Pure, unadulterated barbarity

David Wilder
31 August '10
Elul 21, 5770

(This has not been a very good night. Every murder was such a loss. Y.)

It’s been a while since I photographed dead bodies. The last time I remember clearly was the murder of Yossi Shok from Beit Haggai who was shot and killed similarly on a Friday afternoon a few years ago. That attack entailed a few miracles. I recall that there were others in the car, teenage girls, who miraculously weren’t hurt.

But tonight, no miracles.

This morning, speaking with a friend, talking about the renewed ‘piece talks’, I told him that more than likely today or tomorrow terrorists would strike. It was just a question of where – around here, the Shomron, or Jerusalem or Tel Aviv. Tonight we received our answer.

Leaving Ma’arat HaMachpela after evening prayers, the beeper beeped. A car had been shot at. A quick phone call, confirming that Jews had been hit, four critically, and I sped off. I had been at the scene of the shooting only a few hours ago, examining how Arabs were stealing water from Jews in the area.

By the time I arrived, the description had changed. No longer four critically wounded. Four dead. Four killed, shot by terrorists, on their way home. The terrorists’ lives have been made much easier in the past year or so, with various roadblocks being removed in Judea and Samaria. Now it’s fairly simple to access roads used by Jewish civilians, shoot, and then escape.

The scene was reminiscent of others I’ve witnessed in the past. Ambulances, jeeps, police, medics, soldiers, officers, red lights flashing….and bodies.

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen four bodies on the street, murdered by Arabs only because they are Jews, living in Israel.

I sit here, half numb, almost not believing, but knowing that, yes, it’s real. And what to do?

The first thing that must be done: Netanyahu has to return immediately, cancelling tomorrow’s ‘festive ceremony’ renewing the so-called negotiations with Obama and Abu Mazen. Israel must make it as clear as possible: we refuse to accept, under any circumstances, and at any price, murder of innocent people on our roads, in our homes, anywhere. No excuses, no looking the other way, no ‘ifs ands or buts.’ More than the Arabs, Obama must understand in no uncertain terms that our people are not cattle-feed.

Two: Netanyahu must unfreeze the freeze now. Not on September 26, not leaving everyone wondering ‘what’s he going to do?’ Tomorrow, as these four pure souls are being buried, building must again begin throughout Judea and Samaria. Here again, the Arabs and the Americans must understand that we will not turn the other cheek; there is a price for murdering Jews in Israel.

Three: Here in Israel we must comprehend that our own people are continuing to incite; making Jewish blood cheap. Two examples: The continued ‘cherem’ – boycott of Israeli actors and performing artists, refusing to perform in Ariel in the Shomron, is incitement. Our Arab neighbors, seeing and hearing Israelis spout revulsion against their supposed brethren is, in the Arab’s eyes, a green light, opening the door to murderous attacks as we witnessed tonight.

So too with such organizations as Breaking the Silence and others, who continue to spew hate against Jews living in Hebron and the Hebron area, while identifying effusively with our Arab neighbors. This is also incitement; there is no other word for it. Actually there is: treason. A person or individual abetting the enemy is treason. These people walk the streets of Hebron freely, regurgitating lies about Hebron’s Jewish citizen’s, while showering praises on the ‘poor palestinians’ whose suffer at the hands of the evil Jews. These ‘poor people’ are planning on taking our land, destroying our country, and continuing to kill Jews. Such ‘tours’ must be stopped.

Four: Israel has been ‘returning’ security control to armed, uniformed Arabs in cities throughout Judea and Samaria. This too, must be ended. It won’t be any surprise if we eventually discover that the terrorists who murdered four Jews tonight are actually ‘palestinian police,’ trained and armed by General Keith Dayton of the US army, and set free to roam the streets with the permission of the state of Israel.

According to the latest reports, a number of terrorists participated in the attack. After the car was shot at and stopped, its passengers were shot dozens of times, ensuring their deaths. It’s been reported that one of the women was pregnant. The couple killed leaves some ten children orphans. You know what it's like to inform ten kids that their parents aren't coming home anymore, that they were killed by terrorists an hour ago?

This is pure, unadulterated barbarity, brutality characteristic of our ‘piece partners.’ This may very well only be the beginning.

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The Everyone-Knows Peace Process

Rick Richman
Contentions/Commentary
31 August '10

The AP reports on a “surprising symmetry” between the U.S.-backed regime of Mahmoud Abbas (about to start the 69th month of his 48-month term) and the Iran-backed dictatorship in Gaza (h/t Seth Leibsohn):

Both governments carry out arbitrary arrests, ban rivals from travel, exclude them from civil service jobs and suppress opposition media, [Palestinian] rights groups say. Torture in both West Bank and Gaza lockups includes beatings and tying up detainees in painful positions.

Not only that, but the arc of history seems to be bending downward: “the crackdowns have become more sweeping in recent months as each aims to strengthen its grip on its respective territory.” It comes at an unfortunate time for the peace-processing industry:

With each incident, the wedge is hammered deeper and the hostility grows between the two halves of what is meant to be a future Palestine, just as the U.S. relaunches Mideast talks at the White House this week in hopes of getting an agreement within a year.

Those who threaten Israel with a one-state solution if it does not hand over land to the West Bank “president” and his unelected “prime minister” might consider that Fatah and Hamas cannot live in a single state, even with themselves. Those who believe the West Bank prime minister is building the institutions of a stable state might reflect on the fact that the regime has canceled not only two presidential elections but one for local officials as well.

(Read full post)

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Muslims freak over WJC meeting

Elder of Ziyon
31 August '10

The Muslims really have to scour the news to find things to seethe about.

The World Jewish Congress is having a Governing Board meeting in Jerusalem over the next three days. It is not a huge convention; only about 200 people are in attendance. While there are some prominent speakers, like Shimon Peres and Elie Wiesel, it did not get any major press.

But the Muslims noticed.

From the Qassam website, as well as others:

-The Islamic-Christian Front for defending Jerusalem (ICF) says the 14th World Jewish Congress (WJC), which is set to be held on Wednesday in Jerusalem, is a blatant provocation to the Arab and Islamic nation as a whole.

(Read full post)

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A 'Palestinian state' on the way?

Charles
Israel Matzav
31 August '10

The New York Times' Ethan Bronner seems to think a 'Palestinian state' living side by side in peace and security with Israel is just around the corner.

As preparations intensify for a Palestinian-Israeli summit meeting in Washington on Thursday, the crude outlines of a Palestinian state are emerging in the West Bank, with increasingly reliable security forces, a more disciplined government and a growing sense among ordinary citizens that they can count on basic services.
According to Bronner, the only thing that's necessary for 'normal life' in Judea and Samaria is for the Jews to leave.

(Read full post)

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Direct Talks to Nowhere

Khaled Abu Toameh
Hudson New York
31 August '10

For decades, Arab and Islamic leaders and governments have been inciting their people against Israel. That is the main reason why these governments and leaders would never be able to persuade their people to make peace with Israel.

In this regard, the Palestinian Authority has not been different from the Arab and Islamic dictatorships.

For the past 15 years, the Palestinian Authority has been involved in the dissemination of anti-Israel messages through the rhetoric of its leaders and spokesman, media and mosques.

Yasser Arafat unleashed a wave of incitement against Israel in the Palestinian-controlled media. His message to the Palestinians, immediately after the beginning of the peace process began in 1993, was that Israel was not serious about peace and only wanted to continue "stealing Arab land."

Arafat also kept promising that if the Palestinians don't get 100% of their demands, they would not hesitate to resort to an armed struggle. He pledged "millions of martyrs" who would march on Jerusalem to liberate the city.

Moreover, Arafat told the Palestinians that no Arab or Muslim leader had the right to make real concessions to Israel, especially not on issues related to Jerusalem and the "right of return" for Palestinian refugees.

(Read full post)

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NGO Monitor letter to Salil Shetty, Secretary General of Amnesty Int'l

NGO Monitor
26 August '10

Mr. Salil Shetty
Secretary General
Amnesty International
London, UK

Dear Mr. Shetty,

Your appointment as Secretary General of Amnesty International follows a major decline in this once prestigious organization’s moral reputation and influence. We therefore strongly urge you to give priority to ending Amnesty’s systemic bias, lack of credibility, and violation of universal principles in many of its activities.

In particular, NGO Monitor notes:

1) The Gita Sahgal incident, in which Amnesty’s leading women’s rights activist was forced to resign after questioning cooperation with an alleged Taliban supporter, Moazzam Begg, and the interim Secretary General Claudio Cordone publically condoned “jihad in self-defense.” Amnesty’s behavior also demonstrated the absence of accountability in the organization’s response to legitimate criticism.

2) Amnesty’s activities related to the Arab-Israel conflict reflect a consistent and intense bias. For example, during and after the Gaza war (December 2008-January 2009), Amnesty issued many unsupported condemnations of Israel’s response to rocket attacks against civilians, including unverifiable and false charges of “war crimes.” Amnesty also led one-sided calls for an arms embargo against Israel, as part of the wider BDS campaign. This focused on Israel ignored illegal arms shipments from Iran and Syria to Hamas, reflecting the disproportionate attention given to Israel by Amnesty.

3) Amnesty has been central in promoting the distortion of international law and false claims made against Israel in the Goldstone report, including intense lobbying the UN and the EU. Similarly, Amnesty called for discriminatory sanctions against Israel in the form of suspending the EU-Israel Association Agreement, and also for politicized “lawfare” cases against Israeli officials in the International Criminal Court.

(Read full letter)

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EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Dramatic Reunion Ten Years After The Photo That Started It All

Honest Reporting
Media Critiques
31 August '10

On September 30, 2000, The New York Times, Associated Press and other major media outlets published a photo of a young man -- bloodied and battered -- crouching beneath a club-wielding Israeli policeman. The caption identified him as a Palestinian victim of Israeli brutality -- with the clear implication that the Israeli soldier was the one who beat him.

That young man was, in fact, Tuvia Grossman, a Jewish student from Chicago, who was beaten within inches of his life before being rescued by the Israeli border policeman in the photo.



The resulting outrage generated by the gross distortion of the photo "launched" HonestReporting.

Now, ten years later, we caught up with Tuvia in an exclusive interview.

(Read full story plus original report)

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Note for Israel-PA Talks: It Wasn't The Luck of the Irish But Effective Counter-Terrorism That Brought Peace

Barry Rubin
The Rubin Report
30 August '10

As direct Israeli-Palestinian direct talks restart it is useful to recall the use and misuse of an analogy to the case of Northern Ireland.

In October 2001, British Foreign Minister Jack Straw visited Washington and held a press conference with his U.S. counterpart, Secretary of State Colin Powell. Powell bubbled over about how the Irish agreement supposedly showed:

"An example of what can be achieved when people of good will come together, recognize they have strong differences, differences that they have fought over for years, but it's time to put those differences aside in order to move forward and to provide a better life for the children of Northern Ireland."

This is the sort of naive optimism (let's all just get along, peace is the natural order of things, everybody is really moderate at heart) that Americans so often evince. As the great French intellectual Raymond Aron once explained, "The Americans always have the tendency to believe that wars result from misunderstanding or accidents and suppose that no one could possibly want a war."

In this case, though, Straw dumped cold water on Powell's world view." What he said is worth quoting fully:

(Read full post)

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Video: Oops! Looks Like Someone Didn't Get The Abbas Memo About Incitement

Daled Amos
30 August '10

On the issue of incitement, Abbas accepted that there was some incitement in official Palestinian media, according to meeting participants. However, he expressed frustration that Israel did not recognize his efforts to end incitement in the mosques, saying he was the only Arab leader to centralize Friday sermons and to remove imams who incited against Israel.
Jerusalem Post, June 10, 2010

Here is a video of Mahmoud Habbash, the Palestinian Authority Minister of Religious Affairs, threatening war over Jerusalem--with Abbas in the audience.



There is nothing peaceful about what Habbas says:

(Read full post)

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Double standard at NY Times -- spotlight Israeli sins, but cover up Palestinian ones

Leo Rennert
American Thinker
30 August '10

In its Aug. 30 edition, the New York Times devotes considerable space to an article by Jerusalem correspondent Isabel Kershner about inflammatory remarks against Palestinians by a politically influential Israeli rabbi, Ovadia Yosef, the spiritual leader of the Orthodox Shas Party, which is part of the government ("Actors' Protest and Rabbi's Sermon Stoke Tensions in Israel Ahead of Peace Talks")

Kershner's six-column article takes up a full third of page A7. It quotes Yosef as calling Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas "evil" and praying that God strike "these Ishmaelites and Palestinians with a plague; these evil haters of Israel." It also quotes him as saying that Abbas "and all these evil people should perish from the earth."

The Times was right in publishing Yosef's remarks, especially since he's a major political player in the formation of Israeli governing coalitions.

The Times, however, is wrong in failing to publicize widespread incitement to violence against Israel on the part of Abbas and his governing party in the West Bank.

This double standard is made quite evident by a single sentence Kershner buries deep inside her article to the effect that "Israel is usually the one accusing the Palestinians of incitement, citing the naming of public squares, streets and cultural events for Palestinians who planned or carried out bloody attacks against Israelis."

Quite true, but such Palestinian incitement doesn't rate the splash given to Yosef's inciteful comments.

(Read full article)

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Tony Judt and Israel

Benjamin Kerstein
newledger.com
30 August '10

When a man dies, especially when he dies of something uniquely horrifying and grotesque, people always tend to remember them well, if for no other reason than pity for their suffering. This seems to have been the case with historian and essayist Tony Judt, who died this month from the degenerative disease known as ALS. The sight of Judt reduced, and reduced very quickly, from an intellectual in late middle age to a wheelchair-bound invalid incapable of breathing on his own would give even the most cold-hearted some pause when penning his obituary. In those last months it was, no doubt, a terrible life and, in the end, a terrible death.

If we can, however, separate a man’s work from his life – and I think we must – then his work can and must also be separated from his death. I am mostly ignorant of Judt’s most famous work, which dealt with the post-war history of Europe, though I have it on good authority that it is decidedly brilliant. I have no doubt that this is probably so. But the truth is that during the final years of his life Judt was most famous, most celebrated, and most quoted because of his outspoken belief that the state of Israel should not exist.

Some may regard such a characterization of his stance as unfair, but it is worth pointing out what lies beneath the euphemism known as the “binational state.” Judt’s stance was not a crude one, of course; it was eminently intellectual and erudite in nature. But nonetheless, Israel’s end is more or less what it amounted to, and the persistent refusal of both him and his defenders to acknowledge this was and is to their discredit.

(Read full article)

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Samaria, Israel's hidden asset

Michael Gottlieb
Guest blog/JPost
29 August '10

The rolling hills of Samaria, cradle of the Jewish Nation, present a mosaic of rocky hilltops and fertile valleys, dotted with groves of age-old, silver-green olive trees. The terraced hillsides, first developed by farmers in ancient times, blend into the natural landscape. The vistas and scenery, seemingly unchanged since Biblical days, reflect the fulfillment of Jeremiah's prophecy "Again shall you plant vineyards on the mountains of Shomron". The perfumed mountain air and dazzling views excite the senses. Beautiful, barren and beckoning, the Shomron patiently awaits the return of the Jewish People.

Yet the Shomron, Israel's heartland region, remains an orphan child. Most Israelis don't go there and few really know anything about it - as if it were on another planet. However, far from being in outer space, the Shomron is virtually in our backyard. From Kfar Saba's industrial zone it's a ten minute bike ride away. Its majestic purple and gray mountain range, which runs north-south for 70 km, is clearly visible from any elevated location in Israel's center. Its downward sloping hillsides provide us with our drinking water.

The most notable feature of the Shomron is the immense strategic value it offers Israel. Its mountain range dominates the heavily populated coastal strip to the west and the strategic Jordan Valley to the east. Whoever controls Samaria also controls 70% of Israel's population, and 80% of its industry capacity. Samaria is arguably more strategic to the State of Israel than the Golan Heights!

Another important feature of the Shomron is that it contains the Mountain Aquifer, Israel's largest and most significant fresh water reservoir. It supplies about 600 million cubic meters of very high quality fresh water, equivalent to roughly one third of Israel's yearly water consumption. The Shomron Mountain Aquifer contains at least as much water as the Kinneret!

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Caving to Iranian Threats

JINSA
Report #: 1,017
30 August '10

When Congress withheld U.S. military assistance to the Beirut government after Lebanese Army Forces (LAF) fired into Israel, Iran announced that it would pick up the slack. Tehran already supplies Hezbollah through Syria - a process improved, according to European sources, by a new Iranian agreement with Turkey not to block Hezbollah-bound shipments through its territory. Iran would thus become a supplier to both the Lebanese government and the Lebanese government-approved Hezbollah militia. One of those is considered by the U.S. government to be a terrorist organization.

But such is the fear of Iran in the Obama Administration that State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters never mind what Congress says. "I think that the statements by Iran are expressly the reason why we believe that continuing support to the Lebanese government and the Lebanese military is in our interest...Hezbollah is a fact within Lebanese society and much of our effort in supporting the Lebanese military is in fact the very professionalization that we think helps mitigate that risk."

Crowley appears to be saying U.S. aid to the LAF will enable Lebanon to work against Hezbollah and Iran, and withholding aid would "force" Lebanon to turn to its "enemy" Iran. Evidence, please, because we find Lebanon to be acting out of weakness or affinity as an ally of Iran right now - in spite of our aid or because of it. There is no Lebanese effort to close the Syria-Lebanon border by which Iran provides increasingly sophisticated weapons to Hezbollah. There is increasing evidence that the LAF warns Hezbollah of UNIFIL activity and shares intelligence and weapons. There was even a report by a generally reliable source that Iranian intelligence and commando operatives visited southern Lebanon in August in the company of the LAF.

(Read full report)

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Juan Williams vs. Israel

Jennifer Rubin
Contentions/Commentary
30 August '10

On Fox News Sunday, Juan Williams had this to say about the upcoming talks between the Palestinian Authority and Israel:

Well, the question is about settlements. I mean, you know, what you hear from Abbas is if they go back into the settlements that he cuts off the talk.

Last time the reason the talks got cut off was because Israel launched an offensive in Gaza. So now we have a break. The question is can Netanyahu hold together as — his forces in Israel in terms of Israeli politics to say, “You know what? We are best served by some sort of peace, despite the pressures,” and I think there are tremendous pressures on Israel, that there has to be a sense that we are about peace first and foremost.

And I think for the — for the last few times that negotiations have taken place, the emphasis has been on asserting that Israel has been victimized by terrorist activities, by Hamas, by the failure of the Palestinians to govern themselves.

This perfectly expresses the views of the left on Israel — and is perfectly wrong. If it were all about the settlements, the Palestinians would have their own state several times over — at Camp David, and on silver platter from former prime minister Ehud Olmert, most recently. We have had an extended ”break” not because of Gaza but because Obama spent 18 months dangling the prospect of a settlement freeze before Abbas’s eyes and leading him to believe the Palestinians could get everything their hearts desired from the U.S. administration.

Next up in the misinformation and outright distortion parade: Bibi is somehow out of step with Israeli public opinion. Yes, the majority of Israelis want talks and a two-state solution, but the infatuation with “land for peace” has dulled considerably in the wake of land-for-war episodes (Lebanon and then Gaza). And Bibi is quite popular. Does Williams expect that some other government could forge a consensus for a peace deal? (Perhaps the 10 percent of Israelis who like Obama would.)

(Read full post)

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Northern Ireland: Refutation Number 4539

Eamonn McDonagh
Z-Word Blog
30 August '10

Regular readers of this blog will know that we have repeatedly argued against the usefulness of the Northern Ireland analogy applied to the Israel-Palestine conflict. Nevertheless, like the corpse of a drowned dog, it keeps bobbing to the surface again and again. The latest example is by Ali Abunimah in the New York Times. With a deep sigh and a heavy step I’ll now proceed to take it apart.

The conflict in Northern Ireland had been intractable for decades. Unionists backed by the British government saw any political compromise with Irish nationalists as a danger, one that would lead to a united Ireland in which a Catholic majority would dominate minority Protestant unionists.

This is false. Only the most extreme factions of unionism, those associated with illegal terrorist groups, rejected any compromise with Catholic nationalists. The rest only baulked at whatever they perceived as a first step towards the end of the Union. And far from supporting Unionist intransigence successive British governments sought to encourage their Northern Irish citizens to reach an acceptable internal compromise.

The British government also refused to deal with the Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein, despite its significant electoral mandate, because of its close ties to the Irish Republican Army, which had carried out violent acts in the United Kingdom.

Saying that the IRA had close ties to Sinn Féin is like saying that the United States Army has close ties to the United Sates government, with the important difference that in the Sinn Féin - IRA relationship it was always the latter that made the key decisions. Furthermore, the British government negotiated with Sinn Féin - IRA on a cyclical basis (fight a bit, talk a bit fight a bit) at least as far back as the Cheyne Walk talks of 1972. And finally, the great bulk of the violence carried out by the IRA occurred in Northern Ireland and was inflicted on ordinary people.

(Read full post)

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Why AP Had to Dig Up a 3-Year-Old File Photo

Honest Reporting/Media Backspin
30 August '10

First the good news: AP looks at Hamas and Fatah cracking down on each other:

Both governments carry out arbitrary arrests, ban rivals from travel, exclude them from civil service jobs and suppress opposition media, the rights groups say. Torture in both West Bank and Gaza lockups includes beatings and tying up detainees in painful positions.

Hamas and Abbas' Fatah organization have harassed each other ever since the Islamic militant Hamas seized Gaza in 2007. However, the crackdowns have become more sweeping in recent months as each aims to strengthen its grip on its respective territory.

The bad news: the wire service needed a three-year-old file photo to illustrate the story.

(Read full post)

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Why Won't Abbas Agree To A Freeze Of Palestinian Settlements?

Daled Amos
30 August '10

Both the Palestinian Authority and Arab governments have gone along with previous U.S.-Israeli deals by which construction was to be limited to inside the periphery of settlements near Israel -- since everyone knows those areas will be annexed to Israel in a final settlement. Before the 2007 Annapolis peace conference organized by the Bush administration, Saudi Arabia and other Arab participants agreed to what one former senior official called "the Google Earth test"; if the settlements did not visibly expand, that was good enough. [emphasis added]
Jackson Diehl, Washington Post, June 2009

Elder of Ziyon points out that leading up to direct peace talks with Netanyahu, Abbas has raised the stakes, putting the entire responsibility for the success of the talks on Israel in a keynote speech he delivered in Arabic:

I would like to point out here that our attitudes toward the settlements and their legitimacy and to the settlement expansion has not changed. I must say that today, frankly and clearly that we were informed by all parties, including the American sponsor of the negotiations before we agree to participate, that the Government of Israel alone will have to bear responsibility for these negotiations, and the possibility of total collapse and failure, in the event of continued settlement expansion in all its forms and manifestations in other parts of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967.[emphasis added]

(Read full post)

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Ten Years Since the Start of the Oslo War

West Bank Mama
27 August '10

During a time when some Americans are actually debating the idea of allowing a mosque to be built near Ground Zero, it is important to see Islamic terror for what it really is. Unfortunately here in Israel we do not need to “imagine” it – many of our citizens have lost loved ones or have survived attacks themselves. One particularly intense period of Arab terror in Israel was during the years 2000 to 2005, during the Oslo War.



In September 2000, on Rosh Hashana, the Second Intifada (what we call the Oslo War) started. Arabs started riots all over Israel, supposedly in response to Arik Sharon’s visit to the Temple Mount, although evidence shows that this was planned months previously. I remember that after the holiday was over the IDF recommended that those living in Judea and Samaria should refrain from leaving their homes for a day or two. We missed our nephews’ bris in Jerusalem because of it.

This event ushered in a period of Arab terror in Israel that has left an indelible mark on many people’s personal lives, and a scar on the Israeli psyche.

(Read full post)

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How to Distort the News, In Hebrew

Yishai Goldflam/Tamar Sternthal
CAMERA/Media Analysis
23 August '10

A letter from the Im Tirtzu Israeli activist organization to the president of Ben-Gurion University addressing the alleged imbalance in the number of Zionist versus post-Zionist lecturers in the university's politics and government department has created a storm in the Israeli media. Covering the controversy, the news departments of two major Israeli media outlets, Ha'aretz and Ynet, recently engaged in a little literary license, apparently forgetting that their job is restricted to reporting the news.

Ha'aretz's Aug. 17 Hebrew headline screams:

Im Tirtzu to Ben-Gurion University: Fire Leftist Professors Or We'll Drive Away Donors

The English headline, in contrast, does not mention the firing of professors:

Im Tirtzu threatens boycott of Israeli university over 'anti-Zionist' bias.

Ynet's Hebrew headline the same day goes even further than its Ha'aretz counterpart, purporting to actually quote from the letter:

"If You Don't Fire Leftist Professors, We'll Drive Away Donors"

(Read full analysis)

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NY Times hits bottom, sticks

Fresnozionism.org
29 August '10

One would have thought that the New York Times could not possibly descend any lower, with regular columnists like Roger Cohen and Nicholas Kristoff — and then they strike the semi-solid layer of excrement at the bottom of the bubbling pool of filth in which they live and feed, and give a platform to Ali Abunimah.

Market forces will soon flush away this sh--ty little newspaper, as it well deserves. It can’t happen too soon.

Abunimah’s arguments are barely worth discussing. He draws an analogy between Hamas and Sinn Fein, suggesting that the initial refusal of the British to negotiate with the latter can be compared with Israel’s shunning of the former.

Of course Catholic nationalists did not intend to rid Northern Ireland of Protestants, nor did they believe that God commanded them to murder Protestants wherever they could be found. They did not believe that Ireland was a Catholic waqf and that the only solution to the presence of any Protestants on Irish soil was violent jihad (Hamas says all this and more about Jews and Israel).

It is one thing to enter negotiations with a group that has committed terrorist acts. It’s another entirely to talk to one that believes that it is their religious duty to kill you, all of you.

(Read full post)

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The new kulturkampf

Yisrael Medad
Green-Lined/JPost
29 August '10

A new kulturkampf is upon us.

Ariel's soon-to-be-inaugurated cultural center will not benefit from the services and talents of at least 36 Israeli actors.

Before we delve into this phenomenon of left-wing Israelis so excited to engage in boycott activities, let's recall a recent event in Ramallah. There, the rock group Boney M appeared but agreed to drop one of the greatest hits, "By the Rivers of Babylon." If you can't figure that one out, well, read the lyrics. They originate in Psalm 137. Theodor Herzl famously quoted on of its verses: "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning."

Maybe these actors could eliminate certain elements of the performances or even refuse, at least, to sing HaTikva. That would be so more symbolic. On the other hand, there is always the option for the Minister for Culture to cut back taxpayers' finances that are transferred to these various actors' places of employment. Sort of a tit for tat, or dime for dime. After all, if the actors claim the privilege of conscience, they surely can understand that others also possess a conscience, and a commitment to national values.

(Read full post)

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Art and Life Under Missile Fire: From Sderot to Jerusalem

Merav Fima
Sderot Media Center
24 August '10

In his Poetics, Aristotle suggests that “art imitates life.” This statement is certainly applicable to the Sderot Community Treatment Theatre’s current production, Children of Qassam Avenue, a dramatic reenactment of a dozen teenage girls’ traumatic experiences under the terror of Qassam rockets - which have now been falling on their hometown for the majority of their lives. The company presents an original script jointly written by the artistic director, Livnat Shlessinger, and the group's psychologist, Debbie Gross, compiling fragments of the girls' personal stories with the aim of exposing Israeli and international audiences to their plight.

The reverse - "life imitates art" - is also true in this case. As a “treatment theatre,” this yearlong drama therapy programme empowers participants to transfer the skills they develop on stage to their personal, day-to-day handling of the situation. As one participant remarked, the Sderot Treatment Theatre has helped her cope with the harsh reality and regain her joie de vivre.

Aristotle further claims that Tragedy arouses horror and fear, allowing the viewers to purge themselves of those passions. This show not only induces catharsis in the audience, but also in the actors on stage. Even though they have rehearsed their lines numerous times, it is apparent that the performance is having a profound emotional impact on them, each time anew. This aspect makes the show even more meaningful, as the cathartic process affects both parties, demonstrating the power of art to heal those who engage in it. By providing the opportunity for these girls to share their experiences and express their feelings, they are able to sublimate their traumatic emotions and redirect them toward the positive act of art-making. Occasionally, they even manage to evoke laughter, specifically through the role of the Moroccan matriarch, played by Lior Ben Abou.



Noam Bedein, founder and director of the Sderot Media Centre, which initiated the Treatment Theatre, opened the evening with a disclaimer that the performers are merely high school students and not professional actors. This statement turned out to be superfluous only several minutes later, by which point the audience was so captivated that the actresses' age and identity were completely forgotten.

With very few props and a minimal set, the company manages to capture and convey the girls' experiences, thanks to their authenticity and sincerity, as well as their intense desire to be liberated from the endless anxiety and pain. The seamless integration of documentary footage into the dramatic scenes transposes the events from Sderot to Jerusalem, bringing them to life. Particularly troubling is the video clip of children in the playground, forced to abandon their games and seek shelter within fifteen seconds.

(Read full story)

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Abbas lies and threatens. No one notices.

Elder of Ziyon
29 August '10

Mahmoud Abbas made a speech on the eve of negotiations with Israel.

He said that the only reason he agreed to negotiations is because the Quartet publicly confirmed their statement from last March that Israel must withdraw to the 1967 lines, including East Jerusalem. In his words:

The statement confirmed all previous statements of the Quartet ... the statement underlined the need to end the occupation that took place in 1967, including East Jerusalem, and not to recognize the Israeli annexation [of any territory.]

The only problem is, that is not what the Quartet said. The statement did request that Israel not expand settlements and stop demolitions in "East Jerusalem," but it also emphasized:

[T]he status of Jerusalem is a permanent status issue that must be resolved through negotiations between the parties...

And nowhere did they say that the final settlement must be based on the 1967 (really 1949) armistice lines.

In short, Abbas is lying.

(Read full post)

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Baroness Ashton Is Not Coming To The Party

Martin Peretz
The New Republic
29 August '10

Maybe it's an admission of her utter irrelevance as kind-of foreign minister of the European Union, maybe she just wants her own show.

But Baroness Ashton is not coming to Hillary Clinton's Middle East confab, no she is not. I wrote about her two or three times a while back, and not admiringly. And her performance since then, even in the eyes of official Europe sitting in Brussels, has not brought her many but also not any fans. She is one of those international bureaucrats whose life is travel, travel, travel.

And pronounce, pronounce, pronounce. Last week, she pronounced on the conviction of one Abdallah Abu Rahma in an Israeli military court for inciting protestors to attack Israeli soldiers at the contentious security fence at Bi'lin. Demonstrations against the fence have been a weekly event there for more than a year. And, believe me, soldiers have been attacked and hurt.

Ashton was "concerned" and "deeply concerned" by the conviction.

(Read full post)

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Ha'aretz Repeats 'Jewish-Only Apartheid Roads' Canard

Tamar Sternthal
CAMERA Media Analysis
29 August '10

While former Meretz leader Yossi Sarid, now a columnist at Ha'aretz, is perfectly entitled to his opinions, neither his past nor present positions grant him any immunity when it comes to publishing falsehoods. And yet, in his column today, Sarid repeats the "Jewish-only roads" falsehood propagated several times over the last few years by Ha'aretz. Weighing in on the recent opposition of Israeli theater professionals to performing in a new cultureal center in Ariel, a large settlement over the Green Line, Sarid writes:

The artists can't be dragged to Ariel in blunt contradiction of their political beliefs; they can't be driven on our Jewish-only apartheid roads.

In a certain respect, the former lawmaker is correct. The artists can't be driven on "Jewish-only apartheid roads" . . . . because none exist. As first explained several years ago to Ha'aretz editors, there are no "Jewish-only" roads (apartheid or otherwsie) in the West Bank, though there are a few roads prohibited to Palestinians in the West Bank. Israel's Arab citizens and, indeed, Israeli citizens of any religion or ethnicity, have just as much right to travel on those restricted roads as do Israeli Jews. Israeli Arabs frequently use the bypass roads for business and to visit relatives.

(Read full report)

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AP misrepresents Israeli flotilla probe co-operation

Just Journalism
25 August '10

An Associated Press article, published in today’s (8/25) Independent under the headline ‘UN official criticises Israel over Flotilla probe’ states that Israel is not co-operating with the inquiry led by the United Nations Human Rights Council into the flotilla incident. However, it does not explain that Israel is working with another UN inquiry, also mentioned in the article, and that Israel regards the UNHRC as politically motivated against it.

While the article is correct in stating that Israel is refusing to co-operate with the Human Rights Council’s inquiry, it simply notes at the end that ‘Another UN panel under New Zealand's ex-prime minister Geoffrey Palmer and Colombia's ex-president Alvaro Uribe is also examining the incident’. It does not include the fact that Israel is co-operating with that inquiry, which was established by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon – as reported in this AP article. Israel has also set up both a civilian inquiry with a wide ranging mandate, monitored by international observers, including Lord Trimble, and a military inquiry to investigate the incident.

(Read full report)

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Your Tax Dollars at Work

Todd Warnick
Jerusalem Central
29 August '10

The problem isn't necessarily the US Government supporting a 2-state solution - though one would think that this is an inappropriate use of taxpayer money and USAID funds - but look how they're doing it: a big picture of 7 leaders of the Palestinian Authority with the caption: "We're Partners. And You?". This begs the question, of course: Do you think there is a similar campaign at work all over Judea, Samaria and Gaza, i.e. pictures of Bibi, Barak, Lieberman and the rest of the 7 members of the Inner Cabinet that says in Arabic: "We're Partners. And You?" The answer is rather obvious. More inappropriate meddling by foreign governments in Israel - at least a new law going through the Knesset a la the US Foreign Agents Registration Act would make this kind of funding more transparent.

Here is also the link to the Geneva Initiative web site indicating as well support from USAID, which has provided "US economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for more than 40 years". As to the story in today's Yediot Ahronot, p.7:

(Read full post)

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The Truth About 'The Occupation' and 'The Settlements'

Ted Belman
American Thinker
29 August '10

The pro-Palestinian propaganda machine has succeeded in stigmatizing the Israeli occupation and the settlements. Time and again we hear about the "brutal occupation" and the "illegal settlements." We rarely hear the truth in opposition to these lies.

Occupation

Israel is accused of occupying the West Bank and Gaza. In fact these territories are described as "The occupied Palestinian territories." Not only are they not occupied in a legal sense, but also they are not "Palestinian" lands in a sovereign sense.

The Fourth Geneva Convention (FGC) is a treaty among signatory states that are called High Contracting Parties (HCP). It regulates the obligations of one HCP who occupies the land of another HCP. It defines the terms "Occupying Power" and "Occupied State." Thus this convention does not apply to the territories because they were not the land of any HCP. They have never been the land of an HCP. Prior to 1967, Jordon was in occupation of these territories, just as Israel is currently in occupation. Jordanian sovereignty over these lands was never recognized and ultimately Jordan relinquished any claims over these lands. The FGC was never applied when Jordan occupied the land and it shouldn't be applied now that Israel does.

(Read full article)

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Blockade on Gaza: Legal Expert Ruth Lapidoth

Legality of the Israeli Blockade of the Gaza Strip. A discussion by Prof. Emeritus and Israel Prize Laureate in Legal Studies Ruth Lapidoth.


From: TheJerusalemCenter
27 June '10

The Legal Basis of Israel's Naval Blockade of Gaza
By Ruth Lapidoth, Professor Emeritus of International Law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

-The relations between Israel and Hamas are in the nature of armed conflict. Nowadays no formal declaration of war is needed. Hence the rules of the laws of armed conflict apply. This means that Israel may control shipping headed for Gaza - even when the vessels are still on the high seas.

-The rules of naval warfare have not been fully codified in a treaty and are in the nature of binding customary rules. They can be found in the relevant manuals of Western armies (in particular the U.S. and Britain) and in the San Remo Manual prepared by a group of experts.




-In order to be legal, a blockade has to be declared and announced, effective, non-discriminatory, and has to permit the passage of humanitarian assistance to the civilian population. In addition, the San Remo Manual of 1994 includes two conditions: first, the state which applies the blockade may decide where and when and through which port the assistance should reach the coast. In addition, the state may require that a neutral organization on the coast should verify who is the recipient of the assistance. In Gaza, for instance, does it reach the civilians or Hamas?

-A ship that clearly intends to breach the blockade may be stopped already when it is still on the high seas. Stopping the flotilla heading for Gaza in international waters 100 kilometers from Israel was not illegal; in time of armed conflict, ships intending to breach the blockade may be searched even on the high seas.

-Israel is within its rights and is in full compliance with international law because it has fulfilled all of the above-mentioned conditions for a lawful blockade. E.g., in January 2009 Israel notified the relevant authorities of its intention to establish a blockade of the Gaza coast.

(Please read the full article by clicking here)

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Response to Lauren Booth

Yaacov Lozowick
Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations
27 August '10

(Doesn't get any better than this. Y.)

Lauren Booth is an anti-Zionist journalist based in London; people who follow such matters seem to think she's even worse than the rest of the pack. I mentioned her a while back, here.

This week she published a chirpy letter to the Israelis, in which, so she claims, she set aside her house chores in order to write us a personal letter. Oddly, she posted it on the website of an ex-Israeli who dislikes us intensely, the last place you'd expect if someone wishes to catch our attention and engage us in conversation; even curiouser, the website doesn't offer the possibility of leaving visible comments. So I'm sending them notice that I've responded, and perhaps they'll forward it to her; I encourage the rest of you to think where else Ms. Booth can be found and to leave her a message. She's made such an effort to reach out, it wouldn't be polite not to reciprocate.

Dear Ms. Booth,

I was touched by your concern for us as described in your "Mom to mom" letter of August 22 2010, in which you tried to inform us about all the bad things happening in our name. I'm a dad, not a mom, but I'll give a stab at reassuring you.

First thing, right up front: nothing's being done "in our name". Whatever it is, it's we who are doing it ourselves. I personally spent three years in the IDF as a young man, and another three over the following twenty-some as a reservist. About the time I was given a pen and retired from service, my first son was serving in the second Intifada, and last year my youngest fought in Gaza with his tank brigade. Ever since high-school I have been well informed about events, as is expected of a voter in a democracy. There's nothing particularly unusual about me, I'm a mainstream fellow with a standard story. For better or worse, what "Israel" does is done by the flesh and blood Israelis, not "in their names". Is this different in your country?

There is no need to carefully broach the matter of looting by IDF troops and nasty graffiti. We've been at war for a very long time, and bad things happen in war; we don't pretend otherwise. Innocent Palestinians have repeatedly died at our hands, which is far worse than looted credit cards, serious though that may be. So we can agree that innocent Palestinians have suffered at Israeli hands. They have. Some still do. Others will, as far into the future as the Palestinian nation refuses to accept the right of the Jewish nation to a homeland in part of the tiny little country they both call home.

(Read full letter)

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Our Man on Al Jazeera

Dr. Mordechai Kedar is a lecturer in the Department of Arabic and a research associate at BESA (the Begin Sadat Center for Strategic Studies) in Bar Ilan University. He teaches Islam, Islamic Movements, Islamic Ideologies, Mass Media in the Arab World, State and Society in the Arab World, and Gender Issues in Islamic Societies

Kedar also does research in partnership with the Institute for Counter-Terrorism at the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzilyah and the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies. Kedar received his Ph.D from Bar-Ilan University in 1998, which led to the publication of his book “Assad in Search of Legitimacy—Message and Rhetoric in the Syrian Press under Hafiz and Bashar” in 2005.



Aish.com interviewed me at home and made this movie. http://www.aish.com/v/is/100215459.html

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The long history of anti-Semitism in Muslim lands

Robert Fulford
NationalPost
28 August '10

One of the 2002 Bali bombers, Amrozi bin Nurhasin, on trial in an Indonesian courtroom and headed toward execution, shouted out the message he wanted his crime to convey: “Jews: Remember Khaibar. The army of Muhammad is coming back to defeat you.”

This was his explanation of the murder of 202 people eight years ago. Of those who died, 88 were Australians, 38 Indonesians, 24 British. None were Jews. So what was Amrozi, a Java-born Indonesian, raving about? It’s a question worth considering as we assess the recent arrests for terrorist conspiracy in Ottawa. Islamic terrorists can finds motives in ancient struggles the rest of the world long ago forgot.

Martin Gilbert, the author of some 80 books, including the official biography of Winston Churchill, explains Amrozi’s meaning at the start of his alarming chronicle, In Ishmael’s House: A History of Jews in Muslim Lands, published this week.

Amrozi was remembering an event 1,375 years in the past, when Muhammad attacked Jewish farmers living in the oasis community of Khaibar, in what is now Saudi Arabia. More than 600 Jews were killed and the survivors lost all their property and had to pledge half of their future crops to Muhammad.

Today, few Jews know the word Khaibar. But among certain Muslims it has permanent resonance. Khaibar set a precedent, endorsed by the actions of the Prophet. After Khaibar, non-Muslims who were conquered had to give up their property and pay heavy permanent tribute to their Muslim overseers. That form of discrimination lasted for centuries. It was this incident and its aftermath that nourished Amrozi’s homicidal ambition.

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The Arab world's dirty little secret

Carl
Israel Matzav
29 August '10

Last week, Lebanon passed legislation that allows the 400,000 'Palestinians' living in that country for the first time to work in many - but still not all - professions. The Wall Street Journal notes that the Arab countries' treatment of their 'Palestinian' brethren - Lebanon's previous law was typical - is one of the deep, dark secrets of the Arab world.

The dirty little secret of the Arab world is that it has consistently treated Palestinians living in its midst with contempt and often violence.

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A world without Baronesses

Fresnozionism.org
28 August '10

News item:

PARIS — France wants the European Union to have a seat at the table during next week’s start of US-backed peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in Washington.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said it would be “too bad” if the EU were locked out — noting the bloc’s political involvement in the region and its role as a top contributor of financial aid to the Palestinians. — Jerusalem Post

Let’s see. We have the Obama Administration, Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority. Now we need the EU? Let’s invite J Street, too. After all,we need someone to be ‘pro-Israel’.

Not only is the EU a ‘top contributor’ to the Palestinian Authority, it also finances numerous non-governmental organizations in Israel whose primary function seems to be to delegitimize or even destabilize the Jewish state.

And the EU doesn’t shrink from trying to directly intervene in the internal affairs of Israel. For example,

(Read full post)

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