented the Lebanese Civil Defense from removing debris burying two screaming survivors.
Assayed Ahmad Al Fihri, appointed by Khomeiny to head the Hezbollah in the Middle East, is responsible for this massacre at Rayak. The Iranian ambassador in Syria, Ali Akbar Montachami, and the military attachþ, Colonel Haromi Zadem, had been placed at Al Fihri's service.
October 23, 1983
250 American soldiers and 70 French soldiers were killed at their HQs in West Beirut. Lebanese and Iranian Islamists supported by Syrian logistics headed the operation. According to certain military sources, both buildings had been packed full of dynamite, which explains the high number of casualties. France and the USA remained indifferent to these massacres. In the wake of this, the soldiers of both countries were repatriated because Beirut had turned into a dangerous city, even for the mightiest fighters of all times.
1983-1984
the Syrians shelled and lay siege to the city of Tripoli in Northern Lebanon. The overt objective was to evict the PLO Palestinians. The Syrian army had mobilized militants from Tripoli to take part in that job. According to the evidence of former Lebanese militiamen who participated in the battle on Tripoli on the side of the Syrians, the latter shelled residential zones inhabited by Lebanese civilians and where no Palestinians ever dwelled. The Lebanese militiamen who refused to take part in the destruction of their city were systematically arrested, tortured, and then executed.
February 1984
Occupation of West Beirut by Amal, the pro-Syrian Shi'ite militia. On February 6, 1984, Amal supported by Syrian troupes, attacked the Lebanese army stationed in West Beirut. The fighting left at least one hundred dead and over 400 injured. Nabih Berri, Head of Amal, and Ghazi Kanaan, commander of the Syrian forces in Lebanon, are responsible for this slaughter.
March 1985
Exodus of tens of thousands of Christians from Iklim El_Kharroub and the eastern part of Saida. The Palestinians and Lebanese Druze laid siege to, pillaged and burned over twenty Christian villages. Walid Joumblatt, Yasser Arafat and Syrian officers, planned these massacres.
January 1986
Cancellation of the tri_partite agreement by a war between Amine Gemayel's phalangists and Samir Geagea's Lebanese Forces which opposed the agreement on the one hand, and Elie Hobeika's partisans on the other hand. Hobeika found refuge among his Syrian friends.
Following the failure of the tri-partite agreement, car bombs started to appear in Beirut and its eastern suburb:
- On Tuesday, March 21, 1986, 11 hours 35, a car bomb exploded in Furn_El_Chebback (East Beirut), leaving 30 dead and at least 132 injured.
- On May 20, 1986, the French Prime Minister Chirac announced that he was in favor of strengthening ties between France and Syria. He added that a solution for Lebanon could only be found together with Syria.
- On May 21, 1986, a car bomb exploded in the Christian sector, leaving 7 dead and over 100 injured.
- On July 29, 1986, a Mercedes exploded on the Wadih Nahim Street in Ein el Remmaneh, a Beirut suburb, with 31 dead and 128 injured.
- On July 30, 1986, a booby trapped Mercedes exploded in Barbir, West Beirut. The result: 22 dead and 163 - injured. Syria and Elie Hobeika instigated these terrorist cases.
September 17, 1986
an explosion took place in the Rue de Rennes in Paris, in front of the doors of the Tati store. Three women and two men were killed, and over 52 were injured.
The French Secret Services accused Colonel Ghazi Kanaan of acting as the terrorist chief. Colonel Kanaan manipulated the killers within a framework of operations determined jointly by Iran and Lybbia under the aegis of Damascus. The operation having concluded successfully, Colonel Kanaan was promoted to the rank of General.
September 1986
Colonel Christian Gouttiþre, French military attachþ in Lebanon was killed near the French embassy in Mar Takla, in the region of East Beirut. In Damascus, far more rapidly than was their custom, the Syrians hastened to condemn the murder of the French military attachþ.
1987
The provocation of the Druze-Shi'ite inter-faith war and the occupation of West Beirut. Since the beginning of 1987, the tension between Joumblatt and Berri was reaching its apex. For over a year, the two rival militias shared everything in West Beirut, thefts, racketeering and crimes. This tension culminated in the most violent fighting ever seen in West Beirut. These fights, well orchestrated by the Syrians, lasted for a long time, with neither of the two militias managing to gain the upper hand. The Syrians entered West Beirut in February 1987. The Lebanese Prime Minister Salim Hoss and other political and Moslem religious leaders approved the Syrian decision, preferring an Arab army to the Lebanese Army. Hafez el Assad later got rid of the Sunnite Mufti Hassan Khaled on the day the Mufti requested the Syrians to leave Lebanon. The Syrian secret services placed 200 kgs of explosives under his car.
On May 8, 1988
An inter-Shi'ite war is provoked between Amal and Hezbollah. The fighting lasted three weeks, in the course of which the Amal militia, financed and manipulated by Damascus, collapsed before the rival militia. This war enabled the Syrians to deploy their forces in the southern Shi'ite suburb of Beirut, having done so a year before in the western suburb.
March 1989
The Syrians shell the eastern regions of Beirut. At the end of February 1989, the Lebanese Prime Minister, General Michel Aoun, decides to close all the illegal ports in Lebanon that allow for drug traffic. The Syrian response was rapid: A shelling of the regions controlled by the Lebanese army, with an average of 6000 shells per day. The Syrian forces used for this fight totaled about 20,000 men who were under the command of Generals Gazi Kanaan and Ali Hammoud.
The Syrians killed the Spanish ambassador to Lebanon.
In their wild shelling of the Lebanese population, the Syrian hit the residence of Mr. Pedro Manuel de Aristegui, Spanish Ambassador to Lebanon. A shell exploded and destroyed the building where the diplomat's residence was located, killing the ambassador, his father-in-law, his sister-in-law, and the Lebanese writer Toufic Youssef Aouad. Despite the confirmation that the 240 mm shell had come from the Syrian lines, the official circles in Madrid refused to accuse the Syrians.
November 22, 1989
It was 13 hours 50 in Beirut, when the armored Mercedes of Renþ Moawad, accompanied by Syrian soldiers was blown into pieces. Two hundred kilos of TNT had exploded under his car. In addition to Moawad, 17 Syrian soldiers perished as well. It is to be noted that Renþ Moawad's wife never submitted any complaint against the Syrians. Worse still, she continues to this day to collaborate with the Syrians, her husband's murderers.
October 13, 1990
in Beirut, the Syrian Air Force begins to bomb the free regions. The bombing lasted until 14.00 hours, five hours after the surrender of the Lebanese Prime Minister.
October 13, 1990
The Syrians liquidated the Sayah family in the village of Bsous.
Coletter Sayah, aged 18, awoke one morning to the noise of Syrian airplanes. The Sayah family hastened to take shelter in a ground floor room. Shortly before 8 AM, Colette heard the first bursts of an automatic and the rumble of tanks in the village streets. Outside, men were shouting: "Out! Out! You dogs, you!" One by one, the members of the Sayah family left their shelter. In the street, in the house, there were many tens of Syrian soldiers. They took away Colette, her mother and her aunts into an adjoining building under construction. They'd barely arrived there when they heard a series of shots.
The Syrians had just killed all the men of the family. The father and a cousin with a bullet in their heads, one of the brothers was shot through his heart. Another brother was still breathing. Colette asked them to call an ambulance, but the Syrians preferred that the boy die. He will die in his sister's arms. Emile and Joseph, the two uncles, were executed in a staircase. The corpses will lie in the middle of the road until evening, surrounded by a humming cloud of flies and bees.
The Hraoui government announced that there had been no massacres.
The massacre of Dahr al Wahch.
The people of the village of Dahr al_Wahch saw Syrian soldiers push a column of Lebanese prisoners who were walking in their shorts towards some unknown destination. A nun, a nurse at the governmental hospital of Baabda, saw the arrival of corpses and of the Red Cross ambulances. "I counted between 75 and 80, she explained. Most of them had a bullet in the back of their heads or in their mouth. The corpses still carried the mark of cords around their wrists." The rigidity of the corpses fixed their crossed arms behind their backs. They were naked, wearing only shorts. Some ten of them had their eyes gouged out, another ten had an arm or leg cut off. All had been shot in their heads. There can be no doubt about their execution.
The Hraoui government announced that there had been no massacres.
Torture "made in Syria"
All the world organizations that struggle to defend the Rights of Man have published documents about torture in Syria. The following is a document published in Geneva in May 1984 by the "Swiss Association for the Defense of the Liberties of Political Prisoners in Syria." This document, entitled "The Rights of Man in Syria" refers to the treatments reserved for political prisoners held by the Damascus secret services.
The prisoner is stripped naked.
His whole body is shaved.
Cigarette butts are extinguished over the more sensitive places of his body
They burn his scalp.
They pull out his nails.
They tie his genitals with a nylon thread that they secure to a nail on the wall after transfixing the prisoner to a ring fixed on the opposite wall. Then, one of the tormentors strikes the taut nylon thread repeatedly with a stick.
They flog the soles of a prisoner's feet with lashes of a whip, a cane, or a plastic pipe, a minimum of two hundred lashes a time.
Then, stretch out the prisoner inside a container of cold water.
They invert the prisoner into a car's tireês rim and then strike him all over (the process: they insert a leg into the middle of the tire, followed by the head and the arms in such a manner that the prisoner is bent over and immobilized in the form of a U inside the tire's circle).
They hang the prisoner by his feet with his head down.
They force the prisoner to remain standing during several days while preventing him from sitting down or falling asleep by ordering him to raise his arms fully stretched and very straight.
They force the prisoner to stand for long periods of time on one foot, administering blows each time he lowers his raised foot.
They force the prisoners to run while carrying heavy loads and sustaining blows until utterly exhausted or in a faint.
Pour all of a sudden boiling water over the prisoners.
They force the prisoner to sit on a stake.
They force the prisoner to sit on the neck of a bottle.
They subject the prisoner to electric shock by using an alternative electric current and tying the wires to the more sensitive parts of the body, especially to the genitals.
They force pump water or air into the prisoner.
They force sexual intercourse with the prisoner.
They tear out chunks of the prisoner's flesh from various parts of his body with the help of pliers.
They rope the prisoner to a car and drive it full speed until death occurs or till the victims' bodies are torn apart and then the victimês bodies are desecrated by gouging an eye or cutting an ear, the tongue, the fingers and in some cases the genitals, and by sticking them into the victim's mouth.
They force the prisoner to run around a large room surrounded by torturers who strike him with diverse instruments of torture .
Force the prisoner to drink his own urine.
They throw the prisoner into a basin of electrified water.
They tie the prisoner's genitals to prevent him from urinating after forcing him to drink diuretic liquids.
Taken from lebaneseforces.org
Monday, May 16, 2011
Song on PA TV: Jaffa, Acre, Haifa and Nazareth are Palestinian
Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
Two days before Palestinian "Nakba Day" - "Catastrophe Day" - the day Palestinian Authority mourns Israel's establishment, PA TV broadcast a song which reiterates Palestinian denial of Israel's right to exist. "Jaffa, Acre, Haifa, and Nazareth are ours," states the song On the way to Jerusalem by Muhammad Kabha. The song identifies numerous cities all over Israel, claiming they are "Palestinian."The music video shows scenes from places in Israel and a repeating image is of a boy carrying a Palestinian flag.
Click here to view
The following are the words of the song:
"Jaffa, Acre, Haifa, and Nazareth are ours.
[ I ], Muhammad, sing about the Galilee and the Golan (Heights).
Jaffa, Acre, Haifa and Nazareth are ours.
[ I ], Kabha, sing about the Galilee and the Golan (Heights).
From Bethlehem to Jenin is Palestinian,
Ramle, Lod and Sakhnin are Palestinian.
Nowhere is more beautiful than Jerusalem;
no matter how much we travel
From Safed to Al-Badhan (near Nablus) is Palestinian;
Tiberias and Ashkelon are Palestinian."
[PA TV (Fatah), May 13, 2011]
Note: Jaffa, Acre, Haifa, Nazareth, the Galilee, the Golan Heights, Lod, Ramle, Jerusalem, Safed, Tiberias and Ashkelon are Israeli cities and places.
This is just one more example of how the PA routinely defines Israeli cities and places as "Palestinian."
Palestine's German friends
Op-ed: German politicians make Israel a whipping boy for all Mideast problems
Benjamin Weinthal
The major media outlets reported this week that the German government and its fully-owned Deutsche Bahn railway company terminated participation in a long-planned Israeli rapid rail project from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem because the train line will traverse a small section of disputed West Bank territory.
Succumbing to pressure from pro-Palestinian ministers of parliament, German transport minister Peter Ramsauer noted that “in recent weeks, Palestinian foreign affairs Minister Malki, members of the German Parliament and media have criticized a project in which DB International is acting as advisor to Israel’s state-run Israel Railway.”
“This Israeli railway project which runs through occupied territory is problematic from a foreign policy standpoint and is potentially against international law,” Ramsauer added. Ramsauer fails to understand that the territory in the West Bank falls under the rubric of disputed and is part-and-parcel of a bargaining peace process between Israel's government and the Palestinian Authority. Former US Ambassador to the UN Madeleine Albright neatly captured the disputed territory situation in March 1994: "We simply do not support the description of the territories occupied by Israel in the 1967 War as occupied Palestinian territory."
A letter from transportation ministry state secretary Enak Ferlemann, a member of the Christian Democratic Union party, showed how little daylight exists between Ramsauer, who is one of the top heads of the Christian Social Union party, and Left Party MP Inge Höger, known for her extreme disapproval of Israel.
Both Höger and Ramsauer claim that the rail project “potentially” violates international law in disputed West Bank territory. Last month, Höger blamed the Israeli government for the deaths of two pro-Palestinian activists because their murders could deal a “serious blow” to the slated June Gaza Flotilla.
While Hamas authorities arrested radical Salafists for the murder of Vittorio Arrigoni in the Gaza Strip on April 15, the killers of Palestinian Israeli filmmaker Juliano Mer-Khamis, who was murdered in Jenin on April 4, have not been apprehended. Höger's vile anti-Jewish and anti-Israel conspiracy theory prompted hardly any criticism from her fellow members of parliament. She was also aboard the Mavi Marmara when it violated the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza.
On that occasion, too, the Christian Democratic and Christian Social Union parties found common cause with Höger’s unfailingly anti-Israel Left Party, excoriating the Jewish state in a Bundestag resolution for intercepting a ship sponsored by the known terrorist group IHH. Phillip Missfelder, an MP from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s own Christian Democratic Union party, declared his solidarity with Left Party MP Wolfgang Gehrcke, who has attended Hezbollah and Hamas rallies.
“Even if the impression often arises in outside portrayals that the Left Party has a fundamentally different opinion, I do believe, Mr. Gehrcke, that the statements you have made at various times leave no doubt that you find yourself on similar, common ground as us,” said Missfelder about the cross-party resolution criticizing Israel’s “violation of the principle of proportionality.”
In the wake of the decision by the Germany transportation agency and Deutsche Bahn, the boycott efforts just keep coming. In April, the German Left Party branch in the city of Duisburg posted a flyer on its website with a swastika morphing into a Star of David, and called for a boycott of Israeli products. “Confront the moral blackmail of the so-called Holocaust,” states the flyer, calling Israel a “rogue state” and “warmonger.”
In March, a group called the “Bremer Peace Forum” in the northern Germany city of Bremen - with support of the local Left Party website - staged protests in front of supermarkets urging Germans to boycott Israeli products.
In May, the mayor of Wuppertal, Christian Democratic Union member Peter Jung, agreed to rent a city-funded and owned center to Hamas-related terror groups. The cooperating sponsors of the conference included the Palestinian Return Centre - London, a group with strong ties to Hamas, according to Berlin's domestic intelligence agency (Office for the Protection of the Constitution), which lists the group under the rubric “regional violent Islamic practitioners – Hamas.”
Jung and the local city council ended up hosting an anti-Semitic hate festival, which attracted thousands of pro-Hamas activists. The head of the local Wuppertal Jewish community, Leonid Goldberg, termed Jung's conduct “shameful.”
The German government's decision to recoil from the high-speed rail project is nothing short of a shot in the arm for the haters of Israel. What is most unsettling is that German efforts to make Israel a whipping boy for all the problems of the Middle East span the country’s entire political spectrum.
Benjamin Weinthal is a fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Benjamin Weinthal
The major media outlets reported this week that the German government and its fully-owned Deutsche Bahn railway company terminated participation in a long-planned Israeli rapid rail project from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem because the train line will traverse a small section of disputed West Bank territory.
Succumbing to pressure from pro-Palestinian ministers of parliament, German transport minister Peter Ramsauer noted that “in recent weeks, Palestinian foreign affairs Minister Malki, members of the German Parliament and media have criticized a project in which DB International is acting as advisor to Israel’s state-run Israel Railway.”
“This Israeli railway project which runs through occupied territory is problematic from a foreign policy standpoint and is potentially against international law,” Ramsauer added. Ramsauer fails to understand that the territory in the West Bank falls under the rubric of disputed and is part-and-parcel of a bargaining peace process between Israel's government and the Palestinian Authority. Former US Ambassador to the UN Madeleine Albright neatly captured the disputed territory situation in March 1994: "We simply do not support the description of the territories occupied by Israel in the 1967 War as occupied Palestinian territory."
A letter from transportation ministry state secretary Enak Ferlemann, a member of the Christian Democratic Union party, showed how little daylight exists between Ramsauer, who is one of the top heads of the Christian Social Union party, and Left Party MP Inge Höger, known for her extreme disapproval of Israel.
Both Höger and Ramsauer claim that the rail project “potentially” violates international law in disputed West Bank territory. Last month, Höger blamed the Israeli government for the deaths of two pro-Palestinian activists because their murders could deal a “serious blow” to the slated June Gaza Flotilla.
While Hamas authorities arrested radical Salafists for the murder of Vittorio Arrigoni in the Gaza Strip on April 15, the killers of Palestinian Israeli filmmaker Juliano Mer-Khamis, who was murdered in Jenin on April 4, have not been apprehended. Höger's vile anti-Jewish and anti-Israel conspiracy theory prompted hardly any criticism from her fellow members of parliament. She was also aboard the Mavi Marmara when it violated the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza.
On that occasion, too, the Christian Democratic and Christian Social Union parties found common cause with Höger’s unfailingly anti-Israel Left Party, excoriating the Jewish state in a Bundestag resolution for intercepting a ship sponsored by the known terrorist group IHH. Phillip Missfelder, an MP from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s own Christian Democratic Union party, declared his solidarity with Left Party MP Wolfgang Gehrcke, who has attended Hezbollah and Hamas rallies.
“Even if the impression often arises in outside portrayals that the Left Party has a fundamentally different opinion, I do believe, Mr. Gehrcke, that the statements you have made at various times leave no doubt that you find yourself on similar, common ground as us,” said Missfelder about the cross-party resolution criticizing Israel’s “violation of the principle of proportionality.”
In the wake of the decision by the Germany transportation agency and Deutsche Bahn, the boycott efforts just keep coming. In April, the German Left Party branch in the city of Duisburg posted a flyer on its website with a swastika morphing into a Star of David, and called for a boycott of Israeli products. “Confront the moral blackmail of the so-called Holocaust,” states the flyer, calling Israel a “rogue state” and “warmonger.”
In March, a group called the “Bremer Peace Forum” in the northern Germany city of Bremen - with support of the local Left Party website - staged protests in front of supermarkets urging Germans to boycott Israeli products.
In May, the mayor of Wuppertal, Christian Democratic Union member Peter Jung, agreed to rent a city-funded and owned center to Hamas-related terror groups. The cooperating sponsors of the conference included the Palestinian Return Centre - London, a group with strong ties to Hamas, according to Berlin's domestic intelligence agency (Office for the Protection of the Constitution), which lists the group under the rubric “regional violent Islamic practitioners – Hamas.”
Jung and the local city council ended up hosting an anti-Semitic hate festival, which attracted thousands of pro-Hamas activists. The head of the local Wuppertal Jewish community, Leonid Goldberg, termed Jung's conduct “shameful.”
The German government's decision to recoil from the high-speed rail project is nothing short of a shot in the arm for the haters of Israel. What is most unsettling is that German efforts to make Israel a whipping boy for all the problems of the Middle East span the country’s entire political spectrum.
Benjamin Weinthal is a fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Sunday, May 15, 2011
THE DECLARATION OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL: MAY 14, 1948
"ACCORDINGLY WE, MEMBERS OF THE PEOPLE'S COUNCIL, REPRESENTATIVES OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF ERETZ-ISRAEL AND OF THE ZIONIST MOVEMENT, ARE HERE ASSEMBLED ON THE DAY OF THE TERMINATION OF THE BRITISH MANDATE OVER ERETZ-ISRAEL AND, BY VIRTUE OF OUR NATURAL AND HISTORIC RIGHT AND ON THE STRENGTH OF THE RESOLUTION OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY, HEREBY DECLARE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A JEWISH STATE IN ERETZ-ISRAEL, TO BE KNOWN AS THE STATE OF ISRAEL."
"PLACING OUR TRUST IN THE "ROCK OF ISRAEL", WE AFFIX OUR SIGNATURES TO THIS PROCLAMATION AT THIS SESSION OF THE PROVISIONAL COUNCIL OF STATE, ON THE SOIL OF THE HOMELAND, IN THE CITY OF TEL-AVIV, ON THIS SABBATH EVE, THE 5TH DAY OF IYAR, 5708 (14TH MAY,1948). " David Ben-Gurion THE DECLARATION OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL
May 14, 1948
On May 14, 1948, on the day in which the British Mandate over a Palestine expired, the Jewish People’s Council gathered at the Tel Aviv Museum, and approved the following proclamation, declaring the establishment of the State of Israel. The new state was recognized that night by the United States and three days later by the USSR.
ERETZ-ISRAEL [(Hebrew) - the Land of Israel, Palestine] was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual, religious and political identity was shaped. Here they first attained to statehood, created cultural values of national and universal significance and gave to the world the eternal Book of Books.
After being forcibly exiled from their land, the people kept faith with it throughout their Dispersion and never ceased to pray and hope for their return to it and for the restoration in it of their political freedom.
Impelled by this historic and traditional attachment, Jews strove in every successive generation to re-establish themselves in their ancient homeland. In recent decades they returned in their masses. Pioneers, ma’pilim [(Hebrew) - immigrants coming to Eretz-Israel in defiance of restrictive legislation] and defenders, they made deserts bloom, revived the Hebrew language, built villages and towns, and created a thriving community controlling its own economy and culture, loving peace but knowing how to defend itself, bringing the blessings of progress to all the country’s inhabitants, and aspiring towards independent nationhood.
In the year 5657 (1897), at the summons of the spiritual father of the Jewish State, Theodore Herzl, the First Zionist Congress convened and proclaimed the right of the Jewish people to national rebirth in its own country.
This right was recognized in the Balfour Declaration of the 2nd November, 1917, and re-affirmed in the Mandate of the League of Nations which, in particular, gave international sanction to the historic connection between the Jewish people and Eretz-Israel and to the right of the Jewish people to rebuild its National Home.
The catastrophe which recently befell the Jewish people – the massacre of millions of Jews in Europe – was another clear demonstration of the urgency of solving the problem of its homelessness by re-establishing in Eretz-Israel the Jewish State, which would open the gates of the homeland wide to every Jew and confer upon the Jewish people the status of a fully privileged member of the comity of nations.
Survivors of the Nazi holocaust in Europe, as well as Jews from other parts of the world, continued to migrate to Eretz-Israel, undaunted by difficulties, restrictions and dangers, and never ceased to assert their right to a life of dignity, freedom and honest toil in their national homeland.
In the Second World War, the Jewish community of this country contributed its full share to the struggle of the freedom- and peace-loving nations against the forces of Nazi wickedness and, by the blood of its soldiers and its war effort, gained the right to be reckoned among the peoples who founded the United Nations.
On the 29th November, 1947, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution calling for the establishment of a Jewish State in Eretz-Israel; the General Assembly required the inhabitants of Eretz-Israel to take such steps as were necessary on their part for the implementation of that resolution. This recognition by the United Nations of the right of the Jewish people to establish their State is irrevocable.
This right is the natural right of the Jewish people to be masters of their own fate, like all other nations, in their own sovereign State.
ACCORDINGLY WE, MEMBERS OF THE PEOPLE’S COUNCIL, REPRESENTATIVES OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF ERETZ-ISRAEL AND OF THE ZIONIST MOVEMENT, ARE HERE ASSEMBLED ON THE DAY OF THE TERMINATION OF THE BRITISH MANDATE OVER ERETZ-ISRAEL AND, BY VIRTUE OF OUR NATURAL AND HISTORIC RIGHT AND ON THE STRENGTH OF THE RESOLUTION OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY, HEREBY DECLARE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A JEWISH STATE IN ERETZ-ISRAEL, TO BE KNOWN AS THE STATE OF ISRAEL.
WE DECLARE that, with effect from the moment of the termination of the Mandate being tonight, the eve of Sabbath, the 6th Iyar, 5708 (15th May, 1948), until the establishment of the elected, regular authorities of the State in accordance with the Constitution which shall be adopted by the Elected Constituent Assembly not later than the 1st October 1948, the People’s Council shall act as a Provisional Council of State, and its executive organ, the People’s Administration, shall be the Provisional Government of the Jewish State, to be called “Israel”.
THE STATE OF ISRAEL will be open for Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of the Exiles; it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.
THE STATE OF ISRAEL is prepared to cooperate with the agencies and representatives of the United Nations in implementing the resolution of the General Assembly of the 29th November, 1947, and will take steps to bring about the economic union of the whole of Eretz-Israel.
WE APPEAL to the United Nations to assist the Jewish people in the building-up of its State and to receive the State of Israel into the comity of nations.
WE APPEAL – in the very midst of the onslaught launched against us now for months – to the Arab inhabitants of the State of Israel to preserve peace and participate in the upbuilding of the State on the basis of full and equal citizenship and due representation in all its provisional and permanent institutions.
WE EXTEND our hand to all neighbouring states and their peoples in an offer of peace and good neighbourliness, and appeal to them to establish bonds of cooperation and mutual help with the sovereign Jewish people settled in its own land. The State of Israel is prepared to do its share in a common effort for the advancement of the entire Middle East.
WE APPEAL to the Jewish people throughout the Diaspora to rally round the Jews of Eretz-Israel in the tasks of immigration and upbuilding and to stand by them in the great struggle for the realization of the age-old dream – the redemption of Israel.
PLACING OUR TRUST IN THE “ROCK OF ISRAEL”, WE AFFIX OUR SIGNATURES TO THIS PROCLAMATION AT THIS SESSION OF THE PROVISIONAL COUNCIL OF STATE, ON THE SOIL OF THE HOMELAND, IN THE CITY OF TEL-AVIV, ON THIS SABBATH EVE, THE 5TH DAY OF IYAR, 5708 (14TH MAY,1948).
David Ben-Gurion
Daniel Auster
Mordekhai Bentov
Yitzchak Ben Zvi
Eliyahu Berligne
Fritz Bernstein
Rabbi Wolf Gold
Meir Grabovsky
Yitzchak Gruenbaum
Dr. Abraham Granovsky
Eliyahu Dobkin
Meir Wilner-Kovner
Zerach Wahrhaftig
Herzl Vardi Rachel Cohen
Rabbi Kalman Kahana
Saadia Kobashi
Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Levin
Meir David Loewenstein
Zvi Luria
Golda Myerson
Nachum Nir
Zvi Segal
Rabbi Yehuda Leib Hacohen Fishman
David Zvi Pinkas
Aharon Zisling
Moshe Kolodny
Eliezer Kaplan
Abraham Katznelson
Felix Rosenblueth
David Remez
Berl Repetur
Mordekhai Shattner
Ben Zion Sternberg
Bekhor Shitreet
Moshe Shapira
Moshe Shertok
* Published in the Official Gazette, No. 1 of the 5th, Iyar, 5708 (14th May, 1948).
"PLACING OUR TRUST IN THE "ROCK OF ISRAEL", WE AFFIX OUR SIGNATURES TO THIS PROCLAMATION AT THIS SESSION OF THE PROVISIONAL COUNCIL OF STATE, ON THE SOIL OF THE HOMELAND, IN THE CITY OF TEL-AVIV, ON THIS SABBATH EVE, THE 5TH DAY OF IYAR, 5708 (14TH MAY,1948). " David Ben-Gurion THE DECLARATION OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL
May 14, 1948
On May 14, 1948, on the day in which the British Mandate over a Palestine expired, the Jewish People’s Council gathered at the Tel Aviv Museum, and approved the following proclamation, declaring the establishment of the State of Israel. The new state was recognized that night by the United States and three days later by the USSR.
ERETZ-ISRAEL [(Hebrew) - the Land of Israel, Palestine] was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual, religious and political identity was shaped. Here they first attained to statehood, created cultural values of national and universal significance and gave to the world the eternal Book of Books.
After being forcibly exiled from their land, the people kept faith with it throughout their Dispersion and never ceased to pray and hope for their return to it and for the restoration in it of their political freedom.
Impelled by this historic and traditional attachment, Jews strove in every successive generation to re-establish themselves in their ancient homeland. In recent decades they returned in their masses. Pioneers, ma’pilim [(Hebrew) - immigrants coming to Eretz-Israel in defiance of restrictive legislation] and defenders, they made deserts bloom, revived the Hebrew language, built villages and towns, and created a thriving community controlling its own economy and culture, loving peace but knowing how to defend itself, bringing the blessings of progress to all the country’s inhabitants, and aspiring towards independent nationhood.
In the year 5657 (1897), at the summons of the spiritual father of the Jewish State, Theodore Herzl, the First Zionist Congress convened and proclaimed the right of the Jewish people to national rebirth in its own country.
This right was recognized in the Balfour Declaration of the 2nd November, 1917, and re-affirmed in the Mandate of the League of Nations which, in particular, gave international sanction to the historic connection between the Jewish people and Eretz-Israel and to the right of the Jewish people to rebuild its National Home.
The catastrophe which recently befell the Jewish people – the massacre of millions of Jews in Europe – was another clear demonstration of the urgency of solving the problem of its homelessness by re-establishing in Eretz-Israel the Jewish State, which would open the gates of the homeland wide to every Jew and confer upon the Jewish people the status of a fully privileged member of the comity of nations.
Survivors of the Nazi holocaust in Europe, as well as Jews from other parts of the world, continued to migrate to Eretz-Israel, undaunted by difficulties, restrictions and dangers, and never ceased to assert their right to a life of dignity, freedom and honest toil in their national homeland.
In the Second World War, the Jewish community of this country contributed its full share to the struggle of the freedom- and peace-loving nations against the forces of Nazi wickedness and, by the blood of its soldiers and its war effort, gained the right to be reckoned among the peoples who founded the United Nations.
On the 29th November, 1947, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution calling for the establishment of a Jewish State in Eretz-Israel; the General Assembly required the inhabitants of Eretz-Israel to take such steps as were necessary on their part for the implementation of that resolution. This recognition by the United Nations of the right of the Jewish people to establish their State is irrevocable.
This right is the natural right of the Jewish people to be masters of their own fate, like all other nations, in their own sovereign State.
ACCORDINGLY WE, MEMBERS OF THE PEOPLE’S COUNCIL, REPRESENTATIVES OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF ERETZ-ISRAEL AND OF THE ZIONIST MOVEMENT, ARE HERE ASSEMBLED ON THE DAY OF THE TERMINATION OF THE BRITISH MANDATE OVER ERETZ-ISRAEL AND, BY VIRTUE OF OUR NATURAL AND HISTORIC RIGHT AND ON THE STRENGTH OF THE RESOLUTION OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY, HEREBY DECLARE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A JEWISH STATE IN ERETZ-ISRAEL, TO BE KNOWN AS THE STATE OF ISRAEL.
WE DECLARE that, with effect from the moment of the termination of the Mandate being tonight, the eve of Sabbath, the 6th Iyar, 5708 (15th May, 1948), until the establishment of the elected, regular authorities of the State in accordance with the Constitution which shall be adopted by the Elected Constituent Assembly not later than the 1st October 1948, the People’s Council shall act as a Provisional Council of State, and its executive organ, the People’s Administration, shall be the Provisional Government of the Jewish State, to be called “Israel”.
THE STATE OF ISRAEL will be open for Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of the Exiles; it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.
THE STATE OF ISRAEL is prepared to cooperate with the agencies and representatives of the United Nations in implementing the resolution of the General Assembly of the 29th November, 1947, and will take steps to bring about the economic union of the whole of Eretz-Israel.
WE APPEAL to the United Nations to assist the Jewish people in the building-up of its State and to receive the State of Israel into the comity of nations.
WE APPEAL – in the very midst of the onslaught launched against us now for months – to the Arab inhabitants of the State of Israel to preserve peace and participate in the upbuilding of the State on the basis of full and equal citizenship and due representation in all its provisional and permanent institutions.
WE EXTEND our hand to all neighbouring states and their peoples in an offer of peace and good neighbourliness, and appeal to them to establish bonds of cooperation and mutual help with the sovereign Jewish people settled in its own land. The State of Israel is prepared to do its share in a common effort for the advancement of the entire Middle East.
WE APPEAL to the Jewish people throughout the Diaspora to rally round the Jews of Eretz-Israel in the tasks of immigration and upbuilding and to stand by them in the great struggle for the realization of the age-old dream – the redemption of Israel.
PLACING OUR TRUST IN THE “ROCK OF ISRAEL”, WE AFFIX OUR SIGNATURES TO THIS PROCLAMATION AT THIS SESSION OF THE PROVISIONAL COUNCIL OF STATE, ON THE SOIL OF THE HOMELAND, IN THE CITY OF TEL-AVIV, ON THIS SABBATH EVE, THE 5TH DAY OF IYAR, 5708 (14TH MAY,1948).
David Ben-Gurion
Daniel Auster
Mordekhai Bentov
Yitzchak Ben Zvi
Eliyahu Berligne
Fritz Bernstein
Rabbi Wolf Gold
Meir Grabovsky
Yitzchak Gruenbaum
Dr. Abraham Granovsky
Eliyahu Dobkin
Meir Wilner-Kovner
Zerach Wahrhaftig
Herzl Vardi Rachel Cohen
Rabbi Kalman Kahana
Saadia Kobashi
Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Levin
Meir David Loewenstein
Zvi Luria
Golda Myerson
Nachum Nir
Zvi Segal
Rabbi Yehuda Leib Hacohen Fishman
David Zvi Pinkas
Aharon Zisling
Moshe Kolodny
Eliezer Kaplan
Abraham Katznelson
Felix Rosenblueth
David Remez
Berl Repetur
Mordekhai Shattner
Ben Zion Sternberg
Bekhor Shitreet
Moshe Shapira
Moshe Shertok
* Published in the Official Gazette, No. 1 of the 5th, Iyar, 5708 (14th May, 1948).
Motzei Shabbat (After Shabbat)
Arlene Kushner
"The Special Strength of Israel"
I write often about Israel's strength, and the astounding and unique courage of her people.
But it's one thing to write about it, and another to provide a demonstration of this courage by one extraordinary individual: in this case, Miriam Peretz. And so, this motzei Shabbat I am simply going to offer a link to a video. It was taken at the 2008 Friends of the IDF dinner, I believe in NYC, and was just recently put up on YouTube. (I thank Margy P. for calling it to my attention.)
This, my friends, is why Israel will prevail. The world understands us very little indeed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WWdqhg_t_I
~~~~~~~~~~
© Arlene Kushner. This material is produced by Arlene Kushner, functioning as an independent journalist. Permission is granted for it to be reproduced only with proper attribution.
"The Special Strength of Israel"
I write often about Israel's strength, and the astounding and unique courage of her people.
But it's one thing to write about it, and another to provide a demonstration of this courage by one extraordinary individual: in this case, Miriam Peretz. And so, this motzei Shabbat I am simply going to offer a link to a video. It was taken at the 2008 Friends of the IDF dinner, I believe in NYC, and was just recently put up on YouTube. (I thank Margy P. for calling it to my attention.)
This, my friends, is why Israel will prevail. The world understands us very little indeed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WWdqhg_t_I
~~~~~~~~~~
© Arlene Kushner. This material is produced by Arlene Kushner, functioning as an independent journalist. Permission is granted for it to be reproduced only with proper attribution.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Israel’s Independence Day
Ari Bessel
In Babi-Yar, Kiev, tens of thousands of Jews were murdered for being Jewish exactly 70 years ago.
A small plaque erected 30 years ago dedicates a forest in Israel to their memory. I noticed it as we were departing the Independence Day picnic.
Today Israel is 63 year old. Those who are determined to extend Israel the honor she deserves say she is actually 3,063 year old. Israel is a modern country with a very long and rich history.
There are 7,746,000 people living in the Jewish State, two percent more than last year. The 5.8M of Israel’s population who are Jewish showed a slight decline over last year, 1.6M are a growing population of Arabs and 320,000 not registered as Jewish with the Ministry of Interior. Once there were Independence Day parades by the Israel Defense Forces, but these stopped 38 years ago. So how does Israel celebrate her birthday today?
How does any one of us celebrate one’s birthday? Birthday wishes. Maybe a special lunch or dinner at a favorite restaurant, including a “surprise” cake with a candle. Presents. A friend of mine likes to give others presents on her birthday, which for her is the greatest gift.
In Israel, the Fifth Day of the Month of Iyar, Israel’s Independence Day, is very special. It is the day that unites all Israelis, Jews and non-Jews alike, in a unique celebration of existence. Their Israel is the country and a home to call their own, and the only Jewish state to ever exist.
It was Friday, May 14th, 1948. Israel was officially declared at the home of Dizingoff, the Mayor of Tel Aviv. It was not possible to do so in occupied Jerusalem, the Jewish People’s eternal capital. The new country, so long in the making (essentially for half a century by the League of Nations, subject to negotiations between the British and the Arabs, etc.), was immediately attacked.
President Shimon Peres talked about that time:
“Facing armies from Egypt, Syria and Jordan, Israel stood on her own. Isolated and united. Kibbutz members and yeshiva students. Religious and secular. Druze, Muslim, Circassian, and Christian. City-dwellers and those from the countryside. Sephardim and Ashkenazim. Left and right.
“The heavy fighting did not differentiate between them. The enemy's bullets, that wounded their comrades in bloody battles, could not differentiate between our sons.
“We didn't seek war. It was imposed upon us. But when we were attacked, we didn't have the possibility to loose, even one war. And when we won, we returned to seek peace.
“Israel is as strong as ever. We were the first in the world to have an ‘Iron Dome’ that can stop missiles. We have the ability to fly to the heights of space, to dive to the depths of the ocean, and to create a viewing eye not only on our borders but also onto new vistas.
“Wars broke out because the attackers were not aware of Israel's hidden strength. Today, as well, I suggest to those that are looking for war—do not make the same mistake again. Do not overlook our hidden abilities.
“Israel's strength lies in her justness. We are prepared to physically defend our land, and morally to defend our heritage.
“The Israeli spirit has a talent to overcome any situation and to prepare for tomorrow.
“At my age I remember hard days and threatening crises. I firmly believe that our spirit has never been broken. We were justified. What seemed like an impossible dream in the first days, is today an amazing reality that is beyond imagination.
“I often wonder if we could ask David Ben Gurion if now is the time to dream again. To dream big. He would have responded that the previous dream was too small. Reality has overtaken it. Now is the time to dream again.”
Now 63 years have passed, and Israel is threatened even more than in 1948. Then the probability of survival was miniscule. Today, the probability of a decisive win is very low (non-existent in fact) according to Meir Dagan, Israel’s recently retired head of Mossad.
Before every major holiday, non-Israeli-Arabs are not permitted into Israel other than for medical emergencies or on a specific, case-by-case basis. Israel becomes, for a short while, what it truly should be, a state for her Jewish and non-Jewish citizens. All others who do not want to be here, do not want Israel to be here, refuse to recognize Israel or think that the very idea of a Jewish State is an abomination, are kept out. Finally, a two-state solution in real time.
Today I felt what “two states for two people” really mean. Israel, free and independent, her enemies kept out, not allowed to enter or to be here. Israel not depending on her enemies to work the land or in construction – making it clear an enemy who wants to destroy her is not welcome in her midst. Soldiers and police officers protecting the population abound. A powerful defense force, ready and able to protect the land and citizens of Israel against any threat.
It is truly a time to decide: Israeli Arabs and other minorities, if you like the status quo of being equal citizens and are willing to remain loyal citizens of the State of Israel, stay, otherwise, this is not your place.
Now you must realize: If you call for and act to destroy the Jewish State, Israel will fight back. Your place is not here, not anywhere in Israel. You are not welcome in Israeli hospitals for treatment, you are not entitled to an Israeli supply of electricity or other “humanitarian aid” and you should be disconnected from the State.
As long as you burn Israeli products and commodities, call for boycotts, to divest from and sanction Israel, her institutions and citizens and prepare to go to war against her, incite your children and youth against Jews and amass military power to be used at the earliest opportunity, Israel is no partner for you.
This is not a game so stay away. Israel is a country both ancient and modern that seeks to live in peace, but surrounded by enemies who await a green light from Iran to attack. They care nothing for life and will stop at nothing before the brutal end.
They have already started burning products, anxious for a modern-day Kristallnacht to turn into burning people. The time is short and the world seems to be happily waiting, even eager to participate.
In the midst of looming threats, how does Israel celebrate her birthday?
Yesterday, on the eve of the holiday, performances were held at major squares across the country. Free of charge, they attracted the public, and many included fireworks. A national ceremony was broadcast from Jerusalem, so those who preferred to stay at home were able to savor the moment on TV.
Even the weather cooperated as the multitudes walked the streets greeted by Israeli flags from every balcony and every car. Children sprayed foam (like shaving cream) on each other and hit each other playfully with inflatable hammers.
On the day itself, 1.5 million Israelis converged on the Sea of Galilee and on the national parks. Many others visited heritage sites and army bases. There were continuous ceremonies broadcast live from the President’s Mansion and various locations. The Israeli Air and Naval Forces saluted from up above and from the Mediterranean. Israelis greeted each other with “Chag Samech” (happy holiday) and spent the day barbequing. Russians, Ethiopians, Arabs, European Jews, Oriental Jews from India, Iran, Iraq Morocco, Yemen and other Arab lands, all fully assimilated, all full citizens, all part of the fabric of Israeli society.
I saw them all at the forest where I discovered the plaque of Babi-Yar. I saw their children running, free and happy. I saw Israel liberated from her enemies, but did not fail to notice all the police officers, young men and women in uniform, carrying long guns, ready to defend the celebrating multitudes against acts of terrorism too common nowadays.
I walked around, sampling with my eyes and nose the various cuisines at makeshift tables throughout the forest. The number of groups amazed me, but even more the fact they all share a common thread: They all live in the Jewish state called Israel and are in their homeland in the Land of Israel. They raise children knowing they will have to, much like they themselves, serve in the military.
I looked around and realized that a not-so-ancient promise of “NEVER AGAIN” is indeed being kept. That today Israel is alive and well.
“Make no mistake,” I whispered. “Israel is neither weak nor will she be misled any longer. At the time of reckoning, enemies beware— Israel has no option but to win—and win she will!”
Happy Birthday Israel!
The series “Postcards from America—Postcards from Israel” by Ari Bussel and Norma Zager is a compilation of articles capturing the essence of life in America and Israel during the first two decades of the 21st Century.
The writers invite readers to view and experience an Israel and her politics through their eyes, Israel visitors rarely discover.
This point—and often—counter-point presentation is sprinkled with humor and sadness and attempts to tackle serious and relevant issues of the day. The series began in 2008, appears both in print in the USA and on numerous websites and is followed regularly by readership from around the world.
© “Postcards from America — Postcards from Israel,” May, 2011
In Babi-Yar, Kiev, tens of thousands of Jews were murdered for being Jewish exactly 70 years ago.
A small plaque erected 30 years ago dedicates a forest in Israel to their memory. I noticed it as we were departing the Independence Day picnic.
Today Israel is 63 year old. Those who are determined to extend Israel the honor she deserves say she is actually 3,063 year old. Israel is a modern country with a very long and rich history.
There are 7,746,000 people living in the Jewish State, two percent more than last year. The 5.8M of Israel’s population who are Jewish showed a slight decline over last year, 1.6M are a growing population of Arabs and 320,000 not registered as Jewish with the Ministry of Interior. Once there were Independence Day parades by the Israel Defense Forces, but these stopped 38 years ago. So how does Israel celebrate her birthday today?
How does any one of us celebrate one’s birthday? Birthday wishes. Maybe a special lunch or dinner at a favorite restaurant, including a “surprise” cake with a candle. Presents. A friend of mine likes to give others presents on her birthday, which for her is the greatest gift.
In Israel, the Fifth Day of the Month of Iyar, Israel’s Independence Day, is very special. It is the day that unites all Israelis, Jews and non-Jews alike, in a unique celebration of existence. Their Israel is the country and a home to call their own, and the only Jewish state to ever exist.
It was Friday, May 14th, 1948. Israel was officially declared at the home of Dizingoff, the Mayor of Tel Aviv. It was not possible to do so in occupied Jerusalem, the Jewish People’s eternal capital. The new country, so long in the making (essentially for half a century by the League of Nations, subject to negotiations between the British and the Arabs, etc.), was immediately attacked.
President Shimon Peres talked about that time:
“Facing armies from Egypt, Syria and Jordan, Israel stood on her own. Isolated and united. Kibbutz members and yeshiva students. Religious and secular. Druze, Muslim, Circassian, and Christian. City-dwellers and those from the countryside. Sephardim and Ashkenazim. Left and right.
“The heavy fighting did not differentiate between them. The enemy's bullets, that wounded their comrades in bloody battles, could not differentiate between our sons.
“We didn't seek war. It was imposed upon us. But when we were attacked, we didn't have the possibility to loose, even one war. And when we won, we returned to seek peace.
“Israel is as strong as ever. We were the first in the world to have an ‘Iron Dome’ that can stop missiles. We have the ability to fly to the heights of space, to dive to the depths of the ocean, and to create a viewing eye not only on our borders but also onto new vistas.
“Wars broke out because the attackers were not aware of Israel's hidden strength. Today, as well, I suggest to those that are looking for war—do not make the same mistake again. Do not overlook our hidden abilities.
“Israel's strength lies in her justness. We are prepared to physically defend our land, and morally to defend our heritage.
“The Israeli spirit has a talent to overcome any situation and to prepare for tomorrow.
“At my age I remember hard days and threatening crises. I firmly believe that our spirit has never been broken. We were justified. What seemed like an impossible dream in the first days, is today an amazing reality that is beyond imagination.
“I often wonder if we could ask David Ben Gurion if now is the time to dream again. To dream big. He would have responded that the previous dream was too small. Reality has overtaken it. Now is the time to dream again.”
Now 63 years have passed, and Israel is threatened even more than in 1948. Then the probability of survival was miniscule. Today, the probability of a decisive win is very low (non-existent in fact) according to Meir Dagan, Israel’s recently retired head of Mossad.
Before every major holiday, non-Israeli-Arabs are not permitted into Israel other than for medical emergencies or on a specific, case-by-case basis. Israel becomes, for a short while, what it truly should be, a state for her Jewish and non-Jewish citizens. All others who do not want to be here, do not want Israel to be here, refuse to recognize Israel or think that the very idea of a Jewish State is an abomination, are kept out. Finally, a two-state solution in real time.
Today I felt what “two states for two people” really mean. Israel, free and independent, her enemies kept out, not allowed to enter or to be here. Israel not depending on her enemies to work the land or in construction – making it clear an enemy who wants to destroy her is not welcome in her midst. Soldiers and police officers protecting the population abound. A powerful defense force, ready and able to protect the land and citizens of Israel against any threat.
It is truly a time to decide: Israeli Arabs and other minorities, if you like the status quo of being equal citizens and are willing to remain loyal citizens of the State of Israel, stay, otherwise, this is not your place.
Now you must realize: If you call for and act to destroy the Jewish State, Israel will fight back. Your place is not here, not anywhere in Israel. You are not welcome in Israeli hospitals for treatment, you are not entitled to an Israeli supply of electricity or other “humanitarian aid” and you should be disconnected from the State.
As long as you burn Israeli products and commodities, call for boycotts, to divest from and sanction Israel, her institutions and citizens and prepare to go to war against her, incite your children and youth against Jews and amass military power to be used at the earliest opportunity, Israel is no partner for you.
This is not a game so stay away. Israel is a country both ancient and modern that seeks to live in peace, but surrounded by enemies who await a green light from Iran to attack. They care nothing for life and will stop at nothing before the brutal end.
They have already started burning products, anxious for a modern-day Kristallnacht to turn into burning people. The time is short and the world seems to be happily waiting, even eager to participate.
In the midst of looming threats, how does Israel celebrate her birthday?
Yesterday, on the eve of the holiday, performances were held at major squares across the country. Free of charge, they attracted the public, and many included fireworks. A national ceremony was broadcast from Jerusalem, so those who preferred to stay at home were able to savor the moment on TV.
Even the weather cooperated as the multitudes walked the streets greeted by Israeli flags from every balcony and every car. Children sprayed foam (like shaving cream) on each other and hit each other playfully with inflatable hammers.
On the day itself, 1.5 million Israelis converged on the Sea of Galilee and on the national parks. Many others visited heritage sites and army bases. There were continuous ceremonies broadcast live from the President’s Mansion and various locations. The Israeli Air and Naval Forces saluted from up above and from the Mediterranean. Israelis greeted each other with “Chag Samech” (happy holiday) and spent the day barbequing. Russians, Ethiopians, Arabs, European Jews, Oriental Jews from India, Iran, Iraq Morocco, Yemen and other Arab lands, all fully assimilated, all full citizens, all part of the fabric of Israeli society.
I saw them all at the forest where I discovered the plaque of Babi-Yar. I saw their children running, free and happy. I saw Israel liberated from her enemies, but did not fail to notice all the police officers, young men and women in uniform, carrying long guns, ready to defend the celebrating multitudes against acts of terrorism too common nowadays.
I walked around, sampling with my eyes and nose the various cuisines at makeshift tables throughout the forest. The number of groups amazed me, but even more the fact they all share a common thread: They all live in the Jewish state called Israel and are in their homeland in the Land of Israel. They raise children knowing they will have to, much like they themselves, serve in the military.
I looked around and realized that a not-so-ancient promise of “NEVER AGAIN” is indeed being kept. That today Israel is alive and well.
“Make no mistake,” I whispered. “Israel is neither weak nor will she be misled any longer. At the time of reckoning, enemies beware— Israel has no option but to win—and win she will!”
Happy Birthday Israel!
The series “Postcards from America—Postcards from Israel” by Ari Bussel and Norma Zager is a compilation of articles capturing the essence of life in America and Israel during the first two decades of the 21st Century.
The writers invite readers to view and experience an Israel and her politics through their eyes, Israel visitors rarely discover.
This point—and often—counter-point presentation is sprinkled with humor and sadness and attempts to tackle serious and relevant issues of the day. The series began in 2008, appears both in print in the USA and on numerous websites and is followed regularly by readership from around the world.
© “Postcards from America — Postcards from Israel,” May, 2011
A word on CUNY, Kushner & Weisenfeld
CAROLINE GLICK
I have been meaning to write about the storm raging in New York following CUNY's board of trustees decision not to present an honorary degree to anti-Israel propagandist/faux artiste Tony Kushner but due to travels and other time killers, haven't had the opportunity. Before it is too late, I want to add my two bits to the controversy.
First, for the unititiated here is the short version. Kushner is an Israel-bashing leftist. Other Israel-bashing leftists who teach at CUNY recommended that the university honor Kushner with an honorary degree. Last week, the CUNY Board of Trustees met to consider the recommendation and due to the objections raised by trustee Jeffrey Wiesenfeld, the board decided not to accept the faculty recommendation and passed him over for the honor.
Kushner pulled out the McCarthy card. His leftist fans at the New York Times and everywhere in academia rallied to his defense and began a process of demonizing Wiesenfeld.
The university president panicked and took the unprecendented move of overturning his trustees' decision and agreed to give Kushner the honorary degree.
Now the leftist screechers are demanding that Wiesenfeld be removed from the board of trustees because by professing an opinion they don't like, he has destroyed what passes for academic freedom in their twisted little Orwellian world.
So four thoughts on this:
First Wiesenfeld is a Jewish hero and deserves the support of all good Jews and supporters of truth.
Second, the fact that the leaders of the major Jewish organizations -- almost all located in New York - have not seen fit to stand up for Wiesenfeld is a mark of shame on all of them. What their silence shows is that there is no reason to believe that they are up to the challenges of defending the Jewish community in the US on any issue of major or minor significance. Wiesenfeld is after all being demonized for the act of standing up to a maligner of Israel. That's all he did. And they cannot even muster the courage to defend him for that.
Third, the assault on Wiesenfeld should raise alarm bells for all parents in the US. It isn't just that universities are increasingly closed to critical thought regarding Israel. Their refusal to countenance the truth in the discussion of Israel -- Columbia, my alma mater just established an institute of Palestine studies. That is, Columbia just established an institute to study an imaginary country and a nation that was invented by the Soviets circa 1969 -- is a signal that they cannot study anything. What the Kushner story shows is that there is no reason for parents to believe that a college degree from most US universities today will provide their children with anything remotely resembling an education.
Finally, while I applaud and respect Wiesenfeld for standing up for what is right, the assault on him raises the issue of whether there is any point anymore to contributing money to corrupted institutions. Many philantropists argue that by funding universitities they buy the ability to influence policies and save them from the inside. But what the assault on Wiesenfeld shows is that this influence is an illusion.
It seems to me that it is far wiser for people who value education, critical thought, Israel, America and Western civilization to fund institutions and initiatives dedicated explicitly to advancing these critical causes in order to empower them to replace the corrupted institutions on the Left. This is of course the notion that propelled me to establish Latma. I'm not trying to make a pitch for money - although I might as well be, why not? If you want to contribute, click here.
But still, I am convinced that if you want to win a war of ideas you have to support your ideas and that means, strengthening those who agree with you as much as you possibly can so we can defeat the intellectual forces gunning for the destruction of our values, our countries and our way of life.
I have been meaning to write about the storm raging in New York following CUNY's board of trustees decision not to present an honorary degree to anti-Israel propagandist/faux artiste Tony Kushner but due to travels and other time killers, haven't had the opportunity. Before it is too late, I want to add my two bits to the controversy.
First, for the unititiated here is the short version. Kushner is an Israel-bashing leftist. Other Israel-bashing leftists who teach at CUNY recommended that the university honor Kushner with an honorary degree. Last week, the CUNY Board of Trustees met to consider the recommendation and due to the objections raised by trustee Jeffrey Wiesenfeld, the board decided not to accept the faculty recommendation and passed him over for the honor.
Kushner pulled out the McCarthy card. His leftist fans at the New York Times and everywhere in academia rallied to his defense and began a process of demonizing Wiesenfeld.
The university president panicked and took the unprecendented move of overturning his trustees' decision and agreed to give Kushner the honorary degree.
Now the leftist screechers are demanding that Wiesenfeld be removed from the board of trustees because by professing an opinion they don't like, he has destroyed what passes for academic freedom in their twisted little Orwellian world.
So four thoughts on this:
First Wiesenfeld is a Jewish hero and deserves the support of all good Jews and supporters of truth.
Second, the fact that the leaders of the major Jewish organizations -- almost all located in New York - have not seen fit to stand up for Wiesenfeld is a mark of shame on all of them. What their silence shows is that there is no reason to believe that they are up to the challenges of defending the Jewish community in the US on any issue of major or minor significance. Wiesenfeld is after all being demonized for the act of standing up to a maligner of Israel. That's all he did. And they cannot even muster the courage to defend him for that.
Third, the assault on Wiesenfeld should raise alarm bells for all parents in the US. It isn't just that universities are increasingly closed to critical thought regarding Israel. Their refusal to countenance the truth in the discussion of Israel -- Columbia, my alma mater just established an institute of Palestine studies. That is, Columbia just established an institute to study an imaginary country and a nation that was invented by the Soviets circa 1969 -- is a signal that they cannot study anything. What the Kushner story shows is that there is no reason for parents to believe that a college degree from most US universities today will provide their children with anything remotely resembling an education.
Finally, while I applaud and respect Wiesenfeld for standing up for what is right, the assault on him raises the issue of whether there is any point anymore to contributing money to corrupted institutions. Many philantropists argue that by funding universitities they buy the ability to influence policies and save them from the inside. But what the assault on Wiesenfeld shows is that this influence is an illusion.
It seems to me that it is far wiser for people who value education, critical thought, Israel, America and Western civilization to fund institutions and initiatives dedicated explicitly to advancing these critical causes in order to empower them to replace the corrupted institutions on the Left. This is of course the notion that propelled me to establish Latma. I'm not trying to make a pitch for money - although I might as well be, why not? If you want to contribute, click here.
But still, I am convinced that if you want to win a war of ideas you have to support your ideas and that means, strengthening those who agree with you as much as you possibly can so we can defeat the intellectual forces gunning for the destruction of our values, our countries and our way of life.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Fatah – Hamas Reconciliation?
Yisrael Ne'eman
Mid East on Target
The Fatah-Hamas rapprochement announced in April is another attempt at unifying two major conflicting trends in the Arab/Muslim world. Fatah represents the national secular approach (anthrocentrism) to state building while Hamas as the Palestinian wing of the Muslim Brotherhood views themselves as Allah's emissaries on earth and the guardians of the Divinely established religious order (diocentrism) of Islam. While professing mutual respect for each other, Muslim Brotherhood ideologues such as Sayyed Qutb consider national loyalties akin to paganism and while the Hamas Covenant expresses a certain respect for Palestinian nationalism it insists on a transformation to a strictly Islamic nationalism as one's true identity. Fatah/PLO's Palestine National Charter speaks of the Palestinian Arab People including Christians. In reality Hamas has taken on a secondary Palestinian Arab identity while Fatah through the Palestinian Authority (PA) supports Islamic content within the envisioned future state as expressed through the Palestinian Constitution. Fatah, the PLO and the PA failed in Palestinian state building under Yasir Arafat's dictatorial semi-military rule. Only in the aftermath of the Hamas capture of Gaza in 2007 did Pres. Mahmoud Abbas appoint Salam Fayyad as PM and begin to build a national and administrative state structure following a Western recipe for security and economic development. Hamas power represents the successful rise of the Muslim Brotherhood. Immediately after a declarative "coming to terms" the two sides found themselves on opposite ends of the spectrum when the Americans killed Osama bin Laden, Fatah gave praise while Hamas sharply condemned the US action and heaped praise on Al Qaeda's leader.
Commentators, whether on AlJazeera (in English) or on Israel TV are speculating that the present unity may be a result of Hamas weakness, particularly due to the recent Syrian turmoil since their external headquarters are in Damascus. This is a short term disability of little significance when compared to the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt which will prove much more of an asset to them in the long run, provided the present transitional regime in Cairo allows for their further strengthening. Estimates vary widely but the Brotherhood is expected to poll close to half the votes in the upcoming September election. It appears that the present uneasy attempt at cooperation between the Islamists and the former secular, military backed regime may prove more permanent after the elections. For both, this is the best guarantee against their common enemy - a truly liberal open democratic society as advocated by the younger, secular and more educated Facebook and Twitter generation.
On the political front, the empowerment of the Islamic movement is the most significant result of what is called "The Arab Awakening" or "Arab Spring". Hamas, fully aware of such developments will certainly move their offices to Cairo if deemed to their advantage. As opposed to the Mubarak regime, General Tantawi & Co. have announced the impending full opening of the border between Gaza and Sinai. While Hamas and Fatah are taking cues from the Egyptian example they do differ in one major respect - each controls a specific territory, Hamas rules in Gaza and Fatah in the West Bank. Instead of a power sharing arrangement as in Egypt, Fatah and Hamas are in reality advocating a dual leadership to ensure they will receive international recognition for a Palestinian State.
The state will have two completely different cantons, Islamist in Gaza and Arab nationalist in the West Bank. The two can go through the motions of ruling one entity together but need not integrate as each has a territorial holding. Local leaders will determine everyday affairs. At the moment each side is guaranteeing the existence of its adversary provided the other side remains in its allotted territory. The integration of rule by Hamas and Fatah throughout all the Palestinian territories is unlikely as is a full election process allowing the Facebook/Twitter generation to participate and highlight their litany of complaints against both movements. Hamas and Fatah can cooperate, achieve statehood and avoid all major issues in the short term. Once the UN General Assembly vote is in, even without Western support the State of Palestine will be an internationally recognized entity. This is not the Security Council where the US or anyone else can cast a veto. The immediate objective is the solidification of a dual leadership accompanied by military dominance in each of the respective territories whereby neither can capture the other's canton. Such an arrangement could prove more durable than just a short term solution.
In the near future the two movements can be expected to work for an overall internal stability. Elections may be held in a year or so but a full Western style democratic process should not be expected, yet a certain democratic façade will be noticeable. At the moment Palestinians are focusing on establishing a state, not democracy. Upon achieving their goal Fatah and Hamas will be more capable of blocking Western interference in their affairs, together they will curtail demands for a full democratic system. A Fatah – Hamas clash in the foreseeable future should not be expected, both have too much to lose.
Remaining in power will be paramount for both while they use their new political – diplomatic tool of statehood to confront Israel. The Palestinian confrontation with Israel will certainly grab the spotlight away from any internal reforms, whether they be political, economic, social or of any other type.
(The next article will deal with Israeli policy in light of the expected establishment of a Palestinian State this September.)
Mid East on Target
The Fatah-Hamas rapprochement announced in April is another attempt at unifying two major conflicting trends in the Arab/Muslim world. Fatah represents the national secular approach (anthrocentrism) to state building while Hamas as the Palestinian wing of the Muslim Brotherhood views themselves as Allah's emissaries on earth and the guardians of the Divinely established religious order (diocentrism) of Islam. While professing mutual respect for each other, Muslim Brotherhood ideologues such as Sayyed Qutb consider national loyalties akin to paganism and while the Hamas Covenant expresses a certain respect for Palestinian nationalism it insists on a transformation to a strictly Islamic nationalism as one's true identity. Fatah/PLO's Palestine National Charter speaks of the Palestinian Arab People including Christians. In reality Hamas has taken on a secondary Palestinian Arab identity while Fatah through the Palestinian Authority (PA) supports Islamic content within the envisioned future state as expressed through the Palestinian Constitution. Fatah, the PLO and the PA failed in Palestinian state building under Yasir Arafat's dictatorial semi-military rule. Only in the aftermath of the Hamas capture of Gaza in 2007 did Pres. Mahmoud Abbas appoint Salam Fayyad as PM and begin to build a national and administrative state structure following a Western recipe for security and economic development. Hamas power represents the successful rise of the Muslim Brotherhood. Immediately after a declarative "coming to terms" the two sides found themselves on opposite ends of the spectrum when the Americans killed Osama bin Laden, Fatah gave praise while Hamas sharply condemned the US action and heaped praise on Al Qaeda's leader.
Commentators, whether on AlJazeera (in English) or on Israel TV are speculating that the present unity may be a result of Hamas weakness, particularly due to the recent Syrian turmoil since their external headquarters are in Damascus. This is a short term disability of little significance when compared to the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt which will prove much more of an asset to them in the long run, provided the present transitional regime in Cairo allows for their further strengthening. Estimates vary widely but the Brotherhood is expected to poll close to half the votes in the upcoming September election. It appears that the present uneasy attempt at cooperation between the Islamists and the former secular, military backed regime may prove more permanent after the elections. For both, this is the best guarantee against their common enemy - a truly liberal open democratic society as advocated by the younger, secular and more educated Facebook and Twitter generation.
On the political front, the empowerment of the Islamic movement is the most significant result of what is called "The Arab Awakening" or "Arab Spring". Hamas, fully aware of such developments will certainly move their offices to Cairo if deemed to their advantage. As opposed to the Mubarak regime, General Tantawi & Co. have announced the impending full opening of the border between Gaza and Sinai. While Hamas and Fatah are taking cues from the Egyptian example they do differ in one major respect - each controls a specific territory, Hamas rules in Gaza and Fatah in the West Bank. Instead of a power sharing arrangement as in Egypt, Fatah and Hamas are in reality advocating a dual leadership to ensure they will receive international recognition for a Palestinian State.
The state will have two completely different cantons, Islamist in Gaza and Arab nationalist in the West Bank. The two can go through the motions of ruling one entity together but need not integrate as each has a territorial holding. Local leaders will determine everyday affairs. At the moment each side is guaranteeing the existence of its adversary provided the other side remains in its allotted territory. The integration of rule by Hamas and Fatah throughout all the Palestinian territories is unlikely as is a full election process allowing the Facebook/Twitter generation to participate and highlight their litany of complaints against both movements. Hamas and Fatah can cooperate, achieve statehood and avoid all major issues in the short term. Once the UN General Assembly vote is in, even without Western support the State of Palestine will be an internationally recognized entity. This is not the Security Council where the US or anyone else can cast a veto. The immediate objective is the solidification of a dual leadership accompanied by military dominance in each of the respective territories whereby neither can capture the other's canton. Such an arrangement could prove more durable than just a short term solution.
In the near future the two movements can be expected to work for an overall internal stability. Elections may be held in a year or so but a full Western style democratic process should not be expected, yet a certain democratic façade will be noticeable. At the moment Palestinians are focusing on establishing a state, not democracy. Upon achieving their goal Fatah and Hamas will be more capable of blocking Western interference in their affairs, together they will curtail demands for a full democratic system. A Fatah – Hamas clash in the foreseeable future should not be expected, both have too much to lose.
Remaining in power will be paramount for both while they use their new political – diplomatic tool of statehood to confront Israel. The Palestinian confrontation with Israel will certainly grab the spotlight away from any internal reforms, whether they be political, economic, social or of any other type.
(The next article will deal with Israeli policy in light of the expected establishment of a Palestinian State this September.)
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Protest a tough sell among Palestinians
The reasons for the reluctance to hit the streets, many conclude, are that Palestinians are cynical about prospects of ending the Israeli occupation and skeptical their leaders can make the difference.
Reporting from Ramallah, West Bank
Camped under a tent in what he hoped would become the Tahrir Square of the West Bank, hunger striker Iyas Sarhan reclined on a foam mattress in a pair of increasingly baggy slim-fit jeans and waited for the Palestinian revolution to begin.
Sarhan, 25, and a few his friends had vowed since late March to stay put in a downtown Ramallah intersection until the end of the Israeli occupation and reunification of the top two Palestinian factions. But for most of their five-week protest, the youths were largely ignored by the bustling horde of pedestrians and shoppers, who treated them more like beggars. "It gets frustrating," said the unemployed management systems graduate. "It's time for the young Arabs who proved themselves in other countries to do the same here in Palestine.... Where are the others?"
This week, after Fatah and Hamas declared their intention to form a unity government, Sarhan and his weary friends declared victory and went home. But as popular protests sweep through neighboring countries such as Egypt, Jordan and Syria, Palestinians have so far largely missed the so-called Arab Spring.
Most of the West Bank protests in recent months have mustered only a few hundred — sometimes a few dozen — demonstrators. Facebook pages calling for a "third intifada" and mass actions against Israel count tens of thousands of online followers. But turnout for a March 30 protest on the Palestinians' Land Day was so small that one organizer nearly quit in disgust.
Some predict that big protests could kick off this weekend when thousands of Palestinians are expected to gather as they have in the past to mark their 1948 displacement, which they call Nakba Day. Several websites have declared May 15 as the start of the next uprising. Others are looking to September, when the Palestinian Authority may seek statehood recognition from the United Nations.
But the absence so far of the kind of sustained mass demonstrations that have erupted in other Arab countries has many Palestinians, international observers and activists scratching their heads.
The reasons, many conclude, are that Palestinians — unlike idealistic youths in neighboring countries who are rising up for the first time — are cynical about the prospects of ending the Israeli occupation and skeptical that their current political leaders can make the difference.
"People are drained, emotionally and physically," said Tami Rafidi, a women's rights activist and member of the Fatah political movement. "It's not like other Arab counties. Palestinians never stopped resisting. We fought two uprisings and had 20 years of negotiations, but have achieved very little. So people are frustrated and have lost hope."
Palestinians are also divided on whether the immediate focus of protests should be confronting Israel or replacing their own leaders, activists and pollsters say. And they are skeptical about whether nonviolent techniques can work in the West Bank, where generations of youths have been raised in a culture of violent clashes with Israeli troops.
Nonviolence, says activist Ahmad Azzeh, is a hard sell.
"Even the name in Arabic has a negative image," said Azzeh, a trainer in nonviolent resistance at the Bethlehem-based Holy Land Trust, a Palestinian advocacy group. "People think of it as cowardly and submissive."
After Egyptian demonstrators in Cairo's Tahrir Square overturned the government of President Hosni Mubarak, Rafidi and some friends launched a Facebook campaign called Let's End the Occupation, which has 15,000 followers and is planning future events, such as sit-ins at Israeli checkpoints or noisy rallies to disrupt Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
But since the March 30 protest drew only a handful of people, organizers are reluctant to set a firm date for the next one. "We don't want only a few dozen people to show up," Rafidi said.
A key challenge is the growing frustration among Palestinians, and particularly the younger generation, with the political parties, including Fatah, Hamas and a few others. Nearly two-thirds of Palestinians aged 18 through 34 said they don't trust any political faction and just as many suspect that the mainstream parties are trying to exploit the youth movement for their own political purposes, according to a March survey by the Sharek Youth Forum. Many believe the recent reconciliation was driven partly by a desire of both parties to defuse rising public frustration over the Fatah-Hamas fracture.
Since many of the recent Facebook pages and protest organizations have been perceived to be aligned with particular parties, many Palestinians say they've decided to steer clear rather than be dragged into a political tug of war.
"There's inherent suspicion now about anyone making an initiative," said Fida Jiryis, a Ramallah business manager and translator who says she doesn't think popular protests will make a difference.
"What's the point?" she said. "The more times you've been let down, the less you're able to believe that things can really change."
Though Palestinians are cautiously optimistic about the unification deal signed May 4 by Fatah and Hamas, Jiryis said she believes many Palestinians are more focused on their daily lives, jobs, education and mortgages.
"People have become more economically comfortable," she said. "It makes you lose the drive to get out there and do things that endanger that status. It's a kind of numbing."
Activist Azzeh, 31, said the Palestinian resistance movement has been undercut in recent years by an Israeli strategy to ease tension in the West Bank by allowing a minimal amount of economic growth, political expression, freedom of movement and even occasional protests.
"Israel has been very smart to leave a small vent for people to express their frustration," he said. "When people have a vent to release, it makes it harder for a revolution."
Opinion polls show that although most Palestinians do not support a return to violent resistance, most still view it as an effective tool against occupation, ranking higher than peace talks, boycotts or nonviolent protests. But Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has said he will not allow another violent uprising as long as he's in power.
The differing viewpoints about strategy and priorities have left many Palestinians confused, said Jawad Siyam, director of the Wadi Hilweh Information Center in the Silwan area of East Jerusalem.
"Are we fighting against occupation? Or to end Palestinian division? Or for new elections?" he said. "We don't know where to start and where to go."
In recent months, Silwan has emerged as the latest front line in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with weekly clashes between Palestinian residents and Jewish religious groups who have moved into the Arab-dominated area.
"The third intifada has already started in Silwan," Siyam said.
Siyam says he admires the techniques used in Egypt but doesn't think the same approach would work here.
"We tried nonviolence and it doesn't work. It always ends up with clashes because Israelis provoke us."
But Rafidi of Let's End the Occupation said Palestinians have yet to fully understand and deploy nonviolent strategies, and that more time and training was needed to prepare and educate them.
"That's partly why we are delaying action," she said. "We don't want to open up some kind of confrontation."
Reporting from Ramallah, West Bank
Camped under a tent in what he hoped would become the Tahrir Square of the West Bank, hunger striker Iyas Sarhan reclined on a foam mattress in a pair of increasingly baggy slim-fit jeans and waited for the Palestinian revolution to begin.
Sarhan, 25, and a few his friends had vowed since late March to stay put in a downtown Ramallah intersection until the end of the Israeli occupation and reunification of the top two Palestinian factions. But for most of their five-week protest, the youths were largely ignored by the bustling horde of pedestrians and shoppers, who treated them more like beggars. "It gets frustrating," said the unemployed management systems graduate. "It's time for the young Arabs who proved themselves in other countries to do the same here in Palestine.... Where are the others?"
This week, after Fatah and Hamas declared their intention to form a unity government, Sarhan and his weary friends declared victory and went home. But as popular protests sweep through neighboring countries such as Egypt, Jordan and Syria, Palestinians have so far largely missed the so-called Arab Spring.
Most of the West Bank protests in recent months have mustered only a few hundred — sometimes a few dozen — demonstrators. Facebook pages calling for a "third intifada" and mass actions against Israel count tens of thousands of online followers. But turnout for a March 30 protest on the Palestinians' Land Day was so small that one organizer nearly quit in disgust.
Some predict that big protests could kick off this weekend when thousands of Palestinians are expected to gather as they have in the past to mark their 1948 displacement, which they call Nakba Day. Several websites have declared May 15 as the start of the next uprising. Others are looking to September, when the Palestinian Authority may seek statehood recognition from the United Nations.
But the absence so far of the kind of sustained mass demonstrations that have erupted in other Arab countries has many Palestinians, international observers and activists scratching their heads.
The reasons, many conclude, are that Palestinians — unlike idealistic youths in neighboring countries who are rising up for the first time — are cynical about the prospects of ending the Israeli occupation and skeptical that their current political leaders can make the difference.
"People are drained, emotionally and physically," said Tami Rafidi, a women's rights activist and member of the Fatah political movement. "It's not like other Arab counties. Palestinians never stopped resisting. We fought two uprisings and had 20 years of negotiations, but have achieved very little. So people are frustrated and have lost hope."
Palestinians are also divided on whether the immediate focus of protests should be confronting Israel or replacing their own leaders, activists and pollsters say. And they are skeptical about whether nonviolent techniques can work in the West Bank, where generations of youths have been raised in a culture of violent clashes with Israeli troops.
Nonviolence, says activist Ahmad Azzeh, is a hard sell.
"Even the name in Arabic has a negative image," said Azzeh, a trainer in nonviolent resistance at the Bethlehem-based Holy Land Trust, a Palestinian advocacy group. "People think of it as cowardly and submissive."
After Egyptian demonstrators in Cairo's Tahrir Square overturned the government of President Hosni Mubarak, Rafidi and some friends launched a Facebook campaign called Let's End the Occupation, which has 15,000 followers and is planning future events, such as sit-ins at Israeli checkpoints or noisy rallies to disrupt Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
But since the March 30 protest drew only a handful of people, organizers are reluctant to set a firm date for the next one. "We don't want only a few dozen people to show up," Rafidi said.
A key challenge is the growing frustration among Palestinians, and particularly the younger generation, with the political parties, including Fatah, Hamas and a few others. Nearly two-thirds of Palestinians aged 18 through 34 said they don't trust any political faction and just as many suspect that the mainstream parties are trying to exploit the youth movement for their own political purposes, according to a March survey by the Sharek Youth Forum. Many believe the recent reconciliation was driven partly by a desire of both parties to defuse rising public frustration over the Fatah-Hamas fracture.
Since many of the recent Facebook pages and protest organizations have been perceived to be aligned with particular parties, many Palestinians say they've decided to steer clear rather than be dragged into a political tug of war.
"There's inherent suspicion now about anyone making an initiative," said Fida Jiryis, a Ramallah business manager and translator who says she doesn't think popular protests will make a difference.
"What's the point?" she said. "The more times you've been let down, the less you're able to believe that things can really change."
Though Palestinians are cautiously optimistic about the unification deal signed May 4 by Fatah and Hamas, Jiryis said she believes many Palestinians are more focused on their daily lives, jobs, education and mortgages.
"People have become more economically comfortable," she said. "It makes you lose the drive to get out there and do things that endanger that status. It's a kind of numbing."
Activist Azzeh, 31, said the Palestinian resistance movement has been undercut in recent years by an Israeli strategy to ease tension in the West Bank by allowing a minimal amount of economic growth, political expression, freedom of movement and even occasional protests.
"Israel has been very smart to leave a small vent for people to express their frustration," he said. "When people have a vent to release, it makes it harder for a revolution."
Opinion polls show that although most Palestinians do not support a return to violent resistance, most still view it as an effective tool against occupation, ranking higher than peace talks, boycotts or nonviolent protests. But Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has said he will not allow another violent uprising as long as he's in power.
The differing viewpoints about strategy and priorities have left many Palestinians confused, said Jawad Siyam, director of the Wadi Hilweh Information Center in the Silwan area of East Jerusalem.
"Are we fighting against occupation? Or to end Palestinian division? Or for new elections?" he said. "We don't know where to start and where to go."
In recent months, Silwan has emerged as the latest front line in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with weekly clashes between Palestinian residents and Jewish religious groups who have moved into the Arab-dominated area.
"The third intifada has already started in Silwan," Siyam said.
Siyam says he admires the techniques used in Egypt but doesn't think the same approach would work here.
"We tried nonviolence and it doesn't work. It always ends up with clashes because Israelis provoke us."
But Rafidi of Let's End the Occupation said Palestinians have yet to fully understand and deploy nonviolent strategies, and that more time and training was needed to prepare and educate them.
"That's partly why we are delaying action," she said. "We don't want to open up some kind of confrontation."
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
"Special Words"
Arlene Kushner
Last night I attended services for Yom Ha'Atzmaut at my synagogue in Jerusalem. And what a service it was: with a joyous musical Hallel -- a selection of psalms of praise -- complete with guitars, tambourines, and even shofarot.
For many the celebration evoked a grateful recognition of what it means to be in the Land -- and in Jerusalem, the Holy City -- to mark the founding of the modern Jewish State. To be part of our people's historic and holy journey here is a matter of profound significance.
~~~~~~~~~~
My synagogue uses the Koren Siddur (prayerbook). In the special section for Yom Ha'Atzmaut I found commentary that was particularly insightful. I have decided to share selections with all of you. (All emphases has been added.):
~~~~~~~~~~
"Yom Ha'Atzmaut, Israel's Independence Day, marks the moment when the Jewish people recovered their independence and sovereignty after a lapse of some two thousand years. The longest exile ever endured by a people was at end...Jews had once against returned to the arena of history as a self-determining nation in the land to which Abraham journeyed in his day, and Moses and the Israelites in theirs. "The significance of Israel to Judaism is more than geographical, historical and political. It is spiritual. Israel was and is the Holy Land to which Abraham and his descendants were summoned to create a new kind of society, based on the sanctity of human life and the equal dignity of all, where they would be subject to the sovereignty of God alone, constantly conscious of the Divine Presence while striving to be true to the covenant that charged them with being 'a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.'
"...Though Jews, in the long centuries of their dispersion, were scatted over the face of the earth, only in Israel have they formed a majority and been able to rule and defend themselves. Only in Israel can a Jew speak a Jewish language, see a Jewish landscape, walk where our ancestors walked and continue the story they began. Only in Israel have Jews been able to live as a nation shaping its own destiny...
"Jews were the first to see God in history, to see the unfolding of events as a meaningful narrative, the ongoing story of the covenant between God and His people. The celebration of Yom Ha'Atzmaut as a religious festival is part of this faith. Never before had a people survived so long an exile, its identity intact. Never before had a nation that had not known sovereignty for two millennia recovered it again. Ravaged [as the Jewish people had been] by the Holocaust a mere three years earlier, the declaration of Israel's independence was a remarkable act of faith, an everlasting symbol of the victory of life over death, hope over despair.
"Some thirty-three centuries ago, Moses prophesied: 'Even if you have been dispersed to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back.' (Deut. 30:4) and so it happened. If, as we believe, there are events that bear the signature of Heaven, this surely was one. Therefore we give thanks to God for bringing the land back to the people, and the people back to the land -- the land where our people was born in ancient times, and reborn in ours."
~~~~~~~~~~
I want to share a special video, "The Volunteers: Answering the Call of History," a most appropriate film for Yom Ha'Atzmaut (with appreciation to Michael P. for calling it to my attention):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxzEGSmgYl4
The film records the personal stories of people who went to Israel to help the beleaguered and struggling new state in 1948. It is remarkable for its recounting of the courage, and in some cases ingenuity, of these volunteers; it is a piece of the history of Israel's founding.
I invite you to view this, and then tell me that -- given the odds Israel faced in the beginning, articulated in this film -- her survival and success are not miraculous.
~~~~~~~~~~
This video and others are part of an "Eyewitness 1948" series produced by Toldot Israel and the History Channel in the US.
According to its website, Toldot Israel is a Jerusalem based nonprofit dedicated to recording and sharing the firsthand testimonies of the men and women who helped found the State of Israel. Over 500 video interviews have been conducted with those who were involved during the pre-State struggle and the momentous events of 1948 . There are plans to do hundreds more interviews and to utilize them for a website, educational material and films.
At http://www.toldotyisrael.org/Toldot_Yisrael/Eyewitness.html you can find the video on the volunteers and others.
~~~~~~~~~~
© Arlene Kushner. This material is produced by Arlene Kushner, functioning as an independent journalist. Permission is granted for it to be reproduced only with proper attribution.
Last night I attended services for Yom Ha'Atzmaut at my synagogue in Jerusalem. And what a service it was: with a joyous musical Hallel -- a selection of psalms of praise -- complete with guitars, tambourines, and even shofarot.
For many the celebration evoked a grateful recognition of what it means to be in the Land -- and in Jerusalem, the Holy City -- to mark the founding of the modern Jewish State. To be part of our people's historic and holy journey here is a matter of profound significance.
~~~~~~~~~~
My synagogue uses the Koren Siddur (prayerbook). In the special section for Yom Ha'Atzmaut I found commentary that was particularly insightful. I have decided to share selections with all of you. (All emphases has been added.):
~~~~~~~~~~
"Yom Ha'Atzmaut, Israel's Independence Day, marks the moment when the Jewish people recovered their independence and sovereignty after a lapse of some two thousand years. The longest exile ever endured by a people was at end...Jews had once against returned to the arena of history as a self-determining nation in the land to which Abraham journeyed in his day, and Moses and the Israelites in theirs. "The significance of Israel to Judaism is more than geographical, historical and political. It is spiritual. Israel was and is the Holy Land to which Abraham and his descendants were summoned to create a new kind of society, based on the sanctity of human life and the equal dignity of all, where they would be subject to the sovereignty of God alone, constantly conscious of the Divine Presence while striving to be true to the covenant that charged them with being 'a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.'
"...Though Jews, in the long centuries of their dispersion, were scatted over the face of the earth, only in Israel have they formed a majority and been able to rule and defend themselves. Only in Israel can a Jew speak a Jewish language, see a Jewish landscape, walk where our ancestors walked and continue the story they began. Only in Israel have Jews been able to live as a nation shaping its own destiny...
"Jews were the first to see God in history, to see the unfolding of events as a meaningful narrative, the ongoing story of the covenant between God and His people. The celebration of Yom Ha'Atzmaut as a religious festival is part of this faith. Never before had a people survived so long an exile, its identity intact. Never before had a nation that had not known sovereignty for two millennia recovered it again. Ravaged [as the Jewish people had been] by the Holocaust a mere three years earlier, the declaration of Israel's independence was a remarkable act of faith, an everlasting symbol of the victory of life over death, hope over despair.
"Some thirty-three centuries ago, Moses prophesied: 'Even if you have been dispersed to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back.' (Deut. 30:4) and so it happened. If, as we believe, there are events that bear the signature of Heaven, this surely was one. Therefore we give thanks to God for bringing the land back to the people, and the people back to the land -- the land where our people was born in ancient times, and reborn in ours."
~~~~~~~~~~
I want to share a special video, "The Volunteers: Answering the Call of History," a most appropriate film for Yom Ha'Atzmaut (with appreciation to Michael P. for calling it to my attention):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxzEGSmgYl4
The film records the personal stories of people who went to Israel to help the beleaguered and struggling new state in 1948. It is remarkable for its recounting of the courage, and in some cases ingenuity, of these volunteers; it is a piece of the history of Israel's founding.
I invite you to view this, and then tell me that -- given the odds Israel faced in the beginning, articulated in this film -- her survival and success are not miraculous.
~~~~~~~~~~
This video and others are part of an "Eyewitness 1948" series produced by Toldot Israel and the History Channel in the US.
According to its website, Toldot Israel is a Jerusalem based nonprofit dedicated to recording and sharing the firsthand testimonies of the men and women who helped found the State of Israel. Over 500 video interviews have been conducted with those who were involved during the pre-State struggle and the momentous events of 1948 . There are plans to do hundreds more interviews and to utilize them for a website, educational material and films.
At http://www.toldotyisrael.org/Toldot_Yisrael/Eyewitness.html you can find the video on the volunteers and others.
~~~~~~~~~~
© Arlene Kushner. This material is produced by Arlene Kushner, functioning as an independent journalist. Permission is granted for it to be reproduced only with proper attribution.
Monday, May 09, 2011
"Celebrating at 63"
Arlene Kushner
Tonight begins Yom Ha'Atzmaut -- Israeli Independence Day. There are those who have the impulse to remain subdued this year, even as celebration is called for, because of the many troubles we face.
But consider...
The return of the Jews to our homeland after 2,000 years was a miracle, and our ability over the years to survive and thrive beyond everyone's wildest imagination has been a miracle.
With the help of the Almighty we shall prevail, and we shall grow. Our role is to be strong, and to trust that we can do it.
Aish's musical video -- "Wave Your Flag" -- sings, "When I get older, I will be stronger, they'll call me freedom, just like a waving flag."
See it here.
~~~~~~~~~~
Nefesh B'Nefesh is a marvelous organization that has helped thousands of people from English-speaking countries, mostly Americans, to make aliyah. This year, the group held a special celebration honoring the 45 sabra babies born to families that have come over the last year:
How's that for having faith in Israel's future?
~~~~~~~~~~
JPost editor David Horovitz ran a piece last Friday that I've been saving to share for Yom Ha'Atzmaut. It's called, "Out of the ashes, to the height of self-sufficiency."
Horovitz writes about Benny Gantz, the new IDF Chief of Staff (who came to this position almost by political fluke, but, it seems, was meant to be where he is now).
"The IDF is strong, ready and a deterrent to our enemies," Gantz said during Yom HaShoah ceremonies last week. "It is capable of thwarting any enemy that rises up to kill us." (emphasis added)
Elaborates Horovitz:
"Born in Israel to a mother who was barely alive when she was liberated from Bergen-Belsen, Gantz emblemizes the near-miraculous revival of the Jewish people after the Holocaust: The survivor's child is now chief protector of the insistently surviving nation. (emphasis added)
"Standing tall and straight, Gantz nonetheless carries a perpetual air of concern. He exudes confidence and gravitas but also, in the furrows of his forehead, and the lines around his eyes, shows the burden of responsibility. All the way through to his gut, he knows the evil that humankind is capable of doing to the Jews. He knows that it falls to him, more than anyone else, to ensure that 'never again,' rather than becoming an empty slogan, remains an iron-clad fact.
"...In today's often morally misguided world, it is very difficult to be recognized as both strong and just. Usually, however absurdly in some cases, it is the weak who are automatically regarded as having justice on their side.
As it turns 63, the Jewish nation sometimes feels as though it is back, not in 1948, without a friend in the neighborhood, but a few years earlier still, with barely a friend in the world. But in life-saving contrast to those dark years, we have revived our homeland, and it flourishes.
We are and will continue to be both strong and just. We have built a vibrant, diverse, declaredly contented society. And with an army now headed by a general who emblemizes that rise from the ashes to the height of self-sufficiency, 'we will never tolerate our security being threatened, nor stand idly by when our people have been killed. We will be relentless in defense of our citizens and our friends and allies. We will be true to the values that make us who we are.'" (emphasis added)
http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=219431
~~~~~~~~~~
Some Interesting Facts about Israel (with thanks to Rebecca M.)
Geography
Israel is only 1/6 of 1% of the land mass of the Middle East
The Kinneret, at 695 feet below sea level, is the lowest freshwater lake in the world.
Israel is the only nation in the world that entered the 21st century with a net gain in its number of trees.
The Mount of Olives in Jerusalem is the oldest continually used cemetery in the world.
Demographics
Israel has only 2% of the population of the Middle East.
Israel has the highest ratio of university degrees per capita in the world.
Israel produces more scientific papers per capita than any other nation in the world - by a large margin.
Israel has the highest number of PhD's per capita in the world.
Israel is the largest immigrant-absorbing nation in the world, per capita.
Israel is the only country in the Middle East where the Christian population has grown over the last 50 years.
Israel is the only country in the Middle East where Christians, Muslims and Jews are all free to vote.
Israel is the only country in the Middle East where women enjoy full political rights.
Economics and Hi-Tech
Israel has the largest number of startup companies per capita in the world.
Israel is the world's largest wholesale diamond center.
Israel has the largest number of NASDAQ listed companies outside of the US and Canada.
The cell phone was developed in Israel at Motorola's largest development center.
Voice Mail technology was developed in Israel .
The first anti-virus software for computers was developed in Israel in 1979.
Most of the Windows NT and XP operating systems were developed in Israel by Microsoft.
Both the Pentium-4 and Centrino processors were entirely designed, developed and produced in Israel.
Culture
Hebrew is the only case of a dead national language being revived in all of world history. Israel has more museums per capita than any other nation in the world.
Israel has more orchestras per capita than any other nation in the world.
Israel publishes more books per capita than any other nation in the world.
And how about this: The most independent and free Arabic press in the Middle East is in Israel .
Stand tall, my friends, hold up your heads and be proud!
~~~~~~~~~~
A short video featuring Hatikva:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDxpVasvNPM
~~~~~~~~~~~
Before closing, I want to look back to what I had written yesterday:
The number of fallen that I cited yesterday -- 22,867 -- referred only to soldiers. Another 4,500 have died of terror attacks.
A reader has asked me if the number provided of those who fell defending Israel referred only to members of the IDF since the founding of the State. The answer is yes. But the point raised by this question is valid. If not for those who fought for Jewish rights before May 1948, we would not have seen the founding of the State. It certainly did not come about in a vacuum, and those who made the ultimate sacrifice prior to Israeli independence must also be recognized. I am not at all certain, however, that there would be a way to now tally the number who died in this era: there were separate groups, some clandestine, each following its own vision.
~~~~~~~~~~
After I wrote yesterday's posting I watched the proceedings for Yom HaZikaron at the Kotel. Select family members of soldiers who have died were present and the camera from time to time focused on their faces. They wrenched the heart.
And so I would like to add this: We owe an immeasurable debt of gratitude to all those who have fallen defending the State. But we also owe a debt to those who have lost sons and husbands, fathers and brothers. Theirs is an on-going sacrifice.
~~~~~~~~~~
Yesterday, when I mentioned various members of Congress who are opposed to providing additional financial support to the PA, I neglected to include Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, she is one of our very best friends. The fact that I've alluded to her many times in the past does not excuse her exclusion here. (Thanks, Stephanie.)
~~~~~~~~~~
© Arlene Kushner. This material is produced by Arlene Kushner, functioning as an independent journalist. Permission is granted for it to be reproduced only with proper attribution.
64% of Palestinians would not object to Bin Laden burial in "Palestine"
Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
A Palestinian polling institute surveyed Palestinians in the first week of May 2011, apparently before it was known among Palestinians that Bin Laden's body had been buried at sea, and found that:
"64% of respondents stated that they would not object to Bin Laden being buried in Palestine, were such a possibility raised."
Other findings of the polling institute Near East Consulting as reported in the official Palestinian Authority daily: "A survey of Palestinian public opinion on the death of Bin Laden shows that most Palestinians (85%) believe that Al-Qaeda will avenge Bin Laden's death.
86% stated that terror activities around the world will not decrease or be otherwise affected following his death...
56% of those questioned said that they were certain that he had been killed, while 44% believed that he was still alive...
42% of Palestinians still believe that Al-Qaeda will be strengthened following the death of Bin Laden, while 22% believe that it will be weakened; 36% said that its situation will not change."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, May 9, 2011]
Comment: This speaks to the nature of the society the USA and the West expects us to gracefully accept as a "peace partner". Just as the USA finally acknowledged by way of action though the assassination of Bin Laden, so, too, should it realize we cannot at the present time believe any agreement with the PA is sustainable.
A Palestinian polling institute surveyed Palestinians in the first week of May 2011, apparently before it was known among Palestinians that Bin Laden's body had been buried at sea, and found that:
"64% of respondents stated that they would not object to Bin Laden being buried in Palestine, were such a possibility raised."
Other findings of the polling institute Near East Consulting as reported in the official Palestinian Authority daily: "A survey of Palestinian public opinion on the death of Bin Laden shows that most Palestinians (85%) believe that Al-Qaeda will avenge Bin Laden's death.
86% stated that terror activities around the world will not decrease or be otherwise affected following his death...
56% of those questioned said that they were certain that he had been killed, while 44% believed that he was still alive...
42% of Palestinians still believe that Al-Qaeda will be strengthened following the death of Bin Laden, while 22% believe that it will be weakened; 36% said that its situation will not change."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, May 9, 2011]
Comment: This speaks to the nature of the society the USA and the West expects us to gracefully accept as a "peace partner". Just as the USA finally acknowledged by way of action though the assassination of Bin Laden, so, too, should it realize we cannot at the present time believe any agreement with the PA is sustainable.
Yom HaZikaron"
The day of remembering all who have fallen for Israel -- both soldiers and victims of terror -- begins at sundown tonight. A solemn day that touches all Israel as a family. The number fallen is now 22,867.
Last year, Lt. General Gabi Ashkenazi, who was then Chief of Staff, opened ceremonies for the soldiers, as is traditional, by placing a flag on the grave of the one most recently fallen. Then he said:
''Here, between the thousands of gravestones and silent tombs, testimony to 62 years of struggle for our freedom as a nation and a State.''
Now it is 63 years. Those soldiers who have died have given their lives with purpose; our debt to them is beyond measure. May the Almighty help us find the way to the day when our people will have achieved that freedom and need to sacrifice lives for it no more. As to the victims of terror (the picture below is from the Fogel family funeral), may the memory of each be for a special blessing. As we recount these immeasurable losses, may we find our way, through strength and perseverance, so that here too we can finally say, "Never Again!"
~~~~~~~~~~
A siren for the fallen will sound tonight at 8 PM. The main ceremony of the evening will then be conducted at the Kotel, with bereaved families present and the Prime Minister, the President and the Chief of Staff participating. At 9 PM, there will be a program of songs at the Knesset, dedicated to the fallen.
Tomorrow at 11 AM, a second siren will sound, marking the beginning of the ceremony for soldiers at Har Herzl (Israel's main military cemetery -- pictured above). Following this will be a ceremony for terror victims.
~~~~~~~~~~
Please see and share my new report on the folly of US support for PA "security forces."
This is actually an update of a report done two years ago. The thrust of the message in 2009 was that it was foolish for the US to support development of PA troops. So much more so is this the case today.
It was American naivete, or pie-in-the-sky dreaming, that promoted this project, which was actually hailed as a great idea in many quarters:
Hamas had taken Gaza in a coup, actually demolishing a larger, better equipped Fatah (PA) force there. Reasoned the strategic (?) thinkers in the US, if the PA forces are better trained and equipped by the American military, they will be able to prevent a Hamas takeover of Judea and Samaria, and will fight terrorism. Then, by golly, they'll be on their way to establishing a state.
~~~~~~~~~~
There were only a couple of problems with this, which were blithely ignored:
[] Fatah will never "take out" or adequately defend against Hamas. The impression until recently was that Fatah and Hamas were separate; however, regardless of their real animosities, there always has been considerable linkage between the groups. The possibility that there would be unity gov't always existed. Not to mention that the loyalty of Palestinian Arabs is first to the clan (hamula) and not to some abstract concept of a nation; within one clan there might be Fatah and Hamas people. In Gaza, at the time of the coup, there were some Fatah troops that joined Hamas, and some that ran away.
Not a real good idea to have trained and equipped forces to fight against Hamas when it remained a lingering possibility that they might end up being controlled by Hamas. But hey, that didn't stop the progress on this great idea, or the expenditure, to date of some $370 million.
[] Fatah isn't against terrorism as a matter of principle, in any event. They act against it only when it serves their purposes. There has never been a Fatah action against Al Aksa Brigades, for example, because the Brigades are a terrorist offshoot of Fatah itself and present no threat to the PA. And certainly Fatah has never acted unilaterally against Hamas simply to stop terrorism directed at Israel.
The PA forces really have strengthened and are functioning better. But what they're best at is catching car thieves and controlling crowds. They've done cooperation with the IDF in some circumstances, with regard to security. But it is the IDF that does the real work to act on intelligence and find and capture terrorists, locate weapons caches, etc. There are operations almost every night in this regard, and if the IDF were not there, there'd be major problems. And guess who would pay the price?
[] There remains a potential for those better trained PA forces to turn their guns and expertise on Israelis and the IDF in particular. There's a history of this happening, and we can look for such incidents when Palestinian Arab frustration is high. There was some shooting at IDF forces by PA forces in the Tulkarem area in late April, which may be seen as a precursor to this sort of action.
http://www.israelbehindthenews.com/library/pdfs/dangers-of-US-Aid-to-PA-security-forces.pdf
~~~~~~~~~~
As if all of the above were not enough, we now have a signed Fatah-Hamas unity agreement, which may, or may not, last. Where does that leave the US program to develop PA security forces?
One would think this was a no-brainer: That it's obvious that a halt must be called immediately. Even if the unity agreement falls apart, we now have irrefutable evidence that Fatah is willing to cooperate with an openly terrorist organization. That should disqualify Fatah forces with regard to receiving further American training and arming.
Ah, but the Secretary of State thinks otherwise. So far, says Hillary, there is no cooperation between the security forces of Fatah (the PA) and of Hamas, and so for the time being, at least, the US can continue to provide support to the PA forces. This thinking doesn't acknowledge even the minimal reality of a shift in PA policy that is likely to occur, however discreetly, to accord with Hamas policies.
~~~~~~~~~~
A good many members of Congress appear to see it differently, although their stated position is just a tad qualified.
Twenty-nine Senators who are from the Democratic party, supported by Republican Senators, sent a letter to President Obama on Friday urging him to end US aid to the PA if Hamas joins the PA government. It was initiated by Senators Robert Menendez (NJ) and Bob Casey (PA), and has been signed by senior Senators, including Carl Levin, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, and Daniel Inouye, who chairs the Senate's Appropriations Committee.
At this I want to say, wait a second, you have it almost right, and that's great, but...
The unity plan at this stage, prior to elections a year from now, calls for a transitional government to be formed that consists of technocrats. That's a fig leaf, a gimmick to keep everyone happy. It's not good enough to give the PA a pass. Not in my book.
Originally it was said that Fayyad would be out of this transitional government, at the insistence of Hamas leaders, who despise him. But recent news reports indicate that Abbas is pushing to keep Fayyad as prime minister because this would enhance unity credibility and keep people happy.
How readily will people be taken in by this, in spite of the willingness of Abbas to sign an agreement with terrorists? Rhetorical question.
~~~~~~~~~~
Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL), it should be noted, is leading the fight to utilize existing US legislation to end financial aid to the PA.
~~~~~~~~~~
© Arlene Kushner. This material is produced by Arlene Kushner, functioning as an independent journalist. Permission is granted for it to be reproduced only with proper attribution.
Sunday, May 08, 2011
Israel's Major Wars
May 10, 2011 | Eli E. Hertz
International law makes a clear distinction between defensive wars and wars of aggression. All of Israel's wars with its Arab neighbors were in self-defence.
About six months before the War of Independence in 1948, Palestinian Arabs launched a series of riots, pillaging, and bloodletting, then came the invasion of seven Arab armies from neighboring states attempting to prevent the establishment of a Jewish state in accordance with the UN's 1947 recommendation to Partition Palestine, a plan the Arabs rejected. Israel's citizens understood that defeat meant the end of their Jewish state before it could even get off the ground. In the first critical weeks of battle, and against all odds, Israel prevailed on several fronts.
The metaphor of Israel having her back to the sea reflected the image crafted by Arab political and religious leaders' rhetoric and incitement. Already in 1948 several car bombs had killed Jews, and massacres of Jewish civilians underscored Arab determination to wipe out the Jews and their state.
There were over 6,000 Israelis killed and over 15,000 wounded as a result of that war, in a population of 600,000. One percent of the Jewish population was gone. In American terms, the equivalent is 3 million American civilians and soldiers killed over an 18-month period.
The Jewish state not only survived, it came into possession of territories - land from which its adversaries launched their first attempt to destroy the newly created State of Israel.
For the entire article in PDF format please click HERE
International law makes a clear distinction between defensive wars and wars of aggression. All of Israel's wars with its Arab neighbors were in self-defence.
About six months before the War of Independence in 1948, Palestinian Arabs launched a series of riots, pillaging, and bloodletting, then came the invasion of seven Arab armies from neighboring states attempting to prevent the establishment of a Jewish state in accordance with the UN's 1947 recommendation to Partition Palestine, a plan the Arabs rejected. Israel's citizens understood that defeat meant the end of their Jewish state before it could even get off the ground. In the first critical weeks of battle, and against all odds, Israel prevailed on several fronts.
The metaphor of Israel having her back to the sea reflected the image crafted by Arab political and religious leaders' rhetoric and incitement. Already in 1948 several car bombs had killed Jews, and massacres of Jewish civilians underscored Arab determination to wipe out the Jews and their state.
There were over 6,000 Israelis killed and over 15,000 wounded as a result of that war, in a population of 600,000. One percent of the Jewish population was gone. In American terms, the equivalent is 3 million American civilians and soldiers killed over an 18-month period.
The Jewish state not only survived, it came into possession of territories - land from which its adversaries launched their first attempt to destroy the newly created State of Israel.
For the entire article in PDF format please click HERE
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